iStock/Thinkstock(HOUSTON) -- The onetime doctor of former President George H.W. Bush was likely "targeted" when he was shot to death by a mystery gunman in Houston, police said on Thursday.



Cardiologist Mark Hausknecht, 65, was killed on Friday in a residential neighborhood as he rode his bicycle.



"There is a high probability the doctor was targeted," Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said in a statement posted Thursday on the department's Twitter account. "No other information is available, as additional details are part of the ongoing investigation."



The latest twist in the shocking case came just days after police released images from the moment right before Hausknecht was gunned down as he rode his bicycle in Houston.



The still images showed Hausknecht riding his bicycle as he crossed the busy intersection of Main Street and West Holcombe Boulevard in Southgate. The photos also showed the gunman behind the doctor just before the shooting.



The suspect was riding a bike when he rode past the doctor and, "turned and fired two shots," police said at a news conference Friday.



Another still image showed the suspect, wearing a ball cap, headed west on Southgate Boulevard toward Travis Street.



Houston police also released a composite sketch of the suspect on Saturday.



Police said they are searching for a man who is about 30 years old and who was wearing a dark jacket when he fled the scene.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Select board members and some municipal staff toured the property last week.

Scarborough Leader

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[2011]0283-097 ICP13028878-6Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association (OGCMA) Celebrates 149th Annual Camp Meeting Week

Week-long Programs and Services on 'God's Square Mile at the Jersey Shore'



Sunday, July 29 - Sunday, August 5, 2018



Contact: David Lotz, OGCMA, 609-203-2342, lotzflash@gmail.com



OCEAN GROVE, New Jersey, July 26, 2018 /Christian Newswire/ -- Celebrating its 149th season, OGCMA will host a cherished and anticipated tradition of every summer: the Annual Camp Meeting Week: Sunday, July 29th  Sunday, August 5th. This event offers sun-up to sun-down opportunities for spiritual growth. The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association is located in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. Camp Meeting Week activities are free and open to the public; all venues are handicapped-accessible. For more information, call 732-775-0035 or visit www.oceangrove.org.



When OGCMA was founded in 1869, the Camp Meeting Movement (camp grounds to which Christians came from miles around to hear a series of traveling ministers) was in full swing from coast to coast  especially in rural areas and around small towns that didn't have a formal church, resident minister, and the support of a spiritual community. Ocean Grove has blossomed since its humble beginnings and is now the longest-active site of its kind in the U.S. "Today we stand on that same shore to celebrate our wonderful heritage and commit ourselves to continuing the founders' vision," says OGCMA President Michael J. Badger.



There are many opportunities for worship during Camp Meeting Week. Bible Hour is held at 9:00 a.m. daily at The Tabernacle, with periodic services throughout the week at the Beach Pavilion, Thornley Chapel, Youth Temple, and The Great Auditorium. For a complete schedule, visit www.oceangrove.org.



Camp Meeting Week Highlights Include:

Sunday, July 29  Founders Day Worship Service

Rev. Dr. Thomas Tewell will preach at 10:30 a.m. (Boardwalk Pavilion) and 7:00 p.m. (Great Auditorium)



Monday, July 30  Sunday, August 4

Dr. Chris Bounds will preach at 9:00 a.m. (Bishop Janes Tabernacle). At 8:00 p.m., the Ocean Grove Summer Band will perform Hymns of the Faith on the Boardwalk Pavilion.



Sunday, August 5

UMC Bishop Peter Weaver will offer communion worship at 10:30 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. in the Great Auditorium.

About Camp Week's Participating Faith Leaders



Rev. Dr. Thomas Tewell has been an ordained pastor for 40 years and has served congregations in Bethlehem PA and New Providence NJ, as well as the 5,100 member Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston, TX and the 3,500 member Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City. Currently, he is the Founder and Executive Director of Macedonian Ministry, a position he has held since 2008. This ministry gives Dr. Tewell the privilege of serving as a pastor to pastors.



Dr. Chris Bounds is Professor of Theology and Scholar in Residence at Asbury University in Wilmore, KY. Bounds has published widely on the doctrine of Christian perfection in the early church fathers, in the Reformation, in the 18th-century Methodist revival and in the 19th-century American Holiness movement. Most recently, he published on article in the Wesleyan Theological Journal titled "Tertullian's Doctrine of Christian Perfection in Its Theological Context."



Bishop Peter D. Weaver was born into a parsonage family in Greenville, PA. Following his education at W. VA Wesleyan (BA), Drew University (MDiv) and Boston University (ThD), he served United Methodist Churches in Pittsburgh, PA for 25 years, focusing on "Making Disciples of Christ" through ministries with youth, young adults, seniors, the homeless, workers and executives with his weekly radio broadcasts. He was a founder of "Bethlehem Haven" for homeless women and "One Voice Against Racism." In 1996 he was elected Bishop and served in the Philadelphia and Boston areas. During this time he served a term as President of the global Council of Bishops of the UMC and served on many community, church and ecumenical boards. He has been engaged in mission and preaching on five continents and has taught in four seminaries. From 2012-2016, Bishop Weaver served in Washington, DC as Executive Secretary of the UM Council of Bishops and now serves as Bishop-in-Residence at Drew University Theological School.

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Global Sebacic Acid Market - Competitive Landscape

The Global Sebacic Acid Market appears to be fiercely competitive and fragmented with many well-established players having the global presence. Brand reinforcement, mergers & acquisitions, and innovation remain the popular trends for the key players in the market.

Industry/ Innovation/ Related News:

April 04, 2018  Researcher Team at the University of Konstanz (Germany) published their study of a two-step, one-pot process they have developed for the synthesis of benzene from the five-fold unsaturated fatty acid - EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), a component of microalgae oils. During the dehydrogenation step under hydrogen pressure, there occurred the formation of their saturated analogues - octanoic acid and sebacic acid. Both are desirable products.

February 13, 2018 - Sebacic Oman (Worlds largest production capacity of Sebacic Acid) announced that plans to build USD 250 mn. Bio-based nylon project (nylon 6-10 and nylon 10-10) as a succeeding integration of its sebacic acid project, soon-to-be-operational in the Duqm free zone, Oman. This is going be the first ever production plant of bio-based nylon in the Middle East and the manufactured nylon will be used in aerospace and engineering polymers. The construction work of the plant is scheduled to start in 2020, and the project is estimated to be completed in 2022.

Global Sebacic Acid Market - Segments

For the convenience of the report and enhanced understanding; MRFR has segmented the analysis into 3 key dynamics:

By Production Method: Comprising - Castor Oil & Adipic Acid method.

By Applications: Lubricants, Personal Care & Cosmetics, Greases, Solvents, Plasticizers, Adhesives, Paints & Coatings, Chemical Intermediates, Textiles, Hydraulic Fluids, and Candles among others.

By Regions: North America, Europe, APAC and Rest of the World.

Get Sample of Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/999

Global Sebacic Acid Market  Synopsis

Sebacic Acid, a dicarboxylic acid generally comes in powdered crystal form or white flake when its pure. Derived by the castor oil & adipic acid method Sebacic acid, and its derivatives like azelaic acid & etc. are used in numerous application areas in the industries such as plasticizers, lubricants, hydraulic fluids, cosmetics, & candles among others. Key application areas of Sebacic Acid are aircraft lubricant manufacturing as the synthesis of polyamide alkyd resins and as an intermediate for antiseptics, aromatics, and pant & coating materials.

The versatile Sebacic Acid is non-hazardous, offering various advantages like adaptability and hydrophobicity to the products. That makes it ideal for a wide range of applications. Some of the newly found application areas of Sebacic Acid include solvents, adhesives, personal care & cosmetics, and manufacturing of PVC coatings due to the enhanced temperature resistive abilities.

Attributing to the increasing demand in applications such as personal care and healthcare products textiles, cosmetics, textiles & automotive among others; Sebacic Acid is garnering a huge prominence over the past few years. Burgeoning industries like paints & coatings, automotive, packaging construction, and pharmaceuticals are expected to fuel the market growth further. Rising demand for textiles worldwide is escorting market growth to the ascended heights.

Acknowledging the kind of traction gained by this market, Market Research Future (MRFR) recently published a study report. According to the report, Sebacic Acid Market is expected to grow enormously by 2023, registering a phenomenal CAGR during the anticipated period (2017  2023). Growing nylon industry worldwide is anticipated to bring immense opportunities for this market.

On the other hand, the market is confronted with some of the challenges such as volatility of prices & supply of castor oil as an integral feedstock. Nevertheless, increasing production capacities of castor oil & Sebacic Acid in the Asia Pacific region is expected to propel the industry growth worldwide.

Get Complete Report @ https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/sebacic-acid-market-999

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:

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Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.com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.Continue Reading Below Advertisement

Thankfully, Vulture's Nate Jones used the ancient magic of mathematics to help us puzzle out exactly when Indiana Jones And His Kids Who Never Visit will be set. If we exclude the prequel, there's a discernible pattern for when Indy sequels take place: the actual time elapsed minus 6. This would place the new movie in 1970. Yup, the world's perviest archaeology prof would finally get to dabble in free love.

Jones goes even further in his calculations, applying a "linear regression model" plotting the rate at which time passes in the Indy-verse versus here in reality. The conclusion? Indy ages only "82 percent as fast as we do," meaning the movie would actually be set in 1966.

Continue Reading Below Advertisement

Then again, it's possible that Indy-verse time doesn't flow in a straight line. Using a "quadratic regression model" and a bunch of equations we totally understand, Jones concludes that the fifth movie will take place 45 years after Raiders Of The Lost Ark. So the next (and God willing, last) Indiana Jones movie will be set in 1981, the very same year Raiders, a nostalgic old-timey throwback, was released. It's kind of like if the Stranger Things series finale finds the gang purchasing Netflix subscriptions.

You (yes, you) should follow JM on Twitter, or check out the podcast Rewatchability.

Support your favorite Cracked writers with a visit to our Contribution Page. Please and thank you.

For more, check out Reggae Black Panther's The Craziest Thing You'll See All Day and The FDA Says This Bleeding Veggie Burger Is Fine To Eat.

Follow us on Facebook. And watch out for snakes.

Join the Cracked Movie Club Expand your movie and TV brain--get the weekly Cracked Movie Club newsletter! SIGN ME UPWhere should two former alleged terrorists who were once British citizens be put on trial for the most brutal and barbarous acts against innocent civilians, some of them British?

The right answer is surely the United Kingdom. Two young men brought up in this country, who are accused of unspeakable terrorist offences, should face justice in a British court.

And yet they won't. Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh are being packed off to the United States to stand trial for grievous crimes they are said to have committed while fighting on behalf of Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria.

Their erstwhile collaborator 'Jihadi John' is thought to have beheaded at least two U.S. journalists.

Alexanda Kotey (pictured left) and El Shafee Elsheikh (right) are being packed off to the United States to stand trial for grievous crimes they are said to have committed while fighting on behalf of Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria

Let me summarise their alleged crimes. Elsheikh, 30, who was born in Sudan but raised in London, is accused of supervising the torture and killing of Western hostages by ISIS.

Kotey, 34, London born-and-bred, is charged with being part of the same ISIS cell which beheaded 27 hostages and, according to reliable testimonies, displayed horrendous cruelty and unbelievable sadism.

They are believed to have been part of a four-man killing machine known as 'The Beatles'.

Seldom was a nickname so fatuously bestowed. If the 'fab four' who made up the pop group were fetching and creative, the ISIS killers are repulsive and deadly.

So why can't they be tried in their own country? The fact that they have been deprived of their British citizenship by the Government is beside the point.

They are citizens of no other country. And their historical relationship is with Britain.

Kotey, 34 (mugshot pictured) London born-and-bred, is charged with being part of the same ISIS cell which beheaded 27 hostages and, according to reliable testimonies, displayed horrendous cruelty and unbelievable sadism

I can think of three possible reasons for our handing the problem over to the Americans.

The first is that under existing legislation our courts are unable to apply the very lengthy sentences that can be handed down by American judges.

These two presumed monsters could be walking free in 20 or 25 years if convicted here.

Moreover, as a result of the Human Rights Act our courts are swarming with lawyers who might well argue that because Kotey and Elsheikh were captured and held by rough-hewn Kurdish militia, they have not been treated as they should have been. Shock horror!

And then there is the reluctance of our intelligence services to allow their practices to be revealed in open court out of fear that would-be terrorists might learn things about spooks which they shouldn't.

For all these reasons, the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, has gratefully washed his hands of the case.

Elsheikh, 30 (pictured) who was born in Sudan but raised in London, is accused of supervising the torture and killing of Western hostages by ISIS

There was no attempt to secure an undertaking that the death penalty wouldn't be applied in the United States, presumably because there was no prospect Washington would give such an assurance.

Now, of course, the Labour Party is up in arms, principally because it is so opposed to the death penalty.

Diane Abbott, the Shadow Home Secretary, hyperventilated that the Government's position was 'abhorrent and shameful'.

Meanwhile, Labour's Hilary Benn piously (and idiotically) opined that 'we have to show we are better than Islamic State in our morals, and should therefore have nothing to do with capital punishment'.

In my humble opinion, the prospect that these two alleged killers might be sentenced to death if found guilty of horrendous crimes by an American court is by far the least troubling aspect of this affair.

No, what worries me is that our courts are considered too unreliable, and our legalisation too weak, for these seemingly wicked men to be tried in the country in which they were brought up, and which they have more right to call their own than any other.

Pictured: Alexandra Kotey is seen fighting for ISIS abroad

Isn't the Government being particularly supine in asking dependable old Uncle Sam to deal with a problem that we are too querulous to address ourselves? I can see no other plausible interpretation.

Which is why a report by the Policy Exchange think-tank advocating a new treason law should be welcomed.

Believe it or not, the Treason Act of 1351 is still on the statute book, shorn of a few provisions over the years. It has not been used since 1945.

As the report argues, treason  the crime of aiding and abetting one's country's declared enemies  is extremely serious.

A new law is needed which envisages very severe jail sentences for those convicted of treason.

If there were such a law, there is little doubt that, as former UK citizens, Kotey and Elsheikh would stand trial in a British court instead of being dispatched to the United States.

For as well as being accused of carrying out mass murder in the most ferocious fashion, they also stand charged with working for an organisation, namely Islamic State, which was and remains an enemy of the United Kingdom and is effectively at war with it. That's treason.

And that brings me to another thought, which may rattle a few teacups.

Why do we assume that the abolition of the death penalty as it applies to criminal law should also cover acts of treason committed in the circumstances of war?

The Home Secretary, Sajid Javid (pictured outside Downing Street) has gratefully washed his hands of the case, writes Stephen Glover

After all, no one objects very much when a terrorist in the throes of some atrocity is shot dead by the police or Army.

I'm not clear why we are so certain that a person convicted of such an abominable crime shouldn't receive the ultimate punishment.

Interestingly, although the death penalty for murder was abolished in 1965, it remained on the statute book until 1998 in respect of high treason, though was never used.

It was deemed incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, which was incorporated into the Human Rights Act by New Labour in the same year.

I'm not  quite  recommending the restoration of capital punishment for treason, and the Policy Exchange report certainly does not.

I have too much residual modern liberal sensibility to argue unequivocally in favour of that. But can't we have an intelligent discussion about the issue?

It is undeniable that Western democracies are threatened by merciless and ruthless combatants such as Kotey and Elsheikh appear to be.

Diane Abbott, the Shadow Home Secretary (pictured at PMQs) hyperventilated that the Government's position was 'abhorrent and shameful'

I don't for a moment think people like them will succeed. There aren't enough of them, for one thing.

But it is feeble, as well as potentially dangerous, to treat the mortal enemies of our society and way of life as though they were commonplace murderers.

Whatever new measures are adopted  and the Policy Exchange's proposals for a new treason law would be an excellent start  it is obvious we need a legislative armoury strong enough either to deter home-grown traitors, or deliver fitting punishments to those who commit outrages.

If Kotey and Elsheikh were to be tried in this country, we might understand how it was that two young men who enjoyed the benefits of living in a free society should seemingly have done their utmost to destroy it.

And such a trial, if it had led to a conviction, would have given the British people the satisfaction of seeing justice meted out to two British traitors who appear to hate, and wanted to damage, their country.

As it is, though, I don't doubt they will receive a fair trial in the United States, it will inevitably be conducted in the margins of our attention.

Why can't we hold our own monsters to account? British justice for British terrorists is the best approach.Mental illnesses including schizophrenia and personality disorders are rife among the inmates of Britain's prisoners, according to a documentary that reveals instances of self-harm are at 'epidemic' levels as a result.

The Channel 4 show Prison explores the chaos that reigns at HMP Durham, as officers struggle to deal with inmates who are hearing voices, throwing their own excrement, or are a major suicide risk - and all with just 11 beds available in a specialist mental health wing expected to meet the needs of some 4,000 prisoners across the North East.

One inmate who said he was hearing voices that told him the officers were trying to kill him took his own life during filming. He had been waiting for a bed on the mental health wing.

Officers estimate that of the 950 men in HMP Durham, some 600 are suffering some kind of mental health problem.

Channel 4's camera offers viewers a rare glimpse into life at HMP Durham to look at Britain's mental health crisis in prisons. Inmate Chris F, pictured, has schizophrenia

Viewers also see another inmate, who has a personality disorder and threw his own faeces at officers, trashing his cell in protest over the food. Officers were forced to send him to solitary confinement as the shortage of space meant he could not be hospitalised.

Instances of self-harm are described as being at 'epidemic' levels in the prison, with another prisoner seen sticking screws into his knuckles so he could cut himself with them.

The officers say the best place for mentally ill prisoners is in hospitals, as they believe they are only 'managing' their conditions until they are released, when they are likely to relapse into their condition and re-offend.

The integrated mental health support unit - known as the I wing - is the shared mental health wing for all the male prisons in the North East.

On the show, a prisoner named James is found in distress after self-harming in his cell, where he claimed to hear voices saying that the officers want to kill him.

He is seen being checked over by mental health nurse Hayley, who advises prison officers to check in on him five times hourly.

Later he is sent to the I-wing when he is put on anti-psychosis medication, and the staff start to believe he is better, but he claims the voices haven't stopped and he begs them to send him to hospital for an assessment.

Mental health nurse Hayley (pictured) said choosing how to treat mentally ill prisoners was difficult with limited options

One inmate with a personality disorder threw his own feces at officers but can't be hospitalised

There are just 11 mental health beds available to 4,000 prisoners in the North East in the specialist shared mental health wing

WHAT IS SCHIZOPHRENIA? Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves. People with schizophrenia may seem like they have lost touch with reality. The cause of schizophrenia is not understood and it is believed to be a mix of genetics (hereditary), abnormalities in brain chemistry and/or possible viral infections and immune disorders. The symptoms of schizophrenia fall into three categories: positive, negative, and cognitive. Positive symptoms are disturbances that are 'added' to the person's personality and include hallucinations and delusion Negative symptoms are capabilities that are 'lost' from the person's personality and include reduced feelings of pleasure in everyday life and difficultly beginning and sustaining activities. Cognitive symptoms are changes in their memory or other aspects of thinking and include trouble focusing or paying attention. Source: National Institute of Mental Health Advertisement

Officers assure him that they have secured him a bed that will be his as soon as it is available, but after five days of waiting his problems intensify and he takes his own life.

He says before his death: 'It's out of my hands, I've got a massive battle here. I don't know how to go about it.

'Do I agree with them and say it's in my head? I know something wrong's happening, something proper wrong's happening, and I don't know whether to fight against it or just give up.'

Officers say they are struggling to cope with their limited options for treatment.

Hayley says: 'You're having to deal with what's there at the time and it's about having to gauge what they're telling you, try and understand what they're not telling you, going off what their body language is, what they're saying, what they aren't... and then having to make a decision whether someone is potentially going to need what levels of observations to prevent them from killing themselves or hurting themselves.

'Part of the problem is you can't predict the future.'

Another prisoner, Chris F, is desperate to be hospitalised and given therapy to treat his schizophrenia.

Before he was sentenced he was involved in gangs and drugs, and was placed under a restraining order to keep him away from his mother because of his crimes.

He claims he has been bullied by the other inmates because of his condition and has started to self harm.

One inmate (pictured), who was not identified, put screws into his knuckles so he could cut his arms and legs with them

Overworked mental health nurse Hayley visits a prisoner's cell after he self harms (pictured)

Prisoner Chris is convinced he can 'move things with his head,' and 'get people to do things' with his mind

But officers can't move him to the hospital because of the lack of space.

Chris says of his condition: 'I keep on thinking I can move things with my head, and get people to do things with my mind.'

Eventually the guards were able to section him and send him to a high dependency psychiatric unit when space became available.

Another unnamed inmate, who has been diagnosed with a personality disorder, often protests about the food he is served in prison, the contents of which he says goes infringes his human rights.

Cameras capture him smearing his own excrement over the walls and threatening to throw it over officers because he was given onions in his meal.

Officers say the best place for mentally ill prisoners is in hospitals, as they believe they are only 'managing' their conditions until they are released

Self-harm is described is at 'epidemic' levels in the prison, which mainly serves as a holding place for inmates on remand

Officers estimate that of the 950 men in the prison, 600 will be suffering some kind of mental health problem

The prisoner, who was locked up for stealing a fishing rod, is moved to solitary confinement as there is nowhere else to put him.

As the prison has limited options for mentally ill patients, inmates frequently leave the prison without undergoing any treatment.

The patient who cut his body with screws pierced into his knuckles was released from prison with no prospect of psychological help, no home to go to, and only the standard sum of 47 that is given to prisoners upon release.

Speaking about the prisoner, one guard said: 'I genuinely believe we can manage him but were not helping him. I get it, you can't leave them on the street, but I honestly believe [for] a lot of them, this isnt the best place for them.'

Prison airs tonight at 9pm on Channel 4Shoppers are rejoicing after a slinky leopard print skirt that sold out in 48 hours returned to shelves following a six-week hiatus.

The 59 flirty wrap number from Never Fully Dressed (@neverfullydressed) has gained cult status thanks to its growing tribe of blogger fans and has swept Instagram in recent months.

After flying off shelves in record time, and following popular demand, the London label has restocked the polyester number - but warns shoppers they'll have to be quick if they want to snap one up.

The brand, which started life as a market stall in London's Portobello and Spitalfields markets, told MailOnline that it had shifted 5,000 units worldwide since the skirt burst onto the fashion scene last year.

Fan favourite: The 59 Jaspre skirt, from London label Never Fully Dressed, has gained cult status thanks to its tribe of blogger fans and has swept Instagram in recent months

Back by popular demand: Fans had been begging for the skirt to be brought back, and responded to the news the skirt was once again in stock this week with delight

NFD founder Lucy Ann Tighe told FEMAIL: 'The Jaspre is one of our favourite pieces in the collection. Although a consistent sellout, this timeless classic will not be going anywhere.'

Fans had been begging for the skirt to be brought back for several weeks, and responding to the news the skirt was available once more, one wrote: 'This skirt is everything! Do you ship to the US?'

Designers put the skirt's unprecedented success down to its ultra-flattering fit which makes it suitable for any shape and size.

Lucy added: Its extreme versatility takes any individual style from work, to the beach, to cocktails.

Blogger Haya Tetruashvili (@goodgoodgorgeous) wore the skirt on a recent trip to Paris. Shoppers are rejoicing after the slinky leopard print skirt returned to shelves

Fashionista Ares (@aresaixala) has also been spotted in the skirt, which comes in three sizes. The 59 flirty wrap number, from Never Fully Dressed, has gained cult status

Instagram user @lexystv sent fans wild after sharing a picture of herself wearing the skirt, which owes its popularity to its growing tribe of blogger fans and has swept Instagram

Swiss fashion blogger Alienor de Ferron (left) and Emily Stokoe (right) also own the skirt. Fashionistas from all over the globe have been sharing snaps of themselves wearing it

Instagram user Emma Slade wears the Jaspre skirt in this photo taken in Bath, Somerset. It has proved a hit with plus-size bloggers and slimmer fashion fans alike

Popular: The skirt is sweeping social media and is expected to sell out again within weeks. The skirt features a racy thigh slit, a bold animal print, and comes in just three sizes

Bloggers modelling the skirt. After flying off shelves in record time, and following popular demand, the London label has restocked the polyester number on its website once more

One Instagram user picked out the skirt for her 30th birthday celebrations. Style-watchers will have spotted the dress cropping up on a countless social media pages

This resourceful shopper even fashioned their Jaspre skirt into a strapless dress by pulling it up underneath her armpits, sharing the results with her Instagram followers

The skirt features a racy thigh slit, a bold animal print, and despite coming in just three sizes it has proved a hit with plus-size bloggers and slimmer fashion fans alike.

Style-watchers will have spotted the dress cropping up on a countless social media pages and blogs, rising to Insta-fame at an alarming pace.

Indeed, fashionistas from all over the globe have been sharing snaps of themselves wearing it on summer holiday - while one resourceful shopper even fashioned theirs into a strapless dress by pulling it up underneath her armpits.

High-profile bloggers including Haya Tetruashvili (@goodgoodgorgeous), Ares (@aresaixala) and Lexy (@lexystv) are also fans.Meghan's best friend Jessica Mulroney has sparked an online debate after heading to straight from the gym to a restaurant without changing clothes.

The unofficial stylist to the Duchess of Sussex was pictured enjoying a drink alongside TV producer Brandon Lankar directly after their joint workout.

Brandon shared a selfie with his pal on Instagram, that showed the pair smiling for the camera in workout vests and leggings.

Captioning the photo Brandon wrote: 'So @JessicaMulroney and I are having a debate.

'Be honest, is it ever acceptable to wear your workout clothes to a restaurant after the gym?'

Jessica Mulroney and her friend and TV producer Brandon Lankar have sparked an online debate over whether it is acceptable to go to a restaurant straight from the gym without changing clothes first

Having come straight from a workout Brandon shared the above selfie and asked his followers to comment on whether they would head straight from a workout to brunch

It was not long before Brandon's 7,400 strong following weighed in with their own opinion on the subject.

In many cases people agreed that what you wore depended on the type of restaurant.

One wrote: 'Not inside a cafe or restaurant, I guess the patio would be okay. Personally I have done it once or twice if strapped for time.'

Many chimed in online to say that it was dependent on the restaurant, deciding that outdoor and more casual places are acceptable

Stylist and businesswoman Jessica, whose children were in the Duchess of Sussex's bridal party, enjoyed a drink with a friend on a patio outside a cafe on Wednesday morning - fresh from a workout

Agreeing another said: 'Depends on the kind of restaurant. Something casual like a cafe or brunch yes but plz towel off& change into a fresh tee!'

Others said that anywhere with serving staff should be avoided following a sweaty workout.

'Casual maybe - sit down of any kind where someone serves you - NO - plus even if casual of any sign of BO - uuummmm NO' wrote one.

However, some were adamant that it is never acceptable, and you should always change your clothes.

However, some said it was completely unacceptable and under no circumstances should you wear the same clothes

'No, no matter how hot you may be. Yuck' wrote a particularly passionate follower.

Experts have previously warned that failing to wash properly immediately or changing clothes immediately after exercise could lead to acne, fungal and bacterial infections or inflamed follicles.

By showering within 20 minutes after exercise, Dr Rigel, clinical professor of dermatology at New York University Medical Centre, said that most of these can be avoided.

'Make sure you shower within 20 minutes of working out with an antibacterial soap...Don't sit in sweaty clothes all day, that's not the move,' he told Daily Mail Online.

Jessica's gym ensemble is rarely one seen in public with high profile events, most notably the royal wedding, seeing her in a range of glamorous ensembles.

The now Duchess of Sussex's close friend, unofficial wedding planner, and now long-distance stylist is one of the most well-connected women in Canada.

She is married to Ben Mulroney, the oldest son of the former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and the couple live in Toronto with their three children; twins Brian and John, and their little girl, Ivy.

Jessica worked as a stylist to the now Duchess of Cambridge and her daughter Ivy (pictured with her mother) was a flower girl at the royal wedding in May

Listing herself as an expert in brand strategy and PR on her very active Instagram feed, Jessica is also a wedding planner and the founder of the Shoebox Project, a charity initiative that distributes shoeboxes full of gifts to women in need.

The McGill University graduate was recently named among the 50 most influential people in Canada by the luxury lifestyle magazine Bay Street Bull, and counts multiple television personalities and female entrepreneurs among her close friends.

She is understood to have taken Meghan under her wing when the then actress was living in Toronto while starring in suits.

The pair are so close Ivy was a flower girl at the royal wedding in May, while Brian and John were page boys given the special task of holding the bride's train as she walked down the aisle in St George's Chapel, at Windsor Castle.A Married at First Sight star who had already started falling for his new wife was in for a rude awakening when he learned that she had been charged with stalking her ex and credit card fraud.

Mia Bally and Tristan Thompson, both 29, were on their way to Cancun, Mexico, for their honeymoon when she was detained at the airport over a warrant that had been issued for her arrest just a few months before.

On Tuesday night's episode of the Lifetime reality series, a worried Tristan met with one of the show's producers, who gave him a copy of the shocking police report.

Stunned: Tristan Thompson, 29, was shocked when he read a copy of the warrant for his new wife Mia Bally's arrest. She was charged with stalking and credit card fraud

Talk about timing: A Married at First Sight producer told Tristan that the warrant was filed the day after they ran a background check on Mia

The producer quickly stressed that the warrant came in the day after they ran a background check on her, but Tristan made it clear that he wasn't try to blame anyone for what happened.

'On the warrant that was issued for Mia's arrest, there are three counts of stalking and one with credit card fraud,' he told the camera, clearly shaken by what he had been told.

'I am feeling a sense of disbelieving disbelief as I am reading this police report.'

Dr. Jessica Griffin spoke with Tristan via video chat, and both she and the producer reminded him that he should really speak to his wife to get the whole story.

Tristan and Mia met as strangers at the altar, but he admitted that he was already starting to have strong feelings for his new wife.

'I was actually really falling for Mia  and falling for her hard,' he told the camera. 'Now this document is showing she may be a stalker and may have committed credit card fraud on her previous boyfriend.'

In custody: The couple was on their way to Mexico for their honeymoon when she was detained at the airport. Mia taken to Tarrant County Jail, where she had a mugshot taken

Yikes: The warrant that was issued for her arrest listed three counts of stalking and one count of unauthorized card use

'This is my worst nightmare,' he added.

Mia spent two days in custody before she was released, but she insisted that she knew nothing about the warrant out for her arrest.

According to the international airline recruiter, her car was stolen and all of her personal information was in there. She claimed the police said it was identify theft and that whoever stole her car also used her information.

Before she was reunited with Tristan, she talked to Dr. Pepper Schwartz and Pastor Calvin Roberson about the charges, saying they were '100 per cent false.' The show's relationship experts were understandably relieved to hear her say it wasn't true.

Tristan was told by producers that all the charges against his new wife were dropped, and while he still had 'a lot of questions,' he gave her a big hug when she walked in the door.

While they were sitting down, Mia casually asked to see the warrant for her arrest, explaining that they wouldn't show it to her because it was a case of 'mistaken identity.'

Her story: Mia told Tristan and the show's producers that she was released after two days in custody because it was a case of 'mistaken identity'

There, there: Tristan gave Mia a big hug after he was reunited with her, and he chose to believe her, even though her story didn't add up

Mia first claimed that the name of the guy who filed the complaint 'doesn't even ring a bell,' and then she said she 'knows of him' through mutual friends.

'Why would he go through all this trouble then?' Tristan asked her. 'I mean it doesn't make sense because it says that you ordered a Christmas gift for him with his card.'

However, he chose to believe Mia when she said none of it was true. He didn't think the charges would be dropped if she had actually committed those crimes.

'If you say its not true, its not true,' he told her.

Mia's explanation didn't really make a whole lot of sense, and a clip for next week's episode reveals that she has gotten caught lying to Tristan about something big.

It's probably safe to say that this won't be the last time the couple discusses the charges against her.

Story with holes: Mia first claimed that the name of the guy who filed the complaint 'doesn't even ring a bell,' and then she said she 'knows of him' through mutual friends

Honeymoon: Dave Flaherty, 37, and Amber Martorana, 36, became the first couple to consummate their marriage

Earlier this week, Monsters and Critics published Mia's mugshot after the Ouachita Parish Sheriffs Office in Louisiana confirmed to the outlet that her ex-boyfriend had filed a complaint against her.

Mia, whose real name is Ameea Janice Bally, was taken to Tarrant County Jail in Texas after she was detained at the airport in March. She had her mugshot taken there, but she was released after Ouachita Parish declined to extradite her.

According to police reports, Mia's ex boyfriend, Jared Evans, filed two complaints with the police in Monroe, Louisiana in 2017 and two more in 2018.

The two broke up during Christmas of 2016, and in the report from June 2017, he claimed she kept showing up at his home and place of employment.

Two months later, he filed a second report in which he alleged that she was repeatedly calling and texting him as well a showing up at his house.

Temptation: The couple admitted that they could no longer deny their physical chemistry

Uncomfortable: Dave was unhappy to find out that Amber dated one of their mutual friends, but he did his best to assure her that she didn't do anything wrong

He filed another complaint on January 4, 2018, this time alleging that Mia texted him via Facebook the day after Christmas to tell him that she got him a gift.

She reportedly got herself an iPhone and two protection plans on Amazon and left him with the $1,455.18 bill, but he was able to recover the money.

The Monroe Police Department issued a warrant for Mia's arrest on February 6, just a few months before she said 'I do' to Tristan. She was detained in Tarrant County in March when they were flying to Mexico for their honeymoon.

It's safe to say that Mia and Tristan have a lot to work out, and while the other couples' problems seem mild in comparison, they are still there.

Dave Flaherty, 37, and Amber Martorana, 36, became the first couple to consummate their marriage, which wasn't surprising considering their instant physical chemistry.

'Amber and I had sex last night. It had been building up,' he told the cameras. 'I think we had both been trying to push back and wait for the perfect moment, and it was awesome.

Confession: 'I can remember him talking about her so the whole thing is pretty f****d,' Dave said. 'If I had known this going in, I would have dropped out'

A little too traditional: Danielle Bergman, 30, was taken aback when her husband Bobby Dodd, 27, asked if she would be willing to be a stay-at-home mom

'She's beautiful; she's got a great body. I mean it was certainly an enjoyable experience,' he added.

However, Dave was unhappy to find out that Amber dated one of their mutual friends, but he did his best to assure her that she didn't do anything wrong.

'I can remember him talking about her so the whole thing is pretty f****d,' Dave said. 'If I had known this going in, I would have dropped out.'

Dave admitted that he would have broken up with Amber if they were just dating, so he appreciated that being legally married forced him to work through his hangups.

Meanwhile, Danielle Bergman, 30, was still smitten with her southern gentleman of a husband Bobby Dodd, 27, but she realized his traditional upbringing may be a bit too traditional for her taste.

The two were discussing how many kids they wanted to have when Danielle noted that she didn't want to have a child and then wait nine years to have a second.

At odds: Bobby told the camera that he wanted to be the breadwinner and provide for his family, but Danielle admitted she would 'shoot' herself if she had to stay home with her kids

Changing his tune: Danielle later brought up her concerns to Bobby, who insisted that they were partners and wanted whatever she wanted

'I don't know if you can have a nine-year-old and then have another one after that anyway,' he boldly pointed out. 'You'd be like 39 or more.'

'My eggs are going to dry up at some point,' she responded, though it's unclear if she was offended or actually agreeing with him.

Then he explained that he wanted to be the breadwinner and asked if her she would mind being a stay-at-home mom.

'I think I would shoot myself if I had to stay at home with children every day,' she told the camera.

Danielle later brought up her concerns to Bobby, who insisted that they were partners and wanted whatever she wanted.

'Im not trying to have this 1950s lifestyle in 2018,' he assured her.Burger King sparked outrage with a new product promotion that it spotlighted in a commercial this week  but that outrage was entirely the point.

On Tuesday, the fast food chain put out a commercial announcing the addition of 'Chick Fries' to its menu. Chick Fries, the ad explains, are simply their regular chicken fries served in a pink box  but because they come in pink packaging and are made especially for women, they're charging nearly double the price for them.

Unsurprisingly, the being told of the up-charge infuriated quite a few female customers, who were caught on camera complaining about how absurd it is to charge women more for the same product.

Making a statement: Burger King is speaking out against the Pink Tax with its new ad

'Introducing Chicken Fries for $1.69 and Chick Fries [for $3.09]. It's the same Chicken Fries you love, but for way more, because chicks love pink s***,' the parody ad begins.

The video then cuts to several customers learning of the new product and pricing  and, of course, none are happy about it.

It seems that every woman who ordered Chicken Fries was given Chick Fries, and told that their order costs more because of it.

'I'm not paying for that,' says one.

'Why are you charging me more?' asks another woman, astounded, before looking at her boyfriend. 'I ordered the same thing he did.'

When she faced pushback, she added in a frustrated tone: 'I don't give a f*** about the fact that the box is pink.'

The women all grow increasingly angry  until one Burger King manager asks them if they are equally angry when they pay more for things like razor blades at a drug store.

Say what? In a new parody ad, women are told that their Chicken Fries cost more because they are served in a cute pink box

The outrage! Women were caught on camera after ordering Chicken Fries, only to be given the girlier Chick Fries

Nuts! The women all refuse to pay extra for the Chick Fries, which cost nearly double

Uncool: They complain to the employees about the surcharge

Aha! One employee asks if they also protest when charged more for things like razors

Burger King wrote in a tongue-in-cheek explanation for the video that the Chick Fries are 'now available in a pink box so we can charge chicks more for them!'

'Sounds ridiculous right? It is,' the chain went on. 'Womens products cost more 42% of the time. It's called the Pink Tax.

'The BURGER KING brand believes everything should be equal, so we created Chick Fries to shine some light on gender inequality, but our Chicken Fries are $1.69 for all. To help put an end to the Pink Tax, ask your congressman to support the Pink Tax Reform Act.'

They then direct viewers to visit callmycon-gress.com to speak out against the pricing scheme that negatively impacts women.

Specifically, Burger King is in favor of the Pink Tax Repeal Act, which Representative Jackie Speier of California introduced in April.

Taking a stand! Burger King points out that women's products often cost more than similar male products, a practice they disagree with

New bill: The ad was made in support of the Pink Tax Repeal Act

The bill aims to stop companies from pricing similar products differently based on gender.

It would allow 'the Federal Trade Commission to enforce violations, and gives State Attorneys General the authority to take civil action on behalf of consumers wronged by discriminatory practices'.

The bill addresses the so-called 'Pink Tax,' a term used to describe how a product marketed toward women will often be priced higher than a nearly identical one for men. Examples include razors and shaving cream, deodorant, body wash, and clothing items including socks and underwear.

Even toys often get the Pink Tax, with a pink version of the same product costing more than a blue version.

Cause: Representative Jackie Speier of California introduced the bill in April. It aims to end the practice of charging more for women's products

The bill cites a 2015 New York City Department of Consumer Affairs report, which found that women's products are seven per cent more expensive than male version of the same product, on average.

'Women get hit with a double whammy: They make less for doing the same work and they pay more for the same product or service because its for women,' Rep Speier said in a statement, according to The Hill.

'Whether its a pink teddy bear, deodorant from the same manufacturer, or a white laundered shirt, its time to say enough! Discrimination is illegal.'

The bill is still in its earliest stage. The next step would see it considered by committee ,before it is possibly sent on to the House or Senate.

Twenty-seven of Speier's Democratic colleagues signed on, and it has also been endorsed by Consumer Reports, the Consumer Federation of America, the National Womens Law Center, the Consumer Federation of California, and The Womens Foundation of California.The news that actress Sue Johnston puts her lipstick on before she does anything else really made me laugh.

You see, my mum always used to tell me that wearing make-up when you were still in your dressing gown made you look like a tart!

But although I dont put lipstick on before I do anything else, I would feel absolutely naked without it.

Novelist Maeve Haran reveals how she couldn't live without her lipstick as it gives her confidence

Ive always understood the importance of a good lipstick. I can still remember my first, Coral Angel, bought with my pocket money from Woolies at 13. I would put it on in the school loo, cinch in my mac, change my socks for stockings, backcomb my hair, stick my beret on with hair grips and wait for the boys to notice me at the bus stop.

My next significant lipstick moment was my moody Biba period in the early Seventies. With smudgy eyes and lips in shades of dirty pink or faded purple, I perfected my imitation of a bruised plum waiting to be picked.

Even though I was actually studying law at Oxford University, I looked like I was doing a degree in Smouldering. I also went for a curly perm, copied from Maria Schneider, the actress in the famously erotic Last Tango in Paris.

And yes, I can report that the men in the law library were not fully focused on Blackstones Statutes on Contract & Tort when I sashayed past them, pouting my purple lips.

She made the revelation after actress Sue Johnston (pictured) said she puts her lipstick on before she does anything else

Lipstick has its own language, from subtle to bold, intriguing or provocative. Just a touch with a glossy magic tube and you can turn yourself from swot or mouse to vamp or goddess. After the plummy smoulder came something more subtle  brown.

You might think that brown is just, well, brown. But brown has a hundred different tones, from sensuous Tobacco to rich Mahogany. When I was in my 20s brown felt hip. It was something your mother would never have worn  as mine often pointed out.

And from brown it was only a skip and a jump to my passion for Nude. I dipped in and out of this trend for years, but it took off after I read that Angelina Jolie wore a pale Laura Mercier lipstick called Discretion.

Why? What was so irresistible about nude lipstick? Not boastful bright red, but the subtle sexiness of the unmade bed. Nude is sexy as hell, it has a hint of Brigitte Bardot.

The novelist says that lipstick has its own language, from subtle to bold, intriguing or provocative

Nude, of course, should never be mistaken for not wearing lipstick at all.

Its perhaps the most artificial of all looks, often only achieved with several layers and an outline in pencil for maximum impact. Too much and you end up looking like Claudia Winkleman.

Nude is the lipstick of Modern Bad Girls  Kate Moss is the queen of nude. With nude lipstick you could be a temptress, using innocence rather than experience as a tool in the exciting battle of flirtation. Or so I thought.

But nude, to look its best, needs youthful dewy skin. For the more mature woman there is one real challenge of ones lipstick life  the search for the Perfect Red. It is a truth universally acknowledged that there is nothing like the Perfect Red to give confidence.

It proclaims, I am a Woman and I am convinced of my power and my sexuality  unless of course you have lipstick on your tooth. We all know the meaning of scarlet lips: challenging, assertive. From Joan Crawford to Dita Von Teese, red has always meant sexy and self-confident.

Its often remarked that lipstick is a fertility symbol  especially in red. A brazen display a bit like a baboons bottom. Now thats a thought.

She says she bought her first lipstick at 13 and has always understood the importance of a good lipstick

When I became a writer in my 40s, I suddenly had to be photographed a lot, something I have never relished. Red lipstick saved me. I could slap that on and feel I was smart, savvy and self-confident, even if I did come from Worthing!

The other lovely thing about lipsticks is that you can possess loads of them, and often for less than a tenner apiece.

Historically, men have depended on power and money to succeed while women have had to rely on beauty.

Anna Ford, the first woman newsreader on ITN, complained that all anyone ever asked her about was her lipstick colour. Shes right to complain but the rather embarrassing thing is I actually know what her lippy was. It was Shiny Conker from No 7 and you can still buy it in Boots today. I expect, like a lot of women, I secretly bought it because I wanted to be like her  clever and beautiful.

When White House intern Monica Lewinsky, whom President Clinton claimed he didnt have sex with, was interviewed by Barbara Walters in 1999, the same thing happened. The TV network was terrified the public would call to voice their disapproval for having her on. And guess what  almost half the calls were women asking for her lipstick shade.

She says that she hates the idea that, as you get older, the theory is less is more when it comes to make up

The answer, Glaze, by American brand Club Monaco, became a lipstick legend.

More recently, U.S. politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 28, was criticised for revealing details of her red lipstick shade to the hundreds of her followers who asked her about it. It was Besos by Stila and it instantly sold out.

And well done Alexandria for proudly sharing the details and refusing to deny her love of lipstick  while insisting women can change the world. I have suffered agonies when my favourite colour has been discontinued. Body Shop, how could you stop making the lovely, warm brown No 30 when I wore it for five years?

I still live in terror that Mac will stop my current favourite, Taupe, which I can mix with others to make my perfect shade. You cant even stockpile the stuff. Lipstick doesnt keep.

Anyone dismissing this as a trivial topic should know there is nothing like a lipstick to boost your positivity.

As you get older the theory about lipstick  and make-up generally  is that Less Is More. Personally I hate that idea. I love lipstick as much now in my 60s as I did when I was 16  though I do fear looking like one of those terrifying sales ladies they used to have in Selfridges, with lipstick melting into red runnels at the sides of their mouths like ageing vampires. Eugh!

But I will never give it up. In fact, after plum, brown, nude and red maybe its time for coral  exactly where I started all those years ago.Forget Botox, fillers and lasers, women are turning to a peeling facial for a flawless complexion - but you'll need up to two weeks of downtime.

The 'cosmelan' treatment is a popular facial on the market that removes unwanted pigmentation, sun spots, melasma and acne scarring.

Sydney dermal clinician Jodie King said the $1,250 procedure promises to rejuvenate skin, refine pores, glowing complexion and get rids of pigmentation almost instantly.

Scroll down for video

Bachelor in Paradise star Megan Marx (pictured) underwent a cosmelan treatment. Here, she posted a series of 'progress' photos which show's her face after the procedure

Sydney dermal clinician Jodie King said the $1,250 procedure promises to remove unwanted pigmentation almost instantly

'It's one of the most amazing treatments we've had for treating pigments. The results are just... we've never seen anything like it before,' Ms King told Daily Mail Australia.

'Pigments are hard to treat, especially hormonal pigments like melasma - using laser can make it worse but cosmelan is safe, effective and treats all skin types.

'You'll get a total rejuvenation and a healthy, beautiful glow. The biggest change is the pigment - the one-off treatment will give you almost a full clearance.'

The founder of Randwick's Skin Clinic Blyss said they have been offering the treatment to their clients for the past six months.

She said the downtime ranges between three days to four days or 10 to two weeks.

'All dependent on how healthy your skin is and the types of products you use at home,' she said.

'Even though the downtime can last up to two weeks, people do get results fast.'

The 'cosmelan' treatment is a popular peeling facial on the market that removes unwanted pigmentation, sun spots, melasma and acne scarring (stock image)

Following the procedure, women are required to leave the mask on their face between eight to 12 hours after leaving the clinic.

You simply wash off at home with the aftercare products provided.

'When you remove the mask at night, your skin will look red and inflamed. The next day, your skin will feel heated and from there, a lot of peeling will start,' she said.

The procedure works by fading existing pigmentation while sedating the formation of new pigment within the skin, working fast and effectively, without the use of hydroquinone.

To ensure the best results, women are advised to use their 'homecare' products which are provided from the clinic after the treatment.

'We recommended strict guidelines with homecare to ensure the best results. SPF is vital, as well as keeping the skin well hydrated to help reduce dryness,' the website said.

'It's imperative to avoid sun exposure during and after the treatment.'

The reality TV star swears by the procedure despite experiencing 'redness, discomfort and swelling' - but she was left with flawless complexion

Women have been sharing their astonishing skin transformation on social media after undergoing the cosmelan treatment.

Among those include Bachelor in Paradise star Megan Marx who swears by the procedure despite experiencing 'redness, discomfort and swelling'.

Her Instagram post featured a series of 'progress' photos which shows her face following the procedure, carried out by Medical Aesthetics Geraldton.

Megan's skin appeared red and tender in several early images before the end result photos show the stunner looking fresh-faced and flawless.

The caption explained: 'As you can see there is a bit of down time-first 10 to 14 days being the most acute stage as far as redness, discomfort, swelling & peeling.

'After that the magic of cosmelan really starts to appear-reduction of large pigmentation patches and many other anti-ageing benefits such as tightening and brightening.'Advertisement

Mother-of-four Anna Davis has lived through every parent's worst nightmare.

She watched in horror as her three-year-old son Alby Fox choked on a bouncy ball and died in her arms in March before being blessed with newborn Arnhem Oak just three weeks ago.

The tragedy touched a nation but no one was more affected than Anna and the siblings Alby has sadly left behind.

She watched in horror as her three-year-old son Alby Fox (left) choked on a bouncy ball and died in her arms in March before being blessed with newborn Arnhem Oak just three weeks ago (also pictured, her children Acre and Sage)

Posting to her Instagram account The Small Fox on Wednesday Anna revealed her son Acre Roo (pictured), who is a year younger than his brother was, has taken to nicknaming Arnhem in a very special way

Posting to her Instagram account The Small Fox on Wednesday Anna revealed her son Acre Roo, who is a year younger than his brother was, has taken to nicknaming Arnhem in a very special way.

'Acre has been calling Arnhem "Little Alby" and although Arn was already bound for earth before Alby drew skyward, perhaps their souls collided somewhere in the secret realms of brotherhood, with each exchanging a fragment of their golden hearts before venturing on their way,' she captioned a photo of Acre.

Her followers were quick to comment on the beautiful sentiment, stating they believed her words to be true.

Her followers were quick to comment on the beautiful sentiment, stating they believed her words to be true

The Tasmania-based family welcomed the new member to their tribe on July 1 (Acre pictured)

The Tasmania-based family welcomed its new member on July 1.

'Our newest little lion-heart finally decided to descend from the cosmos and emerge into the world,' the new mother wrote on social media.

'How blessed we are to welcome our fourth babe and third cherished son, Arnhem Oak, born lovingly at home this morning.'

Anna Davis, from Tasmania, shared a snap of her newborn, Arnhem Oak, to her Instagram on July 1 (pictured)

A mother-of-four who tragically buried her little boy who died after he choked on a bouncy ball gave birth to a baby son

Ms Davis watched on helplessly as her toddler choked to death on a bouncy ball gifted to him as an early fourth birthday present.

She attempted to pull out the ball - which was only slightly larger than a 50 cent piece - and performed CPR for 16 minutes during an 'excruciating' wait for paramedics.

The toy-shop owner was pregnant with Alby's brother at the time of the heartbreaking ordeal.

Reflecting on the waves of grief that have ebbed and flowed in their charming family's life for the last few months, Ms Davis took to Instagram to talk about her then unborn baby.

She attempted to pull out the ball - which was only slightly larger than a 50 cent piece - and performed CPR for 16 minutes during an 'excruciating' wait for paramedics (Alby and Sage pictured)

Arnhem Oak (pictured) was born just three weeks ago. Anne was pregnant with him during her ordeal with Alby Fox

'While paramedics fought to bring our precious Alby back from the heavens, I knelt by his side, with his hand clutched in my own, as our unborn babe kicked inside my womb,' she wrote.

'And in that moment the overwhelming contrast of life and death reared its ugly beauty in a way I never conceived possible.

'The last few days have been spent swimming through a tidal wave of grief, grappling with the almost incomprehensible thoughts of one sweet life slipping through our fingers only four months ago, while physically and mentally preparing to guide our next little starling into the universe.

'Sometimes this grief is raw and unbridled and takes us all by surprise. And all that we can do is surrender, allow our tears to cleanse the fire, and then set it free.'

The poetic caption accompanied a beautiful photo of Ms Davis when she was pregnant with Alby at 41 weeks.

She watched from just three feet away as her toddler Alby (pictured) choked to death on a bouncy ball gifted to him as an early fourth birthday present

The Tasmanian owner of toy shop The Small Folk was pregnant with Alby's brother at the time of the heartbreaking ordeal (pictured when she was pregnant with Alby)

At the time she was 42 weeks and four days pregnant with Alby's brother, with sister Sage Mila Wren and brother Acre Roo being similarly overdue.

At the time of Alby's death in March the devastated mother clarified some of the heartbreaking details and explain how 'incorrect assumptions' about the tragedy were hurting the grieving family further.

'The heartache we are already experiencing is indescribable,' she wrote.

Reflecting on the waves of grief that have ebbed and flowed in their charming family's life for the last few months, Ms Davis took to Instagram to talk about her then unborn baby (Acre, Alby and Sage pictured)

The poetic caption accompanied a beautiful photo of Ms Davis when she was pregnant with Alby (pictured) at 41 weeks

At the time of Alby's death in March the devastated mother took to social media to clarify some of the heartbreaking details and explain how 'incorrect assumptions' about the tragedy were hurting the grieving family further

'To very briefly clarify some of the most widely spread misconceptions - yes, I tried to save our beautiful boy (including, but not only, undertaking CPR for 16 excruciating minutes until paramedics arrived).

'I was three feet away from Alby when the incident occurred and was by his side within seconds.'

She explained how the ball - which features the smiling face of a character from animated children's program PJ Masks - was larger than the 50 cent piece recommendation for young children's toys.

She explained how the ball - which features the smiling face of a character from animated children's program PJ Masks - was larger than the 50 cent piece recommendation for young children's toys

Mrs Davis also said her son exceeded the ball's choking hazard warning by almost an entire year

Mrs Davis also said her son exceeded the ball's choking hazard warning by almost an entire year.

A picture of the same type of ball was supplied by Mrs Davis to Daily Mail Australia, revealing how it fits inside the palm of her hand.

The ball came in a six pack of assorted colours, which can be found at department store BIG W and various party supplies stores for less than AUD$15.

Alby died after choking on the ball just 40 minutes after telling his mother 'I can't wait to go to bed'

A picture of the same type of ball was supplied by Mrs Davis to Daily Mail Australia, revealing how it fits inside the palm of her handA young bride decided to live-stream her extravagant wedding day on social media, only to find herself abandoned at the altar after the groom got cold feet.

Manow Jutathip Nimnual was set to marry her husband-to-be Phakin Junjerm, 20, in a lavish ceremony in Thailand on July 22.

But the 24-year-old was left stranded alone at the altar in front of their family and friends after he failed to show up on their special day.

And to make things more awkward, the heartbroken bride had to break the news herself to the guests that the groom had 'run away', The Bangkok Post reported.

Footage of the excruciating moment the bride-to-be realised she was stood up was live-streamed and then posted onto her Facebook page

The 24-year-old was left stranded alone at the altar in front of their family and friends after he failed to show up on their special day

Standing on stage in a white wedding gown, Ms Nimnual thanked her family and friends for attending the ceremony before announcing she was ditched at the altar.

She then reportedly apologised sincerely to her guests because she felt she had not taken 'good enough care of them'.

The video shows the devastated woman standing alone on stage before she was comforted by a woman before she spoke to her guests via a microphone

Footage of the excruciating moment she realised she was stood up was live-streamed and then posted onto her Facebook page.

Bride-to-be Manow Jutathip Nimnual (right) was set to marry her husband-to-be Phakin Junjerm, 20, (left) in a lavish ceremony in Thailand on July 22

Manow Jutathip Nimnual was set to marry her husband-to-be Phakin Junjerm, 20, in a lavish ceremony in Thailand on July 22 (pictured of the billboard before their nuptials)

The 24-year-old was left stranded alone at the altar in front of their family and friends

The five-minute video has since attracted more than five million views, and a significant amount of sympathetic and supportive messages from around the world.

The young woman was really looking forward to her big day, with social media pictures showing the extreme lengths they had gone through to organise the event.

Besides having a pre-wedding photoshoot, the couple were also featured on a giant billboard ahead of their nuptials.A five-year-old girl has been dubbed the 'most beautiful in the world' after a photographer shared snaps of her on their Instagram account.

Jare, from Nigeria, was photographed by Mofe Bamuyiwa who shared three stunning portraits of the girl on her Instagram account last week.

The images see the child posing in a simple setting showcasing her enormous eyes and perfectly smooth skin as well as her impressive head of hair.

Five-year-old Jare (pictured left with sisters Jomi, 7, and Joba, 10) has been dubbed the most beautiful girl in the world after photographer Mofe Bamuyiwa shared portraits of the child on her Instagram account last week

Captioning the photo Mofe writes: 'Oh yes shes human ! Shes also an angel!

'I could have made her smile and make her laugh out loud but I put her in their natural moments for us to see through their eyes !'

Fans have been quick to praise Mofe's portraits of the child with the first of the three images amassing 16,000 likes.

Commenting on the photo user serenaqueen22 wrote: 'The most beautiful girl in the world.'

User igeyj added: 'This is what you call the most beautiful girl in the world. Wow.'

Agreeing another added: This beautiful child has Broken the internet'.

The initial portrait received more than 16,000 likes from Mofe's followers who described Jare as a 'beautiful angel'

The second two portraits also received plenty of praise from followers who were 'enchanted' by the child's looks.

Mofe surprised some of her followers while describing her process behind the photograph admitting she wanted the child to look 'more adult'.

Captioning the first portrait she said: 'The opportunity came and I had to take a bold step to express my ideas of how I want to take portraits of kids.

'I want to portray the interception between her childhood and adulthood so both stay timeless!'

She adds: 'Posing them as adults ! Was my trick to create it a timeless portrait!'

She follows in the footsteps of Anna Pavaga, 8, who was hailed as the world's most beautiful girl in December

Fellow Russian model Anastasia Knyazeva, six, has also been dubbed 'the most beautiful girl in the wold' on Instagram

Little is known about Jare but Mofe has revealed that she is not a professional model.

The five-year-old lives with her two sisters - Jomi, 7, and Joba, 10, who also pose on their own Instagram account The J3 Sisters.

Mofe told Yahoo Lifestyle that she inspired the childrens mother to launch the Instagram page, where they already have more than 5,000 followers.

Jare follows on from other youngsters whose appearances on social media saw them earn the title of the most beuatiful girl in the world.

In December Anna Pavaga, 8, was hailed as the world's most beautiful girl after a successful modelling career starting at the age of three.

She appeared in fashion campaigns for dozens of campaigns all over the world, including in China , as well as the glossy pages of Vogue Enfants, a supplement of French Vogue.

And earlier the same month six-year-old Anastasia Knyazeva, also from Russia, hit the headlines earlier this month, after being hailed 'the most beautiful girl in the world'.A woman who wed her husband on Don't Tell The Bride has told of her heartache after discovering his affair just months after they said 'I do' on camera.

Bianca John, 25, from Pontypool, Monmouthshire, married Adam Ledner, 34, in April 2016 before giving birth to their son Brock in June that year.

Her suspicions were aroused when in March 2017 he started to become 'distant', just a few months later the mum-of-one's world collapsed when Adam was taken ill and fell into a coma for three days.

Shockingly, as Bianca sat by his bedside during a visit to hospital, a message from another woman flashed up on his phone, she told the Sun.

A devastated Bianca discovered he had been having a five-month affair- which started just nine months after she gave birth to their little boy, now two.

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Bianca John, 25, from Pontypool, Monmouthshire, married her husband Adam Ledner, 34, on Don't Tell The Bride in 2016, before discovering he was having an affair - just 11 months after the couple said 'I do' in front of the cameras

Bianca, then seven months pregnant, married Adam in April 2016 on television before giving birth to their son Brock in June of that year (seen on the show)

Infuriated, she drove all of his possessions to the hospital and told him she was leaving him when he woke up.

Recalling the traumatic incident, Bianca told The Sun about the moment she uncovered the affair.

After seeing a message from another woman flash up on her husband's phone, Bianca said: 'Curiosity got the better of me and as I scrolled through the rest of Adam's messages I found conversations of him bragging to his mates about having sex with another woman multiple times.'

Recalling her shock, Bianca revealed that she messaged the other woman from his phone to tell her she knew all about them.

But just a few months later the mother-of-one's world collapsed when Adam was taken ill and fell into a coma for three days (seen on the show in happier times)

'The next day I went home, threw all his things in his car and dropped his keys off with [the hospital] nurses. I made sure they phoned me every few hours to give me an update on his situation,' she added.

Bianca told how Adam called her upon waking up to an empty room, and she told him that she knew everything and would never take him back.

'I was devastated', she added. 'Adam took the phrase Don't Tell The Bride to a whole new level. I'm just glad I'm rid of that rat.'

Bianca met Adam on dating app Tinder in 2014 before the couple spent time travelling together.

During a visit to hospital a message from another woman flashed up on his phone, with Bianca discovering he had been having a five month affair- which started just nine months after she gave birth to their little boy, now two (seen on the show in 2016)

In July 2016, scenes aired showing heavily pregnant Bianca, aged 23 at the time, breaking down in tears over Adam's tacky choices on Don't Tell The Bride

Just over a year after meeting, Adam proposed to his bride in Thailand by spelling out 'Marry me?' in rose petals and candles.

But 18 months after his romantic proposal, in July 2016, scenes aired showing heavily pregnant Bianca, aged 23 at the time, breaking down in tears over Adam's 'tacky choices' on Don't Tell The Bride.

The programme, which aired on Sky 1 and NOW TV, saw the couple provided with 14,000 to pay for their dream wedding.

As per the show's format, the pair were kept apart for three weeks leading up to the big day, leaving the groom to plan the entire wedding, and they weren't able to communicate until they met again at the alter.

The ceremony then took place aboard a plane, costing the groom 5000, much to Bianca's dismay

Their reception was held at a warehouse covered in 400 worth of sand and 130 of plastic buckets

Bianca has now separated from Adam for good and added: 'Adam took the phrase Don't Tell The Bride to a whole new level. I'm just glad I'm rid of that rat.' (seen on the show)

However Bianca, at the time seven months pregnant, was horrified to see that Adam had bought her a 140 knee-length bridal gown.

The ceremony took place aboard a plane, costing the groom 5,000, and their reception was held at a warehouse covered in 400 worth of sand and 130 of plastic buckets.

Livid, Bianca was seen telling her new husband: 'Babe it's awful. It's proper like s***'.

'The suit's tacky the dress is tacky, the flowers are tacky.

'At least you kept a link and it all ties in. I don't hate it it's just like shocking.'Britian's smallest couple who were born with different forms of dwarfism are set to welcome their second child.

Four-foot-one Laura, 28, and three-foot-eleven Nathan Phillips, 38, of Sunderland, who married in a fairytale ceremony after meeting while performing in Snow White together, are expecting the birth of their new baby boy in September.

Laura and Nathan were both born with a different form of dwarfism: Laura has Achondroplasia and Nathan, Pseudoachondroplasia.

Their first child, Nathan Junior, was their miracle baby as he was born as a rare 'double dwarf' as he has both of his parent's forms of dwarfism and was told he wouldn't survive birth.

Their second child could have both forms too, they've been told.

Laura Phillips having her 24 week scan, with her husband Nathan at Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary. There are signs their second baby has dwarfism too

Nathan and his wife Laura (left) will welcome their second baby in September. They had their first child Nathan Junior (pictured) four years ago, who is thriving after his parents were told he wouldn't survive birth

Nathan Jr was only given hours to live and at the time, he was the only 'double-dwarf' living in the UK.

Despite the odds, he is thriving now and is due to start school in the same month that his baby brother is born.

And now, Laura and Nathan are anxiously waiting to find out whether their unborn son will also carry both of their types of dwarfism  and become the second 'double-dwarf' of the family.

Laura, 28, said: 'Passing down just my type of dwarfism to our new child is a one in four chance. He could either have Achondroplasia, Pseudoachondroplasia, he could be average height or he could be like little Nathan and have both.

Nathan, who works in banking, and Laura, a full-time mother, met while performing in pantomime in a production of Snow White

Four years ago, Laura (left) gave birth to Nathan Junior, their first child. Miraculously, Nathan Jr was born as a double-dwarf in that he has both of his parent's dwarfism. Her husband Nathan (right) has Pseudoachondroplasia while Laura has Achondroplasia

'We're just really excited about it all now. Hopefully the rest of the pregnancy will be relaxed and smooth.'

In the last few weeks, Laura and Nathan attended the Royal Victoria Infirmary, in Newcastle, for Laura's 24-week scan.

Whilst there were no conclusive results, both parents believe the scan showed strong signs of their son carrying a form of dwarfism.

Laura said: 'He definitely looked like how Nathan Jr did on his scan. You could see features of Achondroplasia, my condition, straight away.

'With Achondroplasia, we don't have the bone in our nose and then our forehead comes out. And our hands, we have the big gap between our fingers. He showed these signs on the scan.'

Full-time mother, Laura, tied the knot with Nathan two years ago after initially meeting whilst they were performing in a pantomime together in Bath.

Nathan Junior was not expected to live past birth but four years later he is a happy and healthy toddler who is thriving at school. His mother Laura said that although he's small, he's 'mentally there'

Nathan, who works in banking, said: 'We got to know each other before the end of the run and from that point we haven't been apart.'

Nathan Jr acted as the ring bearer at his parent's wedding, and the four-year-old is happy and healthy despite a few setbacks along the way.

Nathan said: 'I think with every parent, your first child is everything and you are apprehensive about all sorts.

'Nothing was ever going to be different. They could have said half of him was from Mars and it wouldn't have changed a thing. He is still our beautiful little boy.'

Laura added: 'We found out that he had both conditions two weeks after I gave birth. They have to do tests really early on.

Laura and Nathan say they can't wait to welcome their second baby in September (pictured at their 24-week scan in June)

'Since then, he's had some surgeries and some delays. It's quite strange because there's no one else we can go and talk to about his condition  because no one else has it that we know.

'He's just like everyone else, but little. He attends nursery four times a week. He's physically very small, but mentally he's all there.'

And living their lives as 'normal' as possible is something that has always been important to both Laura and Nathan.

Especially with the way their height is still treated by some members of society.

Nathan said: 'To some people it's still a myth  you know, 'there's no such things as dwarfs' they'll say, 'they're from fairytales'.

'And you just think well, my goodness that lack of education there. Is it deliberate? Is it by accident? Are we so small that we are forgotten about?

'Or is poking fun at dwarfs, the last acceptable form of prejudice? And there is no one stopping people from doing that.

'Why pick on someone that has been picked on all their lives? Where is the education against that? We just hope little Nathan doesn't have to experience much of it.'A serial mistress has revealed how she enjoyed her most expensive ever date when her married lover whisked her off to Paris for a romantic weekend at a cost of 75,000.

Gweneth Lee, 46, from Chelsea, West London and her mystery man flew to Paris by private jet, where they stayed at The Ritz, dined in a three star Michelin restaurant and went on a 13,000 shopping spree.

The date culminated in the widow taking part in a 10,000 Fifty Shades of Grey themed erotic photoshoot alongside the city's most famous landmarks including the Pont Alexandre III bridge and the Eiffel Tower.

The businesswoman, who claims to have dated more than 100 married men, said: 'My lover is like a real-life Christian Grey with a string of businesses ranging from tech to property.

'But he is real interest is sex and the kind of kinky games that Christian enjoys in the Fifty Shades of Grey books and films.

'He loves erotic imagery and it was his idea to hire one of Paris's finest erotic photographers for the shoot. We went from landmark to landmark and my lover choreographed all the shots.

Gweneth Lee, 46, from Chelsea, West London has enjoyed her most expensive ever date, thanks to a married lover who whisked her to Paris for a 75K romantic weekend

The business woman and her married lover preparing to board their private jet to Paris

'My favourite is the one next to the famous Pont Alexandre III bridge that crosses the Seine connecting the Champs-Elysees with the Eiffel Tower. It is one of the most romantic locations in the world but also highly erotic.

'We went straight back to the Ritz afterwards and made love while we chose the most smouldering shots for the shoot.

'I will always cherish the pictures we shot in Paris because they are a permanent reminder of one of the best weekends of my life.''

Gweneth's 75K trip to Paris Two nights at the Imperial Suite at the Ritz including meals, champagne, spa treatments and tips: 40,000 Erotic photoshoot at Paris's most famous landmarks: 10,000 Private jet from London to Paris: 8,000 Dinner at the three Michelin-star restaurant Arpege: 4,000 Erotic lingerie at the famous Carine Gilson boutique in Rue de Grenelle: 3,000 Designer outfits at the Dior boutique in Avenue Montaigne: 10,000 Total = 75,000 Advertisement

Ms Lee has been dubbed 'Britain's most prolific mistress' after dating at least 100 married men who treat her to expensive holidays all over the world. She got a taste for the high-life when she was married to her late oil executive husband Robert, who died from cancer ten years ago.

They were both having affairs on IllicitEncounters.com a dating website for married people, and she simply carried on using the same site to meet more lovers after his death.

She says she prefers dating married men because ''they are wealthy and they just want no-strings fun and sex.''

During her weekend away in Paris was taken to the city by private jet and stayed in the 15,000-a-night Imperial Suite at the Ritz Hotel.

The couple dined at the three-Michelin starred Arpege restaurant where their dinner for two was 4,000 due to the champagne they consumed.

Other treats in the Paris weekend included a 10,000 shopping trip to the Dior boutique in Avenue Montaigne and 3,000-worth of erotic lingerie from the Carine Gilson boutique in Rue de Grenelle.

The highlight of the trip for Gweneth was a bondage-themed photoshoot with one of Paris' most exclusive photographers. Here she's seen cracking a whip with the Eiffel Tower in the background

Gweneth outside a cafe in Paris. The Londoner also enjoyed a 13,000 shopping spree during the trip, funded by her married lover

Ms Lee added: ''The trip to Paris was "Christian's" little to treat for me to celebrate five years of dating.

'He lives in London and has a fairly detached relationship from his wife who is busy bringing up their two teenage children and doesn't share her husband's love of the kinky stuff.

'She is French and accepts that he will have affairs as long as they don't interfere with family life and I am one of several women he sees.

'I know one of his other lovers, a beautiful PA in her late 20s, because our dates overlapped once and he introduced us.

Gweneth got a taste for the high-life when she was married to her late oil executive husband Robert, who died from cancer ten years ago

Striking a seductive pose by the Pont Alexandre III bridge. The photoshoot took pace early in the morning to avoid the prying eyes of tourists

'I will always cherish the pictures we shot in Paris because they are a permanent reminder of one of the best weekends of my life.'It was a weekend I will never forget where no expense was spared to ensure we had the time of our lives.

'The highlight was the unforgettable photoshoot in many of the most famous locations in Paris shot by Santillo, who specialises in the finest erotic photography.

'The only way we were able to do it was getting up at dawn so we got the very best light and could shoot without being swamped by tourists and over-inquisitive gendarmes.''

Gweneth in purple jacket and lingerie in Paris. She said the trip was one of the most memorable experiences of her life

Gweneth, pictured in Paris, knows her lover has several mistresses and has even met with one of them when their dates overlapped

Gweneth drinking a cafe au lait in Paris. She said that no expense was spared during the trip to ensure they both had the time of their lives

Mis Lee and her lover travelled the date on his private jet - cost around 8,000 for the return trip. She said: 'People boast about turning only want to 'turn left' when they fly, meaning walking to the first class seats.

'But that is nothing compared to a travelling by private jet. My lover goes everywhere on his, even taking his beloved black Labrador with him. Thankfully the dog skipped the trip to Paris but he's flown with us on other trips.

'You can join the Mile High Club any time you like on a private jet and not worry about the air stewards banging on the door.'

Her lover enlisted a professional who specialises in the finest erotic photography to take a series of striking pictures of Gweneth during their trip to ParisShe has won a legion of fans with her impeccable wardrobe choices since marrying into the royal family.

And Queen Letizia of Spain continued to put on an stylish display as she attended an arts lecture in Oviedo, Asturias, in northwest Spain on Thursday.

The wife of King Felipe VI, 45, opted for an elegant denim shirt dress with slingbacks, waving as she sat alongside Asturias' regional president Javier Fernandez.

The Caddli dress costs 179 from Hugo Boss, one of Letizia's favourite high street labels.

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Queen Letizia of Spain put on an impeccable display in a denim dress as she attended an arts lecture in Oviedo, Asturias, northwest Spain on Thursday

The long-sleeved dress was cinched in at the waist by a wide belt, and fell just below the knee.

Buttoned up to the neckline, the mother-of-two teamed it with a tan clutch, and wore her hair in a sleek side parting.

Letizia sat alongside president Javier Fernandez and foundation president Luis Fenandez Vega at the lecture offered by Spanish stage manager Emilio Sagi.

The event was part of the summer courses of the Princess of Asturias International Music School.

The Princess of Asturias Foundation was launched in 1990 to help lay the foundations for the quality training of young people from around the world.

Letizia sat alongside president Javier Fernandez (third left) and foundation president Luis Fenandez Vega (left) at the lecture offered by Spanish stage manager Emilio Sagi

Queen Letizia is mother to Princesses Leonor, 12, and Sofia, 10, with husband King Felipe, 50, who ascended to the Spanish throne in 2014.

Letizia's husband King Felipe, who was not present, has been President of the Princess of Asturias Foundation since 1980.

The foundation was formerly known as the Prince of Asturias Foundation, but was changed to reflect the Spains presumptive heir to the throne, Princess Leonor, who will begin to preside over PAFs award ceremony when she comes of age in 2023.

Queen Letizia is mother to Princesses Leonor, 12, and Sofia, 10, with husband King Felipe, 50, who ascended to the Spanish throne in 2014 (seen in 2014)

Over the years Letizia, a former newsreader, has worked hard to promote causes she is passionate about.

These include education, innovation, rare diseases, and particularly in nutrition, working closely with the UNs World Health and Food and Agriculture Organisations.

King Juan Carlos abdicated in 2014 in favour of his 48-year-old son, now King Felipe VI.A guest on Thursday's Good Morning Britain has come under fire after suggesting that women should be 'covering up' during the British heatwave.

Columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, appeared on the ITV breakfast show alongside Lady Nadia Essex to debate whether women should be dressing more 'modestly' in the hot weather.

Yasmin, who suggested it was time to 'pull back' from the 'extraordinary levels of undress' she'd witnessed in public during the heatwave, is of the opinion that 'women are dressing more provocatively than street walkers touting for business,' but viewers were unconvinced by her 'Victorian' views.

Speaking to presenters Ben Shepherd and Kate Garraway, Yasmin explained: 'I'm not a prude I was just talking about being a bit more prudent.

Columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, appeared on Good Morning Britain alongside Lady Nadia Essex to debate whether women should be 'covering up' during the heatwave

'I remember my mother saying to me is this good for you? Is this better for men that you are dressing like this? Who is it pleasing?

'There are some pretty extraordinary levels of undress even in parliamentary buildings. It made me think maybe we need to pull back.'

However, Lady Nadia, of Celebs Go Dating, says that she strongly disagrees with notion that women should be policed in what they wear because of the way men might act.

She said: 'I have a problem with that type of thinking massively.

Yasmin said that 'women are dressing more provocatively than street walkers touting for business'

Lady Nadia argued that what a woman wears should be her choice as long as she feels comfortable wearing it

'I'm of the belief when you start telling women what to wear in order to stop, for example assault or to cover up in terms of leering what you do is you make them more vulnerable. The women then that dress provocatively are fair game to predators.'

However, Yasmin was insistent that by dressing this way women are going against feminist values.

'We are more than bodies' she added 'One of feminists biggest battles was to be seen as more than just bodies I want to be seen for everything else we are.'

Many viewers were astounded that the debate was being discussed in 2018, describing Yasmin's views as 'Victorian'

Adding to her argument she said: 'At some music festivals this year there were young women turning up with just tape over the tops of their bosoms that's all they wore, I mean is that OK?'

Responding Lady Nadia argued: 'Of course it's OK! If it feels good of course it's OK.

'I think we have to empower women to know that they want to put glitter on their boobs and go out like that, it's OK and they're safe.'

The debate sparked a heated discussion among viewers on Twitter with many siding with Lady Nadia.

A few viewers shared Yasmin's view calling for women to dress more 'respectfully'

Remarking on Yasmin's comments one said: 'Have we travelled back to the Victorian times with this debate?'

Agreeing another said: 'If I had a fantastic figure I would be wearing a string bikini permanently in the weather! However I dont but that doesnt mean I shouldnt be able to! It is 2018!'

And while most were in agreement with Lady Nadia a few agreed they would like to see a more 'respectful' fashion.

'My mother taught me that more is less. You cover up and men's imagination works' tweeted one.

Another commented: 'Personally I dont have a lot on show ever lol but who says you cant! Embrace your beautiful self if this wonderful weather! But do it respectfully.'Advertisement

They are known for defying royal protocol with public displays of affection and today Prince Harry and his new wife Meghan looked enamoured as ever as they kissed during the prize presentation at the end of a charity polo game.

The Duchess, 36, was eager to congratulate her husband after his Sentebale St Regis team won 5-4 over Royal Salute, with the Prince scoring two goals at the Sentebale Polo Cup - held to raise funds for Harry's charity which supports young people with HIV and Aids in Lesotho.

Meghan, 36, who was channelling 50s chic in a 2,357.50 navy dress by Carolina Herrera, gave handsome victorious team captain, international polo legend and male model Nacho Figueras, a friendly peck on each cheek - but only had eyes for one man, Prince Harry.

As they walked away from the prize presentation Meghan could be seen affectionately rubbing the princes back before the pair walked off hand in hand, showing that the honeymoon period between the newly-weds certainly hasnt cooled off.

And if further proof were needed, Harry's close friend and fellow player Nacho said afterwards: The Duchess is lovely and wonderful. Im very happy for Harry. They are both lucky to have found each each other and I am very excited about this new chapter in his life.

Figueras said Meghan had been excited to present the prize at today's match, joining a long list of royal ladies - including Diana, Princess of Wales - to hand out a polo trophy.

She said she enjoyed the game. She watched the game with my wife which was wonderful because she could learn more about the game,' he explained.

'It was great that I got to play with Harry because we normally play against each other. Harry played great. They are very, very happy together.

Meghan rewarded her husband Prince Harry with a kiss today (26 July) after his team won the Sentebale Polo Cup in Berkshire, held to raise funds for the charity he founded to support children with HIV and Aids in Lesotho

The newlyweds are known for shunning royal protocol by openly showing affection in public, and today was no different as they joined friends and polo players at the Sentebale Polo Cup in Windsor

Harry's close friend Nacho was left playing the gooseberry as he tried to present Harry with the winner's trophy on Thursday

The couple's kiss this afternoon showed that the honeymoon period between the newlyweds certainly hasnt cooled off

Vintage glamour: Meghan, 36, who was channeling 50s chic in a 2,357.50 navy dress by Carolina Herrera at the polo today

Deja vu: The couple's embrace this week had strong echoes of the passionate kiss the couple shared on the steps of St. George's Chapel, Windsor on May 19 (pictured)

Heir we go! Prince Harry took to the polo field for the charity game, while his supportive wife Meghan looked on from the stands, in Berkshire on Thursday

Proud wife Meghan gave her husband an affectionate pat on the back as they walked away together after the prize giving. The Duchess of Sussex, 36, showed her prowess at elegant summer dressing in a navy Carolina Herrera dress as she attended the Sentebale Polo Cup 2018 held at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club

Meghan presented the trophy to international player and model Nacho Figueras who is a close friend of Harry's at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club on Thursday

The Duchess and Prince Harry posed for photos ahead of the game, and Meghan is later expected to present prizes to the winners. The former Suits star carried a small woven clutch and paired her ensemble with nude heels by Aquazzura

Ready for action: Harry looked every inch the seasoned player as he took part in a charity fundraising polo match in aid of children in Africa living with HIV and Aids, held at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club on Thursday

Proud moment! Meghan couldn't contain her delight as she applauded Harry during the prize-giving ceremony. The Duchess looked radiant as she enjoyed a sunny afternoon at The Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club

Prince Harry showed off his skills at the Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup at Berkshire Polo Club. The royal was no doubt excited to take part in the charity tournament to raise money for the charity he founded in Lesotho

Retired rugby player Mike Tindall, who is married to Harry's cousin Zara, turned out to lend his support. Meghan kept her cool in a a navy dress by Carolina Herrera, which accentuated her waist with a belt, at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club

The Duchess and Prince Harry walked off together hand-in-hand, proving they're still basking in that honeymoon glow. Meghan presented the trophy to Nacho Figueras, who later said he was excited to see Harry enjoying a new chapter of his life

He laughed at suggestions that Meghan wanted to learn to play polo, saying: What are you reading?! Do you use Google or what? Sometimes it doesnt work!

Proud royal father Mike Tindall, who is married to Harry's cousin Zara was also in the crowd to support the royal and gave an update on his family life, a month after their second daughter Lena, was born saying 'it's been brilliant so far. So far so good I can't complain - [Lena] eats, sleeps.'

He said he and wife Zara, the Queen's grand-daughter, were finding a lot the clothes they had bought for their new baby hadn't been needed in the heatwave.

'It's a bit hot. You buy all these clothes and they never need them. We just use nappies, but I'm not going to complain about hot weather in England,' he said.

Lena was born on June 18. The couple, who have an older daughter Mia, four, had previously lost another child after Zara suffered a miscarriage.

How Harry's gap year trip inspired his charity work In 2004, Harry spent two months in the southern African kingdom of Lesotho during his gap year, and the experience made a lasting impression on the then 19-year-old. He has since returned many times and founded his charity Sentebale - meaning 'forget me not' - in 2006 in honour of his mother Diana to help disadvantaged children in the land-locked kingdom. Earlier this week, Harry joined pop star Elton John to launch a campaign to raise HIV awareness among men, warning that 'dangerous complacency' about the virus threatened the quest to wipe it out. The billion-dollar project 'MenStar' will target men living with or at risk of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, which has been ravaged by AIDS since the 1980s. Advertisement

Victory! Harry and Meghan celebrate with the Sentebale St Regis team after they won the charity match 5-4 with Harry scoring two goals at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club

After presenting the trophy to team captain Nacho, Meghan turned to her husband to congratulate him with a kiss following his match at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club on July 26

Meghan was spotted catching up with Prince Harry's long-term friend and former mentor Mark Dyer in the stands. The Duchess smiled as she watched her husband take part in the charity game in aid of his charity Sentebale

The Duchess teamed her navy swing dres with nude heels by Aquazzura, her favourite shoe brand. She cut an elegant figure as she walked the red carpet with Delfina Blaquier, the wife of polo player Nacho Figueras

The couple arrived together on the red carpet for the match in aid of Harry's own charity, Sentebale, and posed with their arms around each other along with (left to right) Sentebale's CEO Cathy Ferrier, chairman Johnny Hornby, polo international Nacho Figueras and his wife, Delfina

'Zara wanted to come but it was (unable). She's doing really well - it's been brilliant so far,' he added.

Earlier this afternoon, the royal couple arrived together on the red carpet for the match in aid of Harry's own charity, Sentebale, which supports children in Africa living with HIV and Aids.

They posed with their arms around each other along with polo international Nacho Figueras and his wife, Delfina, plus the charity's CEO Cathy Ferrier and chairman, Johnny Hornby.

Meghan teamed her chic dress with delicate blue topaz earrings from her favourite brand Birks, and carried a fan rattan clutch from J. Crew, currently on sale for the bargain price of 44 - and previously spotted on Kate's younger sister Pippa at Wimbledon only last month.

She teamed the ensemble with nude Deneuve Bow pumps by her go-to shoe designer Aquazzura.

After enjoying lunch with sponsors and charity supporters, Harry took to the field for the Sentebale Polo Cup at The Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club in support of his charity of the same name, with his number one fan Meghan cheering him on from the stands.

Before Harry took to the pitch this afternoon, the royal couple were treated to canapes including Mozzarella ice cream in a Parmesan cone, Scottish langoustine and macadamia and puffed scallop wonton with pickled turnip at the event, all served up by leading society caterer Table Talk.

Meghan carried a bargain bag from J.Crew, which is currently on sale for just 44. She accessorised with delicate blue topaz earrings from her favourite jewellery brand Birks

Doting husband Harry kept a close eye on his new bride as they left their photocall to enjoy lunch with sponsors and supporters

Harry is playing on the Sentebale St Regis team, captained by Sentebale Ambassador Nacho Figueras, a long-time friend of the prince's

For lunch the royal couple ate Wye Valley asparagus, hazelnut mayonnaise, toasted hazelnuts and crispy prosciutto to start, a roasted rump of Salt Marsh lamb with red pepper ketchup, salad of new season garlic and edamame, lamb breast fritter, pickled radish and shiso for main and a trio of miniature desserts consisting of a Table Talk Ferrero Rocher, Calamansi lime meringue pie and British raspberries and cream Mille feuille.

Former actress Meghan is becoming well versed in the sport and attended the Audi Polo Challenge in Ascot to cheer on her man as he competed with his brother at the end of June, accompanied by her friend Serena Williams.

And the newlyweds made their first appearance as a couple when they attended the Audi Polo Challenge at Coworth Park, Berkshire, in May last year where they were spotted embracing in the car park.

Solicitous Harry checked on his new bride as they departed from their photocall. Former England rugby player Mike Tindall, arrived to lend his support to Harry who is the cousin of his wife Zara

The sporting fixture has become an important annual event raising funds and awareness for Sentebale, an organisation which works with children and teenagers in Lesotho and Botswana who are coming to terms with being HIV positive, have Aids or have lost their parents to the disease.

The polo event, being held at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club, usually features international professional players and talented amateurs.

Harry will play on the Sentebale St Regis team, captained by Sentebale Ambassador Nacho Figueras, against the Royal Salute team, captained by Malcolm Borwick.

A 2004 gap year trip to the landlocked African nation of Lesotho inspired the duke to set up his charity two years later with the country's Prince Seeiso, younger brother of King Letsie III.

Their aim was to help youngsters in need and other children who had lost one or both parents to Aids or contracted the disease themselves.

Meghan is known for her fondness for affordable handbags and today carried a fan clutch by J. Crew that's currently reduced to 44 in the brand's summer sale for her visit to the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club

Harry and his new wife will enjoy lunch before Meghan takes her place in the stands to watch her husband compete at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club on Thursday

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are attending the Sentebale Polo Cup in Berkshire, an annual event which raises funds for Harry's Sentebale charity which supports young people with HIV and Aids in Lesotho

Meghan showed she's mastered the art of heatwave dressing in a sleeveless navy dress by Carolina Herrera. Harry looked relaxed as he chatted to his friend Nacho Figueras, who attended the royal wedding in May

In November 2015 Sentebale opened its 2 million Mamohato Children's Centre in Lesotho to scale up its Mamohato camps, a residential project providing psychological, social and practical support to children struggling to cope with being HIV positive.

Harry most recently travelled to the southern African kingdom last month to open a community hall on behalf of Sentebale.

He met children at the Phelisanong Children's Centre in Pitseng, Leribe during what Kensington Palace described as a 'private visit' without his new wife Meghan.

The snaps show the newly-married royal playing balloons with local children, while one cheeky youngster tries on his sunglasses.

The Duke and Duchess put their arms around each other as they posed for a photo ahead of the game. Meghan was seen catching up with Delfina Blaquier, the wife of Nacho Figueras, who attended the royal wedding back in May

The Duchess is later expected to follow in the footsteps of other royals including Princess Diana by handing out the prizes to the winning and losing players for the first time. Meghan wowed during the outing in a midi-length dress with a full skirt by Carolina HerreraA man has given a Facebook scammer a taste of their own medicine by inundating them with bizarre pictures online.

Tom Sheerin, from Liverpool, received a message from a profile claiming to be a woman named 'Clara' from Texas on Wednesday.

The scammer had started up a conversation by messaging Tom with her name and location, before adding 'Baby, are you there?'

Tom replied: 'Are you really the person in the picture? I've had so many messages from fake profiles... I hope you understand'.

Tom Sheerin , from Liverpool, has given a Facebook scammer a taste of their own medicine by inundating them with strange pictures online

He received a message from a profile claiming to be a woman named 'Clara' from Texas on Wednesday

The scammer started up a conversation by messaging Tom with her name and location, before adding 'Baby, are you there?'

Immediately calling him 'baby', Clara replied with a picture of a semi-clad woman posing on a bed.

Responding wittily, Tom questioned: 'All I see is a picture of a yellow VW beetle is that your car?'

In broken English Clara then replied: ' Smile. Baby you funny', to which Tom feigned confusion, asking: 'I don't understand, are you trying to trick me? It's a nice car but not what I was expecting'.

After exchanging dozens of messages, Tom shared the hilarious conversation to Facebook, with it garnering multiple comments from his amused followers.

'Omg not again', one exclaimed, referring to his previous exchange. Another added: 'Savage!' and one wrote: 'I think you've found your vocation'.

Immediately calling him 'baby', Clara replied with a picture of a semi-clad woman posing on a bed, but Tom pretended he could only see a car

Clara then pleaded with Tom to send the picture back, to which he shared a snap of an elephant

Not done with his jokes, Tom then said: 'I have to go now to attend a toast emergency. I'll be in touch soon. Was a pleasure, though confusing.'

Clara then attempted to take their Facebook messenger relationship to the next level, adding: 'Okay baby I love you.', to which he responded: 'I love me too'.Charles Bronson's wife has admitted she has a drink and prescription drugs problem, after it emerged the notorious prisoner is to divorce her over holiday photos that showed her with a man's face buried in her cleavage.

Paula Williamson dissolved in tears during an appearance on Thursday's episode of Loose Women, after a statement sent in to the show from his cell by Bronson - dubbed Britain's most violent prisoner - in which he accused of her being addicted to drugs and alcohol was read aloud on air.

Part of the statement read: 'Paula has disrespected me, my mum and most of all herself. I can't accept that kind of behaviour from somebody who's supposed to be my wife.'

The emotional 37-year-old admitted that her addictions 'need to stop' and that she had 'humiliated' him, before crediting Bronson, now known as Charles Salvador, for making her realise she had a problem.

It emerged last week that Bronson was divorcing her after pictures surfaced of Paula with a man's head between her breasts taken on a wild night out in Tenerife.

The pair married at HMP Wakefield in November last year, after they struck up a relationship when they began writing to one another in 2013.

Charles Bronson's wife Paula Williamson has admitted she has a drink and prescription drugs problem (pictured on Loose Women today)

'Disrespectful': When photographs of Paula's antics on holiday surfaced, her husband of eight months announced his plans to divorce her from his prison cell

Paula had been at a gay bar on holiday in Tenerife when one of the men she was partying with was dared to put his face in her cleavage and she obliged, which was caught on camera.

She went on the show today to admit her regret about her antics, and to apologise to Bronson for 'humiliating him'.

He sent in a statement to the show saying she had been 'disrespectful' on the night out.

He said: 'She has a drink and prescription drug problem, which makes her do crazy things. I can't be involved with somebody like that. I absolutely abhor alcohol and drugs, she needs to get help. I'll miss her but she needs to sort herself out or she will be dead in two years.'

Charles Bronson, pictured in 2005, recently revealed he is divorcing his wife after just eight months of marriage

Paula began to rub her eyes with a tissue as she admitted that she has struggled with addiction.

She responded: 'I have got an alcohol problem, I've got a drug problem, a prescription drug problem. I've had it for years. I know I have.

'Every single messed up thing I've done for a long long time is through alcohol and it needs to stop. It needs to stop and he's made me realise that.'

Bronson first struck up a relationship with Miss Williamson - who also had roles in Emmerdale and Hollyoaks - back in 2013 after they started writing to one another.

Ms Williamson said she wanted to apologise to Bronson for 'humiliating' him with the pictures

She told the panel, who last October had warned her against the relationship, that she was there to eat 'humble pie'

The pair married at HMP Wakefield in November last year, and had begun dating when they started writing to each other

The couple were married in November last year, and Williamson has appeared on Loose Women in the past to defend their relationship, claiming he'd changed.

However, today she said she had been wrong to trust him, after his violence continued after they got married.

She said today: 'As humiliation goes I have been very humiliated. I've come on this show I've done media because Charlie wanted me to do that and said he was not violent, he's this he's that.

'Within months he's reoffended, then he's offended again, then he's reoffended again and again.'

Ms Williamson says she is now free to find somebody else now the marriage has come to an end (pictured last year)

She told the panel, who last October had warned her against the relationship, that she was there to eat 'humble pie'.

However, she said didn't care if people criticised her now the marriage was coming to an end.

She continued: 'They can say what they want because I am a strong woman. I am free, I can find someone else.'

'I dont want anybody else. I've had that much attention as well its ridiculous.'

PAULA WILLIAMSON'S RELATIONSHIP WITH CHARLES BRONSON Charles Bronson was jailed for armed robbery in 1974 but has seen time added on to his sentence for multiple violent outbursts inside. He is currently serving a life sentence for robbery and kidnap in Wakefield prison Paula Williamson started exchanging letters with Bronson - dubbed Britain's most violent prisoner - in 2013. The continued writing while Bronson was engaged to his former partner Lorraine Etherington in 2015. The former couple finally met for the first time in November 2016 when Williamson visited him in HMP Wakefield. Paula Williamson covers her face as she enters HMP Wakefield to marry Charles Bronson in November 2017 He proposed to her on Valentine's Day 2017 by serenading her with a personalised version of the Frank Sinatra classic My Way from a prison pay phone. They married in November last year and walked down the aisle to the Death March. In April this year Williamson admitted they were facing problems in their marriage, which she said had been rocked by Bronson's bad behaviour and bizarre demands. She had reportedly been ordered by Bronson to stay slim by doing 400 sit ups a day as he told her 'don't get fat'. Last week it emerged that Bronson was seeking a divorce after he felt 'humiliated' by pictures of his wife on a night out in Tenerife. On a night out Williamson dared a man to put his face in her cleavage to check if her breasts were real, a moment captured on camera. Advertisement

Bronson, who is now called Charles Salvador after changing his name by deed poll in tribute to artist Salvador Dali, is serving a life sentence for robbery and kidnap in Wakefield prison.

Bronson was jailed for armed robbery in 1974 but has seen time added on to his sentence for multiple violent outbursts inside.

Paula appeared as a stripper in Emmerdale and on Coronation Street in 2008, 2011 and 2012 as an unnamed Nurse at Weatherfield General.A woman who spent $16,500 (10,00) on transforming herself into a human dragon left This Morning viewers baffled when she appeared on the show on Thursday.

Amber Luke, 23, from from the Central Coast in NSW,, appeared via live video link on the ITV daytime show where she spoke to Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes about her transformation.

She revealed that of her many procedures including having her tongue split in two, having her eye balls tattooed was the most dangerous as she could have lost her sight.

Speaking on the show Amber said of the procedure: 'You run the risk of going blind.

'At the same time if you have a good body modification artist that you know and you can trust and you have all the trust in the world for them there's no issue.'

Amber Luke, who has spent $16,000 (10,000) transforming herself into a 'human dragon, appeared on This Morning on Thursday

During the interview Amber revealed that she believes it was her 'will power' that saved her sight while having the procedure.

She continued: 'I thought to myself if I was to go blind I would run the risk of my mum losing her career as she would have to take care of me and that's the main motivation as to why I didn't go blind.

'When I was getting it done and when that syringe was hitting my eyeball I kept thinking to myself if I do this I'm going to ruin someone's life, not only mine but my mother's as well.

'So I quite selflessly moved past it in a way it was a mind over matter.'

She said that having the whites of her eyes tattooed blue could have blinded her in an instant, but her sheer willpower prevented that from happening

Viewers were flabbergasted over Amber's claims that she avoided going blind thanks to her 'willpower'

She added: 'If I moved blinked or flinched while the siringe was in my eye I would have instantly have gone blind.

'It was a pretty high risk procedure but I had the motivation behind me to not go blind I was just thinking the whole time about my mother.'

Viewers were left baffled by Amber's claims that her 'motivation' was to thank for the procedure being a success, dubbing the show 'irresponsible'.

Amber said that it was 'selfless' by using 'mind over matter' to prevent herself losing her sight

Taking to Twitter viewers shared their bewilderment over Amber's bizarre claims

She spoke to This Morning presenters Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes via live video link

Taking to Twitter one said: 'It is totally unethical to tattoo someone's eyeballs and she is very much mistaken if she thinks "willpower" prevented her from going blind. She was lucky.'

AMBER'S BODY MODIFICATIONS Tongue split

Pointed implants in ears

Pierced forehead, chest, lip, cheek, wrist and arm

Earlobes stretched

More than 50 tattoos, including on her chest, neck, stomach, arms, forehead, fingers, thighs, sternum, bottom and hands Advertisement

Another agreed adding: 'Girl on This Morning who got her eyeballs tattooed... good on you, you do you boo, but do not claim that you didnt go blind from the procedure because I kept thinking about how my mum would have to look after me so I had the motivation to not go blind, so I didnt. f*** off.'

A third tweeted: '''Motivated to not go blind'? I'm confused. Also, surely just do one eye at a time..'

As well as her eyeball tattoos Amber, who works as a body piercer, has had her tongue split twice, her ears stretched and pointed twice and has over 50 tattoos.

Describing why she had the procedures done she said: ' There was nothing wrong with the way I was. I just had an ideal image of what i wanted to look like and I looked at myself as a bit of a plane Jane.

'I just thought I'm not harming anyone in the process. I'm doing what I wanna do and if it makes me get up in the morning and be a happy person so be it.'

Amber said that there was 'nothing wrong' with her former self, but she felt like a 'plane Jane'. Pictured before her modifications

Amber now has more than 50 tattoos on her body, including her forehead and arms

She undergone a series an extreme body modification where she got her tongue splitIvanka Trump has become the latest high-profile fashion fan to succumb to the charms of one particular polka dot dress.

The first daughter, 36, headed out on Thursday a little after 8 am wearing a $2,355 number by London-based designer Alessandra Rich. Several celebrities have been pictured in the same long-sleeved, pleated, navy midi dress, which features a white collar, matching buttons, and white cuffs.

Among fans of the design is Meghan Markle's Suits co-star Abigail Spencer, 36, who loved the vintage-inspired dress so much she wore it to the royal wedding in May.

Retro: Ivanka Trump, 36, headed out on Thursday morning wearing a $2,355 dress by London-based designer Alessandra Rich

Design: The long-sleeved, pleated, navy midi dress, features a white collar, matching buttons, and white cuffs

Accessories: Ivanka decided to pair the dress, which stops just above the ankles, with a large, square-buckled belt, adding a modern touch to her overall retro style

No distraction: She wore her hair in a simple straight blowout, making the dress the centerpiece of her outfit

On Thursday, Ivanka decided to pair the dress, which stops just above the ankles, with a large, square-buckled belt, adding a modern touch to her overall retro style.

She finished off her look with a pair of pointed navy pumps and wore her hair in a simple straight blowout, making the dress the centerpiece of her outfit.

Her husband Jared Kushner was seen leaving for work a little before 8 am, having stuck to his classics in a black suit, white button-down shirt and blue tie.

While Ivanka kept her accessories to a minimum on her workday, Abigail naturally went for a more formal style for the royal wedding.

The actress paired the frock with a statement hat featuring a small veil, in tune with the design's retro vibe, and went for a black belt with a silver buckle. She added red lipstick for a final touch, once again playing up the vintage style of the polka dot number.

Just one month before Abigail wore the dress to the royal wedding, actress Sarah Jessica Parker, 53, sported the same design during an event in New York City. She also accessorized it with a black belt and went for simple white pumps.

Outfit: Among fans of the design is Meghan Markle's Suits co-star Abigail Spencer, 36, who loved the vintage-inspired dress so much she wore it to the royal wedding in May

Fans: Sarah Jessica Parker, 53, sported the same design during an event in New York City in April. Model Christie Brinkley, 64, picked the dress for a reception in the city that same month

Favorite: Actress Daisy Ridley, 26, wore it on Live with Kelly and Ryan, back in November 2017

The list goes on! Kelly Ripa, 47, who wore the same design on camera to interview Zachary Quinto in May this year

Also in April, model Christie Brinkley, 64, picked the dress for a reception in New York City.

The frock does seem to charm all those who come into close contact with it.

Actress Daisy Ridley, 26, wore it on Live with Kelly and Ryan, back in November 2017. Her chic look, which also involved Louboutin sandals, must have made quite an impression on host Kelly Ripa, 47, who wore the same design six months later on camera.

Kelly donned the dress to interview Zachary Quinto in May this year, having styled it with black stilettos.

Later on Thursday, Ivanka was photographed in the dress boarding Air Force One at Andrew Force Base in Maryland, along with her father, President Donald Trump, heading to the Midwest.

Both of them toured an advanced manufacturing lab at Northeast Iowa Community College in Peosta, Iowa, where the president hosted a roundtable discussion about workforce development.

Shoe of choice: Ivanka finished off her look with a pair of pointed navy pumps on Thursday

Ride: She made her way towards the parked Secret Service vehicle waiting for her outside

Career: Ivanka said on Tuesday she had chosen to close down her business in order to focus on her responsibilities in D.C.

On the go: Later on Thursday, Ivanka was photographed in the dress boarding Air Force One at Andrew Force Base in Maryland, along with her father, President Donald Trump

Flying: Ivanka joined her father as both of them headed to the Midwest

Landing: The first daughter was pictured later on Thursday arriving at Dubuque Regional Airport in Dubuque, Iowa

During the roundtable, Ivanka touted the reauthorization of the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, which supporters say will modernize the existing legislation and increase access to career and technical education programs to better prepare students for 21st century jobs.

It 'passed the Senate last week, passed the House this week, and will be signed into law by the president after over a decade of languishing,' Ivanka said.

'Maybe Ill veto it,' the president responded, prompting his daughter to flash a strained smile and point at him.

The father and daughter then traveled to Granite City, Illinois, to speak about steel production.

'Honey, say a few words, please,' Trump said while inviting Ivanka to take the stage at US Steel's Granite City Works

The president and his eldest daughter shared a kiss on the cheek before she gave him a gushing introduction.

Tour: Ivanka and her father later visited an advanced manufacturing lab at Northeast Iowa Community College in Peosta, Iowa

Right-hand woman: Ivanka stood by her father's side during the tour

Talk: Both stood alongside Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds as the president held a roundtable discussion on workforce development

Visit: Ivanka listened as her father spoke during their tour at Northeast Iowa Community College

Gotcha: Ivanka pointed a finger at her dad after he joked that he might veto the legislation she has been working on

Event: She chatted with guests before participating in a roundtable with her father in Iowa

Journey: Ivanka and President Trump were seen stepping off air Force One in St. Louis, Missouri, prior to Trump's address in Granite City, Illinois

'Thank you. Wow, it's great to be here in Illinois. One thing I can tel you is that this president and this administration love its steel workers,' she told the cheery crowd.

'This president and this administration is fighting for each and everyone of you and it is an honor to be here.

'The economy is booming. Steel is coming roaring back, and we are so incredibly proud of each and every one of you,' she added.

Ivanka flashed a smile as she departed from her house on Thursday morning, perhaps still overjoyed by the news that she will soon welcome model Karlie Kloss into her family.

Karlie, 25, revealed on Tuesday that she and her beau of six years, Joshua Kushner, 33, have become engaged. Joshua's brother is none other than Jared Kushner, 37, Ivanka's husband.

Shortly after the news became public, Ivanka left a heartfelt message on Karlie's Instagram account, writing: 'So, so happy for you and Josh! I feel blessed to have you as a sister (!!!) Karlie and look forward to the decades of happy memories we will create together as a family! [sic]'

Ivanka's departure on Thursday also came just a day after she announced she was shutting down her fashion company.

Get up here: The president called his daughter 'honey' when he invited her on stage at US Steel's Granite City Works in Granite City

Affectionate: The father and daughter duo shared a kiss on the cheek before Ivanka took the podium

Speaking engagement: Ivanka gave a short speech about the Trump administration's dedication to steelworkers while her father looked on

Feeling good: The first daughter had a smile on her face as she left the stage

Working the room: Ivanka gave a wave during the visit to the steel factory

Crowd-pleaser: The White House senior adviser took a moment to pose for a photo with the steelworkers

The first daughter announced on Tuesday that she was closing her eponymous fashion brand, following a firestorm of criticism about potential conflicts of interests and flagging sales fueled by a political backlash.

Ivanka, who has been frequently photographed wearing shoes from her namesake label, stepped away from the company to work in the White House as an adviser to her father, President Trump, but continued to profit from the label.

While the clothing, footwear and accessories brand experienced a surge in sales in 2016, the year that Trump won the presidency, it suffered a backlash after he took office, and had been axed by a growing number of retail chains.

Heading out: Her husband Jared Kushner was seen leaving for work a little before 8 am, having stuck to his classics in a black suit, white button-down shirt and blue tie

As first daughter, she has traveled overseas representing the United States, attended meetings with visiting heads of state and traveled domestically, fueling speculation that she may harbor future political ambitions of her own.

'After 17 months in Washington, I do not know when or if I will ever return to the business, but I do know that my focus for the foreseeable future will be the work I am doing here in Washington,' she said in a statement.

'So making this decision now is the only fair outcome for my team and partners,' she added.

'I know that each of them will thrive in their next chapter.'

US watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington offered lukewarm approval and called on the Trump family to divest from all assets, saying they should have done so before entering the White House.

'While this is a notable step in the right direction, it's a small one that comes much too late,' said CREW executive director Noah Bookbinder.

Reports that the brand would file for new trademarks 'raises questions as to how serious this 'shut down' really is and whether the brand will continue to create conflicts of interest,' he added.

Abigail Klem, president of the Ivanka Trump brand, said she knew that the decision had been a 'very difficult' for the first daughter.

The label's 18 employees were informed on Tuesday that the business was ending, according to reports.A chilling new Netflix documentary is shining a light on the dark side of the medical device industry, exposing some terrifying truths about the reality of the $400 billion field.

The Bleeding Edge, which premieres on Friday, explores the ruthless underbelly of a medical device industry that is behind products like Essure, a vaginal contraceptive that has been linked to reports of chronic pain and a myriad of other alleged medical issues, and which was pulled from production by pharmaceutical giant Bayer just one week before the documentary is released.

The German company stressed that the removal of the product was a 'business decision' based on declining sales, and while Bayer has not publicly acknowledged a correlation between the announcement and the documentary's release, filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering see it as a win for their film.

The horrors: Appearing in the Netflix documentary The Bleeding Edge, Angie Firmalino (pictured) recounts how her body rejected Essure, a controversial birth control device

In a statement released by Nexflix, Dick and Ziering applauded the decision, calling Bayer's action 'a gratifying affirmation of the power of documentary.'

'This is exactly why we do this work: This film has already changed policies and changed history,' Dick said.

Essure, which was first approved by the FDA in 2002, is a metal coil device used by women as an alternative to tubal litigation (also known as having one's 'tubes tied').

Once permanently implanted inside the fallopian tubes by a doctor, scar tissue forms around the device over a three-month period and creates a barrier that keeps sperm from reaching the eggs, preventing pregnancy.

The sterilization implant was initially marketed as the only permanent birth control method that did not require a surgical incision, but the product has been steeped in controversy over the years.

Complications: Firmalino (pictured) says the devise 'broke leaving fragments everywhere'

Nightmare: According to Frimalino, the broke devise set off a connective tissue disorder that started deteriorating her joints

Angie Firmalino, a mail carrier from upstate New York recounts in the film how she learned her body was rejecting the Essure implant, which nearly caused her to bleed to death.

'I had a medical device that broke leaving fragments everywhere, which set off a connective tissue disorder that started deteriorating my joints,' she says in the documentary's trailer.

'Holy crap,' the nurse she is speaking with replies.

Gaby Avina, a former paid spokeswoman for Essure who was implanted with the device, had to undergo a hysterectomy to have it removed after suffering healthy issues.

The film also features a third woman who faced severe complications after having Essure implanted.

Birth control: Essure is a metal coil device used as an alternative to tubal litigation. Once implanted it causes the build-up of scar tissue that prevents eggs from reaching the womb

Protests: The controversial product has been steeped in controversy over the years because of reported complications, and many have been advocating for it to be recalled

Heartbreaking: The documentary features two other women who claim Essure has left them with a myriad of health issues

'Seven long years of fighting to get Essure off the market has finally paid off,' patient advocate Firmalino said as part of Netflixs statement on the decision.

'Not one more woman will be harmed by this device. We have won, we have finally won.'

WHAT IS ESSURE? Essure is a permanent birth control procedure that involves inserting a tube into women's fallopian tubes. It is non-hormonal and causes the build-up of scar tissue that prevents eggs from reaching the womb. Accoding to Essure.com, it is 99.3 per cent effective when used as a sole method of contraception. Vaginal bleeding, abdominal discomfort and cramping are expected after the procedure. Long-term risks include pain of varying intensity. The device went onto the market in 2002, but more than 34,000 women across the world have complained of side effects in the years since. In the U.S. alone, roughly 16,000 women have reported complications to the FDA, including pain, allergic reactions and 'migration of device.' Allergic reactions are thought to occur due to the device containing nickel and polyester. Advertisement

There have been roughly 16,000 lawsuits or claims filed against Bayer by women who reported bleeding, pain, and other alleged medical issues, including damage to the uterus and fallopian tubes.

Some women claimed their bleeding and pelvic pain was so severe they needed to have the device removed, which at times required a hysterectomy. Others alleged the coils dislodged and migrated to other parts of the body.

There have even been reports of deaths, including a few infants, that have been attributed to Essure or complications from it.

As a result of rising complaints about the device, the FDA made the decision in 2016 to have a 'black box' added to Essure to to call attention to serious or life-threatening risks.

Bayer halted sales of Essure outside of the U.S. last year, once again insisting that the decision was made for 'commercial reasons and that it is not related to a safety or product quality issue.'

The company also stood by its product's 'safety and efficacy' in it's latest statement announcing that it is being pulled from the U.S. market, effective December 31, 2018.

Essure is just one of the medical devices featured in The Bleeding Edge, which takes a sharp look at the profit-driven mind-set that rushes implanted devices into the marketplace with proper clinical trials.

Stephen Tower, an orthopedic surgeon featured in the documentary, started suffering neurological issues after having a hip replacement.

Hard to handle: Orthopedic surgeon Stephen Tower details how he suffered neurological issues after having a hip replacement

Influence: 'People think pharma's got power,' journalist Jim Spencer says in the film. 'No no no, the medical device industry has much more power than pharma'

The doctor ran blood and urine samples on himself and learned his cobalt levels were hundred times higher than normal.

Believing there was a correlation between his cobalt levels and his metal-on-metal hip replacement, he opted to have it redone. His surgeon found metal oozing from the device, and Tower started to recover within a month of having it removed.

The film also features a mother who faced excruciating pain and abdominal bleeding after getting a transvaginal mesh implant.

According to the people interviewed for the documentary, the medical devises are less regulated than pharmaceuticals.

'People think pharma's got power,' journalist Jim Spencer says in the film. 'No no no, the medical device industry has much more power than pharma.'

The film shows Scott Whitaker, CEO of the lobbying group Advanced Medical Technology Association, boasting about the influence of the medical device industry during his keynote speech at an industry conference.

'We have more power in this room than most governments around the world,' he tells the audience.Actor Josh O'Connor has been cast as Prince Charles in the next two series of Netflix drama series The Crown, it has been announced.

O'Connor, 28, is known for his performance in 2017 film God's Own Country, a gay romance set in Yorkshire.

The Cheltenham-born actor won a British Independent Film Award for his role as sheep farmer Johnny, who falls in love with a Romanian migrant worker.

Quoted on a post on the show's official Twitter profile O'Connor said: 'I am thrilled to be joining The Firm for the next instalment of The Crown.

'Seasons three and four will follow some of the most turbulent events in the Prince of Wales' life and our national story and I'm excited to be bringing to life the man in the midst of it all.'

The new Prince Charles! Cheltenham-born Josh O'Connor, 28, is known for his performance in 2017 film God's Own Country, a gay romance set in Yorkshire

Joshn O'Connor, right, won a British Independent Film Award for his role as sheep farmer Johnny, who falls in love with a Romanian migrant worker in God's Own Country (pictured)

British actor Josh O'Connor will play a young Prince Charles (pictured in 1969, aged 20) during some of the most 'turbulent years of his life'

He added: 'I'm very aware it's a formidably talented family to be joining, but reliably informed I have the ears for the part and will fit right in.'

Actress Marion Bailey has also been confirmed for the part of the Queen Mother in the next instalment of the drama created by film writer Peter Morgan.

Bailey, 67, is known for her appearances in her partner Mike Leigh's movies including Meantime, All Or Nothing and Vera Drake.

Bailey was also quoted in a tweet on the programme's profile saying: 'Wonderful to be joining The Crown.

'It's a brilliant show and we have a tough act to follow but what a gift to be playing the fascinating and greatly loved Queen Mother.

O'Connor (right) won a BIFA for his portrayal of sheep farmer Johnny, who falls in love with Romanian migrant worker Alec Secareanu (left)

'Seasons three and four will follow some of the most turbulent events in the Prince of Wales' life, O'Connor said (Charles pictured in 1978, three years before Princess Diana)

'Thrilled to be on board and working with such a top-notch team.'

O'Connor and Bailey join a cast that is already set to include Olivia Colman, who has taken over from Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II, and Helena Bonham Carter as Princess Margaret, previously played by Bafta winner Vanessa Kirby.

The cast has been changed in keeping with the ageing of the characters.

The first series portrayed the earlier days of the Queen's reign and the second covered the period from 1956 until 1963.

It recently picked up 13 Emmy nominations, among them a nod in the coveted outstanding drama series category.

The third series is due to air on Netflix in 2019.A 12-year-old girl wrote a powerful letter to her local newspaper to speak out against sexist comments she heard at a Fourth of July parade.

Julianne Speyer attended an Independence Day parade in Chesterland, Ohio, and was outraged when the announcer referred to Boy Scouts as 'future leaders of America' while stating that Girl Scouts were 'just having fun'.

The girl, of Russell Township, thus reached out to her local paper, the Geauga County Maple Leaf, to make her voice heard.

Making her voice heard: Julianne Speyer, 12, wrote a powerful letter to her local newspaper to speak out against sexist comments she heard at a Fourth of July parade

'My name is Julianne Speyer,' she wrote in her missive.

'I am 12 years old and I would like to inform you of how offended and disappointed I am by the announcer of the Chesterland 4th of July parade's comment about the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts.

'The announcer labelled the Boy Scouts as "future leaders of America" and he said the Girl Scouts were "just having fun."

I found this comment very sexist and patronizing.'

She asked for help in letting others know 'how much this kind of thing happens and how bad it is', adding: 'I feel it is an insult to both girls and women of all ages.

'This kind of thing happens way too much and it is not OK at all.'

Gathering: The girl attended an Independence Day parade in Chesterland, Ohio (pictured) before writing her letter to the newspaper

Well-received: Her letter has now gone viral. It has been shared thousands of times on Twitter, where many users have praised Julianne for her initiative

Cheering her on: Some reprised the parade announcer's words by declaring that Julianne has all the hallmarks of a 'future leader of America'

Julianne explained that she has been taught she should strive to change the things she finds unjust, and said writing the letter was her way of ushering change.

'Thank you for listening to me and I hope you can help me,' she wrote in conclusion of her missive.

Her letter has now gone viral. It has been shared thousands of times on Twitter, where many users have praised Julianne for her initiative, with some people calling her a 'hero' and a 'future president'.

Some reprised the parade announcer's words by declaring that Julianne has all the hallmarks of a 'future leader of America'.

'Wow! This is exactly the kind of thing our world needs right now,' one person tweeted. 'She's a rock star and a leader in my eyes.'

'I think we'll be hearing more good things about Ms Speyer in the near future,' someone else wrote.

One person cheered in an enthusiastic tweet: 'This girl for president!' while someone else wrote next to a gif of Wonder Woman: 'Lead the way young lady!'Meghan Markle is not, of course, the first glamorous American divorcee to fall in love with, and utterly enchant, a member of the Royal Family.

Meghan, who grew up in Los Angeles, was married to Hollywood producer Trevor Engelson from 2011 to 2013, before she met Prince Harry at the age of 34.

Wallis Simpson, who grew up in Baltimore, had divorced U.S. naval officer Win Spencer and was still married to her second husband, Ernest Simpson, when she met Edward, then Prince of Wales, in 1931. She was also 34.

Unlike Meghan, of course, Wallis's royal romance caused a constitutional crisis  King Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 after less than a year so he could marry her.

Meghan Markle (pictured left) grew up in the States and was divorced when she met Prince Harry at the age of 34. Wallis Simpson (pictured right) grew up in Baltimore, USA, and was twice divorced when she met her prince also at the age of 34

But the physical similarities between both women are indeed startling: both are slender with delicate hands, and have strikingly dark hair worn mostly in a centre parting.

They're stylish, too. Wallis stuck to a muted palette of beige, taupe and navy  while, with a few exceptions, chic Meghan also tends to shun bright colours.

Wallis favoured designer Hubert de Givenchy, while Meghan chose a gown by the same fashion house for her wedding at St George's Chapel, Windsor, in May.

Unlike Meghan (pictured left) of course, Wallis's (pictured right) royal romance caused a constitutional crisis  King Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 after less than a year so he could marry her

The Duchess of Sussex is pictured at the polo in Windsor, Berkshire today

Wallis Simpson, the then Duchess of Windsor, is pictured wearing similar sunglasses

Meghan is pictured wearing a Philip Treacy hat at Ascott left and Wallis is pictured in a similar hat on holiday in 1936

Even the Rolls-Royce Phantom IV that took Meghan to her wedding was the same car that carried Wallis to her husband's funeral at that venue 46 years earlier.

But Andrew Morton, author of biography Wallis In Love, says there is one huge, crucial difference between them: 'Meghan seems to have a sense of wanting to give back, whereas Wallis only ever wanted to take.'

The physical similarities between both women (pictured) are indeed startling: both are slender with delicate hands, and have strikingly dark hair worn mostly in a centre parting

The Duchess of Sussex is pictured in white in June this year (left), while the former Duchess of Windsor is pictured in the same colour in 1966 (right)A hotel where Prince Harry spent the night before his wedding to Meghan Markle has been named as the best place to enjoy a traditional afternoon tea.

Coworth Park, near Ascot, Berkshire, won the title of Best Traditional Afternoon Tea at this year's Afternoon Tea Awards, held in central London on Tuesday night.

The Duke of Sussex may well have sampled the 35 high tea there as he regularly plays polo in the hotel's world class grounds with his older brother, and it is where he stayed with his best man the night before his wedding on May 19.

Coworth Park's afternoon tea - a traditional and very British affair - was named the Best Traditional Afternoon Tea in the UK at the Afternoon Tea Awards. It features finger sandwiches with classic fillings, freshly baked scones, and pastries, and can also come with a flute of Champagne

Coworth Park is a favourite of both the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex, as it's close to Ascot and the brothers play polo in its grounds. It's where Prince Harry stayed the night before his wedding to the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle

Described by the judges as 'faultless, with an ambience that was lovely and intimate,' Coworth Park's afternoon tea is a very British affair featuring playful twists on classic flavour combinations.

The sandwiches feature egg with sunblushed tomatoes on rye bread, and a pickled cucumber and mint cream cheese morsel.

Scones are served with both strawberry and elderflower preserves, as well as raspberry jam and clotted cream.

The pastries also feature classic flavours such as a milk chocolate and salted caramel choux sweet treat, and a poppy seed and lime drizzle cake.

Coworth Park's afternoon tea Adult 35 Child (Ages 5  11. No charge for children under 5) 18 Served with a glass of Laurent-Perrier La Cuvee, France, NV 47 Served with a glass of Laurent-Perrier Rose Cuvee, France, NV 55 SANDWICHES Severn and Wye smoked salmon, lemon balm and creme fraiche on wholemeal bread Pickled cucumber with mint cream cheese on caraway bread Roast beef sirloin with lovage mayonnaise on onion bread Royal Legbar egg and sunblush tomato with nasturtium on rye bread FRESHLY BAKED SCONES Served with strawberry and elderflower preserve, raspberry jam and clotted cream PASTRIES Lemon verbena and English raspberry mousse Poppy seed and lime drizzle cake with sour cream Fig and walnut tart with thyme Milk chocolate and salted caramel choux Advertisement

Prince Harry stayed at Coworth Park the night before his wedding, while Meghan stayed with her mother Doria Ragland at Cliveden House hotel in Taplow, Berkshire

Judges also praised its 'exquisite pastries' and 'airy, light and fluffy scones'.

Coworth Park is known for its 'cheeky' cocktail bar which is decorated on an equestrian theme in recognition of nearby Ascot, which is thought to be a hit with keen polo players the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex.

Coworth Park describes itself as the 'scenic route to five-star bliss'. The hotel's website adds: 'Coworth Park offers idyllic relaxation in many guises, from a rural detox to an indulgent, romantic escape.'

Awards of excellence were also awarded to carefully selected afternoon tea providers who demonstrated an exceptional level of service.

Keith Newton, managing director of AfternoonTea.co.uk, which is the host of the Afternoon Tea Awards, said: 'This year our team of judges have visited venues in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and were impressed by the high standard of Afternoon Tea being served across the country.

'These are the only Afternoon Tea Awards to judge the entire customer experience, from arrival to departure, with a strong emphasis on food, tea and service. Over the past year chefs have demonstrated flair and creativity with their Afternoon Tea menus.

'Combine this with high levels of service and Afternoon Tea continues to be the perfect experience for all occasions.'We all know that a cake or a biscuit isn't a healthy snack but some are much better for your health than others, it can be revealed.

There is a wide variation in the sugar content of cakes and biscuits depending on the type you eat, according to a new study by Action on Sugar at Queen Mary University of London, published by the journal BMJ Open.

Now FEMAIL has conducted an analysis of the most popular branded treats to find which contain the most sugar, and the least.

The findings show that some are much more sugary than others, with a mini Battenberg containing nearly a quarter of your recommended daily sugar intake (RDI) of 90g at 20.2g, the equivalent of five teaspoons. If you ate four of them, you would nearly be in excess of your recommended daily sugar intake.

Eating just four Mini Battenbergs would nearly exceed your recommended daily sugar intake (left). McVitie's Iced Gem biscuits were found to be the most sugary branded treats at supermarkets, an analysis by FEMAIL found (right)

By contrast a Madeleine cake by Bonne Maman only contains seven per cent of your RDI.

When it comes to biscuits, the BMJ study found that iced varieties contain the most sugar on average, while shortbread contains the least.

FEMAIL discovered that a small 25g bag of Iced Gems contains 12.9g of sugar, or 14 per cent of an adult's RDI, while an Oreo biscuit contains 4.1g, or just 5 per cent of your recommended daily intake.

Despite being iced, Fox's Party Rings were the least sugary per recommended portion size, with one 6.25g biscuit containing just 1.7g of sugar.

The sugariest branded cakes revealed Cake (portion size) Sugar content % of RDI Mr Kipling Mini Battenberg Cakes (32g) 20.2g 22 Mr Kipling French Fancies (27g) 16g 18 Galaxy Cake Bars (31.3g) 14.1g 16 Mcvities Jaffa Cake Bars (24.5g) 11.7g 13 Cadbury Mini Roll (27g) 11.4g 13 Cadbury Chocolate Cake Bar (24g) 9.7g 11 Mcvities Jamaica Ginger Cake (25.8g) 9.7g 11 Bonne Maman La Madeleine (25g) 6.5g 7.2

Mr Kipling's French Fancies are some of the sugariest branded cakes on the market with 16g per cake, which is 18 per cent of your RDI. Galaxy's Cake Bars are not far behind with 14.1g per bar

The sugariest branded biscuits revealed Biscuit (portion size) Sugar content % of RDI Mcvities Iced Gems (25g) 12.9g 14 Maryland Chocolate Chip Cookies (21g) 7.8g 9 Cadbury Fingers Milk Chocolate Biscuits (21g) 6.1g 7 Jammie Dodgers Biscuits (18g) 5.5g 6 Mcvitie's Milk Chocolate Digestives (16.7g) 4.9g 5 Fox's Chocolate Viennese Biscuits (12g) 4.2g 5 Oreo Vanilla Original Sandwich Biscuits (11g) 4.1g 5 Fox's Party Rings Biscuits (6.25g) 1.7g 2

The study by Action on Sugar found that a shocking 97 per cent of cakes and 74 per cent of biscuits on supermarket shelves in the UK had a 'red' high label for sugar content.

Despite this, the report claimed that cake and biscuit manufacturers have not made steps to reduce sugar content in their sweet treats, despite a new Government target for food suppliers to reduce sugar by 5 per cent.

It found that the average sugar content in cakes was 36.6g per 100g, but that there was a large variation between different types.

Battenbergs were found to be the sugariest with an average of 54.4g of sugar per 100g, while blueberry muffins, with an average of 24.6g of sugar per 100g, contained the least.

Cadbury Chocolate Fingers were among some of the sugariest branded biscuits, with a portion of four containing 6.1g of sugar (left). Maryland Cookies are also high in sugar, with 7.8g per portion of two biscuits (right)

Victoria sponge cakes were found to range between just 23.4g per cake to a whopping 59.2g - a difference of 6 tsp.

Branded cakes were found to have a slightly higher sugar content per 100g compared with supermarket own label products on average, with 37.8g compared to 36.3g.

Among the manufacturers with five or more cakes, the McVitie's product range contained the highest average sugar per cake (43.1g).

With biscuits, the average sugar content was found to be 30g per 100g, but there was also a large variation between different types.

On average, iced biscuits were found to contain the highest amounts of sugar at an average of 43.5g per 100g) and shortbread biscuits contained the lowest with just 17.5g per 100g on average.

Among the manufacturers with five or more products, the Fox's product range contained the highest average sugar content, with 35.8 g per 100 g on average.

Graham MacGregor, co-author of the study, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry and Chairman of Action on Sugar said: 'Large amounts of cakes and biscuits are consumed in the UK so a reduction in the amount of sugar and calorie content could play an important role in helping prevent obesity and tooth decay.

'The majority of the food and drink industry in the UK have asked the government for a more robust and mandatory programme of reformulation. It is a tragedy for our children that this has not been done.'A grandmother has offered to give birth to her own grandchild after a life-saving hysterectomy left her daughter unable to have any more children.

Sherrie Zammit, 49, from Gladesville, New South Wales, Australia, made the offer to Chloe Simmons, 31, after Ms Simmons was told she had just weeks to live unless she had her womb removed the day after being diagnosed with cancer in the area between her placenta and uterus lining.

Grandmother-of-one Ms Zammit has already undergone all of the necessary tests ahead of the surrogate pregnancy, which would involve implanting Ms Simmons' egg and her fiance Dimitri Pixomatis' sperm.

Ms Zammit said: 'I am scared of labour at 50 but the pain is only short term, the love for a lifetime and what a legacy I will leave behind.'

Yet they are in a race against time to start the procedure before Ms Zammit's age makes her more at risk of gestational diabetes, high blood pressure or damage to the reproductive organs.

The family are speaking out to raise 35,000 towards the legal paperwork and court hearings that are needed for surrogacy under Australian law.

Grandmother Sherrie Zammit (right) has offered to give birth to her own grandchild after a life-saving hysterectomy left her daughter Chloe Simmons (left) unable to have any more children (also pictured are Ms Simmons' son Issac, 10, and her fiance Dimitri Pixomatis)

Ms Zammit (right) made the offer to Ms Simmons (left) after she was told she had just weeks to live unless she had her womb removed the day after being diagnosed with placental cancer

Ms Zammit (pictured with Ms Simmons as a baby in the 1980s) says she takes her role as a mother 'very seriously' and will do anything in her control to make her daughter happy

How does surrogacy work and what are the laws in the UK? Surrogacy is when a woman carries a baby for a couple who are unable to conceive or carry a child themselves. Such couples may include those who have suffered recurrent miscarriages, repeated IVF failures, premature menopause or a hysterectomy. The risks of being a surrogate mother are the same as for every pregnancy, and include nausea, heart burn and back ache. In extreme cases, surrogates can suffer high blood pressure or gestational diabetes. Straight surrogacy This involves using the surrogate's egg and the intended father's sperm. It is the least expensive and simplest form of the procedure. Host surrogacy Host surrogacy requires IVF with either the intended mother's eggs or donor eggs rather than those of the surrogate. In this case, the surrogate is genetically unrelated to the baby. Donor eggs can be from friends or relatives, or anonymously donated. What are the laws? Surrogacy is legal in the UK, however, it cannot be advertised. No third parties are allowed to be involved and surrogates can only receive payments to cover expenses incurred as a result of being pregnant. In the US, surrogacy costs around $100,000 (75,879), with laws varying between states. Source: Surrogacy UK Advertisement

'This is my privilege and my honour'

Mother-of-four Ms Zammit said: 'I take my role as a mother very seriously and anything I can do to make them happy, if its in my control, I will do.

'Chloe fought for her life and I was told to say goodbye to my daughter and to get ready to raise my grandson.

'Chloe came through and fought a very rare cancer. The least I can do is give her life in the form of a grandchild.

'This is my privilege and my honour to be healthy and young enough to give her this gift.'

She added: 'I'll be babysitting for nine months so I will be very careful with everything I do.

'The labour will be very emotional with many feelings attached - excitement and a sense of completeness.'

'It really is a race against time'

After her cancer diagnosis, Ms Simmons was told she would have just weeks to live unless she had her uterus removed, meaning she would be unable to have any more children naturally.

Ms Simmons, who is already mother to her son Issac, 10, said: 'It was really, really scary but I knew I had to do it for my son.

'Mum offered to be a surrogate on the spot. She said "I will carry your children - you just do what you need to do to get better".

As well as the surgery, Ms Simmons underwent chemotherapy, which required she spend Isaac's first birthday in an isolation ward due to her fragile immune system.

Five years after her diagnosis, Ms Simmons was given the all clear and told people she only wanted one child because she 'didn't want people to feel sorry for me'.

Yet when the then-single Ms Simmons later met Mr Pixomatis, a painter, she reminded her mother about her surrogacy offer.

Ms Simmons said: 'We really are incredibly grateful.

'It really is a race against time. Mum would do anything for us, but I can't be selfish, so it needs to be done as soon as possible.'

Ms Simmons did not think she would take up her mother's offer, until she met Mr Pixomatis

Ms Zammit was told to say goodbye to her daughter (pictured as a baby) after her diagnosis

After Ms Simmons (as a baby) fought for her life, Ms Zammit felt she owed it to give her a child

Ms Simmons (pictured with her son during chemotherapy) did not want a hysterectomy but underwent the procedure to ensure she would survive and be able to raise Issac

'All I want is to give my daughter a precious gift'

Speaking of the legal setbacks involved in surrogacy, Ms Zammit said: 'All I want is to give my daughter a precious gift. Medical science has worked how to do this, but the Government laws are taking this away.

'I understand the law is there for a reason, but our situation is easier then if a stranger carries my grandchild, with the risk of them claiming the child at birth.'

Despite the amicable surrogacy agreement, Australian law requires a Supreme Court hearing and two sets of lawyers; totaling around 35,000 ($60,000 AUD).

Ms Simmons said: ' My mother is 49 and we don't have much time.

'We are reaching out to the community to help us realise our dream of completing our family.'

Donate here.

Ms Simmons (pictured during chemo) told people she just wanted one child after the surgery

Yet Ms Simmons (pictured right, with her mother) just said this so people would not pity herA mother has today released horrifying images of her daughter battling the worst case of chickenpox doctors had ever seen.

Lianne Taylor, from Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, claims she was turned away twice after taking Evie-Beth to A&E when she broke out in spots.

Evie-Beth, then five, screamed in pain every time she was touched and couldn't eat, drink or even use the toilet. She even struggled to breathe.

Mrs Taylor, 33, called paramedics and her poorly daughter was rushed to Darlington Memorial Hospital.

But she claims she was treated like an 'over the top parent' and was turned away and told Evie-Beth would have to wait 10 days for antibiotics to kick.

In desperation, Mrs Taylor took her daughter back to visit the GP once more, who immediately arranged for her to go straight to hospital.

Doctors then told her she was lucky to have brought Evie-Beth in when she did, as she was whisked away into isolation. The severity of her chickenpox even made them doubt it was the usually harmless bug, and they feared she had a rare genetic disease until tests proved them wrong.

Lianne Taylor, from Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, claims she was turned away twice after taking Evie-Beth to A&E when she broke out in spots (pictured: Evie-Beth's spots)

Evie-Beth was finally allowed home after four days in hospital - but it took months for the spots to completely fade, and she has been left with permanent scars.

Recalling her daughter's terrifying ordeal last February, Mrs Taylor said: 'It was really traumatic seeing Evie-Beth like this.

'She was struggling to breathe because she was so blocked up with mucus that went really hard.

'We couldnt get near her to wash her down or clean it away because she was screaming in pain.

The spots just kept coming and coming. Even when she was in hospital the doctors were coming in everyday and she was coming out with more and more spots.'

The mother-of-two continued: 'The doctors said they had never seen chickenpox that bad.

'They had a photographer come in and take photos of her skin because they had never seen a case as bad as hers before. They didnt know why.

'Being sent away from A and E made me feel like I was treated like an over the top parent.

'It made it feel like it was beyond me and I couldnt do this. This was beyond the help I could give her. She couldnt eat or drink, she just lay there.'

Mrs Taylor and husband Stuart first noticed a spot on Evie-Beth's arm last February, and thought it could be chickenpox, which infects about 65 per cent of children in Britain before their fifth birthday.

Evie-Beth, then five, screamed in pain every time she was touched and couldn't eat, drink or even use the toilet. She even struggled to breathe (pictured in hospital)

Mrs Taylor (pictured with Evie-Beth following her ordeal), 33, called paramedics and her poorly daughter was rushed to Darlington Memorial Hospital

WHAT IS CHICKENPOX? Chickenpox infects about 65 per cent of children in Britain before their fifth birthday  nearly eight million one to 10 year olds in the UK. It is usually mild and clears up in a week or so, but it can be dangerous for some people, such as those with a weakened immune system. Adults can be struck down with the highly contagious virus, which can be spread by touching a contaminated surface or being in close contact with someone infected. Advertisement

When she broke out in spots just four days later, her parents bathed her in oats and rubbed her with creams and camomile lotions to ease her itching.

But Evie-Beth only got worse.

Mrs Taylor started sleeping in the same bed as her daughter, so she could wake her up every hour to give her a drink, and give her paracetamol every four hours.

Evie-Beth only got more lethargic, and eventually had to be carried and held over the toilet because her spots were too painful for her to even sit.

Her GP prescribed her with antibiotics - but when paramedics took Evie-Beth to A&E, following a call to 999 two days later, they turned her away.

Evie-Beth was finally allowed home after four days in hospital - but it took months for the spots to completely fade, and she has been left with permanent scars (pictured after her ordeal)

Mrs Taylor and husband Stuart first noticed a spot on Evie-Beth's arm last February, and thought it could be chickenpox, which infects about 65 per cent of children in Britain before their fifth birthday (Evie-Beth is pictured in hospital)

An ambulance was called again the next day to take Evie-Beth to hospital, where doctors told Mrs Taylor the antibiotics would take 10 days to take effect.

Mrs Taylor then took her back to the GP, who arranged for her to be admitted to the hospital on February 13 - nine days after the spot first appeared on her arm.

She said: 'They said this is really bad, any later and it would have been a different situation. They took her bloods and put her in isolation.

'The consultant sat us down and said it might not be chickenpox but could be a very rare genetic disease.

'They were going to have to transfer her over to Durham Hospital, where they could test her for it. It was very worrying.

'We got her across to Durham, where consultants came in and confirmed it was chickenpox but they didnt know why it was so bad.'

Mrs Taylor, who studies history at Teesside University, continued: 'She was severely dehydrated.

'Shed lost loads of weight because she still wasnt eating, and she would go to the toilet in a bed pan because we couldnt get her to the toilet.

'The doctors gave her some antiviral medication on a drip. Eventually she did have to go on to normal painkillers.

Evie-Beth, who her parents claim is now happy and healthy, is still bothered by her scars from her chickenpox (pictured in hospital)

The County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, apologised for Mrs Taylor not receiving her expected level of care for Evie-Beth (pictured in hospital)

'They were coming and checking her vitals all the time. I slept in a room with her for those days when she was really bad.'

Mrs Taylor praised the 'fantastic' hospital staff, who made sure Evie-Beth have a TV, DVD player and toys to play with.

Evie-Beth, who her parents claim is now happy and healthy, is still bothered by her scars from her chickenpox.

Mrs Taylor said: 'She is a happy bouncy girl. What upsets me most is that she does say she looks funny now and thats heartbreaking to hear.

'I still tell her shes beautiful even though shes got these scars. She doesnt have a lot but there are many of them on her face.

'Luckily I can tell her its fine. I had chickenpox as a kid, not nearly as bad, but I have scars on my forehead.

'I tell her she hasnt noticed that about me before so other people wont notice that about her.'

The County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, apologised for Mrs Taylor not receiving her expected level of care.

A spokesperson said they welcome feedback, 'especially' when patients 'feel they have not received the care they would expect'.

They added: 'We are sorry if this has been the experience in this case.' The trust also said they are willing to talk to the family if they wish.A breathalyser with more than 80 per cent accuracy could diagnose Parkinson's disease in at-risk people before they develop symptoms, new research suggests.

Parkinson's occurs when nerve cells that produce the chemical dopamine, which is responsible for co-ordinating movement, die.

By the time most patients are diagnosed, many of their nerve cells have already died, which limits their treatment options and causes symptoms, such as tremor and rigid muscles, to get worse.

The breathalyser detects Parkinson's with 81 per cent accuracy in patients who have been diagnosed but not yet started treatment, an Israeli study found.

This accuracy is better than smell tests at 73 per cent and almost as good as ultrasound scans at 92 per cent, which are the standard diagnosis methods.

Parkinson's affects around one in 500 people in the UK and up to one million in the US.

A breathalyser with more than 80 per cent accuracy could diagnose Parkinson's (stock)

ARE OBESE PEOPLE MORE OR LESS AT RISK OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE? Obese people are nearly 20 per cent less likely to develop Parkinson's disease, research suggested in June 2017. Having an obese BMI throughout your life lowers your risk of developing the condition by 18 per cent, a study review found. This may be be due to the weight disorder sharing genes with factors that protect against the Parkinson's, according to researchers. Yet, the researchers warn the health risks of carrying excessive weight will likely outweigh any reduced risk of developing Parkinson's. They said: 'Although our results suggest that higher BMI is potentially protective against Parkinson's, the negative health impacts of raising BMI are likely to be significant, and should be taken into account.' The researchers, from University College London, analysed a study review that included 13,708 Parkinson's patients and 95,282 healthy people. Professor David Dexter, deputy director of research at Parkinsons UK told MailOnline: 'This study provides a much more robust link between BMI and Parkinson's than previous inconclusive research in this area. 'Having said that, we also know that while the UK has the highest number of overweight people in Europe it does not have the lowest incidence of Parkinson's. 'This study looks very specifically at genetic factors which would make someone overweight over their whole lifetime, as opposed to a spike in weight gain or being obese due to over-eating. 'Other recent studies have indicated that obesity can increase the risk of certain types of Parkinson's, so additional research is needed to understand more fully how this connection works.' Advertisement

How does the device work?

The researchers, from the Israel Institute of Technology, developed a breathalyser with 40 sensors, which each had a chemical attached that can bind to certain molecules in the breath.

This binding changes the breathalyser's ability to measure electric currents that pass through it.

When previously given to Parkinson's patients and healthy volunteers, the breathalyser detected differences in the participants' breaths.

How the research was carried out

The researchers tested the breathalyser on the exhaled breath of 29 newly diagnosed Parkinson's patients who had not yet started medication for their condition.

These results were then compared to those of 19 healthy people of a similar age to the patients.

Although the scientists claim more studies are required, they hope the breathalyser could offer at-risk people a small, portable way of assessing if they may have Parkinson's without the need for highly trained specialists.

Arthritis and asthma medication reduces a person's risk of Parkinson's

This comes after research released last May suggested arthritis and asthma medication reduces a person's risk of Parkinson's disease by up to one-third and could pave the way for a new treatment.

People who take corticosteroids, which are commonly prescribed for asthma, psoriasis and ulcerative colitis, are 20 per cent less at risk of suffering tremors, a study found.

IMDH inhibitors, which are used to treat arthritis, Crohn's and organ transplant rejection, reduce people's risk of developing Parkinson's by around a third, the research adds.

Lead author Dr Brad Racette, from the University of Washington, said: 'We've found that taking certain classes of immunosuppressant drugs reduces the risk of developing Parkinson's.

'Our next step is to conduct a study with people newly diagnosed with Parkinson's to see whether these drugs have the effect on the immune system we'd expect.'

Although unclear, Parkinson's may be caused by an overactive immune system, which the drugs work to reduce.Boosting levels of bacteria in your gut could be a new form of treatment against food poisoning, a new study has found.

Researchers say that the byproduct of a group of bacteria found in the intestines hinders Salmonella from growing and multiplying.

The byproduct, known as propionate, does not activate the immune system's response to the infection but rather slows down the time it takes to grow and spread.

The team, from Stanford University in California, says that not only does its study show why people may respond to infection differently, but also could provide a new form of treatment for this form of food poisoning.

A byproduct of bacteria found in the gut could protect you against Salmonella (pictured), a new study claims

Salmonella infections occur after eating raw meat and eggs or foods that are contaminated with the bacteria.

Symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain that generally last between four and seven days.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Salmonella is the cause for 1.2 million illnesses, 23,000 hospitalizations, and 450 deaths in the US annually.

Most people can recover without treatment, although there are cases where antibiotics or IV fluids are needed.

Scientists have been studying various strains of mice to determine which genes make them more susceptible to infections like Salmonella.

Lead author Amanda Jacobson, a graduate student in microbiology and immunology at Stanford University, said that after two strains of the mice were injected with the pathogen, they had different levels of it in their stomachs.

She said the researchers then set out to find if differences in the gut bacteria of the mice were affecting these different levels of infection.

For the study, the team first performed fecal transplants in the mice, a process by which the rodents are administered antibiotics that kill their normal gut bacteria and then receive the excrement of other mice.

Some of the feces came from mice that are resistant to Salmonella infection and some came from mice that were more susceptible to it.

From this, the researchers found that groups of bacteria were different between the two strains of mice and that their typical makeup in the intestines dictated differences in the growth of Salmonella.

They determined that a group of bacteria, called Bacteroides, were more present in the rodents who received the fecal transplant from mice that were protected from infection.

Many short-chain fatty acids are produced by Bacteroids, one of them being propionate - which was three times greater in the mice that were resistant to Salmonella.

However, what the researchers learned was that propionate does not trigger an immunoresponse to the pathogen.

Instead, it reduces the internal acidity of the Salmonella cells, requiring more time for the bacteria to grow.

'Collectively, our results show that when concentrations of propionate, which is produced by Bacteroides, in the gut are high, Salmonella are unable to raise their internal pH to facilitate cellular functions required for growth,' Jacobson said.

'Of course, we would want to know how translatable this is to humans.'

The researchers say they hope their findings could offer alternative forms of treatment.

They say some antibiotics use to treat Salmonella also kill helpful bacteria, but using propionate could prevent such a situation from occurring.Number of all NHS job adverts has risen by more than 2,000 in

The NHS advertised for 11,483 nurse and midwife jobs in March this year

A shortage of nurses and midwives could be worsening in the NHS, figures have revealed.

The number of jobs being advertised for the health workers increased by almost a fifth in three years, according to the most recent statistics.

In the six months between October 2017 and March 2018 69,409 nurse and midwife jobs were advertised  19.7 per cent more than in the same period in 2016 and eight per cent more than last year.

The Royal College of Nursing has called the figures 'very worrying' and warned there aren't enough nurses to provide safe care for people.

Job ads for health scientists and therapists and radiographers have also risen, while there is a lower demand for admin staff.

The statistics come as the Nursing and Midwifery Council today revealed the number of non-EU NHS nurses is surging after English language tests were made easier.

The Royal College of Nursing says the fact the NHS is trying to recruit more and more nurses suggests there are not enough, which it says is 'very worry'

The number of nurse and midwife jobs in the NHS has grown by thousands in recent years, during which time the Government cut bursaries for nursing students and hundreds fewer European nurses applied to work in the health service after the Brexit vote.

Some 11,483 nurse and midwife jobs were advertised in March 2018, 37 per cent more than the 8,392 in February 2015, when the most recent data began.

Nurses and midwives make up 40 per cent of job vacancies

The health workers are the most in-demand staff  making up some 40 per cent of all March's job adverts  but vacancies across the health service are rising steadily.

The total number of jobs advertised in March 2018 was 28,998, according to figures released today by NHS Digital.

This was lower than March last year, when 30,613 roles needed to be filled, but higher than both 2016 and 2015, when the figure was below 27,000.

The number of nurse and midwife jobs being advertised has risen from 8,392 in February 2015 to 11,483 in March 2018, according to new statistics from NHS Digital

Experts fear the numbers may be even higher in real life.

Janet Davies, chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing said: 'It's very worrying that the number of vacant posts for nurses and midwives has increased more than those for any other type of clinical staff, with almost 35,000 vacant posts for nurses and midwives advertised in the first three months of this year, an increase of 1,800 on the previous year.

'There aren't enough nurses to provide safe care'

'We also know that not all vacant nurse jobs are even advertised in the current climate, so these figures will be an under-estimate.

'They bear out what patients, their families and our own surveys repeatedly tell us  that there just aren't enough nurses to provide safe care.

'But with the number of applications to nursing degree courses having dropped by almost third in the two years since the Government removed funding for nursing students, the serious risk is that we will soon see fewer nurses on wards and in the community, not more.

'The Government must use the recent NHS funding deal to bring on the next generation of nurses, and to invest in the current workforce to stop these losses.'

The Department of Health and Social Care says there are more than 105,000 bank and agency staff who fill vacancies and sick leave and maternity cover.

'We want to attract the best for our NHS'

The Government department also announced an extra 5,170 nurse degree training places earlier this year, plus new routes into nursing.

A spokesperson said: 'We want to make sure we continue to attract and retain the very best for our outstanding NHS.

'We are listening to staff and have encouraged more flexible working, boosted training places and given over a million NHS employees a thoroughly-deserved pay rise.'Thousands of people with prosthetic arms and hands are doing damage to their intact limbs, researchers fear.

In the first major study of its kind, it was revealed patients with one prosthetic limb rely too heavily on their non-prosthetic limb.

Salford University scientists today warned overusing the healthy limb may lead to injuries, which could be excruciating.

The trial, which fitted electronic sensors to prosthesis users, offers the most reliable data yet about whether they do have a tendency to rely on their intact arm.

In the first major study of its kind, it was found patients with prosthetic limbs rely too heavily on their healthy appendage

Other studies on the topic have been unreliable because they were based on quizzing patients about the use of their arms.

Forty participants were fitted with electronic sensors on both of their hands in the new trial. Half had a prosthetic.

Researchers, led by Professor Laurence Kenney, monitored all the activities of the volunteers over the course of a week.

When the two groups were compared, they found all prosthesis users were more reliant on their intact hand.

Although, those who had been fitted with the artificial limb for longer did not use their healthy appendage as much.

Professor Kenny argued it has been 'widely' suspected that prosthesis users have a tendency to rely on their intact arm.

WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF PROSTHETIC ARMS? Bionic arms controlled by a patient's thoughts are a radical improvement on existing artificial arms, according to researchers last February. Existing prosthetic arms rely on a patient twitching the muscles in the stump of their damaged arms. But because the muscle is damaged, an amputee may only be able to carry out limited movements, such as one or two grasping actions. The limited range of movements is a reason why up to 50 per cent of amputees abandon their electronic arms at present. But by linking the nerves from the spine into an intact piece of muscle, either in the patient's chest or biceps, patients were able to carry out a much wider repertoire of movements. These included opening and closing the hand, rotating the wrist and moving the arms up and down. To control the new prosthetic, the patient simply has to think like they are controlling a phantom arm. Dr Dario Farina, now based at Imperial College London, and colleagues in Europe, Canada and US led the research last February. Advertisement

Commenting on his study, he said: 'This is the first time that objective and detailed data has been produced to confirm this is the case.

'Relying too much on one limb may lead to overuse injuries.

'And our findings are consistent with reports that upper limb amputees are more likely to experience such problems.'

Professor Kenny warned further trials are needed to determine how people with prosthetic limbs actually use them on a daily basis.

But he is full of hope that their findings, published in Scientific Reports, could be used to support those who have been fitted with artificial limbs.

Figures estimate there are around 45,000 people who rely on prosthetic limbs in England and around two millions amputees in the US.

But in recent years it has emerged thousands have been left in crippling pain from ill-fitting artificial limbs.

One problem is the production and fitting of the sockets that join the man-made parts to a remaining limb.

The socket, usually made from a plastic or carbon fibre material, is placed over a silicone liner that sits over the leg stump, and clipped on to the prosthetic limb.

It is crucial as it transmits forces from the prosthetic limb to the patient's body when the limb hits the ground.

How the socket sits on the stump largely determines how well the prosthetic 'fits' the patient, so it must be a perfect match.

But that fit can be affected by everything from slight weight changes to shrinkage in surrounding tissue after a limb is removed.Dips in cold seas, rivers and lakes are appealing for Britons trying to cool off in the 35C (95F) heat.

However, an expert has today warned about the dangers thousands of people are unaware of when they go swimming outdoors.

Daniel Start, author of Wild Swimming and Wild Guide Wales, claims swimming in the sun is the perfect way of keeping people happy.

But in a piece for The Hippocratic Post, Mr Start spoke of the dangers of currents, rash-causing algae and a fatal disease from rat urine in water.

Dips in cold seas, rivers and lakes are appealing for those trying to cool off. But an expert has today warned about the little-known dangers

In recent years wild swimming has enjoyed a revival.

It began as a quirky hobby; but now thousands of swimmers of all age, including a large number of older women, are moving from swimming pools into open water, be it Britains seas, lakes and rivers.

Around the country more than 175 mass swimming event are taking place in chilly open water this year.

Each summer brings warnings of the dangers of taking to chilly, or even icy cold water and newspaper reports of drownings.

To stay safe, never swim alone and remember, if this is your first time, stay or swim close to the shore.

Theres nothing inherently dangerous about wild swimming, but cold water does reduce your swimming ability, at least until you get used to it.

So stay close to the shore and increase your range slowly.

Dangerous cold water

Cold water will dramatically decrease your range at first, count on being able to swim a tenth of the distance you can in a warm pool, so practise in a safe zone and increase your range slowly.

If its your first time swimming in cold water, enter the water gradually to see how your body reacts  beware of cold shock which can bring on hyperventilation.

When you get out, it can take longer than you think to warm up, so have plenty of clothing ready, and ideally head straight off on another walk or run.

Currents

Currents can be especially powerful directly under large waterfalls or weirs  never jump directly into the tumult below big waterfalls or weirs.

WHERE CAN YOU GO SWIMMING IN BRITAIN? Britain is blessed with a fantastic range of locations for swimming. Cornwall, Dorset and Pembrokeshire are famous for coves, sea caves and rock arches. There are many freshwater venues too, from the tarns of Wales, waterfalls pools of the Lakes and wooded lakes of Sussex. Writers as diverse as Rupert Brooke, Virginia Woolf, D.H. Lawrence, Thomas Mann and Shelley have sought a cold water high. All wild-dippers know the natural endorphin high that raises mood, elates the senses and creates an addictive urge to dive back in. However the world seemed before a swim, it looks fantastic afterwards. Advertisement

In the sea, dont swim from headlands unless you understand tidal currents, and dont swim in high surf conditions  off shore rip currents can form around cove edges and along sandy beaches, in between the surf breaks, and they can carry swimmers out to behind the surf line (where they then dissipate).

If this happens, exit the current by swimming parallel to the shore, and come back in on the surf. The same is true if you are caught in a fast river swim to the shore or side where the water will be calmer.

Algae, swimmer's itch and Weil's disease

Other health hazards can include blue-green algae, sometimes found in lowland lakes in hot summers (best avoided as it can create a rash), swimmers itch (if you spend a lot of time wading through pond weed where snails breed) and, in extremely rare cases (more chance of being knocked over by a bus), Weils disease.

This latter illness is caught from rat urine, mostly around urban waterways. It enters the skin through open cuts and wounds (wear a waterproof plaster if you have a cut).

It is easily treated with antibiotics but can be very serious if left to develop untreated  see your doctor if you develop flu like fever within a week of wild swimming.

Wild swimming is a superb way to break down barriers and build an instant sense of comradeship.

You will be feeling fantastic when you get out, and keen to go back in, so plan your route to take in a few more dips too.

Your first time wild swimming is guaranteed to be one of the most memorable days this summer.

Daniel Start is the author of Wild Guide: Wales (Wild Things Publishing, 16.99), published 2018, also available on Amazon

This article originally appeared on and was reproduced with the permission of The Hippocratic Post.Women face a higher risk of life-threatening complications during childbirth in the US than in any other 'developed' nation, a USA Today investigation claims.

The number of women who die in childbirth has risen dramatically in the US since 1999 while these fatalities have dropped in every other wealthy nation, including the UK, France, Japan, Germany and the UK.

For its investigation, USA Today spent four years examining hospital records and interviewing women who had survived dangerous childbirth complications across the country.

These women are among the 50,000 who sustain serious injuries during labor and delivery, and that only stands to grow unless doctors and hospital employees are given better training in the future.

In other developed nations, childbirth has become increasingly safe, but in the US the last 20 years have seen a sharp increase in maternal mortality

Historically childbirth has always been a dangerous endeavor.

But medical advances - especially those made in the last couple of decades - have changed that for most countries in the world.

'Instead, the US continues to watch other countries improve as it falls behind. Today, this is the most dangerous place in the developed world to give birth,' the report says.

However simply not diagnosing common problems during childbirth is leading to an alarming number of deaths in the US, where 26.4 women per every 100,000 that give birth do not survive the process - a sharp increase from the rate in 1990.

USA Today combed through hundreds of thousands of pages of internal records from hospitals looking for patterns in the childbirth-related complications that their patients experienced.

The most common problems were excessive blood loss and severely high blood pressure - simple problems that can easily be treated if doctors catch them in time.

Worldwide, about five women die every hour of preeclampsia, or high blood pressure during or immediately following pregnancy.

USA Today investigated the death of Yolanda Mention, who died due to the common complication.

After giving birth to a daughter, Serenity, at a South Carolina hospital in 2015, Mention was sent home. Neither she nor her doctors seemed to realize that her blood pressure was dangerously high.

She returned to the hospital the days later with classic symptoms of severe postpartum preeclampsia: high blood pressure and a splitting headache. But during the hours she was left uncared for in the waiting room, Mention had a stroke and died at age 38.

About three percent of women in the US develop preeclampsia, and USA Today's investigation found that less than half of the women whose cases they looked at treated quickly enough to keep up with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist's (ACOG) recommendations and mitigate their risks for stroke.

Similarly, many women bled to death during or after childbirth, or nearly did.

In their investigation, USA Today found that these deaths were not due to compounding complications, but simply the failure of doctors to monitor their patients closely enough.

Some physicians even conceded that they 'eye balled' blood loss, rather than measuring it, in interviews with USA Today reporters.

In severe cases, minimally invasive surgical procedures or even a hysterectomy may become necessary to stop the bleeding, administering common muscle contraction or blood clotting agents can often quickly treat excessive bleeding and save a woman's life.

'It doesnt have to be this way,' the report says.

'Countries around the world have reduced maternal deaths and injuries by aggressively monitoring care and learning from mistakes. The result has been two decades of steady or reduced maternal harms in the rest of the developed world  as US rates climbed.'

Bishop Michael Curry who stole headlines at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May has been diagnosed with cancer.

Curry shot to fame after giving an impassioned speech at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's wedding ceremony.

But the Church revealed on Thursday the bishop had been diagnosed with prostate cancer months earlier and likely decided to give the address in spite of his illness.

There several possible treatments for prostate cancer, including radiation, hormone and chemo therapies.

Bishop Curry has elected to have his prostate glad surgically removed and said in a statement that 'the prognosis looks very good and quite positive.'

The Most Reverend Michael Bruce Curry spoke at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (pictured) in May. Now he has announced that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer 'a few months ago' and will undergo surgery to remove the tumor and gland next week

His choice to treat the disease surgically - and the reverend's optimism - may suggest that his cancer is in an early stage.

'The news about prostate cancer is there are great treatment options that can put your 10 year life expectancy close to 99% if diagnosed early and found to have low grade cancer,' says Dr Jamin Brahmbhatt a urologist at Orlando Health in Florida.

Removal of the prostate gland is considered a 'cure' for the cancer in cases where the disease has not metastasized, or spread, elsewhere in the groin or body.

Survival rates for men with early stage prostate cancer are excellent, with nearly 100 percent surviving at least five years after diagnosis, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Most Reverend Curry seems confident in his chances of being among the survivors, and intends to only take a four to six week sabbatical from his post with the Church.

'I plan to resume my duties in early September and I do not anticipate any significant changes in my commitments,' he wrote in his statement.

The Reverend's face, name and especially his voice become known in households around the world after he was invited to speak at the royal wedding on the recommendation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Wellby.

In his sermon there, entitled 'The Power of Love, Most Reverend Curry spoke animatedly about the ability of love to heal.

The Most Reverend tweeted part of his announcement yesterday, notifying members of the Episcopalian Church of his diagnoses and treatment plan, and asking they 'say a prayer'

In the American bishop's memorable sermon at the royal wedding, he captured audiences world wide with his animated sermon on of the power of the healing power of love

'Love can help heal when nothing else can...whether on mountaintops of happiness and through valleys of hardship,' he said.

Curry seems to be drawing on the medical support of his doctors, the suggestions of prostate cancer survivors and the love of his friends and family.

'I have spoken with several others who have gone through this, and who have offered both encouragement and helpful advice. I will be in the hospital for at least a day, then at home to recuperate,' he wrote in his statement.

'I am very blessed with a wonderful family, a first-rate medical team, a great staff, dear colleagues and friends, a calling to which I have given my life, and above all a good, great and loving God in whose hands we always remain,' he added.

'So, do say a prayer. And know that I look forward to being back at my post in September.'GET ME THE URGENT BISCUITS by Sweetpea Slight (W&N 8.99)

GET ME THE URGENT BISCUITS

by Sweetpea Slight (W&N 8.99)

The old French saying no man is a hero to his valet gets a sprightly modern twist in Sweetpea Slights memoir of working for formidable theatrical grande dame Thelma Holt.

The pair first met in 1984 when Slight, aged 18 and still called Jane, came to London for an audition at Rada. (Sweetpea was Thelmas invention: Jane liked it so much that she changed the name on her passport.)

Thelma announced Jane would never make a career on the stage and dictated a letter turning down the Rada audition.

Instead Jane began as Thelmas assistant, in charge of everything from finding a last-minute replacement for a stage armourer whod dropped dead, to keeping an emergency supply of the urgent biscuits of the title.

Charmingly ditzy and packed with backstage gossip, this is a poignant account of coming of age in the theatre.

CAESARS LAST BREATH by Sam Kean (Black Swan 9.99)

CAESARS LAST BREATH

by Sam Kean (Black Swan 9.99)

With each and every breath we take, we suck in a lungful of history.

Between one inhalation and the next, we might draw in a few molecules from 9/11 or the fall of the Berlin wall. We might even, suggests science writer Sam Kean, be breathing an atom or two of the dying breath with which Julius Caesar gasped et tu, Brute? to his treacherous friend-turned-murderer.

Our earth was formed from a cloud of space gas 4.5 billion years ago, and in this witty, readable book, embellished with colourful anecdotes, Kean traces the history of Earth and its inhabitants through the story of its gases.

He explains where air comes from, the ways in which humans have harnessed gases, and our changing relationship with the substance we breathe.

WATLING STREET by John Higgs (W&N 9.99)

WATLING STREET

by John Higgs (W&N 9.99)

Long ago, a path was created through endless forest. Gradually that path became a trackway, and the trackway became a road.

It connected the white cliffs of Dover to the druid groves of the Welsh island of Anglesey.

In the Dark Ages it gained the name Watling Street. More recently, it has been given names like the A2, the A5 and the M6 Toll.

Watling Street is a palimpsest; it is always being rewritten. It is a road of witches and ghosts, of queens and highwaymen.

There is no road in the world that has produced so many stories.

For John Higgs, Watling Street is a microcosm of our national identity  a place where 007 meets Robin Hood.

His quirky and colourful pilgrimage along this prehistoric pathway finds him seeking out old and new stories to guide us through these unsettling times.Virginia State Police(BRISTOL, Va.) -- The man who allegedly abducted a teenage girl in Tennessee was arrested Thursday morning, shortly after authorities issued an Amber Alert.



The FBI's field office in Knoxville, Tennessee, announced via Twitter that Richard Tester, 52, was in custody and that Grace Olivia Galliher, 17, was found "safe."



Tester allegedly abducted Galliher from her hometown of Bristol, Tennessee, Tuesday afternoon.





Tester was believed to have been traveling with Galliher in a blue 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer with a Tennessee license plate. They were last seen Wednesday night at a motel in Marion, Virginia, about 50 miles away from the teen's hometown, police said.



Virginia State Police issued an Amber Alert for Galliher Thursday morning, saying she was believed to be in "extreme danger."



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Celebrating her 100th birthday last year, Dame Vera Lynn recalled her emotional visit to sing for the troops of Lieutenant- General William Slims Forgotten Army on the subcontinent in 1943.

Soldiers fighting the Japanese advance into India wept and cheered as the Forces Sweetheart stood in fields and hospitals, singing of Dovers White Cliffs until the make-up ran down her face and her voice was reduced to a ragged croak.

But Dame Vera wasnt the only British woman to make the long journey there. The following July, 20-year-old Madge Graves stepped on to a troop ship bound for Chittagong.

Madge Graves fell in love with the dashing Captain Basil Lambert but they didn't marry until after the war

The newly-qualified nurse had been caring for casualties of the D-Day landings at Stoke Mandeville hospital when she responded to Lord Mountbattens request for nurses to bolster Allied medical units in Chittagong, just over the Burmese border in India.

In a moving wartime memoir, Madge recalls how, instead of the combat injuries she had expected to treat, she arrived at the hospital in Chittagong to find wards filled with shaking, sweating men.

In 1943 malaria had almost defeated the British. For every soldier evacuated with wounds, 120 were evacuated with the disease. Madge watched her first patient, a kind-hearted farmhand called George, die after suffering fits of shaking so violent that his bed frame banged against the bamboo walls of the hospital.

The newly-qualified nurse had been caring for casualties of the D-Day landings at Stoke Mandeville hospital when she accepted a request for nurses in Chittagong

But many more patients were treated successfully and Madge began to enjoy life on an Indian ward. She learned to check her shoes for snakes and spiders and quickly cottoned on to the lingo. A bhisti brought water, a dhoti-wallah did the washing and a punkah-wallah pulled the strings on the fans. But the most important word, said the ward sister, is char. That means tea!

On a trip into town Madge found what looked like a salon and was welcomed into a jasmine-scented room where she was surrounded by brown-eyed beauties who gave her a perm, a manicure and a free bottle of coconut oil for her hair.

She felt marvellous until her makeover prompted a dressing-down from the Military Police for bringing the hospital into disrepute. It turned out Madge had got her hair permed in a brothel.

Love came her way in the dashing, moustachioed form of Capt. Basil Lambert. Madge tells a tender tale of a youthful romance, enhanced by exotic surroundings and intensified by the daily threat to both their lives. Friends got married, but Basil refused to make a young widow of his beloved.

Basil returned to Madge in February 1947 and the couple were married the following year and their story attracted national attention in 2015 (Madge with Prince Harry)

In other Allied hospitals, the Japanese had bayoneted medics and patients, so many nurses refused to treat Japanese PoWs. But Madges unprejudiced compassion shone through: some spat in her face as she tried to save their lives, but she knew that they would rather have died than endure the dishonour of enemy assistance.

Basil returned to Madge in February 1947 and the couple were married the following year. Their story received media attention when they took part in the VJ Day parade down Whitehall in 2015.

Prime minister David Cameron asked Madge if the Burma Star and Defence Medal she wore were hers. She politely informed him that they certainly were. He should have known, she says, that medals worn on the left have been awarded to the wearer, while relatives of deceased service personnel wear them on the right.

She expected to treat wounded soldiers but was shocked at the wards filled with shaking men

Their love affair was celebrated in a dance performed on the BBCs Strictly Come Dancing in 2016, with 12 million viewers. One professional dancer was so affected by the couples story that she burst into tears during rehearsals.

When Basil and Madge joined the pros to the strains of Vera Lynns Well Meet Again, they received a standing ovation.

What we learned in those troubled times, concludes Madge, was to compromise. There was no other option in the Burma Campaign. And I feel it has been the ability to compromise that has been the secret to our marriage, too.Glaxo boss Emma Walmsley is focusing on data and technology

GlaxoSmithKline has revealed a major revamp of its research division in a bid to produce the blockbuster drugs of the future.

Emma Walmsley, the company's boss, said a focus on data and technology was at the heart of the overhaul, which is being led by new science chief Dr Hal Barron.

It will be boosted by a 1.7billion cost-cutting drive to free cash to plough into research and development.

Walmsley, 49, also revealed a big push into genetics which could cut the time it takes to develop medicines.

A 230million investment in Silicon Valley gene tester 23andMe will give it access to 5m people's genomes, allowing it to investigate links between genetics and disease.

And a push into oncology and HIV drugs could see new treatments being launched within two years.

Pouring cold water on speculation that Glaxo could spin off its consumer arm, which makes Sensodyne toothpaste and Panadol painkillers, Walmsley said: 'The board's position remains unchanged. We like the structure we have.'

Launching her plans for the future, she added: 'This is all about innovation. We have this great history at GSK of leading in HIV, respiratory, global health and, of course, in vaccines, where we are the world leaders.

'However, it is time to think about how we will reinvent ourselves and build on all of that history to make sure that we can provide for the next wave of growth.'

The mother-of-four was speaking as Glaxo reported its second-quarter results. Strong sales of its shingles vaccine, Shingrix, led the firm to hike full-year forecasts.

And Glaxo said it expected to launch two new treatments for HIV and its most advanced oncology therapy so far by 2020.

But it was hit by exchange rates and pricing pressures in the US. Overall, it reported flat sales of 7.3billion in the quarter, above analyst predictions of 7.2billion.

And Glaxo is also poised for sales of its top-selling lung inhaler Advair to be hit by competition, saying they could be 3pc lower if a rival emerges by October.

That has added further urgency to Walmsley's mission to revamp the company's pipeline of new drugs.

Since taking over from Sir Andrew Witty last year, she has cut costs, culled managers and lured high-flying executives to her top team, including Barron and former Walmart information chief Karenann Terrell.

To bolster its research efforts, Glaxo announced a restructure to save 400million per year. Walmsley refused to say whether this could see UK jobs lost.

Barron said he would focus on science related to the immune system and investments in advanced technologies.

He said: 'Human genetics is going to represent a core component of our drug discovery strategy. We think we can cut the cost of development in half.'Ex-Asda boss Allan Leighton has turned down the Stobart job

City grandee Allan Leighton, 65, has ruled out taking the reins at troubled Stobart Group.

The ex-Asda boss was suggested by shareholder M&G as a temporary candidate for the top job amid a major boardroom bust-up.

But he does not want the permanent post when chairman Iain Ferguson leaves this year.

Stobart Group has also hired top employment lawyer Alice Mayhew at Devereux Chambers to investigate whistleblowing and bullying claims.

Bosses are in a tizzy after a toxic row with ex-chief executive Andrew Tinkler, 54.

After stepping down, Tinkler tried to oust Ferguson, 63, and was then sacked from the board amid accusations he was trying to destabilise the firm.

At a fiery annual general meeting earlier this month, he was re-elected to the board by shareholders but sacked a the second time. He is now suing several directors for defamation.Gin-loving Britons have helped drinks giant Diageo boost its sales and profits, new figures released by the company show.

The British drinks giant, whose brands include Guinness and Smirnoff, saw UK sales of its drinks rise 8 per cent in the year to June, with its Tanqueray gin brand drawing in 'double-digit' growth.

Toasting its strong results, Diageo is set to reward its investors with 2billion worth of share buybacks.

Trendy: Gin-loving Britons have helped drinks giant Diageo boost its sales and profits

Across Britain, Diageo saw sales of Guinness rise by 8 per cent in the last year, while sales of Smirnoff vodka dipped by 2 per cent. The group said vodka sales were falling across all its global operations, dipping 1 per cent in total.

Globally, the group saw revenues rise 1.7 per cent to 18.4billion in the year to June, slightly ahead of analysts expectations and despite the knock-on effect of currency fluctuations. Pre-tax profits increased by 5 per cent to 3.7billion. Earnings per share rose 9.3 per cent to 118.6p a share.

Diageo's share price is down 1.26 per cent or 35.75p to 2,811.75p.

Neil Wilson, chief analyst for Markets.com, said: 'Diageo results were very positive but despite very strong free cash generation and a fresh 2bn buyback shares have fallen as investors decided to take profits.

'Whilst its easy to criticise firms for buybacks, what else is Diageo supposed to do with all this cash? It reported 3.1 billion net cash from operating activities and 2.5 billion free cash flow.'

He added: 'Explaining todays share moves, perhaps we can put it down to profit-taking, and investors may wish to see more imagination than yet another buyback.

'The stock has rallied 20 per cent since the end of March so nows maybe the time for investors to take a few chips off the table and look elsewhere.

'Still with stable returns and very strong free cash there is plenty of reason to be bullish.'

Time for a drink: Britain's heatwave has left people craving an iced-cold drink

The group saw sales of Scotch, which make up a 25 per cent of its market, rise 2 per cent in the last year, with growth in North America, Asia Pacific and Latin America and Caribbean partially offset by falling sales in in Africa and Europe.

Ivan Menezes, Diageo's chief executive, hailed 'another year of strong cash flow generation' that has allowed the group to boost its share buyback scheme.

He said: 'The changes we have made in the business and the shifts in culture we continue to drive, ensure we are well placed to capture opportunities and deliver sustained growth.'

Falling sales: Sales of Smirmoff vodka in Britain fell by 2 per cent in the last year

Hotting up: Ivan Menezes, Diageo's chief executive, hailed 'another year of strong cash flow generation'

Earlier this month, Diageo outlined plans to tighten its grip on a Chinese drinks maker whose distillery dates back more than 600 years.

Diageo said it wants to raise its stake in Sichuan Shui Jing Fang from 39.7 per cent to 60 per cent. The move looks set to cost Diageo around 700million.Manchester Trafford Centre owner Intu Properties has fallen afoul of the UKs retail woes, racking up huge half-year losses.

Shares in the firm, which also owns Lakeside shopping centre in Essex, tumbled 9 per cent to 164p after it swung to a 506.5m loss, compared with profits of 123.2m in the same period last year.

Intu has been stung by a 650.4m decline in the value of its shopping centres  6 per cent  as demand for High Street retail space dwindles.

Intu owns 17 of the UK's shopping centres, including Lakeside and the Trafford Centre

Rental growth was 1.3 per cent on a like-for-like basis over the period, with the company claiming to be unaffected by the slew of store closures announced by retailers this year.

As the results emerged, chief executive David Fischel said he plans to step down after 17 years at the helm.

David Fischel (pictured) is stepping down after 17 years at the helm of Intu

His resignation comes a month after Intus proposed takeover by bigger rival Hammerson fell through.

Fischel had previously planned to step down when the deal completed, but with the deal now off, he will leave when a successor is found.

Hammerson said its U-turn was driven by the desire to reduce exposure to the most fragile parts of the UK retail market, including department stores and High Street fashion, and focus instead on premium and luxury outlets.

It unboxed plans earlier this week to sell off all 13 of its retail parks and put its Brent Cross shopping centre expansion plans on hold following intense pressure from shareholders.

Conversely, Intu is steaming ahead with its expansion plans, including the 180m extension of Intu Watford and the 72m extension at Lakeside, cementing its commitment to the contracting retail sector.

Its outgoing boss said: During a period of weakening sentiment in the retail market, which has impacted prime shopping centre valuations, Intu has delivered a resilient operational performance in the first half of 2018.

This reflects the high quality of our business which was able to perform in a challenging retail environment.

Intu claims its centres are in prime locations with high footfall with 'plenty of opportunities' to increase density

Analysts at Liberum said the pressure on Intu's shopping centres had been over and above that experienced by rivals Hammerson and Land Securities.

'The retirement of long-standing CEO David Fischel could present an opportunity for his successor to revisit the group's strategy and help improve the market's current poor perception of its assets and direction,' they said.

The company maintained its 4.6p interim dividend.The future of the Lifetime Isa is in doubt just weeks after a second provider finally started offering accounts to young savers.

Lifetime Isas allow adults under 40 to save for their first home or pension in one pot with a 25 per cent bonus from the Government. They were revealed in the 2016 budget and launched in April 2017.

However, the Treasury Committee has today called for them to be scrapped due to their 'perverse incentives and complexity.'

Under threat: Just two providers offer a savings version of a Lifetime Isa showing a lack of appetite from banks and building societies

Concerns have previously been raised that if people are saving for later life into a Lifetime Isa, it could discourage them from saving into a workplace pension.

In the latter, they get the benefit of employer contributions into their pot.

Critics have also argued that a home and a pension are two very different savings goals.

The committee said: 'This inquiry has received strong criticism of the Lifetime Isa over its complexity, its perverse incentives, its lack of complementarity with the pensions saving landscape and its apparent lack of popularity with the industry and pension savers.

'The Government should abolish it.'

The Lifetime Isa has been a relative flop since being made available in April 2017. For more than a year, only one provider offered them, Skipton Building Society, with a 0.5 per cent rate.

This is offset by the bonus the Government gives. On the maximum 4,000 that is allowed to be saved, there is a potential 1,000 bonus on offer.

Last month, Nottingham Building Society became savings provider number two to make a Lifetime Isa available, with a 0.75 per cent rate.

The lack of appetite from banks and building societies may give an indication about how it is seen as a gimmick with a short shelf life.

Investment firms have been a touch more interested, but even then just six offer stocks and shares versions.

You must be under 40 to open a Lifetime Isa and you can pay in money until the age of 50 to earn the 25 per cent bonus on contributions.

However, it has to go on a first home or you can't access it until the age of 60, without a hefty penalty.

Furthermore, MPs have urged that stronger action is needed to help hard-pressed households with debts save for a rainy day and pension.

The committee's wide-ranging report said households are facing a series of challenges 'that are putting the health and sustainability of their finances under pressure.'

This includes pressures from weak income growth, the growth of the gig economy and self-employment and an ageing population.

It said the Government's principal savings incentive takes the form of tax relief on interest, mainly through Isas.

The committee continued: 'Yet there is little evidence that tax relief is an effective way of encouraging potentially vulnerable households to save for a rainy day.

'There is, however, more evidence that cash bonuses and direct matching schemes, such as the Help to Save scheme, are better at helping people build a precautionary savings buffer.

'The Government should update Parliament on the usage of such schemes and its efforts to increase take-up. It should also consider widening the eligibility criteria.'

House vs pension: Critics argue that saving for either of the two are completely different goals

Looking at pension saving, the committee highlighted a previous review which found there are still 12million people in the UK who are not saving enough for their retirement. This is creating a 'looming crisis' it said.

It also highlighted growing concerns about self-employed people who have not been brought into workplace pension saving under automatic enrolment.

The committee said: 'There is, therefore, an urgent need to bring the self-employed into the auto-enrolment system, but the Government has no clear strategy or timetable for doing so.

'The Government should consider making use of self-assessment and national insurance contributions to auto-enrol the self-employed.'

In the next Budget, the Treasury should report on the state of household finances, identify the key risks to the financial resilience of households, and set out its strategy for tackling them, the committee said.

Nicky Morgan, who chairs the Treasury Committee, said: 'Many households are facing challenges that are putting pressure on the health and sustainability of their finances.

'Over-indebtedness, lack of rainy day savings and insufficient pension savings are some of the weaknesses in the household balance sheet identified in this inquiry.

'The committee's report makes a series of recommendations for the Government to consider that would help households ensure that their finances are as resilient as possible.

'Whilst financial service regulators and guidance bodies have important roles to play, the Government should not pass the buck to them.'

The Treasury Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of HM Treasury, HM Revenue & Customs, and associated public bodies, including the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority.Puerto Rico chart topper Bad Bunny claims he was turned away from a nail spa in Spain simply because he is a man.

He wasnt too pleased with the customer service he received - or lack thereof - when he visited the spa during his European tour, 'La Nueva Religion' which kicked off July 13.

The 24-year-old Latin trap artist, who earlier this year collaborated on Cardi B's Billboard Hot 100 single 'I Like It', was just looking to touch up his nails ahead of a busy week performing every night to sold out crowds.

While visiting the northwest city of Oviedo, the outgoing Puerto Rican was denied him a manicure at the Ana Rodera spa over the weekend because he is a man, he claims.

Bad Bunny ( left) with Cardi B (center) and J Balvin (right) are seen filming the video for 'I Like It' in May

The Latin urban artist expresses his love for fashion in different ways, including getting his nails painted

Bad Bunny was looking to change up his nail style a week after arriving in Spain

Bad Bunny, who has drawn some attention for his wardrobe choices, immediately took to his Twitter and Instagram accounts, blasting the establishment for turning him away.

In the deleted social media post, Bad Bunny, who in 2015 started to make made a name for himself in the Latin music scene after working as a supermarket bagger, called out the salon for its old fashioned ways.

'I just want to tell you that I went to this stinking place to get my nails done (a manicure + color) and they told me NO because I am a MAN hahahaha,' Bad Bunny wrote. 'I dont know what to think, but its very, very, very unfortunate haha What year are we in? In f***ing 1960? What do you call that?'

The Ana Rodera spa allegedly has a policy of not catering to men who want their nails painted

Just one of the different nail colors that Bad Bunny has opted for in the past

While many of his 12 million Instagram followers backed him up, there were a quite few that didnt applaud the Puerto Ricans decision to slam the business.

Nevertheless, Bad Bunny fired back through his Instagram account: 'Where does it say that the spa is only for women???? It's not stated anywhere.'

He added: 'They'd better improve their business or close it. If not, they can travel back to 1958 and set it up there.'

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Ana Rodea spa for comment.This Ukrainian woman who married a Perth Pentecostal pastor came to Australia on a partner visa

More than 900 foreigners who start a relationship with an Australian citizen overseas or online are granted spousal visas every week.

The figures equate to about 48,000 foreign wives - and occasionally husbands - being allowed to move to Australia each year after being granted a partner visa by the Department of Home Affairs under the family migration category.

The rules on spousal visas haven't changed since 1996, when the Howard government introduced a two-year waiting period before foreigners could be accepted and separate interviews with each spouse by immigration officials to determine if the relationship was genuine.

A former immigration minister in the Howard government said the system was vulnerable to being rorted.

One of the country's most respected population experts has called for tighter rules to ensure those granted the visas can speak English, integrate into the country and work.

Dr Bob Birrell, the head of the Australian Population Research Institute, said the existing rules were open to abuse.

'My main concern is just how weak our rules are on spouse migration,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

About 48,000 foreign wives - and occasionally husbands - are being allowed to move to Australia each year. This chart shows that figure has risen from 39,931 in 2007-08

One of Australia's most respected population experts Bob Birrell has called for tighter rules on mail order brides to ensure they speak English, can integrate into Australia and work

'A person can sponsor a spouse about age 18.

'They could have arrived yesterday and there's no evaluation at all on the financial capacity or the financial security of the spouse, or to provide for the spouse.

'It's just quite extraordinary, really.'

Dr Birrell, a former Monash University academic and immigration policy adviser, said the existing system also allowed the unemployed to bring a spouse over.

'They don't have to have a job, they could be on welfare. That is not taken account of,' he said.

'Nor is there any evaluation of the sponsored spouse capacity to integrate in Australia: does he or she have any English, have any skills?'

Former immigration minister Philip Ruddock, who tightened the partner visa rules in 1996, said the system was susceptible to being abused.

Former immigration minister Philip Ruddock, who tightened the partner visa rules in 1996, said the system was susceptible to being abused (he is pictured in 2016 in parliament)

'All you've got to do is establish that there is a relationship and sometimes I don't think we sufficiently examine whether those relationships are as genuine as they might be claimed,' he told Daily Mail Australia today.

'I'm very, very much of the view that you need to deal with rorting.'

Lawrence Shave, a 74-year-old Pentecostal evangelical pastor from southern Perth who is twice divorced, five years ago found a Ukrainian woman to be his bride.

Unfortunately for him, Oksana left him for another man.

Last year, he advertised for a Russian bride aged between 20 and 44 via the SingleBridesAgency.com dating website, which specialises in eastern European women.

Lawrence Shave, a 74-year-old Pentecostal evangelical pastor from southern Perth who is twice divorced five years ago found a Ukrainian woman to be his bride

Unfortunately for Lawrence Shave, Oksana (pictured) left him for another man

The church minister, who ran as a One Nation state election candidate in 2017, sought a Russian woman who shared his Christian faith.

'I am still looking for my special Christian partner that has old family values,' he told Daily Mail Australia last year.

Dr Birrell said women from Asian nations in particular often sought out Australian men so they could escape a life of poverty.

'Some of the permanent residents from Vietnam and The Philippines here would be under pressure,' he said.

Mr Ruddock, who is now the Mayor of Hornsby in Sydney's north, said that before Australians were required in 1996 to prove there was a genuine relationship, one man had sought to sponsor nine Filipino brides.

'You would have partners even marrying Australians, arriving in Australia and divorcing their partner in Australia and then marrying the partner they left abroad to bring them into Australia,' he said.

'We have one gentleman who had nine Filipino brides over a period of time and never seemed to be able to make the relationships work.'

Last year, he advertised for a Russian bride aged between 20 and 44 via the SingleBridesAgency.com dating website, which specialises in eastern European women

Meanwhile, Australia is set to gain 11.8 million residents over the next 30 years, with the population ballooning to 36 million by 2046.

The overall population is growing faster than the U.S., U.K. and Indonesia, with migration accounting for almost two thirds of the country's growth, and is set to surpass the 25 million milestone in the first week of August.

If Australia's immigration intake continues as it is, Melbourne will have eight million people by 2051 and leapfrog Sydney as Australia's largest city.

Sydney is predicted to grow to 7.4 million people by 2046 and Brisbane and Perth's population will both double to four million.

More immigrants settling permanently in Australia since the turn of the millennium were born in India than anywhere else.

Census data revealed nearly 300,000 permanent migrants arrived from the country between 2000 and 2016.Greg Jesmer, 54, has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder and endangering the welfare of a child

An elderly woman in upstate New York was found stabbed to death and her neighbor named suspect after police connected evidence from a separate crime of his that involved an underage girl.

Rochester resident Gregory Jesmer has been charged with second-degree murder after he allegedly stabbed 101-year-old Marcia Morrison in the neck, throat and upper body at some point earlier this week at their residential complex located on 58 Green Knolls Drive.

Morrison was found dead inside her apartment Tuesday after an employee for a senior transportation company arrived to pick the woman up for her weekly ride and she did not answer the door.

Authorities connected the 54-year-old to the killing thanks to evidence gathered from another incident that occurred later Tuesday.

The suspect allegedly attempted to lure a 13-year-old girl, who also resides in the complex, back to his apartment with a $500 offer.

Rochester Police Chief Michael Ciminelli said in a press conference another member of the community witnessed the exchange before they intervened and phoned 911.

Jesmer allegedly stabbed 101-year-old Marcia Morrison (pictured above) in the neck, throat and upper body this week inside their residential complex

In a press conference, Rochester Police Chief Michael Ciminelli thanked another member of the community who witnessed Jesmer's exchange with the young girl and called 911

'This allowed responding officers to quickly detain this man,' Ciminelli said in the press conference.

'As investigation progressed, additional evidence was gathered, which connected him to the death of the victim on Green Knolls Drive.'

The police chief said additional charges may be pending.

'This investigation probably will continue for days, if not weeks. There is a lot of evidence. There's a lot of crime scene work still in progress, more people to interview,' Ciminelli said.

'On behalf of the Rochester Police Department, I would like to express our condolences and wish our thoughts and prayers to the friends, family and loved ones of the victim during this difficult time.'

Jesmer pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder during his Wednesday arraignment in Rochester City Court,' the Democrat and Chronicle reported.

Jesmer has also been charged with endangering the welfare of a child.

He is currently being held without bail in the Monroe County Jail.

Morrison was found dead inside her apartment located on 58 Green Knolls Drive on Tuesday

A photo from the residential complex is shown after the area was closed off for investigation

Prosecutor Monica O'Brien said in a court statement the crime is 'one of the most egregious that we as a community have ever seen.'

Morrison had just celebrated her 101st birthday last week.

The Chronicle reported that woman is the oldest homicide victim in the city this year.

Morrison's neighbor, Sandra Fields, told the newspaper the woman was 'feisty and funny' and like 'a grandmother' to other residents in the building.

'She had a lot of life left in her, more than some young people,' Fields added.Meghan Markle's future sister-in-law has revealed her most recent arrest came after a row that left future husband Thomas Markle Jr, 51, with a black eye.

Darlene Blount, 37, of Grants Pass, Oregon, recounted the chain of events that led to her being handcuffed and said the fight began as the pair made their way home from a local bar at 5.30pm last Thursday.

The cause, Blount said, was her decision to go out with some of her girlfriends, adding that Markle Jr 'gets pretty jealous' if she goes to a bar without him.

Blount says she demanded to get out of the car but accidentally clipped Markle Jr in the eye with the corner of her purse as she made her exit.

She spent the evening at her mother's home nearby, where she had 'a few drinks' before returning home just after midnight.

When she got there, it was to find the window fitter, 51, 'wasted' and sporting a black eye, and standing in a 'destroyed' house.

Troubled couple: Darlene Blount and Thomas Markle Jr., the Duchess of Sussex's older half-brother, are separated by a temporary restraining order after she was arrested on allegations of domestic violence

Mugshot: Darlene Blount, 37, was arrested last Thursday and spent two nights in the cells before being bailed out by her fiance Thomas Markle Jr., who had phoned police in the first place

Impression: Darlene Blount said she was concerned about what the royal family would think and said that she and Markle were putting off their plan for a wedding this year after the arrest

Blount exclusively told DailyMail.com: 'He said he'd already called the cops on me. I was just like "whatever, I didn't do nothing to you".

'I thought he was joking at first and then the cops showed up and arrested me.'

Markle Jr added: 'We got into a pretty heavy argument and she screamed at me to let her out of the car but as I was starting to pull over, she swung around to reach her purse in the back seat and caught me in my right eye with her elbow.

'I thought she intentionally hit me, which wasn't the case. When we got home the argument continued, so I then phoned police and she left the house.

'I made a report saying she punched me in my eye while driving which almost caused me to wreck.'

The 37-year-old mother-of-one was booked into Josephine County Jail on assault charges and spent the next two nights sleeping on a concrete floor before being bailed out Saturday by her fiance.

Blount and Markle Jr are currently being kept apart by a police-imposed no contact order, with Blount staying at her father's home until Monday when she hopes the restriction will be lifted.

Once reunited, the two plan to have alcohol and couples counseling but say they are worried about how the royal family will react to their latest brush with the law.

Blount told DailyMail.com: 'Yeah, I am worried [about what they will think] but it is what it is and there's nothing I can do to change it.

'People will message me on Facebook now and things like that - rude things. I just block them because I don't even know who these people are.'

Markle Jr added: 'It's hard to say how Meghan might feel about this - she doesn't live in the real world with real life situations like everyone else.

'I don't think she plans on reuniting with anyone in our family.'

He continued: 'I think Meg might be having a hard time getting used to her new role as a Duchess but the only thing I think she's doing wrong is ignoring her father and not visiting him, like the rest of the family.'

The latest arrest comes less than eight months after Blount was cuffed for another drunken fight with Markle Jr on New Year's Eve.

On that occasion, the 37-year-old spent two nights in jail after calling the cops and claiming the 51-year-old was 'being really f***ing weird' and beating himself up.

Family trouble: The Markle clan have proved to be a source of running embarrassment for the royal family, with Prince Harry's father-in-law Thomas Markle Sr. repeatedly speaking out

Another source of stress: Samantha Markle, who is estranged from both her sister and her brother, has been named as a possible participant in Big Brother in the UK

Estrangement: Thomas Markle Jr. told DailyMail.com that he and the rest of the family wanted Meghan to visit their father

Audio of the police call from New Year's Eve revealed that she accused him of being 'mentally abusive' and told the operator that she was afraid for his safety.

She also said he had been drinking when he became jealous, thinking she was trying to 'f*** some dude' she knew when out at a local bar.

The then 36-year-old claimed to be 'scared' of Thomas because he is 'a big guy', suggesting to the operator that he could be mentally ill.

When police arrived, Blount was arrested instead but the charges were later dropped.

Markle Jr has also spent time in Josephine County Jail and was arrested in January 2016 for drunkenly holding a gun to Blount's head during yet another argument.

Like his fiancee, he was bailed out two days later and the charges were ultimately dropped.

Blount says she is still waiting to find out if the district attorney will prosecute the assault charge pending after her latest arrest but says she and her fiance will stay together regardless.

She told DailyMail.com: 'Yeah, we are still getting married  we're going to have to work on things but yeah.

'We were thinking [of doing it] this year but we might put it off a little bit until all this c**p goes away. Tom helps me a lot and he's a father to my son.'

Markle Jr added: 'We have always stayed together through rough times. We have a lot of work to do - counseling for couples, alcohol counseling - but we do plan to be together.'A woman died after rain from the latest round of strong Colorado storms flooded the suburban Denver basement apartment she was staying in to take care of a friend's cat, police said Wednesday.

People who live upstairs in the Englewood home called police Tuesday because they were concerned about their neighbor in the basement unit, police spokesman Chad Read said.

The neighbor was not at home but officers found Rachael Marie Haber, 32, after searching in the murky water that reached up to the ceiling. No one else was in the unit.

Pictures taken in the aftermath showed the battered door to the basement apartment which was flooded up to the ceiling when police arrived

Rachael Haber, 32, had been looking after a friend's cat in the apartment when she drowned

Haber was unresponsive and taken to the hospital, where she died Wednesday morning.

The coroner said an autopsy showed injuries consistent with drowning, but further tests on how she died were still pending.

Read told The Denver Post the water in the neighborhood was knee-high when officers arrived.

'There was water in the front yards, backyards and a car actually floated down part of the street and ended up in front of the house,' he said.

The rain also caused a sinkhole to open in nearby Sheridan, swallowing a vehicle, but the driver was able to get out in time. The muddy and mangled Toyota RAV4 was pulled from the hole on Wednesday.

Police and firemen rushed to the scene after a neighbor raised the alarm about the flooded basement

Ms Haber was rushed to a local hospital after being discovered unresponsive but died the morning after

In southwestern Colorado, water and debris closed roads near an area burned by a large wildfire north of Durango. The flooding stopped the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, leading about 800 passengers to be bused back to Durango, The Durango Herald reported.

Another sinkhole opened earlier Tuesday south of Colorado Springs after flooding washed out a culvert following heavy rain there on Monday.

A vehicle fell into the culvert and when the Hanover Fire Department responded to the cave-in, their fire truck also fell into the hole. Both vehicles were removed early Tuesday morning.

Two firefighters and the driver of the first vehicle were taken to the hospital.Mattel, hurt by the closing of Toys R Us stores, said Wednesday that it will cut more than 2,200 jobs as the maker of Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels cars seeks to save money.

Like other toy companies, Mattel has lost sales as Toys R Us faltered. The toy retailer filed for bankruptcy protection last year, announced it was liquidating its business in March and then closed all its stores last month.

Mattel rival Hasbro, however, reported better-than-expected second-quarter financial results earlier this week, a sign that the maker of Monopoly and Play-Doh is rebounding from the demise of Toys R Us.

This April 26, 2018, file photo shows the Mattel logo at the TTPM 2018 Spring Showcase in New York. Mattel says it will cut 2,200 jobs as the maker of Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels cars tries to save money

A Mattel spokesman said the job cuts will affect mainly its office workers worldwide and are part of the company's efforts to slash at least $650 million in costs.

Mattel, which is based in El Segundo, California, has about 28,000 employees.

Mattel Inc.'s stock fell nearly 9 percent to $14.85 in after-hours trading Wednesday, after dropping 1 percent during the regular trading day.

The company had other bad news: Its financial results between April are June were worse than what Wall Street analysts had expected.

Barbie dolls, made by Mattel, are displayed on a shelf at a Target store on July 25, 2018 in San Rafael, California

Mattel Inc. Hot Wheels brand matchbox cars are arranged for a photograph in Tiskilwa, Illinois, U.S., on Monday, April 16, 2018

It posted a loss of $240.9 million, or 70 cents per share, in the second quarter.

Losses, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 56 cents per share, far larger than the loss of 32 cents per share analysts expected, according to Zacks Investment Research.

Revenue fell 14 percent to $840.7 million, below the $863.1 million analysts expected.

There were some bright spots: Barbie and Hot Wheels sales rose, even as Toys R Us shuttered its doors. Other brands didn't fare as well.

Ynon Kreiz, chief executive officer of Mattel Inc., arrives for a morning session at the Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, U.S., on Friday, July 13, 2018. Kreiz said Wednesday that he expects the negative impact of Toys R Us to subside by next year

Sales of its American Girl dolls fell, as did sales in its Fisher-Price brand.

Ynon Kreiz, who was named CEO in April, said Wednesday that he expects the negative impact of Toys R Us to subside by next year.

Mattel, he said, is working closely with other retailers and looking for more ways to sell its toys online.

'Mattel is a company with great potential,' Kreiz said in a conference call.National property prices have dropped annually for the first time in six years, driven by weakening markets in Sydney and Melbourne.

The median Sydney house price fell 4.5 per cent during the year to June 2018, the largest annual decline in a decade.

Home values in some areas fell by more than ten per cent, with properties on the city's upper north shore suffering a 12.2 per cent drop.

Prices in the city and eastern suburbs slumped eight per cent, while lower north shore home values fell by 7.2 per cent and seven per cent on the northern beaches.

In Melbourne, which along with Sydney makes up two-thirds of the value in the national market, growth was the slowest since September 2012.

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The median Sydney house price fell 4.5 per cent during the year to June 2018, the largest annual decline in a decade (stock image)

In Melbourne, which together with Sydney makes up two-thirds of the value in the national market, growth was the slowest since September 2012 (stock image)

The national median house price is now $802,077, one per cent lower than a year earlier, a report by the Domain Group revealed.

'On a national level we're seeing a softening of conditions which is being driven by Sydney and Melbourne,' Domain analyst Nicola Powell told Fairfax Media.

'All capital cities are showing softer conditions compared with last year, with the exception of Hobart and Perth.'

Ms Powell said Sydney house and unit prices were now back at 2016 levels, with more restrictions on credit and a glut of units responsible for the fall.

National property prices have dropped annually for the first time in six years, driven by weakening markets in Sydney and Melbourne (pictured are annual house price changes)

MEDIAN HOUSE PRICE GROWTH IN YEAR TO JUNE 2018 National - Down 1 per cent Adelaide - Up 3.1 per cent Brisbane - Up 2 per cent Canberra - Up 6.2 per cent Darwin - Down 11.8 per cent Hobart - Up 15.9 per cent Melbourne - Up 0.5 per cent Perth - Down 1 per cent Sydney - Down 4.5 per cent Advertisement

MEDIAN UNIT PRICE GROWTH IN YEAR TO JUNE 2018 National - Down 1 per cent Adelaide - Up 0.9 per cent Brisbane - Down 6.4 per cent Canberra - Down 2.1 per cent Darwin - Down 17.2 per cent Hobart - Up 22.6 per cent Melbourne - Up 0.9 per cent Perth - Up 1.7 per cent Sydney - Down 3.5 per cent Advertisement

Capital is now flowing from Sydney and Melbourne into more affordable markets, she told AAP.

Sydney's median house price fell to $1,144,217, down 1.4 per cent from $1,159,945 in March, a significant decline from $1,198,456 in June 2017.

The city's median unit price also dropped - falling 0.5 per cent during the June quarter to $737,080, a 3.5 per cent drop from $764,157 a year ago.

House prices in Melbourne rose by half a per cent year-on-year, the slowest growth rate since a two per cent fall in the latter half of 2012.

Darwin recorded the country's biggest fall - a dip of 11.8 per cent since June last year. The median house price in the Northern Territory capital is now $539,497.

The national median house price is now $802,077, one per cent lower than a year earlier, a report by the Domain Group revealed (stock image)

Dr Powell said the Darwin market could rebound if the city sees both population growth and an improved economic outlook.

Tasmania's capital saw the largest rise in house prices, which were up almost 16 per cent over the year

Hobart's median house price is now $461,547, and unit prices increased 22.6 per cent to $370,085.

In Brisbane house prices rose two per cent over the year, but fell 0.1 per cent since March to sit at $566,322.

The city's median unit price fell 6.4 per cent year-on-year and 1.2 per cent over the quarter.

Perth house prices fell slightly, but units saw the best annual growth rates in three years, rising 1.7 per cent.

Dr Powell said it was a sign the city was recovery from its property woes, despite continued declines in house prices.Bradley Silvester (above), 35, was the last of the ten prisoners to be recaptured

Inmates used stolen angle grinders to break into a female prison unit during a 12-hour riot at a Western Australian jail.

The 10 men who escaped from Greenough Regional Prison in the state's Mid-West on Tuesday have all been caught, after Bradley Silvester, 35, was the final inmate to be captured on Thursday morning.

Prison Officers' Union acting secretary Paul Ledingham revealed details on Wednesday of the riot and subsequent escape.

'There were bricks, debris. My understanding is prisoners got access to maintenance equipment and angle grinders,' the Sydney Morning Herald reported him to say.

'They were essentially looking to get into unit four, which is the female unit, and using cordless angle grinders to do so, and they did so successfully.'

Mr Ledingham wouldn't confirm if any female inmates had been assaulted, but speculated there were 'things going on'.

'If you've got riotous behaviour that goes for 10 to 12 hours in a prison under the cover of darkness where males and females are concerned, I think anyone's imagination may lead them to think that there were things going on,' he said.

Inmates used stolen angle grinders to break into a female prison unit during the 12-hour riot

Mr Ledingham said the riot and was finally contained early on Wednesday.

'It's utter devastation,' Mr Ledingham said.

'We've seen staff control rooms - supposedly secure areas for staff - smashed, destroyed and in one case burnt, fully burnt out.'

Premier Mark McGowan, who toured the trashed facility, said some of the women participated in the riot and their unit now appeared uninhabitable.

'Somehow this group mentality took hold,' he said.

Power tools were used to cut a lock off an inner fence and the escapees then used a ladder to scale the outer fence.

Devon Comeagain (left), 23, was recaptured at a house in Greenough area. Alan McDonald (right), 28, was located at a house in Rangeway,

'They were organised,' Mr McGowan said. 'It looked like a war zone in there.'

He said the damage bill will be in the millions.

Mr McGowan said the lives of some prisoners were at risk from fire and smoke during the riot.

Three guards were pepper-sprayed and molotov cocktails were thrown.

Prison officers are believed to have lost control when they tried to extinguish a cell fire that was sparked as a diversion. Other fires were then lit.

Mr Ledingham said state budget pressures had led to understaffing at WA jails, with regional facilities among the worst affected.

He called on the state government to 'immediately' recruit more staff, saying most WA prisons were 'a powder-keg ... ready to explode'.

Bradley Silvester (above), 35, was still on the run after the mass breakout on Tuesday, but was caught on Thursday morning

'According to our members, this has been brewing for some time,' Mr Ledingham said.

Mr McGowan said there had been no indication of rising unrest among the inmates but there would now be 'heightened monitoring' at WA prisons.

The CPSU said senior Corrective Services executives had been warned the situation across all WA prisons was 'dire' including treatment courses not being run and prisoners spending large amounts of time in cells.

An extra 150 officers were sent to Geraldton to help search for the escapees.

Darryl Councillor, 18, handed himself at Geraldton police station at 1.00pm on Wednesday

Residents and drivers were warned to not approach them and urged to lock their doors and windows.

The jail holds remand prisoners under maximum security while other inmates are kept in medium and minimum security sections.

Seven escapees were found in the area before Brendan Bartley, 22, and 18-year-old Darryl Councillor handed themselves in to local police.

The escapees will be moved to Hakea remand prison in Perth, Mr McGowan said.A 20-year-old self-proclaimed Swiss 'billionaire' is hoping to win the hearts of women in Manhattan with a dating ad that promises his 'private parts are over six inches'.

Emmanuel Fredenrich wanted to do something different to find a girlfriend following his move to New York from Los Angeles, and his dating ad starts off with a bang.

'Are you sick and tired of being approached by drunken, foul-smelling, urine-producing, a** touching, boob-grabbing, barely-shaved mass murderers in bars and clubs?' he asks.

'Do you dream of meeting a supermodel 6'4 billionaire who can also fly and save the world every other day?'

Twenty-year-old Swiss 'billionaire' Emmanuel Fredenrich is hoping to win the hearts of New York women with a dating ad that promises his private parts are 'over six inches'

Emmanuel wanted to do something different to find a girlfriend following his move to New York from Los Angeles

But Emmanuel will be the first to admit that he's no 6'4 supermodel, or even a billionaire - although for a 20-year-old he says he's doing 'better than average'.

Instead Emmanuel wanted to create a dating ad that would attract women who don't take life too seriously.

That's why he created a page - which he later advertised on Facebook - in which he claims he has AIDS, paid for his last girlfriends, and dropped out of high school to 'reproduce with hot blondes over Eastern Europe'.

'I really wanted to attract women who are actually fun and who understand humor,' he told DailyMail.com.

'Not women who are interested in wealth or materialistic things, which either way I'm not going to provide so it would be pointless for them to get that out of me.'

Strikethroughs are scattered throughout the ad so that Emmanuel can joke about wanting to 'finally get hot blondes for free' while still indicating he's just kidding.

'I can't exactly promise I'll fill the "supermodel 6'4 billionaire who can also fly and save the world"', he admits at the beginning of the site.

These jokes are often highlighted with a strikethrough, which Emmanuel said shows that they are just him being sarcastic, such as when he jokes about having AIDS (pictured)

He told DailyMail.com he wanted to create a dating ad that would attract women who have a sense of humor and don't take life too seriously

'But I can at least assure you I wash my hair about once a month. And I promise I'll only send a picture of my genitals after three messages, not as my opener'.

Emmanuel's ad insists he wants to meet a 'special girl to date' and have a 'deep and meaningful' relationship with, despite his unique way of trying to find her.

'I'm aware posting an ad to do that is about as normal as seeing an elephant commit mass murder with an AK-47 and then being killed by a baby racoon,' he writes.

'That is to say, kind of normal but not totally.'

So who exactly is Emmanuel Fredenrich? The Geneva native reveals he is actually 6'1, speaks both French and English, and has recently moved to Chelsea.

Emmanuel then goes on to candidly reveal that there are four different videos on YouTube that claim he is a scam artist.

Emmanuel candidly reveals that there are four different videos on YouTube claiming that he is a scam artist

Emmanuel told DailyMail.com that prominent YouTubers in France accused him of being a scammer because he did a video 'promising to change people's lives with his program'

He jokes that this is because he used to sell 'miracle weight loss cures that got banned by the FTC'.

'On a daily basis most of what I do for work relates to try to snuggle more heavy substances from Colombia,' he writes.

'My main business sells miracle weight loss cures that haven't been banned by the equivalent of the FTC in France yet.

'I occasionally give talks at private events about removing protection for enhanced pleasure in bed.'

While Emmanuel sells health supplements in France - as well as e-books about 'natural health and weight loss' - he says he's never actually been banned by the FTC.

Emmanuel also jokes in his ad that he moved to New York to 'finally reproduce with hot blondes even outside of Eastern Europe'

Emmanuel said the dating ad has also gotten plenty of interest from women, estimating he has received more than 1,000 submissions since posting the site

'People accuse me of being a scammer in France because I did a YouTube video ad in Hollywood and I promised to change people's lives with the program,' Emmanuel told DailyMail.com.

'There were several huge videos about me by French YouTubers that went viral.'

But Emmanuel credits the controversy with helping build his Instagram profile, now allowing him to also work as an influencer.

And Emmanuel said his dating ad has more than doubled his followers to more than 140,000.

'The thing kind of went crazy,' he said. 'I didn't expect it at all, but a lot of people find it funny.'

Emmanuel invites interested ladies to contact him either via Instagram or Facebook so they can connect and 'grab a drink in a cool rooftop bar'

That is, as long as you have a keen interest in social media and online advertising, are into health and fitness, and don't take things too seriously, of course

Emmanuel said the dating ad has also gotten plenty of interest from women, estimating he has received more than 1,000 submissions since posting the site.

But if you're interested in this influencer, have no fear. While he's been on a couple of 'really cool dates', Emmanuel's still looking for his dream girl.

That is, as long as you have a keen interest in social media and online advertising, are into health and fitness, and don't take things too seriously, of course.

'I think everything is a joke at the end of the day,' he said. 'I like keeping things light.'

'At the end of the day, we're all going to die.'A woman charged with murdering her eight-year-old son has died at a Victorian correctional facility.

Joanne Finch, 42, had been in custody since March after her son Brodie Moran's body was found at a Tootgarook house on the state's Mornington Peninsula south of Melbourne on March 8.

Victoria Police confirmed a 42-year-old woman died at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre maximum security women's prison in Ravenhall, in Melbourne's outer west on Tuesday.

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Joanne Finch (pictured with her son Brodie) died in her jail cell on Tuesday

Ms Finch had been in jail since she was charged with the alleged murder of her son Brodie Moran (pictured) in March

Joanne Finch was charged with murder after her son was found dead at their rented home (pictured) on Alma Street in Tootgarook, 80kms south-east of Melbourne on March 8

Joanne Finch died in her jail cell at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre maximum security women's prison (pictured) on Tuesday

Her death is not being treated as suspicious.

'As with all deaths in custody, the matter has been referred to the Coroner, who will formally determine the cause of death,' a Corrections Victoria spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia.

Her lawyer, Brendan Wilkinson, said Ms Finch's sudden death had affected those who had rallied to support her since she was charged with Brodie's death.

'Everyone is devastated. There was a whole team of people behind her, and the psychiatric staff who did everything they could,' he told The Age.

'The only thing she lived for was her son, and when Brodie was gone it proved too much.'

Mr Wilkinson told The Age there would be an inquiry into his client's death.

'She's got family in England who will be devastated by this. It's heartbreaking for everyone involved, including doctors and legal people,' he told the publication.

Joanne Finch, pictured with her former partner Lee Moran and son Brodie was originally from the UK

Police at the tragic scene on March 8, where they arrested the boy's 41-year-old mother, who was charged that night

A shrine (pictured) honouring Brodie Moran was set up at his Mornington Peninsula home following his death

Ms Finch called triple-0 call at 1.30pm on March 8, but by the time police arrived, Brodie was dead.

Ms Finch allegedly told officers she 'heard voices in her head' and said Brodie's death had resulted from a 'momentary lapse in reason'.

She was charged with one count of murder. She did not have a criminal history.

Ms Finch faced court the next day during which the court was told she was taking antidepressants and suffering a 'major depressive illness'.

Joanne Finch's lawyer told the court in June she was suffering a 'severe major depressive disorder' at the time of her son's death

Neighbours and friends set up a shrine outside the home following the death of Brodie Moran in March

Ms Finch's last court appearance was via videolink in June, where she was remanded in custody for a further committal mention in October.

Mr Wilkinson told the court she was suffering a 'severe major depressive disorder' at the time of her son's death.

He applied to cross-examine witnesses during a possible upcoming committal hearing to determine if Finch should stand trial.

However, he cited a psychiatric report detailing Finch's severe major depressive disorder at the time of the alleged murder, meaning a committal hearing might not go ahead.

Brodie Moran was found dead at a Mornington Peninsula home in March

Police were called to an Alma Street home (pictured) in Tootgarook on March 8 after Joanne Finch made a frantic call to triple-0

Finch may have avoided a committal hearing or a trial if it could be proved she suffered a mental impairment.

Brodie's father and Finch's former fiance Lee Moran, who now lives in China, took to social media to pay tribute to his 'always happy' little boy following his death.

'Thank you to everyone that has sent well wishes,' a heartbroken Mr Moran posted at the time.

'At the moment I feel empty, still in shock. I have lost the best part of me... words can not describe how much I love and miss my little fella.'

Mr Moran added that he'd never felt his son was in danger with his mother.

Both of Brodie's parents were originally from the UK and moved to Melbourne more than a decade ago.

They became engaged in 2012 before they separated in July 2015.

Joanne Finch's lawyer said that she lived for her son Brodie (pictured together)

A timeline of two tragedies March 8: Joanne Finch, aged 41 at the time, is charged with murder after her eight-year-old son Brodie Moran is found dead at their home on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula. March 9: Finch appears in court for the first time. The court was told it was her first time in custody, and that she required a daily dose of the antidepressant drug Effexor. Finch did not apply for bail and was remanded to reappear in court via video link for a committal mention on June 29. March 15: Brodie's father and Finch's former partner Lee Moran thanks the public for their support following his son's death. Mr Moran said not being there to prevent the death of his loved, kind and caring boy was his deepest regret. June 29: Finch appears in Melbourne Magistrates Court via videolink, where she was remanded in custody for a further committal mention on October 2. Her lawyer told the court she was suffering a 'severe major depressive disorder' at the time of her son's death. July 24: Finch, aged 42, is found dead in her jail cell at Phyllis Frost Centre correctional facility in Melbourne's outer west. Victoria Police say her death is not being treated as suspicious. Advertisement

Locals described Finch as a friendly resident who would go out of her way to say hello to her neighbours.

Nearby residents said no commotion was heard on the afternoon of March 8 and couldn't recall any previous trouble at the home.

'It's absolutely tragic, I've got a ten-year-old son myself and it scared the hell out of me to hear what had happened,' Tina Wallace said.

Another neighbour added: 'He was always a happy child. We'd wave hello as we were collecting the bins. They'd always say hello back.'

If you or anyone around you is struggling and/or seeking support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyondblue on 1300 224 636.** Do you have any photographs of the 1976 heatwave? Please email them to: pictures@mailonline.co.uk **

The Tarmac on the M1 melted. Hundreds of thousands of people collected water in buckets from emergency tankers - and the Minister for Drought, Denis Howell, urged us all to 'bath with a friend'. JONATHAN MAYO examines the diaries of some who recorded the UK's 1976 heatwave.

Alan Clark, flamboyant Tory MP

Then aged 48, the lothario was an ambitious MP making a name for himself on the backbenches  long before becoming famously embroiled in a sex scandal in which he was accused of seducing the wife of a South African judge and her two daughters.

The Tory Whips called him 'the most dangerous man in the Commons'.

Clark's diary contained his honest and often outrageous thoughts. At the start of the summer, he revelled in the heat: 'Another glorious morning. Does London have the finest weather in England?' But he soon found the Commons too hot and oppressive.

By June 22, he had found the perfect place to work: 'Sitting in a new perch I've discovered, theoretically allocated to a member of the staff and (tidily) congested with his gear, it is pleasingly situated in a corner . . . beside no fewer than three open windows, so the lazy fresh river smells of wet varnish and tidal aromas come in together with the sounds of the chuggy engines of tugs and pleasure craft and the occasional guffaw from the terrace below.'

The same day, he recorded returning to Saltwood Castle, his stately home in Kent. 'As I lay by the pool, thought how diminished (by earlier standards) was my sexuality. Always in the past I would get erotic sensations lying out after a 'dip'.' He blamed lack of sleep.

Clark prudently made his handwriting deliberately illegible in case he lost the diary as he travelled to and from Westminster.

Residents collect water from a standpipe in Northam, Devon, during the 1976 heatwave

A model tans herself in the dry basin of Pitsford Reservoir in Northamptonshire on August 16

A policeman stands above a woman taking a bath outside during the heatwave of 1976

Kenneth Williams, Carry On actor

It's late afternoon on June 25, 1976. The temperature in London is more than 30c and Williams is angry. He can't bear the heat. The play in which he's appearing is a flop and he has just been shouted at in the street.

That night, when he gets home, he pours out his frustration in his diary. 'The boiling sun is relentless: the sort of weather one loves on a holiday and loathes in London. To the theatre through sweltering streets, everyone standing outside pubs holding beer in their hands.'

The weather proved a nightmare for old-fashioned West End theatres with no air conditioning and audiences stayed away.

Williams wrote: 'In Titchfield Street [in Central London], they shouted: 'Don't go in tonight, Kenny! There'll be no bugger there!'

After a performance at the Comedy Theatre, Williams wrote: 'The auditorium was a sea of waving programmes and dreadful humid heat . . . the sweat pouring off everyone.'

The nights were particularly bad and sleep was almost impossible. In bed, Williams resorted to covering himself with only one sheet and moaned: 'It's still uncomfortable!'

In August, the Labour government appointed Denis Howell as the Minister for Drought. Williams was not impressed. 'Government has appointed that fool Howell (Minister of Sport!!) to be Minister of Water . . .'

Howell urged 'concerned neighbours' to report anyone breaking the water restrictions, in secret if they had to. He was accused of encouraging an 'un-British informer culture'.

Williams had his own way of saving water, writing in his diary on August 25: 'I am not bathing. Just washing in a basin.'

Londoner Dave Pike washes his car using water from the Thames at Putney on August 25

Michael Palin, Monty Python star

At first, most people didn't take the sunny weather too seriously. On May 10, Palin wrote in the diary he had been keeping since 1969 that he was bemused by his sister-in-law 'going around putting bricks in the cisterns'.

In fact, she was following official advice to reduce water use by displacing some water in the toilet tank with a brick, which allowed people to get the same flush pressure, but use up to half a gallon less water per flush.

T-shirts and car stickers proclaimed 'Save Water, Bath With A Friend'. With very little rain since February, a Water Bill was rushed through Parliament that allowed the Government to control supplies. Schools and businesses had to close early at times because of the water rationing.

Throughout the summer, Palin was filming fellow Python Terry Gilliam's comic fantasy Jabberwocky at Shepperton Studios in Surrey. The bright, sunny days were good for filming  but tempers frayed.

On August 26, Palin recorded in his diary how actor Warren Mitchell raged at a member of the crew who accidentally trod on his hand.

Even mild-mannered Palin lost it a few hours later while filming a scene where he had to run carrying a large, unwieldy backpack.

An unscripted interruption made him 'turn and stop and bitterly throw my pack down'. But it turned out that the interruption had only been a mischievous intervention by Gilliam.

After another long day's filming, Palin wrote: 'Home about 8.30. Wash away the day's grot. Then Helen [his wife], in keeping with the drought spirit that has gripped the land, waters the flowers with my bathwater.'

Firefighters put out a blaze in Epping Forest in Essex during the heatwave on July 6

A resident of St John's Wood in North West London carries a water bottle from a tanker in 1976

Tony Benn, energy secretary

The Prime Minister at the time was Jim Callaghan and his Minister for Energy was Tony Benn.

The Left-winger was a prolific diarist and, by early June, the heat had introduced an unfamiliar informality to Westminster.

On June 9, Benn had lunch with Foreign Secretary Anthony Crosland and remarked in his diary: 'He had his jacket off and was in his blue and white striped shirt, with his shoes off . . .'

By July, most of Britain was recording temperatures of more than 32c every day. From June 22 to July 16, somewhere in the UK exceeded 25c every day. The hottest day was July 3, when temperatures hit 35.9c.

It was reported that tourists in London were becoming increasingly militant and refusing to pay extortionate prices for ice creams and cold drinks. On a sun-baked Centre Court at Wimbledon on July 3, Bjorn Borg beat Ilie Nastase in the men's singles final in temperatures of over 40c.

The following Tuesday, Benn wrote in his diary how that day's Cabinet meeting, with all the men in shirtsleeves, reminded him of his very first Cabinet meeting ten years earlier, during the hot July of 1966. On both occasions, their agenda was dominated by an economic crisis.

There was no relief even at his house in Stansgate, Essex. 'Still unbelievably hot. It's been in the 80s or 90s for about a month now and the grass is absolutely brown.'

The dried-up River Thames is photographed on August 17 during the drought of 1976

National Water Council chairman Lord Nugent with the Save the Water symbol, on August 31

James Lees-Milne, leading historian

The author filled his gossipy diaries with stories about meeting the owners of country houses as he travelled across England saving properties for the National Trust.

He had a particularly memorable encounter while staying with an elderly friend, the Bloomsbury Group artist Eardley Knollys.

'Wednesday July 7. Heatwave continuing. Found E naked but for a pair of long blue shorts, his white skin, his flabby muscles, pendulous breasts, looking like Picasso aged 90. I must have expressed my nausea by my looks . . .'

After Lees-Milne wrote in his diary on August 28 about how he and his wife were saving water  'we have fixed up a large plastic tub outside my bathroom into which all the water for washing ourselves and the china goes'  he wrote despairingly: 'We wonder if it will ever rain again . . .'

A Londoner sunbathes on a deckchair at Kensington Gardens in West London on June 3, 1976

Boats stranded on the River Thames at Strand-on-the-Green near Kew on August 18

Peter Hall, theatre director

As director of the National Theatre in London, Hall was deeply frustrated because the Olivier auditorium hadn't been built on time and the stage staff were on strike. In desperation, on August 3, he decided to hold a rehearsal for a production of Christopher Marlowe's play Tamburlaine out in the sunshine.

Hall wrote in his diary that night: 'Revelation. Denis Quilley [the great Shakespearean actor] immediately started talking to bystanders, and his performance became free, open . . . there have been many attempts to re-create Elizabethan stage, but has anyone understood that the basic thing about Elizabethan theatre is that it was played in daylight?'

Yachtsmen on the Queen Mother Reservoir at Datchet in Berkshire on September 15

People on the shore of the River Thames at Teddington in South West London on August 8

Gyles Brandreth, TV personality

On September 3, the weather finally changed. Some areas of South West England had their first rain for 45 days. Brandreth remarked in the diary he had been keeping since he was a boy: 'PS: it rained today. This is news simply because this has been England's hottest summer for a century.'

That same night, Kenneth Williams wrote, too, with great relief: 'I am using three blankets now! The weather has changed completely, thank goodness!'

Drought Minister Denis Howell at standpipe taps in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, on September 9

A boy looks at his boat on a dried-up pond on August 26 in Blackheath, South East London

** Do you have any photographs of the 1976 heatwave? Please email them to: pictures@mailonline.co.uk **Advertisement

Chinese sex doll makers are producing and selling some of the world's most advanced lifelike silicone toys on the mass market.

WMDOLL, one of country's biggest sex doll factories, has launched what it calls the 'AI-powered dolls'.

The 'smart dolls', which was unveiled at the end of 2016, offer features ranging from simple conversation to moving eyes, arms and torsos.

Smart doll: A worker assembles a sex toy at the WMDOLL factory in China. The company has launched 'AI-powered dolls'

A head start: WMDOLL's AI-powered lifelike companions are some of the most sophisticated sex toys available on the market

Workers check the circuits of a sex doll called Lucy at WMDOLL. The company's advanced dolls are capable of conversing

A number of female workers produce sex dolls at WMDOLL. The company unveiled a line of AI dolls at the end of 2016

Customers can also order their personalised dolls from the company based in the southeastern Chinese province of Guangdong - by choosing various appearance options including height, hairstyle and eye colour.

AI features on the dolls are still very basic: they can answer questions but cannot hold longer conversations.

The doll uses vocabulary by connecting to a database supported by Chinese tech giant Baidu.

Say 'aah': A worker takes a photo of a sex doll at the WMDOLL factory. The company sells around 20,000 dolls a year

Careful check: A worker looks at a sex doll in the busy workshop of WMDOLL in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong

Sex doll heads are seen in boxes about to be sealed and shipped off to customers at the WMDOLL factory in Zhongshan

Customers can chose various appearance options, including height, hairstyle and eye colour, for a personalised sex doll

The firm, which sells around 20,000 dolls a year, admits that improving the features has been difficult.

This is partly because experts aren't interested in putting much effort into developing AI technology for adult products.

'Of course we're not expecting to make our AI dolls that human-like, after all we're just making adult products,' Liu Ding, a product manager at WMDOLL, told Reuters.

'But we will surely add more advanced technologies... for example making the limbs move more naturally.'

A leg up? A sex doll hangs in the warehouse. WMDOLL admits that it has been difficult to improve their AI-powered doll

A WMDOLL spokesperson said experts aren't interested in putting effort into developing AI technology for adult products

Sex dolls with different shapes and skin colours hang in a warehouse. Customers can also order their personalised dolls

AI features on WMDOLL's products are still very basic: they can answer questions but cannot hold longer conversations

'Of course we're not expecting to make our AI dolls that human-like, after all we're just making adult products,' the firm said

WMDOLL says it has sold more than 20 of the AI dolls, which are priced between 10,000 yuan and 50,000 yuan (1,118 and 5,592).

The company claims to provide a seven-day free trial and a lifetime warranty to all of its customers, as information shown on WMDOLL's online shop on Tmall, one of China's most popular e-commerce platforms.

A sales representative told MailOnline that AI dolls was put on the market from the beginning of this year, but 'few people' had bought them.

'But we will surely add more advanced technologies... for example making the limbs move more naturally,' added WMDOLL

On its e-commerce site, the company claims to provide a seven-day free trial and a lifetime warranty to all of its customers

One step at a time: WMDOLL says it has sold more than 20 of the AI dolls, which are priced between 1,118 and 5,592

Apart from female sex dolls, WMDOLL also makes male sex dolls in a country whose sex toy is worth 7.8 billion

A worker stands in an elevator with sex dolls. The company's best-sellers are still the 'basic dolls' costing some 700 each

The company's best-sellers are still the 'basic dolls', which are highly human-like and cost between 6,000 yuan and 7,000 yuan (670 and 780) each.

While the older Chinese generations hold conservative opinions towards sex toys, the country's young people are becoming more and more open-minded about the topic.

It has been estimated that the Chinese sex toy market is worth 70 billion yuan (7.8 billion), with people in their 30s as the main customers.

The country also makes about 70 per cent of all adult products in the world.

Workers wait for an elevator with a sex doll at the WMDOLL. The firm hopes its AI dolls will take off with overseas customers

Various styles and designs of sex dolls are displayed at the WMDOLL factory, one of the largest sex doll makers in China

It has been estimated that the Chinese sex toy market is worth 7.8 billion,with people in their 30s as the main customers

A worker prepares a sex doll for a photo shoot at the WMDOLL. China makes about 70 per cent of all sex toys in the world

In a 2014 survey in China, more than 65 per cent of the respondents claimed they wouldn't mind receiving a sex toy as a gift.

While 23 per cent of the interviewees said they had already given out sex toys as presents before in the same survey.

WMDOLL hopes its AI dolls will eventually take off with overseas customers, including those in the United States - exports account for 80 per cent of their sales, and half of their overseas shipments go to the American customers.

In a 2014 survey in China, more than 65 per cent of the respondents said they wouldn't mind receiving a sex toy as a gift

In the same survey, 23 per cent of the interviewees said they had already given out sex toys as presents in the past

A sex doll's metal skeleton is seen on the operating platform. The factory exports half of its overseas orders to the U.S.Entrepreneur Dick Smith has announced he is closing his food business, blaming German discount supermarket giant Aldi for his company's demise.

Mr Smith's shock announcement on Thursday came just hours after he lashed out at Aldi, accusing the retailer of taking money and jobs out of Australia.

He has also blamed 'extreme capitalism' for the closure of Dick Smith Foods, which produces sauces, spreads, biscuits and cereals.

'It's quite devastating. I basically failed,' Mr Smith told Daily Mail Australia.

'I don't make any money out of it. We established (the business) to help Australian farmers and workers in the food industry.

'We could've made the business make a fortune - you can just import the cheapest (products) but I'm not going to do that.

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Australian businessman Dick Smith (pictured) has announced he is closing his food business just hours after lashed out at Aldi, penning a scathing letter to the owners of the discount German retailer

Mr Smith said Aldi was the driving force behind the closure of the Dick Smith Foods business

'It's devastating but that's life. I've been very lucky. It will affect the charities we helped.'

Mr Smith said there was little hope for food production in Australia.

'The future for Australian manufacturing is just terrible. It's on its way to complete destruction,' he said.

'There will be less and less food production in Australia if we allow this to continue.'

Mr Smith said while the business was still viable at the moment, he made the decision to shut it down as he feared it will soon succumb to the inevitable and slide into bankruptcy.

'In two years' time we will go out of business, so I'm closing it down now when times are good,' Mr Smith told news.com.au.

'It's a decision forced on me because most people just want the cheapest prices, and the cheapest prices will always come from overseas.'

Mr Smith also informed the bosses of Coles, Woolworths and Metcash of his decision in a letter, thanking them for their support for almost 20 years.

'We have done everything we can to get our costs down by operating as leanly as possible with minimum staffing levels,' Mr Smith wrote.

'Of course, indirectly, many thousands of Australians have been employed through Dick Smith Foods.

A teary-eyed Mr Smith (pictured) announced on Thursday the food business will be wound down over the next 12 months

Mr Smith said while the business was still viable at the moment, he feared it will soon succumb to the inevitable and slide into bankruptcy

'It is clear that it will become more difficult for small and medium sized Australian owned food processors utilising Australian produce to compete in the current marketplace.'

Mr Smith said 'the driving force of our closure, however, is Aldi'.

'It is not just battlers who support Aldi. Many wealthy Australians also support Aldi  and in fact say positive things about Aldi and negative things about your companies,' he said.

'This is sad and hardly consistent with the support you have given Australian companies such as our own. It looks as if there is nothing we can do about this. It is simply modern "extreme capitalism".

'That is the reason I am closing Dick Smith Foods.'

He also issued a warning to the three supermarket bosses.

'It's quite devastating. I basically failed,' Mr Smith told Daily Mail Australia after he broke the news he was shutting down the Dick Smith Foods business

Mr Smith (pictured) launched Dick Smith Foods 19 years ago, with the products made using Australian grown ingredients

'The Aldi concept is ruthlessly astute and it is clear that unless your companies move towards this system, you will very likely become uncompetitive,' Mr Smith said.

The business will be wound down over the next 12 months.

Dick Smith Foods 'are made in Australia by Australian owned companies using Australian grown ingredients', the company's website says.

The team behind Dick Smith Foods is 'quite small'.

'The staff employed directly by Dick Smith Foods are responsible for the management and marketing of the brand. As there are no manufacturing processes to oversee, the Dick Smith Foods' team is quite small.'

'All the products are produced by Australian-owned companies under a licensing agreement with Dick Smith Foods.'

The business had generated $480 million for Australian farmers and processors in its 19 years and given more than $10 million to charity.

Mr Smith said Aldi had 'taken billions of dollars of business from existing Australian owned companies' (stock image)

Mr Smith had fired off a scathing letter to Aldi's owners this week, demanding to know 'when will enough be enough?' when it comes to their expansion plans.

His comments came in response to the $40 billion privately-owned discount retailer being this month voted Australia's most trusted brand.

'In Australia your Aldi company has been phenomenally successful,' Mr Smith wrote in an open letter to Aldi owners Karl Albrecht Jnr and Beate Heister.

'It has not only taken billions of dollars of business from existing Australian owned companies, but it has now been voted the most trusted brand in Australia, and it has also been reported that it is our most profitable supermarket chain.'

But Mr Smith claimed Aldi's operations were doing Australians out of a job.

'Your formula of employing less staff per dollar turnover compared to the typical Australian owned supermarkets will ultimately mean less Australians employed,' Mr Smith wrote.

'We already have a problem in Australia. We have 14 per cent youth unemployment and over 20 per cent youth underemployment  that is, where our young people can't get a proper full time career.'

Mr Smith also accused Aldi of being 'secretive' and said they had a duty to explain how their future plans will impact Australians.

'Our tradition here is one of openness. However I notice much of the reporting on your company mentions secretiveness. It appears that neither of you have ever conducted a media interview on your plans for the expansion of Aldi,' he said.

Aldi has hit back, saying it has saved Australians more than $1.5 billion per year (stock image)

'Can I ask why you are so secretive? Surely being worth $30 billion US dollars (that's $40.63 billion Australian dollars) you have a responsibility to be open and explain your long term plans to all those who are affected.'

Mr Smith called on Aldi's owners to visit Australia 'and explain what you are planning to do in the medium and long term future that will affect our children and grandchildren'.

Aldi hit back, saying they 'are saving Australians more than $1.5 billion per year' and that money is then 'returned to the economy for bills, holidays, education and other vital expenses'.

'We proudly support an Australian first buying policy and have shared our growth with hundreds of Australian manufacturers and thousands of staff who have been direct benefactors of our business growth,' Aldi Australia chief executive Tom Daunt said, according to news.com.au.

'We are proud of the reputation we have built and feel strongly that the recognition we have earned as Australia's most trusted brand is a result of our commitment to openness, honesty and integrity in all our dealings.'

Aldi opened its first store in Sydney in 2001 and filled a void in the discount supermarket business that arose when discount grocery chain Franklins went out of business.The prison officer who is accused of having a year-long affair with an inmate allegedly let herself into his cell regularly at night using her own key so they could have sex - breaking strict protocol.

Amy Connors is alleged to have had a year-long affair with cop killer Sione Penisini at Kempsey maximum security prison in Sydney.

Ms Connors' husband suspected she was having an affair for months and called prison managers, a source told the Daily Telegraph.

Female prison guard Amy Connors (pictured) is alleged to have had sex with cop killer Sione Penisini

'She's afraid to say what she thinks, we're amazed she fell for someone like Penisini but he can be charming and had been wooing her for months, telling her she was looking amazing after losing weight,' the source said.

'She really liked him and was talking about divorcing her husband.'

Ms Connors had undergone a dramatic image overhaul, having had a gastric band operation which saw her drop from a size 18 to a size 12.

As part of her new image she also bought herself a motorbike and had new tattoos.

Phone calls between Ms Connors and Penisini were facilitated by a mutual friend, who would put him on loud speaker and them let them talk.

Intelligence officers intercepted a phone call between them after being contacted by Ms Connors' husband.

Convicted cop killer Sione Pensini (right) and prison guard Amy Connors were under surveillance for more than a month before the alleged sexual liaison was uncovered

'Her husband was gobsmacked when he found out it was an inmate,' the source said.

Penisini was sentenced to 36 years in prison for the murder of police officer Glenn McEnally in 2002.

Corrective Services staff reportedly had Connors and Penisini under surveillance for a month before they swooped, suspending the guard from duty, Nine News reported.

Penisini has since been moved to Goulburn Supermax jail, home to Australia's most hardened criminals, after allegedly assaulting a fellow prisoner in recent weeks.

Penisini allegedly 'groomed' Connors by pushing her into weight loss surgery.

Connors and her husband have since separated.

Corrective Service Commissioner Peter Severin is pushing for dramatic reforms after two female guards were this week accused of romping with convicted killers.

It's currently not illegal for corrections staff to have sex with inmates, although it is a breach of their code of conduct.

'If I had my way I would make it an offence punishable by imprisonment,' Mr Severin told The Daily Telegraph.

Hinting at anti-libido drugs, he added: 'I want to do anything that will stop inappropriate behaviour from happening.

'If there are medically based options would I say no? No I wouldn't, no I wouldn't because I want to stop this behaviour from happening.'

Corrections Minister David Elliott said it was his mission to make sure guards who have relationships with inmates can never work in government.

'I want their reputation so badly tarnished they can never work for the state government again,' he said, adding that he wants to criminalise sex with prisoners.

He has ordered an investigation into alleged prisoner-staff relationships over the past 10 years.

Corrective Service Commissioner Peter Severin is pushing for dramatic reforms after two female guards were this week accused of romping with convicted killers

In 2015, officer Jody Marson (pictured), 33, was sacked for having an 'improper relationship' with Thomas Kelly's killer

''Incarceration is supposed to take away all those privileges but some of the prisoners are still getting that privilege,' brother-in-law Duncan Miller said.

On his radio show on Wednesday, 2GB host Ryan Hadley called prisons 'hotbeds' for illicit sexual relationships.

It comes after convicted cop killer Sione Penisini was caught having a sexual relationship with a guard in Kempsey maximum-security prison in New South Wales.

Police Association president Tony King slammed Mr Elliot and Corrective Services Commissioner Peter Severin after the allegations were made public.

'If Elliott and Severin were doing their jobs, every cop killer would be rotting away in Supermax, it's a direct slap in the face of every officer, all of us who have worn the blue shirt,' he said on Tuesday.

Connors reportedly attempted to tender her resignation after being suspended on Friday but it was denied because Correction Services wish to complete their investigations first.

Kieran Loveridge (left), was convicted of killing Thomas Kelly in an unprovoked attack in Sydney's Kings Cross in 2012

Mr Elliot is set to visit the Kempsey jail in the coming week and said he had spoken to Constable McEnally's mother and expressed his sincerest apologies that this could happen.

'It is clear this inmate should never have been alone with a junior female officer. I am keen to see what options we could implement to ensure this is never allowed to happen again,' he said.

In 2015, correctional officer Jody Marson, 33, was sacked for having an 'improper relationship' with Kieran Loveridge, who was convicted of killing Thomas Kelly in an unprovoked attack in Sydney's Kings Cross in 2012.

Loveridge's relationship with Ms Marson took place inside the cell he shared with another prisoner before the 21-year-old was moved to Goulburn Supermax prison back in March 2015 for stomping on a fellow inmate's headKimberly Martines (pictured), 25, of South Carolina, who killed her 17-month-old baby, Peyton, by feeding her salt, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison

A South Carolina mother, who killed her baby by feeding her salt in order to win back her estranged husband, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Kimberly Martines' 17-month-old daughter Peyton was rushed to the Spartanburg Regional Medical Center in July 2016 after her mother fed her a deadly amount of salt.

Peyton suffered seizures and a fever from acute salt poisoning.

The salt poisoning eventually caused the baby's brain to shut down, forcing doctors to place her on life support.

Peyton died five days later on August 5 after she was taken off life support.

Martines initially told authorities that Peyton and her twin sister got into a bag of salt that had been left out, according to Fox Carolina.

But her four-year-old son later told detectives that he watched his mother feed the baby the salt and described what the bag of salt looked like. They later found the salt bag the boy described under a sofa cushion.

Martines eventually admitted to giving her daughter the salt to 'get her husband back into her life' after they separated.

Peyton (pictured) was rushed to the Spartanburg Regional Medical Center in July 2016 after her mother fed her a deadly amount of salt. Peyton suffered seizures and a fever from acute salt poisoning

According to the station, Martines told investigators that she poisoned Peyton because the little girl was the closest in proximity to her at the time.

At the time, Peyton's family gave a statement, fondly remembering the toddler saying: 'Peyton was the most beautiful, happiest, loving baby ever. She never cried and was a silly baby making everyone laugh.

'You could not help but smile when you was around her. She was a little diva who loved her nails done and her favorite thing ever was Minnie Mouse... Her presence will always be with us...'

Peyton died from hypernatremia, or salt poisoning, which occurs when too much salt is present in the bloodstream, causing cells to shrink as water rushes out of them.

This can lead to torn blood vessels as the cells are forced out of their normal location.

The imbalance of electrolytes can also cause fluid buildup in the lungs, as well as seizures and kidney damage.

On Wednesday, Martines was sentenced to 30 years in prison and will have to serve 85 per cent of her sentence before she is eligible for release. Martines is pictured during her arrest

Hypernatremia most often occurs when people don't drink enough water.

Infants are especially susceptible because their kidneys are too immature to process any added salt in their foods, according to the World Action on Salt and Health.

Multiple parenting sites also advise that salt never be added to any food cooked for babies and toddlers.

Martines' older child, as well as the baby girl's twin sister, were both placed in protective custody with the Department of Social Services.

On Wednesday, Martines was sentenced to 30 years in prison and will have to serve 85 per cent of her sentence before she is eligible for release.Boris Johnson has hit back at criticism for letting two British jihadis face the death penalty in America.

He insisted that if the Government had been able to order their deaths with a drone strike in Syria, 'too damn right we would'.

Alexanda Kotey and Shafee Elsheikh are linked to the murder of 27 Western hostages.

They are members of the IS terror gang of four men from west London dubbed The Beatles  which included the notorious executioner Jihadi John. Kotey and Elsheikh, who have been stripped of British citizenship, now face extradition from Syria to the US on terrorism charges.

Alexanda Kotey from Paddington, London, was captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces and is facing the death penalty in the US

Kotey has denied being a member of 'the Beatles' but admits being a member of terror group ISIS

Controversy arose earlier this week when a leaked Home Office document revealed that the Government has dropped its usual requirement for assurances they would not be executed if convicted by a US court.

But last night Mr Johnson said there was 'a bit of humbug' in the outrage over the 'correct decision to send them for trial in America', and that if Kotey and Elsheikh had been spotted during their murderous rampage in Syria there would have been no hesitation in ordering their deaths with a missile strike.

In an article for the Spectator magazine, Mr Johnson wrote: 'Suppose the grisly pair had been located a couple of years ago in Raqqa.

'And let's suppose there was a Reaper drone overhead, and that British intelligence could help send a missile neatly through their windscreen.

Boris Johnson has said he would have ordered the killings of jihadis in Syria if he could have done

'Would we provide the details  knowing that they would be killed without a chance for their lawyers to offer pleas in mitigation on account of their tough childhoods in west London? Would the British state, in these circumstances, have connived in straightforward extrajudicial killing? Too damn right we would.'

Government lawyers have claimed drone strikes against known jihadis were to prevent future acts of terrorism when they returned to their homes in the West.

But the former foreign secretary said this justification 'scarcely masks the reality that killing them is also retributive  payback for the filmed executions of innocent people'. Jihadi John, whose real name was Mohammed Emwazi, was killed in a drone strike three years ago after beheading British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning on camera.

El Shafee Elsheikh, a British citizen whose family fled Sudan in the 1990s, joined the ranks of ISIS and was named as a member of 'The Beatles' given their name because of their accents

At the time, the then prime minister David Cameron said: 'He posed an ongoing and serious threat. This was an act of self-defence. It was the right thing to do.'

Mr Johnson added: 'It was just such a drone strike that vaporised that other 'Beatle', Jihadi John, and I don't remember hot tears being wept for him.'

The fourth member, Aine Davis, was sentenced to seven and a half years in jail after being convicted of terrorism charges in Turkey last year.

Mr Johnson said the four Beatles were responsible for killing at least 27 people, adding: 'So why do we support these extrajudicial killings, with no due process, and panic at what might happen in an American court?

Mother Maha Elgizouli said her two sons Shafee (right) and his younger brother Mahmoud went to fight for ISIS. She was told last March last year that Mahmoud (left) was killed in Iraq

'The best hope of bringing Kotey and Elsheikh to justice is in America, and in sending them there the UK Government has not dropped its opposition to the death penalty.

'We had to balance two risks: the risk they would be simply set loose, like so many other jihadis, to roam the streets of London again, or the small risk they might receive the death penalty.

'[Home Secretary] Sajid Javid and I decided that the first risk was worse than the second. Who really believes we were wrong?'The woman at the centre of the pay row engulfing Royal Mail has a string of jobs that earn her hundreds of thousands of pounds a year.

Orna Ni-Chionna, 62, is under fire for heading a remuneration panel that signed off a bumper deal for new boss Rico Back.

But this is only a part-time role. She has jobs at fashion house Burberry, over-50s specialists Saga and consultancy Eden McCallum.

Miss Ni-Chionna, known as Lady Turner because she is married to former City regulator Lord Turner, is also deputy chairman of the National Trust and a trustee of Sir John Soane's Museum in London.

Her jobs at stock market listed companies Royal Mail, Burberry and Saga earn her almost 300,000 a year.

Orna Ni-Chionna, 62 (pictured) is under fire for heading a remuneration panel that signed off a bumper deal for new German Royal Mail boss Rico Back

Labour MP Peter Kyle, who sits on the Commons business committee, said: 'It is clear to me that she has very serious questions to answer about how these decisions on pay were made because it has comprehensively failed the common sense test.

Whether this was a result of overwork or just poor judgment is something that needs answering.

'There may well be lessons for other boards looking to appoint their remuneration committee chairmen.

'The quantity of her commitments has certainly sent a red flag up.'

Miss Ni-Chionna is expected to be hauled before MPs on the business committee to answer questions about the crisis at Royal Mail.

Her pay panel approved a near 6million windfall for German executive Mr Back before he took charge.

Her pay panel approved a near 6million windfall for German executive Rico Back (pictured) before he took charge

She also signed off Mr Back's 640,000 a year salary, which is 17 per cent higher than that paid to his predecessor Dame Moya Greene. It could reach 2.7million through bonuses and other awards.

Miss Ni-Chionna faced humiliation last week when 70 per cent of Royal Mail investors voted against the remuneration report in one of the biggest shareholder rebellions in British corporate history.

In a further blow, 15 per cent of shareholders opposed her reappointment to the board. She is paid 85,000 a year.

The issue of business leaders taking on too many directorships has become known as overboarding.

James Jarvis, corporate governance analyst at the Institute of Directors, said: 'Having experience in a few boardrooms can make a director more effective.

'However, organisations need to ensure that their board members have sufficient time available to fulfil their duties.'

A Royal Mail spokesman said: 'Orna Ni-Chionna has sufficient time to meet her responsibilities at Royal Mail.'Britain has lost nearly 90,000 retail jobs in the past year, a survey has revealed.

The 12 months ahead look just as bleak, with 19 per cent of firms planning to axe more staff against 15 per cent in 2017.

Online shopping and high business rates are blamed for the decline uncovered in the British Retail Consortium study.

This showed that the nations stores laid off 2.8 per cent of their combined workforce in the year to June, meaning an estimated 89,600 workers were sacked.

Among household names affected are Marks & Spencer, which is to shut 100 stores over the next four years, and House of Fraser, which plans to axe 31 shops.

Among the stores impacted byjob losses are Marks & Spencer (pictured) and House of Fraser

Britain's new love for online shopping has been accused of sparking the downfall of shops which are now being forced to lay off staff

Both blame punishing business rates for making their troubles worse and campaigners say urgent reform is needed to level the playing field.

Chancellor Philip Hammond angered retailers earlier this month by ruling out any changes in the short term.

Mike Cherry of the Federation of Small Businesses said: Business rates are an outdated and regressive tax which unfairly hits high street retailers. It hits small firms before theyve had the chance to make their first pound in turnover, let alone profit. Its high time for reform.

Labour MP Wes Streeting urged the Chancellor to think again. He said: With almost 100,000 job losses and more and more high streets resembling ghost towns, its time for the Government to accept that business rates are doing real damage to local communities.A search is underway to find three surfers who may be able to help to identify a man who climbed onto an endangered mother whale while her newborn calf was close by.

The man was seen sitting on the back of a Southern Right whale as it rested in the water off the coast near Wollongong.

The man, labelled an 'irresponsible fool' by authorities, reportedly clambered onto the mother whale on Tuesday when it was at Puckeys Beach.

A search is underway to find the person who reportedly climbed onto an endangered mother whale while her newborn calf (pictured) was close by off the New South Wales coast

The man was seen sitting on the back of a Southern Right whale off the coast near Wollongong and authorities want like to speak to three surfers (pictured) who they believe can help

New South Wales Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton said the man in question put himself in serious danger.

'This idiot not only endangered the mother and the calf and breached regulations, but he also put himself in danger,' Ms Upton told Illawarra Mercury.

'Whales are wild creatures and a mother will protect her calf. This man is lucky he was not seriously hurt.'

WHALE PROTECTION People are not allowed to be within close proximity of Southern Right whales. Boats are not allowed within 100 metres of a whale

Boats are not allowed within 300 metres of a whale with a calf

Swimmers are not allowed within 100 metres of a whale

Drones can not be less than 100 metres above a whale Fines of up to $3300 can apply for breaching regulations. Source: NSW Environment Advertisement

The minister said the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service wanted to speak to the surfers to help with the incident which put the species in danger.

There were about 70,000 Southern Right whales living in the Southern Hemisphere off the Australian coast however, since the 1920s, the number has dropped significantly to about 300.

In recent years the critically endangered whale population has increased to about 3500 but is still 'at greater risk than others' of extinction.

'Mothers and calves playing together ... is a very important time for the calf as the mother is teaching its young the life skills it will need before it returns to the Antarctic,' Wild About Whales website read.

Boats are not allowed within 100 metres of a whale, or 300 metres of a whale with a calf, and swimmers are not allowed within 100 metres of a whale.

Fines for breaching the regulations can be up to $3300.

Anyone with information about the incident can contact the NPWS on 131 555.The number of nurses arriving to the UK from outside the EU has increased by 80 per cent since relaxing language tests.

Figures compiled by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) show an average of 440 non-EU nurses joined the register each month between April and June, compared with an average of 237 a month in the previous nine months.

The English language tests were relaxed by the NMC in November over concerns they were too hard even for Australian nurses.

The number of non-EU nurses coming to UK has boomed since language rules eased after complaints that even English speakers found the language tests too hard

Previously, nurses had been required to sit the rigorous International English Language Testing System exam. But under the new rules they can provide evidence of previously passing easier English exams.

Emma Broadbent of the NMC said: 'It's pleasing to see an increase in nurses and midwives from outside the EU.'

The figures coincide with a report by a leading think-tank warning nursing shortages are one of the NHS' 'biggest threats'. An analysis by the Health Foundation claims that an average of one in ten nursing posts are unfilled, equivalent to 35,794 vacancies.A former police officer who was acquitted of murder after he fatally shot a man during a routine traffic stop said he feared for his life.

Former Leading Senior Constable Timothy Baker was on highway patrol in Melbourne's inner-south in 2013 when he pulled over 44-year-old Vlado Micetic.

The pair got into a verbal and physical altercation, during which Baker said Micetic pulled out a knife, prompting the officer to draw his gun.

Baker, who claimed he had shot Micetic in self-defence, was acquitted of murder in 2017 at the Victorian Supreme Court.

In an interview with 3AW on Thursday, Baker opened up about the moment his 24-year career came to an end.

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Former Leading Senior Constable Timothy Baker (pictured) was acquitted of murder after he fatally shot Vlado Micetic, 44, three times in 2013 during a routine traffic stop

The former Victorian cop (pictured) said he shot Micetic in self-defence after he felt threatened by the 44-year-old who pulled out a knife

'We ended up in front of his car and that's when I saw the knife and I thought it was my day, I thought I was done,' Baker said.

Baker said he was working alone on August 25 when he stopped Micetic and his female passenger for having stolen license plates on their car.

The former officer said Micetic became argumentative after he asked him to get out of car and empty his pockets.

Audio captured the moment the pair got into an argument.

Baker said that it all went 'pear-shaped' when he yelled at the female passenger after she got out of the car.

'That's when the deceased started to wrestle with me,' Baker said.

'It was a bit of a dance back and forward, we were pulling and pushing each other.'

Audio captured the moment the pair got into verbal altercation as Micetic (pictured) tells Baker: 'You're gonna get in big trouble, you're gonna lose your job'

The incident occurred in Melbourne's inner-south (pictured), August 25, when Baker pulled over Micetic and female partner who were driving with stolen plates

During the tussle, Micetic can be heard telling Baker: 'You're gonna get in big trouble, you're gonna lose your job.'

Baker responds: 'I don't think so,' before firing three fatal shots at Micetic.

Prosecutors had argued in court that Baker had lost his cool and planted the flick knife on Micetic to prove that he was forced to act in self-defence, The Age reported.

'He murdered a man for no other reason than impatience, anger, and then he sought to cover up his crime by use of a transparently false tissue of lies, as revealed in his various discussions with police and the detailed statement he made,' prosecutor Andrew Tinney said in the 2017 hearing.

Baker resigned from Victoria police in 2016 after serving for 24 years.Children could be banned from owning drones weighing at least 250 grams.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is considering introducing the age restriction as part of a safety crackdown amid growing misuse of the gadgets.

Many small drones are lighter than 250 grams, but children would be stopped from owning heavier versions which can fly further and cause more damage.

Children would only be able to fly the heavier devices if they were owned and registered by an adult.

Other measures being considered include giving police the power to issue on-the-spot fines of up to 300 for misuse and the ability to seize drones being used irresponsibly.

Children in the UK could be banned from owning drones weighing at least 250 grams. File image used

The DfT is also considering using of new technology to protect public events, critical national infrastructure and prisons from drone disruption.

A consultation on the plans will be launched on Thursday. They are part of a wider programme of new drone legislation and will shape the content of a draft Drones Bill due to be published later this year.

DfT-funded research found that a drone weighing 400g could smash a helicopter windscreen, and one weighing 2kg could critically damage an airliner's windscreen.

Last year an investigation revealed that police are being flooded with reports about drones after a dramatic surge in incidents registered by forces, including rows between neighbours, prison smuggling, burglary 'scoping' exercises and snooping fears.

Figures obtained by the Press Association showed forces recorded 3,456 episodes in 2016, almost triple the 2015 figure of 1,237 and more than 12 times the 2014 tally of 283.

Many small drones are lighter than 250 grams, but children would be stopped from owning heavier versions which can fly further and cause more damage. File image used

The number of near-misses between drones and aircraft has risen from six events in 2014 to 93 last year.

Aviation Minister Baroness Sugg said: 'Drones present exciting benefits to our society and our economy, but with a small group of people choosing to use them for harm there are challenges we must overcome if we are to prevent them hindering the potential of this technology.

'That's why we've already introduced safety measures like a height limit, and rules around airports, and today we are consulting on how we go further, including extra police powers and a minimum age requirement.'

From Monday new rules will be introduced banning drones from flying above 400ft, and within one kilometre (0.6 miles) of airport boundaries.

Any breaching these restrictions will face penalties of up to 2,500 and could also be charged with recklessly or negligently acting in a manner likely to endanger an aircraft or any person in an aircraft, which has a maximum sentence of five years in prison.Theresa May last night faced claims she was plotting to 'scare people witless' with a summer of warnings about a 'no-deal' Brexit.

Brexiteers complained that ministers were attempting to 'weaponise' preparations for leaving the EU without an agreement.

The Prime Minister yesterday said the public should 'take comfort' that the Government was putting in place contingencies such as stockpiling medicine and food.

Theresa May (pictured) faced claims she was plotting to 'scare people witless' with a summer of warnings about a 'no-deal' Brexit

But an ally of Mrs May claimed her plans to release 70 official documents in the coming weeks on how to prepare for the possibility of leaving the EU without a deal were aimed at building support for her beleaguered Brexit blueprint from Chequers.

'We want to scare people witless so people will eventually embrace the Theresa May plan,' the unnamed Conservative MP told the BBC's Newsnight.

Last night Mrs May insisted that she was not trying to alarm the public.

She said: 'Far from being worried about preparations that we're making, I would say that people should take reassurance and comfort.

'It's right that we say because we don't know what the outcome is going to be, we think it's going to be a good one, we're working for a good one but let's prepare for every eventuality.'

When asked on Channel 5 News if she was a committed Brexiteer, the PM replied: 'I am committed to delivering Brexit for the British people and I am committed to delivering Brexit in a way where we can take the opportunities of Brexit and build a better future for this country and for the people of this country.'

Boris Johnson last night launched an assault on Mrs May's proposals as he demanded that the PM 'chuck Chequers'

It came as Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney yesterday dismissed talk of Britain leaving without a deal as 'bravado'.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I don't believe that Britain can afford a no-deal Brexit, I don't believe Ireland or the EU want that either.

'The negative implications of a no-deal Brexit are very significant for Ireland and the UK. We all have an obligation to make sure that doesn't happen. I think it's very unlikely to happen.'

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson last night launched an assault on Mrs May's proposals as he demanded that the PM 'chuck Chequers'.

Writing in The Spectator, he said: 'You can't leave an organisation and still be bound by its rules. But that is what the Chequers White Paper means. It is vassalage, satrapy, colony status for the UK. For the first time in a thousand years our laws will be made overseas, enforced by a foreign court. It can't and won't work.'

The former foreign secretary, who resigned in protest over the Chequers plan, compared the proposals that will keep the UK tied to rules from Brussels on goods to quitting your job but still getting instructions from your ex-boss.

He wrote: 'What would you do if you had to obey all the organisation's rules, and do exactly what they told you?

'What if you got regular emails saying, 'do this, do that, make me a cup of coffee, your skirt's too short, please cough up for the company car park'  even when you had left? You'd go nuts.' Mrs May and her Cabinet are planning to spend the summer touring the UK and Europe attempting to build support for her plan.

The PM will today tell farmers at the Royal Welsh Show that Brexit will mean a farming sector 'fit for the future'.

At the event in Llanelwedd, Powys, she will say: 'Leaving the EU presents us with a unique opportunity to transform our food, farming and environmental policies so we can have a healthy and prosperous agricultural industry that is fit for the future, and helps us to leave the environment in a better place than we found it.

'Scrapping the EU's Common Agricultural Policy, and introducing a simpler system which provides funds in return for public goods, like improving water quality, reducing emissions and planting wildflower meadows to boost biodiversity, is fundamental to our new approach.'

Home Secretary Sajid Javid will visit Lisbon today to discuss future security co-operation with his Portuguese counterpart.

The City will thrive after Brexit, the chairman of Barclays has said.

John McFarlane said that any damage caused by disruption as we leave will be only temporary.

'I don't think in the long run there will be terminal damage to London,' the 71-year-old said.

The banker also said that the EU needed the City's markets, adding: 'While it is all to play for, we should play for it and secure it. Economic logic must win through, and therefore we have a very good chance of securing something.'As I head to Brussels today for more Brexit talks, I have the words of many Mail readers ringing in my ears: 'Let's get on with it.'

It has been more than two years since the referendum, and I know many people want us to get on and deliver on the verdict of the British people. Taking back control of our money, our law, our borders  and our country's future.

We are well on the way to delivering exactly that. As the new Brexit Secretary, I am relishing the challenge.

Our White Paper, published this month, spells out our vision in more detail and I will be in Brussels today for further negotiations with Michel Barnier.

Dominic Raab says he is relishing the challenge of getting on 'taking back control of our money, our law, our borders  and our country's future' as the new Brexit Secretary

Our plan sets out a principled and pragmatic Brexit. One that sees us outside of the political institutions in Brussels that so many of us campaigned to leave.

Not only do we have a plan, we are delivering it. In Parliament, above all the din, we are getting the legislation in place to deliver Brexit.

The EU (Withdrawal) Act passed last month will mean we take back control over our laws and guarantee a smooth legal transition for businesses and citizens.

Last week our Customs Bill, which gives us the power to make trade deals with the EU and the rest of the world, passed the House of Commons.

In the negotiations with the EU, 80 per cent of the withdrawal agreement has been agreed. Mr Barnier and I will be discussing how we complete the remaining 20 per cent, including guarantees to avoid a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Mr Raab will be in Brussels on Thursday for further negotiations with Michel Barnier

The UK plan would establish a new free trade area for goods with Europe, ensuring our manufacturers, our small businesses, and the people they employ, continue frictionless trade with the remaining EU countries.

I was at one such manufacturer, a family business run by Tom Hainsworth, on Monday. They helped make the uniforms for the Battle of Waterloo. It's a firm with a rich history, and under our proposals, a bright future.

At the same time as securing our trade with the EU, our plan also allows us to go out and strike global trade deals with old friends and new partners around the world  bringing jobs to the UK and providing cheaper goods for our consumers.

On security, we are focused on maintain the operational capabilities that keep our people safe across Europe.

That means the UK participating in key crimefighting agencies, such as Europol, and sharing vital information that helps keep dangerous people off our streets.

We have a plan with ambition, the energy to deliver and we are working hard to resolve the outstanding issues with our EU friends. I trust that ambition, energy and pragmatism will be reciprocated.

Of course, there is no deal unless we agree the whole deal  it must work for the UK and the EU.

We are striving for the best deal. But in case our ambition and energy are not matched, we are stepping up our preparation for no deal.

We are hiring up to 1,000 more Border Force staff to police our border. Starting this summer, we will publish dozens of notices to industry and consumers on the steps we would need to take if we do not agree a deal, to avoid disruption to transport, trade and supply chains.

Leaving the EU with no deal is not what we want. A good deal would be better for the UK and the EU.

But while there are a few who might wallow in pessimism or have us cower in a corner at this historic crossroads, I am confident Britain's best days lie ahead.

That is because I am stubbornly optimistic about our country, and I am confident in our people. In the coming months, we will rise to this challenge and galvanise our resolve.

With ambition, hard work, and energy  on all sides  we can strike the right deal for the UK. Come what may, we will be ready for Brexit.When men are asked how many women they have slept with, they notoriously pick a high number.

But aspiring Casanovas who report twice as many sexual partners as women are not in fact just exaggerating.

A study has found men probably do not realise when the number they give is too high. It is simply that they are more likely to estimate the number of women they have bedded, while women tend to have remembered each partner.

The National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles, carried out in Britain every decade, shows men report an average of 14 sexual partners over their lifetime, while women say they have slept with just seven.

Men in Britain bed an average of 14 women in their lifetime - but most guess at the number when asked

Researchers looked at more than 15,000 responses in the survey, with men indicating they were more likely to say they guessed or estimated the number, or remembered some partners and estimated the rest.

Women, however, answered much more often that they just knew the number or remembered each partner.

The study, led by the University of Glasgow, found that men guess and women count their partners, with females more embarrassed by one night stands and casual sex, which may lead them to reduce their numbers.

Women felt worse about one night stands, with only 9.3 per cent saying they were not wrong at all compared to 17.5 per cent of men

Dr Kirstin Mitchell, who led the research from the Institute of Health and Wellbeing, said: Most of the difference between men and women is in the way men and women count up their partners, a greater tendency for some men to report very high numbers of partners and differences between men and women in attitudes to casual sex.

Women tend to remember every lover while men are more prone to guessing how many they have had as lovers, a study has found

The Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles survey of people aged from 16 to 74 showed the gap in men and womens numbers of sexual partners may be down to their attitudes.

The study, in the Journal of Sex Research, found counting and attitudes towards sex explained two-thirds of the gender gap in numbers of conquests.

Responding to the research, Denise Knowles, counsellor and sex therapist at relationship charity Relate, said: Men may feel under pressure to impress their friends and therefore guesstimate their number as being higher.

Women are often misjudged if theyve had a higher than average number of sexual partners, which can lead to feelings of guilt and shame.

These findings highlight a real need for robust relationships and sex education in schools.A chronically-ill grandfather found guilty of selling ice to support his younger lover could spend his final days behind bars, his lawyer warned in court.

Ian Robert Pettigrew, 72, pleaded guilty to drugs and weapons offences when he appeared in Cairns Supreme Court on Wednesday.

He was ordered to serve six months of a three-and-a-half year jail term, The Cairns Post reported.

Pettigrew had spent his retirement fund and sold personal possessions to keep his lover half his age happy in a 'foolish infatuation'.

She eventually left him for a younger man.

A chronically-ill grandfather could die in jail after he was sentenced on Wednesday (stock image)

The judge took into account Ian Robert Pettigrew's deteriorating health but said he couldn't overlook the seriousness of the offences during sentencing in Cairns Supreme Court (pictured)

Left broke as well as heartbroken, he boosted his bank account through drug dealing until he was caught at Cairns Airport in possession of four ounces of ice in November 2016.

Pettigrew was returning from Sydney, where he bought the drugs for $16,000 to sell in four lots at $2000 profit per ounce, the court heard.

When police raided his home in the Cairns suburb of Edmonton, they found weapons and ammunition which he said he had been holding for a friend.

The court heard that Pettigrew bought ice (stock image) for $16,000 to sell in four lots at $2000 profit per ounce

Defence barrister Josh Trevin argued his client suffered from a number of serious health issues and may die in prison if sentenced, The Cairns Post reported.

'It's a callous thing to say but it's a very real possibility in the circumstances,' Mr Trevin told the court.

Justice James Henry took into account Pettigrew's deteriorating health but said he couldn't overlook the seriousness of the offences.

'This is very very serious criminal conduct requiring a penalty that will deter others,' Justice Henry said.Ryanair is set to refuse compensation for some 100,000 passengers hit by its pilots' summer holiday strikes, risking a showdown with Britain's aviation watchdog.

The budget airline, which has been forced to delay hundreds of flights amid the biggest strike in its history, has pledged to reject all claims filed by disgruntled customers.

But the Irish company risks the wrath of the Civil Aviation Authority who insist that compensation payouts of 250 euros - or 222 - are enshrined in EU law.

Ryanair is set to refuse compensation for some 100,000 passengers hit by its pilots' summer holiday strikes, risking a showdown with Britain's aviation watchdog

The budget airline, which has been forced to delay hundreds of flights amid the biggest strike in its history, has pledged to reject all claims filed by disgruntled customers

The pledge comes less than a year after the CAA threatened Ryanair with legal action over it handling of compensation claims when thousands of flights were cancelled following mismanaged holiday rotas for its pilots.

Despite the CAAs insistance that compensation is owed to passengers on some 600 cancelled flights, Ryanair counter that it is not due as unions were acting 'unreasonably'.

Staff in Spain, Portugal and Belgium began their 48-hour strike yesterday, amid calls for increased pay, fairer working conditions, larger pensions and better job security.

Staff in Spain, Portugal and Belgium began their 48-hour strike yesterday, amid calls for increased pay, fairer working conditions, fatter pensions and better job security

A spokesman said: 'Ryanair fully complies with all EU261 legislation, however as these flight cancellations were caused by extraordinary circumstances, no compensation is due. Under EU261 legislation, no compensation is payable when the union is acting unreasonably and totally beyond the airline's control'

Ryanair said that passengers affected by the walkouts have been moved onto other flights or handed refunds.

But the move is likely have hit many Britons destined for the Mediterranean following the start of the six-week school summer holiday.

One unhappy customer took to Twitter to blast the budget airline, writing: 'No communication about flight cancellations and Ryanair provide four customer service staff to deal with hundreds of passengers because they simply don't care.'

EU legislation on cancelled flights Passengers are eligible to claim compensation payouts of 250 (222) when short-haul flights are cancelled without being given at least two weeks' notice. This is in addition to a replacement flight, or a refund. Advertisement

Elsewhere staff in Dublin have announced plans for their own walkout on August 3, making it the fourth time their Irish employee base have downed tools in protest.

Under EU legislation, passengers are entitled to 250 euros when short-haul flights are cancelled without a fortnight's notice, in addition to refunds or new flights.

Airlines can only avoid this payment under the EU261 system when the cancellation is caused by 'extraordinary circumstances' beyond the carrier's control - including extreme weather incidents and strikes by air traffic controllers.

The CAA told The Times that the latest round of strikes by Ryanair cabin crew did not qualify as an 'extraordinary circumstance' because it was within the airline's control.

It said: 'When a flight cancellation is caused by strike action by the airline's employees, the airline is required to pay compensation to passengers in respect of the cancellation of the flight, if it has not warned passengers of the cancellation at least two weeks prior to the scheduled time of departure.'

A spokesman said: 'Ryanair fully complies with all EU261 legislation, however as these flight cancellations were caused by extraordinary circumstances, no compensation is due. Under EU261 legislation, no compensation is payable when the union is acting unreasonably and totally beyond the airline's control.'Desperate gran Dorothy Southard tried to attempted suicide after being warned not to dial 999 again by paramedics.

The 89-year-old had been suffering headaches for months - but was too scared of calling 999 because she had previously made calls where the medics could not find anything wrong with her.

She called the NHS 111 helpline three times after she fell outside her local bingo hall in April.

Dorothy Southard at her home in Oxford holding a photograph of her late husband Bob. Ambulance bosses have apologised to her after she attempted suicide because paramedics warned her not to call 999

When paramedics did turn up to answer an overdose call in June, they rushed her to hospital - and a CT scan finally identified two bleeds on the brain sustained during a fall two months earlier.

Mrs Southard, from Oxford, was left feeling alone with nowhere to turn, relatives say, and took an overdose after suffering with headaches for months due to an undiagnosed bleed on the brain.

She was eventually admitted to the John Radcliffe Hospital for 10 days and is now recovering at home.

South Central Ambulance Service managers have admitted the level of care provided was unacceptable.

Angry family describe gran's pain

The outraged family have described Mrs Southard's ordeal

Her daughter Anne Weston said: 'I was terrified.

'She actually said to me 'please don't bring me back' - she just felt she had nowhere to turn.

Mrs Southard, of Oxford had been suffering headaches for months - but was too scared of calling 999 because she had previously made calls where medics could not find anything wrong with her

'She was very tearful and told me she was holding a picture of my father in her hands.'

Mts Southard did call emergency services on June 7 to say her 'head felt heavy', describing feeling as though there was a build up of fluid.

But hours passed with no sign of an ambulance and so Anne, who lives in Devon, told her mother to dial 999.

Anne said: 'She was in a terrible state.

'She had to crawl along the floor to unlatch the door ready for when the paramedics came.

'But when they came he just told her not to call 111 or 999 again.

'I was on the phone and I said what about if she has a heart attack? He just replied 'still do not call 999'.

'I was so angry I couldn't believe what he was saying.'

An undiagnosed brain bleed

South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) said, following an investigation, they had issued a 'sincere apology for the unacceptable level of care'

With her condition worsening, Mrs Southard found herself unable to get out of the bath the next day but, following the paramedic's words, was too fearful to pull the emergency cord in her home to raise the alarm.

By chance she was found by her granddaughter two hours later.

She was then admitted to hospital where the infection was found, but not the brain bleed, and was sent home the following day.

Then on June 12 ambulance staff failed to pick up Mrs Southard to take her for a health check.

Again feeling let down and alone, and still suffering from an undiagnosed brain bleed, she called her daughter that evening to say she had taken an overdose.

Fuming Anne says the family still feel angry and let down at the 'appalling' treatment by the SCAS medic.

Anne said: 'It just makes me angry to think they can do that.

'If I wasn't around she wouldn't be here now.

'What happens to other people who don't have some to fight their corner?'

South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) said, following an investigation, they had issued a 'sincere apology for the unacceptable level of care'.

The spokesperson added: 'As a result of this investigation, disciplinary action was undertaken along with identifying additional training and supervision for the individual staff member involved.

'In addition, the trust has offered to visit Mrs Weston and her mother to talk to and reassure them both about when and how to contact the ambulance service should they need to do so in the future.'A married prison guard stood down after an alleged tryst with a cop killer inmate acted like 'she was the queen of the jail' after rapid weight loss reportedly from a medical procedure.

Corrective Services New South Wales officer Amy Connors has been suspended from the Mid North Coast Correctional Centre in Kempsey after an alleged sexual relationship with prisoner Sione Penisini.

'She thought she was the queen of the jail once the weight fell off,' a source claimed to Daily Mail Australia.

'She wore thick caked on make up to work, bright red lipstick and way too much perfume.'

Scroll down for video

Suspended prison guard Amy Connors is seen left, several years ago, and right, more recently

Ms Connors would often share her thoughts about crime on local Facebook groups, alienating several residents of the country town

The now-suspended prison guard Ms Connors, centre, is seen surrounded by friends

Ms Connors shed a significant amount of weight in the past 18 months.

She would often share her thoughts about local crime on Facebook groups, alienating several residents of the small country town.

But sources said 'she sure kept a secret' - referring to her alleged affair.

Penisini was booted to another jail after prison officials learned of the alleged affair.

Penisini will be eligible for parole in eight years after decades spent behind bars for the 2002 slaying of highway patrol officer, Senior Constable Glenn McEnallay.

Sione Penisini, right, was sentenced to 36 years jail in 2002 for murdering a police officer

Prison guard Ms Connors, left, and murdered highway patrolman Senior Constable Glenn McEnallay is on right

Ms Connors, pictured on a motorbike following her personal transformation

Ms Connors has gone into hiding since the alleged affair was exposed this week.

Corrective Services intelligence officers uncovered the alleged relationship after learning of phone conversations between the pair, prison sources confirmed.

Prison insiders said Ms Connors would use her own key to let herself inside Penisini's cell at night to have sex.

Under current laws it is not a criminal offence to have sex with a prisoner and only a breach of the code of conduct.

Corrective Services Minister David Elliott is now considering tougher measures to stop prison guards and inmates entering into inappropriate relationships.

Meanwhile, vile threats against Kempsey locals have been posted on Facebook accounts belonging to Ms Connors' brothers.

One brother, Nathan, this week posted a message suggesting the family would, legally speaking, 'f**k you (a local) up the ar*se' if they shared photos of Ms Connors with the media.

'Very soon hope you have plenty of money... you will have fun and have nothing left.'

A Facebook account - purportedly ran by Ms Connors' brother - posted these messages online

Another brother, Trent, purportedly messaged a local to say: 'She's not f***ing pregnant ya big mouth s**t', denying rumours the pair were having a baby.

The comments have been circulated on social media, with some people expressing surprise they had received the messages despite not speaking about Ms Connors.

Former friends described the suspended prison guard as something of a gossip.

Daily Mail Australia has seen posts from Ms Connors where she told fellow Facebook users a local troublemaker was having a swim at the local swimming pool.

'If anyone wants to pay them a visit they are the Kempsey swimming pool holding their heads up high as if nothing has happened,' she said.

Penisini has been moved to Goulburn jail, possibly in the High Risk Area known as Supermax, as punishment.Sajid Javid has ordered research into the ethnic origin of sexual grooming gangs

Sajid Javid has ordered research into the ethnic origin of sexual grooming gangs, it was reported last night.

The Home Secretary apparently wants to discover why men convicted of group sex crimes are disproportionately of Pakistani origin.

Mr Javid, whose family roots are in Pakistan, said exploring the 'particular characteristics' of offenders was 'critical to our understanding' of what happened across the country, including in Newcastle, Telford and Rotherham.

He revealed the plan in a letter to Sarah Champion, according to The Times. She is the Labour MP who has come under fire for highlighting the issues. Mr Javid, who in 2014 became the first British-Pakistani MP to lead a Whitehall department, defended Miss Champion last night.

He said: 'MPs should be able to do their job without being threatened or intimated in any way. Sarah Champion has my full support'. He also gave her his backing last August when she was forced to resign from the Shadow Cabinet for her comments.

'We need an honest, open debate on child exploitation, including racial motivation', he said at the time. Miss Champion is chairman of a cross-party working group of MPs. whose constituencies have been affected by the exploitation and grooming of young girls by organised offending networks.

They told Mr Javid in May that they were 'alarmed by the similarities in cases across the country' and called for research into 'common patterns of behaviour'.

In a response published on Miss Champion's website, Mr Javid told her that the Government 'attached the highest priority to tackling child sexual exploitation'. He said: 'My officials have been working with investigating officers, and with the National Crime Agency, to establish the particular characteristics and contexts associated with this type of offending. If there is a need for further research, we will take it forward.'

Sarah Champion was accused by activists of industrial-scale racism for highlighting the common ethnic heritage of those involved in Rotherhams sexual abuse scandal

Miss Champion's friends have claimed hard-Left and Muslim opponents are trying to force her from office and ruin her reputation. Leading members of the town's Pakistani community allegedly want a Muslim member of Rotherham council to replace her if she is deselected or quits.

But politicians from the main parties showed their support for her yesterday. Barry Sheerman, Labour MP for Huddersfield, said that it was a 'shameful and disgusting campaign against a courageous and remarkable woman'.

John Mann, another Labour MP, praised Miss Champion for 'calling the Rotherham scandal out for what it is'. Margot James, Tory minister for digital and the creative industries, said attempts to smear Miss Champion were 'fundamentally wrong and appalling'.

A Home Office spokesman said that although the Government 'has always been clear that child sexual exploitation is not exclusive to any single culture, community, race or religion, political or cultural sensitivities must not get in the way' of tackling child abuse'.Kim Jong-Un appears to be keen on turning his hard man image around after he was seen posing with sweets and pink satchels - not soldiers and missiles.

The North Korean dictator who recently backtracked on his nuclear threats, striking a deal with US President Donald Trump, was pictured in a factory in his home nation.

Over the last year he has ordered missile tests and fired fierce warnings about blasting warheads into mainland America, and the island of Hawaii.

Images emerging from the capital Pyongyang last year were of the hermit leader with military men, or parading around with weaponry.

Now, he appears to be going for a softer image.

Kim was pictured inspecting pink bags and sweets in factories - apparently pleased with what he saw.

And, his wife made a rare appearance.

North Korea's first lady, Ri Sol Ju, has made regular appearances at her husband's side in recent months as relations have warmed between North and South Korea.

It is not clear exactly when the images, released now, were taken.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects a pink bag in a factory in North Korea. It is not clear when the image was taken

Sweet pictures: Kim Jong-Un appears to be delighted by the produce in the shop in North Korea. Behind him is his wife Ri Sol Ju

Kim Jong-Un tries out the products being made in a factory - as he attempts to put across a more stable images to the globe

North Korea's leader looked intrigued as he inspected the sweet treats being sold in his nation

The images of Kim and his wife, surrounded by workers were released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency

Pink bags were handled by Kim in the factory. KCNA has released the images after Kim Jong-Un made peace with the US

Kim Jong-Un closely inspects the drinks on the production line in North Korea. The leader appears to be changing his imageThe last remaining West Australian prison escapee who fled during a violent jailhouse riot has been caught.

Bradley Silvester was found in Glenfield by authorities about 8.40am on Thursday, 25km north of the Greenough Regional Prison in WA's Mid West.

The 35-year-old was one of 10 inmates who escaped on Tuesday afternoon.

Seven News reporter Kate Smithers said she watched police recapture the fugitive, who was hiding under bushes.

'About seven different police officers pounced on him screaming ''we've got him, we've got him'',' Ms Smithers told 6PR Mornings.

'They've pulled him out, he's changed his clothes, he's out of his prison greens.'

Bradley Silvester (above), 35, was the last of the ten prisoners to be recaptured

Silvester was found by police north of Geraldton at about 8.40am on Thursday

Prison Officers' Union acting secretary Paul Ledingham revealed details on Wednesday of the riot and subsequent escape.

'There were bricks, debris. My understanding is prisoners got access to maintenance equipment and angle grinders,' the Sydney Morning Herald reported him to say.

'They were essentially looking to get into unit four, which is the female unit, and using cordless angle grinders to do so, and they did so successfully.'

Mr Ledingham wouldn't confirm if any female inmates had been assaulted, but speculated there were 'things going on'.

'If you've got riotous behaviour that goes for 10 to 12 hours in a prison under the cover of darkness where males and females are concerned, I think anyone's imagination may lead them to think that there were things going on,' he said.

Inmates used stolen angle grinders to break into a female prison unit during the 12-hour riot

Mr Ledingham said the riot and was finally contained early on Wednesday.

'It's utter devastation,' Mr Ledingham said.

'We've seen staff control rooms - supposedly secure areas for staff - smashed, destroyed and in one case burnt, fully burnt out.'

Premier Mark McGowan, who toured the trashed facility, said some of the women participated in the riot and their unit now appeared uninhabitable.

'Somehow this group mentality took hold,' he said.

Power tools were used to cut a lock off an inner fence and the escapees then used a ladder to scale the outer fence.

Silvester (above), 35, was still on the run after the mass breakout on Tuesday, but was caught on Thursday morning

'They were organised,' Mr McGowan said. 'It looked like a war zone in there.'

He said the damage bill will be in the millions.

Mr McGowan said the lives of some prisoners were at risk from fire and smoke during the riot.

Three guards were pepper-sprayed and molotov cocktails were thrown.

Prison officers are believed to have lost control when they tried to extinguish a cell fire that was sparked as a diversion. Other fires were then lit.

Mr Ledingham said state budget pressures had led to understaffing at WA jails, with regional facilities among the worst affected.

He called on the state government to 'immediately' recruit more staff, saying most WA prisons were 'a powder-keg ... ready to explode'.

Devon Comeagain (left), 23, was recaptured at a house in Greenough area. Alan McDonald (right), 28, was located at a house in Rangeway,

'According to our members, this has been brewing for some time,' Mr Ledingham said.

Mr McGowan said there had been no indication of rising unrest among the inmates but there would now be 'heightened monitoring' at WA prisons.

The CPSU said senior Corrective Services executives had been warned the situation across all WA prisons was 'dire' including treatment courses not being run and prisoners spending large amounts of time in cells.

An extra 150 officers were sent to Geraldton to help search for the escapees.

Darryl Councillor, 18, handed himself at Geraldton police station at 1.00pm on Wednesday

Residents and drivers were warned to not approach them and urged to lock their doors and windows.

The jail holds remand prisoners under maximum security while other inmates are kept in medium and minimum security sections.

Seven escapees were found in the area before Brendan Bartley, 22, and 18-year-old Darryl Councillor handed themselves in to local police.

All ten escapees will be moved to Hakea remand prison in Perth, Mr McGowan said.Betsy DeVos' 163-foot yacht was set adrift over the weekend suffering $10,000 of damage.

The Secretary of Education had moored up the $40 million Seaquest - one of her ten luxury yachts - in Lake Erie at Boat Basin, Ohio on Sunday.

But it appears to have been deliberately untied at around 6am that morning and set adrift.

Betsy DeVos' 163-foot yacht Seaquest (pictured) was set adrift over the weekend suffering $10,000 of damage

The vessel collided with the dock, causing large scratches and scrapes which are expected to cost between $5,000 and $10,000 to repair.

Police are investigating the act of vandalism and are reviewing surveillance video to find who untied the boat.

DeVos was in Ohio earlier this month to tour a career center and a correctional treatment program. It's unclear why the yacht was in Huron.

The Seaquest is one of 10 vessels owned by the DeVos family.

DeVos is the richest member of Trump's cabinet, with an estimated net worth of $1.3 billion, according to the Business Insider.

Both she and her husband, Amway heir Dick DeVos, come from wealthy and powerful Michigan families. T

The Secretary of Education (pictured) had moored up the $40 million Seaquest - one of her ten luxury yachts - but found it had been untied on Sunday morning

The vessel, which was moored in Lake Erie at Boat Basin, Ohio, collided with the dock, causing large scratches and scrapes which are expected to cost between $5,000 and $10,000 to repair

DeVos' father, Edgar Prince, founded automobile parts supplier Prince Corporation which sold to Johnson Controls Inc. for $1.35 billion in cash in 1996.

The 60-year-old conservative Christian, who attended Holland Christian High School private school and Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, married Dick DeVos, the son of Amway cofounder Richard DeVos in 1979.

In 2016, the multi-level marketing company had $8.8 billion in revenue.

Both sides of the family are huge Republican donors.

According to her public disclosure form, DeVos earned between $53,962,468 and $134,894,706 income between January 2016 and Spring 2017.

She and her husband own ten yachts and also have a $4.5 million vacation home on Michigan Lake.The outspoken man behind one of Australia's most well known brand names has revealed he is closing the doors of his food business - the final chapter in his once-booming host of business ventures.

Dick Smith made the shock announcement on Thursday morning, saying he was 'forced' to close Dick Smith Foods after it was crippled by competitor Aldi.

The businessman claimed he wanted to close the company while 'times were good' instead of when he was forced to - a result he felt was only months away.

'It is my melancholy duty to inform everyone that after 19 years, I've had to make the decision to close Dick Smith Foods,' Mr Smith said.

Dick Smith, the man behind one of Australia's leading brand names, has revealed he is closing the doors of his food business Dick Smith Foods (pictured in 2001)

The businessman claimed he wanted to close the company while 'times were good' instead of when it was crippled - more than two years after the Dick Smith electronics store (pictured) went into receivership decades after he sold it to Woolworths

'In two years' time we will go out of business, so I'm closing it down now when times are good.

'It's a decision forced on me because most people just want the cheapest prices, and the cheapest prices will always come from overseas.'

The move comes after his trademark store, Dick Smith, went into receivership at the beginning of 2016.

The dramatic rise of the iconic brand began in 1968 when the ambitious entrepreneur, born Richard Harold Smith, first invested $610 in an electronic business and later turned it into a multi-million dollar profit.

DICK SMITH'S RISE AND FALL Dick Smith pictured with Dick Smith Foods in 2001 1968 - Founded trademark electronics store Dick Smith 1978 - Expanded business through NSW, Asia and the US 1980s - Sold Dick Smith electronic store to Woolworths for $25 million 1986 - Founded Australian Geographic 1995 - Sold Australian Geographic to Fairfax Media for $41 million 1999 - Founded Dick Smith Foods 2013 - Dick Smith store had reported market capitalisation of $520 million 2016 - Dick Smith went into receivership 2016 - Kogan acquired Dick Smith store weeks after receivership July 2018 - Announces closure of Dick Smith Foods Advertisement

Mr Smith, who had a net worth of $50 million in 2011, churned out car radio installations in his first venture before rolling out stores across Sydney, New South Wales, years later.

The film maker, who grew up in Roseville, NSW, expanded his radio repair business to Asia in 1978 followed by California and Los Angeles.

In 1980, he had 20 stores in Australia and eventually sold his enterprise to supermarket giant Woolworths for $25 million and more of the iconic yellow and black stores quickly popped up across the country.

More than three decades later, the Dick Smith stores - which had a reported market worth of $520 million in 2013 - went into receivership.

Three weeks after the closure of 363 Dick Smith stores in Australia and New Zealand in 2016 it was announced that Kogan had acquired the franchise for an undisclosed sum.

More than 2500 store staff were affected.

But the businessman's venture did not end with his much-loved electronics 'hobby' store. He later dabbled in publishing and manufacturing when he founded Australian Geographic magazine in 1986 and Dick Smith Foods in 1999.

The millionaire philanthropist, who became the first person to travel solo around the world in a helicopter in 1983, created the geographical magazine before selling it to Fairfax Media in 1995 for $41 million.

The dramatic rise and fall of the iconic brand (pictured) began in 1968 when the ambitious entrepreneur, born Richard Harold Smith, first invested $610 in the electronic business

The businessman's venture did not end with his much-loved electronics 'hobby' store as he founded Dick Smith Foods in 1999 (pictured with Order of Australia medal)

Mr Smith also founded the National Geographic magazine in 1986 but sold it for $41 million to Fairfax Media in 1995 (1896 edition of the magazine pictured)

Dick Smith Foods (Mr Smith pictured in 2011) announced its closure in July, 19 years after it was founded and reportedly exceeded $480 million in retail sales for Australian farmers

DICK SMITH'S ACHIEVEMENTS 1968 - Founded Dick Smith electronics 1983 - First solo helicopter flight around the world 1986 - Awarded Australian of the Year 1986 - Founded Australian Geographic 1987 - First person to fly helicopter to the North Pole 1989 - First person to fly around the world via the poles 1992 - First east to west flight around the world in helicopter 1993 - First non-stop balloon crossing of Australia 1996-2000 - National Centenary of Federation Council chairman 1998 - Council for Aboriginal Reconcillliation ambassador 1999 - Founded Dick Smith Foods 2010 - Founded film production company Smith&Nasht Advertisement

Mr Smith later created his Australian owned and produced food company after he became concerned the country lacked local products.

The company, which announced its closure 19 years after it was founded, exceeded $480 million in retail sales for Australian farmers over its lifetime.

'The aim of Dick Smith Foods was to be 'As Australian as you can get', which meant we supported Australian farmers and manufacturers,' Mr Smith said.

'It is clear that is will become more difficult for small and medium sized Australian owned food processors utilising Australian produce to compete in the current marketplace.'

The political activist, who was considered academically hopeless at school, said German supermarket giant Aldi was the 'driving force' of the closure of his food business as they 'completely changed the face of retailing in this country'.

The food company sold products including their infamous 'OzEnuts' peanut butter, 'OzEchoc' chocolate spread and 'OzEmite' version of Vegemite.

Dick Smith Foods will gradually close over the next 12 months.

The multi-millionaire (pictured) announced Dick Smith Foods would gradually close over the next 12 months and popular products like OzEnuts peanut butter would cease to existA man who bludgeoned the mother of his unborn child to death with an axe has pleaded guilty to the murder, several days before his trial was due to start.

The incident - which prosecutors have called an 'extremely violent killing' - took place in February 2015, when Brock Wall attacked his 34-year-old partner Fabiana Palhares at her home in Varsity Lakes, south of the Gold Coast.

Wall used a small axe to brutally slaughter Palhares, who was pregnant with his child at the time.

Brock Wall attacked his pregnant 34-year-old partner Fabiana Palhares (pictured) with an axe in February 2015, bludgeoning her to death

Wall (pictured) has now pleaded guilty to the murder, several days before he was due to face Brisbane Supreme Court

He was arrested a few streets away and charged with murder and breaching a domestic violence order, before later being charged with the unlawful assault of a pregnant woman when police discovered the victim had been carrying a child, ABC News reports.

Wall was due to face the Supreme Court in Brisbane next week.

However, the court heard on Tuesday that the accused had sacked his legal representatives multiple times and did not want to proceed with the trial under self-representation, citing 'bewilderment and denial' over everything that had happened.

The brutal murder took place at Palhares' home in Varsity Lakes, south of the Gold Coast (pictured: Varsity Lakes)

'I don't want to go through with it  it's so hard to live with,' Wall told the court. 'I would prefer to throw my hands up in the air and show my remorse and plead guilty'

'I don't want to go through with it  it's so hard to live with,' Wall told the court from the dock. 'I would prefer to throw my hands up in the air and show my remorse and plead guilty.'

He then formally entered into a guilty plea and said 'I'm sorry'.

Prosecutor Vicki Loury QC told the court that the evidence of the murder was graphic and confronting.

It was previously understood that Wall planned to argue he was unintentionally intoxicated at the time of the savage attack.

Wall will be sentenced on August 6 so that Palhares' family, including her brother from Brazil, can attend the hearing.A man who forgot to check his wallet for weeks was shocked to learn on Wednesday that he had won $3.88 million dollars.

The lucky Sydney man, who chose to stay anonymous, only realised when he found the winning lotto ticket tucked away in his billfold.

He purchased the life-changing ticket at Riverwood Newsagency for the July 2 Lucky Lotteries Super Jackpot.

The million-dollar discovery was made when he was running errands at the shops, 7 News reported.

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A man who forgot to check his wallet for weeks was shocked to learn on Wednesday that he had won $3.88 million dollars

'Thank you! It's very difficult to believe, mate. It's very difficult to believe that,' the man said after his victory was confirmed by NSW Lotteries.

'I've just been to the shops and I thought I'd go and check my tickets in my wallet as I hadn't done that in a while. When I checked this ticket, the guy behind the counter said 'You are the lucky winner!'

The lucky winner said the discovery was 'amazing,' and that he plans on treating his family.

The man also said he is toying with the idea of travelling overseas.

NSW Lotteries were unable to contact the anonymous winner as he forgot to register his ticket to a NSW Players Club card.

The anonymous man purchased the winning ticket at Riverwood Newsagency (pictured) for the July 2 Lucky Lotteries Super Jackpot

The owner of the Riverwood Newsagency John Zhang said he was relieved that the rightful winner had been found.

'He came in to check his tickets and then I saw his ticket was the winning one! I still don't think he believes it!' Zhang said.

The lottery prize had been Australia's largest unclaimed winnings.Adam Grunin, 30, was charged with reckless homicide after her rear-ended a car resulting in the death of a 16-year-old girl

An Illinois high school student was killed on Saturday when a man driving over 100 miles per hour rear-ended her family's car pushing the vehicle into oncoming traffic.

Authorities said Adam Grunin, 30, had been involved in another accident moments before he crashed his Hyundai Sonata into a Chevrolet Equinox carrying 16-year-old Alyssa Lendino and her family.

Dashcam footage from a truck caught the moment Lendino's car went flying into the intersection at Milwaukee Avenue and Hintz Road in Wheeling around 2pm on Saturday. The car was hit by a black pickup truck that was making a left turn.

The force of the crash caused the pickup to spin out of control. The front of the Lendino's car was completely destroyed.

Authorities said Alyssa was killed in the crash and seven people, including her 12-year-old sister and father, were hospitalized with injuries.

Alyssa Lendino, 16, was killed on Saturday in Illinois when Grunin hit her family's car traveling at 107 miles-per-hour

According to the Daily Herald, Alyssa's sister Amanda underwent surgery on Wednesday. Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Maria McCarthy said Amanda suffered fractures to both legs, a shattered pelvis, a fracture to her left clavicle and a large laceration on her left calf.

'She has undergone several blood transfusions,' McCarthy said. 'According to medical personnel, she will have to learn to walk again. She must be custom-fitted for a wheelchair because of her inability to sit properly due to her pelvic injuries'.

Alyssa's father was in the general surgical unit at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, the same hospital Amanda is receiving care. The teen's mother received stitches for a forehead injury and has since been released from the hospital.

Grunin was also hospitalized for a fractured wrist and a laceration above the eye. He was arrested after leaving the hospital and remains in custody. His booking photo shows Grunin with a bandage on his forehead and his eye swollen shut.

The force of the crash sent the Lendino's car into oncoming traffic where it struck a pickup truck. Some of the crash was captured on a truck's dash camera

Alyssa's 12-year-old sister and father were seriously injured in the crash. Her mother received stitches for a forehead injury and released from the hospital

Authorities said Grunin was traveling 107mph in a 40mph zone when he rear-ended the Lendino's vehicle around 2pm on Saturday.

McCarthy said he was fleeing a minor crash in Wheeling when he hit the vehicle and it appears he did not try to brake.

Grunin was not on a mobile device at the time of the crash and toxicology tests showed no alcohol or drugs in his system. His attorney said that Grunin suffers from epilepsy but physicians said he did not suffer an epileptic seizure before the crash.

Friends said Alyssa was going to be a junior at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights

According to police, Grunin told paramedics that he had worked a night shift at his job before the crash and must have fallen asleep at the wheel. Authorities contacted Grunin's job and learned that the last time he was at work was on July 18, days before the fatal crash.

The crash is still under investigation. Grunin was charged with reckless homicide and is scheduled to appear in court next month. His bail was set at $300,000 after a judge said Grunin was a flight risk.

Friends said Alyssa would have been a junior at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights.

'Alyssa was truly wonderful girl who always had the brightest smile on her face and the kindest heart,' friends and family said on a GoFundMe to help with the family's expenses.

'We wish to ease some of the difficulties that the Lendino family is facing right now by helping to cover any expenses that have arisen. Any amount of money is greatly appreciated and will be going directly to support the Lendino family. Alyssa was a beacon of light in the lives of everyone she met, her family deserves peace at this time'.A young woman is fuming after authorities slapped her down for leaving her garbage bin out too long while at the same time ignoring drug dealers operating in her street.

Millie, a resident in the inner-city suburb of Richmond in Melbourne, said she saw an infringement notice on her bin on Wednesday.

The bin had been left on the nature strip 'for a couple of hours too long'.

The warning came two hours after Yarra Council's 24-hour post-collection time limit.

A young woman was shocked to find a warning notice (pictured) outside her home for leaving her bin out too long, as she claims others in the area are 'doing drug deals on the street'

Millie said the warning was 'petty' considering the more significant issues in the area.

'My housemates and I have got hundreds of dollars in fines in the last six months just for parking in front of our house,' she told 3AW Radio.

'We're getting in trouble for these petty little things yet, we can walk to the supermarket, to the cafes and people can be shooting up in the street or doing drug deals on the street right next to us and they don't get in trouble.'

3AW host Neil Mitchell said the situation was 'unbelievable'.

'Yarra Council seems to rejoice in finding creative ways at charging its rate payers extra for rubbish removal, and fervent parking enforcement whilst doing nothing to support law and order,' one person wrote in response.

However, some residents backed the council's vigilance.

'Why leave the bin out? Just adhere to the by-laws and there won't be a problem! The streets look like slums with bins left out,' another person said.Eight men who allegedly belong to the dangerous Trinitarios gang trashed a room at a New York City correctional facility and sent a law enforcement officer running for her life.

Sources revealed Wednesday that the mayhem that took place Saturday at the Vernon C. Bain Center, an 800-bed facility located on a barge in the Bronx, left shattered glass on the floor and on tables, as well as damaged electronics strewn over the floor.

The culprits are alleged members of the Dominican gang blamed for the machete murder of a 15-year-old Bronx boy.

The aftermath of the prison riot involving alleged members the vicious gang, the Trinitarios, is pictured

Thugs with alleged street ties to the Trinitarios overturned machinery in the jail facility

Vernon C. Bain Center, an 800-bed facility located on a barge, is also known as 'The Boat' (stock image)

According to WPIX 11, the female correction officer assigned to the area ran out of the room after trying to defuse the problem using pepper spray.

She then locked the door to the area and took cover from the gang members while other responding officers arrived.

The hoodlums, who had grown upset with the news that a fellow gang member was being transferred to another city jail, tried to delay the response to the scene by foolishly flooding the area before they were subdued by an Emergency Service Unit.

Remnants of jail mayhem caused by alleged members of the Trinitarios are pictured

Jail riot incited by alleged members of a New York City street gang caused significant damage

The riot once against placed the menacing New York City-based gang in the spotlight after 12 Trinitarios gang members were arrested for the savage June 20 murder of 15-year-old Lesandro Junior Guzman-Feliz outside a Bronx bodega.

The teen, fondly known by family members and friends as Junior, was lured by the gang into the store and was beaten and stabbed by a group of men.

Junior had his throat slashed with a machete and managed to walk to a nearby hospital before his death that rocked the city and sparked outcry and concern within the community.

Despite the rowdy behavior that took place, authorities have not made it known whether those involved in Saturdays altercation were among the 12 arrested for Guzman-Felizs senseless killing.

Surveillance video shows terrified teen Guzman being dragged from a bodega on June 20Paula Schubert was 'teased, bullied and humiliated' by her manager in the lead up to her suicide, a coroner has found

A veteran social worker was 'teased, bullied and humiliated' by her manager in front of her colleagues in the lead up to her suicide, a coroner has found.

Paula Schubert, 53, worked for the Northern Territory Department of Children and Families for more than three decades before her tragic death in November 2016.

Coroner Greg Cavanagh said the conduct of her boss, Patricia Butler, in the weeks before her death was 'in short... shocking'.

The coroner found Ms Butler concocted a 'scheme' to demote Ms Schubert after she was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Ms Butler told Ms Schubert she would have to bring a plunger to work instead of buying coffee, referring to her 'impending change of roles [and less pay].'

But the 'most extraordinary part of the evidence' was on the morning of November 15, Mr Cavanagh said, two days before Ms Schubert was found dead in her bedroom.

Ms Schubert appeared to be in a 'zombie like state' shortly before she was called in to a meeting.

'[Ms Schubert] sat in a team meeting and apparently did little else other than draw a picture,' Mr Cavanagh said.

'At the end of the meeting Ms Butler said ''Paula will share her minutes with everyone''. Paula looked surprised. Ms Butler said it was a good drawing and she should share it with everybody.'

Ms Schubert's psychiatrist, Dr David Chapman, said this incident was a 'critical event'.

Ms Schubert, 53, worked for the Northern Territory Department of Children and Families for more than three decades before her tragic death in November 2016

'To expose somebody who was already under a degree of stress to then have effectively a public humiliation in the workplace, given the fear that she would lose her job, that's critical,' he said.

Mr Cavanagh found Ms Butler's actions constituted bullying and harassment.

'It was clear that the financial impact would cause anxiety. However, her employer proceeded in a manner that took advantage of Paula's meekness, willingness to please and fear of being pushed out of her workplace,' he said.

'To do that to any employee would have been insensitive and inappropriate. Doing so to an employee with 32 years of service and suffering a health episode magnified the inappropriateness of the conduct.'

He continued: 'There might be a tendency to wonder how a scheme to demote an employee because of mental health issues could operate in a modern government department.

Ms Schubert (left with a family member) appeared to be in a 'zombie like state' shortly before she was called in to a meeting just two days before her death

'The HR unit should operate to prevent such actions. However, far from counselling against the scheme to demote Paula, HR supported the managers in that endeavour. That is a damning indictment on the organisation.'

Territory Families has responded to the tragedy by seeking 'an external consultant to review the support or lack thereof given to Paula by Territory Families staff'.

The Department will develop a framework that includes a ''conversations model'' to foster a ''culture of conversations''.

A Department spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia two employees had since resigned and another was on extended leave.

'Significant work has been undertaken to improve initiatives to support staff health and wellbeing over the past couple of years at Territory Families and we are always willing to take on improvements that make our workplace a place that people feel valued and safe,' the said.

'Paula Schuberts death in November 2016 remains a profound tragedy. Territory Families acknowledges the ongoing grief, loss and sadness that Paula Schuberts family has experienced, and may experience anew during the Coronial process.

'Territory Families accepts the Coroners findings and is ensuring both recommendations are rigorously implemented.'

For confidential support call the Lifeline 24-hour crisis support on 13 11 14.A clever hack allowing Domino's customers to get half price pizzas has been revealed by savvy internet users.

The trick was unveiled on Reddit's Sydney discussion forum, where the reaction to the hack was overwhelmingly positive.

Users then shared various other methods of getting discounts on pizzas from Domino's and other chains.

A clever hack allowing Domino's customers to get half price pizzas has been revealed by savvy internet users (stock image)

'PSA: If you're ordering Domino's online, search Google for Pizza Hut - you'll see an ad for 50 per cent off Domino's,' the post was titled.

When the hack was tested by Daily Mail Australia a 'Domino's' Google search returned the pizza chain's homepage.

But search for 'Pizza Hut' did indeed generate an ad offer for 50 per cent off at the top of the results list.

Clicking on the link provided another link to generate a coupon code available for use online or in stores.

'PSA: If you're ordering Domino's online, search Google for Pizza Hut - you'll see an ad for 50 per cent off Domino's,' the post was titled (pictured is the post)

But search for 'Pizza Hut' did indeed generate an ad offer for 50 per cent off at the top of the results list (pictured)

'From someone who works in digital marketing: This is an awesome PSA. Well done,' said one Reddit user.

'He's the hero Sydney deserves, especially right now. Grazie amico!' said another.

Others took the opportunity to share other ways of getting pizza discounts by using coupon websites.

'Use something like OzBargain, RetailMeNot or FrugalFeeds. Easy deals,' said one Redditor, with several others also recommending OzBargain.

Clicking on the link provided another link to generate a coupon code available for use online or in stores (pictured)

The hack also worked with Eagle Boys, but not with Crust.

'We are always looking for new ways to provide better choices and great value to customers (and new customers) when they're deciding on their next meal,' a Domino's spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

'This week is our "Mega Week", with terrific offers available in customers' letterboxes and online, including through the Domino's Offers App. For this week only, some of these offers can be as much as 50% off.

'We look forward to even more customers enjoying Domino's this Mega Week, which ends August 1.'A sneaky thief who continually changed his techniques to evade detection at some of Australia's biggest department stores has been jailed after his ruse came undone.

James Samuel Baumgart, 33, tampered with barcodes and price tags at JB Hi-Fi, Telstra and Big W among other stores.

He had stolen more than $1,700 worth of items since March but already owed the government more than $30,000 in unpaid penalties and fines as detailed in his 16-page criminal history.

Baumgart faced Maryborough Magistrates Court on Monday, charged with a number of fraud and shoplifting offences.

He pleaded guilty to five counts of stealing, two counts of attempted fraud, one count of fraud and one count of trespassing.

James Samuel Baumgart (pictured) was sentenced to 15-months prison, after a shoplifting spree added to his already existing debt of more than $30,000

The court heard how he would alter his shoplifting techniques from store to store, using tricks he'd learn from years of stealing from establishments.

He would swap barcodes between items, remove tags in dressing rooms and collaborate with others he had met in prison.

His constantly changing approaches to stealing was not enough in the end to outsmart police.

Baumgart was caught targeting stores in Bundaberg, the Sunshine Coast, Gympie and Maryborough.

He'd been performing his cons since March, less than a month after he was released from jail on parole for previous offences.

Baumgart was taken into custody on May 18.

Police Prosecutor Michael Quirk said there was 'no doubt' that Baumgart intended to resell the items he stole.

Baumgart will be eligible for parole on December 23.

Baumgart (pictured) was caught by police after a three-month shoplifting spree, stealing more than $1,700 from Queensland businessesMillionaire Dick Smith has been slammed for suggesting Aldi 'forced' him into closing his food company after almost two decades.

An expert told Daily Mail Australia Dick Smith Foods' collapse was because of all the major supermarkets - not just the German giant - and the company's lack of marketing, promotion and brand awareness with Aussie consumers.

'There's a lot of factors behind the downfall, it's not solely placed on Aldi,' IBISWorld Senior Industry Analyst Bao Vuong said.

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Millionaire Dick Smith has blamed German supermarket Aldi for 'forcing' him to close his food business after almost two decades (pictured getting teary at the announcement July 2018)

However, an expert told Daily Mail Australia that Dick Smith Foods' (pictured) collapse was because of all the major supermarkets and their lack of self promotion

'Coles and Woolworths and Aldi - they all had an effect on downfall of Dick Smith Foods because consumers are price conscious.'

Mr Vuong said the food company, founded in 1999, proved they could not compete in a competitive market which favours cheap products.

'It's the company itself, it's not a prominent or well-known company with Australian consumers,' he said.

'The lack of brand awareness contributed to the downfall over the decade.'

The expert explained Dick Smith Food's prices were double that of their competitors and this was a 'large contributor to the downfall'.

'If you can sell cheaper products, consumers will give you incredible support ... price is most important when it comes to consumers,' Mr Vuong told Daily Mail Australia.

'They may have had a chance, although it was a very small business, if it promoted itself better and compared its products ... it potentially could have done well in the market.'

The 74-year-old made the shock announcement on Thursday morning where he said 'extreme capitalism' and the European supermarket had led to his company's demise.

Dick Smith Foods will be wound down over 12 months after almost two decades in business and $480 million in retail sales.

Mr Smith said 'the driving force of our closure, however, is Aldi' in a five-page open letter to Coles and Woolworths.

'It is not just battlers who support Aldi. Many wealthy Australians also support Aldi  and in fact say positive things about Aldi and negative things about your companies,' he wrote.

Mr Vuong said the food company (Mr Smith pictured with products), founded in 1999, proved they could not compete in a competitive market which favours cheap products

Mr Smith accused Aldi of taking money and jobs out of Australia - something he claimed to support with his failed food company - which produces sauces, spreads, biscuits and cereals

'This is sad and hardly consistent with the support you have given Australian companies such as our own. It looks as if there is nothing we can do about this. It is simply modern 'extreme capitalism'.

'That is the reason I am closing Dick Smith Foods.'

He also issued a warning to the supermarket bosses.

'The Aldi concept is ruthlessly astute and it is clear that unless your companies move towards this system, you will very likely become uncompetitive,' Mr Smith said.

Mr Smith accused Aldi of taking money and jobs out of Australia - something he claimed to support with his failed food company - which produces sauces, spreads, biscuits and cereals.

The entrepreneur, who once had a net worth of $50 million, said while his business was still viable at the moment, he made the decision to shut it down as he feared it will soon succumb to the inevitable and slide into bankruptcy.

'It's quite devastating. I basically failed,' Mr Smith told Daily Mail Australia.

Mr Smith (pictured Thursday) said 'the driving force of our closure, however, is Aldi' in a five-page open letter to Coles and Woolworths

Mr Smith (pictured in 2001) launched Dick Smith Foods 19 years ago, with the products made using Australian grown ingredients

'I don't make any money out of it. We established (the business) to help Australian farmers and workers in the food industry.

'We could've made the business make a fortune - you can just import the cheapest (products) but I'm not going to do that.

'It's devastating but that's life. I've been very lucky. It will affect the charities we helped.'

Mr Smith said there was little hope for food production in Australia.

'The future for Australian manufacturing is just terrible. It's on its way to complete destruction,' he said.

'There will be less and less food production in Australia if we allow this to continue.'

'In two years' time we will go out of business, so I'm closing it down now when times are good.

'It's a decision forced on me because most people just want the cheapest prices, and the cheapest prices will always come from overseas.'

'It's quite devastating. I basically failed,' Mr Smith told Daily Mail Australia after he broke the news he was shutting down the Dick Smith Foods business

Mr Smith (pictured) had fired off a scathing letter to Aldi's owners this week, demanding to know 'when will enough be enough?' when it comes to their expansion plans

Mr Smith also informed the bosses of Coles, Woolworths and Metcash of his decision in a letter, thanking them for their support for almost 20 years.

'We have done everything we can to get our costs down by operating as leanly as possible with minimum staffing levels,' Mr Smith wrote.

'Of course, indirectly, many thousands of Australians have been employed through Dick Smith Foods.

'It is clear that it will become more difficult for small and medium sized Australian owned food processors utilising Australian produce to compete in the current marketplace.'

The business will be wound down over the next 12 months.

Dick Smith Foods 'are made in Australia by Australian owned companies using Australian grown ingredients', the company's website says.

The team behind Dick Smith Foods is 'quite small' with three direct employees.

'The staff employed directly by Dick Smith Foods are responsible for the management and marketing of the brand. As there are no manufacturing processes to oversee, the Dick Smith Foods' team is quite small.'

'All the products are produced by Australian-owned companies under a licensing agreement with Dick Smith Foods.'

The business had also given more than $10 million to charity over its 19 years.

Mr Smith said Aldi had 'taken billions of dollars of business from existing Australian owned companies' (stock image)

Mr Smith had fired off a scathing letter to Aldi's owners this week, demanding to know 'when will enough be enough?' when it comes to their expansion plans.

His comments came in response to the $40 billion privately-owned discount retailer being this month voted Australia's most trusted brand.

'In Australia your Aldi company has been phenomenally successful,' Mr Smith wrote in an open letter to Aldi owners Karl Albrecht Jnr and Beate Heister.

'It has not only taken billions of dollars of business from existing Australian owned companies, but it has now been voted the most trusted brand in Australia, and it has also been reported that it is our most profitable supermarket chain.'

But Mr Smith claimed Aldi's operations were doing Australians out of a job.

'Your formula of employing less staff per dollar turnover compared to the typical Australian owned supermarkets will ultimately mean less Australians employed,' Mr Smith wrote.

'We already have a problem in Australia. We have 14 per cent youth unemployment and over 20 per cent youth underemployment  that is, where our young people can't get a proper full time career.'

Mr Smith also accused Aldi of being 'secretive' and said they had a duty to explain how their future plans will impact Australians.

'Our tradition here is one of openness. However I notice much of the reporting on your company mentions secretiveness. It appears that neither of you have ever conducted a media interview on your plans for the expansion of Aldi,' he said.

Aldi has hit back, saying it has saved Australians more than $1.5 billion per year (stock image)

'Can I ask why you are so secretive? Surely being worth $30 billion US dollars (that's $40.63 billion Australian dollars) you have a responsibility to be open and explain your long term plans to all those who are affected.'

Mr Smith called on Aldi's owners to visit Australia 'and explain what you are planning to do in the medium and long term future that will affect our children and grandchildren'.

Aldi Australia hit back stating the company proudly supported an Australian-first buying policy and had shared its growth with more than 1000 local suppliers and 11,500 Australian employees.

'As a privately owned business we have never sought to 'maximise' profits at the cost of something or someone else,' Chief Executive Tom Daunt said in a statement.

'Rather, we opt for long-term sustainable growth strategies.'

Mr Daunt said Aldi was proud to have influenced the entire grocery sector 'which has led to price deflation benefiting all Australian shoppers'.

Aldi opened its first store in Sydney in 2001 and filled a void in the discount supermarket business that arose when discount grocery chain Franklins went out of business.The man who demolished the president's Hollywood Walk of Fame star will reportedly be bailed out of jail by the man who was arrested in 2016 for destroying the plaque.

Austin Clay, 24, turned himself in on Wednesday, hours after he took a pickaxe to Donald Trump's star.

Video showed Clay hammering away at the star with the tool around 3am Pacific time. He was carrying the pickaxe in a guitar case, according to reports.

Photos showed Trump's star completely destroyed and unrecognizable with debris scattered across the sidewalk.

James Otis, who destroyed Trump's star in 2016, is trying to raise the $20,000 needed to get Austin Clay out of jail

Police say Clay used a pickaxe to destroy the Hollywood Walk of Fame star on Wednesday morning

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has said it has no plans to remove the star, despite its repeated targeting by vandals and activists, and a longstanding petition with nearly 50,000 signatures calling for its displacement

Clay left his pickaxe at the scene before fleeing, but later called the Los Angeles Police Department and confessed to being the culprit who smashed the name plate plaque to smithereens.

Clay's girlfriend told CBS Los Angeles that she had no idea he was going to destroy the star, but said he has a major issue with Trump. The outlet also reported that video showed Clay's girlfriend dancing and twerking over the star after he vandalized it.

The police department did not say what motivated Clay to deface the star. He was booked for felony vandalism and is being held on $20,000 bail.

Jail records show that he remained in custody on Wednesday night but Clay may soon be released thanks to James Otis, the man who was arrested for vandalizing Trump's star before the 2016 election.

TMZ reports that Otis is working to free Clay from jail and also wants to meet him face-to-face.

Police said Clay, 24, left his pickaxe behind after destroying the star. Video showed him smashing the star around 3am Pacific time

Donald Trump's star on the Walk of Fame is shown here, without vandalism and defacing, near the corner of Hollywood and Highland in Los Angeles on December 10, 2016

Donald Trump (left) is seen here with wife Melania Trump and their then-10-month-old son Barron after Trump was honored with the 2,327th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on January 16, 2007

In November 2016, Otis used a pickaxe to destroy Trumps's star. He pleaded no contest to felony vandalism in February 2017 and was sentenced to three years of probation and 20 days of community service. He was also slapped with $4,400 worth of fines.

Trump, who was honored with the star in January 2007, has not publicly commented on the most recent incident of vandalism.

Some time after Wednesday's incident, a pull up bar was placed over the debris in the spot where Trump's star used to sit, presumably to protect passersby from tripping over the rubble.

Gregg Donovan, a British-born actor living in Santa Monica, stood near the star to 'protect' it holding a sign that read: 'Keeping America Great. Trump 2020'.

Trump's star has been defaced, demolished or otherwise tampered with many times since he declared his candidacy for president in 2015.

Otis, who was dressed as a construction worker and also used a sledge hammer at the time, said his goal was to remove the star, auction it, and donate any money raised to the women who accused Trump of sexual assault leading up to the presidential election.

Other incidents of vandalism include a reverse swastika being spray painted on the star in January 2016, and the symbol for 'mute,' which indicates sound has been turned off on a device, being spray painted on the star in June of 2016.

Speculation around the spray painting of the 'mute' sign included the possibility that it was meant to protest Trump's antagonistic language used during his campaign.

Some time after Wednesday's incident, a pull up bar was placed over the debris in the spot where Trump's star used to sit, presumably to protect passersby from tripping over the rubble

Otis, who wants to bail Clay out of jail, defaced Trump's star in October 2016 (pictured above)

Another incident of vandalism includes the symbol for 'mute' being spray painted on the star in June of 2016 (pictured)

That incident was video taped and posted on YouTube with the title, 'Trump muted in Hollywood blvd.'

The Anti-Defamation League, whose mission is to stop the defamation of Jewish people, explains the distinction between forward and reverse-facing swastikas, as follows:

'The swastika as adopted by the Nazis has "arms" that hook to the right; later white supremacists maintained this tradition.

'Though sometimes more ignorant white supremacists accidentally render swastikas "backwards," the backwards or left-pointing swastika is typically the hallmark of someone not actually that familiar with white supremacist iconography.'

Ana Martinez, who is the vice president of media relations for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, said she'd prefer if people would stop this kind of behavior, in an interview published in November by Real Clear Life.

'Id like people to know that the Walk of Fame is a historical landmark and I would very much like it if people didnt damage any stars,' Martinez said.

'I know that people have their personal political views about President Trump, and feelings about other stars, but please, it would be great if people could refrain from vandalizing his star or any other stars.'

A gold-colored toilet, shown here when it was placed by Trump's star in May 2016

Political statements made surrounding Trump's star have also included the placing of a miniature wall around its edges, seemingly in protest of Trump's calls to build a border wall

Political statements made surrounding Trump's star have also included the placing of a miniature wall with barbed wire around its edges, seemingly in protest of Trump's calls to build a border wall, and nearby placement of a gold-colored toilet featuring the words, 'Take A Trump' spray painted on its tank.

The gold-colored toilet, placed by the star in May 2016, was part of a larger art installation, created in reference to the Guggenheim offering to loan the president a golden toilet after turning down a request for a specific piece of Van Gogh art, as reported by the Washington Post.

The star has already been replaced and is being protected under a large piece of wood. It needs about three days before it settles and it can be unveiled again.

Workers were pictured earlier Wednesday removing the rubble and beginning the process to replace the star.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has said it has no plans to permanently remove the star, despite its repeated targeting by vandals and activists, and a longstanding petition with nearly 50,000 signatures calling for its displacement.

All of the stars on the Walk of Fame are maintained by the Hollywood Historic Trust.

Gregg Donovan, a British-born actor living in Santa Monica, showed up later on Wednesday to 'protect' what remains at this moment of Trump's demolished star, holding a 'Trump 2020' sign

Workers have already removed the rubble on Wednesday to prep it for replacement, which is underwayA violent, overseas outlaw group with a history of child rape, kidnapping and public brawling will be outlawed in Queensland, as part of a state-wide commitment to wipe out organised crime.

The Mongrel Mob, which has a long and violent history in New Zealand's criminal scene dating back to the 1960s, distinguishes themselves with facial tattoos and the colour red.

For the first time, the gang will be declared as an 'identified organisation', with the declaration to be approved by Governor in Council on Thursday, Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath has said.

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The Mongrel Mob, (pictured), a violent, overseas outlaw group with a history of child rape, kidnapping and public brawling will be outlawed in Queensland, as part of a state-wide commitment to wipe out organised crime

The Mongrel Mob, which has has a long and violent history of dominating New Zealand 's criminal scene since the 60s, distinguishes themselves with facial tattoos and the colour red

It will form part of an effort to tighten laws and restrict the ability to intimidate and recruit into what the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice described as one of the most fearsome gangs in the world.

'This is an organisation with the attributes of an outlaw motorcycle gang with violent initiation processes, Nazi insignia and motto and members who outside Queensland have been involved in murder, armed robberies, extortion, home invasion, firearms and drug offences,' Ms D'Ath said in a media statement.

'The police commissioner has advised there is evidence of Mongrel Mob activity in Queensland and we are acting to prevent it from establishing a foothold in the state,' Ms D'Ath said.

The Serious and Organised Crime Legislation Amendment Act introduced by the Palaszczuk Government enacted new laws to stop outlaw motorcycle gang members wearing signature colours in public and to shut down clubhouses and seize prohibited items.

For the first time, the gang will be declared as an 'identified organisation', with the declaration to be approved by Governor in Council on Thursday, Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath has said

It will form part of an effort to tighten laws and restrict the ability to intimidate and recruit into one of the most fearsome gangs in the world

The new laws have 'restricted the ability of gangs to create a climate of fear and intimidation in the community through the deliberate statement of membership attached to club colours,' Detective Superintendent Lowe said.

Superintendent Lowe said he was working to monitor the emergence of new clubs and to deter expanding criminal networks.

'The declaration of the Mongrel Mob as an identified organisation is about addressing and preventing violent, criminal and anti-social behaviour of gangs,' he said.

Specifically, Mongrel Mob members would not be allowed to wear their colours or logos in public.

There are now 28 entities, including Bandidos, The Finks and the Rebels, which have been declared as identified organisations.

Police believe there are 700 patched outlaw motorcycle gang members in Queensland, with the number of 'consorting' warnings issued by police increasing from 230 in 2016-17 to 570 in 2017-18.A man accused of sexually abusing a young girl and threatening to cut her throat when she told her mother is set to face court.

The 47-year-old, unemployed man was looking after his ex-partner's children at a house in Ballarat while their mother was out visiting a friend on the night of Sunday, December 4, 2016.

After putting the child's siblings to bed, the accused allegedly told the young girl she could stay up with him, and sat her on his lap while they watched television together in the living room, The Courier reports.

A 47-year-old unemployed man is accused of sexually abusing a young girl and threatening to cut her throat when she told her mother (stock image)

He then forced the girl to touch his genitals and rubbed her vagina before the mother returned home unexpectedly and 'startled' him, Ballarat Magistrates Court heard on Tuesday.

When the mother confronted the man he denied everything, allegedly telling the young girl she was a liar and threatening to 'cut her throat' as he armed himself with a pair of carving knives.

Court documents state that while the accused was making these threats the mother wrote 'call the police' on a small piece of paper and gave it to the girl, instructing her to go to a neighbour's house.

The man forced the girl to touch his genitals and rubbed her vagina before the mother returned home unexpectedly and 'startled' him, Ballarat Magistrates Court heard on Tuesday

When the mother confronted the man he denied everything, allegedly telling the young girl she was a liar and threatening to 'cut her throat' as he armed himself with a pair of carving knives (stock image)

Later, in a statement provided to the Ballarat Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigation Team on December 5, 2016, the child said that the man had 'made her' touch his 'rude spot... where the boys pee'.

The young girl was also interviewed in relation to other incidents during 2016 involving the man's alleged acts of indecency against her.

Magistrate Ron Saines declared that there was 'evidence of sufficient weight to convince a jury'.

The man is committed to stand trial in the Melbourne County Court on October 9 with a directions hearing being held on October 6.Borce Ristevski's daughter told the accused killer his behaviour 'didn't make sense' after her mother vanished, a court has heard

Borce Ristevski's daughter told the accused killer his behaviour 'didn't make sense' in the days after her mother vanished and questioned why he switched off his phone, a court has heard.

Ristevski, 54, is accused of murdering his dress shop-owner wife Karen at the family's Avondale Heights home before dumping her body in bushland on June 29, 2016.

In a conversation captured by a police listening device in September that year, Sarah Ristevski questioned her father about what he was doing that day.

'I was going to get shisha. I didn't say anything because I didn't know it was legal,' he replied.

Prosecutor Matt Fisher detailed the conversation in closing submissions of a hearing to decide whether Ristevski stands trial for murder.

As read by Mr Fisher, Sarah went on: 'You were out of the house for two hours. Your phone is off for two hours... They pinged you on the Calder [Freeway].'

Ristevski responded: 'That's what they are trying to plant out there, Sarah.'

'That doesn't make sense,' Sarah said.

'Nothing makes sense because they're making it up as they go,' he replied.

Ms Ristevski (pictured, left, with Borce, centre, and daughter Sarah, right) went missing in June 2016

Ristevski, 54, is accused of murdering his dress shop-owner wife Karen (pictured left with friends) at the family's Avondale Heights home before dumping her body in bushland

He claimed his wife had gone out for a walk to clear her mind that morning and never returned.

He told police took her Mercedes-Benz roadster to get petrol but turned around after the faulty fuel gauge showed it didn't need filling.

But detectives allege he killed his wife, bundled her into the car and drove to Macedon Regional Park, taking the Calder Freeway.

Mr Fisher said Ristevski concealed the body in a 'thorough' way and deliberately switched off or deactivated their phones before arriving in the bush.

Sarah Ristevksi (left) questioned her father after Karen (right) vanished in June 2016

Karen Ristevski is pictured centre with daughter Sarah and her accused killer husband Borce

'He takes the body from the car and places it between two fallen tree trunks then further conceals her body with things from the bush. Leaves, branches,' Mr Fisher said.

'She remained missing for eight months and almost by chance she's found.'

Ms Ristevski's skeletal remains were found in February 2017 by two horticulturalists who had noticed a strange smell.

Ristevski's lawyers say the murder charge should be abandoned because even if a jury were to find he killed her, there is no evidence of motive or 'murderous intent'.

As read by a proscutor in court, Sarah (left with her mother) questioned her father over Karen's disappearance: 'You were out of the house for two hours. Your phone is off for two hours'

But prosecutors are pushing hard for a murder trial and say his deceitful actions after the killing give rise to the required intent.

Karen Ristevski's (pictured with daughter Sarah) could have died from head injury, Professor Cordner previously told the court

'The post-offence conduct is so sustained, there is so much of it and it is so significant that the only conclusion that's available is that the accused man had the murderous intent.

'That's why he went to the lengths that he did. This isn't just an accidental killing.'

Ristevski was charged after a lengthy police investigation that involved phone taps, listening devices and CCTV footage analysis.

The family's dire financial situation has been recounted to court with details of Ms Ristevski's fashion store Bella Bleu floundering.

Magistrate Suzanne Cameron will consider her decision after Mr Fisher finishes his closing submissions on Thursday.A man has been charged after he allegedly exposed himself to a woman on a Sydney train and assaulted two cops while he was being arrested.

The 24-year-old woman was travelling on a train from Central station on Wednesday morning when she flagged down police after it stopped at Bankstown.

Police said the 24-year-old man had gotten off the train at Sydenham after the alleged act of indecency unfolded, with officers launching an investigation.

A man has been charged after he allegedly exposed himself to a woman on a Sydney train (stock image)

The man was found by police later in the day at Central.

While police were arresting the man, he allegedly spat in the face of one officer and tried to grab a firearm from another cop, before kicking both in the leg.

The man was charged with resisting arrest, an act of indecency and three counts of assaulting police.

Police also executed an outstanding warrant.

The man was refused bail to appear before Central Local Court on Thursday.

Both officers suffered minor injuries, with one cop taken to hospital for treatment.The former Alaska Airlines pilot who admitted to flying two planes between California and Oregon in 2014 while heavily intoxicated has been sentenced to jail.

Officials announced on Wednesday that 63-year-old David Hans Arntson will serve a year and one day in federal prison after he pleaded guilty in February to one felony count for flying an aircraft while drunk.

Arntson, who retired after the incident, was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine, KTLA reports.

David Hans Arntson, 63, was sentenced to a year in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to flying in 2014 while heavily intoxicated

Arntson was a pilot for Alaska Airlines for more than 20 years. Court documents stated that he suffered from alcoholism and kept it hidden during most of his career. He piloted flights under the influence for 'at least a substantial portion' of his career, the documents stated.

It is unknown how many flights Arntson flew while drunk.

On June 20, 2014, Arntson was pulled aside for a random drug and alcohol testing after piloting a flight from Portland, Oregon to John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California.

An airline technician performed two breathalyzers on Arntson and found that his blood alcohol concentration was 0.134 and 0.142, nearly three times the federal legal limit of 0.04 for pilots.

Arntson drove himself to a hospital where further tests were done showing that he was 'substantially' above the legal alcohol limit.

Officials said Arntson, a pilot for Alaska Airlines for more than 20 years, had a blood alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit the same day he piloted two planes between California and Oregon

Officials said before flying the aircraft from Portland to Santa Ana, Arntson had piloted a flight from San Diego International Airport to Portland. About 240 passengers were on both flights, Boeing 737s.

'This defendant was at the controls during hundreds of flights carrying innumerable passengers  undoubtedly under the influence of alcohol during many of those trips,' U.S. Attorney Nicola T. Hanna said in a statement. 'Fortunately, he was finally caught, and the risk to passengers was stopped.'

Arntson retired after the incident and the Federal Aviation Administration revoked his permit to fly a plane.A South African teenage immigrant has set himself up for life, dropping out of school at the age of 14 to pursue a career in business.

Josh Brnjac is the 16-year-old CEO of BRNJAC Group, a photography business running out of South-East Melbourne.

The teenage entrepreneur immigrated to Australia from South Africa at the age of seven, and hasn't looked back since.

16-year-old Josh Brnjac is the CEO of BRNJAC Group, a successful photography business

He left school at the age of 14 to pursue a career in business management, saying that being daunted is the best part of the job

Josh always had an eye for business, he told Daily Mail Australia.

He says that when he arrived in Australia, he couldn't wait to start his own business as the idea of doing six years of high school and four years of uni horrified him.

So he didn't.

With the backing of his parents, who both work in education, Josh left school aged 14 to follow his aspirations of business.

He says that he didn't always know it was going to be photography, but when he was given a 'crappy' point-and-click camera for his tenth birthday, he fell in love with the craft.

'It lets me share my perspective of the world,' he says.

He know manages the successful BRNJAC Group, providing social media content for major brands like Qantas and Sunrise.

Being so young in the industry can daunting, though he says that that's the best part of the job.

'Daunting is the good part of it. I notice more value in working my way up.'

'Daunting is the good part of it. I notice more value in working my way up,' he says

He now runs the photography business, as well as a second online retailer, GNTLMEN

He now runs the photography business, as well as a second online retailer, GNTLMEN, which is aimed at impulse buying millennials on social media.

He is slated to talk on stage at TEDXMelbourne next month, featured as one of 13 key speakers.

As a 16-year-old with two businesses, Josh shared his secret to success.

'Making as many mistakes as I can.'

Josh had two failed startup businesses before he successfully launched GNTLMEN earlier this year.

He came minutes from dropping as much as $10,000 into one of the failed business ideas, before a software collapse stopped him.

Regardless, he says that the mistake would've been worth the experience.

For anyone looking to follow Josh's path, he says the best thing you can do is 'run towards what you fear'.Two siblings bombed a Peruvian hospital Tuesday in an act of revenge after their mother died there seven years ago.

Lenin Alexander, 40, and Claudia Rocio Benitez Aguirre, 44, placed two homemade bombs at the entrance of a lab and in the parking garage area of the Ricardo Palma Clinic in San Isidro, Lima, at 11am local time, according to a hospital worker who answered the phone to DailyMail.com.

In total, 35 people were injured, including the attackers, in the horrific explosion.

It was the siblings' revenge after their mother, Victoria Aguirre Oviedo, died at the hospital after undergoing surgery for migraines in 2011.

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Lenin Alexander (left) and Claudia Rocio Benitez Aguirre (right) were the siblings who carried out the bombing at the Peruvian hospital

Authorities looked for additional survivors in the parking garage of the clinic

A plice officer surveys the site of the hospital bombing in Peru that left 35 injured, including both attackers

According to El Comercio, the mother of both attackers had been diagnosed with a brain tumors and underwent a craniotomy on August 24, 2011 at the Ricardo Palma Clinic.

Aguirre Oviedo returned home the following day but her head swelled up, she lost her eyesight and she wasnt talking at all, her widower Alejandro Benitez Gomez said in an interview with America TV on Tuesday night.

She suggered additional brain damage and later died. The family filed a claim against the clinic and received a judgment in their favor, although they received just a fraction of the money.

'It was done in revenge, because in reality we have five years [in trial], we have beaten [the hospital] on two occasions and they've denied paying us,' Benitez Gomez claimed.

According to Perus National Police General Gaston Rodriguez, Alexander and Benitez Aguirre placed each explosive inside backpacks. One of the explosives was set off near a car and another near a lab within minutes of each other.

Hospital workers and patients were cleared out of the Peruvian hospital as first responders searched the area

Alejandro Benitez Gomez, father of both attackers, met with the media at his home

Percy Benitez Aguirre, brother of the hospital bombers, denounced their actions

Both perpetrators suffered fractures and burns from their own attack, and were placed immediately under police supervision while they underwent surgery and transferred to the hospitals intensive care unit.

Their actions were quickly condemned by their brother Percy Benitez Aguirre, whom also expressed his frustrations with the hospital and judicial system for the lack of action taken after the malpractice lawsuit.

I dont justify it. I dont agree with it. You cant justify it, Benitez Aguirre said during a press conference outside the hospital. They must comply with the law.'

The clinic remains open.This is the touching moment the last of the Spitfire Girls Mary Ellis was reunited with a plane that she had secretly signed as a romantic gesture in 1944.

Mrs Ellis, who flew 76 different aircraft during the Second World War, died at her home in Sandown, on the Isle of Wight aged 101 on Tuesday.

Just two weeks ago, Mrs Ellis attended the London premiere of SPITFIRE, where she was seen smiling on the red carpet and received a standing ovation after the film.

The 101-year-old was featured in the documentary being reunited with a spitfire that she had delivered to RAF Brize Norton from Southampton.

After the 25-minute wartime flight, a young Mrs Ellis signed the cockpit, scrawling her maiden name Wilkins and the initials ATA.

The clip shows Mrs Ellis beaming and laughing as she watched the iconic plane swoop through the sky, remarking that the aircraft 'seems so small now'.

She revealed she was overtaken by a 'romantic mood' when she signed her name, saying she was 'thinking some handsome RAF chap might be fighting in it and suddenly see my name and contact me. It never happened.'

The last of the Spitfire girls Mary Ellis died at her home on the Isle of Wight aged 101 on Tuesday

Mrs Ellis flew 400 Spitfires and 76 different types of aircraft during WWII, and just before her 100th birthday she was able to fly once more in a Spitfire

Mary in the cockpit of a Spitfire. This picture was taken towards the end of the war as the aircraft has a five-bladed propeller associated with the later Marks

Mrs Ellis took her first flying lesson as a teenager and flew for pleasure until 1939 when she heard a radio appeal for women pilots to join the auxiliary service.

As news broke of her death, people took to social media to pay tribute to the legendary woman and to thank her for her service.

John Nichol, a former prisoner-of-war and author, wrote: 'Another giant leaves us to john her heroic friends in Blue Skies. Rest in peace Mary; you truly deserve it. Thank you.'

Twitter user Mike said: 'More awful news. RIP Mary Ellis. A legend of the Air Transport Auxiliary. Over 1000 aircraft; 76 different types and over 400 Spitfires alone. I hope youre enjoying a well-earned sherry up there with Joy Lofthouse again. Blue skies Maam #LestWeForget.'

Kevin Powell added: 'I saw Mary Ellis interviewed recently. Her selflessness and belief that she had a duty to do all she did for the greater good shone through. A Truly inspirational lady who achieved so much for Britain.'

Melody Foreman, author of A Spitfire Girl, described Mrs Ellis as 'one of the world's greatest female ferry pilots'.

She wrote: 'Mary helped the war effort by delivering much needed aircraft including Wellington Bombers, Mustangs and many more to the aircrews of RAF fighter and bomber command squadrons.'

Just two weeks ago, Mrs Ellis attended the London premiere of Spitfires (pictured), where she was seen smiling on the red carpet and received a standing ovation after the film

Pictured: Mrs Ellis flying in a spitfire before her 100th birthday with the original spitfire she delivered during WWII flying next to her (right)

Pictured: ATA women pilots at No.15 Ferry Pool, Hamble, in 1943. Here Mary is with friends, standing second right of the picture

Mrs Ellis with three men of Bomber Command, standing next to a Wellington aircraft

'She flew 400 Spitfires and maintains that it is her favourite aircraft of all time. It is a symbol of freedom and liberty,' said Ms Foreman.

'When the ATA was closed in November 1945, Mary was seconded to the RAF to fly the new Meteor fast jet.

'The next few years saw her working as a personal pilot to a wealthy businessman and by 1950 she became the boss of Sandown Airport on the Isle of Wight.

'Mary became Europe's first female air commandant and remained as managing director of Sandown until 1970.

'[She] heard an appeal on the radio from the BBC for women pilots needed to help the war effort,'

'She joined the Air Transport Auxiliary, an organisation which ferried aircraft from factories and maintenance units to RAF airfields all over Britain.'

Mary Ellis (C), an Air Transport Auxiliary pilot in World War Two, poses for a photograph with other veterans on August 18, 2015 in Biggin Hill, England

The Hamble women ATA pilots around a Spitfire. Mary is standing on the far left of the picture

In 1994 Mary was first re-united with Spitfire MV154, which still had her signature written on the inside of the cockpit in 1944. Here Mary is in her ATA tunic as MV154 is refuelled behind her at Sandown

When Mrs Ellis turned a century old, a surprise party was held in her honour at Sandown Airport, where more than 60 guests attended.

Mrs Ellis said at the event: 'The war was a challenge and one had to do something about it. I went on and on until I flew everything. I love the Spitfire  it's my favourite aircraft, it's everyone's favourite, it's the symbol of freedom.'

Then as part of her celebrations, Mrs Ellis was handed the controls of a 275mph twin-seater Spitfire as it swooped over West Sussex.

After about 15 minutes, she turned for home, and told her co-pilot Matt Jones: 'Goodwood on the nose, you have control'. Then she settled back to enjoy the ride back to base.

Earlier that day, Mrs Ellis watched in delight as Spitfire MV154 took its place beside her in an extraordinary airborne tribute.A New Zealand woman had to be rescued by firefighters after she managed to get herself stuck in a cat door.

Caitlin Mays and her partner realised they had been locked out of their North Island home on Wednesday afternoon.

Instead of breaking into the South Waikato home, Mays attempted to squeeze in through the cat door.

Despite getting half of her body through the flap, the young woman became stuck, Stuff reported.

Caitlin Mays (pictured) got stuck in a cat door after being locked out of her New Zealand home

Mays was forced to call emergency services when she got stuck in the cat door at the North Island home (stock image)

Mays, who had her head and arm through the cat door, said she couldn't reach the lock so she decided to give up.

'I said "I am just going to try and come back out now" but I was stuck,' she said.

Mays realised she would have to make an embarrassing call to emergency services as she decided it wouldn't be safe for her partner to attempt to smash in the door.

She claims the firefighters were in disbelief when she made the dreaded call but felt relieved when she heard the sirens approach the property.

The firefighters arrived at the home at 3pm and assisted Mays by unscrewing the door and using a saw to free her head.

'I was just thinking of really funny things I could say to them to be honest. I turned to them and I was like "I know chokers are a fashion with teenage girls nowadays but I think this is a bit too literal",' Mays said.

'It's good to have a laugh about it now and we got a new cat door out of it.'

Luckily, Mays was uninjured in the incident which she says she'd learned her lesson.The family of a woman who died of cancer after years of washing her husbands asbestos-riddled overalls and giving him a big hug after work every day have won almost 250,000 in damages in an extraordinary legal first.

Adrienne Sweeney regularly handled her husband Bills work clothes in the 1960s and 1970s when he was employed at a boiler-making factory.

She died in 2015 of mesothelioma but not before giving a statement about her exposure to asbestos to a lawyer based on her loving daily routine with Bill.

Now, after hearing her evidence from beyond the grave, a judge has awarded her family a total of 247,000.

It is the first case in Scots Law to deal with secondary exposure to the harmful substance but legal experts believe many more could follow.

Mrs Sweeney, from Paisley, Renfrewshire, told a lawyer before she died that she would shake out her husbands dust- covered overalls and put them in her twin-tub washing machine.

She told how he would cuddle her and their children while still wearing his work clothes.

Adrienne Sweeney washed her husband Bills work clothes in the 1960s and 1970s when he was employed at a boiler-making factory dealing with asbestos (pictured together)

Only after years of this routine, she said, did his employer, Babcock & Wilcox, start washing employees overalls in-house.

In a judgment issued yesterday after a Court of Session hearing, Lady Carmichael ruled that the exposure to the asbestos dust on Mrs Sweeneys husbands clothes materially increased her risk of contracting mesothelioma.

The hearing was told the risks of exposure to asbestos were known at least as early as 1960 and Lady Carmichael ruled Babcock was negligent in failing to reduce that risk to Mrs Sweeney.

Adrienne died in 2015 of mesothelioma and now after hearing her evidence from beyond the grave, a judge has awarded her family a total of 247,000

Last night, her family said the ruling had brought the justice Mrs Sweeney had wanted before her painful and unnecessarily premature death.

Her daughter, Kay Gibson, said: Babcocks duty of care not only failed my father as an employee but they failed his wife, who subsequently died of mesothelioma because she washed his clothes.

She said the same asbestos may have contaminated her and her siblings, adding: We are now wondering if we are going to die of mesothelioma.

My mother died within 12 weeks of being diagnosed with the disease. We were offered over 100,000 on the first day of trial and we said no. We have not brought this case for money.

Weve brought this case because my mum wanted justice.

Before she died, Mrs Sweeney gave a statement at Thompsons Solicitors in Glasgow. In it, she said: Before washing my husbands overalls I would normally shake them out at the back door.

Mrs Sweeney said she could not remember any discussions with her husband about his asbestos exposure but she knew he came home with asbestos dust on his overalls and his underclothes.

Babcock & Wilcox started cleaning employees overalls and providing fresh ones but she was not sure exactly when this was.

Mr Sweeney died in 2008 after suffering a heart attack unrelated to his asbestos exposure.

Lawyers for his employer, now Babcock International, argued it was unclear to what extent Mr Sweeney was exposed to asbestos at the factory in Renfrew.

But Lady Carmichael said: The defenders knew or ought to have known that work clothes would be cleaned at home given that they did not provide clean clothing.

Mrs Sweeneys children  Mrs Gibson, 54, of Paisley; Jan Sweeney, 52, of Moscow, Ayrshire; and William Sweeney, 50, of Beith, Ayrshire  originally sued Babcock for 50,000 as individuals.

Mrs Gibson also sought 200,000 as the executrix of her mothers estate, with lesser sums sought by other family members.

A family statement said: Women like our mother were unaware how unsafe it was to be handling the asbestos dust that came from these work clothes or of the contamination risk.

The family lawyer, Nicola Macara of Thompsons Solicitors, said: This landmark case is a very positive outcome not only for the Sweeney family but for all Scots fighting to ensure that justice is done for sufferers of asbestos-related disease.A chilling letter written by a Sydney woman just months before her death has helped send her former husband to jail for soliciting her murder.

After her brother's sudden death in 1990, Rita Caleo was so scared for her own safety that she wrote a letter to her solicitor in a sealed envelope titled: 'To be opened only if my death is unnatural.'

Three months later, she was found dead in the family's house, her body riddled with 23 stab wounds in what was alleged to be a burglary gone wrong.

Appearing before the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday, her ex-husband Mark Caleo, now 55, was sentenced to 12 years prison for soliciting her murder, 28 years after her death.

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Rita Caleo (pictured) was murdered in 1990, three months after she wrote a letter addressed to her solicitor saying: 'To be opened only if my death is unnatural'

The letter incriminates her husband, Mark Caleo, and another man of participating in the murder of her and her brother

He was convicted in April of soliciting the murder of his wife in August 1990.

Former Kings Cross bouncer Alani Afu, 51, was found guilty of carrying out the murder.

He was paid at least $10,000 and allowed to keep the jewellery from the home, taken to try and make the crime look like a robbery.

The court heard former employee Anthony Stambolis testify that Mr Caleo told him to offer $10,000 to find someone to kill his wife and to make it look like a robbery gone wrong.

Mark Caleo (pictured) was sentenced to 12 years prison with a nine year non-parole period

It was her letter, ultimately, that directed police attention to Mr Caleo.

'In the event that my death is unnatural, direct the investigation to my husband Mark Caleo and Rick Damelian of Rick Damelian Used Cars,' It read.

'My brother's death is also their doing.'

Rick Damelian was also named in her letter but is not suspected of any involvement in either her or her brother's deaths.

He is not facing any charges related to the matter and has denied being involved.

Her brother, Dr Michael Chye, 36, was fatally shot in the head in his Woollahra home in October 1989.

Nobody has ever been charged for his murder.

Mrs Caleo's sister, Angelina Chye (pictured) told the court she couldn't attend her funeral, saying 'I sat crying in my room, grieving'

Earlier this month, Angelina Chye told a judge of her grief over her sister's murder.

She told the court how she had not been able to attend her funeral because it was deemed unsafe.

'I sat crying in my room, grieving.'

In handing down Mr Caleo's sentence, Justice Robert Allan Hulme said the defendant was the mastermind of 'a cold blooded plan to kill his wife', which he ordered after she cut him out of her will.

Mr Caleo was sentence to 12 years with a non-parole period of nine years for soliciting Mrs Caleo's murder.

Alani Afu was sentenced to 20 years with a non-parole period of 15 years for murdering her.A physics teacher died in front of his shocked students today when he had a heart attack at school.

Satya Nadan, 60, collapsed at Berwick College in Melbourne where he has taught for 17 years.

Teachers are now offering counselling to students who witnessed his sudden death.

Satya Nadan (pictured with his wife), 60, collapsed at Berwick College in Melbourne where he has taught for 17 years

Teachers are now offering counselling to students who witnessed his sudden death. Pictured: Berwick College

Mr Nadan migrated to Australia from Fiji in 1990 with his high-school sweetheart wife, Radha. They live in Melbourne with two daughters Kavita and Khushboo.

Principal Kerri Bolch said in a statement this afternoon she has offered condolences to the family.

'We will do all we can to support them,' she said, adding: 'We are grateful to our school community for the way they care and support each other.'

She added: 'Teachers, wellbeing team and Education Department counsellors are available at the school to talk with any students that need additional support.'

Principal Kerri Bolch said in a statement this afternoon she has offered condolences to the familyA Dutch doctor who was reprimanded for administering a lethal injection to an elderly woman with dementia despite her 'resistance' is now under a criminal investigation.

An inquiry into the 74-year-old woman's death revealed that the woman, who had Alzheimer's, was surreptitiously given a coffee containing a sedative, and then had to be held down by her family as she appeared to struggle against the injection.

The chief public prosecutor at The Hague is investigating whether there are grounds for criminal charges to be laid against the doctor, whose name has not been publicly released.

It could lead to the first ever prosecution of a doctor over the treatment of a patient under the Netherlands' euthanasia laws.

The chief public prosecutor at The Hague is investigating whether there are grounds for criminal charges to be laid

According to a detailed report published last year by a Dutch regional euthanasia review committee, the 74-year-old renewed her living will about a year before she was given the lethal injection, in spring 2016.

She had written an 'advance directive' asking to be killed if the disease became too severe.

But whenever the issue of asking to die was raised, she also added: 'Not now, it's not so bad yet'.

However, after she was admitted to a care home, seven weeks before her death, its specialist doctor was persuaded by the Dutch woman's husband that she wanted the lethal injection.

The elderly woman was reported as being in tears, stressed and angry, and she was found wandering the care home during the night, searching for her husband.

On the day appointed for her death, the doctor gave the patient a sedative in a cup of coffee, without her knowledge. The committee said that by doing so, she took away the woman's chance to physically protest her death.

About 40 minutes later, she was injected with a further dose of sedative because the first was having 'insufficient effect'.

The Dutch medical complaints board formally reprimanded the doctor for carrying out the euthanasia

The report said the unnamed woman then appeared to become aware of her surroundings, and the doctor prepared to inject her with a lethal dose of the drug thiopental.

It added: 'When the physician tried to administer the thiopental, the patient sat up. This is what the physician had previously referred to as physical resistance.

'The family then held her and the physician quickly administered the rest of the euthanatic.'

In the watchdog's conclusions, it condemned the doctor, saying she could not have been sure the woman had wanted to die.

It said that in carrying out the decision to kill her patient, the doctor 'overstepped a boundary'.

By giving a sedative covertly in a cup of coffee she had 'wanted to deprive the patient of the possibility to resist... [and then] when the patient did respond negatively, the physician wrongly failed to consider whether this could be interpreted as an important sign that she did not want a needle to be inserted'.

The Dutch medical complaints board formally reprimanded the doctor for carrying out the euthanasia, despite her patient's resistance  the first case in which a practitioner has been formally censured since the Netherlands made it legal for doctors to kill patients at their request in 2002.

The examining judge will decide whether to charge the doctor with a crime in the case, after considering witnesses and expert reports.A couple who rented out their home on Airbnb while they went on holiday returned to find it being used as a brothel.

Police found three prostitutes at the house in Amsterdam and ordered it to be closed because it was operating as an unlicensed bordello.

They had checked it out after seeing the address listed in multiple ads on sex and prostitution websites.

Police found three prostitutes at the house in Amsterdam (pictured) and ordered it to be closed because it was operating as an unlicensed bordello

The couple now say their house no longer feels like home knowing that men had sex with prostitutes in almost every room

They ordered the operators to close the unlicensed brothel and gave them a few days to vacate the property.

Police said their powers are limited because the prostitutes were not illegal immigrants and were not the victims of human trafficking or forced prostitution.

Prostitution is legal in the Netherlands, but sex workers and brothels are strictly regulated.

The disgusted couple had hired a specialist rental agency to let out their property on Airbnb.

They believe that either someone at the agency or a cleaner let the prostitutes into their home.

The couple now say their house no longer feels like home knowing that men had sex with prostitutes in almost every room.

Police checked the house out after seeing the address listed in multiple ads on sex and prostitution websites

They have been sleeping on an air bed because they cannot bear the thought of what had happened in their own bed.

They said: 'The mattress, the carpet, the couch - we don't dare to sit on them.'

The couple added: 'There were white spots on the couch, too, and we did not really know what it could be. Unfortunately, the police then informed us about what the stains were.'

The couple are demanding compensation from Airbnb and the US company has promised that it will hold an investigation into the incident.A Jordanian man has been found guilty of two 'honor killings' in Texas after taking to the stand to defend himself in a desperate attempt to avoid the death penalty, against his attorney's advice.

Ali Irsan, 60, a Jordanian immigrant, was convicted of the November 2012 killing of his daughter's husband, Coty Beavers, and her friend Gelareh Bagherzadeh, who was killed 11 months earlier, in a Harris County courtroom on Thursday.

Irsan's daughter, Nesreen, had fled the family compound in Montgomery County at the age of 23, converted to Christianity and married Beavers, 28, who was a Christian man.

It's believed the deaths of first Bagherzadeh and then Beavers were part of a greater plan to kill five people in total, including Nesreen.

Irsan's sentencing hearing begins on Friday. He could be sentenced either to death or life imprisonment without parole.

Ali Irsan, 60 (left), has been convicted of two 'honor killings' while wife, Shmou Ali Alrawabdeh, 40 (right), is also charged related to the murders and has testified against him

Against the advice of his own attorneys, Irsan took the stand on Wednesday declaring he had nothing to do with the deaths of Beavers and Bagherzadeh in Houston in 2012.

Irsan was grilled by prosecutors on his relationship with his wife and his devout faith as they tried to paint him as a radical Muslim who believed his daughter's marriage had brought shame on the family.

'Ali Mahwood-Awad Irsan is a radical extremist Muslim who must be stopped,' special prosecutor Anna Emmons told jurors.

'This is premeditated capital murder to carry out one mans views, its as simple as that.'

The jury deliberated for about 35 minutes before it came back with guilty verdicts.

Irsan as convicted of killing Gelareh Bagherzadeh (pictured) in January 2012; She had been friends with the Jordanian-American's daughter, Nesreen

Irsan was also convicted of killing his daughter's husband, Coty Beavers (pictured), in November 2012; Beavers was Christian, and Isran's daughter converted to Christianity

'Honor killings have no place in American society,' Michael Creed, the older brother of Beavers, said.

'These are not infrequent events that happen in some random part of the world. They're happening in America and they're on the rise.'

In some cultures, so-called 'honor killings' are the murders of individuals, usually female and usually at the hands of male family members, who are perceived to have brought dishonor upon the family. Their killing is believed to restore that honor.

Emmons said this case was not about putting Islam on trial, but the religious beliefs of a man who killed two people because his daughter converted to Christianity.

'Honor and shame, thats what this is all about,' Emmons said. 'You heard him say honor is a big deal to him. And the only way to clean that honor is to kill.'

Irsan, his oldest son Nasim, and his wife, Shmou Ali Alrawabdeh, 40 were charged with the murders of Beavers and Bagherzadeh in 2015.

Nasim, age 24, is currently in custody awaiting his trial for capital murder related to the killings of Beavers and Bagherzadeh.

Shmou Ali Alrawabdeh, 40, is also accused of assisting in the killing of Bagherzadeh but has testified against her husband, saying she was there with both Irsan and Nasim on the nights Beavers and Bagherzadeh were killed.

Irsan's defense team tried to point the finger at Alrawabdeh, in the murder of Beavers, specifically.

'Its up to you if you want to believe that woman, but that is a cold-blooded lady,' defense attorney Allen Tanner told jurors. 'I wouldnt put it past Shmou to be the person who went into that house. Shes cold.'

Tanner said Alrawabdeh testified in exchange for having the murder charge she was facing dropped.

Despite his attorneys advising him not to, Irsan took the witness stand on Wednesday

Tanner also tried to suggest that Nasim was the one who killed Bagherzadeh in January 2012, after testimony from Alrawabdeh that Irsan had 'chickened out' that night, so Nasim shot his sister's friend.

Irsan's representation admitted that once his daughter ran away to live with her then-boyfriend Beavers, he was angry.

'He was upset that she ran off with a Christian boy,' Tanner said. 'Thats a fact.'

The case was summed up by prosecutor Marie Primm as Irsan's personal mission to regain control of his family, and anyone who disobeyed him.

'They had dared to defy Ali Irsan,' Primm said. 'They had dared to dishonor him, and he was going to clean his honor with blood.'

However, Irsan insisted that he wasn't the person who killed either daughter's friend, Bagherzadeh, or her new husband, Beavers.

In this courtroom sketch, Ali Mahwood-Awad Irsan, second from right, responds to questioning by special prosecutor Marie Primm

Under questioning, Irsan admitted to returning to Jordan to marry his second wife when she was just 15 before returning to the US and fathering eight children with her.

When pushed on whether he had broken the law by marrying a second woman while still married to his first wife Irfan said: 'In my country, I am allowed to have two wives.'

Irsan and his attorneys attempted to paint his attitude toward his daughters as an overprotective father, but not one who was angry enough to kill.

'I told them never to let your hormones control your future, you control your hormones,' he said, explaining why he wanted his daughters to focus on school.

He said he told at least one daughter that 'her education is more important than her social life.'

He is said to have also plotted to kill his daughter in hopes of restoring his family's honor.

Irsan was previously convicted of filing false claims for Social Security disability, in an attempt to obtain government benefits.The 11th Duke of Rutland David Manners has been slammed by actors unhappy that he wants volunteers to perform at one of his events

An aristocrat said to be worth 125million has upset actors by asking them to work for free at a 20 per head event at his glorious stately home, it was revealed today.

The 11th Duke of Rutland David Manners has advertised for 'volunteer performers' to come to Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire to entertain paying visitors dressed as royalty and witches.

Thespians must have 'experience of acting or characterisation skills' and 'flexible and able to work different hours each week', an online advert says.

Crucially it appears the volunteers will not get a wage even though people watching them will pay up to 20 each to see them perform.

The UK's acting trade union Equity gave been asked to investigate with some professionals calling it 'completely insulting'.

Actor and director Jonas Cemm tweeted yesterday: @EquityUK please investigate @BelvoirCastle's recent call for professional actors to work for FREE while adding value to it's profitable business #Actors #exploitation'.

Fellow actor Mark Murphy even posted his own mock job advert on Facebook that said: 'Plumber wanted to fit a new boiler for me. Must be experienced and qualified. It's unpaid work but might lead to paid work in the future and it's great exposure.'

Steve Fowkes responded by saying: 'Go forth and multiply, I say.'

The UK's acting trade union Equity gave been asked to investigate with some professionals calling it 'completely insulting'

David Manners separated from his wife of 20 years, Emma Manners, in 2012 when she found out that he had been having an affair with Andrea Webb.

Emma Manners has said previously it costs them 500,000 a year to run the estate claiming 'every week is a battle'.

Rather than go their separate ways, the duke and duchess, who have five children together, moved into different wings of Belvoir Castle, on the estate which has been in the family for more than 1,000 years.

The duchess's lover has moved in with her in the castle, while Miss Webb lives in a house on the estate.

However, the peace of the somewhat unconventional arrangement was shattered last December.

Miss Webb had been due to co-host the duke's annual shooting weekend for more than 20 guests, but in the runup it is understood the couple - whose relationship has been described as 'tempestuous' - had a series of disagreements.

A source said that Miss Webb was unaware of the outcome until she turned up at the duke's wing of the castle on Friday last week in the late afternoon, intending to dress in his bedroom in preparation for the guests' arrival.

Staff allegedly told her to leave as the 58-year-old duke did not want her in the castle and she was not welcome to attend the shooting weekend.

An argument is said to have broken out between Miss Webb and the staff, who were standing by the duke's bedroom door, with Miss Webb insisting that the duke should tell her himself that she was no longer welcome.

Duchess Emma Rutland abseiling down the walls of her historic home, Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire

The duke and duchess have moved into different wings of Belvoir Castle, on the estate which has been in the family for more than 1,000 years, after he had an affair

David Manners separated from his wife of 20 years, Emma Manners, in 2012 when she found out that he had been having an affair with Andrea Webb (pictured)

It was at this point that two officers from Leicestershire Police arrived after apparently being called by someone at the castle.

Police went to the duke's bedroom and asked Miss Webb to leave, but she is understood to again have insisted she wanted the duke to tell her face-to-face.

Eventually he arrived, reportedly confirming she was not welcome at the shoot and asking her to leave.

She did so, and was followed out of the stately home by the officers, it is understood.

The duke and Miss Webb, who is believed to be in her 40s, declined to comment on the incident at the time.

The duchess, 53, revealed their living arrangements in 2012, telling of her heartbreak that the duke, who inherited the title from his father in 1999, had been having an affair.

But for the sake of their children and business they decided to both remain in the castle after separating, she said.

The duchess is chief executive and the duke is chairman of the castle, which is also a wedding venue and has been used for a filming location for period dramas such as ITV's Young Victoria.

The duchess - a Welsh farmer's daughter - is now in a relationship with Phil Burtt, who was originally hired by the duke and duchess as shoot manager. He once said of the arrangement: 'David lets me get on with it. He trusts me.

We're all friends and we have the occasional meal together.'

The duke and duchess's daughters have been nicknamed 'No Manners' after rows with neighbours over their partying in London, where they are regulars on the social scene.The Brexit stalemate continued today as EU negotiator Michel Barnier moved to kill off Theresa May's Chequers plan warning he 'cannot and will not' accept her proposals on customs.

Mr Barnier said he had held 'frank' talks with Britain's new Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab in Brussels.

But he said it would never be acceptable for Britain to collect tariffs on behalf of the EU while running its own trade policy - insisting it would undermine the EU customs union.

The proposal is the centre piece of Mrs May's plans, which have also been lashed by all sides in the UK.

At a joint press conference, Mr Barnier warned: 'To be frank we are not at the end of the road yet.'

In response, Mr Raab said Britain had answered the Commission's concerns 'in detail' and had set out 'ambitious, principled and pragmatic' plans that could be agreed with 'political will'.

He announced there would be weekly meetings from mid-August ahead of the October summit and declared: 'Michel, we have work to do.'

EU negotiator Michel Barnier killed off Theresa May's Chequers plan for Brexit today, warning he 'cannot and will not' accept proposals on customs.

In response, new Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab said Britain would continue to work on the negotiations and declared: 'Michel, we have work to do.'

An EU summit next month is being billed as an opportunity for Theresa May (pictured at the Royal Welsh Show today) to go over the heads of the Eurocrats and thrash out a solution with national leaders

Mr Barnier has said there remain 'major issues to be discussed and questions to be answered' on the future EU/UK relationship, following the publication of Mrs May's Chequers plan.

Mr Barnier said that both the EU and UK were determined that they should enjoy autonomy of decision making following Brexit.

'The UK wants to take back control of its money, law and borders, and we will respect that,' said Mr Barnier.

Boris in talks with Trump's ex-strategist Boris Johnson leaving Downing Street on June 28 Boris Johnson held secret talks with former Donald Trump strategist Steve Bannon after his resignation, it was claimed yesterday. The former foreign secretary spoke to the ex-White House aide when he visited London, although it is not thought that they met face-to-face. Im sure they werent discussing the cricket scores, a source told the BuzzFeed news website. A spokesman for Mr Johnson declined to comment. The Uxbridge MP resigned earlier this month, days after signing up to the Prime Ministers plans on Britains future relationship with the EU at a Chequers meeting. He wrote that Theresa Mays blueprint would leave the UK in vassalage, satrapy, colony status to the EU. It cant and wont work. Chuck Chequers, he added. Mr Bannon, who is reportedly planning to set up an office in Brussels to bring Donald Trumps brand of Right-wing populism to Europe, praised Mr Johnson during interviews in the UK last week. Advertisement

'But the EU also wants to keep control of its money, law and borders and the UK should respect that.'

And in a potentially fatal blow to the Chequers plan, he said: 'The EU cannot and the EU will not delegate the application of its customs policy and and rules and VAT and excises duty collection to a non-member who would not be subject to the EU's governance structures.'

In response, Mr Raab insisted the UK team had answered the Commission's questions on customs controls at today's meeting and promised to 'continue to address any outstanding concerns'.

Defending the Chequers plan, Mr Raab said: 'We have designed our proposals both to respect the result of the referendum, and the core principles of the EU.

'We have considered the innovative approaches the EU has taken in the past with other third countries  when the political will has been there.

'In sum, the UK has set out our plans in detail. Those plans are ambitious, principled and pragmatic.'

Labour MP and Best for Britain champion Virendra Sharma said: 'In one fell swoop, Barnier has essentially blown up May's Chequers plan. It's dead.'

Mr Raab and Mr Barnier held their first joint press conference today (pictured) following the resignation of David Davis

Mr Raab announced there would be weekly meetings between officials from mid-August ahead of the October summit and declared: 'Michel, we have work to do.'

What is in Theresa May's Brexit blueprint? These are some of the key features of the Chequers plan being pushed by the UK government: A new free trade area in goods, based on a 'common rulebook' of EU regulations necessary. This will require the UK to commit by treaty to match EU rules

'Mobility' rules which will end automatic freedom of movement, but still allow UK and EU citizens to travel without visas for tourism and temporary work. It will also enable businesses to move staff between countries.

Continued UK participation in and funding of European agencies covering areas like chemicals, aviation safety and medicines

A 'facilitated customs arrangement', removing the need for customs checks at UK-EU ports. It would allow differing UK and EU tariffs on goods from elsewhere in the world to be paid at the border, removing the need for rebates in the vast majority of cases. This is designed to avoid the need for a hard Irish border. But in theory it still allows Britain to sign trade deals.

Keeping services - such as banking or legal support - outside of the common rule book, meaning the UK is completely free to set its own regulations. It accepts it will mean less trade in services between the UK and EU.

Continued co-operation on energy and transport, a 'common rulebook' on state aid and commitments to maintain high standards of environmental and workplace protections.

A security deal allowing continued UK participation in Europol and Eurojust, 'co-ordination' of UK and EU policies on foreign affairs, defence and development.

Continued use of the EHIC health insurance card. Advertisement

Mr Barnier said that he wanted to 'bring new energy into these negotiations' over the coming weeks ahead of the EU summit in October at which it is hoped to finalise the Withdrawal Agreement and reach a political declaration on a future relationship.

He said that UK proposals on security marked 'a real step forward' and welcomed the acknowledgement in Mrs May's White Paper that the European Court of Justice is the only arbiter of EU law.

He said he was 'particularly pleased' with progress on foreign policy and external security.

But he said: 'In contrast, on our future economic relationship, it comes as no surprise that finding common ground between the EU27 and the UK is more difficult.'

Ahead of Mr Barnier's latest intervention, it emerged Mrs May could be given a 'last chance' to sell her Brexit plan directly to EU counterparts amid rising fears about deadlock in negotiations.

A summit for leaders is being pencilled in for September as efforts are stepped up by both sides to avoid a damaging failure to get a deal.

Germany is said to be increasingly alarmed at the intransigence of the European commission, with Jean-Claude Juncker and Michel Barnier flatly refusing to compromise.

Last week Mr Barnier effectively took an axe to Mrs May's Chequers blueprint - which would see the UK effectively stay in the single market for goods and collect some tariffs on behalf of the EU.

The gathering, expected to be held in Austria, is being billed as a chance for Mrs May to go over the heads of the Eurocrats and thrash out a solution with national leaders.

However, the French minister for European Affairs has attempted to kill off the idea that the PM will be allowed to sidestep Mr Barnier, saying: 'He is the negotiator for the EU.'

Mrs May inspected the livestock as she toured the Royal Welsh show this morning

Up until now Mrs May has only been permitted to address the European Council of leaders on Brexit, rather than negotiate with them directly.

All discussion of Britain's departure between the 27 remaining states has been done without the PM in the room.

But one Berlin source told The Times: 'There is a sense of drift. It is time for leaders to have a serious discussion in the European Council.'

Ex Trade Minister warns over food prices in a no deal Brexit Former Waitrose managing director and International Trade Minister Lord Price warned that a no-deal Brexit would push up the cost of fruit and veg, meat and dairy products because they could not be stockpiled. The UK currently relies on Europe for 80 per cent of vegetables and 30 per cent of fruit, and finding new routes and supplies would push up costs, he warned. 'What you will see is rather than a pinch on supply - although that is highly likely - is a pretty significant increase in the cost of fruit and veg, the cost of meat and the cost of dairy products,' he said. Advertisement

Another source added: 'There is potential to have talks between all 28 EU leaders.'

The potential shift comes as Dominic Raab and Michel Barnier are due to hold face-to-face talks in Brussels at the end of the latest round of Brexit negotiations.

The Brexit Secretary has promised to bring 'as much energy as I can' to the talks with the European Union's chief negotiator.

But there is a growing pessimism about the prospects for a breakthrough.

Both sides have been stepping up plans to cope with a collapse in talks which would result in the UK leaving without a deal in March 2019.

Mrs May said yesterday that the British public should take 'reassurance and comfort' from Government preparations for a no-deal Brexit after it emerged plans were being developed to stockpile food and medicines.

The PM talked up the positives from leaving the EU as she attended the Royal Welsh Show agricultural show today.

'It seems to me that what we have when we come out of the common agricultural policy is an opportunity to determine what is going to be right for the United Kingdom, rather than being part of policy developed for a number of countries within the EU,' she told farmers in a speech.

'So that gives us a real opportunity, I think, for the future and to be able to set this industry on a really bright prospect for the future.'

Angela Merkel (pictured with her husband at a Wagner festival this week) is said to have become increasingly concerned at the intransigent stance taken by the EU commission

But French minister for European Affairs Nathalie Loiseau insisted Britain would come off worst if there was no deal.

She said that while the EU did not want the UK to crash out, it would not accept a 'bad deal'.

She told BBC Radio 4's Today: 'I do remember Prime Minister May saying that no-deal was better than a bad deal.

'It's among the bad solutions but I should say that no-deal is not as bad as a bad deal for the European Union as well.

'We would all suffer, the worst would be for the United Kingdom but we get prepared for a no-deal because until now we have seen no significant progress regarding the withdrawal agreement which would relieve us from this concern that there could be a no-deal (exit).'

Ms Loiseau said a no-deal Brexit would slow down trade relations between the UK and France, Belgium, the Netherlands and 'every entry point to the European Union'.

Asked what it would mean for the Port of Calais, she said: 'On the day of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union with no deal, we should start with new tariffs (and) controls and that means of course traffic jams in Calais and in each and every European port welcoming goods and people coming from the United Kingdom.'

In a worrying sign for Mrs May, Ms Loiseau insisted Mr Barnier represented the views of the EU as a whole.

'There should be no mistake. Michel Barnier does not represent only the commission. He is the negotiator for the European Union,' she said.

'There is no difference between what Michel Barnier says and what we would say individually, each and every member state.'

In an interview with 5 News yesterday, the Prime Minister did not deny stockpiling is happening, but said the Government is being 'responsible and sensible' while still trying to get a good deal with the European Union.

Mrs May said: 'Far from being worried about preparations that we are making, I would say that people should take reassurance and comfort from the fact that the Government is saying we are in a negotiation, we are working for a good deal - I believe we can get a good deal - but... because we don't know what the outcome is going to be... let's prepare for every eventuality.'

The European Commission has told member states and firms operating in the EU to step up their own preparations for a 'cliff edge' Brexit.

The Prime Minister will engage in her own round of Brexit diplomacy tomorrow, travelling to Austria for talks with counterpart Sebastian Kurz and other EU leaders at the Salzburg Festival.A touring Canadian right-wing provocateur has slammed Australian multiculturalism after spotting a poster from a tenant looking for an 'Asian only' share housemate.

YouTube star Lauren Southern, who describes herself as a nationalist and abhors the term 'alt right', has landed in Sydney ahead of her Saturday night show at an undisclosed location.

The 23-year-old critic of multiculturalism tweeted an image of an 'Asian only' advertisement for a share housemate, but came under fire from critics online.

YouTube star Lauren Southern, who describes herself as a nationalist and abhors the term 'alt right', has landed in Sydney ahead of her Saturday night show at an undisclosed location

The critic of multiculturalism tweeted an image of an 'Asian only' advertisement for a share housemate to make a point about the apparent inability of some migrants to integrate

'Just got to Sydney and already seeing the lovely impacts of multiculturalism,' she tweeted today to her 383,000 followers.

Her tweet was liked 4,578 times.

Critics were quick to attack Southern for her post, asking her what she expected immigrants relocating in Australia to do.

'What do you expect immigrants to do? Sleep on roads? Well close doors to immigration then and revert back to the white Australian policy,' one woman wrote.

'What would the response be if the advert asked for white tenants only?,' questioned another.

Southern responded by saying Asians living in Australia should 'do business with everyone instead of having an extremely tribalistic in group preference that segregates them from the rest of the population.'

Her tweet slamming Australian multiculturalism was liked 4,578 times today

The Vancouver-based social media star said she agreed with Pauline Hanson's 1996 maiden speech to parliament where she said Australia was 'in danger of being swamped by Asians'

In a wide-ranging interview with Daily Mail Australia, the social media star said she agreed with One Nation leader Pauline Hanson's 1996 maiden speech to parliament where she said Australia was 'in danger of being swamped by Asians'.

'I can tell you now Sydney certainly has a problem with mass Chinese immigration and Chinese buying of properties,' she said.

'It hardly belongs to Australia anymore and that is a serious concern.

'Pauline may have said it in quite frank terms that really make people scared and make them uncomfortable but it is a reality that our countries are being bought up by the Chinese.'

While Southern doesn't support the idea of Australia reviving the White Australia policy, she said migrants from racial minorities had a tendency to be tribal even if they supported the Western ideals of democracy and liberal, individual rights.

'Even if they love Western culture, if they have that inkling in the back of their mind that race and tribe are extremely important, they're going to make political decisions based off it,' she said.

Lauren Southern said migrants from racial minorities had a tendency to be tribal even if they supported the Western ideals of democracy and liberal, individual rights

She also accused Chinese migrants of being 'culturally racist'.

'The fact of the matter is, for the most part, they're very tribalistic, the Chinese,' she said.

'They won't speak to non-Chinese people.

'They send their kids to Chinese-only schools, they change their government meetings to Chinese.'

Southern disagreed with the idea of reintroducing a racially discriminatory immigration like the White Australia policy, admitting there were some 'exceptional' Asian migrants who integrated well into Western society.

'Of course there can be exceptions to the rule but you never argue or make policy on the exception: that is a very foolish thing to do,' she said.

Former Liberal immigration minister Philip Ruddock, who was renowned for being tough on border protection, said race should not exclude anyone from moving to Australia

The controversial social media personality said European migrants should be favoured over people of other races when it came to the overall intake, even if Asian immigration wasn't banned.

'You should put migrants first that are going to work best with the culture in Australia,' she said.

'So yes, of course it's going to make more sense that Europeans would assimilate better with a culture that was based on Western values.'

Former Liberal immigration minister Philip Ruddock, who was renowned for being tough on border protection, strongly disagreed with her view on Asians and said race should not exclude anyone from moving to Australia.

'I have a very strong view about migration: it should be non-discriminatory in terms of race and culture and other factors,' he told Daily Mail Australia today.

The majority of Australian immigrants have come from Asia, with India and China the top two sources for new residents.

People from Asia made up seven of the top 10 places where migrants had moved from, with The Philippines, Pakistan, Vietnam, Nepal and Malaysia on the list in the year to June 2017.

Only one of those nations, Pakistan, was a Muslim-majority country.The founder of the banned far-right terrorist cult National Action was identified as being at risk of radicalisation two years before he set up the British neo-Nazi group.

Alex Davies, now 23, was referred to the government's Prevent programme for extremists in 2011 when he was 16-years-old and spent seven years on the scheme.

The former Warwick University student from south Wales had refused to take part in the programme for a number of years but eventually agreed to a number of meetings with assigned mentors, ITV News has revealed.

Alex Davies, now 23, was referred to the government's Prevent programme for extremists in 2011 when he was 16-years-old and spent seven years on the scheme

In a written assessment dating back to 2014, the self-styled 'intellectual' behind the group was described as 'the driving force behind the National Action', before concluding 'he simply considered black and Asian races inferior to white people'.

The case added: 'A significant issue for him as is often the case with XRW (extreme right wing) rhetoric is racial mixing and preventing the dilution of the white blood line Alex referred to women who were sexually active with black men very negatively.'

It also said Davies was a driving force behind trying to convert others to believe in his warped views, adding he was 'attempting to indoctrinate others particularly disaffected young white men'.

As leader of National Action, Davies set up messaging apps in the hope of creating a 'National Socialist youth movement' to fight what many members of their members believed would spill out into a race war.

It was declared a terrorist organisation by former Home Secretary Amber Rudd when the group celebrated the killing of Labour MP Jo Cox.

National Action supporters perform a Nazi salute during a march in Newcastle

National Action was outlawed by the former Home Secretary Amber Rudd. Pictured: The neo-Nazi cult during a march in Newcastle

Supporters of the group hold up flags during a rally in Newcastle

Wearing a T-shirt and shorts, Davies was doorstopped by ITV News in Swansea and repeatedly questioned about the banned white supremacist group he held start.

He was repeatedly questioned about why he set up the group, what he would say to the jailed members of the group and if he regretted his role in the movement.

Davies first replied it was 'all a matter of public record' but refused to answer any other specifics of the questions as he was quizzed while walking down the street.

He then walks into a property on the street using a set of keys, before waving to the cameras from inside the home.

Despite being outlawed, the group has now gone underground and just last week, Christopher Lythgoe, 32, from Warrington and Matthew Hankinson, 24, of Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, were convicted at the Old Bailey for being members.

Earlier this year, Jack Renshaw, 23, from Lancashire, was jailed after admitting to preparing an act of terrorism after buying a machete to murder Labour MP Rosie Cooper, as well as threatening to kill a police officer.

National Action member Jack Renshaw admitted to preparing acts of terrorism after buying a machete to murder Labour MP Rosie Cooper

Robbie Mullen, a former member of National Action-turned-whistleblower, said everything 'stayed the same' and the meetings continued with the 'same place, same people, same purpose' despite being a banned organisation.

Giving evidence against his former comrades, Mullen said last month: 'The politics was still the same - free white man. The group had gone, the name had gone, but the people were still meeting.'

National Action is thought to have splintered off into at least seven different groups, ITV News claims. One of the white supremacist organisations even fronts itself as a 'church'.

The banned group has used a number of aliases and has become increasingly linked to a group called System Resistance Network. Its initials were graffitied on the walls of a school in Newport after an arson attack in May, and the group also believed to be behind inflammatory posters in London's Peckham Rye.

Poisonous flyers screamed 'Marxist maggots. We remember names, places, traitors' faces,' and features a blood-splattered fight and a knife.New Zealand's Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters has called on neighbouring Australia to change its flag, saying it had pinched the Kiwi banner's design and was causing confusion.

'We designed it and they borrowed it and if we wanted to clear the matter up they should change their flag,' Peters told reporters.

'It must be patently obvious that all over the world people are confused.

The only major difference is that the Australian version (right) has six white stars, five representing the Southern Cross, while New Zealand (left) depicts the constellation with four red stars

Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters (pictured) said: 'I've been in places like Turkey and elsewhere where they've confused our countries on the basis of those flags. It's not helpful'

'I've been in places like Turkey and elsewhere where they've confused our countries on the basis of those flags. It's not helpful.'

Both the New Zealand and Australian flags are dark blue with the Union flag emblem of founding nation the United Kingdom in the top-left corner.

The only major difference is that the Australian version has six white stars, five representing the Southern Cross, while New Zealand depicts the constellation with four red stars.

Peters, who is temporarily leading the country while Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is on maternity leave, feels strongly about the flag issue.

New Zealand held a referendum on changing its flag to a silver fern design in 2016, with the proposal defeated 43 percent to 57

The flag that made it to the referendum stage was chosen over four other flags (all pictured) in a poll

The 73-year-old also raised it earlier this week, complaining 'we got there first with this design'.

Opposition leader Simon Bridges ridiculed Peters' flag preoccupation, accusing him of populism and labelling him 'a poor man's Donald Trump'.

NATIONAL FLAGS AUSTRALIA Adopted the flag on April 14, 1954

Features the Union Jack and Southern Cross with white stars

Followed the original design chosen in 1901 after a competition NEW ZEALAND Adopted the flag on March 12, 1902

Features the Union Jack and four red stars with white borders

Designed by First Lieutenant of Royal Navy vessel Blanche, Albert Hastings Markham, after his submission in 1869 FLAG CONFUSION The two flags are often confused due to their similarities in design and geographical proximity Advertisement

Bridges said New Zealanders he had spoken to were concerned about topics such as the economy and healthcare.

'They never raised with me changing the Australian flag. That's weird by even his standards,' he told parliament.

The comment comes after Mr Peters, who is also the country's foreign minister, slammed Australia for deporting New Zealand nationals without trial.

More than one thousand New Zealanders have had their visas cancelled in Australia since stricter deportation laws were introduced four years ago.

New Zealand adopted its flag in 1902, while Australia's was not officially recognised until 1954.

However, the Australian version had been used informally since 1901 and both countries say similar designs were common throughout the late 1800s.

New Zealand held a referendum on changing its flag to a silver fern design in 2016, with the proposal defeated 43 percent to 57.Shocking footage shows a moped rider dumping his stabbed friend on the street and leaving him for dead as London's year of violence claimed its 90th victim.

An 18-year-old died after he collapsed from the back of a scooter in front of horrified pedestrians in Camberwell yesterday evening.

Members of the public rushed to his aid as the rider, who is thought to have given up trying to get the injured teenager to hospital, sped off along the road.

The stabbing is understood to be the 90th killing in London this year, with recent crime stats showing the number of homicides is at its highest level since 2008.

This is the moment a moped rider dumped his stabbed friend in the road, leaving him for dead

Police are now hunting the moped rider in a bid to solve the latest stabbing murder in London

It is thought the latest victim had been stabbed elsewhere and was being driven by a friend to hospital when his injuries meant he collapsed into the road.

Members of the public battled to keep the 18-year-old alive while awaiting an ambulance, but he died in the early hours of this morning in hospital.

A witness told The Evening Standard: 'The boy was hanging off the back of the scooter and the guy on front was screaming "hold on, hold on"... he fell off further up the road and loads of people ran out to try and help.'

Detective Chief Inspector Simon Harding said: 'This is a tragic incident which has resulted in yet another young person being fatally stabbed in London.

'We are appealing for anyone with information to come forward, we need to trace the moped and also the person who brought the victim to the scene, it's important we establish where the victim initially received his injuries.

'Anyone who saw the moped make off from the scene we equally need to hear from them.'

An 18-year-old boy became the latest victim of London's knife violence following an attack in this street in Camberwell in the south of the capital last night

The road where the teenager was found is less than a mile from the spot where 17-year-old Katerina Makunova was discovered with stab wounds two weeks ago. She died less than an hour later.

Despite their proximity, there is no suggestion the two killings are linked.

The Met Police said: 'Formal identification awaits. His next of kin have been informed. A post-mortem examination will be held in due course.

'The Homicide and Major Crime Command has been notified. There have been no arrests and enquiries continue.'

Earlier this month, the Office for National Statistics released figures that showed the number of homicides in England and Wales has increased by 12 per cent, and crimes with a knife have risen by 16 per cent.

The teenager killed in yesterday's attack was found less than a mile from where Katerina Makunova, 17, was discovered, also with stab wounds, two weeks ago

The number of killings is up from 627 last year to 701. Police have also registered 40,147 crimes involving a knife or sharp instrument in the year to March.

Following yesterday's killing, London mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted: 'I'm deeply saddened by the fatal stabbing of an 18-year-old in south London last night.

'Such senseless loss of life leaves families & communities devastated. @metpoliceuk investigations continue & I urge anyone with information to call 101 or contact @CrimestoppersUK anonymously.'New Zealand's parliament passed legislation Wednesday granting paid leave to domestic violence victims, with supporters calling it a groundbreaking measure to help those trying to escape abusive relationships.

Green Party lawmaker Jan Logie said granting victims 10 days of extra leave a year would allow them to 'stop the violence and get help without worrying about losing their jobs'.

'This is a win for victims, a win for employers, and a win for society,' Logie said, describing the move as a 'world first' after parliament approved the bill by 63 votes to 57.

New Zealand's parliament passed legislation Wednesday granting paid leave to domestic violence victims (stock image)

Green Party lawmaker Jan Logie (pictured) said leave would allow victims to get help without worrying about work

It is the first western country to introduce nationwide paid domestic violence leave. The Philippines in 2004 granted 10 days of paid leave to those suffering domestic violence.

Australia's Fair Work Commission in March voted to allow five days of unpaid leave for domestic abuse victims, but a labour union push to match the New Zealand proposal was rejected.

Official data shows New Zealand has one of the highest domestic violence rates in the developed world, with family homicide rates more than twice those of Australia, Canada and Britain on a per capita basis.

Logie, part of a progressive coalition government elected last year, said intervention aimed at helping domestic violence victims often came too late.

'We wait until things get really bad or someone gets killed and then we wring our hands,' she said.

Logie said the leave entitlement would give those seeking to escape violent relationships time to perform practical tasks such as attending court dates, moving house and settling children in new schools.

The conservative opposition National Party opposed the legislation, saying it was well intentioned but could affect victims' chances of getting a job.

'Employers will start to filter and look at whether or not they want to hire someone that may present a risk around domestic violence because ultimately it could impact on their business,' National's justice spokesman Mark Mitchell told Newshub.

New Zealand has a track record of being progressive on women's issues -- in 1893 it became the first country to give women the right to vote.Advertisement

Dozens of supercars congregated at a coastal beauty spot last night to pay tribute to Aaron Armstong, who was found dead just three weeks after his Love Island star girlfriend Sophie Gaddon apparently killed herself.

Popular Aaron was found dead at his Blyth, Northumberland, home on July 10 at the age of just 25, three weeks after finding Sophie's body at her parents' home on June 22 - and just one day after her funeral.

Just before his death, boxer Aaron made reference to seeing Sophie, 32, again on a post on social media, writing: 'I will never stop loving u and my heart will be yours until the day I join you I will see u very soon my angel so keep are bed warm for me'.

Loved ones honoured him last night with a 'car meet' on the eve of his funeral. Hundreds of heartbroken friends gathered by Blyth Beach to share memories and celebrate the petrolhead's love for all things 'adrenaline'.

Dozens of supercars congregated at a coastal beauty spot last night to pay tribute to Aaron Armstong, who was found dead just three weeks after his Love Island star girlfriend Sophie Gaddon apparently killed herself

Popular Aaron was found dead at his Blyth, Northumberland, home on July 10 at the age of just 25, three weeks after finding Sophie's body at her parents' home on June 22 - and just one day after her funeral. The couple are pictured

Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and a Rolls Royce Phantom were among the supercars to gather in Mermaid Car Park by the beach.

The event was organised by Ryan Gallagher, who had been close friends with Aaron for a decade after meeting in a gym.

Ryan, 27, from Blyth, said: 'I just wanted to get everyone here together to share their memories. He would be over the moon with the turnout.

'Aaron was straight down the line, always happy and up for a good time. He loved anything to do with adrenaline.

Loved ones honoured him last night with a 'car meet' on the eve of his funeral. Hundreds of heartbroken friends gathered by Blyth Beach to share memories and celebrate the petrolhead's love for all things 'adrenaline'

Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and a Rolls Royce Phantom were among the supercars to gather in Mermaid Car Park by the beach

Car enthusiast Aaron was honoured with dozens of vehicles in the meet and a firework display at the memorial last night

'It all still feels surreal. I think it will take a while for any of it to sink in, we were such close friends.'

Car enthusiast Aaron was honoured with dozens of vehicles in the meet and a firework display, as hundreds of loved ones gathered to share their memories.

Childhood friend Luke McDonagh paid tribute to the 25-year-old who he described as a 'go-getter who loved anything adrenaline-fuelled.'

Luke, 24, said: 'Aaron was always up for a laugh and always there for his friends no matter what. He was a bit like a brother to me through my whole life.

Aaron Armstrong, 25, (pictured right) was devastated by the death of his girlfriend (left), a former Miss GB, at the age of 32

The event was organised by Ryan Gallagher, who had been close friends with Aaron for a decade after meeting in a gym

A celebration of Aaron's life will be held on Thursday afternoon at Cowpen Crematorium. He is survived by his father David, mother Donna, and brother Ryan

'It will always be raw with me for the rest of my life. I've been through so much with him - everything crazy I've done in my life has been because of him.

'He has given me some of my best memories.'

Pal Derek Fairbairn, who has also known Aaron since school, said the one word which best described his friend was 'loyal'.

Derek, 24, added: 'Tonight was everything Aaron was about. He loved adrenaline and cars, and people just want to show a bit of appreciation for him.

Loved ones honour Aaron Armstrong with a car meet on the eve of his funeral. He died just three weeks after his girlfriend

'I'm best friends with his brother Ryan. Whenever I was in need, the family were there to help me.

'I don't just cry for Aaron, I cry for the family. I feel like I'm in limbo with the healing process right now.'

A celebration of Aaron's life will be held on Thursday afternoon at Cowpen Crematorium. He is survived by his father David, mother Donna, and brother Ryan.

Former Miss GB Sophie won a legion of fans on the second season of Love Island in 2016 when she found love with Thomas Powell, with whom she famously had sex in a wardrobe.

Police are not treating the deaths of Sophie and Aaron as suspicious.International students are being kicked out of universities for producing false medical certificates issued by fake doctors online.

The University of Melbourne has expelled 18 students in 2018 for forging documents - more than twice the number of students let out four years ago, The Age reports.

The university's Student Union believes vulnerable students frequently end up asking for medical certificates on Reddit, Yeeyi, Baidu and WeChat in a bid to save money.

University of Melbourne has expelled 18 students for producing fake medical certificates

Students reportedly bought medical certificates on Reddit, Yeeyi, Baidu and WeChat

Union advocacy and legal division manager Phoebe Churches said students found it difficult to deal with Australia's expensive healthcare, and were often turning to fake doctors online as an alternative.

'The cost of a medical appointment for an international student can be between $70 and $100  this might create a market for the documents, which can go for as little as $20,' said Ms Churches.

UMSU president Desiree Cai told The Age, international students have huge responsibility on their shoulders as overseas studies cost a lot and termination from university can be a huge set-back.

The university's Student Union claims vulnerable students frequently end up asking for medical certificates online because medical fees are too expensive for them

Eight students reached out to UMSU after being caught using fake medical certificates in 2014, 5 in 2015, 15 in 2016, 8 in 2017 and 21 in the first half of 2018

The number of students who reached out to UMSU after being caught using fake medical certificates was 8 in 2014, 5 in 2015, 15 in 2016, 8 in 2017 and 21 in the first half of 2018.

Almost half of the students being dealt with by UMSU this year faced expulsion.

Medical certificates help students to apply for special consideration, allowing them to ask for deadline extensions or even re-taking an exam depending on their condition.

Two types of fake certificates have been reported so far - one that has a fake stamp and forged signature, the other with a fake letterhead of a genuine clinic.

Student union's advocacy and legal division manager Phoebe Churches said students were finding it difficult to deal with the expensive healthcare which created an opportunity for fake doctors online

The doctor listed on the fake certificates is not a certified practitioner and does not represent the cited clinic.

Affected students have tried to contact their 'online doctor' in the past but by then it's too late.

Reportedly, University of Sydney expelled or suspended 65 students between 2014 and 2017 for forging or illegally purchasing doctors certificates.

In a statement issued to The Age, University of Melbourne did not say how many of the 18 expelled students were international but emphasised the number of students expelled was a small percentage in comparison to the whole student population.

The University said it maintains a register of medical practitioners and relevant websites to help out its students.A former car dealer has been jailed after it was revealed he was committing fraud by selling cars without a license while owing clients more than $1 million.

Mathew David Hale faced the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney and pleaded guilty to 12 counts of fraud, three counts of larceny and one count of trading without a motor vehicle trader's licence.

Hale was the director of Gasoline Machine  trading as Gasoline Motor Co and it was revealed to the court that Fair Trading had received 17 complaints about Hales business practices in 2016 alone.

Mathew David Hale faced the Downing Centre Local Court (pictured) and pleaded guilty to 12 counts of fraud, three counts of larceny and one count of trading without a motor vehicle trader's licence

The number of complaints in a short period of time prompted Fair Trading to launch an investigation in partnership with NSW Police, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Minister for Better Regulation Matt Kean said it was this investigation which uncovered the scope of Hale's fraud.

'A subsequent investigation uncovered more than $1,240,000 was owed to [Hale's] customers, largely from the non-payment of consignment deals after he had sold luxury motor vehicles on their behalf,' he said.

Mr Kean said he welcomed the verdict and hopes it can act as a deterrent to those who are involved or looking to get involved in similar business practices.

Television personality Larry Emdur (pictured left) was one of the clients caught out in Hales fraud when he tried to sell his Audi for $25,000

Television personality Larry Emdur was one of the clients caught out in Hales fraud when he tried to sell his Audi for $25,000.

However the car was sold and Mr Emdur was never made aware.

'It was sold without my knowledge or permission. I never knew it was sold ... and now it appears I won't be seeing a cent for it,' he said.

Along with Mr Emdur's Audi, a number of other luxury cars were sold in the same way and made up almost $600,000 worth of unpaid consignment deals.

'It was sold without my knowledge or permission. I never knew it was sold ... and now it appears I won't be seeing a cent for it,' Mr Emdur said (stock image)

A consignment deal is an agreement 'between a consignee and consignor for the storage, transfer, sale or resale and use of the commodity'.

Hale was sentenced to three years jail with a 20 month non parole period and will also be required to pay $748,626 in compensation to his affected consumers.

He is also required to pay another $367,237 to the Motor Vehicle Compensation Fund.Britain's longest heatwave since 1976 could spark a plague of rats as they gnaw on food rubbish warmed by weeks of sunshine and early-ripened fruit.

Councils could be forced to step up bin collections as they battle the rodent problem, with the rats also feasting on leftovers at parks and beaches.

Pest controllers also say they are receiving more calls than usual for the time of year as vermin invade homes  and the heat is said to be increasing their activity.

(From left) Local residents Darren Ward, Ruth Cooke, Eric Tugwell and Patricia Brown are angry about the uncollected rubbish in Brighton over fears that it could cause an invasion of rats

Residents in Wigan, Salford and Brighton have complained to councils about rats, with Edinburgh and Devon said to have seen an explosion in the number of rodents.

Rodent expert Professor Steve Belmain told the Sun: 'When it's warmer they have a higher metabolism and will need more food and water just to survive.

'People are outdoors more and, the more we picnic, the more food waste we create. Rodents are known to transmit more than 60 different diseases.

'More diseases are coming from Europe. Climate change increases temperatures which means those diseases could establish themselves here in time.'

It comes as the mercury is set to hit 95F (35C) today and rise to 99F (37C) on Friday, triggering a thunderstorm warning in the afternoon and evening.

Local resident Patricia Brown said she had phoned the council every day to try to sort the mess

A new record could be set for the hottest ever July day, while there is even a chance Britain could beat its all-time record temperature of 101.3F (38.5C).

Kevin Higgins, from The British Pest Control Association, told the Daily Mirror the callouts for mice and rats normally drop in summer as they move into the outdoors.

But he added: 'This year we are seeing no evidence of that, with our members saying that call-outs to deal with rodents are continuing in the summer months.

'It seems they are staying indoors in commercial and domestic properties and the volume of calls being received is highly unusual for this time of the year.

'One theory is that there is a good deal of fruit around this year due to the warm weather and that rats and mice don't have to travel as far as usual to feed.'

The mercury is set to hit 95F (35C) in South East England today and rise to 99F (37C) on Friday

Earlier this week, uncollected rubbish in overflowing bins combined with the heat raised fears over rats in Brighton, where bins have not been emptied for weeks.

Residents are so fed up with rats from overflowing bins that they want to move. Bin bags have been baking in the sun and people are complaining about the smell.

People living at Framroze Court in Hollingdean said rats were being seen more and more frequently, and children are no longer having parties outside on the lawn.

Resident Patricia Brown said she was afraid to go out near the bins after dark because she had seen rats, while other residents confirmed they had seen vermin.

Brighton and Hove City Council said it was looking into the situation and hoped to resolve it as soon as possible, adding: 'We apologise for the inconvenience.'The costs of fruit, vegetables, meat and dairy products could soar amid shortages if there is no-deal Brexit, a former Waitrose chief warned today.

Lord Price said the government would find it 'incredibly difficult' to stockpile some types of food if it crashes out of the EU.

The peer, also a former trade minister, said existing import routes for fresh products would be badly hit. Shops would impose 'significant' hikes to cover higher transport costs as well as lack of supplies driving up prices, he said.

Meanwhile, French minister for European Affairs Nathalie Loiseau insisted Britain would be worse hit than the EU if there was no deal, with queues at ports .

The warnings came after ministers suggested plans are being made to stockpile food and medicine to ensure Britain has enough if there is a disorderly departure.

Lord Price said while food stored in bottles, packets and tins were straightforward, the same was not true for fresh produce (stock image)

Theresa May, pictured at the Royal Welsh Show today, has insisted people should take 'comfort' from planning for a no deal Brexit

Theresa May insisted yesterday that people should 'take comfort' from the dramatic government warnings on 'no deal' Brexit.

She said was confident an agreement would be reached, but it was 'right' for the authorities to be prepared for every possible outcome.

However, Lord Price, who was managing director of Waitrose, warned that many food products could not be effectively stockpiled.

He said while food stored in bottles, packets and tins were straightforward, the same was not true for fresh produce.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'The area that we are most vulnerable in is fruit and veg.

'We only produce in this country about 25 per cent of the fruit and veg we consume - on fruit 30 per cent comes from Europe, the rest comes from around the world, but on vegetables 80 per cent comes from Europe and particularly Spain's salad crops.'

Lord Price added that while the winter season for imports from places like South America and New Zealand could be extended slightly to cover March's departure, supermarkets would have to find new supply routes.

He said: 'They may think about air freight, they may think about shipping. But all these things are going to add cost and they are going to add to the cost of a tariff that will be applied because the EU has pretty penal tariffs on food, to protect European farmers.

'What you will see is rather than a pinch on supply - although that is highly likely - is a pretty significant increase in the cost of fruit and veg, the cost of meat and the cost of dairy products.'

Ms Loiseau said a no-deal Brexit would slow down trade relations between the UK and France, Belgium, the Netherlands and 'every entry point to the European Union'.

Asked what it would mean for the Port of Calais, she said: 'On the day of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union with no deal, we should start with new tariffs (and) controls and that means of course traffic jams in Calais and in each and every European port welcoming goods and people coming from the United Kingdom.'

She said that while the EU did not want the UK to crash out, it would not accept a 'bad deal'.

She told BBC Radio 4's Today: 'I do remember Prime Minister May saying that no-deal was better than a bad deal.

'It's among the bad solutions but I should say that no-deal is not as bad as a bad deal for the European Union as well.

'We would all suffer, the worst would be for the United Kingdom but we get prepared for a no-deal because until now we have seen no significant progress regarding the withdrawal agreement which would relieve us from this concern that there could be a no-deal (exit).'About 600 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa have reached Spain after storming a double border fence, with some throwing excrement or quicklime at security forces to force their way in.

Police said that officers were assaulted with quicklime  which can cause mild irritation to full scale burning of the skin  when migrants charged border fences separating Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco shortly before dawn today.

A spokesman for the Guardia Civil police force in Ceuta said the migrants managed to climb over the double barrier, which is covered in small blades.

Some 600 migrants reached Spain in a mass jump of the Spanish border early this morning

An African migrant in this image risks injury to clamber across the border from Morocco to Spain's north African enclave of Ceuta

Migrants charged border fences separating Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco shortly before dawn today

They scrambled over 'all of a sudden, with much violence,' and some attacked police with quicklime they had in tubes and bottles.

As a result, 'more than a dozen police' were injured with the substance, four of whom had to go to hospital for burns to their faces and arms.

Some of the migrants scaling the fences threw faeces at police officers trying to hold them back, Spanish news agency Europa Press reported, citing unidentified police sources and emergency crews.

The Spanish Red Cross said in a tweet it was called to check on 592 people after the massive charge.

Despite the sharp barbed wire, and double border fences, the migrants scaled the high barriers

There were no serious injuries among the migrants who managed to climb across the barrier, and those who made it over the border showed their happiness, above

African migrants react in this image after crossing the border from Morocco to Spain's north African enclave of Ceuta, Spain

The charity found that 132 migrants had been injured as they scaled the high, barbed-wire fences.

Isabel Brasero, spokeswoman for the Red Cross, said there were no serious injuries among the migrants, but 11 were taken to hospital for stitches to cuts and possible fractures.

Twenty-two police officers in total were hurt in the rush, four of whom were hospitalised for burns.

Several policemen keep watch over some of the 600 migrants that managed to jump off the border fence between Spain and Morocco, in Ceuta, Spanish enclave in northern Africa

A sub-Saharan migrant is assisted by Spanish paramedics in Ceuta. Spanish Civil Guard officers and migrants were injured as security force sources said that some migrants acted violently

About 600 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa have reached Spain after storming a double border fence

Brasero said that after the migrants had climbed over the barrier, they ran to the centre that houses migrants once they arrive in Spanish territory.

The Spanish government did not immediately say how many migrants made it onto Spanish soil.

Sub-Saharan Africans living illegally in Morocco try to get to Europe each year by climbing rows of 6m-high (20-foot-high) barbed-wire fences surrounding Ceuta and Melilla, Spain's other North African enclave.

This morning's mass charge added to pressure on Spanish authorities from a recent wave of migration.

Today's scramble over the barrier is the biggest in Ceuta since February 2017, when more than 850 migrants entered the overseas territory over four days.

Some migrants celebrate in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in northern Africa, after they successfully cleared the border fence

A moment of celebration for these migrants, after they managed to jump the border fence between Spain and Morocco

A view of several pairs of shoes left by migrants who managed to jump off the border fence today, July 26

It comes as Spain becomes the number one destination for migrants crossing the Mediterranean by boat, surpassing Italy with 19,586 arrivals by sea to date.

The International Organization for Migration says so far this year that more than 22,700 migrants have arrived in Spain  three times more than in the same period last year.

Ceuta and Melilla, on Morocco's northern border, have the EU's only land borders with Africa, which is why many migrants try to reach them.

Ceuta and Melilla, on Morocco's northern border, have the EU's only land borders with Africa, which is why many migrants try to reach them

Several migrants celebrate next to a Spanish policeman after they managed to jump the border fence between Spain and Morocco

The Spanish government did not immediately say how many migrants made it onto Spanish soil

Happy migrants were cheering and dancing in the street, including this man above, as police speak to the group

Perched above dangerous barbed wire, this man has already had his clothes shredded by the sharp bladesSinger Billy Bragg has claimed Jews have 'work to do' to rebuild trust withLabour as a row over anti-Semitism spirals to angry new heights.

The left-wing ally of Jeremy Corbyn said the decision of three Jewish newspapers to run a joint front page saying they were 'united' against Labour anti-Semitism was 'pouring petrol on the fire' of the row.

Mr Corbyn is facing renewed criticism from British Jews after Labour's ruling committee refused to adopt the internationally accepted definition of anti-Semitism.

Labour is accused of letting critics of Israel be anti-Semitic and Britain's three main Jewish newspapers all claim the party represents an 'existential threat' to the community.

Billy Bragg (pictured left with Jeremy Corbyn) has claimed Jews have 'work to do' to rebuild trust with Labour as a row over anti-Semitism spirals to angry new heights

Bragg said the decision of three Jewish newspapers to run a joint front page saying they were 'united' against Labour anti-Semitism making it impossible to have a 'reasoned debate'

Challenged on his views, Bragg claimed the newspapers were 'pouring petrol on the fire' of the anti-Semitism row

Bragg then insisted that Jews did have 'work to do' if they want to 'build trust' with Labour amid the continuing row

The row blew up again after Jewish Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge was warned to face disciplinary action for calling Mr Corbyn an anti-Semitie during a row in Parliament.

Mr Bragg lashed out at the Jewish News, Jewish Chronicle and Jewish Telegraph on Twitter late last night, claiming the joint action made it impossible to debate anti-Semitism.

He said: 'Austria is forcing Jews to register, the Alt-Right are chanting ''Jews will not replace us'' but Labour pose an ''existential threat'' to British Jews?

'How are we supposed to conduct a reasoned debate about anti-semitism in such a febrile atmosphere?'

Mr Bragg insisted he accepted anti-Semitism was a problem but challenged on whether Labour was taking the concern seriously, he said: 'In order to do that, we have to build trust between Labour and the Jewish community and this does not help to achieve that.

Why does the Labour document trigger new controversy? Labour's new rules on anti-Semitism are based on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). The party said they are the 'most detailed and comprehensive guidelines on anti-Semitism adopted by any political party in this country'. But it has sparked further controversy, as it omits four behaviours identified as anti-Semitic by the IHRA, including: Accusing Jewish people of being more loyal to Israel than their home country;

Claiming that Israel's existence as a state is a racist endeavour;

Requiring higher standards of behaviour from Israel than other nations; and

Comparing contemporary Israeli policies to those of the Nazis. Advertisement

'It's pouring petrol on the fire.'

Asked if he meant Jews had work to do, the comic blasted: 'If they want to build trust, I do yeah. Instead they make things difficult by coming out with accusations that are out of all proportion.

'The Times of Israel ran a poll last week. 30% of Labour voters agree with Margaret Hodge. I fear this headline will dent that percentage.'

In their unprecedented joint editorial, Britain's three main Jewish newspapers today warned the community would face an 'existential threat' if Mr Corbyn became prime minister.

The Jewish News, Jewish Chronicle and Jewish Telegraph today published a joint front page editorial voicing fears that power could be handed to a man who has 'contempt for Jews andIsrael'.

It highlighted how the 'stain and shame of anti-Semitism' had flourished in the Labour Party since Mr Corbyn became leader in 2015.

And they singled out Labour's 'sinister' failure to adopt the internationally-accepted definition of anti-Semitism in its new code of conduct.

The decision has fuelled concerns that the watered-down definition means activists could avoid being punished for making slurs such as comparing the actions of Israel to those of the Nazis.

The Jewish community would face an 'existential threat' if Jeremy Corbyn became prime minister, the country's three main Jewish newspapers warn today

Underneath the headline United We Stand, the papers condemned Mr Corbyn for having a 'default blindness' to the fears of the Jewish community.

Lord Bragg slams 'feeble' Corbyn on anti-Semitism Labour peer Melvyn Bragg has accused Jeremy Corbyn of 'feebleness' in tackling anti-Semitism within the party. In a letter to The Times, Lord Bragg said he does not believe Mr Corbyn is a racist, but said he has failed to tackle anti-Semitism in the party effectively. 'The virus of anti-Semitism is growing in the UK and Corbyn is in a strong position to stamp it out without any equivocation,' said the former South Bank Show presenter. 'Jeremy Corbyn's feebleness on this matter is a disgrace to the Labour Party and shames its traditional creed of tolerance, as well as grossly insulting some of our fellow citizens.' Advertisement

They said they had teamed up because of the 'existential threat to Jewish life in this country that would be posed by a Jeremy Corbyn-led government'.

The article was written over a photograph of placard-waving campaigners against Labour anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial in March.

It said there had been 'many alarming lows' of anti-Semitism in Labour.

These included human rights campaigner Shami Chakrabarti being handed a peerage weeks after publishing a report that allegedly whitewashed anti-Semitism in the party.

The article also condemned Labour for reinstating Ken Livingstone after he had been suspended for claiming Hitler had once supported Zionism.

But it said the 'stubborn refusal' to accept the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism  which saw Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge, who lost family in the Holocaust, to brand Mr Corbyn a 'racist'  as the 'most sinister yet'.

The definition is recognised internationally and has been accepted by the Government and 130 councils.

In an unprecedented step, the Jewish News, Jewish Chronicle and Jewish Telegraph published a joint front page editorial

The papers highlighted how the 'stain and shame of anti-Semitism' had flourished in the Labour Party since Jeremy Corbyn (pictured) became leader in 2015

But Labour left out four key examples of anti-Semitism relating to Israel. This was a cynical attempt to avoid the need to expel 'hundreds, if not thousands' of Labour and Momentum members, said the newspapers.

The article added that if Labour failed to implement the definition in full it would be seen 'by all decent people as an institutionally racist party'.

Labour has been engulfed in claims of anti-Semitism under Mr Corbyn's leadership following a spate of attacks on Jewish people and supporters, including Labour MPs.

At last year's party conference a fringe event speaker said people should be able to question whether the Holocaust took place.

Prior to her confrontation with Mr Corbyn last week, in March Dame Margaret branded him 'the poster boy of anti-Semites everywhere'.

Last night, Gideon Falter, chairman of the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, said: 'We hear from members of our community constantly that were Jeremy Corbyn to become prime minister, they would take the drastic step of leaving the country.

'Jeremy Corbyn has displayed utter contempt for the Jewish community ... the Labour Party is now so institutionally anti-Semitic under Jeremy Corbyn that the Jewish community considers it to be a threat to our very future in this country.'

THEIR DEVASTATING VERDICT IN FULL Today, Britain's three leading Jewish newspapers  Jewish News, Jewish Chronicle and Jewish Telegraph  take the unprecedented step of speaking as one by publishing the same front page. We do so because of the existential threat to Jewish life in this country that would be posed by a Jeremy Corbyn-led government. We do so because the party that was, until recently, the natural home for our community has seen its values and integrity eroded by Corbynite contempt for Jews and Israel. The stain and shame of anti-Semitism has coursed through Her Majesty's Opposition since Jeremy Corbyn became leader in 2015. From Chakrabarti to Livingstone, there have been many alarming lows. Last week's stubborn refusal to adopt the full International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism, provoking Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge to call her leader an anti-Semite to his face, was the most sinister yet. Labour has diluted the IHRA definition, accepted in full by the government and more than 130 local councils, deleting and amending four key examples of anti-Semitism relating to Israel. Under its adapted guidelines, a Labour Party member is free to claim Israel's existence is a racist endeavour and compare Israeli policies to those of Nazi Germany, unless 'intent'  whatever that means  can be proved. 'Dirty Jew' is wrong, 'Zionist bitch' fair game? In so doing, Labour makes a distinction between racial anti-Semitism targeting Jews (unacceptable) and political anti-Semitism targeting Israel (acceptable). The reason for this move? Had the full IHRA definition with examples relating to Israel been approved, hundreds, if not thousands, of Labour and Momentum members would need to be expelled. With the government in Brexit disarray, there is a clear and present danger that a man with a default blindness to the Jewish community's fears, a man who has a problem seeing that hateful rhetoric aimed at Israel can easily step into anti- Semitism, could be our next prime minister. On 5 September, Labour MPs vote on an emergency motion, calling for the party to adopt the full IHRA definition into its rulebook. Following that, it will face a binary choice: implement IHRA in full or be seen by all decent people as an institutionally racist party. After three deeply painful years for our community, September is finally make or break. Advertisement

In January, the Community Security Trust, a charity that monitors anti-Semitic abuse, said it recorded 1,382 hate crimes last year  3 per cent more than in 2016.

It was the highest figure since records began 34 years ago. It said the increase followed 'unprecedented publicity' about controversies involving Labour.

Last night Labour MP Wes Streeting said of the editorial: 'This is a shameful episode in the history of the Labour Party and we need to put it right.'

The Labour Party said: 'Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party are fully committed to the support, defence and celebration of the Jewish community and its organisations. The next Labour government poses no threat of any kind whatsoever to Jewish people. The security and wellbeing of Jewish people is a priority for our party.

'We understand the strong concerns raised in the Jewish community and are seeking to engage with communal organisations to build trust and confidence in our party.'A girl has been seriously injured after being bitten by a shark at an aquarium in a shopping mall in south-west China.

The six-year-old, known by the nickname Xiao Li, was holding onto the edge of an open-top tank when the shark swam to the water surface and bit onto her right hand.

Xiao Li's grandmother, who was with the girl at the time, claimed that the shark had jumped out of the water before attacking the child; but the shopping insisted that Xiao Li had put her hand into the water.

A little girl in China gets her hand bitten by a shark when she is holding onto the edge of a tank

Her family quickly pulls her away from the fish tank and checks on the wounds on her hand

Xiao Li sustained fractures on her fingers as well as muscle tear.

The girl and her family were visiting the aquarium on the second floor of a shopping mall in Guiyang city, Guizhou province, on the afternoon of July 24, reported Chengdu Evening Newspaper.

Surveillance camera footage at the mall shows a shark swimming towards the girl and biting onto her hand in front of other shocked shoppers.

The girl quickly steps away from the tank but is struggling to break free.

Seconds later, the shark swam away, leaving the girl bleeding in the hand badly.

Xiao Li was taken to Guizhou Orthopaedics Hospital by her family. Doctors found multiple soft tissue tears and fractures on her fingers.

She is now being treated by the doctors.

Grandmother Ms Zhang is seen hugging the six-year-old before sending her to the hospital

The girl was found to have fractures and soft tissue tear in her fingers

Ms Ren, a marketing manager at the mall insisted that the girl had put her hand into the water. Ms Ren told Daily Express that she had reviewed the CCTV footage.

There were signs and reminders around the aquarium and the shark tank to warn visitors not to touch the water, she added.

Grandmother Ms Zhang explained that Xiao Li had not put her hands into the water and the shark 'jumped out of the water suddenly'.

The shopping mall agreed to pay for Xiao Li's medical expenses.

'They (Xiao Li's family) can bring the receipt and claim it whenever they come to our office,' said Ms Ren.

Staff at the mall had put up a bar to avoid visitors going close to the tank.A doctor said she was lucky to escape with her life after her husband launched a brutal drunken attack on her.

Becky Dougherty, a GP in Widnes, Cheshire had fallen asleep on the sofa watching television when Gareth Dougherty, 45, came home and savagely beat her.

The 47-year-old screamed 'he's going to kill me' to police down the phone as he chased her round their bungalow in Widnes at around 11.30pm on May 6.

Dougherty, who is a managing director of a Cheshire Machinery Limited, only ended his savage assault once he heard police sirens rushing to the scene.

Mr Dougherty pleaded guilty to assault at Chester Crown Court on Friday, but avoided jail as he was sentenced to eight months suspended for two years.

Becky Dougherty, a GP in Widnes, had fallen asleep on the sofa watching television when her husband Gary, 54, came home and savagely beat her

In between blows, Mrs Dougherty managed to call police again where she pleaded for help. She is convinced she would be dead if it were not for their swift response.

She added: 'The police saved my life. I think the police are angels. I would have been dead if it hadn't been for them. They have been really supportive.'

Despite her praise for the police, she believes the court system has 'let her down' after he was not given a custodial sentence.

She added: 'I stood up and faced him in court. He showed no emotion at all.

'In fact, in Magistrates' court, he was glaring at me and had to be told to stop by court staff. The police were brilliant but I think the court system has let me down.'

Speaking about her horrific ordeal, Mrs Dougherty said: 'He came after me and started smashing my head on the mantle piece and rammed me against the wall. He absolutely battered me.

'He started laying into me with his fists. There was blood everywhere. I was begging him to stop. He was trying to kill me.

'I grabbed my mobile. He tried to get it off me but I put a call into the police.'

Mrs Dougherty suffered severe swelling above her left eye (pictured left) and had two black eyes for some time after the incident (right)

Mrs Dougherty had to undergo CT brain scans at Whiston Hospital due to the severity of the attack. She suffered a large swelling on the left side of her temple and extensive bleeding a bruising from the attack.

Her ordeal has left her suffering from PTSD, headaches, anxiety attacks and flashbacks, and has struggled to cope since going back to work.

'I had two black eyes and had to wear sunglasses seeing patients,' said Becky, who works at a practice in Chester.

'I felt so ashamed and embarrassed. The worst thing was bursting into tears in between patients.'

Mrs Dougherty revealed she married her husband just nine months before he launched his viscous assault.

'It was one of the most terrifying things, the way he flew at me,' added Mrs Dougherty.

The assault took place at their marital bungalow home in Widnes earlier this year. Pictured: the road where they couple used to live

Becky Dougherty, 47 and Gareth Dougherty, 45, prior to his brutal attack

Mrs Dougherty has spoken out about her ordeal in the hope other victims will speak out

Mrs Dougherty said her husband had a drink problem but had never attacked her before

'He had a drink problem and could be verbally aggressive. He has never hit me before.

'I have done nothing but love him. I feel as if my life has been blown apart. I have filed for a divorce.'

She has spoken of her ordeal in the hope that other victims will speak up and not suffer in silence.

'I worked as a prison doctor and have done forensics,' she said.

'I spent two years in psychiatry before becoming a GP. When I saw the evil look in his eyes I thought he was going to kill me.'

She added: 'It must be 10 times worse for women who are financially dependent on their partner or have children. I can understand why they don't leave their homes but help is available.'

Dougherty changed his named from Evans after they married.

He was sentenced to 20 days of rehabilitation, 120 hours of unpaid work and a restraining order was imposed for five years.

Dougherty was sentenced to 20 days of rehabilitation, 120 hours of unpaid work and a restraining order was imposed for five years

The sofa in their marital home was left blood-stained after his savage attack earlier this yearThe fifth season of Netflix's popular series The Crown (left, actress Elizabeth Debicki as Diana) will include an entire episode focusing on the royal's controversial sit-down with Bashir in 1995 (right), in which she sensationally said 'there were three of us in the marriage' - a reference to Charles and Camilla. Netflix is understood to have spent millions on the episode, which insiders said will be pivotal to the latest installment. However, the decision to recreate the Panorama interview puts it at odds with William (inset), who called for it never to be shown again. Earlier this year, the Duke of Cambridge hit out at Bashir's shocking tactics to obtain his exclusive with his late mother. The inquiry plunged the Corporation into one of the worst crises in its history, with Diana's two sons William and Harry accusing it of ruining their mother's life with its 'deceitful' interview and helping to bring about the tragic chain of events that led to her death two years later.This is the shocking moment a plumber is caught on camera repeatedly calling a black man the n-word because he thought he cut him off while driving.

Charles Lovett filmed the incident after he was followed home by the contractor, named by ABC 6 as Jeffrey Whitman, and confronted on his own driveway.

Whitman can be seen in the clip launching into a tirade of racist abuse in which he says to Lovett: 'I just want to let you know what a n****r you're being.'

Lovett walked out to meet him saying: 'You wanna let me know how much of a n****r I am?'

Whitman could be seen sitting at the end of Lovett's driveway hurling abuse at him from the window of his van

'Yea, I want to let you personally know how much of a n****er you are,' the contractor fired back.

When pushed by Lovett over the cause of the abuse Whitman can be heard saying: 'Because you're a rude n****r. You cut me off in my lane.'

He then added, 'You cut me off because you feel entitled  because you get everything for free.'

To which Lovett replied, 'You feel entitled because I'm black.'

Whitman from Columbus, who owns a heating company, was driving a work van on Tuesday when the incident occurred.

'I'm glad I got all this information, that I'll be sending to the state, since you're a state contractor,' Lovett tells Whitman on video.

He posted the footage on Facebook Tuesday, along with a description of what allegedly happened.

In the heated exchange Whitman can be heard saying to Lovett 'I just want to let you know what a n****r you're being'

Lovett posted the footage on Facebook Tuesday, along with a description of what allegedly went down

'So this is happened to me this morning,' Lovett said. 'A man followed me from the interstate exit to my house, and then proceeded to berate me with the most disrespectful word to any African American.

'I wasn't going to post it, because I felt that I should've known and did better in handling the situation, by just walking away and going into my house. But I'm human.'

'Nobody, African American Mexican Puerto Rican deserves what's been happening to us across the United States here lately,' Lovett said. 'This incident is just one of many sadly.'

Whitman later apologized for the rant after his company received a torrent of abuse when the clip went viral.

'I didn't follow him home,' Whitman claimed during an interview with NBC4.

'The way I confronted him, I confront him as hey you cut me off,' he said. 'I don't know if it makes it right or wrong, all I can say is I grew up with it and not a big deal for me.'

Lovett later filed a police report against Whitman, though it's unclear if police plan to pursue charges. None had been filed as of 11 p.m. Wednesday.

'I never would have expected it to happen to me,' Lovett told NBC. 'But [that's] the world we live in nowadays.'Saudi Arabia has halted oil shipments through the Red Sea after an attack from Yemen rebels on two giant crude tankers.

The Houthis, aligned to Saudi Arabia's arch-foes Iran, warned that they have the naval capacity to hit more 'targets' on the Bab El-Mandeb Strait, a key route for exporting oil from the Middle East to Europe.

No spills or injuries were reported in the attack but Saudi Arabia is taking precautions before operations continue.

Two oil tankers from Saudi Arabia were hit by Yemeni rebels on the Bab El-Mandeb Strait. Saudi Arabia has temporarily halted operations through the route in the Red Sea as a precaution

According to reports, the two-million-barrel capacity Saudi tankers were hit on Wednesday, causing minimal damage to one.

Saudi Aramco said to avoid the risk of a spill or harm to crews, the company has 'halted all oil shipments through Bab El-Mandeb Strait with immediate effect.'

Brent crude futures rose 59 cents to $74.52 a barrel by 1008 GMT, falling from a 10-day high in earlier trading.

There are concerns of oil supplies in the US after Bloomberg reported that futures advanced 1.1 percent in New York.

Nationwide crude stockpiles dropped to the lowest since 2015 last week and gasoline supplies fell for a fourth week.

Iran and Saudi Arabia have been locked in a three-year proxy war in Yemen, which lies on one side of the Strait.

Yemen's Shiite rebels are fighting a Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's internationally recognised government.

This attack underscores the risk of an escalation in tensions in the region.

The Houthis have previously threatened to block the strait while Iran has threatened to block another strategic shipping route, the Strait of Hormuz.

Kuwait has said the country was considering whether to suspend operations too.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards Quds force commander Qassem Soleimani has criticised the United States' role in the world's top oil exporting region.

'The Red Sea, which was secure, is no longer secure with the American presence,' Soleimani said.

'(US President Donald) Trump should know that we are nation of martyrdom and that we await him.'

Graph shows impact of shrinking oil supplies in the US with nationwide crude stockpile dropping and gasoline supplies falling for a fourth week

Industry and shipping sources said the suspension was unlikely to impact Saudi crude supplies to Asia, but could add shipping costs to Saudi vessels heading to Europe and the United States due to a longer transit.

Traders said the suspension order was only for Saudi-owned vessels, so state-owned Saudi Aramco could still charter foreign ships to move its crude.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, also has a pipeline route to the city of Yanbu on the Red Sea keeping Europe and North America well supplied  the five million barrels per day (bpd) Petroline.

The OPEC heavyweight, an important US ally, has led a pact among global oil producers to boost output to cool the market after Trump imposed sanctions on Iran and criticised OPEC for high oil prices.

Saudi state media reported shortly after Falih's announcement that the kingdom's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman chaired a meeting of the Political and Security Affairs Council but did not mention what topics were discussed.

Saudi Arabia leads a coalition of Sunni Muslim Arab states which intervened in Yemen's war in 2015 to restore the internationally recognised government in exile and thwart what Riyadh sees as Tehran's expansionist ambitions in the region.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates strongly backed Trump's decision to quit a nuclear deal with Iran, which the two Arab states accuse of supplying the Houthis with weapons, including missiles.

The group and Tehran deny the accusations.

The latest attack on Saudi oil tankers could strengthen Riyadh and Abu Dhabi's position ahead of possible UN-sponsored peace talks between Yemen's warring parties, which aims to avoid an all-out assault on the country's main port city of Hodeidah.

'Targeting the two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea only confirms the need to liberate Hodeidah from the Houthi militias.

'The systematic attacks on maritime navigation is a mindless terrorist act,' UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said in a Twitter post on Thursday.

The Western-backed military alliance launched an offensive on June 12 to wrest Hodeidah from the Houthis in a bid to cut off the primary supply line of the movement, which holds the most populated areas of Yemen including the capital Sanaa.

But the alliance did not make major gains in its offensive and on July 1 it called a halt to operations to give the UN efforts a chance.

The United Nations fears cutting off Hodeidah, a lifeline for millions of Yemenis, risks triggering a famine in the impoverished country.

One of the coalition's main justifications for intervening in Yemen was to protect shipping routes such as the Red Sea. It has said it foiled previous attacks there in April and May.

The Bab al-Mandeb strait is only 18 miles wide making hundreds of ships potentially an easy target.

Falih's statement said the two Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) attacked were operated by Saudi shipping company Bahri , which identified the damaged vessel as the Arsan.

'The two million barrels capacity for each tanker were full of crude oil cargo at the time and were headed for export. One of the VLCCs sustained minimal damage,' Falih said.

Most exports from the Gulf that transit the Suez Canal and the SUMED Pipeline also pass through Bab al-Mandeb. An estimated 4.8 million barrels per day of crude oil and refined petroleum products flowed through the waterway in 2016, the EIA said.British holidaymakers face travel hell because of a series of strikes hitting Ryanair and Eurostar as the great getaway to Europe started  but thousands of irate travellers are already stranded on the continent, MailOnline can reveal today.

Ryanair is in the midst of its biggest strike action in its 34-year history with 600 flights cancelled across Europe affecting 100,000 passengers - with another day of industrial action planned next Friday.

The Dublin-based budget airline says that the customers have been given refunds or new flights - but some have complained they were left stranded.

Cabin crew in Spain, Portugal and Belgium began their 48-hour strike yesterday.

But it appears problems have spread to other countries with some saying they have been stuck in Italy, Germany, Latvia and other destination countries as well.

And Eurostar station staff based at London's St Pancras are to go on strike on Saturday, which could cause pain for train travellers off to the continent.

Ryanair is in the midst of its biggest strike action in its 34-year history with 600 flights cancelled across Europe affecting 100,000 passengers with more industrial action on AUgust 3. Eurostar staff are also striking this weekend

Empty Ryanair check-in desks Madrid-Barajas International Airport today as the second day of strikes started

Customers are complaining about being stranded in Italy, Spain and other countries even though Ryanair says it has helped all people affected

Adam Watt was told to get to Rome's Ciampino Airport at 4am today to rebook but said there were no staff and claimed there was fighting at the check-in counter.

Ryanair passenger Christine OLeary has been stuck in Spain for four days after her flight from Malaga was cancelled at the last minute on Sunday.

Christine and her family are currently staying in an airport hotel waiting to go home later today.

She said: 'While the hotel and staff are beautiful, it is on a motorway so we are confined to our rooms. We don't like the food they are supplying us with,it is a drop off service and the children wont eat it. We are stuck in our rooms mostly, we are like prisoners in the country, waiting to get home'.

Stephen Buck tweeted: @Ryanair hey thanks for helping out when your cabin crew decided to go on strike and you cancelled all flights from Pisa with 2 hours notice leaving my 3 month old baby stranded and the next flight you offered was in 4 days. Oh thats right, you didnt help at all #c**pairline'.

Tracey-Anne Garrard wrote: @Ryanair stop sending e-mails about summer offers ffs you have left me stranded in Portugal for two days with your b****y strike #idiots'.

It came as Ryanair pledged to refuse compensation for some 100,000 passengers hit by its summer holiday strikes, risking a showdown with Britain's aviation watchdog.

The budget airline, which has been forced to delay hundreds of flights amid the biggest strike in its history, has pledged to reject all claims filed by disgruntled customers because unions have acted 'unreasonably'.

But the Irish company risks the wrath of the Civil Aviation Authority who insist that compensation payouts of 250 euros - or 222 - are enshrined in EU law.

Ryanair passenger Christine OLeary has been stuck in Spain for four days after her flight from Malaga was cancelled at the last minute on Sunday

Christine and her family are currently staying in an airport hotel waiting to go home later today - but say that it's been like a prison

The series of strikes are likely to hit British parents taking their children abroad after most school holidays started across the UK last Friday.

People arriving at Stansted yesterday complained they were rescheduled on to a 7.25am flight without enough time to get there.

Another said that she discovered her flight was cancelled five hours before take off.

One critic who arrived at Stansted - Ryanair's main UK hub - to find her flight was cancelled as she tried to check-in two hours before and said: 'No communication about flight cancellations and Ryanair provide four customer service staff to deal with hundreds of passengers because they simply don't care.'

Beleaguered Ryanair passengers face even more holiday frustration with Irish pilots striking on August 3 over plans to cut up to 300 pilot and cabin crew jobs at its Dublin base - the fourth time they have walked out recently.

And neither side has shown any sign of backing down.

Instead, tensions have been ratcheted up by both the airline chiefs and unions, with even more stoppages threatened.

Next week's strike will see 20 of Ryanair's 290 Irish flights cancelled at the beginning of the busy weekend and affected customers are due to be contacted today.

It will be the fourth day of disruption for its customers in the past few weeks.

Passengers queue at Bologna's Guglielmo Marconi International Airport as passengers struggle to get home

Huge queues formed at Valencia last night after the first day of a cabin crew strike held in several European countries

The new tension came after Ryanair issued protective notices to 300 workers, and warned of even more job losses if they don't go back to work.

The unions then added to the tension by announcing the one-day stoppage on Friday, August 3  and added that further strikes may follow.

Eurostar station staff based at London's St Pancras are to go on strike on Saturday, claiming they face 'shocking and dangerous' working conditions because of repeated service failures and breakdowns.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union will walk out for 24 hours after talks broke down without agreement.

The union claimed the international terminal at St Pancras has been reduced to 'chaos', with staff bearing the brunt of public anger over delays to services.

Around 140 staff are involved in the dispute.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: 'The conditions at St Pancras have been simply appalling in recent weeks, with dangerous levels of overcrowding on the concourse as services plunge into meltdown on the cusp of the busiest part of the year.

'RMT will not tolerate a position where our members are left to pick up the pieces due to corporate failures.'

The union said it was escalating the dispute by balloting train managers for industrial action over the same issue.

A Eurostar spokesman said: 'We are aware of the proposed strike and are disappointed that this action is planned.

'Our plan is to run a normal service so that all passengers booked to travel with Eurostar will be able to do so'A former FIFO worker has lifted the lid on why he and countless other Australians are refusing to apply for $150,000 jobs in the highly lucrative mining industry.

More than 1,000 jobs are up for grabs in Western Australia's mining industry - with employers desperate to fill a vast range of positions to keep operations moving.

But despite the huge salaries and cushy work perks - including free accommodation with gyms, swimming pools and bars - job seekers are choosing to stay at home.

Gold Coast worker Ryan, who asked to remain anonymous, said he considered himself one of the 'lucky ones' after quitting the fly-in-fly-out industry.

Many miners have said they won't return to work in remote locations despite hundreds of lucrative jobs on offer

Speaking to news.com.au, Ryan revealed the extreme mental and physical impact working in the mines had on his colleagues.

'Its a proven fact that if youre FIFO for longer than two years theres a three in four chance your relationship will go bust, you get the few blokes out there that love working away because they have no ties at home but mostly everyone does not want to work that long away anymore,' he said.

'I think it should be illegal to work for four weeks straight.'

Ryan said it was a hard experience to be away from family for weeks on end, missing important family events and milestones.

He explained that after working all over the country, Western Australian mines presented the most remote and difficult locations to work.

Kalgoorlie Mayor John Bowler described the job shortage in the mining sector as a 'crisis' and urged the Federal Government to send skilled migrants as soon as possible

Compounding the feeling of isolation from family is the below-standard - and in some cases non-existent - internet and phone reception at most WA mines.

Global corporations BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue are set to open new mines in the near future to mark a sudden boom in the industry, and some have suggested bringing in skilled migrants to take the jobs.

The reputation of alcohol and drug abuse, skyrocketing suicide numbers and limited time with family has tarnished the reputation of the mining sector as a 'gold mine' for workers

The number of mining jobs advertised online soared by 32 per cent in the past year, according to SEEK, with job seekers needing little to no experience to earn big bucks.

Chamber of Minerals and Energy called for skilled migrants to fill the jobs Australians didn't want.

Paul Everingham, the body's CEO, said there were currently more than 1,000 vacancies in the Kalgoorlie mining sector alone.

'You can't sugar coat that  they're available now and they're not being filled,' he told the ABC.

Kalgoorlie Mayor John Bowler described the job shortage in the mining sector as a 'crisis' and urged the Federal Government to send skilled migrants as soon as possible.This is the shocking moment a man is beaten up and then deliberately mown down by a car in the middle of the day.

The victim is kneed three times in the face and has his hooded top pulled over him so he is unable to avoid the car which ploughs into him seconds later.

Miraculously he managed to survive the attack, which was captured on CCTV last Friday at 12.31pm.

This is the shocking moment a man is beaten up and then deliberately mown down by a car in the middle of the day

The victim is kneed three times in the face and has his hooded top pulled over him so he is unable to avoid the car which ploughs into him seconds later. Miraculously he managed to survive the attack, which was captured on CCTV last Friday at 12.31pm

West Midlands Police are now investigating the incident, which took place in Kings Heath in Birmingham, and have arrested the 27-year-old motorist.

Footage of the attack, which appears to have come from a security camera attached to one of the houses on the street, was put on social media on Wednesday night.

In the 36-second clip, two men are seen fighting in the street as one of them gestures towards the driver of the car, which is out of shot.

The man forces his rivals face downwards and knees him three times before grabbing hold of the his hooded top and pulling it over his head.

As the victim, who has also had his trousers pulled down, struggles to regain his balance, the man appears to deliberately line him in front of a dark blue car which suddenly comes into view.

One of those viewing the CCTV footage on the video uploaded onto social media says He holds him in the way to get knocked over, you can see the car coming down now. Hes lining him up.

Footage of the attack, which appears to have come from a security camera attached to one of the houses on the street, was put on social media on Wednesday night

In the 36-second clip, two men are seen fighting in the street as one of them gestures towards the driver of the car, which is out of shot. The man forces his rivals face downwards and knees him three times before grabbing hold of the his hooded top and pulling it over his head

Unable to see, the man then stumbles backwards into the path of the car and is hit from behind by the bonnet

He is thrown into the air, according to the CCTV, before the hatchback flips onto its side

The vehicle then careers into the victim, sending him hurtling into someones front, before tipping on to its side.

The man who had been fighting with the victim looks back but calmly walks off.

It is not yet known whether he has been quizzed by police.

A police spokeswoman said: Police were called to a report of a disorder between two men in Highters Road, Kings Heath on Friday 20 July, at around 12.35pm.

One of the men was hit by a car driven by the other man. Following the collision, the driver of the car ran away from the scene, but was later detained by police in Glenavon Road.

The vehicle then careers into the victim, sending him hurtling into someones front, before tipping on to its side

The man who had been fighting with the victim looks back but calmly walks off. West Midlands Police are now investigating the incident, which took place in Kings Heath in Birmingham, and have arrested the 27-year-old motorist

A 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and subsequently released pending investigation.

The man, who was hit by the car, was taken to hospital for treatment. It is understood that the two men were already known to each other.'A vile Soviet state killer with the blood of more than 10,000 people on his hands has been unmasked by a Russian researcher.

Trained locksmith Ivan Nagorny - known as the Kiev Butcher - personally shot or ordered the executions in an 18-month period during Stalin's notorious purges.

Among those he himself slaughtered in a single day were 37 professors and tutors from Ukrainian universities who were sentenced to death as 'enemies of the people' on September 22 1936.

The 'trusted' Stalinist executioner was honoured two months later for his industrial-scale mass killing with a Red Star order.

The Kiev Butcher, locksmith Ivan Nagorny, who personally shot or ordered the executions of 10,000 people

Joseph Stalin (right) with Nikolay Yezhov (centre), honoured the executioner with a Red Star order

This cited his 'special services in establishing the socialist way of life'.

His personal toll of death in less than two years was higher than the total executed by the United States in the entire 20th century, it is claimed.

The butcher stripped his helpless victims of political repression before they were shot - and told his team tasked with clearing up their corpses to dress in their clothes.

This was so their own outfits were not 'soiled with the blood' of the executed.

More than 80 years after Nagorny's bloodthirsty killings, his file has emerged from Soviet secret police archives held in Ukraine.

But researchers say the details of the grisly work of a host of other savage executioners - now held in Russian archives - are being blocked by the Russian FSB.

October Palace, above, was used by the forerunner of the KGB and FSB, the Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs, Narodnyy Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del (NKVD), as an executive prison

Nagorny was not punished by secret police chief Nikolai Yezhov (above) or his deputy, Lavrenti Beria for stripping his victims. Yezhov was later shot on Stalin's orders in 1940

This includes up to 17 other barbaric state killers deployed by Stalin.

Researcher Konstantin Boguslavsky, from St Petersburg, located the details of the cruel secret police senior lieutenant Nagorny who was born in 1902.

He was described as an 'elite butcher' and 'the main liquidator in Kiev', according to Svoboda news outlet.

'I have looked through about 100 episodes of shooting in Kiev and its region,' said Boguslavsky.

'Each contained dozens and even hundreds of people  and at least three quarters of them were signed by Nagorny.

Knowing that more than 20,000 people were shot in Kiev, I can deduce that at least 10,000 were shot either by Nagorny in person or at least he took part in shooting them.'

Boguslavsky added: 'These figures are outrageous. A smaller number of people were executed in the USA during the whole 20th century than shot by locksmith Nagorny within 18 months.'

Nagorny is on record as admitting: 'There were cases when I personally gave clothes . to employees  for the time they were dealing with the executed.

'I allowed them to wear clothes of other people so (their own) were not soiled with blood.'

But some of his underlings secretly sold clothes of the dead at pawn shops.

This came to light when a woman found clothes of her husband on sale. She knew he had been arrested but was unaware he had been executed.

Nagorny was not punished by his secret police chiefs Nikolai Yezhov and Lavrenti Beria.

Joseph Stalin and Lavrenti Beria, right, who led the Soviet network of slave-labour camps, and was one of the most hated officials during the dictator's Great Purge of the Thirties

Secret police chief Lavrenti Beria, originally from Georgia, succeeded Nikolai Yezhov. He was renowned for his sadistic enjoyment of torture

The researcher believes Nagorny's toll may be even higher, with a total of 20,000 shot by the NKVD secret police between 1936-38 in Kiev and the surrounding region.

'It is hard to count all people shot by Nagorny,' he said.

His personal testimonial said he was a 'good manager' who knew how to 'educate people'.

He performed his 'special work' in the 'internal jail' of the secret police in Kiev.

Nagorny, the son of peasants, died before his 40th birthday in disputed circumstances in 1941. One theory is that he shot himself.

His macabre file - number 3852 - was found in the archives of the SBU secret service.

The FSB has declined to supply similar details of other Soviet killers whose files are held in secret vaults in Moscow.

The agency claimed modern-day relatives of these executions could be harmed.

Release of such files would also disrupt 'the unbiased evaluation of the historic period 1937-1953'.

Researcher Konstantin Boguslavsky, from St Petersburg, located the details of the cruel secret police senior lieutenant Nagorny

Above: One of thousands of death sentences executed by Ivan Nagorny during Stalin's time in power

An attestation sheet, above, that was unearthed during the author's research into the Kiev Butcher

Ivan Nagorny also features in this document, where he served as a witness at a court hearingA family has claimed they were kicked off an Emirates flight home because they were travelling with their son who has autism, epilepsy and severe learning difficulties.

The family attained medical clearance ahead of their flight from New Zealand, but shortly after boarding their final leg to France from Dubai last Wednesday, they were ordered to disembark.

Eli, the teenage son of journalist Isabelle Kumar, was understandably distraught at being removed from the aircraft, as were his two younger twin siblings.

A family has claimed they were kicked off an Emirates flight home because they were travelling with their son (pictured) who has autism, epilepsy and severe learning difficulties

The family (pictured) attained medical clearance ahead of their flight from New Zealand, but shortly after boarding their final leg to France from Dubai last Wednesday, they were ordered to disembark

The mother blasted the airline's handling of the situation via Twitter, saying it was only once the family made it off the plane that staff agreed Eli was OK to fly.

'We told Emirates every step of the way that Eli had epilepsy (and autism) but when we asked for a seat with a vacant seat next to it in case he had a seizure they suddenly wanted to see the medical certificate,' she told Euronews.

By this stage however it was too late, and the family was forced to wait nine hours at the airport to find out if they would be staying in a hotel or put on an alternative flight.

The boy's father, Adam Brown, brought his young family to live in New Zealand for a year so they could connect with the culture from his side of the gene pool.

Eli (top left) was understandably distraught and traumatised at being removed from the aircraft, as were his two younger twin siblings (seated)

The mother (pictured with Eli) blasted the airline's handling of the situation via Twitter, saying it was only once the family made it off the plane that staff agreed Eli was OK to fly

But despite having flown around the world and different parts of the country throughout the year with no trouble, Emirates still would not allow the teen to fly.

'They kicked them off with such gusto, even threatened to get police to remove them,' Mr Brown's brother told NZ Herald.

Ms Kumar supplied running commentary of the airport fiasco to Twitter, writing, 'Thanks Emirates for removing our family from your flight. Our son has epilepsy: we had told you, just come 14 hr from Melbourne, got his doctor on the phone and medical clearance while still on board. He has #autism & severe learning difficulties - very traumatic.'

Despite having flown around the world and different parts of the country throughout the year with no trouble, Emirates still would not allow the teen (pictured with father) to fly

The airline promptly said it would look into the query, however several hours later the family was still without answers.

'Hi Isabelle, we're sorry to hear this. Please DM us your booking reference and email address. We'll look into this,' Emirates wrote to Isabelle.

Finally, more than a week later, the family boarded their final flight home on Thursday.

'Wondering if Emirates will deign to apologise for how they treated us. As if travelling with a kid kid with disabilities wasn't difficult enough,' Ms Kumar said.

Finally, more than a week later, the family boarded their final flight home on Thursday

The airline has since apologised for the 'distress and inconvenience' caused to the family.

'Such situations are usually difficult for operational staff to assess, and they opted to act in the best interest of our passengers' safety as well as on advice from our medical team.

'Our customer service team has been in touch with the family, and we have offered them complimentary hotel stay while in transit and rebooked them on another flight departing on 26 July.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Emirates for comment.David Boswell, 58, was convicted of a string of historic sex attacks against two schoolgirls. Pictured: Outside Swansea Crown Court

A former Conservative mayor convicted of raping a schoolgirl will continue to be paid for the next three months, despite being jailed for 18 years for rape.

David Boswell, 58, was convicted of a string of historic sex attacks against two underage girls.

But the former mayor of Pembroke, West Wales, is still a county councillor and can pick up his earnings while behind bars as he appeals his conviction.

The former soldier and lorry driver faces being sacked as a county councillor but remains on the payrole until his appeal is heard due to existing legislation and red tape.

Pembrokeshire County Council has admitted Boswell will still collect his 1,133-a-month wage despite being jailed for the sex offences earlier this month.

Boswell raped a nine-year-old girl and indecently assaulted another youngster aged under 13 between 1990 and 1994.

The NSPCC said: 'Boswell was convicted of appalling sex offences against children and it is right that he now faces many years behind bars where he cannot harm others.

'It is wrong that someone convicted of sexual crimes against children can continue to serve as an elected official for any period of time, and we support a change to the law to ensure situations like this are not repeated.'

Boswell dressed in his finery while serving as Pembroke mayor. Pictured: with his wife Denise

A spokesman for the Welsh Local Government Association blamed a 'legal anomaly' for the situation.

He said: 'The issue in question is a legal anomaly in the current framework that needs to be urgently addressed. A guilty verdict does mean an automatic disqualification, following a 28-day window for a possible appeal.

'This is where the problem is located and needs urgent review, especially as this deplorable offence is a fundamental breach of the statutory duty that councillors have to ensure that all children within local authority areas are safeguarded and protected.'

Boswell denied the allegations, saying they were 'complete lies' and urged police to make him undergo a lie detector test.

Despite his pleas, a jury at Swansea Crown Court found him guilty of four counts of indecent assault and one count of rape.

Boswell raped a nine-year-old girl and indecently assaulted another youngster aged under 13 between 1990 and 1994. He also worked as a soldier and lorry driver

He was the serving mayor of Pembroke when he was charged in August last year.

The then-Conservative councillor had won the Pembroke St Mary North election just three months earlier by just six votes.

Boswell was suspended from the Conservative Party after he was charged and stepped down from his mayoral duties.

Boswell, of Pembroke Dock, was jailed for 18 years and told he must serve an extra two on licence.

He was also handed a sexual harm prevention order and a restraining order preventing him from contacting children under the age of 16.

Boswell was acquitted of a further three counts of indecent assault involving the same complainants.

Judge Keith Thomas said: 'This was a gross abuse of trust. The children were particularly vulnerable because of their extreme youth.'Robert Brown, pictured, has had his nine-year prison sentence increased by 18 months on appeal for killing two young boys in a hit-and-run while high on drugs

A speeding driver who killed two young brothers in a hit-and-run while high on drugs has had his sentence extended by senior judges.

Robert Brown was banned from driving, travelling at more than twice the speed limit and had taken a cocktail of drugs when he mowed down Corey and Casper Platt-May, aged six and two respectively.

The 53-year-old was jailed for nine years at Warwick Crown Court in April after admitting all charges against him, including two counts of death by dangerous driving.

But his sentence was increased to 10-and-a-half years on Wednesday at the Court of Appeal in London.

Sir Brian Leveson, sitting with two other judges, said the case justified a term 'at the very top of the sentencing range'.

He said: 'It does not need this court to underline that the impact of these offences has been truly catastrophic on the family of these two boys.

'We have read the victim personal statements provided by their mother and eight-year-old brother and recognise that no sentence which the court can impose will ever make up for the loss that they have suffered.'

The boys were on their way to a park with their mother Louise Platt-May when they were struck by Brown's Ford Focus as they crossed MacDonald Road, Coventry, in February.

Mrs Platt-May called for the Government to introduce stiffer penalties for 'drivers who think they are above the law' after Brown was jailed.

Brown killed Corey, left, six, and Casper, right, two, Platt-May when he crashed into them in a Ford Focus in Coventry doing more than 60mph in a 30mph zone

The boys' father Reece, left with Casper, was found dead while on holiday in Greece in May. His wife Louise, right, welcomed the sentence extension today

Their father Reece Platt-May was found dead while on holiday in Greece in May.

Solicitor General Robert Buckland referred Brown's original sentence to the court and argued it was 'unduly lenient'.

Brown, of Attwood Crescent in Wyken, Warwickshire, had never had a driving licence in his life and was banned from driving at the time of the crash.

He had taken cocaine, diazepam and zopiclone and was driving his Ford Focus at more than 60mph in a 30mph zone on February 22 when he ploughed into the brothers.

Despite efforts to save them, they died in hospital a short while later.

Brown's partner Gwendoline Harrison, pictured, was jailed for six months after resisting arrest and trying to flee the scene. She has since been released

Brown, who fled the scene, had 30 previous convictions for driving offences and was only released from prison six days before the crash after serving half of a six-month sentence for having an offensive weapon.

His passenger at the time of the crash, Gwendoline Harrison, 42, of Wyken, was jailed for six months after admitting assault intending to resist arrest and attempting to flee the scene.

She has since been released and was spotted walking along a street in Coventry just 12 weeks after being jailed, to the shock of the boys' family.

In a statement released by her lawyers Irwin Mitchell after Brown was jailed, Mrs Platt-May said he had shown a 'total disregard for the law'.

She added: 'Because of him we are living a life sentence knowing we will never see our boys grow up, whilst he will be out of prison in just a few years and will be free to continue his life.

'We will never come to terms with how Corey and Casper were taken far too soon.

'Our only hope now is that some good comes out of their deaths through the introduction of tougher punishments for drivers who think they are above the law.'

Speaking after Brown's sentence was increased, the boys' mother Louise Platt-May, 28, said: 'The events of that day and having to witness your children die in front of you is something that our family will never get over.

'We will never forgive the driver for the way he ripped our family apart.

'Life without Corey and Casper is so difficult to put into words.

Pictured is the Ford Focus being examined by forensic teams after the crash

Police officers closed off the street for hours and a toy car Casper had been playing in was found destroyed

'Knowing we won't see their cheeky smile or hear their infectious laugh again is heartbreaking.

'We are pleased that the driver has been given a longer prison sentence as what our family has had to go through, and will continue experience for the rest of our lives, highlights the need for the toughest possible sentences to be handed out to drivers who ruin lives.

'We repeat our call for the Government to honour Corey and Casper's legacy by ensuring proposals to introduce tougher sentences for drivers who kill are made law as soon as practically possible.'Luann de Lesseps seemed to be just days away from closing the book on her Florida court case last week, but has hit a bit of a snag.

The reality star's attempt to enter a plea in her case from rehab was shot down by the court, who have moved her hearing to August 29, and ordered that de Lesseps attend in person.

DailyMail.com has obtained court records shooting that this decision was made on Wednesday in a conference that last just one minute.

The Real Housewives of New York star, 53, and her lawyer had signed off on a Plea in Absentia least ahead of her court appearance, which was originally scheduled for Thursday.

This deal would have kept the reality star out or prison, and will very likely still be accepted by the judge in the case, but not until next month.

Scroll down for video

Ongoing legal drama: Luann de Lesseps has entered a Plea in Absentia last week from rehab that would have kept her out of prison for attacking a cop on Christmas

Fessing up: De Lesseps has agreed to plead guilty to charges of resisting an officer with violence, trespass in an occupied structure and disorderly intoxication (probation requirements above)

As part of her plea deal, de Lesseps agreed to plead guilty to charges of resisting an officer with violence, trespass in an occupied structure and disorderly intoxication.

In exchange for those guilty pleas, the attorney for the state will likely ask the judge that de Lesseps receive a year probation rather than the over two years of prison time those charges carry.

De Lesseps also states in her affidavit that she will 'pay all applicable fines and court costs,' 'perform 50 hours of community service for a non-profit organization,' 'attend 2 AA meetings a week,' not possess or consume 'alcohol, illegal drugs with random testing' at her expense,' and attend a 'Victim Impact Class put on by Mother's Against Drunk Driving.'

The reality star was expected to be in court per the judge's orders after moving her hearing date from May 25 to this week, but was then unable to attend after entering into a rehab facility earlier this month.

De Lesseps had turned things around in the months since her arrest, beginning with her decision to seek treatment in the weeks after she was charged.

Things then took a bad turn in late June however with reports that de Lesseps was drinking again began to circulate.

The reality star was then hit with a lawsuit filed by her ex and two children over withholding proceeds from her home that were due to son Noel and daughter Victoria, at which point she quickly checked herself into a treatment facility.

That is where she remains, and will stay for the next few weeks, missing her court date and the taping of this season's Housewives reunion special.

This plea will be the final step in her embarrassing arrest, which happened just before Christmas.

Officer Robert Mastrangelo wrote in his report that he arrived to room 407 at The Colony Hotel when security guard Carlos Lopez called to report that de Lessesps and an unidentified male had broken into another guest's room and were refusing to leave after he discovered them in bed together.

That mystery man had fled the scene by the time Officer Mastrangelo showed up at the scene, but de Lesseps was with another woman, her friend Julie Marie Olson.

'It should be noted that both smelled of an unknown alcoholic beverage, had slurred speech and appeared to be highly intoxicated,' stated the affidavit.

'I asked both females to exit the room, Olson left however de Lesseps refused to leave and locked herself in the bathroom.'

De Lesseps and Olson had been seen earlier in the evening while getting ready to go out in video posted to the reality star's Instagram account.

The Real Housewives of New York star, 53, can also be seen smiling alongside Olson in a photo posted back on March.

'Last weekend with Tom and Luann D'Agostino on their boat! Fabulous time with the best couple ever!!! BFF's! Luann and I go back to the 90's when we were modeling and doing television shows together in Milan, Italy! Amazing memories ... Thank you, Lu!' wrote Olson.

That photo, which shows the two woman out on the water in their bathing suits, appears to dispute de Lesseps' claim that she had not returned to Palm Beach since her wedding to D'Agostino last New Year's Eve.

Housewife: De Lesseps cannot possess or consume 'alcohol, illegal drugs with random testing' at her expense for one year

The couple celebrated their nuptials with a bridal brunch the next day, which was held at the same hotel where Luann was arrested on Sunday.

De Lesseps' charges stem entirely from her treatment of the police officers who arrived on the scene and tried to get her out of the room over the weekend and into her own, which was one floor below in 327.

Officer O'Leary eventually opened the bathroom door to try and detain de Lesseps according to the affidavit, at which point she 'shoved Officer O'Leary with an open palm to the chest, then slammed the door on Officer O'Leary's face, striking him in the forehead.'

She resisted again as Officer O'Leary placed her in handcuffs, and managed to get out of the shackles once she was in the patrol car.

De Lesseps 'attempted to exit the vehicle' at thsat point, and as she was pout back in and cuffed once more she told Officer Mastrangelo: '"i'm going to f***ing kill you.'

At the same time she 'tried kicking the door to keep it from closing.'

She was taken to the station at that point, telling both officers along the way that she was 'going to f***ing kill you all.'

De Lesseps was seen for the first time since her court appearance while enjoying a beachside barbecue on Christmas day at her brother's home in Jupiter.

It is unclear if she was drinking but she was sitting in front of an open bottle of wine.

The reality star, 52, arrived at the Palm Beach Courthouse just after 9am on Sunday, almost eight hours after she was taken into custody and booked by police.

The Real Housewives of New York star got no sleep it seemed as she stood in front of the judge with her limp and greasy hair covering her face, make-up smeared and wearing the same soiled dress she had on Saturday night when she first hit the town.

At one point during the proceedings de Lesseps attempted to respond when Judge Ted Booras mentioned she might have a drinking problem, but was quickly told to remain silent.

'Dont say anything,' ordered Judge Booras, who seemed concerned that de Lesseps might incriminate herself with her response.

Gang's not all here: De Lesseps has already stated she will not be a part of the Real Housewives reunion after entering rehab shortly after being sued by her children (l to r: Tinsley Mortimer, Carole Radziwill, Bethenny Frankel, Ramona Singer, Dorinda Medley, de Lesseps, Sonja Morgan)

Judge Booras informed de Lesseps that she needed to hire a lawyer for the 'serious charges' she is facing, just before releasing her from custody.

De Lesseps was told she could return to her home in New York because this was her first offense according to the judge, who also allowed her to forego posting any bail and instead released her on her own recognizance.

'I dont think it would be that hard to find you,' said Judge Booras of the Housewives star, who had been filming the upcoming season of her show just days before in New York City.

Battery on a law enforcement officer is considered a third-degree felony which is punishable by a maximum of 5 years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

The disorderly intoxication charge is a second-degree misdemeanor which is punishable up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

Resisting an officer with violence is a third-degree felony which could land de Lesseps behind bars for 5 years and forced to pay a $5,000 fine.

A few hours after her initial court appearance, de Lesseps addressed her arrest on Twitter.

'I want to offer my most sincere apologies to anyone that I might have offended with my behavior,' wrote de Lesseps.

'This was my first time in Palm Beach since my wedding and being here brought up buried emotions. I am committed to a transformative and hopeful 2018.'

One source claimed earlier this year that de Lesseps' New Year's Eve nuptials were less about true love and more about an aging divorcee desperate to secure her ever-loosening grip on reality stardom.

A close friend of D'Agostino told DailyMail.com that it was Tom who filed for divorce after growing tired of being cuckolded by his new wife during their brief marriage.

'It has been really difficult for Tom because he did love her,' said his friend.

'But she only married him because she was becoming irrelevant on the show and needed a new story line.'

And as D'Agostino's friend explained, that was still just one of the couple's many problems.

'She cheated, she was unfaithful, she was prone to violent outbursts,' revealed the friend, making their way through a laundry list of accusations.

Those violent outbursts allegedly included de Lesseps biting D'Agostino days before their wedding and leaving him covered in blood when she scratched his cheek at a posh Upper East Side eatery in July.

It doesnt take much for her to punch, bite, slap or scratch him,' noted the friend, who described de Lesseps' behavior as 'bats*** crazy' at times.

Another friend who knows both members of the couple tells DailyMail.com that it was clear from the beginning this romance was made for television.

'Stevie Wonder can see what Luann did here,' jokes the friend of the estranged pair.

'She knew shed had a very boring season, except for drunkenly falling into the bushes in Mexico, so she needed something to ensure Bravo cast her for another year.'

The friend then added that de Lesseps has been holding on to her position as one of the show's leading ladies with an iron grip ever since she was demoted back in season six.

'She was downgraded a few years back and it nearly killed her being a friend of the Housewives rather than a fully-fledged cast member,' revealed the friend of the couple.

'If shes filed for divorce before the reunion was filmed in mid-July, she wouldve had to discuss it. So shes filed now after the reunion, so shell have a full season to discuss it next year.'

And while some may find the entire scenario to be a bit uncouth, the friend applauded Luann for her tenacity.

'Its a very smart move by the nurse from Connecticut. No one hustles better or is more cunning than Luann,' said the friend.

It worked out too, as she is a featured cast member in the current season.Sean Spicer clashed with The Project host Waleed Aly in a fiery interview tonight.

Aly started the exchange by taking Spicer to task over his famously false claim that Trump's inauguration was attended by the more people than any other.

The President's former press secretary, who resigned in July last year, said: 'Clearly my intention was to go out and make a case for the support and intensity and enthusiasm and try and find ways to...'

Aly then cut him off and said: 'I understand that, but you could have, for example, said this president won the election, he has a lot of support, this is not about the inauguration crowd, but you didn't.'

Confident: Sean Spicer has said Donald Trump will win a second term in the White House

Aly then asked if Spicer 'had a problem' with the fact that he was serving a President who spreads lies, such as the idea that Obama was not born in the USA.

Spicer 'rejected the premise' of the question and insisted the American people were very happy with Trump's first term so far.

'In domestic policy in particular this president and this administration have got the results the American people have asked for,' he said.

'He has largely been successful in enacting a conservative agenda which many of us in the movement have been fighting for and supporting for years if not decades.'

The pair clashed again when Aly stated that Spicer suggests in his memoir that political lobbyist Paul Manafort was more import than Trump in the success of the 2016 campaign.

'Actually, first of all, look Waleed, actually, that's not true,' Spicer replied. 'I never, actually, I was at the RNC the entire time what he did was at the time for what the campaign needed, and what his experience was. I wrote that he brought a level of gravitas and maturity to the campaign.'

Asked if Trump will win the 2020 election, Spicer said confidently: 'I think so.

'If you look at the current political landscape in terms of his approval rating, with the current economic prosperity that we're dealing with in this country - that's a pretty good sign for an incumbent to go into.'

Republicans continue to give President Donald Trump huge approval ratings from within their ranks, even after his controversial summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin

It comes after the latest Wall Street Journal / NBC poll on Tuesday showed Trump's overall approval rating ticked up to 45 per cent, a high point for his presidency.

The poll was taken beginning the day before Trump's Helsinki summit, so includes respondents who were exposed to some of the furious blowback after Trump called Putin's denial of meddling in the U.S. election 'powerful.'

Trump's approval from among Republicans is 88 per cent  a level not reached since President George W. Bush following the Sept. 11 attacks. Bush his 96 per cent at that time, only to watch his approval steadily drop.

Trump tweeted on the summit after a new Washington Post / ABC showed 50 per cent of Americans disapprove of his performance there

Trump tweeted Monday about his Helsinki summit with Putin

A majority of 51 per cent don't approve of the relationship between Washington and Moscow, according to the poll. That echoes a 50 per cent figure for disapproval of Trump's conduct in a new Washington Post / ABC news poll.

And in the Journal poll, nearly two-thirds of voters, 65 per cent, believe Russia interfered  a conclusion Trump has raised repeated skepticism about, despite the conclusion of U.S. intelligence agencies.

The strong GOP support helps explain Trump's decision to dig in and attack critics, as he did Monday when he tweeted that he gave up 'NOTHING to Putin.

It also may help explain the reluctance of many top Republicans to criticize Trump. His performance in Helsinki was an exception, although even many lawmakers who condemned Russia and elements of the summit did not mention Trump by name.

Trump fired off a defense of his performance while attacking the media who covered it as the ABC poll showed 50 per cent of Americans disapproved of his conduct at the summit, where he expressed support for Putin's 'powerful' denial of election hacking despite the conclusions of U.S. intelligence.

The time a Republican had Trump's in-party approval rating was George W. Bush after Sept. 11

'When you hear the Fake News talking negatively about my meeting with President Putin, and all that I gave up, remember, I gave up NOTHING, we merely talked about future benefits for both countries,' Trump wrote Monday.

'Also, we got along very well, which is a good thing, except for the Corrupt Media!' the president added.

Trump said in Helsinki that the two men discussed a variety of topics in their two-hour one-on-one meeting.

Among them were Ukraine, Syria, Russian meddling in the U.S. elections, and the nations' nuclear arsenal, according to Trump.

The new Washington Post / ABC News poll found 50 per cent of Americans disapproved of Trump's handling of the summit, compared to 33 per cent who approve.Donald Trump entered a contentious battle over online censorship on Thursday, blasting privately-owned Twitter for allegedly depressing the exposure of messages from its conservaitve users.

'Twitter SHADOW BANNING prominent Republicans. Not good' the president boomed, ironically on his globally unmissable Twitter account.

'We will look into this discriminatory and illegal practice at once! Many complaints.'

It's unclear what the administration could do to challenge Twitter for sorting content and delivering it selectively to users based on a computer algorithm.

It's also not obvious what law Trump believes the platform's management might be violating.

Donald Trump entered a contentious battle over online censorship on Thursday, blasting Twitter for allegedly depressing the exposure of messages from conservaitves

The president said Twitter's 'behavioral ranking' system 'discriminaotry and illegal' but didn't say what law the social media giant might be breaking

But much of the social media right-wing is up in arms over what they see as a biased protocol that regulraly disadvantages them in the marketplace of ideas.

And Trump isn't the only powerful Republican to push back.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarty tweeted on Wednesday that '[s]ocial media is being rigged to censor conservatives.'

'Its time to rise up and demand accountability from Big Tech. WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED. #StopTheBias,' he wrote.

The president's tweet followed a widely discussed VICE News story dissecting Twitter's automated system that fills in names based on the first few typed characters in a search box.

Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel doesn't show up the way her adversaries' do, despite her unusual first name.

Several conservative Republican congressmen have the same problem, as well as Donald Trump Jr.'s spokesman Andrew Surabian.

Donald Trump Jr. weighed in after his father, saying Twitter is marginalizing conservative business owners along with prominent commentators

The majority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives put the shadowbanning issue on the map Wednesday following a deep-dive report from VICE News

A Twitter spokesman told the news outlet that its algorithm 'is based on account *behavior* not the content of Tweets.' He didn't say how 'behavior' online is evaluated, or what McDaniel and others may have done to downgrade their Twitter exposure.

Twitter said flatly on Thursday that 'we do not "shadowban"' but acknowledged that it uses 'behavioral ranking' to sift through tweets and decide what floats to the top.

'To be clear, our behavioral ranking doesn't make judgments based on political views or the substance of Tweets,' the spokesman said.

Republican Reps. Mark Meadows, Jim Jordan and Matt Gaetz  three members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus  have also been ensnared.

'It is curious that these allegations would arise the week following Congressman Gaetzs heated exchange with Twitter senior executives before the House Judiciary Committee,' a Gaetz spokesman told VICE.

Other right-wingers in Congress, including Iowa Rep. Steve King, don't seem to be affected.

Donald Trump Jr's spokesman lashed out at Twitter, mimicking the president's earlier threats against Iranian President Hassan Rouhani

In an April hearing convened by the House Judiciary Committee, ranking Democrat Jerrold Nadler said the notion of social media companies censoring conservatives is a 'hoax' and a 'tired narrative of imagined victimhood.'

Donald Trump Jr. disagrees.

He tweeted Thursday morning: 'I cant tell you the number of small accounts and small business social accounts that have said theyre getting hit by these bans simply for being conservative leaning.'

Surabian riffed on the subject using the same allcaps stype Trump employed earlier in the week in a digital attack on Iran's president.

'NEVER, EVER SHADOWBAN REPUBLICANS AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR CENSORSHIP. BE CAUTIOUS!' he tweeted.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted Wednesday that his company acknowledges problems with 'our conversational health work, specifically the perception of shadowbanning based on content or ideology.'

'It suffices to say we have a lot more work to do to earn peoples trust on how we work,' he wrote.Shareholders are trying to fire Mark Zuckerberg as chairman of Facebook because of the social media giant's 'mishandling' of recent scandals, including the Cambridge Analytica data saga, Russian meddling in the US election and fake news.

Investment company Trillium Asset Management, who has about $11 million in Facebook stock, filed a proposal on Wednesday to break up Zuckerberg's role as both chairman and CEO, Business Insider reports.

The proposal argues that shareholders are unable to check Zuckerberg's power given he holds roughly 60 percent of Facebook's voting shares as both chair and CEO.

'A CEO who also serves as chair can exert excessive influence on the board and its agenda, weakening the board's oversight of management,' the proposal states.

'Separating the chair and CEO positions reduces this conflict, and an independent chair provides the clearest separation of power between the CEO and the rest of the board.'

Shareholders are trying to fire Mark Zuckerberg as chairman of Facebook because of the social media giant's 'mishandling' of recent scandals, including Cambridge Analytica and Russian meddling in the US election

The investment company says this oversight has contributed to Facebook 'missing or mishandling' several 'severe controversies' in past years, which they say increases risk exposure and costs to shareholders.

The specific examples the shareholders used include: Russian meddling in US election, the sharing of 87 million users' personal data with Cambridge Analytica, proliferating fake news and social unrest in Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

Chances of Zuckerberg's roles being split remain slim given Facebook has rejected similar shareholder requests in the past. A proposal last year to oust Zuckerberg as chairman received 51 percent of the votes.

The push to split Zuckerberg's role into two comes as the social media giant continues to face concerns, including:

Shares plummeting by some 21 percent, wiping out an estimated $150 billion in market value

European privacy rules that went into effect in May, which partly resulted in Europe users dropping from 377 million to 376 million

Fallout from Cambridge Analytica scandal in which personal data from 87 million Facebook users was collected, prompting several apologies from Zuckerberg

Facebooks new video feature allowing Infowars on its platform, despite it peddling conspiracy theories including that Sandy Hook was a hoax

Zuckerberg was also called on to remove harassing comments from Sandy Hook conspiracy theorists directed at the parents of victims

News of the proposal came just hours after Facebook shares went into a freefall on Wednesday as a stunningly weak financial outlook raised fresh concerns for the social networking giant.

After-hours trade saw Facebook shares plunge by some 21 percent, wiping out an estimated $150 billion in market value. If the share drop holds on Thursday, it would be Facebook's largest single-day decline, topping a 12 percent decrease in July 2012.

Zuckerberg's personal wealth also took a hit with him losing nearly $20 billion in just two hours. He saw his net worth tumble by $18.8billion, a record drop, in after-hours trading, taking him down four spots in Forbes' World Billionaires List.

He woke up as the fourth richest person in the world with an $82.4 billion net worth on Wednesday, but was in the eighth spot by the end of the day.

News of the proposal came just hours after Facebook shares went into a freefall on Wednesday as a stunningly weak financial outlook raised fresh concerns

Zuckerberg's personal wealth also took a hit with the founder losing nearly $20 billion in just two hours. He woke up as the fourth richest person in the world with an $82.4 billion net worth on Wednesday, but was in the eighth spot by the end of the day

Facebook's monthly active user count was 2.23 billion, slightly behind the 2.25 billion forecast by analysts. Users in Europe dropped from 377 million to 376 million, partly as a result of the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules.

The second-quarter results were the first sign that the new European privacy laws and a succession of privacy scandals involving Cambridge Analytica and other app developers have bit into Facebook's business.

Facebook executives made investors even more nervous when they warned of further revenue deceleration in a call with analysts, citing efforts to address concerns about poor handling of users' privacy and to better monitor what users post.

CFO David Wehner said Facebook expects to see high-single digit drops in year-over-year revenue growth during the next few quarters.

He cited the new GDPR rules, user privacy controls and currency headwinds as factors contributing to the deceleration.

Wehner reiterated that GDPR didn't have a significant impact on revenues because it was implemented toward the tail-end of the quarter, but he said that could change in the coming quarters.

'We do think there will be a modest impact and I don't want to overplay these factors,' Wehner said in the call with analysts.

'... We're continuing to focus our privacy model around putting privacy first. We believe that will have some impact on revenue growth. It's really a combination of how we're approaching privacy and GDPR and the like. All those factors together are... (things) we're considering.'

DAUs were 1.47 billion on average for June 2018, an increase of 11% year-over-year. Meanwhile, users in Europe dropped from 377 million to 376 million, partly as a result of the new General Data Protection Regulation rules

Monthly active users came in at 2.23 billion, which fell short of analysts' estimated 2.25 billion

The Cambridge Analytica scandal prompted several apologies from Zuckerberg and generated calls for users to desert Facebook, which has grown strongly since launching as a public company in 2012.

Ad sales in Facebook's second quarter rose 42 percent to $13.04 billion but the costs, bolstered by moves to improve content and security after the data scandal, rose 50 percent from a year earlier to $7.37 billion.

Total revenue rose 41.9 percent to $13.23 billion, while Wall Street was looking for revenue of $13.36 billion.

Ahead of the announcement, industry experts had predicted that the number of active users visiting the social network would either drop or flat line.

FACEBOOK EARNINGS IN FIGURES Daily active users (DAUs)  DAUs were 1.47 billion on average for June 2018, an increase of 11% year-over-year. Monthly active users (MAUs)  MAUs were 2.23 billion as of June 30, 2018, an increase of 11% year-over-year. Mobile advertising revenue  Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 91% of advertising revenue for the second quarter of 2018, up from approximately 87% of advertising revenue in the second quarter of 2017. Capital expenditures  Capital expenditures for the second quarter of 2018 were $3.46 billion. Cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities  Cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities were $42.31 billion at the end of the second quarter of 2018. Headcount  Headcount was 30,275 as of June 30, 2018, an increase of 47% year-over-year. Advertisement

Facebook has never reported anything other than user growth in Europe.

Still, Zuckerberg assured investors that Facebook continues to see growth on its core platform, as well as its other properties, which include Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger.

For the first time ever, Zuckerberg provided user growth data on those properties, saying that Facebook now has 2.5 billion people who use at least one of its apps, referring to users who may have an Instagram account, as well as a Facebook profile.

'Our community and business continue to grow quickly,' he said. 'We are committed to investing to keep people safe and secure, and to keep building meaningful new ways to help people connect.'

According to analysts, stalling numbers are likely the result of forcing Facebook users to consciously opt-in to having their information used for personal advertising - one of the key stipulations of the stringent GDPR rules.

GDPR, which came into affect May 25, stipulates that companies must explicitly request consent from their users in order to personal data for advertising purposes.

Companies that do not comply with GDPR can be fined up to four per cent of their global revenue.

To comply with the new regulations, Facebook rolled-out a security check-up to users worldwide which asked them to review what kind of personal information they consent to sharing for advertising targeting. Users were also asked to consent to facial recognition technology on the site.

Analysts believe users may have been scared off by the explicit details about how their data is being used by the social network.

Meanwhile, in addition to the financial woes, a promotional event for Facebooks new video feature descended into a shouting match on Wednesday, as reporters quizzed the social media giant's executives about its decision to allow Fox News and Infowars on the platform.

Ricky Van Veen, Head of Global Creative Strategy and Fidji Simo, Director of Product at Facebook, had combative exchanges with reporters at an event to promote Facebook Watch in Beverly Hills on Wednesday

Facebook will be featuring Fox News alongside other news organizations on Watch, while right-wing conspiracy theory site Infowars has a Facebook page that is followed by nearly a million people.

The debate at the Television Critics Association's press tour in Beverly Hills began when Facebook's head of video was asked why Facebook still hosted Infowars when it peddled conspiracy theories including calling the Sandy Hook massacre a hoax.

The reporter noted that Infowars host Alex Jones recently spread a fake story about special counsel Robert Mueller being a pedophile, telling his audience: 'They'd let Mueller rape kids in front of people, which he did.'

Fidji Simo replied that although he found Infowars 'absolutely atrocious', Facebook's approach to freedom of expression meant the company would only reduce the distribution of Infowars posts, rather than ban it completely.

Zuckerberg was also being called on to remove hateful and harassing comments from the social media platform that have been posted by conspiracy theorists who don't believe the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting happened.

Leonard Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa, the grieving parents of one of the 20 children killed in the 2012 Newtown shooting massacre, wrote Zuckerberg a letter published on Wednesday in The Guardian.

Pozner and De La Rosa say they and other relatives of mass shooting victims have been harassed and threatened on social media and in person by people who claim the shootings were government hoaxes and the victims - including their son Noah - were actors.

Leonard Pozner (left with Noah) and Veronique Pozner's (right) six-year-old son, Noah, died in the December 2012 Newtown shooting massacre. They wrote a letter to Zuckerberg saying they were being harassed on Facebook by conspiracy theorists

Noah Pozner was one of the 20 children killed in the 2012 Newtown shooting massacre

'Our families are in danger as a direct result of the hundreds of thousands of people who see and believe the lies and hate speech, which you have decided should be protected,' they wrote.

'We are unable to properly grieve for our baby or move on with our lives because you, arguably the most powerful man on the planet, have deemed that the attacks on us are immaterial, that providing assistance in removing threats is too cumbersome, and that our lives are less important than providing a safe haven for hate.'

Other parents of Sandy Hook victims and people affected by other mass shootings, including the one that killed 17 people at a Florida high school, have made similar requests of Facebook, Twitter and other social media companies.

Zuckerberg raised eyebrows in an interview with Recode last week when he said he finds denial of the Holocaust 'deeply offensive' but doesn't believe such content should be banned from Facebook.

'What we will do,' he said, 'is we'll say, 'Okay, you have your page, and if you're not trying to organize harm against someone, or attacking someone, then you can put up that content on your page, even if people might disagree with it or find it offensive.''

He also said in the interview that the claim the Sandy Hook shooting didn't happen is false.

'I also think that going to someone who is a victim of Sandy Hook and telling them, 'Hey, no, you're a liar' - that is harassment, and we actually will take that down,' Zuckerberg said.

In a statement Wednesday in response to the letter by Pozner and De La Rosa, a Facebook spokeswoman said the company recognizes that victims of mass shootings and other tragedies are 'vulnerable to offensive and incendiary comments.'

'Although we do see people come together on Facebook in very positive ways around tragedies, some of what we see is truly abhorrent and represents the worst of the internet and humanity,' the statement said. 'We don't allow people to mock, harass or bully the victims of tragedies. This includes the types of claims in the letter that victims are crisis actors. We also don't allow people to celebrate, justify or defend the tragedy in any way.'A university has apologised and axed a poster campaign featuring a young white woman meeting black children - after outraged academics branded it racist.

The University of Wolverhampton erected the posters on five billboards to promote the Bsc (Hons) Public Health Course for students going through clearing.

It features a picture of a young women in a white vest top with a messy bun hairdo facing hundreds of black children wearing mint-green school uniforms.

The University of Wolverhampton has been slammed over its use of this image to advertise the college as it encourages a range of negative stereotypes such as 'the great white saviour'

The college, pictured, commissioned the billboards to advertise their courses to students

Alongside the image, the slogan claimed: 'If you want to explore new worlds. Start here.'

But just days after it was launched, university officials were forced to scrap the campaign after a furious backlash on social media.

Nicole Andrews, 33, a health and social care lecturer at Newman University in Birmingham, posted a snap of the poster on Twitter and it quickly went viral.

She said: 'There's strands of colonialism, patriotism, racism, gender issues. It's a very difficult picture. I was pleased when it was taken down.'

Dr Helen Dexter, Associate Professor of International Politics at Leicester University, tweeted: 'This image is so offensive I am amazed anyone at The University of Wolverhampton thought it was appropriate. Please withdraw it immediately.'

However, many lecturers branded the advertisement as 'offensive' and should be removed

Fellow lecturers from around the world also voiced their fury at the poster.

Dr Lisa Ann Richey, professor of international development at Denmark's Roskilde University, tweeted: 'Voluntourism is not something we should claim is educational.

'In addition to the obvious neocolonialism of this ad, there is also the visual signage indicating that anyone can "explore new worlds" beginning at the lower back of a young, thin, white woman. Nothing good here.'

The poster, which was installed at five sites across Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Coventry, was also condemned by members of the university's own staff and students.

University blogger The Plashing Vole, wrote: 'Oh dear: the old 'white saviour' trope in which kindly white individuals solve the problems of grateful black people.'

One member of staff said: 'It's an emotive issue and I think you have to go on your initial gut instinct when you see it.

'Personally, when I saw it I cringed. It opens the university up to all sorts of accusations about racism and stereotypes.

'Personally, it struck a patronising tone which is a bit of an own goal for us.'

Second year economics student Glenn Marshal, 21, said: 'It's just an awful poster and screams racism to me and I'm not surprised it's stoked up such a reaction.

'Sadly, so-called patriots will be using it to slag off academics and brand them 'snowflakes' for moaning but I think when intelligent people take offensive, there is actually something in what they are saying.'

But other social media users have branded the row 'a storm in the teacup', and slammed the academics for taking offense.

Head of marketing Raman Sarpal said the billboard campaign has been withdrawn as a result of the backlash

Cockney Rick said: 'I really don't see the problem with the poster. It's a white woman standing in front of a group of black kids, so what?

'This is the 21st century and all the racism and other stuff has been put away. I have found that it's always, and I really do mean always, it's the white population that complain about this sort of thing, not the black population.

'It's a crazy world we live in.'

PJW Holland said: 'Proof of the blind bigotry that is our 'academia'.

'To me the message is clear. It shows a white person reaching out to explore the world of others who differ ethnically to her.'

Johno Thomo tweeted: 'No doubt the boffins have too much time of their hands with their 3 month holidays and fancy a whinge. If it was a black girl staring at white kids no one would bat an eyelid. storminateacup.'

The university said it never intended to offend anyone with the billboards.

Head of marketing Raman Sarpal said: 'Every year the university runs numerous creative campaigns across various channels around the UK.

'Following careful consideration the decision was taken to withdraw this particular advert, which is part of a wider campaign, and we are in the process of removing the image.

'It was never the intention to cause any offence, but we take feedback like this seriously. The university prides itself on having a diverse student body, and of being inclusive.'

Tweeting an apology to Dr Dexter after she branded it 'offensive', the university said: 'We take feedback like this very seriously.

'Following careful consideration the decision has been taken to withdraw the advert. It was never the intention to cause any offence. We appreciate you raising this with us.'An Arizona State Trooper was killed and another was injured after a suspect allegedly grabbed a trooper's gun and shot at the pair during a traffic stop.

The troopers were called about 10pm on Wednesday to reports of a car driving erratically on Interstate 10, near Phoenix, and objects being thrown from the vehicle at other cars, ABC reported.

Colonel Frank Milstead says when police arrived, there was a fracas between officers and the suspect  who managed to get hold of a gun, and fired at least two shots.

Tyler Edenhofer, 24, who had only graduated in May and was about to officially finish his trooper training, was killed, while Dalin Dorris, who Fox News reports has worked with the department since 2005, was shot in the shoulder.

Tyler Edenhofer, 24, was killed on Wednesday night after an agitated suspect allegedly stole a gun off a trooper while he was resisting arrest and fired at least two rounds. Edenhofer was formerly a marine

His family began sharing photographs of the newly graduated trooper on Thursday afternoon as they grieved for the young man

Colonel Milstead said he was 'incredibly proud' of the troopers, both those involved in Wednesday's ordeal and those who were not.

'I'm incredibly proud of the men and women who show up to do this job every day. They're brave enough to come out and face the unknown,' he said during a press conference on Thursday morning.

'Lives have been shattered and ruined, and we're all in a state of shock this morning.'

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has directed flags at all state office buildings will be lowered to half-mast from Thursday until sunset on Friday, in honor of Edenhofer

'Arizona today mourns the loss of one of our brave State Troopers, Trooper Tyler Edenhofer, who was killed in the line of duty, and we pray for the health of Trooper Dalin Dorris who sustained critical injuries during the incident,' he said.

Tyler Edenhofer was taken to hospital covered in an American flag rather than a white sheet after he was shot dead during a traffic stop

Police cars are seen flashing their lights as they wait for Edenhofer's body

'This tragedy is an all too real and heartbreaking reminder of the harm our heroic law enforcement officers face each and everyday for the safety and wellbeing of Arizonans, and for peace in our communities.'

Tyler is remembered as the 'kindest and best friend'

Edenhofer's friend Zachary Keller shared his grief online, calling the former marine his 'best friend'.

'You are the best and kindest person I knew,' he wrote.

'You didn't deserve to die tonight. You didn't deserve to be taken away from us. This ain't right.

'I'm lost, you are and always [will] be my brother. I love you - I cannot fathom the pain I have right now.

'You served this country in the navy and this community as a dps officer. You are a role model and most of all family. Rest in peace brother.'

The section of the I-10 where Edenhofer was killed, eastbound between Litchfield Road and Avondale Boulevard, is closed as police investigate.

There is no estimated time for reopening and drivers are advised to avoid the area.

Police are yet to name the suspect.Medicinal cannabis will be available on prescription for the first time in Britain from the autumn in a major shift announced by the Home Secretary today.

Sajid Javid said following advice from the chief medical officer, he would reclassify cannabis products used by doctors elsewhere in the world.

The dramatic change to policy comes after a scandal over epileptic boy Billy Caldwell being banned from taking cannabis oil prescribed abroad.

Billy was given back the medicine after a high profile campaign by his mother forced Mr Javid to grant a 20-day emergency licence for its use.

The Home Secretary insisted today's change was not the first step toward broader legalisation of cannabis.

Sajid Javid (left in Portugal today) said following advice from the chief medical officer, he would reclassify cannabis products used by doctors elsewhere in the world

Mr Javid said: 'Recent cases involving sick children made it clear to me that our position on cannabis-related medicinal products was not satisfactory.

'That is why we launched a review and set up an expert panel to advise on licence applications in exceptional circumstances.

'Following advice from two sets of independent advisors, I have taken the decision to reschedule cannabis-derived medicinal products  meaning they will be available on prescription.

'This will help patients with an exceptional clinical need, but is in no way a first step to the legalisation of cannabis for recreational use.'

Genevieve Edwards, Director of External Affairs at the MS Society, said: 'This is exceptional news and we want to thank the Home Secretary for the speed at which this decision has been made.

'We started campaigning for cannabis for MS exactly a year ago and it's incredible to see how far we've come since then. The priority now has to be making sure everyone who could benefit can access cannabis in a safe and responsible way.

'We plan to work closely with the Government to determine what exactly this will mean for people with MS. This life-changing decision could help thousands with the condition who haven't been able to find relief for their pain and muscle spasms.'

The dramatic change to policy comes after a scandal over epileptic boy Billy Caldwell being banned from taking cannabis oil prescribed in Canada

Mr Javid ordered a two part review into medicinal cannabis earlier this summer after the outcry over the drug.

In the first part of the review commissioned by the Home Secretary, the Chief Medical Advisor, Professor Dame Sally Davies, concluded that there is evidence that medicinal cannabis has therapeutic benefits.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) carried out the second part of the review, considering the appropriate schedule for cannabis-derived medicinal products, based on the balance of harms and public health requirements.

The ACMD recommended that such products meeting a clear definition of what constitutes a cannabis-derived medicinal product should be placed in Schedule 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001.

WHAT IS CBD OIL AND IS IT LEGAL IN THE UK? Government advisers made it legal to buy CBD supplements in 2016 CBD oil is a legal cannabinoid that can be sold in the UK. CBD contains less than 0.2 per cent of the psychoactive substance THC. Although the oil has been thought to have some medicinal properties, including relieving inflammation, pain and anxiety, there is no conclusive science. Suppliers in England and Wales have to obtain a licence to sell CBD as a medicine. Manufacturers are able to avoid the strict regulation by selling it as a food supplement - ignoring the lengthy process of gaining a medicinal licence. CBD products comes in many forms, the most popular being an oil - which users spray under their tongue - or gel tablets which melt slowly in the mouth. Government advisers at the MHRA found that CBD has a restoring, correcting or modifying effect on humans. Cannabis oil, which is different to CBD oil because it contains THC - the compound that gives users a 'high' - is illegal under UK laws. Billy Caldwell, from Castlederg, Northern Ireland, made headlines last April when he became the first Briton to be prescribed it on the NHS. Cannabis oil, which reportedly has no side effects, influences the release and uptake of feel good chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin. Advertisement

It said there is evidence of medicinal benefits from some of these products in certain circumstances.

It recommended doctors in the UK should have the option to prescribe cannabis-derived medicinal products for their patients.

In line with the ACMD's recommendations, the Department for Health and the Home Office will develop additional frameworks and clinical guidelines to ensure that cannabis-derived medicinal products can be prescribed safely to patients but cannot be traded illicitly.

Mother who fought for her sick son... and changed the law

By Claire Duffin for The Daily Mail

Pictured: Mother Charlotte Cauldwell with son Billy

It was a mother's emotional appeal to get cannabis for her sick son that sparked a national debate on the legalisation of the drug.

Few could fail to be moved by Charlotte Caldwell's desperate pleas to be allowed to give her epileptic son Billy, then 12, cannabis oil to help control his seizures after her supply was seized by customs officials at Heathrow in June.

Just four days later, her worst fears were realised when, without his medication, Billy suffered a life-threatening fit and was taken to London's Chelsea and Westminster Hospital where Miss Caldwell condemned his 'callous treatment' at the hands of the law.

Billy's story sparked outrage and within hours, the Home Office had granted a 20-day licence for the use of the banned substance and the Government announced a review of the current laws.

But it later emerged Miss Caldwell was linked to a web of drugs manufacturers and cannabis pressure groups who all want to see the laws on the drug relaxed across the board, not just for medicinal purposes.

Her campaign was also being bankrolled by a multi-millionaire businessman who is intent on seeing marijuana fully legalised in the UK, the Daily Mail discovered.

Their affiliation raise troubling questions about whether Miss Caldwell  and Billy  had unwittingly been taken advantage of by those who seek to change the law on cannabis.

The medicinal cannabis industry is staggeringly lucrative, so much so that in California it is being compared to the Gold Rush. Many children have travelled abroad for the treatment.

But it is seen by many to be a Trojan horse in the battle to legalise cannabis for recreational purposes as well.

Miss Caldwell's campaign was being funded by Paul Birch, the British tech tycoon who founded the Cannabis is Safer than Alcohol (CISTA) political party.

Her 52-year-old backer Mr Birch, who has admitted consuming cannabis since he was 23, campaigned ahead of the 2015 general election for the legislation of recreational marijuana in Britain.

He is also the founder of UK think-tank Volteface, which has called for the legalisation of medicinal and recreational cannabis in this country, and which also supported Miss Caldwell with her campaign.

It also emerged that Miss Caldwell was supplied with cannabis oil by Tilray, a Canadian company with close links to Volteface.

Tilray, which the same month announced plans for a $100million (76million) float on an American stock exchange, is owned by Privateer Holdings  a private equity firm whose other companies sell cannabis products for legal recreational use in the United States.

And Privateer Holdings funded a trip to Seattle for Labour MP Jeff Smith and Tory MP Crispin Blunt, both of whom have been instrumental in driving the legalisation Bill through the Commons.

Mr Blunt and Mr Smith both put their name to a Private Members' Bill, which was introduced last year by Labour's Paul Flynn, calling for the production, supply, possession and use of cannabis and cannabis resin to be allowed for medicinal purposes.

It was due to have its second reading in October.

Miss Caldwell had also set up her own business to sell bottles of legal cannabis oil  named Billy's Bud after her son  and registered a second company offering what she refers to as 'medical products' to raise money for him.

Furthermore, she conceded her decision to bring the cannabis oil into this country  sparking the tearful scenes at the airport  was in fact part of a well-orchestrated strategy to change Britain's laws on cannabis.

'It was a stand I was making,' she said. 'What I wanted to happen was they [the Custom Officers] would let us through with the medicine and that would have been the UK Government recognising this cannabis has medicinal purposes.'

Miss Caldwell, from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, insisted she has not made a fortune through her firm Billy's Bud.

She said her battle had 'nothing to do with recreational cannabis use' and its legalisation.

But she admitted there may be those in the industry who 'see a good story' and want to 'jump on the bandwagon'.

Yesterday, perhaps not surprisingly, her powerful backers were among the first to offer their congratulations, after Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced medicinal cannabis would be made available on prescription.

On Twitter, Volteface thanked Mr Birch for his 'visionary philanthropy' which 'provided the resources to make this possible'.

Miss Caldwell said she was 'beyond delighted' at the announcement, which came on Billy's 13th birthday, but said she now wanted to see responsibility for cannabis passed from the Home Office to the Department of Health.

'It's been an eternity and the click of the fingers at the same time,' she said.A patient is said to have stolen an ambulance from an Arizona hospital in an effort to go get a sandwich, according to local police.

Todd Shell, 37, had just been released from Banner Desert Hospital after suffering a heat-related issue on Tuesday.

Believing that it was too hot, he was said to have seen an ambulance running in the hospital's bay area while the crew was dropping off another patient.

Temperatures for the day was a sweltering 115 degrees.

Todd Shell, 37, had just been released from Banner Desert Hospital after suffering a heat-related issue

Mesa Police used GPS to track down the ambulance that was driving down U.S. 60.

With assistance from the Department of Public Safety, police tried to stop Shell but he existed the freeway.

'Shell said that he wanted to buy a sandwich, but need to go home and get some money first. He said that he intended to return the ambulance,' police said, according to Fox 10.

Shell thought it was too hot and saw an ambulance running in the hospital's bay area while the crew was dropping off another patient

The man was booked for one count of unlawful use of means of transportation and one count of unlawful flight from law enforcement. Both count as class 5 felonies.

The ambulance was not damaged and returned to be used in service.

Danny Gyles with Phoenix Fire explained that its common for EMTs to leave keys in the ignition when bringing a patient into the ER.

'A lot of times, it has to do with the severity of the call, or working a serious patient in the back. You know keys may get left in the ignition,' he said.KNXV-TV(GOODYEAR, Ariz.) -- An Arizona trooper who just graduated the academy in May was shot dead when a suspect stole a police officer's gun during a struggle, authorities said.



"The [Department of Public Safety] family is in mourning," Colonel Frank Milstead of the Arizona Department of Public Safety said at a news conference. "Lives have been shattered and ruined."



The attack unfolded Wednesday night after authorities received calls about a driver swerving in and out of the lanes of Interstate 10, throwing items at cars, Milstead said.



One trooper arrived, followed by two more troopers, including one who was finishing his field training, Milstead said.

A fight broke out, during which two police officers from Goodyear, Arizona, arrived and helped try to take the suspect into custody, Milstead said.



During the struggle, one of the trooper's guns was taken by the suspect, Milstead said. The suspect then fired from the trooper's weapon, hitting troopers Dalin Dorris and Tyler Edenhofer, he said.



Dorris is in "good spirits, considering the circumstances," Milstead said.



But Edenhofer -- who had just graduated from the state trooper academy in May -- died from his injuries, Milstead said.

"We're all in a little bit of a state of shock this morning," Milstead said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family."



It was not immediately clear which trooper's gun was stolen.



Edenhofer's death came just hours after a 17-year veteran of the Milwaukee Police Department veteran was shot dead in the line of duty in Wisconsin.



Gunfire was the leading cause of death among the 73 officers killed in the first half of this year, accounting for 42 percent of the deaths, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.The parents of tragic Love Island star Sophie Gradon have spoken out to deny she was involved in a suicide pact with her boyfriend and two of his pals.

Referring to boyfriend Aaron Armstrong only by his surname, Colin and Deborah Gradon say they had never met him and he and Sophie had only been together five weeks.

Mr and Mrs Gradon said in a statement that any suggestion of a pact between their 'darling daughter,' Aaron and two other young men, brothers Darryl and Dylan Smith, was 'malicious and cruel.'

Love Island star Sophie Gradon's parents have denied she was in a suicide pact with her boyfriend Aaron Armstrong and his two friends. Pictured: Sophie and Aaron

Mr and Mrs Gradon said in a statement any suggestion of a pact between their 'darling daughter,' Aaron and two other young men, brothers Darryl and Dylan Smith, is 'malicious and cruel.' Pictured: Darryl, left, and Dylan, right

The friends all grew up in and around the seaside town on Blyth, Northumberland, and appear to have taken their lives within a month of each other

Last week Darryl and Dylan Smith's dad Billy told Mail Online all four knew each other and grew up in Blyth, Northumberland.

Mr Smith said: 'They were all friends, they had grown up together. 'They'd known each other all of their lives. It's simply tragic they have all died within such a short space of time.

'These deaths highlight the fact there is a mental health epidemic among young people. There needs to be more help out there. The problem is it's not spoken about.

'It's a cultural thing, especially among young men, they do not open up. Things need to change. Schools should teach about mental health more, and young people should be encouraged to open up.'

Colin and Deborah Gradon, of Medburn, Northumberland, said on Thursday: 'Having recently read so many inaccurate reports surrounding the sorrowful passing of brothers Darryl and Dylan Smith, we feel bound to amend the mistakes made.

Sophie's death, thought to be a suicide, garnered hundred of tributes before she was laid to rest in her native Newcastle. Pictured: Aaron and Sophie together

Dozens of supercars congregated at a coastal beauty spot last night to pay tribute to Aaron Armstong, who was found dead just three weeks after his Love Island star girlfriend Sophie Gaddon apparently killed herself

'Our daughter Sophie had never met and did not know either of the brothers. Sophie did not ''grow up'' with them and has never lived in Blyth.

'Sophie spent an idyllic childhood in Gosforth, Newcastle, and then moved at the age of 10 to Ponteland in Northumberland.

'Sophie told us she had just met someone new and had been on a lunch date with him. She was excited at the prospect of starting a new relationship and it was her fullest intention to introduce us to him when the time was right.

'At the time of Sophie's sudden and tragic passing, she had only been involved with Armstrong for five weeks. To imply that there was some kind of pact between the Smith brothers, Armstrong and our darling daughter is both malicious and cruel.

'However, we do offer our heartfelt sympathy to the Smith family at this distressing time.'

Tributes poured in after Sophie died at the age of 32.

Posting on social media in the run-up to his death, Aaron made reference to seeing Sophie again, writing: 'I will never stop loving u and my heart will be yours until the day I join you I will see u very soon my angel so keep are bed warm for me'

Over the years Sophie has juggled positions in marketing and recruitment with working as a model and reality TV star

The former Miss Newcastle, who was later crowned Miss Great Britain in 2009 and later appeared in the 2016 series of ITV2 Love Island, was found at the family home in Medburn, Ponteland, on June 22.

Nine days earlier barber Darryl Smith, 27, was found dead at his home in Blyth.

Then on July 10, Sophie's distraught boyfriend Aaron Armstrong, 25, who had attended Darryl's funeral, was found dead at his home in Blyth shortly after writing 'I will see u very soon my angel' on social media.

Finally, on July 15, Dylan Smith, Darryl's younger brother, was found dead aged 22, days after telling mourners his brother was his 'best friend, brother and father figure'.

Northumbria Police have said that none of their deaths are being treated as suspicious.

Loved ones honoured him last night with a 'car meet' on the eve of his funeral. Hundreds of heartbroken friends gathered by Blyth Beach to share memories and celebrate the petrolhead's love for all things 'adrenaline'

Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and a Rolls Royce Phantom were among the supercars to gather in Mermaid Car Park by the beach

The event was organised by Ryan Gallagher, who had been close friends with Aaron for a decade after meeting in a gym

The Gradon's comments comes after dozens of supercars congregated at a coastal beauty spot last night to pay tribute to Armstong.

Loved ones honoured him last night with a 'car meet' on the eve of his funeral. Hundreds of heartbroken friends gathered by Blyth Beach to share memories and celebrate the petrolhead's love for all things 'adrenaline'.

Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and a Rolls Royce Phantom were among the supercars to gather in Mermaid Car Park by the beach.

The event was organised by Ryan Gallagher, who had been close friends with Aaron for a decade after meeting in a gym.

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, or see samaritans.org for details.Officer Aaron Cody Smith is charged with murder for shooting an unarmed black man in 2016

A white Alabama police officer charged with murder in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man is asking a judge to rule that he's immune from prosecution.

Circuit Judge Greg Griffin has scheduled a hearing Thursday to consider the request by Montgomery police officer Aaron Cody Smith.

Smith is set for trial next month for the 2016 killing of 58-year-old Greg Gunn.

Authorities said Smith, 23 at the time, killed Gunn after confronting the man as he walked through his neighborhood.

An investigation determined the shooting was not justified, and grand jurors charged Smith with murder.

But Smith argues in court documents that he was acting in self-defense and should not be prosecuted.

The judge could throw out the case if he agrees.

Greg Gunn, 58, was shot dead while walking home in Montgomery, Alabama

Court records show the defense has subpoenaed dozens of potential witnesses.

Gunn, a grocer, was walking home from a weekly card game in March 2016.

Authorities initially said Smith deemed Gunn 'suspicious' because he was holding 'a stick'.

Smith, who joined the force in 2012, left his car and approached Gunn on foot. A struggle ensued before Smith fatally shot Gunn.

But a neighbor of Gunn tells The Associated Press the stick was actually an extension handle for a paint roller that belonged to him.

This case is just one of many that highlights police brutality against black men and Gunn's death incited protesters to march the streets.

Gunn's younger brother told the Post at the time of his death his brother was 'was racially profiled'.

'I know he was racially profiled,' Franklin Gunn said. 'He was black. That was the only thing suspicious about him.

'They thought he was a low-life nothing, walking the street,' he added.

'They didn't see a man. They didn't see a black man. They saw somebody who needed to die, and they executed him. Now they are trying to cover it up.'

His death incited protesters who marched against police brutality, pictured March 5, 2016

Smith was charged with murder but is now asking for immunity from prosecution because he says he acted in 'self-defense'

Back in September the Alabama Supreme Court temporarily paused the murder trial as it considered a defense request to remove the judge because of a social media post.

In the post Judge Griffin complained about being racially profiled by police.

The defense appealed after Griffin declined to step aside following a contentious hearing.

In his post the judge stated: 'I was on my morning walk when I was detained briefly by police.'

'The officer said that they had recieved a call that someone fittin gmy description was walking with a cropwbar. I told the officer that the thing in my hand was clearly not a crowbar and walking with a crowbar is not illegal,' he continued.

'Throughout the ordeal the officers were courteous; however, it was aggravating to be detained when the only thing I was guilty of was being a black man walking down the street with a stick of his hand.'Miami Beach hotel staff will soon be just a button push away from help in the event they fear they may be sexually assaulted.

Housekeepers at Miami Beach hotels will be armed with panic buttons, following similar ordinances in other large cities.

'I heard the statistics out of Chicago; 56 percent of women who work in hotel rooms were getting sexually harassed,' Miami Beach Commissioner Kristin Rosen Gonzalez told Local 10.

Rosen Gonzalez was shocked to hear about the behavior hotel staffers are exposed to by guests.

Hotel staff in Miami Beach will soon be equipped with panic buttons to alert authorities in the event they feel threatened by a potential sexual assault

Miami Beach follows Chicago and Seattle in equipping staff with the devices- there will also be signs on hotel doors warning guests staff has the buttons at the ready

'Their bathrobes are open. They are touching women in inappropriate places,' Rosen Gonzalez said. 'It's just not fair.'

One hotel worker described an incident that happened to her.

'In my own personal experience, one day I'm doing my job, cleaning a room and suddenly a man walked and got up very close behind me without me knowing it,' Oneilia Broche said in Spanish.

If the ordinance passes, there will be signs on hotel doors alerting guests that staff is equipped with the devices

If the ordinance passes, there will also be a sign on the hotel door letting guests know that the staff is equipped with the device.

The push of the button will alert authorities.

The Miami Beach hotel workforce will be fully equipped by August of 2019

'I think it will go a long way toward changing behavior and that's what we wanted to do,' Rosen Gonzalez said.

The city approved the safety measure Wednesday, with it set to go into effect in August of 2019.

Rosen Gonzalez proposed the measure saying 'changing inappropriate behavior in hospitality, adding that guests who are typically men have 'gotten away with this behavior for way too long.'

The buttons can also help alert authorities of other crimes or emergencies.

Miami Beach will join Seattle and Chicago in mandating the devices in hotels.A former science teacher burst into tears today as she denied murdering her three-year-old daughter by drowning her.

Claire Colebourn, 35, is accused of killing her daughter Bethan by drowning her at their 400,000 home in Fordingbridge, Hampshire.

Bethan was rushed to Salisbury District Hospital, Wiltshire, on October 19 last year, after emergency services were called to the converted bungalow.

Claire Colebourn broke down in tears in court as she denied murdering her daughter Bethan, pictured, by drowning her at her 400,000 family home

However, the 'fun-loving, adventurous' little girl was tragically pronounced dead at hospital.

Appearing today at Winchester Crown Court, Hampshire, Colebourn, now of Oxford, spoke only to confirm her name and enter her plea.

Colebourn, whose husband Michael works as chief executive officer of luxury marine interior company Trimline, broke into tears as the charges were read out to her.

Judge Keith Cutler remanded her in custody until her trial, which is due to start on March 5 next year.

Bethan's father Michael Colebourn, pictured, who runs a luxury marine design firm, previously paid tribute to his daughter and described her as 'fun-loving, adventurous and caring'

The court heard the trial, which will be heard by a high court judge, will last up to three weeks.

Judge Cutler said: 'This is the case of Claire Colebourn, who faces the charge of murder of Bethan Colebourn, her three-year-old daughter.

'She has pleaded not guilty.

'This is a terrible and tragic case, which needs full investigation and I completely support the work being done to contact a number of experts.

'It has been decided that this case should be tried before a high court judge, but the availability is very limited.

'In the circumstances, we have a full slot for this trial beginning March 5, 2019.

'Mrs Colebourn, that's it for today. I adjourn this case over for trial. Thank you for attending and I remand you back into custody.'

Heartbroken Mr Colebourn, 37, who did not attend the hearing today, paid tribute to his daughter at the time of her death.

In a tribute, released by the family, they said: 'Family and friends are devastated at our tragic loss.

Colebourn allegedly killed her daughter at the families converted bungalow in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, pictured

'Bethan brought so much happiness and joy to so many people's lives.

'Bethan was a fun loving, adventurous and caring young girl who will be dearly missed.

'She will be in our hearts and minds forever.'

Colebourn denies one count of murder.A California gallery owner tricked into thinking she was looking at portraits painted with feces during Sacha Baron Cohen's new show is now selling one of the artworks for $1million after he mailed it to her.

Christy Cones, who works at Coast Gallery in Laguna Beach, sat down for an interview with Cohen in disguise as Rick Sherman, a recently-released convict.

As part of the sketch, Rick attempts to sell her paintings that he completed while behind bars - before revealing they were made with his own feces and semen.

At one point he even goes to the bathroom to do a 'fresh' sketch, before reemerging with a portrait of Cones painted with thick brown strokes on wet paper.

Christy Cones was duped by Sacha Baron Cohen for his new show Who Is America, sitting down for an interview with one of his characters named Rick Sherman

During the show Rick reveals that he paints portraits using his own feces after learning how to do it in prison, before running to the bathroom to do a sketch of Christy

After the episode featuring Cones aired last week, she received a package from 'Rick' containing her portrait.

Cones even uploaded footage of herself unwrapping the 'gift' to YouTube.

'Well, well, well,' she says after taking the packaging off, 'there's a familiar face. Looks like my original.

'Thanks Mr Sherman. Thanks for opening everybody's eyes to what art can be.'

Cones is now selling the painting for $1million, according to TMZ, which also published a letter 'Rick' sent to her.

In it, he claims to be back in prison again and painting on his cell walls, before saying he found the paining - dubbed 'Catharsis on Christy' - in his bag when he got home.

After the episode aired Cohen mailed Christy the sketch along with a note from Rick, which she has now jokingly put up for sale for $1million

'Its been bothering me so I wanted to return it. Please accept my gift of 'Catharsis on Christy' - it comes from the bottom of my heart - or should I say the heart of my bottom!,' he wrote.

As part of the same episode, Christy was also duped into cutting off some of her public hairs and giving them to Rick to make a special paintbrush out of.

That stunt has led to an unhappy trend of people mailing hair from their own private areas to her, TMZ reports.

However, on the plus side, there has been an uptick in visitors to the gallery since the episode aired.

While Christy is not convinced the paintings were actually made from feces, she told Vulture that whatever Cohen did use smelled convincing.

Other more prominent figures have also been duped by Cohen, including Dick Cheney (pictured) who signed a 'waterboarding kit'

Jason Spencer, a GOP lawmaker, has also been forced to resign after he dropped his trousers and shouted the N-word during a sketch

'When I went in the bathroom afterward, it smelled really bad,' she said. 'I was afraid to touch anything because I'm a bit of a hypochondriac.

'When he brought that painting out to show me, I was like, ewwww. Of course they didn't show that part.'

Cohen has managed to dupe several well-known political figures including Dick Cheney and Bernie Sanders into doing interview for the show.

GOP lawmaker Jason Spencer was also forced to resign after Cohen duped him into shouting the N-word and dropping his trousers during a segment.

Sarah Palin is also another prominent target of Cohen's, though the episode featuring the former Alaska governor has yet to air.

Palin has lashed out at Cohen over the recording, accusing him of 'false valor' by posing as a disabled veteran for the interview.Omarosa Manigualt-Newman upcoming book about the President Trump is titled Unhinged: An Insiders Account of the Trump White House.

Omarosa is the latest former Trump aide to land a book deal, DailyMail.com revealed on Wednesday, and it promises to be the juiciest yet.

Omarosa is the latest former Trump aide to land a book deal, DailyMail.com revealed on Wednesday, and it promises to be the juiciest yet.

The former assistant to the president has signed a seven-figure deal with Gallery Books - a division of Simon & Schuster - seven months after her dramatic departure from the White House.

According to the publisher, 'Their relationship has spanned fifteen yearsthrough four television shows, a presidential campaign, and a year by his side in the most chaotic, outrageous White House in history.

'But that relationship has come to a decisive and definitive end, and Omarosa is finally ready to share her side of the story in this explosive, jaw-dropping account.'

Details of the contract remain under wraps, but the new book will be a bright spot for Omarosa who has had a tough transition back to civilian life since leaving Washington.

The book is expected to be published next month.

Former assistant to the president Omarosa Manigault has landed a book deal with Simon & Schuster seven months after her dramatic departure from the White House

Sources tell DailyMail.com that she has been a bit 'downhearted' dealing with the aftermath of being exiled by the man who she once called her friend.

'Once she was gone from the White House, Trump cut her off completely. He never tweeted about her or said a bad thing like he's done to others; but he ceased all correspondences with her,' the insider claimed.

The 44-year-old has since struggled to book speaking gigs or appearances, and waited to secure the best publishing deal.

'She was smart to drop nuggets of information while on Celebrity Big Brother to get people tantalized. That certainly helped in her finally getting the best publishing,' the source said.

'She knew that Celebrity Big Brother might be make or break for her landing a book deal and she maximized that moment.'

Omarosa, who served as director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison, was supposedly fired on December 13, 2017 following reports of an altercation with Chief of Staff John Kelly.

Her controversial termination made headlines after it was reported that security had to carry her out of the White House.

She later denied those claims and insisted she had resigned from her post.

The former Apprentice star then appeared on Good Morning America in an exclusive interview with Michael Strahan where she repeatedly teased that she had a 'story' to tell.

Omarosa served as Trump's assistant and as director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison until her dramatic exit in December 2017

Following her departure, the infamous reality TV villain teased in interviews and on television that she had a 'story' to tell. Above she is pictured during press briefing alongside White House aide Kellyanne Conway and former comms director Hope Hicks.

'I have seen things that have made me uncomfortable, that have upset me, that have affected me deeply and emotionally,' she said.

Her dramatic interview, however, did not move GMA anchor Robin Roberts, who believed her appearance was her own shameless plug for a book deal and dismissed her antics with 'Bye, Felicia,' a pop culture catch-phrase.

Omarosa is expected to include some of the stories she shared and the ones she teased to Strahan in the upcoming book.

Omarosa then joined the cast of CBS's Celebrity Big Brother where she made headlines for comparing the White House to a plantation; saying she was 'haunted' by Trump's tweets 'every single day;' and telling house guest Ross Matthews that she didn't think America was in good hands.

'No, it's not gonna be okay,' she said, appearing to tear up.

She ended up being the fifth runner-up on the show, evicted during the show's two-hour finale. But she had created plenty of headlines and melodrama along the way.

After the finale of the CBS reality series, her career appeared to come to a screeching halt.

Omarosa moved back to Jacksonville, Florida full time, where her husband, Pastor John Newman is based.

He leads The Sanctuary at Mt. Calvary Church in Jacksonville.

On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Omarosa has been interviewed by federal investigators in the Trump-Cohen probe.

Omarosa previously worked as an editor for OK! Magazine and now-defunct Reality Weekly - which is owned by American Media Inc - which has been accused of paying off former Playboy model Karen McDougal for her story about her affair with the president.

The WSJ reports that Cohen had handled a dispute between Omarosa and AMI after she sued the company over its coverage of her brother's murder in 2011.A baby girl who went missing in Phoenix in 1994 has been found alive and well after 24 years.

Police had been searching for Aleacia Stanci for nearly a quarter-century when an age-progression photo linked the case to a woman in Connecticut.

In December of 1994, Aleacia's mother Toni gave the then-nine-month-old to a family friend saying that she needed a few days to 'clear her head', according to AZFamily.com.

When Toni returned two days later, no one could say where the infant had ended up.

Aleacia Stanci went missing at just nine months old in Phoenix, Arizona (left). She was found alive and well in Connecticut 24 years later with help from an age-progression image (right)

Aleacia was said to have been passed from friend to friend until she was ultimately handed over to police, who had no way of identifying her at the time.

Her mother, an Air Force veteran who struggled with drug use and was involved in prostitution, ended up in jail soon after she returned and didn't report her daughter missing until March 1995.

Authorities failed to link the missing persons case to the infant who was by then under the care of Child Protective Services.

That same year, Toni was found murdered, leaving investigators without a single witness in the case.

Aleacia's mother Toni is pictured in an undated mugshot. She was murdered in 1995

The case warmed back up in 2008 after cold-case detectives reviewed the information available with help from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

They gathered information and DNA from family members to develop a profile for the missing girl.

Software was also used to create age-progression photos depicting what she may look like now.

Six years down the road in 2014, a woman was checked into a hospital in Connecticut without any ID, drawing suspicion from a nurse who found the age-progression photo in the national missing person database and contacted police.

Police took the woman's DNA for testing, and three years later it was matched to the missing baby.

Authorities determined that there was no foul play in the baby's disappearance and the case was closed.

The 24-year-old was adopted as a child and now goes by a different name.

She reportedly met with her biological grandmother, Frances Ford, who told AZFamily.com that the young adult wants to keep her life private.

'I would want the world to know that these are the things that can happen to kids, and not every story is not a happily-ever-after, and it doesn't mean that they came from someone who didn't want them or didn't care,' said Ford, who is currently living in Georgia.An 'outraged' EasyJet passenger found her luggage had been 'ripped open and shredded' after a flight from Spain to Gatwick.

Jiwon Choi posted pictured on Facebook of her Bossana bag which appeared to have buckled.

She was also furious to find her clothes and other items crushed and 'left covered in soot'.

Miss Choi, who flew from Seville to London last Thursday, wrote on Facebook: 'An otherwise beautiful trip was ruined by this outrageous experience.

Jiwon Choi has been left 'outraged' over finding her luggage 'shredded' (pictured) after taking an EasyJet flight from Seville to London Gatwick

The PhD student at Exeter University, pictured, said there was no sign of an explosion or fire in the bag

Miss Choi posted the pictures of the damage on Facebook along with a long complaint about her difficulties dealing with the airline

'Their answer made me outraged even more, because without any single word of apologies, they asked me to send more photos "clearly showing the brand of luggage".'

The PhD student at Exeter University added: 'I was also asked to provide information such as the number ofwheels it had, and dimension of the suitcase.

'I had to take measures of this totally smashed suitcase for their documentation. This is absolutely unfair.'

Responding to online comments about whether there had been an 'explosion' in the bag, she wrote: 'I did not carry any dangerous or restricted items, and indeed there is no sense of fire.

'No smell, no melted stuffs, and even papers survived without being burnt.'

She also went on to describe the explanation EasyJet tried to give her.

She added: 'The EasyJet staffs said they found it fallen off from a cargo vehicle for something (and possibly it was dragged all the roadway).

'There is also a chance that it was jammed underneath the conveyor belt.'

The pictures show the contents of the suitcase were also ripped up and 'covered in soot'

Some of her clothes had huge tears in them and the bag itself appeared to have buckled

Marc Owen Jones said: 'How the hell did they do that? It must have fallen off and been run over.'

Nada Abdulla commented: 'Oh it looks like it was burnt! It's really scary! Hope you manage to get compensated.'

Phillippa Thomas said: 'Totally disgusting, they need to compensate you seek legal advice'

Lilo Rf said: 'Jesus! That luggage must have been on the turbine or something. Wtf.'

A spokesman for the airline said today: 'EasyJet is sorry for the damage caused to Ms Choi's bag whilst in transit.

'We work closely with all of our airport partners to ensure our passengers' bags are handled securely and with care and are investigating this with our ground handling provider at London Gatwick Airport.

'EasyJet flies on average over 1700 flights per day across more than 30 countries and incidents of damaged luggage are extremely low.

'Our team is contacting Ms Choi to offer a gesture of goodwill for inconvenience caused.'

Other items including toiletries and accessories had been smashed and appeared dirty

The airline have been under the heat recently over damaged luggage.

Earlier this year, a passenger had to wait two weeks for her luggage to turn up, and when it did eventually arrive, it was ripped to shreds.

Dr Tamasine Hedderly was furious to find her luggage in bits after a holiday to Rome.

'My Antler suitcase cost 250 and when I rang the shop they couldn't believe how damaged it was.'Advertisement

Completing superhuman tasks in the deadliest of conditions, from deep mines to dangerous volcanoes, its hard to believe the workers in these stark images earn a pittance for putting their lives on the line.

Australian photographer Hugh Brown has travelled the globe to capture workers in the world's most extreme surroundings toiling for a wage as low as just $1 a day.

Up to 30million people worldwide are forced to work in crippling conditions  from deep within underground mines, on the top of mountains and along the side of sheer cliff-faces.

A woman - an illegal coal scavenger - hauls a heavy block of coal out of an operating open-cut coal mine in eastern India. She is a member of India's Adivasi indigenous people, working in Jharkhand

A miner chisels out chunks of sulphur as he readies his basket to carry out of the bowels of the Ijen volcano in East Java, Indonesia. Miners carry an average 154-pound (70kg) load about a mile up and out of the volcano and then about a further two miles down to a weigh station. Each miner undertakes an average of two such loads per day and receives payment of around US$0.09 per kilogramme carried. This miner can be seen chewing on his scarf to help prevent the ingress of sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulphide into his body

High up in northern Pakistan's Karakorum Range an illegal gem miner climbs up to his mine, located just short of 5,000 metres up the rocky incline

Photographed in Cameroon, 2017, this sand diver, Simon, was the strongest diver on this section of river. A former boxer, he was a self-made man. Working his way up to buy his first pirogue (narrow canoe made from a tree trunk), and then a second, a third and finally a fourth vessel, Simon said he harboured ambitions to move abroad and start a new life. On average each diver retrieved around 1.7 tonnes of sand in a roughly three-hour-long shift. This is an incredible achievement given that each bucket held around 15 kilos of sand

An artisanal gem miner works high in Northern Pakistan's Karakorum Range. Because of the very high altitude - just short of 5,000 metres - the mining season lasts only three months, before and after which the risk of avalanche and rock falls become too great and access to water is all but eliminated due to a nearby spring freezing up

Photographer Hugh Brown has spent more than eight years uncovering those who are exposed to the harshest and most dangerous ways of making a living. Up to 30million people worldwide are forced to work in crippling conditions - from deep within underground mines, to the top of mountains. Above: these employees fill every possible space to go to work

A man dives for sand in the fast-moving Douala Estuary in eastern Cameroon. The work is brutal and dangerous, particularly when diving around low tide. Deaths occur periodically and some of the hazards include sand being swept into their ears and major orifices. Another potential danger is being knocked out while heading towards the hull of the boat when surfacing too quickly in the wrong place, and then drowning upon being washed away by the tide. Venomous snakes are known to come down on floating weed, and the estuary is also home to stingrays

A meat vendor brings goats to supply to the gem miners high in Pakistan's Karakorum Range. Because of the very high altitude - just short of 5,000 metres - all supplies andequipment must be brought in from the villages and valleybelow

Brown has spent more than eight years uncovering those who are exposed to the harshest and most dangerous ways of making a living.

Travelling around the world, he visited workplaces in the likes of India, Pakistan and Bolivia as well as Ghana, Mali and Senegal.

His dramatic photographs reveal those risking their lives to collect resources like coal, silver, gems, and copper, while enduring harsh working conditions including environmental degradation, people trafficking, and organised crime.

Despite the incredibly tough situations forced upon them, Brown spoke about his surprise at finding that many of the people he photographed do not consider themselves working in hardship.

'The apparent brutality that we are seeing the working conditions of the miners creates a sense of resilience and strength that I feel we are lacking in the developed world,' he said.

Cerro Rico, Bolivia, 2016: A percussion underground silver miner manually chisels out blast holes for the placement of dynamite deep in Cerro Rico's underground silver mines. In an eight-hour shift this miner will be lucky to chisel out between two-to-four 30 centimetre blast holes

Above: A miners' grave yard in Cerro Rico, Bolivia, 2016. Photographer Hugh Brown's images have now been documented in a thought-provoking project named 'The Cruellest Earth', and will also be turned into a photographic art book

Sulphur miners haul sulphur up an arduous path out of Indonesia's Ijen volcano. Australian photographer Hugh Brown said: 'The story of these people - some of the poorest and hardest-working on the planet - needs to be told'

Miner in Burkina Faso 2010: Weathered by years of hard work the man pictured above is in reality 'no different to the people of the world's major cities', according to the photographer. He had sacrificed working in the villages and fields for the prospect of a better life. Earning money in the mines can be infinitely better when compared to other vocations if one strikes it rich. But as the hours are long and the work is dangerous, many people die

At first glance, it may look like this worker is holding a gun, but this underground gem miner is in fact working with a rock drill high in Northern Pakistan's Karakorum Range. While mines were technically supposed to be around three feet apart, these separations have been reduced in recent years creating a significant rock fall and blasting hazard for those working close to the faces of their mines

Hugh Brown (right) with his expedition team during his first trek into Pakistan's Karakorum Range, 2015. He has travelled the globe to capture people working in the world's most extreme conditions

Particles of sulphur adorn the eyes and face of this sulphur miner, who was photographed working at Ijen volcano, Indonesia, in 2012. Photographer Hugh Brown said: 'When people see the images, often their reactions are ones of shock and horror that people can be living and working in these conditions, in the 21st century. Many want to bring an end to the activities they are seeing. Most don't realise that their own bubbles of privilege are not the norm'

A sulphur miner in Indonesia's Ijen volcano gasps in pain in air thick with sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulphide. When the sulphur from these gases mixes with the moisture in one's eyes, lungs and throat it creates sulphuric acid, hence the screaming in pain

Bojharis carry coal chiselled out by coal cutters in an illegal underground coal mine in eastern India. Average loads carried by these bojharis was around about 88 pounds (40kg) at a time. In this mine, the workers had sought the input of a mining engineer to choose the placement of pillars, to help minimise the risk of collapses

This artisanal gold site in Burkina Faso in west Africa was home to some 10,000 people. And while these locations can be home to some of the more difficult aspects of humanity (extremism, organised crime, environmental degradation and slavery) they also provide unique upward mobility pathways for people to move from extreme poverty and into more skilled vocations such as those we are used to in the developed world

An illegal underground coal miner, pictured in eastern India, 2013. Photographer Hugh Brown said: 'Many feel a sense of sadness for the people in my photographers. But in my mind they are not to be pitied. Yes, they are living lives of hardship but so too are the people of the cities of the developed world. Just in a different way'

Above: A stone miner works on the banks of the Fleuve Congo in the Republic of Congo, in 2010. Brown said: 'Many of us in the developed world equate comfort, security and safety with better. I'm not sure that's right'

At the Ijen volcano in Indonesia, ceramic pipes tap into an active volcanic vent. The sulphur rich gases come out of the vent from a magma chamber over 12 miles (20km) below the surface and cool when they hit the pipes causing them to condense into a liquid and then solidify. At the time of reaching the surface the gases can be as hot as 1,112F (600C)

An illegal coal scavenger retrieves a large block of coal from a working open-cut coal mine in Jharkhand, eastern India. The climb out of the mine is treacherous with a precipitous drop down one side likely to lead to death

Gem miners relax at the end of the day in Northern Pakistan's Karakorum Range. At this location miners lived in stone huts for the duration of their three month mining season. Brown first took up his photographic project in 2010 when he quickly had to adapt his photography skills to suit the harsh environments he wanted to capture. He said: 'For many years I focused on taking the most beautiful images that I could. Then I found myself starting to feel unfulfilled. I wanted to do something meaningful with my life, to feel I had made a contribution when my time comes to leave this earth'

Illegal coal scavengers descend into a working open-cut coal mine in eastern India. For an hour each morning in between shift change, when the large-scale earthmoving equipment stops working, these illegal coal scavengers work rapidly to retrieve as many large blocks as they can in Jharkhand

A sand diver, pictured in Cameroon, 2017. These men dive for sand in the fast-moving Douala Estuary in eastern Cameroon. Hugh Brown said that when taking such photos, he had put his own life on the line to get the best shots - scaling the sides of active volcanoes and balancing on rock faces thousands of feet from the ground

Above: Snapped in Cameroon is this sand diver, putting his life on the line in a fast-moving tidal estuary known for dangers including venomous snakes. Brown said: 'We are all a product of our environment and we all do what we need to survive. And that is the same everywhere. Human brings in the developed world haven't lost the capability of doing superhuman things. They've just lost the need'

At the base of Cerro Rico lies the ancient city of Potosi, one of the highest cities in the world. Potosi sits at an altitude of 4,100 metres while Cerro Rico has an official height of almost 4,800 metres

In Cerro Rico, Bolivia, 2016: With bloodshot eyes and caked face, this underground silver miner pauses momentarily while at work to have his image captured

Miners move an ore wagon of silver deep inside Bolivia's Cerro Rico silver mines. The work here is incredibly dangerous. And even today deaths are common. Brown said: 'Death is one of the less pleasant realities of life spent working in these environments and these are not places to be if you have issues with your own mortality'

A woman and her newborn son process freshly recovered ore in the goldfields of West Africa's Burkina Faso. Work in the mines is long and hard with little differentiation between the sexes other than that the men do the mining and many women help with the processingThe government has seized more than 100 recordings attorney Michael Cohen made in his conversations with people talking about matters that could relate to President Donald Trump and the Trump empire's business dealings.

Cohen, Trump's former personal attorney, made some of the recordings with his iPhone - without letting people know he was recording them, The Washington Post reported.

Several of those recordings were his conversations with reporters who asked him about the president.

In New York Cohen was seen smiling and relaxed with his children, both college students, after his own attorney said: 'Michael Cohen has decided: 'No matter what happens to me, I'm going to get my life back by telling the truth.'

Lanny Davis, who is now representing Cohen and is a veteran fixer who worked for the Clintons in the 1990s, released the first bombshell tape of Cohen talking with Trump about buying the rights to a story about sex with a Playmate.

'Where are we headed? The truth,' Davis told NBC News.

'Cohen is trying to reset his life as not being Donald Trump's bullet taker, or worse, a punching bag for Donald Trump's defense strategy where he takes the bullets.

'This is a turn for him. It's a new resolve to tell the truth no matter what, even if it endangers him.'

Relaxed: Michael Cohen was seen for the first time since his own attorney said he was telling the truth regardless of consequence and had more tapes of Trump

Family time: Michael Cohen was spending time with his son Jake and daughter Samantha, both college students, as the impact of his attorney releasing a Trump tape reverberated

Truth teller: Lanny Davis, Cohen's new counsel, said that the former Trump aide was now going act without regard to possible danger

Feds have seized more than 100 recordings from Michael Cohen, Trump's former attorney

Helping out: Cohen helped a reporter who had dropped her headphones as he headed with his children to the hotel where the family have been living in recent months during building work on their apartment

Friendly greeting: Cohen and his son Jake were happy to see someone they knew just outside the hotel

President Trump is said to be furious about the release of a tape with him and Cohen discussing a payment to a former Playboy model

New York has one-party consent on recordings, meaning Cohen did not legally have to let people know he was taping them.

Trump's voice is heard on several of the recordings but only in snippets such as when he was leaving a voice mail or returning a call to Cohen, those who've heard the recordings told the Post.

The only substantial conversation recorded between the president and his attorney is the one that was released Tuesday where the two men are heard discussing former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

'Michael Cohen had the habit of using his phone to record conversations instead of taking notes,' his attorney Lanny Davis said. 'He never intended to make use of the recordings and certainly didn't intend to be deceptive.'

Trump's team is debating whether they need to get a court ruling on the tapes to oversee the release or if they should release recordings they say are not flattering of Cohen.

The president is also said to be worried about what affect the situation could have on his marriage to Melania Trump.

McDougal alleges her 10-month affair with Trump, which Trump has denied, took place shortly after the first lady gave birth to Barron.

Trump was said to be furious about Cohen's release of their September 2016 conversation about financing the deal with McDougal to sell story rights to American Media Inc., the owner of the National Enquirer, which never published the story.

'What kind of lawyer would tape a client?' Trump tweeted Wednesday morning. 'So sad!'

Michael Cohen has deep ties to Trump's world. He's seen here with Trump on the campaign trail in September 2016

Trump is said to be worried how the tapes will impact his marriage to Melania

Trump allies feel Cohen first betrayed the president when he hired attorney Lanny Davis, a friend of the Clintons

Amid speculation that Cohen, who once said he'd take a bullet for Trump, has turned on his boss and may cooperate with prosecutors, the president is said to have turned on his former lawyer.

One Trump associate described the president's attitude to the Post as: 'Who is this guy to betray me? He would be nobody were it not for his relationship with me.'

There's also uncertainty about what else Cohen may have in his possession and if he will use it against the president.

'The general feeling inside and outside the building is that if there was anything, this would be the guy who would know it and now give it up,' a political operative close to the White House told The Post.

Some Trump allies believe Cohen first betrayed the president when he hired Davis, who used to work in the Clinton White House and is friends with both Bill and Hillary Clinton.

But Davis countered that Cohen feels isolated and is 'suffering' and 'sees himself as alone against the president of the United States, Rudy Giuliani and the whole administration.'

And Cohen allies said he felt abandoned and left 'out in the wilderness' by Trump after the feds raided his home and office.

Cohen, once known as Trump's fixer, has deep ties to that world.

He helped negotiate a series of non-disclosure agreements, including one involving Trump and porn star Stormy Daniels. Cohen also was in contact with top Russian officials about a potential Trump Tower Moscow in 2016.

FBI agents seized 3.7 million documents during their April raids.

Cohen is under criminal investigation for potential bank fraud, campaign finance violations, and tax issues.

Reports after the raid indicate Cohen's personal business practices could also put him in potential jeopardy, which would add to leverage prosecutors have over him as they seek to insure his full cooperation.Former prime minister Paul Keating has taken an extraordinary swipe at the Nine Network in the wake of its $4 billion merger with Fairfax Media.

In a stunning rant on ABC's 7.30 Report, Mr Keating called the network a 'low brow outfit' pushing 'chequebook journalism', warning it would 'leak its pus' into Fairfax.

His resentful tirade of Nine and Fairfax's shock merger on Thursday seemingly left the program's host, Ellen Fanning, appalled as she struggled for words.

Mr Keating continued to criticse the network when Ms Fanning asked him to explain his stance against the merger.

Former prime minister Paul Keating (above) has criticised the $4B merger on ABC's 7:30, calling the Nine Network 'a low brow outfit' on Thursday night

'I have said chequebook journalism, foot in the door journalism,' he said.

'It's a low brow show and it always has been, and people who have worked at Nine have been happy to take the money working for a low brow outfit.'

Mr Keating claimed he had fought more television and radio companies than any other politician, but said his focus had been on preventing 'Nine's former boss Kerry Packer from controlling John Fairfax and sons.'

'Kerry Packer had the Nine Network chase me in private life,' he said.

Earlier on Thursday, Mr Keating said allowing the merger would mean a dramatic drop in diversity of news and opinion within Australia.

'If in the announced arrangement, Channel Nine has a majority of the stock, Channel Nine will run the editorial policy,' Mr Keating said in a statement.

He said that for 50 years, Channel Nine had 'displayed the opportunism and ethics of an alley cat.'

Mr Keating's rant against the Nine Network left the host, Ellen Fanning (above), speechless

Mr Keating called the Nine Network a 'low brow outfit' pushing 'chequebook journalism', warning it would 'leak its pus' into Fairfax

Mr Keating said the government's 2017 law changes allowing greater concentration of media ownership had led to a 'media free-for-all'.

'On competition grounds and that of the imperative of local diversity, the competition commissioner should put this proposal under high scrutiny,' he said.

'Through various changes of ownership, no one has lanced the carbuncle at the centre of Nine's approach to news management.

'And, as sure as night follows day, that pus will inevitably leak into Fairfax.'

Mr Keating derided the enabling legislation as 'disgraceful'.

'Why would you let a television station own the principal newspaper mast head?' he said on te ABC on Thursday night.

He also lambasted Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for welcoming the merger.

'He's the author of the damn thing,' Mr Keating said.

The merger has brought the two media giants together but will see Nine as the dominant partner, with its shareholders owning 51.1 percent of the combined entity and Fairfax shareholders owning the rest.

The new company will include Nine's free-to-air television network, Fairfax's radio interests and mastheads including The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in Melbourne, and a suite of digital assets.

It is expected that the $4.2 billion deal will be completed by the end of this year.

The new partnership will see three current Fairfax directors on board, and Nine's current chairman Peter Costello will continue as chair of the new business with two more Nine directors.

The merger has brought the two media giants together but will see Nine as the dominant partner (Nine CEO Hugh Marks above)A rare collection of 'fertility' bone carvings including three scrotum figures sold for almost 30,000 - despite being valued between 800 and 1200 - after a fierce bidding war.

The collection of bone carvings, included three testicle sacks and other items shaped like genitalia, and date from the 18th Century.

They were made by unknown artists using primitive tools in the South Pacific's Cook Islands.

The rare collection of fertility bone carvings including scrotum figures sold for 30,000

The collection of bone carvings including three testicle sacks, and other items shaped like genitalia

Typically the carvings would have been suspended along a woven cord made of human hair and coconut fibres. But despite not having the cord, ones in the collection still went for thirty times their estimate.

Jonathan Riley from Grand Auctions in Folkestone, Kent, said:'They are particularly interesting because of their extreme rarity and quality of carving considering they had primitive tools.'

Typically the carvings would have been suspended along a woven cord made of human hair and coconut fibres. But despite not having the cord, ones in the collection still went for thirty times their estimate.

Mr Riley added: 'It is really surprising because we did not have the hair stringing that makes them into a necklace, as they should be.'

Most examples of similar work are found in museums and have fetched for up to 230,000 in the past.

The Oceanic art collection had eight examples of carved whale bone pendant ornaments - with the longest piece being 4.8cm.

Many in the series are believed to be fertility symbols by auctioneers due to them being shaped like testicles.The general in charge of Iran's elite paramilitary Quds Forces warned Donald Trump on Thursday that war with the Islamist country would eliminate his entire net worth, suggesting terrorists aided by Iran's military are prepared to strike his real estate properties.

'You know that this war will destroy everything you own,' Major General Qassem Soleimani said during a speech in the central Iranian city of Hamedan.

He also said the Red Sea is not secure while U.S. troops are deployed in the area: 'Trump should know that we are nation of martyrdom and that we await him.'

'We are near you, where you can't even imagine ... Come. We are ready. If you begin the war, we will end the war,' he boasted.

Iranian Quds Forces commander Major General Qassem Soleimani warned Trump in a speech that a war with Iran would 'destroy everything you own'

Trump had already softened his tone toward Iran this week and said he might be ready for a new nuclear deal

The latest Iranian boast may be a suggestion that terrorists aided by Tehran's military are prepared to strike the president's real estate properties

'You have to be careful about insulting the Iranian people and the president of our Republic.'

Soleimani warned of Iran's 'power in the region and our capabilities in asymmetric war'  a reference to the Quds Forces' history of funding and training terrorists who embrace tactics normally shunned in the West.

Iran this week dismissed a warning from Trump that Tehran risked dire consequences if it made threats against the United States.

Trump softened his threatening tone on Tuesday, just two days after he blasted an allcaps warning about 'consequences' for Tehran's anti-U.S. rhetoric.

Addressing the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Trump took credit for pulling the U.S. out of the Obama-era Iran nuclear accord, but said his administration stands ready for Iran to come back to the negotiating table.

Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate would be an appetizing target for America's enemies

The president warned Iran's president Sunday night not to provoke him

'We're ready to make a real deal, not the deal that was done by the previous administration, which was a disaster,' he said.

Late Sunday night he tweeted to Rouhani: 'NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE.'

Rouhani had claimed that 'Iran is the mother of all peace' before warning Trump that 'war with Iran is the mother of all wars.'

'Don't play with fire, or you will regret [it],' the Iranian leader continued. 'Iranian people are the master and they will never bow to anyone.'

Soleimani, who as Quds Force commander is in charge of the Revolutionary Guards' overseas operations, put his disdain for Trump in more personal terms.

'Trump's language is still the ethics of nightclubs and gambling halls,' he said Thursday.

His threat directed at U.S. troops in the Red Sea area came as Saudi Arabia said it was temporarily halting all oil shipments through the strategic shipping lane of Bab al-Mandeb, following an attack on two oil tankers by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement.

Yemen, where a U.S-backed, Saudi-led coalition has been battling the Houthis for three years, lies beside the southern mouth of the Red Sea, one of the most important trade routes in the world for oil tankers.U.S. officials coerced or misled dozens of immigrant parents into signing forms agreeing to rapid deportation without their children, lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union said Wednesday in a court filing.

'They showed me a form and told me that I needed to sign the form so that I could be reunified with my son,' said a Honduran asylum seeker identified only as H.G.A. in testimony filed in U.S. District Court in San Diego.

Other parents who were illiterate or spoke only indigenous languages said they could not understand the forms they were signing.

Migrant parents, all of whom were separated from their children by U.S Customs and Border Patrol, arrive at the Annunciation House migrant shelter after being released from U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody on June 24, 2018 in El Paso, Texas

Attorney Sofia Reive said in a declaration that she met last weekend with nine fathers on a list provided by the U.S. government of parents who had waived reunification with their children.

All of the fathers, Reive said, 'had no idea that they had signed a document that relinquished any rights to be reunited with the children.'

A Department of Homeland Security official who asked not to be named said a notice of rights is posted in English and Spanish in all detention facilities where parents are detained and the form waiving reunification must be read to parents in a language they understand.

Some parents have indicated they want their children to remain in the United States with family members if they are deported, said the official.

'There has been a tremendous amount of pressure and coercion of these families,' said Royce Murray, policy director at the American Immigration Council on Thursday. 'They have been pressured by ICE to sign paperwork  They were presented with false choices of being deported without their child but not given information about being able to fight their case with their child.'

Attorneys for the government revealed in a filing Tuesday that they planned to immediately deport families after reunification - and described the request for an additional week 'significant and unwarranted.'

In its response, ACLU attorneys noted that the government had already held many of these families - separately - for long periods of time.

'The government took children, including babies, from their parents and did not return them for weeks and often many months,' the filing said. 'The government should not now be able to argue that it cannot wait a mere 7 days to remove these families, so that they can be advised on their life-altering decisions.'

The ACLU filed statements from attorneys who interviewed immigrants and an immigrant's account to support its motion asking District Judge Dana Sabraw to stay deportations of reunited parents for seven days after their children were returned to them.

The rights group said the time was needed to advise parents of their rights and allow them time to consider their options.

Ruben Garcia, director of the Annunciation House, (R) greets migrant parents, all of whom were separated from their children by U.S Customs and Border Patrol, as they arrive at a shelter after being released from U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody on June 24, 2018 in El Paso, Texas

'In their months of separation, these parents have not spoken to their children for more than several minutes on the phone; many if not most have never spoken to a lawyer,' the ACLU court filing said.

'And yet within moments of seeing their kids for the first time, defendants (the U.S. government) propose to put them on planes, with no meaningful opportunity to receive legal advice and make a considered family decision about whether their children should remain in the United States without them.'

Government lawyers have said they do not believe the court has jurisdiction to issue an order delaying deportation. They have also defended the governments handling of the reunifications so far, saying the ACLUs portrayal of the process as chaotic was inaccurate.

'We have many reasons to be proud,' Scott Stewart, an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, told the judge in court on Tuesday.

More than 450 immigrant parents separated from their children when they entered the United States illegally are no longer in the country but their children are, according to a joint court filing on Monday by the federal government and the ACLU.

Last month, Sabraw said the government had to reunite as many as 2,500 children and parents separated under President Donald Trump's 'zero tolerance' policy. He gave the government until July 26 to do so.Australian business magnate Dick Smith started his own supermarket chain in 1999 in response to increasing foreign ownership of the countrys food producers and retailers, vowing to only sell foods produced in Australia by Australian-owned businesses.

Now, in a cruel and ironic twist of fate, Smith has just announced that his food retail company will soon be closing, citing increased competition from foreign brands.

But just who is Dick Smith? How has his long business career impacted his net worth? Heres a look at who Dick Smith is, including his career as an entrepreneur and recent announcement that his food company will soon be closing.

Australian entrepreneur Dick Smith recently announced the closure of Dick Smith Foods

Who is Dick Smith?

Dick Smith is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, political activist and aviator known for founding some of Australias largest and most iconic brands.

He was born in Roseville, New South Wales, Australia on March 18, 1944.

Smith started his successful business career in 1968 after establishing Dick Smith Electronics, a consumer electronics retail store, which he later sold to Woolworths in 1992.

He also founded Australian Geographic in 1986, which he sold in 1995 and later established his own supermarket chain Dick Smith Foods in 1999, aiming to push back against the increasing foreign ownership of Australian food producers by only selling food produced in the country by Australian firms.

In addition to his long career as an entrepreneur, Smith is also known for his record-setting flights as an aviator, including flying over Mount Everest in 1991 and flying around the world via helicopter in 1992, publishing a number of books about his journeys abroad.

The business magnate is also noted for his philanthropy, having made charitable donations since 1971 to organizations such as The Salvation Army and Australian Lions Foundation.

Smith has also been active politically in Australia, establishing the Dick Smith Party in March 2015, whose platform calls for curbing excessive regulations and limiting immigration and population growth in the country.

In July 2018, Smith announced that his food company Dick Smith Foods would be closing within two years.

How old is Dick Smith?

Dick Smith is 74 years old.

He was born on March 18, 1944.

What is Dick Smiths net worth?

Dick Smiths net worth is believed to be approximately $60 million (45.5 million), per Celebrity Net Worth.

How does Dick Smith make his money?

Smith derives his impressive wealth from his long and successful career as an entrepreneur.

He is known for founding a number of major Australian companies over the course of his career, including Dick Smith Electronics in 1968, Australian Geographic in 1986 and Dick Smith Foods in 1999.

Smith, pictured here in 2001, promoted Australian-produced food at his supermarket chain

More recently, he founded the media firm Smith & Nasht in 2010.

In addition, Smith has authored several books detailing his aviation ventures, including The Earth Beneath Me in 1983, Dick Smith Solo Around the World in 1992 and Above the World: A Pictorial Circumnavigation in 1997.

Who is Dick Smiths wife?

Smiths wife is Phillipa Aird McManarney. The couple has two children together, Jenny and Hayley.

Food company closure

On July 26, Smith announced the closure of his food company Dick Smith Foods in the wake of increased competition.

'It is my melancholy duty to inform everyone that after 19 years, I've had to make the decision to close Dick Smith Foods.

'In two years time we will go out of business, so I'm closing it down now when times are good.

'It's a decision forced on me because most people just want the cheapest prices and the cheapest prices will always come from overseas, the longtime businessman announced.

Smith specifically blamed German supermarket giant Aldi, saying its practice of extreme capitalism had ultimately forced him to close the company he founded in 1999 as the only means of avoiding bankruptcy.

Smith specifically cited the German supermarket Aldi as to why his food store will be closing

However, IBISWorld Senior Industry Analyst Bao Vuong said that there were many factors at play in the demise of the Australian supermarket, not just Aldis rapid expansion in the country as of late.

He states: 'There's a lot of factors behind the downfall, it's not solely placed on Aldi. Coles and Woolworths and Aldi - they all had an effect on the downfall of Dick Smith Foods because consumers are price conscious.'

Vuong also believes that limited brand awareness hurt Dick Smiths food company in particular, saying: 'It's the company itself, it's not a prominent or well-known company with Australian consumers. The lack of brand awareness contributed to the downfall over the decade.'

In addition, Vuong also noted that Dick Smith Foods higher prices compared to its competitors was a large contributor to its closure.

Despite his successful career as an entrepreneur for decades, Smiths announcement of the upcoming shuttering of his food company wasnt the only blow his Australian business empire has suffered in recent years.

His oldest brand, Dick Smith Electronics, went into receivership in 2016.The Walt Disney Company is joining the wave of those wanting to rid themselves of plastic straws and stirrers, hoping to ditch them by mid-2019.

All owned and operated locations will take part in the ban - with the exception of Disney Tokyo - causing a reduction amounting for 175million straws and 13million stirrers a year.

'Eliminating plastic straws and other plastic items are meaningful steps in our long-standing commitment to environmental stewardship,' said Bob Chapek, Chairman, Disney Parks, Experiences, and Consumer Products, according to ABC News.

All owned and operated locations will take part in the ban - with the exception of Disney Tokyo

'These new global efforts help reduce our environmental footprint, and advance our long-term sustainability goals.'

Disney hopes to reduce their plastic use even further, transitioning to refillable in-room amenities - a move that will cut plastic use by 80 percent.

They also hope to allow for the selling of more reusable bags, eventually decreasing the number of plastic bags they use.

The ban will cause a reduction amounting for 175million straws and 13million stirrers a year

'Disney has always been inspired by nature -- and it is a uniquely powerful brand that inspires, educates, and entertains, all at the same time,' added Dr. M. Sanjayan, CEO of Conservation International.

Disney hopes to reduce their plastic use even further, transitioning to refillable in-room amenities - a move that will cut plastic use by 80 percent

Conservation International is a non-profit that has worked extensively with Disney on environmental and sustainability initiatives.

'Today's announcement is more than about reducing single-use plastic waste, it's also about showing millions of kids and adults from around the world the many ways we can change our daily habits to care for the oceans and protect nature that sustains us all,' Sanjayan continued.

'It also builds on Disney's longstanding commitment to conservation and environmental stewardship, a legacy that stretches from the highlands of Peru to the islands of the South Pacific.'

The news comes after Starbucks announced that it would be ditching single-use plastic straws by 2020. They unveiled an alternative plastic cap, when the announcement was made earlier this month.

McDonalds announced in June that it would also rid themselves of plastic straws for their U.K. and Ireland locations, starting in September.

The news comes after Starbucks announced that it would be ditching single-use plastic straws by 2020

They unveiled an alternative plastic cap, when the announcement was made earlier this month

Vail Resorts plans to phase out plastic straws as well, ditching them from their Lake Tahoe, Colorado, Utah, British Columbia, Vermont and Midwest locations.

Santa Barbara passed their ban unanimously in the Santa Barbara city council on July 17 and called for possible jail time for those who didn't comply.

The first violation of the straw ban draws a warning. The second violation, however, is punishable with a fine of up to $1,000 and a jail term not exceeding six months.

Other cities, including Seattle, Malibu and Santa Monica, have passed straw bans in the past month, and San Francisco is set to become the latest city to join the list after a unanimous supervisors vote on Tuesday.This is the dramatic moment an ex-Ukrainian soldier set himself on fire to protest his dismissal from the army.

Serhii Ulianov was seen covered head to toe in flames while wearing his uniform outside Ukrainian Defence Ministry headquarters in Kiev.

He was tackled to the ground before being saved by firefighters and military.

Serhii Ulianov is tackled to the ground by another soldier after setting himself on fire outside the Ukrainian Defence Ministry headquarters in Kiev

The ousted soldier was protesting his unfair dismissal from the army in 2016 along with another group of soldiers claiming their rights were violated

Reports in Ukraine said servicemen attempted to restrain Ulianov from his attempted self-immolation.

But he broke free and managed to douse himself with gasoline before igniting his uniform.

The flames were extinguished in seconds and he is now being treated by doctors.

The officer was believed to be protesting on behalf of a group of soldiers whose rights were allegedly violated after being ousted from service in 2016.

Ulianov claimed in a Facebook post on Monday that the officers were unable to legally retire as they had not received proper documentation.

The group had signed up to a voluntary battalion that fought with pro-Russian terrorists in eastern Ukraine.

Servicemen attempted to prevent Serhii Ulianov from self-immolation but he broke free and doused himself in combustible liquid before igniting his uniformA South Korean company that said it had found a long-lost Russian 'treasure ship', causing a stock market flurry, has apologised after admitting it had not gleaned any riches from the wreck.

Start-up Shinil Group announced last week it had discovered the imperial vessel Dmitri Donskoi off South Korea's east coast, saying the ship was believed to contain gold bullion and coins worth $130 billion.

But financial regulators on Wednesday launched an investigation into the firm after news of the discovery caused the stock price of Jeil Steel - a company in which Shinil's founder had acquired a large stake - to jump fivefold.

Critics noted that in 2003 another firm had already sparked a stock bubble by announcing the discovery of the Donskoi, which sank in a 1905 naval battle against Japan.

Start-up business Shinil Group announced last week it had discovered imperial vessel the Dmitri Donskoi off South Korea's east coast

A Russian campaign group had previously demanded that the entire fortune be returned to Moscow as a 'goodwill gesture'. Pictured: The ship underwater

The Donskoi was believed to have been carrying the gold supplies of the entire Second Pacific Squadron when it sank

The ship was escorting transport vessels at the rear of the Second Pacific Squadron when the flotilla was attacked by a much larger Japanese force at the Battle of Tsushima (pictured after being refitted)

Today, Shinil said it may have gone overboard on the claims and apologised for the 'misunderstanding', saying speculation on the value of treasure contained within the ship was based on news reports and unverified documents.

'We sincerely apologise to the people for this irresponsible citation,' said Choi Yong-seok, the firm's CEO, bowing before TV cameras and photographers at a press conference.

Jeil Steel stock had hit 5,400 won (3.67) but nosedived to around 1,785 won (1.21) on Thursday, while Shinil replaced its board members and changed its name to Shinil Maritime Technology Co.

At the press conference, the company played a brief clip of underwater footage that appeared to show the ship, with the word 'Donskoi' visible on the hull - but it stopped short of entering the wreck.

Observers have also questioned whether the claims were aimed at funnelling investment into a virtual currency which Shinil Group in Singapore had recently started to issue.

Choi insisted Shinil Group in Singapore had nothing to do with Shinil Group in Korea, although the two companies' founders are siblings and Shinil Group in Singapore has been selling virtual coins, reportedly with a promise of handsome returns in case treasure is salvaged from the ship.

At least 60 of the crew were killed and 120 more wounded, including Captain Ivan Lebedev, who ordered the ship to anchor off Ulleungdo and took his men ashore

The Donskoi was launched in 1883 and spent most of its life operating in the Mediterranean before being deployed to Russia's Second Pacific Squadron in 1904 after much of Russia's Far Eastern forces were destroyed by Japan

Officers on board the Donskoi, including a man believed to be Captain Ivan Lebedev (far right), who was wounded before the warship was scuttled and later died from his injuries

He also said Jeil Steel is not associated with Shinil although Shinil's founder had acquired the stake in Jeil Steel before the discovery of the sunken ship.

Experts have said imperial Russia would have no reason to load vast treasure on a ship that was going into battle and have also noted that there was a safer land route to Vladivostok, the treasure's supposed final destination.

A Russian campaign group had previously demanded that the entire fortune be returned to Moscow as a 'goodwill gesture'.

Yaroslav Livanskiy, an official of the Russian Public Movement to Commemorate Those Who Died Defending the Motherland, led the calls.

At the press conference, the company played a brief clip of underwater footage that appeared to show the ship

Imperial Russian naval cruiser the Dmitri Donskoi sank in a 1905 battle against Japan

The warship was guarding transport vessels at the rear of the convoy when it was intercepted by a much larger Japanese fleet in May 1905

An underwater camera reveals a glimpse of the Dimitrii Donskoi, 113 years after it was sunk to stop the Japanese taking it

Livanskiy, who is also head of a salvage group in eastern Russia, said: 'The cruiser is a priceless find for Russia, an invaluable relic, a symbol of our heroic and tragic past, a part of military history of Russia.

'Therefore whatever was discovered on board of the cruiser is inseparable from the overall value of the find.'

The armour on the side of the hull is well-preserved while the cannons, machine guns, anchor and steering wheel are all still in place.

World War Zero: How Russias humiliating defeat in Russo-Japanese war set stage for decades of warfare Fighting took place in modern-day northeast China in 1904-1905 after Russia and Japan clashed over trading ports and the Korean peninsula. Japan declared war and attacked Port Arthur on the same day. The attack was planned to neutralise the Russian Far East Fleet while it was still in the port. In the Battle of Port Arthur, three of Russias largest navy ships - Tsesarevich, Retvizan, and Pallada - were significantly damaged One Russian ship, the Petropavlovsk, escaped Port Arthur and was sunk by mines. A second, the Pobeda, had to return to port. While Japanese attacks were successful at sea, land attacks against Russian forces initially failed. But at the Battle of Liaoyang, Russia forces sent to support Port Arthur pushed back by Japanese. It also left them with land from where they could fire on Russian ships in Port Arthur bay. Every ship in Russias Pacific fleet was sunk by the end of 1904. In January 1905, Russian Major General Anatoly Stessel, commander of the Port Arthur garrison, surrendered. Demoralised Russians had to watch as Japan took control of the Korean peninsula in just a couple of months. Russia surrendered Port Arthur to the Japanese and had to recognise Japanese control of Korean peninsula. The costly, humiliating series of Russian defeats in the Russo-Japanese War left the Russian Empire demoralized. The losses added to anger in Russia at Czar Nicholas II and ultimately the dissent would lead to the Russian Revolution in 1917. SOURCE: History.com Advertisement

A large number of iron boxes were also discovered in the ship's hold, which were assumed to contain gold.

The firm originally pledged to donate 10 per cent of their find to help develop Ulleungdo, which is a largely uninhabited island but an important tourist destination for South Korea.

Development plans would have included a museum dedicated to the ship, according to The Telegraph.

Divers from salvage firm Shinil Group had been searching for the wreck for years and finally located it on July 14 at a depth of 1,400ft around a mile off the coast of Ulleungdo.

The Donskoi was launched in 1883 and spent most of its life operating in the Mediterranean before being deployed to Russia's Second Pacific Squadron in 1904 after much of Russia's Far Eastern forces were destroyed by Japan.

The warship was guarding transport vessels at the rear of the convoy when it was intercepted by a much larger Japanese fleet in May 1905.

What followed became known as the Battle of Tsushima and was disastrous for Russia, with 21 of its 38 ships sunk and 4,500 killed - compared to just three Japanese ships lost and 117 dead.

The Donskoi escaped the battle itself, though was badly damaged and began steaming for the Russian port of Vladivostok.

Before it could get there it was intercepted by the Japanese, who opened fire.

At least 60 of the crew were killed and 120 more wounded, including Captain Ivan Lebedev, who ordered the ship to anchor off Ulleungdo and took his men ashore.

The following day the ship was scuttled to stop it falling into Japanese hands and the crew surrendered. Captain Lebedev later died of his wounds.

The Donskoi was believed to have been carrying gold supplies for the entire flotilla, which would have been used to pay port fees and the salaries of crew and captains while at sea.

It is was thought possible that smaller gold stores kept on board other vessels in the flotilla were transferred to the Donskoi as they went down.

Given a history of false claims about discovering the Donskoi in the past, Shinil Group promised to bring some of Lebedev's personal effects to the surface as further proof of their discovery.Syrian government forces have raised the country's two-star flag on the frontier of Golan Heights, just metres from where Israeli troops are stationed.

Bashar al-Assad's regime has hoisted the Syrian flag at the main border point with Israel-annexed Golan, four years after losing control of the area.

It comes days after a Syrian fighter jet was shot down by Israeli forces claiming it had entered their airspace.

A picture taken from Israeli-occupied Golan Heights shows Syria and Palestinain flags flying at the border point in Quneitra

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government fighters have entered the destroyed city of Quneitra after the end of terrorist presence there.

Quneitra lies in the buffer zone separating Syrian territory and Golan.

Remaining fighters from for Al-Qaeda alliance Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) were bussed out of the city on Saturday.

They were sent to Syria's northwestern Idlib province after rejecting a Russian-brokered deal to hand over territory to the regime.

Backed by Moscow, Syria's government has been fighting for over a month to capture the country's south, which borders Israeli-occupied Golan and Jordan.

It has captured nearly all of the border with Jordan, including the key Nassib crossing, and now holds nearly the full length of the frontier with the Golan buffer zone.

'There is just a small part of Quneitra left which will soon fall under a surrender deal,' said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

Israel occupies a large part of the Golan where Syrian government forces have arrived at the border. A plane was shot down on Monday after entering Israeli airspace

'After that, the regime will have complete control of the province of Quneitra and the line dividing it from the Israeli-occupied Golan.'

On Monday, Israel gunned down a Syrian fighter jet it claimed had breached Israeli airspace by just over a mile.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the breach of Israeli territory a 'gross violation' of a 1974 agreement that established the demilitarised zone between Israel and Syria.

Syria's military, however, said one of its jets had been targeted by Israel over Syrian territory as it flew sorties against Islamic State (IS) militants.

Israel seized 460 square miles of the Golan during the Six-Day War of 1967 before annexing it in 1981.

Some 317 square miles of the Golan remain on the Syrian side of the ceasefire line.

United Nations peacekeeping forces overseeing the buffer in between.A New York City mother has been apprehended and charged in the January 2017 death of her five-year-old son, who overdosed on his anti-seizure medication.

Phyllis Reinoso, a 31-year-old mother-of-six, faces charges of manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment and acting in a manner injurious to a child and failure to exercise control of a minor, the NYPD announced on Thursday.

Michael Guzman, known to his family as 'lil Mikey,' was found unconscious by Reinoso on a bed in the familys Queens home with vomit around his mouth shortly after 4pm on January 22, 2017.

Mother arrested: Phyllis Reinoso (left), 31, has been charged with manslaughter in the January 2017 death of her son, Mikey Guzman (right). The boy overdosed on his medication

The young boy was found dead in his bed at his family's Jamaica, Queens, home (pictured) on January 22, 2017. Police said he had been dead for 12 hours

The toddler had been dead for more than 12 hours before he was discovered by his mother, who according to police had gone out with her 34-year-old boyfriend, also named Michael Guzman, leaving their six children, ranging in ages from two to 15, unattended.

During an interview with police, Reinoso said she and Guzman went after shortly after midnight after giving their son Mikey, who had been suffering from epilepsy, his anti-seizure medicine.

When the couple returned at 2.30am, Reinoso said she found her son asleep on the couch, so she and Guzman put him to bed and 'everything seemed fine.'

But the deceased boy's older siblings told police a different story, as New York Daily News reported at the time.

Reinoso (left) and her boyfriend, Michael Guzman (right), had gone out for the night, leaving thier six children, ranging in age from two to 15, home alone

The children said Mikey's eldest sister, then-15-year-old Jennifer Acevedo, put him to bed while their parents were out. His 11-year-old sister, Maylee, then covered Mikey with a blanket at around 11am the next morning because he was cold to the touch.

About five hours later, Reinoso and Guzman discovered their son's dead body in bed. The boy's parents were interviewed but not arrested in the aftermath of the boy's death.

NBC New York reported that 11 months later, the medical examiners office ruled Mikey Guzman's death a homicide and concluded that the child overdosed on his epilepsy drug.

It was reported by the New York Post last year that Administration for Childrens Services caseworkers had been called to Reinoso and Guzman's home on 109th Avenue in Jamaica, Queens, to investigate claims of physical and sexual abuse 13 times before Mikey's death.

On the 13 trips, child services officers found injuries on the children - including cuts and bruises, as well as 'signs of sexual abuse,' the New York Post reports.

A police source reportedly said the protective officers were able to 'substantiate abuse or neglect in eight instances', but refused to remove any of the children from the home.

The alleged incidents occurred between October 2008 and January 2016, and two were related to Mikey.

Following a months-long investigation, the 31-year-old Reinoso was apprehended in Staten Island shortly after midnight on Thursday.The New South Wales government wants companies bidding for a big IT contract to employ a third of their workers overseas to keep costs low and save Australian taxpayers' money.

The state's Roads and Maritime Services agency is taking bids for a massive seven-year contract.

In its Request for Proposal document, the agency demands that bidding firms employ 20 per cent of their workers are overseas in year one, rising to 30 per cent in year two.

The New South Wales government wants companies bidding for a big IT contract to employ a third of their workers overseas. Two Indian companies have made the shortlist. Pictured: Mumbai, India

The document sent on February 13 explains this is to reduce costs to use up as little of Australian taxpayers' money as possible.

'RMS is seeking to achieve the lowest possible cost to provide the Services,' it says.

Two Indian companies - Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro Ltd - have made the shortlist and submitted a more detailed offering to the agency in May, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Employing IT workers in India is up to 10 times cheaper than in Australia which has a high-wage economy.

A section of the government's Request for Proposal document titled Offshore Resourcing asks for 'a measured ongoing approach to increase offshore efforts over the contract term.'

Employing IT workers in India is up to 10 times cheaper than in Australia which has a high-wage economy (stock image)

It says it wants bidding companies to be 'materially reducing costs by streamlining the applications suite, leveraging public cloud infrastructure and increasing automation.

'Use of offshore resourcing (initially 20 per cent of total contract effort being offshore) with gradual increase over the contract term is expected to support the contractor to provide services at the possible lowest cost.'

Opposition Leader Luke Foley called the proposal a 'disgrace' and said the Berejiklian government was 'betraying' Australian workers.

An RMS spokesman said the bidding process was confidential. Roads Minister Melinda Pavey declined to comment.Stephanie Ragusa (pictured on Thursday), who was convicted for sleeping with her teenage students, was arrested after breaking probation by being with a 12-year-old girl at a Hooters

A special education middle school teacher who was convicted for having sex with two students has returned to jail for violating her probation.

Stephanie Ragusa, 39, pleaded guilty to having unlawful sex with a minor  a 16-year-old student  in 2008 and to three counts of lewd and lascivious battery for her interactions with a 14-year-old boy in 2010.

She was sentenced to 10 years jail in 2010 and 15 years of probation, and was released from prison in 2016. Her probation is conditional on refraining from any contact with minors without the approval of the court.

But Ragusa admitted to her probation officer she had contact with a 12-year-old girl, her girlfriends daughter, at a Hooters Restaurant on Clearwater Beach on June 30, in court documents seen by DailyMail.com.

The former teacher told her probation officer she had violated the terms of her freedom, and even showed them a photo of the trio together.

A warrant was filed for her arrest on Thursday, and Ragusas probation officer argued as it was her first violation and she had attended counselling, she should be placed under home detention, not returned to prison.

Offenders must be in their home unless they are completing approved activities, like working, attending medical appointments or going to school.

In a heavily redacted report, Ragusas probation officer said the former teacher had been compliant in her conditions of supervision and reports as directed and any changes accordingly.

Ragusa told her parole officer the child was her girlfriend's daughter, but unless the minor is approved by the court, the former special education teacher is not able to have any contact with them

Ragusa has been with the girl and her mother at Hooter's in Clearwater, Florida (pictured)

She appeared to question the health of Ragusas relationship with her girlfriend, noting the sex offenders life had been a constant chaos and that she should stay away from the woman as it is a toxic relationship.

If the offender truly wants to get her life back on track, she will need to follow her own advice to which is "you have to change the people, places and things that get/got you in trouble", the report reads.

If the Court believes the offender is not amenable to community supervision, the recommendation would be to revoke her probation and she be sentenced accordingly to state prison.

At the time of her initial conviction, a 14-year-old student had been pushing her around in a wheelchair after she broke her foot.

Shed told him she could make him more confident and invited him to her apartment, where they had sex on three occasions.

Her second victim, who was 16 at the time, had received messages from the teacher saying she loved him. Ragusa had sex with him more than 20 times, including incidents after her arrest.Strong currents swept a girl out to sea at a popular seaside resort this afternoon as emergency crews scrambled to save her.

The child - aged around 11 or 12 - was rushed to hospital after getting into trouble off Minster on the Isle of Sheppey.

An air ambulance as well as a fire engine raced to the scene in Kent at about 1.30pm after the girl was dragged out near Barton's Point.

An air ambulance as well as a fire engine raced to the scene in Kent at about 1.30pm after the girl was dragged out

An eyewitness said: 'Girl taken out in tide at Minster shingle bank, have been told girl is of 11/12 years.'

A Kent Police spokesman said: 'Officers attended the scene together with crews from the South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) and the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance.

'The injured child is now being taken to a London Hospital for treatment.'

A SECAmb spokesman said: 'We were called to Marine Parade in Sheerness at 1.25pm to reports of a young child, a girl, pulled from the water.

The injured child was taken to hospital for treatment after getting into difficulty when strong currents swept her out to sea

'CPR commenced, ambulance crews in two cars and one ambulance entered the scene as well as a fire crew responder. We were joined by an air ambulance.

'The girl has been airifted to Kings College Hospital in London in a potentially serious condition.'

A second man was missing presumed drowned today in exactly the same stretch of river where a teenagers body was pulled from the water just three weeks ago.

Both were feared to have fallen from a weir crossing the man-made Jubilee River. In the latest incident last night a youth aged in his 20s, vanished beneath the water and did not re-surface after swimming with a group of friends.

Divers from the same team which found the body of 17-year-old Dajarn Daly three weeks ago, were today searching the murky water for the body of the latest victim.

The dark brown-haired man, who was described as approximately 6ft tall, was wearing denim shorts with no top on at the time he vanished.

His disappearance sparked major searches of the riverbank in Slough, Berks., and police called in expert search and rescue divers from Specialist Group International to try and locate the body from the 12ft deep river.

Thames Valley Police launched a full scale operation last night after receiving a call that a man had entered the Jubilee River near the weir in Windsor Road, Slough, Berks., at around 7.25pm.

The air ambulance rushed the girl to hospital after rescuing her off the Kent course and she is being treated for injuries

Inspector Michelle Kneale said: 'I would like to speak to anyone who saw a man in difficulties in the river or who has any information about this incident. If anyone saw a man matching the description of the missing man leave the water, please inform police.

'We are extremely concerned for this mans welfare and are continuing our extensive inquiries to locate him as soon as possible.

'I would also like to remind everyone not to swim in the river - there is a weir in this part and the currents are extremely dangerous. As tempting as it may be in the warmer weather, rivers contain hazards below the waters surface which sometimes cannot be seen, so I would urge everyone to always think carefully about staying safe.'

The man-made river designed to relieve pressure on the River Thames at times of flood and to prevent Windsor from flooding.

Paramedics raced to the coast on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent after a girl was swept out to sea by strong currents

The body of a young man was also recovered yesterday from a lake in a holiday park. He had been swimming with friends for about 20 minutes before he was seen struggling in the water and then disappeared.

Eye-witnesses said that he failed to resurface for six or seven minutes after he became submerged under an area of green slime.

Emergency services, including the coastguard helicopter along with a specialist diver, rushed to Lakeside Holiday Park in Vinnetrow Road, Chichester, West Sussex, at about 1.38pm in an attempt to rescue him.

His body was pulled from the lake three hours later. A file has been passed to the coroners officer.

A spokesman for Sussex Police said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.A sales boss who sent a furious email to her staff for 'endless ping pong' and 'not bothering to put on suits' has become a viral sensation after it was leaked online.

The email, sent to staff members with the subject line 'Friday observation', was reportedly written by the head of a Sydney-based company.

'Morning guys, quick observation that is really getting on my t*ts,' the woman's email begins.

'1. Endless ping pong during business hours - especially from people with no money on the board.'

A company boss based in Sydney is being hailed as 'boss of the year' on Twitter after their email threatening staff to 'up their game' went viral online

Next the boss takes aim at staff members' casual attire at work, accusing them of 'not bothering to put on a suit or pretending to look the part'.

She continues by accusing her employees of 'taking more sick days than Tom Hanks during the dying days of Philadelphia' despite not making any sales during the week.

Singling out a small group of employees, her rant continues.

'5 or 6 of you are really getting on my t*ts in this office - you are a cost, you are demanding and exhausting and you don't even look like you're trying.'

'If 5-6 of you don't pick up your game massively you will see your sorry as**s fired and slung out the door in under 3 months.'

'You better all up your game else you will feel my wrath and that is not pretty,' read the last sentence of the amusing email.

The email was shared on Twitter and received mixed reactions from a huge number of people

The woman was hailed 'boss of the year' on Twitter.

One person even linked the email to the recently announced merger between Fairfax Media and Nine Network.

'Costello moving fast at Nine Fax,' one man commented.

The journalist who shared it on Twitter said: 'part of me wants to work for them now.'

However, many people also criticised the boss's attitude with some calling them 'an insecure manager.'

It has the same insecure grip on authority one would expect from an older sibling trying to take charge,' one social media user wrote.A workman smashed a car window in to save three dogs from perishing on the hottest day of the year.

Police were scrambled to the vehicle where the three creatures were trapped inside, but officers wanted to wait for their owners to return.

The refuse worker and his female colleague were so distressed they took matters into their own hands, freeing the pooches before it was too late.

The incident, which happened in Bristol today, comes as the RSPCA revealed three dogs have died in similar conditions during Britain's recent hot weather.

As the UK struggles to cope with its longest heatwave since 1976, the three pets died in separate incidents in the south east and the Midlands.

A workman smashed a car window in to save three dogs from perishing on the hottest day of the year in Bristol today

The refuse worker and his female colleague managed to save the three dogs (pictured) before it was too late

Concerned onlookers dialled 999 after they spotted the three dogs in Bristol and PC Patrick Quinn went to the scene, urged to take drastic action.

But the officer said he planned to wait until the owners returned as the parking ticket was due to expire.

A workman from Bristol Waste couldn't bear to see the animals suffer and using a lump hammer, smashed the driver's window before managing to open the rear passenger door.

His colleague Lisa Eastman said: 'I stopped on the side of the road to do one of my jobs.

'As I stopped, the chap had the back boot opened, and I asked if they were going to be alright.

'He said the shop did not allow dogs and he had given them some water. I kept on coming round every half hour.

Police were scrambled to the car where the three dogs were trapped inside in Bristol today, but officers wanted to wait for their owners to return. The workmen (pictured) couldn't wait

'They have been in there since 10.40am and there has always been someone here to make sure.

'We've done everything we could. We rang the police, the RSPCA.

'I will put my hand up and say we agreed to smash the window because it was necessary and I would do it again in a second.'

When the owner returned to the car, he faced angry exchanges with passersby.

A woman accompanying him claimed the dogs had been lying on an ice mat.

Avon and Somerset Constabulary have been approached for a comment.

With temperatures expected to reach 102F (39C) tomorrow, the RSPCA is warning people to ring 999 if they see animals stuck in hot cars.

They say the police has the authority to break windows, but they do not.

Concerned onlookers dialled 999 after they spotted the three dogs in Bristol and PC Patrick Quinn (pictured) went to the scene and was urged to take drastic action

Over 4,000 people have rung into the animal protection society in the current heatwave to report animals struggling in the heat.

Holly Barber, Dogs Die in Hot Cars campaign manager for the RSPCA, said: 'I simply don't understand how people can possibly think it's acceptable to leave a dog inside a parked car when temperatures outside are topping 30C.

'It's absolutely baffling that people who believe they are loving pet owners can even consider this as being acceptable.

'At Christmas in 2016 only 55 per cent of people said they would never leave their dog in a car on a warm day. This has now risen to 71 percent.

'However, despite this promising data, the RSPCA continues to be inundated with calls from members of the public reporting dogs that have been left in hot cars.

'This is extremely worrying when you consider that our key advice is to call the police on 999 in an emergency.'

As the UK struggles to cope with its longest heatwave since 1976, the three pets died in separate incidents in the south east and the Midlands. Pictured: Incident in Bristol today

Commenting on the three recent dog deaths, a spokesman for the RSPCA said: 'We have been made aware of the tragic deaths of three dogs who were left in vehicles in two separate incidents, and countless reports of dogs being removed from vehicles by members of the public.

'The charity also surveyed people to find out what they would do if they saw a dog in a car on a hot day.

'In 2016, 46 percent of people also said they'd contact the RSPCA for help and only 48 percent said they'd contact police while 27 percent said they'd smash the window of the car.

'Now, 18 months later, only 41 percent said they'd contact the RSPCA while 52 percent said they'd dial 999 and 33 percent said they'd smash the window.

'Anyone who sees a dog in a car on a hot day should dial 999, not the RSPCA, as only police have the power to smash the windows and bring the animal to safety.

'The RSPCA's emergency hotline received 1,806 calls about animals and heat exposure during the first three weeks of July and 3,832 calls during the heatwave so far, June 1 to July 24.'A gang of travellers suspected of conning the elderly and vulnerable out of 3million were named as some of the countrys most wanted fraudsters yesterday.

Police have launched an appeal to find the five men and one woman whose criminal enterprise has brought misery to dozens of victims across 13 counties.

They are wanted after disappearing while expected in court or released on bail.

The rogue traders, conmen and thieves are suspected of tricking residents into agreeing to unnecessary work on their homes which was never carried out.

Con couple Kathleen McCarthy and Oliver Boswell conned victims out of tens of thousands - they are now wanted by police

In some cases they impersonated judges, police and trading standards officers to dupe their victims into transferring large sums of money.

Leading the gang are husband and wife Kathleen McCarthy, 29, and Oliver Boswell, 30, whose last known address was in Wolverhampton. They have both been convicted of money laundering, with McCarthy pocketing more than 220,000 from 14 elderly victims in just one year. A judge issued a warrant for their arrest after they failed to turn up for their trial at Lewes Crown Court last December.

Other members include James Flynn, 42, also known as James Sheridan, who tricked a west London man into transferring 64,400 into his accounts.

John McCarthy, 33, is wanted for five fraud and money laundering offences in which he posed as a trading standards officer across London, Surrey, Kent and Sussex. He persuaded pensioners that they needed to transfer cash to pay for urgent repairs to flood damage to their homes.

John McCarthy targeted the elderly and pretended to be from Trading Standards to be granted access to their homes

James Flynn told people they were entitled to money and would be given huge sums if they paid him to release the cash

The two other members are John OBrien, 49, from Cambridge, and Daniel Sheridan, 48, from Wolverhampton.

OBrien allegedly persuaded a London resident to pay him 75,000 in an advance fee scam  where the victim is convinced to make an up-front payment to obtain a share of a larger sum later.

Sheridan, who isnt pictured, is suspected of posing as a judge and court officials during a phone call in which he threatened a victim with jail for contempt of court unless he handed over 79,000.

The appeal was issued by the Joint Fraud Taskforce, which comprises police, banks and other industry bodies. It also asked the public to help find two other suspected scammers. The first, Nathan Hudson, 34, of East Yorkshire, is suspected of stealing 110,000 from people who invested in a string of fake businesses.

The second, Denis Marku, 21, of South Norwood, London, is suspected of being a senior member of an Eastern European crime ring. He is accused of using his role as a cashier at a Chelsea bank to steal more than 3million from customer accounts. Speaking about the traveller crime gang, Detective Constable Lee Pocock said: This is organised criminality targeting the most vulnerable in our society.

Commissioner Ian Dyson, from City of London Police, added: I would urge anyone who has information on the wanted fraudsters to call officers as these people will continue to commit fraud across the globe that cause misery to so many worldwide.The videotaped statement given by Florida school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz to investigators just after the Valentine's Day massacre that killed 17 people should be publicly released, a judge ruled on Thursday.

Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer said in her order that much of the 'non-confession' portions of the statement should be released in 10 days, barring any appeal by the defendant.

Public Defender Howard Finkelstein said in an email that a decision on appeal will be made after Cruz's lawyers see the final version edited by prosecutors.

Scroll down for video.

Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer said in her order that much of the 'non-confession' portions of the statement should be released in 10 days. Pictured: Nikolas Cruz in court on June 8

Media outlets sought release of the statement, arguing that Florida's broad public records law required it.

Cruz's attorneys wanted all of it suppressed, contending disclosure could jeopardize the 19-year-old suspect's right to a fair trial in such a high-profile case by unduly influencing potential jurors.

But Scherer sided with the media in her decision.

'While it is true that this case has gained vast and widespread media coverage, this fact alone does not demonstrate that closure of the statement is required,' the judge wrote.

'The fact that the instant matter may be considered high-profile does not in itself give the defendant the right to close the flow of information to the public.'

Cruz is charged with 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

His attorneys have offered a guilty plea in return for a life sentence, but prosecutors are pursuing the death penalty.

The statement Cruz gave to detectives after his arrest began shortly after 6 p.m. and lasted until about 5:13 a.m. the next morning, according to the judge's order. All of it was videotaped.

Cruz is charged with 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, where students are seen laying tributes

Scherer ruled that the statement can only be released after specific redactions to both the video and the transcript that removes comments that appear to be Cruz's confession, which has already been reported by news media.

Under Florida law, the 'substance of a confession' cannot be released before trial.

Cruz's lawyers argued that so much of the statement contained elements of a confession that the entire thing should be suppressed, in addition to their fair trial arguments.

Scherer said the news organizations' argument in favor of as much disclosure as possible was correct.

'Extensive details about the defendant, his history, his behavioral history, and his actions during and after this incident, have already been widely reported,' she wrote.

'Withholding the non-confession, non-exempt portions of his statement from the public will not prevent further coverage of these proceedings.'A Georgia couple have been arrested for allegedly locking up the woman's two sons in the basement, feeding them only once a day for nearly a year and subjecting them to both physical and sexual abuse.

Tamara McGowan, 38, and her boyfriend, 42-year-old Thomas Young, of Stone Mountain, were taken into custody on Wednesday after DeKalb County Sheriff's deputies found them sleeping in a car at a Walmart parking lot.

Both were booked into the county jail on charges of first-degree child cruelty for depriving necessary sustenance, first-degree child cruelty for excessive physical or mental pain and second-degree child cruelty for excessive physical or mental pain.

Tamara McGowan (left), 38, and her boyfriend, 42-year-old Thomas Young (right), have been charged with child cruelty for allegedly keeping the woman's sons locked in a cellar

Between June 2017 and April 2018, McGowan and Young allegedly locked the victims in the basement of this house in Dekalb County, Georgia, and fed them noodles once a day

Young also faces an additional charge of criminal attempted sodomy, and McGowan faces counts of simple assault. They are being held without bond.

According to court documents cited by WSB-TV, between June 2017 and April 2018, McGowan and Young allegedly kept the woman's teenage sons confined to the cellar of a relatives home on North Hairston Road for hours at a time.

During that period, the children were only given noodles to eat once a day.

Arrest warrants allege that McGowan and Young also exposed her sons to drug use and performed sexual acts in front of them.

Young also allegedly tried to force the boys to perform sex acts on him, leading to the attempted sodomy charge, reported Fox 5 Atlanta.

McGowan (left and right) and Young also allegedly exposed her sons to drug use and performed sexual acts in front of them

Arthur Dyer, Young's uncle and the owner of the property where the suspected abuse had allegedly taken place, defended his nephew and vehemently denied that the children had ever been in his basement.

He also told WSB-TV that McGowan's boy are 'bad.'

Records indicate that McGowan has a past criminal record in Georgia, which includes charges of fraud, forgery and obstruction of officers.A teenage boy who allegedly killed two female friends in a 'violent' car crash in Texas drank an entire bottle of fortified wine before getting behind the wheel, prosecutors say.

Prosecutors say Jaggar Smith, 17, admitted he drunk an entire bottle of Mad Dog 20/20, which has an alcohol volume of 13- 18 per cent. The bottles are 750mL each.

As the teenager faced court on Friday, Harris County prosecutors told the judge Smith had slurred speech red eyes, and smelled of alcohol after the wreck early Wednesday, Click 2 Houston reported.

Salma Gomez and Chloe Robison were killed in the crash. The teens all attended Atascocita High School, northeast of Houston.

Jaggar Smith, 17, faced court for the first time on Thursday after allegedly killing two of his female friends in a high-speed car crash. Prosecutors allege Smith had been drinking when he got behind the wheel

Smith allegedly hit a tree so hard his car broke into two. The front half of the car, where Gomez was riding in the passenger seat, stopped in the median (pictured)

Gone too soon: Salma Gomez (left) and Chloe Robison (right), both 16, lost their lives after Smith's car slammed into trees and split in two near Houston

When Smith's car smashed into a tree, he was also allegedly speeding.

Witnesses told deputies Smith was doing 70 - 80mph in a 40mph speed zone, reported KPRC. All three occupants of the car were buckled up at the time of the crash.

Smith, accompanied by his parents and attorney Chip Lewis, made a preliminary court appearance Thursday. He's charged with two counts of intoxication manslaughter.

Police allege Smith said he had finished a bottle of MD 20/20, a fortified wine with an alcohol content of 13 to 18 per cent

Lewis described Smith as so overcome 'he's almost unable to speak.' Smith is free on $60,000 bond.

On Thursday, the judge implemented a curfew on Smith. He must not leave his home between 9pm and 6am. He was given an in-home breathalyzer and has been disqualified from driving.

When he bonded out of jail on Thursday, ABC reports he was wearing a blood-stained hospital gown, and declined to comment as he left in a taxi.

The 17-year-old's attorney said Smith and his family 'cannot adequately express the depths of their despair over the loss of two of the most beautiful lives imaginable'.

'We will have no further public comment as no words could ever fill the hearts of the families and friends of Chloe and Salma,' he said.

Violent crash: Officials say Smith was speeding in his 2008 Nissan Altma southbound in the 18300 block of Timber Forest when he lost control

Hannah, a friend of Salma Gomez and Chloe Robison who asked to only go by her first name, places flowers at a small memorial near the site of a fatal car crash that killed the two teens on Wednesday

Flowers rest in a small memorial near the site of a fatal car crash that killed the two teens, Wednesday, July 25, 2018, in Atascocita, Texas

Robison died at the scene. Gomez (pictured with Smith at a concert in June), died at the hospital. The boy suffered only minor injuries

The crash took place about 12.25am on Wednesday. Police say Smith was speeding in his 2008 Nissan Altma southbound in the 18300 block of Timber Forest when he lost control and drifted into the center median, rotating counter clockwise.

The right side of the sedan smashed into a tree and the force of the collision broke the car in two.

The front half of the car, where Gomez was riding in the passenger seat, then rotated clockwise before coming to a stop in the median.

The rear half of the car, where Robison was riding, continued spinning before crashing into a second tree in the median.

Robison died at the scene, while Gomez was transported to Memorial Hermann Northeast Hospital where she died from her injuries.

Smith was taken to Houston Northwest Medical Center, where he was treated for his injuries and arrested on two counts of intoxication manslaughter.

Smith's uncle told ABC13 his nephew was returning from a quinceanera reunion party that Gomez had hosted on Tuesday night.

His next hearing is set for Sept. 27.A callous, smiling teenager throw the cat from the upper floors of a high rise building while his girlfriend laughs.

The petrified cat is held, out of the window, mewling in fear and making its legs stiff, as it is held around the rib cage.

Seconds later, a sickening thud as the cat hits the concrete outside the building in Cali, Colombia.

The petrified cat is held, out of the window, mewling in fear and making its legs stiff

The camera quickly moves away from the cat's position, but local media reported that the feline miraculously survived the huge fall.

The head of Cali's environmental police, Jorge Eliecer Zorrilla, told local media that the case will be investigated by local authorities.

Animal rights activist Jairo Marin told local media: 'We were told that the culprit is a teenager aged between 16 and 18 living in the Potrero Grande area.'

Mr Marin said outraged video viewers have told him the teenager's address and he has passed the detail to the authorities.

He said: 'People were disgusted and shared the video on social networks. We also found the names of his mother and girlfriend, who is believed to be the woman heard in the footage.'Two major global car rental companies have been caught changing their prices depending on where drivers are from.

An investigation has found Europcar and Avis charge British customers more to hire a car abroad than drivers from Afghanistan, India and Australia.

Industry experts have branded the price differences a 'rip off' for Brits, while both firms insist the variation in prices are 'dynamic and market-driven'.

The probe revealed Europcar bill Britons 124 to hire a Holden Spark in New Zealand for five days. For motorists from Afghanistan, India or Australia it costs just 95.

Avis were also caught charging British drivers 150 to hire a Toyota Yaris in New Zealand for five days, while Afghan, German and Indian customers only had to pay 98.

The differences in price only emerge if you are using the generic international site and fill in a form to say where you are from.

But by using the local, UK-specific site instead of the global one, Brits can save money and avoid any discrepancies.

A screenshot shows Europcar bill Britons 124 to hire a Holden Spark in New Zealand for five days. For motorists from Afghanistan, India or Australia it costs just 95

A screengrab shows the price of hiring the same car over the same time period in New Zealand for customers from Afghanistan or India (125 USD or 95)

Drivers in Germany would be charged even more than ones in Britain with Europcar - 125 for the same time period - and drivers based in America would pay 119.

Nic McBride, of consumer group 'A Spokesman Said', added: 'This is an absolute rip off, no two ways about it.

'Why should someone's country determine the price they pay for the exact same product?

'As for 'dynamic pricing' - we conducted multiple quotes over various days and the difference between countries was present each time.

'Consumers are left unaware of price variations because they have to use the.com website to reveal them.

'Instead, most people are directed to a country specific site like.co.uk, where the prices appear the same regardless of what country you put as your residence.'

The difference in price comes from one section on the rental car company websites, which asks drivers where they are from.

But it only emerges if drivers use 'incognito' mode on their browser and use the international website rather than the country-specific one.

Avis were also caught charging British drivers 150 (218 New Zealand dollars) to hire a Toyota Yaris in New Zealand for four days

Afghan, German and Indian customers only had to pay 98 (143 New Zealand dollars) for the same car over the same period in New Zealand

Britons visiting the USA would pay cheaper rates than their international counterparts from Germany, who would be charged 258.

Drivers booking from Australia and India would both be charged 283, and motorists booking from Japan would pay 285, if they visited Washington DC for five days and hired a Toyota Yaris from Europcar.

And international visitors to the UK found themselves facing the same fluctuating prices depending on where they live.

Someone booking a Fiat 500 from Europcar for five days, collecting and returning it to Heathrow, would fork out 161 if they chose America as their location when they made the booking.

But drivers booking from Australia would be able to hire the same car for 130.

Someone booking from India, Japan, and Afghanistan would be charged 134.

But those booking from Germany, Italy, France and Spain would be charged 125 for the five days with Europcar.

A screenshot shows a Europcar customer from India would be charged just 95 (8,620 Indian rupees) to hire a Holden Spark in New Zealand for five days, while Brits would pay 124

Renting with Avis, a Fiat 500 hired for five days would cost someone choosing Germany, Italy, or France as their location 99.

Someone arranging it from America would be charged the least, at 73, while somoene from Australia would pay 79.

Those booking from India, Japan, and Afghanistan would pay the highest rates of 128.

Avis was also caught charging different rates for international travellers coming to the UK.

Hiring a Fiat 500 for five days would cost someone booking from America 73 and someone booking from Australia 79.

But those booking from Germany, Italy, and France would have to pay 99.

Drivers in Germany would be charged even more than ones in Britain with Europcar - 125 (140 euros) for the same time period - and drivers based in America would pay 119

Once again, those booking from India, Japan, and Afghanistan would pay the highest rates of 128.

A spokesman for Europcar said: 'The price may be different, even if it's just a few minutes between each search, because Europcar's dynamic pricing means that rates are never static.

'The other point is that all bookings are quoted in the local currency of the country which will also change the price.'

The company offered no explanation as to why the local currency of each country would affect the overall price once adjusted.

A spokesman for Avis said: 'Similar to airline and hotel pricing, car rental pricing is market-driven and very dynamic.

'Many factors determine price, including level of demand, cost of service and currency exchange rates.

'Travel companies may offer promotional rates to take advantage of growing markets or other fluctuations in demand, or simply to respond to competitive pricing.'Video has surfaced of three friends laughing, joking and taking selfies in the seconds before their car crashed in the foothills of the Himalayas.

One man died and two others were critically injured.

The footage shows all three smiling and waving at their smartphone seemingly without a care in the world and then one looks up and starts to panic.

The brakes screech, the car rolls down a steep slope and overturns, and the video cuts.

Police used the video to figure out what happened in the crash near the town of near the town of Kaladhungi, northern India.

The dead man has been named by police as Birender Kunway, a soldier, who was visiting his family in the area.

His younger brother, Sanju Kunwar, was also in the car while the third man was their friend, Dipu Dani. All three were said to be in their mid-20s.

The injured men were rushed by ambulance to a nearby hospital where doctors are fighting to save their lives.

The footage shows all three friends were all having fun in the moments before the car crash

The three had been on their way to a popular local beauty spot, near Kaladungi, for a day out together.

The incident has triggered public safety warnings in India where a number of people have recently lost their lives while taking selfies with their smartphones.

Last month, a 33-year-old woman from Delhi died after falling into a 500 foot deep valley, while taking a selfie at Matheran, western India.

Three days earlier, two tourists from south-eastern India's Tamil Nadu state drowned in separate incidents after falling into water while taking selfies in the western state of Goa.

Police in Goa have identified 24 'no selfie' zones along the state's coasts and cliffs to try to stop people from risking their lives by taking selfies.President Donald Trump says the United States will impose sanctions on NATO ally Turkey over a detained American pastor held on terror and espionage charges.

Shortly after the possibility of sanctions was first announced by Vice President Mike Pence Thursday, Trump wrote on Twitter that the U.S. 'will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson.'

'He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!' the president added from aboard Air Force One as he flew to Iowa for an event.

Turkey's foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, quickly responded, also via Twitter:

'No one dictates Turkey. We will never tolerate threats from anybody. Rule of law is for everyone; no exception.'

Andrew Brunson, an evangelical pastor from Black Mountain, North Carolina, has been held by Turkey's government since 2016 on terrorism and espionage charges

President Donald Trump said Thursday, after VP Mike Pence put the idea on the table, that the U.S. willsanction Turkey if it doesn't release Brunson

Trump said the pastor is 'suffering greatly' and should be released right away

Pence's initial announcement of possible sanctions came at the close of a three-day conference on religious freedom.

Brunson, 50, an evangelical Christian pastor originally from North Carolina, was let out of jail Wednesday, after 1 1/2 years, to serve house arrest because of 'health problems,' according to Turkey's official Anadolu news agency.

'Brunson is an innocent man, there is no credible evidence against him,' Pence said.

Trump said on Twitter last week that the pastor's detention was 'a total disgrace.' One of Brunson's attorneys is Jay Sekulow, who also represents Trump in the Russia investigation.

If convicted, Brunson faces up to 15 years in prison for 'committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member,' references to outlawed Kurdish militants and the network of a U.S-based Muslim cleric blamed for a failed coup attempt. He could receive another 20 years if he is found guilty of espionage.

Brunson denies the charges.

Turkey's foreign minister slapped Trump right back, saying his nation won't make exceptions for anyone

Brunson ran a Protestant church in the western Turkish city of Izmir, pictured above, but is now facing up to 35 years in prison if he is convicted

U.S. senators previously pushed to block the sale of F-35 jets to Turkey, citing Brunson's detention as one instance of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's disregard for the rule of law.

Pence's announcement of possible sanctions was delivered at a conference on religious freedom in Washington. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also spoke at the conference.

Pence highlighted cases of what he said was religious repression in Nicaragua, Iran, North Korea, China and Myanmar. He also condemned Islamic State group violence toward religious minorities and what he described as rising anti-Semitism in Europe.

Pompeo announced additional aid for a region of Iraq previously held by the Islamic State group. Pompeo said the department would provide $17 million for de-mining efforts in Nineveh, an area of Iraq historically home to many of Iraq's religious minorities.

Trump has spoken about Brunson already this year, bringing up his case in May during a ceremony to mark the release of an American held by Venezuela's government.

'He's been there a long time. And they say he's a spy, but he's not a spy,' Trump said then. 'And we're going to all work, and we've been working for his release.

'Pastor Brunson  I hope you can hear us  we'll be helping you at some point,' Trump added. 'We've been working on it for a while. He's been there a long time, and he's a totally innocent man.'

Ties between NATO allies Turkey and the United States have been strained by the pastor Brunson case.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has previously linked Brunson's return to the U.S. to the extradition of cleric Fethullah Gulen, the cleric Turkey's government holds responsible for a failed July 2016 military coup.

Gulen, who denies orchestrating the coup attempt, lives in Pennsylvania. Turkish requests for his arrest and extradition have not been granted.

Turkish forces guard the entrance to the prison in Kiriklar, in Izmir province, Turkey, where Brunson is held

President Trump tweeted his support for the detained pastor in April and spoke about him a month later during a White House event

Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen is pictured; Brunson is accused of of acting on behalf of Gulen's movement, which the Turkish government blames for a failed coup in 2016

Brunson served as pastor of Izmir Resurrection Church, a small Protestant congregation, and has lived in Turkey for 23 years. He was detained by Turkish forces in the aftermath of the failed coup, The indictment against him contends he worked to convert Kurds to Christianity to sow discord in Turkey.

More than 77,000 people were arrested across Turkey after the government declared a state of emergency following the failed 2016 coup. The crackdown has targeted journalists, activists and opposition figures.

Brunson rejected evidence against him during a recent hearing, according to Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency.

'I believe in and support Turkey's territorial integrity,' he told the court. 'I forgive those who lie and bear false witness against me.'

Brunson's case has been adjourned until Oct. 12.Former Vice President Joe Biden's niece, Caroline, avoided jail time Thursday in Manhattan Criminal Court in a sweetheart deal on a felony conviction for a $100,000 credit card scam.

Caroline, 31, offered an apology while promising her wild ways are behind her, as she accepted her sentence of two-years probation.

'I not only acknowledge my conduct and take responsibility but deeply regret the harm caused,' she told Justice Curtis Farber.

'I can assure you that I have made amends, full restitution, completed community service and that nothing like this will ever happen again,' Biden said, according to the New York Post.

Decked in a fitted black dress and ankle booties with her blonde locks flowing, Caroline happily had her felony conviction tossed.

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Caroline Biden, 31, scored a sweetheart plea deal in Manhattan court following her arrest in 2017 that resulted in a felony conviction for a $100,000 credit card scam

Strike a pose: Biden, decked in a fitted black dress and ankle booties, was sentenced to two-years probation after accepting a deal to plead guilty to the lesser charge of petit larceny

Model citizen: Biden told the judge Thursday that her wild ways are behind her, and that she is continuing to volunteer at a children's hospital, where she completed her community service

As part of her deal she plead to a lesser charge of petit larceny.

She has since paid the full restitution of $110,810.04 and completed 10 days of community service.

'I love the children, and I'm still working with the volunteer service program now and that's been very fulfilling,' she said in Manhattan Supreme Court.

In 2017, Biden used a borrowed credit card to make purchases totaling more than $110,000 at the high-end Bigelow Pharmacy in Greenwich Village.

Prosecutors previously said Caroline asked to borrow a credit card from a victim, who was not identified in court documents, to buy a single item for $672.

But instead Biden opened an account at Bigelow Pharmacy and spent more than $110,000 between April 2015 and June 24, 2016, buying the store's lavish products.

On May 5, 2017, police arrested her and initially charged her with grand and petit larceny.

Caroline, 31, was allowed to change her plea to a lesser charge of petit larceny

Goodbye: She told the judge Thursday she was extremely remorseful for the harm and pain she had caused

This was not her first run-in with the law: in 2013, Caroline was arrested for harassment, resisting arrest and obstruction of justice after she got into a fight with a roommate over rent.

She also told to police while she was being arrested: 'I shouldn't be handcuffed! You don't know who you're doing this to!'

Biden, who has been reportedly in and out of rehab for anger management and a drug addiction, also managed to escape jail at the time when the court ordered for her charges to be dropped if she behaved for six months.Yenier Conde (pictured), 32, was charged with abusing his five children who were allegedly punished with whippings

A Michigan couple has been charged after authorities say their five children were punished with whippings and confinement in a dark, locked bedroom described by a police officer as a 'dungeon'.

Yenier Conde, 32, and Sarah Conde, 28, were charged last week with child abuse and unlawful imprisonment.

The five children, now ages 6, 7, 9, 10 and 11, were reportedly kept in the bedroom without food or water, according to the Lansing State Journal.

According to the newspaper, the Condes gave the children diapers instead of letting them out of the bedroom to use the bathroom.

The kids were allegedly forced to relieve themselves elsewhere in the room.

The abuse reportedly occurred over several years and was discovered in 2017.

Authorities said the children have been taken from the couple's care and put into foster care.

But even now that they have been taken from their parents, four of the children are not fully toilet trained.

The oldest boy, now 10, told investigators that he and his siblings would break holes in the walls to try to escape and to pass food and water through, according to the Journal.

The Condes were each charged with 10 counts of first and second degree child abuse and unlawful imprisonment on Friday. Pictured is Sarah Conde, 28

He also told authorities that their parents would beat them with a belt if the children tried to escape through the vent.

The 10-year-old had also been diagnosed with a type of neuroblastoma cancer.

According to authorities, the Condes had stopped taking child to his cancer treatment appointments in 2012.

The youngest boy, who is now 6, told detectives he was locked in the bedroom by Yenier Conde for without food or water.

He said he was forced to go to the bathroom in the closet.

The Condes were each charged with 10 counts of first and second degree child abuse and unlawful imprisonment on Friday.

Sarah Conde has an August 3 hearing. Her attorney declined to comment on the charges.

Court records didn't list a lawyer or court hearings for Yenier Conde.Top Trump Organization official Allen Weisselberg has been subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury in the Michael Cohen case  a development that puts new scrutiny on the company still owned by President Donald Trump.

A Wall Street Journal report on the subpoena did not reveal whether he has already appeared or whether his testimony is being sought in the ongoing probe of Trump's longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen.

Weisselberg is a longtime Trump loyalist, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, and the executive who helps run the firm along with Trump's two adult children, Don Jr. and Eric Trump.

INSIDE KNOWLEDGE: Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg has knowledge of Trump deals, his net worth, his taxes, and information about relationships with vendors. It isn't known what prosecutors want to ask him about. It wasn't known what inestigators wanted to ask him about in the Michael Cohen case

He is referenced by Cohen in the newly leaked tape where Cohen and Trump discuss purchasing the story of former Playboy cover model Karen McDougal, who claims she had a year-long affair with Donald Trump.

It isn't known what prosecutors want to ask him about, but he is being called as a witness, according to the report.

The Trump Organization didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the conversation, Cohen, Trump's longtime fixer, says he spoke to Weisselberg for guidance about setting up a shell company for purchases of paying 'David'  a reference to American Media Inc.'s David Pecker. AMI owns the National Enquirer, which bought rights to McDougal's story for $150,000 and never ran it.

'Ive spoken to Allen Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up,' Cohen informs Trump on the tape.

Longtime Trump lawyer Michael Cohen is under criminal investigation

The subpoena puts Weisselberg, who has handled Trump Organization taxes, bank loans, and payments to vendors, in front of prosecutors investigating Michael Cohen

Later on the tape Cohen brings up Weisselberg as it relates to 'financing' the deal, although no payment has been uncovered for the deal which apparently never materialized.

'So, Im all over that. And, I spoke to Allen about it, when it comes time for the financing,' Cohen says on the 2016 tape.

'Wait a sec, what financing?' Trump asks.

'Well, Ill have to pay him something,' Cohen responds.

It was not immediately clear what investigators in the Southern District of New York either asked or intended to ask Weisselberg about.

But as the Journal notes, he handled personal financial issues for Trump, has done his taxes, arranged for setting up a retainer for Cohen after he paid $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels.

He has also handled dealigns with banks  many of which stopped lending to Trump amid bankruptcies and lawsuits over the years. He also has been a point of contact with vendors  many charged during the campaign that Trump didn't pay them what they said he owed.

According to the Journal, he did Trump's taxes through the financial crisis. Trump broke tradition by failing to release his tax returns before or after the election.

Weisselberg, 70, works in Trump Tower and once reported directly to Trump. He previously worked for Trump's father, Fred.

He joined the firm after graduating college, Bloomberg reported.A tenth person has been charged with falsely claiming benefits given to those caught up in the Grenfell disaster.

Derrick Peters was charged on Thursday with fraud and attempting to pervert the course of justice over the fire that killed 72 people.

The 58-year-old homeless man allegedly fraudulently received cash and hotel accommodation.

A tenth person has been charged with falsely claiming benefits given to those caught up in the Grenfell disaster

Police said he was remanded in custody after being charged at Isleworth Crown Court in west London, to appear again on August 23.

Earlier, 26-year-old homeless man Yonatan Eyob was charged on July 18 with one count of fraud by false representation.

Eyob will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on July 30 as detectives continue to investigate claims fraudsters exploited the fire to claim cash meant for victims.

Five fraudsters have been jailed for defrauding charities and authorities out of money in the wake of the fire on June 14 last year, which claimed 72 lives.

Earlier this month, illegal immigrants Elaine Douglas and Tommy Brooks, 51 and 52, who said they lived in a flat on the 19th floor, were jailed for more than six years.

The Jamaican nationals spent more than 120,000 of taxpayers' money after being granted pre-paid credit cards and stays at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel.

Illegal immigrants Elaine Douglas (left) and Tommy Brooks (right) were jailed for Grenfell fraud

Grenfell fraudsters Mohammad Gamoota (left) and Joyce Msokeri (right) have also been jailed

A month earlier in June, Mohammad Gamoota, 31, was jailed for 18 months for pretending to be a Grenfell Tower victim's son to get 5,000 and free hotel stays.

In April, Joyce Msokeri, 47, was jailed for four-and-a-half years at the Old Bailey for fraud after posing as a Grenfell survivor in a 19,000 scam.

She claimed the money in cash donations, electronics, handbags, dresses and hotel costs - and filled a room at Hilton hotel with donations from charities.

Two months prior, in February, serial conman Anh Nhu Nguyen, 53, was jailed for 21 months after pretending his family died in the Grenfell fire.

He claimed his wife and son were killed in the atrocity to obtain about 12,500 from funds intended for victims - and even met Prince Charles as he posed as a survivor.

Another fraudster, Anh Nhu Nguyen, met Prince Charles during his time posing as a victim

Two other men are currently awaiting trial on fraud charges relating to the fire - including father-of-five Abolaji Onafuye, 54, whose trial is due on October 29.

In a separate and unconnected case, Koffi Kouakou, 54, will be tried on November 19. A third accused conman, Abdelkarim Rekaya, 28, is due for trial on November 26.

Separately, a 57-year-old man was arrested yesterday on suspicion of fraud by false representation in relation to claims that he lived in Grenfell Tower.

He was then released under investigation. A further five people  four men and a woman  arrested as part of the probe into the blaze have been released on bail.It's likely that many of the immigrant parents who have been separated from their children at the southern U.S. border will never see their kids ever again, a former senior official at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said today.

'There's a very high likelihood that a lot of these parents are never going to see their kids again and their kids are going to stay in the U.S.,' John Sandweg, former acting director of ICE, told CNN Thursday.

The news comes as the Trump administration is poised to miss a court-ordered deadline to reunify all families who have been divided by a zero-tolerance policy that the president reversed course on last month.

John Sandweg, former acting director of ICE, tells CNN on Thursday that many of the parents who have been separated from their children will never see them again

Officials from ICE and the Office of Refugee Resettlement did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

'If they have a relative in the U.S., there's a chance that that relative will be appointed their legal guardian,' Sandweg said. 'But many of the other kids are actually going to go into the foster care system. They could become wards of the state, be subject to adoption.'

He said that there is no way that parents could have anticipated the division of their families.

'These families thought that there was very little risk that they would be separated from their children,' Sandweg said. 'They thought there was a risk for sure that they would be deported back to their home country, but they thought they were going to be deported as a family. The idea that they could be permanently separated from their children never crossed their minds.'

Family separation: By the numbers A total of 2,551 children were separated from their parents, according to the latest numbers from the government. Of those, 1,634 were eligible to be reunited with their parents by the deadline Thursday. A total of 917 parents were ineligible for reunification for the following reasons: 463 because the parent has been deported

260 because the cases are still under evaluation and many children have been discharged by the government in appropriate circumstances

130 because parent waived their right to reunification

64 because the parent had a criminal record or was otherwise deemed ineligible Advertisement

Two additional former U.S. immigration officials agreed on Thursday that reuniting families that have had a parent deported would be difficult or even impossible  unless the government is willing to commit resources to working with their home countries to locate the parent.

'That's just true as a matter of arithmetic,' said Leon Fresco, former deputy attorney general in charge of the Office of Immigration under President Obama, in an interview with DailyMail.com.

'I don't know how many of the people who have been removed won't see their children again, but the problem is once the person is removed you lose accountability and track of that person,' Fresco added.

It will require massive coordination between countries and agencies to make reunification a reality for families in which a parent has already been deported, said Leon Rodriguez, a Washington D.C.-based attorney and former director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under the Obama administration.

Given all the different steps and connections that need to be made in order to confidentially match a parent and child, unfortunately its a real possibility (that reunification wont happen) Leon told DailyMail.com.

Many parents were misled or coerced into agreeing to deportation without their children, according to court documents filed by the American Civil Liberties Union this week.

Migrant parents, all of whom were separated from their children by U.S Customs and Border Patrol, arrive at the Annunciation House migrant shelter in El Paso, Texas in June 2018

According to most recent numbers, at least 463 parents have been deported from the country without their children, said Michelle Brane, director of Migrant Rights & Justice during a news conference Thursday.

'We have no idea what choices those 463 parents made and what information they were given and whether they had any choice,' Brane said. 'A lot of people were given misinformation before they signed documents.'

It also remains unclear how many children were left alone after their parents were deported.

In addition, 900 parents currently have a final order of removal, according to court documents. However, its unclear if the 463 parents who have been deported are included in that number.

Even after being reunited, many of the children will be traumatized and may blame their parents for the weeks and months of separation, Brane said.

'We saw children who were afraid to leave their parents' side for even a moment,' she said.This the heartwarming moment when a fast food manager shows the world it can be a better a place.

With the homeless man setting up to sell CDs outside her store and a line of cars in the drive-through, the Chick-Fil-A restaurant manager took time to show compassion.

The manageress in Campbell Lane, Bowling Green, Kentucky, could have called police or got a security guard to move him along. She could have just ignored him and got on with her day.

Her compassion has earned her praise from customers, including Christopher James, who shot the video at his local Chick-Fil-A in Bowling Green, Kentucky

Instead, she comes out with a bag of food and a soft drink and an offer to dine inside.

She said: Because of your sign we cant let you solicit. You are more than welcome to dine in and be our guest.

She then knelt down to shake his hand and he introduced himself as Charlie.

Christopher James, who shot the video, said: Chick-fil-A Campbell Lane didnt get enough credit on this one.

This was a fella directly outside of their main entrance/drive-thru that was selling CDs (obviously homeless).

The manager came out, informed him that you cannot solicit outside of the restaurant, and instead of giving him the boot- she offered him a meal and a place to eat inside. Chick-fil-A is doing something right.

A handshake and a milkshake: The Chick-Fil-A manageress says he can dine inside 'as our guest'

Mr James, whose family often uses the restaurant, does not know the manager personally but she had always been professional when he had seen her working.

He added: Unfortunately, I had never seen the man before, and havent after, and have no idea what happened after the video ended.Sarah Ferguson pledged to help victims of the Greek wildfires that have devastated the country and killed at least 82 people.

The Duchess of York said she would provide 'every possible help' as she met with Greek tourism minister Elena Kountoura in Athens on Thursday.

A prominent charity figure, Fergie expressed her deep sorrow and sympathy and praised Greeks coming together to help each other.

Sarah Ferguson pledged to help victims of the Greek wildfires as she met with tourism minister Elena Kountoura in Athens

The fires have have devastated the country and killed at least 82 people this week

'In deepest sympathy to all families in the tragedy of the fires in Greece,' she wrote on Instagram.

'Thank you to Elena Kountoura, the Greek people and services who are working tirelessly in such difficult circumstances.'

Ferguson also encouraged Britons to visit Greece to stimulate its tourism industry to help it recover from the devastating fires and floods.

'In deepest sympathy to all families in the tragedy of the fires in Greece,' she wrote on Instagram with a picture of the pair meeting

A prominent charity figure, Fergie expressed her deep sorrow and sympathy and praised Greeks coming together to help each other

'We are here to help. Greece is a very beautiful country and... people must come here and see how beautiful it is,' she told a press conference.

The ex-wife of Prince Andrew was speaking from experience as she holidayed in the country with Kate Moss in 2016.

Ms Kountoura thanked her and said the government was doing everything in could to help victims of the disaster.A Texas inmate being transferred 150 miles from his previous cell allegedly broke a window and got onto the roof of a moving patrol car.

Video filmed by Jennifer and Jason Mustain as they drove behind the police car shows the inmate sitting on the roof as the car travels along the highway for about three minutes before backup arrives.

The inmate, 31-year-old Martin Gregory Estrada, had allegedly slipped out of his handcuffs, shattered the rear passenger-side window of the patrol car and threatened to kill himself unless the policeman pulled over.

A statement from the Taylor County Sheriff's Office says the officer refused to pull over, so the inmate climbed on to the roof.

'At first, he was laying across the top of the roof like you see in the movies,' Jason told KTXS.

'Then he tried to stand up and eventually sat there chilling.'

Jason said it had taken the inmate about 10 minutes to get onto the roof.

Jason and Jennifer Mustain (pictured) were driving behind the patrol car when an inmate inside made his bold bid for escape

Baffling footage shows the inmate sitting calmly on top of the car, but when more police arrived as backup, the police car with Estrada on top finally pulled over.

In harsh contrast to his calm demeanor on the roof, Estrada was seen slowly getting off the roof before throwing himself down a hill and trying to escape.

Martin Gregory Estrada, 31, threatened to kill himself if the policeman did not pull over the car. When he refused, Estrada climbed on to the roof

'Because the Taylor County deputy's car window was broken out, Wichita County Sheriff's Office administrators offered to have the prisoner transported by them on to the Taylor County Jail,' the Taylor County Sheriff's Office said.

'He was returned to Abilene by Wichita County S.O. without further incident.'

The officer had come to collect Estrada from the Red River mental health and addiction facility in Wichita Falls and return him to Taylor County, where he was wanted for'insufficient bond' on charges including evading arrest, aggravated robbery, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver.

Police allege when the officer arrived at the facility: 'he was told the prisoner had assaulted and hospitalized another person, and was being discharged for safety reasons'.

'The deputy and three other staff members were needed to secure handcuffs and leg irons on the prisoner,' the statement read.

Taylor County jail records show Estrada was being held Thursday on escape, evading arrest, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and drug possession charges. Bond was $680,000.Two days after chuckling along with high schoolers' anti-Hillary Clinton 'Lock her up!' chant  and repeating the phrase himself  a more self-reflective Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he shouldn't have taken the bait.

The battle cry, dating from Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, overshadowed Sessions' speech Tuesday at the conservative Turning Point USA group's annual youth convention in West Palm Beach, Florida.

But Thursday in Boston, he said he should have put a stop to it and told the teen audience that Clinton was innocent until proven guilty.

'I met with a group of enthusiastic high school students, and they spontaneously broke into that chant,' he recalled. 'I perhaps should have taken a moment to advise them of the fact that ... you're presumed innocent until cases are made.'

'So it was a great event to be with those kids, and that would be my answer,' Sessions said.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday that rather than repeating a teen audience's 'Lock her up!' chant, he should have told them Hillary Clinton was innocent until proven guilty

'Lock Her Up!' was a 2016 campaign chant meant to rally conservatives around the idea that Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate, should be prosecuted for mishandling classified information on her private, home-brew email server

Sessions laughed along with high school students chanting the 2016-vintage phrase on Tuesday, and then repeated it himself

The FBI declined to refer Clinton to the Justice Department for prosecution in a case involving classified material found on a private email serve she used exclusively while secretary of state.

Sessions' theme on Tuesday was the university coddle-culture that has become a conservative bugbear. He predicted the teens in attendance wouldn't rely on campus speech codes and other First Amendment contortions to express their opinions as college students.

'I like this bunch, I've got to tell you. You're not going to be backing down! Go get 'em! Go get 'em!' he urged. The brief chanting episode broke out moments later.

'Lock her up! Ha! Ha! Well, I heard that a long time on the last campaign,' Sessions laughed, moments before bemoaning universities' failure at 'molding a generation of mature, well-informed adults.'

Trump was elected president 625 days ago. His supporters' disdain for Clinton, the Democratic Party nominee who he beat in stunning fashion, hasn't disappeared.

Many Republicans complained bitterly in July 2016 when then-FBI Director James Comey closed the book on the Clinton criminal probe.

The 'Lock her up!' chant found its greatest crescendo weeks later during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.

Democrats, in turn, carped when Comey resurrected the Clinton email probe less than two weeks before Election Day. But by then Americans on the political right had long concluded that the fix was in at the Justice Department.

President Trump resisted joining in the 'Lock Her Up!' chants for about ten days of his 2016 campaign after the slogan first appeared during the Cleveland convention.

Then, in a Colorado rally, he turned an abrupt corner.

Trump initially shied away from repeating 'Lock Her Up!' during his campaign rallies but eventually gave in and said he agreed with the sentiment

'How do you lie to the FBI, and, I mean, the answer is she lied. How do you lie to the FBI and now you're running for president? Seriously! How do you lie to the FBI and now you're running for president? How does that happen?' he marveled.

That was the cue for a few thousand people to yell the three magic words.

'You know what?' Trump asked in reply. 'I've been saying "Let's just beat her on November 8," but you know what? I'm starting to agree with you!'

'Every time I mention her, everyone screams "Lock her up!"  "Lock her up! Lock her up!" they keep screaming,' he said.

'And you know what I do? I've been nice. But ... I don't have to be so nice anymore. I'm taking the gloves off, right?'Advertisement

Stunning drone footage shows large swaths of flooding across the state of Pennsylvania following five days of torrential downpours.

Officials have said the waters may finally beginning to recede on Thursday thanks to a break in the rainfall, but more storms are scheduled for Friday.

As many as eight to ten inches of rain have been reported across parts of Pennsylvania and into northern Maryland over the past week, saturating the ground to the point that creeks and rivers have risen dramatically.

The National Weather Service will continue to monitor flood conditions in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic through the weekend.

Stunning drone footage shows vast flooding across the state of Pennsylvania following five days of torrential downpours

As many as eight to ten inches of rain were reported across parts of Pennsylvania and northern Maryland over the past week

Weather officials expected water to begin to recede on Thursday as the region experienced a break in the rains

One of the hardest-hit areas of Pennsylvania is near Hershey and Middletown, where homes can be seen submerged above

The flooding has forced the closure of dozens of roads across the region as water creeps up above bridges and embankments

The most severe flooding has been reported at Swatara Creek near Hershey, Pennsylvanie, about an hour and a half north of Baltimore.

Hershey Park was closed for the second time this week on Wednesday, with dramatic photographs showing amusement rides standing in deep water.

Numerous roads across the region have been closed to traffic because of high water.

'This is a disaster,' medical school professor Arun Das told AP as he photographed the Swatara Creek not far from his home.

A few blocks away, retired government contractor Rick Flage, whose home borders the stream, said the waters were about 9 feet lower than after the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee, which ruined several of his neighbors' homes in 2011.

'We just have to clean up,' Flage said Thursday. 'No big deal - we have plenty of time.'

The sudden surge of rainfall has saturated the ground to the point that excess water runs off into creeks and rivers

More thunderstorms are expected to roll across the region on Friday, bringing the possibility of worsening floods

The National Weather Service will continue to monitor conditions in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic through the weekend

State highway authorities have warned that as flood waters recede, a slick mud will be left behind on roadways

State police said water conditions remained too dangerous to conduct an all-out search of the Conewago Creek near Elizabethtown for a 19-year-old woman last seen Monday while trying to cross the swollen stream, but aerial and searches continued.

Fewer than 10 people showed up Wednesday at a Red Cross shelter at Hershey High School, mostly for a meal and shower, but one family spent the night, said disaster program specialist Kam Kobeissi.

The Red Cross closed the shelter by lunchtime Thursday.

A spokesman for Dauphin County said officials were working with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency to determine the extent of property damage.

In Tremont, about 40 miles northeast of Harrisburg, floodwaters caused catastrophic damage to the American Legion Post building, and a Family Dollar store was expected to be closed for a week after getting several inches of water, the Pottsville Republican Herald reported. A collapsed road in Tower City opened up a 5-foot hole.

A retaining wall along the Codorus Creek gave way in York City at a major bridge, closing a lane of traffic, and officials blamed it on the heavy rains.

Hershey Park was closed for the second time this week Wednesday, with photos showing amusement rides standing in waterA mother-of-three sought to have her former husband jailed over his failure to pay her rent and their children's school fees.

Melanie Olu-Williams said trying to get cash from the businessman was 'like getting blood out of a stone' and accused him of constantly breaking promises he makes in court.

But Oscar Olu-Williams maintained at a High Court hearing in London that he had always attempted to live up to his obligations and his barrister said it was a 'can't pay', not a 'won't pay', case.

Mrs Olu-Williams claimed he has an income of about 100,000 a year and had failed to abide by his promises to support her and their three children, so should be jailed for contempt of court.

Melanie Olu-Williams (pictured) sought to have her former husband jailed over his failure to pay her rent and their children's school fees

'He promises to pay when we are in court and then when we leave court everything changes', she said.

'It's like trying to get blood out of a stone with this man. You wouldn't like to see my bank account because there's nothing in it.'

But Mr Olu-Williams, 62, who has legal aid, said he was no business mogul, instead being heavily indebted.

He said work was 'sporadic' and he was currently in such dire straits he owes 30,000 in rent on his Fulham flat, not to mention other liabilities.

He admits breaching court orders but the judge dismissed any suggestion that he would be jailed.

On Thursday, Mr Olu-Williams, a former HSBC banker, was pressed on his business interests. He said he had investment problems in Turkey and added that even during his marriage the couple would go through periods when 'there was a lot of cash available and then periods when there was a fall away of cash'.

Melanie Olu-Williams said trying to get cash from Oscar Olu-Williams (pictured) was 'like getting blood out of a stone'

'It wasn't always roses, far from it', he said, claiming that he had struggled with debt throughout the couple's time together.

The court was told that in good times the family had an annual expenditure of 250,000, a 4million home in Imperial Wharf, south-west London, and spent long periods in the South of France and near Lake Como in Italy.

The couple's three children all attend prominent private schools but the hearing was told that Mr Olu-Williams consistently failed to pay the fees, defying court orders.

This led to his ex-wife being sued and having her car repossessed.

He is also obliged to pay the rent on the home of his ex-wife and children in Tadworth, Surrey, but she said he owes more than 7,000 in payments and she fears eviction.

The court heard the pair divorced four years ago after a 16-year marriage.

Mrs Olu-Williams, who is in her 50s, accuses her ex-husband of failing to hand over information about his financial interests, some of which are said to be in Sierra Leone, where his family originate.

Mr Olu-Williams, who complained of receiving abusive emails from his ex-wife, has already admitted breaching orders over declaring financial matters.

He also admits failing to come up with money for school fees and rent, but says his financial circumstances meant it was unavoidable.

His barrister, Michael Horton, told Mr Justice Williams the application should be dismissed.

'This is an abuse of process', he said. 'Where he is in breach of orders, it is because he is unable to pay. This is a 'can't pay', not a 'won't pay', case.'

The judge dismissed nine out of 12 complaints made by Mrs Olu-Williams because of 'procedural defects'.

He said her ex-husband's breaches of orders were contempt but they were 'not sufficiently serious' to warrant jailing him. There will be a hearing later in the year to examine his finances.An Oregon woman who went missing for nearly four days last summer, only to be rescued by the US Coast Guard from a remote cliff, has now been charged with nearly 100 felony counts.

Heather Mounce, 38, a mother-of-two from Dallas, Oregon, is facing 62 counts of identity theft, 24 counts of criminal mistreatment and 10 counts of theft.

Mounce is accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the Dallas Retirement Village and the owners of the company OpenRoad Transportation.

Mom charged: Heather Mounce (left) and right), 38, who was rescued from an Oregon cliff after her disappearance last summer, has been charged with 96 felony counts

She was rescued on August 16, 2017, when a US Coast Guard helicopter crew hoisted her off the cliff above the Pacific Ocean (above)

The 38-year-old is also suspected of stealing $5,000 and the identity of Anthony Emil Britt, who is a man in his 90s. Britt is described in court papers as an 'elderly and dependent' man in Mounce's care.

Mounce is suspected of using Britt's information 'with the intent to deceive or defraud, convert to defendants own use, create, obtain, possess, transfer and utter personal identification of" multiple businesses, such as the Oregonian Media Group, Career Builder, Monster.com/Monster Worldwide, Oregon Center for Nursing and Survey Monkey,' reported Salem Statesman Journal.

According to the charging documents filed in the Polk County Circuit Court last week, Mounce had engaged in these criminal activities from September 2013 until July 14, 2018.

Polk County District Attorney Aaron Felton said police launched an investigation into Mounce in 2017

Mounce is accused of defrauding businesses and stealing the identity of a man in his 90 who was in her care. Pictured right: a missing poster from the time of her disappearance

The woman made headlines in mid-August 2017 when she was reported missing and her car was then found abandoned along Highway 101.

After a four-day search, Mounce's then-husband, Denton Davison, found his wife clinging to a cliff face near Sea Lion Caves outside Florence, Oregon.

The mom-of-two had been allegedly committing acts of fraud and theft for five years, even as recently as July 14

Mounce is scheduled to appear in court for her arraignment on August 14. She has not been arrested as of Thursday afternoon.

Mounce was reported missing on August 12, 2017, by concerned family members.

Authorities found her car parked just north of Florence near Sea Lion Caves along Highway 101.

She was rescued on august 16 when a helicopter crew hoisted her off the cliff above the Pacific Ocean.

Police said at the time the mother-of-two drove to the coast on her own free will, but did not reveal why.

Her husband spotted her somewhere off of the highway near her car's location, officials said.

KOIN reported that Denton Davison filed for divorce three months after his wifes dramatic rescue, citing irreconcilable differences.House Speaker Paul Ryan blasted as 'cavalier' a conservative effort to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, and drafters backed off an effort to try to force an immediate floor vote on his removal.

The immediate effect was to derail an effort to go after the man overseeing the Russia probe, days after President Donald Trump got hammered by Republicans for his embrace of Russian President Vladimir Putin at their Helsinki summit.

'I don't think we should be cavalier with this process or with this term,' Ryan said on Thursday, a day after 11 lawmakers introduced articles of impeachment against Rosenstein for what would have been a historic rebuke of an unelected administration official.

Eleven House Republicans have introduced articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein

'I don't think that this rises to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors,' said Ryan, referencing the Constitution's definition of an impeachable offense.

He called it 'really high standard. ... Since I got involved, [we] have been getting a lot of compliance from [the Justice Department] on the document request. We do not have full compliance, and we have to get full compliance, but we've been making tremendous progress to that point,' Ryan said.

The effort would have been doomed to fail - requiring a two-thirds vote to prevail in the Senate.

He was referencing repeated requests by Republicans to demand documents from the Justice Department about the Clinton and Russia probes  requests Democratic critics say are meant to secure documents that Trump and his allies can use to muddy the Russia probe.

House Speaker Paul Ryan poured cold water on the idea of impeaching Rosenstein, saying we shouldn't be 'cavalier with this process'

Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who is running for Speaker, is among those backing the impeach-Rosenstein effort

Prominent backers of the effort include Freedom Caucus chair Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina (above) and Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, who announced his run for House speaker Thursday

Attorney General Jeff Sessions defended Rosenstein in public remarks Thursday

Prominent backers of the effort include Freedom Caucus chair Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina and Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, who announced his run for House speaker Thursday.

House leaders including Majority Whip Steve Scalise were seen negotiating with the members in the House on Thursday, as the effort appeared to fizzle. The lawmakers decided not to offer a 'privileged' resolution that would get an immediate vote, and would have put Republicans on record as voting in a way Democrats were already casting as a vote to stifle the Russia probe.

'All of that came to an agreement where we felt like not doing a privileged motion today would be most prudent ... and yet brings us all together the first week in September if they do not comply,' Meadows said, CNN reported.

He said Ryan is willing to support a contempt process 'if the agreed upon documents are not delivered.' Republicans are demanding Rosenstein turn over more documents and un-redact portions of others. He has already overseen the transfer of 800,000 documents.

Former deputy attorney general Sally Yates, who was fired by Trump, wrote on Twitter: 'While the absurd threat to impeach Rod Rosenstein will undoubtedly fail, using the Department of Justice as a prop for political theater does lasting damage to this vital democratic institution. The men and women of DOJ and the people of our country deserve better.'

Eleven House Republicans introduced articles of impeachment against Rosenstein.

Rosenstein oversees special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference and President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.

It is unclear whether there will be enough support in the party to pass it, as Republican leaders have not signed on to the effort.

The articles were introduced by North Carolina Rep Mark Meadows and Ohio Rep Jim Jordan, staunch allies of Donald Trump who have supported his criticism of the Justice Department.

They claim Rosenstein is not being responsive enough in their requests for documents related to the Russia investigation, as well as a closed investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails.

Rosenstein's critics are also angered that he has not appointed a second special counsel to review how the FBI has handled the Russia investigation or shared a memo outlining Mueller's investigation, according to Politico.

A request for the latter was denied by the Justice Department, which said it would impede the ongoing investigation.

The introduction does not trigger an immediate vote, but Meadows and Jordan could make procedural moves on the House floor to force a vote late this week.

They could also wait until the House returns from its upcoming five-week recess, which begins on Thursday, in September.

Their move came two hours after GOP lawmakers met with Justice Department officials who have been working to provide documents to several congressional committees about decisions made during the 2016 presidential campaign.

'The DOJ is keeping information from Congress. Enough is enough,' Jordan said in a statement on Wednesday.

'It's time to hold Mr Rosenstein accountable for blocking Congress's constitutional oversight role.'

The articles were introduced by North Carolina Rep Mark Meadows and Ohio Rep Jim Jordan (pictured), who are outspoken supporters of President Donald Trump

Meadows (pictured) and Jordan have supported Trump's criticism of the Justice Department

The Justice Department has provided lawmakers with more than 800,000 documents connected to the investigation into Clinton's emails.

But Meadows claimed after the meeting that there was still 'frustration' with how Rosenstein has handled the oversight requests.

He said Rosenstein has 'made every effort to obstruct legitimate attempts of congressional oversight' since taking charge of the Department of Justice.

'It's time to find a new deputy attorney general who is serious about accountability and transparency,' he added.

Republican leaders, however, have said in recent weeks that they are satisfied with the Justice Department's progress.

It is unclear whether there will be enough support in the party to pass it, as Republican leaders like Paul Ryan have not signed on to the effort

House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Trey Gowdy said after the meeting that he was pleased with the department's efforts and wouldn't support Rosenstein's impeachment.

House Speaker Paul Ryan has also said he is satisfied with progress on the document production and has previously rejected calls for Rosenstein's impeachment.

On Tuesday the congressman's aides told Politico that his position has not changed and he has not endorsed efforts to impeach Rosenstein.

But some Rosenstein critics have said they hope just the act of introducing articles of impeachment could lead to Trump firing the Deputy Attorney General himself.

'We were just kind of hoping somebody else would do it first, either Jeff Sessions or the president,' Texas Rep Louie Gohmert said in a recent interview.

Arizona Reps Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar, Pennsylvania Rep Scott Perry, Georgia Rep Jody Hice, Florida Rep Matt Gaetz, and Tennessee Rep Scott DesJarlais have all signed on as co-sponsors.

Democrats have criticized Republican efforts to pressure the Justice Department in recent months, saying they are attempts to undermine Mueller's investigation.Democratic Congressman Joe Crowley, who lost to 28-year-old Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in their June primary, said migrant children being held in custody by the Trump administration should be compensated.

'The damage that has been done to these children will be life long,' he said at a press conference at the Capitol on Wednesday.

'In fact, I suggest they need to be compensated for what this administration did to them.'

Democratic Congressman Joe Crowley said migrant children being held in custody by the Trump administration should be compensated

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez beat Crowley in their June primary

He didn't suggest a monetary amount but said: 'The first form of compensation needs to be the full reunification of these families.'

Crowley was criticizing President Donald Trump's 'zero tolerance' immigration policy that resulted in migrant children being separated from their parents. Trump later signed an executive order to reunite them.

The administration said Tuesday that it would meet Thursday's court-ordered deadline and reunite roughly 1,600 parents deemed 'eligible' to be reconnected with their children.

But as many as 914 parents won't be reunited with their children because the parents haven't been found or are ineligible because of their criminal history.

'To have these children ripped apart and separated is one of the most reprehensible things I've witnessed in my twenty years of service here in the House of Representatives,' Crowley said.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway criticized Crowley's suggestion on 'Fox & Friends' Thursday morning and suggested he was making it because he still appears on the November ballot in his district on a third-party line.

'Joe Crowley's name still appears on the third party line on the ballot. Maybe that's what this has to do with it has to do with just the fast move to the left,' she said. 'This is them all trying to outflank each other.'

Crowley is on the ballot for the Working Families Party and explained Wednesday the procedure to get his name removed is too complicated.

He argued it was the 'arcane nature of New York state election law' and not any campaign plot that left him eligible for votes in November.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway criticized Crowley's suggestion on compensation

The Trump administration said it would meet Thursday's court-ordered deadline to reunite migrant children with their families

According to state law, Crowley would have to move out of the state, die, be convicted of a crime or agree to switch his nomination to another office in order to leave the ballot line.

'I also don't want to give up my franchise, the right to vote in my election by doing that  in my district for governor or any other office as well,' he said.

Asked if he is saying he doesn't want people to vote for him, he said, 'Well I said I'm not running. I've consistently said that.'

Ocasio-Cortez engaged in a bitter public fight with Crowley on Twitter earlier this month and accused him of planning to mount a third party run against her.

He had pledged to back her immediately after her loss.

'.@repjoecrowley stated on live TV that he would absolutely support my candidacy. Instead, he's stood me up for all 3 scheduled concession calls. Now, he's mounting a 3rd party challenge against me and the Democratic Party- and against the will of @NYWFP,' Ocasio-Cortez wrote.

Crowley hit back hard.

'Alexandria, the race is over and Democrats need to come together. I've made my support for you clear and the fact that I'm not running. We've scheduled phone calls and your team has not followed through. I'd like to connect but I'm not willing to air grievances on Twitter,' he wrote.

Crowley said Wednesday the two had talked and worked it all out.A Milwaukee officer who 'was loved by everyone' died during an exchange of gunfire in a house where police were searching for a man suspected of drug dealing and domestic violence.

The lone suspect, who was not injured in the shooting Wednesday, was arrested after he ran out of bullets and surrendered, Chief Alfonso Morales said at a news conference.

Morales said the officer was Michael Michalski, 52, a 17-year veteran of the department who leaves behind a wife and three sons.

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Milwaukee Police Officer Michael Michalski, 52, was a 17-year veteran with the force when he was shot and killed by Jonathan C. Copeland (left) who was wanted for a parole violation and for heroin possession and domestic violence

Authorities investigate the scene where a Milwaukee Police officer was fatally shot near North 28th and West Wright streets

'He is the person who you would want to cut out and cookie-cut and say, ''This is what we want the Milwaukee Police Department to represent,'' said Morales, as three dozen solemn-faced officers in uniform and plain clothes stood behind him.

Michalski is the second Milwaukee officer to die in the line of duty in less than two months.

He was a member of a special unit recently formed to target the most dangerous criminals in the city.

At about 5pm Wednesday on Milwaukee's north side, the unit went searching for one of those targets - a man Morales identified as Jonathan C. Copeland.

He was wanted for a parole violation, heroin possession, harassment, intimidation and domestic violence, Morales said.

Copeland's criminal record dates back to when he was a juvenile, the chief said.

Officers saw the suspect go into a house and followed him in, Morales said. That's when the suspect started shooting, he said.

Michalski was taken to Froedtert Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police vehicles with their squad lights activated later escorted his body from the hospital to the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office.

'Pretty much everybody loved him,' Morales said of the fallen officer, whom he called a friend. 'I can't think of anybody who has anything negative to say about Officer Michalski.'

Charges against Copeland are pending but he remains in custody.

After the shooting, Mayor Tom Barrett responded to the scene at Metcalfe Park neighborhood and asked residents to pray for the families of the city's police officers.

Standing next to Morales on Thursday, he repeated those remarks and said the shooting 'is another tragic reminder of the stress' officers face every day.

Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales holds back tears as he speaks to the media as authorities investigate the scene where Officer Michalski was killed

A Milwaukee Police officer walks under crime scene tape at the scene of Wednesday's shootout that left a 17-year-veteran of the force dead

There was a massive police presence at the scene of Wednesday's shootout

'He went in there and made the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of the residents of the city,' Barrett said.

Michalski's death comes less than two months since the department lost another officer in the line of duty.

On June 7, Officer Charles Irvine Jr., 23, was killed in a squad car crash during the high-speed pursuit of a suspect. Irvine was the first Milwaukee officer killed in the line of duty in 22 years.

Gov. Scott Walker ordered that the Wisconsin and U.S. flags be flown at half-staff throughout the state until Michalski is buried.Advertisement

Two military veterans spent two days and nights swimming with man-eating sharks as part of a documentary inspired by the tragedy of the USS Indianapolis.

James Glancy and Paul de Gelder were marooned for 43 hours with no food and no water while whitetip sharks bumped against their aluminium cage for the Discovery Channel show called 'Sharkwrecked'.

They hallucinated at night time and used de Gelder's prosthetic arm to collect rainwater to drink - and cuddled each other to stop hypothermia.

The two men had only poles to ward off the sharks for the show which is being billed as the 'most dangerous experiment' in the history of Shark Week, Discovery's annual week-long series about the creatures.

The same kind of sharks are thought to have killed around 150 of the crew of the USS Indianapolis after she was hit by a Japanese torpedo in 1945.

Alone in the water: The two veterans were stranded in the Atlantic and circled by sharks as they spent 43 hours in the 'experiment'

Up close and personal: Hours in the water left the divers exhausted and at night 'thoroughly miserable' - but they had to keep constantly alert for sharks which, Glancy said, 'sense humans degrading'

Matched: Oceanic whitetips are as adults typically at least six feet, and weigh above 150lbs. They can move far faster than any diver but Glancy and de Gelder were able to fend them off with poles

Into the water: Paul de Gelder (left) is an Australian paratrooper veteran who lost his right arm and leg to a shark attack in Sydney Harbour, Australia, while James Glancy is a decorated British Royal Marine veteran

In their glory: The oceanic whitetip, seen here in the Red Sea, is distributed throughout the world's warmer waters and is a superb natural predator

Appalling toll: The USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by the Japanese in the worst loss of life from a single ship in the U.S. Navy's history. Around 150 of the approximately 900 who survived the sinking were picked off by sharks

Horror: Survivors of the Indianapolis were brought ashore for treatment in Guam. The sinking on July 30 1945 was only a few weeks before the end of the Second World War, on September 2, 1945

Of the Indianapolis' original 1,196-man crew, only 317 were left alive after the ship went down and the survivors were left in the water for four days battling exposure as whitetips tore them to pieces.

Glancy, 35, from Wimbledon in South London, who served three combat tours in Afghanistan as an officer in the Royal Marines and British special forces, said that after the filming he had a new insight into the horror suffered by the crew of the Indianapolis.

One of his most chilling memories is that the sharks became 'more inquisitive as they sense a human degrading'.

He said: 'Paul and I talked about the USS Indianapolis in the water and even though it was very uncomfortable we can't imagine what it was like to have that sense of hopelessness.

'To see people being picked off around you from sharks, dying from exposure, drinking seawater, deliberately drowning themselves; you cannot replicate that and I would hope that no-one would have to suffer that.'

The original idea for 'Sharkwrecked' was to do it at the wreck site of the USS Indianapolis in the North Pacific Ocean.

Scary moment: The show starts with a mock boat explosion which maroons Glancy and de Gelder in the water with a small raft with an aluminium cage and some netting around it

Close call: A shark swims up to the pair during their terrifying 43-hour ordeal in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean

Only defense: The two men had only poles to ward off the sharks for the show which is being billed as the 'most dangerous experiment' in the history of Shark Week

But whitetip sharks are not found there any more so the production was shifted to Cat Island in the Bahamas.

The show, which was due to air on Discovery Thursday, starts with a mock boat explosion which maroons Glancy and de Gelder in the water with a small raft with an aluminium cage and some netting around it.

Glancy said that the first 10 hours were great and he enjoyed being around the sharks but then fatigue set in.

Both men had lifejackets on but neither really slept for 43 hours.

Glancy said: 'People think that sharks are just man-killers that will come in straight away and bite you when they fall in the sea but they're cool and collected and cautious, they monitor you.

'The only time they did was when the water got churned and they went into predatory mode and they started coming in close from different directions and it was hard to keep an eye on all of them. That was when the danger was heightened.

'They're beautiful animals but they're a predator and they have to feed and if you're the only thing they've got you could be on the menu.

'You go through of a variety of emotions when you're tired and when the sun picked up and it was warmer it was enjoyable but at night time it was thoroughly miserable.'

The most terrifying moment came on the second night when their cage was bumped five times by a large male shark.

Glancy said: 'We were half drifting off into sleep and hallucinating and this big shark came by, that really got the adrenaline going.

'We didn't expect them to bump into the safety pen and when he did it was unnerving.

'Paul felt the bump and saw the fin and shouted 'white!' which I heard as 'great white' and I thought something had gone really badly wrong if we've been found by a great white in the middle of the Atlantic because it did happen but we had not designed the safety around that'.

Although there was a safety boat 300ft away at all times not everything went according to plan and unexpected storms meant they feared lightning strikes may start to land around them.

Out of the water: Glancy (left) and de Jester said that the time in the water turned into a 'genuinely harrowing survival experience because the weather went against us'. He was decorated by Queen Elizabeth for his service in the UK special forces and is a Royal Marine veteran

When it rained the men tried to collect water in the prosthetic limb used by de Gelder, an Australian ex-paratrooper who lost is right arm and leg to a bull shark in Sydney Harbour in 2009.

Glancy said: 'We were set adrift five nautical miles off Cat Island in the Bahamas but we drifted.

'The idea was we would drift back to shore with the whitetip sharks but a load of storms came in and we got pushed out heading towards Britain and were 30 nautical miles out into the Atlantic Ocean.

'Being a military man I always have planned evacuation timelines very thoroughly but because we got blow away from the port we broke all the rules because it became a genuinely harrowing survival experience because the weather went against us.'

Glancy, who first swam with sharks when he was 13, said that at no point did he think he would quit but it did take him two weeks to recover because he had been constantly on adrenalin the whole time.

He said: 'The military training I've been through put me in a good place. Neither Paul nor I was going to give up but the feeling of being in water, not being able to sleep. I asked myself: 'What the hell am I doing?'

Glancy was awarded a Conspicuous Gallantry Cross by the Queen after a counter-terrorism mission in 2012.

After leaving the military he is now a wildlife conservationist and is director of Veterans 4 Wildlife, a conservation charity, where he focuses on the preservation of African wildlife and combating the global trade in shark fins.

He said that he hoped the show would entertain and inform people about the need to conserve marine life.

Glancy said: 'People were watching it because of the adventure but the way to educate, you have to entertain

'Look at Bear Grylls and Steve Irwin, they're entertaining but you learn something.'A Hells Angels bikie is the latest criminal exposed for having an alleged relationship with a female prison officer behind bars.

Gang member Christian Manu Birch was jailed at Mannus Correctional Centre in February 2011, where he met and allegedly groomed married prison officer Linda Russell.

Birch, a member of the Sydney chapter City Crew, was jailed for seven-and-a-half years for supplying a commercial amount of the party drug GHB.

Gang member Christian Manu Birch (pictured) was jailed at Mannus Correctional Centre in February 2011, where he met and allegedly groomed married prison officer Linda Russell

Ms Russell allegedly had a sexual affair with Birch while he was imprisoned at Mannus Correctional Centre, a minimum security men's prison on the border of New South Wales and Victoria.

Ms Russell's husband reportedly also worked at the jail while the relationship was playing out.

An inside source revealed details of the sordid affair, saying people soon grew suspicious of their close relationship.

'Birch groomed Linda telling her she looked pretty and enjoyed their monthly catch-ups,' they told The Daily Telegraph.

Ms Russell allegedly had a sexual affair with Birch while he was imprisoned at Mannus Correctional Centre (pictured), a minimum security men's prison on the border of New South Wales and Victoria

'It happened easily because Mannus is an open, minimum-security facility with lower staffing levels.'

When Birch was transferred to a different prison, Ms Russell quit her job soon after.

A Corrective Services spokeswoman said there was an internal investigation into an alleged relationship between an inmate and former prison guard at the Mannus Correctional Centre.

The revelation comes as married prison guard Amy Connors (pictured) has been suspended from her work for an alleged affair with an inmate

Kempsey prison guard Amy Connors was exposed for having an alleged relationship with inmate Sione Pensisini (pictured right), imprisoned for killing a police officer in 2002

The revelation comes after Kempsey prison guard Amy Connors was exposed for having an alleged relationship with inmate Sione Pensisini, imprisoned for killing police officer Glenn McEnallay in 2002.

Under current laws it is not a criminal offence to have sex with a prisoner. It is considered a breach of the code of conduct.

Connors is expected to be formally charged with misconduct in public office for the alleged relationship.

Corrective Services Minister David Elliott is now considering tougher measures to stop prison guards and inmates entering into inappropriate relationships.

'The terms of reference will include this relationship,' Mr Elliott said

Ms Connors (left and right) had posted about her weight loss surgery in recent years, sources saidClinging to a rock in the sea as wildfires raged onshore, Jaimie-Marie Degge made what she thought would be her final phone call to her family.

The 30-year-old Briton dialled her father who was looking after her two young daughters back in London.

'I just wanted to speak to him and tell him to make sure my daughters would remember me,' she said.

'I said 'Dad, please make sure my children are brought up together. Make sure they love each other like I love them. Don't ever let them forget me. Make sure they know I love them'.'

Miss Degge, from West London, was on a break with her mother, Jenny Dimitrijevic, 50, when they had to flee fires surrounding their holiday home in Mati, Greece.

A boat rescued Jaime-Marie Degge, from West London, who was on a break with her mother

She said: 'I was screaming and crying, saying 'Dad, I'm not going to make it out of here, there's no way out, you don't understand'. I didn't think I was going to see my children ever again. It was awful.'

Miss Degge's life was saved by a boat that carried her to safety. In another piece of luck her mother's property escaped the flames  the only one in the street to do so.

The authorities raised the death toll to 85 yesterday and there were angry scenes when defence minister Panos Kammenos arrived in Mati, near Athens. Residents could be heard telling him: 'You let us burn. You left us to the mercy of God.'

Nikos Toskas, citizen protection minister, said last night there were 'serious indications' that arson caused the wildfires.

Miss Degge said she and her mother knew of the approach of the fires when ash started to fall. 'My uncle got on a bike and raced up to the top to see where the fire was,' she said. 'When he came back he was screaming 'We need to go, quickly, get to the beach'.

Miss Degge's mother Jenny Dimitrijevic's holiday home was spared, as was her life

'We started to panic and just grabbed our passports, threw them in a bag and got in the car.

'We drove 30 seconds and we saw a house on fire just a couple of doors away from ours. There were people grabbing the car, trying to get in. I was screaming at my mum 'Just go, just go'. It was so dark because of the smoke. Cars were just crashing into each other because of the panic.'

Her mother, who is a web designer, added: 'All of a sudden there were huge, bright, brilliant scorching red flames going into the air. All the trees just went up.

'When I saw it, and felt the heat, I drove straight for the sea. The fire was coming from behind us as we drove, it was literally following us down the road and was coming up from the sides too.'

The homes of Miss Dimitrijevic's neighbours were wrecked by the fire in the Greek resort

Miss Degge, a pub supervisor, and her mother were forced to abandon their car due to the flames. The pair managed to reach the beach where almost 700 people were awaiting help. 'Everyone was just screaming,' said Miss Degge. 'The terror we could hear was just something else.

'I've never heard anything like that before. There were people screaming everywhere in the sea.'

Her mother added: 'It was like Titanic in the sea, there were so many people.'

Seeking refuge the pair entered the sea, with the water quickly coming up to their necks. Miss Degge said: 'Every time I close my eyes I hear the screams of the people, the helicopter overhead and the fire. People were holding their dogs and babies above their heads. We were just waiting in the water trying to cover our faces.

'My face was so sore from the saltwater, heat and smoke.'

They were rescued eight hours after entering the water.

Mr Kammenos claimed that illegal construction contributed to the worst wildfires the country has seen in more than a decade. He claimed unlicensed homes had blocked escape routes.

Search volunteer Argiro Mandritsa, 55, said: 'We are looking for a large number of missing persons. It seems as if there are may be over 100.'

Anguished relatives have begun submitting their DNA to help authorities identify burned corpses already recovered.



Jack Dean Whitaker, 61, faces a first-degree manslaughter charge eight years after hitting a pregnant woman's car

An Oregon man who was high on methamphetamine when he crashed head-on into a pregnant woman's car eight years ago leaving her in a vegetative state has been charged with manslaughter after the woman died.

Jack Dean Whitaker, who is already serving an 11 year sentence for causing the April 2010 crash, now faces a first-degree manslaughter charge after 27-year-old Cayla Wilson died in March from injuries stemming from the accident.

Her death prompted prosecutors to bring the case to a Multnomah County Circuit Court jury last week and secure a new indictment, the Oregonian reports.

Whitaker, who screamed at Wilson's family during the trial in 2012, could face additional prison time if he's convicted.

According to the outlet, if the judge classifies the 61-year-old as a 'dangerous offender' he could receive up to 30 years, but would likely serve less time.

The family of Cayla Wilson said she died in March from injuries stemming from the April 2010 accident. Wilson is pictured above with her daughter in a 2010 Facebook photo

The accident left Wilson (pictured above in a Facebook photo) with a fractured skull and extensive brain damage

Prosecutors said Whitaker was high on meth when he crossed into oncoming traffic in Gresham and struck Wilson's vehicle. The then-19-year-old was five months pregnant and was headed for a job interview.

Wilson suffered fractures to her skull and jaw and had extensive brain damage. Doctors said she was left in a near vegetative state. Her baby, JaiKyla, was delivered via emergency C-section five weeks after the crash.

The Oregonian reports that the baby girl had mild cerebral palsy due to her premature birth, but is now a happy and healthy eight-year-old.

Wilson was five months pregnant when Whitaker crossed into oncoming traffic and hit her car (pictured above) head-on

Family members said Wilson was headed to a job interview at the time. She is pictured on the left before the crash and on the left after Whitaker struck her vehicle

Wilson's daughter JaiKyla was delivered via emergency C-section five weeks after the crash. She is now eight years old

Family members said Wilson developed an infection in February and never recovered. She died on March 30, four months before her 28th birthday. She is pictured above in an older Facebook photo

In the years since the crash, Wilson's parents Denise and Bill have been caring for her at their home. They are also raising Wilson's daughter.

In February, Wilson developed an infection and started having seizures. She underwent surgery to remove fluid that had accumulated in her skull, but she never recovered. She died on March 30, four months before her 28th birthday, her family said.

According to the Seattle Times, the Wilson family received a $9.3million settlement from the city of Portland following the crash after authorities failed to take Whitaker off the streets for driving with a suspended license.

No court dates have been set yet for Whitaker.Maquwell Fleming, 17, allegedly robbed Justin Taylor, 18, at gunpoint after the two met on Instagram and agreed to go on a date

An 18-year-old boy thought he was going on a date with a girl he met on Instagram, but his prospects for romance turned sour when she pointed a gun to his head and took all his money, police say.

Georgia teenager Justin Taylor, 18, met up with his date Maquwell Fleming, 17, in a Walmart parking lot in Marietta, Georgia.

Taylor had $160 with him that he had just earned from his job when he met up with his Instagram fling on July 17.

Fleming allegedly entered the backseat of Taylor's car then pointed a gun at his head, took his hard earned cash, then got into her own Dodge Dart vehicle and sped away from the scene.

Despite his shock, Taylor pursued Fleming's vehicle onto Interstate 575 to State Route 92 in Woodstock, Georgia, and was eventually stopped by police where he recounted the alleged armed robbery, according to AJC.com.

As Taylor was pulled over by police Fleming successfully sped away from her date and the cops.

'He stated that he had just been robbed by somebody he thought he was going on a date with,' Cobb County police Sgt. Sarah OHara said to WSB-TV.

Fleming, pictured above, allegedly entered Taylor's car, pointed a gun to his head, and took $160 from him then drove away from the scene

The pair met on Instagram and agreed to meet up at this Walmart parking lot in Marietta, Georgia on July 17 where the allegedly robbery went down

'She hops out of a Dodge Dart, gets in the back of the vehicle, points a gun at him [and] robs him of the $160 that he had just been paid from his job,' she added.

Later police tracked down the car and found Fleming's mother inside, but Fleming herself nowhere to be found.

Her mother later turned her in, leading cops to her apartment and calling her daughters out, according to the police report.

The mother said she had no idea of her daughter's alleged date turned robbery plans.

Fleming, of Kennesaw, is in Cobb County Jail without bond as of Thursday on a felony charge of armed robbery, according to jail records.Two prisoners have been charged with the murder of a former Rebels bikie.

The half-brothers, aged 33 and 44, were arrested at Sydney's Silverwater prison on Thursday over the death of Ricky Ciano.

Ciano's 'half-dressed' body was found sprawled in the back of his luxury BMW in Duckmaloi, in the NSW central tablelands, on Valentine's Day in 2017 after travelling from the Gold Coast to Sydney.

Two prisoners have been charged with the murder of former bikie Ricky Ciano (pictured)

The body of Ciano - pictured here with his wife - was found in a car in the NSW central tablelands in February 2017. Two prisoners have now been charged over his death

Police will allege the men gave Ciano a cocktail of prescription and prohibited drugs, which were at fatal levels, and then drove him to Duckmaloi, where they abandoned the car with his body inside.

The two men were due to appear at Lithgow Local Court on Friday.

In a funeral service at Pine Grove Memorial Park in Minchinbury last year, the 35-year-old Ciano was remembered as a doting father and loving husband who could not wait for the impending arrival of a baby boy.

Ciano - pictured here with his wife - was found 'half dressed' and sprawled in the back of his car in rural NSW, after travelling from the Gold Coast to Sydney

Ciano left the Sydney chapter of the Rebels Bikie gang in 2015 when he moved to the Gold Coast for a 'lifestyle change'.

He was told to remove any tattoos linking him to the Rebels.

Rachel Ciano said her husband had last been seen in Penrith, in western Sydney, where he was supposed to be visiting his daughter.

But any hope of reuniting with her missing husband vanished when it was confirmed he had been found dead.An Australian has been detained in France after an Air China plane received an apparent terror threat claiming there was a bomb on board.

The Air China Boeing 787 was en route from Paris to Beijing about 8.30pm on Thursday (AEST) when it was forced to turn back.

An Australian man was taken into police custody after the plane landed back in Paris.

An Australian has been detained in France after an Air China plane received an apparent terror threat claiming there was a bomb on board (Paris Airport pictured)

An investigation by French police found the apparent terror threat was false, and the result of a miscommunication.

The Air China flight turned around as it passed over the French/ Belgian border.

'A passenger delayed by an abandoned package in Roissy airport phoned the company (Air China) to say that there was a bomb in the terminal and the person he was speaking to understood that there was a bomb on board the plane,' an airport official told AFP.

'Air China has received a suspicious message of a terrorist nature. The flight CA976 returned to Paris without incident, with passengers who are unscathed,' Air China said in a statement.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for further information.

The Air China plane (stock) turned around as it passed over the French/ Belgian borderA spectacular once-in-a-lifetime lunar event will thrill stargazers across Australia tomorrow morning.

The longest lunar eclipse this century with a spectacular blood moon will occur in the early hours of Saturday, so you will have to set an alarm to see it.

The incredible moment, which will last for one hour and 43 minutes, is expected to start at 4.24am AEST on July 28 - a day which doom-mongers believe will be the last.

A spectacular once-in-a-lifetime lunar eclipse (2015 eclipse pictured) will thrill stargazers across Australia. It won't be seen again until 2141

The longest lunar eclipse will fall under the Earth's shadow on Saturday morning but you will have to set an alarm because it will start at 4.24am (AEST)

The blood moon happens when the Earth's shadow moves across the Moon and blocks out any light from the sun - creating the distinctive red glow.

What makes this event more spectacular is the vivid presence of Mars, which will be the closest to Earth it has been for 270 years.

For Christian fundamentalists, the combination of the two rare sights is a sign of the long-awaited Biblical apocalypse.

WHY IS THIS ECLIPSE SO LONG? The lunar event will be the longest one in the 21st century. The length depends on where the Moon passes through Earth's shadow. However, the Moon is also the furthest away from Earth. This means it's at its smallest and is moving slower through orbit - known as the Kepler effect. The event is also happening when Earth is the furthest away from the sun, affecting Earth's shadow. Therefore, a bigger shadow and a smaller Moon makes the eclipse last longer. Australians won't be able to witness another long eclipse for 123 years - on June 19, 2141. Source: LiveScience Advertisement

Three religious texts - the Book of Joel, the Book of Acts and the Book of Revelation - have predicted the end of the world through the occurrence of the twin spectacle.

'The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the Moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come,' one text read.

For non-believers, the event will mark a moment in history which won't be witnessed again this century.

Stargazers across Australia will be able to see the blood moon shortly before sunrise and those further north will have the best vantage points.

While the red moon rises, Mars will also rise to the left of the Moon.

'They'll look quite amazing (together) because the Moon being so close will actually dim Mars a little bit, but when the Moon is eclipsed and goes into shadow, you'll really be able to see Mars shining,' Melbourne Planetarium astronomer Tanya Hill told ABC News.

What makes the event more spectacular is the vivid presence of Mars which will be the closest it will be to Earth for 270 years

For Christian fundamentalists, the combination of the two rare sights is a sign of the long-awaited Biblical apocalypse and could mean the end of the world

Australians won't be the only people to enjoy the spectacular sight, which won't be this long again for more than 100 years, as the eclipse will be visible from all over the world except for North America.

While the lunar event means those willing to catch a glimpse will have to get up before 6am on Saturday, it will be worth it because a similar eclipse is not expected to be seen from Australia again until June 19, 2141.

The astronomy extravaganza is the longest it will be for another 123 years because of the way the Moon, Earth and sun all align in this particular instance.

The lengthy eclipse is because the Moon and sun are the furthest away from Earth at the same time.

This means Earth's shadow is bigger and the smaller Moon makes the eclipse last longer because the Moon is moving slower than if it was closer to Earth - known as an apogee.

The blood moon happens when Earth's shadow moves across Moon and blocks out light from sun - creating the distinctive red glow - and is a day doom-mongers believe will be the last

Timeanddate.com shared the times the blood red colour will be visible in Australia on July 28 (pictured)

The almost two hour duration falls four minutes short of the maximum length of time possible, according to NASA.

This lunar spectacle is vastly different to the 2017 solar eclipse, as more people around the world will be able to view the blood Moon.

In a solar eclipse, the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, meaning the eclipse is only visible to the populations who fall beneath the Moon's orb.

At the beginning of the year, January 31, Australia experienced the 'super blue blood Moon,' which hadn't been seen in some parts of the world for more than 150 years.

'Super blue blood Moon' occurred at the beginning of the year on January 31, pictured behind buildings in PerthPresident Donald Trump is predicting Friday's GDP numbers will be 'terrific' in a freewheeling, campaign style speech that saw him brag about winning the women's vote, tout his deal-making power with NATO, and criticize one of his favorite enemies - the press.

U.S. economists do predict a huge number when the government releases data on Friday about how fast the economy grew from April to June.

Trump said at his rally in Granite City, Ill., that 'I don't know what they are but I think they'll be terrific.'

President Trump gave a freewheeling campaign-style speech to steel workers in Illinois

He advised the crowd to watch for Friday's GDP numbers: 'These are unthinkable numbers'

Steel workers filled the warehouse where Trump spoke

He told a cheering crowd of steel workers: 'Great things have happened. So whatever those numbers are, watch for them. Somebody predicted today 5.3. I don't think that's going to happen. 5.3. If it has the 4 in front of it, we're happy.'

'These are unthinkable numbers,' he bragged.

The president was touring manufacturing plants in Iowa and Illinois on a tour to brag about how well the economy is doing under his watch.

Economists believe the GDP number on Friday could be as high as 4.2, The Washington Post reported, which is double the 2 percent growth in the first quarter.

But, they caution, this kind of growth is likely a one-time thing and unsustainable.

And Trump was likely the cause of the spike but not in the way the president would probably like to think.

Experts say the high number will be because of the unusually large increase in exports this spring that probably came about because other countries were buying U.S. goods before Trump's tariff raises kicked in.

The strong number is not unprecedented.

During President Barack Obama's administration the GDP growth rate topped 4 percent for several quarters and hit 5.2 percent in the third quarter of 2014.

White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow also predicted on Thursday that the GDP numbers will live up to their hype.

'You're going to get a very good economic growth number tomorrow. Big,' Kudlow told the Fox Business Network.

Trump also boasted Thursday about unemployment numbers that he said have set new records for African-Americans, Asian-Americans and Hispanics.

While jokingly apologizing for a women's unemployment rate that is 'only' at a 65-year low water mark, he repeated a gaffe from a campaign-style rally four months ago.

'I did win that women's vote, didn't I?' Trump claimed.

'Remember, they said, 'Why would women vote for Trump?' Well, I don't know, but I got more than she did! That's pretty good.'

In actuality, more women voted for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, who bested the president in that category by a 54-41 margin.

Trump did, however, win a clear majority among white women.

Just 25 per cent of Hispanic women chose him over Clinton, and black women gave him a poor showing with just 4 per cent.

Even among white women, Trump's result was worse than other Republicans' in the previous three presidential elections.

The White House planned Trump's Iowa and Illinois swing as an opportunity for him to hammer home his slash-and-burn trade policy's long-term impacts on the U.S. manufacturing sector.

The White House planned Trump's Iowa and Illinois swing as an opportunity for him to hammer home his slash-and-burn trade policies

Ivanka Trump joined her father on his tour on Thursday where she thanked steel workers

The crowd cheered for Trump at several points during his remarks

But the president also got in a few digs at critics who have focused on his obsession with forcing NATO allies to spend more money on the alliance's collective military defense.

He said Jens Stoltenberg, a Norwegian politician who has been NATO's secretary general since 2014, was his 'biggest fan' and confided that Trump's international pressure alone has driven up military spending among the 28 non-U.S. member countries.

'But the press said I treated them badly, I treated them with disrespect,' Trump complained Thursday, bemoaning a media consensus that he was too ham-fisted in his dealings with his overseas counterparts.

'These are kings, queens, presidents, prime ministers, and a dictator or two,' he said, boasting that he could play at their level while declaring that at least one of NATO's leaders is a despot.

'They were the ones that actually were able to pay the easiest,' he added, in a quip that disappeared into the rafters of a cavernous steel coil warehouse in Granite City, Illinois.

Trump touted his deal-making power at NATO: 'These are kings, queens, presidents, prime ministers, and a dictator or two'

President Trump also criticized the media coverage of his administration

The president also tackled one of his favorite bete noires in his remarks: the media.

Trump falsely claimed the press follows him around unlike they've followed around previous presidents.

'Look at all those cameras. All of those cameras. Every stop, I got all of these cameras. This never happened to Obama. This never happened to [President George W.] Bush. This didn't happen. They just follow,' he said.

The media covered Obama's and Bush's speeches live on cable news and extensively in print and online the same way they cover Trump's.

He did chastise the media for analyzing every word he said - which also happened to other presidents.

'Look at the bad press I'm getting,' he complained at one point in his remarks.

'They analyze every word. They say 'Did he say that? Could it have been? Did he say something positive about Russia? I think he loves Russia,'' he said. 'These people analyze every word and follow us. You know what? The good news is, we can get the word out. We can get the word out.'

Trump isn't the only president to complain about the press. Obama often complained the media was too focused on the horse race aspect - who's winning and who's losing - rather than policy.

The president bragged the crowd was on their feet the whole time he spoke.

'I also know that not one person in this room has sat down since I got up and started speaking. And I know that the press will say that he didn't any standing ovations. That's because they never had to sit. They were already standing,' he said as the crowd roared.

Trump also reminded the crowd - as he has done at other rallies - they don't 'get the real view from the fake news.'

'Look at the cameras back there. It's like the Academy Awards. No difference. One of the advantages that I can say is covered live, much of it and when I say it, they can't do anything about it,' he said.

Only Fox News Channel carried his entire speech live.The place won't have looked the same, that's for sure. Not the way it did when Paul McCartney made his debut at the Cavern with the Beatles at lunchtime on February 9, 1961.

It can't, because it isn't the same. It isn't even in the same place  the original Cavern having been demolished in a fit of Liverpool lunacy back in the Seventies.

The club where McCartney played a free one-off gig yesterday, though it's on the same Mathew Street and has been a tourist focal point for 30 years, is a heritage rebuild of the sacred spot of legend, if not actually on it. It doesn't matter.

Paul McCartney returned to Liverpool's Cavern Club for a one-off gig yesterday, where the Beatles launched their career decades ago

The Beatles are pictured making their 249th appearance at the original Cavern Club

The 270 fans who queued for hours in the sweltering heat, or who will view the film when it's shown, won't mind.

Paul isn't the same as that 18-year-old who first went there, and nor are the fans who saw him there then.

He is 76 now, and a knight  though he chose to drive himself to the venue for the two-hour lunchtime performance.

Playing the guitar and keyboard, he ran through Beatles' songs such as Love Me Do, Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, I Saw Her Standing There and Get Back, as well as tracks from his album Egypt Station, which will be released later this year.

Early days: The club is pictured on Matthew Street, Liverpool in 1966

Opening the show, he said: 'Liverpool. Cavern. Those are words that go together well.' Few would have missed his play on the lyrics of the song Michelle.

After playing Magical Mystery Tour, he said: 'All those years ago we came here and played and we didn't know if we had any future.

'Coming back here with all my guys and all my crew and stuff, it's pretty amazing.'

At one point he paused mid-song to ask the audience  who had been ordered to turn their phones off when they entered the club  to stop taking photos. 'It's, like, putting me off and I don't want to get put off,' he told them.

Then and now: The crowd of Beatles fan are pictured outside the Cavern Club yesterday

That was then: Children line up outside the Cavern Club in the 1960s during the Beatles' heyday

Inevitably, memories were evoked of his late bandmates  'Here's to them. Let's hear it for John and George'  and performing with them in the original Cavern.

How many can remember how the Cavern was in those days, nearly 60 years ago?

I don't mean the Cavern of legend, the fabled spring from which the river of the Sixties spouted, bringing with it that tidal wave of colourful teenage fashion, youthful optimism, mini-skirts, the Pill, drugs and rock and roll.

That wasn't the Cavern  a place that until then had been a jazz club. All that came later in the Sixties, when it seemed that the world had gone into Technicolor.

The Cavern that Paul McCartney first knew was a monochrome world in a then unfashionable city that owed more to the Fifties than the Sixties  just a doorway in a warehouse in a cobbled alleyway.

Not far from the Pier Head, the club's entrance was surrounded for much of the day by trucks and vans disgorging, or picking up, boxes of fresh produce, the essence of which would lace the surrounding atmosphere with the cloying aroma of ripening fruit.

Sir Paul McCartney returned to where his music career began on Thursday with a headline gig at Liverpool's Cavern Club - more than six decades after The Beatles first took to the stage

From Me To You: The Beatles' legend worked his way through a mammoth 22 track set list on Thursday afternoon, comprised of his solo material and some old classics

Inside, 17 steps led to three airless, barrel-shaped cellars, with a couple of smaller ones to the sides, where, in the days before anyone worried too much about ventilators or air conditioning, the walls would quickly become damp with teenage perspiration.

Paul's father used to think the place was a health hazard with all that sweat and electricity locked in there together.

Although, over the couple of years that the Beatles played in the Cavern and their local fame grew, students would start to attend, most of their first audiences were made up of working class young people in their first jobs from offices and shops in the surrounding district.

They called themselves Cavernites, and they only got into the club if they adhered to some strict rules.

Intimate:At the Cavern the band rubbed shoulders with other emerging musicians, including singer and actress Cilla Black, who was good friends with drummer Ringo

The Fifth Beatle: The band's tenure at the Cavern also led to their groundbreaking meeting with manager Brian Epstein, who would engineer their rise to superstardom (pictured in 1966)

Fab Four: The Beatles are the best selling band in history, having sold more than 800m albums worldwide (pictured in 1964 when John Lennon passed his driving test)

While the Beatles were allowed to wear the black leather stage suits they'd brought back from Hamburg where they'd recently been playing, the fans had to be much more circumspect in their dress.

For instance, jeans weren't allowed. Boys in denim, it was believed by the management, were the 'rougher types', and therefore not welcome.

The girls who might attend at the lunchtime sessions would mainly be typists, shop workers or hairdressers' assistants and they would have to be appropriately dressed, too, in their sensible, if drab, skirts and back-combed beehive hair.

Sometimes a girl would have a scarf around her head to hide the curlers in her hair if she was going on a date that night.

Tuneful: Fans went into a frenzy as he worked his way through a two hour set at the venue where his music career began

At other times, the scarf might be removed just as the Beatles came on the little stage, where the four would joke and tease, eating while they gooned about between songs, all the time keeping a conversation going with the fans who would shout out requests.

Somehow, the Beatles had developed the gift of turning the audience into friends.

When something went wrong with an amp or a microphone, as it often did, they didn't panic and wonder what to say next.

Instead, they would simply amuse the fans and maybe have a communal singsong until the problem was mended.

For this the Beatles, who would often play two other gigs in other Liverpool venues on the same day, earned a total of 5 for a two-hour session  just over 1 each  with their fans paying a shilling to get in, where they could swap their Luncheon Vouchers, often given to them by their employers, for a Cavern cob (a roll) and a bowl of soup.

With a Little Help from My Friends: The pop icon was joined by his band-mates as fans sung along to every word

Obviously, there was no alcohol on sale, but a cup of tea cost ve pence. As for drugs, they hadn't yet reached Liverpool.

Not even the Beatles had tried them  other than for the amphetamines they'd been given in Germany.

Part of the myth of the Cavern is that the Beatles tried out their early hits for the Cavern audiences. They did, but not often.

Feeling good! The Help! hitmaker was spotted in his home city on Wednesday (above), where he dropped a massive hint about the gig during a Q and A session at his old school

Lennon and McCartney never thought their own songs were as good as those by Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly that they liked to play, and the audiences really wanted to hear stomping hits they already knew, not songs that might become hits in the future.

That it would be from this modest, cheap chrysalis of a former wine cellar that the Beatles would emerge, fully formed, less than two years later, seems ever more unlikely the further away in time we get from it.

Yet it happened. As Paul put it so understatedly yesterday: 'We did OK.'Social media users are being targeted by a major campaign to persuade them to give up their screens for the sake of their mental health.

Experts are increasingly concerned about the psychological impact of social media, particularly among the young.

They now plan a campaign for people to give up use of the websites for a month, based on the success of alcohol-free campaign Dry January and quit smoking campaign Stoptober.

Scroll Free September aims to get people off social media for a month as experts grow increasingly concerned at the psychological impact

Scroll Free September, urges people to give up all social media activity for a month, on the basis they might not use it as much afterwards.

Polling for the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) suggests two thirds of people would be perfectly willing to stop using social media. But for many peer pressure and the fear of missing out means they continue.

Previous research has found social media use is linked to heightened feelings of anxiety and depression, poor sleep and body images issues.

Claire Murdoch, NHS Englands national director for mental health, said: We need to see concerted action, with everyone taking responsibility, including social media giants, so the NHS is not left to pick up the pieces of a mental health epidemic in the next generation.

Research has found social media use is linked to heightened feelings of anxiety and depression, poor sleep and body images issues

Shirley Cramer, chief executive of RSPH, said: Scroll Free September offers us all the opportunity to take back control of our relationship with social media, whether you choose to go cold turkey, or just abstain at social events.

The aim is that by the end of the month, we will be able to reflect back on what we missed, what we didnt, and what we got to enjoy instead.

That knowledge could help us build a healthier, more balanced relationship with social media.

We know this will be a challenge because of the addictive nature of social media technology, which is why we need to work closely with the Government and the social media industry to create an online environment that is more conducive to positive mental health and wellbeing.The mother of a jihadi who could face the death penalty in the US launched a legal bid yesterday to stop Britain handing over evidence that could be used to convict him.

Alexanda Kotey, 34, and Shafee Elsheikh, 30, members of IS gang the 'Beatles', face extradition from Syria to the US for trial.

Britain has agreed to help the US authorities without the usual assurance that they would not face the death penalty.

The Home Office said last night it had paused its assistance following legal action by Elsheikh's mother.

Alexanda Kotey, 34, and Shafee Elsheikh, 30, members of IS gang the 'Beatles', face extradition from Syria to the US for trial

A spokesman said: 'We received a request from the legal representative of the family of one of the suspects to pause the MLA [mutual legal assistance] response. We have agreed to a short-term pause.

'The Government remains committed to bringing these people to justice and we are confident we have acted in full accordance of the law and within the Government's longstanding MLA policy.'

The Government has not formally opposed the pair being sent to Guantanamo Bay.

Human rights lawyer Gareth Peirce, representing Elsheikh's mother, has written to government lawyers saying she believed Sajid Javid's decision to be unlawful and calling for a judicial review.

The Home Office must respond to Miss Peirce's letter before she can apply for a judicial review.

The Home Office said last night it had paused its assistance following legal action by Elsheikh's mother (pictured, with Elsheikh, right, and his younger brother Mahmoud, left)

Human rights lawyer Gareth Peirce, representing Elsheikh's mother, has written to government lawyers saying she believed Sajid Javid's (pictured) decision to be unlawful

In a statement, she said: 'The application raises questions of enormous constitutional importance, including the ability of a minister without reference to Parliament to agree to so complete a departure from a prohibition understood by all to have the status of constitutional certainty and without any public debate.'

Acts carried out by the jihadi Beatles gang include the murders of US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning and American aid worker Peter Kassig. In 2014 and 2015, they held and tortured 20 hostages.

The Beatles pair were captured in January as they attempted to flee anti-Islamic State forces and are currently being held in Syria.Everyone eligible should be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of long-distance travel or employment.

Vaccination should be voluntary but those who don't get vaccinated should be frequently tested for COVID-19 as a condition of long-distance travel and employment.

Both vaccination and testing should be voluntary and not required as a condition of long-distance travel or employment.

I defer to the judgment of lawmakers as long as they base their decisions on a consensus of medical professionals.

Vote

View ResultsA policeman has been hailed a hero for saving a suicidal man who jumped off a footbridge in the nick of time in Chongqing, south-west China.

Policeman Liu Yunhe stretched out his arm and dashed to the 47-year-old man who suddenly let go of his hands and fell from a 10-metre-high (33ft) bridge.

The suicidal man was unhurt, but officer Liu sustained muscle injuries in the legs.

A suicidal man stands at the ledge of a footage and shouts 'stay away' to the crowd in China

Firefighters on the bridge try to pull him up when the man is about to let go of his hands (left). The man falls and lands onto policeman Liu Yunhe who rushed to catch him below (right)

Officer Liu and his colleagues were alerted to Yuping Bridge in the old town district of Yongchuan at 8:05am on July 25.

The suicidal man, known by the surname Zhao, was seen standing at the tiny ledge of the bridge and shouting to the crowd 'stay away', reported Chongqing Evening News.

Officers tried to talk Mr Zhao out of the suicidal attempt while setting a rescue cushion below.

However, Mr Zhao appeared emotional and suddenly plunged off the bridge.

Mobile phone footage captured the moment two firefighters rushed to pull him up from the top of the bridge.

Luckily officer Liu ran over and managed to catch him from below.

The man fell on his hands, hit onto his chest and landed on his feet.

'It's my responsibility (to save people). I had to do it,' officer Liu told Chongqing News.

Officer Liu stretches his arms and saves the man who jumped off the bridge in the nick of time

The pair fall to the ground, the man is unhurt but officer Liu sustains muscle damage in the feet

Officer Liu has been hailed a hero for saving the man who plunged 33 feet down in Chongqing

The 49-year-old policeman also realised the danger of injuring himself from catching a falling man.

'The impact was so strong that I could be killed, but my body could act as a buffer to lessen the hit and save the man,' he added.

The footage was posted today and shared onto Weibo, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter.

One witness commented under the video that the crowd cheered for the policeman after the dramatic save.

'Thank god the policeman is okay, let me give you a 'like'!' wrote 'jianglin111'.

'It's very easy to get fractures if he didn't catch him right! Glad the policeman is fine,' said another one.

The man was taken to the police station but he refused to tell the reason of jumping off the bridge.

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.An Air China flight to Beijing was forced to turn back to Paris on Thursday after it received 'terrorist information'.

The Chinese carrier said in a statement that flight CA876 made a precautionary return to Paris and landed safely. All passengers and crew on board were unhurt.

The plane took off at 12:59pm local time and landed back at Charles de Gaulle Airport 45 minutes after take-off, according to Flightradar24.

Air China said flight CA876 landed back in Paris after 45 minutes into the flight (file photo)

Video taken from inside the plane shows a dozen police officers and a sniffer dog at the scene

Passengers were also seen disembarking down the plane's airstairs after landing back in Paris

Video footage posted on Weibo reportedly taken from inside the aircraft shows a dozen police officers and a sniffer dog at the scene.

Passengers were also seen disembarking down the plane's airstairs.

The aircraft is a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, a check on Air China's app showed.

According to a screenshot posted by Flightradar24 on Twitter, a 'squawk 7700' signal was sent out by the pilots on board, signalling a general emergency and alerting Air Traffic Control that the aircraft needed to return.

The company would arrange for passengers to board another flight as soon as possible, Air China said on Weibo.

A flight map taken from Flightradar24 shows flight CA876 turning back to Paris after take-offLONGMAN: Susan Lamb became the Labor member for the electorate north of Brisbane in July 2016 when she defeated 26-year-old Liberal MP Wyatt Roy with a 7.7 per cent swing.

She quit parliament in May after learning she was a dual Briton through her late Scottish-born father who remarried.

Her Liberal National Party opponent Trevor Ruthenberg, who was previously the state member for Kallangur, has admitted to falsely claiming to hold an Australian Service Medal, when he hadn't served in a peacekeeping role overseas with the Royal Australian Air Force.

The One Nation candidate Matthew Stephen, whose preferences could decide the race, is being targeted by Labor over his past as a tiler in Darwin who owed money to subcontractors.

BRADDON: Former Devonport councillor Justine Keay won the marginal seat in north-west Tasmania at the 2016 election for Labor.

However the Tasmanian-born woman quit parliament after learning she was still a dual Briton by descent when she defeated Liberal MP Brett Whiteley, who is running on Saturday, with a 4.8 per cent swing.

The Turnbull government is targeting left-leaning independent Craig Garland, a fisherman who was convicted in 1993 of assaulting an off-duty police officer in Geelong, to minimise the chance of his preferences getting Labor elected.

MAYO: Former Liberal staffer Rebekha Sharkie won the Adelaide Hills seat two years ago after defeating Turnbull Government minister Jamie Briggs, who was accused of acting inappropriately towards a female public servant in a Hong Kong bar.

The English-born former MP won the previously safe Liberal seat with a massive 17.5 per cent swing as a Nick Xenophon Team candidate.

Her opponent Georgina Downer, the daughter of long-serving former member Alexander Downer, is struggling to gain traction in the race, considering she had lived in Melbourne when she was preselected unopposed by the Liberal Party.

She looks unlikely to become the fourth generation in her family to become a conservative politician.Thirteen members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult were hanged this month for crimes committed in the 1990s, culminating in sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway that killed 13 people and sickened thousands.

EXECUTED THURSDAY FOR THE SUBWAY ATTACK:

- MASATO YOKOYAMA, 55, carried sarin in a plastic bag into the Marunouchi subway line, punctured the bag and fled. His actions seriously injured about 200 people among the 6,000 hurt by the five simultaneous attacks carried out during the morning rush hour on March 20, 1995. Yokoyama hardly spoke throughout the trial. He had studied applied physics at Tokai University and worked at an electronics company before leaving in 1989 to join the cult, where he was ordered to produce machine guns.

- YASUO HAYASHI, 60, joined the cult in 1988 after reading Shoko Asahara's book and became the cult leader's bodyguard. He had traveled around the world for three years after graduating from college. Hayashi stabbed three bags of sarin on the Hibiya subway line before fleeing. After more than a year at large, he was arrested on the southern resort island of Ishigaki in 1996. Leaving behind the cult teachings, Hayashi called Asahara a wrong mentor, apologized for his crime and said he deserved the infamous nickname 'killing machine.'

- TORU TOYODA, 50, released sarin on the Hibiya subway line. After earning a master's degree in physics at the prestigious University of Tokyo, Toyoda joined the cult in 1992 and engaged in weapons research and development. Toyoda pleaded guilty in his trial, and said he felt he did not deserve to have lived.

- KENICHI HIROSE: 54, had earned a bachelor's degree in applied physics at Waseda University and studied superconductivity at graduate school. He declined a job offer at a company to join the cult instead. His former supervisor at the university said the physics field globally would have made greater progress if Hirose had used his talent in the right way. He released sarin on the Marunouchi subway line and was convicted for the attack and for illegal weapons production.

EXECUTED THURSDAY FOR OTHER CRIMES:

- KAZUAKI OKASAKI, 57, graduated from an industrial high school and worked at construction sites before donating all his savings to the cult and moving to its commune in 1986. Okasaki fled the group after the 1989 killing of anti-cult lawyer Tsutsumi Sakamoto, his wife and their baby boy at their Yokohama home, and he surrendered in 1995. He was the first cultist to be sentenced to death in 1998 for the murders of the lawyer's family and other cult crimes.

- SATORU HASHIMOTO, 51, served in an assault unit of the cult using his experience in karate. Hashimoto was one of six cultists who strangled the lawyer's family to death and he also drove a vehicle to spray sarin in Matsumoto in 1994, an attack that killed eight people and preceded the subway attack.

EXECUTED ON JULY 6:

- SHOKO ASAHARA: 63, founded Aum Shinrikyo by mixing religions and social disillusionment to attract followers, many of them top university graduates working in science, medicine or other elite fields. They ran sham computer and health-food businesses and collected donations to amass wealth to buy land and equipment. Sarin was only one of the chemical and biological weapons they were able to manufacture, adding to an arsenal the cult built in anticipation of an apocalyptic showdown. The Tokyo subway attack was intended to disrupt an investigation into the group. Asahara was convicted in the subway attack; the 1994 sarin attack in Matsumoto; the 1989 killing of the anti-Aum lawyer and his family, and six other murder cases.

- TOMOMASA NAKAGAWA: 55, had been a doctor and helped the cult produce sarin and VX nerve agents. He was convicted in 11 cult crimes in which 25 people were killed. Nakagawa reportedly made an early identification of VX as the method used to assassinate the North Korean leader's half brother in 2017.

-YOSHIHIRO INOUE: 48, was known as the cult's 'genius of training' and headed its intelligence unit. He rose quickly in the cult to become Asahara's right-hand man and was the coordinator of the subway attacks.

- TOMOMITSU NIIMI, 54, led a unit of the cult responsible for capturing its members who tried to escape. He also was a getaway driver helping one of the cultists flee after gassing the subway.

- SEIICHI ENDO: 58, graduated from a veterinary school and studied virus and genetic engineering at Kyoto University graduate school. Asahara ordered him to produce sarin, but Endo said in court he did so without knowing its purpose. Endo was convicted in both sarin attacks and an attempted VX attack.

- MASAMI TSUCHIYA: 53, was a chemist who headed the cult's sarin development and production and was convicted for producing sarin, VX and other chemical weapons.

- KIYOHIDE HAYAKAWA: 68, was the cult's 'construction minister,' responsible for land acquisition and expansion. He was convicted in the murders of the lawyer's family.One hospital is now allowing artificial intelligence to take the reigns and diagnose its patients.

The UI Health Care-Iowa River Landing in Coralville, Iowa has become the first hospital to adopt a new AI-powered machine to spot the early warning signs of diabetic retinopathy.

If left undiagnosed, the condition, which arises as a complication for patients who suffer with either type one or type two diabetes, can cause blindness.

The machine is capable of scanning and analysing the retinas of at-risk patients and will provide its own diagnosis without any human assistance.

Dubbed IDx-DR, the technology has an 87 per cent sensitivity for the disease.

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Dr Michael Abramoff is president and director of IDx and a professional ophthalmologist. He developed IDx-DR, which is already in-use at one Iowa hospital, to help diagnose patients

IDx-DR passed clinical tests on more than 900 patients back in April.

It was approved for use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after it was proven to display an 87 per cent sensitivity for diabetic retinopathy.

The AI-powered machine is now being used by the Diabetes and Endocrinology Centre at the UI Health Care-Iowa River Landing in Coralville, Iowa.

This department receives around 7,200 patient visits per year, according to the hospital.

It is hoped that IDx-DR will make the diagnosis process easier, by providing accessibility to this exam outside of an eye specialist.

The machine can also provide results within minutes, which could speed up tests.

IDx-DR uses a retinal camera to take images of the patient's eye.

After taking the photos, the machine learning algorithms analyse the images 'the same way I do as a clinician,' Dr Michael Abramoff, president and director of IDx and a professional ophthalmologist, told the Iowa Gazette.

IDx-DR can then determine if the patient has the condition and provide a diagnosis.

'It looks for different lesions like haemorrhages, microaneurysms, many other abnormalities you get from diabetes in the retina if it's abnormal, which is what I do when I look for a patient,' Dr Abramoff added.

'Then it analyses the combination of all these different features and it gives you a clinical decision by itself.'

Dr Abramoff admits the current applications of the technology are somewhat limited, but is hopeful it will expand in the future and be used to spot more diseases.

'I see a great future,' the creator of IDx-DR said.

The AI looks for different lesions like haemorrhages, microaneurysms, many other abnormalities in the retina that arise from diabetes

In order to be accepted by the FDA, Dr Abramoff conducted clinical trials on 900 patients. These showed the machine had an 87 per cent sensitivity to detecting the disease in patients

The technology is being used by medical professionals to spot the early signs of diabetic retinopathy. If left diagnosed, the condition can cause blindness. It arises as a complication for patients that suffer with either type one or type two diabetes

Iowa is not the only place that sees AI having a place in the future of healthcare.

Hospitals across the UK have also started to look to AI technology as a means of improving wait times and diagnosis accuracy in medical institutions.

University College London Hospital (UCLH), in Bloomsbury, London, is pioneering the technology in a bid 'to make services safer, quicker and more efficient.'

WHAT IS DIABETIC RETINOPATHY? Diabetic retinopathy is the most common form of eye disease affecting sufferers of the blood-sugar condition. It causes around 1,280 new cases of blindness every year in the UK. Nearly 7.7 million people in the US are affected by the condition. Diabetic retinopathy usually impacts people who have had type 1 or 2 diabetes for several years. It occurs when changes in blood-glucose levels result in alternations to the blood vessels in the retina. This can cause the vessels to swell and leak fluid into the back of the eye. Abnormal blood vessels can also grow on the retina's surface, which can affect vision and cause blindness. Early stage diabetic retinopathy can be painless. In advanced cases, symptoms may include: Sudden vision changes

Eye floaters and spots

Double vision

Eye pain At-risk people include those with poor blood-glucose control, protein in their urine, high blood pressure, prolonged diabetes and raised fats in their blood. Diabetic retinopathy can be prevented through regular eye examinations and proper diabetes management. Its main treatment is laser surgery. Source: Diabetes.co.uk Advertisement

Professor Bryan Williams, director of research at UCLH's NHS Foundation Trust, claims AI could instantly assess a patient in A&E who is breathless and needs an X-ray.

This crucial time-saving step may allow patients in life-threatening conditions to be fast tracked for immediate treatment.

An Oxford hospital is also using AI to quickly and accurately diagnose heart disease.

The machine is more accurate than the best cardiologists and experts claim it has the potential to 'save the NHS'.

The system has been successful in the early trials and, if its results are confirmed, similar AI scans could soon be available for free on the NHS.

The AI, called Ultromics, is being used at John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford.

The device, dubbed the IDx-DR, uses a combination of software and a retinal camera to take images of the patient's eye. After taking the photos, the AI analyses the images 'the same way I do as a clinician,' Dr Michael Abramoff said

Dr Abramoff (pictured) admits the current applications of the technology are limited, with a narrow scope, but he is hopeful it will expand in the future and be used to spot more diseases

The technology could help doctors spot the signs of the disease earlier and more regularly, without the need for long face-o-face consultations with an expert. Dr Abramoff (pictured in his younger year) is an expert in the field and helped create the AI

Ultromics is designed to improve the accuracy of heart scans.

As it stands, of the 60,000 heart scans carried out on the NHS each year  some 12,000 are misdiagnosed by cardiologists.

Ultromics was developed by Professor Paul Leeson, who taught the AI system how to recognise heart disease by feeding it 1,000 heart scans of patients from the last seven years.

Information about whether the patient went on to develop heart problems was also provided.

The technology has already been tested in six cardiology units and the results of the study are to be published later this year.

Early indications from the data are promising and the system is predicted to save the NHS up to 300 million ($400 million) a year.

'There is about 2.2 billion ($1.67 billion) spent on pathology services in the NHS.

'You may be able to reduce that by 50 per cent. AI may be the thing that saves the NHS,' geneticist Sir John Bell told the BBC.Ancient textiles found near Cambridge reveal Bronze Age Britons used an Egyptian thread-making technique to weave plant fibres long before they picked up spinning.

The 3,800-year-old fabrics were made by splicing  a process by which fibres from nettle, lime trees, or other plants were individually joined together to form yarn.

It was previously believed this technique only existed in Ancient Egypt, but a new study suggests it was prevalent across Britain, Europe and the Near East.

The find also hints that splicing was the original method for making thread, ahead of spinning, in which fibres are drawn out and twisted together to form yarn.

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Ancient textiles found near Cambridge (pictured) reveal Bronze Age Britons used an Egyptian thread-making technique to weave plant fibres long before they picked up spinning

Textiles analysed as part of the new study, led by the University of Cambridge, came from over 30 different sites in the UK, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt.

Dr Margarita Gleba, lead author of the study, said: 'Splicing technology is fundamentally different from draft spinning.

'The identification of splicing in these Early Bronze Age and later textiles marks a major turning point in scholarship.

'The switch from splicing  the original plant bast fibre technology  to draft spinning took place much later than previously assumed.'

Splicing has previously been identified in pre-Dynastic Egyptian and Neolithic Swiss textiles, but scientists were surprised to identify it in British fabrics.

It was originally thought that plant-fibre textiles had been spun in prehistoric Europe using primitive tools.

It was previously thought this technique only existed in ancient Egypt, but the new study suggests it was prevalent across Britain, Europe and the Near East. Pictued is a micrograph of an ancient textile from Lahun, Egypt, with arrows indicating splices

Now researchers suggest plant fibres were spliced for thousands of years until the 17th century, when weavers started to spin the strips as they had done with wool.

'Our research suggests that until about 600 BC all plant fibre textiles produced across Europe were made using spliced thread,' Dr Gleba told MailOnline.

'This was the original thread-making technology developed already in the Palaeolithic, long before the domestication of sheep and the use wool.'

She said ancient Britons would have used the technique to make all of their textiles, including clothing, string for nets, and other items.

Textiles analysed as part of the new study, led by the University of Cambridge, came from over 30 different sites in the UK, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. Pictured is a a splice in one of the single thread elements of fabric found in the cave of the warrior, Israel

The new study shows this particular type of thread-making technology may have been ubiquitous across the Old World during prehistory.

'The technological innovation of draft spinning plant fibres appears to coincide with urbanisation and population growth, as well as increased human mobility across the Mediterranean during the first half of the 1st millennium BC,' Dr Gleba said.

Among the finds analysed for this study are charred textile fragments from Over Barrow in Cambridgeshire, dated to the Early Bronze Age between 1887 and 1696 BC.

Dr Susanna Harris of the University of Glasgow, co-author of the paper, said: 'We can now demonstrate that this technology was also present in Britain.

Among the finds analysed for this study are charred textile fragments from an archaeological site known as Over Barrow in Cambridgeshire, dated to the Early Bronze Age

BRONZE AGE BRITAIN: A PERIOD OF TOOLS, POTS AND WEAPONS LASTING NEARLY 1,500 YEARS The Bronze Age in Britain began around 2,000 BC and lasted for nearly 1,500 years. It was a time when sophisticated bronze tools, pots and weapons were brought over from continental Europe. Skulls uncovered from this period are vastly different from Stone Age skulls, which suggests this period of migration brought new ideas and new blood from overseas. Bronze is made from 10 per cent tin and 90 per cent copper, both of which were in abundance at the time. Crete appears to be a centre of expansion for the bronze trade in Europe and weapons first came over from the Mycenaeans in southern Russia. It is widely believed bronze first came to Britain with the Beaker people who lived about 4,500 years ago in the temperate zones of Europe. They received their name from their distinctive bell-shaped beakers, decorated in horizontal zones by finely toothed stamps. The decorated pots are almost ubiquitous across Europe, and could have been used as drinking vessels or ceremonious urns. Believed to be originally from Spain, the Beaker folk soon spread into central and western Europe in their search for metals. Textile production was also under way at the time and people wore wrap-around skirts, tunics and cloaks. Men were generally clean-shaven and had long hair. The dead were cremated or buried in small cemeteries near settlements. This period was followed by the Iron Age which started around 650 BC and finished around 43 AD. Advertisement

'It's exciting because we think the past is familiar, but this shows life was quite different in the Bronze Age.'

'Sites like Over Barrow in Cambridgeshire contained a burial with remains of stacked textiles, which were prepared using strips of plant fibre, spliced into yarns, then woven into textiles'.

'It had always been assumed that textiles were made following well-known historical practices of fibre processing and draft spinning but we can now show people were dealing with plants rather differently, possibly using nettles or flax plants, to make these beautiful woven textiles.'Kenyan wildlife authorities say a tenth critically endangered black rhino has died after being moved from the nation's capital to a new wildlife park.

The country's wildlife minister, Najib Balala, has revealed the one surviving rhino from the transfer was also injured after being attacked by lions.

Conservationists have branded the botched operation a 'national disaster'.

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Kenyan wildlife authorities say a tenth critically endangered black rhino has died after being moved from the capital to a new wildlife park. The country's wildlife minister, Najib Balala, has revealed the one surviving rhino was also injured after being attacked by lions (file photo)

The animal died when officials moved the rare animal to a reserve in southern Kenya.

The one surviving animal from last month's attempt to transfer 11 rhinos from Nairobi and Lake Nakuru national parks to Tsavo East is in a critical condition.

Mr Balala, who had ordered detectives to investigate the fiasco, said at the briefing that several of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officials involved in the deadly operation had now been suspended.

'Yesterday the tenth rhino died. Also unfortunately the eleventh rhino has been attacked by lions yesterday. [It] was treated and so far we are monitoring that eleventh rhino,' he said.

'According to the inquiry team the cause of all the deaths was... multiple stress syndrome intensified by salt poisoning,' he added

Mr Balala admitted the transfer team had not fulfilled their duty to the animal in their care and there had been 'negligence'.

Last week, the minister suggested the rhinos may have become dehydrated during the journey, and perished after drinking saline water.

Save the Rhinos estimates there are fewer than 5,500 black rhinos in the world, all of them in Africa.

Between 2005 and 2017, 147 black rhinos were transferred to new habitats in Kenya, the tourism ministry said. The death of the latest rhino is the tenth in a month and Kenyan wildlife official shave now been suspended (file photo)

Kenya's black rhino population is believed to stand at just 750, according to the Worldwide Fund for Nature.

Between 2005 and 2017, 147 black rhinos were transferred to new habitats in Kenya, the tourism ministry said.

During the twelve year period, only eight failed to survive the move.

According to the latest KWS figures, nine rhinos were killed in Kenya last year alone.

In May, three more were shot dead inside a specially-protected sanctuary in northern Kenya and their horns removed.

In March, the world mourned the loss of one of the world's most iconic animals when the last male northern white rhino on earth, an elderly bull named Sudan, was put down by Kenyan vets after falling ill.

Rhinos have few natural predators because of their size and thick skin but are targeted by poachers for their horns which are highly valued in parts of Asia where they are believed to have medicinal qualities.

Huge demand from China and Vietnam where the horns can fetch tens of thousands of dollars has led to a collapse in the number of rhinos in the wild.Worms frozen in permafrost for 42,000 years have sprung back to life, scientists say.

Experts managed to coax the two roundworms back to life after thawing the ice that had imprisoned them since the era of woolly mammoths.

The experiment could provide a breakthrough in the fields of astrobiology and cryonics, since it demonstrates the 'ability of multi-cellular organisms to survive long-term', the researchers claimed.

Cryonics, which bridges the gap between science-fiction and reality, is a field that hopes to suspend people in time by freezing their bodies for years.

The end goal is to keep people on ice for centuries at the time, long enough to allow for long-term interplanetary exploration.

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Two nematodes from Siberia are moving and eating again for the first time since the Pleistocene age 42,000 years ago

The ancient roundworms - frozen since the era of woolly mammoths - started wriggling again in Petri dishes at a Russian institute (pictured)

The nematodes were coaxed back to life in a Petri dishes in a laboratory at the Institute of Physico-Chemical and Biological Problems of Soil Science, near Moscow.

Russian researchers team worked with geoscientists from Princeton University, New Jersey, USA to analyse more than 300 frozen worms to find suitable candidates.

According to researchers, only two were shown to contain viable nematodes.



One of these was found in permafrost near the Alazeya River back in 2015, and believed to be around 41,700 years old.

The other was taken in 2002 from an prehistoric squirrel burrow in Duvanny Yar outcrop in the lower reaches of the Kolyma River, and is around 32,000 years old.

This location is close to the site of Pleistocene Park, an experimental project seeking to recreate the Arctic habitat of the extinct woolly mammoth.

Both sites are in Yakutia, which is renown for being the coldest region of Russia.

The worms were coaxed back to life in Petri dishes in a laboratory at the Institute of Physico-Chemical and Biological Problems of Soil Science near Moscow. The breakthrough demonstrates the ability of multicellular organisms to survive long-term

Both specimens were found in the Yakutia region of Siberia, which is known to be the coldest region of the country

WHAT IS CRYONICS? WHAT IS CRYONICS? The deep freezing of a body to -196C (-321F). Anti-freeze compounds are injected into the corpse to stop cells being damaged. The hope is that medical science will advance enough to bring the patient back to life. Two main US organisations carry out cryonics in the US: Alcor, in Arizona, and the Cryonics Institute, in Michigan. Russian firm KrioRus is one of two facilities outside the US to offer the service, alongside Alcor's European laboratory in Portugal. HOW IS IT MEANT TO WORK? The process can only take place once the body has been declared legally dead. Ideally, it begins within two minutes of the heart stopping and no more than 15. The body must be packed in ice and injected with chemicals to reduce blood clotting. At the cryonics facility, it is cooled to just above 0C and the blood is replaced with a solution to preserve organs. Cryonpreservation is the deep freezing of a body to - 196C (-321F). Anti-freeze compounds are injected into the corpse to stop cells being damaged The body is injected with another solution to stop ice crystals forming in organs and tissues, then cooled to -130C. The final step is to place the body into a container which is lowered into a tank of liquid nitrogen at -196C. WHAT'S THE CHANCE OF SUCCESS? Many experts say there is none. Organs such as the heart and kidneys have never been successfully frozen and thawed. It is even less likely a whole body, and the brain, could be without irreversible damage. HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? Charges at the Cryonics Institute start at around 28,000 ($35,000) to 'members' for whole-body cryopreservation. Rival group Alcor charges 161,000 ($200,000) while KrioRus' procedure will set you back 29,200 ($37,600). HOW LONG BEFORE PEOPLE CAN BE BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE? Cryonics organisations claim it could be decades or even centuries. However, medical experts say once cells are damaged during freezing and turned to 'mush' they cannot be converted back to living tissue, any more than you can turn a scrambled egg back into a raw egg. Advertisement

'After being defrosted, the nematodes showed signs of life  they started moving and eating,' said another report on the findings cited by The Siberian Times.

According to the international team of researchers, this latest breakthrough demonstrates 'the ability of multicellular organisms to survive long-term  tens of thousands of years' in a state of 'natural cryoconservation.'

'It is obvious that this ability suggests that the Pleistocene nematodes have some adaptive mechanisms that may be of scientific and practical importance for the related fields of science, such as cryomedicine, cryobiology, and astrobiology,' the researchers wrote in the report, published in journal Doklady Biological Sciences.

One of the worms was from a site near the Alazeya River (pictured), found in permafrost in 2015, and believed to be some 41,700 years old

A second worm was taken in 2002 from an prehistoric squirrel burrow in Duvanny Yar outcrop in the lower reaches of the Kolyma River (pictured), and is around 32,000 years oldA fragment of meteorite that came crashing to Earth during prehistoric times will go on display as part of an astronomical exhibition in Edinburgh tomorrow.

The shard of Gibeon meteorite, which is around the same size as a page of A4, is named after the Namibian town where it was first discovered.

Hundreds of fragments of a space rock, which exploded over Earth and scattered over southern Africa, have been gathered by collectors since the 19th Century.

Gibeon meteorites are prized for their patterned cross section, which occurs after cooling over the course of millennia.

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A fragment of meteorite that came crashing to Earth around 600 million years ago will go on display as part of an astronomical exhibition. The page sized fragment of the Gibeon meteorite (pictured) is named after the Namibian town where it was found

The shard will be on-display as part of a new exhibition, called Astronomy Victorious: Understanding Our Universe, which runs from tomorrow, Friday July 26, until October 27 at the Main Library of the University Of Edinburgh.

Around 600 million years ago, a massive meteoroid that originally formed around the same time as the sun shattered into pieces above the Earth.

More than 150 individual pieces rained down in an area of southern Africa that would be known millennia later as Nambia.

It is believed that when the meteorite passed through the atmosphere, it broke up and crashed to earth over a 170 mile (275 km) long and 62 mile (100 km) wide area.

A University Of Edinburgh spokesman said: 'The Gibeon meteorite is prized for its patterned cross section which occurred after landing and cooling on the earth's surface.

'In the nineteenth century enormous specimens were recovered by European settlers which led to speculation that many of the smaller fragments had been collected by native people and made into tools.

'Radiometric dating places the age of crystallisation of the iron-nickel metal in the Gibeon at 4 billion years.'

Hundreds of fragments of a space rock which exploded over Earth and fell over southern Africa have been gathered by collectors since the 19th Century

Gibeon meteorites are prized for their patterned cross section, which occurred after cooling over the course of millenia

Large chunks of the meteorite have since been discovered, including a 500 lb (232 kg) mass recovered in 1857

WHAT ARE GIBEON METEORITES? Around 600 million years ago, a massive meteoroid hurtled through space before shattering into pieces above the Earth. It was originally formed around the same time as our Sun and the Earth and after a leisurely tour of the Solar System, formed the centre of an asteroid. After the meteoroid broke up, more than 150 pieces came crashing down in an area of southern Africa that would be known millennia later as Nambia. More than 150 pieces of meteorite came crashing down in an area of southern Africa that would be known millennia later as Nambia. This image shows one of the Gibeon meteorites on permanent display in Post Street Mall, Windhoek, the capital of Nambia It is believed that when it passed through the atmosphere, it broke up and crashed to earth over a 170 mile (275 km) long and 62 mile (100 km) wide area A large portion of the space rocks were found around the village of Gibeon, earning them the name Gibeon Meteorites. As far back as the iron age, the Nama people of the region used smaller bits of the meteorite for tools. In 1838, English explorer Sir JE Alexander collected samples and sent them to London for analysis, suspecting they may be extra terrestrial. Renowned Victorian scientist Sir John Herschel confirmed they were indeed not of this planet, due to its high quantity of nickel. Large chunks of the meteorite have since been discovered, including a 500 lb (232 kg) mass recovered in 1857. The inside of Gibeon Meteorites contain a beautiful pattern of metal crystals, known as a Widmanstatten pattern (pictured). These crystals only form if the metal has cooled over millions of years, just a few degrees every million years (stock image) Many others with a mass between 220 and 1,000 lbs (100 and 500 kg) were recovered in the years shortly after 1900. The inside of Gibeon Meteorites contain a beautiful pattern of metal crystals, known as a Widmanstatten pattern. These crystals only form if the metal has cooled over millions of years, just a few degrees every million years. Radiometric dating places the age of crystallisation of the iron-nickel metal in the Gibeon at four billion years. Advertisement

As well as the meteorite, a first edition book by a leading astronomer and an ivory sundial made in 1589 will also go on display.

Nicolaus Copernicus' book called De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium  published in 1543  was the first book to claim Earth is not at the centre of the solar system.

The rare illustrated first edition once belonged to leading Scottish Enlightenment figure Adam Smith.

A 16th-century pocket sundial made by the Tucher family, who were instrument makers from Nuremberg, Germany, between 1490 and 1645, will also be on display.

As well as the meteorite, a first edition book by leading astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus will go on display

Nicolaus Copernicus' book called De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium - published in 1543 - was the first book to claim that Earth is not at the centre of the solar system

The rare illustrated first edition once belonged to leading Scottish Enlightenment figure Adam Smith

The exhibition will also feature a celestial globe from the 1800s, two 19th-century telescopes and an illustrated anthology from 1681 charting the passage of comets from biblical times.

A tin camera designed and used by Charles Piazzi Smyth  the second astronomer royal of Scotland and a former professor of astronomy  will also be on display.

It was used to capture an image of the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt, in 1865.

A book written by Renaissance thinker Galileo Galilei in 1632, entitled Dialogo dei massimi sistemi will also feature.

The Italian's book was banned by the Catholic Church for more than two centuries.

Objects from the collections of the University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory Edinburgh and Ingleby Gallery will also be showcased.

After the meteoroid broke up, more than 150 pieces came crashing down in an area of southern Africa that would be known millennia later as Nambia. A large portion of the space rocks were found around the village of Gibeon, earning them the name Gibeon MeteoritesMore than a century after Albert Einstein proposed it, his theory of general relativity has passed another test.

With giant telescopes pointed at the center of our galaxy, a team of European researchers observed a fast-moving star that got close to a monstrous black hole.

They saw that the black hole distorted the light waves from the star in a way that agrees with Einstein's theory.

This artist's impression provided by the European Southern Observatory in July 2018 shows the path of the star S2 as it passes close to the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. As the star gets nearer to the black hole, a very strong gravitational field causes the color of the star to shift slightly to the red, an effect of Einstein's general theory of relativity. European researchers reported the results of their observations in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics on Thursday, July 26, 2018.

'This was the first time we could test directly Einstein's theory of general relativity near a supermassive black hole,' Frank Eisenhauer, senior astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, told journalists.

'At the time of Einstein, he could not think or dream of what we are showing today,' he said.

The result was reported Thursday in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Einstein's theory says the fabric of the universe is not simply space, but a more complex entity called space-time, which is warped by the presence of heavy objects.

Black holes offer a good opportunity to test that idea.

EINSTEIN'S GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY Albert Einstein (pictured) published his General Theory of Relativity in 1915 In 1905, Albert Einstein determined that the laws of physics are the same for all non-accelerating observers, and that the speed of light in a vacuum was independent of the motion of all observers - known as the theory of special relativity. This groundbreaking work introduced a new framework for all of physics, and proposed new concepts of space and time. He then spent 10 years trying to include acceleration in the theory, finally publishing his theory of general relativity in 1915. This determined that massive objects cause a distortion in space-time, which is felt as gravity. At its simplest, it can be thought of as a giant rubber sheet with a bowling ball in the centre. Pictured is the original historical documents related to Einstein's prediction of the existence of gravitational waves, shown at the Hebrew university in Jerusalem As the ball warps the sheet, a planet bends the fabric of space-time, creating the force that we feel as gravity. Any object that comes near to the body falls towards it because of the effect. Einstein predicted that if two massive bodies came together it would create such a huge ripple in space time that it should be detectable on Earth. It was most recently demonstrated in the hit film film Interstellar. In a segment that saw the crew visit a planet which fell within the gravitational grasp of a huge black hole, the event caused time to slow down massively. Crew members on the planet barely aged while those on the ship were decades older on their return. Advertisement

The one that lies at the heart of the Milky Way is 4 million times as massive as our sun.

'I, just like every physicist in the world, would have loved to finally see a crack in Einstein's relativity,' said Ohio State University astrophysicist Paul Sutter.

'But he's outsmarted us.'

But confirming Einstein's work - again, 'feels like we're kind of beating a dead horse,' said Sutter, who wasn't part of the research team led by Reinhard Genzel of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany.

Scientists know that the theory still doesn't explain everything about the universe. So they keep testing it time and again.

So far, nobody has been able to overthrow it.

'I, just like every physicist in the world, would have loved to finally see a crack in Einstein's relativity,' said Ohio State University astrophysicist Paul Sutter. 'But he's outsmarted us.'

Although the effects of general relativity have been seen before, this was the first detection made by observing the motion of a star near a supermassive black hole.

'To me, that's what makes this so cool,' said Clifford Will, a University of Florida physicist who did not participate in the research.

Will hopes his colleagues will be able to discover stars even closer to the black hole, where the effects of relativity would be stronger.

This finding 'is really the opening episode,' he said.

'The future, I think, is going to be very exciting.'

The team of scientists at the European Southern Observatory started monitoring the central area of the Milky Way using its Very Large Telescope to observe the motion of stars near the supermassive black hole 26 years ago.

The black hole is 26,000 light years away from Earth and has a mass 4 million times that of the Sun.

The scientists selected one star, S2, to follow.

With an orbit of 16 years, they knew it would return close to the black hole in 2018.

Over 20 years, the accuracy of their instruments has improved and so in May 2018, they were able to take extremely precise measurements in conjunction with scientists from around the world.

This showed the star's orbital velocity increasing to more than 25 million kph (15.5 million mph) as it approached the black hole.

The star's wavelength stretched as it sought to escape the gravitational pull of the supermassive black hole, shifting its appearance from blue to red, Odele Straub from the Paris Observatory said.

The scientists now hope to observe other theories of black hole physics, she said.

'This is the first step on a long road that the team has done over many years and which we hope to continue in the next years,' MPE's Reinhard Genzel, who led the international team, said.Miller defends township clerks office Eight weeks ago, I was approached by concerned citizens to run as a candidate for the vacant clerk position in...

Are we doing everything we can to protect our children? I was shocked and appalled to read that on Oct. 4, the Davison Board of Education passed a resolution requesting...

Transparency should begin during campaign One of the candidates running for Davison Township Clerk states in her bio that she is a local businesswoman and...Employees who kiss up to their boss might come across as over-achievers, but in reality, theyre often the ones who skip meetings, slack off, and treat co-workers poorly.

This is according to a new study, which found that those who work hard to flatter their bosses tend to deplete their own self-control resources in the process.

As the day wears on, researchers found these employees become more likely to slip into bad workplace behaviors.

A found that those who work hard to flatter their bosses tend to deplete their own self-control resources in the process. This leaves them more likely to slack off and engage in other deviant workplace behaviors. File photo

Theres a personal cost to integrating yourself with your boss, said Anthony Klotz, an associate professor of management in the College of Business at Oregon State University.

When your energy is depleted, it may nudge you into slack-off territory.

In the study, the researchers from Oregon State University assessed the effects of ingratiation  or kissing up.

This includes flattery, conforming with a supervisors opinion, and doing favors.

Generally, impression management in the workplace is about wanting to be liked and appearing capable, said co-author Lawrence Houston III.

The team also investigated self-promotion, such as taking credit for workplace successes and boasting about performance and high up connections.

Participants, all of whom were mid-level managers in a large software company, were asked to complete daily surveys about their experiences, and a survey measuring their political skill based on a set of social abilities.

Behavior that could be considered kissing up varied on a day to day basis.

But, those who acted in this way more often showed lower self-control resources at the end of the day.

This lead them to slack off and even act uncivilly toward others.

For self-promotion alone, on the other hand, the researchers did not see a link to resource depletion.

Employees who kiss up to their boss might come across as over-achievers, but in reality, theyre often the ones who skip meetings, slack off, and treat co-workers poorly, according to a new study

Its also important to note that the depleting effects of integration are immediate, but the workplace benefits of those acts tend to build over the long term, Houston said.

Employees who seemed to suffer the least consequences from ingratiation were those with high levels of political skills.

These workers tended not to veer off course and engage in deviant behaviour.

According to the researchers, the findings highlight the importance of mindfulness in managing workplace behaviour.

HOW CAN YOU CHECK IF YOUR BOSS IS SPYING VIA SLACK? Software firm Slack has rolled out the ability for the owner of the Slack network (the boss) to gather all data from other users (employees). For the Plus and Enterprise Grid plans, the feature is now automatically included. Slack has a feature for private chats which can include up to nine different recipients. Previously, if the boss wanted to see these images, he would have to turn it on, triggering an alert to all staff members. With the latest update, this will not be the case. Whilst it may not be as clear-cut and obvious, there is still a way to check if your boss has access to your DMs. When logged into Slack, go to slack.com/account/team and scroll down to the bottom. Under 'Exports,' check and see what privileges are listed. If it only lists 'PUBLIC DATA CAN BE EXPORTED,' then your boss cannot pull your DMs. If, however, it mentions private data, then all information is fair game. It remains unclear if this gives access to all previous conversations or just the information since the ability was turned on. Also, if the company that uses the platform has been granted this new ability, it does not automatically mean your Slack platform is exposed to your boss. Owners of the Slack network have a decision to make as to whether they turn the feature on leave it off. The only way to check is to visit the account>team>exports section. Advertisement

Also, if youre feeling depleted you may want to take steps to restore yourself  take a walk, talk to a friend, eat a snack, Klotz said.

Thats typically better than the allowing the depletion to manifest in other ways, like skipping a meeting or being rude to a co-worker.

The researchers say bosses should also be on the lookout for kiss ups as well, and keep its potential effects in mind.

Leaders can respond to their employees integration efforts in ways that are resource depleting or in ways that are more resource giving, Houston said.

Positive reinforcement is resource giving, and its free.Google has taken the wraps off of the personality behind its AI-powered Assistant.

To give Assistant some flair, the tech giant employs a huge group of comedians, 'empathy experts,' sound engineers, game designers, animators, illustrators and graphic designers, according to Yahoo Finance.

As part of the Personality team, they're charged with incorporating various Easter eggs, conversational elements and comedic quips into users' interactions with Assistant.

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Google has taken the wraps off of the personality behind its AI-powered Assistant. To give Assistant some flair, the tech giant employs a huge group of creatives

The Personality team designs Assistant's voice user interface (VUI), or the system that enables humans to interact with Google's AI software.

Unlike other digital assistants, Google isn't entirely focused on making Assistant human-like.

The firm tries to make Assistant conversational, but most importantly, helpful.

The Personality team uses 'it' as the pronoun for Assistant and hasn't assigned it a human name, such as Siri or Alexa, Yahoo noted.

'It's not about anthropomorphizing the device; it's about actually just enabling you to get things done,' Lilian Rincon, product management director for Google Assistant, told Yahoo.

However, that doesn't mean humor is absent from Google Assistant.

Unlike other digital assistants, Google isn't entirely focused on making Assistant human-like. The firm tries to make Assistant conversational, but most importantly, helpful

'I'd say always helpful, always trying to be useful, but we also want to have a little bit of sense of humor,' Andy Pratt, features lead for Assistant's Personality team, told Yahoo.

'It's not gonna be as snarky as Siri.'

The Personality team also focuses on incorporating Google's search engine smarts into Assistant.

'When I think of Google I think of it as this amazing library of knowledge and, increasingly, services,' Ryan Germick, principle designer of Google Doodles and Assistant Personality, told Yahoo.

'So if I was to sum up assistant's personality, it's kind of like a cool librarian. It's there for a purpose.

'It can give you amazing reference material and answer your questions to the most bizarre degree. But if you want to have fun with it, if you want to ask it for a joke, that's possible too.'

Google Assistant is incorporated in Google's range of smart home speakers, such as the Google Home, Google Home Mini and the Google Home Max (all pictured)

HOW IS GOOGLE ASSISTANT GETTING SMARTER? At the search giant's annual I/O developer conference, CEO Sundar Pichai unveiled a new technology called 'Duplex' that enables its Google Assistant to make phone calls in real-time with actual humans. It can book a hair appointment and reserve a table for you at your favorite restaurant, among other things. That's on top of a slew of other tools that Google says can make it easier than ever for you to interact with your smart devices. Duplex, which Pichai says the firm has been working on 'for many years', will be rolling out to a limited number of users for now. 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. Assistant then sends a notification to the user to let them know that an appointment has been scheduled. Advertisement

The team writes jokes, riddles, games and conversational adventures to make interacting with Assistant more fun for users who want to do more than just give commands.

Google is also looking to incorporate things like weather effects, so that when users ask if it's raining outside, they'll hear sounds of rainfall, according to Yahoo.

Elena Skopetos, character editor for Google Assistant Personality, works to develop opinions for the AI software.

Skopetos also writes many of the jokes incorporated into Assistant, such as: 'If you say, "Will you marry me?" to the Assistant, we say something like, "If youre asking me if Im committed to you, the answer is yes."'

'A good amount of what I do is anticipating what people are going to ask it, and trying to think of fun ways to respond,' Skopetos added, according to Yahoo.

She also devised an Easter egg around the popular children's movie Frozen.

The Personality team writes jokes, riddles, games and conversational adventures to make interacting with Assistant more fun for users who want to do more than just give commands

Google announced in May that Assistant can control more than 5,000 smart home devices, including smart cameras, dishwashers, doorbells, dryers, lights, plugs, thermostats, security systems, vacuums and locks, among many other technologies

If a user asks Assistant 'Do you want to build a snowman?', it will respond with 'Frozen came out in 2013. Let it go,' in reference to the film's breakout song.

Since its initial release in 2016, Google Assistant has been designed to handle more complex commands and now appears on a wide range of devices.

Approximately 500 million devices run Assistant, ranging from phones, to tablets and computers.

Google announced in May that it can control more than 5,000 smart home devices, including smart cameras, dishwashers, doorbells, dryers, lights, plugs, thermostats, security systems, vacuums and locks, among many other technologies.

While Google has made strides in making Assistant smarter, Cathy Pearl, head of conversation design outreach at Google, said the firm still has a 'long way to go.'

'My personal opinion is that we're at the infancy of this,' Pearl told Yahoo.

'[Voice-activated assistants] don't yet have a lot of common sense. They can handle a lot of interacting actions and queries but they don't know that much about the world.

'So I think we're still a ways out from having something that's a truly intelligent companion like Star Trek,' she added.Around 600 million years ago, a massive meteoroid hurtled through space before shattering into pieces above the Earth.

It was originally formed around the same time as our Sun and the Earth and after a leisurely tour of the Solar System, formed the centre of an asteroid.

After the meteoroid broke up, more than 150 pieces came crashing down in an area of southern Africa that would be known millennia later as Nambia.

More than 150 pieces of meteorite came crashing down in an area of southern Africa that would be known millennia later as Nambia. This image shows one of the Gibeon meteorites on permanent display in Post Street Mall, Windhoek, the capital of Nambia

It is believed that when it passed through the atmosphere, it broke up and crashed to earth over a 170 mile (275 km) long and 62 mile (100 km) wide area

A large portion of the space rocks were found around the village of Gibeon, earning them the name Gibeon Meteorites.

As far back as the iron age, the Nama people of the region used smaller bits of the meteorite for tools.

In 1838, English explorer Sir JE Alexander collected samples and sent them to London for analysis, suspecting they may be extra terrestrial.

Renowned Victorian scientist Sir John Herschel confirmed they were indeed not of this planet, due to its high quantity of nickel.

Large chunks of the meteorite have since been discovered, including a 500 lb (232 kg) mass recovered in 1857.

The inside of Gibeon Meteorites contain a beautiful pattern of metal crystals, known as a Widmanstatten pattern (pictured). These crystals only form if the metal has cooled over millions of years, just a few degrees every million years (stock image)

Many others with a mass between 220 and 1,000 lbs (100 and 500 kg) were recovered in the years shortly after 1900.

The inside of Gibeon Meteorites contain a beautiful pattern of metal crystals, known as a Widmanstatten pattern.

These crystals only form if the metal has cooled over millions of years, just a few degrees every million years.

Radiometric dating places the age of crystallisation of the iron-nickel metal in the Gibeon at four billion years.Advertisement

Sleeping under the stars doesn't have to mean lying on backache-inducing hard ground.

That's because there are a host of hotels around the world that offer guests luxurious beds outside. Or in the case of the Cabriolet Suite at LAlbereta in Italy, under a retractable roof.

Here MailOnline Travel presents incredible bedrooms where a comfy mattress, a breeze and a view of the heavens come as standard.

Tinyeleti Treehouse, Kruger National Park, South Africa

Built to match the height of the surrounding trees, you get an exquisite view of the Sabie River and the wildlife at Tinyeleti Treehouse in South Africa

The deck itself is 50 square metres, and features a large double bed, a sofa, and a small table and chair for dining, plus toilet facilities. The cost per night is 226

Tinyeleti Treehouse is a hideaway on the Lion Sands Game Reserve in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, that will take your breath away.

Built to match the height of the surrounding trees, you'll have an exquisite view of the Sabie River, which runs alongside.

The deck itself is 50 square metres, and features a large double bed, a sofa, and a small table and chair for dining, plus toilet facilities. The cost per night is 226.

Jamtara Wilderness Camp, Pench National Park, India

Pillow talk: The Machaan star bed is inspired by the age-old tradition of farmers sleeping outside so they're handy for chasing away wildlife from their crops

The Machaan star bed is inspired by the age-old tradition of farmers sleeping outside so they're handy for shoeing animals away from their crops.

Located on the edge of the jungle, you'll be able to spot plenty of animals from your four-poster bed, including leopards, wild dogs and the odd tiger, too. There are small villages in the surrounding area and a swimming pool and main dining room, available to all guests.

Prices vary depending on the camp package you choose, but start from 273 per night for an all-inclusive experience with an added cost of 81 for the star bed.

L'Albereta, Bergamo, Italy

L'Albereta's Cabriolet Suite features a retractable ceiling above the bed and views of the surrounding vineyards

L'Albereta's Cabriolet Suite is the ultimate choice for those who want the pleasantries of a posh hotel, but want to stargaze too  because the bedroom has a retractable ceiling.

Step onto the balcony, meanwhile, and views open up of the surrounding vineyards and Lake Iseo.

Other amenities include a hydro-massage tub in your room and a day spa, which is open to all guests. One night's stay for two people is 267.

Amangiri, Utah

In your private Mesa Pool Suite at the Amangiri hotel, you will have the luxury of two beds - one inside and one outside on the rooftop terrace

The luxurious Amangiri hotel is hidden away in the Utah desert, a few hours' drive from the Grand Canyon National Park. In your private Mesa Pool Suite, you will have the luxury of two beds - one inside and one outside on the rooftop terrace.

Downstairs there is a private terrace with a fireplace, plunge pool, rain showers and personal bar. Additional enhancements for a romantic evening include champagne and traditional campfire s'mores.

The price starts at approximately 3,826 per room per night. It includes breakfast, lunch and dinner for two guests, as well as guided hikes and group fitness classes.

Las Ventanas al Paraiso, Baja California Peninsula, Mexico

Las Ventanas al Paraiso is located in San Jose del Cabo in Mexico, on the Baja California Peninsula

The resort is on the edge of the beach and there are multiple open air beds to spend the night in

Las Ventanas al Paraiso is located in San Jose del Cabo in Mexico, on the Baja California Peninsula.

The deluxe resort is on the edge of the beach and there are multiple open air beds to spend the night in, including one that offers access to a private pool and incredible ocean views.

Around the resort, there's a plethora of options for daytime fun, including a spa and fitness center, multiple pools and a special tequila and ceviche bar. Prices vary depending on which suite or villa you choose, and there are also private residences available.

Loisaba Star Beds, Laikipia, Kenya

The Loisana Star Beds in Laikipia, Kenya, feature hand-crafted four-poster beds on raised platforms

Each bed has wheels underneath and can be rolled out from under a thatched roof and onto the terrace

Incredible, mesmerising views come as standard at this suite - part of the Elewana Collection

Part of the Elewana Collection, the Loisana Star Beds in Kenya feature hand-crafted four-poster beds on raised wooden platforms.

Each bed has wheels underneath and can be rolled out from under a thatched roof and onto the terrace. Located in the middle of Laikipia county, upon arrival you'll be welcomed by Samburu and Laikipiak Maasai warriors.

One night's stay for two people costs 357. For solo travellers it's 741 per night. The price is part of a full board package that includes alcoholic drinks, safari activities, guided bush walks, game drives and more.

Forsthofalm, Austria

Back to nature: At the Forsthofalm eco-hotel in the Austrian Alps, guests can stay in a forest suite, which features a bed in the middle of a wooded glade

Forsthofalm is an eco-hotel located in the Austrian Alps, with a special add-on for guests who want to sleep outdoors.

In the midst of a woodland glade is a double bed, a small table and two chairs. After a night in their forest suite, guests can return to the hotel and enjoy facilities including a heated outdoor rooftop pool and complimentary yoga classes.

The experience costs approximately 124, and includes a bottle of champagne.

Tswalu Kalahari, South Africa

Located in the middle of a game reserve, this five-star stay has a raised platform with a thatched overhang for protection.

Guests can sleep under the roof or further along the deck, with panoramic views of the vast plains of the Green Kalahari

Tswalu Kalahari's sleep-out deck, Malori, which in the local language translates as 'dreamer', offers ample opportunity for stargazing - on a king-sized bed.

Located in the middle of a game reserve, this five-star stay has a raised platform with a thatched overhang for protection. Guests can choose to sleep under the thatch or further along the deck under the night sky, with panoramic views of the vast plains of the Green Kalahari.

The add-on experience, which is available to guests at the main Motse resort, costs approximately 374.

Milaidhoo Island, Maldives

A luxurious castaway experience: Guests on Milaidhoo Island can sleep on a sandbank - on a four-poster bed

As part of their stay at Milaidhoo Villa, which is in a Unesco Biosphere Reserve, guests can book a night on Milaidhoo Island, living as castaways on a private sandbank.

But, with the grandeur of sleeping in a canopied four-poster bed and having a private yacht with hotel amenities on standby. A phone is also provided if any issues occur during the night.

The opulent experience even begins before you're marooned on the island, with a sunset dolphin cruise and champagne served by a personal butler. And in the morning there's an option for a workout with a Milaidhoo Yogi. Prices start from 1,236.

Tubu Tree Camp, Botswana

The Tubu Tree camp in Botswana has eight actual beds on private wooden decks

Tubu Tree is part of a small camp site on the border of the Moremi Game Reserve, with eight beds available  each on a private wooden deck.

You can explore the reserve during the day and night by car or glide along the waters on a traditional mokoro canoe. There's also an outside bar and a pool.

The cost for a nine-night safari adventure through Scott Dunn starts from 9,495 per person, which includes three nights at Tubu Tree, as well as six nights on two other camp sites.

Star Bed Experience at Anantara Medjumbe Island Resort, Mozambique

Heavens above: Guests at the Anantara Medjumbe Island Resort in Mozambique can nod off under the night sky if they opt for the 'Star Bed' experience

The Anantara Medjumbe Island Resort is a slice of paradise that sits in a stunning marine environment

Guests at the Anantara Medjumbe Island Resort in Mozambique can nod off under the night sky if they opt for the 'Star Bed' experience.

The rate starts from 844 per room per night and includes helicopter transfers, full board and wine.

Blissful tranquility awaits.Music legend Ian 'Molly' Meldrum has had his fair share of health issues in the past few years.

But the 75-year-old appeared healthier and happier as he posed confidentially on the red carpet at the MTV Unplugged music event in Melbourne on Wednesday night.

The music guru brandished an infectious smile, wearing his iconic cowboy hat paired with a brightly coloured slogan tee, coral jacket and a pair of black Crocs.

Taking a walk on the wild side! Music legend Molly Meldrum wears a pair of Crocs as he poses on the red carpet at MTV event and looks healthy and happy after recent health struggles

Molly seemed to be in high spirits as he stopped to pose for snappers before entering the music event with Australian music group Gang of Youths.

The rare red carpet appearance comes after the record producer suffered multiple health issues in the past few years.

In 2011, Molly suffered serious injuries after falling off a ladder at his home in Melbourne, Australia while putting up Christmas decorations.

Rock the crocs! Molly seemed to be in high spirits as he stopped to pose on the carpet

Thumbs up! The rare red carpet appearance comes after the record producer suffered multiple health issues in the past few years

Health: In 2016, while holidaying in Bangkok, he slipped and fell outside his hotel dislodging a vertebrae, which left him only six millimetres of being paralysed from the waist down

He suffered broken ribs, punctured lungs and had a severe brain injury, which resulted in him having to be placed in an induced coma while the swelling on his brain subsided.

And Molly's unfortunate accidents didn't end there.

In 2016, while holidaying in Bangkok, he slipped and fell outside his hotel dislodging a vertebrae, which left him only six millimetres of being paralysed from the waist down.

The accident resulted in him being rushed to the emergency room to have surgery and he returned to Australia in a wheelchair.

Meanwhile, in 2017, at the 59th Annual TV Week Logie Awards, Molly crashed Samuel Johnson's Gold Logie-winning acceptance speech with a series of f-bombs.

Molly seemed to reflect his most memorable moments in the industry while slurring his words onstage.

He later apologised for the interruptions telling The Daily Telegraph,'I profusely apologise if I upset anyone'.The final season of Game Of Thrones' is set to debut in the 'first half' of next year, according to Casey Bloys, HBO's programming president.

Speaking at the Television Critics Association summer event on Wednesday in Beverly Hills, California, he adeptly avoided confirming any more about the highly-anticipated eighth season of the hit fantasy show.

But, speaking to Deadline, he said of the upcoming prequel, currently using the working title The Long Night, that: 'There are very strong female characters but it's an ensembles, there is men and women.'

Waiting: Game Of Thrones' final season set to premiere in 'first half' of 2019... as HBO executive also confirmed on Wednesday that production on its spin-off will NOT begin til next year

Discussing the show further, Bloys added: 'Jane [Goldman, the prequel's scriptwriter] is a very good writer, we don't want to limit her to writing female leads. There are a lot of very complicated leads in [the pilot].'

Of writing the new series, he noted that Goldman 'did not go into that wanting to answer anything about Game of Thrones; it was the story that spoke to her.'

The Kingsman writer's script was selected against four other scripts written by top scribes in the industry, and it was green-lit by HBO last month.

Group effort: But he said of the upcoming prequel, currently using the working title The Long Night, that: 'There are very strong female characters but it's an ensembles'

Soon: Bloys confirmed the prequel will begin production in 2019, refuting claims that filming would begin in October of this year, as he said: 'We have to find a director, we have to cast it'

Bloys confirmed that the prequel will begin production in 2019, refuting claims that filming would begin in October of this year, as he said: 'When I say we're hoping to go into production in 2019, we have to find a director, we have to cast it.'

HBO have previously described the spin-off as: 'Taking place thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, the series chronicles the world's descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour.

'And only one thing is for sure: from the horrifying secrets of Westeros's history to the true origin of the white walkers, the mysteries of the East, to the Starks of legend  it's not the story we think we know.'

Thousands of years ago: HBO have previously described the spin-off as chronicling 'the world's descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour'

Changes: He confirmed that the show will 'feel very different' to its inspiration, whilst still keeping its essence, as the series is set in a different place and time to the original series

He confirmed that the show will 'feel very different' to its inspiration, whilst still keeping its essence, as the series is set in a different place and time to the original series.

As it's set thousands of years in the past it will likely look at the first appearance of the White Walkers, including the Night King.

Given this, there is no chance that the characters we have grown to love will appear on screen and the only likely contenders to show up will be the White Walkers themselves and the Children Of The Forest.

HBO is currently negotiating with a casting director as it plans on commencing with production in 2019.Cassandra Wood has been confirmed as one of the women competing for Nick 'The Honey Badger' Cummins on the upcoming season of The Bachelor.

And the stunning blonde, 23, is already shaping up as a front-runner, with Daily Mail Australia learning that she makes it to the final four.

It's not hard to see why rugby ace Nick is smitten with the starlet, who frequently shares sizzling bikini selfies with her 40,000 Instagram followers.

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No wonder The Honey Badger is smitten! Stunning Cassandra Wood is one of the women competing on the upcoming season of The Bachelor, and she loves a raunchy bikini selfie

Who will win? Nick 'The Honey Badger' Cummins has a bevy of women vying for his attention on The Bachelor Australia, which premieres next month

Cass is a former 2017 Miss World Australia finalist who is based in Sydney, and she frequently poses in skimpy swimsuits on the city's beaches.

Not afraid to flaunt her peachy posterior, the blonde stunner is often seen in G-string bikinis and tight activewear.

However, she also possesses brains in addition to beauty, with Cass also studying a Bachelor of Professional Accounting according to her Instagram bio.

Bootyful! Cass is a former 2017 Miss World Australia finalist who is based in Sydney, and she frequently poses in skimpy swimsuits on the city's beaches

Peachy! Not afraid to flaunt her peachy posterior, the blonde stunner is often seen in G-string bikinis and tight activewear

However, Nick might be most impressed by the fact that Cass is an avid rugby player, who last year took played union for the Manly Marlins.

Clearly not afraid to get down and dirty, one snap shared to her Instagram account shows the glamour out on the field, charging towards the try-line with a footy in her hand.

On Thursday, Cass told Who magazine that her 'ideal man is sporty', but she remained tight-lipped on whether or not she is now in a relationship with Nick.

Stiff competition! Brooke Blurton (left) and Cass (right) are both thought to make it to the final four

However, the stunner has some stiff competition from Brooke Blurton, 23, who is also thought to make Nick's final four.

Brooke hails from Perth, WA and is The Bachelor's 'first ever Indigenous finallist'.

The brunette also spoke to Who on Thursday, telling the magazine she would want her ideal mean to be ' honest and caring. To have empathy and compassion for others'.

Now giving back to the community as a youth worker, Brooke has overcome a traumatic childhood.

Struggles: Brooke (pictured) is The Bachelor's first ever Indigenous finallist and has overcome a rather traumatic childhood

After her mother committed suicide when she was just 11, Brooke spent the rest of her upbringing living in fear of drug-fuelled violence.

She previously discussed her struggles on SBS program Noongar Dandjoo.

'I grew up in a country town in Carnarvon. I spent my childhood there up until I was about 11, when my mum unfortunately passed away. She committed suicide,' she said.

'That was a hard time, living in Carnarvon with my mum and nan, losing mum, and then nan actually passed away a month later.'They revived their romance after a brief split in March.

And Gigi Hadid's mum Yolanda proved that her daughter's relationship with beau Zayn Malik was stronger than ever before as she took to her Instagram Stories on Wednesday.

The former One Direction star, 25, looked happy and relaxed as he enjoyed the company of the The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star's sphynx cat

Yolanda Hadid proved she was bonding with her daughter Gigi's boyfriend Zayn Malik as she uploaded a snap of him with her sphynx cat

Sporting his bleached locks, Zayn was seen in a black top as he balanced the animal on his right shoulder.

The snap appeared to hint that Yolanda was pleased with the half-Pakistani star being back in her stunning daughter's life.

This comes after Gigi took to her Instagram platform to post a makeup free video of her face, captioning it: 'My baby says he likes my sunspots.'

The snap appeared to hint that Yolanda was pleased with the half-Pakistani star being back in her stunning daughter's life

Solid ground: This comes after Gigi took to her Instagram platform to post a makeup free video of her face, captioning it: 'My baby says he likes my sunspots'

In the video, the sister of Bella Hadid zooms in on herself, showing off her fresh-faced look.

The Los Angeles native wore a blue tank top with spaghetti straps for the candid snap.

She also left a message for the benefit of her mother, Yolanda.

'Mamma I wear sunblock I promise,' the reality star wrote underneath the video.

No makeup no worries: In the video, the sister of Bella Hadid zooms in on herself, showing off her fresh-faced look

Back in black: While she split from One Direction star Zayn Malik, 25, in March after a lengthy romance, the couple appear to be rekindling their relationship

While she split from One Direction star Zayn Malik, 25, in March after a lengthy romance, the couple appear to be rekindling their relationship.

Gigi and Zayn first started dating in 2015 and even appeared on the cover of Vogue together in 2017.

Zayn proved he and girlfriend Gigi are stronger than ever as he gushed about the supermodel in a recent interview with GQ Magazine.

The couple were spotted kissing in New York last month and have since made their way back on to each other's social media channels.Their romance has been a centerpiece of TLC's reality show 90 Day Fiance and its spin-off 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After?

And on Wednesday, Russ and Paola Mayfield announced that they're expecting a baby together.

The American and the Colombian beauty wed in October 2013 and previously revealed they had a first pregnancy that ended in a miscarriage.

Hands on: He shared this photo to Instagram on July 7 and captioned it, 'Theres much more to me than what you see on tv. Im honestly not the jealous type and although Id had preferred to keep my wifes curves a mystery, especially when it comes to the lusting creeps out there'

Russ posted a snap to Instagram showing him sitting on a bed reading Dad's Guide to Pregnancy for Dummies as Paola sat beside him snacking on a cookie.

There are a bunch of snacks and fruit on the bed too along with some baby clothes.

The Oklahoma native wrote: 'We are thrilled to announce that we have a little one on the way! So much to prepare for and the cravings have started for the both of us.

'I cannot express the amount of joy I have in my heart for our expecting baby. I believe this new chapter will bring more hopes and dreams that we will ever imagine. So much happiness is on the way! #russandpao #babymakesthree,' he said.

Paola also posted a photo to her Instagram in which the couple are seen kissing as she holds a positive pregnancy test in her hand.

Always on vacation: Here the two are seen in a swimming pool

Russ, from Owasso, Oklahoma, met Paola from Bucaramanga, Colombia, while he was in Colombia on a work assignment in the petroleum industry. They married and moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma.

They were featured on season one of the TLC reality show 90 day Fiance that aired in January 2014

They have also starred for three season of the spin-off 90 Day Fiance: Happily Ever After? that premiered in 2016.Home Alone is to become the latest film franchise to get a reboot  but with a twist.

Ryan Reynolds is developing a new stoner version of the holiday classic, titled Stoned Alone.

According to Deadline, it centers on a 20-something year-old 'weed-growing loser' who misses the plane for a family ski trip.

High hopes: Ryan Reynolds is developing a new stoner version of the holiday classic, titled Stoned Alone

Left home alone, he makes the most of his free time by getting high.

But paranaoia sets in, and he starts to imagine people breaking into his house.

Meanwhile, a gang of thieves actually does break in, forcing the hero to defend his house while stoned out of his mind.

Reynolds will produce the comedy, via hi Fox-based production company Maximum Effort.

Hit: The original Home Alone, starring a then-ten-year-old Macaulay Culkin, was released in 1990

The original Home Alone, starring a then-ten-year-old Macaulay Culkin, was released in 1990.

It grossed more than $476million of a budget of just $18million.

It held the record for highest grossing live-action comedy in the US for 21 years, until is was finally surpassed by The Hangover Part II in 2011.

John Hughes wrote and produced the original, with Chris Colombus directing.

Augustine Frizzell is set to direct the new version, wit Kevin Burrows and Matt Mider penning the script.Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.His ever-changing look has consistently sparked speculation that he's had plastic surgery.

And while Shane Warne, 48, hasn't revealed the secret behind his youthful appearance, Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon Dr. Randal Haworth believes he may have enlisted some professional help.

'I suspect that he has dabbled with Botox and perhaps some fillers here and there,' he exclusively told Daily Mail Australia this week.

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EXCLUSIVE: 'He looks more chiseled': Shane Warne, 48, has 'dabbled in Botox and fillers and had an eyebrow lift', claims celebrity surgeon (left, in 2010, and right, in 2015)

'While women's faces tend to look younger and softer with the right amount of fat, men's faces tend to look better with weight loss. Shane's is no exception - his face has become more chiseled, defined and handsome,' he continued.

'What's more interesting is the shape of his eyebrows. It has drastically changed from his younger self when his naturally low-set eyebrows were especially drooping at their outer edge.'

The world-famous surgeon added: 'Now, the outer edge of his eyebrows are significantly elevated reminiscent of Jack Nicholson's.

'This can be achieved with Botox but I actually suspect a brow lift was performed because of the degree of change is so noticeable.'

Rumour has it: Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon Dr. Randal Haworth claimed Shane's 'naturally low-set brows' are now 'significantly elevated' at the outer edges (left, in 1995, and right, in February)

Daily Mail Australia has contacted a representative for Shane for comment.

Shane previously sparked surgery speculation when he appeared to have undergone a major physical transformation while dating Elizabeth Hurley.

He was with the British actress for three years and proposed to her in 2011 - although the pair split up two years later.

Shane addressed the rumours during his time on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! in 2016.

Rumour has it: Shane previously sparked surgery speculation when he appeared to have undergone a major physical transformation while dating Elizabeth Hurley

'Because I'm old, my face went all like this,' he said to his co-stars, as he pulls at his visage with his hand.

'But I was 77 kilos and I'm too tall to be that skinny and I looked, I didn't look well.'

He added that he'd be happy to admit he had cosmetic surgery, if he ever had it in the first place.

'And everyone said, "look what Warne's done to his face. What's he done to his head? Lay off the Botox. Get rid of the facelifts. He's had fillers" and I'm like if I wanted to have some, I would have no issue and if someone asked, I'd say, "Yep, I've had some. But until then".'Christina El Moussa and Ant Anstead's hot and steamy romance has gone to the next level.

After talking about it for weeks on social media, the couple are now on a romantic holiday in Ant's native Britain.

And they solidified their getaway with a sweet Instagram photo of them embraced in a passionate kiss: 'Another location another adventure. Last 2 days at our home away from home in the GB @stokepark. Love doing this life with you! @ant_anstead,' Christina gushed in the caption.

Romantic: Chritina El Moussa and Ant Anstead share a kiss while on holiday in the UK: 'Another location another adventure. Last 2 days at our home away from home in the GB @stokepark. Love doing this life with you! @ant_anstead,' Christina wrote on Instagram

The happy couple are seen sharing their romantic moment while enjoying the spoils of Stoke Park Country Club, Spa and Hotel, which is a sporting and leisure estate in Soke Poges, Buckinghamshire.

High fashion took a back seat on this day for some casual cool comfort.

TV's Flip or Flop star wore some tight leggings with a black hoodie, black boots and a flannel shirt tied around her waist.

She wore her trademark blond tresses loose and accessorized with some dark sunglasses pulled to the top of her head.

TV's Wheeler Dealers host opted for some dark shorts, a black t-shirt and styled his salt-and-pepper locks pushed back.

Bonding: The happy couple are getting some alone time in, and sharing some bonding time with Ant's two kids from his first marriage

The happy couple arrived in the British countryside, with Ant's two kids from his first marriage, after spending some time in Ireland.

While there Ant had to make good on a bet with Christina and jump into the chilly waters of a lake on the property of their hotel. The couple posted the video of the daring plunge on Instagram.

'True to his word @ant_anstead paid up after losing his archery bet... What should we bet next?! @dromolandcastlehotel,' Christina wrote in the caption.

The 35-year old beauty bet her beau that she could hit the bulls-eye yellow of a target with a bow-and-arrow. And to his shock and surprise, that's exactly what she did.

Paying up: Ant made good on a bet and jumped into the chilly waters of a lake in Ireland

1,2,3 go! Ant wasted little time and stripped off his cloths and did a cannonball into the water

Great technique: The Flip or Flop star bet her beau that she could hit the yellow bulls-eye

Spot on! The 35-year old beauty hit the bulls-eye in one try

Pay up! Ant playfully reacts to Christina's amazing shot

Christina's two kids, Brayden and Taylor, didn't make the trip across the pond; they stayed back home in California with their dad, Tarek El Mouusa.

But with the help of modern technology, she has been giving them regular updates.

'Grateful for FaceTime love you tay and bray,' she wrote in the caption of a Instagram photo of her daughter during a FaceTime call.

All in the family: The mother of two has been keeping tabs wih her kid through FaceTime

Christina and Ant have reportedly been dating since the end of 2017, not long after her divorce from her Flip or Flop co-star Tarek was finalized.

It was at that point that Christina had a vision for the year ahead.

'It was New Years Eve, and I was looking at 2018, and I thought of the year as the rebuild,' she revealed in an interview with People . 'Im starting from scratch, basically.'

And that's exactly what has transpired. The reality star has since moved into a new $4.1 million home in Newport Beach, California, and she has begun filming her new HGTV series Christina on the Coast.

It has also been a time of change for Ant. He separated from his partner of over 20-years, Louise Anstead in 2017 after 12 years of marriage. They have two children, Amelie (born 2003) and Archie (born 2006). He also took over as co-star of the British television series Wheeler Dealers.

Christina and ex-husband Tarek say they are both co-parenting Taylor and Brayden.

European vacation: Christina enjoyed some horseback riding during their visit to Ireland



Today show host Georgie Gardner has received a thank you letter from none other than Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

The 48-year-old read out the monogrammed keepsake on the Channel Nine program on Thursday, alongside her very surprised co-host Karl Stefanovic.

The TV personality had gifted the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at the time of their Royal Wedding with a neoprene picnic rug which featured an iconic Australian landscape from West Australian label Murph and Murph.

A touch of royalty! The Today show's Georgie Gardner [L], 48, received a personalised thank you letter from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle [R] for such an 'incredibly thoughtful gift'

The waterproof rug features an artist's interpretation of Cape Leveque in Western Australia.

Georgie said she was 'very thrilled' to have received a letter in the mail on Wednesday from the royal couple.

She proceeded to read out the personalised letter on air, with Karl, 46, unable to hide his shock at his co-host's prized stationery.

Thoughtful: Georgie, who had flown to the UK to report on the Royal Wedding in May, explained that she had gifted the couple with a neoprene picnic rug

'Dear Georgie, we wanted to write and thank you so much for the incredibly thoughtful wedding gift,' the letter read.

'We're both delighted that you would think of us during this special time and greatly appreciate your kindness.

'We apologise for the delay in getting this letter to you but as you can hopefully understand it has been a very busy time for us.

'Thank you again for your kind gift. We are incredibly touched. All the best, H&M.'

Prized stationery: The Royal couple sent Georgie a thank you letter for the gift, which she happily read out on Thursday's episode of the Today show

Prince Harry, 33, wed American actress Meghan Markle, 36, on May 19 2018 at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in the United Kingdom.

For the ceremony, Meghan stunned in a white off-the-shoulder gown by French designer house Givenchy, later changing into a Stella McCartney halterneck frock for the reception.

The couple's engagement was announced on November 27 2017.

Meghan made her first public appearance as Harry's royal girlfriend, when she watched the Prince play polo at Berkshire in England, on May 6 2017.He was grilled by Monty Koludrovic, the 'too tough' head chef of Bondi Icebergs, on Wednesday.

And MasterChef contestant Sashi Cheliah could be in the firing line once again in Thursday's episode, as he battles to make it to the semifinal.

Police officer Sashi, 39, will be cooking for four of the best chefs in Australia on a luxury boat on Sydney harbour in the tense round.

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Will Sashi be in the firing line again? MasterChef contestant set to cook in Sydney again for a place in the nail-biting semifinal

Jock Zonfrillo from Orana, Danielle Alvarez from Freds, Lennox Hastie from Firedoor and Ross Lusted from The Bridge Room will judge the dishes.

Two contestants will make it through to the semifinal to join Khanh Ong and the third will be booted from the competition.

It comes after MasterChef viewers unleashed their fury at Bondi Icebergs head chef Monty Koludrovic for being 'too tough' on Sashi.

On Wednesday's episode, the top four cooks took part in the service challenge at the iconic swimming club.

Sashi planned to deliver a pumpkin, pine nut raviolo with mushroom and red wine sauce, but buckled under pressure when chef Monty constantly hovered over him.

'I definitely know where I won't be going to dine!' MasterChef viewers unleash fury at Bondi Icebergs head chef Monty Koludrovic (right) for being 'too tough' on Sashi Cheliah (left)

At one point the chef even told the amateur cook to apologise to the wait staff for being late with an order: 'Have you got anything to say to the waiters?'

Sashi answered: 'Ah, I haven't poured the mushroom broth yet, so...'

The chef replied: 'What about, "Sorry, I'm so late".'

Sashi's supporters took to social media to take a swipe at the chef, including one who wrote: 'To see him being treated like that makes me really angry. He made the hardest dish with the most elements. I wanna deck Monty.'

Another said: 'Sashi, as a prison officer you would have seen it all. Yet, you would know that was no way to teach or encourage! You handled that session amazingly #MasterChefAU disgrace to you for tonight's editing!'

'Have you got anything to say to the waiters?' At one point the chef even told the amateur cook to apologise to the wait staff for being late with an order

Support: Sashi's fans took to social media to take a swipe at the chef, including one who wrote: 'to see him being treated like that makes me really angry. He made the hardest dish with the most elements. I wanna deck Monty'

Poll Was the Bondi chef too harsh on Sashi Cheliah? Yes No Was the Bondi chef too harsh on Sashi Cheliah? Yes 599 votes

No 130 votes Now share your opinion





Others vowed to boycott the Bondi restaurant after watching Monty's treatment towards the Sashi, one wrote: 'If I am ever in Bondi, I definitely know where I won't be going to dine.'

'@bondiicebergs Hey! I will not eat at your establishment as the way your chef spoke to a particular #masterchefAU contestant was so inappropriate,' someone said.

As another wrote: 'As a Bondi local, I will never EVER walk into Monty x @Icebergskitchen again! The way to succeed in business, a kitchen or life is to lead your people, not beat them. @masterchefau #boycottbullies #MasterChefAU.'

Boycott: A few even vowed to boycott the Bondi restaurant after watching Monty's treatment towards the Sashi

However a couple of Twitter users defended the head chef, with one saying: 'It's his place and he isn't yelling. It's being direct and honest.'

They continued: 'If you don't like it then try harder or do whatever it takes to make him shut up.'

Someone else added: 'To be fair, Monty tried to give Sashi advice at the start when he heard that making pasta was not in his strong suit.

'Sashi ignored his advice. Many people would be put off by that.'

Direct and honest: However a couple of Twitter users defended the head chef, one shared: 'It's his place and he isn't yelling. It's being direct and honest'

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Channel Ten and Bondi Icebergs for comment.

Meanwhile contestant Khanh Ong impressed the judges with his fig and blue cheese mousse dessert and has progressed to the top three.

The fan favourite jumped in excitement and became emotional when he was told his dessert was dish of the day.

MasterChef continues on Sunday 7.30pm on Channel 10Australian comedian and former radio host Hamish Blake is regularly seen posting funny snaps and videos on his Instagram account.

But nothing could have prepared his 877,000 followers when he posted a clip of himself in tiny denim budgie smugglers while on vacation inGreece on Wednesday.

The hilarious footage shows the 36-year-old parading around his hotel room in extremely tight speedos, exposing his slender pale frame.

'Graphic Warning': Zoe Foster Blake is left in shock as husband Hamish strips down to tiny denim budgie smugglers and shows off his pale frame during trip to Greece in hilarious video

He then hides behind a corner to sneak up on his wife Zoe Foster Blake before asking her: 'Hey honey, what do you think of these?'.

A shocked Zoe, 37, is seen covering her mouth in horror before breaking out in hysterics.

'Touch them,' Hamish says while moving closer towards her.

'No... no, I won't,' she giggles.

Revealing too much? A goofy Hamish is seen dancing around the hotel room leaving his wife in stitches

A little flustered? 'I think we have different ideas of what treats are' Zoe tells Hamish in the clip

A goofy Hamish is then seen dancing around the hotel room while taking part in some hilarious stretches, showing off a bit too much than his followers (and his wife) may have bargained for.

'I didn't really want anyone to see them,' he jokes, adding, ''theyre for you only its a husband treat.'

Trying to contain her laughter Zoe says: 'I think we have different ideas of what treats are.'

Family goals! The family are having an absolute ball in Greece, with Zoe posting some loved-up snaps of the couple in a bar in Mykonos on Tuesday

It seems the family are having an absolute ball in Greece, with Zoe posting some loved-up snaps of the couple in a bar in Mykonos on Tuesday.

The pair looked to be enjoying the 36 degree weather, cooling down with some alcoholic beverages on a sunbed on a beach.

Hamish and Zoe brought their two children with them on their island escapade, Sonny, four and Rudy, who just turned one.It's been four months since he moved to Melbourne to shack up with girlfriend Carly Bowyer after their romance was revealed on the Married At First Sight finale.

And now Daily Mail Australia can reveal that Troy Delmege, 35, is returning to his solo life in Sydney and leaving his 32-year-old lover behind.

The couple's separation comes after IT manager Troy has struggled to find employment in his new home after leaving his previous job behind.

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It's over! MAFS' Troy Delmege, 35, moving back to Sydney without girlfriend Carly Bowyer, 32

An insider close to the couple told Daily Mail Australia: 'Troy's been out of work for months now and it's been causing tension between him and Carly.'

'He thought he'd walk into a job once he moved to Melbourne but the reality has been very different. Instead, he just sits around all day waiting for her to come home from work and she's been getting frustrated.'

'When he made the move to Melbourne he kept his room on in Sydney and he's now planning to head back there and pick his old life back up.'

Difficult decision: An insider told Daily Mail Australia that Troy's struggle to find employment in Melbourne has caused 'tension' for the couple

Discussing what this means for their future as a couple, the confidant added: 'They haven't said it's over but no one can see them lasting much longer.'

Troy declined to comment when approached by Daily Mail Australia.

However, during an interview with KIIS FM's The Kyle & Jackie O Show on Thursday the TV star insisted their relationship was still going strong.

Back up plan: Troy will be returning to his small Sydney flat which appeared on MAFS

'Yeah, things are going really good,' he told hosts Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O.

The interview comes after Troy sparked split rumours by sharing a loved-up old snap of him and Carly tagged at Melbourne's St Kilda Beach on Wednesday.

Fans accused him at the time of trying to pass off an old photo as new.

'Things are going really good': Troy insisted the couple were still going strong during an appearance on KIIS FM's The Kyle & Jackie O Show on Thursday

One distinct clue immediately raised eyebrows and fans are now suspecting a secret break-up.

In the snap, Carly does not appear to have veneers, despite getting them put in last month and fans demanded answers in the comments section.

'This is an old photo. I actually don't think they're still together,' one follower concluded, with many echoing the same.It's the first look at a NASA film starring Natalie Portman.

The Academy Award-winning actress, 37, wore a blue spacesuit in a newly-released promotional stills for her upcoming film Pale Blue Dot, in which she plays an astronaut named Lucy Cola.

The Israel-born actress looked barely recognisable from her usual glamorous self, sporting a brown bob and minimal make-up.

Space fierce: Natalie Portman, 37, looked barely recognisable in a newly-released promotional stills for her upcoming film Pale Blue Dot

Natalie was sporting a lanyard necklace with identification badges attached while standing in a conference room.

She posted the shot on her Instagram account, writing, 'In character as Lucy Cola. @hilstills #sneakpeek.'

The mother-of-two - who raises son Aleph, seven and daughter Amalia, one, with husband Benjamin Millepied, 41 - leads an all-star cast in the motion picture, including Jon Hamm, Zazie Beetz, Dan Stevens and Ellen Burstyn.

Glamorous: Natalie, pictured in June, usually favours a more glamorous look, wearing her hair up to showcase her enviable bone structure

The plot sees Cola return home after a space mission and begin an affair with her colleague Mark Goodwin (Hamm).

Stevens plays the role of Cole's husband Drew, while Beetz is cast as a NASA trainee.

While the characters in the movie are fictional, the storyline is inspired by a NASA affair that captivated the media's attention in 2007.

NASA Capt. Lisa Nowak was famously arrested in connection with attempted murder and kidnapping charges.

Inspired: The storyline is loosely-based on the story of NASA Capt. Lisa Nowak

Investigators said Nowak traveled from Houston to Orlando - wearing a diaper to save time on bathroom breaks - in pursuit of an Air Force captain named Colleen Shipman, who was dating her former lover, astronaut Bill Oefelein.

She carried items including a pepper spray, a wig, a mallet, a BB gun and a four-inch knife.

Nowak confronted Shipman while she was sitting in her vehicle and pepper sprayed her, officials said.

Nowak would later enter a guilty plea to burglary and misdemeanor battery, serving two days in custody and staying on probation for a year.He starred as a young heartthrob on long-running soap Home and Away in the early 2000s before heading to Hollywood.

And Christopher Egan has left fans shocked after posting a photo to social media looking nothing like his former self.

With his wig, large glasses and blonde handlebar moustache, soap fans were left scratching their heads as to the identity of the man in the frame.

Remember me? Christopher Egan has left fans shocked after posting a photo to social media looking nothing like his former self

The 32-year-old actor caption the snap: 'Selfie Tuesday. Or whatever the kids are calling it these days.'

Followers commented on his striking new look, writing: 'You look great!, 'I've never been more attracted to somebody in my life', and 'Keep the look!'

Others wrote: 'This is either giving me dad vibes or like you're gonna dismember me and stuff me in a freezer', and, 'You look like youre about to kidnap that salmon girl.'

And... action! The actor was in character for a new film and in another Instagram shot, Nick (right) is pictured on set wearing mostly the same get-up, but without the wig, and posing with director Wei-Ling Chang (middle)

In appears that Christopher, who played the handsome Nick Smith on Home and Away, was in character for a movie he is filming the US.

In another Instagram shot, Nick is pictured on set wearing the same get-up, sans the creepy wig.

He is posing with director Wei-Ling Chang, who is holding up a clapperboard listing the project as 'Cult.'

To tinsel town: Since leaving Home and Away, Christopher has appeared in several action-fantasy films, but his most notable role was in the 2010 romantic comedy Letters to Juliet

Ex-pat: Now based in Los Angeles, Christopher (pictured on Home And Away) has yet to hit the big time like fellow Home And Away alum Chris Hemsworth, 34

Since leaving Home and Away, Christopher has appeared in several action-fantasy films, but his most notable role was in the 2010 romantic comedy Letters to Juliet.

Nick starred alongside Vanessa Redgrave, Gael Garcia Bernal and Amanda Seyfried in film, about an aspiring writer who travels to Italy for a romantic adventure.

Now based in Los Angeles, Christopher has yet to hit the big time like fellow Home And Away alum Chris Hemsworth, 34.He's set to host season three of Australian Survivor.

But Jonathan LaPaglia, 48, has spoken candidly about Hollywood's cutthroat industry.

Speaking to Who Magazine on Thursday, the actor said you need to have thick skin in order to succeed in show business.

'You have to have thick skin': Survivor host Jonathan LaPaglia reflects on Hollywood's cutthroat industry and the struggles of fame

'One minute you have 'heat' and everyone wants you, but as quickly as that happens, it disappears, and there's no rhyme or reason,' he said.

'It often has no bearing on your talent or how much work you put in... The industry marches forward; they don't stop for you. You have to have thick skin.'

The Love Child star has been searching for new acting and directing gigs.

Coming and going: Speaking to Who Magazine, Jonathan described Hollywood as a trend-driven industry and opened up about his struggle to remain in the limelight. Pictured attending the AACTA International Awards in 2016 at Avalon Hollywood, Los Angeles

'So I'm starting from ground zero to make it happen. It's all up to me,' he said.

Upon being told that this year marks his 20th marriage anniversary to 43-year-old Ursula Brooks, Jonathan was shocked to discover the incredible milestone.

But it seems that Jonathan has made a habit of uncovering important family events via the media.

Say, what? Jonathan (L) was shocked to discover that this year marked his 20th marriage anniversary to 43-year-old wife, Ursula Brooks (R). Pictured attending the G'Day USA Los Angeles Gala in January this year

Only last year, Jonathan was oblivious to 29-year-old Alexandra Henkel's engagement to his older brother, Anthony LaPaglia, 59.

Speaking to Hit 105 radio network, the actor exclaimed: 'S**t is he getting married? Really? I have been on the island. I should pay a little more attention to social media.'

Jonathan did not attend the surprise wedding in Hawaii this April due to work commitments in Fiji.

He currently lives in Los Angeles, where he has been based for 24 years, with wife Ursula and 19-year-old daughter, Tilly LaPaglia.

'S**t is he getting married?' Last year, Jonathan had no idea his brother, Anthony LaPaglia (R) was engaged to marry 29-year-old Alexandra Henkel (L). Pictured: Anthony and Alexandra attending the YSL Beauty Club Takes Over event in Melbourne, 2017Nine News boss Darren Wick has blasted a New Idea article claiming that Tracy Grimshaw is 'reconsidering her future with the network'.

The high-powered newsman told TV Tonight on Wednesday that the magazine's report 'is point blank not true', adding that 'Tracy is signed, sealed and delivered for a new contract'.

On Monday, New Idea quoted an insider as saying that Tracy was considering a career change following her shock loss at the Logie Awards earlier this month.

'It is point blank not true!' Nine News boss Darren Wick has blasted a magazine report claiming that Tracy Grimshaw is 'reconsidering her future with the network' following her shock loss at the Logies earlier this month

Tracy was widely-tipped to take home the coveted Gold Logie on TV's night of nights, however she missed out on receiving the award, which went to Grant Denyer.

New Idea subsequently reported that the shock snub has 'caused Tracy to question everything'.

The magazine further claimed that Channel Nine executives are 'pulling out all the stops' in order to keep the veteran journalist happy, as she is now thinking about transitioning to radio.

She's not going anywhere! Nine News boss Darren says Tracy has signed a new contract

However, that couldn't be further from the truth according to Nine News director Darren.

'She'd like to have won (at the Logies) but she had a good time, and quite honestly she was thrilled to have been nominated,' he told TV Tonight.

He added: 'She is very happy with where A Current Affair is at in 2018. I think it's in a great place, and the numbers reflect that.'

'She is very happy with where A Current Affair is at in 2018': Tracey is continuing her long employment at Nine

Darren's dismissal of the report echos that of a Nine spokesperson who told Daily Mail Australia on Monday that the New Idea story was 'rubbish' and fabricated.

Tracy is one of Channel Nine's most popular stars, and has worked at the network for close to three decades.

She has been anchoring A Current Affair for more than twelve years, and spent nearly a decade as the co-host of the Today Show alongside Steve Liebmann.She's long been open about her battle with Endometriosis, recently admitting she suffers from 'excruciating pain' as a result of the condition.

And on Thursday, Mel Greig joined fellow sufferer and yellow Wiggle Emma Watkins at Sydney's Royal Hospital for Women as the National Action Plan for Endometriosis was announced.

Mel - who is an Endometriosis Australia ambassador - wore the charity's signature colour of yellow on the day, as it was revealed that $4.7 million would go into research for the condition.

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'Today is a great day for endo sisters!' Mel Greig (R) joins yellow Wiggle Emma Watkins (M) in Sydney as the National Action Plan for endometriosis is announced... after revealing her 'excruciating' battle with the condition (pictured is Federal Health minister Greg Hunt)

The 35-year-old blonde teamed her bright yellow blazer with a black T-shirt and jeans, while Emma looked chic in a flowing floral dress.

They were also joined on the day by 2DAY FM star Ellie Angel-Mobbs and beauty queen Tasha Ross, who both suffer from the condition.

The girls all wore yellow flower crowns on the day.

In bloom! The girls all wore flower headpieces on the day

Taking action: On Instagram, Mel commented: 'Today is the first step in finding a cure for the next generation, today we help end the silence with the 4.7 million dollars that has been pledged towards research and awareness'

'Today is a great day for endo (sic) sisters. We were heard. Action is on the way,' Mel wrote in a post for Yahoo Be.

On Instagram, Mel commented: 'Today is the first step in finding a cure for the next generation, today we help end the silence with the 4.7 million dollars that has been pledged towards research and awareness.'

In another post, she added a reminder to sufferers to stay strong.

'Be strong, Be brave you've got this and we've got your back,' she said.

Health woes: In April, Mel opened up about her battle with the condition, saying she has had surgery in a bid to ease her pain

In April, Mel opened up about her battle with the condition, saying she has had surgery in a bid to ease her pain.

'Surgery doesn't cure endometriosis nor does getting a hysterectomy but my doctor has advised that is the best thing,' she said on The Project.

'I had a major surgery to reset my bowel. At the moment, my bowel and uterus are stuck together. I've had appendicitis because it has grown to my appendix and had to go to emergency and I had to have cysts drains. For me, it gets worse.'

Pain: During the interview on the Channel Ten show, Mel also noted that it was 'an invisible illness' but that doesn't mean the pain felt by sufferers is any less serious

During the interview on the Channel Ten show, Mel also noted that it was 'an invisible illness' but that doesn't mean the pain felt by sufferers is any less serious.

'The pain is real,' she said, explaining it is a lot worse than run-of-the-mill mild period pain.

'It's not just a wheat bag, chocolate and a couple of Panadols. This is excruciating pain.'

Emma meanwhile announced in April that she was pulling out of the latest Wiggles tour to focus on her health.She jetted to Sydney last week in a bid to 'restart' her life after her devastating split from husband Steve Jacobs.

And Rose Jacobs seemed keen to take her mind off the heartache as she enjoyed a boozy lunch with a male pal in the NSW capital on Wednesday.

The 39-year-old seemed to be in good spirits as she greeted her companion with a warm hug and chatted away to him.

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Who's that guy? Steve Jacobs' estranged wife Rose enjoys a boozy lunch with a male friend after jetting to Sydney to 'restart' her life amid divorce

Rose dressed for the warm weather, donning a simple silky white camisole teamed with skintight black jeans.

The weather presenter completed her look with a black padded jacket and a pair of understated white trainers.

Sweeping her dark hair off her face with a funky printed bandana, she shielded her eyes from the sun with square-frame shades.

Her friend, meanwhile, kept his look casual in a grey T-shirt and light-wash denim jacket.

Come here, you! The 39-year-old seemed to be in good spirits as she greeted her friend with a warm hug and chatted away to him

Old pals? The pair greeted each other warmly at the alfresco eatery

Looking good: Rose dressed for the warm weather, donning a simple silky white camisole teamed with skintight black jeans

Rose moved back to Sydney earlier this month with her daughters, Isabella, seven, and Francesca, five, to 'restart a life in Australia'.

The outing comes after she and her Today weatherman husband Steve relocated to Vanuatu with their two daughters in mid-2017 in what friends reportedly said was a 'last-ditch attempt' to save their marriage.

But things fell apart within a matter of months, and after they split Rose began her fling with Canadian commando, Dylan Nash, 32.

Chic: The weather presenter completed her look with a black padded jacket and a pair of understated white trainers

Mane attraction: Sweeping her dark hair off her face with a funky printed bandana, she shielded her eyes from the sun with square-frame shades

Low-key look: Her friend, meanwhile, kept his look casual in a grey T-shirt and light-wash denim jacket

They tried: Rose moved back to Sydney earlier this month with her daughters, Isabella, seven, and Francesca, five, to 'restart a life in Australia' after splitting from husband Steve (pictured)

They met in early 2018 in Vanuatu, however they ended their relationship after just two months.

Rose admitted her split from Steve has impacted their children for the better, telling WHO magazine: 'If anything [the split] has made us better parents.'

Steve has also moved back to Sydney, with the pair sharing custody of their daughters.

Fling: After they split Rose began a fling with Canadian commando, Dylan Nash, 32

Short-lived: They met in early 2018 in Vanuatu, however they ended their relationship after just two months

On the plane ride back to Sydney Rose posted a collage of pictures to her Instagram page, saying that heading back home was bittersweet for her.

'Mixed emotions. Part excitement, part terror, part nostalgia, part sheer joy!' Rose captioned the Instagram snap.

She added hashtags including 'I will miss you,' 'true friends for life,' 'couldn't be happier,' 'I've got this' and 'doing it for my girls.'

Moving on: Rose admitted her split from Steve has impacted their children for the better, telling WHO magazine: 'If anything [the split] has made us better parents'Love Island Australia's Grant Crapp has been desperately trying to win back ex-girlfriend Tayla Damir for the past week.

But it looks like Tayla has closed the door on Grant for good, with the beauty queen taking to Instagram on Thursday to announce that she's officially ready to move on with her life.

Sharing a photo of herself gazing wistfully out at the ocean, the 21-year-old wrote: 'Back in Sydney and ready for this next chapter of my life.'

'Back in Sydney and ready for this next chapter of my life': Tayla Damir indicated that she's done with Grant Crapp forever in a heartbreaking Instagram post on Thursday

The stunner continued: 'Although my post Love Island experience hasnt gone exactly to plan I am still forever grateful for my time in the villa and wouldnt change it for the world.

'I have learnt so much from my time in the villa and over the last few weeks. I truly feel as if I have grown as a person and know my entire worth.'

She finished: 'I am ready for what ever life has in store from this point onwards.'

'Although my post Love Island experience hasnt gone exactly to plan I am still forever grateful for my time in the villa and wouldnt change it for the world,' she said

Earlier that day, Tayla made it clear that she was over Grant during an emotional interview on The Kyle and Jackie O Show.

'I've had my tearful days and they're over now, I've been hiding in Perth for the last couple of days. I was completely in love and it was a big shock to me,' Tayla said of her breakup.

Discussing her suspicions Grant was always hiding something, Tayla added: 'There were always lies in the house that I would pick up on and notice.'

'I've had my tearful days and they're over now!' Earlier that day, Tayla made it clear that she was over Grant during an emotional interview on The Kyle and Jackie O Show

'For me, when that whole challenge came up with the stuff about the secret girlfriend, I did have that gut feeling once I left the villa.'

'I tried to speak to the girl but she didn't want to  it's fine and I respect that, she must be going through a lot as well.'

Tayla and Grant tragically split last week, less than three weeks after being crowned the winners of Love Island Australia.She's one of Hollywood's biggest stars and is celebrating the release of her new film, Ocean's 8.

And on Wednesday, Australian star Cate Blanchett was ever the doting mother as she made a rare public appearance with husband Andrew Upton and their children.

Jetting into Sydney, Cate cut a stylish figure as she held adopted daughter Edith in her arms.

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Her best role yet! Cate Blanchett is a doting mother to daughter Edith as she makes a rare public appearance with husband Andrew Upton as they jet into Sydney with their family

The blonde Lord of the Rings star looked stylish in black high-waisted jeans, which she teamed with a white T-shirt and a silver blazer.

She completed her look with white leather shoes and black sunglasses.

Her short hair was out and straightened, with Cate appearing to be wearing minimal makeup.

Chic: The blonde Lord of the Rings star looked stylish in black high-waisted jeans, which she teamed with a white T-shirt and a silver blazer

On home soil: Cate appeared in high spirits as they jetted into Sydney, with an airport staffer pushing their luggage on a trolley

Flawless: Her short hair was out and straightened, with Cate appearing to be wearing minimal makeup

Playwright Andrew, 52, wore jeans with a red collared shirt and a black coat.

The pair are parents to Edith - who they adopted in early 2015 - and sons Dashiell John, 16, Roman Robert, 14, and Ignatius Martin, 10.

Cate appeared in high spirits as they jetted into Sydney, with an airport staffer pushing their luggage on a trolley.

Andrew and Cate meanwhile celebrated their twentieth anniversary last December.

Going strong: Andrew and Cate meanwhile celebrated their twentieth anniversary last December

Their love: In October 2015, she appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show when she revealed that their romance was a whirlwind

In October 2015, she appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show when she revealed that their romance was a whirlwind.

The Oscar winner admitted that she and Andrew slept together early on in their romance - and got engaged just a couple of weeks later.

'Actually after three days,' Cate said when asked how quickly she decided to marry him.

'He turned to me, we were in bed, as you are after three days, and he said Cate.

She added: 'And I thought "s**t he's gonna ask me to marry him and I'm gonna have to say yes."

'And then he said, "no I'm hungry do you want to go get something to eat?" But then he asked me after about 21 days and I said "yes."James Van Der Beek took to social media to hail moms who breastfeed their children, about a month after he and his wife Kimberly became parents for the fifth time.

'#Breastfeeding moms everywhere  we salute you,' the Dawson's Creek actor, 41, wrote on Instagram Wednesday, alongside a shot of the couple posed together as Kimberly nursed their baby daughter Gwendolyn.

He added a comment that read: 'Non-breastfeeding moms  we salute you, too. Just trying to do our part to normalize a natural, beautiful human behavior that has been, at times, absurdly stigmatized.'

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Happy day: James Van Der Beek, 41, took to social media Wednesday to hail moms who breastfeed their children, about a month after he and his wife Kimberly welcomed a baby

Van Der Beek, who currently plays Matt Bromley on the Ryan Murphy series Pose, joined a long list of celebs who have endorsed breastfeeding on their social media pages, such as Alyssa Milano, Thandie Newton and Liv Tyler, all of whom have taken to Instagram with breastfeeding selfies.

He and his wife welcomed Gwendolyn last month in a home birth.

'Every child awakens a different energy in you  and this one has been bringing up the truth ever since we found out she was on her way,' he told People in a statement last month.

He referenced the zero-tolerance immigration policy of separating immigrant children from their parents at the border, previously set forth by President Donald Trump and his secretary of Homeland Security, Kirstjen Nielsen.

Summer love: The couple, who celebrate their eighth anniversary next month, posed in a shot in front of their newborn daughter Gwendolyn earlier this week

Multi-tasker: James wore a papoose containing the baby as he held hands with two of his little girls earlier this week

'Ive been in bliss these last few days,' Van Der Beek said, 'but Ive also been feeling the pain of parents who have been separated from their kids, and the terror those poor kids must be in right now.'

'I live an incredibly privileged life  and the last thing I want would be to politicize a birth  but this is human rights abuse. It just didnt seem right to bask in my privilege and blessings and not bring attention to it.'

The couple, who exchanged vows in August of 2010 at a Kabbalah Center in Tel Aviv, Israel, have four other children: daughters Olivia, seven, Annabel Leah, four, Emilia, two, and son Joshua, six.

Van Der Beek shot to fame playing Dawson Leery on the WB series, which also featured Katie Holmes and Michelle Williams. He's also been seen in notable productions such as Varsity Blues, One Tree Hill and CSI: Cyber.He's the Married At First Sight star who works as a fitness instructor for the over 50s.

But Nasser Sultan managed to squeeze in a workout of his own at Bondi Beach on Wednesday.

The flamboyant 51-year-old showed off his physique as he stripped down for a swim in Sydney's unseasonably warm winter weather.

Raising temperatures! Married At First Sight's Nasser Sultan, 51, stripped down to his VERY tight underwear as he enjoyed a winter swim at Bondi Beach on Wednesday

Nasser was seen emerging from the waves in a wetsuit, carrying a lime green surfboard as he strolled along the sand.

Clearly not shy, the reality star then chose to change out of the dripping wet swimwear in an outdoor car park.

Stripping down, the personality stood around wearing nothing but tight black underwear as he brushed his hair.

Wet and wild! Nasser was seen emerging from the waves in a wetsuit, carrying a lime green surfboard as he strolled along the sand

Slick! Stripping down, the personality stood around wearing nothing but tight black underwear as he brushed his hair

Nasser is currently single following his turbulent 'marriage' to Garbielle Bartlett on the most recent season of Married At First Sight, which aired earlier in the year.

In April, the star's sexuality was called into question after rumours he was dating a male fashion student.

However, he later confirmed that it was nothing more than friendship.

Tumultuous! Nasser is currently single following his turbulent 'marriage' to Garbielle Bartlett on the most recent season of Married At First Sight, which aired earlier in the year

Earlier this month, Nasser told Daily Mail Australia that he had recently been 'catfished' by a potential date.

'All that pampering, pruning and grooming and they looked nothing like their picture!' Nasser revealed after he went to meet his potential partner at a restaurant.

Still on the lookout for love, it's believed the popular personality is still single.Sue Johnston has revealed it 'frightens' her to see girls in their twenties with cosmetic surgery.

The actress, who is about to star in BBC drama Age Before Beauty, said she finds it 'desperate and upsetting' to see young women with lip and breast enhancements, and fears the kids of today will grow up 'self-obsessed'.

Speaking at a Q&A for the new show, the 74-year-old went on to warn of the dangers of being so looks-focused, and urged young people to love themselves in their natural form.

'It actually hurts me': Age Of Beauty star Sue Johnston has revealed it 'frightens' her to see girls in their twenties with cosmetic surgery (pictured on the show)

She began: 'We all live in selfie land and have fear for our kids that they're growing up to be totally self-obsessed and looks-obsessed and the dangers that surround all that.'

Addressing the issue of cosmetic surgery, she went on: 'To see young girls in their twenties with their lips pumped up, actually hurts me.

'I think, what will they do when they get to my age? Will they get there? It's strange, the way they must be looking at their faces.'

Terrified: The actress said she finds it 'desperate and upsetting' to see young women with lip and breast enhancements, and fears kids will grow up 'self-obsessed' (Kylie Jenner pictured)

She added her hope that the new BBC show - which follows a dysfunctional family of sisters running a salon in Manchester - will encourage people to feel more confident in themselves, and see beauty in their natural appearances.

'It's desperate and upsetting', she continued, 'and if this can make them take a step back and look from the sixties onwards, it all started then.

'To be thin, to be what you look like, and this weight thing, and then that led to eating disorders which haven't improved, it's just got worse.

'You've got to be strong': The 74-year-old warned of the dangers of being looks-focused, and urged young people to love themselves in their natural form (pictured as character Ivy-Rae)

'So anything that can be done to say, be yourself, love yourself, you are a human being and there's beauty in that.'

'Don't think that just because you have your lips pumped up or your tits pumped up, that you're going to be accepted and life's going to be good. It ain't. Life's hard and you've got to learn to be strong really.'

The so-called 'selfie' generation has risen rapidly in recent years, with the likes of Kylie Jenner reportedly earning a whopping $1.3million per Instagram post.

Popukar: The so-called 'selfie' generation has risen rapidly in recent years, with the likes of Kylie Jenner (above) reportedly earning a whopping $1.3million per Instagram post

And Sue's co-star Lisa, who famously dropped from a size 28 to a size 12 last year, echoed her sentiments, adding at the conference:'We're in a terrible state now, where people are continuously judged on appearance.

'This will show that you can just be yourself rather than a painted image of what we're supposed to be, because we're told that if you don't look a certain way then no one will love you.'

Age Before Beauty follows mother-of-two Bel - played by Holly Walker - who attempts to manage the family's struggling salon while caring for her marriage and children.

Sue stars as Bel's care-free mother and spray tan technician Ivy-Rae, while Lisa Riley plays tattoo artist sister Tina and Kelly Harrison stars as sister Leanne, a nail technician and personal stylist.

'We're in a terrible state': Sue's co-star Lisa Riley, who dropped from a size 28 to a size 12 last year, hopes the show encourages people to be themselves (pictured as character Tina)

Exciting: Age Before Beauty follows mother-of-two Bel who attempts to manage the family's struggling salon (Sue pictured with co-star Kelly Harrison as nail technician Leanne)

The group are joined in the series by Robson Green, as Bel's best friend Teddy, and James Murray, Bel's husband Wesley.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain on Thursday, actor James also agreed with Sue, and expressed his concerns over the current generation's social media culture, for both girls and boys.

He told hosts Ben Shepherd and Kate Garraway: 'She's right. You know, look at Sue, she looks fantastic.

'She's beautiful, a great actress and you can see everything move on screen! It's a worry that the younger generation feel bullied by what they see on social media about how they should look. I think its gone a bit overkill.'

Age Before Beauty starts Tuesday 31 July at 9pm on BBC OneShe's been sailing around the Mediterranean on a $376,000-a-week super yacht.

And when Roxy Jacenko, 38, docked into the Isle of Capri this week, she went on a shopping spree.

The PR queen took to Instagram on Thursday to flaunt her brand new purchases from Prada, including a $2,366 Cahier bag and a pair of $ 1,104 hot pink flame heels.

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She has expensive taste! Roxy Jacenko goes on a shopping spree at Prada as she treats herself to $2,366 Cahier bag and $ 1,104 pink flame heels on luxury holiday in Italy

The Sydneysider snapped a mirror-selfie of the pricey pink metallic piece from the famed Italian luxury fashion house.

Roxy was seen posing with the two-toned leather belt bag, which retails at approximately AUD $2,366.

The costly it-bag is fringed with a stunning brown leather trim and features a thick-chain shoulder strap, silver stud detailing and luxe logo lettering.

'Always need another bag,' she captioned the snap.

High-octane glamour: Roxy snapped-up a pair of highly sought-after hotrod scandals which feature pink flame leather applique around the ankle strap

However the designer display didn't stop there as Roxy revealed she was sporting a gold leaf inspired phone case by Nicole Ritchie's fashion label, House Of Harlow.

Roxy treated herself to another piece of Prada goodness during her glamorous seaside shopping spree.

She took to the photo-sharing app earlier on Thursday to show fans her fresh piece of designer garb, still nestled in packaging.

Roxy snapped up a pair of highly sought-after hotrod scandals which feature pink flame leather applique around the ankle strap.

When in Italy! The designer-clad blonde has been shopping up a storm in Europe during her family vacation

Roxy has been living the high life in Europe with her husband Oliver Curtis and their children, Pixie, six, and Hunter, four.

Earlier this week Roxy Jacenko continued her designer-laden display as she relaxed on a speed boat in the Amalfi coast with her equally stylish husband by her side.

Sharing the snap to Instagram, Roxy looked luxurious in a Louis Vuitton Twist Lock Print Jersey Dress, priced at close to $2000.

Luxurious holiday: On Tuesday Roxy Jacenko cut a stylish figure aboard a boat with husband Oliver Curtis by her side. She was wearing a Louis Vuitton dress, priced at close to $2000

In a chequered pattern of red and black squares emblazoned with black and white LV logos.

The pointed shoulders and relaxed fit, along with chain detailing at the neck, gives the dress a very trendy look.

On the Louis Vuitton official website, the dress is listed at AUD $1,800 and customers are required to call for availability.

Loves it! Roxy also shared another shot of herself in the same outfit walking in the resort town of Ravello, to Instagram on Tuesday

Fancy frock: On the Louis Vuitton official website, the Louis Vuitton Twist Lock Print Jersey Dress is listed at AUD $1,800 and customers are required to call for availabilityLove Island proved it really is the gift that keeps on giving. It followed up the brilliant lie detector tests in Mondays show with a comedy classic built around the couples looking after a crying, weeing, doll.

The relentless screeching and bawling of the needy little brats quickly became unbearable. And the plastic babies theyd been given didnt help either.

Like the lie detector tests it was an episode that revealed the islanders true nature to their partners - the women mostly because the men they were with werent ready to have children, being kids themselves.

Wail of a time: Love Island proved it really is the gift that keeps on giving. It followed up the brilliant lie detector tests in Mondays show with a comedy classic built around the couples looking after a crying, weeing, doll

Josh for example showed Kaz (and us) he wasnt perfect after all, quickly handing baby Prince back to her complaining it just keeps crying!

Josh made himself so scarce he was accused of being an absent father'. Absence makes the heart grow fonder he countered gamely - in vain, given the baby didnt have a heart at all.

Josh provided the shows most priceless moment when he was playing with baby Prince and pulled its arm off, then sat there in shock holding it aloft in his hand like a chicken drumstick.

Oh, dear! Wes didnt get much joy from his own plastic baby or his girlfriend Megan who clearly didnt enjoy the task or anything getting more attention than she was

His arms come off! His arms come off! yelled Wes in delight  the same reaction as ours.

Wes didnt get much joy from his own plastic baby or his girlfriend Megan who clearly didnt enjoy the task or anything getting more attention than she was  even her own baby.

Did we expect Megan to be a terrible mother? 'Yes! as Wes would say. Will she still act as if we should feel sorry for her or that she was somehow being victimised because shed been a stripper? Probably.

Some of the other girls reactions to the babies were interesting too.

It just keeps crying!: Josh for example showed Kaz (and us) he wasnt perfect after all, quickly handing baby Prince back to her and complaining

Cry baby: Josh made himself so scarce he was accused of being an absent father' by girlfriend Kaz, with the reality star cheekily countering: Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Alexandra ran down towards the room screaming dementedly like someone who didnt know this was the last thing anyone looking after a baby should do (because it would set them off crying or just terrify them for life).

Dani meanwhile clutched her baby crying Oh my god! as tenderly as if it were real.

I looked just like that when I was little! she claimed, which whether true or not was strange either way.

Jack and Danis failure to call their baby Dan E. Dyer or Danny Dyer the Third was disappointing.

Giving his right arm! Josh provided the shows most priceless moment when he was playing with baby Prince and pulled its arm off, then sat holding it in his hand like a chicken drumstick

You cant give the kid a surfer name!': Young Laura and New Jacks best contribution was what to call their baby, with the couple eventually settling on Aubrey

Jack was perhaps too stunned, trying (as we all were) to make sense of his girlfriends revelation that, when it came to her two parents Danny Dyer was the lenient one. Heaven knows how strict her mum was.

Young Laura and New Jacks best contribution was what to call their baby.

You cant give the kid a surfer name like Bret or Chad! argued Jack passionately/randomly.

Laura, brilliantly, responded to this veto by suggesting the name Reef.

Eventually they settled for Aubrey.

What's in a name? Jack and Danis failure to call their baby Dan E. Dyer or Danny Dyer the Third was disappointing

Aubreys going to be a surfer when he grows up, Laura insisted, determined to have the last word, even though Aubrey wouldnt (being made of plastic).

As a doctor, Alex had a busy episode  performing several health checks (on the babies not their parents unfortunately) and later dropping his baby and sending it crashing to the ground, during a frenzied push chair race.

It confirmed the feeling that you wouldnt want your newborn to be given a health check by a doctor who still couldnt use sun-cream properly during a HEATWAVE.

Over the moon: Dani meanwhile clutched her baby crying Oh my god! as tenderly as if it were real

To be fair to Alex though he knew more about what to do and how to deliver a baby by performing a Caesarean than he did about preventing sunburn.

The expressions on the faces of Paul, Jack, and Wes as he described the operation (cutting the uterus, pulling the sac, and scooping the baby out quite hard) were priceless (and horrified mostly).

I cant believe hes been inside a person! gasped Jack. Alex has had his hands in people! Its so weird!

It was yes  and not necessarily in a good way.

Just another day at the office... As a doctor, Alex had a busy episode  performing several health checks (on the babies not their parents unfortunately)Model Megan Irwin Blake revealed she has been suffering from 'night terrors.'

The 23-year-old took to her Instagram story on Thursday to ask her legions of followers for advice.

She shared a topless photo of herself and strategically covered her ample assets as her messy hair cascaded down her shoulders.

'I wake up in a completely frightened state!': Model Megan Blake Irwin reveals she has been suffering from 'night terrors'. The 23-year-old took to her Instagram story to ask her legions of followers for advice, in the early hours of Thursday morning

The blonde beauty time stamped her post at 1.48am and wrote: 'Woke up with the worst night terrors again.. At the exact same time as the two nights before.'

'I wake up in a completely frightened state and now won't be able to get back to sleep for at least a few hours.'

The model asked her fans: 'Does anyone know how to help with night-terrors! Help me I need sleep!'

'Help me I need sleep!': The 23-year-old explained 'I wake up in a completely frightened state and now won't be able to get back to sleep for at least a few hours'

'Me time!': On Friday, Megan turned to Sydney Float Centre for some relaxing 'me time'. She explained in the caption that she was going to lay back and float in complete darkness, on a mix of water and 750kg of Epsom salt

On Friday, Megan turned to Sydney Float Centre for some relaxing 'me time.'

She shared a picture of the pod she was about to sit in and explained in the caption that she was going to lay back and float in complete darkness, on water mixed with 750kg of Epsom salt.

After her one hour session, priced at $89 per float, she raved about her experience: 'Mind completely clears and your body is at a complete state of relaxation! Heaven! Highly recommend.'

Happier days: Her day of self care comes after her ex boyfriend Nicolo Knows confirmed his split from Megan by sharing a steamy bedroom photo of himself with Russian model Asya Rosh

Her day of self care comes after her ex boyfriend Nicolo Knows confirmed his split from Megan by sharing a steamy bedroom photo of himself with Russian model Asya Rosh.

Fans were left scrambling for answers when the Miami-based socialite took to Instagram with the intimate photo, despite never formally announcing his split from Megan.

In the image, blonde beauty Asya can be seen sprawled across a double bed wearing nothing but a towel as a topless Nicolo wrapped his arm around her.Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo fiercely defended the Trump administration's foreign policy on Capitol Hill Wednesday, facing tough questions from Republican and Democratic senators about North Korea, Russia, Iran, and more.



But it was the divide in U.S. foreign policy between President Trump's comments and his administration's actions that underlaid the contentious hearing, with Pompeo at one time seeming to suggest that the administration's actions mattered more than Trump's words. He was quick to correct himself later, saying that he misspoke, but blasting what he called Democrats' "glee" at his mistake and their efforts "to make a political point from that."



"That's silliness. This president runs this government. His statements are in fact U.S. policy," Pompeo declared in a particularly heated exchange with the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey.



It was Pompeo's first time in front of the committee since President Trump's historic meetings with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and Russian leader Vladimir Putin  the outcomes of which are both now being called into question.



While Pompeo dismissed Menendez's concerns as a "political soliloquy," they were shared by the committee's Republican chair, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennesse.



"The policies that we're putting in place, in many cases, are stronger," Corker said. "It's the president that causes people to have concerns... It's the president's actions that create tremendous distrust in our nation, among our allies. It's palpable."



Although he is from the same party as the president and secretary, Corker has often been critical of Trump, but Wednesday's words were some of his strongest words yet -- questioning Pompeo on why the president has welcomed dangerous proposals from Putin as an "incredible offer" or sowed doubt in the U.S. public about the importance of NATO and America's commitment to it.



He said the committee was "filled with serious doubts about this White House and its conduct of American foreign policy," and added, "We really need a clear understanding as to what is going on, what our president is agreeing to, and what our strategy is on a number of issues."



Pompeo shot back with his signature loyalty to the president: "I disagree with most of what you said here. You somehow disconnect the administration's activities from the president's actions. They're the one and the same."



The verbal tussle between the Trump administration's top diplomat and the leading Republican senator on foreign policy was notable, but their disagreement was the same one that many senators had with the former Congressman and CIA Director.



Pompeo repeatedly referenced a list of Trump administration actions to counter Russian aggression, from sanctions to diplomatic expulsions to increased military spending. But senators countered with the president's own comments, praising Putin, calling into question the U.S. commitment to NATO allies, and blaming Democrats, Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation, or former President Obama for the low point in U.S.-Russian relations, not Russian misbehavior.



"If President Obama did what President Trump did in Helsinki, I'd be peeling you off the Capitol ceiling. Please," Menendez said angrily at the hearing's close.



When Corker offered Pompeo the chance to respond, he said grimly, "Not a word."



Senators probed for answers on what Trump and Putin discussed, but Pompeo wouldn't answer many questions, including about whether Trump and Putin discussed easing sanctions or whether Trump asked Putin to withdraw from Crimea or eastern Ukraine. While he said he was fully debriefed by the president, he repeatedly dismissed questions, telling senators that "presidents are permitted to have conversations with their cabinet members that aren't repeated in public."



But he did point to some specific outcomes, including coordination on counterterrorism, a possible deal to help Syrian refugees return, and restoring a Russian-American business council.



While senators from both parties criticized the administration for engaging with Putin despite his aggression in Europe and in cyberspace, Pompeo told the committee it was important to continue to keep channels open: "Now is the time for direct communication in our relationship in order to make clear to President Putin that there is the possibility, however remote it might be, to reverse the negative course of our relationship."



Even as Trump has cast doubt on whether Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, Pompeo said he made clear to Russian officials in Helsinki that there will be "severe consequences for interference in our democratic processes."



"President Trump is well-aware of the challenges that Russia poses to the United States and our partners and allies. He has taken a staggering number of actions to protect our interests," Pompeo added, although several senators pressed him on Trump's own comments that cast doubt on that -- including a tweet over the weekend that called Russian interference "a hoax."



There were some moments of agreement though.



Pompeo agreed that new sanctions on Russia would be appropriate "if we can find the right places, the right leverage points that will actually make a difference to Russia." And shortly before the hearing started, Pompeo issued a statement to say the U.S. still opposes Russia's "attempted annexation" of Crimea, which violates "a bedrock international principle shared by democratic states  that no country can change the borders of another by force." Trump had previously left the door open to the U.S. recognizing Crimea as part of Russia, telling reporters, "We're going to have to see."



Over six weeks since the Singapore summit, with few demonstrable signs of progress on North Korea's denuclearization, Pompeo also faced questions about the administration's diplomatic push with North Korea. Even though he confirmed that North Korea continues to produce fissile material that can create nuclear bombs, he said there had been progress towards denuclearization.



In particular, Pompeo welcomed new satellite images released Monday that showed North Korea taking steps to dismantle key facilities at a missile testing site, saying the U.S. was tracking the "disassembly" of the site and calling it "a good thing" and "steps forward."



But he conceded, "There's an awful long way to go... There remains a great deal of work to do. It will be highly contested  that is, the modalities, the means, the timing of this will be things that I'm confident we'll be discussing for a period of time."



Among those potential challenges, he refused to say whether the North Koreans are working on submarine-launched missiles or any other nuclear technology while in an open setting.



While the Trump administration tore up the "strategic patience" that was the Obama administration's policy, Pompeo added that because of those timelines they "are engaged in patient diplomacy, but we will not let this drag out to no end."



It's unclear how long they are willing to give talks, but Pompeo said they are still aiming to achieve "complete denuclearization" before the end of Trump's first term, if not sooner.



Pompeo visited Pyongyang less than a month after the summit, but he was denied the meeting with Kim that the White House said he would have, and the North Koreans bashed the U.S. for making "gangster-like" and "cancerous" demands in their two days of meetings.



Downplaying those tensions, Pompeo told senators the U.S. knows the "truth" of those meetings and talks continue.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.The Australian media landscape will never be the same again after Lee Lin Chin announced her shock retirement from SBS on Thursday.

The Jakarta born anchor has become one of the country's most popular media personalities and is known for her flamboyant outfits and dry sense of humour.

And as the she prepares to host her last bulletin on Sunday after presenting for over 30 years, Daily Mali Australia looks back at her most outrageous moments.

Quirky fashion choices, hilarious tweets and THAT rumoured 'drunken' Logies exit: A look back at Lee Lin Chin's most outrageous moments as SBS presenter quits after 30 years

That drunken Logies exit

Rumour mill: In 2016, she was forced to deny rumours that she had to be carried out of a Logies after party

In 2016, she was forced to deny rumours that she had to be carried out of a Logies after party.

Reports claimed the popular newsreader was so drunk she was bundled out of the Channel Seven bash at JJ's Bar and Grill at Crown Towers.

But SBS and Seven denied the reports and insiders told the Herald Sun that she and a few friends were just having fun and decided to carry her from the party 'like a Queen'.

That time she spent eight hours in the pub writing a book

'Crazy love of beer!' Former SBS's The Feed head writer Chris Leben claimed he spent eight hours drinking in a Sydney bar with the TV icon while writing her book, Iced Beers and Other Tantalising Tips For Life

Months after the Logies rumour, the inimitable Lee Lin drank in a Surry Hills bar for 'eight hours' while writing her tome, 'Iced Beers and Other Tantalising Tips For Life.'

Co-writer Chris Leben revealed the pair knocked back booze while bringing the project to life.

'Lee Lin does have a crazy love of beer, she's always talking about a different man that she's dating, she's got very hard line with her opinions,' he told Pedestrian TV.

Hilarious skits

Funny bone: She famously appeared in a startling 2014 clip called Broadcast Battleground for SBS's The Feed. The skit saw Ms Chin pull out a gun and threaten a host of household news anchors and hosts including Lisa Wilkinson and ABC's Juanita Phillips and Steve Cannane in a epic fight to the death.

In recent years, Lee Lin extended her talents into the comedy world through a series of sketches on SBS VICELAND's The Feed.

Turning the tables on her stoic image, she famously appeared in a startling 2014 clip called Broadcast Battleground which saw Ms Chin pull out a gun.

She also threatened a host of household news anchors and hosts including Lisa Wilkinson and ABC's Juanita Phillips and Steve Cannane in an epic fight to the death.

That same year, she starred in another SBS VICELAND clip, The Real Newsreaders of Sydney which saw Ms Chin brandishing a butcher knife and threatening Ten's Sandra Sully and Seven's Natalie Barr.

Queen of Tweets

'I can't remember these kids names but they were very vocal.' In 2014, Lee Lin celebrated getting 300 followers on Twitter by photo-shopping herself, Taylor Swift and Harry Styles in bed together

'They're inviting everyone!' She once took a swipe at Pauline Hanson who was celebrated receiving tickets to Donald Trumps inauguration

Since joining Twitter in 2014, the veteran anchor has become renowned for her sharp wit.

Stand-out tweets include when the news anchor joked about Taylor Swift and Harry Styles.

'Guess I'll celebrate 300 followers with a three then,' she wrote. 'I can't remember these kids names but they were very vocal.'

And Lee Lin regularly ignited Twitter battles, including once taking swipe at Pauline Hanson who was celebrated receiving tickets to Donald Trump's presidential inauguration.

'They're just inviting everyone,' she wrote. 'No actual American wants to go!'

Kooky fashion choices



Beekeeper chic: In 2015, the prominent media personality cemented her fashionista credentials at the Logie Awards red carpet when she paraded an angry net over her hat swamping her diminutive frame.

What is she wearing? Two years later at the 2017 Logies, the style icon turned up on the red carpet sporting a garish lemon yellow shirt, braces, mismatched red shoes and a floral head-piece while holding onto the arm of a young companion

She regularly turns heads in outlandish fashion ensembles.

In 2015, the prominent media personality paraded a bizarre net over her hat.

Two years later at the 2017 Logies, the style icon turned up on the red carpet sporting a garish lemon yellow shirt, braces, mismatched red shoes and a floral head-piece while holding onto the arm of a young companion.

Quirky style: Rocking a never-ending series of bizarre asymmetrical power suits since first presenting SBS News in 1992, some of her unforgettable looks involved a blue bird cage top and silver metal rings

But Ms Chin didn't reserve her eccentric looks for the red carpet.

She cemented her status as television's edgiest news anchor with her signature kooky on-camera wardrobe.

Rocking a never-ending series of bizarre asymmetrical power suits since first presenting SBS News in 1992, some of her unforgettable looks involved a blue bird cage blouse and a top with silver metal rings.The latest TV adaptation of Stephen King's works, Castle Rock, premiered on Hulu in the US on July 25.

The TV series is another collaboration between the great American author and super-producer JJ Abrams, who worked together on another Hulu adaptation of a King novel, 11/22/63, back in 2016.

The new psychological-horror series focuses on a fictional eerie town in Maine called Castle Rock, which King aficionados will recognise as the setting of many of the authors works including Cujo, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, The Dark Half and Needful Things and connected to many more, including It.

The show, which will be structured as seasonal anthologies, will be set in the Stephen King multiverse.

Hulu's anthology series Castle Rock is set in the Stephen King multiverse and the fictional Maine town is a significant location in the author's mythology

The first season follows a death row lawyer with a mysterious past returning to his hometown of Castle Rock after an inmate at the Shawshank State Penitentiary specifically asks for him.

Here is all you need to know about Castle Rock including its plot, trailer, release date, and cast.

Castle Rock plot

The official plot for the show is: A psychological-horror series set in the Stephen King multiverse, Castle Rock combines the mythological scale and intimate character storytelling of Kings best-loved works, weaving an epic saga of darkness and light, played out on a few square miles of Maine woodland.

The description also describes the show as: A first-of-its-kind reimagining that explores the themes and worlds uniting the entire King canon, while brushing up against some of his most iconic and beloved stories.

Watch the Castle Rock trailer

Hulu uploaded the trailer for the show on July 10 and as of July 26, it has been viewed over 10.5 million times on YouTube.

Castle Rock release date

The show was released in the US on the Hulu platform on July 25. However, as of yet there is no news on when the show could air across the pond in the UK.

How many episodes will be in season 1?

The first season of Castle Rock will have 10 episodes.

Castle Rock cast

Moonlight and American Horror Story star Andre Holland plays Henry Matthews Deaver, a death row lawyer who left Castle Rock after people began suspecting him of having something to do with the death of his adoptive father years ago.

In a classic King style, Deavers backstory will be one of the mysteries explored in the first season.

As a child Deaver went missing the day his adoptive father died, only to reappear 11 days later in a frozen lake without any frostbite.

Bill Skarsgard returns to the King universe after playing the clown Pennywise in the film adaptation of It, this time around playing an inmate at the Shawshank prisononly problem is, as the trailer reveals, the prison officials have no idea how or when he got there.

Stars Jane Levy, Melanie Lynskey, Bill Skarsgard, Sissy Spacek attended Comic Con San Diego

Two and a Half Men actress Melanie Lynskey plays Molly Strand, a Castle Rock estate agent that has the ability to read peoples minds and experience their emotions.

Sissy Spacek, who played Carrie in the 1976 adaptation of Kings epistolary novel of the same name, reunites with the author to play Ruth Deaver, Henrys adoptive mother, who is battling dementia but still remembers enough about Castle Rocks shady history.

Suburgatorys Jane Levy plays Jackie Torrance, a Castle Rock local who is a self-proclaimed town historian.

Recurring stars include Daredevils Scott Glenn, Lost alum Terry OQuinn, and Ann Cusack.She is often seen modelling her swimwear designs on the beach, during her seemingly endless string of holidays.

But Kimberley Garner covered up her famous figure on Wednesday, to enjoy a spot of lunch time shopping in St Tropez.

The former MIC star, 28, slipped her leggy frame into a casual black playsuit, as she strolled the streets of the French town - bizarrely stepping out barefoot.

Style queen: Kimberley Garner covered up her famous figure on Wednesday, to enjoy a spot of lunch time shopping in St Tropez

Catching attention: The former MIC star, 28, slipped her leggy frame into a casual black playsuit, as she strolled the streets of the French town - bizarrely stepping out barefoot

The blonde was the epitome of summer-chic in the black one-piece, lined with feminine lace at the hem.

The top followed the style of a bodice, plunging into a sweetheart neckline and clinging to her slim frame and waist all the way to the shorts.

The shorts then followed a more summery, flowing style - and even cut into daring slits on each side, to leave most of her long legs on show.

Style icon: The blonde was the epitome of summer-chic in the black one-piece, lined with feminine lace at the hem

Flattering: The top followed the style of a bodice, plunging into a sweetheart neckline and clinging to her slim frame and waist all the way to the shorts

Legs for days: The shorts then followed a more summery, flowing style - and even cut into daring slits on each side, to leave most of her long legs on show

Keeping things casual for her shopping trip, she added studded gladiator sandals - but later removed them while exploring her surroundings.

Styling her hair into loose waves and sporting minimal make-up, Kimberley displayed her natural beauty and glowing skin to all as she stepped out.

The property heiress is currently making the most of her break away in the South of France, after enjoying a Greek getaway in the A-list hotspot Mykonos.

During her Greek break, the swimsuit model topped up her tan when she relaxed with pals - and she was even seen topless sunbathing beside her ex-boyfriend.

Finishing touches: Keeping things casual for her shopping trip, she added studded gladiator sandals - but later removed them while exploring her surroundings (above)

Natural: Styling her hair into loose waves and sporting minimal make-up, Kimberley displayed her striking natural beauty and glowing skin to all as she stepped out

Jet-setter: Kimberley is often seen jetting on holiday - having relaxed in Mykonos, Greece only last month

However, when contacted by MailOnline, Kimberley insisted the pair have remained 'good friends', but are 'not together'.

Remaining tight-lipped on his identity, she revealed she broke up with her former beau after a 'wonderful' three years together.

Kimberley shot to fame when she starred in Made In Chelsea in 2012 as a love interest of Richard Dinan.

She has since gone on to release her own line of swimwear, titled Kimberley London, and is often seen modelling her designs on the beach.They have been inseparable since meeting on Channel Ten's Bachelor in Paradise last year.

But Megan Marx and Jake Ellis are taking a break after a huge fight left her in tears.

A source close to Megan told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday: 'They've been having problems for the past two months. Megan's really upset.'

EXCLUSIVE: 'They've been having problems for months': Bachelor In Paradise couple Megan Marx and Jake Ellis are 'taking a breaking' after a fight at Splendour left her in tears

The insider revealed that the busty blonde has moved back to Sydney on her own, as the pair take time apart to reflect on their suitability.

While the anonymous source is unsure if the couple will reunite in the near future, they said: 'They want things to work, and Jake appears to have a plan to win Megan back in the coming weeks.'

'Moving back to Sydney was the right move for Megan, and she doesn't want to hurt Jake. He's been through a lot this year,' the friend said of the split, noting Jake's mother died earlier this year.

When Daily Mail Australia approached Jake for comment, he said the rumours were 'completely false', adding: 'Megan and I are very much still together.'

'She was in tears': The split, according to the friend, comes after the couple fought publicly at Splendour in the Grass festival in Byron Bay over the weekend

Going solo: The insider revealed the busty blonde has moved back to Sydney on her own, as the pair take time a part to reflect on their suitability

The alleged split, according to the friend, comes after the couple fought publicly at Splendour In The Grass festival in Byron Bay over the weekend.

'She was in tears and completely embarrassed as people watched them have it out. To make things worse, some people were even filming it!'

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Megan Marx for comment.

'Jake appears to have a plan to win Megan back': The friend claimed the pair want to make things work, but need some time apart

'Moving back to Sydney was the right move for Megan': On Thursday, Megan cryptically posted a call out for a motorbike instructor in Sydney on her Instagram Story

On Thursday, Megan cryptically posted a call out for a motorbike instructor in Sydney on her Instagram Story, while Jake shared a photo with Megan with the hashtag 'bestie'.

Jake told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday: 'She is in Sydney for some work for a few days and I am flying down to Sydney to be with her early next week.'

While on Bachelor In Paradise, Megan and Jake decided to end their relationship ahead of the final commitment ceremony.

Megan, a model and social media influencer, had previously expressed doubts that Jake would remain faithful to her in the real world.

However in May, Megan confirmed that they were back together and had been secretly dating for five months since filming wrapped.

'We're taking it as it comes. We're both very cruisey,' she said at the time to Brisbane's hit105's Stav, Abby and Matt.

Megan also admitted she had 'been living out of a suitcase for two years' with no plans to slow down or move in with Jake, who resides in Queensland.

Jake also told Now To Love at the time: 'She's basically living out of suitcase doing a lot of travel and I'm based on the Gold Coast. We're taking it as it comes and see each other when we can.'

Will they reunite? The pair, who met on Bachelor In Paradise last year, recently celebrated their six-month anniversary in June

In June, the pair celebrated their six-month anniversary in a Brisbane hotel room adorned with rose petals.

Jake shared on social media: 'Today marks six months together, and everyday I fall more in love with you... My best friend, partner in crime and amazing girl.'

The pair have become known for their saucy shenanigans, with Jake revealing in May that he broke his penis whilst having sex with Megan in a friend's bathroom.

'Immediately I knew I'd done some damage to myself, and told Megan I needed to go to the hospital straight away,' Jake told NW.

After surgery and stitches, Jake told Daily Mail Australia that he had fully recovered.Veteran news broadcaster and Golden Logie Award nominee Lee Lin Chin, often seen as the face of SBS for decades, has abruptly resigned from her position.

Notably, Chin covered many critical stories during her tenure, including the September 11th attacks in 2001 and the passing of former South African President Nelson Mandela in 2013.

But just who is Lee Lin Chin? Heres a look at who she is and her recent resignation.

Lee Lin Chin spent decades in broadcasting and journalism, especially at SBS in Australia

Who is Lee Lin Chin?

Lee Lin Chin is a journalist, TV and radio presenter known for her long career in the broadcasting industry, particular at SBS.

Chin was born in Jakarta, Indonesia to parents of Chinese descent and grew up in Singapore.

Chin began her career in television and radio broadcasting in 1968. After relocating to Australia in 1980, she soon began working for SBS TV as a translator for Chinese-language movies. After working in Darwin and Newcastle with ABC Radio, she later landed a new position presenting the SBS World News weekend bulletin starting in 1988.

Her long and respected career led to a Golden Logie Award nomination back in 2016.

In addition to her iconic role as one of Australias most authoritative broadcasters, Chin also worked as Australias official spokesperson for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2015.

The veteran broadcaster also made a point to connect with younger audiences in recent years, performing in a series of self-parodying skits on SBS Vicelands The Feed while also frequently utilizing social media.

Her unique fashion style over the years also helped turn her into a fashion icon of sorts over the course of her career.

Resignation from SBS

On July 26, Chin suddenly resigned from her position at SBS, bringing an end to her long broadcasting career.

She reportedly noted many small to medium-sized reasons for her abrupt resignation, but declined to go into extensive detail.

She said: There's not one big reason, there's many small to medium-sized reasons, which for the time being I wish to keep to myself but may talk about one day.

One reason I shall reveal however is that working two days a week didn't give me enough time to devote to the pub and re-reading the complete works of Shakespeare. So now that I work zero days that issue has been addressed.

Michael Ebeid, the Managing Director of SBS, paid his respects to Chin, stating: SBS would like to pay tribute to Lee Lin and thank her for her significant contribution to SBS, but also to the wider Australian media industry.

Lee Lin is truly one of a kind and we will miss her colorful personality gracing our screens on the weekend. Lee Lin embodies everything that SBS stands for and will always be part of the SBS family.

We respect her decision to embrace new projects and wish her all the very best for the future.

Chin, in a tongue-in-cheek Twitter post, insisted that she was just resigning and not formally retiring.

I have not retired, simply resigned. Retirement is death.  Lee Lin Chin (@LeeLinChin) July 26, 2018

Anton Enus, who is slated to return to SBS to present the Friday and Saturday evening news bulletins after undergoing treatment for bowel cancer, also hailed his longtime colleague and fellow broadcaster.

Id like to pay tribute to Lee Lin, whom Ive worked with for nearly 20 years ... Shes a class act. I cant wait to get back into the studio alongside the best news team in the business, he said.

Chins final SBS World News broadcast will take place on Sunday, July 29 at 6:30pm AEST.Muslim feminist Dr. Susan Carland has announced a new TV hosting gig with SBS.

The wife of The Project's Waleed Aly, 38, will host a new quiz show for gifted children in November, titled Child Genius.

After her new TV role was announced at the SBS showcase on Thursday night, Susan took to Instagram to share the exciting news with her fans.

Susan v Waleed! Husband and wife stars will BOTH be on TV as Dr Carland (pictured) is revealed as host of new quiz show - and they'll be on rival channels

Following the news of veteran reporter Lee Lin Chin's resignation at the network, Susan joked: 'No, I'm not taking over from Lee Lin Chin.'

According to the Herald Sun, the SBS show will follow clever children, aged from seven to 12 over six episodes.

Susan's new show has been made in association with Australian Mensa - the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world.

'This is a program that celebrates intellectual achievement in children': Susan has expressed her excitement to work on the SBS show, made in association with Australian Mensa

'I'm so excited to be a part of Child Genius, because this is a program that celebrates intellectual achievement in children,' she said.

'Our kids rarely get a chance to see that championed  there's a lot of TV celebrities, and even more YouTube stars for them to admire, but rarely do kids get to see people up in lights for their brains, especially children their own age.'

On Instagram, she shared a picture from the set, writing: 'So thrilled to finally be able to tell you I'm hosting Child Genius, a show about really smart kids!'

'These kids will astound you....and make you feel pretty dopey. I did. Repeatedly.'

Child Genius is due to air on SBS in November.

Susan tied the knot with Waleed in 2002, after the pair knew each other since they were both 16.

'These kids will astound you': Child Genius is due to air on SBS in November and will follow clever children aged between 7 and 12

When Waleed won the coveted Gold Logie in 2016 for Best Personality On Australian Television, he thanked his beautiful wife during his acceptance speech.

The couple share two children, daughter Aisha, 14, and son Zayd, 10, who Waleed has previously boasted about being 'high achievers'.She tied the knot with long-term love Hugo Taylor in a star-studded countryside ceremony on June 22.

And Millie Mackintosh shared sweet throwback snaps of her proposal on Thursday, as she couldn't help but gush about the event that took place one year ago.

The reality star turned fashion designer posted the pictures on Instagram as she celebrated her 29th birthday, writing: 'This time last year just before @hugotaylorlondon asked me to be his wife'.

Anniversary: Millie Mackintosh shared sweet throwback snaps one year after Hugo Taylor proposed to her on her birthday

Millie beamed in the picture as she sat in front of a full breakfast table with her beau, and she looked sensational in a white bikini.

The former Made In Chelsea star then shared another adorable picture, which saw her pose lovingly with Hugo.

Following on from her previous throwback snap, she wrote: 'And I said yes! Now all my birthdays feel extra special'.

Cute: The former Made In Chelsea star then shared another adorable picture, which saw her pose lovingly with Hugo and wrote: 'Now all my birthdays feel extra special'

Millie has a lot to smile about as she recently returned from her romantic Greek honeymoon to the islands of Crete and Kefalonia last week, after tying the knot with Hugo.

The newlywed lovebirds started off their Grecian adventure at the Elounda Peninsula All Suite Hotel in Crete, before travelling to Kefalonia for the second part of their break at the F Zeen Retreat.

Millie and Hugo said their vows at his uncle's country estate, Whithurst Park, in West Sussex on June 22, with the bride wowing in a wedding dress with detachable sleeves by designer Kate Halfpenny.

Happy days: Millie has a lot to smile about as she returned from her Greek honeymoon to the islands of Crete and Kefalonia last week, after tying the knot with husband Hugo

The couple dated in 2011 while on Made In Chelsea, but split when it emerged Hugo had cheated on her with her friend Rosie Fortescue, who attended the wedding alongside a bevy of their other co-stars including Caggie Dunlop and Jamie Laing.

But they reunited in May 2016 shortly after Millie's split from first husband, rapper Professor Green.

Millie was married to the musician, real name Stephen Manderson, 34, for two-and-a-half years.

The couple announced their split in February 2016 and finalised their divorce in May 2016, the same week that Millie went public with Hugo.Her maternity style has been reliably Gothic.

And Kat Von D clove to the theme in head-to-toe black as she strolled hand in hand with her husband Leafar Seyer in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The 36-year-old tattooist draped her bump in a flowing black dress with short sleeves that allowed her to show off the sprawl of body art up her arms.

Stepping out: Kat Von D clove to a Gothic theme in head-to-toe black as she strolled hand in hand with her husband Leafar Seyer in Los Angeles on Wednesday

Kat, who wrote on Instagram last month that she 'has the intention of raising a vegan child, without vaccinations,' accessorized with a massive black cross.

Her man modeled a single cross earring and a worn-looking white T-shirt with '666' written over his chest, matching black trousers with his leather boots.

Kat went public with her pregnancy to her 6.7 million Instagram followers on May 8, posting an evocative portrait-style snapshot of herself and her husband.

Throwing her bump into relief by caressing it from the bottom, the erstwhile reality star modeled a gleaming haunted-house chic gown and captioned: 'Its a boy.'

When you got it: The 36-year-old tattooist draped her bump in a flowing black dress with short sleeves that allowed her to show off the sprawl of body art up her arms

Kat, who like her new husband was born in Mexico and moved to America when she was a small child, married the Prayers musician in an intimate Beverly Hills ceremony early this year before throwing an extravagant Goth wedding months later.

Leafar, who on top of being a musician also wrote a semi-autobiographical novel about his gang past called Living Dangerously, is Spouse No. 2 for Kat.

She was previously married for four years to her fellow tattoo artist Oliver Peck, whom she divorced in 2007 - the same year she both gave up alcohol and began starring on her claim-to-fame reality show LA Ink.

Garnishing the look: Kat, who wrote on Instagram last month that she 'has the intention of raising a vegan child, without vaccinations,' accessorized with a massive black cross

Enjoying a four-season run on TLC before it was scuttled in 2011, LA Ink was a spin-off of Miami Ink, on which Kat had also been a cast member.

Between marriages, Kat was engaged to Sandra Bullock's ex-husband Jesse James, who was himself between his third and fourth wives at the time.

After her split from Jesse, Kat had another broken engagement, this time to electronic musician deadmau5, whose actual name is Joel Zimmerman.

Kat's own full handle is Katherine Von Drachenberg, whereas Leafar Seyer is a backwards version of his Christian name Rafael Reyes.They've enjoyed a restful summer in the Hamptons.

And Alec Baldwin appeared to be delighted to be back in the city with his wife Hilaria as the couple were swept up in a sweet embrace in New York on Thursday.

The 60-year-old actor was in a jovial mood as he hugged and kissed his leading lady while daughter Ireland took to the streets to film what seemed to be an upcoming reality show based on the famous family.

Love: Alec Baldwin appeared to be delighted to be back in the city with his wife Hilaria as the couple were swept up in a sweet embrace in New York on Thursday

Hilaria's tanned and toned legs were on display in thigh-grazing denim shorts paired with sky-high nude heels.

She flashed a bit of her ample assets in a plunging black tank top, but opted to keep her shoulders covered wearing a forest green short-sleeved coat.

Alec was casually clad for the walk wearing black slacks and a matching T-shirt, with black leather shoes strapped to his feet.

Happy: The 60-year-old actor was in a jovial mood as he hugged and kissed his leading lady while daughter Ireland took to the streets to film what seemed to be an upcoming reality show based on the famous family

Fit: Hilaria's tanned and toned legs were on display in thigh-grazing denim shorts paired with sky-high nude heels

Walk it out: Alec's 22-year-old daughter Ireland also stepped out in the city to film a project with cousin Alaia Baldwin

During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday Alec admitted he became an actor on a dare.

'I was gonna go to law school, I went to George Washington University pre-law program, and a friend of mine dared me to audition for the NYU acting school. I audited and I got in,' Alec said.

'I said Ill never be young enough to try this again, I said "Ill go" and transferred, went to NYC and kept working.'

Alec's 22-year-old daughter Ireland also stepped out in the city to film a project with cousin Alaia Baldwin.

Ireland opted to cover up her famous figure in a sheer gray dress with a delicate yellow floral pattern.

The summer-inspired frock was cinched up her svelte figure and featured billowing sleeves with a flowing hem.

Sweet: Ireland opted to cover up her famous figure in a sheer gray dress with a delicate yellow floral pattern

Fashion: The summer-inspired frock was cinched up her svelte figure and featured billowing sleeves with a flowing hem

Fun: She completed her chic look with a pair of ankle-high leather booties and a brown purse slung across her shoulder

She completed her chic look with a pair of ankle-high leather booties and a brown purse slung across her shoulder.

Alaia held on closely to her younger cousin arm as the pair giggled while walking in front of camera crews.

The daughter of Stephen Baldwin opted for an all-black ensemble including a T-shirt and leather shorts with matching combat boots.

She kept a pair of dark aviator sunglasses across her eyes and carried a hot pink iPhone in one hand.

Family: Alaia held on closely to her younger cousin arm as the pair giggled while walking in front of camera crews

Monochrome: The daughter of Stephen Baldwin opted for an all-black ensemble including a T-shirt and leather shorts with matching combat boots

Adorable: She kept a pair of dark aviator sunglasses across her eyes and carried a hot pink iPhone in one handThe new menu of New York-based Cuban-American bar BlackTail launches in September. It is the bars most ambitious yet, telling the story of the Cuban Revolution.

Though this is not the history you've read about. It is told through the eyes of women and features essays from the daughters of Che Guevara and Raul Castro along with Cuban author and archavist Lincoln Cushing. It's a history book but also a drinks list, each cocktail - created by head bartender Jesse Vida and his team - drawing inspiration and name from the story of the revolution.

Hamish Smith spoke with BlackTails co-owner and creative-mastermind, Sean Muldoon, about how this revolutionary menu came about.

HS: For those that haven't been to BlackTail, tell us about the menus.

SM: We're just about to launch the third and final BlackTail menu of the series about Cuba from 1922-1959. The first menu was about Cuba during Prohibition and the influx of American bartenders and celebrities who settled and hung out there. The second menu was about the Mafia, the dictator Fulgencio Batista and the exploitation and corruption that took place. The third menu, which we've just finished, is about the Revolution and it launches in September.

HS: It's a comprehensive piece of work. How long was it in the making?

SM: Work began on this menu a year and a half ago, right as we were doing our second BlackTail menu. It is the most ambitious menu weve done in that I'm well aware some people were against the Cuban Revolution and anything to do with Castro. The truth is, it's a story that has to be told. You can't tell the story of the mafia, which we did in the second menu, without telling the story of the revolution.

HS: But youve approached the history of the Revolution through an alternative lens  what made you look at the role of women in the Cuban Revolution?

SM: To do it through Cuban women's eyes was the idea of our artist. He suggested this to us long before the recent gender issues and the #metoo movement really came under the spotlight. He genuinely felt the story of the women fighters hadn't been told and that was the best way of telling the story of the Revolution. It was also his idea to get the two daughters on board.

HS: Im not sure anyone has gone to the lengths you have to create a cocktail menu. How did you get Aleida Guevera March and Mariela Castro Espin to guest-write for a cocktail menu?

SM: Myself, the artist, our copy editor, and designers back in Belfast were involved in it. The artist reached out to Lincoln Cushing [a Cuban author] directly, and I made contact with Mariela [Castro Espin] and Aleida [Guevara March] through two contacts I have, one Cuban, one American. It was a very laborious process that involved meeting with Mariela in Cuba in May last year, plus countless emails and WhatsApp conversations. A translator was also involved in translating the two essays from the two women, and acted as an intermediary. We used models for the artwork, and obviously Jesse and the team did the drinks.

To see the menu in full. Click here.She recently hit back at sensational claims that she had split from her boyfriend of one year, Casey Johnson.

Yet it has now been reported that Marnie Simpson has lost more than a stone in just four weeks after her alleged break-up.

The former Geordie Shore star, 26, has revealed that she's lost 16lbs in the past month and is even going on a girls' holiday in August with her past co-stars Charlotte Crosby and Chloe Ferry, as well as her cousin Sophie Kasaei, to Mykonos, Greece.

Hot stuff: It has now been reported that Marnie Simpson has lost more than a stone in just four weeks after her alleged break-up

Talking to The Sun, she said: 'Of the motivation for her health kick, she said: 'My schedule is so busy and I have a lot of late nights, so I was finding it really difficult to get into a routine.

'Earlier this year I was bigger and felt like I needed to cover up my body.

'But now, after making tweaks to my lifestyle, I feel amazing with so much more energy and am so much more confident about my body.'

Gorgeous: The former Geordie Shore star, 26, has revealed that she's lost 16lbs in the past month (pictured in March)

Fun in the sun: She is even going on a girls' holiday in August with her past co-stars Charlotte Crosby and Chloe Ferry, as well as her cousin Sophie Kasaei, to Mykonos, Greece

The star went on to admit that she now enjoys being able to post 'sexy pics' and wear summery clothes.

Just last week, Marnie and Casey hit back at sensational claims they had split after one year together.

MailOnline has contacted Marnie's representative for comment.

'Split?': She recently hit back at sensational claims that she had split from her boyfriend of one year, Casey Johnson (pictured)

It was claimed the duo had decided to split after weathering a series of screaming matches in the home they bought together eight months ago.

Yet a source very close to Casey told MailOnline that the reality TV couple are 'very much together' in the light of the split speculation.

They said: 'There are some very jealous people out there. Casey and Marnie are very much together.'

With Marnie hitting back at sensational claims on her official Instagram account stories, she said: 'Me and Casey haven't split and I have no idea where it all came from!'Jennifer Lopez put her chiseled dancer's figure on display for a sizzling Instagram she posted Thursday from her island holiday.

The pop icon modeled a barely-there black and white string bikini as she lounged on the beach, shielding her face from the sun beneath a massive straw hat.

This comes the day after the 49-year-old World Of Dance star shared an image from her birthday dinner where she was wearing a Cartier diamond ring from Alex Rodriguez on her wedding finger.

'Island vibezzz': Jennifer Lopez put her chiseled dancer's figure on display for a sizzling Instagram she posted Thursday from her holiday

A better look: The pop icon modeled a barely-there black and white string bikini as she lounged on the beach, shielding her face from the sun beneath a massive straw hat

Placing her sunglasses down on the towel next to hear, Jennifer wore a pair of hoop earrings and pulled a bit of a pout for the snapshot.

'Island vibezzz... #vacaciones,' captioned the Shades Of Blue bombshell, whose hat was trimmed with a heavy dose of fringe.

Jennifer's Bahamian birthday party Tuesday night co-starred a claque of friends and family, including her children and her ex-New York Yankee beau Rodriguez.

Sign of things to come?: She rang in her 49th birthday on Tuesday in the Bahamas - flaunting a huge Cartier ring on the fourth finger of her left hand

Alex had gifted Jennifer that diamond, onyx, emerald and white gold ring back in February, after they were glimpsed browsing the Cartier in Miami together.

A-Rod and J-Lo - whose relationship has earned the affectionate fan nickname J-Rod - have been dating since at least last March.

Jennifer shares 10-year-old twins Max and Emme with her third ex-husband Marc Anthony, who since splitting from J-Lo has married and divorced again.

A fine romance: Jennifer's Bahamian birthday party Tuesday night co-starred a claque of friends and family, including her children and her ex-New York Yankee beau Alex Rodriguez

J-Lo has previously been married to actor Ojani Noa and backing dancer Cris Judd - with neither relationship producing any children.

Alex himself has two children - Natasha, 13, and Ella, 10 - by his ex-wife Cynthia Scurtis, whom he was married to from 2002 to 2008.

Jennifer has lately been releasing singles from her upcoming album Por Primera Vez - including El Anillo, which exhorts a man to pop the question.

Her next film Second Act co-stars her pal Leah Remini, as well as Vanessa Hudgens, and will bow in movie theaters this November.Shannon Beador and ex David split late last year.

And now the Real Housewife Of Orange County's ex is ready for her to drop his surname.

Shannon, 54, didn't seem keen about a change, joking to the Daily Dish podcast that her maiden name Shannon Storms might sound like a 'stripper' sobriquet.

Making a change? Shannon Beador is being asked to drop her ex David's last name more than a year after their split

Beador was coy about the situation on the audio show but divulged: 'It's been requested from my ex that I'm not worthy of the name Beador.'

'For the sake of my kids, I think I'm going to stay Shannon Beador,' she added.

Right now the reality star is using a three part designation, explaining that the name Shannon Storms Beador is 'like the best of both worlds.'

Rude: Beador was coy about the situation on the audio show but divulged: 'It's been requested from my ex that I'm not worthy of the name Beador.' Above the exes are seen in 2014 together

Case of the ex: Shannon (in 2017 above) and David's split was captured for cameras during the last season of the Bravo reality showB

Shannon and David's split was captured for cameras during the last season of the Bravo reality show.

His numerous infidelities were captured on the show.

The reality star has found love with someone new since, now dating Scot Matteson.

New flame: The reality star has found love with someone new since, now dating Scot Matteson, above in an Instgram from a recent date

An insider opened up with E! about the relationship, dishing: 'Shannon and Scot are pretty serious. She just took him to New York on a trip and they spend a lot of time together.'

'They have both met each other's children and everyone gets along. They love to go out together and have a great time.'

Real Housewives Of Orange County is currently in its 13th season, airing Mondays at 9pm on Bravo.Their love for one another was cemented when he got down on knee and asked her to marry him last year.

And Sophie Turner and fiance Joe Jonas still looked very much in the throes of love as they stole a tender moment while out for lunch with her mother Sally in New York City on Thursday.

The couple looked head over heels as Joe, 28, planted a sweet kiss on the Game of Thrones star's cheek as she wrapped her arms around him at the table.

Head over heels: Sophie Turner and fiance Joe Jonas still looked very much in the throes of love as they stole a tender moment while out for lunch with her mother Sally in New York City on Thursday

Their lunch date came after Sophie and her mum were spotted hitting the shops in very contrasting outfits.

Puffing on an E Cigarrete, Sophie wore a NY cap with a white Team US tee, dark Daisy Dukes and clunk military boots adorned with studs.

She appeared to be make-up free for the afternoon jaunt, which saw Sally cut a much more glamorous ensemble.

Unbreakable: The couple have gone from strength to strength since Joe popped the question last winter

Quality time: Sophie and her mum showed off their close bond as they larked around together in the street

Cheeky! Joe looked to tease Sophie as he offered up his cheek and pulled a playful facial expression ahead of their peck

She donned a russet sleeveless top with beige linen trousers, a stone purse and a statement necklace and matching bracelet.

She added gold earrings to the look and wore her strawberry blonde locks loosely around her shoulders.

The outing comes as Sophie is revealed to be the cover girl for the latest issue of 1883 magazine, which was expertly shot by fellow millennial icon Brooklyn Beckham.

In her element: Sophie looked to enjoy a glass of sangria as she dined al fresco with her loved ones

Man's best friend! Joe brought their pet pooch Waldo along for the casual outing

Definitely got her seal of approval! Joe looked to get on very well with his future mother-in-law as they shared a joke while crossing the street

Still going strong! Joe - who previously dated model Gigi Hadid - began his romance with Sophie in autumn 2016

Alongside the photoshoot, she spoke to the magazine about Game Of Thrones while also praising the 'instinctive and amazing' skills of the 19-year-old son of David and Victoria, who recently dropped out of his photography degree at NYU.

Sophie, who has scored a lucrative endorsement deal with Louis Vuitton, nails the high-profile look in the shoot as she rocked a leather skirt with a racy split alongside a bow-style bandeau and a contrasting floral coat.

She gazed at the camera with a pair of glimmering sunglasses while her newly bleached tresses fell loose behind her shoulders.

Out with mum: Their lunch date came after Sophie and her mum were spotted hitting the shops in very contrasting outfits

Smokin': Puffing on an E Cigarrete, Sophie wore a NY cap with a white Team US tee, dark Daisy Dukes and clunk military boots adorned with studs

Shopping trip: The mother-daughter duo chose to hit the shops for their bonding session

Compare and contrast: Sophie appeared to be make-up free for the afternoon jaunt, which saw Sally cut a much more glamorous ensemble

Not content with sharing just her high-fashion snaps, the magazine also posted some incredibly sweet images of the famous pair cosying up behind the scenes, while also sharing images of Brooklyn taking the snaps.

Another image from the shot saw Sophie kick back in a seat while sporting a periwinkle blue suit, with her legs in the air and a smouldering pout in place.

Keeping things edgy, she also sat on a toilet while clutching a beer and pulling an extremely expert pout at Brooklyn's camera lens for the cover shot.

Out and a pout: Sophie proved herself to be extremely versatile in her latest shoot with 1883 magazine, which was expertly shot by fellow millennial icon Brooklyn Beckham, who put his photography skills to use in the shots

Rocking out: Alongside the photoshoot, she spoke to the magazine about the show while also praising the 'instinctive and amazing' skills of the 19-year-old son of David and Victoria, who recently dropped out of his photography degree at NYU

Feeling blue? Another image from the shot saw Sophie kick back in a seat while sporting a periwinkle blue suit, with her legs in the air and a smouldering pout in place

Speaking about working with the celebrity offspring, she said: 'It was so amazing working with Brooklyn. We haven't worked together before; we hadn't actually met either which is quite strange.

'Yeah, we met on the shoot, but we'd been messaging back and forth on Instagram, with ideas and the concept. We wanted very modern clothing, but a retro set. So I really wanted bold colours, really interesting, kind of fun poses.

'Something really modern. It was really fun working with him; he's so instinctively on point, like on the ball. I don't want to say it was like editorial, but it seemed like he'd been doing it forever. Yes [he has a natural talent and] a complete knack for it.'

In character: She is typically seen in the costume of her Game Of Thrones character Sansa Stark, complete with sweeping gowns and heavy furs

Amazing: Speaking about working with the celebrity offspring, she said: 'It was so amazing working with Brooklyn. We haven't worked together before; we hadn't actually met either which is quite strange

His mother Victoria has previously lauded his skills behind the camera, while he spoke about his parents' pride over the release of his 2017 photography book What I See.

On the edgy shoot, Sophie said: 'They are completely different, and I think this was a huge reason why we wanted to do this shoot: to make it completely different.

'People are so used to seeing me in long, flowy, floral dresses  ethereal, in a manor house, swanning around. I think that is what people like to think that I do. This shoot felt like the most free shoot I have done in like, forever.'

Sophie touched on the famously adoring GoT fans, saying: 'I think it is so amazing to have such an incredible fan base.

Out there: On the edgy shoot, she said: 'They are completely different, and I think this was a huge reason why we wanted to do this shoot: to make it completely different'

In character: Sophie touched on the famously adoring GoT fans, saying: 'I think it is so amazing to have such an incredible fan base

'The fans are full of passion, the most I've ever met in my life.To have those people behind you when you are working such long hours, such long days

'Then someone comes up to you one day and they are like: 'Oh my god, I cannot wait for season 8 to come out!' It reignites your passion for it because they are so passionate. It's the fans who get you through the long days.'

On the hysteria, she said: 'It doesn't get frustrating; I mean it's entertaining. It does happen. I remember when I dyed my hair blonde, and everyone thought Sansa was a Targaryen. Everyone reads very much into what we do in our personal lives.

Oh my: Keeping things edgy, she also sat on a toilet while clutching a beer and pulling an extremely expert pout at Brooklyn's camera lens for the cover shot

Obviously, you know the tattoo is related to the show. It's just a quote from last season. I think the die-hard fans know that but we like the speculation. It keeps it interesting! Also, the more off the mark, the better for our season...

'So you know, I'll throw them off with anything. I'm going to get a tattoo of completely wrong hints on my forehead.'

After her years in the spotlight, Sophie proved she knows how to deal with things, as she said: 'There's a lot of things I've learnt to be honest.

'I think one of the main thing is that you should really know yourself before presenting an idea of yourself to the public. Know who you are without catering to people on social media...

'Before you start conforming to their ideas you should really know who you are. I would also say that family and friends that aren't in the industry are some of the most precious people. They keep you very grounded.'

Sophie had the words 'The Pack Survives', seemingly a reference to the Stark motif of a wolf, inked on her, but she insists it is simply a 'moral' she 'lives by', despite speculation.

Pals: Sophie previously revealed she and her on-screen sister Maisie Williams [Arya Stark] have matching inkings to commemorate the date they secured their roles as Sansa and Arya in the popular fantasy series

The famed family: His mother Victoria has previously lauded his skills behind the camera, while her previously spoke about his parents' pride at 2017 photography book What I See (pictured together last year)

However, while she says it isn't a spoiler, many feel she could be alluding to the fact that members of the pack don't make it alive. She said: 'It's the Dire Wolf from 'Game of Thrones' and it says, 'The Pack Survives'.

'While I was getting it done people advised me not to because it looked like I was giving everything away. But I wasn't. It's just a quote from last season but everyone figures that the pack really does survive, but it's just a moral I like to live by.'

Sophie previously revealed she and her on-screen sister Maisie Williams [Arya Stark] have matching inkings to commemorate the date they secured their roles as Sansa and Arya in the popular fantasy series.

She previously explained: 'We do! We always said that we wanted them so we got the date 07.08.09 on our arms because that's the date that both of us found out we'd got our roles in 'Game Of Thrones'.

The latest episode of 1883 Magazine is on news stands globally from July 31stShe rose to fame after winning the 2017 series of Love Island with her ex-boyfriend Kem Cetinay.

And Amber Davies' career has gone from strength-to-strength as she set pulses racing with her new sexy swimwear collection with Bluebella lingerie, called Bluebella x Amber.

The Welsh beauty, 21, has designed and showcased various different sexy swimsuits and bikinis for her own capsule with the brand, which is designed for women by women.

Hot stuff: Amber Davies' career has gone from strength-to-strength as she set pulses racing with her new sexy swimwear collection with Bluebella lingerie, called Bluebella x Amber

In one of the designs, Amber sets pulses racing in a plunging turquoise bikini, which features cups and a fishnet overlay on the top.

With the matching high-waisted bottoms having a wrap around effect with pieces of fabric daringly cut-out.

In the smoking picture, Amber sizzles as she flaunts her incredible figure and teams the item of swimwear with a blue patterned hair wrap. She also shows off the same design in a soft baby pink colour too.

Impressive: The Welsh beauty, 21, has designed and showcased various different sexy swimsuits and bikinis for her own capsule with the brand

Dreamy: The bold purple colour appears to be a theme within the collection as three swimsuits boast the striking shade

In another piece of her collection, the reality star shows off her toned abs in a bold purple halterneck bikini, which has black detailing on the sides.

Showing off her pretty facial features, Amber styled her hair into a high bun as she added a blue and white paisley headband.

The bold purple colour appears to be a theme within the collection as two other swimsuits also boast the striking shade.

Gorgeous: One sexy plunging swimsuit leaves nothing to the imagination with embroidered detailing on the nude coloured top half

Work it: While another one-shoulder piece teases Amber's abs with cut-out detailing, with a gold hoop on the strap

One sexy plunging swimsuit leaves nothing to the imagination with embroidered detailing on the nude coloured top half, while another one-shoulder piece teases Amber's abs with cut-out detailing.

The dancer also appears to be a fan of the colour red, with a collection of swimwear boasting the sultry colour.

One of the designs has sexy cage strap detailing on the plunging neckline and high-waisted sides, with another one-shoulder piece teases Amber's abs with cut-out detailing.

Lady in red: The dancer also appears to be a fan of the colour red, with a collection of swimwear boasting the sultry colour

Saucy: One of the designs has sexy cage strap detailing on the plunging neckline and cut-out lace detailing on the body to show off Amber's toned abs

Amber recently attended Kisstory On The Common at Streatham Common, London, on Saturday, where she made a bold fashion statement in a canary yellow dress with matching coloured sunglasses.

Amber joined an array of 2018's Love Island stars at the fun festival, including Ellie Brown, Charlie Brake, Zara McDermott, Adam Collard, Frankie Foster and Samira Mighty.

Also attending the event was fellow Islander, Eyal Booker, who recently revealed that he had been private messaging the brunette beauty on Instagram.

Love Island star: She rose to fame after winning the 2017 series of Love Island with her ex-boyfriend Kem Cetinay

Busy bee: Amber recently attended Kisstory On The Common at Streatham Common, London, on Saturday

Star-studded: Amber joined an array of 2018's Love Island stars at the fun festival, including Ellie Brown, Charlie Brake, Zara McDermott, Adam Collard, Frankie Foster and Samira Mighty

When quizzed about those Amber rumours, he told MailOnline: 'I'll let people use their imaginations on that one.

'I haven't met her yet. But, she's a beautiful girl and I'm excited to meet her. So, we'll see what happens.'

After splitting with Kem in December last year after just four months of dating, Amber moved on with handsome property developer, James Hawkins, but the two 'fizzled out' in June.

'That fizzled out. I am single now,' she told The Sun.

Split rumours were sparked in May, when Amber deleted all trace of the property developer from her Instagram.

New love interest?: Also attending the event was fellow Islander, Eyal Booker, who recently revealed that he had been private messaging the brunette beauty on InstagramFans flooded reality TV personality Jessica Wright's latest Instagram upload with remarks suggesting she looked just like Katie Price, on Thursday.

Posting a new snap to her 1.3 million followers, Jess, 32, struck a pose for the camera with her long dark locks falling around her shoulders, pouting for Britain and looking off to the side of the camera.

Comments came in comparing her to the likes of Chloe Sims, Demi Lovato and Cheryl - but most were struck by how much she resembled Loose Women star and former glamour model Katie Price, 40.

Double trouble? Fans flooded reality TV personality Jessica Wright's latest Instagram upload with remarks suggesting she looked just like Katie Price, on Thursday

Remarks flooded in such as 'You look like Katie price in this!' and 'Hell no you look like Katie Price!'

Others wrote 'I thought you was Katie Price until I looked at your name you could be twins [sic]' and 'Katie Price so much!'

'Double of Katie Price!!!' another exclaimed.

In the shot, Jess wore a white top with what appeared to be pancake stacks or burgers on it.

Inspiration? A brief trawl through Jessica's Instagram history proves that the ex The Only Way Is Essex star does indeed emulate Katie in plenty of her photos

Which is which? Remarks flooded in such as 'You look like Katie price in this!' and 'Hell no you look like Katie Price!'

The imitation game? Often glammed to the nines, lips pouty and hair looking voluminous, fans could easily be forgiven for drawing the comparison

She captioned it: 'When bae asks if youre hungry.'

A brief trawl through Jessica's Instagram history proves that the ex The Only Way Is Essex star does indeed emulate Katie in plenty of her photos.

Often glammed to the nines, lips pouty and hair looking voluminous, fans could easily be forgiven for drawing the comparison.

Spot the difference: Comments came in comparing her to the Loose Women star and former glamour model Katie

Good pals: Jessica revealed on Sunday that she has a secret friendship with Love Island's Jack Fowler as he mocks her singing in throwback Instagram clip

Amused: The clip sees Jack start recording whilst Jessica sings to him

Meanwhile, Jess randomly revealed earlier this week that she knows Love Island hunk Jack Fowler, 22.

Taking to Instagram to express her joy that the islander remained in the villa [although he has since been dumped], Jessica shared a sweet clip of herself singing to him.

The former TOWIE star wrote over the video: 'So glad he's been saved. He doesn't have to put up with my bum notes anytime soon', after she sang Ariana Grande's No Tears Left To Cry.

Jessica seems to know the personal trainer professionally, as the brunette beauty trains with him in the gym.He has admitted that alcohol 'doesn't suit him' after his shocking drunken and violent outburst on a flight earlier this month.

And Jonathan Rhys Meyers appeared to be putting the tough times behind him, as he was seen at the Build Series in New York on Thursday.

After an unfortunate start to the month, the Irish actor, 40, cut a casually cool figure in a pale brown suit which he teamed with a simple white tee.

Stepping out: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, 40, appeared to be putting the tough times behind him, as he was seen at the Build Series in New York on Thursday

Jonathan looked to be in good spirits as he stepped out for the event in the stylish suit.

The Bend It Like Beckham star casually propped a pair of black rimmed spectacles on the top of his simple white top.

While he sported a shaved do on his sides, the rest of his locks were styled with gel.

His sighting comes after a candid interview with Larry King Now, in which he admitted that drinking doesn't 'suit' him.

Looking good: After an unfortunate start to the month, the Irish actor cut a casually cool figure in a pale brown suit which he teamed with a simple white tee

Happy: Jonathan looked to be in good spirits as he stepped out for the event in the stylish suit

Stylish: The Bend It Like Beckham star casually propped a pair of black rimmed spectacles on the top of his simple white top

Mane attraction: While he sported a shaved do on his sides, the rest of his locks were styled with gel

He spoke following the incident, which led to him being detained at Los Angeles' LAX airport when his plane touched down on the runway.

The Tudors star, who was accompanied by his wife Mara Lane and their one-year-old son Wolf on the flight from Peru, recalled: 'My wife and I had been travelling since 3 o'clock in the morning from Peru back to Los Angeles. And they gave away our tickets  it was just a problem with the airline.

'We had our baby, who was teething at the time, and it was all kind of frustrating. So we eventually got on the flight and my wife went to sleep and I very stupidly decided to order a drink.

'When my wife found that I'd ordered a drink, she got very, very angry with me because I shouldn't drink. It doesn't suit me and I had been sober for a long time.'

The Velvet Goldmine actor admitted he was 'upset' by his actions but had apologised to all involved in the incident and thanked police for being 'incredibly kind and understanding'.

Fashionable: The star toted his belongings in a chic leather bag

Walking the walk: He matched his bag to his lace-up shoes

Remorse: His sighting comes after a candid interview with Larry King Now, in which he admitted that drinking doesn't 'suit' him after an incident when he was detained at LAX

Family: The star was travelling from Peru to Los Angeles with his wife Mara Lane and their one-year-old son Wolf. Pictured in December 2017

He continued: 'And so I felt that mistake and I got upset and I took out an e-cigarette. And the airline staff told me that I wasn't allowed to smoke an e-cigarette so I put it away.

'Then I spoke to the Los Angeles police once we got there, who were incredibly kind. Incredibly understanding. I apologised for my behaviour, and that's the entire story.'

Jonathan - who is trying to quit smoking so he doesn't set a bad example to his son - insisted he has 'learned [his] lesson' from the incident and is now sober again.

He added: 'It is a good opportunity to apologise to anybody who was offended that that incident happened, but I learned my lesson. As soon as I got off the airplane I went and spoke to somebody and I got back on track immediately.'

Mara previously insisted the incident was 'out of character' for her husband and she revealed he had been trying to combat his 'anger issues'.

Detained: The actor was detained by police at LAX on Sunday after allegedly getting into a drunken fight with his wife and trying to smoke his e-cigarette on the flight from Miami

She wrote on Instagram: '[Eight] months of sobriety and an unfortunate day of airline travel. We were in South America specifically working holistically through anger issues that result in these kinds of episodes.

'When in it... he is not in a frame of mind where he can really even comprehend the repercussions and necessary response to his own actions.

'J IS extremely sorry for any inconveniences caused to anyone traveling yesterday. There was no argument, just me asking him to not use his e cig per stewardess' request to me and him not being himself, speaking very very unkindly.

'It was out of his character. It was unbeknownst to me anything that happened on flight, as I was with my son with a privacy wall up.

'We are home safe and he is feeling deeply sorry for any remote disrespect afforded to me, attendants, onlookers or officers. Thank you for your compassion on this ongoing battle with addiction we are in.' [sic]

Police: At least five police cars showed up at the plane. According to one passenger, Rhys Meyers was being difficult even before he got on the flight in Miami

Fellow first class passengers said Jonathan had been drinking and screamed 'f**k you, I'm going to divorce you' at his wife Mara after she asked him to stop smoking his e-cigarette on the plane.

He was detained on the tarmac when the American Airlines flight landed and was pictured speaking with a number of officers.

A fellow passenger, who was sitting in first class behind the actor, told The Sun Online that Jonathan was behaving 'erratically' and had been intimidating other passengers.

He had been ordering 'drink after drink' and went to the toilet more than a dozen times - and refused to stop smoking his e-cigarette. The passenger added that Meyers was so inebriated that he didn't notice his jeans had fallen down to his knees at one point.

Eventually, flight attendants asked his wife, who had separated herself from her husband by putting a privacy screen up, to intervene.

Unfortunate: His wife took to Instagram to say the mid-flight incident was 'unfortunate' given he had just been receiving help for anger issues that 'result in these kinds of episodes'

'They told her that if he didn't stop using the e-cigarette we'd have to land the plane early and get him off so she tried to tell him that,' the passenger said.

'That's when he really lost it, he was yelling at her 'f**k you, shut the f**k up, I'm divorcing you when I get back, you're annoying leave me the f*** alone.'

'Then he was ranting and screaming: 'Who says I'm using e-cigarettes? Who? Who? Show me who said it.'

According to another passenger, the actor was being difficult even before he got on the flight in Miami.

'Before we boarded in Miami, as the wheelchair and other people who need assistance were boarding first, he pushed to the front with his wife and child shouting about having a first class ticket and that he should be boarding first,' the passenger told DailyMail.com.

Star: He has starred in a number of high-productions, including acclaimed series The Tudors

'When I was getting off I saw the cars and Jonathan Rhys Meyers surrounded by cops. On the way off the plane a crew member in pilot's uniform said that if he had known about his behaviour in Miami he wouldn't have let him board.

'The pilot told me he was going to try and get him banned from American.'

Police said he was 'admonished' for his behaviour and then released without charge.

The couple, who have been together since 2013, revealed in September last year that they had suffered a miscarriage with their second child.

They revealed the heartbreaking news on social media, saying their baby, Willow, has been laid to rest under a tree at their home.

Elsewhere on Thursday, Jonathan claimed he doesn't like to spend too much money on clothes during his televised appearance on Live with Kelly and Ryan!

He explained: 'Yeah, I dont like to spend too much money on suits and clothes because I have a 19-month-old boy Wolf and thats where all the money goes. I just buy my suits off the rack.'

Jonathan also touched on his latest film Damascus Cover where he slips into the role of a spy who is on an undercover mission in Syria.

He elaborated: 'It dives into the reality of the costs of the job that has consequences for everybody all over the world.'

Helping hand: Mara has faithfully stood by the actor throughout his highly publicised troubled

In a lengthy Instagram post at the time, Mara said her husband had taken the news particularly hard.

'Depression is a real concern from past abuse as well as alcoholism which he was born with. He has been able to turn any ugliness and hurt in his life into art and is the strongest person I know. I do not know anyone who has been through what he has been through and reached his level of successes,' Mara said of the actor.

Jonathan has suffered a long-term battle with alcoholism and has been in and out of rehab over the years.He checked into a Malibu facility in 2005 and 2007 before returning for a third time in 2009.

He publicly apologised to his fans in 2015 for a 'minor relapse' after pictures surfaced of him on a street drinking straight from a bottle of vodka.Michelle Williams has reportedly tied the knot with musician Phil Elverum in a secret ceremony in New York States Adirondack Mountains earlier in July 2018.

The private ceremony was reportedly witnessed only by a handful of close friends and the couples two young daughters.

Both Williams and Elverum, sadly, have experienced the passing of their previous partners in recent years.

Phil Elverum recently wed actress Michelle Williams in a private ceremony in New York State

Elverums wife, Canadian musician and artist Genevieve Castree, died on July 9, 2016 of advanced pancreatic cancer shortly after giving birth to their only daughter. Williamss former partner, actor Heath Ledger, passed away on January 22, 2008 in New York City from an accidental combined prescription drug intoxication. Williams and Ledger had one daughter together, Matilda, born on October 28, 2005.

I never gave up on love, Williams said in an interview with Vanity Fair, going on to say that she was always seeking the radical acceptance she found from Ledger in the decade since his passing.

She also stated: Obviously Ive never once in my life talked about a relationship, but Phil isnt anyone else. And thats worth something. Ultimately the way he loves me is the way I want to live my life on the whole.

'I work to be free inside of the moment. I parent to let Matilda feel free to be herself and I am finally loved by someone who makes me feel free.

The news of the recent marriage has pushed Williams and Elverum, both very private in regards to their personal lives, into the spotlight.

But just who is Phil Elverum? Heres a look at who the musician is and who Michelle Williams is.

Who is Phil Elverum?

Phil Elverum is a multi-instrumentalist musician and producer known for his projects Mount Erie and The Microphones.

He was born on May 26, 1978.

Originally based in Anacortes, Washington, Elverum has been very active in the indie rock and experimental music scenes over the years. He fronted the band The Microphones between 1996 and 2003 before establishing his current solo project Mount Erie later in 2003, having released nine studio albums under the moniker since 2005.

Around this time, he also changed his surname from Elvrum to Elverum to honor the Norwegian town of the same name.

He recorded in a former church in Anacortes and established his own record label P. W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd. In 2004.

In addition to his numerous musical projects, Elverum has also worked in other artistic fields extensively, experimenting with filmmaking and video directing as well as publishing two books featuring his photography in 2007 and 2014.

Prior to his recent marriage to Michelle Williams, Elverum was married to Canadian artist and musician Genevieve Castree in 2003 after briefly dating her in a long-distance relationship. After giving birth to the couples first child just four months earlier, she was diagnosed with inoperable stage IV pancreatic cancer in 2015 and passed away on July 9, 2016.

To cope with her passing, Elverum released two acclaimed concept albums: A Crow Looked at Me in March 2017 and Now Only in March 2018.

Recently, the musician and his young daughter relocated from Washington State to New York City to live with Michelle Williams and her daughter, according to Us Weekly.

Who is Michelle Williams?

Michelle Williams is an actress currently based in New York City.

She was born in Kalispell, Montana on September 9, 1980.

At age nine, her family relocated to San Diego, California where she attended school but later left at age 15 to opt for in-home tutoring so she could better focus on her aspirations as an actress. Shortly afterwards, she received an emancipation from her parents and relocated to Los Angeles, where she landed several minor TV roles before landing her breakout role on the teen drama Dawsons Creek in 1998.

After appearing in several independent films, she starred in the acclaimed 2005 film Brokeback Mountain alongside her then-partner Heath Ledger, who tragically died in 2008 from an accidental overdose.

After Ledgers passing and the success of Brokeback Mountain, which earned the actress her first Oscar nomination, Williams went on to appear in a number of critically-acclaimed films.

In 2010, she appeared alongside Ryan Gosling in the romantic drama Blue Valentine, which drew praise at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and earned her nominations at the Academy Awards and Golden Globe Awards.

In 2011, she again drew acclaim for her role in the film My Week with Marilyn in which she played the late actress Marilyn Monroe. She later made her Broadway debut in 2014 before returning to film in 2016 in the acclaimed drama Manchester by the Sea and Certain Women.

More recently, she starred alongside Amy Schumer in the 2018 comedy I Feel Pretty and is also slated to appear in the upcoming superhero movie Venom.

Over the course of her career, Williams has consistently drew critical acclaim, earning wins and nominations for the Academy Awards, BAFTA Awards, Golden Globe Awards, SAG Awards, Critics Choice Awards, MTV Awards, Tony Awards and many others.Amber Heard was office chic with a twist on Thursday.

The 32-year-old blonde was glimpsed in Century City wearing an off-white high-waisted skirt with a half-sleeved black mock turtleneck.

Her top was cropped just enough to provide a tiny glimpse of her enviably flat midiriff as she ambled about on gleaming black flats.

Office chic with a twist: Amber Heard was glimpsed in Century City on Thursday wearing an off-white high-waisted skirt with a half-sleeved black mock turtleneck

Letting her wavy hair fall free over her shoulders, she carried a sleek black purse and shielded her eyes from the California rays with butterfly shades.

She is currently dating the art dealer Vito Schnabel, who famously used to be in a relationship with German supermodel Heidi Klum.

Amber, whose dating record includes Elon Musk and photographer Tasya van Ree, married Johnny Depp in 2015.

Yet the following May 23, she filed for divorce, and within a week won a restraining order against him, claiming he had verbally and physically abused her.

Stepping out: Her top was cropped just enough to provide a tiny glimpse of her enviably flat mdiriff as she ambled about on gleaming black flats

Through a representative, Johnny dismissed abuse accusations as 'salacious false stories, gossip, misinformation and lies about his personal life.'

By that August, he and Amber reached an agreement whereby she would scrap the restraining order and get a $7 million divorce settlement, which she said she would give to charity.

Johnny decided to give the money directly to the groups of her choice, Children's Hospital and the American Civil Liberties Union, according to TMZ.

It was not lost on Amber's team that this meant he'd get the tax deduction, and they told TMZ Johnny ought to correct for this by doubling the $7 million to $14 million.

On the go: Letting her wavy hair fall free over her shoulders, she carried a sleek black purse and shielded her eyes from the California rays with butterfly shades

'If Johnny wishes to change the settlement agreement, we must insist that he honor the full amount by donating $14M to charity, which after accounting for his tax deduction, is equal to his $7M payment obligation to Amber,' said they.

As Johnny's plan was to give the $7 million in increments, Amber's team 'would also insist that the full amount be paid immediately and not drawn out over many years.'

Amber's divorce from 54-year-old Johnny was finalized in January 2017, at which time the settlement remained at $7 million, TMZ reported.

Clapback: This Wednesday, Amber posted an Instagram photo of herself raising her fists and captioned: '#NoInkNeeded' - regarded by some as a riposte to her ex-husband Johnny Depp

Johnny used to have a string of tattoos over his knuckles cumulatively reading: 'SLIM,' his nickname for Amber. After they broke up he had it changed to: 'SCUM.'

It emerged this month that Johnny had converted: 'SCUM' to: 'SCAM' by having a scarlet anarchy symbol inked on over the U.

This Wednesday, Amber posted an Instagram photo of herself raising her fists and captioned: '#NoInkNeeded' - regarded by some as a riposte to Johnny.She's made her motto 'forever on vacation', and Alessandra Ambrosio was living up to her catchphrase as she soaked up the sun in San Diego, California on Wednesday.

The model worked a white bikini as she hit the waves with her children, Anja, nine, and Noah, six.

Alessandra, 37, had heads turning as she splashed around the cool water, looking absolutely breathtaking in her skimpy bathing suit.

White hot! Alessandra Ambrosio worked her magic in a white bikini during a family vacation to San Diego, California on Wednesday

Walking alongside the shore, Alessandra oozed beach glamour while rocking an array of gold jewelry, shades, and a fringe white cover-up, which hung delicately upon her statuesque body.

But once in the ocean, Alessandra ditched the accessories as she splashed around the ocean blue with her little girl.

The former Victoria's Secret star was clearly having the time of her life, cooling down and playing around in the water.

She even let out a huge smile, overjoyed to spend some quality time with her little ones.

Mama knows best: The star doted on her daughter Anja, nine, as they played in the water

Beach babe! Ambrosio oozed beach glamour with her white fringe cover-up and gold jewelry

Legs eleven! The model's white bikini put her fabulous legs on display

While returning to her belongings on the sand, the model dropped jaws in her tiny white bikini, which clung to every inch of her gym-honed physique.

Little Anja wore a floral print green bathing suit, while her brother hit the beach in red swimming trunks.

It looks like the busy model was able to enjoy some quality R&R and bonding time with her children during her quick getaway.

Girl time! The former Victoria's Secret star was clearly having the time of her life, cooling down and playing around in the water

Life's a beach! The star's tiny bikini clung to her swimsuit as she enjoyed a day by the water

Still connected: The 37-year-old strolled barefoot on the sand

Drying off: The beauty returned to the shore as she squeezed the water out of her hair

The star took to Instagram to share snippets of her vacation, including snaps of her children in the beach during their stay at the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel.

Alessandra has been pulling double-duty as a busy career woman and single mom since March, when she broke up with her former fiance Jamie Mazur.

The former couple had been together for about 10-years and they share two children, Anja and Noah.

The Brazilian model and actress is best known for her work as a Victoria's Secret Angels from 2000 to 2017, and for modeling brands such as Armani exchange, Next, Chistian Dior and Ralph Lauren.

In 2012 she was ranked number six on Forbes' list of highest-paid models, estimated to have earned $6.6 million in one year.

Motherhood: It looks like the busy model was able to enjoy some quality R&R and bonding time with her children during her quick getaway

What a view: Alessandra and her family are staying at the magnificent Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel; she shared this stunning vista from the grounds

That's her boy! The proud mom shared a photo of her son Noah in the pool

Dig in! Alessandra posted a snap of her sharing her toast with her daughterChris Hemsworth wed Elsa Pataky in late 2010.

And the Thor star proved that their love is well and truly still alive in an Instagram post on Wednesday.

The 34-year-old shared a stunning black and white snap of the Spanish-born actress, which saw her standing on the shore of a beach.

'Wild beauty': Chris Hemsworth shared a flawless makeup free snap of wife Elsa Pataky [pictured], 42, to Instagram on Wednesday

Chris' candid photo shows Elsa, 42, sporting a T-shirt and a leopard print sweater as she smiles for the camera.

The L'Oreal ambassador's cropped blonde locks fall in tousled waves and her complexion is makeup free, allowing her natural beauty to shine through.

Chris gushed over his genetically-blessed spouse in the picture's caption, writing: 'Wild beauty shot on film camera ContaxT3.

'There's nothing like getting a roll of film developed and most of them are overexposed and of my kids' feet [due to them having stolen my camera and used it as a frisbee] but then you stumble across a gem like this one @elsapatakyconfidential,' he continued, alongside three emojis with love heart eyes.

Brood: Chris, 34, wed Elsa in late 2010, and the couple share children, daughter India Rose, six, and twin sons Tristan and Sasha, four

Chris and Elsa share three adorable children, daughter India Rose, six, and twin sons Tristan and Sasha, four.

The pair, who were previously based in Los Angeles, now enjoy a blissfully relaxed life in Byron Bay on Australia's east coast.

Last year, Chris and Elsa celebrated a relationship milestone: starring in their first movie together.

They played a married couple in war drama 12 Strong, and the Aussie actor joked that filming 'was like a little holiday away from the kids'.

Appearing on US breakfast show Good Morning America in January this year, Chris said: 'We left the kids with their grandparents, and went off for a few weeks and shot together.

Home life: The pair, who were previously based in Los Angeles, now enjoy a blissfully relaxed life in Byron Bay on Australia's east coast

'We've been rehearsing that relationship and that on-screen chemistry for seven years so if we didn't have chemistry, we would've been in trouble.'

12 Strong tells the story of the first Special Forces team that's deployed to Afghanistan following the events of 9/11.

In the film, Chris plays the role of Captain Mitch Nelson, who has the task of leading his team of 12 soldiers to take down the Taliban.

Elsa plays the part of the captain's dutiful wife, who looks after their daughter while he is at war.Catriona Rowntree has been famed for her natural beauty since she began appearing on Getaway more than two decades ago.

But the beloved TV host is happy for others to alter their looks - as long as they admit it.

Speaking with Who magazine on Thursday, the 47-year-old revealed her thoughts on Botox and fillers, saying: 'Whatever floats your boat, but don't distort your facial features with plastic surgery and try telling me that beauty comes from within'.

'I won't stand for it!' Speaking with Who magazine on Thursday, Getaway host Catriona Rowntree blasted those who DENY having cosmetic work

She also sternly added: 'I won't stand for it!'

Catriona has managed to maintain her youthful looks despite 22 years of international travel as a host on Getaway.

Earlier this year, the beauty was named as an ambassador for French skincare giant, Clarins, and revealed the secrets behind her age-defying appearance.

You beauty! Catriona has managed to maintain her youthful looks despite 22 years of international travel as a host on Getaway

'I keep up my vitamins, drink a bucket load of water, appreciate a bit of sleep and regular skincare,' she told The Grace Tales, adding that she's a devout user of Clarins products.

When she's not jet-setting around the globe, Catriona lives on a farm in rural Victoria with her husband, James Petit, and their sons, Andrew, eight, and Charles, seven.

The mum-of-two insists she lives a low-key life, and does what she can to maintain her flawless physique.

Natural beauty: The mum-of-two insists she lives a low-key life, and does what she can to maintain her flawless physique (pictured last month)

She told Body+Soul earlier this year: 'Here's the thing - I live on a farm, I'm a working mum, I don't live in some fantasy world of yoga class three times a week. I just do what I can, when I can.'

Catriona claimed she's 'allergic' to exercise, but finds innovative ways to keep active.

'A beginner's cha-cha class on a cruise, a walk around the deck, a polo class at home (believe it or not), walk the stairs where I can, ride my old bike around the farm, and maybe even 20 minutes in a gym if I can find one,' she said.Queensland cabinet didn't follow due process in appointing a former union boss to the board of a state government company because there was no process to follow, the head of the state's corruption watchdog says.

Then-energy minister Mark Bailey forwarded on an application from Mark Algie on behalf of the Electrical Trades Union in 2016, with Mr Algie later appointed to the board of Energy Queensland.

Crime and Corruption Commission boss Alan MacSporran has told state budget estimates hearings that while there was no corrupt conduct in Mr Algie's appointment, the process was also irregular and there were no guidelines for such appointments.The Wallabies will face an Australian Super Rugby invitational side in a trial game next Friday as they think outside the square to snap New Zealand's Bledisloe Cup superiority.

Michael Cheika's men will play a side featuring the best of the rest not involved in club or Super Rugby finals at Sydney's Leichhardt Oval.

It is hoped the trial will put the Wallabies on the front foot in August 18's Bledisloe opener after the All Blacks shot out of the gates in the corresponding game last year.Former BAE Systems chief executive Jim McDowell has been appointed to head up South Australia's Department of Premier and Cabinet.

Premier Steven Marshall described Mr McDowell as a talented leader with decades of international business experience in industries critical to South Australia's future prosperity.

"Mr McDowell is well placed to guide the South Australian public sector as we seek to take full advantage of the Commonwealth's naval shipbuilding program and other defence contracts based in South Australia," Mr Marshall said on Thursday.Fairfax and Nine are confident the competition watchdog will approve their merger.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will scrutinise the proposed deal.

Nine CEO Hugh Marks and Fairfax CEO Greg Hywood were confident the merger would proceed.

"Certainly on our analysis we feel confident that this is a transaction that should proceed," Mr Marks told analysts and investors on Thursday.

Mr Hywood said the proposed deal was well within the spirit of the government's new media laws.

"If you look at the integration of these businesses there's not a lot of areas of competitive overlap. We're pretty hopeful," he said.

An ACCC spokesperson said the regulator expects to commence a public review of the proposed merger once it has received submissions and relevant information from Fairfax and Nine.

"When reviewing mergers in the media sector, the ACCC considers the competition impact on consumers (both readers and viewers), advertisers and content creators/sellers," the spokesperson said in a statement.

"The impact of technology on the media sector will be a critical part of the competition analysis."A man will face court after allegedly firing a gun during a tussle with a taxi driver he was trying to rob in western Sydney.

Police say the 23-year-old threatened the taxi driver with a pistol in Old Guildford early on Sunday, after he and another man had been picked up in Yagoona, and discharged it during a brief struggle. The bullet passed through the windscreen.

The pair fled but police on Wednesday night arrested and charged a Yagoona man over the incident.A furnace is on fire at an iron foundry business in Adelaide's north, with close to 50 firefighters on the scene working to cool it down, to reduce the risk of an explosion.

Water cannot be put into the furnace to put out the flames, and firefighters are working to extract metal from neighbouring furnaces to prevent the blaze spreading, South Australian emergency services said on Thursday.

Smoke in the area has reduced since the fire began about 10am on Thursday, but traffic remains affected with roads blocked in the area of Grand Junction Road at Gepps Cross.The woman who made a sexual harassment complaint about Barnaby Joyce has called for the investigation's findings to be released, saying she's "extremely frustrated" by the delay.

Former West Australian rural woman of the year Catherine Marriott in February made a formal complaint to the Nationals' federal executive about the party's then federal leader.

Ms Marriott's lawyer Emma Salerno says her client wants closure after enduring national scrutiny over an issue she wanted kept confidential.

"After more than five months of cooperation and respectfully waiting on the outcome of the investigation, we are now extremely frustrated by the National Party's ability to deal with this issue in a timely manner," Ms Salerno said in a statement.

"We call on the National Party to not only release the findings of their investigation as a priority, but also their sexual harassment policy as a minimum to protect women, such as Catherine, who make allegations of sexual harassment."

The sexual harassment complaint became public amid a political storm engulfing Mr Joyce which was sparked by his affair with former staffer Vikki Campion.

At the time, Mr Joyce conceded the sexual misconduct allegation was the final straw causing him to resign as deputy prime minister.

Ms Salerno said Ms Marriott requested the Nationals conduct a formal and confidential investigation to prevent inappropriate behaviour towards women in the future.

"In this time Catherine has assisted the National Party's inquiry into her allegations and on several occasions, at her personal expense, met with the National Party executive to contribute towards the development of a sexual harassment and discrimination policy," Ms Salerno said.When Tom Parkinson celebrated his 19th birthday on a ship headed for the Korean War, he knew it could be his last.

Soon, the machine gunner would be fighting with the First Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment in the trenches amidst a never-ending barrage of mortars and shells in a bid to keep the North Koreans at bay.

"It was all a matter of gaining ground," the war veteran says, as he prepares to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the armistice that ended fighting.

Although the 85-year-old managed to escape the brutal war that raged from 1950 until 1953, he didn't come out unscathed.

The Melburnian almost died during an attack in July 1952.

"I was in a truck that got blown off the road. When the truck went over, most of it landed on top of me," he told AAP.

Forced out of the infantry, Mr Parkinson went on to the army's motor transport division where he served senior officers, chauffeured a number of generals and moved heavy vehicles.

No matter where he served, the motivation remained the same - he wanted to stop the tide of communism.

Australia was one of the first countries to offer military assistance to the United States and South Korea after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea began its invasion into the south on July 25, 1950.

In the following three years, four million people were killed, with Korean civilians making up more than half the death toll.

Mr Parkinson still remembers the moment the armistice was signed on July 27, 1953: "Everybody just said a big hurrah and a sigh of relief."

The ending was so sudden, some soldiers had to be convinced the fighting was over, according to historians at the Australian War Memorial.

Despite the cessation of fighting, the countries technically remain at war as a peace treaty was never signed.

However, there is fresh hope of peace, with South Korea's Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon announcing on the eve of the anniversary that negotiations are underway, with a treaty between the two Koreas "possible" before the end of 2018.

More than 17,000 Australians served during the Korean conflict, 340 lost their lives and more than 1,200 were wounded.

One of the unsung heroes of the war was Red Cross worker Phyllis Daymon, says historian Melanie Oppenheimer.

Prof Oppenheimer, Chair of History at Flinders University, says many people don't realise Australian aid workers were also posted to the conflict.

"Phyl Daymon was selfless in her duty. She worked to the point of great sacrifice," Prof Oppenheimer told AAP.

"And no one knows about her and the work that she did."

The Tasmanian-born field force worker, who was the first woman posted to Korea from the Australian Red Cross, tended to wounded soldiers in Seoul, mainly treating British and Canadians at hospitals.

She constantly forgot herself in the desire to bring happiness and comfort to the patients, according to the citation for a meritorious service award, Prof Oppenheimer wrote in her book The Power of Humanity: 100 Years of Australian Red Cross.KOREAN WAR: A TIMELINE

* Prelude: The United States and Soviet Union took mutual responsibility for the Korean peninsula after the Second World War, following 35 years of Japanese occupation. The Soviets took control of the north and supported a communist regime, and the Americans took the south and supported a provisional government.

* June 25, 1950 - North Korea launches an attack, crosses the border and captures Seoul within three days.

* June 27, 1950 - The US President commits US forces to aid South Korea. Australia follows suit, sending forces that had been deployed in Japan to Korea.

* July 1, 1950 - Australia's HMAS Bataan and HMAS Shoalhaven escort US troops to Pusan, where defence forces set up after Seoul was captured.

* September 15, 1950 - UN forces land at Inchon as part of a move to recapture Seoul and restore South Korea. Two days later they drive towards Seoul, supported by Squadron 77 who harass retreating North Korean forces.

* September 28, 1950 - The Third Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR) arrives at Pusan, South Korea.

* October 1, 1950 - South Korean forces push the North Koreans back across the border and six days later UN troops cross the border and drive towards the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.

* October 17, 1950 - During the advance into North Korea, 2RAR encounter a North Korean regiment and 1982 North Koreans are taken prisoner, which is the largest capture of enemy troops during the war.

* October 19, 1950 - Pyongyang falls to UN forces.

* October 22, 1950 - 3RAR fight their first battle against North Korean forces and the Australians win.

* November 5, 1950 - Battle of Pakchon. 3RAR encounters Chinese forces for the first time with costly results for the Australians with 12 men killed and 64 wounded.

* January 11, 1951 - Terms of a ceasefire are put forward by the UN to China and North Korea, who reject them.

* April 23-24, 1951 - Battle of Kapyong. Australians are part of a fight against Chinese forces, 3RAR suffers with 32 killed, 59 wounded and 3 men captured. Chinese attack is halted.

* October 25, 1951 - Truce talks resume.

* April 6, 1952 - First Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR) arrive in Korea and join 3RAR.

* July 2, 1952 - Troops from 1RAR raid Chinese positions, largely destroying them. But a counter-attack forces the Australians to withdraw and three men are killed and 34 wounded, one of whom died the following day. The next year involves numerous attacks and counter-attacks.

* July 19, 1953 -Terms for the armistice in Korea are agreed upon by the UN, China and North Korea.

* July 27, 1953 - The armistice is signed at 10am at Panmunjom. Fighting continues until the armistice takes effect at 10pm.

* Source: Historian Michael Kelly, Australian War MemorialAustralia's Catholic bishops have started discussions with the Vatican as they prepare their response to issues raised by the child abuse royal commission.

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference will hold a special meeting in Melbourne next week to discuss the Catholic Church's formal response to the commission's final report, handed down in December.

ACBC president Archbishop Mark Coleridge said he hoped the response would be released as soon as possible after the additional plenary meeting, being held on August 2 and 3.

"We decided we couldn't wait until our next scheduled plenary meeting in late November to finalise our response," he said in a statement on Thursday.

Archbishop Coleridge said the bishops had not received enough advice at at the time of their May plenary meeting but now had additional advice including from its new professional standards body and canon lawyers.

"We have also begun discussions with the Holy See about issues that concern the discipline and doctrine of the universal church," he said.

The Brisbane archbishop held talks with Vatican officials in June about the royal commission's recommendations, which include the controversial call to break the sacramental seal of confession to reveal child sexual abuse.

The five-year inquiry's far-reaching recommendations included changes to canon law and voluntary celibacy for priests.

The advice being considered by the ACBC includes the final reports of its royal commission body, the Truth Justice and Healing Council.WHO IS MACQUARIE'S NEW CEO SHEMARA WIKRAMANAYAKE?

- Born in England in 1961

- Educated in Britain and Sri Lanka before attending Sydney's Ascham School for girls

- Earned a commerce and law degree from the University of NSW

- Completed an advanced management program at Harvard University

- Spent a year as a corporate lawyer at Blake Dawson Waldron in 1986

- Joined Macquarie in 1987, working in corporate services before helping to establish Macquarie Capital

- Headed prudential function for Macquarie investment bank from 2001-04

- Headed Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets in New York from 2004-08

- Established infrastructure funds in the US and Canada, and established and led the Macquarie's corporate advisory offices in New Zealand, Hong Kong and Malaysia

- Appointed Head of Macquarie Asset Management in 2008

- Chair of the Macquarie Group Foundation from 2013

- Earned $16.7 million in FY18

- Told the Financial Times that she had never sold a Macquarie share in 30 years

- Has two childrenThe NSW premier has moved to quash ongoing speculation the Nationals could contest the upcoming Wagga Wagga by-election by insisting "the Liberals are running".

Gladys Berejiklian met with her deputy and state Nationals leader John Barilaro on Wednesday to discuss the by-election, which will follow the resignation of disgraced ex-Liberal MP Daryl Maguire.

The pair agreed on the weekend there wouldn't be a three-cornered contest but the Nationals continued to suggest they could potentially run in the Riverina seat.

Ms Berejiklian dismissed that talk on Thursday.

"There's no three-cornered contest and the Liberals are running," she told reporters in Sydney.

The premier on Saturday made it clear she expects a Liberal Party candidate to run and win the seat.

"The Liberal Party's held that seat for half a century and the Liberal Party has opened nominations," Ms Berejiklian said at the time.

NSW Labor has announced local councillor Dan Hayes will be the ALP candidate.

Mr Maguire's fall from grace began on July 13 when a damning taped phone conversation was played to the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

He was heard boasting about a Chinese client with "mega money" and discussing potential commissions from property deals as he spoke with the Canterbury City Councillor at the centre of the investigation.

Mr Barilaro's office declined to comment on Thursday when contacted by AAP.Accused wife-killer Borce Ristevski told his daughter he was getting "shisha" on the day Karen Ristevski vanished and didn't tell police because he thought it was illegal, a Melbourne court has been told.

Ristevski, 54, is accused of murdering his dress shop-owner wife at the family's Avondale Heights home before dumping her body in the bush on June 29, 2016.

In a conversation captured by a police listening device in September 2016, Sarah Ristevski questioned her father about what he was doing that day.

"I was going to get shisha," he replied.

"I didn't say anything because I didn't know it was legal."

Prosecutor Matt Fisher detailed the conversation in closing submissions of a hearing to decide whether Ristevski stands trial for murder.

As read by Mr Fisher, Sarah went on: "You were out of the house for two hours. Your phone is off for two hours ... They pinged you on the Calder (Freeway)."

Ristevski responded: "That's what they are trying to plant out there, Sarah."

"That doesn't make sense," Sarah said.

"Nothing makes sense because they're making it up as they go," he replied.

He claimed his wife had gone out for a walk to clear her mind that morning and never returned.

He told police took her Mercedes-Benz roadster to get petrol but turned around after the faulty fuel gauge showed it didn't need filling.

But detectives allege he killed his wife, bundled her into the car and drove to Macedon Regional Park, taking the Calder Freeway.

Mr Fisher said Ristevski concealed the body in a "thorough" way and deliberately switched off or deactivated their phones before arriving in the bush.

"He takes the body from the car and places it between two fallen tree trunks then further conceals her body with things from the bush. Leaves, branches," Mr Fisher said.

"She remained missing for eight months and almost by chance she's found."

Ms Ristevski's skeletal remains were found in February 2017 by two horticulturalists who had noticed a strange smell.

Ristevski's lawyers say the murder charge should be abandoned because even if a jury were to find he killed her, there is no evidence of motive or "murderous intent".

But prosecutors are pushing hard for a murder trial and say his deceitful actions after the killing give rise to the required intent.

"The post-offence conduct is so sustained, there is so much of it and it is so significant that the only conclusion that's available is that the accused man had the murderous intent.

"That's why he went to the lengths that he did. This isn't just an accidental killing."

Ristevski was charged after a lengthy police investigation that involved phone taps, listening devices and CCTV footage analysis.

The family's dire financial situation has been recounted to court with details of Ms Ristevski's fashion store Bella Bleu floundering.

Magistrate Suzanne Cameron will consider her decision after Mr Fisher finishes his closing submissions on Thursday.Political commentary about Victorian gang violence is leading to attacks on African-Australian youths with fatal results, Melbourne's most senior Anglican says.

Bishop Philip Huggins said in a statement on Thursday he is aware of four recent attacks on South Sudanese young people by "non-Africans" that have resulted in a death, a suicide and life-threatening injuries.

"I urge our political leaders to pause, take account of these unintended consequences and moderate their language," Bishop Huggins said while taking aim at both the state and federal Liberal parties.

Lifeline 13 11 14

beyondblue 1300 22 4636Two NSW inmates have been busted attempting to tunnel out of their prison cell, using toothpaste and toilet paper to mask their escape route.

A prison officer noticed the paste and paper jammed into the edges of a sandstone block at Bathurst Correctional Facility on Thursday.

"I noticed near the cell bars at the back of the cell what appeared to be diggings into the concrete, and the mortar had been removed from around the large sandstone block," the officer said in a statement.

The holes had been concealed with toilet paper and secured in place with toothpaste, she said.

Corrective Services NSW Commissioner Peter Severin praised the work of the prison guard.

"We are all very proud of this officer, whose curiosity and methodical cell search uncovered this brazen escape attempt," Mr Severin said in a statement.

The two inmates, aged 37 and 39, deny all knowledge of the tunnelling, and have been placed in segregation as investigations continue.

In 2017 there were 10 prison escapes in NSW, which were mostly from minimum-security prisons, according to Corrective Services NSW.The man accused of killing Chinese woman Qi Yu is expected to face court just days after police discovered what are believed to be her remains in bushland north of Sydney.

Shuo Dong, 19, is expected to face Burwood Local Court on Friday, charged with the murder of his former housemate Ms Yu, who went missing in June.

Dong was charged with the murder of the 28-year-old woman on June 13, less than a week after her disappearance.

A body believed to be that of Ms Yu was found near an emergency stop area on the M1 highway near Mount Kuring-gai in Sydney's north on Wednesday morning.A world-renowned Adelaide plastic surgeon will fly to Greece on Friday to treat victims of deadly wildfires with Australian-developed skin repair technology.

Dr John Greenwood will assist Greek surgeons with the 10 most severely burned patients from the fires near Athens that have taken more than 80 lives and injured many more.

He will begin work on Sunday at the KAT Hospital in Athens using a biodegradable skin graft substitution he pioneered with the CSIRO after the Bali bombings in 2002.

Dr Greenwood is director of the Adult Burns Unit at Royal Adelaide Hospital and was 2016 SA Australian of the Year for his world-leading work in burns treatment.

The skin graft product, called NovoSorb, made by Melbourne-based company Polynovo, acts as a dermal tissue scaffold allowing new dermal cells, blood vessels and skin structures to develop, leaving soft, supple skin with minimal scarring.

The product is considered a game-changer for burns treatment.The collapse of Australian media companies would guarantee the demise of local content, Communications Minister Mitch Fifield has argued while endorsing the Nine Network's takeover of Fairfax Media.

Political leaders have argued regional newspapers must be protected as regulators scrutinise the $4 billion merger deal, the country's biggest media shake-up in more than 30 years.

There are fears the deal, which will see the Fairfax name disappear after more than a century, may reduce the local content its vast network of regional mastheads contains.

Pressed on the prospect, Senator Fifield said standing still was not an option available to Australian media organisations competing with global online behemoths.

"You can't wind the clock back, the internet exists, there is online competition and Australian media organisations need to adjust," he told ABC radio on Thursday night.

"How they adjust is a matter for them. Individual media organisations are in the best position to know what is in their best business interests.

"But if Australian media organisations fail, then you will have less local content."

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will examine the historic merger, but expects it to be approved.

Mr Turnbull said when so much of the media was national or international "regional voices have got a vitally important role to play".

"The most important news to everyone is the local news," he said.

Nine chief executive Hugh Marks told investors some lower growth businesses - including regional publishing - "may be better off serviced by being part of some other environment".

But he added he imagined the new company will continue to invest in Fairfax's 160 regional mastheads and websites.

Labor leader Bill Shorten has expressed concern about how the merger would affect Fairfax's local papers.

"We want to ensure that Tasmanian news gets covered in Tasmanian media, that it doesn't all come out of Victoria," he told reporters.

The prime minister, who worked for the Nine Network as a journalist and a lawyer, said the two companies were in a "very tough and competitive" business environment.

"I think bringing them together enables two strong Australian brands, with great, long, very long traditions, to be able to be more secure," Mr Turnbull said.

Former prime minister Paul Keating said the merger was an "exceptionally bad development" because it would cut diversity of opinion and information.A man who allegedly posed as a police officer before setting another man on fire will face a Queensland court on Friday.

Police allege the 47-year-old poured liquid over a 42-year-old man before setting him on fire on Wednesday night at a duplex in the north Queensland town of Mackay.

The victim has been taken to hospital with non-life threatening burns to his upper body and facial injuries after the incident, which also set the home on fire.

On Thursday, the man and a 16-year-old boy were both charged with several offences including attempted murder, arson and assault occasioning bodily harm.

Detective Inspector Brendan Smith said the two accused had gone to the man's home seeking retribution over a matter previously investigated by police.

After posing as a police officer to get inside the house, it's alleged the man set the other man on fire before fleeing the scene and dumping his clothing in a nearby bin.

"It shows the extent of their intent and planning to ... come down, commit the offences and then have the peace of mind to change and dispose of the clothing they were wearing in an effort to disguise their involvement," Det Insp Smith said.

The incident was sparked by false accusations against the man involving children, Det Insp Smith said, but he declined to comment further on the matter.

"The rumour mill went crazy and these people took it upon themselves to take action," he said.

The man is due to appear in Mackay Magistrates Court later on Friday.A second man has been charged after a man was found on a Gold Coast road with a gunshot wound to his leg.

A 27-year-old Nerang man will face Southport Magistrates Court on Friday on one charge of intent to maim, and one count of robbery in company whilst armed.

Queensland police also charged a 27-year-old Arundel man earlier this week over the incident, where a 42-year-old man was found lying on Helensvale Road last Thursday with a gunshot wound to his lower right leg.The Administrative Appeals Tribunal will be reviewed following a series of decisions overturning government sanctioned visa cancellations and deportation orders.

Federal Attorney-General Christian Porter is on Friday expected to announce former High Court judge Ian Callinan will lead a the three-year inquiry into the tribunal, The Australian reports.

It comes after Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton criticised its decision to overturn the visa cancellation for a Chinese drug smuggler jailed for 10 years in Sydney.

"This review will look at ways to better address community standards because it is not right that these people are here committing multiple offences, serious offences against multiple Australian victims and somehow they're allowed to stay," Mr Dutton said.An Adelaide man has been charged after allegedly biting two police officers while resisting arrest before being tasered, police say.

Officers visited a Valley View home in the early hours of Friday and were speaking to the man when he became aggressive, and bit the officers on their hands as they tried to arrest him.

Capsicum spray failed to subdue him and the man was allegedly biting one of the officers on the leg when he was tasered. The 38-year-old will face Adelaide Magistrates Court on Friday.South Australia's new Economic Advisory Council is to meet for the first time as part of Premier Steven Marshall's promise to grow the state economy.

The premier says the council brings together some of the sharpest minds across industry to provide advice to his new government.

"Today's meeting will set the agenda for ongoing discussions with business leaders about how we can best stimulate strong economic growth and jobs creation here in South Australia,'' Mr Marshall said.

"The Liberal government was elected on a clear platform to reinvigorate and grow our state's economy, through lower taxes and increased exports and investment."

The council has been drawn from a range of industry backgrounds including information technology, defence, banking and finance, education, tourism, mining and scientific research and development.Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has played down a report the United States could be preparing to bomb Iran as early as next month.

The ABC has cited unnamed senior security figures within the federal government as saying they believed the US was eyeing Iran's nuclear facilities.

The top-secret Pine Gap base in the Northern Territory and other Australian defence facilities could play a role in identifying targets, the ABC reported on Friday.

But the prime minister rejected this as "speculation".

"The story on the ABC, which cites senior Australian government sources, has not benefited from any consultation with me, the foreign minister, the defence minister or the chief of the defence force," he told ABC radio.

"So perhaps you should inquire of the authors of the article."Former Victoria detective Ron Iddles has been cleared of wrongdoing over his review of a case against a convicted cop killer.

Mr Iddles had been under investigation by Victoria Police's Professional Standards Command over his review of the case against Jason Roberts, one of the two men convicted of murdering officers Gary Silk and Rodney Miller in 1998.

In a statement on Friday, Victoria Police said an investigation into a complaint against a retired police member had wrapped up and it would not be taking the matter further.CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins, seen asking a question at the White House in 2017, says Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told her she could not attend an event with US President Donald Trump because she previously asked "inappropriate" questions

The White House was under fire Wednesday for barring a CNN reporter from attending an event with the president, allegedly for having asked questions that officials objected to.

Reporter Kaitlan Collins was quoted by CNN as saying that White House communications officials told her she could not attend an event with US President Donald Trump and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker because she had asked "inappropriate" questions earlier in the day.

"We strongly condemn the White House's misguided and inappropriate decision today to bar one of our members from an open press event after she asked questions they did not like," the White House Correspondents' Association said in a statement.

"This type of retaliation is wholly inappropriate, wrong-headed, and weak. It cannot stand," it said.

CNN also condemned the White House's decision, saying: "Just because the White House is uncomfortable with a question regarding the news of day doesn't mean the question isn't relevant and shouldn't be asked."

Meanwhile, other journalists -- including from rival networks -- came to Collins' defense.

"As a member of the White House Press pool- @FoxNews stands firmly with @CNN on this issue and the issue of access," tweeted Bret Baier of Fox News.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders -- one of the two officials whom Collins said delivered news of the ban -- issued a statement alleging that the reporter refused to leave when asked.

"At the conclusion of a press event in the Oval Office a reporter shouted questions and refused to leave despite repeatedly being asked to do so," Sander said in a statement.

"Subsequently, our staff informed her she was not welcome to participate in the next event, but made clear that any other journalist from her network could attend," she said.

The Trump White House has a contentious relationship with the press, and the president has termed leading media -- including CNN -- the "enemy of the American People."People pick up free fruit and vegetables during a twice-monthly food distribution drive in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles

Delighted to take home food that others would discard, Herlinda Mendoza looks excitedly over the bounty of fresh produce spread out before her.

"I like all of it, all of it. The grapes, the onions," Mendoza says in a soft grandmotherly voice as she and her daughter Laura man shopping carts, waiting to fill them up.

"You have to be grateful for everything you are given."

The women are in a warehouse in a poor neighborhood of Los Angeles, one of many venues where an non-governmental organization called Food Forward is working to salvage some of the mountains of food that Americans throw away every year and give it to the needy.

On this particular day, the NGO and a community center distributed 15,000 pounds (6,800 kilos) of fruit and vegetables that wholesalers would otherwise have thrown out.

There was nothing wrong with all that food. It was doomed only because more fresh deliveries were on the way and room had to be made, or because the produce had some slight bruise or other minor defect.

Every week, Food Forward collects some 353,000 pounds of surplus produce from people's fruit trees, farmers' markets and LA's Wholesale Produce Market.

It then donates the food to hundreds of organizations that help the needy throughout southern California.

"With a program like this, where people can actually understand the two-sided connection of food waste and hunger, you start to see some change," said Rick Nahmias, the NGO's founder.

- 'No restrictions' -

Americans throw out an extraordinary amount of food -- as much as 400 pounds (180 kilos) per person per year, according to one study

This particular twice-monthly handout is held in a warehouse in Watts, one of the poorest and roughest neighborhoods of Los Angeles, where most residents are black or Latino.

"They can have two or more bags, and they fill up, and there is no restrictions," said Sheila Thomas, who works for the community center allied with Food Forward at this warehouse.

The center also helps people find work, and offers assistance to young people applying to college. It even help them with paying their tuition.

As they all wait in line, Herlinda and Laura chat and joke around with other Latinos. All told, some 500 people are expected to come by on this particular day and take home some fresh produce.

The spread at the center looks like any other market, with everything neatly organized.

When it comes time for the customers to choose, their neediness becomes more apparent.

They nervously use both hands as they try to stuff as much as they can in bags, as if they were participating in a TV game show race against the clock.

"This is really good for the heart," Herlinda says, with a cucumber in her hand.

Later, she holds an ear of corn. "Do you know what I make with this? Atol," she says, referring to a hot beverage made from corn flour.

"This food is so good. I don't understand why they were going to throw it away," said 61-year-old Salvadoran woman Paula Ramirez.

She saves a lot of money thanks to this charity, and she needs to: her husband uses a wheelchair and they get by on a small pension.

"He doesn't work and neither do I," she said.

- 'A lot to share' -

A study by the National Resources Defense Council has estimated that each American chucks out an average of more than 400 pounds of food per year.

Multiply that by America's population of 327 million. It is an astronomical amount of waste.

An orange tree in somebody's backyard might yield 200-300 pounds of fruit per year, according to Nahmias, who adds that he has heard of grapefruit trees yielding as many as 1,400 pounds in a year.

"Thats a lot of fruit for one family or one person to use. So in every which way, there is a lot to share," he said as a team working with him picked oranges in the courtyard of a school.

The volunteers, using a fruit-picking device with shears at the end of a long rod, fill crate after crate and end up with 149 of them -- oranges that will presumably be eaten, not thrown out.Shimron Hetmyer of West Indies hits 4 during their 2nd ODI match against Bangladesh, at Guyana National Stadium in Providence, on July 25, 2018

Shimron Hetmyer scored a superb century as Bangladesh on Wednesday stumbled in the final over to hand the West Indies a series-levelling victory in their one-day game.

The hosts made it 1-1 in the best-of-three series after Bangladesh failed to score eight runs off their final over for what would have been a series win.

Shimron Hetmyer blazed 125 off 93 balls to pace the home side to a competitive 271 all out batting first.

Bangladesh were left stranded on 268 for six after their 50 overs as West Indies held on for a three-run win.

West Indies captain Jason Holder, who started the innings by conceding 20 runs and whose final analysis of one for 66 was the most expensive ever by a Caribbean bowler in an ODI against Bangladesh, bowled the 50th over to give the hosts the victory.

Holder's first delivery accounted for topscorer Mushfiqur Rahim for 68 via a catch on the midwicket boundary and he conceded just four runs off the remaining five deliveries to celebrate a result with his teammates which leaves the series to be decided in the final match on Saturday in St Kitts.

Mushfiqur Rahim (down) of Bangladesh survives a run out by Shai Hope of West Indies during their 2nd ODI match, at Guyana National Stadium in Providence, on July 25, 2018

"We just had to hang in there and believe in ourselves," said the delighted captain after the match.

"Bangladesh came at us hard and credit to them for the way they batted at the top. But we didnt give up and it really sets things up for the final match."

Yet it should never have come to the final over drama, especially after the flying start in which Bangladesh raced to their fastest-ever fifty in ODIs - off 4.4 overs - and were 71 for one by the seventh over and apparently cruising.

However both Tamim Iqbal (54) and Shakib al Hasan (56) fell to careless shots to spinners Devendra Bishoo and Ashley Nurse respectively to get the West Indies back into the fray.

Mushfiqur and Mahmudullah, who contributed 39, then featured in an 87-run fourth-wicket stand that looked to have tilted the balance decisively Bangladeshs way.

There were more twists to come though as Mahmudullah was run out at the start of the 46th over at 232 for four, which opened the door to a West Indies team who appeared to have been closed out from the contest just minutes earlier.

"It was a game we should have won but we made too many mistakes at the end," said Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza.

"We weren't at our best in the field either but the series is still alive and we believe we have what it takes to win it."A fraud case involving a vaccine manufacturer has ignited public outrage in China

China's drug regulator said it has launched a nationwide inspection of vaccine production as authorities step up the response to a fraud case that has re-ignited public fears over the safety of the country's medicines.

The State Drug Administration (SDA) said in an announcement issued late Wednesday that it had dispatched inspection teams "to thoroughly investigate the whole process and entire chain of vaccine production of all vaccine producers".

The move comes as authorities rush to bolster public confidence in the country's vaccines, which have been hit by repeated questions about safety and reliability over the years.

China's latest product-safety scare emerged more than a week ago with news that major pharmaceutical manufacturer Changchun Changsheng Biotechnology had fabricated records and was ordered to cease production of rabies vaccines.

The case leapt to the top of the national agenda last weekend as parents and other consumers vented their anger and frustration at manufacturers and the regulators tasked with supervising them.

The government said the problematic rabies vaccine did not leave Changsheng's factory and was not put up for sale.

But anger and fear over the failures were quickly exacerbated by additional revelations: the company's vaccine for diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus (DPT) had also failed to meet quality standards, with 250,000 doses sold to Shandong province last year.

Further damaging public confidence, authorities in the northern province of Hebei announced Monday that nearly 150,000 people had received sub-standard DPT vaccines made by another firm, Wuhan Institute of Biological Products.

- 'Vile' actions -

The problems have rekindled already deep fears over domestically made medicines and driven worried parents online to swap information on obtaining imported vaccines, with some vowing not to give their children Chinese-made drugs.

The depth of public outrage revealed on social media appeared to have caught authorities off-guard, and national leaders have scrambled in recent days to vow a thorough safety clean-up of the pharmaceutical sector.

Police in the northeastern city of Changchun announced on Tuesday that 15 people, including the company's chairwoman, had been arrested on "suspicion of criminal offences".

President Xi Jinping -- on a trip to Africa -- weighed in earlier this week by calling the vaccine company's actions "vile in nature and shocking", according to state media.

In a further demonstration of government concern, China's cabinet -- the State Council -- sent a team to Changsheng's home province of Jilin to investigate the case with a mandate "to resolutely guard the safety bottom line and maintain social security and stability", the official Xinhua news service said Thursday.

China is regularly hit by scandals involving sub-par or toxic food, drugs and other products, despite repeated promises by the ruling Communist Party to address the problem.At the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School for boys, students can practice driving military vehicles on a simulator -- one room is crammed with small arms, another holds a tank with moving caterpillar tracks, and shooting is a key subject

Not many schools have classrooms equipped with tanks, jet fighter simulators, and grenade launchers. But North Korea's Mangyongdae Revolutionary School for boys is no ordinary establishment.

Originally set up by the North's founder Kim Il Sung to educate the orphans of those killed in the fight against Japanese colonial rule, it has evolved to become the country's top school, and one of the institutions that knits the ruling elite together.

A bronze statue of Kim and his son and successor Kim Jong Il - an old boy - embracing pupils overlooks the playing field, and the corridors are lined with weapons identification posters.

A bronze statue of Kim and his son and successor Kim Jong Il - an old boy - embracing pupils overlooks the playing field, and the corridors are lined with weapons identification posters

One room is crammed with small arms, another holds a tank with moving caterpillar tracks, and shooting is a key subject, with training taking place on an electronic range.

The 1,000 shaven-headed boys wear a military-style uniform said to have been designed by the senior Kim's wife Kang Pan Sok, a red line down their trousers symbolising their devotion to the cause of revolution.

After graduating they will all go into the military, a key part of the nuclear-armed North Korean state - Kim Jong Il espoused a "military first" philosophy and current leader Kim Jong Un, the third of the dynasty to rule, regularly appears flanked by officers on one side and officials on the other.

There are six 45-minute classes a day, with half the curriculum devoted to politics and ideology, almost a quarter on military subjects, and the rest for traditional academic disciplines.

A separate girls' school named after North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung's wife Kang Pan Sok stands in the Pyongyang suburb of Chilgol, where she was born

Afternoons are reserved for physical activities, with the boys screaming shouts of encouragement in the weights room of the well-equipped gym or performing impressive topless taekwondo tumbles.

They also regularly clean and maintain the nearby estate where Kim Il Sung was born, now a major pilgrimage site and the origin of the school's name.

A separate girls' school named after Kang Pan Sok stands in the Pyongyang suburb of Chilgol, where she was born.

- 'Fatherland and people' -

The schools are a Kim family project: the North's founder visited 118 times, his wife 62 times, their son 94 times, and Kim Jong Un - who was educated in Switzerland himself - has been six times so far.

The schools are a Kim family project: the North's founder visited 118 times, his wife 62 times, their son 94 times, and Kim Jong Un - who was educated in Switzerland himself - has been six times so far

"The Supreme Leader comrade Kim Jong Un is the true parent of all our revolutionary schoolchildren," says Lieutenant Choe Su Gyong, a guide to the Mangyongdae school museum, where pictures show Zairean dictator Mobutu Sese Seko and Romania's Nicolae Ceausescu visiting, and Benin president Mathieu Kerekou, whose sons attended for six years.

The exhibits include a rifle held up by Kim Il Sung on one of his trips, whom Choe quoted as saying: "The sons and daughters of the revolutionaries have to grow into flowers of the revolution, following in their parents' footsteps."

Afternoons at the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School outside Pyongyang are reserved for physical activities, with the boys screaming shouts of encouragement in the weights room of the well-equipped gym or performing impressive topless taekwondo tumbles

With the Japanese colonial period now decades in the past, entry to the school has been broadened to those who have at least one parent or grandparent deemed to have been a loyal servant of the state.

"We choose the sons and daughters of the patriots who fought for the party and government and country and fatherland and people," said Senior Colonel Kim Yong Ho, the school's deputy education department director.

The resulting networks of friendships and influence can last a lifetime. As well as Kim Jong Il, the school's graduates include Yon Hyong Muk, the North's premier in 1988-92.

- Ruling elite -

Well beyond the Kim family, the top echelons of North Korean society are a self-perpetuating ruling class.

"The North Korean elite is remarkably closed to outsiders, it is hereditary to a degree which would be inconceivable in any other communist country," said Andrei Lankov of Korea Risk Group.

Pupils at the elite schools wear a military-style uniform said to have been designed by North Korean founder Kim Il Sung's wife Kang Pan Sok, a red line down their trousers symbolising their devotion to the cause of revolution

"The majority of North Korean top officials are children of top officials."

Pyongyang proclaims its citizens as equals but classifies them by socio-political background according to a detailed and hereditary system known as songbun, with loyalty to the authorities a crucial factor - those whose ancestors were capitalists or collaborated with the Japanese rank low.

Only those with good songbun can expect to secure a place at a top university or permission to live in Pyongyang, although the advent of private business is now opening up opportunities for others.

When the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School was founded in the early days of the Democratic People's Republic, it copied the Soviet Union's Suvorov military schools for veterans' orphans.

At the time there were four main factions in the ruling Workers' Party - the partisans who had fought alongside Kim Il Sung, domestic Communists, those who had been exiled in China, and Soviet Koreans.

A series of purges left Kim's trusted comrades-in-arms as the unquestioned top flight.

"Then the function of the school changed," said Lankov, attributing its prominence to "the militarisation of North Korean society in the 1960s and emergence of the quasi-religious cults of the guerrillas who are essentially presented as apostles to Kim the Great".

Even so its appeal may be waning for the next generation, he added.

"The great-grandchildren of tough and rustic guerrillas have grown spoiled and do not appreciate the tough and simple values of their forebears," he said.

"They would prefer study foreign languages and computer programming, rather than handguns and ways of killing a human with only a short knife."

But Senior Colonel Kim has no doubts.

"We have to educate our schoolboys as the hard core of the Korean People's Army," he said.Residents near the collapsed dam have returned to flooded villages to salvage what they can from the debris

The torrent of water unleashed in a deadly Laos dam collapse has drained into Cambodia, forcing thousands to evacuate, as rescuers on Thursday battled monsoon rains to find scores of Laotians still missing after entire villages were washed away.

Twenty-seven people have been confirmed dead, with 131 still missing, after the Xe-Namnoy dam collapsed on Monday in a remote southern corner of Laos, leaving villagers with little time to escape.

It is an unprecedented accident to strike the hydropower industry in Laos, where the Communist government has dammed large sections of its myriad waterways to generate electricity that is mostly sold to its neighbours.

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The search and rescue effort entered a third day Thursday, with China, Vietnam and Thailand sending in specialists, while villagers picked through their wrecked, mud-caked homes for possessions as the flood waters receded.

Carcasses of livestock floated in the knee-deep waters in a devastated village visited by AFP, as heavy rain pounded the area.

Thousands of villagers downstream in Cambodia have also been forced to flee as the water once held back by the dam flowed south.

"Water is still rising, so more people will be evacuated," Men Kong, a government spokesman in Cambodia's Stung Streng province, told AFP.

Cambodian soldiers ferried villagers and motorbikes from flooded zones on wooden boats, while supplies were handed out to some who found refuge on dry land.

In Laos, Chinese rescuers in life jackets and helmets joined local soldiers searching for the missing Thursday, according to an AFP reporter at the scene, while community volunteers pitched in with private boats to return to villages still submerged.

Residents recalled their terror as water rushed through their homes.

Flood survivors have crowded into makeshift refuges after the dam collapse

Tran Van Bien, 47, from Ban Mai village close to the ruined dam said he was told to evacuate just two hours before the dam burst on Monday evening, running to a neighbour's house with his family as his home quickly filled with water.

"We were on the roof of that house the whole night, cold and scared. At 4:00 am a wooden boat passed and we decided to send my wife and my kid out," he told AFP from a nearby town where he eventually found dry land.

"My wife tied our child to her body, saying if they died, they would die together rather than being alone."

- 'Insufficient warning' -

The $1.2 billion Xe-Namnoy dam, a joint venture between Laos, Thai and Korean companies, was still under construction in southern Attapeu province when it collapsed after heavy rains pounded the area earlier this week.

Rescuers are battling monsoon rains to find scores of Laotians still missing after entire villages were washed away

Two South Korean companies involved in the project's construction and operation said damage was reported a day before the auxiliary "Saddle D" dam collapsed.

However a timeline from operator Korea Western Power Co. obtained by AFP said 11 centimetres (four inches) of subsidence was spotted at the dam's centre as early as Friday.

The company told AFP it could not yet determine the cause of the collapse.

"It is too early to define whether it was a natural disaster or a manmade disaster," a spokesman told AFP Thursday.

Makeshift ferries have been used to cross swollen rivers in the flash flood zone in southern Laos

Thailand issued new regulations for its hydro plant operators in Laos this week, ordering companies to report on dam conditions every week and communicate closely with residents.

"If a dam plans to release water they must coordinate with local officials to warn people and to prevent people from panic at least seven days (in advance)," Thailand's Energy and Mining Minister Khammany Inthirath announced Wednesday.

Southeastern Laos is frequently lashed by monsoon rains, and dam operators regularly release water from reservoirs in order to avoid overflow -- or collapse.

Southeastern Laos is frequently lashed by monsoon rains, and dam operators regularly release water from reservoirs in order to avoid overflow

The 410 MW Xe-Namnoy project is one of more than 50 hydropower plans underway in Laos, which has billed itself as the "battery of Asia" in its ambitious bid to become a major power exporter in the region.

Laos has said it wants to double its power generation capacity to 28,000 MW by 2020 and has opened its doors to foreign investors -- mainly from China, Thailand and Vietnam -- to build dams across the country.

But the projects have come under fire from rights groups who say local communities are forcibly moved and lose key access to river waters for farming and fishing.

"This tragedy has compounded their suffering," International Rivers said in a statement Thursday.

"Communities were not given sufficient advanced warning to ensure their safety and that of their families. This event raises major questions about dam standards and dam safety in Laos."Henna leaves have for centuries been ground down to paint nails, tint hair and ink tattoos

In and around the Tunisian coastal city of Gabes, henna has long been a key driver of the economy -- so much so that the plant is known as "red gold".

But a water crisis and changing consumer habits are making farmers think twice about planting henna shrubs, despite their coveted leaves that have for centuries been ground down to paint nails, tint hair and ink temporary tattoos, especially for weddings.

"Gabes is dying because of the lack of water," says farmer Houcine Akrout, as he digs intricate channels around his green plants to maximise water flow in the early morning sunlight.

Akrout is hard at work, because the local water supply will today run from a canal onto his land -- a rare thing nowadays, due to government rationing.

Urbanisation and rapidly rising demand for water from industry and agriculture have put immense pressure on Tunisia's water reserves, according to the World Bank.

And a 2016 study of Tunisia's water services funded by Sweden's government found that losses from the irrigation network reach 40 to 50 percent.

For farmers like Akrout, that means waiting 15 to 20 days for access to the water supply.

"It's very long for the henna plant which needs lots of water," he tells AFP.

The situation is so bad he has uprooted most of his henna shrubs and replaced them with pomegranate trees -- a much less thirsty species.

Henna leaves are grown, dried and reduced to powder before being mixed with water to create the coveted die paste

"Henna does not make me any money," he says. "It isn't profitable any more and I need to live and support my family."

When it comes, the water supply costs 2.8 dinars ($1.10, 0.93 euros) per hour.

In mid-summer, the wait can reach up to 40 days, admits Amel Ghiloufi, head of the region's plants department at the agriculture ministry.

And pollution of the water supply from a chemical plant has seen farmers abandon land in the oasis on the Mediterranean coast in recent decades.

- Production down 20 percent -

The water crisis is having a dramatic impact on henna output.

Only 645 tonnes of the plant were harvested in the Gabes region in 2016/17 - down 20 percent from the previous season, Ghiloufi says.

But other factors, including a labour shortage, are also driving the long-term decline.

And it's not only supply side pressures that undermine the market -- demand for local henna is also falling, as people opt for foreign alternatives.

Over the centuries, henna leaves have been dried and reduced to a fine powder before being mixed with water, to create the paste coveted by people in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

The paste is used to colour hair, palms of hands, arms and feet with simple patterns that last for a month or so.

Henna powder for sale in Gabes

But the process can be messy and people don't always want to keep the art work for that long.

So imports of a treated version of henna from Sudan, Yemen and India are increasingly popular, with added chemicals limiting penetration of the skin and making it easy to wash from hands.

Ahead of weddings, the ready-to-use dye is handed out in decorated boxes to guests at bachelorette parties.

The processed imported versions are taking over from the local product.

And while once popular as a grandmother's remedy for anything from migraines to skin problems, younger people are more sceptical of henna's healing powers.

But for Ghiloufi the only way "to revive the sector is to break new ground", by promoting henna's natural benefits and diversifying into new markets.

In the capital Tunis, shampoos based on the plant have begun to find their way into health stores.

Only a few entrepreneurs sell Tunisian henna abroad -- and they do so without state support -- so exports are minimal, despite the "good quality" produced by Gabe's farmers, says Ghiloufi.

- 'Out of fashion' -

In Jara, the main tourist market in the centre of Gabes, huge stalls overflow with henna and incense -- but the streets are empty.

Traders complain that the trickle of tourists is not enough to compensate for locals' disinterest.

A bride shows her henna-painted hands, the day before her wedding in Gabes, Tunisia

"Henna is sold all the year round. Our market was always full of clients who come from all over Tunisia!" says 85-year-old Hassen Mrabet, who has been growing and selling henna for half a century.

"Now sales are limited to the wedding season in July and August," he adds.

Another trader bemoans the rising popularity of other beauty products and treatments, as lifestyles change.

New forms of "dye and manicures have replaced henna today", according to 49-year-old Ismail.

"Tunisians have changed their habits and turned their backs on their traditions; henna is out of fashion."President Donald Trump has relinquished day to day control of his company but retains ownership

A lawsuit that accuses President Donald Trump of violating the constitution by maintaining his interest in a hotel that does business with foreign governments has been allowed to proceed by a US judge.

It marked the first time a judge has interpreted anti-corruption clauses in the constitution known as emoluments clauses and applied them to a sitting president, news reports said.

US District Judge Robert Messitte in Maryland ruled Wednesday that the case -- which centers on money Trump makes from the Trump International Hotel in Washington -- can now move to the evidence-gathering stage.

If the ruling stands -- the Justice Department can appeal -- it would mean the plaintiffs will seek to examine Trump business records.

Trump has refused to disclose such information and in particular his income tax returns, in a break with the practice of previous presidents.

The clauses at stake bar a president from receiving financial benefits from foreign or domestic governments.

The plaintiffs in the case are the state of Maryland and the District of Columbia, as Washington is known.

They say Trump violates the clauses by profiting from the hotel, which is just down the street from the White House and popular with foreign and US state government delegations.

"Sole or substantial ownership of a business that receives hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars a year in revenue from one of its hotel properties where foreign and domestic governments are known to stay (often with the express purpose of cultivating the president's good graces) most definitely raises the potential for undue influence, and would be well within the contemplation of the clauses," Judge Messitte wrote.

The Justice Department had sought to have the case thrown out on grounds the clauses did not apply to the hotel.

It argued that the clauses were designed to prevent a president from taking bribes, not from engaging in business.

But the judge ruled that this was too narrow an interpretation of what an emolument is.Attacks attributed to Fulani herdsmen are adding to tensions in Nigeria's volatile communal mix

Worsening violence between farmers and herders could hit Nigeria's general election and "destabilise" the country, according to a new report published Thursday.

The International Crisis Group (ICG) said the long-running battle for land and resources, fuelled by pressures from an increasing population, was now "Nigeria's gravest security threat," outstripping the peril from jihadism.

At least 1,500 people have been killed in clashes between nomadic herders and sedentary farmers in central states since September last year, the thinktank said.

Of these, more than 1,300 occurred between January and June this year, it added.

This is at least six times higher than the number of people estimated estimated by the UN to have been killed by Boko Haram in the same period.

The coffins of 17 worshippers and two priests allegedly killed by Fulani herdsmen in Ayati-Ikpayongo, Benue state, in May

The ICG said some progress had been made in tackling the crisis but more needed to be done ahead of elections, which typically heighten the risk of ethnic, religious and political tensions.

"It (the conflict) is exacting an ever deadlier toll and, with elections looming in 2019, could destabilise the country if the government and other actors fail to contain it," it added.

The first half of this year was the deadliest six months since the crisis worsened in 2014, it said in the report, "Stopping Nigeria's Spiralling Farmer-Herder Violence".

The overstretched police and military were unable to cope and with attacks largely unpunished, communities had taken matters into their own hands.

But much of the tit-for-tat violence has become more planned and involved increasingly well-armed and organised militia.

In the deadliest attack, 11 villages were attacked last month in the Barakin Ladi area of Plateau state, in which more than 200 people from farming communities were killed.

- Human and political cost -

The ICG said "scorched-earth" campaigns had made more than 300,000 people homeless, with the displaced forced to stay with family and friends or in overcrowded, unsanitary camps.

A farm in Nghar, near the central Nigerian city of Jos -- the village was abandoned after it was attacked by Fulani herdsmen in June

Local aid agencies were overwhelmed but there was very little help available elsewhere because of the humanitarian crisis sparked by the nine-year Boko Haram insurgency, it added.

Mass displacement has had an affect on food production and was likely to drive up prices, as farmers were unable or unwilling to work the land because of fear of fresh attacks.

President Muhammadu Buhari has been accused of failing to act against the herders because, like him, they are ethnic Fulani and Muslim.

The ICG said that argument was "unsustainable", as Buhari had equally been unable to stop a rise in banditry and cattle rustling against Fulani Muslims in some northern states.

But the perception had increased anti-Fulani and anti-Muslim sentiment in a country where communal tensions are rarely far from the surface and frequently boil over into violence.

On the election, the researchers said the unrest could affect the ability of people to register to vote and political campaigning.

Buhari, who was elected in 2015 on a pledge to defeat Boko Haram and improve security across the country, could equally see an erosion in support in central states, they added.

He may still be able to rely on widespread support in his northern powerbase but his security record could hurt him elsewhere, they added.Kabul has become one of the most dangerous places in Afghanistan because of repeated militant attacks

A suicide bomber blew himself up near an Afghan intelligence convoy on Thursday, killing at least five people and wounding six, police said, in the latest deadly attack in the city.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the National Directorate of Security (NDS), which police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai said happened at 5:00 am (0030 GMT).

Most of the victims were NDS officers, Stanikzai said.

Four members of the NDS and a civilian were killed, while five NDS personnel and a civilian were wounded.

The attacker was "most likely" driving a vehicle carrying explosives, Stanikzai added.

The assault comes two days after five rockets were fired on a residential area of Kabul, wounding at least three people. There was no claim of responsibility.

And on Sunday, a suicide bomber blew himself up near Kabul international airport, killing at least 23 people, including AFP driver Mohammad Akhtar. A further 107 people were wounded.

That attack was claimed by the Islamic State group (IS), which said it had targeted Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum, who returned to Kabul after more than a year in exile.

Taliban and IS militants have repeatedly carried out deadly attacks in the Afghan capital, turning it into one of the most dangerous places in the country.Morales was honoured with the Ramon Magsaysay Award -- often described as Asia's Nobel Prize -- in 2016

The Philippines' top anti-corruption prosecutor, one of the few remaining critics of President Rodrigo Duterte in government, retired on Thursday, replaced by a loyalist of the leader.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, 77, finished a seven-year term during which she earned Duterte's ire for criticising his brutal drug war and for her office's investigation into his alleged secret bank accounts.

She was replaced by Supreme Court justice Samuel Martires, Duterte announced Thursday, describing the new ombudsman as a "bright and... fair man".

Martires was appointed to the Supreme Court by Duterte last year and has previously voted in support of the president's controversial policies.

Duterte, who accused Morales of "selective justice" and conspiring with opposition figures to oust him, last year threatened to have the retired Supreme Court justice impeached while launching tirades against her.

But a defiant Morales dismissed Duterte's allegations as "fake news", saying that his threats never intimidated her from doing her job.

"I know I am right in my own work so why should I be scared," Morales told AFP days before her retirement.

"As long as we have strong institutions, we don't need strong people to run the government", she added, emphasising the importance of independent bodies like her office.

Duterte, 73, has launched an unprecedented crackdown on drugs that has left thousands dead, sparking criticism from rights groups who say he may be orchestrating a crime against humanity.

The Filipino leader has lashed out at critics, including Senator Leila de Lima -- jailed over drug charges she says were fabricated -- and former Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno who was ousted in May.

Opposition leaders have said these moves against these figures -- along with attempts to discredit the country's main rights agency -- are part of Duterte's scorched-earth tactics to silence critics and weaken democratic institutions.

Morales, who was appointed by Duterte's predecessor, Benigno Aquino, in 2011 to head the anti-graft watchdog, angered the president when she criticised his pronouncements on killings last year.

Their spat intensified last January when Morales defied Duterte's order to suspend her deputy for allegedly leaking his bank records, saying the president's directive violated the constitution.

Her agency was then investigating allegations that Duterte failed to disclose 211 million pesos ($3.9 million) in secret bank accounts when he was a presidential candidate.

The ombudsman said in February it had terminated the probe after the central bank's Anti-Money Laundering Council refused to cooperate.

"Ombudsman Morales is a significant voice, a strong woman and a person with integrity," Gladstone Cuarteros, assistant professor of political science at the De La Salle University in Manila, told AFP.

"With her retirement, another critical voice is softened but not silenced."

Morales was honoured with the Ramon Magsaysay Award -- often described as Asia's Nobel Prize -- in 2016 for her diligence in prosecuting high-ranking corrupt officials.Palau Pacific Airways said it had been forced to suspend flights because of a plunge in Chinese tourists

Palau's president has asked the United States and Japan to help its tourism industry after Beijing reportedly barred Chinese citizens from visiting the tiny Pacific island due to its diplomatic links with Taiwan.

President Tommy Remengesau said Palau had not received official confirmation of a ban but there had been a fall in visitors from China, one of his country's largest tourism markets, with one airline forced to suspend operations due to the plunge in demand.

China sees Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary, even though the island views itself as a sovereign nation and is a self-ruling democracy.

Remengesau said Taiwan had already promised to help by increasing flights to Palau and that he had also asked Washington and Tokyo for assistance.

"I approached Japan, I said 'please build one or two high-end hotel-resorts in Palau'," he told reporters Wednesday.

"I have approached Taiwan, I have approached the United States.... Just one investment can go a long way to help maintain the economic progress of a small nation such as Palau."

Remengesau said he also planned to ask South Korea and the European Union to encourage more tourists to visit Palau.

He ruled out revoking Palau's diplomatic recognition of Taiwan in order to gain favour with Beijing, saying "we are good friends... through thick and thin".

Beijing and Taipei have vied for diplomatic influence in the Pacific for decades, with both sides offering aid and support to small island states in return for recognition.

Chinese tourists accounted for 47 percent of international visitors to Palau in 2016, with Taiwanese making up 10 percent.

However, Palau Pacific Airways said this month that it had been forced to suspend flights because of a plunge in Chinese tourists.

A letter from the airline's Taiwanese owner, Sea Passion Group, to Palau's national congress accused Beijing of branding the Pacific island "an illegal tour destination", denting its business.

China's growing influence in the Pacific has caused concern in Australia and New Zealand, which have long regarded Oceania as their own backyard.

After years of inaction, both Canberra and Wellington significantly boosted aid spending in the region this year in a bid to win back hearts and minds among the island nations.

China's role in the region is set to be high on the agenda at the 18-nation Pacific Islands Forum annual meeting in Nauru in September.A member of the Syrian security forces walks past a truck damaged in a suicide attack claimed by the Islamic State group in the southern city of Sweida on July 25, 2018

The death toll in coordinated Islamic State group suicide bombings and shootings in southern Syria rose to nearly 250 overnight, more than half of them civilians, a monitor said Thursday.

Wednesday's attacks hit Sweida, a Druze-majority province mostly held by the government which had remained relatively insulated from the country's seven-year civil war.

The death toll climbed steadily throughout the day and into the night, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said.

"The toll is now 246 people dead, including 135 civilians," said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman.

The others killed were pro-government fighters or residents who had taken up arms to defend their villages.

"The toll keeps rising as civilians who were wounded are dying and people who were unaccounted for are found dead," Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Map of Syria locating Sweida

The onslaught began with a triple suicide bombing in the city of Sweida, which was followed by attacks with guns and explosives on villages to its north and east.

A fourth blast hit the provincial capital later in the day.

IS claimed the assault hours later. At least 45 jihadists died carrying it out, the Observatory said.

It was the worst bloodshed to hit Sweida province since the civil war began in 2011.

Syrian state media reported deadly attacks on Sweida and surrounding villages but did not give a specific toll.Cambodia's Hun Sen is one of an elite club of world's leaders to hold power for three decades

Cambodian leader Hun Sen has outlasted the murderous Khmer Rouge, sidelined the monarchy and crushed his opponents in a 33-year rule defined by patronage, political agility and repression and which is set to be prolonged by Sunday's election.

The 65-year-old is part of an elite club of world leaders to hold power for three decades, adapting to shifting political headwinds that have buffeted the poor, Southeast Asian country since the Cold War.

His ruling Cambodian People's Party is poised to sweep the July 29 poll in what is essentially a one-horse race after the country's only real opposition was dissolved by the courts last year.

Critics say victory will be the culmination of years of state-sponsored violence, intimidation and deft legal footwork by Hun Sen to head off an opposition which emerged as a serious threat at the last election in 2013.

It will also mark a nadir for Cambodian democracy.

"Few of Hun Sen's opponents have had the combination of ruthlessness, guile, and political acuity that have carried him through repeated cycles of Cambodian history," said Sebastian Strangio, author of "Hun Sen's Cambodia."

Garment workers who once marched with the opposition now head into elections under the patronage of PM Hun Sen

From his early days in politics, Hun Sen has darted from one side to the other to climb the ladder of Cambodian power.

He was a cadre in the Khmer Rouge, an ultra-Maoist organisation that overthrew the US-backed government of Lon Nol and killed one quarter of the population from 1975 to 1979.

But to escape ever deeper purges he defected to Vietnam, returning as their army toppled the Khmer Rouge and taking credit as Cambodia's saviour from a group he once belonged to.

The ambitious former fighter impressed his Vietnamese patrons and they installed him as prime minister in 1985.

He was only 32.

- Democratic era -

Hun Sen lost the first election he ever ran for in 1993, the UN-sponsored vote meant to be the dawn of a new democratic era.

But defeat only sharpened his nose for power.

He pushed to share the leadership with the victor as "second prime minister", but then seized control in a bloody 1997 coup, a year before the death of Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen last month addressed garment workers in Kampong Chhnang province as he courts the key sector

He's been accused of stacking the military with fiercely loyal allies that have spent decades helping him consolidate power, while handing key security roles to relatives.

While Vietnam was responsible for his rise, he has in recent years turned to China for cash and soft loans that left him less reliant on the West.

Major infrastructure projects have earned the loyalty of his base and jump-started Cambodia's economy.

A visible presence across the country, he travels frequently to the provinces, giving straight-talking speeches peppered with jokes and invective against his critics -- and laden with the warning that without him Cambodia will crumble.

As times change he has remodelled his approach, spreading his message via a Facebook page with 10 million "likes" -- on a platform that could have served the opposition and its youth support.

Garment workers who once marched with the opposition now head into elections under the patronage of Hun Sen, who has raised wages in a sector employing around three quarters of a million people.

"I love him the same as my parents," said garment worker Phoeung La during a recent visit by the premier to nearly 25,000 labourers in Kampong Chhnang province.

"When we meet difficulties, he is also sad."

Hun Sen, calling himself "uncle", was typically direct in his demands -- and tactics.

Workers were handed $5 in envelopes, while pregnant employees were given $200 by Hun Sen himself, a give-and-take that some see as part of his strategy.

"You ask for schools from uncle, you ask for roads from uncle, so uncle asks for votes back," he said.

- Genius of survival -

The ruling Cambodian People's Party has won every election from 1998 onwards.

But frustration with corruption among a young population with little memory of the horrors of the Khmer Rouge era gave an opening to new challengers.

Formed in 2012, the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) won more than 44 percent of the vote in 2013 and almost the same in local 2017 polls.

But their emerging threat was snuffed out.

In November the party was banned by the Supreme Court and the its leader charged for treason, while civil society and critical media have been hushed by legal cases.

Sam Rainsy, who co-founded the CNRP but now lives in self-exile in Paris, said Hun Sen's years in the Khmer Rouge were formative.

"There is a tradition, a culture of violence and impunity that Hun Sen embodies perfectly," Sam Rainsy, co-founder of the CNRP, told AFP.

And he is eyeing a dynasty with his sons primed to take over when he eventually leaves centre stage.

Even his nemesis Rainsy strikes a reluctant note of admiration for Cambodia's enduring strongman.

"Hun Sen's strength, I would even say his genius, is to survive," he said.Pompeo called on Russia to "end its occupation of Crimea"

Russia scoffed at a US declaration that said Washington would not accept Moscow's annexation of Crimea, suggesting the country's Ukraine policy could change in the future.

"We know the worth of these 'fateful declarations'," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a sarcastic comment on Facebook late Wednesday.

She suggested that Washington's Crimea policy could still change -- perhaps even under a new leader in the future.

In the declaration, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Russia to "end its occupation of Crimea," and said Moscow had sought to "undermine a bedrock international principle" shared by democratic states, that no country can change the borders of another by force.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko hailed Washington's "historic" statement, calling it a "worthy response" to the Kremlin's provocations after Donald Trump's hugely controversial summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.

The US administration stepped up its damage control operation and on Wednesday also delayed a second summit with the Kremlin chief until next year.

There was no immediate Kremlin reaction to the postponement, which was announced just a day after the Kremlin said Putin and Trump had agreed in Helsinki to continue their "useful contacts".

Zakharova derided what she called the inconsistency of Washington's policies, citing as examples US reversals on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and the Paris agreement on slowing climate change.

These "were also official US policy not long ago" because Trump's predecessor Barack Obama "personally decided so", she said.

"And then Trump came and decided differently," she said.

The US declaration came after the Russia's ambassador to Washington said Putin had made concrete proposals on resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine to Trump at the Helsinki summit.

The ambassador, Anatoly Antonov, spoke after a media report said Putin had called for a referendum to be held with the help of the international community in Ukraine's breakaway regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, which Russia-backed separatists control.

- 'Learn from Helsinki' -

Speaking about a possible new summit between the Russian and US leaders, Putin's top foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said earlier this week that the Kremlin received several days after the Helsinki meeting a US proposal to organise a new summit in Washington "at the end of the year".

Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, said the postponement of a new summit was "the right move".

"Both sides need to focus on what deliverables can be," he said on Twitter.

"Most important however is not to let US domestic politics overshadow international diplomacy. Learn from Helsinki!"

After a Western-backed popular uprising in Kiev in 2014 ousted a pro-Kremlin regime, Russia annexed Crimea and moved to support a separatist insurgency in Donetsk and Lugansk.

Moscow made Crimea part of Russia after a hastily conducted referendum whose results were rejected by the international community.

Putin has said the results of the vote would not be revisited.Chinese police said no one else was injured in the incident

A 26-year-old Chinese man set off a small explosive outside the US embassy in Beijing Thursday, sending smoke into the air and injuring his hand before security officials rushed to the scene and took him into custody, police said.

Chinese police said no one else was injured in the incident, which took place near the area where visa applicants typically line up to enter the embassy for interviews.

The explosion was set off by a man from China's Inner Mongolia region surnamed Jiang, police said, adding that his injuries were not life-threatening. Police did not indicate a possible motive.

Video clips that circulated on social media shortly after the explosion showed smoke in the air outside the embassy compound, and AFP journalists arriving at the scene found heavy Chinese security.

"We heard a rather strong explosion around 1:00 pm (0500 GMT) so we went out on the street to have a look, but very soon the police had cordoned off the area," said a witness who declined to be identified.

Police quickly cordoned off the spot where the blast took place and China's state-censorship apparatus moving swiftly to block searches for "US Embassy" on the popular Twitter-like Weibo platform.

AFP journalists said the visa office adjacent to where the blast took place appeared to have resumed operation not long after the incident.

"I heard a loud 'bang', and then we all craned our heads to see what it was," said a man surnamed Liu, who was waiting outside the embassy at the time.

"It seemed (police) reacted pretty quickly, like they were prepared."

The area where the incident took place is on the outskirts of Beijing and home to several embassies, including those of India and Israel.

China regularly sees cases of disgruntled individuals lashing out at society over various grievances or perceived injustices, often harming themselves or others.

In one of the worst recent incidents, a bomb blast killed eight people and injured dozens of others outside a kindergarten in eastern China in June of last year.

Police blamed it on a 22-year-old man who was suffering from health problems.Repatriating the remains of US soldiers was part of an agreement signed by Kim and Trump during their landmark summit

North Korea will soon return the remains of some of the US soldiers killed in the Korean War, the South's Yonhap news agency reported Thursday, starting a process agreed by leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump.

Repatriating the remains of US soldiers who perished during the 1950-53 Korean War was part of an agreement signed by Kim and Trump during their landmark summit in Singapore last month.

The first transfer will be made on Friday to mark the 65th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the war, Yonhap reported, citing diplomatic sources.

The remains will be airlifted from the North's Kalma Airport on the eastern coast to Osan Air Base, south of Seoul, beore being transferred to a forensic lab in Hawaii, it said.

A US military spokesman declined to comment on the report.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week the repatriations would begin shortly, but did not confirm media reports that the first transfers of some 50-55 sets of remains would take place on July 27.

North Korean and US military officials met last week at the border truce village of Panmunjom to discuss the repatriation.

Dozens of transfer cases to carry the American remains have been brought to the southern side of the border in recent weeks.

More than 35,000 Americans were killed on the Korean Peninsula during the war, out of which around 7,700 are still considered missing, including 5,300 in North Korea alone, according to the Pentagon.

Between 1990 and 2005, 229 sets of remains from the North were repatriated, but those operations were suspended when ties between the two countries deteriorated over Pyongyang's continuing effort to develop nuclear weapons.Both the New Zealand and Australian flags are dark blue with the Union Jack emblem of former colonial power Britain in the top right corner. The Australian version has six white stars, while New Zealand has four red stars

New Zealand's Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters called on neighbouring Australia to change its flag Thursday, saying it had pinched the Kiwi banner's design and was causing confusion.

"We designed it and they borrowed it and if we wanted to clear the matter up they should change their flag," Peters told reporters.

"It must be patently obvious that all over the world people are confused. I've been in places like Turkey and elsewhere where they've confused our countries on the basis of those flags. It's not helpful."

Both the New Zealand and Australian flags are dark blue with the Union Jack emblem of former colonial power Britain in the top left corner.

The only major difference is that the Australian version has six white stars, five representing the Southern Cross, while New Zealand depicts the constellation with four red stars.

Peters, who is temporarily leading the country while Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is on maternity leave, feels strongly about the flag issue.

The 73-year-old also raised it earlier this week, complaining "we got there first with this design".

Opposition leader Simon Bridges ridiculed Peters' flag preoccupation, accusing him of populism and labelling him "a poor man's Donald Trump".

Bridges said New Zealanders he had spoken to were concerned about topics such as the economy and healthcare.

"They never raised with me changing the Australian flag. That's weird by even his (Peters') standards," he told parliament.

New Zealand adopted its flag in 1902, while Australia's was not officially recognised until 1954.

However, the Australian version had been used informally since 1901 and both countries say similar designs were common throughout the late 1800s.

New Zealand held a referendum on changing its flag to a silver fern design in 2016, with the proposal defeated 43 percent to 57.The pygmy elephant was belived to have been killed after destroying villagers' crops in a remote area of Borneo

A pygmy elephant was shot dead on Borneo island after it destroyed villagers' crops, a Malaysian wildlife official said Thursday, the latest of the endangered creatures to be killed.

The male elephant, believed to be about four years old, was found Monday by the side of a road in the state of Sabah, on the Malaysian part of Borneo, local wildlife department director Augustine Tuuga told AFP.

He said the "merciless" killing was carried out near a remote settlement, and authorities were investigating who was responsible.

"(The elephant) was killed out of revenge for destroying crops," he said, adding the crops included palm oil trees.

He said the creature's tusks remained intact, indicating the elephant was not killed by poachers seeking to sell its ivory on the black market.

It was the latest case in Malaysia of human-animal conflict, which happens when human settlements or agricultural plantations expand into a species's natural habitat.

Malaysia is home to vast tracts of rainforest and a kaleidoscope of exotic wildlife, from elephants to orangutans and tigers, but the numbers of many rare species have fallen dramatically in recent decades.

As well as human-animal conflict, many endangered animals are hunted for their body parts which fetch a high price for use in traditional medicine in China, and elsewhere in Asia.

At least 18 pygmy elephants have been killed in Malaysian Borneo since April, The Star newspaper reported. Causes of death included elephants being targeted by poachers and poisoning.

Pygmy elephants are baby-faced with large ears, plump bellies and long tails that sometimes drag on the ground, according to environmental group WWF.

Rainforest-clad Borneo is the world's third-largest island and is shared between Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.Juncker travelled to the US for last-ditch talks with Trump to fend off American tariffs on car imports

Shares in German carmakers BMW and Volkswagen surged more than 4.0 percent Thursday morning before falling back, as investors welcomed an EU-US agreement to smooth over trade differences that could have harmed the industry.

Volkswagen stock was up 3.0 percent at 150.32 euros ($176.28) by 0750 GMT, while BMW had gained 2.4 percent to trade at 81.81 euros, against a DAX index of blue-chip German shares up 1.35 percent.

But Mercedes-Benz Daimler lost out, shedding 0.5 percent to trade at 57.58 euros after reporting disappointing second-quarter results.

US President Donald Trump and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday they would launch a "new phase" in the transatlantic trading relationship.

Juncker had travelled to the White House for last-ditch talks to fend off American tariffs on car imports.

Trump had previously ordered the Department of Commerce to look into charging border taxes of up to 25 percent on vehicles from the EU.

Washington and Brussels will "work together towards zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods," Trump said.

In addition, the EU has made a commitment to buy US soybeans and natural gas.

"Obviously the European Union, as represented by @JunckerEU and the United States, as represented by yours truly, love each other!" Trump tweeted, along with a picture of him and Juncker embracing.

German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier tweeted: "Congrats to @JunckerEU, @realDonaldTrump: Breakthrough achieved that can avoid trade war & save millions of jobs! Great for global economy!"Simegnew was the project's public face -- when completed, the dam will be the largest in Africa

The head of a controversial Ethiopian scheme to dam the waters of the Blue Nile was shot in the head on Thursday in a daylight killing in Addis Ababa, police said.

Simegnew Bekele was the project manager and public face of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a massive scheme that has triggered fears among downstream users of the Nile, including Egypt.

Federal police commissioner Zeynu Jemal said Simegnew was shot in the right side of his head, and a gun was later found nearby.

Simegnew had been in his office early on Thursday, he said at a press briefing in the Ethiopian capital.

Images circulating on social media showed a gold Toyota 4X4 with a shattered rear passenger window surrounded by police officers in the downtown Meskel square.

The state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate earlier reported Simegnew "has been found dead in his car at Meskel Square".

The $4-billion (3.2-billion-euro) dam, being built near the country's western border with Sudan, will be Africa's largest when completed, producing 6,000 megawatts -- the rough equivalent of six large nuclear reactors.

But the scheme faces opposition from Egypt, which is crucially dependent on the Nile and worries that downstream flows could be affected.

In May, Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia agreed to set up a scientific committee to study the dam's impact.

The Renaissance Dam is one of several "mega-projects" Ethiopia is pursuing that include railways and industrial parks aimed at transforming its economy and pulling the country out of poverty.

Construction started in 2011, and two of its 16 turbines are scheduled to start producing power in 2018, the Ethiopian authorities said earlier this year.

Cairo is primarily concerned at the speed at which the dam's reservoir would be filled.

The Blue and the White Nile converge in Sudan's capital Khartoum and from there run north, crossing Egypt before emptying in the Mediterranean.Start-up business Shinil Group announced last week it had discovered imperial vessel the Dmitri Donskoi off South Korea's east coast

A South Korean company that said it had found a long-lost Russian "treasure ship", causing a stock market flurry, apologised Thursday admitting it had not gleaned any riches from the wreck.

Start-up business Shinil Group announced last week it had discovered the imperial vessel Dmitri Donskoi off South Korea's east coast, saying the ship was believed to contain gold bullion and coins worth $130 billion.

But financial regulators on Wednesday launched an investigation into the firm after news of the discovery caused the stock price of Jeil Steel -- a company in which Shinil's founder had acquired a large stake -- to jump fivefold.

Critics noted that in 2003 another firm had already sparked a stock bubble by announcing the discovery of the Donskoi, which sank in a 1905 naval battle against Japan.

Imperial Russian naval cruiser the Dmitri Donskoi sank in a 1905 battle against Japan

On Thursday Shinil said it may have gone overboard on the claims and apologised for the "misunderstanding", saying speculation on the value of treasure contained within the ship was based on news reports and unverified documents.

"We sincerely apologise to the people for this irresponsible citation," said Choi Yong-seok, the firm's CEO, bowing before TV cameras and photographers at a press conference.

Jeil Steel stock had hit 5,400 won ($4.82) but nosedived to around 1,785 won on Thursday, while Shinil replaced its board members and changed its name to Shinil Maritime Technology Co.

At the press conference, the company played a brief clip of underwater footage that appeared to show the ship, with the word "Donskoi" visible on the hull -- but it stopped short of entering the wreck.

Observers have also questioned whether the claims were aimed at funnelling investment into a virtual currency which Shinil Group in Singapore had recently started to issue.

At the press conference, the company played a brief clip of underwater footage that appeared to show the ship

Choi insisted Shinil Group in Singapore had nothing to do with Shinil Group in Korea, although the two companies' founders are siblings and Shinil Group in Singapore has been selling virtual coins, reportedly with a promise of handsome returns in case treasure is salvaged from the ship.

He also said Jeil Steel is not associated with Shinil although Shinil's founder had acquired the stake in Jeil Steel before the discovery of the sunken ship.

Experts have said imperial Russia would have no reason to load vast treasure on a ship that was going into battle and have also noted that there was a safer land route to Vladivostok, the treasure's supposed final destination.Maratha protests began Monday in the city of Thane and spread across the state of Maharashtra, as demonstrators set cars and buses on fire, threw stones at trains and blocked railways and major roads

Almost 450 people were in custody in the Indian state of Maharashtra on Thursday after clashes between thousands of protestors from the Maratha minority and police charging with batons and firing tear gas, officials said.

Like other communities in India the Marathas, who make up around 30 percent of the western state's 110 million people, want quotas or "reservations" to ensure they get jobs in the government and education.

"We have detained 447 people for their involvement in arson and stone-pelting and action will be taken against them," Deepak Deoraj, a spokesperson for Mumbai police, told AFP a day after the clashes on Wednesday.

The protests, which began on Monday in the city of Thane and spread across the state, saw demonstrators set cars and buses on fire, throw stones at trains and block railways and two major roads.

More than 30,000 police were deployed, in places using tear gas and baton charges to disperse the crowds. Three officers were injured, police said, as well as an unknown number of demonstrators.

The protests were sparked when a Maratha community activist jumped to his death from a bridge. Another activist killed himself with poison on Wednesday, while a police officer died in clashes on Tuesday.

However more demonstrations were called off by Maratha groups late on Wednesday after state chief minister Devendra Fadnavis called for talks with the community.

"We are monitoring the situation to prevent further violent incidents and have detained 20 people in the Thane region," Sukhada Narkar, a spokesperson for Thane police, told AFP.

The Marathas have for years been pressing for more state jobs. A rally by hundreds of thousands paralysed Mumbai last year. One bid to give them more jobs was cancelled by an Indian court in 2014.

Maharashtra is an important agricultural state but in recent years poor rains have led to crop failures. Many Marathas were among more than 2,500 farmers who committed suicide in the state in 2017, according to official figures.

Jobs campaigns by groups like the Marathas and the Patidars in Gujarat state have claimed many lives in recent years.

On Wednesday a court in Gujarat sentenced a firebrand Patidar leader, Hardik Patel, to two years in prison for rioting and arson during 2015 jobs protests that left 10 dead.The project has been touted as an engineering wonder by its supporters but slammed as a "white elephant" by its critics

Two technicians charged with rigging tests on concrete used to build a multi-billion-dollar bridge connecting Hong Kong with China and Macau have been jailed for 22 and 32 months respectively, reports said Thursday.

Billed as the world's longest sea bridge, the project has been touted as an engineering wonder by its supporters but slammed as a "white elephant" by its critics.

Officials say it will boost business and cut travel time, but opponents in Hong Kong see it as another attempt by Beijing to tighten its grip on the semi-autonomous city.

There have also been safety concerns -- multiple workers have been killed in construction-related accidents and 19 lab workers were charged last year over faking concrete test reports, with one man jailed for eight months last December.

Senior lab technician and supervisor Mak Pui-shing was sentenced to 32 months in prison on Thursday, while former assistant Kwong Fu-yin was jailed for 22 months, local media reports said.

The court was told earlier that Kwong's attempts at rigging the tests included substituting the brick with a metal cylinder to meet strength requirements, the South China Morning Post reported.

Dogged by delays, budget overruns, accusations of corruption and the deaths of construction workers, it is unclear when the bridge will officially open.

Since 2011, at least 369 industrial accidents and nine deaths have been recorded, according to the labour department.

Building started in 2009 on the 55-kilometre (34-mile) crossing, which includes a snaking road bridge and underwater tunnel, linking Hong Kong's Lantau Island to the southern mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai and the gambling enclave of Macau, across the waters of the Pearl River Estuary.

Officials put the current cost overrun of the main bridge section at 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion), partly driven by engineering challenges, which have included problems with the drifting of reclaimed land.

The original cost of that section, including bank loans, was 37.7 billion yuan.A Palestinian Electricity Authority worker on July 26, 2018, inspects a Hamas observation point targeted by Israeli fire on the eastern outskirts of Gaza City

The military wing of Gaza's rulers Hamas on Thursday vowed revenge after Israeli strikes killed three militants in the latest flare-up of violence.

Israel said the artillery fire late Wednesday was in retaliation for shots fired at troops along the border which injured one soldier.

"We announce the raising of the preparedness level to the highest and alert all of our soldiers and forces in every location," said a statement from the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.

"The enemy shall pay a high price in blood for the crime which it commits daily against the rights of our people and our fighters."

The Gaza border was quiet Thursday morning, however.

The three men were killed Wednesday by Israeli artillery fire targeting a Hamas military base near the border east of Gaza City.

In total the Israeli army said it hit seven Hamas sites throughout Gaza in response to the border shooting.

The military said nine projectiles -- likely mortars or rockets -- were fired at Israel from Gaza overnight, including one that was intercepted by air defence systems.

It said most were fired at "open territory adjacent to the security fence". No injuries or damage were reported.

The latest bloodshed came five days after the UN and Egypt brokered a deal to halt a July 20 surge in violence.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008.

Tensions have spiked since Palestinians began protesting along the Gaza border in late March, with Israeli fire killing at least 153 Palestinians since then.

Most were shot dead during protests and clashes but others were killed in Israeli airstrikes or artillery fire.

One Israeli soldier was killed by sniper fire from Gaza, setting off a wave of Israeli strikes on July 20.Police in Ceuta said the migrants managed to climb over the double barrier

Some 400 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa reached Spain Thursday after storming a double barrier between Morocco and the Spanish territory of Ceuta, with some attacking security forces with quicklime, police said.

The scramble over the barrier is the biggest in Ceuta since February 2017, when more than 850 migrants entered the overseas territory over four days.

It comes as Spain becomes the number one destination for migrants crossing the Mediterranean by boat, surpassing Italy with 19,586 arrivals so far this year, according to the International Organization for Migration.

A spokesman for the Guardia Civil police force in Ceuta told AFP the migrants managed to climb over the double barrier, which is covered in small blades, early on Thursday morning.

They scrambled over "all of a sudden, with much violence," and some attacked police with quicklime they had in tubes and bottles.

As a result, "more than a dozen police" were injured, four of whom had to go to hospital for burns in the face and arms.

Isabel Brasero, spokeswoman for the Red Cross, said they had to attend to 30 migrants with injuries, none serious.

Eleven of them were taken to hospital for stitches and possible fractures, she added.

She said that after they had climbed over the barrier, they ran to the centre that houses migrants once they arrive in Spanish territory.

Ceuta and Melilla, another Spanish territory on Morocco's northern border, have the EU's only land borders with Africa, which is why many migrants try to reach them.A member of the Syrian security forces walks past a truck damaged in a suicide attack claimed by the Islamic State group in the southern city of Sweida on July 25, 2018

The death toll in coordinated Islamic State group attacks in Syria's Sweida passed 250 on Thursday, the Druze-majority province's heaviest loss of life of the seven-year civil war.

Sweida, which is mainly government-held, had been largely insulated from the conflict raging in the rest of the country since 2011.

But Wednesday's onslaught shattered the relative calm and showed that IS retains the ability to mount deadly attacks against civilians, despite being ousted from its last remaining urban pockets in recent months.

Four suicide bombers struck the city of Sweida, while other IS fighters attacked villages to its north and east with guns and explosives.

The death toll reached 252 on Thursday, 139 of them civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group.

The others killed were pro-government fighters or residents who had taken up arms to defend their villages.

"The toll keeps rising as civilians who were wounded are dying and people who were unaccounted for are found dead," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

It was the deadliest attack for the province and one of the highest tolls in IS attacks across the country.

Map showing areas held by different groups in Syria on July 26, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights

State television broadcast footage of the funeral processions in Sweida, showing men in the traditional white caps of the Druze minority exchanging condolences.

Men carried caskets draped in the two-star government flag and pictures of those killed, against a backdrop of the rainbow colours representing their community.

- IS regroups -

At least 63 jihadists died carrying out the assault, the Observatory said.

IS claimed responsibility in a series of statements on its propaganda channels on Wednesday.

It posted gruesome photographs showing jihadists beheading at least four men it said were government fighters it had captured in Sweida.

IS has suffered a series of defeats that saw it ousted from the last urban pockets of the sprawling cross-border "caliphate" it proclaimed in Iraq and Syria in 2014.

But it retains a presence, including in a pocket of the eastern province of Deir Ezzor and in parts of the vast central Badiya desert, including in Sweida.

On Thursday, Syrian foreign minister Walid Muallem slammed the attacks as he hosted a delegation of Chinese diplomats in Damascus, according to state news agency SANA.

He said "Daesh (IS) remnants coming from the Badiya committed a brutal, barbaric crime that left hundreds dead and wounded."

News websites in Sweida alleged that some of the jihadists who took part in Wednesday's attack had been given safe passage out of the Yarmuk refugee camp in the southern outskirts of Damascus.

The last IS fighters in the camp were bused out with their relatives in May to desert territory still held by the group.

The Sweida websites posted images that purported to show IS fighters killed in the assault with identification cards showing they were from Yarmuk.

An Islamic State group flag is taken down in the Syrian town of Tabqa on April 30, 2017, one of a spate of urban defeats for the jihadists

Zeina, a resident of the tiny village of Al-Matuna, said her family woke up to the sound of gunfire and grenade blasts at around 5:30 am (0230 GMT) on Wednesday.

"My relative shot back at one of the fighters outside our home and we heard him scream: 'The infidels have killed me'," she told AFP.

Her cousin and his wife were both killed.

"The villages that were attacked were on edge last night, and all the men were on high alert," Zeina, 32, said on Thursday.

- 'Senseless' -

SANA said dozens were killed in the assault but did not give a specific toll.

It said calm returned to Sweida late on Wednesday after government forces and armed villagers surrounded the IS fighters and killed them.

The Observatory said Thursday regime forces were advancing in neighbouring Daraa province's western countryside, where they had retaken the IS-controlled town of Saham al-Golan.

Syrian government forces also raised the country's flag on the frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Thursday, the Observatory and a pro-government newspaper reported, four years since they were last deployed there.

The IS attack drew condemnation from the United Nations as well as government allies Russia and Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

"We condemn this disgraceful crime, its perpetrators, and anyone who stands behind it and the takfiri (extremist Muslim) ideology that these terrorist groups adopt," Hezbollah said in a statement on Thursday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said the attack was "senseless and tragic".

"More distressing reports out of Syria of 200 civilians killed in Sweida city yesterday," it said on Twitter. "We repeat: Civilians are not part of the fight."

Syria's Druze minority makes up around three percent of the population. They are regarded as heretics by Sunni Muslim extremist groups including IS.

More than 350,000 people have been killed since Syria's conflict erupted seven years ago, but repeated global efforts at bringing about a negotiated solution have failed to stem the bloodshed.Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, experienced torture and saw the death of many family members at the hands of the Khmer Rouge

A Cambodian who has devoted his life to documenting the killing of almost two million of his countrymen in the 1970s was named Thursday among the winners of this year's Magsaysay Awards, widely regarded as Asia's version of the Nobel prize.

Youk Chhang, 57, was given the award for his role as head for more than two decades of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, an institute that investigates atrocities committed under the Khmer Rouge.

The Khmer Rouge was a murderous, ultra-Maoist organisation that killed one quarter of Cambodia's population from 1975 to 1979.

Youk's organisation aims to help victims of the brutal regime come to terms with their ordeal while ensuring that future generations do not forget the events.

Youk, who experienced torture and saw the death of many family members at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, said he undertook the work for his mother, who also suffered extensively during the genocide.

"I want her to be a free woman, not to carry all the tragedy in her heart and in her life," he was quoted as saying.

The Manila-based Ramon Magsaysay Award, named after a Filipino president killed in a plane crash, was established in 1957 to honour people and groups tackling development problems.

Two Indian nationals were separately honoured this year: Sonam Wangchuk, 51, who promotes alternative education systems in his home Himalayan region Ladakh; and Bharat Vatwani, 60, a psychiatrist who started a foundation to rescue people living on the streets with mental health problems.

Polio victim Vo Thi Hoang Yen, 52, was awarded for her work in assisting the disabled in Vietnam, while 56-year-old Maria De Lourdes Martins Cruz received an award for founding an institute to help the poor in her native East Timor, the organisers said.

Another awardee, Howard Dee, 87, was once head of a major Philippine drug company but gave up his career to help the poor including through peace efforts with local communist guerrillas and Muslim separatists.Israelis watch fireworks over Jerusalem on April 18, 2018, at the start of the country's annual Independence Day celebrations

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with lawmakers from the minority Druze community on Thursday after a court challenge over a deeply controversial law declaring Israel the nation state of the Jewish people.

Opponents have called the law "racist" as it makes no mention of equality and Israel's democratic character, implying the country's Jewish nature takes precedence.

It speaks of Israel as the historic homeland of the Jews and says they have a "unique" right to self-determination there.

Members of Israel's 130,000-strong Druze community -- who serve in the police and military -- have been among those strongly denouncing the legislation.

Community leaders have filed a court challenge to the law, given final passage in the middle of the night on July 19. It becomes part of Israel's so-called basic laws, a de facto constitution.

Two key ministers have called for changes to the law in response to concerns from the Druze.

Netanyahu held a meeting with Druze lawmakers on the issue, along with Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Tourism Minister Yariv Levin and Communications Minister Ayoob Kara.

Kara, a member of Netanyahu's right-wing Likud, is Druze but voted in favour of the law. He has since reportedly received death threats.

Netanyahu planned another meeting on Friday with Druze community leaders and a plan would later be developed to express Israel's "profound commitment" to the Druze, the prime minister's office said.

Kahlon called for changes, saying the law had been "passed in haste".

"The last thing that we want is to harm the Druze community," Kahlon, whose Kulanu party is the second-largest in Netanyahu's coalition, told army radio.

- 'Heal the rift' -

His comments followed similar ones on Wednesday by Education Minister Naftali Bennett of the religious nationalist Jewish Home party.

Bennett, who was a prominent advocate for the law, said he had now realised damage was done, adding that the Druze were "our brothers who stand shoulder to shoulder with us on the battlefield".

"We, the government of Israel, have a responsibility to find a way to heal the rift," he said.

The law has sparked international criticism of Israel and intense controversy at home.

A freelance cartoonist for a local magazine who drew Netanyahu and other politicians as pigs alongside a reference to George Orwell's "Animal Farm" after the passing of the law has become a subject of criticism.

The Jerusalem Report magazine decided to stop publishing Avi Katz's cartoons "after a number of them in recent months sparked angry reactions", a statement from the magazine's owner, The Jerusalem Post Group, said Thursday.

"A cartoon showing Israeli leaders with pigs' heads causes harm and incitement, and has no place in any of our publications," it said.

Some said the cartoon contained anti-Semitic images even though it was a clear reference to Orwell's book, with the quote: "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others."

Press freedom advocates criticised the magazine's move to let him go.

The controversy over the new law is set to continue in the coming days, with Druze leaders planning a demonstration against the law in central Tel Aviv on August 4.

The Druze are an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Officials say there are 110,000 of them in northern Israel and another 20,000 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The legislation makes Hebrew the country's national language and defines the establishment of Jewish communities as being in the national interest.

Arabic, previously considered an official language, was granted only special status.

Arab Israelis have also denounced the law, saying it encourages discrimination and racism.

Arab citizens make up some 17.5 percent of Israel's more than eight million population.

The Palestinian leadership has lashed out at the passage of the law.

Palestine Liberation Organisation secretary-general Saeb Erekat told journalists Thursday that "this law was introduced to constitute the basis of cancelling the concept of a two-state solution and to officially replace it with one state, two systems -- apartheid."With the waters receding, the scale of the disaster is revealing itself

The bloated carcasses of pigs and cows float in the knee-high flood waters covering the Laos village of Hoi Kong, as mud-caked residents pick through the remnants of homes destroyed by a dam collapse that they had little time to flee.

Monday night's dam break inflicted an unprecedented catastrophe on Laos, a poor country with little capacity to manage remote, large-scale rescue operations.

Twenty-seven people are confirmed dead, with 131 still missing, after the Xe-Namnoy dam broke, sending a wall of water rushing across a large swathe of southern Laos.

Details of the damage have trickled out slowly in a country whose Communist authorities tightly control information and do not welcome media attention.

But with the waters receding, the scale of the disaster is revealing itself.

Residents in Hoi Kong returned to their flooded homes on Thursday, wading past vehicles pushed onto their sides by rushing water, with thick red mud caking everything they once owned.

Laos dam collapse

"The people are in very bad condition," a Vietnamese military doctor helping with the relief effort told AFP, requesting anonymity.

"Really I don't know how they will overcome this devastation. They have lost everything."

In crowded shelters across Attapeu province, survivors have recounted the terrifying moment water cascaded through their villages, saying they were given little warning of the impending disaster.

It was Monday evening and many of those forewarned had only been given a few hours to evacuate.

Others were told nothing, scrambling in the darkness to rooftops, trees, or escaping via boats to dry land. Many fled into the mountains seeking higher ground.

- Little warning -

"No one warned us," said Poosa Duangapai from a makeshift shelter in a kindergarten where the displaced lay on mats.

Monday night's dam break inflicted an unprecedented catastrophe on Laos

"Only those who saw the water coming shouted to us. I have only one sarong, one blouse and another piece of cloth with me."

A Vietnamese man living in the area said a loudspeaker warned his Ban Mai village that water would be discharged from the dam, just two hours before it totally collapsed.

"From 9:00 pm to 2:00 am, the water rose very quickly. We ran to a house behind ours, the water came to the second floor, the third floor... then we were all on the roof," Tran Van Bien, 47, told AFP.

"I saw some people floating, but I couldn't do anything. Some of them survived, but some must have died."

Monday's disaster has raised serious questions about the wisdom of poor but resource-rich Laos' aim to become the "battery of Asia" with dozens of dams built or planned across the country's vast river network.

Hundreds of villages have been relocated, many repeatedly, to make way for hydropower projects whose electricity is sold to neighbouring countries.

But Laotians cannot protest, and environmental groups are barred from the construction sites -- almost all of which are contracted out to foreign companies from China, Vietnam, Thailand and South Korea.

Some are now questioning whether poor design may be to blame for the accident in an area routinely drenched with monsoon rains.

The dam was an 'earth-filled' structure, made with a mixture of materials that are often less expensive than stronger concrete blocks, said Lihai Zhang, from University of Melbourne's Department of Infrastructure Engineering.

"Maybe human underestimation, plus extreme circumstances -- which means heavy rain continuously for several days -- putting these two things together may result in the collapse," he told AFP.

One of the Korean companies who ran the dam said it was too early to say what caused the accident, noting that rainfall last week was higher than normal.

burs-apj/jv/amuTrump and Juncker announced a deal to defuse a US-EU trade row

European capitals on Thursday welcomed the trade truce announced by the EU and US but doubts lingered over its feasibility and the changing moods of President Donald Trump.

Trump and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday announced a plan to defuse a lingering trade row, that in effect saw Washington back off a threat of auto tariffs against Europe, at least for now.

Germany unsurprisingly hailed the decision, given their world dominating auto industry was the first in line to be punished by Trump's protectionist offensive.

But France quickly spoke out in anger, with Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire demanding "clarifications" over the agreed measures.

Critics of the agreement were especially miffed that existing steel and aluminium tariffs will remain in place despite the White House meeting.

"A good business discussion can only be conducted on a clear basis and cannot be conducted under pressure," said Le Maire.

These comments contrasted greatly with comments out of Berlin, where the spokesman for Chancelor Angela Merkel welcomed the "constructive" meeting.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte also welcomed the "positive outcome of the conversation."

- Details still vague -

The details of the deal in Washington remained vague, with a statement mentioning that the transatlantic allies would "launch a new phase" in the relationship.

The would prioritise "to work together towards zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods," a statement said.

In addition, the EU has made a commitment to buy US soybeans and natural gas, though how the EU could deliver that pledge remained unclear.

"Did Juncker make a commitment to US on market access to the US on soybeans? That would be very worrisome, that would be rewarding Trump threats on tariffs," said Rem Korteweg, head of the Europe in the World unit at think-tank Clingendael.

France's Le Maire singled out this pledge as especially problematic, given deep concerns over the GMO's in US soybean production that falls foul of EU norms.

France will insist that agricultural goods "remain outside the scope of the discussions" ensuring that "Europe will not compromise with its standards," he said.

"These possible negotiations will not concern agricultural goods, there may be some reference to soybeans," an EU official said on condition of anonymity, adding that the increased imports were already reflected on the market.

- WTO reform pledge -

The condition for the deal was that Trump hold off on slapping tariffs on auto imports.

Trump had previously ordered the Department of Commerce to look into charging border taxes of up to 25 percent on vehicles from the EU and it was yet unknown if the US would close the process.

Trump also won a commitment to work together to reform the World Trade Organization to address some of his complaints about China on theft of US technology, the behaviour of state-owned enterprises, and overcapacity in steel.

He has long complained that the WTO has been unfair to the United States, despite the fact the US has won most of the disputes against China and others.

The US and EU account for about $1 trillion in transatlantic trade, and tensions spiked leading up to Wednesday's high-stakes talks.

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, who accompanied Juncker, hailed the agreement and said on Twitter that she "will be working hard to take this work forward the coming months."American Airlines said demand remained strong in the just-ended quarter in terms of both passengers and cargo, but results were hit by higher jet fuel expenses

American Airlines announced Thursday that it would trim travel capacity and defer deliveries of some planes after surging fuel prices hit second-quarter profits.

American reported net income of $566 million, down 34.5 percent from the year-ago level.

Revenues rose 3.7 percent to $11.6 billion.

American said demand remained strong in the just-ended quarter in terms of both passengers and cargo, but results were hit by higher jet fuel expenses.

The airline expects fuel costs to increase by more than $2 billion in 2018 compared with last year.

"This was perhaps the most challenging quarter for the American team since our merger with US Airways in 2013," said chief executive Doug Parker.

Parker cited the increase in fuel prices, a computer glitch at its PSA Airlines subsidiary that led to cancellation of thousands of flights, and revenue trends that "while increasing, have begun to trail the rate of increase at our largest competitors for the first time since early 2016."

To boost profitability, American said it would add fewer flights than previously planned in the second half of 2018 and defer some aircraft deliveries.

American has ordered 22 Airbus A321neos over three years starting in 2019. But the carrier plans to spread the deliveries out beyond that timeframe, saving $1.2 billion.

Shares were flat at $38.20 in pre-market trading.Iraqi Airways has suspended two of its pilots for getting into a fight over a food tray during an international flight with more than 150 passengers on board.

The row erupted on a flight to the capital Baghdad from the Iranian city of Mashhad, with 157 travellers on board plus crew.

'Conversation with the pilot became heated because he forbade an air hostess from bringing me a meal tray, under the pretext that I hadn't asked him for authorisation,' the co-pilot said in a letter addressed to Iraqi Airways management, seen by AFP.

The Iraqi Airways flight was going from Baghdad to Iran when the pilot refused to allow a meal tray to be brought into the cockpit for his co-pilot because he has not asked permission (file)

After the pilot had taken his own meal, he 'hit and insulted (the co-pilot), prompting the arrival of a security agent', according to the letter.

The duo went on to land the plane safely in Baghdad, only to continue their quarrel after landing.

'The pilot again hit and insulted' his colleague, the co-pilot said, admitting that he also lashed out: 'I had to defend myself.'

AFP has not seen the pilot's account of the incident and the airline did not detail when the scuffle took place.

After the pilot had eaten his own meal tray he reportedly hit and shouted at his co-pilot, then began hitting him again after they landed (file image)

'The transport ministry has opened an investigation with the two pilots who argued with each other in-flight,' Iraqi Airways said late Wednesday.

Both have been suspended, the airline said, warning that the two employees 'will not escape the toughest sanctions... such as a lifetime flying ban'.

Iraqis responded with horror and mockery to the incident on social media, with one person likening the duo to the country's minibus drivers who are renowned for racing around at full throttle.US President Donald Trump and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker announced a deal on Wednesday at the White House to defuse a US-EU trade row

The United States and the European Union will "immediately resolve" their dispute over US steel and aluminum tariffs and subsequent EU counter-measures, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday, as the two sides work to defuse a costly trade row.

The punishing US metals tariffs had angered Washington's major trading partners including the EU and sparked retaliation against important American exports, spooking global stock markets.

But US President Donald Trump and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker announced a truce in their trade war after White House talks on Wednesday.

The agreement was short on details, but Mnuchin made clear the primary source of the aggravation would be addressed.

"The first issue that we'll begin negotiating is... the issue on the steel and aluminum tariffs and retaliatory tariffs," Mnuchin said on CNBC.

"We have the groundwork laid and I hope to resolve that very quickly."

Brussels had hit back at the US over the metals tariffs by imposing duties on more than $3 billion of US goods, including blue jeans, bourbon and motorcycles, as well as orange juice, rice and corn.

Mnuchin also confirmed that the US would not impose threatened auto tariffs on European cars while negotiations were still ongoing. That would head off another round of EU tariffs threatened on $20 billion in US exports.

"Phase one will be to immediately resolve those issues so there will be no tariffs in either direction," Mnuchin said.

He reiterated that Trump and Juncker agreed that as long as negotiations continue, "there will be no new tariffs in either direction."

The US and EU account for about $1 trillion in transatlantic trade.

- 'Good sign' -

The talks with Juncker seemed a resounding victory for Trump and his confrontational trade strategy, as Washington appears to have conceded little.

EU-US trade

On Wednesday, the pair agreed to "launch a new phase" in the relationship and "to work together towards zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods," Trump said.

In addition, the EU has made a commitment to buy US soybeans and natural gas.

On Thursday, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi called the tentative truce a "good sign, because in a sense it shows that there is a willingness to discuss trade issues in a multilateral framework again."

He however warned it was too soon to "assess the actual content."

Germany unsurprisingly hailed the decision, given their world dominating auto industry was the first in line to be punished by Trump's protectionist offensive.

But France quickly spoke out in anger, with Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire demanding "clarifications" over the agreed measures.

- Watching China on yuan movements -

Trump also won a commitment from Juncker to work together to reform the World Trade Organization to address some of his complaints about China on theft of US technology, the behavior of state-owned enterprises, and overcapacity in steel.

China-US trade in goods

The Republican president has long complained that the WTO has been unfair to the United States, despite the fact the US has won most of the disputes against China and others.

Mnuchin said there were no new developments on the dispute with China, which has been the target of most of Trump's trade policies.

"I've made perfectly clearly that any time China is willing to seriously negotiate -- and we're talking about a commitment to reduce the bilateral trade deficit as well as to deal with technology issues -- we're available any time," he said.

"There continue to be some quiet conversations, but we're prepared if they're going to make serious moves to negotiate."

But he also cautioned that the US is watching China's currency movements for any signs Beijing is manipulating the yuan.

The Treasury chief also said the administration hopes to work out an agreement with Canada and Mexico to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement "very soon."

Talks between the three countries were due to continue in Washington on Thursday.Police in Ceuta said the migrants managed to climb over the double barrier

More than 600 African migrants reached the Spanish territory of Ceuta Thursday after storming a double border fence with Morocco and attacking police with caustic quicklime and excrements.

The scramble over the barbed wire-decked barrier is the biggest in Ceuta since February 2017, when more than 850 migrants entered the overseas territory over four days.

The incident further increases pressure on Spain, which has now surpassed Italy as the number one destination for migrants crossing the Mediterranean by boat.

More than 19,580 people have landed on Spanish shores so far this year, according to the International Organization for Migration.

A spokesman for the Guardia Civil police force in Ceuta told AFP close to 800 migrants had stormed the double barrier, which is also covered in small blades, early on Thursday morning from Morocco.

Moroccan police stopped around 100 of them, while 602 managed to climb over into Spain.

Some were caught by Spanish police between the double barrier or stuck on top, and returned to Morocco.

Spain's new Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said last month he would "do everything possible" to remove barbed wire from border fences that surround Ceuta and Melilla, another Spanish territory on Morocco's northern border.

Both territories have the European Union's only land borders with Africa, drawing migrants trying to reach the bloc.

- Aerosol 'flame-throwers' -

The migrants scrambled over the fence "all of a sudden", some pelting officers with "plastic containers full of excrements and quicklime... stones and sticks", the Guardia Civil police said.

They also set spray cans on fire, using them as "flame-throwers."

Fifteen police officers were injured in the violence, some sustaining burns to their face and arms.

Red Cross spokeswoman Isabel Brasero said 30 migrants also needed medical treatment, many of them cutting their hands and legs as they scrambled over the barbed wire.

Spain has surpassed Italy as the number one destination for migrants crossing the Mediterranean, with more than 19,580 arrivals so far this year

While 16 were taken to hospital, the rest were sent to a migrant arrival centre, the Guardia Civil said.

Local television footage showed some migrants straddling the top of the barrier.

One of them was seen stuck in barbed wire, with Spanish police using cutters to release him before helping him down.

- More police needed -

The Guardia Civil's AEGC union on Thursday called on the government to clarify its "plan B" to maintain security if the barbed wire was removed.

"We're one of the main entry points from the third world into Europe and none of those in charge at the interior ministry have wanted to see or resolve the problems this is causing," the union said in a statement.

"Today demonstrated that these problems are going to worsen if more Guardia Civil and anti-riot and protection equipment fail to arrive when the barbed wire is removed."

Italy used to be the first entry point for migrants taking boats from Libya, an unstable country where armed factions vie for power and human traffickers proliferate.

But new far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has taken a tough stance on migration and denied entry to NGO ships rescuing migrants at sea.

He insists the country is overwhelmed even if arrivals have dropped by 80 percent compared to the height of the migration crisis, which erupted in 2015.

Spain's Foreign Minister Josep Borrell on Wednesday criticised Italy for closing that migration route in a "questionable manner".

He warned that more migrants would take the western Mediterranean route to Spain as a result of Rome's actions, calling on Europe to draw up a viable, long-term action plan or be faced with "very serious problems."Arm in arm: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Michel Temer of Brazil

Five of the biggest emerging economies on Thursday stood by the multilateral system and vowed to strengthen economic cooperation in the face of US tariff threats and unilateralism.

The heads of the so-called BRICS -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- met for an annual summit dominated by the risk of a global US-led trade war, although leaders did not publicly mention President Donald Trump by name.

"We should stay committed to multilateralism," China's President Xi Jinping said on the second day of the Johannesburg talks.

"The escalation of protectionism and unilateralism are directly affecting... emerging markets," he said in a statement in the day's opening session.

"Closer economic cooperation for shared prosperity is the original purpose and priority of BRICS."

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who held a controversial meeting with Trump last week, echoed the calls for closer ties among BRICS members and for stronger trade within group.

"BRICS has a unique place in the global economy -- this is the largest market in the world, the joint GDP is 42 percent of the global GDP and it keeps growing," Putin said.

"In 2017, the trade with our BRICS countries has grown 30 percent, and we are aiming at further developing this kind of partnership."

- US targets China's trade surplus -

Trump has said he is ready to impose tariffs on all $500 billion of Chinese imports, complaining that China's trade surplus with the US is due to unfair currency manipulation.

Trump has already slapped levies on goods from China worth tens of billions of dollars, as well as tariffs on steel and aluminium from the EU, Canada and Mexico.

"We are concerned by the rise in unilateral measures that are incompatible with World Trade Organisation rules, and we are worried about the impact," South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told the summit's opening session on Wednesday.

The BRICS group, comprising more than 40 percent of the global population, represents some of the biggest emerging economies, but it has struggled to find a unified voice.

Analysts say US trade policy could give the group renewed purpose.

In Washington, Trump and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker announced an apparent truce in their trade war after White House talks on Wednesday.

The BRICS

The US and the EU will "immediately resolve" their dispute over US steel and aluminum tariffs and subsequent EU counter-measures, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confirmed Thursday.

The punishing US metals tariffs had angered Washington's major trading partners including the EU and sparked retaliation against important American exports, spooking global stock markets.

Xi arrived in South Africa after visiting Senegal and Rwanda as part of a whistlestop tour to cement relations with African allies.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will also attend the BRICS event as the current chair of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and will meet Putin on the summit's sidelines.A girl takes part in a protest in Chicago against the separation of migrant families

Hundreds of immigrant parents and children separated at the US-Mexico border were in limbo Thursday as a court-set deadline for family reunification was set to expire.

A federal judge in California, Dana Sabraw, has ordered that all eligible migrant families be brought back together by 6:00 pm (2200 GMT) on Thursday.

But government lawyers acknowledged in court this week that not everyone will have been reunited by that time.

The controversial separations began in earnest in May under President Donald Trump's "zero tolerance" policy when migrants illegally entering the United States were detained en masse, and their children taken to shelters as a result.

The policy triggered protests in the US and abroad, especially after the release of audio of small children in shelters crying for their parents, many of whom fled turmoil and gang violence in Central America.

An about-face from the Republican leader six weeks later led to hundreds of reunions, but the pace has been slow -- children and their parents are being housed in different parts of the country, and some adults have been deported.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Tuesday the government intended to "reunify all families that are suitable."

Nielsen told Fox News her department was "working hand in glove" with the Department of Health and Human Services, which operates shelters all over the country where the kids -- some toddlers or even infants -- were sent.

The government has identified 2,551 children ages five to 17 potentially covered by the order, and said that 1,634 families are expected to be reunited by the deadline.

- 917 'ineligible case' -

Protestors in New York demand an end to the policy of separation of immigrant children and their parents

The remaining 917 fall into the category of "ineligible cases" -- meaning children cannot be reunited because family ties cannot be confirmed, or the parent has a criminal record, a communicable disease or cannot be found.

And of that number, government data indicates that more than 460 parents may already have been deported, some of them voluntarily -- enormously complicating any possible reunion with their children.

"The other 917 -- including the 463 who may not be in the US now -- will not be reunited before the deadline, and it's up to Judge Sabraw to decide whether that is OK," said Adam Isacson, from the Washington Office on Latin America, a non-governmental research group.

Asked how the government will return children to parents who have been deported, Nielsen answered: "If the parents contact us that they would like to be reunited, of course we'll work with them."

But finding these parents in Mexico or Central America will be a long, painstaking task, said Stephen Kang, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, which had filed suit against the administration to demand separated families be brought back together.

A month ago, Sabraw ordered the government to return children under the age of five to their parents by July 10 and those between five and 17 by Thursday.

The government missed the first deadline. It deemed 45 children ineligible for return because their parents were not fit or able to take them.

As of Tuesday, the Department of Health and Human Services had in its custody, in shelters around the country, 11,500 children classified as Unaccompanied Alien Children, or UACs.

That figure includes kids and adolescents who traveled to the United States without an adult.

But it also takes into account children who crossed over with their families, were separated from them and then reclassified as UACs when they were sent to shelters.

As of July 16, Immigration and Customs Enforcement had in its custody 44,210 adult immigrants.Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte says he has signed a law to create a new political entity known as the Bangsamoro in the country's Muslim south

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said he has signed a law which grants expanded autonomy for the mainly Catholic nation's Muslim south, a key step to ending one of Asia's longest and deadliest conflicts.

The measure has for years been a crucial missing element to a languishing peace pact with the country's largest Islamic rebel group which, along with other guerrillas, has waged a rebellion in the southern Philippines that has claimed about 150,000 lives since the 1970s.

"In every conflict, the victims are the innocents, the children, the women so try to think it over because I already signed the BBL (autonomy law)," Duterte said in a speech.

As the country's first president from the southern region of Mindanao, Duterte pressed congress to pass the law -- the farthest the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has gone.

The law aims to enforce a historic but fragile 2014 peace deal where the MILF vowed to give up its quest for an independent homeland and lay down weapons of its 30,000 fighters in return for self-rule in the south.

Both sides believe creating the area will head off the lure of violent extremism as well as attract investments to a region where brutal poverty and perennial bloodshed has fuelled recruitment by radical groups.

- 'Can surpass next challenges' -

The initial peace accord was signed under Duterte's predecessor, Benigno Aquino, but lawmakers then refused to pass the supporting legislation.

Rebel factions and jihadists began pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group soon afterwards and last year attacked the southern city of Marawi sparking a five-month battle that killed 1,200 people.

Muslim rebels have long been battling for independence or autonomy in Mindanao, which they regard as their ancestral homeland dating back to when Arabic traders arrived there in the 13th century.

In 1996, another major rebel group, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), signed a peace deal with the government that created a Muslim autonomous area in the south.

But critics, including the MILF, said it had failed to bring peace and development.

Under the law Duterte signed, a new political entity known as the Bangsamoro would replace the current autonomous region, gaining more power and resources.

The new region is to keep 75 percent of taxes collected in the area as well as receive an annual fund allocation worth five percent of national revenues, or about 60 billion pesos ($1.12 million).

The region is also to have a parliament and Islamic shariah courts exclusively for cases involving Muslims.

Under the peace agreement, the law also needs to be approved in a regional referendum, which is widely expected to pass after years of struggle for more autonomy.

Despite criticism that the new law was weaker than the 2014 peace deal, the MILF said it was largely satisfied with the measure.

"Although we still have more challenges ahead but after surpassing the challenges for more than 40 years, we are confident that we can surpass the next challenges," MILF chairman Murad Ebrahim Murad said.US President Donald Trump said American pastor Andrew Brunson, pictured, "is suffering greatly" during detention in Turkey

President Donald Trump on Thursday demanded Turkey free a detained American pastor, warning the United States was ready to impose "large sanctions" against its NATO ally.

"He is suffering greatly," Trump said of 50-year-old pastor Andrew Brunson, who has been in detention for almost two years. "This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!"

Brunson ran a protestant church in the Aegean city of Izmir when he was detained in October 2016 on terrorism-related charges.

Brunson was moved from jail to house arrest on Wednesday, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the move was "not enough."

The Trump administration -- which is broadly supported by powerful US evangelicals -- has made defending Christians abroad a tenet of its foreign policy.

"The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being," Trump said.

The escalating war of words between Washington and Ankara risks worsening already poor ties, which hold enormous military and economic importance for both countries.

The United States has long used bases in Turkey for operations across the Middle East, but relations have been strained by Washington's support for Kurdish fighters in Syria.

Brunson still faces up to 35 years in jail if convicted of carrying out activities on behalf of two groups Turkey deems terrorist organizations. One is led by the US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen who Ankara says was behind a 2016 failed coup, while the other is the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

His next hearing is set for October 12.

The pastor denies the charges and his defense team argues the case is built on questionable witness statements that should never have been brought to court.

Earlier Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence said "there is no credible evidence" against Brunson.

Last week a bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill that would require the United States to reject international loans to Turkey until Brunson and other Americans are freed or the harassment against them ends.

"I find it difficult to see how this relationship moves forward... if the Turkish government continues to detain Pastor Brunson as well as locally employed staff, journalists, and civil servants," Democratic Senator Robert Menendez said at the time.Alice Wells, the senior bureau official for the Bureau of South and Central Asia Affairs, in a file photo from 2017

The top US envoy for South Asia has met with Taliban officials for peace talks in Qatar, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

Alice Wells, the senior official for the State Department's Bureau of South and Central Asia Affairs, met with the Taliban this week to try to find a new path toward ending Afghanistan's 17-year conflict, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

A member of the Taliban's leadership council -- the Quetta Shura -- confirmed to AFP that members of the militant group had met with US officials in Doha on Monday.

The Taliban leader did not name Wells but said "a woman" was in the US delegation.

The first round of talks was aimed at building trust between the two sides, he told AFP. The next meeting, which could happen as early at July 31, would be "more important."

The State Department did not directly confirm the Journal report, but noted Wells had been in Doha this week, where she met with Qatari government officials "to discuss recent progress towards an Afghan-owned, and Afghan-led peace process."

Officials noted they did not have any other meetings to describe "at this time" and said the US "is exploring all avenues to advance a peace process in close consultation with the Afghan government."

"Ambassador Wells welcomed the Qatari government's constructive partnership and dedication to Afghanistan, and expressed the deep US appreciation for efforts to reach a peaceful resolution to the conflict," a State Department statement read.

An unprecedented three-day ceasefire involving Afghan security forces and the Taliban last month had raised hopes that peace was possible in the war-torn country.

But fighting resumed and Western and Afghan observers in Kabul have said the United States needs to speak directly to the Taliban to keep momentum going.

The Taliban have long insisted on direct talks with the United States, which Washington has repeatedly refused, saying negotiations must be Afghan-led.

The group refuses to negotiate with the Afghan government, which they see as illegitimate.

But Washington indicated a change in its long-standing policy in June when US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States was prepared to "support, facilitate and participate" in talks.

Pompeo also said the role of foreign forces in Afghanistan would be on the table.

The Journal, citing US officials, said the Doha talks fully included the Afghan government.

As recently as last week, US officials were denying reports they were ready to speak directly to the Taliban.

The Taliban has established a political office in Qatar that serves as a de-facto embassy.

wat-str-us-amj/jmSteve Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm, said the tie-up with rival Dutch chipmaker NXP won't happen as a result of failure to win approval in China

US computer chip giant Qualcomm abandoned a $43 billion merger with Dutch rival NXP on Thursday, as the deal became an apparent casualty to trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.

The deal was called off after antitrust authorities in China failed to approve the merger after a two-year wait.

The decision ends the tie-up aimed at creating a diversified chipmaker with Qualcomm's dominant position in smartphones and NXP's foothold in the market for chips powering "internet of things" connected devices.

Qualcomm said it would pay NXP a $2 billion dollar breakup fee required under its agreement, and would begin a $30 billion stock repurchase plan.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin expressed disappointment that the deal fell through but sidestepped questions on whether it was related to the standoff with Beijing.

The deal "was approved in every single other territory," Mnuchin told CNBC television, adding that "we're just looking for US companies to be treated fairly.

"I think it's unfortunate that that didn't get approved after a long two-year process."

Analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy said the merger plan was clearly a victim of the trade dispute between the US and China.

"This wasn't an American company trying to buy a Chinese company," Moorhead said.

"There were not even any protests that Qualcomm could go in and fix. To me it's belligerent and will lead to an escalation."

Analysts at the political consulting firm Eurasia Group also warned of worsening tensions as a result of the deal's collapse.

A research note from the group said that China's decision appeared to be a "naked politicization" of its antitrust review and suggests a breakdown in the bilateral relationship.

"The move does increase the risk that the US will target Huawei or other Chinese tech firms through executive action when it finds a legal basis for doing so," the research note said.

The California firm ended its effort when the bid expired at 11:59 pm Eastern time (0359 GMT Thursday).

In Beijing, officials denied that tensions with Washington affected the proposed merger.

"The issue with the case is related to anti-monopoly law enforcement and has nothing to do with China-US trade frictions," commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng told reporters at a weekly press briefing Thursday.

The deal's collapse comes with the US set to ramp up tariffs on Chinese imports following President Donald Trump's complaints of unfair trade.

- Rubio rails at ZTE -

Qualcomm is the leading chipmaker for the smartphone market, and has faced antitrust investigations in several countries

Recently the US imposed tough sanctions on Chinese tech firm ZTE that could have led to the firm's collapse, but the Trump administration later reached a deal that helped the firm remain in business.

US Senator Marco Rubio slammed the move by China and said Washington should retaliate.

Rubio tweeted that "@CommerceGov does #China a favor & reverses ban on #ZTE buying chips from Qualcomm. And how did China return the favor? By blocking Qualcomm deal with NXP despite the begging & pleading from @USTreasury & Commerce Dept. We should reimpose ZTE ban."

Qualcomm had extended the deadline several times for the tie-up, which would have given the dominant smartphone chipmaker firm a broader array of semiconductor products.

It also raised its bid -- from $110 to $127 a share -- in February, to the irritation of fellow chipmaker Broadcom, which itself recently launched a hostile bid for Qualcomm blocked by the White House.

Washington said the acquisition of Qualcomm by Broadcom -- which had been Singapore-based until its recent relocation to the US -- would help Chinese competitors such as Huawei, particularly in the emerging market for fifth generation (5G) wireless internet, where a stronger China could present a national security issue.

Based in the Dutch town of Eindhoven, NXP is a leading maker of chips for the auto industry, as well as for contactless payment systems.

A former division of the Dutch electronics giant Philips, it became independent in 2006.

NXP's president and CEO Richard Clemmer said, "While it is unfortunate that the semiconductor powerhouse that would have resulted from the transaction with Qualcomm could not close after 21 months of diligent efforts by the team, we are confident in our future as an independent market leader."

burs-rl/ecSaudi Arabia's Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Falih, pictured in December 2017, announced that all oil shipments through a Yemeni waterway have been halted due to rebel attacks in the area

Saudi Arabia's halt to oil shipments through a strategic waterway after Yemeni rebel attacks could provoke an international intervention in Yemen's "forgotten" war, analysts say.

The world's top oil exporter on Wednesday suspended all oil deliveries through the Bab al-Mandab Strait after accusing the Iran-aligned Huthis of attacking two giant tankers carrying four million barrels of crude.

"All oil shipments through Bab al-Mandab Strait have been suspended temporarily until... maritime transit through the area is safe," said Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih.

One of the vessels sustained minor damage in Wednesday's attack and there were no casualties, the Saudi national oil company Aramco said, while the Huthis said they targeted a Saudi warship.

The escalation of tensions in the strategic region could encourage outside powers to intervene, said Ellen Wald, author of the book "Saudi Inc".

"The Red Sea is a very important shipping lane. If there is a major disruption, European powers, Egypt and the United States would all have reason to intervene," she wrote in Forbes magazine.

"An international intervention against the Huthis may be just what Saudi Arabia wants."

Global oil prices rose slightly after the incident, although industry experts said the increase was unlikely to last.

The incident, however, draws the attention of the international community to the dangers of spillover from Yemen's festering three-year conflict.

The Bab al-Mandab connects the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea and is a narrow, strategic navigation lane for oil and international trade.

"The Saudi halt will cause prices to increase slightly and for a limited period," Kuwaiti oil expert Kamel al-Harami said.

The main impact of the incident appears to be military, Harami said.

"It could be a reason for increased naval presence for many countries, mainly the United States and Russia, thus resulting in an escalation of tensions," he said.

The suspension comes as Saudi Arabia is seeking to ramp up oil production under pressure from the United States, and at a time of raised US-Iran tensions.

James Dorsey, an expert on Middle East affairs, said the attacks on oil tankers would draw international attention to Yemen.

"A spike in oil prices... may be short-lived, but the impact on Yemens forgotten war is likely to put the devastating conflict on the front burner," he said.

"The halt of oil shipments could provoke an escalation of the conflict with external powers intervening in a bid to assist Saudi Arabia."

- 'Threat to international trade' -

Saudi Arabia itself intervened in Yemen in 2015, leading a military coalition to prop up the country's government after Huthi rebels ousted it from the capital Sanaa the previous year.

Pro-government forces, pictured in February 2017, walk in the port of Mokha, a Yemeni coastal town that borders the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a strategic oil delivery waterway

Yemen's government, in a statement Thursday carried by the state-run Saba news agency, condemned the attack on shipping and urged the international community to "immediately stand with and support" the coalition in its fight against the Huthis.

At least 10,000 people have been killed and thousands others wounded in the conflict in Yemen, one of the world's most impoverished nations.

Over 20 million Yemenis need humanitarian aid, millions are on the brink of famine and hundreds of thousands have been infected with diseases, mainly cholera.

Oil tankers from the Gulf pass through the Bab al-Mandab to enter the Red Sea as they head for Europe via the Suez Canal.

About 4.8 million barrels of crude oil and refined products pass through the waterway each day, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The Saudi-led coalition has repeatedly raised alarm that Huthi rebels threaten vessels in the Red Sea through their control of the strategic Hodeida port.

"This terrorist attack is a dangerous threat to the freedom of navigation and international trade in the Red Sea," said Turki al-Maliki, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition.

Pro-government forces backed up by the coalition have paused an assault on Hodeida port in what they say is a bid to give United Nations-led peace efforts a chance.US President Donald Trump and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, seen here after White House talks, have moved to defuse trade row

The US truce with the European Union will "immediately resolve" the US steel and aluminum tariffs and the EU retaliation at the center of the costly trade row, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday.

But the details of the ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker at the White House on Wednesday remain unclear and subject of differing interpretations.

The punishing US metals tariffs angered Washington's major trading partners including the EU and sparked retaliation against important American exports, spooking global stock markets.

Mnuchin made clear the primary source of the aggravation would be addressed "very quickly."

"The first issue that we'll begin negotiating is ... the issue on the steel and aluminum tariffs and retaliatory tariffs," Mnuchin said on CNBC.

Brussels had hit back at the US over the metals tariffs by imposing duties on more than $3 billion of US goods, including blue jeans, bourbon and motorcycles, as well as orange juice, rice and corn.

Mnuchin also confirmed that the US would not impose threatened auto tariffs -- which would hurt dominant German carmakers -- while negotiations are ongoing. That would head off the threat of another round of EU tariffs on $20 billion in US exports.

"Phase one will be to immediately resolve those issues so there will be no tariffs in either direction," Mnuchin said.

- 'Vindication' for Trump -

The US declared a resounding victory for Trump and his confrontational stance, as Washington appears to have conceded little.

"If we hadn't had steel and aluminum tariffs, we never would have gotten to the point we are now," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told reporters. "This is a real vindication of the president's trade policy."

EU-US trade

The United States and the EU account for about $1 trillion in transatlantic trade, and on Wednesday, the leaders agreed to "launch a new phase" in the relationship and "work together towards zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods," Trump said.

Trump said the EU made a commitment to buy more US soybeans and natural gas, but a European official disputed that characterization.

The joint statement said Brussels and Washington would "work to reduce barriers and increase trade" in a range of products including soybeans, and that the EU "wants to import more liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States."

But an EU official said it will be up to the markets to decide whether to buy more US goods. "We are not going to turn into a Soviet style economy."

European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi called the tentative truce a "good sign, because in a sense it shows that there is a willingness to discuss trade issues in a multilateral framework again."

He warned, however, it was too soon to "assess the actual content."

Germany unsurprisingly hailed the decision, given that their world dominating auto industry was the first in line to be punished by Trump's protectionist offensive.

But French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire angrily demanded "clarifications" over the agreed measures.

- NAFTA and autos -

US stocks were mixed in late-morning trading Thursday, with the Dow solidly higher. Agricultural equipment makers Deere & Co. and Agco both advanced.

But even with good news on auto tariffs, car companies General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler all fell. All three companies slashed profit forecasts in part due to higher supply costs following US tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Ross said his department will continue its investigation into possible tariffs on imports of auto and auto parts and submit a report to Trump sometime next month.

However, it "may not be necessary" to impose the tariffs.

Meanwhile, in another sign of movement on trade relations, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the administration hopes to reach an agreement with Mexico and Canada next month on revising the North American Free Trade Agreement.

That is "not an unreasonable timeframe if everybody wants to get it done," he told a Senate committee, shortly before he was due to meet with a Mexican trade delegation.

- Watching China currency movements -

Trump also won a commitment from Juncker to work together to reform the World Trade Organization to address some of his complaints about China on theft of US technology, the behavior of state-owned enterprises, and overcapacity in steel.

China-US trade in goods

The Republican president has long complained that the WTO has been unfair to the United States, despite the fact the US has won most of the disputes against China and others.

Mnuchin said there were no new developments on the dispute with China, which has been the target of most of Trump's trade policies.

"I've made perfectly clear that any time China is willing to seriously negotiate -- and we're talking about a commitment to reduce the bilateral trade deficit as well as to deal with technology issues -- we're available any time," he said.

But he also cautioned that the US is watching China's currency movements for any sign Beijing is manipulating the yuan.A US Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey flies over the Pentagon

US defense officials unveiled Thursday a much-anticipated final request for tech firms to bid on a massive contract to provide the Pentagon with a comprehensive cloud computing service.

Tech titans including Amazon and Microsoft have already spent months jockeying for a winning offer on the prestigious contract, which could be worth as much as $10 billion over a decade.

The Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, better known by its nerdy name JEDI Cloud Program, ultimately will see all military branches sharing information in one system that can be scoured in real time with the help of artificial intelligence.

Currently, the Navy, Air Force and Army use separate clouds, so the benefits of immediately shared information, for instance by a pilot, could be huge.

He or she might have instant access to data collected by troops on the ground, a drone or a ship at sea, speeding the flow of vital intelligence.

Pentagon Chief Information Officer Dana Deasy said the Defense Department is appealing to outside firms because it needs help learning how to put in place a cloud of this scope.

"Battlefield advantage is driven by who has access to the best information that can then be analyzed to inform decision-making at the point of time and need," Deasy said.

While JEDI will play a key role for future cloud needs, officials noted the Pentagon will continue to operate multiple cloud systems, for now at least.

Tech firms including Microsoft and Amazon have in recent weeks festooned the metro stop underneath the Pentagon with advertisements boasting of their cloud prowess, no doubt hoping to catch the eye of decision-makers in the building.

The contract will have an initial duration of two years, but can be renewed for various amounts of time up to 10 years.

And of course the bid winner will have a foot in the Pentagon door, potentially leading to other lucrative defense contracts.

A Silicon Valley backlash in recent months has seen thousands of tech workers protest their companies getting involved with the Pentagon.

In May, Google workers signed a petition protesting the firm's involvement with the military in developing artificial intelligence to make US military drones better at recognizing what they are monitoring.

Google last month said it would not use AI for weapons or to "cause or directly facilitate injury to people," as it unveiled a set of principles for the technologies.A new Ebola virus has been found in bats in Sierra Leone, like this one trapped to be examined for research in Gabon in June 2018, though it's still unknown if the new species can develop into the deadly Ebola disease

A new Ebola virus has been found in bats in Sierra Leone, two years after the end of an outbreak that killed over 11,000 across West Africa, the government said on Thursday.

It is not yet known whether the new Bombali species of the virus -- which researchers say could be transmitted to humans -- can develop into the deadly Ebola disease.

"At this time, it is not yet known if the Bombali Ebola virus has been transmitted to people or if it causes disease in people but it has the potential to infect human cells," Amara Jambai, a senior ministry of health official, told AFP.

"This is early stages of the findings," Jambai added, calling on the public to remain calm while awaiting further research.

A health ministry spokesman and a researcher who worked on the discovery confirmed the findings to AFP.

Researchers who found the new virus in the northern Bombali region are now working with the Sierra Leone government to determine whether any humans were infected.

"As precautionary measures, people should refrain from eating bats," Harold Thomas, health ministry spokesman told AFP.

The worst-ever Ebola outbreak started in December 2013 in southern Guinea before spreading to two neighbouring west African countries, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The West African outbreak was caused by the Zaire species, which has historically been the most deadly in humans since it was first identified in 1976.

That outbreak killed more than 11,300 people out of nearly 29,000 registered cases, according to World Health Organization estimates.

The WHO declared the epidemic over in January this year, but this was followed by flare-ups in all three countries.A supporter of Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila holds a picture of the leader outside parliament, where Kabila gave a state-of-the-nation speech in which he did not reveal whether he plans to run in December elections

With only five months to go before elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United States on Thursday urged President Joseph Kabila to quickly declare that he will not seek re-election.

The vote is to take place two years later than originally scheduled, and after dozens have died in protests against Kabila who has been in power since 2001.

Addressing the UN Security Council, US Deputy Ambassador Jonathan Cohen said "the time for posturing is over" and that Kabila must now make clear his intentions for the December 23 vote.

"We expect President Kabila to abide by the DRC constitution and the December 2016 agreement. He is not eligible under Congolese law to seek a third term," Cohen said.

France and Britain have previously also called for him to clearly state that he will step aside and not run in the election.

Kabila had been expected to announce whether he planned to run in an address to parliament last week, but he kept the world guessing about his intentions.

On that same day, the Security Council issued a joint statement with the African Union's Peace and Security Council to call for a "peaceful and democratic transfer of power" following the December vote.

The DRC has never known a peaceful transition of power since independence from Belgium in 1960.

Candidates for the presidency must declare their bids by August 8.

The United States renewed criticism of the DR Congo's plan to use electronic voting in the polls, saying the voting machines could undermine the credibility of the elections.

The election commission "must take steps to ensure voters can cast their votes via a mechanism that is tested, trusted, and guarantees secrecy of the vote -- namely paper ballots," said Cohen.

The elections have come under intense scrutiny at the Security Council, which is planning to pay a visit to the DR Congo later this year, possibly in October.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had planned to travel to Kinshasa along with African Union Commission chairman Moussa Faki this month but that visit was postponed, at Kabila's request.

Congolese Ambassador Ignace Gata Mavita urged world powers to support elections in his country "through positive actions" and complained of "interference from all sides".

There are fears that the vast mineral-rich country could slide into all-out violence as it heads towards the elections.US President Donald Trump,seen here at a roundtable in Peosta, Iowa, has sought to reassure farmers worried about his trade policies

President Donald Trump claimed Thursday he has "opened" European markets for US agricultural products, touting himself as a champion of skeptical American farmers.

Facing difficult congressional elections later this year, Trump traveled to the farm state of Iowa to promote an apparent trade truce with the European Union.

Trump told supporters he won access for US soybean producers -- "We just opened up Europe for you farmers," he said, portraying the agreement as unprecedented.

In November, Americans will go to the polls to decide who controls Congress and statehouses across the country. A Democratic rout would severely hobble Trump's presidency.

So Trump is currently on a swing through the key states of Iowa, Missouri and Illinois, trying to assuage concerns among one-time supporters.

He is particularly keen to shore up support among influential soybean farmers, who have been hit by Chinese sanctions -- which came in response to Trump's own tariffs on Chinese goods.

"It's not nice what theyre doing," Trump said, appearing to take aim at Beijing.

The Peterson Institute for International Economics estimates American farmers face 25 percent tariffs on more than $12 billion worth of soybean exports to China.

While some experts said Europe was going to import more US soybeans anyway, Trump's deal will ease some concerns about the impact of Beijing's sanctions.

Trump's bareknuckle trade actions have shocked allies, but have also roiled economies in areas of the country where his support had been solid.

According to a recent Economist/YouGov poll, only one in three voters in the agriculture-heavy Midwest approve of Trump's handling of the economy.

In a sign of Trump's concern about what that might mean at the ballot box come November, the White House recently floated a $12 billion package to aid farmers.

Meanwhile, Trump has -- at least temporarily -- backtracked on his own threats of sanctions against European cars, steel and aluminum, which had also stoked unease at home.

Earlier this week, the Minneapolis district of the Federal Reserve Bank -- which includes industrial and farm states -- reported that there was "growing concern" about "steep increases in aluminum and steel costs in reaction to tariff announcements."

Commerce Secretary Wilber Ross claimed Trump's climb-down and Europe's promise to hold trade talks and to import more soybeans as a victory.

"I think if we hadn't done the steel and aluminum tariffs, and if we hadn't had the threat of automotive tariffs, we never would have gotten to the point where we are now," he said.

Washington insiders have been quick to caution that Trump's move to temper his trade policies is likely a temporary tack in the face of elections, rather than the abandonment of his hardline "America First" agenda.US President Donald Trump's tweets are in the sights of special counsel Robert Mueller, who is looking into whether Trump obstructed justice by trying to influence the probe into his campaign's ties with Russia

Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating whether US President Donald Trump's tweets constitute an attempt to obstruct justice with respect to the probe into his campaign's ties with Russia, The New York Times reported Thursday.

Citing three unnamed people briefed on the subject, the Times said that Mueller, a former FBI director, was scrutinizing tweets and negative statements from the president about Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Mueller's FBI successor James Comey.

Trump has repeatedly turned to Twitter to try to bend proceedings and public opinion in the direction he would like -- calling for Mueller's probe to end and demanding that the Justice Department investigate his political enemies.

In one of many similar tweets, Trump on April 20 appeared to try to undermine Mueller's probe into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia in its efforts to skew the 2016 US presidential election.

"James Comey illegally leaked classified documents to the press in order to generate a Special Council [sic]? Therefore, the Special Council was established based on an illegal act? Really, does everybody know what that means?" he wrote.

Now Mueller is reportedly investigating whether that pattern of behavior is enough to constitute obstruction of justice.

Obstruction is difficult to prove, and US legal opinion is divided on whether the president can be indicted for such a crime even if it is a slam dunk case.

To avoid that legal thicket, Richard Nixon was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the Watergate scandal, which nonetheless led to his impeachment by Congress and exit from office.Russia's Syria envoy Alexander Lavrentiev (R), pictured in May 2017, has called on the international community to "contribute to the process" of Syrian refugees returning to Syria

Russia's Syria envoy on Thursday urged the international community to help Syrian refugees go back to their war-torn country.

During a meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, Alexander Lavrentiev called on "the international community to contribute to the process" of their return, urging "all countries" to help.

Russia has been a key backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the conflict, which has killed more than 350,000 people and displaced millions.

Moscow's 2015 military intervention in support of Assad was widely seen as a turning point in the war.

Lavrentiev, on a regional tour with stops in Damascus, Beirut and Amman, said the Syrian government was "not able to provide significant financial support" to help refugees go home.

"The key is not to politicise this very important humanitarian issue because without international aid, it will be very difficult to create favourable conditions for those who wish to return," the envoy added.

Earlier this month, Russia presented the US with plans for the coordinated return of refugees to Syria.

The proposal includes the establishment of working groups in both Lebanon and Jordan, involving US and Russian officials.

The United Nations refuge agency said it has "not been involved in these discussions", and has repeatedly warned against forced and hasty returns.

Lebanon says it currently hosts some 1.5 million Syrian refugees, of whom fewer than one million are registered with the UN.

In Jordan there are 650,000 UN-registered Syrian refugees, but the government estimates it hosts some 1.3 million and has repeatedly called for more international support.

The war in Syria began in 2011 with a brutal government crackdown on protesters before morphing into a complex conflict involving regional forces, foreign powers and jihadist groups.Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, pictured in June 2018, has told Russian media that the military will make a serious push to retake northwestern and eastern territories

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told Russian media on Thursday his regime's next priority would be retaking Idlib province, currently dominated by rebels and jihadists.

"Now Idlib is our goal, but not just Idlib," Assad said of the northwestern province, in comments carried on Russian newswires.

"There are of course territories in the eastern part of Syria that are controlled by various groups... So we will be moving into all these regions," Assad added.

"The military -- and it is at their discretion -- will decide priorities and Idlib is one of these priorities," he said.

"Now we have liberated Ghouta, we will finish the liberation of the south-western part of Syria," Assad said.

Syrian government forces launched an offensive last month backed by Russian planes to retake the south of Syria, including Daraa and Quneitra provinces.

Russia, Turkey and Iran have held talks under the Astana peace process launched last year and agreed to create four "de-escalation" zones to pave the way for a nationwide ceasefire.

Idlib is part of one such zone. It borders Turkey to the northwest but is otherwise almost totally surrounded by regime territory, prompting fears the government would eventually attack it.

Idlib has received many rebels and their families evacuated from other regions under Russian-brokered "reconciliation deals" that then saw regime forces move in to take rebel-held areas.

According to the United Nations, Idlib's population today stands at 2.5 million -- half of them displaced people.

In the same interview Assad said rescue workers from the White Helmets group would be killed if they did not turn themselves in.

"Either they can lay down their arms as part of an amnesty ongoing for four or five years, or they will be liquidated like any other terrorist," he said.

Israel on Sunday helped more than 400 people -- opposition-linked White Helmets rescuers and their families -- flee a pocket of southwest Syria as government forces bore down on them. But hundreds more remain trapped in the south, fearing reprisals from approaching regime troops. Damascus accuses the White Helmets of being a front for jihadists.

Assad also appealed for Syrian refugees, especially those who had their own businesses in the country, to return.

The war has killed more than 350,000 people since it began in 2011 with a brutal government crackdown on protesters.Israeli soldiers walk in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights across the border from the southern Syrian province of Quneitra in July 2018

Syria's southwestern Quneitra province includes the Golan Heights, most of which is annexed and occupied by Israel.

Syrian government forces on Thursday raised the flag in the buffer zone separating Syrian-held territory from the Israeli-annexed Golan, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The part of the province to the east of the buffer zone fell almost totally under regime control after a brief military offensive followed by deals under which the rebels surrendered or were evacuated from the region.

Here is some background about the province.

- On Israel's doorstep -

The rocky plateau known as the Golan Heights overlooks Israel's Galilee region and Lake Tiberius to the south and west.

Israel seized 1,200 square kilometres (460 square miles) of the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it in a move never recognised internationally.

The region is strategically important for Syria because it also controls a key highway from the Jordanian border to the capital Damascus.

- Under rebel control -

After decades of calm, tensions began flaring up in the Golan with the 2011 uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

In March 2013, rebels fighting Assad's forces launched coordinated attacks in the area and began seizing parts of the province.

The following year, rebel fighters and jihadists from Al-Qaeda's Syria affiliate expanded their control, seizing the crossing between the Syrian section of the Golan and the part annexed by Israel.

- Israel-Syria flashpoint -

In September 2014, the Israeli army shot down a Syrian military plane over the Golan in the most serious incident over the Heights since the conflict started.

The area has witnessed fierce fighting between rebels and the regime, with fire occasionally landing in occupied territory and prompting Israeli retaliation.

Israel in particular objects to the presence of regime-allied foreign fighters close to its borders: namely, Iranian forces or units from Lebanese militia Hezbollah.

On January 18, 2015, a raid blamed on Israel killed six members of Hezbollah and an Iranian general close to Quneitra.

On May 10, 2018, Israel carried out dozens of raids against Iranian targets, saying it was responding to Iranian rockets fired at the Israeli-held part of Golan.

On July 24, Israel said it had shot down a Syrian plane that had entered its airspace over Golan, a version denied by Damascus, which said the plane was carrying out operations against jihadists.

- Regime advances -

A "de-escalation" accord negotiated by Russia, the United States and Jordan saw southern Syria return to relative calm for the past year.

But this month it became a new front for advancing Syrian forces after they re-established their authority over most of neighbouring Daraa province.

The regime launched an assault on Quneitra on July 15 with heavy bombardment.

Under pressure, the rebels accepted on July 19 to allow regime forces to take over, and began evacuating the next day.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights the regime now holds 90 percent of the Syrian side of the province.Lameness prevention: it's all in the head

An understanding of how cows think, how they see the world and how they move is essential for lameness prevention.The US froze funds for Egypt's military, pictured in 2014, in 2017 over human rights concerns, but the Trump administration has decided to release $195 million in aid

The Trump administration has decided to release $195 million in military aid to Egypt that was frozen last year because of human rights concerns, a State Department official said Thursday.

"Recognizing steps Egypt has taken over the last year in response to specific US concerns... the administration has decided to allow Egypt to use the remaining $195 million," the official said, without describing those steps.

The funds for Egypt, a key US ally, were withheld last year after the passage of a law that severely restricted the work of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

"There remain areas of concern, and we will continue to make clear the need for progress in addressing them, including... addressing our concerns about the NGO law," the State Department official said.

"We will continue to look for and encourage opportunities to improve and bolster cooperation," the official said.

The United States "remains committed to strengthening our strategic relationship with Egypt," the official added.

Since 2013, international human rights groups have criticized President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government for cracking down on secular and left-wing activists, as well as Islamists close to the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Human Rights Watch said last year that the NGO law would lead to "unprecedented levels of repression and ... criminalize the work of many NGOs."US President Donald Trump and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, seen here after White House talks, have moved to defuse trade row

President Donald Trump declared victory for American farmers Thursday after brokering a ceasefire in a trade dispute with the European Union, but it is unclear how soon it will bring relief to those hurt by tit-for-tat tariffs.

The White House painted the agreement as a vindication of the US president's bare-knuckle tactics, which Trump has deployed even against allies.

The details of the deal brokered with European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday remain unclear and subject to differing interpretations, but the EU did ward off a new round of US tariffs on autos and received a pledge to roll back duties on steel and aluminum.

In exchange, Trump said he won access for US soybean producers, and for American natural gas.

"We just opened up Europe for you farmers," he told supporters at a rally in the farm state of Iowa.

Punishing US metals tariffs angered Washington's major trading partners including the EU and sparked retaliation against important American exports, spooking global stock markets.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the truce will "immediately resolve" tariffs and the EU retaliation at the center of the costly trade row.

"The first issue that we'll begin negotiating is... the issue on the steel and aluminum tariffs and retaliatory tariffs," Mnuchin said on CNBC.

Brussels had hit back at the US over the metals tariffs by imposing duties on more than $3 billion of US goods, including blue jeans, bourbon and motorcycles, as well as orange juice, rice and corn.

Mnuchin also confirmed that the US would not impose threatened auto tariffs -- which would hurt dominant German carmakers -- while negotiations are ongoing. That would head off the threat of another round of EU tariffs on $20 billion in US exports.

"Phase one will be to immediately resolve those issues so there will be no tariffs in either direction," Mnuchin said.

- 'Vindication' for Trump -

The US declared a resounding victory for Trump and his confrontational stance, as Washington appears to have conceded little in exchange.

"If we hadn't had steel and aluminum tariffs, we never would have gotten to the point we are now," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told reporters. "This is a real vindication of the president's trade policy."

EU-US trade

The United States and the EU account for about $1 trillion in transatlantic trade, and on Wednesday the leaders agreed to work towards eliminating all tariffs, trade barriers and subsidies.

Trump also said the EU made a commitment to buy more US soybeans and natural gas, but a European official disputed that characterization.

The joint statement said Brussels and Washington would "work to reduce barriers and increase trade" in a range of products including soybeans, and that the EU "wants to import more liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States."

But an EU official told reporters it will be up to the markets to decide whether to buy more US goods. "We are not going to turn into a Soviet-style economy."

European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi called the tentative truce a "good sign, because in a sense it shows that there is a willingness to discuss trade issues in a multilateral framework again."

He warned, however, it was too soon to "assess the actual content."

Germany unsurprisingly hailed the decision, given that its auto industry was the first in line to be punished by Trump's protectionist offensive.

But French President Emmanuel Macron expressed skepticism, saying a good trade negotiation "can only be done on a balanced, reciprocal basis, and in no case under any sort of threat."

US stocks closed the day mostly lower on Thursday, despite rallying after the announcement, as investors were cautious that the trade threat had fully receded.

Agricultural equipment makers Deere & Co. and Agco both advanced, but General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler all fell. All three carmakers slashed profit forecasts in part due to higher supply costs due to US tariffs on steel and aluminum.

But European markets rallied, as French and German carmakers rebounded on news of their reprieve. BMW gained 4.4 percent, Daimler 2.8 percent and Volkswagen 4.0 percent in Frankfurt.

Ross said his department will continue its investigation into possible tariffs on imports of auto and auto parts and submit a report to Trump sometime next month.

However, it "may not be necessary" to impose the tariffs.

- Watching China currency movements -

Trump also won a commitment from Juncker to work together to reform the World Trade Organization to address some of his complaints about China on theft of US technology, the behavior of state-owned enterprises, and overcapacity in steel.

China-US trade in goods

The Republican president has long complained that the WTO has been unfair to the United States, despite the fact the US has won most of the disputes against China and others.

Mnuchin said there were no new developments on the dispute with China, which has been the target of most of Trump's trade policies.

"I've made perfectly clear that any time China is willing to seriously negotiate -- and we're talking about a commitment to reduce the bilateral trade deficit as well as to deal with technology issues -- we're available any time," he said.

But he also cautioned that the US is watching China's currency movements for any sign Beijing is manipulating the yuan.Protesters and their children demonstrate on Capitol Hill on July 26, 2018 to mark a court-ordered deadline for President Donald Trump's administration to reunify migrant families separated at the US-Mexico border

A federal judge praised the US government Friday for reuniting 1,800 migrant children it took from their families at the Mexican border -- but demanded that the focus shift to 400 who remain in custody because their parents have been deported.

Judge Dana Sabraw spoke out a day after it was revealed that hundreds of families had still not been reunited after being split under President Donald Trump's controversial "zero tolerance" policy against undocumented migrants.

Sabraw had ordered that all eligible migrant families be brought back together by 6:00 pm (2200 GMT) Thursday. Officials said in a court filing that while 1,820 children aged five and older were back with their parents, hundreds remained in custody.

The government insists the deadline has been met, as the families of those remaining are ineligible for a variety of reasons, including unconfirmed family ties or parents with criminal records.

Sabraw accepted that "the process has been completed" and said the government "deserves great credit in this regard" for making the deadline.

But he insisted that finding the deported parents must be the "the second stage." Stage three, said the judge, would be to set up a protocol ensuring that "this never happens again."

The controversial separations began in May, when migrants illegally entering the United States were detained en masse, and their children taken to detention centers and shelters.

Justice Department attorney Scott Stewart told the court there were 1,000 families with "executable" deportation orders -- 400 of whom were in custody and would be the first removed.

Many others had been released from custody upon reunification, he added, but will be subject to deportation as soon as Sabraw lifts a stay on removal proceedings.

- Gang violence -

A Guatemalan woman, identified only as Heydi, and her six-year-old daughter Mishel try to locate their sponsor on a map of the United States after being reunited on July 26, 2018 at a shelter in El Paso, Texas

The American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the lawsuit to reunite the families, says the government is manipulating the figures to give a false impression.

"The Trump administration is trying to sweep them under the rug by unilaterally picking and choosing who is eligible for reunification," Lee Gelernt, of the ACLU, said in a statement.

"We will continue to hold the government accountable and get these families back together."

The organization wants reunited families to have a week to decide their next move, whether that be fighting for asylum, agreeing to go but leaving the children, or the whole family leaving together. Most are from Central America, fleeing gang violence and other turmoil.

The judge, based in San Diego, addressed the eligibility controversy by remarking that the government could only reunite children under its control. He postponed ruling on the seven-day delay request.

The separations triggered outrage in the US and abroad, especially after the release of audio of small children in shelters crying for their parents.

- 'Chaos and cruelty' -

The pressure led to the Republican president demanding an end to the separations in June, six weeks after the "zero tolerance" policy kicked into high gear. Sabraw then ordered the reunifications, with Thursday as the deadline.

But the pace has been slow; children and parents are being housed in different parts of the country, while many adults have been deported.

Lawyer Efren Olivares of the Texas Civil Rights Project, which represents some parents, said the treatment of migrant families had been marked by "chaos and cruelty."

Last month, Sabraw ordered the government to return children under the age of five to their parents by July 10 and those between five and 17 by Thursday.

The government missed the first deadline. It deemed 45 children ineligible for return because their parents were not fit or able to take them.

As of Tuesday -- before the latest figures were announced -- the US Department of Health and Human Services had in its custody 11,500 children classified as unaccompanied aliens, mainly minors who entered without an adult.US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the three NAFTA partners could have a new deal by the end of August

US and Mexican officials said Thursday they are aiming to conclude talks to remake the North American Free Trade Agreement as soon as next month.

The new follows Wednesday's ceasefire in trade hostilities between the United States and the European Union, raising the possibility President Donald Trump could declare victory in two fronts of his global trade offensive.

The US, Mexico and Canada could reach "some kind of conclusion during the course of August," US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told a Senate subcommittee.

He said "that's not an unreasonable timeframe if everybody wants to get it done," adding that it would allow Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto to sign the new deal before he leaves office December 1.

"That's what our hope is," Lighthizer said.

Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo, in Washington for meetings with Lighthizer, told reporters the sides were getting close, and had a "window of opportunity" to reach a deal by the end of August.

He said "that is the expectation we all have" and are committed to, although after the meeting he cautioned: "I cannot predict the end result."

Jesus Seade, adviser to Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who takes office December 1, said the meeting was "excellent," and he was "cautiously optimistic" on reaching a deal.

Talks are due to continue Friday.

But Lighthizer suggested he still favored a so-called sunset clause in US trade agreements, requiring parties to renew them every five years.

US insistence on the sunset provision helped derail the NAFTA talks earlier this year after both Canadian and Mexican officials rejected it outright.

"I think we clearly should have a sunset review," he said.

In a possible dig at Ottawa, Lighthizer also said Mexican authorities had been more cooperative than the Canadians.

"My hope is that we will before long have a conclusion with respect to Mexico and as a result of that Canada will come in and begin to compromise," he said.

- China deal will take time -

"I don't believe they've compromised in the same way the United States or Mexico has."

Canadian authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment from AFP on Thursday.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said after a meeting with Mexican officials that NAFTA remains a trilateral trade pact

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland met Wednesday with her Mexican counterpart Luis Videgaray said there had been "significant progress" towards revamping the two-decade-old trilateral agreement.

Talks were first launched last year after Trump demanded an overhaul of the "terrible deal," and he has threatened to pull out and then negotiate separate bilateral deals, most recently in a letter to Lopez Obrador.

Freeland stressed that NAFTA remains "a trilateral agreement and that's a simple statement of the reality."

Lighthizer also faced stiff questioning from senators who were anxious to know how much longer Trump's other trade confrontations would last.

Lawmakers in Trump's own Republican Party have denounced his large-scale campaign of tariffs since it began earlier this year, and companies have begun to feel the pain of rising prices and lost markets.

Senators expressed renewed concern for farmers and manufacturers suffering from the retaliation by US trading partners, as well as Alaskan fishers, Maine lobster producers and Tennessee auto workers.

"There clearly is pain associated with what we're doing," Lighthizer acknowledged.

The Agriculture Department this week announced a plan to provide up $12 billion in aid to farmers affected by retaliatory tariffs.

Lighthizer said it could take longer to resolve the concerns with China, which the US has accused of unfair trade practices and theft of American technology.

"If you look at NAFTA, I believe we're very close," he said, "but on the specific question of China, the reality is it's going to take time."

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said US officials are willing to talk with Beijing "any time China is willing to seriously negotiate."Israeli forces patrol the Adam settlement in the occupied West Bank on July 26, 2018, shortly after a stabbing attack

A knife attack by a Palestinian in a West Bank settlement on Thursday killed one Israeli and wounded two others, while the assailant was shot dead, authorities said.

The 17-year-old attacker entered the Adam settlement near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Thursday evening, Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said.

"A terrorist infiltrated into (the Adam settlement) and stabbed three civilians," the army said in a statement.

"The terrorist was shot and killed," it added.

One of the wounded, a 31-year-old, later died from his injuries after having arrived at hospital in critical condition, the hospital treating him announced.

A 58-year-old victim was said to be seriously wounded but stable. The third victim, who also shot the Palestinian, was slightly wounded in the leg.

Conricus said the attacker, from the Palestinian village of Kobar, had been shot by a civilian who was passing at the time and witnessed the incident.

The Palestinian managed to jump the fence of the settlement and stab two passersby, Israeli media reported.

Lone Palestinian attackers have carried out multiple deadly stabbings and car-rammings against Israelis in recent years.

The last stabbing attack in a West Bank settlement was in April 2018, when a Palestinian tried to stab an Israeli with a screwdriver near a petrol station in an industrial area connected to the Maale Adumim settlement east of Jerusalem.

- Gaza tensions -

Thursday's attack comes amid recurrent violence between the Israeli army and Palestinian groups in the besieged Gaza Strip, but the West Bank has remained relatively calm.

Earlier in the day, Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which rules Gaza, promised revenge after Israeli strikes on the coastal enclave killed three of its members.

Israel said the artillery fire late Wednesday was in retaliation for shots fired at troops along the border that injured one soldier.

"The enemy shall pay a high price in blood for the crime which it commits daily against the rights of our people and our fighters," said the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.

The flare-up came five days after the United Nations and Egypt brokered a deal to halt a July 20 surge in violence that claimed the lives of four Palestinians and an Israeli soldier -- the first killed in the area since the last war in Gaza in 2014.

On Tuesday, Israel partially reopened its only goods crossing with the Gaza Strip, after a two-week closure prompted by border tensions and incendiary kites had sparked fears of a severe fuel shortage in the blockaded Palestinian enclave.

Tensions along the Gaza border increased in late March when Palestinians launched a mass protest movement.

At least 149 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israeli fire since March 30.

Israel says its blockade is necessary to keep Hamas from obtaining weapons or materials that could be used for military purposes.

But UN officials and rights groups have repeatedly called for the blockade to be lifted, citing worsening humanitarian conditions in the enclave, home to two million people.A federal judge in California ordered that all eligible migrant families be brought back together, and while the US government says the deadline has been met, more than 700 children remain in custody

The US government said Thursday that hundreds of families it broke up at the border with Mexico have not been reunited as a court-ordered deadline to return all children to their parents elapsed.

A federal judge in California had ordered that all eligible migrant families be brought back together by 6:00 pm (2200 GMT) and officials said in a court filing that 1,442 children aged five and older had been reunited with their families.

"The reunification plan outlined to the court... is proceeding, and is expected to result in the reunification of all class members found eligible for reunification at this time by the court's July 26, 2018 deadline," the government said.

A further 378 children had already been released under other "appropriate circumstances," the filing said, but more than 700 children remain in custody.

The government said the deadline had been met, however, because those families were ineligible, either because family ties have not been confirmed, or the parent has a criminal record, a communicable disease or cannot be found.SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) - More than a year after four monuments to the Confederate era were removed from the New Orleans landscape, a federal judge has cleared the way for removal of another Louisiana Confederate memorial.

Wednesday's ruling in the northwest Louisiana city of Shreveport says the Caddo Parish Commission has the authority to remove a monument outside the parish courthouse.

U.S. District Judge Robert James dismissed a lawsuit by a chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. James ruled that the group failed to prove it had any "private property interest" in the patch of land where the monument sits. He also rejected arguments that the commission had violated the group's rights to free speech and equal protection under law.

The commission voted 7-5 for removal of the monument last October. Its resolution said "citizens would be better served if the monument was placed in a museum or at another site dedicated to memorials, instead of the Courthouse where justice is to be administered fairly and impartially."

It was unclear when the commission will begin removal, or if the Daughters of the Confederacy will appeal.

The chapter's lawsuit says the minutes of a 1903 meeting by the Caddo Parish Police Jury state that the 400-square-foot parcel of land was "reserved" for installing the monument.

The monument features a statue of a young soldier on a pedestal, surrounded by busts of four Confederate generals on lower pedestals. A life-sized figure of Clio, the muse of history, points to a 3-foot-high (1-meter-high) book of remembrance which bears the words "Love's tribute to our gallant dead."WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on Congress and immigration (all times local):

7:10 p.m.

Two congressmen who attended a private meeting with Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen say she told the group, "I am not a racist."

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen leaves a closed doors meeting with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Wednesday, July 25, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

One of them is Illinois Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez. He says Nielsen cited her friendship with the first lady of Honduras and other Latina women.

Around 20 Democratic members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus met with Nielsen to ask about the administration's now-abandoned policy of separating migrant children from their detained parents.

Texas Democratic Rep. Joaquin tweeted that Nielsen said she is not a racist and said no one believes families should be separated.

Gutierrez says he had accused Nielsen of working for "a racist regime."

__

1:40 p.m.

Lawmakers say the chief of the Homeland Security Department has told them officials are "on track" to meet a court-imposed deadline of reuniting hundreds of migrant children with parents or guardians.

That deadline is Thursday.

The lawmakers, all Democrats and members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, say Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen's remarks were met with disbelief and anger.

Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez says he told Nielsen "she is committing crimes against humanity, that she is a child abuser" and that she is "an accomplice of Donald Trump's racist regime."

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, center, arrives for a closed doors meeting with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Wednesday, July 25, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, center, arrives for a closed doors meeting with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Wednesday, July 25, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Security closes the door as Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen sits for a private meeting with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Wednesday, July 25, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)WASHINGTON (AP) - The sudden public airing of Donald Trump talking about paying for a Playboy model's silence marks a turning point in the legal game of cat-and-mouse between the president and the lawyer who once promised to take a bullet for Trump but now seems out to save himself.

The feud between Trump and his onetime legal "fixer," Michael Cohen, escalated when an audio recording of their 2016 pre-election conversation was released Tuesday by Cohen, prompting Trump to tweet Wednesday: "What kind of a lawyer would tape a client? So sad!"

As the two sides battled over the exact meaning of the sometimes-garbled words on the recording, it was clear that the tape could be just an opening volley. At least a dozen more recordings were seized from Cohen's office as well as hundreds of thousands of documents.

FILE - In this April 11, 2018, file photo, attorney Michael Cohen walks down the sidewalk in New York. Two months before the 2016 election, Donald Trump and his former lawyer Cohen discussed plans to pay for a former Playboy model's story of alleged an affair, according to a secretly recorded tape of the conversation released amid an escalating feud between the president and his longtime personal attorney. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

The tape, made just weeks before the 2016 election, appears to undermine Trump's contention that he was not aware of a payment to former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal, who has alleged she had an affair with the married future president.

That raises questions about possible campaign finance violations. It shows Cohen advising Trump on campaign matters, and that could be of interest to investigators looking into whether the lawyer violated election laws by orchestrating hush money payouts.

Cohen says on the tape he's already spoken with the Trump Organization's finance chief, Allen Weisselberg, on "how to set the whole thing up." Weisselberg's involvement has led to speculation about whether Trump's private business tried to protect his campaign.

Trump's lawyers say the payments were never made.

The tape's revelations also mark a new chapter for Cohen, who, as he mulls cooperating with federal prosecutors and perhaps special counsel Robert Mueller, is viewed by many in Trump's orbit as the greatest threat to the former businessman's presidency.

Cohen rose through the ranks of the Trump Organization by mimicking his boss' style in handling his personal and political problems. Now he and his own attorney, former Clinton lawyer Lanny Davis, are taking another page from the Trump playbook - fighting a legal battle in the court of public opinion.

With his apartment under construction after a pipe burst, Cohen has been holed up in a Midtown Manhattan hotel. From that luxurious bunker, Cohen has grown increasingly concerned that his relationship with the president has fractured beyond repair, according to two people familiar with his views but not authorized to discuss them publicly.

Cohen, who would make bad stories disappear and travel the globe to make deals for the Trump Organization, now feels increasingly isolated and burned by the attacks against him by Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and by the president's efforts to play down his former fixer's role.

And when the president's legal team waived attorney-client privilege, prompting Giuliani to declare that the tape was "exculpatory" for Trump, Cohen's team moved to release it, believing it backed up his own version of events, the people said. The attorney told confidants that he was tired of being a punching bag and wanted to try to seize control of the story.

The meaning of the tape is up for debate.

Days before the recording, American Media Inc., which owns the National Enquirer, paid $150,000 to McDougal for the rights to her story about the alleged 2006 affair. She later sued, claiming that AMI paid for the story with the intention of burying it to protect Trump. AMI president David Pecker is a close friend of the president.

Cohen is heard on the tape discussing AMI's payment, and says of "David" that "I'll have to pay him something."

The audio is muffled but Trump can be heard saying something about "cash," and then something about paying by check. Giuliani insists Trump says, "Don't pay with cash."

But Davis, Cohen's attorney, maintains that Trump's reference to "cash" is damaging. "The only people who use cash are drug dealers and mobsters," he told CNN. In another twist in a tale full of them, Davis himself had previously worked with AMI and moved to squash unflattering stories about the company. He did not return calls for comment Wednesday.

Whichever account is accurate, the tape appears to bring limited additional legal exposure to the president himself. But the revelation of the audio on prime-time television, complete with exaggerated appeals by Davis to Trump's supporters to listen to the president's comments, was designed to impeach the credibility of the president and his leading lawyer.

The recorded conversation took place in early September 2016. But a campaign spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal in November of that year concerning the McDougal agreement, "We have no knowledge of any of this."

Trump, for his part, weighed in on Twitter on Wednesday, suggesting the sudden conclusion to the recording should be viewed suspiciously.

"Why was the tape so abruptly terminated (cut) while I was presumably saying positive things?" he tweeted. "I hear there are other clients and many reporters that are taped - can this be so? Too bad!"

Trump's searing tweets marked a new low point in his relationship with Cohen, who worked for the president for a decade and grew close to his family. Though Cohen was Trump's right-hand man at the business, he was not given a major role in the campaign. He did run the president's outreach to faith groups and became a fierce defender on television, including a notable CNN clip in which he demands, "Says who?" after being shown poor poll numbers.

Though he hoped for a key White House position, Cohen was left behind in New York, where he capitalized on his access to the president in business dealings with a number of corporate clients. Famously brusque with most reporters, he vehemently challenged the references to him in a dossier of uncorroborated information about Trump even as he was called in to testify before special counsel Mueller.

After the raid by federal prosecutors, Cohen's relationship with Trump shattered. The men have not spoken for months and Giuliani has routinely lobbed grenades at the attorney.

Though Cohen's move to record Trump was unorthodox, it likely was not illegal. In New York, only one party has to give consent to a conversation being recorded. Steven Lubet, a Northwestern University expert on legal ethics, said he was unaware of any rule in New York that explicitly bars a lawyer from recording a client without consent.

But other rules, such as ones requiring lawyers and clients to have full and open communication, and barring them from engaging in fraud, dishonesty or misrepresentation, could possibly be construed as requiring an attorney to obtain consent. Rule or not, it's certainly an unorthodox practice and could leave lawyers subject to a bar complaint. Trump has a "legitimate complaint" and it's fair for him to ask what kind of lawyer would secretly record a client, Lubet said.

"The nature of the attorney/client relationship itself would dictate that a client's consent would be needed for taping," Lubet said.

___

Lemire reported from New York. Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed.

___

Follow Lemire at http://twitter.com/@JonLemire and Miller at http://twitter.com/@zekejmiller

President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, July 25, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

This combination photo shows President Donald Trump and attorney Michael Cohen. The audio recording of Trump and his then-lawyer, Cohen, captures the two men discussing hush money payments to a former Playboy model alleging an affair.(AP Photo)DETROIT (AP) - Ford Motor Co. said Wednesday it is in the midst of a major restructuring of the company that will cost $7 billion in cash and hit pretax earnings by $11 billion over the next three to five years.

But the company, which also reported a 48 percent second-quarter net profit decline, gave few details on what exactly will be cut or changed, bringing criticism and frustration from Wall Street analysts.

The company canceled its annual presentation for investors scheduled for September because the restructuring is still in progress, but said it would give updates on quarterly earnings calls and in other ways.

FILE - In this Friday, July 21, 2017, file photo, Ford cars wait for deployment after arrival by ship at the Ford Dagenham diesel engine plant in London. An escalating trade war and steep tariffs on steel and aluminum are putting pressure on earnings for automakers, prompting General Motors to slash its outlook while also weighing down shares of Ford Motor Co. and auto parts companies. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, File)

The lack of specifics brought criticism from Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas, who encouraged CEO Jim Hackett to communicate more details.

"You're kind of almost teasing the market with these very large numbers," Jonas said, telling the company to present the plans "in a narrative that can be understood."

Jonas even asked if Hackett would still be CEO by the time the investor meeting is rescheduled. Hackett replied that he's proud of the management team and the progress Ford has made, and that he will be in charge on that date.

Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks said such a major redesign of the company will take time with many parties involved, and pledged to share actions as they're completed. He noted that Ford is looking to allocate capital spending to high-performing areas and away from low-performing ones.

Ford blamed slumping China sales and a fire at a U.S. parts factory that cut production of lucrative pickup trucks for the profit decline from April through June. The company still made $1.1 billion, or 27 cents per share. But that fell short of analysts' expectations of 31 cents, according to FactSet. China sales slumped due to aging products, and the company's joint venture lost $483 million.

The fire knocked out production of highly profitable F-Series pickup trucks for a little over a week in May. Ford said at the time it had enough inventory so that sales wouldn't take a big hit.

Troubles in China as well as Europe caused the company to cut its full-year guidance to $1.30 to $1.50 per share. It had been $1.45 to $1.70.

Revenue was $38.92 billion, also short of expectations. Analysts expected $39.14 billion.

Ford shares fell 3.7 percent to $10.13 in after-hours trading.

The company said it's taking "urgent action" in China to fix the business, including cost cuts, building more vehicles in China and recruiting more local talent for top positions. Ford says it's also rolling out revamped vehicles with 60 percent of its lineup being refreshed or new by the end of next year.

Ford warned in May that the fire at Meridian Magnesium Products in Michigan would have a short-term impact on earnings. The plant makes front-end parts for Ford pickups and big SUVs. The ensuing parts shortage forced Ford to lay off about 7,600 workers at two truck factories for about a week. But the company went to great lengths to resume production SUVs, even flying equipment from the U.S. to a Meridian factory in Europe.

Ford's sales dropped in the U.S. by 0.8 percent during the quarter as sedan sales slumped. Although it sold 236,000 F-Series pickups during the quarter and is on a record sales pace, the company's North American pretax profit of $1.8 billion was $600 million less than a year earlier.

___

This story has been corrected to show that Ford's China joint venture lost $483 million in the quarter, not that it was about break even.SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - A former Alaska Airlines pilot who flew a passenger plane while drunk has been sentenced in California to a year and a day in federal prison.

David Hans Arntson of Newport Beach was also fined $10,000 on Wednesday.

In 2014, Arntson flew an Alaska Airlines flight from San Diego to Portland, Oregon, and then took a second plane from Portland to John Wayne Airport in Southern California.

After landing there, he underwent random testing that found his blood-alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit.

U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney says Arntson engaged in "a very dangerous offense."

Arntson retired, and his pilot's license was revoked.WASHINGTON (AP) - Kem Monovithya, a Cambodian political activist, was visiting Switzerland in September when she got a phone call from her father. Kem Sokha, the leader of Cambodia's main opposition party, told his daughter that government agents were raiding their family's home in Phnom Penh.

"He told me: 'They're handcuffing me now,'" Kem Monovithya, 36, recalled in an interview with The Associated Press.

Months later, her father remains in prison, facing charges of treason, and she is in the United States.

In this July 17, 2018, photo, Kem Monovithya, a Cambodian political activist and daughter of Kem Sokha, the jailed leader of Cambodia's main opposition party, poses for a portrait on Capitol Hill in Washington. Kem said she can't go home because she fears she, too, will be arrested as part of a government crackdown that has banned the political party her father led, shut down news outlets and scattered hundreds of Cambodian politicians, human rights activists and journalists into exile in the U.S., Australia, Thailand and other countries. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

She said she can't go home because she fears she, too, will be arrested as part of a government crackdown that has banned the political party her father led, shut down news outlets and scattered hundreds of Cambodian politicians, human rights activists and journalists into exile in the U.S., Australia, Thailand and other countries.

Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling party, the Cambodian People's Party, has stepped up actions against media organizations and opposition politicians over the past two years as national elections - which are set for Sunday - have drawn closer.

Hun Sen, who had held power for three decades, vowed last year that he'd be willing to "eliminate 100 to 200 people" to protect the nation's security, suggesting his opponents "prepare coffins."

Spokespeople for the ruling party and the government did not answer questions from the AP for this story.

In February, the government issued a 132-page book that asserted that "real democracy is not being reversed ... On the contrary, only fake democracy is being uprooted."

The international watchdog group Human Rights Watch says the "civil and political rights environment in Cambodia" has "markedly deteriorated" since the start of 2017. The group says the regime has engaged in "arbitrary arrests and other abuses" and worked to portray peaceful dissent over corruption, land rights and other issues as attempts to overthrow the government.

Kem Monovithya and other exiled members of the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party are keeping the party alive from abroad. They are trying to convince the U.S., the European Union and others to place an embargo on international travel by top Cambodian officials, but avoid a general economic embargo that would hurt average Cambodians.

They are also asking voters boycott this month's elections, using social media to urge Cambodians to embrace a "clean finger campaign." In Cambodia, voters must dip their fingers in ink after casting their ballots.

The National Election Committee warned that anyone urging a boycott or otherwise interfering in the polls could face criminal charges.

'BEYOND WORDS'

Kem Monovithya and other exiles have traveled around the U.S. and to Europe, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere to spread their message, talking with diplomats, lawmakers, media and Cambodians living abroad.

As they advocate for change from afar, Cambodia's political exiles are also struggling with a sense of loss and dislocation.

"I miss my family, my kids," said Sia Phearum, a Cambodian land rights activist who fled the country for the U.S. in late 2017, leaving behind his wife and three children, ages 5 to 11. "The pain is beyond words."

Kem Monovithya told the AP that her exile is "a test of my strength and endurance. I am almost homeless." She stays with friends and she isn't sure where she'll be from week to week. "I go where my advocacy takes me," she said.

A month after her father's arrest, one of his deputy party leaders, Mu Sochua, was tipped off by two government officials that she was also going to be arrested. Mu Sochua, 64, said she wanted to stay, but her children convinced her that she should she leave the country and work from abroad for democracy in Cambodia.

In late May, Mu Sochua and Kem Monovithya traveled to Norway to attend the Oslo Freedom Forum, a gathering of human rights and democracy advocates.

In a speech at the forum, Mu Sochua urged the international community to impose sanctions "on those who are engaging in the oppression" in Cambodia.

"The democracies of the world should not recognize a government from an illegitimate election," she said.

The U.S. has expressed "grave concern" about the Cambodian government's actions and questioned whether this month's elections will be free and fair. In March, the Trump White House said it was withholding $8.3 million in funding for Cambodia's government as part of an effort "to ensure that American taxpayer funds are not being used to support anti-democratic behavior." The EU has threatened a trade embargo and Germany has restricted travel visas for Cambodian government officials.

Japan has continued to provide funding to help underwrite the general election. Exiled Cambodian opposition leaders have appealed to the Japanese government to withdraw the funding.

Cambodian authorities claim that opposition leaders, community activists and journalists are working with the U.S. and other "superpowers" to bring down the government. Hun Sen and other government officials use the term "color revolution" to describe these efforts.

"All armed forces are obliged to absolutely ensure that Cambodia is free from any color revolutions," Hun Sen wrote in a Facebook post in 2016. "Such a revolution will harm people's happiness and peace in Cambodia. Armed forces shall protect the legitimate government."

'AUTHORITY OF THE STATE'

Despite the cooling of its relations with the U.S., the Cambodian government has cited Donald Trump's attacks on what he calls "the fake news media" as justification for tighter controls on journalism in Cambodia.

"President Donald Trump thinks that the news reported by these organizations did not reflect the truth, which is the responsibility of the professional reporters," a Cambodian government spokesman said in a statement weeks after Trump's inauguration. "This means that freedom of expression must respect the law and the authority of the state."

In September, the Cambodian Daily, an English language newspaper known for its aggressive reporting on corruption and abuses of power, announced it had been forced to close as the result of what it said were "extra-legal threats" and a sham tax bill from the government.

The paper's final front page included the headline "Descent Into Outright Dictatorship" - and the news that Kem Monovithya's father, Kem Sokha, had been arrested and charged with conspiring with the U.S. to overthrow Hun Sen's government. Hun Sen publicly called Kem Sokha a "foreign puppet."

In May, the Phnom Penh Post, which was considered the last independent daily in Cambodia, was purchased by a businessman who is chief executive of a public relations firm that has worked for Hun Sen's government. After the sale, several top journalists at the paper were fired or resigned.

The government has also closed about 20 radio channels and arrested two former reporters with U.S.-backed Radio Free Asia. The journalists, Uon Chhin and Yeang Southearin, were initially accused of running an "unlicensed karaoke studio" but were later charged with providing a "foreign state with information which undermines national defense."

These troubles are the latest in a country that has endured genocide, civil war and oppression over the past half century. Nearly 2 million Cambodians died in the "killing fields" operated by the Khmer Rouge, the communist regime that controlled the country from 1975 to 1979. Hun Sen took power as Cambodia's prime minister in 1985, but violence between competing factions continued until a peace accord was signed in Paris in 1991.

Over the past decade or more, citizen protests have proliferated over land rights, widespread logging in Cambodia's forests and working conditions in the country's garment factories. In response, the government has arrested dozens of protest leaders, convicting some in court proceedings that Human Right Watch said "failed to meet even the most rudimentary fair trial standards."

Sia Phearum, the land rights activist, said "the powerful and the rich" profit from development and land grabs while poor people get little compensation for their losses.

"The government and the companies are doing business together," he said. "When you hear of a place being developed, there will be tears and suffering."

'TIGERS AND SNAKES'

Some observers trace the regime's increased efforts to curb dissent to the killing of Kem Ley, a political commentator and critic of the regime. He was gunned down in Phnom Penh in 2016 - two days after he spoke on radio about a report by the watchdog group Global Witness examining the wealth that Hun Sen's family has accumulated.

His death was widely seen as a politically motivated murder. Throngs of people took to the streets to join his funeral procession. Opposition politicians believe the turnout surprised the government.

Kem Ley's widow, Bou Rachana, had never been involved in politics, but since her husband's murder, she has begun speaking out about her country's political and social ills. She left Cambodia and was granted asylum in Australia earlier this year.

"I could not live in a country full of tigers and snakes," she told AP.

Some exiles believe that the results of the country's district elections in June 2017 further increased fears within the ruling party that it was in danger of losing its grip on power. The Cambodia National Rescue Party won nearly 44 percent of the seats, while the ruling party won less than 51 percent.

The government arrested Kem Monovithya's father three months later. Then in November, the country's Supreme Court upheld the government's demand that Cambodia National Rescue Party be dissolved. The ruling banned more than 100 senior party officials from being involved in politics for five years.

"We've lost everything. We don't have the party anymore," Kem Monovithya said. "Our country is in darkness."

She has spent most of her time in Washington, D.C. since her father's arrest. She breaks down into tears, she said, whenever other emigres ask about him.

She got involved in politics as a teenager in 1993 during the country's first national elections. She traveled the campaign trail with her dad, who won a seat in the legislature. She talked to voters one on one and distributed leaflets outlining his platform.

"We all saw this as the beginning of many great things to come," she recalled. "People believed in the process, because it was administered by the UN."

Hun Sen's political rivals won the vote, but he refused to give up power. He and his opponents agreed to a power-sharing arrangement, but Hun Sen wrested back full power in a military coup in 1997.

Kem Monovithya later worked for United Nations agencies and human rights groups in Cambodia and at the World Bank's headquarters in Washington.

Her father was arrested by the government for the first time in 2006. At the time she was on a plane to the U.S. to drop her younger sister off at college. She led an effort that helped prompt the release of her father and other political prisoners.

That first time he was arrested, she said, he was allowed visitors. Back then, she said, influence from the U.S. and other Western donors helped soften the government's stance against critics. Now, as China has increased its investment and influence, the Cambodian government is less concerned about international opinion, she said.

This time, she said, no one is allowed into the jail to see him. She worries because her father, 65, has health problems that could be worsened by incarceration.

She doesn't know when she'll be able to see him or return to Cambodia. But she said she will find a way.

"I have to go back home, and I will not give up the fight," she said. "It's our country. We cannot allow a small group of people to kick us out of the country forever."

In this July 17, 2018, photo, Kem Monovithya, a Cambodian political activist and daughter of Kem Sokha, the jailed leader of Cambodia's main opposition party, poses for a portrait on Capitol Hill in Washington. Kem was on Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

In this July 17, 2018, photo, Kem Monovithya, a Cambodian political activist and daughter of Kem Sokha, the jailed leader of Cambodia's main opposition party, poses for a portrait on Capitol Hill in Washington. Kem said she can't go home because she fears she, too, will be arrested as part of a government crackdown that has banned the political party her father led, shut down news outlets and scattered hundreds of Cambodian politicians, human rights activists and journalists into exile in the U.S., Australia, Thailand and other countries. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

FILE - In this July 7, 2018, file photo, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen waves to supporters during his Cambodian People's Party's campaign in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling party, the Cambodian People's Party, has stepped up actions against media organizations and opposition politicians over the past two years as national elections, which are set for July 29, have drawn closer. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, File)

FILE - In this July 13, 2016, file photo, mourners hold a portrait of Cambodian government critic Kem Ley during a funeral ceremony in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Some observers trace Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's government increased efforts to curb dissent to the killing of Kem Ley, a political commentator and critic of the government. He was gunned down in Phnom Penh in 2016, two days after he spoke on radio about a report by the watchdog group Global Witness examining the wealth that Hun Sen's family has accumulated. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, File)

FILE - In this July 11, 2016, file photo, Cambodian community activists carry a wreath during the funeral procession of government critic Kem Ley, pictured, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Some observers trace Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's government increased efforts to curb dissent to the killing of Kem Ley, a political commentator and critic of the government. He was gunned down in Phnom Penh in 2016, two days after he spoke on radio about a report by the watchdog group Global Witness examining the wealth that Hun Sen's family has accumulated. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, File)

Kem Monovithya, a Cambodian political activist and daughter of Kem Sokha, the jailed leader of Cambodia's main opposition party, poses for a portrait, Tuesday, July 17, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Kem is on Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

FILE - In this Feb. 1, 2018, file photo, former opposition leader Kem Sokha sits at the appeals court during the hearing of a bail application, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. An appeals court in Cambodia has for the second time denied a request for the release on bail of opposition leader Kem Sokha, who has been charged with treason. The court appearance in Phnom Penh by Kem Sokha, head of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, was his first since his arrest last September. His prosecution by the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen is widely seen as part of a concerted effort to cripple the opposition ahead of a general election this year. (Fresh News Page via AP, Pool, File)

FILE - In this June 4, 2017, file photo, opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party President Kem Sokha shows off his ballot before voting in local elections in Chak Angre Leu on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Kem Monovithya, a Cambodian political activist, was visiting Switzerland in September when she got a phone call from her father. Kem Sokha, the leader of Cambodia's main opposition party, told his daughter that government agents were raiding their family's home in Phnom Penh. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 20, 2016, file photo, a girl stands by a portrait of Kem Ley, a Cambodian prominent political analyst, at his grave in Ang Takok, Cambodia. Some observers trace Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's government increased efforts to curb dissent to the killing of Kem Ley, a political commentator and critic of the government. He was gunned down in Phnom Penh in 2016, two days after he spoke on radio about a report by the watchdog group Global Witness examining the wealth that Hun Sen's family has accumulated. (AP Photo/Denis Gray, File)Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:

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July 23

The Baltimore Sun on a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals nominee being withdrawn from consideration:

Last week, a Trump nominee to serve on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was withdrawn from consideration. What's notable is not simply that someone with extreme legal and political views wasn't approved by the U.S. Senate or even that the administration had to withdraw a nominee (a rarity, but it has happened). It's the cause of Ryan Bounds' failure: A key Republican couldn't stomach his racist writings of a quarter-century ago.

In case anyone has failed to notice, displays of bigotry and racism within the current administration aren't exactly getting a sharp reprimand from Congress, at least not from the party in control of it. From President Donald Trump's remarks ... to his embrace of the alt-right, his dog-whistle speeches about border security, the cruel treatment of immigrant children or Mr. Trump's pronouncement of "good people" among the neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville, this president's attitudes ... are well established.

Just recently, Homeland Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen echoed her boss' views on the moral equivalency of the white supremacists who marched in Virginia last year and those who protested them ... "It's not like one side is right and one side is wrong," she said at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado. She was no doubt attempting to make a point about the use of violence, but given the administration's failure to condemn white supremacy, it's worrisome that a distinction between Nazis and those who oppose fascism is so elusive to a cabinet member.

Mr. Bounds, 45, an assistant U.S. district attorney in Oregon and darling of The Federalist Society, was nominated last fall to fill Oregon's seat on the famously liberal-leaning appeals court. Both of Oregon's senators, Democrats Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, opposed him. Last month, however, he was approved by a one-vote majority in the Senate Judiciary Committee and appeared headed toward confirmation. And then something happened. Two Republican senators, first Tim Scott of South Carolina and then Marco Rubio of Florida, announced they could not support the nominee. Their reasoning? They just weren't able to accept the bile Mr. Bounds spewed while in college.

His writings included some pretty heavy handed ridicule of Stanford University campus organizations that promote diversity and inclusion as well as those that identify by race or ethnic group - examples of such entities might include an Asian engineering club or a black law student association ... On another occasion, he wrote that schools should not feel pressured to expel rapists.

During his hearings in the Judiciary Committee, Mr. Bounds tried to walk back those inflammatory writings, but his apology did not attract a single Democratic vote. The loss of Senator Scott, who is African American, was the telling one, however, particularly with Sen. John McCain too sick to vote. Might this prove a turning point in whether Republicans will rubber stamp nominees or truly pay attention to their records, particularly when it comes to discriminatory writings, speeches or behaviors? It took nine months of review for the Senate to say no to Mr. Bounds. Under the circumstances, how can the chamber possibly pronounce judgment on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and his far lengthier paper trail before November? ...

Online: http://www.baltimoresun.com/

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July 19

Business Day on Barack Obama's speech in South Africa:

It was almost 14 years ago that Barack Obama exploded into the world's consciousness. The little-known candidate, vying to be the only African-American in the US Senate, gave a rousing speech to the Democratic Party's national convention. There have been many speeches since then, always with the overriding theme of unity and hope for positive change.

During his time in office and after, he has had his critics.

And there was a lot to criticise. One is his failure to close the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which has served as an open-ended prison for terror suspects apprehended mostly in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The vast majority of the prisoners were held without ever being charged or facing a trial. Despite his promise to close the facility, there were still more than 40 prisoners held there by the time he left office. There was also the accusation that far from stepping back from Bush-era wars, he maintained and even expanded US intervention. On the US domestic front, he was accused of doing more talking, rather than taking concrete action to reverse race-based inequality and injustice.

In all of that time he was never accused of making bad speeches, so it was unlikely that he was going to disappoint the people who went to listen to his Nelson Mandela centenary lecture in Johannesburg.

It was a rousing speech that went back to the old themes of openness and unity. Partly a tribute to the hope that accompanied Mandela's release from prison in 1990 and a defence of similar values and hopes that were ignited by his own elevation as the first African-American to win the US presidency ...

Obama's speech also served to highlight that the world has gone backwards in many ways. The values that were assumed to have been entrenched by the fall of communism and the end of apartheid are suddenly on the back foot again.

In Europe, right-wing populism is rising, marked most prominently by the elevation of the far-right League party into an Italian coalition government, gaining support on voter anxiety about immigration and a stagnant economy ...

Americans watching Obama's speech would also have been struck by the contrast with his successor, Donald Trump.

Trump shocked Americans across the political spectrum when he declared that he trusted the Russian leader more than his own intelligence services, who found that there was evidence that Russia meddled in the last US election. Almost a year ago, he drew similar criticism when he refused to directly criticise neo-Nazi marchers in Charlottesville.

He was obviously not very far from Obama's thoughts when he declared that "strongman politics are ascendant, suddenly, whereby elections and some pretence of democracy are maintained, the form of it, where those in power seek to undermine every institution or norm that gives democracy meaning" ...

Online: https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/

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July 19

The New York Times on the European Union's decision to fine Google $5.1 billion:

The European Union's decision to fine Google $5.1 billion for abusing its dominance in the smartphone business unearthed some dubious corporate practices, but the penalty and an order for Google to change its practices are, regrettably, unlikely to make the technology industry more competitive.

After a yearslong investigation, Europe's top antitrust official, Margrethe Vestager, this month said that Google had unfairly exploited its market power by imposing restrictions on manufacturers like Samsung that use the company's Android software on their smartphones. This case is important because about 80 percent of smartphones sold in Europe and globally run on Android, and Google is by far the largest player in internet search. The company is also the biggest player in online advertising, with a nearly 40 percent market share last year, and it has a commanding presence in a number of other internet businesses, like video, email and maps.

The European Union had three main complaints: Google required cellphone companies that wanted to offer its Play app store or search to preinstall 11 of its apps as a bundle, whether they wanted all of them or not. The company gave the largest manufacturers money if the only search they installed was Google's. And the company prohibited manufacturers from developing phones on altered versions of Android not approved by Google if they wanted to use any of its other services. The company strongly disputed the allegation that its practices are anticompetitive, arguing that they are designed to help recoup Google's investment in Android, which it licenses free to device manufacturers. Google, which plans to appeal the decision, asserts that Android is a much more open and competitive platform than its main rival, which is used by the iPhone, in which Apple controls both the device and the software. Indeed, Android devices tend to be cheaper than iPhones because manufacturers like Samsung, Motorola and LG make competing phones.

The European case is strongest when it argues against Google's exclusionary requirements - that cellphone makers not produce devices with other versions of Android and that they install only the Google search app ... But the larger problem with the union's case is that it's unlikely to shake Google's dominance. For starters, while a $5.1 billion fine is large in absolute terms, it's a relative bargain for Google and its parent company, Alphabet, which had $103 billion in cash and securities warming its accounts at the end of March and had nearly $13 billion in profits last year. Even more important, billions of people around the world are already accustomed to using the company's apps and services on their Android phones and are likely to stick to them. Even new users will most likely gravitate toward Google even if the company's apps are not preinstalled because of the superiority of many of its products and because so many other people use them - the so-called network effect.

This case highlights the importance of more proactive and thoughtful antitrust enforcement and regulation ...

Antitrust officials have a difficult job: By the time they bring enforcement cases it can be hard to reverse the harm that has already been done. It is also difficult to foresee and prevent bad outcomes. That's why it is important that lawmakers and regulators use all the tools they have to encourage competition and fair play.

Online: https://www.nytimes.com/

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July 24

Dallas Morning News on the release of an American from a Vietnamese jail:

Being in the news business, it's all too easy to become jaded and lose faith in the ability to effect change. But we're happy to report that William Nguyen's release from a Vietnamese jail gives us hope - not only in the ability of individuals to make a difference, but in our elected representatives to put partisanship aside and come together for a common cause.

As we wrote last month, Nguyen, a Houstonian and Yale University graduate, was beaten and arrested by Vietnamese police June 10 while taking part in peaceful protests in Ho Chi Minh City against "special economic zones" that would lease land to foreign investors for up to 99 years.

Most of the leases are expected to go to Chinese investors, which many Vietnamese see as a threat to their sovereignty. China and Vietnam have a long and tumultuous history, including ongoing territorial disputes and a 1979 war that left more than 25,000 Vietnamese dead. Protesters were also marching against a new cybersecurity law, which many say gives the Communist-ruled state more power to crack down on dissent.

Nguyen, an American citizen whose mother emigrated from Vietnam to the U.S. in the 1970s, was visiting Ho Chi Minh City on a stopover before graduating from a master's program in public policy at Singapore University. He reportedly was arrested and beaten after asking police to remove barricades to the demonstrators' path. In a video, Nguyen is shown being dragged through the streets, his face bloodied, by plainclothes policemen.

Tried and found guilty of "disrupting public order," Nguyen was deported Friday after appeals from his family, this newspaper, the U.S. embassy in Vietnam and elected officials. He reportedly is safe and in good spirits in Singapore and will return to the U.S. shortly.

As we said in our earlier editorial, the U.S. government "should actively support and protect American citizens who lend their voices to the preservation and proliferation of human freedom." And we're happy to report that's exactly what happened. While in Vietnam this month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo raised Nguyen's arrest with officials and "encouraged a speedy resolution to his case," according to a State Department spokesperson.

Moreover, our elected representatives in Texas and across the country came together to call for Nguyen's release and safe return. On July 18, a bipartisan group of 19 senators and members of Congress, including John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, sent a letter to Pompeo reiterating that "one of our most important responsibilities as elected representatives is to protect the American people both at home and abroad" and urging him to "use all diplomatic means" at his disposal "to ensure Mr. Nguyen's safe return to the United States." Those efforts paid off ...

Online: https://www.dallasnews.com/

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July 24

The Los Angeles Times on immigration:

Two recent stories about heinous crimes allegedly committed by people living in the country illegally have again prompted immigration hard-liners to mischaracterize such migrants as a menace to public safety. The crimes at issue here are indeed serious, but the suspects' immigration status has little to do with their criminal acts.

One man in San Francisco stands accused of posing as a Lyft driver to rape female ride-hailers, and another man in Whittier has been charged with taking a chainsaw to his wife, who somehow managed to survive the horrific attack. The alleged rapist is from Peru; the alleged chainsaw-wielder is from Mexico, and had been deported back there 11 times since 2005, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials told reporters.

To suggest that these men reflect the threat posed by people living in this country illegally, however, is just as ridiculous as suggesting that Timothy McVeigh illustrates the threat posed by Army veterans. A number of studies have found that immigrants - whether here legally or not - commit crimes at lower rates than do native-born Americans. In fact, one study of people living in Texas found that immigrants who are undocumented commit fewer crimes than legal immigrants.

Some hard-liners shrug off that reality and argue that an individual crime would not have occurred if the perpetrator had been kept out of the country. But that argument doesn't persuade. It echoes the death penalty advocates who say executions might not deter others from killing, but executing a convicted killer deters that particular person from killing again. That's no way to frame policy.

Violent criminals living in the country illegally shouldn't be here, and the government is right to track them down and seek their deportation. But holding up individual violent crimes as a broad indictment of immigrants does nothing to suggest a solution for the problem of illegal immigration. That the chainsaw assailant had been deported nearly a dozen times is evidence that border enforcement needs to be more effective ... It is not evidence that people living here under the radar pose a public safety risk. The vast majority of immigrants, regardless of their legal status, are here trying to improve their lives and those of their families.

But such facts do not deter the hard-liners from using one-off criminal acts to tar immigrants, part of a continuum of xenophobia that helped propel Donald Trump to the White House ...

The reality is that our country's identity and economy are inextricably tied to immigration. Granted, we've succumbed to bouts of xenophobia and racism in the past when deciding who is allowed to settle here. It wasn't that long ago that the U.S. heavily favored immigrants from northwest Europe and strictly curtailed arrivals from Asia, policies that changed with the 1965 Immigration Act. Regardless, for more than a half-century the U.S. has been the globe's top destination for immigrants, and about one-fifth of the world's immigrants now call the U.S. home.

Immigrants have founded some of our most successful and highest-employing companies. Six of last year's Nobel Prize winners in physics, chemistry and medicine are immigrants living and working in the United States. Since 2000, at least 33 of the 85 American Nobel winners were immigrants to this country. But immigrants exert influence far beyond the ranks of Fortune 500 executives and Nobel laureates. They include the people who plant and harvest crops, staff assembly lines, build and maintain houses, and work in or own restaurants. In short, they are crucial cogs in our economic engine.

A country has the right, of course, to determine who gets to cross its borders and how long they may stay. But the fear-mongering propelling the anti-immigrant attitudes from the White House not only rises from a blinkered sense of what America is as a country and a society, it imperils both.

Online: http://www.latimes.com/

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July 23

Orange County Register on safeguarding election integrity:

In the recent indictment by special counsel Robert Mueller of a dozen Russian intelligence officers, there is an alarming detail.

"In or around July 2016," the indictment states, "(Anatoliy Sergeyevich) Kovalev and his co-conspirators hacked the website of a state board of elections and stole information related to approximately 500,000 voters, including names, addresses, partial Social Security numbers, dates of birth and driver's license numbers."

We already knew that the Department of Homeland Security notified 21 states in 2017 that they had been targeted by Russian hackers during 2016. Although the list was not made public, Illinois identified itself as a state that had its voter database breached by hackers. Election officials in Illinois previously notified 76,000 residents that their information had been stolen.

A spokesman for the Illinois State Board of Elections said that state isn't aware of others that "experienced an actual breach." But election integrity activists in Georgia were startled to see the Mueller indictment identify it, for the first time, as one of the states targeted by the Russian operation. "On or about October 28, 2016, Kovalev and his co-conspirators visited the websites of certain counties in Georgia, Iowa and Florida to identify vulnerabilities," the indictment states ..

In California, Secretary of State Alex Padilla has approved the use of electronic poll books and other computerized voting equipment. Local polling places are being replaced by larger vote centers, and counties will begin mailing absentee ballots to every registered voter without waiting for a request.

Does the secretary have procedures in place to verify that voter files have not been breached and election equipment has not been hacked? Do election officials in California's 58 counties have adequate training and personnel to prevent or catch security breaches?

It does not appear so. In Los Angeles County, 118,000 registered voters were inexplicably left off the printed voter rolls in the June primary. Until we know why and how that happened, voters should be deeply concerned about the integrity of California's elections.

For decades, political opponents have traded charges of voter fraud and voter suppression whenever the issue of election integrity was raised. That's not helpful. We now have incontrovertible evidence that a hostile foreign power hacked voter registration files in U.S. states and counties. We should all be on the same side in the fight to secure our elections from interference.

Online: https://www.ocregister.com/ADJUNTAS, Puerto Rico (AP) - Ten months after Hurricane Maria, Adjuntas still loses power any time a heavy rain or wind pounds the rickety power lines feeding this town high in the central mountains of Puerto Rico.

That leaves its 20,000 people once again in the dark, without light, fresh water or air conditioning - except for a handful of homes and businesses glowing in the night thanks to solar energy.

The people of Adjuntas call those places "cucubanos," an indigenous Puerto Rican firefly. They're part of a small but growing movement to provide the U.S. territory with sustainable, renewable energy independent of the decrepit power grid.

In this July 24, 2018 photo, Julio Rosario instals a solar energy system at a home in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. The nonprofit environmental group Casa Pueblo has installed solar systems at two hardware stores, one barber shop and several corner stores that activists hope will serve as a power oasis where people can charge their phones and store medications during a storm if needed. (AP Photo/ Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

A scattering of hardware stores, barbershops and corner stores across the island are embracing solar energy, trying to wean themselves off a state-owned power company that remains heavily dependent on imported petroleum. The numbers remain small - a few dozen or hundreds out of millions of power users - but power industry officials and environmentalists are closely watching this as a test of whether Puerto Rico can make a large-scale switch to renewable, off-grid energy.

Currently, renewables represent 4 percent of generation at Puerto Rico's power company, against a U.S. national average of 15 percent, so it likely will be years before solar could account for a significant share of Puerto Rico power.

Even so, "Puerto Rico can be an experimental workshop for solar and wind," Rep. Darren Soto, a Florida Democrat, said at a congressional hearing Wednesday.

While Adjuntas is dotted with solar-powered islands, a community of 12 homes in the mountain town of Las Piedras still lacks central power and is operating exclusively on solar energy provided by Tesla, the high-tech maker of electric cars and other power products. It installed 160 solar panels on a plot of land owned by resident Jose Santana.

Santana, an electronics technician, said he loves the smartphone app that lets him monitor the solar-charged Tesla batteries. He said the government should consider going solar and dumping the current "archaic" power grid.

"This can pull us out of the mess we're in," he said. "There's nothing wrong with having a vision of the future. It's time to start making changes."

As in Las Piedras, some solar users are relying on corporations and nonprofit groups to donate the expensive equipment. Others have become so exasperated with continuing outages that they are taking it upon themselves to install their own systems.

"I'm a musician. I have a salsa orchestra. I know nothing about electricity," said Felix Torres, who recently installed nine solar panels on the roof of his home, perched on a mountain in the eastern city of Caguas. "I was afraid of getting electrocuted and damaging equipment worth thousands of dollars. ... But we should not depend so much on the government. They already have their hands full."

Torres recently joined nearly two dozen other people at a three-day workshop to learn about the costs and lifespans of solar systems, the equipment required and precautions they need to consider. The clip-clop of horses interrupted their chatter as the sun set on hills where electricity returned several months ago.

Many at the workshop pulled out their power bills along with pens and notebooks as they made comparisons and shared their frustrations. Among them was Jose Barreto, who set up a makeshift solar system at his house in the mountain town of Guavate.

"It hasn't collapsed because God is merciful," he said, grumbling that his wife insists on washing and ironing at night, sucking up precious battery life. "I tell her, look, this is a lifestyle that runs on daytime hours."

A few hundred Puerto Ricans still haven't recovered electricity service since Hurricane Maria hit Sept. 20, and millions suffer periodic outages. Crews are trying to fortify the unstable grid in the middle of this year's hurricane season. When the remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl passed through in early July, up to 47,000 customers were left without lights, although most of the power was restored the same day.

In Las Piedras, Blanca Martinez, a retired school bus driver who is married to Santana, started to weep as she described the happiness of having a solar-powered home.

"It's sometimes hard to explain," she said. "When you're a person who is in need, who is suffering, this comes along and you have light without having to worry whether a wire fell."

Another corporation, German-based sonnen, helped donate and install at least 15 solar microgrids across the island to help power laundromats, schools, community centers and medical clinics.

Adam Gentner, the company's director of business development and Latin American expansion, said the aim is to create a resilient system that can operate regardless of weather conditions.

This week, Siemens published a report in which it envisions the construction of 10 mini-grids across Puerto Rico that would depend on renewable energy. Unlike microgrids, officials said, mini-grids are bigger and can use the current distribution infrastructure.

In Adjuntas, the nonprofit environmental group Casa Pueblo has installed solar systems at two hardware stores, a barber shop and several small stores that activists hope will serve as power oases where people can charge their phones and store medications during a storm if needed. In upcoming months, some 30 homes also will be fitted with the system.

Wilfredo Perez said he can now open his barbershop 11 hours a day, six days a week thanks to the new system.

"Since it was installed, it hasn't failed me," he said, adding that he hasn't had to switch over to the power company's system. "The electricity in Puerto Rico doesn't work."

Federal officials are growing more worried about the turmoil at Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority, which has seen five directors since Hurricane Maria. A U.S. House committee held a hearing Wednesday on the company's troubles.

Officials have stressed the need to depoliticize the company, create an independent regulator and resolve its $9 billion public debt as it prepares to privatize power generation and award concession for transmission and distribution.

None of this worries Arturo Massol, associate director of Casa Pueblo in Adjuntas.

"Let them do what they want over there," he said. "We're taking control of our energy destiny."

In this July 20 photo, solar panels installed by Tesla, power a community of 12 homes in the mountain town of Las Piedras, Puerto Rico. Las Piedras still doesn't have power off the national grid, more than 10 months after Hurricane Maria and now is operating exclusively on solar energy. (AP Photo/ Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

In this July 20 photo, Jose Santana poses for a picture showing his phone app where he can monitor the power generation and consumption of the solar system at his home in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico. Santana, a 64-year-old electronic technician, says he loves the smartphone app that lets him monitor the solar-charged Tesla batteries. He said the government should consider going solar and dumping the current "archaic" power grid. (AP Photo/ Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

In this July 20 photo, a trailer with batteries and inverters from the Tesla, is parked on top of a hill in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico. Las Piedras still lacks central power is operating exclusively on solar energy provided by Tesla, the high-tech maker of electric cars and other power products, which installed 160 solar panels on a plot of land owned by resident Jose Santana. (AP Photo/ Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

In this July 20 photo, solar panels installed by Tesla, power a community of 12 homes in the mountain town of Las Piedras, Puerto Rico. The homes still do not have power from the national grid, more than 10 months after Hurricane Maria and now is operating exclusively on solar energy. (AP Photo/ Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

In this July 20 photo, a sign in Spanish that reads "Attention government, AEE. Montones wants light. Six months without light," hangs from a pole in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico. A scattering of hardware stores, barbershops and corner stores across the island are embracing solar energy, trying to wean themselves off a state-owned power company that remains heavily dependent on petroleum. (AP Photo/ Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

In this July 24, 2018 photo, Julio Rosario, right, and his team instal a solar energy system in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. The nonprofit environmental group Casa Pueblo has installed solar systems at two hardware stores, one barber shop and several corner stores that activists hope will serve as a power oasis where people can charge their phones and store medications during a storm if needed. (AP Photo/ Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

In this July 24, 2018 photo, a technician instals a solar energy system at a home in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. In upcoming months, some 30 homes will be fitted with the system. In upcoming months, some 30 homes also will be fitted with the system. (AP Photo/ Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

In this July 24, 2018 photo, a set of solar charged batteries power Edilberto Rivera's restaurant in Adjuntas, Puerto rico. The system was provided by the nonprofit environmental group Casa Pueblo. The nonprofit has installed solar systems at two hardware stores, a barber shop and several small stores that activists hope will serve as power oases where people can charge their phones and store medications during a storm if needed. (AP Photo/ Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

In this July 24, 2018 photo, Julio Rosario, left, instals a solar energy system with the founder of the nonprofit environmental group Casa Pueblo Alexis Masol, in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. The nonprofit environmental group Casa Pueblo has installed solar systems at two hardware stores, one barber shop and several corner stores that activists hope will serve as a power oasis where people can charge their phones and store medications during a storm if needed. (AP Photo/ Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

In this July 24, 2018 photo, Sergio Vega, owner of the Olympia corner store poses for a photo at his business in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. Vega's shop is power by a solar energy system provided by the nonprofit environmental group Casa Pueblo. (AP Photo/ Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - The auctioneer selling the house where Rosa Parks sought refuge after fleeing the South amid death threats said after the auction on Thursday there are buyers interested, but it will take a few days to work out the details.

The house was included in an auction by Guernsey's in New York as part of a larger sale of African-American cultural and historic items. It was listed with a minimum bid of $1 million, with a presale estimate of $1 million to $3 million.

It didn't sell during the auction, but Arlan Ettinger, of Guernsey's, said he was approached after the auction by a buyer who had trouble entering a bid online. He did not release the buyer's identity.

FILE - In this April 1, 2018 file photo, visitors view the rebuilt house of Rosa Parks at the WaterFire Arts Center in Providence, R.I. The house where Parks sought refuge in Detroit after fleeing the South will be auctioned on Thursday, July 26 in New York, with a minimum bid of $1 million. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

Among the other items of interest that sold was Alex Haley's manuscript of "The Autobiography of Malcolm X," including handwritten notes by Malcolm X and Haley, which sold to New York's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Ettinger said. It was sold after the auction, and he did not immediately release the price.

Parks moved to Detroit in 1957, two years after refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama. She stayed for a time in her brother's tiny, wood-framed home with 17 other relatives, according to family members.

The house eventually was abandoned and ended up on a demolition list before Parks' niece, Rhea McCauley, bought it for $500 and donated it to American artist Ryan Mendoza in an attempt to preserve her aunt's legacy. Mendoza took it apart and shipped it to Germany and reassembled it in his yard in Berlin, turning it into a work of art that became a destination for people curious about Parks.

Mendoza brought the house back to the U.S. earlier this year and displayed it in Rhode Island as he searched for a permanent place to reassemble the fragile structure for the final time. It is now packed in shipping containers awaiting its new home.

He has said he hopes it will be displayed so the public can see it. The auction house has said the proceeds of the sale will be split between Mendoza and Parks' family.

Mendoza, who was in Berlin for the auction, followed the sale online and initially thought it had failed to sell after bidding did not reach the minimum of $1 million.

"It's really exciting," Mendoza said. "My god. I thought it was a total failure for a minute there. I had shriveled up into a little ball. I thought I had failed America and American history, and instead it looks like we're going to have a happy ending."NEW YORK (AP) - A New York judge congratulated Donald Trump Jr. and his estranged wife, Vanessa, Thursday for resolving child custody issues as they proceed toward divorce.

State Supreme Court Justice Michael Katz began a brief proceeding in open court by saying he understood that they had agreed to resolve all issues regarding their five children and parental rights.

Lawyers said they expected a written agreement on child custody would be completed in several weeks.

FILE - In this Monday, April 2, 2018, file photo, Donald Trump Jr., right, and Vanessa Trump, left, arrive to participate in the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington. Donald Trump Jr. and his estranged wife Vanessa are expected to appear Thursday, July 26, 2018, before a judge in New York City for a hearing in their divorce case. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

"I congratulate you for working those things out," Katz told the couple, who stood before the judge, separated by their lawyers, though they entered and left court together.

Katz said they were blocking the children "from what could have been an invasive legal process."

The initial court appearance, which lasted less than 10 minutes, came after Vanessa Trump filed for divorce in March. Though the action was initially listed as uncontested, it was later changed to a contested action.

Norman Heller, a lawyer for Donald Trump Jr., said the couple also expects to quickly resolve financial conflicts because there were "only a few issues left" to resolve.

Katz offered them his help "to bridge any of those gaps."

"I can help resolve those issues," he said.

The couple arrived at the courthouse an hour early and walked into the courtroom from the same doorway as the judge, who entered just before them.

As they positioned themselves in front of the judge, Trump Jr. smiled toward his wife. Appearing relaxed, they each smiled at points throughout the proceeding.

The Trumps were married in 2005. Vanessa Trump filed for divorce in March. Afterward, they said in a joint statement that they will "always have tremendous respect for each other."

The 2007 birth of the couple's first child made Donald Trump Sr. a grandfather a decade before he became president.

Former Fox News Channel personality Kimberly Guilfoyle recently left the network amid news that she's dating Trump Jr. She has joined a super PAC supporting the president.

Donald Trump Jr. and his wife Vanessa arrive for a divorce hearing, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in New York. The Trumps were married in 2005 and have five children. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Donald Trump Jr. and his wife Vanessa arrive for a divorce hearing, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in New York. The Trumps were married in 2005 and have five children. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Donald Trump Jr. and Vanessa Trump arrive for a divorce hearing, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in New York. The Trumps were married in 2005 and have five children. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Vanessa Trump talks with Donald Trump Jr. after a hearing in their divorce case in New York, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Vanessa Trump filed for divorce from Trump Jr. in March. (Alec Tabak/The Daily News via AP, Pool)

Vanessa Trump appears in court for a hearing in her divorce case in New York, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Vanessa Trump filed for divorce from Donald Trump Jr. in March. (Alec Tabak/The Daily News via AP, Pool)

Donald Trump Jr. appears in court for a hearing in his divorce case in New York, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Vanessa Trump filed for divorce from Trump Jr. in March. (Alec Tabak/The Daily News via AP, Pool)

Vanessa Trump, left, and Donald Trump Jr., second from right, participate in a hearing in their divorce case in New York, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Vanessa Trump filed for divorce from Trump Jr. in March. (Alec Tabak/The Daily News via AP, Pool)

Donald Trump Jr. appears in court for a hearing in his divorce case in New York, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Vanessa Trump filed for divorce from Trump Jr. in March. (Alec Tabak/The Daily News via AP, Pool)

Vanessa Trump appears in court for a hearing in her divorce case in New York, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Vanessa Trump filed for divorce from Donald Trump Jr. in March. (Alec Tabak/The Daily News via AP, Pool)

Donald Trump Jr. appears in court for a hearing in his divorce case in New York, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Vanessa Trump filed for divorce from Trump Jr. in March. (Alec Tabak/The Daily News via AP, Pool)

Vanessa Trump appears in court for a hearing in her divorce case in New York, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Vanessa Trump filed for divorce from Donald Trump Jr. in March. (Alec Tabak/The Daily News via AP, Pool)

Donald Trump Jr., second from right, and Vanessa Trump, left, appear in court for a hearing in their divorce case in New York, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Vanessa Trump filed for divorce from Trump Jr. in March. (David Handschuh/New York Law Journal via AP, Pool)

Vanessa Trump appears in court for a hearing in her divorce case in New York, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Vanessa Trump filed for divorce from Donald Trump Jr. in March. (David Handschuh/New York Law Journal via AP, Pool)

Vanessa Trump talks with Donald Trump Jr. after a hearing in their divorce case in New York, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Vanessa Trump filed for divorce from Trump Jr. in March. (David Handschuh/New York Law Journal via AP, Pool)

Donald Trump Jr. appears in court for a hearing in his divorce case in New York, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Vanessa Trump filed for divorce from Trump Jr. in March. (David Handschuh/New York Law Journal via AP, Pool)

Vanessa Trump leaves court following a divorce hearing she attended with her husband Donald Trump Jr., Thursday, July 26, 2018, in New York. The Trumps were married in 2005 and have five children. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Donald Trump Jr. and Vanessa Trump arrive for a divorce hearing, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in New York. The Trumps were married in 2005 and have five children. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)NEW YORK (AP) - It's like AAA for horses.

When one of the New York Police Department's horses loses a metal shoe, or they just wear out on the gritty city streets, a blacksmith shop on wheels rushes to the rescue, equipped with a 2,850-degree furnace and trained farriers who can make the fix on the spot.

"It's almost amazing that in modern times we're still doing horseshoeing out in the public in the street," says Deputy Inspector Barry Gelbman, head of the NYPD's elite Mounted Unit, where all 50 horses are considered equine officers, with badges around their necks to prove it.

In this Tuesday, July 17, 2018 photo, New York City Police Department mounted unit officer Robert D'Aamodio rides McQuade through New York's Theater District, before the horse is reshod at the department's farriers' mobile workshop in Times Square. The NYPD has two such mobile horseshoe units stocked with all manner of anvils, hammers, nippers and pullers that have been the tools of the equine hoof trade for centuries. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

The NYPD has two such mobile horseshoe units that are stocked with all manner of anvils, hammers, nippers, files and pullers that have been the tools of the equine hoof trade for centuries, providing a stark contrast in the midst of a modern city.

That was immediately apparent on a recent sweltering day in Times Square as horses got their monthly shoe change. Beneath shimmering skyscrapers, massive video billboards and dozens of high-definition security cameras, a crowd gathered to watch as two NYPD farriers sweated over molten-red steel shoes fresh out of the fire.

But this was not an entirely low-tech affair. For extra traction and strength, the shoes were welded with a layer of tungsten carbide, a compound twice as hard as steel that's also used in armor-piercing ammunition.

Farriers Marcus Martinez Jr. and Thomas Nolan held the crowd spellbound as they worked for an hour to swap out the shoes for a police horse named McQuade II, who, true to his training, didn't even flinch amid honking traffic, people shouting and a helicopter whirring overhead.

"We nip the foot down, we file it, we make sure the foot is level," says the Irish-born Nolan, adding that the safety of an officer depends on a farrier's precision, lest a horse trip.

Martinez hammered away. Sparks flew, and clanging echoed into the steamy Manhattan air. Then came a sizzling sound as he pressed a fiery horseshoe on a tong into McQuade's hoof to test the fit, smooth out imperfections and burn out any bacteria. A foul-smelling white smoke rose from the hoof.

With sweat dripping off his brow, Martinez then lifted the legs of the imperturbable, 1,200-pound (544-kilogram) McQuade and, one by one, hammered the shoes into place with 3-inch (7-centimeter) nails. Then the deep brown horse happily clip-clopped away.

"It's very impressive - like you're watching 'Bonanza'!" says Zalmi Berger, a Brooklyn-born computer consultant who lives in Boca Raton, Florida.

"This is absolutely cool," says Charles Gardner, a United Methodist pastor from Atlanta. "The coolest thing is the trust the horses develop for the farriers, to be able to pull the hoof up and just let them work on them like that."

The NYPD's horses, which come mostly from Amish country in Pennsylvania, form what the department says is the country's oldest continuously active mounted unit. It was created in 1858 to protect people from runaway carriage horses that were then the main mode of transportation. These days, the horses are mostly used for crowd control and public relations.

When not on duty, they reside in one of four stables around the city. The Times Square horses live on the ground floor of an only-in-New York building called Mercedes House: a luxury skyscraper that's also home to the city's premier Mercedes dealership. When not working with the mobile vans, the farriers work there.

The NYPD's three farriers are civilian employees of the department, hired for their unique set of skills.

Martinez, 38, who grew up in the suburbs north of the city, says he first was exposed to the craft in high school while watching a farrier friend work on horses.

"I fell in love with these wonderful, magnificent animals, the mechanics involved and helping something that can't help itself," he says. "And that's a really good feeling."

In this Tuesday, July 17, 2018 photo, New York City Police Department farriers Marcus Martinez Jr., left, and Thomas Nolan confer at their mobile workshop, as they prepare to shoe a department horse in New York's Times Square. The NYPD has two such mobile horseshoe units stocked with all manner of anvils, hammers, nippers and pullers that have been the tools of the equine hoof trade for centuries. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

In this Tuesday, July 17, 2018 photo, New York City farrier Marcus Martinez Jr. uses a grinder to shape a horseshoe in one of the department's mobile workshops, in New York's Times Square. The NYPD has two such mobile horseshoe units stocked with all manner of anvils, hammers, nippers and pullers that have been the tools of the equine hoof trade for centuries. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

In this Tuesday, July 17, 2018 photo, New York City Police Department farrier Thomas Nolan chooses from the assortment of shoes in the department's mobile workshop, in New York's Times Square. The NYPD has two such mobile horseshoe units stocked with all manner of anvils, hammers, nippers and pullers that have been the tools of the equine hoof trade for centuries. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

In this Tuesday, July 17, 2018 photo, new shoes for New York City Police Department mounted unit horse McQuade are prepared at the farrier's mobile workshop, in New York's Times Square. When one of the New York Police Department's horses loses a metal shoe, or they just wear out on the gritty city streets, a blacksmith shop on wheels rushes to the rescue, equipped with a 2,850-degree furnace and trained farriers who can make the fix on the spot. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

In this Tuesday, July 17, 2018 photo, New York City Police Department farrier Thomas Nolan uses a hammer and anvil as he shapes a horseshoe, while working from a mobile unit in New York's Times Square. When one of the New York Police Department's horses loses a metal shoe, or they just wear out on the gritty city streets, a blacksmith shop on wheels rushes to the rescue, equipped with a 2,850-degree furnace and trained farriers who can make the fix on the spot. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

In this Tuesday, July 17, 2018 photo, New York City Police Department farrier Marcus Martinez Jr., working from a mobile workshop in New York's Times Square, is engulfed in smoke as he fits a hot horseshoe on the hoof of mounted unit horse McQuade. The NYPD's three farriers are civilian employees of the department, hired for their unique set of skills. Martinez, 38, who grew up in the suburbs north of the city, says he first was exposed to the craft in high school while watching a farrier friend work on horses. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

In this Tuesday, July 17, 2018 photo, onlookers in New York's Times Square, watch as New York City Police Department farrier Marcus Martinez Jr. shoes department mounted unit horse McQuade, using tools from a mobile workshop. The NYPD's three farriers are civilian employees of the department, hired for their unique set of skills. Martinez, 38, who grew up in the suburbs north of the city, says he first was exposed to the craft in high school while watching a farrier friend work on horses. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

In this Tuesday, July 17, 2018 photo, New York City Police Department farrier Thomas Nolan nails a new shoe on mounted unit horse McQuade, at a mobile workshop in New York's Times Square. The NYPD's three farriers are civilian employees of the department, hired for their unique set of skills. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

In this Tuesday, July 17, 2018 photo, New York City Police Department mounted unit officer Robert D'Aamodio, right, watches as NYPD farrier Thomas Nolan shapes the hoof of McQuade while shoeing D'Aamodio's horse, in New York's Times Square. When one of the New York Police Department's horses loses a metal shoe, or they just wear out on the gritty city streets, a blacksmith shop on wheels rushes to the rescue, equipped with a 2,850-degree furnace and trained farriers who can make the fix on the spot. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

In this Tuesday, July 17, 2018 photo, New York City Police Department farrier Thomas Nolan uses a hammer and anvil as he shapes a horseshoe, while working from a mobile unit in New York's Times Square. The NYPD's three farriers are civilian employees of the department, hired for their unique set of skills. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

In this Tuesday, July 17, 2018 photo, the newly shod rear hooves of New York City Police Department horse McQuade are seen in New York's Times Square. Horseshoes are an essential part of the New York Police Department. Without them, the department's elite mounted unit of 50 horses couldn't patrol the city. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

In this Tuesday, July 17, 2018 photo, the tack of some of the New York City Police Department mounted unit hangs in the locker room at their in New York headquarters. The NYPD's horses, which come mostly from Amish country in Pennsylvania, form what the department says is the country's oldest continuously active mounted unit. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)TOKYO (AP) - Thirteen members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult were hanged this month for crimes committed in the 1990s, culminating in sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway that killed 13 people and sickened thousands. Some details about the condemned cult members:

EXECUTED THURSDAY FOR THE SUBWAY ATTACK:

- MASATO YOKOYAMA, 55, carried sarin in a plastic bag into the Marunouchi subway line, punctured the bag and fled. His actions seriously injured about 200 people among the 6,000 hurt by the five simultaneous attacks carried out during the morning rush hour on March 20, 1995. Yokoyama hardly spoke throughout the trial. He had studied applied physics at Tokai University and worked at an electronics company before leaving in 1989 to join the cult, where he was ordered to produce machine guns.

FILE - This combination of undated file photos shows 13 members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult hanged in July 2018 for crimes committed in the 1990s, culminating in sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway that killed 13 people and sickened thousands. They are, from top left, leader Shoko Asahara, Tomomasa Nakagawa, Yoshihiro Inoue, Tomomitsu Niimi, Seiichi Endo, Masami Tsuchiya and Kiyohide Hayakawa. From left at bottom are Masato Yokoyama, Yasuo Hayashi, Toru Toyoda, Kenichi Hirose, Kazuaki Okasaki and Satoru Hashimoto. (Kyodo News via AP, File)

- YASUO HAYASHI, 60, joined the cult in 1988 after reading Shoko Asahara's book and became the cult leader's bodyguard. He had traveled around the world for three years after graduating from college. Hayashi stabbed three bags of sarin on the Hibiya subway line before fleeing. After more than a year at large, he was arrested on the southern resort island of Ishigaki in 1996. Leaving behind the cult teachings, Hayashi called Asahara a wrong mentor, apologized for his crime and said he deserved the infamous nickname "killing machine."

- TORU TOYODA, 50, released sarin on the Hibiya subway line. After earning a master's degree in physics at the prestigious University of Tokyo, Toyoda joined the cult in 1992 and engaged in weapons research and development. Toyoda pleaded guilty in his trial, and said he felt he did not deserve to have lived.

- KENICHI HIROSE: 54, had earned a bachelor's degree in applied physics at Waseda University and studied superconductivity at graduate school. He declined a job offer at a company to join the cult instead. His former supervisor at the university said the physics field globally would have made greater progress if Hirose had used his talent in the right way. He released sarin on the Marunouchi subway line and was convicted for the attack and for illegal weapons production.

EXECUTED THURSDAY FOR OTHER CRIMES:

- KAZUAKI OKASAKI, 57, graduated from an industrial high school and worked at construction sites before donating all his savings to the cult and moving to its commune in 1986. Okasaki fled the group after the 1989 killing of anti-cult lawyer Tsutsumi Sakamoto, his wife and their baby boy at their Yokohama home, and he surrendered in 1995. He was the first cultist to be sentenced to death in 1998 for the murders of the lawyer's family and other cult crimes.

- SATORU HASHIMOTO, 51, served in an assault unit of the cult using his experience in karate. Hashimoto was one of six cultists who strangled the lawyer's family to death and he also drove a vehicle to spray sarin in Matsumoto in 1994, an attack that killed eight people and preceded the subway attack.

EXECUTED ON JULY 6:

- SHOKO ASAHARA: 63, founded Aum Shinrikyo by mixing religions and social disillusionment to attract followers, many of them top university graduates working in science, medicine or other elite fields. They ran sham computer and health-food businesses and collected donations to amass wealth to buy land and equipment. Sarin was only one of the chemical and biological weapons they were able to manufacture, adding to an arsenal the cult built in anticipation of an apocalyptic showdown. The Tokyo subway attack was intended to disrupt an investigation into the group. Asahara was convicted in the subway attack; the 1994 sarin attack in Matsumoto; the 1989 killing of the anti-Aum lawyer and his family, and six other murder cases.

- TOMOMASA NAKAGAWA: 55, had been a doctor and helped the cult produce sarin and VX nerve agents. He was convicted in 11 cult crimes in which 25 people were killed. Nakagawa reportedly made an early identification of VX as the method used to assassinate the North Korean leader's half brother in 2017.

-YOSHIHIRO INOUE: 48, was known as the cult's "genius of training" and headed its intelligence unit. He rose quickly in the cult to become Asahara's right-hand man and was the coordinator of the subway attacks.

- TOMOMITSU NIIMI, 54, led a unit of the cult responsible for capturing its members who tried to escape. He also was a getaway driver helping one of the cultists flee after gassing the subway.

- SEIICHI ENDO: 58, graduated from a veterinary school and studied virus and genetic engineering at Kyoto University graduate school. Asahara ordered him to produce sarin, but Endo said in court he did so without knowing its purpose. Endo was convicted in both sarin attacks and an attempted VX attack.

- MASAMI TSUCHIYA: 53, was a chemist who headed the cult's sarin development and production and was convicted for producing sarin, VX and other chemical weapons.

- KIYOHIDE HAYAKAWA: 68, was the cult's "construction minister," responsible for land acquisition and expansion. He was convicted in the murders of the lawyer's family.

FILE - In this March 20, 1995, file photo, subway passengers affected by sarin nerve gas are treated near Tsukiji subway station, right, in Tokyo. The last six members of Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo who remained on death row were executed Thursday, July 26, 2018, for a series of crimes in the 1990s including the sarin gas attack on Tokyo subways that killed 13 people. (Kyodo News via AP, File)/Kyodo News via AP)

FILE - This undated file photo shows former Aum Shinrikyo cult member Yasuo Hayashi. The last six members, including Hayashi, of the Japanese doomsday cult who remained on death row were executed Thursday, July 26, 2018, for a series of crimes in the 1990s including a sarin gas attack on Tokyo subways that killed 13 people. Hayashi, 60, stabbed three bags of sarin on the Hibiya subway line before fleeing. (AP Photo/Kyodo News via AP, File)

FILE - This undated file photo shows former Aum Shinrikyo cult member Masato Yokoyama. The last six members, including Yokoyama, of the Japanese doomsday cult who remained on death row were executed Thursday, July 26, 2018, for a series of crimes in the 1990s including a sarin gas attack on Tokyo subways that killed 13 people. Yokoyama, 55, carried sarin gas in a plastic bag into the Marunouchi subway line, punctured the bag and fled. His actions seriously injured about 200 people among the 6,000 hurt by five simultaneous attacks. (AP Photo/Kyodo News via AP)

FILE - This undated file photo shows former Aum Shinrikyo cult member Toru Toyoda. The last six members, including Toyoda, of the Japanese doomsday cult who remained on death row were executed Thursday, July 26, 2018, for a series of crimes in the 1990s including a sarin gas attack on Tokyo subways that killed 13 people. Toyoda, 50, released sarin on the Hibiya subway line. (AP Photo/Kyodo News via AP, File)

FILE - This undated file photo shows former Aum Shinrikyo cult member Kenichi Hirose. The last six members, including Hirose, of the Japanese doomsday cult who remained on death row were executed Thursday, July 26, 2018, for a series of crimes in the 1990s including a sarin gas attack on Tokyo subways that killed 13 people. Hirose, 54, released sarin on the Marunouchi subway line and was convicted for the attack and for illegal weapons production. (AP Photo/Kyodo News via AP)

FILE - This undated file photo shows former Aum Shinrikyo cult member Kazuaki Okasaki. The last six members, including Okasaki, of the Japanese doomsday cult who remained on death row were executed Thursday, July 26, 2018, for a series of crimes in the 1990s including a sarin gas attack on Tokyo subways that killed 13 people. Okasaki, 57, was the first cultist to be sentenced to death in 1998 for the murders of the lawyer's family and other cult crimes.(AP Photo/Kyodo News via AP, File)

FILE - In this July 1995, file photo, former Aum Shinrikyo cult member Satoru Hashimoto, left, is driven to Tsukiji police station in Tokyo after being arrested. The last six members, including Hashimoto, of the Japanese doomsday cult who remained on death row were executed Thursday, July 26, 2018, for a series of crimes in the 1990s including a sarin gas attack on Tokyo subways that killed 13 people. Hashimoto, 51, was one of six cultists who strangled the lawyer's family to death and drove a vehicle to spray sarin in the 1994 attack. (AP Photo/Kyodo News via AP, File)

FILE - This October 1990, file photo, shows Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo leader Shoko Asahara in Fujinomiya, central Japan. The last six members of the cult who remained on death row were executed Thursday, July 26, 2018, for a series of crimes in the 1990s including the sarin gas attack on Tokyo subways that killed 13 people. The first seven, including Asahara, were hanged about three weeks ago. (Kyodo News via AP, File)

FILE - In this March 20, 1995, file photo, subway passengers affected by sarin nerve gas are treated near Tsukiji subway station in Tokyo. The last six members of Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo who remained on death row were executed Thursday, July 26, 2018, for a series of crimes in the 1990s including the sarin gas attack on Tokyo subways that killed 13 people. (Kyodo News via AP, File)WASHINGTON (AP) - The Trump administration sought to fend off accusations the president is too soft on Russia, putting off a proposed second summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and declaring the U.S. will never recognize Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea.

As members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee peppered Secretary of State Mike Pompeo with demands for details about last week's summit in Finland, the White House said Wednesday that President Donald Trump had opted against trying to arrange another meeting with Putin this fall. Putin already had sent signals that he wasn't interested in coming to Washington.

National security adviser John Bolton cited special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election as the reason for the delay, although many members of Congress had objected to the meeting and said Putin would not be welcome on Capitol Hill.

President Donald Trump listens during a meeting with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, July 25, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

"The President believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the Russia witch hunt is over, so we've agreed that it will be after the first of the year," Bolton said in a statement, using Trump's favored but highly controversial term for the Mueller probe.

While the statement signaled optimism that the Mueller probe would be completed by the end of this year, no timetable has been given for when it will be wrapped up and it could very well stretch into 2019.

The White House said last week that Trump had directed Bolton to invite Putin to visit Washington in the fall, moving quickly for a follow-up meeting amid the backlash over Trump's performance at a news conference with Putin following their Helsinki summit.

In his testimony, Pompeo faced often-contentious questioning from senators demanding information about what Trump discussed with Putin while they were alone for nearly two hours with only translators present.

Pompeo struggled to answer, insisting the president is entitled to have private meetings but stressing that he had a full understanding of the discussion. Heated questions were also posed about North Korea, NATO and Iran.

"It's not for me to disclose the content of those conversations," Pompeo said in response to one such barrage of questions.

The committee chairman, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who set a contentious tone for the hearing by telling Pompeo that senators "are filled with serious doubts about this White House and its conduct of American foreign policy," later said those doubts are due to Trump's frequent contradictory statements on the Russia probe and assaults on allies.

"It's the president that causes people to have concerns," Corker said.

Pompeo replied by saying that some of Trump's comments "actually achieve important policy outcomes," but the administration should be judged by its actions rather than the president's words.

He later clarified that the president's words are indeed policy, prompting an angry exchange with the ranking committee member, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J. Menendez said that Pompeo, a former Republican congressman from Kansas, would have been so angry that he would have had to have been peeled off the ceiling of the Capitol if President Barack Obama had said and done some of the same things as Trump.

Pompeo, whom Democrats accused of playing politics with the investigation into the 2012 attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, accused Menendez of pursuing a "political soliloquy" but then declined the opportunity to respond. Menendez had earlier accused the administration of holding "incoherent and contradictory views" on foreign policy and the president himself of being "misleading and untruthful" in describing his positions.

In an unsuccessful bid to blunt some of the hostile questioning, particularly on Russia, Pompeo before the hearing issued a statement titled the "Crimea Declaration" in which he said the U.S. will continue to insist that Ukraine's territorial integrity be restored. He said the U.S. would hold to its long-standing principle of refusing to recognize Kremlin claims of sovereignty over territory seized by force in violation of international law. And he called for Russia to respect principles it claims to respect and "end its occupation of Crimea."

The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry brushed off the Crimea Declaration as just another U.S. policy that could easily change in the future. In a Facebook posting, Maria Zakharova cited the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate accord - two Obama-era deals that Trump scrapped.

"We know the value of these 'fateful declarations,'" she said.

Russia has said Crimean voters approved the annexation in a referendum. The U.S. and its European allies have said the referendum was deeply flawed and illegal, as it was held without the consent of the government in Kiev. Pompeo told senators that U.S. sanctions imposed in response to the annexation would remain in place until and unless Russia returns Crimea to Ukrainian sovereignty.

He also pushed back on allegations the Trump administration has been weak or subservient to Russia over Ukraine or its meddling in the election. He noted that the administration had just days ago provided the Ukraine government with an additional $200 million in military equipment and maintained that the administration was serious about combatting Russian interference in the U.S. and Western democracies. He said he agreed that additional sanctions could be "constructive" to that end.

Pompeo said he had personally told top Russian officials that there will be "severe consequences" for any interference in U.S. elections or the American democratic process. He said that Trump, despite his denigration of the Mueller probe, accepts that there was Russian interference in the 2016 election and fully understands the threat posed by Moscow.

"He has a complete and proper understanding of what happened," Pompeo said of Trump.

__

Associated Press writers Zeke Miller, Darlene Superville and Lynn Berry contributed.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pauses as he testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as lawmakers demand specifics from him on President Donald Trump's meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Helsinki last week, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 25, 2018. Pompeo says he has personally told top Russian officials that there will be "severe consequences" for any interference in U.S. elections or the American democratic process. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Marsha Blackburn is supposed to do well among Tennessee's hog farmers and whiskey makers.

Yet the Republican Senate candidate is struggling to explain President Donald Trump's nascent trade war to her state's local business community. Jack Daniel's whiskey and Jimmy Tosh's hog farm are among those warning that Trump's trade policies - and the Republican candidates who support them - are hurting the very people who backed the Republican president in the first place.

That's forcing outspoken Trump supporters like Blackburn into an uncomfortable position in one of the nation's top Senate races.

FILE - In this May 29, 2018 file photo, President Donald Trump listens as Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., speaks at a rally at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn. Blackburn is supposed to do well among Tennessee's hog farmers and whiskey makers. Yet the Republican Senate candidate is struggling to explain President Donald Trump's nascent trade war to her state's local business community. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

WHAT'S HAPPENING

Blackburn has been forced to distance herself from Trump's trade policies under heavy pressure from local business leaders and her Democratic opponents.

"We fully appreciate that some of these countries have had a trade war against us for years, certainly China would be in that list, and it's time that somebody really stands up," Blackburn told The Associated Press when asked about Trump's trade policies. "But with that said, it does cause us tremendous concern, just grave concern."

___

EDITOR'S NOTE: Associated Press reporters are on the ground around the country, covering political issues, people and races from places they live. The Ground Game series highlights that reporting, looking at politics from the ground up. Each week, in stories and a new podcast, AP reporters examine the political trends that will drive the national conversation tomorrow.

___

Still, Blackburn opposed a proposal by Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., that would have given Congress new authority to check the president's trade moves. She called Corker's approach "a little bit too broad."

Instead, Blackburn helped write a letter urging Trump's commerce secretary to reconsider broad tariffs so as to avoid harm to Tennessee's economy.

An estimated $1.4 billion in Tennessee exports are threatened by Trump's trade moves, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Those exports are linked to more than 850,000 jobs in the state related to farming, steel, baked goods, car manufacturing, whiskey and more.

WHY IT MATTERS

The political impact of Trump's trade policies extends well beyond Tennessee.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently reported that $75 billion in U.S. exports linked to millions of jobs will soon be subject to retaliatory tariffs. Many of the hardest-hit states are those that backed Trump and feature top-tier Senate races in November.

They include Missouri, Indiana, Pennsylvania and North Dakota, just to name a few. Those are states where Republicans hoped to be on offense for the next four months.

But as Tennessee demonstrates, the overwhelmingly negative reaction from local businesses is forcing Republican candidates to defend their party's president. And every minute they're doing that, they're not attacking vulnerable Democratic incumbents.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, traditionally a Republican ally, and the conservative Koch network have unleashed sustained campaigns against the tariffs, giving Blackburn and her red-state Republican colleagues little political cover on a sensitive issue. For Republicans, the issue is a major distraction at best, a threat to the party's Senate majority at worst.

WHAT TO WATCH

It's unclear what impact, if any, we'll see from the Trump administration's announcement this week that it plans to allocate $12 billion to help farmers hurt by the president's trade policies.

The administration's proposal include direct assistance for farmers, purchases of excess crops and trade promotion activities aimed at building new export markets. While that may lessen the economic impact on Tennessee farmers - and there are many affected - it's unlikely to offer much relief to local whiskey companies, car manufacturers and appliance makers who are feeling the pain as well.

In fact, Trump on Tuesday declared "tariffs are the greatest" and threatened to impose additional penalties on U.S. trading partners.

That's after he already imposed a 25 percent tax on $34 billion worth of Chinese imports, prompting China to retaliate with taxes on an equal amount of U.S. products, including soybeans, electric cars and pork. The administration has also taxed steel and aluminum imports from allies such as Canada and Mexico, leading to retaliation against American-made products such as blue jeans, motorcycles and whiskey.

DON'T MISS

Blackburn's path to the Senate was always going to be difficult, even in a state that backed Trump by 26 percentage points less than two years ago.

In Democratic nominee Phil Bredesen, she's up against a popular former two-term governor who's aligned with the moderate wing of the party. Corker, the outgoing Republican incumbent, has called Bredesen his friend and said he wouldn't campaign against him.

Bredesen is betting big that he can use the trade debate to highlight his own independence while attacking Blackburn's loyalty to the president.

"She clearly is very loath to do anything contrary to what the Trump playbook is," Bredesen told the AP.

Republicans have an overwhelming advantage in the fight for the Senate majority this fall given that Democrats are defending 10 seats in states Trump carried in 2016. Democrats have legitimate pickup opportunities in just three states.

But if Bredesen can flip a Republican seat in Tennessee, he gives Democrats a path, albeit an incredibly narrow one, to a Senate takeover.SANAMXAY, Laos (AP) - Authorities in Laos ordered closer monitoring of hydroelectric facilities as they investigate why a dam in the country's southeast collapsed earlier this week, killing at least 27 people and leaving 131 missing.

Floodwaters that rose to rooftops were slowly receding Thursday as evacuees trickled back to villages inundated with mud.

Farmer Kongvilay and his wife Thongla Inthavong returned after spending two nights at a shelter to find their wooden stilt house had been washed 50 meters (160 feet) away into their rice field. The family left the house in a rush as the water level climbed to 2 meters (6  feet) in just one hour after the dam broke late Monday.

Kongvilay Inthavong and his wife Thongla clean up their house as the floodwaters start to recede i in Sanamxay district, Attapeu province, Laos on Thursday, July 26, 2018. Authorities and the builder are investigating why a dam in southeastern Laos collapsed earlier this week, killing at least two dozen people and leaving over a hundred missing. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

"I'm worried the same accident might happen again," Thongla said as she and her husband scraped mud off their belongings. "But we can't live anywhere else. We've been here our entire lives."

In a report Thursday, the state-run Vientiane Times said the Ministry of Energy and Mines had ordered closer monitoring of water levels in reservoirs and of conditions at dam sites.

It said the thousands of people stranded on rooftops and in trees had been rescued by Wednesday. Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith described the disaster as the worst in years in the impoverished country, with more than 6,000 people displaced after the auxiliary dam of a joint venture hydroelectric project gave way after days of torrential rains.

Thongloun said authorities were investigating whether the dam's collapse was caused by the heavy rainfall or by inadequate construction standards. The South Korean company responsible for building the dam, SK Engineering & Construction, said it also was trying to determine why the dam failed.

The Red Cross, South Korean government and other organizations were rushing water purifiers, food and other aid to shelters crowded with hundreds of displaced families evacuated from a half-flooded no-man's-land of orange mud and debris.

Initially, state media reported that hundreds of people were missing and feared dead. Difficult communications and heavy rains, which have hampered rescue efforts, likely contributed to discrepancies in information about casualties.

The exact circumstances of the dam's collapse remain murky, and local officials said they had formed a committee to "seek common ground on the responsibilities and obligations for the tragic disaster," the Vientiane Times reported.

SK Engineering & Construction said the dam began failing Sunday, while Korea Western Power, another partner in the project, said the earth-fill dam began visibly weakening on Friday.

SK Engineering sent its president and an emergency team to help with the rescue and repair effort. In a statement Thursday, it said it would help build lodging for those displaced.

"We will find out causes of the incident thoroughly and take necessary actions quickly," it said in a statement earlier this week.

The Thai partner in the dam project, the Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Public Co., said the joint venture had sent experts to the area to investigate the situation and discuss with the authorities how to resolve the problem.

Monsoon rains clearly contributed to the disaster: A report by the intergovernmental Mekong River Commission said storms had caused water levels along the river to rise by 3-5 meters (9-15 feet) in the past week.

Continued heavy rain and strong winds forecast for the area could hinder recovery efforts, and risks from flooding persisted in the mountainous region.

But a flurry of dam building along the Mekong River and its tributaries, including those affected by this disaster, has raised concerns over environmental impact and other problems.

The $1.02 billion project encompassing several river basins in a remote corner of southeastern Laos is the first hydroelectric dam to be built by a South Korean company, and it was unclear how severe the damage would be to the overall plan. The dam was due to begin operating in 2019, with 90 percent of the power generated going to Thailand.

Laos has dozens of hydroelectric projects under construction and plans for sales of power to neighboring countries, now accounting for about a third of its exports, to grow substantially.

International Rivers, a non-governmental group generally critical of such projects, said the catastrophe showed the need to improve warning systems.

"With over 70 hydropower projects currently built, under construction and planned across Lao PDR - most of them owned and operated by private companies - authorities must immediately review how dams are being planned, designed and managed," the group said in a statement.

___

Associated Press writers Youkyung Lee in Seoul, South Korea, and Grant Peck in Bangkok contributed to this report.

A man paddles his boat through a flooded village in the Sanamxay district, Attapeu province, Laos on Thursday, Jul. 26, 2018. Authorities and the builder are investigating why a dam in southeastern Laos collapsed earlier this week, killing at least two dozen people and leaving over a hundred missing. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

Floodwaters are slowly receding Sanamxay village after a local dam failed, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Attapeu province, southeastern Laos. Authorities and the builder are investigating why a dam in southeastern Laos collapsed earlier this week, killing at least two dozen people and leaving over a hundred missing. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

Houses and vehicles are abandoned in floodwater in Sanamxay district, Attapeu province, Laos on Thursday, July 26, 2018. Authorities and the builder are investigating why a dam in southeastern Laos collapsed earlier this week, killing at least two dozen people and leaving over a hundred missing. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

Floodwaters continue to inundate Sanamxay village after a local dam failed, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Attapeu province, southeastern Laos. Authorities and the builder are investigating why a dam in southeastern Laos collapsed earlier this week, killing at least two dozen people and leaving over a hundred missing. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

People sit on a makeshift barge in flooded village in Sanamxay district, Attapeu province, Laos Thursday, July 26, 2018. Authorities and the builder are investigating why a dam in southeastern Laos collapsed earlier this week, killing at least two dozen people and leaving over a hundred missing. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

Villagers use a tractor and motorbike as floodwaters recede in the Sanamxay village after a local dam failed, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Attapeu province, southeastern Laos. Authorities and the builder are investigating why a dam in southeastern Laos collapsed earlier this week, killing at least two dozen people and leaving over a hundred missing. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

Villager Phon Vuongchonpu and his grandchildren take refuge at a shelter in Paksong town, Champasak province, Laos on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. Rescuers were searching Wednesday for villagers left missing when part of a newly built dam broke in southeastern Laos, flooding the surrounding countryside and killing at least 19 people. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

Villager Phon Vuongchonpu and his grandchildren take refuge at a shelter in Paksong town, Champasak province, Laos on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. Rescuers were searching Wednesday for villagers left missing when part of a newly built dam broke in southeastern Laos, flooding the surrounding countryside and killing at least 19 people. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

A woman carrying her baby waits out at a shelter in Paksong town, Champasak province, Laos on Wednesday, July, 25, 2018. Rescuers were searching Wednesday for villagers left missing when part of a newly built dam broke in southeastern Laos, flooding the surrounding countryside and killing at least 19 people. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

Village structures are left in floodwater in the Samamxay district, Attapeu province, Laos on Thursday, July 26, 2018. Authorities and the builder are investigating why a dam in southeastern Laos collapsed earlier this week, killing at least two dozen people and leaving over a hundred missing. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)Advertisement

An explosive wildfire that roared with little warning into a Northern California city claimed a second life and thousands more people abandoned their homes, some of them slipping out just ahead of the walls of flame, authorities said Friday.

A firefighter with the Redding Fire Department was killed in Shasta County. Another firefighter hired to try to contain the flames with a bulldozer was killed Thursday, authorities said.

In all, an estimated 37,000 people have fled from the so-called Carr Fire, which began Monday and tripled in size overnight Thursday amid scorching temperatures, low humidity and high winds.

Fire officials warned that the blaze would probably burn deeper into urban areas before there was any hope of containing it.

A day earlier, the flames turned the sky orange while sweeping through the historic Gold Rush town of Shasta and nearby Keswick, then jumping the Sacramento River into Redding, a city of about 92,000 people and the largest in the region.

A sudden flare up early Friday morning caught this house on fire along highway 299 in Redding California as firefighters fight to contain the blaze

Two firefighters have dies in the blaze. Pictured is a view of a row of homes that were destroyed by the Carr Fire on July 27

A CalFire firefighter douses flames on a burning home during the Carr fire in Redding, California

A woman, who declined to give her name, surveys damage to her grandmother's house after the Carr Fire burned through Redding, California

Flames have swept through the communities of Shasta and Keswick before jumping the Sacramento River and reaching Redding, a city of about 90,000 people and the largest in the region

Information from the City of Redding showing mandatory evacuation zones as of 4am local time on Friday (in red), alongside data from energy company Pacific Gas and Electricity showing areas inaccessible due to the fire as of 1am local time

Steve Hobson was one of the last to leave Lake Redding Drive. A former urban and wild land firefighter three decades ago, he planned to stay behind to save his house.

But the heat burned his skin, and the smoke made it hard to breathe. He could feel the fire sucking the air from the around him, whipping up swirling embers in a 'fire tornado,' he said.

Police pounded on doors telling everyone to leave.

The flames on the distant hillside looked like solar flares on the sun, he said. When it came time to flee, he had to punch through walls of burning embers on both sides of the street. A tree fell right in front of him.

'I didn't know if I'd make it so I just got in the middle of the street, went down the middle of the street through the embers and the smoke and made it past,' Hobson said.

His perimeter fence burned along with a backyard shed and everything inside it - Christmas ornaments, china and old televisions. But his house made it through the harrowing night.

Firefighters discuss plans while battling the Carr Fire in Shasta, California, on Thursday, July 26, 2018

The Carr Fire burns along Highway 299 in Shasta, California, on Thursday

This Thursday, July 26, 2018 image captured by NASA's Terra satellite, shows actively burning California wildfires (outlined in red) detected by MODISis thermal bands

A firefighter walks past a home destroyed by the Carr Fire on Sunriver Lane in Redding, California. A spokesman says the number of homes and structures threatened by the Northern California wildfire has increased after the fire exploded overnight

Officials say the extremely erratic wildfire in and around the city of Redding is growing rapidly amid scorching temperatures, low humidity and windy conditions.

At least 65 structures have been destroyed, and 5,000 other buildings were threatened, fire officials said.

The fire is 'taking down everything in its path,' said Scott McLean, a CalFire spokesman for the crews battling the blaze.

Some Redding residents who had not been under evacuation orders were caught off guard and had to flee with little notice.

'When it hit, people were really scrambling,' McLean said. 'There was not much of a warning.'

The blaze, which was apparently sparked by a mechanical issue involving a vehicle, was so fearsome that fire crews in Redding for a time abandoned any hope of containing the flames and instead focused on saving lives.

'We're not fighting a fire. We're trying to move people out of the path of it because it is now deadly, and it is now moving at speeds and in ways we have not seen before in this area,' said Jonathan Cox, battalion chief with Cal Fire.

Cal Fire crews work to control and slow the fire as it backs into the containment line. The goal is to not extinguish the fire but to control it so that it burns slowly. Preventing further flare-ups is the goal

A structure burns as the Carr Fire races along Highway 299

The Carr fire is pictured as forms along highway 299 between Whiskeytown and Redding

The fire is pictured blazing through the banks of Whiskeytown Lake

A water tender operator drinks a beverage after trying to save a home burning in Shasta. One person was killed in a rapidly moving wildfire that sent residents fleeing from a northern California city on Friday as homes and businesses burned and power was cut, fire officials said

The wildfire crossed the Sacramento River and now threatens hundreds of homes on the western fringes of the city of Redding

Late Thursday, crews found the body of the bulldozer operator. He was the second bulldozer operator killed in a California blaze in less than two weeks.

'It's just chaotic. It's wild,' McLean said. 'There's a lot of fire, a lot of structures burning.'

Firefighters tried in vain to build containment around the blaze Thursday, but flames kept jumping their lines, he said.

Brett Gouvea, incident commander of the crews battling the fire, urged residents to pay close attention to the blaze, which he said was 'moving with no regard for what's in its path.'

With fire burning in the distance Liz Williams, 33, packed her car Thursday morning, just in case, even though her neighbors said it would never reach them.

burned out classic car sits next to a home that was destroyed by the Carr Fire, the fire is three per cent contained

A real estate sign is seen in front of a burning home during the Carr Fire in Redding, California on July 27. Firefighters tried in vain to build containment around the blaze on Thursday but flames kept jumping their lines

A residence burns as the Carr Fire tears through Shasta. More than 1,700 firefighters have been battling the blaze, Cal Fire said in an evening advisory

When Williams got home from work, the flames were closing in. By evening, an orange glow appeared on the nearby hillside and ferocious winds picked up. It was time to go.

'I've never experienced something so terrifying in my life. Nothing could prepare you for something like this,' Williams said.

She loaded up her 11-year-old daughter and her boyfriend's 9-year-old, but she didn't get far. She was promptly stuck in traffic as all her neighbors crowded the main road out. Cars honked and backed up. Drivers and police yelled at each other.

As flames came down the adjacent hillside, she got aggressive.

'Finally I just went to the left and jumped up on the sidewalk and drove,' Williams said.

She estimated that it took an hour to go a little over a mile. She wanted to get as far away as possible, but ultimately stayed with her boyfriend's family in a safer part of town.

'I didn't know if the fire was just going to jump out behind a bush and grab me and suck me in,' Williams said. 'I wanted out of here.'

A couple, who declined to give their names, passes homes leveled by the Carr Fire in Redding, California, on Friday

A firefighter sprays water on a home leveled by the Carr Fire on Sunriver Lane in Redding, CaliforniaEL PASO, Texas (AP) - The Trump administration faced a court-imposed deadline Thursday to reunite thousands of children and parents who were forcibly separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, an enormous logistical task brought on by its "zero tolerance" policy on illegal entry.

Authorities have identified 2,551 children 5 and older who may be covered by the order to be reunited with their parents by Thursday's court-imposed deadline. That effort was expected to fall short, partly because hundreds of parents may have already been deported without their children.

But, by focusing only those deemed by the government to be "eligible" for reunification, authorities are expected to claim success.

Immigrants from Brazil seeking asylum, Natalia Oliveira da Silva carries her daughter, Sara, 5, from a van as they arrive at a Catholic Charities facility, Monday, July 23, 2018, in San Antonio. Since their separation in late May, the girl had been at a shelter for immigrant minors in Chicago, while Oliveira was taken to various facilities across Texas. As the government faces a fast-approaching Thursday deadline to reunite hundreds of families, it is shifting the responsibility for their well-being to faith-based groups primarily in Texas and Arizona. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

As of Tuesday, there were 1,012 parents reunified with their children in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. Hundreds more had been cleared and were just waiting on transportation.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told members of Congress on Wednesday that the administration was "on track" to meet the deadline, an assertion that was greeted with disbelief and anger by the all-Democrat Congressional Hispanic Caucus, according to people who attended. Nielsen declined to comment to reporters as she left the closed-door meeting.

For the last two weeks, children have been arriving steadily at ICE locations in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico to be reunited with parents. Faith-based and other groups have provided meals, clothing, legal advice and plane and bus tickets. Parents are typically equipped with ankle-monitoring bracelets and given court dates before an immigration judge.

Natalia Oliveira da Silva, a mother from Brazil, waited nervously outside a detention center in Pearsall, Texas, for her young daughter, Sara. She soon spotted the 5-year-old approaching in a vehicle, a seatbelt over her chest.

Sara got out and was quickly in her mother's arms, asking her, "They're not going to take you away again, right?"

Since their separation in late May, the girl had been at a shelter for immigrant minors in Chicago, while Oliveira was moved through facilities across Texas.

U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego commended the government Tuesday for its recent efforts and for apparently being on track to reunify the roughly 1,600 parents it deems eligible, calling it "a remarkable achievement." Yet Sabraw also seized on the government's assertion that 463 parents may be outside the United States. The Justice Department said this week that the number was based on case files and under review, signaling it could change.

"It is the reality of a policy that was in place that resulted in large numbers of families being separated without forethought as to reunification and keeping track of people," said Sabraw, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush.

Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union who represents the separated families, said the government is "letting themselves off the hook" by focusing on those it deems eligible and excluding parents who were deported or haven't been located.

"I think the critical point to remember, is that they are only reunifying by the deadline those families who they are claiming unilaterally are eligible for reunification by the deadline," he told reporters. "The deadline is the deadline for just those parents and children the government says it can reunite."

Lourdes de Leon, who turned herself into immigration authorities, was deported to her native Guatemala on June 7 but her 6-year-old son, Leo, remained in the United States.

De Leon said Guatemalan consular officials told her signing a deportation order would be the easiest way to be reunited with Leo.

"He is in a shelter in New York," de Leon said. "My baby already had his hearing with a judge who signed his deportation eight days ago. But I still do not know when they are going to return him to me."

The government was expected to provide the judge with an updated count by the end of Thursday. Both sides were due in court Friday.

Spencer Amdur, another ACLU attorney, said there are three categories of concern: The roughly 1,600 children who "everyone agrees have to be reunified" by Thursday; children whose parents were deported and who must be reunified but not necessarily by Thursday; and others the government deems ineligible, including parents with criminal records or are suspected of abuse or neglect and some who aren't really the children's parents.

In El Paso, the Annunciation House, which has been assisting dozens of reunited families, said progress has been slow considering Thursday's deadline. The organization has already received about 250 reunited families. Advocacy group FWD.us has been buying plane tickets for them to quickly leave.

"We are under a logistical 24/7 crisis all-hands-on-deck moment to get through the (Thursday) deadline. We will not stop until all of these children are reunited with their parents and that is regardless of where their parents are," said Alida Garcia, coalitions and policy director for FWD.us.

The government gives advocates sometimes as little as an hour's notice when they're releasing parents and children, Garcia said. The government has been shuttling kids from their shelters to the parking lots of the detention centers where their parents are held. Then they are handed over to non-governmental and faith-based groups that help them get to their intended destination.

Late last month, Sabraw ordered a nationwide halt to family separations, which President Donald Trump effectively did on his own amid an international outcry. He issued a 14- day deadline to reunite children under 5 with their parents and 30 days for children 5 and older.

Attention will now shift largely to the hundreds of children whose parents may have been deported and to how much time reunified parents in the United States should have to decide if they want to seek asylum.

The ACLU, which wants the judge to give families at least seven days after reunification to decide on their next steps, filed a raft of affidavits from attorneys working on the border Wednesday that detail what it considers flawed procedures, including limited phone access and strict visitation policies, language barriers and being given only a few minutes to decide whether to leave their children in the United States.

___

Spagat reported from San Diego. Associated Press writers Alan Fram in Washington and Sonia Perez D. in Guatemala City contributed.

Immigrants seeking asylum Natalia Oliveira da Silva and her daughter, Sara, 5, hug as they wait at a Catholic Charities facility, Monday, July 23, 2018, in San Antonio. Since their separation in late May, the girl had been at a shelter for immigrant minors in Chicago, while Oliveira was taken to various facilities across Texas. As the government faces a fast-approaching Thursday deadline to reunite hundreds of families, it is shifting the responsibility for their well-being to faith-based groups primarily in Texas and Arizona. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Immigrants seeking asylum who were recently reunited with their children, ride a hotel elevator, Monday, July 23, 2018, in San Antonio. As the government faces a fast-approaching Thursday deadline to reunite hundreds of families, it is shifting the responsibility for their well-being to faith-based groups primarily in Texas and Arizona. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Immigrants seeking asylum, Natalia Oliveira da Silva and her daughter, Sara, 5, look through donated clothing at a Catholic Charities facility, Monday, July 23, 2018, in San Antonio. Since their separation in late May, the girl had been at a shelter for immigrant minors in Chicago, while Oliveira was taken to various facilities across Texas. As the government faces a fast-approaching Thursday deadline to reunite hundreds of families, it is shifting the responsibility for their well-being to faith-based groups primarily in Texas and Arizona. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)When temperatures soar as they have this week in downtown Phoenix, homeless people ride the air-conditioned light rail to avoid a heat so brutal it killed 155 people in the city and surrounding areas last year.

An occasional siren wails as paramedics rush to help people sick from the heat.

Already devilishly hot for being in the Sonoran desert, Arizona's largest city is also an 'urban heat island,' a phenomenon that pushes up temperatures in areas covered in heat-retaining asphalt and concrete.

In this Monday, July 23, 2018 photo, the sun beats down on downtown Phoenix. Already devilishly hot for being in the Sonoran desert, Arizona's largest city is also an 'urban heat island,' a phenomenon that pushes up temperatures in areas covered in heat-retaining asphalt and concrete. Phoenix officials say they are tackling urban warming, monitoring downtown temperatures, planting thousands of trees and capturing rainwater to cool off public spaces. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Forecasters said the high for Phoenix had risen to 111 degrees (44 Celsius) by midafternoon Thursday and was not expected to hit Wednesday's record high for the day of 116.

Phoenix officials say they are tackling urban warming, monitoring downtown temperatures, planting thousands of trees and capturing rainwater to cool off public spaces.

Elsewhere, Chicago maintains more than 500,000 trees to offset rising temperatures and is a national leader among cities for so-called green roofs covered with vegetation.

Los Angeles adopted an ordinance in 2014 to require reflective 'cool roofs' for new homes including rentals, while Seattle is working to restore the city's forested parklands.

Cities such as Phoenix are tackling the challenges of being urban heat islands. Forecasters said the high for Phoenix had risen to 111 degrees (44 Celsius) by midafternoon Thursday and was not expected to hit Wednesday's record high for the day of 116.

But climate specialists like Brian Stone, who runs the Georgia Institute of Technology's Urban Climate Lab, said more is needed.

In urban heat islands, solar radiation and hot air from vehicles and buildings get trapped between high-rises.

There aren't enough trees to provide shade and evaporative cooling that can bring down temperatures.

'We are working against a pronounced warming trend in large cities, and so it will require a substantial resurfacing of urban environments simply to slow the rate of warming,' Stone said.

WHAT IS AN URBAN HEAT ISLAND? In urban heat islands, solar radiation and hot air from vehicles and buildings get trapped between high-rises. There aren't enough trees to provide shade and evaporative cooling that can bring down temperatures. The phenomenon pushes up temperatures in areas covered in heat-retaining asphalt and concrete. Heat ripples blur the downtown skyline as a jet lands in Phoenix, Ariz., as temperatures exceed 100 degrees in the morning hours. Already devilishly hot for being in the Sonoran desert, Arizona's largest city is also an 'urban heat island,' a phenomenon that pushes up temperatures in areas covered in heat-retaining asphalt and concrete. The heat island effect prevents a city from peeling off the day's furnace-like heat after the sun sets, driving up temperatures over time. Long noted in cities as far flung as Cairo, Mumbai, Johannesburg, Mexico City and Nanjing, China, the heat island effect can add more than 10 degrees Fahrenheit to nighttime temperatures, climate scientists say. Advertisement

He said the heat island effect prevents a city from peeling off the day's furnace-like heat after the sun sets, driving up temperatures over time.

His team's research shows Phoenix temperatures rising nearly 1 degree per decade, consistently placing it alongside Dallas and Louisville, Kentucky, as some of the fastest-warming U.S. cities.

He said Phoenix is warming at three times the rate of the planet as a whole.

Stone noted the heat island effect is caused by local land use and energy decisions and is separate from global warming, but said the two often work together.

A hiker walks past a heat warning sign at sunrise, in Phoenix. Already devilishly hot for being in the Sonoran desert, Arizona's largest city is also an 'urban heat island,' a phenomenon that pushes up temperatures in areas covered in heat-retaining asphalt and concrete. Phoenix officials say they are tackling urban warming, monitoring downtown temperatures, planting thousands of trees and capturing rainwater to cool off public spaces.

HOW CITIES ARE DEALING WITH URBAN HEAT ISLANDS Phoenix: Officials planting thousands of trees and capturing rainwater to cool off public spaces. Chicago: maintains more than 500,000 trees to offset rising temperatures and is a national leader among cities for so-called green roofs covered with vegetation. Los Angeles: adopted an ordinance in 2014 to require reflective 'cool roofs' for new homes including rentals, while Seattle is working to restore the city's forested parklands. Louisville: has planted some 10,000 trees over the past three years - including maples, oaks, elms and Kentucky coffee trees Advertisement

While the heat increases energy consumption and air pollution, authorities in Phoenix, the hottest of the three cities, worry most about health problems like heat stroke or heat exhaustion.

So far this year, five people have died in Maricopa County from heat-associated causes, and another 34 cases are being investigated, public health officials said.

'If similar numbers of people died from any other type of weather event, 'it would be considered a national disaster,' noted Phoenix sustainability officer Mark Hartman.

The danger is especially acute for people like the homeless and elderly.

An unusual heat wave in France in 2003 killed nearly 15,000 people, mostly old people left by vacationing relatives in homes without air conditioning as temperatures soared above 100 (37 Celsius) degrees.

Long noted in cities as far flung as Cairo, Mumbai, Johannesburg, Mexico City and Nanjing, China, the heat island effect can add more than 10 degrees Fahrenheit to nighttime temperatures, climate scientists say.

Forecasts now take into consideration the heat island, which in the case of Phoenix stretches some 25 miles (40 kilometers) out from the city's airport, National Weather Service forecaster Marvin Percha said.

To show the difference the effect can make, he noted that in June 2017 the nighttime low at Arizona State University's grassy campus in Tempe was just 69 degrees (21 Celsius).

WHAT ARE THE BEST WAYS TO KEEP COOL DURING A HEATWAVE? The NHS has a number of tips for keeping cool during bouts of unusually hot weather. - Drink plenty of fluids - Open windows or other vents around the home - Shade or cover windows exposed to direct sunlight - Grow plants inside and outside to provide shade and help cool the air - Turn off lights and electrical equipment that isn't in use - Take a break if your home gets too hot: Head to a nearby air-conditioned building like a library or supermarket Advertisement

But the nighttime low just 5  miles (9 kilometers) away at Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport, where expanses of asphalt cover former farm fields, was 81 degrees (27 degrees Celsius).

Phoenix officials recently created a tree and shade subcommittee to study the heat island problem and make recommendations, and vowed to plant 3,000 new trees this year.

Many people associate Phoenix with cactus, but acacia, blue palo verde, ironwood, desert willow and other trees thrive here.

Aimee Esposito, executive director of non-governmental Trees Matter, said her Phoenix organization this year plans to give 5,000 small trees to residents across the area's Valley of the Sun, and will plant more at schools through educational programs.

Matt Grubisich, director of operations and urban forestry for the nonprofit Texas Trees Foundation in Dallas, said planting trees is the easiest and most effective action to ease urban heat. He said his group plants 2,500 trees such as oak, elm, pecan and ash annually.

In this July 20, 2018 photo provided by Edison-Eastlake Measurement Campaign, David Hondula, Assistant Professor in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University and a faculty affiliate of the Urban Climate Research Center, works on a weather station installation in the Aeroterra Apartment community in Phoenix. David Sailor, director of Arizona State University's Urban Climate Research Center, and his team are working with Phoenix to monitor urban warming in a low-income neighborhood sandwiched between a freeway and a hospital. (David Sailor/Edison-Eastlake Measurement Campaign via AP)

In this Wednesday, July 18, 2018 photo, National Weather Service forecaster Marvin Percha reviews monitors that track satellite and Doppler radar images, as well as his colleagues' forecasts posted on social media, at the agency's operating center in Tempe, Ariz. Percha, who grew up in the Phoenix area, says overnight low temperatures at the city's Sky Harbor International Airport have risen over time because of the effect caused by diminishing tree cover and increased development that includes vast amounts of heat-retaining asphalt and concrete. (AP Photo/Anita Snow)

Louisville has planted some 10,000 trees over the past three years - including maples, oaks, elms and Kentucky coffee trees - and sometimes pairs with nonprofit groups to give away trees for smaller areas, such as dogwoods, said city sustainability officer Maria Koetter.

'I really think the community is getting the message about trees,' Koetter said. 'There's usually a line around the block during the giveaways.'

Koetter said Louisville was the first major city to commission a heat management study, which was done by Stone's climate lab. It now offers $2,000 rebates to homeowners for cool roofs.

Stone said in some cities, hundreds of thousands of trees would be needed to fully counter the heat island effect.

In Phoenix, Hartman, the sustainability officer, said the city is also looking at using lighter-colored asphalt for streets.

In this Tuesday, July 24, 2018 photo, a jet comes in for approach over downtown, in Phoenix as temperatures exceed 100 degrees in the morning hours. Already devilishly hot for being in the Sonoran desert, Arizona's largest city is also an 'urban heat island,' a phenomenon that pushes up temperatures in areas covered in heat-retaining asphalt and concrete. Phoenix officials say they are tackling urban warming, monitoring downtown temperatures, planting thousands of trees and capturing rainwater to cool off public spaces. (AP Photo/Matt York)

'A palette of solutions like this is necessary, especially planting shade trees with walkable corridors,' said David Sailor, director of Arizona State University's Urban Climate Research Center.

His team is working with Phoenix to monitor urban warming in a low-income neighborhood sandwiched between a freeway and a hospital.

Sailor said monitoring stations installed in June will track the effect as the neighborhood is redeveloped over several years.

Places like Phoenix must consider the climate implications of all development decisions, Stone said.

'Just as tree cover and other cooling materials have been lost in cities through a piecemeal process of developing individual lots over time,' he said, 'we need to restore these materials though a process that requires more green and reflective surfaces with improvements to individual lots over time.'JERUSALEM (AP) - The Israeli military says it bombarded a rocket launcher in Syria in response to two missiles that fell into the Sea of Galilee.

The army said in a statement late on Wednesday that the area surrounding the rocket launcher was targeted by Israeli artillery.

The rockets appeared to be errant fire from clashes between Syrian government forces and rebel groups near the frontier with Israel.

Trails of Patriot missiles are seen in the sky in northern Israel Tuesday, July 24, 2018. Israel shot down a Syrian fighter jet it said had breached its airspace on Tuesday while advancing Syrian government forces retaking territory from rebels reached the Golan Heights frontier for the first time in seven years. The Israeli military said it monitored the advance of the Syrian Sukhoi fighter jet and shot it down with a pair of Patriot missiles after it penetrated Israeli airspace by about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles). (David Cohen/Flash90 via AP)

The military says in a statement that it "will act against any attempt to compromise Israeli sovereignty and the safety of its civilians."

Earlier this week the Israeli military shot down a Syrian fighter jet that it said had breached Israeli airspace. Israel also activated its aerial defense system on Monday in response to missiles fired from Syria.

Israeli soldier guides a mobile artillery piece the near the border with Syria in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Fire trails and explosions from the fighting between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and rebels in southern Syria as seen from the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)NEW DELHI (AP) - When a mob of Hindu villagers thrashed a Muslim cattle trader last week in western India, police rushed to the scene. First, they took his two cows to an animal shed, then kept him for about three hours in the police station.

When they finally took 28-year-old Rakbar Khan to the nearest hospital around 4 a.m. Saturday, doctors said he was dead.

A series of mob attacks on minority groups involved in cattle trade have been on the rise since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party swept elections in 2014. The opposition raised the issue repeatedly in Parliament this week, criticizing the government for its inability to protect traders.

In this Tuesday, July 24, 2018 photo, Asmina Bano, wife of Rakbar Khan, is comforted by family members and neighbors as she lies on a cot outside her home in Kolgaon village, India. Khan, a cattle trader, died after being thrashed by a mob last week on suspicion of cattle smuggling. A series of mob attacks on minority groups involved in cattle trade have occurred since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party swept elections in 2014. Cows are considered sacred in Hindu-majority India, and slaughtering them or eating beef is illegal or restricted across much of the country. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Haroon Khan, a relative of the man who died in Rajasthan state last week, said the reason Rakbar Khan was taking the cows at night was "because we can't venture out in daylight (to transport cows). There is so much fear."

The mob who assaulted him "beat him so badly and mercilessly that they broke the bones of his feet and hands, broke his neck," Haroon Khan said.

As the opposition and human rights group expressed outrage at Khan's killing, a top Rajasthan state police officer, N.R.K. Reddy, said there was an "error of judgment" on the part of the police.

"It was a mistake by the police officer to keep the injured for so long in the police station," said state Home Minister Gulab Singh Kataria.

He told reporters on Tuesday that police should have taken the injured to the hospital in the first place instead of delivering cows to the shelter.

The evidence collected so far points to Khan's death in custody, he added. An investigation is underway.

Police have arrested three suspects in the beating and suspended one officer. Kataria said four to five people had attacked Khan.

Most of the attacks by so-called cow vigilantes from Hindu hard-line groups have targeted Muslims, who make up 14 percent of India's 1.3 billion people.

Cows are considered sacred in Hindu-majority India, and slaughtering them or eating beef is illegal or restricted across much of the country.

The victims have been accused of either smuggling cows for slaughter or carrying beef. Last month, two Muslims were lynched in eastern Jharkhand state on charges of cattle theft.

Dozens of people have been killed in such attacks. The vigilante groups are mostly Hindu hard liners believed to be tied to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party.

Rights groups and Muslims say government officials, including Modi, have been slow to strongly condemn the attacks and that police action against perpetrators has been inadequate. The government denies the charge.

With vigilante attacks on the rise, India' top court earlier this month ordered the government to introduce a new law to stop deadly mob violence. In addition to attacks targeting cattle traders or presumed beef consumers, mobs have also attacked innocent people who were targeted by social media rumors claiming they belonged to child-kidnapping gangs.

India's Home Minister Rajnath Singh this week set up a committee to formulate appropriate measures to deal with such incidents and ordered state governments to sternly deal with such crimes.

In this Tuesday, July 24, 2018 photo, Kareeman Bano holds a photograph of her son-in-law Rakbar Khan, who died after being thrashed by a mob last week on suspicion of cattle smuggling, in Kolgaon village, India. A series of mob attacks on minority groups involved in cattle trade have occurred since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party swept elections in 2014. Most of the attacks by so-called cow vigilantes from Hindu groups have targeted Muslims, who make up 14 percent of India's 1.3 billion people. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

In this Tuesday, July 24, 2018 photo, a cow belonging to Rakbar Khan is tied outside his home as family members and neighbors gather in Kolgaon village, India. Khan died after being thrashed by a mob last week on suspicion of cattle smuggling. A series of mob attacks on minority groups involved in cattle trade have occurred since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party swept elections in 2014. Most of the attacks by so-called cow vigilantes from Hindu groups have targeted Muslims, who make up 14 percent of India's 1.3 billion people. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

In this Tuesday, July 24, 2018 photo, Sahila Khan, daughter of Rakbar Khan, carries her sibling Manseera outside their home in Kolgaon village, India. Rakbar Khan, a cattle trader, died after being thrashed by a mob last week on suspicion of cattle smuggling. A series of mob attacks on minority groups involved in cattle trade have occurred since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party swept elections in 2014. Most of the attacks by so-called cow vigilantes from Hindu groups have targeted Muslims, who make up 14 percent of India's 1.3 billion people. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

In this Tuesday, July 24, 2018 photo, villagers gather outside the home of Rakbar Khan in Kolgaon village, India. Khan, a cattle trader, died after being thrashed by a mob last week on suspicion of cattle smuggling. With vigilante attacks on the rise, India' top court earlier this month ordered the government to introduce a new law to stop deadly mob violence. In addition to attacks targeting cattle traders or presumed beef consumers, mobs have also attacked innocent people who were targeted by social media rumors claiming they belonged to child-kidnapping gangs. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

In this Tuesday, July 24, 2018 photo, family members and neighbors gather outside the home of Rakbar Khan in Kolgaon village, India. Khan, a cattle trader, died after being thrashed by a mob last week on suspicion of cattle smuggling. A series of mob attacks on minority groups involved in cattle trade have occurred since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party swept elections in 2014. Cows are considered sacred in Hindu-majority India, and slaughtering them or eating beef is illegal or restricted across much of the country. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

In this Tuesday, July 24, 2018 photo, a cow walks past the police station where Rakbar Khan was kept after he was thrashed by a mob on suspicion of cattle smuggling, in Ramgarh village, India. When a mob thrashed Khan last week in western India, police rushed to the scene. First, they took the two cows he had to an animal shed, then they kept the man for about four hours in the police station. When they took him to the nearest hospital, doctors said he was dead. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Taiwan on Thursday denounced China's latest moves to increase its global isolation, saying residents of the self-governing island would reject attempts to deny its existence.

China in recent days has forced international airlines to stop referring to Taiwan as a separate country on their websites. It also allegedly prompted the Asian Olympic Committee to withdraw the island's right to host a youth competition scheduled for next year in the central city of Taichung.

"These are attempts to destroy Taiwan's sovereignty, and erase it from the world map," Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrew Lee told reporters at a news conference.

In this July 6, 2018, photo, travelers stand near a signboard at the American Airlines check-in counters at the Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing. China is applauding U.S. airlines for bending to its demand that they cease referring to Taiwan as its own country on their websites, as American Airlines, Delta and United are among a wave of international carriers to remove references to Taiwan on their websites ahead of a Wednesday, July 25, 2018, deadline set by Chinese authorities. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

"I believe that no Taiwanese people would accept such a thing," Lee said.

Beijing's action is aimed at increasing Taiwan's isolation and prodding it toward a political union with China. Taiwan is already excluded from the United Nations and other major international organizations, and China has been steadily poaching away the self-governing island's dwindling number of diplomatic partners.

Beijing has also stepped up its military threats by sending warplanes on patrols around the island and staging war games on its side of the Taiwan Strait.

It has also offered preferential terms for talented young people from the high-tech island to work in cities such as Shanghai and Beijing that offer much larger potential markets than those available in Taiwan.

China has taken an increasingly hard line since the election of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, who has refused to endorse Beijing's insistence that Taiwan is a part of China to be brought under its control eventually.

Tsai's office issued a statement Thursday criticizing the move to cancel the 2019 East Asian Youth Games in Taichung as "brazen and crude political meddling in sports."

"Taiwan condemns China's behavior in the strongest possible terms," the statement said.

___

Associated Press video journalist Johnson Lai in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this report.

In this July 6, 2018 photo, a traveler checks in for their flight at the American Airlines check-in counters at the Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing. China is applauding U.S. airlines for bending to its demand that they cease referring to Taiwan as its own country on their websites, as American Airlines, Delta and United are among a wave of international carriers to remove references to Taiwan on their websites ahead of a Wednesday, July 25, 2018, deadline set by Chinese authorities. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)MADRID (AP) - Around 800 migrants stormed border fences separating Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco to get into Europe, police said Thursday.

Spain's Civil Guard said 602 migrants made it onto Spanish soil in a massive assault on high, barbed-wire fences shortly after dawn.

Migrants cut holes in the fences and threw feces and quicklime, a skin irritant, at police officers trying to hold them back, the Civil Guard said in a statement.

In this photo taken late Wednesday, July 25, 2018, migrants are silhouetted as they prepare to spend the night onboard a Spanish Maritime Rescue Service boat docked at the port of Algeciras, southern Spain, after being rescued in the Strait of Gibraltar. Around 800 migrants stormed border fences separating Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco to get into Europe, police said Thursday. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno)

They also threw stones at police vehicles, breaking windows, and hurled makeshift flamethrowers at police officers.

The police statement said 16 migrants were taken to the hospital, while five of 15 police hurt were also hospitalized.

The Spanish Red Cross said in a tweet that 132 migrants were hurt in the mass charge.

Sub-Saharan Africans living illegally in Morocco try to get to Europe each year by climbing rows of 6-meter (20-feet) high fences surrounding Ceuta and Melilla, Spain's other North African enclave. Those who make it across head for crowded, temporary migrant accommodation centers. They are eventually repatriated or let go.

Thursday's assault added to pressure on Spanish authorities from a recent wave of migration, with on average hundreds of migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea on unsafe boats each day.

Spain's Maritime Rescue Service said it picked up 332 people in the Mediterranean on Thursday - 232 on 19 boats in the Strait and 100 in two boats further east. On Wednesday, it rescued 424 people.

The International Organization for Migration says so far this year more than 22,700 migrants have arrived in Spain - three times more than in the same period last year.

Almost 20,000 of them arrived by sea, as good weather allowed more crossings on the short route across the Strait of Gibraltar and a recent crackdown by Libyan authorities had led migrants to choose other routes.

In this photo taken late Wednesday, July 25, 2018, migrants are silhouetted as they prepare to spend the night onboard a Spanish Maritime Rescue Service boat docked at the port of Algeciras, southern Spain, after being rescued in the Strait of Gibraltar. Around 800 migrants stormed border fences separating Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco to get into Europe, police said Thursday. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno)

In this photo taken late Wednesday, July 25, 2018, migrants spend the night onboard a Spanish Maritime Rescue Service boat at the port of Algeciras, southern Spain, after being rescued in the Strait of Gibraltar. Around 800 migrants stormed border fences separating Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco to get into Europe, police said Thursday.(AP Photo/Marcos Moreno)

In this photo taken late Wednesday, July 25, 2018, migrants spend the night onboard a Spanish Maritime Rescue Service boat at the port of Algeciras, southern Spain, after being rescued in the Strait of Gibraltar. Around 800 migrants stormed border fences separating Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco to get into Europe, police said Thursday.(AP Photo/Marcos Moreno)

In this photo taken late Wednesday, July 25, 2018, migrants spend the night onboard a Spanish Maritime Rescue Service boat at the port of Algeciras, southern Spain, after being rescued in the Strait of Gibraltar. Around 800 migrants stormed border fences separating Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco to get into Europe, police said Thursday. (AP Photo/Marcos Moreno)BEIJING (AP) - China's commerce ministry denied Thursday that its tariff dispute with Washington was the reason for a lengthy anti-monopoly review that prompted U.S. tech giant Qualcomm Inc. to drop its bid for NXP Semiconductors.

Qualcomm dropped the $44 billion bid Wednesday when its agreement expired without Chinese approval. The delay following U.S. and European approval prompted suggestions Beijing was using the case as leverage in its spiraling dispute with Washington.

"As far as I know, the case is an anti-monopoly law enforcement issue and has nothing to do with Chinese-U.S. trade friction," said a ministry spokesman, Gao Feng.

Gao gave no further explanation. China has scrutinized proposed mergers and acquisitions more aggressively than some other governments.

Qualcomm, headquartered in San Diego, applied for the anti-monopoly review before Beijing's dispute with U.S. President Donald Trump over complaints China steals or forces foreign companies to hand over technology blew up.

The company withdrew its application in April and submitted a new version after the Commerce Ministry said it faced unspecified difficulties satisfying competition concerns.

Qualcomm had described the NXP deal, announced in 2016, as a way to break into markets for automobiles, security and network processing.MILAN (AP) - An Italian news agency reports that authorities have deported a Slovenian man who completed a prison sentence for recruiting extremists to join Islamic State fighters in Syria.

ANSA said Thursday that 28-year-old Rok Zavbi was deported to his home country a day earlier from the Bologna airport. He had been sentenced to three years and four months in prison.

The news agency said that Zavbi had fought in Syria and that upon his return to Europe he helped recruit new fighters and gave them information about training camps.

Italian media have previously reported that he was one of three suspects convicted in a Venice court for recruiting terrorists, and that the group was linked to Bosnia's top recruiter, Bilal Bosnic, who is serving a seven-year jail sentence in Sarajevo.BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - Romania's agriculture minister said Thursday he did not intend to offend Jews when he compared the incineration of pigs with swine fever to the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz.

Petre Daea attempted to clarify remarks made in a televised interview this week in which he said the burning of thousands of sick pigs was "very hard work, it's like Auschwitz."

Daea said he respected "all members of the Jewish community," and was merely trying to highlight difficulties face by pig farmers who have to incinerate livestock.

Two opposition parties- the Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union - and others have called for Daea to resign.

Israel's embassy in Romania expressed "dismay and disappointment" over the remarks Thursday, saying the death of six million Jews in the Holocaust "should never be forgotten, trivialized or minimalized."

Romania's Anti-Discrimination Council said it would summon Daea to explain the comments.

The chairman of the ruling Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, apologized to the Jewish community, saying the Holocaust was "a tragedy that should never be repeated." He added that Daea had not meant to be offensive, and urged him to avoid expressions "which can deeply offend."

Romanian authorities have reported 400 separate outbreaks of African swine fever in the Danube Delta and near the Hungarian border.DALLAS (AP) - Southwest Airlines overcame rising fuel prices to top second-quarter profit expectations, though an inflight disaster in which a passenger was killed had an adverse effect on revenue.

Flight 1380 was traveling from New York to Dallas in April when it experienced engine failure. A fan blade snapped off the engine and struck a window, leading to the death of an executive from New Mexico.

Southwest CEO and Chairman Gary Kelly said Thursday that the incident led to a $100 million drop in passenger revenue during the quarter, but he said there has been strong demand for flights on the airline. Kelly anticipates the revenue impact will be temporary and subside in the third quarter.

In this July 17, 2018, photograph, ramp workers prepare a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 for departure to Denver from Minneapolis International Airport in Minneapolis. Southwest Airlines overcame rising fuel prices to top profit expectations, though an inflight disaster in which a passenger was killed had an adverse effect on revenue. Second-quarter earnings were $733 million, topping Wall Street expectations. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

For the three months ended June 30, Southwest Airlines Co. earned $733 million, or $1.27 per share. The Dallas-based company earned $743 million, or $1.23 per share, a year earlier.

Stripping out certain items, earnings were $1.26 per share. That's a penny better than what analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research predicted.

Operating revenue edged up to $5.74 billion from $5.73 billion, but fell just short of analysts' estimates.

The company's shares slipped less than 1 percent before the market opened.

_____

Portions of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on LUV at https://www.zacks.com/ap/LUVNEW DELHI (AP) - India will investigate whether personal data from Indian voters and Facebook users were compromised by political consultant Cambridge Analytica, a government minister said Thursday.

The minister of electronics and information technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad, said the Central Bureau of Investigation will determine whether the British company violated Indian laws to manipulate the Indian electoral process.

Prasad said in Parliament that Cambridge Analytica has denied to the Indian government that data from Indians was breached, but that contradicted information received from Facebook.

The governing Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Congress party have accused each other of using Cambridge Analytica's services, but both have denied any link to it.

Prasad said a notice also was sent to Facebook in March, and it promised to improve its internal processes regarding hacking of personal data. "They also promised to take various other steps to ensure that such things don't recur," he said.

Cambridge Analytica declared bankruptcy this year following allegations that it used personal information harvested from 87 million Facebook accounts to help Donald Trump win the 2016 presidential election.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology says Facebook's largest user base is in India.

Digital law experts say Indian regulations provide particularly weak safeguards against data breaches.ATHENS, Greece (AP) - The Latest on Greece's forest fires (all times local):

9:40 p.m.

Greek authorities say they have "serious indications" a wildfire near Athens that killed at least 82 people was set deliberately.

A policeman walks in front of a morgue in Athens, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Relatives searching for loved ones missing in Greece's deadliest forest fire in decades headed to Athens' morgue Thursday, as rescue crews and volunteers continued searches on land and at sea for potential further victims. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Public Order Minister Nikos Toskas said satellite image analysis and ground inspections suggest the fire that broke out in multiple places in a short time frame Monday likely resulted from arson.

The death toll from the fire that swept through a coastal area east of Athens rose to 82 on Thursday morning as the search for more victims on land and at sea continued.

___

6:10 p.m.

Germany's federal criminal police department says a team of its forensics specialists is in Greece to help officials there identify victims from this week's deadly forest fires.

The team includes veterans of such major disasters as the 2002 midair plane crash over Ueberlingen, Germany that killed 71 people and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed at least 225,000 across multiple Asian countries.

The Greek national fire department said Thursday morning that the death toll from the fire that broke out Monday night was 82.

The chief coroner in Athens says the task of identifying victims is difficult because most of the bodies at the morgue were severely burned.

Another complicating factor is wind-whipped flames raced through a large area. Authorities are working to put together a complete list of those missing.

___

2:20 p.m.

A spokesman for the Belgian foreign ministry says a Belgian tourist was killed in Greece's ferocious wildfires as he tried to flee blazes in the summer resort of Mati north of Athens.

The spokesman, who spoke to the Associated Press Thursday on customary condition of anonymity, said the tourist was among a larger group staying at an area hotel that was ordered evacuated to the nearby sea as the flames approached.

But he said the exact circumstances under which the Belgian man died during Monday's blaze are unclear.

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders had confirmed the man's death in post on his personal Twitter account on Wednesday. Reynders said that the Belgian embassy in Athens is assisting the man's "young son and family."

___

10:50 a.m.

Frantic relatives searching for loved ones missing in Greece's deadliest forest fire in decades are heading to Athens' morgue, as rescue crews and volunteers continued searches on land and at sea for potential further victims.

Those arriving at the morgue Thursday were being informed of the necessary steps to match the missing and the dead, including providing DNA samples and dental records.

The fire northeast of Athens in the area of Rafina, a seaside resort of permanent residences and holiday homes popular with Athenians and tourists, broke out Monday and swept through the area fanned by gale-force winds. Hundreds fled to nearby beaches, with many swimming out to sea to escape the ferocious flames and choking smoke that killed 81 people.

Staff walk at a morgue in Athens, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Frantic relatives searching for loved ones missing in Greece's deadliest forest fire in decades headed to Athens' morgue Thursday, as rescue crews and volunteers continued searches on land and at sea for potential further victims. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

People stand at the entrance of a morgue in Athens, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Relatives searching for loved ones missing in Greece's deadliest forest fire in decades headed to Athens' morgue Thursday, as rescue crews and volunteers continued searches on land and at sea for potential further victims. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

This Wednesday, July 25, 2018 aerial photo shows burnt houses and trees following a wildfire in Mati, east of Athens. Frantic relatives searching for loved ones missing in Greece's deadliest forest fire in decades headed to Athens' morgue on Thursday, July 26, 2018 as rescue crews and volunteers continued searches on land and at sea for potential further victims. (Antonis Nikolopoulos/Eurokinissi via AP)

Damaged cars are strewn across an open parking area in northern Athens, Thursday, July 26, 2018 after flash floods caused by a sudden downpour. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Burned cars are collected together at an old soccer field in Rafina, as clean-up operations get underway following a deadly wildfire in the area east of Athens, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Rescuers intensified a grim house-to-house search Wednesday for more casualties from a deadly forest fire outside Athens, as the country's military said it was using footage from U.S. combat drones and surveillance aircraft to try to determine whether arsonists were behind the blaze and stop future attacks. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Girogos Handrinos stands outside his burned house in Mati, east of Athens, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Rescuers intensified a grim house-to-house search for more casualties Wednesday from a deadly forest fire outside Athens, as the country's military said it was using footage from U.S. combat drones and surveillance aircraft to try to determine whether arsonists were behind the blaze and stop future attacks. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) - Israel's president has praised Serbia for passing a law that allows for the restitution to the Jewish community of heirless and unclaimed Jewish property seized during the Holocaust.

Reuven Rivlin said Thursday after talks with Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic that the 2016 bill should serve as a model for other countries.

Thousands of Serbian Jews perished during Nazi occupation of the Balkan country during World War II.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, left, reviews the honor guard upon his arrival at the Serbia Palace to meet with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Rivlin is on a one-day official visit to Serbia. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Rivlin has arrived in Serbia from neighboring Croatia where he met with top officials and visited the site of a WWII concentration camp run by a pro-Nazi puppet regime where tens of thousands of Jews, Serbs and Roma were killed.

Croatian state TV has quoted Rivlin as saying that facing up to crimes of the past is a moral obligation for any society.BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - Tourists arriving in Barcelona are facing long lines and jam-packed buses and subways as the city's taxis went on strike for a second day.

Ride-hailing apps like Uber and Cabify were also not operating Thursday. The companies suspended services Wednesday afternoon after taxi supporters assaulted several of their drivers, sending two of them to the hospital.

Passengers arriving in Barcelona's El Prat Airport were queuing for buses under a scorching sun as empty taxis passed by honking their horns in protest.

Taxi drivers stand next to parked taxis during a taxi strike at the Barcelona airport in Prat Llobregat, Spain, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Taxis in Barcelona have begun a 48-hour strike to protest against the growing number of cars operating under ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Cabify. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Taxi drivers have been on strike to oppose a judge's decision that suspended the need for additional authorization for the ride-hailing companies to operate in Barcelona. Drivers say if the decision is not overturned by Thursday they may extend their strike.

Taxi drivers stand next to parked taxis during a taxi strike at the Barcelona airport in Prat Llobregat, Spain, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Taxis in Barcelona have begun a 48-hour strike to protest against the growing number of cars operating under ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Cabify. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A police officer, top left, stands next to parked taxis during a taxi strike at the Barcelona airport in Prat Llobregat, Spain, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Taxis in Barcelona have begun a 48-hour strike to protest against the growing number of cars operating under ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Cabify. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A taxi driver walks between parked taxis during a taxi strike at the Barcelona airport in Prat Llobregat, Spain, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Taxis in Barcelona have begun a 48-hour strike to protest against the growing number of cars operating under ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Cabify. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A general view of parked taxis during a taxi strike at the Barcelona airport in Prat Llobregat, Spain, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Taxis in Barcelona have begun a 48-hour strike to protest against the growing number of cars operating under ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Cabify. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A man kicks a private taxi, right, during a taxi strike at the Barcelona airport in Prat Llobregat, Spain, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Taxis in Barcelona have begun a 48-hour strike to protest against the growing number of cars operating under ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Cabify. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Taxi drivers argue with a driver of an unidentified private taxi, right, during a taxi strike at the Barcelona airport in Prat Llobregat, Spain, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Taxis in Barcelona have begun a 48-hour strike to protest against the growing number of cars operating under ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Cabify. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Taxi drivers argue with a driver of an unidentified private taxi, right, during a taxi strike at the Barcelona airport in Prat Llobregat, Spain, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Taxis in Barcelona have begun a 48-hour strike to protest against the growing number of cars operating under ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Cabify. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)BERLIN (AP) - A German man has been charged with murder and committing a war crime for allegedly helping torture and kill prisoners as a member of the Islamic State group in Syria, German federal prosecutors said Thursday.

Prosecutors said the charges against the 27-year-old, who is already in prison for a previous conviction, were filed at the Duesseldorf state court earlier this month.

Nils D., whose surname wasn't provided in line with privacy rules, traveled to Syria in October in 2013 and returned to Germany about a year later. He was arrested in January 2015.

The suspect was sentenced in 2016 to 4 1/2 years in prison for membership in a foreign terrorist organization. He now faces a second trial for involvement in torturing prisoners at an IS prison in Manbij. Prosecutors say at least three prisoners died.

Separately, federal prosecutors announced the arrest of a 31-year-old German woman on suspicion of being a member of IS. Sabine Ulrike Sch., whose surname authorities also didn't divulge, was arrested Thursday in the Karlsruhe area.

She is alleged to have traveled to Syria in December 2013 where she married a high-ranking member of IS. The couple, who had at least two children, received $100 a month from the group, prosecutors said.

The suspect is alleged to have written a blog praising life in IS-controlled areas and declaring herself willing to commit a suicide attack. She also used a messaging service to promote IS.

Her husband was killed in late 2016, and Sch. was detained by Kurdish forces almost a year later along with other wives of IS members. She returned to Germany in April.LONDON (AP) - Britain sweltered through the hottest day of the year Thursday, as an unusual heatwave wreaked havoc on transport and hospitals in a country more known for rain than sunshine.

The mercury peaked at 35 degrees Celcius (95 Fahrenheit) at London's Heathrow Airport, smashing this year's record of 34.5 Celsius (94.1 Fahrenheit) set June 21. Friday is likely to be hotter still, with predictions that the all-time record of 38.5 degrees Celsius (101.3 Fahrenheit) set in 2003 will be smashed as a weak jet stream traps heat inland.

Passengers on the Eurotunnel, which connects Britain and France, endured five-hour delays with no air conditioning. Hospitals, many of which have wards without air conditioning, heaved under the strain. The Royal College of Nursing said high temperatures were leaving nurses dizzy and exhausted.

People enjoy the sunshine on a beach in Margate, south Engalnd, as the hot weather continues, Thursday July 26, 2018. Temperatures are expected to hit around 35C (95 Fahrenheit) today as the heatwave continues across the UK. (Gareth Fuller/PA Wire(/PA via AP)

"Nurses are now becoming patients themselves due to the heat," said Kim Sunley, a union representative, adding that one nurse ended up in the emergency room because of dehydration after working long hours.

Many parts of the country have seen no rainfall for weeks. The Met Office said rising temperatures will be driven by a tropical plume due to sweep into Britain from Africa and Europe on Friday.

London issued a high pollution alert, and fire officials called for a ban on barbeques in parks. Authorities warned drivers not to throw trash along the roadside amid a surge in grassfires.

The RAC, which offers roadside assistance, reported a 15 percent rise in the number of vehicle breakdowns compared to usual figures. Spokesman Simon Williams said the tarmac's black color allows it to absorb more heat.

"It is very hazardous from a driver's point of view. Our roads are in a pretty bad state anyway due to years of underinvestment and this is the last thing they need," he said. "The newly laid roads are especially at risk of melting."

The sun rises at Cullercoats Bay on Engalnd's north east coast, Thursday July 26, 2018. Temperatures are expected to hit 35C (95 Fahrenheit) today as the heatwave continues across the UK. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

The parched landscape is seen from a drone, with the ancient White Horse of Westbury looking out over the fields of Wiltshire, southern England, as the hot weather continues across the UK, Wednesday July 25, 2018. According to UK authorities this is the driest start to a summer since modern records began in 1961. (Ben Birchall/PA via AP)

A view from Primrose Hill shows parched grass from the lack of rain during what has been the driest summer for many years in London, Wednesday, July 25, 2018. Britain is experiencing a severe heatwave which has prompted its national weather service to issue an alert for people to 'stay out of the sun'. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

A meerkat approaches water to try and cool-off at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, England, Wednesday, July 25, 2018 as the hot weather continues across Britain. Britain is experiencing a severe heatwave which has prompted its national weather service to issue an alert Monday for people to 'stay out of the sun'. The Met Office is advising people to drink plenty of fluids and offer assistance to elderly people living on their own considered at risk. (Danny Lawson/PA via AP)

A view from Primrose Hill shows parched grass from the lack of rain during what has been the driest summer for many years in London, Wednesday, July 25, 2018. Britain is experiencing a severe heatwave which has prompted its national weather service to issue an alert for people to 'stay out of the sun'. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Giant Otters Mora and Alexandra cool off at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, England, Wednesday, July 25, 2018 as the hot weather continues across Britain. Britain is experiencing a severe heatwave which has prompted its national weather service to issue an alert Monday for people to 'stay out of the sun'. The Met Office is advising people to drink plenty of fluids and offer assistance to elderly people living on their own considered at risk. (Danny Lawson/PA via AP)

People enjoy the Bournemouth beach in Dorset, England, as the hot weather continues across Britain. Britain is experiencing a severe heatwave which has prompted its national weather service to issue an alert for people to 'stay out of the sun'. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)

Two European Brown bears cool off in the pool in their enclosure at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo in Dunstable, England, Thursday July 26, 2018. Temperatures are expected to hit around 35C (95 Fahrenheit) today as the heatwave continues across Britain. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)

A European Brown bear cools off in the pool in its enclosure at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo in Dunstable, England, Thursday July 26, 2018. Temperatures are expected to hit around 35C (95 Fahrenheit) today as the heatwave continues across Britain. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)BEIRUT (AP) - The Latest on developments in Syria (all times local):

9 p.m.

An international human rights group says the Syrian government must return the remains of scores of people confirmed dead after being forcibly disappeared.

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrians inspect the site of a suicide attack in Sweida, Syria, Wednesday, July 25, 2018. Syrian state media say dozens of people have been killed in a suicide attack in the country's south, blaming the bombing on Islamic State militants. (SANA via AP)

Amnesty International responded to reports that the Syrian government confirmed in public records the deaths of at least 161 people known to have been forcibly disappeared since the start of the civil war in 2011.

Diana Semaan, Amnesty's Syria researcher, says: "Scores of Syrian families are today confronting a fresh kind of pain." She said for years the families suffered from not knowing what happened to their missing relatives and now they have confirmation those loved ones are dead.

Amnesty said in its Thursday statement that at least 82,000 people have been subjected to forced disappearances since the conflict began.

___

6:50 p.m.

Syrian state media is reporting that government forces have entered the town of Quneitra in the Golan Heights and reached the frontier with the Israeli-occupied part of the region.

The government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media said troops raised the flag on the frontier Thursday afternoon.

The SCMM posted photographs from inside the town, where homes have been left badly damaged since wars with Israel decades ago.

Syrian troops have been on the offensive against insurgents in the country's southwest for weeks and have captured much of the area all the way to the Jordanian border and to the frontier with Israel.

___

3:50 p.m.

Some Syrian refugees in Jordan say they oppose Russian efforts to bring them back home from regional host countries.

Several Syrians interviewed Thursday say they don't trust the Syrian government or Russia, which backs President Bashar Assad.

Russia, which helped Assad restore significant swaths of territory from rebels in recent years, is discussing the repatriation of refugees from Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.

Russian diplomats are meeting Lebanese and Jordanian officials Thursday to discuss the return. Ayman Safadi, foreign minister of Jordan, said Wednesday that Amman will not force any refugee to go home, insisting the return would be "voluntarily."

A spokesman for the U.N.'s refugee agency said his organization, while welcoming an end to the Syrian crisis, has up to 21 conditions before encouraging refugees to return.

Jordan hosts 667,000 registered Syrian refugees.

___

11 a.m.

A Syrian government official says the death toll from coordinated attacks the previous day by the Islamic State group on a usually peaceful southern city and surrounding countryside has climbed to 216.

It's the worst violence to hit the area since the country's conflict began. Mass funerals were underway for the victims on Thursday.

Hassan Omar, a local health official in Sweida province, said on Thursday that at least 150 people were wounded in the attacks; some of them were in critical condition.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at 246, including 135 civilians and 111 members of local militias who fought IS militants who swarmed their villages.

The attack on the villages coincided with suicide attacks in the provincial capital earlier in the morning.

Smoke and explosions from the fighting between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and rebels in the Darra province can be seen from the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Smoke and explosions from the fighting between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and rebels in the Darra province can be seen from the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Smoke and explosions from the fighting between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and rebels in southern Syria as seen from the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Smoke and explosions from the fighting between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and rebels in southern Syria as seen from the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Fire trails and explosions from the fighting between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and rebels in southern Syria as seen from the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, Wednesday, July 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)NEW YORK (AP) - Former President Donald Trump aide and "Apprentice" contestant Omarosa Manigault Newman has a memoir coming that her publisher calls "explosive" and "jaw-dropping."

The book is called "Unhinged." Gallery Books announced Thursday that it will be released on Aug. 14.

Manigault Newman was a Trump ally who joined his administration in January 2017 as a White House communications director.

FILE - In this April 27, 2017 file photo, Omarosa Manigault, political aide and communications director for the Office of Public Liaison at the White House under President Donald Trump's administration, speaks at the Women's Power Luncheon of the 2017 National Action Network convention, in New York. Omarosa Manigault Newman has a memoir coming that her publisher calls "explosive" and "jaw-dropping." The book is called "Unhinged." Gallery Books announced Thursday, July 26, 2018, that it will be released on Aug. 14. Manigault Newman was a Trump ally who joined his administration in January 2017 as a White House communications director. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

She had vowed that political foes would "bow down" to Trump. But she left after a year and spoke harshly of her experience, while denying reports she was fired. She said she was worried about the country and would never vote for Trump again.

The rare black woman in Trump's administration, she has likened her departure to being freed from a "plantation."TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - The Latest on two New Jersey radio hosts referring to the state's attorney general as "turban man" on the air (all times local):

4:45 p.m.

The hosts of a popular New Jersey radio show who called the nation's first Sikh attorney general "turban man" have been suspended for 10 days.

FILE - In this Jan. 16, 2018, file photo, Gurbir Grewal is sworn in before testifying in front of the senate judiciary committee in Trenton, N.J. WKXW-FM radio hosts Dennis Malloy and Judi Franco are receiving heavy criticism for repeatedly referring to Grewal, the state's attorney general, as "turban man" on air, Wednesday, July 25, The Record reports. (Chris Pedota/The Record via AP, File)

WKXW-FM hosts Dennis Malloy and Judi Franco were suspended Thursday. The veteran hosts issued a written apology to Attorney General Gurbir Grewal (gur-BEHR' GRAY'-wahl) and the Sikh and East Asian communities, writing they are "deeply sorry" for the pain they caused.

The station's president said the hosts' language was "clearly demeaning and inappropriate."

Malloy and Franco made the comments Wednesday on air. Malloy said he couldn't remember Grewal's name and he told Franco: "I'm just going to say the guy with the turban."

The pair continued to call Grewal "turban man" throughout the segment.

Grewal had tweeted that "it's time to end small-minded intolerance."

___

3:20 p.m.

Advocacy groups are calling for an apology and religious sensitivity training after the hosts of a popular New Jersey radio show called the nation's first Sikh attorney general "turban man."

WKXW-FM hosts Dennis Malloy and Judi Franco uttered the slur Wednesday to refer to New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal (gur-BEHR' GRAY'-wahl). The station has suspended the pair indefinitely.

The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund called the suspensions an "appreciated first step" but called on the station to apologize. The Sikh Coalition, a New York-based advocacy group, demanded religious and cultural sensitivity training for the radio station's staff.

Grewal tweeted that "it's time to end small-minded intolerance" but said later he wanted to get "back to business."

___

9:40 a.m.

Two New Jersey radio hosts have been kicked off the air after calling the nation's first Sikh attorney general "turban man."

Gurbir Grewal (gur-BEHR' GRAY'-wahl) tweeted Thursday morning that it's "not the first indignity I've faced and it probably won't be the last." He added: "It's time to end small-minded intolerance."

WKXW-FM hosts Dennis Malloy and Judi Franco made the comments Wednesday while discussing Grewal's recent order to suspend marijuana prosecutions in the state. Malloy said he couldn't remember Grewal's name and he told Franco: "I'm just going to say the guy with the turban."

The pair continued to call Grewal "Turban Man" throughout the segment.

The station, known as New Jersey 101.5, tweeted the pair have been taken off the air indefinitely.

___

7:15 a.m.

The nation's first Sikh-American attorney general is responding after two New Jersey radio hosts repeatedly referred to him as "turban man."

Gurbir Grewal (gur-BEHR' GRAY'-wahl) tweeted on Thursday that he's the 61st attorney general of New Jersey. He wrote: "I'm a Sikh American. I have 3 daughters. And yesterday, I told them to turn off the radio."

WKXW-FM hosts Dennis Malloy and Judi Franco made the comments Wednesday while discussing Grewal's recent order to suspend marijuana prosecutions in the state. Malloy and Franco acknowledged their words might be offensive, but Malloy said "if that offends you then don't wear the turban and maybe I'll remember your name."

The station, known as New Jersey 101.5, said it has taken them off the air and is investigating. The station says it will have further comment shortly.BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) - The grandfather of Jelena Djokovic, the wife of Novak Djokovic, has been found tied up in a field after unknown assailants broke into his house in central Serbia.

Djokovic's press team says in a statement on Thursday the family is in "complete shock over what happened" to 85-year-old Miloslav Radisavljevic.

They say attackers broke into Radisavljevic's house, kidnapped him, and took him to a field several kilometers away.

Police said, without identifying Radisavljevic, they found a man early Thursday tied to a power pole close to his house in Ljig, some 50 kilometers south of Belgrade.

The man told the police he was also robbed by the two masked assailants of about 220 euros ($260) and a cell phone. Police say the man had no visible injuries.WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump declared on Thursday the United States will impose sanctions on Turkey, a crucial NATO ally, in retaliation for the detention of an American pastor on terror and espionage charges.

Turkey's response was both harsh and dismissive, calling his words "unacceptable" and a "cheap threat."

Trump's promise of unspecified punishing action marks the latest deterioration in relations between Turkey and the U.S. as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's powers expand two years after a failed coup against his government.

In this July 25, 2018 photo, Andrew Craig Brunson, an evangelical pastor from Black Mountain, North Carolina, arrives at his house in Izmir, Turkey. An American pastor who had been jailed in Turkey for more than one and a half years on terror and espionage charges was released Wednesday and will be put under house arrest as his trial continues. Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday that if Turkey does not take immediate action to free Brunson, "the United States of America will impose severe economic sanctions on Turkey," in comments at the close of a three-day conference on religious freedom. (AP Photo/Emre Tazegul)

Trump also has praised his counterpart, saying Erdogan's leadership is "getting very high marks."

The U.S has long depended on a key air base in Turkey's south, most recently to launch airstrikes against the Islamic State group.

Pastor Andrew Craig Brunson was first detained by Turkish authorities in the aftermath of the failed 2016 coup. On Wednesday, he was let out of jail after 1 1/2 years, transferred to house arrest because of "health problems," according to Turkey's official Anadolu news agency.

Trump said that was insufficient.

"He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

The announcement of sanctions - though no details of how or when - came as the State Department was holding a three-day event promoting religious freedom. Brunson's case has become a cause for conservative Christians who form an important part of Trump's political base.

Turkey responded that Brunson's detention falls within the jurisdiction of its independent judiciary. "Rule of law is for everyone; no exception," said Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, also via Twitter.

And an Erdogan spokesman warned the U.S. to "reconsider its approach and adopt a constructive position before inflicting further damage to its own interests and its alliance with Turkey."

Vice President Mike Pence announced the threat of action at the religious freedom conference, then Trump tweeted that his government "will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson."

Trump could impose certain sanctions unilaterally or try to act through Congress. Senators have previously taken steps toward blocking the sale of F-35 jets to Turkey, citing Brunson's detention as an instance of Erdogan's disregard for the rule of law.

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley declined Thursday to discuss the timing of a sanctions announcement or the decision-making process.

"The president was clear on Twitter today, as was the vice president, that they fully expect, the president expects and wants Pastor Brunson to be returned immediately to the United States and, if not, they can expect sanctions," Gidley said.

Brunson, 50, an evangelical Christian pastor originally from North Carolina, could face up to 35 years in prison if convicted of espionage and "committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member," references to outlawed Kurdish militants and the network of a U.S-based Muslim cleric blamed for the failed coup attempt.

Brunson denies the charges.

"Brunson is an innocent man, there is no credible evidence against him," Pence said in his remarks Thursday.

Trump said on Twitter last week that the pastor's detention was "a total disgrace." One of Brunson's attorneys is Jay Sekulow, who also represents Trump in the federal Trump-Russia investigation.

Ties between NATO ally Turkey and the United States have been strained by other issues.

Turkey recently finalized a deal to purchase Russia's long-range S-400 missile defense system, refusing to back down despite strong opposition from the U.S. and other NATO members.

The U.S. and Turkey have also clashed over American backing of Kurdish fighters in Syria who Ankara considers "terrorists."

At the conference, Pence highlighted cases of what he said were religious repression in Nicaragua, Iran, North Korea, China and Myanmar. He also condemned Islamic State group violence toward religious minorities and what he described as rising anti-Semitism in Europe.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also spoke. He announced additional aid for a region of Iraq previously held by the Islamic State group. Pompeo said the U.S. would provide $17 million for de-mining efforts in Nineveh, an area of Iraq historically home to many of the country's religious minorities.

Erdogan has previously linked Brunson's return to the U.S. to the extradition of cleric Fethullah Gulen, the man Turkey's government holds responsible for the failed 2016 coup.

Gulen, who denies orchestrating the coup attempt, lives in Pennsylvania. Turkish requests for his arrest and extradition have not been granted.

More than 77,000 people have been arrested across Turkey since the government declared a state of emergency in the failed coup's aftermath. The crackdown has targeted journalists, activists and opposition figures.

Brunson has lived in Turkey for 23 years and served as pastor of Izmir Resurrection Church, a small Protestant congregation.

During a recent hearing, Brunson he rejected charges against him.

"I believe in and support Turkey's territorial integrity," he told the court. "I forgive those who lie and bear false witness against me."

Brunson's case has been adjourned until Oct. 12.

___

Associated Press writer Cinar Kiper in Istanbul contributed to this report.

Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the close of a three-day conference on religious freedom at the State Department in Washington, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Shortly after the possibility of sanctions was first announced by Vice President Mike Pence Thursday, Trump wrote on Twitter that the U.S. "will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson." (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)DOUGLAS, Mass. (AP) - Police are crediting a 15-year-old Massachusetts girl for remaining calm and calling 911 when two men broke into her house while she was alone.

Morgan Doyle tells WFXT-TV she locked her door and hid under her bed when the men got into her Douglas home Wednesday by ripping out a window screen. She says at one point they tried her door.

She called 911 and responding officers took the keys from a vehicle they found in the driveway.

Officers confronted the suspects, who ran to their car, but were quickly apprehended because they couldn't locate the keys.

Police Chief Nick Miglionico said Morgan "did an outstanding job."

Police says the suspects, 28-year-old Mateusz Dymon and 60-year-old Joseph Walsh, gave extensive criminal histories. It's not clear if they have attorneys.AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - Even as Russia pushes to repatriate Syrians who fled their country amid civil war, many of the refugees in Jordan said Thursday they will not return before the war has ended and their safety is assured.

Some Syrians interviewed in Amman also said they don't trust Russia as a mediator because it helped President Bashar Assad retake large swaths of territory from fighters who revolted against him.

"As a free, honest Syrian citizen, I consider Russia as a state occupying Syria," said Abdel-Nasser Abu Naboot, 40, who was at the U.N.'s refugee agency office to update his personal information with dozens of other Syrians. "Russia is not a negotiator ... it bombed us, children and charities."

In this photo released by Lebanon's official government photographer Dalati Nohra, Russia's special presidential envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev, speaks to journalist at the presidential palace, in Baabda east of Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, July 26, 2018. The Russian delegation is in Lebanon to discuss Russian proposals for organizing the return of Syrian refugees from Lebanon and Syria to their homes in Syria. (Dalati Nohra via AP)

His comments echoed that of many Syrians in Jordan and Lebanon concerned about a Russian initiative to return refugees to homes back in Syria without security assurances. The U.N. has also expressed concern about a premature return before the situation in Syria stabilizes and without guarantees for returning refugees.

Russia's special presidential envoy for Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, acknowledged the concerns in comments to reporters in the Lebanese capital after meeting officials in Beirut and Amman on Thursday.

"There are a lot of issues dealing with this problem. It's a lack of confidence, a lack of trust, just a lack of financial assistance. But these questions can be solved," he said, adding that the Syrian government is willing to guarantee there will be no repression or measures against those who really want to return to civil life.

He said it was a "good sign" that hundreds of refugees in Lebanon were starting to return to Syria, describing it as "just the beginning."

"You know its just like a snowball which comes from the mountain, with every passing meter it becomes bigger and bigger," he said, speaking in English.

Many Syrians who fled war and repression are unwilling to return under Assad's rule without guarantees they won't be harassed, detained or imprisoned.

To return to his home in southern province of Daraa, Abu Naboot says he wants the goals of the Syrian "revolution," which began in 2011, to be achieved, including ending "oppression." He insisted that he "will not go to pre-2011 Syria."

Eager to show a normalizing situation in Syria, Russia has stepped up efforts to encourage regional host countries, including Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, to facilitate the return of Syrian refugees. The move is seen as an attempt to assert Russia's successes in helping Assad retake most of the country from rebels after seven years of unrest.

The Russian initiative was proposed following the summit in Helsinki between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, although it was not clear whether the U.S. supported the proposal.

Lavrentiev discussed the repatriation plans in Amman with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi.

"Jordan encourages the voluntarily return of Syrians to their homeland," Safadi said in a statement after the meeting, stressing the need to provide "security, political, social and economic grounds" to urge the Syrians to go back by themselves.

Lavrentiev later met with the Lebanese president and prime minister in Lebanon, where he said the refugee presence is a burden in many countries and it's time they returned home. He did not offer concrete proposals on how the repatriation would take place. Lebanon is home to about a million registered refugees and the cash-strapped government says it can no longer afford to host them. The Lebanese foreign minister has accused the U.N. refugee agency of discouraging refugees from returning, an accusation it rejects.

Jordan hosts 667,000 registered Syrian refugees, but the kingdom says the real number, including those undocumented, is almost double. Poor in natural resources and with a faltering economy, Amman says the refugees add an extra burden.

Ibrahim al-Khalaf, 31, a Syrian refugee from the northeast Syria governorate of al-Hasakah, says he doesn't feel it is safe to return.

"There is nothing clear, no protection program for the Syrians in Syria," he said as he waited with his wife and three children at the refugee agency's office to register a newborn. "I don't want to be separated from my family if I go back because of the military service."

Mohammad Hawari, a spokesman for the U.N.'s refugee agency, said his organization, while welcoming an end to the Syrian crisis, has a long list of conditions before encouraging refugees to return. UNHCR has insisted it will not allow Syrians to be forcibly returned.

"Before the high commissioner for refugees will facilitate the process of return, there are at least 21 conditions that must be made available, including safety and stability, exemption from conscription, and other things," he told The Associated Press.

___

Karam contributed reporting from Beirut.

Russia's special presidential envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev, second left, and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin, left, meet with Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, right, at his house in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, July 26, 2018. The Russian delegation is in Lebanon to discuss Russian proposals for organizing the return of Syrian refugees from Lebanon and Syria to their homes in Syria. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Russia's special presidential envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev, right, and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin, center, meet with Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri at his house in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, July 26, 2018. The Russian delegation is in Lebanon to discuss Russian proposals for organizing the return of Syrian refugees from Lebanon and Syria to their homes in Syria. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, center right, meets with Russia's special presidential envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev, second left, and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin, left, at his house in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, July 26, 2018. The Russian delegation is in Lebanon to discuss Russian proposals for organizing the return of Syrian refugees from Lebanon and Syria to their homes in Syria. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

In this photo released by Lebanon's official government photographer Dalati Nohra, Russia's special presidential envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev, left, meets with Lebanese President Michel Aoun, second left, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, second right, and Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, at the presidential palace, in Baabda east of Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, July 26, 2018. The Russian delegation is in Lebanon to discuss Russian proposals for organizing the return of Syrian refugees from Lebanon and Syria to their homes in Syria. (Dalati Nohra via AP)WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on U.S.-threatened sanctions on Turkey over a detained American pastor (all times local):

2:15 p.m.

Turkey says it's unacceptable for the United States to threaten sanctions over a detained American pastor.

Andrew Craig Brunson, an evangelical pastor from Black Mountain, North Carolina, arrives at his house in Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, July 25, 2018 An American pastor who had been jailed in Turkey for more than one and a half years on terror and espionage charges was released Wednesday and will be put under house arrest as his trial continues. Andrew Craig Brunson, 50, an evangelical pastor originally from Black Mountain, North Carolina, was let out of jail to serve home detention because of "health problems," Turkey's official Anadolu news agency said. (AP Photo/Emre Tazegul)

In a statement released Thursday, the spokesman for Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (REH'-jehp TY'-ihp UR'-doh-wahn) says the detention of pastor Andrew Brunson "falls within the jurisdiction of (Turkey's) independent judiciary."

Ibrahim Kalin also warns the United States to "reconsider its approach and adopt a constructive position before inflicting further damage to its own interests and its alliance with Turkey."

Earlier Thursday, President Donald Trump said the United States will impose sanctions on NATO ally Turkey, adding that Brunson "is suffering greatly" and called for his immediate release.

Brunson is an evangelical Christian pastor originally from North Carolina. He was detained after a failed coup in Turkey in 2016.

___

1:30 p.m.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (MEHV'-loot chah-voo-SHOH'-loo) says his country doesn't tolerate "threats." His comment came shortly after President Donald Trump announced sanctions would be imposed on Turkey because of an American pastor detained on terror and espionage charges.

Cavusoglu says: "We will never tolerate threats from anybody. Rule of law is for everyone; no exception."

The statement was not explicitly directed toward the United States, but was posted in English on Twitter just a few hours after Trump - who also used Twitter - threatened sanctions.

Ties between NATO allies Turkey and the United States have been strained by the pastor case.

Andrew Brunson is an evangelical Christian pastor originally from North Carolina. He faces up to 35 years in prison in Turkey if convicted.

___

11:35 a.m.

President Donald Trump says the U.S. will hit Turkey with "large sanctions" over a American pastor detained on terror and espionage charges, and he called for the pastor's immediate release.

Tweeting from aboard Air Force One, Trump said: "The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being." Trump said Brunson "is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!"

Just hours earlier, Vice President Mike Pence said that if Turkey does not take immediate action to free Brunson, "the United States of America will impose significant sanctions on Turkey." Pence spoke at the close of a three-day conference in Washington on religious freedom.

Brunson, an evangelical Christian pastor originally from North Carolina, was let out of jail Wednesday, after 1 1/2 years, to serve house arrest because of "health problems.

___

10:35 a.m.

Vice President Mike Pence is threatening NATO ally Turkey with economic sanctions over a detained American pastor held on terror and espionage charges.

Pence said Thursday that if Turkey does not take immediate action to free Andrew Craig Brunson, "the United States of America will impose severe economic sanctions on Turkey." He spoke at the close of a three-day conference on religious freedom.

Brunson, an evangelical Christian pastor originally from North Carolina, was let out of jail Wednesday, after 1 1/2 years, to serve house arrest because of "health problems.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly demanded Brunson's release and said on Twitter last week that the pastor's detention was "a total disgrace."HOUSTON (AP) - A Texas jury deliberated just 35 minutes Thursday before finding a Jordanian-born man guilty of capital murder in the 2012 deaths of his son-in-law and a close friend of his daughter.

The verdict in Harris County came a day after Ali Mahwood-Awad Irsan testified in his own defense against his attorney's advice.

Jurors will begin hearing evidence Friday morning on punishment. Irsan could be sentenced either to death by lethal injection or life imprisonment without parole for killing Coty Beavers and Gelareh Bagherzadeh.

Irsan testified that his daughter caused his family pain after running away and marrying Beavers, who was Christian. Bagherzadeh, an Iranian women's rights activist who was his daughter's close friend, encouraged the marriage.

He admitted Wednesday to numerous lies but argued that he doesn't remember what he said while angry.

"I've said things that were untrue, but I haven't told any lies to the jury," Irsan said.

His daughter, Nesreen Irsan, had testified that her father forbade her from dating Christians. She said she went to court to obtain a protective order to stop her family from harassing her after she moved in with Beavers.

Ali Mahwood-Awad Irsan acknowledged that he violated the protective order by continuing to call his daughter and drive near Beavers' home. But he said he was concerned his daughter was on drugs and making bad decisions.

Among the nearly 100 witnesses in the trial was his wife, Shmou Alrawabdeh, who testified last week that her conservative Muslim husband believed he had to kill the Beavers to recover his honor. She told the jury that Irsan sneaked into Beavers' apartment before fatally shooting him.

Irsan alleged in his testimony that his son, Nasim Irsan, was selling drugs and had attempted to poison him. Nasim Irsan, 24, is being held in Harris County jail on capital murder charges for the two slayings.BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - Spain's Tax Office has accepted a deal with Cristiano Ronaldo to plead guilty to tax fraud and pay a fine of close to 19 million euros ($22 million) in exchange for a reduced prison sentence that will likely be suspended.

A source with knowledge of the deal confirmed to The Associated Press on Thursday the agreement will be finalized in the coming days.

The deal was first reported in Spanish media.

In Spain, a judge can suspend sentences for two years or less for first-time offenders.

Ronaldo had already reached a tentative deal with the state prosecutor's office, but Spain's tax authorities had yet to sign off on the agreement.

Last year, a Spanish state prosecutor accused Ronaldo of four counts of tax fraud from 2011-14 worth 14.7 million euros ($16.5 million). The prosecutor accused the Portugal forward of having used shell companies outside Spain to hide income made from image rights. The accusation does not involve his salary from his former Real Madrid club.

Ronaldo denied any wrongdoing when questioned by a judge last July.

Ronaldo left Madrid this month to sign for Italian champion Juventus.

In 2016, Barcelona forward Lionel Messi received a suspended 21-month jail sentence after being found guilty of defrauding tax authorities of 4.1 million euros (then $4.6 million).PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Like roughly a quarter of Haiti's children, 11-year-old Franchina has spent much of her short life without parents.

Her mother dead, her father in prison, Franchina was placed in a state-run orphanage as a toddler, remaining illiterate year after year and seemingly destined for a hard life in the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation.

But this year, Franchina's fortunes took a hopeful turn.

An orphan boy stands next to a staircase while looking out from the Nest of Hope orphanage in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Thursday, June 28, 2018. A new program is cited by Haitian and foreign experts as evidence of the government's determination to modernize and strengthen an array of child-oriented policies and practices _ and lessen reliance on foreign-based charities and mission groups. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

She has benefited from the newfound resolution of Haiti's government to improve the deplorable status of the country's children, and more specifically from a partnership between the state child welfare agency and several international child-service organizations.

In a country and region with no tradition of formal foster-care systems, they are recruiting and training Haitians who buy into the idea that being a foster parent is a noble mission.

"There's a certain satisfaction to it," said Jeannes Pierre, 61, a Baptist pastor in Port-au-Prince who is now Franchina's foster father. "It's doing something extraordinary."

In her orphanage, Franchina shared a bunkroom with many other children. Now she has a bedroom to herself, small and simple but enlivened by a colorful stack of books. To her delight, her foster parents taught her how to read within weeks of her arrival.

"It's like removing the darkness from the eyes of a child," Pierre said.

The Pierres do not know how long Franchina will be with them. "We want to keep her as long as possible," Pierre said. And Franchina, it seems, would agree.

Asked what she likes best about her new life, at first she was too shy to respond.

Then she confided: "I like everything."

___

Many of Haiti's youths live on the streets; hundreds of thousands are domestic workers in other families' homes. Franchina was among the 30,000 or so consigned to orphanage-like institutions ranging in quality from adequate to abominable.

By itself, foster care won't come close to resolving the plight of Haiti's children. Long-term solutions are needed that for now are beyond the government's financial reach - notably, better educational opportunities and social supports so poor families don't feel compelled to place their children in orphanages or domestic servitude in the first place.

But the new program is cited by Haitian and foreign experts as evidence of the government's determination to modernize and strengthen an array of child-oriented policies and practices - and lessen reliance on foreign-based charities and mission groups.

"There's no magic bullet, no one solution," said Marc Vincent, who heads UNICEF's operations in Haiti. "But it's important to recognize the steps the government is taking - it is passionate about making things better."

Some of the changes derive from the island's devastating 2010 earthquake, which fueled a surge of international adoptions, primarily to the United States. Some Haitian children were airlifted to the U.S. even though they were not approved for adoption; an Idaho church group leader was convicted of arranging illegal travel after trying to take other children out of Haiti without government approval.

Such incidents prompted Haitian authorities to sign an international convention setting ethical standards for international adoptions. Regulations were tightened and the number of international adoptions from Haiti fell sharply, from more than 1,300 a year to around 300 or 400.

The child welfare agency - known by its French initials, IBESR - also is trying to beef up oversight of Haiti's roughly 750 orphanages. Most are privately run and financed, operating with little or no government regulation to rein in abuse and neglect.

Thus far, just a few of the orphanages have been shut down, but IBESR officials say about 400 are targeted for closure unless they meet a deadline for swift improvements. Large-scale closures will increase pressure on the government to reunify affected children with their biological parents, and to find foster homes when reunification proves impossible.

"We can't go on placing kids in institutions," said Vanel Benjamin, IBESR's foster-care coordinator. "The answer is family."

UNICEF estimates that 80 to 90 percent of the children in orphanages have one or two living parents. Lumos, the nonprofit founded by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, is among several groups seeking to reunite some of those children with their biological families, but the work is slow and the orphanage operators - often recipients of donations from well-meaning foreigners - are not always cooperative.

"They don't want to change," said Eugene Guillaume, the Haiti program manager for Lumos. "Orphanages are their business."

___

Even at competently run orphanages accredited by IBESR, heartbreak is the norm, as Dallye Telemaque Bernard, director of the Nest of Hope home in Port-au-Prince, makes all too clear.

She oversees the care of about 50 children, ranging in ages from 5 months to 13 years. Some are brought in by government social workers, or by police who find them in the streets. But most are dropped off by their impoverished parents.

"Some children come here very sick, from families in very bad economic situations," said Bernard. "Ideally, there should be a program to help the children stay with their own families, but there isn't."

Sections of her orphanage are cheerful, including a courtyard where children take art classes around brightly colored plastic tables. But the upstairs bedrooms, with sets of four or five bunk beds lining the walls, are spartan - including one bedroom set aside for infants.

Bernard said the babies generally arrive from Port-au-Prince's largest shantytown, Cite Soleil, dropped off by heartbroken mothers.

"It's difficult for them," she said. "But they don't have a choice."

Over the years, the goal for most children at the orphanage has been to arrange their adoption by families in Europe or North America. On a bulletin board in the entryway, there are photos of children posing with their adoptive families in France, Canada and elsewhere.

With Haiti now cutting back on such adoptions, Bernard wishes there were ways to reunify more children with their biological families - and she's also intrigued by the new foster-care program.

One recent visitor was a 23-year-old woman from Cite Soleil who had placed her son in the orphanage six years ago, when he was 2. He was adopted by a family in France last year, and the mother, Kenia Tunis, came by to see some photographs of her son sent to Haiti by his new family.

Tunis began to cry as she told her story, glancing at the photographs. Someday, she said, she hoped she might see her son again in person.

Would she have preferred him to be adopted by a Haitian family? She chose not to reply.

___

The foster-care program began three years ago in Port-au-Prince and the southern city of Les Cayes. This month, at a modest resort hotel, about 100 government officials and social-service providers gathered to extend the program into the northern region around the city of Cap Haitien.

"Today is a day of victory," declared Antonio Jean Louis of Children of the Promise, a Christian-oriented mission. "There's now an option besides international adoption."

Among the attendees was IBESR's Vanel Benjamin, who said the program will keep expanding to other regions of Haiti, with a goal of having 200 foster families accredited by the end of this year.

International adoption "should be the last resort," he said. "Foster care is a better alternative."

In the United States, there's a constant struggle to recruit foster parents even though they're generally paid many hundreds of dollars a month. In Haiti, the plan is to build a foster care system exclusively with parents willing to take on the task at their own expense.

One of the groups recruiting and training foster parents is Bethany Christian Services, which for decades has been a leading adoption agency in the United States. Recently, it has helped countries such as Ethiopia and Haiti develop their own foster-care systems.

Bethany's recruiting in Haiti focuses on a network of Protestant churches where pastors extol foster-parenting as a Christian act of love.

"People in the churches have responded positively even if they don't have a lot of financial resources," said Vijonet Demero, head of Bethany's Haiti operations. "For them, it's a calling, not a job."

Jeannes Pierre and his wife Nelia have an adult daughter who recently became a physician. Over the years, they have provided a temporary home to other children on an informal basis. Never had they received the type of formal training that was required to become foster parents.

As the foster-care program took shape, some advocates for children expressed concerns related to Haiti's huge population of child domestic workers. UNICEF estimates that roughly 400,000 children - called "restaveks" by many Haitians - live away from their parents in households where they're expected to perform work on a regular basis in return for lodging and food.

Some of these children are treated well and included in the family life of the home; others suffer various forms of abuse, prompting some advocacy groups to depict such arrangements as "child slavery."

Aspiring foster parents are screened to ensure they're psychologically and economically capable of caring for foster children without exploiting them. Demero said the foster families recruited by Bethany are visited at least every three months - and in some cases every week - by social workers from Bethany or IBESR.

Terre des Hommes, a Swiss-based nonprofit also working on the foster-care program, said the lack of payment to the foster parents complicates recruitment efforts but serves as a deterrent to families who otherwise might sign up for financial gain.

Even in the absence of regular payments, foster families can be provided with emergency funds to meet medical needs or cover the costs of school uniforms and supplies.

Among the earliest batch of new foster parents were Ezekial Isme, 32, and his wife, Guerna, who heard about the program at their Port-au-Prince church, where Vijonet Demero is pastor.

"Our hearts were opened," said Ezekial Isme, who teaches at a church-run school.

Two and a half years ago, when the Ismes took in a girl from a troubled orphanage being closed by the government, they had no children of their own. They now have two sons, 1 and 2 years old, along with Michelene, who's now 10.

According to Isme, Michelene was 3 when her parents gave her to the orphanage. She was the youngest of her family's nine children.

When Michelene arrived in her new foster home, she was very withdrawn and had a bothersome skin disease. With attentive care, she's healthy now, and doing well at school, although still not up to the normal grade level for her age.

The Ismes would be willing to adopt Michelene, but don't know if or when the government would allow that sometimes difficult process to begin.

"She's our girl - she feels at home with us," Isme said. "Our hearts have already adopted her."

Orphan children draw with colored pencils at the Nest of Hope orphanage in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Thursday, June 28, 2018. Roughly a quarter of Haiti's children have spent much of their life without parents. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

A staff member escorts orphan children to go out to play at the Nest of Hope orphanage in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Thursday, June 28, 2018. In Haiti, the plan is to build a foster care system exclusively with parents willing to take on the task at their own expense. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

Orphan children sit in their beds at the Nest of Hope orphanage in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Thursday, June 28, 2018. UNICEF estimates that 80 to 90 percent of the children in orphanages have one or two living parents. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

An orphan boy jumps rope at the Nest of Hope orphanage in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Thursday, June 28, 2018. A new program is cited by Haitian and foreign experts as evidence of the government's determination to modernize and strengthen an array of child-oriented policies and practices _ and lessen reliance on foreign-based charities and mission groups. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

Nest of Hope orphanage Director Dallye Telemaque Bernard, points to pictures of children adopted from the orphanage in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Thursday, June 28, 2018. She oversees the care of about 50 children, ranging in ages from 5 months to 13 years. Some are brought in by government social workers, or by police who find them in the streets. But most are dropped off by their impoverished parents. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

This June 30, 2018 photo shows the Isme family in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, that is participating in the government's new program to establish a nationwide foster-care system. At center is 10-year-old foster child Michelene, who joined the family two and a half years ago after growing up in an orphanage. At left is her foster father, Ezekial Isme, and 2-year-old brother Erven. At right is her foster mother, Guerna and 1-year-old brother Calvin. "She's our girl _ she feels at home with us," Ezekial Isme said. "Our hearts have already adopted her." (AP Photo/David Crary)

Kenia Tunis, 23, cries during a visit to the Nest of Hope orphanage in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Thurdsay, June 28, 2018, while looking at pictures of her child who was adopted a year earlier. The resident of the Cite Soleil slum placed her son in the orphanage six years ago when he was 2. He was adopted by a family in France in 2017, and she expressed hope that she might someday see her son again in person. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

Franchina 11, plays with a cat named Mima at her foster home with the Pierre family in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Friday, June 29, 2018. Her mother dead, her father in prison, Franchina was placed in a state-run orphanage as a toddler, remaining illiterate year after year and seemingly destined for a hard life in the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

Franchina 11, decides on a graduation ceremony dress in her bedroom at her foster parents' home in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Saturday, June 30, 2018. In her orphanage, she shared a bunkroom with many other children. Now Franchina has a bedroom to herself. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

Franchina 11, gets her hair combed by her foster mother Nelia Pierre in their home in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Saturday, June 30, 2018. The Pierres taught her how to read within weeks of her arrival at their home. "It's like removing the darkness from the eyes of a child," Jeannes Pierre says. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

Franchina 11, left, eats lunch with her foster family, Pastor Jeannes Pierre and his daughter Jenny Pierre in their home in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Saturday, June 30, 2018. The Pierres do not know how long Franchina might stay with them, given uncertainty about her father's status. "We want to keep her as long as possible," Pierre said. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

Franchina 11, helps her foster mother, Nelia Pierre, close the gate to their home in Port-au-Prince, Haiti as they head to church on Sunday, July 1, 2018. Over the years, the Pierres have provided a temporary home to other children on an informal basis. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

Franchina 11, first row second from right, attends Mass with her foster family at a Baptist church in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Sunday, July 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)

Pastor Jeannes Pierre 61, walks with his foster daughter, Franchina 11, after Mass at Baptist church in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Sunday, July 1, 2018. "There's a certain satisfaction to it," said Jeannes Pierre, 61, about being a foster parent. "It's doing something extraordinary." (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)PARIS (AP) - An Air China flight to Beijing returned to Paris on Thursday after an airline employee misunderstood a passenger who was calling on the phone and thought he was reporting a bomb on the plane, Paris airport police said.

China's official Xinhua News Agency initially reported that the plane turned back because of "suspected terrorist information." Not so, according to an official with the airport police prefecture, the state body that oversees security at the city's airports.

The passenger, speaking in English, called Air China to say he was stuck behind police lines that were set up at Charles de Gaulle Airport's Terminal 1 while officers investigated an abandoned package.

"The company thought it was a bomb alert" for the plane, the official said. "It was an error of comprehension."

The official did not identify the passenger or the airline employee. He was not authorized to speak publicly.

Flight CA876 returned to Charles de Gaulle and was separated from other aircraft for an inspection. It was scheduled to take off again at 9 p.m., the official said. The plane had been in the air nearly 40 minutes before heading back, according to the local airport authority.

French police, who patrol the nation's airports and train stations along with soldiers, routinely set up security lines around abandoned packages and protectively blow them up in case they have bombs hidden inside.

China's government has instituted increasingly severe security measures in recent years, particularly targeting the Muslim Uighur and Buddhist Tibetan minorities. It has launched a sweeping "People's War on Terror" in the restive northwestern region of Xinjiang, home to more than 10 million Muslims.

A sweeping anti-terrorism law took effect in 2016 under Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has led the country's broadest crackdown on dissent of all kinds in decades.The 2018 Baotou Zhongkao will take place from June 26 to 28, according to Baotou Daily.

Also known as the Senior High School Entrance Examination, the zhongkao is the main annual academic test used in China to distinguish junior high school graduates.

At the 23 testing centers and 582 rooms arranged in the city, 18,295 students will sit for this years exam.



WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on conservative Republicans effort to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein (all times local):

11:50 a.m.

House Speaker Paul Ryan says he does not support an effort by Republican House conservatives to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

FILE - In this June 28, 2018, file photo, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appears before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. A group of 11 House Republicans have introduced articles of impeachment against Rosenstein, who oversees special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference and President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

At a news conference Thursday, Ryan says he doesn't think lawmakers should be "cavalier" with the impeachment process.

He also says Rosenstein's back-and-forth with congressional Republicans over document requests doesn't rise to the level of "high crimes and misdemeanors" that would warrant impeachment under the Constitution.

Ryan made the comments a day after a group of 11 GOP lawmakers filed articles of impeachment against Rosenstein.

The group, led by Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, has criticized Rosenstein and Justice Department officials for not being responsive enough as House committees have requested documents related to the Russia investigation and the closed investigation into Democrat Hillary Clinton's emails

__

12:16 a.m.

Months of House Republican criticism of the Justice Department has culminated in the introduction of articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

Rosenstein oversees special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian election meddling and possible ties to the Trump campaign. President Donald Trump has fumed about Mueller's probe and repeatedly called it a "witch hunt."

The 11 House members who introduced the articles of impeachment are led by an ardent Trump defender, congressman Mark Meadows of North Carolina.

They accuse Rosenstein of failing to provide information to House committees, even though the Justice Department has already provided more than 800,000 documents. They also accuse Rosenstein of signing off on improper surveillance of a Trump adviser.

It's unclear whether there's support in the House to pass the impeachment resolution.WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on trade developments involving the United States and the European Union (all times local):

12:15 p.m.

Republican members of Congress are telling White House economic advisers Larry Kudlow and Peter Navarro how tariffs have hurt their constituents.

President Donald Trump arrives to board Air Force One , Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Andrews Air Force Base, Md. Trump is traveling to Iowa and Illinois in which his trade agenda is expected to be a leading issue. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The Capitol Hill meeting follows the White House announcement that the U.S. and European Union have agreed to hold off on new trade penalties and the EU has agreed to buy more soybeans and liquefied natural gas from the U.S.

Rep. Andy Barr of Kentucky says he told the White House advisers that Wednesday's announcement "was a positive sign and we appreciate the administration lowering the temperature with the EU."

But Barr also says bourbon makers in Kentucky have been hit with retaliatory tariffs and "don't have a solution yet."

Rep. Bill Huizenga of Michigan says he's concerned the administration has started a trade war and "those are very difficult to win."

___

12:10 p.m.

President Donald Trump is stopping in the Midwest to highlight an industry that's benefiting from his trade policies.

Trump will meet with steelworkers in Granite City, Illinois, where U.S. Steel recently announced it was firing up a furnace that had been idled for more than two years.

The company credits Trump's plan to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum for the move.

The president also will stop in Peosta, Iowa, to tour a manufacturing lab and participate in a discussion on workforce development.

There are large parts of the economy - technology companies, farmers and manufacturers - blaming Trump's policies for job losses.

___

8:50 a.m.

Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin says addressing steel and aluminum tariffs and counter tariffs will be covered in the first phase of new negotiations between the United States and the European Union.

Mnuchin says President Donald Trump and his European counterparts reached an "agreement in principle" to avoid an escalation in their trade dispute.

He is reiterating that there will be no new tariffs imposed while the two parties are negotiating a final deal. He says if the US concludes an agreement, there will be no tariffs placed on foreign-made automobiles in the EU.

The Treasury secretary tells reporters at the White House that after steel and aluminum tariffs are resolved, talks will focus on agricultural issues, chemicals and natural gas.

___

12:15 a.m.

Tensions between the U.S. and the European Union over a possible automotive trade war have eased with officials agreeing to hold off on new tariffs and instead engage in talks to break down trade barriers.

President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker say they've agreed to work toward "zero tariffs" and "zero subsidies" on nonautomotive goods.

Trump says the EU has agreed to buy "a lot of soybeans" and increase its imports of liquefied natural gas from the U.S. And the two sides have agreed to resolve a dispute over U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Negotiations are sure to be contentious and the United States remains embroiled in major trade disputes with China and other trading partners.GRANITE CITY, Ill. (AP) - President Donald Trump on Thursday trumpeted the renewed success of an Illinois steel mill, pushing back against criticism that his escalating trade disputes are hurting American workers and farmers.

The president pointed to the U.S. Steel plant's reopening as a success story after he slapped tariffs on imported steel and aluminum last spring. On Wednesday, he and European leaders agreed to open talks on trade, a decision he called a breakthrough.

"America never surrenders," Trump said in an address to workers at the company's steel coil warehouse in Granite City. "We don't wave the white flag."

President Donald Trump speaks on trade at Granite City Works Steel Coil Warehouse, Thursday, July 26, 2018, Granite City, Ill. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trump held events in Iowa and Illinois a day after reaching an accord with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at the White House to discuss tearing down trade barriers and address U.S. tariffs on steel imports. Trump also said the EU had agreed to buy more soybeans from American farmers, who have seen prices decline sharply since China imposed retaliatory tariffs.

Farmers and manufacturers have criticized tariffs imposed by Trump, warning that they will spur a global trade war and retaliatory tariffs from countries like China, Mexico and Canada that will damage their livelihoods and raise prices on consumers.

But Trump said he stepped forward to protect the U.S. steel industry with tariffs of 25 percent on imports out of national security concerns and in solidarity with workers who had been hurt by unfair trade agreements. In the past, Trump said Thursday, "Our steel towns became ghost towns" and the U.S. engaged in "the worst trade deals ever made in history." Now, he said, he was negotiating better terms.

"After years of shutdowns and cutbacks, today the blast furnace here in Granite City is blazing bright, workers are back on the job and we are once again pouring new American steel into the spine of our country," Trump said.

Earlier, Trump said his talks with European allies would benefit Iowa farmers who have been hurt by the fallout from his protectionist trade measures.

"We just opened up Europe for you farmers. You're not going to be too angry with Trump, I can tell you," the president said at the workforce development event in Peosta, where he was joined by two Iowa Republicans, Gov. Kim Reynolds and Rep. Rod Blum.

Business leaders and Republicans in Congress have said the tariffs could hurt companies reliant on steel and aluminum raw materials in their manufacturing and raise prices.

That includes Mid Continent Nail Corp. in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, which has shuttered a multimillion-dollar plant and is "on the brink of extinction" and blames its issue on Trump's tariffs.

"This is a county that went 79 percent for Trump so people are certainly willing to give him the benefit of the doubt," said spokesman James Glassman. "But their jobs are at stake because of this misguided tariff."

Iowa is among the nation's leading producers of soybeans, and the event at Northeast Iowa Community College came on the heels of the Agriculture Department's announcement of $12 billion in temporary aid to help farmers deal with retaliatory tariffs from U.S. trading partners.

Tariffs threaten more than $3.8 billion in Illinois exports, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and major companies including Caterpillar and Boeing already have been hurt.

But Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, briefing reporters on Air Force One, said more jobs have been created by the steel and aluminum tariffs than are being lost, and said companies were wrongly blaming Trump for their issues.

"This is a real vindication that the president's trade policy is starting to work," Ross said of Wednesday's EU deal.

On the outskirts of St. Louis, more than 2,000 workers from Granite City Works were given layoff notices just before Thanksgiving 2015. U.S. Steel cited low oil prices -the mill produces steel for oil refineries and the auto industry - as well as the availability of cheap, imported steel.

Granite City Works is now near its 2015 employment level of 2,100, with a second blast furnace to be operating by this fall. Jobs there mean dozens more at steel-processing plants throughout the city that bend, cut, coat or reshape the raw product, said James Amos, Granite City's economic development director.

David Burritt, U.S. Steel's president and CEO, said the company was experiencing a "renaissance" and credited Trump's actions for the steel industry's revival. "The president has been in office really only a short time, but a lot has happened for our company because of the president," Burritt said.

Trump appeared eager to keep promoting more good economic news. The Commerce Department delivers its first estimate of second-quarter gross domestic product on Friday, and the president signaled the numbers would be in line with what economists have forecast: a sizzling growth rate of 4 percent or more.

"You're going to see on Friday what happens with GDP. Lot of predictions. Lot of predictions," Trump said in Iowa. "I told you before, some with a 5 in front of it ... we'll take anything with a 4 in front."

___

Associated Press writers Ken Thomas and Darlene Superville in Washington and Sara Burnett in Chicago contributed to this report.

Supporters cheer as President Donald Trump speaks on trade at Granite City Works Steel Coil Warehouse, Thursday, July 26, 2018, Granite City, Ill. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Ivanka Trump, right, and Gov. Kim Reynolds, R-Iowa, center, look on as President Donald Trump holds up a "Make Our Farmers Great Again" hat during a roundtable discussion on workforce development at Northeast Iowa Community College, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Peosta, Iowa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump participates in a tour of an advanced manufacturing lab with Ivanka Trump, second from left, and Gov. Kim Reynolds, R-Iowa, third from left, at Northeast Iowa Community College, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Peosta, Iowa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump participates in a tour of an advanced manufacturing lab with Ivanka Trump, left, and Gov. Kim Reynolds, R-Iowa, third from right, at Northeast Iowa Community College, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Peosta, Iowa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable discussion on workforce development at Northeast Iowa Community College, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Peosta, Iowa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump acknowledges the audience after speaking at the United States Steel Granite City Works plant Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Granite City, Ill. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

President Donald Trump, third from left, speaks during a roundtable discussion on workforce development at Northeast Iowa Community College in Peosta, Iowa, Thursday, July 26, 2018. (Jessica Reilly/Telegraph Herald via AP)

President Donald Trump speaks at the United States Steel Granite City Works plant Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Granite City, Ill. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

President Donald Trump speaks at the United States Steel Granite City Works plant Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Granite City, Ill. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

President Donald Trump speaks at the United States Steel Granite City Works plant Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Granite City, Ill. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

President Donald Trump speaks on trade at Granite City Works Steel Coil Warehouse, Thursday, July 26, 2018, Granite City, Ill. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks on trade at Granite City Works Steel Coil Warehouse, Thursday, July 26, 2018, Granite City, Ill. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks at the United States Steel Granite City Works plant Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Granite City, Ill. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - An Indianapolis church that displayed statues of Mary, Joseph and Jesus in a cage to protest the Trump administration's zero tolerance immigration policy has a new display - a mirror.

The mirror is encased behind fencing and barbed wire outside the Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Indianapolis.

Rev. Stephen Carlsen tells The Indianapolis Star he changed the display so visitors could envision themselves in a cage, enduring the pain felt by detained and separated families.

In this Tuesday, July 3, 2018 photo, a scene of Joseph, Mary and Baby Jesus sit the lawn of Monument Circle's Christ Church Cathedral in Indianapolis. The church that displayed statues of Mary, Joseph and Jesus in a cage to protest the Trump administration's zero tolerance immigration policy has replaced the Holy Family with a mirror so visitors can imagine themselves in a cage. (Ebony Cox/The Indianapolis Star via AP)

Written above the mirror is the hashtag, #EveryFamilyIsHoly. The Episcopalian church is encouraging people to take photographs and share them online.

The original display of a caged Holy Family appeared in early July.

The Trump administration has since changed its policy and is working to meet a court-imposed deadline to reunite thousands of children and parents forcibly separated at the U.S.-Mexico border.

___

Information from: The Indianapolis Star, http://www.indystar.comSAN DIEGO (AP) - The Latest on the deadline to reunify families separated at the border (all times local):

3:35 p.m.

The Trump administration says more than 1,800 children separated at the U.S.-Mexico border have been reunited with parents and sponsors but hundreds remain apart.

Families march past the U.S. Capitol as they protest the separation of immigrant families, Thursday, July 26, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Trump administration faces a court-imposed deadline Thursday to reunite thousands of children and parents who were forcibly separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, an enormous logistical task brought on by its "zero tolerance" policy on illegal entry. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The government said in a court filing Thursday that 1,820 children ages 5 and up have been discharged. This includes 1,442 children reunified with their parents in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and 378 others who were released "in other appropriate circumstances."

Still, more than 700 parents were deemed not eligible or currently not eligible, many of whom may have been deported. Of those, 431 children have parents outside the United States.

More than 2,500 children were separated from their parents at the border amid a zero tolerance policy that criminally prosecuted anyone caught crossing illegally.

____

2 p.m.

The number of families reunited in El Paso has dropped sharply this week as the deadline for the government to reunify parents forcibly separated at the border is hours away.

Annunciation House director Ruben Garcia said his organization that of one of four the government tasked with helping reunited families has received about 25 families each day this week.

Garcia said he doesn't know what to expect as the deadline nears because immigration authorities usually give him very short notice. The organization has several hospitality centers that house reunited families, but it's often for extremely short periods of time.

Garcia said children who are seeing their parents for the first time in weeks respond in different ways. Some reunite very quickly while others keep their distance and express caution.

The Trump administration is under an order to reunite by Thursday all families separated at the border amid a zero tolerance policy that criminally prosecuted anyone caught crossing illegally.

___

1:40 p.m.

The lead attorney in the lawsuit over families separated at the border says the American Civil Liberties Union will try to track down all 463 parents who are no longer in the country.

Lee Gelernt says it's not clear whether the parents were deported or voluntarily left after they were separated from their children.

He also says it's not clear whether they willingly left without their children. He says the ACLU will seek to talk to every parent to figure out what happened.

The Trump administration has been ordered to reunite by Thursday all families separated at the border amid a zero tolerance policy that criminally prosecuted anyone caught crossing illegally.

The ACLU has asked the judge to delay deportation for seven days so families have time to talk.

___

10:50 a.m.

Dozens of parents remain detained in the El Paso, Texas, area on the day the U.S. government is supposed finish reuniting families that it forcibly separated at the border.

Royce Murray, the policy director at the American Immigration Council, said attorneys have spoken to more than 150 detained parents in recent weeks and that many remain in detention centers around El Paso, although she didn't have an exact figure.

Murray said there's confusion about why some parents remain detained and for how much longer, but that several have said they signed orders to be deported under the belief that would be the fastest way to see their children.

Immigrant advocates described similar instances of confusion and chaos around the country as the government works to reunify still hundreds of families by Thursday's deadline.

They said some kids have been shuttled to reunite with parents only to learn their parents were not at those locations. They were then taken back to the children's' shelters where they've been staying.

Authorities have identified more than 2,500 children 5 and older who may be covered by the order to reunite the families by Thursday's court-imposed deadline.

___

10:10 p.m.

Homeland Security's internal watchdog agency says it will look into the separation of families at the southern border.

The Office of Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security wrote a letter Monday to members of Congress who had requested an investigation.

More than 2,500 children were separated from their parents at the border under a zero tolerance policy that criminally prosecuted anyone caught crossing the border illegally. A judge ruled they must be reunited.

The inspector general's office will also review conditions of U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities where minors are detained.

Officials say they also reached out to the inspector general at Health and Human Services, the department that manages the care of migrant children in custody.

More than 120 lawmakers requested an investigation.

___

2:35 a.m.

The Trump administration is racing to meet a court-imposed deadline to reunite families who were forcibly separated at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The enormous logistical task was brought on by the "zero tolerance" policy on illegal entry.

Authorities have identified more than 2,500 children 5 and older who may be covered by the order to reunite the families by Thursday's court-imposed deadline.

That effort was expected to fall short, partly because hundreds of parents may have been deported without their children. But, by focusing only on about 1,600 it deems "eligible" for reunification, authorities are expected to claim success.

As of Tuesday, slightly more than 1,000 parents were reunified with their children in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. Hundreds more were cleared and awaiting transportation.

Families with young children protest the separation of immigrant families with a sit-in at the Hart Senate Office Building, Thursday, July 26, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Trump administration faces a court-imposed deadline Thursday to reunite thousands of children and parents who were forcibly separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, an enormous logistical task brought on by its "zero tolerance" policy on illegal entry. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Areva Gopal, 3, of Arlington, Va., center, attends a protest of families asking for the reunification of immigrant families who were separated at the border, Thursday, July 26, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Trump administration faces a court-imposed deadline Thursday to reunite thousands of children and parents who were forcibly separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, an enormous logistical task brought on by its "zero tolerance" policy on illegal entry. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Families protest the separation of immigrant families with a sit-in at the Hart Senate Office Building, Thursday, July 26, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Trump administration faces a court-imposed deadline Thursday to reunite thousands of children and parents who were forcibly separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, an enormous logistical task brought on by its "zero tolerance" policy on illegal entry. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Children and their families gather to march in a protest demanding the reunification of separated immigrant families, Thursday, July 26, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Trump administration faces a court-imposed deadline Thursday to reunite thousands of children and parents who were forcibly separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, an enormous logistical task brought on by its "zero tolerance" policy on illegal entry. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Billie Himmelan, 7, left, talks with her sister Joni Himmelman, 4, of Washington, as families gathered to march in a protest demanding the reunification of separated immigrant families, Thursday, July 26, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Trump administration faces a court-imposed deadline Thursday to reunite thousands of children and parents who were forcibly separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, an enormous logistical task brought on by its "zero tolerance" policy on illegal entry. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Gavin McGill, 9 months, of Washington, wears a "resist" onesie while attending a protest with his mother and brother against the separation of immigrant families, Thursday, July 26, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Trump administration faces a court-imposed deadline Thursday to reunite thousands of children and parents who were forcibly separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, an enormous logistical task brought on by its "zero tolerance" policy on illegal entry. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Construction workers watch as children hold hands during a march in protest of the separation of immigrant families, Thursday, July 26, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Trump administration faces a court-imposed deadline Thursday to reunite thousands of children and parents who were forcibly separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, an enormous logistical task brought on by its "zero tolerance" policy on illegal entry. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

A woman from the Mexican state of Michoacan who did not give her name stands with her daughter as names are read off a list of people who will cross into the United States to begin the process of applying for asylum Thursday, July 26, 2018, near the San Ysidro port of entry in Tijuana, Mexico. As the Trump administration faced a court-imposed deadline Thursday to reunite thousands of children and parents who were forcibly separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, asylum seekers continue to arrive to cities like Tijuana, hoping to plead their cases with U.S. authorities. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - An Indiana mandate that forces women to undergo an ultrasound at least 18 hours before having an abortion is "an undue burden" that saddles some women with lengthy travel and additional expenses, a federal appeals court ruled this week.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday affirmed a preliminary injunction issued in April 2017 by U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt. The injunction blocked the ultrasound waiting period that then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed into law in March 2016.

Appeals Court Judge Ilana Rovner wrote in Wednesday's ruling that while Indiana's attorneys had a legitimate position in arguing that the reason for the waiting period was to persuade women not to have an abortion, "it is also true that women have the right to choose to have an abortion, albeit with some limitations."

"Women, like all humans, are intellectual creatures with the ability to reason, consider, ponder, and challenge their own ideas and those of others. The usual manner in which we seek to persuade is by rhetoric not barriers," Rovner wrote.

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill expressed disappointment in the decision Thursday, saying in a statement that his office is "reviewing the court's reasoning and considering our options."

Attorneys for the state had appealed Pratt's 2017 ruling , and the appeals court in Chicago heard arguments in November. The challenged 18-hour requirement had replaced a previous Indiana provision that didn't specify when an ultrasound had to occur.

Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, along with the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, had sued the state in July 2016, contending the mandate was unconstitutional and would prevent some women from getting abortions.

Christie Gillespie, the president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood chapter, praised the Wednesday ruling, saying an 18-hour waiting period would place significant burdens on rural and low-income women by forcing them "to make two trips to their provider - a time-consuming and expensive process."

The ACLU of Indiana's executive director, Jane Henegar, said the court decision affirmed "that deeply personal decisions about abortion should be made by women in consultation with their doctors, not politicians pursuing an extreme ideological agenda."

Mike Fichter, the president and CEO of Indiana Right to Life, condemned Wednesday's ruling, saying the appeals court "is playing politics by blocking common sense legislation passed by overwhelming majorities in the Indiana legislature." He urged the state attorney general to appeal the ruling.

The ruling comes after the same federal appeals court ruled in April against Indiana in another case challenging a different Indiana abortion restriction, also signed into law by Pence when he was Indiana's governor. That ruling also upheld a preliminary injunction, which Pratt issued in June 2016, blocking a law's provisions that in part barred abortions sought because the fetus had been diagnosed with a disability.

___

This story has been corrected to show the ruling was issues Wednesday, not Thursday.SAN DIEGO (AP) - The Trump administration said Thursday that more than 1,800 children separated at the U.S.-Mexico border have been reunited with parents and sponsors but hundreds remain apart, signaling a potentially long wait for anguished families.

The federal government was under a Thursday deadline to reunify more than 2,500 children separated from their parents under a new immigration policy designed to deter immigrants from coming here illegally. The policy quickly backfired amid global outrage from political and religious leaders and daily headlines about crying children taken from their parents.

President Donald Trump ended the practice, but a federal judge in San Diego ordered the government to reunite all the families by the end of Thursday. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw has indicated some leeway given the enormity of the task, which would continue past the deadline.

Children look out a van window as they arrive at Lutheran Social Services, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Phoenix. Lutheran Social Services said they were expecting reunited families separated at the border when apprehended entering the United States to come through their facility. (AP Photo/Matt York)

As of Thursday morning, the government said it reunited 1,442 children 5 and older with their parents in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. An additional 378 were reunited with parents in different locations around the country or given to sponsors, who are often relatives or close family members.

That leaves about 700 who remain apart, including 431 children whose parents have been deported, officials say. Those reunions take more effort and paperwork as authorities fly children back to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

According to the administration, parents of 120 children waived reunification, while 67 had "red flags" for criminal history or other reasons during the review.

The Trump administration insisted it would meet the court deadline by reuniting all of the family members that it deemed eligible for reunification.

Chris Meekins, the head of the office of the assistant secretary for preparedness and response for Health and Human Services, said the government would continue to reunify families throughout the evening.

"We are on-track to reunite all eligible parents in ICE custody," Meekins said.

For two weeks, children have been arriving steadily at ICE locations in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico to get back with parents. Faith-based and other groups have provided meals, clothing, legal advice, plane and bus tickets and even new shoe laces, which are taken away from people in detention.

The families are generally released, and parents are typically given ankle-monitoring bracelets and court dates to appear before an immigration judge.

A charitable organization called FWD.US, founded by technology leaders including Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Dropbox founder Drew Houston was paying for the airline tickets, the bus tickets and the lodging for all the families newly reunited in the Phoenix area to get them to relatives living all over the United States, said Connie Phillips of Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest. She said a phone company had provided 500 mobile phones for the migrants, each with six months of free service.

There were scattered reunions in various locations on Thursday, including about 15 in Phoenix, said Phillips. The main immigrant-assistance center in El Paso, Texas, has been receiving about 25 reunified families a day.

Some children who had not seen their parents in weeks or months seemed stoic and slow to accept that they would not be abandoned again.

Lutheran Social Services support worker Julisa Zaragoza said some reunified children in Phoenix were so traumatized they were afraid to go to the bathroom by themselves, fearful their parents would be gone when they came out.

One father who was reunited last week said his young daughter did not believe that he would not leave her a second time.

Jose Dolores Munoz, 36, from El Salvador, was reunited with his 7-year-old daughter last Friday, nearly two months after they were separated. He said his daughter cries when he leaves the house because she thinks he's not coming back.

"She is afraid," Munoz said in Spanish. "Yesterday I left her crying, she is telling me, 'You are not coming back. You are lying. You are leaving me.'"

Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union who represents the separated families, said before the latest figures were announced that the government should not be congratulating itself for meeting its "self-defined" deadline.

"The government shouldn't be proud of the work they're doing on reunification," he said. "It should just be, 'We created this cruel, inhumane policy ... now we're trying to fix it in every way we can and make these families whole."

Among those who remain apart from their children is Lourdes de Leon of Guatemala. She turned herself in to authorities at the border and was deported on June 7, but her 6-year-old son, Leo, remained in the U.S.

De Leon said Guatemalan consular officials told her signing a deportation order would be the easiest way to reunite with Leo.

"He is in a shelter in New York," de Leon said. "My baby already had his hearing with a judge who signed his deportation eight days ago. But I still do not know when they are going to return him to me."

Immigration attorneys said they had advocates in Central America to help parents who were deported without their children. And Gelernt said the ACLU would go looking for all of the parents to determine whether they intentionally left without their children.

"I think it's going to be really hard detective work," he said. "And hopefully we're going to find them."

Both sides were due back in court Friday, when the judge was going to decide whether to ban deportations of families for seven days after they are reunified so that parents could have time to discuss their options.

Late last month, Sabraw ordered a nationwide halt to family separations, which Trump effectively did on his own June 20. Sabraw issued a 14- day deadline to reunite children under 5 with their parents and 30 days for children 5 and older.

Phillips said the parents and kids open up as they go through an assessment process with workers. She said the outpouring of donations has been comforting.

"We have seen a lot of people come together over this, we're seeing the best of what Americans can be," she said.

___

Long reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Anita Snow in Phoenix, Roxana Hegeman in Wichita, Kansas, Astrid Galvan in El Paso, Texas, Alan Fram in Washington and Sonia Perez D. in Guatemala City contributed to this report.

A child holds the hand of a Lutheran Social Services worker as she looks back to a man as they arrive at Lutheran Social Services, Thursday, July 26, 2018 in Phoenix. Lutheran Social Services stated they were expecting reunited families separated at the border when apprehended entering the United States to come through their facility. (AP Photo/Matt York)

A child is carried by an adult as they arrive at Lutheran Social Services, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Phoenix. Lutheran Social Services stated they were expecting reunited families separated at the border when apprehended entering the United States to come through their facility. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Calet Garcia, center, of Honduras, cries once he realizes he will be able to apply for asylum in the U.S. with his friend Daisy Avelar, second from left, of El Salvador, Thursday, July 26, 2018, near the San Ysidro port of entry in Tijuana, Mexico. As the Trump administration faced a court-imposed deadline Thursday to reunite thousands of children and parents who were forcibly separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, asylum seekers continue to arrive to cities like Tijuana, hoping to plead their cases with U.S. authorities. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Families with young children protest the separation of immigrant families with a sit-in at the Hart Senate Office Building, Thursday, July 26, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Trump administration faces a court-imposed deadline Thursday to reunite thousands of children and parents who were forcibly separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, an enormous logistical task brought on by its "zero tolerance" policy on illegal entry. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Areva Gopal, 3, of Arlington, Va., center, attends a protest of families asking for the reunification of immigrant families who were separated at the border, Thursday, July 26, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Trump administration faces a court-imposed deadline Thursday to reunite thousands of children and parents who were forcibly separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, an enormous logistical task brought on by its "zero tolerance" policy on illegal entry. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Construction workers watch as children hold hands during a march in protest of the separation of immigrant families, Thursday, July 26, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Trump administration faces a court-imposed deadline Thursday to reunite thousands of children and parents who were forcibly separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, an enormous logistical task brought on by its "zero tolerance" policy on illegal entry. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

A child arrives at Lutheran Social Services with adults, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Phoenix. Lutheran Social Services stated they were expecting reunited families separated at the border when apprehended entering the United States to come through their facility. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Children arrive with adults and Lutheran Social Services workers at Lutheran Social Services, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Phoenix. Lutheran Social Services said they were expecting 75-100 reunited families separated at the border when apprehended entering the United States to come through their facility. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Lutheran Social Services workers link arms to obscure children arriving with adults at Lutheran Social Services, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Phoenix. Lutheran Social Services stated they were expecting 75-100 reunited families separated at the border when apprehended entering the United States to come through their facility. (AP Photo/Matt York)

A child and a man arrive at Lutheran Social Services, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Phoenix. Lutheran Social Services stated they were expecting 75-100 reunited families separated at the border when apprehended entering the United States to come through their facility. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Isidro, the nephew of Paulina Gutierrez Alonzo, plays with a Captain America action figure while she gives an interview at her grandfather's home in Joyabaj, Guatemala, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Gutierrez Alonzo was deported from United States in June and separated from her 7-year-old daughter Antonia Yolanda Gomez Gutierrez, Isidro's cousin, who is currently at an immigration center in Arizona despite the Thursday deadline for reuniting children with their families who were caught entering the country without authorization. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

Merari Calderon, of El Salvador, lines up with her father, Alexander Calderon, left, to cross into the U.S. to begin the process of applying for asylum Thursday, July 26, 2018, near the San Ysidro port of entry in Tijuana, Mexico. As the Trump administration faced a court-imposed deadline Thursday to reunite thousands of children and parents who were forcibly separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, asylum seekers continue to arrive to cities like Tijuana, hoping to plead their cases with U.S. authorities. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)WASHINGTON (AP) - House Speaker Paul Ryan spoke out against an effort by a small group of conservatives to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Thursday, dooming the endeavor for now and easing a months-long standoff between House Republicans and the Justice Department.

Ryan said the tussle over document requests between House Republicans and Rosenstein, who oversees the federal Trump-Russia investigation, doesn't rise to the level of "high crimes and misdemeanors" that could warrant impeachment under the Constitution.

"I don't think we should be cavalier with this process or with this term," Ryan said. He also said he is encouraged by progress on the document production.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., meets with reporters as lawmakers prepare to break until Sept. 4, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Ryan firmly rejected an effort by House conservatives to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the official who oversees special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Ryan made the comments a day after the group of 11 House Republicans sharply escalated the extended clash with the Justice Department by filing articles of impeachment against Rosenstein, who oversees special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.

Their move late Wednesday came after months of criticism aimed at the department - and the Russia investigation in particular - from President Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress. Trump has fumed about Mueller's probe and has repeatedly called it a "witch hunt," a refrain echoed by some of the lawmakers.

Mueller is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether Trump's campaign was involved.

The impeachment effort was led by North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus who talks to Trump frequently and often defends him to colleagues.

As Ryan voiced his disapproval, Meadows acknowledged that he didn't currently have the votes to pass the impeachment resolution and said he wouldn't use procedural maneuvers to trigger an immediate vote - something he had threatened to do. The House left Thursday afternoon for a five-week recess.

Instead, Meadows said he had a commitment from leaders to vote on holding Rosenstein in contempt of Congress when the House returns in September if certain documents are still outstanding. The agreement came after discussions on the House floor with Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert Goodlatte, R-Va., and the No. 3 House GOP leader, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana.

The contempt resolution would first have to move through the Judiciary Committee, according to Republican aides.

Meadows said the five-week delay would give the department "one last chance" to deliver. He didn't rule out trying for an impeachment vote in the future.

"Now it's in Rod Rosenstein's court," Meadows said.

Ryan's tone was far different.

"We do not have full compliance, and we have to get full compliance, but we have been making tremendous progress to that point," he said of multiple document requests.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Jeff Sessions defended Rosenstein in a Boston speech, saying he has the "highest confidence" in his top deputy. Rosenstein has overseen the Russia investigation since last year, when Sessions recused himself following reports of his own meeting with the Russian ambassador.

Asked in May about rumblings that House Republicans might move to impeachment, Rosenstein was defiant.

"I think they should understand by now, the Department of Justice is not going to be extorted," he said.

The White House was ambivalent about whether Trump supported the effort to impeach Rosenstein. "The president has been clear that he wants the DOJ to be transparent and cooperate with Congress," spokesman Hogan Gidley told reporters.

Meadows, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan and the other Republicans who introduced the resolution have criticized Rosenstein and Justice Department officials as not being responsive enough as House committees have demanded documents related to the Russia investigation's inception and a now-closed investigation into Democrat Hillary Clinton's emails.

The five articles of impeachment would charge Rosenstein with failing to produce information, though the department has provided lawmakers with more than 800,000 documents. The resolution notes that Rosenstein was one of several department officials who approved what some Republicans say was improper surveillance of Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

The impeachment resolution also criticizes Rosenstein for refusing to produce a memo that outlines the scope of the investigation and questions whether the investigation was started on legitimate grounds.

It is highly unusual, if not unprecedented, for lawmakers to demand documents that are part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

At a House hearing last month, Rosenstein, along with FBI Director Christopher Wray, faced angry Republicans who alleged bias at the FBI and suggested the department has conspired against Trump. Still, some GOP lawmakers said they would draw the line at impeachment.

"Impeachment is a punishment; it's not a remedy," said House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Trey Gowdy, who has led one of several House GOP investigations into the department and has complained of anti-Trump bias. "If you are looking for documents, then you want compliance, and you want whatever moves you toward compliance."

The impeachment resolution came about two hours after Meadows, Gowdy, Goodlatte and other GOP lawmakers met with Justice Department officials about the documents. The department has created new search systems, set up classified reading rooms and tasked dozens of employees to produce the hundreds of thousands of documents that Republican lawmakers have requested over the past year.

Democrats on the House Judiciary, Oversight and Government Reform and intelligence committees called the impeachment effort a "panicked and dangerous attempt to undermine an ongoing criminal investigation in an effort to protect President Trump as the walls are closing in around him and his associates."

So far, the special counsel has charged 32 people and three companies. That includes four Trump campaign advisers and 12 Russian intelligence officers.

Democratic Reps. Jerrold Nadler of New York, Elijah Cummings of Maryland and Adam Schiff of California said Rosenstein "stands as one of the few restraints against the overreaches of the president and his allies in Congress."

In addition to Meadows and Jordan, the Republican lawmakers who sponsored the impeachment articles are Reps. Jody Hice of Georgia, Jeff Duncan of South Carolina, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Bill Posey of Florida and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.

___

Associated Press writers Alan Fram, Kevin Freking and Lisa Mascaro in Washington and Philip Marcelo in Boston contributed to this report.

FILE - In this June 28, 2018, file photo, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appears before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. A group of 11 House Republicans have introduced articles of impeachment against Rosenstein, who oversees special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference and President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions gestures during a news conference at the Moakley Federal Building in Boston, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Sessions is defending his top deputy after some Congressional Republicans moved to impeach him. Sessions said Thursday in Boston that he has the "highest confidence" in Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. He suggested lawmakers instead focus on reforming the nation's immigration system. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., meets with reporters as lawmakers prepare to break until Sept. 4, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Ryan firmly rejected an effort by House conservatives to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the official who oversees special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., finishes a meeting with reporters as lawmakers prepare to break until Sept. 4, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Ryan firmly rejected an effort by House conservatives to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the official who oversees special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Reporters ask Rep.Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., chairman of the House Oversight Committee, about the effort by conservative Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, the official who oversees special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Rep. Gowdy is holding the child of a congressional staffer. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)SEATTLE (AP) - Three teenage suspects have been charged in the fatal police chase that led to a suburban Seattle officer being struck and killed by another pursuing officer in a patrol car.

The King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office on Wednesday filed the felony murder charge against Emiliano Garcia, the 16-year-old driver of a pickup truck that was fleeing from police early Sunday, which led to the officer's death. Garcia is being charged as an adult.

Kent Police Officer Diego Moreno was on foot after deploying spike strips to slow the truck during the police chase when he was fatally struck by the pursuing patrol car.

Several hundred people turn out to support and offer remembrances for Kent Police Officer Diego Moreno, Wednesday, July 25, 2018 in Kent, Wash. A vigil and memorial for fallen Kent Police Officer Diego Moreno was held at Town Square Plaza. Three teenage suspects have been charged in the fatal police chase that led to a suburban Seattle officer being struck and killed by another pursuing officer in a patrol car. (Dean Rutz/The Seattle Times via AP)

Prosecutors said Garcia and two underage passengers in the truck illegally fired guns in a parking lot that prompted police attention and then fled the scene recklessly during the police chase, causing the death and multiple injuries.

Prosecutors said the teens were drinking beers and doing cocaine after trying to get into a bar in south suburban Renton following a birthday party. Garcia was behind the wheel with friends inside of his father's red truck when the passengers fired shots into the air at the parking lot.

They said they were trying to scare off a group of older men, but then panicked after seeing police and fled. Police said the truck was going as fast as 95 mph (153 kph).

The two teen passengers are also charged with unlawful gun possession, and one of them is also facing a drug possession charge. They'll be charged as juveniles.

Kent police on Wednesday also named the officer who crashed into Moreno as Officer Mark Williams, an 18-year veteran of the department. Williams was hospitalized in critical condition with a severe leg injury following the crash but has since been released for recovery."

Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla in a statement praised Williams as one of their finest "who was doing his job when tragedy struck."

Meanwhile, the community has been grieving Moreno's death. A vigil was held Wednesday, when his widow addressed the crowd. Moreno is survived by his wife and two young children.

"Thank you for grieving with me. Your presence calms my sorrow," the widow said.

The fallen officer is a Venezuela native who was remembered as a family man and decorated public servant. Moreno was honored last year by the city with a Lifesaving Medal for saving someone from an opioid overdose. In 2016, he was praised for rescuing an elderly woman from a fire.

The Moreno family thanks members of Kent's Sikh community who turned out to honor Kent Police Officer Diego Moreno, Wednesday, July 25, 2018 in Kent, Wash. A vigil and memorial for fallen Kent Police Officer Diego Moreno was held at Town Square Plaza. Three teenage suspects have been charged in the fatal police chase that led to a suburban Seattle officer being struck and killed by another pursuing officer in a patrol car. (Dean Rutz/The Seattle Times via AP)

Candles are lit for Kent Police Officer Diego Moreno at a vigil, Wednesday, July 25, 2018 in Kent, Wash. A vigil and memorial for fallen Kent Police Officer Diego Moreno was held at Town Square Plaza. Three teenage suspects have been charged in the fatal police chase that led to a suburban Seattle officer being struck and killed by another pursuing officer in a patrol car. (Dean Rutz/The Seattle Times via AP)HUMMELSTOWN, Pa. (AP) - Floodwaters began to recede in central Pennsylvania on Thursday, leaving behind a film of mud and headaches for motorists trying navigate around dozens of roads closed to traffic.

Skies were clear after five days of downpours that brought a foot of rain or more to a swath of Pennsylvania from York County along the Maryland line to the Williamsport region in the north. Thunderstorms are forecast for Friday.

Residents along the Swatara Creek in Hummelstown said it crested about 2 a.m. The Hersheypark amusement park just upstream remained closed but was expected to reopen Friday.

A member of the Plymouth Township Fire Police makes his way through water running across U.S. Route 11 Wednesday evening, July 25, 2018, in West Nanticoke, Pa. as extended downpours caused roadway flooding from mountainside runoff. (Dave Scherbenco/The Citizens' Voice via AP)

"This is a disaster," said medical school professor Arun Das as he photographed the Swatara Creek not far from his home, ticking off the major roads that remained impassible. "Grandview, closed, Route 39, closed, 740, closed."

A few blocks away, retired government contractor Rick Flage, whose home borders the stream, said the waters were about 9 feet lower than after the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee, which ruined several of his neighbors' homes in 2011.

"We just have to clean up," Flage said Thursday. "No big deal - we have plenty of time."

At least one death was attributed to the storm. The Adams County coroner said an 18-year-old who was missing since Sunday was likely stranded by high water in the Biglerville area, then was swept away when he attempted to get out of his van and walk.

State police said water conditions remained too dangerous to conduct an all-out search of the Conewago Creek near Elizabethtown for a 19-year-old woman last seen Monday while trying to cross the swollen stream, but aerial and searches continued.

Fewer than 10 people showed up Wednesday at a Red Cross shelter at Hershey High School, mostly for a meal and shower, but one family spent the night, said disaster program specialist Kam Kobeissi. The Red Cross closed the shelter by lunchtime Thursday.

A spokesman for Dauphin County said officials were working with the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency to determine the extent of property damage.

Officials said about 120 state roads were still closed and about 3,000 Pennsylvanians were without power. Most National Guard troops were taken off flood response, with the exception of a single high-water vehicle.

In Tremont, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) northeast of Harrisburg, floodwaters caused catastrophic damage to the American Legion Post building, and a Family Dollar store was expected to be closed for a week after getting several inches of water, the Pottsville Republican Herald reported. A collapsed road in Tower City opened up a 5-foot hole.

The popular Falls Trail at Ricketts Glen State Park, a trek marked by steep waterfalls, was badly damaged by the rain and closed to the public indefinitely.

A retaining wall along the Codorus Creek gave way at a major bridge in York City, closing a lane of traffic. Officials blamed it on the heavy rains.

People stop to photograph water on Sandbeach Road as flooding from the Swatara Creek covers a portion of it Wednesday, July 25, 2018, in Hershey, Pa. Days of drenching rains are closing roads, sending creeks and streams over their banks and causing businesses and to shut down in central Pennsylvania. (Sean Simmers/The Patriot-News via AP)CANTON, N.C. (AP) - The Latest on the death of an employee at a scenic North Carolina inn (all times local):

5:15 p.m.

The owner of a scenic North Carolina inn says his workers are devastated after one of the employees was charged with killing another one.

This undated photo provided by the Buncombe City-County Bureau of Identification shows Derek Shawn Pendergraft. A female cook who went missing at a scenic North Carolina inn was killed by co-worker Pendergraft during a hike and left along a path near the famed Blue Ridge Parkway, federal authorities said Thursday, July 26, 2018. (Buncombe City-County Bureau of Identification via AP)

Owner Bruce O'Connell says there are grief counselors for his approximately 100 employees after their co-worker was found dead on Tuesday. He said he has owned and operated the Pisgah Inn since 1979.

O'Connell said that the group is tight-knit and that many travel around to work seasonal jobs at resorts year-round.

Federal court documents filed Thursday say Derek Shawn Pendergraft faces a charge of second-degree murder in the death of a female cook. The 20-year-old faces a maximum of life in prison if convicted.

Sara Ellis, 29, was reported missing Tuesday night. Authorities say she was found several hours later near a path to employee housing.

___

1:10 p.m.

An employee at a scenic North Carolina inn has been charged with killing a co-worker whose body was found this week along a path near the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Federal court documents filed Thursday say Derek Shawn Pendergraft faces a charge of second-degree murder in the death of a female cook at the Pisgah Inn. The 20-year-old faces a maximum of life in prison if convicted.

Sara Ellis, 29, was reported missing Tuesday night, according to an FBI news release. Authorities say she was found several hours later near a path to employee housing.

Pendergraft was in federal custody, and he was schedule to appear in court Thursday.

The federal public defender's office said it didn't have information on whether Pendergraft has an attorney.

___

10:15 a.m.

An employee's death at a North Carolina inn along the famed Blue Ridge Parkway is being investigated as a homicide after federal agents found signs of foul play.

An FBI news release says 29-year-old Sara Ellis was found dead Tuesday night off a path to Pisgah Inn employee housing. She was reported missing several hours earlier by a manager. A path to staff accommodation leads up a wooden staircase and through foliage, according to the hotel website.

The Seminole, Florida, resident had worked as a cook since May at the inn that's run privately under a National Park Service contract. The website says it offers seasonal employment April to October.

The inn at a 5,000-foot (1.5 kilometers) elevation was named best national park lodge by USA Today readers in 2015.CAIRO (AP) - Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Thursday ratified a bill that could immunize senior military officers from future prosecution related to violence after the 2013 military overthrow of an elected but divisive Islamist president.

The law, published in the official gazette Thursday, grants senior military officers selected by el-Sissi rewards including immunity from investigation for alleged offenses after the suspension of Egypt's former constitution in July 3, 2013 until parliament assumed its duties on Jan. 10, 2016.

Former president Mohammed Morsi was ousted on July 3, 2013.

Any legal action against the selected officers requires permission from the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces under the new law. They are also privileged with "special immunities" like those granted to diplomats.

General-turned-president el-Sissi led the military's overthrow of Morsi, who hailed from the now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, following mass protests against his rule. Morsi's ouster was followed by a series of violent confrontations between security forces and Morsi's supporters, including one outside a military installation in Cairo in which dozens were killed.

On Aug. 14, 2013, security forces violently dispersed two Cairo encampments supporting Morsi. Hundreds were killed. Rights groups over the years have since denounced the encampments' violent dispersal. Human Rights Watch said the killings "likely amounted to crimes against humanity."

Since Morsi's overthrow, Egypt has launched a severe crackdown on Brotherhood members and supporters, arresting many and trying them on terrorism related charges. The Brotherhood was later designated a "terrorist organization."NEW YORK (AP) - Ciao, foreign stocks.

Spooked by the threat of a global trade war, U.S. investors withdrew nearly $10 billion from international stock funds last month, according to Morningstar. The last time that much money left the group was in 2008, when the global economy was in the throes of the Great Recession.

It's a sharp turnaround from prior years, when investors were eager to snap up foreign stocks and diversify their holdings away from U.S.-heavy portfolios. Stocks abroad looked like more sensible purchases, the thinking went, because their prices were cheaper than U.S. stocks, relative to the profits they were producing.

Investor sits at private stock trading boards at a private stock market gallery in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Asian shares are mostly lower after President Donald Trump agreed with the EU to hold off on new tariffs. The easing of tensions with Europe could bode ill for a compromise with Beijing over trade. Japan's Nikkei 225 edged 0.1 percent lower and Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.6 percent on Thursday despite a buoyant day on Wall Street. (AP Photo/Yam G-Jun)

In addition, stimulus from central banks was helping to lift economic growth around the world.

But many foreign markets have tailed off this year on worries that tough talk from Washington will lead to more barriers to global trade. The concerns stretch from the two nearest U.S. trading partners, Mexico and Canada, out to Europe and Asia.

Investors are particularly concerned about companies from emerging economies, such as China, Brazil and Turkey.

Roughly $8 billion of last month's withdrawals were due to investors pulling out of emerging-market stock funds alone.

Making things more volatile is the uncertainty of how much pain a trade war will actually cause.

Investors have been flipping back and forth between thinking the sides will settle their differences or engage in a punishing, escalating match of tariffs that undercuts profits and growth. In the latest ebb, U.S. and European leaders on Wednesday agreed to hold off on new tariffs, which raised some cautious optimism.

An investor stands in front of private stock trading boards at a private stock market gallery in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Thursday, July 26, 2018. Asian shares are mostly lower after President Donald Trump agreed with the EU to hold off on new tariffs. The easing of tensions with Europe could bode ill for a compromise with Beijing over trade. Japan's Nikkei 225 edged 0.1 percent lower and Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.6 percent on Thursday despite a buoyant day on Wall Street. (AP Photo/Yam G-Jun)DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) - The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local):

4:05 p.m.

President Donald Trump is defending his treatment of NATO allies at a summit earlier this month and is blaming the media for mischaracterizing it.

President Donald Trump speaks on trade at Granite City Works Steel Coil Warehouse, Thursday, July 26, 2018, Granite City, Ill. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Trump told steelworkers in Granite City, Illinois, on Thursday that it's wrong to suggest he was too tough on members of the decades-old military alliance and too nice to Russia during his European trip.

Trump maintains that NATO is "better for Europe than it is for us." But he argues he strengthened the alliance by forcing members to commit to higher defense spending.

During the summit, Trump was widely criticized, even by fellow Republicans, for suggesting he saw little value in the alliance and for failing to condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin for interfering in the 2016 election.

___

3:40 p.m.

President Donald Trump is lamenting decades of U.S. trade policy as he addresses steel workers in Illinois.

Trump tells workers gathered at U.S. Steel's Granite City Works' Steel Coil Warehouse that other countries were able to target U.S. workers and companies and steal U.S. intellectual property.

He says past leaders allowed the U.S. trade deficit to balloon and complains: "They surrendered."

He says, "If you don't have steel, you don't have a country."

Trump has taken aggressive action on trade, slapping tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. That has prompted retaliatory action from countries that farmers and others worry will hurt their bottom lines.

Trump is also expected to tour Granite City Works' Hot Strip Mill before returning to Washington on Thursday evening.

___

3:25 p.m.

President Donald Trump is celebrating a U.S. steel company's decision re-employ hundreds of laid-off workers at a mill outside St. Louis.

Trump says he's in Granite City, Illinois, on Thursday "to celebrate a victory."

U.S. Steel has credited Trump's decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports for its decision in March to fire up a local furnace that had sat idle for more than two years. Trump is highlighting the company's action as an example of how his "America First" economic policies are benefiting U.S. workers.

He says workers are back on the job in Illinois after years of shutdowns and cutbacks. He says, "We are once again pouring new American steel into the spine of our country."

___

1:50 p.m.

President Donald Trump is claiming a trade breakthrough with European allies as he visits Iowa, a state where farmers are suffering under tariffs imposed by China in retaliation for Trump's protectionist policies.

Trump tells an audience at Northeast Iowa Community College that, "We just opened up Europe for you."

He says farmers will now have access to a big, new market and he is taking credit for the change.

The comments come a day after Trump's meeting with European Union Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (zhahn-KLOHD' YUN'-kur). The U.S. and EU agreed to open talks to tear down trade barriers, and Trump said the EU agreed to buy more soybeans from American farmers.

Trump has enacted tariffs that have been criticized by farmers and manufacturers who warn a global trade war and retaliatory tariffs from countries like China, Mexico and Canada will damage their livelihoods.

___

1:30 p.m.

President Donald Trump plans to sign legislation to reauthorize a program that provides money for job training and related programs for students.

That's according to his daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump, who is with him at a workforce development event in Dubuque, Iowa.

Congress last authorized the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act in 2006. Lawmakers passed the bill Wednesday.

Ivanka Trump says it will help 11 million students and workers across the country acquire the technical skills they need to thrive in an increasingly digital economy.

She says it will be "transformative" for education across the country.

After she said Trump will sign the measure into law next week, he joked: "Unless I don't sign it. Maybe I'll veto it."

Supporters cheer as President Donald Trump speaks on trade at Granite City Works Steel Coil Warehouse, Thursday, July 26, 2018, Granite City, Ill. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks about trade at Granite City Works Steel Coil Warehouse Thursday, July 26, 2018, Granite City, Ill. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Ivanka Trump, right, and Gov. Kim Reynolds, R-Iowa, center, look on as President Donald Trump holds up a "Make Our Farmers Great Again" hat during a roundtable discussion on workforce development at Northeast Iowa Community College, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Peosta, Iowa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump participates in a tour of an advanced manufacturing lab with Ivanka Trump, second from left, and Gov. Kim Reynolds, R-Iowa, third from left, at Northeast Iowa Community College, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Peosta, Iowa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump walks to his vehicle after arriving at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in St. Louis, Mo. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)PEACHTREE CORNERS, Ga. (AP) - With the Georgia governor's race now set, Republican Brian Kemp and Democrat Stacey Abrams returned to the campaign trail Thursday, where their approaches proved just as different as their starkly contrasting policies.

Kemp, hoping to unite his party on the heels of a divisive primary runoff, wasted no time before attacking his opponent, while Abrams mainly focused on jobs while seeking to reintroduce herself to Georgia voters after being out of the spotlight for two months.

The race between Kemp, a hard-line white conservative, and Abrams, a self-declared progressive black woman, is set to be among the most closely watched of the November midterms.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, second from right, is introduced to applause from Republican gubernatorial nominee and Secretary of State Brian Kemp, third from left, during a unity rally, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Peachtree Corners, Ga. (AP Photo/John Amis)

Secretary of State Kemp headlined a Republican "unity rally" Thursday night in a half-full ballroom at a hotel in Peachtree Corners, a suburb north of Atlanta.

U.S. Senator David Perdue, U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson and sitting Gov. Nathan Deal were all in attendance. So too was Kemp's opponent in the bruising GOP runoff, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, who spoke in favor of the man he had days earlier called incompetent and devoid of ideas for the state.

One after one, the speakers framed the race as a battle for the soul of the state against liberals, who they say are largely outside Georgia, trying to steer the state wrong.

"The march to socialism will not come through the state of Georgia," Perdue said after calling Abrams "the most radical liberal."

"We have one mission tonight and that is to defeat Stacey Abrams and keep Georgia red," Kemp boomed at the rally. "She's backed by billionaires and socialists that want to make Georgia into California," Kemp said, to loud cries of "NOOOOO" back from the audience.

Abrams, meanwhile, refrained from engaging Kemp or his supporter-in-chief - President Donald Trump - as she kicked off her campaign for the general election Thursday in Pooler, Georgia, far from the state's Democratic base in Atlanta.

The Democrat, who is seeking to become the first black woman elected a U.S. governor, focused on jobs as she visited a union apprenticeship program for ironworkers near Savannah.

Largely out of sight since she won Georgia's Democratic primary May 22, Abrams said she was returning to the campaign trail well outside Atlanta to assure residents across the state that she wants them to prosper as much as those living in the "economic engine" of Georgia's capital city.

"I'm not running to be the governor of Atlanta," Abrams said. "I'm running to be the governor of all of Georgia."

Asked by a reporter about how she plans to defeat Kemp, Abrams replied: "I'm going to win that election." She also dodged a question about Trump, who on Wednesday used Twitter to call Abrams an "open border, crime loving" candidate.

But Abrams, a former state House leader, was willing to discuss her policy differences with Republicans.

While promoting small business growth, Abrams promised to ensure Georgia is "an open and inclusive state" and to fight any proposals that would "take us backwards or would discriminate against Georgians" - a reference to past attempts by GOP lawmakers to pass so-called "religious liberty" bills that critics say would let businesses deny service to LGBT people.

She also said she would oppose "programs that use our law enforcement to enforce federal immigration laws." And while never mentioning Trump by name, Abrams said new tariffs on U.S. trade partners are hurting workers - from farmers in rural Georgia to dockworkers at the booming Port of Savannah.

"Tariffs are an important conversation," Abrams said. "But creating a trade war unnecessarily makes no sense, especially when Georgians are being harmed every single day."

___

Bynum reported from Pooler, Georgia.

Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams watches a student cut metal with a torch during a campaign stop at the Ironworkers Local 709 apprenticeship shop to announce her "Jobs for Georgia Plan", Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Pooler, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

Georgia Secretary of State and Republican gubernatorial nominee Brian Kemp, left, talks to outgoing Gov. Nathan Deal during a unity rally, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Peachtree Corners, Ga. (AP Photo/John Amis)

Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, left, meets with a group of employees at the Coastal Solar office during a campaign stop to announce her "Jobs for Georgia Plan", Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Hinesville, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp speaks during a unity rally, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Peachtree Corners, Ga. Kemp and fellow Republican Casey Cagle faced off in a heated gubernatorial primary runoff race which Kemp won. (AP Photo/John Amis)

Georgia Republican Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, left, and Secretary of State Brian Kemp celebrate during a unity rally, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Peachtree Corners, Ga. The pair faced off in a heated gubernatorial runoff race which Kemp won. (AP Photo/John Amis)

Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, center, talks with State Rep. Al Williams, left, and Site Systems Analyst Mike Croft, right, at the Coastal Solar office during a campaign stop to announce her "Jobs for Georgia Plan", Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Hinesville, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, center, jokes with State Representative Al Williams, left, at the Coastal Solar office during a campaign stop to announce her "Jobs for Georgia Plan", Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Hinesville, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams watches a student cut metal with a torch during a campaign stop at the Ironworkers Local 709 apprenticeship shop to announce her "Jobs for Georgia Plan", Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Pooler, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams watches a student cut metal with a torch during a campaign stop at the Ironworkers Local 709 apprenticeship shop to announce her "Jobs for Georgia Plan", Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Pooler, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, center, greets Clay Sikes, right, at the Coastal Solar office along with State Representative Al Williams, left, during a campaign stop to announce her "Jobs for Georgia Plan", Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Hinesville, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, left, meets with a group of employees at the Coastal Solar office during a campaign stop to announce her "Jobs for Georgia Plan", Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Hinesville, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, right, is given a tour by apprentice coordinator Derrick Sample, left, during a campaign stop at the Ironworkers Local 709 apprenticeship shop to announce her "Jobs for Georgia Plan", Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Pooler, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

Georgia Republican Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, left, and Secretary of State Brian Kemp shake hands during a unity rally, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Peachtree Corners, Ga. The pair faced off against each other in a heated gubernatorial runoff race which Kemp won. (AP Photo/John Amis)

Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp speaks during a unity rally, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Peachtree Corners, Ga. Kemp and fellow Republican Casey Cagle faced off in a heated gubernatorial primary runoff race which Kemp won. (AP Photo/John Amis)

Georgia Republican Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, left, and Secretary of State Brian Kemp celebrate during a unity rally, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Peachtree Corners, Ga. The pair faced off against each other in a heated gubernatorial runoff race which Kemp won. (AP Photo/John Amis)

Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, backed by family, speaks during a unity rally, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Peachtree Corners, Ga. Kemp and fellow Republican Casey Cagle, who was on hand, faced off in a heated gubernatorial primary runoff race which Kemp won. (AP Photo/John Amis)

Georgia Republican Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, left, and Secretary of State Brian Kemp celebrate during a unity rally, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Peachtree Corners, Ga. The pair faced off in a heated gubernatorial runoff race which Kemp won. (AP Photo/John Amis)

Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp speaks during a unity rally, Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Peachtree Corners, Ga. Kemp and fellow Republican Casey Cagle faced off in a heated gubernatorial primary runoff race which Kemp won. (AP Photo/John Amis)LONDON (AP) - Britain's Home Office has temporarily suspended cooperating with U.S. authorities on the handover of two British jihadis allegedly linked to the Islamic State group until a judge reviews a decision that would allow the pair to be tried in the United States.

Defense lawyers wrote the government this week after leaked documents showed that British officials were willing to hand over El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey without assurances the men would not be subject to the death penalty if they were convicted in an American court.

"We have agreed to a short-term pause," the Home Office said in a statement Thursday. "The government remains committed to bringing these people to justice, and we are confident we have acted in full accordance of the law."

FILE- In this file photo dated Friday, March 30, 2018, a Kurdish security officer escorts Alexanda Kotey, left, and El Shafee Elsheikh, who were allegedly among four British jihadis who made up a brutal Islamic State cell dubbed "The Beatles," at a security center in Kobani, Syria. According to leaked documents revealed Monday July 23, 2018, British officials are not requiring their U.S. counterparts to provide assurances that Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, will not be executed if convicted in U.S.. Britain typically does not send prisoners to other countries if they face possible execution. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, FILE)

Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey are suspected of being part of a notorious cell of British jihadis known for beheadings and barbaric treatment of hostages in Syria. The cell was nicknamed "The Beatles" because of their British accents. The British leader of the cell, Mohammed Emwazi, who was also known as "Jihadi John," was killed in a 2015 drone strike.

In 2014 and 2015, the group held more than 20 Western hostages in Syria and tortured many of them. It beheaded seven American, British and Japanese journalists and aid workers and a group of Syrian soldiers, boasting of the butchery in grisly videos.

Britain's The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported Monday that it had seen a letter from Home Secretary Sajid Javid to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions about the two militants, who have been in custody in Kurdish-controlled northeastern Syria since they were captured earlier this year.

The government pause came after lawyers for Elsheikh demanded a judicial review of the decision to allow the men to be put on trial in the U.S.

Attorneys Gareth Peirce and Anne McMurdie said they wrote the government to outline why the decision was unlawful and "setting out an urgent timetable" for the case to be heard in court.ATLANTA (AP) - A Georgia man accused of dragging an FBI agent alongside his truck to evade arrest near Atlanta has been arraigned on a federal assault charge.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Atlanta on Thursday said 26-year-old Cedrick Hill of Marietta, Georgia, dragged the agent for about a quarter-mile at high speeds. The agent underwent surgery and survived.

Prosecutors say Hill was a fugitive when agents found him Jan. 5 at a Sandy Springs hotel. They say he ran to his truck, and the agent became lodged in the driver-side door while trying to apprehend him.

Prosecutors say the agent was dangling from the door as Hill sped through the parking lot and hit another vehicle, breaking the agent's arm and femur. With his free hand, the agent managed to fire his gun, striking Hill twice.WASHINGTON (AP) - Nearly 6 in 10 Hispanic adults have had a difficult time communicating with a health care provider because of a language or cultural barrier, and when they do they often turn to outside sources for help, according to a new study conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The survey finds that half of those who have faced those barriers turned to a family member or to another health care provider for assistance. In addition, more than 1 in 4 looked to a translator, public resources in their community or online sources for help when they faced those issues.

Antonio Torres, 53, of Orlando, Florida, who is bilingual and legally blind, told The AP he regularly struggles to understand the medical terms used by doctors and nurses.

FILE - In this file photo taken Nov. 22, 2014, Blue Bridge Benefits LLC agent Patricia Sarabia, right, and Adolfo Briceno, left, with Spanish Speaking LLC, help a potential customer with Blue Cross Blue Shield at a kiosk promoting Obama Care at Compare Foods in Winston-Salem, N.C. A new poll finds that more than half of Hispanic adults have encountered a communication barrier in the health care system. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, file)

"When I tell them I don't understand them, they'll bring someone over to speak to me in Spanish and I don't understand them, either," said Torres, who is Puerto Rican and was raised in New York. "We didn't grow up speaking that formal Spanish, so I have no idea what they are saying."

At times, Torres said he even gets medicine with his name misspelled on the bottle. "And I don't know if I'm taking my medicine or someone else's," he said.

The language and cultural barriers in health care for Latinos are something advocates have been pointing out for years.

In 2014, for example, the Obama administration faced criticism following the rollout of the Spanish version of the federal health care website, CuidadoDeSalud.gov. The translations were so clunky and full of grammatical mistakes that critics say they must have been computer-generated. The website also translated "premium" into "prima," the Spanish word more commonly used to mean a female cousin among Mexican-Americans and Mexican immigrants.

Along with communication challenges, many Hispanics are concerned about language or cultural accommodations for people in their community who seek long-term care services.

Fewer than half say it would be easy for older Latinos in their area to find a nursing home or assisted living facility with staff that speaks their language, or to find a home health aide who does. Even fewer - less than 3 in 10 - say the same about finding long-term care providers who can prepare the kind of food they are used to. Some have concerns about finding nursing homes and assisted-living facilities that will respect their religious or spiritual beliefs, though fewer have the same concern about home health aides.

Torres said he's not confident he'll find a culturally sensitive nursing home when he's gets older. "I'd rather just live alone and poison myself by accident rather than stay in one of those homes right now," he said.

Like other older Americans, many Hispanics age 40 and older expect to rely on government programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid to pay for long-term care services, even though Medicare does not cover most nursing care or home health aides. But only about 2 in 10 think any of these programs will still be providing at least the same level of benefits five years from now. Just 15 percent of older Hispanics are very confident they will be able to pay for their own future long-term care needs.

The survey also finds that a large majority of older Hispanics are open to using at least one type of telemedicine to receive care, including phone consultations, text messages or video services like Skype, although older Hispanics are somewhat less likely than others in their age group to say they'd be comfortable using some types of telemedicine.

Gabriel Vargas, 41, of Lancaster, South Carolina, who is from Veracruz, Mexico, said he felt these resources in his area already were helping Latino residents. The growth of online options, he said, is breaking down the stigma held by Hispanics around regular checkups and preventative care.

"There's a nonprofit group here that goes out of its way to help," said Vargas, whose first language is Spanish. "Maybe 10 years ago, it was tough. But today I think it's become easier."

___

The survey was conducted March 13 to April 5 by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, with funding from the SCAN Foundation.

It involved interviews in English and Spanish with 1,522 adults nationwide who are members of NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population, including 458 Hispanic adults. Results from the full survey have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points, and plus or minus 9.5 percentage points for the Hispanic sample.

___

Contreras contributed to this report from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

___

Online:

AP-NORC Center: http://www.apnorc.org/TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - A civil rights group has sued 12 New Jersey school districts over enrollment practices that it says discriminate against children of immigrants who are living in the country illegally.

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey claims Thursday in the lawsuit that the districts require forms of state-issued identification that can only be obtained by someone who is a citizen or has a Social Security number.

The districts are spread across the state and include one charter school district. The ACLU says the selected districts have the most restrictive policies, but that several others in the state also impose improper requirements.

The ACLU has sued 13 other New Jersey districts in recent years over similar disputes. All those suits were settled after the districts agreed to change their policies.Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech titled "Keeping Abreast of the Trend of the Times to Achieve Common Development" at the BRICS Business Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa, July 25, 2018. (Xinhua/Wang Ye)

JOHANNESBURG, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said China is taking major steps to firmly support trade liberalization and open its market while addressing the BRICS Business Forum here on Wednesday.

China will host the first China International Import Expo in Shanghai this November, which will serve as a new platform for the world to access the Chinese market, Xi said.

He told the forum that over 130 countries and regions and more than 2,800 companies have confirmed participation in the expo by now, and over 150,000 buyers in and outside China are expected to attend this fair.

"I welcome business leaders from other BRICS and African countries to attend the Expo," Xi said.

China will also continue to vigorously pursue the Belt and Road Initiative to create new opportunities of social and economic development for participating countries and for them to implement the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, said the Chinese president.

The Belt and Road Initiative, guided by the principle of seeking shared benefits through extensive consultation and joint contribution, originated in China but belongs to the world, Xi said.

It is our sincere hope that other BRICS countries, African countries and other emerging markets and developing countries will forge strong partnerships with this initiative so that its benefits will reach more countries and their peoples, he said.

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[ Editor: Zhang Zhou ]WASHINGTON (AP) - A secret recording of Donald Trump discussing payments to a Playboy model has brought renewed attention to the question of whether - and how - he might have tried to block politically damaging stories ahead of the 2016 presidential election. But it's not clear that the tape, on its own, creates additional legal problems for the president.

The September 2016 conversation between Trump and his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, took place weeks after the National Enquirer's parent company reached a $150,000 deal to pay former Playboy model Karen McDougal for her story of a 2006 affair she says she had with Trump. The recording captures Trump and Cohen discussing acquiring the rights to McDougal's story and whether to pay by cash or check.

At issue is whether the payment the men are discussing was campaign-related and intended to influence the election, in which case it would likely be regarded as a contribution, or whether it was merely meant to shield the married Trump from an embarrassing revelation harmful to his personal life. Also important is whether the payment to McDougal from the Enquirer's parent company, American Media Inc., functioned as a backdoor campaign contribution or as a legitimate media company expense.

FILE - In this Sept. 19, 2017, file photo, Michael Cohen arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington. A secret recording between Donald Trump and Cohen discussing payments to a Playboy model has brought renewed attention to the question of whether the candidate and his lawyer sought to stymie politically damaging stories from women ahead of the 2016 presidential election. But it's not clear that the brief recording, on its own, creates additional legal problems for either man. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

"It's a piece of evidence. It's not a smoking gun," Rick Hasen, a campaign finance law expert at the University of California, Irvine, said of the recording. "It's relevant to the investigation, and it's relevant to considering whether Trump or Cohen or AMI committed campaign finance violations, but on its own, it does not constitute proof of any violation."

He added, "It does not establish either a motive to spend illegal or unreported money in violation of the campaign finance laws, and it doesn't establish that any money was actually paid for this purpose."

Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani has said the conversation wasn't campaign-related and that Trump and Cohen didn't make a payment to buy the rights.

The Justice Department has been investigating Cohen for months, raiding his home, office and hotel room in search of documents related to McDougal and a separate $130,000 payment the attorney facilitated before the election to Stormy Daniels, an adult-film actress who says she had sex with Trump in 2006.

Cohen, long a loyal counselor to the president, has more recently signaled that he'd be open to cooperating with prosecutors.

His lawyer, Lanny Davis, released the recording to CNN in a reflection of open discord with Trump. Trump's lawyers circulated a transcript of the call that challenged Davis' assessment of it.

Legal experts say the case raises murky issues, especially as investigators discern the motivations behind AMI's payment and the extent to which Cohen was involved in the arrangement.

Prosecutors could conclude that the Enquirer, which did not publish McDougal's story as part of a tabloid strategy known as "catch and kill," made the payment to aid Trump's election bid in violation of campaign finance regulations that bar corporations from making coordinated contributions.

"If they coordinated to suppress this story in order to help Trump's presidential campaign, that would be a campaign finance violation," said Andrew Herman, a Washington lawyer. "It could be a civil violation. It could be a criminal violation."

AMI, however, could argue that it was acting as a legitimate news organization and in the best interest of its readers by acquiring McDougal's story and withholding it from publication.

A key question for investigators will be whether the arrangements would have taken place even if Trump weren't a candidate because the primary purpose was to protect his reputation. Election references in the recording, including discussion of polls and anxiety over the possible release of Trump's divorce records from first wife Ivana, may create circumstantial evidence that the campaign was a central focus.

The brief recording is unclear as to the purpose of any proposed transaction.

"I think the election was certainly on everybody's mind, but that doesn't make anyone's acts an election contribution or expenditure," said Craig Engle, former general counsel to the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Daniel Petalas, former general counsel at the Federal Election Commission, said the recording could be valuable to prosecutors to the extent it reveals Trump's and Cohen's intent. A former Justice Department prosecutor, Petalas said it was notable Trump seemed concerned that divorce papers could be unsealed, suggesting sensitivity to not wanting embarrassing information out before the election.

He said even if the conversation alone doesn't establish wrongdoing, it could nonetheless be valuable to investigators reviewing the separate payment to Daniels as they examine a potential pattern to subvert campaign finance laws.

Lawyers for Trump and Cohen have made different representations about whether the recording shows Trump wanting to make the payment via cash or check. The Trump team's transcript says he said "don't pay with cash" and wanted it done by check. Davis has disputed that.

But that distinction probably doesn't matter.

"The question comes down to whether or not there's a payment, by any means, that violated the amount and source requirements of the law," Petalas said. "Paying by check doesn't change anything."

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Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/etuckerAPLAS VEGAS (AP) - A court-ordered delay of Nevada's first execution in 12 years over a drug company's bid to block the use of its product could have a ripple effect in the other 30 states that allow capital punishment, experts said Thursday.

"The Nevada case could stall executions in other states if other companies and organizations follow Alvogen's lead," said Deborah Denno, a Fordham University law professor who studies death penalty.

Denno referred to a lawsuit filed last week in Las Vegas by New Jersey-based pharmaceutical firm Alvogen that stopped Scott Raymond Dozier's scheduled execution July 11.

FILE - This Nov. 10, 2016, file photo released by the Nevada Department of Corrections shows the newly completed execution chamber at Ely State Prison in Ely, Nev. Nevada wants the state Supreme Court to overrule a judge's final-hours delay of the state's first execution in 12 years over a drug company's bid to block the use of its product. The appeal filed Wednesday, July 25, 2018, comes two weeks after twice-convicted killer Scott Raymond Dozier's execution was postponed for a second time. (Nevada Department of Corrections via AP, File)

Nevada's Attorney General Adam Laxalt's office on Wednesday raised the specter of syringe, intravenous equipment and even latex glove manufacturers mounting courthouse bids to block executions to protect company reputations and avoid criticism in an era of sharp public debate about executing inmates.

"Why not, for instance, the chef of the inmate's last meal? It's easy to see where this road leads," state Deputy Solicitor General Jordan T. Smith wrote in a 64-page appeal filed with the state Supreme Court.

The state is expected to also seek an expedited hearing.

The document revealed the Nevada Department of Corrections would have kept the Alvogen name secret, but was forced to disclose it after the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada filed a hurried public records lawsuit.

Alvogen spokesman Halldor Kristmannsson declined to comment Thursday.

The court filing states the difficulty the state had obtaining drugs for an execution and asks justices to overrule Clark County District Court Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez's temporary order banning the state from using the Alvogen drug midazolam for a lethal injection.

"Without midazolam, NDOC no longer had (or has) the means to carry out the execution," the appeal said.

It noted that Gonzalez was deciding whether the company had a legal right "to decide not to do business with someone, including the government, especially if there's a fear of misuse of their product."

It acknowledged that Gonzalez concluded there was a reasonable probability that Alvogen would "suffer irreparable damages, including damages to its business reputation" if its drug was used in an execution.

But it said the judge's ruling "will not only prevent the execution of Dozier ... it will also open the floodgates for yet another nationwide wave of death penalty litigation that will stall capital sentences indefinitely."

The state argues it didn't do business with Alvogen, but got the drug from a third party, its usual prisons pharmaceutical supplier, Cardinal Health.

Cardinal Health officials did not respond to messages Thursday.

"Neither the state nor the third-party distributor needed an elaborate ruse or 'subterfuge' to evade supposed manufacturer sale 'control,'" the court filing said. "No controls existed, despite the manufacturer's public relations comments to the contrary."

Manufacturers "do not retain a property interest in products that their distributors resell," the document declared, "and they cannot sue states to recover lawfully purchased drugs."

Robert Dunham, at the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C., characterized the court fight as "a property dispute with life at stake."

"This is not a stay of execution," Dunham said. "It's a temporary restraining order on the use of the drug. The fact that it stops the execution is secondary."PIERRE, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota's Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a man who got a harsher prison sentence after he flipped the bird at the judge in his case.

The high court on Wednesday upheld the sentence of 39-year-old Shawn Ross, who had agreed to plead guilty to burglary for trying to pry a change machine off a Chamberlain car wash wall in 2017.

The circuit judge sentenced Ross to five years in prison with 3 years suspended. But after the judge saw Ross flip him off as he left the courtroom, he re-imposed the suspended time.

When Ross filed for re-sentencing, the judge relented but reduced the suspended portion by two months. The high court upheld that sentence.

Ross could be released in November.PHOENIX (AP) - An Arizona Republican congressman sought to arrange a meeting with the state's governor to discuss interest in replacing ailing Sen. John McCain within hours of reports the former presidential candidate had been hospitalized last December, a newspaper reported Thursday.

Rep. Paul Gosar's chief of staff, Thomas Van Flein, conveyed the northern Arizona congressman's interest in replacing McCain, R-Arizona, to Gov. Doug Ducey's then-attorney, Mike Liburdi, a day after a December 2017 announcement that McCain had been hospitalized following his cancer treatment, The Arizona Republic reported .

The newspaper obtained a transcript of texts from the governor's office in response to a June 12 request under the Arizona Public Records Law.

The Republic said the brief text exchange began at 11:56 a.m. Dec. 14, less than 24 hours after reports of McCain's hospitalization in Bethesda, Maryland.

"In a meeting, I'll call you back," Liburdi wrote to Gosar's chief of staff.

It is unclear whether he was responding to a phone call, text message or some other form of communication.

Gosar's chief of staff responded, "Ok! Just calling to let u know Gosar is interested in the McCain seat and he wants to talk with your boss."

The requested conversation did not occur, said Daniel Ruiz, a senior adviser to Ducey.

Van Flein said Wednesday that he wanted to set up a meeting "so Congressman Gosar could chat with the governor" given the aggressiveness of McCain's diagnosis, "and that responsible people needed to make plans for transitions."

McCain's hospitalization came amid speculation about his future, following his July 2017 diagnosis of glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer.

The sitting governor would pick McCain's replacement in the event McCain's seat was to open because of his resignation or death. There has been no widespread call for the 81-year-old McCain to resign.

McCain has remained in Arizona since December, and regularly issues tweets about his opinions involving President Donald Trump.

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Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.comMONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - A judge refused to grant immunity Thursday to a white Alabama police officer who said he was acting in self-defense when he fatally shot an unarmed black man in 2016.

Montgomery police officer Aaron Cody Smith will go on trial next month on murder charges for the death of 58-year-old Greg Gunn.

Montgomery Judge Greg Griffin made the decision to deny immunity after a hearing in which Smith described an escalating confrontation and what he said was his fear for his life because Gunn was "arming himself" with a painter's pole, WSFA reported.

FILE - In this Thursday, March 24, 2016, file photo, Montgomery Police Officer Aaron Smith, left, arrives for a hearing at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Montgomery, Ala. On Thursday, July 26, 2018, a judge refused to grant immunity to Smith, who said he was acting in self-defense when he fatally shot an unarmed black man in 2016. Smith will go on trial in August on murder charges for the death of 58-year-old Greg Gunn. (Albert Cesare/The Montgomery Advertiser via AP, File)

"I have to admit to you I didn't find the officer's testimony credible," Griffin said. "I don't feel you have met the burden of proof. This trial will proceed on August 13."

The February 2016 shooting happened after Smith stopped Gunn as Gunn was walking through his neighborhood.

Smith testified he was "absolutely" in fear of his life when he made the decision to shoot, the station reported. He said Gunn swatted his hand away during a frisk and then ran from him. Smith said he first tried a stun gun and baton to control him. Smith said he pulled his weapon because he thought Gunn was arming himself with a six-foot (1.8-meter) painter's pole from a front porch.

"He went from trying to get away from me - and everything I've tried to do to stop him is not working; taser is useless, baton is useless, telling him to get on the ground is completely useless - and now he's arming himself, and I felt completely threatened on the front porch," Smith testified according to the Montgomery Advertiser .

Gunn was shot five times.

Smith said he stopped Gunn, who was walking, because the patrol district had been "tore up" with burglaries and had been directed in pre-shift roll call meetings to "stop anyone and anything that moves in the district," the Montgomery Advertiser reported.

Smith said he believed he did everything right, the newspaper reported.

"With how I'm being treated being in my district doing my job, it would have been a whole lot easier to turn on my music, text my girlfriend, stay in my car and never get out of the car in the first place," Smith said, according to the newspaper. "I'd still be working, I'd still be on the street doing my job. But I chose to do my job at 3 in the morning with nobody looking over my shoulder and I've been railroaded for it."A husband and wife accused of child rape who had been on the run from authorities for almost two decades were finally tracked down this week.

Leon Shaw and wife Victoria Cravitz, from Oregon, fled their Oregon homes in 2000 after being accused of sexually abusing four children, including Cravitz's daughter.

She was arrested in Mississippi on Wednesday after Shaw died of an infection in hospital and she used one of his wanted aliases to try and arrange his funeral.

Victoria Cravitz (left in an undated mugshot, right this week) went on the run from her Oregon home in 2000 after she and husband Leon Shaw were accused of sexually abusing four young girls, including her biological daughter. She was arrested in Mississippi this week

She is now being extradited to Oregon where she was previously charged with three counts of first-degree rape and one count of first-degree sodomy.

If convicted, the 56-year-old can expect to spend the rest of her life behind bars.

Police were first alerted to Shaw and Cravitz in 1999, when three people claiming to be previous victims of the couple contacted officers.

The trio said they were concerned that three children who were still in the couple's care were also being abused, the Herald and News reports.

Police subsequently accused Shaw and Cravitz of abusing four girls aged between six and 17 between 1989 and 1999.

One of the victims was Cravitz's biological daughter. Officers say the couple forced two 10-year-olds to have sex with each other, while at least one child was raped by an adult.

One of the victims said she was kidnapped by the couple, impregnated by Shaw, and was forced to give birth to his child.

She managed to escape from the couple, but was forced to leave her child behind.

Police issued a warrant to search the couple's home in 1999, prompting them to flee to California, where Cravitz's parents lived.

They were charged in 2000, with Shaw facing five counts of first-degree rape, four counts of first-degree sexual abuse and two counts of first-degree sodomy.

Cravitz was caught after Shaw (pictured in 1988) died in hospital while suffering from an infection. While arranging his funeral, Cravitz gave an undertaker a wanted alias, which allowed FBI agents to swoop on her

However, authorities were unable to track them down, and they remained on the run for years.

At one point, authorities believed the pair had moved to Alaska, but never got any concrete leads.

Their guise was blown when Shaw was taken to a hospital in Washington County, Mississippi, where he died.

Cravitz used one of his aliases to make funeral arrangements, but when an undertaker entered it into a database he appeared on the FBI's most-wanted list.

FBI agents moved in and arrested Cravitz. She had been living under the name Jennifer Larsen.

The couple apparently had lived south of Greenville, Mississippi, for about 15 years and supported themselves through Cravitz's work cleaning houses and Shaw's woodworking art.

'They had been on the run for a long time. They always lived in rural areas,' district attorney Eve Costello said.

'They didn't have a lot of contact with people and they moved constantly.'

Cravitz made an initial court appearance in Jackson, Mississippi, Thursday on a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution and is expected to be returned to Oregon.

Federal court documents show she waived a hearing to determine her identity, as well as a preliminary hearing, and was ordered transferred by the judge.RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - Brazil's President Michel Temer has asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to eliminate China's surtaxes on the sugar and chicken Brazil exports to China.

The two leaders are in Johannesburg attending the annual summit of the group of BRICS emerging economies comprised of Russia, South Africa, India, China and Brazil.

At a Thursday press conference Temer, said he asked Xi to end the surtaxes so that Brazil could increase its exports.

He added that Xi said he would study the possibility of allowing Brazil to also export soybean oil and meal.

Temer said that he and Xi also discussed Chinese investments in Brazilian airports and energy projects.

Temer's comments at the press conference were released by his press office.BALTIMORE (AP) - A former Episcopal bishop who was drunk when she fatally struck a bicyclist with her vehicle in Baltimore has applied to work outside prison.

The Baltimore Sun reports the Maryland prison system sent a letter July 19 to the victim's family. It says it's reviewing Heather Cook's application to leave prison during the day.

Public Safety and Correctional Services spokesman Gerard Shields told the Sun that Cook is first undergoing a medical examination "to determine if she can work."

FILE - In this April 3, 2015, file photo, Episcopal Bishop Heather Cook leaves Baltimore City Circuit Court in Baltimore with attorney Jose Moline after her arraignment. Cook, a former Episcopal bishop who was drunk when she fatally struck a bicyclist with her vehicle in Baltimore, has applied to work outside prison. The Baltimore Sun reports the Maryland prison system sent a letter July 19, 2018, to the victim's family. It says it's reviewing Cook's application to leave prison during the day. (AP Photo/Juliet Linderman, File)

Alisa Rock, a sister-in-law of victim Thomas Palermo, said in an email to the newspaper that she opposes Cook's application. She says Cook is trying to "limit the consequences of her actions" in the 2014 crime.

Cook pleaded guilty to automobile manslaughter, leaving the scene of a crash and other violations.

___

Information from: The Baltimore Sun, http://www.baltimoresun.comENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) - Rachael Haber only intended to stay a few minutes when she stopped by the basement apartment of a traveling friend to check on her pet cat.

While she was there Tuesday, a small but intense storm hit the area south of Denver, unleashing a torrent of rain that rushed through streets and backyards while flooding basements.

Officials say the 32-year-old Haber got trapped and drowned.

A sodden donkey doll rests on top of belongings recovered from a flooded basement apartment Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Englewood, Colo. A friend of the renter died in the basement apartment Tuesday, after a small but intense storm flooded it. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

"I'm sure she was down there trying to take care of the cat and get the cat out," her husband Sean Haber said, describing his wife as one of the kindest, most intelligent people he had ever known.

In a statement, the city of Englewood said the flood was a 100-year event, with an estimated 2.5 inches of rain falling in the area in 30 minutes.

The storm was localized and remained over the area until the cooling effect of the rain created wind to move it along, National Weather Service meteorologist Russell Danielson said.

Haber was found after concerned residents in an upstairs unit called police. Officers, including one who is nearly 7 feet tall, found Haber in water that had reached the ceiling of the basement.

She was unresponsive and was pronounced dead the next day at a hospital.

On Thursday, Sean Haber said he has trouble understanding how his wife could be taken away so quickly in such an unexpected way, especially when other parts of the Denver area did not get any rain.

Haber said his wife, who often worked late to help patients, recently got a master's degree in business and planned to go into hospital administration and advocate for people dealing with the complicated health care system.

Abigael Froelich, a friend of the woman who lives in the basement apartment, spent Thursday morning with other women clad in knee-high rain boots sorting through soaked and stained items.

They were looking for anything salvageable in the water-logged unit, where leaves and other debris still stuck to the walls and ceiling. Drying mud coated the patterned tile on the rear landing and stairs.

"It's devastating down there," Froelich said, her voice quivering. "You walk down and you feel completely overwhelmed."

Froelich, 28, said tenant Kembra Allen was visiting family in California and could not get back immediately. Allen described Haber as her best friend and asked Haber to look after Samson, Froelich said. The black-and-white cat also died in the flooding.

The Associated Press was not able to immediately reach Allen.

Quick-moving afternoon thunderstorms are typical in Colorado in mid-summer as moisture from the Gulf of California and Gulf of Mexico is drawn into the U.S. West for monsoon season.

However, an unusual low pressure system parked over the Midwest - which has led to heavy rain in the East - is contributing to storms over Colorado, Danielson said. The pattern is expected to continue into next week.

Standing outside and looking down a set of stairs into the basement apartment, Froelich said she could imagine rushing water making it impossible to get out.

Other neighbors lugged damaged items from three affected houses nearby onto front porches or into sun-soaked yards to dry. None of the residences had power, so people have been forced to find housing elsewhere. Those three homes also had basement apartments.

Beth Minnick owns a home across the street from the dwelling where Haber was found and rents out a basement apartment. Minnick said she has tried to get flood insurance for the property but was denied because the area isn't on a federally approved flood map.

Minnick said a father and his 21-year-old son who rent the basement unit were home during the storm and described water rising to their chests in seconds. They were able to escape safely, but several pet birds died, she said.

"They're traumatized," Minnick said of the tenants.

___

News Researcher Rhonda Shafner contributed from New York.

Gerald Rice watches as Andres Martin works to pump water out of Rice's home in Englewood, Colo. Flooding due to a sudden storm on Tuesday, July 24 caused severe flood damage to several houses in the neighborhood. (Skyler Ballard/The Denver Post via AP)

Daryl H. Sommers, front, joins Abigael Froelich in clearing out the belongings from the flooded basement apartment of a friend Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Englewood, Colo. A friend of the renter died in the basement apartment Tuesday, after a small but intense storm flooded it. Officials say Rachael Haber, 32, got trapped and drowned. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Debris clogs the bottom grille of a Subaru Forester after floodwaters from a severe summer storm Tuesday swamped the car and an adjacent basement apartment Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Englewood, Colo. A friend of the car owner and renter died in the basement apartment Tuesday when a small but intense storm flooded it and trapped the 32-year-old woman inside. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Abigael Froelich, left, and Daryl H. Sommers bag up items salvaged from a friend's basement apartment that was flooded Tuesday during a clean-up effort Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Englewood, Colo. A friend of the renter died in the basement apartment Tuesday, after a small but intense storm flooded it. Officials say Rachael Haber, 32, got trapped and drowned. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

The water line hangs over the steep steps leading down to a basement apartment that was flooded Tuesday as clean-up efforts continued Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Englewood, Colo. A friend of the renter died in the basement apartment Tuesday, after a small but intense storm flooded it. Officials say Rachael Haber, 32, got trapped and drowned. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Belongings are scattered in the flooded basement apartment in which a woman died Tuesday as clean-up efforts continued Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Englewood, Colo. A friend of the renter died in the basement apartment after a small but intense storm flooded it. Officials say Rachael Haber, 32, got trapped and drowned. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Abigael Froelich, who was clearing out a friend's belongings from the flooded basement apartment, back, talks about the death by drowning of another friend in the structure as the recovery effort continued Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Englewood, Colo. A friend of the renter died in the basement apartment Tuesday, after a small but intense storm flooded it. Officials say Rachael Haber, 32, got trapped and drowned. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Beth Minnick, right, talks to a city employee about the flooding problem in the basement apartment of a home that she owns Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Englewood, Colo. A friend of the renter of a basement unit across the street died Tuesday when a small but intense storm summer storm flooded the basement apartment and trapped the 32-year-old woman inside. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Women who are part of the online group called "The Phish Chicks" who follow the rock band, Phish, help clear out the belongings from the flooded basement apartment of a fellow "Phish Chick" Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Englewood, Colo. A friend of the renter died in the basement apartment Tuesday, after a small but intense storm flooded it. Officials say Rachael Haber, 32, got trapped and drowned. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Abigael Froelich heads down the stairs to a basement apartment as belongings inside the dwelling are gathered on the front lawn during a recovery effort Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Englewood, Colo. A friend of the renter died in the basement apartment Tuesday, after a small but intense storm flooded it. Officials say Rachael Haber, 32, got trapped and drowned. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Women who are part of the online group called "The Phish Chicks" who follow the band, Phish, help clear out the belongings from the flooded basement apartment of a fellow "Phish Chick" Thursday, July 26, 2018, in Englewood, Colo. A friend of the renter died in the basement apartment late Tuesday when a summer storm packing large hail and heavy rains swamped the building and trapped the 32-year-old woman inside. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)The longest lunar eclipse of the century is set to take place on Friday and will see the Earths natural satellite turn blood red.

The celestial event, where the moon will line up with the Earth and sun, will be seen across the UK and other parts of the Eastern hemisphere.

Heres everything you need to know about the astronomical phenomenon:

What exactly is a blood moon?

The moon during a lunar eclipse

During the eclipse the moon is expected to take on a red sheen, with the phenomenon being described as the blood moon.

As Dr Gregory Brown, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, explains: At this time, the moon passes into the shadow of the Earth, blocking the light from the sun.

However instead of turning black as you might expect, the atmosphere of the Earth bends the light of the sun onto the moon causing it to turn a deep red colour, hence this events somewhat ominous moniker.

Why is it so special?

The moon

The lunar eclipse will be the longest in the 21st century, expected to last 103 minutes.

However, those living in the UK and Ireland will not be able to see the start of the lunar eclipse as the moon will still be below the horizon.

Dr Brown said: While more common than the solar eclipse, the event is nonetheless fairly unusual, with even partial eclipses rarely happening more than once or twice per year and each is only visible from a portion of the Earth.

Mars will add to the spectacle shining brightly below the blood moon as it reaches perihelic opposition  where the Red Planet and the sun are on directly opposite sides of Earth.

And those awake after 11pm will be able to catch a glimpse of the International Space Station (ISS), as it moves quickly across the sky from west to east. It will appear like a bright star, before fading from sight a few minutes later.

Whats the weather going to be like?

Rainclouds and thunderstorms could prevent skygazers from seeing the eclipse in some parts of the UK.

The Met Office has issued a thunderstorm warning from Friday afternoon that is expected to last until midnight.

Torrential downpours are forecast in places, with as much as 30mm expected to fall in just an hour and 60mm in three hours.

Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said: Its quite tricky at the moment to be precise but there is a potential for showers to develop across the eastern half of the UK.

There may be large areas where the sky is effectively covered by thunderclouds.

They will move through reasonably quickly but if that coincides with the peak moment of the eclipse, they could obscure the moon.

When is the best time to watch it?

For those lucky enough to have clear skies, moonrise will be at 8.49pm in London, 9.46pm in Glasgow, 9.02pm in Cardiff and 9.27pm in Belfast, with mid-eclipse occurring at 9.21pm and the total phase ending at around 10.13pm.

Dr Brown said: The eclipse will already be under way when the moon rises above the south eastern horizon at about 8.50pm and the total eclipse will end by about 10.15pm.

From that point onwards, the shadow of the Earth will slowly retreat across the lunar surface until the partial eclipse comes to completion.

The moon will remain in a very faint penumbral shadow for about an hour after that, but this is typically too light a shadow for the naked eye to notice the difference between that and the full moon that follows.

Where is the best place to see the eclipse?

People watch a blood red supermoon in the skies above Glastonbury Tor

According to Mr Madge, Wales, the south and west of England and most of Northern Ireland should have clear skies.

And for those living in thunderstorms warning areas hoping to catch a glimpse of the eclipse, he says having a clear night sky could be down to luck.

Mr Madge said: The thunderstorms will be quite widespread but not necessarily close together and its going to be down to fortune whether people in certain locations are able to see this astronomical spectacle.

Unlike a solar eclipse, the lunar event can be viewed without wearing protective eye gear.

Dr Brown said: As the entire eclipse will occur when the moon is fairly close to the horizon, the main thing to ensure is that you have a clear sightline to the south east.

Try to find an open space or high hilltop clear of trees and tall buildings around you.WASHINGTON, July 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said here Wednesday that he is committed to working with the Congress on a new Russia sanctions bill, after he issued a "Crimea Declaration" that rejected Russia's control of Crimea.

Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Pompeo said that he will support the bill to hold Russia accountable for its behaviors around the globe.

He confirmed the necessity to raise the cost of Moscow's alleged malpractice "if we can find the right places and the right leverage point."

Saying that sanctions focusing more on Russian individuals and oligarchs are necessary, Pompeo noted "that the things that impact the Russian economy are the things that I hear the Russians are most concerned."

He also said that Washington does not and will not recognize the Kremlin's control of Crimea.

"There will be no relief of Crimea-related sanctions until Russia returns control of the Crimean Peninsula to Ukraine," he said, noting the U.S. stance regarding Crimea is a "policy of nonrecognition."

Citing the 213 sanctions on Russian entities and individuals since the Trump administration assumed office, Pompeo said "with respect to Russia, this administration has been tougher than previous administrations, and I fully expect it will."

"The president ... will be their toughest enemy, most difficult enemy," he said.

The relations between Washington and Moscow have been strained over Ukraine, Syria, Iran, the poison attack of an ex-Russian spy in Britain, and Russia's alleged meddling in U.S. 2016 elections.

The two nations' presidents met earlier this month in Finland. However, due to the wide backlash inside the United States over President Donald Trump's remarks there, the White House announced earlier on Wednesday that the next meeting between Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will be delayed till next year.

In the Crimea Declaration, Pompeo said "the United States reaffirms as policy its refusal to recognize the Kremlin's claims of sovereignty over" Crimea.

Russia was expelled from the Group of Eight in 2014 and has since then endured sanctions of the West for its incorporation of Crimea.

[ Editor: Xueying ]A couple arrested on suspicion of the murder of their newborn daughter, who was found dead at a beauty spot, have been released on bail.

The 48-year-old father and 33-year-old mother were held on Wednesday, almost four months after the discovery of the baby by a dog walker in woodland in Heywood, near Rochdale, on April 4.

On Thursday, a spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said the pair had been released on bail pending further inquiries.

Police have been carrying out extensive inquiries including DNA analysis to find out what happened to the baby, named Pearl by detectives.

The two suspects, who sources confirmed are the childs parents, were arrested on suspicion of murder, concealing a birth and preventing a lawful burial.

Speaking on Wednesday, Detective Superintendent Lewis Hughes, said the investigation was continuing and urged anyone with information to come forward.

He said: This continues to be an incredibly heartbreaking case for everyone involved  from the detectives working painstaking hours to find those responsible to members of the public that have felt the loss of Pearl.

The baby was found in a remote area of Roch Valley Woods, which is popular with dog walkers and families, at around 7.10am on April 4.

Police at the scene in Heywood in April

Forensic examinations determined she was born with a congenital defect that resulted in her missing two ribs, was probably newborn and likely to be Caucasian, although mixed heritage cannot be ruled out.

She was found abandoned, unclothed, with no blanket or nappy. Detectives drafted in a behavioural psychologist and made numerous public appeals for information to try to identify her.

On Wednesday police said they were searching a premises on George Street in Heywood in connection with the investigation.

A small number of industrial units, about half a mile away from where the child was found, were cordoned off by police and an old white caravan was towed away.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 0161 856 4810 or 07387 705768 quoting incident number 368 of 04/04/18.

Reports can also be made anonymously through the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.Liverpool new boy Xherdan Shaqiri insists his conscience is clear after criticism of his attitude while with Stoke.

The Switzerland international managed eight goals and seven assists last season, leading the relegated Potters in both categories.

But his inconsistency led to disapproval from the likes of pundits Gary and Phil Neville, former England internationals, who respectively labelled him unprofessional and a disgrace.

Xherdan Shaqiri

Shaqiri, who moved to Anfield earlier this month for a fee understood to be 13million, is unconcerned by the pairs opinions.

He told several national newspapers: They were Man United players  maybe they dont like Liverpool. I dont know, it could be.

Some people like you, some dont. Ive played three years in the Premier League. Ive proved I can play in this league.

I was the top scorer in the team with goals and assists. For me, my conscience is clear and I dont have to comment any more on this.Boris Johnson has fired another broadside at Theresa Mays Brexit plans, branding them unworkable and calling on fellow Tory MPs to chuck Chequers.

The former foreign secretary  who walked out of the Cabinet days after signing up to the package at the Prime Ministers country residence  said Mrs Mays blueprint would leave the UK in vassalage, satrapy, colony status to the EU.

His comments came as website Buzzfeed reported that former Trump adviser Steve Bannon made contact with Mr Johnson during a recent trip to London.

A spokesman for Mr Johnson refused to comment on the report.

Mr Bannon, who is reportedly planning to set up an office in Brussels to bring Donald Trumps brand of right-wing populism to Europe, repeatedly praised Mr Johnson during interviews in the UK last week.

But he also talked up jailed far-right activist Tommy Robinson as the backbone of this country in a bust-up with a reporter on LBC radio.

Brexit

In his first public comment about Brexit since his resignation speech to the House of Commons last week, Mr Johnson said Mrs Mays plan for free trade in goods under a common rulebook with the EU cant and wont work.

Writing in The Spectator magazine, he said: You cant leave an organisation and still be bound by its rules. But that is what the Chequers white paper means.

It is vassalage, satrapy, colony status for the UK. For the first time in a thousand years our laws will be made overseas, enforced by a foreign court.

It cant and wont work. Chuck Chequers.

Mr Johnson also defended the decision, made jointly with Home Secretary Sajid Javid, not to seek assurances from the US that two British jihadis would not face the death penalty.

Kotey

He said Britain would have been happy to assist in the use of a drone to kill Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh if they had been located while still operating as Islamic State fighters.

Would the British state, in these circumstances, have connived in straightforward extrajudicial killing? Too damn right we would, wrote the former foreign secretary.

He pointed out that a drone strike was used to kill Mohammed Emwazi, another suspected member of the so-called Beatles cell responsible for the torture and murder of Western hostages.

Of course we legally justify these drone strike assassinations as preventative: to stop future acts of terror in Syria. But that scarcely masks the reality that killing them is also retributive  payback for the filmed executions of innocent people, said Mr Johnson.

So why do we support these extrajudicial killings, with no due process, and panic at what might happen in American court?

He warned that if they were not extradited for trial in the US, Kotey and Elsheikh could be simply set loose, like so many other jihadis, to roam the streets of London again.A fast-moving wildfire believed to have been started deliberately has destroyed five homes and forced evacuation orders to be issued for a California town.

The so-called Cranston Fire, which erupted on Wednesday in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles, burned hundreds of trees and in a matter of hours grew to more than seven square miles.

Authorities said it was threatening an estimated 600 homes.

The fire was the largest of at least five that police believe were started by a man whose car was spotted at the starting point of the blaze in Riverside County.

Brandon McGlover, 32, of Temecula, was arrested on suspicion of five counts of arson, state fire officials said.

Authorities ordered residents to leave Idyllwild and several neighbouring communities, home to about 12,000 people.

William Blodgett, of Idyllwild, said he could not get home because of the fire and had to wait along with others at a petrol station in nearby Mountain Center before the flames began to move in his direction.

We were all peeling out of there as fast as we could, he told KNBC-TV. It was apocalyptic.

Horses and other animals were taken to shelters as were several hundred children who were evacuated from summer camps. About 200 were at a local high school serving as a shelter, KCAL-TV reported.

California Wildfires

The fire in the San Bernardino National Forest sent up a cloud 50,000 feet high that was so enormous it created its own weather in the form of lightning, the National Weather Service reported.

Throughout the day, helicopters and planes dumped water and fire retardant that turned swathes of land and homes pink. Fire engines were also stationed to protect homes.

The fire is one of several across California amid a heatwave that has seen days of triple-digit temperatures.

To the north, in the San Francisco Bay Area, at least one home was destroyed in a fast-moving blaze in Clayton, where houses are spread out around windy roads.

Yosemite Valley, the scenic heart of the national park, was closed at noon on Wednesday during the height of the tourist season as smoke cast a pall on the region from a fire in the Sierra Nevada.

California Wildfires

The closure was heartbreaking for travellers, many of whom mapped out their trips months in advance to hike and climb amid the spectacular views of cascading waterfalls and sheer rock faces.

We had one guest who planned a week-long trip, said Tom Lambert, who owns a vacation rental property near Yosemite Valley. It was a father-daughter trip, for her high school graduation  Now its done. Its sad.

Officials emphasised that Yosemite was not in imminent danger from the fire. Authorities decided on the closure to allow crews to perform protective measures such as burning away brush along roadways without having to deal with traffic in the park that welcomes four million visitors annually.

Yosemite Valley will be closed until at least Sunday, along with a winding 20-mile stretch of Californias State Route 41 that leads into the area.A speeding driver who killed two young brothers in a hit-and-run while high on drugs has been given a tougher sentence by senior judges.

Robert Brown was banned from driving, travelling at more than twice the speed limit and had taken a cocktail of drugs when he mowed down Corey and Casper Platt-May, aged six and two.

The 53-year-old was jailed for nine years at Warwick Crown Court in April after admitting all charges against him, including two counts of death by dangerous driving.

But his sentence was increased to 10-and-a-half years on Wednesday at the Court of Appeal in London.

Sir Brian Leveson, sitting with two other judges, said the case justified a term at the very top of the sentencing range.

He said: It does not need this court to underline that the impact of these offences has been truly catastrophic on the family of these two boys.

We have read the victim personal statements provided by their mother and eight-year-old brother and recognise that no sentence which the court can impose will ever make up for the loss that they have suffered.

The boys were on their way to a park with their mother Louise Platt-May when they were struck by Browns Ford Focus as they crossed MacDonald Road, Coventry, in February.

Mrs Platt-May called for the Government to introduce stiffer penalties for drivers who think they are above the law after Brown was jailed.

Their father Reece Platt-May was found dead while on holiday in Greece in May.

Coventry hit and run

Solicitor General Robert Buckland referred Browns original sentence to the court and argued it was unduly lenient.

Brown, of Attwood Crescent in Wyken, Warwickshire, had never had a driving licence in his life and was banned from driving at the time of the crash.

He had taken cocaine, diazepam and zopiclone and was driving his Ford Focus at more than 60mph in a 30mph zone on February 22 when he ploughed into the brothers.

Despite efforts to save them, they died in hospital a short while later.

The scene of an accident

Brown, who fled the scene, had 30 previous convictions for driving offences and was only released from prison six days before the crash after serving half of a six-month sentence for having an offensive weapon.

His passenger at the time of the crash, Gwendoline Harrison, 42, of Triumph Close, Wyken, was jailed for six months after admitting assault intending to resist arrest and attempting to flee the scene.

In a statement released by her lawyers Irwin Mitchell after Brown was jailed, Mrs Platt-May said he had shown a total disregard for the law.

She added: Because of him we are living a life sentence knowing we will never see our boys grow up, whilst he will be out of prison in just a few years and will be free to continue his life.

We will never come to terms with how Corey and Casper were taken far too soon.

Our only hope now is that some good comes out of their deaths through the introduction of tougher punishments for drivers who think they are above the law.A memorial stone dedicated to Britains last survivor of the World War One trenches has gone missing from a plinth in Belgium.

Harry Patch, who died in 2009 aged 111, was the last surviving British soldier to have fought in the conflict and paid for the memorial stone himself.

Mr Patch, from Somerset, was present at the unveiling in 2008 at Langemarck, which is six miles from Ypres where hundreds of thousands of soldiers were killed.

Harry Patch died in 2009 aged 111 (Steve Roberts/PA)

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) said it was outraged at the theft and welcomed a funding appeal to replace the memorial.

After looking on our files, I can confirm that Harry paid for the stone for the memorial and the CWGC engraved it at our main operational facility in France at no cost, said a spokeswoman.

It was our privilege and honour to do so. Although a private memorial and not a CWGC official site maintained by us, the memorial was still an important and well visited location on the former Western Front.

It beggars belief that someone would take a memorial to a man who typified the service and sacrifice of millions of young men during the First World War. Whomever has done so should be deeply ashamed of themselves.

The memorial stone at Langemarck paid for by the Last Tommy, Harry Patch, which has gone missing in Belgium (Simon Louagie/PA)

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is outraged at the theft and we are fully supportive of the efforts being made to replace the memorial as quickly as possible.

A crowdfunding appeal to replace the stone has reached its target of 1,500 euros in less than five hours.

The missing memorial was spotted by members of the RAF Air Cadets visiting the western Flanders region from Somerset.

Nick Tolson, chairman of the 914 (Glastonbury and Street) Squadron, said his wife Alison, who is officer-in-charge of the Squadron, had travelled to Belgium with a dozen cadets.

The spot at Langemarck in Belgium where the memorial stone paid for by the Last Tommy, Harry Patch, should be (Simon Louagie/PA)

Alison promised Harry face-to-face that she would look after the memorial, Mr Tolson told the BBC.

It marked the point where he crossed the Steenbeek brook in 1917 where three men were killed and Harry was injured before the attack on Langemarck.

The stone was paid for by Harry and he organised it. Harry would be absolutely gutted, he was such a peaceful gentleman.Pressure is growing on Jeremy Corbyn to reconsider his position on anti-Semitism, after two senior members of his shadow cabinet suggested Labours new code of conduct should be rewritten.

The comments came after the UKs three leading Jewish newspapers took the unprecedented step of publishing a joint front page message warning that a Corbyn-led government would pose an existential threat to Jewish life in this country.

Under the headline United We Stand, the Jewish Chronicle, Jewish Telegraph and Jewish News described Labours refusal to adopt in full the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism as sinister.

They said that the stain and shame of anti-Semitism has coursed through Her Majestys Opposition since Jeremy Corbyn became leader in 2015.

And they urged Labour MPs to back a motion to be debated in September to accept the IHRA definition in full, including a list of examples of anti-Semitic behaviour.

Labour insisted Mr Corbyn and the party are fully committed to the support, defence and celebration of the Jewish community and its organisations.

The party says that the missing examples, mostly relating to criticism of the state of Israel, are dealt with elsewhere in the document.

Lord Bragg

But shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth acknowledged that the joint editorial was a sign of a desperate need to rebuild trust with the Jewish community.

He urged the partys ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) to reconsider its decision on the code of conduct and include the definition unamended.

And shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner told the Jewish News: My view is that it would have been better for the party to adopt the IHRA definition in full with all the examples and then to add all the clauses necessary to make it enforceable rather than to appear to cavil and weaken the definition.

Mr Gardiner said there were concerns that the IHRA definition was not strong enough on its own to defeat any court challenge against an expulsion. But he said he hoped the party would adopt it in full, while adding clauses to enable us to successfully resist any legal challenge by anti-Semitic racists who fight to remain in the party.

Mr Ashworth told ITVs Good Morning Britain: I think that, in good faith, members of this committee whove drawn up the partys code of conduct thought that they were strengthening that code of conduct, but that hasnt commanded the confidence or the agreement of the Jewish community.

He called on the NEC to reconsider its decision, adding: It seems obvious to me that we do need to rebuild trust with the Jewish community, and the place to start is by accepting a definition which is broadly accepted internationally.

Given the circumstances, I think its appropriate therefore that they should go back and accept the international definition.

Justin Cohen, news editor at Jewish News, suggested British Jews would consider leaving the UK if Mr Corbyn became PM.

He told Channel 4 News: Im suggesting they would feel compelled, in large numbers, to a least consider moving, if not moving.

Jon Lansman, founder of the Momentum grassroots campaign to support Mr Corbyn, said the party did not engage sufficiently until quite late in the day with the problem but insisted the party was not anti-Semitic.

He told Channel 4 News: We have a unique problem in the Labour party. Its not a problem Im proud of, its a problem I deeply regret, but we have to handle far more cases of anti-Semitism than anybody else who has adopted the IHRA definition, which we have.

It tells me that we have a significant problem that came to light because of the focus on it.

The joint editorial in Jewish newspapers warned: The party that was, until recently, the natural home for our community has seen its values and integrity eroded by Corbynite contempt for Jews and Israel.

The papers said Labour had diluted the internationally-recognised IHRA definition with the effect that political anti-Semitism targeting Israel is regarded as acceptable unless racist intent can be proved.

And they alleged the changes were made in order to avoid the need to expel hundreds or even thousands of party members.

Jeremy Corbyn

With the Government in Brexit disarray, there is a clear and present danger that a man with a default blindness to the Jewish communitys fears, a man who has a problem seeing that hateful rhetoric aimed at Israel can easily step into anti-Semitism, could be our next prime minister, stated the editorial.

Meanwhile, Labour peer Lord (Melvyn) Bragg accused Mr Corbyn of feebleness in dealing with prejudice against Jews.

The virus of anti-Semitism is growing in the UK and Corbyn is in a strong position to stamp it out without any equivocation, said the veteran broadcaster in a letter to The Times.

Jeremy Corbyns feebleness on this matter is a disgrace to the Labour Party and shames its traditional creed of tolerance, as well as grossly insulting some of our fellow citizens.

A Labour Party spokesman said: Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party are fully committed to the support, defence and celebration of the Jewish community and its organisations.

The next Labour government poses no threat of any kind whatsoever to Jewish people.

Mr Corbyn has asked Labours new general secretary Jennie Formby to make it her top priority to strengthen disciplinary procedures on anti-Semitism, said the spokesman.

Labours code of conduct on anti-Semitism adopts the IHRA definition and expands on and contextualises its examples to produce robust, legally-sound guidelines that a political party can apply to disciplinary cases, he said.

We have concerns about one half of one of the IHRAs 11 examples, which could be used to deny Palestinians, including Palestinian citizens of Israel and their supporters, their rights and freedoms to describe the discrimination and injustices they face in the language they deem appropriate.Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita is to miss training over the next couple of days because of a neck problem.

The 53million new arrival sat out the International Champions Cup win over Manchester City after reporting the issue and has now been sidelined from the squads sessions as they prepare to face Manchester United in Michigan on Saturday.

Naby Keita is set to sit out training for the next couple of days as a precautionary measure as he recovers from a sore neck, said a statement from Liverpool.

Naby Keita

Keita will be afforded time to recover by not taking part in the immediate sessions, although he has not been ruled out of the fixture with Manchester United in Michigan at this stage.

Fellow new signing Xherdan Shaqiri insists his conscience is clear after criticism of his attitude while with Stoke.

The Switzerland international managed eight goals and seven assists last season, leading the relegated Potters in both categories.

But his inconsistency led to disapproval from the likes of pundits Gary and Phil Neville, former England internationals, who respectively labelled him unprofessional and a disgrace.

Shaqiri, who moved to Anfield earlier this month for a fee understood to be 13million, is unconcerned by the pairs opinions.

He told several national newspapers: They were Man United players  maybe they dont like Liverpool. I dont know, it could be.

Some people like you, some dont. Ive played three years in the Premier League. Ive proved I can play in this league.

I was the top scorer in the team with goals and assists. For me, my conscience is clear and I dont have to comment any more on this.A man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for infecting two women with HIV in Ireland.

The man, who is aged 28, cannot be named to protect the identity of his victims.

He denied the charges but a jury unanimously found him guilty at Dublin Circuit Court of intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to two former partners on dates between November 2009 and June 2010.

Prison fence

Garda Colm Kelly told the court that the accused started the relationships at around the same time in 2009.

He said the defendant had unprotected sex with both women and was reluctant to use protection.

One woman found out she had HIV after she became pregnant with his baby.

He also underwent screening and when he tested positive for HIV he expressed a degree of surprise.

It later emerged, however, that he was previously diagnosed with the disease in 2008 after being tested as a young asylum seeker after coming from Uganda.

The other woman also tested positive for HIV in June 2010 at the same location as the other woman.

The doctor treating both patients made the link that the women had the same partner.

The court heard that after his original diagnosis in 2008, the man was given treatment and medication and advised not to have unprotected sex.

When he was tested in 2010 and was found to have a high viral load, this implied he was not taking his medication.

It is the first case of its kind in Ireland.

The woman who had his first child and later went on to marry the accused, read an emotional statement in court on Friday.

She described how it has affected her psychologically, mentally and emotionally.

The woman told that court that after she was diagnosed with HIV, he told her than no-one else would want me, and that is why she married him.

After she left him she moved back to her family home to get away from the accused. The woman fought back tears as she told the court she tried to take her own life a number of times.

When I tried to move on he showed up to where I was and told people I had HIV.

I didnt want to go out any more.

She said her life has been dramatically changed by what happened and that she lost her car and job and is now on disability allowance, saying she doesnt think she will work again.

He destroyed who I used to be, she added.

He took my personality and everything that made me happy.

He destroyed my soul and Im a shadow of who I used to be.

Im now serving a prison sentence of my own now.

My mind is stuck in the past. I have missed out on so many things.

I had so many hopes and dreams for me and my daughter, now I cant get out of bed and cant encourage her to go out and chase her dreams.

It kills me to see my daughter see how unhappy I am.

The second woman, who is a mother to two of the mans other children, said she became depressed after she was diagnosed with HIV.

In a statement read out in court by a prosecution barrister, she said: I repeatedly tried to get away from him after I was diagnosed but he constantly rang me and followed me, she said.

When I was out he would would follow me and tell everyone I met that I had HIV.

He blamed me for giving him HIV.

She said she isolated herself from friends and family and had no confidence or self-worth.

The woman said it has also affected her daughter.

She was told by the accused that no-one would want me and this, she said, affected her confidence.

What I find very upsetting is Im stuck with this disease.

A defence barrister told the court that the accused was remorseful for what happened.

The accused, who came from Uganda, was a child solider whose parents are both dead.

Judge Martin Nolan described his behaviour as grossly reprehensible, adding that he has destroyed the lives of the two women.

He said that both women have suffered and will continue to suffer because of his actions.

He is an intelligent man and he must have known there was a significant chance to give them HIV.

The defendant hung his head as he listened to the judge jail him for 10 years.A niche clothing brand has won a David-versus-Goliath legal battle against Nike over a trademark.

Activewear label LNDR, based in east London, complained over the global sportswear giants Nothing Beats a Londoner campaign.

Nikes marketing campaign, aimed at 16 to 24-year-olds in London, included the use of its famous swoosh logo with the letters LDNR above it.

Harry Kane

Celebrities associated with the city, including Harry Kane, Skepta and Sir Mo Farah, were featured in a film as part of the campaign  which was launched in January.

The multinational argued its use of LDNR could not be said to infringe LNDRs trademark because people were likely to see it as meaning Londoner and therefore would not confuse it with the fitness brand.

But, granting an injunction against Nike, Mr Justice Arnold said there was a likelihood of confusion and that the evidence he heard indicated some consumers had mixed up the two brands.

LNDR founder Joanna Turner said she felt she had no choice but to bring action against Nike to protect her firms brand.

She said: It was not an easy decision to go up against a giant like Nike, and it is not a situation you imagine you will ever have to take on.

We are both pleased and relieved that the judge saw things the same way as we did.

We are delighted that we can now focus on continuing to build our brand and grow our business, in the UK as well as around the world.

Arty Rajendra, of law firm Osborne Clarke, which represented LNDR, said: We are absolutely delighted with the result.

We love the LNDR brand and admire the success its founders have achieved so far.

It was a brave decision to sue a company as big as Nike.

However, LNDR has a growing reputation and as a premium brand it could not sit by and let Nike damage it.The Chinese diplomat made the remarks during a press briefing held by the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi on July 26.

Total trade revenues between Vietnam and China were estimated at US$66 billion in the opening half of 2018, with the average monthly trade turnover between the two countries having exceeded US$10 billion for the first time in history, he said.

In June alone, the value of Vietnam-China trade reached US$11.2 billion, much higher than the US$9.3 billion recorded between China and Malaysia.

During the first six months of the year, Vietnam enjoyed a year-on-year growth rate of 28.8% in its trade revenues with China, compared to the 15.5% figure of Malaysia, which currently ranks second in ASEAN in terms of the growth rate of trade revenues with China.

The growth rate of Chinas exports to Vietnam was estimated to hit 23.5% during the period, the highest in the ASEAN bloc, putting Vietnam among the top ten of Chinas global export markets. In reverse, the growth rate of Vietnams exports to China reached 37.4%, ranking first among ASEAN countries. In February 2018, China surpassed the United States to become the largest export market for Vietnam.

In terms of investment, Hu Suojin stated that in 2017, Chinas foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam exceeded US$2.1 billion, the largest sum in history. So far this year, Chinese companies have invested in 163 new projects in Vietnam with a total registered capital of US$330 million. China is currently the sixth largest foreign investor in the Southeast Asian country.

At the press conference, Charge d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Vietnam, Yin Haihong, said the two countries will exchange many high-level visits from now until the end of 2018, affirming that the Chinese Embassy would encourage Chinese businesses to make further investments in Vietnam.Doctors will be able to legally prescribe medicinal cannabis to patients in the UK, the Home Office has said.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid has decided to reschedule the products, relaxing the rules about the circumstances in which they can be given to patients, after considering expert advice from a specially commissioned review.

It follows several high profile cases, including that of young epilepsy sufferers Alfie Dingley and Billy Caldwell, whose conditions appeared to be helped by cannabis oil.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid said: Recent cases involving sick children made it clear to me that our position on cannabis-related medicinal products was not satisfactory.

Cannabis-derived medicinal products to be made available on prescription: https://t.co/lsgEyuIiai pic.twitter.com/d12DaZyyzI  Home Office (@ukhomeoffice) July 26, 2018

That is why we launched a review and set up an expert panel to advise on licence applications in exceptional circumstances.

Following advice from two sets of independent advisers, I have taken the decision to reschedule cannabis-derived medicinal products  meaning they will be available on prescription.

This will help patients with an exceptional clinical need, but is in no way a first step to the legalisation of cannabis for recreational use.

An initial review by Dame Sally Davies, chief medical adviser, concluded that there is evidence medicinal cannabis has therapeutic benefits.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), which carried out the second part of the review, last week said doctors should be able to prescribe medicinal cannabis provided products meet safety standards.

Charlotte and Billy Caldwell

It recommended cannabis-derived medicinal products should be placed in Schedule 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001.

Cannabis has previously been classed as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it is thought to have no therapeutic value but can be used for the purposes of research with a Home Office licence.

The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) will now develop a definition of what constitutes a cannabis-derived medicinal product, the Home Office said.

Only products meeting this definition will be rescheduled and other forms of cannabis will remain under current laws.

Legal prescribing of rescheduled products will begin by the autumn.

Sir Mike Penning, co-chairman of the recently established cross-party parliamentary group on Medical Cannabis Under Prescription, said: I have just spoken to the Home Secretary to say how pleased I am that he has acted so quickly and I pay testament to the families and campaigners that have fought so hard to achieve this dramatic change in policy.

This announcement brings hope to many thousands of people.

However, there is still a very important body of work to define exactly which products will be allowed and how they will be regulated.

He added: Any move to restrict medical cannabis in the UK to a very narrow range of derived products, each requiring full pharmaceutical trials, thereby blocking out the many products available overseas, will lead to great disappointment and be a missed opportunity.

Campaigner Charlotte Caldwell, whose epileptic son Billy turns 13 today, said: For the first time in months Im almost lost for words, other than thank you, Sajid Javid.

That the Home Secretary has announced that medicinal cannabis can now be prescribed by GPs on Billys 13th birthday is amazing. I wonder if he knew?

Never has Billy received a better birthday present, and never from somebody so unexpected.

She added: Crucially, my little boy Billy can now live a normal life with his mummy because of the simple ability to now administer a couple of drops a day of a long-maligned but entirely effective natural medication.

Before the changes are brought in, clinicians can still apply to the independent expert panel on behalf of patients who want access to medicinal cannabis products.

The Home Secretary said licence fees for applications made to the panel will be waived, and those already granted will not be charged.Everton midfielder Davy Klaassen is on the verge of a move to Werder Bremen.

The Holland international was not selected in the Toffees squad for the friendly at Blackburn on Thursday evening having been given permission to travel to Germany, Press Association Sport understands.

Klaassens unsuccessful 12-month spell at Goodison Park looks set to come to an end after the 25-year-old was later filmed arriving at the Bundesliga club.

Davy Klaassen's 12-month stay at Everton is coming to an end with the midfielder close to a move to Werder Bremen.

He only joined a year ago in a 23.6million deal from Ajax but struggled to break into the side and almost left on loan to Napoli in January only for the move to collapse at the last minute.

Klaassen made only 16 appearances for Everton, with just three Premier League starts to his name.Theresa May is heading to Austria for Brexit talks before heading off to Italy for the start of her summer holidays.

The Prime Minister is attending a music festival in Salzburg as a guest of the Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

As well as enjoying the musical performances on offer, which include Mozarts The Magic Flute, Mrs May will hold rounds of talks with Chancellor Kurz and Czech prime minister Andrej Babis.

Theresa May

It is part of several meetings across Europe which the PM and her ministers are carrying out to win over support for the Chequers Brexit blueprint.

Mrs May was dealt a blow by Brussels on Thursday as its chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, rejected the customs proposals that form a key plank of the plan.

EU leaders are due to meet in Salzburg on September 20 for an informal summit that could be used to discuss Brexit developments amid claims German Chancellor Angela Merkel believes there has been drift in the talks.

After a turbulent political year that has seen Mrs May lose a wave of ministers for personal misdemeanours and political opposition to her EU exit strategy, the PM will be hoping for a restful time as she heads off for the summer.

Theresa May on holiday

The premier and her husband Philip will spend around a week in Italy before she returns to work in her constituency and Downing Street.

Mrs May is also due to attend a First World War memorial event to mark the battle of Amiens, which began on August 8 1918 and helped to secure victory.

She will then jet off for two weeks in Switzerland. The holiday plans are a repeat of last years getaway for the couple.

Although the PM remains in charge, a number of Cabinet ministers are expected to deputise for her while she is away.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is not expected to reveal his holiday plans.JERUSALEM, July 25 (Reuters) - Israeli police searched the Sea of Galilee for a rocket launched from Syria that may have landed in the lake on Wednesday, a spokesman said.

After air raid sirens sounded in the south of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the army said a rocket had been spotted launching from Syria towards Israel. It appeared to be stray fire from fighting inside Syria.

Israelis on the eastern shore of the fresh-water lake said they heard explosions as an object landed in the water, but Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said that nothing had been found during initial searches.

"As I was watching the water, I saw something fall in. I didn't see what it was but I saw the spray from the impact," Hasdia Rada, a life guard at one of the lake's beaches told Israeli commercial TV news. Another man said he heard a whistling sound before an impact.

There have been many instances of stray fire landing on the Israeli side of the rocky Golan plateau during years of fighting between Syrian rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, but a rocket flying between 7-10 kilometres (4-6 miles) into the lake is thought to be the farthest yet.

Tensions rose a day earlier after Israel said it shot down a Syrian warplane that had crossed into airspace above the Israeli-occupied Golan. However Syrian state media said the plane was targeted by Israel while it was conducting raids in Syrian-controlled air space.

The Golan has seen days of bombing as Russian-backed Syrian government forces advance on rebel-held positions near the 1974 ceasefire line with Israel. The holdouts include one pocket near the frontier held by a group affiliated to the Islamic State.

Israel worries that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may defy a U.N. armistice that demilitarised much of the Golan, or allow Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah forces to deploy there once he and his allies retake the Syrian side. (Writing by Ori Lewis Editing by Andrew Bolton)KABUL, July 26 (Reuters) - A Taliban suicide bomber attacked a convoy of the Afghan national intelligence agency in Kabul early on Thursday, causing an unknown number of casualties, officials said.

The attack, which was claimed by the Taliban, occurred at around 5 a.m. (0030 GMT) when a car bomber targeted the convoy in the west of the city, Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanekzai said.

It was not immediately clear how many casualties had been caused or whether they were civilians or members of the security services. Stanekzai said four people had been killed and five wounded, while a spokesman for the ministry of public health said three wounded had been brought into city hospitals.

A Taliban statement said the attack had caused tens of casualties among the security services. (Reporting by Abdul Qadir Sediqi Editing by Paul Tait)Sri Lankas traditional lacework famously known as Beeralu is slowly moving into the spotlight of the global fashion industry. Udeni, who is a traditional Beeralu lace maker from Galle, learned the technique from her mother and developed it into a part-time business.



At the moment, she sells to buyers from Colombo who then sell her product internationally. She would like to export directly one day, but for the time-being, she must rely on middlemen because of the complexity of the export process. A major barrier is the lack of information on what government procedures apply in Sri Lanka before her product can even reach a foreign buyer.



Being unable to access information related to export and import procedures isnt just a problem for entrepreneurs like Udeni but a significant barrier for the entire Sri Lankan trading community. In a recent set of interviews conducted by the World Bank, every business interviewed said that personal experience was the leading source of information on import and export procedures. Only half said that they turn to government agencies for information, with concern expressed that the little information available online is often out of date and spread across many websites.



A 2017 Verite study (Sri Lankas Domestic Barriers to Trade: Case Studies of Agricultural Exports, February 2017) of procedures for agricultural trade found that only 36 percent of the required information was available online, with the remaining information obtained only through time-consuming and costly personal visits and telephone calls. In our recent survey, one company summed up the challenge clearly, expressing its frustration that the first time it hears about new import/export procedures is only when its application is rejected.



The challenge this presents to Sri Lankas efforts to shift toward a more outward-oriented, competitive economy, is clear. Significant time and cost is involved in identifying what regulations affect trade, undermining the international competitiveness of Sri Lankan firms and raising costs for consumers.

For potential exporters, especially entrepreneurs like Udeni, many will stumble at the first hurdle of accessing information on government procedures in their own country, before even being able to identify foreign buyers and market their products internationally. Companies wanting to import new goods for consumers or as inputs into domestic production also may not be able to do so because of the costs involved in accessing information on import regulations.



A new government initiative has the potential to change all this. Through a partnership with the World Bank, supported by the Australian government, a new Sri Lanka Trade Information Portal was launched on July 20 by Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen, along with other high-level officials and development partners.



The launch of the portal is a major step towards a more transparent regulatory environment for trade in Sri Lanka. For the first time, it will bring together onto one website all the laws, regulations, procedures and other government requirements regarding trade. The buzz has been building for many months to the launch of the portal, confirming the high level of interest in the private sector in increased transparency.



The scale of the work that has gone into developing the portal suggests the impact that it will have. Almost 900 laws, regulations, procedures and other government requirements affecting trade have been gathered and uploaded to the portal for its launch. These requirements are maintained by forty-two government agencies across Sri Lanka, highlighting the complex regulatory environment facing traders.

Along with a searchable database of these regulatory requirements, the website includes videos and how-to guides to make it user-friendly for traders, along with other information on Sri Lankas trade environment, including trade agreements.



Experience from other countries highlights the wide reach that can be expected through the Sri Lanka Trade Information Portal. Lao PDR was one of the first countries to develop a similar portal with the World Bank support. Data on the usage of this site indicates that a significant proportion of the import/export community active in Lao PDR uses the website regularly to access information on trade-related procedures.



The launch of the Sri Lanka Trade Information Portal is cause for celebration, but the work does not end at the launch. Ensuring that the information on the portal is kept up to date will require significant effort by the host of the website  the Commerce Department  and dialogue with other government agencies and the private sector, including through the National Trade Facilitation Committee.



The World Bank will provide transitional support for the portal after the launch to help in this effort. Training has been provided to the Trade Information Portal unit staff within the Commerce Department, who will now be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the portal.



Beyond the portal, the next step in facilitating trade is to go beyond transparency, to streamlining the process for applying for permits and other approvals required for import and export. Some reforms are already underway  for example, restructuring the risk management functions of Sri Lanka Customs to improve its efficiency.



However, the largest initiative by far will be the establishment of a National Single Window for trade, which will facilitate traders to lodge standardised information and documents with a single-entry point to fulfil all import-, export- and transit-related regulatory requirements. This endeavour is backed up by a blueprint developed by the World Bank and supported by the Australian government.



The blueprint covers all aspects of the future design of the National Single Window and has been prepared over the previous seven months, involving discussions in numerous workshops and events with members of the National Trade Facilitation Committee and wider trade community.



Developing a National Single Window for trade will be a major endeavour that will be rolled out in phases, with significant technology investments and procedural reforms required. Once in place, it will help bring about a shift in the way traders interact with the government, with reduced levels of physical inspection of goods and the majority of shipments clearing the border without the need for traders to physically visit different government offices. While the path ahead will not necessarily be easy, the potential gains for Sri Lankan businesses and consumers are significant  the Trade Information Portal is an important step in the right direction.



(As a Senior Trade Specialist in the World Bank Group Singapore hub, Marcus works on trade programmes in East Asia and the Pacific and South Asia, as well as on the Bank Groups public and private partnerships in the region)The Monetary Board of the Central Bank yesterday announced the cancellation of the licence issued to Standard Credit Finance Limited (TSCFL), with effect from July 25, 2018.



TSCFL, a licensed finance company, licensed under the Finance Business Act No. 42 of 2011, was facing a liquidity crisis since 2008. The depositors of the company have been unable to withdraw their money over the last 10 years.



The Central Bank said all efforts made to revive the company through different strategies have failed and the continuity of the current status would be further detrimental to the interest of the depositors and other stakeholders of the company. Accordingly, TSCFL is not permitted to engage in finance business under the FBA with effect from July 25, 2018, the Central Bank said.



Further, the Central Bank Supervision of Non-Bank Financial Institutions Department Director has decided to cancel the Certificate of Registration of TSCFL as a registered finance and leasing establishment, under the provisions of the Finance Leasing Act No. 56 of 2000 (FLA), with effect from July 25, 2018.

Accordingly, TSCFL is not permitted to grant new finance lease facilities under the FLA with effect from the same date.



The Central Bank said the Sri Lanka Deposit Insurance and Liquidity Support Scheme (SLDILSS) will take the necessary actions to pay compensation to the insured depositors of TSCFL, up to a maximum of Rs.600,000 per depositor, as per the regulations of the SLDILSS.



Further, the depositors may be able to recover part of their remaining deposits in the process of liquidation, subject to the priority of claims.



All debtors of the company are required to pay their dues to the company through a bank account announced by the company.



The Central Bank stressed that legal action would be instituted against the responsible parties for the mismanagement and alleged fraudulent activities of the company.



This is the second instance in the recent times that the Central Bank cancelled the licence of a finance firm. The Central Bank last year cancelled the licence of Central Investment Finance PLC (CIFL).From left: Batcha Gems, Colombo Director M.N.M. Ramzeen and Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen discuss in the presence of Sanmenxio Jinqu Group Chairman Xu Yujin and Jinqu Gold Director Leah Wan

A Chinese state-owned gold mining giant has expressed interest to set up a US $ 30 million gem and jewellery exchange in Sri Lanka with the support of the Sri Lankan government and a major local gem and jewellery supplier to China.

According to a communique from the Industry and Commerce Ministry, Chinas Sanmenxia Jinqu Group hopes to enter into a tri-party agreement with Sri Lankas Batcha Gems and the government, to carry out the project under Chinas One Belt One Road Initiative.



During a recent meeting with Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen in Colombo, Leah Wan, a Director of Jinqu Gold, a subsidiary of Sanmenxia Jinqu Group, had said that the proposed gem and jewellery exchange would be located either in a tower or a modern multi-storey building.

Along with gold, gem and jewellery shops in the bourse will be Sri Lankan gem and jewellery suppliers, Lankan banks, customs offices, foreign exchange counters, Chinese restaurants, food suppliers and other Chinese merchandisers, Wan said.



This will be a one-stop shop and a hub for international buyers, shoppers of gold, gem and jewellery in Colombo, she added.



Sanmenxia Jinqu Group Chairman Xu Yujin had highlighted that the state-of-the-art gem and jewellery bourse would uplift Sri Lankas gem and jewellery sector, while attracting Chinese tourists.



Bathiudeen had said that his ministry was ready to officially partner with Sanmenxia Jinqu Group in this venture and would hold ministerial level discussion with the finance minister and other relevant ministries on the way forward with regard to the governments partnering and equity.



The Chinese firm, Sanmenxia Jinqu Group, is backed by the worlds largest physical gold exchange  the Shanghai Gold Exchange.



Sanmenxio Jinqu Group is located in Sanmenxia city prefecture in the Henan Province, which is Chinas highest populated province with over 100 million people. Henans adjoining province is Shandong, where Chinas largest gold deposit was discovered just last year  in March 2017.



Sri Lankas exports of gem and jewellery (excluding diamonds) increased by 5.3 percent year-on-year to US $ 178 million in 2017. According to the Sri Lanka Gem and Jewellery Association, the indirect gem and jewellery exports are approximately 1.5-2 times of the direct gem and jewellery exports.AIA Insurance is proud to have been recognised as a Great Place to Work in Sri Lanka for the sixth consecutive year. This achievement comes on the heels of being inducted into the GPW Hall of Fame last year, having been recognized for five successive years.

This year too AIA was adjudged one of Sri Lanka's Best 25 Companies to work for, in addition to the Bronze Award in the Large Enterprise category. The highlight for AIA most definitely was winning the title of Best Workplace for Women in Sri Lanka, which came as a welcome reaffirmation that everything the company does for gender parity has been recognised and appreciated.

Director HR Thushari Perera commending all at AIA for winning these awards noted AIA is about being pre-eminent and constantly raising the bar. It is about empowering its people and creating the most conducive work environment, so everyone can be the best they can be.

Thushari added We have a very special culture here at AIA. It is a bond between people that surpasses the business of the organization and is prevalent across all functions, across all employees regardless of position or designation. I believe its what keeps us together, moving towards one common goal and we value the feedback we receive from surveys such as GPW and we use the indicators to constantly raise the benchmark in our employee satisfaction.

Chathuri Munaweera, Director & Chief Officer Legal, Governance, External Relations commenting on AIA being recognized as the Best Workplace for Women said Gender parity is central in having a dynamic balanced workforce. Female employees and female Wealth Planners play an integral part in our business success. AIA recognised early, the narrowing trends of female participation at work and took many sustainable steps over the years to ensure that our female colleagues have a work environment that provides leverage and flexibility to arrange work within family circumstances, at times of life where such support is needed most. It is not just about fixing the basics and having the best of support for our employees during key stages of motherhood, but also ensuring that there is room to grow in careers whether in sales or in support functions.

Chathuri proudly stated On the sales front, we have female Wealth Planners and Financial Planners who have achieved international acclaim. Across the Company, most of our key functions have a strong first or second line female succession including our Executive Committee which has two female leaders. Our female employees have increased by 8% over the last two years to make up 35% of our workforce.

Chathuri and Thushari congratulated all at AIA for the spirit of company before self, adding that the consecutive awards alongside the growth and performance of the company shows that we continue to get the balance right. Its safe to say that our consistent recognition at the GPW awards is testament to the companys commitment to doing the right thing, the right way and most importantly, with the right people.Asia and the Pacific has enjoyed robust economic growth and experienced large reductions in poverty in the past few decades. Nevertheless, with the region home to 1.2 billion people living on less than US $ 1.9 per day (in 2011 PPPs), the international poverty line for extreme poverty, poverty reduction remains a key challenge.



How can these people break the cycle of poverty and improve their standard of living? A significant part of the answer is contingent on the wages that workersespecially the less educatedare able to make in sectors that employ large numbers of people.



For example, although earnings are often very high in the utilities sector, the sector typically employs only about 0.3 percent-2 percent of workers. Agriculture, on the other hand, accounts for at least 30 percent of employment in many low- and middle-income countries but wages are often insufficient to keep workers and their families out of poverty.



Lets assess the wages of workers in the three largest employers by sector in developing Asia: manufacturing, trade services and agriculture. Significantly, these sectors are the ones that generate the biggest employment opportunities for the regions less educated.



Employment shares by country range between 15 percent-65 percent for agriculture, 8 percent-18 percent for manufacturing and 11 percent-22 percent for trade services for seven countries whose data we analysed (India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam). The shares of workers with primary education or less are also quite large across all three sectors: 52 percent-81 percent in agriculture, 17 percent-59 percent in manufacturing and 16 percent-47 percent in trade services.



When evaluating wages, we look at whether workers are earning at least a so-called living wage. This refers to a benchmark wage level needed by a worker to support his/her familys basic expenses such as shelter, food and other necessities  one that is sufficient to keep a workers family out of poverty.



We estimate developing Asias living wage at US $ 254.28 per month (in 2011 PPPs). This is enough for one worker to support a family of four.



To obtain the above figure, we inflated the poverty line figure for a family of four of US $ 7.6 per day by 10 percent to make room for discretionary spending and assumed that the maximum number of work days per month and work hours per week is 21.5 and 48, respectively. We then compared this living wage against the actual earnings of workers in India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam, taking into account spatial price differences across regions, states and provinces.



Our estimates show that 87 percent of workers in Thailand are earning at least the living wage rate. In Viet Nam and Sri Lanka it is 71 percent and 56 percent, respectively.



However, less than half of workers in India, Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines reach the living wage rate. So, how can workers wages in these countries be improved?



The experience of East Asias Tiger economies is often cited to illustrate how rapid inter-sectoral reallocations of labour from agricultural employment to non-agricultural employment, especially in the manufacturing sector, can foster growth and better living standards.



Indeed, the shares of living wage earners among non-agricultural workers in India and Nepal are approximately 20 percentage points higher than the national average. As such, it has been suggested that to improve workers welfare, more employment must shift to more productive and higher-paying sectors such as manufacturing.



The pattern is clear when looking into these three sectors. Not surprisingly, the manufacturing sector does well in terms of ensuring that its workers are earning living wages. Agriculture, on the other hand, does not, except in Thailand and Viet Nam, where agriculture workers are earning more, on average, than the other countries we studied here.



What is most interesting to noteand seems to be underappreciatedis that the trade services sector does nearly as well as manufacturing in paying workers a living wage rate or higher.



Given that manufacturing and trade services largely employ relatively low-educated workers, both are good options for agricultural workers wishing to transition to better-paying sectors. Also, in economies where its harder to find new manufacturing jobs, like the Philippines where manufacturing employment accounts for only around 8 percent of the workforce (in contrast to, say China, which at a comparable level of gross domestic product per capita had 16 percent of employment in manufacturing), trade services are a viable alternative to keep workers out of poverty.



At the same time, even as workers continue to leave agriculture, it will likely remain the single largest employer in many economies of developing Asia for some time. For example, assuming that employment shares in agriculture decline at the same rate as they did over 20002015, the sector is expected to employ in 2030, 34 percent of the workforce in Pakistan and 29 percent in India.



Thus, while helping the regions lower-skilled workers transition to manufacturing, trade services and other non-agricultural sectors must be an important component of poverty reduction strategies, equally important is increasing the productivity of workers who remain in it.



Doing so will be crucial for enabling developing Asias poorest break out of poverty and foster more inclusive and sustainable growth.



(Arturo Martinez is a Statistician, Economic Research and Regional Cooperation Department of the Asian Development Bank while Rhea Molato Gayares and Mia Kim Maceda Veloso are Research Associates at the same department)Thuong made the statement during a meeting with General Secretary of the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party (LPRP) and President of Laos Bounnhang Volachith in Vientiane on July 25 during his trip to the country to attend the sixth theoretical workshop between the two Parties.

He congratulated Laos on its important achievements after two years of implementing the Resolution adopted by the 10th National Party Congress.

On behalf of Vietnamese Party, State leaders, and people, Thuong extended profound condolences to the Lao counterparts over losses caused by the recent hydropower dam collapse.

The Vietnamese official informed the host about the outcomes of the workshop between the two Parties, saying that both sides discussed the achievements, shortcomings, and lessons in the ideological work, and proposed measures to improve it in the current context.

Volachith, for his part, vowed to join hands with Vietnam to reinforce the special solidarity and everlasting ties between the two nations.

He thanked Vietnamese leaders for conveying their sympathy over losses caused by the recent hydropower dam collapse, which he said, reflects the Vietnam-Laos special solidarity.

Earlier on the same day, Thuong held a working session with head of the LPRP Commission for Propaganda and Training Kikeo Khaykhamphithoune, during which they debated the communications-education work and cooperation between the two commissions in the near future.

The Sri Lankan banks may still be far from a full-blown non-performing loan (NPL) crisis. But cracks are appearing in the asset quality with the rise in sour loans, hindering the banking sectors future growth prospects.



If the negative development persists, Brian McEnery, a Director at Irelands specialist non-performing loan bank, NAMAthe worlds biggest bad bankadvises Sri Lankan banks to become ruthless with the borrower.



Sri Lankas banks are nowhere near a crisis. Nonetheless, what every bank needs to do is what I would call a ruthless branch review of (all) of their lending. And it needs to be done at a very granular level, McEnery said during a brief chat with Mirror Business, last week, in Colombo. Sri Lankas banking sectors reported non-performing loans have been rising since end-2017 in response to the tightened monetary and fiscal policies and the demand for new loans has become weak due to higher rates, lower disposable incomes and not so favourable investment climate characterised by political volatility.



The reported gross NPL ratio of the banking sector reached 3.3 percent by end-May 2018, from 2.5 percent in December 2017 and 3.2 percent in 2015.



The last time the reported gross NPL ratio reached such proportions was in 2014, when the ratio hit 4.2 percent in the aftermath of the gold-back loan crisis, which eroded billions of profits and capital from their books.



While the reported NPL ratio hovers around the 3.3 percent level, the Central Bank is of the view that the potential NPL ratio could be much higher in the range of 4.5 percent, including the rescheduled loans. The rescheduled loans have recorded a steep increase since November 2017, whereby the growth accelerated from a sheer 5.0 percent on a year-on-year basis to 45 percent in May 2018.

When asked what exactly the Sri Lankan banks should do to arrest the situation before it snowballs into a crisis, McEnery said the banks need to undertake stress testing at a very granular level, to identify which sectors are particularly vulnerable and which facilities are in trouble.



After identifying those loans, the banks need to start provisioning against the profit, which however erases the banks capital base, he said.



McEnery, who is also the former President of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, stressed that the banks need to strike a balance between the capitalisation and lending and pointed out the importance of sticking to the new Basel III rules on capital and leverage and the new accounting standard on financial instruments, IFRS 9.

The new IFRS 9, which came into effect this year, will require the banks to provide for possible bad loans on the basis of expected credit loss model rather than the incurred loss model under the existing accounting standard, which naturally raises the loan-loss provisions of the banks.



McEnery called for regular reviews of the problematic facilities at this stage of NPLs in Sri Lankan banks and asked them to be ruthless with the borrowers in problem sectors. The objective is to try and prevent a crisis, he added.



Mcenery is also a Partner at BDO Ireland specializing in corporate recovery and insolvency and was appointed as a Board Director of Irelands specialist non-performing loan bank, NAMA, by Irelands finance minister, which was created in late 2009 in response to the Irish financial crisis.



Irish financial crisis was triggered by a property bubble created through excessive lending to the property sector by Irish banks and at the height of the crisis in 2012, the sector NPLs reached 27 percent from a mere 0.629 percent in 2007.



Recently, Sri Lanka too showed some uneasiness in their property sector loans and the banks themselves were seen cutting their exposures into new developments.



At the height of the crisis, NAMA acquired 74 billion euro worth of properties loans held by the five systematically-important Irish banks and issued sovereign guaranteed NAMA bonds worth of 33 billion euros to these banks, which then reissued those bonds to the European Central Bank to generate liquidity.



The Irish government bought stakes in these banks injecting a further 64 billion euros to bridge the hole in the balance sheets of these banks.



In 2018, NAMA completed the deleveraging of its loans and is set to make a profit of between three to four billion euros. It has also been described as the best-performing  non-performing loan bank in the world.



The Government of Ireland is seeking to use the experience and track record of NAMA to deal with some other crises in the banking system in Ireland, such as the provision of credit for residential housing.



In 2016, with the onset of Brexit, the Irish finance minister asked NAMA to use its lands in Dublin to develop office accommodation. This was very important as many financial service firms have taken up that space as they seek centres in Europe outside London.1983 is a real story of a community that lived scattered among and besieged by a section of another community

It strengthened the hands of the separatist Tamil armed groups by thousand fold

Majority of Sinhalese did not participate in this national crime. Neither did they put an effort to stop this madness

The 1983 anti-Tamil riot was not an isolated incident. It was an extension of similar incidents

Sinhala and English media provoked the ethnic feelings of their audiences, while the Tamil media whipped up separatist ideology

So many articles had been published in newspapers this week about the 1983 ethnic riots, commonly known as the Black July.



Tamil papers reported several commemorative events that had been held in the north, especially at the Jaffna University premises which is fast becoming a hotbed of Tamil nationalism since lately.



July 24 this year marked the 35th Remembrance of the beginning of a week-long anti-Tamil riot that totally crippled the Government machinery during which, goons torched and looted houses and vehicles belonging to Tamils and killed people at their will.



Yet, the question remains as to what we, the Sri Lankans, irrespective of race, religion or political party, have learnt from the riot, its backdrop and the subsequent history.



Most of those belong to the present younger generation, even the Tamils, except those entrapped in Mullivaikkal during the last few weeks of the war, would not feel the horror that the Tamils in southern parts of the country experienced during those dreadful dark days.



For many, it is something like a narration about a movie or a novel. But it was the real story of a community that lived scattered among and besieged by a section of another community.



Apart from those trapped in Mullivaikkal in 2009, only those Muslims in Aluthgama, Beruwala, Digana, Teldeniya and surrounding areas might be able to realise what is really meant by being besieged by racists.



Majority of Sinhalese did not participate in this national crime. Neither did they put an effort to stop this madness.



A large majority of them were mere spectators of arson attacks, looting and even killing, while a small number risked their lives in protecting Tamils, known and unknown.



Hence, the Tamils who were yet to be attacked then were perturbed as to whom to trust or whom to fear. Anarchy in its total sense had swallowed up the entire country with goons killing, looting and torching properties and human beings under the very nose of the law enforcement authorities.



The riot and the rioters were not able to wipe out the Tamils from the surface of Sri Lanka, whether they intended to do so or not.



But on the contrary, it strengthened the hands of the separatist Tamil armed groups by a thousand fold. And it was this incident that brought in international pressure on the country in respect of the ethnic imbroglio which has now landed the country before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).



The 1983 anti-Tamil riot was not an isolated incident. It was an extension of similar incidents but with a reduced degree of ferocity that occurred during the very tenure of President J.R. Jayewardene.



In the wake of the 1977 General Election victory by Jayewardenes party, the United National Party (UNP) that won 140 out of the 168 seats in the National State Assembly (the then Parliament) revenge attacks against the members of the Constituent Parties of the former United Front Government spread around the country.

Soon these violent attacks were directed towards Tamils and Tamil-owned houses, shops and vehicles were torched and looted in many areas south of Vavuniya.

The anti-Tamil hatred that time was not without reason. It was in the previous year that the Tamil United Front (TUF) was renamed as Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) with a resolution to carve out a separate State called Tamil Eelam for Tamils, within the territory of Sri Lanka, at the famous Vaddukkoddai Convention of the TUF.



Yet, the resolution did not hold much water among Tamils until the Tamil Eelam fever was generated during the 1977 General Election campaign, with the TULF having it as its campaign theme.



This had given a negative message to the south and thus had triggered the anti-Tamil attacks, after the election.



President Jayewardene aggravated the situation with a provocative public utterance against the Tamil leaders If you want war let it be war if you want peace to let it be peace.



The first and the only elections for the newly formed District Development Councils (DDC) which meant for the resolution of the ethnic problem were held in June 1981.



It was during this election campaign that the precious Jaffna Public Library was torched by the goons sent by the Southern politicians.



The tense situation prevailed all over the country after the election soon turned against Tamils, especially those living in the plantation areas. That was the second communal riot during the tenure of J.R. Jayewardene.



The negative message spread in the south over the separatist trend in the north was not allowed to subside by various Tamil armed groups, who had started to shoot at members of the Police and the Armed forces, who had been posted at various places in the Jaffna town, even in broad daylight.



The south was aghast to hear when 13 soldiers were killed at Tirunelveli in Jaffna in the night of June 23, 1983, as it was the largest number of soldiers killed at the hands of the Tamil armed groups then. Rest is history. However, later the south was almost unresponsive when the LTTE overran the Elephant Pass Army camp complex that housed about 11,000 soldiers.



If one peruses the media behaviour immediately prior to 1977, 1981 and 1983 riots he or she would observe the role of the media in fermenting communal strife on either side of the ethnic divide.



Sinhala and English media provoked the ethnic feelings of their audiences, while the Tamil media whipped up separatist ideology.



Even 35 years after the Black July the situation has not changed. The three-decade-long war has taught us nothing.



Now, anything demanded by the Tamils and Muslims- be it even a demand for the transfer of the Chief Secretary of Northern Provincial Council or a separate

Kachcheri for the Tamil speaking eastern coastal area of the Ampara District - are viewed as Separatist demands.



Every aspect of the proposed new Constitution is branded as an attempt to carve out a separate Tamil State.



Where would the frustration ultimately lead the Tamil youth in the future? History has the answer. The frustration is already being witnessed by facts such as glorifying of former State Minister Vijayakala Maheswaran.



On the other hand, those Tamil leaders who ran away from the north and the east and hid in Colombo during the height of the separatist war are now drumming up separatist slogans and calling for the revival of the slain LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.



One cannot find fault with the commemoration of people killed in the war and even the sacrifices by the LTTE cadres and also with the struggles for the rights of the Tamils, so long as those events would not reinforce separatist ideology among Tamils.



But some Tamil leaders still get involved in these events in a manner that creates or toughens separatist zeal among the Tamil youth, just for political gains.



The lesson they have not learnt from history is that the geopolitical situation in the region would never allow the creation of a separate Tamil State within the territory of Sri Lanka and any such attempt would only be another catastrophe.



India as far back as 1988 had stressed that it would not accept the carving out of a Tamil State near its southernmost State, which houses a homogeneous populace.

This geopolitical situation has invalidated even the once prominent debate among Leftists whether Tamils have the right to secede.



Ignoring this geopolitical reality by the LTTE resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people from all three communities. Todays Tamil leaders are yet to learn it.More than 600 Sri Lankan migrant workers died annually due to several issues they faced during employment abroad, Foreign Affairs State Minister Vasantha Senanayake yesterday.

State Minister Senanayake said immediate steps should be taken to mitigate this situation and action should be taken to safeguard Sri Lankan migrant workers.

The migrant workers face many issues when they have to visit the Consular Affairs Division of Foreign Affairs Ministry in Colombo to complete the formalities. Accordingly, we have taken steps to establish mobile consular divisions at district levels, he said.

He said initially a District Consular Division would be established in Polonnaruwa.Political parties representing Parliament failed to arrive at a decision as to under what electoral system the provincial council elections are to be held, Minister Mano Ganesan said yesterday.

Mr. Ganesan said the party leaders decided to meet again on Wednesday, August 1 to decide on the system.

Most of the minority parties and the UNP had insisted that the election should be held under the old system while Minister of Local Government and Provincial Councils Faizer Musthapha and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna had wanted the election held under the new mixed system.

However all the parties had agreed that the provincial council elections should be held without further delay according to Mr. Ganesan.

MP Dinesh Gunawardane who had represented joint opposition had insisted that the polls should be held soon. He had also highlighted that shortcomings of the new mixed system should also be rectified.

The meeting has been chaired by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremeisnghe while Ministers Kabir Hashim and Akila Viraj Kariyawasam represented UNP, While Ministers Faiszer Musthapa and Nimal Siriplala De Silva had represented the SLFP.

MP Douglas Devananda had represented the EPDP while Minister Rauff Hakeem and Chief Opposition Whip Anura Kumara Dissanayake also participated in the meeting.

Earlier the Chairman of Election Commission had informed the party leaders that it would be possible to hold the election by December this year or by January 5 next year if the final decision on the system under which the poll should be held is arrived at by October this year. (Yohan Perera)

Video by BuddhiTeachers have become news makers these days, not the hardworking students. July is a month where most students have to cram all their lessons within this period so as to obtain decent grades at school. But the anxiety within students mounts when teachers take their own cool time marking question papers. Most often in the recent past, students have had to wait in suspense till the results were released to them only after the school holidays.



This practice will now end with the Education Ministry Secretary Sunil Hetttiarachchi giving instructions to all school principals and provincial education secretaries to ensure that term test results are released to students before they begin their school holidays.



What has prompted the Education Ministry Secretary to take such action are the several complaints received regarding the delay in releasing term test results.

This move by Hettiarachchi must be commended because in the recent past teachers have had time to engage in protests and take time off work. There are schools where some teachers are noticeably absent on quite a number of days during the year. As a result teachers have had difficulties in covering the syllabuses; an act which puts the poor students under undue pressure.



Teachers mustnt forget the fact that their chargers are children and there is a limit to the pressures they can take. Apart from this, children also feel the heat when their parents demand good grades from them. Often these delays in releasing term test results choke students and their parents, largely because the latter cant then assess the performances of children. Parents are spending lavishly on their childrens education and have a right to know the exam results of their children at the earliest.



According to Ceylon Teachers Union Secretary Joseph Stalin as many as 300,000 principals and teachers were expected to launch an island-wide strike action on July 26 (Thursday) in protest against 1014 questionable reappointments in the teaching profession. However, thanks to President Maithripala Sirisena, a discussion he had with union leaders had compelled these teachers to call off the strike temporarily. It is said that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had also spoken to the President with regard to the grievances of the teachers. Just imagine the plight of students if such a large number of teachers took time off their busy schedules at their respective schools.



It is also apt to mention here the attitude of some teachers who are a terror at school. But strangely students find these teachers to be quite nice and approachable when they attend their private tuition classes. These teachers are quite content teaching the bright ones at school, the workplace that pays them their salaries. If these teachers have time for weak students its only at their private tuition classes where parents have to spend through their noses to pay the monthly fees!



Teachers are powerful. Some are extremely powerful. These teachers unions have given them bargaining power. Characteristics like love and care which were largely associated with teachers have been now replaced by new features like power and ambition.



In the past teachers were humble and humane and loved it when students, who were driven by ambition, came to them. Most of these students were bright and the teachers went out of their way to educate them about the importance of being selfless and responsible citizens. Now it seems that the present lot of teachers must be taught these important characteristics.



Teaching at present seems to be a profession where one takes a lot and gives a little. However there is still a sizable percentage of teachers who are committed to this noble profession and regard the students as children of their own. Some of these teachers might also be members of teachers unions. Its interesting to see whether these teachers, who can set an example to the others, will hold their heads high during these disruptive times in the education sector.The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) will launch Sri Lankas first-ever tourist-friendly tuk tuk service on July 30, 2018, at Galle Face Green, under the patronage of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.



The tourist-friendly logo is a pride mark to distinguish the high-quality tourism-related service providers in Sri Lanka. The initial rollout of this pride mark will be for the tuk tuks in the Colombo District. Subsequently, it will also cover the rest of the island, including the other major tourist cities. The tuk tuk drivers, who successfully completed the training programme, will ceremonially receive the logo and their certificates from the prime minister at the event.

The logo and branding will allow the tourists to easily identify the tourist-friendly tuks and obtain their services.



Over 750 tuk tuk drivers have so far been trained by the SLTDA, in several districts, under its tourist-friendly training programmes. All drivers who successfully complete the programme will get a special ID from the SLTDA, in addition to the tourist-friendly logo and certification.



The project is implemented under the budget proposals presented by Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera, for this year (2018).



The SLTDA said the tourist-friendly programme will also cover the eating places and homestays in the future, remarkably uplifting the quality and standards of the Sri Lankan tourism industry.



The event on July 30, 2018 will be the launch of the tourist-friendly logo and will be attended by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera, Tourism Development and Christian Affairs Minister John Amaratunga, Project Management, Youth Affairs and Southern Development Minister Sagala Ratnayaka and Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama.Even Mara (death) is indefensible against the power of Arahanthood

A Sakvithi dawns on a world ready to bloom

In desperation the king resorted to the ultimate recourse of beheading those found guilty

With the country caught up in this vicious cycle, life spans of men began to diminish drastically

The ten courses of evil conduct and debasement will substitute for goodness and merit in the world

Sakvithi, also called Chakravarthi, is no mythical figure, but an extraordinary monarch with superhuman powers who makes his rare appearance when a Buddhas dispensation is non-existent on earth. The strength of merit in him makes his reign cover the four quarters of the world without resorting to the use of weapons and other destructive dispositions, - thus laying claim to the title Wheel Turning Monarch a non - sobriquet. The thirty two great features that distinguish a Samma Sambuddha are common to him as well, save the colour and direction of the urna roma  positioned on his forehead. Possession of ten meritorious qualities in their extremity, has bestowed upon him a splurge of thaumaturgical capabilities including astral travel that defy all known logic and earthly parametres.



A king takes to robes



A Sakvithi dawns on a world ready to bloom. Gauthma Buddha had occasion to deliver a sermon later titled Chakravarthi Seehanada centred on such an entity who shone upon the human plane countless eons ago. The righteous monarch, ruler of the earth, was called Dalhanemi.



Having secured his realm he was in possession of seven incomparable treasures, first of which was a sacred wheel of gold. He had a thousand sons of heroic stature. Having ruled the earth without stick or sword for thousands upon thousands of years, he instructed a courtier of his to inform him immediately if he observed the slightest movement of the wheel treasure from its original resting position. Many centuries later the courtier reported to the great monarch that the sacred wheel had drifted by a fraction, whereupon the king summoned his eldest son to announce he will not live much longer and that the time for him to dwell on heavenly pleasures had arrived. Take over my reign of the ocean- bounded land. I will renounce lay life and enter robes he said.



Seven days after the royal sage departed the scared wheel treasure vanished. The king in robes addressed his son again Son, do not despair over the wheels disappearance, it is no family heirloom. When you perform the duties of an Aryan Wheel Turner the sacred wheel will reappear. What are those duties? Holding aloft the Dhamma as your banner and your emblem, you should honour it, cherish it, and venerate it along with the royal household. The second duty of yours is to ensure your troops comply with the laws of Dhamma, and the third the nobles and vassals under your rule, followed by the Brahmins. Fifthly, your duty extends to the town and country folks. Protection of the ascetics and Brahmins of the kingdom is your sixth task. It is followed by the duty to protect all the lands birds and beasts. Equally important is to ensure no criminal activities prevail under your guard. The distribution of wealth among the poor and the destitute is the ninth sacred duty. Finally, when those ascetics and Brahmins in your kingdom, who have renounced the life of sensual infatuation, are marked by their compassion and gentleness, each one in control of himself and in quietude, each one striving for the end of craving, it is your bounden duty to approach them with respect and seek their guidance as to what is wholesome and unwholesome, blameworthy and blameless, what is to be adhered to and what is to be discarded and what action in the long term will lead to harm and sorrow and what to welfare and happiness. Those, my son, are the duties of an Aryan Chakravarthi.



When the anointed crown prince lived faithfully according to his fathers counsel the sacred wheel treasure appeared before him as foretold. Directed by the sacred wheel the Sakvithi King with his four-fold army succeeded in receiving the allegiance of all the kingdoms in the four directions of the earth from sea to sea without having to resort to force. He continued to guide the worlds inhabitants on the moral precepts of right livelihood. Consequent to his demise six others of the royal lineage went on to rule the entire world in peace as did the ones before them.



Thievery, robbery and beheading



The seventh successor monarch however failed to donate funds to the poor and the destitute though he performed other rituals. In consequence poverty became widespread followed by theft and robbery. Brought before the king, the accused were pardoned and given wealth on account of their penury. The practice of pardoning of offences and donating of funds continued till it became common knowledge among the populace and in no time the peoples major vocation became thievery and robbery. In desperation the king resorted to the ultimate recourse of beheading those found guilty, which inevitably led to armed citizens revolting against the cruel king.



With the country caught up in this vicious cycle, life spans of men began to diminish drastically. It dropped from eighty thousand years to forty thousand and twenty thousand until it reached two hundred and fifty. By then devious degenerative deeds such as taking of life, uttering of falsehoods, adultery, evil talk, insurmountable desires within themselves, anger, lust, gross avarice, homosexuality, incestual desires towards parents and close relatives, wild utterance became common place. Inevitably the human life span declined to a hundred years and finally to ten. When it reaches that stage all likeable flavours of humans turn bitter. The epicurean food of the day was kudrusa grain. The ten courses of moral conduct would disappear. The ten courses of evil conduct and debasement will substitute for goodness and merit in the world. The word moral will take leave of their vocabulary. Girls become marriageable at five years. Those who have no respect for mother, father and elders will be the ones who enjoy honour and prestige in society. Parents and children will not recognize each other, neither will the immediate relatives, like goats and sheep, cockerels and pigs, dogs and jackals. Fierce hatred and violent thoughts overcome them, children against parents, brothers against sisters and vice versa in the manner of hunters that stalk beasts. Then arrives what is known as the weapons spell of seven days, when weapons appear in their hands and mistaking each other for wild animals, annihilate themselves en masse. Where in this spectrum of rise and decline does this advanced world in the 21st century stand today, one may rightfully ask?

After a period of time some of those who escape the carnage having retreated to thickets and mountains begin to realize their past wrongs, rehabilitate themselves and are overcome by compassion for their brethren



Jambudeepa



After a period of time some of those who escape the carnage having retreated to thickets and mountains begin to realize their past wrongs, rehabilitate themselves and are overcome by compassion for their brethren. With their newly turned lives of peace, harmony and goodwill, the lifespan begins to improve and their appearance become pleasant. Generation by generation their longevity would increase until it reaches eighty thousand years as before. The marriageable age of girls will be five hundred years. Only three diseases will be known to man; greed, fasting and old age. Jambudeepa then will be a mighty prosperous nation with Kethumathi the present Varanasi as its capital with eighty thousand sub cities.



Among the people with an eighty thousand year life-span, there will arise again a righteous monarch of the law named Sankha, a wheel-turner and conqueror of the four quarters. Later in that era there will also arise a Blessed Lord by the name of Metteyya, supreme teacher of the universe with its Devas and Maras, Brahmas, ascetics, Brahimins, its kings and inhabitants. He will proclaim Dhamma that is fine in the beginning, fine in the middle and fine in the end, perfect in spirit and the letter.



In time, the wheel turner Sankha, will gift his palace to the ascetics. The helpless and the destitute will shave off his hair. He will then don the saffron robe and embark on the blameless, unerring journey under Samma Sambuddha Metteyya in solitude, steadfast in resolution and determination. He will reach in that very life itself the final post of the holy life, in the sake of which young men of good upbringing go forth having abandoned the householders life of superficial comfort and ease.

The Blessed One concluded the sermon in these terms, Monks, be an island unto your selves a refuge unto yourselves with none other as your refuge. Let Dhamma be that island and that refuge. Monks, confine yourselves to your own preserves the ancestral haunts of your teacher wherein you will gain in beauty, happiness, wealth and power.



What is the length of a monks life? It is the four concentrations of effort, energy, consciousness, and investigation.



What is the beauty for a monk? It is the practice of right conduct, restraint in accordance with his discipline, perfection of behaviour and habits, consciousness in the slightest of faults and abiding by the rules of his training.



What is a monks happiness? It is the attainment of four jhanas upon detachment from sense to desires.



What is wealth of a monk? Here the monk dwells suffusing the four quarters of the world with unbounded loving kindness free of hatred and ill-will. He dwells suffusing the entire world with compassion, with sympathetic joy and with equanimity filled in his heart



What is the power of a monk? It is that state of total liberation he experiences with his own supra-knowledge in this very life itself.



Monks, said He in conclusion, The one single invincible power in the world is that of Mara. He too is indefensible against the power of Arahanthood

The monks rejoiced over these words of the Master.Law and Order Minister Ranjith Madduma Bandara said yesterday his Ministry would submit details to the Indian authorities regarding Sri Lankan underworld criminals currently hiding in India.

Minister Bandara told the Daily Mirror that India sought all the details about these criminals in this regard.

I had talks with the Indian High Commissioner here. We will prepare the details to be submitted to them, he said.

Earlier, he said the government had initiated talks with the authorities of the United Arab Emirates and India to trace underworld criminals living there. (Kelum Bandara)World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives Dr. Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough and Finance and Mass Media Ministry Secretary Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga exchange the signed agreement

Sri Lanka yesterday signed a US $ 100 million credit agreement with the World Bank to support Sri Lankas efforts to strengthen and modernise the general education system in the country.



The General Education Modernization Project (GEM) will modernize and diversify the curriculum of general education, in keeping with the transformation taking place in Sri Lankas society and economy.



Greater emphasis will be on strategic subjects that are key for economic development, such as English and mathematics.



The project will help broaden the choices at the GCE A-level grades, so that the students have the flexibility in selecting subjects from among the arts, management, science, technology and vocational streams.

The learning material for English language and mathematics will be developed digitally and the focus will be on the children from schools located in more disadvantaged regions.



World Bank Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives Dr. Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough and Finance and Mass Media Ministry Secretary Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunga signed the agreement at the Finance Ministry on behalf of the World Bank and Government of Sri Lanka, respectively.

Sri Lanka has made impressive progress in expanding access to education.



However, to reach the status of an upper-middle-income country, it needs to further improve the overall learning outcomes. Sri Lankas education policymakers recognize that a high-quality general education system will enable students to meet the demands of the 21st century jobs, said Pswarayi-Riddihough.



We are happy to partner with the government to ensure that all children have the opportunity to gain the foundational skills, especially in mathematics and English, needed to participate in Sri Lankas economic growth, she added.



The project will benefit school students both at the primary (grades 1-5) and secondary (grades 6-13) levels.



The technical education and vocational training institutes, academic and managerial staff of the schools will also benefit from this project.



The World Bank has been a long-standing partner of Sri Lanka in the education sector.



The Transforming School Education System Project (TSEP), supported by the World Bank, has helped the country increase the survival rate of students from grades 111 (ages 616) to over 87 percent, introduced a regular cycle of national assessments of learning outcomes and started School Based Management to support the administration of schools in all zones.



In addition, the TSEP helped in strengthening the capacity of the decentralized tiers of education administration.



The GEM will support the government to modernize the primary and secondary education system in line with international standards established in middle-income and high-income education systems, said Harsha Aturupane, Lead Economist and World Banks Task Team Leader for the project.



The successful implementation of the overall general education reform programme and the key priorities supported by the GEM should lead to improved learning outcomes and higher socio-emotional skills among students, he added.



The GEM, approved yesterday, will build on the experience and lessons learned from the TSEP and strengthen the World Banks support to the general education sector.The Buddha never asked and encouraged anyone to perform any rites and rituals in the name of the Buddha or his profound teaching



The quality and standard of the monkhood has been drastically changed

There are four major religions in the globe today. Those who wholeheartedly follow them do accept and believe what they follow. Multitudes of rites and rituals are contained in each of them. Worthy and meaningful practices are always impressive and appreciated.



What the Buddha expounded and taught for the humanity is now called Buddhism but the Blessed One introduced it as Dhamma Vinaya  Doctrine and Discipline.

Though some people make an effort to pronounce and present teachings of the Buddha as same as other faiths, what the Buddha proclaimed was completely different from other religious teachings. The Buddhas teaching is completely based on the mind.



The Buddha never asked and encouraged anyone to perform any rites and rituals in the name of the Buddha or his profound teaching. Somehow, so called born Buddhists blindly perform and unwisely pursue some rites and rituals even in foreign countries.



Some activities might help them to improve and develop spiritual inner faculties such as interest (Saddha). I personally say that it is better than nothing.



First and foremost we all must thoroughly and comprehensively learn about our teacher the Buddha and his profound teaching. As an aspirant or seeker of Perfect Enlightenment, Bodhisatva, he has shown and pragmatically introduced the paramount factors which indefatigably practise to accomplish his ultimate spiritual aspiration- Buddhahood.



Ten paramis or ten perfections are the driving forces which unprecedentedly transformed an ordinary human being into an extraordinary human being (Achchariya manussa). Ambition, generosity, aspiration, moral conduct, effort, determination, dedication, compassion, renunciation, loving-kindness, patience, tolerance, endurance, forbearance, truthfulness, equanimity and wisdom are the paramount and sublime factors at which Bodhisatva perfectly excelled.



Simplicity is the utmost impressive characteristic which I personally encountered in the biography of the Blessed One.

Unfortunately, the deplorable and distressing fact is that individual branded credos and dogmas are proliferated and multiplied in the name of the Buddha Dhamma



After completion of his first group of enlightened disciples, launching his Dhamma mission the Buddha advised them to set off to teach the Dhamma for the benefit and welfare of humanity, for their happiness, peace and meaningful life. They taught the Dhamma Vinaya- doctrine and discipline.



By practising generosity, morality and meditation, not only were people reformed and re-organized but the surroundings and vicinities were changed into liveable and sustainable environments.



Respect, love, compassion, sharing, politeness, truthfulness and many other wholesome practical qualities were implanted and encouraging them to lead meaningful and wholesome lives. The Blessed One and his enlightened disciples compassionately inspired and encouraged people to lead their lives with wholesome inner qualities. Our great Master the Blessed One always highlighted unity, harmony, inner peace, innermost happiness and many more spiritual factors in his teachings, and encouraged his disciples to promote them among others.



Specially by seeing proclivities and propensities of their previous lives, the Buddha encouraged numerous individuals to cultivate and develop their inner faculties to achieve their spiritual aspirations.

Untrained and uneducated preachers are abundant in Sri Lanka in the name of the dispensation of the Buddha in this new millennium. Lack of proper training and knowledge of the Dhamma led them to express their own views and ideas in the name of the Buddha Dhamma



My personal experience with many scholars and most venerable Buddhist monks are memorable and still resounding in my mind though some of them are departed from us.



Late Venerable Balangoda Ananda Meithreeya Maha Nayaka Maha Thero, late Venerable Narada Maha Thero, late Most Venerable Madihe Pannaseeha Maha Nayaka Maha Thero, late Venerable Piyadassi Maha Thero, late Venerable Nauyane Ariyadhamma Maha Thero, late Venerable Panadure Ariyadhamma Maha Thero and lateVenerable Welimitiyawe Dhammarakkhita Maha Thero were the prominent personages who profoundly performed their duties and discharged their responsibilities as leaders of the community of Maha Sangha in recent decades.



The Venerable Ampitiye Sri Rahula Maha Thero and Venerable Kotugoda Dhammawasa Maha Nayaka Maha Thero are exemplary personalities who impartially and unbiasedly live according to the rules and regulations which were constituted in Dhamma Vinaya.



Untrained and uneducated preachers are abundant in Sri Lanka in the name of the dispensation of the Buddha in this new millennium. Lack of proper training and knowledge of the Dhamma led them to express their own views and ideas in the name of the Buddha Dhamma. Unfortunately some unwise people blindly follow them as role models and frantically believe that these preachers are enlightened.



Though most individuals boast that they are Buddhists and take refuge in the Buddha, they blindly follow these undisciplined and untrained individuals, rather than following the Blessed One. They interpret and explicate birth, enlightenment of the Buddha and other historic incidents as they imagine and presume.



This Cult of Personality drastically ruins and misguides innocent devoted disciples of the Buddha. Though above mentioned well renowned most venerable monks had delivered numerous Dhamma talks in the electronic media for many decades, they never had any ulterior motives and hidden agendas as present day hypocrites. Those respectable monks never misguided people in the name of Buddha Sasana.



Some people, both so called monks and laities have politicised the Three Refuges (The Buddha, The Dhamma and The Sangha). Lack of true knowledge, lack of correct practice, lack of true leadership qualities and inadequacy of discipline and training are the well known facts and distinct reality. Cultural values and religious ethics are utterly forgotten. The current unscrupulous demeanour of some monks is a very dangerous example for our future generation.



This may drive to ruin and damage the authenticity of the Buddhas words. Millions of followers listen to numerous sermons; preachers competitively verbalize and prattle with their own interpretations to entertain unwise listeners.



Unfortunately, the deplorable and distressing fact is that individual branded credos and dogmas are proliferated and multiplied in the name of the Buddha Dhamma.

There is no authority in the community of the Buddhist monks or responsible government to take any decisive and conclusive action to protect and preserve the doctrine and discipline (Dhamma Vinaya).



The quality and standard of the monkhood has been drastically changed. Many monks have embraced and engaged in party politics. The life style, the way of life, behaviour as a disciple of the Buddha, deportment of monkhood, duties and responsibilities as a monk is completely disappeared and is absent in certain individuals.

Unacceptable behaviour and disgraceful acts of so called monks have drastically changed peoples respectful attitudes and deep rooted devotion. The way they speak and express their antagonistic ideas and inimical views are completely dangerous and catastrophic. Our future generation will be in vulnerable situation and true spiritual practice will disappear. The Buddha declared that Vinayo Naama Sasanassa Aayu Discipline is the lifespan of the dispensation of the Buddha. Numerous well-disciplined and well trained monks have guided our Buddhist community with outstanding examples but now it is in topsy-turvy.



Some mentally retarded and psychologically unfit individuals attempt to repair and renew their blemished reputations by using their own political views and racial provocations. Some of them have mixed the doctrine and are asking lay people to practise what monks should practise and monks are doing contrary to what they have to practise.



Vinaya or discipline is very crucial fact in the dispensation of the Buddha Dhamma. As a monk or bhikkhu , he must be trained under his teacher or senior monk for at least five years after higher ordination. If teacher or senior monk does not allow him to perform activities such as delivering sermons, conducting meditation programmes or holding discussions, he must remain till he is given the permission. Unfortunately currently what has happened is catastrophic. There is no training or probation period for novices or bhikkhus, therefore they act and preach as they want. Innocent devotees are misguided and confused.



The current propensity and inconceivable proclivity in Sinhalese Buddhist community around the globe is indescribable. Listening to multitudes of sermons and taking part in meditation programmes are widely spread and fast growing cult of personality.



Hope that true scholars and well educated and well disciplined venerable Buddhist monks will reflect upon this unfortunate situation. Put everything on the right track for future generations to come. Good is restraint in the body; good is restraint in speech; good is restraint in thought. Restraint everywhere is good. The monk restrainted in every way is freed from all suffering.



That monk who has control over his tongue, is moderate in speech, unassuming and who explains the Teaching in both letter and spirit  whatever he says is pleasing.



-(The Dhammapada)



Hope these two stanzas will help some people to understand the true disciplines of the Buddha.During their meeting in Hanoi on July 26, PM Phuc expressed his delight at the fruitful relations between Vietnam and the EU over the past time, especially in trade and investment, saying EU businesses are operating effectively in the country.

Apart from the EU-Vietnam Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation (PCA), which has come into force, the upcoming signing of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) would be an important milestone helping lift the bilateral ties to a new height, the leader said.

Both Vietnam and the EU hope that the pact will bring about pragmatic benefits to their businesses and people, he stressed. PM Phuc thanked the European Parliament, the European Commission and concerned agencies for facilitating the EVFTA negotiations.

The PM told his guest that the Vietnamese Government has instructed ministries and agencies to closely work with the INTA delegation to remove bottlenecks in order to enhance trade links between Vietnam and the EU, and accelerate the signing of the EVFTA.

For his part, Bernd Lange said his visit aims to reinforce cooperation between Vietnam and the EU. He congratulated Vietnam on economic achievements the country has recorded, citing its growth rate of over 7% in the first half of 2018.

Regarding the EVFTA, Bernd Lange said the agreement will play an active role in investment attraction while helping spur economic growth of both sides. He suggested Vietnam and the EU promptly complete documents related to the deal toward the signing later this year, and step up the information work so as to help their businesses, including small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), raise their awareness of the pact, its opportunities and benefits.JVP MP moves wants two more medical faculties, saying country has only 50 per cent of required doctors

In addition to Teaching Hospitals medical faculties need more resources and facilities to turn out quality products

Already the existing medical faculties do not have the required full-time teachers

None of the successful campaigns against diseases had doctors involved-all were by PHIs and PHMs

Can more medical doctors reverse the continuing decline in our health service? JVP member in Parliament Dr Nalinda Jayatissa has moved two private member motions to establish medical faculties at the Uva Wellassa and Moratuwa Universities, with Badulla and Nagoda Hospitals proposed as Teaching Hospitals.

His argument is that Sri Lanka has only 50 per cent of the required number of medical doctors and medical faculties in State Universities can only accommodate 1,200 to 1,300 medical undergraduates each year-therefore, the need to establish two more medical faculties to increase the number of student intake.



There is something rather sneaky in his proposal to have Nagoda Hospital as the Teaching Hospital for the proposed Moratuwa Faculty. Why go that far when there are two other hospitals much closer in Panadura and Bandaragama?



Besides that, though a medical doctor, the JVP politician fails to understand that to produce a quality medical professional, a Teaching Hospital is not the only necessity.



A Medical Faculty needs many more resources and facilities to turn out quality professionals.



Though the GMOA and Deans of Medical Faculties in State Universities cry foul over the SAITM Medical Faculty, they are selfishly silent on the quality of education in their own medical faculties including Rajarata, Ruhuna (Karapitiya) and Eastern University.



Most faculties dont have permanent qualified teaching staff and are wholly dependent on visiting professors and lecturers from elsewhere.



The Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC), throttled by the GMOA mafia in decision making, has evaded this lapse and the necessity of having a permanent teaching staff in their draft on minimum standards in medical education by allowing medical professionals in Teaching Hospitals to be counted as teaching staff.



This is one of the many reasons, the GMOA as a trade union, should be completely barred from running for positions in the SLMC and the reason, why the SLMC should be restructured anew to give it better representation from other professions and to societal interests.



The whole approach in shaping our health service with medical doctors and the argument that we need more medical doctors raises the vital question, what we as a society expect from our health service?



Do we want more and more patients to seek outdoor and indoor treatment in hospitals for medical doctors and specialists to have a thriving private practice?



Do we have to keep increasing the number of medical doctors to treat increasing numbers of patients? Is that what we are looking for?



The argument for more medical doctors, the JVP MP Dr Jayatissa is echoing, is one borrowed from his own ilk in the GMOA.



If the existing number of medical doctors is 50 per cent of the required number, he should explain, why medical doctors are posted in numerous offices to attend to administrative work.



On the Health Services, Minutes Gazetted in October 2014 that comes after the GMOA mafia endorses it, there are 324 administrative posts strictly for medical doctors.



There are also 341 MOH positions for medical doctors. Lately, there are other stupidly unnecessary office positions created in the 25 RDHS offices with designations like MO-IT, MO - Planning and MO-Health Education, while in Colombo Hospitals, there are other posts that keep cropping up like MO-5S and MO-QC.



These office-based positions totalling around 800 dont need medical graduates.



While increasing numbers of medical doctors take over such idling administrative positions, the overall health service is on the decline.



The alarming spread of Dengue Fever (DF) and Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever (DHF) is one proof.



The spread of dengue is mainly due to the callous disregard of the once very effective monitoring and regulating mechanism that was then under a Senior Public Health Inspector (PHI) but now controlled by medical doctors sitting in MOH Chairs.



With medical doctors in office as MOHs, not interested in enforcing monitoring proper and regulating, there has been a dramatic increase in the incidence in most Provinces although the highest incidence of DF/DHF is seen in the Western Province (44.9% in 2007).



In the recent past, the incidence of DF/DHF has been more marked in the NCP (4.8% in 2004 vs. 11.8% in 2007), Wayamba (10.2% in 2004 vs. 15.9% in 2007) and Sabaragamuwa (6% in 2004 vs. 12.2% in 2007) and with 35,008 cases reported in 2009 with 346 deaths, according to the Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry.

With all the rhetoric available from medical officers manning decision-making and implementing positions in the health sector, during the first three months of 2018, there were 14,627 reported cases of DF/DHF.



The result is that we have hospitals with DF/DHF patients cramped everywhere in the hospitals.



In Sri Lanka, this needs to be stressed and emphasized with the GMOA mafia wanting to portray and project the medical profession as the sole saviour and guardian of our health services. It is a total and an absolute lie.



It wasnt medical doctors who worked towards lifting Sri Lankas health status to that of the more advanced countries.



From hookworm to poliomyelitis, from malaria to whooping cough, smallpox and filariasis, all outbreaks and recurrences were eradicated through a well monitored and regulated community based preventive healthcare service handled by paramedical servicemen and not by medical doctors.



PHIs played a very vital role in carrying out an islandwide awareness on personal hygiene and developing cleaner sanitation. They were responsible for creating a new generation that paid more attention to personal cleanliness and better family hygiene. It was also PHIs and the Midwives who played a very committed role in making immunization and vaccination programmes a success in the 1960s.



In the 1980s with WHO support and guidance the anti-leprosy campaign was efficiently and successfully carried through to declare leprosy as eradicated in 1992, without medical doctors playing any significant role.



Now that medical doctors have taken over leprosy prevention, there is once again a warning of a possible increase in leprosy cases.



Yet, another interesting piece of news was from Moneragala, when the now hyped Gam Peraliya development programme was launched over a month ago. It was reported, 25,000 households were without proper toilets. A special allocation was set aside for their construction. Truth is, if the MOH was effectively monitoring and regulating community health in his or her area, this lack of toilets should have been remedied, long before Gam Peraliya was launched.



This also raises the question why allocations for their construction were channelled through the Divisional Secretariat (DS) and not through the MOH.



The fact is, MOH is now a wholly irrelevant position in community life even after the spread of dengue fever.



MOH is not seen or heard of even in dengue prevention campaigns that are carried through Development Officers in DS offices, LG councillors and local area Police, at times backed by the STF as well.



Therefore what we should as a society demand from our health service is a very strong preventive community healthcare system to reduce numbers admitted to hospitals.



A preventive healthcare system makes hospitals in the curative healthcare system less important. Sri Lankas proud status on health rankings was achieved on a comparatively very low budget that depended more on preventive health care and sanitation than on curative healthcare and medical doctors.



Preventive community health care with trained paramedics checking on households regularly is certainly not as expensive as curative health care with sophisticated hospitals, long lists of expensive medicinal drugs prescribed by medical doctors and specialists, supported by semi-professional staff like MLTs, Radiographers and Physiotherapists.



Sri Lanka needs to give more importance to preventive community health care over curative healthcare that should have a strict referral system.



We are wasting money on curative health with heavy investments going in search of the most modern and expensive health equipment to meet ever-increasing numbers of patients.



This is due to GMOA backed medical professionals holding all key positions in the health hierarchy who are not pro-people as they project themselves to be.

We also need to break out of international norms and standards, where and when necessary to design programmes for our own need(s).



We should get back to the well-knit preventive healthcare service with paramedics at the community level that we had till the 70s. This can be redesigned under specially trained senior PHIs designated as Area Community Health Officers (ACHO) to clear out this mess. The ACHOs should also have well trained Public Health Midwives (PHM) in the field.



The present WHO norm of having one PHI for 10,000 persons and one PHM for 3,000 persons should be revised for a more practically valid ratio.



It is humanly impossible for a PHM to care for 3,000 pregnant mothers and infants within a month that includes home visits too.



So is it with PHIs. The present MOH who is a medical doctor can thus be repositioned as the GP in outpatient dispensaries in ACHO divisions.



A community based preventive healthcare system would help reduce the heavy cost of producing medical doctors through low-quality medical faculties proposed at public expense.



Experience during past decades proves that increasing the numbers of medical doctors produced does not in any way improve the health of people.



They only get comfortably absorbed into the thriving private sector health industry that lacks full-time medical doctors.



Thus, what JVP MP Dr Nalinda Jayatissa actually proposes is to produce more medical doctors in the private sector health industry at public expense.



The medical profession now only feels money, not human pain.In Sri Lanka, the government has historically been in cahoots with the private sphere when it comes to the most common sectors (education and healthcare)

Lahiru Weerasekara, convenor of the Inter University Students Federation or IUSF, better known as Anthare, is a colourful if not divisive figure. He inspires love and hate, sometimes on the same terms. He is derided by those who wish to dismantle the States grip on education and admired by those who wish to preserve the free in free education. It is difficult to ascribe to him every strike action and demonstration that his outfit has carried out, but if there ever were a student leader who epitomised the angst of the moment, the agitation against the privatisation of education, it is he. A friend of mine pointed out recently that everyones a radical as long as he does not have children, is not married, and is committed to the hilt with an ideology he or she entertains as the absolute truth. Lahiru Weerasekara does not have children, is not married, and entertains a particularly compelling ideology as the absolute truth. He is no hero of mine, but that ideology of his is compelling enough, so I am with him.



There are two schools of thought regarding higher education in this country. One school contends that free education must of necessity stop at the point a student completes his secondary education, i.e. his A/Levels. Reasons given as justifications for this point of view usually include the fact that the State, meagre as its finances are when it comes to funding government institutions, must buckle up even more when it comes to university education. Proponents of this school contend that what is needed is a vibrant private sector to cater to those who a)cant enter a local university and b) can pay through higher education if given a chance or choice. Since complete privatisation is untenable if not impractical, they contend further, the ideal system would be a private-public partnership, such as the one implemented and carried out at the Kotelawala Defence Academy. They are not supporters of the free market, they are realists, and as realists, they (at least vaguely) want to balance equity and equality.



The other school of thought opposes any reform in this regard, and to this end wants the State to maintain its grip on higher education. They believe that the government is not doing enough, that it should be spending at least 6% of the GDP on universities and other institutions of higher education (trade colleges, industrial schools, what-not), and that it should do away with private colleges and universities which offer degrees that cannot strictly be monetised and hence exist outside the bounds of the free market (medicine and engineering being just two of these). In other words, not only are they against the commoditisation of education (where they are correct), they are also insistent that whatever attempt the State makes in compromising on their principles and shared perspectives is an act of aggression that can only end in the complete privatisation of education (where they are dogmatic). Given that in Sri Lanka, the government has historically been in cahoots with the private sphere when it comes to the most common sectors (education and healthcare), they are correct.



Where do I stand, and where should we stand? Ideally in neither camp, but given that these are divisive times and given that we happen to live in a divisive society, a choice must be made. Malinda Seneviratne once wrote that while education must not be sold off for a song and two cents, this does not give unbridled licence to oppose the entry of students to private institutions if those two above points, i.e. they cant enter a local University and can pay through those private institutions, are met. But Marx and Engels made it impossible for us to stand with them without opposing Adam Smith, and the Marxists of the 20th century made it impossible for us to support Castro and oppose American imperialism while supporting reform movements in the former camp. In that sense, the divide between Lahiru Weerasekara and Neville Fernando can never be resolved. If we are to stand with the former, we have to oppose the latter. And given the reality today, I am not so sure whether I want to stand with the latter.



Heres why.



Around a year ago, a prominent online news and comment site ran several opinion pieces from students who had been cheated at their A Levels and thus of an opportunity to pursue their dreams to become doctors without leaving Sri Lanka. One after another, and one testimony after another, these students argued that they did not want to leave the country, that they wanted to give back to the people who had funded them (parents and relatives in the case of those who had studied in private schools; the entire public in the case of those who had studied in local schools). For a while at least, these essays worked, and they won the sympathy of a number of objective, unbiased readers. But then, as one piece piled up on top of another, other comments began flowing in. The writers of these comments made one point: that these students had been planted and that as students of a derided private medical institution they had a bias for the continuation of its interests. Their case was compelling, and yet, it failed to account for one important fact: the disparity between their access to privilege (from English-speaking backgrounds) and the lack of access thereto of a majority who made it to local universities and had to make the hard yards to make it there.

The simple truth then is that the government, outdated though its institutions may be, is nevertheless reining in on the need to qualify educational attainments by means of universally accepted metrics and thresholds



No amount of testimonials can erase this fact, which is a result of decades of class differences that have gone unchecked and have been institutionalised in the public and private sphere. (Ill explore this in next weeks piece.) The simple truth then is that the government, outdated though its institutions may be, is nevertheless reining in on the need to qualify educational attainments by means of universally accepted metrics and thresholds. In the absence of a profit motive, Sri Lankas higher education sector is determined, on paper at least, to match result with performance and performance with result. This is true not just of academic qualifications, it is also true of professional qualifications (especially accountancy). After all, while the State can be faulted for indulging in age-old and primitive mindsets, it can hardly be faulted for lowering standards by, for instance, taking students through hard modules and topics and then assessing them on easy MCQ and computer based exams. And yet, that is what most private degree awarding institutions are doing now. Where are the quality checks?



Of course, those who bat for private education will say that standards have not gone tumbling down and they are aware always of the need to balance the need for profits with the need for academic performance. But private degree awarding institutions, in Sri Lanka, are assessed by those bodies they are affiliated to, elsewhere, on the basis of success rates. Whos to say that either those institutions or those bodies, given the prevalence of moneyed interests in both, will not privilege profit over performance and jack up those success rates by, for instance, lowering minimal requirements?



This is a real threat, and it is a threat that has been borne out by evidence. Not here, but in Britain and the West as a whole. In July 2016, for instance, an article in The Guardian raised questions about Pearson and its pervasive influence on English school life. While that influence is much more readily accepted in the United States, where private education is rampant, critics in Britain doubt the ability of for-profit-ventures planning out national exam standards. Of particular concern was the fact that Pearson then was managed by an educationist who had once contended that Ministers must allow state-run schools to be run for profit, which led to this observation being made by a best-selling writer on US education reform: The corporation [Pearson] is acting as a quasi-government agency in several instances, but it is not a quasi-government agency: it is a business that sells products and services. What part of the field of education does Pearson not manage? At what point do conflicts of interest arise? Is it acting in the best interests of students, of the nation, or of its own business? Apt.



Heres the deal. Britain, like Sri Lanka, historically has had an education sector reliant on decrees from the centre. It is no cause for surprise then that the ruckus over some British universities imported here has to do with the fact that those universities are, back home, not that well recognised or for that matter respected. Unlike Sri Lanka, though, Britain does not boast of a lecturers union or students association that can match up to FUTA or IUSF. This is an important point, because once educational standards start to come down, once the fight for free and comprehensive education takes on an inescapable, national character (it already has), we would need associations that are vehemently concerned over the one issue which brings an unlikely parvenu like me on to the same pedestal occupied by Lahiru Weerasekara: that the profit motive, while cohabiting rather tensely with academic performance in the West, can hardly be expected to cohabit with it once transplanted to Sri Lanka. Besides, we have a macabre history of tinkering with education. If it takes a Lahiru Weerasekara to stop that tinkering, I am afraid we have no choice but to stand with him to put a stop to it.



UDAKDEV1@GMAIL.COMAt their talk in Hanoi on July 26, both officials spoke highly of the results of cooperation between the two Government Inspectorates, and agreed to further intensify friendship and cooperative ties in the time ahead.

They discussed measures to organise training courses for Lao inspectors in 2018 and 2019.

Vietnamese Government Inspector General Khai took the occasion to extend his profound sympathy to the Lao Party, Government and people for the great losses caused by the recent dam collapse in Attapeu province.

He expressed his hope that the Lao people will soon be able to stabilise their lives and recover production.

The Lao official thanked Vietnam for its sympathy and assistance in addressing the consequences of the incident.

He expressed his belief that the effective cooperation between the Government Inspectorates of Vietnam and Laos will contribute to bolstering the traditional friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.Save my User ID and Password

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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.Subscriber content preview

The Canadian Securities Exchange is the go-to place for U.S. companies orphaned by their own stock exchanges because the feds consider pot illegal.



By GILLIAN FLACCUS

Associated Press

PORTLAND  Green Thumb Industries had a business plan, expertise and plenty of ambition to grow its marijuana business. What the Chicago-based company didn't have was access to enough capital to make it all happen.

So last month, the company with $20 million in revenue from pot shops in seven states turned its gaze north and went public in Canada, where marijuana soon will be broadly legalized nationwide.





. . .Subscriber content preview

SEATTLE  King County Metro said it will offer more frequent and reliable bus service on some popular routes beginning this fall thanks to money from Amazon and the city of Seattle.

Amazon is giving $1.5 million for 22 additional weekday trips for two years on West Seattle, Shoreline, Ballard and Capitol Hill routes. This provides room for roughly 1,700 weekday boardings, and includes the RapidRide E Line and C Line, and Routes 8, 40, 62, and 63.





. . .President Quang spoke highly of Roccas contributions to fostering the Vietnam-Belgium cooperation and mutual understanding, particularly in events celebrating the 45th anniversary of the bilateral diplomatic relations earlier this year.

Vietnam attaches great importance to deepening its friendship with Belgium, President Quang said, adding that the two nations are now significant economic partners with bilateral trade relatively higher than that between Vietnam and any other European country.

Educational cooperation is one of the highlights of bilateral ties in politics, culture, and education which have made decent progress at all levels over the years, helping the two countries to promote the image of each other among their people, he said.

To further bolster relations in the time ahead, President Quang urged Belgium to push for the signing of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) which is scheduled to take place in Brussels this October. In addition, he suggested both sides to soon conclude a new framework for expanded cooperation in agriculture in an effort to ensure food security and adaption to climate change.

He also lauded the effective coordination between Vietnam and Belgium at international and multilateral forums, such as the United Nations, the International Organisation of La Francophonie, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and ASEAN. He moved on to wish Belgium success in its hosting of the 12th ASEM Summit in October this year.

Ambassador Roccas, for her part, highlighted the positive results in the Vietnam-Belgium partnership in politics, economics, and development cooperation.

She said her country will continue supporting Vietnam in the coming time and that Belgium, along with some other European nations, are looking to set up a university in Vietnam. According to the Belgian diplomat, the Free University of Brussels has offered in-country postgraduate courses in Vietnam over the last 23 years, with more than 2,200 graduates, many of whom now hold senior positions at local governmental bodies.

Belgium treasures its ties with Vietnam, backing Vietnam in strengthening relations with the EU and the early signing of the EVFTA, she stressed. It also supports Vietnams candidacy for a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council and is ready to share with Vietnam experience in UN peacekeeping operations.Subscriber content preview

SEARSPORT, Maine (AP)  A crumbling gem of a home built by a sea captain is being dismantled in slow motion, so slowly that some people wonder whether Mother Nature will raze it before the owner completes the job.

Searsport officials told the owner of the 150-plus-year-old home to tear it down more than two years ago.





. . .Bellevue CBDs biggest office landlord: Vulcan?

The developer says Bellevue is focused on neighborhoods, smart growth and cultivating business.



By SCOTT MATTHEWS

Vulcan Inc.

Matthews

When Vulcan Real Estate purchased 6 acres for redevelopment in downtown Bellevue, some people in the commercial real estate industry were surprised. Known for the ongoing redevelopment of 60 acres in South Lake Union and our mixed-use residential projects in the Central Area and at Yesler, Vulcan has focused on urban infill development for nearly 20 years.

We were asked: Why Bellevue and why now?

Our research into the Bellevue market revealed that Vulcans development philosophy is nicely aligned with Bellevues planning and community development guidelines.

Bellevue is focused on neighborhoods, smart growth and cultivating business. Vulcan takes an inclusive, people-first lens, and seeks to develop spaces that facilitate positive human interactions and promote long-term economic growth for everyone. Both approaches aim to create world-class 18/7 neighborhoods that offer a variety of places to live, work and play. These synergies make Bellevue a compelling and attractive place to do business.

A funny thing happened as all eyes where pointed on Seattle as the fastest growing city in America  Bellevue quietly transitioned into a vibrant economic center. A partial list of recent major leases in excess of 80,000 square feet to companies such as Amazon, Valve Software, Smartsheet, Pokemon, Salesforce.com and WeWork demonstrate just how desirable downtown Bellevue has become to tech firms. And it continues to appeal to traditional financial, insurance and real estate industries as well.

During this period of strong growth, Bellevue City officials took an inclusive approach, collaborating with investors, developers and employers. After Vulcans initial investment in the CBD, city officials arranged a tour for us to see firsthand some of the proposed changes for the city and current and future development projects. We felt very welcomed and were excited by the citys engagement.

The business of real estate development is inherently risky and expensive, and many factors that impact the success of new projects are out of a developers hands. The more a city can do to provide a sense of predictability and collaboration to its legislation and land-use regulations, the more likely developers (and employers) will be to bring economic development, jobs, tax revenue and amenities through new development.

Image from Vulcan Inc. [enlarge] Vulcan plans to redevelop Bellevue Plaza, three left buildings, into 1 million square feet of offices. Its property at 555 108th Ave. N.E., right, could become a 38-story office tower. Plans for the smaller middle building, 201 106th Ave. N.E., have not been disclosed.





As the number of suitable development sites in Seattle continues to diminish, Bellevue has been working diligently to get its infrastructure and land-use code in order, setting the stage for increased development and density. The recent passage of the Downtown Livability Initiative by the City Council was the first time in more than 30 years that the zoning code was significantly updated.

The new initiative allows for significantly taller buildings and a greater variety of uses intended to make downtown Bellevue more vibrant, safe, dynamic and memorable.

The upzone greatly improves Vulcans ability to develop office space at Bellevue Plaza, by increasing commercial floor area ratio (FAR) from three to five times the site area. Vulcan plans to develop an approximately 1 million-square-foot phased urban office complex at this location, and is taking its other sites through entitlement.

The rezone also encourages taller buildings and Vulcan may elect to develop a single office tower at 555 108th Ave. N.E., which at 38 stories would be Bellevues tallest skyscraper. With a development potential of 2 million square feet, Vulcan could become downtown Bellevues largest office landlord once its projects are complete.

Anyone who has driven east across I-90 recently has witnessed firsthand that light rail is coming to the Eastside. Anticipated to open in 2023, the East Link will create 10 new stations from Redmond to Seattle, including seven stations in Bellevue. It will give riders a fast, frequent and reliable connection between the Eastsides biggest population and employment centers and destinations across King, Pierce and Snohomish counties. Easy connections from and to the Bellevue central business district offer large-scale urban office opportunities for growing businesses looking for employee live-work options outside of Seattle.

As research indicates, millennials, who have put off making big life decisions, such as marriage/partnering, having children, buying a house, etc., are now older and have started making those choices. The Brookings Institute declared 2012 as the peak of Americas back to the city movement. And while Seattle continues to attract an influx of new residents, theres evidence that millennials starting families prefer the close-in urban hubs like Issaquah, Redmond and Bellevue because they offer an abundance of parks and open space and excellent schools.

Another major initiative that Bellevue has undertaken in recent years is the development of the Grand Connection, a transformative plan to connect pedestrians and bicyclists from Meydenbauer Bay Park to the Wilburton commercial area and the Eastside Rail Corridor, creating new opportunities for public space, recreation and the arts.

Long criticized for the size of its blocks, which made walking in downtown prohibitive, the city has proposed the Grand Connection that will connect pedestrians and non-motorized vehicles to important civic and public places including Old Bellevue, Bellevue Downtown Park, the pedestrian corridor, Bellevue Transit Center, and the Civic Center District, providing safe access over Interstate 405.

These types of investments into the citys public realm will pay dividends for generations to come. That is how Vulcan approaches its philosophy toward development as well. In short, we see great alignment with Bellevues inclusive approach to attracting investment  with a collaborative approach that includes the private sector, nonprofits and government. Everyone wins.

Scott Matthews is senior director of acquisitions and residential development for Vulcan Inc. He has more than 30 years of development and management experience in multiple product types.





Other Stories:Subscriber content preview

SEATTLE  The Hillside Terrace apartments, at 602 N. 42nd St., have sold for a little over $3.6 million, according to King County records.

The seller was Bridger Development Co., which acquired the property in 2005 for almost $1.5 million.





. . .The foreign affairs office of Guangzhou municipal government held a press conference on July 24 to introduce the city's innovative practices in enlarging its circle of international friends and building itself into a hub for international exchange.

The conference focused on overall requirements, key tasks, and supporting measures and looked at relevant practices and plans such as the city's efforts to enlarge its sister cities group.

Lei Weiju, deputy director of Guangzhou's foreign affairs office and the spokesperson for the conference, addressed existing guidelines and goals for international exchange. He pointed out that Guangzhou's foreign affairs work should focus on five distinctive advantages including the CPC's unified leadership over foreign affairs, Guangzhou's geographical location, its exhibition brand and its cooperation with high-end platforms such as the World Economic Forum, the Boao Forum for Asia, and the Fortune Global Forum.

The conference also highlighted promotion of the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation (Guangzhou Award) brand and Guangzhou's efforts in developing friendly relationships with international cities and a new pattern of all-around opening-up. The spokesman noted that this year the Guangzhou government will develop a long-term mechanism to transform achievements and inspirations drawn from the Guangzhou Award into concrete improvements in global urban governance.

According to the conference, Guangzhou's foreign affairs office will deepen cooperation with think tanks and universities, and establish an inspection mechanism for assessment and evaluation in implementing a three-year plan to become an international exchanges hub.





Lei Weiju (R), deputy director of Guangzhou's foreign affairs office, speaks at the press conference on July 24. [Photo/china.com.cn]



From The Hill:

The House passed a nonbinding measure Thursday to denounce a carbon tax, calling it detrimental to the United States.

The resolution, sponsored by House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), states that a tax on emissions of carbon dioxide  the most prevalent greenhouse gas that causes climate change  would be detrimental to American families and businesses, and is not in the best interest of the United States.

It passed 229-180 with two members voting "present."

Six Republicans voted against the resolution: Reps. Carlos Curbelo (Fla.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Trey Hollingsworth (Ind.), Mia Love (Utah), Francis Rooney (Fla.) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.).

Seven Democrats broke with their caucus to vote yes: Reps. Sanford Bishop (Ga.), Henry Cuellar (Texas), Vicente Gonzalez (Texas), Conor Lamb (Pa.), Stephanie Murphy (Fla.), Tom OHalleran (Ariz.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), who is running for the Senate.

Two lawmakers voted present, indicating neither support nor opposition: Reps. Ryan Costello (R-Pa.) and Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.). ...

Democrats dismissed the resolution as a waste of time instead of defending carbon taxes. ...

Here we have a fake debate and fake legislation thats going nowhere, instead of actual real hearings, said Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.). ...

Its a stupid resolution, either way. It said nothing, said Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.).

He added that all the various problems with carbon taxes the resolution listed "apply to the present gas and diesel taxes, and aviation taxes, which we already have in place.The NA leader said that she is impressed with the achievements of the workers who introduced a total of 781 projects, ideas, and technological solutions which generated a profit of VND 74 trillion (US$ 3.2 billion).

The honoured labourers are good examples of energy, dynamism, and creativeness, as well as the ability to overcome difficulties and make contributions to the growth of their companies, she said.

Highlighting that modernisation and industrialisation are strategic tasks in boosting the countrys development, the top legislator stressed that Vietnamese workers, regardless of their field of work, should be made aware of the Partys policies and orientations in national development.

NA Chairwoman Ngan asked trade unions at all levels to continue to seek and honour excellent collectives and individuals.

She also pledged that the NA will provide adequate resources to care for labourers, while supervising the implementation of support policies for them, as well as policies related to wages, social insurance, and health insurance.BMW SA Open hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni

Glendower GC, City of Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, South AfricaThis Page Is Under Construction - Coming Soon!

Why am I seeing this 'Under Construction' page?Crew members of Scuderia Ferrari as well as Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen will all wear a black armband in Hungary this weekend as the Italian squad honours the memory of Sergio Marchionne.

The 66-year-old chairman and CEO of Ferrari, and the talented auto executive who turned around the fortunes of both Fiat and Chrysler, passed away yesterday as a result of medical complications that occurred after a shoulder surgery.

A wave of tributes from the auto industry and Formula 1 have poured in since Marchionne's passing, and with the Scuderia on deck this weekend in Hungary, the entire team will show is respect for their former tireless leader.

Scuderia boss Maurizio Arrivabene, Vettel and Raikkonen were all excused from media duties on Thursday at the Hungaroring.

Ferrari flags gracing the team's motorhome shall also be flying at half-mast this weekend.

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 driversDeputy Assistant Attorney General Matthew MinerThe prosecutor who oversees the criminal divisions FCPA unit said the DOJ wants corporate acquisitions to happen and doesnt want the specter of enforcement to be a risk factor that impedes such activity by good actors.

Deputy assistant attorney general Matthew Miner was speaking Wednesday in Washington at ACIs global forum on anti-corruption compliance in high risk markets.

He said good actors shouldnt cede the [M&A] field to non-compliant companies.

At bottom, it makes good economic sense and helps stamp out corruption when the [DOJ] adopts policies that foster greater corporate compliance.

To encourage M&A activity, the DOJ will apply the principles in the FCPA Corporate Enforcement Policy to successor companies where theres wrongdoing, Miner said.

That means acquiring companies and targets meeting the requirements of the policy  voluntary self disclosure, full cooperation, and timely and appropriate remediation  will be entitled to a presumption of declination.

Miner said the DOJ understands that acquiring companies sometimes have limited access to a target companys data and records, perhaps even more so when the target company is in a high risk jurisdiction.

In those instances, he said, if an acquiring company unearths wrongdoing subsequent to the acquisition, we want to encourage its leadership to take the steps outlined in the FCPA Policy, and when they do, we want to reward them, accordingly for stepping up, being transparent, and reporting and remediating the problems they inherited.

Before he returned to government service in February this year, Miner was a partner in Morgan Lewis DC office for five years. Before that he served as chief counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee and as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Montgomery, Alabama.

Miner said Wednesday that when an acquiring company uncovers corruption issues during due diligence process, it should use the FCPA Opinion Procedure to obtain a ruling from the DOJ before going forward.

That can delay the deal, but sometimes it makes sense to slow down to assess risks, he said.

(Editors note: The FCPA Opinion Procedure hasnt been used since November 2014. Critics have said its too slow and too public to help acquiring companies during an acquisition.)

Miner emphasized that the DOJ wants law-abiding companies with robust compliance programs to enter high-risk markets and sometimes take over otherwise problematic companies.

That helps uncover corrupt practices and spreads compliance to more companies.

And it allows the DOJ to move enforcement resources away from the FCPA and devote them to other criminal activity, such as opioid enforcement, human trafficking, and crimes impacting vulnerable victims, like children and the elderly.

____

On other FCPA-related topics, Miner said SocGens $585 million enforcement action in June was a perfect example of the DOJs new anti-piling on policy.

He also said the DOJ was pleased in April to reach this years first corporate declination (pdf) under the new FCPA enforcement policy.

In that case, the DOJ didnt prosecute Dunn & Bradstreet for FCPA violations in China. The DOJ cited among other things DnBs prompt voluntary self-disclosure, its thorough investigation, and its full cooperation.

In a parallel SEC enforcement action, Dunn & Bradstreet paid $9 million in penalties and disgorgement for the FCPA violations.

___

Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matthew Miners full July 25, 2018 remarks are here.

___

Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog.Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release

SubCategory Select Sub-CategoryThe Deputy PM recognised the success of the Global TB Programme in activities to erase TB globally. With the support of the programme, the prevention and control of TB in Vietnam has seen progress in terms of technique, technology and implementation, he said.

Each year, Vietnam gives treatment to over 100,000 TB patients. The diagnosis ratio of new TB cases has reached 81 percent, higher than the average ratio of 61 percent across the world, he noted.

As many as 90 percent of TB patients who were diagnosed for the first time were able to completely get rid of the disease, while over 75 percent of the 12,019 multi-drug-resistant TB patients have been treated successfully, far above the worlds average of 52 percent.

Currently, the national programme against TB in Vietnam has succeeded in dealing with all drug-resistant TB types, Deputy PM Dam said, adding that research and experiment activities have targeted the settlement of TB risks in affected communities, which is expected to sharply reduce new TB cases.

According to the Deputy PM, although Vietnam is seen as a model in TB combat, the country still faces many challenges in the work.

Vietnam still ranks 16th in the world in terms of TB patients, and 13th in drug-resistant TB cases.

It is estimated that globally in 2017, there were 126,000 new cases diagnosed, with 13,000 people dying from the disease.

The Vietnamese Governments national strategy on TB prevention and control underlined the intersectional responsibilities of several sectors and the whole of society, with many resources having been given to the work.

Vietnam has supported and engaged in the WHO initiative of Find, Treat, Cure TB, launched by the WHO and the TB Alliance, with the aim of screening and treating as many TB patients as possible in order to end the transmission sources, and thus eliminate the disease.

Hailing Vietnams achievements in fighting TB, Kasaeva said that Vietnam is one of the leading countries in implementing strategies to end TB, paving the way for other countries in West Pacific region, and the world, in the field.

The Global TB Programme commits to strongly supporting and cooperating with Vietnam in efforts to erase TB as a preventable and curable disease, she stated.AllCloud, an Israeli cloud solutions provider specializing in cloud enablement, from cloud infrastructure to CRM and ERP cloud applications, raised $7m in funding.

The round, which brought total funding raised to date to more than $15m, was led by existing investors, along with Discount Capital and Hallett Capital.

The company also entered into the North American cloud solutions provider market with the acquisition of San Francisco and Toronto-based Figur8 Cloud Solutions, a Salesforce partner.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Established in 2014 by Yosi Frenkel and Lahav Savir through the merger of Blat-Lapidot, a Platinum partner of Salesforce in Israel, and Emind, a Premier Consulting Partner in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network (APN) and a Google Cloud Partner, AllCloud offers a wide variety of solutions and services to large and mid-market companies spanning the entire digital transformation lifecycle, ranging from cloud architecture and implementation services to application integration and infrastructure management. The firm maintains collaborations with AWS, Google Cloud and Salesforce in order to help customers choose the cloud platform that is best for them. The team of 200 business consulting and cloud services experts support customers across industries from offices in Israel, Munich, Berlin and Bucharest, and now, through the acquisition of Figur8, from offices in San Francisco, New York, Toronto and Vancouver as well.

The company has also appointed Eran Gil, a cloud solutions provider pioneer, as CEO. He brings nearly 20 years experience in technology and sales to AllCloud, and a proven ability to build a professional services organization from the ground up.

Prior to joining AllCloud as Executive Board Director in 2015, Gil was co-founder of Cloud Sherpas, a global cloud solutions provider acquired in 2015 by Accenture. Incumbent AllCloud CEO Ronit Rubin will remain with the organization as GM of EMEA, and Jon Hallett, an early investor in, and CEO of, Cloud Sherpas, has joined the AllCloud Board of Directors. Dr. Shai Weil will remain the chairman of AllClouds board.

The decision to acquire Figur8 was based on its presence and growth into the North American market. Figur8 co-Founders Ojay Malonzo and Richard Lockson worked at Salesforce for many years before starting a company that now totals 40 certified Salesforce professionals. From technology to financial services, Figur8 has enabled customers in multiple industries to innovate on the Salesforce platform.

Malonzo and Lockson will remain with AllCloud as SVP Sales North America and SVP Delivery North America, respectively.

FinSMEs

26/07/2018LoginRadius, a Vancouver, Canada-based provider of a Customer Identity and Access Management (cIAM) platform, raised $17M in Series A funding.

The round was led by ForgePoint Capital and Microsofts venture fund, M12, with participation from existing investors Real Ventures, BDC Capital, and Yaletown Venture Partners. In connection with the funding, ForgePoint Capital and M12 will join LoginRadius Board of Directors.

The company will use the funds to accelerate product innovation, customer acquisition and global expansion.

Launched in 2012 by Rakesh Soni, CEO, and Deepak Gupta, CTO, LoginRadius provides a cloud-hosted service to securely manage and transact with billions of customer identities while managing privacy and compliance regulations, such as GDPR. The enterprise-grade identity platform is being used by more than 3,000 businesses, including brands such as Weather Network, Vogue, Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC), Viacom, Avatar and Kind Snacks, serving more than 700 million identities, while handling 7.5 billion API calls per month.

The platform  built with RESTful APIs and open sourced SDK libraries that allow developers to easily implement authentication, login interfaces and web SSO  has been deployed on new and legacy applications across multiple channels including web, mobile, IoT, POS and kiosks.

The company has support global offices in Vancouver, London, San Francisco, Sydney, and Jaipur, with plans to more than double its workforce in the next 12 months.

FinSMEs

26/07/2018snap40, an Edinburgh, Scotland-based provider of an AI-enabled wearable device that monitors patients in real-time to proactively identify illnesses, raised an $8 million seed funding.

The round awas led by ADV, with participation from MMC Ventures, Gordon Craig, co-founder of Craneware; Gareth Williams, founder of Skyscanner; and Qasar Younis, the former chief operating officer of Y Combinator and founder of TalkBin and existing investors Par Equity and the Scottish Investment Bank.

Led by Christopher McCann, CEO and co-founder, snap40 offers an automated picture of human health. Using a wearable device, the company monitors individuals during and after hospital admissions, as well as for chronic health conditions and in clinical trials. Using real-time data, the companys proprietary algorithms identify those whose health is at risk and proactively bring healthcare to them.

Initially, snap40 is deploying this with healthcare providers in the U.K. and the U.S.

The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its expansion into the U.S., where it has an office in NYC and clinical trials and pilots with leading hospitals and institutions looking to identify acutely and chronically deteriorating patients earlier, in order to reduce risk and cost while improving patient health.

FinSMEs

26/07/2018Open Data Exchange (ODX), a Singapore-based decentralized data marketplace, raised more than $60m in commitments for its private token sale.

Early backers include Pantera Capital, BlockTower Capital, DNA Fund, Kenetic Capital, Andromeda, Hexa Labs, Wavemaker Genesis, Strong Ventures, Jonathan Finch (advisor to Liquid Telecom out of Africa), Randy Kaplan (serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Akamai), Alexander Shulgin (Russian Blockchain Godfather), Christian de Faria (VP Special Advisor Orange for Middle East and Africa) and Brock Pierce (early global blockchain thought leader and venture capitalist).

Led by Nix Nolledo, founder and chairman, ODX operates a decentralized data marketplace, where publishers and internet service providers (ISPs) can transact at scale to deliver free internet access to consumers in emerging markets. Leveraging blockchain technology, ODX creates a network of trust, generating an open ecosystem.

Its parent company is Xurpas Inc., the largest consumer tech company in the Philippines. With more than 900 employees across offices in Southeast Asia, Xurpas has already built a vast network of business relationships, which will be leveraged to accelerate the growth and expansion of ODX.

FinSMEs

26/07/2018Healx, a Cambridge, UK-based developer of treatments for rare diseases, secured $10m in Series A funding.

The round was led by Balderton Capital with participation from Jonathan Milner and Amadeus Capital Partners. Baldertons Suranga Chandratillake will be joining the Board alongside Shaun Grady (Global Vice-President Business Development Operations, AstraZeneca), Dr Hermann Hauser (Co-Founder of Amadeus Capital Partners), Dr Jonathan Milner (Founder and ex-CEO of Abcam, LON:ABC, and Founder of the Milner Institute for Therapeutics).

The company intends to use the funds to more than double its diverse and multi-disciplinary team of software engineers, data scientists, pharmacologists and drug development experts from the Cambridge ecosystem and to expand its artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies.

Founded in 2014 by Dr Tim Guilliams, a Bio-Chemical Engineer and founder of the Cambridge Rare Disease Network, Dr David Brown, the inventor of Viagra and ex-Global Head of Drug Discovery at Roche and Dr Andreas Bender, a lecturer and researcher at Cambridge Universitys Centre for Molecular Sciences Informatics, Healx is a technology company developing treatments for rare diseases by using Artificial Intelligence (AI), deep pharmacological expertise and extensive patient engagement. Its approach combines technology with a large collection of insights from rare disease patient groups.

At the core ot the companys efforts there is HealNet, a comprehensive knowledge base for rare disease, mapping over one billion unique disease, patient and drug interactions. HealNet was built and is maintained using a variety of machine learning methods applied to a wide range of data types from both publicly available and exclusive sources including scientific literature, patents, clinical trials, disease symptoms, drug targets, multi-omic data and underlying chemical structures.

FinSMEs

26/07/2018SolarHome, a Singapore-based provider of Pay-As-You-Go solar for off-grid households, raised $1m in funding.

This came in the form of a convertible note offering with impact venture capital firm Insitor Impact Asia Fund.

The company, which has raised $5m to date, intends to use the funds for network expansion across Myanmar, entry into more premium products, and expansion into Indonesia and Cambodia by year end.

Led by Ted Martynov, chief executive officer, SolarHome offers Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) Solar for off-grid households in Southeast Asia. The company

installs the IFC-World Banks Lighting Global certified integrated solar energy and appliance units in customers homes and offers affordable rent-to-own plans of energy service subscription.

Seeded and developed by FORUM, a fintech venture builder in Emerging Asia, and backed by TRIREC, BeeNext, Uberis Capital, and angel investors, including Singaporean businessman Koh Boon Hwee, among others, the company currently distributes its off-grid systems via 20 sales hubs across central Myanmar and has installed more than 15,000 homes with its systems.

It has over 350 employees that includes an extensive team of field sales representatives and installers.

FinSMEs

26/07/2018At the event, Deputy Foreign Minister Trung affirmed that the Party, State and people of Vietnam are willing to assist Laos in overcoming the incident.

For his part, the Lao Ambassador thanked the Vietnamese Government and people for the support, saying that the assistance will be sent to those in need as soon as possible.

Earlier on July 24 and 25, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong; President Tran Dai Quang; Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc; National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan; and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh all sent messages of sympathy to their Lao counterparts over the great human and property losses caused by the collapse of the hydropower dam in Attapeu province.

The Sepien-Senamnoi hydropower dam collapsed at 8pm on July 23, releasing 5 billion cubic metres of water which completely isolated Sanamxay district.

Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith said at a press conference on July 25 that the dam collapse had already affected 13 villages and is now affecting six others as the floods are still ongoing.

He informed that 587 families with 3,060 people have been made homeless, and 131 people are still missing.

The Sepien-Senamnoi hydro electric power plant is being constructed by the Sepien-Senamnoi Power Company (PNPC), which is a joint-venture of SK Engineering and Construction (SK E&C), Korea Western Power (KOWEPO), Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding (RATCH) and Lao Holding State Enterprise (LHSE).

Construction of the project began in February 2013 and commercial operations were expected to begin this year.The RealReal, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of authenticated luxury consignment solutions, raised $115m in Series G funding.

The round, which brought total funding to $288m in equity capital, was led by PWP Growth Equity with participation from Sandbridge Capital and Great Hill Partners. As part of the investment, Chip Baird, co-founder and partner of PWP Growth Equity, will join The RealReals board of directors.

The company intends to use the funds to expand its brick-and-mortar presence into new markets, as well as support its supply of luxury goods with new e-commerce fulfillment centers.

Led by CEO and Founder Julie Wainwright, The RealReal provides an authenticated luxury consignment service. The companys 90+ in-house authenticators inspect thousands of items daily ensuring the authenticity of every item it sells.

Consigning is made with free in-home pickup, drop-off service and direct shipping. In its stores, customers can shop, meet with experts, and attend workshops to learn more about authenticity and sustainability. In addition, expert staff provides free jewelry, watch and handbag valuations at eight luxury consignment offices.

FinSMEs

26/07/2018.            .      .          .          .        .            ,   .     ...UPDATE:

Brandon Scerri was located this morning alive and well. Crime Stoppers appreciates the sharing of this information by the public and local media outlets.

Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers is asking for the publics help locating a local shrimp boat worker, who went missing in the waters sometime during the last 24 hours.

Brandon Scerri, DOB 4/9/95, was reported missing off the shrimp boat Jacob, which was on a return trip from the Florida Keys/Dry Tortuga area. The boat docked at Fort Myers Beach this morning. Scerri is a transient on Fort Myers Beach, who has been known to frequent the Chapel by the Sea church on Estero Boulevard and has no local family members. Investigators say Scerri has been a missing person in the past and may suffer from mental health issues.

Anyone who has seen Scerri within the last 24 hours is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-780-TIPS (8477). All callers will remain anonymous and will be eligible for a cash reward of up to $3,000. Tips may also be made online at www.southwestfloridacrimestoppers.com or by submitting a tip through the P3Tips mobile app.

For additional information, contact Trish Routte, Crime Stoppers Coordinator, at troutte@sheriffleefl.org.

 Submitted by Southwest Florida Crime StoppersIf Cape Coral City Council follows the recommendations of the citys top administrator, the property tax rate will remain the same as will the citys tax on electric bills while the fire assessment rate will climb.

On Tuesday, Cape Coral City Manager John Szerlag released his FY 2019 Proposed Budget, which includes a recommendation to leave the property tax rate unchanged at 6.75 mils, keep the public service tax rate at 7 percent and increase the fire services assessment cost recovery rate from 59 percent to 62 percent of the cost of operations.

The city of Cape Corals taxable values increased 8.49 percent this year. The proposed property tax rate of 6.75 mils, or $6.75 for every $1,000 of taxable valuation, will generate about $92.7 million in property tax revenue. These other two two revenue sources, the public service tax and fire assessment, will produce an estimated revenue of $33.4 million, for the General Fund budget.

These revenues will help address some of the Citys financial challenges in the FY 2019 budget, officials said in a release issued by the city late Tuesday afternoon.

The recommendation to maintain the current rate is based on the financial impact Hurricane Irma had on the Citys fund balance and emergency reserves, the release states. The City used $9 million of emergency reserves and $8.6 million in unassigned reserves. The City expects reimbursement for some of these expenditures from FEMA, however, it could take years for these funds to be reimbursed.

While Hurricane Irma has impacted our FY 2019 budget, we will still be able to maintain a good level of service and keep Cape Coral one of the most affordable cities in Florida, said Szerlag said in the statement.

The budget contains a number of challenges, officials said.

One of these challenges required funding for School Resource Officers in all schools for the upcoming school year., the release states. While the City partnered with the Lee County School District to share these costs, the net annual impact is $1.3 million to the Citys General Fund.

Even with the challenges presented by Hurricane Irma and hiring more than 20 school resource officers, we have managed to craft a budget that allows Cape Coral to move the City forward and remain economically sustainable, said Szerlag.

The budget, which includes $6.5 million for local road paving, $100,000 for new streetlight fixtures, $312,000 for median improvements and $520,000 for alley paving, also maintains some key ongoing capital projects.The 2019 Ford F-150 Limited is getting a higher limit.

The top of the line truck is swapping its 375 horsepower twin-turbo V6 for the 450 hp version from the high performance F-150 Raptor, currently the most powerful in the light-duty pickup class.

With 510 lb-ft of torque and a 10-speed automatic to go with it, the luxed-up pickup promises to be a hauler (in more ways than one,) but full specifications have not yet been revealed.

FORD F-150 RAPTOR TEST DRIVE:

Nor has the price, but the current Limited starts at just under $63,000, so expect it to be a few bucks more than that when it goes on sale this fall.

Whatever it ends up costing, the Limited is a nearly-loaded truck with standard features that include a leather-trimmed dashboard, massaging seats, power running boards, 22-inch wheels, adaptive cruise control, 360-degree camera and dual exhaust pipes.

MORE PICKUP TRUCK NEWS FROM FOX NEWS AUTOSThe event, under the chair of Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, gathered representatives from relevant ministries and agencies to discuss avenues for promoting the development of 4G networks in Vietnam.

According to the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), by the end of 2016, the ministry had licenced five enterprises (VNPT, Viettel, Mobifone, Vietnamobile and Gtel) to deploy 4G on the 1800 MHz band.

Up to now, all except for Gtel have officially offered 4G services to users. In particular, VNPT and Viettel have deployed 4G on the 1800 MHz band with bandwidths of 10 MHz, 15 MHz and 20 MHz, while Mobifone deployed a 10 MHz bandwidth.

After more than a year of 4G deployment, over 13 million mobile broadband subscribers have joined the network, accounting for nearly 30% of total mobile subscribers, mainly in cities and towns. The average mobile data exchange rate for 2018 has reached 136,934 subscribers a month, doubling since 2016.

However, delegates at the meeting argued that the bandwidth traffic for 4G networks in the 1800 MHz band is still too low to meet the actual demand, while affecting service quality and 4G network speed.

Therefore, the MIC has developed a plan to licence the 2.6 GHz band for telecommunications to deploy a 4G network and four operators currently serving 4G in Vietnam have registered for the plan.

A representative from the ministry said that the Prime Minister has approved the list of bands for auction, but issues have arisen during the process of implementation.

Delegates discussed difficulties related to the process and the procedures for deploying the 2.6 GHz band auction and determining reserve price, while proposing measures for the effective implementation of 4G in Vietnam.

Representatives from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice said that there were no problems with the provisions of the law relating to the licencing of the 2.6 GHz band. All forms of licencing and auction are compliant with the Radio Frequency Law. The financial obligations are also regulated by the law.

According to Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, Vu Dai Thang, losses for businesses and society from delays to the deployment of the 4G network are much larger than the revenue from licencing.

Urging swift action on licencing 4G on the 2.6 GHz band, a representative from the Ministry of Defence said that the licencing is not only to solve the pressing problem for telecommunication enterprises but will also ensure information security which serves national defence.

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, Pham Hong Hai, expressed his hope that ministries and agencies concerned would promote a consensus in dealing with the procedures for early licencing.

Delegates agreed that relevant authorities should work together closely to make the fastest decision to licence the 2.6 GHz band for telecoms operators to deploy the fastest possible 4G network, in accordance with the provisions of law.Chris Hardwick, the geek-culture aficionado and host of AMC's "Talking Dead" who faced sexual assault allegations from an ex-girlfriend, will return to the zombie-themed talk show following a "comprehensive assessment" by the network, it was reported Wednesday.

Chloe Dkystra, Hardwick's ex of three years, claimed in June that the talk show host sexually assaulted her, which Hardwick vehemently denied, stating that he "did my best to uplist and support her as a partner and companion in any way and at no time did I sexually assault her."

CHRIS HARDWICK SAYS 'AT NO TIME' DID HE SEXUALLY ASSAULT EX-GIRLFRIEND

Hardwick was subsequently pulled from his hosting gig at AMC and lost the opportunity to appear at San Diego's Comic-Con last weekend.

CHRIS HARDWICK'S EX JACINDA BARRETT POSTS LENGTHY DEFENSE AMID SEXUAL ABUSE ACCUSATIONS

"We take these matters very seriously and given the information available to us after a very careful review, including interviews with numerous individuals, we believe returning Chris to work is the appropriate step," the network said in a statement to Deadline.

Hardwick will reportedly return to air on Aug. 12 following the mid-season premiere of "Fear The Walking Dead."Could a "Frasier" reboot be coming to TV?

A possible revival of the beloved sitcom, which ran for 11 seasons on NBC from 1993 to 2004, is in the "very, very early" stages at CBS Television Studios with original star Kelsey Grammer, though it is not currently in development, ET can confirm. Deadline first reported the news.

If a "Frasier" revival were to come to pass, it is unclear if the series would focus on an entirely new premise or continue the show's established canon, a la NBC's "Will & Grace" and the upcoming return of CBS' "Murphy Brown."

Kelsey Grammer Reacts to 'Frasier' Co-Star John Mahoney's Death

A spinoff of "Cheers," "Frasier" centered on Dr. Frasier Crane (Grammer), who returns to his hometown of Seattle, Washington, following the end of his marriage and his life in Boston, Massachusetts, but his desire for a new bachelor lifestyle quickly turns when he takes in his police officer father after he gets shot in the line of duty during a robbery.

In the one-hour series finale, which was watched by nearly 34 million viewers on May 13, 2004, Frasier left Seattle for Chicago, Illinois, to follow his girlfriend, Charlotte (Laura Linney), instead of relocating to San Francisco, California, for a new professional opportunity.

The comedy starred David Hyde Pierce as Niles Crane, Frasiers younger brother; Jane Leeves as Daphne Moon, Frasiers housekeeper and Niles love interest; Peri Gilpin as Roz Doyle, Frasiers radio show producer; and John Mahoney, now deceased, as Martin Crane, Frasiers dad.

John Mahoney, 'Frasier' Star, Dead at 77

During its 11-season run, "Frasier" won 37 Primetime Emmys, including five straight wins for Outstanding Comedy Series. Grammer won four Emmys for his titular performance.

In December 2016, Grammer seemed to bristle at the idea of a "Cheers" (where he originated the Frasier character) or "Frasier" reboot, telling Fox News at the time, "No, I'm very happy with what I'm doing now. I look back at the past as a very fond place and I'd like to keep it that way."Actress Anne Hathaway called out white privilege in an Instagram post on Thursday in memory of the woman killed in an unprovoked stabbing at an Oakland train station on Sunday night.

Hathaway, 35, posted a picture of Nia Wilson, 18, the woman who died after being stabbed to death at a BART station platform. Wilsons sister was also wounded in the attack. John Cowell, 27, was arrested in connection with the incident on Monday following a manhunt.

The murder of Nia Wilson- may she rest in the power and peace she was denied here- is unspeakable AND MUST NOT be met with silence," the Academy Award-winning actress wrote. "She is not a hash tag; she was a black woman and she was murdered in cold blood by a white man.

DEMI LOVATO COULD BE DISCHARGED SOON AFTER APPARENT OVERDOSE: SOURCE

The Oceans 8 star continued by calling out white privilege.

White people  including me, including you  must take into the marrow of our privileged bones the truth that ALL black people fear for their lives DAILY in America and have done so for GENERATIONS. White people DO NOT have equivalence for this fear of violence, she continued.

Hathaway then called on others to ask our [white] selves  how decent are we really?

Not in our intent, but in our actions? In our lack of action? Peace and prayers and JUSTICE for Nia and the Wilson family xx, she concluded.

Hathaway noted that the comments section would be closed for the post.

PAMELA ANDERSON TALKS SEX LIFE, NEVER HAVING A POSITIVE THREESOME

Hathaway is not the only celebrity to highlight Wilsons death. Big Little Lies actress Reese Witherspoon tweeted her heart is broken for Nia Wilsons family and friends.

Say her name, the Oscar-winner wrote.

Black-ish star Tracee Ellis Ross tweeted, NIA WILSON/SAY HER NAME. Our bodies and our humanity deserve safety and joy.What can be creepier than playing Charlie Sheens stalker? Being transported to a mysterious town inspired by the King of Horror.

Melanie Lynskey, best recognized as oddball Rose in the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men, is now starring in the Hulu psychological thriller series by J.J. Abrams titled Castle Rock." The show is named after the fictional Maine town that has been the setting for several of Stephen King's books.

The TV star is playing Molly Strand, a real estate agent with a rare medical condition who encounters one property thats the stuff of nightmares.

The 41-year-old actress told Fox News her latest show, which also stars Andre Holland, Jane Levy, Bill Skarsgard and Sissy Spacek, felt like a natural move for her.

Its fun, said the New Zealand native. I always try to do different things and mix it up a little bit. But yeah, they really could not be more different from each other, although I wonder itll be kind of funny to see Rose in Castle Rock. I dont know if she would stick out too much. Shes pretty strange herself.

Lynskey appeared on Two and a Half Men, which starred Sheen, as well as John Cryer and Angus T. Jones, from 2003 until 2015, the same year the comedy came to an end.

Sheen, now 52, was famously fired from the set in 2011 following reports concerning his controversial personal life and was replaced by Ashton Kutcher. At the time, Sheen insisted he was drug-free after undergoing rehabilitation.

Lynskey said she had nothing, but fond memories working with the high-profile actor.

I havent actually been in touch with him for a while, she admitted. I send him my best always and hope that hes doing well. But he was a very, very generous actor to work with and was always very kind to me.

But Sheen hasnt been the only actor to impress Lynskey. She was in awe of working alongside Skarsgard, the Swedish actor who frightened audiences across America as demonic clown Pennywise in 2017s It, which was based on Kings 1986 novel.

It was so wonderful, gushed Lynskey. I was aware that he had been in It, but I hadnt had the chance to see it, and at a certain point in production, I decided to not see it until we were finished I thought I just want to keep Bill as Bill."

And while some wouldn't dare be in the same room as the 27-year-old, Lynskey revealed Skarsgard is completely the opposite from his horrifying alter ego in real life.

"I mean, it was kind of mind-blowing to see him play Pennywise after having spent seven months getting to know him," Lynskey said of watching "It" after "Castle Rock" wrapped. "It was so strange to me. But what an impressive How incredible to be able to create a character thats... crazy, bigger than life... Its amazing."

Lynskey also claimed Sissy Spacek, who starred as a social outcast whose telekinetic powers transformed her high school prom into a bloodbath in 1976s Carrie, was also "normal." That film was also based on another King novel.

Honestly, what surprised me the most was just to see how genuine and normal she is, said Lynskey about the 68-year-old. "I mean, shes such an incredible actor. I feel like she could have the license to be a real diva if she wanted to, but shes really just so lovely. Shes a real caretaker. She looks out for everybody else before herself. I really, really adore her.

But one person she was worried about during her time on Castle Rock was King himself. Lynskey, who grew up on Kings novels, said she was initially hesitant to take on the role of Strand without the 70-year-old's approval on the series.

When I went into it, the writers told me they talked about it with him and he loved the idea, she explained. He signed off on it but he wasnt a big part of the production.

"He wasnt really present and when the series was all done and they were starting to show it to us, I just suddenly thought, Oh gosh, what if he hates it? What if he sees it and is like, "Im ashamed, this should not be part of my legacy?'" I heard that he saw it and he liked it.

Lynskey was relieved and the rest was business as usual.

It feels wonderful, she said. I really have been a fan for such a long time and of course, when youre doing something that is based on somebodys world, that theyve spent decades meticulously creating, you really want to do it justice.

Still, there was no denying that Castle Rock, which filmed in Massachusetts, was oftentimes too grueling to bear.

It got cold, and it was a cold like Ive just never known before, said Lynskey. It was shocking to me. It was a real challenge because a lot of the show we were filming outside at night in the woods and we were all just sort of trying to survive it."

Regardless, Lynskey is eager to embark on this new journey within her career, one that is certain to leave both herself and viewers in suspense.

I think the main thing that drew me to the role was just how completely strange [Molly] was, she said. There were a lot of things about her that I just didnt really understand, that somebody who is just kind of making the wrong choices every single day, but just continuing to do it as though its working, and I was really fascinated to figure out why, why somebody would be like that.

"Castle Rock" is available for streaming on Hulu.Sarah Silverman is the latest Hollywood star to come under fire for a tweet she made about child molestation.

Director James Gunn, "Rick and Morty" co-creator Dan Harmon and actor Ian Michael Black are just a few stars whose previous tweets about pedophilia left them exposed to criticism, with Gunn even losing his Disney gig.

Now a tweet Silverman made nearly a decade ago has been uncovered with some saying it was out of line.

"Hey, is it considered molestation if the child makes the first move? I'm gonna need a quick answer on this," Silverman tweeted in 2009.

When the tweet was recently resurfaced, the 47-year-old defended her tweet.

"Some very odd people R saying Im a pedo, re: a joke from a time not that long ago when hard absurd jokes by comedians were acknowledged for what they were  jokes  not a disengenuous national threat to people fake-clutching their pearls (whilst ranting the countrys too PC)," Silverman tweeted Thursday.

She also addressed the 2009 tweet last year when a Twitter user tweeted, "Was that supposed to be funny? Cause it wasn't."

Silverman replied in 2017 saying, "that's ok doll. Comedy is subjective. I thought it was a funny/dumb tweet 8 years ago when I posted it."

As previously reported, Gunn was let go after tweets from 10 years ago were resurfaced in which he makes some offensive statements under the guise of a joke.

One of the now-deleted tweets said, I like when little boys touch me in my silly place.

Another message read: The best thing about being raped is when youre done being raped and its like whew this feels great, not being raped!'

Gunn has since apologized saying that he tried to be more provocative early in his career but doesnt do that kind of thing anymore. An online petition for his reinstatement at Disney has garnered thousands of signatures and fans and celebrity friends are being vocal about defending his apology for inexcusable past behavior.Scotty Bowers, who has been dubbed the pimp to the stars, claimed in a documentary profiling him that he has slept with some of Hollywoods biggest screen legends, including Bette Davis and Cary Grant.

The documentary, titled Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood, followed Bowers, 95, a former sex worker and his escapades or sexcapades. The documentary was based on his memoir Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars that was published in 2012, People reported.

In the film, Bowers makes some eye-popping claims including participating in a threesome with Grant and Randolph Scott. Bowers claimed the Hollywood icons lived together and were lovers.

KELLY OSBOURNE OPENS UP ABOUT HER PAST STRUGGLES WITH ADDICTION: REHAB DOESNT FIX YOU

Back in those days, people knew they were lovers and together, Bowers said in a clip of the documentary. Then all those years go by they come say, How dare you talk that way about them. And I say, Im not talking about them Im saying theyre great guys, both of them.'

Ive been with them individually, and both of them, what you call a three-way, and Ive also brought another buddy for them where there were four of us. You know, two and two, he continued.

Aside from the threesome claim, Bowers also alleged he slept with Spencer Tracy, Vivien Leigh, Bette Davis and former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. He also claimed he has set up screen legends with prostitutes, including Katharine Hepburn, Vincent Price and Rock Hudson.

STAR WARS STAR MARK HAMILL HAMILL MOCKS TRUMPS DESTROYED WALK OF FAME STAR IN NEW TWEET

Following the release of his book, journalist Barbara Walters criticized him for spreading salacious stories about long-dead subjects who couldnt defend themselves or question their veracity. But Bowers said he spread the secrets after the figures were dead because they were not his to tell when they were alive, the Daily Beast reported.

Bowers got his start in the business after getting out of the Marines and moving to Hollywood. He claimed he met Academy Award-nominated actor Walter Pidgeon when he was working at a gas station. He said Pidgeon asked him to swim in his pool and he saw an opportunity he called tricking.

Filmmaker Matt Tyrnauer, who shot the documentary, told the Daily Beast he spoke to other sex workers that worked with Bowers for the film and he said they verified his claims.

Are these stories substantiatable? My answer is yes, very much so, Tyrnauer said.The Turning Point USA High School Summit, a massive gathering of hundreds of young conservatives learning from the country's most prominent conservative leaders, is used to being ignored by the mainstream media.

Charlie Kirk, the 24-year-old founder of TPUSA, now in its sixth year, told Fox News that a similar event for young liberals "would be streamed everywhere... and it would be glorified as a wonderful organization," calling the media bias "blatant" and "corrosive.

And while Kirk is hoping an article published Wednesday in The New York Times is a sign of changes to come, other outlets' coverage of the event makes him skeptical.

"The bias is so blatant and so corrosive."  Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk

More than 800 students packed auditoriums at George Washington University  many of them wearing red Make America Great Again" hats  to listen to a lineup of speakers that rivals any conservative event in the nation. United States Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Rep. Steve Scalise, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Parkland tragedy survivor Kyle Kashuv, tech entrepreneurs Mark Cuban and Peter Thiel, and former White House communications pros Anthony Scaramucci and Sean Spicer all addressed the students, in addition to dozens of other conservative influencers.

The $15 dollar event allowed students from across the nation to stay in GWU dormitories and mingle with fellow conservatives.

The event made headlines on Monday night when Haley cautioned the crowd that it isnt necessary to own the libs with outlandish rhetoric on social media. Her comments were covered by various news organizations  but not always for the right reasons.

Some publications used Haleys remark to shame conservatives who mock liberals. The Washington Post used her comments to paint a potential divide among the GOP with the headline, Nikki Haley warns against owning the libs. Thats basically Trumps entire political strategy.

By Tuesday, Sessions was under fire for briefly repeating lock her up during his time on stage as the crowd chanted the anti-Hillary Clinton rallying cry. He appeared to awkwardly utter it as well, laugh it off and move on  but several members of the mainstream media accused Sessions of joining the chant.

HuffPost wrote that Sessions joined a group of teenagers in chanting lock her up. Politico headlined its video, Sessions: Lock her up, and The Associated Press wrote that Sessions repeated the chant. BuzzFeed wrote that Sessions joined the chant and dozens of pundits took to Twitter to mock the situation  including MSNBC Managing Editor Dafna Linzer, who wrote, The attorney general of the united states just joined a chant of lock her up at an event in DC.

They cover what they want to cover, if they want to cover Jeff Sessions they can interpret that however they want, Kirk said. They want to make it look bad, so thats why they covered it.

Kyle Hager, a student from Portland, Maine, told Fox News the coverage the group typically receives is borderline slander and said the chant broke out any time Clinton was mentioned, not only when Sessions was on stage.

The TPUSA founder was angered when he saw the crowd described as rowdy high school kids during the Sessions coverage, but rarely allows the anti-Trump media to distract him.

I couldnt care less about any of this nonsense, its noise to me, Kirk said. The president is doing an amazing job.

Kirk has said that he wants to make the organization large enough that the mainstream media simply cannot ignore it  and it appears his strategy is already working to some degree.

The New York Times unexpectedly covered the event on Thursday, in a piece Kirk called very fair, but the positive coverage was a surprise to TPUSA staffers who arent used to the media taking them seriously.

Im very surprised because most of the news only covers the negative. They try to take bits and pieces and cut them out and change [the context]. Its really good to see positive feedback from the New York Times, TPUSA field programming administrator Elyse Cervantes told Fox News.

Perhaps the Times was motivated by Donald Trump Jr., who tweeted that the event should be covered by the media earlier in the week.

TPUSA staffer Richard Mills called the positive article refreshing and is hopeful its a sign of things to come.

"I am used to seeing the typically leftist-favoring media intentionally try to paint our events in a negative light, including the New York Times."  Richard Mills

Seeing the New York Times report about a Turning Point USA event in a positive light was a legitimate surprise, Mills told Fox News. As senior staff of the organization, I am used to seeing the typically leftist-favoring media intentionally try to paint our events in a negative light, including the New York Times. I hope that this newfound change of heart signifies a shift in the polarizing way the mainstream media has chosen to cover conservatives in general.

The crowd was engaged throughout the event, with dozens of autograph-seeking students rushing to the stage after each speaker. Shirts and buttons that mocked socialism were on sale, and groups such as the NRA had stations in the lobby to attract new members.

The four-day event featured a posh dinner with Trump Jr., where attendees had the opportunity to mingle with the presidents son, but Kirk couldnt find an article about it. Its like it never happened, he joked.

Kirk is frustrated by the lack of attention, but not surprised, because he said the media is institutionally biased.

Kirk did allow that some media outlets werent issued credentials to the event because it features hundreds of vulnerable high school students who would be accessible to agenda-driven news outlets capable of destroying a students life with a an out-of-context comment.

We dont want agitators," Kirk said, declining to name specific outlets that were denied access. He noted that all speeches were available online so a lack of in-person access wouldnt have prevented any organization from covering a speaker.

Kirk was quick to point out that he doesnt restrict access to other TPUSA events, and that the precautions were simply made because of the young crowd at the high school summit. His concern seems valid, as a reporter from The Daily Beast has been accused of doxing attendees who stop by the nearby Trump Hotel.

.@thedailybeast reporter is doxxing attendees of #HSLS2018 just because. For people that say the fake news isn't out to get conservatives, they're very wrong, Kashuv tweeted.

By the final day of the event, Politico had a reporter on site and NBC News had tweeted about it, so perhaps the success of this weeks summit will be a turning point in how the organizations is covered.Guy Fieri is entering the fast-casual game. The celebrity chef is teaming up with Planet Hollywood founder and chairman Robert Earl with a new restaurant concept, Chicken Guy!, and the first location is opening up at Walt Disney Worlds Disney Springs this summer.

According to a press release, Fieri and Earl are teaming up yet again after the successful launch of Fieris sandwich and burger menu at Planet Hollywood in Orlando. As the name implies, the new eatery will feature all-natural fresh chicken tenders brined in fresh lemon juice, pickle brine, fresh herbs, and buttermilk, served in a variety of manners. Theyll be grilled, fried, and served on sandwiches, on skewers, and in salad bowls. And because no chicken tender is complete without tasty sauces, Chicken Guy! will have plenty of them. There will be an array of sauces available for dipping and slathering on your sammies.

Ive had the pleasure of getting to know Guy  first with the launch of his sandwich and burger menu at Planet Hollywood. Since then, we have kept in touch, determined to work on more projects together, Earl said in a statement. We have found the perfect venture with Chicken Guy!, certain to be a crowd-pleaser. I have personally tasted all the menu items and cant wait to open at Disney Springs and across the country, because I know our guests will love what Guy has put on the menu.

As Earls statement implies, though the flagship location will be in Disney Springs, Fieri and Earl are looking to spread their chicken tenders across the country. And who knows? They just may become the next great fast-casual chain in America.Kit Kat cant catch a break.

On July 25, Europe's highest court ruled that the four-fingered shape of the wafer-filled chocolate bar did not merit protected status in the European Union (EU), The Guardian reports.

The heated drama actually began in 1937, when the Cadbury-owned Mondelez company rolled out the Kvikk Lunsj chocolate bar, which is nearly identical in design, shape and size to the Kit Kat, which Nestle debuted two years prior. For clarity, Nestle is the parent company of Kit Kat worldwide, while Hershey is the parent company of Kit Kat in the U.S.

According to the outlet, their competitive coexistence was peaceful until 2002, when Kit Kat filed for protection of design with the EUs intellectual property office. The status was granted, but challenged by Cadbury in 2007, setting off an 11-year legal war.

PEPPERIDGE FARM RECALLS GOLDFISH CRACKER VARIETIES DUE TO POSSIBLE SALMONELLA CONTAMINATION

As noted by Food & Wine, the most recent decision was made as Nestle failed to prove that the Kit Kat had "become iconic" in "a significant part" of the 28 nations of the EU. As Cadbury celebrates their victory for Kvikk Lunsj, Nestle reps say the battle isnt over yet.

We believe that the distinctive shape of our four-finger KitKat deserves protection and, following todays findings, the case will now be sent back to the EUIPO board of appeal to examine the evidence that Nestle has filed, the company told The Guardian. We think the evidence proves that the familiar shape of our iconic four-finger KitKat is distinctive enough to be registered as an EU trademark.

We are pleased that the decision of the European court of justice supports our position, reps for Mondelez offered in reply.

Meanwhile, Josh Gerben, a trademark attorney in Washington D.C., told the Associated Press that companies need to show that a shape is distinctive enough to get a trademark approval, and that the shape is not merely functional.

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"They want to make sure they're not giving a monopoly to a company for a shape that is needed to make a product," Gerben says. "For example, a circle for a cracker couldn't be trademarked."

This is not the first time the two candy giants have duked it out in court Nestle once successfully blocked Cadburys effort at trademarking the purple color used for its signature chocolate wrappers, according to The Guardian.



The Associated Press contributed to this report.In May, his words of inspiration were heard by millions as he delivered a sermon at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Now the Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry is on the receiving end of kind words as he prepares to undergo surgery for prostate cancer next Tuesday.

Curry revealed the news Wednesday in a statement on the website of the Episcopal News Service.

I am happy to say that the prognosis looks very good and quite positive, Curry wrote. I have spoken with several others who have gone through this, and who have offered both encouragement and helpful advice. I will be in the hospital for at least a day, then at home to recuperate.

I am happy to say that the prognosis looks very good and quite positive. I have spoken with several others who have gone through this, and who have offered both encouragement and helpful advice. I will be in the hospital for at least a day, then at home to recuperate.  The Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry

Curry said the cancer was discovered during an annual physical exam.

The presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church, and former leader of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, Curry rose to prominence in early May, when he was selected for the royal wedding assignment.

The native of Chicago was not acquainted with either Prince Harry or Markle, but was recommended for their wedding by Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, according to the Telegraph.

At the time of his selection, Curry expressed his enthusiasm for the role, saying in a statement, "The love that has brought and will bind Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle together has its source and origin in God, and is the key to life and happiness. And so we celebrate and pray for them today.

Currys address during the wedding was titled The Power of Love.

There's power in love, Curry said at the wedding. Love can help and heal when nothing else can. Love can lift up and liberate for living when nothing else will. And the love that brings two people together is the same love that can bind them together, whether on mountaintops of happiness and through valleys of hardship.

There's power in love. Love can help and heal when nothing else can. Love can lift up and liberate for living when nothing else will. And the love that brings two people together is the same love that can bind them together, whether on mountaintops of happiness and through valleys of hardship.  The Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry

Currys statement about his upcoming surgery says hes been told hell need four to six weeks to fully recuperate.

I am very blessed with a wonderful family, a first-rate medical team, a great staff, dear colleagues and friends, a calling to which I have given my life, and above all a good, great and loving God in whose hands we always remain, he wrote. So, do say a prayer. And know that I look forward to being back at my post in September.The embassy said it is coordinating with local authorities to verify information related to 15 Vietnamese families, which are said to have been in the area affected by the collapse.

The embassy is also keeping a close watch on the incident and will conduct citizen protection if any overseas Vietnamese people have been involved, it said.

Representatives from the Vietnamese Consulate General in Pakse also travelled to Attapeu to update the information concerning Vietnamese expats there.

Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith is still in Attapeu to direct the search and rescue work.

The local authorities and search and rescue forces are actively searching for victims and supplying essential commodities for locals.

The Xepian-Xe Nam Noy hydropower dam burst at 8:00pm on July 23, releasing 5 billion cubic metres of water which caused flash floods in 10 low-lying villages and completely isolated Sanamxay district. Five of Sanamxay districts villages  namely May, Hinlath, NhaytheSanong Tay, Thasengchan, and Thahin  were entirely submerged.

A Sacramento firefighter who helped make a sick boys wish of becoming a fire-eater come true on Wednesday said he knows first-hand what the Make-A-Wish experience can do for a child. Derrick Perry, who was on-hand to help 9-year-old Saul Orejel become a member of the Sacramento Fire Department, battled the same illness as the boy at the same age, and was even treated at the same hospital, Fox 40 reported.

Orejel, who took a break from leukemia treatment to try on gear and take a ride on the fire engine, said hearing Perry speak about becoming a firefighter has inspired him even more.

BOY WITH AUTISM FIGHTS TO KEEP SERVICE DUCKS AFTER TOWN ORDERS FAMILY TO GET RID OF THEM

Hes saying he was in the same thing that I was and hes a firefighter, that means I can do it too, Orejel told the news outlet.

Leukemia is the most common cancer in children in teens, accounting for about 1 in 3 cancers. According to the American Cancer Society, most childhood leukemias are acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), or acute myeloid leukemia (AML). It is not clear which Orejel was diagnosed with, but both are typically treated with intensive chemotherapy.

Perry said his own Make-A-Wish experience had a lasting impact on him.

It might give him a chance to see the light at the end of the tunnel, he told Fox 40. Theres more after a life-changing event like this.A 12-year-old New Jersey girl who found a Longhorned tick crawling on her stomach is believed to be the first known case involving a human in the U.S. The girl, who was not identified but lives in Bergen County, was not bitten or harmed by the exotic tick.

She found the tick on her body in early July, and researchers said it was not carrying any harmful pathogens. The tick is believed to have been in the United States for at least five years, but researchers just discovered it last fall on livestock, according to NorthJersey.com.

The Longhorned tick is an invasive species from Asia. It has been found mostly on livestock and other animals that spend a lot of time in grass.

Researchers said the case involving the girl is important because up until this point, it has not been known what kind of potential threat it may pose to humans.

TEEN INFECTED WITH HOOKWORMS COULD 'FEEL THE WORMS MOVING IN HIS BODY,' MOM SAYS



Its significant because we know its been here for at least five years and we havent had any known human encounters, Dina Fonseca, director of the Rutgers Center for Vector Biology, told NorthJersey.com. Were at the bottom of a big mountain in trying to understand the biology of this species in the U.S., so any new discovery in how it acts is important.

The Longhorned tick, which is native to China, has spread diseases such as SFTS virus and Japanese spotted fever in Asia, NorthJersey.com reported.

Researchers are most concerned with how this tick will possibly spread diseases on a different continent.

BRONX PARK FLOODED WITH NEEDLES DESPITE SYRINGE DISPOSAL BOXES

The mother of the girl gave the tick to a neighbor, Gloria Kim, who gives lectures on tick prevention, according to the report.

Kim sent the tick to Ticknology, a lab in Colorado, where CEO Heather Szerlong said she had never seen a tick like it before and sent it on to Rutgers for final identification.

Whats important and whats unique is that it was found on a child who had no interaction with livestock, Szerlong told NorthJersey.com

This is the second Longhorned tick found in Bergen County this month.

It has also been found in North Carolina, Virginia, and Arkansas.A 40-year-old teacher in Michigan who lost both of his hands and feet to flesh-eating bacteria is working his way back to the classroom with the help of technology.

James Newsome, who did not disclose why he visited a hospital in January, but said that he contracted Strep A while there, told Fox 2 Detroit that the infection resulted in septic shock, which cut off the blood supply in his arms and legs.

It resulted in amputation Newsome, a third-grade teacher, told Fox 2 Detroit. "The tradeoff is almost certain death."

NEW HAMPSHIRE MAN DIES AFTER YELLOW JACKET STING, WIFE SAYS

He has prosthetics, but his insurance doesnt pay for the next level of hands.

To help with the growing costs, his family has started a fundraising page. He said returning to his classroom at Randall Elementary School has helped keep him motivated, as well as the love he has for his 4-year-old daughter.

BOY WITH AUTISM FIGHTS TO KEEP SERVICE DUCKS AFTER TOWN ORDERS FAMILY TO GET RID OF THEM

There is nothing more important to me than being her father," he told Fox 2 Detroit. "I had a picture of her at the foot of my bed. Anytime I was feeling down and out, I looked at the picture to remind myself why that Im here and why I need to push so hard.NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

Democrats are getting hysterical about the prospect of Judge Brett Kavanaugh being seated on the Supreme Court. Most of their hyperventilating is nonsense.

In a desperate attempt to block Kavanaughs confirmation by the Senate, the Democrats are making wild claims that abortion would be banned, people would be dying in the streets, and the president would gain immunity from investigation and prosecution if Kavanaugh joins the nations highest court.

Time for a reality check. Lets all take a deep breath and look at the facts about the judge who President Trump has nominated to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Kavanaugh currently serves on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Hes not some right-wing extremist who would run wild  like the proverbial bull in the china shop  overturning legal precedents, despite what the Democrats claim.

Kavanaugh is dedicated to judging cases based on the evidence and dedicated to following the Constitution as it is written. He is a firm opponent of legislating from the bench to support his ideological views.

When he accepted President Trumps nomination to the Supreme Court in televised remarks, Kavanaugh made this crystal clear, saying: A judge must be independent and must interpret the law, not make the law. A judge must interpret statutes as written, and a judge must interpret the Constitution as written, informed by history and tradition and precedent.

Lower court judges are supposed to follow Supreme Court precedent, whether or not they personally agree with the decision. When judges ignore precedent, it is easy to infer that they are acting on their own political biases.

However, Kavanaugh has been a consistent follower of precedent while he has been on the D.C. Circuit Court. The appellate court is widely acknowledged to be the nations second highest court, just below the Supreme Court.

While the Supreme Court can overrule its own precedent, Kavanaugh has co-authored a hefty 942-page book on precedent, titled Law of Judicial Precedent. The book seeks to formerly describe rules when courts should follow precedent, and it makes clear that jettisoning precedent is not something that Kavanaugh takes lightly.

For those on the left who insist that Kavanaugh is dangerous because he supposedly wont follow precedent when it comes to Roe v Wade  the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide  it seems clear that his critics havent read the book he co-authored on precedent.

Kavanaugh argues that precedents are particularly binding when they have been around for a long time, have had large majorities on the court, and have been the subject of a number of Supreme Court decisions. All those points surely apply to Roe v. Wade.

In addition, during his confirmation hearing to the D.C. Circuit Court in 2006, Kavanaugh promised, I would follow Roe v Wade faithfully and fully.

Nor is Kavanaugh a radical when it comes to Second Amendment, which gives Americans the right to keep and bear arms. His one decision in this area mentioned the precedent set in the case of District of Columbia V. Heller, in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individuals right to possess firearms.

In his decision, Kavanaugh notes: Heller largely preserved the status quo of gun regulation in the United States. Heller established that traditional and common gun laws in the United States remain constitutionally permissible.

So what scares Democrats so much about Kavanaugh?

The Democrats fear the fact that Kavanaugh is very smart, very articulate and very persuasive. So while he isnt going to roll back liberals past victories, it means that he will prevent their future ones by being able to convince other justices at times to come around to his viewpoint and side with him on some decisions.

And judges who can write powerfully worded decisions  as Kavanaugh has proven he can  are more likely to be cited in other judges decisions, which grants them even wider influence.

As a result, Kavanaugh would pose a threat to Democrats who believe the Constitution can be twisted like a pretzel to justify their belief in Big Government, with a heavy regulatory hand reigning supreme over individual constitutional rights.

Consequently, Democratic will do whatever they can to keep Kavanaugh off the high court.

Liberal law professors at Yale who know Kavanaugh well agree that he is a brilliant jurist. Heres what just a few of them have to say:

Professor Abbe R. Gluck: Brett Kavanaugh is a true intellectual  a leading thinker and writer.

Professor William N. Eskridge, Jr.: Brett Kavanaugh has been one of the most learned judges in America.

Professor Kate Stith: I love teaching his opinions because they are smart, thoughtful, and clear.

Professor Akhil Reed Amar: Judge Kavanaugh commands wide and deep respect among scholars, lawyers, judges, and justices.

In addition, Harvard Law School Professor Richard Lazarus said he admires Kavanaughs skills as a jurist, and his legal acumen.

Even Leah Litman, an assistant law professor from the University of California at Irvine who wrote an op-ed in The New York Times attacking Kavanaugh, called him very smart.

For conservative nominees, being smart is seen as much more of a negative for a judges Democratic opponents than being strongly against abortion. Being smart means the judge will be effective  and dangerous to the Big Government Democratic fans of activist judges.

Matthew Yglesias, co-founder of the left-leaning Vox.com, summed up Democrats mindset in a tweet July 10: If we must have conservative justices, we should want them to be lazy and dim-witted.

That description certainly does not fit Kavanaugh.

This is nothing new. When current Chief Justice John Roberts was being considered for the Supreme Court in 2005, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. (now the minority leader) said: But being brilliant and accomplished is not the number one criteria for elevation to the Supreme Court. There are many who would use their considerable talents and legal acumen to set America back.

Fear that a nominee will influence other judges has long driven confirmations, and political opponents have been very good at judging which nominees will be the most influential.

In tracking federal circuit court judicial appointments over the past four decades, my research has found that a federal judge whose opinions are cited 20 percent more often than his or her peers faced roughly a 60 percent longer confirmation process.

I also found that graduates of one of U.S. News & World Reports Top 10 law schools who also served on their schools law review had a 30 percent lower confirmation rate than their peers who neither went to top law schools nor had the distinction of being on a law review.

In Kavanaughs case, he not only excelled at No. 1-ranked Yale Law School but he has been invited to teach at Harvard, Yale and Georgetown universities.

Since the unsuccessful Republican effort to confirm President Ronald Reagans nominee Robert Bork to the Supreme Court in 1987, abortion has been a central issue in confirmations. But Democrats havent cared about this issue when the nominee wasnt viewed as being particularly smart.

Look at how differently Democrats reacted to President George W. Bushs 2005 nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. Despite her once vowing to support a ban on abortion, many Democratic senators had only good things to say about her.

It was Republicans who opposed Miers because they were concerned she wasnt smart enough. She received her law degree from Southern Methodist University, No. 48 in the U.S. News rankings. She lacked the sterling legal career that most nominees have. Her name was ultimately withdrawn from consideration.

When one party controls both the presidency and the Senate  as Republicans do now  my prediction is that we will see smarter judges and lawyers being nominated for the Supreme Court, appellate courts and district courts. This is especially true now that only a simple majority vote in the Senate is needed to confirm a judges and Supreme Court justices.

Trump-appointed Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and nominee Brett Kavanaugh are just the beginning of a new wave of smart judges, the likes of which we havent often seen nominated for at least a couple of decades. Our nation will be better off with the best legal minds in America judging cases in our court system.NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

A year and a half after the fact, we are seeing photographs of Hillary and Bill Clinton at a cozy dinner just weeks after her failed presidential campaign, with accused serial rapist Harvey Weinstein. Having powerful friends like the Clintons is a reminder of not only how someone as disgusting as Mr. Weinstein remained in power, but why people were afraid to act against him.

At the Clinton table at the very popular Raos restaurant in New York in early December 2016 were Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton, Harvey Weinstein, his wife fashion designer Georgina Chapman, and Weinstein lawyer David Boies. The New York Times reported last year that the pals were discussing making a documentary about her loss to Donald Trump. The Daily Mail reported it received exclusive access to the never-before-seen photos of the Clintons with Mr. Weinstein.

This reminds people of the sort of individuals she has chosen to surround herself with. In the immediate aftermath of the 2016 loss, one would guess shed have her closest friends with her, the people she could trust. And in early December, that apparently was Mr. Weinstein, with whom the Clintons had been friends for decades.

According to the New York Police Department, Mr. Weinstein is charged with rape, a criminal sex act, sexual abuse and sexual misconduct involving two women. More charges could follow.

It was less than a year after his best friends failure to gain the presidency and a mere 10 more months after that dinner at Raos, for the boom to be brought down on Mr. Weinstein.

Mrs. Clinton still insists she had no idea about Mr. Weinsteins alleged actions, so her friends and supporters have two options when it comes to her decades-long friendship with the accused rapist: Either she was the only Friend of Harvey in both Hollywood and politics who didnt know, which makes her unqualified to hold any public office; or she did know and didnt care. Either way, this is a woman whose judgment was and remains compromised.

Some did try to warn her about the association. In one instance, the Daily Mail noted The New York Times had revealed  Clintons campaign had been warned about the rumors swirling around about Weinstein. Actress Lena Dunham  one of Hillarys biggest celebrity endorsers  emailed her campaigns deputy communications director in 2016. The email stated: I just want you to let you know that Harveys a rapist and this is going to come out at some point. I think its a really bad idea for him to host fund-raisers and be involved because its an open secret in Hollywood that he has a problem with sexual assault. 

Thus, the dinner photographs are a reminder about just how big a disaster America averted in 2016. If Mrs. Clintonhad prevailed in 2016, consider the individuals who would now have more power than they ever did before. Then contemplate the sort of Cabinet a President Hillary Clinton would have assembled. Eric Schneiderman, the disgraced former New York attorney general who resigned after the Ronan Farrow/New Yorker expose on multiple women accusing him of abuse, very easily would have expected to become U.S. attorney general.

And what could BFF Harvey Weinstein have expected? Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, of course. Mrs. Clintons election would likely mean the #MeToo movement never would have materialized. His close relationship with the Clintons would continue, and he would be a frequent visitor to the White House. Who could have stopped him then?

Certainly then-FBI Director James B. Comey would have to be rewarded. Director of National Intelligence? After all, even with his renewing the investigation into her email server, he declared she would not be prosecuted, taking Attorney General Loretta Lynch out of the picture, clearing the whole thing up. Mrs. Clinton was president and Mr. Comeys action probably saved the election. Thats likely what they thought, and would tell themselves if she succeeded.

Now, lets see  How does FBI Director Peter Strzok sound to you? Andrew McCabe and Lisa Page would have plum jobs reporting to their new boss at the bureau, no doubt. John Brennan would love being the National Security Adviser. James Clapper, head of Homeland Security? Of course. Not to mention Glenn Simpson, the head of Fusion GPS and source of the phony Russian dossier, as the White House director of communications?

And then theres the Supreme Court of the United States. So many to choose from: Barack Obama. Eric Holder. Former Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren.

Everyone had the next eight years planned, imagining the Hillary Clinton presidency as their final act prior to amazing retirements and gigantic pensions, courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer.

Until Donald J. Trump. As you observe the continuing Trump Derangement Syndrome, know that it is from those who took too much for granted and held you in so much contempt. Like Hillary Clinton, those still trying to undermine the president simply refuse to take responsibility for their own failure, and be grateful every day that the American voter decided enough was enough.

This column originally appeared in The Washington Times.NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

The announcement Wednesday that the U.S. and the European Union will work together to avoid further tariffs on products they sell to each other and ease trade tensions was welcome news  reducing chances of a trade war that could have disastrous consequences for the American people.

Speaking at the White House, President Trump said the U.S. and EU will work together toward zero tariffs on industrial products. And European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in a joint appearance with Trump that the EU will import more liquefied natural gas and soybeans from the U.S.

Importantly, the two leaders agreed that we will hold off further tariffs and reassess existing tariffs on steel and aluminum, Juncker said.

Because of tax reform passed late last year, President Trump can claim credit for strengthening the American economy and creating jobs.

But tariffs the president recently slapped on imported steel and aluminum and $34 billion in Chinese products  along with far larger tariffs he has threatened on many other products from around the world  are bad for our nation. They raise prices and prompt other countries to put tariffs on products they buy from American businesses.

No doubt a desire for fair trade is leading President Trump down his present course. However, tariffs distort markets and harm domestic industries.

A case in point is the agricultural sector. President Trump has effectively acknowledged that with his $12 billion bailout for farmers announced by the Agriculture Department Tuesday  something only required because of the presidents unfortunate actions on tariffs.

A little more than six months ago, major U.S. news organizations touted the economic boost associated with the Trump tax cuts. The Chicago Tribune, for example, editorialized: This tax deal will make America more prosperous.

But now  largely because of President Trumps aggressive rhetoric and actions on trade  sentiment has turned. The Washington Post recently noted that President Trumps trade war is serving up a public relations migraine.

In the eyes of many, new American tariffs have spoiled the shine on the Trump administrations landmark tax reform achievement, hitting the brakes on the American economy just when it was starting to hit on all cylinders.

Consider the economic news after enactment of tax reform. Within months, consumer confidence hit an 18-year high. Similarly in April, the U.S. unemployment rate hit an 18-year low of less than 4 percent.

That news was consistent with Congressional Budget Office projections that tax cuts would add nearly 1 million jobs annually over the next decade. Additionally, the House Ways and Means Committee estimated 4 million American workers received bonuses due to tax reform.

In other words, tax reform was good for the economy, and people knew it. The same cant be said for tariffs. From day one, American businesses have viewed a trade war as a significant step back for the economy, with the result being a stock market rollercoaster ride and urgent pleas for President Trump to abandon his focus on ratcheting up tariffs.

Consumers are now increasingly concerned, with the July consumer confidence index hitting its lowest reading in six months. In a matter of months, tariffs have changed the nations economic outlook from momentum to migraine.

So why are tariffs so troublesome for the economy? Simply put, they do the opposite of tax relief. While the tax reform package lowered costs for businesses and consumers, tariffs create higher costs for businesses and raise prices for consumers.

Unfortunately, the negative impact of tariffs will offset  or even wipe away completely  the gains delivered through tax cuts.

Economists have been sounding the alarm for some time. Cato Institute scholar Dan Ikenson estimates that tax reform will bring $96 billion in tax savings to American businesses.

On the other hand, if competitor nations were to impose a 10 percent retaliatory tariffs on all manufacturing imports, that would mean a $117 billion tariff bill for U.S. businesses  creating higher prices for consumers and canceling out the economic benefits of tax cuts.

Tariffs are just taxes by a different name.

Consider, too, that a major goal of tax reform was to keep American jobs within our borders. But if retaliatory tariffs increase the cost of doing business here at home, industries could be headed for the door.

In the short term, high prices for raw materials could result in the loss of hundreds of thousands of American jobs, similar to what was seen when the same tariffs were applied in the early 2000s.

Over the long haul, the high-stakes brinksmanship being used by President Trump with tariffs could do long-term damage to highly productive trade relationships, possibly resulting in lower domestic business activity in years to come.

Unfortunately, small and medium-sized businesses  the proven engines of long-term economic growth  would be hit the hardest.

Manufacturers, which are the businesses that President Trump has focused on helping, are becoming increasingly concerned.

According to the Federal Reserves most recent survey of nationwide economic activity, "manufacturers in all Districts expressed concern about tariffs and in many Districts reported higher prices and supply disruptions that they attributed to the new trade policies."

Consumers understand the dynamic  and it is coloring their expectations for the economy. In its April survey, the University of Michigan reported that positive views on taxes were completely offset by negative views on tariffs  with the result that trade policies neutralized the impact of tax reform on consumer confidence.

All in all, a trade war causes higher prices for consumers, has a demonstrated a track record of stifling growth, and has pushed Americans out of work.

By focusing his efforts on specific instances of unfair trade practices, rather than blanketing our allies and others with punitive and comprehensive tariffs, President Trump could deliver a victory for the economy, score political points with a worried American public, and start to change headlines from migraine back to momentum. Thats the course the president should pursue.FBI official Peter Strzok will likely be recalled to answer questions from lawmakers regarding his knowledge of the salacious Steele dossier that circulated before the 2016 election. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., said Wednesday.

"There are a whole lot of questions that Peter Strzok should have answered and that the FBI instructed them not to answer," Meadows told reporters. "And so, I would find it very probable that Peter Strzok will be asked to come back and complete some of the questions that specifically [Rep.] Jim Jordan asked."

Strzok previously testified publicly before a joint hearing of the House Oversight and Judiciary committees on July 12. During the hearing, Jordan pressed Strzok about an email he sent to FBI colleagues indicating that he had seen versions of the dossier from three different sources. Strzok declined to answer Jordan, citing an FBI directive.

On Wednesday, Meadows said that FBI General Counsel Dana Boente had told lawmakers that his instructions not to answer questions about certain topics were "overly broad" and "will be changed."

"I think they agree that some 90 percent of the unanswered questions that Mr. Jordan asked should have been answered," said Meadows, specifically referring to questions about Strzok's interaction with opposition research firm Fusion GPS, its founder Glenn Simpson and "other players that may or may not have been involved."

Meadows spoke following a closed-door meeting between House Republicans and Justice Department officials discussing the handover to Congress of documents related to the Russia investigation.

Justice Department officials tell Fox News that they have completed all but two parts of the three separate subpoenas filed by Republican lawmakers since last year, and the two outstanding parts are in the process being completed. The officials say that the only document lawmakers have been denied access to is the Aug. 2, 2017 memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to Special Counsel Robert Mueller outlining the scope of his inquiry.

Republican lawmakers take issue with the Justice Department's characterization of the subpoena response as complete or nearly complete. They point to records about the FBI's efforts to verify the dossier that only came to light after Strzok and former FBI lawyer Lisa Page were deposed.

"The thing that is very, very concerning to me is that still today, nine months into it, we dont know how many documents are out there that are responsive to the subpoena," Meadows said. "We dont know how many have been delivered that are responsive out of that universe and how many remain to be delivered."

Meadows also said that a "key question" is whether the FBI attempted to verify the contents of the Steele dossier before it was used as a key component of an application for a FISA warrant against then-Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

"When did it start?" Meadows asked rhetorically. "I think those start dates could be problematic for some of the narratives that are out there right now."

Fox News' Catherine Herridge and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.A $40 million yacht owned by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos' family was untied from its dock this weekend, causing thousands of dollars in damage, police said.

The 163-foot Seaquest yacht had been moored at the Huron Boat Basin when the captain alerted authorities early Sunday morning it had been untied and set adrift, according to a police report provided to Fox News.

According to the Toledo Blade, which first reported on the incident, the yacht had "several large scratches and scrapes" from hitting a dock  resulting in what the captain estimated to be between $5,000 to $10,000 in damage.

The investigation is ongoing, Huron Police Chief Bob Lippert told Fox News on Thursday morning.

DeVos was in Ohio earlier this month to tour a career center and a correctional treatment program. One of the more controversial figures in the Trump administration, she assumed office as secretary of the Education Department in February 2017.

PROTESTERS BLOCK DEVOS FROM ENTERING DC SCHOOL

Shes a proponent of school choice and charter schools  which has resulted in large protests when she addresses college students. Her decision to rescind an Obama-era guidance instructing how college campuses investigate allegations of campus sexual assault was also met with indignation.

DeVos and her husband are known for their philanthropic work  especially when it comes to education  in their home state of Michigan.

SEN. MARK WARNERS OFFICE VANDALIZED; SUSPECT ARRESTED

A spokeswoman previously announced that DeVos plans to donate her nearly $200,000 salary to charities that focus on special needs and education. She also travels on her own private plane, but foots the bill, The Associated Press reported.

The Seaquest is one of 10 vessels owned by the DeVos family. According to MarineTraffic.com, the yacht was back in Harbor Springs, Michigan, Thursday morning.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.A former GOP congressman proposed a new measure on Wednesday that would ban noncitizens from voting in state elections, The Los Angeles Times reported.

Doug Ose, who represented Californias 3rd District in the U.S. from 1999 to 2005, told the paper he was convinced to submit the proposal after San Francisco passed a law in 2016 that allowed non-U.S. citizens over age 18 to vote in school board elections.

It's very simple. I don't think noncitizens should be voting.  Doug Ose

Its very simple, he said. I dont think noncitizens should be voting.

The citys registering of noncitizens last week has brought renewed attention to the measure. Ose said he believes his proposal has the potential to be a viable political campaign.

Theres no shortage of people who are interested in being involved, he said.

While his proposal would amend California election law, it does not explicitly state how citizenship will be verified, The Times reported. California does not require voters to provide identification.

Ose briefly ran for governor earlier this year, but dropped out amid slim prospects. His Wednesday proposal will require 365,880 to appear on the 2020 California ballot.Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.) has worked to distance her political career from her husband's investment career, especially when it's negatively spotlighted in the press, but her husbands investment company now employs McCaskill's former campaign spokesman to handle its press.

The wealth of McCaskill's husband, Joseph Shepard, has long caused political problems for the senator, most recently on Tuesday when the Kansas City Star reported that his businesses had received $131 million in federal subsidies since McCaskill took office in 2007. Last month the report was that Shepard had millions of dollars invested in a hedge fund using offshore tax havens.

McCaskill has responded to stories on Shepard's investments by saying she has no involvement in them, but in an apparent effort to mitigate damage to McCaskill's reelection effort, Shepard's company Sugar Creek has brought in the political consultant who helped McCaskill first get elected to the Senate in 2006 to handle its damage control efforts.

Tony Wyche is president of Soapbox, a public relations and political consulting company based in Missouri that still lists McCaskill as its top political client. His LinkedIn resume shows a long track record of work in Democratic politics, including two-year stints as communications director for the Missouri Democratic Party and deputy press secretary for the Democratic National Committee. His company was paid $44,500 by McCaskill's 2006 campaign, throughout which he was quoted as her spokesman.

Wyche was first quoted as a spokesman for Shepard's company in May. He is quoted throughout Tuesday's report on the federal subsidies received by Shepard's companies.

Click for more from Washington Free Beacon.On July 25, as authorised by the Military Region 5 Command, the Board of Directors of the South Lao Friendship Company presented VND200 million to the Attapeu provincial Party Committee to support the local efforts in overcoming the consequences caused by the collapse of the dam.

The in-progress dam collapsed at 8pm on July 23 in the southeast of Laos. According to Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith, the incident has affected 13 villages in the low-lying areas, leaving 587 households and 3,060 people displaced. So far 131 people have been reported missing.

A large area in Attapeu was severely flooded after the collapse of Xepian-Xe Nam Noy hydropower dam. (Photo: Idsala)

Against the serious incident, Vietnams Military Region 5 Command on July 24 decided to offer VND200 million in timely relief for the victims. The South Lao Friendship Company (under the Military Region 5) also spent VND50 million to buy instant noodles, ration packs and drinking water to support victims in the affected areas.

Furthermore, a delegation of medical staff carrying medical equipment and medicines from the company and the K53 Team (under Vietnams Kon Tum provincial Military Command in charge of searching and collecting the remains of Vietnamese martyrs who sacrificed their lives in Laos) have coordinated with the armed forces in Lao Attapeu province to provide medical care for local victims in the aftermath of the incident.

With regards to the safety of Vietnamese people in Laos after the incident, Nguyen Van Hai, the official in charge of citizen protection at the Consulate General of Vietnam in Lao Champasak province covering southern Laos, told Nhan Dan Newspaper reporters at the site that on Wednesday all 24 workers of the Hoang Anh Gia Lai Company were rescued after two days of isolation due to the flooding. So far, no overseas Vietnamese or Vietnamese citizens have been injured or gone missing in this incident.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Ba Hung (L) presents financial assistance to Lao Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Baykham Khatthinha. (Photo: NDO)

On Wednesday afternoon, Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos, Nguyen Ba Hung, joined other delegates from the embassy and other related agencies to visit the Lao Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare in Vientiane in order to present financial assistance to support the Lao people affected by the dam breakdown.

Lao Deputy Minister Baykham Khatthinha received a donation worth 15 million Lao Kip (US$1,780) and US$1,500 collected from the Vietnamese embassy staff and related agencies connected to the embassy.

On the same day, representatives from the General Association of Overseas Vietnamese in Vientiane also handed over 50 million Kip (about US$5,950) to the Lao ministry. Cao Anh Son, Star Telecom's General Director also provided over 300 million Kip (US$35,700) to assist the Lao people affected by the incident.

In terms of the affects that the breakdown could have on Vietnam's Mekong Delta, on July 25, the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) affirmed that the Lao dam collapse would not have a significant impact on the delta.

Xepian-Xe Nam Noy is a key hydropower project in southern Laos, located on the Xe-Namnoy River. The site is roughly 200km from the Mekong mainstream in Cambodia and 650km from the Vietnamese border. At around 8pm on Monday, the incident occurred on a sub-dam called "Saddle Dam D", measuring 16m high, 8m wide and 770m long, made of mixed rock and soil.

The Xepian-Xe Nam Noy hydropower dam burst at 8pm on July 23, causing flash floods in the low-lying areas. (Photo: Attapeu Today)

Prior to the incident, the water level at Stung Treng station (200 km from the Mekong mainstream in Cambodia) was at 9m. After 36 hours, the water level at Stung Treng increased by 0.6m. According to current trend, the water level at the station increases on average about 20-30cm a day. Until now, the impact of the reservoir accident on the water level of Stung Treng is negligible.

In the next 4-5 days, water from the dam collapse will affect the flow of the upper Cuu Long River in Vietnam (part of the Mekong River which runs into Vietnam). Water levels in the upper reaches of the river are expected to increase to a maximum of 5-10cm.

As of the increase in mainstream flow and tributaries, along with the amount of water from the reservoir collapse in Laos, the water level at Stung Treng station may continue to rise up to 10.5m by July 30.

In the coming days, the water level in the Mekong River will rise rapidly due to floods from the upper streams in combination with high tides. As of July 31, the highest water level in the Tien River at Tan Chau station (An Giang province) is likely to be 3.2m (0.3m lower than warning level 1 - potentially harming agricultural production in low lying areas), while the figure on the Hau River at Chau Doc (An Giang) can be up to 2.6m (0.4m lower than warning level 1  the lowest flood warning level).

As a result, the MoNRE confirmed that the breakdown of the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy hydropower dam will not have a significant impact on the Mekong Delta of Vietnam.

The ministry also revealed that after receiving information from the incident, the Mekong River Commission Secretariat has collected information relating to the incident and assigned the Secretariat's Flood Warning Centre to investigate the impact of the dam burst and explore the causes of the incident to help the Lao Government.

The Vietnamese units concerned will also continue updating on developments related to the incident in order to make timely forecasts.A federal judge in Florida this week ordered Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm that commissioned the infamous anti-Trump dossier, to give a deposition in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against BuzzFeed News and the former British spy who compiled the dossier.

In a 16-page ruling filed Thursday, U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro rejected claims by Fusion that sitting for a deposition would "require disclosure of confidential business relationships" and "implicate Fusion GPS' First Amendment rights." Ungaro also wrote that Fusion must answer questions about what ex-MI6 spy Christopher Steele was told about the nature of his assignment to compile the dossier.

"There is no evidence in the record to suggest that such inquiry would be cumulative and Fusion GPS's conclusory claims of undue burden are plainly outweighed by the significant relevance of the proposed inquiry," Ungaro wrote.

Russian tech guru Aleksej Gubarev has filed civil claims in the U.S. and the U.K. against BuzzFeed and Steele. He claims his companies, Webzilla and XBT Holdings, were defamed by Steele after the BuzzFeed published the dossier on Jan. 10, 2017.

The dossier alleged that Gubarev's companies "used botnets and porn traffic to transmit viruses, plant bugs, steal data and conduct 'alerting operations' against the Democratic party leadership."

The dossier drew worldwide headlines for its salacious, unverified allegations about then-President-elect Donald Trump. Though Gubarev's lawsuit does not directly involve Trump, it promises a harsh spotlight on the vetting processes of both Steele and BuzzFeed.

Gubarev's attorney, Evan Fray-Witzer, told Fox News in an email that Fusion GPS will have until Aug. 31 to sit for a deposition.

"After a year of doing everything they could think of to avoid being deposed, Fusion GPS will finally have to answer our questions," Fray-Witzer told Fox News. "We knew that they had made a mistake when they asked for the case to be sent down to Florida. Judge Ungaro is very engaged in this case and she saw through Fusions objections."

Josh Levy, an attorney for Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson, did not immediately respond to Fox News' requests for comment.

Last month, Steele gave a four-hour videotaped deposition in London in order to comply with a similar order by a British High Court judge.

Steele and his company, Orbis Business Intelligence, were hired by Simpson's U.S.-based Fusion to work on the dossier and promote its contents to journalists. Fusion received $1.8 million via the law firm Perkins Coie, which was paid by the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign.Michael Cohen could face new professional and legal challenges for leaking a secretly recorded conversation with his former client Donald Trump -- a risky move that could cause problems with the state bar, future clients and even investigators.

Cohen, who served as a Trump Organization attorney for more than a decade and has described himself as President Trumps fixer, has sought to distance himself from his client and close friend in recent weeksthough the leak drew the starkest line in the sand between the two.

This week, Cohens attorney, Clinton confidant Lanny Davis, released to CNN the tape which had a recording of a discussion between Trump and Cohen about potentially buying the rights to Playboy model Karen McDougals story claiming an affair with Trump.

Cohen reportedly has felt hung out to dry by the president, and this was part of his attempt to punch back.

But the move could cause problems for Cohen beyond the president's angry tweets, as experts raise questions of ethical violations.

He is increasing the amount of baggage associated with his credibility by the day, white-collar criminal defense attorney for Ifrah Law and former DOJ official Jim Trusty told Fox News.

The president and his legal team were put on defense by the release of the tape, as they scrambled to claim the garbled conversation did not -- as some suggested -- show Trump discussing a cash payoff. But Trump's team also fired back by hammering Cohen for recording the conversation without Trumps consent. The president, on Wednesday, tweeted: What kind of lawyer would tape a client? So sad!

GIULIANI BLASTS COHEN AND DAVIS FOR LEAKING TRUMP TAPE: 'SO MUCH FOR ETHICS!'

Trusty told Fox News it is indeed unheard of for an attorney to record a client without the clients permission -- and questioned whether Cohen would be able to get future clients after this.

It raises gigantic issues as to the ethics of it, and as a practical matter, whether any client is going to walk in that door after knowing Cohen surreptitiously recorded his biggest client, Trusty said, noting that Cohen betrayed Trump.

Trusty speculated that Cohens decision to record Trump could somehow be an insurance policy to protect himself should he find himself in harms way.

Whether it actually serves that purpose is a totally different question, Trusty said.

Richard Painter, who was White House ethics counsel for former President George W. Bush, also told Fox News there are two areas where Cohen has exposure to disciplinary action by the bar.

Painter cited New York Bar Association Rule 1.2 D, which states that a lawyer shall not counsel a client to engage or assist a client in conduct that the lawyer knows is criminal or fraudulent.

The conduct in question is likely to be illegal because of federal election law, Painter said, noting that a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in the weeks leading up to the election and a proposed payment to buy the rights to McDougals story could be illegal, if not filed properly under campaign finance law.

Trump's legal team says no such payment was ever made for McDougal's story. Further, Cohen reportedly told a CNN anchor that the Daniels payment was for Trump and not the campaign, according to another leaked tape.

But Painter said Cohen was leading his client [Trump] into a potential crime by not telling him he would be responsible for disclosing the payment.

Reputable lawyers arent going to get involved in a situation when theyre making payoffs to porn stars and playboys, Painter said. A lawyer should say you cant do this.

Painter added: Instead, what Cohen does is he assists it, facilitates it, and encourages it. But then tapes it without Trumps consent. I dont know why a lawyer would do that unless to have something over the client.

Painter also said Cohen could be in violation of bar Rule 1.6, which cites the fundamental duty of a lawyer not to reveal information gained during and relating to the representation of a client without the clients informed consent.

The rule also prohibits the lawyer from using confidential information to the advantage of the lawyer or to the disadvantage of the client.

Painter said Cohens leak of the conversation is very problematic unless he was working to prevent a crime.

On both counts, hes got some serious problems. And hes got other problems too, Painter said. There is a reason his office was raided.

Earlier this year, federal investigators raided Cohens personal properties as part of a criminal investigation and grand jury probe into his personal business dealings.

Painter also noted that if Cohen pleads guilty to any felony in that case, he would be automatically disbarred.

Trump lawyer Rudy Giualiani suggested to the Washington Examiner that Cohen could face professional discipline over the tapes.

I dont think we have to do anything about that, Giuliani said. I think the bar association will.

The New York court system's grievance committee, which oversees attorney conduct, declined to comment to Fox News for this story.

Cohens attorney did not immediately respond to Fox News request for comment, but adamantly defended Cohen earlier this week on CNN.

"This is about honesty versus false disparagement of Michael Cohen," he told CNN, claiming the Trump legal team fears his client because he "has the truth about Donald Trump."

The Washington Post also noted the release of the audio could rankle investigators, and cause difficulty in striking any potential deal.Michael Cohen, President Trump's former lawyer, secretly recorded a conversation with CNN's Chris Cuomo and admitted in the tape to arrangingon his owna $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels in 2016, The Wall Street Journal reported late Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.

The recordingwhich is about two-hours longincluded topics ranging from the alleged years-old Trump affair with the former porn star to the payment, the report said. The reported tape could potentially be used by the White House to distance Trump from the Daniels payment and damage Cohens character.

Cohen reportedly assured Cuomo that he was not taping their conversation, and put the phone in his desk drawer. The phone appears to record the whole conversation.

I did it on my own, Cohen said about the payment in the recording, according to the newspaper. Cohen previously said he facilitated the payment with his own money and called it a private transaction.

Trumps attorney Rudy Giuliani previously revealed that Trump reimbursed Cohen for the $130,000 payment through a monthly retainer, but insisted Trump wasnt aware of the deal until much later.

The reported tape doesnt indicate whether the payment to the adult-film actress was made to help Trumps presidential campaign, the paper reported.

The report said it would be a campaign finance violation if Cohen made the payment to bolster the candidates chances of getting into office because it violates the election law by making in-kind contribution that exceeds the legal limit and was not disclosed to election regulators.

It wasnt for the campaign. It was for [Trump], Cohen told Cuomo when asked if the payment could be understood as an in-kind contribution, The Journal reported.

"It wasnt for the campaign. It was for [Trump]."  Michael Cohen

TRUMP, COHEN DISCUSSED FINANCING OF POSSIBLE PLAYBOY MODEL PAYMENT ON SECRET RECORDING

In recent years, Cohen frequently appeared on Cuomos show. On Tuesday, the lawyer for Cohen, Lanny Davis, supplied Cuomo with an audio recording of Cohens conversation with Trump about purchasing the rights to former Playboy model Karen McDougals story of her 2006 affair with Trump.

Trump lashed out at his former attorney. What kind of a lawyer would tape a client? So sad! the president wrote in a tweet early Wednesday morning.

Giuliani, meanwhile, said it was outrageous that an audio conversation between Trump and Cohen was leaked to the media. He also questioned why the recording, as aired on CNN, ended at a key part in the conversation, saying the tape would have been exculpatory from the point of view from the president had it not stopped.

GIULIANI SLAMS OUTRAGOUS COHEN-TRUMP TAPE LEAK, CLAIMS RECORDINGS ENDS AT KEY POINT

The Trump-Cohen recording is among a dozen recordings the attorney made in matters relating to Trump, which were seized by Federal authorities in an April raid of his office. The investigators are looking into whether Cohen could be responsible for bank fraud or campaign finance violations over the payment to Daniels.

A former federal judge overseeing a review of materials seized in the sweep released the 12 audio recordings made by Cohen to federal investigators after Trump withdrew objections to the tapes. Cohens tape with Cuomo was among the released tapes and other tapes also feature recordings with other reporters.

Trumps legal team declined to comment on the Cohen-Cuomo tape. We cant comment on a tape that hasnt been released, Giuliani told the newspaper.

It was Michael Cohens habit for many years to record conversations in lieu of taking notes, Davis said. He had no intention of ever publicizing such tapes nor any intention to ever deceive anyone.Lordy, there are tapesalong with a whole new wave of media questions about Donald Trump, his veracity, the break with his former lawyer, and his current lawyer saying "the president is not an idiot."

The Michael Cohen tape, aired by CNN's Chris Cuomo, has very much put in play who said what to whom about a possible payoff to a former Playboy model and Rudy Giuliani's previous claim that the tape would vindicate the president.

But put that to the side for just a moment. The larger media narrative, to employ that much-overused phrase, is that Trump is creating his own reality. That he is, as The New York Times put it yesterday, "increasingly living in a world of selected information and bending the truth to his own narrative. As his aides work to keep him insulated from the outside world, Mr. Trump is doubling down in his efforts to tell supporters to trust him over the words of critics and news reports."

The chief examples cited in the story are these:

--Trump was going off about an NBC story before a VFW audience when he said, "Don't believe the crap you see from these peoplethe fake news ... What you're seeing and what you're reading is not whats happening."

--The president "raged" against his staff for violating a rule that all TVs on Air Force One must be on Fox, after Melania Trump's set was tuned to CNN. (The first lady's spokeswoman issued a statement saying she will watch "any channel she wants." So it's just like an average couple fighting over the remote, right?)

--The president tweeted his concern that Russian will have an impact on the midterms: "Based on the fact that no president has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats. They definitely don't want Trump!" Uh, except for the fact that Vladimir Putin said he wanted Trump to win in 2016 and there is no discernible evidence that he suddenly wants to help the Dems.

So that brings us back to the tape, now being debated by lawyers on cable 24/7. On one level, it's hardly a smoking gun since the payment that Trump and Cohen are discussing never actually happened.

It's also not 100 percent clear from the crosstalk whether the candidate is saying the payment (to reimburse the National Enquirer, owned by Trump pal David Pecker, which spent $150,000 to buy and bury the rights to Karen McDougal's story) should be made in cash. We hear Trump say "pay with cash," we hear Cohen saying "no no no," someone says "check," and the thing suddenly ends.

The president seized on that point, tweeting: "What kind of a lawyer would tape a client? So sad! ... Why was the tape so abruptly terminated (cut) while I was presumably saying positive things?" Fair question.

Rudy Giuliani told Laura Ingraham it was "outrageous" for Cohen to tape his client surreptitiously and "foolhardy for them to try to yell and scream and make believe whats on the tape."

But Lanny Davis, Cohen's lawyer, told Cuomo that "Richard Nixon couldn't spin the tape that did him in ... Whatever spin Mr. Giuliani is trying to invent, it says 'cash,' and Michael Cohen says 'no, no, no.'"

But Trump doesnt act surprised by the conversation, which contradicts his campaigns insistence that he knew nothing about the Karen McDougal business.

These controversies come and go, rarely seeming to affect Trump's standing with Republicans. And he's entitled to hit back at the press without being accused of creating an alternative reality.

But the lingering questions about the president's credibility can't just be waved away by speeches and tweets.

House Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday publicly opposed the conservative-led bid to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, saying their accusations dont rise to the necessary level of high crimes and misdemeanors.

I dont think we should be cavalier with this process, Ryan told reporters when asked about the newly introduced articles of impeachment.

The speakers comments splashed cold water on the impeachment push after the articles were filed Wednesday night -- though there were already signs conservatives were dialing back the push and want to use the threat more to pressure the Justice Department to produce documents pertaining to the Russia probe.

Sources told Fox News earlier Thursday that House Republicans were not planning to pursue the impeachment articles before the summer recess.

Now this is in Rod Rosensteins court, House Freedom Caucus leader Mark Meadows, R-N.C., said Thursday, while clarifying that a contempt resolution, rather than impeachment, would be their first course of action if they don't extract documents.

"My patience is running thin," he added.

A group of 11 House Republicans including Meadows had introduced five articles of impeachment against Rosenstein, who oversees the Russia probe, on Wednesday evening.

The articles accuse Rosenstein of intentionally withholding documents and overseeing the potentially improper authorization of surveillance against Trump associates.

It was not immediately clear whether the House would consider the resolution before lawmakers begin the August recess Thursday afternoon; the House will reconvene Sept. 4.

In an exclusive interview on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" on Wednesday night, Meadows had said it would be possible to push a so-called "privileged" resolution as early as Thursday morning, which would require a vote within two days.

But sources told Fox News there will be no such effort on Thursday, pushing off any consideration until the fall.

Fox News is told House GOP leaders huddled with Meadows and fellow Freedom Caucus leader Rep. Jim Jordan, Ohio, and agreed that the best path is to continue to apply pressure on the DOJ to produce documents  keeping threats of contempt of Congress and impeachment resolutions on the table. The House has only initiated impeachment proceedings 62 times in the history of the country.

The resolution itself states it will be "referred to the Committee," meaning the Judiciary Committee, for further review. That language alone had suggested the full House will not immediately consider the articles of impeachment.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., also told reporters Thursday hed like to see the measure go through regular order, meaning through the committee, a process for which the Freedom Caucus often voices support.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, meanwhile, said Thursday that he has confidence in Rosenstein, and urged Congress to focus instead on immigration.

Justice Department officials maintain they have been responding to numerous document requests.

DOJ officials say the only document that Congress has specifically asked to see and been denied access to is the Aug. 2, 2017 scope memo, from Rosenstein to Special Counsel Robert Mueller regarding the scope of the Russia investigation. Officials say thats because it is squarely within the confines of an ongoing probe.

GOP lawmakers cited that memo in the impeachment articles, criticizing Rosenstein for not providing a less-redacted version of the memo, even in a classified setting.

Its unclear whether Republicans will resume this effort after the recess.

Both Meadows and Jordan told host Laura Ingraham the push was long overdue.

"For nine months, we've asked for documents, and that's all we want," Meadows said. "Not only have subpoenas been ignored, but information has been hidden, efforts have been stonewalled."

But Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, tweeted that the articles "were filed in bad faith and show [the] extraordinary lengths to which House Republicans will go to protect [President] Trump."

And Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the move was "partisan nonsense."

In one article of impeachment, Rosenstein is accused of improperly signing off on the FISA surveillance warrant application against ex-Trump aide Carter Page.

The application heavily relied on the infamous Steele dossier, which was funded by the Clinton campaign and the DNC and contained unverified, salacious allegations against Trump. The application also cited concerns about Pages Russian contacts.

The articles also assert Rosenstein has a conflict of interest for signing off on the final Page surveillance warrant and not later recusing himself or recommending a second special counsel as some Republicans have sought.

According to a House Republican memo on that warrant released earlier this year, information about the dossiers author and his anti-Trump bias was withheld from the national security court that approved the spying. After author and ex-British spy Christopher Steele was fired for lying to the FBI, he maintained contact with senior DOJ official Bruce Ohr, whose wife worked for Fusion GPS, the firm behind the dossier.

Rosenstein named Mueller to lead the Trump-Russia probe after Rosensteins boss, Sessions, recused himself from the investigation because of Sessions own role in the Trump campaign.

He has since clashed with House Republicans for months over requests for Department of Justice documents. GOP leaders grilled Rosenstein at a hearing in June for what they called his inadequate transparency.

In recent weeks, calls by top Republicans to remove Rosenstein grew louder. A simple majority of the House would suffice to impeach Rosenstein, but a two-thirds vote of the Senate would be required to remove him.

The move came about two hours after GOP lawmakers met with Justice Department officials who have been working to provide documents to several congressional committees about decisions made during the 2016 presidential campaign. The department has provided lawmakers with more than 800,000 documents, but Meadows said after the meeting that there was still "frustration" with how Justice has handled the oversight requests.

Fox News Catherine Herridge, Anne Ball, Samuel Chamberlain and Jake Gibson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.City officials in Portland, Ore., say they'll be cleaning up the disgusting Occupy ICE camp after police cleared the area of protesters Wednesday.

The mayors office said it would pick up a portion of the tab for the clean-up, FOX 12 reported. Meanwhile, the Portland Police Bureau has cordoned off the site, calling it a biohazard.

Activists set up the camp near the local office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after an outcry over the agency's crackdown on illegal immigrants.

The protesters advocated abolishing the agency, an objective that is increasingly being embraced by top mainstream Democrats in Congress, including U.S. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

DEMOCRATS CALLING FOR ICE TO BE ABOLISHED INCLUDE KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, ELIZABETH WARREN AND OTHERS

It was pretty disgusting that thats how they were living back there, Frank Savage, a Portland resident who lives near the camp, told the outlet.

It was pretty disgusting that thats how they were living back there. Getting tired of waking up to the bullhorn and the sounds and the cussing.  Frank Savage, Portland, Ore., resident who lives near the Occupy ICE camp

He said that the area was littered by the protesters but is now relieved that things will go back to normal. Getting tired of waking up to the bullhorn and the sounds and the cussing, he added.

Debris being cleared Wednesday included wooden pallets, makeshift toilets, books, toys, plastic containers, liquor bottles, tents and furniture, photos published by the Oregonian showed.

Mayor Ted Wheeler publicly ordered the Occupy ICE protesters to leave the camp Monday, but they ignored the mayors request.

That prompted Portland police to step in and clear the protesters. No tickets or arrests were made in the process.

For the most part everything was done with very little incident, police Chief Danielle Outlaw said.

This was the second time authorities had to intervene to disperse the protesters in Portland who set up camps. Last month, Homeland Security police had to clear out activists who occupied an ICE building in the city in protest of President Trumps zero-tolerance policy toward immigration and the separation of migrant children from their parents.

As officers were clearing up the building, protesters were heard chanting No racist police! and some activists were pointing in each of the officers faces and calling them Nazis.

PORTLAND ICE FACILITY PROTEST CAMP BROKEN UP BY FEDS AS CROWDS SHOUT NOT RACIST POLICE!

The city is having contractors clean up the mess left by the activists. The efforts will also receive help from Multnomah County inmates, who will receive work-time credit and other financial incentives, the sheriffs office reportedly said.

The camp was set up on land owned by the city and TriMet, a public agency in charge of the public transit system in Portlands metropolitan area.

A TriMet official said they dont know why the protesters who started the camp cant be held accountable for the costs associated with cleaning the area.

I cant answer that. I just dont think there is a mechanism to reimburse for the cost, the official told FOX 12.

The city doesnt yet have an estimate of the total cost of the cleanup.The Russian lawyer at the center of a controversial June 2016 meeting involving Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort and Jared Kusher has worked more closely with the Russian government than she has previously revealed, the Associated Press reported Thursday.

Documents obtained from an investigative unit run by Russian opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky portray Natalia Veselnitskaya as a well-connected attorney who served as a ghostwriter for top Russian government lawyers and received assistance from senior Interior Ministry personnel.

The London-based unit, the Dossier Center, is is compiling profiles of Russians it accuses of benefiting from corruption. The data was later shared with journalists at the AP, the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger, Greek news website Inside Story and others.

Veselnitskaya has been under scrutiny since it emerged last year that Trump's eldest son, Donald Jr., met with her after being told by an intermediary that she represented the Russian government and was offering Moscow's help defeating rival presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Veselnitskaya has previously denied acting as a represenative of Russian authorities when she met with members of Trump's inner circle, telling Congress that she operates "independently of any government bodies."

But the Dossier Center's documents suggest her ties to Russian authorities are close -- and they pull the curtain back on her campaign to overturn the sanctions imposed by the U.S. on Russian officials.



For example, the emails show that Veselnitskaya was mixed up in the Russian government's attempt to extract financial information from the former law firm of Bill Browder, the American-born British businessman who was a longtime critic of the Kremlin.



An Oct. 31, 2017, email shows Veselnitskaya's office preparing a draft version of Russian Deputy General Prosecutor Mikhail Alexandrov's affidavit to Cypriot authorities. "This is needed by tomorrow," she wrote a subordinate.



Two weeks later, a finalized version of the same document was sent by a Russian diplomatic staffer to a Cypriot counterpart, the Dossier Center's files show.



Browder, who has often clashed with Veselnitskaya in and out of court, said this reinforced the idea that she was enmeshed with Russian officialdom.



"If her office is drafting replies for Russian-Cyprus law enforcement cooperation, in my opinion that effectively shows that she's an agent of the Russian government and not an independent lawyer as she claims," he said in a telephone interview.



In a written statement, the Russian Embassy in Cyprus called the AP's question a "provocation" and said it had "no idea who is Nataliya Veselnitskaya and what she sends or doesn't send to the Cypriot Officials."



Alexandrov, reached at the prosecutor-general's office, refused to speak to the AP.



Veselnitskaya appears to have gotten government support too.



When Swiss officials arrived in Moscow on September 2015 to interrogate Denis Katsyv, one of her key clients, they were met not just by Veselnitskaya but by Lt. Col. A. V. Ranchenkov, a senior Interior Ministry official previously known for his role investigating the Russian punk band Pussy Riot.



Ranchenkov devoted a chunk of the interview to questions about the legality of Browder's actions, according to a transcript of the interrogation reviewed by AP.



The Russian Interior Ministry did not return messages seeking comment.



The emails also show how Veselnitskaya tried to extend her influence to the United States, where she was working to overturn the Magnitsky Act, a sanctions law that was championed by Browder after his lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, died under suspicious circumstances in a Russian prison.



Moscow responded to the sanctions with a ban on U.S. adoptions of Russian orphans. That prompted lobbyists to court groups such as Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption Including Neighboring Countries, or FRUA, a charity that supports families who adopt children from former Soviet bloc nations. The idea was to use the issue of adoptions to help them reverse the sanctions.



Jan Wondra, FRUA's chairman, said she attended a meeting in Washington on June 8, 2016 with a group of people that included Rinat Akhmetshin, a Russian-American lobbyist who was working with Veselnitskaya to overturn the sanctions.



The group told her there was evidence that the Magnitsky Act was propelled by bogus claims spread by Browder, Wondra said. It promised that the revelation could lead to the overturning of the Russian adoption ban.



Wondra told the AP she was suspicious and feared that the lobbyists wanted FRUA's endorsement for their own purposes.

"My antennae were out. I looked at this as an attempt to put public pressure on Congress to rescind all or a part of the Magnitsky Act," she said, emphasizing that she spoke only for herself, not her organization. "The conclusion I drew was that FRUA should not participate. And we didn't."



Akhmetshin, who would join Veselnitskaya at the Trump Tower meeting the next day, declined comment.



The emails obtained by AP leave some unanswered questions.



In particular, the Dossier Center's investigation turned up almost no messages about the Trump Tower meeting itself. The group said it received only a few messages dealing with the media queries when the meeting became public in mid-2017.



There's no mention either of the Russian hack-and-leak operation that began rattling the Democrats immediately following Veselnitskaya's visit.



The Associated Press contributed to this report.President Trump took to Twitter Thursday morning to blast the social media platform over the reported practice of shadow banning certain prominent Republicans, restricting their visibility in search results.

In a direct swipe at the platform hes used to energize and connect with his base since the 2016 campaign, the president vowed to look into what he called the "illegal" practice -- though Twitter officials described it as a glitch they are working to fix.

Twitter SHADOW BANNING prominent Republicans. Not good. We will look into this discriminatory and illegal practice at once! Many complaints, Trump tweeted.

The social media giant came under fire from Republicans after the issue was first reported by Vice News.

Republican Party Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel; several conservative Republican congressmen, including Rep. Devin Nunes; and Andrew Surabian, the spokesman for Donald Trump Jr., all were not appearing in Twitters auto-populated drop-down search results.

TWITTER SLAMMED FOR 'SHADOW-BANNING' REPUBLICANS

Vice reported that limiting visibility in results involves the same technique that has been used to diminish the reach of prominent racists on Twitter.

Twitter directed Vice to a May 15 blog post that explained how the platform was clamping down on troll-like behavior.

Searches for Republican Reps. Mark Meadows, Jim Jordan and Matt Gaetz were affected by the same issue. Vice noted that top Democrats were not being similarly shadow banned.

Gaetz told The Daily Caller News Foundation he is considering filing a complaint with the Federal Election Commission.

The notion that social media companies would suppress certain political points of view should concern every American. Twitter owes the public answers to whats really going on, McDaniel tweeted.

McDaniels account subsequently reappeared in the search results.

Twitter told Fox News that the problem is the result of an algorithmic glitch in the search function that is being fixed.

To be clear, our behavioral ranking doesnt make judgements based on political views or the substance of tweets, tweeted Twitter product lead Kayvon Beykpour. Some accounts werent being auto-suggested even when people were searching for their specific name. Our usage of the behavior signals within search was causing this to happen & making search results seem inaccurate. Were making a change today that will improve this.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey also responded to the furor over the search results. It suffices to say we have a lot more work to do to earn peoples trust on how we work, he tweeted.The U.S. is anticipating that North Korea will return the remains of some 55 American service members on Friday, which is the 65th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War, a U.S. official told Fox News.

The official noted that the return is not certain until the U.S. plane set to retrieve the remains departs from the northeastern city of Wonsan with the remains.

The return of the American remains lost in the Korean War was a major commitment by North Korean leader Kim Jung Un to President Trump at their summit in Singapore last month.

The remains -- if all goes well -- would be flown to the U.S. airbase of Osan in South Korea, where they would be catalogued and then flown to a Hawaii processing center next Wednesday.

Earlier this week, an American research group reported that North Korea had begun dismantling its main missile-engine test site, which could be another sign that a thaw is taking place between the two countries.

In June, Pentagon officials told Fox News that the U.S. was expected to accept as many as 200 sets of remains from North Korea within days.

Days later, the U.S. moved about 100 caskets to the DMZ in anticipation of the handover of the remains, but the transfer never took place.

North Korean officials were also no-shows earlier this month for a meeting with the U.S. regarding the remains of the Korean War dead, but U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo downplayed the snub, telling reporters before leaving Pyongyang that the meeting "could move by one day or two."

Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this story.The White House threatened Thursday to impose sanctions on Turkey if they do not free an American pastor detained for two years on terror and espionage charges.

"The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being. He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!" President Trump tweeted.

This was after Vice President Pence delivered the same warning during a speech on religious freedom.

To President Erdogan and the Turkish government, I have a message on behalf of the president of the United States of America, Pence said Thursday. Release pastor Andrew Brunson now or be prepared to face the consequences.

Pence said, If Turkey does not take immediate action to free this man of faith and send him home to America, the United States will impose significant sanctions on Turkey until Pastor Andrew Brunson is free.

Pence made the remarks during a speech to the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom.

JAILED AMERICAN PASTOR ON TRIAL IN TURKEY TRANSFERRED TO HOUSE ARREST

Brunson, a 50-year-old evangelical pastor from Black Mountain, N.C., was arrested in December 2016 for allegedly committing crimes on behalf of terror groups, a reference to outlawed Kurdish militants and the network of U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is blamed for a failed coup attempt.

Brunson, who has vehemently denied the charges, faces 15 years in prison for the terror charges and an additional 20 years for espionage.

The case was adjourned until Oct. 12.

Turkey announced this week the pastor has been transferred to house arrest as his trial continues.

The case has strained ties between NATO allies Turkey and the United States. Trump has repeatedly demanded Brunson's release.

Trump tweeted in Brunson's defense last week, calling it "a total disgrace" that Brunson is being held. "He has done nothing wrong, and his family needs him!"

Brunson's case was among issues Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed during a recent telephone call.

Fox News Nick Kalman and Lucia I. Suarez and The Associated Press contributed to this report.Trumps true purpose of launching a trade war against China has been revealed in a latest article by #Bloomberg on July 13, arguing that the extra tariffs on China mean a longer trade war, with greater damage to the US economy.

Entitled Trump is misjudging Chinas resolve on trade, the article reported that Trumps strategy in his trade war with China is to eventually force China into concessions by inflicting sufficient economic pain. Thats the obvious purpose of the $200 billion in additional tariffs he plans to impose on Chinese-made goods.

Trumps latest moves are a reality show before midterm elections to make him appear tough. But the approach is also mired in misperceptionsand bluntly, plain ignoranceof modern China. To Trump and his advisers, China appears poor, dependent on America, and susceptible to coercion. The reality is that China is a global economic force and that Chinas leaders will not be so easily intimidated, the article emphasized.

Team Trumps first big miscalculation is over economic leverage, according to the article. Because China exports more to the US than vice versa, the Trump administration reckons it has the upper hand. Stephen Moore, a Heritage Foundation fellow and former Trump economic adviser, claimed that the Chinese economy cannot grow without access to the US market.

The facts suggest otherwise, it noted. China is now a $12 trillion economy, and far from vulnerable. Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics Ltd., said in a July 11 report that the total $250 billion of exports facing US tariffs represents only 1.3 percent of Chinas GDP, and the damage done by those tariffs might be only around 0.5 percent of output.

The article went on pointing out that Trump is assuming Chinese companies and workers will bear the brunt, but that ignores global supply chains. Hannah Anderson, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, commented recently that the majority of the value in the imports the US has imposed tariffs on so far comes from other countries besides China. The tariffs will punish US consumers and companies with higher prices, costing jobs, profits, and growth and roiling financial markets.Grave robbers had about 1,800 years to steal the precious gold jewelry buried with a noblewoman on the Greek island of Sikinos. So, what allowed the noblewoman  named  (Neko), according to a Greek inscription on her grave  to rest in peace for so long?

She had an exceptionally well-hidden grave, which Greek archaeologists just recently discovered, archaeologists said.

Grave robbers hit other ancient burials on Sikinos, which is part of the Cyclades island group. But they missed Neko's grave because it's concealed in a blind spot between two walls in the basement of a Byzantine church and a monastery, Demetrios Athanasoulis, director of the antiquities department (or ephorate) for the Cyclades, told Reuters. [Photos: Ancient Treasures Discovered in Cyprus Tomb Complex]

But Neko wasn't always buried in a monastery. When she died 1,800 years ago, she was buried next to a Roman burial monument. Her grave was filled with lavish treasures, including golden wristbands, rings, and a long, golden necklace, as well as a carved female figure, glass and metal vases and clothing, Reuters reported.

Neko was buried in a rectangular grave within a vault at the Episkopi monument, a rare memorial from the Roman period. Until now, archaeologists didn't know whom this memorial, or mausoleum, was meant to honor.

"We were unexpectedly lucky," Athanasoulis told Reuters. "This is Neko's mausoleum."

"It's very rare," he added. "A monument, one of the Aegean's most impressive, has got an identity. We now have the person for whom the building was built; we have her remains, her name."

This monument was later transformed into the Byzantine church and a monastery.

Even though Neko was buried on Sikinos, southeast of Athens, it's not clear if Neko lived there during her lifetime.

"We are now trying to find out more about her," Athanasoulis said. "We are still at the beginning."

Original article on Live Science.

Dozens of people from around the world heard Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan radio for help after crashing into the Pacific Ocean and becoming stranded on a remote island, according to researchers.

The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) theorizes that Earhart and Noonan were able to employ their two-way radio in the downed Lockheed Electra to send pleas for help in their final days marooned on the then-deserted Gardner Island, also known as Nikumaroro, The Washington Post reported.

"Will have to get out of here," Earhart could be heard saying at one point, according to the paper citing TIGHAR's. research. "We can't stay here long."

A woman in Toronto heard the pilot say, we have taken in water . . . we cant hold on much longer.

Earhart and Noonan could only use the radio for a few hours each night when the tide was low in order to not flood the engine as the plane rested out on the island's reef, The Post reported.

Authorities asked the publics help to listen to the radio frequencies Earhart had been using on her trip following her disappearance on July 2, 1937 during a flight from Papua New Guinea to Howland Island as she attempted to become the first women to travel around the world, according to TIGHAR.

While most searchers heard nothing, some listeners scattered across North America heard Earharts cries for help, The Post reported, citing research from TIGHAR.

The day after the crash, a Kentucky woman claimed she heard the pilot say "KHAQQ calling," before saying she was "on or near little island at a point near" . . . and something about a storm and that the wind was blowing," according to The Post.

The age-old mystery continues to baffle the scientific community, while some are convinced that Gardner Island is Earharts final resting place, another theory suggests that she met her end on Mili Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

As for the castaway theory, some 13 human bones were found on Gardner Island three years after Earharts disappearance. The bones, however, were subsequently lost.

Ric Gillespie, the director of TIGHAR, told The Post that the messages were sent out over a course of six days, and is evidence that Earhart and Noonan died as castaways, rather than the U.S. Navys claim that they died after the plane crashed and sunk somewhere in the Pacific.

"These active versus silent periods and the fact that the message changes on July 5 and starts being worried about water and then is consistently worried about water after that - there's a story there," Gillespie told the Post.

Four bone-sniffing dogs were recently brought to Nikumaroro as part of an expedition sponsored by TIGHAR and the National Geographic Society.

National Geographic reported July 7 that the dogs have located the spot where Earhart may have died. No bones, however, were found although plans have been made to send soil samples from the spot for DNA analysis in Germany.

Gillespie also told the Post he understands that he needs more data to support his theory.

Fox News James Rogers contributed to this report.Nearly 100 sea turtles  many of which are endangered  have washed up on southwestern Florida beaches since October. More than half of that number were dead. Marine scientists are now blaming the mass mortality on the current red tide bloom, which has been the longest, continuous bloom in more than a decade, officials said this week.

In total, 91 sea turtles have washed up on Sanibel and Captiva beaches since October 2017, 58 of which were dead, according to the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation.

And 50 of the 91 have been found on beaches in June and July alone. Thats compared to the yearly average of 30 to 35, Kelly Sloan, a sea turtle researcher at the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation on Sanibel, told the News-Press.

Its really disheartening, she added.

The deaths could be a blow to a population of animals that have been fighting to make a comeback in the area, scientists warned, as many of the dead turtles have been mature adults. (Only one in 1,000 sea turtle hatchlings survive long enough to reach age 25, which is the start of reproductive maturity, according to the foundation).

FLORIDA BEACH LITTERED WITH 'HUNDREDS' OF DEAD FISH, MARINE LIFE

The Kemp's Ridley sea turtle  the most endangered of all sea turtles  represented 19 of the 91 turtles found on the beaches, according to the foundation.

"I fear this event will have an impact for years to come."  Heather Barron

Research scientists with the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, such as Dr. Richard Bartleson, are blaming the mass mortality on the red tide bloom, a harmful algal bloom (HAB) that occurs when colonies of algae  simple plants that live in the sea and freshwater  grow out of control while producing toxic or harmful effects on people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals, and birds, according to the National Ocean Service.

Bartleson is one of many scientists that has worked to collect tissue and gut samples from sea turtles that have been stranded in recent months. The samples will be tested for brevetoxins, a group of neurotoxins that can impact both humans and animals alike.

In humans, the toxins from these blooms, which are released into the air as waves crash on the beach, can have effects on the respiratory system, causing coughing and sneezing (in fact, one sea turtle expert from Collier County told the paper her voice became raspy after she was exposed to the outbreak).

For sea life, the toxin affects the nervous system and red blood cells, Bartleson told Fox News on Thursday.

Some sea creatures  such as fish and sharks  are impacted by toxins through their gills. When an animal breathes in, the toxins enter the body, eventually reaching the bloodstream. Sea turtles, on the other hand, do not have gills but are similarly affected through their mucus membranes or when ingesting the red tide bloom, Bartleson said.

The turtles and other sea creatures, such as fish, likey don't sense the toxins when ingesting the bloom.

GEORGIA HOTEL HOUSEKEEPERS FIND SEA TURTLE HATCHLINGS IN TRASH CAN, POLICE SAY

Swimming in circles, lack of coordination, head bobbing and muscle twitching are all symptoms a sea turtle has been exposed to the red tide Karenia brevis organism, which produces the brevetoxins, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

While the red tide does occur naturally, Bartleson noted it has been made worse, and has been prolonged by human activities such as farming, development and manufacturing.

Over the past number of years, the build up of chemicals  such as phosphorus and nitrogen, among other elements typically found in fertilizer  have provided the perfect nutrients to worsen the bloom, Bartleson said. These chemicals reach the ocean through surface runoffs, which occur after a rainstorm, tropical storm or hurricane.

Bartleson said the current red tide is partly due to the surface runoffs caused by Hurricane Irma, while the red tide that affected much of the states central-west coast in 2005 and 2006 were worsened by the states active hurricane season in 2004.

In response, Bartleson, along with other scientists, have advocated for the use of the states wetlands to redirect the surface runoff, as the wetlands act as a natural filter.

WORLD TURTLE DAY 2018: 3 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE SHELLED SPECIES

As for the sea turtles, I fear this event will have an impact for years to come, Heather Barron with the Center for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife veterinarian hospital on Sanibel, told the News-Press.A family spending the day on Fontana Lake in North Carolina was shocked to see a rattlesnake swimming toward their boat.

On July 14, Wayne Robbins, his wife and two children, along with four children with limb differences with the Adventure Amputee Camp, were enjoying a summer day on the lake when a timber rattlesnake slithered toward their boat. Robbins 14-year-old daughter, Kathleen, captured video of the terrifying scene, which Robbins posted on Instagram the next day.

Children can be heard screaming in the background of the video, which has garnered more than 2,000 views.

6-FOOT SNAKE SLITHERS DOWN TEXAS MAN'S CHIMNEY, 'CLUNKS' INTO FIREPLACE

Oh my god! one child screamed.

Thats a rattlesnake! Robbins replied.

Drive now! another child can be heard yelling as the snake attempted to climb aboard the boat.

At first, Robbins, of Knoxville, Tennessee, didnt fret too much; he and his wife thought the snake would swim by the boat before moving away from it.

But when the rattler kept coming toward them, Robbins began to worry.

We thought he was being extremely aggressive, but it turns out he was just very desperate to get out of the water. When he began heading toward the boat, my wife and I became concerned he could be a problem, Robbins told Fox News.

Robbins, who was volunteering with the Adventure Amputee Camp, was also worried for the children who did not have their prosthetics with them and do not move so easily." There were also two counselors on a tube behind the boat, which made it difficult to move forward.

I would have drug them into the snake, and I knew it could climb onto the tube with them. So simply pulling away was not an option, he said, adding that it was pretty crowded and the kids were fairly excited, so getting something from under the seats to deter the snake with was going to take some time.

"We just thought we won't mess with it and he won't mess with us."  Wayne Robbins

At one point, the snake paused for a few seconds on the back of the boat before it turned to head toward the shore.

Despite the scare, Robbins said several of kids on the boat got back in the water that day with no concerns at all."

"We have been back on the water several times since then and don't hesitate, he added.

ALLIGATOR SPOTTED NEAR NORTH CAROLINA MARINE BARRACKS, OFFICIALS WARN

Rattlesnakes can swim, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed. Timber rattlesnakes, more specifically, are capable of swimming on the waters surface and under it.

It was completely unexpected and we were totally surprised by it. We just thought we won't mess with it and he won't mess with us, Robbins added.A teenager accused of multiple thefts in the Palo Alto area has requested one thing of his victims before allegedly stealing the items: the Wi-Fi password.

The unnamed 17-year-old was arrested earlier this week after police said he broke into an older couples home and woke them up, requesting their Wi-Fi code.

The California couple told police they were able to chase the suspect, who had his face covered, out of their house early Sunday morning. Palo Alto police arrested him a short time later for residential burglary, prowling and providing false information to an officer. Residential burglary is a felony; the others are misdemeanors.

The teenager allegedly entered the house by climbing through a window. The unnamed residents, who are in their 60s, reported two kitchen knives missing, but they have not yet been recovered, police said in the news release.

Police also said the suspect stole a bike from the yard of a different residence late Saturday night. A woman told officials she saw him standing outside her bedroom window, and he asked her for the Wi-Fi code because he ran out of cellular data.

WAFFLE HOUSE ROBBED, CUSTOMER SHOT BY MAN IN ANGRY CLOWN MASK, POLICE SAY

The residents of that house got the suspect to leave, and he fled on a bicycle, police said. An occupant in that house later realized the bike the suspect left with actually belonged to him.

The bike has been returned to its owner, and Palo Alto police are asking that the teenager be charged with misdemeanor petty theft in that case.

WOMAN ACCUSED OF STEALING $70G WORTH OF JEWELRY AND CASH FROM MAN SHE MET AT A BAR

Because he is under 18, the name and photo of the suspect have not been released.

Palo Alto police are asking for anyone with additional information about the incidents to call the 24-hour number at 650-329-2413 or send anonymous tips to paloalto@tipnow.org.Brother can you spare a dime?

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's net worth has fallen more than $16 billion after the company reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter results and issued guidance that its financial future isn't as rosy as some investors thought it might be. Set against this backdrop, one activist investor wants Zuckerberg out as the firm's chairman.

Zuckerberg recently sparked outrage when he described Facebook's handling of content from Holocaust deniers on the social network. He subsequently backtracked on his comments.

Im Jewish, and theres a set of people who deny that the Holocaust happened. I find that deeply offensive. But at the end of the day, I dont believe that our platform should take that down because I think there are things that different people get wrong.  Mark Zuckerberg

FACEBOOK CENSORSHIP: NUDE PAINTINGS BY RUBENS RUN AFOUL OF SOCIAL NETWORK

Fake news remains an ongoing struggle for the social media giant. Earlier this week, the company was slammed by the parents of a Sandy Hook massacre victim for the hoax claims that emergedon the platform.

Facebook has also been sucked into the probe into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

The extent of the fallout from the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the new European privacy law, known as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is not yet clear. In the U.S. and Canada, Facebook's daily active users remained flat sequentially at 185 million, while the number actually fell in Europe, falling to 279 million, down from 282 million.

Citing the company's "mishandling" of a number of crises, one activist investor has filed a proposal that Zuckerberg be removed as the company's chairman, Fortune reports.

Facebook has been firmly in the spotlight in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data sharing scandal and has also come under intense scrutiny thanks to the proliferation of fake news on the platform, something Zuckerberg apologized for.

"We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can't then we don't deserve to serve you."  Mark Zuckerberg

Prior to Facebook's second-quarter results, Zuckerberg had a net worth of $77.6 billion, according to Forbes. After the stock selloff, Zuckerberg's net worth fell to roughly $68.9 billion, making him worth less than Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett.

Facebook's market cap has fallen roughly $120 billion, or the amount General Motors, Ford and Target are worth combined.

On its earnings call, CFO David Wehner said sales growth is likely to decline in the next two quarters as it prioritizes new formats such as Stories (a popular feature on Instagram) and continues to invest in privacy.

"We plan to grow and promote certain engaging experiences like Stories that currently have lower levels of monetization, and we are also giving people who use our services more choices around data privacy, which may have an impact on our revenue growth," Wehner said on the conference call.

Some Wall Street analysts were still confident about the company's future, but admitted that things were murkier after the results, especially in light of the recent European privacy laws, which went into effect in late May.

FACEBOOK'S MARK ZUCKERBERG BACKTRACKS ON COMMENTS ABOUT HOLOCAUST DENIERS

"Given this more cautious outlook, we are lowering our estimates and reducing our price target to $205 from $225," Monness Crespi Hardt analyst Brian White wrote in an investor note. "However, we believe the magnitude of the decline in Facebooks stock in after-market trading last night was an extreme overreaction, especially for a stock that we believe was already meaningfully undervalued. As such, we would be aggressive buyers of the stock on weakness this morning. "

Facebook generated $13.23 billion in second-quarter revenue, up 42 percent year-over-year, though it missed analysts' estimates at $13.36 billion. The company earned $1.74 per share, ahead of the $1.72 per share analysts were expecting.

Shares of the Menlo Park, Calif.-based social networking giant had recovered some of their earlier losses, but were still trading down 19 percent to $176.10.

Fox News' James Rogers contributed to this article.

Follow Chris Ciaccia on Twitter @Chris_CiacciaA former Alaska Airlines pilot will spend a year behind bars for flying intoxicated  at three times over the legal limit  in June 2014.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Attorneys Office in central California announced that former Alaska Airlines captain David Hans Arnston had been sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison for piloting an aircraft with over 80 passengers aboard, CBS News reports.

KTLA 5 adds that Arnston will also have to pay a $10,000 fine, in addition.

AMERICAN AIRLINES PASSENGER BITTEN BY BROWN RECLUSE SPIDER ON PLANE, LAWSUIT CLAIMS

The 63-year-old aviator, from Newport Beach, Calif., previously pleaded guilty to the crime in February of this year. On June 20, 2014, Arnston piloted two flights  from San Diego, Calif., to Portland, Ore., with 160 passengers on board; and then returned to San Diego piloting a second Alaska Airlines flight carrying 80 passengers. Upon deplaning in San Diego, he was randomly selected for drug and alcohol testing by the carrier.

According to the plea agreement, both breathalyzer tests performed on Arnston were well above the federal limit of 0.04 percent for pilots, indicating blood alcohol concentrations of 0.134 and 0.142 percent, over three times the legal limit.

For comparison, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles, it is illegal for adults to operate motor vehicles with blood alcohol concentrations of 0.08 percent or higher in the state of California; that percentage drops to 0.04 percent for those operating commercial vehicles. Minimum first-time offenses include fines, possible jail time and mantadory alcohol treatment classes, among other penalties. Those operating commercial vehicles may face criminal penalties and license suspensions.

After touching down at John Wayne Airport and spotting the drug tester, Arnston allegedly said, I bet its for me, according to his co-pilot on the two flights said, CBS reports.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

Arnston was then removed from all safety-sensitive duties by Alaska Airlines, and he retired from employment with the carrier after a 20-plus year career as a captain, KTLA reports. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also revoked his pilots license.

Prosecutors said that Arnston was an alcoholic during at least a substantial portion" of his career, and concealed the fact from both the carrier and FAA.

Representatives for Alaska Airlines not immediately return Fox News request for comment.

Fox News Alexandra Deabler contributed to this report.A woman is claiming her disabled son was removed from an Emirates flight Wednesday because he suffers from epilepsy.

Isabelle Kumar, a EuroNews journalist, was traveling with her family, including son Eli, from Dubai to France on the final leg of a trip home from New Zealand when they ran into trouble.

Kumar wrote on Twitter that her son has autism, severe learning disabilities and epilepsy, but he had medical clearance from his doctor to fly.

OKLAHOMA MOM OFFERS HERSELF AS STAND-IN FOR DISAPPROVING PARENTS AT SAME-SEX WEDDINGS

We told Emirates every step of the way that Eli had epilepsy (and autism) but when we asked for a seat with a vacant seat next to it in case he had a seizure they suddenly wanted to see the medical certificate, Kumar told EuroNews.

The mother called the experience traumatic, saying that her kids were totally distraught and humiliated.

It was the lack of humanity that we found really shocking. The staff were faced with a kid with severe disabilities but they threatened to call the police if we didn't get off, even though our bags were still on the plane, Kumar said.

Kumar claims that as soon as the family was removed from the plane, Emirates staff agreed that Eli was cleared to travel, but at that point they were forced to find a new flight home.

7 hours after we were meant to get on your flight @emirates and still waiting... we thought you had a solution? Where is it? Now please, Kumar tweeted, along with a photo of her family waiting at the airport.

The family was finally able to get another flight to Geneva, but Kumar said the whole thing left them demoralized and exhausted.

Emirates apologized to Kumar on Twitter, writing: Emirates are very sorry for any distress and inconvenience caused to you and your family today. We want to assure you that our priority has been to find a solution for getting you to your destination. One of our colleagues has reached out to you with new travel arrangements.

However, it seems the apology was too little too late, as Kumar responded: I am sorry we certainly were not your priority - a solution was only found because we searched for it and when finally someone helpful came on shift in customer relations. It took 8 hours - we had nothing to eat or drink as we tried to work out what was going on.

An Emirates spokesperson released the following to Fox News:"We are very sorry for any distress and inconvenience caused to Ms. Kumar and her family. Such situations are usually difficult for operational staff to assess, and they opted to act in the best interest of our passengers' safety as well as on advice from our medical team. Our customer service team has been in touch with the family, and we have offered them a complimentary hotel stay while in transit and rebooked them on another flight departing today."

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

Kumar said it's challenging enough having a special needs child, but even more so when he's faced with being treated unfairly.

You face endless challenges having a kid with disabilities and being treated with respect would help, but we never give up and this wont stop us travelling as a family. I will think twice before travelling with Emirates though, Kumar said. Where is the humanity?After proudly serving her country for 22 years as an Army pilot, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Deborah Snyder continued her service as a civilian by founding an organization to help end homelessness among veterans and their families.

Deborah started Operation Renewed Hope Foundation (ORHF) in December 2011 after seeing the homeless veteran population explode -- by that point it had reached an estimated 68,000.

Deborah said that the call to help was something that came naturally to her after two decades of flying Huey and Black Hawk helicopters.

When youre in the Army, youre used to taking care of soldiers, and this is just an extension of that, she said.

Deborah has helped veterans as young as 21 and as old as 92, but she says the average veteran she assists is between 53 and 57.

Since 2011, ORHF has helped more than 700 veterans and their families in the D.C. metro area.

Deborah says that what sets her foundation apart from the hundreds of others that are working toward the same goal is that ORHF provides veterans with more than just a home.

Case managers visit veterans who contact Deborah. We try to be efficient as possible," she said. "Our case managers go to the veterans.  We think that us going to them makes it easier and more efficient.

ORHF looks for housing first and then looks to set the vets up for long-term success. It provides a security deposit and rental assistance for those in need of it.

Other supportive services include resume building, linkage to veterans benefit medical services and better employment.

ORHF has a 90 percent success rate -- measuring veterans who remained housed a year later -- and, on average, most veterans are housed within 45 days.

Deborah said that on average, five in six veterans who reach out to her are teetering on the brink of homelessness. She said that some of them are working two or three jobs, and that all it takes is one unanticipated setback to put them on the streets.

ORHFs biggest support comes from special grants from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Deborah says that it's through the work of groups like hers, and the support of the VA, that the homeless population in the U.S. has dropped to 40,000.

But that's still not good enough, she said.

Deborah says that coming close to zero is a doable goal, and she thinks whats being done to combat homelessness among veterans is something that can be replicated for the homeless problem nationwide.

In 2014, Deborah was named a LOreal Paris Women of Worth Honoree for her work and was awarded $10,000 to continue her commitment toward ending homelessness among veterans.

Deborah said that ORHF is hoping to soon receive home or land donations and is working on a $6 million-$10 million project to acquire a housing unit for veterans.

In five years I would like to see that 40,000 cut in half, and thats me being realistic, she said.Michael Avenatti, the lawyer who represents adult film star Stormy Daniels and has become a highly visible figure on cable news, is trying to go silent on the matter of his firm's bankruptcy.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Avenatti, who represents Daniels in a lawsuit against President Trump and his personal attorney, was allowed to testify Wednesday in secret, arguing that his firms finances and its client roster should not be exposed to the news media.

Avenatti asked that the transcript of his testimony be sealed, The Times reported, and media outlets plan to voice their objections before another bankruptcy judge.

As Fox News previously reported, Avenatti, who has made numerous appearances on CNN and MSNBC, has been seen partying in the Hamptons with the media elite of New York City, where the citys wealthiest residents have multi-million dollar weekend homes.

In May, Avenattis firm was ordered to pay $10 million to an attorney who claimed that the firm had misstated its profits and that he was owed millions. Attorney Jason Frank, who worked at Eagan Avenatti under an independent contractor agreement, alleged in court papers that the law firm failed to pay a $4.85 million settlement he had reached in December.

He added that Avenatti had personally guaranteed the settlement.

Under his agreement, Frank was supposed to collect 25 percent of the firm's annual profits, along with 20 percent of fees his clients paid, according to court documents. He resigned in May 2016 after alleging that the firm didn't pay him millions of dollars that he was owed, misstated the firm's profits and wouldn't provide copies of tax returns and other financial documents.

After he resigned, Frank brought the case to a panel of arbitrators, who found that the firm "acted with malice, fraud, and oppression by hiding its revenue numbers," according to a copy of the arbitration report included in court documents.

The December settlement was supposed to include an initial $2 million payment and then a second payment for $2.85 million. The $2 million payment was supposed to be made by May 14, but Avenatti and his firm never paid, Frank said in court papers.

The settlement agreement included a clause that the firm couldn't oppose a request for a $10 million judgment if the settlement payments weren't made within three days of the due date.PRETORIA, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called on China and South Africa to continue striving to develop closer ties and join hands to achieve their dreams in development.

"There is huge potential for bilateral ties, but we cannot stop racing ahead. As the two countries embark on a new journey of development, we should work hand in hand and heart to heart to assist each other in achieving our dreams in development," he said.

Xi made the remarks while attending a welcome banquet hosted by his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and South Africa.

The two countries established diplomatic ties on Jan. 1, 1998, opening a new chapter in bilateral ties.

"The China-South Africa relationship has taken a major leap forward over the past 20 years," Xi said, adding that the rapid development of ties not only embodies the constant deepening of China-Africa cooperation, but also manifests the solidarity and coordination between major developing countries.

Such fruitful outcomes of bilateral ties in just 20 years mainly resulted from the fact that the two sides always support and rely on each other, maintain mutual respect and trust, and promote mutual understanding and win-win cooperation, he said.

Xi called on the two sides to bear in mind the big picture of the direction of bilateral ties, cement political mutual trust, and always treat each other as sincere comrades and brothers sharing weal and woe.

He also urged the two sides to constantly tap their development potential, advance practical cooperation, strengthen mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples, and promote people-to-people exchanges.

The two countries should enhance high-level strategic coordination and continue to support each other in international affairs, so as to jointly build a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind, Xi said.

For his part, Ramaphosa extended warm welcome to Xi, saying that he was glad to celebrate with the Chinese president the 20th anniversary of diplomatic ties.

Hailing the close contact between the two ruling parties, countries and peoples, as well as the sound cooperation on bilateral, regional and global level, Ramaphosa said that South Africa-China relationship is at the best period in history.

Xi's visit shows that the South Africa-China relationship is of strategic significance, surpassing the usual scope of bilateral ties, he said.

The South African president also pledged to implement the consensus reached between the two sides and deepen all-round cooperation in such areas as economy, trade, technology and people-to-people exchanges.A Milwaukee police officer was shot and killed Wednesday after his assailant reportedly yelled "I'm not going back to jail," a witness said.

Officer Michael Michalski, who was a 17-year veteran of the department and father of three, was shot after responding to a call around 5 p.m. Wednesday alerting police to the location of a man wanted in connection with gun and drug violations. About six minutes later, the alleged gunman began firing at responding officers, striking the cop.

The suspect, who was not shot during the incident, was arrested at the scene and the weapon was recovered.

"I'm saddened to inform you the officer injured did not make it today. This is a difficult time for us. He was well loved by the department and was a friend of mine," Milwaukee police chief Alfonso Morales said in a news conference.

Witnesses at the scene told FOX6 the man had a confrontation with an officer before shots were fired.

I don't know if they was getting ready to run into his house, or if it was just a traffic stop, but you could see the man get right out the car and just get to shooting and yelling 'I'm not going back to jail. Y'all going to have to kill me,' the witness told FOX6.

The shooting comes nearly two months after the death of Milwaukee Officer Charles Irvine Jr., who was killed after the squad car he was in crashed while in pursuit of a reckless driver.

"Words cannot describe the sorrow and anger I feel at this time. Our police officers as they do every single day, put their lives on the line to protect the people who live in this city, Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett said. Tragically, in the last few hours, one of them lost their lives trying to protect us. We as a community are grieving.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.A small plane crashed at an airport on Californias Catalina Island on Wednesday, injuring multiple people, officials said.

Three were wounded in the incident that occurred around 9:30 a.m., Los Angeles County fire spokesman Marvin Lim told The Associated Press. One individuals injuries left them in critical condition, while the other two sustained moderate injuries, Lim said.

ALLEGIANT AIR FINDS BIRD REMAINS IN ENGINE AFTER EMERGENCY LANDING

A tweet from the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department said that the plane crash victims are ok and that they were taken to mainland hospitals. The department also shared photos of responders at the crash scene, appearing to inspect the plane and assist an individual.

The crashed plane was a single-engine Piper PA-32, which veered off the airport runway after it landed, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor told The Associated Press.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.A man leaving an Arizona hospital Tuesday tried to beat the heat by stealing an ambulance to avoid walking, police said.

The Mesa Police Department said in a news release Todd Shell, 37, had just been released from the Banner Desert Hospital around 11:30 a.m. for a "heat related situation."

"When officers interviewed Shell after his arrest, he said when he came out of the hospital he thought it was too hot to walk home," police said. "He walked back towards the hospital when he found the ambulance running in the bay while the crew was dropping off another patient. Shell decided to take the ambulance at that point so he wouldn't have to walk."

Mesa Police said Shell was found driving on the U.S. 60 Freeway, and that, as officers tried to stop the 37-year-old, he "continued driving at normal speeds."

After getting off the freeway, Shell stopped and was soon surrounded by police.

IPHONES, IPADS WORTH $29G STOLEN FROM APPLE STORE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

"Shell said that he wanted to buy a sandwich, but needed to go home and get some money first," police said. "He said that he intended to return the ambulance."

Shell was booked into jail on one count of unlawful use of means of transportation and one count of unlawful flight from law enforcement, according to police.

A representative with the Phoenix Fire Department told FOX10 it's not out of the ordinary for EMTs to leave the keys in the ignition, while bringing a patient into the ER.An Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper in training was killed and another trooper was wounded in a shooting Wednesday night, authorities said.

A third Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper was injured during a fight with the suspect.

The incident occurred in Avondale, Ariz., around 10:20 p.m. when troopers received a call about a man throwing objects from his car and driving erratically on Interstate 10.

One trooper who responded to the call "made contact with the subject" before two other troopers, including one who graduated from the academy May 4, arrived.

At some point an altercation began between the troopers and the man.

"During the struggle, one trooper lost his firearm to the subject, subject fired two rounds from the duty weapon," Col. Frank Milstead, director of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, said during a news conference.

The slain trooper was identified as Tyler Edenhofer. The other officer injured in the incident was identified as Dalin Dorris, who is said to be in "good spirits." Each officer was hit by a one bullet. Dorris was shot in the shoulder.

The third trooper injured in the incident was identified as Sean Rodecap, 32. It was not immediately clear what his injuries were but they were said to be "non-life threatening."

The suspected shooter was not immediately identified. The Arizona Department of Public Safety said in a statement that a male suspect was in custody and being treated at a hospital.

"The DPS family is in mourning. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. Lives have been shattered and ruined and we're all in a little bit of a state of shock this morning," Milstead said.

Edenhofer's friends and family told ABC 15 the fallen trooper was a Navy veteran and was supposed to finish his training next week.Chase Cook, 18, will be attending the University of Arizona in the fall as a freshman, but hes already learning how to build an airplane. Cook wants to be a pilot, mechanic or engineer in the aviation industry.

Cook is part of Southern Arizona Teen Aviation, a training program formed by pilots in 2017 that teaches high school students twice a week during the school year and once a week in the summer to build a 100-horsepower plane that they plan to fly after its done.

The program is the latest push to address a national pilot shortage that threatens to cripple the aviation industry. Nationally, there are few incoming pilots and the existing ones are aging out.

Other than being here, I dont really know anybody who wants to fly, to be a pilot, or get into any kind of flying, Cook said. Its given me a little bit of direction kind of, with my life. It gives me, I guess, a line I can kind of follow and go, OK, Ill follow aviation and see where it takes me.

The program, launched with the goal to help kids fulfill their dreams, comes as air travel demand worldwide grows and a large number of pilots are retiring. Boeing projects that 637,000 new commercial airline pilots will be needed to fly the world fleet over the next 20 years. Industry experts fear that will not be attainable.

The pilot shortage situation is really becoming dire...There are airliners, multi-hundred-million dollar wide body airliners in some parts of the world sitting idle because there arent enough pilots to fly them.  Tom Haines, a spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association

The pilot shortage situation is really becoming dire, said Tom Haines, a spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. There are airliners, multi-hundred-million dollar wide body airliners in some parts of the world sitting idle because there arent enough pilots to fly them.

Experts hope programs like the one in Arizona help attract more pilots in a field struggling to keep up with the fast-growing demand.

"Theyre working with each other, theyre working as teams...you overcome this tediousness and this repetitious part of the building by knowing that that piece of metal back thereits going to fly.  Tito Sanchez, retired Delta pilot and program volunteer

The U.S. Department of Transportation said Boeings 2016 Pilot Outlook estimates North America alone will need to hire more than 112,000 pilots by 2035 to keep pace with demand. The Regional Airline Association recently reported that by 2020 there will be a cumulative shortage of 19,000 pilots in the United States. The shortage has already prompted airlines to cut down on flights and cancel air service to regional airports and rural communities.

In this country, weve seen airlines shut down. Great Lakes Airlines in the Midwest and the West shut down earlier this year because they couldnt get enough pilots, Haines said. So, its become a very serious situation for a lack of pilots. But theres lots of opportunities, too.

The Arizona teen programs core of mentors and volunteers hopes this experience will attract a new crop of pilots for future generations.

For pilots, its that feeling of seeing the world from a different perspective, that passion for flying they want to share to the next generation in order to fill the pilot shortage gap.

A program like this gives the kids an opportunity to not just build the airplane but to interact with each othertheyre working with each other, theyre working as teams, said Tito Sanchez, a retired Delta pilot and program volunteer. We switch teams around...They learn that sometimes a job like this can become tedious and repetitious. But, thats the way it is with many industries, many jobs, and you overcome this tediousness and this repetitious part of the building by knowing that that piece of metal back thereits going to fly.

Thousands of Christians gathered in Washington, D.C., earlier this week to honor Israel and to recognize what they consider to be President Trumps heroic embrace of the Jewish State.

There has never been a U.S. administration more supportive of Israel than the Trump administration. Frankly, it is not even close, Israels Ambassador Ron Dermer said Monday night at Christians United for Israel's Night to Honor Israel. This is an administration that sees Israel as an ally and that treats Israel as an ally. Today, the alliance between Israel and America has never been stronger.

Speaker after speaker at the rally praised Trump.

[Trump has] boldly stepped into political immortality. At home and in Israel, you will never be forgotten for what you have done for Israel and the Jewish people.  CUFI founder John Hagee

"[Trump has] boldly stepped into political immortality. At home and in Israel, you will never be forgotten for what you have done for Israel and the Jewish people," said Pastor John Hagee, the founder and national chairman of CUFI. For years CUFI was at odds with the previous administration on a wide range of issues, but since President Trump took office, weve seen one victory after another."

If Trump is considered a hero by many at CUFI, United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who was the keynote speaker at the event, was a rock star. Haley has stood up for Israel at the UN and pulled out of the Human Rights Council because she accused it of having an anti-Israel bias.

Haley received CUFIs Defender of Israel Award along with enthusiastic support. Her biggest applause came after chants of Haley 2024, which she downplayed, saying her job at the U.N. was more than enough work, especially with a global rise in anti-Semitism.

Even here at home, there are some troubling signs, Haley said. On many college campuses, the anti-Semitic BDS [boycott, divestment and sanctions] movement has become a trendy cause for students and professors who should know better. Standing up against this global pressure campaign on Israel and the Jewish people goes to the heart of our friendship and the heart of America.

While CUFI celebrated the welcomed change in tide from the Trump administration, Hagee noted the importance of quick action.

Be bold. Be courageous. This is our hour to turn the world around, Hagee said Monday to a crowd of more than 5,000.

The next day, the group was lobbying on Capitol Hill for three pieces of legislation on refugees, anti-Israel boycotts, and terrorists using civilians as human shields.

As it stands, Palestinian refugees, unlike other refugees from other countries, are given a unique status  they dont lose the refugee label if they become a citizen of another country, and their children and grandchildren, etc. get refugee status. The CUFI Action Fund believes this definition needs to change so Palestinian refugees are treated like other refugees through the UNRWA Reform and Refugee Support Act.

The Israel Anti-Boycott Act would expand existing law to prohibit American companies from participating in boycotts organized by international organizations, such as the UN and the European Union.

The STOP Using Human Shields Act, a bi-partisan bill filed by Senators Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., condemns the use of human shields  a tactic employed by terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah  and requires the president to list and sanction terrorists and other individuals involved in using civilians as human shields.

These moves come on the heels of CUFIs successful push last year for the Taylor Force Act, which stops taxpayer dollars from going to the Palestinian Authority if it continues to give monetary rewards to terrorists and their families.

CUFI is looking to get as much done as it can while the window is open for pro-Israel advocacy and to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship.A lawyer for former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner argued this week that his client's attempted rape conviction should be overturned because he was practicing "sexual outercourse," which the lawyer described as a form of "safe sex."

Turner never intended to rape an unconscious woman, he said. The lawyer cited witness accounts that Turner was "violently thrusting but fully clothed" when two Swedish graduate students found him on top of a half-naked, intoxicated woman in 2015.

But at least one member of a three-justice appelate panel wasn't buying attorney Eric Malthaup's argument.

"I absolutely don't understand what you are talking about," Justice Franklin D. Elia told the attorney in a California appeals court in San Jose.

"I absolutely don't understand what you are talking about."  Justice Franklin D. Elia

The panel has 90 days to issue a ruling. If Turner wins his appeal, the Ohio resident may be able to erase his status as a lifetime Tier III sex offender in the state, the Dayton Daily News reported. The designation is Ohio's highest for a sex offender, the report said.

California Assistant Attorney General Alisha Carlile argued that Multhaup had presented a "far-fetched version of events" that didn't support the facts of the case.

Turner did not attend the appeals court session in California, the newspaper reported. But his parents submitted separate objections to his sex offender status, the Daily News reported.

Brock will have to register at the highest tier, which means he is on the same level as a pedophile/child molester, his mother, Carleen Turner, wrote.

Brock will have to register at the highest tier, which means he is on the same level as a pedophile/child molester.  Carleen Turner, defendant's mother

Added father Dan Turner, The fact that he now has to register as a sexual offender for the rest of his life forever alters where he can live, visit, work, and how he will be able to interact with people and organizations.

The fact that he now has to register as a sexual offender for the rest of his life forever alters where he can live, visit, work, and how he will be able to interact with people and organizations.  Dan Turner, defendant's father

Turner was convicted of sexually assaulting the woman outside an on-campus fraternity house in 2015. After a trial in June 2016, a jury convicted Turner of sexual assault, and Judge Aaron Persky sentenced him to six months in jail.

The sentence was widely criticized as too lenient.

After the victim's 7,200-word letter to Turner that she read in the courtroom during sentencing was published online, the case drew national outrage. The case exploded on social media and ignited a debate about campus rape and the criminal justice system.

"I want to show people that one night of drinking can ruin two lives," she wrote. "You and me. You are the cause, I am the effect."

Santa Clara County voters recalled Persky in June after a campaign to unseat him raised more than $2 million in nationwide contributions. Critics of the judge and the sentence said Turner's short jail term underscored how law enforcement minimized sexual assault and highlighted how privileged defendants who can afford private attorneys often fare better in court.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.A couple accused of locking two children in a basement, exposing them to sexual acts and feeding them just once a day are now in custody, Georgia police say.

Thomas Charles Young, 42, and Tamara Raychell McGowan, 38, have been charged with cruelty to children and deprivation of necessary sustenance in the 1st degree, among other charges, DeKalb County arrest records show.

Theyre a piece of trash, thats what they are, to do that to kids, neighbor Tim Webster told WSB-TV. Just pure scum. No child deserves that. Im sorry.

The Stone Mountain couple was arrested Wednesday after officers with the DeKalb County Sheriffs Sex Offender unit found them sleeping inside a car at a Walmart parking lot, according to FOX5 Atlanta.

Authorities allege the abuse happened between June 2017 and April 2018.

Investigators say the couple exposed the victims to drugs and sexual acts, and that Young tried to coerce the children into performing sexual favors on him.

The ages of the children have not been released.

Youngs uncle, Arthur Lee Dyers, said his nephew is innocent.

Aint no kids been locked here in no basementthats a damn lie, Dyers told FOX5 Atlanta.

The couple have reportedly been denied bond and they have yet to receive a scheduled court date.Hundreds of mourners gathered Wednesday for a funeral for five young children who died earlier this month in a horrific fire that devastated a New Jersey community.

Inside the church, a group of priests blessed five white caskets that were topped with dolls and action figures, NJ.com reported.

When it most hurts, you shall love your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength, the Rev. Trinidad Cuevas told the gathering at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Union City, the news site reported. With everything even though you shall suffer.

When it most hurts, you shall love your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength. With everything even though you shall suffer.  The Rev. Trinidad Cuevas

Authorities identified the fire victims as Jason Gonzalez, 2; Shamira Lopez, 4; Mayli Wood, 5; Cristian Josue Mendez, 7; and Jose Felip Tejada, 13.

All were siblings, except Mayli, who was their cousin, NJ.com reported, adding that the children were asleep when the blaze began.

The five-alarm fire struck the morning of July 13 in an apartment building in Union City, just across the Hudson River from New York City.

After Wednesdays service, police and firefighters helped escort the caskets out of the church to the sound of bagpipes.

A man and a woman were injured in the fire and were recovering.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation.

Union City is covering the cost of the funerals.

To say the city is heartbroken is an understatement, Union City Mayor Brian Stack told NorthJersey.com last week. The loss of five children is beyond devastating and it is our charge to rally around these families and offer our support."

To say the city is heartbroken is an understatement. The loss of five children is beyond devastating and it is our charge to rally around these families and offer our support."  Brian Stack, mayor, Union City, N.J.

A GoFundMe page was set up to raise funds for the victims families. As of late Wednesday, it had raised more than $49,000 toward a goal of $50,000.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.The Latest on the death of an employee at a scenic North Carolina inn (all times local):

5:15 p.m.

The owner of a scenic North Carolina inn says his workers are devastated after one of the employees was charged with killing another one.

Owner Bruce O'Connell says there are grief counselors for his approximately 100 employees after their co-worker was found dead on Tuesday. He said he has owned and operated the Pisgah Inn since 1979.

O'Connell said that the group is tight-knit and that many travel around to work seasonal jobs at resorts year-round.

Federal court documents filed Thursday say Derek Shawn Pendergraft faces a charge of second-degree murder in the death of a female cook. The 20-year-old faces a maximum of life in prison if convicted.

Sara Ellis, 29, was reported missing Tuesday night. Authorities say she was found several hours later near a path to employee housing.

___

1:10 p.m.

An employee at a scenic North Carolina inn has been charged with killing a co-worker whose body was found this week along a path near the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Federal court documents filed Thursday say Derek Shawn Pendergraft faces a charge of second-degree murder in the death of a female cook at the Pisgah Inn. The 20-year-old faces a maximum of life in prison if convicted.

Sara Ellis, 29, was reported missing Tuesday night, according to an FBI news release. Authorities say she was found several hours later near a path to employee housing.

Pendergraft was in federal custody, and he was schedule to appear in court Thursday.

The federal public defender's office said it didn't have information on whether Pendergraft has an attorney.

___

10:15 a.m.

An employee's death at a North Carolina inn along the famed Blue Ridge Parkway is being investigated as a homicide after federal agents found signs of foul play.

An FBI news release says 29-year-old Sara Ellis was found dead Tuesday night off a path to Pisgah Inn employee housing. She was reported missing several hours earlier by a manager. A path to staff accommodation leads up a wooden staircase and through foliage, according to the hotel website.

The Seminole, Florida, resident had worked as a cook since May at the inn that's run privately under a National Park Service contract. The website says it offers seasonal employment April to October.

The inn at a 5,000-foot (1.5 kilometers) elevation was named best national park lodge by USA Today readers in 2015.Two New Jersey radio hosts have been yanked off the air after repeatedly referring to the nations first and only Sikh-American attorney general as turban man.

WKXW hosts Dennis Malloy and Judi Franco made the controversial comments Wednesday on The Dennis & Judi Show during a segment about Attorney General Gurbir Grewals recent order to suspend marijuana prosecutions in the state.

The station said Malloy, a New Jersey Broadcasters Hall of Fame inductee who has hosted the show with Franco for more than 20 years, told her he couldn't remember Grewal's name. Malloy then said, "I'm just going to say the guy with the turban" and the hosts, after that, continued to call him "Turban Man," it added.

The hosts acknowledged the offensive nature of their remarks -- for the most part.

If that offends you, then dont wear the turban and maybe Ill remember your name, Malloy said, according to FOX5 NY.

Grewal, in response, tweeted early Thursday "Im the 61st Attorney General of NJ. Im a Sikh American. I have 3 daughters. And yesterday, I told them to turn off the radio."

The station, meanwhile, said it has taken immediate action and have taken [the hosts] off the air until further notice."

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy also denounced the hosts statements, saying he was "outraged by the abhorrent and xenophobic comments."

"Hate speech has no place in New Jersey, and it does not belong on our airwaves," Murphy said in a statement. "Station management must now hold the hosts accountable for these intolerant and racist comments.A drunken driver plowed into at least 36 cars in a New Jersey city early Wednesday, causing thousands of dollars in damage and sending himself and two female passengers to a hospital, police said.

The massive destruction came only a day after a Nevada woman allegedly smashed the windows and vandalized at least a dozen cars at a Las Vegas hotel.

In Hoboken, N.J., Miguel Aleman, 22, was arrested and charged with a DWI, DWI in a school zone, and reckless driving along with a slew of other charges, NJ.com reported.

Authorities told the news site that Aleman failed to pass a sobriety test and reeked of alcohol.

Alemans 2010 Honda was also heavily damaged with all the airbags having been deployed, the site reported.

In Las Vegas, authorities responded to a parking garage at the Bellagio hotel around 1 p.m. Tuesday on a report that someone was using a fire extinguisher to smash the windows of parked cars, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

Christina Deswood, 37, was arrested and charged Wednesday afternoon with tampering with a vehicle, the newspaper reported.A Louisiana mom was arrested after cops accused her of being involved in the death of her son, who was found burned near railroad tracks after the 22-year-old reportedly told officials the newborn had been kidnapped.

Hannah Barker, 22, was arrested Wednesday and charged with principal to first-degree murder in the death of her 6-month-old son, Levi Cole Ellerbe, the Natchitoches Police Department said. She is awaiting a 72-hour hearing.

Authorities on Wednesday did not elaborate on how they believe Barker was involved in her sons death. Felicia Marie-Nicole Smith, 25, has also been arrested in connection with the murder. She was charged with first-degree murder.

LOUISIANA WOMAN ARRESTED AFTER NEWBORN WAS KIDNAPPED, SET ON FIRE, POLICE SAY

Barker initially told police July 17 two strangers sprayed her with a chemical, possibly mace, when they barged into her trailer in Mayberry Trailer Park. She claimed she fled her home in fear, and returned to find her son missing.

Authorities found the baby with burns on his body around 10:20 p.m. near railroad tracks, about a mile away from where the boy was taken. He was airlifted to a hospital, where he later died.

Police said Barker and Smith knew each other, but did not specify their relationship.A U.S. Marine Corps private was convicted of involuntary manslaughter Wednesday in the January fatal stabbing of a fellow Marine on a Southern California military base.

The defendant, Pfc. Raymond W. Begay, 20, had pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and obstruction of justice in connection with the case, but pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, the Orange County Register reported.

Authorities said Begay fatally stabbed Pfc. Ethan Barclay-Weberpal, 18, on Jan. 16 while both were sitting in the bleachers at Camp Pendleton's School of Infantry. Begay began playing with a knife, and told the court that the death of Barclay-Weberpal, of Janesville, Wis., had been an accident.

I reached around him and the knife sliced through his blouse and penetrated his skin, Begay said. (Barclay-Weberpal) died as a result of my terrible actions.

Barclay-Weberpal suffered a puncture wound to his chest, the Register reported.

Begay said he had purchased the knife days before, but didnt realize how sharp it was.

In the moment, I was simply intending to poke him, Begay said. I was simply trying to annoy him as a friend. I wasnt trying to cause harm.

Begay testified that he and Barclay-Weberpal were good friends who met during training.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I think Ethan would die in the hands of one of his own. ... I cant describe the depth of loss of a father and son bond. ... It was broken, so was my heart."  Scott Weberpal, father of Pfc. Ethan Barclay-Weberpal

During the trial, the court also heard testimony from family members of Begay and Barclay-Weberpal.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think Ethan would die in the hands of one of his own, said Scott Weberpal, father of Barclay-Weberpal. I cant describe the depth of loss of a father and son bond.  It was broken, so was my heart.

Begay, a Native American who grew up on the Hoopa Reservation in California's Humboldt County, will serve seven years of confinement in a brig on base and will receive a Bad Conduct Discharge upon release.

Click here for more from the Orange County Register.Five children in Lansing, Michigan were confined to a "dungeon" for lengthy time periods and whipped as punishment by their parents for at least six years, police said.

Yenier Conde, 32, and Sarah Conde, 28, would often lock their kids in a bedroom, which a police officer described as a "dungeon," and screw the door shut, the Lansing State Journal reported Thursday.

CALIFORNIA DAD CHARGED WITH SEX CRIMES AFTER 10 KIDS RESCUED FROM FILTHY HOME

The children, now between the ages of 6 and 11, who would have no food or bathroom in the dark room, reportedly told Child Protective Services (CPS) they were often beaten and threatened with guns.

The alleged abuse began in 2011 and continued until 2017 when it was discovered, Lansing Detective Pete Scaccia said at a hearing, in which he detailed the physical and verbal abuse the couple allegedly inflicted on their children. He said they also refused to allow them medical care. Onc child was reportedly not allowed to continue to see their cancer doctor.

In one instance, after the children flooded the home's bathroom, Sarah Conde lined them up and aimed a loaded gun at them, according to her oldest son.

"She almost shot us. She made us stand in a line. She was laughing with her gun. She was about to shoot us," the boy told investigators. "She said, 'Stand in a line so that the blood can spill on (the oldest boy) and then (he) can come up front and I can shoot him.'"

The son reportedly said Sarah Conde pointed the gun at the youngest child's face and pulled the trigger, but the gun jammed. The mother told the kids they got lucky and told them to go upstairs, one of the children said.

CPS, according to the report, was called on the family at least 12 times since April 2009 before the children were removed from the Condes' custody last year.

'HOUSE OF HORRORS' SIBLINGS ENJOYING LASAGNA, 'STAR WARS' AND MODERN TECHNOLOGY, ATTORNEY SAYS

The children have since been placed in to foster care.

The Condes were each charged with 10 counts of first and second degree child abuse and unlawful imprisonment on Friday, the Journal reported.

A hearing for Sarah Conde is scheduled for Aug. 3.The Navy's first female admiral, retired Rear Adm. Alene B. Duerk, died Saturday at the age of 98, the service branch announced Wednesday.

Duerk, born in Defiance, Ohio, in 1920, joined the Navy as an ensign in 1941 after completing nursing training at the Toledo Hospital School of Nursing in Ohio, the Navy said in a news release.

"Alene Duerk was a strong and dedicated trail blazer who embodied the very principles that continue to guide Navy Medicine today," Vice Adm. Forrest Faison, Navy surgeon general, said in a statement. "She will forever be remembered as a servant leader who provided the best care to those who defended our nation, honoring the uniform we wear and the privilege of leadership."

The Navy said her first tours of duty during World War 2 included ward nurse at Naval Hospital Portsmouth in Virginia, Naval Hospital Bethesda in Maryland, and board the Navy hospital ship U.S.S. Benevolence in 1945. While aboard the Benevolence, Duerk helped attend to the sick and wounded being brought back from the Third Fleet's operations against Japan.

At the end of World War 2, Duerk was involved with the repatriation of liberated allied prisoners of war, according to the Navy.

"The time I was aboard the hospital ship and we took the prisoners of war, that was something I will never forget," Duerk told the Library of Congress' Veteran's History Project. "That was the most exciting experience of my whole career."

ARMY VETERAN WOUNDED IN IED BLAST SURPRISED WITH MORTGAGE-FREE HOME IN TEXAS

After being released from active service in 1946, Duerk returned in 1951 as a nursing instructor at the Naval Hospital Corps School in Portsmouth, Va. and as inter-service education coordinator at the Naval Hospital in Philadelphia.

She then served at hospitals over the next two decades in San Diego, Yokosuka, Japan, Chicago, and in Washington D.C. In May 1970, she was appointed as appointed director of the Navy Nurse Corps and helped expand Navy's sphere of nursing into ambulatory care, anesthesia, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology.

President Richard Nixon approved her selection to the rank of rear admiral on April 26, 1972, making her the first woman to be selected for a flag rank. Duerk retired in 1975, but remained a strong advocate for nursing throughout her life, according to the Navy.

"It took 197 years and a forward-looking Chief of Naval Operations, Elmo Zumwalt, to break with tradition before Alene Duerk became the first woman admiral in the U.S. Navy," Naval History and Heritage Command director Sam Cox said in a statement. "But the credit goes to Duerk. From the crucible of caring for wounded Sailors, Marines and prisoners of war during World War II in the Pacific, she blazed a trail of stellar performance in tough jobs, serving as an inspiration for an ever increasing number of women officers who have followed her path."No charges will be filed at this time for a false 911 call that led Minneapolis Park Police to detain four black teenage boys earlier this month, city officials said.

A female caller reported July 10 that teens with knives and possibly a gun were assaulting a man at Minnehaha Regional Park. Park Police responded, and one officer drew a gun. Four teens, ages 13 to 16, were handcuffed but no weapons were found.

Video of the boys' detainment drew outrage on social media. Three of the boys later said they feared for their lives.

Park Police Chief Jason Ohotto said at the time that the information reported in the 911 call was unfounded.

City Attorney Susan Segal said in a Wednesday email to Minnesota Public Radio that no charges will be brought.

"We declined to charge the named suspect with false reporting due to insufficient evidence to prove each element beyond a reasonable doubt," she said, adding police couldn't prove the identity of the caller, who only used one name when she phoned 911.

In addition, the phone is registered to a woman with a different name, and the potential suspect is five to six years older than the description of the caller. And, under state statute, prosecutors have to show that the caller knowingly made a false statement.

"The audiotape of the 911 call shows that the caller stated 'there's another guy with a backpack on, he keeps saying there's a gun in his backpack;' while no gun was recovered at the scene, this is not dispositive of whether the statement was made to the 911 caller and whether she 'knew' it was false," Segal's statement said.

Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board Superintendent Mary Merrill told the city's Public Safety and Emergency Management Committee on Thursday that officials have met with the families and apologized for the trauma their children experienced. She said an outside firm is conducting an investigation to determine if the officers followed Park Police policies, and officials are determining how to go about releasing body camera footage from the video.

"We believe reporting false information puts people's lives in danger, and any person reporting false information should be held accountable," she said.

___

Information from: Minnesota Public Radio News, http://www.mprnews.orgThe two Roswell, Georgia police officers who were caught on body camera video using a coin flip to determine whether or not to arrest a woman during a traffic stop in April have been fired.

Officers Courtney Brown and Kristee Wilson were terminated Thursday morning following an internal investigation, Roswell Community Relations Manager Julie Brechbill confirmed to Fox News.

The two were initially put on administrative leave amid the investigation. Police Chief Rusty Grant wrote in their termination letters that the cops engaged in conduct unbecoming of a police officer and cited a human resources policy in which they failed "to perform at an acceptable level."

Body camera footage, uncovered in an investigation by WXIA-TV, revealed that Brown and Wilson used a coin-flipping app to decide whether to arrest Sarah Webb, who was pulled over as part of a traffic stop.

Brown was heard on camera asking Webb if she knew how fast she was going. "The ground is wet and it's been raining and you're going over 80 miles an hour on this type of a road. That's reckless driving," Brown said.

"I'm so sorry," Webb replied.

GEORGIA COPS USE COIN FLIP TO DECIDE WHETHER TO ARREST WOMAN, VIDEO SHOWS

Brown returned to her police vehicle to ask fellow officers if she should arrest Webb or just ticket her.

Wilson, who also responded to the scene, was heard saying, "What do you think?"

Brown said she "didnt have speed detection," but the other officer pointed out that the body camera recorded her cruisers speed, which would have shown how fast she was going to catch up to Webb.

"Hold on," Brown was then said, as she opened a coin flip app on her phone. Wilson suggested that heads should mean arrest and tails should mean release. Brown agreed and flipped the coin in the app.

A [arrest] head, R[release] tail, Wilson said.

Okay, Brown replied.

This is tails, right? Wilson asked.

Yeah, so release? Brown responded.

23 (the police code for arrest), Wilson replied. The officers decided to charge Webb with driving too fast under the conditions and reckless driving.

MAN OFFERED DOUGHNUTS FOR FREEDOM, POLICE SAY

Webb, when she found out what the officers did, told WXIA it was "disgusting" that Brown and Wilson "put my freedom in the hands of a coin flip."

When the station reported on the incident, the charges against Webb were dropped and she called for the cops to be fired.

Fox News' Kathleen Joyce contributed to this report.A woman working a summer job at a North Carolina mountain lodge was out hiking when, authorities say, a co-worker attacked her and left her lifeless body steps from a famed scenic highway.

The death at the height of summer tourism along the Blue Ridge Parkway devastated a group of young, seasonal employees who come to work among breathtaking vistas at the remote Pisgah Inn. Located along the highway that draws visitors from around the world, the inn at a 5,000-foot (1.5 kilometers) elevation was named best national park lodge by USA Today readers in 2015.

"People are walking around in shock and disbelief and really shook up," Bruce O'Connell, who owns the inn, said of his 100 employees.

Sara Ellis, a 29-year-old cook from Florida who arrived at the Pisgah Inn in May, was found dead Tuesday, hours after she was reported missing along a path near the inn's employee dorms.

The man accused of killing her was another young employee: 20-year-old Derek Shawn Pendergraft, according to court documents. The Asheville resident had been working as a housekeeper at the inn, the owner said.

Pendergraft, who's in custody, made an initial appearance in federal court Thursday on a second-degree murder charge, which carries a maximum of life in prison.

Pendergraft was the one who reported Ellis missing, according to court documents. Rangers and other investigators found her partially nude body off an embankment close to a trail near the parkway.

Initially, Pendergraft told investigators that he and Ellis went for a hike after they both finished work around 4 p.m., but she decided to return when it began to rain. Agents write that he returned from his hike and told his managers that she was missing, saying then that he had found her umbrella lying on the ground.

But the next night, an inn manager called investigators and told them that Pendergraft had come to her office and confessed to the killing, according to court documents.

Investigators say Pendergraft told them that he blacked out during the hike and next remembers staring at the woman's lifeless face.

Court documents noted bruising on her neck and head, but didn't specify the cause of death. There were no signs of bullet or blade wounds.

A defense attorney for Pendergraft didn't return an email seeking comment.

O'Connell, who operates the inn under a contract with the National Park Service, said he believes that Pendergraft and Ellis, who's from Seminole, Florida, were both first-time employees at the inn that's open each year from spring to fall. Both were living in the on-site employee housing at the site that's about 30 minutes from surrounding towns, he said. He said he didn't know whether they had been friends.

About half of the inn's employees live in the housing described on the website as dorm rooms with twin beds and shared dressers and closets.

Like other National Park lodges, the inn attracts seasonal workers from around the country, O'Connell said. It's not uncommon for workers to travel between ski resorts and summer attractions to work outdoors year round. Many are young, but some are also retirees.

He said that a couple of guests have canceled, but otherwise the staff doing its best to keep the inn running.

"There are grief counselors here right now," he said. "A lot of tears being shed."

___

Follow Drew at https://twitter.com/JonathanLDrewChinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang acknowledged Wednesday that a number of American airlines had changed the Taiwan references on their websites.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang [File photo: fmprc.gov.cn]

He said China expected foreign companies to respect China's sovereign and territorial integrity when operating in the country.

China's civil aviation authority sent a formal notice to 44 foreign airlines in April, asking them to change their websites to list Taiwan as part of China.

Geng said the Chinese side had noticed positive developments on the matter.

"China is willing to share its development opportunities with foreign companies, and welcome them to invest in China," Geng said.

He urged foreign companies to "respect Chinese laws and regulations, sovereign and territorial integrity, and the Chinese people's feelings" when operating in China.

"We will also protect their legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the law and provide a fair environment for their operations," he said.Federal and state investigators hunting for the missing University of Iowa student have been reviewing data from her Fitbit and Snapchat in hopes of zeroing in on her location.

Mollie Tibbets, 20, was last seen jogging in Brooklyn, Iowa, on the evening of July 18. She was staying at her boyfriends home at the time of her disappearance. She was there to watch his dogs because he had a construction job about 100 miles northeast in Dubuque.

Authorities said theyve put together a pretty solid timeline of what Tibbetts was doing prior to her disappearance. Friends and family say Tibbetts, an avid runner, was usually wearing her Fitbit.

Were checking gas stations and convenience stores and any location with easy access to a highway or the interstate, Mitch Mortvedt, assistant director of field operations for the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations, told The Gazette. Were asking questions and collecting surveillance footage and check it to see if Mollie was caught on camera or if there was someone in the area acting suspicious.

Other information comes from her cellphone provider, Instagram and Snapchat, authorities said. Tibbetts boyfriend has said he received a Snapchat message from her after she would have returned from her run.

Tibbetts was born in San Francisco and lived in Oakland until she moved to Iowa with her mother when she was in second grade, the Des Moines Register reported. Her father, who lives in Fresno, reportedly flew to Iowa to assist the search.

Authorities said that with each passing day that Tibbetts isnt found, the possibility grows that she was taken against her will.

Fox News' Edmund DeMarche, Bradford Betz and The Associated Press contributed to this reportA surfer found floating face down in the water during a huge swell that rocked Doheny State Beach in Southern California died Tuesday, a report said.

Timothy Gray OConnor, 68, of Dana Point, was identified as the victim, Orange County Sheriffs Office spokeswoman Carrie Braun told the Orange County Register. The cause of death hadnt been determined, but an autposy was expected.

Hundreds of surfers were in the area, battling to ride the waves as a swell setting off 6-foot waves crashed upon them, the Register reported.

All of a sudden, I hear all these people screaming in the water, James Pribram, a former pro surfer, told the paper. The type of scream when you know something is tragically wrong.

Officials told the paper via email that OConnor was discovered floating face down in the water near a lineup of surfers waiting to catch a ride in the Pacific.

Pribram, along with his friend, Peter Prietto, and retired lifeguard Scott Diederich, paddled out and got OConnor onto the back of Priettos surfboard. The trio battled against relentless sets of the 6-footers as they brought the victim to shore, the Register reported.

"The ocean is always dangerous. I think the ocean is the most unforgiving place there is.  James Pribram, former pro surfer

Once on shore, the men attempted to resuscitate OConnor with CPR, according to CA Patch. Orange County Fire Authority paramedics rushed the victim to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

It wasnt immediately clear what happened to OConnor during his surf session, or whether he had enough experience to handle that days rough surf.

Waves were big, Pribram said. Theres so many people learning to surf, theres boards everywhere and people who dont really know what they are doing. It can be dangerous. The ocean is always dangerous. I think the ocean is the most unforgiving place there is.A 27-year-old man sought in the brutal murder of a New York City nurse was arrested in a California hotel Tuesday -- with a woman reportedly tied up in his room.

The suspect, Danueal Drayton, of New Haven, Connecticut, was wanted in the death of Damantha Stewart, 29, who was found dead July 17 inside her Queens home, the New York Post reported.

NYPD Chief Dermot F. Shea confirmed the arrest on Twitter, saying the Regional Fugitive Task Forces apprehended a violent NYC predator prior to possibly taking another life in California.

Well done by all, he added.

Police said Stewarts brother discovered her unconscious with injuries to her neck and head. She was found wrapped in a white sheet on the floor of her bedroom and pronounced dead at the scene.

Officials said they believe Stewart and Drayton met via the dating app Tinder. Her family said surveillance footage from a Brooklyn restaurant the two went to before her death helped identify the suspected killer.

Stewarts father, Kenneth Stewart, told NBC 4 he was absolutely shocked to hear that Drayton was arrested with another tied up woman.

Its not even a week, he commits a gruesome murder like this and gone to another family to destroy, to tear apart, he said.A multi-state manhunt for a 17-year-old girl believed to be with a 52-year-old man and in "extreme danger" came to an end Thursday with the suspect's arrest, officials said.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Knoxville Field Office had been looking for Grace Galliher, who allegedly left her home in Bristol, Tenn., on Tuesday with 52-year-old Richard Tester.

The FBI said the teenager was seen leaving a motel in Marion, Va., with Tester on Wednesday and they were thought to be traveling on Interstate 81.

An alert motorist spotted the suspect's vehicle around 8:30 a.m. in Bristol, Tenn. on Thursday and contacted authorities, according to the FBI. Police arrived and conducted a traffic stop, arresting Tester on a kidnapping warrant.

"Suspect in custody in Tennessee. Victim safe," the FBI said.

Sullivan County Sheriff spokeswoman Kristen Quon said Tester and Galliher knew each other before the alleged kidnapping took place.

"They did know each other, and she left with him willingly," she said at a news conference.

Quon said that investigators are working on determining how the pair knew each other, and what led up the two leaving on Tuesday.

"We were very fortunate to find them when we did," she told reporters.

SEARCH FOR MOLLIE TIBBETS INTENSIFIES AS INVESTIGATORS REVIEW FITBIT, SNAPCHAT DATA

Virginia State Police had issued an AMBER Alert on Thursday, saying Galliher was "believed to be in extreme danger."

Authorities said the pair were traveling in a 2004 navy blue Chevrolet Trailblazer with Tennessee tag B7101V.

Quon told reporters the incident was an example to parents why they should aware of their child's activities and who they are talking with.

"You definitely need to be careful, and know what your children are doing at all times," she said.Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says Colombia's new government must consolidate peace and urgently address major challenges, from an upsurge in violence to the need to restore confidence in the future among leftist rebels who laid down their arms.

Guterres said in a report to the Security Council circulated Wednesday that there is probably no greater challenge for the incoming government than bringing development, security and the rule of law "to vast expanses of the country that continue to be prey to violence."

He expressed grave concern at the spike in killings of community leaders and human rights activists following last month's election won by President-elect Ivan Duque, who is to be sworn into office Aug. 7.

The Security Council is expected to discuss the report Thursday after briefings by U.N. envoy for Colombia Jean Arnault and Colombian Vice President Oscar Naranjo.

Guterres said the transition of former rebels "from war to politics" was a key factor in Colombia's least violent and most participatory election in decades. The vote chose a successor for President Juan Manuel Santos, who signed the 2016 peace agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia ending five decades of conflict that had caused estimated 260,000 deaths and displaced 7 million people. Duque has criticized aspects of the accord.

The U.N. chief stressed the achievement of Santos and the FARC leaders in culminating one phase of the peace process and thanked them for their leadership.

"The task ahead is to consolidate the peace," Guterres said.

Continued violence in conflict zones, "the proliferation of illegal groups and the growth of the coca economy, as well as frustration and fears among former combatants and among communities who feel bypassed by the peace process, leave no doubt as to the magnitude of the challenges that await the new government, Colombian institutions and civil society alike," he said.

So far, Guterres said, implementing peace "has been dogged by levels of uncertainty that have raised deep and understandable misgivings among FARC members reintegrating into society." Uncertainty continues to surround the legal, political and security guarantees for those who turned in their weapons and now depend on the government to deliver those guarantees as well as provide economic opportunities, he said.

And the goal of providing income-generating opportunities for 14,000 former FARC combatants "is far from being realized," Guterres added.

"The country's new authorities have the critical responsibility to restore a sense of confidence about the future among the rank and file, the mid-level commanders and the leadership of the former guerrilla group," the secretary-general said. "It is not only a matter of consolidating the peace process with FARC, it is also a matter of credibility in relation to possible future negotiations with other armed actors."

The report noted a sixth round of talks between the government and the National Liberation Army, a smaller rebel group, is underway.

Guterres said increased killings "confirms the urgency of dealing with the pattern of violence that continues to affect principally the rural areas."

These areas increasingly overlap areas of illegal coca cultivation and drug trafficking, he said, and community leaders and human rights defenders are being killed by "actors" seeking to control communities, land and resources formerly controlled by FARC.

Since August 2017, Guterres said, 51 former FARC members have been killed and five others were victims of "forced disappearance."

Guterres said the new government will have to put the issue of violence "at the center of its agenda, and the judicial system will have to redouble efforts to bring perpetrators to account."A small bomb was detonated outside the U.S. Embassy compound in Beijing on Thursday, the embassy told The Wall Street Journal.

The bomber, a 26-year-old man identified only by his surname, Jiang, injured his hand when the homemade firework device exploded, Chinese police said in a statement. No one else was reported injured.

Police said Jiang was from the city of Tongliao in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia.

The embassy said in a statement that Jiang was the only person involved, and that no embassy property had been damaged.

Officials have not released a motive for the incident as they continue their investigation.

Bystanders shared video of the aftermath on social media, showing images of smoke unfurling in the street and what appeared to be police vehicles surrounding the building in the city's Chaoyang District.

The blast occurred around 1 p.m. local time and could be heard from blocks away, The New York Times reported.

Witnesses told Reuters they felt tremors, and later saw police examining a vehicle outside the compound.

Neither the police nor the embassy have commented on a report by ruling Communist Party newspaper Global Times that said police "took away a woman spraying gasoline on herself in suspected attempt at self-immolation" at around 11 a.m.

China and the U.S. are in the middle of a trade dispute.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.Adem Demaci, a human rights defender who embodied Kosovo's national resistance and was often called the "Balkans' Mandela," has died at 82.

Deputy Speaker Xhavit Haliti interrupted Thursday's parliamentary session to report Demaci's death, saying "our teacher, the man who spent 28 years of his life in Serb prisons" has died. The parliament in Pristina held a minute of silence and suspended the session.

President Hashim Thaci declared three days of mourning, adding that Demaci's funeral would be with "the highest state honors."

Pristina hospital chief Bujar Gashi said Demaci died of natural causes.

Demaci, who studied literature, law and education, was first known as a writer, especially for his 1958 novel titled "The Snakes of Blood," which explored blood vendettas in Kosovo and Albania.

A human rights defender, Demaci was arrested three times and spent 28 years in jail for resisting then-Yugoslavia's communist regime. In 1991, he was awarded the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought and in 2010 he received the order Hero of Kosovo.

He was also for a time the leading politician of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), the independence fighters in the country's 1998-1999 war, which ended after NATO intervened to stop a bloody Serb crackdown against Kosovo Albanian separatists.

Demaci never affiliated for long with a political group, being critical of their leaders and not pleased with the international deal with Serbia that ended the war.

After the war, Demaci still participated in politics, held several media posts and became more involved in defending the rights of minorities.

Demaci is survived by a wife, a son and a daughter.A Jerusalem-based magazine has laid off a cartoonist for rendering an image of Israel's prime minister and Likud lawmakers as pig characters from George Orwell's "Animal Farm," Israel's journalists union said Thursday.

The cartoon was meant to criticize the Israeli government's passage of a controversial law last week enshrining the state's Jewish character. Critics say the legislation, which defines Israel as a Jewish state and downgrades the Arabic language's status, marginalizes the country's Arab minority.

After the bill passed, jubilant supporters took a selfie with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A photograph of the moment was widely published.

The cartoon by Avi Katz, a freelance cartoonist for the Jerusalem Report, depicted that moment but his image shows the politicians drawn as pigs.

It's captioned with Orwell's line: "All animals are equal but some are more equal than others."

Reached by phone in New York on Thursday, Katz said he saw Olivier Fitoussi's photograph of "these fat ugly people taking a congratulatory selfie after they squeezed through this law with some very, very dirty tricks," he said.

"So they sneaked this stupid law in, and it just looked like pigs to me, and I very quickly, half-tracing, I just redid the drawing slightly with pig's faces, it seemed to me so obvious, it was almost as if i was explaining someone else's joke."

The Union of Journalists in Israel said Katz was dismissed from the Jerusalem Report on Wednesday after the cartoon ran in the magazine's edition this week.

The magazine is owned by the Jerusalem Post newspaper. Neither responded to requests for comment.

"Usually (the Jerusalem Report) has complete editorial independence, but in this case the bosses from the Jerusalem Post apparently were in touch with the editor of The Report and said to stop using my work in the future," Katz said.

Katz said that with cartoonist colleagues from around the Middle East he "had been bragging for years that, terrible as (Israeli) government policy may be, at least we're free to criticize it."The body of a newborn was found abandoned and with toilet paper in its mouth inside the bathroom of an AirAsia India flight that landed in Delhi on Wednesday, authorities said.

Authorities believe the baby was born during the flight and are investigating if the baby was stillborn, NDTV reported.

Police told the news station the baby's mother was detained after all women aboard the flight were questioned. Agence France Presse reported the mother was 19 years old.

She has only told us that she is a sportsperson but refused medical examination or [to give] any more details about the incident, police official Sanjay Bhatia told AFP.

The airline said the newborn was found lifeless by staff as they prepared for landing.

"A doctor from the medical team at Delhi International Airport confirmed that the baby had been delivered onboard, the airline said.

AirAsia India is a low-cost carrier and part of a joint venture between Malaysias AirAsia Berhad and Indian conglomerate Tata Sons. The flight Wednesday was traveling from the northeastern city of Imphal to Delhi.

In a statement, the airline said it was cooperating with the investigation.next Image 1 of 2

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Police in Rome on Thursday cleared nearly 400 people, including dozens of children, from a shanty camp inhabited for years by members of the minority Roma community, despite a European Union court ruling halting demolition.

Residents stood outside the camp with mattresses and other belongings piled alongside vehicles, some protesting against the move with chants of "Racists!"

Some residents complained that police used force during the eviction. Police commander Antonio Di Maggio denied the claims.

Mayor Virginia Raggi wrote on Facebook that the shantytown, established in a former campground called Camping River on Rome's northern periphery, was closed for hygiene reasons. Parts of the camp had been without electricity and running water.

She said that the move was meant to provide greater protection to the Roma, especially minors, some of whom do not attend school.

"It is unacceptable to continue to finance places like this that create ghettos, and above all, where the living conditions don't protect the rights of children, women and men," Raggi wrote in a Facebook post.

The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday asked Italian authorities to suspend action until Friday and outline plans to rehouse the community, following an appeal by three camp residents. But city officials said that they had long been working to relocate residents, and had delayed the planned closing by more than a year.

City spokesman Gennaro Barbieri said only 100 had accepted authorities' offer to move into government reception centers over the last few years, with another 43 joining them on Thursday.

Raggi noted that some who were not Italian citizens had returned to their native Romania in recent months.

While many members of Italy's sizeable Roma community, also known as Gypsies, are of Italian nationality, many living in the camp were from Romania, Kosovo, Bosnia and Serbia. Italian authorities periodically clear out squatter camps like Camping River where many live on the outskirts of big cities.

Mikhaila Dobreska, who had been living in the camp, accused police of using unnecessary force.

"They forced us out," she said. "They pushed all the women."

Another woman, Gordana Khardzic, claimed police used pepper spray, hitting one woman in the eyes.

"They slapped a girl. My sister-in-law fainted," she said.

Di Maggio said the entire operation was filmed, and told reporters that police had organized the operation to allow residents to leave calmly.

Journalists were kept outside during the operation.

Private Italian TV La7 showed groups of men driving away from the camp, some saying they were headed to Romania, others saying they were going to look for the next place to squat  probably under a bridge.

But dozens remained outside the closed camp gates, protesting plans to rehouse them elsewhere in the city.A medical contingent from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) arrived in Laos' southern Attapeu province Wednesday to help with relief work after a hydropower dam collapsed earlier this week.

Approved by the Central Military Commission, a PLA medical team, which is on the "Peace Train-2018" Humanitarian Medical Rescue Joint Training Mission in the Lao capital of Vientiane, dispatched the epidemic prevention unit to Attapeu.

Villagers are seen stranded on rooftops of houses after an under-construction dam collapsed in Attapeu, Laos, on July 24, 2018. [Photo: Xinhua/Vilaphon Phommasane]

The 32-member contingent is the first fully-equipped international rescue team arriving in the flood-hit area. It will offer medical service together with the Lao medical and sanitary teams.

The Xepian-Xe Nam Noy dam, which has been under construction, collapsed Monday in Sanamxay district, Attapeu province, leaving at least 26 people dead and 131 missing.

The PLA medical team is participating in a seven-day "Peace Train-2018" humanitarian joint exercise and providing medical service to soldiers and people in Laos.Greek investigators have seen "serious indications" that a forest fire that killed at least 82 people outside Athens was set deliberately, a government official said Thursday.

Public Order Minister Nikos Toskas told reporters that satellite image analysis and ground inspections suggest the fire that broke out in multiple places over a short period of time Monday likely resulted from arson.

"We have serious indications and significant findings of criminal activity concerning arson," Toskas said. "We are troubled by many factors, and there have been physical findings that are the subject of an investigation."



The Hellenic Fire Service's special arson section, which probes all major fires, is investigating to determine the exact cause of the blaze. The mayor of the area where it broke out previously said it might have been sparks from a severed electricity pylon cable.

The fire broke out near Rafina, northeast of the capital. Fanned by gale-force winds, it raced through seaside resorts of full-time homes and vacation residences popular with Athenians and tourists.

The large area the flames swept through further complicated the process of identifying victims. Officials said there was no way of knowing how many people were there at the time. As of Thursday afternoon, there was still no official number of missing.

At the Athens morgue, frantic relatives were informed about the steps needed to match one of the bodies held there to a missing person, including providing DNA samples and dental records. Police said a team specializing in the identification of disaster victims was brought in at the request of the fire department.

"The procedure is difficult, harder than that of other mass disasters which we have dealt with in the past as a forensics department," coroner Nikolaos Kalogrias said. "Here, the main cause of death was burning, in most cases the complete burning (of the body), so identification is very difficult."

Germany's federal criminal police said a team of forensics specialists arrived in Greece to help authorities identify the dead. The team members have worked on major disasters such as the 2002 plane crash in Ueberlingen, Switzerland, and the 2004 Asian tsunami.

Thanassis Moraitis went to the morgue searching for his 90-year-old mother.

He had tried to drive away with his mother, wife and 19-year-old son, but the fire was too fast. They had to abandon the car and started running to the beach and into the water. Moraitis suffered burns to his leg from the heat of the air. His mother didn't make it.

"In the sea, there was a rain of fire, there was smoke, there was a Force 12 wind," said the 53-year-old, adding that boats picked the family up after about three hours.

"I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to my mother," Moraitis said.

Fire department spokeswoman Stavroula Malliri said the search for victims continued and would not end until every building had been thoroughly investigated. Rescue crews had not been able to enter homes that had not been destroyed and were shut, she said.

Apart from the house-to-house searches, coast guard and volunteer divers were searching the waters off the coast and a nearby deserted island. Hundreds of volunteers lined up at the Rafina town hall to offer whatever help might be needed.

During the fire, hundreds fled to nearby beaches, with many swimming out to sea to escape the ferocious flames and choking smoke. Dozens spent hours at sea before being picked up by coast guard vessels, fishing boats and a passing ferry. Several of the dead had drowned.

The worse affected area was the seaside community of Mati, where the majority of victims were found, including 26 people found huddled together, many embracing.

Arriving at the morgue with her son, Maria Saridou was hoping her 55-year old sister, Eleni, was not among the victims. She had gone swimming with a friend of hers in Mati, Saridou said, but the two became separated in the chaos of the fire. She hadn't heard from her since.

"We found her car, it wasn't burnt, nor was the house," said 60-year-old Saridou. "It's just that we can't find her. ... I believe she's alive. Where she went, nobody knows where she went."

Hundreds of homes were burnt. The speed with which the flames spread took many by surprise. The narrow streets of Mati, an area built up with no town planning, quickly became clogged with parked and abandoned cars as people tried to flee, hampering access by firefighting trucks and blocking escape routes.

One Belgian national and one Irish national were among those confirmed dead.

Some of the casualties are believed to have tried to make it to the shore through narrow pathways, but lost their way in the thick smoke or had their paths blocked by the swift-moving blaze. Even those on beaches were not safe, as flames burned trees and vegetation at the water's edge, while flaming pine cones rained downward, survivors have said.

Recriminations about the apparent lack of an evacuation plan and what many perceived to have been a slow response has mounted, with survivors saying they had been abandoned to do whatever they could to save themselves alone.

Firefighting and rescue efforts, particularly from the air and the sea, were hampered by gale force winds and rough seas. When the Rafina fire broke out, crews were also engaged in fighting a massive fire west of Athens that had broken out hours earlier and also burnt homes.

But survivors have accused authorities of failing to adequately prepare and for not evacuating the area, as well as not responding fast enough.

Defense Minister Panos Kammenos visited Mati Thursday morning and was heckled by distraught men and women, who accused authorities of not doing enough in the initial hours of the fire.

"People died for nothing!" one woman sobbed at the minister.

Local resident Giannis Kardiakos, who said he stayed in the area until midnight, said efforts to tackle the blaze and to rescue those who had fled to the beaches started too late.

"There was no protection, there was nothing! ... I'm saying things as they were," he said, as Kammenos detailed what the military and firefighters had been doing to battle the fire. "I'm not lying. We're not talking politically here," he added, before breaking down in tears.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.A South Korean treasure hunting company walked back its claim Thursday of having found a sunken Russian warship filled with $133 billion worth of gold as financial regulators began investigating whether the outlandish tale involved stock market fraud.

The Seoul-based Shinil Group is now saying it doesn't know if gold would be found inside the sunken vessel, identified as the Dmitrii Donskoi  a Russian warship built in the 1880s that sank in 1905 during the war with Japan.

There's no way for us to figure out whether there would be gold coins or bars on the Donskoi, and if there is, how large the amount would be.  Choi Yong-seok

"There's no way for us to figure out whether there would be gold coins or bars on the Donskoi, and if there is, how large the amount would be," said Choi Yong-seok, Shinil's president, at a news conference in Seoul.

The company, which was formed last month, has yet to obtain government approval to retrieve the ship. Divers reportedly found the vessel more than 0.25 miles underwater near the eastern island of Ulleung. Even if the company manages to retrieve the ship, its unclear whether it can claim ownership of the its assets.

Some experts doubted that the 6,000-ton ship, with more than 12 artillery pieces, 500 sailors and presumably 1,600 tons of coal, would have had room for $133 billion worth of gold  which would double the current gold reserves at South Koreas central bank.

Choi apologized for the company's "unverified" claim, which he said was based on "speculative" materials and media reports. Nevertheless, he said the company hopes to find something of "sufficient financial value and that the teams who studied the wreck reported finding "multiple bundles of boxes firmly fastened with rope.

However, Jeff Heaton, a Canadian pilot who operated one of the submersibles that discovered the vessel, told reporters later in the news conference that no such boxes were seen.

An official said Thursday that South Koreas Financial Supervisory Service has begun investigating allegations of stock market fraud surrounding Shinil and another company, Jeil Steel.

Choi, whose investment company owns 50 percent of Shinil, recently agreed on a deal to become the majority shareholder of Jeil. Jeils stock prices rose 30 percent on South Koreas KOSDAQ last Tuesday following Shinils announcement on the Russian ship. But its stock prices have since plummeted amid skepticism over the claims of gold.

The FSS official, who didn't want to be named, said the regulator was looking into various possibilities of deceptive practices, including whether investors were induced by a deliberate distribution of false information.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.The gunman behind the Toronto shooting rampage that left 2 dead and 13 injured previously boasted about wanting to kill someone, a former teacher said Wednesday.

Faisal Hussain, 29, died in an exchange of gunfire with police late Sunday in the city's Greektown neighborhood. While police have not yet announced how he died, a police source told CBC News that Hussain shot himself in the head.

A source close to Hussain's family also told CTV News that the shooter, who was buried Wednesday, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Authorities previously said 10-year-old Julianna Kozis of Markham, Ontario and 18-year-old Reese Fallon of Toronto were killed in the rampage.

While authorities have not yet released a motive for the shooting, Hussain's former teacher said Hussain previously boasted about wanting to kill someone.

Ten years ago when he was in my class and I asked him what does he want to do. He said, Oh, I want to kill someone, the teacher told Global News, adding he had a blank stare on his face.

The teacher, whose name was not released by Global News, said when he questioned Hussain why he wanted to kill someone he was told: "I just feel it would be really cool to kill somebody."

Hussain's comments were reported to Toronto Police, and he was apprehended under the Mental Health Act but was later released because officials said there was not an immediate threat at the time, according to Global News.

The teacher, who taught Hussain between 2009 and 2010, told the news outlet the exchange left him "creeped out," and he was stunned to find out he was behind the shooting rampage

I wrote his name down way back when thinking, 'If this ever happens,' you know, and holy s--- it did," he told Global News.

ISIS CLAIMS TORONTO SHOOTING AS PROBE REPORTEDLY FINDS GUNMAN VISITED TERROR WEBSITES, LIVED IN MIDDLE EAST

His family has said he suffered from lifelong "severe mental health challenges" including psychosis and depression and had not responded to numerous treatment approaches, including therapy and medication.

On Wednesday, Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders said that officials have found no evidence so far to support a claim of responsibility from ISIS.

The terror group's AMAQ propaganda agency, citing a "security source," said Hussain was a "soldier of the Islamic State and carried out the attack in response to calls to target the citizens of the coalition countries." Based on language used in previous claims by ISIS, it appeared the shrinking Islamist group looked at Hussain as having been merely inspired by ISIS, rather than having been directed.

The group did not provide further details or any evidence, such as a videotaped pledge of allegiance, for its claim. Saunders said all areas of the Toronto Police Service have been involved in the investigation and they have received assistance from law enforcement partners at every level.

"At this stage, we have no evidence to support these claims," Saunders said.

TORONTO SHOOTING RAMPAGE VICTIM, 10-YEAR-OLD GIRL, IDENTIFIED BY POLICE

Authorities are also investigating where he got the weapon used in the rampage. Ammunition and large-capacity magazines were found by police officers searching the apartment Hussain shared with his parents, according to CTV News.

The Toronto Sun reported Hussan was firing a .40 caliber Smith and Wesson handgun and had seven magazines with him.

He was armed for war, a law enforcement source told The Sun. The cost of having that weaponry would be extensive. That kind of stuff does not come cheap.

Another unnamed officer told the Toronto Sun he has never come across a shooter better with a gun than Hussain.

He was very proficient, the officer told the paper. I cant imagine he could change magazines on the run, avoid jamming and hit targets as accurately as he did, had he not had some firearms training and experience.Dead Cells developer Motion Twin has been talking up its studio structure, which sees every single employee take home the same wage, irrespective of their position.

The French studio describes itself as an "anarcho-syndical workers cooperative," which essentially means that as well as getting equal pay, every employee also has an equal say in how the company is managed.

It's an interesting model, but in an interview with Kotaku, long-serving Dead Cells designer Sebastien Benard said the formula behind it is "super basic."

"If a project finds success, people are basically paid more in bonuses, and everyone is paid the absolute same way," he explained.

"The devs and the artists are paid the same amount of money, and people like me who have been here for 17 years are paid the same amount as people who were recruited last year."

Benard believes Motion Twin's pay and ownership model presents a direct challenge to some of the exploitative practices used at other companies, and serves to highlight how worn out old-school corporate structures are in general.

He suggests its impossible to claim that one person's contribution has more measurable impact on a game's success than that of somebody else, which is why the studio insists on equality across the board.

You can learn more about the day-to-day running of Motion Twin by checking out the full Kotaku interview. It's well worth a read.There was a time that Denuvo's Anti-Tampering tech was seen as uncrackable, a metaphorical Fort Knox that developers could use to defend against would-be pirates.

As the tech rose to prominence, however, it became an Everest for pirate groups looking to conquer the seemingly unconquerable, and now one notable hacker has been arrested for his troubles.

The pirate in question is Bulgarian hacker Voksi, who back in 2016 made a name for himself after finally cracking Denuvo's protections with a breakthrough workaround.

As reported by Kotaku (via CrackWatch), Voksi has been apprehended by Bulgarian authorities, who've been working with Denuvo's parent company Irdeto to catch their man. Voksi himself didn't seem too surprised by the arrest, and suggested it had been a long time coming.

"It finally happened," he wrote on the CrackWatch subreddit. "I cant say it wasnt expected. Denuvo filed a case against me to the Bulgarian authorities. Police came yesterday and took the server PC and my personal PC. I had to go to the police afterwards and explain myself."

Voksi has conceded his hacking days are likely behind him following the arrest, and claims he was targeting Denuvo to fight back against "bloated software in our games." For its part, Denuvo hopes the arrest will reiterate the serious nature of video game piracy and cybercrime in general.

"The swift action of the Bulgarian police on this matter shows the power of collaboration between law enforcement and technology providers and that piracy is a serious offense that will be acted upon," said the company.A unified national medical insurance service, from which both urban and rural residents enjoy equal benefits, will be in place by 2019, said the state medical insurance administration Wednesday.

In a notice jointly issued by the ministries of Finance, Human Resources and Social Security, the National Health Commission and the administration, local governments that have not started such service were urged to seize the moment and prepare themselves to put it into operation as soon as possible.

Rural residents in China used to have a medical insurance scheme with far inferior to their urban counterparts. The government started to standardize rural and urban schemes in 2017.

Each citizen receives the minimum 490 yuan (about 72 U.S. dollars) from the government in his or her medical insurance account a year on average and is required to deposit 220 yuan from his or her pocket.

Both figures are 40 yuan higher than 2017.China plans to set up internet courts in Beijing and Guangzhou based on the experience of the internet court in Hangzhou, according to a statement from China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) on Wednesday.

The decision was announced during an SPC's video conference.

China opened its first internet court in Hangzhou last August to cater to the increasing number of online disputes.

The SPC will toughen its stance on online rumors and fraud, trading personal information and others, said the statement.

The SPC promised strong action on food and drug safety, pollution, violence towards medical personnel and school bullying.

The SPC also pledged to combat gang crime and remove "protective umbrellas" -- officials who shelter criminal organizations by concealing their crimes and shielding them from punishment.A salesman shows a customer gold jewelry in a shop at the Gold Souq in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. [Photo/Agencies]

Major trade initiatives such as the Belt and Road are opening up new vistas of cooperation for the Chinese bullion industry, especially in the countries and regions associated with the initiative, an industry official said.

China, with its advanced gold mining and refining technologies and talent advantage, can play a complementary role with the regions and countries associated with the Belt and Road Initiative, most of whom have substantial gold resources, said Song Xin, head of the China Gold Association.

"The nation has become a leader in the global gold industry in fields of gold production and consumption and product designs, processing and manufacturing capacities are well suited to meet the market potential in the region, creating massive cooperation opportunities for the future," he said.

According to the China Gold Association, Chinese companies have invested over $4 billion in overseas markets during the past few years, and accessed gold resources of more than 1,500 metric tons. Production of gold by Chinese companies in overseas destinations stood at 35 tons by the end of 2017, it said.

China's gold consumption reached 1,089.07 tons in 2017, a year-on-year increase of 9.41 percent, with demand for gold jewelry, gold bars and industrial uses surging. Demand for gold is expected to continue rising with the growth in high-end consumption and demand from second and third-tier cities, it said.

Considering the fact that Chinese have long prized gold for its financial and symbolic value, analysts believe that traditions and increasing prosperity will continue boosting demand for gold and hence further facilitate China's gold trade with regions and countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.

"The Belt and Road Initiative has played a positive role in facilitating Chinese gold miners' going overseas for gold assets, to meet domestic demand," said Zhu Yi, senior analyst of metals and mining from Bloomberg Intelligence.

"Gold producers such as Zijin Mining Group, China's largest gold producer, have been investing overseas to secure stable supply of raw materials," she said.

Zijin bought gold assets from Barrick Gold and Ivanhoe Mines in 2015. It also purchased Norton Gold Fields in Australia, to secure supplies.

"China is a resource-rich country, but the ore grade is relatively low and some resources are not easily accessible."

China imported more than 854,150 tons of raw materials in 2017 worth more than $1.69 billion. About 19 of the 55 regions and countries that China purchased precious metal ore and ore concentrate from are participating the B&R Initiative, it said.

China also imported 408,700 tons of gold material from regions and countries participating in the B&R Initiative in 2017, 47.85 percent of the country's total imports. All those assets are worth $573.4 million, 33.93 percent of the total value of imports.

Figures from the China Gold Association reveal that China has become the world's top gold producer for the 11th consecutive year since it surpassed South Africa in 2007.University of Washington, School of Medicine Students Mike Robinson (l), Alex Kurtz (c) and Keenan Kuckler pose for a photo at the Glasgow Clinic. The three will be training under Dr. Anne Millard for the summer as part of a rural outreach program.

Three medical students from the University of Washington, School of Medicine are training at the Glasgow Clinic as part of the school's Targeted Rural UnderServed Track or TRUST. The students, who are third-year med student Keenan Kuckler, two-year med student Alex Kurtz and one-year med student Mike Robinson, are each at different levels of their medical training and are in rural Montana to learn about the differences in providing care in rural regions.

For the most part, TRUST is a program that is intended to connect students to a single rural community for three of their four years of medical training through a summer intern program. Each student assigned to the Glasgow Clinic will therefore serve each year at the same clinic. According to the program's literature, "after a targeted TRUST admissions process, first year TRUST students are linked to underserved communities, which will be their underserved home throughout all four years of medical school." The desired goal is to increase recruitment to underserved communities in the WWAMI Region, consisting of Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho.

The three students are currently working under Dr. Anne Millard of the Glasgow Clinic to undergo familiarization with rural medicine. All of the students have some sort of tie to Montana. Kuckler, who is furthest along in her med school training is originally from Billings, Mont., and has had medical school ambitions as early as 12-years-of-age. She attended Skyview High School and then graduated Rocky Mountain College before going on to medical school. According to her program bio she has, "fallen in love with this community and its surrounding areas since I first visited in 2016."

Kuckler previously worked as a Certified Nursing Assistant in a nursing home, as an anesthesia technician in an operating room, and as a patient technician in an emergency room.

Kurtz, who is in his second year of medical school, grew up in Glendive, and found his passion for medicine through the inspiration of his next door neighbor. "Growing up as a neighbor to a passionate radiologist, I developed a childhood interest in medicine," described Kurtz. Kurtz's future goals are to serve as a surgeon in an undetermined specialization.

The third and newest student working in the clinic is Mike Robinson. Robinson is originally from southern Georgia where he was born and raised. Following his completion of an associate degree in nursing he travelled to Montana describing the decision in the following way, "My love of the great outdoors led me to Montana, with its mountains, prairies and wide open spaces." Robinson hopes to complete medical school and go on to a career in psychiatry.Cancer survivors are asked a lot of questions. One frequent one is how you manage to keep going. At times it is difficult to keep fighting. When I was having weekly chemotherapy treatments following my surgery, a friend was also in the process of...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.State Abortion Laws



Pre-Roe ban

Trigger law

Protections if Roe overturned

Pre-Roe ban AND protections if Roe overturned

Pre-Roe ban AND trigger law

Massachusetts is on the verge of passing the NASTY Women Act . That is, the Negating Archaic Statutes Targeting Young Women Act, which will repeal a 173-year-old state law that prohibited "procuring a miscarriage."Despite abortion being legalized by the U.S. Supreme Court 45 years ago, the antiquated law has remained on the books. The state's Republican governor, Charlie Baker, has a history of supporting abortion rights and has pledged to sign the bill.But Massachusetts is just one of 10 states with an archaic abortion ban still on the books. All pre-date Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court case that legalized abortion.Of course, these archaic laws cannot currently be enforced. But there's a sudden movement among abortion advocates to wipe them clean in case the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade in the future. With the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy -- and President Trump's nomination of Brett Kavanaugh -- many believe the Supreme Court is set to lean more conservative, and thereforeis more likely to rule against abortion rights.The other states with pre-Roe laws that criminalize abortion are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Wisconsin."How quickly those states would enforce those laws [if Roe v. Wade is overturned] is really going to vary," says Andrea Miller, president of the National Institute for Reproductive Health.Alabama and Arkansas, for example, have passed extensive restrictions on abortion in recent years, so its more likely that they would enforce a pre-Roe abortion ban.But, Miller adds, "Rhode Island and New Mexico might be less inclined." Lawmakers in those two states have committed to repealing their laws when the legislative session starts up again next year.In Rhode Island, both Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo and the leading Republican candidate for governor have expressed support for abortion rights , and Democrats far outweigh Republicans in the state's legislature.The New Mexico Legislature leans Democratic. The current governor, Republican Susana Martinez, opposes abortion but is not eligible for reelection. A bill to repeal the state's archaic abortion law was introduced last year. It failed to make it to the governor's desk, but the bill's author, Democratic state Rep. Joanne Ferrary, plans to make it a priority in January.I will be introducing this bill again in 2019 with the new governor -- hopefully Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is also committed to protecting safe and legal abortions, she told the New Mexico Political Report. Meanwhile, four states -- Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota and South Dakota -- have "trigger laws" that would automatically ban abortion if Roe is overturned.For their part, critics of abortion rights argue that the recent push to roll back pre-Roe laws is nothing more than political posturing.Were a very long way from overturning Roe v. Wade. To listen to some of the rhetoric, you will think that the day after Kavanaugh is confirmed, it will be overturned, C.J. Doyle, executive director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, told TIME In New York, a battle is brewing to overturn its pre-Roe law, which outlawed abortion past 24 weeks. It was passed in 1970 and was considered revolutionary at the time because of the high week limit and because it allowed women from out of state to receive the procedure there. But for progressives in the state, the law hasnt kept up with the times and should be repealed.The Democrat-controlled House passed a bill to overturn the law last year. Republicans in the Senatedidn't bring it to the floor for a vote. This year, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo unsuccessfully urged a special session to repeal the law. The fate of the archaic law depends on whether Republicans keep their majority in the state Senate after the November midterm elections, says Miller, the president of the National Institute for Reproductive Health.Come January,states on each end of the political spectrum are expected to take up more abortion legislation, widening the chasm between women's health in blue and red states.Many Chinese cities have recently reduced prices of imported drugs in response to adjustments of import tariffs and relevant policies, as pharmaceutical companies also offered to cut their drug prices to seize the market share, Guangzhou Daily reported.

For example, Northwest Chinas Shaanxi Province has requested that drug providers renew quotations of 45 anticancer drugs. Public medical institutions in the province are expected to be able to buy these anticancer drugs at lower prices by the end of August.

Since May 1, 2018, China has called off import tariffs on drugs including anticancer drugs, and also adjusted policies involving value added tax. Industry insiders predict that the price reduction driven by policy will not exceed five percent.

In addition to this, pharmaceutical giants such as Xian-Janssen and Pfizer have offered to reduce their drug prices in many Chinese cities this year, which industry observers say is actually to fight for the market share.

Xian-Janssen has reduced the price of its important anticancer drug Decitabine for Injection from 10,237.68 yuan ($1,509) to 4,996 yuan ($738), down 52 percent, making the price similar or even cheaper than domestic generic drugs.

Pfizer also offered to reduce prices of some of its drugs in several provinces of China. In central Chinas Hubei province, the company decided to reduce the prices of 15 drugs by 10.2 percent at most, with nearly half of them being anticancer drugs.

The Chinese government released an official document on improving policies of supply and use of generic drugs in April. It indicates Chinas intention to promote fair competition between imported drugs that have exceeded the term of patent and generic drugs with the same quality and efficacy, and to facilitate their substitution.

The governments support for generic drugs has triggered the price competition, an industry observer told the media, saying that while not irreplaceable, original drugs still have advantages.Facebook will be legally required to end its practice of allowing businesses to block certain groups like blacks, gays and immigrants from viewing ads under an agreement reached with the Washington State Attorney General's Office.The Attorney General's Office said Tuesday it had launched an investigation into the social-media giant and successfully bought 20 fake Facebook ads that excluded various ethnic minorities in late 2016. The ads, all approved by Facebook, were in some cases blatantly racist: One housing ad contained a headline specifically stating that people of certain ethnicities need not apply; another was looking for a white tenant.On Tuesday, under pressure from the investigation, Facebook signed a legally binding document in court in Seattle requiring it to shut down the advertising tool for businesses looking to exclude demographics protected under state law.The practice, first unveiled in a series of ProPublica articles that sparked the attorney general's investigation, is one of several issues facing Facebook's lucrative advertising network, which allows anyone from presidential candidates to the local flower-shop owner to micro-target its billions of users.When advertisers launch a campaign, Facebook offers a drop-down menu where they can select what types of people won't see their ads, which it calls "exclusion marketing." A landlord could advertise an open apartment and make sure black Facebook users couldn't see it, for instance -- an apparent violation of fair-housing laws.The Attorney General's Office noted that this type of misuse did occur on occasion with real-world advertisers, though it did not cite any examples.While it was possible for third-party advertisers to exclude blacks, Asians and Hispanics, there was no option to exclude whites, the Attorney General's Office said. (Facebook tries to figure out each user's race and other demographics based on their "likes" and other activity on the platform).Facebook has vowed improvements but has been slow to put them into action. It faces at least two lawsuits over the exclusion function, including one that alleges older people were blocked from viewing certain job ads.The agreement filed in King County Superior Court requires Facebook to block advertisers from excluding classes protected under state law, such as race, nationality, sexual orientation or disability status.It applies to most businesses and other places of public accommodation, such as schools and hospitals.The commitment will be legally enforceable only in Washington state, but Facebook says it will extend it nationwide."In the same way you wouldn't accept a brick-and-mortar business with a 'whites only' sign in their window, we should not accept entities on the internet being able to exclude people based on their race, sexual orientation" or other protected class, Attorney General Bob Ferguson said.Facebook said most of the changes outlined in Tuesday's agreement were already in the works or completed.But Ferguson said it was still important to hold the company legally responsible to fix discrimination in its ad system, since past efforts by Facebook to do so have fallen short. Last November, ProPublica found it could still exclude such groups as people with disabilities and Jewish people from viewing housing ads on Facebook, more than a year after its first investigation was made public."It's not just a promise," Ferguson said. "I think it's fair to say that we believe this is an ongoing problem."Ferguson said he met with Facebook representatives in Seattle and had to impress upon them how urgent the issue was."We appreciate Attorney General Ferguson's attention to this important matter and are pleased to have reached an agreement with his office," said Will Castleberry, Facebook's vice president of state and local policy, in a statement. "We've worked closely with them to address the issues they've raised.""Discriminatory advertising has no place on our platform, and we'll continue to improve our ad products so they're relevant, effective, and safe for everyone," Castleberry said.The agreement, called an "assurance of discontinuance," requires Facebook to make the changes within 90 days. It also mandates Facebook to pay the attorney general's office $90,000 in legal fees. And it formally ends the attorney general's 20-month investigation into the company without any lawsuits being filed.As part of the deal, Facebook denied breaking any laws.Ferguson's office has been busy looking into Facebook. Just this past month, it sued Facebook in King County Superior Court, alleging the company wasn't keeping records on who was paying for political ads appearing on its site, a violation of state law. (It also filed a similar suit against Google.)Calling it a "ham-handed" effort to keep young voters from casting ballots, a federal judge Tuesday struck down as unconstitutional an opinion issued by Gov. Rick Scott's administration that barred early-voting sites on college and university campuses.U.S. District Judge Mark Walker found that the Florida Department of State's prohibition against campus early-voting sites "is facially discriminatory on account of age," and that it "imposes significant burdens on plaintiffs' rights weighted against imprecise, insufficiently weighty government interests."In May, the League of Women Voters of Florida and several students from the University of Florida and one from Florida State University sued Secretary of State Ken Detzner to push for early voting on college campuses.Tuesday's ruling allows early voting to occur until the case is ruled upon. Walker wrote that the secretary of state's previous opinion to bar early voting at universities or college campuses was unconstitutional, violating the 1st, 14th and 26th amendments."Voting is the beating heart of democracy," Walker wrote.Walker said in his 40-page ruling that his ruling doesn't mandate that college campuses be used as early voting sites. All voting sites are determined by each county's supervisor of elections.Plaintiff Megan Newsome, a UF researcher and recent UF graduate, said the ruling was a significant step foward and that she is hopeful county officials will make the change to permit voting on campus soon."I'm really excited," she said. "I think it's a hopeful start."Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Kim Barton said it's too close to the August primary to add on-campus early voting sites, but she will work with county officials to try and make it happen in time for November's general election."I'm not one way or the other, but you need to have money for it," Barton said. "It takes equipment we don't have."The Alachua County Commission passed a resolution supporting early voting on campus. Gainesville's City Commission in May passed a similar resolution.Before 2013, elections offices, city halls and libraries were the only permitted early voting sites. The Florida Legislature expanded that in 2013, but didn't specifically include university or college campuses into the expanded early voting statute.In 2014, after a group of students attended a City Commission meeting, Gainesville City Attorney Nicolle Shalley asked the state's Division of Elections whether UF's J. Wayne Reitz Union classified as a "government-owned community center" or as a "convention center" that would've fit within the state's early voting law.Later that month, Detzner's office told Shalley that the Reitz Union building didn't qualify as a potential location under Florida law.Detzner, who was appointed by Gov. Rick Scott, stated that the building was designed for and affiliated with "a special educational institution." A Jan. 17, 2014, letter from the state's Division of Elections Director Maria Matthews to Shalley stated: "the terms 'convention center' and 'government-owned community center' cannot be construed so broadly."Scott's spokesman McKinley Lewis said in an emailed statement Tuesday that the governor's office will review the ruling. He also said Scott "signed the largest expansion of early voting in the state's history."Since 2008, early voting numbers have increased. Currently, the Reitz Union building on the UF campus is used as an Election Day voting site, but not for early voting, which many blame for long lines on Election Day. Critics have argued that Scott and others have tried to block college students' access to early voting campus sites becuase university towns tend to have more registered Democrats than Republicans.Florida is home to 12 public universities and 28 colleges. Of UF's 52,000 students, about 9,000 students live on campus, making it one of the more densely populated areas in town.About 68 percent of Gainesville's voting population is affiliated with UF or SFC, according to Tuesday's ruling.According to the original complaint filed, younger voters are increasingly energized to vote since the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland that left 17 dead.One plaintiff, Amol Jethwani, a 21-year-old senior at UF, is running for State House District 21. His primary opponent is Jason Haeseler. Both hope to unseat incumbent Chuck Clemons, R-Newberry.After 40 years as a Republican, Lori Stegmann has had a change of heart -- and political party.Stegmann, elected a Multnomah County commissioner in 2016, has changed her affiliation to Democrat, she said in an interview Tuesday.Stegmann, 58, said she can sum up the reason for the change with one word: Trump. She added that she "cannot condone the misogyny, the racism, and the unethical and immoral behavior of the current administration."Stegmann represents District 4 on the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners. That district includes Gresham, Troutdale, Corbett and other small east county communities.She said she is a political moderate, owing in part to her experience growing up in her district, as a businesswoman working in insurance and as a Republican who admired party greats like Sen. Mark Hatfield and Gov. Tom McCall."I have not changed but the Republican Party most certainly has," she said.Stegmann cited the Trump administration policy of separating parents and children after border crossings caused as another reason she decided to change her political affiliation. Stegmann was born in South Korea and orphaned there, adopted by an American family and later became a naturalized citizen."I serve on an all-woman board," she said in reference to the county commission. "I'm a minority. I'm an immigrant."She said some Republicans' rhetoric casting immigrants as a threat is a "false narrative," adding, "I think people need to see we're all immigrants."Stegmann said that the Democratic Party better fits her politics, calling it "a big tent party."The party change won't affect county business. Seats on the board of commissioners are nonpartisan. But Stegmann said the change is still symbolic and personal for her."This decision is about who I am, what I believe in and my core values. And if you don't stand for something, then you stand for nothing," Stegmann said."I prefer to stand," she said. "And now I stand with the Democrats."Description

GIS 26 July, 2018: A joint working session with a high level delegation from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr. Seetanah Lutchmeenaraidoo, was held yesterday at La Clef des Champs Restaurant, in Floreal.

In a statement, the Minister highlighted that both countries are undertaking an intensive collaboration that will bring forth and enhance more partnership avenues in other areas. He added that the main focus of the meeting was to establish an agenda for the upcoming visit of the Prince Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates and on Government-to-Government matters.

He underlined that another topic discussed related to how Mauritius can be an ideal platform to channel investment coming from the Middle East and Asia to Africa and the ways in which such a vast cooperation can be undertaken. He indicated that during the visit of the UAE Minister, the possibilities and opportunities to enhance bilateral partnership will be examined, adding that a Business Forum comprising of investors from Dubai, the UAE and Mauritius will be held.

Moreover, Minister Lutchmeenaraidoo recalled that the UAE is already investing significantly through the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and that it is also offering considerable financial assistance to Mauritius to participate in the Expo 2020 in Dubai. The Minister also announced that the UAE will soon open an embassy in Mauritius.

For her part, the State Councilor for International Cooperation, Mrs Najla Al Kaabi, highlighted that the UAE values the great partnership, brotherhood and bilateral relations that both country share. She added that the relationship is based on true friendship, understanding and cooperative spirit.

She indicated that during the meeting, both parties discussed how they can engage in more sustainable collaboration that will add to the progress and prosperity of the people of both countries.(TNS) - North Carolina's emergency management director acknowledged Wednesday that getting federal funding to Hurricane Matthew victims who need to repair or rebuild their homes has been a slow and tedious process.But Mike Sprayberry defends the job he and his staff have done, despite mounting criticism from state and federal lawmakers who question why more than $200 million in Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Relief funds havent found their way to flood victims.It has taken us awhile but we continue to focus on providing the implementation of the program to disaster survivors as quickly as possible, said Sprayberry, whose department is responsible for disbursing $404 million in block grants that have been awarded to North Carolina. Of that amount, $168 million remains tied up with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.On Monday, state House Speaker Tim Moore reauthorized the House Select Committee on Disaster Relief to investigate the delays following news that the state had missed a self-imposed deadline to deliver millions of dollars to hurricane victims.Several weeks earlier, on May 25, members of North Carolinas congressional delegation sent Gov. Roy Cooper a letter asking why the state still controls most of the block grant funding nearly two years after the hurricane dumped more than 12 inches of rain and displaced about 3,765 people in eastern North Carolina.The first allocation of block grant funds  $236 million  was awarded by HUD in January 2017, about three months after the hurricane. Another $37 million was released to the state four months later.The money is supposed to be used by people who didnt have homeowners or flood insurance, or didn't qualify for other forms of disaster assistance. Some of the money will be used to buy homes that cant be repaired or rebuilt.But almost all of the money remains unused.Sprayberry noted that Hurricane Matthew was the biggest natural disaster to hit North Carolina in terms of monetary damage. He also noted that this was the first time the Department of Public Safetys Division of Emergency Management has been tasked with coordinating and disbursing disaster relief funding. Previously, it had been the responsibility of the N.C. Department of Commerce.Its kind of like uncharted waters for us, Sprayberry said. Were learning.Navigating through the federal rules and regulations that go with the block grant funding is inherently time-consuming, he said. The process starts with preparing a state action plan followed by an environmental review of each of the affected counties. The reviews have to be approved by HUD. Then there is an eight-step process to determine the eligibility of applicants, as well as an assessment of their damages.Sprayberry said all steps were completed about two weeks ago for Robeson County, where hurricane victims should soon begin receiving damage reimbursements or home repairs.In the next few days, youre really going to start seeing some significant output, he said.Sprayberry said the three other hardest-hit counties, Cumberland, Edgecombe and Wayne, should start getting the funding by mid- to late August. Sprayberry acknowledged the process for Robeson County was completed first partly because that county did its own environmental review.The city of Fayetteville qualifies for more than $15 million in initial funding; Cumberland County, nearly $8 million. Robeson County is expected to get nearly $70 million when all of the money has been doled out.Sprayberry took exception to lawmakers contention that the state is in jeopardy of losing some of the block grant money because of the length of time it is taking to disburse. That is not the case, he said.Sprayberry further defended his division by noting that it has worked with federal, state and local officials to allocate more than $739 million since the hurricane, not counting $628 million to help families and small businesses and to pay for public infrastructure projects.The division has also allocated $82 million in hazard mitigation grant funds to local governments to elevate, reconstruct or buy 641 damaged homes. In Cumberland County, more than $56 million has gone to recovery programs for homeowners, businesses and public projects.All these programs just dont spring up and then its off to the races, Sprayberry said.Fayetteville and Cumberland County officials are among those who have criticized the state for the time its taken to distribute the Community Development Block Grant money.Staff writer Greg Barnes can be reached at gbarnes@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3525.2018 The Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.)Visit The Fayetteville Observer (Fayetteville, N.C.) at www.fayobserver.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.California Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, has proposed reducing utility companies legal responsibility for wildfire damage after their equipment sparks a fire.The change likely would transfer some of the costs to homeowners and their insurance companies.Investor-owned utilities have argued that current liability laws are unfair, because companies are held responsible for damages any time their equipment ignites a fire  even if the equipment was maintained properly  but they cant pass on the costs to consumers automatically.Pacific Gas & Electric and other investor-owned utilities have been lobbying California lawmakers for a change to liability laws in the wake of devastating wildfires last year that could leave them on the hook for billions of dollars in damages Brown sent his proposal to the co-chairs of a Senate and Assembly conference committee on wildfire preparedness and response. The panel was set to meet for the first time Wednesday.The proposal shows that hes sympathetic to utilities contention that climate change has made the current legal regime unworkable by dramatically increasing the potential costs of a wildfire.Now more than ever, Californians depend on reliable electrical power to heat and cool homes, run hospitals and fire stations and so much more, Brown wrote to legislators. Yet, the increasingly destructive and costly wildfires and natural disasters have the potential to undermine the system, leaving our energy sector in a state of weakness at a time when it should be making even greater investments in safety.Browns proposed legislation would change liability laws to require courts to consider whether utilities complied with safety regulations, as well as other factors, when holding them liable for damages. The proposal also would increase penalties for utilities that dont follow safety rules and require them to adopt stronger wildfire prevention strategies, such as shutting off power at times of extreme weather.In his letter, Brown said that the proposal wouldnt change liability rules for the 2017 wildfires, but apply only to future fires.In June, a state report determined that a dozen wildfires that burned in Northern California last year were caused by electric power lines and other utility equipment. Several of the fires investigated were among the most destructive in state history.PG&E said it would review the governors plan and the conference committees work.As we have stated previously, we believe comprehensive public policy reforms are urgently needed to address the challenges brought about by more frequent and more intense wildfires, the company said in a statement.Critics blasted the proposal. Patrick McCallum, co-chairman of the coalition Up from the Ashes, which advocates for wildfire victims and the attorneys who represent them, called it a non-starter.It sacrifices the rights of property owners to protect the utilities from any responsibility for future damages they may cause, and removes any real incentives for them to take safety and fire prevention seriously, McCallum said.1. Provide an Easy-to-Use Platform for Innovation and Engagement

2. Empower Citizens

3. Develop a Comprehensive Communications Strategy

4. Provide Incentives

5. Provide Sufficient Staffing, Resources and Success Metrics

In the public sector today, citizen engagement and participation are crucial, as shown by the vast array of state and local governments on Facebook Pinterest and Google Plus As GovLoop reports , when citizen participation programs are implemented effectively, more citizens are brought into the decision-making process, which means government can ultimately be more responsive to community needs.But as with most things, citizen engagement programs are not without their problems -- they can "lead to gridlock, lack of consensus, abuses to power, manipulation of facts or the politicalization of issues," wrote Senior Research Analyst Pat Fiorenza.To avoid the potential negative aspects of citizen engagement, governments are encouraged try these five things:When it comes to interacting with government, citizens should be empowered and engagement should be easy. They should be able to quickly retrieve data, submit forms and find the information they need.Give some authority and power in the decision-making process to citizens closest to the issues -- think neighborhood groups, councils and/or community activists -- as they can provide insights on funding allocations and cultural issues, and help develop community partnerships.For citizen engagement to truly work, government must create a comprehensive communications strategy -- that includes reaching out and broadcasting to citizens on a routine basis via email, SMS, social media, advertisements, door to door, at in-person events or hosting informational sessions.For citizen engagement to really work, there need to be incentives for both citizens and government employees, and how to incentivize is a decision that requires a manager to invest the time to focus on what will motivate the team while also aligning with budgetary and legal restrictions.Clear goals, objectives and measurements must be identified to track citizen engagement initiatives, and proper staffing and resources must be allocated to the initiative. Retaining a sense of fairness as to how resources are allocated across a city is also essential.Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull are now ready to make an announcement about the future.

Earlier, the Australian was flirting with a move to Ferrari or Mercedes, but it appears a new deal with Red Bull has now definitely been done.

Hungary this weekend is the last race before a much-needed gap in the busy calendar, with Auto Motor und Sport quoting Ricciardo as saying: "An announcement before the summer break is realistic."

He did not deny that he and Red Bull chiefs have been negotiating about money and the contract length.

"The length of the contract is an issue, because so much will change over the next few years," said Ricciardo.

But it all seems to have been decided now, with an announcement expected in Hungary before the summer break and factory shutdown.

"I want to go on break with a clear mind, so it feels like a break," said Ricciardo.

"A few years ago when I was making the transition from Toro Rosso to Red Bull, that all happened during the break and it wasn't a fun August for me.

"Obviously Red Bull have committed to Honda, so they've kind of got all the cards on the table and things are getting to a point where I know what's what. Hopefully I'll have something for everyone soon," he added.

(GMM)A Green River man who admitted to excessively spanking his stepchild with a belt will have a felony child-abuse charge dismissed if he can complete probation.

Joshua Gautreaux, 30, appeared in the Third District Court of Judge Richard Lavery at a sentencing hearing to child abuse where he changed his plea to guilty, however the plea wasnt entered.

Under Wyoming Statute 7-13-301, first-time offenders can have a felony dismissed if they successfully complete probation. It can only be once and only for certain charges.

Gautreaux must successfully complete three years supervised probation....Improvements to the Green River Recreation Center and the Greenbelt were approved by the Green River City Council Tuesday night.

The council approved a bid award to R&D Sweeping and Asphalt Maintenance in Rock Springs for $58,975.

The project will focus on crack seal, gap repairs and seal coating to extend the life of the paved sections of the Greenbelt.

According to Brad Raney, director of the Parks and Recreation Department for the city, the project cost is about one-tenth the cost of completely repaving the sections.

Councilman Gary Killpack said the portion near Stratton Myers Park tha...WASHINGTON, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Mars is making its closest approach to Earth in 15 years on Tuesday, which means the red planet will be shinier and bigger and easier to observe, said U.S. space agency NASA.

The two planets will be just 57.6 million km apart on July 31, while Mars will appear brightest on July 27-30, making it easier to be seen with telescope or the naked eye.

"It's magnificent. It's as bright as an airplane landing light," said astronomer Harry Augensen from Widener University, Pennsylvania. "Not quite as bright as Venus, but still because of the reddish, orange-ish-red color, you really can't miss it in the sky."

Before the closest approach, Mars will be in opposition on Friday, which means Mars and the Sun will appear in opposite positions as viewed from Earth. On the same day, the longest total lunar eclipse of this century will be visible in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and South America.

Mars will look fainter by mid-August since it travels farther away from Earth in the orbit around the Sun.

Mars and Earth were closer than this year in 2003, when the two planets were just 55.7 million km apart, which was the closest in nearly 60,000 years and won't happen again until 2287, NASA said.Governor Matt Mead made an appearance in Sweetwater County last week to celebrate the completion of several Sweetwater County facilities.

Mead flew to Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport near Rock Springs Wednesday and was present for a ribbon cutting on its new general aviation and hangar complex. According to Devon Brubaker, airport manager, nearly all of the funding for the complex came from state and federal sources, which totaled $5.78 million. The only local expenditures made by the airport was $30,000 to correct a septic system problem. The general aviation facility includes a pilot l...A tax error will give Sweetwater County about $2.37 million, but how it will be divided among the towns and cities is still unclear.

During a recent Sweetwater County Commissioners meeting, county treasurer Robb Slaughter informed the commission the county will be receiving additional tax money because of a tax error.

Slaughter said the Department of Revenue informed him that a Sweetwater County vendor mistakenly reported its taxes to Natrona County instead of Sweetwater County.

The error, which was discovered during a regular audit, is estimated to be around $2.4 million.

Kim Lovett, admin...Gary Dewayne Nellen, 66, passed away July 18, 2018, at his home surrounded by his family. He was a lifelong resident of Rock Springs. He died following a lengthy illness.

He was born on April 7, 1952, in Rock Springs, the son of Glenn Nellen and Dorothy Lloyd Nellen.

Nellen attended schools in Rock Springs.

He married Mitzi Miller on May 25, 1974, in Rock Springs and she preceded him in death Feb. 17, 2007. He married Brenda Peterson Sept. 22, 2018, in Kemmerer.

Nellen was veteran having served the United States Marines during Vietnam and a member of American Legion Archie Hay Post No. 2...Sandra Crouch, 52, passed away July 22, 2018, at her home in Rock Springs. She was a lifelong resident of Rock Springs.

Crouch was born Oct. 10, 1965, in Rock Springs, the daughter of John E. Crouch and Patricia Ellen Sweets.

She attended schools in Rock Springs and was a 1983 graduate of the Rock Springs High School. Crouch attended Denver Tech, in Denver and received a bachelor's degree in accounting.

Sandra was a member of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses.

She worked as a executive administrative office manager for Greens Energy for nine years.

Crouch enjoyed spending time with fa...Wilderness, Old English for self-willed land, is suggestive of the American spirit of self-reliance, rugged individualism, and adventurousness these characteristics receiving birth from Wilderness itself. Return visits for us and for future generations is a restorative to the worlds continuation. Its sort of like visiting with great, great, great, great, grandparents.

What remains of legally designated Wilderness Areas, and Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs), which are, ideally, future Wilderness Areas, are important for several reasons, such as preserving the biological diversi...This is a portion of the massive mural painted by Andrei Krautsou, which is located across from the courthouse downtown.

One can't help but notice the huge horses, the train and Castle Rock painted on the side of a building when driving downtown.

The mural was a project the URA/Main Street Committee commissioned. Through an open-call process, the committee discovered artists Andrei Krautsou and his wife, Julia Yu-baba.

"As I know, the committee had a lot of submissions and they choose several semi-finalists," Krautsou said. "Everybody proposed a design. As a result, they chose mine and now this massive beautiful mural comes into life."

Prior to submitting his design, Krautsou said he researched Green River to...The FraMani mortadella katsu sando with tonkatsu sauce and dijon mustard on daiichi bread. Photo: Melissa Hom

Its been a good summer for cocktail drinkers in New York. Back in May, Miamis Broken Shaker opened its Manhattan location. Dave Arnold returned after the closing of Booker and Dax, teaming up with Don Lee to open Existing Conditions. Amor y Amargos Sother Teague expanded with Blue Quarter, while the Donna crew and Nitecap owner Natasha David opened the Hidden Pearl. People keep talking about Eben Klemms great drinks at Oxomoco, like the Moscow muletwist called El Burro, and Chicha Cafetin is living up to its promise to be a church of rum. This week, it got better, as another dream team opened Katana Kitten, a Japanese party bar in Greenwich Village.

The trio behind it comprises the talented Masahiro Urushido, who last ran the bar at Saxon + Parole, and Cocktail Kingdom Hospitalitys James Tune and Greg Boehm. (Its also been a good summer for Boehm, who is also behind Existing Conditions.) Tune and Boehm run such fun, loose bars as Boilermaker, and together with Urushido theyve brought that attitude to this playfully named bar. Inside, it looks less like a serious place for drinking and more like somewhere where you might go dancing to 70s and 80s Japanese pop like Bread & Butters Pink Shadow.

There are now plenty of cocktail bars to drink excellently and eat just as well, and Katana Kitten is another welcome addition. Cocktail Kingdom culinary director Nick Sorrentinos food menu is split three ways, between appetizers like nori (crinkle cut) fries; skewers, including a kakuni rillette with karashi aioli; and a few sandos. Thankfully, none of these are astronomically priced, and options range from a FraMani mortadella katsu with tonkatsu meri to a grilled cheese with yuzu-kosho.

The shiso gin-and-tonic. Photo: Melissa Hom

As head bartender and managing partner, Urushido has likewise divided his cocktail menu into three sections: signatures like an Amaretto Sour with salted plum and red shisho, fancified boilermakers, and highballs. Japan has something of a whiskey-soda obsession, which has more recently come ashore here in the States. (Suntory is pushing its Toki whiskey and a machine used to make highly calibrated whiskey sodas.) Highballs, more broadly, have been getting more attention at cocktail bars, and Katana offers five, including a Toki highball with lemon oil and the Japanese candy koume. Theres also a Dark n Stormy variation called the Bright n Sunny, made with lemongrass-ginger tepache, and a Gin-and-Tonic with shiso.

Teriyaki burger with pickled pineapple, shiso, kewpie mayo, masa special sauce, lettuce tomato, and crinkle-cut fries. Photo: Melissa Hom

Kakuni rillette kushiage with baby arugula and karashi-aioli. Photo: Melissa Hom

Grilled cheese with Muenster, Parmesan dust, nori, sesame, and yuzu-kosho. Photo: Melissa Hom

Looks fun. Photo: Melissa Hom

Katana Kitten, 531 Hudson St., at Charles St.; 212-243-3000Kris Feliz, a cook at the Grill in midtown Manhattan. Photo: Melissa Hom

Kris Feliz dreams of ducks, although they arent the kind of pleasant, soothing dreams you might imagine. I lose sleep over these ducks, she says. I have come to a point where I wake up thinking about them. Just the other night she shot up in bed after a nasty dream where shed left her ducks in the oven for too long, until their golden, crisp skin turned foul and black. She let out a sigh of relief when she realized that she was in her Brooklyn apartment, and the ducks in question were still safe in their aging room in midtown Manhattan.

Feliz is a line cook at the almost cartoonishly luxurious restaurant, the Grill, which opened to solidly enthusiastic reviews last year in the former Four Seasons restaurant. Every night, she is tasked with preparing the menus honey-mustard duckling, something of a signature dish that has come to define the kitchens commitment to turning out modern renditions of mid-century American classics. There was never any doubt that we would have duck on the menu, recalls Dan Haar, the executive chef at both the Grill and its sister restaurant, the Pool. Duck was always the important menu item in the Seagram Building. We wanted to do something equally impactful  Something that wouldnt be out of place in a 1950s American cookbook.

The resulting $45 entree is thick slices of rosy-meat, golden-skinned roasted breast, gently sauced in a light glaze of honey and Korean mustard. The unadorned presentation is almost shockingly austere; a cook cant hide any faults under a frilly garnish or a quenelle of pommes puree. If the duck isnt perfect, it doesnt go out to the diners  and its easy to mess up this duck. Cooked a minute too long, the meat becomes rubbery; too hot and the skin burns; if the oven is too moist, or the duck wasnt given enough time to dehydrate, the skin wont crisp like its supposed to. Feliz says she was immediately drawn to the challenge. Everyone knows not to touch my ducks, she tells me. I dont like anyone else making them.

As chefs are justly celebrated for their culinary creativity and derring-do, the act of actually executing that vision falls to their team of often-anonymous cooks, and it is a grinding, Sisyphean task to cook the same dish dozens of times per night, perfectly, every single time, only to know that youll have to wake up (after a few related stress dreams, no doubt) and do it all again the next night. The cooks responsible for the meat are toward the top of the kitchen hierarchy, given the responsibility of not messing up the restaurants most expensive ingredients.

Feliz  who is in her 30s with long, loose curls and a loud belly laugh  was given the job, even though shes only cooked professionally for a couple of years. She was born and raised in Washington Heights, in a family of dedicated cooks. Most of the meals Felizs mother and grandmother cooked were Puerto Rican, but Feliz and her mother often experimented with recipes from other cultures. As she got older, Feliz wanted to cook professionally, but culinary school was too expensive and the profession seemed too hard to enter without the formal education. Instead, she opened a dog-walking business. In 2015, Feliz heard from a culinary-school representative that the French Culinary Institute and its partner program in Italy were offering a scholarship. She applied on a whim, and she won. So Feliz applied for student loans to cover the remainder of her tuition, sold her business, bought a roll of knives, and crossed her fingers. I gave up everything, without even knowing if it was all going to work out, she remembers. Her loans were approved the day before classes began. My whole life led up to this. I get to cook every day, and I feel truly whole as a cook, Feliz marvels. I feel like I am completely myself now.

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When she started at the Grill, Feliz made beef tartare, shucked oysters, and plated salads, before working her way up the line. As she was training to work with more expensive proteins, Feliz watched a cook make the famous duck dish  and had to glean whatever information she could. She had been cooking the duck for a year, Feliz remembers. She was so locked into her routine that she wasnt talking me through it. I only had two days to train with her. I felt like it was a lot to live up to.

Each week, 60 Pekin ducks from Long Island are delivered to the Grills kitchen, where theyre trimmed and manicured, then arranged in a designated refrigerator to be dry-aged for a month. During that time, the ducks are regularly rotated to ensure even aging, which helps make the meat more tender and the flavor more concentrated. Improperly cooking the duck means throwing out a months worth of work. During her first week cooking the dish, Feliz burned two ducks. I was intimidated and scared and nervous in the beginning, she says. (She also hasnt burned once since.) When an order comes in, the whole duck goes into a 600-degree oven and Feliz sets a timer for exactly 18 minutes. She knows its done when the skin is candy-apple red. She glazes the duck with honey, lets it cook for two minutes, glazes it again before two more minutes in the oven, and then pulls the duck. The bird is left to rest for exactly 16 minutes. Feliz then carves the breast from the bone (the carcass is set aside to be put into a duck press for a separate pasta dish), carefully places it on a gold-rimmed plate, spoons more of the sweet honey-mustard sauce on top, sprinkles it with four or five crystals of flaky salt, and passes the plate off to a waiter who will roll it into the dining room on a silver trolley. The idea, Haar says, is every guest gets a perfectly roasted and rested duck breast. That only happens when the cook has excellent awareness of the flow of service, and the resolve to stay true to the technique during some extremely trying services.

During a typical service, Feliz will cook a dozen ducks for 24 orders. On the night Im in the kitchen to watch Feliz, she knows it will be busy even before shes finished setting up her station. Within 30 minutes of opening, a flurry of orders has already come in, but nothing for duck. I will be frustrated the whole night if I dont get to cook ducks, Feliz says, shaking her head. Finally, 15 minutes later, two orders for honey-mustard duckling roll off the ticket machine, and Feliz lights up as she readies them for the oven. Dont touch the ducks! she yells, exactly 18 minutes later, as the oven timer beeps. Shes busy seasoning a pork chop, but nobody else makes a move for the ducks. Feliz slides the chop into its own oven, then weaves through the kitchen, avoiding busboys, porters, and other line cooks to get to her duck. The other activity is a blur around her, but Feliz is silent and still. She peers in and decides that its time to glaze the skin. I check on them over and over, she says. Whether theres one duck in the oven or Im fired on eight things, it doesnt matter  I give it the attention it requires.News

Saudi security forces round up drug traffickers in raid

They were followed up and monitored by the security men after the first stopped on the side of the road, then the other followed him.The European Commission recently released a supplementary statement of objections on an in-depth investigation into alleged monopolistic practices of US chip supplier Qualcomm, after the commission fined Google high for breaching the antitrust rules of the European Union (EU).

The penalties, coming amid strained trade ties between the EU and the US, is regarded as a signal that good days of American technology giants in the EU will come to an end as Washington keeps increasing tariffs on EU products.

The statement is a procedural step of the investigation against Qualcomm based on the EU anti-monopoly rules, the commission said. The investigation against Qualcomm was initiated by the commission in December 2015 after the US chip maker was accused of monopoly practices by one of its major rivals.

The focus of the 2015 statement of objection was assessing whether or not Qualcomm had sold chipsets at prices below cost in order to edge out its competitors, while the supplementary statement issued this time will mainly conduct investigation on how much below cost the US company was selling its baseband chips.

The EU has already fined Qualcomm following the previous antitrust investigation. In January this year, the European Commission disclosed that between 2011 and 2016, Qualcomm had been making significant payments to Apple on condition it would not buy from rivals.

An agreement signed by the two made clear that Qualcomm would reduce the payments to Apple if the latter breached the rule.

The EU decided to fine Qualcomm $1.23 billion, which equaled 4.9 percent of the company's turnover in 2017, as the agreement was found to have severely violated EU antitrust rules and adversely affected fair market competition.

This time, Qualcomm might face penalties of up to $2.3 billion if the latest EU accusation against it turns out to be true. The figure is 1/10 of the companys global revenue  with the ratio being the upper limit of fines for monopoly practices under EU rules.

The EU judicial department disclosed recently that it had sent a new list of accusations to Qualcomm. Analysts pointed out that these papers usually reaffirm the preliminary conclusion drawn by the supervisory organization and explain the initial allegations to the company concerned.

The EU statement, though said to be just a routine procedure, is widely regarded as a counter measure against the high tariffs imposed on European products by the US amid the escalating trade disputes between the two parties.

It is noteworthy that just one day before announcing the additional investigation into Qualcomm, the EU fined Google a record-breaking 4.3 billion euros (around $5 billion) for monopoly.

The European Commission said it was fining the US tech giant for abusing the dominance of Android and pre-installing Google Search on Android devices to ensure that traffic on Android devices goes to the Google search engine and therefore cement its dominant position in general internet search and shut out its rivals from the market.

It was the second penalty Google had received from the EU this year, which was thought-provoking against the backdrop of the escalating trade tensions.Lies About South Sudanese Gaining Ground (1)

"Fr Saturnino Lohure, told parliament that there was no force in the world that would prevent the people of Southern Sudan to liberate themselves from the oppression of the Northern ruling class, if they- the Southern Sudanese- decided to do so."

By Atem Yaak Atem

It was the Nazi German propaganda minister, Paul Joseph Goebbels, who once said A lie told once remains a lie but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth.

Falsehoods about South Sudan abound. The perception by outsiders about the countrys political leaders, and by extension the entire people, is getting more negative especially after the outbreak of the armed conflict in 2013. The five-year long civil war is universally attributed, even by the protagonists themselves, to power struggle within the then ruling SPLM, the political component that spearheaded the armed struggle from 1983-2005.

We frequently read and hear unflattering description of ourselves as a deeply divided, insensitive, greedy for power, barbaric, incompetent and myopic, lot. This tainted image of who we are or assumed to be, comes from the regional and international news media, from our own politicians and from Sudans ruling National Congress Party, its leaders and their apologists.

Although there is some truth in that judgement, the profile does not separate the wheat from the chaff. The projection therefore suffers from gross generalisation. The vast majority of South Sudanese including a sizeable number within members of educated elite, are among the best people one would wish to have around as compatriots, neighbours or members of international community of nations. But that is a topic for another day and another forum.

Since refuting entrenched lies is a vast and complex subject with a potential for controversies, I will confine this writing to only three pieces of propaganda about the affairs of South Sudan in circulation now at home and abroad.

The first of these is the claim that majority of South Sudanese now regret the 2011 secession of their region from Sudan and that the desire for unification is growing and getting stronger. The second lie is that South Sudanese, especially members of their ruling elite, are a bunch of ethnocentric and greedy incompetents who cannot manage a modern state. The final fiction is the allegation that the SPLM, the party of liberation, is responsible for all that has gone wrong in South Sudan since its inception in 1983.

I strongly disagree with those who sing or believe these and similar blanket allegations. In the three articles that I am publishing, I state an allegation, explain relevant facts surrounding the issue, and conclude with my repudiations supported by citing examples from our recent history.

Now let us begin with the first charge, the allegation that South Sudanese want to reverse the decision they made in 2011 to vote with their feet, escaping from the cage that was Sudan.

Irrelevant analogy of the 1990 reunification of Germany

While watching one of Sudans TV channels a couple of weeks ago, a certain Imam Mohammed Imam, who was commenting on the news review on the recent peace agreement signed in Khartoum by South Sudans warring parties, told his interviewer that there was a call, presumably among South Sudanese, for the reunification of Sudan and South Sudan. Imam who was introduced as a journalist and analyst, further claimed that a reunification of the two Sudans could follow the example of Federal Republic of Germany and East German Democratic Republic in 1990.

The analyst (a person who referred to the Sudanese president as His Excellency, my brother Omar el Bashir cannot be expected to make an objective analysis of the issues at hand) in his talk got it all wrong. And now over to the two sets of countries, West Germany and East Germany on the one hand and Sudan and South Sudan on the other.

Germany and Sudan compared

There is nothing in common between the German nation that existed before World War Two and the Sudan that split into two in 2011. In the case of the Germany that came into being in 1871, the Prussian politician, Otto von Bismarck, had several commonalities that helped him achieve the unity of Germany he pursued.

Among those blocks for nation building were language, provided by Deutsch or German. Second, the constituent mini-states that came to be collectively known as Germany, shared common history. Third, although the Germans by faith belonged to Catholic and Protestant sects, they were all members of one large family namely, Christendom. Finally, although this may be debatable, the peoples who came to form the German state considered themselves as belonging to one race in broad terms. This point is important to include in the list of ingredients that are assumed to contribute to national unity. As we shall see later in the case of Sudan, where since independence in 1956 to the present day, its leaders see ethnic affiliation to the ruling class as a necessary condition for full citizenship and attendant rights.

War divided Germany

During World War Two Nazi Germany led by Adolf Hitler was at war with Great Britain, France, and later the US and the former Soviet Union. When Germany was defeated in 1945, the Western allies occupied the western part that later became the Federal Republic of West Germany with its capital at Bonn, next door to Cologne. The eastern part where Soviet Union was an occupying power, set up German Democratic Republic, or GDR.

Berlin an epitome of division

Matters did not end there. Under the post-war agreement, Berlin the former capital of Germany, was carved up by allies with the US, Great Britain, France and the USSR, each taking a zone. While the former capital of one Germany was inside the territory that had become GDR, the divided city became one of the puzzles of the 20th century. East Berlin became the capital of GDR while West Berlin was to occupy an anomalous status: a replica of the Federal Republic of Germany in everything from free market and ungagged press to being an ocean of economic prosperity.

To prevent its citizens from fleeing to West Berlin next door, the authorities in GDR erected a physical barrier overnight in 1961, cutting off persons who had gone to visit families and relatives living across the divided city. And the communist government in East Germany meant business: the wall was to be patrolled with tanks, anti-personnel landmines and armed police ready to shoot anyone trying to escape to West Berlin. Many East Germans lost their lives while attempting to escape to the other side of the divide.

Anyone who had visited the Wall, which came down in November 1989, could not fail to observe at close quarters the two systems, communist and capitalist, and what each stood for. On the GDR side, a visitor could see drab buildings, most of them draped in scarlet flags, a police state where foreigners and citizens alike were under constant watch of secret police, a city whose citizens, mostly youth, were dying to acquire pop music (in those days in cassettes), blue jeans and other luxuries from the Western world their own government was ceaselessly denouncing as decadent and dehumanising.

To be fair, comparing life led by the East Germans then was much better than the living conditions in African countries under one-party or military rule at the time. The East Germans were missing luxury goods and sometimes basic commodities were scarce but none was starving, in rags or dying from preventable disease; the state provided employment, housing, basic education and health care for all.

Collapse of communism paved way for reunification

By the end of the 1980s the communist system was imploding in the Soviet Union and in its satellite states which included the GDR. Berlin Wall fell and soon after GDR was no more. Whether it was the triumph of an ideology over its rival that led to the demise of communism, is not the concern of this review. What is relevant here is that the German people, in the east or in the west, who had never any conflict with one another in the first place nor any of them chosen to walk out of unity, were once more able to reunite when the conditions that separated them were no longer there.

That after the reunification, the system that governed the Federal Republic of Germany- legal, education, economic, the currency and so on- swallowed their counterparts in the GDR, is again not the concern of this piece. What is relevant in this account is that the act of union was approved by the legislative and executive bodies of the then divided parts of Germany. In other words, the division of Germany was carried out by outside powers at the time the vanquished people had no meaningful say over the fate of their own country. In the reunification process, the German people from east and west, were the decision makers although the former war time allies played some role.

Neither the East nor the West was the oppressor of the other; there was no memory of past bitterness or inequality in the German situation, except the role of the Nazi party which dragged their country to disastrous European conflict, which had its roots in struggle for supremacy.

Now it is our turn to look at Sudan using the above parameters from which one could draw their own conclusion(s).

Sudan from Turco-Egyptian Sudan 1821

Sudan which split into two in 2011, on the other hand was an artificial construct created by the Egyptians with their Turkish masters and later in 1898 with their British.

What became known as Sudan was (and still remains) characterised by a bewildering mosaic of cultural and ethnic diversity during the Turco-Egyptian invasion and later after the establishment of joint British-Egyptian rule or the Condominium.

For much of its time in Sudan, the Condominium administration introduced socio-economic development in Northern Sudan by way of opening schools, health centres and setting up basic infrastructure such as railway and roads.

The problem of the South to the foreign rulers was how to administer law and order or pacification by which the authorities wanted to tame tribal peoples they considered truculent. In that respect it was not only lack of a plan by the foreign rulers to open up what is today South Sudan; they did not even know what to do with the territory and its people. The South itself was and still is a land of great diversity in language, culture and religion.

Natural barriers such as the Sudd became an obstacle to penetration of the area. This, too, has been used as an excuse for neglecting its inhabitants and its economic potential.

Diversity a pretext for exclusion

Diversity in itself is not a bad thing as long as it is managed in a way that gives all the citizens equal rights and fair deal in share of power, national wealth and citizenship. In Sudan, however, the ruling Northern elite saw such cultural diversity as an impediment to their nation-building project. If the country was to be truly united, they argued, the ingredients should be one language, Arabic; one faith, Islam; one culture, Arabism as a national calling card.

That agenda indirectly meant assimilation of others or their exclusion from the Sudanese state and their equal rights as citizens. Ali Abdurrahman of the Peoples Democratic Party that was allied to the Khatimiyya religious sect, brazenly told Southern Sudanese who questioned that racist agenda to better leave Sudan.

This is what happened immediately after independence in 1956.

When the Southern representatives in the legislature in Khartoum teamed up with their compatriots from the other marginalised peripheries to demand their rights, the sectarian leaders panicked and invited the army to take power in order to silence the regional voice of reason.

The military actually went further than that: criminalised talk about federalism, vigorously implemented forceful Islamisation and Arabicisation in the South. Bureaucrats and teachers in particular had to return to school to learn Arabic or lose their jobs.

Sunday, the day of rest in the South became a working day while the Muslim day of worship, Friday took its place. Foreign missionaries, some were also contributing to education besides their spiritual calling, working in the South were expelled en mass.

South Sudanese often forget what most of their leaders of the day did to address the problem of naked racism. Before the military took power, one of the representatives from the South, Fr Saturnino Lohure, told parliament that there was no force in the world that would prevent the people of Southern Sudan to liberate themselves from the oppression of the Northern ruling class, if they- the Southern Sudanese- decided to do so.

It is not surprising that the priest-cum-politician soon after became one of the leaders of the liberation of what is today South Sudan.

Lest we forget

Before we resume the narrative in part two of this piece in the next edition, it is important to quote a traditional maxim in reference to the allegations Khartoum is spreading around about calls among South Sudanese for reunification of the two countries. The adage goes. E jo yen e ke kke dhuk. Translated into English this Dinka saying literally means [Only] a dog is the one who goes back to [eat] its vomit. South Sudanese whose forebears fought for justice for over 70 years cannot contemplate such a bewildering act.

The writer is a South Sudanese journalist and former founding director of Radio SPLA.



Haiti - Politics : Special measures during the transitional period





Following the resignation of Prime Minister Jack-Guy Lafontant and his Government https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-24957-haiti-flash-resignation-of-the-prime-minister-lafontant.html the Head of Government in a circular addressed to the resigning ministers, informs them of the special measures to be observed for the dispatch of current affairs, during the whole period of transition to a new Government.



Circulaire #19 :



"Distinguished Ministers,



Following the resignation of the Government, which entails for him the sole mission of dispatching current affairs, in accordance with the Constitution, the following measures shall be adopted and shall apply immediately :



Out-of-country trips by Ministers and other Great State Officials are suspended. Urgent cases arising from imperative necessity for the State will be subject to special authorization ;





Any new appointment or hiring by contract in the public administration is prohibited ;





The Ministers and the administrative authorities of the various structures of the Administration redouble their vigilance by ensuring the protection of State property and the image of the Administration through responsible and prudent management.



Jack-Guy Lafontant"



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25000-haiti-economic-forum-resignation-of-the-pm-and-the-government-a-reasonable-solution-to-the-crisis.html

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-24993-icihaiti-politic-prime-minister-s-letter-of-resignation.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-24974-haiti-politic-evans-paul-deplores-the-anti-democratic-statements-of-lafontant.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-24968-haiti-flash-the-deputy-tardieu-condemns-the-discriminatory-and-racist-statements-of-the-outgoing-pm.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-24958-haiti-flash-message-to-the-nation-of-president-jovenel-moise.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-24957-haiti-flash-resignation-of-the-prime-minister-lafontant.html



HL/ HaitiLibre





















Haiti - Bon Repos : A market to clear sidewalks and public roads





As part of its policy of freeing sidewalks and public streets from merchants, trestles and other bulky objects that hinder the movement of vehicles and pedestrians, causing traffic jams and representing an element of insecurity for the lives of residents, merchants and passers-by, the Municipal Council of Croix-des-Bouquets, tackles the problem of the presence of merchants on the sidewalks of the streets of Bon Repos.



Before removing these merchants from sidewalks and public roads, the Town Hall of Croix-des-Bouquets, identified a space and initiated work for the construction and development of a public market, which will be called "Mache Pasyans" , located at the entrance of Corail / Cesselesse main road, on the national road #3.



In order to inform and educate merchants who illegally and anarchically occupy the public road, of this street clearance operation, a publicity spot is broadcast in the media and also on a sound vehicle that circulates daily in the various arteries of the places targeted by this operation.



As soon as the market is finished, all the merchants from the Bon Repos area will be invited to leave the streets. The Mucipal Council solicits the understanding of the merchants in the framework of this decision which aims more at their interests and their protection "Lari se pou machin, trotwa pou pyeton, mache pou machann."



HL/ HaitiLibre





















Haiti - Politic : Termination of the lease of the official residence of the President of the Senate





Wednesday, Joseph Lambert, the Senate Speaker informed the general public that the Conference of Presidents, convened to the extraordinary Tuesday, July 24, considered a set of measures to achieve substantial cuts to the budget of the Senate, under a regime of austerity voluntarily accepted because consistent with the economic and financial situation of the country.



The first provision adopted unanimously by this Conference refers to the termination of the lease of the house to be used as official residence for the President of the National Assembly. For this purpose, the owner, accompanied by his law firm, responded to the invitation of the Senate and an agreement was found on the termination clauses.



The Senators continue to carefully analyze the other provisions. In the interest of transparency, the population will be informed regularly, as the approval of the Conference of Presidents will be obtained for the implementation of the measures proposed by the President of the Senate who remains attentive to all sectors of national life.



Let's recall that this official residence had raised many criticisms both in opposition to the Senate https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-24989-haiti-politic-at-the-senate-dirty-laundry-is-washed-in-public.html than in the population in this period of austerity. This residence was rented furnished at the cost of 7.2 million Gourdes and authorized by the Conference of Presidents in March 2018 and the contract was signed by the Questor and approved by the President of the National Assembly and the Superior Court of Accounts .



"I salute the patriotic decision of President Joseph Lambert who, after holding the Conference of Presidents Tuesday in the Senate, terminated the contract of his official residence. Bravo !" decalred the Deputy Gary Bodeau, Speaker of the Lower House.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-24989-haiti-politic-at-the-senate-dirty-laundry-is-washed-in-public.html



HL/ HaitiLibre

















(HedgeCo.Net) The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a former professional trader with allegedly participating in a serial insider trading scheme with an investment banker and his father that generated $1.1 million in illicit profits.

According to the SECs complaint, Robert Stewart recruited his friend, defendant Richard T. Cunniffe to place trades based on inside information that Robert received from his son, Sean Stewart, an investment banker. Cunniffe allegedly cashed in on those tips by placing trades for himself and Robert. The SECs complaint charges Cunniffe with violating antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. Cunniffe, who cooperated in the investigation and previously pled guilty to criminal charges, has agreed to settle the SECs civil charges against him. The settlement, which is subject to court approval, orders injunctive relief, disgorgement and interest, but no penalty. The SEC barred Cunniffe from the securities industry based on his guilty plea.

The SEC previously charged Sean Stewart and Robert Stewart in a separate complaint, and obtained a final judgment against Robert Stewart, who also pled guilty to criminal charges. The SECs action against Sean Stewart is pending and seeks permanent injunctions, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus interest, and civil penalties.Halla-aho argued on Facebook that distributing public funds is inevitably an act of prioritisation and pointed out that the university has decided to discontinue funding for research in antiquity and a lectureship in classical archaeology, while launching courses in Islamic theology.

Jussi Halla-aho, the chairperson of the Finns Party, has echoed the concerns of his party comrades about a decision to establish a lectureship in Islamic theology at the University of Helsinki.

This what it has come to, he bemoaned.

The objective is to help us Finns to better understand the Islamic minority that has been created intentionally in Finland and, obviously, to prevent the aforementioned [minority] from radicalising.

His interpretation was rejected by Antti Rasanen, the dean of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Helsinki. Rasanen reminded that the scientific fields do not compete against each other for funding.

These questions are by no means related to each other in this particular case, he stated to Uusi Suomi. The fact that the Ministry of Education has granted us special strategic funding for studies in Islamic theology isnt taking away funds from anything else.

The University of Helsinki on Monday announced academic studies and research in Islamic theology will begin on 3 September 2018 with the aim of developing a deeper, multidimensional understanding of Islam and the lives of modern-day Muslims.

There has been a demand for academic study in Islamic theology for a while now, said Rasanen.

The lectureship will be held by Mulki Al-Sharmani, an academy research fellow who has focused on Islamic interpretive tradition, Islamic feminist hermeneutics, and Islamic family laws and marriage and divorce practices.

The lectureship is only the first step towards developing the new area of study at the Faculty of Theology.

We aim to develop research-based curricula and teaching that will equip students with multidisciplinary understanding of Islamic textual tradition and its complex role and significance in the lives of contemporary Muslims. Thus the teaching will combine both textual and ethnographic approaches, told Al-Sharmani.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Roni Rekomaa  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi SuomiHigh-tech sectors have been put on a main battlefield of the trade war unilaterally provoked by the US, which has already angered the whole world.

From the fine on Chinese tech firm ZTE, to the high tariffs levied on Chinese high-tech products, the US administration is aiming at nothing but containing the development of Chinas high-tech industry.

How can Chinas high-tech enterprises, especially those in the internet information sector gain a foothold when facing the overwhelming technological monopoly of the US?

The answer, I believe, is to step up efforts on research and development of the countrys own technologies, and build a safe and controllable system of information technology.

Some believe that Chinese high-tech industry should establish its own advantages, but the fact is that China has always been in a passive and defensive position in this monopolized market. Though the country has made tremendous achievements in internet information technologies, it still sees a large gap between itself and the US.

China is still dependent on other countries in many core technologies, and many foreign products and services still monopolize its market. A risk control is more important against such background.

It is almost impossible to break monopoly in the information technology industry, which is different with some traditional industries like auto sector.

The automobile market is also dominated by some big names, but the emerging manufacturers still have space to expand ground through differentiation and co-exist with the former comers. The competition is fierce, but the market is far from being monopolized.

However, that is not the case in the information technology sector. Only a few brands can exist under each sub-sector, and even excellent new technology probably cannot survive the competition. For instance, the Windows operating system of the Microsoft has monopolized users desktops, but it still tumbled in the mobile operating system competition.

The failure of Microsoft in this area is not because of technologies, but the lack of ecology. Similarly, Intel has control over both desktop and server markets with its advanced CPU technologies, but its performance in the mobile sector is far from passable.

Both examples indicate that the existing monopoly in information technology industry may kill new techniques, even the great ones.

In other words, the information technology industry is challenged more by monopoly. As a result, apart from making breakthroughs in research, China also has to find a way to break the monopolies of transnational corporations in order to gain a foothold on the market.

Absolute fairness doesnt exist in internet information industry, not to mention orders and rationality. We therefore cannot count on reasoning with the US in hope of ending its monopoly.

Its not easy for new technologies to coexist with monopolists in the internet information industry. In light of such backdrop, China would take considerable time developing its own controllable alternative solutions in the future. The process might have two finishes: failure or success. As long as the alternative solutions work out as planned, they will finally gain a foothold.

In general, whether new technologies can replace old ones depends on both their own competitiveness and ecology, and the latter is sometimes more decisive. It can be well explained by the above two examples of Microsoft and Intel.

As a matter of fact, the number of users and number of technologies are in a proportional relation. Such virtuous circle calls for enough support from the market, otherwise the technology wont survive a chance.

Given such background, research and market should be given equal weight when developing internet information technology, as Chinese President Xi Jinping has also stressed the importance of intensified research on core technology under the guidance of market.

Currently, a majority of the internet information markets have been monopolized by foreign enterprises, so the exploitation of government procurement market is of vital importance for China.

China has not yet joined the WTOs Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA), so its government procurement market remains closed. This sector, as a result, enjoys a great chance in developing Chinas own core technologies.

Though it only accounts for a very small percentage of the countrys general market, it still has a size equivalent to that of a major European country thanks to Chinas huge economic aggregate.

China started to develop controllable alternative solutions on electronic official documents in 2014 under the instructions made by Xi in December 20, 2013. The fruits scored in this field have encouraged the development of other sectors.

For instance, the secure intranet project built by China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation Limited (CASIC) has become the countrys largest controllable production system with the best performance. The system, which now serves 100,000 users, is a result of 4 years research and development and an investment of 300 million yuan.

The domestically-developed controllable alternative solutions are expected to be extended in the information technology sector, and the core technology will break the monopoly of foreign brands and gain a foothold in the market.

It will also ensure the Internet security of government and other important sectors, replenish the short boards of Chinas internet information technologies and ultimately help the country get rid of its dependence on others.

(Ni Guangnan is a researcher at Institute of Computing Technology of Chinese Academy of Sciences and an academician at Chinese Academy of Engineering.)Nerg on Wednesday told Maaseudun Tulevaisuus that otherwise the smallest counties would have to resort to consolidations in order to be able to perform their statutory responsibilities.

Paivi Nerg, the permanent state secretary at the Ministry of Finance, has predicted that the number of counties to be established in the social, health care and regional government reform will decrease from the 18 proposed by the government of Prime Minister of Juha Sipila (Centre).

Twelve or even five wouldve been a better alternative for rescue services. But if the number of counties had been smaller at the preparatory phase, the outcry wouldve been even even worse, she explained in an interview with the newspaper published in Helsinki.

No more than a dozen counties was also the recommendation of experts when the government launched its effort to find broader shoulders for social and health care services. Central Ostrobothnia with its population of 68,700 and Kainuu with its population of 73,800 are currently the smallest counties to be established in inland Finland.

Mikko Kiesilalinen (Greens), the managing director at Libera Foundation, told YLE that policy makers have been aware of the temporary nature of the 18-county system for a while.

Every expert said at the preparatory phase that five to 12 would be a suitable number of counties. The smallest counties in the 18-county system are set to be roughly the same size as certain districts of Helsinki, he commented to the public broadcasting company on Wednesday.

He also reminded that consolidating counties will present its own challenges.

If you take into consideration how difficult it has been to reduce the number of counties, itll take a lot of work and suffering to decrease the number from 18. I think it would've been considerably better to use a more rational number as the basis of the regional government reform from the get-go, he explained.

Nerg on Wednesday refrained from speculating on the fate of the social, health care and regional government reform. Well find out in the autumn, she retorted to Maaseudun Tulevaisuus.

She also characterised the political wrangle surrounding the massive reform as a bubble and expressed her confidence that the public is supportive of the reform: The only bubble is in the Parliament, whereas the rest of Finland would like to move forward.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Antti Aimo-Koivisto  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi SuomiNile Rodgers and Chic | Henley Festival | Friday, July 13

IN seven years of attending the Henley Festival, Nile Rodgers and Chics headline performance last Friday was by far the most energetic Ive witnessed. The funk and soul legend, who was accompanied by his six-strong band and glamorous vocalists Kimberly Davis and Folami Ankoanda-Thompson, was so hotly anticipated that spectators were on their feet before a single note had even been played.

Any sense of formality arising from the black-tie dress code instantly evaporated as the musicians launched into a trio of Chic originals  Everybody Dance, Dance Dance Dance and I Want Your Love.

Having warmed up the audience, Rodgers told them: This may be the most amazing crowd Ive ever seen in my life. Whoever came up with the concept of a black tie festival is a genius  you guys look like the cover of a Chic album!

He showcased his talents as a songwriter and producer with a medley of Im Coming Out and Upside Down, both originally performed by Diana Ross, and Sister Sledges Hes The Greatest Dancer and We Are Family.

The setlist then flashed forward a decade as the group performed Eighties hits Like A Virgin by Madonna and Notorious by Duran Duran, the latter of which saw the occupants of passing boats waving bright white lights in time to the music.

By this point, the sun had set and the audience were bathed in brilliant white spotlights from the stage as they danced away with increasing abandon  lubricated, no doubt, by the copious amounts of champagne that were flowing.

Despite his obvious talent, Rodgers generously shared the limelight with his fellow musicians. He frequently left the singing to Davis, who showcased some blinding vocal acrobatics in an extended a cappella outro to the Seventies medley.

Of course, Rodgers himself was no slouch on the musical front. He didnt play a single note that could be considered a guitar solo, instead showcasing his virtuosity through the intricate watertight rhythm work that has become his trademark.

The lead instrumentation was played by bassist Jerry Barnes, who stood shoulder to shoulder with his bandleader while slapping and popping some seriously funky licks.

Some of the loudest cheers went up for the bands cover of Get Lucky by Daft Punk, which Rodgers revealed he wrote with the French duo and Pharrell Williams while recovering from cancer.

Following the inevitable rendition of Chics 1978 signature hit Le Freak, the show closed in true disco style as about 50 spectators were invited up on stage to dance to the closing number Good Times. The sense of fun was so infectious that security were kept busy stopping others from climbing up and joining them.

As the band said their goodbyes and retired, the screams from the audience proved theyd followed PT Barnums golden rule: always leave em wanting more.

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Since his death on the battlefield on Sept. 4, 1967, many Marines who knew Rev. Vincent Capodanno have called their chaplain a saint and have offered testimonies to his bravery, compassion and genuine holiness. Nearly four decades later, after the Catholic Church has authorized the Archdiocese for the Military Services to proceed with Capodannos Cause for Canonization, an active campaign is underway to have the Maryknoll priest named a saint.

As part of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, during Operation Swift, Rev. Capodanno was killed while consoling a dying corpsman. Already wounded, he refused to leave the battlefield, saying he had work to do comforting dying soldiers. As he went to save a soldier, he was shot 27 times in the back and face, and his hand was nearly severed. He died from his wounds.

Capodanno was a post  humous recipient of the Medal of Honor. In his memory, chapels, a boulevard, military buildings, a scholarship fund and a frigate have been named for him. His story was told in the 2003 book by Daniel Mode, The Grunt Padre.

Tons of unexploded ordnance removed from Vietnam

The Britain-based Mines Advisory Group (MAG) recently announced that since it began humanitarian mine action in Vietnam in 1999, more than 100,000 landmines and items of unexploded ordnance have been removed from two prov inces straddling the former demilitarized zone. At the end of the war, Vietnamese officials estimat  ed that between 350,000 and 700,000 tons of unexploded ordnance still remained scattered across the country.

Old U.S. allies still hiding in Laos

They call themselves Americas forgotten soldiers. Unable to return to civilized Laos, they remain trapped, living in the jungle for safety. During the Vietnam War, the CIA employed thousands of Hmong men to fight the Communists as jungle warriors. The Laotian Communist government still considers them the enemy, and the jungle is home to these veterans and their families.

According to a report in The New York Times, the Hmong are isolated, hungry and sometimes even hunted. They say they are always on the run from the Laotians who hunt and kill them, and they move their camps every few weeks to avoid attacks. Since they are so far away from any rice paddies or hamlets, at night, armed with their AK-47s, they travel to farmers to get food and supplies. The uniforms and guns they use for protection were acquired from Laotian troops who fled a firefight in 1999.

The Hmong fighters have gotten some positive attention in recent years as human rights groups have issued reports condemning the Laotian government for attacking those who worked with the Americans. Many Hmong believe that the United States is responsible and should help them. We want America to give us a place to live, said veteran Va Chang, 60. If the Americans dont want to do that, he said, they should drop a big bomb on us and end our misery.

Since 1975, when the Communists took over Laos, approximately 250,000 Laotian refugees have immigrated to the United States, including more than 115,000 Hmong.

Vietnam veteran PTSD cases on rise since 9/11

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has seen a 59 percent increase in the number of Vietnam veterans who seek counseling for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) at its mental health centers, according to a VA report. The number increased from some 123,800 veterans in 2001 to more than 196,800 in 2006, VA officials report. Veteran center psychologists say Vietnam veterans are challenged on two fronts: the war on terror, and retirement. Many Vietnam veterans theyre treating kept their PTSD issues in check as they worked full-time jobs and raised families. But any number of triggers, ranging from the ongoing conflicts to personal problems such as divorce or seeing their children move out of the house, can bring back PTSD. Counselors re commend that veterans avoid watching too much television news about Iraq and Afghanistan.

Honoring a soldiers best friend

The Vietnam Dog Handler Association estimates that dogs saved 10,000 soldiers lives during the Vietnam War, by alerting handlers to tripwires blowing in the breeze or to the otherwise un  detectable scent of buried explosives. Some of the canines worked as scout dogs, alerting handlers to foreign scents and sniffing out land mines, snipers, enemy sentries and patrol camps; others worked as sentry dogs to guard and protect bases, airfields, ammunition dumps and fuel dumps. It is believed that the dogs lessened the chance of an ambush while on combat patrol and also lifted soldier morale. Veterans have been lobbying for a national monument that recognizes the nations canine war heroes. Now, legislation included in the House 2008 defense authorization bill would establish such a national memorial at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. After meeting a war dog handler at a Memorial Day event, Rep. Walter B. Jones (RN.C.) agreed to sponsor the bill for the national monument. Many war dog handlers have been pushing for a tribute to the dogs they had to leave behind when they returned to the United States after World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

Agent Orange reported used on Guam

Retired U.S. government workers and military service members say that during the Vietnam War they handled Agent Orange on Guam and sprayed the cancer-causing herbicide around the islands U.S. Air Force base, according to a Marianas Variety newspaper report. The former employees and service members say that they handled Agent Orange at Andersen Air Force Base in the mid-1960s, when U.S. B-52 bombers were dropping the herbicide on North Vietnamese jungles. They also say that Agent Orange was sprayed around the base to kill vegetation.

The workers presented their testimony in support of Guam congressional delegate Madeleine Bordallos effort to offer an amendment to federal legislation to provide compensation for those who may have been affected by Agent Orange. A federal law only covers personnel who were exposed to Agent Orange in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.

Originally published in the April 2008 issue of Vietnam Magazine. To subscribe, click here.Consumers shop for pork at a supermarket in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province. File photo: VCG

The US $12 billion agricultural aid program to support its farmers will not be sustainable, experts said, and US farmers will ultimately lose out in the ongoing trade tension between China and the US, with the entire supply chain being disrupted.

Aiming to remedy US farmers' losses, the US government announced on Tuesday that it would provide $12 billion to support the agricultural sector, including direct payments to hog farms, according to Reuters.

"This is a really ironic action. The US has long criticized China's industrial subsidies and now the US is doing it," a Chinese expert, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Global Times, adding that US President Donald Trump took the decision mainly for political purposes ahead of midterm elections.

But "the move is not sustainable," Li Yuanlong, a hog farmer in Xingtai, North China's Hebei Province, who has about 10,000 pigs, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Li noted that the US government is basically trying to help its farmers at the same time as hurting them with the trade war.

Ma Wenfeng, a senior analyst at Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultancy, said that US farmers have been hurt not just by the tariffs but by disruptions to their supply chain, and temporary relief efforts won't fix the situation.

"It is more than just the tariffs. The trade dispute also disrupts the procedures for importing and exporting, which could have an even bigger impact than the tariffs," Ma said.

"It is hard to say that Chinese farmers will definitely benefit from this, but US farmers will definitely lose out," Ma told the Global Times.

As part of a broader response to punitive US tariffs on Chinese goods, China has slapped a 25 percent tariff on US pork imports, which has offered some respite for Chinese hog farmers who have been hit by low pork prices since Spring Festival in February.

Zero exports

"After losing about 200 yuan ($29.6) on each pig since Spring Festival because of extremely low prices, we can now break even," Li said. "It is not ideal but it is certainly a relief."

According to Li, just last week, pork prices increased to about 6 yuan per 500 grams from around 5 yuan before.

While other seasonal factors may have influenced prices, including oversupply in a low-demand period following Spring Festival, the tariffs on US pork imports "definitely had something to do with the increase," he said.

Meanwhile, US pork exports to China dropped by 9 percent from the beginning of the year to 60,265 tons at the end of May, according to data from the US Meat Export Federation.

And in recent weeks, the US Agricultural Department has reported "zero" weekly pork exports to China. The exports have "pretty much collapsed," National Public Radio quoted Mary Lovely, an economist at Syracuse University, as saying.

Ma Changshou, who runs a large hog farm in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, told the Global Times that he does not know exactly how the trade dispute is affecting his business. But, "if the cost of US pork in the Chinese market increases, then it loses its competitive edge and that's good for us."People may wonder why the US government started the product exclusion process for Chinese products subject to Section 301 tariffs through the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) only a few hours after announcing tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese products. The public can file exclusion requests until October 9 this year. Any exclusions granted have to meet three requirements and will be effective for one year.

The intention of the US can easily be seen. The US is desperate to rescue its domestic companies while trying to hurt China. In the $34 billion list, roughly 59 percent of the goods are made in China by multinational companies, 70 percent of which are US firms. And the products manufactured by China are irreplaceable in the global production chain. So the US has to come up with a way to avoid damage to its companies.

Can product exclusions save US companies? On the long list of items subject to the US tariffs, a large portion is travel products including luggage, wallets and backpacks. The market for travel products is worth $31 billion, and 87 percent of the products are made in China. Matthew Shay, CEO of the National Retail Federation (NRF), recently said the tariffs are hurting American consumers instead of resolving trade issues with China.

"Retailers cannot easily or quickly change their global supply chains," said Jonathan Gold, NRF vice president for supply chain and customs policy. Nearly 70 percent of US firms in China oppose the use by the US of tariffs as bargaining chips, according to a report by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. They probably do not want to join the line of those applying for exclusions.

Many US high-tech companies have high expectations for China's manufacturing potential and are hoping for long-term cooperation. Even if they get product exclusions, they will only be valid for one year. The US government has pushed its elite companies into a hard position, and many may eventually move their production facilities to China or even build their headquarters here, like Tesla.

If US President Donald Trump escalates the trade friction by extending the tariffs to $200 billion worth of Chinese products, the damage to US firms will increase. And the opposition to his policies will also become stronger. The companies do not want to lose the Chinese market, which has enormous consumption potential. And despite some ups and down, US firms in China have mostly had a smooth path. But they could not withstand the collapse of Sino-US trade relations.

It is worth noting that US firms have seen relatively low investment return rates in China, and this has been distorted into an example of unfair treatment by China. But this situation is common and has been seen by foreign firms operating in many markets, including Japan, Australia and European countries. Most US firms in China are optimistic about China's stability and the sustainability of its market. They hope China can keep up the pace of its opening-up, better protect intellectual property rights, and lower the bar for entering the market. Therefore, few US companies have left China. Data released by China's Ministry of Commerce shows that in the first half of this year, there was an increase of 96.6 percent year-on-year in the new companies registered by foreign investors in China.

And the number of foreign investors is expected to keep growing in the next five years. China aims to create the best environment for businesses around the world. The product exclusion process announced by the US shows that the Trump administration needs to clean up its own mess as the tariffs have so many drawbacks and are only drawing opposition. China will keep to its opening-up promises and will be a firm defender of free trade and multilateralism.

The author is executive deputy director of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges.Noting that serious problems were being experienced as a result of a practice launched by the British Aviation officials on "Ercan"-London flights to disembark passengers from the plane in Istanbul for a second security check, Ozersay argued that the same practice observed by the Pegasus Airlines on London-"Ercan" flights was causing another victimization of passengers.

He said based on his contacts with Pegasus Airlines officials yesterday, a positive development will take place on the issue within a few days and at least on London-"Ercan" flights, the passengers will no longer be disembarked from the plane and pass through security checks in Turkey.

In his statement, Ozersay also thanked Turkish officials and Pegasus Airlines officials. "Now it's time to take steps for lifting the meaningless practice demanded by the British government on Ercan-London flights", he said adding that they will do their best for the lifting of this practice.

[02] "A letter from Arikli to Cavusoglu"

Arikli explained that he gave a letter to Cavusoglu during the meeting with representatives of political parties in the "parliament", adding that in the letter he explains his views and proposals.

In the letter, Arikli reiterated the views of his party that the talks on federation have lost their meaning and "two-state solution" or "confederation" proposals should be on the agenda, adding that Turkey's guarantees are "sine qua non" for them.

Referring to the opening of the fenced off town of Varosha, Arikli said that in the letter "they proposed that one of the steps that the TRNC unilaterally could do is the opening of the fenced-off town of Varosha for use by its former owners under Turkish administration".

(DPs)

[03] The Ravelin Bastion in occupied Famagusta is locked

The paper further reports that many tourists, who are visiting the old city of occupied Famagusta, cannot enter the Ravelin Bastion, adding that this has caused reaction.

Okan Dagli, member of Famagusta Initiative, speaking to the paper, made a call to the "department of antiquities" to keep open to visitors the Ravelin Bastion, the Mantinegro Bastion and the Othello Tower, which are considered the most important monuments of the old city of Famagusta.

(DPs)

[B] Turkish Press

[01] Erdogan evaluates Syria situation ahead of Putin meeting in South Africa

"Developments in Syria, whether in Tal Rifaat or Manbij, are not going as desired. The only places [in Syria] that are going in the desired direction are Afrin, Jarablus and al-Bab," Erdogan said on July 25, speaking at a news conference in the capital Ankara prior to his visit to Johannesburg where he will attend the BRICS summit.

The Turkish President said events in Idlib, held by Syrian rebels, and Daraa, currently under a heavy offensive by the Syrian regime, will also be addressed during his meeting with Putin.

"The issue about Daraa is problematic. We will put this issue on our agenda again. There is also the issue of Idlib, which we will discuss, because in these places anything can happen at any time," he said.

"What we want is that the Syrian people will be protected from these attacks and particularly the brutal attacks of some organizations in the region," he said.

The Kremlin said Erdogan was due to meet Putin on July 26 on the sidelines of the annual BRICS summit.

[02] IYI Party leader Aksener quits despite strong support

"My decision not to be nominated as chair in the next convention is firm," Aksener said on her Twitter account on July 25. "IYI Party needs to continue under a new management."

Aksener had first announced her decision during a weekend party meeting after strong criticisms over her performance in the June 24 presidential elections. She had announced to convene an extraordinary convention in August, stressing that she won't run for leadership.

But prominent politicians of the party said the only candidate they support for leadership would be Aksener, suggesting that she will be presented as their nominee with signatures from every party member.

Dozens of party members have pressed Aksener on changing her mind, while a number of them have pitched tents in front of her house in Ankara to show support.

Aksener gained 7.3% of the votes in the presidential elections, only 2% less than her own party in the parliamentary polls. She was elected as the head of IYI Party late 2017.

[03] Turkey's parliament ratifies paid military service law

It was backed by lawmakers of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

The law enables Turkish citizens to complete their military service in just 21 days instead of 5.5 or 12 months if they are university graduates and pay an amount of money to the government through bank accounts.

According to the law, citizens born on or before Jan. 1, 1994 will be required to complete just 21 days of military service if they pay 15,000 Turkish liras ($3,141).

The law will be forwarded to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for approval and will later be published in the official gazette.

The Turkish Parliament will be on summer recess until Oct. 1.

(CS/AM)An Inquiry by the Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee, launched in response to investigations by Humane Society International/UK and media partners, published its report today calling on Government to hold a public consultation to consider whether to ban the import and sale of animal fur in the UK, post-Brexit. The report, welcomed by HSI/UK which leads the #FurFreeBritain campaign, also calls on the Government to introduce a new mandatory fur and animal product labelling regime to enable consumers to make informed buying choices.

In response to the Committees question Should the UK ban fur? HSI/UK presented detailed evidence of the inherent cruelty of fur farming and trapping, as well as the moral inconsistency between the UKs ban on fur farming and the importation of fur, described by the charity as outsourcing cruelty. Despite UK-wide bans of fur farming on ethical grounds since 2003, and EU bans on the sale of cat and dog fur (2007) and seal fur (2010), the UK still allows the import and sale of fur from a range of other species such as fox, rabbit, mink, coyote, racoon dog and chinchilla. The vast majority of these animals are factory-farmed in battery cage systems in countries such as China, Poland and Finland. According to the most recent trade statistics from HM Revenue & Customs, in the last year* the UK imported almost 75 million of animal fur (74,154,873). Its a double standard that HSI/UK hopes to see outlawed.

Take Action: Call for a #FurFreeBritain.

HSI/UK Executive Director Claire Bass said, The UK was the first country in the world to ban fur farming, after the British public, politicians and veterinary experts concluded that it is an inhumane and completely unnecessary industry. So it is total double standard for us to still be importing and selling fur from animals still suffering the same conditions we banned here. The UK Government has the opportunity to blaze a trail as the first country to ban the sale of all animal fur, so we are delighted that EFRA Committee members are pressing government to launch a public consultation to help inform and build that case. Our #FurFreeBritain campaign already has the support of the British public, veterinary experts, as well as an ever-growing list of retailers and designers who see that the future of fashion is fur-free. With innovation in textiles offering high quality humane alternatives to real fur, the fur trades days are clearly numbered, but it cant end quickly enough for the hundreds of millions of animals trapped and tormented in tiny cages. A UK ban would be a major nail in the coffin of this morally bankrupt industry.

The EFRA report is extremely critical of the mis-sale of animal fur as fake fur, a scandal exposed by HSI UK, and urges decisive action from retailers and Trading Standards to ensure that consumers are not sold fake faux fur. Evidence presented to the Committee by HSI/UK underlined deficiencies in the current labelling laws, including that there is no legal requirement to use the specific word fur on items containing real fur. Evidence submitted by HSI/UK showed the Committee numerous examples of real fur being sold as fake fur on the UK high street and online, commonly containing labels such as 100% acrylic. The Committee acknowledged the extent of the problem, stating that the current labelling system is confusing, not-fit-for purpose, and with a high degree of non-compliance. It is also not being enforced. The report recommends that a new labelling law should ensure that items containing fur should list the species, country of origin and method of production.

HSIs campaign for a fur import ban was also discussed in Parliament on June 4th in a Westminster Hall debate at which 32 MPs from across the political spectrum passionately spoke out in favour of banning fur imports from the United Kingdom, calling the fur trade vile, loathsome and the grimmest of human activities. Some of the fur bans most vocal political advocates include Kerry McCarthy, Sir Roger Gale, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP, Tim Loughton, Daniel Zeichner, Caroline Lucas, Maria Eagle and Zac Goldsmith.

The campaign has also garnered strong celebrity support; 31 of the countrys biggest celebrities  including Dame Judi Dench, Ricky Gervais, Alesha Dixon, Paloma Faith and Evanna Lynch, sent a letter to the Prime Minister calling for a fur import ban. The full letter and list of signatories can be read here.

And last month, Environment Secretary Michael Gove received a letter from 50 veterinarians and animal experts speaking out against cruel fur farming. The full letter and list of signees can be read here. Take action and donate to help.

Fur facts:

More than 130 million animals suffer each year in the global fur trade, the majority reared in terrible conditions on fur factory farms. This number does not include rabbits, whose numbers (in the hundreds of millions) are not reported by the fur trade.

There is no legal requirement to use the specific word fur on items containing real fur. EU regulations require items defined as textile products that contain animal fur to carry the confusing wording contains non-textile parts of animal origin however this does not clearly tell consumers that it means real animal fur, and in practice this wording requirement is rarely adhered to at all, as evidenced in our report, Mislabelled and misleading. Products sold online are exempt even from the above confusing wording requirement, and footwear or non-garment accessories such as handbags and keychains are also excluded.

Around the world in countries such as the U.S., France, Poland and China, wild species are kept in small, barren battery cages for their entire lives before being killed by gassing or electrocution.

Wild animals such as coyotes fair no better  they can languish in agony in cruel traps for hours or even days before dying from dehydration, starvation or attacks by predators, or being shot or crushed to death when the trapper returns.

A 2018 YouGov poll commissioned by HSI UK shows that more than two-thirds of the British public support a UK fur import ban, with only 8 percent opposed to the idea.

In recent times there has been a fast-growing list of designers who have stopped using fur  Gucci, Versace, Michael Kors, Donna Karan and Jimmy Choo  who join those with long-standing fur bans, such as Hugo Boss, Armani, Tommy Hilfiger and Vivienne Westwood.

* (April 2017  March 2018 inclusive)

Media Contact: Harriet Barclay hbarclay@hsi.orgSmart cities often come with an intake of breath. The very mention can get some nervous people thinking Big Brother state and all actions and movements will be monitored, data will be wide open, and robots will roam the street  some may be genuine concerns.

We need to take a human-centred approach to smart cities, writes Christopher Clements of PwC.

Some cities, such as Amsterdam, have made reducing traffic and street light usage as some of their main initiatives. The concept of smart traffic management monitors traffic in real time, and travel time on roads is broadcast to allow motorists to decide the most efficient routes to take. Other cities, such as Barcelona, have also implemented traffic-reducing concepts.

Another example is Santa Cruz, where local authorities analyse crime data to predict law-and-order requirements, ensuring police presence is available where it is required at any point. Analytical tools generate lists of places where property crimes are more likely to occur and place police officers in these locations when there are no emergency calls.

For a smart city to flourish, there needs to be innovation and creativity

Probably most major cities are terming themselves as smart cities or involved in a smart city initiative.

The key concept of all existing successful smart city initiatives is that they appear human-driven. For a smart city to flourish, there needs to be innovation and creativity. There needs to be problems identified to solve, problems that are affecting the citizens lives, real issues.

The resulting technology and solutions that prevail are the outcomes  they dont make that city smart, they enable the city to better serve its citizens.

In essence, the smart city concept is a misnomer; what it really is, is smart citizens.

Inclusion of humans is integral to the outcomes a smart city realises. In Amsterdam, the residents are encouraged to promote ideas and initiatives through annually run competitions. An example is Mobypark, which allows owners of parking spaces to rent them out to people for a fee. The data generated from this app can then be used by the city to determine the parking demand and traffic flows in the city mentioned above.

On attending the 4IRC meet-up on IoT: Smart City or Surveillance City?, I was struck by two things:

the volume of ideas and concepts from the speakers was wide-ranging

they were just that: ideas

That may sound harsh but the concept of smart cities has been knocking about for a while now, under various guises and having differing conditions.

On listening to the talks at the meet-up, the Belfast Council initiative on smart cities is far-reaching and it has the potential to be fantastic, as long as its a human-centred approach to a smart city; in other words, letting the citizens outline the issues and be the beneficiaries of the outcomes.

Belfast as a smart city has to be more than a better internet connection, smart bikes or a rapid transport system. It has to aim for more.

If we look at the example of e-Estonia: a true beacon of a country, not just a city, that has embraced not just the resultant technical outcomes, but engaged in the problems that needed to be solved. 99pc of public services are now available online to Estonian citizens.

Belfast has a challenge ahead of it. Can it take a human-centred approach to creating a smart city and solve real problems affecting peoples lives?

Maybe the outcomes wont be technical or anchored in technology at all; maybe some of the solutions will make Belfast a unique smart city in that it solves real problems but not via technology.

Now that would be smart.

By Christopher Clements

Christopher Clements is a Connect Shaper, and digital QA and delivery lead at PwC.

Source: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/machines/smart-cities-christopher-clements-pwcStudents in the Summer Science Camp displayed their solar system-themed projects on Wednesday. PreviousNext

New Brayton Principal Helps Celebrate Summer Science Camp



New Brayton principal Carolyn Wallace came to North Adams just in time to see the end of the Summer Science Camp and the students' projects.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass.  New Brayton Elementary School Principal Carolyn Wallace's first day on the job was the beginning of the last week of the district's Summer Science Camp.

And everything was running so smoothly in the 17th year of the camp that Wallace didn't have to do anything but watch as kindergarten through fourth-graders "reached for the stars" during the last week of the four-week space-themed program. A "kinder camp" program for incoming kindergartners also was running in the school at the same time.

"It's been wonderful," Wallace said from her office at Brayton on Wednesday after watching the students play kickball with members of the North Adams Police Department in the gym.

The kickball game was part of a showcase display put on by the 200 students enrolled in the camp. Tables with the solar system and space-themed displays lined the main hallway, and families were invited to a barbecue to celebrate the last week of the program as well.



Campers played kickball with North Adams Police officers.

This year, thanks to partnerships with Williams College, Drury High School, the North Adams Public Library, Child Care of the Berkshires and many other local organizations, students were able to see planetarium shows, have books on the solar system read to them, receive free books, perform a play called "Vacation on Mars" and take field trips outside the Berkshires to places like the Connecticut Science Center and the Christa Corrigan McAuliffe Center for Integrated Science Learning.

"There's really a lot going on in the seven hours they're here every day," said Noella Carlow, the district's 21st Century site coordinator.

Bruce Hall can attest to that. The father of two rising fifth-grade boys and a rising third-grade girl, Hall said he donates to the program when he can because he sees how much his children love it and is happy to tout the program whenever he can.

"There's really excited about camp," Hall said. "It's a great thing for the kids.  They make friends because it's all three schools going together."

And that's something that new principal Wallace quickly learned. She said she had visited several classrooms over the course of her first week, specifically seeking out the Brayton students whom she will guide this fall, finding them mixed in with Greylock and Colegrove students.

"I tease them. I say, I'm new. If you see me wandering around, help me," she said.

Wallace is coming to North Adams from Webster, where she had been for the past seven years. She said she was drawn to the city because of the "positive energy" coming from the district.

"It has a lot of the same needs with a whole lot more supports," she said, naming initiatives like the new district "welcome center" being developed at Brayton. "I'm very excited to be part of it."A 26-year-old male from China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was injured after detonating a "firecracker-like device" in Chaoyang District around 1:00 p.m. BJT, Beijing police said on Thursday.

No others were injured in the explosion, according to the police.

The incident has been promptly and properly taken care of by police, said Geng Shuang, the spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, who called it "an individual public security case".SRMT Building Inter-Tribal, International, and Intergovernmental Partnerships to Improve Border Relations

The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, and Six Nations of the Grand River announced the successful completion of the Northern Tribal Border Alliance Washington, D.C. Fly-In held on Ohiarihko:wa/July 19, 2018; which included discussions on important common tribal interests along the Northern Border with elected officials and representatives of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security, and Canada Border Services Agency. Pictured are: (from left) SRMT Sub Chief Agnes "Sweets' Jacobs, Kootenai Tribe of Idaho Chairman Gary Aitken, U.S. Congressman Derek Kilmer (D-WA), SRMT Chief Beverly Cook, Six Nations of the Grand River Chief Ava Hill, SRMT Chief Eric Thompson and Six Nations of the Grand River Councilor Wray Maracle.

The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, and Six Nations of the Grand River announce the successful completion of the Northern Tribal Border Alliance ("NTBA" of "Alliance") Washington, D.C. Fly-In held on Ohiarihko:wa/July 19, 2018. The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne was unable to attend due to unforeseen circumstances.

The NTBA was first formed in August 2017 when more than 30 participants representing federally recognized tribes and First Nations communities met to discuss important common tribal interests along the Northern Border and to meet with officials of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security, and Canada Border Services Agency. At the meeting, held at the Mystic Lake Casino & Hotel in Shakopee, Minnesota, the Alliance collaboratively addressed border crossing issues that Native Americans and First Nations people who live and work on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border face. Attendees agreed that continued collaboration would be required in order to successfully strengthen relationships with U.S. and Canadian border officials in a way that promotes both cultural awareness and national security.

The prevalence of Native American people crossing the U.S.-Canadian border is the result of treaties between the U.S. and Great Britain which delineated the U.S.-Canadian border splitting many of the territories of federally recognized Native American tribes in half and federal law, which acknowledges the inherent right of members of these tribes to pass freely between the two countries into their own homelands. However, the lack of cultural awareness and failure to modify the law to reflect the existing federal Indian law framework is contributing to growing tensions between these tribes and U.S. and Canadian border officials. The primary issue facing Mohawk people and other Native Americans who are members of the Alliance is the blood quantum requirement. Currently, Section 289 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, Pub. L. 82-414, which recognizes the right to cross the border, extends "only to persons who possess at least 50 per centum of blood of the American Indian race."

"This language is offensive and infringes on the Tribe's right to determine our membership requirements as a self-governing nation," stated SRMT Chief Michael Conners. "Moreover, it is inconsistent with federal Indian law and creates unnecessary tension between our tribal members and border security agents, which goes directly against all of the efforts we have been undertaking to strengthen our relationship with border control to ensure our community is safe."

"Mohawk people should not have to prove that they are 50 percent of the 'American Indian race' to border security agents," stated SRMT Chief Beverly Cook. "We have had tribal members who have lived in Akwesasne their entire lives that have been denied entry back into the United States because they are unable to prove their blood quantum at the border. No one else in this country has to prove their blood quantum to go home. Proof of tribal membership should be enough."

During the 114th Congress, SRMT's active engagement with Congress and the administration led to the introduction of H.R. 5412, a bill to protect the right of Mohawks to cross the international border at Akwesasne in accordance with the Jay Treaty, by Congresswomen Suzan DelBene (D-WA) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Congressman Derek Kilmer (D-WA). However, the bill did not receive anticipated floor time with focus on a changing administration.

With growing tension along the southern border due to the administration's stance on immigration, the Tribe and other Native American communities have been witnessing increased issues at the northern border when utilizing their Jay Treaty right to visit family members, go to work, pick their children up from school, attend ceremonies, and seek medical care making the bill's reintroduction and passage an imminent goal.

"The purpose of the NTBA Washington, D.C. Fly-In was to ensure that the border crossing legislation is reintroduced this session with greater bipartisan support from other members of Congress who have tribal communities whose inherent rights to access our own lands and to ensure the safety of our community members are being infringed upon because of outdated, termination era language." said SRMT Chief Eric Thompson who has spearheaded the Tribe's involvement in NTBA.

During the Fly-In, tribal leaders met with the congressional offices of Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Chris Collins (R-NY), Brian Higgins (D-NY), Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Derek Kilmer (D-WA), Tom Cole (R-OK), and Kevin Yoder (R-KS) in addition to Chairman Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) and Ranking Member Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian, Insular, & Alaska Native Affairs to discuss the need for a legislative fix.

Tribal leaders were informed that the bill would be reintroduced by the original cosponsors with additional members ready to sign on once language is approved by the House Office of Legislative Counsel. Additionally, the offices of Congressmen Kilmer and Cole are investigating whether an amendment can be added to the House's Homeland Security appropriations bill to provide immediate relief from the consequences of the current law.

In addition to meeting with members of Congress, the NTBA also met with David Munro, Director of Tribal Government Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") to discuss ways that the Alliance can better educate DHS and its border agents on the negative impacts of the existing law.

"We will continue to seek every avenue possible to get this law corrected," added Chief Thompson. "We welcome tribal governments and First Nations communities that are located on or near the northern border to join our efforts. As the Alliance grows, we will have a stronger, unified voice that will assist us in accomplishing our goals."A high court sitting in Osun state has asked Peoples Democratic Party, PDP candidate in the state, Ademola Adeleke, to produce his primary school certificate within six days.

The senator representing Osun west at the Senate has been embroiled in a certificate forgery scandal after winning the party primaries to represent it in the September 22nd governorship election in the state.

Rasheed Olabayo and Oluwaseun Idowu, members of the PDP, immediately after the primaries filed a suit to challenge his candidacy on the grounds that the senator did not possess his primary school leaving certificate which is required according to section 177 (d) of the 1999 constitution.

The plaintiffs asked the court to grant an order restraining the PDP from presenting Adelekes name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the governorship poll.

The presiding judge, David Oladimeji, instead asked the defendant to produce the said certificate as granting the ex-parte application would subject the court to mockery, if the senator thereafter presents the certificate.

It will be inequitable not to allow the respondent to come and show his certificate if he has any but if given the opportunity to present side of the case, the balance which is necessary for interlocutory injunction would be adequately considered.

Being an election matter, it is my conviction that the public will not be uninterested in the proceedings of this court.

Once a matter is before a court, any party cannot take a further step without the express permission of the court.

Oladimeji adjourned the motion till August 1 for definite hearing, saying that no form of excuse from the litigants would be tolerated by the court.Africas richest man Aliko Dangote has again reiterated his desire to take over Arsenal.

The Nigerian businessman  who is worth 10.4billion and is currently at number 66 on Forbes Magazines list of the most powerful people in 2018  has long been linked with purchasing the Gunners , and first stated his desire to do so back in 2010.

The following years have brought more and more links with him purchasing a significant stake in the club, and Dangote  who started his first business at the age of 21 and founded Africas largest cement provider  says he plans to make a move for the Gunners in two years time.

We will go after Arsenal from 2020 even if somebody buys, we will still go after it,Dangote, 61, told Reuters.

Stan Kroenke remains Arsenals majority shareholder with 67.09 per cent of the club, while it was reported on Tuesday that Alisher Usmanov was prepared to sell his 30.4 per cent stake.

When talking about the majority shareholders in August, Dangote said: If they get the right offer, Im sure they would walk away.

Someone will give them an offer that will make them seriously consider walking away.

And when we finish the refinery, I think we will be in a position to do that.The Ekiti State House of Assembly has frown at what it describes as strange deployment of heavily armed policemen to the premises of the House.

Hon Kola Oluwawole, the speaker of the state assembly, who while addressing newsmen in Ado Ekiti this morning, said the heavily armed policemen were deployed around 9pm on Wednesday.

The speaker being flanked by 17 other legislators accused members who defected to All Progressives Congress(APC) before the governorship election as responsible for the act.Google launched a network of free Wi-Fi hotspots in Nigeria on Thursday, part of its effort to increase its presence in Africas most populous nation.

The U.S. technology firm owned by Alphabet Inc has partnered with Nigerian fiber cable network provider 21st Century to provide its public Wi-Fi service, Google Station, in six places in the commercial capital Lagos, including the citys airport.

In other words, Google will make available free Wi-Fi facilities in about 200 sites in Lagos and five other states in Nigeria between now and 2019.

10 million Nigerians, including Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are expected to benefit immensely from this project. The other states are Kaduna; Port Harcourt (Rivers state); Ibadan (Oyo state); Enugu and Abuja.

Google Station is a service that allows Google partners to roll out Wi-Fi hotspots in public places by providing software and advice on hardware to turn fibre connections into Wi-Fi.

According to Google Vice President Anjali Joshi said Google was doing this because the Internet has the potential to completely transform Africa We are rolling out the service in Lagos today but the plan is to quickly expand to other locations,

-YomiprofFormer President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has mentioned that he will only give his supports to any Nigerian who will turn the countrys fortune around for good.

According to reports from Punch, he said this on Thursday when he received a former Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta.

Turaki, who is a presidential aspirant, came with a 10-man delegation that included a former governor of Adamawa State, Boni Haruna.

Obasanjo reiterated that he would not rest until the fortunes of Nigeria are turned around for good.

He identified the dearth of qualitative leadership as one of the major challenges confronting Nigeria, adding that men of goodwill must not keep quiet in the face of misrule.

He then called for concerted efforts from the political class towards providing the country with better leadership.

He said:

Let me say that what is happening here today or what youre making to happen with your delegation particularly gladdens my heart.

You are firming up and stabilising our democracy. Democracy is not a destination but a journey and there is no nation that can claim to have reached the final destination.

It is good for us as a nation and our democracy. We have said a lot of things that we have identified about what we need to put right as a country. What do we lack? Why are we not where we should be?

We are so divided today the way we have not been before. People are deprived socially and economically. But you know, I have never lost hope.

While speaking with journalists after the meeting, Turaki said he came to pay respect to the former president and also to intimate him with his presidential ambition in 2019.

He said the indivisibility of the country remained non-negotiable.

He also accused the All Progressives Congress-led administration of incompetence due to its inability to resolve some of Nigerias many challenges.

He said:

The meeting has been a very fruitful one. We have discussed openly, honestly and frankly about the current situation in this country and like always, Baba was of tremendous guidance to us.

Baba has spoken in his vintage way of speaking passionately about the situation in Nigeria.

We believe that our indivisibility as one and united nation is given and it is non-negotiable. We feel that our unity is also non-negotiable.

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Senator Ben Murray Bruce has announced that his colleague, Dino Melaye was this morning abducted by some unknown gunmen.

According to the lawmaker, in a Twitter post this morning said he was informed by Moses Melaye, the brother of Senator Melaye.

The Bayelsa lawmaker stated that, The Kogi senator was on his way to court to answer for his case on illegal arms dealing when he was overpowered by some unknown men in a Toyota car and taken away to an unknown destination.

He wroteSenator Dino Melaye was reportedly kidnapped this morning in Gwagalada on his way to answer his case in court in Lagos.

His colleague, senator Ben Murray Bruce broke the news via his Twitter account, adding that Moses Melaya, Senator Melayes brother had given him the information.

Nigerians have however taken to social media to react to the news. While some are of the opinion that the Kogi lawmaker might have been one to stage his own abduction, some others are just plain tired of the various dramas playing out in Nigeria.

See reactions below

I wholeheartedly condemn the abduction of @dino_melaye. I implore those that have kidnapped him to return him home safely to his family and loved ones. I urge the Federal Government to do its job and protect the Nigerian people before it is too late.  Femi Fani-Kayode (@realFFK) July 26, 2018

Dino Melaye has been kidnapped on his way to Lokoja. >Ben Bruce Some Moron will still believe this stupidity.  Jubril of Sudan till 2023 (@Gen_Buhar) July 26, 2018

Another day, another Dino Melaye headline  Ebuka Obi-Uchendu (@Ebuka) July 26, 2018

Plot twist What if Dino Melaye planned his own kidnap just to gain public sympathy?  Wale Adetona (@iSlimfit) July 26, 2018

Who will rescue Dino Melaye? This man has been shouting that his life is in danger.

The police ignored him,withdrew his security & APC herdsmen mocked him saying he faked his neckbrace. Did he also fake his own kidnap?!  Miz Cazorla (@MizCazorla1) July 26, 2018

Similar case, Saraki was on his way to honor police invitation, before police blocked him. Dino on his way to court, but was abducted. This a Nollywood script similar to neck brace story. Please look for another script.  K. Abiodun (@ABIE4REAL) July 26, 2018

Who has now kidnapped Dino Melaye? Can't y'all corrupt politicians just get along?  Imoh (@ImohUmoren) July 26, 2018

https://twitter.com/DrOlufunmilayo/status/1022442230404079616?s=19US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that the US Department of Agriculture will adopt a $12 billion emergency plan to aid farmers hurt by the trade war. It is considered a clear signal that the trade war is causing a real impact on the US economy as well as an avowal by Trump to deploy tariffs as a weapon of trade war.

This is a funny scene. The US is not suffering natural disasters. American farmers should have made money expanding their markets. But they are now being aided. No one knows how long this peculiar "disaster" will last. Many US famers must be at a loss over their future livelihoods.

With the escalation of the trade war, more industries will be affected. It will be difficult to decide who will receive subsidies and who will not. Trump's administration is disrupting the basic logic of economic life. By causing trouble for China, the EU, Mexico and Canada, it is plunging the US domestic economy in chaos.

Other countries including China will of course be forced to face the impact of the trade war. They will also carry out assistance activities to affected industries and companies. The White House is hoping that Beijing will make a major concession to Washington when it can no longer stand the escalating damages.

Such wishful thinking is too naive. Trump believes that US society can endure the agony of a temporary trade war for long-term interests. Then why would he be certain that China cannot bear the same pain?

The vast majority of Chinese people are well aware that China has been confronted by the US with a trade war. No matter how reluctant the nation is to fight, it has no alternative. But US society knows that the trade war was launched by the White House and the ball is in the US court to stop it or find a wiser option. The Trump administration needs to prove that it is correct to bring its people anguish through the trade war, while other nations do not need to do anything more than retaliate.

China has experienced numerous difficulties and challenges. Its development in the past 20 years has been relatively smooth, but its mechanism remains to deal with major obstacles. The nation once faced massive layoffs among its State-owned enterprises and collective economic sanctions from the West. How could the difficulties of a trade war be insurmountable?

Washington has always accused Europe and China of agriculture subsidies. As a matter of fact, the US itself has long offered subsidies to its farmers, and now it has announced increased subsidies. It seems that the international discourse around the rules will be changed.

Some believe that Trump will hold onto his mistakes before the mid-term election in November, so as to maintain support.

But the Chinese people are looking beyond November. They are preparing to fight in the long run. Perhaps only with such a massive trade war can Washington rethink the value of Sino-US cooperation.Public relations officer of the Nigerian Police, Dolapo Badmus has warned against living ones life according to the dictates of social media.

According to her, living based on the influence of social media can make one end up behind bars.

Posting via her Instagram page, Dolapo wrote:

I could remember a journey I made to UAE early this year, on arrival I saw a young guy with his friend came through from Economy class and sat on a seat in the business class.

Due to my curiosity I asked him why are you taking a picture at Business class since you flew economy?

He responded: mama you dont know whats up, its called flexing..When I post this picture on gram, they will hail me that Ive arrived

I laughed so hard and told him that could be misleading! But he shruggingly walked away!, That left me thinking of how people can fake it!

If you take a cue from everything you see on social media and want to be like that, you may end up behind bars!

Most of those things are not real, dont go out of your way to commit crime just to be like someone else..those hailing you wont be there when the chips are down.

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Former vice president of Nigeria, Atiku Abubabar is not one to shy away from expressing his condolences whenever tragedy occurs. The former VP, who has also declared his intention to run for president in the coming election never misses the opportunity to empathize with people who have been truck by one tragedy or another.

Before now, Nigerians had taken to social media to troll present VP, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, who they nicknamed the new Minister in a charge of condolence matters, but we took a look at Atikus timeline on Twitter and here is what we found.

Take a look below

My condolences to the families of all military servicemen who were recently laid to rest after paying the supreme price. My prayers are with you.  Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) July 25, 2018

Today, I paid my condolences to the family of late Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie in Katsina. May Allah continue to grant them the comfort and strength to bear the loss. pic.twitter.com/sdEnJfecBd  Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) July 22, 2018

Saddened by report of fatal suicide attack at a mosque in Mainari area of Konduga, Borno. May God comfort families of the deceased. It is important that our people be encouraged to organise themselves so that some persons can keep watch while others pray.https://t.co/6W1z3q7UKQ  Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) July 23, 2018

I'm saddened by the loss of Justice Aloysius Iyorgyer Katsina-Alu, a former CJN of Nigeria. On behalf of my family, I condole with his family, the Supreme Court of Nigeria and the people and Government of Benue. May his soul rest in peace.https://t.co/X3x6MuSm0u  Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) July 18, 2018

I condole with the people of Katsina over the rising death toll from the flood in Jibia. May Allah SWT give the families of the deceased the fortitude to bear the loss and grant the departed Aljannah Firdaus.https://t.co/WcBxMeuuLI  Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) July 16, 2018

I'm saddened at reports of killings in Gandi, Rabah Local Government Area of Sokoto State. With thousands killed while our country is not at war, clearly shows Nigeria's internal security architecture is broken and needs a reset. https://t.co/wapOrHElqo  Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) July 11, 2018

My prayers and thoughts are with the families of all those who may have been killed or injured in the fire incident in Dagbo-Pogo, Niger State. May God comfort and strengthen every family that lost a loved one in this unfortunate tragedy.https://t.co/6zrmAGP7wt  Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) July 8, 2018

I am saddened by the death of Malam Adamu Ciroma. A lot of what I have turned out to be in life today was as a result of the early contacts and mentorship that I had with him in my formative years. pic.twitter.com/8Ergr28d7J  Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) July 5, 2018Yinka Ayefeles wife in a fresh interview has revealed why he married him and why she would never leave him. Blessed with three children, Ayefele and Temitope Titilope got married 18 years ago.

Offering an introduction, she said, My name remains Temitope Titilope Ayefele. I am an Ibadan woman, born and bred. My father is Prof. Mathew Oladokun Fawusi and my mother is Mrs. Fawusi.

I am from the popular Laamo Compound in Ibadan. I am from a moderate, cool background, we are not poor and we are not rich but comfortable.

My father was a Professor while my mum, a businesswoman. I grew up at Bodija area of Ibadan.

I went to Kings Convent School for primary and my secondary school was Ibadan Grammar School, Molete, Ibadan.

Then I went NCE, St. Andrews College, Oyo then (1992-1995). I later went to U.I to study Economics Education (1996-2000).

Those who really know me would tell you that I am not too loud or gentle, Im in-between. I have a large heart and I love people around me.

I cant afford to be otherwise because of my husbands work. We have to be accommodating and that has been part and parcel of us.

On what has sustained her marriage to the famous musician?

She revealed: Gods grace has been sufficient for us in life and our marriage. Enough patience, mutual respect and understanding are part of the key ingredients to a successful marriage.

You must not listen to side talks but concentrate on the person you are dealing with.

Since you have both signed a life contract and it is for better for worse, you must deal with issues together.

All that, coupled with the special grace of God, have sustained my marriage up till this moment.

I understand the nature of my husbands work, people are always around him and all that.

Explaining how she met the musician who has been confined to a wheelchair since his 1997 accident, she said;

I met him in 1996, before he had the accident.

I saw in him a hard-working man when we met. Very hard-working, there is nothing he cant do to stay afloat in his profession.

He is someone who doesnt get distracted from his dream no matter what may come his way.

So, what made her stay with him despite all odds?

Why wont I stay? I told you about some of the qualities I saw in my husband that made me fell in love and married him.

I have made up my mind to spend the rest of my life with him before the accident. When he had the accident we there together at the University College Hospital, Ibadan (UCH).

I saw in him the determination to survive, to live and to make it in life. Those are the things that also motivated me to stay with him in the time of trouble and up till now.

Nobody is above trial and tribulations and when they come what one should do is to remain steadfast and be prayerful.

Bible didnt tell us that trouble would not come, it is bound to come but God has given us a strong assurance, He Is there to give us the grace to overcome.

Asked if her husband is sexually active and she said, Well, that is strictly my private life which can never be discussed on the pages of newspapers for no reason.

I am happy in marriage and you can see the signs all over and around me. Thank God for everything.Blockchain chain link 320 x 215

Entrepreneurs, start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises have increasingly turned to non-traditional funding sources, such as financial services made available by financial technology (FinTech) companies, to finance their ventures.

As a result, a Financial Technology Institutions Law (FinTech Law) was passed during the early months of 2018 with the intention of providing legal certainty to Mexicos FinTech companies. It regulates their organisation and operation, while also bringing the activities performed by FinTech companies under the regulatory purview of the Mexican Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) and Mexicos Central Bank (Banxico), with the main goal of protecting investors and solicitors, providing stability to the financial system and preventing money laundering activities.

FinTech companies are now required to obtain a license from the CNBV to operate in Mexico, which is only granted if it is pre-approved by an interdisciplinary committee composed of officers of the CNBV, Banxico and the Ministry of Finance. While secondary legislation is still expected, in order to be eligible to obtain such a license under current rules, FinTech companies must be incorporated as Mexican corporations (sociedades anonimas) and specifically include in their bylaws that their business purpose is to perform any of the activities regulated under the FinTech Law.

Prior to the entry into force of the FinTech Law, most Mexican FinTech companies had been operating in a regulatory limbo, struggling to fit their business activities within the scope of Mexican law. The FinTech Law mainly regulates two types of FinTech companies: (i) crowdfunding institutions; and (ii) electronic payment companies.

Specifically, crowdfunding institutions are defined as those that carry out activities to bring together investors and solicitors through IT platforms or electronic means in order to obtain or provide funding. The FinTech Law only recognises three categories of crowdfunding activities that can be performed through licensed FinTech companies: (i) debt crowdfunding (also known as peer-to-peer lending); (ii) equity crowdfunding; and (iii) profit sharing crowdfunding. This seems to leave other types of crowdfunding (e.g. donation-based, reward-based or cryptocurrency-based) in a regulatory grey area.

From a tax perspective, the main challenge that licensed FinTech companies operating in the crowdfunding space are facing relate to being able to set up a corporate structure that allows them to be taxed only on the service fee or commission earned, while also allowing their investors to be taxed according to their specific tax nature, rather than subjecting all investors uniformly to corporate taxes at the level of the FinTech companies and then exposing them to dividend taxes, which can lead to effective tax rates of more than 50% for individuals or foreign investors.

To a large extent, this issue is caused by the requirement imposed by the FinTech Law that all licensed FinTech companies should be incorporated as Mexican corporations, as these are entities with legal personality that are not pass-through for tax purposes (i.e. not tax transparent) from a Mexican perspective. As such, the law does not allow for the taxing of income obtained by FinTech companies in the hands of the investors, as if they had obtained the income directly.

While the FinTech Law does allow licensed crowdfunding companies to act as mandataries of their clients, which could somehow seem to be a solution as the crowdfunding companies would be receiving payments from the solicitors on behalf and for the benefit of the investors and, therefore, should not liable to corporate taxes on such income, this alternative entails many practical difficulties. For instance, solicitors may be required to withhold taxes from payments made to the crowdfunding companies, taking into consideration the nature of each investor, but have no visibility as to the identity of the investors, while at the same time being burdened with having to issue individualised invoices and withholding certificates to all investors.

Other types of vehicles seem more appropriate for these types of ventures from a Mexican tax perspective. For instance, Mexican trusts could be ideal from a tax perspective, as tax transparency can generally be achieved to the extent they do not carry on entrepreneurial activities in Mexico. However, Mexican trusts have rigorous know-your-customer policies that in practice are difficult to meet because most investors in crowdfunding structures are individuals that provide little information about themselves.

A similar result could be achieved using foreign limited partnerships with no legal personality in their country of residence (e.g. Canadian or Cayman limited partnerships). This is because tax transparency can also generally be achieved provided they do not carry on entrepreneurial activities in Mexico, but it is unlikely that Mexican regulators would be willing to issue rules that would have them supervise a foreign vehicle, as opposed to a Mexican entity.

Perhaps the most straightforward solution would be for the Mexican tax authorities to issue rules to extend the tax treatment awarded under Mexican tax legislation for Mexican investment funds to licensed FinTech companies operating in the crowdfunding space, as Mexican investment funds are also required to be incorporated as corporations, but are not considered taxpayers for income tax purposes on certain types of income, which allows their investors to be taxed according to their individual tax nature.

While the regulators seem to be taking the right steps to establish a much needed legal framework to foster innovative financial services, it appears that a similar effort is needed from the tax authorities to issue regulations that are tailored to an industry that is like no other in order to promote its development.

Oscar A. Lopez Velarde (olopezvelarde@ritch.com.mx)

Santiago Diaz Rivera Bravo (sdiazrivera@ritch.com.mx)

Ritch, Mueller, Heather y Nicolau, SC

www.ritch.com.mx

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Delta, Kelowna, BC - July 26, 2018 (Investorideas.com Newswire) www.Investorideas.com, a global news source covering leading sectors including marijuana and hemp stocks and its "potcast' site, www.potcasts.ca release today's edition of its series, Investorideas.com potcastsCM - cannabis news and stocks to watch plus insight from thought leaders and experts.

Listen to the podcast:

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Investor Ideas #Potcasts #Cannabis News and Stocks on the Move: TSX:APH, TSXV: EMC, TSXV: LVWL, CSE: KBEV, TSXV: TBP

Today's podcast overview/transcript:

Good morning and welcome to another Investorideas.com potcast ; looking at cannabis news, stocks to watch as well as insights from thought leaders and experts.

Today's potcast was sponsored by Kelowna based Lexaria Bioscience Corp trading on the CSE under symbol LXX and on the OTC as LXRP. Lexaria has developed a new disruptive drug delivery platform: DehydraTECH The Company's patented technology changes the way Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients ("APIs") enter the body orally:

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The Company's DehydraTECH technology is patent-protected for multiple APIs: Cannabidiol (CBD), Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen, Nicotine and Fat soluble vitamins.

Learn more about Lexaria at www.lexariabioscience.com

Today's podcast features news announcements from Aphria Inc. trading on the TSX as APH and US OTC as APHQF, Emblem Corp. trading on the TSX-Venture as EMC, LIVEWELL CANADA INC. trading on the TSX-Venture as LVWL, Koios Beverage Corp. trading on the CSE as KBEV and the OTC as SNOVF and Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc., trading on the TSX-VENTURE as TBP and the OTCQB as TBPMF.

Aphria Inc. today announced that it completed its largest international shipment of cannabis oil to date to Australian medical life science company, Medlab Clinical Limited ("Medlab"). The shipment is part of the previously announced agreement between Aphria and Medlab in which Aphria produces and supplies high-yield cannabis extracts for Medlab to be used in a human trial to test the management of intractable pain in oncology patients - the first trial of its kind globally.

For the purposes of the clinical trial, Aphria has provided a high-CBD cannabis oil and a high-THC cannabis oil, both of which were designed specifically for Medlab. Once at Medlab, the products are then combined with Medlab's patented medicine delivery system, NanoCelle. Medlab's clinical trial is posited to provide an effective and efficacious pain therapy targeted to advanced cancer pain, that rivals standard opioid use. The product formulation, manufacturing, and final product validation have met the TGO93 standard set by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration ("TGA") and permits have been approved by Health Canada.

Emblem Corp. announced today that it has signed a non-binding Letter of Intent ("LOI") to acquire all of the issued and outstanding securities in Natura Naturals Inc. ("Natura") that it does not already own for $25 million in cash, $12.5 million in mortgage financing and 26,102,941 common shares of Emblem. Based on Emblem's 45 day VWAP of $1.36, the implied transaction value is $76 million (inclusive of Natura shares already owned by Emblem). On completion of the Transaction, Emblem will further its aggressive approach to sales growth both domestically and internationally backed by robust supply from the Natura greenhouse.

Based in Leamington, Ontario, Natura operates a 662,000 sq ft licensed greenhouse that is currently undergoing a phased conversion and retrofit that is expected to bring up to 15,000 kg of annualized cannabis production online in 2018. Once completed in 2019, the facility is expected to bring total annualized cannabis production capacity to approximately 70,000 kg per year.

The entering into of the LOI follows Emblem's recently announced $3 million equity investment in Natura and the entering into of a 3,000 kg per year supply agreement.

LIVEWELL CANADA INC. greeted favourably the interest of the Government of Quebec in participating in the financing of its world-class Research and Innovation Centre in Litchfield, in Pontiac RCM, Quebec.

The Government of Quebec, through the Ministere de l'Economie, de la Science et de l'Innovation of Quebec (MESI) and in collaboration with Investissement Quebec, recently sent the Company a letter of interest stating that it is open to contributing up to 25% of the overall financing of the project, subject to terms to be determined in the near future.

The President of LiveWell Canada, Mr. David Rendimonti, expressed his great satisfaction in this offer of collaboration from the Government of Quebec. "This is a great step in our quest to develop new therapeutic and medical solutions thanks to a world-class Research and Innovation Centre on hemp and cannabis," he said.

Koios Beverage Corp. announced that the first flavour of its new and improved line of functional cognitive enhancing beverages, Pear Guava, is now available for purchase.

Customers in both Canada and the United States can order the drink online from the company's website https://www.mentaltitan.com/product/pear-guava/ It is also available for purchase through Koios's large distribution network, which includes retailers such as SportLife Distribution, Max Muscle, and soon-to-be available through Amazon online.

The new formula enhances Koios's proprietary blend of nootropics by adding super foods such as Lion's Mane Mushroom, a powerful ingredient recognized for enhancing brain function, which Whole Foods recently listed as a trending ingredient in its annual functional ingredients guide.

"We have created the first drink of its kind," says CEO Chris Miller, who founded the company in part because of his own personal experience with a mental-health disorder, ADHD. The Global Brain Health market is expected to grow by a CAGR of 20 per cent to $11.6 billion by 2024, and we are excited to be innovating in the space and creating products that consumers are looking for.

Koios recently launched a wholly owned subsidiary, Cannavated Beverages Co. to develop a line of cannabis infused, brain-healthy drinks for the legal marijuana market.

Koios is also one of the only drinks in the world to infuse its products with MCT oil. MCT oil is derived from coconuts and has been shown to help the body burn fat more effectively, create lasting energy from a natural food source, produce ketones in the brain, allowing for greater brain function and clarity, support healthy hormone production and improve immunity.

Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc., a leader in cannabinoid-based drug discovery and development today announced that it received two meeting granted letters from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for Type B and C meetings, to discuss requirements for obtaining marketing approval under the 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway for its dronabinol AdVersa mucoadhesive product, PPP002.

Tetra, along with its partner IntelGenx Corp, is developing this product in the USA under the accelerated 505(b)(2) pathway for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and anorexia and weight loss in people with AIDS (the same indications that have already been approved for Marinol). The 505(b)(2) speciality Contract Research Organization, Camargo, is guiding the regulatory submissions to the FDA. The corporation is also developing PPP002 in Canada as an adjunct therapy for opioid reduction in patients with chronic pain.

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This podcast is sponsored by Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (CSE: LXX) (OTC: LXRP)

Lexaria Bioscience Corp. has developed and out-licenses its disruptive delivery technology that promotes healthier ingestion methods, lower overall dosing and higher effectiveness of lipophilic active molecules. Lexaria has multiple patents pending in over 40 countries around the world and has patents granted in the USA and in Australia for utilization of its DehydraTECHTM delivery technology. Lexaria's technology provides increases in intestinal absorption rates; more rapid delivery to the bloodstream; and important taste-masking benefits, for orally administered bioactive molecules including cannabinoids, vitamins, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), nicotine and other molecules. www.lexariabioscience.com

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800-665-0411Montreal, Quebec - July 26, 2018 (Newsfile Corp.) (Investorideas.com Newswire) Maple Gold Mines Ltd. (TSXV: MGM) (OTCQB: MGMLF) (FSE: M3G) ("Maple Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to report the final drill results from the NW Gap Area, i.e. the area between the NW, Douay West and Porphyry Zones, which includes the new Nika Zones. There were a select number of historical drill-holes drilled in the NW Gap Area from 2011 to 2017 inclusive by Aurvista Gold (now Maple Gold Mines), but due to the limited drill density, this area represented a high-priority target for new discoveries and potential extensions of existing zones outside the currently established conceptual pits (Micon 2018). Within this area (see Figure 1) a total of twelve (12) holes were drilled in 2018, with the majority spaced from 100 up to 300 metres from the nearest pre-existing drill collar.

Assay results have been received for the final drill hole (DO-18-241) from the Nika Zones, which tested the eastern limit of the recently defined mineralization in the heart of the NW Gap Area. This drill-hole confirmed the eastern continuity of gold mineralization from DO-18-218 (50m of 1.77 g/t Au - see press release May 14, 2018), and cut eight narrow mineralized zones averaging greater than 1 g/t Au. The mineralized zones start from a downhole depth of 148m (estimated vertical depth of 130m), including 12m of 1.78 g/t Au uncapped (two adjacent zones combined), 3.6m of 1.12 g/t Au and 1.0m of 6.72 g/t Au, see Table 1 and Figure 2A. The above-mentioned intercepts in DO-18-241 included four new higher grade (>2 g/t Au) samples forming part of the Nika cluster (see Figure 1), all of which are outside existing conceptual pits and wireframes and therefore represent potential additions to the existing resource base.

Maple Gold's President and CEO, Matthew Hornor, stated: "When we started designing our 2018 drill program, we encouraged our technical group to take some chances with greenfield drilling and aggressive step-out drilling beyond known zones in the general resource area. Following this approach has resulted in the definition of new zones in the NW Gap Area and gives us confidence that the potential for additional new discoveries at Douay remains excellent. Greenfield drilling results are expected in the coming weeks."

Maple Gold's Vice President Exploration, Fred Speidel, stated: "Assays for the NW Gap Area, including the promising new Nika Zones, are now complete. These additional results demonstrate that gold mineralization in the Nika Zones, part of which is well above deposit average grade, widens significantly towards the west and locally remains open up-dip and down-dip."

Figure 1: Drill plan for NW Gap Area, showing previously reported and new mineralized zones. Note broadening of mineralization westwards from DO-18-241, which may be a result of increased structural permeability provided by the intersection of EW and NW-striking structures in this area. Threshold (2g/t Au) for higher-grade samples for presentation purposes only.

Figure 2 (A, B): A, left, Section 705300E with DO-18-241, showing distribution of syenite (pink) and basalt (green) with reported intercepts. B, right, for comparison, section 705200E (previously reported in press release May 14th, 2018), located 100m to the west, with greater amount of syenite and broader gold intercepts. On this section, individual gold grades shown as black bars along the left side of the hole trace, have been capped at 6 g/t Au for presentation purposes. The main intercepts on this section are open up-dip and down-dip.

To view additional figures and drill-core photographs from 2018 drilling please visit www.maplegoldmines.com.

Table 1: 2018 Drill Results Summary from NW Gap Area (including Nika Zones)

(Drill-holes DO-18-241 and DO-18-218 correspond to the two 2018 holes shown on cross sections)

Intervals are all down-the hole lengths, which are estimated to be approximately 90% of true width. Coordinates are NAD83 Zone 17N. All assays were performed by ALS Laboratories by AU-ICP21, i.e. 30 g fire assay with ICP finish with any over limits (>10 g/t Au) redone by AU-GRA21, i.e. gravimetric analysis of 30g sample weight. Nominal cut-off to obtain intercepts is 0.25 g/t Au, but depending on grade distribution effective cut-offs can be somewhat higher or lower. All intercepts are uncapped, those identified with (*) include samples with overlimits (>10 g/t Au); which may be subject to grade capping during future resource estimation.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical data contained in this press release was reviewed and prepared under the supervision of Fred Speidel, M. Sc, P. Geo., Vice-President Exploration, of Maple Gold. Mr. Speidel is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr. Speidel has verified the data related to the exploration information disclosed in this news release through his direct participation in the work.

Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality Control (QC)

Maple Gold implements strict Quality Assurance ("QA") and Quality Control ("QC") protocols at Douay covering the planning and placing of drill holes in the field; drilling and retrieving the NQ-sized drill core; drill-hole surveying; core transport to the Douay Camp; core logging by qualified personnel; sampling and bagging of core for analysis; transport of core from site to the analytical laboratory; sample preparation for assaying; and analysis, recording and final statistical vetting of results. For a complete description of protocols, please visit the Company's QA/QC page on the website at: http://maplegoldmines.com/index.php/en/projects/qa-qc-qp-statement

About Maple Gold

Maple Gold is an advanced gold exploration company focused on defining a district-scale gold project in one of the world's premier mining jurisdictions. The Company's 377 km Douay Gold Project is located along the Casa Berardi Deformation Zone within the prolific Abitibi Greenstone Belt in northern Quebec, Canada. The Project has an established gold resource1 that remains open in multiple directions, with excellent infrastructure and several large scale operating mines within this prolific mining district. Maple Gold recently completed a significant winter drill campaign to expand on the known Resource Areas and test new discovery targets within the Company's 55 km of strike along the Casa Berardi Deformation Zone. For more information please visit www.maplegoldmines.com.

ON BEHALF OF MAPLE GOLD MINES LTD.

"Matthew Hornor"

B. Matthew Hornor, President & CEO

For Further Information Please Contact:

Mr. Joness Lang

VP, Corporate Development

Email: jlang@maplegoldmines.com

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS PRESS RELEASE.

Forward Looking Statements:

This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively referred to as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation in Canada, including statements about the prospective mineral potential of the Porphyry Zone, the potential for significant mineralization from other drilling in the referenced drill program and the completion of the drill program. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions, uncertainties and management's best estimate of future events. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations and projections. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding timing and completion of the private placement. When used herein, words such as "anticipate", "will", "intend" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are based on certain estimates, expectations, analysis and opinions that management believed reasonable at the time they were made or in certain cases, on third party expert opinions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, and uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual events, results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future events, results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, refer to Maple Gold Mines Ltd.'s filings with Canadian securities regulators available on www.sedar.com or the Company's website at www.maplegoldmines.com. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

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Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.aspJuly 26, 2018 (Investorideas.com Newswire) A CIBC report reviewed the deal and the assets.

In a July 24 research note, CIBC analyst Cosmos Chiu reported that Hecla Mining Co.'s (HL:NYSE) acquisition of Klondex Mines closed the previous day. CIBC resumed coverage on the company with a Neutral rating and $4.25 per share price target, down from $4.75 per share, as "acquisitions with a share component can take some time to digest and for the acquirer's share price to recover." Hecla shares are currently trading at around $3.34.

However, CIBC views the transaction as being favorable for Hecla. Chiu discussed its positive implications and Hecla's plans for its new assets. Hecla paid a 1.2x price:net asset value multiple for Klondex. The deal immediately added $0.10 per share to the company's cash flow, or boosted cash flow per share by greater than 20%.

What the precious metals miner acquired in Klondex were "assets with high upside potential in Nevada," the high-grade Fire Creek mine, the Hollister mine, and the Midas mill and mine. They "fit well into Hecla's core competency of high-grade narrow vein mining," noted Chiu. Through a spinout, Hecla disposed of Klondex's "problematic" True North mine in Manitoba. True North had not had a positive free cash flow quarter since Klondex had acquired it in 2016 whereas the Nevada assets had generated about $20 million in free cash flow in Q1/18.

The acquisition "adds profitable gold production ounces" to Hecla's portfolio. By 2019, from the Klondex Nevada assets alone, CIBC estimates a production increase to 185,000 ounces (185 Koz) from 174 Koz. It forecasts the combined Hecla to generate about 600 Koz of gold equivalent annually after a full year of production. "This makes Hecla one of the more substantial players within the intermediate precious metals producer universe and could be a positive factor in generating investor interest in the company," Chiu pointed out.

At Fire Creek, Hecla aims to grow the current resource and reserve, which are currently sufficient for a mine life through at least 2023. "We expect Hecla will be able to convert resources into reserves, while also achieving success at the regional targets including Zeus," Chiu indicated.

At Hollister, Hecla will continue improving ore recovery at Midas via additional leach tanks and carbon screens. The latter alone has already taken recoveries to greater than 80%, just under the 8590% goal.

The Hatter Graben target at Hollister, which offers potential exploration upside, could be "a game changer," added Chiu. Mineralization there remains open in all directions.

Chiu concluded that "in Nevada, Hecla can leverage its operational expertise in underground mining and is in a position to increase the high-grade reserve/resource at Fire Creek while continuing to improve the recoveries at Hollister."

Disclosure:

1) Doresa Banning compiled this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise reports as an independent contractor. She or members of her household own securities of the following companies mentioned in the article: None. She or members of her household are paid by the following companies mentioned in this article: None.

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5) From time to time, Streetwise Reports LLC and its directors, officers, employees or members of their families, as well as persons interviewed for articles and interviews on the site, may have a long or short position in securities mentioned. Directors, officers, employees or members of their immediate families are prohibited from making purchases and/or sales of those securities in the open market or otherwise from the time of the interview or the decision to write an article, until one week after the publication of the interview or article.

Disclosures from CIBC, Hecla Mining Co., July 24, 2018

Analyst Certification:

Each CIBC World Markets Corp./Inc. research analyst named on the front page of this research report, or at the beginning of any subsection hereof, hereby certifies that (i) the recommendations and opinions expressed herein accurately reflect such research analyst's personal views about the company and securities that are the subject of this report and all other companies and securities mentioned in this report that are covered by such research analyst and (ii) no part of the research analyst's compensation was, is, or will be, directly or indirectly, related to the specific recommendations or views expressed by such research analyst in this report.

Analysts employed outside the U.S. are not registered as research analysts with FINRA. These analysts may not be associated persons of CIBC World Markets Corp. and therefore may not be subject to FINRA Rule 2241 restrictions on communications with a subject company, public appearances and trading securities held by a research analyst account.

Potential Conflicts of Interest:

Equity research analysts employed by CIBC World Markets Corp./Inc. are compensated from revenues generated by various CIBC World Markets Corp./Inc. businesses, including the CIBC World Markets Investment Banking Department. Research analysts do not receive compensation based upon revenues from specific investment banking transactions. CIBC World Markets Corp./Inc. generally prohibits any research analyst and any member of his or her household from executing trades in the securities of a company that such research analyst covers. Additionally, CIBC World Markets Corp./Inc. generally prohibits any research analyst from serving as an officer, director or advisory board member of a company that such analyst covers.

In addition to 1% ownership positions in covered companies that are required to be specifically disclosed in this report, CIBC World Markets Corp./Inc. may have a long position of less than 1% or a short position or deal as principal in the securities discussed herein, related securities or in options, futures or other derivative instruments based thereon.

Recipients of this report are advised that any or all of the foregoing arrangements, as well as more specific disclosures set forth below, may at times give rise to potential conflicts of interest.

Important Disclosure Footnotes for Hecla Mining Company (HL)

Hecla Mining Company is a client for which a CIBC World Markets company has performed investment banking services in the past 12 months.

CIBC World Markets Inc. has received compensation for investment banking services from Hecla Mining Company in the past 12 months.

CIBC World Markets Inc. expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services from Hecla Mining Company in the next 3 months.

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Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.aspNew York, NY and Delta, BC - July 26, 2018 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Investorideas.com (www.investorideas.com), a global news source covering leading sectors issues today's episode of its educational trading podcast featuring the founder of Stock Analyst Guru, LLC, Richard Lazarow.

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800 665 0411All people have the right to make fundamental decisions about their own bodies and health. Thats why we work with diverse local, regional and international partners toward the goal of reproductive justice: a world where all human rights are respected, protected and fulfilled.We have heard a lot about Samsungs foldable smartphone plans so far, but Chinese smartphone giant Huawei is looking to beat Samsung in its own game by releasing the worlds first foldable handset.

While Huawei does not make its own OLED panels like Samsung, it will be sourcing foldable OLED panels from Chinese display maker BOE. Unlike Samsung, Huaweis first batch of foldable smartphones will be limited to around 20,000 to 30,000 units. However, the company is more interested in being the first to the market with a foldable smartphone to make the whole world sit up and take notice of its smartphones instead of ensuring its foldable smartphones gets into the hands of as many people as possible.

Huaweis planned volume could be limited to some 20,000 to 30,000 units, or even less, for a small group of first-wave adopters, one person familiar with Huaweis plan said. The effort is mainly to demonstrate its technology capability and to attract the industrys attention and media coverage.

As per analyst Jeff Pu of Yuanata Investment Consulting, Huawei will launch its foldable smartphone by very early 2019. Nothing is set in stone though as the quality and durability of the panels still leaves a lot to be desired. Reports have already detailed that Samsungs first foldable smartphone will have a 7-inch display that will fold into half. It is also reportedly set for unveiling early next year.

Huawei has been growing rapidly in a stagnant smartphone market. Apart from dominating the Chinese smartphone market despite stiff competition from Xiaomi, it has also managed to carve a market for itself in Europe where its Honor sub-brand is growing at a rapid pace. The company has already shipped 100 million smartphones this year and it expects to ship over 200 million units by the end of this year.

BOE has been looking to supply OLED panels to many Android OEMs. It is currently in the process of setting up its OLED factories, so it is surprising to see that the company already has the technology and the expertise to create OLED panels for foldable smartphones.

Our Take

It is interesting to see Huawei and Samsung battle it out to be the first to the market with a foldable smartphone. What is perhaps more important is that how the foldable smartphone idea is executed. If done right, it will completely change the smartphone market. But if the idea is not implemented properly, it will end up being just a gimmick that will find very few takers.

[Via NikkeiChangjiaomiao locals show visitors a traditional welcome dance.

The Miao people are an ancient minority and have spread all over the world, mainly to southern China and some southeast Asian countries such as Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. In China, the Miao people are the fourth largest minority.

Although there are many Miao settlers in China, the Changjiaomiao are unique. In Guizhou province, Changjiaomiao (also called Qing miao) mainly live in 12 villages which are located in the Suoga mountains. These 12 villages all have their own leaders and no intermarriage is allowed outside of the village. The village leader, elected by those that live here, is responsible for administrative affairs.

Langdai Ancient Town, in Liuzhi Special District of Liupanshui City, is one of these villages. Luo Gang, curator of the museum of ecology in Suoga, explained that before the mid 1990s, these villages still lived with traditional values of men plowing and women weaving.

A local woman wears the traditional Changjiaomiao outfit.

A living fossil of human culture

Its a modern fossil of human nature, said Luo, explaining that the continuing folk customs and traditional way of life have remained the same for generations. Funeral ceremonies here are mysterious and grand affairs, with people from all 12 villages arriving to pay their respects and give tributes while the hosting village keeps a record of the gifts to return later, after which people will play music and take part in a Lusheng dance.

Preserving culture in a modern world

When Changjiaomiao villages were discovered by the outside world, China and Norway built the first ecological museum in China, the Suoga Miao ecological museum, which hoped to protect this unique culture.

Visitors watch and take part in the traditional way local snacks are made.

However, due to increased contact with the outside world, the Changjiaomiao people began to understand the advanced lifestyle of other countries and cultures. It became a question of choice for most of the Changjiaomiao people whether to continue their ancient traditions or not.

Guizhou is currently working with relevant colleges and universities to help the Changjiaomiao people maintain their culture, and to carry out the manufacturing and marketing of ethnic handicrafts, trying to find a place for traditional culture in the market.

"We must find ways to develop in protection, and let the Changjiaomiao people find the most comfortable living conditions." Yang Xiaoying, a teacher of the International Tourism College of Guizhou Normal University said.

Visitors try local snacks on Langdai food street.

Langdai is now a tourism hub, with a museum that allows visitors to learn how the villages were built and what life was like for those living here hundreds of years ago, and a food street where tourists can try local dishes and snacks.

Its hoped that as more people learn of this unique culture and the Changjiaomiao people make a better income from tourism, more will happily live in their villages and keep their ancient culture alive.

Visitors explore Langdai village.Council backs expanded Gould cleanup The town council formally has asked its congressional delegation to develop a plan with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that would accomplish a comprehensive restoration of Gould Island beyond...

A FRESH COAT FOR WINTER Workers on the Dutch Island Lighthouse earlier this month restore the west and south sides before taking a winter break. Restoration on the east and north sides will begin in...

Woman wins Pell Bridge race Annmarie Tuxbury, a Newport resident who ran track collegiately at Bryant University from 2012-15, became the first female to win the Citizens Pell Bridge Run after smashing the womens record...Ponant

Nobody does luxurious living like the French  after all they pretty much invented our modern concept of it, and came up with the first word, luxe, that accurately describes what so many now aspire to. So it makes perfect sense that a French luxury cruise line, Ponant, should be the worlds acknowledged leader in elegant expeditions. These are not cruise ships as you know them; Ponants vessels are built on a more personal scale, and are truly floating five-star hotels in the best French tradition of chic and luxurious hospitality.

Ponant, founded in April 1988 by Philippe Videau, Jean-Emmanuel Sauve, and other officers of the French Merchant Navy who launched the very first French cruise ship, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, which makes it an especially good time to book passage on one of their beautiful ships. Their smaller capacity means not only a more intimate experience, but that they can access legendary destinations and secret ports of call that larger cruise ships not only cant get near, but arent welcome in.

Ponant

Offering an authentic, cultured and sophisticated cruising experience, Ponants ships have above all the French Touch which is often imitated but can only truly be found in their hands. From an all-French crew expert on offering discreet, attentive service, to the sort of unrivaled French cuisine youd usually have to travel to Paris for, superlative refinement is the hallmark or every journey. Gastronomy, of course, takes pride of place, with fine French wine of various vintages, artisanal cheeses, delectable bread and pastries from Maison Lenotre, macarons from the world-famous Laduree and champagne Veuve Clicquot on offer. Menus change nightly but expect favorites like pan-seared duck foie gras, roasted veal loin with port wine and truffle sauce, and vanilla cream choux.

Ponant

Ponants signature is also evident in the companys choice of partners and amenities, with interior design by Jean Philippe Nuel, who has also designed interiors for Sofitel and Taj Hotels; fabrics by Pierre Frey; tea from Le Palais des Thes; Hermes bath products in all staterooms and suites; spa care products by Sothys, Ponants spa partner offering onboard massages, facials, anti-aging treatments and other therapies; and signature perfumes from Fragonard  again delivering a stylish and sybaritic experience that can usually only be found at Paris finest hotels and restaurants. You cannot actually comprehend that this level of luxury can exist at sea until youve been on board and are experiencing it firsthand. This is truly first-class adventuring.

Ponant

The Ponant fleet is perfectly equipped to take you anywhere you wish to explore, from the heart of the Mediterraneans hidden bays to the majestic glaciers of Antarctica, and the remote lands of Alaska to island hopping in the Caribbean. Its ships include Le Ponant, a three-masted yacht with 32 cabins thats one of the most elegant superyachts on the water for an intimate and friendly cruising atmosphere; Le Boreal, Le Soleal, and LAustral, luxurious ships each with 132 cabins, featuring understated and refined exterior and interior decor; and its latest jewel in the crown, Le Laperouse, the first of the exceptional Ponant Explorers series, of which five more will be built.

Ponant

With just 92 staterooms and suites all with a balcony or private terrace, Le Laperouse boasts elegant, sleek lines, state-of-the-art technology and other major innovations including environmentally friendly initiatives. It also features the Blue Eye, a unique multi-sensorial underwater lounge allowing passengers to discover and experience the underwater world via two portholes in the form of a whales eye, looking out on to the seabed with non-intrusive underwater lighting, and hydrophones integrated into the keel that retransmit the natural symphony of the deep water. Visit https://au.ponant.com to book passage and see why Travel + Leisure called cruising with Ponant like hitching a ride on the megayacht of your richest, most adventurous French friend.

Ponant

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PonantChronograph chronology Chronograph chronology

Since the acclaimed premiere of the Datograph 16 years ago, the Saxon watch brand has continuously leveraged its expertise in this domain...

Since the acclaimed premiere of the...The project manager of Ethiopia's Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam was found dead in the capital Addis Ababa on Thursday, state media reported.

Simegnew Bekele was the public face of the dam being built near the country's western border with Sudan that, when completed, will be Africa's largest.

The state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate said Simegnew "has been found dead in his car at Meskel Square," in the centre of Addis Ababa.

"The cause of his death is unknown," Fana added.

In May, Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia agreed to set up a scientific committee to study the dam's impact.

The renaissance dam is one of several "mega-projects" Ethiopia is pursuing that include railways and industrial parks aimed at transforming its economy and pulling the country out of poverty.

Construction started in 2011, and two of its 16 turbines are scheduled to start producing power in 2018, the Ethiopian authorities said earlier this year.

Simegnew's death is the second of a high-profile company official in recent months.

In May, gunmen ambushed and killed Deep Kamra, the country manager for Nigeria's Dangote Cement, alongside two others in the Oromia region outside Addis Ababa.

This story has been edited by Ahram online.

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Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry discussed the latest developments in Libya with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian on Thursday, according to a statement by Egypt's Foreign Ministry.

The two foreign ministers spoke in a phone call, discussing the results of Le Drian's latest visit to Libya in the light of Egypt's support for stability, a political settlement and the unification of the Libyan army in the neighbouring country.

The two ministers also discussed possible steps towards establishing consensus among all of Libya's parties.

Spokesperson to the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abu Zeid added that Shoukry stressed that Egypt supports a political settlement to the Libyan conflict aided by the efforts of the UN envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame.

Shoukry indicated to Le Drian "Egypt's continued efforts to achieve brotherly consensus in Libya for the reunification of the country and the building of state institutions," the statement read.

Abu Zeid said that during the phone call Egypt's Minister of Foreign Affairs referred to the depth of historic relations between Egypt and France and stated that he looks forward to developing them in all fields especially in view of the great opportunities available for cooperation between the two sides.

On his part, the French Foreign Minister stressed the importance of bilateral relations between the two countries and highlighted France's appreciation of the Egyptian role in supporting stability in the region.





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Egypt condemned on Thursday an attack on two Saudi oil tankers carried out by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Houthis attacked the large crude carriers (VLCCs) in the Red Sea on Wednesday morning, with one VLCC sustaining minimal damage.

"The attack constitutes a flagrant violation of international laws and norms, which stipulates freedom of navigation on international waterways, aside from having a negative impact on freedom of movement for international trade," reads a statement issued by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

The statement reiterated Egypt's call for the international community to "work on the restoration of Yemeni legitimacy based on the international guidelines set out in UN Security Council Resolution 2216 (2015), the Gulf initiative, and the outcomes of Yemen's national dialogue."

The statement also urged for resistance against all terror acts that would destabilize the region.

On Thursday, top oil exporter Saudi Arabia said it is "temporarily halting" all oil shipments through the strategic Red Sea shipping lane of Bab El-Mandeb following the attack.

The Bab al-Mandeb strait is where the Red Sea meets the Gulf of Aden in the Arabian Sea. Most ships that pass through Bab Al-Mandeb are either going to or coming from Egypt's Suez Canal, one of the country's main sources of income and foreign currency flow.

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KLAMATH FALLS, Ore.  After nearly 18 years, authorities believe that they have located two fugitives accused of sex abuse crimes. The couple fled prosecution in Klamath County back in the year 2000, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

On January 7, 2000, a Circuit Court Judge in Klamath County issued arrest warrants for Victoria Michelle Cravitz and Leon Henry Shaw for their alleged involvement in the sexual molestation of several children between the ages of six and seventeen in Klamath Falls.

Those crimes were believed to have started in December of 1989 and continued until February of 1999. Shaw faced two counts of sodomy, four counts of sex abuse, five counts of rape, six counts of felon in possession of a firearm, and obstructing governmental administration charges. Cravitz's charges include three counts of rape in the first degree and one count of sodomy in the first degree.

Yet Shaw and Cravitz were not found and brought into custody at the time. In October of 2000, a federal judge in Medford issued unlawful flight to avoid prosecution (fugitive) warrants for both Shaw and Cravitz.

On Wednesday, the FBI Jackson Violent Crimes Task Force arrested Cravitz in the Chatham community of Washington County, Mississippi. Shaw was confirmed to be deceased.

The FBI says that Cravitz, living under the assumed name Jennifer Larsen, took Shaw to a hospital due to an illness. Shaw died of natural causes at the hospital and questions about his true identity arose when administrators attempted to generate a death certificate. Someone then approached the FBI.

This case is an excellent example of our determination to see justice done regardless of time limits, said Renn Cannon, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Oregon. The FBI's commitment to bringing justice to crime victims will never waver.

Cravitz had her initial appearance before a federal magistrate in the Southern District of Mississippi on Thursday and will be extradited back to Oregon to face both Federal and State charges.

"Our County intends to prosecute Ms. Cravitz to the full extent of the law," said Eve Costello, Klamath County District Attorney. "Her and her husband's abuse of multiple children have created long term negative ramifications for many individuals. The allegations involve the kidnap, rape and torture of a number of young girls since before 2000 when the case first came to light to DHS. DHS was able to intervene, but Ms. Cravitz and Mr. Shaw took off out of county. We are glad to see their whereabouts determined and plan to seek justice for the victims."UBC president Santa Ono was in Kelowna Wednesday along with Melanie Mark, B.C.s minister of advanced education, skills and training, to announce a $6-million scholarship fund, which will create 400 awards of $15,000 each for domestic graduate students at both UBC campuses.PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- A state board, citing dishonesty, has voted to revoke the police certification of former Portland Police Chief Larry O'Dea for 10 years.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the Board of Public Safety Standards and Training took Thursday's action based on findings that O'Dea misled investigators about his handling of an off-duty shooting and failed to immediately act on an employee's complaint of a hostile work environment.

O'Dea retired two years amid controversy over his shooting of a friend during a camping trip in southeastern Oregon. O'Dea told a Harney County deputy on the day on the shooting that he thought the friend had shot himself.

O'Dea also waited several days before telling Portland officials about the shooting.

Current Portland Police Chief Danielle Outlaw initially voted against revoking O'Dea's certification but changed her vote later in the session. She participated in the meeting by phone, and told the newspaper afterward that the agenda item had been unclear.PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The defense attorney for indicted FBI agent Joseph Astarita told jurors during opening statements that his client knows when to shoot and when not to shoot, and if the expert marksman had shot, he would not have missed.

Astarita is charged with making false statements and obstruction of justice after telling investigators he did not fire two shots that missed Robert "LaVoy" Finicum, a spokesman for the group that occupied an Oregon wildlife refuge for several weeks in 2016.

The errant shots came as the rancher emerged from his pickup as authorities moved in to arrest leaders of the refuge takeover. Oregon State Police fatally shot Finicum seconds later.

In his opening, prosecutor Gary Sussman portrayed Astarita as a relatively inexperienced member of an elite FBI unit, and the only person in position to fire the shots.GRANTS PASS, Ore. -- With the Garner Complex Fire growing to about 20,000 acres, Governor Kate Brown is expected to meet with Oregon Department of Forestry officials working the blaze near Grants Pass on Thursday, July 26.

Overnight, the fire expanded more than 2,000 acres. Its only 18 percent contained.

According to ODF, the complex is threatening around 1,300 buildings, and several homes remain under level three evacuations.

The total acreage of each fire in the complex at last count was:

 Taylor Creek: 11,831

 Grave Creek/Ditch Creek: 7,047

 Pleasant Creek: 832

 Spencer Creek: 228

 King Mountain: 6EUGENE, Ore. -- As more and more qualified employees retire from trades every day, employers are struggling to replace them with skilled workers. Roto Rooter, a plumbing company in Oregon, said theyre struggling with that very same problem.

Don Sherwood, an owner at Roto Rooter, said he often cant take all the jobs hes offered, and thats becoming a problem for their business.

I guarantee you the consumers feeling it right now. Theyre feeling it because there are days I turn down more plumbing jobs than Im completing, Sherwood said.

He said theyre struggling to find qualified young workers to fill the roles of those retiring, and if something doesnt change soon, its going to be dangerous for the business and consumers will start to notice more than they already have.

Between here and our central Oregon location, we have seven journeymen plumbers. And we have more work than we can complete if we do it by the State of Oregon law, Sherwood said.

Sherwood said he started out in a four-year college but quickly found it wasnt for him. He wants to encourage students to look at a trade as they exit high school. He said students should consider that they can earn both an education and work experience with an apprenticeship. They could come out debt-free and contribute to saving trades the community needs.SPRINGFIELD, Ore. -- A Springfield family is speaking out after spotting a cougar in their backyard, and they believe Springfield police did the right thing killing it.

Nicholas Bryan, 12, and his sister Marisa were in their backyard by their pool Tuesday afternoon when they saw the wild animal by their fence.

"All of a sudden it jumped up and I ran inside, and Marisa stayed in the pool," Bryan said.

Their mom, Jennifer Easton, said she called police, and soon after they arrived, she warned neighbors about the possible danger. She told them to keep their children and pets inside.

Later a sniper with Springfield police shot and killed the cougar after it was found nearby in a tree.

"It was very scary because it could've ended up very bad for one or both kids or anybody in the neighborhood for that matter," Easton said. "So we are very fortunate that animal control came out and took care of it. It was a sad ending for the cougar, but it was the best one I feel for our neighborhood."

Some neighbors are upset the animal wasn't tranquilized and relocated, but Christopher Yee, a wildlife biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said that wasn't an option.

Yee said cougars are extremely territorial, making them hard to put back into the wilderness. On top of that, Yee said tranquilizers can take minutes to take effect and sometimes not work at all. Yee also said a drugged animal can be even more dangerous.

"It doesn't have it's entire faculties about it, and it may run into a group of people that are standing there watching this unfold, not realizing until it's right next to an individual and lash out and defend itself," Yee said.

Yee said he believes the cougar was a juvenile male that just started to fend for itself and that the animal was lost and suffering from malnutrition. Yee added that the animal was 10 to 15 pounds underweight.Egypt's consumer protection agency issued a warning in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, cautioning citizens against using 14 types of blood pressure drug, since they contain an ingredient that may cause cancer, according to a statement by the consumer protection agency.

Head of the consumer agency Rady Abdel Moaty said that the Egyptian Pharmacists Syndicate had previously issued a warning to all doctors against using any of the mentioned drugs.

The 14 drugs have been assessed as containing an excessive dosage of the active ingredient in "valsartan," which is known to be a generic agent used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure.

The substance used in valsartan is normally only used in limited proportions.

Valesartan, manufactured by a Chinese company, has been produced with higher than normal proportions of the substance according to the European Medicines Agency (EMA), causing an impurity in 14 blood pressure drugs which pose a potential cancer risk.

EMA is an agency of the European Union responsible for the scientific evaluation, supervision and safety monitoring of medicines.

According to an earlier notice issued by the Egyptian Health Ministry the 14 drugs are named as follows:MASON CITY, Iowa  A woman believed she was going to die during domestic abuse situations within the last week in Mason City, according to court documents.

Eric English, 47, of Mason City, has been charged with felony domestic assault impeding air/blood flow after incidents ranging from July 20-24 in the 400 block of 2nd St. NW.

The woman suffered bruising throughout her body, suffered bruising from bite marks and was strangled to the point where she believed she was going to die, according to the criminal complaint.

Authorities said there were minor signs of petechia (round spots that appear on the skin as a result of bleeding, according to Mayo Clinic) in the victims gums and eyes.

English is being held in the Cerro Gordo County Jail.Monday's wildfires are considered as the worst to hit Greece in over a decade

Related Greek wildfires toll rises to 79 amid search for survivors

Egypt's foreign ministry expressed Thursday its deepest condolences to the victims of the Greek forest fires, which left at least 83 dead, a statement by the ministry read.

The forests fires took place Monday, burning out of control in the areas of Rafina and Mati, leaving at least 83 dead and 187 injured.

"Egypt stands in full support with the friendly people and government of Greece to overcome this ordeal," the statement read.

Fires forced residents to flee to beaches and into the sea.

Monday's wildfires are considered as the worst to hit Greece in over a decade.

EU countries are offering help and support.

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP)  Box cutters, a roll of duct tape, rubber gloves and two handguns are among the items collected as evidence in the case of a Minnesota woman accused of killing her Florida look-alike.

Investigators in Florida released hundreds of photos and a list of evidence Wednesday in their case against Lois Riess . The 56-year-old Blooming Prairie, Minnesota, woman is charged with murder in the April death of Pamela Hutchinson in a Fort Myers Beach condo. Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty.

Riess is also accused of killing her husband, David Riess, before leading authorities on a manhunt. Murder charges in Minnesota are pending.

The Star Tribune reports the list of evidence also includes maps and written directions from Florida to Texas, where Riess was caught after Hutchinson's death.GARNER, Iowa  A Forest City man has been charged with 13 crimes in connection with a string of burglaries.

The Hancock County Sheriffs Office says numerous storage units at a facility in the 100 block of Industrial Drive in Forest city were broken into from January 10 through January 21. Thousands of dollars worth of items were taken, including a trailer, motorcycle tools and paraphernalia, the key to a Polaris UTV, carpet, stereo equipment, and collected magazines.

The Sheriffs Office says their investigation found that Kristen James Nelson, 34, was one of the individuals involved in these burglaries. Deputies say Nelson admitted his involvement during an official interview.

He was arrested on Tuesday and is accused of seven counts of 3rd degree burglary, five counts of 2nd degree theft, and one count of attempted 3rd degree burglary.MASON CITY, Iowa  A man accused of stealing snowmobiles and a safe is pleading guilty to both crimes.

Joshua Thomas Teeter, 20 of Mason City, has entered a guilty plea to 3rd degree burglary and 2nd degree theft in Cerro Gordo County District Court. Authorities say he broke into a trailer on February 14 and stole thousands of dollars worth of items, then worked with two other men to steal two snowmobiles on February 24. His sentencing for those crimes is set for September 4.

Teeter is also pleading guilty in Worth County District Court to 3rd degree burglary. Authorities say he worked with two other men to steal a safe in March. No sentencing date has been set in this case.MASON CITY, Iowa  A man accused of multiple crimes is now facing multiple trials.

Authorities say Dylan Mennenga, 22 of Mason City, dropped baggies of methamphetamine on the floor while in the dining area of the Beje Clark Residential Center on March 29. Hes also accused of escaping from a detention facility on April 1 and trying to use a counterfeit $20 bill on May 20.

And Mason City police said Mennenga has a collapsible baton in his pocket when he was arrested.

Mennenga has now pleaded not guilty to possession of meth-3rd or subsequent offense and forgery. Those trials are scheduled to being on September 18. He is also pleading not guilty to absence from custody and will stand trial for that on September 11.

A charge of carrying weapons against Mennenga has been dropped.CRESCO, Iowa  An attorney is accused of stealing from a dead person's estate.

Todd M. Kowalke, 56 of Cresco, is charged with one count of 1st degree theft. Investigators say Kowalke took more than $35,000 from the estate of Violet Brokken during the summer of 2017 and used the money for gambling, as well as business and personal expenses. According to court documents, Kowalke admitted during a court hearing that the money in Brokkens estate was gone, apologized to the estates executor and said he would repay every penny.

Charges were filed against Kowalke on July 19.MASON CITY, Iowa - President Donald Trump is criticizing his former attorney Michael Cohen after CNN aired a recording Cohen reportedly made when he was a candidate.

The two men can be heard talking about making a payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal who claisms he had an affair with Trump.

"I spoke to Allen about it, when it comes time for the financing, which will be..."What financing?" "We'll have to pay." "Pay with cash.""No, no, no no no no."

The President denies having a relationship with McDougal.

Although parts of the tape are difficult to follow, Cohen told Trump about a plan to buy the rights to the story from American Media, the company that publishes the National Enquirer.

The President took to Twitter Wednesday morning asking in part, "What kind of lawyer would tape a client?"

It's a question that piqued KIMT's interest, so we spoke with attorney Rich Tompkins of Mason City.

He says that phone call statutes vary by state, but it is considered unethical for an attorney to record an in-person or phone conversation, and may even cost their license to practice if they violate that rule.

"They can't record it whether they're in person or on the telephone unless they get specific, and I'm going to say written permission because that's what I would want to have, is written permission, to do so."

Under the one party consent requirement, it is legal in Iowa and Minnesota to record a conversation you are taking part in without the other party's consent, as long as the recording is done without any criminal or malicious intent.

"As long as the one that's doing the recording, the one that is talking on the phone for example, is doing the recording, then that's legal. They don't have to let the other side know."

In Minnesota, it may not constitute an ethics report unless if it breaches the duty of an attorney to their client.ST. PAUL, Minn.  Minnesotans are being warned about people pretending to represent a health insurance company that no longer does business in the state.

Premier Health Plan announced in 2018 that it had discontinued all of its health insurance products in Minnesota and across the country, including Medicare Advantage plans. But the Minnesota Commerce Department is receiving reports of automated phone calls pretending to sell Premier Health Plan insurance.

Officials say anyone who expresses interest in buying health insurance is asked for their bank account information. They are then sent phony bills and see unauthorized charges show up on their bank account statements.

The Commerce Department says it would like to remind people:

- If you receive an automated call, dont say anything and hang up.

- Dont answer calls from an unknown number or pay an invoice from a company you dont have an insurance policy with.

- If you answered a call that you believe was a scam, write the number down and report it to the Federal Trade Commission at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) or ftc.gov/complaint.

- Never give personal or financial information to someone you dont know over the phone.

- Regularly review your bank account and credit card statements and report unauthorized charges to your financial institution.

Anyone who has been contacted about buying Premier Health Plan insurance or any other suspicious insurance offer can contact the Commerce Departments Consumer Services Center by email at consumer.protection@state.mn.us or by calling 651-539-1600 or 800-657-3602.At least for today, it seems the pendulum is swinging into bullish territory in regards to gold pricing. Recent declines in gold pricing have been based on two primary factors. First, dollar strength has weighed heavily on gold pricing. Secondly, traders have added selling pressure to the equation.

This is the opposite of what traders witnessed today as a combination of dollar weakness and buying pressure have taken gold prices higher. As of 5:00 PM Eastern standard time, gold futures are currently trading $6.30 higher, a net increase of just over half of a percent and fixed at $1,231.80.

The U.S. dollar index is currently trading down 43 points and fixed at 93.95. Spot gold is presently fixed at $1,231.40, resulting from a $7.30 net gain on the day. On closer inspection, we can see that the vast majority of todays price increase is directly attributable to a falling dollar, which is adding $5.50 to the value of each ounce of gold. The remaining $1.80 gain is attributed to normal trading.

Today President Trump met with Jean-Claude Juncker, the E.U. commission President in Washington, in order to avoid further escalation of a trade war between the United States and the European Union.

According to the Guardian, the United States and E.U. reached a deal in which the European Union has agreed to lower industrial tariffs as well as import more U.S. soybeans. Although their optimistic outcome continues to fuel and favor U.S. equities, the U.S. dollar has continued to weaken, and the short-term gains witnessed in gold remained well after the announcement was made.

All Is Not Quiet on The Chinese Front

At the same time, Chinese president Xi, speaking at the annual summit of BRICS economies in Johannesburg, warned that countries who pursue economic hegemony will end up hurting themselves. The Chinese President declared that leaders must choose between cooperation and confrontation.

Unilateralism and protectionism are mounting, dealing a severe blow to multilateralism and the multilateral trading regime.

These statements could well be the Chinese presidents retaliatory comments to a tweet President Trump sent today which said China is targeting our farmers, who they know I love & respect, as a way of getting me to continue allowing them to take advantage of the U.S. They are being vicious in what will be their failed attempt. We were being nice - until now! China made $517 Billion on us last year.

The combination of favorable talks between the United States and the E.U., as well as the continued confrontation between the United States and China are having a push poll effect which has kept gold prices firm at least for today.

For those who would like more information, simply use this link.

Wishing you as always, good trading,(Kitco News) - Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. (NYSE, TSX: AEM) late Wednesday reported a decline in its second-quarter profit but increased its production guidance for full-year 2018.

Net income fell to $5 million, or 2 cents per share, from $54.9 million, or 24 cents, in the second quarter of 2017.

The company listed a slew of special items, including a realized gain on asset disposals of $25 million, non-cash foreign currency translation losses on deferred tax liabilities of $15.9 million, non-cash foreign currency translation losses of $3.9 million and mark-to-market adjustments and derivative losses on financial instruments of $2.8 million. Excluding special items, adjusted net income was $2.6, or a penny per share.

The company said its results were hurt by lower gold sales volumes and higher costs, partially offset by higher gold prices. Output was expected to be lower due to reduced throughput levels at Meadowbank as the mine transitions through the last full year of mining at site, Agnico Eagle said. Higher costs were mainly due to stronger local currencies against the U.S. dollar and higher costs at several operations, principally at Meadowbank and Kittila.

April-June gold production was 404,961 ounces at all-in sustaining costs of $921 per ounce, Agnico Eagle said. Year-ago output was 427,743 ounces at AISC of $785.

"Our mines continued to deliver strong operational performance during the quarter, which has allowed us to increase 2018 production guidance to 1.58 million ounces of gold from 1.53 million ounces, said Sean Boyd, chief executive officer.

The company maintained a quarterly dividend of 11 cents a share.

During the second quarter, Boyd said, the company made good progress on development projects in Nunavut. Agnico Eagle recently received the Type A water license for the Whale Tail pit at Amaruq, which allows construction to begin in late July. Meanwhile, the shipping season has begun for Meliadine, which should facilitate completion for the expected start of production in the second quarter of 2019, Boyd added.(Kitco News) - Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE, TSX: ABX) late Wednesday reported a decline in its second-quarter adjusted earnings as output fell from a year ago mainly due to planned maintenance, which contributed to higher per-ounce costs although the price of the metal itself rose.

Adjusted earnings came in at $81 million, or 7 cents per share, compared to $261 million, or 22 cents, in the same quarter of 2017.

The biggest special items listed by Barrick included $75 million in currency-translation losses due to weakening of the Argetinas peso, $59 million in impairment charges related to two different projects, and $43 in other adjustments, including $28 million for staffing reductions and office closures.

The company posted a second-quarter net loss of $94 million, or 8 cents per share, a turnaround from a profit of $1.1 billion, or 93 cents, in the year-ago period.

Lower adjusted net earnings and operating cash flow compared to the prior-year period primarily reflect the impact of lower gold sales, Barrick said. In addition, while total direct mining costs were in line with the prior-year period, direct mining costs on a per-ounce basis increased, primarily due to the impact of fewer ounces sold, as well as expenses associated with planned maintenance at the Barrick Nevada roaster and the Pueblo Viejo autoclaves, and higher fuel costs.

This was partially offset by several other factors, including higher realized gold prices, Barrick said. The average gold price received by the company rose to $1,313 an ounce from $1,258 a year ago.

All-in sustaining costs per ounce climbed to $856 from $710.

Second-quarter revenue fell to $1.71 billion from $2.16 billion a year ago. The company maintained its quarterly dividend at 3 cents per share payable on Sept. 17 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on Aug. 31.

The company reported its second-quarter production earlier this month. Gold output fell to 1.07 million ounces in the April-June period from 1.43 million a year earlier, while copper output slipped to 83 million pounds from 85 million.

Full-year gold production and cost guidance remains at 4.5 million to 5 million ounces with AISC of $765 to $815 per ounce, Barrick said. Copper production is expected to be 345 million to 410 million pounds at AISC of $2.55 to $2.85 per pound.

The companys debt was cut from around $6.4 billion to $5.8 billion, bringing total debt repayments over the past five years to $10 billion, Barrick said.

Based on positive drill results, Barrick announced a new, high-grade gold discovery at Fourmile, located within the Cortez District in Nevada. The company has allocated additional funding for drilling at the project over the remainder of 2018.Just over five months have passed since the Egyptian armed forces launched the comprehensive military Operation Sinai 2018 in cooperation with the police.

On 9 February the plan to fully confront terrorist and criminal individuals and organizations began to be implemented in North and Central Sinai, and in other areas in the Nile Delta and desert areas west of the Nile Valley, according to the first Armed Forces communique on the operation.

Egypt's Armed Forces Spokesperson Tamer El-Refaie gave an in-depth interview with Al-Ahram Al-Araby weekly magazine which is set to be published in full on Saturday, highlighting the latest developments on the ground and achievements of the Sinai 2018 operation.

The interview is the first to be conducted by Egypt's armed forces spokesperson in an Egyptian or Arab newspaper since he assumed his role in January 2017.

Since the launch of the operation in February 2018, army forces have killed more than 321 terrorists and confiscated more than 1000 improvised explosive devices (IEDs), according to El-Refai.

In terms of achievements, Operation Sinai 2018 has succeeded in cutting arms and ammunition supply lines to terrorists, targeting "takfiri" leaders with complete success using information from different intelligence agencies regarding terrorist hideouts in the North Sinai governorate.

The Arabic word "takfiri" refers to extremist Sunni Muslims who accuse other Muslims of being infidels, often to justify the use of violence against them.

In addition to counter-terrorism operations, development efforts are ongoing in parallel in North Sinai. The Armed Forces Engineering Authority has completed 134 projects worth EGP 175 billion in the peninsula (US$9.8 billion), out of the 290 included in the development plan.

Since the start of the operation, the Egyptian Armed Forces have conducted 11 joint military exercises with neighbouring countries, as well as participating in ongoing collaboration with the Community of Sahel-Saharan states on counter-terrorism.

The Egyptian army spokesperson said the major achievement of Operation Sinai 2018 is the re-establishment of normal living conditions for residents, and the restoration of security in areas cleansed of terrorism in the governorate.

"The statistics and numbers in different military communiques following the operation's launch demonstrate the great success on the ground," El-Refaie said, praising the role of Sinai residents in counter-terrorism efforts.

El-Refaie also affirmed that the comprehensive operation against terrorism is not only limited to Sinai but includes many strategic levels.



"The Egyptian Armed Forces are always targeted by false news, mainly broadcast by the anti-state media, which encourage and incite terrorism against army and police forces," the Egyptian army spokesperson said.

"These terrorist organizations receive financial and logistical assistance from several parties, whether inside the country or abroad, in addition to intelligence information with the aim of disrupting the country's security and stability," El-Refaie added.

"The educational process is now running smoothly in all North Sinai's schools and universities, as normal life has been restored in most areas freed from the threat of terrorism."

The Egyptian armed forces are currently working on completing the North Sinai buffer zone bordering the Gaza strip and destroying smuggling tunnels, executing a very technologically advanced system to limit communication between terrorist elements and enhance security capabilities.



"While conducting its operations in Sinai and in any other part of the state, the Egyptian armed forces are committed to human rights standards and complete protection of civilians in combat areas," the army spokesman affirmed.

El-Refaie affirmed that many suspects are released after conducting legal procedures proving they are not involved in any criminal cases or violence.

El-Refaie also stressed the armed forces' abidance by the highest levels of integrity and credibility in all information provided in public regarding the military operation and the security situation, both locally and internationally.

Operation Sinai 2018 involves land, naval and air forces, as well as police and border guards.

In November 2017, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ordered the Egyptian army and police forces to restore stability and security in the Sinai Peninsula within three months, using the "utmost force."

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(Kitco News) - Coeur Mining, Inc. (NYSE: CDE) reversed to a profit in the second quarter on higher output, the company announced Wednesday.

Net income came in at $2.9 million, or 2 cents per share, compared to a loss of $10 million, or 6 cents, in the second quarter of 2017. Adjusted net income from April through June was $1.1 million, or a penny per share, a turnaround from an adjusted loss of $1.3 million, or a penny, a year ago.

Companywide silver-equivalent production increased 14% year-over-year to 8.8 million ounces. The increase was driven by Palmarejo, where silver-equivalent production climbed 40% year-over-year to 4.1 million ounces

Revenue climbed to $170 million from $149.5 million in the year-ago period, Coeur said.

Led by our Palmarejo operation, we delivered strong financial and operating performance in the second quarter, which has resulted in an increase to our companywide full-year production guidance ranges and a reduction to our companywide full-year cost guidance ranges, said Mitchell J. Krebs, president and chief executive officer.

Coeur announced earlier this month that full-year production guidance was increased from a range of 36 million to 39.4 million silver equivalent ounces to a range of 37.3 million to 40.5 million due to the strong first-half performance at Palmarejo.

Krebs said that the Silvertip operation in British Columbia is expected to achieve commercial production in the third quarter.(Kitco News) - What has a higher probability of panning out  finding gold while lying face down in the river or winning the lottery? Well, one amateur prospector tried his luck with the former and struck gold in the form of an 85.7g (3.02oz) nugget.

The nugget, named the Douglas Nugget, is reportedly the biggest to ever be spotted in Britain over the last 500 years.

The amateur prospector, who is choosing to remain anonymous, used the sniping method to look for nuggets in the riverbed, which means employing the help of a snorkel.

The location of the find, which happened two years ago, is not being disclosed to keep others away from the site and avoid a gold rush.

I was following a crack in the bedrock and found around 2g in fine gold, The Guardian quoted the discoverer as saying. This then led to a pocket, where I uncovered the nugget. I called over my friend to have a look and we both assumed it to be around 5-7g in weight. It wasnt until I removed it that we realized just how big it was.

I took off my glove and picked it up, jumped out of the water and screamed bingo! to my friend. We were both stunned and couldnt believe it. Ive never seen anything like it in my lifetime, he added.

Biggest gold nugget in 500 years found in UK river https://t.co/Q13qaE8BpI pic.twitter.com/bRcyB4PBqe  Syukri Abdul Aziz (@syukazizz) July 26, 2018

The value of the nugget could easily be more than $65,000, according to gold panning expert Leon Kirk, who told the British publication that the find is rarer than an Aston Martin or a Faberge egg.

Despite the gold nuggets location being kept under wraps, the gold rush is reawakening in Scotland, said Kirk, noting that hundreds of amateur prospectors are signing up for the gold panning courses offered by the Museum of Lead Mining located south of Glasgow in Dumfies and Galloway.

Whether or not the prospectors get to keep the gold nuggets found in Britain depends on whether they got permission to remove them from the riverbed, as usually all gold or silver found in England is classified as belonging to the crown.* First copper production expected 2022* Cutifani says not in big M+A mode* Focus on exploration in Brazil, Peru (Adds detail from analyst call, quotes) By Barbara Lewis LONDON, July 26 (Reuters) - Anglo American is going ahead with the $5 billion development of its Quellaveco project in Peru, one of the world's largest untapped copper resources with the potential to transform the company's business outlook.

The company also announced its first-half earnings had risen 11 percent year-on-year, driven by stronger commodity prices and greater efficiency. After being one of the miners hardest hit by the commodity crash of 2015-16, Anglo American has made one of the strongest recoveries, although all the major miners have pared gains as concerns of a possible trade war hit metals markets. CEO Mark Cutifani said in a call with reporters that Anglo American's aim was to have projects resilient enough to cope with "whatever the market throws at us". The Quellaveco project is a low-cost, long-life asset, he said, with the potential to be expanded beyond an initial 30-year lifespan. The development is expected to cost between $5 billion and $5.3 billion. Initial capacity is expected to be 127,500 tonnes per day, with first production in 2022. Anglo American had been expected to announce the project was going ahead after it said in June that Japan's Mitsubishi Corp would increase its stake in Quellaveco to 40 percent. Anglo holds 60 percent. Mitsubishi's increased share reduces the development risk for Anglo American, although copper is one of the most sought commodities because of its relevance to the old economy and to rising demand from the renewable and electric vehicle sectors. Copper last year accounted for about 17 percent of Anglo American's underlying earnings, with the biggest shares provided by the iron ore and coal divisions, which contributed respectively 27 and 32 percent. The mining world's other headline copper project to date is Rio Tinto's underground extension to an existing copper mine in Mongolia, which is expected to be onstream early in the next decade. Anglo's first-half 11 percent rise in underlying EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) to $4.6 billion was roughly in line with analyst forecasts. Its share price was nearly 1 percent lower by 1030 GMT.

Cutifani said performance had been driven by higher commodity prices and by Anglo American's ongoing quest for efficiency. It said earlier this month output across its assets had risen 6 percent. Anglo American's biggest problem this year has been a leak at its Minas Rio iron ore project in Brazil, which forced the shut-in of operations still in ramp-up mode. An issue for all the miners as they have repaired their balance sheets following the downturn is how to grow without the kind of reckless acquisitions that characterised the commodities boom and helped lead to the bust. Anglo American has announced small acquisitions in platinum and diamonds. Cutifani said he was not looking for big deals, but the company was exploring especially in copper in Brazil and around the Quellaveco project. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Anglo American versus peers, copper price ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Barbara Lewis; additional reporting by Muvija M in Bengaluru Editing by Jason Neely/Keith Weir/Dale Hudson)

Reuters Messaging: barbara.hm.lewis.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))(Adds Japanese government bond yield, updates prices)

By Abhinav Ramnarayan

LONDON, July 26 (Reuters) - Euro zone government bond yields rose on Thursday on hopes that a trade war between the European Union and the United States will be averted, supporting European Central Bank plans for a very gradual withdrawal of monetary stimulus.

The ECB is due to release its policy decision on Thursday followed by a news conference by its chief Mario Draghi. Existing plans for a gradual tightening in coming months and into next year are expected to be kept in place.

After meeting U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he had secured a major concession on car tariffs, easing the threat of a transatlantic trade war.

German Bund futures opened 42 ticks lower at 161.95 on Thursday while euro zone bond yields  which have been compressed in recent weeks by fears of a trade war  were up 2-3 basis points across the board.

Germanys 10-year yield, the benchmark for the region, was up 3 bps at 0.42 percent, flirting with a one-month high of 0.424 percent hit on Tuesday.

I think one can say that the risks of a trade war are much lower, so for the medium term I think it helps the ECB to keep on the current pathway, said Sebastian Fellechner, strategist at DZ Bank.

Especially for todays meeting, we expect no changes in monetary policy.

Attention will likely centre on whether Draghi elaborates further on how the ECB will deploy redemptions from its bond purchases after the scheduled close of the quantitative easing programme at the end of 2018.

We tend to think that it will be difficult for Draghi to deliver as dovish a tone and outlook as (after the last ECB policy meeting) in June, given the lack of policy changes, Mizuho analysts said in a note.

Therefore, euro zone bonds could be driven by other factors such as bets on policy tightening in Japan or by market positioning for a strong U.S. GDP reading on Friday, they said.

Japans 10-year government bond yield hit 0.10 percent for the first time in over a year, before closing at 0.085 percent.(Reuters) - Facebook Inc Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerbergs fortune took an almost $16 billion hit on Thursday, as the social media giant headed for the biggest one-day wipeout in U.S. stock market history, a day after executives forecast years of lower profit margins.

At least 16 brokerages cut their price targets on Facebook after Chief Financial Officer David Wehner startled an otherwise routine call with analysts by saying the company faced a multi-year squeeze on its business margins.

That bombshell, as one analyst termed it, played into concerns on Wall Street that Facebooks model could be under threat after a year that has been dominated by efforts to head off concerns over privacy and its role in global news flow.

Shares fell as much as 19.6 percent to $174.78, a decline that if sustained would wipe about $124 billion off the companys value - or nearly four times the entire market capitalization of Twitter Inc.

Dismal revenue, which initially pulled the stock down nearly 9 percent on Thursday, clearly was not the end for wounded investors.

Over the next several years, we would anticipate that our operating margins will trend towards the mid-30s on a percentage basis, Wehner told the results conference call with analysts.

Facebooks margin fell to 44 percent in the second quarter from 47 percent a year ago as it spent heavily on security and initiatives to convince users the company was protecting their privacy.

The company also said that revenue growth from emerging markets and the companys Instagram app, which has been less affected by privacy concerns, would not be enough to repair the damage.

The impact on the rest of the FAANG group of high-flying tech stocks was marginal.

Shares in Alphabet were unchanged while those in Apple Inc and Netflix Inc dipped just a third of a percent. Amazon.com Inc fell 2.8 percent ahead of its own results report later on Thursday.

Of 47 analysts covering Facebook, 43 still rate the stock as buy, two rate it hold and only two rate it sell. Their median target price is $219.30.

MoffettNathanson analysts called the companys forecast either the new economic reality of their business model or a very public act of self-immolation to stave off further regulatory pressure.

The $15.8 billion in net worth that Zuckerberg stands to lose in the move is equal to the wealth of the worlds 81st-richest person, currently Japanese businessman Takemitsu Takizaki, according to Forbes real time data.

Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in recent years has trimmed, but not eliminated, the amount of Facebook shares in his clients accounts, and he said he sees the company as a three-year investment.

We own it for its leadership in the tech industry, he said. Its the F in FAANG, but whats to say that, 10 years from now, Facebook isnt the next Myspace and something else has taken its place?

(Click tmsnrt.rs/2JV9APu for a graphic on Facebook's slowing revenue growth)The Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced its participation in the Global Coalition against Daeshs meeting, to be held this month in Washington to discuss ideological and media strategies to counter the militant groups, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported.

The meeting is held regularly as part of ongoing international efforts and joint coordination in the fight against terrorism and the follow-up of the coalition's strategy to combat the terrorist organization.

Egypt participated in the last coalition meetings against Daesh in London in March.

Egypt's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Abu-Zeid said the current meetings are being held in light of an increasing international consensus on military victories against terrorism in Syria and Iraq, affirming that a decisive victory over terrorism will not be achieved without eliminating the rhetoric of extremism that was falsely disseminated by Daesh and other terrorist organizations in the name of the Islamic religion.

The Global Coalition against Daesh was formed in September 2014, and is committed to degrading and ultimately defeating the terrorist organization.

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Corker delivers opening statement at hearing on Trump's meeting with Putin



WASHINGTON  U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today delivered the following opening statement at a hearing featuring testimony from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on President Donald J. Trumps recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as the administrations ongoing dialogue with North Korea.



Image courtesy of Bob Corker





Secretary Pompeo, we are glad to have you here today. We are grateful for your service to our country. I have faith in your leadership, and I appreciate what you are doing to change the culture of the State Department in positive ways.



But I want to get straight to the point. You come before a group of senators today who are filled with serious doubts about this White House and its conduct of American foreign policy.



There are a number of reasons to be concerned, among them is the lack of information the administration has provided to members of this committee.



Its our hope that you will reduce our level of concern by providing us with clear answers that might help convince us that those at the White House know what they are doing and that  to be candid  you know what they are doing.



I cant say it more forcefully. We really need a clear understanding as to what is going on, what our president is agreeing to, and what our strategy is on a number of issues.



Last week, President Trump held a summit with Vladimir Putin, someone who has violated the most fundamental international norms through his efforts to annex Crimea, has interfered with elections, including our own, has supported the brutal Assad regime in Syria, has used chemical weapons to poison a former Russian agent and his daughter in the United Kingdom, has occupied portions of Georgia, continues to violate the INF Treaty, has reportedly hacked U.S. utilities, the list goes on and on, and you know the list.



In the face of these hostilities, in the summits aftermath, we saw an American president who appeared submissive and deferential.



Weve heard that some agreements were reached, but as of yet have little idea what those might be, even though the president has already extended an invitation to Putin to come to Washington to discuss the implementation of these undefined agreements.



The president also recently met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, one of the most ruthless leaders on the planet, who has continued to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles that could hit the United States, has executed his half-brother with poison in Malaysia and reportedly killed his uncle back home, has essentially murdered an American college student, and has enslaved millions of his own people.



One in 10 North Koreans are living in slavery today, and one in five children are stunted due to malnutrition.



In the face of these realities, the president has called him very talented and that he loves his people.



Really?



At the recent NATO summit, the president not only pushed NATO member countries to dedicate more of their budgets to defense  a goal we all share  he went on to berate them, question the very premise of NATO, and in my opinion, used false information to turn public opinion in the United States against the alliance.



He even went so far as to cast doubt on the United States willingness to enforce Article 5 of the NATO treaty. We want to know if this is real or just another off-the-cuff statement.



And the confronting of our partners goes beyond traditional security and extends into the economic space as well.



I know you are aware of my strong feelings about the administrations abuse of its authorities in using Section 232 to implement tariffs in the name of national security.



So far, we have zero clarity from the administration as to what the endgame is on the Trump-Pence tariffs, which in reality are a massive tax increase on American consumers and businesses. And now, the administration appears ready to offer welfare to farmers, who would rather have trade than aid.



As you know, senators have gone to the White House in groups to discuss these actions, and not a single person that I am aware of has left those meetings with the sense that theres a coherent strategy driving these policies.



The administration tells us, Dont worry, be patient, there is a strategy here. But from where we sit, it appears that in a ready, fire, aim fashion, the White House is waking up every morning and making it up as they go.



This is the first in a series of hearings we will hold in coming weeks dealing with the troubling dynamic Ive described  one in which we are antagonizing our friends and placating those who clearly wish us ill.



This series will deal specifically with Russia as perhaps the most troubling example of this emerging reality.



I hope that in your position you will do all in your power to provide us with the answers we need today and as we move forward in our future hearings.



I look forward to your testimony, and I want thank you again for being with us and for the many outstanding people you are bringing onto the State Department to work with you.



With that, Ill turn to Senator Menendez.

Wyndham Vacation Rentals opens big cabins neighborhood in Gatlinburg





Cherokee Orchard will feature eight large cabins with up to 20 bedrooms each, located within walking distance of Downtown Gatlinburg. Image courtesy of Wyndham

GATLINBURG, TN, July 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Wyndham Vacation Rentals has opened a neighborhood in Gatlinburg that is made up of big cabins. The new neighborhood, called Cherokee Orchard, caters to large groups looking to vacation together in Gatlinburg.



Cherokee Orchard helps fill the need for large cabins near Gatlinburg's popular downtown area. The neighborhood recently opened with phase one. It features four properties ranging in size from 8 to 16 bedrooms, along with a pool house. Phase two, which is under construction now, will add four more cabins varying in size from 10 to 20 bedrooms. Once completed, the neighborhood will feature eight log cabins sprawling across more than 1.2 private acres, all within walking distance of the Gatlinburg Parkway.



"As the largest professional manager of vacation rental properties in North America, Wyndham Vacation Rentals is poised to be a prominent driver of market growth," said Mary Lynn Clark, president of Wyndham Vacation Rentals. "The U.S. shared accommodation market is expected to grow by 14 percent between 2015 to 2020, reaching an estimated $64 billion in value. That growth is in part to unique vacation options like Cherokee Orchard. Large home rental options near Gatlinburg are in high demand right now, as families, churches and companies look for places to host reunions and gatherings. Through the years, we have worked successfully with the team at Southern Scapes Home Design, and when they approached us with the big cabin community idea, we were thrilled by the opportunity to offer the types of homes that can bring everyone together under one roof, and create an ideal place for those cherished group memories."



Noted builder Southern Scapes Home Design, led by Kenny Hayes, a 30 year leader in the industry, has constructed more than 3,000 homes in the market. Partnering with Wyndham Vacation Rentals to meet the growing demand for large home rental options, the longstanding partners planned and developed a community that uniquely delivers the home-like comforts vacationers crave. The luxurious new cabins feature the finest in comfort and design with natural log siding, gourmet kitchens, granite countertops, warm, welcoming, fireplaces, game rooms and home theaters.



"We are very pleased and privileged to bring the Cherokee Orchard homes to the market," said Hayes, president of Southern Scapes. "There is nothing like them in this area, and they were custom designed for our guests. The homes represent the best learning and experience of my past 30 years in this business, and were specifically built with the changing needs of today's families and groups in mind. We want to create an environment where the kids we see playing at our place today will be back again one day, with their kids. Our long partnership with Wyndham helped ensure we had the best of all worlds behind the project, and we can't wait to welcome our guests."



Owned by the developer and professionally managed by Wyndham Vacation Rentals, the cabins help to provide peace-of-mind for vacationers. The homes sit along a quiet cul-de-sac surrounded by forest. They offer privacy without sacrificing accessibility to Gatlinburg's attractions. Wyndham's team of local experts ensures each home is vacation-ready before guests arrive and is available should any needs arise.



To learn more about the cabins at Cherokee Orchard or book a stay, visit www.bigcabins.com.



Source: Wyndham Vacation Rentals

Published July 25, 2018

















By Jung Da-min







Twenty-two works by North Korean artists will be on display Sep. 7 to Nov. 11 at the 12th Gwangju Biennale, titled "Imagined Borders." "North Korean Art: Paradoxical Realism" is one of the exhibition's seven sections.







The North Korean works are part of a collection from the Mansudae Art Studio's Beijing branch and the U.S.-based Yedo Arts Foundation in Washington, D.C. They were originally produced at the Mansudae Art Studio in Pyongyang.







Five of the 22 works  which are up to five meters high  were created in 2016 and 2017.







Most will be on public display for the first time. In total, 32 artists have contributed to the North Korean section.







The finished version of "Rainshower at the bus stop," by North Korean painter Kim In-sok, will be displayed for the first time after four years of work. The piece was shown at many exhibitions abroad while unfinished.



With the approval of the Ministry of Unification, the organizing committee sent invitations to three North Korean painters  Kim Song-min, Choe Chang-ho and Kim in-Sok.



"North Korean figure paintings look three dimensional and look like oil paintings," said BG Muhn, the curator of the North Korean section at the biennale. "They differentiate themselves from modern oriental figure paintings in Korea, Japan and China."





The financial regulator on Thursday ordered Samsung Securities Co. to suspend part of its operations for six months as punishment for the brokerage's "fat-finger" error that sparked a massive public uproar.

Samsung Securities will be banned from offering its services to new investors for six months from Friday, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) said in a statement.

The FSC also ordered the brokerage's chief executive, Koo Sung-hoon, to be suspended from his duties for three months, the FSC said.

Eight executives of Samsung Securities were reprimanded and the FSC fined the brokerage 144 million won ($128,651), according to the statement.

Samsung Securities has been under a firestorm of criticism after it mistakenly paid stocks to its employees as dividends in April.

The brokerage had originally planned to pay dividends of 1,000 won to its employees. However, it mistakenly paid 1,000 shares for each stake owned by its workers.

The chaos happened after a Samsung Securities trader made a keyboard entry mistake, typing "shares" instead of "won" in Korean when sending the dividends to employees.

The brokerage accidentally issued 112 trillion won worth of "ghost" stocks, and 16 employees at Samsung Securities sold off a combined 5.01 million shares. The sell-off occurred despite advisories about the mistake being sent to employees, raising concerns about the brokerage's trading system and moral hazard among its workers. (Yonhap)



A visitor dispenses red color into a large beaker filled with water. The inks used in the lab are dye-based, which means they're water soluble and have color vibrancy. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk



By Kwak Yeon-soo



In this technologically advanced era, ever-smarter gadgets and artificial intelligence software help people save time and increase efficiency. However, analogue culture still exists and many people are drawn to all things analogue, putting up with inconveniences.



Grownups enjoy coloring books, use fountain pens and decorate their diaries by hand as these analogue products serve as tools for personalization.



Following this trend, brands seek diversification and look for products that have value of possession beyond practicality. Monami, a Korean stationery brand, opened a concept store named Ink Lab last December in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province.



At Ink Lab, visitors can mix existing colors to produce unique, customized color inks. The fairly small but modern space has an all-white interior and glass vials give the impression of a science lab or a cosmetics store.



In the center lies a long rectangular counter where the lab assistant helps visitors experiment with inks. There also is a meeting room where classes take place such as "decorate your blank canvas tote bag" and "color your travel diary."



The lab assistants are regular employees at the stationary company, who have been trained in color theory and color mixing.





Shin Yoo-sun, the ink lab assistant, explains how to mix colors and determine the ratio of colors. She recommends mixing less than three colors and not using too much transparent base to produce the best results. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk



Custom ink-making process



On the main counter lies everything that is essential for creating custom inks.



Each visitor's workspace has a set of color inks in dropper bottles, a pad of paper for writing down the number of drops used of each color in the mixture, a glass dip pen, a glass rod for stirring, a tiny plastic cup for mixing colors, a large beaker filled with water for rinsing, some napkins and a color chart.



These inks are dye-based, which means they're water-soluble and have color vibrancy. The chart shows color combinations of all 15 colors and a transparent base so visitors can decide which colors to mix.



One's formula can include up to three colors and a transparent base. A lab assistant recommends mixing less than three colors, though, because the color might get dark and murky otherwise.



"Determining the ratio of colors is of utmost importance when creating one's own blend," lab assistant Shin Yoo-sun explained. "I don't recommend using too much transparent base because it'll appear lighter on paper."





A visitor drops yellow base color into a tiny plastic cup for mixing colors. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Dispensing colors into a small plastic cup drop by drop, mixing well with the glass rod, and then testing the result on a pad of paper with the glass dip pen are the general steps for creating one's unique color.



Shin stressed the importance of keeping track of the number of drops of each color in one's mixture. "Make sure you write down every detail of droplets. I need to know the exact ratio of colors in order to make the ink for you later on."



Once a visitor tries mixing a variety of colors and sorts out their favorite color, the lab assistant asks for a name for their color.



"Naming is another fun part about the whole process. Some come up with ordinary names, while others bring up funny ones such," she said. Some of the most amusing names she cited were "tteokbokki (spicy stir-fried rice cakes) after exam" and "spinachsaurus," a green dinosaur loved by children.





The lab assistant makes swatches using the exact ratios and dispenses a combination of inks inside a 30ml bottle. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Then the assistant takes away the memo and the small glass to produce the color ink on a larger scale and bottle it.



It costs 25,000 won ($22) per 30 milliliter bottle. Each bottle comes in a small white paper box and inside it is a custom color ratio card that has ink serial numbers one can use to reorder the same ink.



Kim Ji-yoon, 11, said he came to Ink Lab because he wanted to try fun activities over the summer vacation.



"I read a blog post about Ink Lab and thought it would be interesting to try out," he said. "I mixed yellow and blue colors to produce turquoise. Green and blue are my two favorite colors."



The young customer added that he's satisfied with the fact that he can now write with his own color that represents his characteristics, and would like to come back to make different colors.



Lab assistant Shin said blue and green are the most popular colors. "I never asked why our visitors prefer such colors, but I assume they tend to feel familiar with the colors of nature," she said.



If making custom ink is too complicated, there are simpler do-it-yourself (DIY) kits to try at home. A customizable ballpoint pen kit lets customers design their own edition of Monami's signature hexagonal 153 Pen by assembling different tubes, buttons, funnel ends and springs.



"DIY is appealing to more and more Koreans, who have grown tired of monotonous lifestyles and crave new experiences," Shin said.





A few visitors sit at the counter to experience making custom inks. It takes about 45 minutes to complete a blend of colors. Up to five people can sign up for a class at a time. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk



By Jung Hae-myoung







A North Korean defector who made unauthorized contact with the North's secret police to deliver 130 tons of rice and to return to the country has been sentenced to two and half years' jail.







The Suwon District Court made the ruling Tuesday.







The defector, Lee, 49, twice sent rice to the North Korean government. She also transferred 80 million won to pay a broker for arranging the deliveries.







Lee escaped from North Korea in 2011 and has been working in the entertainment business in South Korea. Since last year, she has been clandestinely keeping in touch with a broker and the NK secret police.







"The rice was for my son I left back in North Korea," Lee said.







But the prosecutor said she sent rice to prove her loyalty to North Korea and to escape punishment when she went back.









"The rice was sent through an official route," the court said. "It is impossible to transfer such a large amount of rice without prior consultation or contact with NK officials."





Shinil Group President Choi Yong-seok speaks about the discovery of the Russian warship Dmitrii Donskoi during a press conference at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Seoul, Thursday. / Korea Times photo by Kim Joo-sung



By Park Si-soo



South Korean treasure hunter Shinil Group is "100 percent confident" it has discovered the Dmitrii Donskoi, a Russian warship that sank off Ulleung Island 113 years ago, but failed to present evidence the wreck is loaded with an enormous cargo of gold.



"At this point, we can't confirm if the wreck has gold inside," Shinil Group President Choi Yong-seok said at a press conference at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Seoul, Thursday. "But given that the various historic documents we secured suggested the existence of gold and there were several companies who spent big money on finding the ship in the past, we strongly believe the sunken ship still contains something of sufficient financial value."



Even if any gold is found, he said, its value would be much less than the alleged 150 trillion won ($133 billion). Shinil officials previously claimed 200 tons of gold worth 150 trillion won would likely still be aboard the wreck.



"The rumors regarding gold worth 150 trillion won started spreading from 1999," Choi said. "We found news articles and speculative documents in which public organizations had used 'treasure ship' when explaining about the Donskoi. So we took the description when promoting our project, without any fact-checking effort. I'm sorry for the irresponsible use of the description."



Experts had said it is unlikely that the 6,000-ton Donskoi, a heavily armored warship with more than 12 artillery pieces, 500 sailors and presumably 1,600 tons of coal, would have had room for 200 tons of gold. There were also questions about the gold's worth being estimated at $133 billion  the Bank of Korea's 104 tons of gold reserves are valued at around $4.8 billion.



Shinil screened several close-up video clips of the wreck, in which "Donskoi" inscribed in the hull was clearly visible at one point. But any box or container that may contain gold was nowhere to be seen.



"I didn't see any steel boxes (that may contain gold)," said Jeffery L. Heaton, one of the two submersible pilots who captured the videos. "The ship was left broken into two parts, but the hull remained very much intact. I didn't see inside the hull. So it's possible something could there."



The other submersible pilot, Douglas J. Bishop, also said he didn't see anything like a gold container.





The alleged wreckage of the Dmitrii Donskoi and an undated photo of the Russian ship. / Courtesy of Shinil Group





From right, Shinil Group President Choi Yong-seok; Jin Gyo-joong, a former Navy officer who provided technical advice to the underwater expedition; Ha Deuk-bok, vice president of Marine Underwater Construction and chief of the underwater expedition team; Lee Woo-ryeol, vice president of JD Engineering; Allan, an adviser for the underwater expedition; Jeffery L. Heaton, a submersible pilot, and Douglas J. Bishop, another submersible pilot. / YonhapPresidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom answers questions during a briefing held in Cheong Wa Dae, Thursday. Yonhap



By Kim Yoo-chul



President Moon Jae-in hinted at a possible large-scale restructuring of the Defense Security Command (DSC), a military intelligence unit, after he was briefed on the specifics of a document titled "Wartime Martial Law and Joint Action Plan," presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom said Thursday.



"Since the release of the document, there has been much controversy over its background. The essence of the issue is to reveal the truth about the document. We must make a thorough investigation to find out it was created and how far the DSC was willing to go to implement the plan," Kim quoted Moon as saying.



"People linked to the issue should take responsibility. The top priority is to let the joint civilian-military team investigate the issue," Moon said. He cited the need for a taskforce aimed at restructuring DSC to submit proposals toward that path "as quickly as possible."



"My understanding is that the taskforce has already reviewed the document. Appropriate measures will follow the taskforce's final report on the issue. The key criteria to be considered when applying measures will be the seriousness of the responsibility," Moon said.



In accordance with the principle, the President also didn't rule out the possibility of penalizing senior officials at the defense ministry including Defense Minister Song Young-moo if the taskforce finds evidence of mishandling.



The taskforce is expected to report on its investigation in early August, at the earliest, sources at Cheong Wa Dae said; however, they didn't respond to requests for comment about the specific timing of the release of the results.

The President's remarks came a few days after the DSC claimed it had briefed Defense Minister Song Young-moo on the document several months ago, which the minister flatly denied. On Tuesday, the minister exchanged a war or words with Colonel Min Byeong-sam in a hearing at the National Assembly Defense Committee.



Following an order by the President, the defense ministry submitted "all related documents" after reports said the minister had underestimated the impact of the martial law action plan.By Arthur I. Cyr





On Friday July 6, Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain assembled her Cabinet at Chequers, the country retreat, to thrash out negotiating positions for terms of leaving the European Union (EU). She emerged the winner, but then Brexit Secretary David Davis resigned, followed by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.



Leaving the EU, known by the shorthand term "Brexit" has divided the ruling Conservative Party. Controversy over departure also has defined much of the nation's political debate and discussion for two years.



In June 2016, the Conservative government was defeated in a public referendum vote to leave the European Union (EU). Prime Minister David Cameron had been consolidating power, winning a narrow but clear majority in the House of Commons in the general election of 2015.



After that victory, he and his associates no longer needed to continue the coalition government with the relatively small Liberal Democrats. That coalition formed the government from 2010 to 2015.



The close but clear vote in the 2016 referendum to leave the EU was a startling surprise. As with the 2016 presidential election in the United States, the majority of opinion polls predicted the opposite outcome. Clearly, there are strong currents of popular discontent in both countries that conventional polling techniques do not capture fully.



After that defeat, Cameron immediately resigned as prime minister. British politics can be extremely rough and ruthless. There is no period of grace and recuperation between a national defeat by the voters and the inauguration of a new chief executive.



New Prime Minister May proceeded quickly to outsmart herself by calling a sudden or "snap" general election in early June 2017. Rather than strengthening a narrow parliamentary majority, the Conservatives lost seats.



In order to govern May and associates developed a collaborative partnership with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). The Conservatives came out of the general election with 318 seats, short of the 326 needed for the narrowest majority on party-line votes.



The 10 members of the DUP provide the victory margin. In contrast to the arrangement with the Liberal Democrats, this is not a formal coalition government. That is a blessing because the DUP is on the far right on most policy and political matters.



Ian Paisley formed the party in 1971. Paisley, an evangelical Protestant minister, through his career was an extremist militant in the often violent, historically rooted conflict with the Catholic minority in Ulster. In the late 1960s, a faction of the revolutionary Irish Republican Army began a terrorist campaign against Britain's governance of Northern Ireland.



Brexit has direct bearing on this British-Irish political stew. Ireland is a committed EU member. Prime Minister May rightly is committed to maintaining open borders with Ireland, which in turn were crucial to the 1998 peace accords Britain and Ireland  with the help of U.S. leaders  achieved in Northern Ireland. A "hard Brexit," meaning a complete break from the EU, would directly threaten this hard-won stability.



May was tough at Chequers. She made clear Britain would pursue open trade with Europe in goods and agriculture. This is of crucial importance for international business interests.



Ministers arriving at Chequers found their cell phones quickly collected. The prime minister indicated anyone leaving the meeting early would have a long walk  the government cars and other perks of office would be unavailable.



Prime Minister May won at Chequers and deserves considerable credit, but the two-front political conflict continues, domestic as well as EU.





Arthur I. Cyr (acyr@carthage.edu) is Clausen distinguished professor at Carthage College and author of "After the Cold War."

Syrian government forces raised the country's two-star flag on the frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Thursday, a monitor said, around four years after losing control of the area.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said regime forces had entered the buffer zone separating Syrian territory from the Israeli-occupied Golan and hoisted the flag there.

Al-Watan, a daily newspaper close to the government, reported that "army troops raised the Syrian flag above the Quneitra crossing, a few dozen metres from enemy Israeli troops."

*This story was edited by Ahram Online.

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A bomb exploded outside the US embassy in Beijing on Thursday, wounding the lone assailant, the embassy said in a statement, but police described the weapon merely as a "firework device".

The explosion happened on the street outside southeast corner of the embassy compound, the embassy said. Beijing police said the suspect, a 26-year-old man from China's Inner Mongolia region, had injured his hand and been taken to hospital.

Police did not provide a motive.

China and the United States have been involved in an escalating trade dispute initiated by Washington after the two sides imposed tariffs on $34 billion worth of each other's goods, with US President Donald Trump threatening ultimately to impose punitive tariffs on all Chinese imports.

While Chinese officials and state media have been outspoken in their criticism of Washington's trade moves, there has not been a groundswell of outrage on China's heavily censored social media, and no reported boycotts of US goods.

Witnesses told Reuters that they heard an explosion near the embassy and felt tremors.

"I'd just arrived and started to queue and then heard a loud explosion about 100 metres away," a 19-year-old high school student who gave his name as Li told reporters.

Li said the blast happened shortly after 1 p.m. as he queued to apply for a US visa to take an exam in Los Angeles.

A police SUV appeared to have been damaged, with its back windshield missing, and was cordoned off by police before being removed, a Reuters witness said.

The embassy resumed normal operations at about 1.45 p.m., it said.

Crowds were still queueing outside the embassy after the explosion and traffic was moving as normal in an area of northeastern Beijing that is home to numerous embassies including those of France, India and Israel.

Postings on social media showed pictures of smoke close to where people line up outside the compound for visa appointments. Some video clips and images were later removed.

Li Shaohui, a 58-year-old sanitation worker, said he felt the ground shake and that some people screamed.

"I thought first there was big a car crash," Li told Reuters, adding that the smoke had cleared quickly.

There was no damage to US embassy property, the embassy said.

Security in the Chinese capital is tight and protests are often quickly disbanded. Violent crime rates are low in China, according to official statistics

Staff members at the Indian and South Korean embassies said they were unaware of any unusual incident and were working as normal

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Who doesnt want to look fit and perfect, right? I mean, almost all of us have been running in this...LAHAINA  Success comes in all different flavors; the blends are wide-ranging, diverse and filled with spices from all over the Earth.

To Nobu Yoshida, the recipe was a one-of-a-kind mix that could only be prepared and perfected after 26 years of serving plate lunches in the Napa Auto Parts parking lot out of his pink lunch truck.

Nobus Plate Lunch he was an icon, West Side lifer Casey Smythe exclaimed.

Born in Yokosuka, Japan, in 1962, Nobu had a dream that led him to Maui over 30 years ago with stops in New York City and Honolulu along the way.

His first job on-island was at Benihana in The Wharf Cinema Center in downtown Lahaina, but it didnt last long. Nobu was inspired; he wanted more.

Main thing, I dont want to work for somebody else. I was 30 years, he recalled.

Nobu tells the story of how the lunch wagon was launched with his Little Engine That Could attitude in 1992.

I dont know anything about the future when I was 30, Nobu recalled. Most 30-year-olds same thing  only dreaming, dreaming, dreaming; I can do it. I can do it. I can do it. My dream was a restaurant when I was 30. Then I start this: the pink wagon.

For 26 years, the menu was always the same, five days a week, Monday through Friday, except when adding specials. The choices appealed to the local community, including shoyu chicken, hamburger steak, beef stew and chicken curry, served with rice, noodles and mac or green salad. In the early days, the cost was $5 per plate.

For the first five years, I was so slow. I was young, so I have no problem; it was fun doing that, Nobu said.

But now, he added, the past 20 years has been building, building, building. In Lahaina, more people, people, people. I do slowly, slowly, slowly to become successful.

Nobu is proud.

For the past five/ten years, I sell out almost every day, he said.

I make a Chicken Katsu Tuesday. Double people come  almost 100 people come Tuesday, he added.

On average, he served 80 people a day and maybe 500 per week; same people come back, he explained.

Over the past two years, his customer base has expanded with Yelp to a tourist crowd.

I have a good 4.8 point something rating on Yelp. I didnt do this; somebody do this for me, he said.

His prices have increased, as well, to $8.50 per plate.

Nobody complained; Nobu served more than food.

I serve 99 percent local people. They smiling. My food is okay, but people more nice. Thats why they coming back, coming back, coming back. Food very important, but Hawaii, theres more, he observed.

He has a secret ingredient.

Thats one of the successful keys in Lahaina  not only money, not only food, number one is the customer; talk to people, long time slowly, slowly, slowly.

Smythe has been frequenting the lunch wagon since he was in his late teens.

Im 42 now, he laughed; but his tone turned serious when discussing Nobus retirement.

I kinda crushed when he told me the bad news. I will miss him and his food, Smythe said.

Darri Felicilda Alvarez agrees. Shes been a Nobu Plate Lunch diner since high school.

I liked that Nobu was super humble, and his food was always ono. My favorite was chicken curry. His definition of success was probably that he could make people so happy for his food, Alvarez observed.

Anthony Steele spoke highly of Nobus kindness.

Some days we never had enough money. Hed always say, Okay, pay me back next week. When you get money. He was real easy going. We cant replace that now. I know hes not a local person  he might not be born and raised here  but he was just like a local person.

The food was good, Steele continued. It was probably one of the last cheap places to eat in Lahaina. Plate lunch is like over $12 or $15.

Gracey Gomes knew Nobu for 15-plus years, frequenting the wagon on Chicken Katsu Tuesdays.

She will miss most his moolelos (stories).

She remembered, He came here to surf and never left.

Raenette Kahaialii is equally sad about the unflavorable news. In her most polished pidgin, she communicated: Ah pau Everybody going be all bum out when dey find out. Das da kine stuff.

Jen Mather considered the loss of Nobu really heartbreaking  that yet another one of our local, go to West Side foodie institutions is closing. Nobu was always so kind and patient when we all stood around deliberating if we wanted curry or hamburger steak for our precious plate lunches.

But its time, Nobu said, to retire. His days were long.

I left four oclock in the morning and come back about four. Because I did about 65 hours a week, it is, to me, kinda too much. I am 56, so thats why I decide to retire.

Although no longer behind the grill, Nobu is still around. Hes larger than life, and his dreams are evolving, with surfing and music his preferred path.

He plays slack key guitar, having learned from the master.

Keola Beamer, he came my wagon and said, You want to learn from me? 

With enthusiasm, Nobu answered, Yes, yes, yes!

As the years have passed and with practice, Nobu, with his wife, Masako, have been playing, volunteer kine, at Lahaina Jodo Mission, at gatherings, parties, funerals and weddings.

Nobu continues to dream: I want to play music in the hotel. My dream is to go maybe Friday night in Lahaina Town and play music.

Riding the winter waves in Honolua is in his blood.

Surfing is for yourself; music is for cheer to others, he said.

Nobu and Masako are heading for a two-month adventure in Japan. When he gets back, hell be applying for a chefs position at a hotel, he said.

He sold his business for $1,000.

Little money, little money, little money. I dont know if that was a success or not. I dont have big money, but I had a lot of customers  and people in our community who truly love, respect and cherish him.

When asked if he wanted to add anything to his previously made comments, Steele paused and added, Thank you, Nobu.KAHULUI  On Saturday, Aug. 4, at 7 p.m., the Maui Dharma Center will present Journey to the Center of the Universe: Mt. Kailash, Tibet in the McCoy Studio Theater at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center.

Mt. Kailash is known in Eastern traditions as the Precious Snow Mountain, the Center of the Universe, the Navel of the World, and the Cosmic Pillar that unites Heaven and Earth.

Kailashs nearly 22,000-foot summit has never been reached by any human being, but its 33-mile pilgrimage path has beckoned the faithful for centuries.

The Venerable Lama Gyaltsen of the Maui Dharma Center and 25 Maui residents made the sacred, transcendent journey during May and June on this formidable and magnificent pilgrimage path around Mt. Kailash.

The Maui Dharma Center is pleased to present this unique and rare adventure in photos taken by pilgrimage participants and myself, said Lama Gyaltsen.

I will narrate the slide slow, and there will also be a screening of Kailash  Return to Tibet, a movie by Emmy Award-winning Filmmaker Dr. Tom Vendetti. This extraordinary film has a deep message regarding overcoming obstacles, enduring when the odds are against you and getting in touch with a simple and quieter lifestyle. Dr. Vendetti will also present his interview with the Dalai Lama.

The groups full moon journey to Mt. Kailash coincided with Buddhas birthday in May  a day of rededication to the dharma, the eightfold path of Buddhism. It is a gesture that is meant to represent Buddha, bringing enlightenment to the world along with the hope of peace. In fact, the prayer flags that Lama Gyalsten brought from Maui are flying at the base camp of Mt. Kalish at 16,000 feet of elevation.

This was my first trip to Tibet and a dream come true, said Lama Gyalsten, who prepared for his journey by hiking Haleakala.

Mt. Kalish provided an interior spiritual experience for me. The vivid power of the entire area brought clarity to my belief along with the respect and devotion anchored in it. And physically, I felt like I was going to the Moon!

The journey provided daily trials for the group, such as uneven terrain, altitude sickness and harsh weather conditions. Even the need for numerous permits for travel in Tibet caused some anxiety. The process for the paperwork was challenging for everyone. At one point ,there was even an uncertainty for permit approval for Lama Gyalsten, which had the whole group holding its breath.

Food, lodging and transportation were also a big challenge, Lama said. However, it was all worth the effort. Even with limited sleep, I felt awake. Additionally, another dream came true for me. I got to visit Potala Palace in Lhasa, once a residence of the 14th Dalai Lama and now a museum and World Heritage Site.

Lama Gyaltsen, a Tibetan Buddhist monk for over 40 years, is the resident teacher of the Maui Dharma Center in Paia. Born in Darjeeling, India, he studied in a monastic setting from age five and learned Eastern philosophies, language, Buddhist logic and arts that include sacred painting, dance, music and sculpture. He arrived on Maui in 2003 to continue the work of the late Venerable Lama Tenzin: to uphold a lifestyle of study, practice and selfless service to benefit others.

Tibetan Buddhism has spread to many western countries, where the tradition has gained much popularity. Among its prominent exponents is the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, who is well known for his affirmation, My religion is kindness.

Timeless compassion is the wisest method of relief, said Lama Gyaltsen. Developing deep inner qualities requires study and living a way of life that comes from kindness, good will, awareness and wisdom.

He concluded, We hope the whole community will come to our exciting fundraising opportunity to benefit the Maui Dharma Center. Anytime we gather together for something like this is a good thing. Moreover, the entire island is always welcome at the Maui Dharma Center.

The center offers daily, weekly and monthly prayer and meditation sessions, retreats and Dharma talks. It has classes in Tibetan language and presents programs in Tibetan art and culture.

People from all over the world visit the stupa at the center, which stands 27 feet high, has a large mani prayer wheel and has become the sacred landmark in the town of Paia.

There is also a gift shop providing study and materials for practitioners along with a selection of treasures, including mala beads, Tibetan singing bowls, ritual instruments, unique clothing and jewelry, gift cards and much more.

For more information, contact the Maui Dharma Center at (808) 579-8076.KAANAPALI  Teri Freitas Gorman, director of community relations and patient affairs for Maui Grown Therapies, will be the speaker at the Rotary Club of Lahaina Sunset on Tuesday, July 31.

The meeting will be held at the Royal Ocean Terrace Restaurant at the Royal Lahaina Resort from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Gormans presentation, Introduction to Hawaiis medical cannabis program will feature information about the program operations. She will also provide an update on recent legislative changes.

Gorman is a seasoned communications and community engagement professional with more than two decades of executive level experience.

She served as vice president, corporate communications for Maui Land and Pineapple Co. Inc. until 2009 and later owned and operated a boutique communications and community relations company. Gorman also serves as president of the Maui Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce.

For more information on the Rotary Club of Lahaina Sunset, contact President Heidi Dollinger at Heidi.LahainaSunset@gmail.com or 359-4245.Freely accessible local news is vital. Please power our reporters and help keep us independent with a donation today.

Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe

By Sharon McNary and Kyle Stokes

The mountain community of Idyllwild had been spared a devastating fire for more than a century. Now residents of this small town high in the San Jacinto Mountains await word of whether they've escaped again, or face devastating losses.

On Thursday, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for the Cranston Fire that began near Idyllwild shortly before noon the day before.

NOTE: Overnight Thursday, the fire grew to 11,500 acres and is now only 3% contained. Carla Javier is reporting from the scene and will have more Friday on how the Idyllwild Arts Academy students and teachers are coping as they await word. Follow her on Twitter @carlamjavier.

"This our home, for almost 50 years," said Yung Neu. "So now we don't know if we have a home. We have to wait."

The fire grew alarmingly quickly -- from the first report of 25 acres burning to more than 4,000 acres by nightfall. At 8:30 p.m. Thursday, San Bernandino National Forest officials said the fire had grown to 7,500 acres and was only 5% contained. Fire officials said 6,000 people had evacuated the area and nearly 5,000 structures were threatened.

Firefighters watch from the Lake Hemet Campground near the incident command post for the Cranston Fire as flames crawl over Baldy Mountain. (Kyle Stokes / LAist)

Intense heat from the fire produced rare pyrocumulus clouds, visible for many miles, that generated high winds and were capable of sucking up embers and raining them back to the ground.

Authorities have arrested Brandon N. McGlover, 32, of Temecula on five counts of arson. He was arrested Wednesday after authorities traced several fires in Southwest Riverside County, one of which grew into the Cranston Fire.

More than 1,000 personnel are working to fight the fire, with no estimate of when the it will be contained. Idyllwild is among nine communities under mandatory evacuation orders, in addtion to the Camp Scherman Girlscout Camp. A significant number of recreation areas in both Mt. San Jacinto State Park and the San Bernardino National Forest also are off limits.

Riverside County officials said late Thursday they anticipated having to open additional shelters, in part because it might be hard for people on the far side of the fire to get to Banning High. Forty-three people spend the night there Thursday.

A firefighter hoses down a property destroyed in the Cranston fire. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP)

Living at 5,400-feet high up in the San Bernardino National Forest, Idyllwild residents face fire risk year after year.

In 2006, five Riverside County Fire Department firefighters, including some assigned to an Idyllwild fire station, were killed in the Esperanza fire that wiped out 34 homes and came close to Idyllwild. The Mountain Fire in July 2013 came even closer to the community.

Idyllwild has more than 11,000 residents and many vacation homes. When the town is not evacuated, weekend visitors stroll a couple of blocks of shops, cafes, with a hippie vibe and a new brew pub doing vigorous business.

Darla Priest was high in the fire tower on Tahquitz Peak when the fire broke out. The volunteer fire lookout first heard word of the fire over the forest service radio. Then the column of smoke started rising, like a plume of ash from a volcano.

As Priest started taking video, the tower leader called. She needed to get out.

So Priest started down the mountain with her pit bull, Metallica. She faced a 4  mile hike through increasingly dense smoke.

"You get that shaky feeling when I was coming down, trying not to go too fast where I would trip and hurt myself or something," she said. "But at the same time -- move, you know."

She considers the mountains her home.

"I really don't want to go live in city right now," Priest said. "I'm hoping the community is saved."

ARSON SUSPECTED

Brandon McGlover is seen in a booking photo. (Courtesy of Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department)

Many in the area say it's hard to get their head around the fact that authorities believe the fire was set on purpose.

Arson investigators said it was a trail of fires that led to the arrest of McGlover.

As a series fires broke out, officials suspected they had a firesetter on their hands.

"Once these fires started, it set up a trail that started from Lake Elsinore and eventually moved up towards highway 74 and the Idyllwild area," said Riverside County Fire Department Captain Fernando Herrera. Some of the fires were in the Anza and Aguanga area.

Cal Fire arson investigators put together a description of a suspect in the fires and notified other law enforcement agencies who swarmed along what might be his route.

The Hemet/San Jacinto Valley Gang Task Force located McGlover and held him, and Cal Fire officers made the arrest. He was booked into Cois Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta on the five counts of wildland arson. More counts could be added, Herrera said. McGlover is scheduled to be arraigned on Friday.

FIRE CONDITIONS

Even without human intervention, the stage has been set for an Idyllwild fire for awhile.

Fire ecologist Richard Minnich says the last time a fire burned through the small town was before recorded fire history started in the late nineteenth century. So there might be an ignition that starts the fire--a lightning strike, a lit match, a fallen tree on a hot day--but those ignitions only catch when vegetation gets old enough to burn.

"The cause of the fire is the vegetation, it's not the ignitions. Ignitions are ubiquitous," he said. "An ignition is an instantaneous event. Split second. But the vegetation is building energy over scales of decades, and that's what counts."

Fire management focuses on stopping ignitions. And Minnich says they're successful almost every time. That lets vegetation build up until an ignition sparks a fire that firefighters can't immediately suppress. One like Wednesday's, when there's triple digit heat and dry wind.

"It's like worrying about which snowflake starts an avalanche. Who in the hell cares which snowflake puts enough weight on that slope with snow that it'll finally slide down. Nobody cares. But we're doing that, we're chasing snowflakes," Minnich said.

When fires are not suppressed, Minnich says they burn about 2,500 acres every 50 years. But when communities like Idyllwild form in forests, letting fires burn naturally isn't an option. The population there went up 10 percent between 2000 and 2010, and many of the homes there are built of wood.

Fire retardant covers vehicles in Idyllwild as hundreds of firefighters battle the fast-moving Cranston Fire, which broke out Wednesday. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP)

TOUGH TERRAIN, EVACUATIONS AND POWER OUTAGES

A serious challenge for firefighters and residents is the limited roads in and out of Idylwild and associated communities.

Highway 243 runs from Banning off Interstate 10 through Idyllwild to Highway 74. The town is also accessible via Highway 74 between Hemet and Palm Desert. But due to the fire risk, Highway 74 is closed from the city of Hemet to Lake Hemet, and Highway 243 brom Banning to Highway 74 is also closed.

Along with Idyllwild, the Riverside Sheriff's Department called for evacuations in Apple Canyon, Lake Hemet, Mountain Center, Hurkey Creek and the Camp Scherman Girl Scout camp, according to Cal Fire. Some hiking trails in the San Jacinto Mountain State Park are also closed due to the fire.

In addition, Southern California Edison has reported some 4,000 of its customers and another 5,200 of the Anza Electric Cooperative, which is fed by SCE power lines, are out of service.

Power in the Cranston Fire area was cut off at the request of fire officials to help keep firefighters safe, SCE said on its webpage. Some power lines in the Cranston Fire area have been damaged, however it's too early for the utility to say how extensive the damage has been.

MUSICAL LEGACY THREATENED

Cal Fire map from midday Thursday shows how close the fire zone was to Idyllwild Arts Academy (Cal Fire)

Idyllwild is a tightknit community. The local paper is the Idyllwild Town Crier, and the "mayor" is a dog named Max.

One major question is the fate of the Idyllwild Arts Academy, a residential music school.

The fire cancelled Wednesday night's chamber music concert at campus, said cellist David Speltz.

"Last night was supposed to be our first concert, but that dissolved when we were evacuated," he said. He and his wife, a violinist, drove to Banning after noon Wednesday when officials called for residents to flee.

He lives in Pasadena, but stays at a vacation home in Idyllwild during the summer to perform at the school's frequent concerts. The school attracts more than 300 students over a typical summer at the campus about a half-mile from the town center. Those students were evacuated to the Banning and Hemet areas, he said.

"The school is a very big part of the town," Speltz said, with many of its faculty and performers also playing gigs in local restaurants and bars.

Idyllwild Arts goes back to 1946 when founders Dr. Max and Beatrice Krone got a couple of USC professors and the then-conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra to create a sanctuary for music and arts for people of all backgrounds, according to the academy's website. It opened in June, 1950.

The academy sits on 205 acres of forest in the San Jacinto Mountains, about a half-mile outside of Idyllwild's tiny town center. The place started out as the Idyllwild School of Music and Arts, aka ISOMATA, and it was changed to Idyllwild Arts in 1995.

It's been a year-round residential college preparatory high school for the arts since 1986, drawing some 300 students from some 25 countries. The summer workshops run from one to eight weeks, drawing nearly 2,000 kids and adults over the course of a summer.

There is some hope for those in the path of the Cranston Fire is on the way. The heat wave ends after today, and the strong winds tend to die down at night, making it easier to fight than the fires stoked by the unrelenting Santa Ana winds in the fall.

UPDATES:

July 27, 7:40 a.m.: This story updated with a note about our coverage plans today and an a new total of evacuees who spent the night at Banning High.

9:37 p.m.: This article updated with the latest information about the fires size and evacuation zones.

5:14 p.m.: This story updated with new information about the size of the fire, power outages and the Idyllwild Arts Academy.

This article originally published at 2:40 p.m. on Thursday.

Caleigh Wells and Jacob Margolis contributed to this report.

News happens every day. Here at LAist, our goal is to cover the stories that matter to you and the community you live in. Now that we're part of KPCC, those stories (including this one you're on right now!) are made possible by generous people like you. Independent, local journalism isn't cheap, but with your support we can keep delivering it. Donate now.Freely accessible local news is vital. Please power our reporters and help keep us independent with a donation today.

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The Trump administration has until the end of today to comply with a federal court order to reunite more than 2,500 migrant children ages 5 to 17 with their parents.

The children were separated from their parents at the border in recent months as part of the Trump administration's strict immigration enforcement. The separations led to widespread national and international outrage, forcing President Trump to rescind the policy.

We have a breakdown of how we got here, how things stand now and what's ahead for the migrant families separated at the U.S. border.

BRINGING FAMILIES BACK TOGETHER

The government has made some progress in unifying the families. But with the deadline looming, it's clear many will not be reunited in time.

According to court documents, as of Thursday morning more than 1,400 children had been reunited with parents in immigration custody under the reunification plan. Some families have been released from custody, while others are being detained together by immigration officials. In a press call Thursday afternoon, federal officials said about 223 families had been placed in family detention in Texas.

Officials also said in court documents that 378 children had been discharged from federal shelters to "other appropriate circumstances," such as being placed with a parent not in custody or with another relative in the country.

Still, more than 700 children held in federal shelters will not be returned to their parents right away. This includes the children of hundreds of parents who have been deported. The parents of 431 children are no longer in the country, according to court documents Thursday. A federal official on the press call confirmed these parents were deported.

Other families the government said were ineligible for reunification include a small number of parents with criminal records, parents whose location is still being determined and parents who according to the government waived reunification with their children. Advocates have raised questions about how this waiver process was conducted.

WHAT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS BEEN DOING TO COMPLY

Government attorneys and officials have reported progress to a federal judge monitoring the reunions during regular hearings in San Diego. That's where the ACLU filed suit to reunite the separated families.

Under orders by U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw, officials have been working to match up parents in the custody of immigration officials with children who were placed in federal shelters. On Tuesday afternoon, officials told the judge they had reunited 1,012 families so far, and that more than 500 parents had been vetted and were pending reunification with their kids.

Sabraw commended the administration on making the progress it has. However, he asked the government for details on the more than 900 parents deemed "ineligible" to be reunified with their kids immediately, including a list of parents already deported without their children.

Officials have deemed some parents ineligible for reunions for other reasons. The government said Tuesday that 64 parents have criminal records that make them ineligible. Others can't be accounted for. The judge asked about 37 children for whom parents had not been identified; a government attorney said she could not confirm it was still that number, but that some minors had not yet been matched to a parent.

The judge also ordered the government to provide a list of parents who've been released from immigration custody, and a list of parents who officials say waived their right to be reunited with their children. The ACLU has raised concerns about these parents, saying they may have made this decision and been deported without fully knowing their rights.

WHERE ARE REUNITED FAMILIES GOING? ARE THEY ALL BEING RELEASED?

Many -- but not all -- of the reunited families have been released. Some parents are fitted with ankle monitors. NGOs, advocacy groups, faith groups and others have been finding them temporary lodging and flying them to their destinations around the country. A few have made their way to Southern California.

The next step for these families is to check in with immigration officials and appear before an immigration judge. Many of these parents are Central Americans seeking asylum. As the Trump administration moves to cut down on both legal and illegal immigration, it recently raised the bar for asylum seekers who are fleeing "private violence" like gang or domestic violence, requiring them to prove that their government would not or could not help them.

The government's viewpoint is that just because a country can't police certain crimes is not a justification for the U.S. to grant asylum to victims. So winning asylum could be challenging for many of these families.

Other children and their parents have been placed in family detention. According to the immigrants' legal advocates during a Tuesday press call organized by the American Immigration Lawyers Association, some reunited families have been taken to family detention centers, two which are in Texas.

There is a longstanding rule, known as the Flores Agreement, that prevents keeping children long term in immigrant detention facilities. Typically, they can be kept for no more than 20 days. The Trump administration has tried to modify this rule so that families can be detained longer while their cases play out in immigration court. But a federal judge in Los Angeles recently denied that request.

WILL SOME OF THESE FAMILIES BE DEPORTED?

That is what the administration is seeking. According to the government, about 900 of the parents who are getting their kids back have final orders of removal from the country.

In mid-July, Judge Sabraw issued a temporary halt to the deportations of families after they are reunified. This came after some reunited families were deported very quickly; the government recently told the court that about 20 families may have been deported.

The ACLU is pushing for a seven-day delay before reunited families can be deported so they have time to get legal advice and make informed decisions. Now that these reunions are happening quickly, immigration advocates say things are chaotic on the ground. The ACLU filed documents Wednesday that included affidavits from lawyers who interviewed detained parents, alleging that parents who waived their right to be reunified with their kids were forced to make hasty decisions, and that some signed forms they did not understand.

The government has objected to any delays in the deportations, saying the extra time is not necessary. The government is arguing that parents already have 48 hours before they are deported to decide if they want to be sent back, with or without their kids.

The judge did not rule on this issue Tuesday. Another hearing is set for Friday.

WHY FAMILIES WERE SEPARATED AT THE BORDER

In April, the Trump administration announced a "zero tolerance" policy for people crossing into the U.S. illegally. This included asylum seekers who did not present themselves at official ports of entry. Migrants arrested between ports of entry would be referred for prosecution for illegal entry, which is a misdemeanor. In May, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that "if you are smuggling a child, then we will prosecute you. And that child may be separated from you, as required by law."

This resulted in separated families, as parents with children were referred for prosecution and detained. Minor children were taken into the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees a network of children's shelters around the country. Typically, children who enter these shelters are held until they can be placed with an adult sponsor in the U.S., often a relative.

Many of these children have been gradually released to sponsors. But earlier this month, HHS said there were still 2,551 children ages 5 to 17 held in federal shelters. This is the group that was supposed to be reunited with their parents by the Thursday deadline.

A group of about 103 children under age 5 was also identified by HHS. The federal government was able to reunite just over half of those with their parents by the court-imposed deadline of July 10.

FAMILIES SETTLING IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

At one point, there were over 100 children held in federal shelters in the greater Los Angeles area. That number has since decreased, according to L.A. county officials. Some parents have also been held in local facilities, although the bulk are in states like Texas and Arizona.

But some families have been reunited locally already. And others detained elsewhere who have family in the area -- or whose children have been released to relatives here -- have been coming to Southern California.

Legal service nonprofits and public agencies have been taking steps to prepare for the expected demand. For example, legal nonprofits that obtain grant money from the public-private L.A. Justice Fund used for immigrants' deportation defense may now use these funds to represent reunited families who settle locally while their asylum cases proceed in court.

And local public agencies have been sorting out how they will provide services to these families, including mental health services to address separation trauma for the children.

This story has been updated.

News happens every day. Here at LAist, our goal is to cover the stories that matter to you and the community you live in. Now that we're part of KPCC, those stories (including this one you're on right now!) are made possible by generous people like you. Independent, local journalism isn't cheap, but with your support we can keep delivering it. Donate now.People in Your La Jolla Neighborhood:

Sherry Ahern has lived in La Jolla for over three decades, and it would be interesting to consider how different the community might have been without her.

Years ago, when her children  now 31 and 28  were at La Jolla Elementary, she was dismayed by all the cutbacks to public school programs and joined the board of the schools fundraising foundation.

I was basically the entrepreneur of the group, she said. After helping to helm a few annual events, she came up with a bigger idea: a weekly farmers market on campus, with proceeds going to the school.

It took two years to get all the approvals, but she did it. I just have ideas  epiphanies  and Im not afraid to try them out, she explained. I knew it would be a beautiful way to get the community together and benefit the kids.

After founding and managing the Open Aire Market  now in its 20th year  she had another big idea: an annual art festival in the streets of La Jolla that would recall the Green Dragon artist colony of the early 1900s and support underfunded programs like art, music and technology at four local schools, including La Jolla Elementary. The two-day La Jolla Art & Wine Festival, now in its 10th year, attracts over 45,000 visitors, and shes still the Festival chair. (This years event runs Oct. 6-8 along Girard Avenue in The Village.)

Volunteering is something Ive been doing all my life, Ahern said. I want to be part of making good changes happen in my community.

For several years, she was a trustee on the La Jolla Town Council, and in 2008, she was one of the founding board members who revivified the La Jolla Community Center. Shes also been a longtime volunteer at the Helen Woodward Animal Center, on the boards of three research institutes seeking a cure for Type 1 diabetes , and the recipient of service awards from City of Hope, Salvation Army Womens Auxiliary and La Jolla Kiwanis Club.

Besides all her good works, shes also interested in good horses.

I love horses, she said, and Ive been going to the track since I was a kid. My husband, Kevin, always dreamed of owning his own horses, and four years ago, he started Ahern Racing Stables, and found the perfect trainer, Adam Kitchingman. Well have several horses at Del Mar this year  last years winner, Unobtainable; Hitters Park, wholl be running opening day; and Incensed, a new baby we just purchased. Really, this is all my husbands passion and business, and Im lucky to be going along for the ride.

Kevin Ahern is Chairman and CEO of Ahern Seeds, the family agribusiness he started in 1981 with his father to develop and market vegetable seeds and provide crop advice to growers here and in Latin America. The couple met in La Jolla 33 years ago, at Putnams, a bar in the old Colonial Inn. It was the place to go on Friday night, and it was love at first sight, Sherry said. We got married six months later.

Kevin gives time and energy to Salvation Army, diabetes research and UCLA, his alma mater, and recently joined San Diego Operas Board of Directors. Their daughter, Brianna, is now head of Human Resources at Ahern Seeds and their son, Brendan, just received his MBA from UC San Diegos Rady School of Management.

Much as they love Del Mar Race track, the Aherns werent at Opening Day July 18. Kevins Aunt Mary turned 103, Sherry said. So we were in Ventura, with her.

P.S. The Aherns horse, Hitters Park, came in second in the third race at Del Mar on Opening Day.

Editors Note: Our People in Your Neighborhood series shines a spotlight on notable locals we all wish we knew more about! If you know someone youd like us to profile, send the lead via e-mail to editor@lajollalight.com or call us at (858) 875-5950.Our Readers Write / Opinion / Letters to the Editor:

Letters to the Editor from the July 26, 2018 issue of La Jolla Light as La Jollans speak out on local issues:



Neglected roundabout needs attention

Please check out this roundabout at Chelsea and Bird Rock avenues. When the roundabouts were first installed, a vehicle plowed over the roundabout, knocking down all four one-way signs. The signs were eventually put back up, but to this day, they are severely bent, lean considerably, and the bolts that attach the signs to the posts are very loose so the signs wobble in the wind. Also to have four large standard one-way signs for this tiny roundabout is a bit of overkill!

I realize the City and La Jolla have much larger fish to fry than this untidy roundabout, but maybe a photo in your newspaper will bring out some volunteers (myself included) to straighten the bent leaning one-way signs, or even better yet, have the City replace them with new smaller versions more appropriate for this size roundabout. Id be happy to chip in to help pay for the new smaller signs!

James R. Phillips



Joyriders shouts sour familys visit

My husband and I visited San Diego 24 years ago and loved it. This year, keen to come back, we visited California from our home in Australia with our 11-year-old son. Due to Comic-Con, we ended up in La Jolla.

What a lovely place it is. We had a generally positive experience but, unfortunately, have some negative feedback, too. On each of the three nights we stayed in La Jolla, wanting some wine with dinner and being responsible drivers, we walked to dinner. On two of those evenings, we were hooted at and affronted by not-so-amusing banter shrieked out of car windows by passing drivers. One evening, some drivers laughed as their screams made my son jump, and later, as we sat on the deck of the Wheat and Water restaurant on La Jolla Boulevard, someone else yelled an abuse as they drove by.

How terribly un-amusing, especially when you have a child who suffers with anxiety and who has worked very hard over the last year to overcome this, but is now very upset and scared to walk down the street.

If the people who did this are reading, please rethink your behavior and think about its impact on other people. In fact, please think at all.

Connie Richardson



The case for the City of La Jolla

The idea of La Jolla incorporating into a city is not new and has been discussed many times in the past. The jewel that is La Jolla currently falls under the jurisdiction of the City of San Diego , which is overwhelmed by the task of managing 1.4 million people. In addition, many San Diego City Council members are out of touch with the needs of La Jolla. Therefore, the idea of incorporating the City of La Jolla is now more important than ever.

What most La Jolla residents (or most people for that matter) want is safe, clean, beautiful, low-crime neighborhoods, beaches and parks. They also want a City Council and Mayor that first support and back the taxpaying families, business owners, shops, restaurants, hotels, art galleries, culture and beauty that is La Jolla.

The City of La Jolla would encompass the area within the boundary of the 92037 ZIP code; think small-town city management, like the City of Coronado, Carlsbad or Mayberry  not a large conglomerate of inefficient bureaucracies. The City of La Jolla would have an elected mayor and council (probably part-time) public safety, business development, community development, schools, etc., modeled after any well-managed town of less than 50,000 residents. The City of La Jolla could manage city services such as police, fire, lifeguard, trash pickup, street sweeping and libraries, better than these services are now being performed by the City of San Diego.

Also, the enormous tax revenue generated in La Jolla would stay in La Jolla, directly benefiting the local population and citizenry. Most, if not all, services would be outsourced to private companies that normally do a far better job (faster and less expensively) than many City crews. Remember the Citys lucrative Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) program? Is there a pothole that needs filling or a broken, dangerous sidewalk? Then the City of La Jolla would get three bids and hire a private contractor to make the repair in days rather than months ... or years.

The goal of the City of La Jolla charter would be to run city services that answer directly and expeditiously to the La Jolla community. The City of San Diego is not hearing or responsive to the needs, wants and desires of the La Jolla community. The most logical thing is to break away from San Diego, and form the beautiful City of La Jolla. Ellen Browning Scripps would most likely relish the opportunity.

Sunny Jim



Very good article on plastics in the ocean

Thanks for the piece, Floatsam and Jetsam: San Diego boater fights losing battle against ocean garbage in the July 19 La Jolla Light issue. It accurately highlights the problem with plastic pollution, not only locally, but globally. As local divers, we are constantly coming across plastic and trash, sometimes 100 feet below the surface off the coast of La Jolla. Many of us try and bring along a mesh bag to put it in before returning to shore.

Clean up begins at home: We must wean ourselves off this addiction to plastic and Styrofoam. Programs such as I Love a Clean San Diego help with beachside debris and Project Awares Dive Against Debris empowers divers to help below the surface. It can seem overwhelming, but each of us must do our part, before we become completely engulfed in ocean trash.

Michael Bear, Citizen Science Project Director, Ocean Sanctuaries San Diego



Why work on Childrens Pool in the summer?

I am a former long-time resident of La Jolla returning for a visit from Scottsdale. I am finding my jewel a little tarnished with vacant stores, potholes in the roads and dirty sidewalks, but on July 20, I really felt sad when down at the Childrens Pool all of the parking spaces were gone and a sign posted said work will be going on there from now until December.

This is the height of the tourist season and a chance to see the seals and people enjoying the area after finding a place to park! What is the City planning to do now? Couldnt this work be done in the fall or winter months?

Peggy Mullen, Scottsdale, Arizona

Editors Note: The story La Jolla Childrens Pool Walk beautification begins  on page A3 of the July 26, 2018 La Jolla Light issue and also online at lajollalight.com/news/sd-childrens-pool-walk-project-begins-construction-20180724-story.html  describes the project underway at La Jolla Childrens Pool. The summer construction moratorium was waived because between that prohibition and the pupping season prohibitions (Dec. 15-May 15) there would be no time to tackle this project, which has been eight years in the planning stage.



City clarifies sidewalk liability laws

Readers of the La Jolla Light were misinformed about the City of San Diegos policy on sidewalk repairs in one of the July 12 News Nuggets. The item said that if someone trips on a sidewalk damaged by a City tree, the City will sue the adjacent property owner. In fact, the City would not sue the property owner. Under the City Councils Sidewalk Maintenance Policy (City Policy 200-12), the City is solely responsible when a City tree damages a sidewalk. The adjacent property owner would have no liability. Property owners incur liability (for repairs and injuries) when their own trees damage a sidewalk.

City Attorney Mara Elliott spoke directly to this issue at the Community Planners meeting, which was well attended, and where everyone was provided a copy of her presentation. Our office is always available to answer questions from the La Jolla Light, and we do so frequently. We would have appreciated the opportunity to correct this News Nugget before it misinformed your readers.

Gerry Braun, Chief of Staff, San Diego City Attorneys Office



Do sky balloons belong in The Village?

Whats up with the large advertising balloon flying over The Lot for the past few weeks? I hoped it was a special during the World Cup, but its still flying  bouncing around dangerously when its windy. It seems to me like this is quite a significant feature in The Village and yet I havent seen anything in La Jolla Light about a planning application for it. Do the owners have a permit for it?

Kevin Knight

Editors Note: La Jolla Light is still looking into the Citys laws on advertising-related balloons and banners. We hope to furnish the answer in next weeks issue.



Whats on YOUR mind?

Letters published in La Jolla Light express views from readers in regard to community issues. To share your thoughts in this public forum, e-mail them with your name and city of residence to editor@lajollalight.com or mail them to La Jolla Light Editor, 565 Pearl St., Suite 300, La Jolla, CA 92037. Letters reflect the writers opinions and not necessarily those of the newspaper staff or publisher.No matter which way you turn onto Girard Avenue from Torrey Pines Road  considered ground zero for visitors and residents of La Jolla  people coming into The Village see empty commercial space.

On the 7300 to 7600 blocks of Girard Avenue alone, there are nine vacant storefronts, ranging from the two large car showrooms opposite one another at Pearl Street, to the smaller brick-and-mortars up and down the road.

The reasons these businesses closed or moved away are as varied as the businesses themselves. Nevertheless, the emptied storefronts dont project a vitality vibe for The Village.

When former La Jolla Village Merchants Association president James Niebling announced his firm, Esteban Interiors, would be relocating within San Diego once its lease at 7605 Girard Ave. was up this summer, he wrote to the board: We are excited about the opportunity to become an even more dynamic brand in the San Diego area. This was a very difficult decision to come by as I have nothing but great passion and respect for the La Jolla community.

The Subway sandwich franchise at 7514 Girard Ave. closed as part of a national effort to reduce the number of its storefronts.

Waters Fine Foods & Catering closed at 7441 Girard Ave. when its one-year lease expired. It was a really difficult location, owner Mary Kay Waters told the Light. We didnt get the support we were looking for and the rent was more expensive than we were expecting, plus, our sales were low compared to our other locations.

Waters said she only signed a one-year lease to test the La Jolla market. We had some nerves about having a location in La Jolla, she added. My sister-in-law had a shoe shop in La Jolla for a few years. She told me people would come and visit the shoes, but they would not buy them. I heard mixed things about operating in La Jolla, especially on that end of Girard, but I was excited about the location because I love the feel of it up there. I liked the space, so I took the leap, but only for a year.

Waters Fine Foods & Catering left its spot near La Jolla Elementary School. (Ashley Mackin-Solomon)

This practice, says Cushman and Wakefield realtor Mike Slattery, is reflective of changes in the retail market nationwide.

Slattery, who has been brokering deals in La Jolla for almost 40 years, noted there are varied reasons why a retail business may succeed or fail, and he pointed out that overall, the retail landscape has changed because of e-commerce and social media, and fewer tenants are expanding the way they use to.

(The closures) are not a function of La Jolla, its always been a desirable location, Slattery said. But the type of retailers that are looking for locations here are changing. E-commerce has altered the way people now shop. When people go to a large store, they have their smartphone as they walk through and they can do comparative shopping online ... and then you have landlords and potential tenants who are not realistic or flexible in their expectations.

Case in point, he said, are tenants wanting shorter leases in case business does not pick up, and landlords wanting longer leases for financial security.

A lot of these buildings in La Jolla are owned by private families from out of the area  so its not always easy for them to accept short-term leases because it disrupts their revenue stream, Slattery said. The biggest challenge is finding the right tenant for the right property.

As a compromise, some tenants will sign a lease with an early termination clause and leave if the need arises.

The other issue of vacancy is functionality, Slattery explained. Stores are getting smaller and the stores on Girard were built out in the 1970s for a different generation. Most of these buildings are considered functionally obsolete. The larger spaces carry a larger rent bill. While the figure changes from building to building, Slattery said Village rents vary from $2.45 to up to $4 a square foot per month. (1,500 to 2,000 square-foot spaces are common.)

Building functionality and pricing needs to be part of the equation, he continued. Many (building) owners are absentee or inherited the spaces, and theyre not realistic or are accustomed to a certain amount of rent coming in every month. This puts more pressure on tenants to make precise decisions; they cant afford to have a location at UTC and La Jolla, so as their leases expire, they close one.

The Maserati dealership, on the corner of Girard Avenue and Pearl Street, moved to another location earlier this year. (Ashley Mackin-Solomon)

Not all doom and gloom

Slattery said with the coming of the The Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center next year on Fay Avenue, and the existence of The Lot movie theater in The Village, there will be increases in traffic that could fuel more business.

Further, new Merchants Association president Alisha Hawrylyszyn Frank said there is a big picture to consider.

With change comes growing pains, she said, but Im very positive about the transition The Village is going through. Peoples needs and wants are shifting; where people want to spend their money is different than a few years ago. Were tapping into what that is and were going to be creating a community where merchants can thrive.

She added that with several Merchants Association board seats up for grabs in October  including a new executive director  there is going to be a major transition. Positive things are in the works that will take a little bit of time and lot of energy. But were not trying to rush anything, we want to take the time necessary so everyone is in agreement. There is a bigger picture here, Hawrylyszyn Frank said. The more people are passionate about the picture, the better off everyone is.The Pacific Beach Neighborhood Watch will host its first-ever Crime and Safety event prior to the 4 p.m. Siers Brothers concert, Sunday, Aug. 5 at Kate Sessions Park, 5115 Soledad Road.

The public is invited to see demonstrations from specialized police units such as K9 and SWAT, as well as pose for photo ops with fire and police equipment. Its a rare occasion to learn what it takes to fight crime daily and protect the community.

One of our goals is to educate people about exactly what police do to bring down the barriers between police and community, said Marcella Teran, PB Neighborhood Watch coordinator. The Crime and Safety event will bring the community face-to-face with the police for an opportunity to ask police questions and find out on a personal level what they do.

The Crime and Safety event is an outgrowth of the National Night Out, an event highlighting local police held the first Tuesday of every August across the country. According to Teran, PB Neighborhood Watch had been organizing the local National Night Out annually at the library with lackluster attendance, so she discussed ways of generating greater turnout with fellow organizer Andie LaComb.

We talked about having it at another location, Teran said. We wanted to reach more of the community and the summer Concerts on the Green at Kate Sessions Park draw a lot of people.

The Pacific Beach Town Council, which manages the concert series, accepted Neighborhood Watchs overture to join them because the two groups have often worked closely together to support first-responders, according to PB Town Council vice president Brian White.

It all ties in, he said. Anywhere we can collaborate with Neighborhood Watch and promote what theyre doing is beneficial for the community. They were looking for a high-visibility venue and, hopefully, this will give them more exposure.

Leading a group of kids at last years National Night Out, master instructor Shigong Guerrero (in blue vest) will give an interactive demonstration of self-defense during the concert intermission for this years Crime and Safety event. (PB Neighborhood Watch)

Event schedule

The Crime and Safety event begins at 3 p.m., one hour prior to the 4 p.m. concert, and will feature a demonstration by the K9 unit from 3:10 to 3:30 p.m. and a SWAT team presentation from 3:40 to 4 p.m. Police officers will be on hand for a meet-and-greet, while attendees can take photos next to a vintage police vehicle as well as a fire truck from Station 21.

In addition, an interactive self-defense demonstration for children and teens will be held on stage by local martial arts school Red Dragon Shou Shu during the concerts intermission.

Signs will be visible directing concert-goers to the Crime and Safety event at the top of hill where the parks flagpole and washrooms are located. Refreshments will be available from food truck vendors.

Police Foundation

Among the participating community groups, the San Diego Police Foundation will be operating a booth focusing on Internet safety for children, a version of the lecture they bring to schools. According to Kristen Amicone, Police Foundation director of education and technology, the event was a perfect fit for their mission.

We encourage people to get involved in some way; whatever they can do to support the men and women in blue, Amicone said. The Neighborhood Watch groups do what they can do to support the police. They are really the first line of defense for the police department.

Founded in 1998 by then-police chief Jerry Sanders, the Police Foundation helps police with funding operational expenses that go beyond the annual budget, along with other work promoting law enforcement.

Since first awarding grants 17 years ago, the Police Foundation has provided more than $6 million to the San Diego Police Department, Amicone said. The money has been used to purchase items such as specialized software for police computers, microscopes for the police crime lab, and all the dogs used in the K9 unit.

Toward the last item, the group will hold a Gold Shield Gala at the Hilton Bayfront on Sept. 22.

The Police Foundation is also focused on raising funds to buy military-grade armor for police against the massive firepower now available to everyone, including criminals.

Amicone said attending the Crime and Safety event should help create more awareness of the hurdles facing police, and prompt people to take more steps in providing support. Just knowing that information and spreading it is impactful, she said.Papa Johns International Inc. founder John Schnatter is suing the pizza chain, demanding internal files related to directors handling of his ouster for using a racial slur during a media-training session.

Schnatter resigned as chairman this month but remains on the board and owns 29% of the company.

A special committee of independent directors ordered the termination of an agreement that designated Schnatter as the brands face and voice, and requested he cease media appearances on behalf of the firm. Board members also ordered his eviction from the companys headquarters and have refused to turn over information about its decision-making process, according to the lawsuit, filed Thursday in Delaware Chancery Court.

Mr. Schnatter sought to inspect documents because of the unexplained and heavy handed way in which the company has treated him after news surfaced of his use of a racial epithet, the founders lawyers said in the suit. After the report, Schnatter resigned as chairman of Papa Johns but later said he regretted the decision.

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Schnatter, 56, faced a backlash after a Forbes report this month described the disputed session with media agency Laundry Service. Schnatter has acknowledged using the slur, but he said that it was in the context of a training exercise and that he isnt a racist. He subsequently stepped down as board chairman.

We are saddened and disappointed that John Schnatter has filed a needless and wasteful lawsuit in an attempt to distract from his own words and actions, Peter Collins, a Papa Johns spokesman, said in an emailed statement. We are providing Mr. Schnatter all of the materials he is entitled to as a director.

Schnatters books and records lawsuit aims to gather information that can be used in a subsequent action. A judge must decide whether Schnatter is entitled to the board information he is seeking and what must be turned over.

Schnatter is also mounting a campaign for new leadership at Papa Johns, including the chief executive officer and members of the board.

He said he is planning to speak with other shareholders about installing new leadership at the company in an effort to fix the struggling pizza chain.

The shareholders are going to dictate the board, and I think we have to take a hard look at this board and if the composition of this board is the best thing for Papa Johns, Schnatter said in a phone interview. I would suggest we start looking for new leadership immediately.

Schnatter said he is not interested in returning as CEO, but wants to have a role in plotting a comeback for the chain, which has reported slumping sales in addition to the public-relations controversies.Four years after approving a plan that charged ratepayers billions of dollars for the premature closing of the San Onofre nuclear plant, state utility regulators adopted a new deal Thursday that trims about $750 million from consumers electricity bills.

By unanimous vote, the California Public Utilities Commission agreed to a new cost-sharing settlement that halts payments by utility customers for the failed power plant as of December 2017.

The decision means that consumers would stop paying the $3.3 billion in San Onofre-related charges imposed on them after a radiation leak shut down the nuclear plant north of Oceanside in 2012.

Under the plan approved by regulators in 2014, those charges were scheduled to persist until 2022.

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The agreement would save more than 6 million homes and businesses an average of about $120 over four years. Ratepayers also could see an actual rebate  most likely reflected as a credit on their bills  for closure costs they paid since December, when the revised settlement was agreed to in principle.

This is a marked improvement from the 2014 decision, CPUC President Michael Picker said just before the vote.

Commissioner Carla Peterman said, Ratepayers deserve closure on this issue.

The new arrangement was negotiated by plant owners Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric after the San Diego area consumer group Citizens Oversight sued Edison and the commission over the 2014 deal.

Its not a 100% victory, but it does mean no more bleeding after December 2017, said attorney Michael Aguirre, who represented Citizens Oversight in the litigation.

In a statement, Edison President Ron Nichols said the commission took an important step forward.

The commission made one change to the proposed decision  eliminating a $25-million, stand-alone greenhouse gas research program to be administered by the Cal State University system and funded by utility shareholders.

Although the programs goals may be laudable, Picker said, I dont think its appropriate for us to approve.

Parties involved in the case have 10 days to let the CPUC know if they agree with the deletion.

As part of the new settlement, a team of six nuclear energy experts has been assembled to work with Southern California Edison to try to find a way to move the 3.55 million pounds of nuclear waste at San Onofre to another location.

The team includes a former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the independent agency in charge of all safety-related matters surrounding nuclear energy in the U.S., and a former director of policy at the U.S. Department of Energy.

The federal lawsuit that led to the $750 million in savings accused the utilities commission of authorizing an illegal taking of property  consumers cash by way of higher electricity bills  because customers were being charged for a power plant that produced no electricity.

The suit was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo in 2015, but the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals later agreed to hear the case.

Within weeks of that decision, lawyers for Edison and SDG&E initiated settlement discussions that led to an agreement announced early this year between the utilities and each party in the San Onofre case pending before the utilities commission.

But Picker and other commissioners were not immediately swayed that the agreement was worthwhile.

In February, they agreed to allow the San Diego advocacy group Public Watchdogs into the proceeding on a limited basis. Public Watchdogs opposed the settlement because it allowed the utilities to retain most of what the group said were illegal gains and because it granted Aguirre and his law partner approximately $5.4 million in attorney fees.

Sure, the settlement claims to return [$750 million] to ratepayers, but the total cost of the failure [at San Onofre] is $5.5 billion and 40% of that cost is being borne by the public, Public Watchdogs Executive Director Charles Langley said during the public comment period at Thursdays commission meeting in Sacramento.

Backers of the settlement approved Thursday say it is a notable improvement from the deal approved in 2014, when regulators assigned the lions share of San Onofre costs to utility customers rather than Edison and SDG&E shareholders.

The $3.3 billion in costs to consumers equaled 70% of the $4.7-billion expense. The $750 million in savings ratepayers will now see is nearly 25% of the 2014 cost to utility customers.

The 2014 deal was negotiated privately between utility executives and two consumer groups, the Utility Reform Network of San Francisco and the Office of Ratepayer Advocates, an independent unit of the utilities commission.

The proposed settlement was announced in March 2014 but amended that September to include a provision requiring utility shareholders to contribute $25 million toward an unspecified greenhouse gas research program within the University of California (which was later changed to be run by the Cal State University system).

About the same time, then-Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris opened a criminal investigation into the utilities commission based on emails between utility regulators and executives that surfaced in an unrelated lawsuit.

Those exchanges showed that commissioners were routinely meeting privately with companies they oversaw to discuss matters that were pending before the commission.

When investigators searched the Los Angeles area home of longtime commission president Michael Peevey in 2015, they found two pages of handwritten notes that appeared to show an agreement to resolve the San Onofre costs between ratepayers and utility shareholders.

After the San Diego Union-Tribune disclosed the finding, Edison filed notice of an ex parte meeting  conversations not in a public forum  it had with Peevey nearly two years earlier at a hotel in Warsaw, Poland.

The company said it had previously thought the meeting needed to be reported, even though the deal points listed on the notes closely resembled the terms approved by Peevey and other commissioners at their public meeting in November 2014.

The $25 million in greenhouse gas emissions research funding became a key element of the criminal investigation because the funding appeared on the Warsaw notes sketched out in 2013 but were not added to the settlement terms released publicly until September 2014.

Meanwhile, emails obtained by the Union-Tribune showed Peevey discussing the funding with UCLA researchers nearly a year before then-commissioner Michel Florio proposed adding the money to the San Onofre settlement as a way to improve the deal for consumers.

The utilities commission later fined Edison $16.7 million for failing to disclose the Warsaw meeting for nearly two years.

Despite the meeting in Warsaw and numerous disclosures indicating that the San Onofre costs were negotiated in private rather than through the public process, regulators took no steps to alter the terms of the deal they approved in 2014  until Thursday.

The four-year attorney generals office investigation into utilities commission practices similarly sputtered and no criminal charges have been filed.

McDonald and Nikolewski write for the San Diego Union Tribune.

jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com

rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.comLast spring, companies warned that the Trump administrations steel and aluminum tariffs could hit their bottom line. Now the bill is starting to come due.

Several big manufacturers and consumer goods companies have cited growing trade tensions as factors for their lower-than-expected financial results in the just-ended second quarter.

On Wednesday, General Motors Co. updated its full-year guidance and noted the unfavorable impact of rising commodity costs, saying the recent and significant price increases negatively affected business expectations.

GM said those higher commodity costs cut its earnings by $300 million in the second quarter compared with a year earlier. The company cut its earnings guidance for the year by $1 billion. GMs stock price fell nearly 5% on Wednesday.

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The same day, Ford Motor Co. executives said the second quarter was challenging, partly because of higher commodity costs and tariff-related impacts. The company reported revenue of $38.9 million, compared to $39.8 million during the same period a year ago.

A day earlier, appliance manufacturer Whirlpool Corp. said tariffs were a reason its results fell short of expectations. Excluding non-cash charges related to its overseas business, earnings fell to $3.20 a share from $3.35 a year earlier, and sales fell 4%, to $5.1 billion from $5.3 billion.

Whirlpool Chief Executive Marc Bitzer cited weaker-than-expected U.S. demand for its appliances and headwinds related to U.S. tariffs that helped drive up prices of steel and other raw materials costs. Whirlpool shares closed 3.7% lower.

The tariffs affect companies in two ways, said Larry Harris, professor of finance at USCs Marshall School of Business. It increases the cost of items that they buy from abroad that the U.S. government has now placed a tariff on. It also increases the cost to foreigners of the items they sell abroad. Both effects reduce [companies] earnings.

President Trump announced plans in March for a 10% duty on aluminum and a 25% tariff on steel imports from the European Union, Canada, China and Mexico. Several countries vowed to retaliate with their own tariffs.

Shortly after the Commerce Department urged Trump in February to consider the tariffs, the weekly price of steel and aluminum increased. The price increase, at least for aluminum, likely flowed to equipment manufacturers, such as Whirlpool, by late in the second quarter, said Doug Hilderhoff, principal analyst in aluminum at CRU.

Campbell Soup Co. warned financial analysts in May that its margins could take a hit in the year starting in August due to the anticipated import tariffs. An executive from the Camden, N.J., firm said on an earnings call then that the company expected to see double-digit increases on steel and aluminum, all of it driven by the impact of anticipated tariffs.

By late June, motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson Inc. said it would move some production out of the United States to avoid tariffs levied by the EU. On a Tuesday earnings call about the companys second-quarter results, Chief Executive Matthew Levatich described that decision as key to protect[ing] the marketplace and our customer value equation as well as our dealer business model.

Company executives said at the time that they expect the cost of the tariffs this year to be $45 million to $50 million and, because of that, lowered their earnings guidance for this year.

We are doing everything we can at the company to absorb on the costs that we can, John Olin, Harley-Davidsons chief financial officer, said on the call. As we look forward, we cant eat the whole $45 million to $50 million or cant cover it in other parts of our business. And for that, we are bringing down our guidance.

On Tuesday, Bitzer of Whirlpool said uncertainty related to tariffs and global trade actions led to increased costs for certain strategic components, as well as finished goods, imports and exports. While the tariffs had only a limited impact in the second quarter, he warned in an earnings call with analysts that there could be further effects in the future as suppliers are forced to pay the tariffs.

A Goldman Sachs report released last week on the potential effect of tariffs on earnings and returns from the S&P 500 found that industries that are heavily reliant on imports, such as petroleum and coal products, computer and electronic products, and transportation face the greatest supply chain risk from escalating trade tensions.

While tariffs could lower revenues, the report found that the duties posed a larger threat to profit margins of the S&P 500.

On Wednesday, UPS Chief Executive David Abney said the company has seen no significant impact at this time to the companys international freight shipment business, though it is closely monitoring the trade environment.

If this trade war continued or these actions continued, there would always be some exposure or risk to our business, he said. But that exposure is very much limited.

Boeing Co., a huge user of aluminum in its airplanes, did not mention tariffs in its earnings call Wednesday. A company executive did note, though, that good trade relations between the United States and China  which have been levying duties against each others products tit-for-tat  were beneficial to the aerospace industry.

samantha.masunaga@latimes.com

james.peltz@latimes.comStepping into the land of the Trump resistance, Seema Verma flatly rejected Californias pursuit of single-payer healthcare as unworkable and dismissed the Affordable Care Act as too flawed to ever succeed.

Speaking Wednesday at the Commonwealth Club here, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said she supports granting states flexibility on healthcare but indicated she would not give California the leeway it would need to spend federal money on a single-payer system.

I think a lot of the analysis has shown its unaffordable, Verma said during a question-and-answer session following her speech. It doesnt make sense for us to waste time on something thats not going to work.

During the speech, Verma issued a broader warning to advocates pushing for a Medicare-for-all program nationally. She said that socialized approach to medicine would endanger the program and the healthcare it provides for millions of older Americans.

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We dont want to divert the purpose and focus away from our seniors, Verma said in the address before more than 200 people. In essence, Medicare for all would become Medicare for none.

Single-payer has emerged as a key issue in the California governors race this year. The current front-runner for governor, Gavin Newsom, a Democrat and the current lieutenant governor, has vowed to pursue a state-run, single-payer system for all Californians if elected in November. Many California lawmakers have endorsed that idea as the next step toward achieving universal coverage and to tackling rising costs.

California has enthusiastically embraced the Affordable Care Act, and state leaders have struggled with  and even bucked  the Trump administration on a variety of health-policy fronts. The state stands to lose more than any other if the Trump administration is successful in further dismantling the ACA.

About 1.4 million Californians buy coverage through the states Obamacare exchange, Covered California, and nearly 4 million have joined Medicaid as a result of the programs expansion under the law.

Verma wields enormous power as head of CMS, overseeing a $1-trillion budget. The agency sets policy for Medicare, Medicaid and the federal insurance exchanges under the ACA.

The landmark health law, she said, was so flawed it could not work without further action from Congress.

It wasnt working when we came into office and it continues not to work, Verma said, responding to a question from moderator Mark Zitter, founder of the Zetema Project, a nonprofit organization that promotes debate on healthcare across partisan lines. The program is not designed to be successful.

Zitter billed the event as a rare chance for Californians to hear directly from a top Trump administration official, although her remarks broke little new ground.

Trump healthcare policies figure into many of Californias congressional races this fall in which incumbent Republicans are fending off Democratic challengers. And in court, California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra is leading a coalition of attorneys general who are defending the constitutionality of the ACA in a Texas case with national implications.

The Trump administration has sided with the officials waging the lawsuit, choosing not to defend the health laws protections for people with preexisting conditions. Separately, the administration has backed work requirements for many people on Medicaid.

Californias state Senate passed a law in May banning such requirements as a condition for eligibility in Medi-Cal, the states Medicaid program. The bill is pending in the state Assembly.

Making health insurance coverage contingent on work requirements goes against all weve worked for here in California, state Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina), author of Senate Bill 1108, said in May.

State lawmakers also are considering bills that would limit the GOP-backed sale of short-term health policies and prevent people from joining association health plans that dont have robust consumer protections.

In an interview after the speech, Verma criticized those legislative efforts in California because they would limit consumer choice.

Any efforts to thwart choice and competition and letting Americans make decisions about their healthcare is bad health policy, she said.

Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California, the states ACA marketplace, has criticized the Trump administration for promoting those cheaper, skimpier policies as an alternative to ACA-compliant plans. He said he fears consumers will be harmed by bait-and-switch products that dont provide comprehensive benefits.

There have been a series of policies from Washington that have the effect of raising costs, particularly for middle-class Americans, and pricing them out of coverage, Lee said in an interview last week. This is not a failure of the ACA. This is entirely happening since the new administration.

Most of Vermas speech in San Francisco focused on Medicare. She outlined a number of initiatives designed to strengthen the program and protect taxpayers from ballooning costs. After the speech, CMS announced proposed changes to Medicare payment policies for outpatient care that could yield savings for the government and patients.

In her remarks, Verma reiterated the Trump administrations efforts to reduce prescription drug prices, improve patients access to their own medical records and eliminate burdensome regulations on doctors and other medical providers.

Verma received a polite round of applause at the beginning and end of her appearance.

Terhune is a senior correspondent for Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent publication of the Kaiser Family Foundation.Actors Xander Berkeley and Sarah Clarke have sold their longtime home in Hollywood Hills to actress Meaghan Rath for $2.2 million, records show.

The artsy Spanish-style house, built in 1925, features such classic details as stained glass windows, a Batchelder fireplace and lush landscaping that fills the terraced backyard. Some 3,200 square feet of living space includes an updated kitchen, three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, a media room and an artists studio.

Designed for indoor-outdoor living, the house has multiple terraces, an outdoor kitchen with a pizza oven and a tree house/lookout deck. Views from the property take in the surrounding canyon area.

Berkeley, 62, currently appears on The Walking Dead and has a part in the upcoming biographical crime thriller City of Lies starring Johnny Depp and Forest Whitaker. His other credits include the shows Salem and Nikita.

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Among Clarkes television credits are Bosch and The Tomorrow People. From 2001 to 2004, the 46-year-old actress had a recurring role on the action series 24.

Rath, 32, is known for her role on the supernatural series Being Human (2011-2014). More recently, she has appeared on New Girl, Rogue and, most recently, Hawaii Five-O.

Berkeley and Clarke bought the house more than two decades ago for $462,000, records show. The property came up for sale in May and sold for $5,000 over the $2.195-million asking price.

Peter Lavin and Alastair Duncan of Links Real Estate were the listing agents, according to the MLS. Lavin also represented the buyer.

neal.leitereg@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATHotPropertyWhat do you pack in a single meager suitcase when fleeing a war-ravaged homeland?

That question marks the genesis of photographer Jim Lommassons traveling exhibition, What We Carried: Fragments & Memories From Iraq & Syria, at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles through Aug. 5.

Since 2010, the Portland, Ore.-based Lommasson has met with about 100 refugees in their U.S. homes and photographed a treasured object brought from Iraq or Syria. Each item is etched with emotion and story: a deceased mothers eyeglasses, dominoes, a carpet created from a fathers old neckties.

A carpet created from a fathers old neckties serves as a reminder of a mother who could make something from nothing. (Jim Lommasson)

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Dolls made the soul-crushing journey from a war-torn homeland. (Jim Lommasson)

Lommasson gives an archival print, surrounded by ample white space, back to the items owners. They write their reasons for choosing the object.

A 15-minute documentary accompanies the 57 photographs. Subjects include a Hello Kitty notebook and Barbie dolls clutched by girls embarking on soul-crushing journeys. Those and other common items help to bridge cultural divides and dismantle stereotypes.

Viewers are forced to wonder: What would I take?

Scholar Haifa Habib brought an anthropology book purchased along Baghdads Mutanabbi Street, a historic book market obliterated by a car bomb in 2007. Her Arabic script decorates the photo: Alas is today similar to yesterday? Despair, sickness, and foreignness, will my tomorrow be just like my yesterday?

Haifa Habib fled Iraq with an anthropology book purchased at Baghdads historic Mutanabbi Street market, which was bombed in 2007. Will my tomorrow be just like my yesterday? she wrote on Lommassons photo of the book. (Jim Lommasson)

Detail of Lommassons work featuring coffee cups from Baghdad, a refugees reminders of happy times with Dad. (Jim Lommasson)

These are mnemonic objects, totems that help to recall what was left behind, which for many was, simply, everything. Preservation of bare scraps of identity become vital.

Paired with a tiny flag pin: How can I describe you, Iraq? My soul is missing your air.

A tin can turns sacred  used by a mother to make ice for cold drinks on blistering desert days. The owner terms the seemingly worthless hollow can as an Iraqi icon, so happy and dear is his simple memory. I felt like I had to make room for it in my small suitcase, Rafat Mandwee writes on the stark photograph.

Rafat Mandwees milk can, which evoked memories of cold drinks on hot desert days and how his mother would reuse empty cans to make ice. (Jim Lommasson)

Lommassons eye treads lightly, presenting the items without artistic comment, yet imbuing each with tactile depth via low-grazing light that tempts viewers to reach out and touch.

People often give me credit for humanizing the refugees, Lommasson said of his collaborative work. But the way we other them and demonize them, its us that needs to be humanized.

See all of our latest arts news and reviews at latimes.com/arts.

A refugees cellphone photos are reminders of good times  and the friends he had to leave behind. (Jim Lommasson)

calendar@latimes.comNo one has to see a documentary to understand that large sums of untraceable political campaign contributions are a bad thing. But Dark Money does need to be seen because it reveals with fascinating specificity how that crooked system works and details how one state decided to take it on.

That state would be Montana, a key target of dark money forces because it is sparsely populated and resource-rich.

As directed and co-written by Kimberly Reed (with Jay Arthur Sterrenberg), Dark Money takes a detailed look at an unexpectedly complex situation that is at the heart of political action today.

As Ann Ravel, former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, explains, campaign financing is the gateway issue of every other issue you might care about.

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Although the film does go off on brief side trips to the precarious status of that commission as well as to a similar situation in Wisconsin, it mostly stays put in Montana, where Reed, a native of the state, followed a range of crises and developments over three election cycles to get the story right.

Montanans care about the role of dark money perhaps more than the residents of other states because of their own fraught history with corporate interests.

Companies like Anaconda at one time played an outsize role in the states politics, with results like a flooded open pit copper mine site in Butte thats still so toxic decades later that geese who land on it die off in droves.

Things got so bad that in 1912 the state passed the Corrupt Practices Act, one of the first in the nation to ban corporate contributions to politics. But the U.S. Supreme Courts controversial 2010 Citizens United decision killed that and took things back to square one.

Montana is also unusual among states in that it does not have a political class. It has what is referred to as citizen legislators, regular people with regular jobs who meet for 90 days every other year.

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), a working farmer, is very much in that tradition. His appearance at the start of the film dealing with a recalcitrant piece of equipment got delighted applause when Dark Money premiered at Sundance (where it won a producing award).

Dark Money begins by demonstrating the kind of havoc dark money wreaks on a campaign by funding savage, completely fictitious attacks so close to election day that no response is logistically possible.

Typical was the attack on Montana state Rep. John Ward, who was accused, in a mailer supposedly sent out by Mothers Against Child Predators, of being a supporter of multiple murderer John Wayne Gacy, a man he had never met and who had never set foot in the state.

What made this attack so initially inexplicable is that, like many targeted Montana legislators, Ward was no liberal firebrand but a Republican with a reliably conservative record. Who would go after people like this, and why?

Dark Money follows the struggle to figure this out on several fronts, most noticeably the tireless investigative journalism of John S. Adams, who changes hairstyles several times in the course of filming but never wavers in his pursuit of the answers.

Also key players were Jonathan Motl, the states commissioner of political practices, determined to investigate apparent violations, and Gene Jarussi, a lawyer who came out of retirement to spearhead a case against a powerful politician for campaign finance violations.

As if all this wasnt complicated enough, Dark Money takes further detours like showcasing the battle to get the state Legislature to pass the Montana Disclose Act and the energized campaign that Democratic then-Atty. Gen. Steve Bullock ran on this issue to become the states governor.

Dark Money is overflowing with examples because the filmmakers couldnt bear to leave out fascinating stories. Best of all is the reveal, featuring twists and turns worthy of Ellery Queen, of how the people behind the crash-and-burn attack ads were exposed, the way they do their dirty work and what their ultimate goal is.

The result is a genuine political detective story, as involving as it is significant, offering specifics from people who have been there about a modern affliction we ignore at our peril.

---------

Dark Money

Not rated

Running time: 1 hour, 38 minutes

Playing: Landmarks Nuart, West Los Angeles

kenneth.turan@latimes.com

@KennethTuranAt their dazzling but infrequent best, the Detective Dee movies give preposterousness a good name. Busy, extravagant and deliriously overwrought, they mix the dynastic power struggles of 7th century China with the puzzles of mid-tier Sherlock Holmes, padded out with sorcery, swordplay, gravity-defying acrobatics and wildly undisciplined CGI. At the center of it all is the suavely rational Detective Dee Renjie (Mark Chao), who, early on in his latest adventure, diagnoses the cause of all this ostentatiously swirling mayhem: dangerous people with weird skills.

That pretty much sums up the movie and its eye-tickling, surface-level pleasures. In Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings, a lavish, somewhat laborious fantasy set during the Tang dynasty, those dangerous people include an army of enchanters, each with their own dark-magic expertise and an impasto of sinister face paint. Their skills are as weird as advertised: One of them bursts into flames a lot, while another hides herself in other peoples shadows. Hailing from the Jianghu underworld, they operate in service of the scheming Empress Wu (Carina Lau, gilded and ruthless), whos determined to wrest control of the imperial court away from her husband, the Emperor (Sheng Chien).

Following the events of Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon (2013), in which Dee successfully defeated a nasty Sino-Kraken, the Emperor now regards the detective so highly that he tasks him with safeguarding a much-coveted, all-powerful weapon called the Dragon-Taming Mace. (The club, not the pepper spray.) Naturally, the mace has barely entered Dees possession before Empress Wus spellcasting mercenaries set out to steal it, triggering a series of elaborate diversions and lethal booby traps involving boomerang-like blades, mysterious poisons, cluttered flashbacks and mistaken identities.

All this is more or less what youd expect from the twisty conventions of wuxia, the martial-arts fantasy genre of which the writer-director Tsui Hark has long been a prolific and inventive practitioner. What you may not be prepared for is the movies outlandish left turn into creature-feature territory, complete with what feel like bizarrely unmotivated shoutouts to King Kong and Tremors. I didnt quite know what to make of the big white ape, the jumbo psychedelic fish, the spider-legged Ringwraiths or the big red tentacle explosion. The slimy giant covered with pustule-like eyeballs, however, sure did aggravate my trypophobia.

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Sichun Ma as the young assassin Shui Yue in the film Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings. (WellGo USA)

We are a long way from the wily and imaginative action classics, among them the peerless Peking Opera Blues (1986), that once paved Tsuis entry into the pantheon of Hong Kong new wave directors. But then, the rise of a more blockbuster-friendly sensibility was apparent even before he made Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010), the first film in the series but the third one chronologically. That movie was a ravishing if clumsy hybrid of ancient traditions and newfangled technology; in the face of so much digital spectacle, you could feel the human element slipping away.

Tsui tries to preserve that human element in fits and starts throughout Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings but to little avail. As in the previous film, Dee maintains a strong if sometimes conflicted bond with Yuchi Zhenjin (Shaofeng Feng, scowler extraordinaire), a sworn guardian of the court whom the Empress tries to sway against him. Theres a spot of romance between one of Dees loyal, bumbling allies (Lin Gengxin) and a young assassin (Ma Sichun) whos not above a little bathhouse flirtation.

As for Dee himself: His detective skills, which include note-perfect crime-scene reconstruction and lip reading, feel even more perfunctory than usual in the wake of all the supernatural intrigue. (You can only deduce so much when the laws of physics can be suspended at will.) I still miss Andy Lau, the Hong Kong superstar who originated the role in Phantom Flame, though the handsome Chao makes an agreeably mellow replacement. His Dee is invariably the most sane, grounded person in every scene, though once its time to bust out the wireworks, he can leap from rafter to rafter with the best of them. Its the movie that never takes flight.

------------

Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings

In Mandarin with English subtitles

Not rated

Running time: 2 hours, 11 minutes

Playing: AMC Santa Anita 16, Arcadia, and AMC Atlantic Times Square 14, Monterey Park

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour 

justin.chang@latimes.com

@JustinCChangBoy meets boy  boy also meets girl  and mixed with jealousy, drugs and a sweltering Cape Cod summer in 1991, the combination proves explosive. This is the tale of writer-director Elijah Bynums debut, Hot Summer Nights, a heady portrait of summer lust dusted with a dash of drug-trafficking danger. This sexy, soapy male melodrama may be a little light on gritty realism, but it throbs with a mind-numbing sense of longing, and during the dog days of July, it goes down like cherry ice.

Timothee Chalamet stars as Daniel, no Danny, because it sounds cool, a depressed kid sent to while away the summer with his Aunt Barb on Cape Cod. Hes not a townie, but hes not a summer bird either, living in a terrible liminal space of nonexistence. His rocket ship out of this loserville is the local weed dealer and mythical heartthrob, Hunter Strawberry (Alex Roe).

With a rumbling hot rod, a collection of clingy T-shirts in various states of distress, and a wink that would make James Dean blush, Hunters lascivious, whispered legend is matched only by that of his sister, McKayla (Maika Monroe), who has a wavy blond mane, skin like glass and a stare so seductive it hurts. Danny meets her at the local drive-in and is soon entranced, ignoring warnings from Hunter to stay away.

It may be coincidental, but likely not, that the morning after he meets McKayla, Danny says he wants to go into business with Hunter, and once he gets a taste, hes hooked. Danny is delighted with his new line of work, even when its spattered in a Boston drug dealers blood, or coupled with a slap over a stack of waffles courtesy of Dex (Emory Cohen), a consigliere for a heavy-hitter who enlists the new partners to move product. Danny also falls into a secret romance with McKayla, drunk on forbidden fruit.

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Hot Summer Nights skitters and shimmies pleasingly, and its clear that Bynum has taken every idea for every storytelling device and stylistic flourish hes ever had and thrown them at the screen. He makes our heads spin with format swaps, most successfully with disposable camera snapshots that evoke the era.

There are so many of these self-reflective aesthetic choices  and an epic needle drop in every scene  that it all starts to feel just a little bit too busy. Its especially muddled by an unnecessary framing device, a flash-forward with narration by a local kid who breathlessly recounts every rumor and innuendo about Danny, Hunter and McKayla. It elevates these three to mythological status, but frustratingly situates them as objects, not subjects in the tale, denying them any agency, especially McKayla, who remains a lust object for young boys who peel her chewed gum from phone booths and trade stories about her doomed exes.

And dont try to unpack the details of the flimsy drug story  the timeline doesnt hold up to a shred of scrutiny. Though it gives the film high stakes and menace, its hardly about selling drugs. What it is about is seduction, longing, sexual anticipation and broken trust. And how all that seems heightened under the blistering summer sun, salt-licked and sweat-dripped. The three lead actors could not be more suited to the task of embodying the promise of sex. Chalamet, skinny and doe-eyed, has a hungry gaze, gobbling his objects of affection with his eyes, whether the coy McKayla or the hunky Hunter. Its a love triangle with Danny at the center, in love with both McKayla, his would-be girlfriend, and a bromance with best friend Hunter, a person we watch him fall head over heels for, with each violent beating and spray of cash.

Bynum goes for broke in this daring debut, anchored by a trio of spellbinding performances, as well as a memorable Cohen, and William Fichtner in a brilliant cameo as a strung-out drug lord. Although every cinematic experiment and story beat doesnt always work, Hot Summer Nights is downright intoxicating, oozing with panache and sensuality from every pore.

-------------

Hot Summer Nights

Rated: R, for drug content and language throughout, sexual references, and some strong violence

Running time: 1 hour, 47 minutes

Playing: AMC Dine-In Sunset, West Hollywood

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calendar@latimes.comAn involving, stacked deck of a story plus strong acting and a mix of vital themes combine to make The Citizen a solid drama about immigration, nationalism and survival in an often unforgiving world.

Wilson (Marcelo Cake-Baly) is a kindly, 50ish African emigre living in Budapest and working as a supermarket security guard. Although he wants Hungarian citizenship, he keeps failing the required constitutional studies test.

To that end, Wilsons boss (Tunde Szalontay) suggests he hire her sister, Mari (Agnes Mahr), a history teacher, and Wilson begins a series of helpful and edifying lessons.

At the same time, Wilson takes in Shirin (Arghavan Shekari), a pregnant young woman who fled troubles in Iran but, as an undocumented refugee, finds all new problems in Hungary. She soon gives birth  with Wilsons impromptu help  and an unlikely temporary family is formed.

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But when Wilson and Mari fall for each other, Mari moves out from the home she shares with her husband and adult sons and in with Wilson and Shirin. After a brief honeymoon period, a pileup of inevitable conflicts ensue, with the haunted Wilson stuck between his allegiances to each woman.

The film, directed by Roland Vranik (script by Vranik and Ivan Szabo), turns increasingly tough and unsettling, offering no easy answers as it poignantly and all-too-credibly explores desperation, bigotry and our need to love and belong. It couldnt be timelier.

-------------

The Citizen

In Hungarian with English subtitles

Not rated

Running time: 1 hour, 48 minutes

Playing: Starts July 27, Downtown Independent, Los Angeles

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour 

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calendar@latimes.comSome actors act, emphasizing performance over empathy, while others, in some extraordinary way, simply become other people, disappearing completely into the widest variety of roles. Kelly Macdonald is one of the best of those, and in Puzzle she steps out and shows us what she can do on a bigger stage.

The Scottish performer has played a wide variety of parts since her 1996 debut as Ewan McGregors high school girlfriend in Trainspotting, including an astonishing, award-winning performance as a West Texas housewife in the Coen brothers No Country For Old Men, a role she almost didnt get because the Coens were so determined to cast regionally they initially crossed her off their list sight unseen.



For the record: An earlier version review of this review indicated the movie was not rated. The Motion Picture Assn. of America has rated the film R, for language.

But good as she is, Macdonald has never starred in a film until Puzzle, and her delicate but deeply felt performance, along with the work of top Indian actor and costar Irrfan Khan and the rest of the cast, make this gentle, thoughtful yet pointed film the undeniable success it is.

The grace of Macdonalds performance aside, a lot about Puzzle is unexpected, from having long-time producer Marc Turtletaub as its debuting director to its being based on Rompecabezas, a 2010 Argentine film directed by Natalia Smirnoff.

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Perhaps most unexpected is how completely involving the films scenario, written by the veteran Oren Moverman and Polly Mann, plays onscreen despite having a plot line about a womans unanticipated self-actualization that can sound schematic.

Its the actors, of course, very much including supporting cast members David Denman, Bubba Weiler and Austin Abrams, who keep that from happening, along with sensitive, low-key direction from Turtletaub.

Puzzles opening sequence introduce Agnes (Macdonald) dutifully vacuuming the family living room. Its a classic image of an ordinary housewife, which is the way Agnes, and everyone in her orbit, would describe her.

And Agnes is not just everyday cleaning, she is tidying the house and doing all the prep, including baking the cake and hanging the banner, for her own birthday party, a kind of self-sacrifice which turns out to be typical.

A devout Catholic, Agnes life revolves around the traditional poles of family and church. Though we know the time is now because Agnes gets a smartphone as a birthday present, her life as we see it could be taking place 50 years in the past.

Husband Louie (Denman) is a burly guy who owns a garage in the bedroom community of Bridgeport, Conn. Older son Ziggy (Bubba Weiler) works there, not particularly happily, and entitled younger son Ronnie (Austin Abrams) has college in his sights.

One of the intriguing aspects of Puzzles scenario is that, lummox though he is, Louie is presented as a caring husband who truly loves his wife, no questions asked.

Agnes definitely values her marriage, but there is also the sense that, as someone who fears change and gravitates toward predictability and stability, this is all that she sknows.

Yet, if you look closely, there are signs of other aspects to her, a fascination with visual patterns, whether it be the stained glass windows in her local church or the pieces of a broken plate that have to be carefully glued together.

One of Agnes birthday presents, as it turns out, is a thousand piece jigsaw puzzle, and on an impulse she takes the pieces out of the box and puts them together lickety-split.

Though Louie dismissively insists only children play with puzzles, the quiet pleasure Agnes gets from this achievement, like discovering a superpower she didnt know she had, is written on her face.

The pleasure is so intense, in fact, that she overcomes a long-standing aversion to New York City and takes the train into town in search of more jigsaw puzzles to conquer.

While shopping at the puzzle store, a flier catches Agnes attention. Champion, it reads, desperately seeking puzzle partner. Agnes gets in touch, and Puzzle moves into a higher gear.

The champion turns out to be Robert (Khan, the star of The Lunchbox and numerous other films), a wealthy, sophisticated inventor who lives in a Manhattan townhouse and is unlike anyone Agnes has ever known.

Robert recognizes Agnes gift at once and enlists her to be his partner for the upcoming national jigsaw competition and the worlds after that should they succeed.

Agnes, for her part, is equal parts wariness about Robert and delighted at doing something she was born to do. She feels she has to keep this new pleasure from her family as well as fend off Roberts curiosity about her personal life.

Although its a given that this experience will change Agnes in ways she does not anticipate, what is surprising is how delicately this film threads the needle between the different aspects of her life and leaves us satisfied with its conclusion.

The triumph of Puzzle and its heroine is not so much, as someone says, getting all the wrong pieces right, but the realization that none of the pieces are wrong, they just may not be right for you.

-------------

Puzzle

Rated: R, for language

Running time: 1 hour, 42 minutes.

Playing: Arclight, Hollywood; Landmark, West Los Angeles

kenneth.turan@latimes.com

@KennethTuranWhen most musicians play a piece, they hope the audience will engage with the music and open their ears to the sound of the instruments. Ideally, listeners can get some sense of the shape of the work itself, whether a 12-bar blues or a five-movement symphony. The person who wrote the music, typically, is even more invested in it being heard.

But Max Richter, the composer and keyboard player for two all-night performances this weekend in Grand Park, doesnt even care if the sold-out audience stays awake.

Hes trying to ask questions about the way music  especially more-or-less classical music, now draped in centuries of formality  is performed. I wanted to break that open a bit, the German-born, Britain-based composer, 52, says from his home near Oxford. The audience arrives; they can go to bed. They have cots there. There are no rules. I hope theyll make a journey through the night, in a way that feels authentic to them.

The piece hes discussing, Sleep, is an eight-hour minimalist work hell lead Friday and Saturday nights through sunrise the next mornings. The piece is conceived as a kind of landscape, he says, speaking in the gentle, considerate tones of a psychotherapist. To travel through  to inhabit.

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The weekends gig will not only be Grand Parks first overnight event and the first Los Angeles performance of Sleep  a 2015 composition that has caused a real stir in the U.K.  but the pieces first outdoor performance anywhere in the world.

Richters roots are in classical minimalism, experimental composers such as Luciano Berio (with whom he studied in Italy), the ambient tradition and British dance music. He has a real conservatory education but also spent his youth building synthesizers in his bedroom and collaborating with DJ-producer Roni Size.

One of the first records that got me excited about the possibilities of music was Brian Enos Discreet Music  using the studio as a sculptural tool, he says.

His work, appropriately, ranges from television and film scores  the science-fiction movie Arrival, HBOs The Leftovers  to classical pieces such as his Kafka-inspired, Tilda Swinton-narrated breakthrough, The Blue Notebooks, or his chart-topping reimagining of Vivaldi.

Richter wrote Sleep in response to his own creeping sense that life in the post-industrial West was losing its focus and its possibility for repose; he even consulted with an American neuroscientist in the course of the composition. Were a bit data-saturated now; we live on our screens 24/7, Richter says. Were on that production-consumption hamster wheel all the time.

And the most extreme version of this, he says, is insomnia, which he sees as an epidemic. With Sleep, he wanted to offer a place to rest, as well as a work of resistance  a quiet protest.

With its slow, pulsing keyboards, serene strings and evocation of the ocean and the night sky, the piece takes a stand against  or comes out the other side of  a movement that defined the arts for nearly a century.

Max Richter at a previous, indoor performance of Sleep. (Mike Terry)

The whole Modernist project was about intensity of experience, ever more supercharged harmony and texture and color  all these things turned up, slowly, across the 19th and 20th centuries, Richter says. Work in that tradition is all about providing a manifesto: Here it is, understand it. While for me, the center of Sleep is the individual listeners experience, the individual listeners journey.

Richters own journey to the Los Angeles performance of Sleep will be very different from the trip most of the audience takes. He will be severely jet-lagged from his flight from London and will basically wake up, eat breakfast and walk onstage to perform. At about 10:30 p.m.

For us, its a physical and psychological challenge, he says of his fellow musicians, soprano Grace Davidson and the American Contemporary Music Ensemble string quintet. Its got a bit of an extreme-sport dimension.

Each of the musicians, including Richter, gets a few brief breaks to rest, stretch and eat, but the piece will continue for eight uninterrupted hours. You get stiff and you get hungry, he says, lessons learned from performances in a handful of spots  an industrial space in London, the Sydney Opera House, and a techno club in Berlin among them.

Unlike these other sites, the L.A. show will be outdoors. Although that creates difficulties  the potential for wind, changing heat and humidity that frustrates the tuning of string instruments  Richter is looking forward to the way the light changes over time. Thats one of the most beautiful things about it, and we cant do it in a concert hall. And conceptually the piece has a sort of dawn written into it, which he hopes will become quite literal when the sun rises about 6 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

The unconventional setting was part of what interested the Music Center, which programs and operates Grand Park. Artistic consultant Jorn Weisbrodt likes the composers interest in rethinking the standard concert situation. Weisbrodt saw the eight-hour Sleep in New York and describes it as peaceful and introspective, like the aftermath of yoga class, with a big exhale at the end.

Says Weisbrodt: Im always interested in creating situations where audience members dont have to understand all the codes. You dont need any knowledge to get into this  you just need to be open. You dont need to know why Shostakovich wrote the Third String Quartet.

Richters Sleep is part of a larger recognition of  maybe, even, a quiet rebellion against  the importance of slowing down in an accelerated world: It sits comfortably alongside the large-scale choreography of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, the autobiographical novels of Karl Ove Knausgaard, Mobys own sleep cycle (released a year after Richters), the reissue of 2001: A Space Odyssey and the longform movement in journalism. The last few years have also seen several books on the importance of sleep itself.

I think we are in an incredibly challenging time psychologically, Richter says. All the certainties and norms you felt you could rely on are being destroyed or under attack. In Britain, he says, anxiety over the Brexit vote has the nation on edge even beyond the larger digital jitters.

At such times, creativity does have a role, Richter says. Art and creativity are in some ways one-to-one communication, but also social projects. Ive wanted the work to have an engagement with social reality.

Sometimes, that means a lack of certainty. We play it a little differently each time, based on what the audience is like, what the setting is like. So you never really know how its gonna go.

calendar@latimes.comJoe Achtner was unloading tools from his truck about noon Wednesday when he noticed the sky above his Idyllwild home getting dark and flakes of ash falling around him.

Concerned, he drove down the street, where he saw a massive wildfire cresting a nearby hillside, threatening homes in his neighborhood of 30 years. The Cranston fire had charred 4,700 acres in the mountains south of Idyllwild. Officials said late Wednesday it was 5% contained.

It came up on us really, really quickly. Within a half hour, the whole town was overwhelmed with flames, said Achtner, a 65-year-old carpenter. All of a sudden, it was right there  and it was huge.

By the time he and his family loaded up their trucks with their three dogs and suitcases full of clothes, Riverside County sheriffs deputies had swarmed the area. They ordered 2,174 homes evacuated in the mountain communities of Idyllwild, Apple Canyon, Lake Hemet, Mountain Center and Hurkey Creek while firefighters mounted an aggressive attack against flames.

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Were throwing everything we can at it, said Lee Beyer, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. More than 700 firefighters were battling the blaze, with several helicopters dumping flame retardant and water.

The Cranston fire broke out during a blistering heat wave and spread rapidly, sending a massive tower of smoke over the San Jacinto Mountains. The blaze, which was at 5% containment at 10:15 p.m., destroyed five residential structures and threatened hundreds of others.

Authorities said an arsonist set multiple fires Wednesday in southwest Riverside County, including the Cranston fire. Brandon N. McGlover, 32, of Temecula was arrested on suspicion of five counts of arson to wild land, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The fires burned in southwest Riverside County and on federal land along State Highway 74 in the San Bernardino National Forest.

I just pray for the town. We live in a beautiful town, Achtner said.The whole town is the trees and the town is the people and its all jeopardized right now.

1 / 33 Cows graze as a DC-10 air tanker drops fire retardant on the Cranston fire burning along Highway 74 near Hemet Lake. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 33 An Orange County firefighter douses hotspots along the road above Highway 74 while battling the Cranston Fire in Idyllwild. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 33 The Cranston fire has burned more than 11,500 acres in Idyllwild and forced the evacuation of thousands of residents. Above a burned car on McCall Park Road in Mountain Center. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 33 A helicopter drops a load of water as the air assault on the Cranston fire continues in Garner Valley in Lake Hemet, Calif. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 33 Former firefighter Josh Whitney was able to save his McCall Road house, but the wildfire destroyed his lumber and sawing machines in an adjacent lot. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 33 Firefighters extinguish hot spots along Highway 74 near Mountain Center. (Stuart W. Palley / For The Times) 7 / 33 The Cranston fire burns on a hillside off Highway 74 near Mountain Center. (Stuart W. Palley / For The Times) 8 / 33 Smoke lingers after the Cranston fire burned through an area off Apple Canyon Road near Mountain Center. (Stuart W. Palley / For The Times) 9 / 33 A plane drops fire retardant as seen from Highway 74 near Mountain Center. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 10 / 33 The Cranston fire burns Thursday near Mountain Center. (Stuart W. Palley / For The Times) 11 / 33 The Cranston fire burns off Apple Canyon Road near Mountain Center and Lake Hemet on Thursday afternoon. (Stuart W. Palley / For The Times) 12 / 33 A Cal Fire inmate crew captain cleans the windshield of his crews buggy after it was hit with flame retardant from an air tanker drop Thursday afternoon in Mountain Center. (Stuart W. Palley / For The Times) 13 / 33 Riverside County firefighters extinguish hot spots in the Cranston fire off Highway 74 near Mountain Center. (Stuart W. Palley / For The Times) 14 / 33 A road sign near Mountain Center lies on the ground after its wood support beams were destroyed in the Cranston fire. (Stuart W. Palley / For The Times) 15 / 33 Hand crews march to fight the Cranston fire raging along Highway 74 in Mountain Center. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 16 / 33 Steve and Suzanne Coffer hug in the driveway of their fire-retardent covered home that was saved from the brush fire. The Coffers have lived in Idyllwild for 40 years. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 17 / 33 The Cranston fire rages near Mountain Center, viewed from Highway 74. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 18 / 33 A helicopter makes a water drop on the Cranston fire raging along Highway 74 in Mountain Center. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 19 / 33 A firefighter takes care of a hot spot surrounding a burned structure on Deer Foot Lane in Idyllwild. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 20 / 33 Structures on Deer Foot Lane burned by the fast-moving Cranston fire near Idyllwild. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 21 / 33 Structures on Deer Foot Lane burned by the fast moving Cranston fire in Idyllwild. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 22 / 33 Structures on Deer Foot Lane burned by the fast moving Cranston fire in Idyllwild. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 23 / 33 The Cranston fire burns late Wednesday evening off Highway 243 near Idyllwild. (Stuart W. Palley / For The Times) 24 / 33 An Orange County Fire Authority firefighter hoses down a smoldering tree near homes off Marian View Drive in Idyllwild. (Stuart W. Palley / For The Times) 25 / 33 A structure destroyed by the Cranston fire smolders under a nearly full moon early Thursday morning. (Stuart W. Palley / For The Times) 26 / 33 Outbuildings and industrial equipment burn off McCall Park Road near Mountain Center early Thursday morning. (Stuart W. Palley / For The Times) 27 / 33 An Orange County Fire Authority firefighter hoses down a smoldering tree in Idyllwild late Wednesday evening as the Cranston fire burns nearby. (Stuart W. Palley / For The Times) 28 / 33 The Cranston fire burns late Wednesday evening near Idyllwild off Highway 243. (Stuart W. Palley / For The Times) 29 / 33 A fire crew keeps an eye on the Cranston fire near the town of Idyllwild in the San Bernardino National Forest. Mandatory evacuations were ordered for Idyllwild, Pine Cove, Fern Valley and other areas. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 30 / 33 Smoke from the Cranston fire clouds the skies over Highway 243, south of Idyllwild. (Richard Lui / The Desert Sun) 31 / 33 The Cranston fire burns off Highway 74 near Idyllwild, forcing evacuations. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles TImes) 32 / 33 A house is covered in pink fire retardant as the Cranston fire burns near the town of Idyllwild. The fire broke out on a day of extreme heat across Southern California. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 33 / 33 A smoky haze fills the landscape in Idyllwild. The Cranston fire began about noon and spread rapidly, San Bernardino National Forest officials said. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Much farther to the north, the deadly Ferguson fire continued to rage about two miles away from Yosemite National Park, growing to more than 43,000 acres late Wednesday as firefighters achieved 26% containment.

Visitors were given until noon Wednesday to evacuate Yosemite Valley, the heart of the 1,200-square-mile park. Officials have also closed Highway 41, the north-south artery that carries travelers from Southern California to Yosemite, and Glacier Point Road.

A stream of cars, campers and trailers flowed out of the park Wednesday morning as the blaze inched closer. Heavy smoke has blanketed the valley and created air quality conditions worse than in Beijing, Chinas heavily polluted capital, said Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman.

With this hot, dry weather pattern, you just got the smoke sitting here, he said. The air quality fluctuates throughout the day but its really poor midday.

Officials have handed out high-grade filtration masks and set up clean air centers around the park where employees and visitors can get a break from the smoke-filled air, Gediman said. Still, after days in the smoke, he said his voice has become raspy and he feels a dryness in his throat.

The scorching weather comes courtesy of a heat dome that settled over the desert Southwest this week and has shifted gradually toward Southern California. Though the coasts have been relatively cooler than inland areas, humid conditions have helped equalize the misery.

Relief may be coming by the weekend, but this heat wave is an early sign of whats to come: earlier, more frequent and more intense hot spells.

Typically heat waves reach their peak in September, said Bill Patzert, a climatologist who formerly worked for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. But one this early and persistent is indicative of a warmer, more dangerous future for Los Angeles and the country, he said.

The weather will be more comfortable, though still humid, this weekend as temperatures are expected to drop into the high 80s through next week, said National Weather Service meteorologist Keily Delerme.

Its not unusual for it to be hot in July, because its the summer, she said. What makes it potentially dangerous is that we dont have those cooling temperatures at night. If you have lower temperatures in the 70s, the next day, its not going to take a lot for the temperatures to rise, because itll already be warm and the air heats up faster.

Those hotter nighttime temperatures might also be due to Los Angeles rapid growth into an urban heat island, with infrastructure absorbing heat longer. That makes cities significantly warmer than they have been in the past, Patzert said.

Weve built this great megalopolis  more than a metropolis  and all this infrastructure that weve built creates its own heat, he said.

Daytime high temperatures in July, August and September are about 6 to 8 degrees warmer than they were 100 years ago. And thats on top of global warming, Patzert said.

Of all meteorological phenomena, such as hurricanes and tornadoes, the far more common heat wave is the deadliest. It disproportionately affects the poor, the very young and the elderly, he said.

The thing thats really saved us from this increase in the number, duration and timing of heat waves is the greatest invention of the 20th century  the air conditioner, Patzert said. Air conditioning has become a commodity, he said, though not one that everyone can afford.

Patzert said he believes the heat will return next week after a short break. The heat dome that shifted its center to cover Southern California and caused this heat wave will probably return to its home in Las Vegas and Arizona but wobble back and forth.

Bottom line is, were going to have to deal with it, he said.

And it wouldnt hurt to encourage the next generation to build careers in the booming air-conditioning business, he added.

Send your kids to college, its debt forever, Patzert said. Enroll them in air-conditioning school and they are guaranteed lifetime employment.

UPDATES:

8 a.m: This article was updated with new fire numbers.

7 a.m.: This article was updated with the latest containment and acreage figures for the Cranston and Ferguson fires.

This article was originally published at 4 a.m.A suspected arson fire that erupted in the San Jacinto Mountains near Idyllwild continued to spread Thursday as a second, smaller fire ignited just miles away and required the diversion of some firefighting resources.

The Cranston fire was deliberately set, authorities say, by a 32-year-old Temecula man Wednesday afternoon. The fire has destroyed five homes and caused thousands to flee. Chewing through grass and brush that have been baked dry by a heat wave, the wildfire has scorched 4,700 acres and is only 5% contained.

A towering pyrocumulus cloud has formed over the fire area, which will probably cause significant challenges for firefighters, said Capt. Scott Visyak of Cal Fire. Clouds from the pyrocumulus have already started collapsing onto themselves, which will cause the weather to change, Visyak said.

Those clouds form from fire, Visyak said. Its all heat, toxins and smoke.

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The Cranston fire is being fed by dry fuel on steep slopes that further challenge firefighters. The pyrocumulus will create more challenges for firefighters as winds start going in the opposite direction, he said. On Thursday afternoon, the fire was spreading down into Apple Canyon.

The first five destroyed homes burned before sundown Wednesday in Idyllwilds Deer Foot neighborhood, Visyak said. Resources are stretched thin battling other blazes across the state, so crews are sometimes assigning one fire engine for every two homes and are having to move on from residences that are deemed too much at-risk to try and protect, he said. With that said, firefighters are trying to protect every home they can, he added.

Some residents refuse to leave the small, unincorporated town beloved by tourists for its impressive hiking trails.

Jon Millhouse and his two children sat outside the Red Kettle breakfast joint in one of the towns main avenues Thursday morning as a large plume of smoke billowed in the sky, casting an orange shadow over the area.

He held in his hand a plastic container with a rattlesnake inside. The rattlesnakes may be coming out of their shelters because of the fire, he said, and he didnt want firefighters getting bit.

Others in surrounding areas were left without power, like Ruth Kleefisch, who made the drive to Idyllwild from her Pine Cove home, where the power was out.

Kleefisch was desperate to power up her phone and get cell reception so she could communicate with the doctor of her husband, who has liver cancer and has been unable to eat for four days.

She said shes more fearful of being left without power for more than a few days than she is of the fire, which hadnt reached Pine Cove on Thursday afternoon.

The neighborhoods quiet, everything is quiet, she said. Theres nobody here. Once all the tourists leave, theres not that many left of us, really.

On Thursday afternoon, a smaller fire broke out about 10 to 12 miles east of the Cranston fire. The Ribbonwood fire started right near Route 74 and Ribbonwood Drive around 11:30 a.m. and spread to roughly 65 acres by 1 p.m.

For some residents, it was a night of wondering if their homes were still standing.

Steve Coffer was having lunch in Mountain Center at noon Wednesday when he saw the fire. He walked out of Mountain Center Cafe and said to his wife, Suzanne, Were going home, honey.

The couple hurried back to pack their cars and grab their cat, Kit Kat. Before leaving, Steve Coffer walked down Deer Foot Lane to a ledge where he saw flames building throughout the large canyon behind the neighborhood.

Looking down, he realized the fire had made its way through a fire break. Thats when he decided it was time to go. The Coffers, cat in tow, slept at the Catholic church in Idyllwild on Wednesday night.

Coffer, a 40-year resident of Idyllwild, moved to the small town because he wanted to live in the mountains after growing up in San Diego.

Together, he and his wife have built a home complete with a garden, some of which they willingly donate to the wildlife. On Thursday afternoon, that home and garden were covered in pink fire retardant.

Nearby, a few neighbors lost their homes. Coffer was less concerned about how he would remove all of the retardant and more interested in praising the firefighters, including the air assault team, which he said arrived substantially faster than in any previous fire, including the Mountain fire in 2013.

The Coffers came back to their home at 6 a.m. to find it covered in retardant but safe. Its what you make of things, Coffer said.

For fire crews, theres no escaping battling the fire in the punishing summer heat.

On Thursday, the National Weather Service announced it was extending an excessive heat advisory from Thursday evening to Friday evening.

The weather pattern has intermittently knocked out power to thousands of customers in Los Angeles County and elsewhere as customers ratchet up their air conditioners and utility equipment overheats.

But where the heat isnt challenging the electrical grid, its priming the landscape for fire.

Along the Central Sierra in Mariposa County, thousands of firefighters are trying to get a handle on the Ferguson fire outside Yosemite National Park. The blaze has scorched 43,299 acres since it began July 13 south of Highway 140.

That blaze has killed one firefighter and injured seven more. It was 27% contained as of Thursday morning, but continued to pose challenges as it burned through rugged mountain terrain. U.S. Forest Service officials said the blaze jumped a containment line overnight and made a push south that crews are working to contain.

The fire continues to keep a host of isolated mountain communities under evacuation orders, including El Portal, Anderson Valley and Yosemite West.

Farther north, firefighters are also battling against the Carr fire in Shasta County. That 20,000-acre blaze began Monday and began burning homes Wednesday night, according to Cal Fire officials. The Carr fire was 10% contained Thursday.

Altogether, there are more than a dozen wildfires burning across California as of Thursday morning, according to Cal Fire.

The blaze thats the most immediate threat to Southern Californians, however, continues to be the Cranston fire. The fire was listed as only 5% contained Thursday morning and was still listed at 4,700 acres.

Authorities have closed Highway 73 from Hemet to Lake Hemet and Highway 243 from Banning to Highway 74. The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued a smoke advisory Thursday for Riverside County and the San Bernardino National Forest.

joseph.serna@latimes.com

Twitter: @JosephSerna

UPDATES:

3:15 p.m.: This post was updated with more scenes of residents.

2:15 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from Visyak, Kleefisch and Millhouse.

This article was originally published at 12:20 p.m.In Los Angeles, local lawmakers can quietly block affordable and homeless housing in their districts by withholding a required letter.

Now, a community group is going to court to demand the city eliminate that pocket veto.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday by the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, denounces the requirement as an illegal, unnecessary, arbitrary, and discriminatory barrier to the construction of affordable and supportive housing. It calls for a court order forcing the city to abandon it.

Under city regulations, housing developers seeking funding for affordable or homeless housing projects must get a letter of acknowledgment from the council member who represents the area where they want to build.

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That requirement, which has existed for years for affordable housing funded through the housing department, also was folded into regulations for funding under Proposition HHH, a $1.2-billion bond measure approved by voters for homeless housing.

In its lawsuit, the group argued that the rule allows council members to thwart housing for poor people without any common standard or public justification, using a secret behind-the-scenes process that insulates lawmakers from accountability.

Without a clear, transparent way of going about this, council members have way too much power to be able to shut these projects down, said Joe Delgado, director of the Los Angeles office of the alliance. Members of his group have struggled to find affordable housing and ended up bunking in motels or cars as a result, Delgado said.

Other housing projects do not face the same hurdle, the group argued, causing a disproportionate impact on housing opportunities for poor people of color and residents with disabilities. Attorneys argued that the rule violates state and local law, including a statute barring local governments from discriminating against subsidized housing.

Rob Wilcox, a spokesman for City Atty. Mike Feuer, said their office would review the complaint and declined further comment Thursday. In the past, council members have argued that the requirement gives them an opportunity to reach out to the community and ask for any needed changes so that homeless and affordable housing is welcomed in neighborhoods.

Its a critical component of oversight, Councilman Gil Cedillo, who heads a council committee focused on housing, told The Times earlier this year. As the elected representatives of each district, we have a sense of what developments are appropriate and where they are appropriate.

The Times has reported on a handful of instances in which lawmakers refused to hand over the letter for HHH projects, based on documents obtained through public records requests.

For instance, Councilman Curren Price blocked funding for a proposed project in South L.A., saying it looked boxy, was short on community amenities and lacked the right mix of units to accommodate both single people and families. Another lawmaker, Councilwoman Nury Martinez, cited concerns about concentrating homeless housing in one neighborhood.

In the lawsuit, attorneys for Public Counsel, the Public Interest Law Project and Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP argued that seemingly neutral changes, such as asking for more family housing, could be used to discriminate. For instance, chronically homeless individuals are more likely to have disabilities than members of homeless families, the suit said.

The lawsuit charged that beyond those cases, the mere existence of the letter requirement deters many interested developers from even attempting to pursue supportive housing or affordable housing projects, especially in areas where public hostility to such projects is well known.

Theres a chilling effect when the councilman says to a developer, Ill give you the letter after you get neighborhood council support, when a councilman knows the neighborhood council wont support it, said attorney Shashi Hanuman, director of the Community Development Project at Public Counsel.

Attorneys pointed specifically to an email sent from a nonprofit housing developer to Councilman Paul Koretz, who has publicly acknowledged that residents in his Westside district sometimes resist homeless housing.

In the email, the developer says his understanding is that he would need neighborhood council support in order to get the letter from Koretz.

Koretz said that was a misunderstanding. The councilman said he encourages developers to work with neighborhood groups and hear their suggestions, but I would never say they had veto power.

He attributed the lack of HHH projects in his council district to other barriers, including intense competition for available land, not community opposition.

The required letter also has raised concerns in Sacramento, where Assemblyman David Chiu (D-San Francisco) has proposed a bill that would block cities and counties from imposing such a requirement for housing developers to get funding for projects that also are getting state assistance.

emily.alpert@latimes.com

Twitter: @AlpertReyes

UPDATES:

1:50 p.m.: This article was updated with comment from Councilman Paul Koretz.

12:30 p.m.: This article was updated with the city attorneys spokesman saying the office would review the complaint.

This article was originally published at 12:10 p.m.Three former Los Angeles Police Department cadets will face criminal charges in connection with a scandal that rocked the departments signature youth program last year, sources told the Los Angeles Times.

Prosecutors filed charges in recent weeks against the teens, who were among a group of seven cadets accused of taking LAPD cruisers on joyrides and stealing department equipment in June 2017, according to two sources with knowledge of the investigation.

The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case. The alleged thefts sparked an investigation that ended in the arrest of former LAPD Officer Robert Cain, who was charged with sexually abusing a 15-year-old member of the cadet program.

Luis Carrillo, an attorney representing Cains accuser, also confirmed that the Los Angeles County district attorneys office is pressing criminal charges against several of the cadets arrested last year. Prosecutors declined to charge his client, according to Carrillo, who said he did not know exactly what charges were filed.

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The LAPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement, the district attorneys office said the agency could not comment on the matter because of state confidentiality laws regarding criminal cases against juveniles.

Seven cadets were arrested and accused of theft in June 2017. The three facing criminal charges include the supposed ringleader, a teen so highly regarded within the LAPD that he was featured in promotional materials for the program, a source said.

Prosecutors are also reviewing possible felony theft charges against the only adult arrested among the cadets, 20-year-old Leonel Flores, according to Shiara Davila-Morales, a spokeswoman for the district attorneys office. The LAPD presented a case in connection with theft allegations in January, she said.

A person who answered the phone at Flores home declined to comment.

The sources declined to discuss the exact charges filed against the teens. The Times is not identifying those cadets because they were juveniles at the time the alleged crimes were committed. The Times has previously attempted to interview the cadets, who either declined to speak or did not respond to requests for comment.

The cadet scandal surfaced last June, when an investigation into a pair of missing LAPD cruisers led detectives to a 16-year-old cadet assigned to 77th Street division, investigators have said. Detectives went to the teens South L.A. home and spotted the stolen cruisers, kicking off a car chase that ended in a pair of crashes.

Ultimately, seven cadets were arrested and accused of taking at least three LAPD cruisers out on joyrides and stealing police equipment that included Tasers, radios and bulletproof vests. A search warrant obtained by The Times last year revealed that the cadets had access to the stolen cruisers for at least six weeks, driving as far away as Corona and Santa Clarita.

They often drove with their lights and sirens blaring, at one point racing through South L.A. to Hawthorne to move one of the cadets personal vehicles in the hopes of avoiding a parking ticket, according to the warrant.

The teens were blatant in their actions, according to the warrant, driving LAPD vehicles to several events that officers would have been present at. The stolen cruisers were also used to conduct motor vehicle stops in Huntington Park and Inglewood, according to the warrant. The alleged ringleader told other cadets he had special permission to drive the cars, and another said he was given access to a vehicle by the officer who ran the equipment room at the station, the warrant said.

Ex-LAPD Officer Robert Cain has been charged with sexually abusing a teen cadet involved in the scandal. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

An LAPD investigation into the thefts also revealed evidence leading to allegations that Cain had sexually abused one of the cadets allegedly involved in the thefts. Cain was charged with oral copulation of a person under the age of 16, lewd acts upon a child and unlawful sexual intercourse last year.

He is due in court next month and has previously denied wrongdoing, records show. In January, Cain was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading no contest to illegal weapons charges in San Bernardino County. Police found a cache of weapons in Cains Rancho Cucamonga home just days after his arrest last year.

The LAPD has also presented a case to prosecutors alleging Cain played a role in the theft of department property, according to Davila-Morales. The case remains under review, she said.

Carrillo, who has filed a notice of claim against the city alleging that lax police oversight of the cadet program allowed Cain to abuse his client, praised prosecutors for deciding not to charge the young girl, who is now 16 years old and no longer in the program.

She was the victim in all of this because of the negligence of the LAPD, he said. She was the one who was victimized by the man who was twice her age.

In the months following the cadet scandal, the LAPD and its inspector general each launched reviews of policies governing the program, leading to a series of changes that tightened supervision and training. The policy changes also limited officers social media and phone contact with cadets.

Times staff writer Nicole Santa Cruz contributed to this report.

james.queally@latimes.com

Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California.

UPDATES:

5:35 p.m.: This article was updated with additional information about an adult who was also arrested as part of the investigation into the thefts of LAPD property.

This article was originally published at 4:15 p.m.A longtime critic of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power sued the city of L.A. Wednesday over its routine practice of taking millions of dollars from the utility each year and spending it on basic services.

The lawsuit, filed in the L.A. Superior Court and brought by Jack Humphreville, is one of several lawsuits filed in recent years that target the yearly transfer between the DWP and the city.

Humphrevilles lawsuit alleges the DWP payment amounts to an illegal tax and asks a judge to order the funds collected earlier this year by the city  more than $241 million  returned to the utility.

Humphrevilles attorney, Jerry Flanagan, said in an interview that the tax violates Propositions 218 and 26, which require voter approval for new levies.

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If the DWP had collected money for infrastructure repair and power generation and used it for those purposes, we wouldnt have a lawsuit, said Flanagan, an attorney for Consumer Watchdog, a Los Angeles consumer advocacy group that also has been critical of the DWP. The problem is that DWP collects money for one purpose and then transfers it to the city government for an entirely different purpose.

Alex Comisar, a spokesman for Mayor Eric Garcetti, declined comment on the lawsuit, saying the city doesnt comment on pending litigation.

The city has had a longstanding practice of using a percentage of the DWPs electricity revenue to balance the city budget. That money goes to the citys general fund, which pays for police, fire and other basic services.

Unlike investor-owned power companies that pay regular dividends to stockholders, the DWP makes the payments.

DWP critics have repeatedly denounced the transfer of funds and questioned the City Councils decision to support electricity rates increases at the same time the utility is making payments to the city.

In 2017, the City Council agreed to settle other lawsuits targeting the transfer and agreed to the lower the amount sent by the DWP.

In February, the court issued an order granting final approval of the settlement and entered a final judgment in the matter. However, four people filed appeals of the judgment, a spokesman for City Atty. Mike Feuers Office said Wednesday.

Humphreville, a Los Angeles resident, is chairman of the DWP Advocacy Committee, a group sponsored by the citys neighborhood councils. He declined to comment Wednesday.

dakota.smith@latimes.com

Twitter: @dakotacdsmithAn Indiana man who was headed toward L.A. Pride two years ago in a car filled with weapons, explosives and high-capacity magazines was sentenced to seven years in state prison on Thursday, officials said.

James Wesley Howell, 22, pleaded no contest to possession of an explosive chemical, malicious possession of a destructive device and illegal weapon activity, according to a news release issued by the Los Angeles County district attorneys office.

Santa Monica police arrested Howell on June 12, 2016. Inside his car, police found three rifles  including an Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 .223 caliber rifle that police described as an assault weapon  and two 30-round magazines.

In addition to the guns, Howell was also driving with a full five-gallon container of gasoline and a 25-pound container of Shoc-shot, a commercially sold two-component explosive that detonates when hit by a high-velocity rifle round, Santa Monica police said at the time.

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The amount of explosives in the container would have posed a grave danger to both persons and property had the explosives been detonated, either intentionally or accidentally, Santa Monica Det. Derek Leone wrote in a court filing in 2016.

Howell also had a black hood, a Taser, handcuffs, a Buck knife, a security badge and additional ammunition for the guns, court records show.

His arrest created a massive panic as it came just hours after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla., that claimed 49 lives. Santa Monica police also mistakenly tweeted that Howell intended to harm people at L.A. Pride.

It was later revealed police did not actually know why Howell was headed toward the event.

Howell had no ties to California, and told police he was fleeing from potential criminal charges in his home state. He was later charged with molesting a 12-year-old girl in Henryville, Ind., court records show.

Investigators have not said what they believe Howells intentions were. The status of his criminal case in Indiana was not immediately clear, and the district attorneys office did not immediately respond to additional questions.

james.queally@latimes.com

Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California.For years, San Pedro residents have agitated to remove the huge tanks that store butane on Gaffey Street, arguing that they pose a deadly threat to nearby homes and schools.

Now a congresswoman is trying to put federal money behind that cause, arguing that the risk is too great should an accident occur.

U.S. Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-San Pedro) unveiled a bill this week that would help fund the relocation of such facilities away from homes and schools. The bill would authorize $500 million for a grant program that could pay up to half of the costs of moving the San Pedro site and similar facilities that store liquefied petroleum gas.

These tanks dont belong in our backyards, and we cant just continue to ignore their existence, Barragan said in a statement announcing the bill.

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Barragan said it was unclear how much it might cost to move the San Pedro tanks, although she had heard estimates in the hundreds of millions.

With so little time left this year on the congressional calendar, its unlikely the bill will gain much traction in the Republican-controlled House. Community activists and attorneys who have pushed to get rid of the San Pedro tanks have greeted the proposal with a mixture of hope and skepticism.

Its just a bill, said Anthony Patchett, an attorney representing homeowners alarmed by the site. But its a step in the right direction. Were finally getting an awareness of how dangerous this is.

Whatever it costs to move the tanks, Patchett added, it would be a drop in the bucket in comparison to the multibillion-dollar devastation that could occur.

Rancho LPG Holdings LLC, a Plains All American Pipeline subsidiary that owns the site, did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. Former Los Angeles City Councilman Rudy Svorinich, who has represented the company as a lobbyist, also did not respond to phone and email messages.

Debate has simmered for decades over the risks of the San Pedro facility, which stores butane and a smaller amount of propane on private land close to the Port of Los Angeles. The Gaffey Street site includes two 12.5-million-gallon refrigerated tanks and five 60,000-gallon horizontal storage tanks that sit near homes, big-box stores, playing fields and schools.

State and local officials began to question its safety not long after it was built in the 1970s. A report from the California Public Utilities Commission questioned whether the facility could withstand a huge earthquake. L.A.s fire marshal told The Times that the site was one of our gravest concerns.

Residents fear that a gas leak triggered by a quake or terror attack could lead to fires and catastrophic explosions. One analysis, conducted eight years ago by a consulting firm hired by a San Pedro neighborhood group, found that in the worst-case scenario, the devastation from a blast could stretch as far as 6.8 miles from the facility.

Rancho LPG Holdings has sharply disputed such predictions. At public hearings and on its website, the company has pointed to other analyses that estimate a disaster would damage a much smaller area, extending half a mile around the site or an even smaller radius of 700 feet.

The facility has been inspected and audited approximately 71 times by city, state and federal regulatory agencies with outstanding results since 2010, company representative Ron Conrow said at a public meeting last year. He called the opposition an attempt by a few misguided people to single out a small, compliant and lawful facility.

In the wake of a deadly pipeline explosion in San Bruno eight years ago, lawmakers called for more scrutiny of the site. Three years ago, the facility owner agreed to pay a $260,000 fine after the Environmental Protection Agency said it found safety and inspection lapses there, claims the company disputed.

Since then, opponents have been stymied in their battle against the facility. A federal board turned down an effort by San Pedro Peninsula Homeowners United to challenge its transportation of hazardous materials from the facility by rail. A state commission said it had no jurisdiction over the Gaffey Street facility and the attorney general agreed.

Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino, whose district includes San Pedro, said he backed the idea of getting federal funding to move the tanks. Its the only viable solution given the citys limited jurisdiction over this matter, Buscaino said in a statement Wednesday.

San Pedro residents have bristled at such arguments from local leaders. Everybody keeps pointing the finger at everyone else, said Janet Schaaf-Gunter, a member of San Pedro Peninsula Homeowners United, which pushed unsuccessfully for the Port of Los Angeles to yank a permit allowing the company to use a railroad spur track.

Schaaf-Gunter said she was grateful that the federal bill was drawing fresh attention to the San Pedro site, but questioned whether facility owners were willing to move even if government funding were provided.

Attorney Noel Weiss, who has raised concerns about the tanks, derided the proposed bill as a bailout for private industry.

Even if the bill is passed, Weiss added, whos going to come up with the other half?

Buscaino said that if the federal government did provide half of the needed funding to move the San Pedro tanks, he would seek matching state and local dollars. Barragan, in turn, said that limiting the federal share of the relocation costs was the best chance of getting my colleagues on the other side to even look at the bill.

The reality here is that the company is not going to be able to fully fund moving this facility. Why wouldnt we invest in trying to provide safety to the community? Barragan asked.

It is unclear how many facilities across the country might be eligible for such funding, the congresswoman said. Under the proposed bill, the money could be granted to liquefied petroleum gas storage facilities within five miles of a home, school or populated area.

Times staff writer Sarah D. Wire, in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

emily.alpert@latimes.com

Twitter: @AlpertReyesA Newport Beach man was sentenced Wednesday to a year and a day in federal prison for piloting an Alaska Airlines plane with a blood-alcohol level more than three times the legal limit in 2014.

David Hans Arntson, 63, pleaded guilty in February to a felony count of operating a carrier while under the influence. He acknowledged as part of a plea agreement that he was an alcoholic for a substantial portion of his career as an airline pilot.

U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney called Arntsons offense very dangerous and ordered him to pay a $10,000 fine.

According to court documents, Arntson piloted two Alaska Airlines flights on June 20, 2014. The first was at 6:21 a.m. from San Diego to Portland, Ore. After a brief layover, he piloted a flight from Portland to Orange County.

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After he landed at John Wayne Airport, Arntson was selected for random drug and alcohol testing by Alaska Airlines.

Breath tests conducted 15 minutes apart in an airport restroom indicated that Arntson had blood-alcohol concentrations of 0.134% and 0.142%. The federal limit for pilots is 0.04%, according to court records.

Arntson told investigators that he didnt understand the test results since he hadnt consumed alcohol that day. Arntson said he ordered a beer with dinner the night before the flight from San Diego but took only a few sips.

Arntson, who had worked for Alaska Airlines since 1982, was removed from safety-sensitive duties the day of the tests, according to the airline. He later retired because of medical issues.

The defendant was at the controls during hundreds of flights carrying innumerable passengers  undoubtedly under the influence of alcohol during many of those trips, U.S. Attorney Nicola Hanna said in a statement. Fortunately, he was finally caught and the risk to passengers was stopped.

Alaska Airlines spokesman Ray Lane said in a statement Wednesday: Safety is the top priority at Alaska Airlines. While we do not comment on the specifics of misconduct by former employees, we are gratified that this individual will be held accountable for his actions.

Fry writes for the Daily Pilot.

UPDATES:

8:05 a.m.: This article has been updated with a comment from an Alaska Airlines spokesman.

This article was originally published at 7:25 a.m.To protect one of the most endangered species in the world, an international trade court judge ordered the Trump administration Thursday to ban all seafood harvested with gill nets in Mexicos northern Gulf of California  a bold move with significant political and economic consequences.

The order to save the vaquita porpoise, nicknamed panda of the sea for its chubby frame and black-ringed eyes, comes despite arguments from the U.S. government that a ban could negatively affect ongoing negotiations with Mexico. Earlier this week, the U.S. attorney generals office tried to get the court to delay its decision for 30 days.

The ban, which affects an estimated $16 million worth of fish and shrimp, was a victory for conservationists who brought this issue to court in March after a decade of rescue efforts failed to prevent vaquita from getting fatally entangled in gill nets in Mexicos waters.

Scientists say the vaquita population has dwindled from 567 in 1997 to fewer than 20 today. Its population drops by about half each year. The species range is about 1,500 square miles  the smallest of any marine mammal. Its territory overlaps with commercial fisheries that catch shrimp, curvina, chano and sierra, as well as illegal fishing operations that target the endangered totoaba.

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Conservationists hope the embargo will put pressure on the Mexican government to ban the use of gill nets  vertical walls of mesh that snag fish by their gills when they try to escape  and indiscriminately capture vaquita as well.

For 20 years, the Mexican government has promised to save the vaquita but failed to take meaningful action. That has to change or well lose these animals forever, said Sarah Uhlemann, international program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. With vaquitas on the brink of extinction, these economic sanctions are painful but necessary to push Mexican officials to finally protect these little porpoises.

Trade experts said this ban, while addressing a serious environmental problem that both governments have failed to resolve, does not help the many other issues currently challenging U.S.-Mexico relations.

With a difficult renegotiation of NAFTA pending, a trade skirmish over U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs underway and potential auto tariffs on the horizon, the timing of this import ban is pretty awful in terms of bilateral relations, said Christopher Wilson, deputy director of the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center. But with the vaquita population dipping ... perhaps nearing the single-digits, the timing is clearly much worse for the porpoise.

Although gill nets are used to catch specific species, other animals indiscriminately get caught as well. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

U.S. Court of International Trade Judge Gary Katzmann, in his call for a preliminary injunction, found that the cost of the vaquitas disappearance was greater than the cost of implementing a ban to save the species.

What cannot be disputed is that the vaquitas plight is desperate, and that even one more bycatch death in the gill nets of fisheries in its range threatens the very existence of the species, Katzmann wrote.

The ban will be in effect until the case is fully argued on its merits. To lift the ban, Mexico must meet U.S. standards, which conservationists say entail improving regulations and enforcement to ensure vaquita are not being killed in gill nets. Failure of the Trump administration to implement the ban would be illegal and a direct violation of a federal judges order.

Katzmann issued the order after hearing arguments presented by the Natural Resources Defense Council and Agatha Koprowski, a Department of Justice attorney representing defendants such as Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, and Chris Oliver, assistant administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Koprowski argued that a judicially imposed import ban could threaten high-level negotiations between the United States and Mexico regarding the fate of the vaquita and undermine Mexicos trust in the U.S. as a negotiating partner.

As a result, Mexico might refuse to implement measures it would have otherwise considered, Koprowski said in court documents. The Department of Justice on Thursday declined to comment on the court injunction.

Conservationists argument hinged on the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act, a landmark 1972 law mandating the United States to protect not just domestic marine mammals, but also foreign whales, dolphins and porpoises. This includes requiring bans on seafood imports from foreign fisheries that kill marine mammals at a rate that would violate U.S. standards for domestic fishers.

At a time where were seeing so many of our environmental laws under attack, its really great to see one being utilized by the court to do exactly what it was meant to do, said Natural Resources Defense Council attorney Giulia Good Stefani. We hope that this will catalyze the U.S. and Mexico negotiations and speed up Mexicos willingness to enact the regulations necessary to protect the vaquita.

Embargoes, she said, catalyzed a similar transition to dolphin-safe tuna and turtle-safe shrimp trawling.

In documents filed with the court in a related lawsuit, Mexicos National Chamber of Fisheries and Aquaculture Industries argued the protection act lacks the authority to impose an emergency ban on foreign fish products. A dismissal, it added, would provide Mexicos regulatory authorities with more time to improve vaquita protection measures.

Read more: To save the worlds rarest marine mammal, conservationists seek ban on Mexican seafood imports 

A seagull stands on a large dead Totoaba fish, that was killed by illegal poachers for its bladder. (Carolyn Cole/ Los Angeles Times)

Tighter control of the fishing industry may also help reduce the number of vaquitas killed in gill nets that poachers use to snare a large endangered fish known as the totoaba, whose swim bladder is prized on the black market in China. Authorities say the illegal totoaba trade is more lucrative than cocaine trafficking.

Tensions have been escalating among conservationists, Mexican fishermen, whose livelihoods are threatened by tighter fishing controls, and totoaba poachers.

Theres no doubt that this embargo will have an impact on local fisherman, and we recognize that totoaba fishing is a big part of the problem, said Good Stefani, the Natural Resources Defense Council attorney. But we hope that a ban on gill nets, limited to this particular region, will also help enforcement of the totoaba fishery, because right now enforcement is complicated by the fact that some gill nets remain legal.

Sunshine Rodriguez, who represents fishermen in the small seaside town of San Felipe, said Thursdays decision was unfair. He and other fishermen insist that the gill nets they use to catch shrimp and other small fish are not strong enough to entrap the much larger vaquita.

The U.S. and these conservationists dont have any evidence whatsoever that our nets have caught a vaquita, he said. We are not the killers of the vaquita.

Rodriguez said the ruling will hurt his community in the short term, but does not pose an existential threat to the regions fishing industry.

Its a global market, and were going to have to find alternative buyers, he said, citing high demand in China. Ultimately, it might be U.S. businesses that feel the brunt of the ban, he said, because theyre not going to have access to white wild shrimp at a decent price.

Times staff writer Kate Linthicum contributed to this report from Mexico City.

rosanna.xia@latimes.com

Interested in coastal issues? Follow @RosannaXia on Twitter.A mother at LAX threw her arms around her two teenagers, whom she had not seen in two months. Another waited anxiously in south Texas for her 7-year-old boy to arrive from New York. And in a village in Guatemala, a father who was deported in June did not know when he might see his 6-year-old daughter again.

A court-imposed deadline that had government officials scrambling to complete the reunification of more than a thousand migrant families by Thursday led to emotional scenes across the country, as parents and children who had not seen each other for weeks or months were together again.

But much remains unresolved after months of chaos and confusion resulting from the Trump administrations family separation policies.

Under an order issued by U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego, Thursday was the deadline for reuniting the more than 2,500 children who were taken from parents at the border.

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With just hours left before the deadline, government officials said Thursday afternoon that they had reunited 1,442 children with their parents.

An additional 378 children had been released to sponsors, were reunited with their parents in other ways or have turned 18, according to court filings.

More than 700 were deemed ineligible by the government for reunification. Among them are 430 children whose parents have already been deported.

Those that were reunited, meanwhile, face an uncertain future  900 of them have been ordered deported, according to court filings.

The American Civil Liberties Union, whose lawsuit against the government led Sabraw to order the reunifications, is arguing that those families should be allowed to remain in the country for seven days in order to consult with lawyers.

Hundreds of other families have been released from detention with the adults wearing ankle monitors, pending hearings on their asylum claims. And more than 200 families were sent to detention centers, where parents and children are being held together.

On a call with reporters Thursday, officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Health and Human Services described a much smoother reunification process than advocates and lawyers say they have seen firsthand.

In preparation for reunifications, officials said, children were moved for short periods of time into detention center conference rooms and offices that were stocked with food, water and games. Some watched DVDs or played video games while their parents were processed.

When we knew the parent was coming, we had them ready so kids could leave soon, said Matthew Albence, executive associate director of enforcement and removal operations for ICE.

Officials said they were confident all families that it has deemed eligible would be reunited by the end of the day Thursday.

But in addition to the deported parents, officials said nearly 300 children would not be reunified with their parents for various reasons. According to the governments filing, several dozen children had parents who failed a background check or other government review. And the parents of 120 children waived reunification.

Officials said parents opted to leave children behind with spouses or other relatives and had been given the opportunity to change their minds.

In court documents filed by the ACLU on Wednesday, a number of parents who waived reunification described signing forms they did not understand because of language or literacy barriers.

Many of these parents in fact do want their children back and did not remotely understand their rights, the ACLU said in its filing.

For those families that were eligible for reunification, chaotic scenes unfolded around the country as officials rushed to meet the deadline.

In south Texas, hundreds of families were taken to the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle, a massive shrine that Catholic Charities has converted into a shelter.

Demonstrators denouncing Trump administration immigration policies protest outside the federal courthouse in McAllen, Texas, on Thursday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The Rev. Jorge Gomez said the charity has opened the basilica to separated families and those released together, about 300 each night, including pregnant women.

Some groups arrive in the early hours of the morning, and Catholic Charities has been serving meals not just at the shrine, but in the rectory where Gomez lives.

Seeing the joy of people reunited with their families is my happiness, he said.

One morning, Gomez said he went to wake a group of 80 sleeping in conference rooms, and found many of them still asleep, embracing their children.

There are people who were in New York and their children were in Houston; there are parents who were in El Paso and their kids were in Chicago. Theres one today  the child was in Wyoming and the mother was in Atlanta, and they reunited them in the [Rio Grande] Valley, he said.

At a bus station in the Texas border town of McAllen, Houston lawyer Ruby Powers said she had spent the last couple of days scrambling to figure out where and when her client, a mother named Ana, would be reunited with her 7-year-old son.

Powers received a message late Wednesday from a caseworker saying that the boy would soon be returned from a shelter in New York. She bought her client a $150 nonrefundable ticket to Louisiana, where the mother had planned to meet her son. And Powers flew from Houston with a booster seat for the boy.

But after another conversation with the boys caseworker, it was decided to send the boy to Texas.

On Thursday afternoon, Powers waited to hear when he would arrive before buying another ticket so mother and son could go to Louisiana.

They said 10:30 p.m., McAllen, but Ill believe it when I get the flight confirmation, she said.

In Los Angeles on Thursday morning, a volunteer group of mothers with the California chapter of Immigrant Families Together helped Merin Cardoza Cardona get a ride to LAX where she would see her children for the first time in two months.

The group formed just one month ago to raise money to bail parents out of jail and buy plane tickets home.

When Cardoza Cardonas children, Yensi, 17, and Edwin, 11, appeared down a long hallway amid a stream of travelers, the mother gasped and ran to throw her arms around her kids.

It is the greatest joy to see them again, said Cardoza Cardona, who plans to seek asylum in coming months. She had been detained in Texas while her children were held in a shelter in Miami.

I dont know where were going to live or whats next, but were together now, Cardoza Cardona said. I have faith that God will help us.

The familys reunification is among a few that have taken place in Los Angeles in recent weeks. But advocates believe the city, home to a large Central American population, will soon begin receiving many families that were released pending the outcome of their cases.

One group, Immigrant Defenders Law Center, said it had already received word of 35 families that were recently reunited in Texas and are headed to Los Angeles.

Most of them are immigrants from El Salvador and Guatemala, coming via bus or plane from El Paso.

Along with providing legal assistance, the group has a case manager on staff to connect families to services.

County and city officials have also been meeting with nearly 40 agencies to work out a plan to help reunited families. Their aim is to connect parents and children to services such as housing, school enrollment and trauma counseling.

With the deadline gone, one of the biggest questions that will remain is the fate of those children whose parents were deported.

No plan has been put in place yet that paves the way for these reunions to happen.

And finding the parents will take an extraordinary amount of work, especially for asylum seekers who may fear government prosecution and may not want their countrys government looking for them, said ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt.

Im under no illusions its going to be easy, he said.

A consortium of nonprofit organizations  including Al Otro Lado and Kids in Need of Defense  recently announced it would step up efforts to find deported parents and reunite them with their children.

Were doing the job of the government, said Nan Schivone, legal director at Justice in Motion, an immigrant rights group based in Brooklyn, N.Y., that is part of the effort. We shouldnt have to search high and low for the people the government separated from their kids. The government should have kept better track.

Among those hundreds of deported parents is Nazario Jacinto-Carrillo, a 32-year-old potato farmer from Guatemala who said Thursday that he still doesnt know when hell be reunited with his 6-year-old daughter, Filemona, whom he hasnt seen since she was taken from him after they illegally crossed the California border in May.

From his village in the western highlands of Guatemala, Jacinto-Carrillo said by telephone, he keeps in contact with an attorney and Guatemalan consular officials in New York who are trying to arrange Filemonas flight home.

He has provided copies of birth certificates of family members. The consulate, he said, has provided her a passport. Filemona also appeared at an immigration hearing in New York last week.

On Wednesday morning, Jacinto-Carrillos attorney called him to confirm what he already feared: There would be no reunification by the government deadline. He asked why it was taking so long. His attorney told him that immigration officials wouldnt tell her why.

Ive done everything required, but theres still no explanation, Jacinto-Carrillo said. I have no idea when Ill see my daughter again.

molly.hennessy-fiske@latimes.com

esmeralda.bermudez@latimes.com

richard.marosi@latimes.com

jazmine.ulloa@latimes.com

Hennessy-Fiske reported from McAllen, Bermudez and Ulloa from Los Angeles and Marosi from San Diego. Times staff writers Cindy Carcamo in Los Angeles and Paloma Esquivel in Riverside and San Diego Union-Tribune staff writer Kristina Davis in San Diego contributed to this report.

UPDATES:

6:55 p.m.: This article has been updated with additional quotes and details.

This was originally published at 1:40 p.m.At a conference Thursday affirming the U.S. commitment to global religious freedom, Vice President Mike Pence threatened economic sanctions against Turkey if its government fails to release an American minister being held there.

Pence denounced Turkeys 2-year-long imprisonment of Protestant minister Andrew Brunson and threatened to impose harsh economic sanctions on the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan if Brunson is not freed.

Brunson was released from Turkish prison this week but placed under house arrest. Turkey accuses him of having a role in a failed 2016 military coup that led to a government crackdown that has jailed thousands of people.

President Trump later echoed Pence on Twitter, saying Brunson was a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being who was suffering greatly.

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This innocent man of faith should be released immediately! Trump wrote.

Trump said his government would impose large sanctions on Turkey, but gave no time frame or other details.

Pence called the matter an example of the kind of religious intolerance that the U.S. wants to end.

Those nations that reject religious freedom breed radicalism and resentment in their citizens, Pence said. They sow the seeds of violence within their borders  violence that often spills over into their neighbors and across the world.

His comments came at a State Department conference on religious freedom, which has become the centerpiece of the Trump administrations focus on global human rights, sometimes to the exclusion of other areas, such as reproductive or gay and lesbian rights, critics say.

Citing what he called Trumps unwavering commitment to religious freedom, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo said the right to worship without persecution is a fundamental American liberty that the administration seeks to promote internationally.

The United States advances religious freedom in our foreign policy because it is not exclusively an American right, Pompeo told the conference. It is a God-given universal right bestowed on all mankind.

The three-day conference, held at the State Department with dozens of international delegations in attendance, wrapped up Thursday. State Department officials had repeatedly declined reporters requests for a list of attendees until the final day. Though billed as a ministerial-level conference, many delegations were represented by ambassadors stationed in Washington.

Several sufferers of religious persecution, including a Yazidi woman who escaped capture by the militant group Islamic State, also attended and testified.

Among countries that Pompeo singled out for criticism was Myanmar, also known as Burma, where the military has committed what the State Department calls ethnic cleansing of thousands of Muslim Rohingya.

He announced a State Department program that will bring to the United States foreigners working on the front lines of religious rights for workshops, training and other support.

Pence cited the repression of Tibetan Buddhists and Muslim Uighurs by China; North Koreas unyielding, systematic and often fatal abuse of Christians; attacks on Jews in Europe; and persecution of all faiths in Iraq and elsewhere by Islamic State.

Pence gave special attention to a newer problem: Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortegas deadly attacks on the Catholic Church in the Central American nation. More than 300 people have been killed in Ortegas crackdown on anti-government protests over the last several months.

Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, who spoke Wednesday, accused the Obama administration of using our U.S. taxpayer dollars ... to discourage Christian values by withholding financial assistance from countries that ban abortion or gay marriage. Human Rights Watch, among other groups, condemned Mulvaneys comments as a false narrative to promote the administrations conservative agenda.

Several conservative speakers suggested that laws that protect the rights of gays and lesbians impose unfair restrictions on practicing ones religion.

Those comments brought rebuke from several activists.

You can never gain religious freedom by violating the religious and human rights of others, said the Rev. Patricia Ackerman, director of the Ethics of Reciprocity Project, which advocates on behalf of the gay community.

Other complained that by doubling down on religious freedom, the administration was neglecting other important human rights.

How much room do you have to focus on other things, said Jeremy Kadden, senior international policy advocate for the Washington-based Human Rights Campaign.

Sam Brownback, the U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom, has said that the emphasis on ending religious persecution will impact a variety of human rights.

This is a foundational human right, Brownback said last month when he announced plans for the conference. You do religious freedom, and a whole series of better human rights come out of it.

tracy.wilkinson@latimes.com

For more on international affairs, follow @TracyKWilkinson on TwitterThe Supreme Court ruled a decade ago  and for the first time  that the 2nd Amendment grants individuals the right to keep firearms in their homes for personal protection. It was the wrong decision; courts until then operated under the belief that the 2nd Amendment was framed with state militias in mind. But joined by four conservative colleagues, Justice Antonin Scalia found in the District of Columbia vs. Heller that the Constitution protects the right of individuals to keep and bear arms, albeit not without limits.

Now a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in a case from Hawaii that the logic of the Heller decision also should apply to people who want to carry a firearm openly in public for self-protection. The panels decision is just as wrong as the Heller case it is built upon, and if it stands, it will make the nation a more dangerous place.

The heart of the decision is the belief that the 2nd Amendment, as interpreted in Heller, grants a right to keep (as in own) and to bear (as in carry) arms for self-protection in both the home and in public, where the danger of life-threatening interactions also exists. In other words, the need for self-protection, and thus for a firearm, doesnt stop at the front door.

If theres any good news here its that the judge who wrote the 2-1 majority opinion, Diarmuid OScannlain, came to a similar conclusion in Peruta vs. San Diego County four years ago. In that case, the majority held that the 2nd Amendment also conveys a right to carry a concealed weapon. But the 9th Circuit Court overturned that decision after an en banc hearing, and the Supreme Court later refused to hear the case. We hope that Hawaii officials will seek a broader appellate review, and that Young vs. Hawaii goes the same way as Peruta.

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Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion 

But theres a risk here that the disagreements among lower courts over the issue might finally force the Supreme Court to accept another major 2nd Amendment case. Since the Heller case and a related decision out of Illinois in 2010, the nations top court has been loath to hear new challenges to gun regulations.

Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Trumps conservative nominee to replace the retiring and more centrist Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, embraces an expansive approach to the 2nd Amendment. While his confirmation would not necessarily mean a court more friendly to gun rights, it would probably mean that the court will consider more challenges to gun control laws, with Kavanaugh providing the fourth vote to grant a hearing (it takes five justices to reach a majority decision). And once the court decides to hear a case, anything can happen.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or FacebookAfter President Trump met with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday, tensions between the two economic powerhouses abated, as the United States and the European Union announced an agreement to move forward on trade negotiations.

But all is not as it seems. The deal, such as it is, is vintage EU: the agricultural sector is excluded, except for soybeans. This wont be good news for American farmers, who struggle to gain a foothold in a highly protected European market. The Obama administration refused to accept an agriculture carve-out when negotiating a trade agreement with the Europeans.

Our friends across the pond have deftly taken advantage of President Trumps rejection of the global status quo to cast themselves as defenders of free trade. But actions speak louder than words. As recently as the G-7 summit in June, the United States floated the idea that the members of the G-7 simply eliminate all their tariffs. The self-proclaimed free trader nations, including those from the EU, were caught with their tail between their legs.

We need real reform at the WTO, not surgical agreements here and there.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for example, faltered, saying that eliminating tariffs would require intense negotiations and take a long time. In truth, every WTO member could simply take its tariff commitments and change all the positive numbers to zero.

That certainly puts Wednesdays announcement in context.

As current and former U.S. trade negotiators, including me, know all too well, the EU and others are no more free traders than is Trump. The Europeans like to protect their markets  like agriculture  they just dont like it when U.S. leaders protect ours. To be clear, in the aftermath of World War II, the United States created this asymmetrical system: We slashed our tariffs more than our trading partners did. The Europeans could charge up to 6% on primary aluminum imports, whereas the United States, for the most part, capped itself at zero.

In that regard, Europes outrage at the presidents imposition of a 10% tariff on aluminum is a bit rich. The WTO expressly authorizes members to protect their essential security interests. Steel and aluminum fall in that realm; it was an open secret on Capitol Hill that the Obama administration shared that view and considered invoking the same provision.

In response to Trumps action, the EU manipulated the rules to reject the U.S. national security claim and imposed counter-tariffs, bypassing WTO dispute settlement.

How is dodging the very rules of a structured system a defense of that system? It is not.

Amidst all this cynicism, all is not lost. A true champion of the system may finally have emerged: Norway. The Norwegians have chosen to do what champions of the system are supposed to do  forgo the instant gratification of retaliation and instead work through the dispute settlement system, however plodding it may be.

Some Europeans recognize the systemic imbalance. The political editor of the German newspaper Die Zeit acknowledged in a recent New York Times op-ed that [the] Europeans have basically been free riders  spending almost nothing on defense, and instead building vast social welfare systems at home and robust, well-protected export industries abroad. Rather than lash back at Mr. Trump, they would do better to ask how we got to this place, and how to get out.

The point about vast social welfare systems is one that Democrats must bear in mind. It is Democrats, not Republicans, who have a proud tradition of fighting for a social safety net for dispossessed workers so that job losses, due to trade or otherwise, dont have to destroy lives.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion 

Democrats will not reclaim the Midwest, which decided the 2016 election by less than 100,000 votes, by rejecting Trumps willingness to disturb the global trading system, by welcoming half-measures such as the one the Europeans pitched Wednesday, or by buying into the notion that the Trans-Pacific Partnership is a magic bullet. Remember that Trump borrowed critiques of TPP from Midwest Democrats, such as Sherrod Brown and Sandy Levin, not Republicans such as Mike Pence and Paul Ryan, who embraced the deal.

Democrats have long known that trade theory and trade reality are two different things, and that our trading system needs reform. Even the WTO director-general commented that the systemic shake-up is positive in many ways and encouraged member nations to use this as an opportunity to improve the multilateral trading system.

But we cant be fooled by the kinds of deals we saw Wednesday. We need real reform at the WTO, not surgical agreements here and there. Trumps presidency is at least in part the product of exasperated workers whove been left behind by globalization. If that fundamental unfairness isnt addressed, he wont be the last president elected on a platform of blowing up the system.

Beth Baltzan is a recent U.S. WTO litigator in the Executive Office of the President of the United States. From 2012 to 2016, she served as Democratic House Ways and Means trade counsel.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook.The world has forgotten me.

Though I once had friends, now I have nobody. Though I once had a government, Pakistan has turned its back on me. Though I once was a human being, I have been reduced to a number (1461) and abandoned in a dark hole: the military prison at Guantanamo Bay.

I am officially a prisoner of war, though the only battle I ever fought back home, as a taxi driver in Karachi, was the rush hour traffic. I was mistaken for an extremist, captured by Gen. Pervez Musharrafs government and sold to the CIA for a bounty in 2002. Ive now been detained at Guantanamo, without trial, for nearly 14 years.

President Trumps lawyers argued in court this month that I and other Guantanamo prisoners who have filed habeas corpus petitions could be held by the U.S. government for a hundred years, if that is how long the conflict lasts.

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I have withstood a lot of torture.

We are said to be the most dangerous prisoners in the world. Yet in the years since this prison was opened, there have been no murders here, no escape attempts, no drugs. The only deaths have been those of the nine men who succumbed to health problems or took their own lives. The only alleged sexual abuse has been at the hands of American interrogators.

The Miami Herald reports that, to operate Guantanamo Bay prison, it costs $11 million per prisoner per year. That would be more than $30,000 a day just for me.

I have gone on hunger strikes many times to peacefully protest my imprisonment. I am back to not eating, but this time its not a strike. I have chronic stomach problems so acute that I cannot consume hard food without vomiting blood. I am slowly disappearing, dropping a pound a week. I currently weigh 95 pounds.

I have asked for papaya and figs, as well as lamb, the only meat soft enough for my stomach to digest. Although a previous commander said I could have what I needed, I am not getting it.

For a while we had a physician whom we called Dr. Unfortunately. Unfortunately you cant have this, he would say. Unfortunately you cant have that.

Now we have Dr. Surprise. They have approved your food, except the lamb, he said. I am surprised you are not getting it.

Instead of giving me papaya and figs and lamb, the guards force-feed me cans of nutritional formula. They used to let us receive liquid food while watching television. Now they strap my hands and legs down in a restraint chair. (We call it the torture chair.)

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion 

I have withstood a lot of torture. Before they brought me to Guantanamo, the Americans took me to a black site in Kabul known as the Dark Prison, where my hands were shackled overhead for days on end. Do you have any idea how painful that is, with your shoulders gradually dislocating? Maybe you read in the Senate Intelligence Committees torture report about the prisoner who tried to cut off his own hand to end the pain. That was me.

Torture makes you go mad. Sometimes I catch myself going mad again now. Every time I am force-fed, every time I meet with my lawyer, every time I see a doctor, they use some kind of metal detector device to do a cavity search. They have never found anything in all these years. What I am meant to be hiding, I have no idea. It is pointless. But I have to wonder if the radiation it emits isnt my own private Hiroshima or Nagasaki  four, six, eight times a day. Maybe I am paranoid, but I feel that something bad is happening to me, deep inside.

When someone says, Good morning, I do not respond anymore. There is no morning and no evening. There is only despair.

Ahmed Rabbani is a taxi driver from Karachi, Pakistan, who has been detained without trial at Guantanamo Bay for almost 14 years.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or FacebookAt any given moment, nearly half a million Americans are awaiting trial in jail. Almost two-thirds of these individuals will remain incarcerated until their trial, including about half of those with no prior history of arrest.

These people are presumed innocent. Unfortunately, the ability to pay bail is more dependent on someones income than on the severity of his or her alleged crime. Many people who are neither a threat to the community nor a flight risk sit idly behind bars  losing wages and often their jobs  because they cannot afford bail.

The bail system needs reform, but until that happens, pretrial work release programs would respect the due process rights of the accused, keep communities safe and save taxpayer money.

Shannan Wise  a single mother of two who was holding down two jobs and attending school in 2015  is more familiar than most with the problems of our broken system. When a sibling who suffers from mental illness filed a charge against her, Wise was arrested and detained, with bail set at $100,000.

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Preventing defendants who are later proved innocent from losing wages and jobs saves taxpayer money in the long run.

Wise could ill afford to pay the $1,000 needed to secure release through a bail bondsman. Her family pawned their belongings and asked friends to pitch in to come up with enough money to free her. By then, Wise had been in jail five days. It could have been much worse: Had her family not made her bail, she would have spent three months in jail, away from her children and her work, until the scheduled hearing that got the charges dismissed. More likely, she would have become yet another innocent person pleading guilty in order to secure a certain release date.

Americans are innocent until proven guilty and constitutionally guaranteed the right to a speedy trial, but those who spend months in jail awaiting trial can be forgiven for questioning whether the government is upholding these guarantees. When they are accused of nonviolent crimes and detained simply because they cannot afford bail, allowing accused individuals to keep earning money, and not putting their jobs at risk before trial seems like a fair request.

A 2018 study supports pretrial work release programs. Analyzing data from more than 400,000 defendants in large, urban counties in Pennsylvania and Florida, it suggests that pretrial detention of low-risk individuals does not result in improved public safety. It does yield more unemployed defendants and  disturbingly  more defendants who are convicted, due, in part, to an uptick in guilty pleas. Its unclear whether pretrial detention encourages guilty defendants to come clean, or instead coerces the innocent to plead guilty to better control the time they may have to be away from their jobs and families.

Pretrial work release programs would allow defendants in jail, deemed eligible for bail yet unable to afford it, to return to their jobs or go to a new job while awaiting their trial. Similar in function to standard work release programs for those convicted, pretrial programs generally order defendants, after completing their days work, to return to jail at night where they are supervised by correctional staff. Being able to work helps defendants make bail, in which case they can then be fully released into the community to await their trial, without having lost significant wages or their jobs.

All such programs would be good for counties budgets. In many states, taxpayers arent responsible for housing or supervising a defendant while they work. In some cases, a portion of the individuals earnings goes toward the cost of housing the individual in the facility at night.

When defendants are able to earn enough money to make bail, the costs go down even further. The jail population shrinks, and counties can focus their resources on holding those who pose the greatest risk to society. And preventing defendants who are later proved innocent from losing wages and jobs, also saves taxpayer money in the long run. For states with the largest pretrial populations, work release programs may reduce correctional costs by millions  a win for the accused, families and taxpayers.

For those awaiting trial who are found guilty of a crime, pretrial work release may later dovetail with prison work release programs, allowing individuals to continue working while serving their sentences. Indeed, studies show that securing employment and working steadily is the key to reducing recidivism  and the sooner inmates find employment, the better.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion 

The United States needs sweeping jail reform. Sophisticated risk assessments should be used to separate the dangerous from those who are not. Diversion programs rather than warehousing in jails should be the rule. Money bail should be revamped so that its costs and constraints dont needlessly fill jails with the poor.

But before legislatures can enact such sweeping changes, we need stopgap measures that work within the current criminal justice apparatus to get low-risk defendants out of jail before trial. Some counties already include pretrial defendants in their work release programs; the practice should spread. Giving those accused of crimes the chance to keep working or to find jobs will move the system closer to the reform that states and cities desperately need.

Arthur Rizer is the national security and criminal justice policy director at the R Street Institute. Shoshana Weissmann is the digital media specialist and a policy analyst at R Street.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand FacebookTo the editor: After living for 60-plus years inside and outside the United States, I moved to California about a year ago. Driving has been a huge aggravation, and I wonder why motorists here drive so fast, why speed limits are so high and why enforcement seems absent.

The editorial and news article about the state law requiring that speed limits be set according to studies that determine the natural flow of traffic answer those questions. Requiring speed-limit enforcement to be severely limited in the absence of a recent traffic study ranks as one of the craziest laws of all time.

Driving is not natural. Speed limits are generally intended to promote safety, and enforcing them is imperative. Protecting motorists from speed traps, the point of this law, can be done in other ways.

Craig Mears, La Mirada

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..

To the editor: The rationale of raising the speed limit so police can use radar guns to nab speeding drivers is a cop out (pardon the pun).

Police do not need radar guns to write tickets for reckless driving. Speeding motorists are usually breaking many other laws and rules of the road: weaving in and out of traffic, making illegal lane changes (without using a signal), running red lights and stop signs and making illegal left or right turns.

Step up the enforcement of all the laws of the California Vehicle Code, not just speed limits. I bet drivers will slow down.

Genie Saffren, Los Angeles

..

To the editor: Born in L.A., I am particularly concerned about the safety of pedestrians and drivers. I live a few blocks from Zelzah Avenue  where the speed limit was raised to 45 mph despite its history of deadly collisions  and the adjacent Cal State Northridge, where I earned a teaching credential and from where my three sons graduated.

My eldest son was struck by a car as he crossed Zelzah. He thinks he would have been more severely injured had he not been an athlete.

Crossing that street on foot at least three times a week, I see students texting, on skateboards and engaging in other distractions; they assume they cannot be hit by speeding cars. Yes, they should be more careful, but remember: Young adult and adolescent brains are not fully developed. Also, in addition to CSUN, there are two high schools on Zelzah.

I am writing my councilman, hoping there will be changes that will lower speed limits.

Ursula Benstock, Northridge

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and FacebookTo the editor: Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore, in defending the seemingly reckless actions of his officers at the Silver Lake Trader Joes on Saturday, stated, I believe its what they needed to do in order to defend the people of Los Angeles and the people in that store.

The fact that store manager Melyda Corado was killed by a bullet fired from an officers gun is concrete evidence that what the police did failed to protect the people in that store.

One expert on police shootings said, The alternative was to surrender the lives of hostages inside the store. Were lives inside the store saved because Corado died? Ridiculous.

Another expert said the officers handled the situation with textbook calm, yet undercut his opinion by describing the shooting as risky given the distance, the backdrop and the moving target.

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Its obvious that the LAPD needs to improve its training so officers can make better decisions in crowded public spaces.

Noel Johnson, Glendale

..

To the editor: This is an unfortunate incident. The officers had two seconds to decide whether to shoot while the suspect was outside the Trader Joes. They knew he already shot one person and he might choose to kill hostages in a standoff.

I am not sure why the manager was at the door. She may have wanted to investigate what happened after hearing the suspects car crash in front of the store. In any case, she was in a bad position.

There are lessons for all of us. To investigate, do it from a safe position rather than from a door. With shootings, the rules are to run, hide or fight, with fighting being the last resort. In most shooting situations you only must survive the first 15 minutes until the police arrive.

Finally, always be observant of your surroundings.

Alan L. Strzemieczny, Riverside

..

To the editor: Talking about the Silver Lake Trader Joes manager who was killed by a bullet from an officers gun, Moore said, I ask that you place yourself in these two officers positions and ask yourself, what would you have done?

That question is exactly wrong. He sounds more like the defense attorney than someone whose duties include proper training of police officers. Civilians, who have not been trained by the LAPD to carry deadly weapons to protect public safety, have no idea what they would do, and that doesnt matter.

Is the Los Angeles Police Academy encouraging officers to just do what anyone would have done? Or is it training officers to be less likely than the average untrained person who may react precipitously, foolishly and hastily?

The question is not, What would you have done? The question is, What should a trained officer have done? The answer: not this.

Diane Klein, North Hollywood

..

To the editor: We have a winner. Moore, the new LAPD chief, is an effective leader, and his handling of the Trader Joes tragedy shows his empathy and desire for transparency.

Parenthetically, he needs work on the inadequacy of police pursuits.

Arnold L. Gilberg, Beverly Hills

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and 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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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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

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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

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Watch Live: White House holds surprise news briefing amid government shutdown Facebook

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Watch live: Vice President Pence and lawmakers honor George H.W. Bush at the U.S. Capitol before he lies in state Facebook

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Watch live: White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders holds a media briefing amid tensions at the border By Los Angeles Times Staff Facebook

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said Thursday he does not support a push by some of his conservative colleagues to impeach Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod J. Rosenstein, who oversees the Russia investigation led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.

No, I do not, said Ryan (R-Wis.) during a news conference on Capitol Hill.

Leaders of the House Freedom Caucus introduced a measure on Wednesday that would remove Rosenstein from his post, blaming him for withholding documents subpoenaed by Republican-led oversight committees.

I dont think we should be cavalier with this process or this term, Ryan told reporters. I dont think this rises to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors.

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He said he also feared the process would tie up the Senate, delaying other Republican priorities such as the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, President Trumps nominee to the Supreme Court.

Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions also defended Rosenstein on Thursday and urged Congress to spend time on other priorities, such as immigration.

My deputy, Rod Rosenstein, is highly capable. I have the highest confidence in him, he said during an event in Boston.

Although House conservatives have made a major issue of threatening to remove Rosenstein, its unclear how much support they have in the chamber, where the move would require a majority vote. As for the Senate, where actually removing Rosenstein would require a two-thirds vote, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) dismissed the idea last week as pretty far-fetched.

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), who sponsored the impeachment proposal, did not introduce it as a privileged measure, which would have allowed him to force a vote on the House floor. Because the House is breaking for recess this week, it could not receive a vote until members return in September.

After Ryans news conference, Meadows told reporters the Justice Department will have one last chance to comply.

Hopefully what we can do is avoid impeachment, and hopefully avoid contempt, and get the documents, he said. But certainly both of those things are on the table and remain on the table.

Meadows and other conservative Republicans have locked horns with the Justice Department for months, demanding sensitive records involving the investigations into Russian election interference and Hillary Clintons private email server.

Justice Department officials said theyve been deluged with the requests, which started with demands from Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) for records on secret surveillance of Carter Page, a former Trump campaign foreign policy advisor.

A recent subpoena from the House Judiciary Committee asked for, among other items, all documents provided to the Justice Department Inspector General for its examination of the investigation into Clintons private email server.

That request led the Justice Department to appoint John Lausch, the U.S. attorney in Chicago, to oversee the process of sorting through roughly 880,000 records. Officials said they had to build a new computer program to search through classified documents, and congressional staff have been continuously visiting the department to view the files.

Meadows previously said he hopes the process will help exonerate Trump.

When we get these documents, we believe that it will do away with this whole fiasco of what they call the Russian-Trump collusion, because there wasnt any, he said on the House floor last month.

Rosenstein, a registered Republican appointed by Trump to the second-highest position in the Justice Department, has been a frequent target of the presidents allies.

Why are you keeping information from Congress? Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) demanded during a hearing last month. Jordan announced his bid for House Speaker on Thursday,

I am not keeping any information from Congress, Rosenstein responded.

No subordinate executive branch official has faced impeachment except for William W. Belknap, the U.S. secretary of war, in 1876. He was accused of criminal disregard for his office and making official appointments in return for payments, according to the House historians office. Belknap was acquitted in the Senate.

Staff writer Sarah D. Wire contributed to this report.

Follow the latest news of the Trump administration on Essential Washington 

chris.megerian@latimes.com

Twitter: @chrismegerian

UPDATES:

10:00 a.m.: This article was updated with background on Republican document requests, historical information on impeachment and comments from Rep. Mark Meadows and Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions.

This article was originally published at 8:45 a.m.California lawmakers weighed a series of difficult options on Wednesday to revamp laws designed to lessen the likelihood of catastrophic wildfires, and considered the thorny question of who should foot the bill for blazes sparked by equipment belonging to the states investor-owned utility companies.

The hearing in Sacramento came as fire officials reported eight major summertime blazes burning their way through large swaths of the state. No actions were taken by the committee that was convened last month by leaders of the Senate and Assembly. The informational hearing was a prelude to whats expected to be an intense political battle over wildfire prevention and liability when legislators return to Sacramento next month.

If the Legislature fails to act, avoidable fires will continue to happen, said state Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa), co-chairman of the special legislative committee formed to lead the discussion.

Half a dozen experts, including scientists and regulators, presented a broad overview of the difficult path ahead. That includes answering questions about what to do when Californians move into high-danger fire zones, the less-stringent standards allowed on older structures and how to balance the costs of major fires between utility shareholders, insurance companies and homeowners.

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Its unlikely that lawmakers will be able to rely on a single piece of legislation, Senate Bill 901, as the vehicle for a comprehensive plan. And the calendar  with the two-year legislative session nearing its end  does not offer much time for the public to vet any new proposals.

We have four weeks to work on a major legislative package, Sen. Ben Hueso (D-San Diego) said.

Michael Wara, a climate and energy researcher at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, told lawmakers they should instead think of the problem in two steps: addressing the fires and costs that have already occurred, and creating a structure to mitigate future risks.

All sides of the problem are not being worked effectively, he said. Wildfires affect everyone in California  either as an electricity customer or as a taxpayer.

The financial impact of fires could prove to be the most combustible part of the discussion in the state Capitol. Last month, state fire investigators concluded that equipment owned and operated by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. was responsible for a dozen deadly blazes last October in Northern California. PG&E has said it expects to pay at least $2.5 billion in damages.

In wake of wine country disaster, PG&E will shut off power lines in times of extreme fire danger 

That has led some utility executives to ask the Legislature to replace the state legal standard governing liability. Known as inverse condemnation, it requires companies to foot the bill for property damage caused by their equipment  even in cases in which safety rules were followed and without a determination of negligence on the companys part.

As we have stated previously, we believe comprehensive public policy reforms are urgently needed to address the challenges brought about by more frequent and more intense wildfires, PG&E spokeswoman Lynsey Paulo said in a written statement.

Gov. Jerry Brown weighed in on Tuesday, unveiling a draft proposal that largely aligns with the utilities and would give judges new discretion in setting financial penalties. Courts would have to balance the public benefit of the electrical infrastructure with the harm caused to private property and determine whether the utility acted reasonably.

In a letter to lawmakers, Brown said that Californias rapidly increasing vulnerability to major fires could leave our energy sector in a state of weakness at a time when it should be making even greater investments in safety.

But the midweek legislative hearing, which lasted more than four hours, made clear that theres no consensus on whether to change wildfire liability rules for the utilities.

Our current laws level the playing field, bringing multimillion-dollar companies to the table with victims to settle for damage, Mendocino County Supervisor Carre Brown said.

Others took direct aim at PG&E in their comments to the committee about changes to liability laws  and fears that ratepayers will ultimately be asked to shoulder the costs.

Customers pay PG&E every month to take care of these problems, said Mindy Spatt, a spokeswoman for The Utility Reform Network, or TURN. Every time PG&E raises rates, they tell us, Well, this is so we can keep you safe, and this is so we can keep service reliable. 

A separate bill that would allow PG&E to use state-secured bonds to pay its 2017 wildfire costs was not considered by the special committee on Wednesday, but was referenced several times at the hearing. Under the proposal, the bonds would be paid back over time, lessening the immediate impact to the companys bottom line in the short term.

The governors proposal only applies to wildfire liabilities beginning in 2018. It includes higher fines for utilities and additional state oversight of new, enhanced wildfire-prevention plans.

Michael Picker, president of the California Public Utilities Commission, told lawmakers that fire safety regulations his agency adopted last year will help, but wont be cheap to enforce.

We probably could have gone further, but our ratepayer advocates reminded us that theres a cost to safety, he said.

Picker faced a series of intense questions about whether the CPUC does enough to ensure that utility equipment complies with wildfire-prevention rules. He said that the size of the system  some 4 million utility poles statewide  means the commission must rely on audits more than inspections.

Assemblywoman Eloise Gomez Reyes (D-Grand Terrace) suggested that wasnt enough. Even in your audits, youre finding that the compliance is not there, she said.

Others on the bipartisan panel took aim at rules that limit thinning dense forests filled with dead or dying trees affected by a warmer climate.

Its with a heavy heart to know that weve lost about 50 lives in California and were not addressing the problem, Assembly GOP Leader Brian Dahle (R-Bieber) said with emotion in his voice. Its growing out there every single day. And it will burn, unless we manage that fuel.

Lawmakers were also reminded that the amount of land in the state endangered by fire has rapidly expanded. The newest fire map of California shows a heightened threat for some 70,000 acres  almost 44% of the states land mass, Picker told the committee.

Wara warned the committee that wildfires present a complicated challenge, one thats as much economic as it is environmental. He hinted that lawmakers might make things worse, not better, by trying to quickly craft a broad and far-reaching policy plan.

Beware the unintended consequences of complex changes hastily made, Wara said. Solving a problem in the electric utility system by creating one somewhere else may not serve anyones interest.

john.myers@latimes.com

Follow @johnmyers on Twitter, sign up for our daily Essential Politics newsletter and listen to the weekly California Politics PodcastA coalition of former Newport Beach City Council members has filed a lawsuit to try to force the city to use their argument against a local ballot proposition in place of one they contend isnt an opposing argument at all.

Former Mayors Keith Curry, Rush Hill and Mike Henn and former Mayor Pro Tem Jean Watt wrote a statement against an as-yet-unnamed measure slated for the November ballot that will ask voters to approve an amendment to Newports city charter to require 55% voter approval whenever the City Council wants to spend at least $50 million on capital projects using a financing method known as certificates of participation, or COP. They submitted their statement for publication in an informational pamphlet that the city and the Orange County registrar of voters office will distribute in print and electronic formats in advance of the election.

But local activist Bob Rush also handed in an opposing argument, and because he had written it on behalf of Newporters for Ethical Government, his city-registered association of citizens, or political action committee, City Clerk Leilani Brown pegged his for the pamphlet. Brown said she was following state election code, which gives citizen associations priority over individual voters such as the former council members.

The rival quartets lawsuit, filed July 19 in Orange County Superior Court against Brown, Rush and Rushs PAC, follows up on a written protest the group sent the city last week.

The groups attorney, frequent council critic Phil Greer, claimed Rushs argument contains factual inaccuracies and that flawed organizational paperwork for Newporters for Ethical Government means it isnt a bona fide association of citizens. He also said Rush isnt a true opponent of the ballot measure because he had made some approving statements about it and has supported Councilman Scott Peotter, who wrote an argument favoring the proposition with Councilman Kevin Muldoon and Mayor Marshall Duffy Duffield.

Rushs argument was not created or supported by a recognized, authentic or genuine group of citizens but is the creation of an individual whose sole purpose is to mislead the public by filing an incomplete, inaccurate and misleading statement by an unqualified organization in an attempt to eliminate a true discussion of the issues involved from being presented to the voting public, Greer wrote in the lawsuit. As such, the entire argument should be stricken.

Newport Beach City Attorney Aaron Harp declined to comment Wednesday. Greer did not respond to messages seeking further comment.

Rush said Wednesday that he had followed proper procedures for submitting an argument and that the rival oppositions issue is more with the city clerks decision and less about him.

Well see how it washes, he said.

Rush, who has feuded with members of the group in the past, added that he didnt mean to include Watt when he said last week that the group can kiss my ass.

In his argument, Rush stated the proposed charter amendment is a good first step but doesnt go far enough.

We should reject it and send it back for a higher two-thirds voter approval threshold and lower $25-million debt ceiling, he wrote.

The argument by the former council leaders urges voters: Dont be fooled; this measure may sound good, but consider that no other city in California has adopted this restriction. That should tell you that it is not a good idea.  Do you really want to vote on a new police headquarters building or vehicle replacements? Do you want to have to raise campaign funds to get a new park near your home?

In a certificates of participation arrangement, the city creates a revenue stream by essentially leasing its own facilities to itself  technically, as a different public facilities corporation  with the facilities offered as collateral to bondholders. When the debt is repaid, the facilities become the agencys  unencumbered by a lease.

Certificates of participation do not require voter approval like general obligation bonds, which lead to increased local property taxes.

The lawsuit is set for a hearing Aug. 3 in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana.

hillary.davis@latimes.com

Twitter: @Daily_PilotHDA Newport Beach man was sentenced Wednesday to a year and a day in federal prison for piloting an Alaska Airlines plane while under the influence of alcohol in 2014.

David Hans Arntson, 63, pleaded guilty in February to a felony count of operating a carrier while under the influence. He acknowledged as part of a plea agreement that he was an alcoholic for a substantial portion of his career as an airline pilot.

U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney called Arntsons offense very dangerous and ordered him to pay a $10,000 fine.

According to court documents, Arntson piloted two Alaska Airlines flights on June 20, 2014. The first was at 6:21 a.m. from San Diego to Portland, Ore. After a brief layover, he piloted a flight from Portland to Orange County.

After he landed at John Wayne Airport, Arntson was selected for random drug and alcohol testing by Alaska Airlines.

Breath tests conducted 15 minutes apart in an airport restroom indicated that Arntson had blood-alcohol concentrations of 0.134% and 0.142%. The federal limit for pilots is 0.04%, according to court records.

Arntson told investigators that he didnt understand the test results since he hadnt consumed alcohol that day. Arntson said he ordered a beer with dinner the night before the flight from San Diego but took only a few sips.

Arntson, who had worked for Alaska Airlines since 1982, was removed from safety-sensitive duties the day of the tests, according to the airline. He later retired because of medical issues.

The defendant was at the controls during hundreds of flights carrying innumerable passengers  undoubtedly under the influence of alcohol during many of those trips, U.S. Attorney Nicola Hanna said in a statement. Fortunately, he was finally caught and the risk to passengers was stopped.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCNFor authorities, the killing of 28-year-old Joan Virginia Anderson in her Fountain Valley home in 1979 had long been considered solved.

But now, 39 years after Anderson was killed, a Laguna Beach lawyer is trying to posthumously exonerate the man convicted of murdering her and believes the slaying has chilling similarities to crimes committed by the Golden State Killer.

The Orange County district attorneys office said Wednesday that it is reviewing evidence to determine whether William Lee Evins was wrongly accused.

Evins, of Pasadena, Texas, had been part of a work crew building an addition to Andersons house at the time she was raped and bludgeoned to death. He was arrested a year later and charged with her murder.

Evins pleaded guilty in 1985 to second-degree murder as part of a plea deal after he learned that a jailhouse informant  James Dean Cochrum  told authorities Evins had confessed to the slaying. Cochrum was expected to be a key witness at Evins trial.

A 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that eliminated most testimony from hypnotized people  authorities had used hypnosis to elicitinformation in the case  had made details from the prosecutions other witnesses useless at trial, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Evins was sentenced to 15 years to life behind bars, but despite his plea, he contended for years that he had not committed the crime.

Ive always [maintained] that I am innocent, and I think well prove that before its over with, Evins told The Times in 1984. He died in prison of a heart attack in 2013.

Annee Della Donna  an attorney with Innocence Rights of Orange County, which partners with law students at UC Irvine to advocate for the release of prisoners they believe are innocent  said the case bears similarities to the methods of the Golden State Killer, a serial killer and rapist whose crimes date to the mid-1970s.

Joseph James DeAngelo, who authorities suspect is the Golden State Killer responsible for at least a dozen slayings and 50 rapes in the 1970s and 80s, is arraigned in Sacramento in April. (File Photo / AP)

Joseph James DeAngelo, who is accused of being the Golden State Killer, is behind bars in Sacramento awaiting trial on 12 murder charges in connection with deaths in Sacramento, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Orange counties.

DeAngelo also is a suspect in at least 50 rapes and more than 100 burglaries across the state.

Della Donna said Innocence Rights initially took on the Anderson case because the evidence against Evins was ridiculously flimsy.

We didnt take it on as a case to prove that the Golden State Killer was responsible, she said during a news conference Wednesday in Santa Ana. But the facts that we obtained in our investigation are very similar to the same facts of the Golden State Killer murders.

Prosecutors have contended that a man broke into Andersons home on March 7, 1979, and attacked her while her husband was away on a business trip and she was alone with her 6-month-old daughter and 3-year-old son.

A neighbor discovered Andersons body the next day wearing only a blue pajama top. Her son was found wandering the street near her home and her daughter was crying in her crib, authorities said.

Della Donna contends Anderson fit the description of female victims of the Golden State Killer who were alone with their children at the time they were killed. She also said Andersons ankles were tightly tied with a cord from the window blinds and that victims in some Golden State Killer slayings also were bound. Prosecutors have not confirmed whether Anderson was tied up.

She was bludgeoned over 20 times with a hammer, Della Donna said. The killer stayed in Joan Andersons house for hours afterward, cooking and eating in her kitchen while she lay dead. Again, that is a fact that is very similar with the other Golden State Killer cases.

Della Donna said she took the case to the Orange County district attorneys office a few weeks ago. Susan Kang Schroeder, chief of staff for District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, confirmed Wednesday that the office is looking into it.

Kang Schroeder said the DAs Innocence Review Panel, which reviews cases of incarcerated inmates who argue they have been wrongfully convicted, is joining a prosecutor working on the Golden State Killer case to comb through circumstantial evidence and police reports and search for any testable DNA evidence.

The Innocence Review Panel has reviewed 600 cases since its creation in 2000. No convictions have been overturned. It is currently looking at about 20 cases, according to the district attorneys office.

Anytime anyones accused of a homicide or has been convicted of a homicide, its obviously a serious case and we want to make sure justice is done, Kang Schroeder said. In this case, we have to make sure there is testable evidence for us to look at.

Kang Schroeder said the panel is going through every scrap of evidence in the case but its too early to tell whether there are similarities with Golden State Killer slayings. It isnt clear specifically what evidence is available or what has been reviewed.

We just want to get to the truth, Kang Schroeder said.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @HannahFryTCNAccording to the California Policy Center, our state and local bond debt was estimated at $1.3 trillion in 2015, a staggering amount costing every resident almost $33,000.

Most of the debt was adopted in compliance with Proposition 13s requirement of voter approval. Proposition 13 required two-thirds voter approval for general obligation bonds  a tax by another name.

This year we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Proposition 13, the landmark taxpayer revolt that allowed millions of Californians to save their home from excessive property taxes.

During the ensuing 40 years, the political elites have created esoteric financing tools to end-run Proposition 13s voter requirement.

My hometown of Newport Beach is the poster child of a city that did an end-run around Proposition 13 to avoid a public vote for our $142 million City Hall. If the price tag isnt appalling enough, the underhanded way we were stuck with the debt should be a warning to all taxpayers.

They used Certificates of Participation (COP), an esoteric financing tool engineered by the political elite as an end-run around Proposition 13.

A COP creates a revenue stream by essentially leasing its own facilities to itself  technically, as a different public facilities corporation  with the facilities offered as collateral to bondholders. When the debt is repaid, the facilities become the agencys.

Put another way, Newport taxpayers are leasing city assets to ourselves to pay bondholders for the City Hall debt.

The legal fiction costs taxpayers $8 million per year through 2041. We will pay $228 million for a monument to political ego and excess.

Whether you like the City Hall project or not, I believe voters should have a right to decide if they want to use debt to pay for it or future non-essential mega-projects.

Recently, the Newport Beach council voted to place a charter amendment on Novembers ballot requiring a public vote on debt for these projects.

Opponents of the charter amendment claim it will tie the hands of future city councils.

I say, good. Its our money theyre spending.

The other argument advanced by opponents is Newport will be the first city in California requiring voter approval.

I say good. Lets start a movement across California.

Mike Schroeder is a Newport Beach resident and past chairman of the California Republican Party.File this story under the heading, Cant these politicians think of a more important issue to tackle than this?

Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris wants to ban companies from mandating that workers wear neckties.

Parris is basing his proposal on a small German study he found online that examined blood flow to the brain in men wearing ties, finding a 7.5% drop in circulation in men wearing the ties compared to the group not wearing them.

First of all, one doesnt need to have a doctorate degree in scientific methodology to know that a study size of 30 participants is insufficient. Second, just how tight were those ties tied?

In interviews, Parris expresses a predisposed disdain for ties despite having to wear one as an attorney in the courtroom. When he came across this shaky evidence that a tie causes harm, he was ready to take a Mission Impossible leap over credulity.

Parris law firm focuses on personal injury cases with over $1.4 billion won, as claimed on its website, so its not surprising that he is wasting taxpayer time on a nanny state matter such as regulating employers dress codes. By the way, his photo is the most prominent on the website and, yes, he is wearing a tie.

When one looks around and sees how poorly people dress all the time, the last thing we need is a law forcing people to look less dressed up.

We are living at a time when people dress like slobs everywhere they go. Mens attire these days often consists of a T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops whether at work, attending a theatrical performance or dining at an upscale restaurant.

In You Are What You Wear: Rude, L.A. Times columnist Meghan Daum wrote that people dress as if everyone else around them were invisible. They really dont care what anyone else thinks; Do whatever you want is the mantra.

Many experts think that dressing up instills confidence and power. Baltimore clinical psychologist Jennifer Baumgartner told Forbes magazine that when you dress in a certain way, it helps shift your internal self similar to actors who by putting on a costume facilitates expression of character. Think of work clothes as superhero outfits.

My wife works from home once a week. Even though she does not leave the house, she wears business clothes as if she were at her office Why? Its a part of my professional attire.

A 2014 study by the Journal of Experimental Psychology found that when participants wore doctors lab coats, they not only were perceived smarter, but they made fewer mistakes because of what they wore. In another example, people dressed in suits negotiated better business deals than those dressed in sweats.

Where I work, I am the outlier wearing sport jackets and ties. Not even some male administrators wear that attire. Schools often talk about dress codes for students; there should be one for teachers.

One student teacher I worked with asked me how to dress for Back to School Night. I told him to wear a tie; he told me that he didnt own one. And he was 40 years old.

A much younger student teacher wore concert T-shirts and white sneakers every day to work. Office messengers would often mistake her for a student and end up giving me the summons. We would not want to confuse doctors with patients based on how they dressed, would we?

Lets hope Mr. Parris doesnt come across a study on the internet concluding that wearing underpants constricts blood flow to the heart.

BRIAN CROSBY is a teacher in the Glendale Unified School District and the author of Smart Kids, Bad Schools and The $100,000 Teacher. He can be reached at www.brian-crosby.com.Eight months after the death in October of P-41  the first adult male mountain lion documented living in the Verdugo Mountains above Glendale and Burbank  from rodenticide poisoning, theres a new puma in town.

On June 19, camera traps captured images of an adult male mountain lion traveling in close proximity to an untagged female nicknamed Nikita, whod earlier mated with P-41 and produced multiple litters of kittens, none of which survived in the wild.

A picture of health with an apparently unblemished coat and white teeth, the newly spotted male has already been nicknamed Adonis by conservationists and the wildlife photographers-turned-citizen-scientists whose cameras caught the first dazzling images of the newcomer.

Hes definitely young. The way he moves, his musculature, his coat, he doesnt have any scars  hes just perfect, which is why we call him Adonis, said Johanna Turner, a Universal Studios sound effects editor who began camera trapping in 2008 and prolifically followed the exploits of P-41 with fellow photographer Denis Callet.

Uncollared female mountain lion Nikita in the Verdugo Mountains above Glendale on July 5. A mate of P-41, found dead in October from apparent rodenticide poisoning, Nikita is thought to be traveling with Adonis, a young male who may have migrated from a nearby mountain range. (Courtesy of Johanna Turner)

First seen in 2010, P-41 may have come south from the San Gabriel Mountains, possibly crossing the Foothill (210) Freeway in search of his own territory, according to Jeff Sikich, biologist for the National Park Service. Sikich collared the 8-year-old cat in 2015 for inclusion in a mountain lion study thats tagged 69 subjects in or near the Santa Monica Mountains since 2002.

Data collected from P-41s GPS collar indicated he crossed into the San Rafael Hills, on the southern side of La Canada Flintridge, at least twice while living in the Verdugo Mountains. Bordered by freeways and surrounded by intense development, the isolated Verdugos fall outside the aegis of the Park Services Santa Monica National Recreation Area but play a role in understanding wildlife movement throughout the Southland, Sikich says.

There are a lot of implications of connectivity in the area, the biologist said. By following animals in these fragmented landscapes we hope to learn about landscape connectivity in the region and if there are any movement corridors these animals are using.

When P-41s decomposed body was discovered in Los Angeles Shadow Hills neighborhood after the 7,200-acre La Tuna fire, tests identified six strains of anticoagulant rodenticide in his system. Sixteen of the 17 living cats in the Park Services mountain lion study have tested positive for rodenticide, including P-55, a 3-year-old Santa Monica Mountains lion found dead on Wednesday.

As Nikita was caught on video dolefully calling out for her mate, Turner and other conservationists grew concerned for the fate of mountain lions in the Verdugos. Then along came Adonis.

On June 19, a young adult male mountain lion was spotted by wildlife cameras in the Verdugo Mountains above Glendale and Burbank. Nicknamed Adonis for his good looks and apparent health, the puma is seen taking a drink in Burbank on June 23. (Courtesy of Johanna Turner)

Barbara Goto is director of operations for the Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy, a Pasadena-based group that preserves land for use as wildlife corridors. AFC recently acquired Cottonwood Canyon, an 11-acre parcel off of Linda Vista Avenue in the San Rafael Hills that the group believes opens up to a 20-mile wildlife corridor stretching from Hahamongna Watershed Park west to Tujunga.

For Goto, the discovery of a new male in the Verdugos, especially given the nearby presence of a female, is promising.

We hope hes found, if not the love of his life, at least someone hed like to have a few litters with, she said of Adonis. Wed really like him and his female to be able to go back and forth in the San Gabriel Mountains so they have greater genetic diversity. That would be our wish for him  to find love and freedom.

sara.cardine@latimes.com

Twitter: @SaraCardineChristian Science practitioner and teacher of healing Mary Bothwell will begin her spring speaking tour this Sunday, March 5, at First Church of Christ, Scientist, 600 Foothill Blvd., La Canada.

Bothwell, a former longtime employee at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory who left a management position there to become a full-time Christian Science practitioner, will address the topic Experiencing Heaven Now at the 2 p.m. gathering.

Join the conversation on Facebook >>

Understanding that the kingdom of heaven, that atmosphere of unending spiritual peace indicating Gods presence now, is within each one of us helps us to be in touch with our own spirituality, Bothwell said in a statement. We realize that we can be aware of the atmosphere of God, good, wherever we are, which resolves all kinds of difficulties.

In her talk, Bothwell, a Pasadena resident, will share examples of healing in her own and others lives.

--

Carol Cormaci, carol.cormaci@latimes.com

Twitter: @CarolCormaciConor McGregor struck a plea deal with New York prosecutors Thursday to skirt jail time, avoid any travel restrictions to the U.S. and resume his UFC career in short order.

Hope to have news soon, McGregors Orange County-based agent Audie Attar told the Los Angeles Times following McGregors court appearance in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The former two-division UFC champion who earned a reported $100 million for boxing Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a novelty match last year confronted two felony charges of criminal mischief for his April attack of a bus loaded with UFC fighters.

Seemingly angered at his unbeaten successor as UFC lightweight champion, Russias Khabib Nurmagomedov, McGregor led a band of friends to Brooklyns Barclays Center following a pre-fight news conference and ended up smashing a bus window with a hand truck.

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Irelands McGregor never reached Nurmagomedov, but two fighters on the card, flyweight Ray Borg and lightweight Michael Chiesa, suffered injuries due to the flying glass and were pulled from the card.

Those fighters can pursue civil claims against McGregor now that hes pleaded guilty to a violation.

Prosecutors released a statement saying the deal ensures restitution for the victims and requires the defendant to perform community service where he can reflect on his conduct and give back to society.

McGregor appeared relieved outside the Brooklyn court following the hearing, where he said, Im thankful for the judge and the D.A. for allowing me to move forward and I want to say to my friends and my family and my fans, thank you for your support.

McGregors confrontation with Nurmagomedov has certainly raised the profile of their coming clash, and the UFC could place the fight at either its Oct. 6 or Dec. 29 cards in Las Vegas, or return McGregor to New York Nov. 3 at Madison Square Garden in what would be his first UFC bout in two years.

lance.pugmire@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimespugmire

UPDATES:

9:05 a.m.: This article was updated with staff reporting.

This article was originally published at 7:10 a.m.Santa Anita is finishing up negotiations to be the host of next years Breeders Cup. An announcement should come within the next couple of weeks that the Arcadia track will be hosting the event for a record 10th time. This year, Churchill Downs will host for the ninth time.

It also may be announced that Keeneland in Kentucky will host the 2020 race, and Del Mar gets it back for 2021.

The Breeders Cup, which guards this information like nuclear launch codes, had no comment. But it has been an open secret in the industry for quite some time. In fact, Joe Harper, president and CEO of Del Mar, told the San Diego Union-Tribune that his track was in serious negotiations for 2021. Serious, in this case, is a euphemism for put it on your calendar.

This is late for the Breeders Cup to make an announcement about the next years event. The snags in negotiations almost always are the same: the cut of the money. For example, Santa Anita has new premium seating in the first turn. Tim Ritvo, Stronach Groups chief operating officer, is going to want to help pay for those seats and would seek a bigger cut of that shared revenue than perhaps the Breeders Cup wants to give for those two days. That may not be the hold up, but its illustrative of the kind of issues that delay a final contract.

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No one on either side is willing to talk about details. It is clear, though, that every day that passes makes it more likely that the Breeders Cup will have no choice but to come to Santa Anita next year. Santa Anita and Churchill Downs are the two tracks that can pull off the race with very little lead time, and its at Churchill this year.

The Breeders Cup, having been raced at 12 tracks in 34 years, seems to have settled into a California-Kentucky rotation. The last time the event wasnt in either of those states was 2007 at Monmouth in New Jersey. It hasnt been in New York since it was at Belmont in 2005. Gulfstream in South Florida, which has hosted three times, took itself out of consideration when the track downsized seating and became a racino (racing plus casino). The weather seems to make the Northern tracks unattractive.

The Stronach Group wants the event to come to Laurel Park in Maryland, but thats down the road. That area still has to figure out whether the Preakness Stakes will continue at aging Pimlico, which runs only two weeks a year, or move to Laurel.

Victor Espinoza out for Del Mar: Triple Crown-winning jockey Victor Espinoza fractured his C-3 vertebra in a training accident Sunday. His mount, stakes winner Bobby Abu Dhabi, had what is believed to be a fatal heart attack as he was running, and when the horse collapsed, he threw Espinoza.

Espinoza complained of shoulder pain and numbness and was transported to Scripps La Jolla Hospital. According to his agent, Brian Beach, Espinoza will be in a neck brace for six weeks, but he is expected to make a full recovery. He will miss the remainder of the Del Mar meeting.

Espinoza was the jockey of American Pharoah, who won the Triple Crown in 2015.

Justify to parade at Del Mar: Newly retired Triple Crown winner Justify will be making his last appearance before a big crowd Saturday at Del Mar. Hell go through the paddock and then onto the main track after the fourth race, about 3:45 p.m. Jockey Mike Smith will sign autographs from noon until 1 p.m. in the Plaza de Mexico, next to the fountain.

Justifys racing career officially came to an end Wednesday when he was retired. He was never going to race as a 4-year-old and a persistent filling in his left front ankle was going to keep him off the track at least through the summer and into the fall.

He will head to WinStar Farm in Kentucky after his appearance at Del Mar.Hello, my name is John Cherwa and welcome back to our horse racing newsletter as we wish Justify well in his new career.

The big, but not surprising, news is obviously the retirement of Justify. The move had been telegraphed for the past couple of weeks and I think most people figured it out when he was set to parade at Del Mar. On Wednesday, it was announced that the injury to his left front ankle makes a fall campaign an impossibility. So, after six races, we have the first undefeated Triple Crown champion.

Saturday, at about 3:45 p.m., will be your last chance to see him in California. Santa Anita had a crowd of more than 17,000 when Justify paraded there.

Mike Smith will also be signing autographs between noon and 1 p.m. Hopefully, thats not his whip hand, because it will be tired. And Smith is so generous with his time its difficult to believe he will get up and leave people in line. If youve never met him, hes just as nice as he appears.

Its expected that Justifys breeding rights will be sold to Coolmore for around $75 million. So, lets do the math. Its said his initial stud fee will be $150,000. He can easily cover 200 mares a year. Hell cover more but not all will produce live foals. That gets us to $30 million in stud fees. Now, there are expenses but $30 million will cover that. And based on the quality of his progeny, his fee could go up.

It does make you appreciate people such as the connections at Juddmonte Farms who let Arrogate run as 4-year-old, even though it didnt end as well as all had hoped.

That Justify had only six lifetime starts no doubt is going to be viewed as a negative vis-a-vis his standing among the all-time greats in the eyes of many. That he never raced against older horses, unlike fellow recent Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, also will be held against Justify by many. American Pharoah did face older horses in his final career start when he put an exclamation point on his racing career with a 6 1/2-length victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

On the other hand, it is a plus for Justify that he retires from racing with an aura of invincibility. It's also to Justify's credit that he managed to accomplish as much as he did in a relatively short period of time. The ride he took racing on from his debut victory at Santa Anita on Feb. 18 to his Belmont Stakes triumph on June 9 was extraordinary. He became the first Triple Crown winner who did not race at 2. He was the first Kentucky Derby winner who did not start at 2 since Apollo in 1882. He also broke the record for defeating the most total starters in the three Triple Crown races. Justify beat a total of 35 other starters in the three races, breaking the record of 32 set by War Admiral in 1937.

Of this country's 13 Triple Crown winners, the only one besides Justify to not race after the Belmont Stakes was Count Fleet. Count Fleet was retired after he rapped an ankle during his 25-length tour de force in the 1943 Belmont. Despite not racing after the Belmont, Count Fleet ranked No. 5 on the BloodHorse magazine's list of the Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century, behind only No. 1 Man o' War, No. 2 Secretariat, No. 3 Citation and No. 4 Kelso.

But while both Justify and Count Fleet were retired after the Belmont, Count Fleet's body of work certainly was much more robust than Justify's. Count Fleet won a total of 16 races compared to just six for Justify. Count Fleet was the 2-year-old male champion. Justify did not even race at 2.

It is clear that Justify was a phenomenal talent, as Bob Baffert said after the colt won the Santa Anita Derby in only his third lifetime start. But many understandably will downgrade Justify to some extent for not racing more than he did when trying to determine where he belongs among the sport's all-time greats.

He was 0-for-2 on the dirt, but one of them was the first race of his career and the other was the Tokyo City Cup, where he ran the best number of his life, said Leonard Powell , the winning trainer. I thought we would be a bit closer to the pace, but [jockey] Rafael [ Bejarano ] made the right call. Well see how he comes back.  We have options with him.

My horse has speed, but we came away from there nice and easy and he was relaxed, so I took a little hold, Bejarano said. My position was good throughout. Then coming for home, I got through inside and he went. He likes the distance. Its good for him.

Thursdays card at Del Mar isnt as good as Wednesday, which included a graded stakes race, and the field sizes are shrinking back a little but all is still good at the track. Overall handle is up at Del Mar, although on-site attendance was down on opening day and the on-site handle is about the same.

Thursdays eight-race card starts at 2 p.m. Five of the races are claimers and there are three races (the last three) are just for Cal-breds.

X S Gold is the 5-2 favorite for trainer James Cassidy and jockey Kent Desormeaux . Shes won one of her eight lifetime starts but finished second in her last two races, allowance races at Santa Anita.

A five-time winner facing a group of one-time winners, let's go with this Golden Gate shipper from the good John Martin stable. She circled wide on the far turn but didn't follow through in her most recent but perhaps she can return to her earlier form with a change in venue.

Still looking to jump the circulation of this newsletter. Cant beat the price. If you like it, tell someone. If you dont like it, then youre probably not reading this. Either way, send to a friend and just have them click here and sign up . Remember, its free, and all we need is your email, nothing more.

Any thoughts, dont hit reply as I wont see that email, instead you can reach me at johnacherwa@gmail.com . You can also feed my ego by following me on Twitter @jcherwa

Del Mar Charts Results for Wednesday, July 25. Copyright 2018 by Equibase Company. Reproduction prohibited. Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, Del Mar, California. All finishes confirmed by Plusmic USA. Official program numbers may not correspond with post position. 6th day of a 36-day meet. Clear & Fast

FIRST RACE. 6 Furlongs. Purse: $24,000. Claiming. Fillies and Mares. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Price $20,000. Time 23.10 46.56 1:11.54 1:17.89

Pgm Horse Wt PP St   Str Fin Jockey $1 4 Duranga 124 4 4 51 51 2 12 Prat 2.70 6 Always Believe 119 6 1 2 2hd 3hd 21 Espinoza 3.90 1 Miz Tianjin 124 1 6 3 1 11 31 Franco 5.20 2 Empress of Lov 113 2 5 4hd 3hd 41 41 Figueroa 25.20 3 Tee Em Eye 124 3 3 7 61 62 5 Quinonez 10.90 7 Robin's Love 124 7 2 1hd 41 5hd 62 T Baze 1.50 5 Dizzy Diva 124 5 7 62 7 7 7 Talamo 24.10

4 DURANGA 7.40 4.20 3.20 6 ALWAYS BELIEVE 4.80 3.40 1 MIZ TIANJIN 3.80

$1 EXACTA (4-6) $12.80 $2 QUINELLA (4-6) $15.60 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (4-6-1-2) $42.24 50-CENT TRIFECTA (4-6-1) $33.35

WinnerDuranga Dbb.f.4 by Bellamy Road out of Just a Tizzy, by Cee's Tizzy. Bred by J. D. Stuart, P. C. Bance, Hollendorfer& Todaro (KY). Trainer: Jerry Hollendorfer. Owner: David A Bernsen LLC, Hollendorfer, LLC, Miami Shores Racing, LLC and Todaro, George. Mutuel Pool $184,020 Exacta Pool $99,029 Quinella Pool $5,507 Superfecta Pool $38,459 Trifecta Pool $63,582. ClaimedDuranga by Fay, Chad and Crawford, Patrick. Trainer: Kristin Mulhall. ClaimedMiz Tianjin by Featherston, Roger, Miller, David J., Miller, Lynn, Miller, Tom, et al. Trainer: Eddie Truman. ClaimedRobin's Love by Nicholas Alexander. Trainer: Philip D'Amato. Scratchednone.

DURANGA stalked outside then off the rail on the turn, came five wide into the stretch, rallied under urging to the front approaching the sixteenth pole and won clear. ALWAYS BELIEVE had speed off the rail then dueled three deep between foes on the backstretch and turn and into the stretch and gained the place. MIZ TIANJIN a step slow into stride, went up along the rail to duel for the lead, put a head in front into the turn, inched away in midstretch, drifted out slightly from the whip an eighth of a mile out and held third. EMPRESS OF LOV stalked between foes early then bid between rivals to duel for the lead on the backstretch and turn and into the stretch and weakened in the final furlong. TEE EM EYE between horses early, stalked off the rail then a bit off the fence on the turn, angled to the inside into the stretch and lacked a rally. ROBIN'S LOVE had speed outside then dueled four wide on the backstretch and turn and into the stretch and weakened. DIZZY DIVA broke a bit slowly, dropped back off the rail chasing the pace, came four wide into the stretch and lacked a further response.

SECOND RACE. 1 Mile. Purse: $30,000. Maiden Claiming. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Prices $50,000-$40,000. Time 23.37 47.64 1:12.76 1:25.37 1:38.34

Pgm Horse Wt PP St    Str Fin Jockey $1 6 Tidal Effect 118 6 4 5 4 33 2 1 Elliott 4.00 2 Street to Indy 120 2 3 4hd 51 1hd 11 24 T Baze 2.20 5 Earnednevergiven 120 5 2 1 11 21 36 34 Pedroza 6.90 7 Momma's Baby Boy 119 7 7 7 7 7 63 43 Espinoza 2.50 4 Littlebitamedal 120 4 6 62 62 5 4 51 Pereira 10.40 1 Thefourfortyfourth 120 1 1 21 3 4hd 5hd 64 Conner 26.30 3 Bartlett Hall 120 3 5 31 21 61 7 7 Stevens 5.90

6 TIDAL EFFECT 10.00 4.40 3.00 2 STREET TO INDY 3.20 3.00 5 EARNEDNEVERGIVEN 4.60

$2 DAILY DOUBLE (4-6) $41.40 $1 EXACTA (6-2) $17.80 $2 QUINELLA (2-6) $12.60 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (6-2-5-7) $19.30 50-CENT TRIFECTA (6-2-5) $45.60

WinnerTidal Effect B.g.3 by Malibu Moon out of Wind Gust, by Dynaformer. Bred by Pam & Martin Wygod (KY). Trainer: William E. Morey. Owner: Cuyathy LLC. Mutuel Pool $240,017 Daily Double Pool $52,494 Exacta Pool $120,106 Quinella Pool $6,793 Superfecta Pool $45,234 Trifecta Pool $81,122. Scratchednone.

TIDAL EFFECT chased off the rail then outside, came three wide into the stretch, bid outside the runner-up under left handed urging to gain the lead in deep stretch and gamely prevailed. STREET TO INDY stalked inside, bid along the rail to gain the lead on the second turn, inched away in midstretch, fought back in deep stretch but could not hold off the winner. EARNEDNEVERGIVEN dueled outside a rival then inched away a bit off the rail, battled outside the runner-up on the second turn and bested the others. MOMMA'S BABY BOY angled in on the first turn and chased inside, came out on the second turn and three wide into the stretch and lacked the needed rally. LITTLEBITAMEDAL bobbled some just after the start, stalked off the rail then outside a rival, came a bit wide into the stretch and weakened. THEFOURFORTYFOURTH dueled inside then stalked a bit off the rail, was between foes into the second turn, found the inside again into the stretch and also weakened. BARTLETT HALL pulled between foes early, tugged his way up outside a rival to stalk the pace, dropped back between foes on the second turn, angled to the fence into the stretch and also weakened.

THIRD RACE. 5 Furlongs. Purse: $20,000. Claiming. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Prices $8,000-$7,000. Time 21.85 45.86 57.88 1:04.29

Pgm Horse Wt PP St  3/8 Str Fin Jockey $1 6 Bow and Arrow 122 6 6 7hd 61 1hd 1hd Fuentes 5.30 9 Lambo Luxx 120 9 7 5hd 31 21 23 Roman 16.30 8 Tomasino 120 8 3 61 4 5 3 Franco 2.10 5 Bargaining 122 5 2 21 2hd 41 4hd Pedroza 5.00 3 Red Wine and Dine 115 3 5 1 1 3 52 Figueroa 5.70 1 Louden's Gray 124 1 8 84 84 74 6 Quinonez 5.30 4 Upperclassman 122 4 1 31 5 61 7hd T Baze 22.80 2 Rocket Fuel 120 2 9 9 9 81 87 Gonzalez 7.60 7 Adriatic Son 115 7 4 4hd 7hd 9 9 Payeras 60.70

6 BOW AND ARROW 12.60 7.20 4.20 9 LAMBO LUXX 14.00 7.00 8 TOMASINO 3.20

$2 DAILY DOUBLE (6-6) $64.00 $1 EXACTA (6-9) $72.40 $2 QUINELLA (6-9) $77.40 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (6-9-8-5) $120.55 50-CENT TRIFECTA (6-9-8) $132.50

WinnerBow and Arrow Dbb.g.4 by Archarcharch out of Capable Argument, by Closing Argument. Bred by Michael Meeks (FL). Trainer: Andrew Lerner. Owner: Lerner Racing. Mutuel Pool $305,065 Daily Double Pool $29,650 Exacta Pool $190,457 Quinella Pool $8,584 Superfecta Pool $82,691 Trifecta Pool $129,960. ClaimedBow and Arrow by Renella, Jaime and Deleon, Rafael. Trainer: Rafael DeLeon. ClaimedTomasino by Cimino, Michael, Guido Racing LLC and Rexius, Kurt. Trainer: Charles Treece. ClaimedBargaining by Tom Mansor. Trainer: Gary Sherlock. ClaimedLouden's Gray by Twilight Racing LLC and Menegos, Joe and Michael. Trainer: Kristin Mulhall. ClaimedRocket Fuel by Steven Miyadi. Trainer: Steven Miyadi. Scratchednone. $1 Pick Three (4-6-6) paid $117.40. Pick Three Pool $61,155.

BOW AND ARROW chased alongside a rival then outside on the turn, came five wide into the stretch, took a short lead outside under some left handed urging in midstretch, drifted in and brushed with the runner-up in deep stretch and gamely prevailed. LAMBO LUXX stalked outside, went up four wide on the turn and into the stretch to put a head in front, also drifted in through the drive while fighting back and brushed with the winner in deep stretch. TOMASINO close up stalking the pace between horses, came three deep into the stretch and edged a rival for the show. BARGAINING prompted the pace three deep then outside a rival leaving the backstretch and between foes on the turn and into the stretch and was edged for third. RED WINE AND DINE had good early speed and set a pressured pace inside, fought back into the stretch and weakened some in the final furlong but was edged for a minor share. LOUDEN'S GRAY saved ground chasing the pace, came out into the stretch and lacked the needed rally. UPPERCLASSMAN had speed between foes then stalked a bit off the rail leaving the backstretch, angled to the inside into the stretch and weakened. ROCKET FUEL a step slow into stride, saved ground off the pace, came out into the stretch and did not rally. ADRIATIC SON stalked of the rail, dropped back on the turn and had little left for the stretch. A claim of foul by the rider of the runner-up against the winner for alleged interference in the stretch was not allowed by the stewards, who ruled both runners drifted in and the minor contact between them did not alter the original order of finish.

FOURTH RACE. 5 Furlongs Turf. Purse: $67,000. Allowance Optional Claiming. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Price $100,000. Time 22.45 44.41 55.72

Pgm Horse Wt PP St 3/16 3/8 Str Fin Jockey $1 7 Stormy Liberal 119 7 2 41 21 25 1ns Van Dyke 1.00 5 Tribalist 119 5 5 11 11 1hd 23 T Baze 3.00 2 Right Hand Man 119 2 7 7 7 7 3 Bejarano 34.90 3 Vorticity 119 3 4 5 5hd 3hd 4nk Pereira 10.00 1 Law Abidin Citizen 121 1 1 2hd 41 6hd 5 Prat 5.10 4 Tiz a Billy 119 4 6 61 61 51 62 Roman 7.50 6 Adens Dream 119 6 3 3 3hd 4hd 7 Stevens 20.50

7 STORMY LIBERAL 4.00 2.60 2.40 5 TRIBALIST 2.80 2.60 2 RIGHT HAND MAN 4.80

$2 DAILY DOUBLE (6-7) $28.80 $1 EXACTA (7-5) $4.90 $2 QUINELLA (5-7) $5.80 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (7-5-2-3) $36.43 50-CENT TRIFECTA (7-5-2) $38.55

WinnerStormy Liberal B.g.6 by Stormy Atlantic out of Vassar, by Royal Academy. Bred by Dapple Bloodstock &Gryphon Investments LLC (KY). Trainer: Peter Miller. Owner: Rockingham Ranch and David A Bernsen LLC. Mutuel Pool $325,664 Daily Double Pool $35,559 Exacta Pool $146,437 Quinella Pool $8,113 Superfecta Pool $56,269 Trifecta Pool $95,495. Scratchednone. $1 Pick Three (6-6-7) paid $71.90. Pick Three Pool $32,795.

STORMY LIBERAL stalked three deep, bid outside the runner-up into the stretch, brushed with that one past midstretch and gamely prevailed late under good handling. TRIBALIST sped to the early lead, inched away and set the pace a bit off the rail then inside, fought back along the fence into and through the stretch, brushed with the winner past midstretch and continued gamely to the end. RIGHT HAND MAN broke a bit slowly, chased just off the rail then inside, came out leaving the turn and into the stretch and gained the show three deep late. VORTICITY stalked a bit off the inside, came three wide into the stretch and was edged for third between foes late. LAW ABIDIN CITIZEN saved ground stalking the pace throughout and was edged for a minor share. TIZ A BILLY stalked outside then alongside a rival, came four wide into the stretch and lacked the needed rally. ADENS DREAM close up stalking the pace between horses then outside a rival leaving the turn, weakened in the stretch. The stewards conducted an inquiry into the stretch run between the top pair but made no change when they ruled the minor contact between them did not alter the original order of finish.

FIFTH RACE. 6 Furlongs. Purse: $30,000. Maiden Claiming. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Price $50,000. Time 22.18 46.13 58.45 1:11.44

Pgm Horse Wt PP St   Str Fin Jockey $1 3 Hoss Cartwright 120 3 5 11 12 12 12 Bejarano 1.50 2 Cayate 124 2 6 61 3 21 24 Gonzalez 5.20 5 Black Storm 124 5 4 71 61 52 3ns Pena 6.00 8 Friendly Steve 115 8 1 41 52 31 42 Espinoza 8.10 1 Poise to Strike 120 1 7 5 2hd 4hd 57 Pereira 6.60 6 For the Hustle 124 6 2 2hd 4hd 62 63 Maldonado 11.70 4 Achieved 124 4 8 8 72 75 76 Sanchez 27.20 7 Sound Logic 120 7 3 3 8 8 8 Mn Garcia 6.40

3 HOSS CARTWRIGHT 5.00 3.60 2.80 2 CAYATE 4.60 3.20 5 BLACK STORM 3.40

$2 DAILY DOUBLE (7-3) $11.40 $1 EXACTA (3-2) $9.50 $2 QUINELLA (2-3) $10.80 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (3-2-5-8) $11.52 50-CENT TRIFECTA (3-2-5) $12.50

WinnerHoss Cartwright B.g.3 by Slew's Tiznow out of Carson's Dane, by Carson City. Bred by Joseph LaCombe Stables, Inc. (CA). Trainer: Andy Mathis. Owner: Michael A. Moran. Mutuel Pool $278,099 Daily Double Pool $36,267 Exacta Pool $149,277 Quinella Pool $7,717 Superfecta Pool $71,755 Trifecta Pool $112,400. ClaimedSound Logic by Peter Redekop B. C. Ltd and Morey, William E. Trainer: William Morey. Scratchednone. $1 Pick Three (6-7-3) paid $50.80. Pick Three Pool $65,737. 50-Cent Pick Four (6-6-7-3) 4 correct paid $131.45. Pick Four Pool $175,319. 50-Cent Pick Five (4-6-6-7-3) 5 correct paid $631.90. Pick Five Pool $504,536.

HOSS CARTWRIGHT sped to the early lead, set the pace a bit off the rail, continued along the inside in the stretch and won clear under urging. CAYATE stalked between foes then a bit off the rail into the turn, split rivals leaving the turn, came three wide into the stretch and was clearly second best. BLACK STORM chased off the rail then outside on the turn, came three wide into the stretch and edged a rival late for the show. FRIENDLY STEVE five wide early, stalked the pace four wide leaving the backstretch and on the turn and into the stretch and was edged for third. POISE TO STRIKE was close up stalking the pace inside, continued along the rail into the stretch and weakened. FOR THE HUSTLE sent between horses early, stalked between foes on the backstretch and turn and weakened in the drive. ACHIEVED broke slowly, angled in and settled inside, saved ground on the turn and into the stretch and lacked a response in the drive. SOUND LOGIC close up stalking the pace between horses, steadied in tight early on the turn, dropped back on the turn and gave way.

SIXTH RACE. 1 Mile Turf. Purse: $35,000. Starter Allowance. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Price $50,000. Time 23.14 47.38 1:11.76 1:23.53 1:35.32

Pgm Horse Wt PP St    Str Fin Jockey $1 10 Amazon Cry 124 10 8 81 7hd 7 4hd 1hd Franco 5.20 9 Souter 122 9 5 61 61 3hd 1 22 Desormeaux 3.40 6 Glorious Crown 122 6 6 5 5hd 5hd 51 3 Pedroza 15.30 4 Taste's Legend 122 4 7 7hd 81 81 82 4 Gonzalez 25.70 8 Extreme Heat 117 8 3 22 21 21 2hd 51 Espinoza 7.70 2 Bob's Bad Boy 122 2 2 3 4hd 61 71 6 Elliott 12.30 5 Jimmy D 120 5 9 10 10 10 91 7hd Nakatani 10.00 7 Son of War 122 7 4 41 31 4 6 8ns Blanc 3.80 3 Spa Shackalacka 118 3 1 1hd 1hd 1hd 31 99 T Baze 4.60 1 Kinematico 122 1 10 9hd 91 9hd 10 10 Talamo 25.60

10 AMAZON CRY 12.40 6.40 4.40 9 SOUTER (GB) 4.20 3.20 6 GLORIOUS CROWN 8.00

$2 DAILY DOUBLE (3-10) $31.60 $1 EXACTA (10-9) $22.60 $2 QUINELLA (9-10) $20.20 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (10-9-6-4) $198.06 50-CENT TRIFECTA (10-9-6) $125.85

WinnerAmazon Cry Dbb.c.4 by Clever Cry out of Awesome Amazon, by Worldly Ways (GB). Bred by Danny M. Brown & Donna B. Brown (LA). Trainer: Philip D'Amato. Owner: Cunningham Stables, Queen Bee Racing, LLC and Collier, Michael. Mutuel Pool $325,824 Daily Double Pool $31,514 Exacta Pool $197,583 Quinella Pool $8,775 Superfecta Pool $88,293 Trifecta Pool $131,237. ScratchedDr. Troutman, Famous Rock Star, John and Montan, Original Intent. $1 Pick Three (7-3-10) paid $29.00. Pick Three Pool $49,910.

AMAZON CRY angled in and chased outside a rival, came three deep into the stretch, rallied under left handed urging to collar the runner-up nearing the wire and gamely prevailed. SOUTER (GB) stalked outside a rival then three deep leaving the backstretch and on the second turn and four wide into the stretch, bid outside to gain the lead in midstretch, inched away and was edged late. GLORIOUS CROWN angled in and pulled along the inside and was in tight into the first turn, saved ground, came out into the stretch and edged foes for the show. TASTE'S LEGEND saved ground chasing the pace, came out in midstretch and was edged for third. EXTREME HEAT angled in and pressed the pace outside a rival, fought back between foes in midstretch and lost third late. BOB'S BAD BOY saved ground stalking the pace to the stretch and lacked the needed late kick. JIMMY D settled a bit off the rail then outside a rival, came three wide into the stretch and lacked the needed rally. SON OF WAR angled in and stalked outside a rival, came three wide into the stretch and lacked a rally. SPA SHACKALACKA had good early speed and dueled inside, fought back in midstretch and weakened late. KINEMATICO broke in the air and slowly, settled inside, came out into thee stretch and lacked a further response.

SEVENTH RACE. 1 Mile. Purse: $100,000. 'Cougar II H.'. Stakes. 3 year olds and up. Time 25.56 49.94 1:14.31 1:40.55 2:34.02

Pgm Horse Wt PP   1 Mile 1 Mile Str Fin Jockey $1 8 Beach View 116 7 52 53 61 3hd 11 14 Bejarano 9.00 4 Hoppertunity 125 4 6hd 6hd 5hd 4hd 42 22 Prat 0.60 5 Full of Luck 120 5 41 42 4hd 2 3hd 31 Desormeaux 9.80 1 Twentytwentyvision 118 1 3hd 3hd 1hd 1 2hd 44 T Baze 21.20 3 Little Scotty 116 3 11 1hd 3hd 52 53 54 Espinoza 6.30 7 Prince of Arabia 119 6 7 7 7 61 63 6 Elliott 12.00 2 Unapologetic 118 2 21 22 21 7 7 7 Smith 6.90

8 BEACH VIEW 20.00 5.80 3.80 4 HOPPERTUNITY 2.60 2.10 5 FULL OF LUCK (CHI) 4.20

$2 DAILY DOUBLE (10-8) $148.80 $1 EXACTA (8-4) $18.10 $2 QUINELLA (4-8) $16.40 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (8-4-5-1) $58.86 50-CENT TRIFECTA (8-4-5) $50.95

WinnerBeach View Ch.h.5 by Giant's Causeway out of Love's Blush, by Not For Love. Bred by Sycamore Hall Thoroughbreds, LLC (MD). Trainer: Leonard Powell. Owner: Levy Racing. Mutuel Pool $310,027 Daily Double Pool $39,162 Exacta Pool $152,659 Quinella Pool $6,855 Superfecta Pool $64,196 Trifecta Pool $105,679. ScratchedDeal With It Dude. $1 Pick Three (3-10-8) paid $249.10. Pick Three Pool $35,415.

BEACH VIEW chased off the inside then angled in leaving the first stretch and saved ground, bid inside into the stretch to gain the lead and won clear under urging. HOPPERTUNITY stalked a bit off the rail then inside, went up between foes leaving the backstretch, bid three deep between horses on the final turn and four wide into the stretch and was second best. FULL OF LUCK (CHI) close up stalking the pace three deep then outside a rival, bid between foes into and on the final turn and three wide into the stretch and held third. TWENTYTWENTYVISION saved ground stalking the pace, bid inside leaving the backstretch to gain the lead, dueled along the rail on the last turn then between foes into the stretch and weakened. LITTLE SCOTTY set the pace a bit off the rail then dueled inside a rival, drifted out and stalked four wide leaving the backstretch, bid again four wide on the last turn and five wide into the stretch and also weakened. PRINCE OF ARABIA settled outside the runner-up then chased off the rail into and on the final turn, came three wide into the stretch and lacked a further response. UNAPOLOGETIC stalked the early pace then bid outside the pacesetter, took back some five eighths out then re-bid between horses, fell back on the final turn and weakened.

EIGHTH RACE. 5 Furlongs. Purse: $20,000. Maiden Claiming. Fillies and Mares. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Price $20,000. Time 21.83 46.04 58.62 1:05.29

Pgm Horse Wt PP St  3/8 Str Fin Jockey $1 14 Sea Glass 115 10 2 51 3hd 1hd 1ns Espinoza 1.60 11 Belle Monte 113 8 4 2hd 21 24 23 Figueroa 3.10 6 Veiled Heat 119 6 9 94 96 41 33 Payeras 13.60 4 Baby Ice 124 4 5 61 61 5 41 Talamo 6.50 2 Eurasia 120 2 6 83 81 73 51 Pereira 55.70 12 Red Bomber 120 9 1 41 52 61 61 Bejarano 4.30 9 Grace Hopper 124 7 8 10 10 81 73 Elliott 76.20 1 Pray for Corday 120 1 3 1hd 1hd 3hd 86 Pedroza 12.10 3 As a Rule 124 3 10 71 72 91 98 Fuentes 50.80 5 Omerta 120 5 7 3 41 10 10 Conner 16.00

14 SEA GLASS 5.20 2.80 2.60 11 BELLE MONTE 4.40 3.20 6 VEILED HEAT 4.00

$2 DAILY DOUBLE (8-14) $77.60 $1 EXACTA (14-11) $8.90 $2 QUINELLA (11-14) $11.00 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (14-11-6-4) $26.61 $1 SUPER HIGH FIVE (14-11-6-4-2) $1,472.10 50-CENT TRIFECTA (14-11-6) $21.05

WinnerSea Glass Grr.f.3 by The Factor out of Pileiton, by Perfect Soul (IRE). Bred by Terry Arnold & Jon Yessin (KY). Trainer: Ian Kruljac. Owner: Seltzer Thoroughbreds. Mutuel Pool $383,662 Daily Double Pool $92,508 Exacta Pool $224,263 Quinella Pool $9,636 Superfecta Pool $125,840 Super High Five Pool $23,147 Trifecta Pool $169,535. ClaimedBelle Monte by Rockingham Ranch and Sides, Clay R. Trainer: Peter Miller. ScratchedCali Eagle, Kalsa, Kya, Tapalita. $2 Pick Six Jackpot (6-7-3-10-8-14) . Pick Six Jackpot Carryover $9,157. $1 Pick Three (10-8-14) paid $231.20. Pick Three Pool $149,967. 50-Cent Pick Four (3-1--8-14) 4 correct paid $428.55. Pick Four Pool $510,223. 50-Cent Pick Five (7-3-10-8-14) 5 correct paid $1,136.70. Pick Five Pool $367,889. $2 Pick Six (6-7-3-10-8-14) 5 out of 6 paid $226.60. Pick Six Pool $83,143. Pick Six Carryover $44,417. $1 Place Pick All 8 correct paid $324.50. Place Pick All Pool $31,076.

SEA GLASS five wide early, stalked outside then off the rail, bid three deep leaving the turn and into the stretch, took a short lead nearing midstretch, fought back when headed in deep stretch and gamely prevailed. BELLE MONTE dueled four wide then three deep, battled outside a rival leaving the turn, put a head in front between foes into the stretch, fought back to a short lead inside the winner in deep stretch and was outgamed. VEILED HEAT bobbled at the start, chased off the rail, came out leaving the turn and four wide into the stretch and gained the show. BABY ICE saved ground chasing the pace, split horses in the stretch and lacked a rally. EURASIA chased inside, came out in midstretch and did not rally. RED BOMBER pressed the pace four wide, angled in and stalked outside a rival leaving the turn and weakened. GRACE HOPPER dropped back off the rail early, settled off the inside to the stretch and was not a threat. PRAY FOR CORDAY had good early speed and dueled inside, fought back leaving the turn and weakened in the stretch. AS A RULE broke a bit slowly, chased outside a rival, came four wide into the stretch and had little left for the drive. OMERTA had good early speed and dueled between horses, dropped back on the turn and gave way.The 300-pound head of a sphinx that emerged from the dunes on Californias central coast traces its roots to Hollywood, not Egypt. The artifact is now on display at a little-known archaeology site and wildlife refuge in the farm town of Guadalupe, eight miles northwest of Santa Maria.

The Dunes Center works on excavating items unearthed from the massive set where Cecil B. DeMille filmed the silent movie The Ten Commandments in 1923. Its a registered archaeological site.

The sphinx head cast from plaster is the crown jewel of a display of movie artifacts from The Ten Commandments at the Dunes Center. (Derek Glas)

Most of it is just rubble, said Doug Jenzen, the centers executive director. Thats what makes this so special.

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The sphinx head, delicately unearthed in November by a team of six archaeologists, stands 6 feet tall and weighs 300 pounds.

The giant sphinx head as it awaits transportation to the Dunes Center in Guadalupe, where the movie relic is now on display. (Christine Muratore Photography)

Its highly unlikely were going to find anything else of this quality. The fact that it survived this long is miraculous, Jenzen said.

It took 1,300 people and 3,000 animals to construct the set in Santa Barbara County, where the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes stood in for ancient Egypt.

After filming, DeMille left the massive pharaohs gate in the shifting sand rather than dismantling or removing it. Over the years, portions of the 12-story, 720-foot backdrop complete with 21 plaster sphinxes crumbled and were buried in the scenic coastal dunes.

This plaster sphinx head, standing six feet tall and weighing 300 pounds, can now be viewed at the Dunes Center in Guadalupe, a small town in Santa Barbara County. (Lana Z. Caplan)

As it disappeared, the movie set became known as the Lost City of DeMille.

The center raised more than $500,000 for excavations in the dunes. The rest of the artifact, the sphinxs body, remains intact in the sand. Janzen said it would take another $150,000 to safely remove it.

The dunes are worth a visit for other reasons too. The Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes National Wildlife Refuge, which covers more than 2,500 acres, is home to species such as the Western snowy plover and giant coreopsis. It also is recognized as a National Natural Landmark.

The center manages conservation efforts at the dunes, which are home to protected flora and fauna. Educators organize guided hikes through the dunes, located about five miles northwest of the town of Guadalupe.

An archaeologist gently brushes away sand from the sphinx unearthed north of Guadalupe in Santa Barbara County last November. (Dunes Center)

The faux sphinx can be viewed at the Dunes Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. Adult admission is $7; children 12 and younger are free.

Info: The Dunes Center, 1065 Guadalupe St., Guadalupe; (805) 343-2455

ALSO

With Yosemite closing because of the Ferguson fire, heres what you need to know about whats open, whats closed and how to get a refund

9 places on the Vegas Strip where you can still find free parking

Kauai food trucks pork sausage creation is crowned top dog in Hawaii

travel@latimes.com

@latimestravelGray skies kept me out of the surf on a recent visit to Laguna Beach, but I found plenty to enjoy on dry land. When my husband, Paul, and I had our fill of browsing the art galleries, we strolled along the ocean cliffs, dined in an artisanal restaurant and relaxed by the pool at Casa Laguna, our charming boutique hotel. We even discovered a remarkable wildlife refuge: the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, which rehabilitates seals and sea lions stranded on Southern California beaches. It was inspiring to observe the pinniped patients and learn about the extraordinary efforts that go into preparing them to return to the wild. The tab: hotel, $250 a night plus taxes and fees; dinner, $100 plus tip; gasoline.

THE BED

The heart of Casa Laguna Hotel & Spa was originally the Spanish Mission-style home of Frank Miller, best known as the owner and developer of the Mission Inn Hotel in Riverside. Over the decades, new rooms were added and the property became a hotel and bed and breakfast. After new owners acquired it in 2014, designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard beautifully redecorated it in a style that evokes its 1920s heritage. The 23 cozy guest rooms are nestled in a labyrinth of tiled patios and rustling palms. Guests enjoy complimentary breakfast either outside or in the chic blue-and-white-tiled lobby. I was delighted to discover that although the hotel adjoins South Coast Highway, we could not hear the traffic in our room.

THE MEAL

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The year-old Oak Laguna Beach offers ocean views from its sleek dining room, bar and patio. Homegrown chefs Chris Tzorin and Fabian Sanchez prepare such SoCal favorites as a soy-and-Sriracha-seasoned stack of marinated, raw chopped albacore; mango and avocado served with fresh-made wonton chips; succulent short-rib tacos with house-made mole; and zippy Cajun shrimp tacos with grilled Jack cheese.

THE FIND

The weather was too cold for swimming, so we explored Heisler Park, a grassy expanse offering scenic views and art installationsatop the rugged ocean cliffs just north of Main Beach. We discovered a stairway embedded in the rocks that led to tide pools brimming with sea life.

THE LESSON LEARNED

The Pacific Marine Mammal Center resounds with sea-mammal vocalizations, from the usual seal barks to sheep-like bleats, infant-like yowls and crowing worthy of a rooster. Adding to the sensory overload is the overwhelming smell of fish: The 70 or so pinnipeds housed here at one time scarf down 500 pounds of fish a day. We learned that since the early 1970s, the center has cared for nearly 8,000 stranded harbor, elephant and fur seals as well as California sea lions and has a 75% success rate of returning them to the sea.

Casa Laguna Hotel & Spa, 2510 South Coast Highway, Laguna Beach; (949) 494-2996. No wheelchair-accessible rooms.

Oak Laguna Beach Restaurant,1100 South Coast Highway, No. 202, Laguna Beach; (949) 940-3010. Wheelchair accessible.

Pacific Marine Mammal Center, 20612 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach; (949) 494-3050. Free. Open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. daily. Wheelchair accessible.

Heisler Park, 375 Cliff Drive, Laguna Beach. Free. Wheelchair accessible.Welcome to the all-new look for the Escapes newsletter, your guide to getting away from it all, especially when it all includes temps that top the century mark.

My name is Catharine Hamm, and Im the travel editor for the Los Angeles Times. Here in our new digs in El Segundo, I have a birds-eye view of LAX, and with every plane that lands, I wonder two things: What fabulous destination did that flight just come from and where is it going next, because I want to be on it.

Until then, let me share with you some of the stories that make daydreaming mandatory.

We have a tale about a miracle  a word thats used too often, but every mom and dad will have to agree that this trip was touched by the divine. It was, after all, suggested by a preteen daughter whose strong suit was not always enthusiastic participation. And this one involved hiking in a foreign country.

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If youre sick of the heat, we offer a secret escape on Californias Central Coast. And we also have suggestions on things to do that are nearby but offer a change of scenery.

If youre headed to Yosemite, youll also find the news you need to know  what do you do if you have reservations, for instance  and youll find the news you want to know, such as Elliott Hesters view as a flight attendant on what he did (but should not have) when faced with an unreasonable customer.

If you love wine, theres a bargain fare to California wine country that you might consider (but the booking window closes soon), an update on what you now need to take out of your carry-on bag, and where all the cool cruisers love to go.

Sit back, relax, and start dreaming.

 Catharine Hamm

AN UPDATE ON YOSEMITE

The Ferguson fire has now consumed more than 38,000 acres and forced the closure of parts of the Yosemite Valley, starting at noon Wednesday. Whats open? Whats closed? What do you do if you had a reservation at one of the hotels or tent cabins? How about an activity, such as horseback riding, that you had planned? Take a look at Mary Forgiones guide to navigating Californias beloved but beleaguered park.

Smoke from the Ferguson fire fills Yosemite Valley on Wednesday in Yosemite National Park. (Noah Berger / Associated Press)

KIDS DO THE DARNDEST THINGS

Like asking their parents to go on a hiking trip in Greece, specifically up Mt. Olympus, when theyve mostly been less fun than a barrel of monkeys on every other trip. Writer Terri Cook details the journey that took her family, including her preteen daughter who asked to do this, on a hike up the slopes that were the playgrounds  and battlegrounds  of the gods. Cook was surprised by her daughters request, maybe a little apprehensive, but ultimately the trip was like a gift from the gods. How did they pull it off?

Greeces Mt. Olympus inspired an adolescent daughter to propose a family hike. (Walter Bibikow / Getty Images/AWL Images RM)

JERK CHICKEN, JERK PASSENGER

If you want to know what flight attendants really think when they encounter a nettlesome passenger, check out Elliott Hesters Fly Guy column. Hester has been a flight attendant for more than 30 years, and every time he thinks hes seen it all, he realizes he hasnt. He says he wasnt proud of what he said to this passenger. What do you think? Did he handle this the right way?

A passenger insists he wants an entree thats no longer available in business class. If youre the flight attendant, what do you to when he loudly insists thats what he wants? (David Ahn / Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A SECRET PLACE FOR BEATING THE HEAT

Ive never thought of Watsonville as a beach destination, but writer Michele Bigley has changed my mind with her Weekend Escape. Plus, who could fail to love a place with a Martinellis apple juice tasting room?

Ocean view living room at Pajaro Dunes Resort, which provided excellent views and a good place to stay on a weekend in Watsonville, Calif. (Pajaro Dunes Resort)

A SHORE THING

If youre on a cruise, which port of call is your favorite? Our friends at Cruise Critic asked their readers to share their shore favorites. The winner of the most loved may not surprise you, but some of the other honorees just might, especially the rapid ascendance of one Caribbean port. Plus youll learn which ships rank at the top of the 2018 Cruisers Choice Destination Awards.

Glacier Bay, Alaska, is a favorite among cruise passengers. (Cruise Critic)

THERE IS STILL LIGHT

In the most recent Departure Points, the personal essay column that explores the ways in which travel changes us, author Gerry OShea writes about being far away from home when the matriarch of his family dies suddenly. She had cheered him on during his months and months of planning for this trip to Southeast Asia; should he now end his travels and go home early?

The tradition of lanterns dates back 400 years in Hoi An, Vietnam. (Dale de la Rey/ AFP/Getty Images)

NEW MUSEUMS, NEW INSIGHTS

Larry Bleiberg, whose Civil Rights Travel website can help you plan a meaningful trip, visited new museums in Jackson, Miss., and Montgomery, Ala. Both focus on the struggle for racial justice, and the history behind that struggle. The Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery has been called the nations most notable monument since Maya Lins Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson recounts, among other history, the 1955 killing of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old visiting from Chicago. The Justice Department has reopened the investigation of that case. As difficult as these histories are, both museums leave visitors with a sense of hope.

Ed Sykes, 77, visits the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Ala. (Bob Miller / Getty Images)

A DEAL TO WINE COUNTRY

Sonoma County is the gateway to some of Californias most notable wine country, and Alaska Airlines is offering a round-trip fare for $157. Plus, the airline has a Wine Flies Free program that makes it even more attractive. See the story for details.

View from Trattore Estate Wines on Dry Creek Road north of Healdsburg in Sonoma County wine country. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

If youre flying this summer, youll be in plenty of company, according to Airlines for America, which predicts that more than 246 million will take to the air. As we all have learned by now, unless youre a super premium passenger or youre on a long international flight, you probably wont get a meal, and snacks may be available only at a premium price. If youre thrifty or picky, you bring your own. But hold the phone, Gladys. You just may be asked to take those snacks out of your carry-on bag when you go through airline security. Heres the scoop.

You may be asked to remove your snacks from your carry-on when you go through airport security. (Brynn Anderson/Associated Press)

WHATS UP FOR THE WEEKEND?

Readers have long told us they want more ideas for outings that are cool and close to home. Let our weekly calendar guide you to festivals and sprinkled with fairy dust, Korean dance performances and changes to dance and taste salsa. Read April Orcutts Whats Up? to get your weekend off to a great start.

Salsa-tasting will be a big part of the Oxnard Salsa Festival July 28 and 29 in Plaza Park. (Oxnard Salsa Festival)

OTHER STORIES WORTH NOTING

The Washington Post has a great story on Milwaukee, a city Ive just recently come to know. Its affordable, easy to navigate, has embraced the craft beer movement (how could it not, given its suds-soaked history?) and praises one of my favorite places, the Milwaukee Art Museum, whose Santiago Calatrava design looks as though its about to take wing.

Up north, the San Francisco Chronicle has a starter kit for those who want to sample van life road trips without plunking down thousands and thousands of dollars.

If you like to camp but dont want to bother with a tent, Sunset magazine offers the 10 Best Camping Cabins in California, the West and Hawaii.

Some places are in danger of being loved to death; overtourism is an increasing problem. AFAR magazine explains how operators are limiting crowds without putting some of your favorite places off-limits.

Have a comment, question or travel tip? Email us at travel@latimes.comThere may be 20 political parties competing in Cambodias general elections Sunday, but for opposition supporters such as Sin Chan Pov Rozeth, there really is no choice at all.

Rozeth, a former rising star in local politics who now runs a noodle shop in Battambang province, is preparing to heed a call from exiled opposition leaders to boycott the vote, which has been described as undemocratic and a sham by critics.

It is my right to go to vote, but when there is no party that I love, I dont necessarily need to go, she says. Id prefer to stay home.

Opposition leader Kem Sokha was jailed late last year after being accused of plotting with the U.S. to topple the Cambodian government, and his Cambodia National Rescue Party was dissolved by a court controlled by allies of Hun Sen, the countrys authoritarian prime minister.

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The government crackdown, which also silenced independent media and was strongly criticized by human rights groups, prompted dozens of National Rescue Party lawmakers to flee abroad, in effect crushing Cambodias increasingly popular opposition movement.

With most senior opposition figures now banned from politics for five years and no realistic prospect of minor parties mounting a serious challenge, the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party appears set to secure an easy victory in the national balloting.

Yet it seems that extending Hun Sens 33 years in office  he is one of the worlds longest-serving leaders  may not be enough. In response to the boycott calls, the Cambodia Peoples Party has repeatedly warned that it is illegal to not vote, even though voting is not compulsory. That warning means voter turnout will probably be seen as a barometer of the partys legitimacy.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen speaks during a ceremony at the National Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh on July 15, 2018. (Tang Chhin Sothy / AFP/Getty Images)

Amid a climate of fear that has swept the country, outspoken National Rescue Party loyalists who are supporting the clean finger campaign  a reference to the purple ink used to stain the index finger of those who cast a ballot  are finding themselves under pressure.

Rozeth says she is regularly harassed at her noodle shop by men on motorbikes who yell at her. Im so used to it now, she says. And several other activists in Battambang are facing incitement charges after posting photographs on Facebook showing their inkless index fingers raised proudly.

Sam Rainsy, who resigned as a National Rescue Party leader under government pressure in early 2017 before going into exile, said in a call from Paris that supporters who are scared to boycott the vote could still show up at the polls and simply deface their ballots so they couldnt be counted.

I think the consequences would be very bad if we endorse a fake election by taking part in [it]  you just legitimize an illegitimate election, an illegitimate leadership, Rainsy said, deriding the minor parties  most of which were created in the months before the election  as creating an illusion of competition.

When we were dissolved, the voice of half the electorate was suppressed. We cannot participate in a farce.

During the election campaign, which began July 7 and ends Friday, only the Cambodian Peoples Party has been able to draw sizable crowds at political rallies, with well-organized but subdued processions of tuk- tuks (three-wheeled motorized rickshaws) and motorbikes winding through the streets of Phnom Penh. Many participants, though, said they were paid to participate.

Cambodian police force stand in formation during an inspection ceremony at the National Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh on July 25, 2018, in preparation for the general elections. (Tang Chhin Sothy / AFP/Getty Images)

Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge commander who defected to Vietnam in 1977, is seen by many followers as a strong leader who helped bring down the murderous regime in 1979 and is credited with shepherding in an era of rapid growth and development. In speeches, he often warns that Cambodia would backslide into war and chaos without his guiding hand.

The party liberated me from the Pol Pot regime, said Chum Sarin, 62, at a rally in Phnom Penh last weekend. I want Hun Sen to lead the country forever and I will support him until he dies.

The international community is less impressed, however. Rhona Smith, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia, said voter intimidation in the lead-up to the elections had created a climate of fear and confusion.

The U.S. and European Union have pulled election funding and did not send observers to monitor the vote. Reuters reported Wednesday that Japan, another major donor that did offer financial support for the vote, decided to not send observers.

Instead, observers will come from 52 other organizations and countries including China, Myanmar and Indonesia, according to the National Election Committee. Some contend that oversight from such countries will carry little weight.

Lee Morgenbesser, an academic at Australias Griffith University who studies authoritarian regimes, said that some of the organizations listed, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the International Conference of Asian Political Parties, are shadow observer groups whose role is only to make it appear that the elections are competitive and fraud-free.

In a WhatsApp message, Cambodia Peoples Party spokesman Sous Yara defended the election observers as independent and said their assessment should be trusted rather than those of a small number of traditionally negative thinkers toward Cambodia and our people.

Still, in a country rife with corruption and increasing inequality, many Cambodians say they are holding out for political change.

Now, the weak and the poor always lose and the rich and the strong always win, said 48-year-old Rescue Party supporter Vor Kimsum, who attended the CPP rally last weekend on the promise of cash. I want that to change. I want justice.

Holly Robertson is a special correspondent.Mourners in southern Syria attended mass funerals Thursday for at least 216 people killed in coordinated attacks by Islamic State fighters on a usually peaceful city and the surrounding countryside. In the worst violence to hit the area since the countrys conflict began, the militants also reportedly abducted at least 18 people, activists said.

The simultaneous attacks on the city of Sweida and surrounding villages a day earlier evoked the dark days of Islamic State violence that beleaguered Syria and neighboring Iraq during the groups heyday in 2014 and 2015. The abduction of civilians  activists say at least 14 were women  also were reminiscent of the groups tactic of taking hostages and using women as sex slaves.

A mass funeral was held Thursday in the city of Sweida, where men gathered in a hall to pay their respects to the dead. The devastated city was covered in black and shops were closed during the day to mourn the mass deaths.

Until Wednesday, Sweida, home to a predominantly Druze community, had largely been spared the violence that has hit Syria since 2011.

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As Syrias civil war took increasingly sectarian undertones, pitting the largely Sunni opposition against the predominantly Alawite ruling class, the Druze minority stayed largely on the sidelines. Community leaders in Sweida took a firm position against participating in the war, resisting enrolling their sons in the army to avoid revenge attacks. The Druze, followers of an offshoot of Islam, have kept their own local militias.

The attacks Wednesday rocked the community, sparking criticism of the government for failing to protect the minority group.

Smoke and explosions from the fighting in southern Syria on Wednesday are shown. (Ariel Schalit / Associated Press)

Diana Semaan, a Syria researcher at the rights group Amnesty International, said there were signs that no government troops or security were present to provide protection for the community when it came under attack. Despite the communitys pushback against getting involved in the war, the government has an obligation to protect them, Semaan said.

We call on all sides to prioritize the protection of civilians. This didnt happen [in Sweida], she said. No government troops were in sight.

The rare attacks in Sweida came amid a government offensive elsewhere in the countrys south. Syrian forces are battling an Islamic-State-linked group near the frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and near the border with Jordan. The group also has a small presence on the eastern edge of Sweida province, and in the desert in adjacent Homs province.

The militants launched their offensive with a spate of suicide bombing attacks in the city of Sweida in the early hours of Wednesday, including one at a busy vegetable market that left a scene of devastation. The militants also swarmed several villages in the provinces northeast, and in some cases, shot residents as they slept, according to activist-operated Facebook page Sweida News Network.

Hassan Omar, a government health official in Sweida province, said Thursday that at least 150 people were wounded in the attacks and that some were in critical condition.

SNN also shared the names of at least 18 people abducted from one village, Shabki, most of them women. Their fate remained unknown.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported the abduction, saying dozens were taken from their homes, but details of the operation remained unclear. The group put the death toll at 246, including 111 members of local militias who took up arms to fight the advancing militants. At least 135 civilians were among the killed, the group said.

Mourners carry a coffin during a mass funeral Thursday for more than 200 people killed by a series of suicide bombings launched by Islamic State fighters on Wednesday. (SANA)

SNN said many of the dead were shot in the head as they slept.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported bodies found inside homes.

Since their offensive in June, Syrian President Bashar Assads forces have retaken territories controlled by the rebels along the Golan Heights frontier and are now fighting militants in the countrys southern tip.

Islamic State has been largely defeated in Syria and Iraq, but still has pockets of territory it controls in eastern and southern Syria.

The extremist group boasted that its soldiers killed more than 100 people in Sweida.

In a statement posted on the groups social media channels, it said its militants carried out surprise attacks on government and security centers, sparking clashes with Syrian troops and allied militias. It mentioned nothing about attacking civilians in villages.

Islamic State posted no death toll for its own men in Wednesdays fighting. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 56 militants were killed.Barely a week after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won passage of a controversial measure underscoring his countrys Jewish identity, the coalition that helped him pass the legislation by a narrow margin is starting to fray.

The law defines Israel as the historic homeland of the Jewish people, who have a singular right to national self-determination within it. It diminishes the status of Arabic, which previously had equal status with Hebrew as one of the countrys two official languages but now has an undefined special status.

The law also asserts that the state sees the development of Jewish settlement as a national value and will act to encourage and promote its establishment and consolidation.

Although the law was initially applauded by most of Israels right wing, that began to change when hard-line Education Minister Naftali Bennett said that the manner in which the nation-state law was enacted was very damaging to the countrys Druze minority.

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On Thursday, a group of former military chiefs of staff and commanders of elite army units took a stand against the law, and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon conceded: We enacted the nation-state law in a rush. We were wrong and we need to fix it.

Here are some questions and answers about the law and the political fallout it is causing.

Why was the law passed?

The laws advocates say it ratifies Israels raison detre as a Jewish state and as a place of refuge for Jews.

Avi Dichter, the bills sponsor and chairman of parliaments Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, explained: With this law we determined the founding principle of our existence. Israel is the nation state of the Jewish people and respects the rights of all of its citizens.

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, another backer, said in a radio interview that the law just states what we already know: Israel is the state of the Jews.

So why bother?

Thats one of the questions being asked by the laws opponents  parties in the center and left of the political sphere who are Netanyahus political foes. But their concerns go well beyond that. Netanyahus attorney general cautioned that it could have negative international repercussions for the country. His concerns, among others, caused the bills most contentious language to be dropped.

Ahmad Tibi, a veteran lawmaker representing the largely Arab Joint List party, accused Netanyahu of passing an apartheid law.

The partys chairman, Ayman Odeh, said that the state has declared that it does not want us here, adding that it had approved a law of Jewish supremacy and told us that we will always be second-class citizens.

Many American Jewish organizations decried the law. The American Jewish Committee, among the most influential and mainstream of U.S. Jewish groups, said that it was deeply disappointed by the laws passage, and that it puts at risk the commitment of Israels founders to build a country that is both Jewish and democratic.

Demonstrators attend a rally to protest the Jewish nation-state bill in Tel Aviv on July 14, 2018. (Jack Guez / AFP/Getty Images)

What has changed?

There has been an uprising within the Druze community, which comprises Arabic-language speakers who follow a monotheistic Middle Eastern religion and serve in the Israeli army.

The Druze, a minority within Israels 20% Arab minority, number about 150,000 out of the nations population of 8.5 million. They hold important political positions and are renowned for their loyalty for the state.

In the first legal challenge to the law, three Druze members of parliament filed a petition with Israels Supreme Court on Sunday to strike down the law.

On Wednesday, more than 100 Druze reserve officers of the Israel Defense Forces, including several generals, announced the formation of a forum to fight the law.

Having built this home together with Jews, the nation-state law excludes the Druze community from that home and leaves us outside, said Brig. Gen. Amal Asad.

Citing the allegiance of Druze soldiers even before the establishment of Israel in 1948, he said that for some reason the Druze community has been left behind. Ive served for this country in the IDF for 26 years, and I have the right to demand for it to be mine exactly as it is yours.

The forum has announced a protest rally to take place next weekend in Tel Avivs Rabin Square.

The anger is not limited to military figures. Rafik Halabi, a news anchor-turned-mayor of Daliyat al Karmel, a Druze city in northern Israel, said the matter is existential. This is the struggle for Israeliness. I am in favor of a state of Israel that treats equally each of its citizens. This is a discriminatory, harmful law that needs to be canceled.

How are Israelis reacting to their demands?

The strains in Netanyahus coalition are showing. In recent years, the prime ministers right-wing Likud party, like the Republican Party in the United States, has been splintered by a tea party-like base that has pulled it significantly to the right and championed the nation-state law. But some within the coalition disagree with the law. Moshe Arens, a former defense and foreign minister and a Likud member, wrote that he hoped the judges of the Supreme Court will acknowledge the injustice that the Jewish nation-state law has committed against Israels Druze.

He added, however, that parliament  known as the Knesset  should admit it erred in passing the law. It is the Knesset that has made the mistake and it is the Knesset that has to rectify it, he said.

Einat Wilf, a centrist former legislator, said the government failed to explain why, despite no clear need, it rushed to pass the bill at 3 a.m. on the last day before the summer recess, while suspiciously denying repeated requests from opposition to include clear civic equality provisions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a parliamentary session in Jerusalem ahead of the vote on the nation-state measure on July 18, 2018. (Marc Israel Sellem / AFP/Getty Images)

What now?

At the end of an emergency meeting Thursday that included four senior ministers and two Druze coalition lawmakers, Netanyahu declared that the law will not be changed, but that he will formulate a plan that expresses Israels deep commitment to the Druze public.

This did not mollify the Knesset members who filed the Supreme Court appeal, who said it would not be withdrawn until the injustice has been rectified.

Netanyahu scheduled another meeting Friday with Druze dignitaries, including the spiritual leader of the Israeli Druze, Sheik Muwafaq Tarif, and an upcoming round of calls to Druze army officers.

Meeting opposition leader Tzipi Livni on Thursday, Tarif said that Israels Declaration of Independence, which guarantees equality for all citizens and has a quasi-constitutional status, is the solution for everyone.

We are proud of the state and we die on its behalf, Tarif said, referring to the hundreds of Druze who have died in battle. Everybody is asking why this happened to us.

Tarnopolsky is a special correspondent.Prank Wrong Number Phone Call Locks Down Lincoln High

(LINCOLNTON, GA)  Lincoln County High School went into lockdown Wednesday following a wrong number threatening call. The caller intended the threat for Lincoln County...

McCastle named District Teacher of the Year

The Lincoln County Board of Education has named Elementary School Teacher of the Year Crystal McCastle as District Teacher of the Year during their October...

Lincoln shaken by earthquake early Sunday

(LINCOLNTON, GA)  A 2.1 magnitude earthquake shook Lincoln County early Sunday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The seismic event was located...

Leverett appointed Deputy Whip

(ATLANTA, GA) Lincoln Countys freshman representative in the Georgia House, Rob Leverett (R-33) of Elberton, has been appointed to serve as Chief Deputy Whip by...Stock Market News

AAL Share Price - Anglo American gives go-ahead to Quellaveco copper project as first-half profits fall 26-07-2018 04:13



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

BAY News - David Dungay inquest shown harrowing footage and told of prolonged CPR failures 26-07-2018 03:50



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

UK Markets - UK prepares for Brexit surrender to Frenchman 26-07-2018 04:05



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

VOD Shares - Analyst at Deutsche Bank Maintains Vodafone Group PLC (LON:VOD)Stock Rating as a Buy 26-07-2018 03:29



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Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario on Wednesday urged President Rodrigo Duterte to defend and assert the countrys sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea and disputed areas in the South China Sea by invoking the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in 2016. With the tribunal ruling, we need to respectfully call on the President to finally do what is necessary to defend what we are fully entitled to under international law, Del Rosario said during his speech at the launch of Rock Solid, a book authored by journalist Marites Vitug at the Ateneo de Manila University. We need to listen, not to the Chinese ambassador, but to our people. We need to embrace, not China, but our own country, the former top diplomat added. Del Rosarios remarks came after President Duterte assured the public during his State of the Nation Address that the Philippines remains firm in its position on the South China Sea issue, saying the countrys improved relationship with China does not mean that we will waver in our commitment to defend our interest in the West Philippine Sea and Manila will continue to engage Beijing through multilateral and bilateral channels. Del Rosario also urged the Presidents Cabinet secretaries, including his successor Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, to exhaust all diplomatic measures to defend the countrys sovereignty over the WPS and retake areas illegally occupied by the Chinese in the South China Sea. The President and his men should cast aside their fear of displeasing China. In diplomatically moving forward to do what needs to be done, the President and his men will not be alone. In defending what is right, we will be joined by all Filipinos, the former foreign secretary said, obviously referring to the recent survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations that 87 percent of Filipinos want the country to retake Philippine islands seized by China in the disputed sea. Del Rosario believes that the Philippines will get the backing of the international community and its neighbors in the Southeast Asian Nations should it invoke the ruling of the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal. We will ultimately be joined by the community of responsible nations who believe in adhering to a rules-based order for the avoidance of global chaos, he said. In this fight for what is right and in defense against an unlawful aggressor who is out to demolish the rule of law, raise tension and create chaos, we must have faith in our friends, our allies, and the resilient spirit of the Filipino people, the former top diplomat said. In July 2016, the UN Arbitral Tribunal ruled that the Philippines has exclusive sovereign rights over the WPS in the South China Sea and that Chinas nine-dash line is invalid.The Tribunal concluded that there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within the sea areas falling within the nine-dash line, the tribunals statement said. Having found that none of the features claimed by China was capable of generating an exclusive economic zone, the Tribunal found that it couldwithout delimiting a boundarydeclare that certain sea areas are within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, because those areas are not overlapped by any possible entitlement of China, it said. The Arbitral ruling also said that China has violated Philippine sovereign rights. Having found that certain areas are within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, the Tribunal found that China had violated the Philippines sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone by (a) interfering with Philippine fishing and petroleum exploration, (b) constructing artificial islands and (c) failing to prevent Chinese fishermen from fishing in the zone, the tribunal statement said. The Spratly Islands and its many reefs are being claimed by China under its nine-dash line that covers nearly the entire South China Sea including parts of the Philippines Exclusive Economic Zone. The Philippine government filed its case in January 2013 following a tense standoff between Chinese and Philippines ships at Scarborough shoal in April 2012. Since the filing of the arbitration case, China had conducted several massive reclamation activities to turn submerged reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military structures and equipment. Chinas reclamation activities have alarmed other Southeast Asian nations, including Vietnam, which also has competing claims in the South China Sea. However, when President Duterte assumed office, he adopted an independent foreign policy that lessens Manilas dependence to Washington and warms up relations with China. During his visit to China, Duterte declared that he was willing to overlook overlapping maritime claims in the South China Sea in return for economic support from China.10 Top Tips to Help Students Save Money

In just a few weeks time, many students will be preparing themselves for university, and for some, this could be the first time they have lived away from home. The thought alone may be daunting, so Moneyfacts.co.uk has put together 10 top tips to help students save money.

Rachel Springall, Finance Expert at Moneyfacts.co.uk, said:

Pick a suitable student account

Starting off with a good bank account can help students over their years of study. Applying for a generous interest-free overdraft could be a lifeline, but they must be able to pay it back once they finish their education. As with any bank account, its worth noting that the biggest overdraft limits are not a guarantee as applicants will be credit checked, so those with a bad credit history (such as mature students) may want to improve their credit score first. A helpful selection of student or graduate bank accounts can be found on our website.



Budget carefully

By budgeting their way through their course, students will reduce expenditure and still be left with some money in their pockets at the end of the week to go shopping or socialising. Little changes such as making a coffee at home, or even lunch, can make a huge difference after just a few weeks.



Save the change

Each time students buy something they could save the change and watch their savings grow. For instance, with Lloyds Bank, when customers are in credit, a purchase is rounded up to the nearest pound with the difference put into a separate account. So, if a purchase for 1.25 is made, Lloyds will transfer 75p into their savings account; if they spent this every day for a week, theyll have saved 5.25.



Use Chip to save

One of the free apps around today that could help students save money without even thinking about it is Chip. Chip works out how much money users could save and can let them know by a simple text message, but it will also go one further and move this money into a separate account, so students are required to do very little to start saving.



Check your bank balance regularly using a mobile app

Living away from home means overseeing daily expenses, so checking payments on the go using mobiles or tablets will be very practical. Students dont have to choose a bank thats nearby or on campus if they only need online access.



Stay up-to-date with your credit score

At some point, students may look to take out a student credit card, or even get a mobile phone contract. There are various agencies to approach to check a credit score first, such as Experian, Equifax and CallCredit. Providers can ask one or more of these agencies for data to assess applicants, so its important to check a credit score regularly with multiple brands.



Review utility bills

Its easy to have apathy when it comes to bills, but students should always be on the lookout for ways to save money by switching provider and not take their current offer at face value. Its also important for students to make sure their fellow housemates understand the monthly costs and the importance of paying bills on time.



Buy an NUS card

An NUS card gives students access to many places that offer at least a 10% discount, so they should remember to keep it with them. When eating out, there may be even greater discounts, so students should consider this when searching for a place to eat. The card costs from 12, so its not very expensive.



Apply for a part-time job

Securing a part-time job can make all the difference for students hoping to build up some spending money. Getting a reference and starting a job will not only help students financially, but also introduce them to new people.

moneyfacts.co.uk is a financial product price comparison site, launched in 2000, which helps consumers compare thousands of financial products, including credit cards, savings, mortgages and many more. Unlike other comparison sites, there is no commercial influence on the way moneyfacts.co.uk ranks products, showing consumers a true picture of the best products based on the criteria they select. The site also provides informative guides and covers the latest consumer finance news, as well as offering a weekly newsletter.

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.



British Pound, Canadian Dollar, Russian Ruble and Euro Show Massive Volatility / Rotation Setup

Our research team has been watching the foreign currency markets with great interest. Recently, the strength of the US Dollar has put extended pressures on many foreign currencies. The recent crash of the Chinese Yuan has alerted many traders to the concerns that China could be edging over the precipice in terms of debt and credit market collapse.

As traders/investors, we need to understand how these currencies move, and future moves may drive the global equity markets to new highs or lows. Lets take a brief look at how some of our proprietary indicators are set up on these Weekly charts.

Weekly British Pound chart

This Weekly British Pound chart showing our proprietary Fibonacci Price Modeling system presents a very clear picture that the current trend is Bearish and that price is contracting. The Weekly Fibonacci price modeling system functions as an adaptive price modeling system  allowing the price rotations (peaks and valleys  highlighted by the yellow, cyan, magenta and white markers on the chart) to develop into a concise and efficient current model of price expectations and projections. The multiple price projection levels (the six projected lines to the right of the current price bar) show us where price may attempt to target should a breakout move happen.

Notice that the current British Pound price has reached and stalled near the 1.3100 level  which is exactly where two of our Fibonacci price modeling system has predicted with the Red and Grey projection levels? Also, notice how the Blue and Cyan projected levels are aligning near 1.3775? This would be a proper expected price level should price find some support near the 1.3000 level and attempt a short recovery.

As get further into these charts, please understand the key elements of these charts and what they are attempting to illustrate to all of us. With each pivot high or low, this price modeling system identifies a trigger price level that is used to confirm a trend reversal (if it happens) as well as to identify key future support/resistance. These are drawn as Green and Red horizontal lines. Youll notice a Green trigger price level near the current price bar  this is the upside price trigger level that would have to be breached if we were to see any further upside price advance. As long as price stays below this level, we should continue to expect a downside price move with a strong potential for new lows.

Summarizing this charts analysis, the current trend is Bearish. The current bullish trigger level is near 1.3600. Price is trending lower from a previous Bearish price trigger level near 1.4240. Price has reached the two (Red & Grey) projected price levels which means we should expect some price consolidation near these levels before establishing a new price trend (extending lower or rotating higher). Recent, new price bar lows show a very strong potential for further downside price activity. At this point, we see that support from a previous bottom, near 1.3060, will likely cause the price to stall near this level. We believe the price will continue to fall below the 1.3000 eventually as the strength of the US Dollar continues to push higher and the Brexit issues continue. The British Pound could fall well below 1.2500 before finding real support. Wait for this consolidation period to end and watch for lower prices to continue.

Weekly Canadian Dollar chart

This Weekly Canadian Dollar chart below shows a very interesting setup with our proprietary price modeling system. Notice the wide range between the trigger price levels (Green and Red) near the right edge of this chart? This extended range of the trigger price levels happens when the adaptive price modeling system finds price trend rotation. Previously, on this chart, we can see the trigger price levels were closer to price and within rotational ranges  the most recent breached trigger level being a Red (Bearish) trigger  indicating the start of a new bearish trend near February 5, 2018.

At this point, should price fall below 0.7450, we should expect price to continue to drop towards 0.7250. Upside resistance should be near the Cyan projected price level  near 0.7850. Unless the Canadian Dollar finds support near 0.7500 and rotates higher to breach 0.81875  this is nothing but extended price rotation. Typically, as price sets up an extended Top or Bottom, the trigger price levels will eventually tighten to establish a breakout trend setup. Right now, the extended ranges of these trigger levels is showing us that volatility and price rotation should be expected and the downward sloping Moving Average level will likely operate as a key resistance zone. The YELLOW markers at the bottom of the chart show us that price range is expanding and volatility is increasing. We could see some bigger swings in the Canadian Dollar over the next few weeks and months  but the trend is still bearish.

Weekly Euro chart

This Weekly Euro chart shows a more traditional price rotation setup with our Fibonacci price modeling system. Notice how the trigger price levels are very narrow and close to the current price. Youll also notice the Cyan price trend indicator, near the bottom of the chart, that is indicating that price range is contracting. The two price trigger levels (Red and Green) provide very clear breakout trigger levels (bullish near 1.1913 & bearish near 1.1687). The most recent trigger level to be breached was the Bearish level near 1.2200. A recent low price rotation has established a new low price pivot that is projecting much higher price projection points. Additionally, a more recent high price rotation has established new lower price projection points.

This sideways price rotation will be broken and a new trend will be established in time. At this point, we know the 1.1913 level is the bullish trend trigger point and the 1.1687 level is the bearish trend trigger point. Price trend is still bearish and any lower price breakdown below 1.1576 would be a strong indication that price is breaking below current support and should attempt to move to near 1.1000. To summarize, the Euro appears to be under extended pressure and any price breakdown could be a great short for traders.

Russian Ruble Weekly chart

Lastly, this Russian Ruble Weekly chart shows, again, price rotation and volatility. Notice how the bullish trigger price levels have been expanding throughout this sideways price rotation for the past year or longer?

As we stated early, the adapting modeling component of our proprietary Fibonacci price modeling system identified this rotation as extended price congestion and attempts to identify broader market breakout levels as a means to confirm a true change in price trend. The most recent bearish trigger price level was breached on April 9, 2018. Price is trending lower/bearish and the price trend indicator near the bottom is showing yellow  price volatility is expanding. We should expect further downside price moves with expanded volatility. Any price move below 0.01520 will indicate a very strong downside price move with the potential for price to reach 0.01250.

Concluding Thoughts:

Overall, we need to remember the recent political, economic and geopolitical conundrums are reflecting in expectations within global economies and currencies to be put under greater concerns. What was once a given, that the world would continue to operate without much disruption in the global balance of thing, is now open for debate. We are watching global concerns and liabilities as a result of Chinas recent downturn and currency devaluation reflect in additional concerns throughout the global currency markets. We have to be aware that these issues typically dont end quickly or without some form of government intervention. This means we may have quite a bit of time to play these moves and find good trades.

Right now, the Russian Ruble, British Pound and the Canadian Dollar appear to be poised for a breakdown in prices in the immediate future  breaking through support and possibly dropping to recent historical lows. The Euro is setting up for a breakout/breakdown move with a very narrow trigger price level range. The Euro may follow rally, briefly, if the US Dollar retraces a bit from current levels. Remember, these are weekly chart and help to understand the broader price trend. A breakdown in the Russian Ruble, British Pound and Canadian Dollar would likely coincide with a rally in the US Dollar and possibly the Euro. Therefore, watch for weakness in these markets and strength in the US Dollar as these moves happen.

If youve been follow our research recently, you already know why our members and followers stay dedicated to our team and our services. We have called nearly every move in the markets over the past 8 months perfectly. We urge you to visit www.TheTechnicalTraders.com to read some of our most recent research and to stay ahead of the markets by joining our membership services where we provide access to our most advanced predictive analysis tools and research. You owe it to yourself to have a dedicated team of professionals that can help you find success and stay ahead of the markets if you want to build greater success in your future.

53 years experience in researching and trading makes analyzing the complex and ever-changing financial markets a natural process. We have a simple and highly effective way to provide our customers with the most convenient, accurate, and timely market forecasts available today. Our stock and ETF trading alerts are readily available through our exclusive membership service via email and SMS text. Our newsletter, Technical Trading Mastery book, and 3 Hour Trading Video Course are designed for both traders and investors. Also, some of our strategies have been fully automated for the ultimate trading experience.

Get our advanced research and market reporting, Daily market videos, detailed trading signals and join the hundreds of other traders that follow our research every day and profit.

Chris Vermeulen

www.TheTechnicalTraders.com

Chris Vermeulen has been involved in the markets since 1997 and is the founder of Technical Traders Ltd. He is an internationally recognized technical analyst, trader, and is the author of the book: 7 Steps to Win With Logic



Through years of research, trading and helping individual traders around the world. He learned that many traders have great trading ideas, but they lack one thing, they struggle to execute trades in a systematic way for consistent results. Chris helps educate traders with a three-hour video course that can change your trading results for the better.



His mission is to help his clients boost their trading performance while reducing market exposure and portfolio volatility.



He is a regular speaker on HoweStreet.com, and the FinancialSurvivorNetwork radio shows. Chris was also featured on the cover of AmalgaTrader Magazine, and contributes articles to several leading financial hubs like MarketOracle.co.uk

Disclaimer: Nothing in this report should be construed as a solicitation to buy or sell any securities mentioned. Technical Traders Ltd., its owners and the author of this report are not registered broker-dealers or financial advisors. Before investing in any securities, you should consult with your financial advisor and a registered broker-dealer. Never make an investment based solely on what you read in an online or printed report, including this report, especially if the investment involves a small, thinly-traded company that isnt well known. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report has been paid by Cardiff Energy Corp. In addition, the author owns shares of Cardiff Energy Corp. and would also benefit from volume and price appreciation of its stock. The information provided here within should not be construed as a financial analysis but rather as an advertisement. The authors views and opinions regarding the companies featured in reports are his own views and are based on information that he has researched independently and has received, which the author assumes to be reliable. Technical Traders Ltd. and the author of this report do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any content of this report, nor its fitness for any particular purpose. Lastly, the author does not guarantee that any of the companies mentioned in the reports will perform as expected, and any comparisons made to other companies may not be valid or come into effect.

Chris Vermeulen Archive

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.



No concrete vaults in Cordoba cemetery

<

South Valley Islamic Community has conducted several public information sessions about the Cordoba project and facilitated Q&A opportunities for the benefit of the community at large. We will endeavor to arrange more sessions, time and resources permitting.

<

SVIC is proposing a green cemetery at the Cordoba Center that allows no above-ground tombstones and no non-biodegradable materials in the graves. We do not embalm the bodies, a process that introduces potentially harmful carcinogens in the ground. We do not use caskets that may present lead, paint and other potentially harmful materials in its construction.

<

At one of the public information meetings, Mr. Akhter was asked by a member of the Gilroy-Morgan Hill Patriots, longtime staunch opponents of this project, about the concrete liners or vault in the graves. They claimed this information was on Cordoba Center website. We found no such information on the stated website.

<

In a subsequent meeting, the same Patriot member presented an old project description from 2016, which we traced back to being on the Santa Clara County website. They were informed that this was erroneous information that needs to be corrected. We have since established that the county was in fact previously contacted by SVIC and corrected about the cemetery, specifically on the lack of concrete vaults. We suggested that the opposition and other concerned people contact the county planning staff for up-to-date information about the project. SVIC is not responsible for outdated or incorrect information on Santa Clara Countys website.

<

The Draft EIR correctly describes the project and the cemetery. This study serves as and remains the key evidentiary document throughout this process, and the basis for all environmental assessments about the project.

<

Furthermore, SVIC has never sought any certifications by any non-government entities regarding the Cordoba cemetery. The use of the term green only signifies the natural burial process, without the introduction of any environmentally harmful or non-biodegradable materials.

<

There are many green cemeteries in California and across the country, representing the growing trend in ecologically friendly burials. One such example is Fernwood Cemetery in Marin County along the banks of Coyote Creek, which was referred to as an example of a Bay Area green cemetery during the July 6 meeting.

<

Noshaba Afzal, South Valley Islamic Community

<

Gilroy

<

Less than significant with mitigation

<

I refer to the Times article Opposition To Islamic Center Continues, on July 20.

<

Your reporter did not cite the pertinent paragraph in full when she quoted the Draft Environmental Impact Report on the proposed Cordoba Project in San Martin as, The potential effect on groundwater is not because of any specific toxicity [human remains] possess, but rather because of the potential for increasing the concentration of naturally occurring organic or inorganic substances to levels that would render the ground water unfit for potable supplies or other uses.

<

Had she read further in the report, or even its much shorter summary, she would have noted the mitigations to remedy that potential issue. The pertinent paragraph in the full report states (Page 4.4-28): Significance After Mitigation: . . . With implementation of mitigation measures 4.4-4, . . . that operation [meaning, the proposed burial] does not affect groundwater quality, this impact would be less than significant.

<

The highlighting (bold fonts) of the phrase less than significant is in the Draft EIR.

<

The Cordoba Project would be less controversial if facts are clearly and fully stated. The media should not contribute to misinformation. Omitting key phrases has the same effect and perhaps the same intent as to mislead.

<

Karen Musa

<

President, South Valley Islamic Center

<

Questions about mosque project

<

Santa Clara County hosted a special meeting on July 12 for public comment on the Cordoba Center Draft Environmental Impact Report. Many in the crowded room ignored the purpose of the meeting and voiced feelings about the applicant or project.

<

South Valley Islamic Center project manager Sal Akhter earlier had assured residents of the projects regulations and safety compliance. He said the Cordoba cemetery would be green, or natural. One opponent of the project questioned him about the cemetery and the use of cement vaults over each grave, saying she got the information from the projects website. Akhter assured the group that there were no cement vaults being used and that he was unaware of that information on any website.

<

On July 18, Advent Lutheran Church pastor Anita Warner welcomed the community to another discussion of the project. In the applicants own project description on the countys website, it states Each grave will have a 7.5-foot by 3-foot submerged vault. A copy of the project description was passed around in an attempt to clear up the discrepancy. Akhter stated at the meeting, We need to correct that.

<

Transparency? Full disclosure? Discrepancies? Can an applicant in this county apply for a building permit, provide county planning with a project description, then change it whenever they feel like it? Why wasnt the public notified? Why wasnt the applicant forthcoming about the change? Is this a county error or an applicant error? Are we supposed to believe the applicant wasnt aware of the cement vaults in the project description? Its discrepancies like these that foster distrust in the community regarding new projects. What else arent they telling the public?

<

I also expect Santa Clara County to do due diligence with respect to transparency and compliance by submitting a complete environmental document to the state clearinghouse that would notify all agencies having a stake in this project.

<

As a last point, this correction needs to be made to the article in the July 20 local papers.

<

1) The article says Islamic community member Hambdy Abass believed the majority of comments were in support. Not true!! I counted each speaker and there was equal representation: 28 spoke in favor, 29 opposed.

<

2) Stating many of the comments reflected the continuing culture clash rather than the EIR is not true, except by those supporting the project. This comment is supported in the article where it states concerns regarding the cemeterys effect on San Martin residents water supplies were echoed by many attendees.

<

This is not about race, religion or bigotry. This is about the location not being right for this large project. Previously, other applicants, including religious institutions, have had projects denied based on an Environmental Impact Report. If this paper had printed the full statement from Trina Hineser, San Martin Neighborhood Alliance, this would be apparent.

<

Susan Mister

<

Gilroy

Project larger than others

<

San Martin Neighborhood Alliance welcomes all religious institutions to our community.

<

The Cordoba Center project, as proposed is:

<

 4 times the size of the largest religious/communal/social facility currently in San Martin.

<

 3 times the limit that requires enhanced scrutiny under the recently revised Santa Clara County Planning and Land Use regulations.

<

 Twice the size that the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) concludes would reasonably accommodate the needs identified by the proposers.

<

There are numerous inaccuracies in the DEIR, as well as important issues which are not addressed. The SMNA Board will formally address those issues in written DEIR comments to the county, which at that time will become public record.

<

The proposed cemetery is of particular concern, as it would be sited immediately adjacent to homes dependent on well water for household consumption. We believe, based on the references we have found, that this aspect of the proposal requires further study by cognizant technical experts before it can safely be approved. Further, we believe that suitable alternatives to meet this need exist and have not been explored.

<

San Martin faces tremendous development pressure from its neighbors to the north and south. If we are to host large developments that our urban neighbors cant or wont accommodate, we hope and expect that the county will honor its General Plan commitment to protect our rural/agricultural community.

<

We would be pleased to engage with the proposers, regarding a more modest project that would meet their needs with substantially less impact, but regretfully cannot support this project as proposed.

<

Sincerely,

<

SMNA Board of Directors

<

Trina Hineser, PresidentWelcome to Morningstar.co.uk!

You have been redirected here from Hemscott.com as we are merging our websites to provide you with a one-stop shop for all your investment research needs.To search for a security, type the name or ticker in the search box at the top of the page and select from the dropdown results.Registered Hemscott users can log in to Morningstar using the same login details. Similarly, if you are a Hemscott Premium user, you now have a Morningstar Premium account which you can access using the same login details.Construction Process Risk Product; Lender Tech Rollouts; Blockchain Primer

The United States is a fine country, and the residential lending industry is filled with fine individuals working to help borrowers, or help others help borrowers, with owning a home. Periodically I am asked about a list of organizations around the nation who support the financing of home ownership and related activities. From the MBA, here you go  just scroll down. (Speaking of the Mortgage Bankers Association, its president Dave Stevens sat down in his waning administrative days to discuss his view of the future of mortgage lending with XINNIX CEO Casey Cunningham on a very special episode of Inside the Mortgage Mind, a XINNIX podcast.)

Lenders and Investors: New Tech

Many small and mid-sized lenders dont have the time, money, or dedicated vendor manager to vet products and roll one out. (These lenders certainly couldnt afford a complete re-do of TRID.) With limited personnel, sometimes the task falls to the CEO, the owner, the head of IT

Ruoff Home Mortgage recently rolled out their proprietary digital mortgage solution, Loan Butler. This exclusive online loan technology gives homebuyers access to apply for home financing with a few simple clicks and keeps them apprised of the progress along the way. Loan Butler is cutting-edge online loan technology that gives potential homebuyers the ability to digitally provide required documentation at the touch of a finger. Applicants can initiate a credit check and review their scores, digitally verify their employment information, and seamlessly transfer asset documentation all from the convenience of their digital device.

Sun West Mortgage Company, Inc. announced a technology update to its SeeMyLoanStatus. Enhancements include a new option Price the Loan has been added to Originator Access to check out the Sun Wests excellent pricing on any scenario without creating a loan number.

Pacific Union Financial has chosen Total Expert to deploy its new proprietary marketing operating system (MOS), EXPmarketing. Pacific Union Financials Retail loan officers will be able to manage and communicate with prospects and customers while maintaining company brand standards and regulatory requirements.

AmeriHomes Correspondent Connect has a new landing page where you will find: AmeriHome and industry news, product and program highlights, Information about upcoming sponsored events and more. The new landing page also provides centralized access for logging into Correspondent Connect and SellerWeb.

Fannie Mae recently launched Ask Poli, a new tool that uses natural language processing to better understand your policy questions and quickly find the answers you're seeking. Available to Fannie Mae sellers and servicers, Ask Poli not only provides answers, but it tells you where to find relevant details in the Selling and Servicing Guides, and allows you to share or print the answers to keep for your files. Give Ask Poli a spin at AskPoli.fanniemae.com or on the Selling and Servicing Guide pages.

Franklin American Mortgage announced a new and improved customer experience powered by Blends digital platform. Homebuyers can submit, including on nights and weekends, all required documentation when applying for a loan from their mobile device or desktop computer. Recent studies have shown that the streamlined process allows up to 80% of borrowers to complete their applications in just one sitting. Additionally, borrowers can directly link their financial accounts to the portal, giving loan officers and processors access they need to quickly verify income information.

Wells Fargo Retail now uses Blend in its mortgage application process. Blendthe venture-backed company has tens of millions of dollars in annual revenues and 300 employees. It plans to expand soon into software connecting car-loan lenders with consumers.

Recall that Freddie Mac launched its Borrower of the Future Campaign to take a look at how the industry will have to address the younger homebuyer. The increase in self-employed and the rise of the sharing economy and digitally-driven lifestyles are having a tremendous impact and leading to shifts in behavioral, economic and societal factors, said Chris Boyle, Chief Client Officer at Freddie Mac. Collectively, the industry must now consider these dynamics as we think about how to effectively help the next generation find the home of their dreams. Were excited to serve in this important role to help the industry better understand the Borrower of the Future, and then drive the conversation on how to apply these insights to make the mortgage process more efficient and affordable.

Earlier this year Guild Mortgage launched Guild 360, a sales, marketing and CRM platform powered by Salesforce Sales Cloud and Pardot with Guilds proprietary internal systems. The platform gives the companys loan officers a single reliable source for maintaining current homebuyer information, aiding them throughout the lending process and specific to each customer lifecycle.

Caliber Home Loans joined forces with FirstFunding, Inc. to bring Caliber Express Connect for non-delegated correspondent lenders. Caliber is the first wholesale lender

to offer this service and the only lender who's integrated their services with FirstFunding. Tune Watch its Vimeo channel for a 5-minute introduction to Caliber Express Connect.

Earlier this year, to foster communication between regulators and industry regarding financial technology, regulators from all 50 states and the District of Columbia designated an Innovation Staff Contact within their offices, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS). The Innovation Contact will be the primary contact for fintech officials, streamlining communication on money transmission, payments and lending. The full list can be found here. John Ryan, CSBS president and CEO, said: State regulators see how fintech is reshaping the financial services industry. And an Innovation Contact is but the latest step that states are taking to engage with industry and modernize nonbank regulation.

We all want to be just like Google and Amazon, web-enabled companies that created real disruption in consumer buying. Is Blockchain the technology to create this kind of disruption in the mortgage industry? In the July issue of STRATMOR Group's Insights report, Principal Andrew Weiss outlines Blockchain technology and its possible impacts in his article, "Connecting the Blocks: Practical Applications of Blockchain for the Mortgage Industry." Weiss explains Blockchain through mortgage-related examples, including one that proposes what the industry could see in the year 2026 if Blockchain is widely adopted. Blockchain is one of the hottest technology discussions going today, and lenders, if you're wondering how it might help you get a leg up in the current market environment, be sure to read this article. The July issue of Insights also offers an article on diversity in the borrower's experience that includes data analysis from the STRATMOR MortgageSAT Borrower Satisfaction Program that may surprise you. It appears the mortgage industry isn't doing as well as we think serving some ethnicities.



Capital Markets

For actual rate moves on Wednesday, they barely did anything despite Donald Trump reaching some kind of an agreement with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, supposedly averting a trade war. (The two sides agreed to expand European imports of U.S. liquefied natural gas and soybeans and lower industrial tariffs on both sides. Does Congress do anything anymore?) The Bank of Japan refrained from scaling back its bond purchases at a regular operation yesterday, and European government bonds rose ahead of Thursdays European Central Bank meeting. There was also some domestic news indicating the Senate will present a bill aimed at delaying the imposition of tariffs on imports. And as far as economic releases went, New home sales decreased 5.3% MoM in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 631k, falling well short of 670k expectations after a downwardly revised 666k in May. The decline in June represented the largest monthly drop since December, and it took place despite a decline in median (-4.2% to $302k) and average selling price (-2.0% to $363k).

Headlines today will revolve around the myriad of central bank decisions, starting with the ECB leaving rates unchanged. ECB President Draghis press conference offered little new  a good thing as markets dont like surprises. Not that economic releases tend to move rates much anymore, but in the U.S., weve had durable goods orders (+1% in June), weekly jobless claims (at 217k, as expected), and advanced indicators (deficit of $68.3 billion, whatever that means). If anyone cares the Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Survey for July will be released at 11AM ET, and later, at 2PM ET, the NY Fed will report MBS purchases for the week ending July 25 which are expected to total just $1.406 billion net, compared with $2.9 billion in the previous week. Thursday starts, like a broken record, with the 10-year yielding 2.96% and agency MBS prices little changed versus Wednesdays close



Lender Products and Employment

With 2018 shaping up for lower volumes, compressed margins and a purchase driven marketplace, lenders across the U.S. are struggling to find ways to produce revenue and are searching for innovative products to support their origination platforms. CFSI Loan Management is a full-service construction risk mitigation company, helping lenders manage the construction process from beginning to end. We help our lending partners to ensure that the contractor and project feasibility phase is set prior to loan approval and after loan funding we provide full service fund control (including lien releases) and a national inspection platform that allows our clients to ensure that the project is progressing on time and the percent complete is accurate for funding each draw. Lenders manage credit risk, CFSI manages construction risk. Let CFSI Loan Management help you lead your market with real estate agents, borrowers and builders with a construction loan program. Please contact President Brian Mingham for information.

Military Direct Mortgage, a growing VA direct to consumer lender, licensed in 39 states around the nation is looking for remote Loan Officers. Join a growing team while helping our veterans utilize their benefits. Military Direct offers the VA Rehab loan along with a complete suite of loan products. For more information please contact Military Direct President, Patti White.

Flagstar Bank has been working with Ellie Mae to integrate with Encompass Investor Connect, which establishes a secure system-to-system workflow to the loan delivery process. This integration will allow correspondents using Encompass to deliver required data and documents directly to Flagstar with just one click, thus reducing time and errors. The result is lower costs and more efficiencies for both Flagstar and its correspondent customers. Full rollout is set for mid-August. This is among several exciting technology enhancements that Flagstar has planned for the coming months. Stay tuned to see whats coming next.

Looking for more control in your career? Maybe its time to investigate Motto Franchising, LLC. As the first national franchised mortgage brokerage model, we offer something totally unique. Own your own business and take advantage of an out-of-the-box mortgage company solution. With franchisee setup support for compliance, LOS training, licensing, wholesale lender mix, brand and marketing, we streamline the process of starting your own business and controlling your own future. To find out more about this disruptive new model, contact our team at www.mottomortgage.com/franchises (866.668.8649).

Wrapping up a record Q2, Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions, a leader in non-QM lending, announced the addition of 6 more AEs to help brokers and correspondents grow their business.Adding additional coverage across the country, Mark Dombrowski came on-board in Arizona, Tim Saucier in Maine, Gil Moran in Chicago, Shawn Hartman in Indianapolis, Robyn Smith-Manchas in Eugene, Oregon and Jennifer Hernandez in Southern California. To support this record volume growth, the AOMS Operations team is also hiring underwriters and other positions in both Atlanta and our newest center in Dallas. As more companies realize the benefits of offering responsible non-QM products, it only makes sense to work with the market leader. If you are interested in learning more, please visit www.angeloakms.com/careers.

Fortune Magazine recognized Houston-based Cornerstone Home Lending, Inc. in two of its Top 100 PLACES TO WORK lists this year, FORTUNES BEST WORKPLACES IN FINANCIAL SERVICES, and FORTUNES 100 BEST WORKPLACES FOR DIVERSITY. Cornerstone also earned national recognition in the GREAT PLACE TO WORK Best Workplaces national employee survey for achieving ratings of 98% and higher on: Workplace Atmosphere, Company Pride, Communication, Rewards, and best Bosses. Founder and CEO Marc Laird sites Cornerstones servant-leadership management style and its meaningful Mission Statement as the driving factors for the companys success over the past 30 years. For more information about Cornerstone Home Lending employment opportunities throughout the U.S. contact Tom Lott.

How many more residential loans could you and your branch team close with better back office support? You work too hard to experience the same chokepoints over and over again. Assurance Financial offers you a committed team of experts who have spent the last 17 years with only one objective: Help you close loans on time, every time. If you even THINK you may be losing origination opportunities to build your business in your current situation due to poor support, contact Paul Peters, CMB (225.239.7948). Assurance Financial is a growing full-service independent mortgage banker seeking dynamic producing branch managers and MLO teams throughout the South, Southeast, Southwest, East, and Midwest, U.S. Watch this 2-minute video now.Armed with experience as a municipal bond lawyer, an advanced law degree, and 13 years as a state prosecutor, Sue Hatfield is confident she has the strongest legal background among the candidates for attorney general.

She also wants to focus on Connecticut politics, creating a stark contrast from other candidates, namely Democrats, who have spent much of the campaign expressing a desire to oppose President Donald Trump.

I plan to focus on the state...many of the others running for this office are going to be pushing back against Washington and the (Trump) administration, she said during a visit to the Record-Journal Tuesday for an episode of the Morning Record.

Hatfield, the endorsed Republican, faces former state representative John Shaban for the GOP nomination in the Aug. 14 primary. The winner will face one of three Democrats in the November election.

Attorney General George Jepsen is not seeking re-election.

To Hatfield, Democratic candidates attacking Trump is in-line with an approach from recent attorneys general of over litigating. Hatfield credited Jepsen with making the office less partisan than in the past, but still felt he files too many lawsuits.

Hatfield said shed be willing to take legal action against the federal government when necessary  she said shed likely continue with a lawsuit against tax reform  but thinks an attorney general needs to focus on maintaining a good relationship with the federal government.

She also said the attorney general could help make Connecticut more business friendly by reducing the number of lawsuits filed against companies.

Hatfield said her experience as a prosecutor should be attractive to voters, as she has extensive courtroom experience and has led investigations.

I believe truly that somebody with a strong background prosecuting and knowing their way around state court is crucial in supervising other attorneys, she said.

Prior to becoming a prosecutor in 2005, Hatfield also worked as a public finance attorney for the New York firm Hawkins, Delafield, and Wood. She believes that experience would help when voting on the State Bond Commission, one of the attorney generals duties.

Hatfield, who has a masters degree in law from Georgetown, also said she wants to use the office to address the opioid crisis and human trafficking.

For more from Hatfield, listen to the Morning Record, the Record-Journals daily news podcast, at https://bit.ly/2LRJBKS

msavino@record-journal.com

203-317-2266

Twitter: @reporter_savinoBob Stefanowski was the first 2018 gubernatorial candidate to sign a pledge not to raise taxes and drafted his plan to eliminate the income tax with help from an advisor to two Republican presidents.

So when opponent David Stemerman hammered Stefanowski for being registered as a Democrat last year, Stefanowski called the attack a desperation move.

My record speaks for itself, my plan speaks for itself, Stefanowski said Wednesday during a visit to the Record-Journal for an episode of the Morning Record. Im going to govern this state with responsible Republican fiscal discipline, and anyone who says otherwise is, quite honestly, wrong and lashing out.

Stefanowski and Stemerman are both running in the Aug. 14 primary. They, along with Steve Obsitnik, are running on their business experience, but also face endorsed candidate Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton and former Trumbull first selectman Tim Herbst.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has announced he wont seek re-election.

Stefanowski quickly responded to Stemermans criticism, launching an ad last week that notes Stemerman was also registered as a Democrat.

Stefanowski also pointed out that President Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan were both registered as Democrats.

He also touted endorsements by Sen. Len Suzio, R-Meriden, among the most conservative state senators, and Peter Lumaj, regarded as the most conservative gubernatorial candidate prior to dropping out.

Stefanowski is one of two Republicans who is proposing a phase out of the state income tax, saying it can be done in eight years. Boughton is also proposing an eventual elimination, but Stefanowski worked with Arthur Laffer, an economic advisor for Reagan and Trump, on his plan.

He also signed Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquists Taxpayer Protection pledge.

To account for tax cuts while also balancing a $4.5 billion two-year deficit, he would privatize the Department of Motor Vehicle and close Malloys Washington, D.C. office, among other cuts. He also said economic growth from his tax cuts would increase state revenues in the future.

Stefanowski also said he wants to leverage private donations to fund transportation projects, opposes tolls, and supports expansions of gambling. He didnt voice opposition to recreational marijuana, but he said he has concerns that need to be addressed before supporting it.

He worked as an executive for several companies, included General Electric, UBS Investment Bank and, most recently, DFC Global Corp.

For more from Stefanowski, listen to the Morning Record, the Record-Journals daily news podcast, at https://bit.ly/2A9Y57h

msavino@record-journal.com

203-317-2266

Twitter: @reporter_savinoSRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, July 26 (Xinhua) -- At least five paramilitary troopers were wounded Thursday after militants carried out a grenade attack in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said.

The grenade was hurled at a contingent of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in main Bijbehara town of Anantnag district, about 44 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Police said the grenade exploded with a bang, leaving CRPF personnel wounded.

"Five CRPF personnel were brought to hospital in wounded condition today," Doctor Showkat Ahmad, medical superintendent at Bijbehara hospital told Xinhua over telephone. "All of them have suffered splinter wounds in grenade attack and were provided medical aid."

The attack triggered panic in the market and people were seen running away from the spot for safety, eyewitnesses said.

Soon after the attack, police contingents rushed to the spot and launched a manhunt to nab the attackers.

So far no militant outfit has claimed responsibility of the attack.

Meanwhile, a gunfight is underway between militants and Indian troops in Handwara area of Kupwara district, northwest of Srinagar.

"Exchange of fire is going on between the two sides," a police spokesman said.

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 them.By UNI

MUMBAI: Continuing its record-breaking run for fifth straight session, the benchmark index of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) rallied in a volatile session on Thursday by 126.41 points to end at a new high of 36,984.64 as traders resorted to buying in Bankex, FMCG, Telecom and Utilities stocks on expiry of July Futures and Options (F&O) contracts amidst better-than-expected June 2018 quarterly results of index pivotal.

The Nifty of National Stock Exchange (NSE) edged higher by 35.30 points to 11,167.30.

In a volatile trade witnessed during the day, traders rolled over positions in the F&O segment from the near-month July 2018 series to August 2018 series.

The July 2018 F&O contracts expired on Thursday. Better-than-expected June 2018 quarterly results from index pivotal also boosted sentiment on the domestic bourses.

The Sensex provisionally settled a tad lower below the psychological 37,000-mark after scaling a record high above that level in late trade.

The Sensex increased by 70 points to 36,928.38 in early trade. It climbed by 203 points and breached the 37K-level to touch day's high of 37,061.62, before closing at 36,984.64, up by 126.41 points as compared to its last close.

The Nifty registered day's high and low at 11,185.85 and 11,125.70 points, respectively.

The sectoral indices like Bankex, Utilities, Finance and Technology kept the market rally intact for the fifth straight session today, along with scrips of SBI, ICICI Bakex, Powergrid, ONGC and Bharti Airtel.

However, selling in Maruti Suzuki, Yes Bank, Wipro and Asian Paints capped the Sensex's further gains, brokers informed.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.76 per cent, outperforming the Sensex.

The Small-Cap index rose 0.31 pc, underperforming the Sensex. The market breadth was positive on BSE, as 1,349 shares advanced against 1,224 declined and 138 were unchanged.

Globally, European stocks were trading higher as concerns over rising trade tensions between the US and Europe showed signs of easing.

Asian stocks ended mixed as investors relief at US President Donald Trump and the European Commission chief's plan to ease trade tensions was offset by disappointing US earnings.

US equities advanced Wednesday after US President Trump reached an agreement with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker aimed at averting a transatlantic trade war.By PTI

LONDON: Vijay Mallya has lost his attempt to appeal against a UK High Court order in favour of 13 Indian banks to recover funds amounting to nearly 1.145 billion pounds, in another setback to the embattled liquor tycoon.

The UK's Court of Appeal refused the 62-year-old businessman, who is separately undergoing an extradition trial in a UK court over fraud and money laundering charges by the Indian authorities, the permission to appeal against the High Court order dated May 8.

In the ruling, Judge Andrew Henshaw had refused to overturn a worldwide order freezing Mallya's assets and also denied permission to appeal, which left Mallya with the only option of turning to the Court of Appeal.

Also Read: Vijay Mallya willing to come back home?

Judge Henshaw's order marked the first recorded case of a judgment of the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in India being registered by the English High Court, setting a legal precedent.

The Court of Appeal judges looked into Mallya's application seeking permission to appeal and decided against it yesterday.

As a result of the High Court order, the Indian banks - State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Corporation bank, Federal Bank Ltd, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Mysore, UCO Bank, United Bank of India and JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Co Pvt Ltd - have the right to enforce the Indian judgment against Mallya's assets in England and Wales.

"In the event, permission has been refused, then the decision of the judge is final and Mallya does not have any further recourse of appeal against his decision," said Kartik Mittal, Senior Solicitor at London-based Zaiwalla & Co LLP.

"The English judicial system does not give parties an unfettered right to appeal. The right to appeal is restricted.

A party can only appeal a decision of the first instance Court if the first instance Court or the Appellate Court gives the party permission to appeal," he explained.

"A party is granted permission to appeal only in cases where the appeal appears to have a real prospect of success or there is some other compelling reason why the appeal should be heard.

Therefore, in majority of the cases permission is refused," he added.

In a related High Court ruling on June 26, Justice Bryan had issued an enforcement order in favour of the banks, granting permission to the UK High Court Enforcement Officer to enter Mallya's properties in Hertfordshire, near London, where he is based.

While it is not an instruction to enter and that particular order can be appealed against, the banks have the option to use the order as one of the means to recover funds owed to them.

"The High Court Enforcement Officer, including any Enforcement Agent acting under his authority, may use reasonable force to enter the Property if necessary," it states.

Mallya has since said that he has handed over a full statement of his UK assets to the court and there was no question of use of force to enter his home Ladywalk in the village of Tewin in England.

The former Kingfisher Airlines boss had also issued a lengthy media statement last month, condemning the charges against him as politically motivated.

He then took to social media to clarify that he made the statement "after a long period of silence" because he had filed an application before the Karnataka High Court on June 22, setting out available assets of approximately Rs 13,900 crores.

"Media reports quote an ED [Enforcement Directorate] official stating that I am attempting a plea bargain.

Would respectfully suggest that the official read the ED charge sheet first," Mallya had said in his last Twitter message on the issue on June 30.

"I would invite the ED to advance the same plea bargain theory in Court in front of whom I have placed my assets," he said.

Meanwhile, Mallya remains on bail since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April last year.

He will return for his extradition hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on July 31, when closing arguments are expected from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), acting on behalf of the Indian government, and Mallya's defence team.

A judgment is expected in the case at a later date, which will be arranged by Judge Emma Arbuthnot.

While the CPS claims it has successfully established a prima facie case of fraud against the businessman, Mallya's lawyers have sought to establish that the criminal charges against him are "without substance".

They have also challenged the case on human rights grounds, questioning the conditions at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, where the businessman is to be held post-extradition.By Express News Service

BENGALURU: A petition filed by the Kanachur Islamic Education Trust in the High Court, pleading it to direct the State Government to only allot MBBS seats to Sunni Muslim students for the first-year course in its medical college was dismissed on Wednesday. While dismissing the petition, a division bench comprising Justice A S Bopanna and Justice Mohammad Nawaz said: If this is allowed in every such minority institution, the entire process of admission would be affected.

The petition was filed by the trust and college situated near Mangaluru, against the order passed by Medical Education Department on July 4, which had rejected the request. In its letter to the department last May, the Trust had requested to allot 82 seats for students of Sunni Muslim community out of 150 seats under the institutional quota seats for first-year MBBS course.

The court said that if a candidate belonging to Muslim community but not of Sunni sect is ranked above a candidate belonging to Sunni sect in order of merit then such candidate cannot be denied the seat. The college cannot prefer a candidate who is lower in merit but belongs to Sunni sect. Courts denial of such claim by the petitioners, in our view, does not affect the right under Article 30(1) of the Constitution of India, the court said.

The court also said that the petitioners, in their supplemental Trust deed dated August 1, 2015, have said to establish run and administer educational institutions primarily for the benefit of Muslim community and also society at large. Therefore, the trust is primarily for the benefit of the Muslim community as a whole and not only of the Sunni sect. An undertaking given by petitioners has said that not less than 66% seats shall be filled by minority students within state, to which the institution belongs, the court added. It said that the consideration relating to the petitioner institution has been on the basis of the right available to the petitioner as a Muslim minority community.By Express News Service

CHENNAI:A day after four persons travelling on the footboard of an electrical multiple unit (EMU) train were killed after they hit the wall at the St Thomas Mount station, the Southern Circle Railway Safety Commissioner, K A Manoharan, commenced his inquiry into the incident on Wednesday.

Taking stock of the situation, the Commissioner inspected the accident spot, tracks and the wall dividing the platform Nos. 3 and 4 at the St Thomas Mount station.

Speaking to reporters, Manoharan said that a public hearing on the safety of suburban trains would be conducted on July 30 at the Chennai Divisional Railway Managers office. After receiving suggestions from rail users, we will recommend required measures to improve the passenger safety, he said.

Noting that the concrete fence between the platforms was built to improve the safety of rail passengers, he said that the next course of action would decided after studying the various parameters involved in suburban train operation.

As of now, the concrete structure cannot be removed. However, we are looking into the possibilities of reducing the height and width of the fence, he said, adding that the Railways would also study safety aspects at all spots (including Pazhavanthangal, St Thomas Mount and other places) where passengers fell off the trains and accordingly corrective measures would be recommended, he added.

While ruling out the possibilities to introduce the automatic doors in EMU trains, the commissioner pointed out that such a facility can be provided only for air-conditioned EMU trains. It would not be possible to close the doors in regular EMU trains, he said.Besides, a team of railway officials has verified whether the track and concrete fence have minimum safe distance mandated for EMU trains.

The workers have assessed the earth and aerial distances between track and the wall at the station.

Railways to intensify awareness drive

Railways has asked the Government Railway Police and RPF to intensify the awareness drive against the footboard travel in the four suburban sections of Chennai

Erratum

In the report titled Wall at St. Thomas Mount station claims 5 lives carried in these columns on Wednesday, it was mistakenly mentioned that five people died in the accident, when only four people died. One person was wrongly identified to have been killed in the accident. The error is regrettedBy Express News Service

HYDERABAD: A 11-year-old boy, who was allegedly denied entry into the classroom by school management as his parents failed to pay fees, committed suicide by hanging from the ceiling of his house in Musheerabad police limits, on Wednesday. Following his death, ABVP activists ransacked school premises.

M Mahesh was a Class-VII student at Little Flower High School in Kavadiguda. According to the complaint lodged by his parents, the boy took the drastic step as he was humiliated by the school management and his class teacher, in front of other students.

Refuting the allegation, school Principal Vasantha said that Mahesh was not coming to the school for the last two days. The school did not send anyone home for not paying the fee, she said.

The parents demanded criminal cases to be filed against the class teacher and the school management over the issue.

However, cops have registered only a case of suspicious death, at this point, and have shifted the childs body to the mortuary.

We inquired over allegations made by parents regarding the suicide of Mahesh. It is reported that Mahesh was not coming to school for the past two days.

Footage from CCTV cameras installed inside the school was verified and it is confirmed that Mahesh was absent for two days. We will examine the case further in the coming days and will take appropriate action, the Sub Inspector said.By PTI

MUMBAI: Actor Priyanka Chopra has thanked an online magazine for including her in its list of the 500 most influential people, saying it encourages her to tell important stories.

Popular magazine Variety had recently unveiled its list of influential people and apart from Priyanka, it also featured the names of Indian celebrities such as Karan Johar, Salman Khan and Ekta Kapoor among others.

The 36-year-old actor took to Instagram to express her happiness over being included in the list and shared the credit with her team.

"Big thanks to @variety for including me in your #Variety500 for the second year in a row! What makes this one extra special is the little name right above mine @purplepebblepictures," the actor wrote.

"Stories are at the heart of everything we do, regardless of genre or language, and it's a wonderful feeling to know we're on the right path. This would not be possible without my team, and most importantly, my incredible partner and co-founder, @madhumalati. Feels like miles to go, but truly grateful for every step we take," she added.

Priyanka currently has two Bollywood projects in her kitty -- Ali Abbas Zafar's "Bharat" with Salman Khan and "The Sky Is Pink" with Farhan Akhtar.By BNS

Rashmika Mandanna got to shake a leg with Bollywoods evergreen hero, Anil Kapoor on Tuesday when the B-Town hero, who is fondly known to Kannada audience for his role in Pallavi Unpallavi, was in Bengaluru to attend an event.

Interestingly, the two put a few steps for the 3 peg song composed and sung by rapper, Chandan Shetty.

Apparently, Rashmika was taken by surprise when Anil said that he would dance for a Kannada song, only if Saanvi girl joined him on stage.

Anil Kapoor was excited and wanted to do a jig for a Kannada song, and insisted I join him on stage. Usually, when I am around a star, I start freaking out. When I was on stage with the legend, I said to myself, Ooh I am dead. As I walked on to stage, I kept wondering how I would perform in front of him, she says.

When Anil introduced himself in a two-minute formal conversation, Rashmika responded: Sir, you dont have to.

Rashmika, an established name in the Kannada and Telugu industry, goes on to say, We are Sonam Kapoor generation, and could not get to watch much of his films. But seeing him here and there and people talking about him, Anil Kapoor is a living legend, she says.

Rashmika is currently shooting for Darshan-starrer Yajamana as she awaits the release of her next Telugu flick. Meanwhile, a film (by Gautham Iyer) where she dons a cops role her film is now in the pre-production stage. The script work is going on, and we will go on floors once everything is in place, Rashmika says.By Express News Service

KOCHI: Actor Mohanlal will attend the State Award distribution ceremony which will be held at Thiruvananthapuram on August 8 as the chief guest. It is learnt Mohanlal, who held talks with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Culture Minister A K Balan has expressed his consent to attend the function, accepting the Governments invitation.

The decision to invite Mohanlal as the chief guest and his positive response are likely to end the recent controversies which have erupted after a collective sent a letter to the CM against the move to invite Lal. However, the collective, which circulated a letter with more than 100 persons signing it against the practice of inviting a chief guest for the State Award function, is yet to give its version on the new developments.

Earlier, actor Prakash Raj, cameraman Santhosh Thundiyil and actor-director Sidharth Shiva whose names were included in the list of persons who signed the letter had clarified they were misguided by a section of film personalities on the content of the letter.

Following the statements by Prakash Raj and team, representatives of various film bodies, including the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce, FEFKA and AMMA, had alleged a conspiracy behind the letter.

READ HERE: Prakash Raj, Santhosh Thundiyil deny signing memorandum to stop actor Mohanlal from attending Kerala Film Award ceremony

Meanwhile, Dr Biju, who opposed the idea of inviting a chief guest to the occasion, took it to Facebook to express his views. We learnt AMMA, FEFKA and Producers Association, have given a memorandum to the government. We are happy to know these associations know how to submit a memorandum. We really wish they would have done the same when an actor was abducted, he posted from his profile Bijukumar Damodaran.

The director said he had deleted his Facebook official page  Dr Biju  following the abuses showered by the fans of some actors and even from friends in the film industry against him on that page.

READ HERE | Film bodies allege plot behind letter to CM Pinarayi Vijayan on excluding Mohanlal from State Film Awards ceremony



I am deleting the page. I know there is no use in filing a case against them as they claim themselves to be the fans of certain stars. Whenever such a cyber attack, character assassination, threats and racist remarks are made against a person, then we will realise that we are alone. So I have decided to continue my personal profile on social media, added Biju.Sudhir Srinivasan By

Express News Service

Much has changed for Kamal Haasan during the five years since the controversy-laden release of Vishwaroopam. We have seen the release of two other films of his  Uttama Villain and Thoongavanam  that didnt exactly turn out to be super hits. His directorial, Sabaash Naidu, was shelved, revived, and it is anybodys guess whats going on with it now. In more exciting development, he announced plans to do a sequel to Indian, arguably Shankars best film yet. The truly groundbreaking news, of course, is his entry into politics, and the insinuation that he could likely retire from cinema entirely. And now, his film, Vishwaroopam II, after underdoing its fair share of uncertainty, is finally ready for release.

It is in the backdrop of all this tumult that Kamal Haasan arranged for this conversation. His only request before the interview? Can we keep the questions to just Vishwaroopam II please? And so we did, even if the answers naturally were about a lot more.

Excerpts from a conversation with the ace actor-director:

Are you worried that audiences may not recall the events of Vishwaroopam, given the five-year gap in between its films?

We dont see this as a second film; its simply part of a whole. We have also tried to remind people of the first films events with the screenplay. In any case, Vishwaroopam II has been conceived as a standalone film. Think of standalone classics like Godfather 1, 2, and 3. If anything, Vishwaroopam II, I think, will revive interest in the first film. Its the fulcrum around which the events of the first film occur.

The film is at once a prequel and a sequel. The seeds of Wisams patriotism are sowed here. Andreas character in the first film may have seemed a bit like water on a lotus. Here, you find out shes more than just an overconfident student.

Small scientific ideas have often come to play an important part in your stories. In Dasavatharam, salt  NaCl as you called it  negates the effects of a dangerous vial. In Vishwaroopam, a Faraday Cage stopped a bomb from being detonated.

Science is everywhere, isnt it? Back during the days, we communicated through doves. Sometimes, in our stories, a voice from the sky would tell the hero what he should do. Today, its a phone call. Earlier, we would have to create a bus stand, so we could show people falling in love. Today, a phone screen is enough to do that. Faraday Cage is an idea quite a few writers have used as a simple solution to get out of a seemingly unsolvable problem.

At a time when theres increasing emphasis on stories rooted in our region, is it fair to conclude that the core idea of the Vishwaroopam films is rather Hollywoodian?

Absolutely. Espionage as an idea in films isnt really ours. Vikram (1986) was supposed to be something like this too. Sujatha (writer) and I thought of it as a partial spoof. I remember we called one department, Bureau of Research and Analysis, so it abbreviated to BRA. But the director had a different mindset. Someone like Mani Ratnam or Singeetham Srinivasa Rao may have ensured everything fell in place well. We had someone who seemed to believe in the ethics of Kodambakkam.

Its not easy to adapt such ideas to our cinema. Imagine James Bond removing his shoe, so he can enter Kabali temple. I remember Jaishankars cowboy films that had buffaloes running in the background. They would have village festivals in place of Mexican festivals. It all looked incongruous and frankly, a bit silly. College kids, I remember, had a ball in the theatre seeing Asokan play a cowboy. Vikram, in a way, turned out to be that.

Makkal Needhi Maiam President Kamal Haasan addresses the media after meeting UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Thursday June 21 2018. | PTI

Are you then trying to make our version of an inherently Hollywood idea?

We have all already become global citizens. Look at what we are all wearing. Today, we can talk what Spielberg is talking, and with less money and more efficiency. The overseas film market may have just opened up for us, but we have one billion consumers here, if we know how to whet their appetite. China is our only competitor. We are telling our people they dont have to look Westward for these films. Our national language, according to me, is English. How does a Telugu-speaking person communicate with a Hindi-speaking person? Whats the lingua franca? English, of course.

I saw Vishwaroopam with an American from Fox Studios. He turned around after the film and told me I am a bada** for pulling this film off. There was another American who felt that the scene of Andreas character being interrogated by an African-American in the first film was pandering to racism. But overall, if we are a bit careful, our films can easily travel to foreign markets too.

I can assure you though that they dont want to see naach-gaana in our films. Their musicals are far more interesting. They may, however, be interested in a Salangai Oli. They want a film thats also about our culture.

Does the five-year gap mean that people will find it harder to consume this idea?

At the 30th anniversary of his Muhammad bin Tughlaq, writer Cho thanked politicians for keeping his film still relevant. Politicians are still stupid and corrupt; so that story continues to work even today. I think the same applies for Vishwaroopam. It will be useful as long as we have leaders like Trump who build defence corridors to save their country from others.

One of the striking visuals from the trailer of Vishwaroopam II was your bloodied body on a stretcher. It was a throwback to similar visuals in films like Kuruthipunal, Guna, Anbe Sivam

Ive been through many accidents. Im trying to tell others about this trauma. This is an expression of anguish. Ive not been in a war, of course, but Ive trained with soldiers. Im a fan of not only Kurosawa. I also admire Cronenberg, David Lynch and Sergio Leone. The latter especially We grew up on his films. Also, I think the more pleasant your life, the more you are drawn to writing about violence and crime. Crime writers typically dont work from prisons. Take Hitchcock, for example. He was from a sophisticated family, and made every film about crime.

As for the stunt scenes, I try not to write scenes I know I cannot perform. I perform most of the stunts myself, assisted by technology, of course  theres no point hurting yourself.

How do you marry mass elements  like that opening fight scene in Vishwaroopam  into a story like this without compromising on integrity?

Very carefully. You dont see Dracula biting every time. He hardly says anything violent. Its his grim approach that is frightening. Virumandi was about thuggery. So, it could be violent. Thats why we called it Sandiyar. Some political intervention occurred there too, and it came from the same source.

Shame on the ruling government and the-then CM for doing it. I dont understand the fun of trampling on ants if youre an elephant. During the Vishwaroopam aftermath, we sued the government. In a way, I think Ive taken after the lead character in Thevar Magan. I considered leaving, like he did, but have come back, and decided to stand my ground.

Thats why I think Id like for Vishwaroopam II to be among my last films, because I have work to do. Ill do these last few films Ive already committed to because I need money for myself and the party. Once my political responsibility increases though

Three U.S. airlines have agreed to China's demands to change how it refers to Taiwan on their websites ahead of a Wednesday deadline imposed by Beijing.

American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines removed the name "Taiwan" from the results of its destination searches, using instead the name "Taipei," the island's capital.

China's Civil Aviation Administration sent out a letter to dozens of international airlines in April demanding them to switch its reference of Taiwan to "Taiwan, China," to reflect Beijing's view that the self-ruled island is part of the mainland. Dozens of air carriers, including Australia's Qantas Airlines, British Airways and Air Canada, have already complied with the demand.

"Like other carriers, American is implementing changes to address China's request," American Airlines spokeswoman Shannon Gilson said in a written statement. "Air travel is global business, and we abide by the rules in countries where we operate."

By Express News Service

The Marathas, who form around a third of Maharashtra's nearly 13 crore population, held over 50 'mook morchas' (silent marches) in 2016 and 2017 across Maharashtra pressing for reservation among other demands.

From a series of huge, silent and disciplined marches to violent demonstrations, the protest by the Maratha community now is an antithesis of their efforts to seek reservations in jobs and education.

What is the Maratha agitation all about?

Marathas are an influential community, making up nearly 32 per cent of Maharashtras population.

Well-settled community

80 % and above land owned by Marathas in Maharashtra.

86 of 105 sugar factories owned by Marathas

55 % educational institutions

70 % cooperative bodies controlled

60 % of all Maharashtra MLAs since 1962

12 of 18 chief ministers were Marathas

What are the major issues raised by Marathas?

Economic liberalization

Lack of jobs

Agrarian crisis

What are their demands?

Demand for Maratha quota began in 2016

Kunbis, non-elite tillers from community already in OBC quota since 1989

Marathas want to halt recruitment to govt posts

Political appeasement

16% quota granted by UPA government in 2014

Bombay High Court struck down quota

BJP government brought in a new Bill to grant quota

Govt challenged HC order in SC

Case pending in HC

Govt panel set up to collect evidence of socio-economic backwardness of community

Proposal sent to state backward class commission

The agitation was called off by the Maratha Kranti Morcha coordination committee on Wednesday (25 July 2018) afternoon as the stir for a quota for Marathas turned violent at several places, including Navi Mumbai and Thane.

The police had arrested 20 people for instigating violence in the guise of participating in the Maratha Morcha, and Navi Mumbai MLC Narendra Patil blamed 'unknown' persons for the violence.By ANI

WASHINGTON D.C: Using sunscreens? You might be receiving less than half the sun protection you think you do.

Researchers from King's College London have assessed just how much sun protection people actually receive, based on typical usage.

It is well known that people don't receive the full ultraviolet radiation blocking benefit of sunscreens because they are applying it more thinly than manufacturers recommend.

In the first experiment of its kind, the King's team assessed the DNA damage in the skin after lowering sunscreen application thickness below 2mg/cm2 - the amount manufacturers use to achieve their SPF rating.

Results showed that sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 50, applied in a typical way, would at best provide 40% of the expected protection. The findings have prompted the King's team to suggest that consumers use a much higher SPF sunscreen than they think necessary, to ensure they're protected from sun damage.

Report author, Professor Antony Young from King's College London said, "There is no dispute that sunscreen provides important protection against the cancer-causing impact of the sun's ultraviolet rays. However, what this research shows is that the way sunscreen is applied plays an important role in determining how effective it is."

He added, "Given that most people don't use sunscreens as tested by manufacturers, it's better for people to use a much higher SPF than they think is necessary."

Nina Goad of the British Association of Dermatologists said, "It also shows why we shouldn't rely on sunscreen alone for sun protection, but we should also use clothing and shade. An extra consideration is that when we apply sunscreen, we are prone to missing patches of skin, as well as applying it too thinly."

The full findings are present in the journal- Acta Dermato-Venereology.Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: It seems the troubles for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab are growing day by day, the party leadership in order to control factionalism in the state unit today 'unceremoniously' removed leader of opposition in the Punjab Assembly Sukhpal Singh Khaira from the post in a desperate effort to control factionalism in the state unit.

Khaira had been embroiled in controversy after AAP's Punjab Unit's co-president Balbir Singh accused him of accepting money from party workers. Then in a facebook last month, Khaira was in another controversy over his support to a referendum 2020 which is being for creating a separate state for the Sikhs.

Then Balbir had clarified it was personal comments of Khaira. All this has started when Kejriwal has given a written apology to the senior Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia to end defamation case filed by Majithia as Kejriwal during election campaigning has termed that drug trade was run under the patronage of Majithia.

At that time Khaira and AAP's Punjab President Bhagwant Mann has objected to the apology and termed it as a meek surrender. Then Mann had resigned from the post of state unit president but till date, his resignation has not been accepted.

But a senior leader on condition of anonymity said that soon the party will appoint a new state unit president also. An upset Khaira said that he lost the post for speaking the truth, "I have discharged my duty as Leader of Opposition with uttermost sincerity, dedication, and fearlessness towards Punjab and Punjabi's. If speaking the truth and espousing the cause of Punjab and Punjabi's and Sikhs cost me the LoP post. I'm prepared to let it go. Those at the helm have done what Congress, SAD-BJP alliance wanted,'' he said without naming Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia. AAP's Punjab unit co-president Balbir Singh welcomed the move saying it was a decision of party MLAs.

"Whatever decision was taken by the MLAs of Aam Aadmi party, I welcome it. This is called internal democracy," said Singh. The party announced to change its leader of opposition in Punjab with Dirba MLA Harpal Singh Cheema appointed the new LoP, Cheema is Dalit legislator.

The party officially stated that a Dalit face from the state has been given responsibility. The national convener of AAP, Arvind Kejriwal has written a letter to the speaker of Punjab Vidhan Sabha requesting him to appoint Harpal Cheema as LOP.

Sources in the party said that Cheema has been chosen to develop leadership and also to give representation to the Dalits. The party is aiming for victory in forthcoming panchayat polls in September and Lok Sabha elections next year. Within the span of fifteen months, AAP has changed two Leader of Oppositions, first senior lawyer and legislator HS Phoolka had resigned months later from the post of LoP to fight court cases for 1984 anti-Sikh riot victims due to conflict of interests.

In his place, Khaira was appointed LoP and now he has been replaced Cheema. Thus the third AAP leader to hold the post after AAP emerged as the largest opposition party in last year's assembly elections.By PTI

NEW DELHI: A BJP member in the Lok Sabha today demanded action against the owners of a private jet that crashed in Mumbai last month, killing five people including two pilots.

Four crew members including two pilots and a pedestrian had lost their lives in the June 27 mishap when the 12-seater plane crashed into an under-construction building in the Ghatkopar area of Mumbai.

Raising the matter during the Zero Hour, Kirit Somaiya alleged that the aircraft was 10 years old.

He also alleged that Prabhat Kathuria, husband of co- pilot Marya Zuberi who died in the crash, is running from pillar to post for justice.

He said the owner of the company is a powerful person and that is why no FIR has been registered so far.

"No action has been taken against the guilty so far. I demand justice for her (Marya's) husband," he added.

Yesterday, Kathuria met Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu today, who assured him of a fair investigation into the incident.

In a statement issued last month, Khaturia had questioned the fitness of the aircraft.

He had said "the company involved in the ill-fated plane's repairs seems to have been incapable of detecting the technical snags that could have led to its crash."

Kathuria said his wife had mentioned to him that the weather conditions on that day were not conducive for a test flight to be conducted for a small plane like Beechcraft King Air C90 aircraft.

He had also said UY Aviation, the owners of the aircraft, "seem to have completely disregarded their responsibility to check whether such a plane should go off the ground".

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is carrying out a detailed probe into the incident.By PTI

BHOPAL: Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh presented himself today before the police here and dared them to arrest him, a week after Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan termed his actions as "anti-national".

The police, however, told the former Chief Minister that he could not be arrested as there was no case registered against him.

Singh, accompanied by hundreds of party workers holding banners and placards against Chouhan, marched for around one km from the party's state office to TT Nagar police station.

Talking to PTI later, the Congress leader's son Jaivardhan, who also accompanied him, said: "Police handed over a letter to my father that read- 'No criminal case or complaint of sedition against Digvijay Singh has been lodged in T T Nagar police station as per the records'.

" Talking to reporters outside the police station, Digvijay Singh said, "I have a letter from the police. Chouhan, who is holding a constitutional post, is telling 'lies'. I am going to drag him to court for calling me a traitor."

"I am going to seek the opinion of lawyers to file a complaint against Chouhan soon," he added.

"I directly accuse Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his family of being guilty in (multi-crore admission and recruitment racket) Vyapam. If he has the courage, he should lodge a defamation case," Singh said as he dared Chouhan.

Singh had announced last week that as the BJP government dubs him anti-national, he would go to the T T Nagar police station on July 26 and that the police should arrest him.

In a letter to the chief minister, Singh had said: "I have taken an oath to follow the Constitution. So I have decided to present myself before the law to protect the uuity and integrity of India. I would present myself at T T Nagar Police Station."

"Meanwhile, submit the evidence of my being anti-national to your administration so that they can file a case and arrest me," he had said.

Chouhan had earlier slammed Singh for 'visiting the homes of slain terrorists' and talking about "Hindu terrorism".

"Many times, such acts of Digvijayji seem anti-national," Chouhan had told a press conference at Satna on July 19.By Express News Service

KOLKATA: Doctors and nurses of a super-specialty hospital in Raiganj in Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal are in the soup for refusing to admit an HIV patient and allegedly abusing her. However, the patient was later admitted due to public pressure.

The 50-year-old patient resident of Raiganj was first treated at a private hospital in Kishanganj where it was found that she was infected by HIV virus. The patient's husband then took her to the emergency ward of the Raiganj super-specialty hospital on Wednesday for admission. However, doctors Rajat Debnath and Abhijit Sarkar allegedly refused to admit her after going through her medical history. Upon request for admission, the nurses allegedly threw away the medical reports and doctors verbally abused the patient and her husband and pushed them out of the hospital.

The patient and her husband then approached local councilor and Raiganj Municipality health department chairman Barun Bandopadhyay who then came to the hospital with members of Trinamool Congress Patient Help Desk and demanded to know the reason for not admitting the patient and heated arguments ensued. The patient was later admitted after intervention of hospital superintendent Goutam Mondal.

Doctor Rajat Debnath has been issued a show-cause notice over the issue. He was found to be working at the Emergency despite officially being on leave. However, the other doctor Abhijit Sarkar or the nurses have not been issued a show-cause notice. Dr Abhijit Sarkar claimed he was not in the emergency ward during the incident. District Chief Medical Officer Prakash Mridha said that a report has been sought from the hospital superintendent. "It is a good thing that the councilor and locals stood by the patient but the doctors and nurses who did this should change their attitudes towards the patients," North Bengal Medical College and Hospital Mental Health superintendent Dr Nirmal Bera said.Anand ST Das By

Express News Service

PATNA: Buckling under rising pressure from the Opposition parties, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday ordered a CBI probe into the alleged sexual assaults on girls at the Muzaffarpur shelter home.

The development took place a day after a nine-member team of Opposition leaders led by RJDs Tejashwi Yadav visited the shelter home and accused the government of shielding the accused in the incident.

With the wife of an arrested accused claiming that social welfare minister Manju Vermas husband used to enter the shelter home without anyone accompanying him also added the pressure on the government. Manju Verma denied the charges, saying her husband never did so.

Legislators of the Opposition parties, who have been raising the issue in the Assemblys ongoing monsoon session, on Thursday demanded the removal of the minister from the cabinet and the arrest of her husband, Chandeshwar Verma, a former MLC.

Tejashwi Yadav, who is the Leader of te Opposition in the Assembly, had said that Brajesh Thakur, head of the NGO that ran the government-funded shelter home, is close to both Nitish Kumar and his deputy, Sushil Kumar Modi. Thakur is one of the ten people arrested in the case so far.

He (Thakur) had made arrangements for Nitish Kumar when the latter visited Muzaffarpur in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. He was also present on the dais with Kumar Thakur is also close to Sushil Kumar Modi. He once offered sweets to Modi in his official chamber, said Yadav in Muzaffarpur. He also asked why Thakur was not taken on remand since his arrest two months ago.

Even though Union home minister Rajnath Singh said in Lok Sabha on July 24 that the Centre is willing to initiate a probe by CBI if the state government recommended so, Bihar DGP KS Dwivedi had ruled out a CBI probe the same day.

Describing the Muzaffarpur incident as very deplorable, the Bihar CMs office said in a statement on Thursday that the state police are probing the case with all seriousness.

The government is committed to an impartial probe, but an atmosphere of wrong impressions is being created. In order to dispel such atmosphere, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar asked the chief secretary, DGP and the home secretary to immediately hand over this whole case to CBI, said the statement.

The Opposition parties expressed satisfaction over the probe being handed over to CBI. Tejashwi Yadav demanded that the CBI probe should be monitored by Patna High Court.Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Known for his loose and brazen remarks, Surendra Singh, the BJP MLA from Bairia in Ballia district is not ready to mend ways. He has embarrassed his party once again on Wednesday by saying that if Hindutva has to be kept alive and nation has to be made strong, each Hindu should have at least five children. He claimed that bringing a child on this earth is a God's gift (Prasad) which should not be refused or rejected.

The controversial observation form the BJP MLA has come at a time when the government is taking a number of steps for population control in consonance of National Population Policy-2000. "Hindu bahiyon ko chahiye ki agar Bharat ko majboot banana hai to apni sankhya ko majboot karein.Bharat majboot tabhi hoga , jab hindu majboot hoga ( If Hindus want the country to be strong, they will have to make their number strong. India will be strong only if Hindu will be strong)," said the MLA while talking to media persons.

ALSO READ | Prostitutes better than government officials: BJP MLA Surendra Singh

Singh had been in the eye of storm a few days back when, while reacting to rising rape cases, he had claimed that it was a menace beyond the control of law enforcement agencies. "Bahgwan Ram bhi inn badhti hui ghatnaon ko nahi rok sakte (even Lord Ram would not have been able to stop rising incidents of rape)," he had said. This time, the MLA was trying to establish the point that to protect Hindutva, Hindus would have to increase their population.

ALSO READ | Even if Lord Ram descends on earth, instances of rape cannot be curbed: BJP MLA Surendra Singh

"Hindu religious leaders and mahants want every Hindu couple to have at least five children to protect the religion," he said. "Hindus should have at least five children. Two for the man, two for the woman and one surplus. India can become strong, when Hindus are strong. When Hindu is weak, India is weak...," Mr Singh maintained. He felt that if Hindu population would not increase, the community would soon reduced to a minority in its own country. "There should be a balance of population. Hindus will be a minority if their population doesn't increase. It will not be due to terrorists but due to their own acts," he said.

Earlier, the BJP MLA from Uttar Pradesh's Ballia had triggered a controversy by saying that "Those who don't say 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' are Pakistanis". He had also hogged the limelight by claiming that 'prostitutes were better than government officials' while referring to corruption allegedly prevalent at different levels of administration and bureaucracy.By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday informed the Parliament that Maoists and terror groups may be using children in their operations. There are reports about some terrorist outfits in the country, such as the Maoists, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen, are misusing children to further their agenda, said Union Home Minister for State Kiren Rijiju.

In the Left-Wing Extremism-affected states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar, there were reports that some groups use children in their nefarious designs to destabilise the state, the minister said during the question hour in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

However, the Home Ministry said there is no information that children were being used as human bombs by them. Union Home Minister for State Hansraj Gangaram Ahir also responded to a similar question posed by parliamentarian KVP Ramachandra Rao who wanted to know if children were being forcibly recruited into antisocial armed groups.By PTI

PANAJI: Goa Deputy Speaker Michael Lobo has hit out at his party-led government over its "failure" to act against "so-called cow vigilantes", alleging that it has resulted in beef shortage in the coastal state.

Claiming that the shortage of beef was affecting the state's tourism industry, the BJP MLA from Calangute in North Goa district demanded the government-run Goa Meat Complex, which has been non-operational since October last year, be re-started immediately.

During the demands for grants in the House yesterday, Lobo said a large number of people in Goa eat beef and it is the government's duty to ensure they are provided the food item.

"Some so-called cow protectors are standing on the border and blocking the entry of beef (trucks) into the state. I think the government has totally failed on this," he said.

"Goa faced beef shortage in the recent times after limited transportation by traders from Karnataka citing harassment by cow vigilantes. They say that some gau-rakshaks have thrown phenyl on the beef," Lobo said.

Earlier this year, the beef traders from Goa went on strike alleging harassment by cow vigilante groups.

The strike was called off after Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's assurance to handle the issue.

"The Goa Meat Complex, which has been shut down due to silly reasons, should be re-started," Lobo said, and asked if there will be interference of the "so-called gau rakshaks".

He claimed that the shortage of beef was affecting the tourism sector.

"Goa has a sizable population of Christians and Muslims who consume beef. There is a shortage of beef for our feasts. Also, there are some tourists who specially come to Goa to eat beef," he added.

Replying to this, Animal Husbandry Minister Mauvin Godinho said the Goa Meat Complex would be made operational by August 22.At least 19 people have been confirmed dead in the wake of Monday's catastrophic dam collapse in southern Laos that left thousands of residents homeless and hundreds more missing.

The Xepian-Xe Nam Noy dam collapsed in the southeastern province of Attapeu late Monday, releasing as much as five billion cubic meters of water throughout the district, washing away hundreds of homes and leaving scores of residents homeless.

State news agency KPL put the number of displaced downstream from the dam, located about 550 kilometers south of the capital, Vientiane, at 6,600.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has ordered an emergency relief team to Laos to assist with the recovery efforts. Two South Korean firms, SK Engineering and Construction and Korea Western Power, are part of a consortium building the 410-megawatt project, along with Thailand's Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Company, and Lao Holding State Enterprise.

The Xepian-Xe Nam Noy dam was set to be completed next year is at an estimated cost of about $1 billion.

Just hours before the disaster on Monday night, the consortium warned in a letter that millions of tons of water would surge down the Xe-Pian River if the dangerously unsafe dam failed.

"And within hours of this letter in the evening, the dam did actually break. So it's clear that the warning system appears to have been inadequate and appears to have been too late for many people," Maureen Harris, Southeast Asia director at International Rivers, told VOA.

Ramananda Sengupta By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Prime minister Narendra Modi notched up yet another first when he became the first Indian PM to address the Ugandan Parliament on Wednesday. Thanking President Yoweri Museveni and Uganda, Modi stressed that India is proud to be Africas partner and Uganda is a key part of this outreach. Modi said the story of Indias own freedom struggle was intimately linked to Africa.

Its not just the 21 years that Gandhiji spent in Africa, or the First Non-Cooperation Movement he led, he said. Noting that India plans to open 18 new embassies in Africa, he said, We want to implement 118 lines of credit worth $11 billion in over 40 African countriesWe fought against colonialism together, we shall fight for prosperity together

Addressing the Speaker, Rebecca Kadaga, he said, Your presence, Madam Speaker, reminds me of my Lok Sabha, which also has a lady Speaker

I am conscious of the history that brings us to this point, when the Prime Minister of the largest democracy is speaking to elected Members of the Parliament of another sovereign nation.

Our ancient maritime links, the dark ages of colonial rule, the shared struggle for freedom, the uncertain paths as independent countries in a divided world, the dawn of the new opportunities and the unity of aspirations of our young population. All of these connect us.By UNI

NEW DELHI: Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday tendered apology to Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia in Lok Sabha after the lawmaker protested that he was not invited to an official function organised in Guna in Madhya Pradesh.

The Minister maintained he has enquired into the matter and found the Congress MP's allegation true and thus he said he would tender 'apology' to the local MP as the function was organised by his ministry.

The issue figured immediately after the Question Hour ended and the Guna MP Scindia vociferously raised the issue and said the matter was a breach of privilege and the Speaker Sumitra Mahajan should take cognizance of the same.

Amid frequent exchange of words between Scindia, who was supported by his party colleague K C Venugopal, and BJP MPs including Ganesh Singh (Satna MP) also from Madhya Pradesh, the Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said while it was wrong not to invite the Congress MP for the official function, it is also true during the Congress-led UPA rule hardly any BJP MP used to be invited.

Meanwhile, even after Mr Gadkari tendered apology on behalf of his Ministry but the Congress MP, Scindia kept on sounding his displeasure at the episode.

RD Minister Tomar also said, 'once the Union Road Transport Minister Mr Gadkari has tendered an apology, the matter should be treated as closed".

At one moment, the Speaker said, "while I appreciate the fact that Mr Gadkari showed greatness in tendering apology, the conduct on the other side is not appreciable".

"Yeh padatti nahi aye (This is not the way one should conduct himself)," Ms Mahajan said.

The Congress floor leader Mallikarjun Kharge also demanded that the Speaker give a ruling that MPs should be invited for official functions.

The Speaker responded saying, "While I know, the government has been instructing that MPs should be called for official functions in their constituencies, wherever this is not happening, the MPs should be invited".Prasanta Mazumdar By

Express News Service

GUWAHATI: The proposed publication of the complete draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam on July 30 has rung the alarm bells in some neighbouring states.

At least four states, such as Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, are closely monitoring the exercise in Assam as they feel they could be affected post-publication of the document. Their worries are, primarily, over the possible influx of people whose names would not figure in the document.

In Nagaland, the state government has instructed the police to deploy additional forces to border areas to check and prevent the influx of immigrants.

Additional India Reserve Battalion units are being deployed and flying squads will also be sent. The government is writing to village authorities to be vigilant and not allow the illegal immigrants enter their jurisdictions or employ them in any manner. Instructions to district authorities have also been made, official sources said.

The influential Naga Students Federation (NSF) urged house owners not to rent out rooms to the immigrants or be ready to face action.

With the publication of NRC by Assam government, it is being viewed that massive alarming migration of illegal immigrants is bound to happen if the state government does not take necessary measures to monitor the flow of illegal immigrants, the NSF said.

In Arunachal, the police in all districts sharing a border with Assam have been directed to be on guard to prevent the possible influx of the illegal immigrants.

In Meghalaya, the police have tightened vigil along the border with Assam. We started taking precautionary measures to check any infiltration of anti-national elements from the last week of December (ahead of the publication of NRC part draft on December 31), a senior police official said.

In Manipur, the police took several measures to detect the illegal immigrants. The N Biren Singh government is dealing with the issue of illegal immigration very firmly.

The NRC of 1951 is being updated in Assam under the direct monitoring of Supreme Court to detect the illegal immigrants. As per the exercise, people, who entered the state after March 24, 1971, will be viewed as illegal immigrants.

As the D Day approaches and as there is a perception of violence following the publication of draft NRC, the Sarbananda Sonowal government is beefing up security in vulnerable districts in Lower, Central and Southern Assam. Currently, 50 additional companies of the central paramilitary forces are deployed in the state. Official sources told TNIE that some 110 more companies would arrive in the next two to three days.By PTI

NEW DELHI: The death of three sisters reportedly due to starvation today found a mention in Parliament with opposition members expressing concern over the incident.

During the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra sought to know whether the government had taken note of the serious incident.

Minister of State for Planning Rao Inderjit Singh said the incident was a very "unfortunate" but it needed to be seen under what circumstances the deaths took place and whether starvation was the reason.

Mishra expressed dissatisfaction with the minister's reply, saying the media had reported starvation as the reason.

Singh said not everything that appeared in newspapers was "gospel" and added the reports needed to be verified.

Congress leader Anand Sharma said it was a very serious matter and the members would seek a discussion on the issue.

During his reply, Singh also said that the country was trying to eradicate poverty which was an ongoing process.

He said more and more people were coming out of poverty each year.

But poverty is relative, he added.By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: To prevent big economic offenders like Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya from fleeing the country, the parliament on Wednesday passed the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018.

The opposition, however, attacked the government for lacking will to stop such defaulters despite having several laws.

During the discussion in Rajya Sabha, several opposition party MPs raised the issue of putting a threshold of Rs 100 crore for booking offenders under the law and whether offenders will come back to the country when their properties are attached by the investigative agencies under. "Is the government's intention to get a lot of publicity by bringing the law.

India is a country with so many laws and it is too little, too late when all the big fished are already out f the country. Are you convinced that they will come back," questioned Congress MP Vivek K Tankha. SamParty MP Neeraj Shekhar said that the government shouldn't make laws just to trouble the opposition.

The Congress also questioned the centre's will to fight corruption and in the line of fire are key bills like the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, Prevention of Corruption Bill, Whistleblower's Protection Bill and the absence of anti-corruption body Lokpal, which PM Modi had highlighted during the 2014 national polls.

Congress leaders said while the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill offered nothing new and was brought just to avoid criticism after various accused like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi defrauded public banks and fled from the country, the Whistleblowers' Protection bill was not brought before the Rajya Sabha and technical changes in it make whistleblowers vulnerable.

"The track record of this government on anti-corruption legislation has been dismal," Congress spokesperson Rajeev Gowda said. Box The Bill allows for a person to be declared as a fugitive economic offender (FEO) if: - an arrest warrant issued against him

y specified offences, where the value involved, is over Rs 100 crore - He/she has left the country and refuses to return to face prosecution. The Bill allows authorities to provisionally attach properties of an accused, while the application is pending before the Special Court.By PTI

NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore today attacked the Congress saying its president Rahul Gandhi is talking about love but spokespersons of his party are resorting to violence.

Rathore's remarks came after the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) gave a memorandum to him against behaviour of a Congress spokesperson.

"National Union of Journalists has given me a document wherein they have protested against the behaviour of an official spokesperson of the Congress who I think yesterday utterly misbehaved and abused an anchor on national network, probably (during) a live broadcast," Rathore said.

The minister said he has also been told that the same Congress spokesperson had assaulted a journalist a few days ago.

Asserting that such incidents give a very wrong message in democracy, Rathore said if this is done on live broadcast on a national network, what security and safety would there be for journalists in regional areas and smaller towns.

"This should be noted very seriously by Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who is continuously talking about love and non-violence, but his party spokespersons are resorting to violence.

This must be taken very seriously by him. Democracy should not be brought down to such low levels," Rathore said.

Tagging a video of the incident, the minister also tweeted, "Manifestation of Rahul Gandhi's 'love': A desperate Congress targeting media with disgusting language.

So much for the 'champions of freedom of speech'.

New low in Indian democracy.

" The NUJ general secretary Manoj Verma said Congress spokesperson Rajiv Tyagi threatened a TV journalist and used abusive language.

"Such language is dangerous for democracy and not just for the media," Verma said.

The minister heard the members of the delegation and assured that he will take appropriate steps in the matter.By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for filing a draft report of the vision document on protection and preservation of the Taj Mahal and asked whether the apex court was supposed to vet it.

A bench comprising justices M B Lokur and Deepak Gupta came down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh government and questioned the state's concern in the matter.

"Why have you given a draft plan? Are we supposed to vet it for you? Is it our job to vet it," the bench asked the counsel appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government.

The apex court said it was "surprising" that the Archeological Survey of India (ASI), responsible for protection of the 17th century monument, was not consulted in framing the draft report.

During the hearing, the bench asked Attorney General K K Venugopal whether the Centre or the authorities concerned had submitted the management plan on Taj Mahal to UNESCO's World Heritage Centre in Paris.

"What will happen if UNESCO says that we will withdraw the World Heritage tag of the Taj Mahal," the bench asked Venugopal.

Responding to the query, the attorney general said the Taj Mahal was one of the seven wonders of the world and it would be a "great, great embarrassment" for the country if the World Heritage tag of the historic monument was withdrawn.

The apex court also asked the AG which department of the Centre and the state government was responsible for maintenance of the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ).

TTZ is an area of about 10,400 sq km spread over the districts of Agra, Firozabad, Mathura, Hathras and Etah in Uttar Pradesh and Bharatpur district of Rajasthan.

The top court also asked the state government to supply the draft report to a panel of conservation experts, including INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage), for their comments.

The bench has listed the matter for further progress on the draft report of the vision document on August 28.

In the draft vision document filed on July 24, the Uttar Pradesh government said that the entire precinct of Taj Mahal should be declared a no-plastic zone and use of bottled water be also prohibited there.

The state government also said that all polluting and sick industries from the area be removed and focus should be on having a comprehensive traffic management system in which pedestrian movement should be encouraged.

The draft report, running into more than 220 pages, said a balanced approach towards environment and development should be adopted at Taj Mahal precinct level and the comprehensive traffic management plan should encourage the visitors to travel on foot or use eco-friendly modes of transport.

It said road widening schemes in the heritage precincts to accommodate the increasing traffic need to be prohibited and battery operated eco-friendly modes of transport along tourist routes was required to be introduced with designated stops for 'hop on hop off'.

According to the state, to deal with the issue of pollution in the area, afforestation should be promoted in the TTZ region by increasing the green areas and polluting and private vehicles should be restricted in the region.

The state said no construction or built forms should be proposed on the flood plains and Yamuna river banks should only have natural plantations.

It has suggested about "closure of polluting industries in the region and promotion with incentives in alterative industries as per availability of raw materials" and "removal of sick industries and allocating lands to more economical non-polluting white and green category of industries" there.

The vision document was submitted after an angry apex court on July 11 had lashed out at Uttar Pradesh government for its apathy towards the historic monument.

The apex court, which has been monitoring development in the area to protect the Taj Mahal built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal at Agra in 1643, would take up the matter on a day-to-day basis from July 31.

(With inputs from Express News Service)By IANS

CHANDIGARH: After heavy rains in neighbouring Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the water level in Hathnikund barrage in Haryana's Yamunanagar district increased alarmingly on Thursday, forcing the authorities to sound an alert.

Residents of villages along the Yamuna river have been advised not to go near the river or let their animals venture near it, a government official told IANS here.

He said officials of various departments in Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Panipat and Sonipat districts have sounded the alert.

The water level at the Hathnikund barrage -- which provides drinking water to New Delhi -- along the Haryana-Uttarakhand border had also risen in the morning.

The Yamuna river passes through Yamunanagar, Karnal and Panipat districts in Haryana before entering New Delhi.

The Met has predicted that Haryana's neighbouring hill states would continue to experience heavy rains for the next two days.French police searched the presidential palace office Wednesday of the former security aide to President Emmanuel Macron who was seen beating a protester in a video that triggered a political firestorm.

An official at the presidential Elysee Palace confirmed that Alexandre Benalla, who was fired last week, was present during the search. The official wasn't authorized to speak publicly and asked not to be named.

Authorities opened a judicial investigation of Benalla's actions at a May Day protest after Le Monde newspaper identified him as the person acting violently in the video it released last week. Investigators searched Benalla's apartment on Saturday.

Macron's office has been criticized for not disclosing the accusations weeks ago and the way it handled them. The French leader said Tuesday night at a gathering of officials and lawmakers from his centrist party that he alone was responsible.

On Wednesday, Macron brushed away questions during an official visit in the Pyrenees, where he was welcomed with local songs.

"Stop getting so excited about this affair," he told inquiring journalists. "Stay calm. I'm with people here. We're happy and all is well."By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Newly-appointed member of Congress Working Committee Siddaramaiah has been asked to begin preparations in Karnataka for Lok Sabha elections. In a private conversation with AICC president Rahul Gandhi on Monday, the former Chief Minister was, according to party sources, apprised of his role in the upcoming parliamentary polls.

Apart from ensuring the smooth functioning of the JD(S)-Congress coalition government and amicable seat-sharing formula between the alliance partners, Siddaramaiah will play a vital role in zeroing in on candidates of the Congress for the parliamentary elections. Siddaramaiah has been asked to start preparations for the Lok Sabha polls. He has been asked to start identifying seats where Congress will get a sure shot victory and point out seats that we may have to share with the JD(S). He will also be part of the committee that will select candidates for the polls along with other senior Congress leaders, said a source who had accompanied Siddaramaiah to New Delhi for his first CWC meet.

While other senior leaders from Karnataka, including KPCC President Dinesh Gundu Rao attended Sundays meet, Siddaramaiah met Rahul Gandhi privately on Monday to brief him of the political situation in the state.During the meeting, Siddaramaiah is said to have apprised Rahul Gandhi of the functioning of the coalition government, the issues causing discomfort as well as measures taken to counter them. Rahul Gandhi has given clear instructions that this coalition is to stay and no difference of opinion should be allowed to sabotage the alliance. Siddaramaiah has also been asked to prepare to hold talks with JD(S) on seat sharing for the Lok Sabha polls. It is clear that Siddaramaiah will mediate, said a source close to the former CM.

Siddaramaiah continues to enjoy the favour of Congress high command after completing his stint as Chief Minister for five years. At a time when the Congress is looking to go to polls in alliance with the JD(S), the grand old party would like a strongman to bargain hard. Siddaramaiah is expected to be part of the core team that will short-list candidates owing to his position as Congress legislative party leader, Chairman of coordination committee and now a member of the CWC. The party will now begin the process of identifying winnable seats, issues in difficult seats and ways to counter them, find a middle path in seat sharing with the JD(S) and filter its candidate list based on previous results and current moods.By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Telugu Desam MP Thota Narasimham on Wednesday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha, saying the PM seems to have drowned in the River Ganga the promises he made to Andhra Pradesh.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar asserted that Modi had spoken about what his government did for the State and that TDPs charges were politically motivated.

Modi had also said that the Union government stood for the welfare of the people of Andhra Pradesh, Kumar said.

Narasimham said Modi made a political speech during the reply to the no-confidence motion against his government on Friday last, but did not respond to the issues concerning the State.

The PM represents Varanasi and he appears to have drowned his promises in the Ganga, he said, claiming that the States people felt cheated.

Earlier, the TDP members raised slogans demanding special category status for Andhra Pradesh. Wearing yellow stoles, they raised slogans like we want justice.

One of them was dressed up like a royal, wearing a turban and traditional attire.

When Railway Minister Piyush Goyal was responding to a question on model railway stations, they sought his attention on their demand for a railway zone in the State.

Goyal told the Speaker that he would respond to the issue provided they took their seats. But the Speaker then took up another question and Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha started his reply.By Express News Service

ELURU: A day after YSRC chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy took a dig at Jana Sena president Pawan Kalyan calling him a nitya pellikoduku, the latter on Wednesday, without taking names, said he would not hesitate to retaliate to factionists.

If I start talking about other peoples personal lives, all these faction leaders wont be able to imagine the severity of the repercussions, Pawan said at a party workers meeting in Bhimavaram.

If people involved in sand mafia and scandals have the guts to speak in such a tone, how much guts should a person who is committed to fight for the people have? If you try to intimidate me, I will peel your skin off, he threatened. I may not have knives and bombs to defend myself, but every worker of Jana Sena has guts as explosive as a hundred bombs, he said to thunderous applause.

Meanwhile, TDP leader Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy backed Pawan saying he never thought Jagan could stoop to the level of making personal attacks. Jana Sena party workers protested at Nalugu Kalla Mandapam in Tirupati demanding an apology from Jagan.By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar on Wednesday said many farmers in the state have committed suicide due to personal reasons. Inability to repay farm loans is not the only reason for farmers suicides reported in the state, he said. Speaking to mediapersons, the minister said that it is not right to attribute all cases of suicides to farm loans. To help farmers in distress, the state government has recently announced `44,000 farm loan waiver and modalities are being worked out to implement the same.

Shivakumar said the state government is taking all measures to implement the loan waiver scheme and Chief Minister had discussed it with bankers on Tuesday. The minister appealed to farmers not to take extreme step. We appeal to farmers not to take the extreme step. Whatever may be the reason, the state government is doing everything possible to address farmers problems, the minister added.

Confident of getting favourable verdict

On Mahadayi inter-state river water sharing row with Goa, Shivakumar said Karnataka is confident of getting a favourable order from the tribunal, which is expected to deliver its verdict next month. Farmers are demanding implementation of the project to provide drinking water to many districts in Mumbai-Karnataka region.

Karnataka wants to use 7.56 tmcft of water from Kalasa and Banduri tributaries of Mahadayi river by diverting to Malaprabha river. The inter-state dispute is pending before the Mahadayi River Water Dispute Tribunal. Shivakumar said the state government has presented all evidence before the tribunal to prove its case and it is confident of getting the verdict in its favour.By PTI

BENGALURU: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the murder of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh has arrested one more person, suspected to have provided shelter to the man who shot her dead.

H L Suresh (36) was arrested in Tumakuru yesterday and produced before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court, which remanded him in judicial custody, a SIT release said here today.

Sources in the SIT claimed that Suresh had provided shelter to Parashuram Waghmare, who allegedly pulled the trigger, killing Lankesh outside her house here.

With this, a total of 11 suspects have been arrested so far in connection with the case.

Lankesh, known for her vociferous anti-Hindutva stand, was shot dead on September 5 last year.

Her killing drew widespread condemnation from various quarters.By Express News Service

BENGALURU: A 36-year-old civil contractor, who was treated as a witness earlier, has been arrested by the special investigation team (SIT) in connection with the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, on charges of harbouring criminals, concealing design to commit offence and destroying evidence. This is the 11th arrest made in the case.Suresh H L, who hails from Tumakuru, was arrested on Wednesday. Following allegation of torture by SIT sleuths, the court refused to remand him in police custody and sent him to jail.

He was produced before the 1st Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) court on Thursday by the SIT. Special public prosecutor S S Vadavadagi, representing the SIT, submitted that the accused knew about the conspiracy to carry out the murder well in advance and had extended his support to the assailants by letting them use his house to stay for a few days before the murder. Further, he also told the court that Suresh had destroyed the evidence after the commission of the offence.

He requested the court to remand the accused in SIT custody for 14 days as he needs to be questioned. But advocate Nagesh Joshi, the counsel representing the accused, informed the court about the alleged torture by the SIT and the accused showed bruises on his face to the judge. Joshi requested the court not to remand him in police custody as they would further torture him. He pressed for a medical examination to determine the nature of injuries.

Remanding the accused in judicial custody, the magistrate asked SIT to appeal before the 3rd ACMM court, to take him into police custody. The accused would be subjected to medical examination on Friday.

He was staying in the house from June 2017 and it is established that he had allowed the assailants to stay for around 10 days in July last year, during which the assailants planned the murder and were also going out to conduct recce near Gauris house. We had summoned him for questioning after some of the accused were caught. He admitted to have given the house to them, but had pleaded innocence about their conspiracy in the murder. His statement was also recorded before a magistrate. But the investigations revealed that he clearly knew the motive of the accused. Based on several evidences against him, he was arrested, an SIT official said.

SIT official: Suresh burnt evidence

It is learnt that Suresh allegedly destroyed the clothes suspected shooter Parashuram Waghmare and alleged biker Ganesh Miskin were wearing, when they allegedly killed Gauri. A few days after the murder, he burnt the clothes and destroyed the helmets the assailants were wearing, an SIT official said.By Express News Service

KOCHI: Kerala Police have arrested one of the key accused in connection with the murder of Abhimanyu, who was a student of Maharajas College Ernakulam and SFI activist.

Police arrested Mohammed Rifa, who hails from Thalassery in Kannur, from Bangalore. He is a law student in Kochi and the state secretary of Campus Front.

Police suspect that Rifa had actively conspired and took part in the murder of Abhimanyu.

He is suspected to have called the gang to reach at the Maharajas college campus when trouble started brewing between students belonging to SFI and Campus Front. The investigation team is confident of nabbing the person who stabbed Abhimanyu to death and his whereabouts including his present hideout.

Fourteen persons have so far been held in connection with the case. The police had launched a state-wide crackdown against SDPI and Popular Front of India in connection with the murder case.

Earlier, Saneesh, 28, a native of Palluruthy, who is a member of the trade union of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) was taken into custody based on the statements collected from Fort Kochi native Riyas, an accused in the case.Shan A S By

Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As the CBI special court awarded death sentence to two police officers in the Udayakumar custodial death case, his mother Prabhavathi Amma couldnt hide her happiness. The 67-year-old was elated that her legal battle spanning more than 13 years has finally borne fruit.

From a hapless woman who limited herself mostly to household chores and never bothered about big things happening in the world, Prabhavathi has changed a lot. Her only prayer throughout the trial was to keep her alive to see justice being done to her only child whose life was smothered by a group of police officers in lock-up.

As she spoke about the verdict, there was a twinkle in her eye as well as tears. She was happy and then, there was a sense of loss that has been lingering on her mind for years. Udayakumar would have been 40 now, if he had been alive. I gave him (Udaya) what I could, she said.

It was the desire to see her sons killers in the dock that emboldened her to set out on the long and arduous journey. Prabhavathi said the journey to this point was not that easy. People tried to harm me many times. But I survived to see this occasion, she said.

She recalled that during the trial period, K V Soman, the third accused who died during the trial, used to lurk around her house. It was as if he wanted to tell me something. But I was not interested and he was not bold enough to approach me. I dont know what he had in mind, she said.

Now that justice has been served, Prabhavathi said she does not want to talk to her sons killers. Sreekumar used to look at me during the court proceedings, but when I looked at him, his look wavered, she said. I dont want to talk to them. What is there left for me to talk?

All these years, Prabhavathi has struggled to get a good nights sleep as thoughts of her son haunted her. When it got unbearable, I took sleeping pills but stopped taking them as the doctors advised me not to do so, she said.

She is unsure whether she will ever get to sleep in peace. But I can try at least, she said as she walked away.

After Udayakumar, focus now shifts to Sreejivs custodial death

Kochi: In the wake of the Udayakumar custodial death case coming to its logical conclusion with the conviction of the police personnel involved in the crime, the focus will now shift to the sensational custodial death case of Puthenveettil Sreejiv, which is being probed by the CBI. The CBI has already launched a probe into the death of Sreejiv, who allegedly died while in police custody in 2014. The case hit the headlines when Sreejivs brother Sreejith protested for nearly 800 days outside the Secretariat demanding a CBI probe into the custodial death case.

It was the huge public support garnered by Sreejith that forced the state government to agree to a CBI probe. The Udayakumar and Sreejiv cases have striking similarities as both the victims were taken into custody for suspected theft. Sreejiv died at a hospital in Thiruvananthapuram on May 21, 2014, two days after he was taken into custody. Though cops maintained Sreejiv had died in hospital after consuming poison, his family blamed custodial torture. Even the Police Complaints Authority found the death was due to custodial torture.

Victims families trust only the CBI

Kochi: The CBI probe in the custodial death of Udayakumar has led to the conviction of police officers, with two of them being awarded capital punishment. Of late, Kerala has been witnessing a rise in petitions being filed in the High Court seeking CBI probes. A look at a few such cases...

Latvian woman murder case: In June, the partner of a Latvian woman who was murdered in Thiruvananthapuram moved the High Court seeking a CBI probe, submitting that the state police had failed to make more arrests. The petition was submitted nearly two months after two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting and murdering the tourist.

Actor assault case: In June, actor Dileep approached the High Court seeking a CBI probe in the high-profile actor assault case. Dileep is an accused in the case of abduction and sexual assault of the actor in February 2017.

Jesna missing case: In June, Jesna Maria James brother moved the High Court seeking a CBI inquiry into the disappearance of his sister. He contended that the police had made no progress in the inquiry and the probe was not satisfactory.

Sreejith custodial death case: In June, Sreejiths wife Akhila approached the High Court seeking a CBI probe into the Varapuzha custodial death case.

Shuhaib murder case: In March, the parents of slain Youth Congress worker S P Shuhaib filed

a petition in the High Court seeking a CBI probe. A single-judge bench had ordered a CBI probe. However, a division bench stayed the order after the state government challenged the same.By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Nair Service Society (NSS) on Wednesday told the Supreme Court allowing women belonging to all age groups entry into the Sabarimala temple will change the character of the deity and the temple and the principal deity Lord Ayyappa himself doesnt want it.

Nonagenarian Supreme Court counsel K Parasaran appeared for the NSS before the five-member Constitution Bench hearing a bunch of petitions challenging the ban on entry of women belonging to the 10-50 age group.

READ | Sabarimala women's entry controversy changes equations within Kerala's Hindu organisations

The Ayyappa idol in Sabarimala is said to be a Naishtika Brahmachari(celibate). Lord Ayyappa at Sabarimala is unique since he is celibate and doesnt want the presence of women aged between 10- 50 as it will affect his penance. When the Lord Himself doesnt want them, who are we to say they should be allowed, Parasaran contended, saying while the Hindu religion is very tolerant and doesnt discriminate, there are indeed aberrations.

Those coming to the Sabarimala temple should not come in the company of young women. Children, mother and sisters are exceptions. The reason is those coming to the temple must not follow the brahmacharya (celibacy) but they must also appear to follow it, the senior advocate said.

Parasaran said Article 25 (2) which throws open public Hindu religious institutions to all classes and sections of society can be applied only to social reforms and it does not apply to matters of religion covered under Article 26 (b) of the Constitution. Article 26 (b) provides right to every religious denomination to manage own affairs in matters of religion.

Article 25(2) reiterates the object of Article 17 (abolition of untouchability) in the specific context of temples and Hindus to send a loud and clear message, he said. You (Parasaran) say throwing open public temples to all sections has no religious connotations. What will happen, if the state comes out with a law to bring social reforms and allow women entry inside the temple, the bench asked.

Kerala is an educated society and 96 per cent of its women are educated and independent, Parasaran submitted, It is a matrilineal society. Therefore to assume that the practice of the Sabarimala temple is based on patriarchy is fundamentally incorrect, he said.

Parasaran concluded by saying, The court should interpret (the issue) in a way so as not to disturb the character of deity in the temple. The hearing remained inconclusive and will continue tomorrow.By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: July 25 will go down in the annals of Kerala Police as its darkest day. For the first time in independent Indias history, police officers have been sentenced to death in a custodial murder case, in a state which claims to be highly progressive.

The CBI Special Court judgement awarding death sentence to two police officers for the custodial murder of Udayakumar in 2005 has come at a time when two more similar cases  of Varapuzha Sreejith and Puthenveettil Sreejiv  are hanging like the Sword of Damocles over the state polices head.

K Jithakumar and S V Sreekumar, the first and second accused respectively, were handed out the capital punishment by judge J Nazer. The pair was also awarded a fine of `2 lakh each.

Former cops T K Haridas and E K Sabu and Crime Branch DYSP T Ajith Kumar were given three-year jail term for conspiracy and destroying evidence.

Jithakumar, now additional sub-inspector with the District Crime Records Bureau, and Sreekumar, a senior civil police officer with the Narcotic Cell, took Udayakumar into the Fort Police station custody on September 27, 2005.

Udayakumar was apprehended when he was sitting in a park at Sreekandeswaram along with another person Suresh Kumar, who had several petty cases against him. The police suspected them to be thieves when they found `4,500 that was in Udayakumars possession.

Give it to CBI...

Kerala has been witnessing a rise in petitions being filed in the High Court seeking CBI probes. Following are some of the sensational ones.

Latvian woman murder Actor assault Jesna missing Sreejith custodial death Shuhaib murder

Focus shifts to Sreejivs death

In the wake of the Udayakumar case coming to its logical conclusion with the conviction of the police personnel involved in the crime, the focus will now shift to the sensational Puthenveettil Sreejiv custodial death case, which is being probed by the CBI.President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday received the credentials from the new U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris.

Moon stressed cooperation between the two countries in trying to persuade North Korea to denuclearize.

"A strong alliance between Seoul and Washington is more important than ever before to achieve joint goals on the Korean Peninsula at a crucial time of dialogue between the two Koreas and between the North and the U.S.," he said. "I expect Ambassador Harris, who has a special relationship with South Korea, to play a big role."

"Intelligence authorities in Seoul and Washington think that North Korea is scrapping a missile engine test and missile launch facility in the wake of the dismantlement of its nuclear test site," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom quoted him as adding. "It's a good sign for the denuclearization of the North."

Siva Sekaran By

PTI

CHENNAI:THE Madras High Court on Wednesday set aside an order of a Special Court for CBI cases discharging former Union Minister of Communication and Information Technology Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanidhi Maran of SUN TV network and seven others in the alleged multi-crore BSNL telephone exchange scam case.

The HC held that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe had established a prima facie case that Dayanidhi Maran, while functioning as a public servant in the capacity of Union Minister from May 2004 to May 2007, had conspired with the other accused and obtained 764 telephone numbers at his Chennai and Delhi residences under service category without being entitled to it and by violating all procedures and norms. Thereby he had caused an undue loss of `1.79 crore to the government exchequer and undue gain to him, if all the material submitted by CBI were proved, Justice G Jayachandran said.

The judge was allowing a revision petition from the CBI challenging the order dated March 14 last of the XIV Additional Special Judge for CBI cases.The other accused Kalanidhi Maran, (owner of SUN TV), K B Brahmadathan and M P Velusamy, the then Chief General Managers of BSNL, Vedagiri Gowthaman, K S Ravi and S Kannan were also alleged to be part of the criminal conspiracy and to have played crucial roles in obtaining and maintaining these illegal telephone connections. Velusamy also allegedly generated an ante-dated false reply to help Dayanidhi Maran claim that no dues were recoverable from him towards telephone charges, the judge pointed out.

Considering the police report and the documents, the only opinion any judicial mind could form was that there were grounds to presume all the seven accused had committed offences and not otherwise, the judge said, allowing the revision petition and directing the trial court to frame charges and complete the trial within 12 months.

Cant Maran have exchange if DefMin can use flight?

During closing remarks of their submissions, a senior counsel for the accused said the man who had brought the broadband facility to every corner of the country was now being hunted by CBI for political reasons. The judge pointed out that the records indicated otherwise. Dayanidhi Maran, by virtue of the office, might have been instrumental for popularising broadband facility. It does not mean that he can claim the privilege of unlimited usage of that facility for him, his brother and his business establishment free of costs, the judge said.

Another argument of the senior counsel was that while the defence minister was permitted to enjoy exclusive Air Force aircraft for her journey and the Railway minster exclusive saloon for his travel in the train, why could the Telecom Minister not have an exclusive exchange. To this argument the logical answer could be, Yes, If law permits. The corollary will be, if law does not permit, they are liable for prosecution. It is amply shown in this case that law does not permit to have the facilities enjoyed by the accused under service category, hence they are liable for prosecution, the judge said.

Excerpts from the HC order

The CBI in its chargesheet had said, the facilities given to Dayanidhi Maran were excessive, without authority and not in consonance to the rules and entitlement of a Minister or MPBy Express News Service

RAMANATHAPURAM: IT Minister M Manikandan received 16 Rameswaram-based fishermen who were convicted and conditionally released by the Sri Lankan court here, on Wednesday.

Twelve of these fishermen had ventured into the sea on July 4 from the Rameswaram jetty and the four others had set out on July 7 from Mandapam. The two groups were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy on charges of illegally fishing into its territory water, the day after went to the sea. They were lodged at Yazhpanam prison.

For the first time, Sri Lankan fisheries department had filed the charge sheet against these 16 fishermen under the new Fisheries Act that has provisions to punish foreign fishermen who are apprehended in their territory water with longer jail term and a hefty penalty based on the fish catch seized, the size of the boat, and the fishing net used by the fishermen.

While hearing the case, Judge Anthony Pillai Judeson awarded two years jail term to each fisherman, on July 13. However, the same day, he suspended the jail term for a period of five years and ordered the release of the fishermen, stating that these fishermen would have to undergo a jail term if they committed the same mistake within a five-year period.R Sivakumar By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: As the messages and rumours about Karunanidhi's deteriorating health conditions began to surface from Tuesday evening, the Kauvery Hospital, which has been providing health care to him, issued a bulletin on Thursday stating that he was suffering from fever due to urinary tract infection.

There has been a decline in the health of DMK President M Karunanidhi's due to age related ailments. He is being treated for fever due to urinary tract infection. He is being given hospital level treatment at home: Kauvery Hospital (file pic) pic.twitter.com/b3SaOR5qBt  ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2018

There has been a slight decline in the health of DMK president and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M Karunanidhi due to age-related ailments, the bulletin signed by Dr Aravindan Selvaraj, executive director of Kauvery Hospital, stated.

The bulletin issued by Kauvery Hospital states that M Karunanidhi was suffering from fever due to urinary tract infection.

It added, He is currently being treated for fever due to urinary tract infection with intravenous antibiotics and fluids.

Saying that Karunanidhi was being monitored and treated round-the-clock by a team of medical and nursing professionals, who are providing hospital-level care at his home, the hospital informed that considering his medical condition, the treating team of doctors have strongly advised restriction of visitors.

DMK supporters gather outside former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's residence at Gopalapuram in Chennai on Thursday. (Photo | Ashwin Prasath)

AIADMK ministers visit Karunanidhi

Led by Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister and coordinator of AIADMK O Panneerselvam, top party leaders and senior ministers SP Velumani (Municipal Administration and Rural Development), P Thangamani (Electricity) and D Jayakumar (Fisheries) visited Karunanidhi at his Gopalapuram residence late on Thursday evening. It may be noted that Stalin had visited J Jayalalithaa (late Chief Minister) at the Apollo Hospitals while she was undergoing treatment.

Deputy CM O. Panneerselvam along with other ministers met DMK's MK Stalin to inquire about DMK chief M. Karunanidhi's at latter's residence in Chennai. (Photo | Ashwin Prasath)

Later talking to reporters, Panneerselvam said Karunanidhi was able to identify them. Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) leader Thol. Thirumavalavan also visited Gopalapuram to inquire about the health conditions of Karunanidhi.

Amid health concerns, M Karunanidhi enters 50th year as chief of DMK

Amid concerns over his health conditions, DMK president and five-time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M Karunanidhi enters 50th year as the chief of the party.

By trumping his high-profile contemporaries and detractors in the party, he took the reins on July 27, 1967 following the demise of the party's founder and late Dravidian great CN Annadurai.

Appealing his party men to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Karunanidhi entering 50th year as president of DMK, his son and the party's working president MK Stalin, in an epistle penned to the cadre on Thursday, said, Fifty years at the helm of affairs of a party is an unmatchable record in Indian political history.

To achieve this, he has to weather several inclement situations, pass tests and face insurmountable crises, made astonishing victories and suffered worst defeats, he recalled.

Saying that his unstinting fight for the rights of the states and social justice-based schemes were sore in the eyes of the opponents who utilised Emergency an opportunity to dethrone, Stalin said Karunanidhi has remained the fulcrum of the politics of Tamil Nadu irrespective of being in power or not.

From 1967 to 2016 polls, he has faced 13 elections and won all of them, he pointed out.

Enlisting his achievement and lifetime spent in the domains of politics, film industry and State Assembly, he stated that time has given him some rest as his health declined due to age-related problems.

Everyone is longing to hear his magnetic voice, Stalin stated, hoping that time and medical science would fulfill the aspiration.By AFP

ATHENS: At least 81 people died in huge wildfires around Athens, Greek authorities said Wednesday, as rescuers scoured scorched homes and burned-out cars for survivors of one of the world's deadliest fire outbreaks.

Scores of locals and holidaymakers fled to the sea to try to escape the flames as they tore through towns and villages near the capital stoked by 100-kilometre-per-hour wind gusts, devouring woodland and hundreds of buildings.

Greek media have described the disaster as a "national tragedy", while Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras cut short a visit to Bosnia and announced three days of national mourning.

A young Irishman on honeymoon was among those who died, the British embassy in Greece confirmed.

According to British media, Brian O'Callaghan-Westropp had been on honeymoon in the coastal village of Mati when his car was caught in the wildfires.

SEE PICTURES: Greek wildfire leaves many in distress

Although his new wife Zoe managed to escape to a nearby beach, she was taken to hospital with burns, the reports said.

Fire service spokeswoman Stavroula Maliri said 81 people were now known to have died. The toll surpasses the 77 people killed in the previous deadliest fires in Greece, on the southern island of Evia in 2007.

Apart from the Irishman, the victims included three other tourists -- a Polish mother and her son, as well as a Belgian national whose teenage daughter survived the blaze.

Maliri said firefighters continued to search for bodies after receiving numerous calls reporting people missing.

It is possible that some of those unaccounted for "will be among the victims", Maliri said.

She added that relatives of those missing had been asked to provide DNA samples to help authorities identify bodies.

Wall of flame

When the fires broke out on Monday evening, terrified residents and tourists were overtaken by the flames in homes, on foot or in their cars. AFP photographers saw the burnt bodies of people and dogs.

"My husband said we had to leave with our seven-year-old grandson," Kiriaki Alexiadou, a resident of the devastated village of Mati, told AFP.

"We ran to the car as the pine cones were burning on the trees."

Choking back the tears on Wednesday, she pointed to the charred skeleton of a house next to hers.

"The policewoman who lived there, her husband and their two children left on foot towards the sea but they were trapped by this wall of flame."

The burned bodies of 26 people, including small children, were discovered at a villa in Mati, 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of Athens, rescuers said.

Rescue teams on Wednesday were going house to house to search for survivors in the village.

Rain forecast

Volunteers were also doing the rounds to provide food to those whose houses survived relatively unscathed but which have experienced sporadic power cuts since the fire struck.

"In 40 years here we've seen several fires each year" in the hills where Monday's blaze broke out said resident Andreas Matsios. "But we never imagined they would ever reach Mati."

Rain is forecast for the coming days, which will help efforts to douse the flames after temperatures topped 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) on Monday.

But another blaze was threatening houses near the seaside town of Kineta, 25 kilometres west of Athens.

Dozens of firefighters were battling the flames around Kineta aided by helicopters and planes dropping thousands of gallons of water.

Some 187 people were hospitalised after Monday's fires, with 71 still being treated on Wednesday, including almost a dozen children, most of whom were in a "serious condition", the fire services said.

Shock was giving way to public anger Wednesday, with several media questioning how such a devastating blaze could have hit a country well used to wildfires.

The opposition Te Nea daily criticised the government's "inability to protext its citizens just a few kilometres from Athens".

The front page of the Ethnos newspaper showed a charred Greek flag with the headline: "Armageddon."

Tsipras chaired a meeting of his emergency management committee on Wednesday though no statement was issued.

It hurt to breathe

At least six people died trying to escape the flames into the sea, where some 715 people were evacuated by boat, the government said.

"There was at least 300 of us. The worst thing was the smoke, it hurt to breathe," said Mati resident Sabi Kissov.

The European Union activated its Civil Protection Mechanism after Greece sought help. Several countries said they were sending aircraft to help fight the flames.

"Today is a day of great sorrow for the Greek people and for all of Europe," The EU's humanitarian crisis manager Christos Stylianides said on Twitter.

The wildfires come as record temperatures in northern Europe have also seen blazes cause widespread damage in recent days.By PTI

JOHANNESBURG: India and four other member nations of the BRICS grouping today urged all parties to the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal to fully comply with their obligations and ensure the full implementation of the agreement to promote global and regional peace and security.

Iran agreed a long-term deal on its nuclear programme with the P5+1 group of world powers - the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany in 2015 under which Tehran agreed to limit its sensitive nuclear activities and allow in international inspectors in return for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions.

In May, President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear agreement struck by the previous Obama administration by calling it the "the worst" deal ever negotiated.

ALSO READ | SCO Summit: President Hassan Rouhani slams US for withdrawing from Iran nuclear deal

The US is also pressuring all nations to stop importing oil from Iran by November 4 to ramp up sanctions on Tehran.

At the BRICS Summit here, India, Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa, signed the Johannesburg Declaration, took note of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear programme.

"We call upon all parties to fully comply with their obligations and ensure full and effective implementation of the JCPOA to promote international and regional peace and security," it said.

The 2015 deal was struck after years of tension over Iran's alleged efforts to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran insists that its nuclear programme was entirely peaceful.

The Johannesburg Declaration also welcomed the recent developments to achieve the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and maintain peace and stability in North East Asia.

"We reaffirm the commitment for a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution to the situation," the declaration said, weeks after President Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore for a historic summit on the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

On Afghanistan, the Declaration said, "We reaffirm our support for the process of an "Afghan-led, Afghan-owned" national peace and reconciliation process.

ALSO READ | BRICS: Narendra Modi meets South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, three MoU's signed

The grouping expressed its concern over the "deteriorating" situation in Afghanistan particularly the increase in the number and intensity of terrorist-related attacks on the Afghan security forces, the Government and civilians.

"We call on the international community to assist the government and the people of Afghanistan with the objective of working towards the realisation of peace," it says.

On the issue of Syria, the Johannesburg Declaration reaffirmed the commitment of the BRICS nations for a political resolution of the conflict through an inclusive "Syrian-led, Syrian-owned" political process that safeguards the state sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Syria.

The grouping also reaffirmed the need for a comprehensive reform of the UN, including its Security Council, with a view to making it more representative, effective and efficient, and to increase the representation of the developing countries so that it can adequately respond to global challenges.

In the Declaration, China and Russia, both UN Security Council members, reiterated the importance they attached to the status and role of Brazil, India and South Africa in international affairs and supported their aspiration to play a greater role in the UN.

The Declaration also reaffirmed the commitment of the BRICS grouping to the strengthening of multilateral institutions of global governance to ensure that they are able to comprehensively address global challenges.

The grouping also reiterated its commitment to shaping a more fair, just and representative multi-polar international order to the shared benefit of the humanity.

"We emphasise the indivisible nature of peace and security and reiterate that no country should enhance its security at the expense of the security of others," the Johannesburg Declaration says.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi represented India at the BRICS Summit.By PTI

JOHANNESBURG: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met Chinese President Xi Jinping here and emphasised the need to maintain the "momentum" generated during their two recent meetings.

Modi, who is here to attend the 10th BRICS Summit, met Xi for the third time in nearly four months.

The two leaders held a two-day informal summit in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late April and then they met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Qingdao, China in June.

Recalling his recent meetings with Xi, Prime Minister Modi said they have given a new strength to India-China ties and also provided new opportunities for the cooperation between the two countries.

ALSO READ | BRICS: Narendra Modi meets South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, three MoU's signed

"It is important to maintain this momentum and for this we should, at our level, regularly review our relationship and give proper instructions whenever required," Modi told Xi in his opening remarks.

At Wuhan, Modi and Xi had decided to issue "strategic guidance" to their militaries to strengthen communications to build trust and understanding, a move aimed at avoiding a Dokalam-like situation in the future.

Modi said today's meeting has provided one more opportunity to them to strengthen their closer developmental partnership.

Prime Minister's Office tweeted:

Furthering India-China friendship. PM @narendramodi and President Xi Jinping hold talks on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in South Africa. pic.twitter.com/podkGC4991

 PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 26, 2018

The two leaders are believed to have exchanged views on the international landscape, BRICS cooperation and other issues of mutual interest.By PTI

JOHANNESBURG: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and the two leaders discussed ways to expand the bilateral ties in a number of sectors, including trade and investment, IT and defence.

Following the delegation-level talks between Modi and Ramaphosa, three MoUs were signed on cooperation in exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, setting up of Gandhi-Mandela Centre of specialisation for artisan skills and agricultural research and education.

Saluting the enduring legacy of Mahatma and Mandela! PM @narendramodi and South African President @CyrilRamaphosa jointly released a stamp commemorating the two iconic personalities. pic.twitter.com/bYbHUEKwXO  Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) July 26, 2018

Modi, who arrived here yesterday, met Ramaphosa on the sidelines of the two-day BRICS summit whose theme this year is 'BRICS in Africa'.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet:

Kicking off a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of #BRICS! PM @narendramodi meets the host South African President @CyrilRamaphosa. Celebrating 21 years of strategic partnership, India & South Africa are proud inheritors of legacies of Mahatma Gandhi & Nelson Mandela. pic.twitter.com/LQo8EGrKb4

 Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) July 26, 2018

"Saluting the enduring legacy of Mahatma and Mandela! Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa jointly released a stamp commemorating the two iconic personalities," he tweeted.

India and South Africa are celebrating 21 years of strategic partnership.

"India and South Africa are proud inheritors of legacies of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela," Kumar said.

Narendra Modi tweeted:

The story of Indias freedom struggle is closely linked to Africa.



The leaders of our freedom movement were extremely supportive towards many African nations in their fight against colonialism.



Mahatma Gandhis ideals inspired so many towering African leaders. pic.twitter.com/uIKcVojYV6

 Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 25, 2018

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Cyril Ramaphosa discussed expansion of our relationship in trade and investment, agriculture and food processing, IT, defence and people-to-people contacts," he said.

BRICS is a grouping of five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Originally the first four were grouped as "BRIC", before the induction of South Africa in 2010. India's relations with South Africa date back several centuries.

ALSO READ | BRICS Summit: Nations pledge unity against US trade war threat

India was at the forefront of the international community in its support to the anti-apartheid movement.

This year also marks 25 years since the resumption of India's diplomatic relations with South Africa in 1993.

This year also marks the 125th year of the Pietermaritzburg railway station 'incident' involving Gandhi.

South African Presidency tweeted:

2018 is a historical year for our relations, as it marks the commemoration of twenty-five years of diplomatic relations between South Africa and India. #SAIndia #BRICS2018 pic.twitter.com/7jU8AWJlhR  PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) July 26, 2018

The South African Indian-origin community numbers around 1.5 million and constitutes about 3 per cent of South Africa's total population.By AFP

BEIJING: A 26-year-old Chinese man set off a small explosive device outside the US embassy in Beijing today, injuring his hand in the blast before he was taken into custody, police said.

Chinese police said there were no other injuries in the incident, which took place near where visa applicants typically line up to enter the embassy for interviews.

The explosion was set off by a man from China's Inner Mongolia region surnamed Jiang, police said, adding that his injuries were not life-threatening.

ALSO READ | CIA says China waging 'quiet kind of cold war' against United States

Video clips that circulated on social media shortly after the explosion showed smoke in the air outside the embassy compound, and AFP journalists arriving at the scene found heavy Chinese security.

"We heard a rather strong explosion around 1:00 pm (local time) so we went out on the street to have a look, but very soon the police had cordoned off the area," said a witness who declined to be identified.

Further details about the incident were not immediately available, with police quickly cordoning off the spot where the blast took place and China's state-censorship apparatus moving swiftly to block searches for "US Embassy" on the popular Twitter-like Weibo platform.

China regularly sees cases of disgruntled individuals lashing out at society over various grievances or perceived injustices, often harming themselves or others.

AFP journalists said the visa office adjacent to where the blast took place appeared to have resumed operation not long after the incident.

The area where the incident took place is on the outskirts of Beijing and home to several embassies, including those of the United States, India and Israel.

Video clips posted online showed smoke in the air outside the diplomatic compound in the Chinese capital and police roping off a perimeter around the area, with witnesses saying an explosion had occurred.

The location appeared to be near where Chinese citizens typically line up to enter the US embassy for visa interviews.

Officials and security personnel stand near the site of a reported blast

outside the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, Thursday, July 26, 2018. | AP

Photos and videos emerging online of the explosion on Chinese social media site Weibo showed smoke billowing from the area with police creating a roadblock around a vehicle, Hong Kong Free Press said.

However, the details of the incident were not immediately clear as witness reports conflicted.

According to The Guardian, a woman was moved from the outside the embassy, after she started spraying petrol on herself.

ALSO READ | China files World Trade Organization challenge to US $200 billion tariff plan

The US Embassy declined comment and Chinese security forces could not immediately be reached.

The diplomatic area where the incident took place is on the outskirts of Beijing and home to several embassies, including those of the United States, India and Israel.

(With input from agencies)By PTI

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan tonight rejected the allegations of any wrongdoing in the general election held yesterday after several political parties raised objections over the process and said they feared rigging.

The ECP said the election results were being collected and the first official result will be announced in an hour.

READ HERE | Imran Khan's PTI leads with 112; Nawaz Sharif's PML-N trailing at 65

ECP secretary Babar Yaqoob said Result Transmission Service failed after results of 25,000 out of 85,000 polling stations were uploaded.

He rejected any wrongdoing in the election and said "the issue of fraud can be discussed after ECP announces the results."

The Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has claimed victory despite serious questions being raised over the authenticity of the election process.

Sensing victory, PTI supporters erupted in jubilation as trends showed the party was leading on 111 seats.

According to latest trends available, PTI was followed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz of jailed leader Nawaz Sharif.

PML-N was leading on 68 National Assembly seats.

Hundreds of PTI supporters came out on streets in several cities, dancing and celebrating.

ALSO READ | Pakistan election won't lead to thaw in ties with India: Indian analysts

"We have got our Naya Pakistan," said Shahid Ali, one of the supporters, as he danced euphorically near the busy Faizabad interchange, which links Islamabad with the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

The Press Trust of India correspondent was caught for several hours in traffic when returning from the election coverage as highly-charged PTI workers raised victory slogans.

Reports said similar celebrations were being organised in other cities as well.

The victory and joy in the PTI camp appeared premature as the incumbent PML-N and Bilawal Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party rejected the results.

"Our polling agents were not given results and we will not accept it," said Khurshid Shah of PPP.

PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif alleged that the election process was "blatantly" rigged.

He warned of protests.

Analysts predicted tumultuous weeks ahead for Pakistan as a strong opposition to the election results was building up.



ALSO READ | Transgenders identified as 'male' missed voting opportunity

PML-N was leading on 67 seats and PPP on 39.

"They will make a lethal combination if they joined hands against Imran Khan," analyst Sohail Warriach said.

A party can form the government if it manages to clinch 172 seats out of the total 342.

A single party will need at least 137 of the 272 directly-elected seats to be able to form the government on its own.By PTI

KUALA LUMPUR: A pygmy elephant was shot dead on Borneo island after it destroyed villagers' crops, a Malaysian wildlife official said today, the latest of the endangered creatures to be killed.

The male elephant, believed to be about four years old, was found Monday by the side of a road in the state of Sabah, on the Malaysian part of Borneo, local wildlife department director Augustine Tuuga told AFP.

He said the "merciless" killing was carried out near a remote settlement, and authorities were investigating who was responsible.

"(The Elephant) was killed out of revenge for destroying crops," he said, adding the crops included palm oil trees.

He said the creature's tusks remained intact, indicating the elephant was not killed by poachers seeking to sell its ivory on the black market.

It was the latest case in Malaysia of human-animal conflict, which happens when human settlements or agricultural plantations expand into a species's natural habitat.

Malaysia is home to vast tracts of rainforest and a kaleidoscope of exotic wildlife, from elephants to orangutans and tigers, but the numbers of many rare species have fallen dramatically in recent decades.

As well as human-animal conflict, many endangered animals are hunted for their body parts which fetch a high price for use in traditional medicine in China, and elsewhere in Asia.

At least 18 pygmy elephants have been killed in Malaysian Borneo since April, The Star newspaper reported.

Causes of death included elephants being targeted by poachers and poisoning.

Pygmy elephants are baby-faced with large ears, plump bellies and long tails that sometimes drag on the ground, according to environmental group WWF.

Rainforest-clad Borneo is the world's third-largest island and is shared between Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.RFA quoted a source in North Hamgyong Province as saying, "In early July there was a meeting of high-ranking party officials from provincial organizations, party secretaries, and managers from business firms... to deliver Central Committee doctrines."

The North Korean regime is indoctrinating provincial Workers Party officials to the effect that giving up nuclear weapons means "death," Radio Free Asia reported Wednesday.

"The last speaker who ended the six-hour meeting emphasized that 'nuclear weapons are a precious legacy from the late leaders' and 'without them there is death,'" the source added.

That suggests the regime has no intention of giving up all its nuclear weapons and is aiming at best for a reduction.

Meanwhile, North Korea continues to pressure the U.S. to sign a peace treaty formally ending the Korean War. The official Rodong Sinmun daily said, "The U.S. bears the responsibility of announcing an end to the war."

But Washington wants to see progress in denuclearization first. Seoul also hopes for a peace treaty and enshrined the goal in the joint declaration by the leaders of the two Koreas in April.

A Cheong Wa Dae official told reporters on Wednesday, "We hope that an end to the war could be announced in the near future if possible. We are continuing talks, with the format and timing all open for discussion."

In signs that the denuclearization process has not completely stalled, Chinese nuclear negotiator Kong Xuanyou arrived in Pyongyang on Wednesday, according to Japan's Kyodo News. He is expected to meet with North Korean Foreign Ministry officials.By IANS

TEHRAN: Iranian Foreign Ministry has said the US government should forget talks with Iran under sanction threats. "Iran will never accept one-way negotiations that are based on excessive demands," Spokesman of Foreign Ministry Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying on Wednesday by IRNA news agency.

"Iran has never hesitated to defend the people's rights, territorial integrity, or independence of the country," said Qasemi, Xinhua reported. US President Donald Trump hinted on Monday that Washington was open to negotiating a new nuclear deal with Tehran ahead of looming deadline for Washington to snap back gold and oil sanctions on Iran.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday said that any negotiation with the US to solve the existing mutual problems was an "obvious mistake". However, Khamenei stressed that negotiations with the Europeans should continue to secure Iran's interests from the 2015 international nuclear deal following the US withdrawal from it on May 8.By PTI

WASHINGTON: There is no change in America's sanctions policy with regard to Russia, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said as opposition lawmakers grilled him over the recent meeting between President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland.

Testifying before Senate Committee on Foreign Relations yesterday, Pompeo assured Senators that the US does not and will not recognise the Kremlin's purported annexation of Crimea.

"We stand together with allies, partners and the international community in our commitment to Ukraine and its territorial integrity. There will be no relief of Crimea-related sanctions until Russia returns control of the Crimean Peninsula to Ukraine. This Crimea declaration formalises United States policy of non-recognition," he said.

Responding to questions from angry lawmakers on the recent Trump-Putin meeting, Pompeo said there has been no change in sanctions policy with regard to Russia.

"The US policy with respects to sanctions remains completely unchanged," he said during a heated exchange of words with the Democratic Senator, Robert Menendez, who is the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Pompeo said Trump was "very clear" with Putin about US positions.

"They are the US positions that are the Trump administration's positions and he spoke about them very firmly and clearly when he met with Vladimir Putin," he said.

Pompeo said from the outset the US administration's approach has been to steadily raise the cost of aggression until Putin chooses a less confrontational foreign policy while keeping the door open for dialogue in national interest.

"Between our two nations, the US and Russia possess over 90 per cent of the world's nuclear weapons. President Trump believes the two great nuclear powers should not have a contentious relationship. This is not just in our interests but in the interests of the whole world," he said.

"He strongly believes that now is the time for direct communication, our relationship in order to make clear to President Putin that there is the possibility, however remote it might be, to reverse the negative course of our relationship. Otherwise, the administration will continue opposing tough actions against Russia in response to its malign activities," the top American diplomat said.

Defending Trump, Pompeo said in Helsinki, the US sought to explore whether Russia was interested in improving the relationship, but made clear that the ball is in Moscow's court.

"We defended America's fundamental strategic interest in Syria and Ukraine. And I, personally, made clear to the Russians, there will be severe consequences for interference in our democratic processes," he said.

Trump is well aware of the challenges that Russia poses to the United States, and its partners and allies.

He's taken a staggering number of actions to protect our interests, he asserted.

As "proof", he cited several examples, including 213 sanctions on Russian entities and individuals in the Trump administration, expel of 60 Russian spies from the US and the closure of Russian consulates in Seattle and San Francisco.

On US sanctions over North Korea, Pompeo said it will remain in place till the country eliminates its weapons of mass destruction.

"America's objective remains the final, fully verified de-nuclearisation of North Korea. We're engaged in patient diplomacy. But we will not let this drag out to no one. President Trump remains upbeat about the prospects for North Korean de-nuclearisation. Progress is happening. We need Chairman Kim Jong-un to follow through on his commitments that he made in Singapore," he said.

Until North Korea eliminates its weapons of mass destruction, US sanctions and those of the United Nations will remain in effect.

Multiple UN Security Council resolutions require the country to eliminate all of its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, he told the lawmakers.

"Those resolutions were passed unanimously and they remain binding. We absolutely need every single nation to maintain the enforcement of those sanctions to which every nation has committed. The path ahead is not easy, but our hopes for a safer world and a brighter future for North Korea endure," Pompeo said.

Responding to questions, Pompeo said he is very confident that the North Korean's understand the definition of denuclearisation, and a very broad one, that it goes from infrastructure of nuclear war heads, though chemical biological weapons systems.

Pompeo said the North Koreans continue to produce vessel material.

However, he refused to go into any further detail.

"We have made very clear that the entirety of the North Korean CBW programme is contained in the US understanding of denuclearisation and I am confident that the North Koreans understand clearly America's definition and they have agreed to denuclearize," he asserted.

When asked by Senator Ed Markey whether the US have an inventory of North Korea's warheads, materials, facilities and other programs, Pompeo said, "I can't answer that here", and added that human rights abuses continue in North Korea.By PTI

UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today condemned the killing of dozens of people near a polling station in Pakistan's western Quetta city in a suicide attack.

The suicide bombing killed at least 31 people and injured another 70. It was claimed by the terror group Islamic State.

Pakistan has witnessed violence across the country in the run-up to the parliamentary and provincial assembly elections held yesterday.

The elections mark only the second time that one civilian government has handed power to another after serving a full term in office.

"The Secretary-General condemns the suicide attack at a polling station in Quetta claimed by Da'esh," his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement, using the Arabic name for IS.

"He extends his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and to the government and people of Pakistan.

" Despite the violence, news outlets reported that millions of Pakistanis showed up to cast their vote across the 85,000 polling stations.

The spokesperson stressed that "the United Nations stands in solidarity with, and supports the efforts of the Government of Pakistan, in the fight against terrorism.

" President of the UN General Assembly Miroslav Lajcak also condemned the attack, which he called "despicable".

The suicide bombing in Quetta followed a series of terrorist attacks earlier in the month in Pakistan, including one in Mastung, in which 153 people lost their lives.By PTI

WASHINGTON: The US' financial pressure campaign against Iran is having an impact and the Trump administration is determined not to let Tehran acquire nuclear weapons, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said today.

The US had, in May, pulled out of a landmark Iranian nuclear deal and ramped up its sanctions against Iran.

It had also threatened to cut off access to the American banking system for foreign financial institutions that trade with Iran.

"President Trump has said that Iran is not the same country it was five months ago. That's because our campaign of financial pressure, our withdrawal from the nuclear deal, and our full-throated support for the Iranian people, which he articulated in a speech this past Sunday, are having an impact," Pompeo said during a Congressional hearing.

After withdrawing from the Iranian nuclear deal, the Trump administration is piling pressure on countries like India, China, and other buyers to end all imports of Iranian oil by a November 4 deadline or face sanctions, as it looks to choke the Persian Gulf state's economic lifeline with sanctions over its nuclear programme.

"There is enormous economic challenge inside Iran today. It's an economic structure that simply doesn't work," he said.

"When you are a country of that scale that foments terror through Lebanese Hezbollah, through Shia militias in Iraq, into Yemen, conducts assassination attempts in European countries, provides enormous support for Assad outside of Lebanese Hezbollah in Syria, that's expensive," he said.

Pompeo said that Iranian People are beginning to see that it is not the model that they want.

"That the Iranian expansionism, that the supreme leader in Qasem Soleimani so favour, is not what they're looking for," he said.

"You are beginning to see the economic impact, combined with understandings inside of Iran of the Kleptocracy that it is, leading to fundamental decisions that the Iranian people will ultimately have to make," he told lawmakers.

When Senator Ben Cardin asked that Iran was no longer isolated as it is getting support from Russia, China and Europe and he was unable to understand the US strategy with regards to preventing nuclear proliferation, Pompeo said that the Trump Administration want neither Iran nor North Korea to have the capacity to proliferate nuclear weapons, to enrich uranium or build their own weapons programme.

"That's the mission set. It draws them together," he said.

"That sets the conditions for President Trump's understanding of how one achieves non-proliferation in the world and that's the mission state we're undertaking in each of those two countries. They're in different places and we are working on our approach in each place that we think increases the likelihood that we're able to successfully achieve that, a mission I know you share," Pompeo said.By AFP

GENEVA: The United States on Thursday accused China of falsely claiming that it was working to open its economy, insisting that Beijing's real goal was to deepen the state's economic control.

In a blistering attack delivered to the World Trade Organization's top body, US Ambassador Dennis Shea rejected Chinese assertions that it had satisfied the conditions of WTO membership.

"China has not been moving toward a fuller embrace of market-based policies and practices since it joined the WTO in 2001," Shea told a General Council meeting.

"In fact, the opposite is true. The state's role in Chinas economy has been increasing," he added, according to prepared remarks distributed by the US mission.

"For China, economic reform means perfecting the government's and the Communist Party's management of the economy."

Shea then turned to China's presentation at the country's WTO trade policy review earlier this month, where a senior delegation said Beijing was committed to "open, transparent, inclusive and non-discriminatory" trade.

"China's portrayal of itself is not accurate, of course, as we all know," Shea said.

President Donald Trump's trade team has expressed multiple frustrations with the 164-member WTO, but in recent weeks the organisation's failure to properly discipline China has taken centre-stage.

Washington has argued that WTO's rules, which have not been meaningfully updated since the body's founding in 1995, are inadequate to deal with an economy like China -- a global powerhouse where the government, ruling party and military are invested in the economy with limited transparency about their activities.

And, unlike with other Trump initiatives, the US has allies in its bid to modernise the WTO to check China's private sector involvement.

While the reform push remains in its early stages, the European Union and Japan are reportedly working on proposals tailored to force a change in Chinese behaviour.

'Up to China'

WTO director general Roberto Azevedo told reporters on Wednesday that the current scrutiny of China was natural given its mounting strength.

"I think people are just looking at everything that China does," he said.

Azevedo added that while the WTO has ruled in place restricting a state's private sector influence, the Chinese economy may have evolved in ways that circumvent those rules.

After rules are written, "you begin to have grey zones, grey areas because new practices come up," Azevedo said. I think that is the situation with China."

Shea called on WTO members to recognise that without reform the organisation would be irrelevant while putting the onus to act squarely on Beijing.

"The WTO itself does not currently provide the tools needed to bring about... change. Rather, if the necessary change is to take place, its up to China," Shea said.By Associated Press

IDYLLWILD: Fire stoked by hot and windy weather raged through a forest in far northern California on Thursday, while calmer conditions aided firefighters on the lines of a suspected arson wildfire that forced thousands of people to flee mountain communities east of Los Angeles.

New evacuations were ordered for communities in the wilderness recreation region near Whiskeytown Lake as that wildfire tripled in size to more than 31 square miles (80 square kilometres). It had already forced residents out of French Gulch, a hamlet dating to the Gold Rush.

French Gulch resident Raquel Hines said she had two hours to evacuate and that others in the former mining town had as little as 30 minutes to leave.

The community has faced two wildfires in the last two weeks, Hines said.

Smoke from the Cranston Fire clouds the skies over Highway 243, south of Idyllwild.

(Photo | AP)

"It's terrifying. You know you're frightened a little bit because you don't know if you're going to come back to your house and the town is going to be different," she told KRCR-TV.

Cal Fire Unit Chief Mike Hebrard told the Record Searchlight newspaper that the blaze made a huge push overnight and that engine crews were in the community of Old Shasta trying to save structures.

Hundreds of miles to the south, winds were absent over the fire in Southern California's San Jacinto Mountains. But temperatures were rapidly rising, and forecasters said highs could hit 100 degrees (38 Celsius). They also warned of possible afternoon wind gusts that could create dangerous fire conditions.

Elsewhere in the state, a huge forest fire continued to grow outside Yosemite National Park. A total of 100 homes were still considered under threat in the San Francisco Bay community of Clayton, although firefighters had stopped the progress of a small fire there after one house burned.

ALSO READ | California wildfire grows near Yosemite National Park

The blaze in the San Jacinto Mountains erupted Wednesday and quickly turned into a wall of flame that torched timber and tinder-dry brush. In a matter of hours, it grew to 7.5 square miles (19 square kilometers).

About 3,200 people in the town of Idyllwild and nearby communities were ordered to evacuate. An estimated 600 homes were threatened.

The fire was the largest of at least five that police believe were purposely set Wednesday by a man whose car was reportedly spotted at the starting point of the blaze in Riverside County, officials said.

Brandon N. McGlover, 32, of Temecula was booked on suspicion of five counts of arson, state fire officials said. It wasn't clear whether he had an attorney.

Authorities ordered residents to leave Idyllwild and several neighboring communities, home to about 12,000 people.

The fire is one of several across California amid a heat wave that has seen days of triple-digit temperatures. (Photo | AP)

William Blodgett of Idyllwild said he couldn't get home because of the fire and had to wait along with others at a gas station in nearby Mountain Center  until the fire hopped a highway and began to move in his direction.

"We were all peeling out of there as fast as we could," he told KNBC-TV. "It was apocalyptic."

Horses and other animals were taken to shelters, as were several hundred children who were evacuated from summer camps. About 200 were at a local high school serving as a shelter, KCAL-TV reported.

The fire in the San Bernardino National Forest sent up a cloud 50,000 feet high that was so enormous it created its own weather in the form of lightning, the National Weather Service reported.

Throughout the day, helicopters and planes dumped water and fire retardant that turned swathes of land and homes pink. Fire engines also were stationed to protect homes.

Yosemite Valley, the scenic heart of the national park, was closed at noon Wednesday during the height of tourist season as smoke cast a pall on the region from a fire in the Sierra Nevada. The closure was heartbreaking for travelers, many of whom mapped out their trips months in advance to hike and climb amid the spectacular views of cascading waterfalls and sheer rock faces.

"We had one guest who planned a weeklong trip," said Tom Lambert, who owns a vacation rental property near Yosemite Valley. "It was a father-daughter trip, for her high school graduation ... Now it's done. It's sad."

Another guest had to delay plans to climb Half Dome.

A tanker drops retardant on a fire on Mt. Diablo above Marsh Creek Road.

(Photo | AP)

Officials emphasized that Yosemite wasn't in imminent danger from the fire, which grew to more than 67 square miles (173 square kilometers) in the adjacent Sierra National Forest. Authorities decided on the shutdown to allow crews to perform protective measures such as burning away brush along roadways without having to deal with traffic in the park that welcomes 4 million visitors annually.

Yosemite Valley will be closed until at least Sunday, along with a winding, mountainous, 20-mile (32-kilometer) stretch of California's State Route 41 that leads into the area, Gediman said.

At least 1,000 campground and hotel bookings were canceled  to say nothing of the impact on day visitors, park workers and small businesses along the highway, Gediman said.

The last time the 7.5-mile-long (12-kilometer-long) valley was closed because of fire was 1990, he said.

Over nearly two weeks, flames have churned through 60 square miles (155 square kilometers) of timber in steep terrain of the Sierra Nevada just west of the park. The fire was just 25 percent contained.

More than 3,300 firefighters are working the fire, aided by 16 helicopters. One firefighter was killed July 14, and six others have been injured.By PTI

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan authorities were today faced with hiccups in finalising the outcome of the general elections due to logistic and technical problems, resulting in allegations of rigging.

More than 85,000 polling stations were set up for elections to the national and provincial assemblies but transmission of results from there stopped due to fault in the Result Transmission Service - a special software designed for it.

Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Babar Yaqoob told media that the process had picked up after mid-day and as polling staff had physically submitted about 90 per cent results with Returning Officers (ROs) who compile final tally of every candidate.

"There was some delay but we are still faster than many other countries where it takes days before final results are ready," he said.

Yaqoob said that his analysis showed that voters' turnout was around 55 per cent but it was an "initial assessment and could change".

But contrary to his claims, the official website of the ECP showed that results of just 152 out of 270 contested seats of National Assembly were received.

It showed that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) of Imran Khan got 77 seats, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) got 42 and Pakistan People Party got 16.

But private media gave a different picture and Dunya TV reported unofficial results of 264 seats, with PTI getting 116, PML-N 63 and PPP 44 seats.

Geo TV reported that PTI got 117, PML-N 60 and PPP 40 seats out of 268 seats.

Earlier, media reports showed that 55 per cent results have been unofficially showing that PTI was leading on 119 seats, followed by PML-N (65) and PPP (44).

However, the situation changed several times during the day but PTI maintained a comfortable lead.

After the final compilation, the ECP will allot 60 reserved seats for women and 10 reserved seats for minorities on the basis of their share in the contested 270 seats.

Currently, as per results of private media the PTI may be allotted around 43 per cent of reserved seats, taking its final tally easily over 145 sets.

In the house of 342, it will need 172 seats to elect the prime minister with a simple majority.

It means that PTI will still need support of smaller parties and independent winners to form a coalition government.

But the Opposition will be strong enough to corner the government on key issues and it would be impossible to implement any grand agenda of reforms.

The PTI will also face another problem as it will not able to bring any amendment in the constitution for which it will need two third majority in the national assembly as well separately in the senate.

Currently, PML-N is in majority in the senate or the upper house.

Earlier, Pakistan rose up to meet a new uncertainty instead of much hoped for stability amidst numerous allegations of rigging and mismanagement of elections, which were held countrywide on Wednesday in the protection of security forces led by army, which also controlled transportation of election material and personnel.

There were complaints during the day about delay as results could not be compiled even after 15 hours since polling was closed on Wednesday at 6 pm.

Pakistan's chief election commissioner Raza Khan officially announced the first result at 4 am.

"These elections were fair and we have not received any complaint.

If anyone has proof, we will take action," he said, as allegations were hurled against polling process and the delay in outcome of the results.

There is an interesting situation about the results of the provincial assemblies.

Dunya TV says that PML-N won 130 seats in Punjab followed by PTI with 120 in the provincial assembly of 297 members.

PPP has won 76 out of 130 seats in Sindh assembly, PTI won 66 out of 99 seats in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) won 11 out of 51 seats in Balochistan.

Though, PTI spokesman Naeemul Haq said that his party will form government in Punjab with support from other smaller parties but tussle between the PTI and PML-N to form the government in Punjab is already on the horizon.

The elections have also been marred by the allegation of fraud by almost all political parties.

Yaqoob said that not a single complaint about rigging was so far received at the ECP.Expo-themed train arrives as city prepares for event

From:Shine | 2018-07-26 02:29

A China International Import Expo-themed train starts service yesterday on Line 2. Three more expo trains will debut soon, one on Line 2 and two on Line 10.

A China International Import Expo-themed Line 2 train pulled into Peoples Square Station at 10am yesterday.

Carriages on the train are decked out with information about the expo, as well as special well-wishes from celebrities. Train passengers can also enjoy comics which tell interesting anecdotes about imports.

Many riders were impressed by the decoration of the train. The comics are quite cute, said a woman surnamed Dong. And people can learn interesting facts from them.

I saw many exotic food companies are coming to the expo, said Jiang Weimin, a college student. I would love to try some of their foods.

According to Metro operators, another three expo-themed trains will be put into service by September: one more on Line 2, and two on Line 10.

The Shanghai Metro has also been improving other amenities ahead of the upcoming expo, starting with station toilets.

Stations near the expo venue on Line 2, Line 10 and Line 17 will have toilets installed on platforms where passengers can easily find them.

All industries in the city have started preparations for the expo, which is expected to attract leading governmental officials and tens of thousands of visitors from home and abroad.

Shanghai Health and Family Planning Commission published a list of 18 designated hospitals which can offer high-quality service and health care during the event.

Shanghai Jiahui International Hospital, the only international hospital on the list, said it will be mainly responsible for the health of overseas visitors and guests. It has prepared a team of medical professionals from nine countries who can offer international-standard, multi-lingual service.

Officials from Huashan Hospital, a leading public hospital, said it has carried out drills to handle potential emergencies during the expo.

The large industry gathering also requires a large number of volunteers.

The Shanghai Youth League, which is in charge of volunteer recruitment and training, said it has recruited about half of the 5,000 volunteers needed for expo liaison, coordination, registration, guest reception and on-site assistance.

The volunteers are mainly being recruited from universities and colleges in Shanghai, and the organization said it will recruit students who speak languages other than English from neighboring provinces and southern provinces like Yunnan who are knowledgeable of South and Southeast Asian languages.

After recruitment finishes in mid-September, volunteers will start training in October.

Also, the organization will soon be recruiting another 60 to 80 volunteers to work full-time with the government on organizing the event. These volunteers will mainly be recruited among company and government workers and university teachers.

The first group of such volunteers  25 of them  has already started work.

Meanwhile, other volunteer organizations are called on to serve event guests at Metro stations, airports, shopping centers and cultural landmarks.Reporter

Debra Pressey is a reporter covering health care at The News-Gazette. Her email is dpressey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@DLPressey).One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021'Very Weird' Radio Signals

Turn Out to Be Very Human(Newser)  New Zealand's prime minister has been on maternity leave for little more than a month, and her acting PM is already picking a fight with Australia over the countries' very similar flags. "We had a flag that we've had for a long time, copied by Australia, and they should actually change their flag and honor the fact that we got there first with this design, being decided by a prime minister and his legacy," Winston Peters told TVNZ this week, per the New Zealand Herald. New Zealand's flag was adopted on March 24, 1902; Australia's flag was adopted on April 14, 1954. But, as the New York Times explains, Australia flew a version of its flag as early as 1901. New Zealanders have complained in the past that the similarity of the flags is a reminder of the era when New Zealand was a colony of Australia, but in 2016 voters rejected a measure to change their flag. (Read more New Zealand stories.)(Newser)  Melania Trump's spokeswoman says the first lady will watch whatever she wants on TV, the AP reports. Stephanie Grisham responded Wednesday to a New York Times report that President Donald Trump was unhappy that his wife's television aboard Air Force One was tuned to CNNand not Fox Newsduring their recent trip to Europe. The Times said Trump raged at his staff for breaking a rule that each trip begin tuned to Fox. Trump is an avid Fox viewer who regularly disparages CNN as "fake news." Grisham also tried to bat away questions about the broadcast of a brief audio recording of Trump and his longtime personal lawyer discussing plans to pay for a former Playboy model's story of an alleged 2006 affair with Trump. Trump has denied the affair.

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A day after accompanying Mrs. Trump to a Tennessee children's hospital that treats babies born with a dependency on drugs, also known as neonatal abstinence syndrome, Grisham suggested that reporters focus on that and other issues she deemed more important than the first lady's television viewing habits or "some recording on the news." "Did you know that every 15 minutes a baby is born with NAS?" she said. "Maybe you'd like to talk about the 160,000 kids who skip school every day for fear of being bullied, or that 280,000 students are physically attacked in schools every month." Both are issues Mrs. Trump is working to highlight. "Seems kind of silly to worry about what channel she watches on TV (any channel she wants btw) or if she heard some recording on the news," Grisham said, using an abbreviation for "by the way."

(Read more Melania Trump stories.)(Newser)  Two extremely conservative House lawmakers are leading a bid to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees Robert Mueller. Reps. Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan are among 11 Republican lawmakers who filed a resolution Wednesday calling for Rosenstein to be impeached, the Washington Post reports. The men, allies of President Trump, are accusing Rosenstein of withholding information about the special counsel's Russia investigation from Congress, amid other misconduct. Politico reports that they filed the articles of impeachment hours after meeting with Justice Department officials to discuss demands for documents.

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"We're tired of the Justice Department giving us the finger and not giving us the information we're entitled to to do our constitutional duty," Jordan said on Fox News Wednesday night. But with House Speaker Paul Ryan among those opposed, the resolution is unlikely to go as far as a vote. "Even if it does get a vote, and even if Mr. Rosenstein is impeached, two-thirds of the Senate would have to support removing him after a trial in the chamber," says the BBC's Anthony Zurcher. "The chances of thatwhich would require a significant number of Democrats in favorare less than zero." Rep. Adam Schiff tweeted that the articles were filed in "bad faith" and "show [the] extraordinary lengths to which House Republicans will go to protect Trump." (Read more Rod Rosenstein stories.)(Newser)  There will be no free ice cream for the 2,000 employees set to fill Facebook's new office in Mountain View, Calif., later this year. Like many other tech companies in Silicon Valley, Facebook fills the bellies of its employees with free food, from oven-baked pizza to hand-rolled sushi. But that appears to be changing: In an effort to lend support to local restaurants, the city of Mountain View has blocked Facebook from subsidizing cafeteria meals by more than 50%, though it can fully subsidize meals had at outside restaurants. "We wanted to make sure businesses that were there were successful," councilman John McAlister tells the San Francisco Chronicle of the 2014 agreement, which he says came in response to complaints that Google's free employee meals were hurting local businesses.

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The goal was "to make sure we didn't have 400,000 square feet of office space with people that never left the building" to visit a local business, says former Mountain View mayor Michael Kasperzak. It's an idea that caught officials' attention in San Francisco. Though it "could mean losing well-paid [cafeteria] jobs to minimum-wage jobs in nearby restaurants," per the Guardian, two city legislators on Tuesday announced a proposal that would ban workplace cafeterias in new developments. "You get more foot traffic, restaurant and retail patrons, and overall vitality in the streets," says a rep for the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, which is in support of the proposal. "If people are bussed in, go to work and never leave the building, the effect isn't felt." (Read more Facebook stories.)(Newser)  An Irish couple's idyllic Greek honeymoon has become a disaster from which only one will return. Days after arriving in the seaside resort of Mati, Brian O'Callaghan-Westropp became separated from his new bride as they ran to escape a fast-moving wildfire; he is now among the 81 dead, per Reuters. O'Callaghan-Westropp and Zoe Holohanwho arrived in Greece on Saturday following their Thursday wedding in Kellswere forced to abandon their car in gridlock as winds pushed flames toward the sea. They ran in that direction but became separated close to the water, reports the Irish Times. Holohan reached a beach and realized her husband was no longer with her. The Irish ambassador to Greece confirmed O'Callaghan-Westropp's body was later found, per the BBC.

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"Our sympathies and hearts go out to his family at this time," said Orla O'Hanrahan. She added Holohan was admitted to a hospital Tuesday with burns to her head and hands and is expected to fully recover. She's one of an estimated 200 people injured, per the Guardian. With another 40 missing, officials expect the death toll to continue to climb as rescue workers comb through as many as 2,500 burned homes. Identification of the deceased won't be easy. "Sometimes its difficult to see the people; they look like charcoal," the New York Times quotes a Red Cross volunteer as saying. Per the Times, an investigation into the cause will only begin when all the fires are out, though arson is suspected given "the proliferation of so many small fires" in drought-affected areas. (Read more Greece stories.)(Newser)  Astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell calls the Karman Line the world's "most widely accepted boundary." It's otherwise known as the point where space meets Earth's atmosphere, and since before the launch of Sputnik, it's thought to have hovered 62 miles above our heads. Until now. In a new study, McDowell argues the Karman Line is at least 20% closer, or 50 miles away, and presents some straightforward data to back that up, per Live Science. If the Karman Line really is 62 miles away, says McDowell, it should've been impossible for the Soviet Elektron-4 satellite to orbit Earth 10 times at a distance of 52 miles, as it did before disintegrating in 1997. And that's just one of 50 examples of satellites making multiple rotations of Earth at altitudes below 62 miles that McDowell uncovered while surveying the orbital paths of 43,000 satellites since 1957, reports ScienceAlert.

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Plugging the data into a mathematical model, McDowell found satellites tend to break from orbit 41 to 55 miles above Earth, though a fiery descent is all but guaranteed at 50 miles. This is believed to be the outer edge of the mesosphere, which extends 53 miles above Earth, according to NASA. "Adding to the evidence that this is the region where the atmosphere becomes important" is the fact that meteors, traveling faster than satellites, disintegrate in the range of 43 to 62 miles, says McDowell. If his data is correct, "you may be a little bit closer to the heavens" than you thought, per Live Science. But McDowell is considering greater implications, including what the Karman Line's positioning might mean for countries' airspace: If a US satellite flies "at 52 miles over China, for example, that could be (justifiably) construed as an act of military aggression," he says. (Cue the Space Force.)(Newser)  A Tennessee toddler drowned in a day care's swimming pool Friday, and now her twin brother has also succumbed to his injuries, per the Knoxville News Sentinel. The little boy, identified by People as Elijah Orejuela, died Sunday after two days on life support; his sister, Elyssa Orejuela, died the same day a worker at Om Baby found them both in the deep end of the pool at the day care facility, which was run out of a home in West Knoxville. "It is with much heartbreak that I tell you that Elijah has gone to be with his sister," the twins' mother, identified by Fox News as registered nurse Amelia Wieand, wrote on Facebook Tuesday. "They were formed in my womb and grew together. She was his other half. They were soulmates." Per the Sentinel, Om Baby is registered to a Jen Salley, though she's said not to own the home where the day care was located.

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A Care.com listing that's since been deleted showed that Salley, who also offered swimming lessons and was reportedly certified in CPR and first aid, had been offering child care since 2010. People reports Om Baby had had complaints lodged against it in the pastincluding that there were too many kids in the home, per Tennessee Department of Human Services records cited by the Sentineland two months ago it was told to cease operations due to not being licensed. It's not yet clear whether criminal charges will be filed in the twins' deaths. A GoFundMe set up for the family has so far raised more than $35,000 for medical bills and funeral expenses, and Wieand noted on Facebook that Elijah's organs had been donated "to prevent another family from suffering this immeasurable pain." (Read more Tennessee stories.)Chongqing, Switzerland sign cooperation agreements Updated: 2018-07-24 chinadaily.com.cn

Representatives from both sides sign the agreements during the Chongqing-Switzerland Economy and Trade Cooperation Forum in Zurich on July 17. [Photo/liangjiang.gov.cn]

Representatives from Southwest China's Chongqing municipality and Switzerland met in Zurich on July 17 and pledged to build a Sino-Swiss industrial park in Liangjiang New Area.

According to the agreement, the two sides will launch 15 joint projects in fields such as large equipment, smart manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and new energy.

The ABB Transformer Project and the Smart Manufacturing Industrial Park, for example, will have an initial cost of as much as $280 million.

The park will consist of two functional areas (R&D and manufacturing), six open platforms (manufacturing, R&D, finance, information, etc.) and 10 innovative industries.

It is expected to become a new industrial powerhouse in Liangjiang New Area -- China's first inland pilot region -- developing innovative technologies for precision manufacturing, medical equipment and clean energy vehicles.

Attending the signing ceremony were representatives from 103 Swiss enterprises, institutes and agencies. Tang Liangzhi, mayor of Chongqing municipality, was head of the Chinese delegation.

International cooperation has recently become a central focus of Chongqing as an important path towards reform and opening-up.

Liangjiang New Area has already forged strong partnerships with Switzerland, Germany, Japan, Korea, Italy and Singapore.

By 2020, there is expected to be 250 foreign-invested projects operating in the area, according to Tang Zongwei, deputy director of the administrative committee of Liangjiang New Area.

The actual utilization of foreign capital will hopefully reach $2 billion, he noted.(Newser) 

Iranian President Hassan Rouhan says he sees no need to respond to any "nonsensical" threat from President Trump . The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard is not so restrained. "As a soldier, it is my duty to respond to Trumps threats," says Gen. Qassem Soleimani, per Reuters . "If he wants to use the language of threat, he should talk to me, not to the president." His message to Trump, then: "We are ready to confront you," reports the AP

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"Trump should know that we are nation of martyrdom and that we await him," Soleimani was quoted as saying by website yjc.ir, which is affiliated with state TV. He also scoffed that Trump has the "language of night clubs and gambling halls." Trump's initial all-caps threat that Iran would suffer unprecedented consequences if it threatened the US was followed days later by his suggestion of talks. "We'll see what happens, but we're ready to make a real deal, not the deal that was done by the previous administration which was a disaster," he told a crowd in Missouri, reports Politico.

(Read more Iran stories.)(Newser)  He said he needed to use the bathroom, and that he had toilet paper downstairshe just needed permission to get it. There was some verbal tussling, but then Michael Scott Moore was given the OK to retrieve it. It was all a ruse, and the downstairs location he headed to wasn't in a building but on a ship, the Naham 3, the tuna vessel where the journalist was being held. It was August 2012; Somali pirates had captured him in January. And on this one night, Moore decided to make a break for it. In a piece for GQ, Moore explains what precipitated his leap into the sea. The ship had been anchored off Hobyo, Somalia, when the anchor broke, possibly after a huge fish tried to feast on the ship's barnacle-clad hull. As the vessel began to move, a twin-engine plane flew overhead. And that got him thinking.

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He began to suspect drones were watching. "Someone with the power to launch a twin-engine aircraft had noticed the accident and reacted, quickly, so it was possible that even an aircraft carrier stood not far off. This ship was moving an American hostage to an unknown destination. The Navy had to be watching." He put his LED lighter in a plastic bag thinking he could signal to drones from the water, got led to the supposed toilet paper location, kicked off his sandals, and then ran and dove into the water 20 feet below. His first realizations after hitting the water: He floated more easily than he expected to due to the saltiness of the water, and he was really afraid. Oh, and that LED light? Didn't work, but the Somalis' spotlights did. Read the full story here, which recounts how he ended up back on the ship; he would remain in captivity for a total 977 days. His mother raised a $1.6 million ransom to free him. (Read more Longform stories.)(Newser)  Betsy DeVos has another problem on her hands besides the education of US children. A $40 million yacht owned by the education secretary's family crashed into a dock after it was set adrift from an Ohio marina over the weekend, reports the Toledo Blade. Huron police, who are reviewing surveillance footage in an effort to learn who untied the 163-foot Seaquest before 6am Sunday, cite $5,000 to $10,000 in damage from scrapes. It shouldn't affect any travel plans, though. Per the Wall Street Journal, the boat is one of at least 10 owned by DeVos' family, which also keeps at least four planes and two helicopters. (Read more Betsy DeVos stories.)(Newser)  American Airlines last year introduced basic economy tickets that did not allow fliers to bring carry-on luggage, but the airline has now announced a reversal of that decision. Starting in September, customers who purchase basic economy fares will be allowed to bring a free carry-on bag, Dallas News reports; as USA Today explains, they were previously limited to a "personal item" that could be stowed under the seat in front of them. Though it is explained during the booking process, the policy often led to unhappy customers at the gate. "We got to a point where we werent competitive," says CEO Doug Parker. "For price sensitive customers who are the buyers of this, theres a big airline out there who doesnt charge for the carry-on." Though he didn't name it, Delta Airlines already allows fliers with basic economy tickets to bring carry-on bags.

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American recently saw what the CEO calls its "most challenging" quarter since 2013, reporting a second quarter profit of $566 million Thursday. That's down 34.5% from the same period last year. It's hoping changes like this can improve its outlook. "There are now filters on things like Google search that ask you if you want to bring a carry-on, and if you say yes, the American flights dont show up nearly as high as they did before because it adds $20 to our fare," says Parker. "We have to take that into consideration." Basic economy fares, a step down from regular economy fares, still will not allow flight changes or upgrades; will require passengers to board last; and will not allow passengers to choose their seats in advance. (Read more American Airlines stories.)(Newser)  Last summer, Heather Mae Mounce was reported missing by her family; her car was found abandoned along Highway 101 in Oregon. After her then-husband ultimately spotted her, four days later, "clinging to bushes" 180 feet down the side of a cliff, a Coast Guard helicopter crew airlifted her from the ridge in what KOIN calls a "dramatic" rescue that made headlines. This summer is also dramatic for the 28-year-old Oregon woman, but in a decidedly different way: She has been charged with 96 felonies. Mounce is accused of stealing thousands of dollars from the Dallas Retirement Village, Oregon Center for Nursing, and OpenRoad Transportation, the Statesman Journal reports; she's also accused of stealing the identity of an "elderly and dependent" man whom she was caring for, along with $5,000 from him.

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She faces 62 counts of identity theft, 24 counts of criminal mistreatment, and 10 other charges; the charges date from September 2013 until July of this year. Authorities have not said whether there is any link to her disappearance in August of last year, but the Polk County District Attorney says an investigation into the case began about a year ago, per the Polk County Itemizer-Observer. Authorities at the time said that she appeared to have left her car of her own free will and that they did not believe she had been abducted. She filed for divorce three months later. Of the charges she faces, the Dallas Retirement Village says in a statement, "We are working closely with the state and Polk County Attorneys Office in their investigation of this individual and former employee. ... We can assure that she had no access to any personal resident records." (Read more weird crimes stories.)(Newser)  He is a 50-year-old American pastor who has been doing missionary work in Turkey for 23 years. Turkey, however, has a different description for Andrew Brunson: They say he's a spy and an abettor of terrorists who is working to overthrow the government. Brunson has been in custody for a year and a half now, though Turkey relented a bit this week and released him from jail and allowed him to return to his residence under house arrest. But US officials, including President Trump, say that's not enough. Here's a look at developments:

The arrest: Brunson was among those jailed in the wake of a failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016. Authorities say he has links to two terror groups, including one led by cleric Fethullah Gulen, who lives in exile in the US. Brunson denies all charges, but he faces 15 years on the terror charges and another 20 for espionage if convicted, reports the AP. His trial is supposed to start in October.

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Health reasons: Brunson had lost about 50 pounds while in prison at one point, reports the Asheville Citizen Times, from Brunson's home state of North Carolina. Turkish officials cited unspecified health reasons for his transfer from prison to house arrest.

Brunson had lost about 50 pounds while in prison at one point, reports the Asheville Citizen Times, from Brunson's home state of North Carolina. Turkish officials cited unspecified health reasons for his transfer from prison to house arrest. Trump threatens: President Trumpwho previously raised the issue in a phone call with Erdogan, according to the New York Timestweeted Thursday that the US "will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being." Brunson, he added, "is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!"

President Trumpwho previously raised the issue in a phone call with Erdogan, according to the New York Timestweeted Thursday that the US "will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being." Brunson, he added, "is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!" Familiar name: Trump and Brunson have something in common: They're both represented by attorney Jay Sekulow, notes the Wall Street Journal.

Trump and Brunson have something in common: They're both represented by attorney Jay Sekulow, notes the Wall Street Journal. Full-court press: Trump's tweet came after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence issued similar messages: The move to house arrest is not good enough. Sens. Thom Tillis, Jeanne Shaheen, Bob Corker, and James Lankford were among those saying the same.

Trump's tweet came after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence issued similar messages: The move to house arrest is not good enough. Sens. Thom Tillis, Jeanne Shaheen, Bob Corker, and James Lankford were among those saying the same. A deal? Turkey has previously suggested that it would release Brunson if the US extradited cleric Gulen, but the Times reports that the US has rejected the idea. However, Turkey might have a new reason to budge: Sens. Tillis and Shaheen have added a provision to Senate legislation that would block the sale of 100 jet fighters to Turkey, per the Citizen Times.

Turkey has previously suggested that it would release Brunson if the US extradited cleric Gulen, but the Times reports that the US has rejected the idea. However, Turkey might have a new reason to budge: Sens. Tillis and Shaheen have added a provision to Senate legislation that would block the sale of 100 jet fighters to Turkey, per the Citizen Times. Small church: Brunson is an evangelical pastor, and he and his wife ran a small Protestant church, Izmir Resurrection Church, in the city of Izmir on the Turkish coast before his arrest.

(Read more Turkey stories.)(Newser)  Always thought politicians were crooks? Now Amazon's facial recognition system agrees with you, but not in a good way. A test by the ACLU matching all 535 Congress members to 25,000 mugshots found 28 false positiveswith a notably high number of people of color, the Verge reports. "An identificationwhether accurate or notcould cost people their freedom or even their lives," says the ACLU. "Congress must take these threats seriously, hit the brakes, and enact a moratorium on law enforcement use of face recognition." But Amazon defended its Rekognition API software, saying the ACLU used the default certainty threshold of 80%, while Amazon suggests cops crank it up to at least 95%. Yet there's nothing to make law enforcement use the higher setting.

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Rekognition drew attention in May when the ACLU revealed that several law enforcement agencies were using it. Privacy and civil rights groups cried foul, but police liked the price tag (around $12 a month), and at least one police force kept using it after a trial run, per USA Today. Some are concerned about racial bias: 39% of false positives in the ACLU test are people of color, including civil-rights leader John Lewis, while people of color comprise only 20% of Congress. Another test of facial-recognition software found higher false positives among blacks and women. Now three members of Congress have written Jeff Bezos expressing concerns about Rekognition. "Serious concerns have been raised about the dangers facial recognition can pose to privacy and civil rights," they write. (Read more Amazon.com stories.)New Delhi:

The Centre has asked the CBI to probe the alleged misuse of data of Indias Facebook users by British political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica, Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

In a significant move ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Prasad said the probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will determine whether Cambridge Analytica violated the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The data mining and analysis firm earlier faced allegations it used personal information harvested from 87 million Facebook accounts to help Donald Trump win the 2016 US presidential election.

As members in the Upper House expressed concern over social media platforms being used to spread rumours and fake news, Prasad also said the government has asked them to provide technological solutions so that verified fake news and provocative messages can be filtered.

Cambridge Analytica(CA) is at the centre of a storm in the country over alleged breach of Facebook user data seeking information about its clients in India and whether it had harvested their user profiles. The controversy had triggered a war of words between the BJP and the Congress.

Prasad while responding to the concerns by members during a calling attention notice on the misuse of social media and propagation of fake news causing unrest and violence referred to the reported breach at Facebook where the data of a large number of users were allegedly compromised by Cambridge Analytica.

Also Read | Parliament Monsoon Session: Trafficking of Persons Prevention Bill up

He said notices were immediately issued to the two companies and their response sought.

Facebook responded that they will streamline their internal processes regarding handling of personal data. They stated that the case of Cambridge Analytica was a case of breach of trust. They promised to take various other steps to ensure that such breaches do not recur, Prasad said.

However, he said, Cambridge Analytica gave an initial response that data of Indians was not breached but this was not in conformity with what was reported by Facebook. Cambridge Analytica also did not respond to a subsequent notice.

The Government has entrusted this issue to be investigated by the CBI for possible violation of Information Technology Act, 2000 and IPC, Prasad said, adding it is suspected that Cambridge Analytica may have been involved in illegally obtaining data of Indians which could be misused.

He said there were also reports that user data was illegally accessed by hardware manufacturers who had tie-ups with Facebook. In regard to this issue, Facebook has reported that they are not aware of any misuse of information, including Indian users information.

Prasad also said that the Centre will strengthen the legal framework to ensure that significant social media and instant messaging service providers targeting Indian users, do not deprive them of the right to hold proceedings in India and protecting Indian laws, the Electronics and Information Technology(IT) minister said.

He said the government was seriously considering appropriate rules requiring all social media platforms to locate their grievance officers in India.

The duty of such grievance officer should cover not only to receive grievances on real time basis but also to inform law enforcement agencies, Prasad said.

Earlier, members including Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad had raised serious concern over the incidents relating to abuse of social media leading to mob lynchings, with some of them even accusing the government of inaction.

In his response, Prasad said these (incidents) are deeply painful and regrettable, as well as a matter of deep concern for the Government. The Government has taken prompt action.

However, he said a challege has emerged (but) in its wake, we cannot abolish the existence of social media. India has emerged as a digital power. Even a common Indian is armed with the power of information and can raise questions.

We should see both aspects. Social media is helping many students, small groups are exchanging information, farmers are using it. We need to introspect if you question the relevance of social media.

Also Read | India denies reports of China resuming its activities in Doklam

He said the government planned to issue directives in public interest requiring all social media platforms to ensure that they do not become vehicles for promoting hatred, terrorism, money laundering, mob violence and rumour mongering.

These platforms should provide technological solutions so that verified fake news and provocative messages can be filtered by technical solutions.

They should also bring in a more effective mechanism for receiving grievances and report to the law enforcement agencies. They should seek to provide the facility of verifying fake news on the platform itself, he said.

Observing that the government does not regulate content appearing on social networking platforms, Prasad said these platforms however are required to follow due diligence in accordance with the Information Technology Act and the Rules.

They (social networking platforms) have also to follow Article 19(2) of the Constitution and ensure that their platforms are not used to commit and provoke terrorism, extremism, violence and crime, he said.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

As monsoon showers drenched the national capital, the Parliament Monsoon Session 2018 reconvened on Thursday for the seventh day.

On Wednesday, the Rajya Sabha passed the Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance, 2018. And, the Telegu Desam Party (TDP) on Wednesday moved the privilege motion against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Piyush Goyal for misleading the House regarding the 14th Finance Commission.

The privilege motion moved by the Congress on the Rafale deal against PM Modi and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was also taken up by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan for aconsiderationa.

Highlights of Parliament Monsoon Session 2018 Day 7:

#05:25 PM:A Cambridge Analytica data breach case will be investigated by CBI: Ravi Shankar Prasad, IT Minister in Rajya Sabha

Cambridge Analytica data breach case will be investigated by CBI: Ravi Shankar Prasad, IT Minister in Rajya Sabha pic.twitter.com/lmLLdl5VIP a ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2018

#03:45 PM:A Opposition parties questions the Anti-trafficking Bill in the Lok Sabha, saying it is neither clear and nor comprehensive in many parts.

#03:30 PM:A After Government issued notice to WhatsApp and it reduced the number of forwards to five, it now plans to remove fwd button adjacent to video or audio msg; they also plan to bring fact checking and fake news verification mechanism, says Prasad.

# 02:40 PM: Ravi Shankar Prasad talks about Social mediaA and circulation of Fake News.

The Govt is cognizant that social media platforms are being used as vehicles of weaponization against India's strategic interests, economic stability and Govt is committed to take suitable action to deter this: Ravi Shankar Prasad, IT Minister in Rajya Sabha pic.twitter.com/yAmWsIUiKV a ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2018

Govt issued notice to #WhatsApp, since in most such horrible incidents the preceding factor was rumours on Whatsapp. In response, Whastapp took steps to increase friction in propagation of content by reducing forwards to 5 and indicating whether message is forwarded:RS Prasad pic.twitter.com/WgdDQKxoRt a ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2018

# 02:35 PM:A IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad takes the issue of misuse of social media and circulation of Fake News leading to rise in violence and lynching.

# 02:10 PM:A Congress MP Shashi Tharoor states that the government may not know the difference between apersecutiona and aprosecution' andA suggests the Trafficking Bill shoud be sent to Standing Committee to address issues, several MPs join the demand.

# 01:20 PM: "How can we sit silent and see children and women being bought and sold like slaves?" asks Maneka GandhiA as she moves the Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, ProtectionA andA Rehabilitation) Bill.A

# 01:05 PM:A BJP MPA Maheish Girri, raised the issue of death of three girls due to starvationA ahead of the adjournment of the upper house.A A



# 01:00 PM:A Rajya Sabha adjourned tillA 2 pm.

# 12:50 PM:A Congress president Rahul Gandhi arrives at the Parliament.

# 12:45 PM:A Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar says the Jio institute has not been granted any status of eminence.A

# 12:30 AM:A AIADMKA MP P R. Sundaram says the truckers' strike has affected perishable goods sector such as eggs and vegetable which hiked up prices of the essential item.

# 11:50 AM:A I welcome BJP's Padayatra, at least they are fighting in favour of the farmers. I am waiving farmers loans, they should appreciate me for it, says Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy

I welcome BJP's Padayatra, at least they are fighting in favour of the farmers. I am waiving farmers loans, they should appreciate me for it: Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy pic.twitter.com/ti4QfgtwH8 a ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2018

# 11:30 AM:A Earlier visuals of Telugu Desam Party MPs protesting in Parliament premises over their demand for special status to Andhra Pradesh.

Earlier visuals of Telugu Desam Party MPs protesting in Parliament premises over their demand for special status to Andhra Pradesh, pic.twitter.com/IpsBK0Jg2g a ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2018

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

The Indian Government on Thursday denied reports of China resuming its activities in Doklam, saying the vicinity and the status quo prevailed in the disputed area.

Earlier, a top US lawmaker had claimed that the dragon has quietly resumed its activities in the disputed Doklam area and India was hesitating to dissuade it.

Although both countries back down, China has quietly resumed its activities in Doklam and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade it. Chinas activities in the Himalayas remind me of its south China Sea policies, Congresswoman Ann Wagner said while Comparing Chinas actions in the Himalayan region with its manoeuvres in the disputed South China Sea.

Read More | China quietly back in Doklam as India hesitates to dissuade it, says top US lawmaker

However, junior External Affairs Minister VK Singh dismissed the claims of the US Congresswoman and claimed that there had been no new developments at the site of the face-off with China in Doklam and its vicinity, and status quo prevailed in the area.

"Since the disengagement of Indian and Chinese border personnel in the Doklam area on August 28, 2017, there have been no new developments at the faceoff site and its vicinity. The status quo prevails in this area," Singh told Rajya Sabha.

Later in the day, Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Raveesh Kumar also repeated Singh's comments and rebutted the claims of Chinas return to Doklam.

Also Read | Pakistan Election Results: Terrorist Hafiz Saeed stands rejected

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.All major Nepali and English broadsheet dailies published from Kathmandu Valley on Thursday have given the top priority to the failure of two teams representing the government and fasting medical education reform activist Dr Govinda KC to conclude the talks between them and end the current stalemate seen in the adoption of new medical education law. On the other hand, Dr KCs health has turned more critical as his hunger strike completed 26 days yesterday.

Few other political issues including the Prime Ministers preparations to split a ministry so as to satisfy expectations of his Cabinet colleagues and the Nepali Congress preparation to make its protest programmes more effective has also been featured on the front pages of major newspapers today. Likewise, there are some stories from sociocultural and financial issues including the rescue of 16 Nepali women from the traffickers clutches in New Delhi of India on Tuesday, on the broadsheet front pages today.

Important

Positive talks suddenly break down

Though both the sides on Tuesday night informed that their talks were positive, the talks between the government and representatives of Dr KC have broke down on Thursday, according to newspaper reports. They inform that the two sides have blamed each other for the failure of talks.

Annapurna Post reports in its lead story that the government has accused Dr KC side of putting forth unconstitutional demands whereas Dr KC says the government did not want to begin discussions on major agendas. Likewise, the government is now trying to show Dr KC and his talk team political so that it would free itself from addressing the responsibilities, according to the report.

Meanwhile, doctors attending to him have warned that he might lose the consciousness anytime, according to The Kathmandu Post.

PM to split ministry again

Naya Patrika and The Himalayan Times report on their front pages that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is preparing to split existing Ministry of Agriculture, Land Management and Cooperatives into twoMinistry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and Ministry of Land Reform and Management.

The Ministry was formed after integrating four ministries while the new government was formed, according to Naya Patrika. It also quotes Minister Chakrapani Khanal to say that he has not received any letter about t he slit.

The Prime Minister, however, has already discussed the issue with leaders of the Nepal Communist Party and he is also mulling over a reshuffle for the fifth time, according to the THT report.

Ignored

Who will be new law minister?

Rajdhani has published a three-column story identifying few faces as one of them is likely to take over the charge of Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs after incumbent Minister Sher Bahadur Tamang resigned.

According to the report, three names in the discussion are Yogesh Bhattarai, Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal, and Krishna Bhakta Pokharel.

Meanwhile, the partys spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha says no discussions have begun about the appointment in the party as the Prime Minister is authorised to appoint the minister at his own discretion.

Damaged runway affects TIA flights

Flights at the Tribhuvan International Airport are being affected almost every day these days as the new blacktopping on the runway got damaged, reports Karobar in its lead story. In past one week, the runway was damaged at least five times and it forced pilots to hold their aircraft in the sky for 45 to 90 minutes.

The runway is 50-year-old.

Chief Ministers visit Kathmandu too much

The lead story of Republica claims that most of the chief ministers of all seven provinces of the country do not seem to be taking their jobs seriously. Instead of busying themselves with measures for implementing federalism and executing development work in their provinces, they have been found preoccupied either attending party functions or visiting Kathmandu, the federal capital, the report reads.

Upendra Yadav wanted to fly without passport

Kantipur and The Himalayan Times report in their snippets that Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health and Population, Upendra Yadav, arrived at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Tuesday with an intention to fly to Bangkok, without carrying any passport!

The Minister, however, managed to order Thai Airways to delay the flight and obtain the passport in next 45 minutes, according to the reports.

The flight was scheduled for 11:30 am, but it could fly after 12:15 pm only, reports Kantipur.

Interesting

Nepal Airlines importing new Airbus today

The national flag carrier, Nepal Airlines Corporation, is bringing its new widebody aircraft from the Airbus company on Thursday. It will be t he second widebody aeroplane the Corporation is buying in past two months, according to a report in The Kathmandu Post.

The new aircraft has been named Makalu and it is scheduled to reach the Tribhuvan International Airport on Thursday morning, the report quotes NAC spokesperson Rabindra Shrestha to inform.

The new aeroplane will begin the commercial operation on September 1.New Delhi:

While Narendra Modi government in the Centre kept patting its own back over its claimed success in resolving the military standoff between Indian and Chinese armies, the dragon has quietly resumed its activities in the disputed Doklam area, a top US official said, according to PTI.

Comparing Chinas actions in the Himalayan region with its manoeuvres in the disputed South China Sea during a Congressional hearing, Congresswoman Ann Wagner asked, Although both countries back down, China has quietly resumed its activities in Doklam and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade it. Chinas activities in the Himalayas remind me of its south China Sea policies. How should our failure to respond to the militarisation of the South China Sea inform the international response to these Himalayan border disputes?

Responding to her question, Alice G Wells, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia said that he would assess that India is vigorously defending its northern borders and this is a subject of concern to India.

Also Read | Pakistan Election Results: Terrorist Hafiz Saeed stands rejected

Since independence, India had indulged in several border disputes with the dragon and the countries even fought a brief war in 1962. Most recently, in 2017, the countries indulged in a bitter military standoff on the disputed Doklam plateau between Bhutan and China.

China has its own history of border and maritime disputes with almost all the countries it shares the land of maritime borders. While China claims sovereignty over all of South China Sea, neighbouring countries, including Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Taiwan have counterclaims.

As the US looks to the Indo-Pacific strategy put forward by the Trump administration, Ms Wells said it has been taken in light of the South China Seas Strategy.

How do we maintain the region to be open, to have maritime security, to not have militarisation that would imperil the 70 per cent of global trade? Wells asked.

We need to do that by giving authority to sovereign nations to have choices in how they develop, to have choices in their partnerships, she added.

(With inputs from PTI)

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Lahore:

Pakistan Army personnel did not allow media persons to enter the polling stations in Lahore and some other parts of Punjab province after 3 PM on Wednesday.

A fierce battle is expected between the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Punjab, the most populous province often known for deciding the next government in the country.

In a surprise move, the army personnel deployed at the polling stations stopped reporters from entering there despite having been issued accredited card by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

"We have orders from the top not to allow media persons at the polling station," said an army personnel deployed at Mohni Road Lahore, the ancestral constituency (NA-125) of the Sharif family.

Also Read | Pakistan Elections 2018 LIVE: Who will govern Pakistan - results to be out by 2 am in night

The army personnel stopped both local and foreign media persons from entering the polling stations in other constituencies also.

Similarly, reporters were not allowed to enter the polling stations in Lahore Cantonment.

"Without the permission letter of Inter Services Public Relations (the media wing of the military), the media persons are not allowed to enter the Cantt area," an army official deployed at an entry point in Lahore said.

PML-N has raised questions over the army stopping media persons from entering the polling stations.

Read More | Election postponed in eight constituencies in Pakistan

"We should be given reasons as why the media was stopped from entering the polling stations in Lahore," Hamza Shahbaz, nephew of ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif, demanded.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

The counting of votes soon after the polling of the historic general elections in Pakistan onA A continued over onA . Counting of votes is underway amid foul cries from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Shahbaz Sharif, PML-N president alleged that the election process was rigged and warned of protests.



"We will use all political and legal options for redressal of these glaring excesses. This is an outright rigging and the results based on massive rigging will cause irreparable damage to the country," he said in a tweet.



As per unofficial reports till morning, Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Islam is leading in 113 seats in Pakistan, followed by PML-N with 64 seats. Bilawal Bhutto's PPP falls at third place with 43 seats.



Here's the News Nation highlights of the Pakistan General Election results 2018:

#06:05 PM:A Imran promises Imran's promises at a glance: All policies for ordinary citizens; Safeguard tax revenue; Decrease govt expenses; Strengthen institutions; Across-the-board accountability for all; Increase youth employment; Help farmers, business community; Spend money on development; Repurpose PM House; Address ties with China, Afghanistan, Iran, US, India

#05:50 PM:A "I want to commend the people of Balochistan. The type of terrorism and tragedy they have suffered from, and they still came out to vote, I want to commend them on behalf of the entire country," Imran Khan said, adding that "many people have made sacrifices for this election. We want to commend the security forces."

#05:40 PM:A God has given us this chance to implement the manifesto that I brought forward 22 years ago, Imran Khan said.A "I want to clarify why I entered politics. Politics could not have given me anything. I wanted Pakistan to become the country that my leader Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had dreamed of."

#05:30 PM: PTI chief Imran Khan addresses media in Islamabad as his party takes a decisive lead in 11th Pakistan general elections.

#04:50 PM:A PTI chief Imran Khan wins NA-53 (Islamabad-II) with 92,891 votes; PML-N's Shahid Khaqan Abbasi runner up with 44,314 votes.

#04:05 PM:A PTI's Aamir Liaquat Hussain wins NA-245 (Karachi-IV) with 56,615 votes; MQM's Farooq Sattar runner up with 35,247 votes.

#03:30 PM:A PML-N's Muhammad Hamza Shahbaz Sharif wins NA-124 (Lahore-II) with 146,294 votes; PTI's Muhammad Nauman Qaiser runner up with 80,981 votes.

# 03:00 PM:A PTIas Sadaqat Ali Abbasi defeats PML-Nas Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the former prime minister of Pakistan, in NA-57 Murree, unofficial results from all polling stations.

# 02:30 PM:A "The electionA was completely rigged, one of the worst elections in the history of Pakistan. We will not accept the result. All major political partiesA who rejected the result a PML-N, PPP, MMA, NP, etc. a will hold a press conference on Friday in Islamabad in order to decide their future course of actionA concerning the rigged elections," Senator Mir Hasil Khan Bezinjo, theA National Party president told the Guardian.

# 02:00 PM:A Shehbaz Sharif loses NA-3 with 22,756 votes, to PTI's Saleem Rehman, who received 68,162 votes. However, Sharif won NA-132

# 01:20 PM:A PTIA drops lead ahead in 111 seats PML-NA leading in 68 seats, states Pakistani media reports.

# 12:15 PM:A PML-N's SaadA Rafique has won PP-168 Lahore with 34,114 votes. He defeated PTI'sA FayyazA Bhatti.

# 11:30 AM:A Pakistan will have to wait until Thursday evening for official results to be announced, ECP officials have said.

# 10:45 AM:A PML-N chief Shehbaz Sharif's son, Muhammad Hamza Shehbaz Sharif has bagged NA-124 (Lahore II) with 1,46,294 votes, defeating PTI'sA Muhammad Nauman Qaiser, as per Pakistani media.

# 10:30 AM:A As per latest unofficial trends on Pakistani media, PTI leading on 119 seats, PMLN on 61 seats & PPP on 40.

# 10:20 AM:A Vice-president of PTI,A Shah Mehmood QureshiA may become the country's next foreign minister at a crucial time.

# 10:15 AM:A As per latest unofficial trends on Pakistani media, PTIas Imran Khan wins NA-53 Islamabad 2 with 92,891 votes

# 09:25 AM:A A massive setback for former prime minister ShahidA Khaqan Abbasi as he is losing both seats from his home constituency NA-57 (Rawalpindi-I) and NA-53 (Islamabad II).A

# 09:13 AM: Balochistan results so far:A

Balochistan Awami Party: 14

14 Balochistan National Party: 08

08 Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal: 08A

08A Independents:A 04

# 09:00 AM: Many polling booths in Lahore were in poor conditions, with frequent power cuts and no refreshments for election officers, say Pakistan media reports.A aWe have no break and no support staff. We all have been thirsty since morning, but no one provided us with water. Can anyone explain why has this happened to us?a a leading Pakistani daily quotedA anA assistantA presiding officer (APO) Muhammad RizwanA as saying.A

# 08:35 AM: PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto leads in NA-246 KarachiA against PTIas Abdul Shakur.

# 08:26 AM: Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General on Thursday condemned the killing of dozens at Quetta in a suicide attack. The suicide bombing was claimed by the terror group Islamic State.

"The Secretary-General condemns the suicide attack at a polling station in Quetta claimed by Da'esh," his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement, using the Arabic name for Islamic State.A "He extends his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and to the government and people of Pakistan."

# 08:20 AM: As per unofficial results, PP won 13 provincial seats in Singh.A

# 08:00 AM:A Imran Khan's spokesperson Naeemul HaqueA said that the PTI chief will aaddress the nationa on Thursday at 2 pm, reports Pakistani media.

IK will inshallah address the nation tmoro at 2 pm in celebration and recognition of the massive support received from the people of Pakistan in the 2018 elections which was a contest between the forces of good and evil. a Naeem ul Haque (@naeemul_haque) July 25, 2018

# 07:50 AM:A Jubilant PTI supporters start celebrations.



# 07:47 AM:A PTI chief Imran Khan has bagged NA-95 (Mianwali) with 1,27,530 votes, reportsA ARY News.



# 07:46 AM:A As per the rules, Election Commission of Pakistan officials are bound to provide results on Form 45, instead results were handed out on plain paper in Khi & Hyderabad.



#PakistanElections2018 As per the rules, Election Commission of Pakistan officials are bound to provide results on Form 45, instead results were handed out on plain paper in Khi & Hyderabad. pic.twitter.com/cANGPAeUzU a ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2018

# 07:30 AM: Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf has got NA-135, NA-3, NA-54, according to unofficial results.

# NA-135:A PTI's Malik Kamramat Ali Khokar won by bagging 64,756 votes and defeated PML-N's Malik Saiful Malook Khokar, who received 55,431 votes.

# NA-3:A PTI's Saleem Rehman won with 68,162 votes.

# NA-54:A PTI's Asad Umer won with 56,954 votes.





For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Manama : A serial Bahraini criminal has been extradited from Kuwait to Bahrain, it was learnt. The 39-year-old Bahraini is accused in 36 cases including robbery, attacks and using drugs. His latest crime was a robbery attempt at an exchange, after which he fled to Kuwait, where he was arrested.

Sources said he barged into a money exchange holding a wooden plank and threatened and attacked employees there before fleeing with cash. He hit my leg with the plank multiple times asking for money, one of the exchange employees told prosecutors. He then threatened one of my female colleagues and opened one of the drawers. He took BD4,000 and fled the scene. There was a car waiting outside for him. The accused was identified after cops traced the owner of the car. But it was discovered that the accused had fled to Kuwait. The accused had informed his mother about robbery and his family members were prepared to face inquiry, according to case investigators.

He told me about robbery. He apologized to me and was willing to return the cash to the exchange, the mother of the accused, had told police. Before the day of robbery, I had some issues with my family members. I had been a drug addict and was receiving treatment to end the habit. It was all of a sudden I felt the urge to commit a robbery similar to some Hollywood scenes. I bought a mask, new clothes and removed my sisters car registration as part of preparation, the Bahraini man told cops.

I thought I would escape by going to Kuwait under the pretext of continuing my anti-addiction treatment there, he added. The 39-year-old will face robbery and physical assault charges when he stands before the High Criminal Court for the trial.The incident on Table Rock Lake which happened as thunderstorms rumbled through the US Midwest left another seven people hospitalized while at least five were still missing, Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader told journalists, saying some of the dead were children.

The local branch of the Cox Medical Center said two people were in critical condition, while the sheriff added several people had made it to shore.Manama : Bahraini and non-Bahraini investors can directly subscribe the 17th issue of Government Development Bonds through the primary market from today, the Bahrain Bourse (BHB) announced yesterday.

The bonds are issued by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) on behalf of the Government of Bahrain. Subscribers can place their orders with registered brokers at Bahrain Bourse, the BHB said in a statement. Thereafter, investors will be able to trade the bonds on the secondary market at BHB, once listed on BHB, which is expected to be on August 19, 2018, it said.

The subscription will remain open until August 1, 2018, the BHB said. The BD150-million bonds are issued at a par value of BD1 each on August 5, 2018 for a period of three years ending August 5, 2021 with a coupon rate of 6.55 per cent, which will be paid every six months on February 5 and August 5. The Government of Bahrain directly guarantees the bonds.

One of the main advantages of subscribing through Bahrain Bourse is the ability to own bonds directly (beneficiary ownership). In order to encourage retail investors, the Bourse has specified a minimum subscription of BD500 (500 bond). BHB has also determined a minimum allotment of 10,000 bonds per subscriber applying for an amount of BD10,000 and above, while the remaining quantity will be allocated on pro-rata basis. Upon listing of the bonds, investors will be able to trade them in the secondary market through a registered broker at BHB during the trading session.Following the attack on Senator Dino Melaye by unknown gunmen in the Gwagwalada area of Abuja Thursday morning, it has been confirmed that...

Following the attack on Senator Dino Melaye by unknown gunmen in the Gwagwalada area of Abuja Thursday morning, it has been confirmed that the Senator has been abducted.





Melayes abduction was disclosed by Senator representing Bayelsa East in the National Assembly, Ben Bruce, via his Twitter handle.





In a tweet, Bruce disclosed that Melayes brother, Moses informed him of the lawmakers abduction.





I have just been informed by Moses Melaye, @dino_melayes brother, that Dino has been abducted by unknown persons in a Toyota Sienna that blocked their car and overpowered them on their way to Kogi to answer to Dinos court case. Lets be on the watch out. Will keep you updated, he tweeted.



Femi Fani-Kayode, a former Aviation Minister, has alleged that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has killed more Igbo people...

Femi Fani-Kayode, a former Aviation Minister, has alleged that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has killed more Igbo people more than any other government since the civil war.





He raised the allegation while addressing members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Mba, Abia State and was contained in a video he shared via his Twitter page.





Addressing PDP members, the former Minister also accused the Buhari-led Federal Government of enslaving Nigerians and perceived political oppositions.





He urged both the South East and South West to join forces to fight against what he termed oppression of Nigerians by the current government.





According to Fani-Kayode, We have chosen to stand against an evil man who happens to be our President, Muhammadu Buhari, who presides over what I consider an evil party.





Yoruba and Igbo are one and that is why I stand before you today and I say to you where it appears that hope has been lost to oppression, particularly from the South and Middle belt, hope is not lost. It is rising and in our unity and collective strength we will break the bounds and shatter the irons of oppression.





We will take over power from those that want to enslave us. APC is a vessel that wants to enslave us. They shame, humiliate those they consider to be their detractors and enemies in the name of ethnic Fulani domination and in the name of hate.



A fierce Northern cleric, Sheikh Hamed Gumi has said it is impossible for President Muhammadu Buhari to accept fresh ideas.

A fierce Northern cleric, Sheikh Hamed Gumi has said it is impossible for President Muhammadu Buhari to accept fresh ideas.





He also said the President believed most Nigerians who were not in his circle were rascals, thrives and fraudsters.





The Islamic cleric said this in an interview with Punch newspaper.





Gumi also said things had deteriorated even below what led to the castigation of former President Goodluck Jonathan.





He argued that the nation was in a better place under the leadership of Jonathan.





When asked why he chose to criticize the President instead of advising him on how best to lead the country, Gumi said: I cannot get to the other room with him because I am not his wife but even somebody who has access to the other room cannot get ideas into his head.





How do you blame somebody who does not have access to the other room? You cannot change Buhari. He is already cast in a mentality. He believes that most Nigerians, if not all, are rascals, thieves and 419. He believes only his own circle are the good people. You cannot get across anything.





He has castigated Nigerians in many fora and everybody to him on knows that. He is somebody who always blames others; he does not take responsibility for anything. We are not castigating him. We are talking about this publicly for two reasons: first, his followers have to accept something is wrong.





Definitely, the situation now is worse. The economy is worse. Feeding is a problem; medical care is a problem. There are problems everywhere. Nigeria is down. Nobody is secure.





The honest people in government have pulled out. Look at what a Governor said recently; that he was resigning his position as the chief security officer because he is helpless. Another Governor said we have to face the fact that there is a problem in Nigeria. We cant deny that.





Buhari is just a common man. He is just an ordinary one man in Nigeria. We cannot be hypocrites, hiding facts because of a man. Why are people shivering because of him because he has a team of illiterate, fanatical followers? We can deal with them. They should not hold us to ransom. He is a victim of this ignorant, unemployed and senseless followership.





He advised the President to resign from his position, insisting that Nigeria needed a new crop of leaders, plus a leader who will unite the nation rather than polarize it.





When I see a leader polarising or dividing the polity, no matter how he claims to be good, he is not good for the situation. You see, it is not every time you have a leader that is good for a situation. Every situation has its own remedy. We need in Nigeria a person who can listen and bring everybody together and also have a way of negotiating in the murky water of politics, he said.





Gumi argued that despite the fact that the north had produced more leaders, the region had nothing to show for it.





The northern region, even though supplied many leaders, has been backward. One of the reasons is the nature of the northern man. He has a psyche that is molded by the emirate system before the coming of the white man, which is the absolute control. In some places, you cannot even put on a very clean cloth because they will say you are competing with the king.





The society has not changed. They feel that they are the new kings. An ordinary northern leader thinks of northerners as subjects. He does not want to improve their economic and social well being. For instance, it is high time we stopped this genuflection before the emirs. They dont have any power over us. We are human beings.



chinadaily.com.cn

Shanghai is seen as pioneer in AI fields such as intelligent driving and intelligent robots in China, with its AI industrial output reaching 70 billion yuan to date. [Photo/chinanews.com]

Shanghai's industrial output of artificial intelligence (AI) sector has reached 70 billion yuan ($10.15 billion) to date, according to the latest statistics provided by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization.

The impressive statistic can be attributed in part to a guideline the city released last November to boost the development of its AI industry.

As the AI industry continues to grow at an exponential rate, the Shanghai government has set a goal of growing its AI industrial output to more than 100 billion yuan in the next two to three years.

Several local AI companies have seen some success with their ideas and innovations.

Shanghai YITU Technology's facial recognition technology has been applied to safeguard multiple national meetings and competitions.

Shanghai Cambricon Co struck a cooperation deal last year with Huawei, China's telecoms infrastructure giant, on developing chips for smart phones.

Shanghai SenseTime Co is working on developing more advanced AI technology for smart cities, and the automobile and retailing industries.

Shanghai Leyan Information Technology Co's AI-based customer service robots have been widely used, which have the aim of freeing labor forces from simple and repetitive work, said Li Bin, CEO of the company.

In a sign of the Shanghai being a big player in the global AI industry, the city has been selected as the host venue of the AI World 2018 this September, during which the latest trends of AI industry will be discussed and exhibited. The event is considered conducive to Shanghai's AI development.A Senior Magistrates Court in Kogi has adjourned the trial of Sen. Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West Senatorial District and two others in the case illegal possession of firearms and arms dealing, until Aug. 9.Senior Magistrate, Sulyman Abdullah adjourned the case at Thursdays adjourned sitting for commencement of trial as the prosecution could not open its case due to absence of its lead counsel, Dr Alex Izinyon.Mr Theophilus Oteme, the Officer in Charge of legal department of Kogi command of the Nigeria Police, told the court that the lead prosecuting counsel, Izinyon had an emergency call on Wednesday that made it impossible for him to appear in court on Thursday.Oteme therefore applied for an adjournment until Sept. 23 for the commencement of trial in view of the absence of the lead prosecutor more so that one of the defendants (Melaye) was not in court.However, the lead counsel to Melaye, Chief Mike Ozekhome, represented by Mr Yemi Mohammed, told the court that he had on good authority that Melaye was attacked in Gwagwalada on his way to Lokoja.I learnt that he was attacked yesterday (Wednesday) in Gwagwalada on his way to Lokoja to attend his trial and up till now, I have not been able to reach him, I dont know where he is at the moment, he said.In his ruling, Abdullah turned down the application by the prosecution for a long adjournment to Sept. 23.He said that the Kogi State Administration of Criminal Justice Law did not allow for an adjournment beyond two weeks in a criminal case.The Senior Magistrate, therefore, adjourned the case until Aug. 9 and ordered that the bail earlier granted to Melaye continued.Abdullah, however, ruled that the other two accused persons, Nuhu Salihu, known as small and Kabiru Seidu also known as Osama, standing trial on a seven-count charge bordering on illegal possession of firearms and arms dealing, should continue with their remand in police custody.Barrister Yemi Mohammed, the lawyer to the Senator representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye has provided reasons the lawmaker failed to appear in...

Barrister Yemi Mohammed, the lawyer to the Senator representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye has provided reasons the lawmaker failed to appear in court on Thursday.

The lawmaker was supposed to appear in court on Thursday but failed following a reported attack on him by gunmen suspected to be kidnappers.





Melaye and two others are on trial for alleged gun-running.





His lawyer told the trial magistrate, Suleyman Abdalah that Senator Melaye was attacked in Gwagwalada on Thursday morning, on his way to Lokoja.





He said, I learnt that he was attacked this morning in Gwagwalada on his way to Lokoja, Up till now, I have not been able to reach him. I dont know where he is at the moment.





Mohammed stated that the prosecuting counsel was not ready to open the case due to the reason best known to them.





The officer in charge of Police prosecution, Theophilus Oteme, told the court that the prosecuting counsel had an emergency, which made it extremely difficult to appear in court.





Oteme, however, asked for a long adjournment till September 23, which was opposed by the trial magistrate who argued that it contravened administration of criminal justice law of Kogi State as amended.



The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has appealed to Online Publishers not to lend their platforms to the spread of fake news, warning that they stand to lose credibility if their publications are identified with fake news.The Minister spoke during an interaction with online publishers and social media influencers in Lagos on Tuesday, in furtherance of the National Campaign Against Fake News which was launched by the Federal Government in Abuja 11 July 2018.Your credibility, and indeed your source of livelihood, is at stake. If the society loses confidence in the media, especially social media, because of fake news, you will be the worst hit. And we are very close to that point now.Today, nobody knows what to believe anymore. You read something online, and within a few hours, it is denied. The fake news epidemic is spreading fast, he told the publishers.and the influencers.Alhaji Mohammed urged the publishers to lend their support to the campaign, just like the traditional media has done, saying: A starting point is for you to put a banner on your various platforms that says: SAY NO TO FAKE NEWS! Of course, a platform that abhors fake news will not engage in one.He also appealed to Nigerians to do two simple things: Before sharing that information on Facebook, Twitter or WhatsApp, ask how credible the source is, and Dont share any information for which you cant vouch.The war against fake news is a must-win. As a multi-ethnic, multi-religious nation, Nigeria cannot afford an unbridled spread of fake news. This phenomenon is exploiting our fault lines to aggravate the crises in the country, the Minister said, adding that the government will neither resort to coercion nor censorship in thecampaign.He said the fake news phenomenon has exacerbated the crises in the country, citing a recent BBC report that says fake news circulating in the social media is fuelling the farmers-herders crises in Nigeria.Gory pictures from other lands are circulated freely via Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter, purportedly being from the killings in Benue or Plateau States, Alhaji Mohammed said.The National Campaign Against Fake News is aimed at sensitizing Nigerians to the dangers posed to the peace and security, democracy, and indeed the corporate existence of Nigeria by an unbridled spread of false information.The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a businessman, John Abebe, who is a younger brother to the late former F...

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a businessman, John Abebe, who is a younger brother to the late former First Lady, Stella Obasanjo for alleged forgery.

Abebe, was arraigned on four counts before the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja on Thursday.





The EFCC, alleged that Abebe, knowingly forged a November 30, 1995 letter written by BP Exploration Nigeria Limited to Inducon (Nigeria) Ltd.





The anti-graft agency alleged that the businessman illegally inserted into page 2 of the said letter the following statement, Also note that the Buy-Out Option only applies to the pre-production stage of the NPIA. The $4m buy-out is thus irrelevant from production of oil in any of our fields.





According to the EFCC, Mr. Abebe also attempted to pervert the course of justice by tendering the allegedly forged November 30, 1995 letter as a fabricated evidence in court, in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/224/2010 between Dr. John Abebe, Inducon Nigeria Limited and Statoil Nigeria Limited.





The EFCC, however, has accused him of making an attempt to mislead the court by using fabricated evidence, contrary to Section 120 (2) of the Criminal Code Cap C17, Law of Lagos State of Nigeria 2003.





The prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo, told the court that, Abebe violated Section 126 (2) of the Criminal Code Cap C17, Law of Lagos State of Nigeria 2003.





Oyedepo added that forgery was a violation of Section 467 of the Criminal Code Cap C17, Law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2003.





The businessman, however, pleaded not guilty.



Femi Fani-Kayode, former Aviation Minister has reacted to the alleged abduction of Kogi West Senator, Dino Melaye.

Femi Fani-Kayode, former Aviation Minister has reacted to the alleged abduction of Kogi West Senator, Dino Melaye.





Melaye was attacked by unknown gunmen in the Gwagwalada area of Abuja Thursday morning.





Confirming the incident, Bayelsa East Senator, Ben Bruce, disclosed that Melaye was abducted.





However, Fani-Kayode condemned the abduction of the embattled lawmaker.





In a tweet, the former Minister urged Melayes abductors to release him to his family.



The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said it was surprised by the decision of Benue state governor, Samuel Ortom to dump the party afte...

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has said it was surprised by the decision of Benue state governor, Samuel Ortom to dump the party after efforts by the national leadership of the party to resolve issues raised by the governor concerning the politics of the state.National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi said in a statement that while the party respect the right of every member to make their choices, it was surprised that after giving his words, Gov. Ortom will do the opposite of his promise.The statement said despite the defection, the party will not relent in its efforts at reconciling aggrieved members of the party who keeps their mind open for reconciliation.The statement said The Party recalls efforts made by the National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to address some of the grievances raised by the Benue State Governor pertaining to the local politics in Benue State.The Governor had left the meeting saying he was satisfied with the assurances given by Party leaders. We are still working on giving effect to the resolutions from the meeting. Therefore, we are somewhat surprised by Governor Ortoms decision.The Party reiterates its earlier position that it respects the rights of every citizen to chose their political affiliation but expresses hopes that those who have left the Party will rescind their decisions.Even with this development, we dont think it is too late for reconciliation. We have to continue to talk. As long as people keep their minds open and have the courage to put the real issues on the table, reconciliation is still possible.The Party once again call on members across the country to remain calm as the Party leadership continues to work hard to position the Party strongly for the next general elections.Abdulfatah Ahmed, governor of Kwara state, says he might quit the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Abdulfatah Ahmed, governor of Kwara state, says he might quit the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).





He gave the hint when he played host to stakeholders in Kwara central senatorial district on Thursday.





According to Wahab Oba, chief press secretary to the governor, the stakeholders prevailed on Ahmed and Senate President Bukola Saraki to immediately dump the APC.





Ahmed, who agreed with them that the party has not met the expectations of the people of Kwara, said top politicians in the state built the ruling party in the buildup to the 2015 elections.





He expressed disappointment over the failure of the government at national level to address insecurity, economy and unemployment challenges confronting the nation.





We formed APC together in 2014 with the hope to meet the needs and aspirations of the people in critical areas of our national life, he said.





He said the leadership of the APC had failed to intervene in critical issues affecting the party and its members, alleging that injustice within the party is unbearable.





Ahmed thanked the people of the state for their support, saying he would consider their pleas and make public the new platform that would meet the aspirations of the people of the state.





He spoke one day after Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue, resigned his membership of the ruling party.





Recall we had reported that Ortom, Ahmed and Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto state would leave the APC.



A former governor of Abia State, Orji Kalu, who was charged with an alleged fraud of N7.65bn, told the Federal High Court in Lagos on Wed...

A former governor of Abia State, Orji Kalu, who was charged with an alleged fraud of N7.65bn, told the Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday that he had no case to answer.His lawyer, Prof Awa Kalu (SAN), urged Justice Mohammed Idris to dismiss the entire 39 counts filed against his client by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.The lawyer contended that despite tendering several exhibits and calling a total of 19 witnesses, the anti-graft agency failed to establish a prima facie case against the former governor.He urged the judge to discharge Kalu and let him go.Similar applications and arguments were canvassed by Messrs Solo Akuma (SAN) and K.C. Nwofor (SAN) on behalf of Ude Udeogu and Kalus company, Slok Nigeria Limited, who were joined in the criminal lawsuit as the second and third defendants respectively.Akuma, in his arguments, said despite alleging that Udeogu, who was the Director of Finance and Accounts of the Abia State Government House during Kalus administration, aided the former governor to lodge funds in the accounts of Slok Nigeria Limited, the prosecution did not present any bank teller endorsed by Udeogu to back up its claim.On his part, Nwofor contended that the statements of accounts tendered as exhibits by the prosecution were bound to be dismissed, having not been signed by the bank contrary to the provisions of the Evidence Act.But the prosecuting counsel for the EFCC, Mr Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), urged the court to dismiss the defendants no-case submissions, insisting that the prosecution had proven its allegations against them.Jacobs urged Justice Idris to order the defendants to proceed to open their defence if they had any.The prosecutor said Udeogu had, in his statements to the EFCC, clearly admitted taking several millions of naira, while he was Director of Finance and Accounts, on the instruction of the governor to lodge for the purchase of Okrika (fairly-used clothes) in Aba.How can they now turn around and say this does not call for questioning? Jacobs queried.After listening to the two sides, Justice Idris adjourned till August 31, 2018 for ruling.For the second time, President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, has written to the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, in respons...

For the second time, President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, has written to the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, in response to his invitation to appear for an interrogation over the allegations made against him by armed robbery suspects who attacked banks in Offa, Kwara State.The police had in June invited Saraki for questioning over the bank robberies in Offa on April 5, but the Senate President responded to the invitation in writing.The IG, in a letter dated July 23 and addressed to the Senate President, again asked Saraki to report to the police on Tuesday at 8 am to provide further clarification on his relationship with the five leaders of the robbery gang.Idris, in his latest letter, insisted that the gang leaders claimed they were political thugs to Saraki, adding that the Senate President supplies arms and money to the thugs; that everyone in Kwara Central fears them because of their guns and ability to kill anybody without hesitation.The Senate President, however, did not honour the invitation. He had escaped the siege laid to his Maitama, Abuja residence by the operatives of the Department of State Services and men of the Nigeria Police.Asked on Wednesday if Saraki would answer the summons by the police, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Yusuph Olaniyonu, said his boss had responded to the police in writing.Olaniyonu also said Saraki had answered all the questions raised by the police in his letter to the IG.He added that Sarakis letter was written and dispatched to the police on Tuesday, stressing that its receipt was duly acknowledged.Olaniyonu further stated that after answering all the questions raised by the police in his letter, he did not believe that there was any further need for Saraki to go to the police personally.He has written a letter to them and the letter has taken care of the purpose of the invitation. He sent the letter to them yesterday (Tuesday). The letter addressed the issues raised in the invitation letter, Olaniyonu said.The police spokesman, Moshood Jimoh, could not be reached for comment on Sarakis letter as he did not respond to several phone calls. He had yet to reply a text message as of the time of filing this report.Also, it was learnt that the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, had written the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission requesting another date to appear before the commission.It was learnt that Ekweremadu sent the letter to the EFCC on Wednesday.A senior EFCC official told our correspondent that the senator noted that he wasnt given ample time to honour the invitation and would, therefore, need more time.The EFCC official said, We received a letter from Senator Ekweremadu requesting another date to appear before us. We will respond to him in due course.Officials of the anti-graft agency accompanied by scores of policemen had on Tuesday laid siege to the Deputy Senate Presidents home on Jim Nwobodos home, Apo Legislative Quarters, Abuja.The EFCC operatives had attempted to arrest Ekweremadu barely hours after inviting him.In a letter signed by the Director of Operations of the EFCC, Mohammed Abba, with a reference number, CR.3000/EFCC/DOPS/Vol.49/40 dated July 24, 2018, the commission asked the Deputy Senate President to immediately make himself available for questioning.In the letter titled, Case of Conspiracy, Abuse of Office and Money Laundering, the anti-graft agency said the request was made pursuant to Section 38(1) of the Economic and Financial Crimes (Establishment) Act, 2004.The letter read in part, The commission is investigating the above-mentioned case in which your name featured prominently and the need to obtain certain clarifications from you became imperative.In view of the above, you are kindly requested to report and interview by the undersigned at 5 Fomela Street off Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent Wuse 2, Abuja on Tuesday, July 24, 2018, at 10 am prompt.Ekweremadu could not be reached to confirm or deny his response to the EFCC. His Special Adviser on Media, Uche Anichukwu, was contacted via telephone on Wednesday afternoon but he asked for more time to reach out to his boss. When he was called again at 7:45 pm, he said his boss was not home.Anichukwu had yet to reply, as of the time of filing this report, to the text message sent to him telling him about the information from the EFCC source.In a related development, Ekweremadu has given more details on the siege to his Abuja residence by the operatives of the EFCC.A statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Uche Anichukwu, on Wednesday, quoted Ekweremadu as explaining the situation on Tuesday when the leaders and members of the Senate and the Peoples Democratic Party visited him after the security agents had left.The Deputy Senate President said the security agents left at about 12:20 pm after spending about six and a half hours.Ekweremadu said, We anticipated that a number of our colleagues in the All Progressives Congress would defect and join the Peoples Democratic Party. In anticipation of that, the APC leadership had tried to stop them. When that didnt happen, the first thing they did was to invite President of the Senate (Bukola Saraki) to come to the police this (Tuesday) morning. They believe that once the President of the Senate goes to the police, I would be the one to preside and probably give effect to the letter of defection.In anticipation of that, the police, the EFCC and other security agencies came together  about 200 of them  to stop me from going to the National Assembly. They said I should come to the EFCC to give an explanation over the things I was accused of. I agreed to follow them even though there was no prior invitation, but they were not eager to let me go to answer the invitation.The plan was to stop me and the President of the Senate from going to the National Assembly. Unfortunately for them, the President of the Senate was already at the Senate to preside over the plenary session.Meanwhile, Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State on Tuesday night separately met with Saraki and Ekweremadu. While he visited the Deputy Senate President at his residence, the governor met with the Senate President at his office.Speaking to journalists at the National Assembly, Fayose said the defections from the APC were for Nigerians and not the PDP. He said the defectors had taken a path of honour.Two of the 14 senators who dumped the APC on Tuesday had denied joining the PDP. While Senator Monsurat Sunmonu (Oyo-Central) said she defected to the ADC, Senator Lanre Tejuoso (Ogun-Central) said he had yet to join another party.The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki has, Thursday, finally met with a team of investigators in his office over allegation he is directly linked to the robbery that took place at Offa, Kwara state.Dr. Saraki, during the interaction with the investigators, reiterated his innocence in the crime.In a tweet, Thursday, by his Special Assistant on New Media, Olu Onemola, Saraki said he had nothing to do with either the robbery incident nor any other criminal activities.According to the tweet, Further to the invitation to the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, by the Police on July 23, 2018, and his written response to them on July 24, 2018 on why he could not see them that day  today at about 1:40pm, the Senate President met with a team of investigators on the Offa Robbery case in his office.Dr. Saraki, used the opportunity to reiterate the fact that he has nothing to do with either the robbery incident on April 5, 2018, or any other criminal activity.Recall that Saraki had written the Police, explaining why he could not honour the forces invitation over the allegation.In the letter, Saraki had said, For the record, I should mention that I received your letter at 8:30 pm on Monday 23rd July, 2018, inviting me for the next day at 8am. The two lawyers whose advise I needed were in Calabar and Lagos and have to travel to Abuja today.As you are aware, the deputy president of the senate was unable to leave his residence this morning to preside over the senate having been prevented from doing so by security agents. If he had been able to preside over the senate, I would have honoured your invitation.The absence of both presiding officers would have voided the sitting of the senate. This would have been damaging to national interest, particularly in the light of very important legislative matters that needed to be addressed in view of the imminent recess of the national assembly.These included consideration of the electoral bill which was incidentally passed today. You will recall that Mr President had earlier directed as a courtesy to this office that in the event of any request for further information from me, you should either send your personnel to my office or obtain a written response from me.I need to place on record as well, that following the incident of being harassed and threatened at my residence by the police early this morning, Im deeply concerned over my physical security.I request you therefore, to please assign your personnel who need information on this matter to meet me in my office immediately after plenary, today or tomorrow or at any other day at your convenience.Meanwhile, the Nigeria Police, also on Thursday, insisted that Saraki must report to the Force Intelligence Response Team, Guzape, Abuja to answer to the allegation.The police also denied reports making the rounds that the Senate President was exonerated in the case based on report of the Director of Public Prosecution, DPP.Force Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood, in a statement in Abuja, said the reaction became necessary following an online media reports to the effect that Saraki was exonerated on the basis that there was no evidence that linked the Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki and Kwara State Governor Abdulfattah Ahmed to the armed robbery attack that left 31 persons dead in Offa, Kwara State, in April,this year.It said, It is incumbent on the Force to educate the writer of the story that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) of the Federation in the legal advice did not restrain or restrict the Force from investigating further, the indictments against the Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki and the Governor of Kwara State, Abdulfattah Ahmed by the principal suspects arrested in connection with the Offa bank robbery of 5th April, 2018, the statement said. It added that the DPP advice did not exonerate the Senate President, it only called for further investigations into the matter.The statement read full: "It is in the course of further investigations into the case that a letter of invitation dated 23rdJuly, 2018 was sent to the Senate President to appear on 24th July, 2018 at 8.00am before the Investigation Team at Intelligence Response Team office, Guzape Junction, Abuja."Consequently, the Force is hereby re-affirming that the Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki has case to answer by virtue of the facts that the statements submitted by the Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki earlier to the Investigation Team was not explicit and detailed enough, and was discovered to require further clarifications and interrogation, and coupled with the fact the Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki in his statement, claimed that the full text of the statement of the suspects who indicted him in their confessional statements to the Police was not shown to him. It is therefore, imperative for the Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki to report to the Police to make further statement after sighting the full text of the statement of the suspects.Furthermore, the Force wishes to inform the media and the public that investigation is still ongoing on the Offa bank robbery and the indictment against the Senate President from the confessions of some the arrested principal suspects, and that, there is no political influence or consideration in the matter.The media and the Police are veritable partners in crime prevention, protection of lives and property, and absolute compliance with the rule of law. The media are implored not to allow the pages of their esteemed publications be used to misinform the public.Reno Omokri, a former aide to the ex-president, Goodluck Jonathan has said the All Progressives Congress Senators who are loyal to the Peo...

Reno Omokri, a former aide to the ex-president, Goodluck Jonathan has said the All Progressives Congress Senators who are loyal to the Peoples Democratic, PDP were fooling President Muhammadu Buhari.





This is coming after President Muhammadu Buhari met with Senators elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, on Wednesday night.





The meeting followed a mass defection of APC lawmakers in the Upper and Lower Legislative chambers on Tuesday.





Speaking after the meeting, the Senate Majority Leader, Ahmed Lawan assured Buhari that the members of the National Assembly who dumped the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, will return to the party before the general elections in 2019.





But reacting, Omokri took to his Twitter page, saying most APC senators who are PDP loyalists are staying behind in the ruling party to destroy things.





According to him, the APC Senators pledge of loyalty to Buhari is mere deceit.





He wrote: Let me assure President Buhari that many of the Senators that met with him yesterday and pledged loyalty to him are only fooling him.



In order to make indigenous airlines viable, the Federal Government on Tuesday announced that it had commenced moves that would compel any public servant travelling on a ticket bought with public funds to travel on a Nigerian carrier.According to the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, the government is making moves to have the National Assembly pass a Fly Nigeria Act in order to achieve this target.The minister also declared that it was false to state that Nigeria Air lacked a domain name, adding that those who wanted to steal the airlines domain name would not get a kobo from the Federal Government.In his response to social media questions, which was made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Tuesday, the minister said, As part of efforts to make airlines viable in Nigeria, the ministry is making moves to have the National Assembly pass a fly Nigeria Act.This Act will require that anybody travelling on a ticket bought with public funds must travel on a Nigerian carrier unless the route is not served by a Nigerian carrier. However, with your private funds, you can do as you like. Many countries, including America, have such Acts.On Nigeria Airs domain name, Sirika stated that part of the falsehood being spread is the lack of a domain name for the carrier.He explained that as part of the airlines public-private partnership project development phase, Nigeria Air Limited was currently incorporated with the Corporate Affairs Commission as a wholly government-owned company, with the Corporate Affairs Commission using nominal directors of the Federal Ministry of Aviation as directors of the national airline.He said, On conclusion of the PPP procurement process, when full equity structure pre-financial close is finalised, the incorporation will be updated and the certificate of incorporation made public. Nigeria Air Limited is indeed a legal entity.Further to the incorporation of the company with nominal directors, the domain name, www.flynigeriaair.ng, has been reserved and will be made active very soon as part of the project evolution and marketing process. Some people, whose only desire is to steal Nigerias commonwealth by hawking domain names, will not a get a kobo from the people of Nigeria. They can eat their domain names.Sirika said a lot of false claims were being peddled on various social media platforms about Nigeria Air and vowed that the government would deliver on the carrier as it delivered on the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport runway in Abuja.The minister stated, The current campaign of falsehood, unfortunately reminds me of what happened when we decided for safety reasons to close the Abuja airport and make repairs that had been abandoned for years.The same group of Nigerians went to the social media spreading falsehood. We stayed on course and delivered the runway, which has served now faultlessly. As we delivered on the Abuja runway repairs, so shall we on the national carrier and we will not bow to falsehood.Sirika further noted that the national carrier was being procured as a PPP project.Nigerias PPP process has three phases. One is an internal government bankability process, the business case phase; and the other two external. The process cycle is PPP development phase, outline business phase and PPP procurement  request for qualification and request for proposal to prequalify and select PPP partners; and PPP implementation.The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Thursday, denied allegation that it was bent on frustrating efforts by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, to file a petition to challenge the outcome of the July 14 governorship election in Ekiti State.The commission maintained that contrary to claim by PDP candidate that his legal team were denied access to sensitive materials he would require to support his petition at the tribunal, it only instructed its officials in Ekiti to carefully safeguard the ballot papers to ensure they were not tampered with.Speaking at an interactive session with a coalition of Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, in Abuja, INEC which was represented by its National Commissioner, Prince Solomon Soyebi, said it would not like a situation where any of the contending parties would pour ink on the ballot papers.Soyebi said: Talking about allegation of denying the legal team of a party from access to our papers, I am not too sure this is true. They might have had some difficulty, but I am telling you that as at today, even as at yesterday, the legal team of the said party were in Ekiti State and they are working closely with our office.The office itself has been instructed to make sure that they cooperate with them. What we just said was that they should be very very careful, especially with our ballot papers. We will not like a situation where someone will go where we keep our ballot papers with ink and then pour it on some of them.This is because you cannot put anything beyond these political parties. I am not making allegations, but we are just being proactive. We are going to safeguard these papers.But whatever they asked for, I believe was being issued as at yesterday that I talked with the REC.The PDPs gubernatorial flag-bearer, Olusola, who is challenging the declaration of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Dr Kayode Fayemi, as winner of the governorship poll, had accused INEC of deliberately withholding the election materials in a bid to frustrate to lodge a petition within the constitutional stipulated time.While acknowledging that the law mandated that such petition must be filed within 21 days after the contested election, Olusola decried that over 10 days had elapsed since the Ekiti poll held.Meantime, Soyebi said INEC was worried about rising cases of vote-buying during elections, saying there was need for some of those that were apprehended during the Ekiti governorship election to be firmly prosecuted.One major issue which all observers and even the commission noticed and is worried about is vote-buying, which now has a lot of names like prepaid and post paid. It is a very serious issue.There was even free fuel being donated by political parties in Ekiti State. Money is beginning to play a significant and damaging role in our electoral process. We should try to find a way stop this menace.We are happy that people are no longer snatching ballot boxes, however, they are now going to the polling units to buy votes. Truth is that there cannot be vote-buying without a willing seller. It is becoming highly worrisome, coming out in multi-colours everyday.I am sure that arrest will have a deterrent effect. It is becoming so endemic and I think it is not what we should gloss over, Soyebi added.In his remarks, convener of the CSOs which is under the aegis of Situation Room, Mr. Clement Nwankwo, expressed his concern that barely 200 days to the 2019 general elections, INEC had yet to receive a budget, even as the National Assembly has adjourned its proceedings till September 25.I fear that elections for 2019 is being threatened because there is no funding to enable INEC to carry out its responsibilities, Nwankwo noted.He further decried what he termed as increasing partisan role of security agencies, urging President Muhammadu Buhari to restrain the use of state institutions for partisan politics.We cannot move into 2019 having our security agencies operating like an arm of the ruling party. If our security agencies are going to threaten the credibility of our electoral process, it behoves on Civil Society Organisations to raise issues about it.This is why we are raising the issue that the partisan role of our security agencies is a source of concern to us, he added.Controversial Nigerian senator, Dino Melaye (Kogi West) has been abducted by unknown gunmen. This was first disclosed by Senator Ben Br...

Controversial Nigerian senator, Dino Melaye (Kogi West) has been abducted by unknown gunmen.This was first disclosed by Senator Ben Bruce (Bayelsa East) on his Twitter page.I have just been informed by Moses Melaye, @dino_melayes brother, that Dino has been abducted by unknown persons in a Toyota Sienna that blocked their car and overpowered them on their way to Kogi to answer to Dinos court case. Lets be on the watch out. Will keep you updated, Bruce tweeted.Melaye was arraigned yesterday before an FCT High Court in Apo, Abuja on a six-count charge bordering on attempted suicide.It was learnt that Melaye was also charged with the offences of attempt to escape from lawful custody and damage of police property.The lead counsel to Melaye, Chief Mike Ozekhome, represented by Mr Yemi Mohammed, told the court that he had on good authority that Melaye was attacked in Gwagwalada on his way to Lokoja. I learnt that he was attacked in Gwagwalada on his way to Lokoja to attend his trial and up till now, I have not been able to reach him, I dont know where he is at the moment, he said.Gideon Ayodele, a spokesperson for Mr Melaye, said the senators brother, Moses Melaye, reported the matter at Gwagwalada Divisional Headquarters shortly after the incident happened Thursday morning.Mr Ayodele also said there were indications since Wednesday night that unknown persons were trailing Mr Melaye, and they were busy trying to ascertain the identity and motive of the individuals.Mr Melayes number has been switched off since his whereabouts became a mystery earlier today.FCT police spokesperson, Anjuguri Manzah, told NE at 4:00 p.m. he had not been briefed when told that the family of Mr Melaye said the matter was reported at Gwagwalada since morning.I do not have any report to that effect, Mr Manzah said. The official earlier promised to make immediate findings and revert when we first called him four hours ago about the feared kidnap of Mr Melaye.Abdullahi Danbaba, senator representing Sokoto-south and Isa Misau, his Bauchi central counterpart, have accused Abdullahi Adamu of Nasara...

Abdullahi Danbaba, senator representing Sokoto-south and Isa Misau, his Bauchi central counterpart, have accused Abdullahi Adamu of Nasarawa-west senatorial district of being an agent of instability and division.





In a joint statement on Thursday, the two senators who just defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the All Progressives Congress (APC), accused Adamu of churning out misleading information about those who left the ruling party.





They dismissed the comment attributed to Adamu that Senate President Bukola Saraki collated and announced list of senators he felt were not happy with the ruling party as defectors.





The duo said Adamu who allegedly begged to be appointed a committee chairman at the inception has now become a lap dog of the presidency because he is being haunted by his past.





People like Adamu have become agents of instability and division in the senate. How possible is it for somebody to just announce the change of party on behalf of a senator without the legislator concerned giving his consent, the statement read.





It is public knowledge that the axe of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is dangling on him and one of his sons.





It is surprising that a man of Adamus caliber will say that the only defecting senators are from Kwara. We wonder if Danbaba (Sokoto), Isa Misau and Suleiman Nazif (Bauchi), Monsurat Sunmonu (Oyo), Barnabas Gemade (Benue), Ubali Shittu (Jigawa), Suleiman Hunkuyi (Kaduna), Usman Nafada (Gombe), Rabiu Kwakwanso (Kano), Abdulazeez Nyako (Adamawa), and Dino Melaye (Kogi) are also from Kwara state.





We can assure him that more senators are preparing to leave the sinking ship of APC and Adamu Abdullahi will have more fabrications to do.



A Thai man recently incurred the wrath of his friends and relatives after faking his own death on Facebook and having his wife ask them for financial contributions for his burial.

Tachawit J.s Facebook friends thought him to be in good health, so they were left in shock on Sunday, when his wife posted a series of photos of his dead body  complete with cotton balls in his nostrils  on his account, with the caption Last photo before deactivating his Facebook, love you!. Tachawits most concerned friends and colleagues left comments asking what had happened to him, to which his wife replied that he had died of cancer and asthma  a truly killer combo  after suffering for a long time.

Photo: Facebook

Some of the mans acquaintances wrote that they had no idea he was so sick, which his wife explained by saying that he had pretended he was ok all along. As new of Tachawit J.s tragic and unexpected death spread among his family and friends, they started phoning in and offering their support. But the mans wife didnt just sit around waiting to be contacted, instead she took the initiative, calling everyone who knew Tachawit and asking for money to cover burial costs.

The unnamed spouse of the deceased even called his mother to deliver the heartbreaking news and ask her for financial assistance. The grieving woman quickly raised THB20,000 ($600) and sent it to her sons widow the next day so she could pay for a casket and transport his body to his home town. The mother also contacted the local temple to schedule the funeral and make all the necessary arrangements.

His wife called me and said he was dead, Tachawits mother recently told reporters. She said she didnt have money to prepare the body, so I sent her money on that same day.

Photo: Facebook

The next day, Tachawits body was supposed to be delivered at his mothers house so his relatives could pay their last respects, but it never showed up. As the time of the funeral drew nearer, one of Tachawits cousins decided to call his wife and ask about the delay. To his surprise, his supposedly dead cousin picked up the phone, but hung up as soon as he realized who was on the other end.

The conmans family had to cancel the funeral service and reportedly lost THB60,000 ($1,800) in unrecoverable costs. His mother admitted that she has cut all ties with his deceitful son and his wife, but said that she wouldnt hold his actions against him.

Tachawit J.s con made national news headlines this week and prompted several of his colleagues and acquaintances to come forward and confirm his long history of lying and greed. Warit M., a long-time co-worker of Tachawit, told the media that he once stole another colleagues wallet after learning that he planned to donate a substantial sum of money to a temple that day.

Photo: Facebook

Both Tachawit and his wife have gone silent on Facebook after their despicable con was exposed, but their friends and family continue to voice their outrage on social media.

You bastard, we regret going to school with you. We are hurt by this. Dont ever let me see you again. This wreath is for you. Go to hell, one of the conmans former school mates commented on his Facebook page.

Although no complaints have been made with the police at this time, Thai celebrity lawyer Gerdphol Geawgerd told reporters that Tachawit J. and his wife risk fines of up to THB160,000 ($4,800) and/or up to 10 years in prison.



To be fair, Tachawit isnt the first person to con their friends and family, but putting your own mother through this kind of ordeal for a few bucks? Thats ice cold!

Interestingly enough, Tachawit didnt delete any of the compromising photos from his Facebook account, and even appears to regret his actions, replacing his wifes original caption with a short and seemingly honest one  Sorry for being so crappy.

Ronn Torossian

Launched in 1968, ODwyers celebrates its 50th anniversary this month. Founder and publisher Jack ODwyer has been at the helm that entire time, and his impact on the PR field has been tremendous. His near-obsessive focus on our industry has made him one of its keenest and most insightful observers, and for that, everyone who works in public relations owes the man a major thank you.

Hes covered so much of the ups and downs of the PR industry, and considering the grueling industry media cycle, thats no easy feat.

ODwyer got his start as a financial reporter at the New York-American before moving to the Chicago Tribune. After eight years in journalism, he took everything hed learned about the financial sector and launched a newsletter which would soon grow into a monthly magazine devoured religiously by so many in the PR industry worldwide.

A vocal advocate for transparency and face-to-face industry relationships, ODwyer has spoken out against the increasingly impersonal nature of the PR business. In 2013, he also took the Public Relations Society of America to task for its closed-off policies and unwillingness to deal with the press or disclose its finances.

Theyve totally alienated themselves from the membership, said ODwyer in an interview with The Observer. Theyre all in hiding. They help accredited members; its all about rewarding insiders. They should be setting a shining example of transparency and disclosure. Its the opposite. The PRSA will not let the press join. How can we cover the PRSA if we cant see their finances?

ODwyer has been a crusader for excellence in PR for five decades, praising the field whenever he can and loudly calling attention whenever scruples are lacking. Known for his willingness to go to the mat over his beliefs, ODwyer has stood up for what he believes.

With his sharp, incisive voice and unflagging persistence, ODwyer has influenced generations of PR reporting. His style set the standard for hard work in an increasingly automated and detached field, and even as the world of long business lunches and editorial powerhouses that gave him his start begins to fade, he remains a vibrant embodiment of everything exciting and valuable about its heyday.

Thank you, Jack ODwyer and the ODwyer Company, for all you have done for the public relations industry.

***

Ronn Torossian is CEO & Founder of 5WPR.The Potomac Square Group has scooped up a $47,500 per-month contract with the Polish Chamber of Commerce in the US to provide strategic counseling and federal affairs services.

The Chamber, which is partly funded by the Polish Agency for International Trade, wants to underscore and promote Polands contributions to peace and prosperity around the world and its alignment with US economic, geopolitical and national security interests. It also seeks recognition of Poland as a key part of the NATO alliance.

PSG, which was launched by former Wall Street Journal reporter Christopher Cooper, may conduct outreach to the media and general public in its effort to strengthen the bilateral relationship between Poland and the US.

Cooper, who has more than 20 years of journalism experience, worked for the WSJ in Houston, Washington and London. He has reported from 50-plus countries and was the WSJ's lead correspondent for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential run.

PSGs contract runs for a year. The Chamber retains the right to terminate its relationship with PSG after six months with 30-days notice.Allison+Partners has been named PR firm for the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. GPECs mission is to attract and grow businesses and advocate for the competitiveness of the Greater Phoenix area. Working with GPEC, Allison+Partners will be responsible for media relations, thought leadership, conferences and awards to help the organization promote Greater Phoenix as The Connected Place. The agency will execute a fully integrated PR campaign targeting c-suite decision makers, government affairs staffs, vice presidents of economic development and site selection committees. The account will be serviced out of the agencys Phoenix office. Allison+Partners demonstrated that it could not only amplify our public relations and content development efforts regionally but also has offices in all of our priority markets, said GPEC President & CEO Chris Camacho.

Vox Solid Communications, a PR and digital marketing agency specializing in attractions and tourism; food and beverage; and non-profit organizations, has added immersive cannabis museum Cannabition to its client roster. Cannabition, which is slated to open this fall, is billing itself as Las Vegas first and only immersive cannabis museum and the worlds only cannabis-themed experience of its kind. The museum will feature such art works as a slide that empties into a pool of handmade foam nugs, enormous 7-foot buds and, at 23 feet, the worlds largest water pipe affectionately known as Bongzilla.

Diffusion has been selected as PR agency of record for SevenRooms, a reservation, seating and guest management platform that let operators create direct, personalized relationships with their guests. With a thought leadership program as a central component, Diffusions campaign aims to highlight the value of SevenRooms services, reinforced through strategically developed research and creative activations targeting decision makers in the restaurant and hospitality industry. The agency will also support product launches and partnership announcements with a media relations program. From Diffusions proposal, it was clear to us that they understood how to communicate our vision, said SevenRooms senior vp, marketing Marybeth Sheppard.

SourceCode Communications has added Scruff, a chat and dating app aimed at a gay audience, and Elvie, a health and lifestyle brand geared toward women, to its portfolio of consumer tech clients. SourceCodes work for both clients will focus on building an integrated communications plan bolstered by campaign initiatives designed to establish thought leadership, accelerate customer awareness and drive business growth. Earlier this year, SourceCode Communications expanded its B2B tech practice with the addition of full-suite research-technology solutions provider FocusVision and SOCi, a reputation management and social media management solution for multi-location enterprises.

Carolyn Izzo Integrated Communications has grown its roster of hospitality clients with the addition of The Atlantic Hotel & Spa, an all-suite beach boutique hotel in Fort Lauderdale. CIIC will lead all positioning and strategic communications efforts for the hotel during the renovation of its 104 guest suites. The project is scheduled to be completed this fall. Among the new elements the hotel has recently introduced are an Italian-inspired beachfront restaurant, a rooftop bar and a partnership with Italian coffee brand Lavazza. As we bring in new services and elevate our property, CIIC will be the ideal partner in repositioning our brand, said the hotels senior director of sales and marketing Blanka Dewapura.Tennessee Governor Grants Four People Clemency But Cyntoia Brown Isnt One Of Them Elijah C. Watson Elijah Watson serves as Okayplayer's News & Culture Editor. When

One woman and three men received clemency from Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam.

Governor Bill Haslam has granted clemency to four people and is planning on doing the same for other inmates before he leaves office.

READ: Parole Board Divided On Cyntoia Brown, The Teen Sex Trafficking Victim Serving Life For Killing Her Abuser

Michelle Lea Martin, Ralph Randall Reagan, Robert James Sheard Jr., and Steven Lee Kennedy received clemency from Haslam on Thursday. Of the four selected three were already out of prison according to the Tennessean.

This is not an exhaustive list. We have others that are in the process. As we work our way through it though, these were the first four that came up that we felt like met the standards of criteria we had set, Haslam said.

Martin was one of the ones chosen who was still in prison. Her 25-year sentence was commuted to supervised parole. In 2004, Martin was charged with second-degree murder in the death of her father. Martins father sexually abused her as a child as well as abused her mother. Martin shot and killed her father after a confrontation about his abuse of her mother occurred.

Following the shooting, she, her mother, and her mothers boyfriend took her fathers body and concealed it in a barrel of cement. Haslam acknowledged Martins status as a model prisoner and pointed to her earning a degree from Lipscomb University while behind bars.

Absent from this first selection is Cyntoia Brown, the sex trafficking victim who was imprisoned at the age of 16 for killing a child predator who paid her for sex.

The incident originally took place back in 2004 when Brown was picked up by Nashville, Tennessee, real estate agent Johnny Mitchell Allen.

Brown admitted that she shot and killed Allen but did so because she feared he would kill her. However, prosecutors argued that Brown robbed Allen after she killed him, with his pants, wallet, and some guns in her possession when apprehended. Ultimately, she was sentenced to life in prison, only eligible for parole after serving 51 years.

Haslam noted that Browns situation is similar to Martins but didnt offer any additional comments.

Source: TennesseanGeorgia Lawmaker Resigns After Yelling N-Word And Literally Showing His Ass On Sacha Baron Cohens Show Elijah C. Watson Elijah Watson serves as Okayplayer's News & Culture Editor. When

A Georgia lawmaker has resigned following his appearance on Sacha Baron Cohens new show where he yelled racial slurs and showed his butt on camera.

READ: Georgia Lawmaker Tells Black Attorney She May Go Missing For Protesting Confederate Statues

The scene comes from Cohens recently-released Showtime series Who Is America?, where Georgia state Representative Jason Spencer appears alongside Cohen whos disguised as an ex-Israeli intelligence captain by the name of Erran Morad. Morad claims to be making an anti-terrorism video. As the video unfolds, Spencer not only says the N-word but also drops his pants in what Cohens character describes as a demonstration of terrorism deterrence tactics.

Still trying to process everything that happened in this clip @SachaBaronCohen's #WhoIsAmerica  now streaming only on Stan. pic.twitter.com/ewbjPJHsL0  Stan. (@StanAustralia) July 24, 2018

Initially, Spencer said that he wouldnt step down before his term expired, and criticized Cohen and his team for the segment.

Sacha Baron Cohen and his associates took advantage of my paralyzing fear that my family would be attacked, he said to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. This media companys deceptive and fraudulent behavior is exactly why President Donald Trump was elected.

However, he announced that hed be stepping down late Tuesday. In the announcement, he also apologized for his actions and called the segment ridiculously ugly.

Spencer is the latest in a handful of public figures that have been tricked on Cohens latest TV series. Former Senator Majority Leader Trent Lott, former Illinois Republican Representative Joe Walsh, and others recently appeared in a segment endorsing a fake program to teach young children how to use firearms.

The show has been well-received though, with people such as Questlove and Jordan Peele praising Cohen for his new show.

I'm just the 378th person to remind you to stop procrastinating & watch @SachaBaronCohen's all too important @SHOwhoisAmerica https://t.co/0vWeZELhUG especially you #IJustCant & #TrumpFatigue people. imagine if you let midterms go down w more Jason Spencers repping YOUR state.  Qurley? (@questlove) July 24, 2018

I had the privilege of getting a sneak peek at Sacha Baron Cohens new show #WhoIsAmerica last night. Holy. Shit. Its essential . @Showtime tonight.   Jordan Peele (@JordanPeele) July 15, 2018

Source: The Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionThere are only about 3,900 wild tigers left in the world according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). With nearly 100 killed every year because of poaching and habitat destruction, the endangered animals could disappear in our lifetime. To support programs dedicated to doubling the global tiger population by 2022, Kenzo and Singaporean beer brand Tiger  both of which use the wild cat as their symbol  have partnered on the "Rare Stripes Collection."

Behind-the-Scenes: Artist Esther Goh working in her studio in Cambodia.

The limited-edition capsule of just 500 pieces features hoodies, jackets, shirts, and jumpers with embroidered and printed versions of designs created by four emerging artists chosen by Kenzo creative director Humberto Leon and Carol Lim. American artist and sculptor Meryl Smith, Singaporean illustrator and designer Esther Goh, Cambodian printmaker Julienne Tan, and Malaysian digital artist Sean Lean each created two designs based on the stories of eight wild tigers.

All proceeds from the collection, which will be available at Kenzo stores worldwide next month, will benefit The World Wildlife fund. See the artists wearing pieces from the capsule, below.

Esther Goh

Images Courtesy of Tiger BeerNetflix's Queer Eye has in two seasons already become a life-affirming sensation that has preached the gospel of self-care and brought countless tears to our eyes. None were perhaps more tear-inducing this past season than the much talked about episode, Sky's the Limit, which saw the Fab 5 making over Skyler Jay, a recently post-op trans man who won over our hearts with his unrelenting enthusiasm and compassion. The episode follows the Fab 5 as they teach Skyler how to be a more refined version of himself while Skyler in turn teaches the Fab 5 about the trans experience. We see Karamo supporting Skyler as he gets the gender marker on his license changed, Tan have an emotional talk with Skyler about what he doesn't know about being trans, and Skyler's top surgery.

Skyler briefly mentions in the episode that he had complications resulting from his top surgery and that while his community had come together to raise funds for his initial surgery but would likely be facing a lot more medical bills than initially anticipated. Skyler recently started a GoFundMe page to help raise the money to cover those bills and give back to the local organizations that have given him and countless other LGBTQ+ individuals support.

In the page's appeal, Skyler describes the challenges he faced in trying to get his health insurance to cover his care. It turns out that the University System of Georgia workplace health care plan has a Trans exclusionary policy that exempts the university from having to cover trans-related health issues. As a result of his experience, Skyler is also bringing a suit against the University System of Georgia to have these discriminatory exclusions removed. GLAAD reports that most public health care policies and programs are not required to or don't cover trans-related medical care and is a contributing factor to increased rates of poverty and low life-expectancy within the community.

You can learn more and donate to Skyler Jay's GoFundMe here.

Photo via NetflixMany Protestants (especially the tiny minority of anti-Catholics among Protestants) are under the false impression that the teaching of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Mediatrix is somehow a new, novel thing, and that if these notions are proclaimed as the Fifth Marian Dogma, that the Catholic Church will turn a new page of ever-more outrageous heresy and unbiblical excess. Some Catholics (many of whom have not studied the issue in much depth at all) also join in on this needless alarm. This is incorrect on all counts, as I have repeatedly shown (see my many papers listed below).

A sub-argument of this strain of thought likes to make out that Pope John Paul II did not agree with the dogma at all. This is also incorrect. Pope John Paul did not reject any additional titles for Mary as unnecessary, in the sense that they are ruled out for good. He was not against these things at all. He merely thought that the time had not yet come to define them.

Thats no different than the Church waiting until 1950 to define the Assumption of Mary as de fide, ex cathedra dogma, even though it was a firmly entrenched dogma for many centuries, or till 1870 to define papal infallibility. In both cases, the tradition had already been very strongly established for many hundreds of years . Mediatrix was a title used in Vatican II.

The present Holy Father used the term Mediatrix in a homily of 1 January 2007. He believes no differently, as he is very much (like his predecessor) a man of Vatican II. Pope John Paul II has used the term Co-Redemptrix in his own writings at least five times (as I will document below), and has also frequently expressed the conceptual equivalent, without using that word. Here are several examples:

26 September 1986: These devotions seek to direct our attention to Christ and to the role of his Mother in the mystery of Redemption . . . We see symbolised in the heart of Mary her maternal love, her singular sanctity and her central role in the redemptive mission of her Son. Our act of consecration refers ultimately to the heart of her Son, for as the Mother of Christ she is wholly united to his redemptive mission. 9 April 1997 (General Audience: Marys Co-Operation is Totally Unique) Moreover, when the Apostle Paul says: For we are Gods fellow workers (1 Cor 3:9), he maintains the real possibility for man to co-operate with God. The collaboration of believers, which obviously excludes any equality with him, is expressed in the proclamation of the Gospel and in their personal contribution to its taking root in human hearts. However, applied to Mary, the term co-operator acquires a specific meaning. The collaboration of Christians in salvation takes place after the Calvary event, whose fruits they endeavor to spread by prayer and sacrifice. Mary, instead, co-operated during the event itself and in the role of mother; thus her co-operation embraces the whole of Christs saving work. She alone was associated in this way with the redemptive sacrifice that merited the salvation of all mankind. In union with the Christ and in submission to him, she collaborated in obtaining the grace of salvation for all humanity. 15 August 2001: Pauls words that we have just heard in the Second Reading help us to understand the significance of the solemnity we are celebrating today. Christs definitive victory over death, which came into the world because of Adams sin, shines out in Mary, assumed into Heaven at the end of her earthly life. It was Christ, the new Adam, who conquered death, offering himself as a sacrifice on Calvary in loving obedience to the Father. In this way he redeemed us from the slavery of sin and evil. In the Virgins triumph, the Church contemplates her whom the Father chose as the true Mother of his Only-begotten Son, closely associating her with the salvific plan of the Redemption.

Pope John Paul II was quite explicit about his support for the doctrine in his encyclical of 25 March 1987, Redemptoris Mater (Mother of the Redeemer):

18. This blessing reaches its full meaning when Mary stands beneath the Cross of her Son (cf. Jn. 19:25). The Council says that this happened not without a divine plan: by suffering deeply with her only-begotten Son and joining herself with her maternal spirit to his sacrifice, lovingly consenting to the immolation of the victim to whom she had given birth, in this way Mary faithfully preserved her union with her Son even to the Cross.[38] It is a union through faiththe same faith with which she had received the angels revelation at the Annunciation. At that moment she had also heard the words: He will be greatand the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end (Lk. I :32-33) And now, standing at the foot of the Cross, Mary is the witness, humanly speaking, of the complete negation of these words. On that wood of the Cross her Son hangs in agony as one condemned. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrowshe was despised, and we esteemed him not: as one destroyed (cf. Is. 53:3-5). How great, how heroic then is the obedience of faith shown by Mary in the face of Gods unsearchable judgments! How completely she abandons herself to God without reserve, offering the full assent of the intellect and the will[39] to him whose ways are inscrutable (cf. Rom. 11:33)! And how powerful too is the action of grace in her soul, how all-pervading is the influence of the Holy Spirit and of his light and power! Through this faith Mary is perfectly united with Christ in his self-emptying. For Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men: precisely on Golgotha humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross (cf. Phil. 2:5-8). At the foot of the Cross Mary shares through faith in the shocking mystery of this self-emptying. This is perhaps the deepest kenosis of faith in human history. Through faith the Mother shares in the death of her Son, in his redeeming death; but in contrast with the faith of the disciples who fled, hers was far more enlightened. On Golgotha, Jesus through the Cross definitively confirmed that he was the sign of contradiction foretold by Simeon. At the same time, there were also fulfilled on Golgotha the words which Simeon had addressed to Mary: and a sword will pierce through your own soul also.[40] . . . 38. The Church knows and teaches with Saint Paul that there is only one mediator: For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all (1 Tim. 2:5-6). The maternal role of Mary towards people in no way obscures or diminishes the unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power:[94] it is mediation in Christ. The Church knows and teaches that all the saving influences of the Blessed Virgin on mankind originatefrom the divine pleasure. They flow forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rest on his mediation, depend entirely on it, and draw all their power from it. In no way do they impede the immediate union of the faithful with Christ. Rather, they foster this union.[95] This saving influence is sustained by the Holy Spirit, who, just as he overshadowed the Virgin Mary when he began in her the divine motherhood, in a similar way constantly sustains her solicitude for the brothers and sisters of her Son. In effect, Marys mediation is intimately linked with her motherhood. It possesses a specifically maternal character, which distinguishes it from the mediation of the other creatures who in various and always subordinate ways share in the one mediation of Christ, although her own mediation is also a shared mediation.[96] In fact, while it is true that no creature could ever be classed with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer, at the same time the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise among creatures to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this unique source. And thus the one goodness of God is in reality communicated diversely to his creatures.[97] The teaching of the Second Vatican Council presents the truth of Marys mediation as a sharing in the one unique source that is the mediation of Christ himself. Thus we read: The Church does not hesitate to profess this subordinate role of Mary. She experiences it continuously and commends it to the hearts of the faithful, so that, encouraged by this maternal help, they may more closely adhere to the Mediator and Redeemer.[98] This role is at the same time special and extraordinary. It flows from her divine motherhood and can be understood and lived in faith only on the basis of the full truth of this motherhood. Since by virtue of divine election Mary is the earthly Mother of the Fathers consubstantial Son and his generous companion in the work of redemption she is a mother to us in the order of grace.[99] This role constitutes a real dimension of her presence in the saving mystery of Christ and the Church. 39. . . . Marys motherhood, completely pervaded by her spousal attitude as the handmaid of the Lord, constitutes the first and fundamental dimension of that mediation which the Church confesses and proclaims in her regard[100] and continually commends to the hearts of the faithful, since the Church has great trust in her. For it must be recognized that before anyone else it was God himself, the Eternal Father, who entrusted himself to the Virgin of Nazareth, giving her his own Son in the mystery of the Incarnation. Her election to the supreme office and dignity of Mother of the Son of God refers, on the ontological level, to the very reality of the union of the two natures in the person of the Word (hypostatic union). This basic fact of being the Mother of the Son of God is from the very beginning a complete openness to the person of Christ, to his whole work, to his whole mission. The words Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord testify to Marys openness of spirit: she perfectly unites in herself the love proper to virginity and the love characteristic of motherhood, which are joined and, as it were, fused together.

For this reason Mary became not only the nursing mother of the Son of Man but also the associate of unique nobility[101] of the Messiah and Redeemer. As I have already said, she advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and in this pilgrimage to the foot of the Cross there was simultaneously accomplished her maternal cooperation with the Saviors whole mission through her actions and sufferings. Along the path of this collaboration with the work of her Son, the Redeemer, Marys motherhood itself underwent a singular transformation, becoming ever more imbued with burning charity towards all those to whom Christs mission was directed. Through this burning charity, which sought to achieve, in union with Christ, the restoration of supernatural life to souls,[102] Mary entered, in a way all her own, into the one mediation between God and men which is the mediation of the man Christ Jesus. If she was the first to experience within herself the supernatural consequences of this one mediation in the Annunciation she had been greeted as full of grace then we must say that through this fullness of grace and supernatural life she was especially predisposed to cooperation with Christ, the one Mediator of human salvation. And such cooperation is precisely this mediation subordinated to the mediation of Christ. In Marys case we have a special and exceptional mediation, based upon her fullness of grace, which was expressed in the complete willingness of the handmaid of the Lord. In response to this interior willingness of his Mother, Jesus Christ prepared her ever more completely to become for all people their mother in the order of grace. This is indicated, at least indirectly, by certain details noted by the Synoptics (cf. Lk. 11 :28; 8:20-21 ; Mk. 3:32-35; Mt. 12:47-50) and still more so by the Gospel of John (cf. 2: 1-1 2; 1 9:25-27), which I have already mentioned. Particularly eloquent in this regard are the words spoken by Jesus on the Cross to Mary and John. 40. After the events of the Resurrection and Ascension, Mary entered the Upper Room together with the Apostles to await Pentecost, and was present there as the Mother of the glorified Lord. She was not only the one who advanced in her pilgrimage of faith and loyally persevered in her union with her Son unto the Cross, but she was also the handmaid of the Lord, left by her Son as Mother in the midst of the infant Church: Behold your mother. Thus there began to develop a special bond between this Mother and the Church. For the infant Church was the fruit of the Cross and Resurrection of her Son. Mary, who from the beginning had given herself without reserve to the person and work of her Son, could not but pour out upon the Church, from the very beginning, her maternal self-giving. After her Sons departure, her motherhood remains in the Church as maternal mediation: interceding for all her children, the Mother cooperates in the saving work of her Son, the Redeemer of the world. In fact the Council teaches that the motherhood of Mary in the order of gracewill last without interruption until the eternal fulfilment of all the elect.[103] With the redeeming death of her Son, the maternal mediation of the handmaid of the Lord took on a universal dimension, for the work of redemption embraces the whole of humanity. Thus there is manifested in a singular way the efficacy of the one and universal mediation of Christ between God and men. Marys cooperation shares, in its subordinate character, in the universality of the mediation of the Redeemer, the one Mediator. This is clearly indicated by the Council in the words quoted above. For, the text goes on, taken up to heaven, she did not lay aside this saving role, but by her manifold acts of intercession continues to win for us gifts of eternal salvation.[104] With this character of intercession, first manifested at Cana in Galilee, Marys mediation continues in the history of the Church and the world. We read that Mary by her maternal charity, cares for the brethren of her Son who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties, until they are led to their happy homeland.[105] In this way Marys motherhood continues unceasingly in the Church as the mediation which intercedes, and the Church expresses her faith in this truth by invoking Mary under the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix and Mediatrix.[106] 41. Through her mediation, subordinate to that of the Redeemer, Mary contributes in a special way to the union of the pilgrim Church on earth with the eschatological and heavenly reality of the Communion of Saints, since she has already been assumed into heaven.[107] The truth of the Assumption, defined by Pius XII, is reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council, which thus expresses the Churchs faith: Preserved free from all guilt of original sin, the Immaculate Virgin was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory upon the completion of her earthly sojourn. She was exalted by the Lord as Queen of the Universe, in order that she might be the more thoroughly conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords (cf. Rev. 19:16) and the conqueror of sin and death.[108] In this teaching Pius XII was in continuity with Tradition, which has found many different expressions in the history of the Church, both in the East and in the West.

Furthermore, Pope John Paul II has used the term Coredemptrix on at least five occasions in the course of his papal teachings (see extensive documentation on this):

In his greetings to the sick after the general audience of 8 September 1982:

Mary, though conceived and born without the taint of sin, participated in a marvelous way in the sufferings of her divine Son, in order to be Coredemptrix of humanity.

In his 4 November 1984 Angelus address in Arona:

To Our Ladythe CoredemptrixSt. Charles turned with singularly revealing accents.

31 January 1985: address at the Marian shrine in Guayaquil, Ecuador:

Mary goes before us and accompanies us. The silent journey that begins with her Immaculate Conception and passes through the yes of Nazareth, which makes her the Mother of God, finds on Calvary a particularly important moment. There also, accepting and assisting at the sacrifice of her son, Mary is the dawn of Redemption;Crucified spiritually with her crucified son (cf. Gal. 2:20), she contemplated with heroic love the death of her God, she lovingly consented to the immolation of this Victim which she herself had brought forth (Lumen Gentium, 58) In fact, at Calvary she united herself with the sacrifice of her Son that led to the foundation of the Church; her maternal heart shared to the very depths the will of Christ to gather into one all the dispersed children of God (Jn. 11:52). Having suffered for the Church, Mary deserved to become the Mother of all the disciples of her Son, the Mother of their unity.In fact, Marys role as Coredemptrix did not cease with the glorification of her Son.

31 March 1985: Palm Sunday and World Youth Day:

At the Angelus hour on this Palm Sunday, which the Liturgy calls also the Sunday of the Lords Passion, our thoughts run to Mary, immersed in the mystery of an immeasurable sorrow. Mary accompanied her divine Son in the most discreet concealment pondering everything in the depths of her heart. On Calvary, at the foot of the Cross, in the vastness and in the depth of her maternal sacrifice, she had John, the youngest Apostle, beside her.May, Mary our Protectress, the Coredemptrix, to whom we offer our prayer with great outpouring, make our desire generously correspond to the desire of the Redeemer.

Commemoration of the sixth centenary of the canonization of St. Bridget of Sweden on 6 October 1991:

Birgitta looked to Mary as her model and support in the various moments of her life. She spoke energetically about the divine privilege of Marys Immaculate Conception. She contemplated her astonishing mission as Mother of the Saviour. She invoked her as the Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Sorrows, and Coredemptrix, exalting Marys singular role in the history of salvation and the life of the Christian people.

Pope Benedict XVI teaches the same doctrine. For example, he stated on 2 February 2006:

Bringing her Son to Jerusalem, the Virgin Mother offered him to God as a true Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. She held him out to Simeon and Anna as the proclamation of redemption; she presented him to all as a light for a safe journey on the path of truth and love.

The following remark from our Holy Father was from his homily at the canonization Mass of Fr. Antonio de SantAna Galvao, O.F.M., in Brazil, on 11 May 2007:

5. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, says the Lord in the Gospel (Mt 11:28). This is the final recommendation that he makes to us. How can we fail to recognize here Gods fatherly and at the same time motherly care towards all his children? Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, stands particularly close to us at this moment. Frei Galvao prophetically affirmed the truth of the Immaculate Conception. She, the Tota Pulchra, the Virgin Most Pure, who conceived in her womb the Redeemer of mankind and was preserved from all stain of original sin, wishes to be the definitive seal of our encounter with God our Savior. There is no fruit of grace in the history of salvation that does not have as its necessary instrument the mediation of Our Lady.

Pope Benedict XVI, however, thinks it is unwise to use (let alone dogmatically define) the term Coredemptrix. In 2000, when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, he stated:

I do not think there will be any compliance with this demand [to define Mary as Coredemptrix], which in the meantime is being supported by several million people, within the foreseeable future. The response of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is, broadly, that what is signified by this is already better expressed in other titles of Mary, while the formula Co-redemptrix departs to too great an extent from the language of Scripture and of the Fathers and therefore gives rise to misunderstandings.

What is true here? Well, it is true that Christ does not remain outside us or to one side of us, but builds a profound and new community with us. Everything that is his becomes ours, and everything that is ours he has taken upon himself, so that it becomes his: this great exchange is the actual content of redemption, the removal of limitations from our self and its extension into community with God. Because Mary is the prototype of the Church as such and is, so to say, the Church in person, this being with is realized in her in exemplary fashion.

But this with must not lead us to forget the first of Christ: Everything comes from Him, as the Letter to the Ephesians and the Letter to Colossians, in particular, tell us; Mary, too, is everything that she is through Him.

The word Co-redemptrix, would obscure this origin. For matters of faith, continuity of terminology with the language of Scripture and that of the Fathers is itself an essential element; it is improper simply to manipulate language.

Note (it is absolutely crucial to understand this distinction) that he is not disagreeing with the doctrine itself (what is signified by this is already better expressed in other titles of Mary) but with this particular way of describing it.

There is also, in addition to the terminological and ecumenical issues, the matter of the right time to define something. John Paul II thought it wasnt yet the time for the dogmatic definition. The present pope appears to agree, and he also has more of a difficulty with terminology, if not the ideas intended by potentially misleading titles. I wholeheartedly agree with both of them about the doctrine, and I agree with the present Holy Father about the problematic nature of utilizing in such a definition the massively misunderstood term Coredemptrix.

My position is precisely the same: the doctrine itself is firmly rooted in Catholic tradition, and there is nothing unCatholic in believing these things (nor unbiblical; rightly understood), but it is not yet time to define them as infallible at the very highest level (this stance is called by Catholics inopportunism). I have defended the doctrine at great length and provide much relevant biblical data in my papers (for those of you whose jaws are dropping in shock at such language and notions!).

Lastly, though I think Coredemptrix is vastly misunderstood, and thus unwise to use (at least not without proximate elaborate explanations), as an apologist it is my task and duty to explain and defend the proper meaning of a word that has been used by many popes, including Pope John Paul II. My task is to defend first and foremost the doctrine meant by it, and secondly, to explain exactly what is intended by it, so as to disabuse folks who are either misinformed, or who wish (on a polemical level) to cynically use and abuse the term as a propagandistic club, in their efforts to distort what the Catholic Church actually teaches, and to foolishly detest a straw man. Mediatrix is misunderstood quite enough, as it is.

As a generality, however, those non-Catholic Christians who have pondered Mariology very little at all, and who have a dim understanding of the rich history of Christian thought on Mary, and biblical and traditional rationales for same, are exceedingly unlikely to comprehend the mediation and intercession of Mary. One cant grasp trigonometry or calculus without the prerequisite preparation in arithmetic and algebra and geometry. Likewise, many Christians havent even gotten to first base in understanding biblical and patristic Mariology, let alone highly developed Catholic Mariology, in the year 2008. Hence, it is almost certain that a word like Coredemptrix would be as incomprehensible to them as transubstantiation or supralapsarianism would be to a two-year-old.

See also the related resources:

*

Mary Was United to Jesus on the Cross (General Audience of Pope John Paul II: 25 October 1995)

Mary Freely Cooperated in Gods Plan (Pope John Paul II: General Audience, 3 July 1996)

Mary has a Role in Jesus Saving Mission (Pope John Paul II: General Audience, 18 December 1996)

Mary has universal spiritual motherhood (Pope John Paul II: General Audience, 24 September 1997)

Marys mediation derives from Christs (Pope John Paul II: General Audience, 1 October 1997)

Maternal Mediation, John Paul II, and Vatican II; A Response to a Statement of an International Theological Commission, Dr. Mark Miravalle

Pope John Paul IIs Ordinary Magisterium on Marian Coredemption: Consistent Teaching and More Recent Perspectives, Msgr Arthur Calkins

She Gave the Word Flesh, Scott Hahn

Vox Populi Mariae Mediatrici

Proposed Last (5th) Marian Dogma: Papers and Links

Catholic Pages Directory: Links on the 5th Marian Dogma

***

(originally 2-19-08)

Photo credit: Virgin Annunciate (1475), by Antonello da Messina (1430-1479) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons]

***A new poll from PRRI had some pretty interesting findings regarding evangelicals and racial change. Namely, white evangelicals are more likely than white Americans in any other religious group to view the browning of America as a bad thing. In a 2018 survey, pollsters put the following question to a national sample of Americans:

As you may know, U.S. Census projections show that by 2043, African-Americans, Latinos, Asians, and other mixed racial and ethnic groups will together be a majority of the population. Do you think the likely impact of this coming demographic change will be mostly positive or mostly negative?

The result was perhaps unsurprising: While 65% of Americans overall stated the coming demographic change would be mostly positive, there was a strong partisan divide, with 43% of Republicans and 85% of Democrats indicting that the change would have mostly positive results. Similarly, 31% of Americans indicated that the change would be mostly negative, a response that included a full 50% of Republicans and a mere 13% of Democrats.

Its interesting to note that while Democrats are pretty unified in viewing demographic change as mostly positive, Republicans are more divided. While 85% of Democrats listed the change as positive and only 13% of Democrats listed it as negative, Republicans saw a much more even split43% said the change was positive and 50% listed it as negative.

This is a good thing. Republicans who dont have a problem with demographic change do existand in large numbersand need to get to work changing the views of fellow party members who hold racist or xenophobic views. The battle over the party that weve seen play out over the past few years isnt yet over, Donald Trump or no Donald Trump.

The next thing that struck me was this bit:

Among religious groups, white evangelical Protestants are unique in the extent to which they feel demographic change will represent a negative development for the U.S. More than half (52%) of white evangelical Protestants say a majority of the U.S. population being nonwhite will be a negative development, while fewer than four in ten white mainline Protestants (39%), Catholics (32%), and religiously unaffiliated Americans (23%) say the same.

Note first that all of these numbers are limited to white religious members. In other words, white evangelicals are more xenophobic that white mainline Protestants, or white Catholics, or white religiously unaffiliated Americans. White evangelicals are also more xenophobic than the Republican party as a whole, although the difference (52% v 50%) is small enough to run into the margin of error (+/- 3.3 percentage points at the 95% level of confidence).

Whats perhaps odd about this finding is that evangelicals tend to emphasize missions, and reaching all races with the gospel. Very conservative organizations like prominent creationist group Answers in Genesis argue that all humans are of one blood, and that racial distinctions are meaningless. While I was growing up in an evangelical home, my parents hosted international students from the middle east and Asia, and sponsored children in Africa and South America through World Vision. Mission trips to foreign places are common among evangelicals.

Where is the disconnect? What makes reaching all of the nations of the world with the gospel so imperative, but having those same individuals move to and live in the United States so dangerous?

I suspect that there are multiple answers to this question.

These surveys likely include respondents from more traditional churcheschurches that still question interracial marriage as a violation of Gods plan and teach that each race was meant to live in its own designated area, and not intermingled. But I would guess that there is more going on than this. Namely, these two positionsinternational missions and national xenophobiaare not in fact incompatible.

It is possible to talk about everything you learned about God on your mission trip to Ethiopia, but also believe that African Americans are especially criminal, lazy, and addicted to drugs, or even that African Americans are less intelligent than whites. It is similarly possible to talk about the child you sponsor in El Salvador through World Vision, but also believe that immigrants from Central America are rapists, criminals, and drug lords.

After all, missions trips arent set up to place both parties on an equal footing. Neither are child sponsorship opportunities. These and similar programs are set up on an unequal colonial framework, positing the white American as the enlightened giver and the foreign person of color as the one in need of aid and white help.

There is a difference between going to someone that you believe needs to be told how to live and taught how to do very simple things (like using clean water, for example), and having that person come live next door to you. There are plenty of people who want to help needy populationsbut also to keep them at arms length.

A belief that developing populations need white helpand that they are incapable of helping themselvesis in no way incompatible with evangelical missions work. Instead, its integral. This creates a broken understanding of the worldan understanding that posits non-white populations as universally and fundamentally less able than white populations, and an understanding that makes it easy to accept the idea that the browning of America is a problem.

Theres a difference between traveling abroad to minister to dirty, backward heathen, and having those same dirty, backward heathen come live among you, and it strikes me that this difference may be central to the discrepancy between many white evangelicals stated interracial, world-centered mission and their particularly xenophobic national position.

I have a Patreon! Please support my writing!President Xi Visits the UAE but Skips Iran and Saudi Arabia

07/26/18

By Nader Habibi





On his way to a tour of several African nations China's President Xi Jinping paid an official visit to the United Arab Emirates. The UAE government went out of its way to honor President Xi by projecting the Chinese flag on several high-rise buildings in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and awarding him the Order of Zayed. The multi-day visit signifies the significance of UAE as a major economic partner for China in the Middle East. During this visit China and the UAE signed several important trade and economic agreements. The fact that China's President chose to spend two full days in the UAE (arriving 19 of July and leaving on 21st) points to the significance of this visit from Chinese point of view.

Yet an even more significant aspect of President Xi's visit, that has not received any media attention, is that unlike his previous visit to the Middle East, President Xi did not stop at several capitals and instead limited his visit to one country. Visiting only the UAE is unusual for several reasons. First, in his January 2016 visit President Xi stopped in Tehran, Riyadh and Cairo. The stops in Riyadh and Tehran symbolized China's desire to establish good diplomatic relations with both Saudi Arabia and Iran while maintaining neutrality toward their ongoing proxy war.

Second, in light of China's large dependency on the Middle East oil, the UAE is not its most significant economic partner in the region. China buys more oil from Saudi Arabia and Iran than the UAE. Although China's exports to the UAE are large, most of them are re-exported to other Middle East and African destinations (the UAE serves as the main regional re-export hub for products of many countries including China.) If we exclude the re-exports the volume of China's exports to the UAE is smaller than Iran or Saudi Arabia. Similarly, Iran and Saudi Arabia both offer attractive investment opportunities for China, which are as significant as the ones available in the UAE.

So why did President Xi select the UAE for his Middle East visit? The answer might lie in China's desire to avoid an official state visit to Tehran at this point. Over the past two decades China has developed strong economic ties with Iran, partly because of the Western economic and diplomatic sanctions that have forced Iran to seek economic and strategic partnerships with Russia and China. As important as the energy and economic relations with Iran are for China, she is not willing to sacrifice her economic interests with the United States and Iran's regional rivals (the GCC countries and Israel) for them. Instead, China has tried to play a balancing game between its interests in Iran and Iran's adversaries.

In recent months the United State has called on China and other consumers of Iranian crude oil to end their purchases by November 2018. After a unilateral withdrawal from the multilateral 2015 nuclear agreement in May of this year, the U.S. has also threatened all international firms with denial of access to the U.S. markets if they continue to do business with Iran. China wants to preserve its relations with Iran but cannot ignore the U.S. demands entirely. It is currently lucked onto a trade war with the Trump administration with an uncertain outcome. It is in China's economic interest to contain this trade tension through negotiation and, in this context, a visit to Iran would have been viewed as a deliberate provocation by China and hence would have created mote tension in U.S.-China relations.

China's decision to avoid an Iran visit might have contributed to the decision to bypass Saudi capital as well. Visiting Riyadh without a stop in Tehran would have signaled an end to China's neutrality in the Iran-Saudi proxy war, which is not China's intension at this point. Once Iran and Saudi Arabia were removed from the list of potential stops for President Xi, then it was clear that the UAE was the best choice for single single stop in the region.

It should also be added that China has been successful in expanding China-Arab relations in a coordinated effort through the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum (CASCF), which has been convened at the ministerial level eight times so far. The most recent one took place in Beijing on July 12, 2018 only a few days before President Xi's visit to the UAE.





Related Article by Iranian daily Ghanoon

"China Benefits From Iran Sanctions!"



About the author: Nader Habibi is a faculty in Brandeis University. He is affiliated with the Crown Center for Middle East Studies and the department of economics in that university.Palermo Bills Suspended by Iran's Parliament

07/26/18

Source: Radio Farda

The Iranian Parliament has shelved the bill on joining the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), until learning the explicit stance of the Iranian supreme leader over it. The bill, known as the "Palermo Bill" in Iran, already approved by the parliament on June 10, faced the Guardian Council's (GC) opposition, which found incompatibility between the text of the bill and its translation.



Read related article by Iranian daily Ghanoon

UNTOC is the UN-sponsored multilateral treaty against transnational organized crime, including money laundering and human trafficking.



Iran, along with Bhutan, Republic of Congo, Palau, Papua New Guinee, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan and Tuvalu, is the only member of the UN that is not a signatory to the convention.



President Hassan Rouhani's administration has proposed four Palermo Bills concerning the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), UNTOC, and the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), hoping to reduce international pressures on Iran's deteriorating economy.



Nevertheless, in an orchestrated response, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his close allies in the GC and influential Expediency Discernment Council (EDC) have repeatedly barraged the bills with bitter criticism.



Ten days after the parliament initially approved the bill concerning UNTOC, Khamenei personally stepped in on June 20 and called the bill "unacceptable."



According to Khamenei, UNTOC had been "cooked up" by foreign powers and the parliament should shelve it.



"It is not necessary to join conventions the depths of which we are unaware of," he said, proposing instead that the parliament create its own laws to combat money laundering and terrorism funding rather than join an international convention.



Furthermore, state-run news agency IRNA cited GC spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei as saying on July 14, "Iran's membership in UNTOC is against both the security policies of the country and the resistance economy."



The parliament's Legal and Judicial Commission was assigned to discuss the returned bill and amend it as required by the GC.



The spokesman of the sommission, Hassan Norouzi, said on July 25, "The commission held its session on Tuesday and decided to suspend discussions over the bill, until learning the supreme leader's explicit and final stance over UNTOC."



Reportedly, the session was also attended by Iran's number two nuclear negotiator and deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, the Intelligence Minister's deputy and a representative from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' Intelligence Organization.



Araqchi had earlier said that although joining UNTOC and FATF is not directly related to Tehran's talks with the EU to keep the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) alive, it could have a significant impact on the negotiations.



There were two approaches against Khamenei's stance over the bills, Hassan Norouzi said, adding, "While several members of the Legal and Judicial Commission argued that the supreme leader has explicitly expressed his opposition with passing the bills, other members believed that, during a discussion with President Rouhani, Khamenei had agreed to let MPs consider and review the bills."



The mid-ranking cleric Hassan Norouzi maintained, "The commission decided to write a letter to the supreme leader, requesting him to present his explicit and final decision over the bills."



Iran has been on the blacklist of FATF since 2009, but the international organization has suspended Tehran from the list during the past two years, giving a chance to Iran to lay the necessary groundwork for joining international conventions against money laundering and financial assistance to terrorism.



FATF took a harder line on June 29 on Tehran. The group warned Iran of "appropriate and necessary actions" if it does not to enact amendments in full compliance with its standards.



In order to get off the FATF blacklist, Tehran needs to pass the bill, but conservative MPs are concerned over certain limitations that the convention might impose on Iran's ties with what they describe as "resistance groups," including Lebanese Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas.President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo Wednesday justified the governments decision to adopt a double intake system to increase access to high school education and address the problem of inadequate infrastructure.



He said the adoption of the double intake system would provide the government with the capacity to deal with the large number of students who would turn out from junior high schools to senior high schools (SHSs).



Addressing a durbar of the chiefs and the people of Wa Wednesday as part of his two-day visit to the Upper West Region, which also rounded off his seven-day tour of the three regions of the north, President Akufo-Addo said because of the large number of students likely to be admitted to SHS, there was high propensity for the schools to have large class sizes.



With the introduction of the double intake system, he said, the size of classes would be reduced, a situation which was key to ensuring quality

education.



He, therefore, appealed to the chiefs and the people of the Upper West Region and the rest of the country to support the system and take

advantage of it to send their children to school.



President Akufo-Addo said the quality and success of the double intake system would partly be determined by the quality of the products who would benefit from the system.



From September this year, the government will implement the double intake system for new entrants to public SHSs.



The system is a measure to address the growing number of students benefitting from the free SHS policy.



Despite providing 96,403 mono desks, 33,171 pieces of dining hall furniture, 3,033 tables and chairs for teachers, 12,953 bunk beds, 4,335 student mattresses and 5,135 computer laboratory chairs by the government to address the infrastructural deficit over the

year, it has not been enough to address all issues of infrastructure in SHSs.



The 2018/19 academic year is expected to witness a 31 per cent increase in the population of new students, with about 472,000

entering SHSs, and which has resulted in a deficit of some 183,000.



The new system is expected to cost GH323 million to fully implement.



The cost comprises GH267.2 million as teaching cost and GH55.8 million for academic interventions.



Mixed reactions



There have been mixed reactions to the proposed double intake system. While some individuals and groups have expressed support for it, others are very apprehensive of the initiative, saying it will affect the quality of education.



A national service person, Ms Adiza Mohammed, said the double intake of students in SHS was a laudable initiative because it would increase enrolment in the schools.



An entrepreneur, Ms Alexina Asmah, was of the view that the double intake would not be appropriate.



He said the government should rather stick to the normal intake and focus on building more schools.



A teacher, Ms Cornelia Amoah, said there would be pressure on teachers because they would have to work extra hard to ensure that the syllabus was completed before the close of the academic year Activities



As part of his tour of the Upper West Region, President Akufo- Addo paid a courtesy call on the Wa Naa, Fuseini Seidu Pelpuo IV, and inaugurated the newly constructed Amatrol Laboratory of the Hilla Limann Polytechnic.



He also addressed durbars of the chiefs and the people of the Jirapa, Sissala East, Sissala West, Nadowli/Kaleo, Daffiama-Bussie-Issah and Wa East districts.



The President also inspected ongoing works on the construction of a multi-purpose youth centre in Wa which is expected to be completed in nine months time and also inaugurated the new building of the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs.



He also inspected the 76-kilometre Wa-Han road which links 13 important towns, with three big markets at Jang, Bussie and Han.



The road serves as a major arterial for the Nadowli/Kaleo and the Daffiama-Bussie-Issah districts and the Jirapa municipality.



President Akufo-Addo also paid a courtesy call on the Paramount Chief of the Ullo Traditional Area, Naa Alhaji Baburonon Amadu Seidu II, who congratulated the President on the implementation of initiatives such as the free SHS policy and Planting for Food and Jobs and the restoration of nursing and teacher training allowances.



Naa Alhaji Seidu also commended the President for elevating Jirapa from the status of a district to a municipality, a development which, he said, would improve the standard of living of the people.

Source: Graphic.com.gh









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Featured VideoMr. Robert Porter Jackson, outgoing Ambassador of the United States of America to Ghana said the country must work towards getting the Electoral Commission (EC) back in position to play its role as a neutral arbiter in the next elections.



He said the EC had been largely paralysed by the impeachment process against the former Chairperson and needed to get back to work.



Interacting with a section of the Ghanaian media before he proceeds on his retirement this week, Ambassador Jackson said the EC played a very important role in Ghana, thus the need to get it back to work.



It plays a very important role in the country and its vital Ghana moves ahead, both with the process of creating new regions, that is if voters wish to do that, and with electing local and municipal officials, as well as preparing for the 2020 Parliamentary and Presidential elections, he maintained.



Responding to a question on whether he was concerned about developments at the EC and the reactions by some opposition parties about the competence of the nominees for the job and its potential to create tensions when Ghana goes to the polls in 2020, he said he was confident, from what he knew about the EC Chairperson elect, Mrs. Jean Mensah, saying that, she was a good choice to head the EC.



I know Jean Mensah, I respect her. I think that she, from what I know, is a good choice to head the EC. If the opposition, whether National Democratic Congress or other parties have concerns about her fitness for the job then they should bring those concerns up during the vetting process and let everyone have their say, he stated.



He said it was important to make certain that everyone was satisfied with the people that the President had proposed, in order to get the commission back to work.







Source: GNA









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Featured Video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.To many, President Nana Akufo-Addo, only selected the Executive Director of the Institute of Economic Affairs, (IEA) Jean Adukwei Mensa as the new Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), on the claim of competence and impartiality, but those familiar with the subject, revealed it was because the highly respected Prof. Joy Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, had turned down the appointment.



The President was racing against time after waiting and hoping the revered lawyer will change her mind and accept the EC top job and salvage the mess the government had plunged itself into with the removal of Mrs. Charlotte Osei, and attracted international bashing led by the American ambassador to Ghana, Robert Porter Jackson.



The Herald gathered from multiple sources that, Prof. Mensa-Bonsu, had diplomatically thanked the Akufo-Addo government for the consideration, and politely declined the job.



From family friends and colleagues in academia, The Herald gathered that the senior lecturer, explained that she wanted to retire quietly from public life and concentrate on writing books to enhance the frontiers of the legal education in Ghana.



Prof. Mensa-Bonsu, also wanted to spend time with her loved ones, especially her loving husband with whom she is often seen at North Legon-Accra in early morning exercises to keep fit.



The Herald learnt that, had she accepted the job offer, President Akufo-Addo, would have made the announcement last week.



Mrs. Jean Mensah, is clearly the last option for the government. Indeed, her name did not come up ever during the governments consideration.



Already, Prof. Mensa-Bonsu, a Yale University scholar, has authored several law books and publication on Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, Family Law and Childrens Rights among others which have become reference materials for many lawyers and students of law in Ghana.



But many suspect that, she has decided to stay away from the job to protect her hard earned reputation. Already there are two lawsuits and an injunction on the President in the Supreme Court over the removal of Mrs. Charlotte Osei and her possible replacement. They insisted Prof. Mensa-Bonsu would have been a fair-minded EC boss compared to Jean Mensah, if she had taken up the job.



Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako, is at the Supreme Court fighting the committee that recommended the removal of Charlotte Osei, from office.



Mr Baakos suit was followed by one other from a Ghanaian, Ms. Fafali Nyonator, challenging the processes leading to the removal of Mrs. Osei and her two deputies.



Aside the Supreme Court case, the Council of State, has also been put in a tight corner to condone President Akufo-Addos seeming lack of respect for the Rule of law by endorsing the nomination of Jean Mensah, who is also a lawyer, as the new EC boss.



With a phony petition and a closed door hearings by committee whose members have been rewarded with a Supreme Court appointments, things are looking untidy for the Akufo-Addo government.



On Monday, July 23, 2018, the Presidency announced the nomination of the Executive Director of the IEA, Jean Adukwei Mensa, as the new Chairperson of EC.



Other persons nominated for appointment by President Akufo-Addo to the Commission included; Samuel Tettey for the Deputy Chairperson, Dr. Eric Asare Bossman also as a Deputy Chairperson and Adwoa Asuama Abrefa as a Member of Commission.



Jean Adukwei Mensas appointment has been greeted with mixed feelings, citing her closeness to the New Patriotic Party (NPP), her political utterances, her husbands membership of the NPP, his several appointments on NPP government-engineered jobs, including the VALCO chairmanship, acquisition of state lands from the Kufuor government, as well as financial engineering jobs and ties to a company called Chemu Power Limited.



Both Dr. Eric Asare Bossman and Adwoa Asuama Abrefa, have been described as dye-in-the-wool supporters of the ruling NPP.



Those who know Adwoa Asuama Abrefa, said her NPP credentials have never been in doubt. She is said to be the wife of one Lawyer Tony Forson.





The Herald last week Friday, reported that barring any last minute changes, President Nana Akufo-Addo, is set to appoint a senior lecturer at the University of Ghana (UG) Political Science Department, to fill one of the vacant spaces left at the Electoral Commission (EC).



The Herald, intercepted information to the effect that, Dr. Eric Bossman Asare, was penciled down by the President to assume the position of a Deputy Electoral Commissioner.



He was said to be very excited and was finding it very difficult to keep the news to himself by keep his mouth shut.



The Political Science lecturer, whose analysis has always favoured the governing NPP, was said to be telling his colleagues in the department, he has been called by the Flagstaff House to ready himself to fill one of the spaces left behind by either Amadu Sulley or Georgina Owusu Amankwah.



But his colleagues at the department are in a state of shock, questioned how the government arrived at such a decision, because they say they know him to be a very strong NPP man, whose argument and analysis are always skewed towards the party.



They argue they cannot vouch for his neutrality on EC, as they know he will compromise that position as far as elections are concerned.



Interestingly, the government, went ahead and nominated Dr. Eric Bossman Asare.





Source: theheraldghana









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Featured VideoFormer Minister of Health, Alban Bagbin, has rejected claims that he signed a contract for the procurement of ambulances that were unfit for purpose.



It is not true, the Nadowli-Kaleo MP stated emphatically on Class FM Show on Thursday, 26 July.



The Health Ministry, under the Mahama administration, awarded a 2.4 million contract to a company to supply ambulances to the country. Out of some 200 ambulances earmarked for procurement, 30 supplied were found to be unfit for purpose.



Mr Simon Kewura, Public Relations Officer of the National Ambulance Service, told Class FM Tuesday, 3 June, that the sub-standard ambulances are to be converted into minibuses and used for public transport.



"The then-NDC administration was supposed to procure 200 new ambulances for us [National Ambulance Service] and out of it, 30 of them arrived in batches but after we inspected them, we realised that they didn't meet our standards as a service and as a country because the ambulances that we are using are supposed to have some basic life-support gadgets or instruments on board, but looking at the 30 that we had, this part of the 200 doesn't meet the requirement at all.



"So, as an institution, we said: 'No, we are going to use these ambulances to save lives, so, if they cannot save lives, then they are not ambulances, so, we decided to say no to those ambulances," he said.



However, responding to the issue on the same platform on Thursday, 26 July 2018, Mr Bagbin, who is now the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, explained that the ambulances are fit for purpose contrary to the claims by the Ambulance Service.



The flag bearer-hopeful of the main opposition NDC said it was sad that the current administration wants to use the vehicles for public transport.



These are Benz buses that were organised from the Benz Company. The only problem why government will not do it direct was that government did not have the money to pay for it, and, so, a company from Dubai had a word with us to pay for government and then to receive part-payment and the payment was staggered.



According to him, the agreement he signed was drafted and finalised by the Ministry of Justice, there is nothing wrong with that agreement.



He said he was not given the opportunity to implement the programme because he was re-assigned to another institution.



It was during the course of the implementation that there were some delays, some time lapsed, some lack of inspection, because a technical team was to leave Ghana, go and inspect the ambulances to make sure they were within the specifications [including the gadgets and equipment] but the team did not go to inspect, and, so, the company decided to bring in the ambulances and to ship the equipment and machines to fit them in Ghana under the supervision of the technical team. The ambulances came first, the equipment came later in November 2016. As of today, they are still at the port in Tema. The ambulances were parked at the forecourt of the State House. After the [2016] elections, they were moved away. It was not only the ambulances, there were buses and a lot of cars parked there, the previous regime has brought them in [but] the NPP moved them away to places we dont know. They delayed for over a year, what will be the state of those buses? Now you are playing politics with it? And you want to sacrifice me for 26 years of service to my nation? he questioned.



Mr Bagbin disclosed that he has submitted a written statement on the matter to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and I have given them details and documents to support it, adding: There was nothing that I did wrong.

He stressed that it was the policy of government at that time to ensure that every metropolis had not less than five ambulances available for use and that is why we established the National Ambulance Service.



He said the Ghana National Fire Service was used as a training institute and every year, the paramedics were trained, including the drivers [of the ambulances].



He noted that: Every municipality was to get not less than three ambulances and every district, not less than two ambulances, and, so, we started the implementation, we distributed 161 new ambulances, they were VW ambulances and we had submissions for Benz and then also Fiat. The Benz was what I worked on It was not a political decision, no! It was a national decision.



For him, the politics that the current government is playing with the issue was saddening.







Source: classfmonline.com









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Featured VideoThe Ontario government has formally requested $200-million from the federal government to pay for the cost of asylum seekers who entered Canada from the United States and who are living in Ontario. Ontario Minister of Children, Community and Social Services Lisa Macleod turns away after scrumming with reporters at the Ontario Legislature, in Toronto on Thursday, July 5, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris YoungToronto's Greektown neighbourhood is packed as the community gathers for a candlelit vigil to honour the victims of a deadly shooting in Toronto on Wednesday July 25, 2018. Ten-year-old Julianna Kozis of Markham, Ont., and 18-year-old Reese Fallon of Toronto were killed in Sunday's shooting attack, and 13 other people were injured. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris YoungANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP)  The Alaska ballot initiative that aims to strengthen state law protecting salmon habitat could be costly and delay infrastructure projects, state officials said.

The officials noted the possible negative effects during the Senate State Affairs Committee meeting last week in Anchorage.

The initiative would increase the number of streams that officials must assume have salmon, likely resulting in more state checks on the streams, said Ben White, the environmental program manager for the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.

Theyre not alway...State Rep. Jake Wheatley, (D-Allegheny), said he will introduce legislation to legalize the sale of marijuana for recreational use. Read more

A Pittsburgh-area legislator said he will introduce legislation to legalize the sale of marijuana for recreational use.

Pa. Rep. Jake Wheatley (D., Allegheny) said his bill also will include provisions to expunge criminal records for marijuana-related convictions that would be considered lawful under the act.

"States from coast to coast have embraced legalization and those states are reaping the economic and criminal-justice benefits," Wheatley said in a statement, citing polling support for the measure. "It is time Pennsylvania joins with those states in leaving behind the ugly stigma of marijuana."

Several similar bills have been introduced in the state senate, only to languish from a lack of wide legislative support. St. Sen. Daylin Leach (D., Montgomery) has proposed legalizing cannabis and distributing it through the state store system.

Nine states  including Massachusetts, Maine, and Vermont in the Northeast  and the District of Columbia already have legalized the drug for adult recreational use.

Wheatley, chairman of the House Finance Committee, pointed to last week's report by Pa. Auditor General Eugene DePasquale that estimated the commonwealth could generate more than $580 million a year in tax revenue if marijuana was legal.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pauses as he testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as lawmakers demand specifics from him on President Donald Trump's meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Helsinki last week, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, July 25, 2018. Pompeo says he has personally told top Russian officials that there will be "severe consequences" for any interference in U.S. elections or the American democratic process. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Read more

When Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, members were champing at the bit to get answers to the burning question in Washington: What did (or didn't) President Trump deliver to Vladimir Putin in their one-on-one meeting in Helsinki, at which only interpreters were present?

The question is hot because Trump was so deferential at the infamous joint news conference, where he said he trusted Putin over U.S. intelligence agencies. With acquiescence like that, who knows what Trump might have given away, since he didn't brief his intel chiefs  or much of anyone else. Yet the Russians have been leaking claims that the leaders made "important verbal agreements," perhaps on Syria or Ukraine or nuclear accords.

"We have no idea what these [agreements] might be," Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R., Tenn.) said in frustration to Pompeo. "We hope you can convince us that those in the White House know what they are doing and you know what they are doing." The secretary insisted U.S. policies didn't change in Helsinki and revealed nothing. (He dodged the question of whether Trump had even briefed him.)

An angry Sen. Bob Menendez (D., N.J.) retorted, "When the president speaks, it is the policy of the United States." Indeed, the problem lies not with confusing White House policies, but with an ill-informed president who trusts despots more than his allies.

It is up to the Senate  where several senators are drafting bipartisan bills to crack down further on Russia  to rein this rogue in.

Pompeo's performance was part of a mammoth damage-control effort underway after the summit. Just before he testified, the White House announced that a second summit with Putin  proposed suddenly by Trump last week  would be postponed until next year. Criticism was mounting of the president's hasty decision to invite the Russian leader to Washington just before midterm elections, in which U.S. officials know the Russians are planning to meddle.

At the hearing, the secretary announced a new Crimea doctrine: the United States will refuse to recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea, and sanctions won't be lifted until Ukraine's territorial integrity is restored. But why is this doctrine being unveiled four years after Russia seized Crimea? Answer: Trump indicated before Helsinki that he thought Crimea was Russian, so speculation had risen that he might have conceded Crimea to Putin.

Trump's trust in Putin also leaves open the possibility that the president might have accepted the Russian claim that their troops and proxies never invaded eastern Ukraine. Or Putin's denial that a Russian missile shot down a Malaysian Airlines flight over Ukraine, killing nearly 300 civilians.

After all, if Trump could accept Putin's proposal that Russian intelligence agents be allowed to interrogate a former U.S. ambassador, what wouldn't he agree to?

The problem is not that a U.S. president talks to a Russia leader, but that this U.S. president doesn't know how to deal with an ex-KGB officer. It beggars believe that Trump was enticed by Putin's proposal for U.S.-Russian cooperation on cyber security. That would be like inviting the hackers into our National Security Agency.

More Trump naivete: Putin now says our two countries could work together on humanitarian aid in Syria, and Trump appeared willing. But humanitarian aid is the main U.S. lever for getting Bashar al-Assad to engage seriously in U.N.-led peace negotiations. "Russia would like to get our troops out and get us to shoulder the burden of reconstruction while Putin controls the entire process," says Stephen Blank, a Russia expert and longtime professor at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa. We don't know if Trump gave away that lever for naught.

And even if Trump told Pompeo some details about his tete-a-tete with Putin, we can't be certain he wasn't lying. After all, the White House is even trying to whitewash what was said at the joint news conference on July 16.

Putin was asked whether he had wanted Trump to win the 2016 election, and answered, "Yes, I did." But the White House has excised that question and Putin's response from the White House transcript. They have doctored an official document, even though anyone can watch the original press conference on YouTube.

No surprise, Trump has started tweeting that the Russians "will be pushing very hard for the Democrats" in the U.S. midterm elections, claiming, "They definitely don't want Trump." That lie is so blatant, why expect Trump to tell anyone what went down at the Helsinki meeting?

It's time for GOP senators like Corker to call Trump's translator to testify. And to move forward with bipartisan legislation that will tighten sanctions on Russia and force the White House to organize a government-wide pushback against Russian cyber espionage. Waiting for Trump truth about Helsinki is like waiting for Godot.Everything was set for Pamela James' granddaughter to transfer to Franklin Towne Charter High School in Bridesburg. School officials gave a start date and a locker combination for the ninth grader. James paid fees for activities and uniforms.

But hours after James handed over the young woman's Individualized Education Program  the document that spells out the support and services that special-education students must by law receive  the school rescinded the girl's admission. There was no room for her after all, a Franklin Towne employee told James.

Denying admission to a student on the basis of special-education status is illegal, but the nonprofit Education Law Center says its staff has seen "a pattern" of such discrimination from charters.

James' case is not the first such complaint lodged against Franklin Towne, said Peng Chao, an official in the Philadelphia School District's charter schools office. Chao said the school system is attempting to get to the bottom of the situation but has had trouble getting answers from Franklin Towne.

"We're absolutely concerned that the student was potentially inappropriately or illegally denied admission," said Chao, the office's director of strategy and operations, adding that Franklin Towne "has not been as responsive as we would like or expect them to be."

James A. Rocco III, Franklin Towne's attorney, said James has misrepresented the facts  that Franklin Towne officials said James' granddaughter would have to have her special-education plan reevaluated as part of its standard operating procedures, but that James then said she would not send her granddaughter to Franklin Towne. Rocco also said a letter stating that the school was "unable to accept" the young woman was mistakenly sent to James.

Kristina Moon, the Education Law Center lawyer representing James, said that the case is an "egregious example of explicit discrimination" and "representative of a pattern of these types of questions and concerns we get from the parents of students with disabilities. The reality is that all schools  district and charter  need to serve students with disabilities."

While charters do enroll special education students  and are paid a premium to do so, $26,197.24 for a special-education student vs. $8,327.35 for a regular-education student  they under-enroll students whose disabilities are costly to accommodate, like James' granddaughter's.

A third of Philadelphia's public-school students attend charter schools, and about a third of all students with disabilities attend charters.

But an analysis by the Education Law Center shows that there are wide disparities in the type of student disabilities charter schools serve. Charters enroll more than half of city students with speech and language disabilities but just 20 percent of those with autism and 16 percent of those with intellectual disabilities.

We dont have space in that room

James' granddaughter, whose name is being withheld for privacy reasons, began her ninth-grade year at KIPP DuBois Collegiate Academy, a charter in West Philadelphia. But when James, who has had custody of the girl since she was 6, moved to the Northeast, the commute to KIPP became onerous.

A charter  an independently run school that operates with public money  was a must for her granddaughter, James said. She won't send the girl to a traditional public school, where she believes discipline and academics are lackluster.

A colleague told James about Franklin Towne, which has won a coveted National Blue Ribbon of Excellence award from the U.S. Department of Education. James figured her granddaughter was a long shot but applied for the mid-year lottery anyway. She was shocked when a Franklin Towne employee phoned her in early January.

"She said, 'Congratulations, your granddaughter has been selected,' and I said, 'Whoa, this is good.' She asked me if I could bring down her transcript," James said. Soon after, James and her granddaughter arrived at the school for a visit, paperwork in hand.

They were wowed by the campus, on the old Frankford Arsenal site, by the friendly students, and by the staff.

"It was really nice  we were just digging the scene," James said. "They had a big banner that said, 'School of Excellence.'"

James filled out a thick packet of papers, indicating one that the girl required special-education services  she has needed emotional support to work through issues that cropped up around not having parents in her life. When James was done, she handed back the papers and also gave an office worker the documents spelling out her granddaughter's required special-education services. The two took a tour, and James chatted with a special-education staffer, who told James how she would check in, James said.

"I figured, we were good, we were in," James said.

A few hours after they left Franklin Towne, James got a call from the same employee who had phoned her initially to say Franklin Towne had a place for her granddaughter.

"She said, 'You know, I'm just going over the application, and I see that she needs special services,'" James said. "She said, 'We don't have space in that room, it's so overcrowded.'" The employee emphasized that they could not enroll James' granddaughter based on her "special learning needs."

James tried to ask more questions, but the employee hurried off the phone, and James tried to follow up both with her and school leaders. Other than a letter saying, "'We are not able to accept her, and you are in agreement,' which I wasn't," James never heard another word from Franklin Towne, she said.

Rocco, the school's attorney, disputes that characterization. In an email, he said that during that call, the employee told James her granddaughter's special-education documents would need to be reviewed, and the girl would possibly need to be reevaluated.

"During the course of that conversation, the grandmother informed the school that she intended to leave her granddaughter at her current school and would not be sending her to Franklin Towne," Rocco said.

Rocco said two letters were written  one, unsigned, incorrectly said Franklin Towne was "unable to accept" James' granddaughter, but made no mention of special-education services. A second draft said the school was honoring James' wish to withdraw enrollment.

"Unfortunately, both letters were sent, and for that, the school is extremely sorry," Rocco said.

Eventually, James found the Education Law Center. On her behalf, Moon sent a letter to Franklin Towne demanding that the school "admit its wrongdoing, correct the policies and practices that continue to persist for the benefit of future applicants, and refund the fees Ms. James paid in reliance on her granddaughter's acceptance to FTCHS."

Maura McInerney, the Education Law Center's legal director, said the Franklin Towne account "is completely disingenuous and factually inaccurate. Ms. James was told in every way that the school did not want her [granddaughter], and that she would not be supported."

To date, there has been no substantial response from the school, Education Law Center officials said, though Rocco said Franklin Towne will "cooperate fully" with the organization. James, who has receipts to prove she paid $52 in fees to Franklin Towne, has not seen a penny of the money.

James found a work-around for her granddaughter's education: Another charter enrolled the young woman, who is content there, James said. But she and Moon worry about other parents and guardians who aren't aware that it's illegal to deny students admission on the basis of disability.

"I am just so frustrated," James said. "How can these people do this? It's just not fair."

Consequences for Franklin Towne?

It's not clear what consequences Franklin Towne could face.

Even if the district finds Franklin Towne improperly or illegally denied James' granddaughter admission, that wouldn't trigger a "high-stakes act," like charter nonrenewal or revocation, Chao of the district's charter office said.

Once the district's charter office gets clearer answers from Franklin Towne, Chao said, it could issue a public "notice of deficiency"  a notice that it has violated the law  if it finds discrimination on the basis of disability.

Franklin Towne's charter is up for renewal in the 2018-19 school year, and that means a thorough review of the school's operations, academics, and finances before the school board decides whether the school deserves a new five-year charter.

"We've already started on our deep dive," Chao said.The second season of MTV's Jersey Shore reboot, Jersey Shore: Family Vacation Part 2, has a premiere date, and the episode will feature the show's cast members taking a trip to Atlantic City.

Premiering next month, the new Jersey Shore season opens in Las Vegas before housemates Deena Nicole Cortese, Paul "Pauly D" Delvecchio," Jenni "JWoww" Farley, Vinny Guadagnino, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi and Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino head to Atlantic City. The housemates' get-together is "more fist-pumping and grand antics" before the cast's "personal lives spill out into the tabloids and on social media," which forces them to "confront a variety of issues."

Earlier this year, Ortiz-Magro and his girlfriend, Jen Harley, got into a physical altercation at a Las Vegas hotel. Harley was arrested for domestic battery after allegedly punching Ortiz-Magro in the face and dragging him with her car. The case was dismissed earlier this month "due to insufficient evidence," Us Weekly reports.

Sorrentino, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to tax -evasion charges earlier this year. He is scheduled to be sentenced this fall.

The Jersey Shore cast's appearance in Atlantic City was reported earlier this month, when the Atlantic City Press confirmed that the group would be doing a shoot in town. That appearance, however, came on the heels of a rumor that Jersey Shore would be filming in Wildwood, which caused an uproar among residents and local officials.

>> READ MORE: Mayor, chief of police say 'Jersey Shore' won't be filming in Wildwood

495 Productions, which produces Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, was not issued a permit to film in Wildwood, Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. told the Inquirer, and told officials that they "would never go into a community where we're not invited." The rumored move to Wildwood came after Jersey Shore: Family Vacation was denied a permit to film a second season in Seaside Heights, where four seasons of the original series were filmed.

Jersey Shore: Family Vacation Part 2 is the followup to the cast reunion earlier this year. The series is a reboot of the original Jersey Shore, which was launched on MTV in 2009.

Since then, the show has been condemned by New Jersey officials, with even then-Governor Chris Christie called the show "negative for New Jersey" as far back as 2010. Last year, Seaside Heights Mayor Anthony Vaz told Shorebeat that the show attracts "the wrong type of clientele."

Jersey Shore: Family Vacation Part 2 premieres Aug. 23 at 8 p.m. on MTV with a two-hour episode.Lobbyists spent more than $2 billion trying to influence Congress on climate change from 2000 to 2016, with fossil-fuel industry groups outspending environmental groups by 10-1, according to a new study by a Drexel University professor.

The peer-reviewed study by sociologist Robert J. Brulle, released last week in the journal Climatic Change, showed that "expenditures by these sectors dwarf those of environmental organizations and renewable energy corporations."

"You can sort of see the enormous mismatch of resources in the climate change fields," Brulle said Wednesday. "Environmental groups and the renewable energy [sector] are pretty much a footnote."

Brulle analyzed numbers from campaign-data website Open Secrets, run by the nonpartisan Center for Responsible Politics. He looked at spending by environmental groups and the renewable energy sector. And he looked at spending by electrical utilities, and the fossil fuel and transportation sectors.

He identified 64,162 individual lobbying reports filed by 2,780 unique organizations as related to the climate change issue lobbying between 2000 and 2016.

About $2 billion was spent influencing discussions on climate in that 16-year span, peaking in 2009 at $362 million as the Obama administration got underway. That year, Democratic congressmen introduced the Waxman-Markey Bill, a sort of cap-and-trade legislation with the goal of reducing carbon emissions. The bill squeaked by the House but never made it to a vote in the Senate.

The Republican Party took control of the House in 2010 and has held it since. Lobbying expenditures decreased, apparently as the threat of climate-change legislation also decreased.

Brulle said he undertook the study because there wasn't much literature on lobbying's influence on policy and power. He said he was surprised at the size of the spending gap.

"I knew there would be a significant disparity," Brulle said. "But when you look at the ratios, it's still 10-1. So I think the scale surprised me. It's not in the millions, it's in the billions."

He said that shows that "corporations and political players put a lot of interest in lobbying, more than political contributions."

Brulle said his goal wasn't to find villains. Rather, he said, his findings are more nuanced, showing that some fossil-fuel related groups lobbied in favor of climate-change legislation. For example, he said, the natural gas industry at times favored such legislation. Natural gas is not only a competitor to coal but is viewed as cleaner by some. Natural gas operations release much less carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, than coal.

Indeed, the bulk of spending concerning climate change-related legislation came from the electrical utilities sector, which would include coal-fired power generation companies. That sector alone spent $554 million during the 16-year span.

Environmental and renewable energy groups sent about $127 million during the same period.

"The reality is, you've got to think in terms of color, not black and white," Brulle said. "You find variations with utilities and oil/gas companies. Exxon Mobil and Shell are different in their approaches."

Brulle said he hopes other scholars will conduct studies. He said other factors influence the success or failure of legislation, such as timing, public opinion, and political campaigns.

"We need a lot more research if we're going to understand what's going on here," Brulle said.

In his study, Brulle noted: "Lobbying is conducted away from the public eye. There is no open debate or refutation of viewpoints offered by professional lobbyists meeting in private with government officials."Sometimes its best to question a doctor before accepting a prescription for opioids. But not always. Read more

More than 42,000 people died in 2016 from an opioid overdose. Forty percent of these deaths involved a prescription opioid. Overall, deaths from opioid overdoses have contributed to a decrease in American life expectancy for the second year in a row. The last time that happened was in 1962 to 1963.

In Philadelphia alone, about 1,200 people died of overdoses in 2017. Across Pennsylvania, an estimated 2,700 babies a year are born dependent on drugs their mothers used  and that's widely considered to be a vast undercount.

In light of such statistics, it's not surprising that a recent article explaining how opioids aren't always necessary after surgery made a bit of a splash. Firoozeh Dumas, who wrote the article, underwent a laparoscopic hysterectomy in Germany. She was told that ibuprofen  the nonprescription medication found in Motrin and Advil  would be sufficient. What she really would need was rest. Dumas, who had moved from California, worried that her pain would be undertreated. But, it turned out that her worry was misplaced. She recovered well, with the help of very little ibuprofen and lots of tea and rest.

At Penn, doctors see the opioid crisis emerge in different and disturbing ways.

There are many interesting lessons in this story, but one main point that the reader is invited to take away is that part of America's opioid problem has to do with patient expectations. Dumas attributed her focus on pills to her time in the U.S. Abroad, she ended up finding something valuable in her experience of being forced to slow down and heal.

So are those of us who want, expect, or even request opioid medications doing something wrong? Should we see each medical encounter for pain as an opportunity to be part of the solution to the opioid crisis?

As an academic who wrestles with the ethics of pain management both professionally and personally, I think stories like Dumas' are important, but that inferring too much from them is dangerous. Yes, America probably needs a culture change regarding pain medicine, but we have to be careful how we frame that challenge.

The public health dilemma

Opioids are certainly powerful analgesics, but in the medical literature consensus is beginning to emerge that they are not as good as initially thought. Most of us now know that the risks are very serious, including the development of opioid use disorder and even fatal overdose.

Given such serious risks, their benefits would need to be significant to warrant use. But the literature shows that this often isn't the case. For many pains, a combination of non-opioid therapies  acetaminophen and ibuprofen, as well as nonpharmaceutical alternatives like physical therapy, exercise and cognitive behavioral therapy  works quite well, and carries less serious risks.

As a result, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends using opioids sparingly for severe, acute pain, and only under special circumstances for chronic pain.

If opioids aren't a panacea for pain, then doctors need to be careful how they use them. Patient demands, however, can make that difficult. In a culture of patient as consumer, changing physician behavior may require changing patient expectations.

Dont stigmatize patients

The above considerations seem to support the view that, as patients, perhaps each of us has an obligation not to request or demand opioid therapy, and to resist if offered.

The other opioid epidemic: Chronic pain patients in need of care

However, I would urge caution. Stories aren't data, and they don't generalize. Firoozeh Dumas was fortunate to have experienced as little pain as she did after her surgery in Germany. It's important to recognize, though, that her procedure was laparoscopic. As a result, she had only small incisions and was able to leave the hospital on the same day. This is certainly not to minimize her pain, but only to point out that many other patients will be in very different circumstances. Some surgeries are brutally painful, as is trauma and many other medical conditions, such as sickle-cell anemia.

Patients are individuals, and they react uniquely to pain and medication. What works for one person may not work for others. Some people are unable to take ibuprofen or are limited in their ability to exercise.

In addition, following a full pain regimen that utilizes both pharmaceutical and nonpharmaceutical therapies is expensive, while generic opioids are quite cheap. As a result, insurance companies in the U.S. that readily pay for morphine may not pick up the tab for pricier medications, or for nonpharmaceutical therapies.

Narratives that emphasize not taking opioids are valuable for making clear that not all pain requires a pill. But they could also be risky: Pain patients and opioid therapies are already deeply stigmatized. Those who take opioids for pain are often treated with suspicion and taken to be drug-seeking.

Heres what patients can do

So is there behavior that we, as patients, ought to adopt in order to help combat the opioid epidemic?

Like most ethical issues, the answer, I think, is less clear and more nuanced than most people might like it to be. I do believe that opioids should not be viewed as evil, and those, for whom they make life more manageable, should not be shamed. But we surely can make some changes.

The medical community is getting better at understanding what kinds of surgical interventions are likely to require little or no opioid therapy. So, if you are undergoing surgery, talk to your doctor about whether she thinks you will really need opioid therapy, and if so, for how long.

Tell her that you don't want a prescription for more pills than is likely to be necessary. There is emerging evidence that many surgeons overprescribe opioids, and that patients often need far fewer pills than are prescribed.

If you end up with unused medication anyway, dispose of it properly. Half-used or even untouched bottles of pills can be found and used by family members or stolen to be misused or sold on the street.

Finally, many of us do need to understand that zero pain is often both an inappropriate and unrealistic goal. So we need to wrestle with the fact that injury, trauma, surgery, and just aging often hurt, and while medicine may help us improve our quality of life, we shouldn't expect or demand magic.

None of this means, however, that we should accept further marginalization of pain and opioid therapy patients. Some pain is devastating and life-limiting, and sometimes such pain responds well to opioids. We should not, in the name of public health, cultivate an attitude that makes it more difficult for those suffering to access what relief they have been able to find.

Travis N. Rieder, is a research scholar at the Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.A glassine heroin bag with a "Santa Muertea" stamp, at left, sits on the lawn around McPherson Square Library in Philadelphia. Read more

The batch of heroin circulating in Philadelphia believed responsible for at least 165 overdoses and 10 deaths last weekend may have been contaminated with a mix of fentanyl and a toxic synthetic cannabinoid.

In a tweet posted Wednesday, Barry K. Logan, executive director at the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education (CFSRE) in Willow Grove, stated the lab had tested samples of the drug and found it contained 5-fluoro-ADB, a synthetic cannabinoid intended for forensic and research applications.

There are scores of synthetic cannabinoids, sometimes called "designer drugs"; some have been sold on the street under names like K2 and Spice.

"The CFSRE had the opportunity to test a batch of the Santa Muerte 'heroin' that is circulating in the Philadelphia area, and was linked to several overdoses. The batch contained heroin, fentanyl, and also 5-fluoro-ADB, a potent and toxic synthetic cannabinoid," Logan tweeted.

>> READ MORE: What are synthetic cannabinoids?

Meanwhile, city health officials were investigating what they feared would be another overdose spike on Thursday, with more than a dozen occurring between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. around the intersection of Kensington Avenue and Cambria Street. Fear in the community was palpable. At one point, staffers from Prevention Point, the needle-exchange program, had to run down the block from reviving one victim to rescuing another who had collapsed in the arms of police officers on patrol.

But by the end of Thursday, city health officials said, the number of overdoses turned out to be fairly typical. They did not know whether these cases were tied to the product that spurred the weekend's toll.

Synthetic cannabinoids are mind-altering chemicals considered far more powerful and unpredictable than cannabinoids found in natural marijuana. The synthetics are either sprayed on dried, shredded plant material so they can be smoked, or sold as liquids to be vaporized and inhaled in e-cigarettes and other devices, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

"We don't want to make a definite confirmation until we know more," said James Garrow, spokesperson for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.

Garrow said the heroin tested by the Willow Grove lab did not come from an overdose victim. "That said, the reactions that victims displayed upon being revived is consistent with the synthetic cannabinoid being present. We don't want to make a definite confirmation until we know more," Garrow wrote in an email.

The drug sample the lab tested was stamped with the "Santa Muerte" label, and was seized as part of a Montgomery County law enforcement case. It was brought to the lab for evaluation, said Alex Krotulski, a research scientist with CFSRE.

The lab has seen the heroin-fentanyl-synthetic cannabinoid combination recently coming from the five-county Philadelphia area and South Jersey, said Mandi Mohr, a forensic scientist with CFSRE. Within the last week, they were able to pinpoint it to the "Santa Muerte" batch, she said.

Montgomery County issued a warning about the overdoses in Philadelphia over the weekend, but the only confirmed deaths were in the city.

>> READ MORE: How opioids reshape your brain, and what scientists are learning about addiction

Drugs stamped with "Santa Muerte" had been specifically sought out by longtime heroin users who feared overdosing on fentanyl, because this stamp long signified pure heroin.

Philadelphia's heroin supply, once noted nationally for its purity and cheapness, is now almost entirely contaminated, largely with the synthetic opioid fentanyl and sometimes with other substances, law enforcement officials have said.

The possible contamination and recent overdoses renewed calls by Thomas Farley, the city health commissioner, earlier this week for the city to open a safe injection site, a controlled setting where people who use drugs can get help more quickly in the event of an overdose.

On Thursday, Prevention Point's outreach workers were distributing fliers and doses of the overdose-reversal medicine naloxone around the neighborhood and in other areas of the city in which overdoses with similar symptoms had been reported. They were counseling drug users to inject slowly, to carry naloxone, and to use drugs around other people to avoid overdosing alone.

On Cambria Street, where the overdose cluster had been reported, Louis Langlais sat outside a convenience store and pointed across the block. Someone had overdosed there in the morning, he said. He carries naloxone, though he said he doesn't use heroin, and estimated he'd used it more than a dozen times on friends.

The overdose that morning had been "nothing you're not used to," he said. But he was worried about his friends: He had told Prevention Point staffers that the pack of naloxone he carries isn't enough anymore, because it is taking multiple doses to revive people from such potent drugs. "I'm going to have to start carrying a backpack," he said.Nicholas Gianopulos, an engineer who helped some of Philadelphia's architectures make their buildings stand up, and who kept some of the city's most historic buildings from falling down, has died at 93. He worked on the spire at Christ Church. Read more

Nicholas Gianopulos, 93, a Philadelphia structural engineer who figured out how to make some of the 20th century's greatest buildings stand up, and who kept some of the city's most important historic structures from falling down, died Saturday, July 21, at his home in Gladwyne. He had been under hospice care, said daughter Christiana.

Mr. Gianopulos was one of the founders of Keast & Hood, a Center City engineering firm that became the go-to consultant for celebrated architects such as Louis Kahn, Robert Venturi, and Romaldo Giurgola, a group collectively known in the 1960s as the "Philadelphia School." Because of Mr. Gianopulos' ability to simplify complex structural problems, as well as his affable personality, the Philadelphia School architects returned to him again and again for help with such projects as Kahn's National Assembly building in Bangladesh and Venturi, Rauch & Scott Brown's Institute of Scientific Information in West Philadelphia.

By the early 1970s, Mr. Gianopulos had become increasingly interested in historic preservation work, and he used his skills to stabilize some of Philadelphia's defining colonial-era buildings, including the towers at Independence Hall and Christ Church, said David Hollenberg, an architect who began his career at Keast & Hood. At the time, many modernist architects turned up their noses at historic restoration.

Mr. Gianopulos loved old buildings, Hollenberg said.

"He used to say, 'They don't build them like they used to  and that's a good thing,' " Hollenberg said. At the same time, Mr. Gianopulos felt "his work on old buildings enriched his understanding" of all architecture.

The most dramatic moment in Mr. Gianopulos'career came in 1989, when his firm was overseeing renovations at the Academy of Music.

After the project engineer discovered a crack in a crucial roof truss, Mr. Gianopulos came over for a second look. He was so alarmed by what he saw that he advised the Academy's management to immediately evacuate the building even though there was a concert in progress. Undeterred by the closure, the tenor Luciano Pavarotti regrouped and moved that evening's performance of L'Elisir d'Amore to the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul.

Although many expected it would take months to rebuild the Academy's roof, Mr. Gianopulos ordered an accelerated repair schedule.

"We worked 24/7 for two weeks," said Dean Doukakis, then a young engineer at Keast & Hood, and now a principal. The Academy reopened in less than two weeks.

After that, his daughter said, "he spent his whole life looking for cracks."

Mr. Gianopulos grew up in Philipsburg, Pa., the son of immigrant parents from Tripotamo, Greece. He excelled in high school, and his teachers encouraged him to enroll in a Pennsylvania State University extension course in engineering. That led to a summer job at a nearby firm "where he learned the importance of getting it right," said Isaac Kornblatt-Stier, a Harvard University design student who has done extensive research on the Philadelphia School.

World War II put his career on hold. At 18, he had been delcared 4F  unfit for military service  because he was deaf in one ear. To support the war effort, he took a job at Bell Aircraft Corp. in Buffalo, where he made parts for military planes, said Korblatt-Stier. But as more friends went off to fight, Mr. Gianopulos felt an obligation to serve. He managed to enlist in 1944 by pretending not to have a hearing problem, and soon shipped out with the Second Army Battalion.

Stationed in Belgium, he was a reconnaissance scout during the Battle of the Bulge, one of the bloodiest campaigns of the war, and received a Purple Heart, his daughter said. He spent the following year in occupied Berlin. Afterward he attended Penn State on the G.I. Bill.

After moving to Philadelphia in the early '50s to take a job an engineering firm, he met two people who would change his life: Antoinette Manos, who became his wife, and Kahn, who became an important collaborator.

Kahn was then working on the Yale Art Gallery, one of his breakthrough projects, but was having trouble getting the New Haven building department to approve its unusual ceiling design, which featured a web of triangular concrete openings. The situation became so tense that Yale threatened to take the project from him. Although another engineering firm was overseeing construction, Kahn sought Mr. Gianopulos' advice.

"Nick showed him how he could turn it into a more conventional structural system," Kornblatt-Stier said. Kahn grudgingly adjusted the design to Mr. Gianopulos' specification. Later Kahn introduced him to Venturi and Denise Scott Brown.

Mr. Gianopulos loved a good design, his daughter said. Family vacations often centered on tours of important buildings.

Once he took the family to Nantucket so he could inspect two houses that he had engineered for Venturi and Scott Brown. He was afraid the island's harsh wind had weakened the houses. Somehow, he gained permission to explore the attics to look for wear and tear and, of course, cracks. "He was very happy to see there were none," his daughter said.

Mr. Gianopulos lived in Gladwyne and commuted daily to his Center City office on the Route 44 bus, getting to know the regulars, until his retirement in 2009. He also spent nearly three decades teaching architecture students at the University of Pennsylvania. Virtually every student who studied there between 1964 and 1991 took a class with him, said Dominique Hawkins, a preservation architect.

"He would wander the halls and talk to students about their thesis projects," she recalled. "All he asked was that they make sure their buildings could stand up."

In addition to his daughter and wife of 55 years, Mr. Gianopulos is survived by another daughter, Elizabeth, and a son, Elia.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, July 27, at St. Luke's Greek Orthodox Church, 35 N. Main Rd., Broomall. A viewing will precede the service from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the church. Interment will be in West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd.Residents and local officials had one major message for the Environmental Protection Agency at a Montgomery County meeting Wednesday: Do more to help communities like theirs that are dealing with tainted water and to develop regulations for the chemicals that polluted their towns  and don't make them pay for it.

Hundreds of residents and officials attended the daylong meeting convened by the EPA in Horsham, part of a summer tour to visit communities affected by water contamination from chemicals known as PFAS used on military bases.

It is the first such coordinated outreach in local communities since the contamination was discovered four years ago. Throughout the morning, a Washington-based contingent representing the EPA, the Department of Defense, and other agencies laid out its findings and plans to address the contamination. Then the group heard from state, local government, and community panels before beginning a public comment session scheduled to last until 9 p.m.

The discourse was largely civil  but many residents made heated pleas to the EPA, and a handful held protest signs outside the event in the Hatboro-Horsham High School auditorium during a break. Dozens inside took advantage of the opportunity to question, challenge, or implore the federal officials to say and do more.

"It would be easier to believe if you would follow through and do anything," said Lauren Woehr, a mother from Horsham who worried about her 16-month-old daughter's health and, like many residents, wants the agency to arrange testing. "If you want us to start believing you, then prove it by providing the testing."

Lisa Daniels, one of the many state environmental officials on hand, said the cleanup and remediation demanded federal coordination.

"I'm here to say states cannot do this work alone. We're just not capable of doing this on our own," said Daniels, of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. "People will continue to question the safety of their water if we don't do this at the national level."

Firefighting foams used for years on former military bases in the area tainted the drinking water of at least 70,000 residents in Horsham, Warminster, and Warrington Townships, and similar reviews are underway near hundreds of current and former military sites nationwide.

Wednesday's meeting came weeks after the release of a government analysis suggesting that PFAS are potentially more hazardous to humans than the EPA had previously indicated.

Four years after the water contamination was discovered, scores of residents are paying higher water bills due to the costs of making the water supply safe, and dozens report cancers and other illnesses. Some residents with tainted private wells are still drinking bottled water supplied by the military, waiting for hookups to public water.

People are also, and more commonly, exposed to the chemicals through consumer products. The PFAS class of chemicals is complex, largely unstudied, and vast  containing between 3,500 and 4,500 chemicals, officials said  which makes the cleanup tasks even more challenging.

The EPA detailed its goals for addressing various issues caused by the contamination, including a lack of knowledge about the PFAS chemical class, toxicity and human health, drinking-water treatment technology, cleanup of contaminated sites, disposal of contaminated materials, and understanding how people become exposed.

Officials also said they are developing ways to assist states and communities dealing with contamination, including a "PFAS management plan" that the EPA committed to at a national summit in May. The agency is considering listing PFAS as hazardous substances and creating enforceable guidelines.

"We're trying to develop data and tools people can use to make actual decisions about managing risk," said Andy Gillespie, an associate director in the EPA Office of Research and Development.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) will soon launch a Pentagon-funded study to examine exposure in eight communities near current or former military bases. Military officials were also authorized by Congress this week to begin an assessment of health effects on veterans, said Maureen Sullivan, an assistant director at the Department of Defense.

In local communities, officials have ignored the EPA's advisory level of 70 parts per trillion for drinking water and aimed to get their drinking water as close to zero as possible. Speakers Wednesday asked the EPA to set a stricter drinking-water standard for the chemicals  one that is legally enforceable.

"We are very confident in the value we have that supports the 70 ppt," said Peter Grevatt, director of EPA's Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water. "And, that said, we're going to continue to work very closely with ATSDR and others to make sure we've got the best science underlying what we have."

<< READ MORE: Nearly 400 military bases must be tested for tainted water >>

Still, many of the attendees expressed frustration over the pace of the federal response. One after another, health and environment officials from mid-Atlantic states called on the agency to spearhead a uniform national response. On one panel discussion, local officials said federal agencies needed to pay for the cleanup, much of which is currently shouldered by residents and localities.

"Our customers, our residents, our family has not caused contamination of the water supply, and they certainly shouldn't be responsible for the cleanup costs," said Tim Hagey, general manager of Warminster Township's public water system.

The meeting was part of a series scheduled by the EPA across the country  the first was in New Hampshire in June, and officials will go to Colorado in August before visiting North Carolina and other states.

They say they will release their management plan in the fall  one that some attendees hope will help turn the corner on the issue.

"Every community across the country needs a consistent and coordinated action plan," said Joanne Stanton, a lifelong area resident and member of the National PFAS Coalition. "We ask you to act now and please make public health your number-one priority."The Sheraton, on the 1700 block of race street, in Philadelphia, Thursday, July 27, 2018. Read more

A Japanese American woman who was attending a conference last week at the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel was horrified to find the slur Jap written on her bill, according to the Japanese American Citizens League and news sources.

About 350 workers at the hotel, at 17th and Race Streets, will undergo sensitivity training as a result.

The league's Philadelphia chapter, part of the nation's oldest and largest Asian civil rights group, will participate in the training to inform the hotel staff "about the history of anti-Asian racism, why 'Jap' is not an acceptable term even when used to abbreviate Japan, and how to be better accommodating to Asian American and Pacific Islander guests," the group said on its Facebook page.

"It was kind of like a punch in the stomach," the woman, Eileen Yamada Lamphere, told NBC10.

Lamphere, among the guests who attended the national conference of the Japanese American Citizens League, said that for Japanese people, the slur is as bad as the worst pejorative used against African Americans.

The Philly Voice website reported that, according to the hotel, the word was used as shorthand by an employee who did not realize it was a racial slur.

For many Japanese, the term evokes the anti-Japanese racism of World War II.

"We are continuing to investigate this matter and deeply regret that one of our guests experienced this issue," a Sheraton Hotel spokesperson said, according to WHYY. "Based on the results of our investigation we will take the appropriate actions, including refreshing our sensitivity/diversity/inclusion training, to ensure this doesn't happen again."

Philadelphia was the scene of a national furor earlier this year when a manager at a Center City Starbucks called police on two African American men who were sitting in the store, waiting for an acquaintance to arrive. Starbucks instituted companywide racial-bias training as a result.Actor Jonathan Goldsmith, Dos Equis' former 'Most Interesting Man In the World,' is heading to Media in Delaware County to sign bottles of Astral Tequila. Read more

The former "Most Interesting Man in the World" is heading to Delaware County this weekend, where he will sign bottles of tequila for fans.

Actor Jonathan Goldsmith, 79, best known as beer brand Dos Equis' "Most Interesting Man in the World," will appear at the Fine Wine & Good Spirits Premium Collection store in Media (1083 W. Baltimore Pike) on Saturday at 4 p.m. He will sign purchased bottles of Astral Tequila Blanco, which will be available to sample for fans aged 21 and older. Goldsmith is a partner in the tequila brand.

Goldsmith's acting career spans 50 years, and features 500 film and television credits. His appearances include roles in Dallas, Dynasty, Gunsmoke, Hawaii Five-O, and Murder, She Wrote, as well as parts in John Wayne and Clint Eastwood films The Shootist and Hang 'Em High.

He began working with Dos Equis in 2006 as part of the company's "Most Interesting Man in the World" campaign, which featured outlandish statements about Goldsmith's character, such as "His personality is so magnetic, he is unable to carry credit cards." Goldsmith held the role until 2016, when his final commercial for the company sent his character to Mars.

Goldsmith was later replaced as the "Most Interesting Man in the World" by French actor Augustin Legrand. Dos Equis retired its "Most Interesting Man in the Wold" campaign earlier this year.

Goldsmith, however, has become an Internet meme thanks to the character. He's also starring in a current ad campaign for Astral that has him in a similar role to his gig with Dos Equis:

"It feels like I've had a wonderful, wonderful journey with this. I feel like it was successful and I made a good contribution. I thoroughly enjoyed it," Goldsmith told the Hollywood Reporter of leaving the role in 2016. "And one door has shut and 10 open."Pa. Attorney General Josh Shapiro, right, sent a letter to Pope Francis, left, asking him to intervene in the legal battle over a secret grand jury report into clergy sex abuse in the state. Read more

HARRISBURG  Amid a still-boiling legal battle over a secret grand jury report into alleged Catholic clergy sex abuse across Pennsylvania, Attorney General Josh Shapiro has appealed to Pope Francis to step in and persuade opponents to drop their bid to block the report's release.

"Credible reports indicate that at least two leaders of the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania  while not directly challenging the release of this report in court  are behind these efforts to silence the victims and avoid accountability," Shapiro wrote to the pontiff this week. "Your Holiness, I respectfully request that you direct church leaders to follow the path you charted  and abandon their destructive efforts to silence the survivors."

The attorney general's letter did not elaborate on the reports or indicate which "leaders" are behind the efforts to suppress the document Shapiro says chronicles "widespread sexual abuse of children and a systemic cover-up by leaders" in six Catholic dioceses in the state. His spokesperson, Joe Grace, declined to provide additional detail, saying the letter, sent Wednesday, "speaks for itself."

Greg Burke, a spokesperson for the pope, said it was too early for the Vatican to comment.

Bishops from the six dioceses have previously claimed they are not the petitioners objecting to the report's release, as did a representative for Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput.

On Thursday, the Inquirer and Daily News and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reached out to every diocese in the state and asked about Shapiro's assertions that leaders are backing the fight to limit the report's release. Spokespersons from the Philadelphia, Erie, and Harrisburg Dioceses largely reiterated their prior statements about the case; the other dioceses did not comment.

Justin Danilewitz, a lawyer representing several clergy members seeking changes to the report, blasted Shapiro's letter as an "inappropriate" attempt to pressure his clients by appealing to their supervisors and turning the public against them. He said his clients are trying to exercise their constitutional rights, "not trying to silence victims."

Shapiro's plea to the worldwide leader of the Catholic Church comes as the state Supreme Court weighs if the report should be made public, if so, when, and in what form. The delays have left some victims fretting that their voices will ultimately be silenced once again.

Although the petitioners fighting Shapiro's stated plan to release the document include a group of still-unnamed current and former clergy members, Francis has spoken in recent years of the need for the church to reckon with its history, end child sexual abuse, and support survivors.

Shapiro, in his letter, reminded Francis of some of those remarks. He wrote that the two met in September 2015, when the pope visited St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood.

"It was a high honor to receive greetings and blessings from you," wrote Shapiro, who is not Catholic. "I am a great admirer of you and your work  especially your commitment to fighting for the defenseless."

During that visit, Francis met privately with five people who had been sexually abused by priests, teachers, or family members. He also delivered public remarks, during which he said "God weeps" over such abuse.

"The crimes and sins of sexual abuse of minors may no longer be kept secret," the pope said in a speech that has since been quoted by a victim's attorney advocating for the report's release.

Despite his public claims of a zero-tolerance policy for sexual abuse, Francis has drawn ire from some victims and advocates who say he has nevertheless continued to promote or retain bishops despite accusations they failed to advocate for children in the past. They point, for example, to Francis' decision to appoint a Chilean bishop accused of covering up sexual abuse. The pope has since accepted the bishop's resignation.

It was not immediately clear if the pope had seen Shapiro's letter. The Attorney General's Office sent it by mail Wednesday and followed up Thursday with faxes and emails to high-ranking Vatican officials.

Though not expected to lead to charges, the grand jury report, more than 800 pages long, is believed to name dozens of people from the Dioceses of Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, and Scranton who were aware of or participated in child sexual abuse over decades.

The two Pennsylvania dioceses not covered by the probe  Altoona-Johnstown and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia  had been scrutinized in past investigations.

Shapiro had been expected to release the report to the public last month. But current and former clergy members  whose names remain under seal  appealed to the state Supreme Court, saying making the allegations public violated their constitutional rights to protect their reputations and of due process. The seven-member court then placed a temporary stay on the report's release to sort through the arguments.

Much of the legal battle has played out in secret and under court seal. Only recently did the justices allow some case-related documents to be made public, although in redacted form.

Ten media organizations, including the Inquirer, Daily News, and the Post-Gazette, have asked the court for access to the full report and the names of the petitioners seeking to block its release.

Post-Gazette reporter Peter Smith contributed to this article.A Florida woman shows a robocall she received on her home phone in Orlando. Despite consumer awareness, state and federal efforts to crack down, and apps for blocking unwanted calls, robocalls have increased dramatically in the first half of 2018. Read more

Robocalls  those nettlesome autodial telephone calls from both scammers and legitimate businesses  skyrocketed in the first half of 2018, and have prompted the most complaints to federal and most state enforcement officials of any consumer topic in recent years.

But as much as top state law enforcement officers would love to go after the robocallers, who often operate outside the law, the combined hurdles of technology, economics and geography make the job difficult.

Robocalls jumped dramatically nationwide this year, from 2.9 billion in January to 4.1 billion in June, according to YouMail Inc., a company that tracks robocalls and sells software to block them.

Unwanted calls are the biggest complaint to the Federal Communications Commission, making up about 60 percent of complaints the agency gets. Robocalls also are the top complaint at the Federal Trade Commission, which in fiscal 2017 received more than 4.5 million robocall complaints.

While states are trying to crack down  a tougher law was enacted in Connecticut, for example, and legislation is pending in a handful of other states  they face almost insurmountable obstacles because often the callers are offshore. And while telephone companies are taking steps to help combat the calls, state officials imply they are not helping enough.

"There is a problem with a lot of these calls emanating from overseas," said Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, a Democrat. "The practicalities of enforcement become problematic."

State Efforts

State attorneys general know what makes their constituents mad because they hear it. And the calls are not just nuisances  consumers are cheated out of an estimated $350 million a year by phone scams, many involving automatic dialing, according to the Consumers Union, the advocacy arm of Consumer Reports.

States are trying to act. Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy, a Democrat, in June signed a bill adding criminal fines and penalties to the state's anti-robocall statute. The law goes into effect in October.

In Massachusetts, a bill making its way through the Legislature would prohibit robocalls to mobile devices and impose penalties including fines starting at $10,000 for each violation.

In New Jersey, a bill urging the FCC to require landline and wireless telephone service providers to implement technology to block robocalls to customers, free of charge, is also working its way through the Legislature.

A New York bill similarly would limit autodialed telephone calls to state residents and require telephone service providers to provide free "call mitigation technology."

Ian Barlow, the FTC's Do Not Call program coordinator, acknowledges that state efforts to subvert illegal robocall scams are limited, but he said states also serve an important function in coordinating with federal agencies to crack down on large scam operations.

Barlow pointed to a 2015 case involving the FTC and 10 states from Florida to Washington that resulted in Caribbean Cruise Lines being barred from robocalling.

"I think there are some challenges for states," Barlow said, adding that states were at the forefront of the Do Not Call lists before the effort spread nationwide. He said states often identify "bad actors" quickly. When states sue bad actors, they stop operating there, though they often move on to other states until the feds get involved.

Among the challenges, Barlow said, is that cellphone owners can take their mobile numbers with them when they move across state lines. "Number portability makes it a trickier issue," he said. "That doesn't mean [states] are ineffective."

Phone customers are simply fed up, said Maureen Mahoney, a Consumers Union public policy fellow. She urged all levels of government, along with the phone companies, to use all methods to stop the unwanted calls.

"I think it's important for every consumer to have strong legal protections against robocalls," she said. "If we see progress in one or two states, that could lead to more states and help push the FCC and the Congress to take action. FCC has said addressing robocalls is a priority, but the problem continues to get worse."

Robocalls are the No. 1 consumer complaint to the Federal Communications Commission, its chairman said last year. "It's the No. 1 consumer complaint," said Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, a Democrat, referencing the national figures. "The Do Not Call list doesn't work."

That list is not the real problem, according to the Federal Trade Commission, which is the lead federal agency, along with the FCC, in tracking and prosecuting unlawful telephone scams, which often involve robocalls.

The Do Not Call Registry, on which telephone customers can put their numbers and request not to be bothered by telemarketers, does work  up to a point.

The call registry does the job it was intended to do by blocking calls from companies that follow the law, said Barlow, of the FTC. "If people are speeding on the highway, does that mean speed limits are broken?"

The problem is that many companies, both in the United States and overseas, don't obey the law.

That's because the risk is worth the reward, said Alex Quilici, CEO of YouMail, the Irvine, California-based company that sells other enhanced telephone and email services in addition to its call-blocking app.

"It's so easy to make them and so cheap to make them," he said of the calls. "You don't even need expertise to become a robocaller. You upload an audio file and upload numbers, press a button, and it makes the calls."

And if the scammers are getting thousands of dollars every time they succeed, "it becomes 'why not?' if you are a bad guy," he said.

Jon Banks, senior vice president for law and policy at USTelecom, the trade group for phone companies, agreed. "It's part of the blessing and curse of the internet," he said. "It is cheap to send these calls over the internet. And it appears, sadly, you can make money with these robocalls."

A recent robocall scam involved asking people  in Mandarin Chinese  to get in touch with "the embassy" to "pick up an important document" and to press zero for more information. Some of the calls apparently ask for money, others for personal information, after zero was pressed.

>>>Listen to the audio of a recent robocall scam (WMA) | Translation (PDF)

The calls were directed at area codes where a significant number of Chinese immigrants live, though many calls to non-Mandarin speakers would have to be made in a city like Washington to find enough susceptible Mandarin speakers to prove profitable.

People often inadvertently give consent to receiving robocalls by failing to read the fine print in documents they sign regarding loans, doctors, prescription drug companies and hundreds of other legitimate uses.

If a drugstore automatically calls to say you need to refill a prescription, that's a "good" robocall. A school system calling to say that it's a snow day is another example.

"But the good ones are being swamped now by the ones people don't want," Quilici said.

He attributes the dramatic rise in the number of calls, ironically, to enhanced efforts to stop them, including people refusing to answer calls from numbers they don't recognize. If more people put blocking software on their phones, or let the calls go to voicemail routinely, that means the automatic callers must dial more numbers to succeed.

Battling Technology

Madigan, the Illinois attorney general, called for more blocking by phone companies.

"What needs to be done is the carriers need to start blocking them," she said. "A lot of states are not going to have the investigative capacity to look into overseas calls."

Telephone carriers say they are doing it already.

Banks, of the trade group, said the networks internally block unwanted calls as well as offering consumers apps to curb the calls such as Nomorobo. Some apps are free but many require payments, he said.

Nomorobo costs about $2 a month for cellphones and is free for land lines, according to its website. The blocking software won a 2012 contest organized by the Federal Trade Commission to develop the best concept to thwart robocalls. Since then, many imitators have sprung up.

"We've put together a group of over 20 carriers to help [law enforcement] trace calls back to try to get to their origins," Banks said. Finding where the calls originate is complicated by robocallers' "spoofing"  creating a familiar-looking fake number that may use a phone customer's home area code or three-digit neighborhood number.

Both Banks and YouMail's Quilici agreed that coming technology may be the ultimate solution to dampening the robocalls to the point that they parallel email spam. While spam was a pervasive problem just a few years ago, spam filters slowly became better, to the point where today most spam ends up in a junk folder or is blocked altogether.

The FTC is working on a way to identify spoofed numbers that mirror legitimate area codes and exchanges and trace them back to their real origins.

The technology was given acronyms only a government bureaucrat would love: SHAKEN (Signature-based Handling of Asserted information using toKENs) and STIR (Secure Telephone Identity Revisited).

Stateline, a project of the Pew Charitable Trusts, provides daily reporting and analysis on trends in state policy.If there is one thing Mumbi Dunjwa knows for sure, it's that curly hair loves moisture.

When properly hydrated, it is soft and manageable. It glistens and glows. And, most important, the curls  whether tightly coiled or loose and flowing  are smooth and perfectly defined. Frizz is a nonissue.

Dunjwa took this undeniable black hair-care fact and married it with a serious chemistry. The result: Naturaz, a curly girl product line available in 12 ShopRites and Fresh Grocers throughout the Philadelphia region.

"I'm passionate about helping women and children love their hair," said Dunjwa, 45, who lives in Collegeville. "It's about helping black women find the right products and the right tools so they never have to feel like they have to hide the beauty of their curl."

The five products in the Naturaz collection  a conditioning shampoo, styling moisturizer, rehydrating mist and detangler, curl-defining gel, and curl-defining cream  are infused with awesome-for-the-coils coconut oil and Aloe vera extracts. Dunjwa's products are also heavy on minerals: calcium, magnesium, selenium that not only nourish and strengthen black and white women's curly hair, but also stimulate hair growth. That's important because the one thing the curly girl knows well is breakage. Naturaz is decently priced, as in it's a little more pricey than Organic Roots Stimulator, but not as expensive as Carol's Daughter or Miss Jessie's. The styling gel and creams are $12.99. Shampoo is $14.99

Dunjwa's hair-care endeavors are noteworthy for two reasons.

First, Dunjwa is a black woman from Kenya. In the last 10 years, black women have been at the forefront of building companies that sell products that specifically nourish their natural  as in not straightened with heat or chemicals  hair. Still the brands most readily available in drugstores and big-box chains, including Carol's Daughter, which was acquired by L'Oreal in 2014, are majority-owned.

"Who better understands how our hair behaves better than we do?" Dunjwa said. "We understand its beauty. Its structure. It's up to us to know how to harness the curl."

But the real coup is that Dunjwa is a bona fide chemist. Dunjwa holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry and nuclear medicine technology from Worcester State University as well as a master's degree in information systems from Carnegie Mellon University. She spent more than a decade working as a consultant in research and development within the pharmaceuticals industry before she began looking for ways to combine her two loves: science and health.

She turned her expertise to hair. Dunjwa has never had a relaxer, although she has been to salons that she said had a hard time grooming her virgin mane. However, among friends and family, not only did she see an uncanny amount of breakage, split-ends, hair loss, and hair thinning, these same women battled low self-esteem. And this wasn't just an issue for American black women, it was epidemic throughout the world. For a myriad of social and cultural reasons, black women just didn't feel good about their naturally curly hair.

Dunjwa began mixing her own formulations  all of which she owns  and wrote a business plan back in the early 2000s. But at the dawn of the curly girl movement, it was hard to find investors. Then the recession hit. In 2010, she couldn't wait for cash anymore and decided to test her products in the community, soft-launching her brand. She pitched the brand to the local ShopRite and Fresh Grocer franchises, and by 2016, Naturaz was available in stores.

Business has been slow but steady; to date she's sold upward of 10,000 units in the grocery stores and online. This year, she says, she hopes to expand beyond the Philadelphia market. But that will take help from investors.

Ultimately, however, Dunjwa wants to do her part to make sure that black women love their strong, healthy, natural hair and not be inhibited by straight hairstyles. And, even more important, she hopes her 7-year-old daughter is never faced with the pressure to relax or not relax.

"I want young children to fully accept who they are and know the hair she was divinely given is perfectly suited to who she is," Dunjwa said.The U.S. Department of Education and the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office are investigating the misreporting of rankings data by Temple University's business school. Read more

The rankings scandal at Temple University expanded Wednesday after officials announced they had found more misreporting to U.S. News & World Report from the Fox School of Business, involving six programs beyond the online M.B.A. program revealed earlier this month.

University administrators identified five of the programs in question as Executive M.B.A., Global M.B.A., Part-Time M.B.A., Master of Science in Human Resource Management, and Master of Science in Digital Innovation in Marketing. All are part of the Fox School of Business, which provided false data for those five programs in one or more areas, including the number of students who provided GMAT scores, the GPAs of undergraduate applicants, and student indebtedness, university officials said.

For a sixth program, the online Bachelor of Business Administration, the university said it found misreporting related to student indebtedness.

"We want all the members of the university community to know that, with respect to the misreporting of information at the Fox School, you had a right to expect this information would be accurate and honest," said Richard M. Englert, Temple's president, and JoAnne A. Epps, executive vice president and provost, in a letter emailed to the Temple community.

"We deeply regret that this did not happen. We will do more than own this problem. We will fix it. And none of this takes away from the quality education that our Fox School students receive, or from the excellent teaching and research of its faculty," Englert and Epps said.

In January, U.S. News dropped Temple's online M.B.A. from its ranking after the school self-reported that it had provided inaccurate data. The program had been ranked No. 1 for four years and the university had been touting the ranking.

This month, Temple released the findings of a law firm it had hired to investigate how the misreporting occurred. A rankings-focused strategy led to some of the misreporting, the law firm found.

After the scandal broke, Temple removed its long-time business school head, Moshe Porat, from his leadership post. Porat remains a tenured professor at Temple. The school also announced a series of steps to ensure that such misreporting does not happen again.

The U.S. Department of Education and the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office are conducting their own investigations into the false reporting.

Some students are suing, claiming the reputation of their degrees has been harmed.

State Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in a statement Wednesday evening that he was "deeply concerned" that more programs are involved in the misreporting scandal and that his investigation is ongoing.

"We've requested an array of documents and information from Temple, and the university thus far has been cooperative," Shapiro said.

Temple on Wednesday also reported that it had completed a review requested by U.S. News of its data submissions for the 2018 and 2019 Best Colleges rankings.

The university said it had verified the accuracy of its submissions and made three minor corrections, two of which involved typographical errors.

Temple is tied for 115th place for national universities on the magazine's website.In Philadelphia, where 307 homicides were reported last year, arrests were made in just 55 percent of slayings from 2007 through 2016, and more homicides went unsolved in the city and nationwide during the decade when the victim was black, a new study has found. Read more

In Philadelphia, where 307 homicides were reported last year, arrests were made in just 55 percent of slayings from 2007 through 2016, and in the city and nationwide during that decade, more homicides went unsolved when the victim was black, a study has found.

According to the data, published in the Washington Post this week, the nation's 55 largest cities reported 54,990 homicides during that decade, half of which resulted in no arrests. When the victim was white, arrests were made in 63 percent of those slayings, compared with 47 percent when the victim was black, the study reported. Philadelphia reported 3,037 homicides and the vast majority of victims  2,359  were African American. Among the other victims, 373 were Hispanic, 256 white, and 48 Asian.

>> READ MORE: West Philly woman seeks justice after man confessed to killing her daughter

David Fisher, a retired Philadelphia police detective, attributed the lower arrest rate for black victims to "the silence of the community."

"Everybody talks about the blue code of silence, but there's a community code of silence, too," he said. "It works both ways."

Fisher, president of the National Black Police Association  Greater Philadelphia Chapter, has been personally affected by the statistics. His nephew DeAndre Bing, 17, was fatally shot in the chest near 20th Street and Susquehanna Avenue on Jan. 23, 2015.

Bing  who would have graduated that spring from Eastern University Academy Charter School in East Falls  had just left a friend's home when he was gunned down. More than three years later, no motive for the killing has been established and no one has been arrested.

Fisher said the absence of justice in killings like his nephew's is common in Philadelphia  especially in black neighborhoods  partly because people are reluctant to help detectives solve crimes.

"They don't have a problem, in a lot of black neighborhoods, knowing who did it," he said. "No one wants to talk to the police, because they don't really want to get involved. But everything is not CSI. At some point, you need people to say, 'I saw it,' and come to court and say, 'I saw it.' "

Aleida Garcia, whose son, Alejandro Rojas-Garcia, 34, was murdered outside a Hunting Park bar on Jan. 24, 2015, agreed that the "no-snitch" mindset and mistrust of police help to drive down the arrest rate. The result is that killers walk free, and sometimes remain in the communities where they have killed, she said.

"It's a horrible thing that you lose someone to violence, and it's compounded by the fact that you might be standing next to someone in a supermarket who is guilty of the murder," said Garcia, who co-founded the National Homicide Justice Alliance. "It's also a feeling that your loved one died and that person who killed them is out there having a wonderful life. It makes you feel, like, what was my child's life worth? It's a nightmare."

At least she knows where her son's killer is. In May, Leonardo Rivera was tried in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, and was convicted and sentenced to life in prison plus seven to 10 years, said Garcia, noting that the case was solved after police released surveillance video of the gunman.

Ben Waxman, spokesperson for District Attorney Larry Krasner, said the study exposes a portion of the criminal justice system that is broken.

"I think we have a lot of people in this city in law enforcement who are working extremely hard with limited resources to solve these cases," Waxman said. "But they don't have the resources because we are spending time prosecuting people smoking marijuana."

Waxman noted that Krasner announced in February that his office would no longer prosecute marijuana-possession cases.

A spokesperson for the Philadelphia Police Department declined to comment about the study's findings.Robert Johnson,, 51, is suspected in several sexual assaults and a home invasion. Read more

A 51-year-old man wanted in the the sexual assaults of at least three women at gunpoint last week in the West Philadelphia's Parkside section has surrendered to police.

Police Commissioner Richard Ross said Thursday morning Robert Johnson, accompanied by his brother, turned himself in to Southwest Detectives at 55th and Pine streets after investigators identified Johnson as a suspect and released his photograph.

Police recovered a weapon after executing a search warrant at Johnson's home on the 4100 block of Leidy Street before he surrendered, police said.

Police identified Johnson, a convicted sex offender, as a suspect Wednesday night.

A call from a tipster proved helpful to leading investigators to Johnson, Ross said.

Capt. Mark Burgmann of the Special Victims Unit and investigators were concerned the assailant would strike again.

"It was scary when we saw that," he said, referring to what he called the "absolutely brazen" attacks.

Police gave these accounts of last week's attacks.

On July 17 at Belmont and Parkside Avenues about 5:45 a.m., a man approached a woman and threatened her with a gun. He forced the woman to walk into Fairmount Park, where he sexually assaulted her and took her Beats headphones and her iPhone.

On July 19 about 4:20 a.m. at a gas station at 4800 W. Girard Ave., the suspect approached a woman, who was pumping gas, and threatened her with a gun. He forced her and another woman in the car to travel to an unknown location, where he sexually assaulted both women and then fled with $420 cash.

Police said Johnson also was a suspect in a sex assault during a home invasion last month.

Staff writer Joseph A. Gambardello contributed to this article.Tamika Watson, flanked by her daughters Tia Finks and Asia Seldon, is outraged that the District Attorney's Office has not charged the man who confessed to killing her daughter. Read more

Family bonds are evident at Tamika Watson's West Philadelphia home. On a recent afternoon, young grandchildren from two of her daughters frolicked on the porch. On a living room wall, a decorative keyholder was adorned with a reminder: Don't Forget Let  Rule.

A plaque proclaimed: Family Rules / Help each other / Always tell the truth / Share / Do your best / Pay with hugs and kisses.

But all was not well with Watson, 44, a certified nursing assistant. Tears came quickly when she spoke of her firstborn, Nakeisha Finks, hinting at the pain and anger with which Watson and her family have wrestled for nearly a decade.

Watson's anger is directed not just at James Barrow, 32, who confessed in February 2016 to killing Finks six years earlier, but also at the man who has not charged Barrow with murder: Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner.

Making matters worse, said Watson and her daughters, Tia Finks, 27, and Asia Seldon, 23, no one from Krasner's office will speak to them about the case  either on the telephone or when they've stopped by the District Attorney's Office in Center City.

That's why the family did not know about a three-day court hearing in April during which the confessed killer's video-recorded interview with city detectives was played for the first time in open court. Barrow confessed to details about the slaying that only the killer would have known, detectives testified.

"Why would you think that that's not important to tell me about my daughter's murder case?" Watson asked, seated at her dining room table, her daughters nodding in agreement.

"Basically, we were just left in the dark. We read about it from the newspaper, just like everybody else does," Watson said of the hearings. "We've gotten no updates about her case at all, so I'm stuck. I want to know what's going on, but it's like pulling teeth to try to get some answers from anyone. It's like a runaround. They don't call you back."

Watson called the District Attorney's Office again after seeing an Inquirer and Daily News article about the case last month. She said she was promised a meeting with Assistant District Attorney Danielle Burkavage, who is handling the case. But that didn't happen.

"I have not heard from this lady at all" about that meeting, Watson said, wiping away tears. "I'm furious.  Somebody has to tell me something about what's going on with her case."

Burkavage said the case is still being investigated, but declined to elaborate. Ben Waxman, spokesperson for Krasner, said the district attorney would not comment about the case while it is being investigated.

Finks, 20, was killed with her boyfriend, Jonathan Pitts, during a home-invasion burglary on Aug. 29, 2009. A close friend of Pitts' was quickly arrested but was found not guilty during a 2013 jury trial.

That's where things stood until February 2016, when Barrow, a career criminal and high school dropout, turned himself in to police. He confessed in detail to killing not only the couple but also another man, Kamara Joseph, during a strikingly similar home-invasion burglary the week before the double slaying.

Barrow told detectives that he targeted his two male victims because he'd heard on the street that they dealt drugs and kept money in their homes. He entered both homes in the middle of the night by climbing through ground-floor windows after pushing in portable air-conditioning units.

He used the same brand of duct tape to bind the couple's wrists and hands as he used to bind Joseph, detectives testified during the April hearings. In his video-recorded confession, Barrow said he used the same handgun to kill all three victims, a claim confirmed by ballistics tests on the bullets recovered from the three victims' bodies.

Barrow, who told detectives he turned himself in after becoming paranoid that he was being stalked, told the investigators details about both crime scenes that only the killer would know, according to the detectives' April testimony.

Barrow told detectives that when he broke into Pitts' home in the 5500 block of Delancey Street in West Philadelphia, he thought Pitts would be alone and was startled to find him with Finks, both asleep in bed.

"I never wanted to kill that girl, I never did," Barrow says on the video.

The mountain of evidence provided by Barrow led prosecutors to quickly charge him with Joseph's murder in February 2016. The officials also charged him with committing a handful of armed robberies to which he also confessed.

Barrow is behind bars awaiting trial in Joseph's slaying. But no charges have been filed in the deaths of Finks and Pitts, despite the evidence and the confession statement.

The slayings of Finks and Pitts are far from the only unresolved killings in the city. In fact, the Washington Post reported Wednesday that from 2007 to 2016, only 55 percent of Philadelphia's 3,037 homicides resulted in an arrest, and that cases involving white victims resulted in disproportionately more charges than those involving nonwhite victims.

But without contact from the District Attorney's Office, Watson is left to speculate on why the man who said he killed her daughter wasn't arrested for it.

She thinks Krasner won't charge Barrow because the office in 2013 under former District Attorney Seth Williams had tried another man, Nafis Pinkney, for the slayings, only to see a jury find him not guilty. The city last year paid Pinkney $750,000 to settle a lawsuit he brought claiming malicious prosecution.

To try Barrow for the couple's slayings would put the office in the embarrassing position of having to tell a new jury that it was wrong in charging Pinkney but now has the right man, Watson said.

Then she recalled something that Burkavage told her, during the last substantial conversation they had nearly a year ago, which was supposed to make her feel better:

"She said, basically, 'He's in prison, so it's not like he's going anywhere.' I told her, 'Are you crazy? This is my daughter you're talking about. He's in prison for somebody else's murder, not for my daughter's murder.' Yes, I care. I want him to be charged. He confessed to her murder. You have the evidence."Authorities work to extinguish a stubborn junkyard fire in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, Wednesday, July 11, 2018. The fire was reported around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday and spewed thick smoke and flames that could be seen for miles. Authorities say the burning materials consisted mainly of metal, wood, and paper. Read more

The Kensington junkyard that reopened just two weeks after a spectacular fire has been ordered to shut down by the Department of Licenses and Inspections.

Until the junkyard, Philadelphia Metal & Resource Recovery, drastically reduces its scrap piles to 10 feet and creates clear fire lanes between piles, it cannot legally accept new materials, L&I spokesperson Karen Guss said late Wednesday. At the time of the fire, its scrap piles were as high as 30 feet.

Guss said the order to cease operations comes as a result of the blaze two weeks ago that she said caused "further deterioration" of the property.

L&I has cited it multiple times in the last 10 years for violations including "mislabeled storage containers" and an "excessive collection of tires," according to public records. The city has taken the junkyard to court twice, and a Common Pleas Court hearing is scheduled for Aug. 30.

The owner could not be reached for comment on the order to close.

Rebekah Wilcox, who lives in the neighborhood, said she was glad the city issued the shutdown order but was skeptical the company would comply.

"After I learned all of the violations they've been written up for, it makes me wonder if they're really going to make the changes," Wilcox said. "I'll be watching, for sure."For the past decade, Michael Cohen worked as Donald Trump's personal lawyer and fixer. He was an eager supplicant, executing the wishes of his celebrity boss and forever seeking his attaboy affection. He said he would take a bullet for Trump and, even after the president passed him over for a White House job, Cohen still professed his eternal loyalty.

But in Trump's world, eternity has limits.

By releasing audio of his covertly recorded conversation with Trump about purchasing the rights to a Playboy centerfold's story of an extramarital affair, Cohen made a decisive break from his longtime client. The move punctuates the steady deterioration of a relationship between Cohen and Trump, and raises concerns in the White House that the former could spill secrets about the latter to the FBI.

In the nearly four months since FBI agents raided his office, home and hotel room, Cohen has felt wounded and abandoned by Trump, waiting for calls or even a signal of support that never came. Cohen got frustrated when Trump started talking about him in the past tense, panicked last month when he thought the president no longer cared about his plight, and became furious when Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani contradicted some of his accounts, according to his associates.

In Cohen's gravest hour, as one associate described it, Trump was "leaving him out in the wilderness."

The result is open warfare between attorney and former client. Cohen has chosen to morph from Trump's pugnacious defender to a truth-teller without regard for any possible political or legal ramifications for the president, according to Lanny Davis, one of Cohen's attorneys.

"He had to hit a reset button," Davis said in an interview. "He had to say he respected the FBI. He had to say he believed the intelligence agencies that Russia meddled in the election. He had to describe the Trump Tower meeting as extremely poor judgment at best. And, ultimately, he said, 'I'm not going to be a punching bag anymore,' which he had been when he said, 'I'll take a bullet.'"

Cohen's actions appear to be driven more by his outrage over the president's indifference and feelings of betrayal  coupled with the personal and financial weight of the criminal case being assembled by federal prosecutors  than by a legal strategy to help his case.

Tuesday's public release of the Trump-Cohen audio came as a surprise to prosecutors handling the Cohen case in the Southern District of New York, according to people familiar with the matter. Current and former law enforcement officials questioned why Cohen  someone seen as angling for a plea deal  would choose to make potential evidence public. That kind of maneuver generally angers investigators and can make it harder to cut a deal, these officials said.

As part of their inquiry into campaign finance issues involving Cohen, federal investigators have recently expressed interest in what Cohen's interactions with the Trump campaign were, including his role in handling the accusations of sexual impropriety from various women. They also are trying to discern if anyone other than Cohen had prior knowledge about two such women, Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, before they were named in news inquiries and reports.

In their search warrant, federal investigators asked Cohen to turn over any communications the two men or campaign aides had about a 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape that captured Trump boasting about grabbing women's body parts, according to a person familiar with the investigation.

Inside the White House, Trump raged about the release of his and Cohen's September 2016 conversation about financing the deal with McDougal, a former Playboy model, to sell the rights to her story of an alleged 10-month affair with Trump to American Media Inc., the owner of the National Enquirer, which never published her account.

The president is angry that his personal attorney was recording him without his knowledge, though he had known before this week that the audio file existed, according to people familiar with his thinking.

"What kind of lawyer would tape a client?" Trump tweeted Wednesday morning. "So sad!"

The government has seized more than 100 recordings that Cohen made of his conversations with people discussing matters that could relate to Trump and his businesses and with Trump himself talking, according to two people familiar with the recordings. Cohen appeared to make some recordings with an iPhone  without telling anyone he was taping them.

A significant portion of the recordings is Cohen surreptitiously recording reporters who met with or questioned Cohen about Trump during the campaign and after Trump's election, the people said.

Trump's voice is on several of the recordings, but only in snippets  typically when he is returning a call from Cohen or asking Cohen on a voice-mail message to call him back, the people said. The only recording in which Trump and Cohen have a substantive conversation is the one that Davis released Tuesday, according to these people.

"Michael Cohen had the habit of using his phone to record conversations instead of taking notes," Davis said. "He never intended to make use of the recordings and certainly didn't intend to be deceptive."

Trump's advisers are privately debating whether they need to seek a ruling from the court overseeing these recordings on Cohen's indiscriminate release of material, or whether they should release tapes that they describe as unflattering to Cohen, according to two Trump allies.

Trump has been asking outside advisers about Cohen's business interests and work outside Trump Tower. The president views Cohen as a turncoat who profited off his association with Trump, associates said. One of them described Trump's attitude as, "Who is this guy to betray me? He would be nobody were it not for his relationship with me."

Another factor that worries Trump is the impact the latest disclosures will have on his marriage, as it thrusts allegations of his infidelity back into global headlines, according to a Republican operative in frequent touch with the White House who spoke anonymously to share private details. The timing of McDougal's alleged affair was shortly after Trump's marriage to his third wife, Melania, and the birth of their son, Barron, in 2006.

Stephanie Grisham, the first lady's spokeswoman, issued a statement Wednesday saying it was "kind of silly" of reporters to worry "if she heard some recording on the news," and instead should focus on other issues, such as neonatal abstinence syndrome or bullying  issues the first lady has focused on.

Within Trump's political orbit, the uncertainty about what other damaging information Cohen may possess  and if he plans to weaponize it against the president, as now seems possible if not likely  has allies worried.

"The general feeling inside and outside the building is that if there was anything, this would be the guy who would know it and now give it up," said the operative close to the White House.

Trump's legal team considers Cohen's chess move inexplicable, arguing that the release of the recording does not hurt the president and questioning what Cohen may be trying to accomplish.

Some Trump loyalists believe Cohen betrayed the president by hiring Davis, a fiercely partisan Democrat who for decades has been a friend and adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton. (In February, Hillary Clinton attended a party in Georgetown celebrating Davis' book "The Unmaking of the President 2016: How FBI Director James Comey Cost Hillary Clinton the Presidency.")

Early Wednesday, Trump aides and allies exchanged grousing text messages about the Cohen-Davis relationship, while hosts of "Fox and Friends," the pro-Trump morning show on Fox News Channel, voiced sharp criticisms of Cohen on their broadcast.

"We all think he's being used by Lanny, who has a vendetta," said former Trump adviser Sam Nunberg, who worked with Cohen for years. Referencing Roger Stone, another former Trump adviser and a self-described master of political dark arts, Nunberg said, "I'm still a Stone-ite, and we eat Clintons for breakfast."

Giuliani, the former New York mayor who is now one of Trump's personal attorneys, has been punching at Cohen for, as he put it in a Wednesday tweet, "leaking falsely privileged and confidential information. So much for ethics!"

Davis said Cohen feels isolated and is "suffering" and "sees himself as alone against the president of the United States, Rudy Giuliani and the whole administration."

Cohen's feud with Trump could make him an unlikely hero of the resistance movement. Davis recalled walking through New York's Pennsylvania Station on Wednesday following his interview on ABC's "Good Morning America" and people slapped him on the back and said, "Please tell Michael Cohen, 'Thank you for telling the truth.' All of a sudden, millions of people have invested their hopes in Michael Cohen."

In the search warrant served on him in the FBI's April 9 raids, Cohen learned he was under federal investigation for bank fraud as well as possible campaign finance violations as part of his informal role in Trump's campaign. FBI agents were scrutinizing whether Cohen had lied on bank and loan forms or had seized evidence that he had vastly inflated the value of his taxi medallion business to seek additional financing. Cohen told friends in the early summer he expected he could be arrested any day.

In the immediate aftermath of the raid, Cohen expressed an interest in talking directly to Trump, but lawyers repeatedly and strenuously worked to block such a conversation out of fear it would appear Cohen was seeking to shape his story in talking to the president. Trump's attorneys stressed that the president faced a similar but larger political risk of being accused of comparing notes with a witness who had potentially embarrassing information about him.

Trump did call Cohen four days after the raid for a brief check-in, which was first reported by the New York Times, but the two men have not spoken since.

Cohen got what he considered a strong signal in June that Trump had turned a cold shoulder on his legal jeopardy, according to two people familiar with his account. After the raid, the Trump Organization and Cohen had agreed to an arrangement under which Trump's business would pay for a portion of the legal work to determine which documents seized from Cohen's home and business were protected by attorney-client privilege and should not be shared with investigators.

But after several months, Trump Organization officials began complaining about  and later balking at paying  what they considered unusually high legal fees from Cohen's law firm to review the records. There remains a dispute between the two sides about whether Trump Organization stopped payment or simply threatened to. Cohen complained to friends about his mounting legal bills and feared he was being cut off from Trump's world.

An attorney for the Trump Organization, Alan Futerfas, declined on Wednesday to answer questions about the Trump Organization's payment arrangement with Cohen. He had previously told the New York Times that any suggestion "that people stopped payment, that is not true." Davis did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the payment dispute.

Some have argued Cohen has been seeking a back-channel commitment from Trump that he would pardon him if he faced criminal charges. But Davis has said in media interviews that his client is not currently seeking a pardon, and Giuliani told The Washington Post on Tuesday night that discussing a pardon would be "extremely inappropriate at this point."

"I'm certain there are no talks about pardons for" Cohen, Giuliani said. "Any pardon is up to the president."

During his decade in Trump's employ  first as a lawyer for the Trump Organization and then as his personal attorney  Cohen professed and displayed his fealty. This is in part because of the nature of his work for Trump, which was not of the typical legal counselor. Cohen described his approach as akin to that of Ray Donovan, the fictional fixer in the Showtime series of that name makes the problems of Hollywood stars disappear.

But the respect and allegiance was not always mutual, according to Tim O'Brien, author of the biography "TrumpNation."

"He always treated Michael like a lap dog, as somebody who would perform tasks for him, but not someone he considered a peer or ever really treated with professional respect," O'Brien said. "You constantly get this impression that Michael is trying to please the paterfamilias, and Trump is barking quick requests about what he wants to get done."

Cohen's loyalty to Trump began to fray in recent months as he felt neglected by his longtime patron.

Last week, Cohen invited the Rev. Al Sharpton, a civil rights advocate who has been at loggerheads with Trump, to meet for breakfast at the Regency Hotel, where Cohen has been staying. Cohen chose a table in the middle of the see-and-be-seen restaurant, Sharpton recalled.

"He's totally turned on him," Sharpton said. "It was clear to me in our conversation that Michael felt betrayed. He kept saying, 'I'm going to do what's right for my country.' He clearly wanted me to know he was not Team Trump anymore."

Sharpton added, "He was hurt, and the hurt has turned into bitterness. He said, 'Look at what I'm going through. Why me? Nobody is helping me.' "

The Washington Post's Devlin Barrett, Robert Costa, Josh Dawsey, Alice Crites and Mary Jordan contributed to this report.Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) meets with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on July 26. Toomey is the first senator from the Philadelphia region to meet with Kavanaugh. President Trump nominated Kavanaugh, a judge on the federal circuit court based in Washington, D.C., to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is retiring. Read more

WASHINGTON  Sen. Pat Toomey praised Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Thursday and said he planned to "enthusiastically" vote to confirm the judge, who could cement a conservative majority on the high court.

Toomey hailed Kavanaugh's intellect, experience, and character after a morning sit-down with the judge nominated by President Trump to replace the retiring Anthony M. Kennedy, a frequent swing vote. Toomey, Pennsylvania's lone Republican senator, is the first area lawmaker to meet with Kavanaugh, a federal appeals judge in Washington.

"He understands that the proper role of a judge is to apply the law" based on the text of the Constitution, Toomey told reporters after the meeting. "I fully intend to enthusiastically support his confirmation."

During the meeting in Toomey's Capitol Hill office, the senator said, he asked Kavanaugh about his views of presidential power. He also said they discussed the question of investigations into a president  an issue Kavanaugh could confront if the Supreme Court gets a case involving the ongoing special counsel probe into Russia's interference in the 2016 election.

Kavanaugh "was very, very adamant," Toomey said, and spoke "eloquently and clearly that absolutely no one is above the law  and that includes the president."

Democrats, including New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, have pointed to Kavanaugh's past statements expressing skepticism about presidential investigations as a reason to oppose his nomination. Booker has argued that the nominee should pledge to recuse himself from any cases involving the special counsel's work, which involves the question of whether Trump or his campaign collaborated with Russia.

Democrats have also warned that Kavanaugh could be a decisive vote in rulings to restrict access to abortion and undercut the Affordable Care Act.

Toomey, who opposes abortion and the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, said that he did not ask the nominee specifically about that decision but that "it's fair to say [Kavanaugh] would give a great deal of weight to precedent."

"Unlike my Democratic colleagues, I don't have a set of policy litmus tests for a judge or justice, precisely because that is not the role of a judge or justice," Toomey said. "It's up to Congress and the president to establish policy."

If confirmed by the Senate, Kavanaugh could lock in a conservative majority on the high court for decades, a prospect that has fueled Democratic opposition.

As the rhetoric has escalated, Booker drew fire from Republicans this week for his comments at a news conference opposing Kavanaugh. In part, Booker said: "In a moral moment, there is no bystanders. You are either complicit in the evil, you are either contributing to the wrong, or you are fighting against it."

Republicans pointed to the word evil as a sign that Democrats were unhinged.

"Our friends on the left are locked in this bizarre competition to wear out the volume knob and outdo each other with this angry nonsense," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said Thursday morning.

Booker, who has vowed to fight to block the nomination, sits with Delaware's Sen. Chris Coons on the Senate Judiciary Committee, giving them a frontline role in the process.

No Democrats have met with Kavanaugh  and most have refused to do so while their party leaders press Republicans to turn over numerous documents from the judge's past, including records from his work in the administration of President George W. Bush.

Toomey's Democratic counterpart in Pennsylvania, Sen. Bob Casey, is up for reelection and announced his opposition to any Trump nominee hours before Kavanaugh was selected, citing conservative organizations' influence over the process. Casey, however, has said he would meet with Kavanaugh anyway. A spokesperson said Thursday a meeting has not yet been scheduled.Sherri Horsey Darden, new owner and publisher of Scoop USA, looks at an older edition of Scoop USA while working on the latest paper in the Scoop USA office on Thursday, July 19, 2018. Scoop USA is a black-owned community newspaper that was started back in 1960. Read more

Someone had warned Cornell Horsey: Stay away from the guys playing dice on the streets outside Johnson Homes on Saturday night. But Cornell was 17 and fearless. He went to the craps game anyway.

When a young man rode up on a bicycle and fired gunshots into the crowd about 10:30 p.m., another teen, believed to be the intended target, pushed Cornell in front of him, people told the family. Cornell died eight minutes after midnight that Sunday morning, Oct. 23, 1983.

Sherri (pronounced Sha-REE) Horsey Darden was 14 when her older brother was killed. And a few years later, her younger brother started dealing drugs and spent time in and out of jail.

Now 48, she knows all too well the tragedies that can happen in North Philadelphia.

But Darden, the new owner and publisher of Scoop USA, the free, weekly newspaper founded in 1960 by Richard "Sonny" Driver, doesn't plan on dwelling on crime.

"You go to a newsstand, and every paper is riddled with the same dead body on the front page. Why do I have to play a part of that game?" she asked from her new office near the bustling corner of Broad and Girard, its walls covered in enlarged newspaper pages celebrating the renaming of West River Drive after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., a campaign Driver led.

>>READ MORE: Services set for journalist 'Sonny' Driver, who spurred Philly to rename road for MLK.

"For every dead body, for every homicide, there's somebody on the other side doing something that is positive, to enrich our young people," Darden said. "It's not all negative. We're not all negative."

When Darden and her two brothers were 7, 10, and 13, they moved into Johnson Homes, a public-housing project at 25th Street and Ridge Avenue, with their grandmother after their mother became too ill to care for them. But after her brother was killed, the family, which by now included their mother again, was evicted, forcing them all into an abandoned three-story house for two weeks. Darden remembers it as an adventure she wished wouldn't end. Eventually, they moved in with other relatives. Her grandmother didn't show she was worried, so the kids didn't worry, either, she said. "I had everything I needed," Darden said. "We were rich."

Yet, she said she knew people looked down on those who grew up in housing projects.

"We're ostracized, and we're put in this big batch together," she said. "Everyone assumes that everyone is selling drugs. They don't look for a Sherri to be living among the drug dealers."

When Darden was a 17-year-old senior at Dobbins High School, she became a typist for the now-defunct Philadelphia Council of Neighborhood Organizations (PCNO), incidentally in the same building where she now runs Scoop. Eventually, she left to work at the Defender Association of Philadelphia as a clerk-typist in 1989  then as a single mother of a baby.

She worked there 29 years, 22 of them while also working nights as the newspaper's production manager. Over the years, she and Driver developed a father-daughter relationship: She called him "Dad" and he called her "Little One." When he died in December, she believed that it was her responsibility to take over, and for the first seven months, she stayed on as human resources manager at the defender association. On June 22, she decided to focus solely on the newspaper.

It hasn't been easy. Since purchasing Scoop, she's spent almost $12,000 a month of her own savings to keep it going, and says she's running out. She does not draw a salary.

"I went in to this knowing it was a 50/50 shot, but I believe in what I'm doing in keeping a black-owned paper going," Darden said. "I was taking that step out on faith and I'm giving it all to God to give me the support I need to do this."

Now she does everything for the paper, from selling ads to attending City Hall briefings. (The only paid employee is her cousin, who answers the phones from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.)

"The point of going to those events is that I have to be visible," she said, "so that people will know that the paper is still around."

Edith Dixon, the longtime managing editor of Scoop and one of Driver's cousins, left after Darden couldn't afford to pay her or Stephanie Turner, the former office manager. Both women worked without pay in the first couple of months when Darden took over.

"She's got an uphill battle" to sell advertising to keep the paper alive, Dixon said. "It means pounding the pavement and going to the mom-and-pop stores. You'd better hit the pavement, and you'd better hit it hard."

Now, Darden lays out the paper Wednesday nights, then drives to a Southwest Philadelphia printing company the next day to pick up papers for distribution: 10,000 copies are delivered, with a readership of 27,500.

Keir Bradford-Grey, the chief attorney at the Defender's Association, commended Darden's work ethic and called her "very brave" to leave a steady job. "It's really good that she is able to keep that community voice strong."

>>READ MORE: In Common: The Oval stretches car-free play onto the Parkway this summer.

At a time when newspapers are losing circulation and newsprint costs are soaring, Scoop exists in a market with two other black-owned newspapers: the Philadelphia Tribune and the Philadelphia Sunday Sun. Still, Darden doesn't see them as competition.

Her 16-page tabloid, once the source for news on where Lena Horne, Count Basie, and Ray Charles were performing, endorses no political candidates. On the front page these days, you might see a story about a peace march in Nicetown or the Sistas in Business Expo.

Both Thera Martin and the Rev. William Rocky Brown 3rd have written for the paper for 38 years. They are not paid, but have leeway to express strong opinions about community issues. And although Darden may not put crime news on the front page, on July 13, columnist Haru Sen Haru wrote a piece called "Stop the violence."

Darden has new endeavors planned, as well: An updated website will be launched this month currently, Scoop's online presence is just digital archives of past papers. Next will come an app.

And a development corporation. She imagines it will be a separate entity from the newspaper and be funded through grants.

"There are several public interest groups throughout this city, but part of the reason why we can't get to a point where we're seeing progress is because everybody is working on their own," she said, adding that Scoop Nonprofit Development Corp. will train people to be community developers.

Over the years, Darden earned a business degree from the University of Phoenix and a master's degree in human capital development at La Salle University. Along the way, she got married and had another daughter.

"I've come full circle," Darden said.Mayor Jim Kenney, right, speaks at a joint press conference alongside City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart at City Hall on Thursday, July 19, 2018. The press conference unveiled Rhynhart's audit of the city's sexual harassment policies and payouts. Kenney signed an executive order instituting a new policy aimed at creating a better environment for reporting sexual harassment. HEATHER KHALIFA / Staff Photographer Read more

A recent audit of Philadelphia city government found 121 reports of sexual harassment between July 2012 and April 2018. Those included 102 complaints of verbal harassment, 44 of sexual misconduct, and seven complaints of coercion. Almost all of the complaints were investigated and about half were substantiated.

In a workforce numbering 27,000, is this a disturbingly high number of complaints, or nothing to worry about?

The right answer is that any figure is disturbingly high, but the key revelation from the audit, by the Office of City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart, is that there are so many inconsistencies from department to department in how complaints are handled that the number of cases is not an accurate barometer of what's happening in the city's workforce. Not even $2.2 million paid to settle harassment claims is a barometer, since the audit found that the city's Law Department has inadequate systems for tracking litigation specific to sexual misconduct cases.

The lack of consistent policy and procedures affects every city worker. It impacts (mostly) women who often have no guidelines for how to file a complaint or what to expect while a claim is being investigated. It affects workers, who have no guidelines for knowing how substantiated cases will be handled or even what kind of behavior is problematic. In some departments, for example, written warnings were given for behavior that other departments dealt with more seriously.

Unfortunately, the city has a high-profile example of the system's failures  the city's sheriff, Jewell Williams.

An internal investigation substantiated a claim made by a worker accusing Williams of sexual harassment. As Rhynhart noted during a news conference about her office's audit, city policy dictates that the department head and cabinet head overseeing the department get copies of harassment investigations. That means that the sheriff received a copy of the report and was expected to offer conclusions and recommendations following the investigation into his own behavior. (It's unknown if he did so.)

As an elected official, Williams is not subject to the same measures or policies that apply to executive-branch employees; both Mayor Kenney and Rhynhart have called on him to resign. Williams has denied the allegations.

On the heels of the controller's audit, the mayor signed an executive order to institute a new harassment prevention policy that includes training, better tracking of claims, and streamlining filing of complaints. But that doesn't address the audit's main finding: the need for a centralized system to investigate complaints and better formalize discipline and policy.

Setting up an independent body will cost money, but considering the financial liability such cases represent  especially in cases that aren't initially handled properly  it would be a responsible expense to incur. The city has paid, on average, about $366,000 a year during the audit's time frame.

The choice seems simple: Pay to set up a system that ensures workers feel safe from misconduct and gives them a path for redress  or keep writing checks to cover those who haven't gotten the message that sexual harassment, demeaning behavior, or coercion of others is not acceptable.Wyoming governor testifies before the Senate EPW committee in support of Barrasso's draft legislation to modernize the ESA

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), welcomed the Honorable Matt Mead, governor of Wyoming, to the committee. Mead was testifying before the committee at a legislative hearing on discussion draft legislation, the Endangered Species Act Amendments of 2018.

The legislative hearing focused on draft legislation released by Barrasso reauthorizing the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for the first time since 1992. It emphasizes elevating the role of states and increasing transparency in the implementation of the ESA. It also prioritizes resources to better meet conservation goals and provides regulatory certainty to promote conservation and recovery activities. The draft bill has received broad support from stakeholders, state and local governments, and conservation organizations.

Barrasso worked with the Western Governors' Association (WGA) in drafting the legislation. The bipartisan WGA has stated that the chairman's discussion draft legislation is generally consistent with the WGA recommendations for modernizing the ESA and includes provisions inspired by the association's Species Conservation and Endangered Species Act Initiative, led by Mead.

Sen. Barrasso greets Governor Mead before his testimony.

Barrasso introduced Mead to the committee prior to his testimony. "I would now like to introduce Wyoming Governor Matt Mead, who has been serving as governor since January of 2011," said Barrasso.

"Born and raised in Jackson, Wyoming, he graduated law school from the University of Wyoming. Since then, he has engaged in private practice of law, as well as worked as a prosecutor and United States Attorney. Governor Mead has served in the past as chair and also vice chair of the National Governors' Association's Natural Resources Committee.

"He has also worked as the co-chair of the State and Federal Sage Grouse Task Force. From 2015 to 2016, he served as chairman of the Western Governors' Association, where I mentioned before, he led the Species Conservation and Endangered Species Act Initiative that serves as the inspiration of the discussion draft we are examining today.

"Governor Mead also has a farm and ranch business in southeast Wyoming. I hope Governor Mead will tell us about his ESA experience in Wyoming and within the WGA in balancing the interests of citizens, while efficiently and effectively conserving wildlife.

"Governor Mead, it is an honor to welcome you as a witness before the Environment and Public Works Committee. Thank you for traveling to Washington to be with us today. I know Frontier Days is coming to Cheyenne and you are going to be very busy over the next week and a half at home but I am so grateful that you have taken time to be with us today," said Barrasso.

Governor Mead testifies before the Senate EPW Committee.

In his written testimony, Mead outlined how the WGA's approach to species recovery has proven successful. While WGA chair, Mead led the Species Conservation and Endangered Species Act Initiative, known as the Initiative. "This Initiative sought to (1) create a mechanism for states to share best practices in species management; (2) promote and elevate the role of states in species conservation efforts; and (3) explore ways to improve the efficacy of the ESA," said Mead. This effort brought "a diverse group of stakeholders together to explore ways of improving the ESA and species conservation generally." The Initiative helped the WGA learn about several successful approaches to species management, leading the WGA to adopt bipartisan policy resolutions to improve the ESA.

Mead detailed how the discussion draft legislation contains similarities to WGA's approach to species conservation. "In 2016, the FWS [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service] adopted its National Listing Work Plan to prioritize substantial 90 day findings and ensure decisions are made on petitions within seven years." The discussion draft would codify the Work Plan, ensuring threatened species are prioritized.

Mead also discussed the critical role that states play in species conservation. States have unique conservation challenges and state wildlife agencies are familiar with the resources that are needed to address those challenges. Mead said that the discussion draft will help improve the ESA through a strong state and federal relationship. "It contemplates states leading recovery teams, developing and implementing recovery plans, consulting with federal agencies in a meaningful way on all aspects of ESA implementation, and providing helpful species data to the FWS. Each of these provisions can lessen resource strains on the federal agencies, lead to faster and more robust species recovery, encourage innovation in species management, and engender broader support for the ESA."

Wyoming's governor lauded the discussion draft as the legislative product of open and inclusive discussion. "This discussion draft stems from a state-led, bipartisan, multi-disciplinary effort conducted over several years. Environmental, sportsmen, agriculture and energy interests have all commended the WGA process. This discussion draft represents a reasonable way to elevate the WGA process into a national dialogue."

Mead said that the discussion draft offers solutions to make the Endangered Species Act more effective and improve species conservation. "We have an opportunity to improve the Endangered Species Act for wildlife and for people. We can encourage innovative conservation practices that obviate the need to list species. We can facilitate faster and more cost effective species recovery," Mead said.Community, DIVIDED

MANISTIQUE Concerned citizens from across the community showed up to the regular meeting of the Manistique Area Schools Board of Education Monday to voice their opinions on a possible mask...

Fish consumption only remaining restriction on Manistique River

MANISTIQUE  The decades long endeavor of delisting the Manistique River as an Area of Concern made additional progress recently  seeing the removal of the dredging as one of...The MRR started with an overview of the latest mission timeline. The Georgia Tech Prox-1 spacecraft serves as a carrier for LightSail 2, and will eject the CubeSat seven days after launch. The LightSail team plans to spend about five days checking out the spacecraft before deploying its solar panels and solar sail. That will be followed by about a month of orbit raising operations, the goal of which is to raise the spacecraft's apogee (highest point in its orbit around Earth) by a measurable amount.

Next came a discussion on flight rules and critical parameters. Flight rules are checkpoints that either must be met or can't be violated during the mission. For example, sail deployment can't happen unless the batteries have adequate charge levels, and the spacecraft is in sunlight. Critical parameters include minimum and maximum power levels, and the highest allowed speed of the momentum wheel that spins to turn LightSail 2 into and away from the sun's rays.

The team also discussed the mission's attitude control modes. LightSail 2 is pre-programmed with four modes: detumble, Z-axis alignment, no-torque, and solar sailing. Detumble is the spacecraft's initial mode after it gets ejected by Prox-1. This stabilizes the spacecraft to keep it from tumbling. Z-axis alignment aligns the spacecraft's long axis (the Z portion of its X, Y, and Z coordinate frame) with Earth's magnetic field, which improves ground communications. No-torque is a drift state used during solar sail deployment, similar to the way the International Space Station drifts when a spacecraft docks. Solar sailing mode kicks in after sail deployment, and is used to align the spacecraft properly with the Sun.

LightSail 2's ground stations are also gearing up for the mission. Cal Poly is still the primary ground station, with a second station at Georgia Tech. Because of LightSail's low, 24-degree inclination, radio enthusiasts in areas like northern Europe won't be able to send us data packets. Furthermore, LightSail 1 showed how beneficial it would be to have a permanent ground station somewhere besides the continental U.S. Fortunately, we found a willing partner in Kauai Community College in Hawaii. In August, Cal Poly's John Bellardo is traveling to KCC to help set up the ground station for remote operation.

Finally, no mission review would be complete without a run-through of "spacecraft idiosyncrasies." These are minor quirks that must be accounted for during operations, such as the fact that one camera creates thumbnails containing a line of grey pixels, and a known offset in the data coming from one of the gyroscopes.RUBANDA  Police in Rubanda District have arrested 22 Rwandan and Congolese nationals over illegal entry into Uganda.

Kigezi Region Police Commander Richard Ecega said the suspects were on intercepted on Wednesday by security officials while travelling in a Bismarkan Bus.

He added that they netted 70 illegal entrants but some of them later run away,

According to Mr Ecega, the group was heading to Kagadi and Kabarole districts to work in tea plantations but none of them had any travel documents.

In recent months, government security agencies have arrested and deported many Rwandese nationals over illegal entry.

On July 3, security operatives in the district intercepted two buses from Rwanda and arrested 72 Rwandan nationals before deporting them back to their country over lack of travel documents.

The Rwandese, who included 11 children, 20 women and 41 men, were intercepted at Muhanga Town Council in an operation led by the Rukiga Resident District Commissioner, Mr Emmy Ngabirano.

They were then ordered to present documents to show that they qualify to be in Uganda.

However, 72 had no travel documents and were escorted to Katuna border and ordered to return to their country. Some of those arrested told the security officials that they were coming to for causal jobs in different districts of western Uganda.

In May, a court in Kabale District sentenced eight Rwandan nationals to 13 months in prison or a fine of Shs300,000 each after it found them guilty of entering Uganda illegally.

Prosecution led by Ms Gloria Inzikuru told Kabale Chief Magistrates Court presided over by Mr Julius Borore that on April 28, the accused entered Uganda through Katuna Border without travel documents, thus contravening the Ugandas citizenship and immigration control laws.

They all pleaded guilty to the offence but asked court to allow them to go back to their country, arguing that they entered Uganda to look for survival.

This comes on the backdrop of strained relations between Uganda and Rwanda prompted by accusations from Kigali that its citizens were being kidnapped, detained and prosecuted by Kampala security officials.

During Rwandas 24th liberation celebrations held at his residence in Kololo early this month, the Rwandan High Commissioner to Uganda, Maj Gen (Rtd) Frank Mugambage, has said the Uganda government has continued to effect multiple unjustified arrests of Rwanda citizens.

Maj Gen Mugambage also claimed that the Kampala government has failed to investigate terror groups working within Uganda with plans to attack Rwanda.

The cases we have put before the (Uganda authorities) of Rwandans that have been arrested and when families come to us that our people have been arrested, we do not know where they are and their cases. It is important that we resolve this. Even cases of terrorists elements I have mentioned it to them so its important that we follow up, he said.

RelatedMULAGO  The Indian government has donated a mobile mammography van to the Uganda Cancer Institute to help screen for breast and cervical cancers.

The van was handed over by the consul of the Republic of Uganda to Mumbai in India HE. Madhusudhan Agrawal at the Institute in Mulago.

Donated by Samta Foundation July 25, the Hope Express a mobile mammography unit detects the early presence of breast and cervical in women.

The Hope Express mobile van is fitted with state-of-the-art digital equipment technology and is connected with one of the top research institutes in India.

This noble effort is the first initiative for cancer patients by the Samta Foundation which has held several cataract screening and surgery camps carried out regularly in Uganda.

HE Agrawal explained that it will help in the early detection of the presence of breast and cervical cancer in women and that its built with the aim to boost awareness and detection, particularly in rural areas of Uganda.

This will help save precious lives since awareness is the first step to detection and cure, HE Agrawal.

This comes at the time Uganda had not expanded its cancer treatment beyond the Cancer Institute at Mulago and many of the patients who cannot make the journey to Mulago, their disease remains undiagnosed or gets treated when it is too late.

The mobile mammography unit will bring cervical and breast screening services closer to the rural populations of Uganda and will save lives for thousands of women.

Medical records at Mulago national referral indicate that more than 80 per cent of women diagnosed with cervical and breast cancer in Uganda present at the health facility with the cancer in its advanced stages.

HE Agrawal, along with Mr. Purushottam Agrawal, his older brother and founder of Ajanta Pharma Ltd, started the Samta Foundation, a non-governmental organisation focusing on healthcare and education to bring about a real transformation among the underprivileged people.

The Samta Foundations cancer care work doesnt stay restricted to Uganda alone; but shall be covering the neighbouring African countries as well, added HE Agrawal.

In 2017, over 4,000 new cancer cases were registered in Uganda, with breast and cervical cancer leading in women and prostate cancer ranking high in men.

The estimated cervical cancer incidence is 47.5 cases per 100,000 women and every year an estimated 3,900 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer in Uganda.

Although the government set up the Human Papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination campaign in 2015 but there is low uptake.

The World Health Organisation states that globally, nearly one in six deaths are due to cancer and approximately 70% of deaths from cancer occur in low and middle-income countries.

The minister of state for health in charge of general duties Ms Sarah Opendi urged the UCI to put the mobile van in proper use for the benefit of the population.

And I dont want to see this van roaming in the streets of Kampala but guard it well and put it to proper use for us to be able to save the population through awareness and early detection, said Ms Opendi.

Mammography Van

It is meant improve the convenience and availability of mammography, UCI will operate the mobile mammography van that will offer screenings by appointment at various locations in the Kampala and beyond using state-of-the-art digital equipment that emits the lowest possible radiation dose, technologists obtain two-view mammograms.

Each examination will take about 20 minutes, requiring very little time from a womans busy schedule. Results are reported to the patient and her physician within seven to 10 days.

RelatedKAMPALA  Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago has skipped a meeting that was meant to reconcile differences between him and Kampala Minister Beti Kamya.

The meeting, which had been called by Ms Kamya on Tuesday, was meant to resolve longstanding differences between the two political leaders that have crippled service delivery.

However, Mr Lukwago chose to keep away and instead sent a letter through Deputy Lord Mayor Sarah Kanyike, indicating that the Minister was out of order to call him for a meeting when there is a longstanding suit that he has against her in Court.

the Lord Mayor is seeking for prerogative Orders of Court to restrain the Minister for passing off as the political head of Kampala, usurping the executives powers of the Lord Mayor and interfering with the Authority meetings. She cant therefore facilitate a harmonization meeting as an impartial chair, the Lord Mayors July 24 letter reads in part.

Mr Lukwago added at the moment he cannot reconcile with a minister who re-tabled the KCCA Amendment Bill to Parliament last year that is intended to strip the office of the Lord Mayor of all powers.

The Authority passed a resolution that the Bill be withdrawn but the Minister ignored it. This must be revisited, the letter adds.

He added that although the High Court had declared his 2013 impeachment null and void, Ms Kamya has blocked the payment of his salary arrears forfeited during the period he was out of court. Lukwago dragged Ms Kamya, Ms Musisi, the Attorney General of Government and KCCA, seeking orders to compel the respondents to release his accumulated emoluments and salary arrears worth 563.4million shillings for the period of December 2013 to May/2016.

Nevertheless, the meeting went ahead without the Lord Mayor and lasted five hours.

Shortly after the meeting, Ms Kamya said they appointed a five-member committee that will engage the Lord Mayor.

The committee, to be chaired by the Deputy Lord Mayor Sarah Kanyike, will comprise Kawempe Division Mayor Emmanuel Sserunjogi and Kampala Central Division Mayor Charles Musoke Sserunjogi.

As Kampala leaders, we have resolved to put aside our differences and focus on service delivery for our people. I officially invited the Lord Mayor but he declined, but we have set up a committee to convey some of the resolutions that we made and also ask him to attend the next meeting, she said.

RelatedSHEEMA  The ruling NRM party and opposition FDC have all vowed to clinch the Sheema Municipality MP seat ahead of the Friday election.

The two parties, who have in the last two weeks, stepped up campaigns for their respective candidates, all say they have done enough to win the hotly contested seat.

Although there are seven candidates in the race, the stiff competition is between NRMs Elioda Tumwesigye and FDCs Virginia Plan Mugyenyi.

Other five candidates on Independent ticket are Benjamin Ruyombya, Ambrose Mwesigye, Jonas Tumwiine, Meshach Katusiime and Raymond Kamugisha.

Dr Tumwesigye, who is the NRM District chairman, has been at the helm of politics in the area for long. He is currently the Sheema North MP. However, his decision to contest for the municipality seat has attracted condemnation and anger from some party members. Ahead of the NRM party primaries, which he won, Mr David Kamukama, one of the contestants, petitioned the NRM electoral commission, saying that Dr Tumwesigye, who is also the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, does not qualify to contest in the municipality since he is not registered there as a voter and is already serving as the Sheema North MP. Dr Tumwesigye has been the MP for Sheema North since 2001.

Although the national Electoral Commission later cleared him of wrongdoing, those he contested against for the party flag later refused to support him and some have returned to contest against him.

Dr Tumwesigye polled 9,371 votes in the primaries, representing 36%, and his closest challenger, Mr Raymond Kamugisha, who polled 4,596 votes (17.7%), is contesting as an Independent. The other, Kamukama, who got 1,581 (6.1%), is currently backing the FDC candidate, Ms Mugyenyi.

This has raised concern among NRM party members in the district that this could split the party vote in favour of the FDC candidate.

In May, a group of youth made a procession through Sheema Town, protesting the nomination of Dr Tumwesigye. I think it is necessary for the President of Uganda to advise his minister to give up on Sheema municipality seat because Dr Tumwesigye is the current Sheema district NRM Chairman. In case he uses his magic and wins the election, the people might vote Opposition candidates because they are already fade up with his politics, said Mr

Mr Geoffrey Mucunguzi, one of the contestants in the NRM primaries.

Two years ago, sections of ruling party leaders in the district accused Dr Tumwesigye of dividing party supporters on religious lines.

Catholic and Anglican Christian clerics in the district blamed the minister for taking sides in the 2016 general elections and dividing the people along religious lines.

The Minister is said to have campaigned against the then incumbent Woman MP Rosemary Nyakikongoro and district chairperson Mugisha Pastori in the elections, who were carrying the NRM party flag.

It is said that the Minister backed Anglican Independent candidates Jacklet Atuhaire and David Kabigumira who won as district woman MP and LC5 chairman seats respectively, defeating Nyakikongoro and Mugisha who are Catholics.

However, Dr Elioda said allegations were false and said the minds behind them aimed at promoting more hatred and polarization in society.

The district party vice chairman, Eng Yorokam Katwiremu, says they have resolved the internal party wrangles.

NRM fronting a seating MP for the same position is a bit of a challenge to us but there is no law that stops him from contesting. It is true some people may be disappointed by the minister standing but we want to appeal to the people of Sheema to put that aside and we support our party, Eng Katwiremu says. He adds they expect to win the seat because Sheema has been NRM stronghold.

Although the district is a traditional NRM supporting district, the crowds being pulled by the FDC candidate have raised eyebrows among NRM supporters.

FDC top shots such as Secretary for Mobilization Ingrid Turinawe, Buhweju MP Francis Mwijuke, former MPs Oddo Tayebwa (Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality) and Vincent Mujuni Kyamadidi (Rwampara) have all camped in the area, drumming up support for the party candidate.

Former Presidential candidate Dr Kizza Besigye, Lord Mayor Elias Lukwago, the Leader of Opposition in Parliament Ms Winfred Kiiza, the party president Eng. Patrick Amuriat, Maj. Gen. Mugisha Muntu and MPs Mubaraka Munyagwa (Kawempe), Betty Muzanira (Rukungiri Woman), Rolland Kaginda (Rukungiri Municipality), Nandala Mafabi, FDC president Eastern region Salaam Musumba and Maj Gen Amanya Mushega have all campaigned for the party candidate.

On Monday, the party pulled off a massive crowd as tens of thousands of people gathered at Kabwohe playgrounds to listen to Dr Besigye and a cohort of other opposition leaders as they campaigned for Ms Mugyenyi.

The opposition messages have been consistent; the NRM government is worse than the previous regimes and residents of Sheema municipality should demonstrate this by voting out the NRM candidate, Dr Tumwesigye.

While campaigning for FDC candidate Virginia Plan Mugyenyi at Mutojo Trading Center late last month, Dr Besigye said voters should demonstrate that they need to change the bad leadership in the country.

This election is not an election between FDC or NRM but it is election against the bad leadership of the NRM government because they have deviated from the issues that took us to the Bush in 1980, said.

The election of 1980 was very bad like what is happening in the country now when people are being arrested. They arrested me for campaigning for Museveni in 1980 with other people from Mbarara like Mbiringi and they have never been seen again and by then I had just left the university started my work as a doctor but I abandoned the work I was doing in Kenya to come and help Ugandans stop dying the way they were dying, said Dr Besigye.

When you vote the person that Museveni wants you will have dug your own grave and buried yourselves because Mr Museveni will not give you anything like he has always done in the last 32 years The whole country is waiting for the message from Sheema because we are fighting greed that has cropped up in Sheema and this is the same greed that has been in NRM for the last 32 years where people are not given a chance to express themselves and make their own choices just because of one man, he said.

I knew Elioda in Parliament as a quiet man but what I did not know about him is that he is a greedy man and I came to see it from here when he contested for the seat he is holding in another constituency. So I want you to vote him out so that you do not waste governments money that you pay from your taxes to go in another election for Sheema north if Elioda wins and that will be more than Shs15 billion, Eng Amuriat said at Kabwohe playgrounds.

Ms Mugyenyi has promised to improve conditions of roads, upgrade Kabwohe Health Centre IV to a hospital, extend power to reach all households, making Women Entrepreneurship Funds easy to access and to all; skill youth and helping them access funds for livelihood projects without paying bribes.

We have had bad seed planted in our district of failing young people from leading our district so I want to request all of you whether catholic, Anglican and Muslims to vote for me so that we can make Sheema great again, says Ms Mugyenyi.

She adds: Sheema has been divided along religious lines and I want to make sure that I bring back all the people together after all I will not only lead one religion but rather the people of Sheema.

In the NRM camp, the Minister for Tourism, Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu, is spearheading Dr Tumwesigyes campaign. He is assisted by Minister for Veterans Bright Rwamirama, Eng Katwiremu and Senior Presidential Advisor on Security Chris Rwakasisi.

Prof. Kamuntu insists that Sheema people have never supported opposition and therefore FDC will not win.

FDC will not win this election because they do not have support that is why they have been telling you that this election is not about parties but rather a cause. Which cause are they talking about? This election is about the parties, nobody should lie to you; NRM members follow the party constitution and we are the majority which means that we shall win. Even if FDC does what, they will not win this election because Sheema has never supported opposition and we still have support and if you need services, you must stick to NRM, he said at Kibutamo trading center Kashozi Division.

The ruling party has almost the same promises: power to reach every home, upgrading Kabwohe Health Centre IV, creating industrial park, building stadium for recreation and talent development and tarmacking roads.

Dr Tumwesigye, says: President Museveni would blame me for allowing opposition take the municipality and become like Ntungamo which is led by Gerald Karuhanga.There was a possibility of a person from opposition to contest for Sheema Municipality and Museveni would ask me and Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu how we let opposition take Sheema when we are there.

RelatedNJERU  President Museveni has come under fire from members of the opposition for donating an ambulance to Njeru Municipality in Buikwe District ahead of parliamentary elections on Friday, July 27.

While campaigning for the NRM candidate, Mr Yasin Kyazze, on Monday, Mr Museveni received complaints from residents at the rally, including Mr Kyazze, that the newly created municipality has no ambulance, which he promised to deliver.

He came good on his promise when the ambulance, registration number UG 4648 M, was handed over to Mr Kyazze by the Commissioner in charge of Emergency Medical services in the Ministry of Health, Dr John Baptist Nambohe Waniaye, on Wednesday, two days to the election.

This ambulance is donated by his Excellency Museveni following a request raised to him when he visited here a few days ago. In particular Mr Kyazze raised this matter to his Excellency, the President, the speech by Minister for Health Jane Ruth Achieng read by Dr Waniaye read in part during the handover ceremony at Njeru Municipality headquarters.

However, the move has attracted condemnation and protests from the other contestants who termed it as outright bribery and against the rules set by the Electoral Commission.

Why should Mr Museveni donate an ambulance before the elections? We are going to sue Kyazze basing on that donation, said Mr Amos Kivumbi, the FDC candidate.

Mr Ceaser Kalema, an independent candidate, also vowed to challenge the Presidents move should Kyazze win the election.

What he has done is inducing voters. He has already diverted them, if it was not politically motivated, Mr Museveni would have directed the ministry to send it after the polls. But why is it done hurriedly. He promised on Monday and delivered on Wednesday with an intention of bribing people to vote in favour of NRM candidate.

However, Mr Kyazze brushed the claims from his opponents, accusing them of sour-graping.

I requested president to accept and donate for us an ambulance because we have been finding a big problem when people fall sick and they are referred to other big hospitals. Accidents are many but providing emergency care services has been also a problem. I have now handed it over to the administrators of Njeru to serve the public, he said.

Six candidates are tussling out for the seat. They are FDCs Kivumbi, NRMs Kyazze and four independents Diana Mutasingwa, Caesar Kalema, Azizi Junju and Joseph Opondo Opondo.

RelatedCharles Brad Mick  a sergeant with the New Holland (OH) Police Department  was reportedly fired "mere moments after he handed Mayor Clair Betzko and Interim Police Chief David Conrad court summonses accusing them of a forgery scheme," according to the New York Post.

Sergeant Mick reportedly suspected that there was evidence to suggest that Chief Conrad had forged the signature of the previous police chief  William Lawless  on a form changing his police status.

Mick alleges that Lawless was not even in the state of Ohio on the date the form was signed.

Following being fired, Mick reportedly marched into a village council meeting and announced, " Folks, just to let you know, when you do the right thing around here you get terminated for it."

Mick told the Columbus Dispatch that he will file for whistleblower protection.Embed from Getty Images

Federal officers policing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland say they were subjected to a barrage of hateful and at times racially-charged invective during the monthlong demonstration at the facility.

Email records obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive detail some of the insults and taunting that several nonwhite federal officers say they endured.

Protesters have held a nonstop demonstration at the ICE field office since June 17, decrying the Trump administration policy of separating children and parents detained after border crossings. Demonstrators have called for a swift end to the policy and the abolishment of ICE.

In emails obtained by the newsroom, one African American officer reported to an administrator that protesters began yelling racial slurs at him, including the N-word. The officer said he was also called a blood traitor and an Uncle Tom, a derogatory term implying a black person is acting subservient to whites for money or prestige.

Another officer, who is a woman of Hispanic and Native American descent, said she was called derogatory terms for Hispanic people and told she is a weak female and a traitor.Fort Myers police Officer Adam Jobbers-Miller was shot in the head Saturday night. He remains in critical condition. (Photo: Fort Myers PD/Facebook)

A man suspected of shooting a Fort Myers, FL, police officer in the head Saturday night was targeted for deportation after an arrest in 2010.

An ICE hold was requested for Wisner Desmaret, a Haitian national, after a 2010 arrest for burglary, theft and possession of burglary tools. The state attorney's office decided not to prosecute the case for what they said was insufficient evidence, the News-Press reports.

Saturday night Fort Myers Officer Adam Jobbers-Miller was shot in the head during a foot pursuit. He remains in Lee Memorial Hospital in "critical but stable condition."

Desmaret also remains at Lee Memorial in custody and under guard after suffering a non-life-threatening injury Saturday night. He will face eight felonies, including attempted first-degree murder, a charge carrying a maximum sentence of life in prison, the News-Press reports.

Tammy Spicer, spokeswoman for ICE, Central and Northern Florida, confirmed Tuesday that ICE has also placed a new detainer on Desmaret.

Late Tuesday afternoon the Fort Myers Police Department indicated in a news release that Jobbers-Miller is showing "positive signs" after surgeries and treatment for his injury.Trooper Tyler Edenhofer. Image courtesy of ODMP.

One Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper was killed and another wounded late Wednesday night on Interstate 10 outside Phoenix when a suspect reportedly took one of the officer's duty weapons and opened fire. The suspect is in custody.

Department of Public Safety Director Frank Milstead told reporters the incident began about 10:30 with reports of someone driving erratically in I-10's eastbound lanes and throwing things at cars.

The driver was on the side of the road when troopers arrived on the scene and approached. A fight began and lasted several minutes as the troopers tried to take the suspect into custody. During the struggle, one of the troopers lost his gun to the suspect, who fired at least two rounds from it, Milstead said.

Trooper Tyler Edenhofer was shot and killed. Edenhofer had just graduated from the DPS academy on May 4 and was an officer-in-training, CBS News reports.

Trooper Dalin Dorris was shot in the shoulder and taken to a local hospital. Milstead said Dorris was in "good spirits considering the circumstances."Officer Diego Moreno was laying spike strips to slow the fleeing pickup when he was struck and killed by a pursuing Kent police vehicle. Image courtesy of ODMP.

On Wednesday, 16-year-old Emiliano Garcia was charged as an adult with second-degree felony murder  accused of causing the death of Officer Diego Moreno of the Kent (WA) Police Department.

Garcia and two other teens reportedly led police on a high-speed pursuit on Sunday, after officers received reports of multiple shots being fired. Officers saw a fleeing red Dodge Dakota pickup, and gave chase.

Officer Moreno was laying spike strips to slow the fleeing pickup when he was struck and killed by a pursuing Kent police vehicle.

Garcia allegedly had been out with friends for "a night of drinking at a quinceanera to celebrate a girls 15th birthday," according to the Seattle Times.

Moreno  an eight-year veteran of the force  is survived by his wife and two children.MUMBAI, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Firstsource Solutions Limited (NSE: FSL) (BSE: 532809), a global provider of customised Business Process Management (BPM) services and a RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group Company, unveiled its new brand positioning.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/723216/Firstsource_Logo.jpg )



The tagline 'Stay Ahead', positions Firstsource as a forward-looking and client-centric Company that possesses capabilities and agility to navigate through challenging business scenarios. It plays to Firstsource's strength as a transformation partner to its stakeholders, empowering them to stay ahead of the curve through enhanced experiences.

In essence, 'Stay Ahead', the new positioning holds within it the promise of progress and growth for all its stakeholders - clients, employees, shareholders and communities - alike.

Speaking on the occasion, Sanjiv Goenka, Chairman of the RP-Sanjiv-Goenka Group and Firstsource Solutions, said: "I am very pleased with the progress Firstsource has made over the last few years. Through its suite of offerings, Firstsource renders sustainable value to its stakeholders enabling them to stay ahead of the curve. The new brand positioning 'Stay Ahead' is a reflection of its evolution from a pure play BPO player to a technology-driven BPM Company, riding the digital wave. I wish Firstsource the very best and hope to see it grow from strength to strength and emerge as a force to reckon with."

Rajesh Subramaniam, Managing Director and CEO at Firstsource Solutions, said, "The brand refresh aims to position Firstsource as a robust, reliable, forward-thinking Company that lives up to its word of being a 'Transformation Partner' to all its stakeholders."

He further added, "For our customers, we offer high-impact solutions that help them stay ahead of the curve. On the employee front, our high-performance culture encourages our people to do their best because we believe skilled, motivated and empowered people drive better business. When customers and people play their part, it yields better value for shareholders that enable them to repose their faith in the company with their hard earned money. In addition, as a responsible corporate citizen, we strive to engage with the communities around us to help them stay ahead of the challenges they face."

The 'Stay Ahead' brand philosophy will be manifested through key stakeholders -

Clients - As a brand custodian of Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 companies, Firstsource focuses on devising broad based and pinpointed strategies as it deploys a unique combination of multiple technologies in the wide spectrum of Digital transformation to help clients stay ahead of the curve. The overarching goal is to improve the clients' customer journey and enhance the customer experience.

Employees - The new brand positioning infuses the workplace culture with a renewed sense of a shared purpose. As emerging technologies are integrated into the workstreams, employees get an opportunity to re-skill and stay relevant to address future requirements.

Shareholders - The Company believes in delivering superior value to its shareholders over a period of time and will deliver on the faith reposed by the shareholders in the company.

Communities - As a responsible corporate citizen, the Company is committed to make a difference to the communities around it. Therefore, to enable them to stay ahead, it leads and supports several CSR initiatives on an on-going basis.

For more information about Firstsource's new brand positioning, please visit the Firstsource website.

About Firstsource:

Firstsource Solutions Limited, a RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group company (NSE: FSL) (BSE: 532809) (Reuters: FISO.BO) (Bloomberg: [email protected]), is a leading provider of customised Business Process Management (BPM) services. Firstsource specializes in helping customers stay ahead of the curve through transformational solutions in order to reimagine business processes and deliver increased efficiency, deeper insights and superior outcomes.

We are trusted custodians and long-term partners to 100+ leading brands with presence in the US, UK, Philippines and India. Our 'rightshore' delivery model offers solutions covering complete customer lifecycle across Healthcare, Telecommunications & Media and Banking, Financial Services & Insurance verticals.

Our clientele includes Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 companies.

For more information, please visit http://www.firstsource.com

Media Contact :

Sarika Rath

[email protected]

+91-9886378198

Head - Corporate Communications

Firstsource Solutions Limited



SOURCE Firstsource Solutions LimitedOver 90 companies have set out to develop AI-based medical imaging solutions, creating huge stakes for market growth opportunities, finds Frost & Sullivan

SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Medical imaging has become the bellwether for the application of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, especially deep learning techniques in the healthcare space. For instance, over 90 companies are at various stages of development and commercialization of AI-based solutions for the medical imaging industry. This number continues to grow as new startups emerge, the incumbents develop native AI solutions, and technology companies move into the field, creating a highly dynamic collaborative ecosystem amongst players of diverse backgrounds. With many countries edging past the innovator adoption phase and into the early adopter one, the stakeholders should now focus on refining and testing their value proposition, partnership approach, and go-to-market strategies.

Frost & Sullivan's recent analysis, Artificial Intelligence for Medical Image AnalysisCompanies-to-Action, 2018, examines the regional differences, regulatory developments, growth opportunities, funding investments, imaging modalities, clinical specialties, organs and disease states targeted by AI solutions, plus the top 10 predictions for the future of this industry. It also highlights the use cases that will take off in the market and the key companies that will disrupt traditional medical image analysis workflows.

For further information on this analysis, join us for our Growth Innovation Leadership (GIL) webinar, "The Impact of Artificial Intelligence in Medical Imaging," on Aug. 9, 2018, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. Eastern Time. For registration, please visit: http://frost.ly/2m1.

"In looking at the current progress on the research and development (R&D) side, we can already start drawing a parallel between the automotive industry and the advent of self-driving cars and the medical imaging industry where AI-powered self-driving scanners are shaping up," said Nadim Daher, Medical Imaging and Informatics Industry Principal. "Smart imaging equipment that can take the driver's seat in optimizing and personalizing imaging studies for every patient, while accelerating the decision support process and improving image depth all with lower contrast and radiation doses, gives the industry something to look forward to for the next generation of medical imaging systems."

These advances in AI for medical imaging are evident all across the globe, but each country has a different incentive and vision. Some developed countries such as the United States require higher productivity and standardization. However, other countries such as the United Kingdom need to address shortages and higher wait times, and the developing ones such as China may need it to build access and expertize to improve diagnosis rates.

Future growth opportunities in this market include:

Acceleration, automation and augmentation of medical image analysis;

Cloud-based, on-demand access through medical imaging AI marketplaces;

Cognitive applications to orchestrate and optimize the medical imaging workflow; and

The advent of intelligent medical imaging machines with embedded AI.

The regulatory agencies are granting approvals for AI-based solutions and opening doors for commercialization, allowing for the billions of dollars invested in the development of these technologies to see some return on investment (ROI) in the coming years.

"Adaptive intelligence, augmented intelligence, ambient intelligence, anatomical intelligence, assistive intelligence, applied Intelligencethese are just some of the flavors of the AI acronym that have been coined by medical imaging vendors over the last few years. While everyone will agree AI is not the panacea to every challenge faced in medical imaging, it is startling to see the pace at which the capabilities are advancing, the use cases solidifying, and the market adoption rising," noted Siddharth Shah, Transformational Health Industry Analyst.

Artificial Intelligence for Medical Image AnalysisCompanies-to-Action, 2018 is part of Frost & Sullivan's global Advanced Medical Technologies Growth Partnership Service program.

About Frost & Sullivan

For over five decades, Frost & Sullivan has become world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion.

Artificial Intelligence for Medical Image AnalysisCompanies-to-Action, 2018

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Contact:

Mariana Fernandez

Corporate Communications

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SOURCE Frost & Sullivan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Welcome Guest! You Are Here:Moscow court sentences high-ranking investigator Lamonov to 5 years

  /

11:59 26/07/2018

MOSCOW, July 26 (RAPSI)  The Moscow City Court has sentenced Alexander Lamonov, a former high-ranking investigator, to 5 years in a high security penal colony for receiving a large-scale bribe, RAPSI correspondent reports from the courtroom.

The defendant was also fined 32 million rubles ($508,000) and lost his rank.

The trial against Lamonov was held behind closed doors due to secret information contained in the criminal case documents. The case was reviewed under a special procedure because the defendant admitted wrongdoing and made a deal with investigators.

Lamonov, ex-First Deputy Head of the Investigative Committees Moscow Directorate, General Denis Nikandrov and ex-chief of the Investigative Committees Internal Security Directorate Mikhail Maksimenko have been arrested and detained as part of a case over extortion of 8 million rubles (about $138,000 at the current exchange rate) that involved an alleged gang leader Zakhariy Kalashov. In addition, investigators believe that they extorted 10 million rubles (about $170,000) from a head of a large joint-stock company. The defendants denied their communications with Kalashov.

On April 20, Maksimenko was found guilty of taking two bribes and received 13 years in prison. The defendant was also fined 165 million rubles ($2.8 million).

According to prosecutors, in 2016, Maksimenko and his accomplice received $500,000 bribe for help with one of criminal cases. He was also charged with taking $50,000 bribe in 2015 for organizing unlawful criminal prosecution of law enforcement officers in the interests of a a bribe-giver.

The preliminary hearings in case of Nikandrov are scheduled for July 26 as well.Russian court detains sixth defendants in prison torture case

 RIA Novosti, Igor Zarembo

12:59 26/07/2018

MOSCOW, July 26 (RAPSI)  The Zavolzhsky District Court of the city of Yaroslavl detained Dmitry Solovyov, a junior inspector of the Yaroslavl Penal Colony One, suspected of involvement in torture of an inmate, over which a criminal case had been opened, the press-service of the court told RAPSI on Thursday.

According to a representative of the court, five suspects have been detained as part of an abuse of office involving use of violence case, which is being investigated by the main directorate of the Investigative Committee. The crime may be punished by a prison term of up to 10 years.

Earlier, Novaya Gazeta newspaper published a video showing an inmate being tortured by some persons wearing grey camouflage uniforms. Later, it was revealed that the victim in the video had been identified as Yevgeny Makarov, who is serving his term in the Yaroslavl penal colony. The video was filmed by one of the staff members according to lawyers representing Makarov.

Irina Biryukova, the inmates attorney, who handed the footage to the media, has asked the Federal Chamber of Attorneys to ensure her safety because of threats from the prison staff. She also announced that she was leaving Russia.

The Chairman of the Presidential Council for Human Rights Mikhail Fedotov visited the penal colony on July 23. The Council filed its reports to the Investigative Committee and the General Prosecutors Office.Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale

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Search Real EstateKumar Mangalam Birla will be the non-executive chairman and Balesh Sharma the new CEO of the merged entity, which will remain listed.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

Government on Thursday gave final approval to the mega merger of Vodafone and Idea Cellular which creates India's largest mobile operator with about 35 per cent market share and nearly 430 million subscribers, an official source said.

The new telecom behemoth -- Vodafone Idea Limited -- will dislodge Bharti Airtel, the current market leader with 344 million customers from its pole position.

A senior DoT official privy to the development confirmed that the final approval has been accorded to the merger on Thursday and the two entities will now apprise the Registrar of Companies (RoC) of the various approvals received, wrapping up the last leg of formalities.

The approval comes with the riders that the merged entity will have to abide by the decisions of the telecom tribunal and other courts.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) had given conditional nod for the merger of these companies on July 9 and had asked them to meet the demands raised for taking merger on record.

Following this, Idea Cellular and Vodafone India, earlier this week, made joint payment of Rs 7,268.78 crore 'under protest' to the government.

This included Rs 3,926.34 crore paid in cash and Rs 3,342.44 crore furnished as bank guarantees.

The combined might of Idea and Vodafone will result in a telecom juggernaut worth over $23 billion (or over Rs 1.5 lakh crore), with a 35 per cent market share and a subscriber base of around 430 million.

Kumar Mangalam Birla will be the non-executive chairman and Balesh Sharma the new CEO of the merged entity, which will remain listed.

The merger is expected to bolster the efforts of the debt-ridden firms Idea Cellular and Vodafone to take on the intense competition in the market where entry of Reliance Jio -- backed by India's richest man Mukesh Ambani -- has led to a bruising tariff war.

Vodafone will own 45.1 stake in the combined entity, while Aditya Birla Group will have 26 per cent and Idea shareholders 28.9 per cent.

Shares of Idea Cellular closed 3.64 per cent higher on BSE at Rs 56.95 a piece.

The Aditya Birla Group has the right to acquire up to a 9.5 per cent additional stake from Vodafone under an agreed mechanism with a view to equalising the shareholdings overtime.

If Vodafone and the Aditya Birla Group's shareholdings in the combined company are not equal after four years, Vodafone will sell shares in the combined company to equalise its shareholding to that of the Aditya Birla Group over the following five-year period.

Vodafone Group CEO Vittorio Colao had on Wednesday said that the company expects the merger to close in August.

"In India, where competition remains intense, we have now received conditional approval from the Department of Telecoms for the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, which we aim to close before the end of August, allowing us to unlock substantial synergies," Colao had said.Faced with a clutter of coffee houses and cafes that also serve the brew, the chain that has 119 stores in seven cities in India is looking at ways to differentiate its brand from the rest.



Photograph: Junko Kimura/Getty Images

Will a nitrogen gas-infused cup of coffee pique the interest of the coffee drinking consumer in India, especially the young millennial who hunts down a new cafe to take her custom to every day?

The worlds largest coffee house Starbucks, which has a joint venture in India with the Tatas, is hoping it will.

Faced with a clutter of coffee houses and cafes that also serve the brew, the chain that has 119 stores in seven cities in India is looking at ways to differentiate its brand from the rest.

As a first step, it has lined up an innovative mix of coffee brews that it hopes will attract the adventurous and novelty-seeking coffee drinker.

It has just unveiled the Nitro Cold Brew at select outlets across metros such as Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru and Kolkata, which it expects will generate excitement and bring in customers looking for more than just another place to hang out at.



Photograph: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

The brew is just one of many that the cafe chain is quietly rolling out at its stores.

Driving the latest round of menu-led innovations to the brand is the fact that the coffee retail market in the country is getting increasingly competitive and the need for differentiation is growing.

For the Starbucks team in India, the different brewing techniques are going to be the biggest brand differentiator.

Some stores include a state-of-the-art manual espresso machine that ensures coffee is smooth and consistent. Or a coffee derived from a vacuum process that flows through glass chambers and uses a halogen light bulb as a heating source.

One more brewing technique is called Chemex that uses an hour glass-shaped vessel made of high-quality and heat-resistant glass.

The coffee flows through special filters that remove oils and solids to produce a clean brew.

Starbucks is investing significantly in these techniques, hoping to produce innovative flavours and drinks that not only generate word of mouth, but also allow for premium pricing.

The brand is also using this as lever online to draw the attention of millennial cafe goers, an audience most cafe chains including Starbucks chase aggressively.

Veetika Deoras, head, marketing, category and digital, Tata Starbucks, says millennials are excited about new and interesting flavours and introducing new brewing techniques helps catch their attention.



Photograph: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters

Innovation, she says, is at the heart of what Starbucks does.

But given the commoditisation that coffee and the drinking experience has seen in recent times, experts say coffee chains have no other choice if they wish to increase footfalls and revenue.

The challenge with cafe chains in general is the similarity in service, ambience and delivery, which is also visible in quick-service restaurants, for instance, says N Chandramouli, chief executive officer, TRA, which comes out with the annual Brand Trust Report.

The only way out is differentiation either in product, pricing or bringing in greater variety in terms of offerings.

"Cafe chains are slowly beginning to realise this as the pressure grows to improve sales, he says.

Cafe Coffee Day, the countrys largest coffee chain, for instance, drives affordability aggressively with its service, something that has allowed it to penetrate the market well with over 1,700 stores (as of March 31, 2018).



Photograph: Marcus R Donner/Reuters

The plan is to open 130-135 stores this year at an investment of Rs 40 lakh per store, VG Siddhartha, chairman and managing director, Coffee Day Enterprises, said in May.

McCafe, which is part of the McDonalds umbrella, has an innovative food and beverage menu on offer owing to the shop-in-shop format of its cafes.

Simply put, consumers walking into a McDonalds store in Mumbai, for instance, can also pick up interesting coffees or drinks at the McCafe counter nearby.

The result is a win-win combination that helps both brands, sector analysts said.

Amit Jatia, vice chairman, Westlife Development, which runs McDonalds and McCafe restaurants in the west and south of India, said earlier that the company had doubled sales of McCafes in the 2017-18 financial year and that the firm expected to keep its pace of growth in the current financial year as well.

As of March 31, 2018, there were 149 McCafes, which will be expanded further in the coming quarters, he added.

Pushing ahead



Photograph: Aly Song/Reuters

Starbucks is definitely under pressure to grow faster, according to industry analysts.

It was launched two years before McCafe was introduced in India in 2014, but lags the latter in terms of number of stores.

Tata Starbucks executives however have maintained that the pace of store launches will be determined by the availability of quality real estate at the right price and that growth for growths sake is not on its agenda.

This acquires even more significance given the struggles faced by brands such as Barista and Costa Coffee in India.



Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters

The latter have scaled down operations in the last few years owing to lack of profitability in the business.

The size of the cafe chain market in India is estimated at Rs 18-19 billion in size, with year-on-year growth pegged at 10 per cent per annum.

A joint report by the National Restaurant Association of India and Technopak says that cafe chains as a market could touch around Rs 29-30 billion by 2021.

Innovations then are a clear hook for Starbucks, which it hopes will nudge consumers to spend more.The Centre has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the alleged misuse of data of India's Facebook users by British political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica, Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

In a significant move ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Prasad said the probe by the CBI will determine whether Cambridge Analytica violated the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Indian Penal Code.

The data mining and analysis firm earlier faced allegations it used personal information harvested from 87 million Facebook accounts to help Donald Trump win the 2016 United States presidential election.

As members in the Upper House expressed concern over social media platforms being used to spread rumours and fake news, Prasad also said the government has asked them to provide technological solutions so that verified fake news and provocative messages can be filtered.

Cambridge Analytica is at the centre of a storm in the country over alleged breach of Facebook user data seeking information about its clients in India and whether it had harvested their user profiles.

The controversy had triggered a war of words between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.

Prasad while responding to the concerns by members during a calling attention notice on the misuse of social media and propagation of fake news causing unrest and violence referred to the reported breach at Facebook where the data of a large number of users were allegedly compromised by Cambridge Analytica.

He said notices were immediately issued to the two companies and their response sought.

"Facebook responded that they will streamline their internal processes regarding handling of personal data. They stated that the case of Cambridge Analytica was a case of breach of trust. They promised to take various other steps to ensure that such breaches do not recur," Prasad said.

However, he said, Cambridge Analytica gave an initial response that data of Indians was not breached but this was not in conformity with what was reported by Facebook. Cambridge Analytica also did not respond to a subsequent notice.

"The Government has entrusted this issue to be investigated by the CBI for possible violation of Information Technology Act, 2000 and IPC," Prasad said, adding it is suspected that Cambridge Analytica may have been involved in illegally obtaining data of Indians which could be misused.

He said there were also reports that user data was 'illegally accessed by hardware manufacturers who had tie-ups with Facebook. In regard to this issue, Facebook has reported that they are not aware of any misuse of information, including Indian users' information'.

Prasad also said that the Centre will strengthen the legal framework to ensure that significant social media and instant messaging service providers targeting Indian users, do not deprive them of the right to hold proceedings in India and protecting Indian laws, the Electronics and Information Technology minister said.

He said the government was seriously considering appropriate rules requiring all social media platforms to locate their grievance officers in India.

"The duty of such grievance officer should cover not only to receive grievances on real time basis but also to inform law enforcement agencies," Prasad said.

Earlier, members including Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad had raised serious concern over the incidents relating to abuse of social media leading to mob lynchings, with some of them even accusing the government of inaction.

In his response, Prasad said, "These (incidents) are deeply painful and regrettable, as well as a matter of deep concern for the Government. The Government has taken prompt action".

However, he said 'a challenge has emerged (but) in its wake, we cannot abolish the existence of social media. India has emerged as a digital power. Even a common Indian is armed with the power of information and can raise questions'.

"We should see both aspects. Social media is helping many students, small groups are exchanging information, farmers are using it. We need to introspect if you question the relevance of social media," he said.

He said the government planned to issue directives in public interest requiring all social media platforms to ensure that they 'do not become vehicles for promoting hatred, terrorism, money laundering, mob violence and rumour mongering'.

These platforms should provide technological solutions so that verified fake news and provocative messages can be filtered by technical solutions.

They should also 'bring in a more effective mechanism for receiving grievances and report to the law enforcement agencies. They should seek to provide the facility of verifying fake news on the platform itself', he said.

Observing that the government does not regulate content appearing on social networking platforms, Prasad said these platforms however are required to follow due diligence in accordance with the Information Technology Act and the Rules.

"They (social networking platforms) have also to follow Article 19(2) of the Constitution and ensure that their platforms are not used to commit and provoke terrorism, extremism, violence and crime," he said.A United States Congresswoman has claimed that China has 'quietly resumed' its activities in the Doklam area and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade it, an assertion that was denied by New Delhi on Thursday.

Congresswoman Ann Wagner made the claim during a Congressional hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee for Asia and the Pacific. During the hearing, she posed a question to a State Department official, Alice G Wells, on Beijing's actions in the Himalayan region and compared them with its manoeuvres in the disputed South China Sea.

Tensions between India and China reached their peak during a 73-day standoff in Doklam near Bhutan over Beijing's construction of a road in the area. The standoff ended after both sides agreed to disengage, and there have been no confirmed or official reports of China resuming any activities since then.

"Although both countries backed down, China has quietly resumed its activities in Doklam and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade it. China's activities in the Himalayas remind me of its south China Sea policies. How should our failure to respond to the militarisation of the South China Sea inform the international response to these Himalayan border disputes?" Wagner asked.

Wager did not elaborate on her claim of China resuming its activities.

In her response, Wells, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, did not directly refer to Doklam, but told Wagner and other lawmakers: "I would assess that India is vigorously defending its northern borders and this (the situation at the northern borders) is a subject of concern to India."

Wells said US looks to the Indo-Pacific strategy put forward by the Trump administration in light of the 'South China Sea's Strategy', a reference to China's aggressive claims of sovereignty over all of South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims.

"How do we maintain the region to be open, to have maritime security, to not have militarisation that would imperil the 70 per cent of global trade?" Wells said.

"We need to do that by giving authority to sovereign nations to have choices in how they develop, to have choices in their partnerships," Wells said.

In New Delhi, Minister of State for External Affairs Ministry V K Singh told Rajya Sabha on Thursday that there have been no new developments at the site of the face-off with China in Doklam and its vicinity, and status quo prevails in the area.

"Since the disengagement of Indian and Chinese border personnel in the Doklam area on August 28, 2017, there have been no new developments at the faceoff site and its vicinity. The status quo prevails in this area," Singh said in a written reply to a question on whether China has constructed new roads in the southern part of the Doklam Plateau.

In a statement later, Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Raveesh Kumar repeated Singh's comments.

Although the Congressional hearing was to discuss the Trump administration's budget request for the financial year 2019 for South Asia, the sub-committee chairman, Congressman Ted Yoho, raised the issue of China's aggressive posture in South Asia.

"What are your thoughts on what is the best way to counter China in that region?" Yoho asked.

The US should not be seeking to compete with China dollar for dollar, Wells responded.

She added that instead of a state lending on terms that may not be to the benefit of countries or their citizens, the US and its companies are providing USD 850 billion in foreign direct investment in the region, which is far more than what has been injected by China.

"We're trying to gather like-minded countries who can bring resources to the table, who can coordinate assistance and an effort so as to provide countries with meaningful alternatives," Wells said.Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh presented himself before the police in Bhopal on Thursday and dared them to arrest him, a week after Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan termed his actions as 'anti-national'.

The police, however, told the former chief minister that he could not be arrested as there was no case registered against him.

Singh, accompanied by hundreds of party workers holding banners and placards against Chouhan, marched for around one km from the party's state office to T T Nagar police station.

Talking to PTI later, the Congress leader's son Jaivardhan, who also accompanied him, said: "Police handed over a letter to my father that read- 'No criminal case or complaint of sedition against Digvijay Singh has been lodged in T T Nagar police station as per the records'."

Talking to reporters outside the police station, Digvijay Singh said, "I have a letter from the police... Chouhan, who is holding a constitutional post, is telling 'lies'. I am going to drag him to court for calling me a traitor."

"I am going to seek the opinion of lawyers to file a complaint against Chouhan soon," he added.

"I directly accuse Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his family of being guilty in (multi-crore admission and recruitment racket) Vyapam. If he has the courage, he should lodge a defamation case," Singh said as he dared Chouhan.

Singh had announced last week that as the Bharatiya Janata Party government dubs him anti-national, he would go to the T T Nagar police station on July 26 and that the police should

arrest him.

In a letter to the chief minister, Singh had said: "I have taken a oath to follow the Constitution. So I have decided to present myself before the law to protect the unity and integrity of India....I would present myself at T T Nagar Police Station.

"Meanwhile, submit the evidence of my being anti-national to your administration so that they can file a case and arrest me," he had said.

Chouhan had earlier slammed Singh for 'visiting the homes of slain terrorists' and talking about "Hindu terrorism".

"Many times, such acts of Digvijayji seem anti-national," Chouhan had told a press conference at Satna on July 19.Deputy CM Manish Sisodia says it's the 'biggest failure of our system'.

IMAGE: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia with an official meets the mother of three girls who allegedly died of malnutrition at Mandawali, in New Delhi, on Thursday. Photograph: PTI Photo

Two days after three girls died in east Delhi's Mandawali area due to 'starvation', Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the deaths due to 'poverty and illness' was the 'biggest failure of our system'.

Sisodia said he has asked the Directorate of Integrated Child Development Services to submit details of the officials responsible for keeping records of the people living in the area, and fix accountability.

The girls, aged eight, four and two years, were brought to a hospital by their mother and a friend at around 1 pm on Tuesday, and the hospital authorities informed police about their deaths.

According to the initial post-mortem report, the girls died due to 'malnourishment/starvation and its complications'.

The three minor sisters were 'visibly malnourished' when they were brought to the hospital, and the autopsy showed that their 'stomachs were empty' as if they had not eaten for over a week, doctors said.

The hospital authorities later declared them brought dead.

"The post-mortem was conducted on Tuesday evening itself, and it was over by 6:30 pm. On Wednesday, they wanted a review, so chemical toxicology was also suggested. And, therefore, a medical board was set up and a second autopsy was conducted at the GTB Hospital," Medical Superintendent of LBS Hospital Dr Amita Saxena said.

Asked what the forensic experts found after the post-mortem, she said, "There were no injury marks. It looked like a typical case of malnutrition, with dishevelled, monkey-like faces and no trace of fat in the bodies."

"The stomach, bladder and rectum were found empty," she said about the post-mortem.

Saxena said the experts did not suspect any foul play, as there was 'no food in the stomach. It was as if they they had not eaten anything for 8-9 days'.

"We wanted a second opinion and be doubly sure, so a second autopsy was done at the GTB Hospital," she said.

"The deaths of these children is tragic and painful," she said.

The deputy chief minister visited the SDM office in east Delhi on Thursday and met the girls' mother, whose mental condition is not good.

"I want to say that be it due to starvation, poverty or illness, it is the biggest failure of our system," Sisodia told reporters.

He directed the planning department of the Delhi government to conduct a complete census of children in the national capital.

Criticising the ICDS, which comes under the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Sisodia said that Integrated Child Development Services was formed to help children reeling under hunger and starvation.

In Delhi, too, there are anganwadi and ICDS officers, and 'our system has failed somewhere', he said.

"I have directed the Directorate of ICDS to submit his report till evening about the officials responsible for keeping records of the people living in the area and fix accountability.

"If the family's details were in the record, what were the officials concerned doing?... I have sought a report from the ICDS," he said.

The ICDS refused to comment on the matter.

The deputy chief minister said it's a very 'shocking incident' and the magisterial inquiry will bring the facts to the fore.

He said the Delhi government has decided to provide Rs 25,000 to the family.

"I have been told that the girls ate food on Monday... The mother is admitted to a hospital. The best medical treatment will be provided to her. The government will provide all possible help to the family," he said.

Asked whether the government failed to provide ration to the family, Sisodia said, "In view of complaints about theft of ration, we are implementing the doorstep delivery of ration scheme which was being opposed by the L-G and the BJP."

"The easy way to stop ration theft is the doorstep delivery of ration," he added.

Meanwhile, the Centre has ordered an inquiry into the deaths, Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Thursday.

"We have ordered an enquiry into the matter," the consumer affairs, food and public distribution minister said today.

Police have also formed teams to trace the father of the three girls, a senior officer said.

The girls' father, a casual labourer, had left on the morning of July 24 for finding work and has not returned.

Police are on the lookout for him and he will be questioned in connection with the matter, he said.

A political slugfest broke out on Thursday over the deaths, with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government attacking the Arvind Kejriwal dispensation for the incident.

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has sought a report by Friday from Delhi Police and the district administration in connection with the deaths.

The Commission has issued notices to the Manadavali police station Station House Officer and the Sub-divisional Magistrate of Preet Vihar (East District). It has also sought a factual report along with complete details of circumstances that led to the deaths along with the health status of the parents.

In its notice to the police, the women's panel has asked for a status report on the investigation and a copy of the post-mortem.

"The incident is extremely shocking and tragic. The Commission has instituted an inquiry into the matter," the notice said.

Raising the matter in Lok Sabha, BJP leaders from Delhi -- Ramesh Bidhuri, Parvesh Verma and Maheish Girri -- alleged there was a 'ration scam' in Delhi that was stopping subsidised grains from reaching the poor.

The area where the tragedy occurred falls in the constituency of Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister, Bidhuri said while attacking the Aam Aadmi Party government.

Congress' Deepender Hooda said both the city government and the Union government were to be blamed for the deaths.

During the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Bahujan Samaj Party leader Satish Chandra Mishra sought to know whether the government has taken note of the serious incident.

Minister of State for Planning Rao Inderjit Singh said the incident was a very 'unfortunate' but it needed to be seen under what circumstances the deaths took place and whether starvation was the reason.

Congress leader Anand Sharma said it was a very serious matter and the Rajya Sabha members would seek a discussion on the issue.

Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken visited the area and said the incident raises several questions as to what happened to the 'Aam Aadmi canteen' that was announced with much fanfare and if the girl went to school, why did she not get the midday meal.

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said it is a matter of 'shame' for the AAP government and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal that three little girls died due to hunger in Delhi.IMAGE: BRICS leaders at the Summit in Johannesburg on Thursday. Photograph: @MEAPhotogallery/Flickr

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday highlighted the importance of industrial technology, skill development and multilateral cooperation in creating a better world as he attended the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit in Johannesburg.

Speaking at the summit, Modi said the new industrial technology and digital interface that the world is building is an opportunity and also a challenge.

Modi, who arrived in Johannesburg on Wednesday to attend the BRICS Summit, said technological innovations can help to enhance better service delivery, productivity levels.

New systems and products will open new ways of economic progress, he said.

'At the session with fellow BRICS leaders, I shared my thoughts on various global issues, the importance of technology, skill development and how effective multilateral cooperation creates a better world,' Modi tweeted after his address.

He said India wants to work with BRICS nations on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and called for sharing the best practices and policies in the area.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is the fourth major industrial era since the initial Industrial Revolution of the 18th century. It is characterised by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital and biological spheres.

"A welcome result of Industry 4.0 will be more close contact. The world will be flatter for those who can benefit from it. Many disadvantaged classes will be able to take big leap across the many sectors of technology and development," he said.

He said nations must think seriously about the consequences of the fourth industrial revolution in the technology world, which would have a far-reaching impact on the public and economy of the countries.

"India wants to work collectively along with BRICS nations in the area of Fourth Industrial Revolution and all nations must share the best practices and policies on this," the prime minister said.

"Compliance with laws, the example of better delivery by direct payment technology to beneficiaries of social security and government schemes," he said.

He said the Fourth Industrial Revolution will have more importance than the capital.

"High-skill but temporary work will be the new face of employment. There will be radical changes in industrial production, design, and manufacturing," Modi said.

He also underlined the need for schools and universities to create the curriculum so that they can prepare the youth for the future.

Modi also met South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and the two leaders discussed ways to expand the bilateral ties in a number of sectors, including trade and investment, IT and defence.

Following the delegation-level talks between Modi and Ramaphosa, three MoUs were signed on cooperation in exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, setting up of Gandhi-Mandela Centre of specialisation for artisan skills and agricultural research and education.

'Kicking off a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of BRICS! PM Narendra Modi meets the host South African President Cyril Ramaphosa,' External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet.

India and South Africa are celebrating 21 years of strategic partnership.

"India and South Africa are proud inheritors of legacies of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela," Kumar said.

"PM Narendra Modi and President Cyril Ramaphosa discussed expansion of our relationship in trade and investment, agriculture and food processing, IT, defence and people-to-people contacts," he said.The Indian Army is capable of meeting any contingency or challenge along the Line of Control with Pakistan or the Line of Actual Control with China, a top commander said on Thursday.

IMAGE: Northern Army Commander Lt General Ranbir Singh salutes marytrs at the Kargil War Memorial in Drass. Photograph: @NorthernComd_IA/Twitter

He said the modernisation of armed forces was going on in a big way which had improved operational preparedness.

He also described the situation in Kashmir as stable but fragile.

"I can tell you that Indian Army is fully prepared to take on any challenge along the Line of Actual Control and even along the Line of Control," Northern Army Commander Lt General Ranbir Singh told reporters in Drass after paying tributes to the 1999 Kargil conflict heroes.

In the last 19 years, as far as the modernisation of the armed forces is concerned, it is going on in a big way, he said.

"We have been able to identify certain areas where we required additional focus -- whether it in the form of infrastructure development close to the LoC or even on the LAC or improvement of night vision capability, surveillance capability, night fighting capability. There is a substantial improvement that has taken place in so far as ops preparedness of the armed forces is concerned," he said.

Singh downplayed incidents of transgression along the LAC by the People's Liberation Army of China saying these happened due to differing perception.

"On a large number of occasions, there are reports that the PLA of China has carried out transgressions in various areas along the LAC. But such transgressions have always taken place in areas where we have differing perception of the LAC. We do not have a delineated LAC. Similarly, when we speak to Chinese authorities, they also refer to us having transgressed into their territory on several occasions," he added.

The army commander said there were well-established working mechanisms in place to resolve issues.

"We have got very well established mechanisms -- whether it is hot-lines between the forward posts or flag meetings which we do or border personnel meetings. At the higher level we have got a working mechanism for consultation and coordination for border affairs. At the highest level we have special representatives of both the countries who discuss issues related to the resolution of boundary dispute and each of these mechanisms is effective," Singh said.

We have been able to use these mechanisms to our advantage and have been able to resolve all, even very very tricky and touchy issues, with tranquillity and have been able to resolve them well to meet the aspirations of the Indian army and PLA of China, he added.

Lt Gen Singh refused to be drawn into the post-election scenario in Pakistan, where Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party was emerging as the single largest party, saying it should be left to the authorities and people of Pakistan on how they handle the challenges inside their country.

"But with regard to the challenges to Indian Army along the LoC, I want to tell you that Indian army is prepared for any contingency. Any kind of movement, any kind of misadventure which our adversary tries to undertake, they will be given a befitting reply as always. So, be very very sure that the army is fully trained, we are equipped and motivated and always prepared to take on any contingency," he said.

Referring to the post-Kargil war political developments in Pakistan, the army commander said they "did not affect our preparations".

On the situation in Kashmir, he said it was stable but fragile.

"The situation in Kashmir is stable. However, it is fragile. The violence parameters which we have seen in 2018 are relatively better as compared to 2017 and earlier years. The stone-pelting activities are relatively less this year. That shows an understanding and comprehension in the minds of the local youth that it is futile to come out and carry out stone pelting on government agencies and security forces," he said.

They need to understand that it is the dividend of peace that needs to be exploited, he added expressing confidence that things were moving in that direction.

Lt Gen Singh said the situation deteriorates for sometime whenever Pakistan pushes in funds, weapons or militants.

"Some incidents do take place which act as triggers to spoil and vitiate the entire security situation. This essentially happens because of the nefarious designs of our adversary across the LoC. Whenever an impetus in terms of weapons, funds or pushing in Pakistan-trained terrorists is done, then obviously the situation deteriorates for some time but overall today the situation is stable. Security forces are in full control and should be able to handle any of the contingency that arises," he said.Spelling trouble for Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, the Madras high court on Wednesday directed an anti-graft body to complete a preliminary probe "as expeditiously as possible" into a complaint lodged against him for amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income.

The matter pertains to a complaint lodged by the Opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam member of Parliament MP R S Bharathi with the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption in March, on behalf of his party.

When the matter came up before Justice Jayachandran, advocate general Vijay Narayan, who appeared on behalf of the state government, said as per a circular dated July 18, a preliminary inquiry has been ordered based on the information furnished by Bharathi.

Justice G Jayachandran disposed of the petitions filed by Bharathi and another one by the non-governmental organisation 'Arappor Iyakkam' represented by Jairam Venkatesh seeking a direction to the DVAC to probe the complaint.

"...The inquiry has to be completed as expeditiously as possible...," the judge said.

"In so far as other petition by Arappor Iyakkam is concerned, the information furnished will be taken note of in the case of investigation," Justice Jayachandran said.

In his petition, Bharathi alleged that the senior All India Anna DMK leader had amassed wealth by abusing his power gained unlawfully and invested the same in companies and properties either in his name or that of his "benamis".

He alleged that for this purpose, Panneerselvam had made false declarations before the income tax authorities and election officials.

Alleging that the DVAC had not acted on his complaint till date, the petitioner said the high court had already made it clear that when a complaint was given against a public servant, the vigilance department had to look into it directly and that no prior sanction was needed.

Referring to the various plots of land owned by Panneerselvam, the petitioner alleged that in his election affidavit he had not disclosed details of the plots and the income earned from them, which has to be investigated.

Land valued at more than Rs 140 crore was leased out to benamis of OPS, the petitioner alleged.

He also alleged that Panneerselvam's son was a director in many companies and they had purchased several acres of land worth over Rs 68 crore.

Bharathi sought a direction to the DVAC to register a case and investigate the complaint against the deputy chief minister.

The court had earlier asked the anti-graft body to explain why no probe was initiated even three months after a complaint was lodged against Panneerselvam.

It also sought to know why a Central Bureau of Investigation probe should not be ordered into the allegations against the AIADMK leader.IMAGE: Police personnel escort children out of a government-funded shelter, in Muzaffarpur. Photograph: PTI Photo

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into the alleged sexual exploitation of girls at a state-funded shelter home in Muzaffarpur district.

Terming the incident "deplorable", the decision to handover the case to the CBI was taken to prevent rumour-mongering in the state, an official release said.

Medical examinations of 29 of the 42 shelter home inmates confirmed that they were sexually exploited, state Director General of Police K S Dwivedi had said.

"Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has directed the chief secretary, director general of police and principal secretary, home to immediately hand over the case to the CBI," it said.

"A deplorable incident has taken place in Muzaffarpur, where the police has been carrying out a diligent investigation. Although the government was committed to conducting an impartial probe, the decision for handing over the probe to the CBI has been taken to dispel the 'bhram ka vatavaran' (environment of rumours) that was being created," the release said.

Opposition parties in the state, while demanding a CBI inquiry, had alleged that the state government was baulking at handing over the matter to the central agency as it wanted to "shield" some of the key accused who were said to be close to the ruling dispensation.Extremist and banned groups, including Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-backed Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek, have failed miserably in Pakistan's general elections despite their massive campaign.

Hundreds of individuals linked with hardline and banned groups were competing in the polls but so far, according to the unofficial results, none of them was seen as winning a seat in the national or provincial assemblies.

Only few could garner a respectable number of votes including Maulana Muhammad Ahmad Ludhianvi whose name was removed from a banned list called Fourth Schedule ahead of election and allowed to contest, inviting international backlash.

Geo TV reported that Ludhianvi received more than 45,000 votes but was nowhere close to the victory.

Before the elections, concerns have been raised in the country over the participation of hardline Islamist groups in large numbers.

Mili Muslim League linked with Saeed fielded dozens of candidates from the Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek as it was denied recognition by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

Saeed himself led the campaign by addressing several rallies but his candidates were not seen anywhere near victory.

Hafiz Talha Saeed, the son of Saeed, contested from NA-91 seat from Sargodha (about 200-km from Lahore), the home town of the Jamaat-ud Dawa leader.

Saeed's son-in-law, Khalid Waleed, was a candidate in PP-167.

Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), a Sunni sectarian group, fielded more than 100 candidates but none of them came closer to victory, according to unofficial results so far.

Mutahida Majlis-e-Aml (MMA) was the biggest religious alliance of several leading parties was leading on only eight seats of national assembly despite massive campaign by its leader which included influential Maulana Fazlur Rehman.IMAGE: Vehicles ply at waterlogged Greater Noida Expressway during rains in Noida. Photograph: PTI Photo

Heavy rains lashed Delhi on Thursday, contributing to waterlogging and traffic snarls at various places in the city.

Traffic was severely affected due to heavy rains in the national capital today with waterlogging contributing to chaos at various intersections.

According to traffic police officials, vehicular movement was affected at the Vivek Vihar underpass, the Seema Puri underpass and under the Ghazipur flyover.

IMAGE: Vehicles wade through a waterlogged road on NH-24 during the rainfall in New Delhi. Photograph: Ravi Choudhary/PTI Photo

"Traffic is also affected from Narayana T Point to Loha Mandi due to water logging on the Girdhari Lal Goswami Marg in west Delhi. Commuters should avoid the stretch," an official said.

Traffic was reported to be affected from Apsara border to Shahdara, Seema Puri to Apsara border and Khaira Mor to Bahardurgarh bus stand in Najafgarh.

IMAGE: A view of the traffic chaos at Gazipur Murga Mandi underpass on the National Highway- 24 during rains, in east Delhi. Photograph: Ravi Choudhary/PTI Photo

There was obstruction in traffic from Lal Kuan in south Delhi to Badarpur due to water logging.

The traffic police also issued advisories with alternate routes on its Twitter handle for motorists.

IMAGE: A pedestrian walks across a waterlogged street in New Delhi. Photograph: Arun Sharma/PTI Photo

Heavy rains lashed the city overnight and continued till the morning.

The weatherman has predicted more rainfall during the day.

IMAGE: Traffic jam at Greater Noida Expressway. Photograph: PTI Photo

"The maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to hover at 31 and 26 degrees Celsius respectively," the MeT official added.The West Bengal Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution to rename the state as 'Bangla', but the process for final approval will be long drawn requiring an amendment to the Constitution.

The move is aimed at climbing the alphabetical sequence of state names in which West Bengal appears last in the list now, according the state officials.

The resolution said the state will be called Bangla in three languages -- Bengali, English and Hindi.

State Education Minister Partha Chatterjee moved the resolution in the House which was unanimously passed.

The state Bharatiya Janata Party, however, later said that it was in favour of renaming West Bengal as 'Paschim Bango' (West Bengal) and not 'Bangla'.

The Centre had in the past rejected the state government's proposal of having three names -- Bangla (in Bengali), Bengal (in English) and Bangal (in Hindi).

The Mamata Banerjee government's move to rename West Bengal as 'Paschim Bango' in 2011 was also turned down by the Centre.

She told the Assembly, "There were detailed discussions on the name change many times. Last time, it was discussed on August 29, 2016. The Union home ministry did not act on our proposal of changing the name for two years. Subsequently, I had personally requested the Union home minister."

The chief minister said, "The home ministry told us that three names cannot be approved and we have to choose any one name for our state and pass another resolution in the Assembly."

When the fresh proposal comes to the home ministry, it will prepare a note for the Union Cabinet for an amendment to the Schedule 1 of the Constitution, officials said in Delhi.

After that, the Constitution amendment bill will be introduced in Parliament, which has to approve it with a simple majority, before the President gives his assent to it, they said.

Banerjee said that the name 'Bangla' was chosen as 'it is the identity of Bengal'.

"We cannot say Bangal because it will be a problem for non-Hindi speaking people," she said.

"So many states have changed their names. There was talk about renaming the state during the Left Front rule. We too had taken a decision earlier. I do not want to go into any controversy. Rather, I would say that let us pass the resolution unanimously and send it to the Centre for its approval," she said.

Bengali is the fifth most-spoken language in the world, she said and referred to the International Mother Language Day.

BJP member and state party chief Dilip Ghosh, who was present in the House, did not participate in the discussion.

He told reporters later that the name 'Paschim Bango' is connected with the memory of the Partition and 'the word 'Bango' is included in our national anthem'.

"There is no justification to rename the state only because it will help in climbing the alphabetical sequence of state names. You have to work to take the state forward," he said.

Eminent personalities in the state, however, welcomed the Trinamool Congress government's move to rename the state as 'Bangla'.

Film director Goutam Ghosh expressed happiness over the passage of the resolution and said the name Paschim Bango had reference to the Partition.

"It rekindles the painful memory of migration and leaving behind one's residence and property, one's place of birth and growing up," he said. The new name will leave behind that past, Ghosh, who had directed a film on the Partition a few years ago, said.

"It will enable Bengalis to think they have a state of their own. Like the way the people in Bangladesh feel that the Bengalis have a country of their own," he said.

Veteran actor Soumitra Chatterjee said while the name 'Paschim Bango' had been in use for a long time after Independence, the new name 'Bangla is all right'.

"I have no problem if our state is known as Bangla from now on," the Dada Saheb Phalke award winner said. Popular Bengali writer Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay said, "We all had been asking for this for long."

"Feeling happy as this is what I wanted. We all had known this place as Bangla since our childhood days. Hence, renaming it after the Partition as West Bengal was totally illogical," Mukhopadhyay said.

"By renaming it as Bangla, we are retaining the tradition and the long history of this region," he said.Reflections of Nature Have you ever been surprised to see a tree that appeared as if someone had tied yellow ribbons on its bare branches? Witch-hazel blossoms in the fall, to cure...

Seen N Heard The PA State Police are asking residents to be on the lookout for a suspicious vehicle that was following a Northeast Bradford school bus on the North Rome Road area...Oil prices were trading higher for a third straight session on Thursday after data showed a fall in U.S. inventories and Saudi Arabia said it would "temporarily halt" all oil shipments through the strategic Red Sea shipping lane of Bab al-Mandeb.

Brent crude futures were up 52 cents or 0.73 percent at $74.42 a barrel after rising 0.7 percent in the previous session.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 13 cents at $69.391 a barrel after climbing over 1 percent on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, said it suspended all shipments through the strategic Red Sea shipping lane of Bab al-Mandeb after Yemeni Houthi rebels attacked two big oil tankers on Wednesday morning, one of which sustained minimal damage.

Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih said all oil exports through the southern Red Sea would be halted until the situation becomes clearer and the maritime transit through Bab al-Mandeb is safe.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Information Administration report showed that U.S. crude inventories fell to their lowest levels since February 2015 in the week to July 20, helping ease recent worries about oversupply.

Crude inventories fell 6.1 million barrels, compared with analyst expectations for a decrease of 2.3 million barrels.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Market AnalysisThe Swiss stock market ended Thursday's session with a significant increase. The strong performance of defensive heavyweights Nestle and Roche helped to drive gains.

Investors were also encouraged after U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker agreed to work for zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies on non-auto goods at their meeting yesterday.

The Swiss Market Index increased 1.33 percent Thursday and finished at 9,139.47. The Swiss Leader Index climbed 1.17 percent and the Swiss Performance Index added 1.21 percent.

Nestle rallied 1.9 percent after reporting a rise in first-half profit and confirming its full year 2018 outlook.

Roche advanced 1.5 percent after it raised its full year forecast. The company reported better than expected results for the first half of the year.

Novartis also finished higher by 1.5 percent.

Sika jumped 1.9 percent after its profit for the first half of the year exceeded expectations.

ABB increased 2 percent and Swisscom climbed 1.8 percent. Lonza rose 1.5 percent and Lafargeholcim closed higher by 1.4 percent.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Market AnalysisBy SA Commercial Prop News

Polokwane Mayor Freddy Greaverr, Sam Mabotja and Jannie Moolman at the turning of the first sod on the 15000 square metre shopping centre in Seshego outside Limpopo's capital Polokwane.



An official sod turning ceremony for the 15000 square metre shopping centre in Seshego outside Limpopo's capital Polokwane, was held on Wednesday 14th November 2012.

The construction of a R200 million mall in Seshego outside Limpopo's capital is set to boost job opportunities and lessen transport costs for shoppers, says Polokwane mayor Freddy Greaver.

The centre, which will house 35 shops, 70% of which had already been "pre-let," would also boast a medical centre and banks.

Greaver was speaking during the sod turning ceremony to mark the construction of the mall, which is expected to be completed by October next year.



We are fully behind the development as the shopping mall will serve as an economic growth facility. It will cut down transport expenses for the local members of the community who currently spend large amounts of their income for travelling to work and to do shopping in town, said Greaver.



He said the development would also assist the unemployed members of the community of Seshego and its outskirts to get jobs.



Following construction of the Mall of the North, City Centre and Makro Polokwane in recent years, the Moolman Group had partnered with local businessmen Jaco Nel and Sam Mabotja to develop the new mall.



The new shopping centre is situated at the confluence of Nelson Mandela and Polokwane Drive, which are the two arterial roads connecting Seshego with Polokwane hence the name Seshego Circle Shopping Centre.



Moolman Group director Pieter Beyers said the shopping centre would have about 35 shops, including banks and restaurants.



It would be a community-based facility that would primarily cater for the needs of the Seshego community.



It will also serve some outlying areas like Makgofe, Mabokelele and Mmotong. A 15 000-square metre shopping centre would be anchored by the 3 500-square metre Shoprite Supermarket and 2500-square metre Cambridge Foods Supermarket, he said.



Industrialist developer Janie Moolman said the shopping centre would create 400 employment opportunities during the construction phase and is expected to create around 300 permanent jobs for the community.



"A large amount of these jobs will be for the people of Seshego and surrounding areas," he said.



Community member, Isaac Matlala, 37, said he was happy that the contractors did not look any further when employing workers but focused on his township.



"I am very happy that we will have our mall just around the corner and many people will get jobs. We travel a long distance to Polokwane for shopping but now we will spend less on transport costs, Matlala said.Massive delays in counting and allegations of rigging dominated the early hours of Thursday in Pakistan, where official poll results were still awaited even 15 hours after voting ended.

Preliminary results indicate Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) has obtained a clear edge over other parties with 119 in their

kitty as unofficial results continue to pour in.



Although PTI workers and supporters started celebrations before the final results, no statement -- or even a tweet -- has

been issued by the former cricker himself on the victory.



His spokesperson Naeemul Haque, however, tweeted that the PTI chief will "address the nation" at 2 p.m. "in celebration

and recognition of the massive support received from the people of Pakistan in the 2018 elections which was a contest

between the forces of good and evil".



In Punjab, with preliminary results from 50 per cent polling stations available with ECP, PML-N is currently holding its lead

on 129 provincial seats but PTI is closing in with a lead on 122 seats.



Imran Khan's party is clearly steering ahead in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa with a lead on 64 seats against Muttahida Majlis-e-

Amal (MMA), which is currently leading on 12 seats, as per reports from 35 per cent polling stations in the province. The preliminary results from 37 per cent polling stations in Sindh show PPP-P leading on 75 seats, followed by PTI on 22

seats.



In Balochistan, Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) is leading on 12 provincial seats, followed by Balochistan National Party

(BNP) on nine seats, based on unofficial results from 35 per cent polling stations.



According to Geo News, Awami National Party leader Ghulam Ahmed Bilour conceded defeat to PTI's Shaukat Ali, his competitor on Peshawar's NA-31 seat, saying: "The results indicate that Imran Khan is a favourite leader of the people of



Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. I am a democratic person and I admit the defeat."



Counting is still going on at the polling stations of different constituencies.



According to PTV news, Imran Khan has maintained a massive lead over PML-N's Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in Islamabad

constituency. The PTI chief was pitted against former Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi in the crucial National Assembly seat.



The voter turnout was recorded at 50-55 per cent of the nearly 106 million electorates, similar to the previous electoral

contest in 2013.



Television visuals showed election workers sorting through massive piles of paper ballots at polling stations across the

country.



Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif at a mid-vote count press conference said his party

rejects the poll results.



In a tweet, he said the party had rejected the results "due to manifest and massive irregularities".



Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also said he had not received any official results from any constituency where he was contesting, despite it being past midnight.





"My candidates (have been) complaining (that) polling agents have been thrown out of polling stations across the country.

Inexcusable and outrageous," he tweeted.



A delay has been reported in the transmission of election results due to the breaking down of the Election Commission of

Pakistan's Results Transmission System (RTS), which is being run through a software powered by National Database and

Registration Authority (Nadra).



The Election Commission's secretary Babar Yaqoob flatly denied allegations of vote count manipulation.



Shortly before Sharif spoke, state television said that just one-fifth of the votes had been counted so far -- an unusually slow

count that further fuelled suspicion of rigging.



Yaqoob said the vote-counting system, which was untested, had "crashed", adding: "There is definitely no conspiracy, no

one wants to influence the results".



A single party will need to bag at least 137 of the directly elected seats to be able to form the government on its own.

As many as 12,570 candidates were in the electoral fray for a total of 849 seats of national and provincial assemblies in the

country's 11th general election.

India and China reiterated their commitment to maintain peace and tranquility along their border by enhancing communications between their militaries during a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the annual BRICS Summit here.

"Both leaders have reaffirmed once again their readiness to give their militaries the necessary directions to enhance communications between them and to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas," Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said at a media briefing here on Thursday evening.



Indian and Chinese troops were in a face-off position for over two months on the Doklam plateau at the India-Bhutan-China tri-junction last year.





The stand-off began in June when Indian troops stalled a road building by the Chinese Army in the area, citing the disputed status of the region and its close proximity to India's artery in the northeast.



New Delhi objected to Chinese road building in Doklam because of the disputed status and its proximity to the Siliguri Corridor which links India's northeast to the rest of the country.



The stand-off ended in August after both sides retreated from the point of the face-off.



Thursday's meeting was the third between Modi and Xi after their informal meeting in Wuhan, China, in April initiated by Xi, and on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Summit (SCO) last month.



During the Wuhan meet, both Modi and Xi pledged to keep the India-China border quiet and personally guide their respective armies to avert a Doklam-like military stand-off in future.



According to Gokhale, during the meeting in Johannesburg, both sides saw "forward movement in the sense of delegations going to have specific talks on imports by China".



He said that a delegation representing the Indian pharmaceutical industry will visit China on August 21-22.



Beijing had given approval to import of generic Indian cancer-treatment drugs earlier this year.



"In addition, a number of Indian mills in the non-Basmati rice sector have been cleared by a Chinese delegation on the grounds of phyosanitary and quarantine requirement," the Indian Foreign Secretary said.



Following the Modi-Xi meeting in Qingdao, the 2006 Protocol on phytosanitary requirements for exporting rice from India to China was amended to include the export of non-Basmati varieties of rice from India.



Gokhale described the bilateral meeting as "very productive".



"The two leaders will meet again on the margins of the G20 Summit in Argentina at the end of this year," he added.



Modi and Xi earlier in the day participated in the 10th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit here.Prime Minister Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi has appealed to policewomen attending a regional conference to use the opportunity to discuss the promotion of gender equality in their police forces.

Opening the 2018 Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police (P.I.C.P.) Womens Advisory Network (W.A.N.) conference yesterday, the Prime Minister congratulated the 21 delegates from throughout the region including Samoa, through the Samoa Police Womens Advisory Network (S.P.W.A.N.).

The women leaders from your police ministries in your respective countries and there are 21 countries represented this morning. I am extremely happy to see this development, development in women. Samoa also contributes very strongly in the promotion of gender equality even within our own public service. There are more women in top positions in the government than men, he said.

Samoa also contributes very strongly in the promotion of gender equality even within our own public service. There are more women in top positions in the government than men.

This conference which you are all a part of is to ensure that there is equality in decision making within the police force, and I congratulate you all for the conference which you are holding and also for pushing gender issues to be promoted in all our respective countries.

Detective Inspector Efo Moalele-Tuua, who represented the Samoa Police Force and is chair of the P.I.C.P. W.A.N., said the summit gave the police forces from throughout the region an opportunity to improve their services and ensure stability and confidence to tackle challenges as well as collaborate.

I hope progress has been made in terms of advancing the purpose of W.A.N. and the fact that we are capable of getting the job done. Our vision is to empower policing women, valued and recognized but especially the safety and security of our pacific communities, she added.

To enhance and support women in policing within the pacific region, we do agree and believe that this conference will act in the integrity, resilience and inclusiveness but also our commitment in the execution of our workers in the police females in the pacific region. It is really important for us women in the police force due to the fact that this is where we encourage all females to become strong not forgetting the gender equity.

The 21 delegates represent police forces from American Samoa, Australia, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

The P.I.C.P. W.A.N. was established in 2003 and represents 21 P.I.C.P. member countries that are female officers. The P.I.C.P. is a non-profit organisation made up of police services in the Pacific and works to improve policing in the Pacific by providing a common voice on law enforcement, providing a forum to share ideas and information on crime and policing, and coordinating training and development activities for our members. The conference will close today.They came, they saw, and they promised to support the childrens welfare at the Campus of Hope, through a partnership.

And since the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints in Samoa had made this commitment to S.V.S.G., the different stakes throughout Upolu and Savaii have been honoring this partnership through visitation, donation and maintenance work at the Campus.

On Saturday, the Stake President Pulotu Lyndon Chu Ling led the youths from the Malie, Tuanai, Faleula and Levi Saleimoa Wards for their usual working bee at the Campus.

Accompanying President Pulotu were Bishop Lucky Passi, Bishop Vaitoa Lealaitafea and Bishop Saeleai.

More than 60 members from the Wards crowded the Campus. While the men did the lawn mowing, the women were sweeping and weeding while others cheered them on.

In no time, the Campus grounds was all cleaned up.

The youth then played some games with the children while the leaders presented donations of bulk food and toiletry supplies as well as the much needed stable food such as taro, banana and coconut for the children.

And before the Wards left the Campus, President Pulotu presented to the youth on violence and its effect on the children ending up at the Campus.

Through engaging the youth of the Church in such community work, President Pulotu hopes that none of them will become a victim or a perpetrator of violence.

The Chair of the S.V.S.G. Board, Georgina Lui, congratulates the L.D.S. Church for remaining true to the partnership with S.V.S.G.

Thank you so much President Pulotu Lyndon Chu Ling and the Bishops from the Malie, Tuanai, Faleula and Levi Saleimoa Wards for coordinating such a tremendous support at the Campus of Saturday. You not only cleaned up the whole compound, but you ensured that the children have ample supplies for their daily needs in the next few weeks.Homes burned as a fast-moving wildfire forced an entire Southern California mountain town to evacuate Wednesday, while tourists emptied from the heart of Yosemite National Park so firefighters could battle a growing blaze nearby.

Authorities ordered residents to leave Idyllwild, home to about 12,000 people, and surrounding forest communities in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles. At least four homes burned as crews used aircraft to attack the flames that quickly burned nearly 5 square miles (12 square kilometers) of dry brush and timber in inaccessible terrain. No injuries were reported.

Officers detained a motorist for questioning after people called 911 to report a suspicious vehicle near the fire's starting point in Riverside County, the California Highway Patrol said.

As his neighbors tried to corral dogs and horses, William Blodgett fled when flames hopped a highway near his home in Idyllwild.

"We were all peeling out of there as fast as we could," he told KNBC-TV. "It was apocalyptic."

The fire is one of several across California amid a statewide heat wave. To the north, in the San Francisco Bay Area, at least one home burned in a fast-moving blaze in Clayton, where houses are spread out around windy roads.

Yosemite Valley, the scenic heart of the national park, was closed at noon Wednesday during the height of tourist season as smoke cast a pall on the region from a fire in the Sierra Nevada. The closure was heartbreaking for travelers, many of whom mapped out their trips months in advance to hike and climb amid the spectacular views of cascading waterfalls and sheer rock faces.

"We had one guest who planned a weeklong trip," said Tom Lambert, who owns a vacation rental property near Yosemite Valley. "It was a father-daughter trip, for her high school graduation ... Now it's done. It's sad." Another guest had to delay plans to climb Half Dome.

The closure has also been a financial blow to Lambert and other businesses that rely on the summer tourist traffic.

Most people left the valley Tuesday, when officials reluctantly announced the closure, park spokesman Scott Gediman said. The remaining campers packed up their gear Wednesday, joining the exodus that has been mostly orderly.

"People have been very understanding," Gediman said.

Officials emphasized that Yosemite wasn't in imminent danger from the fire. Authorities decided on the shutdown to allow crews to perform protective measures such as burning away brush along roadways without having to deal with traffic in the park that welcomes 4 million visitors annually.

On Wednesday, an extended family from Los Angeles on their annual trip to Yosemite prepared to leave the Upper Pines campground.

"Very disappointed," Lisa Salgado said. "We look forward to this all year. This is the trip of our summer."

The group arrived Monday and had planned to stay through Saturday. Instead, they packed tents and other gear into vehicles, hoping they could find another campground elsewhere.

"So, this is a new memory," said Miguel Martinez. "I've never been evacuated before."

Yosemite Valley will be closed until at least Sunday, along with a winding, mountainous, 20-mile (32-kilometer) stretch of California's State Route 41 that leads into the area, Gediman said.

At least 1,000 campground and hotel bookings were canceled  to say nothing of the impact on day visitors, park workers and small businesses along the highway, Gediman said.

The last time the 7.5-mile-long (12-kilometer-long) valley was closed because of fire was 1990, he said.

Lambert and his wife, Theresa Ho, were briefly evacuated last week when smoke cast an unhealthy pall over the home where they live upstairs and rent the downstairs to tourists.

"Basically June, July and August are the big revenue months," he said, estimating that about 100 nearby vacation properties would be forced to offer refunds. "We're gonna lose half of July and half of August probably."

Yosemite Valley is the centerpiece of the visitor experience, offering views of landmarks such as Half Dome, Bridal Veil Fall, El Capitan and Yosemite Falls. The glacial valley has been enveloped by a choking haze of smoke from the Ferguson Fire.

Over nearly two weeks, flames have churned through 60 square miles (155 square kilometers) of timber in steep terrain of the Sierra Nevada just west of the park. The fire was just 25 percent contained.

Mandatory evacuations are in place in several communities while other people have been told to get ready to leave if necessary.

More than 3,300 firefighters are working the fire, aided by 16 helicopters. One firefighter was killed July 14, and six others have been injured.

Gediman suggested valley visitors divert to Tuolumne Meadows, on Yosemite's northern edge, or to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks to the south.

In the state's far north, a 7-square-mile (18-square-kilometer) wildfire has forced the evacuation of French Gulch, a small Shasta County community that dates to the Gold Rush.Thirty-one pre-schoolers from Safaatoa, including six from Faleaseela, Lefaga, now have the opportunity to learn inside proper classrooms.

Whats more, they will look forward to the use of quality playground equipment in the formative years of life.

This is thanks to the Australian High Commissions Direct Aid Program (D.A.P.) who donated $50,000 of the total cost of Meriland Pre-school, which was officially opened yesterday.

With assistance from the Sinaupualofa Foundation, the project cost $69,000.

Member of Parliament for Lefaga and Faleaseela, Toleafoa Ken Poutoa said the project focuses on improving education, welfare and understanding of each child.

We now have the opportunity to provide better educational prospects to nurture the knowledge of our young minds, so that they will have better and brighter futures, Toleafoa said.

I believe that if we all stand together and work as one, we can achieve so many more great things, like they always say united we stand and divided we fall.

But to be exact, if all of us are together as one in heart, then who could ever stand against us.

But we must never forget Gods blessings upon all the works that we do because without him our works would not be possible, he added.

Meriland Preschool Principal, Lemalu Kuinimeri Tamati, said the services their pre-school provides are free, even meals for the children.

I am very determined and keen for our district to cater to any of the young children for early childhood learnings. We offer the chance to any of the kids from nearby villages or districts, to come and bring their kids, Lemalu said.

It has been scientifically proven that a childs young age is the perfect timing to develop their learning skills for education. The target ages we cater to ranges from two and a half to five years old.

A pre-school helps a child to be familiarised at a young age so that the skills implemented will help with future developments in learning. We only have three teachers including myself.

But it is our great belief that each child deserves to learn and grow in love. A young child holds the future of every country, family or even communities. It is our sole responsibility to prepare them for that journey from a young age, she added.

The construction of the pre-school started in June this year. Three months was given by Australian Aid to complete the project, but it was executed within two months.Theres a scratch in Facebooks Teflon coating.

The social networks user base and revenue grew more slowly than expected in the second quarter as the company grappled with privacy issues, sending its stock tumbling after hours.

The company also warned that it expects revenue growth to decelerate in the next couple of quarters as it promotes new, and for now less profitable, products such as its Stories disappearing message feature. It is also allowing users to make more choices around data privacy amid public outcry and regulatory pressures.

The earnings covered the companys first full quarter since the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal erupted. But analysts attributed the user growth shortfall largely to European privacy rules that went into effect in May, not to the furor over the political consulting firm with ties to President Donald Trump, which improperly accessed the data of tens millions of Facebook users.

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Shares sank 17.8 percent to $178.77 in after-hours trading after closing at $217.50. Wednesdays closing price amounts to a 31 percent increase in the past year; earlier in the day, shares hit a record high. While the stock fell modestly after the initial earnings numbers came out, it tumbled more sharply after CFO David Wehner warned of the revenue deceleration during Facebooks earnings conference call.

Still, the results suggest that Facebook may have weathered the scandal without major harm to its business, even if its public image has taken a hit. While revenue fell short of Wall Street estimates, it did so by only about 1 percent; profits, meanwhile exceeded forecasts.

But Facebook continues to grapple with big existential questions, ranging from its users privacy to tech addiction to how it deals with fake news and misinformation, hate speech and extremism on its service.

At times, it has seemed as though Facebook cant quite decide where its values really lie. For instance, it continues to straddle the line between policing what users say and remaining a neutral platform in an increasingly divided world, and between protecting privacy while collecting as much information on its users as possible.

Facebook had 2.23 billion monthly users as of June 30, up 11 percent from a year earlier. Analysts were expecting 2.25 billion, according to FactSet. User growth  both on a monthly and daily basis  was flat in the U.S. and the rest of North America, while it declined slightly in Europe.

Facebook has largely saturated in the U.S. and Western European markets, and is now looking to countries such as Brazil, India and Indonesia for new users. Revenue from these regions, however, is far below what Facebook rakes in from the U.S. and Europe.

The company earned $5.1 billion, or $1.74 per share, up 31 percent and above analysts estimates of $1.71.

But revenue  up 42 percent to $13.23 billion was slightly below the $13.34 that Wall Street was expecting.

Facebook said the European privacy rules, called General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, did not have a big effect on the quarters revenue, but also noted that they were only in effect for about a month before the quarter ended.

Over the long term, GDPR may end up favoring Facebook and other large companies that have the resources to adapt to new requirements. They could similarly disadvantage smaller, lesser known companies that dont have the resources to comply and which could face big fines if they dont.

One bright spot for Facebook has been Instagram, the photo-sharing app it bought for $1 billion in 2012. Instagram now has more than 1 billion users, and analysts expect it to be a model for how Facebook molds its other big app purchase, WhatsApp, into a lucrative business. So far, WhatsApp doesnt show ads, and its founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton left Facebook amid disagreements over advertising and other issues.Four years after approving a plan that charged ratepayers billions of dollars for the premature closing of the San Onofre nuclear plant, state utility regulators adopted a new deal Thursday that trims about $750 million from consumers electricity bills.

By unanimous vote, the California Public Utilities Commission agreed to a new cost-sharing settlement that halts payments by utility customers for the failed power plant as of December 2017.

The decision means that consumers would stop paying the $3.3 billion in San Onofre-related charges imposed on them after a radiation leak shut down the nuclear plant north of Oceanside in 2012.

Under the plan approved by regulators in 2014, those charges were scheduled to persist until 2022.

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The agreement would save more than 6 million homes and businesses an average of about $120 over four years. Ratepayers also could see an actual rebate  most likely reflected as a credit on their bills  for closure costs they paid since December, when the revised settlement was agreed to in principle.

This is a marked improvement from the 2014 decision, CPUC president Michael Picker said just before the vote.

Commissioner Carla Peterman said, Ratepayers deserve closure on this issue.

The new arrangement was negotiated by plant owners Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric after the San Diego area consumer group Citizens Oversight sued Edison and the commission over the 2014 deal.

Its not a 100 percent victory, but it does mean no more bleeding after December 2017, said attorney Michael Aguirre, who represented Citizens Oversight in the litigation.

In a statement, Edison President Ron Nichols said the commission took an important step forward.

The commission made one change to the proposed decision  eliminating a $25 million, stand-alone greenhouse gas research program to be administered by the Cal State University system and funded by utility shareholders.

While the programs goals may be laudable, Picker said, I dont think its appropriate for us to approve.

Parties involved in the case have 10 days to let the CPUC know if they agree with the deletion.

Background on the case

The federal lawsuit that led to the $750 million in savings accused the utilities commission of authorizing an illegal taking of property  consumers cash by way of higher electricity bills  because customers were being charged for a power plant that produced no electricity.

The suit was dismissed by U.S. District Court Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo in 2015, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later agreed to hear the case.

Within weeks of that decision, lawyers for Edison and SDG&E initiated settlement discussions that led to an agreement announced early this year between the utilities and each party in the San Onofre case pending before the utilities commission.

But Picker and other commissioners were not immediately swayed that the agreement was worthwhile.

In February, they agreed to allow the San Diego advocacy group Public Watchdogs into the proceeding on a limited basis. Public Watchdogs opposed the settlement because it allowed the utilities to retain most of what the group said were illegal gains and because it granted Aguirre and his law partner some $5.4 million in attorney fees.

Sure, the settlement claims to return ($750 million) to ratepayers but the total cost of the failure (at SONGS) is $5.5 billion and 40 percent of that cost is being borne by the public, Public Watchdogs executive director Charles Langley said during the public comment period at Thursdays CPUC meeting in Sacramento.

CPUC meeting in Sacramento approving a new settlement for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (Image from CPUC livestream)

Backers of the settlement approved Thursday say it is a notable improvement from the deal approved in 2014, when regulators assigned the lions share of San Onofre costs to utility customers rather than Edison and SDG&E shareholders.

The $3.3 billion costs to consumers equaled 70 percent of the $4.7 billion expense. The $750 million savings ratepayers will now see is nearly 25 percent of the 2014 cost to utility customers.

As part of the new settlement, a team of six nuclear energy experts has been assembled to work with Southern California Edison to try to find a way to move the 3.55 million pounds of nuclear waste at SONGS to another location.

The team includes a former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the independent agency in charge of all safety-related matters surrounding nuclear energy in the U.S., and a former director of policy at the U.S. Department of Energy.

A complicated and controversial 2014 deal

The 2014 deal was negotiated privately between utility executives and two consumer groups, The Utility Reform Network of San Francisco and the Office of Ratepayer Advocates, an independent unit of the utilities commission.

The proposed settlement was announced in March 2014 but amended that September to include a provision requiring utility shareholders to contribute $25 million toward an unspecified greenhouse-gas research program within the University of California (which was later changed to be run by the Cal State University system).

About the same time, then-Attorney General Kamala Harris opened a criminal investigation into the utilities commission based on emails between utility regulators and executives that surfaced in an unrelated lawsuit.

Those exchanges showed that commissioners were routinely meeting privately with companies they oversaw to discuss matters that were pending before the commission.

When investigators searched the Los Angeles area home of longtime commission president Michael Peevey in 2015, they found two pages of handwritten notes that appeared to show an agreement to resolve the San Onofre costs between ratepayers and utility shareholders.

After the Union-Tribune disclosed the finding, Edison filed notice of an ex parte meeting  conversations not in a public forum  it had with Peevey nearly two years earlier at a hotel in Warsaw, Poland.

The company said it had previously thought the meeting didnt need to be reported, even though the deal points listed on the notes closely resembled the terms approved by Peevey and other commissioners at their public meeting in November 2014.

The $25 million in greenhouse-gas emissions research funding became a key element of the criminal investigation because the funding appeared on the Warsaw notes sketched out in 2013 but were not added to the settlement terms released publicly until September 2014.

Meanwhile, emails obtained by the Union-Tribune showed Peevey discussing the funding with UCLA researchers nearly a year before then-commissioner Michel Florio proposed adding the money to the San Onofre settlement as a way to improve the deal for consumers.

The utilities commission later fined Edison $16.7 million for failing to disclose the Warsaw meeting for nearly two years.

Despite the meeting in Warsaw and numerous disclosures indicating that the San Onofre costs were negotiated in private rather than through the public process, regulators took no steps to alter the terms of the deal they approved in 2014 until Thursday.

The four-year Attorney Generals Office investigation into utilities commission practices similarly sputtered and no criminal charges have been filed.

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rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1251 Twitter: @robnikolewskiWith little more than one month left in the current legislative session in Sacramento, state lawmakers are wrestling with whether California should change the way utilities can be held liable for wildfires.

Power companies have lobbied for a more forgiving standard, saying their very existence is in jeopardy, but critics say the current system makes sure utilities are on the hook when their equipment or lax management lead to the ignition of the growing number of deadly fires blazing through the Golden State.

A committee of 10 lawmakers tasked with looking into wildfire issues held its first hearing Wednesday, one day after Gov. Jerry Brown inserted himself squarely into the debate by offering draft legislation.

A key change centers on altering how California courts have interpreted the legal doctrine known as inverse condemnation as it applies to wildfires.

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Under inverse condemnation, utilities can be held liable for damages caused by wildfires linked to their own equipment  even if the companies followed accepted safety procedures.

But under Browns proposal, courts would have to balance the public benefit of the electrical infrastructure with the damage caused by a wildfire and also determine if the utility acted reasonably.

Pointing out that five of the states most destructive wildfires have been recorded in the past 15 years, Brown wrote in a letter to the co-chairmen of the committee, Just as our firefighting techniques and forest management must adapt to this growing threat, so must Californias laws.

The governors draft bill would not apply to any wildfires that erupted prior to Jan. 1 of this year.

The states three investor-owned utilities want to get rid of inverse condemnation, saying it is unfair and threatens them with bankruptcy.

San Diego Gas & Electric pointed to the legal doctrine when it requested to recoup $379 million from ratepayers for costs associated from the 2007 wildfires that ripped through San Diego County.

The California Public Utilities Commission, or CPUC, rejected the request in a 5-0 vote last November but commission president Michael Picker and fellow commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves said inverse condemnation needed to be addressed by the courts or the Legislature.

When these tragedies do occur, utilities must be held responsible if they do not meet high safety standards, said Assemblyman Chris Holden, D-Pasadena. But we also need our electric utilities. They are the backbone of our daily existence and our economy. Therefore we must consider ways utilities can manage the costs without disrupting service to customers or triggering excessive ratepayer impacts.

Michael Wara, director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford, told the committee that changing the inverse condemnation rule would be part of a much larger solution to mitigate wildfire risk.

The best option is to move, as the governors proposal does, from strict liability to a reasonable standard for all electric utilities  limit that change to wildfires and ensure the utilities are still liable if theyre negligent, which they should be, Wara said.

California and Alabama are the only states that apply inverse condemnation to private companies, Wara said, but Californias interpretation leads to a level of financial damages that is much larger than seen in Alabama.

Two bills related to wildfire mitigation are in circulation at the Statehouse  Assembly Bill 33 and Senate Bill 901.

Critics worry that making any alterations to reverse condemnation would result in giving utilities a free pass and take away their incentive to reduce wildfire risk.

Changing Californias interpretation of inverse condemnation would hurt fire victims by forcing them into long legal battles to be made whole, said Dianne Conklin, spokesperson for the Mussey Grade Road Alliance in Ramona.

Currently, utilities that act prudently and responsibly should have nothing to fear from inverse condemnation because they can recover losses from ratepayers through CPUC proceedings. Utilities are fighting hard to have the rules changed to reduce their culpability.

The hearing comes just weeks after Cal Fire and state investigators attributed the ignition of 16 fires in Northern California last year to power lines and equipment owned by Pacific Gas & Electric.

The utility recently announced taking a $2.5 billion charge against earnings to cover itself from anticipated lawsuits.

When customers cannot pay their bills PG&E shuts them off, said Mindy Spatt, communications director for The Utility Reform Network. Yet here we are facing a situation where PG&E may not be able to pay its own liabilities and what do they expect, they expect us to give them a bail out.

Investors have worried about the long-term financial exposure California utilities face when it comes to wildfire damage.

Total damages for PG&E in relation to the 2017 wildfires is estimated at $10 billion.

Before the Northern California wildfires last fall, PG&E stock was trading at $70 a share. In February it dropped to $38. After Brown released his letter Tuesday, PG&E stock gained $1 and finished the trading day Wednesday at $43 a share.

The homeowners insurance industry and groups representing counties in California have also criticized changing inverse condemnation rules.

Rex Frazier, president of the Personal Insurance Federation of California, said utilities already have challenges to inverse condemnation working their way through the legal system, including one before the California Supreme Court.

Instead of pursuing some constitutionally suspect legislative change to a judicial interpretation, we argue the focus should be on safety improvements and vegetation management., Frazier said during the meetings public comments period.

Wara said he believed a carefully worded legislative change to inverse condemnation would withstand a court challenge.

Wednesdays meeting notwithstanding, the Legislature is in recess and will reconvene Aug. 6. The session ends at the end of August.

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rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1251 Twitter: @robnikolewskiThe explosive growth of Uber and Lyft has created a new traffic problem for major U.S. cities and ride-sharing options such as UberPool and Lyft Line are exacerbating the issue by appealing directly to customers who would otherwise have taken transit, walked, biked or not used a ride-hailing service at all, according to a new study.

The report by Bruce Schaller, author of the influential study Unsustainable? which found ride-hailing services were making traffic congestion in New York City worse, constructs a detailed profile of the typical ride-hail user and issues a stark warning to cities: Make efforts to counter the growth of ride-hailing services, or surrender city streets to fleets of private cars, creating a more hostile environment for pedestrians and cyclists and ultimately make urban cores less desirable places to live.

Schaller concludes that where private ride options such as UberX and Lyft have failed on promises to cut down on personal driving and car ownership  both of which are trending up  pooled-ride services have attracted a different market that directly competes with subway and bus systems while failing to achieve significantly better efficiency than their solo alternatives. The result: more driving overall.

Ride sharing has added 5.7 billion vehicle miles to nine major urban areas over six years, the report says, and the trend is likely to intensify as the popularity of the services surges. (The study notes that total ride-hailing trips in New York increased 72% from 2016 to 2017 and 47% in Seattle over that time. Revenue data from the District of Columbia Department of For-Hire Vehicles showed the ride-hailing industrys growth quadrupled in the district from late 2015 to 2017.)

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The nine cities studied were Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Boston, Washington, Miami, Philadelphia and Seattle.

Schaller found that while options such as UberX add 2.8 new vehicle miles for each mile of personal driving they eliminate, the inclusion of options such as UberPool and Lyft Line adds to traffic at only a marginally lower rate: 2.6 new miles for every mile of personal driving reduced.

The findings are based on published trip mileage data and the companies own claims about the share of solo and pooled rides.

Shared rides add to traffic because most users switch from non-auto modes, the report says. In addition, there is added mileage between trips as drivers wait for the next dispatch and then drive to a pickup location. Finally, even in a shared ride, some of the trip involves just one passenger (e.g., between the first and second pickup).

Schaller synthesizes data from surveys in eight cities and the state of California to conclude 60% of ride-hail users would have otherwise used transit, walked, biked, or stayed home were it not for the availability of services such as Uber and Lyft.

Its people getting out of the bus and Metro getting into sedans, said Schaller, a former deputy commissioner for traffic and planning at the New York City Department of Transportation.

Lyft disputed Schallers findings, pointing to its own sustainability efforts, its urban mobility focus and claims from passengers who report giving up their cars  though the locations where those reductions took place were not immediately clear.

We strongly disagree with Schallers claims regarding shared rides, Lyft spokeswoman Campbell Matthews said. Since Lyfts founding, weve been focused on increasing car occupancy and eliminating the need for car ownership. That focus has paid off.

Just last year, over 250,000 Lyft passengers gave up their personal cars because of the availability of ride share, Matthews said. We are continuing to focus on our goals by redesigning the Lyft app to integrate with public transit and introducing bike and scooter sharing to the Lyft platform. We are committed to ensuring passengers have access to a spectrum of transportation options that serve our cities best.

Uber said in a statement that it supports several of the policies Schaller proposes, including the expansion of dedicated bus and bike lanes and congestion pricing. The company argued that contrary to Schallers conclusions, Uber saved more than 315 million global vehicle miles in 2017 by shifting riders to its pool service.

Schaller never argued, however, that pool services were less efficient than solo rides. He concluded that at the rate the services are expanding  and with appeals to transit users  the effects of any such reductions are negligible and the growth is untenable.

Schallers conclusions cast doubt on notions that ride-hailing services will ultimately reduce private vehicle ownership and challenge arguments that they do not compete with mass transit. Based on a profile of the average user, he concludes that the more services such as Uber Express Pool resemble transit, the more they will draw riders away from urban rail and bus systems, resulting in an increasing number of transit users turning to private cars to get around. But sedans dont have the capacity to match the modes they are pulling from, he says.

When you look at the numbers, what you see is that what is more sharing for them is less sharing overall, Schaller said.

A new study found that pooled ride-sharing options have attracted a market that competes with subway and bus systems. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Observers have noted how Express Pool, for example, is modeled, well, like a bus.

In a typical commute, Express Pool riders might walk to a busy intersection where they are met by a car that shuttles them along a straight route to an often-popular destination. The vehicle makes as few turns as possible, sometimes picking up other passengers along the way; the cost of a ride can be as low as $3 or $4.

But problems such as deadheading, where drivers roam city streets in empty cars waiting for a fare, markedly reduce the efficiency of these rides. And even if ride-hailing services can expand the reach of shared mobility services and fill as many seats as possible, they will never be as efficient as rail or bus  ultimately resulting in more congestion and higher reliance on automobiles, the research says. As many researchers have noted, the problem could become particularly acute if the eventual rollout of self-driving vehicles eliminates the need for ride-hailing services to hire drivers.

Even with high levels of shared trips, funneling travelers from space-efficient modes such as public transit, biking and walking, to space-hogging sedans, SUVs and minivans is not a productive strategy to speed traffic, Schaller concludes. It strains logic to expect that as [ride-hailing] shared trips become more like conventional transit trips, this service will attract more people from their personal auto than has been the case up until now. It seems far more credible that [ride-hailing companies] will continue to attract predominantly non-auto users.

In Washington, supporters of a new tax on ride-hailing trips to help fund the Metro transit system argue that pooled rides should be exempt from the additional fee  or pay a lower rate  because they are carpooling. For some, Schallers conclusions cast that argument in a new light.

I think its an interesting proposal, but then you have to again look at this study and wonder if ride sharing has enough of a net benefit such that pricing should be tiered, said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the pro-transit Coalition for Smarter Growth.

Schwartz pointed to another one of the reports conclusions. Lyft says that today, a third of its rides in major markets are shared. The company has outlined a goal to make half of its rides shared by 2022.

Even if Lyft managed to meet its 50% shared-ride goal, you still increase [vehicle miles traveled] by 120%, Schwartz said, citing the reports finding that 50% shared-ride adoption would still add about 2.2 vehicle miles to roads, or a 120% increase in driving overall.

Schwartz called the conclusions pretty sobering.

Schallers analysis is one of the first studies to really look at [Uber and Lyfts] impacts from across a national spectrum, said Adam Stocker, a staff researcher with the Transportation Sustainability Research Center who is part of a team pursuing a study on the effects of Uber and Lyft across three North American cities.

But individual cities face challenges in discerning how the findings apply to them, Stocker said, because of a dearth of available data from the companies themselves.

The main limitation of it is that mainly due to the sample size, the city by city differences, some of that detail doesnt stand out because nine cities were put together, he said. Due to data limitations . . . you can often miss a lot of the nuance in the usage or the impacts between cities themselves.

Part of his teams focus is to discern how the mode replacement profile differs between those who use the pooled options vs. solo riders. He wouldnt give away any of the findings but suggested that the portrait of a pool user aligns closely with those who use transit services.

My overall sense from reading the entire report is this is the exact reason why we need more data transparency on this, Tomer said. My hunch is  the immediate reactions from both Uber and Lyft. Theyre gonna suggest, well, This isnt what our data says. And the reality is we dont know.

In rebutting Schallers conclusions, Lyft pointed to studies from outside sources such as the traffic data firm INRIX and UCLA showing that overall congestion had decreased in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2017, and most ride-hailing users report no change in their travel by other modes, respectively.

Asked if it had internal data that run counter to Schallers findings, however, the company declined to provide specifics. Uber said the report was limited because it relied on data from 2017, though it did not provide related data to support its rebuttal.

Jon Orcutt, a spokesman for the New York-based advocacy organization Transit Center, said the blame does not fall on individual users for finding ride-hailing services attractive, but that the burden is on local governments and transit agencies to respond to their growth with policies such as congestion pricing, the prioritization of buses through features such as dedicated lanes, and a general push toward frequent, reliable and affordable transit. Its no coincidence, he says, that ride-hailings explosive growth has taken place amid transit system collapses in several major cities.

Its not that you say, Dont use these things or You cant use these things, or These things have to go away,  Orcutt said. That ship has sailed, right? So the question becomes how to manage them.

Siddiqui writes for the Washington Post.President Trump and European Union leader Jean-Claude Juncker agreed Wednesday to a trade war cease-fire under which the administration would back away from a threat to impose high tariffs on imported cars and rethink duties already placed on imported steel and aluminum.

In return, the EU will make unspecified purchases of U.S. soybeans and liquefied natural gas, the president said.

After a White House meeting, the two men also vowed to work toward eliminating all tariffs on many industrial goods, a resumption of dialogue that could help repair fractured relations between the longtime allies.

Even the limited deal was welcome news to those concerned that Trumps trade policies are causing instability and uncertainty for the global economy. The U.S. and EU have a $1-trillion bilateral trade relationship, the largest in the world. Stock futures surged Wednesday afternoon on news of the agreement, despite the lack of details or firm commitments.

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Just days after Trump called the EU a foe on trade, he spoke of the close friendship with the 28-nation pact and predicted a new phase in the relationship between the United States and European Union.

Trump said neither side would impose new tariffs as long as talks continued.

In addition to dropping his threat to impose 20% tariffs on imported autos and auto parts, Trump promised to resolve the steel and aluminum tariff issues. Trump earlier this year imposed steep tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, which prompted the counter-tariffs from the EU.

As part of the deal, Europe promised to buy an unspecified amount of U.S. soybeans and build more terminals to import liquefied natural gas. More soybean purchases, which Trump said would start almost immediately, would bring relief to farmers in politically key states who have been hurt by retaliatory tariffs, especially from China. On Tuesday, Trump announced a $12-billion aid program to help American farmers hurt by Trumps trade war with China.

Juncker said Europe looked forward to bolstering cooperation with the U.S. on energy. This is also a message for others, he said, an apparent reference to Europes current reliance on Russian energy imports.

I had the intention to make a deal today, Juncker said. And we made a deal today.

Analysts described the meeting as moderately successful, especially given the low expectations on both sides of the Atlantic.

Juncker didnt come to reset relations or to have some massive 2.0 [trade] plan, said Bart Oosterveld, director of global business and economic programs at the Atlantic Council. His mandate was to stop the bleeding, and thats what may have happened.

Philip I. Levy, senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, said the early reports from the meeting sounded just like the kind of agreement reached with China last year  some purchase promises and a pledge to talk more.

In Chinas case, that led to trade war, not trade peace, Levy said. The warming of relations and any delay in additional protection would be welcome, but this does not seem like a lasting solution to the presidents tweeted concerns.

Trump has repeatedly complained about the EUs merchandise trade surplus of about $150 billion with the United States, and in particular has targeted Germany and its auto industry. Trump has said the EUs existing 10% tariff on auto imports is unfair in light of the 2.5% duty that is assessed by the U.S. The U.S. tariff on imported trucks, however, is 25% compared with 10% by the EU.

The conditional truce with the EU will be welcomed by lawmakers and others in Washington who have worried that the U.S. was alienating allies at a time when it needed them to join together to focus on China and its trade practices.

Ahead of Junckers visit, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) met with EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom on Tuesday. Brady said he told her: We need to align together to stop China from cheating. We recognize there are other trade winds occurring, but we need to remember we all have the same stake on stopping and confronting China.

Whether the EU and the U.S. would now work together on China remains to be seen. As recently as December, the EU, U.S. and Japan agreed to jointly address Chinas trade practices. But since then transatlantic ties have been strained further by Trumps pullout from the multi-party deal on Irans denuclearization and the presidents persistent jabs at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and EU trade.

Trump and Juncker, in saying the two sides would start talks, in a sense agreed to revive free-trade negotiations that were initiated by the Obama administration. But those talks were suspended two years ago and Trump has made no move to advance them.

Its basically the start or renewal of working-level discussions that have been dormant for awhile, said Oosterveld. The outcome of Wednesdays meeting, he said, appears to be some easing of tension and resumption of dialogue. Thats the silver lining today.

As Trump began his meeting Wednesday with Juncker, he stressed the need for a level playing field for our farmers, for our manufacturers, for everybody. If we could have no tariffs, and no barriers, and no subsidies, the United States would be extremely pleased.

Trump had tweeted essentially the same remarks on Tuesday and also said something similar at the conclusion of the G-7 leaders summit last month in Quebec. And in remarks after his meeting Wednesday, Trump said: This is why we agreed today, first of all, to work together toward zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods.

Juncker was more restrained in his remarks, saying: We have identified a number of areas on which to work together. Work towards zero tariffs on industrial goods. And that was my main intention, to propose to come down to zero tariffs on industrial goods.

As a practical matter, trade analysts said, neither Trump nor the EU was likely to be able to deliver on zero tariffs and barriers on all goods. Both sides have sacred cows that are protected from foreign competition and will be politically difficult to overcome, especially agricultural goods in Europe and things like sugar and trucks in the U.S.

After he imposed so many new tariffs and tweeted on Tuesday that Tariffs are the greatest!, experts questioned whether Trump is really after tariff-free trade. What Trump wants are unilateral concessions from trading partners, said William Reinsch, a trade expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Trumps thinking, he said, is that weve given and weve given for 30 years. Now you concede, I give you nothing.

As for why Trump then has called for zero tariffs in recent days, Reinsch said it was to deflect criticism  often from his own party  that he is a protectionist.

Its a clever move on his part, Reinsch said. If the EU rejects [Trumps call for no tariffs], hes the free trader and the EU is the protectionist. If they agree to negotiate ... and if they fail to deliver first, Trumps also the good guy.

Staff writer Sarah D. Wire in Washington contributed to this report.

don.lee@latimes.com

Follow me at @dleelatimes

UPDATES:

4:15 p.m.: This article was updated with more details about the agreement and background.

2:40 p.m.: This article was updated with reaction from analysts.

This article was originally published at 1:40 p.m.ENCINITAS

Friends of the Arts host flea market Saturday

Encinitas Friends of the Arts is hosting the second Encinitas Flea Market from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the City Hall parking lot, 505 S. Vulcan Ave. Admission donation $2; the event is a fundraiser for Encinitas Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Experience more than 60 vendors and artists offering art, vintage items, jewelry, collectibles and other treasures at great prices. Also, henna painting, artist-led fun for kids and an ice cream truck. Vendors welcome; sign up at https://encinitasarts.org/programs/encinitas-flea-market.

FALLBROOK

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Print/web marketing seminar offered

The Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce offers Effective Advertising for Print and Web, part of its Modern Marketing educational seminar series. Check in at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Fallbrook Masonic Center, 203 Rocky Crest Road, and pick up lunch. Presentation at noon. Q&A session follows. Free for members; $10 for nonmembers. Reservations required to jackie.toppin@fallbrookchamberofcommerce.org.

RANCHO SANTA FE

Free Career Pathways event Sunday

The Village Church will be hosting Career Pathways from noon to 2:30 p.m. Sunday at 6225 Paseo Delicias. The free event includes lunch and is an opportunity for high school students through young professionals to learn from industry leaders in various fields. Workshops include What I Wish I Knew Before College, preparing for a job interview, and how to develop a resume or LinkedIn account. The event invites people to explore what God may be calling them to do as well as to acquire practical career tips. RSVP today at villagechurch.org/career-pathways.

OCEANSIDE

Agritourism workshop for public on Tuesday

The city of Oceanside will conduct a public workshop from 2 to 4 p.m. Tuesday on draft Tier 1 agritourism activities outlined in the Agritourism Strategic Plan. The workshop will be in the community room at the Libby Lake Community Center, 4700 N. River Road. The workshop will include a staff presentation of the activities, including topics such as existing uses and permit requirements, proposed agritourism uses and agricultural use classifications. A Q&A session follows. The activities will be posted at https://bit.ly/2v0Vkzp. Contact Rob Dmohowski at rdmohowski@ci.oceanside.ca.us or (760) 435-3563.

VISTA

Beach Grease Brewery hosts grand opening

Beach Grease Beer Company hosts a grand opening from noon to 9 p.m. Saturday at 1280 Activity Drive. Founded in 2017 by James Banuelos, Beach Grease makes five West Coast-style craft beers at its state-of-the-art brewery and tasting room: Surf Reaper Golden IPA, Surf Zombie Hazy IPA, Pistons & Palms Palms Pilsner, Surf Mummy Pale Ale, and Tears of My Enemies Lager. The tasting room features hand-selected art, photography, surfboards, skateboards and a collection of classic custom cars and motorcycles. Tickets for the opening are $10 at https://www.beachgreasebeerco.com/grand-opening/entrance. Hours are 3 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays; 3 to 9 p.m. Fridays; noon to 9 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; closed Mondays. Call (760) 296-7984; email info@beachgreasebeerco.com.

Please send items to laura.groch@sduniontribune.com at least 10 days before events.

laura.groch@sduniontribune.comThe historical former home of the Blade-Tribune newspaper in downtown Oceanside will be home this fall to a modern Italian restaurant named Blade 1936.

The new restaurant, scheduled to open in late September, will be operated by two San Diego restaurateurs known for their expertise with Italian cuisine and Neopolitan-style wood-fired pizza.

Partner and culinary director Mario Cassineri, a native of Milan, was the chef/partner at the former Bice San Diego and menu consultant on several other local restaurants. Partner, general manager and head pizza chef John Carlo Ferraiuolo has been the mastro pizzaiolo at Caffe Calabria and Red Oven Pizza.

Cassineri said the restaurant will have a historical exterior and a modern interior, which will reflect the menu of the restaurant  classic Italian with a modern twist.

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I like authenticity in the food and here we will combine it with a bit of modern times, he said. The quality will be like fine dining but at an affordable price, and we will mix traditional recipes with California ingredients and cooking.

The menu will be a mix of pizzas cooked in a custom-made Stefano Ferrara pizza brick oven from Italy, as well as antipasti, made-to-order pasta dishes, small and shared plates, salads and larger planted entrees.

Pastas and bread will be made in-house. Specialties of the house will include quinoa paella, frittura mista (fried fish and vegetables), lobster farroto (a style of risotto made with farro) and the Blade Sweet Basket, a fresh-baked bread bowl filled with Nutella and Italian doughnuts.

Most items are priced from $10 to $16. The restaurant will be open for happy hour, dinner and weekend brunch.

The exterior of the future Blade 1936 restaurant, which will be housed in the historical Blade-Tribune newspaper building, built in 1936. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune)

The restaurants name is inspired by the buildings history. Built in 1936 at 401 Seagaze Drive, it was the last project designed by noted local architect Irving Gill.

The 6,000-square-foot warehouse-style building was home to both the offices and the printing press for the Blade-Tribune and News newspaper for three decades until it moved to a much larger property on South Coast Highway in the mid-1960s.

In 1995, the renamed Blade-Citizen merged with Escondidos Times-Advocate to form the North County Times which was absorbed into the San Diego Union-Tribune in 2013.

After the Blade left the Seagaze Drive building, it housed a now-defunct furniture store as well as a still-operating barber shop. The building was purchased a few years ago by Encinitas real estate agent Donia Ackad Yuhong, who will be both landlord and partner in the new restaurant.

Over the past six months, the art deco building on Seagaze has undergone a major renovation that exposed the long-hidden engraved Blade-Tribune and News sign above the front doors.

The buildings newspaper history will be honored in more ways than its name. The menu looks like newspaper pages on a background of hot-metal type used back in the 1930s to assemble page plates. There will also be framed newspaper articles on the walls and an old time capsule in the floor.

The 150-seat restaurant will have a large central bar, a chefs counter where diners can watch the pizza-making in action, and a dining room and lounge that can be divided for special events. Next year, a rooftop deck will be added as well as a small outdoor patio, Cassineri said.

For details, visit blade1936.com or facebook.com/blade1936.

pam.kragen@sduniontribune.comCARLSBAD

Milkweed project done by Scout, school

Boy Scout Josh Lintner of Troop 784 planned, implemented and built a portable greenhouse with the sixth-grade class at Calavera Hills Middle School to support the students business, Milkweed for Monarchs. The students are selling milkweed to help stabilize the population of monarch butterflies, whose larvae eat only milkweed. The students are hoping to re-establish the butterfly population in San Diego, and they worked with the PTSA, Kids for Peace and Real World Scholars to help Josh with his Eagle Scout project. The students, assisted by math teacher Brooke Tobia and environmental science teacher Patti Langen, have been selling milkweed pods at school events, community events (Carlsbad Village Faire, the opening of Pine Street Park) and hope to sell them at the Carlsbad Farmers Market on Wednesdays during the coming school year. Visit www.milkweedformonarch.com.

St. Patrick students present Fiddler

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Fiddler on the Roof  will be performed at St. Patrick Catholic Church at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday by youths from the community, including from St. Patrick School and other local public schools. All proceeds benefit St. Patrick Catholic Community. Tickets are $15 and can be bought at the parish office or at the door, which opens at 6:30 p.m. The church is at 3821 Adams St.

Violet Meyers, a vocal performance student from Valley Center, recently received a $1,000 scholarship from the Pacific Belles Chorus. (Courtesy photo)

ESCONDIDO

Student wins Pacific Belles scholarship

Violet Meyers, a vocal performance student from Valley Center, recently received a $1,000 scholarship from the Pacific Belles Chorus. Violet was in choirs for seven years in middle and high school and performed in three regional honor choirs, three county honor choirs and one state honor choir, as well as in national and international honor choirs. She is studying for a music degree at San Diego State University. Pacific Belles Chorus is a womens chorus singing four-part a cappella barbershop-style harmony. Visit www.pacificbelleschorus.org or come to a rehearsal at 7 p.m. Mondays at Trinity Episcopal Church, 345 Chestnut St.

NORTH COUNTY

Stuff the Bus needs supplies, volunteers

During the last school year, more than 22,000 children were identified as homeless in San Diego County. The San Diego County Office of Education is teaming with San Diego County Credit Union to collect new, unused school supplies for these students. You can help Stuff the Bus by donating supplies at any SDCCU branch this month or by donating at www.crowdrise.com/stuff-the-bus. Most needed: 1-inch three-ring binders, colored pencils (12-pack), erasers, glue sticks, pencil sharpeners, footlong rulers, blunt-tip scissors and washable fine-tip markers. Volunteers are also needed Aug. 1-3 to unload, sort and stuff the supplies collected at SDCCU Stadium (formerly Qualcomm Stadium). Volunteers can register at https://sdcoe.k12oms.org/1085-152460. All ages are encouraged to participate; however, anyone age 13 and younger must be accompanied by an adult.

Area students graduate

Graduating from Oregon State University in Corvallis, Ore: Bonsall: Kaelie A. Williams, B.A., English; Carlsbad: Kailey J. Castro, B.S., psychology, and Abigail E. Rose, B.S., cum laude, human development and family sciences; Escondido: Steven Lim, B.S., computer science, and Justin A. Mills, B.S., magna cum laude, environmental sciences; Oceanside: Elizabeth D. Barba, B.S., business administration; Mark E. Barry, B.S., magna cum laude, forest engineering; Spencer J. Bull, M.S., civil engineering; Grace E. Gray, B.A., sociology; Lesley A. Pineda, B.S., economics; and Sadie R. Walter, B.S., cum laude, biology; Poway: Rebecca L. Thompson, B.S. computer science; San Marcos: Timothy D. Berry, B.S. summa cum laude, economics; Solana Beach: Nanilei L. Lamchin, B.S., public health; Vista: Anthony G. De La Torre, B.S., computer science; Jose Murrieta, B.S., computer science; and Katie M. Nelson, B.S., biology.

Graduating from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo.: Kayla Grotte, Encinitas, B.A. in psychology; Johna Malloy, Escondido, B.A. in sociology; Sarah Myers, Escondido, M.A. in clinical mental health counseling; Evelyn Reynoso, Escondido, B.A. in sociology; Mackenzie Wise, Poway, B.A. in criminal justice.

Evan Wilson Ridpath of Carlsbad graduated with a B.A. in creative producing from Chapman University in Orange.

OCEANSIDE

Back-to-School rally seeks donations

The North San Diego County NAACP holds its annual Back to School-Stay in School Rally on Aug. 4 at the MiraCosta College Oceanside campus near the clock tower. The local K-12 community and MiraCosta students in need can access free school supplies, community resources, and a hot dog lunch. The college is hosting a school supplies and backpack donation drive. Suggested supplies include No. 2 pencils, crayons, markers, ruled notebook paper, notebooks, three-ring binders, pens, glue sticks or liquid glue, erasers, highlighters, dry erase markers, pocket folders and backpacks. Drop off donations through Aug. 3 in the Service Learning Office, School Relations Office, or the Admissions and Records Offices at either the San Elijo or Oceanside campuses. Look for the box with the Back to School Rally flyer. Call (760) 795-6616 or email bpalmer@miracosta.edu.

RAMONA

Schools get funding for new salad bars

Bayer has committed $40,000 to the United Fresh Start Foundation, in support of its mission to increase childrens access to fresh fruits and vegetables. As part of the partnership, Bayer is funding salad bars for eight schools in California and Idaho, including two in the Ramona Unified School District: Barnett Elementary and James Dukes Elementary. Our district has always had a commitment to serving fresh produce in our school lunch program, said Kati Harbor, director of the districts Food and Nutrition Services, in a statement. The new salad bar will highlight fresh produce and encourage children to make healthy choices from a greater variety of colorful options.

SAN DIEGUITO

August input session on new superintendent

The San Dieguito Union High School District board will hold a third open forum from 1-4 p.m. Wednesday in the district office board room, 710 Encinitas Blvd., Encinitas, to get community input about its search for a new superintendent. Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates has been selected to do the search and advise the board through the process. An online survey will be available through 4 p.m. Tuesday at www.sduhsd.net or https://bit.ly/2zRS5Qv. Two open forums were held in July.

Akari Takimoto won a $500 scholarship from Tutor Doctor in San Diego. (Courtesy photo)

Tutoring company presents scholarship

Tutor Doctor, an in-home tutoring company, recently awarded a $500 scholarship to Akari Takimoto, a student at Torrey Pines High School. Tiffany Lien, co-owner with Christopher Lien of the San Diego company, presented the award, which annually goes to a senior who has overcome significant challenges. Akari moved from Japan to San Diego just two years ago, not knowing English or anything about Southern California. She enrolled in English Language Development classes and worked her way up to taking AP English literature. Akari plans to attend either Trinity University or Reed College.

SAN MARCOS

Cal State San Marcos hosts teachers summit

North County San Diego teachers will gather at Cal State San Marcos from 8:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Friday for the fourth annual Better Together: California Teachers Summit, a free statewide day of learning and networking for all preK-12 teachers, teacher candidates, school administrators and other educators. Keynote speaker is Sir Ken Robinson, an expert on creativity and innovation. Two local teachers, Jaime Yumiko Brown and Scott Bedley, will present TED-style EdTalks. There will also be breakout sessions on topics such as building student agency, personalizing learning with or without technology and tailoring lessons to meet specific student needs. Registration has closed for the CSUSM site, but there is room for additional participants and walk-ups are encouraged to attend. Visit CATeachersSummit.com; follow #CATeachersSummit.

Please send items to laura.groch@sduniontribune.com at least 10 days before events.

laura.groch@sduniontribune.comThe South Bay community of National City, where more than two-thirds of the residents are renters, could become the first in San Diego County to embrace rent control.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to place a resident-driven initiative on the November ballot. If passed, National City would join just 15 other cities statewide that have some form of rent control on housing beyond mobile homes.

Proponents say the measures possible success has the potential to sway other cities in San Diego County to follow suit.

We see this as a domino effect, said Paola Martinez, a member of National City Families for Fair Housing, a coalition that put forward the initiative.

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She and other backers of the measure say rent control is crucial to protect residents who struggle to make ends meet. But opponents say rent control wont ease a housing crisis that is pricing both homeowners and renters out the market.

Borre Winckel, president & CEO of the Building Industry Association of San Diego County, said he believes rent control will exacerbate National Citys housing shortage by discouraging new construction or even encouraging landlords to take units off the market.

Im not surprised people want rent control, he said. Unfortunately, its the wrong solution.

The local measure, which would cap annual rent increases at 5 percent and ban certain evictions, could have larger implications in National City if voters across the state also approve another ballot initiative: Proposition. 10.

The statewide initiative would repeal a decades-old law that limits cities abilities to enact rent control, allowing houses, condos and other units built after 1995 to be subject to rent control.

Its going to be pretty historic here, Martinez said of the upcoming election.

The City Councils decision to place the rent control measure on the ballot was not a surprising move; the City Council had few other options under state law because the initiative qualified for the ballot on June 28.

The county Registrar of Voters validated almost 2,400 of the signatures collected in support of the proposed measure, which needed about 2,250 signatures to be certified.

In light of the results that certified the measure, the city withdrew a lawsuit it filed in San Diego Superior Court in May in an attempt to invalidate the initiative. The city took issue with the rent control board proposed in the initiative, arguing it would violate state law by creating a board within city government that is not subordinate to the City Council.

The proposed five-member rent-control board would administer and enforce the regulations.

Backers of the measure turned out to the council meeting on Tuesday, but did not get the opportunity to voice their opinions because the meeting was interrupted by a group that has been protesting the death of Earl McNeil, a man who died in police custody.

Once the meeting resumed, more than two hours later, almost all members of the public who had packed the council chambers were gone.

During a brief discussion, Mayor Ron Morrison voiced his opposition to rent control, saying it seems like a short-term solution. In other cities, he said, rent control has driven out low-income residents in the long run.

In an unexpected move last week, Councilwomen Mona Rios and Alejandra Sotelo-Solis took a stance in support of rent control, pushing to enact the proposed measure at a meeting. The motion was shot down by a 2-2- vote, with Councilmen Jerry Cano and Albert Mendivil opposed. Mayor Morrison was absent.

In addition to a cap on annual rent increases, the measure would ban evictions that are not linked to a specific reason, such as lease violations or a landlords plan to take the unit off the market.

The rules would apply to more housing across National City if voters in November approve Prop. 10, which would repeal the state Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act that limits the type of rent control cities can enact.

Renters and tenant advocates say rent control is necessary to protect low-income residents in a city where some renters have been forced to move away, as far south as Tijuana. Renters make up about 70 percent of National Citys population.

Its not a bad thing, Martinez said. I think landlords and tenants will benefit. The entire city will benefit.

The support the initiative received in terms of signatures shows this is what people need, this is what people want, Martinez said.

According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data, median rent in National City increased 16 percent between 2015 and 2016.

The median rent is about $1,140  the lowest in the San Diego County. However, the citys median household income, at about $42,000, is also low.

In Santee and Chula Vista, mobile home park owners are allowed to increase annual rent by an amount linked to the consumer price index.

If National City voters approve rent control, it would allow tenant advocates to shift their focus to other cities that have a fair chance of enacting rent control, Martinez said.

About 15 cities across the state have rent control laws on the books, including San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles and Santa Monica.

San Diego, one of the few big cities in the state without rent control, has grappled with the issue for some years. Since 2015, a group called San Diego Tenants United has unsuccessfully called for rent control.

Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com

Phone: (619) 293-1876

Twitter: @D4VIDHernandezChuckAlek, 2013-2018

In the circle of beer life, breweries open and breweries close. Nothing to freak out about.

Yet Im mourning the imminent closure of ChuckAlek, the small but noteworthy five-year-old Ramona brewery, for several reasons:

1. Good beer. Co-owners Grant Fraley and Marta Jankowska were dedicated to beers that were solid interpretations of classic German and British styles.

2. Good causes. ChuckAlek brewed fundraising beers for various charitable efforts. Among them: benefitting victims of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shootings and assisting people with lupus.

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3. Good people. ChuckAlek backed the Pink Boots Society, a group for women in the beer industry. This was not an empty gesture: in February, ChuckAlek became one of the breweries with a female head brewer, Sam Olson.

In May, Fraley and Jankowska announced plans to move to Denver. For awhile, it seemed ChuckAlek  the first names of the founders grandfathers  would continue with absentee owners. Last week, though, they told staff that the original Ramona operation would close at the end of July, while the North Park biergarten would carry on until Sept. 2.

This is a setback for Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream program. In 2015, ChuckAlek secured a $10,000 loan and internship from the Boston-based brewery, with Sam Adams founder Jim Koch advising Fraley and Jankowska on marketing, brewing and other issues.

In 2017, Samuel Adams issued a 12-pack of beers from six independent breweries, including ChuckAleks Time Hop Porter.

Getting a nationwide release like this is pretty exciting, Fraley told the Union-Tribune then. We certainly dont have this kind of reach normally.

In fact, the brewery was one of the smallest in the county, with annual sales never topping 1,000 barrels. (A barrel is 31 gallons.)

Were still a nice, small brewery, Fraley said in 2017.

In our crowded, competitive beer market, is there still room for nice, small breweries?

Stuff My Editor Wants to Know, Or Why Dont You Write About Things Real People Care About?

Q. How long can you keep beer?

A. While this is a surprisingly complicated question, a simple rule of thumb can be applied to most beers:

Drink within 90 days of when it was bottled or canned. (The date should be printed on the label.)

For hop-forward beers  IPAs and some pales ales, say  even earlier would be better. Aim for 60 days or fewer.

Finally, barrel-aged beers with high alcohol content  8 percent by volume or higher  can be aged for months, even years. Make sure they are cellared in a cool and dark place.

Kings of Beer

When the temperature soars  this week, say  I look for a light, quaffable but well-constructed beer. Something like Yours Truly (4.3 percent alcohol by volume, 20 bittering units).

Oregons Ninkasi calls this an easy drinking ale and, true enough, this airy blond wont slow you down. Capped by a fluffy, eggshell-white head, Yours is hazy without becoming a liquid fruit salad like so many haze craze IPAs. Instead, biscuity malts dominate with a spritz of lemon leading to a dry finish.

While a year-round offering, this ale is perfect for summer picnics, a crisp and pleasing accompaniment to burgers and fried chicken.

Best of the Week, Local

Has it been 22 years already? Must be: Coronado Brewings 22nd anniversary party is scheduled for Saturday, 2 to 7 p.m., at the production facility in Bay Park.

The $10 admission covers one beer, a raffle ticket and live music from The Sidekicks. Hungry? Big Front Door, Poke Craft and other vendors will be on site, selling their edible wares.

Coronado Brewing, 1205 Knoxville St., San Diego.

Nachos New Venture

Only six months old, The Bell Marker already has its second head brewer. That would have been cause for alarm, if founding brewer Noah Regnery hadnt brought in an ace: Ignacio Nacho Cervantes.

Hes a 15-year veteran of Pizza Port, where he assisted super-brewer Jeff Bagby in Carlsbad, ran the chains Ocean Beach outlet and spent two years in the Bressi Ranch brewery that produces Ports canned beers.

He took control of brewing at Bell Marker, a downtown San Diego brewpub, in March.

I have the green light to make beer, said Cervantes, 38. Im a big fan of traditional, old school English ales, Belgian ales and West Coast IPAs. And anything new coming out.

If Cervantes ambitions are large, his staff is small. Hes a one-man brewing team, operating the 15 barrel system installed for the Bell Markers predecessor, the late Beer Company (2010-2017).

Standout beers during a recent visit included American Me, a brown ale with a sharp, refreshing bitterness; Dances & Duels, a spicy and piney IPA buoyed by experimental hops; and Lester, a soft, irresistible cream ale.

This is still a work in progress. What a Trip, a Belgian-style tripel, was admirably fruity and spicy, yet unpleasantly thick.

The next batch will be drier, Cervantes promised.

Words to Drink By

Alcohol is a very necessary article. It enables Parliament to do things at eleven at night that no sane person would do at eleven in the morning.  George Bernard Shaw, Major Barbara (1907). Today is the 162nd anniversary of the dramatist, critic and contrarians birth.

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Twitter: @peterroweut

peter.rowe@sduniontribune.comThe Westfield UTC malls $600 million expansion is a time capsule of that certain San Diego lifestyle, circa 2018: SoCal boho chic boutiques, trendy outdoor seating areas complete with water features, more zen-inducing natural skin and home products than you can shake a diffuser stick at, and food.

Lots and lots of food.

More than a dozen new restaurants have opened at Westfield UTC since October, including Shake Shack, Great Maple, The Winery Restaurant & Wine Bar, True Food Kitchen and Sweetfin Poke. Still to come are outposts of the cult global dumpling house Din Tai Fung, healthy-casual Mexican Tocaya Organica and high-end regional Mexican Javiers.

The Pointe is Westfield UTCs new restaurant row where people go to eat, drink and hangout. The mall has upped its emphasis on lifestyle experiences (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune)

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Serving up a variety of buzz-worthy, high-quality eateries was integral to the transformation of Westfield UTC from a mall into a hip, upscale destination.

Its not just about the shopping anymore, John Alderson, Westfield UTCs vice president of development, told the Union-Tribune last year when the first incoming eateries were revealed.

We look at food just like we look at merchandising.  Food is a really fantastic way to express ourselves in what the customers want and how they want it.

The anchor of the revamped mall is the new, 145,000-square-foot, two-story Nordstom store, which is flooded with natural light  a visual and aesthetic shift from the closed-in, institution-esque department stores of old that shoppers are increasingly turning away from.

One of the better dining experiences at the revamped Westfield UTC mall can be had at Nordstroms stylish, airy restaurant Bazille. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Nordstroms fresh and airy approach to the San Diego market is best represented by Bazille, its fashionable bistro. Located on the second floor, it offers a nicely curated cocktail and wine program, towering windows, terrace seating overlooking a courtyard, fairly reasonable prices, and the hands-down best dining experience of all the new UTC spots.

Down-home barbecue, and healthy fare, is served up at Smokeyard BBQ & Chopshop. (Courtesy photo)

Backing up that claim are the weeks I spent visiting the mall  one day a 10-hour binge  eating my way through the pizza, flatbread, custard ice cream, poke bowls, Caesar salads, Brussels sprouts, dry-aged beef, lobster risotto, maple bacon doughnuts with fried chicken, chocolate sea salt caramels, mushroom empanadas, burgers and barbecue.

Most of my meals were delicious, a couple were lacking; at several places, service was slow and scattered. Three different nights at three different restaurants, I had the same problem with multiple wines on the list not being available. Was it a coincidence that they tended to be the least expensive options? Several servers were clearly unfamiliar with their restaurants wine  and wine in general.

They need a sommelier for the mall, one of my dining companions observed. A mall-ier.

Whether youre in a hurry or just looking for some creative pizza, Napizza at Westfield UTC should be on your radar. The local chain also serves salads. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Which brings me back to Bazille. Nordstroms celebrated customer service is on full display at this welcoming restaurant. Its as polished as the dishes coming out of the gleaming, new open kitchen. Every dish I had over two visits was perfection. And the snazzy dining room banishes any notion that department store eating has gone out of style.

Everything seems well-thought out  including the eaterys origins. In deciding to make UTC one of 28 locations (out of over 370) to have a Bazille concept, Nordstrom executives studied the local scene, the coming competition and especially customer feedback.

What we saw in the marketplace, we knew full-service was a must for UTC and we knew spirits were a must, said Vincent Rossetti, Nordstroms vice president of restaurant operations.

Years back we had closed the (UTC) bistro. The feedback was that was a mistake  you messed up, Rossetti said.

They (customers) were dying for us to have a restaurant, so we went with the best we had.

Rossetti said that while Bazilles menu is the same around the county, each chef is given creative license with the specials. When theyre a hit  as the Korean BBQ Braised Beef and the crab, mango and avocado salad were  they get added to the regular menu.

Right now, what sets the local restaurant apart is how light and bright it is, he said, and how its integrated into the store, instead of being tucked away.

UTC is very unique from a Bazille look and feel, Rossetti said. Its the newest, the latest and greatest.

So whether youre looking for a quick bite or a sit-down meal or youre  like me  just eating your way through Westfield UTC, heres a rundown of the new culinary offerings, where to drink, and a select list of the top five recently opened stores, because no matter how many food options there are, there will always be shopping.

Tender, flavorful and perfect for the ladies who lunch, the warm Asian-glazed chicken salad at Nordstrom UTCs Bazille restaurant is a menu standout. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Top pick, sit down: Bazille. For the reasons above and these dishes in particular: Kung Pao Brussles sprouts, cilantro lime chicken tacos, the Bistro Club sandwich, and the warm Asian-glazed chicken salad. No room for dessert? Pick up a three-pack of the exquisite dark chocolate sea salt caramels from Nordstrom Makers Chocolate, to go. shop.nordstrom.com/st/nordstrom-la-jolla-at-utc

The signature spicy tuna bowl is among the most popular orders at Sweetfin Poke, which feautres fresh, sustainably sourced seafood. Or build-your-own bowl. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Top pick, fast casual: Sweetfin Poke. This Los Angeles-based chain does the hottest trend in food right. Whether you get a signature bowl, with spicy tuna, yuzu salmon, Sriracha tuna, miso kanpachi and more, or you build your own, everything tastes pristine  because it is. Through August, you can try the limited-edition Blais Bowl, created by chef Richard Blais (Juniper & Ivy, The Crack Shack), made with salmon, yellowfin and albacore tunas, with yuzu soy sauce, pineapple rice, mango avocado pickled red onions, pine nuts and a topping of crispy fried onions. sweetfinpoke.com

Whether at Liberty Public Market or Westfield UTC, Im a sucker for the eggplant and mushroom empanadas from Parana Empanadas Argentinas (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune)

On the go: Tie  Napizza and Parana Empanadas Argentinas. When youre hungry and need something quick, take things into your own hands. Both Napizza, for pizza, and Parana, for empanadas, excel in the crust department and specialize in fresh, local ingredients. My Napizza pick is the decadent porcini pie; at Parana, I favor the rajas with chipotle chimichurri. Now get going; those shoes arent going to buy themselves. na-pizza.com/locations/utc-la-jolla; paranaempanadas.com

Smokeyard looks more like an East Village watering hole than a mall restaurant. (Courtesy photo)

Coolest new space: Smokeyard BBQ and Chop Shop. Go for the industrial chic dining room, warmed up with wood and custom tile work throughout, and sleek bar. But stay for the luscious, lacquered beef ribs and tender tri-tip and pulled pork. There are also plenty of healthier options  know your market!  but why? Added bonus: Smokeyard owners and brothers Alon and Guy Ravid are originally from South Africa, and the wine list has some choice picks from there that go surprisingly well with American barbecue. smokeyard.com/utc-san-diego

At True Food Kitchen, being good actually tastes really good. If youre not over kale  and were not  dont miss the organic Tuscan kale salad, to which you can add salmon, chicken, tofu, shrimp or grass-fed beef. True Food is on Westfield UTCs restaurant row, The Pointe. (Courtesy photo)

Best place to be good: True Food Kitchen. Heres where you go for righteously healthy, upscale fare. The extensive menu has veggies, ancient grains, vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options galore. The organic kale salad, with lemon, garlic, grana padano and breadcrumbs, is arguably San Diegos best bowl of greens. The lovely patio fronts The Pointe, the unofficial Westfield UTC restaurant row. truefoodkitchen.com/sandiegoutc

The retro-chic dining room of Great Maple at UTC. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Best place to be bad: Great Maple. Oversize portions of over-the-top comfort food and glorious desserts are what Great Maple is known for, headlined by the maple bacon doughnuts. Pair them with the crispy, buttermilk fried chicken with maple syrup and call it a day. Yes, there are salads, but again, why? The hip, retro decor is similar to the Great Maple in Hillcrest/University Heights, but the UTC location has a pretty, sizable patio. Look for it on Genesee, outside the malls labyrinth. thegreatmaple.com/la-jolla

Best people-watching: Queenstown Bistro. We had a couple of food fails here at the little sister to Little Italys Queenstown Public House. Luckily, its prime location nearly makes up for it. The outdoor-only eatery is right at the clock tower, affording views of the goings-on in the surrounding central plaza. Have a drink and order the tasty Bare Lil Lamb burger with blue cheese, but skip such lackluster dishes as the bland chimichurri hummus, chicken pot pie and Caesar salad. queenstownbistro.com

Wren Shake is in your name, they better be good. And at Shake Shack, where theyre make with frozen custard, they are. The Westfield UTC location was the first in San Diego County. (John Gastaldo photo)

Winner, What Took You So Long category: Shake Shack. San Diego seems to be having a love-hate relationship with this New York City burger chain. Is it because it opened up in seemingly every other city in America before it came to here? Or are we supremely spoiled by having both In-N-Out Burger and Five Guys? Maybe the high prices and controversial fries play a part in all the mixed reviews  which range from raves to mehs to cries of overrated! But theres no denying the crave-ability of the frozen custard concoctions or the shakes. shakeshack.com/location/utc-san-diego-ca

The splurge, wine country cuisine edition: The Winery. Contemporary California cooking served up in a vibrant, stylish setting makes for a fun night out. Just be prepared to spend. Five of us tasted through ten dishes  all of them pretty delicious. But aside from the moderately priced mushroom flatbread ($12.95) and the roasted chicken ($23.95), everything else was somewhat gulp-inducing. Nearly $50 for halibut? Nearly $54 for lobster risotto? Even for this group of high-end restaurant frequenters, that didnt quite taste right. thewinerylajolla.com

The splurge, steakhouse edition: Larsens Steakhouse. You expect a steakhouse to be costly, and Larsens is certainly that. Unfortunately, the kitchen hasnt quite found its stride yet. The 8-ounce dry-aged filet and 20-ounce wet-aged ribeye were tender and flavorful, as they should be at $54 and $56, respectively. (Wet-aged might be the most unappetizing menu descriptor since snout-to-tail.) We skipped the overpriced starters (most in the $20 range) and opted for two so-so sides, garlic mashed potatoes and Larsens Brussels sprouts. I devoured the butter cake for dessert; my friend thought it was too sweet. Not sweet? The sky-high prices on the wine list. larsensrestaurants.com

La Colombe Coffee Roasters at Westfield UTC. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune)

Top picks for day (and night) drinking:

La Colombe. The independent, nationwide coffee emporium, which was founded in Pennsylvania in 1994, roasts its own beans and offers custom drinks as well as lattes and cold brew on draft and in cans. Even this Nespresso addict fell hard for the creamy, dreamy milkshake-like draft latte. No worries, hard-core coffee fans, the Pure Black cold brew on tap has your name on it. La Colombe was also runner-up to Smokeyard for the title of coolest new space. lacolombe.com

The independent, nationwide coffee emporium, which was founded in Pennsylvania in 1994, roasts its own beans and offers custom drinks as well as lattes and cold brew on draft and in cans. Even this Nespresso addict fell hard for the creamy, dreamy milkshake-like draft latte. No worries, hard-core coffee fans, the Pure Black cold brew on tap has your name on it. La Colombe was also runner-up to Smokeyard for the title of coolest new space. lacolombe.com The Wine Bar. An airy, compact bar and patio lounge run by The Winery next door, The Wine Bar has a happy hour menu featuring $7.95 wine and cocktails, $4 beers and $8.50 appetizers. A perfect pairing would be Anna de Codorniu sparkling Cava with the YG Alsatian Pizza, a feather-light vehicle for gruyere, applewood-smoked bacon, onion and creme fraiche  a signature dish from French-born Winery co-owner and chef Yvon Goetz. thewinebarlajolla.com

An airy, compact bar and patio lounge run by The Winery next door, The Wine Bar has a happy hour menu featuring $7.95 wine and cocktails, $4 beers and $8.50 appetizers. A perfect pairing would be Anna de Codorniu sparkling Cava with the YG Alsatian Pizza, a feather-light vehicle for gruyere, applewood-smoked bacon, onion and creme fraiche  a signature dish from French-born Winery co-owner and chef Yvon Goetz. thewinebarlajolla.com Raised by Wolves. No other opening signaled UTCs shift from mall to hip(ish) hangout than CH Projects elaborately designed $3 million bottle boutique and hidden speakeasy. This latest venture from the local team that brought you Born & Raised, Polite Provisions, etc., knows its spirits, so check out the impressive stash in the front store before heading to the back for a drink. To get there, step on the revolving platform, the one with chairs and a faux fireplace, and prepare for a slow ride. It feels sort of like a cheesy game show set, except the prize is  cocktails! raisedxwolves.com

Behind the exquisitely-designed spirit shop at Raised by Wolves is a speakeasy that you access via a revolving wall. Somewhat cheesy, completely unique. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune)

Rituals is a standout among the many lifestyle/spa/bath/body products stores at Westfield UTC. (Courtesy photo)

Five stores to check out

Rituals. A standout among Westfield UTCs many, many natural skincare and zen-inspired lifestyle stores. The Ritual of Hammam foaming shower gel smells like rosemary and eucalyptus and feels like silk. rituals.com/en-us/home Arhaus. If our aspirational living dreams had a brick-and-mortar store, it would be Arhaus. Its unique, super stylish, home-decor-magazine-worthy pieces dont come cheap, but a girl can dream. arhaus.com Quay Australia. Born on the music festival circuit Down Under, this edgy eyewear shop has designer-quality sunglasses, aka sunnies, for about $60. Celebrities and Coachella Queens snatch them up. quayaustralia.com Kendra Scott. The Austin, Texas-based jewelry designer and mompreneur started while pregnant and on bed rest. The brand didnt explode into an empire because of a good backstory; Scotts jewelry is accessible, customizable body art for confident women. kendrascott.com Nordstrom. With the aforementioned natural light, more square footage and space dedicated to the sales floor, this Nordstrom store feels more like a hip art gallery than a stead museum. And the elegant shoe department is the highlight of this collection. shop.nordstrom.com/st/nordstrom-la-jolla-at-utc

Westfield UTC

Where: 4545 La Jolla Village Drive, San Diego

Phone: (858) 546-8858

Online: westfield.com/utc

Bazille, the stellar, light-filled sit-down restaurant at the new Westfield UTC Nordstrom, serves everything from kung pao Brussels sprouts to a turkey club sandwich, Asian-glazed chicken salad and cilantro lime chicken tacos. (Eduardo Contreras / San Diego Union-Tribune)

michele.parente@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @sdeditgirlAfter close to three decades as an actor, TV and radio host, writer, producer and a Celebrity Apprentice winner (2012), Arsenio Hall has returned to his roots in stand-up comedy. With a whole lot of life under his belt since the 1989 debut of The Arsenio Hall Show, late night TVs once-hippest host of the post-Carson generation maintains his comedic edge with plenty to reflect upon, from politics to pop culture to parenthood.

Arsenio Hall: 8 p.m. Saturday. Sycuan Casino, 5469 Casino Way, El Cajon. $59-$69. (800) 279-2826. sycuan.com

Update: this story was updated to correct Halls years spent in the entertainment industry.

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cynthia.zanone@sduniontribune.comGood morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. Its Thursday, July 26, and heres whats happening across California:

TOP STORIES

UCLA has surpassed its $4.2-billion fundraising goal 18 months ahead of schedule, marking one of the nations most successful efforts by a public university to woo philanthropic dollars, campus officials announced Wednesday. The Westwood campus will continue to raise money, potentially breaking $5 billion by the time it completes the campaign it launched in 2012 to commemorate UCLAs 100th anniversary next year. Los Angeles Times

Fast-moving fire

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Riverside County sheriffs deputies ordered hundreds of homes to evacuate in the mountain communities of Idyllwild, Apple Canyon, Lake Hemet, Mountain Center and Hurkey Creek while firefighters mounted an aggressive attack on the Cranston fire. Authorities said an arsonist set multiple fires Wednesday in southwest Riverside County, including this one. Los Angeles Times

And: Yosemite Valley and other parts of the iconic national park were shut down at least through the weekend as the Ferguson fire continued to rage. Los Angeles Times

The future of stand-up

Netflix is transforming stand-up comedy and making it integral to its future. The company, expected to spend $12 billion this year on overall original content, has streamed scores of stand-up specials, including comedians who speak Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and German. The strategy is to tap emerging comics and headliners, such as Bill Burr and Dave Chappelle, and push its brand to distant capitals. Los Angeles Times

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Victor Lomelli of Los Angeles looks over the vandalized star of Donald Trump on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (Reed Saxon / Associated Press)

L.A. STORIES

Trumped: A man who took a pickax to President Trumps star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame early Wednesday turned himself over to police and was booked on suspicion of felony vandalism. Los Angeles Times

Bridge builder: Jonathan Golds brother remembers his legacy in crossing cultural divides and saving the sharks. Los Angeles Times

Plus: How Gold helped a food-obsessed teen transform into a food-obsessed writer. L.A. Taco

Charter problems: As fiscal problems mount, the Celerity charter network is closing one of its schools in northeast L.A. Los Angeles Times

Goop! The big business of being Gwyneth Paltrow. New York Times Magazine

IMMIGRATION AND THE BORDER

Family separations: Under an order issued by U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego, Thursday is supposed to be the deadline for reuniting the more than 2,500 children who were taken from parents apprehended while crossing the border. Government lawyers have conceded they will fail to reunite all the families by that deadline. Los Angeles Times

Tragic: The director of a Mexican news website has been shot dead in the beach resort of Playa del Carmen, the second employee of the publication to have been killed in less than a month. The Guardian

POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Bye-bye, birdy: The Beverly Hills City Council banned the use of motorized scooters in the city for six months, citing public safety concerns as the two-wheelers have become more popular. Los Angeles Times

Away from Washington: The Trump administration on Tuesday announced up to $12 billion in assistance for American farmers hurt by rising foreign tariffs, but it remains unclear how much of it will benefit Californias largest agricultural exports, which include several kinds of tree nuts, wine, table grapes and dairy products. Sacramento Bee

Who pays? In Sacramento, lawmakers weighed a series of difficult options to revamp laws designed to lessen the likelihood of catastrophic wildfires, and considered the thorny question of who should foot the bill for blazes sparked by equipment belonging to the states investor-owned utility companies. Los Angeles Times

CRIME AND COURTS

Rich! After months of demanding transparency from President Trump on his alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels, Michael Avenatti convinced a federal judge on Wednesday to block the news media from covering his testimony about his law firms bankruptcy. Los Angeles Times

Remember this case? A lawyer for former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner argued that his clients attempted rape conviction should be overturned. Turner never intended to rape an unconscious woman, he said. Los Angeles Times

More on the Golden State Killer: Orange County prosecutors agreed Wednesday to review a decades-old murder investigation after an attorney said she detected similarities to attacks by a notorious California serial killer. Associated Press

THE ENVIRONMENT

Sad: A mountain lion who won fame after he was photographed peering through the sliding glass door of a Westlake Village home has been found dead in the Santa Monica Mountains, the National Park Service announced Wednesday. Los Angeles Times

CALIFORNIA CULTURE

Jealous: A San Jose liquor store has sold the only winning Mega Millions ticket for a $522-million jackpot. Los Angeles Times

Saving Private Ryan at 20: How Steven Spielbergs vivid D-Day story changed war movies. Los Angeles Times

A reckoning at Facebook: In a brutally honest note about his departure, Facebooks Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos calls on his colleagues to intentionally not collect data where possible and listen to people when they say a feature is creepy.  Buzzfeed

Yum: The Philippines and Mexico are thousands of miles apart. But in Chula Vista, both cultures live side-by-side. San Diego Union-Tribune

CALIFORNIA ALMANAC

Los Angeles area: Sunny, 90, Thursday and Friday. San Diego: Partly cloudy, 79, Thursday. Sunny, 81, Friday. San Francisco area: Cloudy, 67, Thursday. Sunny, 67, Friday. San Jose: Sunny, 85, Thursday and Friday. Sacramento: Sunny, 106, Thursday. Sunny, 102, Friday. More weather is here.

AND FINALLY

Todays California memory comes from James Lupo:

For work, I would often travel between Ventura and LAX. To admire the beauty of the state, the only rational option would be to cruise down the PCH through Malibu. A spectacle enough as the PCH is, one particular moment stands out in my mind  the sun was setting, a full moon was rising, and Herb Alberts Rise had just come on the radio. It was one of those picturesque moments that felt like Sergio Leone was directing my life.

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.July 26, 1917 The San Diego Union

The San Diego Union-Tribune will mark its 150th anniversary in 2018 by presenting a significant front page from the archives each day throughout the year.

Thursday, July 26, 1917

In 1917, soon after the United States entered World War I, the Army established Camp Kearny, an 8,000-acre training site  called a cantonment  north of Mission Valley, where recruits could be trained before shipping out to Europe.

Located in the general area of today's Miramar Naval Air Station, San Diegos great war suburb housed 32,000 soldiers. (The city of San Diegos population in 1910 was only 39,578.)

Here are the first few paragraphs of the story:

Contract Signed, 1000 Men Will Start Work Monday on Linda Vista Cantonment Site

CONSTRUCTION work on Camp Kearny has begun in earnest. By Monday morning it is estimated that nearly 1000 men will be employed in clearing and burning the brush covering the 8000 acres in the cantonment site, in erecting the several hundred mess halls, offices and storehouses, in grading the various company streets and in the installation of the sewerage, water, lighting and telephone systems.

The contract for the construction work was signed yesterday by Lieutenant Charles S. Rogers, engineer corps, representing the government, and by William Hampton, Los Angeles contractor. Before noon Hampton had wired to his representatives in Los Angels to start shipping immediately grading and other material already on hand.

The first building to be erected at the camp will be a mess hall capable of seating 1000 men. This mess hall will be used by the laborers who are now being rushed to Linda Vista to assist in construction operations. Tents, cots, blankets and other material will be purchased at the earliest possible moment and rushed to Camp Kearny for the contractors.

Problems Quickly Solved

Lieutenant Rogers, the guiding genius back of the construction of San Diegos great war suburb, is probably the busiest man in California today. A maze of intricate details projected themselves in the conferences between the army engineer and the contractors yesterday, but all the problems quickly were smoothed out by the army lieutenant. Blue prints and specifications of every one of the several hundred buildings for Camp Kearny are now in the hands of Lieutenant Rogers, who personally will see that every detail of the work involved is carried out to the letter.

Every angle of the cantonment construction game is familiar to Lieutenant Rogers. He built a wooden city for 40,000 soldiers in Virginia within less than forty days. The problems here are more simplified, in that the soldiers and officers will be housed under canvas.

View anniversary front pages online at sandiegouniontribune.com/150-years. For more from the Union-Tribune digital archives, go to newslibrary.com/sites/sdub. Searching is free, with registration. A fee is required to view full stories.The interior of one of Los Angeles best known Catholic churches was badly damaged by a vandal who broke into the building Wednesday morning and caused more than $100,000 in damage, police said.

The perpetrator also set fire to trash bins along Moorpark Street, damaged two cars and scrawled graffiti on a Chase Bank building. The perpetrator used a pole to smash a window to enter St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church at 10800 Moorpark St. The Spanish colonial style church is known for its distinctive bell tower.

Los Angeles Police Deputy Chief Horace Frank said the vandals motive remains unknown, but given the randomness of the targets, investigators do not believe the incident is a hate crime.

Inside the church, several statues and stained glass windows with ornamental fittings were smashed.

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There is significant property damage; paper was strewn about, things spilled, said LAPD Sgt. Barry Montgomery.

Masses for Wednesday were canceled but they were expected to resume Thursday.

The parish remains home to Cardinal Roger Mahony, who led the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for decades, but whose reputation was severely tarnished by cover-ups involving child sexual abuse by priests and more than $700 million in legal settlements with victims.

richard.winton@latimes.com

Twitter: @lacrimesA body was found in Echo Park Lake on Thursday afternoon after a search that began in the early morning hours, Los Angeles police said.

Divers were swimming through the lakes murky waters looking for a man who fell out of a paddle boat in the middle of the night and drowned, police said. Police have not released the identity of the victim.

The man and a friend were in a swan boat about 3:45 a.m. when it capsized and both fell into the lake  which at places is up to 28 feet deep, Los Angeles fire officials said.

While one of the two men swam to shore, the other remained missing for much of the day Thursday.

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According to police, the two men were part of a group of four people who went to the park after hours and broke into the boat storage area. They then took three boats into the lake.

Only the boat with two men capsized, LAPD spokesman Frank Preciado said. The people in the two other boats returned to shore and fled the scene.

When the boat capsized, one swam to the east side of the lake, the other one was trying to swim  we have a witness who says he was yelling for help  and at a certain point, that individual went underwater, Preciado said.

The person who went underwater has not been seen since, he said.

By 5:30 a.m., authorities had transitioned from looking for the man as a survivor to searching for his body. Divers had to negotiate the nets, fountains, drains and murkiness that can make searching Echo Park Lake a challenge, said Fire Department spokesman Capt. Erik Scott.

The parks paddle boat rentals close after sunset, and police said it was not immediately clear how long the men had been on the water before they capsized.

The man who swam ashore was interviewed by police and could be charged with trespassing and grand theft, police said. It was not immediately clear whether alcohol was involved in the incident.

joseph.serna@latimes.com

For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna on Twitter.

UPDATES:

3:35 p.m.: This article was updated with details on the recovery of the mans body.

10:40 a.m.: This article was updated with additional details from the LAPD.

This article was originally published at 7:10 a.m.Orange County prosecutors agreed Wednesday to review a decades-old murder investigation after an attorney said she detected similarities to attacks by a notorious California serial killer.

The district attorneys office agreed to review the conviction of William Evins in the killing of a 28-year-old woman in 1979 as part of a long-standing program that looks into old cases upon request. But the office said that its too soon to tell where the review will lead and that the evidence will have to be examined to determine whether DNA testing is a possibility.

Attorney Annee Della Donna, who runs the pro bono Innocence Rights of Orange County, said she made the request after detecting apparent similarities in the now-deceased Evins case with those connected to the so-called Golden State Killer.

Authorities in Northern California arrested former police officer Joseph DeAngelo, 72, in April and said they believe he is the killer who had long proved elusive to authorities. DeAngelo is charged with 12 killings throughout the state from the 1970s and 1980s, including one in Orange County in 1980.

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As a teen, Della Donna said, she was the victim of an abduction attempt and years later saw a sketch of the Golden State Killer suspect that she thought resembled her attacker. She started looking into rape and murder cases that had occurred nearby and came across Evins case, she said.

She said that she lived six blocks from victim Joan Anderson, 28, and that the way Anderson was killed bears similarities to cases involving the serial killer. She also said Evins, who died in 2013, pleaded guilty after a jailhouse informant said he had confessed to the crime.

We believe that this murder was another Golden State Killer case, she told reporters, adding that she had also contacted Sacramento County sheriffs officials and the FBI.

Its too early to tell if theres similarities or not, said Susan Kang Schroeder, chief of staff for the prosecutors office. We dont know.A federal appeals court decided Wednesday that Chino Valley school board meetings may not include prayers, proselytizing or the citing of Christian Scripture.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a 2016 injunction against the religious practices, which the court said dated back to at least 2010.

In its appeal, the Chino Valley Unified School District board argued that it was covered by an exception for traditional prayer at the start of state legislatures, Congress and town hall meetings.

The 9th Circuit disagreed, noting that the school board meetings include children and teenagers who are more vulnerable than adults to outside influence and who have been obligated to attend to give presentations, perform or receive awards.

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These prayers typically take place before groups of schoolchildren whose attendance is not truly voluntary and whose relationship to school district officials, including the board, is not one of full parity, the court said in an unsigned decision.

Unlike sessions of Congress, state legislatures and town boards, the Chino Valley school board meetings function as extensions of the educational experience of the districts public schools, the 9th Circuit said.

Two other federal appeals courts have previously ruled that prayer was off-limits for school board meetings. Another circuit allowed it, but in that case there was no student on the board. Chino Valleys board had a student member.

The board defended its opening prayer as a sign of respect for religious diversity.

But the court said the boards list of congregations that could be invited excluded several religions.

Roughly 2% of Californias population is Buddhist, 2% Jewish, 1% Mormon and 1% Orthodox Christian, and none of those religions were included on the boards list, the court said.

The court also noted that atheists and agnostics comprise 4% to 5% of the states population.

A group called Freedom from Religion Foundation Inc. sued the San Bernardino County school district, charging that in addition to the opening prayer, board members read from Christian Scripture at various times.

At a meeting in January 2014, a board member urged everyone who does not know Jesus Christ to go and find him. At another meeting that year, another board member thanked God for sending his son Jesus Christ so our sins would be forgiven.

Wednesdays decision was made by 9th Circuit Judges M. Margaret McKeown and Kim McLane Wardlaw and Colorado Dist. Judge Wiley Y. Daniel, all appointees of President Clinton.

The court based its decision on the Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The Establishment Clause, grounded in experiences of persecution, affirms the fundamental truth that no matter what an individuals religious beliefs, he has a valued place in the political community, the 9th Circuit said.

maura.dolan@latimes.com

Twitter: @mauradolanMike DAngelo, who looks after his elderly mother, went to the store Saturday in Silver Lake to pick up a couple of items.

Some pasta for his mom. Some dog food for their pooch.

I was grabbing stuff and then I heard a screech and then the car crashing into a pole, said DAngelo, 43, who saw a man running from the car while firing shots.

Boom, boom, boom, said DAngelo, who told me he has suffered from a learning disability since childhood.

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And so began a harrowing three-hour ordeal for DAngelo, who became a hostage in the Trader Joes shootout and standoff, which left store manager Melyda Corado, 27, dead.

In that time, DAngelo was face to face with the shooter. He said he was terrified but kept his composure as he asked the gunman for permission to check on the fallen employee, who went down near the entrance of the store.

Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said Tuesday that an officers bullet had killed Corado, and that the officers involved were devastated. The shootout followed a long chase, with police in pursuit of Gene Atkins, who allegedly shot his grandmother in South Los Angeles and then fled north before trading bullets with cops at the popular market on Hyperion Avenue.

That TJs, which I shopped in for years, has always been as much a centerpiece of Silver Lake culture as a place to shop, and flowers and cards were placed outside the store by neighbors.

Given the death of Corado, people will talk for years about whether police acted appropriately. Based on accounts Ive read and videos Ive seen, I think its too soon to make a judgment one way or another.

More on that in a minute, but first lets get back to Mike DAngelo, whose neighbors called him a longtime Silver Laker who has worked at odd jobs, including dog walker. At his home, DAngelo told me hes not working at the moment and likes to ride his chopper bicycle or fly his drone with the neighbor who had told me about DAngelos ordeal at Trader Joes.

I couldnt verify every detail, but police confirmed that DAngelo was a hostage, and much of his account of what happened in the store was backed up by another hostage.

He was amazing, that hostage said of DAngelo, who smoked a cigarette and paced in his frontyard as he recounted the hours in Trader Joes.

I heard like, six or seven shots, and I ran over by the water cases. I didnt know where else to go. I slid in and had my head covered, said DAngelo. I heard an employee say the gunmans in the house. I called my mom and told her what was going on. I was terrified. Im still shaking.

Some of the shoppers and employees took cover in a storage area, and some managed to escape through a window. DAngelo was among a small group of hostages who were in the presence of the gunman.

He had two bullet holes in his arm and he was bleeding badly, said DAngelo. He kept saying he didnt want to hurt anybody.

By that point, he already had, and DAngelo thought the safest course of action would be to comply with the gunmans demands.

I got him whatever he needed. Some water, orange juice and a bottle of Jack Daniels, said DAngelo, who rounded up the items from the aisles.

He said the gunman drank some of the Jack Daniels and poured some on his wounds. Then the gunman asked DAngelo for his T-shirt to dab at the blood on his arm.

DAngelo said he complied with the gunmans request to dial a number, on his own phone. The gunman wanted to speak to his grandmother, but she was unreachable in an emergency room.

DAngelo said his phone died and another hostage used her phone for him to talk to an LAPD negotiator who was trying to talk the gunman into letting the hostages go.

DAngelo said that at one point, he asked the gunman if he could go check on the store manager, who lay on her stomach near the exit.

He said, Yeah, go ahead, and I went with an employee. I kept shaking her, saying, Maam, are you OK? No response. So I went to put two fingers on her neck, like that, to check her pulse, but she was gone.

DAngelo said he moved the victims body to the door, then went back into the store because he feared hed be shot by the gunman if he left.

The gunman was eventually arrested, and DAngelo said he borrowed a shirt from a Trader Joes employee to walk out of the store with a police escort. He and other hostages were then interviewed at a nearby church.

Im not a hero or anything, said DAngelo, who insisted that his photograph not be taken. If anyone was heroic, he said, it was the diabetic woman  whose name he didnt know  because she kept the gunman calm and helped end the crisis.

Im sorry, DAngelo said. But Im really exhausted. I havent slept much. I keep having dreams of the whole thing in the store. I need to go lie down.

DAngelo said he had not seen everything that happened in all the chaos, and he did not see the store manager get shot.

It may turn out that police could have used better judgment in the shootout, but they were being shot at themselves and its not clear what they saw or did not see as they returned fire in an attempt to prevent a massacre. We need more information before a fair judgment can be made.

Ron Jacobs, who read The Times account of the shooting over a cup of coffee across the street from Trader Joes, said bullets were flying in a chaotic situation, but he couldnt fault the police based on what is known at the moment.

Yitz Weiss, who stood at the shrine outside Trader Joes, shared that view.

Its terrible that someone gets killed like this, but its also difficult to judge the police when they have to make a quick decision under duress, Weiss said.

Whats undeniable is that a young store manager died, first and foremost, because of the reckless actions of the gunman.

And that regular people, like Mike DAngelo, found the strength to make it through a horrible day theyll never forget.

Get more of Steve Lopezs work and follow him on Twitter @LATstevelopezLa Jolla author Natasha Josefowitz has a small part in a feature-length documentary now showing in local theaters, Three Identical Strangers, but it has had a big impact on her life.

The controversial documentary follows the story of triplets separated at birth and adopted by three families from different backgrounds  well-to-do, middle class and blue collar.

The boys development was closely monitored through the years by behavioral researchers led by prominent New York child psychiatrist Dr. Peter Neubauer, who saw this as an opportunity to investigate the age-old controversy over nature vs. nurture.

Josefowitz didnt play an active part in the twin study but was a research assistant to Neubauer at the time. I was studying the children of Israel in the kibbutz (child care) movement, says Josefowitz, who helped Neubauer write a book on that topic. But I was working in the office and I would hear a lot about what was going on.

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When documentary producers asked her for an interview, Josefowitz, now 91, was hesitant, emphasizing that she did not play an active role but agreed to offer any assistance she could because Dr. Neubauer and many others involved had since passed away.

Writer Natasha Josefowitz, shown here at age 88, was a professor of business for 30 years, author of 20 books and is an internationally known speaker. She was inducted into the San Diego County Womens Hall of Fame in 2015 for her dedication to empowering women. (Michele Parente / San Diego Union-Tribune)

She is unhappy that the documentary hints at a conspiracy between a now-defunct New York adoption agency and Dr. Neubauer to separate the six sets of identical twins and one set of triplets followed in the research.

They did not separate twins for the study, emphasizes Josefowitz, who was inducted into the county Womens Hall of Fame in 2015. The adoption agency was unable to find parents willing to take twins at the time. The study came second.

As for not informing the twins and triplets that they had siblings, Josefowitz notes that researchers feared the children would bond more with their sibling than their adoptive parents. That decision has angered the triplets and others.

The research showed the strong influence of genetics, documenting similar habits, mannerisms and preferences exhibited by identical twins in different households. Two had tooth abscesses at the same time, two preferred to eat their food with ketchup, recalls Josefowitz. The triplets all wore similar clothing, wrestled, smoked Marlboros and were attracted to the same type of women.

What (researchers) found out was incredible, Josefowitz told the filmmakers. She did not believe that the hereditary influence would be as strong as it was. We would prefer to think we had some influence over our lives instead of finding out theres not much you can do.

Josefowitz moved to Switzerland in 1965 and fell out of touch with the twin study, which was never published, purportedly, in part, to protect the identities of the subjects. After Neubauer died in 2008, all the materials were placed at Yale University under the guardianship of the Jewish Board of Family and Childrens Services, which had helped establish his Child Development Center. The papers were to be sealed until 2065, presumably when the participants, born in the early 1960s, would no longer be living.

In 1980, triplets Bobby Shafran, Eddy Galland and David Kellman, then age 19, discovered one another by accident. Their jubilance at being reunited was the subject of national TV news and talk shows. They made a cameo appearance in Desperately Seeking Susan, starring Madonna, and opened a popular NYC steakhouse called Triplets in 1988.

All three have admitted to having had emotionally troubled childhoods and one, Eddy Galland, was later hospitalized for psychiatric treatment. He took his own life in 1995, the same year that New Yorker journalist Lawrence Wright published an article about the mysterious psychological twin study.

The documentary, directed by Tim Wardle, indicated that the triplets birth mother, likewise, suffered mental health issues.

Josefowitz says shes getting very mixed responses about the film, released in theaters on June 29. Some people have asked her how she could be involved. Her answer, of course, is that she wasnt. She was a fly on the wall. Wardle mentioned this in the documentary and underscored it in a recent interview published by Vice magazine. The two people who appear in the film (Josefowitz and a researcher) were quite peripheral, the film director said.

Like many viewers, she is saddened that the information learned during this monumental study was locked away and hopes that this documentary will change that. It already has loosened secrecys grip. Shafran and Kellman recently have been allowed to see heavily redacted versions of the research that involves them. But its meaning remains a mystery.

It doesnt give us any hypothesis or updates to go on. Were not scientists who can pick this apart, Kellman told the Vice reporter.

So, until the final report (if one was written) is published, the conclusions of this controversial experiment will remain an enigma.

diane.bell@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1518

Twitter: @dianebellSD

Facebook: dianebell.newsA judge on Wednesday ordered two men to stand trial in the death of a Chula Vista man whose remains were found crammed into a barrel that was floating in San Diego Bay last year.

We do have a man who was murdered  the disposal of the body and a possible motive, Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sontag said.



For the record: This original version of this story misidentified the victims first name. His name is Omar Medina.

Her ruling came at the end of a two-day preliminary hearing for Timothy Cook, 53, charged with murder, and Derrick Spurgeon, 38, charged as an accessory after the fact.

Cook is suspected of stabbing Omar Medina, 28, his roommate, more than 60 times. Spurgeon is suspected of driving the boat used to dump the 55-gallon drum containing Medinas body into the bay on Oct. 11.

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A diver found the drum the next day and reported it as a possible boating hazard.

Medina was a music producer and disc jockey. He also worked for Cooks brother in a scaffolding business.

Deputy District Attorney Cherie Somerville presented evidence suggesting that Cook, who liked a neat home, was fed up with Medinas messy ways.

In text messages, Cook called Medina a dirty pig and expressed disgust that Medina was so drunk he used a sock to clean himself after using the toilet, then threw the sock in the trash.

Also, Chula Vista police officers testified that they recovered deleted photos from Cooks cellphone showing Medinas bank statements recording an $80,000 deposit.

One officer testified that Medina won that amount in a lawsuit settlement, according to his mother.

Police said that surveillance videos collected off various buildings linked two men to a green and tan Ford F-150 hauling a 17-foot Bass Tracker boat from El Cajon to Chula Vista.

Spurgeon was living on Rios Canyon Road in El Cajon, near where the first video showed the truck and boat on a trailer.

Another surveillance camera at the J Street Marina in Chula Vista recording images that showed the boat slide off the trailer into the bay.

Officer LeVar Brown testified that when investigators looked at the video frame by frame, they saw a white barrel in the boat. When the boat returned an hour later, no barrel was visible.

Medinas sister reported him missing on Oct. 7 when his family failed to hear from him after Sept. 30.

His sister told police shed asked Cook several times where Medina had gone, but got unsatisfactory answers. Medinas white Cadillac turned up abandoned, but full of his belongings, in the neighborhood near where he and Cook lived.

As police were working on the missing persons case, the diver in San Diego Bay made what turned out to be the gruesome discovery of Medina crammed into the metal drum.

San Diego Harbor police hoisted the drum onto their boat and immediately smelled a rancid odor, one officer testified Tuesday.

They opened the barrel lid and saw a brown blanket stuffed inside, and a human hand.

Cooks attorney, Kara Oien, said police found some text messages on Cooks phone that suggest another man, not one of the defendants, had made threats against Medina and put a price on his head.

Under questioning from Spurgeons lawyer, Roland Haddad, Brown acknowledged that police looking at the surveillance videos could not positively identify his client.

Both attorneys asked the judge to dismiss all charges against their clients, saying the prosecutor failed to prove either man was guilty of the crimes alleged against them.

Brown testified, though, that investigators found considerable evidence linking Cook and Spurgeon to the killing.

He said a photo from Cooks bedroom showed a brown blanket similar to the one found in the metal drum. A tan pillowcase at his home also was similar to one found in the drum.

Carpet samples from the boat floor gave strong indications of DNA from Spurgeon and Cook, a police criminalist testified. The boat was found at Spurgeons home in El Cajon.

Chula Vista police Officer Joel Monreal testified that polce found cinder blocks at Spurgeons house that were similar to three cinder blocks used to weight down the metal drum to keep it submerged.

pauline.repard@sduniontribune

Twitter: @pdrepard

The San Diego Unified School Districts board of education voted unanimously on Tuesday to extend Superintendent Cindy Martens contract through the 2021-2022 school year, adding an additional two years onto her current contract, which was set to expire in June 2020.

The decision follows the release of Martens annual evaluation, which assessed Martens performance and the districts overall progress last year.

In a statement released Wednesday, board members said they are extremely proud of the districts continuing progress under Superintendent Martens leadership.

Among other things, the board praised Martens work toward closing the achievement gap and improving students access to broad and challenging curriculum. The district recently showed significant grade-level gains in both reading and mathematics on the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the Nations Report Card.

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In all, the boards evaluation rates Marten on her progress implementing six district goals.

The grading scale ranges from beginning work but showing no evidence of progress to extending accomplishments with significant progress.

The review shows Marten received the second highest mark, accomplishing goals with evidence of progress, in four areas. In the remaining two  providing a positive school environment, climate and culture and creating parent and community engagement  Marten was rated as developing initiatives, the second lowest grade.

Marten has been an educator for more than two decades. Before becoming district chief, she was a teacher and later a principal at Central Elementary School in City Heights.

San Diego Unified serves more than 126,000 students in 181 schools. History shows leading the second-largest school district in the state is not for the faint of heart. In the decade before Martens appointment in 2013, four permanent and three interim superintendents passed through the position. The board even considered restructuring leadership to reduce turnover in the demanding role.

According to Transparent California, open-government group, Martens base pay was $267,300 in 2017. Her employment cost $337,600 total that year, including benefits and an automobile expense allowance of $10,000.

Her contract extension makes no change to her compensation. Shes entitled to a 2 percent raise each year, as her pay is tied to that of all non-union administrators. But that employee group has agreed to a 5.6 percent decrease in pay, in return for more days off, so her pay is not expected to see a net increase for at least two years.

Marten said she is eager to use the added time to build on previous success.

Our schools have made tremendous progress over the past five years, but I am even more excited about what we are building for the future, Marten said in a statement. I am grateful for the hard work of our students, our families, and our staff, the support of our city, and the continued confidence the Board of Education has expressed in our work.

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Contact Lauryn Schroeder via Twitter or Email.A major, months-long audit of the citys utilities department, sparked by a public outcry over high water bills, concluded that 2,750 water bills sent to San Diego residents last year were incorrect and had to be readjusted while discovering that 10 meter readers accounted for 71 percent of the errors.

The city audit released Thursday also found that meter readers figured out how to bypass an accuracy check required when meters are read and the citys Public Utilities Department doesnt measure the performance of its 36 meter readers.

While the errors represent about one-fourth of 1 percent of the 1.3 million meter readings in calendar year 2017, they often amounted to hundreds of dollars, the report from City Auditor Eduardo Luna. A separate report by an outside utility consulting firm found similar problems.

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The audit was ordered after hundreds of San Diego residents complained last year of surging water bills, in some cases two or three times the usual amount. Furious ratepayers packed public hearings earlier this year demanding answers.

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer pledged to undertake a comprehensive reform of the department to make it more focused on customer service, and to take complaints more seriously.

Our customers must be able to trust when they receive their bill that it accurately reflects how much water they use  no more and no less, he said. We have to change the culture of this department in order to consistently deliver the excellent services that San Diegans expect.

In all, the auditor made 10 recommendations to improve performance, and the department adopted all of them, the report stated.

These include:

-- Twice-yearly reviews of implausible readings

-- Re-evaluation of meter reading routes

-- Increased review of meter-reading accuracy

-- Notifying customers in advance of changes that will raise their bills, so they have time to prepare.

A major source of error came from one meter reader who officials said earlier this year is no longer a city employee. That person had misread 343 meters in November and December, largely in the northern part of the city.

The audit didnt discuss whether any action was taken against the 10 other meter readers disproportionately responsible for the corrected bills.

So-called smart meters, were not the cause of billing increases, the audit found.

Besides the city of San Diego, the department provides water to Del Mar, and through California-American Water Company, to Coronado and Imperial Beach.

The audit found that such apparently anomalous bills are often accurate, reflecting factors such as a water rate increase, a one-time extended billing system, warmer winter months, and unidentified water leaks.

But when errors occur, theyre usually big. The report illustrated this with a hypothetical example of a typical bill and a typical error.

The example used a single-family home with an average water use per billing period of 1,800 cubic feet, or 13,465 gallons. That usage results in a bill of $141.41 when correctly read.

But if incorrectly read, the bill would most likely jump to $408.56, an overcharge of about $267. This was calculated by using the average corrected error.

Meanwhile, customer complaints of errors continue.

On Thursday, Tim Wilson of Carmel Valley said he received a water bill this month for $2,028.02, more than four times his typical charge.

According to the bill, he used 2,321 gallons a day, Wilson said, which isnt feasible.

Were very, very careful with our water usage, Wilson said.

Wilson said the department re-read the meter, and he is waiting to get a corrected bill.

At a press conference, Faulconer said even one wrong bill is too many, and directed the public utilities department to change how it monitors meter readings, handles customer complaints, and communicates with the public.

The department needs to rebuild the trust that has been lost, Faulconer said.

Flanked by city officials, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer says water bill accuracy will be improved. (Bradley J. Fikes)

Responsibility for ensuring that trust is rebuilt goes to Johnnie Perkins, the citys new deputy chief operating officer for infrastructure and public works.

Perkins said he will make sure the recommendations in the auditors report are carried out, and that the Public Utilities Department becomes the gold standard across the country, both in operations and in customer service.

To reduce errors, the report recommended the department monitor the use of supervisor codes used to bypass controls on reporting abnormal meter readings.

In addition, the department should develop ways to measure the performance of meter readers, the report stated.

The Public Utilities Department already catches most potential errors before customers are billed, the report found.

A total of 57,117 meter readings, or 4.43 percent, were flagged as abnormal. The department corrected 18,728 of them before billing customers. That left 2,750 bills that were adjusted after they were sent to customers.

But even if there were no errors, customers will continue to see bills climb due to yearly rate increases already approved by the San Diego City Council. A five percent rate increase for fiscal year 2019 takes place this month. A seven percent rate increase for fiscal year 2020 is to take place next July.

Related reading

San Diego city water billing audit (PDF)

San Diego officials: New testing ensures future accuracy of water meters

Reporters notebook: Seeing a water meter reader in action, kind of

Meter readers face public backlash as water bills continue to surge across San Diego

Hundreds turn out to public forum to discuss skyrocketing water bills

City probe finds human error responsible for spiking hundreds of water bills

Skyrocketing water bills in San Diego prompt internal city investigation

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bradley.fikes@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1020The calls for help started coming in to immigration lawyers across the country just before Memorial Day. Immigrant detainees, many fleeing gangs and violence and seeking legal asylum in the U.S., were flooding courtrooms along the Southwestern border.

Dozens were parents reporting that Border Patrol agents had taken away their children, and many were under the impression they would see their sons and daughters again within hours.

We had to break the news to them that that wasnt true, said Efren C. Olivares, who was among the attorneys with the Texas Civil Rights Project to come to the aid of public defenders in McAllen. And then the question became, If not today, then when?

We didnt have an answer to that.

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Nine weeks of chaos and confusion later, many still dont.

Under an order issued by U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego, Thursday is supposed to be the deadline for reuniting the more than 2,500 children who were taken from parents apprehended while crossing the border.

Government lawyers have conceded they will fail to reunite all the families by that deadline  hundreds of parents already have been deported without their children, and the government has been unable to locate many others. Officials said in court Tuesday they expect to have reunited just over 1,600 families by the deadline.

Despite the administrations hardline stance, hundreds of those families have been released on immigration parole, pending hearings on their asylum claims, typically with the adults wearing ankle monitors. Scores of other families, however, have been sent to immigration detention centers, including two in Texas where at least 80 families are being held in custody.

Why some families have been released and others detained remains unclear, as is how long those detentions may last, according to lawyers for the families. Government officials have refused to provide answers.

Some 900 parents were fighting final deportation orders. Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union have asked Sabraw to delay those deportations to give the parents more time to decide whether to leave the country with their children or separate from them and have the children continue to press for asylum claims of their own. Deportations of these families have been halted by the judge, for now.

Government lawyers say that at least 127 parents voluntarily agreed to leave their children behind. But in affidavits filed Wednesday, pro bono lawyers working at detention centers along the border said some parents believed they were signing forms to temporarily release their children to relatives in the U.S. Others were coerced or frightened, and many were given documents they could not read, the lawyers have said. Some of the families primarily speak indigenous languages and are not literate in Spanish or English.

The government has argued that families have had ample time and opportunity to discuss their legal options over phone calls or after being reunified. But ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt said in a Wednesday filing that the access to such communications has been overstated.

These phone calls allow barely enough time for parents to get basic reassurance that their children are alive and cared for. They are wholly insufficient to allow the parent and child a meaningful opportunity to speak with each other about the grave decision they must make together, Gelernt said. And, in any event, they do not allow parents to consult with any attorney for their children, leaving their childrenin the several minutes they have on the phonewith the impossible task of accurately explaining their own legal options to their parent.

One father told an attorney that hed last spoken to his son 20 days earlier, and that hed signed a paper that he thought would allow them to reunite but was clearly mistaken. He cannot read nor write, speaks a Mayan dialect and was not provided an interpreter.

Many parents who signed away their right to reunification expressed confusion about how their own immigration cases were proceeding. Some didnt even have final removal orders and some had passed credible fear interviews, an important step to pursuing an asylum claim. They told attorneys that they were never advised that they could fight their asylum claims and reunite with their children  that it was not an either/or situation.

None of the fathers I spoke with claimed to have been furnished with a copy of the form, or forms, that they signed, said New York attorney Sofia Reive, repeating a common complaint among attorneys visiting with such families. Thus it was difficult for me and for them to understand what exactly they had signed.

Reive was among several pro bono attorneys visiting migrants in a New Mexico detention facility last weekend.

Each father expressed confusion and visible, extreme emotional distress because they do not know when they will see their children again. Almost all of the fathers I met with wept as they told me about being separated from their children, said Reive.

The judge is expected to rule on the ACLUs request for a seven-day waiting period as early as Friday, when both parties next appear in court.

More than 450 parents already have likely been deported without their children, government lawyers told Sabraw this week. The precise number, perhaps 463, remains under review, they said. An additional 64 were deemed ineligible to be reunited with children because they had criminal records or other reasons that government officials said made them unfit.

At least 217 parents were released into the U.S. without their children, government lawyers said. Both the government and volunteer lawyers for the ACLU were trying to locate them in efforts to reunite the families.

The continued confusion, Sabraw said in court this week, was the unfortunate result of a policy adopted without forethought to reunification or keeping track of people.

Along the Southwestern border, immigration lawyers have described a reunification process as chaotic and scurried as the separations themselves. With family reunions often taking place in the parking lots of detention centers, activist groups have flooded the Texas border to provide help to often-exhausted, traumatized parents and children.

Annunciation House in El Paso has assembled hospitality centers with beds, meals, showers and a change of clothing for families. So far, it has helped 250 families who were released from detention after being reunified, the group said in a statement.

In the Rio Grande Valley, to the southeast, Catholic Charities had taken in another 100 families on Wednesday, and hundreds of volunteers were cooking meals and soliciting food donations.

We are providing them a place to be with their children making sure they have a safe space, a tranquil space, Brenda Riojas, the charitys spokeswoman, said.

Lawyers groups, such as the American Immigration Council, have been taking donations to provide counsel to parents seeking asylum or other forms of immigration relief. But ensuring families have access and can connect with lawyers has been trying.

A little before noon Wednesday, Jaqueline Aranda Osorno, an attorney at Public Counsel in Los Angeles, got word that her client, a Guatemalan father, had just reunited with his 13-year-old daughter. From her home, Aranda coordinated with volunteers in McAllen to get the pair out of town.

Buses destined for a Texas town where a sponsor family waited for them were sold out. A local church was already packed with recently reunited parents and children. Multiple families were sharing rooms.

Its been incredibly hard to figure out how to get this family out, Aranda said.

Hundreds more children remain in the hands of the government  and as many as 37 have not been matched with a parent. Congressional Democrats, immigrant rights advocates and lawyers continue to clamor for answers about whats next for the separated families and other migrant children.

Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions announced the zero tolerance policy at the border in April. It took effect in early May. Under the policy, all adults who crossed into the country illegally were prosecuted for illegal entry. That offense is a misdemeanor, and in nearly all cases, the immigrants were sentenced to time served, but the fact that they were taken into criminal custody provided legal justification for the government to take children away from their parents.

On June 20, with pictures of children behind fencing generating an international outcry, President Donald Trump suspended the separations through executive order. Sabraw subsequently required the government to reunite children younger than 5 with their parents within 14 days, and older children by this week.

At least 57 children under 5 were reunited with families under the court order.

Administration officials first floated the idea of separating migrant families at the border as a form of deterrence as early as March 2017. But Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen initially denied the existence of a family separation policy, then denied that Trump ordered it as a deterrent.

She and Sessions since have defended the decision to prosecute anyone who is caught crossing the border between legal ports of entry. Asked last week whether she had been notified of the family separation policy ahead of time, she said her answer was yes and no.

We had always done this at DHS. In other words, we had always enforced the law. The last administration enforced the law, which means they enforced the law against families, she told an audience at the Aspen Institute. Before May, however, most families with asylum claims were released pending a hearing, and few were prosecuted for illegal entry.

Los Angeles Times staff writer Ulloa reported from Washington and Union-Tribune staff writer Davis reported from San Diego. Times staff writers Molly Hennessey-Fiske in Roma, Texas, and Cindy Carcamo in Los Angeles contributed to this article.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavisIt is shaping up to be the ultimate identity-politics contest: A brash, shotgun-wielding, white male conservative who bills himself as politically incorrect will compete in Georgias gubernatorial race with a liberal Ivy League Democrat who hopes to be the nations first black female governor.

After celebrating his landslide win Tuesday night in Georgias Republican primary for governor, Brian Kemp was quick to pivot to the November general election, painting his Democratic rival, Stacey Abrams, as a radical funded by coastal elites.

So heres the question: Do you really want a governor whos bought and paid for by liberal billionaires and out-of-state socialists? he told the crowd at his victory party. Do you want a governor thats going to answer to Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton? Do you want a governor who thinks that government is the answer to every challenge that we face?

Of course you dont, he said with a chuckle. I figured that out. This is the state of Georgia: We are a red state.

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Indeed, Republicans have long ruled this Southern state, and almost two decades have passed since a Democrat was elected governor. But Democrats are pouring millions of dollars into the November race in the hope that a rapidly growing and diversifying population, along with dissatisfaction with President Trump, could make it a swing state.

Trump won Georgia by 5% in 2016, but political observers note that his divisive and erratic governing style has energized the Democratic base and turned off many independents and moderate conservatives in Atlantas sprawling suburbs  setting the stage for a gubernatorial race that could be more competitive than usual and more focused on national issues.

Its going to be a little bit like a laboratory, said Kerwin Swint, a political science professor at Kennesaw State University near Atlanta, noting that neither of the candidates is a moderate, and therefore they will have to find a way to energize supporters without turning off swing voters. Its going to be a battle of the bases.

Abrams, 44, a Yale Law School graduate and former Democratic leader of Georgias House of Representatives, won 76% of Democratic votes. But her history of liberal positions such as supporting the Affordable Care Act and purging the state of all Civil War monuments could alienate independents.

Kemp, 54, Georgias secretary of state, secured 69% of the Republican vote. But his brash, Trump-like style could hurt his ability to attract swing voters.

Early on, Kemp won national attention for his brazen campaign ads. One showed him flaunting a double-barrel shotgun at a young man interested in dating his daughter. In another, he bragged that he drove a big pickup just in case he needed to round up criminal illegals and take them home myself.

He was once considered a long shot against Casey Cagle, the lieutenant governor who spent years trying to shore up support for his campaign. Cagle doubled Kemp in fundraising and beat him by 13% in Mays Republican primary.

But as the two faced off in the runoff, Cagles campaign gradually lost momentum after opponents released a secretly recorded conversation in which he admitted he had supported what he considered a poor public policy measure to block a different rivals fundraising efforts. He also griped about the Republican primary runoff, saying it had boiled down to who had the biggest gun, who had the biggest truck, and who could be the craziest.

As Cagles margin of victory appeared to crumble, President Trump stepped into the race last week and announced his full and total endorsement of Kemp.

Trump went on Twitter on Wednesday to congratulate Kemp on his big numbers and offer him a few pointers: Now go win against the open border, crime loving opponent that the Democrats have given you. She is weak on Vets, the Military and the 2nd amendment. Win!

Abrams, who was born in Mississippi but moved to Atlanta when she was in high school, is a tax attorney who was elected to Georgias House of Representatives in 2006 and became minority leader in 2010. During the course of her gubernatorial campaign, she has taken a different tack from previous Democratic candidates, focusing on minorities and young voters who often dont show up at the polls.

To counter Republican criticism that she is a radical, Democrats tout her history of compromise as a state representative. In 2011, Abrams worked with Republicans to raise the GPA requirement for the states HOPE scholarship program  a deal her campaign said aimed to protect the scholarship from massive cuts.

Even with this stark dichotomy between Kemp and Abrams in their styles and in their politics, people forget that Stacey has a giant amount of substance and a long record of working across the aisle, of getting things done, said Jason Carter, a lawyer, former gubernatorial candidate and grandson of President Carter, a former Georgia governor.

This is not the first time Democrats have pinned their hopes on Georgia voters delivering a stinging rebuke to Trump. Last year, the party invested tens of millions of dollars in the much-hyped campaign to back political newcomer Jon Ossoff against Republican Karen Handel in Georgias 6th Congressional District. It was the most expensive House race in history, but Ossoff wound up losing with 48% of the vote.

In this race, Democrats again face a long haul in defeating Georgias Republican campaign operation.

Kemp should have the advantage, but nothing is for sure, Swint said. If we have a blue tidal wave that sweeps in Democrats around the country, that could sweep Stacey Abrams into office, too.

Jarvie is a special correspondent.San Diego cracked down this week on pedicabs in response to growing complaints from tourists, merchants and downtown residents about fare gouging, loud music and gaudy lighting.

City officials said the goal is weeding out unscrupulous operators who overcharge tourists while restoring peace and safety to the waterfront by limiting noise from pedicabs and prohibiting carnival-style flashing lights.

I think its really critical that were weeding out some of the bad actors and that we are reducing some of the neighborhood nuisances that have been really frustrating residents, business owners and restaurant-goers downtown, said Councilman Chris Ward of University Heights, whose district includes downtown.

The legislation unanimously approved by the City Council on Tuesday stops short of requests by some critics for an outright ban on lights and amplified music.

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Instead, the new rules ban flashing and multi-colored lights but continue to allow the use of static lights of one color only.

The rules also limit the volume of amplified music to the decibel level allowed within the neighborhood where a pedicab is operating and prohibit music that is audible from more than 50 feet away.

While some have called for a uniform rate structure set by the city, the new legislation instead adds a new requirement that pedicab operators negotiate the entire fare with passengers before a ride begins.

Police Lt. Daniel Mayer said the goal is avoiding frequent post-ride disputes over fares that often require police intervention. Another goal, city officials said, is reducing incidents in which tourists feel cheated and may decide never to visit San Diego again.

Pedicab drivers would also have to post the rate structure on the outside and inside of their vehicles and also post their operating permit and the contact information of the owner of the pedicab in a clearly visible location.

Industry leaders expressed optimism that the new rules are an important step toward reining in an industry that some have characterized as lawless and cutthroat.

Nichole Kane, who works for VIP Pedicabs, said a recently created nonprofit called the San Diego Pedicab Association aims to tackle the fare gouging issue in coming weeks and hopes to establish some industry-wide standards.

Many tourists complain that a driver will say it costs $15 for a ride to a certain destination, and then at the end of the trip ask for $15 per person instead of $15 for the whole group.

Some pedicab drivers, however, predicted that a more aggressive crackdown will eventually be needed.

They call this an industry with a few bad apples  well its a lot of bad apples and very few good apples, said Juan Virgen, adding that hes driven a pedicab in San Diego for the last 10 years. These guys give tours that charge $200 and last for 10 minutes, ruining their vacation.

City officials had hoped to include in the legislation the lifting of a three-year ban on allowing pedicabs  typically large tricycles with a rear passenger area  to be powered by anything other than the drivers legs. An earlier version of the proposal would have begun allowing electric-assist pedicabs, which give the vehicle a small boost of power when drivers go up hill with multiple passengers.

But attorneys for the city said allowing such pedicabs to operate would violate state law, which imposes on pedicabs the same rules that bicycles face: they must be powered only by a person.

The crackdown comes less than a month after the city sharply increased fees for pedicab operators on July 1 to pay for stepped-up enforcement by police.

The annual pedicab operator fee jumped from $212 to $409.

Industry leaders say the spike in fees, which will bring the cost to begin driving a pedicab to $550 when a background check and business license is included, will make it difficult to recruit enough drivers.

Police say higher fees are warranted based on the higher level of enforcement, which has included aggressive inspections, citations for violating regulations and some undercover police officers posing as passengers to reduce fare gouging.

The Police Department took enforcement of pedicabs over from city traffic engineers in 2015.

Residents living downtown, whose numbers are steadily increasing as new high-rises get completed, are also frustrated. They say police havent consistently enforced the rules in place and that the city needs tougher restrictions like the council approved this week.

The new legislation doesnt lift a cap of 250 pedicabs allowed in San Diego, which has been credited with bringing order to the industry since it was established nine years ago. There were an estimated 600 pedicabs operating in the city when the cap was established.

City regulations already require drivers to be at least 18 years old and have a drivers license. All pedicabs also must have seat belts, and all operators must have insurance.

david.garrick@sduniontribune.com (619) 269-8906 Twitter:@UTDavidGarrickThe lawyer representing the family of Earl McNeil, who died after being arrested by National City police officers in May, has called for more information to be released about the mans role as a law enforcement informant  a fact with unclear implications in his death.

In a statement read at the National City Council meeting on Tuesday night, Attorney Doug Applegate said, The family of Earl McNeil wants more transparent disclosure of the facts surrounding his death while in custody and an explanation including Earl McNeils history as an informant for law enforcement.

Applegate said National City police confirmed McNeils status as an informant, but didnt say what agency he was working with. A police official said Wednesday that McNeil was not working with National Citys department.

However court records from an appeal filed for James Carter, who was convicted in 2011 of murdering two women in the high-profile Dr. Js liquor store shooting, say that McNeil was a paid informant who assisted investigators and testified at Carters trial  and was also mentally ill.

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McNeil was a Skyline gang member who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and experienced delusions, a brief written by Carters lawyer Carl Fabian said. The brief references the section of the trial transcript where the information was divulged in court.

At the trial, a psychiatrist testified that McNeils condition, symptomology and noted use of alcohol would exacerbate his symptoms, according to the brief.

The defense lawyer for Carter challenged McNeils statement, the brief said, by cross examining him on his criminal and psychiatric history as well as numerous benefits provided to him by the DA. A later court brief said that McNeil and another informant received cash payments of up to $30,000.

Other questions about McNeils death remain and were not resolved in the meeting between family and police Monday.

McNeils aunt, Tammy Davis, reportedly left halfway through out of frustration that police appeared to be providing information selectively and in a way that supported that officers were not at fault.

Tasha Williamson, who was at the department but not in the meeting when police met with Earl McNeils family, said the exchange was an upsetting experience.

Applegate said there is still much evidence that has not been released to family members including, body-worn camera footage of McNeils interaction with police.

Police have said McNeil went to the National City police station shortly before 5:30 a.m. on May 26, and used a telephone outside the station to speak with dispatchers. He told them, among other things, that he had a warrant out for his arrest, was high and wanted to kill Jesus.

Police said they suspected McNeil was under the influence of drugs. His family has said he suffered from mental illness.

When officers met McNeil outside the police station, they said, he was agitated and made irrational statements. They said McNeil became combative as officers tried to detain him.

McNeil was placed in a restraint called the Wrap, and was taken to county jail, where he went into what police termed medical distress. Police said he was being checked out by paramedics when he stopped breathing.

Applegate said county Medical Examiners Office officials told the family that McNeil had a controlled substance in his system and that he ultimately suffered a heart attack. Its unclear when the heart attack occurred, Applegate said.

This case and the public concern is not going to go away and the longer the investigation drags out the longer and more upset people will become, the attorney said. He added that he did not think it likely future protests would breach the peace.

On Wednesday, activists and protesters disrupted the fourth consecutive National City Council meeting with calls for more information about McNeils death.

Six people were arrested during the ensuing protest on suspicion of disrupting a public meeting: Henri Jourdain, Aaryn Belfer, Blair Overstreet, Amie Zamudio, Aeramique Blake, and Tasha Williamson.

The latter two women do not live in National City. Its unclear where the other four people were from.

Twitter: @LAWinkley

(619) 293-1546

lyndsay.winkley@sduniontribune.comA San Diego Superior Court jury came to an 11-1 decision Wednesday that there was no merit to racial discrimination claims made by a former San Diego police officer who sought up to $300,000 in damages.

In a lawsuit filed in January 2016, Matthew Francois claimed he was told by supervisors to treat citizens who live in the northern parts of the city differently from those who live south of Interstate 8, and when he complained, he lost his job.

Francois, who is black, was let go in October 2015, two days before his one-year probationary period as a police recruit was to expire.

The jury determined that Francois claims of racial discrimination and retaliation were without merit, upholding SDPDs decision to dismiss him, San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliotts office said in a statement.

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My take was that the jurors cut the city and police department a lot of slack in the way they treated this man, said Francois attorney, James Mitchell, in an interview Thursday. This was a case where there was no direct evidence of racial discrimination, and circumstantial evidence is difficult to prove.

In trial, Mitchell said Francois, now 26, had passed all phases of his training until he questioned his supervisors instructions in the predominantly white northeastern San Diego not to check every drivers record before writing a ticket unless they look like a criminal.

When Francois asked what a criminal looked like, he was told it was someone who gave lip and had tattoos, Mitchell said.

He also said Francoiss superiors held it against him because he was asked to be a witness in another black officers racial discrimination lawsuit against the Police Department.

Francois, who is from Georgia, was hired last year as a police officer in Kansas City, Mo., where he attended college, Mitchell said.

The jury on his civil lawsuit found that rather than dismissing Francois because of race, the department let him go because he under-performed during his one-year probationary period and resisted counseling by his supervisors, according to the City Attorneys Office.

Mitchell described Francois missteps as rookie mistakes, but the City Attorneys Office described them as being more egregious than that.

City prosecutors said Francois cited and released a 15-year-old girl who gave him a fake name after shoplifting vodka and a pregnancy test. This violated a Police Department policy designed to protect at-risk youth and potential human trafficking victims, the City Attorneys Office said.

Francois also violated department policies when he unsafely searched a car with a passenger still inside and released a suspect who physically assaulted a clothing store employee instead of arresting the suspect for felony robbery, prosecutors said.

Francois also was reportedly reprimanded for using vulgar names against other police personnel.

Trial evidence also showed that Francois parked in residential neighborhoods late at night hoping to write tickets that would lead to court appearances, to accumulate the overtime pay he needed to buy a Mercedes-Benz, the City Attorneys Office said.

Frivolous lawsuits like this one drain precious taxpayer resources from things that are important to our residents, like parks, streets and public safety, Elliott said in a statement. I am pleased that the jury held the plaintiff accountable for his own conduct.

Mitchell told the Union-Tribune in an email that calling the lawsuit frivolous is wrong and the product of 20/20 hindsight.

The jury took 4  hours to reach a verdict (and) the one dissenting juror, the foreperson, vehemently disagreed with the others, Mitchell said. The case was not even close to being frivolous.

Staff writer Pauline Repard contributed to this report.

Twitter: @Alex_Riggins

(619) 293-1710

alex.riggins@sduniontribune.comAssemblywoman Shirley Weber said she used to tell colleagues that law enforcement officers killing citizens was like they were shooting them in the streets like dogs.

I dont say that anymore, because Californians like dogs, Weber said Wednesday night at a community forum in City Heights. If we shot dogs in the streets, there would be outrage, absolute outrage about shooting a dog.

We should be outraged about what we see.

The San Diego Democrats remarks came during a community forum at Cherokee Point Elementary School, where seated beside her were the family members of two men killed by California police officers. One was the mother of Caesar Cruz, who was shot by Anaheim police in 2009, and the other was the uncle of Oscar Grant, whose life and death were depicted in the award-winning film Fruitvale Station.

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Cephus Uncle Bobby Johnson talks Wednesday about the 2009 police killing of his nephew, Oscar Grant, whose life and death was depicted in the film Fruitvale Station. Seated beside Johnson is Theresa Smith, whose son Caesar Cruz was killed by Anaheim police in 2009. (Courtesy Edward Sifuentes/ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties)

Wednesdays forum, hosted by the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial Counties and other social-justice groups, was aimed at educating the public and rallying support for a state bill Weber co-authored that would raise the standard for when law enforcement officers can use deadly force.

We can all agree that law enforcement officers should never kill if alternatives to deadly force exist, Weber wrote last month in an op-ed for the Union-Tribune. While many of us would expect this to already be the standard, it isnt  and we need to fix this glaring problem which has led to far too many deaths.

According to Webers explanation Wednesday night, Assembly Bill 931 says police should not use deadly force unless theyre in imminent danger of losing their life or being harmed, or if someone else nearby is in that same imminent danger.

If there is no threat to your life or someone elses life, you should seek other means to control the situation, Weber said, according to the proposed legislation.

Weber acknowledged that the bill, co-authored with Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, is being met with stiff opposition by police unions.

The new standard set by AB 931 would only allow use of force when necessary, not reasonable, wrote San Diego Police Officers Association President Jack Schaeffer last month in an op-ed for the Union-Tribune. This means an officer would be expected to anticipate after-incident optics and insight during situations that require split-second decision-making. This is an impossible standard to hold any human being to, officer or otherwise.

Weber told a crowd of about 100 people Wednesday night that similar laws in Seattle and San Francisco have reduced police killings and made officers safer by forcing them to practice better deescalation techniques.

She said that with enough pressure from citizens, the bill will pass. Groups like the ACLU who are supporting the bill are planning a day of action Aug. 13 in Sacramento to push legislators to pass the bill.

Twitter: @Alex_Riggins

(619) 293-1710

alex.riggins@sduniontribune.comTwo days after a woman was shot and seriously wounded at the pool of a Vista apartment complex, authorities found the suspected gunman  her boyfriend  in Colorado and arrested him on suspicion of attempted murder, a sheriffs lieutenant said Thursday.

Police in Pueblo, Colo., picked up Estevan Montelongo on Tuesday on an arrest warrant arising from what sheriffs Lt. Rich Williams said is a domestic violence crime. The couple lived together at the complex

The 41-year-old Vista man remained behind bars in Pueblo as of Thursday. It was not immediately clear when he might be returned to San Diego County.

According to Williams, the shooting happened shortly before 3 p.m. Sunday at an apartment complex on Ascot Drive, just west of North Melrose Drive.

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Deputies arrived in the pool area of the complex to find an unresponsive 28-year-old woman with injuries to her head. She was rushed to a hospital, where she underwent emergency surgery, Williams said.

Her prognosis is still uncertain, Williams said.

teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com

(760) 529-4945

Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUTVictor Parra lived with such enthusiasm for life that he often repeated a motto few others have likely ever uttered: Bring on Monday.

He loved Mondays, said Jeny Parra, Victors high school sweetheart who later became his wife. It was a new chance to help someone. He always gave. He was just so selfless.



For the record: In a story that ran in Fridays newspaper, the location where Victor Parra collapsed during a hike was misidentified. The correct location is the El Cajon Mountain trail in the Blue Sky Ranch area of Lakeside.

Parra died Saturday after collapsing on a hiking trail near Lakeside, authorities said Tuesday. The 47-year-old was hiking the El Cajon Mountain trail with two old buddies from Montgomery High School in San Diego when he collapsed around noon Saturday, according to his family and the county Medical Examiners Office.

Other hikers called 911 and began performing CPR until emergency personnel arrived and took over the life-saving efforts, the Medical Examiners Office said. Parra was airlifted to Sharp Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa, but the resuscitation efforts failed, and doctors at the hospital declared him dead at 1:53 p.m.

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His cause of death is still under investigation.

My dad hiked his way to heaven Saturday afternoon, his daughter Maddy Parra wrote on a GoFundMe page for the family. He passed away doing what he loved and he went peacefully.

The family described him Wednesday as a born leader who wanted others to live up to their potential.

He really believed that if you were going to do something, you should do it right, said his son, Nick Parra.

Victor Parra was born in San Diego and met Jeny at Montgomery High when they were both 15. They married at 20 and moved to Chula Vista, where they had four children  Nick, 26; Tori, 24; Maddy, 20; and Lindsey, 18.

He was a great husband and an amazing father, Jeny Parra said. We had a truly great run, probably better than some people who have been married 60 or 70 years. He loved me like no man has probably ever loved a woman.

From the day Jeny met Victor, she was always his number one, she said. Ive been a queen for 33 years.

Outside of his family, Victor Parra worked for the San Diego Unified School District as a facilities and equipment supervisor. He was also the Grand Knight, or the top leader, of the Knights of Columbus fraternal council at Chula Vistas St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church.

Victor will be remembered for his selfless dedication to the parish, to the (Knights of Columbus) council and to the community, the council wrote on its Facebook page. Victor was a beloved father and husband, a tireless worker and volunteer and a leader who led by his example. A nicer, better and more humble man has never existed.

He sacrificed a lot of his time at the church, said his daughter Tori. Hosting blood drives, pancake breakfasts, fish dinners during Lent, Christmas dinners  He enjoyed what he did with the church.

Nick and Maddy Parra praised their father as a great role model, with Maddy writing on GoFundMe that he was an extraordinary leader, boss and Grand Knight who taught his children to lead by example, forgive and forget (and) to be selfless and giving without expecting anything in return.

He was such a goofball and nerd and thats how Ill always remember his soul, Maddy Parra wrote. Thank you, dad, for everything, you raised us so well youre not going to have to worry about us.

Twitter: @Alex_Riggins

(619) 293-1710

alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com

UPDATES:

July 30, 2018, 4:25 p.m.: This article and its headline were updated with the correct location where Parra collapsed.

This article was originally published July 25, 2018, at 4:15 p.m.President Trump took steps on Wednesday to allay Republicans anxieties ahead of the midterm elections, postponing a possible second meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin until next year and agreeing to a cease-fire in a trade war with the European Union that is hurting American farmers.

Both moves came after the president met with Congress Republican leaders, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, to discuss an annual funding bill to avert a government shutdown a month before the election. But the leaders also used the White House meeting to express concerns about the political impact of Trumps approach to Russia and tariffs, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting.

Theyre trying not to [mess] up the election, said one source close to the two leaders.

Following the White House announcement delaying a Putin visit, which Trump initially proposed for the fall, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo continued his efforts to answer bipartisan complaints about the presidents conduct during his meeting with Putin in Helsinki, Finland, last week. Pompeo issued a statement affirming the U.S. position rejecting Russias 2014 annexation of Crimea  Trump had hinted at acquiescing  before heading to Capitol Hill to take questions from lawmakers.

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At the outset of a sometimes testy hearing, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), didnt conceal his disdain, warning Pompeo that he was testifying before senators who are filled with serious doubts about this White House and its conduct of American foreign policy.

Corker said he hoped that Pompeo could convince us that those at the White House know what they are doing.

For politically vulnerable Republicans hoping to remain in elected office come 2019, the days leading up to the Nov. 6 election will be largely about convincing their voters of that. Party leaders have grown increasingly worried that the president is fanning the political headwinds theyre already facing.

Polls have shown a bump in voters preference for Democrats following the Helsinki summit, at which Trump accepted Putins denial of Russias 2016 election interference over the findings of the U.S. intelligence agencies. Most Americans say they disapprove of his performance there.

A Quinnipiac University poll taken after the summit and released Wednesday showed Democrats with a 12-point advantage on the question of which partys candidate they would support for Congress.

Further, Trumps protectionist trade stance, which has resonance with many of his supporters, may be a political loser with the broader electorate. According to a NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released this week, by a 2-to-1 margin, voters oppose Trumps turn toward tariffs, believing they raise the cost of goods and hurt the economy.

Polls also show opposition to his proposed wall on the southern border, an issue that could threaten a shutdown if his demands for billions of dollars prevent agreement on a government-funding measure for the new fiscal year that starts Oct. 1. Most worrisome to Republicans currently are Trumps threats of new tariffs on trading partners, which could invite more retaliatory tariffs, hurting American producers and undercutting the partys economic message.

For Republicans, the midterms have to be about the economy. If its about tariffs, Russia or anything else, its hugely problematic, said Alex Conant, a party strategist.

Our message needs to be: People have more money in their pocket today because of Republican leadership in Washington, and Democratic control would jeopardize economic security. To the extent that tariffs weaken the economy and undermine that message, theyre a political disaster.

McConnell described his and Ryans conversation with the president as routine, and went out of his way to say that Trump was interested in the status of the Senates process for confirming his Supreme Court nominee, Brett M. Kavanaugh. McConnell told the president its going along nicely.

According to a Republican lobbyist close to the majority leader, McConnell wants everybody to focus on Kavanagh and accomplishments.

And Trump isnt stupid, said the lobbyist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. He doesnt want to deal with a Democratic House or Senate, or both, for two years before reelection.

Just hours after the leaders meeting, Trumps national security advisor, John Bolton, issued a statement that a Putin visit would not occur before next year  after the special counsel investigation into Russias election interference, possible Trump campaign involvement and whether the president sought to obstruct the probe.

The president believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the Russia witch hunt is over, so weve agreed that it will be after the first of the year, said Bolton, who, before he joined the administration, last year called Russias election interference an act of war.

Putin had yet to respond to the presidents invitation.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) acknowledged that he is a little bit relieved that its not right before the election. He defended Trumps prerogative to continue talks with Putin, however, saying: Its OK to talk with your enemies.

Republicans also felt a little relief late in the day, when Trump stood beside the visiting European Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, in the Rose Garden for an unplanned news conference and declared a new phase in the relationship between the United States and the European Union. They announced an agreement to avoid punishing tariffs while the two sides work toward a larger trade deal.

Were starting the negotiation right now, but we know where its going, Trump said. He outlined the E.U.s commitment to import more U.S. soybeans and liquified natural gas in return for the presidents agreement to reconsider his steel and aluminum tariffs and hold off on new ones.

Before heading to the White House with other Republican lawmakers for the Rose Garden announcement, Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas said that the presidents tariff threats had made things very unpredictable.

Trump, after his meetings with Juncker, also met at the White House with other Republican members of Congress, who relayed their farmers complaints that his tariffs were adversely affecting their prices and foreign market access. Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington state said he told Trump: Theres a lot of angst in farm country.

Congressional Republicans were not mollified on Tuesday, and in some cases opposed, the administrations proposal for $12 billion in aid to farmers hurt by retaliatory tariffs.

Its one thing to provide aid, Boozman said. What we want is, again, predictability. Farmers have worked very hard to get the markets that they have and we want to protect those for the future.

The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) opposed the package as a bailout in a television interview Wednesday.

Every single bailout ultimately is going to be borne by our children and our grandchildren, Hensarling said, adding: The answer is trade, not aid.

In recognition of those concerns, the White House arranged for Trumps chief economic advisor, Larry Kudlow, and trade advisor Peter Navarro to meet with all House Republicans on Thursday morning.

Los Angeles Times staff writers Sarah D. Wire and Tracy Wilkinson contributed to this report.

The latest from Washington 

eli.stokols@latimes.com

Twitter: @EliStokolsA Phoenix girl who had been missing for nearly 24 years has been found  living in Connecticut more than 2,000 miles away.

Aleacia Stancil went missing at 9 months old in December 1994 after she was left in the care of her mother Toni Stancils friend.

The infants mother, a prostitute and drug user who needed to clear her head, ended up in jail for two days.

When she went back to retrieve her daughter, she found out Aleacia had been placed in police custody.

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Toni reported her daughter missing three months later, azfamily.com reports.

Aleacias missing case turned cold due to lack of witnesses and the 1995 murder of her mother.

Nearly two decades later a woman showed up at a Connecticut hospital with no identification.

The young woman saw media reports on the missing case and thought it might be her, Phoenix Police Sgt. Armando Carbajal told KTAR News.

An age progression photo led the hospital to contact police for DNA testing, leading to her confirmed identity in 2017.

Not every story is not a happily-ever-after, and it doesnt mean that they came from someone who didnt want them or didnt care, said Aleacias grandmother, Francis Ford, to azfamily.com.

Ford aspires to stay connected with her granddaughter, who had been adopted at a young age, despite her troubling past and need for privacy.I am strongly opposed to Proposition 8 on the California November ballot because it will endanger the lives of patients like me who require dialysis three days a week to stay alive. Simply put, Proposition 8 is dangerous and will make it harder for dialysis patients in California, like me, to receive life-saving dialysis treatments.

I have end-stage renal disease which means my kidneys dont work. I rely on regular dialysis three days a week, for three to four hours at a time, where machines do the job of my kidneys by cleaning my blood and removing toxins from my body. Even one missed treatment increases risk of death by 30 percent.

If passed, Proposition 8 would result in dialysis clinic closures, reducing patient access care. Proposition 8 puts my life and the lives of the 66,000 dialysis patients in California at risk. Thats why is is opposed by a coalition of 100 groups like the American Nurses Association/California, California Medical Association, ER doctors, Renal Physicians Association, National Hispanic Medical Association, California State NAACP, patients, dialysis caregivers, veterans groups and many others.

Related: Why Prop 8 would benefit dialysis patients

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I am grateful to have found a clinic where Im treated like family. I get wonderful care from the nurses and techs who take care of me three times a week and I would be heartbroken if they were to lose their jobs because this proposition caused my clinic to close.

If the nearest dialysis clinic closes, it will mean longer travel to get to dialysis if I can even find a clinic that has room to take me. Many dialysis patients cant drive and rely on family to take them to and from dialysis. What if travel time goes from 15 minutes to 90 minutes each way? What if the family member works and cant accommodate the longer travel time into their job schedule? Then what? Patients in rural areas where there is only one clinic will really be in trouble. Where will those patients go if their clinic closes?

If people cant find a clinic to take them, the already overcrowded hospital emergency room will be the only option. Dialysis in the hospital is far more expensive than dialysis in an outpatient clinic. Patients will pay more, and it will mean higher costs for Medicare and Medi-Cal.

Proposition 8 severely limits what insurance companies are required to reimburse for dialysis care. These much lower limits will not cover a clinics actual cost of providing care. As a result, Proposition 8 will cause hundreds of clinics in California to cut back services or even close. And that puts me at risk.

Proposition 8 mandates these lower limits by prohibiting certain dialysis clinic costs from being reimbursed, including costs for the physician medical director, nurse managers, clinical coordinators and other things like insurance, human resources, payroll, accounting and others.

An independent analysis conducted by Californias former Legislative Analyst concluded that only 69 percent of clinic costs are able to be reimbursed under Proposition 8. Because of this Proposition 8 will force 83 percent of dialysis clinics to operate at a loss. No business can sustain such losses month after month. Proposition 8 will force hundreds of dialysis clinics to reduce operations or close.

California dialysis clinics are highly regulated by federal and state regulators that provide quality reports on every facility. According to the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, California clinics outperform other states in clinical quality and patient satisfaction.

Because Im on dialysis Ive been asked by friends and family members what Proposition 8 is all about. The first thing they say is, I dont really know much about dialysis. Why are California voters being asked to weigh in on something that should be between patients, their families and their doctors?

Thats a good question and the same one I had before I looked into it further. United Healthcare Workers West, the union behind this measure, is seeking to unionize dialysis clinics in California. They want to use Proposition 8 to scare dialysis providers into complying with their unionizing demands.

While I dont care one way or another about unionization, its unconscionable that this union is using patients like me as a pawn in their game. They should not take risks with my life and the lives of so many dialysis patients just to help them gain members. Its wrong.

Proposition 8 puts my life and the lives of the 66,000 dialysis patients at risk. I hope youll join dialysis patients, dialysis caregivers, doctors, nurses and others and vote no on Proposition 8.

Skinner, a dialysis patient, lives in El Cajon.Over the last two years, dialysis workers from across California have shared with me their concerns about poor patient care and job conditions in their clinics.

One dialysis worker from San Diego County reported last year that as he hurried throughout the clinic helping patients, one of them called out to him.

Hey  what is that? the patient asked, pointing at a cockroach crawling along the tube that runs between the machine filtering his blood and where it entered his body.

Related: Why Prop 8 jeopardizes dialysis patients lives

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The worker reported it to his supervisor and eventually the clinic sprayed and put out glue traps. But it made him stop and wonder just how little the company cared about its patients  and its workers  if it didnt spray for insects until after they had already entered the clinic where patients lives are on the line every day and the risk of infection is high.

Its one reason more and more organizations are supporting Proposition 8, the initiative on Californias Nov. 6 ballot to improve patient care in dialysis clinics across the state. It would push dialysis corporations that make billions of dollars in profits to stop cutting corners on care and hygiene, and to stop overcharging patients.

People whose kidneys fail need dialysis three times a week to remove their blood, clean it and return it to their bodies. Its an exhausting treatment for a condition that cuts patients lives short and too often leaves them lost in the system. Thats because the dialysis corporations seem to care more about their massive profits than their patients or the caregivers who treat them.

Californias largest dialysis corporations, DaVita and Fresenius, made nearly $4 billion in profits from their dialysis operations in the United States in 2016, and their profit margin is five times that of hospitals in California. At the same time, DaVita charges up to $150,000 a year for some patients.

Proposition 8 would limit dialysis corporations revenue and encourage them to invest in better care through hiring more caregivers, purchasing new equipment and creating cleaner and safer facilities.

Many dialysis workers entered the field because they want to help people and make their patients feel safer and more comfortable during their three- to four-hour treatment sessions.

As employees, however, theyre caught in the middle and its frustrating. Theyve tried to improve the conditions, but the problems keep happening. They want to do right by their patients, but thats hard when the clinic is understaffed and unsanitary. Patients and workers have reported bloodstains, flies, mice, dirty restrooms and broken equipment in California clinics.

Workers are almost constantly rushing  checking patients vitals, assisting them in getting to the restroom, cleaning the equipment and dialysis chairs, and connecting them to and disconnecting them from the dialysis machines.

Understaffing is common and leaves patients at risk of a whole range of problems, from soiling themselves because workers cant disconnect them from their machines in time to the possibility of dying if their blood pressure drops dangerously low or they bleed out during treatment.

The lack of staff also means the equipment is sometimes improperly cleaned. The same worker from San Diego County reported he has found blood on the tubes of a dialysis machine while preparing it for the next patient, and while he is supposed to run bleach through it and let it air dry to be sanitized, it doesnt always happen. The process takes about 20 minutes if done correctly, but he indicated theyre almost always short-staffed and everyone has to take shortcuts or theyre not going to get all the patients treated on time, as their employers demand.

Those are the stakes for dialysis patients in California. Theyre at risk of dying during any dialysis treatment and yet they often feel as though they are just numbers on a financial spreadsheet as the companies try to squeeze out every penny they can.

If patients were the priority, the corporations would spend more on staffing, equipment and safer facilities, and less on the CEOs salary and private jet travel.

Proposition 8 would improve the quality of care for the 66,000 Californians who are on dialysis, and thats why the initiative is supported by the California Democratic Party; CalPERS, the nations largest public pension fund; firefighters; patients; healthcare advocates; dialysis workers; veterans; and 130 other community groups, labor unions and churches.

They understand what dialysis workers see every day  how critically ill patients are not being properly served by the corporate giants who run Californias dialysis clinics.

Regan is president of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, the sponsor of Proposition 8.The concept of social justice was first articulated by Catholic thinkers in the mid-19th century. Catholic philosopher/theologian Michael Novak described it as the sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and their individual members relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfillment.

In 2018, however, at least as common a definition of social justice is that its about helping the oppressed deal with a hostile racist/sexist/classist society. The twist created by this definition is that, in the United States, claims to advocate for social justice are made by two powerful movements whose core beliefs are at odds over an issue of profound importance: Should people who make mistakes, even terrible ones, be given a chance to salvage their lives?

The first, older movement revolves around criminal justice reform. It holds that our highly punitive legal system  which locks up more individuals for longer periods than any other industrial democracy  destroys the lives of many, especially people who are already disadvantaged.

In her 2010 book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander described how this policy hammers one group:

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In the era of colorblindness, it is no longer socially permissible to use race, explicitly, as a justification for discrimination, exclusion and social contempt. So we dont. Rather than rely on race, we use our criminal justice system to label people of color criminals and then engage in all the practices we supposedly left behind. Today it is perfectly legal to discriminate against criminals in nearly all the ways that it was once legal to discriminate against African-Americans. Once youre labeled a felon, the old forms of discrimination  employment discrimination, housing discrimination, denial of the right to vote, denial of educational opportunity, denial of food stamps and other public benefits, and exclusion from jury service  are suddenly legal.

Set aside Alexanders explicit racial context, and theres still validity to the idea an overly punitive legal system takes a grotesque toll on society without making society safer. Given that the United States has less than 5 percent of the worlds population but about 25 percent of all those incarcerated  yet still has among the highest crime rates of any affluent nation  its tough to see tough on crime policies as logical, even if you dont think theyre driven by racism.

In America, someone doesnt even have to be convicted of a crime to face ruination. A 2018 federal report based on 2016 statistics notes nearly two-thirds of those in local jails are awaiting court action on a current charge. Theyre there primarily, as reformers often say, because they cant make bail. That means their poverty harms their careers and their families, sometimes irreparably, even if theyre only accused of minor misdemeanors.

Especially given the overwhelming evidence that crime is a young mans game  that only a small percentage of offenders keep breaking the law after they turn 25  criminal justice reform fits perfectly with the Catholic conception of social justice as being about giving people relatively thorough and ready access to successful lives.

But the newer and more prominent movement that sees itself as on a crusade for social justice uses the newer definition of the term  and it views helping the oppressed as being synonymous with punishing those who say oppressive things. So just what is oppressive? Practically any view that goes against the belief of many progressives that America is defined by what The Atlantic magazine called victimhood culture, with individuals success or failure directly linked to how much privilege they enjoy.

The most acute critics of this belief arent right-wingers who rant about fragile snowflakes. Instead, its leftist academics who are mortified by what they see on campus. The anonymous professor who wrote a 2015 piece for Vox headlined Im a liberal professor, and my liberal students terrify me is one. Northwestern University professor Laura Kipnis, who faces an ongoing inquisition for arguing that anyone accused of wrongdoing deserves due process, is another. A third is Brooklyn Colleges Freddie deBoer. In a 2017 post on Medium  one he took down after facing vituperative criticism  he wrote that ....

The woke world is a world of snitches, informants, rats. Go to any space concerned with social justice and what will you find? Endless surveillance. ... Everything you say is to be scoured, picked over, analyzed for any possible offense. Everyones a detective in the Division of Problematics, and they walk the beat 24/7. You search and search for ... baddies doing bad things, like little offense archaeologists, digging deeper and deeper to find out whos Good and whos Bad.

Is this framing too simple and unkind to the woke world, or at least to many of its members? Absolutely. There are plenty of Americans whose passion about societal problems is driven not by microaggressions but by hard realities, such as the troubling number of unarmed people  especially blacks  who die in encounters with police, deaths rare elsewhere in the First World.

Yet these are not the social justice warriors who grab the most attention on social media. Instead, its those who rummage through the pasts of others and then rain calumny on those who are found to give offense. On Tuesday, The Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle ruminated about this phenomenon, noting that before the Post hired her, she warned an editor that her past writings included work that would be used to demonize her:

These sorts of conversations are becoming necessary as social media develops into a sort of freelance surveillance state. Ostensibly, the mob is shocked to find that some public figure has said something regrettable. In truth, their ire long preceded the discovery of the offense, and they are overjoyed to have found a weapon that might destroy their hated enemy.

Which brings us to the saga of James Gunn, the writer-director of the two beloved Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Last week, on the eve of Gunns scheduled visit to San Diego Comic-Con, after alt-right conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich shared truly vile jokes that Gunn made about rape and pedophilia on Twitter years ago, Gunn saw his life crash around him. Disney quickly fired him from the third film in the Guardians series.

Cernovich says his goal is to hold liberals like Gunn  a harsh critic of President Donald Trump  to the same standards as conservative celebrities, such as Roseanne Barr, who have also been targeted and had careers upended after making truly vile remarks on Twitter. Cernovichs argument no doubt will resonate with the MAGA set  and maybe with good reason.

But in the big picture, the 24-7-365 bloodthirstiness seen on and relentlessly amplified by social media should unsettle anyone with a conscience  whether it comes from the left or the right. At their best, the entertainments that both Gunn and Barr helped create were beloved for their humanity  for more than their funny jokes. Shouldnt that matter at least a little bit? Shouldnt Twitter vigilantism be tempered by the understanding that all humans make mistakes, sometimes awful ones, and deserve second, third, even fourth chances?

I think so. So apparently do at least some of the more than 300,000 people who have so far signed a change.org petition calling for Disney to rehire Gunn.

Yet it still feels like the tide is going in the other direction, and that the lock-em-up-and-throw-away-the-key mentality that has long pervaded the U.S. criminal justice scene has settled in to pop culture for a long run. Those who see other people with different views as not just wrong but deserving of destruction may be just getting warmed up. On social media, when you think you hold the moral high ground, the famous biblical admonition  He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone  rarely comes to mind.

Reed, who is only an offense archaeologist when it comes to weak NBA takes, is deputy editor of the editorial and opinion section. Twitter: @chrisreed99. Email: chris.reed@sduniontribune.com. Column archive: sdut.us/chrisreed.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & OpinionThe momentum behind the movement to ban plastic straws in cities across the country doesnt seem likely to slow any time soon, especially in California.

San Francisco supervisors voted unanimously to ban restaurants, bars and retailers from selling or using on Tuesday, becoming the largest city to block establishments from giving out plastic straws among a group that includes several smaller ones in California, and at least one other major city  Seattle  in the U.S.

Heres what you should know about plastic straw bans in California.

Whats happening in San Francisco?

San Franciscos board of supervisors not only voted to ban plastic straws but also takeout containers treated with fluorinated chemicals. The proposal  which requires a second vote next week  also prohibits restaurants from offering napkins and utensils with takeout or delivery orders unless they are requested by customers or there is a self-serve station.

The board cited environmental impacts as well as litter on streets and waterways as reasons for the ban.

Businesses in San Francisco will have to meet the new guidelines by Jan. 1, 2020 when the law takes affect.

What other California cities have plastic straw bans?

Malibu, a beachside city in the Los Angeles area, voted in February of this year to ban plastic straws and cutlery in retail stores and restaurants over environmental concerns and a desire to keep the plastic off of its beaches.

Elsewhere in Los Angeles County, Manhattan Beach followed two months after Malibu by passing a ban on bars and restaurants dispensing straws in April.

Near the Central Coast, San Luis Obispo passed ordinances last year that require plastic straws to be available only by request in the city. Its also banned plastic bottles and cups from city farmers markets and concerts.

In Northern California, Santa Cruz has banned plastic straws and cutlery in food service businesses since 2017.

Businesses setting the tone across the country

While some U.S. and California cities have decided to ban plastic straws, some big businesses arent waiting around for government to act. Starbucks, for one, announced earlier this month that it plans to eliminate them from its stores by 2020.

Also this month, Marriott International announced it would remove plastic straws and drink stirrers from all of its hotels worldwide by next year. Hilton Hotels and Hyatt Hotels Corp. have said the same, according to The Associated Press.

American Airlines is also planning to replace plastic straws and drink stirrers with biodegradable alternatives.

Pushing back against plastic straw bans

As of now, cities choosing to ban plastic straws through legislation are among a small minority and not everyone is supportive.

After San Franciscos vote, some social media users said city officials had bigger problems to focus on.

Plastic straw bans have also been criticized by some advocates and people with disabilities.

Its as if people who rely on straws  older adults, children, and disabled people  dont matter and that our needs are less important than the environment, Alice Wong, founder and director of the Disability Visibility Project, wrote for eater.com. I feel erased by these attitudes.

Are you in favor of banning plastic straws? Why or why not? Let us know.

Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @abbyhamblinShark Week is half over. Nooooo.

Have you enjoyed it as much as I have so far? The annual weeklong celebration on the Discovery channel has already included episodes with Shaquille ONeal and Ronda Rousey swimming with sharks in exotic locations and explorations of sharks in New York and Cuba.

Here in California, we think about sharks more than just seven days out of the year, but we chose this week to connect with Long Beach State University Shark Lab Director Chris Lowe. We interviewed him on Wednesday as we compiled this post featuring the latest shark news and information across the Golden State.

Are sharks becoming more common?

Not only are sharks commonly present in the waters off the coast of California, but there has been an increase in recent years.

The numbers since the 2000s have been steadily rising at least in terms of young sharks, and thats what we deal with most because Southern California is a nursery,  Lowe said.

He attributes the increase to improved environmental protections and warmer water temperatures. Juvenile white sharks, for example, are common in shallow waters off of Southern California, especially in the summer and when the water is warmer.

We are seeing unprecedented numbers of juvenile white sharks hanging out in the surf line alongside swimmers, surfers, paddle boarders and others who recreate in the ocean, Lowe told state lawmakers in April.

White sharks are protected under California law and have been since 1994.

Sharks and underwater robots? What?

Awesome, right?

With Gov. Jerry Browns latest state budget came an investment in shark research to the tune of $3.75 million for Long Beach States Shark Lab. The lab researches sharks and how to improve beach safety.

With more sharks along our coastline, the need for answers about their behavior and public safety have been growing, Shark Lab director Chris Lowe said.

The funds will go toward shark monitoring and shark education programs. That includes under water robots, drones, shark tags and receivers.

It is critical that we understand why we are seeing more sharks along our coast so that we can be prepared and safe at the beach, Assemblymember Patrick ODonnell, who advocated for the funding, said. I am confident that the results of this important work will have a meaningful impact for the families and neighbors who frequent our local beaches.

Where are shark encounters happening?

While this summer doesnt seem to have had the number of shark sightings as were reported last year, there have been several in recent weeks on whale watching boats, which can happen off the shore of beach areas in Southern California.

One recent sighting was reported by Oceanside Whale Watch, whose manager Donna Kalez says there are definitely less shark sightings this year than last year. However, the company did spot this white shark off the coast of Oceanside in late June.

Lifeguard Sgt. Mason Turvey told The San Diego Union-Tribune that the sharks reported off the coast of Oceanside in the last week of June were too far from shore to be considered a threat to swimmers or surfers.

On June 22, marine life photographer Domenic Biagini captured this video of a mako shark attacking a seal four miles off of Mission Bay in San Diego. He says he doesnt believe there has been an unusual number of shark sightings by whale watching tours this summer.

Today we saw a rare predation event between a 10 ft Mako Shark and a Harbor Seal. It's times like these that having a drone on board can be so valuable as we were able to capture t ...

On July 9, a captain for Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching captured this mako shark via Go Pro camera near San Onofre.

danawharf.com

There havent been many reported sightings this year along Southern California beaches. On July 19, a white shark was seen less than a mile from the San Clemente pier but that has been an unusual occurrence.

Marine Safety Officer Nick Giugni says San Clemente has experienced fewer sightings this year than last year.

That doesn't mean a population crash, it just means the distribution from year to year has changed, and thats something were trying to figure out, Lowe said, adding hes also noticed fewer sightings so far in Southern California.

However, Lowe also points out that were at the peak of pupping season, which lasts until September or October and is something that could bring young sharks to the area.

So what do the experts say about Shark Week?

Shark experts have mixed opinions about the value of Shark Week.

"Shark Week is also fearmongering week," a lecturer at the University of Sydney named Christopher Pepin-Neff told The Washington Post.

Lowe  the Long Beach State University Shark Lab director who has made several appearances in Shark Week programming  said that its hard for him to watch.

Its good that people are interested in sharks and people get excited about it, he said. Its bad that theres often a lot of misinformation and a lot of kind of over-hype on the danger or sharks. Its frustrating because it goes against much about what we know about them science-wise.

The California Academy of Sciences took to Twitter this week to have its own alt-Shark Week, sharing facts and information about sharks and other marine life.

Asked what people should know about sharksin California, Lowe offered these tips.

Choose beaches with lifeguards. Know that shark incidents are less likely to occur at more popular and frequently visited beaches. Be aware that swimming or surfing in groups or with a buddy is safer than alone. Avoid dead animals if you see them in the water.

Lowe said he looks forward to continuing his tagging and research of sharks across Southern California, and added this:

People need to be aware that its shark season, and theyll be sharing the water with these sharks, he said. The good news is right now there doesnt appear to be big aggregations off of beaches which makes it easier on the lifeguards and public but hard for us to find them.

Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @abbyhamblinDays into a heat wave that has plagued much of the western United States, Southern California is getting some confusing messages about whether an excessive heat warning is still in effect  or whether it has been canceled.

Its actually both.

Authorities at the Orange County Emergency Operations Center said flatly on Thursday that the warning had ended. The National Weather Service in San Diego has cancelled the Excessive Heat Warning, it tweeted.

Yet another tweet, from the NWS in San Diego, noted that the Excessive Heat Warning remains in effect well inland.

Whats really going on is this...

The excessive heat warning continues in the valleys, mountains and deserts of Southern California on Thursday, according to official word from the NWS, the ultimate authority on weather news. That warning will remain in effect until 9 p.m. Friday, it said.

But  the excessive heat warning has been canceled for inland Orange County, and a heat advisory has been canceled in the coastal parts of Orange and San Diego counties due to a thick marine layer thats bringing temperatures down along the coast.

Does this weather have you all confused? Youre not alone. The fluctuation of weather in San Diego has made people point out that this weeks heat wave in the region is nothing to huff and puff about.

Others cant believe how hot it is outside...

Take our survey: How are you avoiding the heat in San Diego County?

Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @RunGomez

Read The Conversation on Flipboard.The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7907 in Poway will honor Vietnam War veterans at an event being held on Saturday, Aug. 18.

The event will be from 4 to 7 p.m. and will be at the post, 12342 Old Pomerado Road. It is free and the public is welcome to attend, as well as Vietnam, World War II and Korean War veterans. The formal event will begin at 5 p.m., preceded by an hour of informal socializing and a barbecue dinner after provided by the VFWs auxiliary. Past VFW post commander Col. Barry Cronin, USMC, will speak at the event.

We wanted to do something for our Vietnam veterans, said Thomas Behrle of the Poway VFW. While the actual celebration day for honoring Vietnam War veterans is March 29, said Behrle, the Poway VFW chose to hold its event in August, as it is a slow time for the post.

The event will not just honor veterans, he said, but their spouses, those who worked in federal agencies and others who worked in support of Vietnam veterans.

Col. Jay R. Vargas, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, United States Marine Corps (retired) will be the an honored guest at the event. Vargas was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Vietnam War, when he saved his seriously wounded battalion commander and seven other Marines who were pinned down by the enemy during combat at the village of Dai Do, according to a press release. Vargas was wounded three times during the battle.

In addition to the Medal of Honor, Vargas has also been awarded the Silver Star, the Purple Heart with four Gold Stars, the Combat Action Ribbon, the Meritorious Service Medal and the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Silver Star and Palm.

For several of the VFWs Vietnam veterans, the honor is welcome, but long overdue.

Its well needed, I say, said Ray Knoll, an Army veteran who fought in Vietnam between 1968 and 1969. Theres a lot of Vietnam veterans in Poway (and the surrounding areas).

For Richard G. Anderson, who served as a staff sergeant in the USMC during the Vietnam War and retired as a sergeant major, both the official national recognition and the VFWs event invokes pride and brings attention to veterans he feels are often forgotten. I can say for a lot of guys, when we came back, the way people treated us was substandard to offensive, Anderson said. When people first started saying thank you for your service (to veterans), my attitude at the time was where were you in the 60s? But Ive come around.

Knoll said he remembers that when America initially went to Vietnam, everyone was gung-ho and when they came back, people spit on them and asked how many babies they killed. My own brother did that to me, Knoll said.

Robert Barron, a retired sergeant major in the USMC, said the event means a lot to him. It would have meant a lot when we got back and everyone treated us so poorly, he said. Its a wonderful event. (Fighting in the war) was our job, we did it and we took a lot of B.S. To me, this is a very good event.

I hope these commencement (events) bring to fact that we did not lose the war, said Ed Gallego, who served in the USMC in Vietnam in 1966. It was not lost by the military, it was lost by the politicians who broke promises made to the South Vietnamese. Gallego said he worries young people today will look back on the Vietnam War as a war the military lost, which is not true.

Several of the veterans expressed concerns that there are fewer young people signing up to be in the military now than when they were young. There is a lot less of a sense of duty in young people today than in the 60s and 70s, Gallego said. Young people now are more about themselves. He added he hopes this event serves as an example to young people.

A lot of us volunteered the first time (we went to Vietnam), some of us did not volunteer the second time, but we did our job, said Knoll. Kids today dont really have a grasp on what patriotism really is. Anything the community can do (to bring patriotism forward) is wonderful. Knoll added, We just dont want what happened to us to happen to soldiers today, and thank God its not.

For more information on this event, call 858-748-7907.

Email: news@pomeradonews.comAlthough Nestle might have asked the European Court of Justice to give them a break, the judgement was not in their favor. After a 16-year legal battle to trademark the shape of the Kit Kat bar, the court confirmed a lower tribunals decision to annul Nestles claim. This is sweet news for competitor brands who make identically shaped treats such as Cadbury and Norways Kvikk Lunsj.

According to BBC News, in 2002 Nestle attempted to trademark the four trapezoidal bars aligned on a rectangular base that make the shape of a Kit Kat. In 2006, the EUs Intellectual Property Office granted the trademark. However, Kvikk Lunsj (pronounced quick lunch) and Mondelez International (which owns Cadbury, Milka, Oreo, and Toblerone) fired back in 2007, as the brands have their own four-fingered chocolate bars. That lasted all the way until 2016, when a lower EU court decided that Nestle had to prove Kit Kat was recognizable in every EU country. The BBC reports that no evidence was presented for Belgium, Ireland, Greece, and Portugal.

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On July 25 2018, the European Court of Justice decided to back the 2016 decision, which means the trademarks validity will be re-examined under strict conditions, Bloomberg reports. A Nestle representative told the publication that it remains optimistic about the uniqueness of its Kit Kat shape. We think the evidence proves that the familiar shape of our iconic four finger KitKat is distinctive enough to be registered as an EU trademark, they said.

The Daily Meal has reached out to both Nestle and Mondelez for comment.

Regardless of shape or imitation, Kit Kats are still one of the most popular snack foods of the last 10 decades.

View slideshow

More Kit Kat NewsMaybe its the whimsical name, and of course there is the Grade I stakes-winning pedigree. But people love to bet on trainer Bob Bafferts Hoppertunity.

Its a hit or miss proposition, especially at Del Mar.

In his four starts this year leading up to Wednesdays Grade III $100,000 Cougar II Handicap, the 7-year-old had gone: win, fourth, win, fourth. His three previous starts at Del Mar were all fourth-place finishes.

Despite Hoppertunity being given the high weight of 125 pounds for the 1 miles over dirt, bettors made him the 3-5 favorite among eight starters.

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There wasnt a bounce in his step. This was the flat Hoppertunity, as jockey Flavien Prat described afterward.

Hoppertunity showed effort at the top of the stretch, but Beach View and Rafael Bejarano easily chased him down to win by 4  lengths.

I was pretty confident, said Leonard Powell, who trains 5-year-old Beach View, the son of Giants Causeway, for Levy Racing. The question mark was would Hoppertunity be the same horse?

What I really liked today was the spread in weight. We were getting nine pounds from Hoppertunity, and that played to our advantage.

Beach View ($20) won in his second stakes start after finishing fourth in the Grade III Tokyo City Cup last year at Santa Anita. The stakes win was the second all-time at Del Mar for Powell, who took the Brubaker Stakes in 2016.

Beach Views previous two victories in nine career starts had come at 1 mile and 1 miles on turf. He had lost twice on dirt, but now that he has a dirt win at distance, Powell will have to decide on the future surface.

He all but ruled out trying the Pacific Classic, unless the field is small, and mentioned the Del Mar Handicap, at 1 3/8 miles on turf, as a possibility. Its a Win and Youre In chance for the Breeders Cup.

Thats still a long off dream at this point.

He would have to improve a lot from today, Powell said.

Stormy Liberal wins

Del Mar continues to be good to Stormy Liberal. In the days fourth race, the 6-year-old gelding, who won the Breeders Cup Turf Sprint last November at 30-1 odds, returned to the track to score at 5 furlongs on turf in a $100,000 claiming optional race.

The Peter Miller-trained Stormy Liberal ($4), with Drayden Van Dyke riding, won by a nose as he battled Tribalist and Tyler Baze to the wire. The two bumped in the stretch, and after an inquiry, there were no changes.

It was the first win in four races in 2018 for Stormy Liberal  the other starts coming in graded stakes. He will be considered for the $75,000 Green Flash Handicap at 5 furlongs on turf on Aug. 17.

Espinoza feeling better

Brian Beach, the agent for Hall of Fame jockey Victor Espinoza, told track officials on Wednesday that Espinoza is out of intensive care at Scripps La Jolla and is feeling much better.

Espinoza suffered a fracture to the C-3 vertebrae in his neck in a Sunday training accident and has been ruled out of further racing in the meet.

Sports Videos

tod.leonard@sduniontribune.com; Twitter: @sdutleonard

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.Ivory has been advertising its 99 44/100% Pure soap since the turn of the last century. Here are some of our favorite vintage Ivory ads.

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Ivory Soap was first sold by Procter & Gamble in 1879, and its still available today, nearly 140 years later. The Saturday Evening Post has regularly carried Ivory ads throughout its equally long history. While the tactics have changed (one early ad warned Europe-bound travelers to bring their own soap), the basic message never did: Ivory was always The Soap that Floats and 99 44/100% Pure.

(All advertisements copyright  Procter & Gamble)

It is a mistake to suppose that you can buy good soap anywhere in Europe.

Subscribe and get unlimited access to our online magazine archive. Subscribe Today

There are two things she will do well to remember: (1.) All men enjoy good meals. (2.) Most men appreciate cleanliness.

Professional florists use Ivory Soap in preference to anything else.

After a hard hike or muscle-building romp, it certainly will be a pleasure for him to have an old-time bath with the bubbling, copious Ivory lather as he used to have at home.

With Ivory as their guardian all through the day, your hands can say nice things about you always!

I dont have $780 a year to spend on a maidlike my nice next-door neighbor, Alice G, who has two cars and never even washes out a handkerchief!

Most men (and most wives might as well know it) warble more cheerfully, relax more completely, in the clean-smelling foam of an Ivory bathwith a big, mansized cake of Ivory, floating in easy reach.

When you take a healthy dive into a brimming Ivory bath . . . And lather up with great rich gobs of pure, pure, Ivory lather . . . Then . . .Youre washing blues and troubles and worries away.

If you want a baby-clear, baby-smooth skin, use the babys beauty treatment.

Recently a leading medical journal wrote every doctor in the United States asking which soap they advised. For both babies and grown-ups skin, more doctors replied Ivory than any other brand of toilet soap.

We make special soaps for processing parachutes. We make soaps for treating soldiers uniforms, for preparing war metals for plating, for preserving the leather in boots and strengthening the rubber in jeep tires.Weekly Newsletter The best of The Saturday Evening Post in your inbox! Join

Emmy Noether spent a lifetime overcoming obstacles. She broke barriers to earn her education, shattered glass ceilings to be able to teach, and lost her job due to the rise of the Third Reich. Along the way, she made immortal contributions to algebra and physics, impacted the theories of Einstein and others, and managed to make it to America to continue her work. On the 100th anniversary of one of her biggest triumphs  a theorem that shaped modern physics  here are eight things you should know about her.

1. Math Was in Her Blood: Amalie Emmy Noether was born on March 23, 1882, in Germany. Her father, Max Noether, had a prodigious reputation as a mathematician, notably in algebraic geometry. Her mother, Ida Amalia Kaufmann, was a merchants daughter. Emmy was the oldest of four children, and they were raised in the Jewish faith.

2. Getting Educated Was a Challenge: Noether did well in school and got a high score on the teachers exam that would have allowed her to teach in girls schools. However, she rattled convention by choosing to attend the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nurnberg where her father taught. One of only two women allowed to attend a school of nearly 1,000 men, she was forced to get approval from each professor before taking a class. Nevertheless, she persisted; in 1903, she passed her graduation exam.

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3. Teaching Was a Thankless (and Payless) Job: Noether taught at Erlangen for seven years (without pay!). She was invited to teach at the University of Gottingen by David Hilbert, who at that time was working with Einstein on relativity. The invitation caused a schism between educators and departments when some faculty objected to the idea of having a woman teach. Hilbert was incensed at the opposition to Noether, and told an opposing colleague, Meine Herren, I do not see that the sex of the candidate is an argument against her admission as a Privatdozent. After all, the Senate is not a bathhouse. Noether got the job, but went without pay again for the first year.

4. Noethers (first) Theorem Was One of the Most Important in Modern Physics: In 1915, Noether proved that that every differentiable symmetry of the action of a physical system has a corresponding conservation law. Her paper on the topic was delivered on July 26th, 1918 and offered insight into how behavior in systems is constant, and it opens doors in math and higher levels of physics. The Science Asylums video, below, offers a deeper, but easy to follow, explanation. In their 2004 book, Symmetry and the Beautiful Universe, physicists Leon M. Lederman and Christopher T. Hill say that the theorem is certainly one of the most important mathematical theorems ever proved in guiding the development of modern physics, possibly on a par with the Pythagorean theorem.

5. Noether Created an Amazing Body of Work: Noether continued to teach as she produced papers and theories at a staggering pace. She developed a reputation as a fast talker, a stern critic, and a devoted teacher. The Dutch mathematician L. van der Waerden, a colleague of Noethers who later credited her in his book Moderne Algebra I, called her original thinking absolutely beyond comparison and described her as completely unegotistical and free of vanity, she never claimed anything for herself, but promoted the works of her students above all. During this period, Noether also spent time teaching at Moscow State University. In 1932, Noether was a co-recipient of the Alfred Ackermann-Teubner Memorial Award for the Promotion of Mathematical Sciences for her contributions to math. Later that year, she delivered an address to the International Congress of Mathematicians in Zurich, a high honor for her field.

6. Nazis Ruin Everything: In 1933, Adolph Hitler became the German chancellor. Hitlers Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service removed Jewish citizens from a number of jobs, including university professors. Noether and many others found themselves shoved out of their positions.

7. She Found an American Escape Route: Before the situation in Germany completely deteriorated, Noether and many of her colleagues were able to exit to America as universities offered jobs and a chance to get out of the country. Einstein, for example, went to Princeton, and Noether went to Bryn Mawr, the womens college in Pennsylvania, on a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation in 1933. Unfortunately, Noether wouldnt live much longer; she was diagnosed with cancer in 1935 and died only a few days later.

8. Her Impact Was Inestimable: On May 4, 1935, Einstein wrote an appreciation of Noether for the New York Times. He minced no words, saying, In the judgment of the most competent living mathematicians, Fraulein Noether was the most significant creative mathematical genius thus far produced since the higher education of women began. At the 1964 Worlds Fair, which was themed for Modern Mathematicians, Noether was the only woman to be recognized. Minor planet 7001 Noether, which orbits within the Asteroid Belt, was named in honor of her after its discovery in 1955.Houston, TX -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/26/2018 -- Wildlife tourism is a critical part of the tourism industry in Australia, America, Africa, Canada, Indonesia, Maldives and Sri Lanka. Wildlife tourism includes interaction with wildlife in the form of photographing and watching animals in their very own habitat from a long distance. Wildlife tourism comes under the category of adventure tourism while supporting the core values of nature conservation and eco-tourism.

During the visit to wildlife destinations, tourists contribute to the improvement and conservation of the conditions of wild animals. Wildlife tourism also improves the life of the local tribes, as when tourism flourishes, they get opportunities of improved livelihood. Continuous flow of tourists keep the poachers away from killing endangered species of animals.



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The major growth drivers, challenges, and trends influencing the global Wildlife Tourism market are inspected at length. The report also presents a thorough qualitative and quantitative data affecting to the projected impact of these factors on market's future growth prospects. A number of analysis tools such as Porter's five forces analysis and SWOT analysis have been employed to provide an accurate understanding of this market. Also, the report is compiled in a way for the readers and customers to understand better.



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This report presents a 360-degree overview of the competitive scenario of the Global Wildlife Tourism market. The report includes massive data relating to the recent product and technological developments observed in the market, complete with an analysis of the impact of these advancements on the market's future development. The research report analyzes the global Wildlife Tourism market in a detailed manner by explaining the key aspects of the market that are expected to have a quantifiable influence on its developmental prospects over the forecast period.



Table of Contents:



Global Wildlife Tourism Market Research Report 2018-2023



Chapter 1 Wildlife Tourism Market Overview

Chapter 2 Global Economic Impact

Chapter 3 Competition by Manufacturers

Chapter 4 Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2018-2023)

Chapter 5 Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions (2018-2023)

Chapter 6 Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type

Chapter 7 Analysis by Application

Chapter 8 Manufacturing Cost Analysis

Chapter 9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers

Chapter 10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders

Chapter 11 Market Effect Factors Analysis

Chapter 12 Market Forecast (2018-2023)

Chapter 13 Appendix



Get Complete Report@: https://www.researchnreports.com/service-industries/Global-Wildlife-Tourism-Market-Research-Report-2018-2023-223579Albany, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 07/26/2018 -- HORECA is syllabic abbreviation for hotel, restaurant and cafe. The term HORECA is used in Europe for the food industry. The term HORECA originated in Holland and is commonly used in European businesses. Therefore, furniture's used in hotels, restaurants and cafe will be considered in HORECA furniture. Modern HORECA furniture's manufacturers are turning smarter by creating furniture's which are of extensive designs, shape and size and can be stackable creating floor space. Moreover, HORECA furniture market is gaining traction due to upsurge in hospitability industry, restaurant and cafe's etc.



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The global HORECA furniture market is expected to be driven by the fact that the industry is continuously getting traction from hospitality industry worldwide. Food and Beverage represents largest segment of the overall hospitality industry globally. Total revenue from this segment amounts to US$ 88,803 Mn in 2018 globally. Emergence of restaurants, fast food chains, clubs, caterers have resulted in creating demand in the market. Hotels and other types of lodging centers is another segment. Hotels accompanies modern furniture's specifically designed for that segment. In developing countries like India, local players like OYO Rooms has created its presence worldwide. Travel and tourism is another sub-segment under hospitality industry. Furniture's used in cruise ships, airlines and trains also creating demand for the HORECA market. However, the HORECA furniture market faces certain restraints. Despite of such growth of this market, sell and marketing of hotels, restaurants, bars and cafe is still characterized by unsophisticated methods, which is not taken into consideration the power of technology. Penetration of HORECA market is difficult in regions historical cities, small and medium urban and semi-urban areas where marketing and selling of HORECA furniture's is not possible in effective way. Moreover in developed regions like in European countries, business (hotels, restaurants, bars and cafe) are independent and don't form groups. With less concentration of individuals restricts the growth of the HORECA market. Furthermore, lack of professional real estate agents worldwide having specific knowledge of what kind of assets (furniture) needs to be used in various areas (hotels, restaurants, and cafe) also restricts the HORECA furniture market. However, companies can come up with unique concept where they provide market value of particular hotels, locations where the hotels can be most profitable, based on different parameters what kind of interior decoration, furniture's and fixtures will be suitable etc. Companies like Hotel Seeker S.r.l has already started this concept.



One of the key trend in HORECA market is pop up restaurants. Restaurants without seats, seats without restaurants is spreading worldwide. Rise in vegetarians prompting greater healthier options. Vegetarian restaurants are coming up with decors, fixtures and furniture's resembling vegetarian delicacies, environment. Restaurants are coming up with bowls to serve dishes instead plates, however popular in Asia but quickly spreading worldwide. Bowls with vibrant colors are also quickly catching up the market.



Global HORECA furniture market can be segmented on the basis of material type, by product type, industry type, and geography. On the basis of material type, HORECA furniture market can be segmented as metal, plastic, wood and others (rattan, composite, fiberglass etc.). Product types in HORECA furniture market includes sofa sets, dinning sets, tables, chairs and bar stools. Based on industry type, HORECA furniture market can be segmented as hotels, restaurants, cafes and bars. Moreover, on the basis of geography, HORECA furniture market can be segmented as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, and South America.



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Some of the key prominent players in the HORECA furniture market includes Scab Giardino S.p.a. (Italy), Chairium (Turkey), Reverto Krzywiec Sp.J. (Poland), The HORECA LLC (Armenia), DUNI AB (Sweden), B K Barrit Corp. (the U.S.), American Home & Hospitality (the U.S.), Moda Seating ( the U.S.), Grand Rapid Chair Company, Inc. (the U.S.)A team of scientists in Australia has uncovered new evidence that suggests dingoes (Canis familiaris dingo) arrived on the continent around 3,500 years ago, more recently than previously thought.

The timing of the arrival of dingoes has been the subject of major debate over the years, with estimates ranging from 5,000-4,000 years ago based on archaeological deposit dates to as much as 18,000 years ago based on DNA age estimates.

Now direct radiocarbon dates on the oldest dingo bones ever found have allowed researchers to paint a clearer picture of when the species first inhabited Australia.

The dingo is the only placental land mammal aside from rats, mice and bats to have made it over water to reach Australia prior to European arrival and their arrival provides the only evidence of external visits by people to mainland Australia after first Indigenous settlement 65,000 years ago, said study lead author Professor Jane Balme, from the University of Western Australia.

Because Australia is separated from Southeast Asia by water, with the minimal distance between the two more than 90 km, it is extremely unlikely that dingoes arrived in Australia independently of humans.

The dingo bones, which are between 3,348 and 3,081 years old, came from Madura Cave on the Nullarbor Plain on the southern point of Western Australia.

Before now most researchers believed dingoes arrived in Australia sometime between 4,000 and 8,000 years ago or possibly even earlier. The new evidence changes this, said Australian National Universitys Professor Sue OConnor, co-author on the study.

Given the distance of the Nullabor from northern Australia where it is thought dingoes were first introduced, we are suggesting they were introduced about 3,500 years ago, Professor OConnor said.

Their spread would have been rapid because it would have been aided by people, as they were useful animals or pets they were likely transferred between groups.

This may have been facilitated by their strong relationship with humans and may have contributed to the extinction of a number of species including the Tasmanian devil and the Tasmanian tiger on mainland Australia because of the increased hunting pressure, Professor Balme said.

The next step would be to examine bone fossils from archaeological and paleontological sites to identify how dingoes may have changed peoples subsistence activities and the impact that dingoes have had on the Australian environment.

We have made a start on this by dating of dingo bones from the Nullarbor but analysis of dingo bones from other parts of Australia will help test our hypothesis of their rapid rate of spread.

The study was published in the July 19 issue of the journal Scientific Reports.

_____

Jane Balme et al. 2018. New dates on dingo bones from Madura Cave provide oldest firm evidence for arrival of the species in Australia. Scientific Reports 8, article number: 9933; doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-28324-x#government S. Korea to cut fuel taxes by record 20 pct amid soaring oil prices South Korea said Tuesday it will temporarily cut fuel taxes by a record 20 percent in a bid to ease upward pressure on consumer inflation as oil prices have surged amid the global ...It didnt affect operations globally, only the US website and some temporary stoppage on the email and phone networks; we are gradually resuming operations, a Cosco spokesperson told Seatrade Maritime News.

According to local US media, the network breakdown started at Coscos Pier J terminal at the Port of Long Beach. There has also been some slowdown in communications between the carriers US operations and its customers as exchanges have had to be moved to phone communications from emails, the report added.

Due to local network breakdown within our America regions, local email and network telephone cannot work properly at the moment. For safety precautions, we have shut down the connections with other regions for further investigations, Cosco said in a customer notice on its global website.

Read More: Maersk IT systems, websites hit in global cyber-attack

All Coscos vessels are operating normally and main business operation systems are stable, the company said as it pointed out it had taken effective measures to control the issue.

Except for above regions affected by the network problem, the business operation within all other regions will be recovered very soon. The business operations in the affected regions are still being carried out, and we are trying best to make a full and quick recovery, Cosco concluded.

The infamous Not-Petya" ransomware attack on Maersks operations last year took nearly a month to recover from and reportedly cost the line about $250m.Pamela and Ryan Walther have been working on their downtown Rochester storefront for the past seven months, restoring the old Hellers Jewelry space to its former glory. This Saturday, the couple will be celebrating the grand opening of their Bizzy Buzz Artisan Market. Locally made clothing, jewelry, and home decor items make up just some of the new stores inventory. We asked Pamela all about it.



Q: We last talked in March. Any exciting developments since then?



A: There have been a lot of renovations done since March to restore this historical building, the gold leaf on the tin tile ceiling came out spectacular! Our Artisans have helped in adding some special artistic touches to make it unique as well. We have hand-blown glass pendants from Marc Vandenberg Studios and Flower Power, a back-lit homemade slat wall, and a custom designed piece of metal under our 5-thousand-pound bank vault from Metal Artwork by Dion.



We have over 50 very talented local Artists with products in Home Decor, Jewelry, Detroit Centric Novelties, Pet Products, Third Man Records, Michigan cherry products from Traverse City's Benjamin Twiggs, local honey from Hardy Honey Bee Farm, Fashionable wears and much more! We also are very close to getting our liquor license with the plan to offer craft beer and wine. The space is truly an experience in it of itself; that paired with the truly breathtaking art from our Artisans is something you have to come to experience for yourself. There is also a Man Cave section complete with a Royal Rumble pinball machine to keep the guys happy!



Q: Bizzy Buzz had hoped for a spring opening, but grand openings get pushed back all the time. What delayed your opening and how did you overcome it?



A: Our contractor, Jay Noonan with Design Resources, has done a phenomenal job bringing in talented professionals to make this renovation a truly spectacular transformation. Geoff Davis with GP Davis, Inc. was our Jack of all Trades, Master of ALL and did such a quality job on all the detail work. He was our MVP! We lost a few weeks when we found out the roof needed to be replaced, as we thought we could wait a few more years before having to take that under as well. We had to wait on a neighbor to repair their shared wall as water was getting behind their brick and that would void a warranty on our new roof. Our project would have come to a screeching halt if that brick wasn't fixed. Thankfully two weeks later the owner got the wall repaired, and our project could proceed!



Q: Any advice for future entrepreneurs?



A: My advice for future entrepreneurs is to seek out people with the skill sets that you lack, invest in yourself with business classes and seek Him first! I prayed a lot! I knew I couldn't control everything and rather than stressing over those things I couldn't control I asked Him for help. I prayed for the right people to come and help us with the things my husband and I couldn't tackle ourselves and help always showed up! These people were truly Godsends!



Q: How are you feeling now that you're days away from opening?



A: We are excited to be opening this Saturday! This has been a ten-month-long full-time job to get this all set up. We started hunting for artists back in October last year. We started our renovation on the store seven months ago and are so happy to see the Artists moving their product in now! It has been a whirlwind of a time getting a whole new business started up, but our faith, the support from our family and friends, and our desire to live our dream has kept us going!



Q: What can patrons expect at the grand opening party?



A: For our Grand Opening we will have a ribbon cutting at 10 am, Yates Cider and donuts, The Toffee Store basket giveaway and a balloon artist making little bees for your wrist in the afternoon. Word on the street is there are little Bizzy Buzz bee decorated rocks hidden all over downtown Rochester; bring one in and get a prize! Also, look out for our bee buzzing around downtown to spread the Grand Opening buzz!



Bizzy Buzz Artisan Market is celebrating its Grand Opening on Saturday, July 28. It is located at 409 S. Main St. in downtown Rochester.



Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet@mikegalbraith.A Spanish-based group of companies with roots in the defense industry that go back all the way to the year 1573 will establish the Michigan town of Shelby Township as its North American headquarters in the year 2018.



SAPA Transmission Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Spains SAPA Group, has announced that it will locate its headquarters in Shelby Township, where the company already leases a research and development center. This fall the company also plans on breaking ground on a new Shelby Township production facility, which is expected to open in 2020.



As a result of the investment, the company is receiving a $2.676 million Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant from the state and a 50 percent property tax abatement from Shelby Township.



Its expected that the project will generate a total capital investment of $40.1 million and create 223 jobs. Michigan was chosen over competing sites in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.



"Our commitment to Michigan reflects our confidence in the states workforce, industrial supplier base, and economic future and our recognition that it is the right fit for the next chapter in our companys American story," said Vice President at SAPA Transmission Deniz Balta.



"We thank the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, local leaders from Shelby Township and beyond, and others who helped to make todays announcement a reality and we look forward to growing a successful partnership in the years to come."



SAPA plans its Shelby Township location will help grow its transmission sales within the defense sector, something that Macomb County Executive Mark A. Hackel believes more than possible.



"As a global leader in defense innovation, SAPA will feel right at home with the more than 600 defense contractors located here," he says.



Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet@mikegalbraith.Paul Visingardi comes from a rich pizza legacy. His father, an Italian immigrant, arrived in the United States in 1930 and opened a pizzeria here in 1958. Roughly 30 years later and Paul would open his own pizzeria, Vizzys Pizza Palace, in 1989. First located in Wayne, Vizzys is now located Westland, where its been slinging pies since 1999.



Every July Paul shutters his business so he can take his family on vacation. This year, the Visingardis toured Europe and tried its different pizzas. We asked him about it.



Q: It's not often that you hear of a business shutting down for a whole month so that they can go on vacation with their family. Why is this important?



When I first opened in 1989 we were open seven days a week with no vacation. After a little over a year I decided to start closing on Mondays so we could start a family of our own. After having two kids and my wife still helping me run the business we decided to start closing for just a few days around the 4th of July holiday--the slowest time of the year for our business--to take our young kids at the time, in 1995, on a family vacation.



Before my mother died in 2001 one of the last things she said to me before she died was to please close our business longer to take more time for our family vacation so we decided to start closing almost two weeks in July. As our business grew and we became more established we gradually increased it so we are now closed the entire month of July. My steady customers know we do this every July.



Q: What countries and their pizzas have you tried on your trip? Are there big differences between each style?



I have traveled to Italy were the pizza is thin with a tomato-based lite sauce with fresh mozzarella.



In Greece the pizza was made with feta cheese instead of the fresh mozzarella in Italy, and olives are very popular. And yes we went to a Greek restaurant--they really do yell Opa and dance on the tables and smash plates on the floor.



In Malta the crust is a thicker crust with olive oil instead of sauce and chicken and anchovies.



I noticed that just like certain areas in the USA, like Chicago is known for deep dish, New York is known for thin crust and Detroit seems to embrace all types of pizza, but thick seems to be a little more popular. Other countries seem to differ in style and what they use as toppings are whats available and popular for the region.



Q: What's been your favorite and why?



My favorite pizza is my own pizza. I prefer the more flavorful sauce with more spices and sweeter sauce. I prefer our thicker dough and more generous amounts of cheese and toppings like our signature pizza The VizzANater.



Other than my own pizza I love the pizza in Italy. It is very flavorful and I can taste my family recipe in it.



But I enjoy the many different types of pizza all over the world and when we travel I eat pizza almost everywhere we go and sometimes bring back some of these tastes and ideas.



My customers enjoy me bringing them along with our journeys via Facebook and they look forward to some of the new ideas we come up with but can always depend on our pizza and other food we serve being always delicious.



Q: What do you have planned for your grand re-opening?



While we were closed for vacation we had our pizzeria remodeled, updated for better service and floors professionally waxed so everything looks as good as new. We also usually bring back a new food idea from our traveling adventures. This year Im still deciding what this will be.



Vizzys Pizza Palace is celebrating its Grand Re-Opening on Thursday, Aug. 2. It is located at 35925 Ford Rd. in Westland.



Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet@mikegalbraith.Her abusive childhood was a secret Toni McMorris kept for more than 30 years. As an adult, she sought professional help to heal and to reckon with the impact the experience had on her life. She adopted a personal mission to prevent children from experiencing any type of abuse and neglect.

McMorris got creative. Empowered by a journaling habit that was so critical to her recovery, she wrote a children's book and conjured a reptilian ambassador in an idea that was beginning to take shape.

Today, Libby the Lizard is an educational program based on a children's book that explores the concept of secrets, good and bad.

"Having someone to talk to that you trust is very important in terms of awareness, prevention, and intervention of child abuse," says McMorris, who explains the concept behind her book "Good Secrets and Bad Secrets."

"We teach children to always tell, to report, when bad things happen. In the book, we introduce a resource called Libby's Trust List."



"Good Secrets and Bad Secrets" helps kids recognize and speak out against abuse.

McMorris, who has a master's degree in health administration, founded the nonprofit Good Secrets and Bad Secrets in 2015, together with Larry Mathews, an Army veteran officer, instructor at Oakland Community College, and healthcare researcher for Wayne State University.

Mathews himself suffered a dysfunctional childhood yet sought out positive experiences by participating in the swimming and diving team and devoting himself to schoolwork.

"Larry's experience tells us he was able to avoid normalizing the behavior after the seventh grade," says McMorris. "One of the goals we have is we don't ever want children to normalize abusive behavior. We want to help them distinguish appropriate from inappropriate."

The nonprofit's sister organization, Libby International, serves as a for-profit retail arm for book sales and eventual branded material, including Libby backpacks, t-shirts, and shoes. A $10,000 grant from Flagstar Pontiac Big Idea program helped purchase a life-sized Libby costume and publish and print books to give to children.

"We have had Libby attend events in Pontiac, and when the kids get to know Libby through the book and then see her, they just swarm her," says McMorris. "It's a beautiful experience."

Libby is the featured star of an entire curriculum for social studies and reading that meets Michigan educational standards, says Mathews. Intended as the first in a series of books and programs, "Good Secrets and Bad Secrets" sets the foundation for other child safety topics such as internet safety, sports, drugs, weapons, and suicide.

"Parents and teachers can use Libby to help kids feel safe," says Mathews. "Libby can be a touchpoint for when there is a school shooting, for example."

The team has presented the program to students at Inkster Preparatory Academy, and during afterschool programming at Schulze Academy in Detroit. With their business based in downtown Pontiac, the team is working to provide similar instruction in the Pontiac School District.

"The issue is funding," says Mathews. "We are working to identify corporate and school foundation funding for our programs."

Through Libby, McMorris and Mathews are confident they will provide information, support, and resources to kids so they don't have to suffer abuse and neglect.

"Protecting our children requires a disciplinary approach, with multiple levels and multiple resources at every developmental age, says McMorris."ENA Executive Director Tammy Taylor's desk show how busy she is. Fran Dwight Bells on the front door of ENA announce visitors. Fran Dwight Assistant Director Gail Shannon shows off the tools in the Tool Share program. Fran Dwight Executive Director Tammy Taylor and Assistant Diretor Gail Shannon. Fran Dwight At the 2017 National Night Out in Edison police mingle with residents and county officials. Fran Dwight At the Edison National Night Out 2017 residents gathered to celebrate a safer neighborhood Fran Dwight At the Edison National Night Out 2017 residents gathered to celebrate a safer neighborhood

Editor's note: This story is part of Southwest Michigan Second Wave's On the Ground Edison series. This is the fourth in the series written by one of our Community Correspondents.



Our mission is to empower the Edison Neighborhood and to maximize the quality of life and sense of community. -- Edison Neighborhood Association Mission Statement



The Edison neighborhood is home to over 9,000 of Kalamazoos residents. It may surprise you to know that it is the largest neighborhood by population in Kalamazoo and home to a majority of Kalamazoos Hispanic community.



More than 50 years ago, in 1968, the Edison Neighborhood Committee was formed. The founders' intention was to start food programs to support the children attending Edison Elementary School and to address the neighborhood challenges of homelessness and poverty.



The Edison Neighborhood Committee made its original headquarters inside of Edison Elementary School, located at the intersection of Lake Street and Russell Street. In order to avoid confusion with other local organizations the committee was renamed the Edison Neighborhood Association (ENA) and relocated to Stockbridge Methodist Church.



In 2006, Edison Neighborhood Association moved to its current home and location, 816 Washington Ave., on the corner of Portage and Washington Ave.



As a community member, resident, and new homeowner in Edison, I was thrilled to be invited down to the ENA office and interview the staff. It was another beautiful Wednesday in the Edison neighborhood. I parked my car and enjoyed the short walk in the sunshine towards the office. As I stepped into the office building, the bells on the door jingled and I was greeted by a force to be reckoned with, Tammy Taylor, the Executive Director.



The office was in a hum. Tammy and her Assistant Director Gail Shannon, were both standing in the hallway, passing files and stacks of papers back and forth. I patiently waited for them to finish their conversation, taking notice that there were no other staff members in sight. After a few more moments, Gail went to lunch and I sat down with Tammy in her office. Her desk was covered in papers and as she apologized profusely about "the mess," I made myself at home.



Tammy has been working with the Edison community for over 20 years. After she moved to the neighborhood in the 1980s, her work began with the Neighborhood Watch as secretary. Since then she has worn more than her fair share of hats in the community.



She was offered a seat on the Edison Board as Board Secretary and was also nominated as the Housing Chair for the Edison Board. As a voice of Edison and the full-time Executive Board Director, running and operating the association has proven to be a big job and she has a lot on her plate.



Just some of her responsibilities include staying in touch with the community, writing grant proposals and applying for them, referring people in need to housing programs, home improvement programs, deconstruction programs, food donation, and food voucher programs.



Ive noticed it this year especially. It's been amazing how many residents have been in need of food," Tammy says. "When the Edison Neighborhood Association was first founded that wasn't such a prominent issue. There was food. People had food. DHS, bridge cards, and government benefits. Residents that come in now, especially those seniors with limited mobility, asking for food vouchers.



Thankfully, one of the many partnerships we have here is with Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes. It has been astonishing how impacted the community is with the lack of food just within the past year. I must get five to six people in here per week." She then contacts Loaves and Fishes to try to obtain as much assistance as she can for those seeking it.



In her opinion, this increase in need is largely due to government budgets for assistance being reduced or cut completely. For programs that require people to work or volunteer, Tammy says she can put volunteers to work. I have people who have to volunteer 20 hours a week at a nonprofit to keep their government benefits. It makes the difference between not getting food and not getting shelter. So absolutely, volunteer here. You can rake leaves, take memos, pull weeds, answer phones, or sweep the floors. I'll keep you busy.



From a distance, I could hear the office door jingle once more. Gail had returned from her lunch. Thanking Tammy for her time and relinquishing her to her duties, I made my way down the short hall to Gails office. Gails office was a perfect juxtaposition to Tammys. Everything was in its place and neatly organized. We dove into Gails background.



Gail Shannon has lived in the Edison neighborhood since 1968, having moved there from the Milwood area. Gail started her volunteer work in 1990, specifically getting involved with the Edison Blossoms program, which provides beautiful free plants to residents in the Edison neighborhood each year. She was part of the distribution for her block. Back then it was divided into segments, she said.



What brought her to the Edison Neighborhood Association was the word that there was a position open and her need for part-time work. She was one of many candidates that applied but ultimately she got the position. Gails accounting background is a major asset to the Edison Neighborhood Association. Her responsibilities include facilitating and renting the community room, facilitating Tool Share and Edison Blossoms in June, facilitating the annual meeting of the ENA in January, neighborhood cleanups, Holiday Food Drive, organizer of Building Blocks, six articles for the monthly newspaper, and grant reports.



With the assistance of Lee Andrew, who helps answer phones, Tammy and Gail split the responsibilities and operations of the facility. During our interview, Gail offers insight into the difficulties of being underfunded and understaffed.



There is no way that Tammy could do this job without help and I only work here part-time. The phone rings constantly, for Tools...for the community room. It can be difficult. Every year we pretty much have to start from scratch (financially). Tammy has to scout for grants to cover operational costs. The city (City of Kalamazoo) has a grant for us but outside of that we have to search for the funds on our own.



Gail has brought in a few grants this year. One of them being The Allegra FootPRINT Fund for Nonprofit Friends. This grant program is meant to help local nonprofit organizations with their printing expenses by issuing grants of up to $1,000 each per year. In past years, the Edison Neighborhood Association was fully staffed. However, due to recent budgets cuts in government funding and the scarcity of grants, the ENA has had to rely heavily upon the residents and volunteers from the community.



In the past year alone, the ENA has helped 125 residents with home ownership, home repair, landlord and homeless issues. And 1,366 pounds of food was collected for the Annual Holiday Food Drive. There were 210 tools loaned out through the Tool Share program. Plus, 1,268 flowers and vegetables were given to residents to plant throughout the neighborhood. Despite the many challenges that come with operating a nonprofit organization, the Edison Neighborhood Association has made great strides in serving our community.Colorful umbrellas proved a vibrant contrast to the black and white pictures of the streetside exhibit of neighbors' faces. Photo by Fran Dwight

Fran Dwight's captured humanity and joy in the portraits she made for the Inside Out project in the Edison neighborhood. Photo by Fran Dwight

Editor's note: This story is the final part of Southwest Michigan Second Wave's On the Ground Edison series. The project continues in August with stories on Kalamazoo's Northside neighborhood.When On the Ground first moved into Edison in April, the black and white portraits that line buildings on and near Washington Square revealed a diverse neighborhood. Their smiling, open faces seemed to say,As the week and months progressed, I could identify more and more of the faces, such as Helen Van Loo, Gerry Hoffmann, and Adrian Vazquez. I even recognized a few people at the Washington Square Art Hop, though I didnt get to know them all by name. The Inside Out We are Edison Project , spearheaded by Anna Roeder, Administrative Assistant at the Kalamazoo County Land Bank, was a place-based public art project grand in scope. Inspired by a global Inside Out Project conceived of by TED Prize Winner JR, the 112 Edison portraits featured people of all ages and ethnicities and were taken during three Edison eventsone at El Concilio (formerly the Hispanic American Council), at Washington Square Co-op Apartments, and at a Washington Square Art Hop. JRs "call to communities across the world to participate really struck a chord and resonated with the goal of uniting neighborhood residents with art," says Roeder."The Inside Out Program was a huge success for Edison," says Tammy Taylor, Executive Director of the Edison Neighborhood Association. "People are still talking about it and Facebook post sharing it even today."The projects photographer, Fran Dwight, an Edison resident since 1994, subsequently became the On the Ground Edison photographer during our four months of neighborhood coverage. Team photographer was, she says, a position she easily adapted to, in part, from having connected with neighbors during Inside Out."Inside Out was really good for me because I tend to live in my own little world in my own little house. Not that I dont like my neighbors, but Im an introvert," she says. "But that opened the door to a 100 families for me. I see some of them now and we say 'hi.'"While Fran says the unveiling at the 2017 August Washington Square Art Hop was disappointing due to torrential rains, but the colorful umbrellas and people who did attend provided a wonderful contrast in the photos Fran took of the event."Everyone was floored by the project," she says. "It was just amazing.""The process of taking and installing these portraits created a lot of positive energy in the community," says Roeder. "It featured individuals from all different walks of life, side by side. People exuded a sense of pride in seeing their larger than life image displayed in a prominent public place."In addition to taking the portraits for the project, Fran also set up two-minute photo sessions in which she took family portraits free of charge. "It really made me feel a part of the neighborhood in a way that I hadnt before," Fran says. "As that project developed, I felt a grander and grander sense of being a part of my neighborhood. I was proud."When I ask Fran how she was able to capture so much humanity and joy in her photos, she says, "Its because Im looking for more than a picture. Im looking for a feeling. And when I see it, thats when I know I got the picture."Her ability to see and capture that moment on film has added warmth and depth to our Edison coverage.Now that Inside Out We are Edison is almost a year old, many of the faces on the buildings are deteriorating, paper peeling at the edges. A few are decorated with graffiti. The wheat paste that once adhered the faces to the cement and brick has started to wash out--all except for a line of portraits at the top on Portage that were laminated in vinyl."I feel like its doing exactly what its supposed to do. I dont feel sad," Fran says of the weathering. "I dont feel a sense of loss. Theres going to be a next stage of the neighborhood. Theyll clean it off, and theyll move on."When out and about in Edison, Fran is still running into residents that she wishes she had photographed for Inside Out, and likewise, after four months of On the Ground Edison, I am still learning about new Edison stories Id love to cover.The four stories published in July by our Edison community contributors, trained and guided by On the Ground Managing Editor Kathy Jennings, allowed me to step back and see Edison from their eyes, tooand the picture is rich and complex. I want to know more. Luckily, the contributors have indicated they want to keep writing about their neighborhood."The On The Ground program has made a huge positive difference in how people are viewing the Edison neighborhood," Taylor says. "Ive been approached and called by several people in the neighborhood and outside of the neighborhood whove commented on how much better and safer the Edison neighborhood is now versus in the past."Roeder agrees. "On the Ground has been an amazing mechanism for uplifting and bringing to light the many positive stories and projects that are happening in Edison. It has been an honor to be involved with this work of positive journalism."During our Edison coverage, our teams opportunities for connection and engagement have been plenty. For example, in an On the Ground sponsored project, fourth graders in Aaron Masons class at Washington Writers Academy wrote individual and collaborative poems about their neighborhood. The poems were then displayed with their artwork during the June Washington Square Art Hop.On the Ground Engagement Editor Vicky Kettner, chose the apt slogan, Our stories, Our neighborhood, which was printed on T-shirts that were handed out to residents and art hop attendees.Our neighborhood is where we live. Our stories follow us everywhere. And in a mid-size city like Kalamazoo, that means those stories often intersect and overlap, much more than we can probably ever know. For those who have been following On the Ground, these stories of Edison have hopefully made the neighborhood a little larger, and a little smaller at the same time.Next neighborhood, Northside. Keep reading.One final piece needed to be put into place before Pfizer could proceed with construction of a 400,000-square-foot, multi-story production center where sterile injectable medicines will be made. That piece went into place Tuesday, July 24 when the Michigan Economic Development Corp. decided the pharmaceutical maker would be the first to receive incentives through the Good Jobs for Michigan program.State, local, and company officials gathered at Pfizers Kalamazoo-Portage campus to announce the tax incentive valued at $10.5 million for up to 10 years. To receive the tax break Pfizer has to come through with new jobs with an annual wage that is equal to 125 percent of the regional average wage. It is anticipated that 140 new jobs will be created in the next two years and a total of 450 over the next six years. The jobs are expected to pay from $70,000 to $93,000 annually.Pfizer employees got the news of the decision to move forward with the project directly after the officials spoke with the media.Plans call for a $465 million investment in what is described as a Modular Aseptic Processing Facility. And the company says during the next six years, it expects to invest approximately $1.1 billion in Kalamazoo County. That is in addition to the $1 billion Pfizer has invested in the site over the past decade. The local project is part of Pfizers $5 billion investment in United States manufacturing operations announced earlier this year.Construction on the Portage site begins in 2019, is expected to be completed in 2021 and operational in 2024.The local campus is the primary global supplier of sterile injectable medicines and active ingredients. More than 150 products are made there and its biggest product is Solu-Medrol, a widely used injectable anti-inflammatory medicine.The manufacturing site will incorporate the most technically advanced aseptic manufacturing equipment, systems, and design, including multiple, self-contained modular manufacturing lines. Aseptic in the buildings descriptive name  Modular Aseptic Processing Facility  means it will be free from contamination caused by harmful bacteria, viruses, or other microorganisms. Company officials note that sterile drug product manufacturing is incredibly complex.Kristen Lund-Jurgensen, executive vice president and president, Pfizer Global Supply noted the work done in the new building is critically important because the drugs made there are injected into peoples bodies. They have to be of high quality, pure, perfect, so people can trust them. This facility has the workers that are capable of doing that.She also pointed out that the building would be built to LEED standards, certifying design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the building is green and sustainable.Ron Perry, site leader for the Portage plant, said the new sterile injectable facility will strengthen the sites role in Pfizers global network. Perry explained after the press briefing that each of the modules in the building would be contained so that the drugs being made in each respective module would not mingle or contaminate the others. The facility will combine cutting-edge technology and a highly talented workforce to assure we remain a trusted and reliable supplier of these therapies to patients, he said.The jobs that will be created at the plant will range from those requiring advanced degrees to skilled trade positions, Perry said. Employees will be sought from across the country and local sources.Governor Rick Snyder signed the Good Jobs for Michigan bills into law last July. The jobs-initiative package is intended to attract projects that result in a significant number of high-paying jobs with employees making more than the target regional wage.At Tuesdays event, Gov. Rick Snyder described Michigan as a state that makes things and because of its background, Michigan gets stereotyped. While auto manufacturing has been very good for the state there are many other products that are made here. Kalamazoo makes pharmaceutical products for which, due to their highly regulated status and how they are used to treat patients, there can be no failure. That these drugs are made locally: Thats something to be proud of, not to be taken for granted.Portage Mayor Patricia Russel said the city was doing everything it could to create a favorable business culture and now it is riding a wave into a new day.In past years, the agenda for Portage City Council annual retreats always included a discussion of whether Pfizer planned to stay in the area, Russel said. When Pfizer began expanding its profile in Portage two years ago those fears eased. Pfizer is going to stay in the area and were thrilled to have them, Russel said. Whats good for Pfizer is good for Portage and whats good for Portage is good for Pfizer.To see the technology and talent involved, follow these links for video interviews with Pfizer Global Supply colleagues based in Portage: Blanca Ortiz-Skelding , senior process engineer; Amber Witt , customer project manager; and Travis Crose , machine repairman.Press Release

July 25, 2018 Dayaw Season Finale Features "Maria" the Catholic Icon of Succor and Consolation Senator Loren Legarda invites the public to watch the last episode of Dayaw season 5: Pagdiwang at Pasasalamat, showcasing how different Filipinos celebrate, give thanks, and declare their religious faith. Episode 6 titled, "Si Maria at si Nino" (Celebrating the Virgin) features a significant icon in the Filipino Catholic community, Mary Mediatrix of All Grace, known to devotees as a source of succor and consolation. The documentary tackles her role as a personal symbol of identity and sees how the Catholic traditions of Spain became uniquely and distinctly Filipino through her. It will be aired on Thursday, July 26, 6:30 pm, on the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC), with livestreaming on news.abs-cbn.com/live and on ANC's Facebook page. "On our Season ender, we take a look at an icon who holds a very special place in the hearts of Catholic Filipinos, Mother Mary of Mediatrix, a source of succor and consolation. In her many guises and titles, she becomes a personal symbol of identity, a reminder of the old hometown, the province, the communities we return to during the celebration of her feasts," Legarda said. "I hope that this season rightfully depicts Filipinos as a thankful race. Gratitude always informs our rituals and our traditions. The viewers can be guaranteed that in the succeeding seasons of Dayaw, we will continue to show you the worlds beyond your own," Legarda concluded. Dayaw, conceptualized and hosted by Senator Legarda, and produced by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and ANC, is a six-part, 30-minute weekly documentary series that focuses on the preservation of the country's culture and heritage. It is shown every Thursday, at 6:30 pm on ANC, with live streaming on news.abs-cbn.com/live and on ANC's Facebook page, and aired simultaneously on The Filipino Channel (TFC). Replays are on Friday 1:30am and 2:30pm, Saturday 3:00am and 8:30am, Sunday 11:30am, and Monday 1:30pm.Press Release

July 26, 2018 De Lima second Filipino to receive 'Prize for Freedom' award Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima will be the second Filipino to receive the prestigious "Prize for Freedom" Award from the Liberal International (LI) in recognition for her remarkable efforts in defense of freedom and human rights. De Lima, a known human rights defender here and abroad, is set to be formally conferred with the "highest human rights honor" in a simple ceremony that would be held at Novotel Manila, Araneta Center, Quezon City on July 28. "A vocal critic of President Rodrigo Duterte's so-called 'war on drugs' and a prisoner of conscience. [Sen.] de Lima was one of the first to be targeted by the hard-line Duterte government for her outspoken criticism of the president's targeted campaign of violence, which has left thousands of mostly poor Filipinos dead," LI said in a release. "Imprisoned since February 2017, this month Liberal International will recognise her sacrifice with our highest human rights award, the Prize for Freedom," it added. The first Filipino who received the award was then President Corazon Aquino in 1987, who was recognized "for her world-renowned advocacy of democracy, peace, and the empowerment of women." De Lima is regarded by LI as a "flag-bearer for human rights in the Philippines and beyond, setting a shining example for other human rights defenders." She joins LI's long roster of awardees to include former Argentinian President Raul Alfonsin (1985), former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (1989), Nobel Peace Prize laureate and now State Counsellor of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi (1995), Saudi activist Raif Badawi (2016), and prominent Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti (2017), among others. Like De Lima, some of the awardees of the 'Prize for Freedom' Award were also accorded the same recognition while detained or politically persecuted by their respective governments. LI, a London-based world federation of liberal and progressive democratic parties, noted the award is given to "a well-known personality of liberal conviction who has made outstanding efforts for the defence of freedom and human rights." The third international organization that sent representatives to visit De Lima in detention, LI has previously denounced the arrest of De Lima as politically motivated. Its members also urged the Duterte administration to immediately release De Lima from unjust detention and allow her to fulfill her mandate as a Senator. LI has earlier announced it is conferring the "Prize for Freedom" Award to De Lima during its 199th Executive Committee meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, which was attended by 100 liberals from 32 countries, in October 2017. Despite her continued unjust detention, De Lima continues to reap awards and citations here and abroad, including the Foreign Policy magazine as one of the leading Global Thinkers for 2016 and 2017; by Time Magazine as one of 100 Most Influential People, one of the Icons, for 2017; by Fortune Magazine as 39th World's Greatest Leader; and by Amnesty International as the Most Distinguished Human Rights Defender for 2018, to name some.Press Release

July 26, 2018 Dispatch from Crame No. 350:

Sen. Leila M. de Lima's Statement on the retirement today of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales 7/26/18 Nalulungkot po akong masaksihan ang pagtatapos ng termino ni Hon. Conchita Carpio-Morales bilang punong Ombudsman, matapos ang pitong taon ng kapuri-puring serbisyo sa taumbayan. Ombudsman Chit could have chosen to enjoy her time with her grandchildren after retiring from the judiciary in 2011. Instead, she chose to take on the tremendous challenge of leading the Office of the Ombudsman, and of repairing its then damaged integrity under a predecessor who had valued debts of gratitude to former President and now Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Ombudsman Chit did this, because she wanted to assure her grandchildren that, in her own words, "tomorrow will be a better day." At totoo nga, naging tapat siya sa kanyang pangako. Under her watch, the Office of the Ombudsman reduced its case backlog drastically. In fact, Ombudsman Chit sacrificed her weekends just to work on cases, saying that justice itself demanded this. The delivery of justice, she said, meant acting quickly on citizens' petitions and grievances, yet measuring painstakingly how each decision would impact the entire justice system. Nagtagumpay si Ombudsman Chit sa paghubog ng isang kultura ng integridad sa kanyang kagawaran. Nagabayan niya ang kanyang mga imbestigador at mga prosekutor na hindi bumigay sa panggigipit ng mga pulitikong hayok sa kapangyarihan at walang pananagutan sa taumbayan. Kaya naaangkop lamang na nagawaran siya ng Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service noong 2016. After restoring the image of her office, Ombudsman Chit was then forced to deal with a new President who clearly holds the rule of law in contempt, consistently disregarding it in most of his actions. Whoever will replace her will have big, big shoes to fill. Her legacy should not be wasted by the next Ombudsman. We may never again see this level of integrity in our public officials - or at least not for a long time. Definitely not under this Duterte administration where justice has been so twisted to the extent that drug lords, vigilante killers and corrupt officials remain untouched while thousands of victims of extrajudicial killings were left to fend for themselves. Not only that. The justice system was weaponized so that Malacanang could go after critics like how they fabricated drug charges against me in a failed bid to silence me. Ombudsman Chit is one of the few bright lights left in the leadership posts of a government enveloped in encroaching darkness. Nakakalungkot meron na namang mawawala sa mga natitirang liwanag sa ating pamahalaan. She may be a private citizen now, but she continues to be a brave warrior for justice and accountability. Just take note how she, on her last few days in office, took parting shots against the highest court that 'nipped in the bud' the plunder case against Gloria Arroyo. To Ombudsman Chit, thank you for your years of exemplary service to the people. Your grandchildren are waiting. I hope that you will be able to make up for the lost time.Press Release

July 26, 2018 De Lima hopes Bangsamoro Law will bring lasting peace in Mindanao Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has expressed hopes that the impending passage into law of the proposed Bangsamoro Organic Law will bring lasting peace and stability in war-stricken Mindanao and improve the plight of the Bangsamoro people. In her Manifestation on the Ratification of the Bicameral Committee Report on the Organic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), De Lima said she is hopeful that the proposed measure would give the Bangsamoro people genuine autonomy and allow for meaningful self-governance. "It is my fervent hope that this landmark legislation will be the catalyst in achieving lasting peace in Mindanao and for our impoverished countrymen in the BARMM to finally enjoy the blessings of prosperity and democracy under a united Philippines," she said in her Manifestation which was entered into Senate records last July 24. Hours ahead of Mr. Duterte's State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 23, the Senate ratified the Bicameral Conference Committee Report on the Organic Law for the BARMM, which is part of the government's commitment to the 2014 peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Mr. Duterte was supposed to sign the proposed measure on the same day but it did not push through as the Lower House adjourned its session before it could be ratified. He, however, committed to signing the Bangsamoro Organic Law in 48 hours or within two days from his SONA. De Lima, who remains detained on obviously bogus drug trading charges, noted that her current situation prevented her from participating in the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law at the Senate, which she considers as a "historic occasion." "For decades, peace has eluded the Land of Promise and the Food Basket of the Philippines. Years of violence have led to tens of thousands of families internally displaced, hundreds of thousands of our countrymen killed, and billions of pesos in lost economic activity," she said. "But alas, our legislative contribution to the peace process has finally crossed the Rubicon," she added. De Lima, who now chairs the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, said the Bangsamoro Organic Law proves that federalism is not the solution to the country's woes. "The present form of government under the 1987 Constitution already enshrines decentralization and grants local governments autonomy over their jurisdiction," she said. "Charter Change is not needed to foster national unity, to address insurgency and terrorism, to uplift the economic condition of the vulnerable sectors of society, and to ensure the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty," she added. Last July 9, the Consultative Committee (Con-Com) submitted its draft of the proposed Federal Constitution to Mr. Duterte, and to the Upper and Lower Chambers of Congress which will soon begin debating the said proposed constitution. De Lima has always been pushing for the passage of the Bangsamoro Law, previously noting in her Dispatch from Crame No. 190 that "the urgency in actualizing the proposed changes in the governmental, political, fiscal and justice structures for the Bangsamoro people, to supplant the discarded, deficient ARMM set-up [is] imperative, given the lingering and worsening threats of terrorism and extremism in the area." Last year, the Senator from Bicol had expressed support for Mr. Duterte's call for the immediate passage of the law last year, but was dismayed on the administration's decision to defer the passage of the BBL in February this year.Press Release

July 26, 2018 Legarda: 58th Venice Art Biennale Takes on New Imaginaries of Place Histories with the Island as Reference Senator Loren Legarda said she is looking forward to the Philippines' participation in the 58th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale as it explores the myriad ways by which the islands can be perceived and imagined: by evoking its geophysical characteristics, reflecting on our regard for it as a place of origin, refuge, and respite, or a location that may refer to nation itself The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), in partnership with the Office of Senator Loren Legarda, recently held the deliberations on the submitted curatorial proposals for the Philippine Pavilion in the 58th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia on July 20, 2018 at the NCCA in Manila where the proposal of the curator, Tessa Maria Guazon was chosen among the 12 submitted proposals. "It seems like yesterday when we tried to fill the puzzling absence of the Philippines in the Venice Biennale after 51 years of hiatus and now, we are already preparing for our 5th participation in both the art and architecture editions since 2015," Legarda said. "I am confident that the 2019 exhibition curated by Tessa Maria Guazon will successfully evoke the artistry, history, and cultural heritage of the Filipino people," Legarda added. The 2019 Philippine Pavilion in the Venice Biennale, titled Island Weather, will feature the work of artist Mark Justiniani who is known for his immersive large-scale installations and site-specific art. Three thematic approaches shape Island Weather: (1) Island Voyage alludes to travels and grand designs referencing light houses built during the colonial period and places that combine fantasy and myth; (2) Local Forecast: Turbulent Weather gestures towards aspects of the lighthouse to construct an experience of viewing and being seen; and (3) Piers and Ports expands the artist's investigation of vision and its role in the construction of truth. For the 58th International Art Exhibition (2019), the Board of La Biennale di Venezia has appointed Ralph Rugoff as the curator. Rugoff has been the Director of the Hayward Gallery of London since 2006. He was also the Artistic Director of the XIII Biennale de Lyon in 2015, and has written extensively on art and cultural criticism. He has curated exhibitions at the Hayward Gallery over the past 11 years, such as The Painting of Modern Life (2007), Psycho Buildings (2008) and the Infinite Mix (2016). He has also curated retrospectives and solo shows of Ed Ruscha, an American artist associated with the pop art movement; Tracey Emin, a British artist known for her work that is intensely personal and "confessional;" and George Condo, an American contemporary visual artist who has worked using painting, sculpture and printmaking. The theme for the 58th International Art Exhibition is May You Live in Interesting Times, a phrase invented by the English but mistakenly "cited as a Chinese curse, which invokes periods of uncertainty, crisis and turmoil."[1] ________________________________________ [1] http://www.labiennale.org/en/news/biennale-arte-2019-outlinePress Release

July 26, 2018 Supreme Court asked to allow de Lima to argue on Rome Statute case The minority bloc at the Senate has asked the Supreme Court to allow Senator Leila de Lima to represent them during the oral arguments on their petition questioning the executive's move to withdraw the country's membership in the International Criminal Court (ICC). In a manifestation with motion filed on July 24, the senators asked to grant the earlier petition of De Lima "to argue the case at hand in her personal capacity as a petitioner." The manifestation was filed by Senators Francis Pangilinan, Franklin Drilon, Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, Risa Hontiveros, Antonio Trillanes IV, and conformed by De Lima. De Lima is currently detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center on alleged drug-related charges. On May 16, the six opposition senators asked the Supreme Court to invalidate the decision of the executive branch because of lack of concurrence from the Senate. In 2011, the Senate ratified the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, where President Rodrigo Duterte has been accused of crimes against humanity over his bloody war on drugs. In March, Duterte ordered the withdrawal of the country's membership from the ICC, citing the "baseless, unprecedented, and outrageous attacks" against him and his administration. In their May 16 petition, the senators argued that the "Executive cannot abrograte or repeal a law. In the same vein, the executive cannot unilaterally withdraw from a treaty or international agreement because such withdrawal is equivalent to a repeal of a law." In June, De Lima also filed a petition before the high court to allow her to participate in the oral arguments. The minority senators, in the July 24 motion, said they are "of the strong conviction that the arguments for the cause of all the petitioners will be best presented before this Honorable Court by their colleague, Senator De Lima." "Thus, . . . the senators hereby manifest that they will no longer be represented by counsel during the oral arguments but, instead, they will be adopting en toto the presentation, arguments and positions to be put forward by Senator De Lima during the oral arguments as their own presentation, arguments, and position." They added, "The issues in this case being of transcendental importance, Senator de Lima should not be prevented from personally arguing the case before the Honorable Court by mere reason of her incidental detention." The oral arguments were scheduled on August 14, at 2 p.m.Press Release

July 26, 2018 Villar gives livelihood assistance to Filipinas rescued from a prostitution den in Malaysia Sen. Cynthia Villar today welcomed three overseas Filipino workers who were rescued from an alleged prostitution den in Malaysia. The three women, namely Mary Rose, Julie Ann and Ailene were repatriated from Malaysia aboard Air Asia Flight YM 5428 and landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at 2 pm. They were met by their families. "We have seen this modus before-- recruiters using the promise of work and good salary as bait so they could attract our kababayan, usually in the provinces. Malalaman na lang ng kababayan natin na walang trabaho kapag nandoon na sa ibang bansa, kung saan sila pinapagawa ng iligal na bagay, minamaltrato at inaabuso," Villar said. "Despite the existence of Republic Act 9283 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, which was signed into law 15 years ago, illegal recruiters continue to operate and many of our people continue to fall victims of human trafficking," she added. Villar also asked authorities to go after the recruiter and her cohorts and see to it that they face the harshest penalties under the law. The case of the 4 OFWs was referred to Villar and the Villar Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance (Villar SIPAG) by radio station DZRH. Villar provided the OFWs financial assistance as well as sari-sari store start up kit when they met her at the Senate. It was learned that around middle of 2017, the women who are all residents of Bataan, were recruited by a certain Rea Cervantes to work as performers in Malaysia with a salary of P40,000 per month. The four departed Manila on September 15, 2017 for Zamboanga City. Upon arrival at the Zamboanga airport, they were assisted by four men and travelled via boat to Basilan and then to Tawi-Tawi. From Tawi-Tawi, they travelled to Malaysia through a speed boat. When the 3 OFWs arrived in Malaysia, they were brought to their employer who in turn assigned them as waitresses at the Labuan Kings Musical and KTV Bar in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. Apart from the task of serving food and drinks to the customers, these 3 OFWs were required by their employer to entertain and give sexual favors to the customers of the KTV Bar. The 3 OFWs were forced to follow their employer's instructions as they fear for their lives. These 3 OFWs did not receive salaries from their employer. They were not allowed to go out, got beaten by their employer, and were starved. Their phones were also confiscated, but luckily one of the OFWs had a spare phone which she used in seeking help. One of the parents of the OFWs sought the help of a DZRH reporter, who went to the National Bureau of Investigation to ask for help and investigate the case of their daughters. On October 31, 2017, the 3 OFWs were rescued and were taken to a shelter where they stayed until their repatriation this month. "We thank the authorities for acting swiftly on the immediate rescue of Mary Rose, Julie Anne, and Ailene. It might have been worst for these women if they were not rescued immediately," Villar said. Villar also invited the four OFWs to avail of free trainings offered by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, farm schools and other learning sites, to get started on other livelihood opportunities.Sausage-maker Hellers has continued its foray across the Tasman buying Victoria's Moira Mac Poultry for an undisclosed sum and adding A$40 million of revenue to its income stream.

Wellington-based Rangatira Investments, which controls Hellers, today said the purchase was part of the smallgoods manufacturer's plans to expand in Australia, where it's already identified an absence of pre-cooked sausages as a "significant opportunity in the largely untapped Australian market". The expansion plans are running alongside Rangatira's own considerations for the investment, with Cameron Partners reviewing the business and Australian media floating the possibility of a sale.

"Moira Macs is a key part of Hellers Australian growth strategy providing a platform to build on, that can be scaled up to establish an expanded presence in the Australian market," Rangatira said. "Moira Macs has a great culture, a highly experienced and long-serving management team, exciting growth opportunities and through investment in its manufacturing capability, additional capacity for growth."

Hellers employs 600 people and produced 30 million kilograms of meat in the year ended March 31, Rangatira said in its annual report. The meat company's earnings improved in the second half of the year with stricter margin control and a focus on new product development. Rangatira doesn't break out the firm's earnings, but the Australian Financial Review reported Hellers generates annual earnings of $20 million.

The Wellington investment firm increased its stake in Hellers to 63 percent from 50 percent in late 2015, paying $9.5 million for the extra shares, and valuing the investment at $52.2 million at the time.

Rangatira recognised a $36.3 million revaluation gain on the Hellers stake after the meat company acquired Gramart Foods. The investment firm didn't split out the value of its Hellers take in the 2018 annual report, although it recognised the value of the meat firm's goodwill at $27.7 million as at March 31.

(BusinessDesk)

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The New Zealand dollar held overnight gains against the greenback, buoyed by news the US and European Union agreed to work toward zero tariffs, easing fears of a global trade war.

The kiwi traded at 68.37 US cents as at 5pm in Wellington versus 68.34 cents at 8.15am, and up from 67.90 cents yesterday. The trade-weighted index was 73.27 from 73.04 yesterday.

In a joint statement, following EU President Jean-Claude Juncker's visit to the White House, he and US President Donald Trump said they had agreed to "work together toward zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods." The two also said "we want to resolve the steel and aluminum tariff issues and retaliatory tariffs." Among other things, the two will immediately create an "Executive Working Group of our closest advisors to carry this joint agenda forward."

Fears of a deepening global trade rift had weighed on the kiwi in recent weeks and Imre Speizer, head of NZ strategy at Westpac Banking Corp, said it gained overnight on expectations surrounding the meeting and then "the news that came out probably surpassed those expectations and it (the kiwi) had a good run as a result of that."

Speizer said the European Central Banks policy decision due later on Thursday was unlikely to garner much interest as it is expected to repeat the message that bond purchases will start tapering by year end with no hikes until the European summer next year.

He said the main event will be second quarter US gross domestic product due Friday. Economists expect 4.3 percent growth, according to MarketWatch, which would be the fastest since the third quarter of 2014. If it tops 5.2 percent as some are forecasting, it would be the strongest since the third quarter of 2003.

The kiwi traded at 58.28 euro cents from 58.13 cents yesterday and edged up to 51.78 British pence from 51.65 pence. It rose to 75.75 yen from 75.53 yen yesterday and gained to 4.6276 Chinese yuan from 4.6148 yuan.

New Zealand's two-year swap rate was unchanged at 2.12 percent and 10-year swaps were unchanged at 3.04 percent.

(BusinessDesk)

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Ballance Agri-Nutrients will pay an unchanged farmer rebate of $45 per tonne after the fertiliser company's annual gross trading result - a measure of profit including operating costs - lifted 25 percent.

The Mount Maunganui-based cooperative said the gross trading result was $71.3 million in the year to May 31 and the rebate, to be paid on July 27, will average about $4,500 for an average shareholder. The return to shareholders of more than $56 million represents 81 percent of pre-tax profit, it said. Retained funds will be used to bolster the balance sheet for future re-investment.

Total annual sales  including nutrient products, animal feeds and industrial ingredients  were up 1.5 percent to 1.64 million tonnes. The higher volume, together with a continuation of the growing demand for premium nutrient products that offer improved environmental performance, was reflected in a 2.6 percent increase in revenue to $826 million.

Chair David Peacocke said while the result reflects positive sentiment among farmers and growers "we are very aware of the increasing competition in the New Zealand fertiliser market, and the need to increase our agility."

Ballance is already gearing up for the future with investment in supply chain and manufacturing efficiencies, he said. Projects completed during the 2018 financial year  such as a new consignment store in Waimate, and new expanded Ashburton service centre  aimed to improve service levels, load-out times and product availability through Ballances national distribution network.

Our infrastructure investment is all linked to our focus on a smarter supply chain that will deliver higher service levels and greater choice and ease for our farmers," he said.

Chief executive Mark Wynne said another priority is accelerating digital services. The MyBallance platform launched as a free offering to Ballance shareholders in the second half of the financial year already has more than a quarter of all active shareholders registered, allowing them to see and manage their nutrient planning, ordering and records online, he said.

(BusinessDesk)

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NZX has sold its Australian grain data business to Rural Bank for an undisclosed figure, and will close its Melbourne office.

In a statement, the stockmarket operator said the sale of the business assets of Australian Crop Forecasters and Profarmer Australia would be effective from Aug 31. NZX will write down $2.1 million in intangible assets, it said. The company had $36.3 million in intangible assets at Dec. 31, 2017.

"The transaction continues the NZXs execution of its strategy announced in November last year, which outlined an increased focus back on its core markets business," NZX chief executive Mark Peterson said.

Earlier this year, NZX sold its rural newspaper Farmers Weekly to its former owners Dean and Cushla Williamson for an undisclosed sum, with the new entity taking on all 15 staff.

NZX shares last traded at $1.10 and have dipped 1.8 percent this year. The company's first-half earnings announcement is scheduled for August 15th.

(BusinessDesk)

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Congress President Rahul Gandhi in his allegations has kicked up a storm. He said that the (parent) company which had a "debt of Rs 35,000 crore" benefited to the tune of Rs 45,000 crore by the Rafale deal signed by Modi Government.

This may come up as a fresh hit to debt laden Reliance Communications chaired by Anil Ambani. The Rafale deal is back in limelight after the No-Confidence motion held last week. And along with discussions on Rafale, the deliberations will also focus into the Joint Venture that the French company entered with Reliance Defence.

Even as the details about this deal are awaited, a report published in the National Herald seems to have added to the confusion. The report, suggests exposes by delving into data made available from the ministry of corporate affairs. This story suggests that Anil's Reliance Defence may have been incorporated just ten days prior to PM Narendra Modi flagging the ambitious Rafale procurement.

The National Herald report finds that Reliance Defence was incorporated on 28th March 2015, just ten days prior to PM Modi's Rafale announcement. This, the story indicates something amiss.

Also, the report suggests that Ambani's defence company had floated it on a share capital of Rs 500,000, a number lower than the crores that the Rafale deal itself was supposed to be. Authorized capital of a company is the maximum amount of share capital that the company is authorized to issue to shareholders.

The Congress President had lashed out to his opponents claiming that a private company that had a debt of Rs 35,000 crores, "benefitted to the tune of Rs 45,000 crores" via the Rafale deal.

Gandhi had subsequently also asked the PM to explain to the country, why a Rs 45,000 crore contract was taken away from the state owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and handed over to a "corporate friend" who had "never, ever built an airplane and had a debt of ?35,000 crore," in a reference to Anil Ambani.

He also suggested that Rafale aircraft price-hike was "magic".

He said, "The price of a Rafale aircraft negotiated by the UPA was ?570 crore. Modiji goes to France and does magic to jack the price to ?1,670 crore."

RCom, the debt-laden company run by Anil Ambani and listed on the stock exchanges, has either been reported as bleeding into losses or about to lose licenses. In a press release announcing its quarterly results, the company secretary said its first quarter net loss for quarter ending June 30, 2018 has shrunk by Rs 343 crores against Rs 19,776 crores in the previous quarter. The company said it was confident of resolving debt resolution processes, even as the release mentioned revenues of Rs 1008 crores (up from Rs 976 crores in the previous quarter).

There were speculative reports suggesting that the Department of Telecom had asked the company to either furnish bank guarantees or risk losing licenses. Licenses that were reported as assets for RCom. The company clarified to exchange houses that a Telecom tribunal was expected to resume hearing the case on 10th August.

This is not the first time that the Anil Ambani's name has cropped up with the Rafale deal as an allegation. Allegations were thrown in last year too. But Anil Ambani responded to these through a letter. In December 12 2017, Anil Ambani is learned of writing to Rahul Gandhi, and appraise him of the deal via a two page letter.

In the letter Ambani denies Gandhi's allegations. Here are excerpts from the letter:

Denying the role of the Government in the Rafale-Reliance joint venture, he says, "Not only do we have the necessary experience but we are also the leaders in several important areas of defense manufacture."

Reliance, he explains in the letter, had the largest shipyard in the private sector at Pipavav in Gujarat and was also enrolled in building five naval offshore patrol vessels for the Indian Navy and 14 fast patrol vessels for the Indian coast guard.

He said buying of 36 aircrafts manufactured in France was an inter-governmental agreement. "All 36 aircrafts are being manufactured in France and will be delivered on a 'fly away' basis from Dassault's manufacturing facilities in France to the Indian Air Force and no Indian company has any role to play."

Hinting at the joint venture, he said, "Dassault choose Reliance as its joint venture partner to meet the 'offset' or export obligation component of the deal and this was "an independent agreement between two corporate private sector entities and Governments had no role to play in this matter."

The Rafale procurement was aimed at buying of 36 fighter Jets, manufactured by French company- Dassault Aviation. The French company entered into a joint-venture with Anil Ambani's Reliance Aerostructure into a 51:49 JV to meet offset obligations. The Rafale deal includes a 50% offset clause, that ensures 50% of Rafale's deal amount to be invested in the Indian ecosystem. As such France is expected to infuse 30% of production costs into India's military aeronatics related research programmes and 20% into local production of Rafale components. This, according to a 2017 story published in The Hindu Business Line .

The JV with Dassault would significantly contribute to high technology transfers, creation of thousands of jobs in India, impart valuable training and skill-sets to Indian engineers in aerospace/defence manufacturing sector, and also provide large scale business opportunities to hundreds of MSMEs, SMEs and start-ups in the country and will further enhance "our experience and skills", Ambani emphasized in his letter.

The letter addressed to Gandhi also makes a reference to Dhirubhai Ambani and the equations between the Ambanis and Gandhis.

Dhirubhai Ambani, he said, had built the world's largest integrated petrochemicals and refinery complex in India without formal education, experience and legacy. "You have to be given an opportunity to perform. It's not experience, but the mindset, dedication and the prupose, of a strong India that should engage us all."

Referring to statements made by Congress, including the ones made by Rahul Gandhi, Anil Ambani felt they had "saddened and hurt sentiments".

"Considering that my entire family and I, starting with my respected father, have had the privilege of enjoying a very respectful relationship with the Gandhi family over generations as well as the Congress party for the past more than four decades, these statements have saddened and hurt our sentiments," read his letter.

Except for the 8 month old letter, an official communication is yet awaited from Anil Ambani's communication team. An official confirmation could throw light about whether ADAG had prescient information about Rafale, days prior to the official announcement. Official communication could also shed light on the exact date of incorporation considering, Reliance Infra Ltd (another sister company) had already been reported of purchasing 17.66% of Pipavav Shipyard on 5th March 2015 for $ 130 million. This company had later been renamed into Reliance Defence and Engineering.

Here are a handful tweets related to the Reliance-Rafale deal.

Mr 56 does [Emoticon missing] someone after all.



1. Must wear a suit

2. Must have 45,000CR debt

3. Must have a TEN day old company.

4. Must never have made an aircraft in his life.



Rewards of up to $4 billion in off set contracts if you fulfil said criteria. https://t.co/243CSV1cep  Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 25, 2018

Modi Sarkar's Corporate Affairs website shows that Reliance Defence Ltd was started with paid-up capital of just five lakh Rupees just 10 days before Modi Ji's French Trip.

Jay Shah invested 50,000 but soon collected 80 Cr, Ambani invested 5 L and earned 58000 Crore#BizModel  Brijesh Kalappa (@brijeshkalappa) July 25, 2018

Fit case for defamation suit! https://t.co/7BOyq7RoXz  Lt Gen H S Panag(R) (@rwac48) July 25, 2018

So Ambani was with Modi in Paris when he suddenly announced a new #Rafale deal at 3x the original price in April '15. Reliance Defence was registered 2 weeks before. 2 weeks after deal was formally signed in Oct16, we find Reliance Def gets >20k Cr in offsets of deal. Smoking gun pic.twitter.com/J7qB0IGmhb  Prashant Bhushan (@pbhushan1) July 22, 2018

5) 28/03/2015: Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) incorporated a new company - Reliance Defence Ltd - in Mumbai pic.twitter.com/ILmLKERpfs  Ravi Nair (@t_d_h_nair) July 23, 2018

It is not govt to govt agreement but LOI issued to Reliance Defence and Anil Ambani bagged the contract for 36 fighter jets in presence of PM only  Mehar (@syed_mehar) July 26, 2018In a recent media interaction, Mohini' director Madhesh has revealed that when he met Madhavan in London, the actor loved the script of Trisha starrer and asked the director to sketch a new screenplay by changing the gender of the protagonist to male for the Hindi remake. Madhesh said that Madhavan has shown interest to play the lead role in the Hindi remake of Mohini.





The director also added that as he comes from director Shankars school, a much needed social message has been handled in Mohini. At the recent press meet, Madhesh said that Mohini deals with a sensitive topic which is being debated on the social media and prime new channels.





Only 10% of the film was shot in a bungalow and remaining 90% was filmed in never seen before locations in London, said Madhesh who had directed Madhurey with Vijay.





Produced by Prince Pictures, Mohini is all set to release this Friday in Tamil and Telugu.



US says China is increasing state's economic control



Geneva, July 26 (AFP) Jul 26, 2018



The United States on Thursday accused China of falsely claiming that it was working to open its economy, insisting that Beijing's real goal was to deepen the state's economic control.

In a blistering attack delivered to the World Trade Organization's top body, US Ambassador Dennis Shea rejected Chinese assertions that it had satisfied the conditions of WTO membership.

"China has not been moving toward a fuller embrace of market-based policies and practices since it joined the WTO in 2001," Shea told a General Council meeting.

"In fact, the opposite is true. The state's role in China's economy has been increasing," he added, according to prepared remarks distributed by the US mission.

"For China, economic reform means perfecting the government's and the Communist Party's management of the economy."

Shea then turned to China's presentation at the country's WTO trade policy review earlier this month, where a senior delegation said Beijing was committed to "open, transparent, inclusive and non-discriminatory" trade.

"China's portrayal of itself is not accurate, of course, as we all know," Shea said.

President Donald Trump's trade team has expressed multiple frustrations with the 164-member WTO, but in recent weeks the organisation's failure to properly discipline China has taken centre-stage.

Washington has argued that WTO's rules, which have not been meaningfully updated since the body's founding in 1995, are inadequate to deal with an economy like China -- a global powerhouse where the government, ruling party and military are invested in the economy with limited transparency about their activities.

And, unlike with other Trump initiatives, the US has allies in its bid to modernise the WTO to check the China's private sector involvement.

While the reform push remains in its early stages, the European Union and Japan are reportedly working on proposals tailored to force a change in Chinese behaviour.



- 'Up to China' -



WTO director general Roberto Azevedo told reporters on Wednesday that the current scrutiny of China was natural given its mounting strength.

"I think people are just looking at everything that China does," he said.

Azevedo added that while the WTO has rules in place restricting a state's private sector influence, the Chinese economy may have evolved in ways that circumvent those rules.

After rules are written, "you begin to have grey zones, grey areas, because new practices come up," Azevedo said.

"I think that is the situation with China."

Shea called on WTO members to recognise that without reform the organisation would be irrelevant, while putting the onus to act squarely on Beijing.

"The WTO itself does not currently provide the tools needed to bring about... change. Rather, if the necessary change is to take place, it's up to China," Shea said.Germany preparing first veto against Chinese takeover: report



Frankfurt am Main, July 26 (AFP) Jul 26, 2018



Berlin is preparing for the first time to veto the takeover of a German company by Chinese investors for "strategic" reasons, local media reported Thursday, a year after ministers toughened up rules over fears the country could lose vital technologies.

Business weekly Wirtschaftswoche reported the economy ministry will prevent Chinese investor Yantai Taihai Corporation from buying Leifeld Metal Spinning.

The 200-employee firm produces high-strength parts for the car and aerospace industries that also have nuclear applications.

"The cabinet will make the decision on August 1," the magazine said.

A spokesman for the ministry declined to comment on the specific case when contacted by AFP.

But he said that "the economy ministry can examine whether a purchase endangers public order or the security of the Federal Republic of Germany."

The government can take a closer look if a foreign investor plans to buy at least 25 percent of a firm and last year modified rules to extend the range of firms eligible for a probe under "critical infrastructure" provisions or considered to be developing "key technologies".

Ministers also doubled the amount of time civil servants have to examine deals by non-European Union or European Free Trade Association (EFTA) buyers from two to four months.

The moves followed a string of high-profile takeovers or attempted takeovers of high-tech German firms by foreign companies.

Robot maker Kuka was bought by China's Midea in 2016, while factory automation specialist Grohmann Engineering was snapped up by US-based Tesla Motors.

A study by consultancy EY found Chinese companies bought 54 German firms last year and invested $13.7 billion in Europe's largest economy.

In March, then-economy minister Brigitte Zypries said continuing approaches from China might encourage Berlin to lower the ownership threshold that could trigger a government probe of a foreign investment.Page Content

The Tax Administration, div: Receivers office, hereby informs the general public that in cooperation with Police Dept. (KPSM), controls on payment for Motor vehicle taxes 2018 will commence as of Monday, August 6 th, 2018. Before this time, all vehicles must carry the 2018 plates and must be visible to the police. This means, plates covered with tinted plastic that are not legible are not allowed and the driver can be fined. In accordance with art.25 of the Motor Vehicle tax ordinance, drivers/owners of vehicles who are non-compliant with the above-mentioned will be fined Naf. 300.00. In addition to the fine, drivers will have to endure the inconvenience of having their vehicles confiscated.





What to do in the event your vehicle is confiscated.





In the event your vehicle is confiscated, you must go to the Receivers office with valid insurance and inspection card and pay the motor vehicle taxes for the vehicle.





The tariffs for the motor vehicle taxes 2018 are as follows:









After making payment to the Receiver, you proceed with your motor vehicle tax receipt to the Police Department. The Police Dept. will provide you with a release form, with which you will go to the towing company specified on the release form in order to retrieve your vehicle.





How much will this cost?





In order to retrieve your vehicle, you will first have to pay to the towing company up to $ 85.00 towing charges and $ 15.00 per day storage fee.





Based on art. 25 of the Motor Vehicle tax ordinance, you will also have to pay the fine of Naf 300.00, issued by the police. This must be paid at the Receivers office.



Facebook shares hammered as outlook clouded



San Francisco, July 25 (AFP) Jul 25, 2018



Facebook shares plunged as much as 22 percent Wednesday after the world's biggest social network reported weaker-than-expected user growth, suggesting a series of scandals on data privacy may impact growth.

Shares tumbled in after-hours exchanges after the disappointing quarterly report brought an abrupt end to Facebook's run to record highs.

The financial results were close to expectations, but a weak outlook appeared to spook the market. Profit was up 31 percent in the second quarter at $5.1 billion; revenues rose 42 percent to $13.2 billion, slightly below most forecasts.

Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said the tech giant has been investing heavily in "safety, security and privacy" after being rocked by concerns of manipulation of the platform and the hijacking of user data.

"We're investing so much in security that it will start to impact our profitability, we're starting to see that this quarter," Zuckerberg told a conference call on quarterly results.

But he added that "we run this company for the long term, not for the next quarter."

Zuckerberg has said he did not expect a meaningful impact from the uproar over data hijacked by political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, but the last quarter's figures suggested some cooling.

Chief financial officer David Wehner said revenue growth "decelerated" in the second quarter and will decline "by high single digit percentages" and added that "we are also giving people who use our services more choices around data privacy which may have an impact on our revenue growth."



- User decline in Europe -



The key metric of monthly active users rose 11 percent to 2.23 billion, below most estimates of 2.25 billion, while daily active users grew a weaker-than-expected 11 percent to 1.47 billion.

Zuckerberg said Facebook lost around one million users in Europe amid the implementation of new EU data protection rules, but noted that many Europeans "want to use context from ads," suggesting they are opting into allowing data collection for advertising purposes.

Almost all of Facebook's revenue -- $13 billion of the total $13.2 billion -- came from online advertising, a sector dominated by the California social network along with Silicon Valley rival Google.

Although Facebook shares were in a slump after the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke earlier this year, the stock had risen sharply and hit record levels this month.

According to the research firm eMarketer, Facebook is expected to hold an 18 percent share of the $273.29 billion worldwide digital ad market, behind Google's 31 percent.

According to the research firm, Facebook-owned Instagram is making up for some of the slowdown in growth at the social network and will generate $8.06 billion in worldwide ad revenue this year.Qualcomm says it will drop $43 bn bid for Dutch chip rival NXP



Washington, July 25 (AFP) Jul 25, 2018



US computer chip giant Qualcomm said Wednesday it was set to drop a $43 billion acquisition of Dutch rival NXP after failing to win approval of antitrust authorities in China.

Qualcomm's chief executive Steve Mollenkopf said the California firm would end its effort when the bid expires at the end of the day absent any "new material developments."

The move comes amid increasing trade tensions between the United States and China.

Qualcomm had extended the deadline several times for the tie-up which would have given the dominant smartphone chipmaker firm a broader array of products including sensors and microprocessors for connected "internet of things" devices.

According to Qualcomm, the acquisition of NXP has received antitrust clearance from eight of the nine required government regulatory bodies around the world, with the matter still pending in China.

"We intend to terminate our purchase agreement to acquire NXP when the agreement expires at the end of the day today, pending any new material developments," Mollenkopf said in a statement with the company's quarterly earnings.

"In addition, as previously indicated, upon termination of the agreement, we intend to pursue a stock repurchase program of up to $30 billion to deliver significant value to our stockholders."

Based in the Dutch town of Eindhoven, NXP is a leading maker of chips for the auto industry, as well as for contactless payment systems.

A former division of the Dutch electronics giant Philips, it became independent in 2006.

Qualcomm said profit rose 41 percent from a year ago to $1.2 billion while revenues edged up four percent to $5.6 billion.Facebook in freefall as weak outlook stuns market



San Francisco, July 25 (AFP) Jul 25, 2018



Facebook shares went into a freefall Wednesday as a stunningly weak financial outlook raised fresh concerns for the social networking giant as it tries to recover from the impact of data protection scandals and investigations.

After-hours trade saw Facebook shares plunge by some 21 percent, wiping out an estimated $130 billion in market value if the slump is confirmed at Thursday's market opening.

The second-quarter report sparked initial selling after it showed revenue and user growth came up short of expectations.

Profit was up 31 percent in the second quarter at $5.1 billion; revenues rose 42 percent to $13.2 billion, slightly below most forecasts.

Selling pressure accelerated when chief financial officer David Wehner warned in a call with analysts of a weaker outlook in the coming quarter.

Wehner said revenue growth "decelerated" in the second quarter and will decline "by high single digit percentages" and added that "we are also giving people who use our services more choices around data privacy which may have an impact on our revenue growth."

On the call, Jefferies & Co. analyst Brent Thill said that "many investors are having a hard time reconciling that deceleration... It just seems like the magnitude is beyond anything we've seen."

Ross Gerber, an analyst at Gerber Kawasaki, said the latest figures suggest that the tide may be turning for Facebook and other social networks.

"Social Media has peaked," Gerber said on Twitter. "We told you last qtr and now we're seeing it."



- Investing in safety, security -



Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg told the call the tech giant has been investing heavily in "safety, security and privacy" after being rocked by concerns of manipulation of the platform to spread misinformation and the hijacking of user data.

"We're investing so much in security that it will start to impact our profitability, we're starting to see that this quarter," Zuckerberg told a conference call on quarterly results.

But he added that "we run this company for the long term, not for the next quarter."

Zuckerberg has said he did not expect a meaningful impact from the uproar over data hijacked by political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, but the last quarter's figures suggested some cooling.

The update showed the key metric of monthly active users rose 11 percent to 2.23 billion, below most estimates of 2.25 billion, while daily active users grew a weaker-than-expected 11 percent to 1.47 billion.

Zuckerberg said Facebook lost around one million users in Europe amid the implementation of new EU data protection rules, but noted that many Europeans "want to use context from ads," suggesting they are opting into allowing data collection for advertising purposes.

Almost all of Facebook's revenue -- $13 billion of the total $13.2 billion -- came from online advertising, a sector dominated by the California social network along with Silicon Valley rival Google.

Although Facebook shares were in a slump after the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke earlier this year, the stock had risen sharply and hit record levels this month.

According to the research firm eMarketer, Facebook is expected to hold an 18 percent share of the $273.29 billion worldwide digital ad market, behind Google's 31 percent.

According to the research firm, Facebook-owned Instagram is making up for some of the slowdown in growth at the social network and will generate $8.06 billion in worldwide ad revenue this year.

Separately Wednesday, Facebook general counsel Colin Stretch, who advised the company through a series of probes and investigations into data privacy, said he would be leaving for personal reasons.

"There is never a 'right time' for a transition like this, but the team and the company boast incredible talent and will navigate this well," Stretch said on his Facebook page.Qualcomm says it will drop $43 bn bid for Dutch chip rival NXP



Washington, July 26 (AFP) Jul 26, 2018



US computer chip giant Qualcomm said Wednesday it was set to drop a $43 billion acquisition of Dutch rival NXP after failing to win approval of antitrust authorities in China.

Qualcomm's chief executive Steve Mollenkopf said the California firm would end its effort when the bid expires at 11:59 pm Eastern time (0359 GMT) barring any "new material developments."

The move comes amid increasing trade tensions between the United States and China.

Qualcomm had extended the deadline several times for the tie-up which would have given the dominant smartphone chipmaker firm a broader array of products including sensors and microprocessors for connected "internet of things" devices.

It also raised its bid -- from $110 to $127 a share -- in February, to the irritation of fellow chipmaker Broadcom, which itself recently had a hostile bid for Qualcomm blocked by the White House.

Washington said the acquisition of Qualcomm by Broadcom -- now Singapore-based -- would help Chinese competitors such as Huawei, particularly in the emerging 5G blazing fast wireless internet, where a stronger China could present a national security issue.

According to Qualcomm, the acquisition of NXP has received antitrust clearance from eight of the nine required government regulatory bodies around the world, with the matter still pending in China -- suggesting the takeover may be a collateral victim of US-China trade tensions.

"We intend to terminate our purchase agreement to acquire NXP when the agreement expires at the end of the day today, pending any new material developments," Mollenkopf said in a statement with the company's quarterly earnings.

"In addition, as previously indicated, upon termination of the agreement, we intend to pursue a stock repurchase program of up to $30 billion to deliver significant value to our stockholders."

The company also said it expected to pay NXP a $2 billion breakup fee.

Based in the Dutch town of Eindhoven, NXP is a leading maker of chips for the auto industry, as well as for contactless payment systems.

A former division of the Dutch electronics giant Philips, it became independent in 2006.

Qualcomm said profit rose 41 percent from a year ago to $1.2 billion while revenues edged up four percent to $5.6 billion.Tech titans jostle as Pentagon calls for cloud contract bids



Washington, July 26 (AFP) Jul 26, 2018



US defense officials unveiled Thursday a much-anticipated final request for tech firms to bid on a massive contract to provide the Pentagon with a comprehensive cloud computing service.

Tech titans including Amazon and Microsoft have already spent months jockeying for a winning offer on the prestigious contract, which could be worth as much as $10 billion over a decade.

The Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, better known by its nerdy name JEDI Cloud Program, ultimately will see all military branches sharing information in one system that can be scoured in real time with the help of artificial intelligence.

Currently, the Navy, Air Force and Army use separate clouds, so the benefits of immediately shared information, for instance by a pilot, could be huge.

He or she might have instant access to data collected by troops on the ground, a drone or a ship at sea, speeding the flow of vital intelligence.

Pentagon Chief Information Officer Dana Deasy said the Defense Department is appealing to outside firms because it needs help learning how to put in place a cloud of this scope.

"Battlefield advantage is driven by who has access to the best information that can then be analyzed to inform decision-making at the point of time and need," Deasy said.

While JEDI will play a key role for future cloud needs, officials noted the Pentagon will continue to operate multiple cloud systems, for now at least.

Tech firms including Microsoft and Amazon have in recent weeks festooned the metro stop underneath the Pentagon with advertisements boasting of their cloud prowess, no doubt hoping to catch the eye of decision-makers in the building.

The contract will have an initial duration of two years, but can be renewed for various amounts of time up to 10 years.

And of course the bid winner will have a foot in the Pentagon door, potentially leading to other lucrative defense contracts.

A Silicon Valley backlash in recent months has seen thousands of tech workers protest their companies getting involved with the Pentagon.

In May, Google workers signed a petition protesting the firm's involvement with the military in developing artificial intelligence to make US military drones better at recognizing what they are monitoring.

Google last month said it would not use AI for weapons or to "cause or directly facilitate injury to people," as it unveiled a set of principles for the technologies.Iran versus US battle to hit UN's top court in August



The Hague, July 26 (AFP) Jul 26, 2018



The UN's top court said Thursday it will hold hearings next month in a bitter battle between Iran and the United States, after President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions on the Islamic republic.

"The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will hold public hearings from Monday 27 to Thursday 30 August in the case" concerning Iran versus the United States, the tribunal said.

"The hearings will be devoted to the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by Iran," it added in a statement.

Tehran filed its case with the ICJ last week calling for the judges to order the immediate lifting of the sanctions which they said would cause "irreparable prejudice."

Iran maintained restoring the penalities, lifted under the landmark 2015 deal aimed at reining in Tehran's nuclear ambitions, violated a decades-old treaty.

Nuclear-related sanctions are set to be reimposed by Washington in two phases in August and November, and seek to bar European and other foreign companies from doing business with Iran and blocking its oil sales abroad.

Iran argued in its filing to the court that the move would break a 1955 Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations concluded between the two countries before the Islamic revolution under the regime of the shah. But the two foes have not had official diplomatic relations since 1980.

The court, set up in 1946 in The Hague to rule in disputes between nations, revealed Wednesday that its president, judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, had taken the unusual step to write a letter about the case directly to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

It did not reveal the contents, but said under its rules the court could appeal to any party "to act in such a way as will enable any order the court may make ... to have its appropriate effects."

Over the objections of allies, Trump in May withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal signed between Tehran and world powers in 2015.

He ordered the reimposition of the US sanctions that had been suspended in return for controls on Tehran's nuclear programme, effectively barring many multinational firms from doing business in Iran.

Four days of hearings into an earlier complaint lodged by Iran in October 2016 against the US for freezing around $2 billion of its assets abroad are due to start on October 8 when the United States will argue the court has no authority to hear the case.US releases $195 million in frozen military aid to Egypt



Washington, July 26 (AFP) Jul 26, 2018



The Trump administration has decided to release $195 million in military aid to Egypt that was frozen last year because of human rights concerns, a State Department official said Thursday.

"Recognizing steps Egypt has taken over the last year in response to specific US concerns... the administration has decided to allow Egypt to use the remaining $195 million," the official said, without describing those steps.

The funds for Egypt, a key US ally, were withheld last year after the passage of a law that severely restricted the work of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

"There remain areas of concern, and we will continue to make clear the need for progress in addressing them, including... addressing our concerns about the NGO law," the State Department official said.

"We will continue to look for and encourage opportunities to improve and bolster cooperation," the official said.

The United States "remains committed to strengthening our strategic relationship with Egypt," the official added.

Since 2013, international human rights groups have criticized President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government for cracking down on secular and left-wing activists, as well as Islamists close to the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Human Rights Watch said last year that the NGO law would lead to "unprecedented levels of repression and ... criminalize the work of many NGOs."China's Xinjiang Region A Surveillance State Unlike Any the World Has Ever Seen

In western China, Beijing is using the most modern means available to control its Uighur minority. Tens of thousands have disappeared into re-education camps. A journey to an eerily quiet region.English25/07/2018

SEVEN PERSONS INJURED IN BRAWL

SARAJEVO, July 25 /SRNA/ - Approximately fifty migrants took part in a brawl in temporary migrant camp in Trnovi, Velika Kladusa today, which left seven persons injured with mostly light bodily injuries, the Operations of the Una- Sana Canton Interior Ministry told SRNA



According to the police, six injured persons were transported to the Cantonal Hospital Bihac for medical assistance.



On the basis of injuries  cuts and slashes inflicted on the hands and feet, the police assume that blunt weapons were used during the brawl.



The brawl, as the Operations reported, took place in three - four groups, in several different places on the edge of the camp, and once the police arrived, the brawl perpetrators escaped the brawl scenes and hid in nearby ponds and meadows.



The Una-Sana Canton MoI Operations says more information will be available after the scene investigation is completed. /end/vosEnglish25/07/2018

CVIJANOVIC: SRPSKA GOVERNMENT OPEN TO COOPERATION WITH THE USA

BANJALUKA, July 25 /SRNA/ - During the talks with Co-chair of the Republican National Committee, Bob Paduchik, in Washington, Republika Srpska Prime Minister Zeljka Cvijanovic has stressed that the Srpska Government is open to cooperation with the United States.



During her visit to the Committee, Cvijanovic informed Paduchik on political, economic and security situation in both Republika Srpska and BiH.



"The Srpska Government is open to cooperation with the United States in all fields," Cvijanovic has emphasized.



She has emphasized that allied relations from the past confirm that building a partnership in the future is possible too, adding that the expectations of the new US administration in this regard are high, the Public Relations Office of the Republika Srpska Government has announced.



Cvijanovic has expressed her hope that the lost time, in which stereotypes and unnecessary misunderstanding prevailed, will be compensated in the coming period.



The interlocutors jointly asserted the importance of holding upcoming BiH elections in a democratic atmosphere, without international factors interference, and that the peoples living in BiH themselves define their priorities, the statement reads.



Bob Paduchik was one of Donald Trump's main strategists for presidential campaigns. Today, he is one of the most influential people in the Republican Party in the United States, and is also known as a good connoisseur of political developments in the Balkans, the statement reads. /end/vosEnglish25/07/2018

CVIJANOVIC: SRPSKA COMMITTED TO PEACE AND REGIONAL COOPERATION

BANJALUKA, July 25 /SRNA/ - During the talks with Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher in Washington today, Republika Srpska Prime Minister Zeljka Cvijanovic said that Srpska is committed to peace, regional cooperation and European integration, as well as to improving relations with all who want it and who see the Srpska Government as an equal partner.



Cvijanovic spoke with Rohrabacher about the political and economic situation in Republika Srpska and BiH, as well as security challenges in BiH and the region, the Public Relations Office of the Republika Srpska Government has announced.



She has underlined that the mutual respect and respect of the Dayton Constitution is the foundation for the functioning in BiH and that Srpska always emphasizes that, thanks to the decentralized structure of the state established by Dayton, the country is able to function in peace these years.



Cvijanovic and Rohrabacher exchanged views on terrorism as a global threat and potential security risk from the returnees from foreign battlefields to BiH, as well as the challenges countries area facing in terms of migration and the inflow of migrants into BiH.



The meeting between Prime Minister Zeljka Cvijanovic and Senator Roger Wicker is in progress.



During the day, Cvijanovic will attend the ceremony in the US Congress, which will be held on the occasion of marking the 100th anniversary of raising the Serbian flag outside the White House. /end/vosA more recent publication of this set of statistics is available. Latest publication: Preliminary population statistics 2021, September

Published: 26 July 2018

Finlands preliminary population figure 5,516,343 at the end of June

According to Statistics Finland's preliminary data, Finland's population at the end of June was 5,516,343. During January-June Finland's population increased by 3,213 persons, which is 2,783 less than in the preliminary data the year before. The reason for the population increase was migration gain from abroad: the number of immigrants was 6,919 higher than that of emigrants. There was no natural population growth, since deaths exceeded births by 3,706 persons.

Population increase by month 20142018*

According to the preliminary statistics for January-June 2018, a total of 23,726 children were born, which is 1,144 fewer than in the corresponding period 2017. The number of deaths was 27,432, which is 374 lower than one year earlier.

Altogether 13,787 persons immigrated to Finland from abroad and 6,868 persons emigrated from Finland during January-June period. The number of immigrants was 1,109 lower and the number of emigrants 904 higher than in the previous year. In all, 4,013 of the immigrants and 4,381 of the emigrants were Finnish citizens.

According to the preliminary data, the number of inter-municipal migrations totalled 127,610 by the end of June. Compared with the previous year, the decrease was 690 migrations according to the municipal division of 2018.

Same-sex marriages took legal effect in March 2017. A total of 84 women and 54 men entered into marriage in which the spouse was of the same sex during January-June period in 2018. In all, 82 women and 48 men changed their registered partnership into marriage.

According to preliminary data by region, the population grew only in Uusimaa, Pirkanmaa, Aland and Varsinais-Suomi in the beginning of 2018.

The population grew most in absolute numbers in Uusimaa, where it grew by 9,908 persons. The next largest increase in population was seen in Pirkanmaa, 1,075 persons. Relative to the population, population increase was highest in Aland, 7.2 per, mil, Uusimaa, 6.0 per mil and in Pirkanmaa, 2.1 per mil. Population loss was highest in absolute numbers in the region of Etela-Savo that lost 1,169 persons of its population. The population of Lapland decreased by 850 persons, which was the second biggest population loss. Relative to the population, the biggest population loss was found in Etela-Savo, 7.9 per mil.

Most migration gain from intramunicipal and international migration was collected by Uusimaa, 7,930 persons and Pirkanmaa, 1,280 persons. Most migration gain in relative terms based on total net migration was attained by Aland, 7.1 per mil and Uusimaa, 4.8 per mil.

In absolute numbers, migration loss from total net migration was biggest in the region of Etela-Savo, 513 persons. In the region of North Ostrobothnia the loss was 474 persons. In relative terms, the biggest migration loss from total net migration was found in the region of Etela-Savo, 3.5 per mil of the population.

During January to June 2018, migration between regions numbered 57,995. The positive gain from migration between regions was seen in Uusimaa, Pirkanmaa, Paijat-Hame, Varsinais-Suomi and Aland. In absolute numbers, the highest gain from migration between regions was received by Uusimaa, 4,689 persons. The relative migration gain was also highest in Uusimaa, 2.8 per mil of the population.

Migration loss from migration between regions was biggest in absolute numbers in the region of North Ostrobothnia, 789 persons. Migration loss from migration between regions was biggest in relative terms also in the region of Etela-Savo, 4.1 per mil of the population.

Source: Preliminary population statistics, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Joni Rantakari 029 551 3249, Joonas Toivola 029 551 3355, Matti Saari 029 551 3401, info@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

Publication in pdf-format (311.1 kB)

Updated 26.7.2018

Referencing instructions: Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Preliminary population statistics [e-publication].

ISSN=2243-3627. June 2018. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 26.10.2021].

Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/vamuu/2018/06/vamuu_2018_06_2018-07-26_tie_001_en.htmlShares is the leading weekly publication for retail investors. 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.Although Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram still gets most of the publicity for its continuing violence, most of the religion-based deaths this year were in central and southeastern Nigeria where Moslem Fulani raiders are increasingly active with their attacks on local tribes (most of them Christian) that rely on farming. In the first half of 2018 Fulani violence accounted for over 1,700 deaths, more than five times what Boko Haram caused in the same period. The Fulani violence has been present since January but escalated in March when Fulani raiders killed about 25 Christian villagers during a few days of violence that were accompanied by considerable property damage. By the end of March over fifty were dead. Despite growing pressure from the Christian community to recognize the escalating (since 2010) threat in a band stretching from the northwest (Zamfara state) through central Nigeria (Plateau, Jos, Kaduna, Benue and Nassarawa states) and the southeast (Taraba State). This is largely about Fulani herders moving south to find more grazing land and water for their animals. While these attacks often trigger reprisals by local militias the Fulani are seen as the source of constant tension and violence. Most of the victims of the Fulani violence are Christian. This has been going on for a while and the Fulani suffer far fewer losses because they are usually the attacker. The violence declined a bit in 2017 but nothing was done to diminish or eliminate it. To make matters worse the raiders have also been attacking soldiers or police who intervene to protect the farmers. Attempts to negotiate peace deals with the Fulani generally fail. In the last three years, the Fulani violence is believed to have left nearly 9,000 dead.

In the northwest (Zamfara state) numerous groups of bandits add to the Fulani violence between them have caused at least 3,000 deaths in the last two years. Most of the attacks are raids for the purpose of looting and leaving. The Fulani raiders often run into Hausa self-defense militias and the resulting battles leave many on both sides dead or wounded. The Fulani raids are usually after cattle and other loot. Both Hausa and Fulani are Moslem so religion is not a factor here. Moslem leaders want attention paid to the growing tribal feuds between Moslem tribes, especially like the battles between Fulani and Hausa in Zamfara. The violence in Zamfara state has led to the national police sending in hundreds of additional paramilitary personnel to deal (or try to deal) with that situation. The police have not had much impact.

President Buhari, a Fulani and retired general, was elected in 2015 because he was honest and a reformer. The coalition that got Buhari elected is falling apart largely because the Christian politicians are abandoning him over is inaction when it comes to the Fulani violence. Buhari did motivate the military to finally defeat Boko Haram but the Islamic terrorists are still around and Buhari has been distracted by economic problems (the falling oil prices) and popular unrest in the oil-producing areas (all in the Christian south). Half the population (mostly in the south) is Christian and they are increasingly blaming Buhari for the continuing violence against Christians. Losing much Christian support, plus corrupt (and indictable) politicians fighting back to get rid of Buhari seems likely to prevent Buhari from willing a second term in early 2019. The next president will likely be less effective against corruption but probably take a hardline on anti-Christian violence.

President Buhari proclaims Boko Haram defeated and to a certain extent they are. But Boko Haram is still a problem in the northeast, mainly as bandits that raid for loot so that they can survive. Boko Haram has plenty of places to hide on both sides of the borders with Niger, Chad and Cameroon. Then there is the Sambisa forest which still harbors many Boko Haram even though it is regularly patrolled by soldiers, local defense volunteers and surveillance aircraft. This 60,000 square kilometers of hilly, sparsely populated woodland straddles the borders of Borno, Yobe and Adamwa states and until 2016 was largely inaccessible to the security forces and served as a base area for Boko Haram. No longer safe enough for major Boko Haram bases it still shelters hundreds of the Islamic terrorists operating in smaller groups.

Endless Anarchy Over Oil

GDP growth depends a lot on oil production as well as the world oil price. Production appears to be permanently stalled by a culture of anarchy in the oil producing states. For example it is common for oil fields to be shut down for maintenance or repairs. Worldwide the average is about nine percent of the time. In Nigeria production is shut down 50 percent of the time, mainly because of damage done to pipelines by oil thieves, in addition to riots, strikes and other problems that are worse in Nigeria. The core problem is corruption and a culture of mistrust.

Increased oil production is unlikely to be achieved much less sustained unless there are some fundamental economic and political changes in the Niger River Delta oil fields. That is happening, but at a glacial pace because so many of the local politicians and government officials have gotten rich from corrupt practices and are still opposing change. There are still tribe based groups in the Delta that threaten a return to large-scale attacks on pipelines and pumping stations if the pollution is not reduced and local men do not get more jobs with the oil companies. These demands are largely extortion because most of the oil spills are caused by oil theft gangs that puncture pipelines to collect as much oil as they can and flee before troops arrive. There is constant pressure on the oil theft gangs by the security forces but the money is too good and the gangs remain in business. The demands for jobs ignore the fact that many of the jobs require technical skills that locals do not have.

By the end of 2017 Nigerian oil production had hit 2.03 million BPD (barrels per day) and so far in 2018, the average has been 1.8 million BDP because of long-delayed maintenance and refurbishment of the oil production facilities in the Niger River Delta (where most of the production is). At the end of 2016 Nigerian oil production was rising to levels not seen for years. That has been the trend for most of 2017 because the new government had negotiated a peace deal with the local rebels (against corruption and bad treatment of locals in general). Production rose and is on the way to the goal of 2.5 million BPD by 2020 but achieving that level of production depends on keeping the peace in the Delta. Continued corruption and rampant oil theft makes it difficult to increase production and sustain those higher production levels.

July 23, 2018: In the northeast (Borno State) a Boko Haram suicide bomber entered a mosque during early morning prayers and killed eight people while wounding another five.

July 21, 2018: In the northeast (across the border from Borno state in southeast Niger) ten Boko Haram gunmen died when they attacked an army outpost near the border town of Diffa. One soldier died and two others were wounded. Diffa has been the scene of clashes between the Niger troops and Boko Haram forces for years.

July 19, 2018: In the northeast (Borno State) Boko Haram in six pickup trucks ambushed a convoy of 27 vehicles, killing 30 people and looting vehicles before fleeing. Most of the people in the convoy fled on foot during the attack.

Across the border in Chad Boko Haram gunmen raided a village at night, killed 18 men, kidnapped nine women and looted the place.

July 17, 2018: In the northeast (Borno State) a Boko Haram ambush near the Cameroon border killed six civilians in a convoy that was escorted by soldiers. Vehicles were looted and burned.

July 15, 2018: In the northeast (Yobe State) a large group of Boko Haram attacked a military base at Geidam, near the Niger border. Over sixty soldiers were killed and many more wounded or missing. The base held about 700 soldiers. Boko Haram can hide out across the border in Niger or in the nearby Sambisa Forest where they can gather large numbers of gunmen for night attacks like this. Most of the soldiers in the base eventually found their way to other bases

July 14, 2018: In the northeast (Borno State) soldiers clashed with a group of Boko Haram and killed five of the Islamic terrorists.

July 9, 2018: In the southeast (Taraba State) Fulani gunmen raided over a dozen Moslem Hausa and Christian Yandang villages, leaving 73 dead, over 3,000 refugees and enormous damage (mainly from setting fire to buildings). This violence lasted for year days before security forces could mobilize and end it over the last 34 hours.The 2017 parliamentary elections are seen as the model for what to expect during the 2019 presidential elections, where the disabled (by a stroke and, at 81, old age) incumbent Abdelaziz Bouteflika appears to be the only major candidate. As he did in 2014 Bouteflika will cast his own vote, for himself, from a wheelchair. With Bouteflika largely a figurehead president the government runs on automatic seeking to keep themselves in power and out of trouble with an increasingly restless population. At this point half the 40 million Algerians are too young (under 30) to remember a time Bouteflika was not the president or what it was like to have a president who was alert and able to do the job. Bouteflika and his associates have eliminated all potential rivals (via forced retirement or arrest and prosecution for imaginary offenses).

Bouteflika is also the last major politician who participated in the rebellion against French rule that led to Algerian independence in 1962. That ended 132 years of colonial rule (originally imposed to shut down for good the centuries of raids by Barbary Pirates and Saracen Corsairs operating from Algerian ports. The pirates did not return when the French left but the pre-colonial tradition of corrupt and inept rule by autocratic leaders did. In 1962 Algeria chose democracy, one of many bits of French culture the Algerians adopted (to one degree or another) during the colonial period. Democracy and the many personal freedoms the West takes for granted did not thrive in independent Algeria and one response to the inept post-colonial government was a call for an Islamic religious dictatorship (controlled by clerics). This led to a brutal and bloody civil war in the 1990s that made quite an impression on most Algerians and eliminated, for a few generations, any potential popular support for another Islamic solution.

Meanwhile, Algerians have to put up with elections that are rigged, at least enough to ensure the ruling party maintains its controlling majority. Government efforts to get more people to vote have failed, with only 29 percent of eligible voters participating in 2017 compared to 34 percent in 2012. The greatest concern of the government was getting enough people to participate. The number of young Algerians participating in anti-government protests continues to rise. The government has been pretending to reform the political system but that is widely seen as another sad failure.

In 2016 parliament passed much needed changes to the constitution. But reformers were not impressed because as long as power is monopolized by a few families (which were prominent in the 1960s rebellion against France) new laws will not change anything and in this case, they did not. Thats because some of the new reforms were implemented in the past but then canceled when it suited the corrupt ruling families. Unless the government introduces and enforces honest voting and then obeys the law, there can be no real reform. This is a common pattern worldwide and especially in the Middle East. Everyone knows that corruption and bad government are the main cause of stagnant economies and general unrest but not enough of those in charge are willing to give up enough power to fix the problem. In part, this is because of the well-founded (in history) fear that another group of corrupt officials will resume the practice of rigging elections.

The government, mindful of what happened in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when rising unemployment and falling oil prices led to widespread unrest and eventually an Islamic terrorist uprising, is making a major effort to cushion the population from the impact of the current (and apparently long-term) decline in oil prices. For decades oil income allowed the government to provide enough prosperity to avoid a rebellion. There is also talk of doing something about the corruption, but there is not much action on that. The problem, for most Algerians, is that the government says the right things but does not follow up. This delays an explosive popular reaction and reminds Algerians that they have been tolerating this corrupt and ruthless ruling class since the 1960s. Then again students of Algerian history note that this form of government was common in what is now Algeria for thousands of years and played a role in giving the French an excuse to take over in the 19th century and run Algeria as a colony for over a century before leaving (involuntarily) in the early 1960s. Despite all the talk about a new beginning the post-colonial Algerian leaders promptly went old school and there it remains. The main reason Europe pays attention is that the return to the old school governing methods also meant the return of North African based criminal groups that found new ways to prey on Europe. Well, at least the pirate raids were gone. And so it came to pass Algeria found it could resume extorting cash and other favors from European states. That sort of thing has not been seen since the 19th century and before that flourished for nearly a thousand years. Ancient vices are difficult to shed.

With no serious opposition apparent in the 2019 presidential elections Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who has held the job since 1999, is apparently running again. Although confined to a wheelchair he can still appear at public events and on TV, but not frequently. Since he suffered a stroke in 2013 his close associates (family, friends and political allies) have managed to hold tight the reins of power with or without a lot of help from the elderly (now 81) and ailing president. Bouteflika will run for president again because he is still alive and his associates cannot agree on a replacement. Bouteflika has remained president since 1999 using a rigged system that blocks opposition candidates and generally guarantees Bouteflika will get reelected. Bouteflika has retained power by taking care of key groups (the security forces, key politicians and non-government leaders). At the same time Bouteflika is considered a more successful ruler than most others in the Arab world and that counts for a lot.

July 15, 2018: Algeria refused to set up any illegal immigrant screening facility to decide who might be allowed to stay. Algeria sends illegals back, with or without the cooperation of the nation the illegals came from. At the same time Libya Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia turned down the latest EU proposal to set up EU migrant processing centers in a North African country where illegals would be screened by EU personnel to determine who is eligible for asylum (very few) in the EU and who is not. Those not given asylum could still pay smugglers to try and get them across the Mediterranean to Malta or Spain, the only two EU nations willing to cooperate with the people smugglers. As a result of this opposition the number of illegal migrants, largely from Libya, is down by half so far this year compared to 2017. But that means the number of illegal migrants stuck in Libya is increasing and is over half a million and rising. About 50,000 illegals made it to Europe so far this year, but about two percent of those attempting to reach Europe died getting across the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, Germany has declared Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria nations that illegal migrants can be safely returned to (as opposed to nations where illegals would be in danger if returned). France has long had an agreement with Algeria to take back Algerians illegally in France or being expelled for Islamic terrorist activity. A growing number of these Algerian Islamic terrorists are being expelled from France after they complete prison terms. If these men have charges pending against them in Algeria, France will assist in the prosecution.

July 10, 2018: The government expelled another 355 illegal migrants from Niger and sent them back to Niger. Algeria has an agreement with Niger to return the illegals, via trucks or busses, to the Niger capital where Niger officials take over. Most 0ther sub-Saharan nations refuse to take their illegal migrants back from Algeria so Algeria takes these illegals to the Mali or Niger border, gives then supplies of water and points them in the direction of the nearest town across the border. Soldiers remain at the release point for a day or so because the illegals were told they would be shot on sight if they tried to double back into Algeria. European media found out about this practice (which was no secret in Algeria and the nations the illegals were forced to return to) and accused Algeria of murder because some of the illegals sent back died along the way. Algeria told the UN that if they wanted to help they could set up aid stations in Niger and Mali near the Algerian border. Whether the UN does that or not Algeria made it clear it would continue the return policy because most of the illegals made it home and reported that Algeria was not a good choice if you were seeking to migrate illegally. Many of these illegals are headed for Europe but will often remain in Algeria if they must to raise more money to pay the people smugglers to get them into Europe.

July 8, 2018: In the east (Constantine province), across the border in Tunisia a group if al Qaeda Islamic terrorists used explosives and gunfire to ambush a Tunisian army patrol. Six soldiers were killed and three wounded. Both the army vehicles were damaged as well. Both sides of the border are subject to violence by al Qaeda members in the area but the Islamic terrorists have found it safer to operate on the Tunisian side. Attacks like this trigger more counter-terror operations on both sides of the border. Algeria and Tunisia cooperate closely when it comes to this sort of thing.

June 26, 2018: President Bouteflika fired a senior police general, Abdelghani Hamel, who has the head of the National Security Division and considered one of the few remaining potential rivals in the 2019 presidential elections. Hamels personal driver had been arrested on a cocaine trafficking charge but there was no apparent connection to Hamel. Since Hamel was seen a potential rival for Bouteflika any excuse would do to remove the rival candidate.

Bouteflika has often eliminated potential rivals this way. There was a power struggle in 2013 that went public with the August 2015 arrest of Abdelkader Ait Ouarab. This was the guy who led the counter-terror campaign in the 1990s that defeated the Islamic terrorists. Ouarab continued serving until he retired (apparently under pressure) in late 2013. All this internal strife has been going on, quietly, for over a decade. Things heated up in early 2013 when Bouteflika had his stroke and was disabled. Pro-reform members of the senior leadership pushed for Bouteflika to resign followed by free elections. The Bouteflika clan and corrupt officials allied with the Bouteflikas got organized and resisted. No one wanted a civil war, but the two sides were sharply divided and a compromise was not possible. By late 2013 it was clear that most Algerians wanted the government to clean up the rampant corruption and that there was support for that on the inside led by several senior Intelligence officers. Most of the corrupt officials and their civilian allies belong to the extended family of the elderly Bouteflika. The clans of several other families that led the country after freedom was achieved in the 1960s have dominated government and the economy ever since. The Bouteflikas were apparently slow to realize that their most dangerous political enemies were the senior people in the intelligence and security agencies who had decided that some fundamental changes (cleaning up the corruption) were needed. There were also a lot of military officers who favored anti-corruption reforms. Fortunately for Bouteflika many senior military commanders were corrupt, some because they felt refusing the economic perks offered when they achieved high rank would be seen as disloyal. Bouteflika always believed the loyalty of the military was essential to keeping his corrupt crew in power. Yet by late 2013 many Bouteflika loyalists noted the split within the military and began moving more of their assets out of the country, just in case. Thats because if there are another large-scale uprising and the military refuses to suppress it (or, worse, splits or falls apart because of disagreements among officers) the current government is done.

Bouteflika realized that most of the troops favored anti-corruption efforts. Now the more loyal intelligence services will devote most of their efforts to ensuring the loyalty of the army and police. There had already been hints of trouble after the 2013 stroke. In late July 2015 local media revealed that the government had unexpectedly replaced three of the most powerful generals in the military (the heads of counter-intelligence, the Republican Guard and presidential security). This was immediately linked with two other odd events. First, there was the large number of troops showing up at the presidential residence in July. Whatever was going on there was never made public. Finally, there is the fact that president Bouteflika had not spoken or appeared in public for months and many Algerians believed he was dying or at the very least not getting any better. Then in August general Ouarab was arrested and in mid-September came the news that general Mohammed Medien was retiring. In power since 1990 Medien headed the powerful DRS (intelligence and security department) and was always believed more powerful than the president. But he was only two years younger than Bouteflika and rarely seen. It is still unclear what his views on corruption and the current political situation were. Medien was mostly concerned with keeping tabs on Islamic terrorism and other threats to Algeria.

June 25, 2018: In the far south (Tamenrasset province) near the Mali-Niger border three Islamic terrorists surrendered, with their weapons, to an army patrol. Since May Algeria has publicized border zones where Islamic terrorists seeking to surrender can cross while armed and not be shot on sight. Islamic terrorists seeking to surrender are advised what to do when they encounter troops. Intelligence indicates there are a growing number of Islamic terrorists in northern Mali who want to get out of the terrorism business. Algeria has about 80,000 troops guarding its 3,000 kilometer long border with Niger, Mali and Libya.The third International Torre del Mar Air Show will be taking to the skies over the town's beaches from Friday 27 until Sunday 29 July.

Forty-two aircraft from Spain, the UK, Switzerland, Belgium and Italy will be participating in the event which is expected to attract more than the 350,000 people who attended last year.

The Eurofighter and the Belgian F-16 will be put through their paces and the Spanish Aerosparx acrobatics patrol and the Aviones Aeroclub de Malaga will be taking part, among others.

The different formations will be practising throughout Friday 27 and there will be performances and stunts over the beach on Saturday with the main event starting late morning on Sunday 29 July.At home on the range

With hunting season now in full swing throughout the State of Iowa, a new business in the Tama-Toledo area looks to ...Courtesy: Messe Frankfurt

Leading international and Chinese brands across 12 product application areas will be showcased at the 2018 edition of Cinte Techtextil China in Shanghai during September 4-6. The show will feature more than 500 exhibitors from around 20 countries and regions. Nonwovens are to be the largest product category with a wide range of domestic and overseas brands.Among the nonwovens exhibitors is Johns Manville (US), who will showcase their polyester spunbond, PP and PBT meltblown, glass fibre nonwoven, micro glass fibre nonwoven, hybrid nonwoven, glass fibre needle mat and glass microfibre product lines.J H Ziegler (Germany), with over 150 years expertise and their own production plant in China, will showcase their products for acoustic absorption in automotive interiors and exteriors, nonwoven foam composites for leather lamination, needle-punched nonwovens, foam nonwoven composites, laminated nonwovens and natural-fibre nonwovens. KOBE-cz (Czech Republic), a new exhibitor to the fair, will come at the show with their nonwoven fabrics, mainly made from glass fibre with temperature resistance up to 800 degrees Celsius. These are used for high-temperature isolation in the automotive, marine, energy and building industries. They also have isolation materials made from natural fibres including hemp, wool, cotton and flax.The fair will also feature TDF Nonwovens (China), one of the leading domestic brands, which has specialties as polyester spunbond geotextiles, polyester filament roofing carriers, filter nonwovens, high-strength coarse denier polypropylene spunbond geotextiles and medical and health nonwovens; and Kingsafe (China) who specialise in the production of fusible interlining and nonwoven fabrics for high-end garments.Companies to be featured in the Yarn and fibre category include Perlon (Germany) whoc has developed a PET based monofilament, HighGrip, which guarantees long-lasting efficiency of conveyor belts, and is available in various types with different tribological characteristics, Sateri (China), a global leader in viscose rayon made from 100 per cent dissolving wood pulp, and the largest maker of viscose fibre in China, Cordenka (Germany), who are producers of industrial rayon with product range covering rayon tire cord, yarn, single-end dipped cord and short-cut fibre, EMS-Griltech (Switzerland), which will showcase a range of technical fibres and yarns and thermoplastic adhesives at the fair, and Barnet (Germany) which will showcase several finished products (nonwovens, spun yarns and fabrics) made with its specialty fibre.Coated textiles and solutions exhibitors will include Stahl (the Netherlands) with new products from its water repellent and flame retardant ranges, Sioen (Belgium) which will showcase sign materials, truck tarpaulins, tents, membrane fabrics, apparel products, chemicals and specialty products such as inflatable boat fabrics and pool liners, ROWA Lack (Germany), a new exhibitor who will present its special lacquer systems and top coatings.Trelleborg (Sweden), also a new exhibitor, will display engineered textiles, especially in the fields of outdoor, medical, protective and automotive, and FPC Technical Textile (Saudi Arabia), another first-time participant at the fair, will showcase a range of high-end specialty fabrics including PVC coated fabrics and fibre glass PTFE fabrics.Lenzing will display its new VEOCEL nonwovens specialty brand, which is billed as a premium range of nonwovens fibres for daily care. It provides the nonwovens industry with fibres that are certified clean and safe, biodegradable, from botanic origin and produced in an environmentally responsible production process. Products in this range can be applied to a multitude of uses including baby care, beauty and body care, intimate care and surface cleaning, under various brands. (SV)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  IndiaPicnic in the Park (again!) with Forest Acres and Town Theatre Theres nothing better than great music and great companyin the BEST neighborhood around! Town Theatre will present a second series of concerts at Pine Tree Park, Winthrop Avenue in Forest...

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Linkedin Bustanul Arifin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, July 26, 2018

With the continuously growing population, it will be challenging for the government to meet the growing demand for food.



Existing policies, like the policy on increasing the production of staple foods like rice, maize and soybean, might not be sufficient to meet the increasing food demand. With a total population of about 261 million and a 1.39 percent annual growth rate, as well as an annual income growth of 5.01 percent, especially among the middle class, managing increased food consumption is no easy task.



Using the standard Johnston-Mellor world food equation, the annual growth rate of food demand in Indonesia is estimated at 3.99 percent (using 0.52 as the income elasticity of demand for food).



Although imported foods are necessary and economically justified when the domestic food production is inadequate, the governments food policy does not tolerate import dependency, especially with regard to staple foods such as rice and other strategic food commodities.



The principles of food sovereignty under Law No. 18/2012 on food also imply serious political pressures for the government to increase domestic food production, sometimes at a very high cost to the state budget.



This article examines the future of national food consumption, as almost all factors determining food demand have changed substantially in recent years. A growing population and middle class and the high rate of urbanization have led to changes in the dietary patterns and food demand for the future.



Higher incomes and better knowledge tend to prompt consumers to demand healthier and more diversified foods.



Here are some important findings from a study on food demand projection commissioned by the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), World Food Program (WFP) and the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), which used an almost ideal demand system (AIDS) method (Arifin, et al., 2018).



The food projections are based on the National Social-Economic Survey (Susenas) data of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) and builds on assumptions of population projections, rural-urban population composition, income per capita and food affordability per capita.



First, rice consumption in 2017 was 97.6 kilograms per capita, significantly lower than the official rice consumption figure of 114 kg per capita. The Quintile 5 consumption of beef and poultry was respectively 6 and 14.7 kg per capita, higher than the national average of 2.5 kg and 7.5 kg per capita.



The opposite was found in maize consumption of 2 kg per capita. However, this is because maize consumption declines as incomes increase.



Rice consumption is projected to increase 1.5 percent to 99.08 kg per capita in 2025 and 2 percent to 99.55 kg per capita in 2045.



The demand for rice, corrected in reference to the Food Balance Sheet (NBM) for domestic use of food for non-food purposes  such as industrial use for feed, seed and food loss  is projected to increase to 102.73 kg per capita in 2025 and to 103.22 kg per capita in 2045.



Interestingly, only the highest income group has experienced a decline in rice consumption, which is somewhat different from other Asian countries where declining rice consumption is found in medium and lower income groups.



Second, animal feed consumption for poultry is projected to increase 22.1 percent to 9.13 kg in 2025 and 29.3 percent to 9.66 kg per capita in 2045.



Meanwhile, beef consumption is projected to increase 10.3 percent to 2.79 kg per capita in 2025, and 20.4 percent to 3.04 kg per capita in 2045. Fish consumption is projected to increase 11 percent to 29.09 kg per capita in 2025 and 14.6 percent to 30.04 kg per capita in 2045.



Higher income groups in urban areas make up the majority of beef consumption, while all income groups consume poultry, including the lowest quintiles.



Third, for fruits and vegetables, the apple consumption is projected to increase 55 percent to 1.49 kg per capita in 2025 and 73.5 percent to 1.66 kg per capita in 2045. The increase in apple consumption is the highest among fruits and vegetables.



The primary consumers of apples, which are mostly imported, are high and medium income groups in the urban population. The projected demand for local fruits such as oranges, bananas, snake fruit and mangoes is not as high as the demand for apples in 2025 and 2045.



Fourth, the demand for sugar is projected to reach 8.98 per kg per capita in 2025 and 9.12 kg per capita in 2045. The increase in sugar consumption is not very significant compared to other food commodity groups.



The projection for total sugar consumption is 25.6 million tons in 2025 and 29.1 million tons in 2045. The projected sugar consumption, unfortunately, does not include indirect consumption of sugar in the form of cakes, drinks and other food products that use refined sugar and its derivatives.



Establishing a policy to ensure access to rice, especially for low and middle income groups, is as important as maintaining a stable retail price for rice. The food assistance policy targeting the poorest group of rice consumers remains relevant to maintaining food and nutrition adequacy.



The policy on improving marketplace infrastructure is highly necessary to facilitate the increase in beef and poultry consumption. This includes modern retail markets and traditional markets that could shape the value chain performance of these sources of animal protein.



In order to support the increase in fruit and vegetable consumption, businesses in the horticulture sector need the governments help to improve access to cold storage facilities, including medium-scale controlled atmosphere systems (CAS) that could improve the efficiency of horticulture products.



The policy should also focus on the balance between demand-side and supply-side management, or productivity improvement, as the majority of horticulture production centers are located in Java.



The policys relevance is that there is a need to support farmers in meeting the rising quality and safety standards as set by retail markets or by consumers through modern retail markets and supermarkets.

***

The writer is a professor of agricultural economics at the University of Lampung (UNILA), a senior economist at INDEF, and the expert council chairman of the IPB Alumni Association.

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Linkedin Editorial Board (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, July 26, 2018 08:18 1188 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9efb3d33 4 Editorial #Editorial,Chinese-workers,construction,BPS,infrastructure-project,Public-Works-and-Public-Housing-Ministry Free

The acute lack of local worker participation in project construction has been the biggest criticism of the boom in Chinese investment and construction services in Indonesia over the past three years. Chinese investors and building contractors have been accused of preferring to bring in their own workers from China rather than hire local workers.



But the controversy was straightened out and the issue was clarified at a seminar here last week, whereby the Public Works and Housing Ministry, the regulatory body of the construction industry, raised great concern over the acute lack of competent construction workers.



The ministrys construction director general, Syarif Burhanuddin, said the Central Statistics Agency recorded 8.13 million construction workers, but only about 7 percent or 581,000 of them were properly certified. This big skill deficit could cause accidents and, yet more worrisome, could also affect the quality and operational life time of physical infrastructure.



Even the ministry, the only authority mandated by the 2017 Construction Law to license builders and certify engineers and construction workers, conceded it was inadequately prepared to handle the construction boom since early 2015, after President Joko Jokowi Widodo more than tripled budget funding for infrastructure development.



Chinese companies have won many construction projects partly as a result of the strong support of low-interest loans from Chinese banks, but they have often found it extremely difficult to meet their labor needs because of the lack of competent local workers, especially for construction work in remote areas. Hence, they have often been forced to bring in workers from China to maintain quality work and to meet the tight construction schedules.



It is indeed commercially insensible for investors or contractors to bring in foreign workers, for which the costs could be four times as high as for locals if they can meet their labor needs within the country.



Moreover, as we have been wooing more foreign direct investment and accelerating the development of big infrastructure that requires sophisticated construction services, this means big demand for engineers, supervisors , mid-level managers and construction workers, including those from overseas. But their number will remain negligible compared to Indonesias workforce of about 120 million, and most of the foreign workers will leave after the completion of the projects.



Since the high pace of infrastructure development will likely continue at least for the next five years to fill the big infrastructure gap, the ministry needs to accelerate its certification program for construction workers in cooperation with construction companies.



Moreover, the education ministry should support the certification program by expanding training for construction workers. Well-resourced and well-targeted vocational training would be a better long-term investment to help construction workers get competence certificates, which would also enable them to benefit from the ASEAN policy on the free flow of skilled workers.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Simon Akeroyd (The Jakarta Post) Bangkok  Thu, July 26, 2018 13:47 1188 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9efc73d1 3 Opinion Chinese-tourists,Chinese-travelers,tourism,Asia,forecast,innovation,digital-technology Free

Historically, we have seen developed economies in the West lead in technology innovation, and then introduce it to the East for adoption. However, the early to mid-2000s heralded an extraordinary shift.



Many Eastern markets  particularly China thanks largely to efforts by pro-reform leader Deng Xiaoping  transitioned from cheap and cheerful manufacturers to markets producing quality technology to rival or outclass that of its Western counterparts. Today, emerging Asian countries are spearheading new technologies to solve contemporary challenges.



With the shift to service-based economies, emerging and developing countries in Asia are seeing some of the strongest gross domestic product growth globally. They are forecast to grow at around 6.5 percent over 2018-2019, and continue to contribute to more than half of global growth annually.



Strong economies and Asias increasing wealth has resulted in the rise of an affluent middle class. The travel industry has been a clear beneficiary: Asia is now a travel powerhouse. Today, China is the largest travel market globally and by 2020 two in every five travelers will be Asian.



Along with its increased wealth, Asias capability to innovate has accelerated and will push digital transformation in the travel industry forward. The region is already ahead in several critical factors that support tech advancement. Four out of the top 10 countries boasting the fastest fixed broadband internet speeds globally are in Asia. South Korea is leading the charge with the highest average connection speed in the world, followed closely by Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan.



Meanwhile, China is leading the push for 5G mobile technology, and is shaping up to have the biggest 5G market by 2022. By 2025, China will account for more than 40 percent of the worlds 5G connections. Companies in Asia are also truly mobile-first, developing for mobile before they think about desktop.



Finally, but increasingly importantly, the cost of maintaining cloud infrastructure in Asia is much cheaper than in the West, helping them to push ahead.



Theres also an abundance of STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) skills coming out of Asia, coupled with an entrepreneurial spirit. Notably, Asia was home to more than 47 percent of all international patents filed in 2016, almost the combined total from North America and Europe. This is one of the reasons we launched the traveltech startup community Amadeus Next for Asia Pacific  to support the thriving ecosystem of next gen travel technologies in Asia, and to learn from some of the most innovative travel startups in the region.



Asia also has a strong commitment to investment in research and development (R&D). Specifically, Chinas R&D investment will surpass that of the United States by 2020, with companies dedicating phenomenal amounts to research.



A large part of Asias success is, and will increasingly be, as a result of its ability to address its own market needs. A lot of what happens in the West is not relevant here, therefore the region must develop its own ideas and technologies to solve its unique challenges.



Examples of Asian innovations include travel and expense management company Baoku, among the first to develop a SaaS solution to cater to Chinas growing business travel market, which surpassed the US in 2016 and is now worth upwards of US$300 billion. Another is 12GoAsia, which supports ASEANs complex transportation networks on both the B2B and B2C sides by providing online ticketing services for inter-city bus, train, ferry, transfers, flights and hotels.



Additional travel technologies developed to improve the travel experiences for travelers in Asia include Malaysias BorderPass and Indias ConfirmTKT. BorderPass was developed to enable the large number of business travelers that frequently cross Asias borders to pre-clear airports immigration check-points, speeding up the passage for frequent travelers. ConfirmTKT addresses the challenge in India where travelers often have to book a long- distance rail ticket up to four months in advance for confirmed travel dates. It shortens the time between booking and confirmation of rail tickets and assists travelers to identify alternative travel routes using its app.



Companies in emerging Asia are also actively pursuing opportunities to capitalize on the rise of the Asian travelers. One example is Indonesias Traveloka.com, who saw the opportunity to provide more than just price comparisons, to move towards ticketing as well, resulting in soaring market demands. The company has also established partnerships with more than 100 domestic and international airlines, serving more than 200,000 routes worldwide.



Were also seeing robotics being rolled-out at an almost terrifying pace in Asia. In Singapore, M Social was the first hotel to have a front-of-house autonomous service chef robot that prepares the perfect eggs for their in-house guests. In Japan, H.I.S Co employs more robots than humans in some of its hotels. There are robots to help you check-in, robots to carry your luggage, and robots to haul your trash away. In China, travel platform Mafengwo is developing a concept for worlds first intelligent travel robot Mafeng.



Mafengwo has gained popularity among younger travelers in particular, who value the independent information available through its traveler communities. Now this robot it is developing will accompany travelers throughout their trip and use the big data to provide users with personalized travel experience. For instance, the robot will create itineraries and recommend activities based on a users past trips and personal preferences.



Asian innovators have also been quick to put blockchain into travel technology. Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer has launched the worlds first blockchain-based digital wallet, which will allow their membership base to use digital KrisFlyer miles for point-of-sale transactions at participating retail merchants.



A Chinese project Go Globe Chain is applying blockchain technology to build up decentralized B&B booking systems to avoid false trading and credit risks. These blockchain developments have the possibility to revolutionize the travel industry.



It is impossible to speculate where the next Uber or AirBnB will come from, but it is clear that Asia has been bitten by the tech bug, and is on the cusp of a tech boom. The innovation we are seeing is almost overwhelming, and highlights just how agile Asia is when it comes to developing new technologies to address unique market challenges and explore new ideas.



Asias relatively young tech environment, which is not weighed down by legacy systems, coupled with a rising tech-savvy middle class, all point to a future where Asian travel innovations will thrive.

***

The writer is vice president of corporate strategy and business development at Amadeus Asia Pacific.

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

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Linkedin - (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta, Indonesia  Fri, July 27, 2018 00:02 1187 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9efdd0b2 4 Inforial Free

After the placing of the first stone back in April, the new mini-hydropower plant (PLTMH), which was constructed by the National Alms Agency (BAZNAS), has finally started operating.

This alms-based poverty alleviation electricity generation project, which was done in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UBDP), is located in four locations in Jambi province. One unit can be found in Lubuk Bangkar village in Sarolangun regency, Jambi, while the other three are in Ngaol, Air Liki and Air Liki Baru villages in Tabir Barat sub-district, Merangin regency.

"Thank Allah this BAZNAS power plant is ready. We hope to Allah that by the end of August this can be officiated as a birthday present for the 73rd anniversary of Indonesian independence and allow our poor brothers and sisters in Jambi to enjoy illumination and win a victory over darkness," said Zainulbahar Noor, BAZNAS's vice chairman, on July 20.

According to Zainul, the groundbreaking for the PLTMH was conducted in Lubuk Bangkar village on April 6.

"This construction effort is part of the Market Transformation for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency through Design and Implementation of Appropriate Mitigation Actions in Energy Sector [MTRE3] project, which has the UNDP and the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry working together to provide access to electricity by making use of renewable energy," he said.

The Lubuk Bangkar plant has a 60 kilowatt capacity and provides electricity to 283 households, two schools, a mosque, four prayer houses and various other forms of village infrastructure.

The number of recipients who will enjoy the benefits of all the plants stands at 4,000 in 803 households. To ensure the continuity of the plants operation and its revitalization units, each village has also seen various capacity improvements being made, such as the training of operators and power plant management organizations in the villages.

"This project is a partnership between BAZNAS and the UNDP to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by distributing alms," Zainul said.

The plant itself is located in a remote area that is difficult to reach by conventional means. Because the journey involves a steep dirt track without any asphalt, visitors can only reach the plant by using a four-wheel-drive vehicle. After reaching a small port, the next part of the route can only be taken by mini boat. Upon arriving at the destination dock, the next step requires visitors to use a motorcycle.

"Once you have arrived at the location, there are no hotels, so a crew of media visitors would have to stay with local residents," Zainul said.

. (./.)

The project is an alternative and innovative way of funding and pushing for the application of renewable energy for villages and remote regions in Indonesia. Access to electricity is important to reduce poverty and inequality.

"We live in an age where electricity can be enjoyed by people in various regions and it can give them better economic, educational and health prospects. But there are still siblings of ours that have no access to electricity, such as in Jambi province. That is why BAZNAS is committed to building the PLTMH as a way of reducing poverty in the country," Zainul said.

Based on data from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, the electrification ratio of Jambi province as of December last year was only 91.40 percent, which is below the national average of 95.35 percent.

This inequality has led BAZNAS to channel US$350,000 (Rp 4.8 billion) in alms to build the PLTMH.

"This step by BAZNAS is our first alms-based support for the implementation of SDGs in Indonesia and even the world. That is why, prior to construction, there was already seven months of planning, including in the selection of a location that involved all relevant parties to ensure that the beneficiaries are villagers in remote regions that have a right to these alms," Zainul said.

Aside from BAZNAS, other organizations that also provided funding include Bank Jambi, which channeled Rp 3.76 billion in corporate social responsibility funding.

"The construction of the PLTMH is real proof of the first partnership between the UNDP and BAZNAS in innovating alms-based funding for sustainable development," Zainul said.

He added that this new access to electricity could support the reduction of poverty and the creation of social welfare, saying this could support SDGs, specifically, the ones on freedom from poverty and clean and affordable energy.

For context, the MTRE3 is a partnership between the UNDP and the Indonesian government that lasts for five years (2017 to 2022).

MTRE3 is aimed at supporting the government's target emissions for greenhouse gasses. This project is comprised of three main components. The first is the mitigation of climate change through renewable and efficient energies. The second involves market transformation through proper mitigation actions and the third is a system of measurements, reports and verification, as well as a national registry system for mitigation actions. The government's partner for executing this project is the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry's directorate general of new and renewable energy.HBO will debut the final season of its international hit "Game of Thrones" in the first half of next year and it aims to start production on a prequel in 2019, a network executive said on Wednesday.

Casey Bloys, HBO's president of programming, speaking at a Television Critics Association event, declined to provide details on the eighth and final "Game of Thrones" season or to provide a more specific premiere date.

The Emmy-winning medieval fantasy series is HBO's biggest hit ever with some 30 million viewers in the United States and an army of devoted fans worldwide.

HBO, a unit of AT&T Inc, also is in the process of searching for a director and cast for a "Game of Thrones" prequel, Bloys said in response to questions. He said he hopes the prequel pilot will begin filming next year.

The network announced in June that it had ordered the pilot and would proceed with a full series if the pilot goes well.

The as yet untitled prequel will take place thousands of years before the events of "Game of Thrones." It was created by British screenwriter Jane Goldman with author George R.R. Martin, whose novel series "A Song of Ice and Fire" is the basis for the "Game of Thrones" television series.

Read also: Dirilis Ertugrul: The new Game of Thrones?

It will chronicle "the world's descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour," and look at the secrets of the history of the warring families in the fictional kingdom of Westeros, the network has said.

HBO considered five different scripts before settling on the approach for the prequel.

"The reason we did multiple scripts is out of five, we'd be lucky to get one we are very excited about," Bloys said.

The remaining four scripts are either dead or still in the works, he said.Every three minutes, a girl between the ages of 15 and 19 is infected with the virus that causes AIDS, said a UN report Wednesday that warned of a "crisis" fuelled by gender inequality.

Girls and young women made up two-thirds of 15- to 19-year-olds infected with HIV in 2017, according to data unveiled at the 22nd International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam.

Henrietta Fore, head of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), referred to it as a "crisis of health".

"In most countries, women and girls lack access to information, to services, or even just the power to say no to unsafe sex," she said.

"HIV thrives among the most vulnerable and marginalised, leaving teenage girls at the centre of the crisis."

Last year, 130,000 youngsters aged 19 and under died from AIDS, while 430,000 -- almost 50 every hour -- were newly infected, the agency said.

While AIDS-related deaths have decreased since 2010 in all other age groups, among older adolescents aged 15 to 19 they have remained stubbornly constant.

About 1.2 million 15- to 19-year-olds were living with the immune system-destroying virus in 2017, three in five of them girls, said UNICEF.

"The epidemic's spread among adolescent girls is being fuelled by early sex, including with older males, forced sex, powerlessness in negotiating about sex, poverty, and lack of access to confidential counselling and testing services," it pointed out.

Actress and activist Charlize Theron raised the issue in an address to conference delegates on Tuesday.

Read also: Prince Harry joins Elton John to launch HIV campaign targeting men

Youth bulge

The AIDS epidemic is "not just about sex or sexuality," the South African celebrity said. "We know it is linked to the second-class status of women and girls worldwide."

Robert Matiru, director of operations for Unitaid, which funds HIV drug projects, said young people are disproportionately affected by the epidemic that has claimed some 35 million lives since it erupted in the 1980s.

"They are the most affected now, across sub-Saharan Africa in particular," he told AFP.

"Unless we can reach young people and curb the epidemic among them... then we're not going to meet the targets" of the UN to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.

This requires limiting infections to 500,000 per year by 2020, yet last year they numbered 1.8 million.

A recent report of the International AIDS Society (IAS) highlighted the epidemic's "extraordinary impact" on adolescent girls and young women.

"Four in 10 adolescent girls (aged 15-19) in Africa have experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner, and the evidence is that gender-based violence is associated with a significantly greater risk of acquiring HIV," it said.

"Yet few countries have invested in comprehensive programmes to combat gender-based violence or to ensure ready access to adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive health services."

According to IAS president Linda-Gail Bekker, "in young people, it (the AIDS epidemic) is far from over."

"In certain parts of the world we are about to go into the youth bulge, so we'll have more young people than we've ever had in the world before," she told AFP.

"Young people have grown up, they are incredibly mobile, they are moving, they have forgotten that HIV is a risk factor... we can't let up on that message, otherwise it just blows up again."According to the Indonesian dictionary, ugahari means modesty or simplicity. The word was adapted as the theme for the third installment of the Redraw painting exhibition, held for 12 days from July 25 to Aug. 5 at Edwins Gallery in South Jakarta.

The curator of the exhibition, Leonhard Barto Bartolomeus, explained to The Jakarta Post the background of the theme.

Redraw has been [Edwins Gallerys] annual exhibition and I am personally bored of talks about techniques, Barto said during the exhibitions opening on Wednesday at Edwins Gallery.

The first exhibition was about technique in drawing lines and shapes, while the second installment, where I served as the curator, also explored drawing methods, drafts and sketches.

Yudha Sandy's "The Club" and "Life Goals" displayed in "Redraw III: Ugahari". Barto, the exhibition's curator, said Yudha uses a different approach, style and artistic element here. (JP/Ni Nyoman Wira)

In Redraw III: Ugahari, Barto tries to see drawing as something that is simple and doable for all people, not only for artists. During the curatorial process, Barto imagined ugahari could be translated as problems that exist in the artists surroundings. Its not anything too complicated, conceptual or humorous. It's just everyday talk, he said.

Barto then further explained: Artists nowadays are deemed to be sensitive with social issues [] We cannot avert our eyes from those matters and its important to realize there are artists who are bold in that part. But on the other side, there are also artists who we cannot label as ignorant or apolitical, they have different tendencies.

There are around 20 artists who participated in the exhibition, consisting of senior and younger artists to give visitors a variety in the artwork. They are: Agus Trianto, Alfin Agnuba, Anton Subiyanto, Ayu Arista Murti, Citra Sasmita, Farhan Siki, Gilang Fradika, Gilang Nuari, Iabaidou Piko, Iwan Effendy, Jumaldi Alfi, Kemalezedine, Marishka Soekarna, Miranti Minggar, Naisyah Suherman, Nasirun, R.E. Hartanto, Restu Ratnaningtyas, S. Dwi Stya Acong, Ugo Untoro and Yudha Sandy.

Read also: IB Said forgotten painter of state guest portraits

Artists (from left to right) Anton Subiyanto, Marishka Seokarna, Citra Sasmita, curator Leonhard Bartolomeus, architect Cosmas D. Gozali and founder of Edwin's Gallery Edwin Rahardjo during the opening of "Redraw III: Ugahari" on Wednesday, July 25, at Edwin's Gallery in South Jakarta. (JP/Ni Nyoman Wira)

Bali-based artist, Citra Sasmita, for instance, translated the meaning of ugahari into the spiritual realm. She displayed four paintings from Still Life (Corpus #1) to (Corpus #4), corpus meaning human body. Citra, who spent around a month making the paintings, uses symbols to convey her message.

Known as an artist who often speaks about women's and humanity's issues, Citra wanted people to see that there are still many tragedies happening to humanity, amid tourism in Bali. The tragedies include ones related to Balinese women. She conveys the message by incorporating bright colors, arrows, plants and swords into her artworks.

In line with the title of her works, Citra stated that the body of Balinese women, within a patriarchal culture, is viewed as a piece of property in the household. But they do Yadnya [sacrifice] to live their lives in the family. On one side theyre hurt, but they survive, said the gold winner of the 2017 UOB Painting of the Year for Established Artist category.

Citra Sasmita's paintings; "Still Life (Corpus #1  #4)". (JP/Ni Nyoman Wira)

She once joined non-profit organization Bali Women Crisis Center, where she found many cases of parents who mistreated their daughters-in-law. Growing up seeing these women in reality, Citra said they had a weak position in society. When theyre married, they dont bring anything to their family. And if she cannot give birth to a boy, she may not have a good position either, Citra explained, adding that she saw that as ironic in life even until now.

Opened to the public, Redraw III: Ugahari is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Monday to Saturday and 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. (mut)A short film by Aditya "Adit" Ahmad titled Kado (Gift), which was produced by filmmakers Mira Lesmana and Riri Riza, has reportedly entered the Orizzonti Short Films Competition at the 75th Venice International Film Festival.

The Miles Films production company, which is headed by Mira and Riri, shared the good news on its Twitter account on Wednesday.

Miles Films bangga mengumumkan, film pendek KADO (A Gift) karya sutradara muda ADITYA AHMAD yang diproduseri Mira Lesmana dan Riri Riza, masuk kompetisi film pendek bergengsi ORIZZONTI - The 75th Venice International Film Festival 2018 - Italia. Selamat @ditsmad!#KADOshortfilm pic.twitter.com/nd1O7flMUY  MILES FILMS (@MilesFilms) July 25, 2018

Adit drew acclaim and public attention in 2014 for his short film Sepatu Baru (New Shoes), a project he created for his thesis while studying at the Makassar Arts Institute. It was screened at various film festivals abroad, including the Berlin International Film Festival.

Adit was also named Southeast Asia's best short film director at the Singapore International Film Festival in 2014, according to Antara news agency.

Read also: Indonesia submits five films to Asia-Pacific Film Festival

The 15-minute Kado tells the story of Isfi, who is seeking to celebrate Nita's birthday.

However, to prepare a special gift in Nita's room, she has to wear a long skirt and a hijab.

"The story idea and issues presented in Kado are very relevant, universal, as well as very local. Aditya Ahmad is successful in telling this story, making it a complex yet still touching work of art," Riri said as quoted by Antara.

Adit is scheduled to depart for Venice, Italy, in early September, to attend the world premiere of Kado at the festival. (kes)US President Donald Trumps daughter Ivanka Trump on Tuesday said she was shutting her fashion line to focus on her role as an informal White House adviser, where she is working on advancing working women.

Since Trumps surprise November 2016 election, his family has faced criticism that its portfolio of real estate and consumer goods businesses, which lean heavily on the Trump name as a marker of luxury, conflict with their roles as Washington officials.

Critics of the president called the shutting of the brand a victory for a boycott of Trump-tied businesses that began late in the 2016 campaign.

After 17 months in Washington, I do not know when or if I will ever return to the business, but I do know that my focus for the foreseeable future will be the work I am doing here in Washington, Ivanka Trump, 36, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Amid criticism of potential conflicts of interest, Ivanka Trump in 2017 gave up day-to-day management of her clothing company and put its assets in a trust managed by family members.

Her company said licensing contracts would not be renewed and those in place will be allowed to run their course. Mid-priced womens clothing, shoes and accessories were sold under the label. The 18 people who work for the 11-year-old company will be laid off as it shuts down.

Since Trumps election, retailers including Nordstrom Inc, Hudsons Bay Co and Sears Holdings Corp have dropped or sharply scaled back their assortment of Trump-branded products, though they typically attributed those decisions to poor sales rather than political messages.

Read also: Ivanka Trump photo with son sparks backlash over border separations

Ivanka Trumps brand said in a statement that retailers including Bloomingdales, owned by Macys Inc, Dillards Inc and Amazon.com Inc. continued to carry her wares.

According to the Wall Street Journal, online sales of Ivanka Trumps brand fell nearly 55 percent in the 12 months to June, compared with the year-earlier period, citing Rakuten Intelligence, which gathers email receipts from 5.5 million U.S. consumers.

Trumps combative style on the campaign trail and as president have drawn the familys brands into political fights, with some supporters hosting events at the luxury Trump International Hotel blocks from the White House even as opponents stage boycotts.

The president has been a loud advocate for domestic manufacturing, prompting criticism that much of the Ivanka Trump line was made overseas, as is the vast majority of clothing and footwear sold in the United States. According to media reports, much of her product line has been sourced from China, which is the target of tariffs imposed by the president in a trade conflict.

The most organized boycott of Trump-related businesses, Grab Your Wallet, called the news about Ivankas business a victory.

This is the biggest possible win for Grab Your Wallet, the groups co-founder, Shannon Coulter, a San Francisco marketing executive, said in a phone interview.Not a single restaurant in Singapore received three Michelin stars in the 2018 ratings released Wednesday, soon after the city lost its only restaurant with the top honor.

Celebrity chef Joel Robuchon last month closed his eponymous restaurant, which won three stars in the first two years of the Michelin Guide Singapore.

A total of 44 stars were awarded in the third annual Michelin guide to the city, down from 47 in 2017. Five restaurants were awarded two Michelin stars and 34 received one star.

Singapores dining scene reflects a melting pot of influences, including Chinese, Malay and Indian, while European restaurateurs have flocked to the city, giving it a true global flavor. One of the biggest tourist draws are the hawker stalls that can be found across the city, serving up Singaporean specialties like chicken rice, chili crab and hokkien mee.

I have yet to find a country where the people are so fanatically passionate about food, said Michael Ellis, international director of Michelin Guides. People in Singapore will get into fist fights about who has the best fish head curry, and you dont see that anywhere else in the world.

Chefs were disappointed at the lack of three-star awards.

Im sad for Singapore because I find that Singapore will be less attractive to the tourists, said Sebastien Lepinoy from Les Amis, which was awarded two stars. And we need the tourists. He estimates that up to a quarter of his customers at Les Amis are tourists.

Read also: Michelin guide set to reveal more dining highlights in Thailand

Michelin stars are awarded based on the quality of ingredients, harmony of flavors and the chefs personality as expressed in their cuisine, according to the companys website.

The French tiremaker and publisher began producing restaurant guides in 1900 and introduced its three-star rating system in 1931. It now publishes titles covering more than 25 countries around the world. In recent years, it has expanded its Asian catalog and now covers cities including Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Thailands guide debuted last year. In addition to Bangkok, Michelin reviewers will cover the southern tourism hot-spots of Phuket and Phang Nga in the 2018 edition, which will be published in November.

Michelin released its Bib Gourmand list for Singapore last week, which recognizes eateries offering dishes at a maximum price of S$45 ($33).

One of the new entrants was Burnt Ends, a restaurant specializing in grilled meats, owned by Australian chef David Pynt.

His wife, Katrina Wheeldon-Pynt, who accepted the one-star award, said it would not put more pressure on them and they would continue to focus on their staff and guests. He does it because he loves it. Thats what he does, hes a barbecue man, she said.

Chef Tang Chay Seng from Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle said it was a pity that no new hawker stalls were awarded stars.

Only three street food stalls globally  two in Singapore, one in Bangkok  have been awarded Michelin stars, Ellis said. A Michelin star for a street food restaurant is the exception, not the rule, he said.

The winners

Two stars

Les Amis

Odette

Shisen Hanten

Shoukouwa

Waku Ghin

Read also: 20 restaurants recognized in Taipei's first-ever Michelin guide

One star

Alma

Bacchanalia

Beni

Braci

Burnt Ends*

Candlenut Cheek by Jowl

Chef Kangs Corner House

Crystal Jade Golden Palace

Cut

Garibaldi

Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle

Iggys

Imperial Treasure Fine Teochew Cuisine (Orchard)

Jaan

Jiang-Nan Chun*

Labyrinth

Lei Garden

Liao Fan Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle

Ma Cuisine*

Meta

Nouri*

Putien (Kitchener Road)

Rhubarb

Saint Pierre

Shinji (Bras Basah Road)

Shinji (Tanglin Road)

Summer Palace

Summer Pavilion

Sushi Ichi

Sushi Kimura*

The Song of India

Whitegrass

* new to the listAustralian textile collector Dr. John Yu has been taking many trips to Bali over the last 34 years in order to find new pieces to add to his extensive collection.

Yu has now contributed a few select pieces from his collection to an exhibition running from July 12 to Aug. 5 at the Jakarta Textile Museum called Encounters with Bali: A Collectors Journey. Yu has previously contributed pieces from his collection to exhibitions in Australian museums, such as at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Mosman Art Gallery.

Yu began collecting Balinese textiles, in particular Balinese batik, 34 years ago along with a colleague, Dr. George Bryce Soutter, who passed away in 2011.

Since then, he has collected over 900 batik and textile pieces from Indonesia. Although most come from Bali, Yu also has collected textiles from other parts of Indonesia, such as Lampung and Sumba in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).

Yu explained the beginnings of his extensive collection of batik and textiles at a discussion workshop.

During an afternoon in Sydney, I walked past a shop that had what I thought was a very nice blue scarf. I went in and asked the shopkeeper about that and he explained to me that it was a scarf  selendang  from Savu, Yu said, referring to an island in NTT. This was something I didnt know about and that afternoon, [the shopkeeper] explained to me the differences of weaving techniques. Well, that afternoon I bought my first textile.

First collection: The blue scarf is Dr. John Yu AC's first textile, originating in Savu and bought in Sydney, Australia. (JP/Audrey Cahyadi)

This first textile that gave birth to his collection is called hii, a mens shawl. Not surprisingly, it was one of first pieces he chose from his collection for the exhibition. The woven blue textile is worn with age and is one of the star attractions of the exhibition.

Born in 1934 in Nanking, China, Yu moved to Australia with his parents when he was 3.

After retiring in 1997 as a head pediatrician in Australia, he started to invest more of his time into his batik and textile collection.

Most collectors consider Balinese batik and textiles to be unique, because only a few Balinese weavers produce these woven crafts.

Probably what makes Balinese textiles interesting is that they are strongly tied to the narrative tradition in Bali. [...] for religious purposes in Bali, textiles still play an important part. The religious practices and the stories or narratives that the textiles have really tie to other genres of performance in Bali, said Siobhan Campbell, the exhibition curator and Indonesian art specialist from the University of Sydney.

However, Yu was mostly interested in the beauty of the textiles designs and weaving techniques. His collection was born from his admiration of the craft, not from their rarity.

One question that many visitors seemed to ask during the exhibition opening was how Yu managed to preserve the textiles for such a long time.

He admits that he does something that would upset any curator: he washes them before putting them on acid-free paper and stores them inside a plastic box.

Even though Yu may have washed his pieces, the batik and textiles remain as vibrantly colored as they were because of the natural dyes that were used in their creation.

Sole piece: The brown textile with wayang (shadow puppet) pattern is a unique piece, being the only Javanese batik displayed in the exhibition. (JP/Audrey Cahyadi)

Among the many pieces from Yus collection on display is a single piece of Javanese batik hung on a wall. Originally from Garut, West Java, the light-brown kain rok (wrap skirt) is accentuated with dark brown patterns and blue wayang in their own patterned skirts.

Another eye-catching piece is an orange-and-brown woven short jacket, its collar embroidered with shells. This jaket upacara (ceremonial jacket) comes from Lampung and is usually worn by the adolescent daughters of a community leader during a ceremony.

A bright purple Balinese piece was another that many visitors admired, with its cartoonish rendition of a wayang embroidered in a variety of colors. The wastra songket (brocade wrap skirt) is one of the few brightly colored pieces among the more somber-colored pieces on display.

In closing the workshop, Yu said he hoped that the exhibit would allow all visitors to realize that many people outside of the country loved and valued the Indonesian culture just as much as the people of this archipelago.

Although Yu did not go into detail as to how he obtained his textiles, he stressed that he had taken multiple trips from Australia to Bali  exactly 33 times  to find and collect the pieces.

Those many visits allowed Yu to establish ties with the Balinese people; ties that now help him find the textiles he seeks.

If you share an interest in textiles, you develop friendships and thats going to be really important in the future for your country and my country, said Yu.

The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.

________________

Encounters with Bali: A Collectors Journey

exhibit at the Jakarta Textile Museum is organized by the Australian Embassy in collaboration with Sydneys Mosman Art Gallery. The exhibit is open to the general public from July 12 to Aug. 5.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, July 26, 2018 08:54 1188 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9efb4ed7 1 City kalijodo,RPTRA-Jakarta,restoration,park,North-Jakarta Free

Following reports and complaints that Kalijodo child-friendly integrated public space (RPTRA) in North Jakarta had been uncared for, the Jakarta Forestry Agency has decided to return the park to its former glory.

At the park, the plants suffer from a lack of water and the paint has faded.

Jakarta Forestry Agency head Djafar Muchlisin said the agency would install water sprinklers to regularly water the parks plants.

We will install the equipment next year, He said on Tuesday, tempo.co reported.

He said the plants would be taken care of once the sprinklers had been installed, the plants died easily because it was the dry season.

He said the parks soil was not suitable for plants.

Its a former eviction site, and there is rubble underneath. So, its not actually suitable for plants, he said. Kalijodo was formerly a notorious red-light district.

He said the agency would also manage the night market that residents regularly held in the park, because the visitors usually walked over the plants.

We will not ban the night market. But we expect visitors to take care of the plants, Djamal said.

He said the agency would also cooperate with the Jakarta Environmental Agency to increase the frequency of trash collection, which accumulated easily after a night market.

We are also replacing the dried out and dead plants with new ones, he said. (ami)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Tama Salim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, July 26, 2018 09:27 1188 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9efb66d0 1 World rape,Netherlands,student,crime,Indonesian Free

An 18-year-old man has been arrested as a suspect for the violent rape of an Indonesian exchange student in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, over the weekend, an Indonesian official confirmed.

The police detained on Tuesday evening an unidentified 18-year-old man from Rotterdam, according to Dutch public broadcasting organization NOS.

How the police tracked down the man remains unclear, but the report states that the police had dispatched a team of 20 people to work on the case.

The police have so far questioned about 20 witnesses and identified the route taken by the student. Furthermore, images from CCTV cameras were obtained to identify the alleged offender, who the police described as a dark-skinned man wearing a hooded jacket and riding a black bicycle.

Indonesian Ambassador to the Netherlands IGA Wesaka Puja confirmed the arrest late on Wednesday.

Based on information from the police, a person has been arrested for further questioning, in accordance with the applicable rules in the Netherlands, Puja told The Jakarta Post.

He did not elaborate, saying the police were limiting information on the case.

A previous police report said the victim was riding a bicycle from Rotterdam Station to her residence on Herman Bavinckstraat at around 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, when she was allegedly attacked.

According to another local report, the assailant had allegedly strangled her using a bicycle chain lock, injuring her to the extent that she had to be rushed to the hospital.

The police said on Sunday the victim was unavailable for questioning, as she had recently undergone surgery, NOS reports. The victim's identity will not be revealed over privacy concerns.

Ambassador Puja was unable to confirm her condition, saying the hospital has restricted all information going out. May we pray for her quick recovery, he said.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, July 26, 2018 13:05 1188 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9efc4c04 4 Business bank-indonesia,central-bank,big-data,technology,banking,policy-makers Free

Bank Indonesia (BI) held on Thursday in Nusa Dua, Bali, an international seminar on building pathways for making policies using big data, to expand understanding on the use of big data in the digital era.

The event was organized in cooperation with the Bank for International Settlements-Irving Fisher Committee on Central Bank Statistics (BIS-IFC).

Around 200 delegates from central banks worldwide attended the seminar, Hidayah Dhini Ari, the central bank's head of statistics, said on Thursday as quoted by kompas.com.

She said representatives from the Financial Services Authority (OJK), Indonesian banks, related ministries and startups were among the event's attendees.

Dhini added that the seminar's objective was to provide understanding about big data utilization in developing the central banks' policies, particularly on the monetary sector, financial system stability and payment systems.

The seminar also served as a platform to update and share knowledge on big data between policymakers in the central bank community through reviewing the latest developments and empirical processes. (sau/dmr)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, July 26 2018

Parts of the recently installed black nylon net covering the Sentiong River in Central Jakarta were already riddled with holes following the city administrations efforts to further decorate the river  nicknamed Kali Item (Black River) due to its heavily polluted water  with strings of colorful lamps on Tuesday.

At least 10 holes of various sizes were spotted on several parts of the 689-meter-long fabric on Wednesday. Moreover, the net also seemed unkempt as it held various kinds of garbage, like empty bottles and cigarette packs that people had thrown from the riverside.

Saiful, a resident in the area, said many people still threw their garbage in the river even after it was covered by the net.West Java Police have arrested three people suspected to be behind the trafficking of 18 Indonesian women sent to China under marriage schemes.

A woman and a man have been arrested on suspicion of duping women in various regions of Java. Other suspects include a foreigner identified only as GCS who allegedly served as middleman in China and another foreigner identified as TMK who remains at large. The international human trafficking ring operated from December 2017 to June, West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Agung Budi Maryoto said.

The suspects allegedly offered the women, aged 16 to 28 and mostly from West Java, the opportunity to many Chinese men.



The victims were promised a good life, monthly incomes and that they would be allowed to return home every two months, he said on Thursday.

The police opened an investigation after receiving a report from a victim who escaped an apartment where she and other women were being held in North Jakarta. Investigators raided the apartment and rescued five women.

Twelve 12 women have been sent to China. We will work with local police, Interpol and the Indonesian Embassy in China to help them return home, he added.

The recruiters allegedly asked the womens parents to sign contracts and gave them Rp 10 million (US$690) each.

Agung said based on the preliminary investigation, women who had been sent had suffered physical abuse at the hand of their husbands.

Other victims are forced to work or are resold to other men in China, he added.

The suspects will be charged under the 2007 Human Trafficking Law, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment and a maximum fine of Rp 600 million. (nor/rin)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, July 26, 2018 14:44 1188 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9efcbae5 1 City Idul-Adha,cattle,vendors,pedestrian,traffic,sidewalks Free

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan will instruct his mayors to arrange stalls of cattle sold for the Idul Adha sacrifice so that they will not hamper traffic or pedestrians.

I will instruct mayors to tidy up [and] make sure that they [cattle sellers] only use spaces that will not disturb traffic or pedestrians, he said at City Hall, Central Jakarta, on Wednesday, as quoted by kompas.com.

Anies said cattle sellers should be able to do their business, but traffic and pedestrians should be respected too.

When asked whether it meant cattle sellers would be prohibited from setting up stalls on sidewalks as they did in previous years, Anies said, The locations will be arranged by the mayors.

Idul Adha, the day of sacrifice, is expected to fall on Aug. 22. (gis)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Stefanno Reinard Sulaiman (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, July 26, 2018 09:53 1188 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9efb997a 1 Business renewable-energy,Indonesia,fuel,oil,palm-oil Free

The government is revising a presidential regulation on biodiesel incentives in a bid to expand the use of vegetable oil in biodiesel. The current mix, called B20, is a blend comprising 20 percent vegetable oil.

Indonesia is one of the world's biggest palm oil producers and aims to reduce the increasing cost of fossil-fuel imports by blending vegetable oil in its fuel.

The revision is ongoing, Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution said on Wednesday, adding that he would soon make another report to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

"I have to report [again] about further developments in our discussions [with biodiesel stakeholders], but I believe it won't take much longer," he said on Wednesday.

The revision is for Presidential Regulation No.61/2015 on the funding of crude palm oil.

Since early 2016, the government has made B20 mandatory for certain businesses in return for incentives  which largely take the form of subsidies to keep the price of biodiesel at relatively the same level as that of fossil-based fuel.

However, these incentives only apply to the public service obligation (PSO) sector, which uses biodiesel from state-own energy firm Pertamina and private fuel distributor PT AKR Corporindo.

Darmin's statement came after a coordination meeting for biodiesel was held for a second time this month. Attendees at Wednesdays meeting included officials from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, Biodiesel Producers Association (Aprobi) and crude palm oil producers.

Dadan Kusdiana, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry's special advisor for natural resources, told the press after the event that among the larger changes in the regulation involved the legal basis for incentives for non-PSO businesses, such as those in mining and transportation.

"Other than that, the regulation will stipulate a guideline for oil palm replanting," he said adding that the issuance would not take much longer, as the revision was currently being approved by related ministries and would then be sent to the President. (dmr)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Riza Roidila Mufti (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, July 26, 2018 10:57 1188 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9efbc549 1 Business Singapore,fashion,startup,bekraf,Indonesia,creative-economy Free

The Indonesian Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) in cooperation with the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore has opened a temporary pop-up store for Indonesian fashion startups to showcase their products in Singapore.

At least 14 selected local brands, ranging from ready-to-wear clothing, watches and socks, will be taking part in the event running at Paragon Mall in the city-state from Aug. 1 to 30.

Bekraf marketing division deputy head Joshua Puji Mulia Simanjuntak said Singapore was a prospective hub to reach the global market, especially the ASEAN market.

"Singapore is an important market for Indonesian creative industries, particularly fashion," Joshua told reporters on Wednesday.

"Singapore has also always been on our [list of] top-10 destinations for creative industry exports," he added.

Meanwhile, Bekraf deputy head Ricky Joseph Pesik said Indonesia's fashion industry had big potential to penetrate the global market thanks to its stellar growth.

In 2016, the country's exports from creative economy reached US$20 billion, in which the fashion industry contributed 54.54 percent of the exports.

With this event, we expect higher exports from the fashion sector to Singapore, he said.

Among the local brands being selected to represent Indonesia are Purana, Saul, Nataoka, Hunting Field, Maison Met, Pattent Goods and Woodka. (dmr)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Mataram  Thu, July 26 2018

Tidal waves hit Induk Beach at Taman Ayu village in West Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, on Wednesday morning, forcing hundreds to flee following tidal floods that had inundated their village.

Seawater started to enter residential areas in the village at 8:35 a.m. on Wednesday, causing knee-deep flooding, said Mataram Search and Rescue Agency spokesman I Lanang Wiswananda.

To anticipate worsening conditions, we immediately evacuated villagers [from the area], he said, adding that the floods had affected 178 residents.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, July 26, 2018 10:34 1188 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9efbb687 1 National haj,KPK,corruption-eradication-commission,Suryadharma-Ali,Religious-Affairs-Ministry,haj-pilgrimage,auction Free

A piece of the Kiswah, the cloth used to cover the Kaaba, which was confiscated from former religious affairs minister Suryadharma Ali, was a popular item at an auction conducted by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Wednesday.

Bids for the Kiswah, which started at Rp 22.5 million (US$1,570), rose quickly. It was finally sold to an entrepreneur from Malang called Muhammad Jufri Saad, who outbid all comers with a Rp 450 million offer.

We intend for this to be part of our collection at home. Thankfully, we got this [Kiswah] for only Rp 450 million. The price in Mecca is much higher, he told kompas.com on Wednesday.

Jufri, who has participated in seven KPK auctions, said he had set his sights set on the Kiswah since last week.

I wont sell it to anyone else. I will frame it and put it in my house, he said.

In 2016, Suryadharma was convicted in a case relating to the embezzlement of the countrys haj fund, which resulted in Rp 13 billion (US$899,340) in state losses.

The prosecutors at the Corruption Court told the panel of judges in 2015 that Suryadharma had received the piece of the Kiswah from a Saudi Arabian businessman. The businessman, Cholid Abdul Latief Sodiq Saefudin, gave it to the minister in exchange for the ministrys approval for Cholids houses in Mecca to be used by Indonesian pilgrims. The prosecutors said the Kiswah was special because it was made with golden thread.

The KPK regularly auctions off assets seized from graft convicts in an attempt to recover state losses. (dpk)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) Manila, Philippines  Thu, July 26, 2018 12:47 1188 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9efc4340 2 World #Philippine,#Duterte,#AntiGraft Free

The Philippines' top anti-corruption prosecutor, one of the few remaining critics of President Rodrigo Duterte in government, retired on Thursday, appealing for "strong institutions" over strong leaders.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, 77, finishes her seven-year term during which she earned Duterte's ire for criticising his brutal drug war and for her office's investigation into his alleged secret bank accounts.

Duterte, who accused Morales of "selective justice" and conspiring with opposition figures to oust him, last year threatened to have the retired Supreme Court justice impeached while launching tirades against her.

But a defiant Morales dismissed Duterte's allegations as "fake news", saying that his threats never intimidated her from doing her job.

"I know I am right in my own work so why should I be scared," Morales told AFP days before her retirement.

"As long as we have strong institutions, we don't need strong people to run the government", she added, emphasising the importance of independent bodies like her office.

Duterte, 73, has launched an unprecedented crackdown on drugs that has left thousands dead, sparking criticism from rights groups who say he may be orchestrating a crime against humanity.

The Filipino leader has lashed out at critics, including Senator Leila de Lima -- jailed over drug charges she says were fabricated -- and former Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno who was ousted in May.

Opposition leaders have said these moves -- along with attempts to discredit the country's main rights agency -- are part of Duterte's scorched-earth tactics to silence critics and weaken democratic institutions.

Morales, who was appointed by Duterte's predecessor, Benigno Aquino, in 2011 to head the anti-graft watchdog, angered the president when she criticised his pronouncements on killings last year.

Their spat intensified last January when Morales defied Duterte's order to suspend her deputy for allegedly leaking his bank records, saying the president's directive violated the constitution.

Her agency was then investigating allegations that Duterte failed to disclose 211 million pesos ($3.9 million) in secret bank accounts when he was a presidential candidate.

The ombudsman said in February it had terminated the probe after the central bank's Anti-Money Laundering Council refused to cooperate.

"Ombudsman Morales is a significant voice, a strong woman and a person with integrity," Gladstone Cuarteros, assistant professor of political science at the De La Salle University in Manila, told AFP.

"With her retirement, another critical voice is softened but not silenced."

Morales was honoured with the Ramon Magsaysay Award -- often described as Asia's Nobel Prize -- in 2016 for her diligence in prosecuting high-ranking corrupt officials.

The leading candidate to replace her is a Supreme Court justice appointed by Duterte and who has voted to uphold his major policies.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Tama Salim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, July 26, 2018 18:36 1188 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9efd700b 1 World rape,Netherlands,student,crime,Indonesian,Foreign-Minister-Retno-Marsudi Free

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has asked her Dutch counterpart to pay close attention to the case of a violent rape of an Indonesian student last weekend, a ministry official has said.

The minister was in touch with Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok on Wednesday to discuss the matter, said the ministrys overseas citizens protection director, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal.

In her talk [with the Dutch foreign minister], Minister Retno expressed her concern over the rape of an Indonesian citizen in the Netherlands, Iqbal said in a statement issued on Thursday.

Although Dutch law enforcers have already done a lot since the incident, the minister has asked [authorities] to pay special attention to ensure the perpetrator is handed the severest punishment.

According to the Rotterdam Police, an Indonesian exchange student was attacked and raped by an unidentified assailant after returning to her residence on Herman Bavinckstraat early on Saturday.

The perpetrator allegedly choked her using a bicycle chain lock, causing injuries that required hospital treatment, according to a local report. Reports that she had to undergo surgery could not be confirmed, as the authorities were providing limited information on the case.

Family members have gone to Rotterdam to support the victim, and the Indonesian Embassy in The Hague has pledged to provide assistance, Iqbal said.

The embassy previously confirmed that an 18-year-old man had been arrested by the police on Wednesday.

In his response, Minister Blok expressed his heartfelt sympathy to the victim and her family, and will ensure the Dutch police do their utmost to solve the crime, Iqbal said.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Karina M. Tehusijarana (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Thu, July 26, 2018 09:30 1188 a7124a1e87885b91d244660f9efb77f8 1 Politics Susilo-Bambang-Yudhoyono,megawati-soekarnoputri,presidential-election,politics,PDI-P,Democratic-party Free

Democratic Party chairman Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has hinted that Megawati Soekarnoputri was the reason his party has not supported President Joko Jokowi Widodos reelection bid.

In a press conference held at his home in Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Wednesday evening Yudhoyono said he and Jokowi had discussed the possibility of his party joining the pro-government coalition for more than a year and that he had a good relationship with the President.

However, obstacles have prevented the Democratic Party from joining forces with Jokowi.

Every time we talk, I always ask Jokowi whether the other parties in the coalition would accept our presence and he always answered. Yes, because I am the President, Yudhoyono said. But it has always been a question for me, since in reality, the relationship between Bu Megawati and I has not fully recovered. There is still some distance between us.

Ties between Yudhoyono and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman have been strained since he decided to run against then-president Megawati in the 2004 presidential elections. He was serving her Cabinet as coordinating political, legal and security affairs at the time.

It seems that there are hurdles for the Democrats to join [Jokowis] coalition, he said. Even though I truly feel Jokowis sincerity in inviting the Democratic Party, I also realize, and I do not need to name the sources, that the path is not open for the Democrats to join his coalition.

He added that he still had the highest respect for Jokowi and Megawati.

I respect her very much as a former president and also as my president at that time, he said. (ahw)ASEAN Secretariat (ASEC) director for community affairs Lee Yoong Yoong (center) speaks about the regional blocs media engagement, while ASECs director for corporate affairs, Ung Srengkon (left), and the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliations executive director, Rezlan Ishar Jenie, look on during a media visit to The Jakarta Post on Thursday. Also attending the meeting were representatives from the ASEAN Energy Center, the ASEAN Foundation and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)(ASEC) director for community affairs Lee Yoong Yoong (center) speaks about the regional blocs media engagement, while ASECs director for corporate affairs, Ung Srengkon (left), and the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliations executive director, Rezlan Ishar Jenie, look on during a media visit to The Jakarta Post on Thursday. Also attending the meeting were representatives from the ASEAN Energy Center, the ASEAN Foundation and the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Fri, July 27 2018

Courtesy of Kemlu.go.id

Indonesian students recently won an international food science competition called Developing Solutions for Developing Countries: Product Development, which was hosted by the Institute of Food Technologists Student Association (IFTSA) in Chicago, the United States. The main aim of the contest was to help address food insecurity in Africa.

In order to reach the final stage, the contestants first had to go through several selection rounds in Chicago. This year, the Indonesian teams comprised two teams from Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) and Surabaya University.In the last five years, a powerful force has reshaped the way the majority of people experience life. That force is produced by the union of two things: the proliferation of camera-enabled smartphones and the rise of social media, particularly photo sharing application Instagram.

The tourist industry is not immune to that phenomenon as an increasing number of travelers, particularly millennials, pack selfie sticks and power banks instead of books in their backpacks and suitcases.

Visiting new places and feasting on new dishes have ceased to solely be a physical and personal experience. They have become a digital and communal one. A patron who takes pictures of the dishes and share them on Instagram  often before he or she taste them  is a common sight nowadays. As a country with 76 million social media users, including 45 million Instagram users as of last year, the phenomenon is taking Indonesia by storm, spurring the birth of thousands upon thousands of travel oriented Instagram accounts featuring a regular feed of gorgeous pictures of the countrys well-known as well as newfound destinations.

Read also: Jakpost explores Bali

Travelers, who manage these accounts, soon turn into noted influencers whose words and recommendations are treated with awe and reverence by their millennial counterparts.

The tourist industry has responded in kind, with hotels and restaurants increasing their social media presence as well as carrying out renovation projects to make their establishments more Instagrammable.

Fortunately for Bali, the island is a natural Instagrammable hot spot. Its natural beauty  idyllic lakes, beautiful beaches, majestic peaks and breathtaking waterfalls  and rich culture  rustic temples, colorful rituals, mesmerizing dances  are the visual feast any photographer, amateur and professional, would love to partake in.

The fact that Bali is a tiny island  a return trip from its southernmost to northernmost points takes less than 10 hours  is another added bonus for the Instagram-addicted traveler.

The distance enables them to travel in the morning to the hilly region of Bedugul and Gitgit, where the stunning twin lakes Buyan and Tamblingan as well as scores of pristine waterfalls are located, and enjoy a captivating sunset in Kuta at the end of the day.

Sunrises and sunsets are arguably the most photographed and uploaded natural events on Instagram and Bali has some of the best spots to capture them. Songan, a village in the hilly region of Kintamani is one such place. An ancient village mentioned in a 10th century scripture as a Buddhist hermitage, Songan offers a breathtaking sunrise vista featuring misty hills, a tranquil lake and sunrises between the peaks of three mountains. Sanur Beach is another good option with its tranquil sea, rows of brightly colored jukung (canoe) outriggers and, weather permitting, the towering Mount Agung in the background.

For sunsets, Tanah Lot Beach is always a good choice. There the sun will descend slowly behind a major 15th century Hindu temple built on a rock formation in the shallow part of the beach. The temple, which was constructed by the great sage Nirartha, is one of the most iconic representations of Bali in the visual realm.

Read also: Landscape photography made easy with these 5 apps

Another man-made construction that has gained popularity among millennial travelers is Garuda Wisnu Kencana in Ungasan. Initiated by renowned Bali-born Bandung-based sculptor Nyoman Nuarta, the statue of Lord Wisnu sitting on the mythical beast Garuda will be the tallest statue in Indonesia. The 75-meter tall and 65-m wide statue sits atop a lofty pedestal that will give it a height of 121 m, nearly 30 m taller than the Statue of Liberty in the United States. It will be officially inaugurated on Aug. 8.

The towering monument will provide an awesome spot for Instagram wizards, particularly those who have drone-mounted cameras.

Street murals are another visual element that would make visiting Bali an Instagram-worthy trip. The hip neighborhoods of Canggu and Seminyak do not only boast luxurious hotels, plush restaurants and

glitzy night clubs, they also have captivating murals and graffiti. Painted by international and local street artists, the murals reflect the ongoing struggle of the island as it tries to balance modernity with its traditional legacy.

Those who want to capture the work of Balis master street artists, such as Slinat, Komunitas Djamur, Komunitas Pojoks, Kuncir, Swoofone, WAP, UncleJoy and WD, should explore the streets of Denpasar. Their murals, ranging from political pieces to decorative ones, provide a colorful background for a unique selfie. Roaming in the vicinity of Denpasars Gajah Mada old town will be an additional bonus for the selfie fanatics, a chance to pose in Bhinneka Djaja, the citys oldest coffee house and roaster. Its brews are fantastic too.

Natural beauty, rustic temples, man-made mega structures and murals are some of the attractions Bali has to offer to the millennial tourists. These young vacationers never travel alone. They have always brought with them their digital followers as they constantly seek the picture-perfect vacation.Lapangan Banteng used to be just a huge characterless square in the heart of Jakarta.



However, after months of renovation the face of the square  which became a regular venue for the annual flora and fauna expo, Flona  has been changed dramatically.



On Wednesday night, a colorful aquatic show was held at the fountain in the center of the square.



It feels like Im on Sentosa Island [in Singapore], said a visitor as she was busy taking selfies with the fountain as a backdrop.



A mini stage next to the Irian Jaya Liberation Statue was set up for the inauguration of the square by Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan after the 16-month renovation.



This is one of Indonesias most historical parks.



It has witnessed thousands of stories and is about to witness thousands more.



Let us come to Lapangan Banteng more as it is able to accommodate everyones interests: for picnics, for exercise, for art and cultural activities, and many more, Anies added.

Read also: Jakpost guide to recreational places for children

The renovation project began in March last under then-acting Jakarta governor Sumarsono.



It was funded by private companies through corporate social responsibility programs and fines collected from companies that breached building floor ratios.



Lapangan Banteng is located close to Jakarta Cathedral and Istiqlal Grand Mosque.



It is a historic landmark that has been around since Dutch colonial rule.



Back then, it had two names: Lapangan Singa (Lion Square) and Waterlooplein, which symbolized the victory over Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo in 1815.



After Indonesias independence, the square was renamed Lapangan Banteng before the government built the Irian Jaya Liberation Statue, which was inaugurated on Aug. 18, 1963, by then-president Sukarno, the same year that Irian Jaya became an integral part of the Republic of Indonesia.



Before the renovation  which cost up to Rp 60 billion (US$4.14 million)  Lapangan Banteng was rarely visited by people except when it hosted events.



The city not only gave the monument a makeover and revitalized the green areas in the 5.2-hectare square, it also added a childrens playground, a running track and some picturesque spots.



A semi-circular amphitheater, facing the monument, sits next to a pond where a fountain dances to the sound of music.



The fountains designer, Robby Krisna, said he chose songs that represented Irian Jayas liberation as well as Indonesias nationalism and cultural richness.



He chose three national songs  Indonesia Pusaka, Bagimu Negeri and Satu Nusa Satu Bangsa. The cultural songs are Yamko Rambe Yamko from Papua and a medley of Betawi songs  Ondel-ondel, Jali-jali, Keroncong Kemayoran and Surilang.



I collaborated with the Embryonic Ensemble to rearrange the songs, creating music that doesnt lose its traditional characteristics but at the same time sounds fresh with a touch of jazz  so that foreigners can enjoy it too, he told The Jakarta Post.



He added that the fountain display started at 6:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. every weekend.



Ten walls bearing quotes pertaining to Irian Jayas liberation stand guard at the monument.Ryanair threatened Wednesday to cut more then 300 jobs as the no-frills Irish airline faced down its biggest strikes that have forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights.

Europe's largest low-cost carrier said in a statement it had issued 90 days notice to more than 100 pilots and over 200 cabin crew under plans to cut its Dublin fleet from 30 to around 24 aircraft for this winter, following recent pilots' strikes there.

The airline said there had been "a downturn in forward bookings and airfares in Ireland partly as a result of recent rolling strikes by Irish pilots" which "has had a negative effect on high fare bookings and forward air fares as consumer confidence in the reliability of our Irish flight schedules has been disturbed."

The announcement came a day after dozens of Ryanair's Ireland-based pilots staged their third 24-hour strike in an ongoing dispute over working arrangements including annual leave and promotions, leading to the cancellation of 16 flights affecting some 2,500 customers.

The airline said that the overhaul was also partly driven by the "rapid growth" of Ryanair Sun, which is its profitable Polish charter airline.

The group will begin consultations with affected staff and offer transfers to Poland to minimise redundancies.

"We regret these base aircraft reductions at Dublin for winter 2018, but the board has decided to allocate more aircraft to those markets where we are enjoying strong growth (such as Poland)," said chief operating officer Peter Bellew.

"This will result in some aircraft reductions and job cuts in country markets where business has weakened, or forward bookings are being damaged by rolling strikes by Irish pilots."

Read also: Four airlines submit complaint against France over strikes

600 flights cancelled

Ryanair, which flies in 37 countries and carried 130 million passengers last year, averted widespread strikes before Christmas by deciding to recognize trade unions for the first time in its 32-year history. But it has since struggled to reach agreement on terms with several of them.

The airline is facing its biggest week of strikes as in addition to the Irish pilots, cabin crew in Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Italy began on Wednesday a two-day walkout over work conditions, leading to the cancellation of 600 flights.

The airline said the 100,000 affected passengers had all been put on alternative flights or would receive refunds.

Unions want the airline to give contractors the same work conditions as staff employees.

They are also seeking that Ryanair staff be employed according to the national legislation of the country they work in, rather than that of Ireland as is currently the case, which blocks the workers' access to state benefits.

"It's not so much about money, it's mainly about the conditions, how they treat workers," said a 22-year-old air hostess at Barcelona airport, who refused to be named for fear of reprisals.

"They don't even give us water in the plane.

"If we want some, or we bring it from home or we buy it for three euros."

Her 26-year-old colleague, who also refused to be named, added they are only paid for their flight time.

"But the time needed to arrive beforehand, boarding, delays or any other potential problem that will lengthen our day is not counted as work."

Read also: Italy fines Ryanair for mass flight cancellations

More strikes

Spain, the world's second tourist destination after France, is the worst affected country, with 200 flights cancelled on Wednesday.

Ernesto Iglesias of Spain's USO union said more walkouts by cabin crew staff are likely.

"All options are open because we don't have any sign that Ryanair will reverse gear," he told reporters at Madrid airport where striking cabin crew handed out bottles of water along with fliers to passengers explaining the reasons for their strike.

In the fliers, crew members complained that they could not ask for a mortgage in Spain because they get their payroll in Ireland, and have no medical assistance in Spain.

Ryanair argues that since its planes fly under the Irish flag and most of its employees work onboard planes, its staff are covered by Irish law.

The airline published on its website salary slips for June, arguing that pilots and cabin crew are fairly paid and could earn up to 40,000 euros ($47,000) per year.One night in the worlds most expensive hotel suite will set you back an eye-popping, outrageous, some might say outlandish $80,000 a night.

In Elite Travelers list of Top 100 Suites 2018, Hotel President Wilson in Geneva takes the title of worlds most exorbitantly expensive suite for its Royal Penthouse Suite, a 12-bedroom apartment that takes up the entirety of the hotels eighth floor.

At 1,680 square meters (18,083 square feet), its also the largest hotel suite in Europe.

A post shared by On The Go Travel (@otgtravelau) on May 12, 2016 at 9:01pm PDT

Fun fact: guests who shell out $80,000 per night are handing out more money than the median United States household income earned in one year, which in 2016 was about $59,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The suite has hosted everyone from Michael Jackson, Richard Branson, Rihanna, Bill Gates, Matt Damon and Michael Douglas.

So what do you get for $80,000? Its in the details.

For the VIP guests, including heads of state, the suite has been designed to provide maximum security with bulletproof windows, a panic button, private elevator and reinforced safe.

For musical guests, it comes with a Steinway grand piano, and for bookworms, a collection of antique books.

All 12 bedrooms are also accompanied by their own marble bathrooms, which are kitted out with Hermes amenities.

The suite itself also offers sweeping, panoramic views of its waterfront location, along with Mont-Blanc in the distance.

It goes without saying that at $80,000, the suite also comes with a personal chef, butler and security team.

Read also: Beware of the five dirtiest items in a hotel room

Meanwhile, the list of the worlds most expensive hotel suites is mostly represented by properties in the U.S. and Europe.

Rounding out the podium is the five-bedroom Terrace Suite in New Yorks The Mark hotel at $75,000, and the Penthouse Suite at the Grand Hyatt in Cannes, France, which costs $53,200.

Here are the cities and countries that host some of the most extravagantly priced hotel suites in the world:

1. Hotel President Wilson, Geneva, Switzerland

Royal Penthouse Suite, $80,000

2. The Mark, New York, U.S.

Terrace Suite, $75,000

3. Hotel Martinez by Hyatt, Cannes, France

Penthouse Suite, $53,200

4. Faena Hotel, Miami, U.S.

Penthouse, $50,000

5. Laucala Island, Fiji

Hilltop villa, $45,000

6. Hotel Mansour, Marrakech

Grand Riad, $43,480

7. Hotel Cala Di Volpe, Sardinia, Italy

Penthouse suite, $41,177

8. The Plaza, New York, U.S.

Royal Suite, $40,000

9. Hotel de Paris, Monaco

Princess Grace Suite, $37,000

10. Mandarin Oriental New York, New York

Suite 5000, $36,000Posted Wednesday, July 25, 2018 11:00 pm

More than 200 motorcycles, trikes and slingshots, along with 65 other vehicles rolled into Niehaus Cycle Sales in Litchfield on Sunday, July 22, as part of the 15th annual Peacekeepers Ride and Rally.

This year's ride paid special tribute to fallen Illinois State Police Trooper Kyle Deatherage, who was killed in an accident on Nov. 26, 2012, near mile marker 62 on Interstate 55.

Springfield Area Peacekeepers met in Springfield on Sunday afternoon and made their first stop south in Pawnee, before traveling to Litchfield, where they enjoyed lunch from Milanos Catering, courtesy of Niehaus Cycle Sales. A special ceremony was also held there in honor of Deatherage.

As the motorcycles rolled into the parking lot, bagpipe music filled the air, and more than 200 motorcycles lined the road as far as the eye could see. Peacekeepers, Inc. was established in 2004, as part of the Illinois Sheriff's Association, and their motto is "providing relief for those who provide the peace."

Their annual rally raises money for the Illinois Military Family Relief Fund and a scholarship fund for law enforcement and military families.

Mylas Copeland, president of the Springfield Area Peacekeepers welcomed the riders to Litchfield and introduced Litchfield Mayor Steve Dougherty, Undersheriff Rick Robbins and Brad Niehaus of Niehaus Cycle Sales.

"This is awesome," said Mayor Dougherty. "You sure know how to throw a party."

Undersheriff Robbins told the crowd he had worked with Trooper Deatherage over the years and remembered him as "quiet, very noble and very serious about his job."

Copeland said the ride moves every year, but continues to raise money for the same cause, the Illinois Military Family Relief Fund. He thanked the Niehaus family for their generosity in providing the meal for the riders and the meeting place.

Brad Niehaus mentioned his brothers, Scott and Brian, and welcomed everyone to Niehaus Cycle Sales, which has been in business in Litchfield for 48 years.

Since this year marked the 15th year for the Peacekeepers Ride and Rally, organizers wanted to do something special, and invited the Deatherage family to be part of the activities.

Volunteers presented a First Responders Flag, handcrafted by veterans, to Deatherage's widow, Sarah Deatherage Steele and his children, Camden and Kaylee Deatherage. Organizers also gave a $1,500 college scholarship to each of the Deatherage children. The Steele family resides in the Highland area.

"Thanks so much," said Sarah Deatherage Steele. "Kyle would be so impressed and shocked at how many people cared about him and his family. The kids won't have many memories of their dad, but they will remember things like this. And speaking for Kyle, he would have said, 'thank you for taking care of my family.'"

Young Kaylee said she had already claimed the American flag plaque for her bedroom.

Also attending the rally were Steele's husband, A.J. Steele, their five-month-old daughter, Mia Lynn Steele and Sarah's mother, Eleanor Gregory of Alhambra.

In addition to the ceremony for Deatherage, this year's honorary grand marshal for the ride was UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes of Hillsboro, who was present at the ceremony, meeting with fans and signing autographs.

Following the stop in Litchfield, riders paid tribute to Deatherage along Interstate 55. At mile marker 62, they put their radios down and idled their motors in his memory. The ride continued on to Nilwood and K&K Pub in Virden, ending at the Creek Pub & Grill in Chatham, where they honored Chatham police officer Ryan Pearce, who recently lost his six-year-old daughter in a sledding accident.

The final event of this year's ride was a concert featuring Nashville recording artist, Broseph, at Knights Action Park in Springfield.

For more information about Peacekeepers, Inc., visit their website at www.peacekeepersinc.com or contact Mylas Copeland, this year's ride coordinator at 217-306-2752.Phishing scams can be a real headache, but luckily there are a few ways to identify them.

With the influx of online scams in recent years, were no longer experiencing the predictable strange messages asking to send or transfer money across the world in order to receive a huge pay-out. Were now receiving scam emails pretending to be our banks and even fraudulent texts fitting seamlessly in with the genuine ones. So now is the perfect time to ensure were clued up on what exactly a phishing email looks like, and how they seem to be evolving.

To determine the British publics attitudes to online fraud and knowledge of scams, a study was conducted by NatWest, which found 16% of the public had personally experienced online fraud, and nearly 1 in 10 had been a victim of a phishing scam.

Surprisingly, it was the 18-24-year-olds who were the least savvy when it came to online security. 84% felt comfortable sharing personal information with people they know online and were twice as likely as the over 55s to share their data with brands online. Unfortunately, full-time students were also revealed to be the least knowledgeable when it came to dealing with online fraud, as over a third wouldnt know what to do if they were a victim.

So how are phishing scams changing? Well discuss latest phishing techniques, ways to spot red flags, and what to do if one appears in your inbox.

The BBC broke the news of the latest way scammers were manipulating the public. They were creating lookalike sites, just by altering the domain slightly with multilingual character sets. This new form of fraud was targeting smartphone users in particular who dont see the URL as clearly and are therefore more likely to fall victim to this scam.

But here are five several simple ways to determine whether an email is genuine:

Check the email address

A quick way to check if the email youve received is really from the company or bank you know is to check the email address. Tapping on the name might give you the answer you need without even having to read the email. If you tap PayPal, for example, and the email doesnt end in @paypal.co.uk but instead is a random name and address unrelated to PayPal  you know its fake.

Check the Greeting

Does the greeting feel generic and impersonal? A genuine email will greet you by your full name, so look out for Dear loyal customer or Hello followed by your email address.

Check the language

You wouldnt expect a member of the company to speak to you using slang or sloppy language in person, so dont expect the same via email. Careless spelling or poor grammar are immediate red flags and signs of a phishing email, such as the misuse of their/there/theyre. Also look for consistency within the format and logo, and check it matches up with previous genuine emails and the company website.

Check the content

When reading the email, do you feel under pressure or threatened? Scammers can evoke emotion, both negative and positive, to encourage us to act. Scare tactics are used by telling us our account is under threat, or theyve detected suspicious activity so we must act at once to recover our money. Well be sent harmful links to log on immediately, or asked to send our financial details within the hour to prevent further harm.

At the other end of the scale, we might be reached out to and informed weve won a prize, perhaps a holiday or a new car, but we must act quickly or theyll have to give the prize to someone else. This sense of urgency encourages us to act without thinking.

Always be mindful, most companies will never ask you for personal information or answers to your security questions. So never give your details away or respond with any sensitive information.

Check the URL

In order to overcome the manipulation of domains and avoid stumbling upon a lookalike website, double check the URL. This is particularly important when on your mobile phone. The big three things to remember are to check the whole URL to make sure it matches the trusted site, and to check for https before the www plus the padlock symbol, which both show the website is secure.

In addition to this, check for a link embedded in the email, possibly telling you to download a protective software. Hover over the link before clicking on it to see if its taking you to a trusted site. Its safe to presume the majority of links sent in emails asking you to enter information or download something are harmful, as malware and viruses can infect your devices.

What to do if you recieve a phishing email

If you receive an email which looks suspicious and meets any of these criteria, its important to report it. Forwarding the email to the genuine company can help them prevent other people from falling victim to the scam, and make others aware that phishing email is circulating. You can also report any suspected fake emails to Action Fraud to help fight phishing scams.

Once youve forwarded the email, delete it from your inbox.

Words by Sophie Proctor.Last week, Virgin Media customers lost 10 UKTV channels including Dave and Gold after a dispute between the two companies.

It has now been reported that some ITV channels like ITV2 - home to Love Island - and ITV4 - home to Tour de France coverage - could also go.

Last weekend Virgin customers were left without 10 UKTV channels, including five which are free-to-air.

Virgin Media angered customers by scrapping UKTV channels last weekend

At present, Virgin has said it is trying to resolve the dispute with UKTV and that it is dealing with customers on a case by case basis.

Virgin Media said the situation with ITV is different.

A Virgin Media spokesperson said: 'We continue to have constructive discussions with ITV. All ITV channels remain live on Virgin TV and we have no intention of removing them.'

If you are a Virgin customer and you are out of contract, you're free to leave at any point and just need to give 30 days' notice.

As the most competitive prices are usually reserved for new customers, you are likely to get a better deal if you switch to a new provider.

You can also try and haggle a better deal from Virgin. If you're leaving because of the lost channels, tell it and ask if it can provide anything else, such as a discount on your package.

It may be the case that it offers you a sweetener to persuade you to stay, but if not you're free to leave and move to another provider.

If you are still in a contract with Virgin it is slightly harder to leave. It hasn't yet confirmed if customers will be allowed to leave penalty free after the UKTV channels disappeared.

It has now been reported that some ITV channels could be the next to go which could mean millions of TV fans would miss out on the final of Love Island

The terms and conditions of the contract mean if you leave early you may have to pay a penalty fee.

This could be either a set amount or the remainder of the contract, depending on when you signed up and the reasons for leaving.

However, if this is the situation it is worth asking Virgin to waive the penalty fee.

Contact it and explain that you are leaving because of the loss of channels, and ask for the fee to be waived.

If Virgin Media refuses to let you leave, or if it offers an alternative which isn't suitable, you are free to complain. You can complain directly to it through its official complaints process and it then has eight weeks in which to respond.

If after this time it hasn't come back to you, or you're still not happy, you can escalate the complaint to the free-to-use independent adjudicator service CISAS.

An Ofcom spokesperson said: 'We are concerned about the impact of this dispute on viewers, and we will be meeting both parties as a priority to see whether it can be resolved.

'People who feel they've been treated unfairly should contact Virgin Media directly about their own position, and complain to Ofcom if they are not satisfied with the outcome.'

The company is currently being investigated by Ofcom to see if it is breaking consumer law by charging customers who move home the early exit fee - even when Virgin Media is not available in the home they are moving to..

The regulator provisionally concluded in May it believes Virgin Media has been overcharging customers early termination fees on contracts for its broadband, phone and telephone services.

The watchdog launched a formal investigation into the telecoms giant last summer into the fairness of its terms and conditions - specifically its charges for ending a contract early - after receiving scores of complaints from customersRoyal Mail is behaving as if the savage defeat over pay at its annual general meeting is an aberration and it can weather the storm.

But as chairman of the business select committee Rachel Reeves MP makes clear, Royal Mail risks reputational damage for the way it rides roughshod over governance.

Instead of an apology and pledge of profound change from chairman Peter Long there is a flaccid promise to engage with investors in the autumn.

A letter by pay chief Orna Ni-Chionna to Reeves is legalistic and defensive with not a word of contrition.

As a privatised public utility Royal Mail has an unusually large group of private shareholders and special responsibility to make sure every penny is spent wisely

Ni-Chionna says burying the arrangement where new chief executive Rico Back was paid 5.8million for buying out his contract with a subsidiary in financial notes to the accounts was appropriate.

But such inter-company payments always have been frowned upon in the context of public companies when shareholder money is at stake.

Ni-Chionna is unrepentant in spite of an overwhelming rejection of Backs pay package and a golden handshake for former chief executive Moya Greene.

That she should also be in charge of remuneration at Burberry where pay, bonuses and expenses are famously excessive is inexplicable. Holding down six jobs (many of us have trouble with one) obviously is taking its toll on sound judgement.

As a privatised public utility Royal Mail has an unusually large group of private shareholders and special responsibility to make sure every penny is spent wisely.

It may like to think of itself as a great global business. Yet 78 per cent of its turnover and 71 per cent of its profits still come from UK letter and parcel delivery.

It is misleading to argue that Backs international role makes it sensible to live in Zurich. His laser focus should be on providing a Swiss-style, clockwork collection and delivery service in the UK.

All the hard work of Greene in modernising Royal Mail and creating a more efficient postal service is being lost in a miasma of unthinking behaviour in the boardroom.

Former travel boss Long, Ni-Chionna and the other independents must get a grip fast. Thats what they get paid to do.

Security sham

While on governance, Royal Mail supplier De La Rue, printer of postage stamps, could do with remedial lessons too.

A praetorian guard of apparatchiks and outside advisers deemed that our assiduous reporter Lucy White was too much of a security risk and refused entry to the Basingstoke annual meeting.

De La Rue believes that because it prints banknotes  but not the new blue British passport  it ranks with GCHQ in the right to lock out media.

The real reason is that it was loath to give publicity to representatives of activist investor Crystal Amber, rightly critical of a tumbling share price, anaemic profits and slow embrace of efficiencies.

Long experience suggests that it is only companies with something to hide which use obscure reasons to allow some light to be shed on their affairs.

Company meetings may technically be for shareholders. But by refusing the media access, De La Rue is depriving investors of data critical to price formation for the shares.

Sky high

There must be a touch of sadness as the Sky flag is lowered over Isleworth in London. In the next few weeks Europes leading satellite broadcaster will fall under the control of media giants Comcast and Disney, depending on who wins the biding war.

What they will gain is technology and a European champion forged largely by the quiet man of broadcasting, Jeremy Darroch, over the last decade.

Sky will bow out honourably with income of 13.5billion, profits of 864million and a UK customer base of 500,000.

It also has demonstrated an ability to create quality productions such as the acclaimed Patrick Melrose drama.

As traditional media firms gird their loins to fight disrupters Netflix and Amazon, no one knows where the pieces will fall. History suggests the current 26billion and rising battle for Sky may not be the last word.

Cash please

A super-Thursday of FTSE 100 results was a big moment for share buybacks with Shell promising up to 19billion and Diageo, riding a pink gin craze, some 2billion.

Buybacks have become more popular with big battalion investors than dividends.

But most private investors would prefer real money.IMPORTANT UPDATE: HMRC later changed its stance on the credit transfer time limits explained below. Find out about its current rules on transfers

Emma Maslin: Not signing up for child benefit could lose her nearly 20k over a 20 year retirement

Thousands of parents are facing a poorer retirement for failing to fill in a form within three months of having a baby.

Many don't realise mistakes in the hectic weeks after children are born can end up costing them tens of thousands of pounds in old age.

Emma Maslin, 37, (pictured right) has lost four years of credits towards her state pension which could leave her nearly 20,000 out of pocket if she lives for 20 years after retirement.

When she tried to correct the record she discovered parents aren't allowed to backdate credits by more than three months.

Even those who do manage to fill out the forms may still miss out because they are so complicated it can be easy to make a mistake  and there is little forbearance for anyone who does.

The problem arises from the convoluted way parents who take time out to look after children must apply to keep their state pension records intact.

Parents in this situation are entitled to credits that mean they shouldnt receive a stingier pension just because they took time out of the workforce to look after their children.

But bizarrely, the way to get state pension credits is by applying for child benefit  you automatically receive credits when you fill in the form.

Some parents are not eligible for child benefit, but do not realise they have to register for it anyway to get the state pension credits.

Other parents are losing pension rights even when they do make child benefit claims in time, because they made innocent blunders on the form.

Couples tell us they are struggling to sort out old child benefit claims dating back 10 and even 20 years, but getting bogged down trying to convince the taxman to set things straight.

Have you lost state pension by not signing up for child benefits or filling form in wrong? If this has happened to you, contact tanya.jefferies@thisismoney.co.uk and tell us your story.

HMRC is accused of creating a 'shambles' by giving out incorrect information to parents and failing to explain its refusal of appeals to sort things out.

Couples have come forward after reading This is Money columns by former Pensions Minister Steve Webb about people getting ensnared in 'nightmare' child benefit red tape.

This year, he has highlighted problems faced by one woman who mistakenly put her husband's name first on the child benefit form, and another who like Emma failed to register because she wasn't eligible for the payments.

The mess is potentially depriving tens of thousands of people - mostly but not only women - of future state pension, which currently stands at 164.35 a week.

Some parents might be able to make up the deficit by delaying retirement when they do return to work or by forking out for voluntary top-ups later, but others won't be able to do this.

'Making sure that people getting child benefit get protection for their state pension is a vital part of the system,' says Steve Webb, who is now policy director at Royal London.

Steve Webb: 'We need to keep up the pressure to get this sorted out,' says ex-Pensions Minister and This is Money columnist

'But trying to resolve problems when the credits havent been awarded or have been claimed by the wrong person is proving to be a nightmare, and many people may simply give up.

'The rules around transferring credits from one partner to another are so complex that even HMRC dont seem to be able to get them right - the whole thing is a shambles.

'We need to keep up the pressure to get this sorted out, otherwise too many parents will miss out on the pension that is rightfully theirs.'

Rachael Griffin, tax and financial planning expert at Old Mutual Wealth, says: 'With anything like this, it's a minefield.

'A lot of the unfairness in the system is invariably about people not understanding that state pension credits are available to them, and then how to claim them. Generally people aren't au fait with form filling.'

She backs Webb's call for the Government to fully backdate state pension credits when people sign up late for child benefit, saying: 'If anyone is entitled to state pension credits then they should be entitled to more than three months.

'When people are claiming for this they have just had children. They have busy lives. It's not the first thing on their to do list. They are thinking about how they are going to care for their children rather than any state pension benefit.'

Treasury committee speaks out Nicky Morgan MP, chair of the Treasury committee, has also expressed worries and pushed the Government and HMRC to look into the issue of parents losing state pension. She says: 'Its concerning that parents who havent registered for child benefit for fear of the higher tax rate charge may be forgoing part of their future state pension.' She added: 'Parents can transfer National Insurance credits between themselves without transferring who receives the money, but HMRC does not monitor the number of transfers. 'This is concerning, so the committee has asked HMRC what work it has done to publicise the possibility of National Insurance credits transfer.'

Each credit missed could cost you 1/35 of the value of the state pension  around 244 per year or 4,880 over the course of a typical 20 year retirement. Four years lost works out at 19,520.

HMRC has changed child benefit forms to say claiming 'can help to protect your state pension' - but not that you risk losing thousands of pounds in old age if the wrong parent fills in the application, or you omit to claim because you don't qualify for payouts.

Forms are handed out in 'Bounty Packs' in hospitals after births, but parents say these come filled with money-off flyers and promotions and it's not clear they also contain important documents.

HMRC stresses the importance of parents making a claim for child benefit to protect their state pension.

'Customers can find specific information on the child benefit claim form, through the HMRC helpline, online at gov.uk, through partners such as Citizens Advice, and in the Bounty packs that go to new parents,' it says. The tax office has also responded to individual cases below.

Mum loses four years of credits she can't get back

Emma Maslin didn't apply for child benefit when her daughter was born, without realising this would damage her state pension rights.

Tens of thousands of people - overwhelmingly new mothers - like Emma are believed to have missed out on vital credits as fewer now register for child benefit following a shake-up in 2013.

New baby: Many people have no idea child benefit has any link to how much state pension they will get decades later

The controversial overhaul reduced the entitlement for those earning 50,000-plus a year or wiped it out entirely for those earning 60,000-plus.

But parents who earn too much to qualify for child benefit still have to apply for it so that they receive state pension credits.

Those who failed to sign up when the new rules began could have lost six years of state pension credits by now.

Emma eventually learnt of her mistake and registered for child benefit even though she couldn't receive the payments.

But like others who have fallen into this trap, she then discovered HMRC would only backdate her state pension credits for three months.

She has lost four years of credits as a result.

Emma lives in Buckinghamshire and is head of business development for a children's nursery. She also writes a blog for families called The Money Whisperer, where she has publicised her experiences to her readers so they don't lose out too.

She believes state pension credits should be fully backdated in cases like hers, and should be officially linked to parents registering a birth, not to making child benefit claims.

'The paperwork comes in these bounty packs. There's so much paperwork and flyers and things, you don't know about it. I have an issue that it comes in the pack with a lot of other promotional stuff when it's an important document. They are full of money off vouchers. A new mother has got a lot to do,' she says.

Steve Webb says: 'If Emma Maslin didnt claim because of the high income issue, then she is a classic case of why they should relax the three month backdating rule.

'Nobody disputes that she would have been eligible for credits if she had signed up at the time, and it is obviously the case that just re-wording the leaflet hasnt picked up people, so they need to do more.

'I reckon there are tens of thousands of mums in high income couples missing out on credits every year, and at some point someone will have to do something about this.'

Child benefit form: 'Although the guide and the claim form talk about "protecting" your state pension, it could certainly say more clearly that the person who does not claim could end up with a smaller pension,' says Steve Webb

Couples left mystified over transfer refusals

Parents who do claim child benefit are also running into problems after making innocent errors when filling in the forms.

They are being blocked from transferring state pension rights between them when the 'wrong' partner signs up for child benefit, and are in the dark about why HMRC has refused them.

It's important a parent who is not working is the one named on the form to get child benefit, as credits - or their forerunner known as Home Responsibilities Protection or HRP - are worthless to someone employed and already paying enough NI to get a full state pension.

But the option to correct this via a transfer is so obscure even Steve Webb wasn't aware of it until he tried to help a This is Money reader in June.

And two couples who tried to transfer have been left confused and frustrated by the process.

How do you transfer credits or HRP? You can apply to have credits/HRP transferred for any year up to and including 2009/10 by filling in form CF411. There is no time limit on transfer applications before then, but there are from 2010/11 to 2016/17. Credits can now only be transferred for the most recent tax year, if you claim before 5 April in the following tax year, by filling in form CF411A.

The taxman sent them baffling letters, stating that claimants had to reach state pension age between April 2008 and April 2010 to qualify for transfers, although it has since admitted this was incorrect and apologised.

HMRC confirmed the condition is you must reach state pension age on or after 6 April 2008, and that the bungle will be sorted in future decision letters.

But it has failed to explain whether earlier rejections will now be reversed, and if not why it is standing firm on them.

Until he read Webb's recent column about transfers, Joe Savage assumed his wife Michyo had lost seven years' worth of HRP for good because he had claimed child benefit instead of her between 1995 and 2002.

They were not told years could be transferred between them when they switched payments to her back then. But Michyo, 56, applied and got rejected in June.

The Savages, who live in East Sussex and have two children, were also nonplussed when HMRC subsequently told This is Money that Joe, 51, was not in receipt of child benefit between 1995 and 2002, so their application was declined because there was no HRP to transfer.

Within a matter of hours, accountant Joe sent documents to This is Money showing child benefit was being paid to him during that period, aside from a short hiatus between November 1995 and July 1996 while he and his family were abroad.

After he provided the additional information, HMRC said it was confident the Savages' transfer was refused on the right criteria, not the incorrect 2008-2010 state pension age criteria given in the refusal letter. But several weeks later, it wrote again to the couple saying five out of the seven years could be transferred.

Why is it so important to claim child benefit? Those who sign up get valuable credits towards their eventual state pension, providing they are not working and building up their National Insurance record that way. It's crucial a parent who is not working is the one named on the form to get the child benefit, as these credits are worthless to someone employed and already paying enough NI. You can apply to transfer it later, but couples report being refused this option for reasons they don't understand and HMRC has so far failed to explain. Meanwhile, new parents - predominantly women - who fail to sign up because they don't qualify for the payments can end up losing many years' worth of credits they can't get back. This is because if they discover their mistake and belatedly sign up, HMRC will only backdate their records for three months.

HMRC has given no further explanation to This is Money so far. It says people who disagree with transfer decisions can ask for them to be looked at again.

'It's very frustrating dealing with HMRC,' says Joe, who with hairdresser wife Michyo plans to keep fighting to transfer the remaining two years.

'They haven't explained why they rejected the initial claim,' he added.

The taxman's admission it sent out incorrect rejection letters hasn't shed any light for another couple. Raina Thurgood and Martin Ryott from Essex were refused a transfer of two years of HRP from 2008 to 2010 from her name into his one.

Martin, 50, a production editor who stopped working in 2008 to look after the couple's three children, has lost HRP and state pension credits for 10 years in total. There are time limits on transferring credits from 2010 onwards.

'At the time our children were born both my husband and I were working and I claimed the child benefit,' says Raina, 48, a senior customer services manager.

'When it came to returning to work after my last maternity leave, we calculated that it was in our interest for my husband to stay home while I returned to work. We did not realise at the time that this would affect my husbands National Insurance credits.

'Really the damage has been done. It's fundamentally unfair. There are more stay at home dads now but it's usually the mum. It's going to affect more men.'

In Martin and Raina's case, HMRC failed to respond to repeated requests from This is Money to explain why their transfer was turned down.

Credits lost as HMRC wrangles with couple over change of address

One couple plan to complain to the Parliamentary Ombudsman after reaching deadlock in a row with HMRC over three years' worth of lost state pension credits.

What if HMRC rejects your complaint? The Parliamentary Ombudsman is the final stop for complaints that have not been resolved by UK government departments including HMRC, the NHS or other public organisations. But it can only look at complaints referred by an MP, so you need to contact your local member first to explain your case and get them to sign your form before submitting it. The Ombudsman says: 'We look into complaints where someone believes there has been injustice or hardship because an organisation has not acted properly or has given a poor service and not put things right. 'We look into complaints fairly and our service is free for everyone.' The website is here.

Anna Smith signed up for child benefit when she and husband John (not their real names) had twins in 2010, but she subsequently opted out because they no longer qualified for payments, without realising this might affect her state pension.

However, HMRC says the reason their child benefit came to an end was because they had lived in Spain for more than two years, and it notified them of this by letter.

The couple is now locked in dispute with the taxman on several fronts. They say John remained a UK taxpayer and paid full National Insurance contributions while his firm seconded him to Spain, so their child benefit should not have been terminated on that account, nor any state pension credits lost.

They also say they never received the letter in Spain, because they had already returned to the UK and informed HMRC of their change of address before the date it was sent.

The couple point to the www.gov.uk/tell-hrmc-change-address website, which states that updating your address with HMRC will also update your address for child benefit.

However, HMRC's position is they should have told the Child Benefit Office their new address. An HMRC spokesperson said: 'When there is a change of circumstance, including a change of address, claimants are specifically required to notify the Child Benefit Office.'

John says: 'They are clearly in the wrong. Irrespective, it is irrelevant, as I was employed by my UK employer throughout still paying UK tax - they can check this if they bother - so my wife is entitled. Why cant they correct their mistake?'

What must you report to the Child Benefit Office? HMRC says you must tell the office straight away, and include the date, if: * Your bank account, name or address changes * A relationship ends * You start a new relationship, for example you move in with a new partner or remarry * The childs parent has died * You intend to go abroad for more than eight weeks * You or your partner intend to move abroad permanently or for more than a year * Youre a Crown servant leaving the UK for a posting abroad * You move to or from Northern Ireland * You have a baby, or a child comes to live with you * Payments or contributions for a child who doesnt live with you stop or change * Youre paid to look after a child by a local council or similar * Your immigration status changes * You lose the right to reside in the UK * You get a prison sentence of more than 8 weeks * You have any other changes to your family life. Read more on the Government's website here.

The couple have contacted their MP and plan to appeal to the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

Many grandparents caring for kids fail to claim credits they are owed

Many grandparents taking on childcare duties could be unwittingly losing credits towards a state pension.

Pensions Minister Guy Opperman recently confirmed that just 19,000 people have made use of the perk that allows working parents to transfer unused credits to grandparents looking after under-12s.

Royal London has previously calculated there are some 100,000 grandparents who could benefit if the scheme had a higher profile.

Unlike with parents applying late for child benefit, who only get credits backdated by three months, the Government lets grandparents claim transfers for years all the way back to 6 April 2011.

The recipient must still be of working age, but otherwise the process involves the parent filling in and submitting a form.

Rachael Griffin of Old Mutual Wealth said: 'With childcare costs surging to become a disproportionate amount of peoples salary, grandparents often throw families a much needed lifeline by taking on the care.

'However, the vast majority of this workforce are not seizing what they rightly deserve, as Guy Opperman has confirmed that since 2011 just 19,000 people have taken advantage of the governments childcare credits. A worrying figure, given the option has been in place for over seven years.

'While spending your days taking trips to the zoo and having picnics in the park may sound like a holiday, taking care of young children while doing so makes it more akin to working a fulltime job. National Insurance credits are the least this unsung workforce deserves.'

Opperman said in a written answer to a fellow MP: 'A communications campaign to raise awareness began when the credits were introduced.

'The Department also provided information to stakeholder organisations to encourage wider awareness raising. Gov.uk contains full details of Specified Adult Childcare credits and how to apply for them.

'This information is signposted to individuals when they request a State Pension forecast at the Check your State Pension service.'

'These credits can be backdated until 6 April 2011 and the Government encourages everyone who is eligible to apply.'MBABANE  With one day before emaSwati nominate their favourite candidates to represent them in Parliament, the SNYC has observed that the youth is suitable for the positions of bucopho and headmen. (Indvuna Yenkhundla)



SNYC is an acronym for Swaziland National Youth Council, while youth refers to a person between the ages of 18 and 35.

Speaking during the national radio programme Letishisako yesterday morning, the councils Dumisani Simelane said the position of bucopho was a starting point for the youth. Simelane urged the youth to participate and support each other to make sure that they formed part of the 11th Parliament as bucopho or headmen.



According to the Elections and Boundaries Commissions (EBC) statistics, 54 per cent of those who registered for the national elections was the youth, something which raised hopes for the council.

Commenting on the statistics, the EBC Public Relations Officer, Mbonisi Bhembe, said the number of young people showed that they adhered to the teachings of the commission. Simelane said the position of bucopho was where young people got exposed to the needs of the people at community level.



He said the position would help the youth learn to coordinate as they would be working closely with the communities and the constituents.

He said the youth would also learn about the operation of the Tinkhundla system of governance.



The more they identify and solve the problems in their communities, the more they establish themselves for the next position, he said.

Simelane said the youth could play a pivotal role in influencing the operations of government, through communicating the challenges which hindered the success at their communities, to the relevant authorities.



He made an example that among the things that affected the youth in the country was the high unemployment rate. The increased unemployment rate was acknowledged by the Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs, David Ngcamphalala, during the annunciation of the revival of Youth Enterprise Fund at Mountain Inn Hotel last week.MBABANE  A total of 148 emaSwati women will be put on the long-acting injectable cabotegravir for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

The long-acting injectable cabotegravir offers prevention against HIV and AIDS.



Eswatini is expected to be part of the clinical trials of the HPTN 084, a multi-country, multi-site randomised controlled superiority clinical trial exploring the safety and efficacy of the long-acting injectable cabotegravir.

This would be compared to daily oral tenofovir, dispoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine for PrEP in HIV-uninfected women.

This is a worldwide collaborative clinical trial network that brings together investigators, communities and other partners to develop and test the drug.

Other participating countries in the clinical trials include South Africa, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Botswana and Zimbabwe.



People taking the injection are expected to receive 800mg every eight weeks. Cabotegravir (abbreviated as CAB LA) falls under the class of anti-retroviral medicines called integrase inhibitors.

Clinical trials of the HIV injection are expected to begin by the end of August and will target HIV-uninfected women.

This is according to the Head of Research at the Ministry of Health Zandi Mnisi, who said they were expecting to recruit women aged 18 to 45 years old.

Mnisi said agencies involved in the trial included the Ministry of Health, ICAP Swaziland and the Family Life Association of Swaziland.

The project is funded by the National Institute of Health in the United States.



Mnisi said the enrolment would last for 12 months and this would be followed by a follow-up period of four and a half years.

She said they already had a pharmacy, laboratory and refrigerators and were awaiting independent assessors from outside the country to visit the site and determine whether it met the required standards.

According to Mnisi, locally the Medicines Regulatory Authority is expected to visit the site for the second time. The first time they came to check on the site they advised us to fix a few things otherwise they said we were on the right track.

She said due to the fact that it was an investigational drug which was not approved by SBA, anything could happen during the trials. We want to have a room where we would be able to resuscitate participants and we have a contract with EPR and Mbabane Clinic who would be responsible when complications are experienced, she said.

However, she said the blood samples during the trials would be analysed by BARC Laboratories in South Africa, while others would be conducted locally at the Mbabane Government Hospital laboratory.

She said the intention was that one laboratory is used by all the countries that would take part in order to get satisfactory results.

Further, Mnisi said the overall study period would be approximately over four and a half years, with individual participants being followed on randomised study product between one and a half years (for the last enrolling participants) to approximately 3.6 years (for the earliest enrolling participants), after an accrual period of approximately two years.



MBABANE  While the public is taxed to the bone to fund government activities among other things, a crucial government department was without electricity for close to two days.



This was the Home Affairs offices adjacent to Dlanubeka Building, which are responsible for the processing of national identity cards, birth and death certificates among other things. The problem which started on Tuesday, overlapping to midday yesterday, saw dozens of people from various parts of the country having to turn back without getting services, despite paying at government revenues. It was gathered that the problem was caused by a shortage of electricity units as opposed to a fault.



The offices service dozens of people daily, who need national identity documents as well as birth, death and marriage certificates processed. The citizens were turned back on Tuesday afternoon after they were informed that there was no electricity. The unavailability of electricity meant people could not have any of their documents processed.



This happens at a time when memories of government vehicles being grounded are still very fresh in the publics mind. Last week, government service delivery came to a near halt as there was no fuel. This made it nearly impossible for people to get service delivery and this included inmates who could not go to court, civil servants could not attend meetings and police could not stage roadblocks.



Fuel was not the only finance related challenge faced by government, as there were reports of hospitals facing drug challenges in the past, while civil servants are still at loggerheads with it (government) over a cost-of-living adjustment.



Sandile Mavuso of Zone 2, who was found outside the Home Affairs offices yesterday, said he was among those who were turned back on Tuesday. Mavuso said he was at the offices by 9am on Tuesday and had gone there to apply for an ID.



He narrated that they were given forms to fill in, which they did and later submitted. He said they were informed at around 2pm that there were electricity challenges which were being sorted and they would be assisted.



Mavuso narrated that they were told that steps were being taken to address the challenge but they were unsuccessful. He stated that they then had to leave after being told to leave their forms, and promised that they would be the first to be attended to the next day.A massive underground lake has been detected for the first time on Mars, raising hopes that more water  and maybe even life  exists there, international astronomers said Wednesday.

Located under a layer of Martian ice, the lake is about 12 miles (20 kilometers) wide, said the report led by Italian researchers in the US journal Science.

It is the largest body of liquid water ever found on the Red Planet.

"Water is there. We have no more doubt," co-author Enrico Flamini, the Italian space agency\s Mars Express mission manager, told a press conference.

Mars is now cold, barren and dry but it used to be warm and wet. It was home to plenty of liquid water and lakes at least 3.6 billion years ago.

Scientists are eager to find signs of contemporary water, because such discoveries are key to unlocking the mystery of whether life ever formed on Mars in its ancient past, and whether it might persist today.

"This is a stunning result that suggests water on Mars is not a temporary trickle like previous discoveries but a persistent body of water that provides the conditions for life for extended periods of time," said Alan Duffy, an associate professor at Swinburne University in Australia, who was not involved in the study.

Being able to access water sources could also help humans survive on a future crewed mission to Earth\s neighboring planet, with NASA aiming to send explorers in the 2030s.

This particular lake, however, would be neither swimmable nor drinkable, and it lies almost a mile deep (1.6 kilometers) beneath the icy surface in a harsh and frigid environment.

Whether microbial forms of life could lie within is a matter of debate.

Some experts are skeptical of the possibility since the lake is so cold and briny, mixed with a heavy dose of dissolved Martian salts and minerals.

The temperature is likely below the freezing point of pure water, but the lake can remain liquid due to the presence of magnesium, calcium and sodium.

"This is a discovery of extraordinary significance, and is bound to heighten speculation about the presence of living organisms on the Red Planet," said Fred Watson of the Australian Astronomical Observatory.

"Caution needs to be exercised, however, as the concentration of salts needed to keep the water liquid could be fatal for any microbial life similar to Earth\s," added Watson, who was not involved in the research.

 Radar detection 

The discovery was made using a radar instrument on board the European Space Agency\s Mars Express orbiter, which launched in 2003.

The tool is called the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS), and was designed to find subsurface water by sending radar pulses that penetrate the surface and ice caps.

MARSIS "then measures how the radio waves propagate and reflect back to the spacecraft," said the study.

These reflections "provide scientists with information about what lies beneath the surface."

A team of researchers led by Roberto Orosei of the National Institute for Astrophysics in Bologna, Italy, surveyed a region called Planum Australe, located in the southern ice cap of Mars, from May 2012 until December 2015.

A total of 29 sets of radar samplings showed a "very sharp change in its associated radar signal," allowing scientists to map the outlines of the lake.

"The radar profile of this area is similar to that of lakes of liquid water found beneath the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets on Earth, suggesting that there is a subglacial lake at this location on Mars," said the report.

Researchers said they are not sure how far down it goes, but that it may be around three feet (one meter) deep.





 Confirmation needed 

"This is the first body of water it has detected, so it is very exciting," David Stillman, a senior research scientist in the Department of Space Studies at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, told AFP in an email.

However, Stillman, who was not involved in the research, said another spacecraft, or other instruments, need to be able to confirm the discovery.

He noted that a higher-frequency radar instrument made by the Italian space agency SHARAD, on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter launched in 2005, has been unable to detect subsurface water.

"It is strange that SHARAD cannot confirm this discovery. In fact, SHARAD cannot penetrate through the ice here and no one understands why it can\t," Stillman said.

"This suggests that something strange is going on here. Thus, I\m skeptical about this discovery."

But researchers are excited about the potential for future finds, because if liquid water could be found at Mars\s south pole, it might be elsewhere too.

"There\s nothing special about this location other than the MARSIS radar on the Mars Express spacecraft is most sensitive to that region," said Duffy.

"There are likely similar water deposits below the ground all across Mars."

SOURCE: AFPA string of suicide blasts and raids claimed by the Islamic State group killed more than 220 people in southern Syria on Wednesday, in one of the jihadists\ deadliest ever assaults in the country.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attacks hit several areas of the largely government-held southern province of Sweida, where IS retains a presence in a northeastern desert region.

The bloodshed came almost a week into a Russia-backed regime campaign to oust IS fighters from a holdout in a neighbouring province of the country\s south.

IS claimed responsibility for the violence, saying "soldiers of the caliphate" attacked Syrian government positions and security outposts in Sweida city, then detonated explosive belts.

The Britain-based Observatory said four suicide bombers targeted Sweida city while others hit small villages to the north and east and shot residents in their homes.

At least 221 people were killed, including 127 civilians, the Observatory said.

The remaining 94 dead were pro-regime fighters, mostly residents who took up arms to defend their homes, it said.

The overwhelming majority of the dead "were in (Sweida\s) northern countryside, where the bodies of civilians executed inside their homes were found," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Sweida, whose residents are mostly from the Druze minority, has been relatively insulated from the war that has ravaged the rest of the country since 2011.

"It\s the bloodiest death toll in Sweida province since the start of the war" and one of the deadliest ever IS attacks in Syria, the Observatory chief said.

He said regime forces eventually ousted IS from several villages its fighters had seized and put an end to the attacks.

"Some residents who fled the attacks on their villages are returning and finding people dead in their homes," Abdel Rahman said.

At least 38 IS fighters were also killed, including the suicide attackers.

 Abandoned shoes 

State media confirmed the attacks had killed and wounded people in Sweida city and villages to the north and east but did not give a specific toll.

"Today\s crime shows that countries supporting terrorism are trying to breathe life back into the terrorist organisation to keep it as a card in their hand that they will use to achieve political gains," Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as he received Russia\s envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev.

"These attempts will only succeed in shedding more innocent blood," he added, in comments carried on his social media accounts.

Omar, a resident of Sweida city, told AFP explosions began rocking the city around 5:30 am local time (0230 GMT).

"The blast was sudden and unexpected. Never in its history has Sweida seen such a tough day," he told AFP.

State news agency SANA published images from the city of the attack\s aftermath, showing a victim\s remains sprawled on a staircase near a damaged wall.

Abandoned shoes lay in the middle of the road among fruit that had spilt out of cartons.

An eyewitness said Sweida\s national hospital was "packed".

He said he saw "people bringing in a lot of wounded in their own private cars.. Others were coming to the hospital to ask if loved ones they had lost track of were there".

The UN\s humanitarian coordinator in Syria Ali al-Zaatari condemned the "terrorist bombing in Sweida city", saying all civilians should be protected.

Government ally Russia said the IS attacks "confirm the need for energetic and coordinated efforts by the international community to eradicate this universal evil from Syrian territory".

Pro-government forces ousted IS from urban centres in eastern Syria last year, but IS raids in recent months have killed dozens of regime and allied fighters.

The jihadists still hold some territory in Syria\s south, including in Sweida and another isolated but larger patch in neighbouring Daraa province, to the west.

That pocket is held by Jaish Khaled bin al-Walid, a jihadist faction whose 1,000 fighters have pledged allegiance to IS.

After ousting mainstream rebels from most of the south, Assad\s troops backed by his Russian allies are now closing in on the IS pocket in Daraa.

SANA said the attacks on Sweida were an attempt to relieve pressure "on IS remnants facing their inevitable end in the western Daraa countryside".

 Desert holdouts 

On Wednesday, Russia-backed regime forces pressed their heavy bombardment of IS territory in Daraa.

At least 41 civilians have been killed in air strikes on the jihadist holdout since July 19, while clashes have killed 49 regime fighters and 67 jihadists, says the Observatory.

Last month, Assad\s forces launched a lightning assault that battered rebel areas in the south and brought most of Daraa province under his control.

They then moved on to Quneitra, the neighbouring province which borders the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.

On Tuesday, a Syrian military source accused Israel of firing at one of its warplanes as it carried out operations against jihadists in Quneitra.

Israel\s army on Tuesday said it had shot down a Syrian fighter jet that had infiltrated Israeli airspace, risking another escalation around the sensitive buffer zone.

The Damascus regime has long accused Israel of backing IS, which overran large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014 but has since lost most of that territory.

More than 350,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since Syria\s war started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

SOURCE: AFP[July 26, 2018] TechCanary Incorporates in Canada as TechCanary Insurance Software of Canada ULC TechCanary, a provider of a cloud-based, analytics-driven insurance solution built natively on the Salesforce platform, announced that it has incorporated in Canada as TechCanary Insurance Software of Canada ULC and has established a Canadian headquarters office. The company's rapidly growing Canadian market share and expanding client base are key reasons for the incorporation. TechCanary's new Chief Revenue Officer, Saima Shaukat and Chief Technology Officer, Pat Forgione will reside in the Canada office and are currently building an expanded Canada-based team dedicated to support existing clients and engage new clients in the region. Commenting on the incorporation and new office, Reid Holzworth, TechCanary CEO and co-founder, said, "Our TechCanary platform and value proposition have really resonated with the Canadin market, resulting in an overwhelming demand for our broker management system and related services."





Holzworth added, "While there are a lot of similarities between the U.S. and Canadian markets, we also recognize that Canadian brokers, and carriers have their own unique needs. We are focused on expansion in Canada and the Canadian HQ is proof of our commitment with a team of talented professionals who bring expertise in the nuances of the Canadian insurance market." The address of the new TechCanary Canada office is: 555 Boul. St. Martin West Suite 240

Laval, QC H7M 1Y9, Canada About TechCanary Founded in 2013, TechCanary is an InsurTech company offering a leading insurance solution available on Salesforce. The company's mission is to provide the insurance industry new and innovative alternatives to legacy brokerage management systems and generic CRM and call center solutions. The TechCanary offering is a configurable, cloud-based insurance solution for agencies, brokerages, carriers, MGAs, MGUs and wholesalers who want to gain competitive advantage by supporting their insurance business their way, and not as traditional insurance software dictates. The TechCanary insurance solution manages the entire insurance sales and service process in a single environment for all lines of business including property and casualty, life, annuities and employee benefits. To learn more about TechCanary, please call 414-446-3999 or visit techcanary.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180726005068/en/

[ Back To Call Center Management Homepage ]By Trend





Iran has conducted negotiations with the Azerbaijani officials on development of mutual cooperation in field of health tourism, Vice-President and Head of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Ali Asghar Monesan said, IRNA reported.

He made the remarks while visiting the northwestern province of Ardebil.



Referring to the fact that Azerbaijani tourists visit Iran for medical care and visiting Iranian religious sites, Monesan urged for improvement of eco-tourism between the two countries.By Trend





Kazakhstans Ministry of Agriculture has imposed temporary restrictions on the chicken import from Russia, said a message from the ministry.

Veterinary Control and Supervision Committee of the ministry has taken such a decision due to new outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus, said the message.

The avian influenza virus has been found in Orlovsk, Rostov and Nizhny Novgorod regions of Russia.

Aside from poultry meat, the restrictions have been imposed on import of live chickens, hatching eggs, feathers, all kinds of poultry products that have not undergone heat treatment (at least 70  C), feed and feed additives for birds, as well as hunting trophies not treated with taxidermist.

Moreover, Kazakhstan has imposed restrictions on the import of equipment used in the Orlovsk, Rostov and Nizhny Novgorod regions of Russia for bird slaughter and cutting.You have reached a premium content area of TOL. To read this entire article please login if you are already a TOL subscriber.



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More than 60 hotel rooms have already been offered by the Greek tourism sector to cover the immediate housing and feeding needs that have arisen

A massive wave of solidarity is underway across Greece and abroad in order to relieve the victims of the devastating fires in Attica that erupted on Monday, July 23, 2018 and have been totally extinguished since then.

More than 60 hotel rooms have already been offered by the Greek tourism sector to cover the immediate housing and feeding needs that have arisen.

Tornos News, Athens Walking Tours and their employees have already deposited 5,000 euros in the special bank account opened by the Red Cross for the immediate help of all those affected.

Tornos News has also undertaken the initiative of constantly updating its readers on any needs that arise for the relief of the wildfire victims.

For all relevant information and assistance please contact us directly at (0030) 210 8846171-3 and press.room@tornosnews.gr.

Addresses and contact details of the Authorities that coordinate the assistance to the fire victims are as follows and data will be updated whenever a new need arises:

Coordinating Center of Attica Region

The main coordinating center is the Logistics Center of the Attica Region, which can be contacted by telephone at (0030) 210-4819001.

Additional Contact Telephones: (0030) 213 2129104/213 2129105/213 2129117

Fax: (0030)213 2129121

Email: center@patt.gov.gr

The Region Attica has clarified that there is an immediate need for accommodation at all available hospitality units and that more specific needs will be announced in the future.

Municipality of Rafina-Pikermi has opened special bank account for wildfire victims

The Municipality of Rafina-Pikermi announced the opening of a special bank account in cooperation with Piraeus Bank for those who wish to contribute to the effort to relieve wildfire victims.

PIRAEUS BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER: 5186092291418

IBAN: GR20 0172 1860 0051 8609 2291 418





Red Cross also opens special bank account for wildfire victims

The Red Cross has also opened a bank account to relieve the people affected:

EUROBANK ACCOUNT NUMBER: 0026.0240.31.0201181388

IBAN: GR6402602400000310201181388

At the same time, world leaders including Pope Francis affirmed their solidarity to Greece and its government said that 308 engineers will arrive on site by Wednesday to assess the damage.The Cyprus Department of Antiquities, Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works, announces that a fifth joint excavation campaign between the Universities of Ghent, Louvain and the Mediterranean Archaeological Society took place at Pyla-Kokkinokremos from the 27th of March until the 26th of May.

The site of Pyla-Kokkinokremos represents a singularly short-lived settlement in the islands Late Bronze Age history. Established only a generation or so prior to its eventual abandonment in the early 12th century BC, the site provides important evidence relating to the crucial period at the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 12th century BC. Former excavations suggest the entire plateau of ca. 7 ha to have been densely occupied. Excavated parts on the plateau were laid-out regularly within a perimeter casemate wall. During the 2018 season excavations continued both on the west and east lobe in an effort to better discern the layout, organisation and functional specialisation of the settlement.

Sector 4





Several rooms were partly or totally excavated in Sector 4. Their main characteristic is the great depth of deposit, in places up to 3 metres against the slope of the plateau. Specific stratigraphic details point to a natural disaster, possibly a seismic event, which led to the collapse of part of the plateau and the partial sealing of rooms built against it. The excavation of these rooms brought to light novel details suggesting a sudden and very quick departure of the inhabitants from the site, obviously in the face of acute danger.

Therefore, in Room 8 ca. 100 loom weights, still unbaked and in the process of being made with raw strips of clay, were placed in a perishable container, possibly a basket with an oval shape, as their location on the bedrock suggests. The strips of clay were still malleable. It is the first time that such 12th century BC clay becomes available in considerable quantities, ideal for scientific investigation. Fragments of charcoal and burnt soil buried under the collapse of the plateau will provide important chronological details regarding the abandonment and partial destruction of some buildings.

Further loom weights, fired this time, came to light in Rooms 15-16 suggesting the propable location of a loom.

In Room 12-13 a pit was discovered. It contained a complete pithoid jar (Photo Source: Department of Antiquities of Cyprus)

The excavation continued in the partly investigated Rooms 25 and 43-37bin Sector 4.1. It became evident that these rooms continue further to the east, towards the centre of the west lobe of the plateau.

Sector 5





Sector 5 is situated on the south-eastern sector of the summit plateau. (Photo Source: Department of Antiquities of Cyprus)

Five excavation seasons have resulted in the discovery of 34 spaces, built on three distinct terraces. Spaces 21-34 were excavated during the 2018 campaign. The architecture within this sector is remarkably well preserved, especially against the slope. So far, the remains of Sector 5 show no signs of a clear north-south external facade suggesting the presence of a casemate wall.

Spaces 5.26 and 5.28 each seem to have held an outer (settlement) entrance which appears to have been closed off at some point in time. If so, the rock-cut shafts adjacent to the entrance in both these rooms might have belonged to a later phase, since they would not fit within the context of an entrance. Another major element in Space 5.26 is a large, well-cut, trapezoid ashlar block.

Space 5.31 generated an ensemble of finds, namely three dozen chunks of ore neatly stacked within a rectangular surface alongside a complete pithos, a stone hammer and a ca. 2,5 kilo heavy lead block  denoting the use of this room as part of a metal workshop. Assemblages of bronze objects were unearthed in Spaces 5.2 (excavated in 2014) and 5.21. The latter yielded a concentration of more than 100 bronze fragments as well as a sickle, an arrowhead and earrings; presumably all these bronze objects had been collected in a vessel. Some other significant finds are a large stone tripod mortar or vessel (Space 5.25) and a bronze arrowhead, probably intentionally deposited within a crack in the bedrock floor (Space 5.28).

Topographical survey





During the topographical survey of the Kokkinokremos hill a large, hitherto non-published limestone quarry was discovered (Fig. 3). Located immediately below the west lobe of the plateau on which the Late Bronze Age settlement is situated (Sector 4), the quarry extents over ca. 500 metres, with a width of 40 metres and a length between 15 to 24 metres. The exploitation, either by chisels or stone picks, is illustrated by the usual extraction channels (ca. 8 to 10 cm wide) in the rock along with several, unfinished regular blocks. No surface sherds were observed, hence further study is necessary to decide whether the quarry already dates to the Bronze Age or to the historical period occupation that is attested in the proximity. This said, several ashlar blocks were also noted on the surface of the Bronze Age site and some were either found reused in the walls or used as lintels.Based on provisional data by the Bank of Greece, the balance of travel services in May 2018 showed a surplus of 1,273 million, compared with a surplus of 921 million in May 2017. More specifically, travel receipts in May 2018 rose by 34.7% to 1,475 million from 1,095 million in May 2017, but this increase was partly offset by a 16.0% rise in travel payments (May 2018: 202 million, May 2017: 174 million). The increase in travel receipts is attributed to a 23.6% increase in inbound traveller flows, as well as to a rise of 10.7% or 56 in average expenditure per trip. Net receipts from travel services offset 91.4% of the goods deficit and accounted for 76.8% of total net receipts from services.

In January-May 2018, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of 1,590 million, up from a surplus of 1,275 million in the same period of 2017. This development was due to an increase in travel receipts (by 449 million or 21.7%), which was partly offset by a rise in travel payments (by 134 million or 16.8%). The rise in travel receipts was driven by a 16.8% increase in inbound traveller flows and by a rise of 5.4% or 24 in average expenditure per trip. Net receipts from travel services offset 20.0% of the goods deficit and accounted for 52.2% of total net receipts from services.

Travel receipts

In May 2018, as mentioned previously, travel receipts rose by 34.7% year-on-year. In more detail, receipts from residents of the EU28 increased by 53.8% to 1,116 million, whereas receipts from outside the EU28 declined by 2.0% (May 2018: 312 million, May 2017: 318 million). The higher receipts from within the EU28 were due to increases in receipts from euro area residents by 66.0% to 769 million and in receipts from residents of non-euro area EU28 countries by 32.4% to 347 million (May 2017: 262 million). Among major countries of origin, receipts from Germany rose by 87.6% to 411 million, as did receipts from France, by 27.0% to 95 million. Receipts from the United Kingdom also increased, by 8.2% to 205 million. Turning to non-EU28 countries, receipts from Russia fell by 43.1% to 19 million, whereas receipts from the United States rose by 8.8% to 83 million.

In January-May 2018, travel receipts increased by 21.7%, relative to the same period of 2017, to 2,518 million. This development is attributed to increases in receipts from within the EU28 by 35.0% to 1,734 million and in receipts from outside the EU28 by 1.2% to 704 million. In particular, receipts from euro area residents rose by 38.8% to 1,185 million, while receipts from residents of non-euro area EU28 countries also increased, by 27.5% to 549 million. Specifically, receipts from France increased by 6.3% to 155 million, and receipts from Germany increased by 65.2% to 565 million. Receipts from the United Kingdom also increased, by 7.6% to 293 million. Turning to non-EU28 countries, receipts from Russia fell by 35.0% to 36 million, whereas receipts from the United States rose by 1.3% to 157 million.

Inbound traveller flows

The number of inbound visitors in May 2018 rose by 23.6% year-on-year to 2,450 thousand. Specifically, visitor flows through airports increased by 26.6%, as did visitor flows through road border-crossing points, by 12.4%. This increase in flows is attributed to higher visitor flows from within the EU28 (up 33.5%), as visitor flows from outside the EU28 declined by 2.4%. In greater detail, the number of visitors from within the euro area increased by 39.6% to 1,171 thousand, as did visitors from the non-euro area EU28 countries, by 24.9% (May 2018: 746 thousand, May 2017: 598 thousand). Specifically, the number of visitors from France rose by 20.4% to 173 thousand, and the number of visitors from Germany rose by 59.9% to 551 thousand. Visitors from the United Kingdom also increased, by 4.7% to 297 thousand. Turning to non-EU28 countries, visitors from Russia fell by 40.8% to 24 thousand, whereas visitors from the United States rose by 32.3% to 76 thousand.

In January-May 2018, the number of inbound visitors increased by 16.8% to 5,352 thousand (January-May 2017: 4,584 thousand). Specifically, visitor flows through airports increased by 18.6%, as did visitor flows through road border-crossing points, by 14.2%. In the period under review, the number of visitors from within the EU28 rose by 23.5% year-on-year to 3,716 thousand, while the number of visitors from outside the EU28 also increased, by 3.9% to 1,636 thousand. Visitors from within the euro area rose by 26.8%, as did visitors from the non-euro area EU28 countries, by 19.5%. Specifically, the number of visitors from France increased by 3.8% to 273 thousand, and the number of visitors from Germany increased by 50.2% to 888 thousand. Visitors from the United Kingdom also increased, by 5.3% to 480 thousand. Finally, turning to non-EU28 countries, the number of visitors from Russia decreased by 31.9% to 53 thousand, whereas the number of visitors from the United States rose by 13.0% to 197 thousand.

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Cyprus, Spain, Bulgaria, Portugal, Italy and Romania responded immediately to offer Greece assistance in fighting the deadly fires in Attica, via the European Civil Protection Mechanism

Flags at the European Commission headquarters have been flying at half mast since Wednesday, in solidarity with the victims of the deadly fires in Greece, ANA reports.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who spoke with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and President of the Republic Prokopios Pavlopoulos on Tuesday, said that the Commission will make every possible effort to help Greece and the Greeks.

European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides is in Athens to liaise with Greek authorities and coordinate EU help in fighting Atticas fires.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Andrikkos License: CC-BY-SAGreek Australians have always been a very active community reinforcing the historic ties between the two nations and certainly boosting tourist inflows over the years. Photo: Courtesy of Paniyiri Greek Festival Facebook page

Australias Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has expressed his solidarity with the people of Greece after a deadly wildfire claimed the lives of at least 85 people.

A tragedy that affects Greece also affects Australia, the PM wrote on Twitter.

Australia and Greece share a special relationship nurtured by strong family and community ties, Turnbull added.

Malcolm Turnbull  @TurnbullMalcolm Australia and Greece share a special relationship nurtured by strong family and community ties.



A tragedy that affects Greece also affects Australia.



My thoughts and those of all Australians are with the people of Greece at this tragic time. Arthur Sinodinos AO  @A_Sinodinos As a proud Australian of Greek heritage, my heart goes out to people tragically affected by the Attica wildfires. Worst fire in a decade has inflicted unspeakable horror. #GreekFires 589

190 people are talking about this

Read more at greekreporter.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

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Commonwealth of Australia License: CC-BY-SAGoogle on Tuesday announced that its crises group activated three online tools that can be used to aid wildfire relief efforts in Greece,

The online tools include SOS Alert service, its Crisis Map service and its Person Finder application.

Read more at naftemporiki.gr

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The Bank of Greece board, which was convened for a special emergency meeting on Thursday by bank governor Yannis Stournaras in response to the disastrous Attica fires, has decided to contribute 5.0 million euros for the relief of fire victims, ANA reports.

Expressing deep sorrow for the victims and great economic and environmental disaster caused by the fires, the board members announced the sum will be deposited into the special account created by the finance ministry at the Bank of Greece (: GR4601000230000002341195169) to support the people affected by the fires that broke out throughout Greece on July 23-24 2018.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Dimboukas License: CC-BY-SABahrain had awarded a total of 1,892 tenders worth BD3.75 billion ($9.84 billion) in total value last year, thus registering a growth of 150 per cent in value terms, the country's tender board said in its 2017 annual report.



The total number of opened tenders rose to 1,091 in 2017, up 9.2 per cent from the previous year. In response, 5,208 bids were submitted, stated the Tender Board, the official platform of Bahrain for all new public tender announcements.



According to the report, the top five purchasing authorities with the highest value tenders last year were Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) with BD1.8 billion worth of bids; Gulf Air (BD1.2 billion), the Electricity and Water Authority (BD309 million), Ministry of Housing (BD82 million) and Tatweer Petroleum (BD78 million).



Among the mega projects was Bapco Modernization Program, the purchase of aircraft engines for Gulf Airs new fleet as well as aircrafts Forward sale and leaseback, the transmission of cable works for the Electricity and Water Authority and the construction and maintenance of housing units for Ministry of Housing, said the report.



Minister of Housing and Chairman of the Tender Board Engineer Basim Bin Yacob Al Hamer said: "We had a strong 2017 and we are expecting continued growth over the next 12 months. Procurement laws are being updated to better suit current business needs and further improve an already highly transparent system."



"The cabinet recently approved new streams of revenues that will allow us to hire qualified personnel for new specialized roles, add further value to our services, develop our capacities, and implement further strategic improvements," stated the minister.



The Tender Board said it also worked closely with the public and private sectors in 2017 and recorded greater levels of transparency and engagement with its suppliers and contractors.



The number of local suppliers registered with the tender board jumped to 4,268 from 3,123 the previous year.



The annual report also reveals a healthy 35 per cent increase in international engagement, with 2,948 regional and global companies registering in 2017, compared to 2,176 the year before.



In addition, 2,568 companies took initiative to prequalify themselves for tenders last year, up by 18 per cent from 2016. Keeping up with the growing demands, the tender board achieved phenomenal response time, turning around more than 90 per cent of incoming government requests in less than 14 days.



Hayam Al Awadhi, the secretary general, lauded the Tender Board's success as a part of the ongoing development plan approved by the cabinet chaired by HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Prime Minister, based on the recommendation of the government executive committee chaired by HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister.



She said Bahrain Tender Board was proud of all it had achieved in the past 12 months and planned to continue on the path forward with more enhancements that tie directly back to its vision.



"We plan to continue improving the transparency and efficiency of the kingdoms government procurement practices in ways that are sure to encourage more suppliers and contractors to engage with Bahrain," he added.-TradeArabia News ServiceIsraeli Tax Authorities Will Collect Information about Crypto Investors

Is Israel leading the crypto regulation charge?

Perhaps, as the countrys Tax Authority has decided it was in the publics interest to collect information about cryptocurrency investors. This action follows the Authoritys recent audit at the offices of Bits of Gold where the latter reached an agreement to provide the agency information about customers who transfer over $50,000 a year.

The Tax Authority is taking another step towards locating money laundering through digital currencies. The Authority reached agreements with the Israeli cryptography company Bits of Gold, which serves as a platform for purchasing and trading of Bitcoin and Ethereum. According to the agreements, the company will provide information on each of its customers that made transfers of more than $50,000 over 12 months. At present, the company is obligated to pass on the information about customers that operate on such a scale to the Money Laundering Authority but not to the Tax Authority, in order to protect the privacy of citizens.

This agreement promotes the Tax Authority to locate money laundering using digital currencies since Bits of Gold is one of the largest companies in the field in Israel and has more than 50,000 registered customers. The Tax Authority is expected to approach companies and other platforms operating in this field, in order to reach similar agreements.

Dr. Asher Holzer, Chairman of HeartChain, a blockchain-based platform for medical innovations development funding, said: "Unlike those who criticize the move, those who work in an orderly fashion, wish for the day the Tax Authority and other regulatory bodies will intervene and put the Crypto field in order. The Crypto field receives tremendous interest in Israel, and one of the main obstacles to regulate it, as regularly arises, is the issue of money laundering detection.

The measure taken by the Tax Authority proves that enforcement agencies have ceased to ignore this phenomenon and acknowledged that cryptocurrencies had become a matter of public and economic importance. Transparency and making sure that tax is being paid will help to establish the crypto-currency business as the mainstream modality and an integral part of the payment system. I am hopeful that such measures are meant to promote the Crypto regulation, rather than to burden the activity."

The Tax Authority does not have a legal ground to require companies like Bits of Gold to provide information about their customers. But these companies have a good reason to cooperate with the Tax Authority and pass on the information. They desire to be perceived as companies with legitimate activity. Indeed, the Tax Authority's reference to Bits of Gold and future references to other companies does not necessarily mean that these companies customers are suspected. The goal is to obtain information that will help find those who are using the platform to avoid tax.

For more information on related topics, visit the following channels:BikeSquare, in collaboration with E-bike Rent Barcelona, offers a new summer tour to enjoy the Old City centre, having a taste of Spanish gastronomy and enjoying the Mediterranean sea.



(TRAVPR.COM) SPAIN - July 25th, 2018

A surprising electric bike journey will bring visitors through famous sites and hidden treasures of the Old Town, the Fishermen Port and the Montjuic Hill to discover the strong relationship between Barcelona and the Sea.

The tour, offered by BikeSquare in collaboration with E-bike Rent Barcelona, will bring visitors through the Gothic city centre, to admire the Roman ruins of the ancient Barcino, then to the charming medieval district of El Born, where they will enjoy the marvellous Santa Maria del Mar Church (the Cathedral of the Sea), the narrow streets and the cosy atmosphere.

Here the visitors will have the chance to taste the famous pintxos, the typical tapas of the Basque Country, famous for its exceptional gastronomy and wine.

Then they will ride along the Port Vell to escape the crowds at Montjuic Hill, where exploring the Olympic stadium and the Olympic Swimming pool, enjoying spectacular views of the hole city from the top.

Rolling down the visitors will stop in front of one of the most emblematic symbols of Barcelona, the Columbus Statue and then they will cross the Rambla del Mar bridge. On the other side a Turkish Goleta will be waiting for them offering a 30 tour of pure relax and diversion.

The tour starts every day at 11am and it lasts 3 hours.

Price: 65/person - 30/kid (all included)

For more information, please check BikeSquare website https://ebike.bikesquare.eu/en/barcelona

-END-Todays AP voice is from our VP of Sales for Asia and the Middle East, Michelle Low.



(TRAVPR.COM) UNITED KINGDOM - July 25th, 2018 - Todays AP voice is from our VP of Sales for Asia and the Middle East, Michelle Low.

Unsurprisingly, strong economic growth across the Asia Pacific has gone hand in hand with a significant uptick in tourism, both inter-regional and international. In todays post, I look at some of the key figures around this uptick and the trends that will continue to drive tourism across the region.

It is difficult to exaggerate the momentum of the economic boom across Asia. The UN reports that Asia is the worlds largest region in economic output, with the regions gross domestic product surpassing that of the Americas for the first time in history in 2016. Between 2000 and 2016, Asia experienced the fastest economic growth across the world, driven by China and India.

Asian countries have awoken to the benefits of promoting tourism by opening markets and encouraging increased air routes. And tourists have heard the call. Data by the UN shows that the Asia Pacific is the second most visited region in the world after Europe and has seen the fastest growth. In fact, the region outperformed all other regions around the world, marking eight consecutive years of growth since 2010.

The best news for independent hotels is that there are numerous opportunities to attract guests. In 2017, Asia Pacific welcomed 324 million tourists, about a quarter of the worlds tourists. 75 percent of the inbound travel spending in Asia-Pacific is on leisure with the remainder being spent on business. While one-third of travellers stay for short trips lasting 0-3 days, over one-quarter stay for 4-7 days while another quarter of travellers stay for more than 12 days.

Of particular interest to the sales and marketing teams of independent hotels will no doubt be the trends that currently fuel and will continue to drive travels to the far east.

1) City breaks: In Mastercards Global Destination Cities Index 2017, five of the top 10 most visited cities were in Asia-Pacific. The region also had the highest spend by tourists among the top 10 cities. Bangkok is the most popular of Asias cities, followed by Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. In terms of future growth, Osaka is a rising star in terms of destination cities in Asia, with Chengdu in China and Colombo in Sri Lanka not to be outshined. Asian cities will see more tourist traffic in 2018 and beyond.

2) Inter-regional travel: 80 percent of the tourism is intra-regional and Chinese tourists are the largest contributors to this with China, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan as the most popular destinations for these travellers. The benefit for hotels in the region is that tourists are favouring to spend their money in the region rather than take it externally. A growing middle class has certainly contributed to a high demand of inter-regional travel in Vietnam and we expect this trend to continue.

3) Technology: As consumers become more sophisticated purchasers of travel, we can expect technology to continue to fundamentally change how travellers travel, from where they go to how they book flights and hotels. Booking Holdings, which includes brands such as booking.com and agoda.com, spent $4.5 billion in marketing alone last year, and while it is most commonly known in Europe, the company has ambitious growth plans in Asia. Hot on its heels is Airbnb.

Our job at Amistad Partners isnt to inform clients about how their business environment is changing but to work with them to make the most of the opportunities that these changes bring. It is an exciting time to be an independent Hotel is Asia!

Source : https://t.co/LgUYGhddhJ

###Todays AP voice is from our VP of sales for North America, Viola Ncube.



(TRAVPR.COM) UNITED KINGDOM - July 25th, 2018

The outlook for North America looks incredibly positive, which is sure to result in bountiful opportunities for independent hoteliers in the region.

Despite constant political ups and downs, the US economy remains strong as does Canadas. While the current administrations protectionist policies are a concern for worldwide stability and economic growth, the USs expected growth rate of 2.2% for 2018 is higher than that of many European countries. Canadas growth is set to outpace the US (at 3.1%), with 15 of 20 major industries all showing a year-on-year increase.

For those looking to make the most of their marketing and sales, the following trends will be of particular interest.

1) Preference for established destinations: While we know that todays travellers are wanting new and unique experiences, tried and tested destinations have shown they have lasting power. Orlando, Las Vegas and New York all remain incredibly popular with North American tourists as well as international tourists. In fact, research by Expedia shows that a majority of American travellers prefer to travel domestically (82%). From an international perspective, Chinese travel to Las Vegas increased three times from 2016-2017, while the growth of low-cost airline routes from Europe to the US is also making it possible for cost-conscious Europeans to visit the US. We expect to see these preferences to continue, which highlights the need for independent hotels to tailor their offering for both domestic and international travellers.

2) The boom in business for Mexico and the Caribbean: The most popular reason for travel for American and Canadian tourists is to relax, so unsurprisingly there has been a resurgence of interest to the Caribbean and Mexico. A record 31.7 million international visitors went to the Caribbean in 2017. Mexico saw record revenue from international tourists (and an increase of 8.3% from 2016) as it welcomed 39.3 million foreign travellers in 2017, a 12% increase from 2016. International visitors are attracted by the many new resorts popping up across the Caribbean and Mexico. Instead of just appealing to the more budget-conscious travellers, all-inclusive resorts in the region are now pitching themselves in the luxury market to attract a more affluent audience with deeper pockets. Cruise companies and airlines are also investing in the region, hoping to make the most of this long-term boom.

3) Crazy about Canada: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced 2018 as the Canada-China Year of Tourism. Canada is doing its utmost to encourage Chinese tourists to visit Canada and for good reason. Chinese tourists spent $1.6 billion in 2017 in Canada (the second highest of any group) and there was a 12% increase in Chinese tourists to Canada in 2017. Overall, Canada welcomed 20.8 million international tourists, and of this 14.3 million were US tourists. With travel to the country increasing year-on-year for the past few years, we anticipate this to continue for the next few years as tourists flock to Toronto, Niagara Falls, Vancouver, Montreal and Quebec City.

Of course, trends are all well and good but they only matter if you can make the most of them. As an Americas-focused hotel management consultancy, we recognise the challenges that independent hoteliers face and can help them use their marketing budgets in a smarter and more efficient way to get results. Were always happy to speak to hotels that are looking for advice on what they can do to drive their business goals.

Source : ow.ly/vx3n30kUZjZ

###Market leading expertise lauded with Ascott Makati set to receive worlds first serviced residence green certification from International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group



(TRAVPR.COM) SINGAPORE - July 26th, 2018 - CapitaLands wholly owned serviced residence business unit, The Ascott Limited (Ascott), has boosted its leading position in the Philippines by entering a strategic alliance with one of the countrys top real estate developers, Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI), to manage 1,600 units by 2022. Under the alliance, both parties will seek properties for CLI to develop into serviced residences to be managed by Ascott.

Ascott and CLI have signed management contracts for their first four properties offering over 800 units in the prime business districts of Bacolod, Cebu City and Davao City. Citadines Bacolod City, Citadines Cebu City, Citadines Paragon Davao, and lyf Cebu City, will open from 2019 to 2021. Citadines Bacolod City, the latest property sealed under the partnership, marks Ascotts entry into Bacolod. Separately, Ascott also made its foray into Quezon City, Metro Manilas largest city, by scoring a management contract with another property owner for Citadines Roces Quezon City, which will open in 2023. The two new contracts in Bacolod and Quezon City will increase Ascotts portfolio in the Philippines by 27% year-on-year to over 4,300 units.

Mr Kevin Goh, Chief Executive Officer, The Ascott Limited, said: Ascotts alliance with CLI in the Philippines builds on the strategic partnerships we have forged around the world to accelerate Ascotts growth globally. Leveraging Ascotts global network and strong hospitality expertise, as well as CLIs well-established reputation in the Philippines, the partnership will allow us to gain access to a pipeline of quality projects in the country. This will fast-track our expansion and strengthen Ascotts leadership position as the largest international hospitality player in the Philippines. Having leading industry players choose to partner Ascott speaks volume of the value we bring to our partners. We are confident that Ascott will exceed 80,000 units in 2018 and expand to 160,000 units worldwide by 2023.

Mr Daniel Wee, Ascotts Country General Manager for the Philippines, said: Ascott has been in the Philippines for 18 years with strong performing properties that enjoy an average occupancy rate of about 80% under our award-winning brands Ascott, Citadines and Somerset. We will also introduce our millennial-targeted lyf brand to the country under our partnership with CLI. Citadines Roces Quezon City, as well as our first four properties with CLI  Citadines Bacolod City, Citadines Cebu City, Citadines Paragon Davao, and lyf Cebu City, will open in the next five years. Guests can look forward to a home-away-from-home experience and world-class services at these well-located properties. We are on track to achieve Ascotts target of 6,000 units in the Philippines by 2020.

Mr Jose Soberano III, the CEO of CLI, said: We are glad to partner with Ascott, an international hospitality brand with the biggest presence in the Philippines, to expand the hospitality portfolio of our real estate business. The booming tourism sector and growing investments in the country will create huge opportunities for the accommodation industry. Ascotts strong management expertise in the hospitality business is a good complement to our reputable track record and deep knowledge of the real estate markets in various cities of the Philippines. Together, we will set a strong benchmark for quality accommodation and customer service in the country.

In a worlds first, International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ascott to pioneer a green building certification for serviced residences, as part of IFCs Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE) system[1]. Ascott Makati in the Philippines is set to be the first serviced residence to receive this EDGE certification. Under the MoU, Ascott and IFC will also jointly source for properties to be developed to the EDGEs new serviced residence green standards, with potential financial support from IFC, as well as management services provided by Ascott.

Mr Goh said: We are taking the lead to set a new international green benchmark given Ascotts reputation and expertise in managing award-winning serviced residences globally for over 30 years. With our newly renovated Ascott Makati set to be awarded the worlds first green building certification for serviced residences, it is a recognition of the enhanced value we bring to property owners through sustainable practices, such as efforts to save energy and water. It will pave the way for more properties to come onboard this new international green certification developed specifically for the serviced residence industry. It also marks the beginning of Ascotts partnership with IFC to deepen exchange of knowledge and research on sustainable design of serviced residences in developing regions such as Asia Pacific, Indochina and Africa. We look forward to tapping IFCs international network and funding to source for more business opportunities in these emerging markets where Ascott can contribute our strong expertise in hospitality management.

Ms Rana Karadsheh, IFC Country Manager for Singapore said: We are seeing strong interest from investors and developers in fulfilling the increasing demand for eco-friendly and resource-efficient buildings, and are excited to do our initial launch in the Philippines, while looking to replicate this in other emerging markets. IFCs EDGE green building certification offers a cost-efficient way of bringing green features into building design. As one of the worlds leading international serviced residence operators, Ascott is a key partner to pioneer the EDGE green building certification for serviced residences as we work together to promote the adoption of sustainable practices around the world.

In the Philippines, Ascott currently has 20 properties offering over 4,300 units across key cities in Metro Manila, Bacolod, Cebu, Davao, and Iloilo. These include 13 properties that are slated to open from 2018 to 2023. Citadines Bay City Manila will open this year, followed by Citadines Amigo Iloilo and Citadines Cebu City in 2019. Ascott DD Meridian Park Manila, Citadines Bacolod City, Citadines Paragon Davao, Somerset Gorordo Cebu, Somerset Valero Makati, Somerset Salcedo Village Makati, and lyf Cebu City will open in 2021. Meanwhile, Citadines Greenhills Manila is targeted to open in 2022 whereas Citadines Benavidez Makati and Citadines Roces Quezon City will open in 2023.

Demand for quality accommodation in the Philippines is on the up with its rising middle-class population and its growing attractiveness as an investment and tourism destination. In 2017, 6.6 million tourists visited the Philippines, an increase of 11% from 2016[2]. As one of the top economies in Southeast Asia, the Philippines has embarked on a mega infrastructure programme to drive economic growth and foreign investment. Some of the major projects underway include the Metro Manila Subway, the Luzon Spine Expressway Network, the Metro Manila Logistics Network and Metro Cebu Expressway[3].

Please refer to the Annex for more information on Ascotts new properties  Citadines Bacolod City and Citadines Roces Quezon City.

About The Ascott Limited

The Ascott Limited is a Singapore company that has grown to be one of the leading international serviced residence owner-operators. It has over 45,000 operating serviced residence units in key cities of the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as about 30,000 units which are under development, making a total of more than 75,000 units in over 500 properties. The companys brands include Ascott, Citadines, Somerset, Quest, The Crest Collection, and lyf. Ascotts portfolio spans more than 130 cities across over 30 countries.

Ascott, a wholly owned subsidiary of CapitaLand Limited, pioneered Asia Pacific's first international-class serviced residence with the opening of The Ascott Singapore in 1984. Today, the company boasts over 30 years of industry track record and award-winning serviced residence brands that enjoy recognition worldwide.

Ascotts achievements have been recognised internationally. Recent awards include World Travel Awards 2018 for Leading Serviced Apartment Brand in Europe and the Middle East; DestinAsian Readers' Choice Awards 2018 for Best Serviced Residence Brand; TTG China Travel Awards 2018 for Best Serviced Residence Operator in China; World Travel Awards 2017 for Leading Serviced Apartment Brand in Asia, Europe and the Middle East; Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Awards 2017 for Best Serviced Residence Brand; Business Traveller UK Awards 2017 for Best Serviced Apartment Company and Business Traveller China Awards 2017 for Best Serviced Residence Brand. For a full list of awards, please visit www.the-ascott.com/ascottlimited/awards.html.

About CapitaLand Limited CapitaLand is one of Asias largest real estate companies. Headquartered and listed in Singapore, it is an owner and manager of a global portfolio worth S$91 billion as at 31 March 2018, comprising integrated developments, shopping malls, serviced residences, offices, homes, real estate investment trusts (REITs) and funds. Present across more than 150 cities in over 30 countries, the Group focuses on Singapore and China as core markets, while it continues to expand in markets such as Vietnam and Indonesia. CapitaLands competitive advantage is its significant asset base and extensive market network. Coupled with extensive design, development and operational capabilities, the Group develops and manages high-quality real estate products and services. It also has one of the largest investment management businesses in Asia and a stable of five REITs listed in Singapore and Malaysia  CapitaLand Mall Trust, CapitaLand Commercial Trust, Ascott Residence Trust, CapitaLand Retail China Trust and CapitaLand Malaysia Mall Trust. Visit www.capitaland.com for more information. About Cebu Landmasters Inc Listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange, Cebu Landmasters, Inc. (CLI) is a home-grown real estate development company in Cebu. The company is engaged in the development of residential, commercial, hospitality, mixed-use and civic projects. CLI was established in 2003 in the wonderful queen city of the south founded by a true blooded Cebuano entrepreneur. Guided by sincere family values, genuine real estate passion and unrelenting faith, the company is highly committed to its customers and community. Visit www.cebulandmasters.com for more information. About International Finance Corporation IFC  a sister organisation of the World Bank and member of the World Bank Group  is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work with more than 2,000 businesses worldwide, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in the toughest areas of the world. In fiscal year 2018, we delivered more than US$23 billion in long-term financing for developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

Issued by: The Ascott Limited Website: www.the-ascott.com

168 Robinson Road, #30-01 Capital Tower, Singapore 068912

For more information, please contact:

Joan Tan, Vice President, Group Communications

Tel: (65) 6713 2864 Mobile: (65) 9743 9503 Email: joan.tanzm@capitaland.com

Chen MeiHui, Manager, Group Communications Tel: (65) 6713 3673 Mobile: (65) 8133 8334 Email: chen.meihui@capitaland.com

ANNEX

Citadines Bacolod City (opening 2021)

Citadines Bacolod City is located along Lacson Street, the main thoroughfare and tourism and food hub of Bacolod City in the Philippines. The 200-unit serviced residence will be part of a mixed-use development which also comprises a condominium and commercial complex. It is a 17-minute drive from the Bacolod-Silay International Airport, and a five-minute drive from the Central District IT Park.

The property is near retail and dining outlets such as Robinsons Place Bacolod and SM City Bacolod, and multinational corporations like Pepsi Cola Plant and Teletech. Educational and medical institutions nearby include University of St. La Salle, Riverside College, Riverside Medical Center as well as tourist spots such as The Ruins, and Capitol Park and Lagoon.

The Citadines property will comprise studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments, as well as facilities including a ballroom, meeting rooms, swimming pool, gymnasium and restaurant.

Bacolod is the second most populous city in Visayas after Cebu City, and is a 1.5-hour flight away from Manila. It is positioned as the premier hub for IT-Business Process Management (BPO) operations in the region. Global BPO companies operating in the city are Convergys, Teleperformance, Teletech, and Transcom, among others. The local government is also pushing for the development of the citys tourism industry.

Citadines Roces Quezon City (opening 2023)

The 200-unit Citadines Roces Quezon City is located in Don A. Roces Ave, Diliman, of Quezon City  the largest city in Metro Manila, capital of the Philippines. Guests can venture to the nearby South Triangle which boasts popular retail and dining concepts, and enjoy proximity to shopping malls, multinational companies such as Accenture and Hewlett Packard, as well as ABS-CBN Media Station. It is a two-hour drive to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, an hours drive to Makati and a 30-minute drive to Ortigas.

The serviced residence offers a range of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. Facilities include a retail podium, spaces for performance, all-day dining options, function rooms, swimming pool, gymnasium and residents lounge.

Quezon City is shaping up to be an emerging business district with established townships and mixed-use communities. It is home to two main broadcast stations in the Philippines, as well as several government offices and bureaus, which create a growing demand for Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibition facilities in the area. Over 400,000 sqm of new offices are slated for completion within the next few years, and are expected to be taken up primarily by BPO companies. Quezon City has the second largest concentration of IT parks and buildings in the country[4].



[1] EDGE is a green building certification that covers nearly 140 emerging countries. An innovation of IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, EDGE is recognised by various World Green Building councils and the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark. [2] Philippines tourist arrivals hit 6.6 million in 2017, up by 11% (9 February 2018), Business World [3] Infrastructure investment in the Philippines set to drive growth (14 February 2018), Oxford Business Group [4] Quezon City: The Place to Be (2018), The Local Government of Quezon City

###| By Patricia Fanning

The International Association for Dental Research (IADR) has honored Huakun Xu, PhD, MS, professor at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry (UMSOD), as the recipient of the 2018 IADR Isaac Schour Memorial Award.

This award is intended to confer the highest honor in the field of dental and craniofacial research and elevate those scientists who bring about significant advances in oral health. In a news release, the IADR announced Xus selection for one of its 17 IADR Distinguished Scientist Awards while noting the high esteem in which recipients of the Schour Memorial Award are held. His body of work was recognized during presentation of the award on July 25 at the IADR General Session in London.

Huakun Xu, PhD, MS, professor and a founder of the Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Lab in the Department of Advanced Oral Sciences and Therapeutics at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry, has received the International Association for Dental Research 2018 Isaac Schour Memorial Award.

Xu is a founder of the Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Lab in the Department of Advanced Oral Sciences and Therapeutics at UMSOD. In light of this significant achievement, Xu is quick to credit his faculty and staff, as well as the leadership of UMSOD, for garnering what he believes to be a collective award.

I feel honored and happy, but also humbled. I know that this is an award for our group effort and group achievement, he says in an article, "Biomaterials Director Wins Prestigious Award."

Xu and his research team developed the first generation of injectable, in-situ setting, load-bearing, and resorbable scaffolds for stem cell encapsulation and bone tissue engineering.

Noting that the IADRs Isaac Schour Memorial Award recognizes a globally renowned researcher, Mark A. Reynolds, DDS, PhD, dean and professor at UMSOD, says, Dr. Xu is a leader in developing new and therapeutic dental materials and stem cell constructs for tissue regeneration, and his discoveries and work offer great promise of significantly advancing the treatment of oral and craniofacial diseases.

Reynolds adds, Since arriving at the School of Dentistry, Dr. Xu has built a remarkably inventive and productive team of researchers. His blend of insatiable curiosity, relentless drive, and innovation has culminated to date in more than 10 patents or pending patents and the publication of nearly 250 peer-reviewed articles.

These papers in dental, biomedical, and tissue engineering journals can be found among his labs publications.

He was among the first researchers to be named a Champion of Excellence at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, where he and his lab are known for their work using biomaterials to replace mineral loss and regenerate bone. Xu and his team, including Michael D. Weir, PhD, research assistant professor, and Mary Anne Melo, DDS, MSc, PhD, associate professor, work on dental tissue engineering and bone regeneration, using stem cells and a scaffolding material to rebuild bone lost through trauma, disease, and tumor removal.

His lab and collaborators at the School of Dentistry including Dean Reynolds; Advanced Oral Sciences and Therapeutics department Chair Thomas Oates, DMD, PhD; associate professor Abraham Schneider, DDS, PhD; associate professor Radi Masri, DDS, PhD, MS; and professor Ke Ren, PhD, MD, are working with stem cells from umbilical cord waste as well as the tooth pulp, which are promising for bone regeneration, and embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells, which could potentially benefit older patients.

Xu is a founding member of the Center for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Xu came from China to the United States in 1988 to pursue a doctorate in physics at Kansas State University before switching fields. Because I am so practical, I realized that I am more attracted to engineering, he said in an interview published in the Fall 2017 issue of Mdental magazine.

Going forward, Xu envisions continuing the departments focus on obtaining additional patents and technology transfers with the purpose of developing bioactive and therapeutic dental materials products.

We would like to see some products on the market that would benefit patients, he says.A message from the USA TODAY NETWORK

It appears that youre attempting to visit this site from a location in the European Union. At this point in time we regret to say we cannot make this site available to you. Please visit our home page eu.usatoday.com for other content that may be of interest to you.A contest aimed at supporting the next generation of Sustainable Development Goal advocates has been launched by Google Cloud, the United Nations Foundation, the World Bank, and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data. Visualize 2030 is a global data storytelling contest offering five winners a $10K cash prize each, plus publication by Google Cloud and the announcement of their data story during the UN World Data Forum.

Launched today at the Google Cloud Next 18 conference in San Francisco, the Visualize 2030 contest focuses on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development  an ambitious agenda adopted by global leaders to achieve 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including ending extreme poverty, reducing inequality, addressing climate change, and others, by 2030.

Visualize 2030 is open to students at the college and graduate level, aged 18 and above, and aims to encourage budding data scientists, journalists, policymakers, and data artists to drive real-world impact through storytelling and design.

Todays students are tomorrows policymakers and business leaders. Theyre fluent in technology, and we want to empower them to use their skills and expertise to tell powerful data stories that can truly inspire action, said Kathy Calvin, President and Chief Executive Officer of the United Nations Foundation.

The contest challenges applicants to submit a data-driven story that reveals how at least two SDGs influence each other, and what actions might be taken to reach those goals by 2030. What are the shared challenges? What are the shared opportunities? Does one goal need to be met before the other can be? These are some of the questions students are encouraged to consider, and answer, in their submissions.

The UN Statistics Divisions Sustainable Development Indicators and the World Banks World Development Indicators are now available in Google Cloud Platform Public Datasets and analysis-ready within Google Data Studio, where applicants should build their submissions.

The contest, closing on 30 September 2018, will be judged by a panel of international experts. Five winners will be announced in October at the UN World Data Forum in Dubai.

For more information on the Visualize 2030 contest and how to participate, see cloud.google.com/visualize-2030.

Visualize 2030 Press Inquiries

Jennifer Oldfield, Director of Communications, Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data

joldfield@data4sdgs.org

About Visualize 2030

Visualize 2030 is a data storytelling contest hosted by Google Cloud in collaboration with the United Nations Foundation, the World Bank, and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data. It is open to students aged 18+. Submissions must be built in Googles Data Studio, and received by 30 September 2018.

Learn more here: http://cloud.google.com/visualize-2030

About the United Nations Foundation

The United Nations Foundation builds public-private partnerships to address the worlds most pressing problems, and broadens support for the United Nations through advocacy and public outreach. Through innovative campaigns and initiatives, the Foundation connects people, ideas, and resources to help the UN solve global problems. The Foundation was created in 1998 as a U.S. public charity by entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner and now is supported by philanthropic, corporate, government, and individual donors.

Learn more at: http://www.unfoundation.org

About the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data

The Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data is a growing network of more than 300 organizations, including governments, businesses, and civil society organizations, working around the world to harness the data revolution for sustainable development. Since it was created in 2015, the Global Partnership has elevated data issues at a political level, launched a multi-million-dollar Collaborative Data Innovations for Sustainable Development funding initiative, and supported the advancement of country-led Data Roadmaps for Sustainable Development in: Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, Philippines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Costa Rica.

http://www.data4sdgs.org

About the World Bank

The World Bank Group is one of the worlds largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. Its five institutions share a commitment to reducing poverty, increasing shared prosperity, and promoting sustainable development. The World Bank Development Data Group coordinates statistical and data work and maintains a number of macro, financial and sector databases. Working closely with the Banks regions and Global Practices, the group is guided by professional standards in the collection, compilation and dissemination of data to ensure that all data users can have confidence in the quality and integrity of the data produced.

http://www.worldbank.orgEkuleu Emeto watches over her two year old grandson at the Kalobeyei Health Centre, while his mother Apua gets the prescription and medicines. My grandson Losike is suffering from a fever. I have come here for the first time and I am happy that we are not treated any differently from the refugees, says Ekuleu. She is from Turkana County in north western Kenya where refugees are hosted both in the Kakuma Refugee Camp and the Kalobeyei Settlement.

In the maternity ward, 21 year Mahoro Esta, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the proud mother of a lovely baby girl.

I have just given birth to Deborah in this facility, and I am happy with the services I have received, she says.

Mahoro, who fled civil war in the DRC, is among thousands of refugees who are living in Kakuma and Kalobeyei.

The mother of two has found safety at Kalobeyei in addition to other services including health care. I am glad to have been able to give birth in this health facility. My husband is taking care of our other child while the newborn and I receive care, she adds.

The Kalobeyei Super Health Centre (as it is popularly referred to) was completed and operationalised in 2017 and is registered under the Turkana County government funded by various donors including the European Union Trust Fund. Outpatient and maternity services are provided along with HIV/AIDS outpatient clinical services and a temporary clinic, as well as Nutrition services with in-kind support from UNICEF and WFP.

About 10 per cent of the deliveries in the maternity have been reported to be host community women. This vital donor support is helping UNHCR facilitate access for refugees and host community members to primary healthcare and reproductive health including HIV/AIDS services. Refugees are also getting opportunities to attend awareness campaigns on family planning methods and their benefits.

These services are available to some 38,000 residents, both refugees and host communities.

This is part of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) approach which is a vital force for change involving refugees, communities, partners and governments at all levels.

Installation of hybrid fuel-solar energy is ongoing at the health centre which is an innovative and cost effective solution to utilise solar energy for providing power on a 24/7 basis. The hospital requires uninterrupted supply of power especially for oxygen equipment, sterilization and storage of drugs and vaccines at certain temperatures that are currently being run by fuel. To provide clean energy, the solarisation of the hospital will cut costs and eventually result in better health service provision for Kalobeyei residents.

Share on Facebook Share on TwitterPak PM Imran Khan meets Army chief Bajwa, ISI chief Lt Gen Hameed 26 Oct 2021 | 7:36 PM Islamabad, Oct 26 (UNI) Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday held a meeting with Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and later the two were joined by ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, a news report said. see more..

YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok to be grilled amid concerns on their platforms harming kids, teens 26 Oct 2021 | 6:57 PM Washington, Oct 26 (UNI) US lawmakers will on Tuesday grill YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok executives about mounting concerns that their platforms can harm children and teenagers. see more..

Pak PM appoints Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum as next ISI chief 26 Oct 2021 | 6:51 PM Islamabad, Oct 26 (UNI) The tussle between Pakistan Army and the government over appointment of next Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agencys chief finally came to an end after nearly three weeks with Prime Minister Imran Khan appointing Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum as the next DG ISI. see more..

Food poisoning victims in Kyrgyzstan increase to 179 26 Oct 2021 | 6:43 PM Bishkek, Oct 26 (UNI/Xinhua) The victims of food poisoning that occurred in the popular cafe chain Pizza Empire in Kyrgyzstan's capital have grown to 179, the country's health ministry reported on Tuesday. see more..By Mir Afroz Zaman

Dhaka, July 25 (UNI) Information and Communication Technology Affairs Advisor to the Prime Minister, Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed Joy said Bangladesh will introduce 5G services in the country, if the Awami League (AL) is voted to power again through the next general election.

'Bangladesh is going to be one of the first countries to deploy 5G in the world. This is my promise to you that if you vote for Awami League once again, we will bring 5G in Bangladesh,' he said, while speaking as the chief guest at the 'Bangladesh 5G Summit 2018' at Sonargaon Hotel, here.Dhaka, July 26 (UNI) Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday said Bangladesh offered makeshift refuge to Myanmars Rohingya community on humanitarian ground but want them to go back as newly appointed Egyptian ambassador in Dhaka Walid Ahmed Shamseldin made a courtesy call on her at the PMO.

We have given them shelter on humanitarian ground now we want them to go back, premiers press secretary Ihsanul Karim quoted her as saying during the call.

Sheikh Hasina, he said, told the envoy that Bangladesh is in dialogue with Myanmar and other stakeholders to resolve the crisis but Myanmar is not working according to the agreement.New Delhi/Beijing, July 25 (UNI) Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, China has expressed the hope that the two leaders would explore the possibility of Sino-Indian cooperation in third countries.

"We hope that the two sides will follow through on the consensus between the two leaders and vigorously explore "China-India plus one" or "China-India plus X" cooperation model to achieve mutual benefits and win-win outcomes for China, India and other countries, and jointly make contributions to promoting regional and world peace, stability, development and prosperity," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang.

Till now, both countries have only agreed to have joint projects in Afghanistan for capacity building.

This April, Modi and Xi held an "informal" summit in Wuhan. In June, they met again on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Qingdao.

Geng said the two leaders meeting again on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit will be the third in just several months, which "fully showcases the positive momentum" in China-India relations.

On July 23, President Xi paid a state visit to Rwanda and held talks with President Paul Kagame. Both agreed to strengthen strategic synergy and work for more fruitful outcomes of mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides. They also witnessed the signing of an array of bilateral cooperation documents under the Belt and Road Initiative.

On the same day, Prime Minister Modi also led a business delegation to Rwanda and signed bilateral cooperation agreements in areas like defence and agriculture with that country.

The spokesperson was asked to evaluate both Xi and Modi's trips to Africa at the weekly briefing on Tuesday. In response, he said that China and India, as the two largest developing countries and emerging markets in the world, are willing to help Africa within the South-South cooperation framework to accelerate its industrialisation and achieve self-driven development.

"We are also ready to deepen cooperation in various fields with African countries to achieve mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. China and India are on the same page in this regard," said Geng.

Asked about the purpose of Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou's July 22 to 24 visit to Bhutan, he said Kong met the fifth King of Bhutan, the fourth King of Bhutan and the Prime Minister, and held talks with the Foreign Secretary. Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui accompanied him during the visit.

"The two sides exchanged in-depth views on the China-Bhutan relations and border issues and reached common understandings."

On Pakistan where a new government will be formed following elections, he said the China-Pakistan "all-weather strategic cooperative partnership" is now developing with a sound momentum.

"We are ready to work with the new Pakistani government to stay committed to consolidating political mutual trust, deepening across-the-board practical cooperation and making new progress in our all-weather strategic cooperative partnership."

UNI SRJKampala, Uganda, July 25 (UNI) India and Uganda on Wednesday pledged to reinforce and build upon the successes of existing bilateral cooperation and said there is need for "enhanced" private sector investment in a wide range of important sectors and diversification of trade basket.

"The two leaders - Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni noted the current level of bilateral trade and expressed the desire to enhance and diversify the trade basket including addressing the trade imbalance and to facilitate trade between the two countries," said the joint statement during state Visit of Prime Minister Modi to Uganda.

"Both leaders agreed that the terrorism poses a grave threat to global peace and stability and reiterated their strong commitment to combat it in all its forms and manifestations. They stressed that there could be no justification for acts of terror on any grounds whatsoever," the statement said.Health Vol.10 No.07(2018), Article ID:86239,12 pages

10.4236/health.2018.107075 Seroprevalence, Type-Specific of Herpes Simplex Virus and Associated Risk Factors among Women of Child Bearing Age in Kogi State, Nigeria Uteno Itanyi Drisu1, Francis Enifo Oronsaye2, Babatunde Ishola Gabriel Adejumo2*, Gregory Ashimedua Uchuno3, Alaba Michael Emmanuel4, Uchechukwu Dimkpa5, Kingsley Ifeanyichukwu Omosor6, Margaret Oyarazi Adebowale7, Oladimeji Nasiru Abdulrahman8, Esmond Nwanbunwanne Ukatu9  Abstract  Full-Text PDF  Full-Text HTML  Full-Text ePUB  Linked References  How to Cite this Article 1Department of Medical Services, Federal Polytechnic, Idah, Nigeria 2Medical Laboratory Science Department, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria 3External Quality Assurance Department, Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria 4Medical Laboratory Science Department, College of Health Sciences and Technology, Idah, Nigeria 5Physiology Department, Nnewi Campus, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria 6Shalom Diagnostic Medical Laboratory, Warri, Nigeria 7Medical Laboratory Science Department, Federal School of Medical Laboratory Sciences and Health Technology, Jos, Nigeria 8Medical Laboratory Science Department, College of Health Technology, Offa, Nigeria 9Gulin Pharmaceauticals Nigeria Limited, Sango-Ota, Nigeria Copyright  2018 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Received: June 11, 2018; Accepted: July 23, 2018; Published: July 26, 2018

ABSTRACT

Background: Viruses of the Herpes viridae family infect 90% of the Earths population. Humans are the hosts of at least nine unique herpes viruses. Aim: This study is aimed at evaluating the seroprevalence of type specific herpes simplex virus infection and the associated risk factors in a cross-section of asymptomatic healthy women of childbearing age in Kogi state, Nigeria. Methodology: A total of 330 females of child bearing age (15 - 49 years) participated in this study. They were recruited from various local government areas of three Senatorial districts of Kogi state. Blood samples were collected from participants and analyzed for HSV-1 and HSV-2 antibodies (IgG) quantitatively with ELISA kit. Results: The overall prevalence of HSV was 76.7%. Data further show that majority (96.4%) of the population studied had HSV-1, while 77% had HSV-2 infections. Results also showed that the young adults indicated prevalence of 95.7% for HSV-1 and 74.7% for HSV-2, while in the middle aged, the prevalence were 98.6% for HSV-1, and 84.9% for HSV-2. 99.2% of the married women were positive for HSV-1, while 86.9% were positive for HSV-2. 94.5% of the unmarried women were positive for HSV-1, while 70.5% were positive for HSV-2. The risk of HVS-1 or VS-2 infections was not associated with age, age of first sexual exposure and number sex partners before marriage. Married women were at greater risk for HSV-1 (p = 0.03) and HSV-2 (p  0.001) infections compared to the unmarried women. Conclusion: The prevalence of the HSV-1 and HSV-2 infections was high among asymptomatic healthy women of childbearing age in Kogi state, Nigeria. Efforts should be made to increase the awareness of HSV infection among the child bearing populace.

Keywords:

HSV-1/HSV-2 Antibody, Infection, Women, Kogi State, Nigeria

1. Introduction

The epidemiology of herpes simplex is of substantial epidemiologic and public health interest. Worldwide, the rate of infection with herpes simplex viruscounting both HSV 1/HSV 2 is around 90% [1] . Genital herpes, an infection commonly caused by human herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) in Nigeria and in most regions of the world, has been described as a silent pandemic with different countries being at different stages of the epidemic [2] [3] . Although many people infected with HSV develop labial or genital lesions (herpes simplex), majority are either undiagnosed or display no physical symptomsindividuals with no symptoms are described as asymptomatic or as having subclinical herpes [4] .

Most individuals contract HSV infection during the first decades of life. The prevalence of HSV 1 antibody varies from 45% to 88% in adult populations and is influenced by sex, geographic location, socio-economic status and age [5] . Antibodies to HSV-2 are rarely found before the age of onset of sexual activity, but HSV 2 seroprevalence increases to 35% - 60% by age 60 [6] [7] . This prevalence has increased dramatically since the late 70s and is highest among prostitutes (75%) and male homosexuals (83%) [6] . The prevalence of HSV increases with age and number of partners with women being at higher risk than men [8] . The CDC reports that 48% of African American women in the United States are infected with HSV-2 [9] [10] . The largest increase in HSV acquisition during the past few years is in white adolescents. People with many lifetime sexual partners and those who are sexually active from young age are also at higher risk for transmission of HSV-2 in United States [11] [12] [13] [14] .

In Enugu state, Nigeria, Ojinmah et al., 2012 [15] reported HSV-2 prevalence of 77.9% among female patients attending skin and ANC clinics at University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital and Enugu State Teaching Hospital. Also, among children at selected hospital in Kaduna metropolis, Nigeria, Shaibu et al., 2014 [16] recorded prevalence rate of 57.8% for HSV-1.

The diagnosis of HVS based only on the subject medical history and physical examination is frequently inadequate, there is need to further its diagnosis using modern diagnostic techniques. There is scanty information on the prevalence of this disease in Kogi state in particular and Nigeria in general. The present study therefore was aimed at evaluating the prevalence of HSV, type specific and effects of some of its risk factors among women of reproductive age in Kogi State of Nigeria.

2. Methodology

2.1. Description of the Study Area

This research work was carried out in Kogi State, Nigeria. The state is a heterogeneous state with a population of 3,314,045 million people according to 2006 national population census. It has many ethnic groups which comprises mainly Christians and Muslims. It is a central state in Nigeria, it is bounded to the North by Federal Capital Territory Abuja; to the North-West by Kwara State and Niger State and to the South-West by Ondo State, to the South-South by Edo State and to the South-East by Anambra, Enugu and Benue States respectively. It has three senatorial districts, Kogi West, Kogi Central and Kogi East Senatorial districts respectively. The people are mainly farmers and traders, but sizeable numbers are civil servants while others are self employed. Majority of the child bearing age women in the state who participated in this work are illiterates.

2.2. Participants

A total number of 330 asymptomatic and apparently healthy child bearing women, aged between 18 - 49 years were recruited for this study from all the local government areas of the three Senatorial districts of the state. A well-structured questionnaire was administered to every participant of this study to obtain their demographic information and health history. Informed consents of participants were sought and obtained after explaining the purpose of the research. The Ethics Committee of Ministry of Health, Kogi State approved the study.

2.3. Sample Collection and Processing

An aliquot of 5 ml venous blood obtained from each subject by peripheral venopuncture was emptied carefully into a dry sterile plain bottle to avoid lysis. The sample was allowed 1 hour to clot and retract after which it was spun using a bench centrifuge at 3000 rpm at room temperature for 10 minutes. The serum sample was then separated from the cells within an hour into a clean sterile tube and stored at 20C prior to the analysis for HSV-1/HSV-2 antibodies (IgG).

2.4. Sample Analysis

The following investigations were carried out on the sample to ascertain the status of the participants.

2.5. HSV-1/HSV-2 Antibody Determinations

Antibody concentrations of all the participants to HSV-1/HSV-2 were determined using ELISA kits which were commercially purchased from Calbioteck Company, USA by following the procedure given in the kit protocol.

2.6. Data Analysis

Descriptive data was expressed as mean  standard deviation for continuous variables and percentages for categorical variables. Multinomial Logistic regression modeling was used to identify socio-demographic and behavioral risk factors that can independently predict HSV-1 and HSV-2 infections.Test of significance was set at p < 0.05. All statistics were done using SPSS/IBM software, version 20.

3. Results

Figure 1 shows the prevalence of Herpes Simplex virus 1 and 2 among a cross section of adult population in Kogi State. Data shows that majority [96.4% (n = 318)] of the population studied had HSV-1 and 77% (n = 254) had HSV-2 infections.

Demographic information obtained from the participants (Table 1) show that out of the 330 subjects, 257 (77.9%) were young adults and 73 (22.1%) were middle-aged; 130 (39.4%) were married, 200 (60.6%) were single; 19 (5.7) were exposed to sex early (<15 years), while 192 (58.2%) were exposed to sex from 15 years and above; 103 (79.2%) had single sex partner before marriage, while 27 (20.8%) had multiple sex partners before marriage.

Table 2 shows the prevalence and risk of HSV-1/HSV-2 according to the age of subjects. Data shows that the young adults (18-35 years) indicated prevalence of 95.7% for HSV-1 and 74.7% for HSV-2, while in the middle aged, the prevalence were 98.6% for HSV-1, and 84.9% for HSV-2. Multivariate logistic regression analysis further indicated that young adults did not indicate significantly greater risk for HSV-1 (p = 0.47) and HSV-2 (p = 0.08) seropositivity compared to the middle-aged adults.

Figure 1. The prevalence of Herpes Simplex Virus 1 (HSV 1) and Herpes Simplex Virus 2 (HSV 2) in Kogi State.

Table 1. Distribution of the study population according to their demographic characteristics and sexual behaviors.

Table 2. The prevalence and risk of HSV-1 and HSV-2 according to age of participants.

Abbreviations: OR = Odds Ratio; CI = Confidence Interval.

Table 3. Prevalence and risk of HSV-1 and HSV-2 according to the marital status of the participants.

Table 3 shows the prevalence and risk of HSV-1 and HSV-2 according to the marital status of the participants. One hundred and twenty nine (99.2%) of the married women were positive for HSV-1, while 1 (0.8%) was negative. One hundred and thirteen (86.9%) of the married women were positive for HSV-2, while 17 (13.1%) were negative. One hundred and eighty nine (94.5%) of the unmarried women were positive for HSV-1, while 11 (5.5%) were negative. One hundred and forty one (70.5%) were positive for HSV-2 and 59 (29.5%) were negative for HSV-2 respectively among the unmarried participants. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that married women were at significantly greater risk for HSV-1 (p = 0.03) and HSV-2 (p  0.001) infections compared to the unmarried women.

Nineteen (100%) of the participants who had sexual intercourse before the age of 15 years were all positive for HSV-1 (Table 4). Fifteen (78.9%) of them were positive for HSV-2 while 4 (21.1%) were negative. One hundred and eighty nine (98.4%) of the 192 participants who had sexual intercourse after 15 years, were positive for HSV-1, while 3 (1.6%) were negative. One hundred and fifty five (80.7%) were positive for HSV-2 and 37(19.3%) were negative. Of the 330 participants, 119 (36.06%) declined to give information on the time of their first exposure to sexual intercourse. Multivariate logistic regression test indicated that participants who had sexual intercourse before the age of 15 years were not at greater risk of HSV-1 (p = 1.00) and HSV-2 (p = 0.76) infection compared to those first exposed to sexual intercourse from 15 years of age and above.

All the married participants 130 (100%) volunteered information of having sexual partners before marriage (Table 5). One hundred and three had just single sexual partner before marriage, out of which 102 (99%) were positive for HSV-1 and 1 (0.97%) was negative. Twenty seven (100%) of the participants

Table 4. Prevalence and risk of HSV-1 and HSV-2 according to age of first sexual exposure among the participants.

Table 5. Prevalence and risk of HSV-1 and HSV-2 among the married participants according to number of sexual partners before marriage.

who had more than 1 sex partner (comprising 20 with 2 partners, 6 with 3 partners and 1 with 4 partners and above) were all positive for HSV-1. Eighty one (78.6%) of the 103 married women that had a single sexual partners were positive for HSV-2, while 22 (21.4%) were negative. Twenty one (77.8%) of those who had more than 1 sex partner (comprising 15 with 2 partners, 5 with 3 partners and 1 with 4 partners and above) were positive for HSV-2, while, 6 (22.2%) were negative for HSV-2. Multivariate logistic regression test indicated that participants who had more than one sexual partners before marriage were not at greater risk of HSV-1 (p = 1.00) or HSV-2 (p = 1.00) infection compared to those who had a single sexual partner before marriage.

4. Discussion

The overall prevalence of HSV in the studied population is 76.7%. Our study indicated HSV-1 prevalence of 96.4%. This agrees with a previous study [17] done in the following countries; Bulgaria (83.9%), Czech Republic (80.6%). Also in agreement with this high prevalence rate are the works done in the Middle East [18] . In Turkey they found the prevalence of HSV-1 to be 97% among pregnant women in Erzurum in Eastern Anatolia Region. However, in Istabul, 85.3% was found to be positive for HSV-1 among sexually active adults. Prevalence of these viruses was higher in sex workers of lstabul, reaching levels of 99% and 60% for HSV 1/HSV 2 respectively. Ibrahim et al., 2000 [19] reported 95% level of HSV-1 positivity among the Syrians, while Cunningham et al., [20] reported 76.5% prevalence of HSV-1 in Australia. However, low prevalence of HSV-1 was reported in Belgium (67.4%), Netherlands (56.7%), and Finland (52.4%) respectively [17] . In Asia, a lower prevalence of HSV-1 was found among Thailand women (51%), and 50% - 60% in Japan [18] [21] . Kaur et al. [22] reported 33.3% prevalence of HSV-1 in India and 59.8% in Israel [23] . Among children at selected Hospitals in Kaduna metropolis, Nigeria, Shaibu et al., 2014 [16] recorded prevalence rate of 57.8% for HSV-1.

This work recorded 77% prevalence rate for HSV-2. This is in agreement with the work done in Enugu state, Nigeria [15] . They reported HSV-2 prevalence of 77.9% among female patients attending skin and ANC clinics at University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital and Enugu State Teaching Hospital. In contrast, a previous work by Pebody et al., 2004 [17] indicated prevalences of 23.9% in Bulgaria, 13.9% in Germany, Finland (13.45%), Belgium(11.1%), Netherland (8.8%), the Czech Republic (6.0%) and England and Wales (4.2%) respectively. HSV-2 seroprevalence is high in Central and South America. Infection levels are estimated at 20% to 60% [18] [24] . HSV-2 is more common in Sub-Saharan Africa than in Europe or the North America. Up to 82% of women and 53% of men in Sub-Saharan Africa are seropositive for HSV-2. These are the highest levels of HS-2 infection in the world, although exact levels vary from country to country in this continent, [24] . Genital herpes appears less common in Northern Africa compared to Sub-Saharan Africa. For example, only 26% of middle-aged women have antibodies for HSV 2 in Morocco [25] . The prevalence of HSV 2 in Thailand is 37%, while 9% was recorded in Philippines (25). Much works have been done in the Middle East on HSV 2. Of these works were the one done among the pregnant women in Erzurum in Eastern Anatolia Region in Turkey (42%) [18] , lstabul (4.8%) [26] , Jordan (52.8%, men), and 41.5% (women) [27] and Israel (9.2%) [23] . Cunningham et al., 2006 [20] found out in Australia that the prevalence of HSV 2 is 12% (women 16%, men 8% respectively). The number of genital herpes infections appears to be rising in New Zealand with three times more cases in 1993 compared to 1977 [28] , where HSV 2 affects 60% more women than men of similar age [18] .

It is noteworthy that there are limited studies done on the prevalence of herpes simplex virus infection in Nigeria. It is believed that the high prevalence of HSV infection observed in this study may be explained in part by the low awareness of the prevalence and risk factors of this viral infection and lack of sensitization of the general population to avail themselves for the HSV tests. It may also be a pointer to indiscrete sexual behavior among the studied group.

The present study further indicated prevalence of 95.7% and 74.7% for HSV-1 and HSV-2 respectively among young adults (18 - 35 years). In middle-aged adults the prevalence for HSV-1 and HSV-2 were 98.6% and 84.9% respectively. The present findings appeared relatively higher compared with studies done elsewhere among different age groups. For example, a previous study by Xu et al., 2010 [29] , reported a prevalence of 16.2% among Americans aged 14 to 49 who were infected with HSV-2. Also in Ontario, the prevalence of HSV-2 in people between the ages of 15 to 16 has been shown to be 26.9% for men and 32% for non-pregnant women [30] . During the mid-1980s, HSV-2 prevalence was 33% in 25 to 29-year-old women and 45% in those aged 40 and over in Costa Rica. In the early 1990s HSV-2 prevalence was approximately 45% among women over 60 in Mexico [18] . The prevalence of HSV-2 in middle aged Colombian women was 60% and 54% in Haiti, while HSV-2 antibodies were found in more than 41% of women of child bearing age in Brazil [18] . In South Korea, the prevalence of HSV-2 in those less than 20 years is 2.7% for men, and 3.0% for women, while for those over 20 years, the prevalence was 21.7% for men and 28% for women [31] . Our data also showed that the young adults were not at greater risk of the HSV-1 and HSV-2 infections compared with the middle-aged adults. A previous study [32] reported that HSV-2 prevalence consistently increased with age in all geographic areas. Another study [33] also demonstrated that older age was associated with significantly higher odds of HSV-2 infection.

Our findings also indicated that married women were at significantly greater risk for HSV-1 and HSV-2 infections compared to the unmarried women. It is not very clear the reason for the higher risk in married women compared to the unmarried. It is however thought that those who were married were more likely to have had a past-year sex partner compared with those who were single. A previous study [34] has shown that relationship status remained an independent predictor of HSV-2 with the married status being protective for HSV-2 in those aged 30 - 49 years.

Our data which indicated high prevalence of HSV infection in subjects who were exposed to sex early and those with multiple sex partners agrees with work done in Istabul [26] among sex workers, which reported prevalence of 99% and 66% for HSV-1 and HSV-2 respectively. In contrast, a lower seroprevalence of 34% for HSV-1 and 20% HSV-2 were recorded in Syria among the prostitutes and bar girls who are considered to be the high risk group [19] . These findings demonstrate that the high incidence of HVS infection in most part of the world may result from early exposure to sex and multiple sex partners. However, it is noteworthy that in the present study those who had early exposure to sex and those who had multiple sex partners before marriage were not at greater risk of HSV infection compared with those who had late exposure to sex and those with single sex partners before marriage. A previous study [35] has shown that women who commenced sexual activity at 15 or younger age and those with more than one sexual partner before marriage were at greater risk of HSV compared to women who delayed sexual exposure until they were above 15 years and those who had single sex partner before marriage.

5. Conclusion

The prevalence of HSV-1 and HSV-2 infections is high in Kogi state. Marital status played an important role for HSV-2 and HSV-1 infections. These findings therefore indicate that health education and screening interventions are highly required, in an effort to prevent transmission to other individuals, including sex partners and offspring. There is also the need to intensify efforts toward HSV1 and HSV2 vaccine development by the government and health institutions. Furthermore, early sex education among teenagers and continuous sex education should be encouraged among the adults.

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the Ministry of Health, Kogi State for ethical approval, and the participants within all the local Government areas of Kogi state.

Conflicts of Interest

None.

Funding

The research was privately funded. No grant or sponsorship from anywhere.

Cite this paper

Drisu, U.I., Oronsaye, F.E., Adejumo, B.I.G., Uchuno, G.A., Emmanuel, A.M., Dimkpa, U., Omosor, K.I., Adebowale, M.O., Abdulrahman, O.N. and Ukatu, E.N. (2018) Seroprevalence, Type- Specific of Herpes Simplex Virus and Associated Risk Factors among Women of Child Bearing Age in Kogi State, Nigeria. Health, 10, 1006-1017. https://doi.org/10.4236/health.2018.107075

ReferencesAzmeena A. Narsingani and Jeff Prevost

(July 25, 2018)  UTSA is celebrating the graduation of the first students who have completed the inaugural cloud computing certificate program. Under the direction of Jeff Prevost, co-founder and co-director of the UTSA Open Cloud Institute and assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, UTSA launched the graduate certificate program in fall 2017. Azmeena A. Narsingani 18, a UTSA masters of sciences in computer sciences graduate and Anjali Nagaraj '18, who earned his masters in computer engineering degree, are the first two students to earn the cloud computing graduate certificate.

Prevost and researchers with the UTSA Open Cloud Institute realized the value this program would be to UTSA students after discovering an immediate need based on market trends. Microsoft reported that by 2017, at least 2.7 million cloud-computing workers will be needed by North American Corporations. Microsoft further states that the current supply cannot meet this demand. A certificate that would demonstrate proficiency in areas related to cloud computing would serve students and the community, allowing corporations access to the trained workforce required to compete in todays high-tech landscape and provide opportunities for UTSA students to compete for some of the best technical jobs available.

The graduate certificate in cloud computing is a 12-semester-credit-hour program designed to equip technical professionals with the knowledge and technical skills necessary for a career in an organization that leverages cloud computing. The wide-range of use of cloud computing in todays business, government and academic environments requires a broad range of competencies and understanding of how cloud computing influences a particular area. This certificate is designed to give a common framework of understanding cloud computing, as well as allow for specialization in specific areas such as cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure and applications in cloud.



UTSA is ranked among the nations top five young universities, according to Times Higher Education.The UTSA Urban Future Lab and Southside First EDC are working on ways to revitalize the Quintana Road and Mission San Jose communities.

(July 26, 2018) -- In collaboration with Southside First Economic Development Council (SFEDC). The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Urban Future Lab  an interdisciplinary think-and-do-tank and research laboratory founded by UTSA Assistant Professor Antonio Petrov  is undertaking a pilot program on the Southside of San Antonio to foster social mobility and placemaking in the Mission San Jose and Quintana Road communities.

SFEDC was established in late 2016 by the South San Antonio Chamber of Commerce to catalyze revitalization efforts in San Antonio. Since that time, it has focused on growing the economy using a three-pronged approach. It (1) develops programs and facilitates partnerships to connect economic growth resources to Southside communities; (2) energizes and empowers business, neighborhoods and schools through economic events, workshops and marketing outreach; and (3) provides economic data, identifies indicators and advocates for solutions to support revitalization efforts for Southside business corridors and neighborhoods.

While its community-based development approach has made a positive impact, equity, mobility and income segregation studies continue to reflect a large disparity in Southside San Antonio.

In the Mission San Jose community, which has a population of 5,630, the median household income is $27,500. In the Quintana community, which has a population of 11,780, one third live below the poverty level and the median income is $25,636.

San Antonio is a fast-growing city and, as the city faces north, something is getting left out said Andrew Anguiano, SFEDC executive director. In the south, for example, you have major economic assets like Port of San Antonio and you have a neighborhood next door  Quintana  that has a household income of $25K right next to it. The question is, why are these economic assets not activating the environment?.

Anguiano called on UTSA researchers to help assess the challenge.

Petrov, along with visiting postdoctoral research fellows and UTSA College of Architecture, Construction and Planning students, has started addressing questions of inequity through community dialogues. In these dialogues, The Urban Future Lab and Southside First EDC are distinguishing between myths and solvable problems, while tapping into the communities existing entrepreneurial spirit.

A hybrid civic engagement approach is central to the effort. The Urban Future Lab is focusing on the physical and digital realms to gather increasingly personalized data from residents of the pilot communities to address the issues of digital, human and geographic inequity.

Antonio Petrov is guiding us to re-evaluate the way we think about things. He is changing the mindset, said Anguiano.

As founder of the Urban Future Lab, Petrov employs a no-box approach in addressing imminent issues affecting San Antonio such as infrastructure, housing, water, transportation, data analysis, education and equity. The researchers are taking a project-oriented and pragmatic approach in imaging and implementing initiatives for the future. Collaboration with city entities is integral to the partners mission to develop solutions for Southside residents and businesses.

The pilot program led by UTSA and Southside First EDC will produce a community-based strategy that outlines assets and resources to advance economic revitalization and community development. The partners will chart a path that translates the communities collective ambitions and visions into values, responsibilities, duties and aspirations to develop the mechanisms necessary to define a future trajectory.

Based on the social, cultural, economic and political climate in San Antonios Southside, it seems many have accepted that mystery and assumptions inform the decisions that are made, said Petrov. Our hope is to begin conversations that identify solutions to improve the quality of life for Southside residents and businesses and for all of San Antonio.

UTSA is ranked among the nations top five young universities, according to Times Higher Education.The year 2018 marks the 45th anniversary of Vietnam- Italy diplomatic relations. Since 2013, when a strategic partnership was established between both the countries, bilateral trade and investments have witnessed a significant growth. Vietnams strategic location, labor cost, economic growth, government incentives, domestic market, and participation in numerous free trade agreements including Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), which will come into effect in 2019, has driven investments and bilateral trade between both the nations.

Bilateral trade

Vietnam is currently the biggest trade partner of Italy in ASEAN, while Italy is the fourth largest in the EU. Trade balance between both the countries continues to be in Vietnams favor.

Exports

Vietnamese exports to Italy increased from US$1.9 billion in 2012 to US$3.3 billion in 2016. However, exports in 2017 reduced compared to 2016 to US$2.7 billion.

In the first five months of 2018, exports to Italy reduced by almost 37 percent to US$927.7 million, compared to the same period in 2017. The 37 percent decline, was mostly due to two products, telephones and computers. Telephone exports in the first five months of 2018 were only US$75.3 million, a huge decline from US$618 million reported for the same period last year. Computer exports reduced from US$107 million in the first five months of 2017 to US$40.5 million in 2018.

Major exports to Italy includes phones and components, electronics, textiles and garments, footwear, coffee, and machinery.

Imports

Imports from Italy increased from US$972 million in 2012 to US$1.5 billion in 2015 to US$1.7 billion last year. Major imports included equipment for the textile, leather, footwear, food processing, packaging, and plastic industries. Other imports included wood products, pharmaceuticals, and machinery.

FDI

Italy ranks 31st among 128 countries and 9th among the EU nations that have invested in Vietnam. Total registered investments increased from US$276 million in 2012 to US$357 million in 2015 to US$388 million last year. Majority of the investments are wholly-owned by Italian companies, while the rest are joint ventures with Vietnamese firms.

Locations

Italian firms have invested in 22 of the 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam with Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Vinh Phuc being the major destinations.

Major Italian firms

Majority of the investments are in the manufacturing, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, transportation, metal products, and food processing projects. Major Italian companies in Vietnam include Perfetti (confectionery and gum), Segafredo Zanetti (coffee), Mapei (adhesives and sealants), Ghella (construction), Menarini (pharmaceuticals), Medlac (pharmaceuticals), Leonardo (transportation), Bonfiglioli (industrial machinery), and Piaggio (transportation).

Opportunities

While traditional industries such as footwear, textiles, consumer goods, and manufacturing remain the major attractors of FDI, emerging sectors such as infrastructure, renewable energies, machinery, and interior design products are also being promoted to attract Italian investors.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure projects, which are currently a priority for the government, offers an opportunity for Italian companies involved in the construction of roads, housing, electricity distribution networks, airports, and ports. These projects cannot be fulfilled only by domestic investors or government funding and require foreign capital to meet the demand.

Renewable energy

By 2020 and 2030, energy demand in Vietnam is predicted to grow by over 10 and eight percent respectively. In addition, electricity consumption is predicted to increase fourfold by 2030 compared to 2014. To meet the growing demand, the government is focusing on renewable energy and waste management projects. This opens up opportunities for Italian firms with expertise in solar, wind, hydropower, and waste to energy technologies.

Machinery

In the manufacturing sector, the growing demand for modern machinery and equipment in the leather, textiles, footwear, rubber processing, and food processing industries offers an opportunity for Italian companies. The Italy-Vietnam Textile Technology Centre in Ho Chi Minh City, which opened last year is already providing training to Vietnamese workers and engineers in Italian machinery and equipment.

Interior decor

In the last three years, interior decor imports into Vietnam have grown at an annual average of 33 percent. Italy, which ranks first in Europe and third globally among the top exporters to Vietnam should focus on further developing their distribution network in the country to increase their market share in this emerging growth sector.

Going forward, once the EVFTA comes into effect, trade and investments are predicted to witness faster growth. Vietnam, with its favorable location, government policies, and regional connectivity will continue to be a priority for Italian businesses in the region as it serves as a strategic gateway for Southeast Asia.Community-based ecotourism thrives

New direction

A part of responsible tourism, community-based ecotourism is a model based on the ability to balance the reasonable exploitation of resources with the local communitys responsibility to protect and preserve the natural environment. In particular, the local community is the key factor in making this tourism model attractive and successful. They will directly participate in the process of introducing the area, supplying products, and guiding visitors towards enjoyable experiences.

Travel companies now only act as consultants, connecting visitors with local tourism products and ensuring that visitors have the best experience.

The AC Nielsens survey of travel trends shows that 65 per cent of travellers want to experience local cultural heritage, 54 per cent of visitors wish to experience nature tourism, and 97 per cent of travellers are willing to pay more for an environmentally friendly holiday.

In recent years, Vietnams tourism industry has been promoting community-based tourism in general and community-based ecotourism in particular as a unique product to attract international visitors. With the increasing number of international visitors, the diversified natural potential, and the uniqueness of the culture, ecotourism has a lot of opportunities to develop in Vietnam.

Community-based ecotourism is a trend for sustainable development in the future. If it succeeds, it will make a difference in Vietnams tourism compared to the tourism products of other countries, and then the competition will be greatly reduced, said Nguyen Ngoc Bich, general director of Mekong Rustic Management.

Each household is a travel agency

Some localities have already applied this model and initially achieved great success. In the mountainous areas where many ethnic minorities live, such as Lao Cai, Ha Giang, and Hoa Binh, this model has brought about practical effects and contributed to improving the lives of many people.

Coming to Mai Chau, tourists have the chance to live in the unique stilt-houses of the Thai tribe, and participate in daily local activities such as weaving, bamboo dancing, and enjoying traditional cuisine. In Sapa, HMong villages such as Ta Van, Ta Phin, Cat Cat, and Lao Chai have become attractive destinations for foreign tourists.

Despite appearing later, this model also brought many successes in the northern province of Quang Ninh, especially in some of the unspoilt islands such as Quan Lan, Minh Chau and Co To.

In the central region, Hoi An (in the central province of Quang Nam) is cited as having opportunities for developing community-based tourism, with such familiar destinations as Tra Que Herbal Village, Cu Lao Cham Island, as well as ecotourism sites associated with the nipa palm forests and canals along the Thu Bon River, and fishing villages along An Bang and Cua Dai beaches.

In the Mekong Delta, an area well known for its ecotourism tours, visitors can immerse themselves in the local living space and experience the activities of the water region such as fishing, harvesting fruits, enjoying floating markets, and listening to traditional music with local amateur artists. Many travel companies also co-operate with homestays to organise tours which appeal to foreigners, such as Be a farmer for a day in Cai Be (Tien Giang province), and A foreigner in my house (Vinh Long province).

Simone Kapitza, a German tourist visiting An Giang province, said, Only community-based ecotourism helps me to experience nature and understand the aspirations of this land.Foreign direct investment commitments in Vietnam soared 5 per cent on-year to $22.94 billion in the first seven months.- Photo kinhtedothi.vn

Foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments soared 5 per cent on-year to $22.94 billion in the seven-month period. Of the amount, fresh approvals increased 2 per cent to $13.2 billion while investors added $4.95 billion to existing projects or equivalent to 84 per cent of last years corresponding period.

Notably, overseas players spent $4.79 billion on acquiring shares in Vietnamese companies, shooting up 54 per cent on-year.

Manufacturing and processing continued to be the most appealing sector by attracting $9.63 billion from January to July, accounting for 42 per cent of the total investment inflow. It was followed by real estate trading with $5.6 billion (25 per cent) and retail and wholesale with $1.7 billion (7 per cent).

Japan remained the leading foreign investor by pouring $6.88 billion into Vietnam during the period, making up nearly 30 per cent of the total FDI registered in the country. South Korea ranked second with $5.46 billion (24 per cent), while Singapore came next with $2.73 billion (12 per cent).

According to the FIA, foreign investors were present in 59 cities and provinces. Of them, the capital lured the largest share $6.17 billion, accounting for 27 per cent. The southern economic hub of HCM City and the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau were runners-up with $4.12 billion (18 per cent) and $2.15 billion (9.5 per cent).

From January-July, foreign-invested businesses gained a trade surplus of approximately $18.7 billion with exports topping $95.13 billion, 15 per cent higher than the same period last year, and imports hitting $76.46 billion, up 9 per cent on-year.

As of July 20, the country had 26,210 foreign-invested projects with total registered capital of $333 billion, and over half of the FDI had been disbursed, the agency noted.

Overseas investments

During the period, Vietnamese businesses invested $280 million into 102 projects aboard, statistics from FIA also revealed.

As much as $238 million was pumped into 81 new overseas projects, while the rest was earmarked for 21 existing ones.

As per the data, finance banking caught the most interest from the Vietnamese investors, accounting for 38 per cent of their total investments, or $110 million.

Agro-forestry-fisheries came next with $64 million (23 per cent), following by manufacturing and processing with $46 million (16 per cent).

Vietnamese businesses invested in 32 countries and territories. Among them, Laos lured the lions share of Vietnamese investments, with 30 per cent. Other countries included Australia, Slovakia, Cuba, Cambodia and Myanmar.FIEs contribute billions of dollars to state budget, illustration photo

The Department of Corporate Finance (DCF) under the Ministry of Finance last week released a report on foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) business and production for the 2012-2016 period conducted a few months ago.

Results showed that FIEs contributions to state coffers rose from $3.7 billion in 2012 to $4.94 billion in 2013, $5.5 billion in 2014, $6.26 billion in 2015, and $7.18 billion in 2016 (excluding contributions from crude oil exports).

Tran Tu Quynh, Chairman the Bac Ninh Peoples Committee, reported that South Korean giant Samsung, with its Samsung Electronics and Samsung Display facilities based in the province, has been contributing the most to the provincial budget. In this years first half, these two projects helped the province earn VND480 trillion ($21.33 billion) in production value, up 22 per cent on-year, and reach $16.45 billion in export turnover, up 38 per cent on-year and fulfilling 55 per cent of the plan for the whole year, Quynh said.

According to the DCF, Samsung Electronics and Samsung Display accounted for 68 per cent of the total revenue of all FIEs in the northern province of Bac Ninh in 2016. Samsung Electronics Thai Nguyen held 92 per cent of the total revenue of all FIEs in the northern province of Thai Nguyen. Last year, Samsung facilities in Vietnam occupied about 25 per cent of the countrys total export turnover of $214 billion, according to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam.

The DCF also reported that the total revenue of total FIEs nationwide in 2016 hit $154.29 billion, up 21.7 per cent against 2015, with the greatest rises seen in the southern provinces of Binh Duong (35.4 per cent) and Dong Nai (22.9 per cent) as well as in Hanoi (15.9 per cent) and Ho Chi Minh City (17.6 per cent).

This revenue increase was higher than the 18.6-per-cent rise in their assets and also higher than their equity increment of 15.5 per cent. This showed that FIEs business and production have been quite strong, said DCFs representative Nguyen Ngoc Khanh.

Out of all industrial sectors, the electronics and garment-textile industries have been considered the biggest earners.

Specifically, in 2016, while the electronics industry accounted for 28.1 per cent of the total revenue of all FIEs in Vietnam, the garment-textile sector held 10.4 per cent, followed by the agro-fishery processing industry (7.18 per cent), the automobile industry (5.4 per cent), and the chemical-plastic-cosmetics industry (5.3 per cent). The sectors that witnessed high growth in revenue included telecommunications-software (80.2 per cent), electronic home appliances (35.4 per cent), electronic spare parts and computers (24.8 per cent), agro-fishery processing (29.3 per cent), and garment and textile (22.4 per cent).

As of June 20, Vietnam had 25,953 valid foreign-invested projects registered at $331.24 billion, with the greatest batches going to manufacturing and processing ($189.13 billion), property ($56.2 billion), electricity, gas, and water ($21.92 billion), and accommodation and catering ($12.6 billion).Vietnams aviation sector has yet to attract much foreign investment, a situation the government hopes to remedy, Photo: Le Toan

The Ministry of Transport (MoT) is seeking comments from ministries for the draft amendments to Decree No.92/2016/ND-CP, governing investment in the conditional business lines in the civil aviation sector of Vietnam. These amendments aim to facilitate domestic and foreign investment in this growing sector.

The highlights in the draft amendments are to raise the foreign ownership limit (FOL) in airlines to a maximum of 49 per cent from the current 30 per cent and to remove the distinction in charter capital cap between international and domestic air carriage. This is seen as a positive development for the domestic aviation sector.

Raising the FOL will make foreign investment in Vietnamese airlines more attractive, as it will enable foreign investors to manage operations to a degree in which they are satisfied, Thomas J. Treutler, managing director of Vietnams branch of Tilleke and Gibbins Consultants Ltd., told VIR.

The elite airlines that enter into joint ventures in Vietnam will want to maintain their standards and seek to protect their brand. To do that, they will likely want operational control over many aspects of the local airline, said Treutler.

What is more, the removal of the charter capital distinction between international and domestic air carriage - which, under the current draft amendments of Decree 92, essentially amounts to an increase in the charter capital for domestic airlines - will help ensure that airlines are properly capitalised.

Operating an airline is a very expensive business with small profit margins. If an airline is not properly capitalised from the outset, it may default and go out of business.

Vaibhav Saxena, consultant of Vietnam International Law Firm, said that the lift of the FOL is expected to attract foreign investors.

The proposed increase from only 30 per cent of the capital ratio in an enterprise engaging in the aviation industry to 49 per cent is a positive shift by the Vietnamese government, said Saxena.

However, in spite of these positive proposals, some barriers remain, such as capital requirement based on the number of aircraft and the FOL cap.

Specifically, as proposed under the draft amendments, an airline with 10 aircraft are required to have minimum capital of VND700 billion ($31.11 million), instead of the requirement of VND300 billion ($13.33 million) for local air carriage and VND700 billion for international air carriage, as prescribed in Decree 92. Also, for an airline with 11-30 aircraft, the minimum capital must be VND1 trillion ($44.44 million), instead of VND1 trillion ($44.44 million) for international air carriage and VND600 billion ($26.66 million) for domestic air carriage, as carved under Decree 92.

Besides, Saxena also stressed a need to raise the FOL more. Increasing the ratio from 30 per cent to 49 per cent will make some difference, but an investor will still not hold a majority in any possible deal and have to depend on Vietnamese enterprises. It is clear that it will not have gigantic effects due to the persisting minority stake and the value which a majority stake holder enjoys in an investment.

It will open up more opportunities to foreign investors in the burgeoning aviation industry, but will also make it arduous for fresh domestic entrants, due to the increased capitalisation requirements, he added.

Vietnams aviation sector has yet to attract much foreign investment, as aviation infrastructure investment in Vietnam has been mainly sourced from the state budget or funds from official development assistance (ODA). As aviation is a conditional business with strict requirements on security and safety, no foreign-invested projects were licensed for aviation infrastructure.

These factors would make the state divestment not an easy tasks for leading corporations, but the positive changes are expected to lay out hopes for a brighter and more profitable future.

With a contribution of $6 billion annually to the countrys GDP and double-digit growth, Vietnams aviation market is expected to see more merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions taking place in the near future, driven by state stake divestments among the most influential corporations in the sector.

Vietnam Airports Corporation (ACV), the operator of 22 airports across the country, will sell off 20 per cent of its state shares in 2018 and a further 10.4 per cent in 2019, while the flag carrier Vietnam Airlines (VNA) will sell 35.16 per cent of its shares in 2019.

Foreign investors are interested in acquiring a stake in the firms to cash in on the room for future growth. Vietnams passenger-population ratio is less than 1:1, compared to rates of 4:1 or 5:1 in more developed markets like Singapore, Hong Kong, and the US, said a senior official of the MoT.

Foreign investors often target large-scale firms or firms that are in the same business field as they are. VNA and ACV are good examples of past targets, the official added.

Its possible that ANA Holding Inc. - Japans largest airline - is seeking an opportunity to increase its holding in VNA from its current 8.8 per cent. In 2016, the stake sales by VNA and ACV were among the hottest in the aviation industry, as many multinational corporations lined up to take part in the auctions.

Meanwhile, private budget carrier Vietjet has received multiple calls from overseas stock exchanges such as Singapore, Hong Kong, and London, but the airline has yet to make any concrete plans to list overseas. Vietjet made its debut on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange last February.Somerset Grand Hanoi

Talking with VIR last week in Ho Chi Minh City, a source of Keppel Land Watco II, one of the five companies on the list, stated that the company understands that the inspection by Vietnams Ministry of Finance (MoF) is part of the MoFs periodic review of joint-venture entities in which Vietnamese state capital is invested.

To our knowledge, Keppel Land Watco II complies with all applicable laws and regulations, said the source. We will work closely with the relevant authorities on this routine inspection.

The other companies under inspection include Somerset Grand Hanoi, G.V.C Development Ltd., Indochine Park Tower, and Global Toserco Co., Ltd. All of these are large real estate developers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

A public relations representative of Ascott Ltd., the developer of Somerset Grand Hanoi, confirmed that the company had completed all necessary measures to meet the requests from the inspection team. The inspection into our company has just been completed and the final results show that we have obeyed all government regulations, the representative for Ascott Ltd. told VIR. No problems or violations were found in our company during this inspection.

Two weeks prior, the MoF sent a document to the Ministry of Planning and Investment detailing the inspection into financial mechanisms and policy implementation in these five foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) in July. The MoF will look into the value of contributed capital for each party, as well as the profits from the state investment capital within these FIEs. The preservation of the state capital in economic organisations, capital and project transfers, and these FIEs observation of Vietnams tax laws will also be determined.

Keppel Land Watco Co., Ltd. is a joint venture between Singapores Keppel Land, Southern Water Transport Corporation, and Saigon Real Estate Corporation (RESCO). This joint venture is the developer of Saigon Centre, a premium project of office space for lease along with a shopping centre tower complex, located in District 1 in Ho Chi Minh City. In 2017, Keppel Land spent VND845.9 billion ($37.3 million) buying an additional 16 per cent stake in Keppel Land Watco (from I to V), the joint-venture entities for Saigon Centre, through its subsidiary Krystal Investments Pte., Ltd. This transaction enabled Keppel Land to raise its stakes in phases 1 and 2 of the Saigon Centre project from 45.3 to 53.5 per cent, and to raise its stake in the two next phases of the project from 68 to 76.2 per cent.

Somerset Grand Hanoi is the property developed by Ascott Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapores CapitaLand Ltd.

G.V.C Development Ltd. started operating in Vietnam in May 1998 and is an affiliate company of Housing Development Real-Estate JSC.

Indochine Park Tower is a joint venture between RESCO and Hong Kongs AF Investments Ltd.

Global Toserco was established by Hanoi Toserco JSC, which is the owner of Pullman Hanoi Hotel, and PT Global Metropolitan, a joint venture of Ciputra Group, Metrolitan Group, and Praidha Ltd.Saigon waterbus in Ho Chi Minh City

Currently, the city has over 1,000km of waterways. Of this, the city has building plans for 975km, including 175km for seven maritime routes, 203km for nine national routes, and 612km for 94 local routes.

With 320 ports  including the four big ones of Sai Gon, Tan Cang-Cat Lai, Ben Nghe, and Nha Be  the city has typical characteristics of a metropolis built with western architecture, with one-third of architectural heritage lying along rivers and canals, which is suitable for tourism development.

Thanks to its diverse natural resources, since 2013, the city has defined waterway tourism as one of its major products, drawing the investment of many travel firms and investors.

Notably, it has recently launched Saigon waterbus, while introducing seven new river tourism products.

Since 2016, the city has issued several key resolutions and documents highlighting the need to boost waterway tourism.

Under a waterway tourism development plan for the 2017-2020 period approved by the municipal Peoples Committee, there will be at least seven tourism routes in 2020, situated in the Saigon, Dong Nai, Nha Be, Soai Rap, and Long Tau rivers, as well as other internal canals.

The number of tourists travelling by waterway in the 2017-2018 period reached about 450,000 per year and up 15 percent in following years.

However, the tourism potential of Ho Chi Minh City has yet to be fully exploited.

In 2011, the city had 37 enterprises with 130 vessels. However, now the figures have shrunk to only 19 enterprises with 100 vessels.

According to experts, despite the citys orientations in boosting waterway tourism development, it has yet to make adequate investment into infrastructure for the sector. In particular, the closure of the Bach Dang port in District 1 and some other ports in District 4 has caused many difficulties for travel firms in loading and receiving tourists as well as docking their vessels, resulting in the quitting and switching of business operations.

Meanwhile, docking stations along waterway tourism routes have stayed modest in number and quality, as well as attraction, while water tourism products have remained few.

Many experts held that it is necessary to review the planning of riverside heritage for the restoration and repair in order to serve tourism.

Architect Truong Thai Hoai An, from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Architecture, asserted that the preservation of historical relic sites along rivers is not only the responsibility of the Government, but the whole society, and especially urban development advisors.

The investment in waterway tourism in line with the exploitation of the value of heritage is also part of solutions to protect heritage amidst strong urbanisation process.A growing number of international airlines, including Qantas and Singapore Airlines, had already changed their website classifications of Taiwan to 'Taiwan, China' AFP/ROBYN BECK

Taiwan is a self-ruling democracy but Beijing considers it part of its own territory, to be reunified by force if necessary, and is pushing to isolate the island on the international stage.

China's Civil Aviation Administration sent notices to dozens of airlines around the world in April asking them to adhere to Beijing's standards when referring to Taiwan, setting a Wednesday deadline to make the changes to corporate websites.

"To the foreign airlines which have undertaken the reforms, we give our approval," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a daily press briefing in Beijing, calling the changes "positive steps."

He reiterated China's position that foreign enterprises must "respect our sovereign and territorial integrity, and our people's feelings."

But Taiwan condemned what it called China's "insolent actions" in wielding its political and economic clout in the matter.

"Taiwan's existence in the international community is an objective fact. It will not disappear because of suppression by Chinese authorities," Taiwan's foreign ministry said.

US airlines in particular have come under the microscope on the issue after the White House in May scorned China's semantic demands as "Orwellian nonsense."

In an emailed statement to AFP, American Airlines spokeswoman Shannon Gilson said: "Like other carriers, American is implementing changes to address China's request."

"Air travel is a global business, and we abide by the rules in countries where we operate," Gilson said.

American and Delta Air Lines still mentioned "Taiwan" as an entity on parts of their websites Wednesday, but the name had been wiped from some of their searches.

A simple arrival or departure airport search on American Airlines' site listed the cities of Taipei and Kaohsiung with no reference to Taiwan. Its destination listings usually follow the template of city name, then country name.

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific and subsidiary Cathay Dragon had previously listed Taiwan as its own entity, but as of Wednesday morning, it was called "Taiwan, China" on both its English and Chinese language websites.

Cathay said in an emailed statement that because it is registered in the southern Chinese territory of Hong Kong, "we must comply with the regulations and requirements" of China's authorities.

'BULLYING'

Bloomberg News reported earlier on Wednesday that American, United, Delta and Hawaiian Airlines all had plans to change their websites over the coming days, citing a source familiar with talks on the matter.

Some searches on Delta's website showed no country references for destinations in Taiwan, mainland China or semi-autonomous Hong Kong Wednesday, listing them simply by their city names.

A growing number of international airlines, including Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways, Emirates and KLM had already changed their websites from Taiwan to "Taiwan, China", while others skirt the issue by merely listing cities.

A customer-service representative from Hawaiian Airlines told AFP on Wednesday that although they do not serve Taiwan destinations, the island is listed in its systems as "Chinese Taipei."

Beijing has been raising the military and diplomatic pressure on Taipei as relations have deteriorated under the island's president, Tsai Ing-wen, whose government refuses to acknowledge that Taiwan is a part of China.

It has also used its political and economic clout to woo away several of the few remaining countries that still recognise Taiwan's government.

Taiwan's cabinet spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka called China's behaviour "unjust" and asked for support from the international community.

"We keep on urging the international community not to become an accomplice of China bullying Taiwan," Kolas told reporters on Wednesday.Better education and training of labourers is key to meet the Industry 4.0 trend, Photo: Le Toan

Vingroups deputy CEO Vo Quang Hue said at a recent conference on smart industry, Preparing for Industry 4.0 tomorrow starts with education today. To secure qualified human resources, in addition to finding leading domestic and foreign experts, Vingroup has established the Vinfast Training Centre, which offers training in two main fields, industrial machinery and mechatronics.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc Human resources a vital element for Industry 4.0 The world is moving from the era of electronics, automation, and computerisation to the era of digitisation, intelligentisation, and artificial intelligence. We have seen new business models quite different from traditional ones, like global media agencies that dont hold the copyright on news, global taxi firms dont own cars, and global hotels dont own hotel rooms, which are forming a new economic erathe digital economy. Industry 4.0 opens up a new period in human development  the digital era, which is forecast to impact all activities of the government and society. This is a historic opportunity, but also a challenge for national reforms and development. To grasp this opportunity, the government has to innovate, transform to become a government of the 4.0 era, with full capacity in governance and development in the digital age. In the meantime, all ministries, sectors and the entire society need to change in awareness and act to take advantage of IT and digital technologies, and to meet the challenges of the new digital-based economy.

He revealed that Vingroups $1.5 billion automobile complex Vinfast in the northern port city of Haiphong has selected leading firms from Europe as their main partners in designing and manufacturing production lines for two sedan and SUV models. They will provide Vinfast with data collection and management systems, business planning systems, product lifecycle management systems, and production management systems, as well as designing and installing five production plants, namely stamping, welding, painting, engine production, and final assembly plants.

The welding plant is equipped with 1,200 robots and is expected to be the most modern fully automated car body welding factory in Southeast Asia when operational.

Vinfast is considered a pioneer of smart manufacturing in Vietnam, augmenting the position of the countrys automobile industry globally and creating a spill-over effect to boost the development of other industries that want to become smarter.

Brian Hull, director of ABB Vietnam, which has been active in the Vietnamese market for 25 years, told VIR, Industry 4.0 is a fantastic opportunity for an emerging country like Vietnam. As investors come to Vietnam, they can take advantage of equipping their facilities with the latest products and systems. I think the major challenge will be to ensure we have the talent in the country to take advantage of such opportunities.

Nguyen Trung Chinh, chairman of CMC Corporation, said that the government should improve educational policies and syllabuses in universities and colleges as well as providing incentives for the private sector in training workers. He warned that the risk of being left behind is especially severe for countries that currently use low-quality and cheap labour as a competitive tool.

According to Truong Gia Binh, chairman of FPT, Industry 4.0 will require a suitable regulatory framework. We should go one step ahead and international organisations and businesses will see Vietnam as the destination to head for in the era of Industry 4.0, he said.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said that his ministry conducted a survey on the availability of Industry 4.0 solutions in enterprises at the end of 2017. The results showed that most industrial production firms are still lagging behind, with 61 per cent of enterprises still untouched by Industry 4.0 and 21 per cent just having started preparatory activities.

Another survey of 2,000 firms made by the Hanoi Association of Small and Medium Enterprises found that 79 per cent of respondents had not started to prepare for Industry 4.0.

Vietnam has many opportunities to partake in the new technology wave, as it boasts a youthful domestic market of more than 93 million people and over 130 million mobile subscriptions. 4G networks cover almost 99 per cent of the country, with nearly 60 million mobile broadband (3G, 4G) subscriptions nationwide.KPMG speakers at the seminars

The two seminars by KPMG took place on July 18 in Hanoi and July 20 in Ho Chi Minh City, as more than 260 senior executives from over 36 local banks and foreign bank branches in Vietnam gathered to discuss Circular 13 and Risk Management Practice.

This seminars were a part of KPMG-run programmes to increase support for Basel II for Vietnam's banking industry. The keynote speakers were Amitava Mukherjee, director of Risk Consulting, KPMG Asia Pacific Area and Pham Do Nhat Vinh, associate director and head of FS Risk Consulting, KPMG Vietnam & Cambodia.

The seminars also welcomed representatives from the State Bank of Vietnam, who talked about requirements of Circular 13, one of the laws aiming to change the quality of bank management in Vietnam.

In his opening remarks, Tran Dinh Vinh, partner of KPMG Vietnam, highlighted that banks should apply Circular 13 strictly in practice, not only for the purpose of complying with regulations on risk management and internal control, but also for the aim of value enhancement and sustainable development of banks.

Participants at the seminars

"KPMG is always ready to go along with banks in the process of implementing and transforming in accordance with the requirements of this circular," said Vinh.

According to this, KPMG commits to continuously discussing and establishing opportunities to support banks to implement Circular 13 effectively.

During the speeches, KPMG experts shared their own perspectives, challenges and experiences in implementing Circular 13 in Vietnam and other countries in the region.

The subsequent Q&A session welcomed questions related to Circular 13, including timeline of implementation, the appropriate level when applying the circular of each bank and bank-specific challenges.

KPMGs new ERP programme helps fast-track SME business A new planning programme has been launched this week by KPMG Vietnam, with reasonable price quotes for small- and medium-sized enterprises.

KPMG holds seminar series on Vietnams changing tax landscape Professional services firm KPMG discussed the impacts of Vietnam's latest tax updates in three seminars in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Danang this December.Displaced residents arriving by boat in floodwaters in Attapeu province on Jul 24 after a dam collapsed. (Photo: AFP / Attapeu Today)

In a rare televised press conference by the leader of the secretive communist country, Thongloun Sisoulith gave the most specific figure so far for the number unaccounted for.

Earlier official reports spoke of hundreds missing in Attapeu province.

"One hundred and thirty one people have been reported missing," he said, adding all of them were Lao nationals.

Survivors have questioned why they got little warning of the deluge, which inundated several villages across a vast area with several meters of flood water.

Two South Korean contractors said they had reported damage a day before parts of the Xe-Namnoy dam gave way Monday and unleashed a wall of water.

Thai consular official Chana Miencharoen, at the scene of the relief effort told AFP that by late afternoon Wednesday 26 bodies had been recovered.

"Seventeen others are injured and in hospital," he said, adding roof-level floodwater was hampering rescue efforts in a remote area of the poor and landlocked Southeast Asian country.

Information trickled slowly out of Laos as the publicity-shy country tried to get to grips with the disaster.

The Vientiane Times reported that 3,000 were in need of rescue as of Wednesday afternoon, taking shelter in trees and on rooftops.

Footage on Laos television showed people huddled on roofs awaiting rescue as muddy water swirled menacingly just below them, with the army and local volunteers leading the rescue effort.

Questions began to emerge over the collapse, with some of the displaced saying they were warned to leave their homes only hours before disaster struck.

"It happened quickly, we had little time to prepare ourselves," Joo Hinla, 68, from one of the worst-hit villages of Ban Hin Lath, told AFP from a warehouse crammed with over 700 displaced people in a neighbouring province.

"All of the houses in my village are under water. Four of my family are missing, we don't know about their fate yet."

Hundreds of other displaced people, including women, children and the elderly, sat on the floor nearby surrounded by plastic bags crammed with meagre belongings.

THE DAMMING OF LAOS

Laos, poor but blessed with abundant natural resources, aims to become the "Battery of Asia" allowing dozens of foreign-funded dam projects across its network of rivers.

But fears over the environmental impact of the projects, which export most of their electricity to neighbouring Thailand and China, go virtually unvoiced inside the tightly controlled country.

Villagers across the country have been moved, some several times, to make way for dams whose benefits are mainly enjoyed outside of the country, campaigners say.

Once complete, around 90 percent of the electricity generated by the Xe-Namnoy dam was destined for Thailand.

The remote flooded area is only accessible by helicopter and flat-bottomed boats, with roads badly damaged or completely washed away.

South Korea was sending a relief team to the area, President Moon Jae-in's spokesman said Wednesday in Seoul.

"Our government must actively take part in on-site relief efforts without delay as our companies were involved in the construction of the dam," Moon was quoted as saying.

QUESTIONS OVER WARNING

Two South Korean companies involved in the $1.2 billion project said damage was reported a day before the dam collapsed following heavy monsoon rain.

SK Engineering & Construction said it discovered that the upper part of the structure had washed away at around 9:00 pm on Sunday.

"We immediately alerted the authorities and began evacuating villagers downstream," it said in a statement.

Repair work was hampered by rain which had damaged roads, it said. Early on Monday water was discharged from the Xe-Namnoy dam - one of the two main dams in the project - to try to relieve pressure on the auxiliary structure.

The government was warned about further damage to the dam at around noon, prompting an official evacuation order for villagers downstream, and the structure collapsed a few hours later, it said.

Dam operator Korea Western Power Co. said one of the auxiliary dams - "Saddle D" - broke under heavy rain.

But according to a timeline the firm provided in a report to a South Korean lawmaker and obtained by AFP, it said "11 centimetres of subsidence was found at the centre of the dam" as early as Friday.

Emergency repair equipment could not be used as the subsidence worsened.

"It remains unclear what caused the dam to subside in some places and develop cracks," a Korea Western Power spokesman told AFP.

The 410 megawatt capacity plant was supposed to start commercial operations by 2019.The central bank also banned commercial banks and intermediary payment services providers from making transactions involving cryptocurrencies.-Photo VNA

Under an announcement released early this week, SSC banned public companies, securities companies, fund management companies and securities investment funds from taking part in the activities, and required them to obey legal regulations on anti-money laundering.

According to SSC, the announcement was issued based on the Prime Ministers Directive No 10/CT-TTg dated April 11, 2018 on strengthening the management of activities related to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The use of such currencies as a means of payment is prohibited in Vietnam.

Earlier in April, the State Bank of Vietnam also banned commercial banks and intermediary payment service providers from making transactions involving cryptocurrencies, warning that such activities may increase the risks of money laundering, terrorism financing, trade fraud and tax evasion.

To improve the management of cryptocurrencies in Vietnam, local relevant ministries, including the ministries of Finance and Industry and Trade, and SBV, have also agreed to suspend the import of cryptocurrency mining machines.Vietnams franchise market is gaining momentum, illustration photo

PT Mitra Adiperkasa, one of Indonesias largest retailers, is focusing on Vietnam in its overseas operations. The retailer holds a licence to market well-known foreign retail brands, including Starbucks and Zara.

Mitra Adiperkasa made waves in Vietnam in 2017. As a crucial part of its Indochina strategy, the company launched Zara in Hanoi, and Massimo Dutti, Pull and Bear, and Stradivarius in Ho Chi Minh City to add to its flagship Zara store in the southern city. Sales have been nothing short of spectacular. The two Zara stores in Vietnam were ranked among the worlds top-performing stores in terms of sales achievements in 2017.

Following this successful trend in its Vietnam business, Mitra Adiperkasa is looking for opportunities to penetrate the countrys booming food and beverage (F&B) market. One of the brands that the company is seeking to launch in Vietnam is the automated sushi restaurant Genki Sushi, a franchise that operates under its subsidiary PT Agung Mandiri Lestari.

US-based pizza chain Little Caesars also believes this is an ideal time to enter the Vietnamese market.

Bill Schreiber, vice president of international development at Little Caesars, is optimistic about the markets prospects. Vietnams pizza consumption is growing by over 7 per cent a year, indicating that there is an appetite for pizza among Vietnams developing consumer class.

With brands such as Pizza Hut, Dominos, and The Pizza Company already experiencing rapid growth in Vietnam, we believe consumer demand for pizza will continue to grow as the younger generation becomes even more familiar with this type of international food, Schreiber said.

Little Caesars is currently finding local partners to set up its pizza chain in Vietnam. The company will enter the Vietnamese market in one of two ways: the company can either have one franchisee in charge of the entire country or two franchisees, one in the north and one in the south, to ensure the firm develops in these two markets simultaneously.

Data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) shows that 10 foreign firms have registered to franchise in Vietnam since the beginning of 2018. The latest brand to join this group is JYSK, a Danish retail chain selling many products, including mattresses, furniture, and interior decor. JYSK has entered into a franchise agreement with Neat Clean Vietnam JSC, with its first store in Hanoi opened in October 2015.

Another newcomer is the Swedish cafe chain Waynes Coffee. It has signed a master franchise deal with Vietnam Oman Investment JSC, for expansion throughout Vietnam. The first cafe was opened in Ho Chi Minh City last June. Mats Hornell, vice president of Waynes Coffee, said that the opening in Vietnam represents a milestone in the brands history, marking its first appearance in the Southeast Asian region.

It is a first step to show our concept in a culture that is new to us, said Hornell. If it turns out to be successful, we will definitely open more cafes in Vietnam. It also gives us a platform for further establishment in neighbouring countries in the region.

There were more than 206 foreign brands registered in Vietnam as of May this year, according to the MoIT. Sean Ngo, CEO of VF Franchise Consulting, expects that some 30-40 foreign franchise brands will enter the market this year.

We expect to see growth in the franchise sector as a whole, said Ngo, noting that more international franchises want to penetrate the market to capitalise on the fast-growing demand in F&B, education, retail, and various other services.

Vietnam is ranked ninth among the top 12 most valuable markets for international expansion, as identified by the members of the International Franchise Association.You have attacked our democracy. Your well-worn gamblers denials do not interest us. If you continue with this attitude, we will consider it an act of war. This is what Trump should have said to Putin at the Helsinki Summit, in the opinion of famous New York Times editorialist Thomas Friedman, published in La Repubblica. He went on to accuse the Russian President of having attacked NATO, a fundamental pillar of international security, destabilised Europe, and bombed thousands of Syrian refugees, causing them to seek refuge in Europe.

He then accused the President of the United States of having  repudiated his oath on the Constitution  and of being an  asset of Russian Intelligence  or at least playing at being one.

What Friedman expressed in these provocative terms corresponds to the position of a powerful internal and international front (of which the New York Times is an important mouthpiece) opposed to USA-Russia negotiations, which should continue with the invitation of Putin to the White House. But there is a substantial difference.

While the negotiations have not yet borne fruit, opposition to the negotiations has been expressed not only in words, but especially in facts.

Cancelling out the climate of detente at the Helsinki Summit, the planetary warmongering system of the United States is in the process of intensifying the preparations for a war reaching from the Atlantic to the Pacific:

 After the landing of an US armoured brigade in Anvers, totalling a hundred tanks and a thousand military vehicles, a US aerial brigade landed in Rotterdam with sixty attack helicopters. These forces and others, all of them USA/NATO, are deployed along the borders of Russian territory, in the framework of operation Atlantic Resolve, launched in 2014 against  Russian aggression.  In its anti-Russian function, Poland asked for the permanent presence of an armoured US unit on its own territory, offering to pay between 1.5 - 2 billion dollars per year.

 At the same time, NATO is intensifying the training and armament of troops in Georgia and Ukraine, candidates for entry into membership of the Alliance on the frontiers with Russia.

 Meanwhile, the US Congress received with all honours Adriy Parubiy, founder of the National-Social Party (on the model of Adolf Hitlers National-Socialist Party), head of the neo-Nazi paramilitary formations employed by NATO in the Maidan Square putsch.

 NATO command in Lago Patria (JFC Naples)  under the orders of US Admiral James Foggo, who also commands the US naval forces in Europe and those in Africa  is working busily to organise the grand-scale exercise Trident Juncture 18, in which will participate 40,000 military personnel, 130 aircraft and 70 ships from more than 30 countries including Sweden and Finland, which are NATO partners. The exercise, which will take place in October in Norway and the adjacent seas, will simulate a scenario of  collective defence  - naturally enough, against  Russian aggression. 

 In the Pacific, the major naval exercise RIMPAC 2018 (27 June to 2 August) is in full swing - organised and directed by USINDOPACOM, the US Command which covers the Indian and Pacific oceans  with the participation of 25,000 sailors and marines, more than 50 ships and 200 war-planes.

The exercise  in which France, Germany and the United Kingdom are also participating  is clearly directed against China, which Admiral Phil Davidson, commander of USINDOPACOM, defines as a major rival power which is eroding the international order in order to reduce the access of the USA to the region and thus become hegemonic.

When Trump meets Chinese President Xi Jinping, Friedman will no doubt accuse him of connivance not only with the Russian enemy, but also with the Chinese enemy.During her interview with Jimmy Fallon on last nights Tonight Show, Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby reflected on the unexpected praise shes received since her new special Nanette debuted on Netflix. I love the special. Man, its getting unbelievable reviews, Fallon says. Its a bit much, isnt it? Gadsby responds, sarcastically adding, I really thought it would divide audiences, and it just hasnt. As for Gadsbys claim in the special that shes quitting comedy altogether, well, all the critical acclaim has made that a little complicated. I said I was quitting, and if I quit, Im an idiot now, she says. If the show had gone as badly as Id planned it wouldve worked, but now Im left with the choice: Ill either be an idiot or a hypocrite. Ill be a hypocrite.

Check out another clip from the interview below, where Gadby tells Fallon about the time she accidentally texted Emma Thompson a picture of Chuck Norris and about the worlds most skilled heckler: her mom.Photo: Linda Kallerus/Sony Pictures Classics

You may spend the first 20 minutes or so trying to figure out if Puzzle is building up to a Village-esque out-of-time twist. To a wistful piano score, Agnes (Kelly Macdonald) prepares for her own birthday party; she lives in a modest two-story in Connecticut whose decorating scheme seems to be lifted from a waterlogged 1960s Montgomery Ward catalogue, and whose only light source is the pale sunshine streaming in shafts through the lacy curtains. The director is Marc Turtletaub, producer of a slew of films (Little Miss Sunshine, Safety Not Guaranteed) that I would characterize as the granola of indie cinema  supposedly substantial and good for you but just as packed with bullshit as a 7-11 doughnut. The cinematography, by Chris Norr, is pretty to the point of nonsensical, as is Agness dowdy-yet-ethereal shirtwaist dress, which would be more believable on a 40s housewife or the triangle player in an early-2000s twee ensemble, but not a working-class housewife. At her birthday, shes given an iPhone, and as she examines it with vacant disinterest, I half-expected her to comment with an It doesnt look like anything to me.

Agnes is much more taken with another present: a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, which she unwraps the next day and completes in a couple hours without breaking a sweat. She has a gift, but she doesnt realize it yet  not only has she never used a smartphone before, she apparently doesnt know how long puzzles take to solve, until she ventures into New York City to buy more. (The time weirdness continues there  the last time she took the commuter train, it was $8. At least we eventually discover that her house has electric lamps.) At the puzzle shop, she finds an ad posted by an eccentric inventor in search of a puzzle partner for an upcoming competition, and she begins secretly sneaking away for their biweekly practice sessions at his house, while her family wonders whats gotten into her, like a very nonviolent Walter White.

Her partner is played by Indian actor Irrfan Khan, who shuffles disaffectedly about his opulent, conspicuously empty townhouse (hes recently divorced, we learn), as he carefully selects a puzzle from his wall of them. Given how little of the outside world Agnes has apparently seen, her reaction to him on his doorstep tells us shes probably never spoken to a brown person before in her life. Shes visibly uncomfortable around him for their first several meetings, and so offended when he greets her at the door in a bathrobe that she cuts one session short. But theres a magnetism between them, which Im not sure is so much chemistry as it is Khans mesmerizing embodiment of the role. As Robert, he exudes a kind of grown-up sexiness we rarely get to see onscreen (though Andy Garcia in this years Book Club is operating on a similar wavelength). Hes clearly going through what we can only understand as a protracted depressive episode and is constantly preoccupied by the tragedies and disasters going on in the world, but then cant help himself, blurting out, You are so beautiful, to Agnes mid-sentence, like a sneeze, like its hurting him in the most delicious way. Its a gorgeous performance.

Related Stories Kelly Macdonalds 10 Favorite Books

Kelly Macdonald has a needle-sharp sensitivity as an actress, and though it takes a while, all the laborious effort to sell her as a sheltered Luddite eventually gives way to more interesting, interior territory. Macdonald affects a strange semi-Minnesotan accent throughout the, but it loses its prim robotic edge over time. The more the character develops, the more its clear that Agnes neednt come out of the stone age for her self-discovery to have dramatic weight. She neednt be married to a domineering, patronizing, clueless husband played by Roy from The Office (sorry, David Denman, for how much that role has stuck to you and how much youre still asked to play it). The more interesting relationships are those with her teenage and young-adult sons (Bubba Weiler and Austin Abrams), who are both irked by her backwardness but amused and happy for her newfound talent, and have their own rebellious instincts to boot. They arent so easily understood as something to get away from.

Like its protagonist, Puzzle finds itself as it goes along, and Agnes becomes a truly interesting person to root for. But I couldnt help but wonder how much more effective the film could be if it started from some recognizably current-day lower-middle-class churchgoing milieu. To suggest that Agnes needs to be almost literally stuck in the past in order for us to feel the need for her liberation minimizes the fact that you neednt go far to find a woman who has ignored or opted not to foster her own talent out of duty to her spouse and children. But the more pieces it uses, the more its able to escape that binary.Samantha Bees 2017 interview with Russian author and dissident Masha Gessen was so good we posted it twice, so it was a great surprise to see Gessen make another appearance during last nights Full Frontal. Bee and Gessen hit the streets for a segment called Comedians in Cars With Dissidents Getting Coffee, which later morphs into Actors in Trucks Towing Comedians With Dissidents in Cars Getting Coffee hosted by Jason Alexander before morphing into Public Domain Carpool Karaoke, and later, Full Frontal Cash Cab. Its like all those other hit car-based comedies wrapped into one, except this time its full of Gessens grim reminders about the hopeless state of democracy right now. Im incredibly fortunate. Im a journalist, Gessen says when Bee asks her about self-care. It gives me the illusion of doing something. Thats nice! Bee responds. My job is to turn my tears of grief into yelling on TV!A scam for more refined tastes. Photo: Daniel/Getty Images/Cultura RF

Lest you thought the Summer of Scam would be restricted to stories of New York socialites like Anna Delvey, theres a new scam story afoot in the literary world. The Los Angeles Times has pieced together the story of Anna March, who at other times went by Delaney Anderson, Nancy Kruse, and Nancy Lott, a woman who posed as a member of the literary scene in various cities across the U.S., proposing and canceling a series of projects, many of which cost the people around her significant amounts of money. Born Nancy Lott, she started a consulting firm under the name Nancy Kruse. The firm hosted a fundraiser for various public radio stations, launching an online auction in 2004, but failed to repay many of the stations. The radio stations sued Kruse and won a judgement of more than $380,000 against her.

As Nancy Lott, she pleaded guilty to a case involving a political campaign in the 1990s in Maryland. Under the name Delaney Anderson, she ran a writing-focused nonprofit in the mid-1990s but then suddenly quit when it ran into dire financial straits under her leadership. She arrived in L.A. in the early 2010s as Anna March and became part of the literary community, wrote for Salon, and at one point asked friends to contribute to a Kickstarter to fund her. Later, she organized a series of writers workshops which she would suddenly cancel, leaving several people on the hook for travel expenses, and started an online magazine named Roar, where she paid writers a $25 symbolic honorarium, though the Times said she has been slow to do so. In response to the Times questions, March posted a long response on Roar, and has deleted her social-media accounts. The scam, it seems, has come to an end.Tom Arnold on The Hunt for the Trump Tapes. Photo: Viceland

Tom Arnold heads to TV in September with a new series Viceland claims is All the Presidents Men meets Curb Your Enthusiasm. Titled The Hunt for the Trump Tapes, the eight-episode series follows the comedian as he takes his addled activism off Twitter into real life and tries his hand at citizen journalism. Using his network of connections, Arnold searches for the truth behind the many rumored, potentially damaging recordings of President Donald Trump. A variety of comedians, journalists, and Trump associates show up throughout the series, including Judd Apatow, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Penn Jillette, Rosie ODonnell, The New Yorkers Jane Mayer, Felix Sater, and Anthony Scaramucci, and it will also reveal what was up with Arnolds surprise meeting with Trump lawyer Michael Cohen last month.

Check out a trailer for the show below, which premieres its first two episodes on Viceland Tuesday, September 18, at 10:30 p.m. Or if the trailers not enough for you, please enjoy The Hollywood Reporters recap of Arnolds promotional appearance for the show this morning, where he made statements such as You will know there is a pee-pee tape and Mark Burnett says hes a Christian, and he lets that man do all that bullshit and he let a sexual harasser work on his show.An 18-year-old Louisiana Tech student is attempting to become the youngest pilot to ever fly solo around the world.

Professional Aviation Student Mason Andrews took to the air on July 22 in his father's 1976 Piper Lance PA32R-300 aircraft, which he has named The Spirit of Louisiane.

The aircraft's name both honors Louisiana's French heritage and serves as a callback to Charles Lindbergh's plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, which Lindbergh successfully flew across the Atlantic to become the world's first transatlantic pilot.

Although Andrews started his journey in Monroe, he plans to mimic Lindbergh's historic flight st several key stages.

Andrews will depart the United States from an airport in Long Island near the one where Lindbergh began his journey, and he will land in Paris at Le Bourget, the same place Lindbergh landed.

According to Andrews, the teen's flightpath will take him to or over 22 countries and is expected to take 44 days, depending on the weather and the availability of fuel at remote outposts like islands in Fiji and Samoa during his Pacific crossing.

Andrews kicked off an online GoFundMe campaign to raise $125,000 for the journey, with the additional proceeds going to MedCamps of Louisiana.

You can read more about MedCamps and Andrews' mission on the Mason's MedCamps Mission website, and you can track his progress on flightaware.com.The world has become so numb to the words of the President of the United States that it even dismisses threats of war as either a political distraction or a Trumpian negotiation tactic.

Indeed, Donald Trump's threat to inflict on Iran "CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE" may very well have been an effort to divert attention from the Russia investigation. Others have dismissed the danger of the tweet since Trump did an about-face on North Korea, going from calling the North Korean dictator "rocket man" to a "very honorable" man. And, on Tuesday, Trump stated once again that he's "ready to make a deal" with Iran.

But there are five reasons why a pivot from threats to diplomacy with Iran will be much harder -- and why Trump's reckless threats may trap the United States in yet another war.

1. Saudi Arabia and Israel oppose diplomacy. Japan and South Korea advocated it.

The geopolitical circumstances around North Korea differ vastly from that of the Middle East. In the North Korean case, America's allies -- and even its Chinese competitor -- strongly opposed any military confrontation with Pyongyang and pushed for diplomacy. In fact, the pivot to diplomacy with North Korea had far more to do with the South Korean President's maneuvering in the background than Kim Jong Un fearing Trump's "fire and fury" or his sanctions.

In the Middle East, the situation is the opposite: American allies, such as Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have long opposed US-Iran diplomacy (with an impressive track record of sabotaging attempts at US-Iran dialogue). Mindful of their influence in Washington and the Trump administration's deference to them, any attempt by Trump to pivot to diplomacy with Iran will likely face a formidable challenge by these Middle Eastern powers.

Moreover, there is no obvious "South Korea" in the Middle East today that can quietly do behind-the-scenes shuttle diplomacy to bring the United States and Iran together -- at least not one Trump would engage.

Former President Barack Obama needed a go-between to make diplomacy with Iran bear fruit. In that case, it was the country of Oman, which helped establish a secret diplomatic channel with Iran, paving the way for the historic nuclear deal of 2015. But Trump is unlikely to turn to Oman precisely because Obama did so.

2. Trump thinks pressure will force Iran to negotiate. He's wrong.

Trump has stated that verbal escalation and sanctions will force Iran to come to the table. The logic is based on a misread of what brought about the nuclear deal of 2015. The conventional Washington narrative reads that Obama crippled Iran's economy till the rulers of Tehran grudgingly agreed to negotiate. But the secret negotiations between the US and Iran in Oman reveals a very different picture.

While Obama's sanctions were truly crushing -- Iran's GDP contracted more than 35% between 2012 and 2015 -- Tehran did not lack leverage of its own. Its response to the sanctions was to double down on its nuclear program and move ever closer to a nuclear weapon. Just as sanctions put pressure on Tehran, more centrifuges put the squeeze on Washington.

It wasn't until the Obama administration secretly made a major concession to Iran -- agreeing that Iran could continue to enrich uranium on its own soil -- that diplomacy started to bear fruit.

In other words, a policy solely centered on sanctions and pressure did not bring about the desired breakthrough in the talks. Ultimately, it was American flexibility that ended the standstill and elicited Iranian flexibility.

Two conclusions can be drawn from America's past diplomatic experience with Iran. First, pressure alone will not work. Second, Iran will meet pressure with pressure. And herein lies the danger of Trump's approach: Even if he does not intend to draw this to a conflict, he may quickly lose control over the situation once the Iranians decide to counter-escalate by, for instance, reactivating their nuclear program.

3. North Korea has a one-man dictator. Iran has politics.

North Korea is run by a one-man dictator with the political maneuverability to dramatically shift policy from testing nuclear weapons to sitting down with the man who hurled insults at him -- without facing any domestic political consequences. Iran, on the other hand, has a complex political system where power is dispersed and not controlled by any single person or institute. Even Iran's Supreme Leader -- the most powerful man in Iran -- cannot act alone without taking into consideration both public and elite opinion.

Iran's fractured politics and factional infighting renders any dramatic policy shift -- particularly involving diplomacy with the United States -- all the more difficult. President Hassan Rouhani is already paying a political price for having been so "naive" as to negotiate with the "untrustworthy" Americans. The political space needed to restart negotiations, particularly after Iran adhered to the previous deal and Trump pulled out of it, simply does not exist right now and Trump's rhetoric is not moving matters in the right direction.

4. Don't forget: Trump hates Obama.

As Ian Bremmer of the Eurasia Group has pointed out, Trump's antipathy toward Obama and his obsession with undoing Obama's policy legacies should not be underestimated. As a Trump official told the Atlantic, "There's the Obama Doctrine, and the 'F--- Obama' Doctrine," he explained. "We're the 'F--- Obama' Doctrine."

On Iran, that may not just translate into Trump killing the nuclear deal against the advice of his Secretary of Defense. It may also mean that Trump will pursue a nuclear deal with North Korea at almost any cost (a problem Obama left largely untouched) while rejecting a deal with Iran (the country Obama decided to negotiate with). More than striking a "better deal" with Iran, Trump may think that truly sticking it to Obama necessitates burying diplomacy with Iran altogether.

5. Trump advisers don't want a deal; they want regime collapse.

The members of Trump's inner circle have changed dramatically over the past few months. The so-called "adults in the room," who had a moderating effect on Trump, have largely been replaced with ideological hawks, such as National Security Adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And uber-hawk Tom Cotton has emerged as one of the senators whose advice and viewpoints Trump pays close attention to.

All three of these have a long track record of advocating confrontation with Iran. Bolton famously penned an op-ed in the New York Times at the height of the nuclear negotiations titled "To Stop an Iranian Bomb, Bomb Iran." As a congressman from the state of Kansas, Mike Pompeo quipped that bombing Iran would only take 2,000 fighter jet attacks, which he said "is not an insurmountable task for the coalition forces." Cotton, in turn, is the author of the unprecedented letter in the midst of the nuclear talks, telling the leaders of Iran not to trust the President of the United States.

Going forward, the moderate voices inside the Trump White House will essentially be absent, while new advisers will likely egg on Trump to escalate tensions further -- even though the Trump administration continues to claim that its goal is not regime change.

All of this amounts to a sobering reality: Trump is embarking on a path of escalation without having the exit ramps he had with North Korea. The danger now is not to overestimate the risk of war, but to underestimate it.The Marshall County Sheriff's Office said they are currently training five new people to become correctional officers at the county jail.

The department did not give a specific timeline for when the five new hires will start working.

Once they go through training they have to go to jail certification school, which they said will happen as soon as possible.

The department still has five open positions for male correctional officers at the jail.

They said they are hopeful to fill those positions in the coming weeks.

The department is sticking to the assertions they made after the riot in the jail when they said it is hard to fill positions because of the low starting pay.

According to the Marshall County Commission, the starting pay is just below eleven dollars an hour for correctional officers, which eventually gets up to twenty three dollars an hour over time.

Previously, the county commission told WAAY 31 the Sheriff signed off on a wage study done by Jacksonville State University, which determined the wages for all deputies and correctional officers.

On Wednesday the sheriff's office said the commission makes the final decisions on pay scale and how much funding the office gets.

A spokesman for the sheriff's office did not directly answer in an email about whether or not the Sheriff signed off on the wage study done a few years ago.

WAAY 31 reached out to jails in surrounding areas to see if the wages are competitive, but have not gotten those specific numbers yet.By West Kentucky Star Staff Jul. 26, 2018 | 05:44 PM | PADUCAH

A McCracken County man was arrested early Wednesday after police found his car sitting sideways in the road near H.C. Mathis Drive and Park Avenue, and he fled.

According to the Paducah Police Department, an officer saw a car sitting in the roadway, smoking. The officer said the car appeared to have hit the curb and was stationary, but its tires were spinning.

When the officer turned on his emergency lights, the driver fled on foot. The officer caught him about a block away and took him into custody.

The man, identified as 28-year-old Taylor J. Thompson, of Ogden Landing Road, reportedly smelled of alcohol and told officers he didnt know why his vehicle had hit the curb. During a search of Thompsons vehicle, officers reportedly found .2 grams of marijuana and 23 500mg prescription acetaminophen tablets not in their proper container.

Thompson was arrested and booked into McCracken County Regional Jail. He's charged with driving under the influence, first-degree fleeing or evading police (on foot), possession of marijuana and leaving the scene of an accident.Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required.

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By West Kentucky Star Staff

May. 25, 2018 | AURORA

By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 25, 2018 | 11:37 AM | AURORA

At the very first Hot August Blues Festival in 1990 at Kenlake State Park in Aurora, Kentucky, Big Mike Griffin was the headliner. By the end of the show, he had captivated the audience completely, and soon a tradition was born.



This year, 29 years later, Big Mike returns again, just as he has almost every year. Big Mike appears Saturday, August 25th at the Hot August Blues Festival at Kenlake.



Towering overhead at 6'10", you could easily make a case that there's no bigger blues musician than Big Mike Griffin.



Big Mike comes from a proud tradition of journeyman blues musicians. He has performed on stages across North America and Europe; every place from juke joints and roadhouses to Turner Field and Riverfront Stadium.



Big Mike has also been a biker for more than 30 years. His love of both music and motorcycles spawned a new type of Motormusic that has been widely accepted as a new and exciting form of Blues/Rock.



Born and raised in Lawton, Oklahoma, Big Mike was introduced to music at an early age. "My Dad played so there was always a guitar or fiddle laying around the house. It seems like I've been playing as long as I've been alive." Later, he began listening to blues artists like T-Bone Walker, Paul Butterfield, and Mike Bloomfield. His blues education was further enhanced by late night highway trips to Texas to catch legends like Freddie King, Albert King, and Albert Collins.



Big Mike started his career as a professional musician in the clubs and honky tonks in southern Oklahoma and north Texas. He haunted the blues clubs in Wichita Falls and the Dallas- Fort worth area early on, as the blues music that came from that area really spoke to him. He formed friendships with many great bluesmen of the area. Jimmy Vaughn and his brother Stevie were acquaintances as well as peers.



Blues was his first love musically, but to stay working in the music business, he also played country music. In the late 70's he formed the Broken Spoke band. The band's success led him to share the stage with such artists as Hank Williams Jr., George Strait, John Connely, Johnny Rodriguez, Barbra Fairchild and David Frizzell to name just a few. His relationship with those artists ultimately led to his relocation to Nashville. At that time, through his good friend, Warren Haynes, Mike was hired by David Allan Coe to play guitar in his band. He toured with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, George Jones and Neal Young, just to name a few.



At the end of his tenure with Mr.Coe, Mike left to form a blues band. He was signed to Malaco records in 1992 and released three CD's on that label. In 1997, long time friend and fellow biker John Tubbs partnered with Mike to form Chrome Link Records, which is based in Lawton, with an office in Nashville. They currently have 8 titles on the label.



In 2008, Big Mike starred in the award-winning documentary "Iron City Blues", which chronicled his creation of a blues song about the most notorious town in the South. This film received rave reviews in the press, from Biker Magazine, to the European edition of Easy Riders Magazine. In 2014, Big Mike was inducted into the Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame.



Today, he continues to tour the country, sharing his unique form of the blues with long- time friends and a new generation of fans.



The Kenlake Hot August Blues Festival is set for Thursday through Saturday, August 23-25 at Kenlake State Park in Aurora, Kentucky. Discount tickets are available at KenlakeBlues.com.



Charities which will benefit from this year's Hot August Blues Festival include The Shriners, who will be operating festival shuttles with all tips and proceeds going to the Shriners' Childrens' Hospitals, and the Knights of Columbus.



Corporate sponsors for the festival include Peppers Automotive Group, Lee's Heating and Air, Kenlake Marina, Universal Windows Direct, Audibel Hearing Center, Beacon Dragway, Aurora Electrical and Storage, Abernathy's Harley Davidson, Cellar Door Wine and Spirits, Griffin Plumbing and Piping, Bunch Auction and Realty, Kenlake State Resort Park, Murray-Calloway Transit, Strickland's Seafood Restaurant, Harper Guitars, State Representative Candidate Desiree Owen and ExporeKentuckyLake.com.Paving at McCracken Boulevard and US 62 today and WednesdayBy West Kentucky Star Staff Jul. 25, 2018 | 08:00 PM | MARSHALL COUNTY

Marshall County authorities are seeking help from the public to identify two people suspected of theft.

The Marshall County Sheriff's Office says a man and woman were involved in a theft from the Ken Lake Marina on Wednesday at approximately 4:00 am. Surveillance video shows the couple in a small bass boat.

The man appears to be wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt. The woman is wearing a shirt or jacket with the hood up. She also appears to be serving as the lookout, using night vision goggles.

The surveillance video can be found on the Marshall County Sheriff's Office Facebook page. If you recognize the couple or the boat they're on, you're asked to contact the Marshall County Sheriff's Office at 270-527-3112.Advertisement

By West Kentucky Star Staff

Jul. 26, 2018 | WICKLIFFE

By West Kentucky Star Staff Jul. 26, 2018 | 02:47 AM | WICKLIFFE

Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts, Mike Harmon, has released a report showing several issues with the Ballard County Clerk's Office and the Ballard County Sheriff's Office.



Following is a summary of these findings, along with responses from Ballard County officials:



FINANCIAL STATEMENT FINDINGS:



2016-001 The Ballard County Clerks Office Lacks Adequate Segregation Of Duties



The Ballard County Clerks office lacks adequate segregation of duties over the accounting and reporting functions of the clerks office. The county clerk receives cash, prepares and signs checks, posts to receipt and disbursements ledgers, prepares monthly bank reconciliations, and also prepares quarterly reports. This is a repeat finding and was included in the prior year audit report as finding 2015-001.



According to Lynn Lane, Ballard County Clerk, this condition is the result of a limited budget, which restricts the number of employees the county clerk can hire or delegate duties to. Lane said, "because of our limited staff and budget, we must perform a multitude of duties. As clerk, I am ultimately responsible for all monies collected and disbursed to various entities; state, county, special taxing districts. I take responsibility very seriously and perform these duties myself. The monthly and quarterly reports and checks are reviewed and initialed by another employee in my office.



2016-002 The Ballard County Clerk Did Not Properly Account For Customer Charges



The Ballard County Clerk did not properly account for accounts receivable. The county clerk allows certain customers to charge business, but does not maintain a subsidiary ledger for these accounts receivable. According to the clerk, it is office practice that each day the charges are posted to the receipts ledger as shortages, and when payment is received, the collections are posted as overages. However, the county clerk occasionally has actual overages and shortages related to her daily deposits. Since customer charges are treated as overages and shortages, they are combined with the true overages/shortages on the receipts ledger. The county clerk could not document or account for the amount of accounts receivables outstanding at year-end because she did not separate customer charges from overages/shortages.



If customer charges are not accounted for properly, there is an increased risk that customers could have received services without paying for them. There is also an increased risk that accounts receivables could be misappropriated.



2016-002 The Ballard County Clerk Did Not Properly Account For Customer Charges (Continued)



Lane said, "We very carefully monitor occasional charges. These are kept in a separate folder and when they are paid the documentation is attached to the daily sheet. Charges are paid promptly and those that may be late are contacted and arrangements made for collection. Most charges are from dealers who fail to send enough money for a transaction. The dealer is contacted by us to make arrangement for payment before we process the transaction."



2016-003 The Ballard County Clerk Failed To Maintain Complete And Accurate Timesheets For Employees



This is a repeat finding and was included in the prior year audit report as finding 2015-003. The county clerk failed to maintain accurate timesheets for her full-time salaried employees for calendar year 2016. According to the Lane, it is an office practice that the timesheets for those employees do not show a breakdown of hours worked each day. Instead, the timesheets only show the total number of regular hours worked during the pay period. The timesheets also do not show overtime hours worked. It is also an office practice that the clerk keeps

track of employees overtime hours separately from their timesheets. Because complete and accurate timesheets are not maintained, there is an increased risk that employees will not be properly compensated.



Also, because the clerk failed to maintain complete and accurate timesheets, she is not in compliance with KRS 337.320(1). KRS 337.320(1) states, [e]very employer shall keep record of: (a) The amount paid each pay period to each employee; (b) The hours worked each day and each week by each employee; and (c) Such other information as the commissioner requires.



Lane explained that timesheets are kept and signed each pay period by each employee.



2016-004 Employees Were Improperly Paid A One-Time Payment For Accumulated Overtime



This is a repeat finding and was included in the prior year audit report finding 2015-003. In calendar year 2016, employees were improperly paid accumulated overtime wages in a lump sum at the end of the year.



According to the Lane, in January 2016, employees signed an agreement stating that they agreed to have their overtime wages paid to them in one check in December 2016. She said, "I kept track of each employees accumulated overtime hours and, in December 2016, issued each employee a check for their overtime wages earned during the year." Because employees received their overtime wages for the year in a lump sum at the end of the year, the county clerk is not in compliance with KRS 337.020.



KRS 337.020 states, [e]very employer doing business in this state shall, as often as semimonthly, pay to each of its employees all wages or salary earned to a day not more than eighteen (18) days prior to the date of that payment. Any employee who is absent at the time fixed for payment, or who, for any other reason, is not paid at that time, shall be paid thereafter at any time upon six (6) days demand. No employer subject to this shall, by any means, secure exemption from it. Every such employee shall have a right of action against any such employer for the full amount of his wages due on each regular pay day. The provisions of this section do not apply to those individuals defined in KRS 337.010(2)(a)2.



The State recommends the Ballard County Clerk comply with KRS 337.020 by paying her employees their overtime wages throughout the year as earned.



Lane advised that this has been corrected, and the next audit will reveal this corrective action.



2016-005 The Ballard County Clerk Did Not Have A Written Collateral Security Agreement With The Bank When the county clerk opened her 2016 fee account with a new bank in December 2015, she failed to obtain a written collateral security agreement from the bank. The county clerk obtained a written collateral security agreement from the bank in October 2016, however, the date of the highest bank balance was April 12, 2016.



Because the county clerk did not have a written collateral security agreement with the bank, the bank did not provide pledges or collateral to protect the clerks deposits. Therefore, on April 12, 2016, $146,907 of the county clerks deposits of public funds in depository institutions were uninsured and unsecured. Also, because the county clerk did not have a written agreement with the bank, she is not in compliance with KRS 41.240. According to KRS 41.240, the depository institution should pledge or provide sufficient collateral which, together with FDIC insurance, equals or exceeds the amount of public funds on deposit at all times. In order to be valid against the FDIC in the event of failure or insolvency of the depository institution, this pledge or provision of collateral should be evidenced by an agreement between the county clerk and the depository institution, signed by both parties, that is (a) in writing, (b) approved by the board of directors of the depository institution or its loan committee, which approval must be reflected in the minutes of the board or committee, and (c) an official record of the depository institution.



The State recommends the county clerk obtain written collateral security agreements anytime accounts are opened at a bank where the county clerk does not have already have such an agreement in place. Additionally, the county clerk should monitor her deposits throughout the year and require the bank to pledge or provide sufficient collateral to protect the amount of public funds on deposit at all times.



County Clerks Response: Lane advised that this has been corrected by the bank.



With the Ballard County's Sheriff's Office, the audit found that they failed to perform daily checkout procedures or make daily deposits. According to the staff of the sheriffs office, daily checkout procedures would not be performed due to the small amount of daily tax collections. Also, according to the staff of the sheriffs office, because of a limited staff, sometimes the bookkeeper would be the only person working in the sheriffs office and would not be able to leave the office to take deposits to the bank. Failure to perform daily checkout procedures and make daily deposits leaves tax collections vulnerable to misappropriation and loss.



KRS 68.210 gives the state local finance officer the authority to establish minimum accounting requirements, which includes performing daily check-out procedures and making daily deposits intact to a federally insured financial institution. The state recommends that the sheriff perform daily checkout procedures and deposit tax collections



The audit also found that the Ballard County Sheriff's Office Lacks Adequate Segregation of Duties. According Sheriff Carey Batts, this condition was the result of a limited budget, which restricted the number of employees the sheriff could hire or delegate duties to. A lack of segregation of duties or strong oversight could result in undetected misappropriation of assets and incorrect financial reporting. Also, that The Ballard County Sheriffs Office operates on a limited office staff due to limited finances. Batts plans to hire more staff In the future, with a goal to employ more office staff if finances allow. In the meantime, to make efforts to review and double check deposits and monthly bank reconciliations.By The Associated Press Jul. 26, 2018 | 05:07 PM | LOUISVILLE

Top global whiskey associations put aside their marketplace competition Thursday to show a united front in denouncing tariffs and urging world leaders to end their disputes before trade wars start siphoning global sales of distilled spirits.

After two days of talks, representatives of nine global distilled spirits organizations meeting in Kentucky signed a resolution urging the "prompt removal" of recent tariffs. American whiskey makers have become caught in the middle of disputes, with tariffs slapped on their products and other goods in trade conflicts pitting the U.S. against key allies.

"When we were talking this morning, we couldn't agree on who produces the best whiskey," Kentucky Distillers' Association President Eric Gregory said. "We couldn't agree on whether it's spelled w-h-i-s-k-e-y or w-h-i-s-k-y. But we did agree unanimously ... that open and fair trade is essential for the future of our global industry."

The spirits groups said they were encouraged by signs that the U.S. and the European Union are stepping back from the brink of a trade war. President Donald Trump and European leaders agreed Wednesday to open talks to tear down trade barriers between the U.S. and the EU.

Perhaps those negotiators could resolve the trade conflicts over a drink or two, summit participants suggested.

"Let's just sit down and have a reasonable and logical (discussion) and raise a toast of bourbon or any other spirit and get this sorted," said Aoife Clarke, representing the Irish Whiskey & Spirits Association at the summit.

Groups from the Irish whiskey and Scotch whisky industries as well as trade groups for spirits producers in Japan, Canada, Europe and the U.S. were represented at the summit. Their theme: "Nobody wins in a trade war." Asked afterward if the group's message could influence world leaders, Clarke said: "There's the question, isn't it? I do believe a collective voice is a powerful voice."

Trade disputes have resulted in tariffs imposed in some key overseas markets for bourbon and other American whiskeys, including the European Union  where Kentucky spirits producers exported nearly $200 million of their products in 2017.

American whiskey makers also face retaliatory tariffs in Canada, Mexico and China. EU tariffs targeting American whiskey and other U.S. products were a response to President Donald Trump's decision to slap tariffs on European steel and aluminum.

Those duties amount to a tax, which producers can pass along to consumers through higher prices or absorb shrinking profits.

Global whiskey makers share concerns that an escalation in trade disputes would lead to expanded and higher tariffs.

Some large American distillers gained a short-term cushion from trade disputes by stockpiling supplies in countries ahead of tariffs. But if the trade dispute becomes prolonged, they'll be hit, too. And if the trade disputes widened, they could face repeated hits because some have distilleries in multiple countries. Smaller distillers didn't have the luxury of stockpiling.

Foreign markets have become lucrative for spirits makers worldwide in the past two decades. U.S. spirits exports surged from $575 million in 1997 to $1.64 billion in 2017, according to the Distilled Spirits Council. Spirits makers in other countries also have benefited from rising exports.

"The whiskey industry in Europe, in the United States, Canada and Japan has all benefited for more than 20 years of tariff-free trade," said Karen Betts with the Scotch Whisky Association. "That tariff-free trade has supported the livelihoods of ordinary people who have made a global success of exporting their local whiskeys."

Summit participants steered clear of assigning blame for trade disputes threatening their industries.

Clarke said the causes were "world economics and politics," adding: "We're not here to point fingers."

The sudden emergence of trade conflicts could influence how whiskey companies set future global strategy, she said.

"We shouldn't have all our eggs in one basket," she said. "We need to be exploring other markets. We need to be making sure that we are selling our products in as wide and open a marketplace as possible, and maybe just not relying on one or two particular markets to grow our industry."HIS FIRST APPEARANCE BEFORE U.S. MAGISTRATE WAS SET FOR THURSDAY; PISGAH INN EMPLOYEE CHARGED WITH MURDER IN THE DEATH OF ANOTHER INN EMPLOYEE THIS WEEK

SUSPECT ALLEDGEDLY CONFESSED TO PISGAH INN MANAGEMENT

VICTIM "S.E." IDENTIFIED AS 29 YEAR OLO SARA ELLIS OF SEMINOLE FLORIDA

A federal criminal complaint was filed Thursday morning charging Derek

Shawn Pendergraft, 20, of Asheville, N.C., with second degree murder, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

U.S. Attorney Murray is joined in making Thursdays announcement by John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Charlotte Division; Neal D. Labrie, Chief Ranger of the Blue Ridge Parkway; and Robert Schurmeier, Director of the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI).

According to allegations in the filed criminal complaint, on the evening of July 24, 2018, Pendergraft, an employee of the Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway, reported that a coworker, identified in the complaint as S.E., was missing. The complaint alleges that, when initially interviewed by investigators, Pendergraft stated that he and S.E. both got off work shortly after four p.m. and decided to go for a hike on an unnamed trail near the employee housing area of the Pisgah Inn.

Pendergraft stated that shortly after starting their hike it began to rain and S.E. decided to return to the housing area while he continued to hike.

According to the complaint, Pendergraft stated that on his way back, upon reaching the point where he last saw S.E., Pendergraft saw her umbrella and hat lying on the ground. Pendergraft stated that he immediately began to search for S.E. and informed the management staff at the Pisgah Inn that she was missing. Rangers and first responders searched the area and located S.E.s body lying off an embankment, near a trail, within the boundary of the Blue Ridge Parkway, in Transylvania County, in the Western District of North Carolina.

The complaint alleges that, on the evening of July 25, 2018, the manager of the Pisgah Inn contacted law enforcement and advised that Pendergraft was in her office and had confessed

to killing S.E. Law enforcement arrived at Pisgah Inn, interviewed Pendergraft, and arrested him shortly thereafter in connection with S.E.s murder.

Pendergraft is currently in custody. The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in

prison.

(Sara Ellis photo from News 13)What strikes Lauren Kostes is the silence.

"It's just depressed silence. It's a heartbreaking kind of silence," she said.

It's the moment when she tells an immigrant parent they are set to be deported and must choose whether to take their child with them.

"They know that with this, their relationship with their child will be forever changed. And you can clearly see them going through every consequence in their head," said Kostes, an immigration attorney with legal assistance foundation Florence Project.

Thursday marks a court-ordered deadline for the government to reunite families it separated at the border. Of the nearly 2,600 children the government identified as separated from their parents, more than 460 have parents who are likely to already have been deported without them, something the government says was done with the parents' consent.

Of the ones still in the US, 900 are facing final orders of removal that could result in them being deported as soon as the federal judge in the reunions lawsuit lifts a temporary hold he put on deporting separated families.

Even before the Trump administration deployed a policy that separated those thousands of immigrant families at the US border, immigration attorneys have at times had to inform clients that their children may have stronger claims to stay in the US than they do as a family. For some families, leaving the child behind is the only way they see to save that child's life.

Under normal circumstances, that's a difficult decision. So the American Civil Liberties Union is asking the judge to give parents seven days after reunification to make the decision, given the added trauma and confusion caused by the separation in the first place, as a part of the lawsuit it brought over the separations.

Audio obtained exclusively by CNN of mothers appearing in immigration court while separated from their children gives voice to the anguish they face. "I cannot continue with this anymore. What I want is to be with my son," one woman pleads with the judge as he tries to conduct a hearing on whether she can pursue asylum in the US.

Those mothers were ordered deported by the judge but remain in the country, CNN confirmed. They have since been reunited with their children.

But for the parents facing deportation, in that moment, they are "thinking, 'What does this mean? What does this mean for me, what does this mean for my child, what is the best decision?' " Kostes said. "It's a silence of processing and working through every possibility."

Separations lead to complicated court cases

When the administration began separating migrant families who had crossed the border without permission as part of its "zero tolerance" prosecution initiative, it split their immigration cases as well. Parents remained in detention near the border for the most part, moving rapidly through court dockets historically unfriendly to immigrants' claims that found hundreds of them eligible for deportation. That process was only compounded by a reinterpretation of asylum law by Attorney General Jeff Sessions that made it nearly impossible for victims of gang and domestic violence to qualify for asylum in the US. Experts say that reversal has especially affected the Central American migrants who try to cross the southern border, thousands of whom cross each month.

The separated children were put into Health and Human Services custody and given their own court proceedings. Court settlements and anti-human-trafficking laws in the US also give children a different set of protections than families and adults have in the immigration system, generally meaning their court cases proceed much more slowly than their parents' and giving them a better chance of qualifying for protections in the US.

Once the parent is given an order of deportation, they are presented with a form by the government, offering them to either be deported with their child or without.

The separation process is difficult for lawyers as well.

The ACLU has also argued that the separation has made offering legal advice to those families more complicated. Asylum claims require detailed evidence and testimony, and in some cases, the parent or child may have access to evidence the other does not. Parents are under extreme emotional distress during the separation, their attorneys say. Children, meanwhile, are given caseworkers, who may have worked with the child to determine possible claims they have in the US.

When they are reunited, there are other barriers to giving adequate legal advice. In a Wednesday court filing, the ACLU included an affidavit from Manoj Govindaiah of the nonprofit Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services. He described reunited families being inseparable and deeply suspicious of anyone, even those purporting to help.

"In one case, we had been discussing the complicated procedural posture of the father's and his son's cases, that he had received a negative expedited removal order and was facing deportation, while his son could still apply for asylum. When he asked for clarification of what that meant, I explained that it could result in his son remaining in the United States without him. We could not complete our meeting because his crying prevented us from effectively discussing his legal case," Govindaiah wrote.

Kostes said she and her colleagues will often have to counsel the parents over multiple visits regarding their options. The weight of the decision is often too much for one meeting, she said.

With separated parents in particular, she said, many have been asked to make this decision before they have seen their child and with little communication -- at best.

"What we are seeing is the parents accept that for the child it's best for them to stay here, but we're hearing things like, 'If they deport me, I just want to say goodbye to my child. I'll accept deportation but I just want a chance to say goodbye,' and that's just really heartbreaking," Kostes said.

A harrowing choice

Many thus far have opted to be deported alone.

Trump administration officials have portrayed the decision as an easy one. Asked by reporters about the potentially hundreds of parents deported without their children over the course of the zero tolerance policy, officials reiterated the parents had consented.

"Those individuals, as has always been our policy, were provided the opportunity to take their child with them pursuant to their removal. Those individuals declined to do so," said Matthew Albence, chief of Enforcement and Removal Operations at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "They are not going to generally take that child back with them after they've accomplished their smuggling."

"Why we've seen many of these parents who have been removed decline to take their child is because they completed the smuggling act," he said in a different call. "That was the intended goal of their illegal entry in the first place."

The parents for the most part have been charged only with misdemeanor illegal entry to the US, if anything, and not with smuggling.

Attorneys like Kostes, who works with the nonprofit immigrant assistance program the Florence Project, say the reality for these parents is much starker and more difficult.

For many Central Americans, the journey north is spurred by gang threats, according to experts and immigration advocates. In one example, Lenni Benson, a New York Law School professor who's executive director of the legal assistance program Safe Passage Project, had a recent client on the border who was facing deportation and had to decide whether to take her 17-year-old daughter with her. CNN has agreed to withhold her identity for safety considerations.

The Central American migrant ran a small business back home with her daughter. As the business grew, the blocked-number calls started.

The gangs began to threaten and try to extort her. She changed her number. They found her again and kept calling. Then the gangs began telling the mom, a survivor of assault herself, what her daughter looked like and what time the girl would leave home in the morning.

The mother told Benson the gangs "said that 'she would pay the price. And I know what they do to people,' " Benson recounted the woman telling her.

The mother did not tell her daughter about the threats, but they packed up and sneaked into the US. The two were held together in family detention, but Benson had to tell the mother that if she failed to convince the government to re-hear her plea for asylum, her daughter may have an independent claim because of the nature of the threats.

"It was horrible to say, as a lawyer, as a law professor, as a mother, as a human being," Benson said. "I said to myself, 'What would I do?' I would do what parents have always done and said, 'My child comes first.' "

Most of the children whose parents opt to leave them in the US are older, usually 11 and up, Kostes said. They are also likely to have family in the US who can care for them.

CNN spoke with one woman, Jennifer, who was in detention awaiting reunification with her 6-year-old daughter. She has not yet been ordered deported, but said that if she had to make the choice, she would take her child. CNN agreed to identify her only by her first name.

"It was a really hard decision to make. I was going to decide to take my child because I didn't know what else to do," Jennifer said of her decision to flee to the US, as translated by CNN. "Of course I would take her (if deported). I can't leave her. ... Thank God I didn't have to make the decision."

But Jennifer says she cannot go home to Honduras, where the gangs are threatening her family even after she tried to move to the mountains away from them. "The gangs are everywhere," she added.

"For those who were going to leave their kids behind ... they would do it for a better future for the child," Jennifer said. "In Honduras, for real, there's nothing there for them."

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect that Lenni Benson is a professor at New York Law School.They said they didn't know if they were going to see their kids again. They said it was the worst time of their lives, even after they both made the journeys with their children to the United States.

They said they hope it never happens again.

Two separate immigrant parents entered the United States illegally hoping to seek asylum when they arrived -- but instead experienced the trauma of being separated from their children for weeks, not knowing if they'd ever see them again.

In separate interviews, Arely and her 7-year-old son Andy, as well as Jose Angel and his 11-year-old daughter Kimberly, told CNN in a law office here about the tragic experience of being separated and then reunited earlier this week. CNN has withheld their full names because they feared future legal ramifications that could impact their asylum applications.

Both Arely and Jose Angel, who are not related and from El Salvador and Honduras respectively, were held at a detention center at Port Isabel, where they experienced first-hand the now-reversed Trump administration "zero-tolerance policy" that had them criminally prosecuted for illegally entering the country.

Arely said that when she was separated from her son, she was not told by any officials whether she'd ever see him again.

"I was so worried when they took away my son, they told me I'd never see him, they told me I'd get deported," she told CNN in Spanish. "They told me my son would stay in custody of the government."

She described the rooms she spent time in when she was in Port Isabel -- a "cuarto frio" and "la jaula," an ice box and cage.

While her son was in care in New York City, Arely said she faced conditions such as not being provided toilet paper when she used the bathroom, and said that her son sometimes wasn't even allowed to use the bathroom.

"It was an incredibly hard experience for me when they separated me from my son," she told CNN in Spanish while holding back tears. "I didn't see him until a month later and it was the hardest thing to ever happen."

Her son added, "They wouldn't let me go to the bathroom sometimes and when I wanted to eat, they wouldn't give me food until they wanted to."

Jose Angel said he had a similar experience, saying he did not witness any physical abuse, but said that guards were verbally threatening and purposely intimidating, telling parents things such as they didn't know what happened to their children.

He said he was ushered into a cold room and then what he described as cages during his stay at a Port Isabel detention center.

"The hardest thing to experience when someone is separated from their kids because when God creates a family, I feel there isn't anything that can separate you from your kids, except something like death," he said in Spanish to CNN. "But it was so hard when they told us they were going to separate us from our children."

He said when he finally saw his daughter, he begged for her to understand the separations were out of his control.

"I told her, these are things I never expected this to happen, I begged for her to forgive me" he said in Spanish. "I told her, 'Forgive me daughter, forgive me.'"

Both parents are now staying with their families in Maryland and are hoping to be granted the asylum they believe they deserve.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request from CNN about the treatment of these families while in their detention centers.

Sophia Gregg, the attorney for these two parents who works for the Legal Aid Justice Center, told CNN she believes it's wrong that undocumented immigrants were held like prisoners during their detainment.

"There is a system. People can seek asylum. Just because people seek asylum in this country doesn't mean they need to be held in high security prison while they attempt to seek asylum. That is not the process," she said, adding that they deserved the same rights as any other person in the United States.

CNN reported Tuesday there are still 914 parents who the government has determined are either ineligible or not determined for reunification, aside from the roughly 1,600 who are expected to be reunited by Thursday.

Roughly 200 parents have criminal records or declined to be reunified, more than 200 have been released, more than 460 are believed to not be in the country and another roughly 260 require further investigation, according to the government as of Tuesday.President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence threatened Thursday to impose "large sanctions" on its NATO ally Turkey if that country does not release an American pastor currently under house arrest.

"The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being," tweeted Trump.

"He is suffering greatly," Trump added. "This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!"

Brunson, an Evangelical Presbyterian pastor from North Carolina, was arrested in 2016 during a government crackdown on journalists, academics, and Christian minorities, that followed an attempted coup.

He was released on house arrest Wednesday and ordered to wear an electronic monitoring device.

Prior to Trump's tweet, Pence made a similar threat. "If Turkey does not take immediate action to free this man of faith and send him home to America," he told attendees at a Ministerial on Religious Freedom at the State Department, "the United States will impose significant sanctions on Turkey until Pastor Andrew Brunson is free."

"While he is out of jail he is still not free," Pence said in his speech.

"And to President Erdogan and the Turkish government, I have a message on behalf of the President of the United States of America," he continued. "Release Pastor Andrew Brunson now or be prepared to face the consequences."

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu responded to the threats saying the country will "never tolerate threats from anybody."

"No one dictates Turkey. We will never tolerate threats from anybody. Rule of law is for everyone; no exception," Cavusoglu said on his official Twitter account Thursday.

The Trump administration has long highlighted Brunson's case, raising it with Turkish officials and in statements in the media. Still, Thursday's threat of sanctions marks a distinct escalation in rhetoric that coincides with a broader cooling in the US-Turkey relationship.

Trump and Pence have had multiple conversations with officials in the Turkish government regarding the detained American pastor in recent weeks, an administration official tells CNN.

Trump and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke specifically about the issue during a mid-June call, the official said. However, the White House did not issue a readout of the call.

Turkey was not the only country to face pointed criticism in Pence's remarks. The Vice President also berated the governments of North Korea, China, Russia, Nicaragua, and Iran, over treatment of religious communities in their respective countries.

While he welcomed a recent, partial diplomatic thaw between the United States and North Korea following last month's summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Pence insisted, "there is no escaping the plain fact that North Korea's leadership has exacted unparalleled privation and cruelty upon its people for decades."

"Torture, mass starvation, public executions, murders and even forced abortions and industrial scale slave labor, have been the means by which that regime has retained hold on its power for more than 70 years," said Pence. "Today, as we gather at this ministerial, and estimated 130,000 North Koreans are imprisoned for life in unimaginably brutal slave labor camps."

Pence also criticized the government of Iran, less than a week after Trump tweeted an ALL CAPS warning to that country's president to "NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE."

"We recognize that the Iranian people enjoy few, if any, freedoms," said Pence, "least of all the freedom of religion."

"The people of the United States of America have a message to the long-suffering people of Iran," he went on to say. "Even as we stand strong against the threats and malign actions of your leaders in Tehran, know what we are with you."

The remarks follow similar efforts by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the State Department to highlight anti-government dissent in Iran.Bernard Haufiku has every reason to beam. The Namibian Minister of Health is in Amsterdam to announce that despite his country's vast deserts, ethnic and linguistic diversity, variable roads and modest rural health facilities, Namibia is the latest nation to bring a devastating AIDS epidemic under control.

This week, roughly 15,000 scientists, activists, policy-makers and even a few celebrities have converged on Amsterdam for the 22nd International AIDS Conference. This year's scientific findings include remarkably good news: nearly 22 million people are now on lifesaving treatment and new HIV infections are decreasing in several of the hardest hit countries, including Namibia.

But it's not time to celebrate yet. In a report released this week, UNAIDS acknowledges the progress achieved but also notes that the response is lagging in some regions. As a result, the worldwide decrease in new HIV infections is not on track to meet 2020 targets.

At the same time, the United States, the largest donor to the AIDS response, is in the midst of a political swing towards isolationism. For the past two years, the Trump administration has proposed unprecedented $1 billion cuts to the US AIDS response program, PEPFAR. Congress rejected these cuts and maintained flat funding for PEPFAR, but the threat persists. If the US steps back from its leadership role in this effort, it will put the world at risk for a dangerous resurgence just when the end of the epidemic is within reach.

As Haufiku said, Namibia's rate of new HIV infections has declined by 50% compared to the 2012 UNAIDS estimate. The decrease in new infections is largely driven by the dramatic scale-up of HIV treatment funded by PEPFAR and other partners, including The Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. By suppressing the amount of virus circulating in the body of a person living with HIV, this treatment prevents not only sickness and death, but also HIV transmission.

UNAIDS projects that if 73% of people living with HIV are on effective treatment that limits the amount of virus in their body by 2020, and that level is maintained for ten years, we would see the end of the AIDS epidemic as a global health threat by 2030. Namibia has exceeded this target with 77% of adults living with HIV virally suppressed.

South Africa, the country with the largest number of people living with HIV, and Swaziland, the country with the highest HIV prevalence, have both announced a 44% decrease in new HIV infections over the last 5 years. Swaziland has also achieved the 73% goal for viral suppression.

These figures make the global AIDS response one of the most effective humanitarian interventions of all time. For 15 years, the US has played an admirable leadership role through PEPFAR. Of the 22 million people on treatment worldwide, PEPFAR supports over 14 million. That's 14 million people who would be dead or dying otherwise.

PEPFAR's yearly budget of approximately $6 billion represents a generous commitment from the American people that has set the bar for other countries. However, when compared to other line items in the US budget, such as $686 billion in military spending, PEPFAR also represents excellent value for money in terms of humanitarian impact and soft power.

While an end to the epidemic is coming into view, the battle is not yet won, and near victory could turn to renewed tragedy.

Despite improvement in the overall population, HIV is still spreading rapidly among young people, especially young women. At the same time, populations key to the epidemic -- such as gay and bisexual men and people who inject drugs -- also face a high risk of infection and uneven access to services.

In order to expand treatment to nearly 37 million people living with HIV and reduce new infections to zero, we need to increase financial support and intensify programming.

Instead, we face a funding crisis. The UNAIDS report notes that there is a 20% shortfall against the funding they project is required to meet the 2020 targets for epidemic control, and it could get worse.

Continued US commitment to the AIDS response is critical for multiple reasons. With the US contributing eight times as much as the second leading donor, the United Kingdom, even a small percentage change in US support would be deeply felt. Additionally, if the US were to decrease funding significantly for the AIDS response, other countries may follow suit in a domino effect that could lead to a deadly resurgence of HIV around the world.

Already, analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation has found that eight of the 14 countries that provide international funding for AIDS decreased their support last year. These 8 countries include Australia, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. This may reflect the influence of inward-looking politics on development assistance overall. It may also reflect the resource pressures of the migration and refugee crises in Europe.

The evidence is clear: it is possible to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS at large scale -- even in low-resource contexts. We have the technologies and approaches to do it. We just need the political will to deliver on the promise of an AIDS-free generation.NEW YORK (AP) - Immigration authorities have freed a Mexican husband and wife who were arrested when they tried to visit their pregnant daughter at an Army fort in upstate New York.

The couple's Brooklyn family paid a $20,000 bond to gain their release after 19 days in detention. They are now awaiting a hearing before an immigration judge.

Concepcion and Margarito Silva were arrested July 4 after trying to make a holiday visit to their daughter and enlisted-son in law at Fort Drum near Watertown. They were released Monday.

The couple lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years without authorization.

In a video posted online by the activist group Make the Road New York, Concepcion Silva says she was looking forward to seeing her children and grandchildren again.

(Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)UTICA  A New Hartford psychiatrist has been accused of new sex crimes after previously being acquitted of a similar charge last month.

The New York State Justice Center says 61-year-old Dr. Surendra Johri was arrested by the Utica Police Department and charged with two counts of misdemeanor forcible touching and two counts of misdemeanor sexual abuse. The Justice Center says Johri is accused of touching a female patient sexually in 2017 at Community Health Behavioral Services on Genesee Street in Utica, where he worked as a psychiatrist.

We will not tolerate the misdeeds of licensed professionals who abuse their authority and the people in their care, said Denise Miranda of the NYS Justice Center. The harm they can do to people who rely on them for healing is incalculable.

The Justice Center says these most recent charges stem from an alleged incident that was brought to the attention of the Utica Police Department and the Justice Center after the announcement of Johris prior arrest for sexual abuse.

In mid-June, Johri stood trial in Utica City Court after he was accused of sexually abusing a female patient by placing her hand on his groin during a counseling session at Community Health Behavioral Services. Johri was found not guilty, but was terminated from his employment with the center.

Johri also faces additional charges of forcible touching and sex abuse stemming from the allegations of another victim. That case is expected to go to trial later this summer.

Johri is scheduled to appear in Utica City Court on August 1st to answer these most recent charges.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Local psychiatrist found not guilty of sexually abusing patient; more charges awaitUTICA  State Senator Joseph Griffo has announced a $1 million state grant toward the construction of the Irish Cultural Center on the west end of Utica.

Griffo made the announcement at a news conference Thursday morning in the middle of the construction zone at 623 Columbia Street. He said when he learned in March of 2017 that the state had given $2 million for an Irish Cultural Center in Manhattan, he sought cash for Utica's budding center in the citys brewery district.

...The Irish Cultural Center of the Mohawk Valley, once completed, will help to highlight the rich diversity and history that make up Utica and the Mohawk Valley. This center has the potential to be a major attraction in the city and to attract residents and visitors from the region and beyond, said Griffo.

Why is the Irish Cultural Center worthy of such a large chunk of taxpayer money? The property developer explains - it's a cultural experience.

First of all, it's an experience. An Irish pub is different from a bar. It's an experience, it's the meeting place - and every little stick of wood, every piece of furniture every little glass piece, built, made in Ireland. So you'll really see the cultural aspect," said Vaughn Lang.

Lang says an authentic Irish pub was constructed in Ireland, near Dublin, and will serve as the heart of the center. The pub was disassembled and loaded into three containers and is on its way to New York on a ship. It is expected to arrive in early August.

This funding goes beyond providing for the monies necessary for the completion of the construction of the Center and is another step of support to the advancement of the economy of Utica and the Mohawk Valley. This development is an integral part of the Brewery District and will be a destination point for not only our local population, but for visitors from throughout the area," said Lang.

The cultural center will also feature a museum, conference rooms, and event hall which people can use for weddings and other catered gatherings.

Lang says the Irish Cultural Center will be completed by this fall.



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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EU executive releases guidance on vignettes for cars

Guidance on vignette charges for cars has been published by the European Commission. The document says little about accounting for external environmental costs

by Gareth SimkinsAirline Chairman donates his private airplane to Coleg Cambria engineering students

This article is old - Published: Thursday, Jul 26th, 2018

The Executive Chairman of airline Jet2.com has donated a former RAF training jet to Coleg Cambria to help students get a hands-on experience of working on an aircraft.

Philip Meeson, whose nephew is completing an aerospace apprenticeship with Cambria and Broughton-based wingmakers Airbus, donated his own Jet Provost T5 aircraft to the colleges Deeside Campus.

Nick Tyson, Assistant Principal and Director of Learning, said the plane will add another dimension to the award-winning departments innovative delivery of work-based learning.

He thanked Mr Meeson for the gift, and added: Having the Provost T5 on campus is a major selling point for our engineering courses as it gives students hands-on experience of working on an airplane.

We can use it to train our aerospace apprentices  of which we have more than 180 every year  and those studying on our higher education programmes and summer school qualifications.

Theyll be able to look at structures, carry out live aircraft function testing and work out aircraft processes directly, so it will be incredible training for them.

I would like to thank Mr Meeson and for his kindness, we all appreciate his generosity and look forward to many years of working on the jet plane.

The Provost was used by the Royal Air Force from 1955 to 1993 as a British training jet before later being developed into a more heavily armed version for ground attack missions.

With a maximum speed of almost 440mph, the aircraft is around 40ft long with a wingspan of 35ft.

The Jet Provost donated to Coleg Cambria was the fifth production T.5 built by BAC out of 110 ordered by the RAF. It emerged from BAC Wartons factory in the summer of 1969 and formally released ready for RAF service on 16th September the same year.

Philip Meeson said: I am very proud and pleased to donate my Jet Provost aircraft to Coleg Cambria and that it will be used to train Airbus apprentices.

I know the college provides a fantastic start for the Airbus engineers of the future and I am delighted to have been able to make this contribution.

The addition of the jet comes after the Engineering department hosted the prestigious two-day EEF (Engineering Employers Federation) conference at Cambrias new 10m Bersham Road facility in Wrexham.

Up to 25 further education lecturers came together for a packed programme of workshops and activities centred on best practice and innovative learning methods, including an advanced manufacturing visit to Airbus.

Top pic: Geoffrey Peacocke (Airbus apprentice and Mr Meesons nephew) with Airbus apprentices, Weald Aviation and Mark Kiberd, an Aerospace lecturer at Coleg Cambria. This team effectively dismantled , transported and re-assembled the aircraft at Deeside.Information evening to be held ahead of 25 new houses plan for Mold Road

This article is old - Published: Thursday, Jul 26th, 2018

Castlemead Group Limited are planning to build 25 new affordable houses on land adjacent to the new Premier Inn on Jacques Way, off Mold Road in Wrexham.

A spokesperson told us: The houses will be built for Wales & West Housing Association and if planning permission is successfully achieved the houses will be complete in late 2019.

A planning application is likely to be submitted in September 2018 and as part of the pre-application consultation process Castlemead are holding an information event at Maesgwyn Community Centre on Thursday 2nd August 2018 from 4.00pm until 7.00pm.

The developer are distributing the below notice locally to invite interested parties to attend.

Top pic: The Premier Inn being built.Llangollen wildfire continues to tie up valuable resources

This article is old - Published: Thursday, Jul 26th, 2018

North Wales Fire and Rescue Service continues to impress upon communities the importance of being extra careful and to stop and consider the consequences of grass fires during the current heatwave.

Crews remain at a gorse fire in Llantysilio in Llangollen after having first being called to the scene over a week ago  demonstrating just how much of a drain on resources these fires can be.

Firefighters have been continually present at the scene of this fire ensuring it is brought under control and kept under close surveillance  and once again this afternoon the fire has gathered pace in prevailing winds with seven appliances in attendance tackling an extensive fire front.

With part time or retained firefighter resources being used to tackle this incident this means that local employers are also affected as staff are released to attend the fire.

Gorse back on fire up above Berwyn Slate Quarry. Visible for miles. This from the Horseshoe Pass just before 8pm.@wrexham pic.twitter.com/jepqyrR5Th  Paul Turnbull (@pt4496) July 25, 2018

Kevin Roberts, Senior Fire Safety Manager, North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said: Fires like this one in Llantysilio, where access is extremely difficult and water supply is limited, place tremendous pressure on our resources. Our firefighters have been tied up for a considerable length of time working to bring it under control.

Its still too soon to determine the exact cause of this fire but we continue to strongly urge people to take extra care when they are out and about in the countryside to help reduce the risk of such fires  especially in such unprecedented dry weather.

In these dry conditions, fires involving grass, bracken and heather can develop extremely quickly, especially in raised winds, and can soon get out of control and spread to neighbouring properties or forestry, with the need for us then to attend to extinguish them.

So if you are out and about, it is more important than ever in these conditions to make sure that any smoking materials are discarded and extinguished properly. If you are camping, again make sure that campfires or barbeques are fully extinguished. Better still, avoid open fires altogether in this dry period.

We would like to thank the public for acting in a safe and responsible manner by notifying us of such fires  we ask people to keep well away from the area affected to allow firefighters to continue to deal with the incident, and for their own safety.

And we would also like to thank our firefighters who are working in challenging conditions, their employers for releasing the from work, and our partners such as Denbighshire County Council for their assistance.

Remember  setting fires is a criminal offence and we are actively working alongside North Wales Police to combat deliberate incidents  those found to be responsible will be prosecuted.

Anyone with information on such crimes is advised to anonymously call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Top image: Thanks to event photographer @mrjohntudor for tweeting us the picture last night. / Top video, if it shows, is from Matt Hellen.Strengthening close military ties, directed against China in particular, was the axis of the annual US and Australian defence and foreign ministers (AUSMIN) meeting in San Francisco this week.

After the talks, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described the US-Australian alliance as rock solid, while US Defense Secretary James Mattis declared: The US and Australia will walk the walk in the Indo-Pacific.

Pompeo explicitly named China as a supposed threat to peace and Americas post-World War II dominance in Asia. We have spent a lot of time over the course of the last two days talking about how to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific, he said. That emanates from a lot of placescertainly China poses concerns there.

The joint Australia-US ministerial (AUSMIN) statement was short on detail, but strongly reaffirmed the military alliance. It began by endorsing a declaration by President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the White House in February, when they proclaimed a steadfast and enduring alliance dating back to World War I.

From the battlefields of Europe to this contested century, there are no greater friends than Australia and the United States, the statement insisted. The Australian signatories were Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Defence Minister Marise Payne.

One of the few specific commitments was to confirm the full implementation of Force Posture Initiatives between US and Australian forces in Australia. These include raising the number of US Marines in the northern city of Darwin to the full complement of 2,500 as soon as practicable.

Pompeo later emphasised the importance of this Marine taskforce in an Australian Broadcasting Corporation TV interview, saying it was ready to be sent. At full strength, the Marines in Darwin will constitute a full Marine Corps Expeditionary Unit (MEU), backed by naval and air power, that can be rapidly deployed in the region. This is part of Pentagons build-up and restructuring of military forces throughout Asia aimed against China.

The current size of Marine Rotation Force Darwin is 1,587, with eight Osprey aircraft for rapid troop movements. It is already the largest annual rotation since the Gillard Labor government signed an agreement with the Obama administration in 2011, providing for a staged increase to 2,500.

The AUSMIN statement pledged Enhanced Air Cooperation for improving the interoperability of US and Australian defense forces, integration of US force elements into Australias annual Indo-Pacific Endeavour exercise and strengthened bilateral security partnerships with like-minded Indo-Pacific nations through joint training and exercise opportunities.

On the sensitive question of Australia joining the US in conducting provocative freedom of navigation operations (FONOPs) inside the 12-nautical-mile territorial zones claimed by China around its islets in the South China Sea, however, no agreement was apparently reached.

The Turnbull government remains reluctant to participate in these aggressive US operations, initiated under Obama, because of their potential to trigger direct clashes that could lead ultimately to full-scale war with China.

Mattis indicated that the issue was raised, as had been anticipated before the meeting, but said it was up to Australia to decide. Thats a sovereign decision by a sovereign state, he said.

In the lead-up to the talks, Bishop had publicly rejected a US congressmans call for such an Australian FONOP, as an extraordinary step for Australia to take.

Nevertheless, the AUSMIN statement reiterated support for the US position of opposing Chinas alleged militarization of disputed features in the South China Sea and conducting operations to enforce the obligation to respect freedom of navigation and overflight.

A significant added component of the statement, compared to previous AUSMIN communiques, was to highlight moves toward forming a so-called quadrilateral alliance. This would bring India into the existing anti-China alignment of the US, Japan and Australia. The ministers welcomed the recent US-Australia-India-Japan consultations on the Indo-Pacific in Singapore.

Other pledges involved strengthening military collaboration in science and technology, including advanced cyber warfare capabilities, and stepping up military, intelligence and economic activity in South Pacific island countries.

There were also commitments to maintain military forces in Afghanistan and Syria, and continue cooperation in combatting terrorism in Southeast Asiathe pretext for sending US and Australian forces into the Philippines last year.

Another focus was increased bilateral and multilateral cooperation on economic development in the Indo-Pacific. Efforts are being made to counter the impact of Chinas growing investment and aid across the region, and especially its massive One Belt One Road infrastructure plan to link China to Europe.

A supplementary fact sheet said the US and Australia intended to work together to advance a shared infrastructure agenda, including by holding a formal dialogue on infrastructure investment in the Indo-Pacific.

The fact sheet added two further joint pledges. One is to maintain pressure on North Korea until it abandons its illegal WMD and ballistic missile programs. This means enforcing the crippling US sanctions on North Korea and preparing to intervene militarily if Pyongyang fails to meet Washingtons demands for unilateral nuclear disarmament.

The other is to coordinate efforts to counter foreign interference in their respective countries. This is a reference to the draconian foreign influence legislation pushed through the Australian parliament last month to criminalise political collaboration with overseas organisations, as well as anti-war dissent. The passage of this legislation was demanded by Washingtons political and security establishment, which regards it as a model for similar anti-democratic measures in the US and elsewhere.

Before the AUSMIN talks, Bishop delivered a speech in London that pointed to rising concern in ruling circles in Australia and internationally, including among post-World War II US allies, about the Trump administrations bellicose America First trade war and strategic threats.

One of the greatest dangers to the post-war order, Bishop stated, was that the United States is now favouring a more disruptive, often unilateral, foreign and trade policy that has heightened anxieties about its commitment to the rules-based order that it established, protected and guaranteed.

Another major challenge facing the international order was that it must accommodate a changing balance of power in the Indo-Pacific. Bishop noted: China is Australias largest trading partner, and that of probably over 120 other nations around the world China is contesting the United States role in the region through tactics that fall short of direct confrontation.

Bishop stated: The United States-China trade dispute is one manifestation of a larger struggle between the worlds existing superpower and a growing economic and strategic power. The global economy and global stability will feel the impact of this for some time to come.

This is an unusually frank and revealing statement of the fundamental geo-strategic tensions once more pushing capitalism toward another world war. It will certainly have been noted in Washington in the lead-up to the AUSMIN talks.

Bishops only proposal was to call for closer British engagement in the Indo-Pacific. Acting together we can better support the United States to lead in ways that advance all of our mutual interests, in ways that support the rules-based order.

Thus, while nervous about the openly belligerent course of US policy under Trump, the Australian ruling class sees no option but to tighten its commitment to Washington, on which it has relied for military and strategic backing since World War II.Jeremy Corbyn addressed the Engineering Employers Federation (EEF) Wednesday to outline his pitch for a Labour government.

In a speech titled Build it in Britain Again, he outlined a right-wing programme centred on economic nationalism and barely disguised anti-migrant prejudice.

Under conditions of a worsening crisis for Theresa Mays Conservative government, with the pro- and anti-European Union factions at loggerheads as the March 2019 deadline for Brexit approaches, Corbyn sought to reassure business that Labour was the party it could trust to navigate troubled waters ahead.

Just three years ago, Corbyn was elected Labour leader by a landslide on the basis that he represented a left-wing and even socialist opposition to austerity and war. With the possibility that he could lead government coming closer all this is being ditched.

There was not a single reference to socialism, capitalism, or even the working class in the speech. There was just a single reference to austerity, but no talk of ending it.

There were obligatory references to the plight of the majority of the population, with the spread of insecure work, low pay and zero hours or temporary contracts, causing stress, debt and despondency, as the the super-rich have grown still richer. But there was no call for any serious inroads against the wealth of the super-rich, or any appeal to the working class as the only social force capable of doing so.

The intractable problems of society were couched purely in the realm of a few misconceived ideas. We can get rid of the magical thinking of the free market that has led to a minority becoming extremely rich at the expense of everybody else. In the vaguest terms, he declared, we will replace it with a new economy, transformed so that its run for and by the many, not the few.

There were innumerable references to the people, who Labour was seeking to unite so as to forge a new relationship between workers, manufacturers, communities and the government.

The people to whom he is referring was made clear by his audience. The EEF declares itself the voice of UK manufacturing and engineering and a leading provider of business support, dedicated to ensuring that manufacturing industry is able to thrive, innovate and compete both locally and on a global scale.

Such is the cosying up of Labour to big business that it was Corbyns second speech to the EEF this year. He spelled out that a Labour government would be dedicated to facilitating their international competitiveness against their major rivals. Returning to his theme, Corbyn stressed that Britain required an industrial strategy because for the last forty years a kind of magical thinking has dominated the way Britain is run, which assumed the way forward was for our country to manufacture less and less and to rely instead on cheap labour abroad to produce imports, while skewing policy to the narrowest interests in the City of London.

The reference to cheap labour is borrowed directly from the arsenal of the right-wing, which blames migrant workers rather than capitalism and the ruling elite for social inequality and the decline in living standards.

Aside from a glancing swipe at the financial swindlers in the City of London, he did not offer a single serious proposal to take them on.

The services sector makes up around 80 percent of British GDP and the financial sector a substantial proportion of thataccounting for almost 11 percent of the economy. And Labour will do nothing to jeopardise the global domination of British finance capital, which is why his vague reference to chasing dodgy money out of the financial system was as far as he went.

Instead Labour would rely on the good graces of the financial elite, with Corbyn only stating that the very richest companies must pay a bit more tax  to help upgrade our creaking infrastructure, with Labour providing the planning and support to help industry compete on the world stage.

Addressing the concerns of the corporate and financial elite that the UK will lose access to the EUs Single Market and Customs Union, he pledged, after Brexit the single biggest assistance we can give our exporters is securing full, tariff free access to our biggest export market, the European Union.

Its so important that we seek to negotiate a new, comprehensive UK-EU customs union, with a British say in all future trade deal and arrangements.

Those who need to be assisted, declared Corbyn, are massive conglomerates such as BMW, Airbus, and other companies, who have warned of the real and damaging effects of Conservative customs chaos.

This was a strategy in the national interest, he said, boasting, Its not often that the Labour Party and the Institute of Directors, the CBI and the TUC [Trades Union Congress] agree, we need to negotiate a new customs union.

UK manufacturers were unable to compete on the global stage because they are being sold out by a lack of a Conservative government industrial plan which has left our economy far too reliant on imports.

Britains new passports would be made in France, Network Rail was awarding tens of millions of pounds in contracts to companies outside of the UK, while the National Health Service awarded overseas contracts worth over a billion. That is why we will build things here again that for too long have been built abroad because we have failed to invest, as it will allow us to have greater control, ensuring that the government uses more of its own money to buy here in Britain.

Labour would leverage the 200 billion spent by the state per year in the private sector that alone gives us levers to stimulate industry, to encourage business to act in peoples interests.

He stressed the necessity for business to retain access to a customs union with the EU, not only for trade but also geo-political, military-intelligence reasons.

All the anti-war rhetoric that helped secure his leadership victory was also thrown overboard. Corbyns protectionist measures were focussed on promoting its benefits in rejuvenating British imperialisms war machine. A new British-only procurement policy was required as the Ministry of Defence awarded contracts  worth over 1.5 billion pounds even though we are under no obligation under either European or international law to open up defence contracts to overseas bidders.

He complained that the Tory government were sending a 1 billion contract on building three new Fleet Solid Support Ships for the Royal Fleet Auxillary overseas, when they could benefit workers in Liverpool, Belfast, Rosyth and Plymouth 

If Corbyn was honest he would entitle his programme A modest proposal for rebuilding Britain based on World War Three. After all, according to the Labour leader, the devastation wrought on working class communities by Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrats alike is to be overcome through building up the British arms industrystill one of the worlds leading sector.

Not a single reform was offered by Corbyn to alleviate the desperate conditions confronting millions of workers after a decade of savage austerity. There was talk of increasing investment in education, skills and lifelong learning through the National Education Service that we will create. But this was to overcome the short-termism of the past that had meant that the UK was losing out to France, Germany and the US.

The class content of Corbyns programme was underscored by his reference to the US, and President Donald Trump. For good reason, Corbyn felt it necessary to state that his slogan, Build It In Britain Again was not turning away from the world, nor some return to protectionism or Trump-style trade wars.

He described as his nightmare scenario one in which our country [is] in hock to Donald Trump whilst we all eat chlorinated chicken.

Of Trumps vicious anti-immigrant programme; the gestapo-like round up of migrants and separation of families; tax breaks for the super-rich and gutting of social welfare; the silence was deafening and telling.

There is nothing fundamental to distinguish Corbyns programme from that of the America First economic nationalism of Trumpsave that he represents a wing of British capital offering to step up the exploitation of workers in the UK in competition with their class brothers and sisters in the US and Europe.The Indian media is full of horrifying reports of lynch gang murders. According to police and government officials, at least eight people were killed by mobs across India in less than a week. India Today said 16 lynchings have been reported since May 10, resulting in the deaths of 22 people.

The victims were allegedly connected to child kidnapping, thievery, sexual harassment of women, or cow smuggling or slaughter. News items said the attacks were provoked by rumours spread via social mediaWhatsapp in particular. In most cases, the victims were beaten or stabbed to death and sometimes their bodies were hung by mobs. At times the victims survived severe injuries, but were left unattended.

The majority of the victims have been Muslims or members of minority ethnic groups. An India Spend investigative article revealed that 86 percent of those killed in cow-related lynching were Muslims, and 8 percent low-caste Dalits. A recent outbreak of mob killings on rumours of child kidnapping targeted strangersmigrant workers and mentally disturbed people.

These attacks have created fear and intimidation among the targeted communities. Videos have been posted on social media, many by the attackers themselves, to arouse hatred against the victims.

Despite large sections of the public facing life-threatening conditions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP) have kept almost total silence, just as they have done in past when the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and the BJPs other Hindu supremacists allies have whipped up communal violence under the pretext of preventing cow slaughter.

While Modi has occasionally issued brief statements, claiming that horrific killings were isolated or spontaneous incidents, his senior ministers and parliamentary representatives have frequently openly defended the attackers, accusing the victims of provoking the attacks.

Far from these gruesome attacks being spontaneous, they are the result of provocations by Hindu extremist groups, backed by the BJP government. The government came to power in 2014, promoting Hindu chauvinism and right-wing groups. Their role is to aggressively suppress Muslims and other minorities on the pretext of protecting Hindu values.

Organisations like Gau Raksha Dal, which was formed to protect cows, a Hindu sacred symbol, provoked gangs to launch attacks on Muslim beef sellers and cattle traders last year. Modi who was forced to make a statement after 20 people were murdered, merely said: Killing people in the name of Gau Bhakti (cow worship) is not acceptable.

Last year, the Hindustan Times reported that 97 percent of the cow-related violence from 2010 to 2017 was reported after Modis government took office and 86 percent of the victims were Muslims.

These attacks are not isolated, but the result of systematic incitement by the government-backed communal groups, which use social media to spread communal hysteria.

The government has backed the murders by honouring convicted killers, especially when the victims are Muslims. Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha garlanded eight men convicted for lynching Alimuddin Ansari, a Muslim beef trader, last year.

Last week, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Giriraj Singh met jailed leaders of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, two Hindu extremist organisations, who were convicted of communal violence last year. The minister claimed: These leaders and functionaries have been arrested and jailed on the basis of false allegations. This is a very unfortunate situation.

Although the police have made a few arrests, the police commonly give the mobs enough time to unleash their attacks, confident of protection by the BJP government.

In one typical incident on May 9, Rukmini, a 65-year-old woman, was killed by a mob of 200 in Athimoor village, Tamil Nadu. Police squads took 30 minutes to arrive from the police station that was just three kilometres away.

In another case, the police arrested two youth, Sanjay Sobor and his colleague, who belonged to a minor tribal community and worked as migrant labourers in Arunachal Pradesh. When the news of their arrest spread, a mob barged into the police station, dragged the prisoners to the main road and lynched them in the presence of police. The mob then disappeared without anyone being apprehended by the police.

The police invariably label those who are killed as cow thieves or cow smugglers, abductors of children or other criminals, echoing government representatives, even when the allegations against the victims have not been proved.

Numerous protests have erupted in major cities against this violence. Demonstrators have carried placards with slogans like protests against holy mob lynching! and Not the Hindus vs. Muslims but the Brahmin (high caste Hindus) against the Indian minorities!

Last week the Delhi Supreme Court recommended that parliament create a new penal provision to punish the offenders, but the media reported a senior BJP member stating: There is already a law and no such requirement for a separate law.

The government and its allies have sought to turn the popular outcry against the lynchings back on the Congress Party, which formed the previous government. Home Minister Rajnath Singh told parliament: Its not that lynching hasnt happened in the past. He recalled the 1984 mob killings of Sikhs after Congress Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards.

While justifying the brutal attacks on minorities, Modis BJP government is strengthening an oppressive state machine against the working people as a whole. Communalism is being heightened and lynch mobs set in motion to divide and intimidate the working class.At least 26 people have been killed and 170 are missing after a major hydropower dam construction site collapsed on Monday night in Attapeu province in southern Laos. Seven villages were devastated and more than 6,600 people rendered homeless after a 30-foot wall of water hit the area.

The Xe-pian Xe-Namnoy project consists of two major dams and five smaller auxiliary earth-filled dams. Saddle Dam D, one of the auxiliary dams, failed after several days of heavy monsoonal rains.

Construction inspectors reported damage to the dam on July 23. Following a letter from the Laoss Resettlement Office, government authorities issued an evacuation order the next day, but it was too late.

The dam collapsed at 8 p.m. on July 24, sending around 5 billion cubic metres of water, equivalent to approximately 2 million Olympic swimming pools, into the valley below. Thousands of homes were destroyed in the downstream neighbouring villages of Yai Thae, Hinlad, Mai, Thasengchan, Tha Hin and Samong.

Media reports show hundreds of people stranded on the roofs of their inundated homes and villagers seeking to escape in overcrowded longboats or wading through floodwaters with children and their possessions. Makeshift disaster relief centres have been established, with hundreds of people seeking shelter in local schools and fields.

Rescue efforts have been hampered by the lack of phone signals in the flooded areas, ongoing heavy rains and strong winds, and poor roads. Survivors are in desperate need of medical assistance, adequate shelter, food and water supplies.

Ian Baird, described as an expert on Laos from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told the Reuters news agency: People dont usually go in that area during the rainy season. There are mountains nearby that villagers might be able to get up on.

The Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy project, Baird said, had managed the water in the reservoir very poorly, and so they are responsible.

The International Rivers website claims that many of the dams were not appropriately designed to be able to cope with extreme weather events.

SK Engineering and Construction, a South Korean corporation, which has a major stake in the project, sought to deflect attention away from the broader social issues involved in the tragedy. It claimed that higher than usual rainfall was responsible for the dam collapse.

Heavy monsoon rains, however, are a regular occurrence in the impoverished, landlocked country, which is bordered by China, Vietnam, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand and Cambodia.

Laos, which has a population of about seven million people, is one the poorest countries in the world. It was subjected to massive carpet bombing by the US during the Vietnam War.

Electricity is Laoss major export earner. The Xe-pian Xe-Namnoy project is one of many dams being built along the Mekong River. In 2017, Laos had 46 operational hydroelectric power plants and scores of others under construction.

The ruling Stalinist Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party government in Vientiane, the capital, is acutely nervous about the catastrophe and its political impact on the region.

The national and provincial governments have systematically silenced opposition to village relocations, disruptions to rural agriculture and other social and economic problems caused by dam construction projects.

In an effort to assuage public anger, Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith visited the affected area, calling on local governments to assist in emergency relief efforts.

A Vientiane-based commentator told the Asian Times: We are not good at talking about disasters here, especially if there is a possibility that someone in government may be blamed.

The $US1.02 billion Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy project includes South Korean, Thai and Laotian investors. It began construction in 2013 and was due for completion later this year, with plans to begin commercial operations next year.

A similar disaster occurred last year when the Nam Ao River hydropower dam in northeastern Laos burst during construction, flooding a number of regional villages. There were no reported deaths. An investigation into the reservoir found that the construction was faulty because it was being built on unstable marshland.

Following last years dam collapse, Energy and Mining Minister Khammany Inthilath called for the cancellation of hydropower projects that did not meet technical and construction safety standards. It is not clear however, whether any real changes have been made in the past 12 months.

One analyst told the Asian Times that the resources and skills to properly oversee the large number of hydropower projects in Laos are at a bare minimum. Construction projects often bypass basic safety standards to meet deadlines and the demands from international investors. The working class and most oppressed layers bear the brunt of such profit-driven irresponsibility.Two weeks after the July 12 national nurses strike, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) has struck another deal with the countrys District Health Boards (DHBs) and is recommending members accept it.

A majority of the NZNOs 29,000 members in public hospitals have already rejected four sell-outs presented by the union since bargaining started last year. The nationwide strike, the first since 1989, was carried out in defiance of NZNO leaders, who cancelled an earlier strike scheduled for July 5, provoking outrage among workers.

Bargaining was re-started following the strike without any specific demands being advanced by the union and with the Labour Party-led government still insisting there was no more money to increase the DHBs offer.

Announcing the new deal on Wednesday, NZNO official Glenda Alexander said the union was recommending it because it retained previously achieved benefits while including two significant improvements above the fourth offer.

In fact, the proposed agreement is virtually identical to those already decisively rejected: a pay increase of 3 percent per annum for 20172019 and a grossly inadequate 2 percent increase in hospital staffing.

According to Alexander, the new offer expanded on the consistency members had asked for on all steps across the pay scale. The new step 7 on the registered nurse and registered midwife scale will now take effect 12 months after the implementation of step 6. This does nothing more than bring forward access to the top salary step so that it falls within the term of the agreement. Progression from step 6 to 7 does not become available until May 2020.

Alexander promised pay equity by December 2019. The NZNO was confident this will deliver further pay increases as of that date. This is an empty promise, devoid of any guarantees. So-called pay equity with comparable, predominantly male occupations has been foreshadowed since the 1980s, without anything being delivered.

According to Alexander, the NZNO secured clearer monitoring and reporting mechanisms in relation to additional staff funding and the provision of safe staffing through the Care Capacity Demand Management (CCDM) system.

This does nothing to resolve the crisis of chronic understaffing in hospitals. Many nurses have called for a guaranteed ratio of one nurse to four patients. Instead, a meagre $38 million is set aside for 500 extra staff across 21 DHBs nationwidenot enough to address attrition rates and keep pace with population growth, let alone address issues of workload and safe patient care. The CCDM does not include a mandated ratio of staff to patients.

As with the last deal, the union will seek to ram through the agreement with anti-democratic methods. No mass meetings have been called to give nurses the opportunity to debate the offer. Nurses will be reliant almost exclusively on the NZNO website for information about the settlement. Online voting will take place from July 31 to August 6.

While the July 12 strike received widespread support from the working class, the nurses are under immense pressure from the media, government and business leaders to accept the revised offer.

The New Zealand Herald headlined its report on July 25: New Zealand nurses expected to give thumbs-up to new pay offer from the nations DHBs. This is a baseless lie. The Herald speaks for the corporate elite, which is desperate to have the dispute shut down.

Kim Campbell, head of the Employers and Manufacturers Association, told TV3 on July 14 that many workers were lucky to get 1 percent annual pay rises. If nurses and teachers received much more, everybody else is going to have their hands out.

There is strong opposition among health workers, who did not strike in order to be presented with basically the same sell-out deal two weeks later. A poll in the Facebook group New Zealand, please hear our voice, run by several nurses, found that over 1,598 respondents would reject the new offer, 230 would accept and 92 were undecided. Another Facebook poll so far shows that 455 people would leave NZNO if they had an alternative. Only 37 would remain in the union.

Speaking to the WSWS, Michelle, a nurse from Auckland said the NZNO had been dragging out the dispute to wear us down and force through a vote to accept.

A Dunedin-based nurse described the union as being in crisis, with the hierarchy failing to listen to the members. The NZNO boasted about being a membership-led organisation, the nurse declared, but they wont let us lead!

Another nurse wrote to the Socialist Equality Group (New Zealand) praising its recent statement on the dispute. She said many workers were expressing extreme disappointment and annoyance at NZNOs pathetic and lacklustre performance throughout these negotiations, including the aura of secrecy and lack of consultation with their members.

In New Zealand, please hear our voice, Karen pointedly asked: Did it really take that long to say so little? Sam declared: Whats most shitty about this is ... we waited a week for THIS??? Someone admit these fools into a ward and let them experience what these complaints are about. Mary asked: Do they think we are idiots. Trying to wear us down? Rebecca demanded a poll for a new union.

There are a number of calls for fresh strike action. Melissa wrote: Trying to decide whether to roll over and accept or stick it to the man!!! Much more of the second option kind of girl. Another worker wrote: how about a poll where staff stick together and do a mass strike without the union? Calls have been made for a 48-hour strike or rolling stoppages and the NZNO has been criticised for failing to ballot members over further action before re-entering negotiations.

The World Socialist Web Site and Socialist Equality Group have consistently warned that if the nurses struggle remains in the hands of the union bureaucracy, it will be betrayed. The NZNO has no intention of waging a sustained political and industrial campaign against the Ardern Labour-led government, which rules for the wealthy elite.

The Socialist Equality Group calls on health workers to reject the new sell-out. They should demand the immediate convening of mass stopwork meetings to allow for the widest democratic discussion. There must be no censorship of opposition viewpoints. The online ballot must be replaced with a properly supervised vote held at meetings of workers.

Workers need to consciously adopt a socialist and internationalist perspective, in opposition to the entire political establishment, and to rebel against the pro-capitalist unions by establishing independent rank-and-file workplace committees controlled democratically by workers themselves.

This is not simply an industrial conflict, but a political struggle that raises vital issues for the entire working class. A well-funded health system, accessible to all who need it, is incompatible with capitalism, in which everything is subordinate to the profit interests of the wealthy elite. Society must be completely reorganised on the basis of human need, not private profit.

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After nationwide strike: The way forward for New Zealand health workers

[25 July 2018]The Trump administration is placing thousands of workplaces across the United States under police surveillance and is drastically expanding plans for military-style raids to arrest and deport immigrant workers.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Tuesday that it conducted 984 workplace arrests of immigrants over the nine months from October 2017 to July 2018, nearly six times more than over the preceding 12 months, during which time the government dragged 172 people off their jobsites for deportation.

ICE also announced it has served 5,200 businesses with audit notices so far this year, including an astounding 2,738 last week alone, in what it called the "second phase" of the operation. This means federal agents are presently scouring payroll lists and checking the citizenship status of tens or hundreds of thousands of workers. ICE states that from October 2017 through July 2018, it has opened 6,093 worksite investigations compared to 1,716 in the preceding fiscal year.

If the government conducts raids at even a small fraction of these facilities, the total number of immigrant workers arrested will be in the tens of thousands. Raids like those conducted in Sandusky and Salem, Ohio in June give a sense of what is to come. During these SWAT-style assaults, hundreds of immigration officials with attack dogs, helicopters and assault rifles swept into a plant nursery and a meatpacking plant, arresting roughly 300 workers while their US-born coworkers shouted denunciations at the agents.

The ICE announcement is an open threat to the entire working class. It is a response to the significant increase in strikes and protests by teachers, autoworkers, telecommunications workers, UPS workers, and other key sections of the working class over the first months of 2018.

When teachers in Oklahoma and Arizona put forward wage demands of $10,000 to $20,000 this spring, they received widespread support from millions of workers who watched and learned as teachers sought to defy the state governments and the trade unions to advance grievances and demand higher pay.

The corporations are terrified that more workers are beginning to raise similar claims. The attack on immigrant workers is the spearhead of efforts to break the growth of the class struggle and intimidate the workforce into submission.

First, the ruling class hopes to poison the development of working class militancy and class solidarity by dividing workers based on race and nationality, scapegoating immigrant workers for deteriorating social conditions.

Derek Benner, ICEs Acting Executive Associate Director for Homeland Security Investigations, portrayed immigrant workers as criminals who are taking advantage of US citizen workers in a statement accompanying the ICE announcement:

This is not a victimless crime. Unauthorized workers often use stolen identities of legal US workers, which can significantly impact the identity theft victims credit, medical records and other aspects of their every day life.

Benner continued:

Worksite enforcement protects jobs for U.S. citizens and others who are lawfully employed and helps combat worker exploitation, illegal wages, child labor and other illegal practices.

What lies! It is not immigrant workers who are to blame for unsafe conditions, underpayment of wages and worker exploitation, but the corporations themselves!

The two wealthiest men in the USJeff Bezos and Bill Gatespossess nearly the same amount of wealth as the poorest 160 million people in the US. In Bezoss case, his $150 billion has been amassed from the exploitation of 500,000 Amazon workers across the world who labor under among the most dangerous working conditions for measly wages and little to no benefits.

Across all industries, stagnant or declining wages have fueled a massive growth of wealth among the corporate oligarchy. From 2016 to 2017 alone, the wealth of the worlds billionaires (2,754 people) increased by 24 percent to $9.2 trillion, or 12 percent of the worlds gross domestic product.

Second, fearing the prospect of social opposition to the hyper-exploitation of the working class, the superrich are establishing a police-military infrastructure to spy on and physically crush the working class.

The threat of military raids is intended to intimidate workers from opposing speed-ups, unsafe conditions, wage theft and other forms of exploitation that fuel rising corporate profits. At the same time, the government and the employers are preparing for more drastic measures. Workers must be warned: if the government can raid a workplace and drag a worker away for being an illegal immigrant, it can do the same to workers for participating in illegal strikes or protests or for distributing illegal leaflets or online articles.

Third, the threats of mass raids and efforts to blame immigrants for the plight of US citizen workers are also aimed at whipping up a fascistic base that Trump can rely on for political support and that the corporations and employers can deploy to terrorize and police workers engaged in strikes and protests.

Trumps escalation of vicious attacks on immigrants coincided with the growth of strikes earlier this spring.

It was in early May, as the teachers strikes and protests spread to North Carolina, Virginia and Colorado, that Trump implemented his zero tolerance policy to separate immigrant children from their parents and detain them in separate facilities. Since then, Trump has flouted a court order requiring he release the children and faces a deadline today to reunite them with their parents. Nearly 500 parents have already been deported, many of whom will likely never see their children again.

The trade unions will serve as a willing partner in helping to militarize American workplaces. In recent decades, the government has deported 5 million people, most of whom were workers and many of whom belonged to trade unions. The unions have refused to call a single significant strike, instead poisoning workers with American nationalism by blaming workers in China and Mexico for corporate outsourcing and declining wages.

The Democrats have said nothing about Trumps workplace immigration raids. Even as the White House announced Wednesday that it has deported over 460 parents of separated families, the Democrats have focused all of their efforts on their right-wing campaign to condemn Trump as a traitor for failing to militarily confront Russia. The campaign, far from uniting workers against the Trump Administration, aims only to promote nationalism and anti-Russian jingoism.

Workers must reject the bipartisan strategy to attack the democratic rights and social position of the working class through divide and conquer tactics. In preparation for the fight against the government and the corporations, the unity of the working class, regardless of citizenship or national origin, is a life-or-death question.Melyda Corado, the 27-year-old manager of a popular Trader Joes market located in Silver Lake, an upscale Los Angeles neighborhood, was killed Saturday afternoon by a police officer shooting at a suspect fleeing into the store.

The incident began earlier that afternoon in South Central Los Angeles, when Gene Atkins, a disturbed 28-year-old man, shot his grandmother several times. Remarkably, the woman survived.

Atkins fled with his girlfriend in his grandmothers Toyota Camry. LAPD officers located the car driving in Hollywood through its anti-theft device and initiated a reckless high-speed chase. Harrowing police videos from the police car and two body cameras captured what happened next.

As Atkins sped through traffic on crowded, busy streets he shot at the officers, shattering the back window of his own car. Shortly thereafter he crashed into a pole next to the Trader Joes front door. Atkins jumped out of the car and fired more shots toward the police as he ran into the store.

The driver of the police car is heard saying to his partner, Do not, do not shoot. Get distance. We are getting distance.

Rather than remain in a position of cover behind the vehicle engine block and ballistic door, as training mandates, however, the passenger officer, who has not yet been named, jumped out of the car and fired multiple shots at Atkins despite the presence of people all around him at the entrance to the crowded store.

Apparently, Melyda Corado was near the front door, responding to the sound of the crash, when she was hit by an LAPD bullet that perforated her arm before entering her body. She walked back into the store and collapsed in front of her co-employees and numerous customers, mortally wounded.

Dozens of military-clad LAPD SWAT officers were called and congregated for an hour outside the store, basically doing nothing, while breathless news reporters with video cameras descended to broadcast the hostage situation. Eventually Atkins surrendered, sustaining gunshot wounds to one arm. He did not harm any of the people inside the store.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney filed 31 felony charges against Atkins, including for the murder of Corado, even though he did not fire the bullet which killed her. Atkins is being held in lieu of $18.75 million bail.

The new LAPD Chief of Police, Michael Moore, wasted no time defending the shooting of Corado. I believe its what they needed to do in order to defend the people of Los Angeles, defend the people in that store, and to defend themselves.

To the contrary, the death of Corado was avoidable and occurred solely due to the reckless overreaction of both officers, especially the still unidentified shooter.

To start with, the high-speed chase was unnecessary and recklessly jeopardized numerous lives. With a tracking device on the car and multiple officers and a helicopter were responding from various directions Atkins was not going to get away.

After Atkins crashed, the driver of the police car parked at a safe distance according to police protocol and told the other officer to hold her fire.

Even though Atkins was firing at the officers, the only correct tactic was to take positions of cover and wait for back up because the background was full of people who could be injured by police bullets. Had the shooting officer done so, the store manager would have survived unscathed, as did everyone else inside the store.

Reports in the media make clear that there was never a hostage situation in the store. Quoted in the Los Angeles Times, one of the customers, Mike DAngelo, described Atkins as having two bullet holes in his arm and he was bleeding badly. He kept saying he didnt want to hurt anybody.

I got him whatever he needed, DAngelo continued. Some water, orange juice, Jack Daniels.

Sadly, Atkins tried to telephone his grandmother, who was not reachable as she was in the emergency room for trauma surgery. A customer let Atkins use her cell phone to speak with LAPD hostage negotiators, who eventually coaxed him out of the store.After the European Union (EU) de facto halted rescue operations in the Mediterranean off the Libyan coast on Friday last week, ships from the EU Eunavfor Med Sophia mission sailed again on Monday. However, the mission has been saving fewer and fewer people from drowning for months.

In its three-year existence, the mission has saved at least 49,000 refugees from drowning and brought them to mainland Europe. Reducing official rescue operations, like the sabotage of private rescue missions, will immediately lead to a massive increase in fatalities.

Last Friday, the commander of the Sophia mission, Italian admiral Enrico Credendino, ordered all ships involved in the mission back to port. Although EU officials in Brussels had denied on Friday that the Sophia mission had been discontinued, the recall of the participating warships meant any organised sea rescues by the EU have been terminated.

On July 17, Italian Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi, an independent, sent a letter to the EUs high representative for foreign affairs, Federica Mogherini, who is officially responsible for the Sophia mission, saying that the Italian authorities would no longer accept refugees from EU vessels in the Mediterranean. The Italian government is demanding a distribution mechanism for refugees admitted into the EU.

After the Italian commander of the Sophia mission ordered the warships involved back to port, the EUs Political and Security Committee (PSC) decided at a crisis meeting to review and revise Sophias operations for the next five weeks. In this way, the EU is essentially sanctioning the actions of the Italian government.

On Monday, the participants then agreed to allow the missions ships to continue operations for the period of this review. However, it is questionable whether the ships will even save refugees at all. The numbers of people rescued have already fallen sharply in recent months, probably because the ships avoid areas in which boats are most frequently in distress.

According to the Tagesspiegel, Brussels military circles say that the mission leadership wants any refugees to be picked up by the so-called Libyan Coast Guard and returned to Libya, in violation of international law, where they face imprisonment, torture and even slavery. Officially, the main purpose of this mission is not to conduct rescues at sea, but to fight against smugglers and train the Libyan Coast Guard.

By reducing the number of people rescued at sea, the EU has not only revealed its indifference to the fate of thousands of refugees, it is also openly breaking international refugee and maritime law and, at least through its failure to render assistance, is responsible for the mass deaths on the Mediterranean.

According to estimates by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), at least 1,490 refugees have drowned in the Mediterranean this year. Although this is fewer than the 2,358 who died last year, in relation to the total number of refugees as a whole, the rate of drownings has increased significantly compared to the previous year.

With 629 refugees drowned in June, this was the deadliest ever. This is a direct consequence of the criminal policy of the Italian government and its partners in the EU, which has initially cracked down on private maritime rescuers and now virtually halted rescue operations.

Almost immediately after taking office, the government of Giuseppe Conte, comprising the right-wing extremist Lega and right-wing populist Five-Star Movement (M5S), initially refused to allow private maritime rescue ships to enter Italian ports. For days, the Aquarius and then the Lifeline had to steam back and forth across the Mediterranean before they could dock at ports in Spain or Malta to land several hundred refugees in each. In Malta, the captain of the Lifeline, Claus-Peter Reisch, was arrested and interrogated.

The Conte government went even further and did not even allow the Italian Coast Guard ship Diciotti to dock with 67 refugees on board. Although the Diciotti was finally allowed to dock, shortly afterwards the Italian government prevented a ship of the Italian Guardia di Finanza and a boat that was used by the Frontex European border agency, with more than 450 refugees on board, from docking.

Although EU officials occasionally criticise the Italian government, they actually work closely with them to wage a barbaric war on refugees. At last months EU summit, all the European governments agreed to build a comprehensive system of detention camps, the mass deportation of refugees and the massive expansion of border controls.

In this, the right-wing Italian government is setting the tone. The close collaboration with the Libyan Coast Guard is the best example of this. The Coast Guard apprehends refugees on the high seas and transports them under threat and use of violence back to Libya prison camps. The Italian government is deliberately violating the Convention on the Law of the Sea, which states that persons in distress must be unconditionally rescued and taken to the nearest port. The Geneva Refugee Convention also stipulates that refugees at the border must not be refused and certainly must not be returned to Libya.

Othman Belbeisi, who is responsible for the IOM in Libya, estimates the number of refugees there at 650,000. Nearly 10,000 are said to be in state and quasi-state prison camps. Since the NATO war against Libya and the murder of Muammar Gaddafi, all order has broken down in the country. The country is run by warlords and their militia, who act completely arbitrarily against refugees.

According to a confidential report of the EU border mission, which the broadcast programme Monitor quoted at the beginning of July, the officially recognised Libyan government of Fajes al-Sarradsch controls only seven out of 32 refugee detention centres. Human rights violations, extortion, sexual abuse, enslavement, forced prostitution and torture are commonplace there. Even the German foreign ministry described the Libyan prison camps as concentration camp-like institutions.

The German government also supports the fight of the Libyan militias against refugees. At the end of June, Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the work of the private maritime rescue services, saying they interfered with the work of the Libyan Coast Guard. There is a commitment to let the Libyan Coast Guard do its work, she said. And there is no right to just do things instead of the Libyan Coast Guard. Libya also has a right to protect its shores.

In fact, there are growing reports that the Libyan Coast Guard is acting with frightening ruthlessness and brutality. Militia leader Abd al-Rahman Milad, who rules west of Tripoli, has been accused by the UN of intentionally sinking refugee boats in order to bring the people on board back to Libya to the detention centres and enslave them.

The Spanish refugee relief organisation Open Arms, which operates off the Libyan coast with its own ship Astral, has now sued the Libyan Coast Guard for failing to provide assistance and the negligent killing of a woman and her four-year-old child. On July 16, a Libyan Coast Guard boat approached a dinghy full of refugees. The refugees made it clear that they did not want to return to Libya under any circumstances. The Libyan Coast Guard then used firearms to sink the boat and seize the desperate fugitives fighting for their lives in the sea to take them aboard and then on to a detention centre.

Two women, one with a toddler in her arms, doggedly refused to return to Libya. The Coast Guard simply left the two women and the child behind. Forty-eight hours later, in the remains of the dinghy, the Astral was only able to recover the bodies of the toddler and a woman.The rate of tax collection from US corporations has dropped to a near-record low, according to a report by The New York Times.

Trumps tax cuts, passed in December of last year, have caused a dramatic drop in the money being collected from major corporations, leaving their rich shareholders wealthier and the federal government deeper in debt. According to the White Houses Office of Management and Budget, the reduced corporate taxes will produce an additional $1 trillion in federal debt over the next decade.

Between just January and June of 2018, money gained from corporate taxes had dropped almost $50 billion from the year prior, a drop of one third. This huge sum, now in the pockets of the big companies, is not far behind the federal education budget of $68 billion a year.

The historic low in tax collections from US corporations, however, is not simply a national phenomenon caused by Trump. A new study by Ludvig Wier, an economist at the University of Copenhagen, has found that between 1985 and 2018 the average corporate tax rate has fallen from 49 percent to 24 percent. Speaking to the Washington Post, Wier remarked that Corporate taxes are going to die in 10 to 20 years at this rate.

Wier notes that in the face of offshore tax havens there is intense pressure on nations to lower their corporate tax rates. His paper estimates that in 2015 more than $600 billion of profits from corporate firms were transferred to several key tax havens. Wiers paper, which was written with Gabriel Zucman, the University of California, and Thomas Trslv, the University of Copenhagen, states, The massive tax avoidanceand the failure to curb itare in effect leading more and more countries to give up on taxing multinational companies.

The Trump White House and congressional Republicans falsely presented the $1.5 trillion tax cut as a means of helping the American worker. The reality is that the money corporations have gained from the cut have gone to share buybacks and dividends. These financial maneuvers are parasitic mechanisms that enrich the shareholders of corporations while taking money out of production and investment into the economy. This bonanza to the financial elite is expected to exceed $1 trillion this year, the highest ever.

Trumps tax cuts have also contributed significantly to the federal deficit. As early as next year, the US annual budget deficit is expected to exceed $1 trillion. In every job, workplace and government throughout the world, budget deficits are used to justify cuts to essential social services and programs.

Even the International Monetary Fund, the global US-led banking organization that enforces austerity measures, has warned about this development. The IMF said that the Trump tax law will actually encourage location of tangible investments abroad. They note that the Trump tax code creates a new deduction very wealthy people can take by categorizing their personal income as pass-through income.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 70 percent of Trumps tax cuts will flow to the top fifth of the population. The top one percent will reap 34 percent of its benefits. Millionaires in the United States will reap $17 billion from the tax cut just in 2018.

The Democrats did little or nothing to oppose the tax cuts, which benefit their own fat-cat base, and they have no genuine plans to reverse the cuts. When asked this week by a CNBC reporter repeatedly about what rate she would roll back the corporate tax rate to, Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., refused to give a number. Her insistence that it was up to negotiation is a signal that the Democrats will take Trumps tax cut as a new normal.

One cause of the tax cuts is the increased risk of financial instability. The White House estimates that in the fiscal year beginning in October, the US deficit will be $1.1 trillion, which is 5.1 percent of US GDP. Since World War II, the US almost never had a debt-to-GDP ratio higher than 5 percent, except in 1983, following a recession, and from 2009-2012, immediately following the financial crisis.The deal on trade struck between US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in talks held in Washington on Wednesday does not signify an end to the conflict between the US and the European Union. Rather, it is a manoeuvre by Washington in the ongoing and deepening global trade conflict. It is particularly aimed at strengthening the US in its battle against China by offering the EU some limited concessions.

The threat by Washington to impose a 25 percent tariff on imports of cars and auto products has not been removed, but only suspended while negotiations go ahead on broader trade relations, including working towards zero tariffs on all non-auto industrial goods.

But the very exclusion of auto products means such discussions will take place under conditions where the auto tariff threat could be raised again at any time.

The tariffs on steel and aluminium, which have sparked retaliatory measures from the EU, will remain, but will be reassessed in the course of discussions conducted through a US-EU executive working group that will be set up.

The outcome of the talks represents a significant backing down by the EU, which had earlier said it would not engage in negotiations with a gun at its head. But that is exactly what has taken place. The EU had called for an exemption from the steel and aluminium imposts and the removal of the auto tariff threat and declared that any negotiations had to be mutually beneficial, i.e., that there had to be concessions from the US. These demands have not been met.

According to the Juncker-Trump statement, there will be no abrogation of the spirit of the agreement unless either party terminates the negotiation. This leaves the way open for the US to simply pull out at any time.

It should be recalled that last May, after talks in Washington with Chinese officials, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the trade war with China had been put on hold. Shortly thereafter the administration announced that threatened tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods would be going ahead, with the first tranche of $34 billion imposed on July 6. Since then, Trump has threated that tariffs on up to $500 billion worth of Chinese goods could be imposed.

It is a sure sign of the ongoing breakdown of international economic relations that the Trump-Juncker talks did not have the character of negotiations, but rather of a meeting with a Mafia don laying down an offer that could not be refused.

In the lead-up to the discussions, Trump had tweeted: Tariffs are the greatest! Either a country which has treated the United States unfairly on trade negotiates a fair deal, or it gets hit with tariffs. Its as simple as that.

While the US has given up nothing, the EU has agreed to increase its imports of US soybeans and to become a massive buyer of liquefied natural gas, both regarded as significant by the US. Soybean markets and prices have hit by the restrictions imposed by China in response to the US tariffs against it and the US has likewise been looking to increase gas exports. In his European visit earlier this month, Trump characterised Germany as a captive of Russia because of the gas deals it had entered.

These manoeuvres by the US to improve its trade balance with the EU and to shore up the position of soybean producers take place within the broader context of the deepening trade war against China.

One of the persistent themes from both the US Congress and major corporations has been agreement with the need to take action against China, accompanied by criticism of the Trump administration from the standpoint that in taking action against the EU, Canada and other strategic allies, it is weakening the US position against Beijing. The concern is that if the EU is boxed into a corner, it will have no alternative but to respond to the overtures from China to present a common free trade front against the US.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Juncker, Trump said the talks were the launch of a new phase in the relationship between the United States and the European Union, which together comprise more than 50 percent of global gross domestic product and more than 50 percent of trade.

If we team up, we can make our planet a better, more secure and more prosperous place, he said.

Any teaming up, if it does take place, will have nothing to do with global security and prosperity, but will be aimed at strengthening the US against China, which key sections of the administration regard as the greatest threat to the economic and ultimately military dominance of the US.

In his prepared remarks, Trump said the US would work closely with like-minded partners to reform the WTO (World Trade Organisation) and address unfair trading practices, including intellectual property theft, forced technology transfer, industrial subsidies, distortions created by state-owned enterprises, and overcapacity.

China was not named, but it was the target. One of the central focuses of the Trump administration has been the Made in China 2025 plan, under which Beijing is seeking to widen and deepen its industrial and technological base. A US statement issued to China at the beginning of May in effect demanded that China abandon the plan and become a virtual economic semi-colony of the US. While Chinese media have been told to downplay references to the plan in recent weeks, it remains non-negotiable as far as Beijing is concerned.

Trump is calculating that in return for a suspension of tariffs, the EU, which also has grievances with Chinas industrial practices, and especially its moves to exert economic and possibly political influence in Eastern Europe, will join the US in common action against Beijing.

Domestic considerations also played a part in the proposed deal. There has been considerable criticism from auto companies that the imposition of tariffs on both cars and particularly auto parts would cause a major disruption to their global supply chains, with Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler all issuing profit downgrade reports. Significantly, the only support within the US for the proposed auto tariffs has come from the trade union bureaucracy, with the United Auto Workers union describing the move as long overdue.

Other industries have also opposed the disruption and cost increases resulting from the steel and aluminium tariffs.

In its report on the outcome of the meeting, the Financial Times described it as appearing to be a significant victory for the EU. It is anything but. The US gave up nothing in economic terms, only withdrawing an immediate tariff threat, while the EU has offered major economic concessions.

Following the victory against Iraq in the 1991 Gulf Warthe start of the ongoing wars extending for more than quarter of a centurythe Wall Street Journal proclaimed that Force Works! Having won a victory over the EU, the Trump administration will be drawing similar conclusions. Thus, while yesterdays deal may perhaps be characterised as a ceasefire, the global trade war continues and will intensify.There is a gold rush underway in Alaska.

A rush to tap the black gold of oil beneath the pristine coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the north.

A rush to blast free the yellow gold, silver and copper hidden in the hills above Bristol Bay in the south.

But while the great Klondike Gold Rush of 1896 was touched off by a few lucky prospectors and the glint of creek-bed precious metal, this one began on election night, 2016.

Donald Trump set out to deregulate the environment on a scale unseen in generations, much to the delight of oil, gas and mining companies eager to tap Alaska's natural wealth.

But as he appointed climate change deniers and anti-EPA warriors to his Cabinet, his win also brought dismay to fishermen and wildlife guides, conservationists and native tribes who believe that the true wealth of the Last Frontier is unspoiled wilderness and unrivaled biodiversity.

This tension pits neighbor against neighbor, tribe against tribe, Republican against Republican in a battle over the future. And like any great debate or heavyweight bout, this fight has a clock.

Both sides are counting the days until election night 2020.

The beauty and politics of ANWR

As the little plane descends into the heart of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, I notice our "runway" is nothing more than a grassy meadow, marked by a pair of antlers. The pilot makes a low pass to check for the random caribou or grizzly bear that might complicate our landing, but finds it clear.

The wheels bounce down, the engine goes quiet and we step out onto one of the wildest -- and most controversial -- bits of real estate in America.

This refuge (commonly pronounced as "An-wahr") is the size of South Carolina, made of mountains and sweeping coastal plains that serve as calving grounds for one of the last great migrations left on Earth. Hundreds of thousands of caribou wander down from the Brooks Range each summer to give birth and find relief from the relentless bugs in the coastal breeze.

With bears, both brown and polar, musk oxen, Arctic foxes and the nests of birds from all 50 states, this place is a North American Serengeti, which is why it was first set aside in 1960 and protected by an act of Congress in 1980.

The nation was facing its second oil crisis in a decade at the time, so Congress decided to defer the fate of a plot along the coast the size of Rhode Island. Known as the "ten-oh-two," this has been an ideological battleground, pitting Republican "sourdoughs" -- the nickname for hardy, long-time Alaskans -- like former senators Frank Murkowski and Ted Stevens against their more conservation-minded rivals on the other side of the aisle.

For "drill, baby, drill" Republicans, opening ANWR became a mission, and if successful, "we feel very, very confident we will be able to crack the backs of radical environmentalists," former House Leader Tom DeLay said in 2001. But they never had the votes.

But then, in December of 2017, Sen. Lisa Murkowski saw her chance to do something her father could not. By slipping a provision into the Tax Cut Bill, they could open ANWR with 51 votes instead of 60.

And the President was soon on board.

"One day a friend who's in the oil business called and said 'Is it true that you have ANWR in the bill?'" President Trump said after signing the bill into law. "I said 'I don't know, who cares?' What is that? What does that mean? He said, you know, 'Reagan tried, every single president tried and not one was successful.' I said 'you've got to be kidding. I love it now.' And we fought like hell to get ANWR. He talked me into it!"

Threat to life

"He just scribbled his name over our culture," says Louie John, a Gwich'in elder in Arctic Village. "I don't think that Trump cares about any human issue in this world."

As the northernmost tribe of Native Americans, the Gwich'in live in a necklace of mountain villages bordering the Arctic Refuge where they have survived on caribou for 25,000 years.

In their native language, the coastal plain is "the sacred place where life begins," and scarring it with roads, wells and pipelines would be both a cultural abomination and a legitimate threat to the caribou herd.

While the animals have legal "right of way" on the oil fields of the North Slope, some worry that disturbing the 1002 area will alter migration patterns that have held for millennia.

"Look what happened to the plains Indians and the buffalo," says Faith Gemmill. "That's not going to happen to my people. We're not going to allow that to happen again."

The Gwich'in are the main local allies of environmental groups vowing to use every legal weapon they can to stop the rush to lease two plots of 400,000 acres each to the highest bidder as early as next year.

"We are going to continue to fight at every stage," says Nicole Whittington-Evans of the Wilderness Society. "We won't give up and we will stand by the Gwich'in. We will take the administration to court, we will fight legal battles. We will continue to try to convince members of Congress that this is not the right way to go. We're hopeful for the midterm elections, and then we'll see how the next presidential election turns out."

But in this fight, the greens and the Gwich'in are David against a Goliath of energy companies and the lawmakers that support them. And within this alliance is another tribe of indigenous people, equally defiant and determined.

Pushing back on outsiders

"Now that the US is saying we can finally do this, we have the other side, the environmentalists saying we can't do this! What's wrong with this picture?"

The anger and passion is evident in the voice of Edward Rexford Sr. as he addresses the small crowd gathered in the one school building in Kaktovik. The Department of Interior is gathering public comments, and as the midnight sun blazes outside, they've come to this hamlet of native Alaskans on the edge of the sea, the only community inside ANWR.

"Human rights violations, genocide," Rexford barks. "Lot of folks don't know our history. All the minerals in the mountains, all the gold, all the oil, and they give us only 92,000 acres. Are we gonna stand up for our people?"

Unlike the Gwich'in in the mountains, the Inupiaq lost much of their land in 1971 after oil was discovered in nearby Prudhoe Bay. In exchange, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act gave indigenous people with no concept of profit motive shares in 13 regional corporations, which now reap billions in oil company royalties.

But a stroll through this hardscrabble town provides plenty of proof that those riches do not trickle down. Most folks here cheered the act of Congress and the Donald Trump signature that might finally bring the jobs, wealth and sovereign dignity they crave.

"Without the oil industry, we wouldn't have this police station. We wouldn't have this community school or the roads and we're walking on," Charles Lampe tells me. "We are the best stewards of our land."

I point out that nature lovers from Florida to Iowa feel a protective sense of ownership over ANWR, as they do for Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon.

"They will never set foot here," he says, eyes blazing. "I don't think it's right for them to be able to tell us what we can and cannot do with our own land."

As we speak, a woman on a four-wheeler rides by and calls out "Watch out for the nanook!" A skinny polar bear has wandered into town, an event that has become much more common since the Arctic began melting at a staggering rate.

As the bears' seal-hunting grounds disappear, they are forced to spend more and more time on land foraging for whale scraps or whatever nourishment they can find. The people of Kaktovik are seeing more freakish rain storms in winter, blizzards in summer and even had to move the airport away from the coast due to sea level rise.

But profit motive is a powerful force, and many remain eager to tap into the one product that is changing their land in alarming ways. Even as other villages retreat from rising seas (and Sen. Murkowski suggests using oil money to move them) the man in the White House is eager to wave away any fear.

"There's a cooling and there's a heating," President Trump said in January, when asked if he believes the climate is changing. "The ice caps were going to be gone by now, but now they are setting records."

NASA satellites show that they are indeed setting records, but in the exact opposite direction. The polar caps are smaller than they've been since data gathering began and, by some estimates, most populations of polar bears will be extinct by 2050.

Iceland is melting: See climate change in 360

Pebble causes new ripples of worry

At the other end of the state, our little plane lands on a beach covered in driftwood, flotsam and the paw prints of creatures great and small: bears, wolves, foxes and a handful of humans hoping to protect it from invasion.

Amakdedori Beach on the Alaska Peninsula is the newest battleground in the war between development and conservation, but instead of oil and gas, this fight is over gold and copper.

"I mean they're basically talking about putting a 175-mile gash across this pristine habitat," says Drew Hamilton, a former Alaska state biologist, guide for World Wildlife Fund and founder of Friends of McNeil River.

He casts a wary eye on the three strangers walking toward us down the beach. We exchange greetings, eyeing their equipment as they eye ours. "Are you guys working for Pebble Mine?" I ask.

They refuse to answer, admitting only they are a survey crew out of Anchorage studying the tides. I later confirm that they are scouting a possible port for the mine, but their reticence is understandable.

Pebble Mine is one of the most controversial projects in Alaska history.

It all began over a decade ago when a helicopter survey team noticed a strange red spot and Canadian mining company Northern Dynasty discovered a mother lode near Iliamna, the largest lake in Alaska.

They estimate that red spot marks 100 million ounces of gold and 80 billion pounds of copper, silver and molybdenum spread deep and wide in a windswept stretch of land north of Bristol Bay.

It could be worth over half a trillion dollars.

But to get it all, Northern Dynasty would need massive amounts of explosives and machinery to turn this pristine wetland into the biggest man-made hole in the world.

Current plans call for a 100-mile natural gas pipeline running alongside an active volcano, across Amakdedori Beach, through 35 miles of wilderness and around or under lake Iliamna. Ore would be trucked and ferried for over 80 miles through pristine habitat. But that is not what worries opponents most.

Blasting and digging an open pit of this size also creates lakes of toxic waste water, tainted with sulfuric acid, and they would be held back by earthen dams -- known as tailings dams -- in a wetland prone to earthquakes.

"If pollution gets into that water supply," Dan Schindler, head of the Alaskan Salmon Project says, "it's going to be nearly impossible to contain."

An ecologist based at of the University of Washington, he's spent his life studying how tens of millions of king and sockeye salmon surge through Bristol Bay each summer, on their way to spawn in the exact lake or stream of their birth.

As these squirming schools defy gravity and current by surging upstream, they inject ocean nutrients into the land, feeding every form of life, from bears to eagles to humans. With a constitutional mandate to protect the run, Alaska limits the catch but still manages to net half of the world's supply of sockeye each July.

Over two billion salmon have been caught in Bristol Bay since records began and fish are the lifeblood of local industry.

In 2014, after three years of peer-reviewed study, the Obama-era EPA determined that the fishery was too valuable to risk and too complex to mine. With a damning report, it invoked a rarely-used provision of the Clean Water Act to protect Bristol Bay.

As mining partners bailed out and Northern Dynasty stock dropped from $20 to 20 cents a share, the company spent millions suing the EPA. The "Stop Pebble Mine" stickers faded around Dillingham and Naknek, and it appeared that the fishermen and environmentalists had won.

But then Donald Trump became President.

In May of 2017, hours after meeting with Tom Collier, the CEO of Pebble Partnership, new EPA chief Scott Pruitt withdrew his agency's plan to protect Bristol Bay.

When CNN revealed details of that meeting, the public outcry was so fierce, Pruitt decided to retain the Obama-era watershed science. But after settling Northern Dynasty's lawsuits, he encouraged the permit process to proceed without a costly legal fight from the EPA.

In July, Alaska Gov. Bill Walker, an Independent, urged the Army Corps of Engineers to stop the permitting process altogether. While she wants the process to proceed, Sen. Murkowski said she "would never trade salmon for gold."

But Northern Dynasty refuses to give up.

Since Pruitt resigned amid scandal, the new man in charge of the EPA is Andrew Wheeler, a former lobbyist at one of Pebble Mine's law firms.

But Collier tells me he would have fought for a permit even if Hillary Clinton had won.

"Nobody can guarantee there won't be an accident," he says in his boardroom in Anchorage. On the table sits one of the many core samples from the mine site, mounted over a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson. "But we've done a hell of a lot to minimize the possibility of there being an accident on the site."

Collier says that Pebble has close to $850 million already invested in the project. While four major partners, including Mitsubishi, Anglo American and Rio Tinto have pulled out, he is hopeful a fresh wave of investment will pour in with an approved permit. The Army Corps of Engineers is targeting a decision by the fall of 2020, just weeks before President Trump's next election. "I'm going to get a permit, I believe, that will withstand any judicial attack under any administration," Collier said.

His office wall holds a picture of his days as a lawyer in Bill Clinton and Al Gore's Interior Department. The self-described Blue Dog Democrat-turned-Independent admits that Amakdedori "won't look great" if they decide to dredge the bay and turn the beach into a massive port. But he argues that some native tribes would appreciate the roads and jobs, and expresses frustration that no one on the other side will consider the possibility that his mine would never harm more than a handful of fish.

"If there is an accident, we've looked at modeling which relies upon the Obama administration's Bristol Bay Watershed Assessment," he says. "If tailings come out, it will kill fish for about 20 miles down the north fork of the Koktuli. And that's it. And in 10 years, they'll come back naturally."

That is cold comfort for even the most pragmatic of fishermen.

"The minerals that they're talking about are the kinds of minerals that people use every day, in your cameras, in your cell phones, in Fort Knox," Gaylord Lee Clark tells me as he pilots his salmon boat through Bristol Bay. "You are already exacerbating the situation by demanding the minerals that ... you positively must have for your life, at the same time as you're trying to maintain a salmon run so that you can eat well. What do we do?"

Interactive: See the places, the people and the issues as Alaska stands at a crossroads

But Drew the bear guide knows what to do: Leave well enough alone.

"I say there are already jobs here. You look at the town of Homer in the bear viewing industry, there are millions of dollars being made here already in its current wilderness state," he says. "You look at the other side of the mountain. There are tens of millions of dollars already being generated in a fashion that can be sustained for decades and decades and decades. Salmon fishing. Why can't we just keep that going? Because when it's gone, it's gone."An estimated 25,000 people are being evacuated from a northern Cambodian province following extensive flooding due to the collapse of a massive hydropower dam in neighboring Laos.

Authorities in Stung Treng province are attempting to evacuate towns and villages downstream from the dam, which has caused waters to rise above 12 meters (39 feet) in places, according to Cambodia's state news agency.

The agency quoted a spokesman for the Cambodian Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology who said there was no sign of waters receding as of Thursday afternoon.

The collapse of the hydropower dam has already left at least 26 people dead and another 6,000 homeless in southern Laos, the worst disaster faced by the small Southeast Asian country in decades, according to Laotian Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith.

"The strong tide of water from the broken dam immediately flowed through the community and washed away houses and villagers; many people were unable to move to the highland," Sisoulith said at a news conference Wednesday after visiting the affected areas.

The Xepian Xe Nam Noy Dam, a billion-dollar hydropower project part financed by South Korea, was still under construction when the breach occurred around 8 p.m. Monday in Laos' sparsely populated Attapeu province.

The dam's collapse occurred without warning and inundated entire villages with more than 5 billion cubic meters of water.

Bounhom Phommasan, Attapeu province's district governor, said authorities have rescued 2,851 from the floods but more than 3,000 are awaiting rescue, according to Laos state media.

At least 26 bodies have been retrieved from the muddy floodwaters. Rescuers are still searching for 131, according to the Prime Minister.

Up to 11,777 people were affected by the dam collapse, with up to 6,000 displaced, according to figures from the United Nations. Aerial images showed towns swallowed by water, with residents waiting on rooftops, with only a few possessions in hand.

The dam was built on a tributary of the Mekong River, the longest river in Southeast Asia. The Mekong, which runs from the Tibetan Plateau through China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, is an important regional resource, providing fish stocks and electricity -- in the form of hydropower -- to the people who live along it.

The flooding in southern Laos was expected to cause water levels to rise downstream, according to the Mekong River Commission, the joint Lao-Cambodian-Vietnamese organization that manages the shared resources of the Mekong.

There is no news yet on what the damage or the death toll might look like in Cambodia, downriver of the shattered dam.

Sisoulith said an international rescue effort is underway, and authorities are working to relocate those who live downstream of the areas already flooded, which could be inundated in coming days.

Criticism of authorities

Some have criticized Laotian authorities for improper oversight and a lack of communication in the disaster's aftermath.

International Rivers, a US-based nongovernmental organization that has campaigned on behalf of residents who have opposed the dam's construction since 2013, said the collapse has exposed the need for greater regulation for dam construction.

"Many dams in operation or planned are not designed to be able to cope with extreme weather events," the group said in a statement.

"Communities were not given sufficient advanced warning to ensure their safety and that of their families. This event raises major questions about dam standards and dam safety in Laos, including their appropriateness to deal with weather conditions and risks."

Sebastien Perret, a member of Vientiane Rescue 1623 -- an independent aid group that helps with disaster response throughout Southeast Asia -- told CNN in Attapeu that the water appears to be receding slowly in southern Laos, but the weather changes hour to hour.

The most affected areas are remote, making aid efforts even more challenging, Perret said, adding it took his team 18 hours to get to the flooded areas of Attapeu, where Vientiane Rescue 1623 is helping authorities recover bodies and rescue survivors.

"This kind of disaster doesn't happen in this country very often, so we need more boats, we need more helicopters," he said.

Inquiry to be launched

Daovong Phonkeo, director-general of Laos' Department of Energy Policy and Planning, told CNN he believes the rescue effort has been well-organized.

The department was in charge of writing the safety standards for the dam, and Phonkeo said it will launch an inquiry to see if private companies building the dam abided by those regulations.

The dam was one of many being built in the Mekong Delta to bring renewable electricity to one of the world's most underdeveloped regions. Two of Attapeu province's most important industries are hydropower energy and electricity generation, according to the Laotian government.

Critics of the project said dams on the Mekong do not outweigh its impact on the environment and local ecosystems.TERRE HAUTE, Ind (WTHI) - There is still confusion about the citys special event ordinance. This prompted a discussion to clear the air. The Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce hosted a discussion Thursday morning.



The chamber brought together city attorney Eddie Felling and their members as well as leaders of non-profit groups.



They are concerned that their events could require a special event permit. Felling talked about which types of events are exempt and what types of events will require a permit.



His best advice, if you have questions about whether your event needs a permit please call the city and ask. "You may not like my answer, you may require a permit, but we're going to help you through that process. We're going to help with any questions you may have whatsoever." Felling said.



His presentation is on the city's website. This presentation covers what "you" need to do in order to meet the requirements to get an event permit.LAWRENCEVILLE, Ill. (WTHI) - An Illinois inspector found a local care facility moved residents' personal money to cover facility bills, according to an inspection survey released to News 10 by The Illinois Department of Public Health.

Bureau Chief, Gary Brian, first reported a possible financial concern at United Methodist Village in Lawrenceville, Illinois in June. Employees said they weren't getting paid. Employees and former employees protested. After those reports, the Mayor of Lawrenceville said the facility owed the city in overdue bills.

The inspection survey the News 10 Bureau received on Wednesday involves the main location, as well as the north location of United Methodist Village. The inspection involved interviews and records. In the documents, a state inspector stated "...The facility failed to keep resident personal fund accounts separate from the business accounts used for paying bills."

Under Illinois code, facilities must keep detailed records of each residents' account. Facilities also cannot mix residents money with facility operations money

According to the report from the inspector, an administrator and a clerk said the CEO requested money be moved between accounts several times, impacting the main and north locations. An administrator reported receiving a text from the CEO stating "Pull from trust fund whatever you can to help us get through and repay ASAP." The administrator said she told the CEO there was not enough money in the account to cover payroll, but the CEO wanted it done anyway.

The inspector said the facility failed to meet Illinois code.

This investigation is on-going. According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, United Methodist Village must now submit a plan to get back into compliance.

Bureau Chief, Gary Brian, will look more into what the report found Thursday on News 10.TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI)- Wednesdays statewide opioid summit in Indianapolis drew in nearly a thousand attendees. From Vigo County, there were twelve people who attended the historic summit. Many of those serving in the countys judicial system.

One of was Judge Michael Lewis. He presides over superior court division six. He was one of four county judges who attended the event, all with the goal of helping the state opioid crisis.

"This opioid program is just another tool for us to use. To help people with their drug problems to keep them away from the criminal justice system," said Judge Lewis.

Judge Lewis says one of the biggest take away was from a lecture on the legal implications of addiction. The lecture went into detail about the use of medication-assisted treatments like methadone.

Indiana Supreme Court Justice Loretta H. Rush says the goal is to overall reflect on the responsibilities for criminal justice professionals to better help those in need.

"When youre involved in the justice system you talk about our constitutional responsibilities for rehabilitation. But now with rehabilitation and consequences and safety is saving lives. People are dying on our caseloads. Dying when they get out of jail," said Chief Justice Rush.

Some of the information might not be new but its this enforcement that Judge Lewis hopes to incorporate to help those suffering from opioid addiction.

LINK | INDIANA OPIOID SUMMIT ATTENDEES HEAR CHILLING 911 CALL

"Its just what needs to be done. Locking people up all the time is not the thing. Working with the community, working with leaders to figure out what is best," said Lewis.

Another big session was over a community model called the sequential intercept model. Its one that requires involvement in all fronts in the community. A step by step system to achieve full recovery of the addict in the end.

"We know criminal justice alright, our sheriffs know their job. When you talk mental health professionals know their jobs. This issue overlaps what we do. They need to understand what we're doing. We need to understand what theyre doing to effectively care for these people," said Chief Justice Rush.

Lewis says that Vigo County is already ahead than some other counties when it comes to this model. Vigo already has a system where law enforcement, judges, and health officials are already working closely together.

Lewis says with finer tuning the system will better help those in need.

"I love it. We all work together. We all work together well so I hope that we're a model for some of the other communities in the state," said Lewis.

Friday News 10 will wrap up the summits with what many health care providers took away, especially what they learned to help those in need of addiction recovery.TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - A local museum is the new home of an old locomotive.

During the past few days, crews have been moving the 71-year-old railroad locomotive.

It's now at the Wabash Valley Railroad Museum in Terre Haute.

Harbor Rail Services Company Company in Pasadena, California donated the train engine.

Public Service Indiana, now known as Duke Energy, once owned the locomotive.

They used it to shuffle coal cars around a power generating station.

You can check it out in person at their museum on 1316 Plum Street i Terre Haute.CLAY COUNTY, Ind. (WTHI) - A Clay County man is sentenced after a stand-off with police.

Police arrested 45-year-old Michael Conley in connection to the stand-off. It took place January 9th at a home in Knightsville. That's in Clay County.

Police say Conley fired shots toward police and made threats during the three-hour standoff.

Conley was previously charged with seven counts of attempted murder, one count aggravated attempted battery, and one count of intimidation. In late June, Conley took a plea deal. In it, all other charges were dropped, but the intimidation charge.

Wednesday in court was Conleys sentencing hearing. Witnesses on the state's side and the defense's side testified. That's so the judge could make a clearer decision on how long of a sentence to give Conley.

There was a great showing of support for Conley too. More than two dozen people filled the courtroom pews. Some traveled from as far away as Mississippi.

They testified on Michaels character before this crime. They leaned heavily on Conley struggling with alcoholism and depression after the passing of his first wife.

However, the judge took very seriously that while no one was injured in the standoff, the potential was there.

Ultimately, Conley was sentenced to six years. Three years are to be served in the department of corrections. One year he will serve in home detention, and two years of probation will follow. Conley will get credit for the almost 200 days hes already served.WEST TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - It doesn't cost a penny to get a birds eye view of the beauty at the Wabashiki Wetlands.

"They come here to look at all the birds, and the river otters, and the raccoons and opossums," said Amber Slaughterbeck, "The whole reason people come to the Wabashiki Wetlands area is to see wildlife."

Slaughterbeck knows the area very well. She's the founder of the Wabashiki Turtle Research & Rescue group.

For several years, the group has dedicated time and resources to protect local wildlife, like turtles, in the area. A wildlife fence, which was installed about two years ago by the Indiana Department of Transportation, was created to prevent animals from crossing into oncoming traffic.

"Since we've had the fencing installed, we have witnessed a lot more wildlife, the ability to rescue them and not having them on the highway," she said, "We've witnessed them being saved a lot easier."

However, rescue efforts have hit a snag lately.

Slaughterbeck said this week they discovered someone had intentionally cut holes in the fence's wiring. As a result, Slaughterbeck said a river otter was killed after being hit on the highway on Monday.

Slaughterbeck said the damaged caused for the 5th otter to be killed since 2011.

"It just breaks my heart to know that someone in our community would take that time out of their day to be cruel," she said.

News 10 walked along the fence trails with Slaughterbeck. During our walk, more holes were found cut along the wires of the fence.

"We come out and we weed eat this fence, we tack this fence down, we ensure that wildlife isn't crossing all summer long pretty much, it can vary from March to November, every day," she said, "and to see that our efforts are not being taken seriously, and not one, but three holes have been cut, it really, it makes me very sad."

In the meantime, Slaughterbeck said she and volunteers will help fix the fence. However, she wants to extend the invitation to whoever is responsible to come help.

"It's greatly going to set us back because we're going to have to fix that fencing," she said, "but you also endangered wildlife, and that alone should make you want to stop."

"If they would like to volunteer with us to fix what they've done, we'd love to have them come out and make amends," she added.BRAZIL, Ind. (WTHI) - Several injuries were reported after a car crashed into a Brazil, Indiana restaurant.

That's according to our radio partners at 959 The Legend.

Car crash into Eddie's in Brazil (Photo Credit: 959 The Legend) Car crash into Eddie's in Brazil (Photo Credit: 959 The Legend)

It happened Thursday afternoon at Eddie's Sandwich Shop on South Walnut Street in Brazil.

When first responders arrived they found a car with a female driver inside the building.

She was reportedly semi-conscious, but the extent of her injuries is unclear at this time.

The Legend reports several customers and employees were in the building at the time of the crash.

Three suffered minor injuries.

There was extensive damage to the building.

We will continue to follow this story and bring you more information as soon as it becomes available.Israeli soldiers along the Gaza fence came under fire Wednesday evening, the Israeli army said in a statement. One soldier was moderately wounded in the incident, which happened along the southern part of the fence, the army said.

In response, the army says it targeted seven Hamas military posts with tank fire. Palestinian health officials say three Palestinians were killed and one other was critically wounded. The identity of the injured person was not immediately clear.

In a Whatsapp statement sent to journalists, Hamas said the three were members of its armed Qassam Brigades wing.

Health officials named the men as Ahmed Munir Suleiman Al-Bassous, 28, Obaida Asad Khader Farwana, 29, and Mohammed Tawfiq Mohammed Al-Ara'ir, 27. All three died at Malaka, to the east of Gaza City in the north of the Strip.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum in a statement said Hamas "cannot remain silent" in the face of the fatal attack.

The clash comes five days after the last serious exchange along the fence that separates Israel and Gaza.

One Israeli soldier was killed by gunfire from militants inside the coastal enclave. Three Hamas militants, and a fourth man, were killed by Israeli tank fire. Mediation efforts by Egypt and the United Nations succeeded in bringing a halt to the exchanges after about six hours.Somalia will prosecute a female genital mutilation (FGM) case for the first time in the country after a 10-year-old girl died from the procedure last week.

Deeqa Dahir Nuur suffered complications two days after her mother took her to a local cutter in a remote village on July 17, according to media reports.

Her case drew widespread condemnation and anti-FGM groups in Somalia have been calling for justice for Deeqa.

Now the government has announced it will pursue its first FGM prosecution -- even though there is not currently legislation outlawing the practice.

Somalia's deputy prime minister Mahdi Mohamed Guuled said Deeqa's case would send a stern warning that FGM is no longer accepted.

"This is an historic moment for ending FGM in Somalia. This cannot be happening in our country in the 21st century. It is not part of our religion, and it will not be part of our culture," Mohamed Guuled said at a conference organized by Global Media Campaign to End FGM in Mogadishu Wednesday.

One of the doctors who tried to save Deeqa after the botched procedure told CNN she suffered the most extreme form of FGM he had ever seen.

"Her whole female genital tract had been removed, the labia and the clitoris had been cut off, it's type 4 FGM.

"She was brought in two days after they cut her, she was already infected with tetanus," Dr. Abdirahman Omar Hassan said.

"I have never seen this kind of mutilation. And I have treated many bad FGM cases here because it is so common. She was bleeding and convulsing.

"We tried to save her, but she died an hour later."

The country's attorney general said he would prosecute those responsible for Deeqa's death under existing laws.

"We are going to prosecute on this straight away," Attorney General Ahmed Ali Dahir told journalists at the conference.

"Prosecuting this case will not be delayed because we don't yet have a law banning FGM.

"We can do it under the existing penal codes in Somalia," Dahir said.

Dahir added that a team had been sent to the girl's village to investigate her death.

With a 98 percent prevalence, Somalia has the worst FGM rates in the world, according to United Nations statistics.

A 2018 UNICEF report estimates that at least one in four women and girls between the ages of 15 and 49 have undergone FGM in the country.

The report said around 200 million girls and women in the world are affected. FGM involves the altering or removing of the female genitals, such as the clitoria or labia. FGM can cause severe bleeding and health issues including infections and infertility, as well as complications in childbirth.

The practice is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women, yet it remains widespread in Somalia for religious beliefs, anti-FGM campaigners say.

"FGM can end for women in Somalia if leaders endorse the campaign to end it," said Ifrah Ahmed, who runs women's rights group, Ifrah Foundation.

"What the attorney general said sends a clear message for those cutters and mothers who are practicing FGM in the village or city that it will no longer be tolerated."

Brendan Wynne of Donor Direct Action of Donor Direct Action, an organization which runs a fund for frontline anti-FGM groups, welcomed the news.

"We hope a prosecution can happen to send a signal that this extreme form of violence will no longer be tolerated. Somali girls are literally dying because of FGM," Wynne told CNN in an emailed statement.India plans to open 18 new embassies across Africa and 'intensify' its engagement in the region, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in Kampala, Uganda on Wednesday.

"As with Uganda, we have deepened our partnership and engagement across the vast expanse of Africa," Modi said during an address to the Ugandan Parliament - the first ever by a serving Indian prime minister. "And we are also opening 18 new embassies in Africa."

Modi also thanked Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni for encouraging Ugandans of south Asian origin to return to the country after their expulsion by the dictator Idi Amin in 1972.

"Your visionary leadership has enabled Ugandan people of Indian origin to return to their cherished home, regain their lives and help rebuild the nation that they deeply love," Modi stated.

He said plans are underway to build a Gandhi Heritage Centre in remembrance of India's independence movement leader Mahatma Gandhi in eastern Uganda, who lived in various African countries for more than two decades.

Modi in his spirited speech at the parliament said even as India fought for independence, it bore the fate of Africa in its mind.

"Mahatma Gandhi firmly believed that India's freedom will remain incomplete so far Africa remained in bondage," he said.

"We stood firm in opposition to apartheid in South Africa. We took leading and bold positions in former Rhodesia - which is now Zimbabwe, in Guinea Bassa, Angola, and Namibia," he told lawmakers at the parliament.

India seeks to boost investment and trade opportunities with Africa offering credit lines to Uganda and 39 countries on the continent, according to local media reports.

"We want to implement 118 lines of credit worth US$11 billion in over 40 African countries. Over 8,000 African youth are trained in India. Our efforts will be driven by your priorities. We fought against colonialism together, we shall fight for prosperity together," he is quoted as saying in Uganda's Daily Monitor newspaper.

The Indian premier is on a five-day, three-nation tour of Africa which included a previous visit to Rwanda on Monday.

During his trip to Rwanda, Modi held talks with president Paul Kagame on Monday on India's investment in critical sectors of the country and announced that India would open a High Commission in the country.

He visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre in Rwanda's capital where he laid a wreath in commemoration of the mass killings of Rwandans in the 1994 genocide.

Modi departed Uganda for South Africa where he's currently participating in the BRICS summit in Johannesburg.PONTOTOC COUNTY, Miss. (WTVA) - People in parts of Pontotoc County may soon see a fix to their brown water.

On Tuesday, county resident Kristyn Burroughs raised the issue of brown water at her home and how it's affecting her lifestyle.

Photo: Brandi Johnson Photo: Brandi Johnson

RELATED: Some in Pontotoc County raise an issue with brown water

Another family is waving the same red flag too.

"Every week you have issues with brown water," said Mike Stiles. "We call the water association. They say they'll send someone else to flush the lines."

Stiles and his family have lived on Oak Hill Loop for four years. He says they've called the Oak Hill Water Association several times to complain about receiving brown water.

"That helps for a little while, then two or four days later, we got the same problem," Stiles said.

Another resident, Brandi Johnson, says she's dealt with the issue for the last three years. She says the water has stained washcloths and her mattress cover.

Joe Whitten with the Oak Hill Water Association says the department has plans for a Grenada company to replace water lines at Endville and Chesterville roads as soon as August.

"Our line just stops," Whitten said. "All the material, iron build-up, whatever and that's what the problem comes from I assume."

Back in December, Stiles attended a meeting addressing the situation.

Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley says the Oak Hill Water Association will provide a long-term solution plan by the end of the week.

Earlier this month, Presley convened a meeting in Saltillo concerning a similar situation in the city.

Ultimately, Saltillo decided to use river water. Saltillo is currently in the process of resolving the issue.

If you wish to voice you concern about the Oak Hill Water Association, you can attend a meeting. It will be Monday, August 6th at 6 p.m.RIPLEY, Miss.(WTVA) - A convicted sex offender is being sought after he was supposed to turn himself into law enforcement.

District Attorney Ben Creekmore says Derric McDonald was convicted of exploitation of a child and sexual battery.

According to the Mississippi Sex Offender Registry, McDonald was convicted on February 12. He was expected to turn himself in afterward.

WTVA obtained court documents which state both charges involved a child born in 2003. The documents also say the incidents spanned over two years.

People in Ripley say they hope he's brought to justice soon.

"That's a long time for how small of an area this is," said Parker Davis, who lives in Ripley. "Whoever is helping him out should be ashamed of themselves."

"I honestly think he's just being a coward. He knows he messed up," added Owen Childs, who is from Ripley. "He just doesn't want to suffer the consequences from it."Fruits are seen scattered on the ground after a suicide bombing in Sweida, in southern Syria, on July 25, 2018. (Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalani)

DAMASCUS, July 25 (Xinhua) -- At least 215 people were killed and 180 others injured on Wednesday in a spate of attacks and bombings carried out by the Islamic State (IS) in Syria's southern province of Sweida, according to the Health Department of Sweida.

The high death toll includes victims killed by three suicide bombings in Sweida, and those who held arms to face the IS attacks on towns in the northeastern countryside of Sweida.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 30 IS militants, including the suicide bombers, were killed in Wednesday's attacks.

Earlier in the day, a series of explosions, which were carried out by IS, rocked several parts of the city of Sweida.

State media outlets said the two bombers were killed while being hunted down at the time of early explosions.

The suicide bombings came in tandem with attacks by the IS militants on towns in the northeastern countryside of Sweida after dawn Wednesday.

People carried arms to confront the IS attacks in the countryside of Sweida amid reports that the army, with help of locals, succeeded in pushing back IS from some of their areas they entered.

While the countryside of Sweida has witnessed battles between rebels, including IS, and the Syrian army, the city of Sweida has remained largely calm during Syria's seven-year-long war as it is inhabited by people of the Druze minority, who are loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's rule.

The IS attacks and bombings in Sweida have come to divert the attention of the Syrian army and release the pressure on the IS-held areas in the nearby western countryside of Daraa province near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The Syrian army has been relentlessly striking IS positions in the areas of Yarmouk basin in the western countryside of Daraa near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The army has also been fighting against IS in the northeastern countryside of Sweida, as part of the Battle of the South, which includes battles against the rebels and IS in the countryside of Daraa, Sweida, and Quneitra.

With the mediation and help of Russia, the army has already captured 90 percent of Daraa through battles and reconciliations as well as evacuation of rebels.

The rebels in Quneitra near the Golan Heights have also accepted to leave their areas toward rebel-held places in northern Syria.

In the eastern countryside of Sweida, some areas in the remote eastern countryside are under IS control.

After Wednesday's attack, some tribal leaders in Sweida said hundreds of young men are ready to take part in defeating IS in the areas they stormed in the countryside of Sweida.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 03:07:29|Editor: xuxin

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A Palestinian man inspects a Hamas observation point targeted by Israeli tank fire near the border with Israel, eastern of Gaza City, on July 26, 2018. Israeli tanks on Wednesday bombarded Hamas military posts close to the border between eastern Gaza and Israel, killing three militants of the group, the Gaza health ministry said. (Xinhua/Wissam Nassar)

GAZA, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Israeli tanks on Wednesday bombarded Hamas military posts close to the border between eastern Gaza and Israel, killing three militants of the group, the Gaza health ministry said.

A fourth one was moderately injured in the shelling, Ashraf al-Qedra, health ministry spokesman in Gaza, told reporters.

Security officials in Gaza said Israeli tanks fired several shells at four lookout posts belonging to the Hamas army wing al-Qassam Brigades.

Meanwhile, an Israeli army spokesman confirmed the tank bombardment on eastern Gaza in a press statement, saying the shelling came in response to the earlier fire from Gaza at an Israeli army force stationed at the border.

Israeli media said an Israeli soldier was injured in the attack from unknown militants in Gaza.

Over the past few weeks, Israel carried out multiple airstrikes on military posts in the Gaza Strip, while Palestinian militants fired barrages of rockets from the coastal enclave into Israel.

Last Friday, four Palestinians, including three Hamas militants, and an Israeli soldier, were killed in one of the most violent cross-fires between the two sides since Israel's last war on Gaza in the summer of 2014.

Israeli forces have killed at least 148 Palestinians and wounded more than 16,000 others since March 30, the first day of the ongoing Palestinian "Great March of Return" rally, according to the health ministry.

Around half of the injured were shot by live ammunition, and many of them are still in critical condition, the ministry said.

The anti-Israel rally demands the return of Palestinian refugees, who were forced to leave their homes during the Arab-Israeli war in 1948, and the lift of the blockade Israel has imposed on Gaza since 2007.U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend a joint press conference in Helsinki, Finland, on July 16, 2018. (Xinhua/Lehtikuva/Jussi Nukari)

WASHINGTON, July 25 (Xinhua) -- The White House said on Wednesday that the next meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will be delayed till next year, citing the ongoing probe into Moscow's meddling in the 2016 U.S. elections.

"The President believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the Russia witch hunt is over, so we've agreed that it will be after the first of the year," National Security Advisor John Bolton said in a statement.

The White House said last week that Trump has asked Bolton to invite the Russian president to Washington in autumn, and that the relative discussions "are already underway."

However, the Kremlin said Tuesday Putin and Trump may meet on the sidelines of international events, and that no preparations were underway for a proposed summit between them in Washington.

Trump has been widely attacked after his Helsinki meeting with Putin, due to his reconciliatory remarks that many saw as a sign to side with Moscow against U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. election.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 04:47:57|Editor: Liangyu

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ANKARA, July 25 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming BRICS summit presents an important opportunity for its member countries and Turkey to develop closer cooperation, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday.

Before heading to South Africa, Erdogan made the remarks during a press conference at Ankara airport, adding that the BRICS member countries have contributed in the last decade to 50 percent of the global economic growth.

The five BRICS countries, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, seen by analysts as rising challengers to established Western economies, will hold the group's latest summit in Johannesburg, largest city of South Africa.

Turkey is not a member of the BRICS, but Erdogan will attend a special session of the event in his capacity as the current chair of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Turkish presidency said in a statement.

This visit came after Erdogan's election victory last month, which granted him extra executive power and another five-year presidential term after Turkey's political system shifted to a presidential one.

The Turkish president will be accompanied by a delegation of economic and political high-ranking officials as he will discuss means and ways to further maximize economic and political ties with the BRICS.

As part of his visit, the Turkish leader is also due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the summit, according to the statement.

Russia and Turkey's cooperation has significantly increased in recent years and the two countries work together on Syrian issues to find a peaceful solution to the crisis lingering at Turkey's border since 2011.

The Turkish presidency described Erdogan's participation in the summit as Turkey's "first high-level contact" with the BRICS members.

In this context, South African Ambassador to Turkey Pule Malefane stressed the significance of Erdogan's visit to Johannesburg in enhancing bilateral ties.

"It is not by accident that President Erdogan was invited to the BRICS summit," Malefane told local newspaper Daily Sabah.

"Turkey is regarded as a strategic ally in strengthening South-to-South relations and Agenda 2063, which is a strategic vision of the African Union," he said.

"The invitation extended to President Erdogan for this summit is very important. It shows that both parties are willing to interact and cooperate more," said Altay Atli, an Istanbul-based academic and writer specializing in international political economy.

Turkey's trade with BRICS countries reached 60.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, with 7.3 billion dollars in exports and 53.4 billion dollars in imports, according to Turkey's statistical authority TurkStat.

BRICS countries account for 26 percent of the world's land mass and are home to 46 percent of the world's population and approximately 23 percent of the global GDP.

Ankara has expressed keenness to participate in some of the BRICS institutions, notably the New Development Bank, which was officially opened in 2015 in Shanghai, China's main financial hub.

Former Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said last year that Turkey was "seriously considering" being a member of the bank in order to benefit from its projects and resources.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 04:57:59|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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LISBON, July 25 (Xinhua) -- At least 34 Ryanair flights into and out of Portugal were cancelled on Wednesday due to the two-day strike by cabin crew.

According to the data provided by Portugal's Civil Aviation Cabin Crew Trade Union (SNPVAC), at least 34 out of the 48 scheduled flights were cancelled in Portugal.

In Lisbon, the ten scheduled flights were cancelled while 14 out of the 22 flights scheduled were cancelled in Porto, northern Portugal, and ten out of 16 were cancelled in Faro, on the southern coast of the country.

This is in addition to around 50 Portuguese flights cancelled in advance by the airline.

Ryanair typically operates around 180 flights daily into and out of Portugal but just 132 flights were scheduled for Wednesday.

Ryanair cabin crew were striking in Portugal, Spain, Belgium and Italy, for 24 hours in the case of the latter, but 48 hours for the other three. Further disruption can therefore be expected Thursday.

When the strike was announced last week, Ryanair cancelled hundreds of flights and informed thousands of passengers.

"We apologize to the 50,000 Belgium, Spain and Portugal customers whose flights were cancelled last Wednesday," the airline twitted on Wednesday.

"There has been no further disruption in these countries and all scheduled flights are operating as normal today," it added.

Cabin crews are demanding that employment contracts be based on the laws of their respective countries and not those of Ireland.

The dispute revolves around discrepancies in unpaid leave rights and demands to be paid a fair wage.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 07:18:19|Editor: Li Xia

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by Stefania Fumo

ROME, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Tributes poured in Wednesday to late auto executive Sergio Marchionne, who died in a clinic in Zurich earlier in the day.

The 66-year-old Italian-Canadian executive, who brought Fiat carmaker back from the brink of failure and successfully merged it with U.S. rival Chrysler to found Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), had suffered complications since undergoing surgery on one of his shoulders in late June.

"The passing of Sergio Marchionne... pains us and leaves a void in all those who have known and appreciated his human, intellectual, and professional qualities," President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, said in an official statement.

"Marchionne wrote an important page in the history of Italian industry," Mattarella said. "As leader of Fiat he crossed years of profound and radical transformations in the markets, systems of production, financial strategies, labor relations... His vision always tried to look beyond the horizon and to imagine how innovation and quality could strengthen the future course."

"With his leadership Marchionne bore witness to all this, showing the world the capacities and the creativity of our country's manufacturing industries," Mattarella said.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte also issued a brief statement. "On behalf of myself and of the entire government I express condolences at the passing of Sergio Marchionne. My heartfelt sympathies to his family and all his loved ones," Conte said.

"Honor to a man who did so much and who could have done so much more," tweeted Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, adding "best wishes to he who has the honor and the responsibility of taking his place."

Italy's "big three" trade unions also honored the late executive.

"He saved FCA from failure with enlightened choices and an extraordinary capacity for innovation," tweeted CISL union leader Annamaria Furlan. "The entire country should be grateful to him."

"The whole of UIL expresses sincere condolences," tweeted its leader, Carmelo Barbagallo.

Italy's biggest and most left-leaning union, CGIL, said in a statement that "Marchionne, whom the CGIL has always esteemed, has the undoubted merit of having saved a dying company."

CGIL, which unlike the other two unions never came to terms with Marchionne's downsizing of Fiat in Italy, called him "a man of great intelligence and managerial ability (and) a tough negotiator" who, however, was "divisive" of the unions.

"Today Italy and Europe bid farewell to a great gentleman and a great manager," tweeted European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, who is Italian. "Dear Sergio, thanks for your precious contribution towards a new European industrial policy. Rest in peace."

Ferrari racing champion Sebastian Vettel also took to Twitter to hail Marchionne, who was also president of Ferrari: "With immense sadness we announce Sergio Marchionne has passed away. R.I.P."

Former center-left premier, Matteo Renzi, tweeted: "Marchionne has been a great protagonist of the economic life of the past 15 years. He managed to give Fiat a future, when it seemed impossible."

Also on Wednesday, the assembly lines at FCA's various plants in Italy stopped for 15 minutes as autoworkers paid their respects, RAI public broadcaster reported.

FCA employs 236,000 people, has 159 plants, 87 R&D centers, and dealers and distributors in more than 140 countries. Its stable of brands includes Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Jeep, Lancia, Ram, Maserati and Mopar, the parts and service brand. The Group's businesses also include Comau (production systems), Magneti Marelli (components) and Teksid (iron and castings).Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 07:46:16|Editor: Liangyu

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A Chinese woman (C) delivers relief items to help people affected by the wildfires in Mati, a seaside town east of Athens, Greece, on July 25, 2018. At least 80 people lost their lives and 187 others were injured in the blaze which broke out on Monday afternoon, according to the latest official count by the Fire Brigade. (Xinhua/Lefteris Partsalis)Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 07:33:21|Editor: Liangyu

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by Eric J. Lyman

ROME, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Shares in Italian-American carmaker Fiat-Chrysler took a beating Wednesday, with three pieces of major bad news -- weaker-than-expected financial results, threats of new tariffs from the United States, and the death of the chief executive who saved the company -- all breaking at once.

On the Italian Stock Exchange in Milan, shares in the world's eighth largest carmaker fell as much as 16 percent, shaving around 4.5 billion euros (5.3 billion U.S. dollars) off the company's market capitalization. Trading in the shares were halted early in the session after it quickly lost a tenth of the market value after the opening bell.

It was the biggest one-day drop for the company since January 2016, and the shares reached their lowest point so far this year.

"Today was kind of a perfect storm for Fiat," Javier Noriega, chief economist with investment bankers Hildebrandt and Ferrar, told Xinhua. "The bad news kept coming."

For the April-to-June period, Fiat-Chrysler earned 1.7 billion euros (2.0 billion U.S. dollars), below analysts' forecasts and 11 percent below earnings for the same quarter a year ago. The company also said it expected revenue of between 115 and 118 billion euros (135 to 138 billion U.S. dollars) for 2018 as a whole, lower than the 125 billion euros (147 billion U.S. dollars) it told analysts to expect earlier.

Fiat-Chrysler, like most car companies, was stung by new threats out of Washington, where U.S. President Donald Trump, who said Wednesday he was considering a new 25-percent tariff on cars imported into the country. U.S. tariffs were already hurting auto makers by pushing metal and machine parts prices higher.

But all of the recent developments were overshadowed by the death of Sergio Marchionne, who is credited from guiding the company's rebirth over the last several years. The company revealed Marchionne's health problems less than a month ago, and the 66-year-old director only formally left his job four days before his death. In recent days, the company confirmed Marchionne was gravelly ill but some analysts said his death still unnerved investors.

Marco Leonardi, an economist with the University of Milan, told Xinhua it was important not to judge the company's strength on the basis of a single day -- no matter how difficult.

"You can't look at what happens on a day-to-day basis when it comes to a big multinational company like Fiat-Chrysler," Leonardi said. "You have to look at the long-term trends and strategies."

Mike Manley, the former head of Fiat-Chrysler's successful Jeep division who was named to replace Marchionne as the company's chief executive, spoke to reporters Wednesday after the release of the second-quarter financial results and guidance. He said that while the company's long-term prospects were good, it could continue to struggle in the short term because of eroding demand for cars. Manley singled out the Chinese market as a cause for concern for the company.

"The biggest challenges we face, and frankly the biggest we will continue to face, are all focused on Asia and China," Manley said, noting that supply outstripping demand, particularly for high-end cars, is forcing the company to lower prices. He said he was working on a five-year plan that would set the direction of the company going forward.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 07:38:23|Editor: Liangyu

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Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech titled "Keeping Abreast of the Trend of the Times to Achieve Common Development" at the BRICS Business Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa, July 25, 2018. (Xinhua/Wang Ye)

JOHANNESBURG, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called on BRICS countries to pursue win-win cooperation, innovation, inclusive growth and multilateralism to achieve common development for the emerging-market group.

When addressing the BRICS Business Forum at the 10th BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, Xi lauded the outstanding contribution BRICS countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- have made to global economic recovery and growth in their first decade of cooperation.

"We should pursue BRICS cooperation in the historical process of global transformation, and we should promote the development of our own countries in the historical course of promoting the common development of both BRICS countries and other countries in the world, thus making new advances in the next Golden Decade," he told about 1,200 government officials and business people.

The Chinese president shared his thoughts on the changes the world is going to witness in the coming 10 years, saying that the next decade will be a crucial one in which new global growth drivers will take the place of old ones, seeing faster changes in the international landscape and the international alignment of forces, and witnessing a profound reshaping of the global governance system.

"We BRICS countries should keep abreast of the historical trend, seize development opportunities, jointly meet challenges, and play a constructive role in building a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind," Xi said.

OPEN ECONOMY AND MULTILATERALISM

The Chinese leader proposed that BRICS countries should advocate win-win cooperation to build an open economy, pursue innovation and seize development opportunities, seek inclusive growth to deliver benefits to people of all countries, and uphold multilateralism and improve global governance.

"A trade war should be rejected, because there will be no winner," Xi said. "Economic hegemony is even more objectionable, as it will undermine the collective interests of the international community; those who pursue this course will only end up hurting themselves."

He said that BRICS countries should firmly promote an open world economy, be resolute in rejecting unilateralism and protectionism, promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and jointly steer the global economy toward greater openness, inclusiveness, balanced growth and win-win outcomes for all.

BRICS countries should also increase input in innovation, replace old growth drivers with new ones, advance structural reform, and boost international exchanges and cooperation in innovation, so as to enable more countries and people to benefit from scientific and technological advances, Xi said.

On inclusive growth, Xi said: "We should strengthen cooperation with Africa, support its development and make BRICS-Africa cooperation a model for South-South cooperation."

Speaking of global governance, Xi said BRICS countries should uphold multilateralism. He urged all parties to fully observe collectively adopted international rules, and treat all countries as equals regardless of their size.

"Obviously, the current international order is not a perfect one. But as long as it is rule-based, aims to be equitable and pursues win-win outcomes as its goal, such an international order should not be discarded at will, still less should it be dismantled and rebuilt all over again," Xi said.

He also called on BRICS countries to promote common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, firmly support the multilateral trading regime, advance global economic governance reform and increase the representation and voice of emerging markets and developing countries.

OPPORTUNITIES OFFERED BY CHINA

Noting that this year marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up, Xi told the audience that China has blazed a path of building socialism with distinctive Chinese features, and has also made important contribution to peace and development of mankind while pursuing its own development.

"We will take an active part in South-South cooperation to foster greater opportunities for common development of emerging markets and developing countries," Xi said.

China will continue to develop itself with its door wide open, build a more investment-friendly environment, strengthen protection of intellectual property rights, increase imports, and vigorously pursue the Belt and Road Initiative to create new opportunities of social and economic development for participating countries and for them to implement the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Xi said.

China will host the first China International Import Expo in Shanghai this November, a major move to firmly support trade liberalization and open its market. The Expo will serve as a new platform for the world to access the Chinese market.

By now, over 130 countries and regions and more than 2,800 companies have confirmed participation and over 150,000 buyers in and outside China are expected to attend this fair, Xi said.

This coming September will see a reunion of China and African countries at the Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing, Xi said, noting that this summit will enable China and Africa to pursue high quality and high standard cooperation for mutual benefit and common development.

"China and African countries are destined to be good friends, good brothers and good partners, and China-Africa cooperation stands as a fine example of South-South cooperation," the Chinese president said.

In his address, Xi also recognized the role of the business community in BRICS economic cooperation, calling on business leaders to contribute more to shaping the second Golden Decade of BRICS cooperation.

Quoting one of the famous sayings of Nelson Mandela, Xi pointed out that the history of BRICS cooperation is a journey of the five countries climbing great hills only to reach new heights.

"I am convinced that when our five countries forge ahead together, we will scale new peaks, reach new heights, and make even greater contribution to peace and development of mankind," he said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 07:48:24|Editor: Liangyu

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by Natasha Pavlopoulou

ATHENS, July 25 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese community in Greece has demonstrated its solidarity with Greek society, as the country is trying to cope with the deadliest fires in more than a decade since Monday.

Wildfires raging through seaside resorts near the Greek capital have torched homes, cars and forest areas, killing at least 80 people, according to the latest update by local authorities.

Thousands of volunteers and organizations have been mobilized to offer support. The response of the public was so great that the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece (KEDE) asked citizens on Wednesday to stop gathering food, water and clothing as there was oversupply and it was impossible to manage its volume. Medicines, blood donations and batteries were still needed.

Representatives of the Chinese community in Greece meanwhile had gathered in a square in the heart of Athens and started to collect clothes, shoes, personal care items and money to buy medical supplies for the victims of the fire.

"We are together, together we will succeed" was the slogan of the effort, while many Chinese like He Ai, owner of a travel agency, visited the affected areas to offer help. "We came here to help the people, if we can do just a little thing to help them we will feel much better," she told Xinhua.

"Up to now, about 500 Chinese donated money or other things. There will be more to come of course," said Chen Feng, president of the Chinese community of Greece who coordinated the task of collecting items.

"Greece is our second home, we should contribute to the people who lost everything in the fires," he added, recounting that the Greek government offered help in the evacuation of Chinese nationals from Libya.

In 2014, Greece helped in the evacuation of thousands of Chinese workers caught up in fighting in Libya. Within days, they were transferred from restive Libya to Crete island, about 700 km away from Libyan capital Tripoli across the Mediterranean Sea.

Talking to Xinhua, Fotis Provatas, president of the Greek-Chinese Economic Council, made a special reference to the strong Greek-Chinese ties and the friendship of the two peoples and praised the initiatives taken by the Chinese community to help.YANGON, July 26 (Xinhua) -- About 500 to 600 disabled persons in Myanmar with missing arms or legs will be provided free with artificial limbs under a humanitarian project of the India-Myanmar Development Cooperation, the official Global New Light of Myanmar reported Thursday.

Under the project, the Jaipur Foot Artificial Limb Fitment Camp has been established in South Dagon township, Yangon region with the support of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and U Nu-Daw Mya Yi Foundation.

Myanmar is the first neighboring country of India, in which the Jaipur Foot Artificial Limb Fitment Camp was set up under an agreement signed between the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and the Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti(BMVSS) in Jaipur, India in November 2017.

BMVSS is the technical and implementing partner of the camp sending required materials and master technicians for the camp.

BMVSS has served more than 1.71 million persons with disabilities in India and around the world free of charge.

Under the broader Indian-Myanmar development cooperation program, a number of economic, infrastructural, developmental, cultural, social and humanitarian projects are also being undertaken in Myanmar.TOKYO, July 26 (Xinhua) -- All six remaining death row inmates who were former members of the AUM Shinrikyo cult were executed by hanging on Thursday for their involvement in a series of crimes committed by the cult, local media reported, quoting government sources.

The cult founder Shoko Asahara had been executed with six of his former followers on July 6.

Asahara was arrested two months after the deadly sarin gas attacks in 1995 on Tokyo's subways, for being the mastermind behind the attack which used nerve gas and resulted in the killing of 13 people and leaving more than 6,000 others severely injured.

The group was also held responsible for an earlier sarin attack on June 27, 1994, in a parking lot near housing for judges in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, which killed eight people, and the murders of a lawyer, his wife and their baby son in 1989.

AUM Shinrikyo renamed itself Aleph in January 2000 and in 2007 a senior AUM disciple and his followers left Aleph to launch a splinter group called Hikari no Wa (Circle of Rainbow Light).Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 10:48:58|Editor: Liangyu

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GUANGZHOU, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Xinsha Customs in Dongguan, south China's Guangdong Province, has seen a surge in customs declaration of imported automobiles since July.

As one of the busiest port for vehicle imports in southern China, Xinsha has set a new record of customs declaration of nearly 15,000 vehicles on a single day this month.

"We have taken new measures to speed up customs clearance," said Wei Xiangyu, an official with Xinsha Customs.

The major driver behind the surge is China's reduction of automobile tariffs since July.

China imports over 1 million vehicles a year and the tariff slashing was estimated to be a bonus package of 45 billion yuan (6.6 billion U.S. dollars) for Chinese customers.

"The tariff cut is a concrete impetus to the market," said Xiao Yaofei, a professor with Guangdong University of Foreign Studies.

In addition, China has slashed tariffs on 1,500 types of consumer goods and exempted duties on 28 types of drugs this year.

China's imports of goods grew 11.5 percent in the January-June period, compared with 4.6 percent growth for exports, according to the General Administration of Customs.

The stronger import growth is an encouraging sign for a global market in the shadow of protectionism.

"Expanding imports can boost domestic demand and exports of quality products and services of other countries," said Gu Xueming, head of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

"What's more, China's move has sent a more positive signal for the global economy as it can serve as a hedge against the anti-globalization force," said Gu.

China's domestic consumption is in transition with growing purchasing power of consumers, and the measures to boost imports would benefit both small and large countries and businesses.

Xu Bing, spokesman of Canton Fair and deputy director of China Foreign Trade Center, said food and consumer goods from over 100 countries and regions have taken center stage of the international pavilion at the country's largest trade fair.

"Not only developed countries and multinational companies, but also developing countries and small- and medium-sized businesses benefit from China's imports," said Xu.

Li Kaiyi, an official with the Guangdong Sub-Administration of China Customs, said Guangdong has seen fast growth in imports of various goods in the first half of the year: 26 percent growth for fruits, 79 percent growth for aquatic products and 200 percent growth for cosmetics.

"As more Chinese experience consumption upgrading, China's measures to expand imports of quality products could help them meet demands for a better life," said Li.

One of Chile's largest fruit growers and exporters, Gesex has seen rising sales to China over the past years.

Gonzalo Matamala, president of Gesex China, said he expected more fruit to be brought to Chinese consumers' tables following big-selling cherries and nectarines. Dealers can apply for customs declaration before the fruit arrives and quick customs clearance helps more fresh fruits reach customers.

Guangdong has seen cherry imports up 170 percent so far this year.

More direct flights, faster customs clearance and improved cold chain logistics have made it possible to bring eels, crabs and shrimps from Bangladesh and Egypt to the tables of Chinese diners, said Xu Zhenhan, secretary general of Shenzhen Association of Aquatic Animals and Products Importers and Exporters.

"The prices are reasonable and customers can afford them," said Xu.

In the short term, the tariff cuts could hurt China's garment industry, particularly the high-end brands, said Zhou Lun, executive vice president of Guangdong Association of Garment and Garment Article Industry.

But in the long run, the consumption upgrading could help upgrade the whole industrial chain, said Zhou.

"Meanwhile, expanding imports could help optimize the supply chain and promote intelligent manufacturing and thus push Chinese firms to churn out better products for both domestic and overseas markets," Zhou added.MEXICO CITY, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Wednesday called on the members of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to reach a deal soon.

The trade agreement, signed between Mexico, Canada and the United States in 1994, was opened to renegotiation in August, but several demands made by the United States have bogged down the talks.

"I am stressing the importance of continuing to work on a constructive and comprehensive renegotiation of NAFTA, with the goal of concluding (a new deal) in the short term," Pena Nieto said during a meeting with the Canadian delegation led by Foreign Minister and chief NAFTA negotiator Chrystia Freeland, according to a statement from the president's office.

At a press conference earlier Wednesday, Freeland and Mexican Economy Minister and chief negotiator Ildefonso Guajardo acknowledged the three sides have made much progress, but still face "challenges."

"Today, nearly 11 months since the talks began, we can be proud that practically two-thirds of the agreement's modernization is almost complete," Guajardo said.

"As always, there are challenges, challenges we are reviewing today as part of our NAFTA agenda to try to move the negotiation forward and land it on safe ground," Guajardo added.

The tripartite talks are set to resume in Washington on Thursday and negotiators will strive to reach consensus on pending issues such as financial market uncertainties before the U.S. midterm elections in November, said Guajardo.

However, that goal has proven elusive, mainly due to U.S. demands for substantial changes to existing rules of origin in the automotive industry, among others.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who insisted the deal be renegotiated in a bid to secure better terms for American industry, has said if the NAFTA partners fail to reach an agreement, his country will negotiate separate bilateral deals with Mexico and Canada.

Both Mexico and Canada have stressed the importance of preserving the trilateral treaty for "the good of the interests of our countries, for the good of North America."

Freeland also met with Mexico's President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who takes office on Dec. 1. His economic team is participating in the negotiations.SAN FRANCISCO, July 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. top smartphone chip maker Qualcomm said Wednesday that Apple will probably not use its modems for next generation of iPhones, which will usually be launched in the fall.

"We believe Apple intends to solely use our competitor's modems rather than our modems in its next iPhone release," Qualcomm Chief Financial Officer (CFO) George Davis said during a conference call with investors Wednesday.

He also said Qualcomm will continue to supply modems for Apple legacy products at least by this year.

Qualcomm is a major supplier of 4G chips for smartphones, and has previously supplied Apple with modems for iPhones.

But the two tech giants have been locked in a spat over patents and royalties payment since early last year.

Apple sued Qualcomm in a 1-billion-U.S.-dollar lawsuit in January 2017 as Apple said it should pay a fee based only on the value of Qualcomm's connectivity chips, instead of on the value of the entire device.

But Qualcomm insisted that its technology includes not only connectivity, but also other key components in a smartphone such as GPS, imaging and multimedia features.

Currently, many Apple devices still use Qualcomm modems, but about half of iPhones use 4G chips from Intel, particularly those running on the networks of two U.S. major telecomm operators, AT&T and T-Mobile.

Media reports said if Apple makes a new choice on its modem suppliers, Intel's modems will be the most likely selected for Apple's new-generation devices.WATERLOO, Ontario, July 25, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BlackBerry Limited (NYSE:BB) (TSX:BB), today announced registration is now open for the 2018 BlackBerry Security Summits in London and New York City. During the companys fifth annual event, industry experts and thought leaders from across the globe will come together to share their hands-on experience with BlackBerrys solutions, and discuss a wide range of topics including cybersecurity, EoT-driven workstreams and improving business processes.



Taking place September 12th in London and October 4th in New York City, attendees will also be able to hear the latest updates to BlackBerrys vision and strategic direction from Executive Chairman and CEO John Chen, as well as new capabilities and use cases for its enterprise communication and collaboration software and safety-certified embedded solutions. Tech Talks sessions will be led by BlackBerrys customers and discuss how the Enterprise of Things (EoT) is driving digital transformations within industries such as financial services, healthcare, government and transportation, while an on-stage hack will demonstrate the vulnerabilities that hyperconnectivity can create.

As part of the conference program, both events will feature a DevZone where developers can collaborate with BlackBerry experts to help them build best-in-class, secure enterprise solutions. Additionally, two lucky winners of the companys Spark Hackathon will win trips to the Security Summits to demonstrate their solutions based on the new BlackBerry Spark Communications Platform, which enables developers and organizations to embed secure voice, video and text and into their own applications and services (Android, iOS or web).

There will also be an invitation-only event the day before the Security Summit for the Distributors, ISVs and Solutions Providers that make up BlackBerrys growing partner ecosystem.

To register and view a full agenda for the BlackBerry Security Summit, please visit www.BlackBerry.com/SecuritySummit.

Editors Note:

Reporters interested in attending should email mediarelations@blackberry.com

Developers looking to participate in the Spark Hackathon are encouraged to join a live, 30-minute webinar on July 26 at 9 a.m. ET to receive an overview of the competition and platform. A replay will be made available.

Full contest details and official rules for the hackathon can be found at www.BlackBerry.com/SparkHackathon.

About BlackBerry

BlackBerry is an enterprise software and services company focused on securing and managing IoT endpoints. The company does this with BlackBerry Secure, an end-to-end Enterprise of Things platform, comprised of its enterprise communication and collaboration software and safety-certified embedded solutions.

Based in Waterloo, Ontario, BlackBerry was founded in 1984 and operates in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Middle East, Latin America and Africa. The Company trades under the ticker symbol "BB" on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. For more information visit BlackBerry.com, and follow the company on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

BlackBerry and related trademarks, names and logos are the property of BlackBerry Limited and are registered and/or used in the U.S. and countries around the world. All other marks are the property of their respective owners. BlackBerry is not responsible for any third-party products or services.

Media Contacts:

BlackBerry

(519) 597-7273

mediarelations@BlackBerry.comSource: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 11:19:03|Editor: xuxin

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World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevedo addresses the media in Geneva, Switzerland, July 25, 2018. Increasing trade restrictions may become a new normal of global trade in the near future, WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo warned Wednesday while urging strengthening the existing WTO framework to ensure global growth. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan)

GENEVA, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Increasing trade restrictions may become a new normal of global trade in the near future, World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevedo warned Wednesday while urging strengthening the existing WTO framework to ensure global growth.

At a press meeting here, Azevedo said a latest WTO report indicates that from last October to this May, trade restriction measures across the globe, including tariff and stricter customs regulation, increased, impacting a total trade volume of about 84.5 billion U.S. dollars.

This would threaten the global economic recovery and growth as well as job creation, said the WTO chief.

He warned that the eye-for-eye approach of trade restriction may become a "new normal" in the near future, and called on all sides to respond and find a solution in an urgent manner.

Reiterating the vital role of the WTO system in maintaining global growth, he said the global trade body will engage more with leaders of major world economies and provide, if asked, consultations within the WTO framework and rules.

In answering questions concerning the current trade tensions due to U.S. imposition of extra tariffs on imports from Europe, China and other countries, Azevedo said, "Our concern is that this dynamic of an eye for an eye may be perceived of as the new normal and I don't think it should be the case."

The WTO chief said it will lead to a drastic decrease in trade and jobs and it will have the worst effect on developing countries which are least able to protect themselves against a trade war.

"The worst-case scenario for the global economy, for the consumer, for everyone on the surface of the earth, is to have no rules, to have the law of the jungle," said Azevedo.

"Investors will pull back, the economy will lose steam and jobs will be lost. Millions of jobs will be lost ... we have to be open-minded and all of us should be looking for ways of strengthening the WTO," he said.

"All countries have a duty to help," he noted.CANBERRA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Property prices in Australia have fallen over the past 12 months for the first time in six years, a report has revealed.

The national median property price fell one percent in the 12 months to the end of June 2018, according to a report published by property group Domain on Thursday, the first time prices have fallen in a 12-month period since June 2012.

It comes on the back of falling prices in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia's two biggest and most expensive cities.

House prices in Sydney fell 4.5 percent in the last year, the largest annual drop since 2008, while in Melbourne they dropped two percent in the second quarter of 2018 alone, the biggest drop in a single quarter since 2012.

The single worst-performing region was Melbourne's inner-east, the city's most expensive area, where the median house price dropped 8.4 percent, or 131,000 Australian dollars, in a single year.

"The Melbourne market is retracting," Nicola Powell, chief data scientist for the Domain Group, said on Thursday.

"The annual rates of growth are the slowest since 2012."

In some areas of Sydney the median price dropped more than 10 percent in a year, while the median apartment price dropped 3.5 percent, the sharpest annual decline since 2006.

"Sydney hasn't experienced this level of fall for a decade," Powell said.

"It's a stark difference to what was occurring even just a year ago, when we had annual double-digit growth for both houses and apartments.

"House and unit prices are now back to values seen at the end of 2016."

Powell cited tighter credit availability as a result of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority imposing tighter lending conditions on the major banks as a key reason for the decline.

"With more choice and less urgency, there are fewer active buyers in the market, and those who are in the market are being restricted by tightening lending standards and the availability of credit," she told the Guardian Australia.CANBERRA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Rapid sea-level changes during the last ice age were caused by small disruptions to the environment, a study has found.

The study, published by the Australian National University (ANU) and the University of Sydney on Thursday, revealed that future sea-level rises will be caused by increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere but that was not always the case.

Researchers found that the climate during the last ice age, which ended around 11,000 years ago, was far more volatile and likely to change dramatically due to small, localized disruptions to the environment.

One such rapid change was caused by the discharge of a large mass of ice.

The research team uncovered evidence of a sudden 40-meter sea-level drop that occurred 31,000 years ago and a 20-meter drop 20,000 years ago.

Evidence of the 20-meter drop flipped the long-held belief that sea levels had risen during the event.

Tezer Esat, a member of the research team from ANU's Research School of Earth Sciences, said the dramatic changes during the period known as the Last Glacial Maximum were not linked to natural climate change.

"Transitions appear to have occurred spontaneously," he said in a media release on Thursday.

"During the last ice age, the state of the climate could flip with relatively small disturbances. Ice discharges were of sufficient volume to suddenly change the sea level by 10 to 15 meters in a matter of decades.

"But it is important to note that scientific evidence indicates that increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to human activity is affecting the present climate and is expected to contribute to future sea-level rises."KABUL, July 26 (Xinhua) -- At least five intelligence officers were killed and four others injured after a Taliban suicide car bomb struck their motor convoy in western part of capital city Kabul on Thursday morning, police said.

"The incident occurred roughly at 4:45 a.m. local time in Bagh-i-Davod neighborhood. The whole place has now been sealed off and the massive blast also damaged several vehicles and nearby houses and shops," witness Mohammad Shafiq told Xinhua.

Hashmat Stanikzai, a Kabul police spokesman, told Xinhua that further details will be shared with the media later in the day.

"The casualties were shifted to hospitals by ambulances and military vehicles," the witness added.

A thick black smoke was seen rise above the site and military helicopters were hovering at the area after the explosion.

The Taliban militant group claimed responsibility shortly after the attack.

The capital city with a population of nearly 5 million has been hit by series of terror attacks over the past couple of years.

On Sunday, 23 people were killed and 107 others wounded after an Islamic State (IS) terrorist detonated his explosive jacket at a crowded traffic circle outside the capital's airport after a convoy of Afghan vice president passed the area.CANBERRA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Australia's agriculture industry will be hurt by a major U.S. farmer-aid package, the National Farmer's Federation (NFF) has said.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this week announced that it would provide up to 12 billion U.S. dollars in emergency relief for farmers hurt by tariff increases.

Tony Mahar, chief executive of the NFF, said that it was bad news for Australian farmers already struggling with "one of the worst droughts in decades."

"Australian farmers are amongst the least subsidised in the world, which means our agriculture exports are particularly vulnerable to increased government assistance in competitor nations," Mahar said in a media release on Wednesday night.

"Our fear is that this is deepening the potential for a global trade war that will hurt producers and consumers alike."

The NFF called on the Julie Bishop, Australia's minister for foreign affairs, to "register its disapproval in the 'strongest possible terms' with the United States Administration" in response to the relief package.

"It appears the US has ignored the hard-learnt lessons taught by the damage caused by trade protectionism," Mahar said.HANOI, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has decided to offer Laos 200,000 U.S. dollars to help the neighbor country overcome consequences of the collapse of a hydropower dam in Attapeu province, the Vietnamese government portal announced on Thursday.

The prime minister has also instructed Vietnam's National Committee on Incident, Disaster Response, and Search and Rescue to coordinate with the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and relevant agencies to make proposals, before July 30, on assist Laos on the site of the collapsed dam.

Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith said Wednesday that some 131 people were still missing after a hydropower dam collapsed in southern Laos earlier this week.

The collapse of the under-construction Xepian-Xe Nam Noy hydropower dam triggered flash flood in seven villages of Sanamxay district in Lao's southern Attapeu Province.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 13:44:27|Editor: Li Xia

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TRIPOLI, July 26 (Xinhua) -- An unidentified warplane on Wednesday targeted the southern Libyan city of Ubari, some 1,100 km south of the capital Tripoli, killing at least one person, according to a security source.

"At 20:30 local time (18:30 GMT), an airstrike targeted a house in al-Shareb neighborhood in the city of Ubari, killing at least one person who was in the house at the time of the strike," an official source of Ubari joint security chamber told Xinhua later on Wednesday.

"The attack was carried out by an unidentified air force. A plane was clearly heard carrying out continuous surveys since noon, before a huge explosion was heard," said the source, who requested anonymity for security reasons.

The source also said that the airstrike was likely carried out by the U.S. air force, confirming that the Libyan air force is not responsible for the airstrike "due to a lack of modern warplanes."

According to the source, Ubari and its surrounding areas had witnessed unidentified airstrikes previously, and the United States claimed responsibility for strikes against members and leaders of terrorist groups.

In March, Washington claimed responsibility for an airstrike in the city, which killed two members of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 13:59:30|Editor: Li Xia

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DAMASCUS, July 25 (Xinhua) -- After being one of the safest places away from Syria's seven-year-old war, the southern province of Sweida lived the single deadliest day Wednesday with over 215 people killed and 180 wounded in the Islamic State (IS) attacks.

The high death toll includes victims killed by three suicide bombings in the capital city of Sweida, and those who took up arms against the IS in towns of the province's northeastern countryside, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

The SOHR added that 30 IS militants, including the suicide bombers, were killed in the attacks.

The Syrian army and locals succeeded in pushing back the IS from some areas infiltrated through the attacks, and the authorities foiled other would-be suicide bombings in the city, said state media.

While the countryside of Sweida has witnessed battles between rebels, including IS, and the Syrian army, the city of Sweida has remained largely calm during Syria's seven-year-long war as it is inhabited by people of the Druze minority, which are loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

The IS attacks and bombings in Sweida have diverted the army's attention and released the pressure in the IS-held areas in the nearby western countryside of Daraa province near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, where the Syrian army has been relentlessly striking the IS.

With the mediation and help of Russia, the army has already captured 90 percent of Daraa through battles and reconciliations, and rebels in the southwestern province of Quneitra near the Golan Heights have agreed to leave for rebel-held places in northern Syria.

After Wednesday's attacks, some tribal leaders in Sweida said hundreds of young men are ready to join battles against the IS in areas the terrorists stormed in the province's countryside.

The attacks prove that countries supporting terrorism in Syria are attempting to pump life into terrorist organizations to achieve political gains, said Assad when he met Russia's special envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev in Damascus.

Lavrentiev commented that the attacks prove the rightful path followed by the Syrian government in fighting terrorism, according to the Presidential Media Office in Syria.

The United Nations (UN) condemned the bombings, calling for the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 14:04:31|Editor: Li Xia

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., the United States, on July 25, 2018. Mike Pompeo said here Wednesday that he is committed to working with the Congress on a new Russia sanctions bill, after he issued a "Crimea Declaration" that rejected Russia's control of Crimea. (Xinhua/Ting Shen)

WASHINGTON, July 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said here Wednesday that he is committed to working with the Congress on a new Russia sanctions bill, after he issued a "Crimea Declaration" that rejected Russia's control of Crimea.

Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Pompeo said that he will support the bill to hold Russia accountable for its behaviors around the globe.

He confirmed the necessity to raise the cost of Moscow's alleged malpractice "if we can find the right places and the right leverage point."

Saying that sanctions focusing more on Russian individuals and oligarchs are necessary, Pompeo noted "that the things that impact the Russian economy are the things that I hear the Russians are most concerned."

He also said that Washington does not and will not recognize the Kremlin's control of Crimea.

"There will be no relief of Crimea-related sanctions until Russia returns control of the Crimean Peninsula to Ukraine," he said, noting the U.S. stance regarding Crimea is a "policy of nonrecognition."

Citing the 213 sanctions on Russian entities and individuals since the Trump administration assumed office, Pompeo said "with respect to Russia, this administration has been tougher than previous administrations, and I fully expect it will."

"The president ... will be their toughest enemy, most difficult enemy," he said.

The relations between Washington and Moscow have been strained over Ukraine, Syria, Iran, the poison attack of an ex-Russian spy in Britain, and Russia's alleged meddling in U.S. 2016 elections.

The two nations' presidents met earlier this month in Finland. However, due to the wide backlash inside the United States over President Donald Trump's remarks there, the White House announced earlier on Wednesday that the next meeting between Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will be delayed till next year.

In the Crimea Declaration, Pompeo said "the United States reaffirms as policy its refusal to recognize the Kremlin's claims of sovereignty over" Crimea.

Russia was expelled from the Group of Eight in 2014 and has since then endured sanctions of the West for its incorporation of Crimea.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 14:29:34|Editor: xuxin

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People walk past the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, July 26, 2018. At least one Afghan civilian and four intelligence officers were killed and six others injured in a Taliban suicide car bomb explosion in western side of capital city Kabul on Thursday morning, police said. (Xinhua/Rahmat Alizadah)

KABUL, July 26 (Xinhua) -- At least one Afghan civilian and four intelligence officers were killed and six others injured in a Taliban suicide car bomb explosion in western side of Kabul on Thursday morning, police said.

"The latest information found that an assailant rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a convoy of national intelligence forces in Bagh-i-Davod neighborhood, Police District 5 of the city, leaving the casualties," Hashmat Stanikzai, a Kabul police spokesman, told Xinhua.

The targeted multi-vehicle convoy was carrying Special Operations Forces of National Directorate of Security (NDS), the country's primary intelligence agency.

Among those injured was a passerby civilian, according to Stanikzai. Earlier reports said five NDS officers were killed in the attack.

"The incident occurred roughly at 4:45 a.m. local time. The whole place has now been sealed off and the massive blast also damaged several vehicles and nearby houses and shops," witness Mohammad Shafiq told Xinhua.

A thick black smoke was seen rise above the site and military helicopters were hovering at the area after the explosion, he added.

The Taliban militant group claimed responsibility shortly after the attack.

The violence has been on the rise as Afghan security forces struggle against a surge in attacks by anti-government fighters since the drawdown of foreign forces within the past three years.

The capital city has been hit by series of terror attacks over the past couple of years.

On Sunday, 23 people were killed and 107 others wounded after an Islamic State (IS) terrorist detonated his explosive jacket at a crowded traffic circle outside the capital's airport after a convoy of Afghan vice president passed the area.VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 25, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Teck Resources Limited (TSX:TECK.A) (TSX:TECK.B) (NYSE:TECK) (Teck) announced today that Dominic Barton has agreed to join its Board of Directors, effective September 1, 2018.



Mr. Barton has been the Global Managing Partner of McKinsey & Company for the past nine years. He is the Chair of the Canadian Minister of Finances Advisory Council on Economic Growth and the Chair of the Seoul International Business Advisory Council. He is also a Trustee of the Brookings Institution, a Rhodes Trustee, and an Adjunct Professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing. He is one of the founders and serves on the Board of FCLT Global (Focusing Capital on the Long Term) and is a member of the Boards of Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York and the Asia Pacific Foundation in Canada. Mr. Barton graduated from the University of British Columbia with a BA Honors in economics and studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Brasenose College, Oxford University.

Dr. Norman B. Keevil, Chairman of the Board of Teck, said that he will retire from that role on October 1, 2018, at which time Mr. Barton will replace him as Chairman. Also at that time, Norman Keevil III, who has been a director of the company since 1997, will become Vice-Chair of the Board.

Dr. Keevil and long-standing Board member Warren S. R. Seyffert, Q.C., Deputy Chairman and Lead Director, each said they plan to retire from the Board at year-end. Dr. Keevil is expected to be named Chairman Emeritus and special advisor to the Board in recognition of his pivotal role in helping build Teck into a major force in the mining industry.

Dominic Barton brings a unique set of skills to the Board as its incoming Chairman, said Teck Chairman Norman Keevil. His broad business experience, strategic insight and deep experience in Asia, as well as his focus on long term decision making, make him ideally suited to lead Tecks ongoing growth. I am pleased and confident to be able to hand over the role to such a distinguished business leader. I would also like to thank Warren Seyffert for his years of valuable service on the Teck Board.

I have long admired Tecks approach to the mining business said Dominic Barton. I am looking forward to working with the Teck Board and management team, and helping to build on Tecks strong record of growth and sustainability, which are the legacy of Dr. Keevils impressive leadership over many years.

Commenting on the transition, President and CEO Don Lindsay said: Dr. Keevil has worn many hats over an extraordinary career, including scientist, explorer, innovator, entrepreneur, industry leader, community builder, philanthropist and author. To paraphrase one of his favourite sayings in his career with Teck: Dr. Keevil never once rested on his ores, and we are pleased that his advice will continue to be available to the Board and management.

Mr. Lindsay also said: Dominic Barton brings a global perspective as a recognized thought-leader on creating long-term social and economic value. We are excited about the role he will play in Tecks continued responsible growth and value generation.

About Teck

Teck is a diversified resource company committed to responsible mining and mineral development with major business units focused on copper, steelmaking coal, zinc and energy. Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, its shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols TECK.A and TECK.B and the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TECK. Learn more about Teck at www.teck.com or follow @TeckResources.

Media Contact:

Chris Stannell

Senior Communications Specialist

604.699.4368

chris.stannell@teck.com

Investor Contact:

Fraser Phillips

Senior Vice President, Investor Relations & Strategic Analysis

604.699.4621

fraser.phillips@teck.comby Zhang Jianhua, Wang Shan

ATTAPEU, Laos, July 26 (Xinhua) -- On the way to southern Laos' Attapeu province hit by a flash flood triggered by Monday's hydroelectric dam collapse, Xinhua reporter received a call from Hu Yong, secretary of the party working committee of the China Railway No.5 Engineering Group.

Hu, working with his colleagues on the construction of China-Laos railway in northern Laos, was rushing on Wednesday to deliver relief food and equipment collected from his company to the disaster site.

Unfamiliar with local conditions, he was asking Xinhua reporter for the shortest route so as to bring the aid to the disaster-stricken area in the least time possible.

"Please feel free to contact me if anybody has inconvenience to send disaster relief materials to Attapeu. As a Chinese company in Laos, we are willing to help," said Zhang Xinlu, general manager of Laos Global Insurance Company based in southern Laos.

Reports from the Lao New Agency said on Wednesday that 26 people were confirmed dead, while Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith said some 131 people were still missing after the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy dam collapsed, triggering flash flood.

The Lao government has designated the areas affected as a national emergency area.

Amid the deadly disaster, Chinese people in Laos are ready to help.

"Taking advantage of the outlets coverage in southern Laos, we have arranged a truck, transporting instant noodle and other disaster relief materials to Attapeu," said Ma Xu, general manager of Lao-China Hongta Good Luck Tobacco Company.

"Our company has started raising money and contacting the local government to help the victims in a timely and effective manner," said Ma.

As the largest Chinese company in Laos, Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina) immediately sent staff in project sites closest to the flood-hit zone to deliver the relief materials to the scene.

"The Chinese Embassy in Laos asked all Chinese companies here to conduct safety investigations immediately and to provide assistance to the disaster-stricken areas after the dam collapse," Shen Yi, director of PowerChina's disaster relief team and a manager of its representative office in Laos, told Xinhua on Wednesday.

"Operating for more than two decades here, PowerChina should do our best to help the Lao people go through the difficulties and provide the most effective help and services to the affected villagers," Shen said.

"Our staff near the disaster-stricken area have been dispatched to the scene on Tuesday, together with a large number of materials, to ensure the basic living of the affected locals," said Shen.

"Rescue machinery and equipment at the project sites are also on standby, ready to carry out emergency repairs on roads and bridges damaged by floodwater. Besides, we set up several rescue spots for distributing relief supplies," said the director.

At the same time, PowerChina also organized dam and hydrological experts to provide on-site assistance and support to the Lao government.

On Wednesday, Chen Jianjun, safety director of the Nam Kong hydropower project in Attapeu, drove more than 100 km to the disaster area to deliver relief materials.

"This is what we should do. How can we just watch and do nothing when such a disaster occurred?" he told Xinhua.

Lu Zhenzhen, who came from China to Laos two years ago to start her own food and beverage business in Vientiane, decided to drive to the disaster-stricken area, carrying tent and food raised among Chinese shop owners in Laos.

"I am living here, building my future here. I need to offer my help in face of this disaster," she said.

She told Xinhua that she hopes every Chinese in Laos will join hands and help the affected Lao people to go through the difficulties.WASHINGTON, July 25 (Xinhua) -- The latest deals between U.S. President Donald Trump and visiting European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker might be the first step to ease transatlantic trade conflicts, but they failed to resolve their substantial differences, U.S. experts said on Wednesday.

At a joint press briefing after their meeting that lasted over an hour, Trump and Juncker told media that the two sides had agreed to work together toward "zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods."

They also vowed to work to increase trade in services, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, medical products, as well as soybeans, and Brussels planned to import more liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States.

Meanwhile, the two sides agreed to launch a close dialogue on standards, in order to ease trade, reduce bureaucratic obstacles, and set up immediately a working group to "identify short-term measures to facilitate commercial exchanges and assess existing tariff measures and what we can do about that to the betterment of both," Trump said.

While some U.S. experts saw the initiatives announced by Trump and Juncker were encouraging, they believed that the substantial differences between the two sides remained and doubted whether the deals will really be implemented.

Tori Whiting, a trade economist at Heritage Foundation, said: "The announcements today ... were an encouraging first step to put the brakes on the trade war."

Despite the stated initiatives, however, the two sides have so far failed to substantially patch up ties strained over U.S. tariffs on EU's cars and steel and aluminum.

"The White House should immediately follow up its promises to eliminate tariffs on steel and aluminum from the EU (European Union) and work to establish similar deals with other allies. The President should also suspend the national security investigation into automobile imports," said Whiting.

Besides trade barbs, the two sides have also been overshadowed by differences on Iran nuke deal, Paris climate accord, the status of Jerusalem and the share of defense spending, among others. Trump's relations with Russia have also fueled mistrust in Europe.

Darrell West, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told Xinhua that "there are substantial differences between the U.S. and European Union and this meeting has not changed those things."

"Trump is critical of our European allies and feels they are not paying enough for national security. He is uninterested in free trade, climate change, negotiating with Iran, or standing up to Russia," he said.

"It is going to be very difficult if not impossible to bridge that gap," he said.

Noting that Trump's rhetoric and moves will complicate the trend of transatlantic relations, the expert said that "it will be difficult for European leaders to sell Trump's ideas to their voters and most of them aren't interested in following Trump's lead."

"The most likely outcome is the leaders agreeing to disagree on several major issues. That is something that has rarely happened in the past but has become commonplace during the Trump administration," he added.

Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Michael O'Hanlon told Xinhua that Trump's moves on trade have not yet been "in compromise mode."

"He seems to be doubling down on the strategy rather than looking to scale it back," he said.

"But I doubt we'll see much progress anytime soon,"he added.

To Juncker's reconciliatory tone during the visit, Trump might more feel like "that's a somewhat happier tone than I expected, but I don't take it to the bank just yet," said O'Hanlon.

"The negotiating view of Donald Trump is unconditional surrender of the other side," Ivo Daalder, the former U.S. ambassador to NATO during the Barrack Obama administration, was quoted by POLITICO in an article as saying.

"If you're a betting person, it's not going to be a great meeting," he said.

The article further noted that, for Juncker, "the fundamental political question is whether Trump wants to reach an agreement or does he see a political benefit to stoking a sense of aggrievement with the rest of the world between now and the midterm election." (Matthew Rusling from Washington also contributed to the story)KABUL, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Four militants of the Haqqani militant group were killed following an airstrike in Khost province, eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the Defense Ministry said Thursday.

"An Afghan Air Force aircraft targeted a group of Haqqani terrorist network in Spera district, Khost province, late Wednesday, killing four members of the network," the ministry said in a statement.

As a Taliban-linked group of militants, the Haqqani network is mostly operating in eastern provinces and capital Kabul and has been responsible for many high-profile attacks against security forces.

The network, which was designated as a terrorist group by the United States in 2012, has yet to respond to the report.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 15:14:47|Editor: Yurou

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SAN FRANCISCO, July 25 (Xinhua) -- A recruitment fair based in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou has launched a campaign in the United States to attract innovative companies or individuals to start their business in China, organizers said Wednesday.

The Convention on Exchange of Overseas Talents and Guangzhou Convention of Overseas Chinese Scholars in Science and Technology (OCS), a high-level official recruitment fair, has launched the 2018 "Talents Make Future" Overseas Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition.

Registration for the event will last through Aug. 31. The organizers said it's an innovative competition which aims to attract about 100 hi-tech companies to develop their business in China this year.

Regional contests will be held in the U.S. cities of Boston and Seattle, the British capital London, and Japan from late July to November, to select 55 winners in the preliminary race for the final competition scheduled for December 2018.

Candidates including firms, individuals, patent owners or holders, or projects with technologies that fit the key needs of economic and social development of Guangzhou, or core technologies that have full intellectual property (IP) rights without dispute can apply for a place in the competition, the organizers said.

The final winners will be offered opportunities to meet their business partners and investors, field trips to incubator parks and roadshows, access to financial credit and project or policy support, and, most importantly, a start-up fund of two million yuan (about 295,330 U.S. dollars).

The OCS-hosted competition is the largest and most influential overseas talent exchange event in China, which is dedicated to providing a solid platform for overseas innovative talent, entrepreneurship, and incubation and commercialization of technological achievements.

Fifty-six overseas companies have returned to China via the OCS platform, according to the organizers.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 15:39:53|Editor: ZX

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CHANGCHUN, July 26 (Xinhua) -- A procuratorate in northeast China's Jilin Province on Thursday initiated a public prosecution against Cui Honghai, former head of the provincial food and drug administration, on charges of taking bribes.

According to the procuratorate of Changchun, the provincial capital, Cui allegedly took advantage of his position to help others gain profits and take bribes.

He was the former secretary of leading Party members group and director of Jilin Food and Drug Administration.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 15:49:56|Editor: ZX

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URUMQI, July 26 (Xinhua) -- China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) will invest 150 billion yuan (about 22.3 billion U.S. dollars) in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region by 2020 to boost oil and gas industry and help with poverty relief.

The investment will be used in business operations including oil and gas resources exploration, refineries, sales, storage, finance, and logistics. It will also be used to develop industries to help raise incomes for impoverished people in the region, Wang Yilin, CNPC board chairperson, said at a conference in Urumqi.

Wang said the CNPC now has 15 subsidiaries in Xinjiang and the region has become an important oil and gas production base in China.

Over the last five years, CNPC's various companies have invested 224.7 billion yuan in Xinjiang and created more than 6,200 jobs. About 240 million yuan has been spent to assist in poverty alleviation work in six counties.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 15:54:57|Editor: ZX

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SHENZHEN, July 26 (Xinhua) -- A total of 37,398 suspects were arrested, and 15,548 indicted in a crackdown on gangs and organized crime in China in the first half of this year.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) has been closely cooperating with the Supreme People's Court, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and the Ministry of Justice in formulating guidelines on handling gang-related and organized crime, according to a statement issued at a seminar for senior prosecutors which opened Wednesday.

It has also worked with the MPS in overseeing the handling of 24 major cases, the statement said.

According to the statement, procuratorates across the country have approved the arrest of 533,247 people and prosecuted 762,292 for committing serious crimes, among which 21,318 were arrested and 22,109 prosecuted for violent crimes such as homicide, kidnapping, and arson.

Meanwhile, procuratorates have deepened their efforts in fighting crimes targeting minors, as well as those related to the environment, resources, online finance, and financial fraud.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 15:59:59|Editor: Yurou

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HANGZHOU, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Four suspects have been placed under criminal detention for allegedly smuggling 300 tonnes of used clothing, authorities in Yongjia County, east China's Zhejiang Province said Thursday.

The smuggled waste was shipped from Busan, the Republic of Korea, to Yongjia in April and May this year. The ship had no permit for the journey, local police said.

The garment waste was stained with dirt and vomit and contained bacteria. It could pose a significant health risk if sold on the market, police said.

Four suspects from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan were detained and are under investigation. The waste will be properly disposed of.

For some years, China has been the world's largest importer of solid waste as raw materials. Given growing public awareness of environmental protection, the Chinese government decided last year to phase out and completely halt imports of trash by the end of 2019, except for those containing resources that are not substitutable.

The General Administration of Customs said it has seized over 980,000 tonnes of illegal trash imports so far this year.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 16:10:01|Editor: xuxin

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Smoke rises as a Vietnamese fighter-bomber Sukhoi Su-22 crashed in Vietnam's central Nghe An province, July 26, 2018. A Vietnamese fighter-bomber Sukhoi Su-22 crashed in Vietnam's central Nghe An province on Thursday, killing two pilots, local media reported. (Xinhua/VNA)

HANOI, July 26 (Xinhua) -- A Vietnamese fighter-bomber Sukhoi Su-22 crashed in Vietnam's central Nghe An province on Thursday, killing two pilots, local media reported.

Senior Lieutenant-General Nguyen Trong Nghia, vice chairman of the General Political Department under the Vietnamese People's Army, told online newspaper VietNamNet that the Air and Air Defense Force told him the Su-22 with two pilots on board had an accident when conducting a regular training flight on a hill in Nghia Yen commune, Nghia Dan district.

"The two pilots have died," the newspaper quoted Ngo Trong Nghia, chief of the communal police, as saying.

The aircraft departed from the civil-military airport of Sao Vang in the neighbor central province of Thanh Hoa, Vietnam News Agency reported. It was broken into pieces after crashing with a big explosion.

The Sukhoi Su-22 is a variant of the Sukhoi Su-17, a Soviet variable-sweep wing fighter-bomber.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 16:15:02|Editor: Yurou

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People walk at the Hawassa Industrial Park in Hawassa town, 275 kilometres south of Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, July 13, 2016. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

by Xinhua Writer Wang Xiaopeng

JOHANNESBURG, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Driving locomotives, exporting garments to other continents and setting up industrial parks ... The industrialization dream the African people have been pursuing since they attained self-rule decades ago is gradually being realized thanks to Chinese capital, technology and skills.

Chinese firms have been investing heavily in industrial parks and special economic zones that have sprung up in many African countries, which are determined to diversify their economies and reap the benefits of globalization.

It is widely-believed that China has played an important role in Africa's economic transition, wealth generation and job creation.

DEVELOPMENT AND SKILLS

Ethiopia's Mekelle and Kombolcha industrial parks, set up by Chinese companies at a cost of 100 million and 90 million U.S. dollars respectively, have come to symbolize the East African country's ambition to become a manufacturing hub.

The Hawassa industrial park, built by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation and unveiled in July 2016, has become a model for attracting high-tech manufacturing companies in the textile and apparel sector.

Chinese companies' investment certainly fits in the overall picture of Ethiopia's industrial development. Arkebe Oqubay, board chairperson of the Ethiopian Industrial Park Corporation, told Xinhua during a recent interview that more industrial parks will be set up to ensure that manufacturing contributes about 20 percent of the country's GDP and 50 percent of exports by 2025.

Kenya, meanwhile, is also banking on Chinese investment in modern infrastructure to grow its manufacturing sector, with the Nairobi-Mombasa standard gauge railway serving as an example.

The railway, unveiled in mid-2017, is considered a flagship of Kenya's Vision 2030, a development plan that seeks to drive the East African powerhouse into "a newly industrializing, middle-income country."

The modern railway project, an early result of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, will not only boost cross-border trade and regional integration but also invigorate Kenya's manufacturing sector, which contributes an estimated 10 percent of GDP.

The China-funded modern railway is estimated to have boosted the African country's GDP by 1.5 percent and have created nearly 50,000 Kenyan jobs, according to official figures.

The C&H Garments Ltd, a Chinese-invested enterprise producing African-themed clothes as well as uniforms for Rwanda's forces, has employed some 1,500 local people so far.

Besides providing jobs, Chinese firms have also been helping the local workforce develop skills, having contributed to the manufacturing revolution in African countries, including Tanzania.

Sunshine Industrial Company, based in Dar es Salaam, is one of the biggest investors in Tanzania's mining and manufacturing sectors. S. Krishna, a former small business owner who joined the Chinese firm in 2014, said he has benefited immensely from it.

"Working with the Sunshine Industrial Company not only offered me a new set of business skills, but also changed my way of thinking," Krishna told Xinhua during a recent interview.

Tony Sun, executive director of the company, said a limited pool of highly trained personnel is an impediment to the development of labor-intensive industries in Tanzania.

"That is why professional training should be so important for every Chinese enterprise seeking to develop in Africa," he said.

INSPIRATION AND FUTURE

Diplomats, policymakers and observers agree that China-Africa industrial cooperation has a promising future and there is a need to nurture it for the long haul.

Obed Bapela, South Africa's deputy minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs, said the development of special economic zones, in which Chinese companies play a big role, will boost growth of local industries and create jobs for the youth.

The South African official noted that revitalizing Africa's industrial agenda will be a major topic at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation to be held in September.

Themed "China and Africa: Toward an Even Stronger Community with a Shared Future through Win-Win Cooperation," the Beijing summit is expected to enable China and Africa to pursue high-quality and high-standard cooperation for mutual benefit and common development.

Looking forward, Chinese companies will continue their efforts in promoting the industrial development of Africa.

Godwin Muhwezi, communications manager at the Uganda National Bureau of Standards, said that more Chinese companies have applied for permits to establish factories in Uganda and manufacture construction materials and household items.

"This means that Chinese certified companies are committed to producing quality products and thereby making a positive contribution to Uganda's industrialization efforts," said Muhwezi.

As Chinese firms move ahead, African governments are taking action simultaneously.

Raphael Tuju, secretary general of Kenya's ruling Jubilee Party, told Xinhua in a recent interview that his country has created an environment conducive to attracting Chinese investments in its industrial sector.

"It is crucial for the country to engage with China and grow our industrial sector that is key to prosperity and job creation for unemployed youth," Tuju said.

Tuju said he was especially impressed by China's tremendous achievement in poverty reduction.

"There is no precedent in the history of mankind. If China can achieve that, it gives us a flicker of hope," he said.

(Xinhua writers Jing Jing, Zhao Xi, Wang Shoubao, Lyu Tianran, Zhang Gaiping and Li Sibo contributed to the story)

(Video editor: Luo Hui)NOT FOR DISSEMINATION TO THE UNITED STATES OR TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES



VANCOUVER, B.C., July 25, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New Point Exploration Corp. (CSE:NP) (OTC:NPEZF) (FSE:4NP) (New Point or the Company) intends to proceed with a non-brokered private placement of up to 40,000,000 units at $0.125 cents per unit to raise gross proceeds of up to CAD$5,000,000.



The unit will consist of one common share of the company and one common share purchase warrant of the company. Each warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one common share of the company at an exercise price of $0.13 cents for a period of 6 months from the date of issuance of the warrant (subject to acceleration if the shares close above $0.13 for five consecutive trading days).

The Company may pay finders fees or issue finders warrants up to the amount permitted by the CSE policies. The net proceeds raised from the unit offering are intended to be used for general corporate purposes, including G&A and exploration on the Companys projects.

About New Point Exploration Corp.

New Point (CSE:NP) (OTC:NPEZF) (FSE:4NP) is engaged in the business of acquiring, exploring and developing mineral properties related to the growing battery industry. Focused on high grade, prospective properties in North America, New Point is building a portfolio that includes lithium, cobalt and copper projects in prospective, mining-friendly jurisdictions. New Point, A Next Generation Metals Company.

On Behalf of the Board of New Point Exploration Corp.



Bryn Gardener-Evans

President & CEO



Corporate Office

1240-1140 West Pender St

Vancouver, BC

V6E 4G1

For further information, please contact:

E: investors@newpointexploration.com

P: 403-830-3710





Forward-looking Information

This news release includes certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding the Assumption Agreement, the anticipated exploration program for the Empire Lithium Property, future capital expenditures, the anticipated business plans, including the Companys transition into mineral exploration and development related to the battery industry, and the timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Often, but not always, forward looking information can be identified by words such as may, will, expect, intend, estimate, anticipate, believe, continue, plans or similar terminology. These forward-looking statements reflect the Companys current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant operational, business, economic and regulatory uncertainties and contingencies, including, prices for lithium, cobalt, copper, and base metals remaining as estimated, prices for labour, materials, supplies and services (including transportation) remaining as estimated, all necessary permits, licenses and regulatory approvals for the Companys operations being received in a timely manner, and the Companys ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development, actual results of exploration activities, variations to the geological and metallurgical assumptions, the costs and timing of the development of new exploration projects, requirements for additional capital to fund the Companys business plan, future prices of lithium, cobalt, copper, and base metals, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, delays in obtaining governmental and regulatory approvals (including of the Canadian Securities Exchange), permits or financing, or in the completion of development or construction activities, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, hedging practices, currency fluctuations, title disputes or claims limitations on insurance coverage and the timing and possible outcome of pending litigation, and environmental issues and liabilities, as well as those factors discussed under the heading Risk Factors in the Companys prospectus dated November 8, 2017 and other filings of the Company with the Canadian Securities Authorities, copies of which can be found under the Companys profile on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this news release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law.



HO CHI MINH CITY, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's State Securities Commission has required relevant companies and funds not to engage in any issuance, transaction or brokerage activities related to cryptocurrencies.

The commission has banned public companies, securities companies, fund management companies and securities investment funds from taking part in the activities, and required them to obey legal regulations on anti-money laundering, Vietnam News Agency reported Thursday.

The ban is based on a prime ministerial directive dated earlier this year on strengthening the management of activities related to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The use of such currencies as a means of payment is prohibited in Vietnam.

Earlier in April, the State Bank of Vietnam, the country's central bank, also banned commercial banks and intermediary payment service providers from making transactions involving cryptocurrencies, warning that such activities may increase the risks of money laundering, terrorism financing, trade fraud and tax evasion.

To improve the management of cryptocurrencies in Vietnam, local relevant ministries, including the two ministries of Finance and Industry and Trade, and the central bank have also agreed to suspend the import of cryptocurrency mining machines.PHNOM PENH, July 26 (Xinhua) -- About 306 international observers from over 40 countries will monitor Cambodia's general election on July 29, a spokesman for the National Election Committee (NEC) said Thursday.

NEC member and spokesman Hang Puthea said foreign observers are from China, Myanmar, Singapore, Vietnam, Pakistan, the Philippines, Brunei, Thailand, and Indonesia, among others.

He added that those foreign monitors are also from international institutions such as the International Conference of Asian Political Parties, the Asian Parliamentary Assembly, the ASEAN Inter-Parliament Assembly, the European Council on International Relations, among others.

Besides international observers, nearly 90,000 local observers from political parties and about 80,000 others from national associations and organizations in the country are also expected to monitor the election.

The Southeast Asian country is scheduled to hold the general election for the 125-seat National Assembly on Sunday.

Twenty political parties will contest in the election, which will see some 8.38 million people cast their ballots, according to the NEC.

Among the parties are the ruling Cambodian People's Party of Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, the Funcinpec Party of Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the League for Democracy Party of former opposition lawmaker Khem Veasna, the Grassroots Democracy Party of agronomist Yang Saing Koma, and the Khmer Will Party of former opposition member Kong Monika.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 16:45:06|Editor: xuxin

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ATHENS, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The Cannes-honored Greek director Theo Angelopoulos's personal archives and cultural heritage "became ashes" in the deadly wildfires near Athens, the director's widow said Wednesday.

"The house has been completely destroyed. My husband's books were burnt. His letters from acknowledged people, all his books that writers dedicated to him were here," Phoebe Economopoulos told local news portal "in-gr".

Economopoulos stressed that there were no sirens or bell sounds to warn people and evacuate the area.

Considered one of the leaders in contemporary European cinematography, Angelopoulos passed away in January, 2012, after being hit by a motorcycle while shooting a film in Athens about the debt crisis rocking Greece.

Angelopoulos's work, including "O thiasos", "Landscape in the Mist" and the Palme d'Or winner "Eternity and a Day", was characterized by slow, long takes, poetic scenes and great sensitivity.

The country's deadliest blazes in decades broke out Monday and have claimed 81 lives, with over 2,000 homes destroyed or damaged, according to the latest estimates by local authorities.THIMPHU, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The National Assembly of Bhutan, the country's lower house of bicameral Parliament, will dissolve on Aug. 1, 2018 to make way for the general election.

The house, consists of 32 members from the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) and 15 members from the opposition Bhutan Peace and Prosperity party (DPT), is set to dissolve with a traditional Buddhist ceremony in the Assembly hall offering prayers.

Following the concluding ceremony of their five-year tenure, the two parties would prepare for the upcoming general election.

This year, the election commission of Bhutan has approved four political parties including the PDP, DPT, Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT) and Bhutan Kuen-Nyam Party (BKP) to compete for the general election.

An interim government will be appointed before the resignation of the prime minister and ministers. The interim government will be headed by Chief Justice of Bhutan Dasho Tshering Wangchuk. The interim government will serve till the new prime minister is elected via the general election.

This will be Bhutan's third general election following the successful establishment of democracy in 2008.KATHMANDU, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) welcomed its second wide-body aircraft on Thursday as the national flag carrier of the Himalayan nation seeks to regain its lost ground in international business.

The A330-200 jet named Makalu touched down at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu from France on Thursday morning. The plane with registration mark 9N-ALZ was welcomed with water cannon after it arrived.

On June 28, the national flag carrier received its first ever wide body aircraft from Airbus. Now, the NAC has a total of five planes for international flights -- two wide-body airbus, two narrow-body airbus and one narrow-body Boeing.

With arrivals of new wide-body planes, the NAC plans to start long-haul flights after a long gap. "We will start flights to Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Qatar shortly," Poshak Gnawali, maintenance director at the NAC told Xinhua on Thursday.

The first three destinations are new for the NAC while it has been conducting flight to Doha, Qatar with its narrow body plane. It plans to use wide-body plane to conduct Kathmandu-Doha flight starting from August 1. But date has not been fixed to conduct flights to other destinations, according to Gnawali.

After a gap of 27 years, the NAC had first added new narrow body aircraft -- Airbus A320-200 -- for international flights in February 2015. Since then, additional one narrow body plane and two wide body planes have been added in its fleet.

"With the addition of new planes, we hope to increase our market share in international flights from Kathmandu to 18 percent from current around 12 percent," said Gnawali.

The national flag carrier has also expanded its domestic fleet by acquiring six Chinese made planes -- two MA 60 and four Y-12e.

According to Gnawali, the NAC plans to procure half dozen Twin Otter planes to expand its domestic fleet. "We aim to start procurement from next year," he said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 17:40:17|Editor: zh

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LUSAKA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to pay a state visit to Zambia as part of efforts to strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries, Zambia's foreign minister said on Thursday.

Joseph Malanji said the Turkish leader will visit Zambia on July 28, adding that the historic visit was significant as it will be the first for a Turkish leader.

"The visit will therefore consolidate the existing relations between Zambia and Turkey by further enhancing cooperation in key sectors of development," he said in a statement.

During the visit, a number of memoranda of understanding and agreements will be signed between the two countries in various sectors which will further enhance the existing bilateral relations and cooperation for the mutual benefits of our two peoples, he added.

The Zambian minister said Turkey has one of the largest and fastest growing economies and has made major strides in its socioeconomic development agenda and that Zambia wanted to tap into that.

He further said the visit will present an opportunity for the two leaders to deliberate on matters of mutual interest at a multilateral level, adding that Zambia recognizes the importance of enhancing cooperation with strategic key partners in achieving sustainable development, good governance and promoting peace and security.A Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) medical team arrive at the flooded-area in Attapeu, Laos, July 26, 2018. (Xinhua/Liu Ailun)

VIENTIANE, July 25 (Xinhua) -- A medical contingent from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) arrived in Laos' southern Attapeu province Wednesday to help with relief work after a hydropower dam collapsed earlier this week.

Approved by the Central Military Commission, a PLA medical team, which is on the "Peace Train-2018" Humanitarian Medical Rescue Joint Training Mission in the Lao capital of Vientiane, dispatched the epidemic prevention unit to Attapeu.

The 32-member contingent is the first fully-equipped international rescue team arriving in the flood-hit area. It will offer medical service together with the Lao medical and sanitary teams.

The Xepian-Xe Nam Noy dam, which has been under construction, collapsed Monday in Sanamxay district, Attapeu province, leaving at least 26 people dead and 131 missing.

The PLA medical team is participating in a seven-day "Peace Train-2018" humanitarian joint exercise and providing medical service to soldiers and people in Laos.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 18:30:34|Editor: xuxin

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BEIJING, July 26 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) has earmarked an emergency relief fund of 1 billion yuan (147 million U.S. dollars) to aid local authorities with flood relief and agricultural production restoration.

The money will be allocated to the provincial-level regions of Gansu, Sichuan, Fujian, Shaanxi, Chongqing, Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Jiangxi, Guizhou, Xinjiang, and Zhejiang which are plagued by typhoons and floods.

Local authorities will use the money to rebuild water conservancy facilities; purchase seeds, chemical fertilizer, pesticides, agricultural machinery fuel, and fodder grass; and to dispose of dead livestock and poultry, the MOF said.

The emergency relief fund will also be used for subsidies for disaster-hit farmers in order to maintain social stability, the ministry said.

Since July, severe rainstorms have hit many regions across the country, triggering landslides and floods.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 18:35:36|Editor: xuxin

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People gather at the site of landslide in Timure, Rasuwa, Nepal, July 26, 2018. At least 4 people were killed and many others missing after landslides struck the small town on Wednesday midnight. (Xinhua)

KATHMANDU, July 26 (Xinhua) -- At least four people died, five went missing and a dozen injured after a landslide occurred at Timure in Nepal-China bordering district Rasuwa on Wednesday night, according to the district police office.

Timure is located some 3 km from the Rasuwagadhi border point, where most of the government offices are based.

"The landslide occurred at around 1:00 a.m. and buried temporary shelters, hotels and a few vehicles. It also buried a temporary police post," a local police officer told Xinhua over phone.

Rescue efforts are underway since early Thursday while the search has been intensified for the missing persons.

District Administration Office at Rasuwa said additional security personnel have been deployed for search and rescue.

The monsoon-induced landslide has also disrupted power and communication service in the area, and blocked the road linking the district headquarters to Timure.

The northern district of Rasuwa is prone to landslides owing to its complex geography.SEOUL, July 26 (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in's approval rating stayed high at 62 percent this week though it slightly fell amid controversy over minimum wage hike, a weekly poll showed Thursday.

According to the Realmeter survey, support for Moon shed 0.9 percentage points over the week to 62.0 percent.

Moon's approval scores hovered high, but it continued to fall for the sixth consecutive week amid controversy over the minimum wage hike that triggered worries about the self-employed, especially owners of convenient stores.

Controversy arose over the Defense Security Command (DSC), negatively influencing the support from conservative voters for Moon. During the parliamentary hearings earlier this week, some of high-level DSC military officers raised doubts about investigations into the DSC.

Moon ordered an investigation into the DSC over documents in which the declaration of martial law was reviewed and prepared to crack down on candlelit rallies that led to the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye.

Support for Moon's ruling Democratic Party gained 1.7 percentage points over the week to 45.1 percent this week.

The main conservative opposition Liberty Korea Party earned 18.7 percent of support this week, up 0.4 percentage points from the previous week.

Support for the minor progressive Justice Party inched up 0.1 percentage point to 10.5 percent, topping 10 percent for the fourth consecutive week.TORONTO, July 25, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Magnolia Colombia Limited. (Magnolia or the Company) (TSXV:MCO) is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement financing of up to 10,000,000 units of Magnolia (the Units) at a price of $0.15 per Unit for gross proceeds of up to $1,500,000 (the Offering). Each Unit shall be comprised of one common share of Magnolia (each a Common Share) and one common share purchase warrant (each a Warrant). Each Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share at a price of $0.20 for a period of 24 months following the closing date of the Offering. If at any time after four months and one day from the closing of the Offering, the Common Shares of the Company trade at $0.30 per Common Share or higher (on a volume weighted adjusted basis) for a period of 15 consecutive trading days, the Company will have the right to accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants to the date that is 30 days after the Company issues a news release announcing that it has elected to exercise this acceleration right.



The proceeds of the Offering will be used for general corporate purposes and to pursue new opportunities. The closing date of the Offering is expected to occur on or about August 9, 2018. All securities issued by Magnolia will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day. Completion of the Offering is subject to a number of conditions, including TSX Venture Exchange approval.

In connection with the Offering, Magnolia may pay finders fees in accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.

About Magnolia Colombia Limited:

Magnolia Colombia Limited is a Canadian independent oil exploration company.

For further information, please contact:

Jaime Lalinde, President & CEO

Email: jlalinde@fmresources.ca

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains "forward looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the Offering, timing of closing of the Offering and the use of proceeds of the Offering. Generally, forward looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: financing not being available at desired prices; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; the actual results of current exploration activities; timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; conclusions of economic evaluations; competition; future prices of mineral prices; failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; and, delays in obtaining governmental approvals or required financing or in the completion of activities. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 18:50:39|Editor: xuxin

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MOGADISHU, July 26 (Xinhua) -- At least six Somali soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb explosion near Somali's southern town of Wanlaweyn on Wednesday evening, police said.

Police officer who did not want to be named told Xinhua on Thursday that the forces were on their way to Baledogle Airport in Lower Shabelle region in Southern Somalia.

"The soldiers died after their convoy hit by landmine explosion while en route to Baledogle Airport," the officer said.

Balidogle airport is located about 110 km northwest of Mogadishu where U.S. marines offer specialized training to Somali National Army (SNA).

Residents said the landmine explosion targeted a military vehicle carrying Somali soldiers, who were escorting a convoy of food and other logistical supplies to Balidogle airport.

Muna Mohamed, a resident, told Xinhua the blast shook the nearby areas, noting they learned soldiers were targeted.

"We heard a heavy explosion and the shockwaves could be felt from a distance. Government forces were targeted in the attack," Mohamed.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the terror group al-Shabab fighters have conducted similar attacks in the past.

The latest attack came a few hours after another roadside blast injured four senior military officials in Elasha Biyaha village, located on the outskirts of the capital Mogadishu.

The attacks took place despite increased joint military operations by SNA and the allied forces in the areas Mogadishu and its environs.

The allied forces are also carrying out operations in Kismayo port city which was one of the strongholds of al-Shabab that served as its main revenue source before the insurgents were forced out by Kenyan forces in 2012.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 18:55:41|Editor: ZX

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CHANGCHUN, July 26 (Xinhua) -- It took Dmitrii three days -- via two air flights and a cross-border bus -- to see his dentist and have his teeth repaired.

But for the 32-year-old Russian who lives in a small village near the Arctic Circle, the recent trip to Hunchun, a small Chinese city on the border, was worth the effort.

"The dentists here are skillful and charge a reasonable price," said Dmitrii, who spent about 10,000 yuan (1,587 U.S. dollars) repairing his decayed teeth. "In my hometown, the same treatment would cost me more than triple that price."

Besides the considerable cost difference, Dmitrii also liked not having to wait long for an appointment with the doctors. "In Hunchun, you can just walk in the clinic and get the treatment immediately," he said.

Artem Kechin, who came to China with Dmitrii, went to Hunchun's traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) hospital for a spine treatment. He planned to have an operation the next time he visits the city.

"In Russia, more and more patients embrace Chinese dentists and TCM. Seeing doctors, along with traveling and shopping, are what draw Russians to China," Kechin said.

Over the past five years, an annual average of 300,000 Russians traveled to Hunchun, with many of them medical tourists. This influx of patients has prompted the number of local private dentist clinics to grow to nearly 100.

In the city's TCM hospital, massage practitioner An Sheng was busying treating Russian patients.

"We treat around 50 Russian patients every month," he said. "Massage, moxibustion and cupping are especially popular among Russians who suffer from spondylosis, slipped disk, diabetes and high blood pressure."

To better serve foreign patients, the local government has set up a center to collect and provide information on hospital charges and introduced a rating system for hospitals to encourage better services.

Many hospitals have also hired Russian translators and set up designated areas to attend to Russian patients.

Besides treating Russian patients, medical institutions in Hunchun are also looking to promote TCM in Russia.

"To meet the high Russian demand for TCM, we will strengthen our cooperation with Russian hospitals in the future," said An.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 19:10:45|Editor: xuxin

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ABUJA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian authorities have confirmed five people killed following a passenger boat mishap in the commercial city of Lagos.

The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency said the boat capsized mid-sea, en route to Ikorodu from the Lagos Island, late Wednesday.

Five other passengers were rescued during response operation, the emergency management agency said.

The boat had the capacity of carrying 20 passengers, according to Adesina Tiamiyu, head of the rescue operation.

Tiamiyu said the remains of the dead were deposited at a local morgue, while responders continue to search for more victims.WELLINGTON, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand government allocated funding of 750,000 NZ dollars (511,716 U.S. dollars) for projects aimed at supporting the wellbeing of international students, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said on Thursday.

The funding aims to improve the support and experience of international students in New Zealand, Hipkins said in a statement.

"I want every international student who comes to New Zealand to study to feel welcome, safe and supported so they get the most out of their stay and feel valued for the contribution they make to New Zealand," Hipkins said.

"International students are from diverse cultures, living away from their families, communities and social networks. Often, it is also their first trip overseas, so they can be vulnerable," Hipkins said.

He encourages groups and organizations that work with international students to support their safety and mental health to come forward with proposals.

Applications are open until Aug. 24 and successful projects will be announced in November. This is the second funding round under the International Student Wellbeing Strategy, according to the ministry.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 19:20:49|Editor: xuxin

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DUBAI, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Targeting the two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea by Yemen's Houthi rebels "confirms the need to liberate Hodeidah from the Houthi militias," said the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash on Thursday.

Gargash said through Twitter "The systematic attack on maritime navigation is a terrorist act that is hostile and expresses the nature of Houthi and its aggression."

The minister added the Houthi's actions "confirm the need to liberate Hodeidah from the Houthi militias."

Saudi coalition forces to which the UAE armed forces belong have on Wednesday foiled an attack on a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea by Houthi militia, Al Arabiya local news reported.

The port city is a gateway to the Red Sea for northwest of the Arab peninsula state Yemen and for the city of Sanaa, which remains under Houthi control.

The coalition involved in a war in Yemen in support of Yemeni elected government confirmed that the tanker suffered minor damage.

The coalition has been accusing Iran of supporting the Houthi rebels through the supply of weapons and missiles.

The militias frequently respond to the airstrikes by the coalition with missile attacks against Saudi Arabia, mainly its border cities. Most of them are intercepted by the air forces.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 19:41:00|Editor: xuxin

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ZAGREB, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Croatia's total registered unemployment rate in June dropped to a record low of 8.8 percent, Croatian Bureau of Statistics announced on Thursday.

The number of unemployed workforce in June decreased by 2.5 percent as compared to May. In the same period, the total number of people in employment increased by 1.7 percent and reached around 1.43 million.

The southeastern European country has a population of about 4.1 million.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic commented on Thursday during government session on the record-low unemployment rate, saying that it is obvious in a tourist season when many employers are looking for workers of different profiles.

He announced that the government, together with employers and trade unions, should prepare for the next tourist season and find the best way to tackle this problem in the labor mark and if necessary increase quotas for foreign workers.

Plenkovic also said the average monthly wage in Croatia today is 710 kuna (112 U.S. dollars) higher than in 2016 when his government sworn in.

Average wage in Croatia was 6,352 kuna (around 1000 U.S. dollars) in May.

Raiffeisenbank Austria (RBA) analysts explained that the drop in unemployment was the result of the longer summer tourist season, N1 television reported.

The analysts warned that a fall in unemployment is not followed by a proportionate rise in employment, and that low employment rate remains a deeply rooted problem to Croatian economy.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 19:46:04|Editor: xuxin

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ADDIS ABABA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Chief Engineer of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Simegnew Bekele, was found dead in his own car early Thursday, state broadcaster Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) reported.

According to the report, police are currently undertaking investigations around Meskel Square in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, where his body was found inside his own car in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Bekele, who is a well-regarded engineer in the East African nation with a strong contribution to the country's energy production endeavors, has been the chief engineer of Ethiopia's grand dam since its construction was commenced in April 2011 on the Blue Nile River.

The 6,450 MW hydro dam project, which will be regarded as Africa's largest dam upon completion, is currently 66 percent complete, according to the Ethiopian government.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 19:56:09|Editor: xuxin

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MOSCOW, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday discussed Syrian settlement with a high-level Russian delegation in Damascus, Russia's Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

The delegation included Russia's special presidential envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentyev, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin and representatives of the Defense Ministry, it said in a statement.

The parties confirmed the necessity to "continue uncompromising fight against terrorism and active efforts to achieve a long-term political settlement in the interests of all Syrians without exception."

Particular attention was paid to the tasks of post-conflict reconstruction of the country, including ensuring the prompt return of Syrian refugees and displaced people to their places of permanent residence, it said.

Assad expressed the willingness to create necessary conditions for the safe and decent reception and accommodation of Syrians returning to their homeland.

Russia's Defense Ministry said in a separate statement Thursday that 232,541 Syrian citizens have returned home from abroad since Sept. 30 2015, when Russia announced the start of an anti-terrorist operation in Syria.

Currently, 6.9 million Syrian refugees have registered in 45 countries and 1.7 million of them have expressed intentions to return home, it said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 20:06:14|Editor: xuxin

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DAMASCUS, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The plight of Syrians,trapped in a seven-year deadly civil war, was underscored once again on Wednesday when multiple attacks on a province regarded as one of the safest places in the war-torn country killed over 200 in a single day.

At least 215 people were killed and 180 others injured in a spate of attacks carried out by the Islamic State (IS) in Sweida, marking the deadliest day for the southern province since the civil war broke out in 2011 and clashes between IS militants, pro-government forces, and residents who carried arms to defend their hometowns intensified.

The United Nations condemned the bombings, saying IS had shown an "utter disregard for human life", and called for the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure.

"One of the bloodiest ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) attacks since the start of the war. Let that sink in," Jenan Moussa from the Dubai-based Arabic Al Aan TV commented on Twitter. "Yes, ISIS doesn't control large parts of Syria/Iraq any longer but anybody who thinks the ISIS threat is over is delusional."

Locals said IS fighters entered homes at dawn and slaughtered families in surprise attacks. The high toll also included victims killed by three suicide bombings in the provincial capital, and those who fought the IS in the province's northeastern countryside, Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

More than 6.9 million people have left Syria since the civil war started, taking refuge in 45 countries, according to data from the Russian Defense Ministry. Many are living in makeshift campsites near the Jordanian and Israeli borders without adequate shelter, food or water.

While Sweida's countryside has witnessed battles between the Syrian Army and rebels, including the IS, the city of Sweida had remained largely calm as its inhabitants are mostly from the Druze minority, a community loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

The Sweida attacks diverted the army's attention and released the pressure in the IS-held areas in Daraa Province near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, where the Syrian Army has been relentlessly striking the terror group. With Russia's help, the army has captured 90 percent of Daraa through battles and reconciliation.

After Wednesday's attacks, some tribal leaders in Sweida said hundreds of young men are ready to join the battle against the IS.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 20:06:15|Editor: xuxin

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BAGHDAD, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Iraq on Thursday condemned the massive attacks by Islamic State (IS) militants in Syrian southern province of Sweida, which killed and wounded hundreds of people.

"The Iraqi Foreign Ministry condemns the terrorist attack that targeted the Syrian Sweida and sends condolences to the martyrs' families and wishes of speedy recovery of the injured," the ministry spokesperson Ahmed Mahjoub said in a statement.

The ministry reiterates Iraq's firm stance towards the Syrian issue, "which supports the territorial integrity of Syria and its right to liberate its entire territory," according to the statement.

On Wednesday, a series of explosions carried out by IS militants, rocked several parts of the city of Sweida, killing up to 215 people and wounding some 200 others.English German

SALES GROWTH OF 13.9% LEADING TO RECORD SALES AND PROFIT

Sales growth of 13.9% in local currencies to CHF 3,470.1 million (+15.9% in CHF)

EBIT increase of 10.6% to CHF 444.6 million

Without one-off costs (related to resolution of dispute with SGO) increase in EBIT would have been disproportionately high at more than 16%

Growth in all regions

Opening of three new factories, establishment of another national subsidiary, and acquisition of Index

Sales target of CHF 7 billion in 2018

After a historic three-and-a-half year takeover battle between Sika and Saint-Gobain, an agreement was reached in May 2018. The signing of the agreement ends the disputes of all parties involved and marks the beginning of a new chapter in the Sika success story.

In the first half of the year Sika recorded strong double-digit sales growth, posting a new sales record of CHF 3,470.1 million. This equates to an increase of 13.9% in local currencies. A positive currency effect (2.0%) led to sales growth in Swiss francs of 15.9%. Growth in the second quarter amounted to as much as 16.3% (19.3% in CHF).

FURTHER INCREASE IN NET PROFIT

A combination of continued volume growth with disproportionately low cost developments and price adjustments had the effect of partially compensating for higher raw material costs and exceptional expenses incurred in connection with the integration of acquired companies. One-off effects in connection with the resolution of the takeover battle with Saint-Gobain (payment of the Board of Directors for the years 2015 to 2018, as well as one-off transaction-related costs) amounted to some CHF 23 million, and impacted negatively on EBIT. Operating profit (EBIT) nonetheless improved by 10.6% (+ CHF 42.5 million) to CHF 444.6 million (previous year: CHF 402.1 million). Without the one-off costs the increase in EBIT would have been disproportionately high at more than 16%. Net profit rose by 11.4% (+ CHF 32.5 million) to CHF 318.2 million (previous year: CHF 285.7 million.).

Paul Schuler, Chief Executive Officer: "With a significant sales increase of 15.9% in CHF and growth in net profit of 11.4%, we can look back on a very successful first half of 2018, in which we benefited from the potential of global construction markets through further initiatives. We posted double-digit growth rates in the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, North America, Argentina, and in the automotive business, and have grown much faster than the market in many countries. Given the positive development of business in the first half of 2018, the establishment of a further national subsidiary, and the commissioning of three new factories, we are continuing to implement our 2020 strategic targets in a consistent way, and will exceed the CHF 7 billion sales mark in 2018 for the first time ever."

GROWTH IN ALL REGIONS

In the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, Africa) sales increased by 13.6% in local currencies (previous year: 7.4%). The major EU countries with the core markets of Spain and the UK exhibited high single-digit growth. Double-digit growth rates were recorded in the Middle East, Africa, and Eastern Europe.

With the takeover of Index Construction Systems and Products, Sika acquired a leading manufacturer of roofing and waterproofing systems headquartered close to Verona, Italy. By acquiring Index, Sika will extend its product range and further strengthen its position in the Italian market. Production capacity was increased in both Senegal and Saudi Arabia through the commissioning of new factories for concrete admixtures.

The newly established Americas region recorded growth of 13.6% (previous year: 11.7%). The US was able to post double-digit growth thanks to strong demand in key target markets. After a long, harsh winter, Canada is back on a growth trajectory. Mexico and Argentina once again enjoyed above-average growth. The basis for further growth in Central America was laid with the establishment of a new national subsidiary in Honduras.

Growth in the Asia/Pacific region amounted to 5.0% (previous year: 4.2%). The highest growth rates were recorded by India and China. In Vietnam, a state-of-the-art facility for mortar production has come on stream in the Bac Ninh plant alongside the existing production of concrete admixtures. This will enable Sika to continue to grow in this country's booming

construction market.

The new Global Business segment recorded a growth rate of 28.5% (previous year: 9.2%), with 20.7% attributable to the acquisition of Faist ChemTec. This new segment includes the globally managed automotive business as well as the two acquisitions Axson Technologies and Faist ChemTec - which are both established providers of components and solutions for the automotive area and other applications, and are likewise centrally managed.

OUTLOOK: SALES TARGET OF CHF 7 BILLION IN 2018

The strong first half of the year supports the target for the full 2018 year - namely an increase in sales of more than 10% to reach CHF 7 billion for the first time. Volatile, rising raw material prices continue to pose a challenge. For the year as a whole, EBIT and net profit should increase at a slightly higher rate than sales. The growth strategy will be continued in 2018 with the opening of eight new factories and the founding of more national subsidiaries. Furthermore, additional acquisitions will be targeted in the heavily fragmented construction chemicals market.

KEY FIGURES HALF-YEAR 2018

in CHF mn 1/1/2017 -6/30/2017 1/1/2018 -6/30/2018 Change in % Net sales 2,994.9 3,470.1 15.9 Gross result 1,651.4 1,861.2 12.7 Operating profit before depreciation (EBITDA) 488.2 544.8 11.6 Operating profit (EBIT) 402.1 444.6 10.6 Net profit after taxes 285.7 318.2 11.4 Undiluted earnings per share (in CHF)1 1.86 2.12 14.0 Diluted earnings per share (in CHF)1,2 1.86 2.11 13.4 Operating free cash flow 63.0 11.5 -81.8 Balance sheet total3 5,794.7 6,317.5 Shareholders' equity3 3,411.1 1,386.3 Equity ratio in % 3,4 58.9 21.9 Return on capital employed (ROCE) in % 5 28.0 26.2 1 Due to the share split, the earnings per share as of June 30, 2017, were adjusted for comparability. Our calculation took this into account with 1/60 of the earnings per share as of June 30, 2017.

2 Dilutive effect due to convertible bonds issued.

3 As of December 31, 2017/June 30, 2018. 4 Shareholders' equity divided by balance sheet total. 5 Capital employed = current assets, PPE, intangible assets less cash and cash equivalents, current securities, current liabilities (excluding bank loans and bond).





NET SALES BY REGION

in CHF mn 1/1/2017 -6/30/2017 1/1/2018 -6/30/2018 Change compared to prior year

(+/- in %) In CHF



In local currencies Currency

impact Acquisition

effect By region EMEA 1,302.0 1,558.1 19.7 13.6 6.1 7.5 Americas 812.4 889.2 9.5 13.6 -4.1 5.1 Asia/Pacific 529.2 559.1 5.7 5.0 0.7 0.0 Global Business 351.3 463.7 32.0 28.5 3.5 20.7

Net sales 2,994.9 3,470.1 15.9 13.9 2.0



7.1 Products for construction industry 2,327.0 2,651.2 13.9 12.2 1.7



6.0 Products for industrial manufacturing 667.9 818.9 22.6 19.7 2.9



10.9

Conference call today, July 26, 2018 at 12 pm (CET)

In connection with the publication of the half-year results a conference call will be held today. Please dial in 10 to 15 minutes before the start at:

+41 58 310 5000 (Europe, Asia)

+1 631 570 5613 (North America, Latin America)

+44 207 107 0613 (UK)

An operator will then connect you with Paul Schuler (CEO), Adrian Widmer (CFO) and

Dominik Slappnig (Head Corporate Communications & IR).

A replay of the call will be available on the Sika website in the "Investors" section.

FINANCIAL CALENDAR:

Results first nine months 2018 Thursday, October 25, 2018 Net sales 2018 Tuesday, January 8, 2019 Media conference / analyst presentation Friday, February 22, 2019 on full-year results 2018 Net sales first quarter 2019 Tuesday, April 9, 2019 51st Annual General Meeting Tuesday, April 9, 2019 Half-year report 2019 Thursday, July 25, 2019

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 and Half-Year Report can be downloaded from the following links:Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 20:11:18|Editor: xuxin

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KATHMANDU, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in a landslide occurred at Timure in Nepal-China bordering district Rasuwa has climbed to eight, a senior government official said here on Thursday evening.

Krishna Prasad Poudel, the district administration officer in Rasuwa, told Xinhua that they have recovered four more bodies in course of their rescue operations on Thursday.

"One person has still gone missing and rescue operation is underway," the official said.

Timure is located some 3 km from the Rasuwagadhi border crossing (Geelong Port) between Nepal and China, where most of the local government offices are located.

The landslide occurred on Wednesday midnight and buried two temporary houses, a local police station and two trucks, according to Poudel.

"Five critically injured were sent to Kathmandu for further treatment while seven minor injured returned their homes earlier today," the official said from the site, adding that rescue operation has been affected due to poor weather condition amid rainfalls.

Traffic has been severely affected due to landslides in various sections of the Syaphrubesi-Rasuwagadi highway.

The northern district of Rasuwa is prone to landslides owing to its complex geography.

Sixty-four people have been killed while 12 have gone missing in floods and landslides since the beginning of the monsoon season across the country, according to the Nepal's Ministry of Home Affairs.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 20:16:18|Editor: Yurou

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BEIJING, July 26 (Xinhua) -- A total of 22 college students from Hong Kong finished their six-week internship at the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) Thursday.

They were the latest group of Hong Kong college students who joined the program, initiated by the government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) last year, to intern at leading institutes of science and social sciences in the mainland.

The internship provided a rare opportunity for young people from Hong Kong to learn more about the country's scientific progress and nurture their interest in scientific research, said Carrie Lam, chief executive of HKSAR, at the closing ceremony in Beijing.

CAS assigned 18 leading scientists from the institutes of automation, computing technology, and software as mentors for the internship program covering lectures, experiments, and visits, according to the CAS.

Li Shushen, vice president of CAS, encouraged the students to not only accumulate knowledge but also learn to think from different perspectives and have faith in truth.

"I met the country's top-level research teams and learned about the most cutting-edge programs," said Nie Lun-yiu, one of the interns and a student from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. "Our country's development is impressive."

This year, besides the ones at CAS, other Hong Kong interns went to the Palace Museum, Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan Province known for its giant panda protection program, and Dunhuang in Gansu Province, where the Mogao Grottoes, a UN world heritage site, are located.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 20:26:21|Editor: xuxin

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HARARE, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The leading contenders in Zimbabwe's general elections are exuding confidence in winning the polls, with only four days before Zimbabweans choose their leaders for the next five years.

Addressing guests at the groundbreaking ceremony for a chrome processing plant in Midlands Province on Wednesday, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said he was confident of winning the elections, dismissing Nelson Chamisa's challenge as a non-event.

In a statement to the nation on Thursday, Mnangagwa reiterated the five pledges he made in June: job creation; fighting corruption; establishing a modern and affordable healthcare system, infrastructure development; and creating educational and employment opportunities for youths.

The ruling party's central theme for the election is "unite, fight corruption, develop, re-engage, create jobs".

Chamisa also on Wednesday said his alliance would win the elections, despite allegations in the alliance that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is biased in favor of ZANU-PF.

There had been talk that the alliance may boycott the elections but Chamisa said they would win against all odds.

"We cannot boycott our victory. The talk of boycotting is a machination by ZANU-PF to try and get us in a state of despondency," he said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 20:41:28|Editor: Yurou

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BEIJING, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Most foreign airlines have changed their references to Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan on their official websites to reflect the one-China principle.

Of all the 44 foreign airlines that have been asked to list the three regions as part of China on their websites, 40 have made the change as of July 25, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said in a statement Thursday.

Meanwhile, four U.S. airlines, United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, reported to the CAAC Wednesday that they were still uploading rectified website content and asked for another two weeks to finish the changes, according to the CAAC statement.

The CAAC has requested 44 foreign airlines earlier this year to change content on their official websites that were against the one-China principle no later than July 25.

The CAAC confirmed that the four U.S. airlines have started correcting their websites, saying it will keep a close watch on the process and decide whether to launch regulatory procedures based on the rectification progress.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 20:51:30|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with his Brazilian counterpart Michel Temer in Johannesburg, South Africa, July 26, 2018. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)

JOHANNESBURG, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping here on Thursday met with his Brazilian counterpart Michel Temer on the sidelines of the 10th BRICS summit, calling on the two countries to strengthen solidarity and coordination.

"China and Brazil, as the largest developing country and emerging market in the eastern and western hemisphere respectively, should boost solidarity and coordination and pursue common development under the current situation, so as to inject positive energy into the two regions and contribute to world stability and prosperity," Xi said.

Referring to China-Brazil bilateral relationship as a "mature and vibrant" one between major developing countries, he said their ties were built on the basis of mutual respect, equality, and win-win benefits.

Xi called for more guidance and coordination on the two countries' exchanges and cooperation across the board, so as to promote trade liberalization and facilitation in bids to push forward a quality growth of their bilateral trade.

He also urged the two sides to discuss the synergy of the Belt and Road Initiative with Brazil's development strategies like the Investment Partnerships Program, strengthen cooperation on innovation and flagship projects, and beef up people-to-people exchanges.

"China stands ready to join hands with Brazil to advance China-Latin America cooperation and push the economic and trade cooperation between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries to a higher level," he said, adding that China supports Brazil in hosting the next BRICS summit.

For his part, Temer said that Brazil attaches high importance to the Belt and Road Initiative and is willing to strengthen cooperation with China in such areas as trade, investment, infrastructure, and energy.

The comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries is strong and mutually beneficial, he said, calling on the two countries to strengthen communication and coordination on international and regional affairs, promote solidarity and cooperation among the BRICS members, and jointly safeguard the common interests of developing countries.

Brazil stands ready to make contribution to the development of ties between Latin America and China, Temer said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 20:56:32|Editor: mym

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Volunteers collect relief items at a basketball court in Rafina, east of Athens, Greece, on July 26, 2018. As Greece mourned its deadliest tragedy caused by wildfires in over a decade with the toll in the seaside city of Attica rising to 82 on Thursday, volunteers poured in to help heal the wounds. (Xinhua/Lefteris Partsalis)

by Maria Spiliopoulou

ATHENS, July 26 (Xinhua) -- As Greece mourned its deadliest tragedy caused by wildfires in over a decade with the toll in the seaside city of Attica rising to 82 on Thursday, volunteers poured in to help heal the wounds.

While firefighters still battled blazes and searches for yet an unclear number of missing people continued in the scorched settlements 30 km east of Athens, thousands at home and from abroad demonstrated solidarity with the victims.

There were inspiring instances of fundraising activities, donation of clothing and medical supplies, as well as announcements of free accommodation for people who lost their homes in the fires that broke out on Monday.

The response by ordinary citizens, businesses and various organizations to appeals for aid was so strong that on Wednesday local authorities said the need for essentials such as food, water and clothing has been met for now.

What was still urgently needed was blood donations and helping hands on site.

"In these difficult moments, let us all contribute as we can. People are in need of blood, at a time of reduced stock due to summer," the National Blood Donation Center said in a press release.

In response, people formed long queues in hospitals in Athens and across the country, waiting for hours to donate blood.

By Wednesday, the average daily blood donations nationwide had more than doubled, the center said.

Seventeen-year-old Vassilis Pliatsikas was one of the hundreds of people who volunteered on Wednesday to transfer supplies to the Rafina-Pikermi city hall.

"We came to help our friends who have lost their homes. They said they needed help, so a group of us came to assist as much as we can," the teen told Xinhua while carrying boxes containing aid supplies.

"We are from a shipping company. We are here to deliver a donation, medical supplies for people who have suffered and are still suffering," Costas Gogitakis, 45, said.

He had arrived by taxi and the taxi driver was helping him to unload the goods.

Over 1,200 houses were found to be completely destroyed or partially damaged in Mati and Neos Voutzas with another 200 houses similarly impacted in western Attica.

Defense Minister Panos Kammenos visited Mati on Thursday and pledged the state will move fast to fully restore the area and help the people, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

But many of the villagers were inconsolable. "We are left with nothing," a villager said bitterly, blaming the authorities for lack of a contingency plan to deal with crises.

"They told us, dive into the sea to save your lives," another villager said. "How could the elderly and kids make it?"

Many who rushed to the sea to escape the flames were drowned.

Kammenos said the town plan should be changed and roads opened, giving easier access to the sea so that no further victims would be mourned in the future.MANILA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte signed on Thursday a Muslim autonomy law aimed at ending nearly five decades of armed conflicts in Mindanao that claimed thousands of lives, displaced millions of poor Filipinos and kept investment at bay in the southern Philippines.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque told reporters that Duterte "has just signed the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) into law. BOL is originally called Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).

As an organic act, the BOL will pave the way for creating a government for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, replacing the current Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, enjoying more power, can have its own judicial system and parliament. However, the autonomous government cannot have its own military and police force, as these would still be under the national government.

Jesus Dureza, the Philippine Presidential Peace Adviser, said earlier this week, "(The bill) will be a new beginning for all Bangsamoro and all citizens to work for a better and peaceful Mindanao and country."

Official statistics show that some 120,000 people have been killed since early l970s between government troops and Muslim rebel groups. Those killed included not just combatants of both sides but also innocent civilians.

The Philippine government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a major Muslim rebel group in the Philippines, signed a peace agreement in 2012 and ended the insurgency. In 2014 both sides agreed to pass a law, which is BBL, to maintain the lasting peace in the southern Philippines at the legislative level.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 21:06:40|Editor: Yurou

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BEIJING, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese and U.S. military will co-host the 2018 Asia Pacific Military Health Exchange (APMHE) in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, from September 17 to 21.

Some 600 people, including military representatives from 28 countries and representatives from the United Nations, International Red Cross, and Association of Southeast Asian Nations Center of Military Medicine, will participate in the event, said Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defense, at a press conference Thursday in Beijing.

The theme of the annual meeting is "Challenges and Solutions: Strengthening Global Health." This will be the first time that the Chinese and U.S. military co-host the APMHE in China, said Ren.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 21:06:41|Editor: xuxin

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KAMPALA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni on Thursday left for South Africa to attend the 10th BRICS summit.

In a statement issued on his twitter account, Museveni said he will attend the 10th BRICS summit held at Sandton Convention Center in Johannesburg, aimed for collaboration for inclusive growth and shared prosperity in the 4th industrial revolution.

"In company of First Lady, I have left for the 10th BRICS Summit in South Africa. The discussions will among others focus on how Africa can tap into the 4th Industrial Revolution," said Museveni.

Leaders of several African countries have also been invited to attend a dialogue under the BRICS framework on external cooperation.

The summit gathers leaders from the bloc's five members, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, to discuss measures responding to global challenges.

The July 25-27 summit is held under the theme, "BRICS in Africa: Collaboration for Inclusive Growth and Shared Prosperity in the 4th Industrial Revolution".Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 21:31:49|Editor: Yamei

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JOHANNESBURG, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered on Thursday a speech titled "Turn Our Vision into a Reality" at the Plenary Session of the BRICS Johannesburg Summit.

The following is the full text of the speech:

Turn Our Vision into a Reality

Remarks by H.E. Xi Jinping

President of the People's Republic of China

At the Plenary Session of the BRICS Johannesburg Summit

Johannesburg, 26 July 2018

Your Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa,

Your Excellency President Michel Temer,

Your Excellency President Vladimir Putin,

Your Excellency Prime Minister Narendra Modi,

Let me begin by thanking President Ramaphosa and the South African government for their warm hospitality and thoughtful arrangements. The BRICS Summit is convened in Africa again after a lapse of five years. This is an occasion to celebrate.

The theme of this summit - "BRICS in Africa: Collaborating for Inclusive Growth and Shared Prosperity in the 4th Industrial Revolution" - is most fitting under the current circumstances. The previous three industrial revolutions were all characterized by transformative advancement in science and technology: the rise of mechanization in the 18th century, the harnessing of electricity in the 19th century, and the advent of the Information Age in the 20th century. Such breakthroughs have greatly unleashed social productivity and significantly improved people's living standards, thus profoundly reshaping the course of human history.

Today, we are experiencing another revolution in science, technology and industry, which is greater in scope and depth. Breakthroughs are being made in quick succession in frontier technologies like big data and artificial intelligence. New technologies, business models and industries are emerging one after another. Countries around the world have found their interests and future tied together like never before.

That said, we have yet to sustain global growth with new driving forces and to address the North-South imbalance and other deep-seated structural problems. What's more, constant flare-ups of geopolitical conflicts and the escalation of protectionism and unilateralism are directly affecting the external development environment of emerging markets and developing countries.

History keeps surging forward independent of people's wish. We the BRICS countries must therefore have a keen grasp of the trend of our times, deepen our strategic partnership, and consolidate our cooperation framework underpinned by economic, political and security cooperation and people-to-people exchanges. This way, we will be able to turn our vision of a second "Golden Decade" into a reality, and together build a community with a shared future for mankind.

First, we must unlock the enormous potential of our economic cooperation. Closer economic cooperation for shared prosperity is the original purpose and priority of BRICS cooperation. It is also in the economic field that we enjoy the most promising, diverse and fruitful cooperation. We need to step up trade, investment, economic, financial, and connectivity cooperation to make this pie still bigger. At the same time, we must work together at the United Nations, the Group of 20, and the World Trade Organization to safeguard the rule-based multilateral trading regime, promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and reject protectionism outright.

It is important that we continue to pursue innovation-driven development and build a Partnership on New Industrial Revolution to strengthen coordination on macroeconomic policies, find more complementarities in our development strategies, and reinforce each other's efforts in renewing economic driving forces and upgrading economic structure. In this context, China will host ten human resources development programs during which experts of our five countries will be invited to draw up a blueprint for our cooperation in the new industrial revolution. By so doing, we hope to enhance the competitiveness of not only BRICS countries but also other emerging markets and developing countries.

Second, we must safeguard global peace and security. Political and security cooperation is an important component of BRICS strategic partnership. We should stay committed to multilateralism and to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. We should call on all parties to abide by international law and basic norms governing international relations and to settle disputes through dialogue and differences through consultation. By fully leveraging the role of BRICS meetings of foreign ministers, national security advisers and permanent representatives to the United Nations, we can make our voice heard, put forth our solutions, and jointly work for a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, equality, justice and win-win cooperation.

Third, we must expand people-to-people exchanges. We the BRICS countries boast great civilizations. When it comes to cultural and people-to-people exchanges, there is a lot we can do together. As a matter of fact, such exchanges have notably gained momentum over the last year or two. We should aim at greater people-to-people connectivity and more popular support for BRICS cooperation through extensive exchanges in cultural, educational, health, sports, tourism and other areas. China would therefore like to suggest joint touring exhibitions by the BRICS alliances of museums, art museums, national galleries, and libraries and closer cooperation in the cultural, creative and tourism industries and at the sub-national level. This way, we can spread the BRICS story far and wide to further enhance the mutual understanding and traditional friendship among our people.

Fourth, we must build a network of closer partnerships. Since the inception of the BRICS mechanism, openness and inclusiveness have remained our abiding commitment. The "BRICS Plus" approach we adopted at the Xiamen Summit is designed to strengthen the unity and coordination among BRICS members for greater cohesion and, at the same time, to keep broadening the BRICS "circle of friends" in a joint pursuit of shared development and prosperity for all emerging markets and developing countries. We may explore "BRICS Plus" cooperation within the United Nations, the G20, and other frameworks to advance the common interests and boost the development space for emerging markets and developing countries, thus contributing more to world peace and development through broader partnerships.

Colleagues,

The future of BRICS is in the hands of our people. Let us work together with the rest of the international community for an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity.

Thank you.Sellbyville, Delaware, July 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --



World Marine Scrubber Systems Market is poised to cross USD 8 billion by 2024, as reported in the latest study by Global Market Insights, Inc. Increasing sulphur emissions from shipping industry along with growing concern toward its adverse effects on health and environment will foster the marine scrubber systems market size. In January 2016, the IMO introduced global sulphur limit of 0.5% on fuel content in seaborne traffic that will be applicable from January 1, 2020. Growing legislative pressure on shipping vendors to meet environmental norms along with rise in clean fuel cost will positively influence the product adoption.

Stringent government regulations coupled with penalties for non-compliance of SOx norms will boost the marine scrubber systems market. These devices are effective sulphur abatement technologies that removes particulate matters by over 70% and SO2 by 90%. High installation cost and rising adoption of clean fuels including Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) and Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (LSFO) may act as a challenge for the industry growth.

Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2759

The U.S. market will surpass 300 units by 2024. Ongoing research and innovations to manufacture technology in compliance with the new environmental norms will stimulate the industry growth. In addition, rising demand for retrofitting of existing vessels on account of stringent regulatory framework will encourage the product penetration.

Upsurge in investments toward tourism industry on account of increasing disposable income, improvement in standard of living and demographic shifts will boost the demand for recreational marine scrubber systems market. According to World Travel & Tourism Council, in 2016 the marine tourism industry generated a revenue of USD 7.6 trillion contributing over 10.2% to the global GDP.

Browse key industry insights spread across 550 pages with 1547 market data tables & 10 figures & charts from the report, Marine Scrubber Systems Market in detail along with the table of contents:

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/marine-scrubber-systems-market

Strict regulations to comply with 0.5% global sulphur cap along with high sulphur content levels in MDO fuel will positively influence the product demand. In addition, rising awareness toward marine pollution and introduction of technologically advanced systems including hybrid scrubbers will boost the global market outlook.

Europe marine scrubber systems market is set to grow on account of increasing concerns toward limitation of sulphur emission rates coupled with rising investments across the maritime sector. Ongoing research and development (R&D) in product design and development along with presence of numerous manufacturers will strengthen the industry outlook. Further, the necessity for the big ships to report its verified annual emission data and other required information post 2018 will complement the product adoption.

Growing shipbuilding industry coupled with rising maritime trade activities will positively impact the China marine scrubber systems market. Ongoing plans and investments to limit ship pollution through establishing new Emission Control Areas (ECAs) will further augment the product adoption. In 2015, the Chinese Ministry of Transport established new ECAs in the country including the Pearl River Delta, Bohai Bay, and Yangtze River Delta.

Key industry players in the marine scrubber systems market include Yara, Wartsila, CR Ocean Engineering, Alfa Laval, AEC Maritime, DuPont, Clean Marine, Shanghai Bluesoul Environmental Technology, Fuel Tech, Mitsubishi, Johnson Matthey, GEA, SCL International, Scheuch Gmbh, Kwangsung, Albonair, FLSmidth, Damen, Ecospray Technologies and Fuji Electric.

Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2759

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Oil Refining Market Size 2018  2024

Oil Refining Market revenue was valued over USD 6 trillion in 2017 and is set to witness a consumption of over 100 million barrels per day (MBPD) by 2024. Increasing investment toward construction, expansion & upgradation of refineries to fulfill petroleum product demand will stimulate the oil refining market Outlook.

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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.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 21:56:56|Editor: xuxin

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By Maria Spiliopoulou

ATHENS, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Following the shock and agony, Greeks are looking into the causes of one of the deadliest tragedies to hit the country in over a decade.

At least 83 lives were lost, 187 people were injured and a yet unclear number of people were missing by Thursday, after a wildfire swept on Monday through coastal settlements, 30 kilometers east of Athens, according to the latest official count.

As rain fell on Thursday helping firefighters to extinguish the last flames, but also hampering efforts to trace survivors, policy makers, experts and ordinary citizens were debating over the factors which contributed to the catastrophe and measures to avert future tragedies caused by wildfires or floods.

What happened at Mati and Neos Voutzas this week was "a tragedy waiting to happen" for several years, locals such as Fotis Provatas, former vice mayor of the City of Athens, told Xinhua.

They pointed to problematic urban planning which blocked the quick escape of thousands of people to the sea and lack of emergency preparedness.

The town plan in Mati acted as a "death trap", Professor of dynamic tectonics and applied geology Efthymios Lekkas told local SKAI TV.

"It was the extreme weather phenomenon, the wind gusts, the speed of the fire, the forest that had not been cleared, the morphology of the terrain that helped its rapid advance, but the decisive factor was the layout of the buildings and roads that trapped people," he said.

It was a plan that included roads that led to dead ends, to cliffs above the sea, or fenced properties, he explained.

The most alarming fact highlighted in the debate was that Mati and Neos Voutzas were the rule and not the exception in seaside towns across Greece.

Very few Greek towns were built in an appropriate way and it was now a question of what could be done in all the areas that had been developed in the last four or five decades, with multiple violations of town planning rules, Professor Lekkas stressed.

Transport and Infrastructure Minister Christos Spirtzis announced on Thursday a survey of building permits in Mati.

Exceptional conditions with gusts of wind that reached record speeds of up to 120 kilometers per hour were at least partly to blame for the devastation inflicted by the fire, the head of the National Observatory of Athens and Professor of astronomy Manolis Pleionis told Greek national news agency AMNA.

But mainly it was chronic "mistakes and oversights" Costas Synolakis, Professor of natural hazards at the Technical University of Crete's School of Environmental Engineering, commented in "Kathimerini" (Daily) newspaper.

"Monday's fires raged out of control, raising the question of whether the initial response was inadequate. The response time to any fire, whether in a city or a forest, is critical," Professor Synolakis noted.

"As we stressed in an older study conducted with Georgios Karagiannis at the Technical University of Crete, understanding the situation, gauging the resources required and assessing the mobilization time are the biggest challenges in any disaster response," Synolakis wrote.

"The announcement of a wildfire in a well-known high-risk area should have sounded the alarm for the instant deployment of more firefighting resources before the fire spread...

"The fire should not be allowed to reach people's yards before they are ordered to abandon their homes. Greece has only a handful of areas that have carried out civil protection drills," the Greek expert underlined.

The government has implied that in Mati's case there was a deliberate arson plan. The fire started in a forest of particularly flammable pine trees on Mountain Penteli as strong winds blew in the area.

Penteli Mayor Dimitris Stergiou suggested another scenario when speaking to local media on Thursday -- that a cut Public Power Corporation cable started the deadly wildfire.

Stergiou told "in-gr" news portal that he was on the scene just minutes after the fire broke out.

He said he spotted a cut cable from the Public Power Corporation's outdated electricity network and alerted the Fire Service. "I suspect that this is what started the fire. It exploded like an atomic bomb," Stergiou said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 22:11:58|Editor: xuxin

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DOHA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Qatar will strengthen its efforts to combat money laundering and terrorism financing despite being accused of financing terrorism by its Gulf neighbors, local media reported on Thursday.

Qatar's General Authority of Customs (GAC) and the Financial Information Unit (FIC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on launching an electronic link to strengthen the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing, the Qatar Tribune newspaper reported.

Under the deal, the two sides would exchange information on the statistics of the crimes discovered in Qatar and emerging criminal phenomena in the Middle East and North Africa.

The signing of the deal was important as the exchange of information between the two sides will facilitate the investigation and gathering of information on the crimes, GAC Chairman Ahmed bin Abdullah al Jamal was quoted as saying.

The agreement also aims at supporting the Qatari economy, as well as protecting it from suspicious financial transactions.

On June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Qatar, and cut all air, land and sea links with the Arab Gulf state, citing Doha's support to extremists and terror organizations. The Qatari government has strongly denied these accusations.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 22:22:00|Editor: xuxin

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MOSCOW, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of Russian Federation Council, the upper house of Russia's parliament, said Thursday she plans to visit the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and South Korea in autumn.

The visit will take place "this fall", she said at a press conference, "We are now at the stage of careful elaboration of conditions and details."

Matviyenko said her aides are discussing the exact timetable of the visit with officials of both countries.

Matviyenko noted she would like the timing to guarantee that it will be a real working visit "filled with negotiations and content."Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 22:32:05|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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By Stefania Fumo

ROME, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Politicians and the press must combat the spread of hate speech and prejudice or Italy might become like the "Far West", President Sergio Mattarella told reporters at Rome's Quirinal presidential palace on Thursday.

Mattarella spoke in reference to a July 24 incident in which an Italian man shot a little girl from the minority Roma ethnic group with a pellet gun, injuring her spine and leaving her at risk of paralysis.

"Italy cannot resemble the Far West, where a man buys a rifle and shoots from his balcony, wounding a one-year-old girl, ruining her health and her future," Mattarella said. "This is barbarism, and it sparks indignation."

Mattarella used the incident to warn against the spread of hate speech on the internet.

"We are all aware that the web is sometimes used in distorted, even alarming, ways," he said, pointing to "signals of rancor (and) brawling tones, which risk seeding society with the bacteria of division, of prejudice, of preconceived hostility, with the aim of subjecting our fellow citizens to constant tension".

The president told politicians and journalists that it is their job to fight the spread of hatred and prejudice among the public.

"It is up to those in political institutions and in the field of journalism to not let themselves be infected by this virus, but to fight it and to make all citizens perceive the serious damage it causes to the cohabitation of each and every one," Mattarella said.

"There is a duty to moderate (our) language," he said.

Mattarella also condemned trade wars, saying that "in the course of time, they have often led to another kind of war".

The president went on to speak of the world's 65 million refugees, saying that many people displaced is "an epochal phenomenon" and the European Union must "implement a plan of action in order to rule the phenomenon and not be subjected to it".

"Italy has repeatedly asked the European Union to take responsibility with respect to migration," Mattarella said. "Now we are finally seeing some positive signals coming from different countries within the Union."

Mattarella, whose job is to represent national unity and to safeguard the Constitution, made today's remarks during the traditional Fan Ceremony, in which the press corps gives the president a decorated fan to mark the beginning of the summer break.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 22:42:09|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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JOHANNESBURG, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday urged BRICS countries to fully explore their potential in cultural and people-to-people exchanges at the Plenary Session of the BRICS Johannesburg Summit.

He proposed joint touring exhibitions by the BRICS alliances of museums, art museums, national galleries, and libraries and closer cooperation in cultural, creative and tourism industries and at the sub-national level.

"We the BRICS countries boast great civilizations. When it comes to cultural and people-to-people exchanges, there is a lot we can do together," said the Chinese president.

Noting that such exchanges have notably gained momentum over the last year or two, Xi said the BRICS should aim at greater people-to-people connectivity and more popular support for BRICS cooperation through extensive exchanges in cultural, educational, health, sports, tourism and other areas.

"This way, we can spread the BRICS story far and wide to further enhance the mutual understanding and traditional friendship among our people," he said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 22:52:13|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BEIJING, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities revealed ten major online pornography cases on Thursday, amid the nationwide campaign against illegal online publications.

In one case in Ninghai County, Zhejiang Province, six suspects have been detained for profiting from the circulation of obscene content on social network platform WeChat, including pornographic videos of underage girls, said the National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications.

The public security authority has uncovered over 60,000 pornographic videos, with more than 10 million yuan (around 1.5 million U.S. dollars) involved in the case.

In another case in Guangyuan city, Sichuan Province, five suspects have been arrested over the online broadcasting of child pornography using an app which hides the pornographic content, with over 100,000 downloads. So far, three of them have been transferred to the procuratorial organ, the office said.

Major online obscene content cases in Hebei and Shanghai have seen the use of overseas Internet servers and involvement of foreign live-streaming performers.

In the first half of 2018, China confiscated more than 9.8 million illegal publications and dealt with 5,500 related cases, according to the office.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 22:52:13|Editor: huaxia

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MOGADISHU, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Somalia Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire on Thursday sacked education minister Abdirahman Dahir Osman.

In a statement issued in Mogadishu, Khaire replaced Osman with his deputy Abdirahman Mohamud Abdulle Jabir in an acting capacity.

"Somali Prime Minister has today issued a decree sacking Osman from his post of minister for education," it said.

The sacking comes after Osman who has served as education minister since 2017 was quoted as saying his ministry does not recognize all the universities in the country.

The latest sacking, the second in a month comes after the PM dismissed Minister of Religious Affairs and Endowment amid disagreement over Hajj services between private airlines and the government. EnditemSource: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 22:52:14|Editor: Li Xia

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A picture taken on July 26, 2018, from the settlement of Ein Zivan in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.The Syrian army on Thursday hoisted the Syrian national flag over the crossing between the southern province of Quneitra and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, a well-informed source told Xinhua.(Xinhua/Muammar Awad)

DAMASCUS, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army on Thursday hoisted the Syrian national flag over the crossing between the southern province of Quneitra and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, a well-informed source told Xinhua.

The Syrian flag was raised over the Quneitra crossing, just tens of meters away from the Israeli forces in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, the source said on condition of anonymity.

He added that the Syrians in the Golan Heights saw the Syrian soldiers.

The Quneitra crossing is a border crossing through the purple ceasefire line into the area controlled by the UN Disengagement Observer Force between the Syrian-controlled and the Israeli-occupied parts of the Golan Heights. It is on the southwestern outskirts of Quneitra, and not far from Ein Zivan in the Golan Heights.

The rebels captured it in 2014 from the Syrian army.

Meanwhile, Syrian state news agency SANA said the army was deployed in Quneitra Thursday, after the end of militants' presence.

The declaration came a week after a deal was reached for the entry of the Syrian army into all rebel-held areas in Quneitra near the Golan Heights.

According to the deal, the Syrian army should enter all of the areas that had been controlled by the government before 2011, the year of the Syrian war.

The rebels surrendered their weapons, and those who rejected to reconcile with the government had evacuated to the rebel-held areas in northern Syria.

This new deal came in light of the recent summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, who met in Helsinki, Finland last week. They discussed the situation in Syria, mainly in the southern region near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Putin highlighted the need to defeat terrorists in southwestern Syria while keeping the forces of Syria and Israel separated.

He referred specifically to the treaty of 1974 that ended the Yom Kippur war and designated the lines of separation between Israel and Syria.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 23:07:23|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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STOCKHOLM, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven told the Swedish Television SVT on Thursday that the country might ask for NATO's help in controlling the raging forest fires.

"The government has given the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency a permission to ask help from NATO's Partnership for Peace countries," Lofven told SVT.

On Thursday, the forest fires are burning on an area of 25,000 hectares and its damages are estimated to reach over 900 million SEK (102 million U.S. dollars).

Meanwhile, new methods in controlling the forest fires have been taken into use. SVT reported on Wednesday that Swedish Air Forces used JAS Gripen fighter aircrafts to bomb some of the most difficult fires.

According to the Swedish Air Forces and the fire department, their hope was to "eat up" all the oxygen that the fires needs to burn.

"Our preliminary evaluation is that the bombings had a very positive effect and parts of the fire have been extinguished," fire chief Johan Szymanski told SVT on Thursday, a day after the bombings.

In addition, Swedish ski resorts have offered their snow storages to be used in putting out the fires. Weather modification has also been discussed as artificial rain clouds could help in putting out the fires.

The forest fires have been burning for two weeks, forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 23:17:24|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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HARARE, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa left for South Africa Thursday to attend the 10th BRICS summit, state news agency New Ziana reported.

BRICS, an acronym for a grouping of the world leading emerging economies namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, holds its rotational leaders' summits annually.

The summit running from July 25-27 is being held under the theme "BRICS in Africa: Collaboration for inclusive growth and shared prosperity in the fourth industrial revolution".

Mnangagwa is among 22 other African leaders that have been invited to attend the summit, which is focusing on strengthening cooperation between BRICS and Africa.

BRICS was established in 2009 to deepen, broaden and intensify relations within the grouping and among the individual countries for more sustainable, equitable and mutually beneficial development.

Zimbabwe enjoys high level political and economic relations with China and South Africa and has cordial relations with the rest of the BRICS members.

Zimbabwe goes to the polls on July 30 to choose a president, parliamentarians and councilors.

Mnangagwa, who has been leading the ruling party's election campaign over the past months, will battle it out with 22 other presidential candidates in the polls which are being held in the presence of Western observers for the first time in 16 years.As previously announced on 1 September 2015, Mr. Morten Arntzen, Executive Chairman of Team Tankers International Ltd. (the "Company"), has on certain conditions been granted equity awards in the Company as a part of his long-term incentive program.

Mr. Arntzen has today received 176,702 shares (net after estimated tax) (the "Vested Shares"). Mr. Arntzen has not paid any cash consideration for the Vested Shares. Following the distribution of the Vested Shares, Mr. Arntzen is the owner of 530,106 shares and he has a right to acquire a further 294,503 shares under the equity award as announced on 1 September 2015.

The Company has also today amended the equity award component of the long-term incentive program granted to Mr. Kevin Kilcullen, its Chief Financial Officer, and announced on 22 February 2016. Mr. Kilcullen's option grant has been reduced from 1,000,000 to 500,000 options and his restricted share award has been increased from 400,000 to 650,000 shares. The options have been cancelled as of today and the 250,000 increase in restricted shares will vest in equal annual installments in February 2019 and 2020.

After these transactions, the Company has outstanding equity awards in respect of a total of 2,186,913 shares. The Company has issued to date a total of 209,578,173 shares of which 3,849,631 shares are held by the Company as treasury shares.

The Board of Directors

Team Tankers International Ltd.

Hamilton, Bermuda

Questions should be directed to:

Hans Feringa: President and CEO

T: +1 203 221 3420

Kevin Kilcullen: CFO

T: +1 203 221 3433WASHINGTON, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai has said that China and the United States are "still in the same boat" despite those noises in the United States that they should not.

Speaking on Wednesday at the 8th U.S.-China Civil Dialogue hosted by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a U.S. think tank, Cui said that China and the United States are still faced with "fierce wind and huge waves" after all these years.

However, it is a mere "illusion" that any country can really change China, given the country's long history, he said.

He also refuted those arguing that China is a "revisionist" nation trying to "challenge the position of the U.S. and its dominance in the world."

"Our economic and trade relations are interdependent and mutually beneficial," he said.

The Chinese envoy added that the common challenge for both Beijing and Washington is "to navigate this boat through the uncertainties or uncharted waters, for the benefits of both our countries, and for the entire world."Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 23:27:28|Editor: huaxia

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DAR ES SALAAM, July 26 (Xinhua) -- A Tanzanian government minister on Thursday ordered authorities in western region of Kigoma to immediately evict foreign nationals who have invaded and settled in wildlife protected reserves.

Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Hamisi Kigwangalla accused the local authorities of laxity leading to foreigners from neighbouring countries invading the protected reserves and inflicting damage on the areas.

Kigoma region is situated on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, the second oldest freshwater lake in the world, and its neighbours are Burundi, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"The invasion of wildlife protected reserves is being done under the watch of government authorities," said Kigwangalla.

Kigwangalla said intelligence reports in his possession indicated that foreigners had settled in and were conducting human activities within Moyowosi and Kigosi game reserves located in Kibondo district as well as Makere forest reserve in Kasulu district.

Apart from illegal human settlements within the reserves, farming, livestock keeping as well as poaching were also rampant but with authorities doing nothing to stop the illegalities, said Kigwangalla.

"It is unimaginable that leaders who were expected to be patriotic were instead allowing foreigners to do as they wished in protected areas that we do not allow even our citizens to settle insaid the minister," said the minister. "This is unacceptable."

At the same time, Kigwangalla issued a three-month ultimatum to individuals who were living or conducting human activities within protected areas to leave voluntarily or face eviction.

Kigwangalla gave the same order last week in Busega district, Simiyu region, where he directed that individuals who have encroached Kijereshi Game Reserve should leave. EnditemULAN BATOR, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on Thursday handed over "dignity kits" -- hygiene supplies for girls and women -- to Mongolia's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for distribution among flood victims in Bayan-Ulgii Province.

Downpours from July 14-16 triggered massive flooding in the western province, affecting more than 2,500 people, including some 1,000 females of reproductive age, according to NEMA.

"Maintaining proper hygiene is a common problem in the aftermath of any disaster, especially for women and girls. Therefore, the UNFPA is distributing the dignity kits," UNFPA representative in Mongolia Naomi Kitahara said.

The kits, worth 24 million Mongolian tugriks (about 9,741 U.S. dollars), contain wet tissues, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, soap, sanitary pads and towel.

"Women and girls are at risk of gender-based violence and sexual harassment after disasters. So, the kits contain protection items including whistles and torches with batteries," she added.

Bayan-Ulgii, the worst affected province, has suffered direct economic losses worth 10 billion tugriks (about 4 million dollars) due to the floods.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 23:32:31|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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DAR ES SALAAM, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The World Food Programme (WFP) on Thursday pledged to support Tanzania's smallholder farmers to move away from subsistence farming and improve their food security.

David Beasley, the WFP Director General, said the UN organization will support the smallholder farmers by addressing the causes of post-harvest losses in key commodity crops, access to extension services, quality inputs and access to markets.

"WFP support will focus on promoting crop diversification and investing in technologies to ease women's workload," said Beasley when he held talks with Tanzanian President John Magufuli at State House in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.

In 2015/2016, the WFP commissioned a comprehensive Zero Hunger Strategy Review on food security and nutrition in the east African nation based on the targets Sustainable Development Goal number two--zero hunger.

Beasley said the WFP has co-designed a multi-stakeholder initiative to increase the incomes of 250,000 smallholder farmers in prioritized regions.

Under the support, the WFP will specifically target women farmers both in farming and in small-scale processing, said the WFP chief.

"All these are possible under the impressive leadership of President John Magufuli," Beasley was quoted in a statement by the Directorate of Presidential Communication at State House.

Beasley added: "Tanzania could produce surplus food for the entire African region."

President Magufuli praised the WFP for supporting smallholder farmers to improve their welfare.

"I thank WFP for efforts it was taking to support my government's resolve to improve the livelihoods of Tanzanians," said Magufuli.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 23:47:35|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ADDIS ABABA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, on Thursday welcomed the official announcement by the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) of the end of the Ebola virus outbreak in the country.

The Ministry of Health of the DRC declared the end of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in Equateur province on July 24, after sustained national-led efforts to contain it within the affected areas, said an AU statement.

It was on May 8 that the Ministry of Health of the DRC declared a new outbreak of the EVD in the Bikoro health zone, which was the 9th outbreak of EVD over the past four decades in the country.

The outbreak spread across three health zones, namely Bikoro, Iboko and Wangata in the Equateur Province, resulting in a total of 54 confirmed cases, with 33 EVD-related deaths.

The last case that tested negative was 42 days ago, said the AU statement, this, as per the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and International Health Regulations, marks the end of the outbreak.

The Chairperson of the AU Commission has commended the Congolese government for its swift and effective response since the outbreak was declared on 8 May 2018 in the province of Equateur, according the statement.

Following the declaration of the outbreak then, the AU Commission, through the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), took a number of steps to contribute to the government-led response, recalled the statement.

The 55-member Union, through Africa CDC, has made a significant contribution to the efforts aimed at containing the outbreak, in support of the Congolese-led response, said the statement.

The pan-African bloc will continue to support the efforts of the Congolese government during the 90-day period of enhanced surveillance following the official end of the Ebola outbreak, it added.

The Chairperson of the AU Commission has noted that the timely declaration of the outbreak, in accordance with the International Health Regulations, as well as the leadership and pro-activeness demonstrated by the Congolese government, allowed a coordinated and efficient intervention of all concerned partners to swiftly contain the outbreak.

The Africa CDC has deployed health personnel in the affected areas, trained more than 300 local experts, procured diagnostic equipment, and supported the DRC Ministry of Health in central coordination of the response at national level.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-26 23:52:36|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ATHENS, July 26 (Xinhua) -- While Greece mourns and still seeks missing persons after Monday's deadly wildfire in Mati, eastern Attica, which resulted in over 80 casualties, a violent storm in the northern suburbs of Athens on Thursday turned the streets into rivers.

At least 200 calls were made to the Fire Brigade to help trapped drivers and pump water from flooded houses and shops, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.

At the same time, the image of dozens of overturned cars in an open parking lot in Maroussi made the rounds on local television channels and the internet.

In northern suburbs of Athens as Nea Erythraia, Kifissia, Penteli, Vrilissia and Melissia, roads were closed due to the heavy rain, while the Fire Brigade was required to save trapped drivers in at least eight cases.

The weather forecast states that in the coming days the weather will be shaky in Greece, but rains will be less intense.WASHINGTON, July 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said here on Thursday that the United States will slap "significant economic sanctions" on Turkey unless it immediately releases a detained U.S. pastor.

Pence said Turkey should take immediate action to free Andrew Brunson or "be prepared to face the consequences."

U.S. President Donald Trump also tweeted earlier that Ankara should release Brunson, calling the cleric's detention "a total disgrace."

The 50-year-old pastor, who was detained two years ago on spying charges, faces up to 35 years in prison if found guilty.

A Turkish court on Wednesday decided to move him from prison to house arrest under judicial control due to his health problems. However, he was not allowed to leave the country.

Turkish authorities accuse him of espionage and having links to the network led by U.S.-based outlawed cleric Fethullah Gulen and the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

Ankara accuses Gulen and his network of being behind the failed coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his government in 2016, an accusation that Gulen has denied.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 00:02:39|Editor: Li Xia

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Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli and members of the Council of Ministers use laptop computers in cabinet meeting in Kathmandu, Nepal, July 26, 2018. This was the first time in Nepal that the cabinet meeting was convened with the prime minister and cabinet ministers using the laptop computers, Bishnu Rimal, the prime minister's advisor to political affairs, said on Twitter. (Xinhua/Office of Prime Minister)

KATHMANDU, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli and members of the Council of Ministers started using laptop computers in the cabinet on Thursday, as part of their previous commitment to go for the paperless governance functioning, a key aide to the prime minister said.

This was the first time in Nepal that the cabinet meeting was convened with the prime minister and cabinet minister using the laptop computers, Bishnu Rimal, the prime minister's advisor to political affairs, said on Twitter.

The advisor also tweeted a photograph where the ministers are seen use laptop computers at a close roundtable in the Cabinet Hall at the Prime Minister's Office in Singhdurbar, the central administrative secretariat of the country where most of the crucial ministries are located in.

Officials said that the prime minister and ministers have got new laptop computers to be used for the cabinet meetings.

The prime minister and the ministers will be given fresh usernames and One Time Password (OTP) to login and access the cabinet meeting agenda.

Chief Secretary of the cabinet will distribute the usernames and password to the prime minister and ministers at each cabinet meeting.

In view of preventing possible disturbances or leaks during the cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has installed the cellphone jammers at its premises, authorities said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 00:07:40|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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FUZHOU, July 26 (Xinhua) -- A court in southeast China's Fujian Province Thursday opened a court session hearing a case filed by Chinese villagers demanding the return of a lost Buddha statue from a Dutch collector.

The statue contains the mummified body of a Song Dynasty (960-1279) Buddhist monk. It was worshipped inside the village temple of Yangchun, Datian County, for over 1,000 years before it was stolen in 1995.

The three-hour session at the Intermediate People's Court of Sanming city included presentation of evidence and cross-examination from both parties, as well as court investigation.

Key issues discussed included whether the statue stolen from the temple was the same as the one held by Dutch collector Oscar van Overeem.

The villagers have been looking for the Buddha statue since it went missing.

When a statue was exhibited in Hungary in March 2015, the villagers said they recognized it as their lost statue, and later went through official and private channels to negotiate with the Dutch collector its return.

The Dutch collector claimed he collected the 11th-century relic in 1996. He initially agreed to return it, but when negotiations failed, the villagers filed a lawsuit against him in both China and the Netherlands.

The Intermediate People's Court of Sanming registered the case in 2015. Thursday's session was the first hearing of the case in China. The next court session will be announced at a later date.

Van Overeem's agents asked for a two-month extension to gather more evidence.

A Dutch court registered the villagers' lawsuit in June 2016, and the first Amsterdam court public hearing was held in July 2017.

The statue is of Zhanggong Zushi, a local man who became a monk in his 20s and won fame for helping treat disease and spreading Buddhist beliefs.

When he died at the age of 37, his body was mummified as he wished and placed inside the statue. The statue had been worshipped in the village temple ever since.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 00:12:41|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ADDIS ABABA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Thursday conveyed his condolences on the passing of the chief engineer of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Simegnew Bekele, who was found dead in his own car early Thursday, has been the chief engineer of Ethiopia's grand dam since its construction was started in April 2011 on the Blue Nile River.

"Prime Minister Abiy is saddened and utterly shocked to hear the death of Engineer Simegnew Bekele," said Fitsum Arega, chief of staff of the Ethiopian prime minister's office.

Ahmed, who is visiting the United States to engage Ethiopian diaspora community, "offers his condolences to his family and the Ethiopian people," Arega said.

Zeynu Jemal, head of the Ethiopian Federal Police Commission, said investigations are currently underway around Meskel Square in the capital, Addis Ababa, where Bekele's body was found inside his car in the early hours of Thursday.

Jemal said that Bekele was shot dead before his body was found in his own car.

The 6,450 MW hydro dam project, which will be Africa's largest upon completion, is now 66 percent complete, according to the Ethiopian government.JERICHO, NY, July 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ecosciences, Inc. (OTC PINK: ECEZ) ("Ecosciences" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it received positive responses to its exhibition at the National Hardware Show held at the Las Vegas Convention Centre May 8  10, 2018 and the National Restaurant Association show held in McCormick Place, Chicago, IL May 19-22. The Company will also be exhibiting at the United Hardware Distributor Trade Show July 27- 29 at the Convention Center in Minneapolis, MN.

For nearly 75 years, the National Hardware Show has served the hardware and home improvement industry. The Show is the prime time and place for face-to-face sourcing and learning with over 20,000+ industry professionals and 15+ different product categories. Ecosciences exhibited its consumer oriented, retail, Oxy-Tab product line. The company was able to show its bilingual packaging for both the U.S. (English/Spanish) and Canadian (English/French) markets to the attendees. The Company met with many of its sales representatives and new prospects.

Joel Falitz, Ecosciences CEO, commented, We are very pleased with the response to the bilingual packaging and new consumer line. We believe our innovative technology, attractive packaging and bonus tablets in every package will help us gain market share in both the septic tank treatment market and drain care market.

The National Restaurant Association Tradeshow is the premier event in the food services industry where attendees see the latest culinary breakthroughs, experience new equipment and technology. Ecosciences exhibited its commercial line of Trap-Eze tabs. The Company captured over 140 marketing leads and spoke to attendees including McDonalds franchisees as well as other independent restaurants and chains, casinos and universities.

Joel Falitz, Ecosciences CEO, commented, We are very pleased with the response from the National Restaurant show. Attendees continue to be impressed with our unique technology that can eliminate or reduce their grease trap pumping frequency, eliminate odors coming from their grease traps, and help eliminate or prevent municipal fines.

United Hardware Distributing Company recently became a distributor of the Companys retail product line. At the tradeshow, the Company will be able to offer a trade show special to the attendees of United Hardwares 1,200 member dealer network.

EcoNow's Oxy-Tab proprietary technology provides oxygen, buffers and billions of beneficial bacteria that breakdown household waste, debris, grease, toilet paper, and organic solids to properly treat septic tanks, sinks, pipes, drains, toilets, showers, garbage disposals, grease traps and wastewater systems. The products eliminate odors and are non-hazardous, environmentally friendly and biodegradable.

About Ecosciences, Inc.

Ecosciences, Inc. focuses on building, acquiring and investing in businesses around ecological and life sciences. From wastewater remediation to healthcare and more, Ecosciences, Inc. is committed to building a better living environment for all people. The Company currently has one wholly-owned subsidiary, Eco-logical Concepts, Inc., which operates the Company's core business of producing and selling bio-remediation products under the brand EcoNow.

For additional information, please visit the Company's website at www.ecosciences.company, the contents of which are not incorporated into this press release.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

The foregoing contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We intend for these forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions of the federal securities laws relating to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include statements relating to, or representing management's beliefs about, our future transactions, strategies, operations, events and financial results. Such forward-looking statements often contain words such as "will," "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "is targeting," "may," "should" and other similar words or expressions. Forward-looking statements are made based upon management's current expectations and beliefs and are not guarantees of future performance. Our actual business, financial condition or results of operations may differ materially from those suggested by forward-looking statements as a result of risks and uncertainties which include, among others, those risks and uncertainties described in any of our other filings with the SEC. Certain other factors which may impact our business, financial condition or results of operations or which may cause actual results to differ from such forward-looking statements are discussed or included in our periodic reports filed with the SEC and are available on our website at www.ecosciences.company under "Investor Info." You are urged to carefully consider all such factors. We do not undertake or plan to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in plans, assumptions, estimates or projections, or other circumstances occurring after the date of this news release, even if such results, changes or circumstances make it clear that any forward-looking information will not be realized. If we make any future public

Disclaimer: This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 00:12:41|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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NAIROBI, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The fifth edition of Africa Tech Challenge (ATC) funded by Chinese firm AVIC International was launched on Thursday in Nairobi to boost technical skills upgrade among the youth.

Kevit Desai, the Principal Secretary in the State Department of Technical, Vocational and Education Training (TVET), said the launch of China funded competition to advance technical skills among the youth lies at the heart of Kenya's industrialization agenda.

"We are embarking on a journey with like-minded partners like AVIC International to transform technical and vocational training, boost youth empowerment through self-employment and entrepreneurship," said Desai.

"This year's Africa Tech Challenge will provide youth with practical skills that are required in the 21st century job market," he added.

Desai said that Kenya has developed a robust policy and regulatory framework to facilitate involvement of industry in development of skills that are required to achieve the Big Four Agenda on manufacturing.

"We value linkages between the public sector and industry to build the capacity of mid-level technicians whose role is crucial to achieve some of the key Big Four agenda items like manufacturing, affordable housing and food security," Desai remarked.

The fifth edition of Africa Tech Challenge aims to provide youth in five African countries including Kenya, Gabon, Ghana, Zambia and Ivory Coast with advanced training in computerized numerical machine techniques and mechatronics engineering.

It is expected that 108 African youth from 27 teams will benefit from the 45 days training that will be held in one of Kenya's leading technical training institution.

The two top winners of Season 5 of Africa Tech Challenge will be awarded a manufacturing contract worth some 100,000 U.S. dollars by AVIC International while the three most outstanding participants will be receive scholarships to pursue a post graduate degree in engineering related field in China.

Jin Yetao, the TVET Director from AVIC International Holding Corporation in Kenya said that improving the technical skills of African youth will revitalize the continent's industrial growth agenda.

"We believe that capacity building and technical training targeting African youth is key to drive the industrialization agenda in the continent," Jin said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 00:17:42|Editor: Lu Hui

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BEIJING, July 26 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Commerce on Thursday said the country supported the reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

"China is supportive of WTO reform, and hopes the reform will address the concerns of most members and reflect their needs," Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Gao Feng said at a press conference, commenting on the trade deal made between the United States and the European Union (EU), which included agreement on WTO reform.

U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker Wednesday agreed to mitigate transatlantic trade tensions over Washington-launched tariffs.

"It's of course a good thing to avoid a trade war. It's not only good for the EU and the United States, but good for the whole world," Gao said. "China will pay close attention to whether the deal will materialize."

Gao said China hoped that the primary purpose of the WTO should not be changed and its fundamental principle not challenged through gradual reform. At the same time, the reform should strengthen the authoritativeness and leadership of the WTO, and consolidate the basic functions and role of free trade principle and multilateral trading system, to better promote global free trade and economic globalization.

"We should always stick to the overall framework of the multilateral trading system and uphold multilateral trade order," Gao said, adding free trade arrangements among WTO members are helpful supplement and positive driving force for the multilateral trading system.

"China has always been an advocate for the construction of open, transparent and mutually beneficial regional free trade arrangements," Gao said.

China holds a positive view on such arrangements as long as they are in line with WTO rules, beneficial for economic globalization and regional economic integration, as well as conducive to building a community with a shared future for mankind, Gao said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 00:32:43|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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by Murad Abdu

ADEN, Yemen, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The attack on two of Saudi Arabia's giant crude carriers west of the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, for which the Houthi group claimed responsibility, sparked wide condemnation.

The two oil tankers belonging to the Saudi National Shipping Company, each carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil, were attacked by Houthis in the Red Sea on Wednesday morning after crossing the Straits of Bab El-Mandeb, according to the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television.

Yemen's Vice President Ali Mohsen described the Houthi attack as a deliberate terror attack aimed at disrupting the maritime traffic.

Mohsen pointed out the Houthi militia's repeated attacks against oil tankers in the international waters are an obstruction to the efforts that the UN special envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths is exerting to bring about peace.

The Iranian-backed Houthis are "posing a threat to the regional and global security by seeking to use Hodeidah's seaport as a launchpad for their numerous terrorist operations," the vice president said in a statement revealed by official Saba news agency.

The internationally-backed Yemeni government strongly condemned the attack and urged the international community to support the ongoing military operations aimed at liberating Hodeidah from Houthis.

The threats to the movement of navigation and the international trade will increase as the Houthis are still in control of Hodeidah and its strategic port, according to a statement issued by the government.

The statement added that while the UN envoy is making "tireless efforts" to resume the peace process in Yemen, the Houthi militia carries out terrorist military operations aimed at undermining the efforts and proposals, which is "clearly evidenced" in the recent attack on the Saudi oil tankers.

A number of countries and regional organizations, including the Arab Parliament and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, condemned the attack on the Saudi oil tankers.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said on his Twitter account that targeting the two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea by Yemen's Houthi rebels "confirms the need to liberate Hodeidah from the Houthi militias."

The Saudi coalition forces to which the UAE armed forces belong on Wednesday foiled another attack on a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea by Houthi militia, according to Al Arabiya television.

The Houthi attack forced Saudi Arabia to suspend all shipments of crude oil passing through the Strait of Bab El-Mandeb until navigation becomes safe.

Other neighboring countries are studying whether to halt oil exports through the strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, following the Houthi attack.

The Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi had expressed their readiness to return to the negotiating table during two meetings with the UN envoy in the southern port city of Aden late in June.

However, the Houthis escalated the situation later and fired several ballistic missiles against government-controlled areas in Hodeidah and used Iranian-made drones to launch attacks against headquarters of the Saudi-led coalition forces in Aden.

On June 13, the coalition declared a major assault to recapture Hodeidah and the Yemeni western Red Sea coast from the Houthis.

Yemen's government and Saudi Arabia have repeatedly accused the Houthis of using the port to smuggle Iranian weapons. Both Houthis and Iran denied the accusation.

Humanitarian agencies have warned of any attack on the port, saying it would lead to the world's biggest humanitarian catastrophe in modern history.

Hodeidah is the single most important point of entry for food and basic supplies to Yemen's northern provinces controlled by Houthis, including the capital Sanaa.

The United Nations reported that more than 121,000 residents have fled the war-torn city of Hodeidah and other parts of the province since June 1.

The coalition intervened in Yemen's conflict in March 2015 to roll back the Houthi rebels and reinstate Hadi.NEW YORK, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Shares of U.S. social media giant Facebook tumbled nearly 20 percent on Thursday after its second-quarter revenue and user growth disappointed investors.

The plunge knocked roughly 120 billion U.S. dollars in market value off the stock, which would be the largest ever loss of value in one day in U.S. stock market history.

The tech company missed projections on revenue and global daily active users for the second quarter. It said Wednesday after the closing bell that its quarterly revenue reached 13.23 billion U.S. dollars while the number of global daily active users stood at 1.47 billion.

In addition, the company advised at a call with analysts that it expected its revenue growth rate to be lower than the previous year.

Facebook's earnings per share, however, stood at 1.74 dollars, topping Wall Street estimates.

The world's largest social network suffered a major setback when it was involved in a data breach scandal in March after Cambridge Analytica, a British voter-profiling company, was accused of illegally harvesting the data of more than 87 million Facebook users to target political advertising.

Since then, its CEO Mark Zuckerberg has testified separately before U.S. Congress and the European Union about his company's protection of user data.

In order to boost its profile, Facebook has introduced several changes to its advertising policy that focused on removing misinformation that incites violence or hatred.

Thursday's plunge dragged the rest of the technology sector lower, which declined about 1.5 percent in morning session.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 00:37:46|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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JOHANNESBURG, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Following is the full text of the 10th BRICS Summit Johannesburg Declaration released on Thursday:

BRICS in Africa:

Collaboration for Inclusive Growth and Shared Prosperity in the 4th Industrial Revolution

SANDTON CONVENTION CENTRE JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA 25 TO 27 JULY 2018

10TH BRICS SUMMIT JOHANNESBURG DECLARATION

I. PREAMBLE

1. We, the Heads of State and Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa, met from 25 - 27 July 2018 in Johannesburg, at the 10th BRICS Summit. The 10th BRICS Summit, as a milestone in the history of BRICS, was held under the theme "BRICS in Africa: Collaboration for Inclusive Growth and Shared Prosperity in the 4th Industrial Revolution".

2. We are meeting on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of Nelson Mandela and we recognise his values, principles and dedication to the service of humanity and acknowledge his contribution to the struggle for democracy internationally and the promotion of the culture of peace throughout the world.

3. We commend South Africa for the Johannesburg Summit thrust on development, inclusivity and mutual prosperity in the context of technology driven industrialisation and growth.

4. We, the Heads of State and Government, express satisfaction regarding the achievements of BRICS over the last ten years as a strong demonstration of BRICS cooperation toward the attainment of peace, harmony and shared development and prosperity, and deliberated on ways to consolidate them further.

5. We reaffirm our commitment to the principles of mutual respect, sovereign equality, democracy, inclusiveness and strengthened collaboration. As we build upon the successive BRICS Summits, we further commit ourselves to enhancing our strategic partnership for the benefit of our people through the promotion of peace, a fairer international order, sustainable development and inclusive growth, and to strengthening the three-pillar-driven cooperation in the areas of economy, peace and security and people-to-people exchanges.

6. We recommit ourselves to a world of peace and stability, and support the central role of the United Nations, the purposes and principles enshrined in the UN Charter and respect for international law, promoting democracy and the rule of law. We reinforce our commitment to upholding multilateralism and to working together on the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals as we foster a more representative, democratic, equitable, fair and just international political and economic order.

7. We reiterate our determination to work together to strengthen multilateralism and the rule of law in international relations, and to promote a fair, just, equitable, democratic and representative international order.

8. We recommit our support for multilateralism and the central role of the United Nations in international affairs and uphold fair, just and equitable international order based on the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, respect for international law, promoting democracy and the rule of law in international relations, and to address common traditional and non-traditional security challenges.

9. We welcome the hosting of the BRICS-Africa Outreach and second BRICS Plus Cooperation with Emerging Markets and Developing Countries (EMDCs) during the Johannesburg Summit.

10. We express satisfaction at the outcomes of Ministerial Meetings that have been held (Annex 1) and look forward to the remainder of meetings to be held under the 2018 BRICS Calendar of Events.

II. STRENGTHENING MULTILATERALISM, REFORMING GLOBAL GOVERNANCE AND ADDRESSING COMMON CHALLENGES

11. We reaffirm our commitment to the United Nations, as the universal multilateral organisation entrusted with the mandate for maintaining international peace and security, advancing global development and promoting and protecting human rights.

12. We reaffirm our commitment to the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, and support for the United Nations as the universal intergovernmental organisation entrusted with the responsibility for maintaining international peace and security, advancing sustainable development as well as ensuring the promotion, and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

13. We reiterate our commitment to the strengthening of multilateral institutions of global governance to ensure that they are able to comprehensively address global challenges.

14. We also recognise the inherent strength of regional initiatives in support of the objectives of the broader multilateral system.

15. We further reaffirm our commitment to the centrality of the universal collective security system enshrined in the UN Charter. We recognize the importance of working towards an international system based on international law, with the UN Charter as its fundamental cornerstone, which fosters cooperation and stability in a multipolar order. We note the long overdue outstanding task of ensuring the adequate representation of African States in the UN, especially in peace and security matters.

16. Faced with international challenges requiring our cooperative efforts, we reiterate our commitment to shaping a more fair, just and representative multipolar international order to the shared benefit of humanity, in which the general prohibition of the use of force is fully upheld and which excludes the imposition of unilateral coercive measures outside the framework of the UN Charter. We emphasise the indivisible nature of peace and security and reiterate that no country should enhance its security at the expense of the security of others.

17. We recall the 2005 World Summit Outcome document and reaffirm the need for a comprehensive reform of the UN, including its Security Council, with a view to making it more representative, effective and efficient, and to increase the representation of the developing countries so that it can adequately respond to global challenges. China and Russia reiterate the importance they attach to the status and role of Brazil, India and South Africa in international affairs and support their aspiration to play a greater role in the UN.

18. We underscore the importance of sustained efforts aimed at making the United Nations more effective and efficient in implementing its mandates. We encourage further collaboration amongst the BRICS countries on a better resourced UN, on its administration and budget, on preserving the UN's Member State-driven character and ensuring better oversight of and strengthening the Organisation.

19. We express our support for continued cooperation of BRICS members in areas of mutual interest including through regular exchanges amongst their multilateral Missions.

20. We reaffirm our commitment to fully implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to provide equitable, inclusive, open, all-round innovation-driven and sustainable development, in its three dimensions - economic, social and environmental - in a balanced and integrated manner, towards the ultimate goal of eradicating poverty by 2030. We pledge our support for the important role of the United Nations, including the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), in coordinating and reviewing global implementation of the 2030 Agenda, to reform the UN Development System with a view to enhancing its capability in supporting member States in implementing the 2030 Agenda. We urge developed countries to honour their Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitments fully in time and to provide additional development resources to developing countries.

21. Regarding Climate Change, we welcome the progress towards finalizing the Work Programme under the Paris Agreement and express our willingness to continue working constructively with other Parties to conclude its related negotiations at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) towards the 24th Conference of the Parties (UNFCCC COP24) to be held in Katowice, Poland in December 2018. We call upon all countries to fully implement the Paris Agreement adopted under the principles of the UNFCCC including the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, and urge developed countries to provide financial, technological and capacity-building support to developing countries to enhance their capability in mitigation and adaptation.

22. We undertake to strengthen BRICS cooperation in energy, especially in transitioning to more environmentally sustainable energy systems supportive of the global sustainable development agenda, balanced economic growth and the collective socio-economic wellbeing of our citizens. We continue to strive toward universal energy access, energy security, energy affordability, reduced pollution and environmental conservation. We reaffirm that the diversification of energy supply sources, including renewable and low carbon energy sources, investments in energy and energy infrastructure, energy industry and market development and intra-BRICS collaboration for access to primary energy sources will continue to underpin our energy security. We recognise the need to accelerate energy transition including in transportation, heating and industry uses.

23. We acknowledge the importance of energy efficiency and the popularisation of an energy efficient life style in virtue of its potential contributions to energy security, industrial competitiveness, emissions reduction, economic growth, job creation and other areas when introduced. (more)Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 00:42:49|Editor: Li Xia

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by Lu Duobao, Zhu Shaobin and Christine Lagat

JOHANNESBURG, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The tranquil July weather in South Africa's commercial capital Johannesburg is attracting foreign visitors to stroll on its bustling streets, where brightly colored banners of the ongoing 10th BRICS summit catch much attention.

Passersby could be seen taking selfies with the colorful signs that are hoisted on the sides of streets around the Sandton International Convention Centre, where the event is being hosted on July 25-27.

It is no secret that hosting the 10th edition of the summit of emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) has elevated the image and prestige of the "Rainbow Nation".

Foreign delegates are thrilled by the prospect of riding on Johannesburg's electric tram and visiting the classy shopping malls where posh restaurants and clothing lines compete for space.

The Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg was the most prized destination among delegates to BRICS summit given the fact that it bears all the hallmarks of South Africa's struggle to free itself from the shackles of colonial rule and racial discrimination.

"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others." The immortal words of late South African President and liberation icon, Nelson Mandela, are inscribed at the entrance of Apartheid Museum whose elegant interior and exterior designs have always mesmerized visitors.

The Apartheid Museum opens a window into South Africa's past struggle with colonial domination, injustices and racial segregation while spotlighting the dawn of an independence era marked with racial integration and just rule.

A tour to Apartheid museum offers rich history lessons to foreign visitors who have mainly read about the country's struggle with Apartheid rule in text books.

The invocation of Mandela's rallying call for a just and racially integrated South Africa always remind visitors that a second tour to the Apartheid museum is an imperative.

South Africa has more to offer in the Mother City, Cape Town. The balmy weather here coupled with its picturesque scenery like the world-renowned Table Mountain has lured a large number of foreign tourists during the BRICS summit.

Fernando Cardoso, a Brazilian national, was in exuberant mood at the foot of Table Mountain as he gathered his family to take selfies.

The young lawyer said he has always felt a strong attachment to South Africa given its rich culture, cuisine and scenic attractions.

"As citizens of the BRICS countries, it is important to travel to the other country, which can deepen the understanding of each other's history and culture," said Fernando.

The meet of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans at Cape Point which creates a magnificent spectacle is visible at a lighthouse near Cape Town.

Tang Qing, a Chinese national from Shandong province who was in a 42-person choir that participated in an international singing competition in South Africa, said the country's scenic attractions were very uplifting.

"South Africa is far away from China, but her beauty has attracted many Chinese people. Moreover, the tourism experience in South Africa is great," Tang Qing told Xinhua.

The number of Chinese tourists visiting South Africa has surged in recent time as the two countries strengthen their bilateral cooperation.

Likewise, South Africa is currently an attractive destination for tourists from other BRICS member states based on a recent study from the multinational auditing firm, Price Water House Coopers (PWC).

The PWC study revealed that tourist arrivals from BRICS nations increased by 6.1 percent in 2017 which was higher than the average of all tourist arrivals in the country.

Pundits said that this week's BRICS summit in South Africa will inject new vigor for the country's tourism sector.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 00:47:50|Editor: Li Xia

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Khampheng Saysompheng (C), Lao Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, speaks at a press conference in Vientiane, Laos, July 26, 2018. Lao government officials said on Thursday that search has been continued for the 131 missing people after a dam collapsed on Monday in southern province of Attapeu and medical workers have been sent to temporary shelters to help villagers affected. (Xinhua/Li Sha)

SANAMXAY, Laos, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Lao government officials said on Thursday that search has been continued for the 131 missing people after a dam collapsed on Monday in southern province of Attapeu and medical workers have been sent to temporary shelters to help villagers affected.

Khampheng Saysompheng, Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, told a press conference here that Lao government will offer convenience to rescue teams from China, Thailand and Vietnam, which are applying to aid.

The dam that collapsed is part of the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydroelectric power project which involves Laotian, Thai and South Korean corporations.

Six villages in Sanamxay district of Attapeu suffered severely.

Khampheng said the collapsed dam is located on a mountain saddle, 35 km away from the villages hit by the flood.

He said the villages are at lower areas and massive water leaked from the collapsed dam caused great losses.

The official said 3,060 people became homeless after the disaster and the affected areas are in need of tents, boats, among other necessities, while the private sector and foreign countries including China have offered help.

Minister of Energy and Mines Khammany Inthirath said his ministry has set up a committee to investigate the incident and to help villagers affected.

He said the ministry has demanded all hydroelectric power projects across the country, both operational and under construction, to be cautious about the weather and report the situation to the government.

Minister of Health Bounkong Syhavong said at the press conference that his ministry has dispatched officials and medical workers to all temporary shelters to check the health of villagers and to assure hygiene.

Bounkong said the authorities are paying great attention to the prevention of malaria.

Sanamxay district governor Bounhom Phommasane told Xinhua that since Wednesday, the water level in the disaster-hit areas has decreased, hampering rescue efforts by large boats.

Authorities have been using smaller boats and sometimes entering by foot.

He said until Thursday, the district could only confirm one death and 131 people missing, though Lao News Agency had reported earlier that 26 people were killed.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 00:57:55|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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24. We acknowledge that the BRICS Ministers of Energy agreed to establish the BRICS Energy Research Cooperation Platform and to develop its Terms of Reference, and note the ongoing discussions for that purpose.

25. We reaffirm and support the establishment of the BRICS Agricultural Research Platform (ARP) initiated by India in 2016. We appreciate the fundamental importance of research, development and innovation in global sustainability and competitiveness. We endeavour to strengthen the agricultural research collaborative networks among the BRICS countries to enhance the resilience of the collective agricultural and food systems in the face of the changing climate. We recognise the need for follow-up steps in implementing the aims and objectives of the ARP. We commit to step up intra-BRICS collaboration including within the frame of the Agriculture Research Platform and the Basic Agriculture Information Exchange System (BAIES).

26. We acknowledge the outcomes of the 4th BRICS Environment Ministers Meeting which was held under the theme "Strengthening cooperation amongst BRICS on Circular Economy in the context of the Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP)". We note that the circular economy approach represents enormous potential to reduce waste, to forge more environmentally sustainable processes, diversify our economies whilst contributing to economic growth and job creation.

27. We acknowledge the outcomes of the successive BRICS Environment Ministers' Meetings including the implementation of the Environmentally Friendly Technology Platform, Clean Rivers Umbrella Programme and the Partnership for Urban Environment Sustainability Initiative. The progress in the establishment of the BRICS Environmentally Sound Technology (BEST) Cooperation Platform is acknowledged, which is intended to be practical and results orientated, and would include partners, science organisations, civil society, private sector and financial institutions.

28. We welcome the commitment to enhance cooperation in the field of water on the basis of sustainable development in an integrated way, addressing the themes of water access flood protection, drought management, water supply and sanitation, water and climate, systematically facilitating water pollution prevention and control, river and lake ecosystem restoration and preservation, ecosystem conservation, and water resources management.

29. We acknowledge the BRICS Meeting of Heads of Disaster Management in Buffalo City, wherein the Action Plan 2018-2020, was adopted and the first meeting of the BRICS Joint Task Force was held to further enhance our cooperation in this field.

30. We reaffirm the intention to enhance cooperation and collaboration amongst BRICS countries in the field of biodiversity conservation, sustainable use and equitable access and benefit sharing of biological resources, and also undertake to promote our cooperation in biodiversity-related international conventions and fora including on endangered species and amongst our National Parks authorities.

31. We recognise the vast potential in cooperation and collaboration in advancing the Oceans Economy amongst BRICS countries, which encompasses multiple sectors, including the strategic areas of maritime transport, shipbuilding, offshore oil and exploration, aquaculture, port development, research and technology, conservation and sustainable use of marine resources, marine and coastal tourism, financial and insurance services, as well as coastal industrial zone development.

32. We remain committed to the continued implementation of the Agenda for BRICS cooperation on population matters 2015-2020, which was agreed to by the Ministers responsible for Population Matters in 2014, because the dynamics of population age structure changes in BRICS countries pose challenges and present opportunities, particularly with regard to gender inequality and women's rights, youth development, employment and the future of work, urbanisation, migration and ageing.

33. We deplore the continued terrorist attacks, including in some BRICS countries. We condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations wherever committed and by whomsoever. We urge concerted efforts to counter terrorism under the UN auspices on a firm international legal basis and express our conviction that a comprehensive approach is necessary to ensure an effective fight against terrorism. We recall the responsibility of all States to prevent financing of terrorist networks and terrorist actions from their territories.

34. We call upon the international community to establish a genuinely broad international counter-terrorism coalition and support the UN's central coordinating role in this regard. We stress that the fight against terrorism must be conducted in accordance with international law, including the Charter of the United Nations, international refugee and humanitarian law, human rights and fundamental freedoms. We reaffirm our commitment on increasing the effectiveness of the UN counter-terrorism framework, including in the areas of cooperation and coordination among the relevant UN entities, designation of terrorists and terrorist groups and technical assistance to Members States. We call for expeditious finalisation and adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) by the United Nations General Assembly.

35. To address the threat of chemical and biological terrorism, we support and emphasise the need for launching multilateral negotiations on an international convention for the suppression of acts of chemical and biological terrorism, including at the Conference on Disarmament.

36. We firmly believe that those responsible for committing, organising, or supporting terrorist acts must be held accountable. We call upon all nations to adopt a comprehensive approach in combating terrorism, which should include countering radicalisation, recruitment, travel of Foreign Terrorist Fighters, blocking sources and channels of terrorist financing including, for instance, through organised crime by means of money-laundering, supply of weapons, drug trafficking and other criminal activities, dismantling terrorist bases, and countering misuse of the Internet by terrorist entities through misuse of the latest Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

37. We reaffirm the importance of the elaboration under the UN auspices of rules, norms and principles of responsible behaviour of States in ensuring security in the use of ICTs.

38. We embrace the undeniable benefits and new opportunities brought about by the advances in ICTs, especially in the context of the 4th industrial revolution. However, these advances also bring with them new challenges and threats resultant from the growing misuse of ICTs for criminal activities, the increasing malicious use of ICTs by state and non-state actors. In this regard, we stress the importance of international cooperation against terrorist and criminal use of ICTs and therefore reiterate the need to develop a universal regulatory binding instrument on combating the criminal use of ICTs within the UN. We acknowledge the progress made in promoting cooperation according to the BRICS Roadmap of Practical Cooperation on Ensuring Security in the Use of ICTs or any other mutually agreed mechanism. We also acknowledge the importance to establish a framework of cooperation among BRICS member States on ensuring security in the Use of ICTs and, in this regard, BRICS member States will work towards consideration and elaboration of a BRICS intergovernmental agreement on cooperation on this matter.

III. STRENGTHENING AND CONSOLIDATING BRICS COOPERATION IN INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY

39. We reaffirm our commitment to collective efforts for peaceful settlement of disputes through political and diplomatic means, and recognise the role of the UN Security Council as bearing the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security.

40. We express our concern over the ongoing conflict and heightened tensions in the Middle-East region and our conviction that there is no place for unlawful resorting to force or external interference in any conflict and that, ultimately, lasting peace can only be established through broad-based, inclusive national dialogue with due respect for the independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of each of the countries of the region. We agree that, in each of the countries in the region, citizens have legitimate aspirations to fully enjoy civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights and fundamental freedoms, especially with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian situation.

41. We agree that the conflicts elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa should not be used to delay resolution of long-standing conflicts, in particular the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. We reiterate the need for renewed diplomatic efforts to achieve a just, lasting and comprehensive settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in order to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East on the basis of relevant United Nations resolutions, the Madrid Principles, the Arab Peace Initiative and previous agreements between the parties, through negotiations with a view to creating an independent, viable, territorially contiguous Palestinian State living side by side in peace and security with Israel. We reiterate that the status of Jerusalem is one of the final status issues to be defined in the context of negotiations between Israel and Palestine. With regard to the situation in Gaza, we reiterate our support to the UN General Assembly Resolution (A/RES/ES-10/20) on the protection of the Palestinian population and call for its full implementation. (more)Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 01:18:04|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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57. We recognise the critical and positive role the internet plays globally in promoting economic, social and cultural development. In this regard, we commit to continue to work together through the existing mechanisms to contribute to the secure, open, peaceful, cooperative and orderly use of ICTs on the basis of participation by all states on an equal footing in the evolution and functioning of the internet and its governance, bearing in mind the need to involve the relevant stakeholders in their respective roles and responsibilities.

58. We recognise the importance of BRICS scientific, technical, innovation and entrepreneurship cooperation for sustainable development and to enhance inclusive growth. We welcome the dynamic development of BRICS cooperation in science, technology and innovation and attach special importance to the advancement of our joint work in this area. We affirm the value of implementing coordinated BRICS scientific projects aimed at promoting BRICS science, technology and innovation potential as a contribution to our combined efforts in addressing the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

59. We commend the progress of ongoing BRICS IPR cooperation. We recognise the importance of the development and transfer of technologies, including to developing countries, contributing to long-term sustainable and balanced global growth, and in this regard stress the importance of strengthening cooperation in intellectual property rights which contributes to innovation and the advent of new technologies to the benefit of society as a whole.

60. We are convinced that trade and technology are vital sources of inclusive growth, including through economic integration and consolidation of global value chains in sustainable and equitable ways. Technological progress will have wide ranging implications for production of goods and services as well as incomes of people. Appropriate policies and measures need to be taken to ensure that the developing countries benefit from the advantages of technological progress and do not suffer from lack of its early adoption. It is essential to develop effective policies to bridge the digital divides, including through supporting people to learn and by adopting new technologies and ensure effective mechanisms for transfer of relevant technologies.

61. We strongly acknowledge that skills development is critical to addressing the emerging mismatch between the new skills demanded by an increasingly technology-and knowledge-driven global economy and the older skill set of many workers. The pace, scale and scope of present-day economic change make it that more challenging. In this regard, we support measures including policy recommendations proposed in the G20 Initiative to Promote Quality Apprenticeship and the BRICS Action Plan for Poverty Alleviation and Reduction through Skills, to further facilitate vocational training, lifelong learning and the training that is relevant to the fast-changing demand of growing economies and world of work.

62. We reaffirm the centrality of the rules-based, transparent, non-discriminatory, open and inclusive multilateral trading system, as embodied in the World Trade Organisation (WTO), that promotes a predictable trade environment and the centrality of the WTO, and recognise the importance of the development dimension, and will make all efforts to strengthen the multilateral trading system.

63. We recognise that the multilateral trading system is facing unprecedented challenges. We underscore the importance of an open world economy, enabling all countries and peoples to share the benefits of globalisation, which should be inclusive and support sustainable development and prosperity of all countries. We call on all WTO members to abide by WTO rules and honour their commitments in the multilateral trading system.

64. We recall that the WTO Dispute Settlement System is a cornerstone of the multilateral trading system and is designed to enhance security and predictability in international trade. We note with concern the impasse in the selection process for new Appellate Body Members that can paralyse the dispute settlement system and undermine the rights and obligations of all Members. We, therefore, urge all Members to engage constructively to address this challenge as a matter of priority.

65. We acknowledge the need to upkeep WTO's negotiating function. We, therefore, agree to constructively engage in further developing the current legal framework of the multilateral trading system within the WTO, taking into consideration the concerns and interests of all WTO members, including in particular the developing members.

66. We acknowledge the importance of infrastructure development and connectivity in Africa and recognise the strides made by the African Union to identify and address the continent's infrastructure challenges, inter alia, through the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA). We support the importance of stimulating infrastructure investment on the basis of mutual benefit to support industrial development, job-creation, skills development, food and nutrition security and poverty eradication and sustainable development in Africa. We therefore reaffirm our support for sustainable infrastructure development in Africa, including addressing the infrastructure financing deficit.

67. Keenly aware of the need for Africa's industrialisation and the realisation of the African Union's Agenda 2063, we commend African countries and the African Union on the signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The AfCFTA is an important step to economic integration on the continent and the unlocking of the tremendous potential of intra-African trade and in addressing its socio-economic challenges. In this regard, we reiterate our support for Agenda 2063 and efforts to promote continental integration and development.

68. We advocate for a strong Global Financial Safety Net with an adequately resourced, quota-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) at its centre. To this effect, we reaffirm our commitment to conclude the IMF's 15th General Review of Quotas, including a new quota formula while protecting the voice of the poorest countries by the 2019 Spring Meetings and no later than the 2019 Annual Meetings. Governance reform of the IMF should strengthen the voice and representation of the poorest members of the IMF, including Sub-Saharan Africa.

69. We welcome and congratulate Governor Lesetja Kganyago of the South African Reserve Bank on his appointment as the Chair of the International Monetary and Financial Committee.

70. We note the steps undertaken on strengthening and ensuring the operational readiness of the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) and welcome the completion of a successful test run of the de-linked portion of the CRA mechanism. We encourage cooperation between the CRA and the IMF.

71. We note with satisfaction the progress achieved on establishing the BRICS Local Currency Bond Fund, and look forward to starting its operation.

72. We agree to further strengthen cooperation on convergence of accounting standards and auditing oversight of BRICS countries in the area of bond issuance, and to further cooperation in these areas.

73. We welcome the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Collaborative Research on Distributed Ledger and Blockchain Technology in the Context of the Development of the Digital Economy. We believe that this work will contribute to our cooperation in adapting to the evolving internet economy.

74. Infrastructure, investment and international development assistance projects are the bedrock for sustainable economic development and growth; boosting productivity and enhancing integration. We stress the significance of infrastructure development and integration to foster closer economic ties.

75. We underscore the role that Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), in particular, the New Development Bank (NDB), are playing in catalysing private sector financing for public infrastructure and investment. (more)Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 01:18:05|Editor: Li Xia

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The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Health Center building is pictured in Gaza City, on July 26, 2018. UNRWA official confirmed that the contracts of 100 emergency employees were terminated, and other 900 employees will be transferred to the part-time system by the end of this year. In response to the decision, hundreds of UNRWA employees demonstrated on Tuesday and Wednesday inside the agency's headquarters calling on the agency to cancel the decision. (Xinhua/Wissam Nassar)

GAZA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of employees of United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) continued a general strike on Thursday in the Gaza Strip against job cuts of the UN agency.

Youssef Hamdouna, secretary of UNRWA's staff union in the Gaza Strip, said the strike "is a message of perception of the great danger that threatens the staff of UNRWA," slashing the agency's decision of firing employees due to a financial deficit in UNRWA's budget.

"The strike is an escalation of the protests against the reduction of the agency's services, the demobilization of its employees and a refusal to resolve its financial crisis at the expense of Palestinian refugees and employees," said Hamdouna.

On Wednesday, an UNRWA senior official said on condition of anonymity that the agency may suspend its services in the Gaza Strip in case protests against its financial cuts go on.

The warning came shortly after Wednesday's protests of hundreds of local UNRWA employees inside the agency's headquarters in central Gaza.

During the protest, demonstrators forced permanent employees to leave their offices.

UNRWA official confirmed that the agency has officially informed 1,000 UNRWA employees who work in its emergency program in the Gaza Strip that the contracts of 100 emergency employees were terminated.

The other 900 employees will be transferred to the part-time system until the end of this year, the agency said.

Hundreds of UNRWA employees demonstrated on Tuesday and Wednesday inside the agency's headquarters, calling on the agency to cancel the decision.

UNRWA officials had warned earlier that measures of cuts were to be taken due to a severe financial crisis the humanitarian agency has been passing through since the United States decision of cutting around half of UNRWA's annual budget.

UNRWA Staff union officials said they sent a letter to UNRWA's director of operations in the Gaza Strip, Matthias Schmale, stating that the union had started measures that would include the closure of the headquarters for a day or two and a 21-day comprehensive strike.

Two weeks ago, the agency announced its success in reducing its fiscal deficit to 217 million U.S. dollars. However, UNRWA warned that it would have to cut its services because of the shortfall.

UNRWA's media advisor, Adnan Abu Hasna, told Xinhua earlier that the agency is exerting intensive efforts to bring the necessary funding to fill the deficit, but in the event of failure to do so, measures will be taken to reduce its services.

He said the agency understands the staff's anger, pointing out that it is in constant dialogue with the employees to show the financial situation and the seriousness of the continued deficit in the agency's programs and services.

UNRWA provides services to about 5 million registered Palestine refugees in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to achieve their full potential in human development.

UNRWA services include education, health care, relief, social services, infrastructure, camp improvement and microcredit.INDIANAPOLIS, July 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today the Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis ("FHLBank Indianapolis" or "Bank") declared its second quarter 2018 dividends on Class B-1 and Class B-2 capital stock at annualized rates of 4.50% and 3.60%, respectively. The dividends will be paid in cash on July 27, 2018.



"We are pleased to increase the dividend to 4.50%," President and CEO Cindy Konich said. "The Bank's consistent earnings have enabled us to continue to build retained earnings while providing our members a competitive return on their investment."

Earnings Highlights

Net income for the second quarter of 2018 was $69 million, an increase of $31 million compared to the same quarter in the prior year, primarily due to a net realized gain of $32 million on the sale of all of the Bank's private-label mortgage-backed securities ("PLMBS"). Net interest income1 after provision for credit losses was $70 million, an increase of $5 million compared to the same quarter in the prior year, primarily as a result of an increase in the average balance of assets.

Net income for the six months ended June 30, 2018 was $117 million, an increase of $48 million compared to the same period in the prior year, primarily due to the net realized gain on the PLMBS sale as well as higher net interest income and net gains on derivatives and hedging activities. Net interest income after provision for credit losses was $140 million, an increase of $16 million compared to the same period in the prior year, primarily as a result of an increase in the average balance of assets.

Affordable Housing Program Allocation2

As a direct result of the earnings for the six months ended June 30, 2018, FHLBank Indianapolis allocated $14 million to its Affordable Housing Program ("AHP"), which provides grant funding to support housing for low- and moderate-income families in Michigan and Indiana. Full year 2018 AHP allocations will be available to the Bank's members in 2019 to help address their communities' affordable housing needs, including construction, rehabilitation, accessibility improvements and homebuyer down-payment assistance.

1 FHLBank Indianapolis earns interest income on advances to and mortgage loans purchased from its Michigan and Indiana member financial institutions, as well as on long- and short-term investments. Net interest income is primarily determined by the spread between the interest earned on those assets and the interest cost of funding with consolidated obligations.

2 Each year FHLBanks allocate to the AHP 10% of earnings, which is defined as income before assessments, plus interest expense on mandatorily redeemable capital stock.



Balance Sheet Highlights

Total assets at June 30, 2018 were $64.5 billion, an increase of $2.1 billion, or 3%, from December 31, 2017, primarily driven by an increase in short-term investments outstanding to enhance the Bank's liquidity position.

Advances3

Advances outstanding at June 30, 2018 totaled $33.9 billion, a net decrease of $167 million from December 31, 2017, due to a decline in short-term advances outstanding.

Advances to depository members - comprising commercial banks, savings institutions and credit unions - increased by 0.3%. Advances to insurance company members decreased by 2%. Advances to depository institutions, as a percent of total advances outstanding, were 56% at June 30, 2018, while advances to insurance companies were 44%.

Mortgage Loans Held for Portfolio4

Mortgage loan purchases from members for the six months ended June 30, 2018 totaled $1.1 billion. Mortgage loans held for portfolio at June 30, 2018 totaled $10.9 billion, a net increase of $532 million, or 5%, from December 31, 2017.

Consolidated Obligations5

FHLBank Indianapolis' consolidated obligations outstanding at June 30, 2018 totaled $60.1 billion, a net increase of $1.9 billion, or 3%, from December 31, 2017. The increase in consolidated obligations supported the increase in the Bank's assets.

Capital6

Total capital at June 30, 2018 was $3.0 billion, a net increase of $75 million, or 3%, from December 31, 2017, primarily as a result of the growth of retained earnings and additional capital stock issued to members. These increases were partially offset by the reduction in accumulated other comprehensive income as a result of the recognition of the gain on the PLMBS sale.

The Bank's regulatory capital7-to-assets ratio at June 30, 2018 was 4.83%, which exceeds all applicable regulatory capital requirements.

3 Advances are secured loans that FHLBank Indianapolis provides to its member institutions.

4 FHLBank Indianapolis purchases mortgage loans from its members to support its housing mission, provide an additional source of liquidity to its members, and diversify its investments.

5 The primary source of funds for FHLBank Indianapolis, and for the other Federal Home Loan Banks ("FHLBanks"), is the sale of FHLBanks' consolidated obligations in the capital markets. FHLBank Indianapolis is the primary obligor for the payment of the principal and interest on these consolidated obligations; additionally, it is jointly and severally liable with each of the other FHLBanks for all of the FHLBanks' consolidated obligations outstanding.

6 FHLBank Indianapolis is a cooperative whose member financial institutions and former members own all of its capital stock as a condition of membership and to support outstanding credit products.

7 Total regulatory capital consists of capital stock, mandatorily redeemable capital stock and retained earnings.





All amounts referenced above and in the following table are unaudited. More detailed information about FHLBank Indianapolis' financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 will be included in the Bank's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, which we intend to file by mid-August.

Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis Financial Highlights (unaudited) ($ amounts in millions, as rounded)





Three Months Ended June 30, Six Months Ended June 30, Condensed Statements of Income 2018 2017 2018 2017 Net interest income after provision for credit losses $ 70 $ 65 $ 140 $ 124 Other income (loss) 31 (4 ) 37 (7 ) Other expenses 24 19 46 40 AHP assessments 8 4 14 8 Net income $ 69 $ 38 $ 117 $ 69





Condensed Statements of Condition June 30, 2018 December 31, 2017 Advances $ 33,888 $ 34,055 Mortgage loans held for portfolio, net 10,888 10,356 Cash and short-term investments 6,279 4,601 Other assets (1) 13,397 13,337 Total assets $ 64,452 $ 62,349 Consolidated obligations $ 60,110 $ 58,254 Mandatorily redeemable capital stock 181 164 Other liabilities 1,140 985 Total liabilities 61,431 59,403 Capital stock (2) 1,892 1,858 Retained earnings (3) 1,043 976 Accumulated other comprehensive income 86 112 Total capital 3,021 2,946 Total liabilities and capital $ 64,452 $ 62,349 Total regulatory capital (4) $ 3,116 $ 2,998 Regulatory capital-to-assets ratio 4.83 % 4.81 %

(1) Includes held-to-maturity securities and available-for-sale securities.

(2) Putable by members at par value.

(3) Includes restricted retained earnings at June 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017 of $207 million and $183 million, respectively.

(4) Consists of total capital less accumulated other comprehensive income plus mandatorily redeemable capital stock.



Safe Harbor Statement

This document may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "seeks," "believes," "estimates," "expects" or the negative of these terms or comparable terminology. Any forward-looking statement contained in this document reflects FHLBank Indianapolis' current beliefs and expectations. Actual results or performance may differ materially from what is expressed in any forward-looking statements.

Any forward-looking statement contained in this document speaks only as of the date on which it was made. FHLBank Indianapolis undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law. Readers are referred to the documents filed by the Bank with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, which include factors that could cause actual results to differ from forward-looking statements. These reports are available at www.sec.gov.

Building Partnerships. Serving Communities.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis (FHLBank Indianapolis) is a regional bank included in the Federal Home Loan Bank System. FHLBanks are government-sponsored enterprises created by Congress to ensure access to low-cost funding for their member financial institutions, with particular attention paid to providing solutions that support the housing and small business needs of members' customers. FHLBanks are privately capitalized and funded, and receive no Congressional appropriations. FHLBank Indianapolis is owned by its Indiana and Michigan financial institution members, which include commercial banks, credit unions, insurance companies, savings institutions and community development financial institutions. For more information about FHLBank Indianapolis, visit www.fhlbi.com.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 01:18:06|Editor: Li Xia

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UNITED NATIONS, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Thursday adopted a resolution to renew the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) for half a year.

In a unanimous approval on Resolution 2430, the expiration date of the mandate of UNFICYP was extended from July 31, 2018 to Jan. 31, 2019.

The text also requests the secretary-general to increase the number of women in UNFICYP as well as to ensure the meaningful participation of women in all aspects of operations.

It calls on the two Cypriot communities, Turkish and Greek, to continue to engage in consultations with UNFICYP on the demarcation of the buffer zone and implement the UN proposed agreement with a view to reaching early agreement on outstanding issues.

It urges both sides to allow access to deminers and to facilitate the removal of the remaining mines in Cyprus within the buffer zone, and urges both sides to extend demining operations outside the buffer zone.

In 1963, constitutional crises in Cyprus resulted in the outbreak of intercommunal violence. After all attempts to restore peace failed, the UN Security Council adopted resolution 186 (1964) that recommended the establishment of UNFICYP.

One of the longest-running UN peacekeeping missions, UNFICYP was set up in 1964 to prevent further fighting between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities and bring about a return to normal conditions.

The mission's responsibilities expanded in 1974, following a coup d'etat by elements favouring union with Greece and a subsequent military intervention by Turkey, whose troops established control over the northern part of the island.

Since a de facto ceasefire in August 1974, UNFICYP has supervised the ceasefire lines, provided humanitarian assistance, and maintained a buffer zone between the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot forces in the north and the Greek Cypriot forces in the south.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 01:28:10|Editor: huaxia

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KAMPALA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Health experts in Uganda have confined two people in an isolation unit as they investigate a strange illness that has killed six people in the past one month.

A medical team has been dispatched to the central region district of Mubende, where an isolation center has been set up, ministry of health spokesperson Vivian Nakalika told Xinhua by telephone on Thursday.

Nakalika said they were notified of eight cases a few weeks ago of which six had passed on. The deaths were reported to have happened one week apart.

"A team of experts was dispatched, took samples off one of the surviving cases, and the results turned out negative for all viral hemorrhagic fevers, including Ebola, Marburg and Rift Valley Fever," she said.

Another sample was taken off the second case and the results from the Uganda Virus Research Institute are expected soon, she added.

Local authorities were earlier quoted as saying that one of the victims died after vomiting and passing out blood.

The latest victim died on Tuesday, according to district health officials.

The ministry in May confirmed that one person had succumbed to Congo Crimean hemorrhagic fever in the same district. EnditemSource: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 01:28:11|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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76. We draw satisfaction from the progress made by the NDB in providing resources to contribute to the social, economic and environmental prospects of our countries and expect the Project Preparation Fund to be put into operation soon. We welcome the upcoming establishment of the Americas Regional Office in Sao Paulo, Brazil, which, alongside the Africa Regional Centre, will help the NDB consolidate its presence in those continents. We note the NDB's Board of Governors' discussions on Innovative Approaches for Development Finance at its 3rd Annual Meeting on 28-29 May in Shanghai, China, that deliberated on the NDB's future development in the changing global environment.

77. We stress the importance of enhancing BRICS financial cooperation to better serve the real economy and meet the development needs of BRICS countries. In the regard, we reaffirm our commitment to facilitate financial market integration through promoting the network of financial institutions and the coverage of financial services within BRICS countries, subject to each country's existing regulatory framework and WTO GATS obligations, and to ensure greater communication and cooperation between financial sector regulators. We will continue to enhance currency cooperation, consistent with each central bank's legal mandate, and to explore more modalities of the cooperation. We will also further expand green financing, so as to promote sustainable development in BRICS countries.

78. We reaffirm our commitment to support international cooperation in combating illicit financial flows, including cooperation within Financial Actions Task Force (FATF) and World Customs Organisation. In this regard, we underscore the importance of increasing mutual exchanges and data sharing. We emphasise the importance of upholding and supporting the objectives of FATF and to intensify our cooperation to implement and improve its Standards on Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation in FATF.

79. Corruption remains a global challenge with long-lasting impact, including the undermining of legal systems of states. It also presents a threat to economic growth by discouraging the necessary local and foreign investment in a country. We reaffirm our commitment to international cooperation as envisaged in Chapter IV of the United Nations Convention against Corruption. In that context, we commit to strengthening international cooperation within the context of the BRICS Working Group on Anticorruption Cooperation. Subject to our domestic legal systems we will cooperate in anti-corruption law enforcement, extradition of fugitives, economic and corruption offenders and repatriation in matters relating to assets recovery and other related criminal and non-criminal matters involving corruption and call on the International community to deny safe haven to corrupt persons and proceeds of corruption. We regard experience sharing and exchange as key to increasing mutual understanding and enhancing BRICS anti-corruption cooperation and will continue our efforts in this aspect as we have done in previous years. We will further offer each other support in the implementation of the UNCAC by creating platforms for exchanging information and exploring convergences in multi-lateral platforms. We commend the African Union on choosing 2018 as the year of combating corruption.

80. In operationalising the Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership, we welcome the positive outcomes of the 8th BRICS Trade Ministers Meeting as supported by the ongoing activities of the BRICS Contact Group on Economic and Trade Issues (CGETI). We also welcome the good progress made in the implementation of the BRICS Action Agenda on Economic and Trade Cooperation. We encourage measures that support greater participation, value addition and upward mobility in Global Value Chains for our firms, particularly in industry and agriculture, especially Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), including through the preservation of policy space to promote industrial development. In recognising the importance of increased value-added trade amongst BRICS countries, we commend the Ministers of Trade for reconvening CGETI's Trade Promotion Working Group as well as the BRICS E-Commerce Working Group. We welcome the commissioning of the review of the BRICS Joint Trade Study on promoting intra-BRICS Value Added Trade. We welcome the positive outcomes of the 8th BRICS Trade Ministers Meeting on cooperation on the IPR, e-commerce, trade in service, and further enhancement of cooperation in E-commerce, on standards and technical regulations, MSMEs and model e-port.

81. We welcome the signing of the BRICS Memorandum of Understanding on Regional Aviation. We believe it is an important milestone in strengthening BRICS cooperation in the fields of connectivity and infrastructure.

82. We appreciate the outcomes of cooperation between BRICS Customs Administrations in implementing the Strategic Framework of BRICS Customs Cooperation, and welcome its long-term objectives, including the early conclusion and entry into force of the BRICS Customs Mutual Administrative Assistance Agreement so that the BRICS Authorised Economic Operator Programme is functional by the end of 2022, including mutual recognition of controls and economic operators. In this regard, we further welcome the BRICS Customs Action Plan, which identifies actions that will be taken collectively by the BRICS Customs Administrations in the short, medium and long term to achieve the stated goals and the establishment of BRICS Custom Training Centres. We recognise the potential of the BRICS Customs Cooperation Committee and call for enhanced intra-BRICS cooperation and at relevant multilateral fora, including in trade facilitation, law enforcement, use of advanced information technologies and capacity building.

83. We acknowledge the continued support provided by the BRICS Revenue Authorities for all the international initiatives towards reaching a globally fair and universally transparent tax system. We will continue our commitment to deal with the implications of the digital economy and, within that context, to ensure the fairness of the international tax system particularly towards the prevention of base erosion and shifting of profits, exchange of tax information, both on request and automatically, and needs-based capacity building for developing countries. We commit to deepen exchanges, sharing of experiences, best practices, mutual learning and exchanges of personnel in taxation matters. We welcome the establishment of the Capacity Building Mechanism between BRICS Revenue Authorities.

84. We acknowledge the contributions of the BRICS Business Council and its 5th Annual Report, as well as of the BRICS Business Forum, to enhancing trade and business cooperation in infrastructure, manufacturing, energy, agribusiness, financial services, regional aviation, alignment of technical standards and skills development. We welcome the establishment of Digital Economy Working Group within the framework of BRICS Business Council.

85. Recognizing tourism's great potential to contribute to sustainable economic and social development, we welcome the initiative to establish a BRICS Working Group on Tourism, to foster greater cooperation between the BRICS countries and increase economic development and people-to-people relations. The BRICS Tourism work stream will exchange knowledge, experience and best practices in the areas of travel trade, air connectivity, tourism infrastructure, culture and medical tourism, barriers to tourism marketing, tourism safety and support - financial, insurance and medical. We note with satisfaction that Intra-BRICS Tourism has grown despite the global economic downturn. (more)Vehicles transporting Syrian refugees and their belongings are seen crossing the Syria-Lebanon border in Qalamoun, north of Damascus, capital of Syria, on July 23, 2018. (Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalani)

MOSCOW, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday discussed Syrian settlement with a high-level Russian delegation in Damascus, Russia's Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

The delegation included Russia's special presidential envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentyev, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin and representatives of the Defense Ministry, it said in a statement.

The parties confirmed the necessity to "continue uncompromising fight against terrorism and active efforts to achieve a long-term political settlement in the interests of all Syrians without exception."

Particular attention was paid to the tasks of post-conflict reconstruction of the country, including ensuring the prompt return of Syrian refugees and displaced people to their places of permanent residence, it said.

Assad expressed the willingness to create necessary conditions for the safe and decent reception and accommodation of Syrians returning to their homeland.

Russia's Defense Ministry said in a separate statement Thursday that 232,541 Syrian citizens have returned home from abroad since Sept. 30 2015, when Russia announced the start of an anti-terrorist operation in Syria.

Currently, 6.9 million Syrian refugees have registered in 45 countries and 1.7 million of them have expressed intentions to return home, it said.A member of the pro-government forces raises his weapon in the port of the western Yemeni coastal town of Mokha on Feb. 8, 2017, as the Saudi-backed troops advance in a bid to drive the Shiite Houthi rebels away from the Red Sea coast. (AFP File photo)

ADEN, Yemen, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The attack on two of Saudi Arabia's giant crude carriers west of the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, for which the Houthi group claimed responsibility, sparked wide condemnation.

The two oil tankers belonging to the Saudi National Shipping Company, each carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil, were attacked by Houthis in the Red Sea on Wednesday morning after crossing the strait of Bab el-Mandeb, according to the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television.

Yemen's Vice President Ali Mohsen described the Houthi attack as a deliberate terror attack aimed at disrupting the maritime traffic.

Mohsen pointed out the Houthi militia's repeated attacks against oil tankers in the international waters are an obstruction to the efforts that the UN special envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths is exerting to bring about peace.

The Iranian-backed Houthis are "posing a threat to the regional and global security by seeking to use Hodeidah's seaport as a launchpad for their numerous terrorist operations," the vice president said in a statement revealed by official Saba news agency.

The internationally-backed Yemeni government strongly condemned the attack and urged the international community to support the ongoing military operations aimed at liberating Hodeidah from Houthis.

The threats to the movement of navigation and the international trade will increase as the Houthis are still in control of Hodeidah and its strategic port, according to a statement issued by the government.

The statement added that while the UN envoy is making "tireless efforts" to resume the peace process in Yemen, the Houthi militia carries out terrorist military operations aimed at undermining the efforts and proposals, which is "clearly evidenced" in the recent attack on the Saudi oil tankers.

A number of countries and regional organizations, including the Arab Parliament and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, condemned the attack on the Saudi oil tankers.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said on his Twitter account that targeting the two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea by Yemen's Houthi rebels "confirms the need to liberate Hodeidah from the Houthi militias."

The Saudi coalition forces to which the UAE armed forces belong on Wednesday foiled another attack on a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea by Houthi militia, according to Al Arabiya television.

The Houthi attack forced Saudi Arabia to suspend all shipments of crude oil passing through the Strait of Bab El-Mandeb until navigation becomes safe.

Other neighboring countries are studying whether to halt oil exports through the strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, following the Houthi attack.

The Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi had expressed their readiness to return to the negotiating table during two meetings with the UN envoy in the southern port city of Aden late in June.

However, the Houthis escalated the situation later and fired several ballistic missiles against government-controlled areas in Hodeidah and used Iranian-made drones to launch attacks against headquarters of the Saudi-led coalition forces in Aden.

On June 13, the coalition declared a major assault to recapture Hodeidah and the Yemeni western Red Sea coast from the Houthis.

Yemen's government and Saudi Arabia have repeatedly accused the Houthis of using the port to smuggle Iranian weapons. Both Houthis and Iran denied the accusation.

Humanitarian agencies have warned of any attack on the port, saying it would lead to the world's biggest humanitarian catastrophe in modern history.

Hodeidah is the single most important point of entry for food and basic supplies to Yemen's northern provinces controlled by Houthis, including the capital Sanaa.

The United Nations reported that more than 121,000 residents have fled the war-torn city of Hodeidah and other parts of the province since June 1.

The coalition intervened in Yemen's conflict in March 2015 to roll back the Houthi rebels and reinstate Hadi.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 02:03:21|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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SANAA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels said on Thursday that their drone attacked the international airport of Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

"The Yemeni Drone Air Force using new type of locally-made unmanned aerial plane, Sammad 3, attacked the Abu Dhabi International Airport on Thursday," read a statement carried by Houthi-controlled Saba News Agency.

Just less than an hour before the Houthi statement, the UAE airport authorities acknowledged that "an incident happened in the Abu Dhabi International Airport," but did not elaborate further, UAE media reported.

The drone attack on Thursday, if confirmed, would be the second of Houthis' long-range unmanned aerial attacks in a week.

Last week, the Houthi rebels said their drone targeted the refinery of the Saudi oil giant Aramco company in Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia.

Aramco, however, said on its official Twitter account that the company just suffered "a minor fire due to an operational incident" which was "successfully controlled."

"No personnel are injured and no impact on operations," it added, without referring to any drone attack.

A day earlier, Saudi Arabia said Houthi rebels attacked a Saudi oil ship in the Red Sea, while Houthis said the ship was in a "war zone."

Saudi Arabia later announced the suspension of all oil shipments through the Red Sea strait of Bab el-Mandeb following the attack.

Border cities in Saudi Arabia, especially their vital military and economic facilities, have been the most targeted in Houthi missile attacks, with the majority claimed to have been intercepted.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been leading an Arab military coalition against Houthis in support of the Yemeni exiled government over the last three years.

The coalition forces launched a major military assault on June 13 to retake the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah from Houthis.

The Houthi fighters seized control of much of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, in September 2014, forcing internationally recognized President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government into exile in Riyadh.

The Saudi-led Arab military coalition aims to defeat Houthis, recapture Yemen's northern cities and reinstate Hadi into power.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 02:03:21|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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by Stefania Fumo

ROME, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Italian consumer associations on Thursday announced they are taking legal action against Irish low-cost airline Ryanair over its refusal to compensate hundreds of passengers left stranded by a two-day strike that began on Wednesday.

Ryanair pilots and cabin crew went on a strike over a pay dispute and other demands, forcing the budget airline to cancel 132 flights across the country.

The strike also took place in Belgium, Portugal, and Spain, causing the Irish airline to reportedly ground a total of 600 flights at the peak of summer holiday travel season.

"Ryanair's behavior is a clear violation of European Union regulations and court rulings," Codacons consumer association said in a statement, announcing it reported the company for fraud to 28 prosecutors' offices in many Italian cities where Ryanair operates.

Under EU rules, airlines must compensate passengers anywhere from 250-600 euros in case of delays of over three hours or in case of flight cancellations.

However, Ryanair said the strike is an exceptional circumstance, which exonerates it from reimbursing passengers.

Altroconsumo consumers association, which offers legal aid in claiming compensation, begged to differ.

"Contrary to Ryanair's statements, the strike had been scheduled for some time ...and therefore is not an exceptional circumstance as defined by the European Court of Justice," Altroconsumo said in a statement.

Union representatives from 12 European countries decided to hold the strike at a meeting in Dublin in early July.

In a joint statement, Italy's Filt-CGIL and UILtrasporti air transport workers unions accused Ryanair of paying its employees 8,000 euros less a year than other comparable low-cost airlines, such as EasyJet and Norwegian.

The unions also demanded the company recognize the unions, negotiate a collective bargaining contract, respect seniority, compensate workers for cancelled flights and last-minute transfers, and provide paid sick leave.

Another grievance is that the airline puts unfair pressure on flight attendants, promoting those who reach in-flight sales targets and taking disciplinary action against those who fail to sell snacks, beverages, cosmetics and other products to passengers during the flight.

Ryanair, whose motto is "Always Getting Better" says on its corporate website that it employs 13,000 "skilled professionals" and operates a fleet of over 450 aircraft from 87 bases across Europe, flying over 130 million passengers a year on 2,000 daily routes to 37 countries.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 02:13:23|Editor: Xiang Bo

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (2nd L), Brazilian President Michel Temer (1st R), Russian President Vladimir Putin (2nd R), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (1st L) and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa pose for a group photo during the Plenary Session of the 10th BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, July 26, 2018. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

JOHANNESBURG, July 26 (Xinhua) -- BRICS leaders will make all efforts to strengthen the multilateral trading system, according to a declaration released here on Thursday.

The emerging-market bloc of BRICS, which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, issued the 10th BRICS Summit Johannesburg Declaration.

"We reaffirm the centrality of the rules-based, transparent, non-discriminatory, open and inclusive multilateral trading system, as embodied in the World Trade Organization (WTO)," it said.

This multilateral trading system promotes a predictable trading environment and the centrality of the WTO, it added.

BRICS leaders recognize that the multilateral trading system is facing unprecedented challenges, according to the document.

They underscore the importance of an open world economy, enabling all countries and peoples to share the benefits of globalization, which should be inclusive and support sustainable development and prosperity of all countries, said the document.

The leaders also called on all WTO members to abide by WTO rules and honor their commitments in the multilateral trading system, it said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 02:23:24|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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UNITED NATIONS, July 26 (Xinhua) -- A senior UN official said Thursday that major progress has been made in the preparations for the upcoming elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), but "conditions for a level playing field are not yet in place."

"While significant progress has been made to respect the stages of the calendar process, the electoral process continues to suffer from suspicion and mistrust between the majority and the opposition, and, between the opposition and the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI)," Leila Zerrougui, the UN Special Representative for the country and head of the Stabilization Mission, MONUSCO, told the Security Council in a briefing.

She noted that the preparations have reached an important turning point with the opening, on Wednesday, of candidate reception offices for presidential and legislative elections, due to take place on Dec. 23 this year.

However, the opposition has expressed multiple grievances, she added, including over voting machinery and electoral records.

"I am however encouraged to note that, in the face of disagreements highlighted above, and against the backdrop of immense logistical and financial challenges, all major political parties were able to successfully enrol candidates for provincial legislative elections," she said.

After a slow start, more than 18,000 candidates for office registered, in order to contest 715 seats, according to UN News.

Although the final tally is yet to be published, initial indications suggest that women make up less than 12 percent of all registered candidates, said the most senior UN official based in the DRC, urging political parties to ensure greater female representation and participation in forthcoming elections.

Zerrougui said she remains concerned by violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms that continue to impact negatively on democratic space as some peaceful demonstrations are suppressed.

She also said that civil society actors and political opponents continue to be arbitrarily arrested and media workers threatened.

She noted with concern that personnel of the UN Mission (MONUSCO) is increasingly targeted, and that in the months ahead, the UN Mission will operate in an increasingly tense environment, faced with high expectations but fewer resources.

"Thus, conditions for a level playing field are not yet in place, and without progress on these fronts, the credibility and inclusive of upcoming elections may be at risk," she warned.

"The Democratic Republic of Congo is at the crossroads. That's the reason for which I appeal to all stakeholder to seize this opportunity to allow for inclusive, transparent and credible elections on 23 December to provide a more stable future for the DRC, Congolese women and Congolese," she concluded.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 02:38:28|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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NAIROBI, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese military has made a major contribution to global peace and stability amid rising threats, a Chinese diplomat said here on Thursday.

Wang Yang, defense attache at the Chinese Embassy in Kenya, said that China will endeavor to pursue peaceful development and stabilization of the world order even as it modernizes its military to respond effectively to contemporary security challenges.

"China has always been a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development and an upholder of international order," Wang said during an event to mark 91 years since the founding of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

"The growth of the Chinese military also means the growth of world peacekeeping force," he added.

Kenya's senior military officials, including the country's first female major general, Fatuma Ahmed, attended the function.

Wang noted that an upgraded version of China-Kenya diplomatic engagement has expanded to cover defense.

"With the bilateral relations having stood at a new historical point for a golden era, the bilateral military relationship, which is an important component of overall bilateral relations, will surely have more golden opportunities ahead and more sweet fruits to harvest," said Wang.

He hailed fruitful exchanges between Chinese and Kenyan defense forces that have intensified in recent times.

Wang said that a modern and well-equipped Chinese military will be on the standby to protect civilians in major hotspots.

"For the time being, among the permanent member states of the UN Security Council, China has contributed the largest number of troops to UN peacekeeping missions and the second largest share to the UN peacekeeping budget," said Wang.

He said China has since 1990 participated in 24 UN peacekeeping operations while contributing more than 37,000 peacekeepers to support this endeavor.

The defense attache said that Chinese naval forces continue to offer protection to merchant ships sailing along the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia.

"Up to now the PLA Navy is still keeping the proud record of 100 percent safety for both the escort task groups themselves and the merchant ships which have been escorted," said Wang.English French

TORONTO, July 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Students are frustrated with the Ford governments decision to impose back-to-work legislation on the 3,000 striking education workers of local 3903 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).



Members of CUPE 3903 had been on strike for five months over issues of job security for contract faculty, protection for teaching assistants, equitable hiring practices and the reversal of a decision made by York University to cut more than 800 unionized graduate assistant jobs.

Throughout the entire strike process, the administration at York University never bargained in good faith. said Nour Alideeb, Chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario. Forcing the members of CUPE 3903 to go back to work before the University makes an effort to engage in meaningful dialogue about the issues undermines the collective bargaining process.

Rather than encourage the administration of York University to engage their workers in a meaningful bargaining process, the premier and the minister have used their authority to take away these workers rights to strike. said Alideeb. This move sends a clear message to employers that they do not have to listen to the issues brought forward by their workers. It also signals to students and academic workers that this is a government for employers and administrations.

Back-to-work legislations are a dangerous precedent that rob workers of their biggest bargaining chip; the right to legally strike when the employer negotiates in bad faith. Premier Fords back-to-work legislation for CUPE 3903 means that the issues that members of the local were fighting for will continue to go unaddressed, thus impacting the quality of education at York University. By forcing CUPE 3903 members back to work, Premier Ford has not only jeopardized the working condition of 3,000 workers, but also the learning conditions of over 50,000 students at York University.

The issues protested by CUPE 3903 are not unique to York University. Over the past decade, cuts in funding have led to an unprecedented increase in the reliance of precariously employed contract teaching faculty, rather than full-time faculty, to conduct the bulk of teaching at colleges and universities across the province. Similar issues were raised in by striking faculty at colleges across Ontario in 2017, which also resulted in back-to-work legislation under former Premier Kathleen Wynne.

There are no winners in this dispute. By undermining the legitimate efforts of the members of CUPE 3903 to protest their working conditions and supporting the administration at York University in ignoring their obligation to engage in bargaining, this government has made it harder for faculty and students to raise concerns about challenges in the system.

The Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario is the largest and oldest student organization in Ontario, representing more than 350,000 college and university students in all regions of the province.

For more information:

Nour Alideeb, Chairperson, at 416-925-3825 or chair@cfsontario.caSource: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 02:58:33|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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JERUSALEM, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Israel will invest 900 million new shekels (243 million U.S. dollars) in digital health as part of a national program, the Hebrew-language newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Thursday.

A total of 60 million new shekels will be invested in trial pilots over the next three years, half this amount in the coming year.

The program is designed to promote the entry of innovative technologies into the Israeli health system, to create a quality medical information infrastructure and to transform the digital health industry into a national growth engine.

As part of the program, a first meeting will be held next week in the northern city of Haifa, to connect start-ups and representatives of the Israeli health system, including hospital directors. Later in the year, similar meetings will be held throughout the country.

At the meetings, health organizations will present their challenges and needs, and the start-ups will offer solutions with new technologies.

At each meeting there will also be an exhibition in which companies will demonstrate their technologies.

Hospitals in Israel have already expressed interest in new technologies for various purposes, such as preventing infections and deciphering imaging tests.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 02:58:34|Editor: Xiang Bo

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni in Johannesburg, South Africa, July 26, 2018. (Xinhua/Liao Yujie)

JOHANNESBURG, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said here on Thursday that China is ready to deepen friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields with Uganda in an all-round way.

Xi made the remarks when meeting with his Ugandan counterpart, Yoweri Museveni, on the sidelines of the 10th BRICS summit held in Johannesburg on July 25-27.

The Chinese president applauded Museveni for his long-term dedication to the promotion of the development of China-Uganda relations as well as China-Africa relations.

Xi stressed that China and Uganda have seen sustained and rapid development of bilateral relations in recent years.

Development strategies of the two countries are compatible and present each other with important opportunities, Xi said.

He called on the two countries to maintain the momentum of high-level exchanges and continue to staunchly support each other on issues of their core interests and major concern.

The Chinese side supports the efforts of the Ugandan side in developing economy and improving people's livelihood, and is ready to steadily advance major cooperative projects jointly with Uganda to better benefit the two peoples, Xi said.

Xi called on China and Uganda to keep close communication on major international and regional hotspot issues and safeguard the common interests of the two countries and developing countries as a whole.

Xi said that the Ugandan president has made important contributions to the development of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), and that China is willing to work with Africa to make the upcoming FOCAC Beijing summit a success.

Museveni said Uganda-China relations have seen strong development momentum.

He thanked China for its long-term assistance to his country and said he is satisfied with the progress made in bilateral cooperation.

Uganda hopes to deepen practical cooperation with China in such areas as industrial parks, infrastructure construction and electric power, and welcomes more Chinese companies to invest and develop in Uganda, he said.

Museveni said the Ugandan side supports the Chinese side in hosting a successful FOCAC summit in Beijing.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 03:03:35|Editor: Li Xia

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Lebanese President Michel Aoun (C) meets with visiting Russian delegation in Beirut, Lebanon, July 26, 2018. A Russian delegation arrived in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Thursday to discuss with Lebanese officials the return of Syrian refugees, local news agency Elnashra reported. (Xinhua/Dalati & Nohra)

BEIRUT, July 26 (Xinhua) -- A Russian delegation arrived in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Thursday to discuss with Lebanese officials the return of Syrian refugees, local news agency Elnashra reported.

The Russian delegation met with Lebanese President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri for the implementation of a Russian strategy on the return of Syrian refugees.

The strategy, drafted by the Russian Defense Ministry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, came after a meeting in Helsinki, Finland between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump earlier this month.

According to the strategy, a Russian-Syrian-Lebanese security committee will be formed to facilitate the legal return of Syrian refugees from Lebanon to their homeland.

Lebanon's General Directorate Security will be represented in the committee with the possibility to include a U.S. participation similar to the committee created in Jordan, reported local news website Lebanon 24.

The Russian strategy specifies around 76 residential locations in Syria's Homs, Aleppo, Damascus and Hama to enable the return of 360,000 Syrian refugees as a first step in the coming few months.

The strategy also entails the rehabilitation of houses in the mentioned areas that would allow the return of 500,000 more Syrian refugees within two years, added the report.

There are more than 1 million Syrian refugees living in Lebanon as registered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as a result of the seven-year-old civil war in neighboring Syria.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 03:03:36|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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TEHRAN, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry on Thursday dismissed recent claims by Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States against the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Tasnim news agency reported.

The ambassador's claims against the Iranian top diplomat are "so ridiculous that they do not merit a comment," the ministry's statement read.

The Saudis and their "rookie" ambassador cannot create propaganda campaign aimed at undermining Iran's national unity, the statement said.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are at odds over their influence in the Middle East region.Massive projections on Sustainable Development Goals are seen on the north facade of the Secretariat building, and west facade of the General Assemblybuilding at the United Nations headquarters in New York, the United States, Sept. 22, 2015. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

UNITED NATIONS, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations is urging its member states to pay their membership dues in full and on time as the world body is experiencing an unprecedented cash shortfall, a spokesman said Thursday.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has written a message to UN staff, outlining his concerns, said Stephane Dujarric, Guterres' spokesman.

The secretary-general said the cash shortfall has never been so serious so early, and asked for measures to reduce non-staff expenditure.

"Caused primarily by the delayed contributions of member states to the regular budget, this new cash shortfall is unlike those we have experienced previously. Our cash flow has never been this low so early in the calendar year, and the broader trend is also concerning: we are running out of cash sooner and staying in the red longer," Guterres wrote in the message seen by Xinhua.

"I have appealed to member states to pay their assessments on time and in full, and highlighted the risk the current situation poses to the delivery of mandates and to the reputation of our organization. For our part, we will need to take measures to reduce expenses, with a focus on non-staff costs," Guterres wrote.

Dujarric said that only 112 out of the 193 UN member states have paid their dues so far.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 03:28:44|Editor: huaxia

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CAIRO, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi expressed on Thursday his sincere condolences to his Greek counterpart Prokopis Pavlopoulos over the massive forest fires which swept over the Attica region, causing dozens of deaths.

In a phone call with Greek President, Sisi expressed Egypt's full solidarity with the brotherly Greek people, Egyptian presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said in a brief statement.

At least 83 lives were lost, 187 people were injured and a yet unclear number of people were missing by Thursday, after a wildfire swept on Monday through coastal settlements, 30 kilometers east of Athens.

Earlier in the day, Egyptian of foreign ministry said in a statement that Egypt stands in full support with the friendly people and government of Greece to overcome this ordeal.

The wildfires are the worst in Greece in the past decade. EnditemSource: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 03:38:46|Editor: huaxia

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PRAGUE, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Representatives of Czech Technical University (CVUT) in Prague on Thursday presented a special drone that could protect important venues, such as government buildings, power plants, industrial premises and sport arenas against drone attacks in the future.

CVUT's Faculty of Electrical Engineering developed the DeDrone system for a firm that sells the system for premises protection against autonomous aircraft and helicopters.

The newly developed drones that use the latest knowledge of artificial intelligence and robotics are already can operate and the work on them is being finalized, said Martin Saska who leads the research team. At present, however, it could not be used in the Czech Republic due to the legislation prohibits the flying of autonomous aircraft. Saska said negotiations about the required changes in law are led with the Czech Civic Aviation Authority.

The DeDrone system can detect an unmanned aircraft that moves in a guarded area and localize it. But it still unable to eliminate the revealed drone so far. Saska said his team is working on a mechanism that would catch the drone in a net or disable it. EnditemSource: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 03:48:49|Editor: Xiang Bo

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Johannesburg, South Africa, July 26, 2018. (Xinhua/Wang Ye)

JOHANNESBURG, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, agreed here Thursday to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

Xi and Erdogan met on the sidelines of the 10th BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The China-Turkey strategic cooperative relationship has seen smooth development in recent years with progress achieved in cooperation in various fields, Xi said, adding that China is willing to make joint efforts with Turkey to refresh and further promote bilateral cooperation.

Xi urged both sides to transform the consensus reached by him and Erdogan into concrete results, maintain exchanges at all levels and in various fields, enhance political mutual trust, boost policy communication, take care of each other's core interests and major concern, and strive for breakthroughs in security and counter-terrorism cooperation.

Calling China and Turkey natural partners in the joint construction of the Belt and Road, Xi said both sides should push for an early launch of major cooperation projects and achieve early results in aligning their development strategies.

He also called on the two countries to deepen people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

Turkey is an important emerging market economy in the Middle East, Xi said, stressing that China is looking forward to strengthening communication and cooperation with Turkey through the "BRICS Plus" model.

Erdogan said the development of Turkey-China relations is satisfying.

Turkey is willing to carry out closer high-level exchanges with China and deepen cooperation in such fields as economy and trade, investment, infrastructure construction, counter-terrorism and security, which is conducive to regional development and stability, he said.

The Turkish side supports the joint construction of the Belt and Road, opposes protectionism and stands for free trade, said Erdogan, adding that his country is willing to boost communication and coordination with China in international affairs.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 04:03:51|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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UNITED NATIONS, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The spokesman for the UN chief on Thursday hailed the initialing by some parties in Khartoum of the Agreement on Outstanding Issues of Governance as a "step forward in the peace process for South Sudan."

However, Stephane Dujarric said the initialing on Wednesday by some of the parties participating in the negotiations in the capital of Sudan still leaves other parties with "outstanding concerns that are yet to be resolved."

"The UN Mission in South Sudan will continue to monitor the ongoing discussions as all parties work towards a genuinely inclusive and enduring peace agreement," Dujarric said.

South Sudan became independent from Sudan in 2011 and civil war broke out two years later after President Salva Kiir Mayardi sacked Vice President Riek Machar. Fighting has continued since. More than 2.2 million people have been displaced because of the violence.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 04:14:00|Editor: huaxia

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MINSK, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The Belarusian Foreign Ministry on Thursday strongly condemned the terrorist attack by the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and the subsequent attacks of terrorist bands on settlements near the Syrian city of As-Suwayda that caused numerous human casualties.

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that inhuman acts of violence against the civilian population in Syria can not be justified and should not remain without a strict consolidated reaction of the world community.

Fight against terrorist and extremist groups should be one of its' top priorities, the ministry said.

"We consistently advocate the establishment of peace in Syria and will never tolerate any form of terrorism," according to the statement.

The ministry expressed its sincere condolences to the families and friends of those killed and wished a speedy recovery to those injured. Enditem41% Improvement in Adjusted EBITDA, Year-Over-Year

HOLLYWOOD, FL, July 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Healthier Choices Management Corp. (OTC Pink: HCMC) (HCMC or the Company) today announced financial results for the three-month period ended June 30, 2018.



Second Quarter 2018 Results and Year-to-Date Highlights:

Net sales for the three-month period ended June 30, 2018 amounted to $3.28 million, compared to $3.31 million during the same period last year. For the six-month period ended June 30, 2018, net sales amounted to $6.89 million versus $6.88 million for the same period last year.



Total Operating Expenses for the three-month period ended June 30, 2018 amounted to $2.02 million, compared to $4.44 million during the same period last year; a $2.42 million reduction in cost when compared to last year.



Net Loss from Continuing Operations decreased to approximately $0.46 million for the three-month period ended June 30, 2018; versus approximately $2.80 million, for the same period last year; resulting in an improvement of nearly $2.34 million, for the quarter. For the six-month period ended June 30, 2018, Net Loss from Continuing Operations amounted to $1.73 million; versus $4.57 million for the same period last year; resulting in a $2.84 million, year-to-date advance.



Adjusted EBITDA for the three-month period ended June 30, 2018 improved by roughly $167,000, or 41%, compared to the same period last year. For the six-month period ended June 30, 2018, Adjusted EBITDA improved by nearly $311,000, or 42%, compared to the same period last year.

Jeffrey Holman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of HCMC, said, "It is an exciting time for Healthier Choices Management Corp. as we continue to deliver significant improvement in the business. We are both proud of and encouraged by our performance in the second quarter. Mr. Holman went on to comment, "We are well positioned for long-term shareholder value creation; the progress to date, including our solid second quarter results, gives us continued confidence in our direction.

About Healthier Choices Management Corp.

Healthier Choices Management Corp. is a holding company focused on providing consumers with healthier daily choices with respect to nutrition and other lifestyle alternatives. One segment of our business is our natural and organic grocery operations in Ft. Myers, Florida. The other segment is a U.S. based retailer of vaporizers and e-liquids. HCMC sells direct to consumer via company-owned brick-and-mortar retail locations operating under "Ada's Natural Market" and "The Vape Store" brands.

Healthier Choices Management Corp. Inc. ( www.healthiercmc.com ).

Forward Looking Statements.



This press release contains forward looking statements within the meaning of that term in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934). Additional written or oral forward looking statements may be made by the Company from time to time in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission or otherwise. Statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are forward looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and are based on management's estimates, assumptions and projections and are not guarantees of future performance. The Company assumes no obligation to update these statements. Forward looking statements may include, but are not limited to, projections or estimates of revenue, income or loss, exit costs, cash flow needs and capital expenditures, statements regarding future operations, expansion or restructuring plans, including our recent exit from and winding down of our wholesale distribution operations. In addition, when used in this release, the words "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "intends," and "plans" and variations thereof and similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements.

Factors that may affect our future results of operations and financial condition include, but are not limited to, fluctuations in demand for our products, the introduction of new products, our ability to maintain customer and strategic business relationships, the impact of competitive products and pricing, growth in targeted markets, the adequacy of our liquidity and financial strength to support its growth, and other information that may be detailed from time-to-time in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Results of Operations

The following table sets forth our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Continuing Operations for the three and six-months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017:

HEALTHIER CHOICES MANAGEMENT CORP. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (UNAUDITED) Three Months Ended Six Months Ended June 30, June 30, 2018 2017 2018 2017 Total sales, net $ 3,277,921 $ 3,308,130 $ 6,885,326 $ 6,878,814 Total cost of sales 1,846,741 1,632,602 3,809,680 3,392,966 GROSS PROFIT 1,431,180 1,675,528 3,075,646 3,485,848 Total operating expenses 2,019,183 4,444,390 5,154,673 8,010,610 LOSS FROM OPERATIONS (588,003 ) (2,768,862 ) (2,079,027 ) (4,524,762 ) Total other income (expense), net 128,873 (27,699 ) 350,261 (45,489 ) NET LOSS FROM CONTINUING OPERATIONS $ (459,130 ) $ (2,796,561 ) $ (1,728,766 ) $ (4,570,251 )

See non-GAAP financial measure discussion

Three Months Ended Six Months Ended June 30, June 30, 2018 2017 2018 2017 Adjusted EBITDA Loss from operations $ (588,003 ) $ (2,768,862 ) $ (2,079,027 ) $ (4,524,762 ) Depreciation and amortization 89,926 86,897 177,472 170,440 Stock compensation 86,616 2,103,338 1,158,506 3,300,532 Adjusted EBITDA $ (411,461 ) $ (578,627 ) $ (743,049 ) $ (1,053,790 )

Consolidated Balance Sheets

The following table sets forth our Condensed Consolidated Balance as of June 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017

HEALTHIER CHOICES MANAGEMENT CORP.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(UNAUDITED)+

June 30, 2018 December 31, 2017 ASSETS CURRENT ASSETS Cash and cash equivalents $ 7,420,207 $ 7,883,191 Other current assets 1,039,778 1,070,619 TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS 8,459,985 8,953,810 Other assets 2,627,513 2,747,595 TOTAL ASSETS $ 11,087,498 $ 11,701,405 LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS EQUITY CURRENT LIABILITIES Other current liabilities $ 972,401 $ 1,014,951 Derivative liabilities  warrants 10,231,697 10,231,697 TOTAL CURRENT LIABILITIES 11,204,098 11,246,648 Other liabilities 9,361 10,459 TOTAL LIABILITIES 11,213,459 11,257,107 COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (SEE NOTE 9)   TOTAL STOCKHOLDERS EQUITY (125,961 ) 444,298 TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS EQUITY $ 11,087,498 $ 11,701,405

Non-GAAP  Financial Measure

The preceding discussion and analysis contains a non-GAAP financial measure. Generally, a non-GAAP financial measure is a numerical measure of a companys performance, financial position or cash flows that either excludes or includes amounts that are not normally included or excluded in the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Non-GAAP financial measures should be viewed as supplemental to, and should not be considered as alternative to, net income, operating income, and cash flow from operating activities, liquidity or any other financial measures. Non-GAAP financial measures may not be indicative of the historical operating results of the Company nor are they intended to be predictive of potential future financial results. Investors should not consider non-GAAP financial measures in isolation or as substitutes for performance measures calculated in accordance with GAAP.

Management believes stockholders benefit from referring to the Adjusted EBITDA in planning, forecasting, and analyzing future periods. Management uses this non-GAAP financial measure in evaluating its financial and operational decision making and as a means of evaluating period to period comparison.

We define Adjusted EBITDA as net loss from operations adjusted for non-cash charges from depreciation and amortization and stock compensation. Management believes Adjusted EBITDA is an important measure of our operating performance because it allows management, investors and analysts to evaluate and assess our core operating results from period to period after removing the impact of significant non-cash charges that effect comparability between reporting periods. Our management recognizes that Adjusted EBITDA has inherent limitations because of the excluded items.

We have included a reconciliation of our non-GAAP financial measure to loss from operations as calculated in accordance with GAAP. We believe that providing the non-GAAP financial measure, together with the reconciliation to GAAP, helps investors make comparisons between the Company and other companies. In making any comparisons to other companies, investors need to be aware that companies use different non-GAAP measures to evaluate their financial performance. Investors should pay close attention to specific definitions being used and to the reconciliation between such measures and the corresponding GAAP measures provided by each company under applicable rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 04:19:04|Editor: huaxia

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CAIRO, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Interior Ministry said on Thursday it has pardoned and released more than 700 prisoners on the 66th anniversary of the July 23 Revolution.

A specialized ministerial committee has carefully chosen 719 prison inmates who deserve to be pardoned, the ministry said in a statement on its Facebook page.

The move comes in line with presidential decree to pardon some prisoners on the Revolution that toppled monarchy and established a republican system in Egypt.

Usually, the president in Egypt issues pardon decrees for prisoners on public holidays and feasts, including two religious Muslims feasts -- holy month of Ramadan and the July 23 Revolution anniversary. EnditemSource: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 04:24:06|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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UNITED NATIONS, July 26 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations is urging its member states to pay their membership dues in full and on time as the world body is experiencing an unprecedented cash shortfall, a spokesman said Thursday.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has written a message to UN staff, outlining his concerns, said Stephane Dujarric, Guterres' spokesman.

The secretary-general said the cash shortfall has never been so serious and so early, and asked for measures to reduce non-staff expenditure.

"Caused primarily by the delayed contributions of member states to the regular budget, this new cash shortfall is unlike those we have experienced previously. Our cash flow has never been this low so early in the calendar year, and the broader trend is also concerning: we are running out of cash sooner and staying in the red longer," Guterres wrote in the message seen by Xinhua.

"I have appealed to member states to pay their assessments on time and in full, and highlighted the risk the current situation poses to the delivery of mandates and to the reputation of our organization. For our part, we will need to take measures to reduce expenses, with a focus on non-staff costs," Guterres wrote.

Dujarric said that only 112 out of the 193 UN member states have paid their dues so far.

He explained that cash shortfalls are not unusual as the United Nations has no control of the timing of payments by member states. But the problem is that the shortfall is coming too much and too soon this year.

"The drought is coming earlier and harder than it has in previous years," he told reporters.

"The United Nations has no flexibility as a government (has) in terms of controlling income and timing of income. We rely on member states to pay their dues in full and on time."

The United States, which contributes 22 percent of the current UN regular budget, has not paid it dues. But Dujarric said the United Nations is not pointing a finger at any individual country as member states have different fiscal years.

The United Nations has to wait for months before it can receive the big chunk of payment from Washington as the U.S. fiscal year starts on Oct. 1.

As to the expenditure cuts mentioned in Guterres' letter to UN staff, Dujarric said: "We are looking at travel and office supplies in terms of cost saving -- things we can immediately control," he said.

The UN regular biennial budget for 2018 and 2019 is about 5.4 billion U.S. dollars. The United States is the largest contributor, followed by Japan, China, Germany, France and Britain. The six countries combined shoulder more than half of the UN regular budget.

The world body has a large, separate peacekeeping budget, with the United States being the largest contributor as well.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 04:24:07|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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CAIRO, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Egypt and the Arab League (AL) condemned on Thursday an attack on Saudi oil tankers carried out by Yemen's Houthis in the Red Sea.

The attack is a flagrant violation of international conventions and laws, which stipulates freedom of navigation in international waterways, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

It warned that such an attack affects international trade movement.

Meanwhile, AL Secretary General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit condemned the Houthi attack on Thursday, stressing that such an attack poses a threat to the world trade movement and increases security risks in this strategic region.

On Wednesday, the Iran-backed Houthi group attacked two giant Saudi oil tankers passing through the strait of Bab el-Mandeb in the Red Sea. The attack caused minor damage to one of the two tankers.

After the attack, Saudi Arabia announced the suspension of all crude oil shipments through the strait until further notice.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in Yemen's conflict in March 2015 to roll back Houthi rebels and reinstate exiled government of President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 04:29:11|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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BELGRADE, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Israel and Serbia should further strengthen their good political ties and raise economic cooperation to that same level, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic agreed with visiting Israeli President Reuven Rivlin during their meeting on Thursday.

Vucic said afterwards that Serbia has immense interests to develop further the comprehensive cooperation in all areas with Israel and underlined the Second World War devastations as a shared experience that connects peoples of the two countries.

"We have analyzed our relations and agreed how to form mechanisms of communication, in order to react faster in interests of both countries," he said according to the report of RTS, Serbia's public broadcaster.

He underlined that there is a great number of companies from Israel that do business in Serbia and see it as a good place for their investments, although, according to Vucic, the trade exchange could be much higher.

"We want more companies from Israel, along with better and more successful cooperation between the two countries," Vucic said, singling out tourism as a prosperous area for cooperation.

The two presidents have agreed to form a mixed committee of the two countries for cooperation in order to achieve a safer business environment and raise economic cooperation to the level of the political cooperation.

Vucic thanked Rivlin for Israel's firm decision not to recognize the unilaterally declared independence of Serbian southern province of Kosovo and Metohija, proclaimed in 2008, and assured him that Serbia will support the existence and survival of Israel and nurture friendly ties with its state and people.

Rivlin said that both Serbia and Israel are faced with a problem in protecting their independence, and that he is proud to be the first president of Israel to arrive in Serbia for an official visit.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 04:39:14|Editor: Xiang Bo

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Johannesburg, South Africa, July 26, 2018. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)

JOHANNESBURG, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said here Thursday that China is willing to consolidate and develop a closer development partnership with India.

Xi made the remarks while meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the 10th BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is their third meeting in three months.

"We have provided a top-level design for bilateral ties in a macroscopic perspective and a timely fashion, which is conducive to mobilizing the positive elements of all sectors in both countries and uniting the wills of the 2.6 billion people of the two countries, so as to form a force that would push bilateral ties into the future," he said.

Xi said the Chinese side is ready to work with the Indian side to carry forward the fresh impetus of bilateral relations since their informal meeting in China's central city of Wuhan in April.

The Chinese leader called on the two sides to implement the important consensus reached by the two leaders at the Wuhan meeting.

He called on the two sides to strengthen strategic communication, increase mutual trust, promote practical cooperation, as well as cultural and people-to-people exchanges, strengthen dialogue and properly manage differences.

Both China and India are countries of ancient civilizations, and have made important contributions to the advancement of human civilization, said Xi.

Today, as major emerging market economies, as well as vindicators and contributors of the current international order, China and India should strengthen bilateral cooperation, while exploring a new model for regional cooperation, upholding multilateralism, championing economic globalization and striving for a more just and rational international order.

Modi said he and Xi had met three times in three months, and that can fully display the two countries enjoy a high-level bilateral relationship.

The Wuhan meeting is of milestone significance in the history of India-China relations, which has greatly increased their mutual trust, and will bring new impetus and opportunities to the long-term development of bilateral relations, he said.

The Indian side is ready to keep close dialogue and communication with the Chinese side, deepen cooperation in various fields, properly address differences, strengthen cooperation within a multilateral framework, and jointly handle such challenges facing developing countries and emerging market countries as protectionism and global market fluctuations to advance their closer development partnership, Modi said.HOUSTON, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Led by Western Europe, increasing regulations and bans against plastic bags and other single-use plastic items such as drinking straws are driving growing demand for biodegradable plastics, IHS Markit said in a report released in Houston on Thursday.

According to IHS Markit, a global source of industrial information, the current market value of biodegradable plastics exceeds 1.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2018 but could reach 1.7 billion dollars by 2023.

Biodegradable or compostable polymers are bio-based or fossil-fuel-based polymers (plastics) that undergo microbial decomposition to carbon dioxide and water in industrial or municipal compost facilities. A few of these polymers decompose in backyard compost bins or in soil, freshwater or saltwater.

In 2018, global demand for these polymers is expected to reach 360,000 metric tons, but total consumption of biodegradable polymers is expected to increase to almost 550,000 metric tons by 2023, representing an average annual growth rate of 9 percent for the five-year period, which is equivalent to a volume increase of more than 50 percent from 2018 to 2023.

Western Europe, with the world's strictest and increasingly stringent regulations for single-use plastics, commands 55 percent of the global market value in 2018 for these specialty biodegradable polymers, followed by Asia and Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) at 25 percent, then North America at 19 percent of consumption, with the rest of the world combined for less than 1 percent of demand.

"Biodegradable plastics, which are largely starch-based compounds or polylactic acid (PLA)-based materials, have become more cost-competitive with petroleum-based plastics and the demand is growing significantly," said Marifaith Hackett, director, specialty chemicals research at IHS Markit and the report's lead author.

The biodegradable polymers industry is affected by several major drivers in the environmental area: solid-waste disposal patterns, existing and potential legislation, and consumer attitudes and behavior. The evolution of these factors and their impact on the biodegradable polymers industry differ in each region of the world.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 04:59:19|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ANKARA, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Turkey will never tolerate threats from anybody, Turkish Foreign Minister said on Thursday in response to warnings of sanctions from the United States leadership.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Thursday that the United States will slap "significant economic sanctions" on Turkey unless it immediately releases detained U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson.

"No one dictates Turkey. We will never tolerate threats from anybody. Rule of law is for everyone, no exception," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a Twitter message.

"Threatening language is unacceptable," Turkish presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said in the wake of the minister, calling on the United States "to adopt a constructive position."

On late Thursday, Turkish officials lashed at the U.S. administration's threats over Brunson case. Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay joined the chorus and identified Washington's move as "cheap threat."

Their statements came after a harsh statement by U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday. Trump described Brunson in his tweet as "a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being."

In a written statement, Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hami Aksoy responded to messages by Trump and Pence, saying that Turkey is a "sovereign state with a deep-rooted democratic tradition and political order which upholds the supremacy of law."

"No one can give orders to Turkey and threaten our country. The rhetoric of threat against Turkey is unacceptable," the statement said.

It has been clearly expressed that this issue is totally within the competence of the independent Turkish judiciary, said the statement.

Cavusoglu also had a phone conversation with his U.S. counterpart Mike Pompeo on Thursday amid the war of words.

Brunson, a Christian pastor, was indicted on charges of having links with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETO), which Turkey accuses of being behind a coup attempt in 2016.

A Turkish court ruled for continuation of Brunson's detention on July 18, but the same court ruled on Wednesday to move Brunson from prison to house arrest citing the "health excuse" that was stressed in the plea.

The Brunson case has been a sensitive issue between Washington and Ankara, causing serious congressional interventions against Turkey.

U.S. senators introduced bipartisan legislation on July 19 to restrict loans from international financial institutions to Turkey "until the Turkish government ends the unjust detention of U.S. citizens."

U.S. Congress earlier introduced another bill to prevent the transfer of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, which they claimed to jeopardize the security of NATO allies by purchasing Russian S-400 missile defense systems, also on the grounds of detention of Brunson.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 05:09:23|Editor: Xiang Bo

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Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with his Argentine counterpart Mauricio Macri in Johannesburg, South Africa, July 26, 2018. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing)

JOHANNESBURG, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said here on Thursday that China is willing to work with Argentina to make contributions to safeguarding the multilateral trading system and improving global governance.

Xi made the remarks when meeting with his Argentine counterpart, Mauricio Macri, on the sidelines of the 10th BRICS summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on July 25-27.

Unilateralism and protectionism are currently on the rise, said Xi, adding that emerging markets and developing countries are facing an increasing number of challenges.

"As a sincere friend and a cooperative partner of Argentina, China supports Argentina's efforts in maintaining economic and financial stability and is willing to continue to provide assistance within our capacity," Xi said.

China has full confidence in Argentina's development prospect and the future of China-Argentina cooperation, said Xi.

The two sides should advance the joint construction of the Belt and Road, align their important development plans, expand cooperation in economy, trade, energy, mining industry and financing, promote trade liberalization and facilitation, and give full play to new cooperative models, Xi added.

China supports Argentina in hosting this year's Group of 20 (G20) summit, Xi said.

Macri thanked China for providing precious assistance to Argentina for overcoming economic difficulties and stabilizing the financial market.

Argentina is committed to deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, said Macri.

Argentina hopes that the two sides could boost high-level exchanges and expand cooperation in such areas as energy, manufacturing, aviation, investment, financing and tourism, Macri added.

Argentina opposes trade protectionism and is willing to work together with China to ensure a successful G20 summit this year so as to promote international cooperation, Macri said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 05:14:25|Editor: huaxia

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RABAT, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Morocco approved on Thursday the Bamako Convention on the ban of the import into Africa and the Control of Transboundary Movement and Management of Hazardous Wastes within Africa.

The approval of the convention was made at a government weekly meeting in Rabat.

The convention, established by African nations in 1991 and entered into force in 1998, aims to protect people's health and the environment in African countries through a ban on the import of all hazardous and radioactive wastes.

It also prohibits dumping of hazardous wastes in oceans and inland waters, and promotes the minimization and control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes within the African continent.

African nations have long been at the center of incidents involving hazardous waste dumping, and the continent continues to be affected by the dumping of harmful chemical materials. EnditemSource: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 05:44:35|Editor: Xiang Bo

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China's Special Envoy for Syria Xie Xiaoyan (C, Rear) speaks at a press conference in Damascus, Syria, on July 26, 2018. Xie Xiaoyan on Thursday renewed the Chinese government's calls for respecting and preserving the unity of Syria. (Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalani)New York's hottest bar is Velvet Rope Lounge. It. Has. Everything. A human sized hookah. A giant cardboard bear. An NYPD power broker. And the top billing in a new list of the allegedly noisiest bars and clubs in the city.

Localize.city, a website for New York home buyers and renters, analyzed 311 calls from the past year, and developed an algorithm to find the noisiest bars and clubs in New York City, based on noise complaints. Noise from bars and clubs is a nuisance many New Yorkers have said they wish they knew about before choosing their home said Localize.city president Steve Kalifowitz in their post.

Localize looked at persistent problems, and ranked establishments by the number of days where complaints were filed, instead of just the total number of complaints. While the Velvet Rope Lounge was number one, it's the only Brighton Beach bar on the top 20 list. The top neighborhoods on the list are Williamsburg, the East Village, Bushwick, and the Upper East Side. However, since this list is based on 311 calls, which are curiously correlated with gentrification, the list might speak more about a changing neighborhood than a noisy bar.

But the list does highlight bars that have some interesting histories. The Wall Street Journal revealed that the Upper West Side bar West End Lounge, number two on the list, was identified as a coffee shop on its liquor license application. The venue's manager, John Forslund, told the Journal that West End Lounge plays live music, has comedy, and is open until 4 a.m. The community board was encouraging residents to file complaints, said Forslund.

Brooklyn Nights in Bed-Stuy, number three, changed ownership in 2015. Dathan Bobby Jones, who used to work as a benefit advisor at Rikers Island, told DNAInfo in 2015 that he wanted to help formerly incarcerated individuals get jobs at the bar. He also wanted to use the space to host community events and toy drives.

But back in February, it was shut down in a state crackdown after three knife attacks were reported there, including one where a Queens district attorney staffer was slashed. It was also issued a $54,495 fine for operating without mandatory workers' compensation and disability benefits insurance. The most recent update, from February 16th, is that they would be closed for upgrades for 3 weeks.

Going down the list, what have we here at number four? Good old Union Pool in Williamsburg, widely known as a sexy good time hook-up bar with infamous "single" occupancy restrooms. Back in January, The Cut ran a profile of the bar.



[Zeb] Stewart, the founder, has a scientific theory for Union Pools success at bringing people together. You have the front door, then you have the backyard. And you have this zone thats kind of, like, private doors on the way out to the backyard  but basically you have to walk through that zone to go to the photo booth, to the bathrooms, to the pinball machine, to the taco trucks, you know, anywhere. And so, he explains, it creates all this natural movement where people are constantly, casually grazing by each other, holding the door open for each other, saying hello to each other, smiling at each other, and it mixes people up, makes them interact. Hes aware of the bars reputation, he says. I have friends whove met at Union Pool and gotten married. Im sure weve also ruined some relationships.

Number five on the list seems to be the most self-aware of the bunch. Saint Vitus Bar in Greenpoint is a heavy metal venue that opened in 2011. "Finally, Greenpoint has a real fucking ROCK BAR!" the owners confidently declared back then. Since then, while the venue has risen in fame, the neighborhood has changed. In 2016, the owners told The Village Voice that they added extra soundproofing "in preparation for new neighbors who might be inclined to file noise complaints." But clearly, Greenpoint 311 callers didn't get the memo.

It will be interesting to see if the city's Night Mayor, Ariel Palitz will have any response to this list. But don't count on it; Palitz used to be the owner of the now-shuttered Sutra nightclub in the East Village, considered one of New York's loudest bars.

"Within the first year of owning Sutra, we were actually nominated the Number One noisiest bar in New York and we have been at the top of that list for the past seven years on 311 calls, she told the Lo-Down in 2012. It was because we had the most relentless 311 caller, a single neighbor.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 05:49:37|Editor: Li Xia

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LONDON, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Britain's newly appointed Brexit secretary Dominic Raab insisted Thursday that Prime Minister Theresa May's latest white paper on a new trading relation with the European Union has brought a new dynamic in negotiations with Brussels.

But Britain's national newspapers following a meeting in Brussels between Raab and the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier took a more pessimistic view of the latest round of talks.

Raab and Barnier faced the media at the end of three days of negotiations over Brexit between Britain and the EU.

The Daily Telegraph in London commented Thursday night that Barnier had killed off May's Brexit customs plan and vowed the EU will never accept it.

The Telegraph's Brussels correspondent said Barnier refused to accept that Britain had "evolved its position" and he offered no concessions in return for May's soft Brexit plan, which led to the resignations of Raab's predecessor David Davis and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.

Instead, Barnier said Britain could still join a customs union, which would mean Britain could not make its own trade deals after Brexit.

That comment is at odds with the British government's statements that during a 21-month implementation period after Britain ends its membership of the bloc next March, it will be free to make trade deals with countries around the world.

"The UK wants to take back control of its money, law and borders. We will respect that. But the EU also wants to keep control of its money, law and borders. And the UK should respect that," Barnier said in Brussels.

British government ministers are currently touring EU member states to win support for May's Brexit plans.

The Guardian in London took a similar view on the Brussels meeting, headlining their report: "Michel Barnier kills off Theresa May's Brexit customs proposals"

It commented that Barnier warned that attempts by British government ministers to appeal to EU leaders over his head were a waste of time as he rejected May's proposals on customs after Brexit, in effect killing off her plan.

"Anyone who wants to find a sliver of difference between my mandate and what the heads of government say they want are wasting their time, quite frankly," Barnier said.

The Guardian commented that impasse in the negotiations was laid bare in the press conference in the European commission's Berlaymont headquarters as a thunderstorm broke outside.

"While Raab insisted that with political will a deal on trade and on avoiding a border on the island of Ireland was achievable by a crunch summit in October, Barnier offered a damning verdict on a major element of the UK's vision of the future," the Guardian said.

Barnier struck a warmer note during the press conference saying he was "particularly pleased" with the progress of talks on foreign policy and security, before adding: "On our future economic relationship, it comes as no surprise that finding common ground between the EU27 (the remaining member states of the EU) and the UK is more difficult."

Raab said during what was his second meeting with Barnier after his appointment by May, that agreements had been reached this week with EU negotiators on a number of issues.

But he agreed both sides still needed to complete a protocol on Northern Ireland and Ireland.

"With pragmatism on both sides I am confident we can find a way to resolve it into a workable solution," Raab said.

Raab said Britain has designed its future trading relationship proposals both to respect the result of the EU referendum, and the core principles of the EU.

"In sum, the UK has set out our plans in detail. Those plans are ambitious, principled and pragmatic.," insisted Raab.

Raab said he and Barnier had agreed to more talks in mid-August and then to continue weekly discussions to clear away all the obstacles that line the path to a strong UK-EU deal in October.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 05:54:39|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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ALGIERS, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Algerian Army Chief of Staff Ahmed Gaid Salah on Thursday said the army would not tolerate any attempt aiming at sowing chaos.

He made the remarks in an implicit response to parties that called on the army to intervene in the political arena to pave the way for changes ahead of the presidential election due in 2019.

The National People's Army is an army that knows its limits, including the framework of its constitutional missions, which cannot be involved in entanglements between parties and politics, said Salah, also a vice defense minister, at a ceremony to honor young laureates at the army academy.

"The National People's Army is an army that will not allow any attempt aiming at causing chaos, and will not allow trouble that could be envisaged by some parties ready to put Algeria at risk to achieve or to safeguard their personal interests," he stressed.

He noted that Algeria "is not a fighting arena or a race track for anyone who wants to reap trophies and make disgraceful personal and individual profits."

Some observers say his statement was destined to some political parties who called upon the army to endorse and protect a transition era ahead of organizing new election.

In fact, the Islamist opposition Movement for Peace Society (MSP), led by Abderrezak Mokri, proposes an initiative called the National Accord Initiative, which invites all political parties and figures to pave the way for a transition era for free and fair elections.

MSP, the country's third political force in parliament after the ruling National Liberation Front and the National Democratic Rally, says its initiative's success requires endorsement and protection of the People's National Army.

Head of MSP denies that his party calls for army intervention in political affairs, but considers that the army would rather play the role of protector of this initiative.

Prominent opposition parties in Algeria have been calling ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to step down over health reasons, and call for early elections.

However, ruling parties, pro-regime parties and organizations have already announced that they endorse Bouteflika to run for a 5th term in office in April 2019 Presidential Election.LOS ANGELES, July 26 (Xinhua) -- California's Governor Jerry Brown declared Thursday a state of emergency in two counties in Southern California due to fast moving fires in the western U.S. state.

Brown issued emergency proclamations for Riverside and Shasta counties due to the effects of the fires, dubbed the Cranston and Carr fires, which have destroyed homes and structures, threatened critical infrastructure and caused the evacuation of residents.

High temperature, low humidity, and erratic winds have further increased the spread of the fires, according to the statement of Brown.

The circumstances of the fires, "by reason of its magnitude, are or are likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of any single local government and require the combined forces of a mutual aid region or regions to combat," read the statement.

The Cranston Fire erupted around noon on Wednesday in the San Jacinto Mountains in the Riverside County, about 90 miles east of Los Angeles. It exploded to around 4,700 acres with only 5 percent containment as of Thursday noon, according to the latest update from the U.S. Forest Service.

At least 3,000 people were asked to evacuate more than 2,000 homes in the area.

Law enforcement officers said they arrested Brandon N. McGlover, 32 of Temecula for allegedly setting multiple fires, including the Cranston Fire, in southwest Riverside County Wednesday.

Another wildfire, the Carr fires, has burned 20,000 acres with only 10 percent containment in the Shasta County as of Thursday noon. The fire became very active overnight with a significant increase in size. Firefighters will be working throughout the day to reinforce containment lines and constructing new line around the fire.

Weather forecasters predict continued high temperatures and low humidity this week conducive to even more fires, adding to the difficulty of firefighters in Southern California.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 06:09:44|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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RABAT, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese auto wheel manufacturer CITIC Dicastal will build two plants for auto wheel production in Morocco with an investment of 350 million euros (407.5 million U.S. dollars).

The deal was signed Thursday in the Moroccan capital Rabat by the Moroccan Ministers of Economy and Industry, Mohamed Boussaid and Moulay Hafid Elalamy, respectively, as well as Chairman of CITIC Dicastal Xu Zuo.

The leading Chinese group plans to produce six million wheels yearly, 90 percent of them will be exported abroad.

The plants, which will be built in the northern cities of Kenitra and Tangier, will create some 1,200 jobs.

CITIC Dicastal will start production in its Kenitra plant by the end of 2019, the same year that will see PSA Peugeot beginning production of its cars in the coastal city of Kenitra, 40 Km to the north of Rabat.

"A global pioneer in the production of aluminium wheels will add up to the PowerTrain ecosystem and will surely introduce a high value-added to Morocco's car industry sector," Elalamy said during the signing ceremony.

Xu said that "through this project, Dicastal will expand its global coverage and contribute to Morocco's industrial development and Sino-Moroccan economic exchanges."Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 06:14:45|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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KAMPALA, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Uganda's constitutional court on Thursday ruled that parliament's removal of an age cap at which one can ran for presidency was constitutional.

The judges, 4 to 1 ruled that parliament's removal of the age cap did not contravene the country's constitution paving way for incumbent President Yoweri Museveni to possibly contest in the 2021 elections if he wishes.

Parliament in December last year amended the country's constitution in which it removed the age limit of 75 years as maximum and 35 years as minimum for one to run for presidency.

Opposition leaders, civil society argued that the move was illegal since the process leading to the amendment was marred with violence, intimidation among others.

They also argued that the move clears the way for President Museveni who has been in power for over 30 years to run for another term of office.

Museveni, who currently is 73 years of age would be over 75 years by the time the next presidential elections are held in 2021.

Justice Elizabeth Kibuuka Musoke, argued that although the removal of age limit may encourage the incumbent to stay in power, the citizens reserve the right to vote for or against in elections.

Three other judges had similar arguments as Justice Kibuuka.

Justice Kenneth Kakuru differed from his colleagues, noting that the move was unconstitutional and not in the interest of the people.

Kakuru partly based his argument on the country's checkered history which is characterized with wars and lack of respect for the will of the people.

"I declare that the entire constitutional amendment Act is unconstitutional and therefore null and void. All its provisions ought to be expunged from the constitution of Uganda," said Kakuru.

The judges unanimously dismissed the provision for the reinstatement and entrenchment of the two five-year presidential term limits, which were scrapped off in 2005 amid accusations that the move was meant to favor President Museveni.

The Court also quashed the amendment that extended parliament's and local council term of office from 5 years to 7 years, starting with the ongoing term. All judges had a unanimous decision on this.

Mwesigwa Rukutana, the deputy attorney general to court that he respected the ruling despite not being comfortable with some of the decisions made in the ruling.

Wandela Ogalo who led a team of lawyers who represented some of the petitioners also said that they respect the decisions of the court.

Male Mabirizi, another lawyer told court that he was going to appeal some of the decisions taken.

The over 13 hours court ruling held in the eastern Ugandan town of Mbale was telecast live amid tight security in the capital Kampala and other major towns in the country.

Police anticipated that protests would erupt resulting from the ruling.Source: Xinhua| 2018-07-27 06:14:46|Editor: Mu Xuequan

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DAMASCUS, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Seven truckloads of French-donated aid reached people in need in the Eastern Ghouta countryside of the capital Damascus on Thursday, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) said in a statement.

The trucks delivered 50 tons of non-food relief items, such as blankets, tents, medical supplies and medicines, donated by the French government, said the statement.

SARC said its teams, as well as the UN, also reached Eastern Ghouta on Thursday after receiving the approvals from the Syrian authorities in less than 24 hours.

The statement said that SARC welcomes "every humanitarian initiative that aims to ease the suffering of the most vulnerable people throughout Syria."

The delivery is the first declared aid shipment by France, which is a staunch supporter of the rebels in Syria, to the people of Eastern Ghouta since the area returned under the government control in late April this year.Car manufacturing and water management are driving cooperation between Hungary and the US state of Indiana, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told MTI by phone from Indianapolis, where he met Secretary of Commerce Jim Schellinger and company executives.

Hungary and Indiana signed a cooperation agreement last year. As a result, bilateral trade has grown by 96%, exceeding 175 million dollars in 2017, the minister said.

Indiana is interested in using Hungarian water management and sewage treatment technology, he said.

Meeting CEOs of car manufacturers, which already operate or have interest in Hungary, Szijjarto said that Hungary is proud to have the only single-rate and single-digit corporation tax in Europe, which motivates a lot of investment decisions.

Automotive companies in and around Indiana are optimal partners for Hungary, because they focus on electromobility and innovation, he said. In his talks, the minister agreed that Hungary will sign a strategic cooperation agreement with BorgWarner, a car manufacturer employing 1,700 people in Oroszlany, in central Hungary.

The agreement will also focus on electromobility, he said. Szijjarto also met heads of Dana and Allison Transmission, both with plants in Hungary.

MTI Photo: KKMPrime Minister Viktor Orban has completed a record-breaking diplomatic schedule in the past month and met some of the most important world leaders, the state secretary for communications said.

Orbans recent meeting partners included the German chancellor, the prime ministers of China and Israel, the presidents of Russia and Turkey and he had a telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump, with whom he also exchanged a few words personally during a NATO summit, Tamas Menczer told a press conference.

All of which means that world leaders pay attention to the Hungarian prime minister and consider him a central European premier whose opinion is important and worth listening to, he said.

Political opponents have criticised the government for isolating Hungary in terms of diplomacy, yet these meetings showed that the opposite is true, he added.

Menczer said people were paying attention because the Orban government had broken with the oppositions diplomatic stance of we dare to be small. We are respectful but we also have reciprocal expectations, he said.

The government, he continued, had always acted to defend Hungarian interests. It doesnt seek out conflicts, neither does it shrink from them.

Furthermore, Orbans government has responded well to international challenges, he said, insisting that Orban had been the first European leader to recognise the dangers of illegal immigration and to act swiftly to protect the country.

Orban has been working for the Hungarian people for 30 years, Menczer said, noting the PM had not departed from political life even after election defeats. This continuity and consistency is clearly appreciated internationally.

The direction of Hungarian foreign policy will not change in the future, he said, adding that everything would be done to protect Hungarian security and economic interests.

Commenting on Europe, the state secretary said: We are interested in a European Union based on strong nation states while we also maintain pragmatic ties with our eastern and southern partners based on respect.

Asked about the possibility that Brussels may plough less money into cohesion funds, Menczer said Hungary had pursued an exemplary economic policy in recent years and that it was strange that money would be taken away from a country that complies with EU standards while other countries that fail to comply are rewarded.

The government will not accept political blackmail, the state secretary said. It would be appalling were Brussels decision-makers to punish the Hungarian people for the governments policy on migration.

MTI Photo: Koszticsak SzilardJanos Ader has expressed his condolences to Greek counterpart Prokopis Pavlopoulos in connection with the forest fires in Greece.

In the message forwarded by Aders office to MTI, Ader said he was deeply shocked to learn about the natural disaster that has ravaged the region of Attica, claiming nearly a hundred lives and causing enormous damage.

On behalf of the Hungarian people, he expressed condolences to the families and friends of the victims and wished quick recovery to those injured.

He expressed hope that in the aftermath of the fires, local residents would soon be able to return to their normal lives.

MTI Photo: Czegledi ZsoltA NYC woman was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Alabama on Thursday and charged in the death of her five-year-old son in Queens last year.

The child, identified as Michael Guzman, was found unresponsive and unconscious inside a home on 109 Avenue in Jamaica, Queens on the afternoon of Sunday, January 22nd, 2017. He was pronounced dead at an area hospital, and his death was ultimately deemed a homicide in December of 2017. At that time police sought his mother, 31-year-old Phyllis Reinoso for questioning, and the investigation ultimately resulted in her arrest this morning in Alabama, where she has reportedly been residing.

Guzman died after a fatal amount of phenobarbituates, a medicine often prescribed to control seizures, NY1 reports.

Reinoso faces a myriad of charges, including manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment, and acting in a manner injurious to a child less than 17. According to the criminal complaint obtained by ABC 7, "Guzman was first under-medicated, leading to the assault charge. A few months before his death, Reinoso allegedly did not provide enough medicine and then did not bring Guzman to hospital as her doctor instructed." ABC 7 also reports:

Authorities say he had been given epilepsy medication the night before, after his parents had left the house to visit a nearby friend. The boy was left at home with his five brothers and sisters, the oldest being 15 years old. Prosecutors say Reinoso instructed her 11-year-old daughter, by phone, to administer the boy's second dose of anti-seizure medication for epilepsy. His parents then did not disturb him for most of Sunday because they thought he was sleeping, they told detectives. When they finally checked on him, his body was lifeless and cold.

Pix 11 reports that there was a history of domestic violence in the home and that Administration for Children's Services had a history at the address.

In an email to Gothamist, an ACS spokesperson said, "Our top priority is protecting the safety and wellbeing of all children in New York City. When this fatality occurred in January 2017, ACS launched an investigation and immediately took action to secure the safety of the children in this home."

Reinoso's arrest comes after recent data revealed that reports and investigations of child abuse increased after the deaths of six year-old Zymere Perkins and three year-old Jaden Jordan in late 2016. City spending on ACS investigative staff also increased in the wake of these tragedies, totaling $127.8 million.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.

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Best Home Defense ShotgunJohannesburg: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a five-day tour of East Africa, will on Thursday address the 10th BRICS Summit in South Africa's Johannesburg around 11:00 to 12:00 local time.

The theme of this year's summit is, 'BRICS in Africa - collaboration for inclusive growth and shared prosperity in the 4th industrial revolution'.

According to sources, PM Modi's speech is likely to focus on Triple "T (Trade, Talks and Terrorism)

Besides Prime Minister Modi, heads of the four other BRICS member states - Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa - will also take part in the Johannesburg meeting.

During the three-day summit, the top leaders are expected to deliberate upon global issues, international peace and security, global governance and trade issues among others.

The three-day summit officially began on Wednesday with the BRICS Business Forum Meet.

In his keynote address, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said, "This year marks the decade of co-operation between BRICS nations. The grouping has achieved lot like the formation of the New Development Bank which fills a critical gap in project funding."

Besides attending the summit, Prime Minister Modi will hold bilateral meetings with the leaders of the participating nations, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

For the first time, a BRICS leaders' retreat is being organised wherein the leaders will deliberate and take stock of BRICS co-operation during the decade and on its future prospects.

"Good evening South Africa! PM Narendra Modi arrives at the Waterkloof air base to a warm welcome. PM will attend the 10th BRICS Summit and related meetings in Johannesburg and several bilateral meetings on the sidelines," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet.

Good evening South Africa! PM @narendramodi arrives at Waterkloof air base to a warm welcome. PM will attend the 10th #BRICS Summit and related meetings in #Johannesburg and will have several bilateral meetings on the sidelines. #IndiaatBRICS pic.twitter.com/FFtZvpe67f  Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) July 25, 2018

Prime Minister Modi had reached South Africa on Wednesday evening on the final leg of his three-nation visit to Africa.

PM @narendramodi welcomed by the host of the evening South African President @CyrilRamaphosa on the eve of the 10th #BRICS Summit beginning tomorrow. #IndiaatBRICS pic.twitter.com/PryEA3UK6S  Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) July 25, 2018

He had earlier visited Rwanda and Uganda.

India is likely to sign MoUs in the fields of education, skill, health and agriculture with South Africa.

For the very first time, a BRICS leaders' retreat is being organised wherein the leaders will deliberate and take stock of BRICS co-operation during the decade and on its future prospects.

(With ANI inputs)BEIJING: An explosion was reported near the Indian Embassy in the Chinese capital Beijing on Thursday. However, no casualties were reported due to the incident.

The United States Embassy is also located close to the site of the blast.

''It was a low-intensity blast close to the Indian Embassy,'' a source told ANI.

China: Visuals from outside the US Embassy in #Beijing where a blast has occurred. pic.twitter.com/yypYcbwOUs  ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2018

ANI also posted a video of the blast in Beijing which shows several people running helter-skelter soon after the explosion.

A thick layer of smoke can also be seen rising up in the air after the blast, in the video.

Though there are no reports of fatalities at the moment, the visuals of the incident shared by some people on social media show cops and, possibly, a body covered by a blanket, lying on the ground.

According to Radio Free Asia online news, a man attempted to throw a homemade bomb into the gated compound of the embassy, but the device went off earlier than planned.

The blast caused panic and injured a number of people, the news portal said.

Amid reports of the blast, Chinas state-run Global Times cited witnesses claiming that a woman sprayed gasoline on herself in a suspected self-immolation attempt.

Police took her away, but it is not yet clear if the incident is related to the suspected explosion, according to the Global Times.

The Beijing Police also took control of a vehicle parked outside the US Embassy in connection with the blast, according to Reuters.

Reuters cited Chinese police officials as claiming that a firework device caused the explosion near the US embassy in Beijing, wounding a 26-year-old male suspect and no one else.

The US Embassy, in a separate statement, described the device as a bomb.

It said the police had responded but did not offer further details. Police, on its part, said only the suspect was wounded, suffering an injury to his hand.

This was possibly the first blast in China since August 2015.Islamabad: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday said that the final results of Pakistan's 11th general elections will be declared within the next 24 hours. The polls were conducted freely and fairly, the Commission added.

"Final results will come out within 24 hours. There is no delay in the results. Also, 90 per cent of results has been announced by returning officers in the field. We have received 82 per cent out of it," Election Commission of Pakistan said.

"Free and fair elections have been conducted. Turnout has been impressive, we will share the numbers tomorrow," ECP added.

Benazir Bhutto's daughter Bakhtawar took to social media and slammed the Commission over pending results. Taking to Twitter, she said, "More than 24 hours passed since polling ended, our Prime Minister Select has done his speech, but still no results of Chairman @BBhuttoZardari from #Lyari or #Larkana #WhatsGoingOn #Elections2018".

Even though the final results are yet to be announced, Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has emerged as the single largest party in the National Assembly with its candidates winning 76 seats and leading in 43 others according to the latest unofficial results and trends in the parliamentary polls.

Jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won 43 seats and was leading in 20 constituencies while Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led by former president Asif Ali Zardari won 18 seats and its candidates were leading in 19 seats.

A single party will need at least 137 of the directly elected seats to be able to form the government on its own.

Pakistan went to polls on Wednesday and the counting of votes began soon after the voting ended in the evening.

Pakistan's National Assembly comprises a total of 342 members, of which 272 are directly elected whereas the rest - 60 seats reserved for women and 10 for religious minorities - are selected later through proportional representation among parties with more than five per cent of the vote.

A party can only form the government if it manages to clinch 172 seats in total.

(With inputs from agencies)LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif has expressed reservations over the polling process, saying his party does not accept the preliminary results shared by the Election Commission of Pakistan.

"I am forced to say that we completely reject these results," he said on late Wednesday while addressing a press conference in Lahore, alleging that there has been a "blatant violation of public's mandate".

He complained that the Form-45 was not shared with the agents of PML-N in many constituencies.

"There were long queues today despite the extremely hot weather. But when the polling ended, I saw a very scary situation," he said.

"By 7 p.m., when results started to pour in, no result was announced from constituencies in Lahore. We received complaints from across the country that polling agents are not given Form-45 and are being expelled from the polling stations," he alleged.

Earlier, PML-N's Marriyum Aurangzeb and Mussadiq Malik both alleged that the party's polling agents had been forced out of polling stations in various constituencies where counting is underway.

"We have serious reservations... The counting process has been carried out behind closed doors and our polling agents have been taken out," Aurangzeb alleged, adding that changes are also being made to Form-45.

"Results of both the (provincial and national) assemblies have been withheld, we want an answer for that. What change are they going to bring behind closed doors?" she questioned.

The PML-N's allegations were echoed by other parties including the Pakistan Peoples Party, which could become a kingmaker in a coalition government. PPP's Raza Rabbani and Sherry Rehman also addressed a press conference to express their concerns over the situation.

Rabbani said: "Throwing out polling agents is a serious issue with serious repercussions. Polling agents are being thrown out in Badin, and results are being withheld in PS-66 Hyderabad."

Rabbani called for the ECP to address the complaints made and asked for Form-45 to be handed over to winning candidates.

"We said this earlier too, that if the will of the people is manipulated this way, there will be serious consequences," he added.

Sherry Rehman claimed, "There has been a clear trend of interference, in which all parties except one are being pushed to the wall."

In response, ECP Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh said that all polling agents had been providing Form-45 to polling agents. The form contains the final vote tally at each polling station.

Yaqoob asked all parties to approach the commission with specific complaints against ROs as well as the polling stations where irregularities are allegedly occurring.

He said that the only information he had received so far is that polling agents whose parties are not performing well are leaving the stations without taking the forms, and then saying they have not received them.

He said that in case any proof is brought forward, action will be taken against all individuals found involved.

The provincial election commissioner in Punjab categorically denied the allegations levelled by the PML-N.

"Political leaders should refrain from leveling such baseless allegations without having any substantial proof," the ECP official said.

Explaining the process, the election commissioner clarified that only one polling agent of every party is allowed inside the polling station at the time of counting of votes.The Egyptian Jesuit is a great expert in the Arab Christian heritage. The Germany-based Stephanus Foundation recognised him it because he paved the way to a new self-confidence of the oppressed and persecuted. For Fr Samir, A global peace without peace between religions is not possible.

Frankfurt (AsiaNews)  Fr Samir Khalil Samir, an Egyptian Jesuit and internationally renowned scholar, is this years recipient of the special award of the Stephanus Foundation for Persecuted Christians.

The Foundation, through its chairperson Michaela Koller, decided to honour Fr Samir because of his service to the spiritual heritage of Arab Christians.

"Father Samir has paved the way to a new self-confidence of the oppressed and persecuted not only through his research, but also through his appearance in the media and [his interaction with] personalities from politics, church and society," emphasised Koller.

The award ceremony took place last Saturday (21 July) in the rococo Hall of Mirrors, in the Residenz Eichstatt, the former residence of the local Prince-Bishops, in Eichstatt, Bavaria.

Born in 1938, Fr Samir is a world expert on Islamic-Christian dialogue. A symposium was recently held in the Vatican, centred on his work and research, to honour him.

In 1986, he founded the CEDRAC, the Centre de documentation et de recherches arabes chretiennes (Research and Documentation Centre on Arab Christianity).

In 2015 he headed the Pontifical Oriental Institute (Pontificio Istituto Orientale, PIO) in Rome. In his long career, he has published more than 60 books and over 1,500 articles.

Speaking to a local paper in Bavaria, the Jesuit called for more courage for dialogue.

"The concepts of Christianity and Islam are fundamentally different," he explained. Despite all violence, we should never forget to regard Muslims as brothers and sisters and to work for peace.

Fr Samir also warned against secular concepts in Europe that deny the formative role of Christianity.

According to Archimandrite Andreas-Abraham Thiermeyer, Fr Samir has shown fearlessness and clarity, especially when he called on imams to express a clear opinion against the atrocities perpetrated by the terrorist Islamic State group.

Father Samir's message to the West, which he has spread in numerous media commentaries and interviews, is also clear: "Pay attention to human rights, to religious freedom, it is an irrevocable fundamental right. It is the litmus test for all other freedoms.

At the same time, A global peace without peace between religions is not possible. Do not forget the Christians and their merits in the Near and Middle East. You must speak out for their rights."

In recent years, the award was given to other prominent Church figures, including Card Louis Raphael I. Sako, patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans (Iraq), and Card Joseph Zen, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, who dedicated the award to Chinas persecuted Christians.Are YOU concerned about the fast-approaching L train shutdown, the overnight displacement of hundreds of thousands of daily commuters, the likelihood of system-wide spillover effects and the potential for paralytic, bus-stiflling congestion caused by the attendant rise in private vehicle use? Well, don't be. Because as of today, there is a new L in townand unlike that dull and storm-ravaged original version, the L 2.0 is millennial-pink, luxurious, hassle-free, and also a van.

Created by some intrepid Brooklynites, the freshly disrupted jitney bills itself as the only service "exclusively focused on solving for the L Train shutdown." For just $155 each month, "The New L" subscribers get access to "luxury shuttles driven by professional chauffeurs," plus wi-fi, breakfast bars, phone chargers, and the sense of accomplishment that comes with hacking the greatest transit headache of our generation. Or at least, one half of that headache the price tag only covers a Manhattan-bound ride, so you're on your own getting home. Still, a sleek website assures that it is, in fact, #WorthIt.





What now? (via The New L)

Of course, this isn't the first startup to transform the concept of carpooling into a lifestyle brand, while pitching it as a viable alternative to a system that transports 225,000 riders daily between Brooklyn and Manhattan (and thus giving us no choice but to blog angrily). Say what you will about the starry-eyed fever dream of the East River Gondola, at least the proposal was somewhat original.

But the main difference between "The New L" and the Bro Buses that came before it, is that this time around we have a much clearer idea of how the MTA and Department of Transportation are preparing for next April's year-long shutdown. In addition to expanded bus routes and minor increases in subway service, that contingency plan calls for a partial car-ban in the core of 14th Street, along with HOV-3 restrictions on the Williamsburg Bridge, from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Notably, the plan does not call for a dedicated bus lane on the bridge or for a permanent busway on 14th Street, nor does it explain how the restrictions will be enforced. The worst-case but entirely plausible scenario, transit planners warn, is that displaced riders will become frustrated with alternative subways options and turn to private vehicles, forcing busesthe key to making this plan even remotely tenableto contend with gridlock hell. It's this precise race-to-the-bottom that could swiftly turn major thoroughfares into "bus parking lots," said Annie Weinstock, a transportation planner and President of BRT Planning International, earlier this year.

In other words, "The New L" train will likely not end up helping anyone, and is premised on an ideathat non-rapid-transit motor vehicles can provide a worthy substitute to mass transitwhich could very quickly turn an already precarious situation into what the Rider's Alliance Danny Pearlstein calls a "nightmare L-pocalypse scenario."

Or, as Weinstock told us on Thursday, "Displaced L Train riders who turn to private vehicles will only contribute to increased traffic congestion. Commute times will go up, local air pollution will go up, and the L Train problem won't be solved."

New Delhi: Bhojpuri sizzler Rani Chatterjee is unstoppable on her Instagram handle. The actress seems to be on a video-sharing spree. Rani has unleashed her crazy side in some of her videos and pictures.

Check her picture:

Rani was under the weather a few days back and was on a break. She suffered a painful skin allergy. She was shooting for Zero Banal Hero when she fell sick. The team of the film gave her the much-needed break to recover.

Rani is one of the most outspoken actresses in the Bhojpuri film industry. She shares her opinion without inhibitions.

A few days back, Rani was visibly miffed with the detractors of the Bhojpuri film industry. She hit out at those who give free advice. She believes that the Bhojpuri industry doesn't need any undue suggestions from people who foster negativity within them.

She also extended support to Dinesh Lal Yadav aka Nirahua after he slammed a journalist for allegedly slinging mud at him and his film Border.

Chatterjee is one of the most popular Bhojpuri film actresses.

She made her debut in 2004 with Manoj Tiwari starrer Sasura Bada Paisawala and has worked in a number of super-hit films since then.PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)s into the Muzaffarpur shelter home rape scandal as the Opposition stepped up its attack on the ruling Janata Dal-United-BJP government in the state.

According to ANI, CM Nitish Kumar on Thursday issued the orders to the Chief Secretary, Principal Home Secretary and DGP to hand over the investigation into the case to the CBI.

Muzaffarpur Shelter Home case: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar orders Chief Secretary, Principal Home Secretary and DGP to hand over the investigation of the case to Central Bureau of Investigation pic.twitter.com/LIOVfIzHeZ  ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2018

The move comes a day after the state assembly witnessed pandemonium over the Muzaffarpur shelter home scandal, with the RJD accusing the ruling NDA of trying to influence the probe and demanding Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's resignation.

RJD MLAs also staged a protest outside Bihar Legislative Assembly over the Muzaffarpur shelter home rape case on Thursday.

Patna: RJD MLAs protest outside Bihar Legislative Assembly over Muzaffarpur Shelter Home case pic.twitter.com/Ko0aionJdk  ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2018

Leader of Opposition and RJD lawmaker Tejashwi Yadav alleged that Brajesh Thakur, the patron of an NGO, which ran the shelter home, was associated with the Chief Minister's campaign team in Muzaffarpur during the last Lok Sabha elections.

"In view of the spiralling rise in the incidence of crimes against women, especially young girls, we have decided to give slogan of 'NDA bhagao, beti bachao' during our state-wide cycle rally beginning later this week", Tejashwi said.

Yadav also pressed for a High Court-monitored CBI probe into the alleged sexual exploitation of girls at the state-funded shelter home.

"During our visit to Muzaffarpur, we met a cross-section of people who told us that some leaders sitting in New Delhi and Patna were calling up officials in the administration with a view to influencing the investigation into the case.

"We have been saying this that the ruling dispensation in the state was trying to shield the accused, many of whom are close to the people in power," he said.

"I have been told that Brajesh Thakur, the patron of the NGO which ran the shelter home, had been a part of the campaign team of the chief minister in Muzaffarpur during the last Lok Sabha elections", he claimed.

Yadav also alleged that according to the information he had Thakur was a frequent visitor to the office of Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi.

"A Hindi daily run by him is said to have received lavish advertisements from the state' Information and Public Relations Department", the RJD leader alleged.

"The suspicions grew stronger in the wake of the fact that Thakur's name did not figure initially among the accused. After his arrest, he was reportedly not cooperating with the investigation and yet his police remand has not been sought", he alleged.

"Apparently, the mobile phones of the accused have not been sent for forensic examination as these could help fetch deleted messages, some of which could be incriminating in nature", Yadav alleged.

The RJD leader also claimed that CCTV cameras, if any, were not examined and though the shelter home housed minor girls, the opposition delegation learnt that abortion tools were kept there.

"This aspect has not been examined either," he alleged.

"In this backdrop, it is clear that the state government has neither the competence nor the intention to carry out a fair and impartial investigation. We wonder why it is not ordering a CBI inquiry despite the statement given by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh yesterday", the RJD leader said.

Besides Yadav, Congress MLA Vijay Shankar Dubey too raised the issue in the House during the Question Hour and demanded a CBI probe.Yadav told reporters that Kumar should resign taking moral responsibility for failure to maintain law and order as he also holds the home portfolio.

He was joined by a delegation of the RJD, Congress, Hindustani Awam Morcha and CPI-ML.

On his turn, HAM president and former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said the government took a month to act on the social audit report on the shelter home and officials took another few days to file an FIR.

Opposition MLAs, including those from the RJD and the Congress, trooped into the well of the House and raised slogans against the Nitish Kumar government's refusal to hand over the matter to the CBI.

However, Bihar Director General of Police S Dwivedi had said he was satisfied with the progress of police investigation into the case and that there was no need for a CBI probe.

He had said the medical examination of 29 of the 42 inmates had confirmed that they were sexually exploited.

(With Agency inputs)By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. You can find out more by clicking this linkPANAJI: Contrary to demands made by his party colleagues and right-wing leaders, a BJP legislator has demanded the opening of Goa meat complex, claiming that there is a huge shortage of beef in the state.

''I want the minister to tell me when Goa meat complex will start and whether there will be an interference from so-called 'gau rakshaks'. I respect them but there are people in Goa in large numbers who eat beef. You cannot stop that, '' BJP MLA Michael Lobo said.

I want the minister to tell me when Goa meat complex will start & whether there will be an interference from so called 'gau rakshaks'. I respect them but there are people in Goa in large numbers who eat beef. You cannot stop that: BJP MLA Michael Lobo in Goa Assembly (25.07.2018) pic.twitter.com/tSGncsT5ci  ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2018

Lobo made these remarks while speaking in the Goa Assembly on Wednesday.

Speaking on the issue, Lobo said that his remarks will not be well received by some people, but that will not stop him from saying the truth.

''Some may not like the way I am talking. If we do not want beef to come from Karnataka and Maharashtra, then certified cattle in Goa should be slaughtered at govt meat complex,'' the BJP legislator said, adding that, ''It has to start.''

The firebrand BJP MLA also came down heavily on the cow vigilantes who were blocking the entry of beef into the state.

''Some so-called cow protectors are standing at the state border and blocking the entry for beef being brought to Goa. Goa meat complex is shut. We've failed on this front. There are many meat eaters in Goa, '' Lobo said.

Lobo also said that the beef ban was badly affecting tourism in the state.

''Tourists come here to eat beef. There is a huge shortage of beef in Goa,'' Lobo said.

The statement from Lobo comes at a time when several right-wing outfits and their leaders have urged people, especially Muslims, to shun beef so as to prevent the incidents of mob lynching.

Recently, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Indresh Kumar had said that incidents of lynching would cease if people stopped eating beef.

Jesus was born in a cowshed. That is why they call it the holy cow. Cow slaughter is banned in Mecca and Medina. We should make it a resolution to rid humanity of this sin. If humanity gets rid of this sin, the society will get rid of this problem (lynching)... Mob lynchings are condemnable, but cow slaughter is a sin across religions, the RSS leader had said on July 23.

Indresh was backed by Shia Waqf Board chief Waseem Rizvi, who said that security cant be deployed everywhere and a law should be made to punish the ones indulging in cow slaughter.

Muslims should stop eating beef. The killing of cows should stop. The cow meat is 'haram' in Islam as well. You can't stop mob lynching, security can't be deployed everywhere. So a law should be made awarding strict punishment to those killing cows, he said.

In the aftermath of the Alwar lynching incident, Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan had appealed to Muslims to stay away from cow and the dairy business in order to protect their coming generations.

Khan's wife Tanzeem Fatima too returned a cow gifted to them by a seer over fears of mob lynching.NEW DELHI: Billionaire industrialist Anil Ambani had rejected allegations that his Reliance Group lacked adequate experience to get the Rafale fighter jet deal while also maintaining that the Centre had no role in French Group Dassault picking up his company as a local partner.

Anil Ambani had said this in a two-page letter addressed to Congress president Rahul Gandhi nearly eight months back in which also sought to explain why his group bagged the multi-billion dollar project.

In the letter, written on December 12, 2017, Ambani also invoked his family's "respectful relationship" with the Gandhi family over generations and said that he was "personally saddened" by the "unfortunate statements" against him and his group by several functionaries of the Congress party.

"Not only do we have the necessary experience but we are also the leaders in several important areas of defence manufacture," Anil said in the letter.

The letter was written by Anil  the younger brother of billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani - on the last day of campaigning for the Gujarat assembly polls that was marked by political mud-slinging over the Rafale fighter jet deal.

In order to substantiate his claim, Anil said that the Reliance Defence has the largest shipyard in the private sector at Pipavav in Gujarat and is currently building five Naval Offshore Patrol Vessels (NOPVs) for the Indian Navy and 14 Fast Patrol Vessels for the Indian Coast Guard.

"The decision of the Government of India to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets from France was made through an inter-governmental agreement signed between the two countries. Also, all these 36 aircraft are being manufactured in France and will be delivered on a 'fly away' basis from Dassault manufacturing facilities in France to the Indian Air Force and no Indian company has any role to play," he said.

''Dassault choose Reliance Group as its joint venture partner to meet the 'offset' or export obligation component of the deal and this was "an independent agreement between two corporate private sector entities, and Governments had no role to play in this matter," he wrote.

The news about Anil Ambani's letter to Rahul Gandhi came to fore at a time when the Opposition has stepped up its attack on the Narendra Modi government over the Rafale deal.

Rahul Gandhi has been attacking the government on the deal which he claims was inked at a much higher price than the one the previous UPA regime had negotiated.

Last week, during the debate on the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi accused the government of changing the deal to benefit "one businessman".

In his letter, Anil said that his group's joint venture with Dassault was to make components and systems primarily for the aerospace and defence sectors.

"This joint venture with Dassault Aviation will lead to creation of thousands of jobs in India, imparting of valuable training and skill-sets to Indian engineers in aerospace/ defence manufacturing sector, and will also provide large scale business opportunities to hundreds of MSMEs, SMEs and start-ups in the country, and will further enhance our experience and skills," he wrote.

Also, Dassault would significantly contribute to high technology transfer and enhance overall defence manufacturing experience.

Rejecting Rahul's allegations of being inexperienced, Ambani said his father Dhirubhai built the world's largest integrated petrochemicals and refinery complex in India without even having a formal education, much less any experience or legacy.

"In his words, 'you have to be given an opportunity to perform. It's not experience but the mindset, dedication, and the purpose, of a strong India that should engage us all'," he wrote, adding that the facts he has brought out would be "helpful" to Gandhi.

Similar letters were also sent to other senior Congress leaders, including the party's communication department in-charge Randeep Surjewala.

It is to be noted that Congress has demanded the government to constitute a Parliamentary Joint Committee to probe facts related to Rafale deal as it was done in the Bofors case.

(With Agency inputs)NEW DELHI: Bharat Vatwani and Sonam Wangchuk will be honoured with the Ramon Magsaysay Award this year. Along with the two Indians, Youk Chhang from Cambodia, Maria de Lourdes Martins Cruz from East Timor, Howard Dee from the Philippines and Vo Thi Hoang Yen from Vietnam also got the award. The six Magsaysay awardees will each receive a certificate, a medallion and a cash prize. They will be formally given the award on a formal ceremony on 31 August at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Recognising their efforts, the foundation said that Bharat is being awarded for his work for the mentally-afflicted people in India. "He is being recognized for his tremendous courage and healing compassion in embracing Indias mentally-afflicted destitute, and his steadfast and magnanimous dedication to the work of restoring and affirming the human dignity of even the most ostracized in our midst," the foundation said.

Sonam Wangchuk, the man on whom Aamir Khan's character in the movie 3 Idiots was based, has also been recognised for his community-driven reform of learning systems. "He is being recognized for his uniquely systematic, collaborative and community-driven reform of learning systems in remote northern India, thus improving the life opportunities of Ladakhi youth, and his constructive engagement of all sectors in local society to harness science and culture creatively for economic progress, thus setting an example for minority peoples in the world," the foundation said.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award is Asia's highest honor which celebrates the memory and leadership example of the third Philippine president after whom the award is named. It is given every year to individuals or organizations in Asia who manifest selfless service.

"The Magsaysay awardees of 2018 are clearly Asias heroes of hope, moving their societies forward through their unequivocal pursuit of the larger good. In genuine solidarity with the disadvantaged and marginalized, each one has addressed real and complex issues with bold, and creative, and pragmatic action that has engaged others to do likewise. The results of their leadership are manifest in the changed lives of the many they have influenced," RMAF President Carmencita Abella said.

She adds, "All are unafraid to take on large causes. All have refused to give up, despite meager resources, daunting adversity and strong opposition. Their approaches are all deeply anchored on a respect for human dignity, and a faith in the power of collective endeavor. We draw much hope from the 2018 Magsaysay awardees, and much to celebrate about their accomplishments and greatness of spirit."Jaipur: Actor-turned-politician Hema Malini on Thursday said that she can become the chief minister anytime she wants but she would rather be free to pursue other interests. "If I want to I can become that in a minute, but I don't like to be tied up. My freedom of movement will end," Hema Malini told PTI.

The BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh 's Mathura, when asked whether she would become the chief minister if given a chance, said that she is "not too keen".

The 69-year-old actor's statement came while she was attending an event on Wednesday evening in Rajasthan's Banswara city.

The apparent reference was to the post in Uttar Pradesh, now held by her party's Yogi Adityanath.

She mentioned that she got to become an MP because of her film career. "I am known mainly because of my name in Bollywood, call it 'dream girl' or Hema Malini," she said referring to one remarkable role.

The BJP MP claimed that she had worked for the saffron party even before she joined Parliament. She has done much work in her constituency as an MP during the last four years, Hema Malini added, referring in particular to the state of the roads.

Calling her Mathura constituency as the 'nagri' of Krishna, she said she loved working for the 'Brijwasi' people.

Calling the water crisis a global issue, the veteran actor said that it should be the concern of every stakeholder. The BJP MP praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that he has worked for farmers, women and the poor, and the country had progressed under his leadership.

"It is difficult to find a prime minister like him. Leaders of other parties may say anything but we need to see who has done more work for the country," she said.

Hema Malini, who is a Padma Shri winner and Bharatanatyam dancer, was in Banswara to perform at a religious function.

(With inputs from PTI)The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will be probing the Cambridge Analytica data breach, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Thursday. The Centre has been sending notices to Cambridge Analytica but there have been no replies, Shankar said.

Therefore, it is suspected that Cambridge Analytica may have been involved in illegally obtaining data of Indians which could be misused, he added. He made the statement while addressing the Rajya Sabha on "the misuse of social media and fake news".

This is the third time that the government is bringing up the Cambridge Analytica data breach scandal. The Centre had in April sent a notice to Facebook and Cambridge Analytica asking details on the data breach.

It has asked Facebook to list out security architecture proposed to be created by the company "so that data concerning Indians are not pilfered or manipulated again for extraneous purposes including to influence the elections".

In the first notice, the government questioned both the companies on the impact of the data breach, following which Facebook had admitted that nearly 5.62 lakh people in India were "potentially affected" by the incident.

US social networking giant, Facebook had drawn intense criticism from users and governments globally over the data leak scandal that hit millions of users.

Information of over 80 million Facebook users was allegedly harvested by data analytics and political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, leading to a global backlash against the American company.New Delhi: A large-scale illegal presence and sale of genetically modified (GM) processed foods in the country have been found by a study conducted by New Delhi-based research and advocacy body Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

Releasing the results of the study here on Thursday, CSEs Pollution Monitoring Laboratory (PML), which conducted this study, tested 65 food products available in Indian markets  32 percent of these were found to be GM-positive.

These food products were purchased randomly from retail outlets in Delhi-NCR, Punjab and Gujarat. Both imported (35) and domestically produced (30) samples were tested. The imported samples fared worse as 80 percent of the products which were found to be GM-positive, were imported.

The products which were found to be GM-positive include infant food, edible oil and packaged food snacks. Most of these are imported from the US, Canada, the Netherlands, Thailand, and the UAE. These products were produced from or contain soya, cottonseed, corn or rapeseed (canola), which are known GM crops of the world.

In a statement by cseindia.org, CSE Director General Sunita Narain said, Our government says it has not allowed the import of GM food products. Then how is this happening? We have found that laws are not the problem  the regulatory agencies are.

Chandra Bhushan, deputy director general, CSE, said: We had been hearing about the presence of illegal GM food in India, and decided to do a reality check by testing processed foods. We were shocked to know the scale by which GM foods have penetrated the Indian market. The regulatory authorities are to blame here  the FSSAIhas not allowed any GM food on paper, but has failed to curb its illegal sales.

Without the approval of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the production, sale and import of these foods are banned in the country. According to CSE, either the GM labelling isn't there on the food products or false claims or misrepresentation are being made about it. The CSE said that FSSAI has failed to regulate GM food adding that the draft rules of FSSAI are weak on the labelling of GM food and are impractical to implement.The Republican-controlled State Senate refused to return to Albany and renew New York City's school zone speed cameras, and Governor Andrew Cuomo has so far refused to use his power to call a special session. As of today, drivers in the five boroughs can speed knowing they won't be ticketed by one of the 140 speed cameras.

On Wednesday afternoon, the DOT rolled 20 of its mobile speed cameras off city streets and into a garage on Long Island City. Commissioner Polly Trottenberg told reporters that another 20 of its cameras will be stored at the end of August, but the 100 fixed speed cameras will remain on, collecting data.

"We're going to collect the general data about the counts of who is speeding," she said.

"We've been gathering data to show the extent of what speeding looks like around schools, during school hours," Trottenberg said, noting that there has been a "dramatic decline in speeding" since the cameras were operational and issuing $50 tickets to drivers.

"Unfortunately maybe we will get the chance now to see with the cameras turned off, what happens to that speeding data."

Last night, Trottenberg joined City Council Speaker Corey Johnson and other elected officials at M.S. 51 in Park Slope for a rally to save the cameras.

"I am sick to my stomach," Johnson told the crowd, before launching into an impassioned speech in which he named the three children from M.S. 51 who had been killed by drivers in recent years: Mohammad Naiem Uddin, Joie Sellers, and Sammy Cohen Eckstein.

"I say their names to honor their memory, and to acknowledge the stakes of this issue, which are life and death," Johnson said. "We will make sure that Senate Republicans see the light on this, or we will vote them out of office this November."

Johnson then named the Republican Senators (and the Democrat who caucuses with them, Simcha Felder).

in a fiery speech at the @TransAlt assembly, @NYCSpeakerCoJo calls out elected officials on not saving the speed cameras.



shame on all of you. how do you sleep at night? do the right thing for children and nyc. we have had enough! pic.twitter.com/pprxbBDaO4  zainab iqbal (@planetzainab) July 26, 2018

Reporting by Madeleine Crenshaw"Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it; it flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it." ~ Indian Army

The intensity of this sentiment of the Armed Forces can be felt by the passion with which the soldiers at the borders fight selflessly, sacrifice their lives and always prioritise the country ahead of their families. To salute this courage, valour and sacrifice of our martyrs and heroes who lost their lives in the Kargil war, 26 July has been immortalised as Kargil Vijay Diwas.

The Kargil conflict was one of the fiercest wars fought by India. It was a war which united the whole nation and reignited a sense of patriotism amongst its citizens. It was in 1999 from May to July, that the soldiers of the Indian Army fought legendary battles in Dras, Kaksar, Batalik and Turtok Sectors in Jammau and Kashmir's Kargil to push back the Pakistan Army from the icy heights and win the war.

Several key battles were fought and tough peaks were recaptured by the brave soldiers, many of who made the supreme sacrifice, on the Indian side of the LoC which were infiltrated by the Pakistani troops. Known as Operation Vijay, the two countries went into a war after Pakistani soldiers disguised as Kashmiri terrorists infiltrated into the Indian side of the Line of Control.

Here is a look at the key highlights of the Kargil war:

Battle of Tiger hill:

Among the many battles that took place between Indian troops and the enemy, the battle for the recapture of the Tiger Hill can be considered as the most difficult and the bloodiest. The majestic Tiger Hill towers head and shoulders above all the other mountains in its vicinity of Drass village in the Ladakh region. In the final assault at the hill top, 10 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 5 Indian soldiers were also martyred. 18 Grenadiers was tasked to evict the enemy and recapture the peak at the earliest. The plan for the battalion was to launch a three-pronged attack on the Tiger Hill from South, East and North East, from the firm bases provided by 8 Sikh. The attack commenced as planned but due to poor weather, the progress of operations was very slow. By 0200 Hours on 4th July, the battalions Ghatak (Commando) platoon had managed to get a foothold on the feature. On July 4, troops surrounded Tiger Hill Top from three sides and a fierce exchange of fire ensued. After a steep climb, under intense fire, the Sikhs managed to get a foothold.

Yogendra Singh Yadav of 18 Grenadiers was awarded the highest military honour, the Param Vir Chakra. He was hit by nearly 15 bullets and was the sole survivor among the 7 people who attacked the Pakistani troops at the hill top. On July 5, 1999 at 16,500 feet above the sea level, 25 soldiers of the 18 Grenadiers unit were ordered to advance to capture Tiger Hill in the Dras sector.

Operations in Dras

Just 50 meters below the hill, a stone slipped while the soldiers climbed the rocks, provoking heavy firing from Pakistani bunkers. 18 Army men had to retreat and just seven jawans inched towards the Pakistani bunkers to capture the hill. Eight Pakistani soldiers were gunned down but two escaped. Later, 100 Pakistanis attacked the Indian bunker killing six of Yadav's comrades. To ensure that all Indian jawans were dead, they shot at the corpses of Indian soldiers too. Yadav survived and threw a grenade at the Pakistani forces killing at least 5 soldiers. Yadav also sent a message back to his troops who advanced as backup and successfully won the Tiger Hill.

Battle of Tololing:

Armys 18 Grenadiers and 2nd Rajputana Rifle captured Tololing in three weeks. The only way to capture Tololing was through a frontal assault, making it a suicidal attempt from the Indian side. 23 soldiers were martyred in the attack. After Pakistani troops were dislodged from the heights of Tololing, the Indian Army was able to capture at least five more outposts in the next week. During the strenuous sheer vertical slope, soldiers even chose to shed their 2-kg food packets so that they could carry more ammunition.

Operations in Kaskar

In May, the 121 Brigade of the Indian Army conducted several patrols in the Kaksar Langpa area of Kargil district to essentially check whether the snow had retreated enough to allow troops to reoccupy their high-altitude summer positions along the Line of Control. Lieutenant Saurabh Kalia was the first Indian army officer who observed large-scale intrusion of Pakistani Army on the Indian side of the LoC at Kargil. He along with five other soldiers  Sepoys Arjun Ram, Bhanwar Lal Bagaria, Bhika Ram, Moola Ram and Naresh Singh engaged in a crossfire with Pakistani troops in the Kaksar sector. After a continuous gun battle, his troops ran out of ammunition and were captured alive by Pakistani rangers. Thereafter, Indian troops found out the scale of the attack that was being planned.

Lt Kalia and his men were in captivity for 22 days from 15 May to 7 June where they were subjected to brutal torture. Their bodies were handed over on June 9. The bodies had several injuries including marks of them being burnt with cigarettes, their ear-drums were pierced with hot rods, eyes were punctured before removing them, most of their teeth and bones were broken, skulls were fractured, lips and nose were chipped off, and limbs and private organs were also chopped off. The post-mortem revealed that many of these injuries were inflicted before they were shot dead.

Battle of Point 4875

On 6 July 1999, a Company of 17 JAT was tasked to capture an objective, which was a part of the Pimple Complex on the Western Slopes of Point 4875, in the Mashkoh Valley. Captain Anuj Nayyar led his company under heavy enemy artillery and mortar fire. Capt Nayyar physically assaulted the enemy and motivated his men to clear three enemy medium machine gun positions, killing nine enemy soldiers. While clearing the fourth position, an enemy rocket propelled grenade hit the officer.

Meanwhile, 13 JAK RIF continued the attack on Point 4875 with a Company under Major SV Bhaskar assaulting along the eastern slopes of Point 4875 and a Company under Major Gurpreet Singh assaulting along the western slope of South Spur, with a view to eventually capturing Flat Top. By 1 pm, on 5 July, 13 JAK RIF had ensured that Point 4875 and the adjacent Flat Top were back in Indian hands. Realising that their routes had been cut off, Pakistani troops launched a series of counterattacks supported by very heavy artillery fire. Fierce fighting continued throughout the day resulting in the recapturing of the Helmet feature on Tiger Hill. In the renewed attacks on 5/6 July, Dog Hill was captured despite stiff resistance and a foothold was established on Stangba North.

Operations in Batalik:

Pakistani troops had moved as much as 8-10 km in the Batalik sector and had even captured several abandoned bunkers. Knowing that the Indian Army did not have a permanent presence in the area, enemy trekked for days in deep snow to occupy four major ridge lines that dominated the area with an objective to dominate the Leh-Batalik-Kargil road. The control of the Batalik sector would have ensured that the lifeline of the Siachen glacier is under constant watch and is within the firing range.

A platoon of 1/11 Gorkha Rifles, led by Lieutenant Manoj Kumar Pandey, was tasked by the Force to clear the enemy positions in Khalubar in the Batalik sub-sector. Despite being under heavy attack, he sent one section of the troops to clear the enemy positions from the right, while he himself proceeded to the left. He attacked the first enemy position killing two enemy soldiers, and destroying the second position by killing two more. Though he got severely injured in the shoulder and legs while clearing the third position, he continued to lead the assault on the fourth position. Though he destroyed the last and fourth position with a grenade, he was hit fatally in the forehead. However, these operations gave his battalion a crucial and firm base leading to the capture of Khalubar and Batalik.NEW DELHI: On the occasion of the 19th anniversary of the Kargil War, the nation on Thursday paid homage to the brave Indian soldiers who made supreme sacrifices in securing the country's frontiers while giving a befitting reply to Pakistan's misadventure in 1999.

Paying tributes to the fallen heroes, President Ram Nath Kovind took to Twitter and tweeted, ''On Kargil Vijay Diwas, every Indian acknowledges the efforts and gallantry of our Armed Forces. We salute the ultimate sacrifice of the martyrs of Kargil, and record our everlasting debt to their families.''

   ,                         ;   -          President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) July 26, 2018

PM Modi too took to Twitter and praised the exemplary courage and supreme sacrifices made by the Kargil War martyrs.

On #KargilVijayDiwas, a grateful nation pays homage to all those who served the nation during Operation Vijay. Our brave soldiers ensured that India remains protected and gave a befitting answer to those who tried to vitiate the atmosphere of peace.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 26, 2018

India will always remember with pride, the outstanding political leadership provided by Atal Ji during Operation Vijay. He led from the front, supported our armed forces and clearly articulated Indias stand at the world stage. #KargilVijayDiwas  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 26, 2018

Armed Forces personnel and families of soldiers who lost their lives in 1999 Kargil War also paid their tributes at the Dras War Memorial.

Several top politicians, military personnel and people from all walks of life paid their tributes to the fallen heroes on the occasion.

On this Kargil Vijay Diwas, I join our countrymen in paying tributes to our brave soldiers who got us back the Kargil heights. #KargilVijayDiwas pic.twitter.com/Q2w2Qbvjpu  VicePresidentOfIndia (@VPSecretariat) July 26, 2018

On #KargilVijayDiwas we salute the unflinching courage and supreme sacrifice of all those soldiers who fought valiantly in 1999. Every Indian citizen is proud of their heroism and service to the nation.  Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) July 26, 2018

#KargilVijayDiwas , named after the success of Operation Vijay. On 26 Jul 1999, India successfully took command of the high outposts of Kargil, which had been lost to Pakistani intruders. Kargil Vijay Diwas is celebrated on 26 July every year in honour of the Kargil War Heroes. pic.twitter.com/uufWLRu4vZ  Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) July 26, 2018

26 July immortalized as #KargilVijayDiwas is saga of glorious victory of the Nation during Kargil Conflict in May-July 1999. #IndianArmy soldiers fought legendary battles in Dras, Kaksar, Batalik & Turtok Sectors. #Salute to courage, valour & sacrifice of our martyrs & heroes. pic.twitter.com/pG1gam5xRl  ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) July 26, 2018

#KargilVijayDiwas . We take pride in our brave soldiers #JaiJawan one of My SandArt. pic.twitter.com/946nkkGgF5  Sudarsan Pattnaik (@sudarsansand) July 26, 2018

#KargilVijayDiwas: Armed Forces personnel and families of soldiers who lost their lives in 1999 Kargil War pay tribute at Dras War Memorial. pic.twitter.com/NX7m0KxNLD  ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2018

Ahead of the Kargil Vijay Diwas, the Army invited families of 1999 Kargil War martyrs to remember their supreme sacrifices. During the occasion, some of the family members and wives of the martyrs shared their experiences of the unbearable loss they had to bear after the war.

The 1999 Kargil War is considered as a turning point in the history of Indian armed forces, which fought and won a rare high altitude battle that tested the fraught nerves of two nuclear-armed nations.

Interestingly, it was also the first war to be televised across India.

The war occurred after the peace overtures of the then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, were spurned by the growing ambitions of then Pakistan Army chief General Pervez Musharraf, whose Kargil misadventure ended with Indias ferocious victory.

The Indian Army was informed of Pakistani intruders by local nomads, who spotted multiple infiltrations bids in and around the strategically important Batalik, Dras and Kaksar sectors.

Though Pakistan's alleged misadventure came as a big setback for the country, the Indian armed forces resolved to re-capture all strategic locations and dismantle fortified Pakistani bunkers there.

The Bofors howitzers anti-tank guns played a major role in breaking the Pakistani defences during the 60-day-long war.

The shelling from Pakistan began on May 9, 1999, as cover fire to engage India as more intruders crossed over to the Indian side. After gathering actionable inputs, the Army soon began to position its troops in the Kargil sector and, by the end of May 1999, the IAF launched massive air strikes.

Though the IAF lost two of its fighter jets and one helicopter, which was shot down, it helped the ground troops to regain control of several key positions in the Batalic sector.

Tiger Hill, a Pakistani stronghold and the highest peak in the Kargil-Dras sector, was captured after an eleven-hour-long battle.

In view of growing international pressure on the then Pakistan Prime Minister, Nawaz Shariff, status quo ante bellum (the state existing before the war) was maintained and India declared July 26, 1999, as Kargil Vijay Diwas.

Since then, July 26 is celebrated as Kargil Vijay Diwas, marking the successful conclusion of the war with Pakistan in the Kargil-Drass sector of Jammu and Kashmir in 1999.

Though, the Indian soldiers successfully gained back the high altitude outposts occupied by Pakistani intruders culminating under the 'Operation Vijay', the country also lost over 500 brave sons of the soil who laid down their lives during the 60-day long war.New Delhi: In an incident that highlights the negligence of the Indian Railways, the wagon of a goods train from Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam took 3.5 years to complete its journey of 1400 km and reach its destination. The wagon was booked in the year 2014.

The arrival of the wagon took the railway officials by surprise.

The company, Indian Potash Limited, had booked the wagon (107462) having compost parcel from Visakhapatnam Port to the destination of M/s Ramchandra Gupta's shop. However, when the wagon didn't turn up at the destination even after several months, dozens of letters were written to the Railways. But the Railway authorities couldn't track the wagon for 3.5 years.

The compost-filled wagon parcel, that is worth 10 lakhs, travelled throughout the country during this period and despite passing through several railway stations the Railway authority failed to locate the wagon resulting in the decay of the product.

For the time being, the product has been kept on the platform of a railway station. As the compost has decayed the shop owner has refused to take it. The owner of the product has said that it is a blunder on the part of the Railways which couldn't track the wagon.

The owner added that despite giving the Railways constant reminders they failed to trace the wagon for so many years and now after the wagon went missing for more than three years it reached its destination from Visakhapatnam. The cost of the goods is worth Rs 10 lakh and it will be taken from the Railways on an assessment basis.PATNA: Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tej Pratap Yadav on Thursday took out a 'cycle yatra' in Patna to protest against the rising petrol and diesel prices across the country. However, Yadav might not have anticipated the embarrassment that he would have to face. While riding the cycle with his aides, Yadav suddenly gained pace. Just as he was about to take a turn at the roundabout, he lost his balance and fell to the ground.

As his aides and security men around him rushed to his help, an embarrassed RJD leader quickly got to his feet. Several people present at the spot recorded the video through their mobile cameras, a footage that is now being widely shared.

Taking out the yatra, Yadav said that due to rising prices, cycle seems to be a good alternative for travel. "Petrol and diesel have become costlier, so it is best to ride a cycle now, it also helps to stay healthy," he had said earlier in the day.

Tej Pratap was the health minister in Bihar before Chief Minister Nitish Kumar broke its ties with the RJD. Ever since, Tej Pratap along with his brother Tejaswi, has mounted several attacks on Nitish.

#WATCH RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav tumbles to the ground during a cycle rally in Patna earlier today pic.twitter.com/ulgdH4GZYx  ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2018

Tej Pratap has been in news lately but not due to his contribution to the RJD or any political actions. He recently got married to former Bihar minister Chandrika Prasad Rai's daughter Aishwarya Rai, an event that garnered many eyeballs and was attended by several famous politicians.

Just a few days back, Tej Pratap also tweeted a photo of a poster of his upcoming movie "Rudra - The Avtar", which is his debut into Hindi films after a Bhojpuri film.

In the teaser poster, Tej Pratap can be seen in a pair of aviators and is captioned: "Coming soon".Johannesburg: The Counsel General of India to Johannesburg, Dr KJ Srinivasa said on Thursday that twin stamps of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela will be released during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, as reported by news agency ANI.

PM Modi on Wednesday reached South Africa to take part in the 10th BRICS Summit.

"This year's theme for BRICS summit in Africa is cooperation for inclusive growth and sharing the benefits of the fourth industrial revolution. BRICS is another medium for India for making strong relations with South Africa," Dr Srinivasa told ANI.

"When PM Modi will meet South Africa President, twin stamps of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela will be released. This year is important for India and South Africa as it is the 125th anniversary of the incident when Gandhiji was thrown out of a train at Pietermaritzburg station that led to Satyagraha," he added.

As part of his five-day official tour, PM Modi first visited Rwanda on Monday. He did a one-on-one meeting and delegation level talks with President of the Republic of Rwanda, Paul Kagame. He also interacted with the Indian community there.

Later on Tuesday, the PM held delegation-level talks with President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni. As part of his visit to South Africa, a number of agreements and MoUs in the areas of defence, trade, culture, agriculture and dairy cooperation are scheduled to be signed.

with ANI inputsNEW DELHI: Heavy rain threw life out of gear in Delhi-NCR on Thursday. Due to the downpur, several areas were submerged in water. In one such incident of normal life being disrupted, a video has gone viral of a road being caved in leading a waterfall-like flow, right in the middle of the road.

The video, showing the road turn into a waterfall with the rain water running on it flowing into a big dug up part of a road, has gone viral.

The incident took place outside Vartalok Apartment in Vasundhara area in Ghaziabad. Owing to the gaping hole that was created due to the caved in road, residents of the the apartments in the Vartalok Society have been asked to move away from the area. Severe water-logging has been reported from various parts of Ghaziabad.

#WATCH Road caves in Vasundhara area of Ghaziabad following heavy rains in the area. pic.twitter.com/syZlNGszrM  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 26, 2018

Though the rains have brought respite from the humid conditions and brought the mercury down, the water-logged roads and potholes brought traffic to a halt in many areas throughout the day. The traffic police have been actively listing routes that should be avoided due to water-logging.

People of Noida, Ghaziabad and other border areas of Uttar Pradesh and Delhi turned out to be the worst sufferers. "When roads turn into rivers, you feel like you are rowing your car," a 49-year-old man commented sarcastically said, about the state of roads in Noida.

A commuter travelling from Kalkaji Extension to Noida said that covering the route usually takes 25 minutes but due to heavy rains on Thursday, the streets were completely choked. "The travelling time went up to 1.2 hours. There was heavy traffic from Sarita Vihar underpass till Kalindi Kunj. And from Kalindi Kunj to Noida Sector 18," he said.New Delhi: A day after Rahul Gandhi said that BJP leaders take two steps back when he goes near them, thinking that he would hug them too, a BJP MP on Wednesday quipped that they are indeed scared of the Congress president's hug. However, he added that he is ready to hug Rahul once the Congress chief gets married.

Mocking Rahul, he also said that he will avoid giving a hug to the Gandhi scion as Section 377 has not been scrapped yet. "Yes we do fear hugging Rahul Gandhi as our wives might divorce us after that. Also, Section 377 hasn't been scrapped as yet. If he gets married, we will hug him," BJP MP Nishikant Dubey said.

#WATCH: Yes we do fear hugging Rahul Gandhi as our wives might divorce us after that. Also, Section 377 hasn't been scrapped as yet. If he gets married, we will hug him: BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Rahul Gandhi statement 'Now BJP MPs take 2 steps back thinking I'll hug them' pic.twitter.com/gUVMeyjcgw  ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2018

Section 377 refers to 'unnatural offences' and says whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 10 years, and shall also be liable to pay a fine.

The Congress chief had on Wednesday said that he and his party are willing to bitterly fight the Prime Minister and his BJP, however, they will not hate them. "Now whenever I come across BJP MPs, they take two steps back thinking I'll hug them. One thing that religion teaches us is you can't get imprisoned by hatred. We'll take on PM and the BJP, but we don't need to hate them," he had said while addressing at a book launch event in New Delhi.

Rahul Gandhi had made headlines for his speech during the recent failed no-confidence motion debate moved by the unified Opposition in the Lok Sabha. During the debate, Rahul, to everyone's surprise, embraced PM Modi, walking over to the treasury benches.New Delhi: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg saw his fortune sliding to a fifth of his net worth as the social media's stock fell as much as 24 percent after hours on Wednesday on lower-than-expected second quarter earning.

The plummeting stock price wiped out about $150 billion in Facebook's market capitalization in under two hours with Zuckerberg losing $16.8 billion in the wipe out.

As per a Bloomberg report, if the stock slide continues through Thursday's close, Zuckerberg will slide to sixth place from third on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The report further said that it would also "wipe his $13.7 billion of gains for the year, leaving him with just less than $70 billion."

Facing global backlash over the massive Cambridge Analytica data scandal, Facebook`s operating margin fell to 44 percent in the second quarter from 47 percent a year ago.

Facebook`s revenue grew at its slowest pace in almost three years. Sales grew 14 percent to $13.2 billion in the second quarter compared with $9.3 billion a year ago.

A Reuters report said that Facebook reported $5.1 billion in profit, or $1.74 per share, compared with the average estimates of $5.1 billion and $1.72 per share.

Daily user growth for Facebook`s namesake service has slid in six straight quarters, bringing it to 1.47 billion users in the second quarter from 1.23 billion at the end of 2016 when it became embroiled in political issues.

Instagram has grown to 1 billion monthly users from 600 million in late 2016, while Facebook`s two messaging apps, Messenger and WhatsApp have each reported well over 1 billion monthly users.

About 2.5 billion people use at least one of the company`s apps each month, Facebook said on a conference call with investors and analysts.

In April, Facebook had warned investors that more users` data scandals in the future may adversely affect the social networking giant`s reputation and brand image.

With Agency InputsSrinagar: A terrorist on Thursday was neutralised in an encounter with the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Handwara.

Kupwara: One terrorist killed in an encounter between security forces and terrorists in Handwara. Encounter still underway. #JammuAndKashmir (visuals deferred by unspecified time) pic.twitter.com/DVik3OMgLg  ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2018

Earlier in the day, an encounter broke out between terrorists and security forces in Handwara area of Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district, police said.

Security forces launched a search operation in Check Sodul village in Handwara area following information about the presence of terrorists in the area, a police official said.

He said the search operation turned into a gun battle when the hiding militants opened fire on the security forces.

On Wednesday, two terrorists were gunned down in an encounter in Anantnag. In a separate incident in Jammu and Kashmir, an encounter between terrorists and security personnel took place in Kupwara district.New Delhi: The benchmark Sensex breached 37,000-mark for first time and the NSE Nifty hit fresh record high on Thursday on healthy buying in banking, FMCG, capital goods and auto stocks.

The 30-share index crossed the 37,000-mark by jumping 156.42 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 37,014.65 in early trade today, breaching its previous intra-day record of 36,947.18 hit yesterday. Nifty climbed 40.20 points to hit new peak at 11,172.2.

Intra-day, the 30-share index touched a high of 37,014.65 and a low of 36,894.82.

SBIN, LT, Tata Motors, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Indus Ind Bank, Maruti, Coal India, Bajaj Auto, Reliance, Kotak Bank and HDFC Bank, rising by upto 1.44 percent.

The rupee continued to recover for the second day, climbing 10 paise to 68.69 against the US dollar on increased selling of the greenback by exporters and banks amid rising domestic equity market.

On a net basis, DIIs bought shares worth Rs 97.64 crore while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,195.75 crore yesterday, provisional data showed.

Asian indices were showing a mixed trend. Japan`s Nikkei 225 was quoting in red, down by 0.18 percent while Hang Seng was down by 0.63 percent, South Korea`s Kospi was up 0.57 percent. China`s Shanghai Composite index was trading in red, down by 0.60 percent.

Overnight, Nasdaq closed in green, up by 1.15 per cent while FTSE 100 was down by 0.66 per cent at the closing on Wednesday.

With Agency InputsEver since he lost his job lying for a liar, former White House press secretary Sean Spicer has been just aching for a redemption narrative, filling the wadded-gum-size holes in his day by literally begging for credibility while angling for one of those plum jobs with the Enemy of the People. To that end, he recently embarked on a press tour to promote his widely-panned and reportedly error-filled new book (and to play the "left-wing censorship" card at any book store that decides not to host his sweaty chicanery.)

That tour landed in New York City on Wednesday night, with Spicer appearing in front of a not particularly packed crowd at the Barnes & Noble in Union Square. During a Q&A portion of the event, one anonymous protester stood up and shouted his truth: "Hey Sean, you're a real piece of garbage and I hope you look around and see all these empty seats, and I hope you realize even in New York City, people will not come and pay money to hear you speak."

A source in Brooklyn sent me this video of Sean Spicer getting heckled at a book signing in NYC tonight pic.twitter.com/gDHLL95zui  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 26, 2018

"It's a garbage book and you're a garbage person," the man added as security tossed him from the event, to the apparent glee of some Spicer fans (?) in attendance. "You lied as press secretary. Now you're lying in your book."

Reached by email, the anonymous heckler told Gothamist that, after hearing that Spicer was making a public appearance in the city, "I was concerned that he was going to be treated with respecta respect he has not earned, and certainly does not deserve."

He added, "Barnes and Noble should be ashamed for hosting this event. I hope that any additional stops on Spicers book tour are met with mostly empty audiences, and nothing but heckling and disdain."

Spicer's next book event is scheduled for Thursday night at an undisclosed location in Washington D.C.a return to his favorite humiliation bush, perhaps?

New Delhi: Bullish on its performance in India in the second quarter, Huawei sub-brand Honor is set to launch gaming-centric 'Honor Play' smartphone in India on August 6.

The device, unveiled in China in June this year, will be an Amazon exclusive, said the listing on the e-commerce platform.

"Honor Play" is one of the first phones to feature the turbo GPU technology for gaming and overall performance. The device has a powerful Kirin 970 CPU accompanied by the new turbo GPU.

The company on July 24 launched "Honor 9N" that comes with notch "Full View" display and 19:9 aspect ratio.

The phone comes in three storage variants -- 3GB RAM +32GB internal storage at Rs 11,999, 4GB RAM +64GB onboard storage at Rs 13,999 and 4GB RAM+128GB internal storage variant at Rs 17,999.

"Honor 9N" will be available on Flipkart from July 31.

With 188 per cent growth, Honor was one of the fastest growing brand in India in the second quarter, registering a 3 per cent market share at the fifth place in Q2 2018, said Counterpoint Research in its latest report.New Delhi: As the nation celebrated India's victory over Pakistan in 1999 war, the pioneer of war films in India J P Dutta opened up about the love fans have been showering on his films for years.

Ahead of the release of his upcoming war film 'Paltan', J P Dutta expressed his heartfelt gratitude towards the audience for the unfathomable love showered on his films LOC Kargil and Border for years.

J P Dutta says, "I am humbled that my films are still been remembered by the audience on such an important day for our nation. Both my films Border and LoC were war drama films, which were loved by the audience then. It was just a small effort from my side to bring the struggle of us Indians to the silver screen. Both the incidents in the Indian history are very important and talk about our strengths."

With his next Paltan, J P Dutta is all set to complete the war Trilogy that the filmmaker started with Border and LOC Kargil.

Zee Studios and J P Dutta Films upcoming war drama Paltan stars an ensemble cast of Arjun Rampal, Sonu Sood, Gurmeet Choudhary, Harshvardhan Rane and Siddhant Kapoor amongst others.

Paltan is based on the Nathu La military clashes of 1967 which took place on the Sikkim border, Paltan showcases an untold story of the Indian forces facing off in an intense battle to ward off a Chinese infiltration.

Presented by Zee Studios and produced by J P Dutta Films, 'Paltan' is directed by J. P. Dutta and is slated to release on 7th September.NEW DELHI: Questioning the maintenance of the Taj Mahal, the Supreme Court on Thursday lashed out at the Centre and Uttar Pradesh government directing them to let the court know who is responsible for the protection of the iconic structure. It also said that the level is seriousness that the authorities are showing to preserve the Taj is akin to a comedy show.

"Let us know by Monday that who is responsible for the protection of Taj Mahal, the Centre, state government, Pollution Control Board or the Archaeological Survey of India. We are surprised to see that the left hand doesn't know what right hand is doing," the apex court told the government.



The Uttar Pradesh government filed a draft report of the vision document on protection and preservation of the Taj Mahal but faced the ire of the court. Questioning the logic behind submitting a draft report, the SC asked if the government expected the court to vet it for them.

"Why have you given a draft plan? Are we supposed to vet it for you? Is it our job to vet it?" the bench asked the counsel appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government.

The apex court said it was "surprising" that the Archeological Survey of India (ASI), responsible for the protection of the 17th-century monument, was not consulted in framing the draft report.

The apex court also asked the AG which department of the Centre and the state government was responsible for maintenance of the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ). TTZ is an area of about 10,400 sq km spread over the districts of Agra, Firozabad, Mathura, Hathras and Etah in Uttar Pradesh and Bharatpur district of Rajasthan. It lashed out at the Agra District Magistrate asserting that there were a lot of industries around the marble mausoleum which are contributing to a rise in pollution but the DM has not taken any action yet.

During the hearing, the bench asked Attorney General KK Venugopal whether the Centre or the concerned authorities had submitted the management plan on Taj Mahal to UNESCO's World Heritage Centre in Paris. "What will happen if UNESCO says that we will withdraw the World Heritage tag of the Taj Mahal?" the bench asked Venugopal.

Responding to the query, the attorney general said the Taj Mahal was one of the seven wonders of the world and it would be a "great, great embarrassment" for the country if the World Heritage tag of the historic monument was withdrawn.

(Reporter inputs from Mahesh Gupta)BALLIA: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Surendra Singh, who is known for making controversial statements, has now said that every Hindu couple must produce at least five children to keep 'Hindutva' intact.

The Ballia BJP MLA said this while speaking to ANI.

Singh opined that what he said is necessary to keep Hindutva intact and advocated that Hindus must increase their population in India.

"It is the desire of every spiritual leader (mahant) that every Hindu couple should have a minimum of five children. This way the population will be under control and Hindutva would remain intact," Singh noted.

Surendra Singh who has drawn flak for his controversial and pro-Hindutva remarks, had earlier this month triggered a controversy by saying that even Lord Ram would not have been able to put an end to the rising rape incidents.

"This is natural pollution, which has not left anybody untouched. It is people's responsibility to treat others as their family, as their sisters. We can only control it through values, not the constitution," Singh said when asked about the sudden spurt in incidents of sexual abuse in Uttar Pradesh.

(With ANI inputs)RAMPUR: Spelling trouble for senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan, the Uttar Pradesh government has allowed the authorities to file a chargesheet against him for making the alleged derogatory remarks on the armed forces.

The Yogi Adityanath government gave its approval nearly a year after Khan made the alleged insulting remarks on Indian Army.

"The administration has granted the approval to file a chargesheet against former Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan against whom a police complaint was filed for his press statement against the Indian Army on June 27, 2017," Rampur Additional Superintendent of Police Sudha Singh told reporters.

A complaint was filed by Akash Saxena, son of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader under Sections 153A and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code in this regard last year.

Apart from Saxena's complaint, three other complaints were registered against Khan over his controversial remark against the Indian Army.

Addressing a meeting of party workers in Rampur, Khan had said that ''women terrorists had been chopping off private parts of Army personnel in order to send a strong message that should leave the entire nation ashamed.''

Khan later claimed that his statement was misconstrued by the media.

The SP leader had again courted another controversy in June last year when he said that Indian soldiers have been indulging in rape in J&K.

However, this is not the first time that the SP leader has made controversial remarks. On several occasions in past, Khan has made highly critical remarks against the Narendra Modi-led BJP regime and over the functioning of its top ministers.

Just recently, Azam Khan had appealed to Muslims to stay away from cow and the dairy business for their own safety in the aftermath of the Alwar lynching incident.KOLKATA: If things go right, West Bengal could soon be known as 'Bangla'.

The West Bengal Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution to change the state's name from West Bengal to 'Bangla'. The resolution will now be forwarded to Ministry of Home Affairs.

Once approved by the Home Ministry, West Bengal will officially be known as 'Bangla'.

The proposal was first mooted in 2016.

Last year, West Bengal cabinet ministers had cleared the proposal change the state's name to Bangla.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had suggested that West be named Bangla in Bengali, Bangal in Hindi and Bengal in English. However, the centre had rejected the proposal.

The current proposal is the state will be known as 'Bangla' in all languages.

One of the reasons put forward by the state to support its name change is that West Bengal always appears last in a list of states in alphabetical order.Read the original text at 112.ua.

Open source

Recently, an enterprise that supplied defective products to the school canteens was detected in Kyiv, and a criminal case was opened. State Products Control Service is also concerned about the quality of food in schools and kindergartens. The examination has shown that the company fed schoolchildren with a product containing 93% of non-dairy fats. Following the standards, such a product has nothing to do with butter. The product supplied by the company was almost 40% cheaper than the oil, which the company was obliged to supply in accordance with its obligations. The leaders of the company put the money in their own pocket. We are talking about a great sum: for 2016-2017 the company has received 154 thousand USD for the purchase of oil for the schoolchildren.

Representatives of the State Products Control Service has noted that until recently their actions were limited to some extent: Certainly, these restrictions have affected the responsiveness of the State Consumer Service and the frequency of inspections of school and pre-school institutions. Under the law, high-risk business entities, including food units that organize children's nutrition, were routinely tested no more than once in two years. And the institution was warned 10 days before the inspection.

The situation with the falsification of the nutrition products is going too far in Ukraine. Children at schools and kindergartens are forced to eat them. The aim of our service is to check the dishonest businessmen to prevent the sale of counterfeit products, said Oleh Ruban, head of the main department of the State Consumer Protection Service of Ukraine.

According to him, falsification is most common in such categories of food products as butter and meat products. Dairy fats in butter are replaced with vegetable, as a rule, palm oil. Two cases were registered in Kyiv in the past year. In cutlets, the content of minced meat is often decreased, it is replaced with bread, Ruban said.

State Products Control Service has reported that eight kindergartens of Kyiv have got spread, 50% consisting of non-dairy fats. The laboratory tests conducted in the Mykolayiv region have revealed 82 discrepancies in food products from the kindergartens and schools. In 39 samples of dairy products non-milk fats were found, in 7 samples of plant products, the content of nitrates was exceeded, in 9 samples of dairy products mold fungi and yeast were found. In 26 samples of ready-made meals and dairy products, bacteria of E. coli were found. Vegetables with nitrates were found in school kitchens in the Volyn region. In the Chernihiv region, in connection with an outbreak of acute intestinal infection, 130 kg of pork, chicken, sausages, and dairy products without labeling were discovered.

Suppliers often violate the requirements of the products delivery. They often use one car to transport meat, butter, and milk. And this can cause food poisoning. Another problem is that the food is tasteless, and the children refuse to eat it.

In Ukraine, children of the 1-4 grades are provided with the free meals at school. After the 4th grade, free meals are given to the privileged groups (about 10% of the total number of schoolchildren). In Kyiv, about 0,5 USD per day is allocated for a schoolchild's meals from the city budget. This is about 11,5 million USD per year.

In cases that lead to acute poisoning, diseases, the danger of poor-quality food is obvious. But the consequences that can manifest themselves with time are no less dangerous. And this happens in the period of growth and development of the body.

Hydrogenized fats and trans-isomers of fatty acids, which replace milk fats in butter, as well as are widely used in the manufacture of confectionery products, increase the level of cholesterol in the blood, provoke the development of atherosclerosis, vascular thrombosis, heart disease, obesity. Trans-isomers of fatty acids, which since 2005 are banned in the US, and also banned in Scandinavian countries, in addition to cardiovascular system diseases, provoke cancer.

Educational institutions themselves develop an approximate two-week menu, take into account the norms of protein, fat and carbohydrate content, in accordance with Resolution No. 1591. They need to be coordinated with State Products Control Service. The parents should make sure that their children consume a daily portion of food at school. Such a portion should be kept marked in the refrigerator and consist of everything that should be included in the childs nutrition plan. A brokerage commission should work in each institution (school, kindergarten). It includes both representatives of the administration of the institution and employees of the company that provides the food services.Open source

2014 has been a difficult year for Russia. The Russian economy has been pummeled by low oil prices along with EU and US sanctions levied in retaliation for its annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in Eastern Ukraine. The Russian ruble has dropped to an all-time low of 48.65 against the US dollar, with the IMF estimating that sustained capital flight following the enactment of sanctions will trim 1% off Russian GDP this year.

As one of the worlds leading importer of food, sanctions have hit the Russian consumer particularly hard, with shortages and price jumps of 60% in some regions of the country occurring. Despite the precarious economic situation, Russia is likely to maintain or even ratchet up its hostility to Western corporate and political actors.

By employing a highly nationalist rhetoric Putin has successfully positioned himself as a man who is returning to Russia to greatness following the chaos of the 1990s.

With his approval ratings surging to 86% it is clear that the Russian population is largely willing to ignore the possibility of sustained economic hardship in favor of a more assertive international role.

Putins position has been solidified by the lack of any coherent elite opposition. Oligarchs who have attempted to oppose Putin have been imprisoned or forced into exile. Those who remain to adhere to the Kremlins line and avoid taking contrary political stances. Indeed, increasing Russian isolation has drawn many oligarchs into a closer relationship with the Russian state.

This subservient relationship has been replicated in Russias financial sector. While the sanctions regime has had a significant negative impact on Russian finances, the political ramifications have been negligible. In contrast to the US where Wall Streets concerns exert a great influence upon politicians, Russias financial sector is woefully undeveloped: The valuation of Apple is higher than the entire Russian stock market.

Beyond the turmoil in the Russian economy and the highly fluid geopolitical situation in Eastern Europe, with political leaders warning about a return to the tense atmosphere of the Cold War, the spillover effects upon global markets are likely to be muted. Many Western banks have reduced their holdings in Russia, while Russian policymakers have sought to further insulate their economy from the world market by providing financing to domestic companies and increasing gold reserves.

Despite Russias fraught relationship with many of Europes leaders and its growing international isolation, Russian gas will continue to flow unimpeded to European markets. Ironically, the sanctions regime and falling oil prices have increased the importance of Russias gas contracts with European countries. Russia, more than ever, needs the revenue that its gas shipments provide, while European dependence upon Russian gas remains as great as ever.

Russia is Europes largest sole supplier, providing a quarter of continental demand. Thus sanctions on other areas of the Russian economy will not be extended to cover those involved in the Russian gas industry.

An era of steadily worsening relations between Russia and the West looks likely for the foreseeable future. At the moment, both sides are digging in for an extended confrontation. Barring any major developments, such as Ukraine joining NATO, a dynamic of managed hostility that does not threaten the economic fundamentals of the world economy may continue to define the relationship between Russia and the West.

Read the original text at International Policy Digest.The illegal armed formations shelled the Ukrainian positions from heavy weapons one time

Open source

The militants shelled the JFO positions six times on Wednesday, July 25. As a result of the shell, one Ukrainian soldier wounded, according to the message of JFO press office posted on Facebook.

From 7:00 a.m. through 18:00 p.m., Russian occupation forces violated ceasefire regime six times during the day. One Ukrainian soldier was wounded.

The occupants were conducting aimed shell of JFO positions in the areas of Avdiivka, Pisky, Opytne, Lebedynske and Stanytsia Luhanska generally from heavy machine guns and small arms, reads the message.

Furthermore, the militants shelled the defenders of Pisky from 120mm mortar.

As a result of the hostilities, one Ukrainian soldier was wounded.

Thomas Greminger, the Secretary-General of OSCE is visiting Kramatorsk on Friday, July 27.

Ukraine news on 112.internationalI don't know what kind of movies you're intothat's an incredibly intimate thing to know about a person. I only know what kind of movies I'm into. And even then, who really knowsmaybe I just needed to stare at something for a little bit and whatever Netflix suggested felt like it hit the spot because it was simply there. So the first in what should probably be a number of disclaimers here is that all of these movies may not even be "good," but they are at least "fun," and at the very least they are something to stare at for a little bit of time. They are particularly those things when they are viewed in the summer. I'm not sure why.

So, when your depleting mental health could use a little hit of Reese Witherspoon or fictionalized shark attacks, scroll down and make a selection.

THE MAN IN THE MOON (Amazon Prime)

Here's what I remember most about seeing this movie when it first came out back in 1991: a bed on a porch (I have wanted a porch bed ever since), a swimming creek, a first crush, and absolutely nothing bad happening at all lalalalalaican'thearyou. The coming-of-age tale is set in Louisiana in the summer of 1957, and stars Reese Witherspoon, Jason London, Sam Waterston and Tess Harper.

Roger Ebert called it one of the top 10 films of that summer, writing, "Nothing else [director Robert Mulligan] has done approaches the purity and perfection of The Man in the Moon. As the film approached its conclusion without having stepped wrong once, I wondered whether he could maintain the poetic, bittersweet tone, and avoid the sentimentalism and cheap emotion that could have destroyed this story. Would he maintain the integrity of this material? He would, and he does."

COCKTAIL (Amazon, $2.99  sorry it's not free but there was no way in hell I wasn't including this Cruise Classic)

The movie begins with Tom Cruise's character, Brian Flanagan, leaving his Army pals and heading home to New York on a Greyhound bus. The opening sequence gives us a glimpse of 1980s NYCfrom Port Authority bus terminal, to one of those old redbirds, to the Vernon Boulevard-Jackson Avenue stop in Queens, where we meet Flanagan's uncle Pat, proprietor of Pat's Place (an Irish pub). Anyway, Flanagan wants to make a million bucks, and this movie will take you on his journey. It all ends with the Beach Boys hit "Kokomo," which I have included above in lieu of the trailer, because I would like for it to be stuck in as many New Yorkers' heads as possible today. I just think it would put everyone in a better mood. Pipe it into the subways, MTA. Anyway, this movie is wonderful, and I will watch anything that stars the delightful Tom Cruise, I don't care how many people he has brainwashed into Scientologynot my business! Great, great actor.

IBIZA (Netflix)

This movie is mostly (possibly only) good because of its stellar cast: Gillian Jacobs, Vanessa Bayer, and Phoebe Robinson. The trio elevate the simple plot, delivering in the laughs, observations and physical comedy arenas. Their adventure revolves around a trip to, yes, Ibiza, and sure, it's a little scatteredpart "vacation hangout movie" and part rom-combut maybe that's okay?

GIRLS TRIP (HBO and Amazon Prime)

The much better version of the "vacation hangout movie" is Girls Trip, where four friends (Regina Hall, Jada Pinkett Smith, the wonderful Tiffany Haddish, and Queen Latifah), also known as the "Flossy Posse," take on New Orleans for the Essence Festival. Never has a movie so hilariously tackled both friendship, and the dangers of too much absinthe.

JAWS (Amazon Prime)

I have a very deep, nostalgic attachment to this movie which I won't bore you with, but I will say it is the perfect summer movie and I watch it every year. I'm not just saying that because it birthed the summer blockbuster in 1975, but it did. Anyway, was there ever a more perfect trailer, even? It begins: "There is a creature alive today, who has survived millions of years of evolution without change, without passion, and without logic. It lives to kill. A mindless eating machine. It will attack, and devour, anything. It is as if God created the devil, and gave him jaws." CUT TO SUMMER BEACH SCENE.

DO THE RIGHT THING (Amazon Prime with free Cinemax trial, or rent for $2.99)

This Spike Lee classic is set on the hottest day of the summer in 1980s Bed-Stuy, highlighting the neighborhood's racial tension. It was called "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress, when it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. And in its review, the NY Times called it "one terrific movie... Though the action is limited to one more-or-less idealized block in Bed-Stuy, the scope is panoramic. It's a contemporary 'Street Scene.' It has the heightened reality of theater, not only in its look but also in the way the lyrics of the songs on the soundtrack become natural extensions of the furiously demotic, often hugely funny dialogue." And the cast is incredible, including Lee himself, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, and Samuel L. Jackson. For audiences at the time, this was the big introduction to Martin Lawrence and Rosie Perez.

DIRTY DANCING (Amazon Prime)

We had just dropped my older brother, his friend, and their dates off at the New Haven Coliseum to see U2 on their original Joshua Tree tour. My brother had on a denim jacket with a giant patch on the back featuring one of the band's album covers. I was a little jealous, but my parents were taking me to see Dirty Dancing to kill the time before we had to pick them back up. That was the summer of 1987, when everyone called me Jenny and it didn't occur to me to mind. I had just turned 11, an awkward age that made me about a minute too young for both the concert, and this particular movie. But I blushed my way through it, left knowing what an abortion was, and have revisited it time and again as I've gotten older. Until they recreate Kellerman's in the Catskills, I will rewatch this movie every summer.

MOANAandCOCO (Netflix and Netflix)

These are particularly good if you want to watch something with children, but they are also very good to watch alone, as an adult, as I have several times. Animated movies like these are fantastic because even when things get a little dark, you know in the end everything will be alright. And that's a nice feeling since we are currently living in a hellscape timeline that could end in a number of catastrophic ways.

NERVE (Hulu)

I had never heard of this movie (or the book it's based on) until it turned up on Hulu and Hulu would not stop suggesting it to me until I hit play. It stars Emma Roberts and Dave Franco as two NYC teens with unbelievably great smiles, which is not the plot of the movie, simply worth noting. Roberts's character hails from Staten Island, where she meets Franco in a diner after signing up for a batshit insane game called Nerve. After that, you'll need to suspend disbelief as you fly through this techno-thriller, which is pretty wonderfully soundtracked. (When you are done watching please throw away your phone.)

ANY SUPERHERO MOVIE

"Comic Book Adaptations" is my favorite movie genre, any time of the year. Personally, I have watched Black Panther about 14 times this summer because it is currently my niece and nephew's favorite movie. I am trying to get them into Wonder Woman now, which is available to rent on Amazon Prime (and is free if you have an HBO Now account). I'm also partial to Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, but if you want something a little lighter, maybe go for 2002 Tobey Maguire-era Spider-Man, or Paul Rudd's first go-around as Ant-Man. And people really seemed to love Thor: Ragnarok, which is now on Netflix.According to the intelligence, one occupant died and three were injured

Open source

The militants performed 24 attacks on July 24 in Joint Forces Operation zone. Two Ukrainian soldiers were injured, as the JFO HQ reported on Facebook.

The enemy opened fire at our positions 24 times, including one time from the heavy weapon, the message says.

The representatives of the HQ said, that the militants were conducting adjusted fire at the defenders of Stanytsia Luhanska, Krymske, Luhanske, Novoluhanske, Pivdenne, Avdiivka, Marinka, Opytne, Pisky, Bohdanivka, Vodyane, Hnutove, Pavlopil, Lebedynske and Shyrokyne. Moreover, the occupants used 120-mm mortar launcher near Pisky.

Two Ukrainian defenders were wounded over the past 24 hours.

According to the intelligence, one occupant died and three were injured.

The militants opened fire two times during this day  at the defenders of Lebedynske and Vodyane.

Earlier, the Defence Ministry confirmed information about 33 attacks on July 24.Over the last 24 hours, Russian mercenaries from the illegal armed formations attacked the Ukrainian military positions nine times. That resulted in a combat injury for one of the Ukrainian soldiers, the HQ of the Joint Forces Operation posted on Facebook.

The enemy landed adjusted attacks on the emplacements of the Ukrainian army, using RPGs, heavy machineguns and small arms. The militants attacked Krymske, Pisky, Lebedynske, Hnutove and Vodyane.

Anti-tank guided missiles hit Hnutove, Donetsk region.

The joint forces control the situation, holding the defense lines in the designated areas.

Earlier on July 26, Russian armed proxies shelled the waste pond of Toretsk phenolic factory in Donetsk region. The said attack causes a grave threat of the environmental disaster in the area. The Joint Control and Coordination Centre, JCCC, reported that on Thursday, with the HQ of the Joint Forces Operation quoting them later that day.

'Russian Federation's illegal armed formations attacked the waste pond of chemical production of Toretsk phenolic factory. On July 25, 2018, the representatives of the Ukrainian side of the JCCC spotted an explosion of the artillery shell', the message said.

So far, the experts can't specify the intensity of the damage that the walls of the pot could have taken.Since Ukrainian NGOs were also monitoring the situation before annexation, they are in a particularly good position to assess just how radically things have deteriorated since the last report presented by Ukraine

Open source

Russias presentation of its 6th Periodic Report to the UN Committee against Torture is taking place this year with the enforced involvement of Ukrainian human rights NGOs, who have presented a devastating alternative report on Russias use of torture in occupied Crimea. The report, presented during the presentation on 25 and 26 August, covers the situation since Russias invasion and annexation. It paints a stark picture of Russias use of torture as a method of intimidation and as a way of extracting confessions in the ever-increasing number of cases of persecution. The NGOs monitoring has led them to conclude that torture is systemic, and a part of the policy imposed by Russia under occupation.

Since Ukrainian NGOs were also monitoring the situation before annexation, they are in a particularly good position to assess just how radically things have deteriorated since the last report presented by Ukraine.

Their report includes many cases, especially in the first months after Russias invasion, where it was the so-called self-defence paramilitary organizations, controlled by Russia, that committed crimes involving torture and inhuman treatment. Neither in these cases nor in those where the FSB [Russian security service] and its subordinate structures were involved, has there ever been an adequate investigation. This includes the many cases of abduction and enforced disappearances, including that of solitary protester Reshat Ametov. The 39-year-old Crimean Tatar father of three was seized by paramilitaries from outside parliament on 3 March 2014 and savagely tortured to death. Despite video footage of the abduction, there has never been any real attempt to even formally identify the culprits, let alone hold them to answer.

The NGOs stress that Russias policy of suppressing all opposition to its annexation began immediately and contributed to the dramatic deterioration in the human rights situation reported by numerous international bodies and NGOs.

In November 2016, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court recognized Russias annexation and ongoing occupation of Crimea as an international armed conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Both in the 2016 and 2017 reports, the Office of the Prosecutor has listed alleged crimes believed to have been committed in Crimea, including harassment of Crimean Tatars; killing and abduction; ill-treatment in the context of detention or abduction; violations of the right to liberty and to a fair trial and forced conscription.

The Ukrainian NGOs have documented 106 cases of torture committed by members of the Russian law enforcement agencies and Russian-controlled paramilitary structures.

Although torture is most often used to extract confessions or false testimony in politically motivated cases, the NGOs stress that essentially anybody can become a victim.

All preventive and monitoring mechanisms that were being developed, albeit slowly, before annexation has gone. Russia only introduced Public Monitoring Commissions in 2018, with only people loyal to the occupation authorities being allowed to become members of the commissions.

Ukraines Ombudsperson has only once between allowed to visit a few prisoners in Crimea and the International Committee of the Red Cross has also been denied access.

While the occupation authorities do not directly prevent political prisoners lawyers from seeing them, they do make it extremely difficult and time-consuming, since they may have to wait in a queue to see people held at the SIZO or remand prison in Simferopol for many hours, or even days. Wives and other relatives are in an even worse position and may be refused visits all the time that a person is held there (up to a year and a half).

Even where lawyers have lodged complaints on behalf of their clients about torture, these are either ignored or rejected, with the lack of an independent judicial system making it impossible to hope for effective investigation and response.

The NGOs point to the disproportionate use of force during armed searches and arrests. Large numbers of masked men with machine guns can burst their way into homes early in the morning with children waking to find men in the room waving Kalashnikovs and forcing their father to the floor.

There was very clearly a disproportionate force in the events on 23 November 2017 when the FSB tried to arrest 83-year-old Vedzhie Kashka, a widely renowned veteran of the Crimean Tatar national movement and instead caused her death. The occupation authorities are not only refusing to investigate, they are positively obstructing any such investigation, and appear to have a lot to hide.

Nor was Vedzhie Kashka the only victim of a case which has very clearly been fabricated in an attempt to discredit the Crimean Tatar Mejlis and respected members of the Crimean Tatar community. Of four men arrested at the same time, three are in their late fifties or sixties and in very poor health. In at least two cases, the very fact that they are held in detention can be viewed as a form of torture.

They and others are held in the Simferopol SIZO where the appalling conditions and overcrowding, as well as the lack of medical care, are also tantamount to torture and ill-treatment.

Torture to extract confessions

The NGOs write of torture having been used to obtain confessions in at least 15 cases, though that number is certainly too low, given cases described here.

They include the very first known Crimean political prisoner Mykola Shyptur, Oleg Sentsov, and three other opponents of Russian occupation: Oleksandr Kolchenko; Oleksiy Chyrniy and Gennady Afanasyev;

Maidan activists Andriy Kolomiyets and Oleksandr Kostenko

Yevhen Karakashev

Emir-Usein Kuku

Hennady Lymeshko

Ihor Movenko

Yevhen Panov, Andriy Zakhtei, Volodymyr Prysich

Ismail Ramazanov

Hlib Shabliy

Oleksiy Stohniy

Oleksandr Steshenko

Valentyn Vyhivsky

Yuri Ilchenko

The above does not include those subjected to severe psychological pressure, threats, etc.

Other victims of abduction

The most shocking case over the last year was surely that of Rinat Paralamov, who was taken away after an armed search during which two FSB officers tried to conceal their official insignia. Paralamov disappeared, and it is almost certainly only thanks to the major effort in sounding the alarm, that he was eventually returned, having faced vicious torture to get him to sign multiple confessions.

Paralamov and a few others have found the courage to publicly speak of the torture they were subjected to, though in most cases only after they have fled to mainland Ukraine. It is, unfortunately, likely that there are others who also signed such blank cheque confessions and who have since remained silent.

Read the original text at Human Rights in Ukraine.Groysman also reminded that Ukraine got more gas for the last year and the half of 2016 that for the previous period in 700 million cubic meters

Open source

44 areas with 150 billion cubic meters of gas that need the investments are prepared in Ukraine as Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said.

The Prime Minister noted that the strategic task of Ukraine is a total refusal from the gas import and the development of its own explorations.

"As soon as we refuse from the import, we will strongly decrease the prices for gas and we will not be influenced by the international conjuncture of the prices for gas. It is our strategic task. It is not the handouts and discounts but the systematic final decrease of the prices that is possible only when we will extract gas in the amount needed by Ukraine, population and industry," Groysman emphasized.

According to him, now 44 areas with 150 billion cubic meters of gas prepared in Ukraine.

"We already have 44 prepared areas with 150 billion cubic meters of gas that need the investments, new technologies where the Ukrainians will work. We will be able to obtain our independence from any state," Groysman emphasized.

According "Derzhgeonadry", the initial cost of the licenses for the prepared 44 areas is about $112,654 million and the total square of the areas is more than 13, 000 cubic kilometers. As the prime minister noted, it is important to hold all preparatory works to start the auctions as soon as possible.

He also reminded that Ukraine got more gas for the last year and the half of 2016 that for the previous period in 700 million cubic meters.

"UkrgazVydobuvannia" plans to renew the extraction of the gas at the abandoned explorations in Western Ukraine. The enterprise resumed the work in the prospecting of the explorations.

As we reported Russia increased the volumes of the transit of gas via Ukraine's gas transportation system - to 300 million cubic meters as the scheduled maintenance works at Nord Stream pipeline began, the object is temporarily shut down.

Recently, during the gas negotiations in Berlin, both Ukrainian and Russian delegations recognized the need of new kinds of contracts for gas transit. Maros Sefcovic, the European Energy Union's Vice President told that to reporters as quoted by Interfax news agency.112 Agency

The meeting of Donald Trump with Vladimir Putin is definitely the top topic of the last week and still to this day - what do you think was said behind closed doors? Was there an agreement reached between the two Presidents concerning Donbas and Crimea?

I think it was clear from the press conference of the leaders that there continue to be some substantial disagreements over Crimea and eastern Ukraine. You have heard that there was no movement at all in terms of possible recognition of Crimea  that is not going to happen. And also really no movement on eastern Ukraine. In fact, it was not the principal topic of the talks. I think this is good that the two presidents met and that they are trying to establish a better atmosphere for discussions. But this is very important also that we maintain a very firm position on the substance, which is clearly what happened.

What do you think about Putin's so-called proposal to hold a referendum in Eastern Ukraine?

You might have seen that on Friday the White House has issued a statement that rejects the notion of holding a referendum in eastern Ukraine. Given the conditions that there is no government control of the area, people are living in physical insecurity, there is no freedom of movement, there are a million and a half IDPs, there is no way you can hold a referendum there that would have any legitimacy whatsoever. And so that is why the US and everyone frankly rejects the notion of any referendum.

As Sara Sanders said, president Trump asked his national security adviser to invite Vladimir Putin to the White House in autumn - why do you think Trump needs this meeting? And what to expect from it?

I think it is part of presidents continuing effort to try to build some kind of relationship with President Putin. As the president has said, we have the worst relationship with Russia now than we have had since the end of the Cold War. We have problems over Ukraine, Syria, Iran And this is just a very bad situation, difficult one. So in order to try to address some of the issues. This is not about giving in some issues, trying to establish a better relationship to start addressing them.

Basically, it continues a dialogue with Russia.

There has not been much dialogue with Russia. I think that this meeting held in Helsinki was the first real bilateral meeting that the two have had. They had a short exchange in Hamburg in 2017 and another brief exchange in OPEC summit in Asia, but nothing really substitutes. This was really their first time. If you think about other presidents, President Obama, President Bush, they had much more frequent engagement with president Putin at that time, when they were presidents. It has been a lack of communication and we need to reestablish it.

Some experts believe that Ukraine can lose from the meeting between Putin and Trump in Helsinki.

I think that there is evidence, it is clear that would not happen. There are lots of speculations and concerns about these things. But if you look at all the issues that were out there, there has been no movement to restrict Ukraines sovereignty, territory, and freedom of decision about its future, no recognition of Russias illegal annexation of Crimea, no acceptance of the international force that would defectively divide the territory of Ukraine. So those concerns appear to be unfounded.

Speaking about relations with Russia - do you have any plans to meet with Surkov? Your last meeting with him was in January - and the main topic was the peacekeeping mission in Donbas. Any progress in this issue?

We do not have any meeting plan at the moment; of course, I am always opened to meeting with him. The last time we spoke was in January. And after he was reappointed to his position, we had a brief exchange of notes. I think in light of the Helsinki meeting it is National Security Advisor John Bolton who will be in touch with his counterpart. But in that context, I would be very prepared to meet with him to see if Russia is now willing to make more progress than it was before.

Your last meeting with Surkov took place in January, and you discussed the UN peacekeeping mission. Is there any progress in that question?

Not really, no. Russia remains stuck in the position that it put out in September last year, which was for the UN protection force that would only protect only the OSCE monitors. And that would not resolve the issues of the basic security in the area. It would not create the conditions necessary for the implementation of Minsk agreements. So what we need is a genuine peacekeeping force that has area security, that oversees the withdrawal of heavy weapons, that eventually gains control of the Ukrainian side of the international border, and that creates the conditions of the security that you can hold local elections. Where people can return to their homes, where you can see a restoration of normal life. Until that happens, it is hard to see how you can make any further progress. What we did talk in January, and I am prepared to continue the discussion with our Russian friends, as well as others, is how the peacekeeping force grows and stages to accomplish those objectives. You cannot do it all at one day, it needs to be able to grow into that. And we need to be prepared to talk about how. The basic position remains the same: we need to have a genuine peacekeeping force to create real security so that you are able to have local elections and take other steps necessary for the Minks agreements to be implemented.

Is there any possibility that the UN mission will appear on the whole territory of Donbas and Russia would not give any permission and any agreement for that?

No. Because it would only deploy if Russia is in agreement. This is why we are talking with Russia, to see if we can reach an understanding of what needs to happen if Russia would agree to that. Then we would be able to move forward. But not without Russias agreement.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in the interview to Voice of America that current Administration provides support to the Ukrainian forces and that creates a space for the Ukrainian people to have a successful election in 2019, then I will quote, And we are very, very hopeful that that situation will resolve itself. How could this situation resolve itself? And does it depend on the elections results and how?

What situation was he referring to?

I think, the situation in Donbas.

I do not think it resolves. I think it is resolved when Russia decides that it decides the peace to establish. Right now we continue to have so-called peoples republics, we have Russian military force, and the conflict continues with shelling and opening fire every day. We need Russia to choose to take peace.

So nothing depends on the elections results in Ukraine?

I think that the current government is prepared to do whatever is necessary to create peace and see the restoration of the integrity. And I believe that whoever comes to power, he would sure also be prepared to do it. It is not so much about Ukrainian elections so much as it depends on Russias own actions.

The recent OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine alleged spy leak  what do you think about it and how do you evaluate the work of the monitoring mission in Ukraine?

I think we have and everything the SMM (Special Monitoring Mission) does is in fact, being reported out to the national government. It is impossible to expect that there would be genuine secrets there. Yes, I am not surprised that there is it going on, that information is being shared. Frankly, I think yes, SMM does an excellent job, I think it has a very high quality. So the fact that people have that information can probably only have a positive influence.

You mean in Russia?

I think, everywhere. In Russia also, I think that the SMM is doing an excellent job, they report on the violations, report on the lack of freedom of movement. I think they are doing outstanding work. I am not surprised that Russia is trying to steal that information or get it through espionage. And frankly, I do concern about it.

A year ago, you were appointed for the position of the US Special Representative for Ukraine. Has the security situation in Ukraine changed during this year? And how - for the better or worse? 7) Has there been any accomplishment in the last year in your capacity as the US Special Representative for Ukraine that you are proud of? What are your next steps?

I think there have been several things. First, we have seen much more clarity in the way the international community is discussing and understands Russias responsibility for the conflict. I think it was very vague before, there are a lot of ways to avoid assigning responsibility directly to Russia  whether for the MH17 shoot down or for the supply and the support of forces in the East, for the control of the Peoples republics. I think there is a lot more clarity about Russias responsibility. Another thing is that the sanctions regime has remained in place, and it fact, it has been strengthened, in particular, the US has increased the sanctions. Another thing is that we have lifted the arms embargo and are able to provide assistance to Ukraines army. You may have just seen there was an announcement on Friday concerning further assistance. Ukraine has made some progress on reforms, education reforms, anti-corruption court and so on. I think it has been a good year for Ukraine.Open source

Since the beginning of the year, about 6.3 million foreign citizens have crossed the Ukrainian border. The State Border Guard reported that on Thursday.

The report says that annually, the authority spots an increase of the passenger flow across the ground, air and sea-based checkpoints on the Ukrainian border.

'To compared with, in 2014, border guards allowed about 13 million foreigners to cross the border of our country; in 2017, the number of foreign citizens exceeded 14.6 million', the State Border Guard marked.

On July 20, one of the border guard squads of the Joint Forces that covers the "Sartan" Border Guard Service Department reported that an anti-tank guided missile exploded near them. It was launched from the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine as the press service of the JFO reported on Facebook. "The personnel and equipment of the border guard squad were not damaged. The border guards immediately assumed the measures for the provision of the life and health safety of the personnel and civilians and organized the monitoring," the message said.Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa push for unity on trade among other issues

Leaders from the BRICS bloc - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - are meeting on a three-day summit South Africa's Johannesburg for the first time since the Trump administration in the US said it was ready to impose tariffs on all Chinese imports, a move economists say could also hurt smaller countries like South Africa, Al-Jazeera reports.

"A trade war should be rejected because there will be no winner," Chinese President Xi Jinping said at the opening of the 10th BRICS summit of emerging economies in South Africa's main city, Johannesburg.

President Xi is urging the leaders of developing economies to work together, in the face of threats of tariffs by US President Donald Trump.

Russia is pushing for better business ties between counterparts in the informal BRICS club of nations, President Vladimir Putin said, the Bloomberg reported.

Strengthening trade and investment ties with BRICS partners is one of the priorities, Putin said at the annual summit of the five-nation group in Johannesburg Thursday. The countrys trade turnover with Russia, India, China and South Africa exceeded $102 billion last year and we intend to do everything possible for further trade growth within BRICS, he said.

Besides, the BRICS leaders are bracing for a day of protests by a coalition of environmentalists, trade unions and communities from various parts of the world on day two of their summit in Sandton.

The Break the BRICS Coalition plans to march to the convention center to submit a memorandum to representatives as part of its campaign against what it calls the capitalistic nature of BRICS.Mike Pompeo said what the Russians did was "deeply immoral"

Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State, stated that the U.S. would never recognize Crimeas annexation and would continue insisting on the restoration of Ukraines territorial integrity, as The New York Times reports.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the United States will never recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea and will continue to insist that Ukraine's territorial integrity be restored, the news agency reports.

According to Pompeo, Trump and Putin did not come to an agreement to end the conflict in Ukraine.

Pompeo says Trump made clear to Putin that the so-called Minsk Accords to settle the Ukraine conflict is the right path forward. He also reiterated U.S. support for an investigation that held Russia responsible for downing a Malaysian airliner over east Ukraine in 2014, the message says.

Earlier, U.S. President Trump had a meeting with the Russian President Putin in Helsinki. At the joint briefing, Trump stated that he followed the position of Russias illegal annexation of Crimea. Yet, Putin responded that Crimeas matter is closed.

Ukraine news on 112.internationalIt is noted that the convoy had more than 500 tons of the humanitarian cargo

Russia sent the 79th humanitarian convoy to the occupied Donbas, as the press office of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry reports.

The vehicles of the 79th humanitarian convoy of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry arrived in the destination. Now, the unloading of the humanitarian aid in being conducted at the special pick-up locations in Luhansk and Donetsk regions. Then, the cargo will be spread throughout the relevant organizations on socially significant objects in Donetsk and Luhansk regions and among the population in need, the message says.

The representatives of the Russian service ensure that all of the convoy vehicles were checked by the representatives of the customs and border service.

After the unloading the vehicles will head to Don Rescue Centre through Donetsk and Matveev Kurgan checkpoints, the representatives of the Minsitry told.

It is noted that the convoy had more than 500 tons of the humanitarian cargo, including childrens food packages, medication and medical equipment.

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.The suspect claimed that he did not attempt to flee site and regrets the accident

Driver of Hummer Kyrylo Ostrovsky who ran over and killed a girl in the downtown of Kyiv has partially pleaded guilty. He claimed this during the session of Shevchenkivsky court in Kyiv as UNIAN reported.

"I partially plead guilty," he said.

During the court session, the prosecutor's office insisted on the choosing of the restrictive measure for Ostrovsky in the form of the detention. A prosecutor said that there is a risk of the influence on the participants of the case by threats or bribery and the risk of the covering up of Ostrovsky.

The suspect claimed that he did not attempt to flee site and regrets the accident. He added that now his family is helping the family of the deceased girl. Ostrovsky also said that two kids accidentally ran out in the road that evening: the first one successfully crossed the road and he ran over the second.

Moreover, he expressed the confidence that he drove with "moderate" speed and he does not understand why the car did not stop. According to him, he removed the license plate from the car after the accident to save his relatives.

Ostrovsky said that the risks mentioned by a prosecutor are groundless.

A lawyer also asked the court to apply any of milder sanctions against her client than the detention.

As we reported Hummer vehicle ran over a girl, which resulted in her death in the ambulance car on the evening of July 24. He flew the scene after the run over but was detained.

The driver of the car is already served charges due to the violation of the traffic rules or exploitation of the transport by persons who drive it. Now, the suspect is at the detention facility.Walt Whitman, America's bard and eternal pride of Brooklyn, never stayed in one place for very long. During 28 years as a resident of Brooklyn, he had at least 15 different addresses. All have vanished into the real estate markets eternal and infernal churn all but 99 Ryerson Street in Clinton Hill. The vinyl-sided rowhouse is at the center of an argument about architectural ugly ducklings and whether they sometimes deserve to be landmarked because, lets say, a world-historical genius dwelt there when he published a volume of poems that defines the American character as much as any work of art ever has and maybe ever will.

Whitman was living at 99 Ryerson as he finished the great American epic, said NYU professor Karen Karbiener, referring to Leaves of Grass. This is the house that we should honor as an incredible birthplace of American culture, yet there's no protection on it.

Thats not for lack of trying.

Listen to Jim O'Grady's report on WNYC for more details:

The Coalition to Save Walt Whitman's House, a group of writers and preservationists, last year asked the Landmarks Preservation Commission to consider protecting it as an individual landmark. Brooklyn poet Brad Vogel helped research, write, and file the application. Underneath the vinyl siding, 99 Ryerson is the real deal, he said. Its a shrine for people because its a touchstone of Walt Whitman, and it contributes to the cultural life of New York.

The commission, which inclines toward preserving structures of architectural distinction, was unpersuaded. It turned down the request last December. Preservationists are now making a second push to preserve the property, which is poorly maintained and located near a gentrifying stretch of once down-at-the-heel but now cocktail-bar-having Myrtle Avenue.

As for the rejection of the original application, commission spokeswoman Zodet Negron cited three problems. We consider the integrity of the building, which is whether or not it has been altered, she told WNYC. Oopsie: the building at 99 Reyerson Street has an entire third floor that was not there in 1855, and its exterior might be described as 21st Century Ahistorical Hangdog.

Negron added that commission research showed the home was associated with the Whitman family for only six months, and that no part of Whitman's epic poem was penned there. The first edition of Leaves of Grass had been written and submitted to the copyright office before the purchase of this house, she said.

The frontispiece from a Leaves of Grass first edition features a Samuel Hollyer engraving based on a Gabriel Harrison daguerreotype, Brooklyn, 1855 (Library of Congress's Rare Book & Special Collections Division)

Vogel calmly rebutted each point, beginning with the length of the poets stay: In Whitman's own records, in which he wrote about where he lived in New York and in Brooklyn, he says, May of 1855 to May 1st of 1856 at 99 Ryerson Street. Vogel then cited a peculiarity of 19th century copyright lawauthors needed no more than a title page to file for itand concluded that some part of Leaves of Grass was very likely composed at the location.

That left the drawback of the buildings drab vernacular, which Vogel said was minor compared to the major American artist who once lived there in his prime. I'm calling on the Landmarks Commission to look back at its original founding purpose, Vogel said. Its own authorization language talks about historical and cultural landmarks, not just architectural or aesthetic gems.

Two of Whitman's homes are already preserved: his birthplace on Long Island and the rowhouse in Camden, New Jersey, where he died in 1892. But Karbiener and others say there needs to be one morein New York City, where the poet lived the longest, had his most penetrating visions, and did the bulk of his best work.



99 Ryerson Street (Jim O'Grady / WNYC)

Professor Karbiener contended that the ordinariness of 99 Ryerson Street was actually an asset, given how Whitman was prone to celebrate the quotidian. This is not a fancy mansion, she said. This is not a beautiful home like Charles Dickens had in London. This is, as it was called, a mechanic's house.

As of last week, the building appeared inhabited: there were curtains on some windows and six doorbells. But no one answered when Karbiener rang. A neighbor said the third floor windows are lately always open, even when it rains. Efforts to reach the owner through a law firm connected to the property were unsuccessful.

Jim O'Grady is a features reporter at WNYC. You can follow him on Twitter at @jimog.

The representatives of Russia's Embassy in the U.S. stated that the partners "live in a different reality"

Russia reacted to the U.S. Crimea Declaration stating that it doubts its life-changing nature, as Maria Zakharova, the Spokesperson of Russias Foreign Ministry, wrote on Facebook.

In particular, Zakharova claimed the uncertainty of the American foreign policy reminding about the situation with the nuclear deal with Iran and the Paris Agreement. As she wrote, the decision Obama made was re-decided by Trump.

We are aware of the cost of such life-changing declarations, she concluded.

Russian Embassy in the US commented the declaration stating that the current document does not comprise anything new.

The State Secretary delivers statements and declarations on Crimea quarterly. We did not find out anything new. We have just confirmed that the partners live in a different reality. They are trying to operate with the international legal acts which comprise provisions on peoples right to self-determination, which were the basis of Crimeas return to Russia in 2014, the representatives of the U.S. Embassy stated.

Earlier, Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State, stated that the U.S. would never recognize Crimeas annexation and would continue insisting on the restoration of Ukraines territorial integrity.

Later, Petro Poroshenko, the President of Ukraine, expressed gratitude to the U.S. for the statement about Crimeas annexation and urged other states to support such declarationEarlier, Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State, stated that the U.S. would never recognize Crimeas annexation and would continue insisting on the restoration of Ukraines territorial integrity

Ukraines Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin commented on the U.S. Secretary of State statement about Crimeas annexation and stressed that the pressure on Russia should be enhanced, as he wrote on Twitter.

Moreover, the press office of the Foreign Ministry reported that the service welcomed the U.S. decision to urge Russia to respect the international law and restore Ukraines territorial integrity and expressed a deep gratitude to the U.S. for a practical assistance in opposition to Russias aggression.

The Declaration confirms the consistency of U.S. policy concerning the respect of sovereignty and territorial integrity. As in the Welles Declaration of 1940, the United States of America consistently upholds the bedrock principle of international law, ex injuria jus non oritur. Illegal acts cannot create rights for the perpetrator, the message says.

Earlier, Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State, stated that the U.S. would never recognize Crimeas annexation and would continue insisting on the restoration of Ukraines territorial integrity.Courtesy of Studio Hill Design

Local designer Sandy Hill took a trip to Argentina and upon returning was inspired to highlight and honor Albuquerque's public art in the ways that other world-class cities do. With her unique set of skills as Creative Director at Studio Hill Design, she set her mind to developing a sleek website that catalogues our city's murals, which can be found at murosabq.com. She took a moment to tell us a little bit about this new resource for urban art explorers.

Alibi: What inspired this project?

Hill: I spent this February in Buenos Aires and, while I was there, took a mural tour with [urban art organization] graffitimundo. Argentina really celebrates their artists and street art. There were people from several different countries on my small tour, and I realized there is a great international interest in murals. Im always looking for ways to build up Albuquerques image, both nationally and with locals, so I decided to promote our rockin' collection of unique street art.

Why is it important to have a catalog?

Many of these murals are in back alleys or off the beaten path. When we showed our prototype website to local folks who know murals well, even they kept seeing ones they were unfamiliar with. Many of the great murals would rarely be seen without this resource. It also shows the breadth and depth of the mural scene here to have them all visible in one place. Just seeing the 72 murals on one page is powerful. One of our associates said she had an emotional reaction to seeing the website for the first time.

How can people interact with and use the website?

Its super easy and intuitive. All murals are shown as thumbnails on the home page. Clicking each mural takes you to a full info page with a mural description, artist bio, locator map and sponsor of the mural. You can also go to the Map page if youre just hanging out and wondering what murals are nearby, or want to plan a route to view several. You can also search the site by artist or title.

What do you hope the website can do for Albuquerque locals? How about for out-of-towners?

I feel that Albuquerque suffers from low self-esteem! I love it here and think it is an amazing, unique city. We want to remind locals how cool we are! We want to build local pride. For visitors, the website provides something to do for an extra day in town, and gives a sense of our arts and culture scene.Courtesy of Chelsea Bunn

The singular fact,/ both a shock and a comfort,/ that time moves on, that so much/ time has moved on, and still so little, rarefies/ the air sweeping in to touch our living skin. These lines from Chelsea Bunn's poem Saint Elizabeth (published in Sky Island Journal) are both a closing tonic and starting blocks for the imagination. They are elegant but electric as they outline a simple, everyday scene of a man and a woman standing in a kitchen, and then zoom us outward to broader, more pervasive human struggles. It is through the medium of poetry that words can offer not so much the definition of a feeling, but simply evoke them line by line. They can conjure moods from the obscure depths of our imagination that we ourselves might not have the words to call forth. Dealing in subtleties, they express much without holding anything too tight. It is a different mode of language, something more alchemical than a dictionary or grammar rules could hope to offer. The right words strung together are more like a magic spell.

I saw in poetry that I was reading the ways that I thought but had never known how to express or communicate, Bunn explained of her years as a young poet. So, I started writing and it just gave me a way to figure out what I was thinking. These days, Bunn is a widely published poet, who makes her home in Sandia Park, and teaches in Santa Fe and Albuquerque (though she is soon headed to Crownpoint for a full-time teaching gig at Navajo Technical University). Her work has appeared in the Georgetown Review and Apathy Magazine and has twice received the Academy of American Poets Prize. There's a certain clarity that good poems offer to a reader, she said. Maybe you've had a similar experience, or have a similar understanding, but you haven't been able to clarify that idea. There is this great moment  of recognition.

Yet, for many, poetry feels inaccessible. As a teacher, Bunn hopes to share that poetry doesn't have to be abstruse or inaccessible, but instead a vehicle to find greater understanding of both ourselves and the world around us. At the heart of it, it's communication, she explained. I look at poems as messages.  As a thing that you can offer to a reader, like, hey, come here and I'll share this with you. And no matter your experience with poetry, no matter who you are, your response to it is valuable and interesting. Every response is important, she summed it up.

What's easy to see in Bunn's poetry are moments decelerated and examined so their full inertia might be revealed. The practice, then, allows for the writer to slow down to really sit with it and look at it and let it inform you. Bunn described the inception of a poem by writer Mark Doty called A Display of Mackerel. The writer had gone for a walk and passed a shop window with fish lined up on ice. He went home later and wrote the poem to figure out what it was about that image that was charged, that was calling to him, Bunn explained. In that way, you can see an image or receive a bit of information and not necessarily know right away why it's interesting to you. The act of writing can help you discover it.

As a writer and a reader, discovery is often the crux of the experience. Whether that, as Bunn described, is through being more attentive to the world around me, giving me a little bit of consideration for other people or making me see things more clearly. As she considered her practice, and what it has returned to her, she offered that it has encouraged her to pay attention. A lot of writing to me is about being receptive to what's around you. If you're never letting yourself be aware of things that are going on  or even not attending to how you're feeling and interpreting things, than you're shutting yourself off to a very rich set of experiences. Poetry has helped me access more of my feelings, consider more responses and morejust more.

One avenue to more experience mediated by the wonder of poetry is Bunn's upcoming reading at the South Broadway Library (1025 Broadway Blvd. SE) on Saturday, July 28. The early afternoon reading, from 11am to noon, will see Bunn reading her own work, as well as a selection of poems that she has loved well over the years. The event is free to attend. Find more about Bunn, and be transported by her poetry, by heading to chelseabunn.com.Participants practice using the Grantsmanship Centers approach to planning programs, writing grant proposals and receive useful, up-to-date, practical information.

Santa Fe Community Colleges Continuing Education Department will host a Grantsmanship Training Program July 23-27 on campus at 6401 Richards Ave. in Santa Fe. The intensive, five-day, hands-on workshop for nonprofit and government grantseekers will guide participants step by step through all stages of planning programs, researching funding sources and writing proposals.

The Grantsmanship Center will conduct the course. Participants will practice using the Grantsmanship Centers approach to planning programs and writing grant proposals and receive useful, up-to-date, practical information. The textbook Program Planning & Proposal Writing is highly recommended and will be referenced during class. It can be purchased at the time of registration.

To ensure personal attention, registration is limited to 30 participants. Tuition is $995 until June 11 with early bird discount. After June 11, tuition is $1,095. There are a limited number of partial scholarships available for qualified organizations. Alumni may qualify for special discounts.

To register for the Grantsmanship Training Program, for more information or to apply for a partial scholarship, contact the Grantsmanship Center at 213-482-9862, www.tgci.com or registrar@tgci.com.

The Grantsmanship Center helps private and public nonprofits make better communities by offering training and publications to help organizations plan programs and write compelling grant proposals. For more information, call 800-421-9512 or go to www.tgci.com.

SFCCs Continuing Education Department provides credit and noncredit courses for all ages. The Continuing Education Summer Schedule 2018 outlines classes and workshops that can provide a valuable means of personal enrichment and professional development. Call 505-428-1676 or go to www.sfcc.edu.Image from Ad Council

Ive been noticing some pretty arresting billboards while driving around Albuquerque lately. The one that really caught my eye (and thats pictured on top of this article) features a carton of milk with Best if used printed on it. 40% of food in America is wasted reads the adits not often that a bare statistic can relay such a powerful message. That statistic, which came from a landmark study by the Natural Resources Defense Council, translates to roughly 400 pounds of food per person going into landfills each year.

Why is food waste such a big deal? For one, because its food that could be going towards feeding the one in eight Americans who regularly goes hungry. For another, throwing out foodwhether because its spoiled or we just dont want itwastes all of the resources that went into making that food: the freshwater, farmland, manual labor, fertilizers and pesticides needed to grow it, and the energy required to harvest, transport and regulate temperature. Food waste also accounts for 21 percent of the contents of landfills and 37 million cars worth of greenhouse gas emissions annually in the US.

These ads are from Save the Food, a joint campaign of the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Ad Council to increase awareness of the huge nationwide problem of food waste and the changes we can all make to address it. Through their website, Save the Food offers everyday strategies on how to better store food to keep it fresher longer, shopping and meal plans that help you buy the right amount of food in the first place and recipes that use up food scraps youd normally throw out (strawberry top rose granita? Yes please.) While food waste is a systemic problem that will require large-scale solutions, those solutions start with the individual decisions we make on a daily basis.

I recently spoke with Andrea Spacht, the Sustainable Food Systems Specialist at NRDC and a part of the Healthy People and Thriving Communities Program about the Save the Food campaign and its origins.

Weekly Alibi: When did Save the Food come to be, and what was the impetus to start this campaign?

Andrea Spacht: The campaign launched its first round of work in April 2016, which includes TV, online video, radio, print, out of home, digital and mobile assets. In the US, we waste more than 50 billion pounds of food in our homes each year. NRDC partnered with the Ad Council to create a PSA campaign encouraging Americans to make simple lifestyle changes and learning how to properly store a wide variety of foods to help Save the Food.

How much food, on average, is wasted in America? What are the consequences of this waste? And what do we stand to gain by wasting less?

Estimates vary widely, but in the US, we waste somewhere between 37 million tons (according to EPA) and 102 million tons (according to UN FAO) depending on the data sources, food system stages included and disposal destinations included.

Even with the most sustainable practices, our food system uses enormous resources. Nationwide, food production consumes up to 16 percent of energy, uses almost half of land and accounts for 67 percent of freshwater use. Those resources are used in vain when food goes uneaten. Currently, food waste uses up one-fifth of US cropland, fertilizers and agricultural water, and is a significant contributor to climate changeequivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions of 37 million cars. Thats a loss of up to $218 billion each year, costing a household of 4 an average of $1,800 annually.

Wasting less food can help stabilize food demand even as population grows, thereby conserving resources for generations to come.

What goals is Save the Food trying to accomplish? How do you go about doing this?

The Save The Food campaign aims to give consumers the resources and tools to prevent food from going to waste. The campaign has two main goals: to raise awareness about food waste and to encourage every American to be a part of the solution. The campaign encourages Americans to make simple lifestyle changes like making shopping lists, freezing food and using leftovers to reduce waste in their own homes.

What are some other food waste projects youve worked on at NRDC? How do you work with cities to help them reduce food waste?

NRDC has a robust approach to addressing food waste. We advocate for federal, state and local policy to drive change. We recently completed innovative research to determine the types, quantities and reasons for food waste in the residential and business sectors as well as the potential for surplus food rescue. NRDC is working with cities to create long-term, holistic and replicable approaches for tackling our wasted food challenge. We launched a food waste reduction pilot program in Nashville in 2016, and another in Denver recently.

California has been pretty progressive in introducing new policies that help keep food out of landfillsnew Best if used by labeling, city-sponsored composting services and Good Samaritan laws that make it easier and safer to donate foodwhat can New Mexico do at a legislature level to catch up?

New Mexico could replicate any of those policies! New Mexico could implement tax incentives to help farmers and food businesses redirect surplus, wholesome food to food banks and community members facing food insecurity (often called farm-to-foodbank tax incentives). New Mexico could start measuring its food waste and set reduction goals. The state could also invest in infrastructure to help businesses and residents recycle organic matter. Nearly every strategy on our Call To Action could be implemented on the state level (except that strategy 5: standardizing food date labels would have the biggest impact if done on a national scale).

How would you like to see Americans change their eating (and cooking, food storage and food wasting) habits?

There are a variety of tools on savethefood.com to help people better store their food so that it lasts longer, use up the scraps they may have that are still perfectly good food and help folks reimagine the ways they can use the food they already have. But Americans could also patronize restaurants and grocery stores that are limiting the amount of food that they waste. Americans could use their political voices to encourage their policy makers to take meaningful action on addressing food waste.

Visit savethefood.com for more tips on how you can keep food from going to waste, and check out nrdc. org/ issues/ food- waste to learn more about NRDCs research and action on solving the food waste problem.PRINT | EMAIL | PERMALINK Show Up! Five Fab Flavas Burques diversity is dialed! courtesy of the artist I jumped in the river, what did I see?/ Black-eyed angels swam with me/ A moon full of stars and astral cars/ And all the figures I used to see/ All my lovers were there with me/ All my past and futures/ And we all went to heaven in a little row boat/ There was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt.Pyramid Song by Radiohead. Im afraid its going to be one allusion after another this week, the concert scene is just that good and that diverse. Of course the situation with all the chido live music in these parts reminded me of a scene from the video for Paranoid Android where our dear protagonistwearing an R cap y todois taken for ride by a friendly angel in a helicopter who shows that mortal all sorta cool shit. That led me to this later composition, which also mentions angels whilst also rambling on and on about engaging the sublime. Im convinced thats how one should approach the shows coming up this week, all beatifically and so forth. Of course, theres nothing to fear or doubt, so lets go, already, my astral car awaits.

Thursday courtesy of the artist Oupost Performance Space (210 Yale Blvd. SE) on Thursday, July 26 with a performance by jazz heavyweight, saxophonist Charles McPherson. Besides having the historical tendency to sit in with Charles Mingus when he was feeling particularly entranced by be bop, McPherson has been a huge influence on the post-bop world, working in large and Latin-influenced ensembles too. The Charles McPherson Quartet, which will be doing all the playing that night and features Jeb Patton on piano, David Wong on bass and Chuck McPherson handling the drums, is rooted in the classic saxmans formidable study of bop, displaying a def groove that is easy on the ears yet impossible to forget. 8pm  $30 to $35  All-ages. The New Mexico Jazz Festival continues its 2018 Albuquerque residency at the(210 Yale Blvd. SE) on Thursday, July 26 with a performance by jazz heavyweight, saxophonist Charles McPherson. Besides having the historical tendency to sit in with Charles Mingus when he was feeling particularly entranced by be bop, McPherson has been a huge influence on the post-bop world, working in large and Latin-influenced ensembles too., which will be doing all the playing that night and features Jeb Patton on piano, David Wong on bass and Chuck McPherson handling the drums, is rooted in the classic saxmans formidable study of bop, displaying a def groove that is easy on the ears yet impossible to forget. 8pm  $30 to $35  All-ages. View in Alibi calendar

Friday courtesy of the artist Ryan McGarvey, even if he is out of town frequently, playing in totally fucking rad places like the Piano Musiktheater in Dortmund, Germany, or Oxfords Haven Club. The perennially Alibi BoB-winning axe master returns to his roots on Friday, July 27 when McGarveys trio jams under the bandstand at the ABQ BioPark (903 10th Street SW), as part of the illustrious Zoo Music Series 2018. Slowhand digs this dude and so should you. 6pm  $6 to $12  All-ages. As long as there has been an Albuquerque, but really not commencing until the advent of rocanrol in these parts during the years following WWII, when all sorta humans moved out here to get work designing, building or just thinking about the atom bomb, there have been great guitarists in this very vicinity. Glen Campbell, Larry Longmire, Gordy Andersen and Eric McFadden come to mind of course, but dont count out, even if he is out of town frequently, playing in totally fucking rad places like the Piano Musiktheater in Dortmund, Germany, or Oxfords Haven Club. The perenniallyBoB-winning axe master returns to his roots on Friday, July 27 when McGarveys trio jams under the bandstand at the(903 10th Street SW), as part of the illustrious Zoo Music Series 2018. Slowhand digs this dude and so should you. 6pm  $6 to $12  All-ages. View in Alibi calendar

Saturday Surfy yet metallic, saucy and unfortunately short-lived, horror-show glam rockers and minions of Satan (Im certain about that first part, not so much of the second contention, though the videos I have watched seemed like they might have been made by someone with connections to the occult) Glitter Dick will perform a one-time only reunion recital on Saturday, July 28 at Burques home for vintage video games, brunch lovers and all things hipster, rocanrol included, Sister (407 Central Ave. SW). I asked a member of the band to tell me more about where the real essence of this outfit could be found and the dude replied, Dont worry about the rumors: handing out acid, being banned from clubs, getting protested by religious extremists, sued by Slayer and Richard Simmons, etc ... its punk nihilism at its best. Sounds like fun, eh, viejos? Plus, bring a canned food or clothing donation for charity; a Communism Box will be on site to collect donations in exchange for exclusive free merch. 9pm  $8 to $10  21+. View in Alibi calendar

Sunday Charles Ives, perhaps the first great American Modernist composer. His work is dense and often poly-tonal telling many musical stories in sequence or as contrapuntal elements. Though his lush, discursive and complex work was little regarded in his lifetime, over the years its gained much credence. On Sunday, July 29 join members of Chatter (pianist Emanuele Arciuli, flautist Jesse Tatum and violist Kim Fredenburgh) at Las Puertas (1512 First Street NW) for a rousing performance of one of Ives most acclaimed works, The Concord Sonata, a work that the composer said was his impression of the spirit of transcendentalism. Its heady but hugely listenable. Members of the Albuquerque Poetry Slam Team will get down before the music begins. 10:30am  $5 to $15  All-ages. Okay, so sell your suit and tie and come and live with me. Not really, but do take some time out from all that rock and rolling, dearie. They have classical music on Sundays you know, right? And of course, Chatter ABQ is the place to be as far as experiencing the sublime goes. This weekend the innovative local arts music programmer presents a concert featuring the music of, perhaps the first great American Modernist composer. His work is dense and often poly-tonal telling many musical stories in sequence or as contrapuntal elements. Though his lush, discursive and complex work was little regarded in his lifetime, over the years its gained much credence. On Sunday, July 29 join members of Chatter (pianist Emanuele Arciuli, flautist Jesse Tatum and violist Kim Fredenburgh) at(1512 First Street NW) for a rousing performance of one of Ives most acclaimed works,, a work that the composer said was his impression of the spirit of transcendentalism. Its heady but hugely listenable. Members of the Albuquerque Poetry Slam Team will get down before the music begins. 10:30am  $5 to $15  All-ages. View in Alibi calendarCourtesy D/P/S

ART just won't go away. As the project has rounded one bend only to encounter more road blocks, the mass transit project has had its share of controversy. And while things were quiet for a while, as the Keller administration worked on a big fix, things are heating up again, as our editorial noted last week.

One local political activist group, Dukes Up, was so frustrated by the whole affair that they used social media to call the nine-mile stretch of Central Avenue from Louisiana to Coors a shit stain down the middle of Albuquerque. While this might be harsh, shortly after his inauguration Mayor Tim Keller himself admitted that ART was a bit of a lemon.

The Keller administration did not squeeze the lemons, that was done by the former Richard Berry administration, but it did inherit the juice. Mayor Keller held a presser last week explaining Burquenos had better buck up and learn to live with the project while the city bean counters sweat out scraping together $75 million to recoup spent funds the city didnt have when it went ahead with ART, hoping it might get the money from the feds, but didnt.

Promises

Weekly Alibi was there at one of the first public input meetings in December 2012 when members of the Berry administration introduced the idea of a rapid transit line down Central Avenue. That meeting had about 40 people in attendance. Then Transportation Director Bruce Rizzieri told attendees that city bus ridership was up and nearly half of those riders took the Central Avenue buses. He said this project would move the Rapid Ride buses out of traffic and improve overall reliability of public transportation across the city.

Many people there at that meeting told Rizzieri that the buses along Central were pretty good already and it was the rest of the city that needed improvementanother basic mass transport problem in Burque that Weekly Alibi has strongly implied sorely needs attention. But some at the meeting said they would welcome the big city idea of abandoning automobiles en mass for reliable public transportation.

In City Council meeting after meeting, in the ensuing six or so years, former Berry administrators Michael Riordan and Rob Perry repeatedly defended the project and promised that the Federal Transportation Administration was going to approve the project and flood us with the millions of dollars needed to fulfill this urban dream. They said the City Council needed to show good faith and start the construction prior to having the money in the bank.

So far, all the money that the feds have sent came in the last few weeks, to the tune of a paltry $14 million, a far cry from the $135 million price tag.

Honeymoon is Over

Take a drive along the proposed designated 9-mile route. There are 41 signaled intersections to navigate and 20 stations from Louisiana to Coors. Weekly Alibi took that road. What we saw is a hodge-podge of varying degrees of blight, some businesses doing well, other businesses strugglingwith bursts of new hopeful future development and construction here and there. There are enclaves of success and affluence, small bright oases, dotting this landscape.

But the empty, sometimes dilapidated properties are what really drew our attention. We saw at least a couple dozen signs advertising buildings or space for lease or sale. Its hard to tie any of this directly to ART; yet the strained built environment doesn't always seem a match for ART's clean and shiny newness. The Albuquerque Office Marketview first 2018 quarter report put out by CBRE shows the Duke City leasing activity down 20 percent from the 5-year average with an overall vacancy rate of 20.4 percent.

One West Central Avenue restaurant owner made it clear how they feel about the ART project. The proprietor posted a sign in its parking lot that says ART parking is not allowed. We took that to mean they did not want folks parking their cars in their lot to jump on the new buses to go to another part of town while their car gums up their always popular parking lot. This brings up an important question, a corollary to ART's future success: Where are the parking lots to hold the cars that people drive to catch the bus?

One of the biggest issues driving the project seems to be the double yellow lines, or worse, the actual cement medians, barring left hand turns except at intersections. Left hand turns from side streets without signals is also a no-no. This means commerce along the route is going to be constrained by the fact that drivers simply cannot easily get to the businesses they want to visit. Drivers will have to make a U-turn at a light, which is sometimes a quarter-mile away.

So dont even think about driving across the bus lane anywhere in between signals or an overworked police officer with any number of better things to do will slap you with an $80 ticket, plus you could be hit by a speeding bus. And for those of us on foot or bikes, apparently, the only place we can cross is at one of the 41 signalized intersections or at one of the 20 ART stations, which may or may not be at a signal. This means pedestrians also have to go many steps out of their way to cross Central anywhere along the route; thats as likely to happen as is the project getting up and running before years end.Corey Yazzie

If the monsoon does not come to Albuquerque soon enoughor as in some years is truncated or very rarely completely absentthen the summertime environment of an otherwise glorious town is diminished. The trees begin to seem forlorn, the grass gets hard and crabby. Even the cacti, long the arbiters of biological tolerance to extremes, suffer. Their blooming ceased, they curl back up into the earth to await winter and perhaps snow.

Thats the way it really is, citizens of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and its immediate environs. I should know, Ive been doing a summery occupation of this town for 42 years nowwell except for a season spent in Old Blighty and another in Baluwatarand Im keen to the weather. It helps, by the way, if one has and maintains a sense of circumspection and detached patience.

The good thing isespecially given the proclivity this place has for receiving either the grace of god or the beneficiary of specific quantum events that lead to resolutionthat when ART really gets going, it is going to indeed be awesome. ART really can be an amazing, forward-looking example of how people move around cities in the mid-21st century, speaking the new urbanist vernacular in English, Spanish and Chinese, by the way.

That applies to living in the high desert, in an atomic age military outpost town gone big, but also to things that happen, over time, in that burg. Waiting for ART to commence is the sharpest, most direct example of how that attitude works. And if drought equals disappointment then were on track for damnably dry time.

The good thing isespecially given the proclivity this place has for receiving either the grace of god or the beneficiary of specific quantum events that lead to resolutionthat when ART really gets going, it is going to indeed be awesome. ART really can be an amazing, forward-looking example of how people move around cities in the mid-21st century, speaking the new urbanist vernacular in English, Spanish and Chinese, by the way.

Its important to keep that in mind whilst waiting. With that conceit in firmly planted in sus cabezas, Weekly Alibi hit the streets of Burque to find out how the people of this fine city are handling the news coming out of city hall, the news that says it might be until winter before ART starts carting humans around town, all Jetsons style, yo.

I started my cruise by rolling up to Nob Hill, to the east end of the neighborhood. As readers may recall, last year, the section of Nob Hill from Carlisle to Washington was dis-included from Summerfest.

This year, of course, the Keller Administration saw to the reversal of that problem and one store manager in this area, Tiffany Garcia, told Weekly Alibi that the re-establishment of traditional Summerfest boundaries was a beam of bright light for her business, and a contrast with the dark-seeming days the shop encountered during the ART projects construction.

When asked about ARTs impact, she said, My inital thought when ART was starting to happen was that it might be beneficial for me, because I ride the bus daily from Coors and Central to Nob Hill. I thought this could be something that might cut down my commute time. But as the project progressed and took more time than it should have, it began to hurt our business. There were a lot of things that werent planned out well. It was a mess. For now, Im of the opinion that maybe I should just boycott the whole thing. When coaxed toward optimism with a smile, though, Garcia told this reporter, I really dont know if Im going to take it, thats where Im at a loss. Part of me is really disappointed in the way this whole thing happened. Tiffany smiles wanly as I wandered out the door.

In the immediate vicinity, that is to say in east Nob Hill, there is a medical cannabis dispensary. Its quiet inside most of the time, which is a great thing for patients like me, but maybe not so much for the business itself. Ironically, the other iterations of such facilities scattered throughout the Duke City tell a different economic story. For those not on Central Avenue, the general rule of business seems to be busy like hell all the time.

So after nimbly entering and proceeding through a short chat with the gentlemen running said herbal medical depotabout the stress relieving properties of certain plant essencesthe talk turned to transportation and I asked the two budtenders about ART.

Alek Charley, a long-time Burqueno, chimes in first. I personally think ART is a disaster; its basically turned Central into a single lane in each direction. It means more driving hazards for everyone; the bus lanes, people in cars stacking up behind red lights, theres already a lot of confusion. When told that the Keller administration is moving ahead with plans to deploy buses, busmen and traffic enforcement officers in the next couple of weeks, both Alek and his work mate Francisco say that is the first time they have heard of such developments.

As I traveled down Central Avenue, I began to sense that I was not going to find many in support of the project, imminent deployment or not. I kept plugging away though, determined to let random human entities within the proposed ART environment define the narrative of the coming of the electric buses.

I stopped at the Frontier Restaurant and asked to talk to Larry Rainosek, the owner and stalwart member of this towns commercial community. Larry wasnt in, the tortilla machine operator told me. I glanced around at the fury of folks filling the joint. The eatery seemed to be doing just fine and I was standing in the midst of a crowd during summer break, when most of the restaurants constant customers, the college kids, were away from El Duque.

Venturing on, I had a 20 minute conversation with a very anti-ART business owner in the UNM district. Basically, he was eloquent but angry. One of the main reasons he didnt think the project would work was because he believed the buses in this townhe was from St. Louisare just not used much by commuters or tourists. He added that the addition of relatively large real estate developments in the area were supposed to go along with ART but were so far empty because people and businesses just werent moving to Albuquerque. Too much crime, not business friendly, he gravely intoned as I stepped back into the hot July sun.

Folks waiting for the current iteration of ABQ Ridein the form of the Rapid Ride Number 766, known for the same stealthy speed as any of its Bolivian cousins traversing the Andesseemed to be disinterested in ART, even if it started running tomorrow, according to some daily riders. One such daily bus rider, Charlotte Garcia, kept her disinterest simple but certain, Some of the buses are good; the number 5 bus, the San Mateo bus, the Menaul bus. Also the Rapid Ride. But Im not interested in ART because all it does is go up and down Central. Thats all it does, it doesnt hit any of the other streets.

Back at the office I liked what I heard on the tape, it seemed honest; it was pure Burque. But I was a bit concerned about the lack of vocal support I heard for ART among the citizenry of this town. I called a colleague. She said the only place Id get such comments is if I solicited them from the city or the PR company in charge of selling ART to the masses. I laughed at her cynicism and kept dailing, waiting until just before press time to decide that a whole dang sidebar on those that support the project can come out of the hopper and come to life next week.by Sumon Corraya

The police present the results of two years of investigations. In total, at least 21 people involved in the bloodiest attack in the country's recent history. The suspects are members of the New Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh; two of them are on the run. Police chief: "The militants wanted to put pressure on the government".

Dhaka (AsiaNews) - Bangladesh police formally indicted eight Islamic terrorists who were held responsible for the attack on the Dhaka foreign bar on July 1, 2016. Monirul Islam, head of the anti-terrorism unit to Contrast Transnational Crime in Bangladesh (Cttc), gave the news yesterday, presenting the results of two years of investigations and interrogations at a press conference.

Many express satisfaction with the work of the investigators. Commenting to AsiaNews, Liton Gomes, a young Catholic, said: "I am pleased that the police have closed investigations quickly. This is a good example for our country and will help protect it from the activities of Islamic fundamentalists ".

The attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery Cafe in the capital, a meeting place for numerous foreigners and business people who live in the Gulshan district, home to several embassies, was the bloodiest in the recent history of the Asian country.

On the evening of 1 July 2016, armed with rifles and other weapons, five Islamist militants broke into the bar and took their customers hostage. Those who knew how to recite the verses of the Koran by heart, were let go; the others, murdered without hesitation.

Throughout the night, the bombers engaged a gun battle with the special police departments. At the end of the 12-hour siege, 20 victims were counted, including 17 foreigners; of these, nine were Italian. Added to these are the killed terrorists, the material executors of the attack, all of them from wealthy families.

Monirul Islam said that 21 people were found guilty of the massacre: the five militants killed in the police blitz; eight terrorists murdered in the following months when a real manhunt was conducted, including the one who is considered the "mastermind" of the attack; the eight radical Muslims against whom the formal accusations were presented.

The head of the anti-terrorist unit released the names of the eight suspected members of the New Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh. They are: Rakibul Islam Regan, Hadisur Rahman Sagor, Jahangir Hossain Rajeeb aka Rajeeb Gandhi, Aslam Hossain Rashed aka Rash, Abdus Sabur Khan aka Sohel Mahfuj, Mizanur Rahman aka Baro Mizan, Mamunur Rashid aka Ripon and Shariful Islam Khaled, former student of the faculty English at Rajshahi University. "The first six - added the policeman - are in prison, while the last two are on the run. [For the fugitives] we will ask for an arrest warrant ".

The official gave further details on the results of the investigation: the terrorists had been preparing the attack for at least five months and the money needed to do it - about 2 million taka (20,400 euros) - would have come from a Middle Eastern country. "The attackers - he concluded - wanted to make the nation fail and create a situation of instability. They wanted to make Bangladesh a fundamentalist country. They wanted to pressure the government."New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Generally cloudy. High 86F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening. Thunderstorms likely late. Low around 65F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%.Abdel Latif Derian reminded Muslim students of the importance of the Christian presence in the region. Attacks against them are a crime against the entire population. Muslims and Christians share "the same fate". For Mgr Gemayel, the Mufits words echo John Paul IIs Apostolic Exhortation. Supporting and nurturing this voice is a must.

Beirut (AsiaNews)  The words of the great Mufti Abdel Latif Derian are "more than courageous", they are a "valuable" act that fits "with the spirit" of the Apostolic Exhortation A hope for Lebanon by John Paul II of 1997, said Mgr Maroun-Nasser Gemayel, bishop of the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Paris, about the Sunni authority in Lebanon, speaking to AsiaNews.

He recently had said that the Middle East is destined to disappear if the exodus of Christians from the region continues.

During the graduation ceremony of 350 students at Makased institutes, private Islamic schools in Lebanon, the Mufti of the Republic said that "We live in the same country with Christians, we share the air and the daily bread. We have the same destiny: our future will either be together or not."

Addressing Muslim students and officials, the 65-year-old Abdel Latif Derian  known as a man of peace and dialogue, critical of those who foment divisions between Sunnis and Shias  added that attacks on Christians are a crime against the entire population.

Islamic schools must educate the future generations to accept the good principles of citizenship, as well as love for the Arab identity and the sense of brotherhood towards the whole human family.

Mgr Maroun-Nasser Gemayel welcomed the Muftis words with gratitude. The prelate is very much aware of the Christian exodus from the Middle East to European nations, especially France.

"Living in the same region, having experienced in the past hours of glory and sadness, Christians and Muslims are called to build together a future of collaboration and conviviality," as Pope John Paul II said in his exhortation.

The shared task of "building together" the region should be "shouted out loud", he explained, and "opposed to all the wars" that have devastated the Middle East, starting from the barbarity perpetrated by the jihadists of the Islamic State group.

At the same time, the part of the Muslim world that works for dialogue and peace must always find more room and a greater voice because it represents "the wind of hope".

"It is necessary that this voice, which meets the expectations of Christians, spread everywhere," the bishop said. It must become the grassroot voice of Muslims, "the voice of everyone" to allows us to enter into a true "logic of peace".

A new party must be created, that of "living together. The moment has come for this conviviality to be asserted and consolidated once and for all."

More than a week ago, on 7 July in Bari, Pope Francis utter words similar to those pronounced by the Grand Mufti, during an ecumenical prayer with Christian leaders and patriarchs of the East.

There is a risk that the presence of our brothers and sisters in faith will be cancelled, disfiguring the very face of the region, because a Middle East without Christians would not be the Middle East."

(Fady Noun contributed to this article)Thank you for reading!

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.Lake Arpi National Park,in Armenias northeastern Shirak Province, is both home to the lake after which it is named and to Lake Ardenis, a smaller body of water, that nevertheless hosts a unique variety of flora and fauna.

Environmentalists and residents say Ardenis, a spring-fed lake covering some ten hectares, is slowly dying.

Instead of hosting tourists, Lake Ardenis has turned into a sewage storage site within the last 8 years. This has impacted the lakes fauna - the fish have disappeared, and so have unique migratory birds that used to nest here.

Shakro Ghazaryan, a resident of Ardenis who turned a part of his house into a small B&B, says the lake is slowly dying because of the waste of the dairy plant and pig farm that operate nearby. They belong to the family of Mergel Gharibyan, who was elected mayor of the village of Ardenis in 2008, was re-elected in 2012, and became the mayor of the enlarged community in 2016.

Shakro Ghazaryan

Shakro petitioned the Ministry of Nature Protection eight years ago to look into the matter, when the plant and farm started polluting the lake, but the issue remains unresolved. He says the situationhas worsened.

He believes nothing being done because the Gharibyan family has an influential sponsor - Davit Lokyan, the former minister of territorial administration and development.

"To be more precise, whomever you ask here, theyll say that all this belongs to Lokyan, and that's why the Ministry of Nature Protection hasnt intervened. Lokyan frequently comes here. If it doesnt belong to him, or hes not a shareholder, why would he come to a pig farm? " Shakro asks.

The pig farm was founded in 2005, and the dairy plant - a bit later.

"We started our business in 2008, when Mourad Gharibyan registered as a private entrepreneur. Later on, we registered the dairy plant in the name of Golden Love LLC, and the pig farm is registered in Gyulvard Gharibyans name," says the director of Golden Love LLC Samvel Gharibyan (elder brother of the Arpi community mayor). In the beginning, we bought an old barn, then weve built the other buildings step by step. What you see here, was created with our sweat, " says Gharibyan.

Samvel Gharibyan

The owners, however, dont seem concerned with polluting the lake. When asked whether they had ever thought of constructing a septic well in order not to pollute the environment, Gharibyan replied, "We have done so much. We have provided many people with jobs. Why should we have thought about a septic well? Theres no sewage in the village. Where do they throw the livestocks waste, have you asked them? I am against polluting the lake, too, but what can we do?

At the beginning of the operation, the company was twice fined for pollution  50,000 drams and one million drams. Thats all that the National Park and Environmental Inspectoratehas done so far for violating the lakes ecosystem.

All subsequent complaints have gone unanswered.

Gharibyans operation covers an area around six hectares and is considered a major taxpayer in the enlarged community of Arpi. But he was unable to indicate the amount of tax paid by the business to the community budget. Neither could he recall the number of its employees.

Instead, he clearly recalled and mentioned the total amount of loans the business has taken - $360,000.

"I did so much, and nobody thanked me. Now theyre complaining about the lakes pollution. I already regret having invested so much, I want to sell it all and move from here, says Samvel Gharibyan.

However, hes in the middle of a new and large construction project.

"I have demolished the old plant and Im building a new one. Once I finish, and if theres any money, I'll solve the issue of the septic well. On the other hand, I'm sure that it wont be of help. We have long winters and it will freeze, and my money will be wasted, says Gharibyan.

In addition to 1,600 pigs kept in the farm, the company also has 100 goats. They buy milk from residents of eight villages, paying 150 drams per liter. The company sells its product in Yerevan, and also exports to Russia.

Gharibyan says that they exported 30-40 tons of cheese last year and have already exceeded 40 tons in the first seven months of this year.

When the Arpi Lake National Park was being formed, World Wildlife Fund representatives visited the area and promised to support the construction of the septic well, but never did.

Hovsep Simonyan

According to its statute, the Arpi Lake National Park SNCO is obliged to prevent processes that violate the natural park ecosystem as a result of human activity and take measures to restore the ecosystems.

Hovsep Simonyan, just finishing his first year as park director, says hes repeatedly urged the Gharibyans to solve the problem since fining them has gotten nowhere.

When Simonyan asked the Gharibyans, in writing, about the specific steps they were taking, the family replied that they were ready to build a septic well if the government allocated a 20 million AMD interest-free loan.

This is Gharibyans estimate, and the director says he doesnt know how much it will cost to build a septic well. Simonyan says they wrote a letter to the Ministry of Nature Protection on July 10, requesting they discuss the matter and make a decision. He promised to inform Hetq once they get a reply.





After we left the pig farm, we met some zoologists from Yerevan who had come to birdwatch.

Mamikon Ghasabyan, Laboratory Head of Vertebrates Zoology, Institute of Zoology, of Armenias National Sciences Academy, says hes been addressing the issue for almost ten years, writing letters to the ministers and asking them to solve the issue either by closing the pig farm or forbidding to dump wastewater into the lake. Hes going to send a letter to the new minister, too.

Mamikon Ghasabyan

Ghasabyan says the issue must be resolved in natures favor.

"The fish have disappeared, some birds can no longer be found here, and the reproduction of several bird species that live by this lake is endangered. We still do not know how the food affects them - we need to conduct research. Its not only wastewater flowing into the lake. It's all those cleansers and washing chemicals as well. I have a photo where boxes of medicines are floating on the water. If we need to choose between the pig farm and the lake, we choose the lake. Otherwise, we will lose all this natural wealth forever, says Ghasabyan.

Gevorg Petrosyan, Chairman of the Biosophia environmental NGO, says that this is not only an environmental issue. All these violations have been backed up by the local authorities. Petrosyan considers it an abuse of official position.

"Someone gets rich, paying 50-60,000drams to a dozen people. As a result, we lose an entire natural environment. Even if there were no fish and birds there, no one has given them the right to dump wastewater into the lake formed by mountain springs. As for the chances of the septic well getting frozen, it will definitely not freeze. I suggested to Mergel that he dig two wells, in order to use the second once the first one gets filled. There are special cars to empty them. Water will be soaked in the soil, and solid masses can be used as fertilizers. There is always a solution if there is a desire, says Petrosyan.

The environmentalist is convinced that even if the company's business is suspended, around a decade will be needed to restore Ardenis Lake's natural state.PHOTOS BY Brent Bohlen Visitors to the Galesburg Railroad Museum can walk through a restored mail car and learn how postal workers sorted mail for drop off as a train passed through towns. The museum also features an engine, a caboose, a Pullman car and thousands of railroad it

Bob Stenander and Ross McIntire may be decades apart in age, but both are pretty proud of Galesburg and its success in making the citys history come alive.

Stenander, a retiree and tour attendant at the Galesburg Railroad Museum, loves to walk visitors through the restored mail car, engine, caboose and Pullman sleeper car on display outside the building. He points to original blankets on beds, dining car place settings and mailbags ready for delivery as a train passes through towns.

McIntires venue is the citys renovated Orpheum Theatre, built in 1916 as a vaudeville house but used today for live shows and movies. He notes the theater once had a segregated section for African-Americans even though Galesburg and Knox County were a hotbed of abolition and a stop on the Underground Railroad helping slaves escape to freedom.

McIntire, technical director for the theater, says several major fires destroyed some downtown buildings, but the city was not deterred. Galesburg has retained a lot of its history, he says of the city 120 miles northwest of Springfield.

Much of that history centers on railroads, both above and under ground. You easily can spend a day exploring the Railroad Museum, the Discovery Depot Childrens Museum, Knox Colleges link to abolition and Abraham Lincoln, and tributes to native son and poet Carl Sandburg.



For a break from sightseeing, head to historic Seminary Street for gift shops, clothing boutiques, a bakery and restaurants. Nearby is a brewery, a caramel corn shop, an antique mall and a civic art center with galleries.

At the Railroad Museum, you will learn that the first train into Galesburg was in 1854, lured by a local investor, and how it quickly became a hub as one of the few places trains go out north, south, east and west, according to Stenander. Railroad memorabilia, equipment, tools, photos and books fill the museum.

Outside are the rail cars and a monument to the 18 ethnic groups that helped build the railroad. Many immigrants lost their lives laying track and coupling rail cars.





Carl Sandburgs boyhood home is a state historic site in Galesburg, and celebrates the life of the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and author. Sandburgs ashes are buried beneath a large rock behind the house.

Volunteer Karen Godsil-Patrick explains that Galesburg became the second largest classification yard in the United States. This yard was just phenomenal, she says, in that rail cars containing goods from different parts of the country were sorted to myriad destinations.



Today Burlington Northerns modern version sits just outside town, with five BN lines radiating from Galesburg. She says the seventh and eighth generation of some families still work for the railroad, which remains a major employer. With a train passing through Galesburg every eight minutes, train whistles are ever present.

Across the street from the current Amtrak station and railroad museum is the two-story Discovery Depot Childrens Museum, geared for children ages 1-12. A real caboose and a playground are outside. Inside exhibits include a play fire station, vet clinic, pizzeria, train depot, science and engineering challenges and toddler ball ramp. The museum plans to open a water area, science lab and climbing area upstairs in 2019.

Stop by the Orpheum for an informal tour, a live show or free Throwback Thursdays old movies. The theater hosted vaudeville acts until the 1930s, when it switched to movies. Community groups saved the building from the wrecking ball when it closed in 1982. After renovation to its former splendor, the theater reopened in 1988.

The 920-seat hall features an Italian Renaissance frieze, classic Corinthian columns and French baroque medallions. McIntire says Those Were the Days, starring William Holden, premiered at the theater in 1942, but the actor refused to attend until the theater desegregated.

The segregation was a little surprising, given Galesburgs and Knox Colleges founding in 1837 by antislavery advocates from upstate New York. Information from Knox notes that the city and college were perceived as the leading downstate center of abolitionism and Underground Railroad activity in Illinois.





Galesburgs renovated Orpheum Theatre is a showcase for live shows and movies today. It was built in 1916 as a lavish vaudeville house and seats 920 people.





Knox College also has the only remaining building that was an original site for the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates. Old Main houses displays about the Galesburg debate and college history. It is open during the school year except on major holidays.

A life-size statue of Lincoln graces the outside of the Amtrak depot while native son and Lincoln biographer Sandburg stands tall in a statue on the public square downtown.



Sandburgs boyhood home, a state historic site in a modest neighborhood, is open Thursday through Sunday. Sandburg was born there in 1878 to Swedish immigrants and went on to become a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and poet.

Galesburg celebrates his legacy with the Carl Sandburg Days Annual Festival in April. The last full week of June brings the Galesburg Railroad Days, and a Great Balloon Race with 25 hot air balloons is on tap this year July 27-29.

Galesburg Heritage Days are Aug. 17-19 this year at Lake Storey Park, just north of town. The 600-acre park has a large shaded campground, a small water park, ball fields, boat rentals and extensive walking and biking paths.

For more information, contact the Galesburg Area Convention and Visitors Bureau at 309-343-2485 or www.visitgalesburg.com.



Mary Bohlen of Springfield writes a monthly travel column for the Illinois Times celebrating Illinois bicentennial in 2018. She is an emeritus professor of communication at the University of Illinois Springfield.click to enlarge PHOTO BY LARRY D. MOORE Jim Hightower

Hiding ones true identity can be done for many legitimate purposes, but it tends to be widely used these days by scheming people or nefarious interests with ... well, with something to hide, using a dishonest, Orwellian representation of themselves for villainous reasons. Two of the most notorious practitioners are common crooks and corporate front groups, which often are one and the same. For example, Restaurant Workers of America is not made up of waiters and cooks. Its a front group of chain-store owners who oppose raising the subminimum wage of their actual workers. Cloaking themselves as independent citizen advocates and adopting such patriotic-sounding names as Americans for Prosperity, these AstroTurf outfits run massive campaigns of deceit promoting policies and views that benefit the corporate sponsors at the expense of the public interest.So, what should we make of a brand-spankin new group with the incredible moniker of Cowboys for Liberty? What a positive name! Cowboys are seen as down-to-earth straight-shooters, and America is all about liberty. But wait, is this one of those Koch-funded, far-right-wing bands of angry, anti-government ranchers? Au contraire, as the old cowhands say. In fact, Cowboys for Liberty is an audacious, fun-loving network of hell-raising, climate-change activists who are out to expose, shame and defeat the corporate-serving profiteers behind the unconscionable climate-denier industry, instigated by Jim Marston of the Environmental Defense Fund.With many of its members from Colorado, Montana, Oklahoma, Texas and other Western states, this new conservation coalition chose the cowboy image both to symbolize the true West commitment to defending Mother Nature  and as a spoof on the right-wings intentional perversion of language and honest policies. One of their first targets? The most selfish of them all: climate-change deniers.Yes, from time to time, a few individuals pop into the public eye who are so consumed by self-importance, self-righteousness, self-aggrandizement and all things selfish that they have no shame  even when their narcissism does gross harm to others. These narcissists doing disastrous damage are the climate change-denying clique of prominent polluters, politicos and propagandists who shamefully used their positions of power to enhance their own fame and fortune as glaciers melt, oceans rise, extreme weather expands, species perish, and Earth itself spins toward being unlivable.While these professional deniers acknowledge no shame, the feisty Cowboys have stepped forward to acknowledge it for them. Theyve established a Climate Deniers Hall of Shame, and it inducted its first class of infamous deniers. Among the honorees are Charles and David Koch, whove dumped more than $100 million into front groups spreading lies about climate change; Sen. Jim Inhofe, the dotty old dean of deniers who has called global warming a conspiracy spawned by the Weather Channel; and the former CEO of Exxon Mobil who secretly funded right-wing groups to issue hoked-up reports to discredit the science of climate change.The Hall of Shame is fun, but its not a prank. Its a real place to memorialize in perpetuity the names, faces and shameful actions of obtuse, avaricious individuals whove worked to put their petty selves above the very existence of humanity. Publicizing the nefarious efforts of these deniers reveals the importance of an informed and engaged citizenry. Otherwise, we end up ruled by a kakistocracy  government by the worst people in our society.To get involved with the Cowboys for Liberty, and to see the Climate Deniers Hall of Shame, go to http://whydeny.org.Junius Rodriguez

Early on Wednesday evening, July 18, Springfield grassroots groups Action Illinois and Indivisible Illinois jointly held a rally in front of 18th District congressman Darin LaHoods downtown office at Sixth Street and Monroe. The gathering, which attracted around 50 people with very little advance publicity and was part of a national vigil to confront corruption and demand democracy, doubled as a de facto showcase for Junius Rodriguez, LaHoods Democratic challenger in the upcoming election. This is the second time Rodriguez, who teaches history at Eureka College and is considered an expert on the history of slavery in the U.S., has challenged LaHood  in 2016 he received 27.9 percent of the vote in the heavily Republican district, despite a shortened campaign schedule for the vacancy left by Aaron Schocks resignation.After handing out a list of contact information for various legislators, the first speaker was Sangamon County assistant public defender, Democratic precinct committeeperson and self-described mother of three, Lindsay Evans. Im just like you, she said. Im a mom and Im scared to death. I see everything that this country stands for slipping away. She went on to describe multiple attempts to speak to Rep. LaHood in his office, each time being sidelined to an assistant. Did I stop coming? No. Because I try to show up for my country. Patriotism does not belong to the Republicans. I love this country, I love what its supposed to be about.Evans spoke briefly about the importance of flipping Congress to a majority of Democrats in Novembers election. Darin LaHood and his ilk will not speak truth to power, she said, and while the majority of Americans did not vote for Donald Trump, we are, for the time being, stuck with him. So weve got to put together a diverse resistance  people from all parties need to come together.Evans next introduced Junius Rodriguez, calling him a self-proclaimed centrist Democratic candidate, a lifelong educator and a dedicated public servant. I can guarantee you that his only allegiance is to the people in the 18th. He is not beholden to his pocketbook and he is not beholden to the likes of Vladimir Putin.Rodriguez began by pointing out that his opponent, LaHood, has held no town hall meetings in the past year. In that same period of time, Ive done 11 town hall meetings and in three weeks were starting another round of 11 town halls, he said, mentioning that his office was in the process of sending Congressman LaHood a certified letter inviting him to attend any of these upcoming events.We are here today to talk about the problems of corruption in our government and our society and about the need for democracy, he said, and described how the system of checks and balances between the three branches of government was put in place to help mitigate corruption. They never imagined the day when two branches of government might be dealing with corruption  and potentially all of them, he said, but that is the world we are facing today. He then listed three kinds of political corruption: one associated with money, another with sex and a third with power. If you look at the Trump administration, I think you can find pretty good evidence of all three, he said.Rodriguez accused the current Congress, and by extension LaHood, of a fourth kind of corruption, which he described as having arisen in the last year and a half  a corruption of the spirit. It is a corruption in which individuals [practice] political tribalism, a view of politics as a system that is nothing more than a zero-sum game, where for them to win they have to vanquish the rest. This was not how our political system was meant to be and we have to find a way to counter that.He said that the way to combat all of these types of corruption is to challenge elected officials. Say to them, You are the guardian of our democracy, you who have been elected to the House and to the Senate are the guardians of our democracy, you must challenge this administration when it steps out of line  even if it does that on a daily basis, he said. What we are witnessing is an abdication of the most sacred power we grant to elected officials in our constitutional system. This cannot be tolerated, this cannot stand.Presidente @MartinVizcarraC: El inicio del megaproyecto #Quellaveco, con una inversion de US$ 5.300 millones, es una gran noticia para el Peru porque aumentara la produccion de cobre y generara 10 mil puestos de trabajo. pic.twitter.com/t5NIeqCzLLAccording to Minagri Head Gustavo Mostajo, this was the result of joint efforts undertaken by the National Agricultural Sanitation Service (Senasa) and several organizations like Procitrus





It must be noted said decision comes a few weeks after the Inca country welcomed a delegation composed of agricultural sanitation specialists from Malaysia's Department of Agriculture ( DoA ).





During the visit, Malaysian experts met with their peers from Senasa and visited Lima, Ica, as well as La Libertad regions to learn about the actions implemented in production, packing, and phytosanitary certification processes for the export of Peruvian vegetables.





Citrus fruits





This way, Peruvian citrus fruits including tangerines, oranges, and tangelos can be exported to Malaysia through an import permit previously requested to DoA by the interested party residing in the Asian nation.





Thus, Malaysia becomes a new target market for these natural products.





It is worth mentioning Inca citrus fruit exports currently arrive in the United States, China, Brazil, Chile, and the Dominican Republic, as well as European countries.





(END) CNA/JAA/MVBIt must be noted said figures recorded in both periods included profits of two financial entities foreign branches: Banco de Credito (BCP) and Interbank.

Peru's private banking system is composed of Banco Continental (BBVA), Banco de Comercio, Banco de Credito (BCP), Banco Financiero, Banco Interamericano de Finanzas (BIF), Scotiabank , Citibank, Interbank, Mibanco, and Banco GNB.10:59 | Puerto Vallarta (Mexico), Jul. 25.

"Signing a declaration and an action plan allows us to visualize a work towards the future aimed at strengthening our region's integration," the statesman pointed out.





"Only by building a common vision can we move towards a real integration in Latin America," he added.









Thus, the aforementioned mechanism and its benefits will be closer to citizens.





The top official remarked one of the Inca country's priorities is to increase trade with countries comprising said regional bloc in order to exceed the current growth rate of 5%.





He also stressed the importance of completing negotiations with Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Singapore, which seek to become associate members.











About

According to its own definition, the Pacific Alliance created in 2011 is an integration initiative focused on reducing trade barriers, as well as fostering the free circulation of goods, services, capitals, and people across its territories.

The bloc relies on observer countries and represents the eighth-largest economy in the world.

Nowadays, it has become the axis of a new way of doing business in the continent.

Likewise, it has become a new platform to negotiate deals across the hemisphere.

On an annual basis, the Pacific Alliance rotates the pro-tempore presidency among its members.



(END) NDP/CVC/JAA/MVBPhoto courtesy Midwest High Speed Rail Association. An ultra-high-speed train pulls into a passenger station in Europe.

Springfield may not be a suburb of Chicago, but efforts are afoot to make practical, daily commuting between the two cities  and other Illinois cities  a reality. And it would only take a rail system almost three times as fast as current high-speed trains, at a cost nearly equal to the entire fiscal year 2019 state of Illinois budget.

If you could get the Chicago to Springfield trip down to less than two hours with hourly service, that will completely change peoples view on traveling, said Rick Harnish, executive director of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association (MHSRA). Not only will they switch from car to train, but they will also travel more often, and it will really change Springfields position in the world economy.

The MHSRA is pushing for commitments to implement 220-mile-per-hour passenger rail service throughout the Midwest. The Illinois portion of the ambitious plan would involve the construction of an all-new, electrified 220-mile-per-hour backbone rail system, upgrades to existing tracks for frequent 90 miles-per-hour service, upgraded or new passenger rail stations, and new locomotives and passenger cars capable of operating at speeds exceeding those experienced by drivers at the Daytona 500.

This isnt the 79-mile-per-hour high-speed rail thats currently being expanded on several of Amtraks Illinois routes. This is ultra-high-speed rail, and the MHSRA says it could mean fast, easy access to all parts of Illinois that would revitalize small and medium-sized cities in the state.

The association claims the higher speed rail service would mean a $13.8 billion annual increase in business sales in Chicago alone, $1.9 billion in annual time savings versus driving or flying, a $6.4 billion reduction in annual vehicle miles traveled and 2,615 fewer automobile accidents per year with 43 fewer traffic deaths. The system would also reduce CO2-equivalent emissions by 3.3 million metric tons each year, according to the MHSRA.

I rode these kinds of trains in Turkey recently. Vietnam is building one. Moroccos and Saudi Arabias will open this year. Spain and France have already connected an area bigger than the Midwest. And China has a large network, said Harnish, who added that California is already working on its own super-high-speed rail system. The trains are so smooth at speed that water on tables doesnt move. You have noise similar to an airplane because air is whizzing by that fast, but because the track has to be so precise, the train itself is incredibly smooth and quiet.

Photo by David Blanchette Rick Harnish, executive director of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association.

Harnish said the cost to get 220-mile-per-hour rail passenger service up and running in Illinois would be between $20 billion and $25 billion for the all-new precise, electrified backbone tracks and upgraded Chicago Metra lines that would bring the service directly from Chicago to Kankakee, Champaign-Urbana, Decatur, Springfield and St. Louis. Upgraded 90-mile-per-hour tracks would serve Bloomington-Normal, Peoria, Alton, Carbondale, Macomb, Quincy, the Quad Cities and Rockford. An additional $8 billion would be needed to build or upgrade passenger rail stations, Harnish said.



The fiscal year 2019 budget passed in May by the Illinois General Assembly totals $38.5 billion. It includes a $50 million appropriation to the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) for rail service. The agency may use $20 million to pay bills related to all rail projects in the state that are eligible for reimbursement by the Federal Railroad Administration. The remaining $30 million will be placed in escrow and used over the next 20 years to maintain high-speed track on the Chicago to St. Louis rail corridor, according to IDOT spokesman Guy Tridgell.

Harnish said a public-private partnership supplemented by passenger fares is the recommended way to fund the ultra-high-speed rail proposal, and no one expects that this would happen overnight.

One of the things we are asking the state to do is to look really extensively at how much do you have to come up with every year to make this work, Harnish said. Federal involvement is a key part of the picture, which means we really need to think about this bigger than just Illinois.

Once the infrastructure is in place, Harnish said, the new higher-speed rail service would generate an operating surplus because the trains would be used more, carry more passengers, require fewer overnight stays by train crews, and become the go-to method of inter-city transportation.



Tom Schatz, the president of Citizens Against Government Waste, disagrees.

It is a very difficult project and one that is highly unlikely to be successful. Taking Amtrak as an example of national passenger rail, it was supposed to be profitable and never has been, Schatz said. So it makes it really easy to see why a more expensive, higher speed system is also highly unlikely to be profitable.

I remember President Obama when he came back from Europe said this is great, lets do it. It is something that sounds like it would work but is extremely diffficult in the U.S. because of geography and population, Schatz said. It costs more because the current infrastructure has to be redone in order for high-speed rail to succeed. If that had been done about 20 years ago it probably would have been less expensive, although probably still unsuccessful.



Schatz said the skyrocketing costs the state of California is experiencing with its super high-speed rail project are an example of what could face Illinois if this state chooses to go down that path. He added that maintaining and improving current transportation methods is a better alternative.



There are a lot of other options for people to get from one place to another, Schwatz said. You have buses, regular trains, highways. Airlines are relatively inexpensive compared to what they used to be.



A 220-mile-per-hour High-Speed Rail Preliminary Feasibility Study, prepared by the University of Illinois for the Illinois Department of Transportation in September 2013, estimated the price tag for the faster-speed passenger rail system in Illinois would be between $22 billion and $39 billion. The study concluded that the high-speed rail system could be operationally profitable, with those profits transformed through debt and equity to cover from five percent to 23 percent of the total construction cost.... A public-private partnership with substantial investments of public funds should be explored to make the high-speed rail system a reality, the report stated.

The U of I report estimated that the ultra-high-speed rail system would take passengers from downtown Chicago to Champaign in approximately 45 minutes, to Springfield in one hour 18 minutes, and to either downtown St. Louis or Indianapolis in two hours. The report estimated the annual ridership of the system to be between 8 million and 15 million people with trains running every half-hour during peak times and hourly during other times.

The 220-mile-per-hour backbone envisioned by the MHSRA would run along interstate highway corridors where several established freight railroads currently operate. The railroads are noncommittal when it comes to the proposed higher-speed passenger service.

Special considerations are necessary for high-speed rail service on Norfolk Southern rail corridors, said Norfolk Southern Corporation director of public relations Susan Terpay. Passenger trains operating in excess of 79 miles per hour require their own dedicated tracks. Passenger trains operating in excess of 90 miles per hour require their own private right-of-way.

Norfolk Southern is pleased to assist states planning for dedicated high-speed rail and will work with planners to insulate those corridors from interference with and from Norfolk Southern freight corridors, Terpay said.





A map from the Midwest High Speed Rail Association showing proposed routes in Illinois.

The Union Pacific Railroad has its eyes set on the ongoing 79-mile-per-hour upgrades.



Right now we are focused on completing the Illinois High-Speed Rail Program between Chicago and St. Louis, which will provide an efficient, fluid passenger and freight operation, said Union Pacific Railroad media relations director Kristen Smith.

Amtrak has operated passenger rail service in Illinois since 1971 and is also concentrating on the present when it comes to high-speed rail.



We already have here in the Midwest some of the highest speed services outside the northeast, where we are routinely going 110 miles per hour in parts of Michigan and Indiana, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said. We have plans through the Illinois DOT to reduce travel times on the Chicago-to-St. Louis route too.



The kinds of services that would be going ultra-high speed would be like building new interstate highways. It can be done, but it would take separate infrastructure, Magliari said. The existing infrastructure, because it is shared with freight trains, and because of its curvature, is not designed to do the higher speeds that the MHSRA is advocating.



Congressman Rodney Davis has been a supporter of the ongoing 79-mile-per-hour high-speed rail upgrades, and the Chicago-to-St. Louis Amtrak route cuts a large swath through his central Illinois district.



I believe that we first have to finish the project that weve started, Davis said. But if we are ever going to have ultra-high-speed rail, weve got to have somebody start thinking about it now.



At one time there were a lot of folks who thought high-speed rail between Chicago and St. Louis was going to be a pipe dream, but its a corridor that I think is actually working, Davis said. Many other high-speed rail projects are way over budget, but its working in Illinois.

Davis realizes 79-mile-per service is an entirely different proposition from propelling passengers at almost triple that speed. Hes not necessarily an advocate of ultra-high-speed rail, but does support a thorough investigation of the possibility.



That discussion on ultra-high-speed rail I dont think ever starts too early because this is an opportunity to begin planning ahead for whats going to work, whats best, Davis said. I took a 200-mile-per-hour train from Paris to Brussels for a meeting at NATO headquarters last summer, and that service is well-recognized in many countries. Its a service that if we could move it forward in a cost-effective manner, and the passenger ridership would allow it, we ought to think about it.

IDOT is the lead agency in the states high-speed rail infrastructure development along the 284-mile-long Chicago to St. Louis corridor.

Construction on Chicago to St. Louis is nearly complete, said IDOTs Tridgell. The remaining work includes installing fence on the south end of the corridor near Alton, upgrading crossings and installing fence in Springfield, and finishing construction of a new bridge over the Kankakee River near Wilmington.

Tridgell said IDOT continues to work with Amtrak to install the software necessary for Positive Train Control implementation on the new locomotives that began to be put into service last year, and passengers should soon experience slightly faster speeds.



We anticipate maximum speeds will increase from the current 79 miles per hour to 90 miles per hour by the end of this year, Tridgell said. There are currently no plans to implement speeds higher than 110 miles per hour in Illinois. Should federal funding become available in the future, the department would consider moving forward with preliminary engineering and environmental studies. But, again, nothing is planned at this time.

If current passenger trains can run 110 miles per hour, why cant they just go faster? Besides the problem with track construction and geometry, the MHSRAs Harnish said simple physics is at work.

The 220-mile-per-hour trunk line has to be electrified, Harnish said. Diesel locomotives are actually electric locomotives where they carry their power plant with them. You get to the point where the power plant has to be too big to go with you as you get faster and faster. That break point appears to be about 125 miles per hour.







Photo courtesy Midwest High Speed Rail Association. The lounge area of a 220-mile-per-hour train in Europe.

The locomotives and cars have to be much lighter and safer, and our safety regulations in this country are way out of date, Harnish said. The European trains are actually much safer in addition to being lighter and less expensive to build and operate. So it really does mean moving to a modern standard for trains.

Railroad crossing safety is another issue, one which Harnish said could be dealt with by locating the majority of the ultra-high-speed rail track close to interstate highway rights-of-way. And speaking of interstate highways, Harnish said those multilane, controlled-access roads first developed in the 1950s demonstrate that where theres a transportation will, theres a way.



We havent done something on this scale since we built I-55. Harnish said. But we did in fact build I-55 and I-72 and I-57, so its something we certainly can do.



Lets assume that 220-mile-per-hour passenger rail service becomes a reality in Illinois at some point in the future. What do current passenger train riders think of the idea? A recent visit to the Springfield Amtrak station, where dozens of passengers waited for a train that was already 45 minutes late, elicited mixed reactions to the prospect.



I would probably use it more, but at my age I dont know if thats going to be a possibility because I dont know how far in the future thats going to be, said Joliet resident Wilma Bass, who has done a lot of train travel recently in Illinois and Texas. I would probably travel more by train. Joliet has that kind of service now, they just dont have the train to go with it.

We have a fast-paced world and people are always in a hurry to get somewhere and the generation coming up now is very young and they cant wait to go different places, so Im sure this could be a big benefit for them, Bass said.

Owen Peters, a volunteer with the Rails and Trails Program, a partnership between Amtrak and the National Park Service, is a frequent train traveler on the St. Louis to Chicago route.



Long distance trains going 220 miles per hour is fine, youd get there faster, but this particular route, I dont think so, Peters said. How are they going to make all of the stops they currently make? Theres a lot of stops, and going 220 miles per hour, you slow the train down, offload passengers, it doesnt seem feasible to me.

The tracks have been upgraded on this route to 79 miles per hour and its smoother and faster, but the trains still arent getting here on time, Peters said. High-speed trains might be in the future, but on this particular corridor, Im not so sure theyd work.

Diane Buttitta of Des Plaines, who travels periodically by train, has safety concerns about increasing train speed.

The advantage would be taking less time to go from place to place, Buttitta said. The disadvantage would be the severity of injuries if there was a crash at the higher speed.

Breahna Koprek, a Decatur native who lives in Chicago, travels frequently by rail.

Its cheap but it takes an awfully long time and theres a lot of stopping involved, Koprek said.

She summed up the feelings of many of the waiting passengers about potential 220-mile-per-hour passenger rail service.

If I could get someplace quicker that would be nice, Koprek said.



David Blanchette is a freelance writer from Jacksonville and is also the co-owner of Studio 131 Photography in Springfield.





Preliminary investigations revealed the perpetrators were two siblings who sought vengeance over their mother's death due to alleged medical negligence at the private hospital.





10:11 AM. Firefighters reported an explosion at Ricardo Palma clinic on Javier Prado Ave.





10:15 AM. Several police and fire units arrived at the healthcare facilities.





10:17 AM. Patients, medical staff, and people in the area close to the explosion were rapidly evacuated.





10:18 AM. Nearby streets were closed due to the emergency.





10:20 AM. Preliminary reports indicated that two explosions occurred almost simultaneously: One at the parking lot and one at the lab.





10:30 AM. Police officers and firefighters reported at least 20 people were injured. Provoked attack theory started to make sense. Perpetrators were seriously hurt.





Later, Lima Police General Gaston Rodriguez stated the emergency was triggered by the explosion of two backpacks and the motive was extortion or intimidation.





Attorney General Pedro Chavarry announced that two individuals were detained a man and a woman as suspects of the attack.





1:00 PM. According to General Rodriguez, pieces of fabric and a buckle were found in the place. They are believed to belong to the backpacks that held the explosives. The seriously wounded individuals might be involved in the attack. Both underwent surgery and remain at the clinic.





7:45 PM. Police authorities gave a press conference to inform that the perpetrators of the explosions have been identified as Alexander Lenin Benites Aguilar (a 40-year-old accountant) and Claudia Rocio Benites Aguilar (a 44-year-old dentist).





General Jose Baella , head of the anti-terrorism squad (Dircote), revealed the siblings agreed to perpetrate the attack because their mother died at the Ricardo Palma clinic due to alleged medical negligence.





The Benites brought the case before the Judicial Branch and Indecopi, with the latter fining the hospital S/330,000 (about US$100,763), although that was not enough for the family. They wanted to hold doctors responsible for their mother's care in jail.





This morning: Alejandro Benites Gomez Lenin and Claudia's father confirmed the act was done in vengeance over the death of his wife, Victoria Aguirre Oviedo.





The man tried to justify the act by saying his children remain deeply affected by their mother's death five years ago.





(END) LIT/RRC/RMB

Powerful blasts on Tuesday, July 24, rocked the Ricardo Palma clinic in Lima's San Isidro district, causing alarm among the population.Published: 7/25/2018Keith Taylor

Ecstatic Destinations

by Megan Inbody

From the July, 2018 issue

In a 2011 interview with Michigan Quarterly Review, the poet (and Observer contributor) Keith Taylor explained his admiration for birds: "They fly. They sing. They go on long mysterious migrations and return to the same small spaces." The same could be said about the poems in his latest chapbook, Ecstatic Destinations. Although the poems are geographically limited to a "triangle formed by Dexter Avenue, North Maple Road, and Jackson Avenue," they are broad in scope.



Academically, it's not kosher to assume the speaker of a poem is the poet himself, but with this book, so rooted in Taylor's experience of Ann Arbor, I think it's a safe assumption. He portrays himself as an Old Poet in the vein of Yeats, most literally in the first poem, "The Old Poet, In Plein Air," which announces his age as a condition of his poetry. Age is a tone, a mood: paradoxically, as the aging body leads to a narrowing of traversed space, the speaker gains a more expansive view. This feeling of transcendence is a type of ecstasy. A walk by a skateboard park yields a vision of skaters as angels: "skateboarders glide silently through the air / their gossamer wings invisible." "The Sledding Hill," although a repository of "lost mittens / and piles of frozen dog shit," also preserves echoes of "laughter / and the possibility of delight." For Taylor, it seems that age is itself an ecstatic destination.



This isn't to say the aging process is romanticized. There's a wry mention in one poem of "imperious lifeguards" with "lanky summer bodies." In another poem, the poet is mistaken for a homeless person as he sits writing on a bench. Age has its indignities, but for Taylor, it has its compensations.



Nature, of course, is another major theme--it would hardly be a Taylor collection without an enduring attention to the natural world. The collection's sense of transcendence also comes from Taylor's interest in "volunteer" plants. Though none

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trees without edges



blur around a landscape

of ochre

violet

or mauve



nervous trees that don't

belong in town



crazy trees

wild volunteers

of the poems directly deal with these plants that others may deem nuisances, they exist on the periphery of multiple poems, settled but uneasy. In "Therapy," the poet works to reclaim the lot behind his house, which formerly had been a vineyard: "By the time I was able to buy the empty lot, the grapes had gone wild and volunteer redbuds, mulberry trees, box elders, and little wild cherry trees had taken over.""In a Corner" depictsWith this volume, Taylor, a volunteer himself--a Canadian native who planted himself in Ann Arbor--shows that volunteers have the best sense of place because they make their own place. They also serve as a necessary reminder that our prosperous little burg (like the aging body) exists on nature's sufferance. Taylor revels in nature's beauty and relentless unintentionality, its determination to thrive in the midst of urban order.Keith Taylor reads fromat Literati Bookstore on July 27. [Originally published in July, 2018.]Saving the Cunningham Tract

The gravel mine deal is finally official.

by Margaret Engle

Published in July, 2018

Greater Chelsea breathed a collective sigh of relief in late 2014 when word got around that a deal had been struck to stop a proposed sand and gravel mine in Lyndon Township. As early as January 2015, then-state rep Gretchen Driskell announced that an agreement was in the works. And then the community waited--in vain--for an official statement.



In October 2016 it was announced that McCoig Materials had withdrawn its application for a special land use permit for the mine. But closing the deal to save the property, known as the Cunningham Tract, took another year and a half. Papers were finally signed on May 8.



The roughly 155-acre parcel on M-52 is being conveyed to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in exchange for a lease giving a McCoig subsidiary, Spring Mill Reclamation, the rights to mine sand and gravel at Island Lake State Recreation Area. The Cunningham property will become part of the Pinckney State Recreation Area.



"It's a beautiful piece of property," says park manager Chuck Dennison, with glacial hills and pothole wetlands. It will remain largely undeveloped. Dennison anticipates "bird watchers, hunters, and people who want a quiet walk in the woods" will all be happy. "I've already had someone calling me wondering about mushroom hunting on that property."



At first, the proposal met with opposition in Green Oak Township, where Island Lake is located. "Nobody was happy that a mining operation was coming in," township supervisor Mark St. Charles told the Community Observer in January 2017. But when the plan was presented to the Green Oak supervisors and community, St. Charles says, they saw an opportunity to get the park cleaned up.



The huge, history-rich recreation area includes a former sand and gravel mine that was never appropriately closed, explains Karen Maidlow, a former property specialist with DNR's Office of Minerals Management. When the agency held a sealed-bid auction for the site, its aim was to permit renewed gravel mining as a way

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to repair the damage while also earning revenue to fund park improvements.The old mine had left "deep slopes, which are a concern for public safety," says Maidlow (who has since moved to another post with the DNR). As Spring Mill Reclamation "pulls out the sand and gravel, they'll contour the land and cut down the slopes."As part of the project, old spoil piles and mining debris left behind by the previous mining operation will be removed, and most of the site will be planted as a prairie. According to the DNR, the deal will reclaim 540 acres of the 4,000-acre park--while earning as much as $10 million in royalties over the ten-year lease.Much of the opposition to the Lyndon site centered on the specter of sixty to eighty tandem gravel trucks a day rolling through downtown Chelsea. Truck traffic was also a major concern for Green Oak residents. "I'd say initially they were 100 percent against it," says St. Charles. But after people learned that the mining company would use a northerly route to get to I-96 rather than go south through residential areas, he says, there was fairly broad acceptance. The township approved the mine in December 2015.In Chelsea, a range of allies, from environmental groups to the Chamber of Commerce, united in opposition to the mine. Thousands signed online petitions, and hundreds came to community meetings. Some of that energy has since shifted to working on a non-motorized trail that will link Chelsea with the Pinckney Recreation Area and other parts of the county.Trail construction is well underway. The DNR's Dennison says that they plan to "run the loop trail a little bit off the road and into Cunningham property--it's going to be one of the best sections of that trail." [Originally published in July, 2018.]YEREVAN, JULY 26, ARMENPRESS. The questioning of former President Robert Kocharyan (in office 1998-2008), scheduled for today, will be videotaped but not made public, Special Investigative Service director Sasun Khachatryan told reporters today.

Khachatryan refused to comment whether or not there are sufficient grounds to charge the former president.

He said anyone, without exception, will be held to account if proven guilty.

Kocharyan has been summoned for an interview amid the ongoing investigation into the March 1, 2008 case.

March 1 refers to the 2008 post-election unrest, when mass protests turned violent and claimed several lives on both sides  security forces and protesters.

Edited and translated by Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, JULY 26, ARMENPRESS. Interim director of Hayastan All Armenian Fund Bedros Terzian has addressed the funds donors, assuring that Hayastan continues normal functioning and that nearly 60 projects are underway.

Terzian was named as a replacement for Ara Vardanyan, the former director who stepped down following a scandal uncovered by law enforcement agencies involving the latters unauthrozied use of the funds bank account for personal purposes.

In his statement, Terzian said he has first of all looked into the bookkeeping documents of the fund.

As a result of discussions it turned out that the funds which have been used through the credit line by the former director for personal goals were returned in brief periods of time, thus going unnoticed by auditors. Nevertheless, vulnerabilities emerged in the supervision system of the funds accounts. Therefore I have demanded to immediately launch additional control and alert measures to eradicate these vulnerabilities, he said, adding that they will soon discuss candidacies for director in September.

Dear donors, during the past 26 years the Hayastan All Armenian Fund operated with transparency and accountability, in accordance to international standards. Projects of enormous scales have been implemented.

The fund continues its mission today also. Nearly 60 projects are underway. Armenia and Artsakh need this pan-national institution.

I am convinced that the fund will overcome this moment of distress with the support of its donors, will take necessary innovative measures and reforms and will be able to undertake greater and more important projects for the populations of Armenia and Artsakh, Terzian said.

Edited and translated by Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, JULY 26, ARMENPRESS. Diaspora minister Mkhitar Hayrapetyan will be in the United States July 27  August 7 on a working visit. The minister will visit Los Angeles, New York City and Boston.

Hayrapetyan will have meetings with executives and representatives of national political parties, pan-Armenian institutions, community youth, cultural and professional unions, charity foundations and religious structures.

At the invitation of Glendale Mayor Zareh Sinanian, Hayrapetyan will participate in the groundbreaking ceremony of the Armenian-American Museum within the visit to Los Angeles.

A meeting-discussion with Armenian-American businessmen and philanthropists will also be organized. Hayrapetyan will deliver a press conference at the Consulate General in LA to conclude the visit.

On July 30, an open meeting with the local Armenian community will be held at the Glendale City Hall, organized by the Consulate General of Armenia in LA.

Edited and translated by Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, JULY 26, ARMENPRESS. Ex-President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan, in office 1998  2008, is currently at the Special Investigative Service (SIS) in Yerevan for questioning, SIS spokesperson Marina Ohanjanyan told ARMENPRESS.

Kocharyan has been summoned for questioning over the March 1 case  the ongoing investigation into the deadly 2008 post-election protests.

Kocharyans office had earlier requested for the questioning to be videotaped. SIS director Sasun Khachatryan told reporters earlier today that the process will be videotaped, but not made public.

Kocharyan is questioned as a witness.

CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov is also being questioned.

Edited and translated by Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, JULY 26, ARMENPRESS. Healthcare minister Arsen Torosyan had a meeting with Ambassador Piotr Switalski, Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, to discuss the cooperation with the Union in the healthcare sector, the ministry told Armenpress.

I am full of hope that the bilateral partnership in the healthcare field will be boosted, minister Torosyan said at the meeting, attaching great importance to the EUs support to the reforms in the public administration system.

In his turn the EU Ambassador was interested in the priority steps in the healthcare field, and in response minister Torosyan in particular highlighted the reforms in the primary healthcare system, as well as the early prevention of several diseases, including the cancer. A special importance was attached to the ongoing steps for installation of e-health system and the EU support mechanisms on this direction.

The EU supports the Armenian governments reforms and is ready to contribute to solving the agenda issues in the healthcare system depending on the outlined priorities, Piotr Switalski said.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanThoughts on new technology, eLearning, change management, and software training.YEREVAN, 26 JULY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 26 July, USD exchange rate up by 0.13 drams to 481.01 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 0.59 drams to 563.36 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate stood at 7.64 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 1.47 drams to 634.36 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 53.85 drams to 19044.94 drams. Silver price up by 0.92 drams to 240.71 drams. Platinum price up by 34.44 drams to 13005.92 drams.YEREVAN, JULY 26, ARMENPRESS. Armenias minister of territorial administration and development Suren Papikyan on July 27 will pay a three-day working visit to Syunik province, the ministry told Armenpress.

On the sidelines of the visit the minister will have a meeting at the Goris municipality with Artsakhs state minister Grigori Martirosyan, minister of agriculture Jirayr Mirzoyan, as well as Artsakh MPs. Thereafter, minister Papikyan will attended the opening ceremony of Verishen-Akner renovated bridge, then will introduce acting leader of Kapan community to the staff, will have meetings with the city council members, staff and administrative leaders of the settlements.

Minister Suren Papikyan will also visit several communities of the province where he will meet with the locals, community leaders, city council members and etc.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, JULY 26, ARMENPRESS. Ex-President of Armenia Robert Kocharyans questioning over 2008 March 1 case has been concluded in the Special Investigative Service, the SIS told Armenpress.

As earlier it was reported, CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov is also currently being questioned at the Special Investigative Service over the March 1 case.

Robert Kocharyan has been invited for questioning over the March 1 case.

His office requested for the questioning to be videotaped. Head of the Special Investigative Service Sasun Khachatryan told reporters that the questioning will be videotaped, but will not be public.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanPETERSBURG, JULY 26, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan arrived in St. Petersburg, Russia on a working visit on July 26. PM Pashinyan met with dozens of Armenian businessmen from north-west region of Russia.

I want to invite all businessmen to Armenia to conduct an economic activity, for which all previously existing obstacles are eliminated and do not exist anymore. Another emphasis is also worth mentioning: among these obstacles, perhaps the most important has been and somehow still remains the corruption, although generally speaking it is said that there is no corruption in Armenia anymore, there are just some remnants. I assure you that today there is an active fight against corruption which will continue, PM Pashinyan said, adding that the fight against corruption deals with some companies, and its important for the government that this fight is not perceived and interpreted as a campaign against the business. For us its important to clearly draw that line that our fight cannot be against the business. We guarantee the security of investments, the PM said, adding that the government has only one condition for investments: it is expected that the business activity should be legal.

According to the Armenian PM, the state is interested in creation of new jobs and increase of state revenues. A week later when I was elected Prime Minister, I officially announced at the meetings with the businessmen that from now on any business is free of any corruption duty. I also rule out that there will be an attempt of interference somehow towards any company at a local level, Nikol Pashinyan said.

Commenting on the role of the new Diaspora, the Armenian PM said the latter sends huge amounts of money to Armenia within the logic of support, charity, since the late 80s, which is appreciable and plays vital role for Armenia. On behalf of the Armenian people and state, the PM thanked for this and added that these sums must be invested in the economic activity. We want to provide you an opportunity to come and run a business in Armenia, gain profit and bring profit to the people and the state. We want you to earn money in Armenia, our goal is for the possibility of earning money in Armenia to be within a broad availability domain, rather than for a narrow circle. The business field should be available to many, and today we are able to ensure that. We hear opinions according to which the business took a break and waits for the upcoming elections. I want to state that the changes that took place in Armenia are irreversible, only the power which relies on the logic of the values of the revolution, can conduct an activity in Armenia, there will be no anti-revolution in Armenia and I consider myself the guarantor of it. Time is expensive, and I urge you not to lose that time, PM Pashinyan said, but didnt rule out that there are problems in laws. He informed that today the government is working on making reforms in the Tax Code, tries to make the field honest, fair and also to regulate the legislation.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanST. PETERSBURG, JULY 26, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who arrived in Russia on a working visit, touched upon the Armenian-Russian economic cooperation, and in particular, Armenias interests in relations with Russia in the energy and gas fields during the meeting with dozens of Armenian businessmen in St. Petersburg.

There was no geopolitical agenda and context in our revolution. No foreign force has been involved in the revolution process. I have said this during the contacts and I am proud of it: this is also a matter of personal dignity for me. We would feel humiliated if it turned out that someone came and did a revolution in our country. We have announced the principles in our relations with Russia and plan to increase the quality of these relations. I am confident that we are on this path. We are guided by Armenias national interests and have stated that our membership to the EAEU and the Armenian-Russian strategic partnership are very important, and we will do everything to develop this direction. We did nothing against Russia and hope the Russian Federation as well did nothing against us. Yes, Russia is a superpower, but the principle of equality of relations is very important. During the first contacts with our Russian partners it was stated that Russia shows unique respect to Armenias sovereignty. There is no obstacle in the development of relations, Nikol Pashinyan said.

The Armenian PM also talked about the relations of the two countries in gas and energy sectors.

When we are talking to the Russian partners, they are very surprised on the information I provide. When they say that Russia sells the cheapest gas to Armenia, 150 AMD on the border, I tell that the Armenian citizen doesnt agree with this since gas enters the peoples houses with 300 USD. They are surprised by hearing this, but I say that this is true. The official turnover of gas stations in Armenia recorded a double increase compared to the same period of the previous year. It seems they felt that they are being followed. We need to deal with these issues and will do so. The same applies to energy. During the meetings with our international partners of energy field we record a fact that Armenias interests are ignored. It turns out that any energy company wants to construct an object at the expense of Armenias people, says the produced energy should cost two drams, but in reality it should cost 1 drams, then says Armenia should buy that energy for 20 years. It turns out that there have been people in Armenia who signed that document and reached an agreement. Obviously, Armenias interests in these matters are ignored. We have loan programs which are not being implemented not due to Armenia, but Armenia pays for their service, and it turns out that there have been people in Armenia who signed these contracts. Here they were mainly interested in the interest of their pocket. Energy is a vital field, and we are going to regulate it. We tell the international partners that we need to negotiate: we will just stop the processes where Armenias interest is not maintained, we will not allow anyone to ignore Armenias interest, PM Pashinyan said, adding that a coordinated work is being carried out with the Russian partners over energy.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, JULY 26, ARMENPRESS. Former police chief of Armenia, MP Alik Sargsyan arrived in the Special Investigative Service, reports Armenpress.

He told reporters that he came to the SIS to testify on the report on extortion case.

Asked whether he may be involved with any status in the 2008 March 1 case investigation, the MP said he has no link with the March 1 case, adding that this case should be definitely revealed.

He told reporters that he normally reacts to the corruption discoveries of the law enforcement agencies. I have always stated and state that anyone should be held accountable, if not today, then tomorrow, he said.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, JULY 26, ARMENPRESS. Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, Major-General Artak Davtyan on July 26 received the US consulting team who arrived in Yerevan to assist the implementation of the defense strategy revision results, the defense ministry told Armenpress.

The meeting aimed at summing up the results of the four-day consulting visit of the US specialists and outlining consulting support needs and future steps for the process of defense reforms.

Major-General Artak Davtyan thanked the guests for the expert support provided to the Armenian side and stated that the Armenian Armed Forces have accumulated unique experience in several fields and are ready to share the experience with the armed forces of the international partners.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanYEREVAN, JULY 26, ARMENPRESS. Former President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan has been charged over the 2008 March 1 case, the Special Investigative Service told Armenpress.

Based on the sufficient evidence acquired during the investigation over the 2008 March 1-2 events in Yerevan, Robert Kocharyan has been charged under the Article 300.1 part 1 of the Criminal Code for breaching the constitutional order of the Republic of Armenia with a preliminary agreement with other persons.

Motion has been filed to a Yerevan court requesting to remand Kocharyan in custody.

Edited and translated by Aneta HarutyunyanWhile Meghan Markle is rising with royalty her former friend and womens rights activist is among nine women held in prison following a brutal crackdown in Saudi Arabia.

28-year-old Loujain Al-Hathloul, who once posed with the Duchess for a Vanity Fair photoshoot, has allegedly confessed to conspiring enemies of the nation and is now facing 20 years jail time, according to The Sun.

Womens rights activist Loujain Al-Hathloul is facing 20 years jail time in Saudi Arabia. Source: Amnesty International

It came at the time when the desert kingdom of the Middle East was about to lift their strict laws that previously banned women from driving.

Campaigners used this opportunity to push for further reforms against Saudi Arabias restrictive male guardianship system and increase freedom of speech  only their efforts saw them rounded up and held captive in prison.

After authorities claim the prisoners confessed to providing financial and moral support to hostile elements abroad, the captives are now up against charges of treason and facing the harsh consequence of jail time or even worse, the death penalty.

The Saudi authorities dont want any change to come from below. They want to stifle any form of dissent or human rights activism, says Kareem Chehayeb, a Saudi researcher for Amnesty International.

According to Kareem, the only reforms that are acceptable are those that come from existing higher powers.

Two years prior to her arrest, Loujain was photographed with Meghan, poet Fatima Bhutto and former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson as they attended a One Young World humanitarian summit.

Meghan Markle with Mary Robison, Fatima Bhutto and Loujain Al-Hathloul. Source: Vanity Fair

One Young World invites young adults from all over the world who are actively working to transform the sociopolitical landscape by being the greater good, Meghan wrote about the event which also saw Emma Watson, Cher and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau in attendance.

They are delegates who are speaking out against human rights violations, environmental crises, gender equality issues, discrimination and injustice. They are the change, she continued.

Story continues

Loujain along with fellow activists Iman al-Nafjan, Aziza al-Yousef, Ibrahim al-Modeimegh, Mohammad al-Rabea and Mohammed al-Bajadi are now expected to face the Specialised Criminal Court to determine their final sentencing.

Got a story tip? Send it to tips@yahoo7.com.au

Want more celebrity, entertainment and lifestyle news? Follow Be on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram.An Air China flight from Paris to Beijing turned back 30 minutes after take-off on Thursday due to a terrorism threat that subsequently turned out to be a false alarm, the French authorities said. Air China had said earlier that flight CA876 returned to Paris after the airline "received suspected terrorist information," giving no further information on the nature of the threat. "To ensure safety, CA876 flew back to Paris and landed safely," the airline had said on one of its social media accounts. But France's state service for airport security later explained that the threat had turned out to be a false alarm resulting from a misunderstanding between the company and a passenger who arrived late for the flight at Charles de Gaulle airport. "A passenger who was delayed due to an abandoned suitcase at Roissy (Charles de Gaulle) airport telephoned the company saying there had been a bomb at the terminal," the security service said. "The person he talked to thought he said that there was a bomb on the plane." A judiciary enquiry has been launched against the man -- an Australian according to a source close to the investigation -- and he had been detained. "The plane touched down at Roissy at 1:55 pm (11:55 GMT). It had turned back after only 30 minutes in the air," the state service for airport security said. All of the passengers of the Boeing 787 jet will now be put on a flight to Beijing at 9:00 pm instead, it added. The flight had been scheduled to depart Charles de Gaulle Airport at 12.30pm Paris time (1030 GMT). Air China said a flight from Paris to Beijing had turned back due to "suspected terrorist information", and has landed safely back in the French capitalArmenia on Thursday charged former president Robert Kocharyan with rigging elections over a decade ago in favour of a political ally, in what investigators said amounted to a coup. The ex-Soviet nation's new leader Nikol Pashinyan has launched a sweeping, anti-graft crackdown on former elites since he was brought to power in May on the back of popular protests. The Armenian special investigation service said Kocharyan had been charged with "overthrowing Armenia's constitutional order". Kocharyan, who is not currently in custody, could face up to 15 years behind bars if found guilty of tipping a 2008 vote in favour of his ally Serzh Sarkisian. Supporters of the defeated opposition candidate Levon Ter-Petrosyan came out to protest after he denounced the vote as fraudulent. Tensions erupted into violent clashes between riot police and Ter-Petrosyan's supporters, in which nine protesters and one officer were killed. Pashinyan was arrested for organising the protests and sentenced to seven years in prison, but was released as part of an amnesty in 2011. Sarkisian led the South Caucasus nation until April this year, when he was forced to resign because of mass protests against his rule. Pashinyan became his successor on a promise to stamp out graft. A pro-Russian politician, Kocharyan served as Armenia's second post-Soviet president from 1998 to 2008. His presidency saw the bloodiest event in Armenia's post-Soviet political history -- the terrorist attack on the Armenian parliament in 1999. Opposition parties have accused Kocharyan of organising the attack in which five gunmen killed his political foes, Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan and parliament speaker Karen Demirchyan. Former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, pictured in 2008, has been accused of rigging elections over a decade ago, as the country launches a sweepign anti-graft crackdown on former elitesFive of the biggest emerging economies on Thursday stood by the multilateral system and vowed to strengthen economic cooperation in the face of US tariff threats and unilateralism. The heads of the so-called BRICS -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- met for an annual summit dominated by the risk of a global US-led trade war, although leaders did not publicly mention President Donald Trump by name. "We should stay committed to multilateralism," China's President Xi Jinping said on the second day of the Johannesburg talks. "The escalation of protectionism and unilateralism are directly affecting... emerging markets," he said in a statement in the day's opening session. "Closer economic cooperation for shared prosperity is the original purpose and priority of BRICS." Russian President Vladimir Putin, who held a controversial meeting with Trump last week, echoed the calls for closer ties among BRICS members and for stronger trade within group. "BRICS has a unique place in the global economy -- this is the largest market in the world, the joint GDP is 42 percent of the global GDP and it keeps growing," Putin said. "In 2017, the trade with our BRICS countries has grown 30 percent, and we are aiming at further developing this kind of partnership." - US targets China's trade surplus - Trump has said he is ready to impose tariffs on all $500 billion of Chinese imports, complaining that China's trade surplus with the US is due to unfair currency manipulation. Trump has already slapped levies on goods from China worth tens of billions of dollars, as well as tariffs on steel and aluminium from the EU, Canada and Mexico. "We are concerned by the rise in unilateral measures that are incompatible with World Trade Organisation rules, and we are worried about the impact," South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told the summit's opening session on Wednesday. The BRICS group, comprising more than 40 percent of the global population, represents some of the biggest emerging economies, but it has struggled to find a unified voice. Analysts say US trade policy could give the group renewed purpose. In Washington, Trump and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker announced an apparent truce in their trade war after White House talks on Wednesday. The US and the EU will "immediately resolve" their dispute over US steel and aluminum tariffs and subsequent EU counter-measures, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confirmed Thursday. The punishing US metals tariffs had angered Washington's major trading partners including the EU and sparked retaliation against important American exports, spooking global stock markets. Xi arrived in South Africa after visiting Senegal and Rwanda as part of a whistlestop tour to cement relations with African allies. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will also attend the BRICS event as the current chair of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and will meet Putin on the summit's sidelines. Arm in arm: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Michel Temer of Brazil Key economic data on the BRICS group of countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.An Italian Catholic magazine on Wednesday likened to Satan Italy's far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini who has pledged to halt migrant arrivals to the country and promised to speed up deportations of illegal immigrants. "Vade Retro Salvini," (Go back, Salvini) read the headline in the Famiglia Cristiana magazine, in a play on the Medieval Catholic phrase used to repel evil "Vade Retro Satana" (Go back Satan). "The bishops' conference, individual bishops, religious groups: the Church is reacting to the aggressive tone of the Interior Minister," the publication said. "Nothing personal or ideological, it is just the Gospel," it added. The unflattering association immediately drew the ire of Salvini. The minister and leader of Italy?s far-right League party who was often seen carrying a rosary or a bible on the campaign trail took to social media to denounce the paper. "Famiglia Cristiana even likens me to Satan, he wrote. "I do not pretend to lecture anyone, I am not a perfect Christian, but I do not think I deserve that. I am comforted by the fact that I receive the support every day of so many men and women of the church," he added. Since coming to power in June Salvini has taken a hardline stance on migrants and controversially closed the country's ports to migrants rescued at sea. While it has proved very popular among Italians -- according to about half a dozen separate polls some two-thirds of citizens approve his decision to close the ports -- prominent Catholic figures have spoken out. Two weeks ago, some priests and nuns protested against his policies in front of the Chamber of Deputies And after two bodies were discovered in a deflated dinghy off Libya last week, the Episcopal Conference of Italy released a statement denouncing a "tragedy which we cannot manage getting used to". "We warn unequivocally that to save our humanity from vulgarity and barbarism, we must protect life. Every life," the bishops wrote. On Sunday, Pope Francis also touched on the recent shipwrecks off Libya and launched a new appeal to the international community to "guarantee security, respect for the rights and dignity of all". In response, Salvini cited article 2241 of the Catholic church's catechism on twitter: "The more prosperous nations are obliged, TO THE EXTENT THEY ARE ABLE, to welcome the foreigner," he wrote. "Vade Retro Salvini," (Go back, Salvini) read the headline in the Famiglia Cristiana magazine, in a play on the Medieval Catholic phrase used to repel evil "Vade Retro Satana" (Go back Satan), in reference to Italy's Interior Minister Matteo SalviniEuropean capitals on Thursday welcomed the trade truce announced by the EU and US but doubts lingered over its feasibility and the changing moods of President Donald Trump. Trump and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday announced a plan to defuse a lingering trade row, that in effect saw Washington back off a threat of auto tariffs against Europe, at least for now. Germany unsurprisingly hailed the decision, given their world dominating auto industry was the first in line to be punished by Trump's protectionist offensive. But France quickly spoke out in anger, with Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire demanding "clarifications" over the agreed measures. Critics of the agreement were especially miffed that existing steel and aluminium tariffs will remain in place despite the White House meeting. "A good business discussion can only be conducted on a clear basis and cannot be conducted under pressure," said Le Maire. These comments contrasted greatly with comments out of Berlin, where the spokesman for Chancelor Angela Merkel welcomed the "constructive" meeting. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte also welcomed the "positive outcome of the conversation." - Details still vague - The details of the deal in Washington remained vague, with a statement mentioning that the transatlantic allies would "launch a new phase" in the relationship. The would prioritise "to work together towards zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods," a statement said. In addition, the EU has made a commitment to buy US soybeans and natural gas, though how the EU could deliver that pledge remained unclear. "Did Juncker make a commitment to US on market access to the US on soybeans? That would be very worrisome, that would be rewarding Trump threats on tariffs," said Rem Korteweg, head of the Europe in the World unit at think-tank Clingendael. France's Le Maire singled out this pledge as especially problematic, given deep concerns over the GMO's in US soybean production that falls foul of EU norms. France will insist that agricultural goods "remain outside the scope of the discussions" ensuring that "Europe will not compromise with its standards," he said. "These possible negotiations will not concern agricultural goods, there may be some reference to soybeans," an EU official said on condition of anonymity, adding that the increased imports were already reflected on the market. - WTO reform pledge - The condition for the deal was that Trump hold off on slapping tariffs on auto imports. Trump had previously ordered the Department of Commerce to look into charging border taxes of up to 25 percent on vehicles from the EU and it was yet unknown if the US would close the process. Trump also won a commitment to work together to reform the World Trade Organization to address some of his complaints about China on theft of US technology, the behaviour of state-owned enterprises, and overcapacity in steel. He has long complained that the WTO has been unfair to the United States, despite the fact the US has won most of the disputes against China and others. The US and EU account for about $1 trillion in transatlantic trade, and tensions spiked leading up to Wednesday's high-stakes talks. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, who accompanied Juncker, hailed the agreement and said on Twitter that she "will be working hard to take this work forward the coming months." Trump and Juncker announced a deal to defuse a US-EU trade rowFormer Cuban president Raul Castro on Thursday accused the United States of tightening "the noose" around his country, Venezuela and Nicaragua but vowed to "respond to every challenge." "For us, the same as for Venezuela and Nicaragua, it's very clear that the noose is tightening, and our people need to be ready to respond to every challenge with unity, resolve, optimism and unwavering faith in the victory," Castro said. Those three countries -- all currently subject to US sanctions -- are among the last bastions of far left governance in Latin America amid a general trend to the right in recent years. Since Donald Trump's election as US president, relations with Cuba have deteriorated after a historic rapprochement under his predecessor Barack Obama. Castro, the brother of late revolutionary hero Fidel, said the return of right-wing governments in the region and Washington's hostility towards the left had "reawakened euphoria among our enemies who dream of destroying the Cuban example." Dressed in military uniform, Castro was speaking at an event marking the 65th anniversary of a guerrilla attack on a military barracks seen as the start of the Cuban revolution against US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista. Raul Castro, who is 87, assumed the Cuban presidency after Fidel stepped down for health reasons in 2008. He in turn handed over the presidency to Miguel Diaz-Canel in April. Bilateral US-Cuban relations had improved since Raul came to power, with full diplomatic relations restored in 2015 -- they had been dissolved in 1961 after Cuba fostered close ties with the communist Soviet Union. Cuba has been run as a single-party socialist or communist state since Batista was ousted in January 1959. Castro said the US-led blockade of Cuba had "intensified... in particular the persecution of our financial transactions." He also blasted statements about Cuba by US officials as "disrespectful, aggressive, interventionist and crudely manipulating historical facts." Raul Castro, in military attire, attends Cuban revolutionary celebrations with President Miguel Diaz-CanelWorsening violence between farmers and herders could hit Nigeria's general election and "destabilise" the country, according to a new report published Thursday. The International Crisis Group (ICG) said the long-running battle for land and resources, fuelled by pressures from an increasing population, was now "Nigeria's gravest security threat," outstripping the peril from jihadism. At least 1,500 people have been killed in clashes between nomadic herders and sedentary farmers in central states since September last year, the thinktank said. Of these, more than 1,300 occurred between January and June this year, it added. This is at least six times higher than the number of people estimated estimated by the UN to have been killed by Boko Haram in the same period. The ICG said some progress had been made in tackling the crisis but more needed to be done ahead of elections, which typically heighten the risk of ethnic, religious and political tensions. "It (the conflict) is exacting an ever deadlier toll and, with elections looming in 2019, could destabilise the country if the government and other actors fail to contain it," it added. The first half of this year was the deadliest six months since the crisis worsened in 2014, it said in the report, "Stopping Nigeria's Spiralling Farmer-Herder Violence". The overstretched police and military were unable to cope and with attacks largely unpunished, communities had taken matters into their own hands. But much of the tit-for-tat violence has become more planned and involved increasingly well-armed and organised militia. In the deadliest attack, 11 villages were attacked last month in the Barakin Ladi area of Plateau state, in which more than 200 people from farming communities were killed. - Human and political cost - The ICG said "scorched-earth" campaigns had made more than 300,000 people homeless, with the displaced forced to stay with family and friends or in overcrowded, unsanitary camps. Local aid agencies were overwhelmed but there was very little help available elsewhere because of the humanitarian crisis sparked by the nine-year Boko Haram insurgency, it added. Mass displacement has had an affect on food production and was likely to drive up prices, as farmers were unable or unwilling to work the land because of fear of fresh attacks. President Muhammadu Buhari has been accused of failing to act against the herders because, like him, they are ethnic Fulani and Muslim. The ICG said that argument was "unsustainable", as Buhari had equally been unable to stop a rise in banditry and cattle rustling against Fulani Muslims in some northern states. But the perception had increased anti-Fulani and anti-Muslim sentiment in a country where communal tensions are rarely far from the surface and frequently boil over into violence. On the election, the researchers said the unrest could affect the ability of people to register to vote and political campaigning. Buhari, who was elected in 2015 on a pledge to defeat Boko Haram and improve security across the country, could equally see an erosion in support in central states, they added. He may still be able to rely on widespread support in his northern powerbase but his security record could hurt him elsewhere, they added. Attacks attributed to Fulani herdsmen are adding to tensions in Nigeria's volatile communal mix The coffins of 17 worshippers and two priests allegedly killed by Fulani herdsmen in Ayati-Ikpayongo, Benue state, in May A farm in Nghar, near the central Nigerian city of Jos -- the village was abandoned after it was attacked by Fulani herdsmen in JuneGreece's government said on Thursday there were "serious" indications the fire in which most of the 82 people who perished in the country's worst ever wildfires died may have been started deliberately. "A serious piece of information has led to us opening an investigation" into possible "criminal acts" behind the starting of the fire on Monday that ravaged the coastal region of Mati east of Athens, Deputy Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Toskas said. He said authorities were also examining whether another fire, which broke out hours earlier on Monday near Kineta to the west of the Greek capital, was "intentionally" lit. No one died in the Kineta fire. "There are testimonies but I cannot say anything more now," Toskas added at a news conference in Athens, which was attended by government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos and fire and police chiefs. Toskas also stressed that "climate conditions were extreme due to climate change". Officials citing information from satellite maps have said that 13 fires broke out at the same time across the region of Attica -- which includes Athens -- on Monday. As family members helped to identified the bodies of the dead on Thursday, anger has mounted over how authorities could have let the disaster happen. Government spokesman Tzanakopoulos sought to address the criticism, saying that "the evacuation of Mati was not possible because the phenomenon only lasted an hour and a half". He added that the winds, which reached 120 kilometres (75 miles) an hour, were "the strongest recorded in the last eight years". The government has also announced a raft of measures to compensate those affected by the fires. - Death toll rises - An 82nd person was pronounced dead Thursday by a fire service spokeswoman, without specifying whether they were found by rescuers or died in hospital. After waiting for rain to put out the fires, heavy downpours on Thursday afternoon caused flash floods that stranded dozens of motorists and damaged dozens of cars. But no-one was hurt in the flooding, authorities said. The fires struck coastal villages popular with holidaymakers and burned with such ferocity that most people fled to the safety of the sea with just the clothes on their backs. Survivors spoke of harrowing scenes including entire families burned alive in their homes. "We were alone, there was nobody to help us. Everybody did what they thought they had to do to survive on their own," resident Evi Kavoura told AFP. "I feel a pain in my heart, a very heavy load." There was still no official word on the number of people missing after the catastrophe, but the death toll of 82 already makes this Europe's deadliest fire outbreak this century. The fire service said firefighters were still searching for people reported missing by their relatives, while public ERT television said around 30 bodies had been formally identified. A website set up by residents lists 27 people still unaccounted for, including nine-year-old twin girls. - 'Greeks help each other' - The swiftly moving flames on Monday evening overtook some terrified residents and tourists in their homes and others as they tried to flee in cars or on foot. AFP photographers saw the burnt bodies of people and dogs. Some 187 people were hospitalised, with 71 still being treated as of Wednesday evening, including almost a dozen children, most of whom were in a "serious condition", the fire services said. In addition to 10,000 euros to the immediate relatives of someone who died, the government said it would provide 5,000 euros per property affected. It said that of the almost 2,500 homes surveyed by experts after the fire, almost half were now uninhabitable. The widow of Greece's most renowned filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos said the late director's house and personal archives had been lost in the fire. The disaster unleashed a wave of solidarity and many survivors were being looked after by voluntary organisations, who were providing them with accommodation, clothing and food. Amid mountains of food and baby nappies in a gymnasium in Rafina, near Mati, one of the volunteers, Joanna Kefalidou, an English teacher on vacation, said: "We're Greeks and Greeks tend to come together in times of need and help each other as much as they can." - 'Left to God's mercy' - The government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has announced a relief fund open to donations worth an initial 40 million ($47 million) euros to help affected areas. But the measures did little to assuage anger over how such a disaster could happen just a few kilometres from Athens. Defence Minister Panos Kammenos was heckled Thursday as he visited the scene of the fires. "You left us to God's mercy, there's nothing left," shouted one resident. But Kammenos went on the counter-attack, telling the BBC that illegal construction in the past was also to blame for the disaster. The "majority" of houses on the coast had been built without the proper licences, he said. "After this tragedy I think it is the moment to understand that it's dangerous for them and for their families to not follow the rules and the laws," the minister said. The wildfires come as record temperatures in northern Europe have also seen blazes cause widespread damage in recent days. An aerial view of the damage wrought by the wildfire in the village of Mati, near the capital Athens A expert marks with paint a burnt house following a wildfire at the village of Neos Voutzas, near Athens Emergency workers survey damage to vehicles in northern Athens on July 26, 2018, after a flash flood struck the Greek capital A chronology of the deadliest forest firesScorching hot weather set the conditions for Greece's wildfires -- Europe's deadliest this century with scores killed -- while record temperatures in the north of the continent have also sparked blazes causing widespread damage in recent days. Ten EU countries have mobilised firefighters and equipment to help battle the fires in Greece as well as Sweden and Latvia. Here is a roundup of the devastation. - Greece - The fires in Greece, which broke out Monday, are the deadliest in living memory. At least 82 people have been confirmed dead, while emergency crews were Thursday searching incinerated homes and vehicles for at least 27 missing, who include nine-year-old twin girls from the village of Mati. Coastal villages near Athens popular with holidaymakers were especially hard hit, with at least 300 homes destroyed or badly damaged. - Sweden - Sweden, experiencing an unprecedented drought and the highest temperatures in a century, is battling 23 fires across the country, down by half since last week. The fires have laid waste to at least 25,000 hectares (62,000 acres) including 13,000 hectares in the central Karbole region alone. Temperatures are still rising, with Pierre Schaller, the head of a French contingent helping the Swedes, telling AFP that with Thursday's predicted high of 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit) the fires could "take off again". But cooling rains are forecast for the weekend, when two Italian water-dropping aircraft that were deployed in Sweden last week will head to Greece, Swedish authorities told a news conference. - Latvia - A Belarusian helicopter was headed to Latvia on Thursday to help Latvian and Lithuanian firefighters battle a blaze that broke out on July 17. It has ravaged around 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) of peat bog, forest and scrubland in the west of the Baltic state but has not claimed any lives. Latvia has turned to neighbouring Belarus for help because EU resources are stretched fighting the wildfires in Greece and Sweden, according to the local Baltic News Service BNS. - Britain - Britain has been in the grip of its longest heatwave in decades, sparking wildfires in northwest England, water restrictions in Northern Ireland and record-breaking temperatures in Scotland. Sun worshippers in London's Hyde Park lounged in deck chairs set out on parched grass. The city's fire chief Dany Cotton remarked: "I never thought I'd say this, but we are praying for rain." A new British temperature record may be set on Friday, topping the 38.5 Celsius (101 Fahrenheit) registered in Kent in August 2003. With just 47 millimetres (1.8 inches) of rain recorded in Britain between June 1 and July 16, fire chiefs have warned that parks and other grasslands are like a "tinderbox". - The Netherlands - The Dutch meteorological institute on Thursday officially declared the Netherlands' first heatwave in three years, with the mercury hitting 36 degrees Celsius (97 Fahrenheit). The spell has lasted 12 days, making it the sixth longest heatwave since 1901. Authorities are planning for water shortages in several parts of the country. - Elsewhere in Europe - In Norway, which experienced its hottest May temperatures on record, one firefighter was killed on July 15 while battling one of a string of fires. Unaccustomed bikini weather has also come to Finland's northernmost Lapland province, the legendary headquarters of Father Christmas. burs-gd/rlp Scorching hot weather set the conditions for Greece's deadly wildfires Emergency crews were searching incinerated homes and vehicles in the village of Mati, near Athens Wildfires in Sweden have laid waste to at least 25,000 hectares (62,000 acres) of mainly forested land Visitors set out deck chairs on the parched grass of London's Hyde Park Santra Hostikka enjoyed a paddle on Lake Pallas in Finland's northernmost Lapland provinceA Cambodian who has devoted his life to documenting the killing of almost two million of his countrymen in the 1970s was named Thursday among the winners of this year's Magsaysay Awards, widely regarded as Asia's version of the Nobel prize. Youk Chhang, 57, was given the award for his role as head for more than two decades of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, an institute that investigates atrocities committed under the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge was a murderous, ultra-Maoist organisation that killed one quarter of Cambodia's population from 1975 to 1979. Youk's organisation aims to help victims of the brutal regime come to terms with their ordeal while ensuring that future generations do not forget the events. Youk, who experienced torture and saw the death of many family members at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, said he undertook the work for his mother, who also suffered extensively during the genocide. "I want her to be a free woman, not to carry all the tragedy in her heart and in her life," he was quoted as saying. The Manila-based Ramon Magsaysay Award, named after a Filipino president killed in a plane crash, was established in 1957 to honour people and groups tackling development problems. Two Indian nationals were separately honoured this year: Sonam Wangchuk, 51, who promotes alternative education systems in his home Himalayan region Ladakh; and Bharat Vatwani, 60, a psychiatrist who started a foundation to rescue people living on the streets with mental health problems. Polio victim Vo Thi Hoang Yen, 52, was awarded for her work in assisting the disabled in Vietnam, while 56-year-old Maria De Lourdes Martins Cruz received an award for founding an institute to help the poor in her native East Timor, the organisers said. Another awardee, Howard Dee, 87, was once head of a major Philippine drug company but gave up his career to help the poor including through peace efforts with local communist guerrillas and Muslim separatists. Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, experienced torture and saw the death of many family members at the hands of the Khmer RougeIsraeli strikes killed three Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after a soldier was wounded by gunfire in a fresh flare-up of violence despite a United Nations-brokered ceasefire deal. The Israeli army said the strikes targeting Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas were in retaliation for the shots fired at its soldiers along the border earlier Wednesday. One soldier was moderately wounded and taken to hospital, the army said. The latest bloodshed comes five days after the UN and Egypt brokered a deal to halt a surge in violence that once again raised the spectre of a new round of conflict between Hamas and Israel. The three men were killed in strikes east of Gaza City, the health ministry in Gaza said. In a statement Hamas's military wing hailed them as its fighters from the Shejaiya area in northern Gaza, saying they were killed during strikes on one of their observation points. The Israeli army said it carried out artillery strikes against seven military targets belonging to Hamas. "A short while ago, terrorists fired at (Israeli) soldiers in the southern Gaza Strip," an army statement said. "In response... artillery targeted seven military posts in Gaza belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation." A spokesman for Hamas said in a statement the group would "not abandon its duty to defend and protect our people and to respond to aggression." - 'False alarm' - Shortly after the Israeli strikes, sirens sounded near the Israeli city of Ashkelon close to Gaza, the Israeli army said. There was no immediate confirmation of any rocket fire from Gaza, which typically sets off such sirens, and the military said it appeared to be a "false alarm". More sirens were reported later in the evening. Israeli media reported that Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman had called an emergency meeting of army generals to discuss the situation. The shooting on the border Wednesday was the second such sniper incident reported by Israel in days. The Israeli military said "a Palestinian sniper in Gaza fired at IDF troops under the cover of 20 children that were sent towards the border fence as decoy". On Friday an Israeli soldier was shot dead on the border, sparking a fierce wave of bombing in Gaza. It was the first time an Israeli soldier had been killed in or around Gaza since a 2014 war between Hamas and the Jewish state and sparked fears of a new round of confrontation. The violence ended late Friday after Egypt and the United Nations helped broker a tense ceasefire. Since then the truce had largely held, though young Palestinians have continued to attach incendiary devices to kites and balloons and try to float them across the border. The kites have caused hundreds of fires inside Israel in recent months, according to Israeli officials. There has however been a reduction in the number of the firebombs since the ceasefire. Israeli politicians have called for tougher measures against those launching the kites and balloons and earlier Wednesday Israeli aircraft fired towards a group of people preparing them, the army said. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008. Tensions have spiked since Palestinians began protesting along the Gaza border in late March, with Israeli forces shooting dead over 150 people since then during clashes and demonstrations. Israel has maintained a crippling blockade of Gaza since 2007 which it says is necessary to isolate Hamas. UN officials and rights groups say it amounts to collective punishment of the strip's two million residents and feeds poverty and radicalisation. Israeli soldiers train in a tank during an exercise at the Tzeelim army base on July 3, 2018, weeks before the army said it carried out artillery strikes against seven military targets belonging to Hamas on July 25 A missile explodes in Gaza City during Israeli bombardment, on July 20, 2018Several members of a cult that carried out a deadly 1995 sarin attack on Tokyo's subway were executed on Thursday, Japanese media said, weeks after the group's leader was hanged. Public broadcaster NHK said at least two members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult had been executed on Thursday, while other media did not specify a number. There was no immediate official confirmation. Thursday's executions come after authorities hanged "guru" Shoko Asahara and six of his one-time followers earlier this month, after years on death row. Those executions left six remaining Aum members on death row. Japan is one of the few developed nations to retain the death penalty, and public support for it remains high despite international criticism. The Aum's 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway during rush hour killed 13 people and injured thousands more. It plunged the massive capital into chaos, and prompted a crackdown on the cult's headquarters in the foothills of Mount Fuji, where authorities discovered a plant capable of producing enough sarin to kill millions. Aum members have been convicted of an additional sarin attack in the town of Matsumoto the year before the Tokyo attack, as well as the murder of an anti-cult lawyer and his family. Despite the crackdown on the Aum, it was never formally banned. It officially disowned Asahara in 2000 and renamed itself Aleph, but experts say the former guru retained a strong influence before his execution. The Aum Shinrikyo cult carried out a deadly 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway, killing 13 peopleA 10-year-old boy and his seven-year-old passenger took their foster parents car and planned to drive to the beach, but the pair crashed before they made it.

The Lexus smashed into another car, causing damage to both vehicles before it left the road, however nobody involved was injured, fire and rescue crews confirmed.

The boys from the US state of Virginia took the family car for a spin on Tuesday morning, Virginia State Police said in a statement.

The pairs foster parents called police at 8.16am when they woke up to find the two young boys and their Lexus gone, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.

A 10-year-old boy and his seven-year-old passenger took their foster parents car and planned to drive to the beach, but the pair crashed before they made it. Source: WTVR

A second call to police followed shortly after from a motorist who spotted the vehicle driving all over the roadway, reaching speeds of up to 110km/h.

The witness continued to follow behind the children while waiting for authorities to arrive when the Lexus accidentally clipped the callers Nissan Rogue, then crashed into the highway median strip, police said in a statement.

Police in Fluvanna County arrived shortly after and took the boys home, about 60km away.

The boys told police they were trying to drive to Virginia Beach, which is about 160 kilometres from their home.

You dont expect something like this. You dont expect a 10-year old to be driving a car, tow truck operator Steve Parrish told WTVR.

However, the boys did one thing right  they were wearing their seatbelts, a local officer told Mr Parrish.

The matter will be referred to the Juvenile Court Services Unit and the Department of Social Services, Captain Wells told the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

At this point, were not seeking any charges.A South Korean company that said it had found a long-lost Russian "treasure ship", causing a stock market flurry, apologised Thursday admitting it had not gleaned any riches from the wreck. Start-up business Shinil Group announced last week it had discovered the imperial vessel Dmitri Donskoi off South Korea's east coast, saying the ship was believed to contain gold bullion and coins worth $130 billion. But financial regulators on Wednesday launched an investigation into the firm after news of the discovery caused the stock price of Jeil Steel -- a company in which Shinil's founder had acquired a large stake -- to jump fivefold. Critics noted that in 2003 another firm had already sparked a stock bubble by announcing the discovery of the Donskoi, which sank in a 1905 naval battle against Japan. On Thursday Shinil said it may have gone overboard on the claims and apologised for the "misunderstanding", saying speculation on the value of treasure contained within the ship was based on news reports and unverified documents. "We sincerely apologise to the people for this irresponsible citation," said Choi Yong-seok, the firm's CEO, bowing before TV cameras and photographers at a press conference. Jeil Steel stock had hit 5,400 won ($4.82) but nosedived to around 1,785 won on Thursday, while Shinil replaced its board members and changed its name to Shinil Maritime Technology Co. At the press conference, the company played a brief clip of underwater footage that appeared to show the ship, with the word "Donskoi" visible on the hull -- but it stopped short of entering the wreck. Observers have also questioned whether the claims were aimed at funnelling investment into a virtual currency which Shinil Group in Singapore had recently started to issue. Choi insisted Shinil Group in Singapore had nothing to do with Shinil Group in Korea, although the two companies' founders are siblings and Shinil Group in Singapore has been selling virtual coins, reportedly with a promise of handsome returns in case treasure is salvaged from the ship. He also said Jeil Steel is not associated with Shinil although Shinil's founder had acquired the stake in Jeil Steel before the discovery of the sunken ship. Experts have said imperial Russia would have no reason to load vast treasure on a ship that was going into battle and have also noted that there was a safer land route to Vladivostok, the treasure's supposed final destination. Start-up business Shinil Group announced last week it had discovered imperial vessel the Dmitri Donskoi off South Korea's east coast Imperial Russian naval cruiser the Dmitri Donskoi sank in a 1905 battle against Japan At the press conference, the company played a brief clip of underwater footage that appeared to show the shipThe death toll in coordinated Islamic State group attacks in Syria's Sweida passed 250 on Thursday, the Druze-majority province's heaviest loss of life of the seven-year civil war. Sweida, which is mainly government-held, had been largely insulated from the conflict raging in the rest of the country since 2011. But Wednesday's onslaught shattered the relative calm and showed that IS retains the ability to mount deadly attacks against civilians, despite being ousted from its last remaining urban pockets in recent months. Four suicide bombers struck the city of Sweida, while other IS fighters attacked villages to its north and east with guns and explosives. The death toll reached 252 on Thursday, 139 of them civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group. The others killed were pro-government fighters or residents who had taken up arms to defend their villages. "The toll keeps rising as civilians who were wounded are dying and people who were unaccounted for are found dead," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP. It was the deadliest attack for the province and one of the highest tolls in IS attacks across the country. State television broadcast footage of the funeral processions in Sweida, showing men in the traditional white caps of the Druze minority exchanging condolences. Men carried caskets draped in the two-star government flag and pictures of those killed, against a backdrop of the rainbow colours representing their community. - IS regroups - At least 63 jihadists died carrying out the assault, the Observatory said. IS claimed responsibility in a series of statements on its propaganda channels on Wednesday. It posted gruesome photographs showing jihadists beheading at least four men it said were government fighters it had captured in Sweida. IS has suffered a series of defeats that saw it ousted from the last urban pockets of the sprawling cross-border "caliphate" it proclaimed in Iraq and Syria in 2014. But it retains a presence, including in a pocket of the eastern province of Deir Ezzor and in parts of the vast central Badiya desert, including in Sweida. On Thursday, Syrian foreign minister Walid Muallem slammed the attacks as he hosted a delegation of Chinese diplomats in Damascus, according to state news agency SANA. He said "Daesh (IS) remnants coming from the Badiya committed a brutal, barbaric crime that left hundreds dead and wounded." News websites in Sweida alleged that some of the jihadists who took part in Wednesday's attack had been given safe passage out of the Yarmuk refugee camp in the southern outskirts of Damascus. The last IS fighters in the camp were bused out with their relatives in May to desert territory still held by the group. The Sweida websites posted images that purported to show IS fighters killed in the assault with identification cards showing they were from Yarmuk. Zeina, a resident of the tiny village of Al-Matuna, said her family woke up to the sound of gunfire and grenade blasts at around 5:30 am (0230 GMT) on Wednesday. "My relative shot back at one of the fighters outside our home and we heard him scream: 'The infidels have killed me'," she told AFP. Her cousin and his wife were both killed. "The villages that were attacked were on edge last night, and all the men were on high alert," Zeina, 32, said on Thursday. - 'Senseless' - SANA said dozens were killed in the assault but did not give a specific toll. It said calm returned to Sweida late on Wednesday after government forces and armed villagers surrounded the IS fighters and killed them. The Observatory said Thursday regime forces were advancing in neighbouring Daraa province's western countryside, where they had retaken the IS-controlled town of Saham al-Golan. Syrian government forces also raised the country's flag on the frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Thursday, the Observatory and a pro-government newspaper reported, four years since they were last deployed there. The IS attack drew condemnation from the United Nations as well as government allies Russia and Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah. "We condemn this disgraceful crime, its perpetrators, and anyone who stands behind it and the takfiri (extremist Muslim) ideology that these terrorist groups adopt," Hezbollah said in a statement on Thursday. The International Committee of the Red Cross said the attack was "senseless and tragic". "More distressing reports out of Syria of 200 civilians killed in Sweida city yesterday," it said on Twitter. "We repeat: Civilians are not part of the fight." Syria's Druze minority makes up around three percent of the population. They are regarded as heretics by Sunni Muslim extremist groups including IS. More than 350,000 people have been killed since Syria's conflict erupted seven years ago, but repeated global efforts at bringing about a negotiated solution have failed to stem the bloodshed. A member of the Syrian security forces walks past a truck damaged in a suicide attack claimed by the Islamic State group in the southern city of Sweida on July 25, 2018 Map showing areas held by different groups in Syria on July 26, according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights An Islamic State group flag is taken down in the Syrian town of Tabqa on April 30, 2017, one of a spate of urban defeats for the jihadistsPassengers on board at least two Air India flights have been left covered in bed bug bites from their travels.

Several business class customers took to Twitter to share damning photos of the conditions on the flights between the US airport of Newark and Indias Mumbai last week.

Passenger Kashmira Tonsekar said she discovered an infestation of bed bugs in her familys seats when her daughter began complaining of a rash.

Her husband Pravin Tonsekar shared a series of images of bed bugs among their seats as they travelled home from a family holiday.

@airindiain @sureshpprabhu @narendramodi_in Suresh Prabhuji  just arrived from New York on Air India 144 business class with family . All our seats infested with bed bugs . Sir , have heard of bed bugs on trains but shocked to experience on our maharaja and that too business pic.twitter.com/m2GnfOpTO3  Pravin Tonsekar (@pat_tons) July 17, 2018

All our seats infested with bed bugs. Sir, [I] have heard of bed bugs on trains but shocked to experience on our maharaja and thats too business (sic), he wrote.

Air India responded to his complaint saying they were sorry to hear about this and were sending the information onto their maintenance team to investigate.

Yet Mr Tonsekar was unimpressed with the response tweeting back saying: This should never have happened in the first place!

Another passenger, Saumya Shetty, followed up Mr Tonsekars complaint by uploading a photo of several large bites on her arm.

What an #airindia #businessclass would do to you? AI still has to get in touch with me inspite if my repeated attempts to get in touch with them. @airindiain @NewYorkTimes11 @cnni pic.twitter.com/tDHfmhX0Vx  Saumya Shetty (@saumshetty) July 20, 2018

AI still has to get in touch with me, she said after claiming to have contacted the airline several times without response.

Story continues

Another passenger tweeted his furious response to spending $10,000 on tickets for his wife and three children to travel on July 19 with the Air India.

@airindiain my wife and three kids flex business class AI 144 from Newark to mumbai; now they have bed bug bites all over their body; is this is what we paid $10,000 for???  Rohan (@roscrow) July 19, 2018

Two aircrafts were temporarily grounded while the airline rectified the issue. Source: Getty, file.

They have bed bug bites all over their body; is this what we paid $10,000 for??? he questioned.

The airline again responded apologising for the incident.

We assure you that we will allow no one to jeopardise safety and comfort of pax, they added.

An airline official confirmed to The Hindustan Times that two planes had been grounded for a day each to combat the issue.

An Air India spokesperson confirmed the plane had been fumigated and affected seats were replaced however failed to comment on any compensation passengers would receive.North Korea will soon return the remains of some of the US soldiers killed in the Korean War, the South's Yonhap news agency reported Thursday, starting a process agreed by leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump. Repatriating the remains of US soldiers who perished during the 1950-53 Korean War was part of an agreement signed by Kim and Trump during their landmark summit in Singapore last month. The first transfer will be made on Friday to mark the 65th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the war, Yonhap reported, citing diplomatic sources. The remains will be airlifted from the North's Kalma Airport on the eastern coast to Osan Air Base, south of Seoul, beore being transferred to a forensic lab in Hawaii, it said. A US military spokesman declined to comment on the report. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week the repatriations would begin shortly, but did not confirm media reports that the first transfers of some 50-55 sets of remains would take place on July 27. North Korean and US military officials met last week at the border truce village of Panmunjom to discuss the repatriation. Dozens of transfer cases to carry the American remains have been brought to the southern side of the border in recent weeks. More than 35,000 Americans were killed on the Korean Peninsula during the war, out of which around 7,700 are still considered missing, including 5,300 in North Korea alone, according to the Pentagon. Between 1990 and 2005, 229 sets of remains from the North were repatriated, but those operations were suspended when ties between the two countries deteriorated over Pyongyang's continuing effort to develop nuclear weapons. Repatriating the remains of US soldiers was part of an agreement signed by Kim and Trump during their landmark summitThe torrent of water unleashed in a deadly Laos dam collapse has drained into Cambodia, forcing thousands to evacuate, as rescuers on Thursday battled monsoon rains to find scores of Laotians still missing after entire villages were washed away. Twenty-seven people have been confirmed dead, with 131 still missing, after the Xe-Namnoy dam collapsed on Monday in a remote southern corner of Laos, leaving villagers with little time to escape. It is an unprecedented accident to strike the hydropower industry in Laos, where the Communist government has dammed large sections of its myriad waterways to generate electricity that is mostly sold to its neighbours. The search and rescue effort entered a third day Thursday, with China, Vietnam and Thailand sending in specialists, while villagers picked through their wrecked, mud-caked homes for possessions as the flood waters receded. Carcasses of livestock floated in the knee-deep waters in a devastated village visited by AFP, as heavy rain pounded the area. Thousands of villagers downstream in Cambodia have also been forced to flee as the water once held back by the dam flowed south. "Water is still rising, so more people will be evacuated," Men Kong, a government spokesman in Cambodia's Stung Streng province, told AFP. Cambodian soldiers ferried villagers and motorbikes from flooded zones on wooden boats, while supplies were handed out to some who found refuge on dry land. In Laos, Chinese rescuers in life jackets and helmets joined local soldiers searching for the missing Thursday, according to an AFP reporter at the scene, while community volunteers pitched in with private boats to return to villages still submerged. Residents recalled their terror as water rushed through their homes. Tran Van Bien, 47, from Ban Mai village close to the ruined dam said he was told to evacuate just two hours before the dam burst on Monday evening, running to a neighbour's house with his family as his home quickly filled with water. "We were on the roof of that house the whole night, cold and scared. At 4:00 am a wooden boat passed and we decided to send my wife and my kid out," he told AFP from a nearby town where he eventually found dry land. "My wife tied our child to her body, saying if they died, they would die together rather than being alone." - 'Insufficient warning' - The $1.2 billion Xe-Namnoy dam, a joint venture between Laos, Thai and Korean companies, was still under construction in southern Attapeu province when it collapsed after heavy rains pounded the area earlier this week. Two South Korean companies involved in the project's construction and operation said damage was reported a day before the auxiliary "Saddle D" dam collapsed. However a timeline from operator Korea Western Power Co. obtained by AFP said 11 centimetres (four inches) of subsidence was spotted at the dam's centre as early as Friday. The company told AFP it could not yet determine the cause of the collapse. "It is too early to define whether it was a natural disaster or a manmade disaster," a spokesman told AFP Thursday. Thailand issued new regulations for its hydro plant operators in Laos this week, ordering companies to report on dam conditions every week and communicate closely with residents. "If a dam plans to release water they must coordinate with local officials to warn people and to prevent people from panic at least seven days (in advance)," Thailand's Energy and Mining Minister Khammany Inthirath announced Wednesday. Southeastern Laos is frequently lashed by monsoon rains, and dam operators regularly release water from reservoirs in order to avoid overflow -- or collapse. The 410 MW Xe-Namnoy project is one of more than 50 hydropower plans underway in Laos, which has billed itself as the "battery of Asia" in its ambitious bid to become a major power exporter in the region. Laos has said it wants to double its power generation capacity to 28,000 MW by 2020 and has opened its doors to foreign investors -- mainly from China, Thailand and Vietnam -- to build dams across the country. But the projects have come under fire from rights groups who say local communities are forcibly moved and lose key access to river waters for farming and fishing. "This tragedy has compounded their suffering," International Rivers said in a statement Thursday. "Communities were not given sufficient advanced warning to ensure their safety and that of their families. This event raises major questions about dam standards and dam safety in Laos." Residents near the collapsed dam have returned to flooded villages to salvage what they can from the debris Residents near the collapsed dam have returned to flooded villages to salvage what they can from the debris Flood survivors have crowded into makeshift refuges after the dam collapse Rescuers are battling monsoon rains to find scores of Laotians still missing after entire villages were washed away Makeshift ferries have been used to cross swollen rivers in the flash flood zone in southern Laos Southeastern Laos is frequently lashed by monsoon rains, and dam operators regularly release water from reservoirs in order to avoid overflowThe risk of illegal timber flooding Chinas markets can damage its reputation and major trade relationships as many countries which ban illegal timber imports take action to stop the trade.

Yet China has no regulation to keep illegal timber from entering its borders.

A significant majority of timber from PNG is shipped to China - representing 29% of Chinas tropical log imports in 2016.

This destruction of irreplaceable ancient rainforest is driving climate change and damaging the livelihoods of indigenous communities.

LONDON  Anti-corruption NGO Global Witness has today released research revealing how many logging operations in Papua New Guinea appear to be breaking the law and selling illegal timber overseas.

China says it's a friend of PNG, but does it respect culture, livelihood and biosphere by destroying forests? (Global Witness)

On paper, the legal system in PNG guarantees that Papua New Guineans have control over their forests.

In reality, however, the PNG government is responsible for a catastrophic failure to uphold these laws and the forest sector has been plagued for decades by allegations of corruption and law breaking.

In its new report, A Major Liability, Global Witness uses satellite imagery to show hundreds of apparent violations of PNGs Forestry Act in major logging operations which hold government permits and which continue to export timber.

Seventy percent of PNG is covered by forest ecosystems that are home to some of the worlds rarest plants and animals. Almost all of PNGs eight million people rely directly on the land for their sustenance, livelihoods and culture.

But this forest and the lives it supports are under threat. The deforestation rate in PNG has been unusually high in recent years  in the past five years, 640,000 hectares of forest have been lost.

Our normal way of life in using natural resources cautiously and sustainably has gone, said Augustine Mondu, chairman of the Turubu Ecoforestry Forum. Our customary ownership rights are disrespected and our traditional way of life is being completely damaged.

Policy analyst at Global Witness, Lela Stanley, said: Illegal logging in PNG is not only an environmental and social catastrophe, but it also poses a serious risk for the country buying most of that timber - China.

Given our findings on illegal logging in PNG, buyers should assume that all timber coming from the countrys natural forests is at high risk of having been produced illegally.

By failing to mandate proper checks on where its timber comes from, while selling to sensitive markets like the United States and European Union, China leaves itself open to reputational and commercial risk.

Our investigation clearly shows that holding an official permit is not enough to guarantee the legality of timber coming from PNG operations, Ms Stanley said.

China now has a responsibility to act on this and mandate careful checks on the timber its companies source. This will not only help safeguard the livelihoods of PNGs people, but also protect Chinas own trade interests.Russia scoffed at a US declaration that said Washington would not accept Moscow's annexation of Crimea, suggesting the country's Ukraine policy could change in the future. "We know the worth of these 'fateful declarations'," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a sarcastic comment on Facebook late Wednesday. She suggested that Washington's Crimea policy could still change -- perhaps even under a new leader in the future. In the declaration, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Russia to "end its occupation of Crimea," and said Moscow had sought to "undermine a bedrock international principle" shared by democratic states, that no country can change the borders of another by force. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko hailed Washington's "historic" statement, calling it a "worthy response" to the Kremlin's provocations after Donald Trump's hugely controversial summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week. The US administration stepped up its damage control operation and on Wednesday also delayed a second summit with the Kremlin chief until next year. There was no immediate Kremlin reaction to the postponement, which was announced just a day after the Kremlin said Putin and Trump had agreed in Helsinki to continue their "useful contacts". Zakharova derided what she called the inconsistency of Washington's policies, citing as examples US reversals on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and the Paris agreement on slowing climate change. These "were also official US policy not long ago" because Trump's predecessor Barack Obama "personally decided so", she said. "And then Trump came and decided differently," she said. The US declaration came after the Russia's ambassador to Washington said Putin had made concrete proposals on resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine to Trump at the Helsinki summit. The ambassador, Anatoly Antonov, spoke after a media report said Putin had called for a referendum to be held with the help of the international community in Ukraine's breakaway regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, which Russia-backed separatists control. - 'Learn from Helsinki' - Speaking about a possible new summit between the Russian and US leaders, Putin's top foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said earlier this week that the Kremlin received several days after the Helsinki meeting a US proposal to organise a new summit in Washington "at the end of the year". Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, said the postponement of a new summit was "the right move". "Both sides need to focus on what deliverables can be," he said on Twitter. "Most important however is not to let US domestic politics overshadow international diplomacy. Learn from Helsinki!" After a Western-backed popular uprising in Kiev in 2014 ousted a pro-Kremlin regime, Russia annexed Crimea and moved to support a separatist insurgency in Donetsk and Lugansk. Moscow made Crimea part of Russia after a hastily conducted referendum whose results were rejected by the international community. Putin has said the results of the vote would not be revisited. Pompeo called on Russia to "end its occupation of Crimea"Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told Russian media on Thursday his regime's next priority would be retaking Idlib province, currently dominated by rebels and jihadists. "Now Idlib is our goal, but not just Idlib," Assad said of the northwestern province, in comments carried on Russian newswires. "There are of course territories in the eastern part of Syria that are controlled by various groups... So we will be moving into all these regions," Assad added. "The military -- and it is at their discretion -- will decide priorities and Idlib is one of these priorities," he said. "Now we have liberated Ghouta, we will finish the liberation of the south-western part of Syria," Assad said. Syrian government forces launched an offensive last month backed by Russian planes to retake the south of Syria, including Daraa and Quneitra provinces. Russia, Turkey and Iran have held talks under the Astana peace process launched last year and agreed to create four "de-escalation" zones to pave the way for a nationwide ceasefire. Idlib is part of one such zone. It borders Turkey to the northwest but is otherwise almost totally surrounded by regime territory, prompting fears the government would eventually attack it. Idlib has received many rebels and their families evacuated from other regions under Russian-brokered "reconciliation deals" that then saw regime forces move in to take rebel-held areas. According to the United Nations, Idlib's population today stands at 2.5 million -- half of them displaced people. In the same interview Assad said rescue workers from the White Helmets group would be killed if they did not turn themselves in. "Either they can lay down their arms as part of an amnesty ongoing for four or five years, or they will be liquidated like any other terrorist," he said. Israel on Sunday helped more than 400 people -- opposition-linked White Helmets rescuers and their families -- flee a pocket of southwest Syria as government forces bore down on them. But hundreds more remain trapped in the south, fearing reprisals from approaching regime troops. Damascus accuses the White Helmets of being a front for jihadists. Assad also appealed for Syrian refugees, especially those who had their own businesses in the country, to return. The war has killed more than 350,000 people since it began in 2011 with a brutal government crackdown on protesters. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, pictured in June 2018, has told Russian media that the military will make a serious push to retake northwestern and eastern territoriesFor decades, little did the principal of a kindergarten in Lithuania's capital realise that his office stood on top of a sacred part of Vilnius' 17th century Jewish temple, once famous across Europe. An international team of archaeologists on Thursday announced the discovery of the most revered part of the Great Synagogue of Vilnius, Lithuania's major Jewish shrine before it was destroyed by Nazi and Soviet regimes. "We've found the bimah, the central prayer platform which was in Tuscan Baroque style. It was one of the central features of the synagogue," Jon Seligman from Israel's Antiquities Authority told AFP. "It is really a very exciting development. When we talk about the presentation of the site to the public in the future, this will be one of the central features of the display," he added. The green and brown, brick and mortar bimah -- a raised platform from which the Jewish holy book, the Torah, is read -- was unearthed just beneath the principal's office of a former school built in the 1950s by the Soviet regime. The synagogue, dating from the 1630s, was the most important shrine for Lithuania's once vibrant Jewish community. The city attracted Yiddish-speaking writers and scholars, earning it the title of "Jerusalem of the North". Before the war, Jews accounted for around one-third of the city's then 60,000 residents, but most of them perished under Nazi Germany's 1941-1944 occupation. The Nazis burned down the shrine and the remains were later demolished by the Soviet regime that built a kindergarten, later turned into the primary school, on the property. - Tears and prayers - "This isn't just an archaeological discovery," said Faina Kukliansky, the leader of Lithuania's tiny Jewish community of around 3,000 people out of a total population of 2.9 million. "It helps to better understand Jewish life here but also the destructive ideologies of the Nazi and Soviet regimes," she added. Simonas Gurevicius, who leads a separate Jewish association in Vilnius, said he cried when he prayed at the newly discovered site. "Maybe I was the first one to pray here 77 years after the last prayers by Vilnius ghetto martyrs," he told AFP. Work at the synagogue site by Lithuanian, Israeli and American archaeologists is paid for mostly by Lithuania's fund for Jewish communal property seized by Nazi Germany and then kept by the Soviet regime. Vilnius authorities closed the school last year and plan to replace the building with a memorial that would display synagogue artefacts within the next five years. "The school will be demolished within two years and we'll create a respectful site, displaying rich Jewish heritage by 2023 when Vilnius celebrates its 700th birthday," Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Simasius told AFP. An international team of archaeologists from Lithuania, Israel and the United States has been uncovering the 17th century synagogue in Vilnius which was destroyed during WWII by the Nazis Vilnius authorities closed the school built during the Soviet era last year and plan to replace the building with a memorial that would display synagogue artefacts within the next five years.President Donald Trump claimed Thursday he has "opened" European markets for US agricultural products, touting himself as a champion of skeptical American farmers. Facing difficult congressional elections later this year, Trump traveled to the farm state of Iowa to promote an apparent trade truce with the European Union. Trump told supporters he won access for US soybean producers -- "We just opened up Europe for you farmers," he said, portraying the agreement as unprecedented. In November, Americans will go to the polls to decide who controls Congress and statehouses across the country. A Democratic rout would severely hobble Trump's presidency. So Trump is currently on a swing through the key states of Iowa, Missouri and Illinois, trying to assuage concerns among one-time supporters. He is particularly keen to shore up support among influential soybean farmers, who have been hit by Chinese sanctions -- which came in response to Trump's own tariffs on Chinese goods. "It's not nice what they?re doing," Trump said, appearing to take aim at Beijing. The Peterson Institute for International Economics estimates American farmers face 25 percent tariffs on more than $12 billion worth of soybean exports to China. While some experts said Europe was going to import more US soybeans anyway, Trump's deal will ease some concerns about the impact of Beijing's sanctions. Trump's bareknuckle trade actions have shocked allies, but have also roiled economies in areas of the country where his support had been solid. According to a recent Economist/YouGov poll, only one in three voters in the agriculture-heavy Midwest approve of Trump's handling of the economy. In a sign of Trump's concern about what that might mean at the ballot box come November, the White House recently floated a $12 billion package to aid farmers. Meanwhile, Trump has -- at least temporarily -- backtracked on his own threats of sanctions against European cars, steel and aluminum, which had also stoked unease at home. Earlier this week, the Minneapolis district of the Federal Reserve Bank -- which includes industrial and farm states -- reported that there was "growing concern" about "steep increases in aluminum and steel costs in reaction to tariff announcements." Commerce Secretary Wilber Ross claimed Trump's climb-down and Europe's promise to hold trade talks and to import more soybeans as a victory. "I think if we hadn't done the steel and aluminum tariffs, and if we hadn't had the threat of automotive tariffs, we never would have gotten to the point where we are now," he said. Washington insiders have been quick to caution that Trump's move to temper his trade policies is likely a temporary tack in the face of elections, rather than the abandonment of his hardline "America First" agenda. US President Donald Trump,seen here at a roundtable in Peosta, Iowa, has sought to reassure farmers worried about his trade policiesA desperate search is underway to locate nine-year-old twin girls who are among those missing following the deadliest fires to hit Greece in decades.

At least 81 people were killed by the bushfires that swept through a resort in Mati on Monday night, trapping people in cars and on the edge of cliffs as others were forced to jump into the sea to survive.

Yiannis Philippopoulos was searching for his missing daughters Sofia and Vasiliki Philippopoulos when he thought he saw them on a rescue boat during a live news cross on Greek television.

Twins Sofia (left) and Vasiliki (right) are among the missing in one of Greeces deadliest fires in decades.

He said he and their mother had searched the local area for the girls in hospitals, police stations and a morgue before the TV report, CNN Greece reported.

The father took the footage of what he thinks is a shot of his daughters to police but was unable to find any further information regarding their whereabouts.

The Greek coast guard said it had no record of the girls whereabouts or their condition.

The girls were spotted on a rescue boat but no trace of them has been recorded on the vessel. Source: Skai

Then in a devastating twist another man has reportedly told Greek media that the girls appearing in the news footage were his.

The boat captain reportedly told a local TV station he thought the girls in the video were on board with their parents.

Mr Philippopoulos parents, who were with the girls when the fires began, are also missing.

Dozens more remain missing in Greek fires

On top of 81 recorded deaths, almost 190 people were injured from the blaze around the Attica region including 23 children, according to the Civil Protection Agency.

Dozens more remain missing yet authorities are unsure if the reported missing people are deceased as they continue to identify the bodies.

The Greek anti-terror service is investigating if the fires were deliberately lit.The United Nations rights chief has expressed "deep alarm" at spiralling Cameroon violence, blaming the government and armed groups for a litany of abuses in anglophone regions during unrest that has displaced more than 180,000 people. Scores of civilians have been killed in the English-speaking northwest and southwest of Cameroon in escalating violence since last year between government forces and separatists, with communities subjected to attacks, kidnappings and arson. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein condemned violence by the separatists, but said the "heavy-handed security response that the government appears to have employed since October last year will only make matters worse for the women, children and men caught in the middle". In a statement released on Wednesday, he highlighted reports that armed groups had carried out "kidnappings, targeted killings of police and local authorities, extortion and have torched schools". Government forces have also been accused of "killings, the excessive use of force, burning down of houses, arbitrary detentions and torture". The statement referred to the "structural discrimination" that fuelled 2016 protests that last year turned to unrest. Years of resentment at perceived inequalities at the hands of the francophone majority have led to almost daily acts of violence and retribution in the region. According to UN data, the violence has caused more than 21,000 people to flee to neighbouring countries, while 160,000 have been internally displaced, with many reportedly hiding in forests. Earlier in July, a convoy transporting Cameroonian Defence Minister Joseph Beti Assomo was ambushed near the town of Kumba, triggering a firefight that left several attackers dead. Cameroon's government has failed to grant UN rights officials access to the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions, the statement said, and urged authorities to investigate reports of abuses. Al Hussein also raised fears for the rights situation in the far north of the country, where the Cameroonian army is deployed to counter frequent incursions by Boko Haram fighters from Nigeria. He said he was "utterly appalled" by a video apparently showing soldiers summarily executing a woman, a child and a baby accused of belonging to Boko Haram in the region. "The Government of Cameroon has an obligation to investigate this atrocious crime urgently. I am deeply worried that these killings captured on camera may not be isolated cases," he said. Earlier this month, Human Rights Watch said both separatists and the government had carried out grave abuses in anglophone areas. In a response to that report, Cameroon's government rejected allegations that its security forces had resorted to heavy-handed tactics, saying that the use of force "remains proportionate to the extent of the threat". Years of resentment at perceived inequalities at the hands of the francophone majority have led to almost daily acts of violence and retribution in the regionA federal judge praised the US government Friday for reuniting 1,800 migrant children it took from their families at the Mexican border -- but demanded that the focus shift to 400 who remain in custody because their parents have been deported. Judge Dana Sabraw spoke out a day after it was revealed that hundreds of families had still not been reunited after being split under President Donald Trump's controversial "zero tolerance" policy against undocumented migrants. Sabraw had ordered that all eligible migrant families be brought back together by 6:00 pm (2200 GMT) Thursday. Officials said in a court filing that while 1,820 children aged five and older were back with their parents, hundreds remained in custody. The government insists the deadline has been met, as the families of those remaining are ineligible for a variety of reasons, including unconfirmed family ties or parents with criminal records. Sabraw accepted that "the process has been completed" and said the government "deserves great credit in this regard" for making the deadline. But he insisted that finding the deported parents must be the "the second stage." Stage three, said the judge, would be to set up a protocol ensuring that "this never happens again." The controversial separations began in May, when migrants illegally entering the United States were detained en masse, and their children taken to detention centers and shelters. Justice Department attorney Scott Stewart told the court there were 1,000 families with "executable" deportation orders -- 400 of whom were in custody and would be the first removed. Many others had been released from custody upon reunification, he added, but will be subject to deportation as soon as Sabraw lifts a stay on removal proceedings. - Gang violence - The American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the lawsuit to reunite the families, says the government is manipulating the figures to give a false impression. "The Trump administration is trying to sweep them under the rug by unilaterally picking and choosing who is eligible for reunification," Lee Gelernt, of the ACLU, said in a statement. "We will continue to hold the government accountable and get these families back together." The organization wants reunited families to have a week to decide their next move, whether that be fighting for asylum, agreeing to go but leaving the children, or the whole family leaving together. Most are from Central America, fleeing gang violence and other turmoil. The judge, based in San Diego, addressed the eligibility controversy by remarking that the government could only reunite children under its control. He postponed ruling on the seven-day delay request. The separations triggered outrage in the US and abroad, especially after the release of audio of small children in shelters crying for their parents. - 'Chaos and cruelty' - The pressure led to the Republican president demanding an end to the separations in June, six weeks after the "zero tolerance" policy kicked into high gear. Sabraw then ordered the reunifications, with Thursday as the deadline. But the pace has been slow; children and parents are being housed in different parts of the country, while many adults have been deported. Lawyer Efren Olivares of the Texas Civil Rights Project, which represents some parents, said the treatment of migrant families had been marked by "chaos and cruelty." Last month, Sabraw ordered the government to return children under the age of five to their parents by July 10 and those between five and 17 by Thursday. The government missed the first deadline. It deemed 45 children ineligible for return because their parents were not fit or able to take them. As of Tuesday -- before the latest figures were announced -- the US Department of Health and Human Services had in its custody 11,500 children classified as unaccompanied aliens, mainly minors who entered without an adult. Protesters and their children demonstrate on Capitol Hill on July 26, 2018 to mark a court-ordered deadline for President Donald Trump's administration to reunify migrant families separated at the US-Mexico border A Guatemalan woman, identified only as Heydi, and her six-year-old daughter Mishel try to locate their sponsor on a map of the United States after being reunited on July 26, 2018 at a shelter in El Paso, Texas

When Danielle Gselnann started rapidly gaining weight and struggling to sleep, she was told by doctors it was a normal part of being pregnant.

But after giving birth to Elijah in 2014, the Gold Coast mother found her symptoms didnt vanish and even started experiencing hair loss, acne, further weight gain, multiple fractures and depression.

Ms Gselnann lived with the debilitating symptoms for five years before she was finally diagnosed with Cushings Disease.

Cushings Disease is a condition where the pituitary gland releases too much of the cortisol hormone and is often caused by a tumour. Ms Gselnanns tumour is on her pituitary gland in her brain.

Danielle (pictured with her husband and son) discovered she had Cushings Disease after giving birth. Photo: GoFundMe/ Brain surgery imminent

It affected everything, I couldnt have conversations with people without reminding myself of body cues, like smiling and laughing, she told the Sunshine Coast Daily.

I had to concentrate really hard all the timepeople would tell me it was baby brain but I knew it was something more.

In a YouTube video about Ms Gselnanns condition, her husband Dean said he was concerned after she couldnt bounce back following the birth.

As a personal trainer he tried to help her lose weight, but it was unsuccessful.

The mother started rapidly gaining weight, among other symptoms including hair loss. Photo: GoFundMe/ Brain surgery imminent

Last week, the young mother had surgery to remove the tumour, but she could continue to suffer the extreme symptoms for up to 12 months.

The couple are hoping to now raise awareness and bring attention to the rare disease.

A friend of the family has started a GoFundMe page to raise funds for Ms Gselnanns medical bills.The Cayuga County Fair and the Remember the Big 6 Picnic & 4-H Youth Country Fair will take place together for the first time since 2011 this weekend.

But the organizers of the two massive agricultural shows are less worried about merging them than they are about the rainy forecast for Friday and Saturday.

"I think it's going really well, us working together," said Robin Bartholomew, secretary and treasurer of the Cayuga County Fair's organizer, the Cayuga County Agricultural Society.

"If the rain would stop we'd all be happier," she added.

The Big 6 Picnic & 4-H Youth Country Fair spun off from the Cayuga County Fair in 2012. Set at Emerson Park, the new event took its name from an annual agricultural showcase held in the '50s and '60s by the Grange, the Dairyman's League, Eastern Milk Producers, 4-H, Cornell Cooperative Extension and the Farm Bureau. The 200-year-old county fair, meanwhile, continued at the Weedsport Speedway until last year, when it also made the Owasco Lake park its home. Then, in September, the agricultural society, the Big 6 Committee and 4-H agreed to combine again.

"I was a proponent of us getting together because so much of what we do is similar," Bartholomew said. "We were two similar events being held within the same month."

Bartholomew said the society has signed an agreement with Cornell Cooperative Extension, which oversees the 4-H fair, as well as the Big 6 Committee and the county to host the combined fair at Emerson Park for the next five years. The Cayuga County and 4-H Youth Fair with the Big 6, as it's now known, covers the field aside the Ward W. O'Hara Agricultural & Country Living Museum and Dr. Joseph F. Karpinski Sr. Educational Center. Bartholomew said the fair's own attendance benefited from moving to Owasco last year, so she expects combining with the Big 6 will benefit it further.

The heavily tented Emerson Park fairgrounds will feature a wide array of animal shows: beef cattle, dairy cows, sheep, goats and alpacas, in addition to a small animal area and a petting zoo. Bartholomew said more than 100 goats will be at the event, which is "up quite a bit from last year." And she expects the horse pull (1 p.m. Saturday) to be well-attended again, too.

"We bring the horse show, they bring the dairy," Bartholomew said of the agricultural society and the Big 6, respectively.

As the organizers work toward the same goal of educating the Cayuga County community about agriculture, they'll also present other forms of entertainment at the fair. There will be live music, games and children's activities like face painting and balloon art throughout the weekend, as well as a dog show (5 p.m. Friday), Irish step dancers (9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday), and more.

"We're very excited about it," Bartholomew said. "We're hoping this is a win-win situation."

Lake Life Editor David Wilcox can be reached at (315) 282-2245 or david.wilcox@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @drwilcox.

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Stay up-to-date on what's happening Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.SAN FRANCISCOIn a telephone press conference held earlier today, Erotic Service Providers Legal, Education and Research Project (ESPLERP) head Maxine Doogan, together with prominent First Amendment attorney H. Louis Sirkin, the organization's lead attorney in its federal lawsuit to remove California's anti-prostitution laws, spoke with journalists about the reasining behind their decision not to take their lawsuit, ESPLERP v. Gascon, to the U.S. Supreme Court after having been dealt a defeat at the Ninth Circuit level.

"We evaluated the situation with the Supreme Court, and I think our strategy changed a bit with the announcement of the resignation of Justice Kennedy that came at the end of June," Sirkin began. "All along, we had been looking at the California Constitution, because obviously you have Article 1 Section 1 that has a constitutional right of privacy which doesn't existthere's no specific wording that says a right of privacy in the U.S. Constitution or the Bill of Rights; there is in California, and there is also a due process clause in the state of California that talks about the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and whatever, and we believe that's a fundamental right. So when Justice Kennedy resigned, it was our decision after discussions, we felt, if we go to the Supreme Court... we were concerned about how the court would split, and we felt that the leader of individual liberty interest over the years has been Justice Kennedy, and he authored Lawrence v. Texas, and we felt that without him, it might be difficult, and we were concerned about whether there would be any danger in taking a case arguing substantive due process back before the court with the present makeup and what we believed the makeup may be, that we could have done damage to a lot of other areas with an adverse decision by the Supreme Court.

"Without Kennedy and being able to persuade him our way, we were afraid there may be some changes in some of the brilliant things that he had written in the past dealing with substantive due process, and so then we started to look for alternatives, and we started taking a look back again at the California Constitution and felt that this may be the place to go. We can start over; we've learned some lessons and in addition to the substantive due process issue, we can bring in this right of privacy that California provides, and we felt that would be a better battleground to turn to rather than staying and trying to get a petition for cert granted, number one; number two, if they didn't grant the petition for cert, people always make negative inferences from that and say that, 'Well, they didn't take that case because they agreed with the Ninth Circuit'."

As AVN previously noted, the Ninth Circuit failed to tackle the question of prostitution legalization head-on but instead relied on its own adverse decision in the 1988 case of IDK, Inc. v. Clark County, which was decided prior to Lawrence and implicated Nevada's regulations and licensing of escort services. But a lawsuit brought at the California state level, which would undoubtedly rely heavily on the Lawrence decision, could also rely on the liberties guaranteed by California's Constitution.

Sirkin made clear that ESPLERP is not seeking to create a situation for prostitutes similar to Nevada's, where prostitution is only legal in licensed brothels.

"We're looking at letting each individual make their own decision as to an occupational profession that they'd like to go into, so I think we're different from Nevada," Sirkin said. "That prostitution is accepted in Nevada may be helpful in trying to persuade the courts in California, but we think this is a fundamental liberty interest and it's a fundamental right."

Asked if one of his concerns was that another Trump appointee to the high court might put prior decisions like Lawrence, whose main issue involved consensual sodomy, in jeopardy, Sirkin replied, "Absolutely. We're afraid they'll take a look at same-sex marriage and we're afraid they'll take a look at pro-choice. They may even take a look at Griswold [v. Connecticut, which legalized birth control] again! They may go back to 'sex is only for procreation.' Remember, that was the position of the state of Texas and Ted Cruz's position in the Reliable Consultants [case]; their justification for prohibiting the sale of sex devices was that people shouldn't enjoy human sexuality; it's only for the purpose of procreating... We don't know what Washington's position on that might be."

For her part, Doogan expressed dismay that the plaintiffs in the recently filed challenge to the federal FOSTA lawamong them, the Woodhull Freedom Foundation and Human Rights Watchhad not supported ESPLERP's Ninth Circuit case, noting, "It looks like there might be a problem with standing; I don't know why they didn't bring in any of the legal brothel workers in Nevada who do have standing and whose livelihoods are being affected by their lack of First Amendment right to advertise... Prostitution is not criminalized at the federal level, and FOSTA/SESTA criminalized the communication, the advertising, so we tried to get online websites like the Eros Guide, Backpage, all of these sites to get into the fight that we're in, which is to overturn the anti-prostitution laws at the state level... I think the problem at the federal level is, they're looking to criminalize all the activities around the 'illegal' act of prostitution."

"Craigslist and Backpage would have had no difficulty if prostitution were a lawful occupation or was not a criminal activity," Sirkin added. "Their advertising would be constitutionally protected under the First Amendment and there wouldn't be the problems that developed, but they didn't seem to want to help us."

While Doogan expressed the opinion, based on her conversation with state lawmakers, that there was a sense in Sacramento that prostitution should be legal, she didn't expect to get any overt support from the politicians.

"I think legislators think in terms of regulation schemes similar to medical marijuana and its recent legalization, so part of the problem with our community is, you want community members at the table in talks about regulation schemes, that there shouldn't be any regulation about us without us, but the real barrier will be getting the workers to the table, and that's going to have to involve some antidiscrimination legislation," Doogan said. "You have to have a clear path for the workers to come forward to participate in crafting regulation schemes if in fact you want the workers following that regulation scheme, because under the current regulation scheme, which is a complete ban at the state level, the workers are defying that ban, obviously, so it makes sense that for people to be able to come forward and have a clear way to participate without worrying about their child custody, without worried about their housing. There has to be some antidiscrimination legislation first."

While there has not been any polling on a statewide level regarding public opinion on prostitution legalization, Domina Elle, an ESPLERP Board member, noted that, "Both myself and Maxine have done petitions, and I know petitions are not polls, but we've got something like 40,000 signatures between California and Colorado, where people are saying 'decriminalize it.'"

A poll of 900 voters was done in Alaska in 2016 regarding the arrest of prostitutes, and according to Doogan, "almost 60 percent overall, and in some areas 90 percent ... supported not arresting people for prostitution."

One thing the pro-legalization activists wanted to make clear was that they do not support non-consensual or underage sex work.

"In our introductory remarks to the Ninth Circuit, we said we're not here to support sex trafficking, we're not supporting child pornography and we're not supporting using children in prostitution or sex trafficking," Sirkin stated. "Those are unlawful activities. There are plenty of laws to take care of those. We're talking about people who voluntarily, consensually want to be in this occupation, and they in this country should have the right to make that choice and to participate and be a wage earner publicly, openly and be able to advertise just like everybody else. ... Craigslist and Backpage would have had no difficulty if prostitution were a lawful occupation or was not a criminal activity. The advertising would be constitutionally protected under the First Amendment and there wouldn't be the problems that developed."

While none of the paticipants in the press conference was willing to go on record as to when a state court challenge to California's prostitution laws would be filed, they did leave journalists with the unmistakeable impression that one would be ... and soon.

"We got pretty decent publicity from the litigation in the Ninth Circuit, the reports and the people that followed it, and the approach we were taking seemed to stir a lot of positive discussion," Sirkin noted. "There was an article a year or so ago in The New York Times, and subsequent to that, there have been a lot of writings that have said that the position that we've been taking seems to be sensible, and seems to be intellectually correct, so we want to follow through with that before people forget that."

Pictured, l-r: H. Louis Sirkin and Maxine Doogan exiting a Ninth Circuit hearing on ESPLERP v. GasconThe day after the United States attorney in Manhattan announced that the online escort advertising site Flawless Escorts had been seized and its founders charged with running a nationwide prostitution ring through the site, federal prosecutors in Arizona hit the founders of the now-shuttered Backpage classified advertising site with a new indictment charging them with plotting to corner the United States market in online sex work ads.

The Backpage indictment also alleges, in a new charge, that site co-founder Michael Lacey attempted to launder millions of dollars through a Hungarian bank account.

In April, Lacey and fellow co-founder James Larkin were hit with a massive, 93-count indictment charging the pair and five other Backpage employees with facilitating prostitution and money laundering.

According to a report in the Arizona Republic on Wednesday, the new indictment contains new evidence and elaborates on the original charges, detailing what the prosecutors call a two-pronged scheme to corner the national market in online advertising for illegal prostitution.

In one aspect of the scheme, the indictment charges, the Backpage founders created an employee incentive program dubbed The Dallas Plan that paid bonuses to Backpage ad reps who poached prostitution ads from other sites, even offering free advertising to pull clients away from their competitors in the sex work advertising business.

The other aspect of Lacey and Larkins plan to knowingly corner the prostitution market, prosecutors now charge, involved a quid-pro-quo deal with the site Erotic Review, on which customers posted consumer reviews of prostitutes and prostitution services. Under the deal, each site placed ads on the other, creating what Backpage executives called huge brand awareness. Backpage garnered more than 1 million additional page views as a result of the deal, according to internal documents cited in the indictment.

On the money-laundering charges, the indictment says that on January 3, 2017, Lacey transferred $16.5 million to a bank in Hungary. That massive money transfer came just five days after Lacey made five separate bank transfers of $3.3 million each, according to the new charges.

The indictment also details the sites relationship with a middleman identified only as Dollar Bill, who placed thousands of ads on Backpage, taking a commission for each prostitution ad he placed.

The new indictment came the day after an announcement by the U.S. Justice Department that it had shut down the site Flawless Escorts, calling the organization behind the site a nationwide business offering prostitution services, and arrested the sites Brandon Martin, 42, and Tameko Lindo, 38, of Parkland, Florida, charging them both with money laundering.

Photos by Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, Sacramento County Sheriff's OfficeFacebook, the global social media platform with nearly 2 billion usersmore than 25 percent of the global populationhas refused to crack down on offensive hate speech, including deniers of the Holocaust. And just this week, Facebook said that a video by extreme right-wing radio host Alex Jonesin which Jones threatens to shoot Russia investigation Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and accuses Mueller of raping kids in front of peopledid not violate its community standards.

But when it comes to 17th-century artistic masterpieces that depict nudity, specifically the works of Flemish genius Peter Paul Rubens, well, thats where Facebook draws the line.

Rubens, who lived from 1577 to 1640 and is considered perhaps the greatest Flemish painter of all time, was known for paintings now considered classics depicting cherubic nude women with bodies that have since been described as Rubenesque.

But even a religious masterwork by Rubens, The Descent From the Cross, depicting Jesus, clad only in a loin cloth, being lowered by his discipled from his crucifixionthe painting seen at the top of this pagefailed to make it through the Facebook censorship algorithm.

Facebooks policies reportedly ban sexually oriented content, and that includes classic paintings depicting the nude human form.

So when Flanders, a region in Belgium where Flemish is the primary language, took out a series of advertisements on Facebook promoting the areas history and culture, including images of several Rubens masterworks, Facebook put the kibosh on the ads.

The Flemish tourism board, which seemed just as amused as it was annoyed, as well as a group of Belgian art museums, wrote an open letter to Facebook in response to the ban.

Breasts, buttocks and Peter Paul Rubens cherubs are all considered indecent. Not by us, but by you, said the letter addressed to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Even though we secretly have to laugh about it, your cultural censorship is making life rather difficult for us.

The letter went on to note that, if Peter Paul Rubens had created a Facebook account in his lifetime, he would have had an extraordinary number of people following his fan page."

Indeed, in addition to his paintings withstanding the test of time to remain universally acclaimed masterpieces five centuries later, Rubens was also one of the most popular and commercially successful painters of his era, a greatly respected figure not only in the arts but also as an active participant in the world of politics and diplomacy, according to the Guggenheim Museum.

Facebook has reportedly agreed to discuss the Rubens ban with the Flemish tourism authorities, and has agreed to censor the nude paintings only in advertising, not in user-generated posts.

Image via Web Gallery of Art / Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)VALENCIA, Calif.United Consortiumparent company of the System JO and DONA personal care brandsreports the recent ANME Founders Show was its most successful expo ever.

We came to Burbank excited to show our retailers and distributors what weve been working on, said United Consortiums National Sales Director, Brian Woolard. We left the show having completely sold out of all our new products initial production runs.

United Consortium began its ANME prep with a bi-annual sales summit. This gathering of the entire global team features review and training, as well as preparation for their exhibit in Burbank. Then, on Saturday, July 14, the group held a customer appreciation event at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.. There, customers and staff had a blast driving and drifting exotic cars on a closed racetrack.

Making the week extra special, the company revealed plans to celebrate its 15th Anniversary in September with an entire month dedicated to a global display contest. The brands booth was decked out with their golden anniversary logo promoting 15 Years of JO. Also on display in the booth, a range of new JO and DONA products, including limited edition kits and flavored lubricants.

They also left ANME with the 2018 StorErotica Award for Best Sexual Enhancement Brand, which nicely compliments the trophy for 2018s Best Sexual Wellness Brand they received from ETO earlier in the month.

I dont think we could ask for much more, Woolard said. On behalf of the entire United Consortium family, I want to thank StorErotica, ETO, and all our partners and retailers. We couldnt do any of this without your support.

For details on the companys 15 Years of JO display contest, retailers should visit SystemJO.com/15years.

New kits and products from System JO and DONA unveiled at ANME will be available soon. For more information or to order, retailers should contact one of System JOs Preferred Partners:

In the U.S.: East Coast News [email protected]; Nalpac - [email protected]; National Video Supply - [email protected]; Williams Trading [email protected].

In Europe: Eropartner - [email protected]

In Australia: Metro Distribution - [email protected]Now that it is fully apparent, to all who have the ability to pay some modicum of attention, that Imposter President Biden has extreme cognitive issues, in addition to being an inveterate liar: Can OUR Republic continue with this Executive Office that has completely failed, so many times, on far too many issues here at this early date in this abysmal presidency?

No, Joseph R. Biden is completely unqualified, morally and cognitively, to represent real Americans, and lead this Republic of disparate peoples.

Yes, Joseph R. Biden has started whispering again, even softer now than before; so, I know he still cares, plus, OUR media will soon stop reporting on Afghanistan in favor of OUR Socialist ideals.Questions surround presence of compounds in film coating panels and whether they leach into soil or drinking water

"[Hudson] will continue to work with federal, state, and local officials to encourage the swift collection and evaluation of data, and to help ensure appropriate measures are taken."

As state and federal agencies investigate GenX in groundwater, Carolina Journal has learned GenX and its family of unregulated emerging contaminants are present in some of the solar panels increasingly dotting North Carolina's landscape.GenX chemicals are classified as perfluorinated alkylated substances, commonly called PFAS. Responding to a CJ query, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said,Chemical manufacturer Chemours makes GenX at its Fayetteville Works plant. The state and others have sued the company for releasing the chemical into the Cape Fear River, contaminating drinking supplies.Mark J. Strynar, an EPA scientist whose research helped to identify Chemours' GenX pollution, has said the EPA compiled 39 records showing PFAS related to solar panel components. Chemours uses GenX to make Teflon. Its marketing materials say Teflon film is used as the front coating in many solar panels.Politicians and activist groups are demanding answers - and action against the company.Sens. Michael Lee, R-New Hanover; Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick; and Wesley Meredith, R-Cumberland, filed Senate Bill 724 ordering Chemours to be shut down if it didn't stop releasing GenX. Reps. Ted Davis, R-New Hanover; Holly Grange, R-New Hanover; Frank Iler, R-Brunswick; and William Brisson, R-Bladen, filed an identical House Bill 972 CJ asked all the lawmakers if they had any concerns about the possible presence of GenX in solar panels. Only Lee responded.Lee said. He referred to a Fortune magazine article about GenX used in many consumer and commercial purposes.During debate on the House override of Gov. Roy Cooper's budget bill veto, Rep. Deb Butler, D-New Hanover, said budget writers didn't spend enough to address GenX concerns.Butler said from the House floor.Asked by CJ if she was concerned about potential GenX contamination from solar panels, Butler said:Republican U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, whose 8th Congressional District includes areas affected by GenX, is concerned about potential contamination from GenX in solar panels.said Hudson spokeswoman Tatum Gibson. Hudson directly questioned former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt about the issue, Gibson said.CJ asked DuPont which solar companies used Teflon film and how many solar panels in North Carolina might contain GenX.a DuPont statement said, directing queries to Chemours.Chemours has not responded to numerous requests for an interview or answered questions about GenX in solar panels. It did forward a copy of a June 11 status report submitted to the court as part of the state's lawsuit over discharges at the plant.Utility companies built and operate numerous solar energy plants, and purchase solar power from many more.said Bonita Billingsley Harris, a Dominion Energy spokeswoman.said Randy Wheeless, a Duke Energy spokesman, neither confirming nor denying solar panels at Duke facilities have components containing GenX.David Drooz, chief counsel of the N.C. Utilities Commission Public Staff, said it doesn't have information on the chemical composition of solar panels.Drooz said.Drooz said.Neighbors opposing the industrial-scale Wilkinson Solar Plant in Beaufort County have raised fears in state Utilities Commission proceedings that GenX could be in solar panels.said Ed Finley, Utilities Commission chairman.The Utilities Commission doesn't track locations or numbers of solar panels containing GenX .The state Department of Environmental Quality hasn't given CJ answers about any GenX research related to the compound's use in solar panels. Nor has DEQ responded to a May 24 public records request seeking departmental communications involving GenX in solar panels.Alan Ducatman, who teaches environmental health sciences at West Virginia University's School of Public Health, has studied the health effects of GenX. He has noted studies show GenX displays biological effects like the C8 compound it replaced in Teflon production.Chemours and DuPont in 2017 settled lawsuits from more than 3,500 claimants for $670.7 million Production of Teflon using C8 at Chemours' Parkersburg, West Virginia, factory was linked to kidney and testicular cancer, thyroid disease, hypertension, and other health problems.Ducatman told CJ chemists are best suited to answer whether GenX in solar panels poses a health risk.Ducatman said.Cobey Culton, a state Department of Health and Human Services spokesman, said GenX and related compounds are used in a wide variety of consumer products that could be a source of human exposure.Culton said.The EPA warns In late May the EPA announced it is collaborating with federal and state partners to develop toxicity values for GenX. None exist. North Carolina has set a safe limit of 140 parts per trillion in drinking water.Chemours and its predecessor DuPont have been under a consent order since 2009 to conduct health and environmental testing on GenX.the EPA told CJ.The EPA's GenX research to develop PFAS toxicity testing will apply across industries, the statement said.EPA scientists arethe statement said, including how the chemicals might migrate into soil and water.It would be easy to dismiss the recurring political battles between Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and the Republican-led General Assembly as pure partisan posturing.Easy. And wrong.A dissent from a case decided earlier this year in the N.C. Supreme Court offers a clue about why leaders of the executive and legislative branches have pushed their feud to the foreground of Tar Heel politics.Sure, Democrats and Republicans are gearing up for another election in November. Much of what they're saying and doing now is designed to win support for their respective "teams" this fall. (Why else would the governor launch a publicity tour touting a statewide school bond more than a week after lawmakers left Raleigh - shutting down any possibility of placing that bond on the November ballot?)But regardless of partisan calculations, much of what divides the governor and his legislative foes stems from a fundamental disagreement. Cooper and state House and Senate leaders disagree about their respective roles in running state government. These differences could divide legislative leaders from either major party from a governor of either party.That's why two former GOP governors, Jim Martin and Pat McCrory, have joined Cooper and former Democratic governors Jim Hunt, Mike Easley, and Beverly Perdue in vocal opposition to a state constitutional amendment slated for the November ballot. It would add a new subsection to the state's Declaration of Rights.the new constitutional provision would read.Governors characterize the proposed constitutional language as a "power grab." Legislative leaders counter that they simply want voters to clarify what the constitution already says. Only in recent years, lawmakers argue, have courts chipped away at clear constitutional language.In that respect, lawmakers echo the concerns N.C. Supreme Court Justice Paul Newby described in a January dissent. In the case of Cooper v. Berger, the court split, 4-3 . The court's four Democratic justices sided with the Democratic governor in a dispute over appointments to a new bipartisan board overseeing state elections and ethics issues. The three Republican justices sided with lawmakers.In one of two dissents issued in the case, Newby devoted 24 pages to explaining why the Supreme Court never should have stepped into the dispute between Cooper and lawmakers in the first place.Newby wrote.he continued.The result, in Newby's estimation? The Supreme CourtNewby suggested that Cooper v. Berger created two "significant" problems in North Carolina's body of law,First, the court's majority jettisoned the "political question doctrine. " Since 1962, courts had relied on a U.S. Supreme Court standard for distinguishing cases with legitimate legal issues from those dealing with fundamentally political disputes. Newby accuses colleagues of tossing out that 56-year-old doctrine.Second, Cooper v. BergerNewby wrote. In other words: Get ready for more court cases challenging boundary lines between the executive and legislative branches.Newby's dissent accuses the state Supreme Court's majority of placing its thumb on the scale to support the governor's position.The January case points to a clear pattern for future disputes between the executive and legislative branches.Newby concluded.It's unclear whether legislative leaders read Newby's Cooper v. Berger dissent. But their actions this year appear consistent with the goal of counteracting "perilous consequences" Newby predicted.Voters will decide whether the state's constitution should do more to help fend off constant legal battles among the branches of government. They'll have their say in November.[The] CFA has not used as a factor, and disavows any future intention to use as a factor, whether a fee payer is a member of a bona fide religion, body, or sect when it determines whether to grant an exemption based on religious accommodation. CFA denied plaintiffs' applications because it determined that their beliefs were not "sincerely held."

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court took a significant step toward restoring individual liberty for all government employees, including faculty in public universities and colleges, with its decision in Janus v. AFSCME . Faculty members will no longer be forced to pay any labor union any fee for any purpose as a condition of continued government employment.Janus overturned the Court's 1977 decision in Abood v. Board of Education against which I and thousands of fellow liberty-loving public higher education faculty have long struggled. Abood prohibited unions from charging faculty for their explicit political advocacy but permitted them to charge faculty for their activities as exclusive bargaining agents, even if the individual wanted no such representation. The Janus Court ruled that all such activities are inherently political so mandatory charges to pay for them violate the First Amendment.I feel vindicated by Janus; and, to the extent that the decision weakens the influence of faculty unions, it gives me hope that higher education may gradually turn back to academic inquiry and away from the herd pursuit of political correctness. Aristotle said, "Hope is a waking dream." I have such a dream.The California Faculty Association (CFA) acquired monopoly bargaining privileges over all faculty in the California State University system in 1982. It did not achieve the government-granted power to force all faculty members to pay for its alleged services until late in 1999. The statute that created that power included a religious exemption for faculty with "sincerely held religious beliefs" who subscribed to specific religions with a history of opposing unions, such as the Seventh Day Adventists.On the grounds of our own sincerely held religious beliefs, several of my colleagues and I petitioned the CFA for such an exemption. The CFA superciliously asserted that our beliefs were not sincere.I don't know where the CFA got the wisdom to discern the sincerity of religious belief, but I know where it got the power to do so-from the California Legislature. I am a Catholic, and I outlined why I believe that Catholic Social Teaching is averse to unionism based on force here With the help of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation , two colleagues and I filed suit in federal court in February 2000, claiming that some of the charges CFA wanted to assess against us, especially for its lobbying, were not permitted under Abood and that CFA discriminated against us on the basis of our religion.In November, we lost the case. On the question of religious exemption the judge wrote:The judge confused the moral wisdom of the CFA with its government-granted power. Or maybe he wasn't confused. Maybe he just liked unions.Later, with help from the Pacific Justice Institute , I filed a charge of religious discrimination against the CFA with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In 2001 I won that argument, and the CFA was forced to stop taking my money against my will. Instead, I had to give the same amount of money to a union-approved charity. Alas, neither the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation nor the Pacific Justice Institute was on CFA's approved list. At least the CFA didn't get my money.In 2005 I became an associate dean of the business school so I was no longer forced to pay anything to the CFA or its approved charity. I retired from the university in 2007.Throughout the struggle, the kindest thing my adversaries had to say about me was that I was anti-union. They missed the point. I am anti-coercion. If unions represented only their voluntary members and left non-members alone, I would have no complaint. Correctly understood , freedom of association is a fundamental human right. Faculty, as well as all workers, should be free to choose.Now, because of Janus, no one has to worry about what a union thinks about his or her religious beliefs. No one has to suffer the condescending smirks of union bosses in his or her appeals to reason. No one has to wonder if this or that union activity is political or representational. No one has to pay anything at all to any union for any purpose. There is even a website that helps faculty escape from the CFA. There is joy in my soul.While Janus removes the yoke of forced union fees from the necks of faculty who prefer to be union-free, it leaves in place an equally abhorrent affront to liberty-exclusive representation of faculty by unions. As I explained in this Acton Institute article , exclusive representation means that a majority union, even if it was voted in decades ago, is the sole representative of all the workers, whether they want it or not. It gives unions monopoly power. The restoration of academic values over political correctness is unlikely to be achieved unless exclusive representation is discarded.Nevertheless, Janus will significantly reduce the money that unions have to spend. For example, the National Education Association has already cut its annual budget by $5 million because it fears that as many as 20 percent of its members will now drop out. Loss of income from departing members and non-members will weaken the unions' clout both in politics and on the campus.Faculty unions patterned themselves on the old industrial model. They are all about "solidarity," suppression of the individual in favor of the collective, and the promulgation of "social justice." They really don't care about traditional academic values. For example, they claimed to support faculty tenure but clapped their collective hands when faculty, tenured or not, were fired for not paying union dues. Thanks to Janus that can no longer happen.Tariffs are the greatest! Either a country which has treated the United States unfairly on Trade negotiates a fair deal, or it gets hit with Tariffs. Its as simple as that - and everybodys talking! Remember, we are the piggy bank thats being robbed. All will be Great!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2018

On Tuesday, President Trump fired off a tweet regarding his tariff policy, which has launched retaliatory tariffs from Canada, Mexico, China, and the European Union. His take: it's awesome.There are several things wrong with this tweet. First off, tariffs are not, in fact, the greatest. They lead to increased costs on consumers at home and trade barriers against American goods abroad. They are a tax on certain industries at the expense of other industries, and a tax on all consumers. The last politicians who actually thought this helped usher in the Great Depression. Harley Davidson has already cut its profit margin forecast so has Whirlpool - and both companies blame Trump's tariffs. Trump's tariffs actually disproportionately affect precisely the areas he needs to win in 2020 to win re-election.Second, Trump defines being treated "unfairly" on trade not as another country placing tariffs on American goods, but as a trade deficit. This is idiotic. Trade deficits do not matter when it comes to fairness. You have a trade deficit with your grocery store and dry cleaner. They're not cheating you. You traded with them - they came away with your money, you came away with a good or service. Boycotting those companies and shopping at more expensive companies takes cash out of your pocket. Consensual trades are by definition fair.Third, everybody is talking. About the bird.Finally, we are not a "piggy bank" being robbed. This, again, relies on the completely idiotic notion that when we consent to trades, we wuz robbed so long as the other guy walks away with money. If Trump wants to talk about a piggy bank being robbed, perhaps he ought to look at our entitlement programs, which he wants to do nothing about.Larry Kudlow, call your office.Focus: Campus local area networks (LAN)

Whether a university buzzing with Gen Z students carrying multiple devices, who have never known a life offline or a large enterprise headquarters spanning multiple buildings with a Millennial workforce that expects the latest and greatest standards of connectivity, the demands now being placed on campus local area networks (LANs) are massive.

And just as datacentres did in the past, campus LANs are coming to be defined more and more by virtualisation and software-based controls. Alongside this trend, LAN hardware continues to improve in its capabilities, as network managers try to keep up with the intense demand

In this e-guide we will explore some of the key trends driving the market for campus LANs and ask how to implement one, find out how one user went about building a network from the ground up on a brand-new site, and look in-depth at some of the active suppliers in the market.

First, we look at how to go about designing and implementing a modern campus LAN, taking into account advances in software-defined and automation.

Then, we will take you behind the scenes at the UKs University of Northampton to discover how the IT team was able to take advantage of a move to a brand new campus to deploy the latest and greatest networking technology in support of a new model of learning for a new generation of students.

Delving deep into the infrastructure itself, tech evangelist Paul Ryan reveals how copper-based LANs are increasingly unfit for purpose in a digital business, and argues in favour of upgrading to fibre-based passive optical LANs.

Finally, enterprise IT and network design specialist Andrew Froelich looks at some of the key suppliers in the campus LAN space, running the rule over technology from HPE, Huawei and Juniper Networks.More volumes from the Wilson Ornithological Society are now on BHL! Spanning back to 1893, the publications The Wilson Bulletin and The Wilson Journal of Ornithology are a great example of the kind of legacy literature that distinguishes BHL.

The Wilson Ornithological Society is the second largest ornithological society in North America. The organization of professional scientists and dedicated amateurs is named for Alexander Wilson, known as the Father of American Ornithology.

The Wilson Journal of Ornithology is a quarterly peer-reviewed journal that replaces its predecessor, The Wilson Bulletin. BHL had previously added some earlier public domain volumes of The Wilson Bulletin (contributed in BHL by the American Museum of Natural History and Smithsonian Libraries), but was able to expand the collection thanks to the Expanding Access to Biodiversity Literature (EABL) project, funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The Wilson Ornithological Society granted permission to share these titles on BHL with a 5-year embargo on the most recently published volumes, so that now BHL has The Bulletin from 1894-2005 and The Journal from 2006-2010.

The story of the Wilson Ornithological Society begins in 1886 with the Young Ornithologists Association founded by L. O. Pindar and J. B. Richards. This group changed names several times, morphing into the Wilson Ornithological Chapter of the Agassiz Association in 1888, to the Wilson Ornithological Club, and eventually the Wilson Ornithological Society (WOS) in 1955. The first five volumes published by the evolving group went by several different titles, all of which are available on BHL (added prior to EABL). They are:

The Wilson Ornithological Society is headquartered at the University of Michigan, where it established the Josselyn Van Tyne Memorial Library in association with the Universitys Bird Division Library.

The Wilson Bulletin and the The Wilson Journal of Ornithology were digitized for BHL as a group effort, with digitized volumes contributed by the Ernst Mayr Library of Harvards Museum of Comparative Zoology, the American Museum of Natural History, and The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University.

For a look at digitization behind the scenes, heres the view from my desk as I work in the Ernst Mayr Library at Harvards Museum of Comparative Zoology:

These bound volumes (51-122) were pulled from the shelf at the Mayr Library and checked page by page to make sure each was in good condition for scanning: no pages missing or out of order, no extensive damage, and margins wide enough for scanning to capture all of the text. (This is what I do when Im not writing blog posts!) Some of the volumes were scanned here at the Mayr Library using our Table Top Scribe (see next image), and the rest were sent to Internet Archive scanning facilities. To fill in the gaps where our volumes werent suitable for scanning, we reached out to the American Museum of Natural History (v. 51, 54, 76, 86-87, 96) and to The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University (v. 123-124; currently being digitized).

Gratitude to Wilson Ornithological Society for granting permission to share these volumes on BHL, and to the Ernst Mayr Library of Harvards Museum of Comparative Zoology, the American Museum of Natural History and The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University for digitization!

References

Wilson Ornithological SocietyVermont Faculty Purge Breaks Out in Social Media Debate on Legal Education

Vermont Law School has enough problems, but now it has become a poster child in a caustic debate about the value of a legal education.

On one side, you have attorney/lecturer Mark A. Cohen. He wrote a piece for Forbes, knocking the law school for an "unsustainable" business model.

In the other corner, you have professor David Herzig, who took a swing at Cohen's analysis on Twitter. At law schools everywhere, somebody has to be asking: "Can we all just get along?"

Faculty Purge

The controversy started with a "faculty purge," when Vermont stripped 14 professors of their tenure. School president Thomas McHenry said it was one of a "whole range of options" as the school trimmed its budget.

Cohen said it was "a clarion call to the legal Academy that its economic model is unsustainable for all but a handful of elite institutions." In other words, a law degree isn't worth it anymore.

Herzig called him out, citing studies on the value of a legal education. Cohen tweet-stormed back, calling himself a "bet-the-company trial lawyer" and Herzig's literature "3rd rate fiction."

"That 'evidence' has been panned by every credible source I know," Cohen said. "The methodology and premises upon which the conclusions were drawn are laughable and fly in the face of real studies."

"Laughable" Evidence

Paul Caron, dean of Pepperdine University School of Law, was not amused by Cohen's argument. He said the studies were written by scholars with the benefit of peer review.

"Mr. Cohen also has yet to specify which 'real studies' he thinks use better data and more widely accepted methods, and why," Caron wrote for TaxProf Blog. "He has yet to explain how his litigation experience qualifies him as a labor economist, statistician, and literary critic."

Caron said the critic should acknowledge his mistakes, print a correction, and "move on." Meanwhile, somebody at Vermont Law School must be saying "please, move on."

Related Resources:Oksana Shachko (right in photo) the 31 year old Ukrainian co-founder of a feminist Putin protest movement was found dead her Paris apartment. She and other members of her group, Femen, often protested against Putin by appearing nude in public. A suicide note was found next to her body, but foul play can't yet be ruled out, given the history of incidents in which she's been harassed and threatened by pro-Putin groups.

From The Guardian:

In 2011, Femen said Shachko was among three members "kidnapped" by security agents and forced to strip naked in a forest after staging a topless protest mocking the Belarussian president, Alexander Lukashenko. The agents poured oil over the three women, threatened to set them on fire, and cut off their hair, Femen said. Shachko was abducted again by unknown assailants during a visit by Putin to Ukraine, according to the group. A lawyer for said Shachko was beaten so badly that she was briefly hospitalised.

UPDATE: The New York Times reports that police say Shachko hanged herself, "pending the results of an autopsy."

Image: Joseph.paris [FAL], from Wikimedia CommonsFrom Fresno to all over the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond, three women have been sauntering into Lululemon stores, stuffing large tote bags with as much clothing as they can, and taking off with up to $17,000 worth of merch. And they do this right in front of the store's employees and customers, including kids.

It's not clear whether the thieves in Fresno are the same people who are stealing in Berkeley (at least 3 times at the same store), Stanford, Walnut Creek, San Mateo, and other locations, but in all cases they've made it out of the store without a hitch. Why so easy? One reason is because at Lululemon, "Employees are not allowed to confront or chase thieves due to a company policy," according to CNN.

So far no one has been arrested.

Via CNN and San Francisco ChronicleAfter three months and 33 deaths, the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been declared by the World Health Organization to have come to an end. The loss of 33 lives to the disease is absolutely tragic, but comes close to a miracle when you stop to consider the fact that the last time Ebola broke in West Africa, more than 11,000 people died. The high number of deaths in that instance was due to the fact that The WHO (not the one with Roger Daltrey,) was slow to react to the epidemic last time around, moving slowly to deploy medical resources to the regions that needed it the most. Additionally, no vaccine designed to fight the Ebola virus was put into play until near the end of the outbreak.

That wasn't the case this time.

After being tongue lashed for dragging their ass during the last outbreak, The WHO sent specialists to Congo as soon as a handful of cases of Ebola were confirmed, back in May.

From the New York Times:

Even though Congo is familiar with Ebola  this was the country's ninth outbreak since the disease first appeared in 1976  more than 350 support personnel were deployed there. They included vaccinators from Guinea, where a novel Ebola vaccine was first field-tested. The Congo outbreak marked the first in which an Ebola vaccine was readily available. In addition to giving injections to all front-line health care workers, experts used "ring vaccination" to protect all contacts of each person with the disease. More than 3,300 people were vaccinated.

A number of additional experimental treatments were approved for use in the field during the course of the outbreak. But the use of vaccines worked so well that they were unneeded. It's a fabulous ending to a scenario, given the fact that the outbreak occurred in a transit hub, that could have ended a whole lot worse.

Image: Flickr/NIAIDA whistleblower inside the Columbus, Ohio Police Department forwarded a series of smoking-gun emails between high-ranking Columbus police detectives and vice officers that reveal Stormy Daniels arrest for allowing undercover vice squad members to touch her in a strip club was premeditated.

From The Cut:

Emails from Detective Shana Keckley (show here), one of the lead arresting officers on July 12, indicate that law enforcement had shown up specifically to target Daniels  which runs contrary to the police department's previous claim that Daniels had simply gotten caught up into an investigation into potential human trafficking and prostitution at the strip club. Days before the "sting" operation, the emails show Detective Keckley sent herself multiple news stories, videos, and photographs of Daniels. Even more damningly, in an email she sent after Daniels was charged, Keckley wrote, "I got the elements . we arrested Stormy this morning, she is in jail." (Per the Advocate, elements are "the burden police officers must meet in order to make an arrest.") In another email, she told officers to thank her "in person" for her achievement. "It is clear that Keckley and her fellow officers were there because of Stormy and only because of Stormy," the whistle-blower told the Advocate. "The emails definitely show that the police lied about it being a prostitution and human trafficking mission."

From The Fayette Advocate:

Daniels' personal attorney Michael Avenatti told the Advocate on Wednesday that these emails are not going away. "These emails are very disturbing," Avenatti said by phone while in Los Angeles. "We will get to the bottom of this one way or the other." The Advocate reached out to Columbus Police media liaison Denise Alex-Bouzounis inquiring about the emails, but calls were not returned. The CPD Twitter account sent a regurgitated statement from several weeks ago where the chief of police apologized for the arrest and said she would investigate its motivations. The whistleblower says that Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther's office has the emails in their possession and that Ginther's team is "furious." "Mayor Ginther's office is pissed that people are critical of the police over this."

The charges against Daniels were dropped shortly after she was arrested.

From TMZ:

Columbus PD chief Kim Jacobs said cops screwed up the arrest because the law that prohibits performers touching patrons only applies to dancers who perform regularly at the club. Stormy was a guest performer. The chief also said it launched an internal investigation to determine if the officers' motives were improper. Stormy's attorney, Michael Avenatti, also weighed in on the discovery of the emails.Thwarting Darwinism, or, more likely, a pair of earbuds, a cop from the Perth Amboy Police Department in New Jersey, hauled ass to save a man from being smooshed by a trainand it was all caught on the officer's body camera. Why anyone, unless they were in some emotional distress, would decide that walking down a set of train tracks oblivious to an oncoming locomotive was a good idea is beyond me. Fortunate for the fella in the video, the police officer that came to his rescue was in good enough physical shape that he was able to sprint with the 20 pounds of gear that most cops wear, without slowing him down.The U.S. indictment for accused Russian secret foreign agent Maria Butina refers to one of her American contacts as "U.S. Person 2." Like others having serious legal troubles this week, they shared a love for the NRA.

We now know "U.S. Person 2" is George O'Neill Jr., an heir to the Rockefeller fortune and a conservative opinion writer, from a report today in the WSJ. O'Neill is believed to have helped build a secret line of communication between the U.S. right wing behind Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, and the Russian government under President Vladimir Putin.

The U.S. charges against Butina discuss "friendship dinners" she organized to bring together Russians with politically active Americans who'd be receptive to their money and ideology.

One of those Americans, government prosecutors now say, hosted such a dinner in February 2017 before that year's National Prayer Breakfast.

From Aruna Viswanatha and Julie Bykowicz at the Wall Street Journal:

Mr. O'Neill, an heir to the Rockefeller fortune and an outspoken advocate of closer ties with Russia, hosted that event, as he confirmed in a magazine column. The charging documents say Ms. Butina told him that a representative of Russian President Vladimir Putin's administration had approved "building this communications channel." Mr. O'Neill, who hasn't been accused of wrongdoing, didn't respond to emails and phone messages. In the charging papers, he isn't described by name but is called "U.S. Person 2." "All that we needed is < > from Putin's side. The rest is easier," Ms. Butina told Mr. O'Neill, according to the court documents, in an apparent effort to relay approval from the Russian government of a U.S-Russian back channel through events like the dinner. Mr. O'Neill's involvement helps broaden the picture of Ms. Butina's efforts in the U.S. She also collaborated with Paul Erickson, a South Dakota-based conservative with a history of debt and fraud cases who is referenced as "U.S. Person 1" in the charges filed against Ms. Butina, The Wall Street Journal reported previously. Mr. O'Neill and Mr. Erickson were on some of the same emails with Ms. Butina, court papers show. Mr. Erickson didn't respond to emails and phone messages. In a column in advance of President Donald Trump's meeting with Mr. Putin earlier this month, Mr. O'Neill argued that Russia could be a "constructive partner" in working with the U.S. to "stop its wasteful wars." He founded a group to lobby for a "realistic and restrained foreign policy," and organized a dinner last year for several Russian officials and Republican lawmakers and others before the Prayer Breakfast. That dinner, chronicled by Time magazine last year, was a factor in the case against Ms. Butina, who is in jail awaiting trial on charges of being an unregistered foreign agent after her arrest on July 15. In a column last year for the American Conservative, where he is a board member, Mr. O'Neill laid out his involvement in that dinner. "Some months back I organized a dinner on Capitol Hill that brought together some former and current Russian officials with a number of prominent U.S. Republicans and conservatives, including two congressmen, a conservative magazine publisher, some journalists, and others," Mr. O'Neill wrote in his April 24, 2017, column.

The American Conservative says they "did not fund or sponsor the dinner." Butina has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which her lawyer says are "overblown."

From Bloomberg's story on Butina's connection to 'scion of the Rockefeller clan' George D. O'Neill Jr.:

O'Neill, a 68-year-old sculptor and a rainmaker for conservatives since Pat Buchanan's 1992 presidential run, hosted a private dinner in Washington, D.C., for a delegation of Russian dignitaries in town for a National Prayer Breakfast in early February 2017, he has said publicly and to Bloomberg last year. There, just days after President Donald Trump's inauguration, the Russians met two Republican lawmakers and other conservative luminaries, he has said. The dinner is also referenced in a trip itinerary given to Russian delegates traveling to Washington for the breakfast, which was reviewed by Bloomberg. Delegates also received a Russian-language rundown of the Americans they could expect to meet at the dinner. Among them were O'Neill and his wife, a Russian-speaking congressional aide and a conservative operative they were told was an adviser to the new Trump administration, according to a document reviewed by Bloomberg.

Oh, and guess who else came to dinner? Yep, Dana Rohrabacher.

Dana Rohrabacher is colloquially known here in California as "the Congressman From Moscow."

At one dinner, ABC News has learned, in February 2017 at the tony French eaterie, Bistro Bis, one guest who dined with the then-28 year old Russian was a California Republican congressman on the House Foreign Relations committee, Dana Rohrabacher. Rohrabacher's office confirmed he attended.

Some of the Russians at that dinner were part of an active effort to undermine the 2016 presidential elections, U.S. national security prosecutors are effectively saying in the indictment. Whether he knew it or not, O'Neill may have helped Butina achieve her goal of creating a "backchannel" between the Kremlin and GOP, pro-Trump leadership.

IN RELATED NEWS:

On July 17, Maria Butina was indicted on charges of acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. Her involvement in a South Dakota fraud case involving Paul Erickson first came to light last week, during a detention hearing in Butina's case.

Butina has "offered to cooperate in a fraud investigation being mounted by federal prosecutors in South Dakota that appears to target Paul Erickson, the conservative activist with whom she was romantically linked, according to a letter released by her lawyer and court testimony in her case."

She trolled you so hard, America. How hard? She literally walked around DC with this Beautiful Vladimir Putin With A Horse On A Russian Mountaintop Phone Case.

From the Washington Post:

Butina's cellphone case was emblazoned with a famous photograph of Russian President Vladimir Putin riding shirtless on a horse. She would buy friends rounds of vodka at Russia House, the Dupont Circle restaurant popular with the Russian diplomatic set, sometimes challenging male friends to down horseradish-infused shots. She bragged to classmates that she had worked for the Russian government.

Dude.

More recent updates on the Butina story, below.

Following today's Washington Post report (below), Outdoor Channel now confirms to us that they did pay accused Russian agent Maria Butina on a $5000/month contract.https://t.co/CpYgPlnq0Q  Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) July 25, 2018

Maria Butina: ties emerge between NRA, alleged spy and Russian billionaire https://t.co/s7VvDMOJDf  Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) July 26, 2018Deadwood fans have been teased by rumors and malarkey about a final season or a movie that would tie up the loose ends of the series, for years.

Back in 2015, the whispers about a Deadwood movie going into production grew from whispers to a quiet mumble. Then, in 2017, Deadwood creator David Milch said that he'd completed a script that'd appeal to the show's followers and new viewers alike. Fast forward one more year to 2018: a whole twelve years after the last episode of season three went to air. According to The Hollywood Reporter, HBO has finally announced that production on a Deadwood movie will start this October. Tell your God to prepare for blood!

If you're not familiar with the show, love blood, excellent writing, complex characters and dark humor, you need to get on it. During its three-season run, Deadwood chalked up eight Emmy Awards for its portrayal of the life and drama surrounding the citizens of Deadwood, South Dakota in the 1870s. While the show's roots are rooted in the Old West, at a time when outlaws and gunfighters still held sway, the story lines covered over the series' 36 episodes are more Shakespearean in scope than Spaghetti Western.

If Deadwood sounds like your thing, you're in luck: it's currently streaming on HBO Go, Amazon Prime Video, and can be bought outright on iTunes, Google Play or as a DVD or Blu-ray box set from Amazon for under $50.



Image via HBOM.N. Projects got a lot of questions about how he etches his initials onto his metalworking projects, so he did a quick HOWTO for those who want to try it themselves.

With the exception of the vinyl stencils, many people probably have this stuff lying around the house.

He etches his initials in after reshaping this rusty leaf spring into a beautiful knife:

 How to easily Etch the Logo in Steel using salt and batteries. A short Tutorial (YouTube / M.N. Projects)Our world is dominated by mobile devices, some of which can even outperform laptops. When it comes to tablets, in particular, no one can seem to get their eyes off Apple's iPad. Whether the Mini or the Pro, iPads have long been some of the bestselling tablets to date. But as with all Apple products, READ THE REST

HOPE  Hackers on Planet Earth  is 2600 Magazine's venerable, much-loved hacker conference in NYC, a bastion of progressive politics whose 2018 installment was slated to be the most progressive yet, with discussions scheduled on countering alt-right trolling, consent, sexual harrassment, and the rights of sex-workers.



But the con was marred by a group of neo-Nazi provocateurs who dice-lawyered the con's own code of conduct to get bona fide attendees admitted while they were (at least temporarily) allowed to stay and continue to disrupt talks and harass speakers and attendees.

Mozillan Jairus Khan is an anti-racist activist who has been attending 2600 events for more than two decades (disclosure: I'm also a sometime HOPE attendee and former keynoter); he was at this year's con and witnessed the Nazi infiltration firsthand. His Twitter postmortem is an excellent analysis of the Nazi provocateur playbook and is full of suggestions for the kinds of countermeasures that other organizers can deploy when this happens again. Khan doesn't pretend that the HOPE organizers didn't make grave mistakes, but he's got the best analysis I've seen of how such mistakes came to be made, and what we can do in the future to prevent them.

I once spoke at an OECD event that was trolled by Russian state officials who objected to the presenceof an Azeri dissident onstage with me. They stood up and shouted in Russian, saying things so outrageous that the translators hesitated to translate them. It got so bad that I wanted to punch them, and I ended up walking off the stage with the other speakers instead before I could be goaded into doing something that would end up with me being kicked out of the event. The organizers of that event were no better prepared than the HOPE organizers were, and made plenty of similar missteps, because the trolls had figured out exactly how to provoke others into rule violations while staying on the right side of the rules themselves (as Khan points out, this is also the Westboro Baptist playbook).

Khan's bigger point is that despite its blunders, HOPE is easily the most progressive, politically aware of all the hacker cons, and that is exactly why it was targeted by Nazis. Letting those Nazis provoke a boycott of future HOPEs is handing a victory to the Nazis.

The conference has a CoC that is pretty good on paper, but it's also very new and largely untested. It also explicitly protects political beliefs. Now that's a feature, not a bug, but it's also a vulnerability, because using your rules and norms against you is an alt-right go-to. It makes it so fucking easy for the MAGA trolls to play "not touching you". And they telegraphed it! A dude literally stood up in a 'Trolling the Trolls' session dedicated to Heather Heyer and talked about marching in CVille. Trolling the Trolling the Trolls session. Of course. The #hopeconf process fell down here. Once this happened, staff present should have flagged it to CoC and had the dude booted or shadowed by security. But they didn't, and things devolved. From this point onwards, HOPE should be considered under attack by agent provocateurs. The trolls continued to escalate their agitation (including blocking the aisles and saying anyone who complained was "fat shaming" them) until, predictably, someone responded physically. This is straight out of the Westboro Baptist Church playbook. Now they can call the cops. By provoking an attendee into clearly breaking the CoC, MAGAs exploit the event security. Security does what they're trained to do, which is kick out people who start physical altercations, and protect the people on the receiving end of them. "Even if they're wearing a swastika." Word spreads that there are fascists present, a person who confronted them got kicked out, and the fascists are still there. HOPE is slow to respond, people are rightly upset, and the perception is that HOPE is a safe space for Nazis. Activists on Twitter vow to never attend.

I was a speaker and workshop organizer at #hopeconf this year. My first 2600 meeting was over 20 years ago. I'm also an event organizer with hundreds of events/concerts/festivals under my belt. I'm also an anti-racist who has been shitkicked by nazis. Here's my (too long) take.

[@JairusKhan/Twitter]

(via Four Short Links)Two New Jersey radio hosts were suspended by their station today after directing racist remarks at the state's attorney general, Gurbir Grewa.

Dennis Malloy and Judi Franco of WKXW-FM called Grewa "turban man" for the length of a segment about the nation's first Sikh to hold the position, because Malloy "couldn't remember" his name.

"I'm just going to say the guy with the turban," Malloy said. "Listen, and if that offends you then don't wear the turban and maybe I'll remember your name."

The station, NJ 101.5-FM, announced the decision to reprimand hosts Dennis Malloy and Judi Franco on its website around midnight. By then the hosts were at the center of a firestorm on social media and the governor had called for the station to take action against the veteran radio personalities. "We are aware of the offensive comments made by Dennis and Judi during today's broadcast," the station said. "We have taken immediate action and have taken them off the air until further notice. We are investigating the matter and will have further comment shortly."

They will be "off the air until further notice," adds USA Today.

"Say it with us: Ger-beer Gray-wall," wrote the ACLU. " Racism isn't cute. It's just racist."All televisions on Air Farce One may only be tuned to FOX News! ONLY FOX NEWS!!!!

Via The Week:

After an incident during a recent trip, all televisions inside Air Force One must now be tuned to Fox News when President Trump comes aboard, The New York Times reports. The Times viewed an email chain between officials from the White House Military Office and the White House Communications Agency sent last Thursday, which described Trump discovering that first lady Melania Trump's television was set to CNN. He become enraged, causing "a bit of a stir," one of the emails states, because he considers CNN "fake news." The officials ultimately decided that two more televisions with streaming capabilities would be ordered, allowing the Trumps to watch TV in separate hotel rooms while traveling, and that moving forward, the TVs will all be tuned to Fox News.As Kevin Poulsen tweeted, "Tired: Russia's 2016 interference in the presidential election. Wired: Russia's 2018 interference in the midterms."

"Fancy Bear" hackers from Russia's GRU intelligence agency that attacked the 2016 U.S. presidential elections are now targeting America's 2018 midterms, Daily Beast reports.

Specifically, Russia's GRU hackers have been cyber-attacking Sen. Claire McCaskill.

The attacks began as she began her 2018 re-election campaign "in earnest," a Daily Beast forensic analysis showed, which makes the Missouri Democrat America's first identified target in the Kremlin's 2018 election interference campaign.

McCaskill replied to a reporter, "I'm not going to speak of it right now."

Excerpt:

McCaskill, who has been highly critical of Russia over the years, is widely considered to be among the most vulnerable Senate Democrats facing re-election this year as Republicans hope to hold their slim majority in the Senate. In 2016, President Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton by almost 20 points in the senator's home state of Missouri. There's no evidence to suggest that this particular attack was successful. Asked about the hack attempt by Russia's GRU intelligence agency, McCaskill told The Daily Beast on Thursday that she wasn't yet prepared to discuss it. "I'm not going to speak of it right now," she said. "I think we'll have something on it next week. I'm not going to speak about it right now. I can't confirm or do anything about it right now." In August 2017, around the time of the hack attempt, Trump traveled to Missouri and chided McCaskill, telling the crowd to "vote her out of office." Just this last week, however, Trump said, on Twitter, that he feared Russians would intervene in the 2018 midterm elections on behalf of Democrats.

How'd Russia do it?

The hackers sent forged notification emails to Senate targets claiming the target's Microsoft Exchange password had expired, and instructing them to change it.

PHOTO: Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) [REUTERS]

In late 2017, we learned that patent trolls (especially pharma patent gougers) were paying US Native Indian tribes to act as fronts for them in order to block review and cancellation of bogus patents  the tribes have a treaty right to "sovereign immunity," which protects them from some forms of litigation.



The moved sparked Congressional investigations and dire warnings from pharma execs that the trick was so dirty it would hasten the day that the public decided enough was enough and demanded universal healthcare.

Now, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has unanimously held that sovereign immunity does not protect patent trolls, because reviewing a patent isn't a lawsuit, it's an "agency enforcement action," and that's not covered by sovereign immunity arrangements.



In short, an IPR isn't a lawsuit. With no lawsuit, there can be no sovereign immunity. As the three-judge panel concluded: "The Director's important role as a gatekeeper and the Board's authority to proceed in the absence of the parties convinces us that the USPTO is acting as the United States in its role as a superior sovereign to reconsider a prior administrative grant and protect the public interest in keeping patent monopolies 'within their legitimate scope.'" Allergan can now choose to appeal further to the Supreme Court of the United States, which only agrees to hear a tiny percentage of cases.



Court: Native American tribe can't be a "sovereign" shield during patent review [Cyrus Farivar/Ars Technica]Analysts predicted that Facebook would average 1.48B daily users, but their latest quarterly figures showed only 1.47B dailies; their projected earnings were $1.33B, but they only turned in $1.32B, and they were expected to earn $5.97/user but only earned $5.95/user  and so their shares dropped 24% (they're slightly up from that, but still down 20%).

The one metric cited as a potentially sound reason for this incredible plunge is the growth number: Facebook didn't post any growth in the USA and Canada. That's because virtually every living person in the US and Canada who would conceivably want a Facebook account already has one, and the number of new people discovering Facebook and signing up is effectively zero, while the number of people who are on Facebook but thinking about leaving is seriously nonzero.





There's a kind of Metcalfe's Law story here, too. Metcalfe's Law says that the value of a network is the number of possible connections you can make with it, and so every time you add a member to the network, its value doubles (one fax machine is useless, two faxes allow two people to connect, but three allows for four different connections, and four faxes allows for eight, and so on). The corollary of Metcalfe's Law is that every time you subtract a member from a network, its value drops in half, along with the number of possible connections. When you #DeleteFacebook, you make it easier for the people in your friend group to do so as well, because you are no longer part of the reason to continue using the service.

Facebook is in deservedly bad odor with the public, thought of as a shitty mountain of flaming, oily rags. Its shareholders have stayed in because Facebook kept posting growth and so they figured that maybe their shares were safe. But every shareholder has been poised to bolt the day that the other shoe dropped and Facebook started to fail. Somewhere in their animal instincts, the shareholders know that Facebook's days are numbered. The stalled growth spooked them. Maybe they'll come back, but I think the lesson from today is that Facebook's investors are now permanently skittish and poised for a panicked, mass sell-off.





I'm sure this fact has not escaped the notice of a short or two.



Of course, Facebook remains one of the most profitable companies in the world, posting more than $10 billion in profit for the first half of this year alone. And just because it plans to spend billions to better police its platform, don't expect controversy around its decision making to go away. For example, it remains under enormous pressure to develop clearer and more understandable policies and penalties around hate speech and fake news. Infowars' Alex Jones appeared to threaten Special Counsel Robert Mueller with violence during a Facebook live session over the weekend. People are still trying to understand why that wasn't a violation of those rules. But now it also looks like Facebook isn't just talking about hardening its platform and making sure the corruption that happened in the 2016 US election doesn't happen again. It's actually putting real money behind the effort.



Facebook Just Learned the True Cost of Fixing Its Problems [Fred Vogelstein/Wired]

Facebook's Stock In Free Fall Because Everyone Already Uses It [Rhett Jones/Gizmodo]Ain't nothing keeping these two from playing together, not even a fence.

ABC News:

Two-year-old Conway loves throwing a ball over the fence of his yard, only to have his neighbor's dog, Dozer, stick his head over the fence to drop it back.

Conway's dad, Chad Nelson, posted the video to Facebook, where it has gone viral, receiving over 3.8 million views.News / National

by Staff reporter

BULAWAYO police yesterday blocked Mthwakazi Republic Party (MRP)'s parliamentary candidates indaba, claiming they had discovered that the secessionist party had diverted from its initial agenda.MRP, led by Mqondisi Moyo, was supposed to start its meeting around midday when riot police officers arrived and blocked entrance to the Large City Hall, the venue of the indaba.The police handed to MRP a prohibition notice stopping the proceedings on the grounds that they had discovered that the party was plotting to violate the Public Order and Security Act (Posa).In the notice, Officer commanding Bulawayo Central District Chief Superintendent Mthokozisi Manzini-Moyo said MRP notified the police that the Mthwakazi parliamentary candidates were to meet the electorate."The programme is now styled 'Mthwakazi parliament official launch' and the programme includes, among other activities, submission of oath of office by your Members of Parliament to Chief Khayisa Ndiweni, one by one at 13;45 hours, please cancel the event and accordingly submit a relevant notification for the new occasion; this notified event is now prohibited in terms of Posa,'' the police order read.The police boss said only successful candidates would be sworn-in after the harmonised elections.MRP secretary-general, Ackim Mhlanga, however, insisted that the meeting was a "meet the people campaign".The MRP leadership addressed supporters outside as police blocked the entrance."It was a meet the people campaign; we wanted to take oath of office in anticipation that we will win the elections, just like other parties which have shadow ministers,'' Mhlanga said.News / National

by Staff reporter

Zimbabwe Tourism Authority chief executive, Karikoga Kaseke, was yesterday acquitted of assault charges.Kaseke stood in the dock accused of threatening to assault a female lawyer and poking her while using abusive words.Magistrate, Nyasha Vhitorini who presided over the found Kaseke innocent after a full trial.Passing judgment, magistrate Vhitorini said the witness was not consistent hence not credible.Kaseke was represented by Nomusa Nyemba of Mahuni Gidiri Law Chambers.Allegations were that, on July 27, 2016, Phillipa Philips was attending a court hearing at High Court where she was representing her client.Kaseke was the second respondent in the matter and he approached Phillipa's client before telling him that his lawyer was not good enough.According to the State, Kaseke discouraged Phillipa's client not to engage female lawyers and told him that she was misleading him.As a result it did no go well with Phillipa.Phillipa told Kaseke that it was her client's constitutional right to be represented by a lawyer of his choice but Kaseke then shouted abusive words at the same time poking her.Kaseke further threatened to assault her before he was restrained.Opinion / Columnist

A GERMAN government official has urged President Emmerson Mnangagwa to be his own man and guard against being captured by the military which catapulted him to power last November.The call was made by Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development director for sub-Saharan Africa, Stefan Oswald, during discussions with a group of southern African journalists attending an IJP programme in Germany.Oswald said Mnangagwa must use the upcoming elections to prove that he was serious about reforming the country."On the other hand, he has to take care of those who brought him into power which is more or less the army. I think he is really dancing over fire," he said."He (Mnangagwa) has to prove that he really has the desire to have the country back on track. Very important in this context are credible, free and fair elections."Oswald worked in Zimbabwe between 1997 and 2001 as an advisor to the Zimbabwean government and Sadc on issues around community-based natural resource management and social forestry.He said the fast-track land reform programme in 2000 led to a massive decline in agricultural production."This led to a significant decrease of agricultural production in the country formerly known to be the breadbasket of southern Africa." Oswald said Zimbabwe should capitalise on its well-trained and hard-working population, abundance of natural resources, a beautiful landscape, wildlife and a remarkable industrial base, to jumpstart the economy.Based on the African Union's (AU) Agenda 2063: "The Africa we want", Mnangagwa needs to start a strong political move to implement the AU agenda, to which Zimbabwe is a cosignatory."This means the President needs to create a situation that restores confidence and creates perspectives for a growing population, especially the youth. Every Zimbabwean who wants to get into business should find an enabling environment politically, administratively and regarding access to finance. Both for the general economy and the agricultural sector,'' Oswald said.In 2017, Germany released a new policy document: "Africa and Europe  A new partnership for development, peace and a better future  Cornerstones for a "Marshallplan with Africa" as an offer to support national action plans by African countries geared to achieve the Agenda 2063 goals.Based on a credible, ambitious economic and political reform programme designed towards implementation of the programme, Zimbabwe will most likely qualify to re-enter into bilateral development co-operation with Germany. If the reform programme is successfully implemented, Zimbabwe will even qualify to enter the "Compact with Africa" under the G20, designed to mobilise private sector investment in African states.Opinion / Columnist

Frazer Muzondo (MDC , ROHR Activist , UK)







The current Coup President has just called for the watershed harmonised elections in Zimbabwe on the 30th July 2018. This is the first time Zimbabweans are going to the polls without the name Robert Mugabe on the ballot papers. In his place there is Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa better known as ED or Ngwena. This is significant for Zanu Pf because the man who is supposed to fill Robert Mugabe's shoes is just an unsaleable commodity to the electorate. Mnangagwa has been losing every parliamentary seat he was contesting against Blessing Chebundo of the MDC in Kwekwe. He was only serving at the mercy of Mugabe when he was being appointed as a non-constituent Member of Parliament.Mnangagwa's past and his association with Robert Mugabe makes him unsaleable to the voters. Mugabe has not been winning the elections since 2002. The elections have been characterised by intimidation, vote rigging and violence since 2002. Mugabe's use by date had expired way back in 1995. But Mugabe was forcing himself on the people of Zimbabwe. Whilst he was doing this, Mnangagwa was his right-hand lieutenant directing operations to make sure Mugabe remained in power. How foolish can Zimbabweans be, to elect such a man with such a dark past associated with murders, violence and human rights abuses that were roundly condemned internationally?The following is not an exhaustive list of incidents where Mnangagwa was directly involved in human rights abuses that characterised Mugabe's era. I am going to mention just but a few incidents which were a direct input of Emmerson Mnangagwa.First and foremost, Mnangagwa was the architect of the Gukurahundi massacres of the 1980s. Mnangagwa was Mugabe's minister of national security minister back then. Gukurahundi led to the murder of over twenty thousand civilians in the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces. This happened under Mnangagwa's directives and under the command of Perence Shiri with the North Korean trained 5th brigade. Ironically Perence Shiri is now the current Minister of Agriculture courtesy of Mnangagwa as a reward for being part of the successful coup that toppled Robert Mugabe in November 2017. Mugabe and Mnangagwa have refused to apologise for these atrocities to the Ndebele people. Mugabe recently reluctantly only said it was a moment of madness. Mnangagwa on his inauguration speech, has said let bygones be bygones'. For real, Mr President, do you honestly think the people who lost their lives and those who lost their parents, brothers and sisters will forgive you and your former boss for this? Mr President, this is a very dark part of your curriculum vitae and not good for the credentials of the highest office in the land of Zimbabwe that you are seeking to occupy. I can go on and on about the detrimental effects of the Gukurahundi massacres on your resume. The least you could have done was to apologise and set a truth and reconciliation commission in your first hundred days. Anywhere you lost that opportunity.Secondly, Mr President I think you are rightly aware of the role you played in stealing the presidency from Morgan Tsvangirai in 2008. The whole world watched you and your erstwhile colleagues denying the late people's president Morgan Richard Tsvangirai the opportunity to take Zimbabwe out of the mud that your former boss including you had taken Zimbabwe into. You did not only deny us the opportunity for a new Zimbabwe but you made sure you sacrificed with not less than two hundred innocent Zimbabwean lives. You did with the help of your erstwhile comrades who were in the army who included Chiwenga and Perence Shiri and other numerous commanders too many to mention here. Ironically Chiwenga is now your second in command in your present coup government. This I would like to believe that you said to Mugabe you will single handedly make sure he remained in power at all costs. This you verbally confirmed that the likes of Mutasa, Goche, Sekeramayi and some of your erstwhile comrades had emptied their office drawers upon realising the electorate had said, No more Zanu pf government', and had rejected Mugabe. This was also confirmed by your former boss when he was probably hallucinating during one of his forced rallies when he said "when Tsvangirai had won 73%". The old man sold out!!!? Didn't he? The whole nation will not forgive you for this. How after this can anybody believe you are going to deliver a free, fair and credible election as you want the whole world to believe. Even Mugabe himself is doubting what you are promising to deliver. Your credibility in this regard is 99% in doubt. You did not do a coup to hand over power to Chamisa? Did you? Even Terence Mukupe and Josiah Hung unwittingly said transfer of power to Chamisa will never happen and do you think Chiwenga will allow you to relinquish power that you grabbed through the barrel of the gun. For a moment, I would like to believe Terence Mukupe on this one.Thirdly, you occupied that office via a coup and you were forced on Zanu Pf supporters, the majority whom I think they agree with me and Mugabe that you are unelectable. The real reason why Mugabe did not want to handover Zanu Pf leadership to you is because he knew you are unelectable and your brand is unsaleable. That is why he subsequently fired you. That is why he created G40. He was looking for a better, little cleaner pair of gloves. Unfortunately, there was not any in Zanu Pf, whether G40 or Lacoste.When you took over the presidency, you promised a lot but to date you have not delivered anything. You said you wanted to restore legacy. Whose legacy really? Nothing has been restored to date. The criminals who were surrounding his excellency are still walking Scot free. No one has been arrested and convicted. A few G40 cabal has been arrested or imprisoned. The few unlucky G40 cabal have been only harassed, that is unlucky Chombo and a small fish Chipanga. What happened to Kasukuwere, Jonathan Moyo, Grace Mugabe, Patrick Zhuwao just to mention a few. The nation is still waiting for answers on the missing 15billion worth of diamond money. I think the best people who know where the diamond money is, are loitering with you. I understand the ZNA had a company that was mining diamonds in partnership with the Chinese. Who was in charge of the army then, I believe it is the current vice president and who was Minister of Defence during the same time? I believe it was You Mr President if I am not mistaken. I also believe the Police also had a mining company operating in Chiadzwa. I believe Augustine Chihuri was Police Commissioner then. I also believe Obert Mpofu was Minister of Mines then and ironically, he is now the current Minister of Home Affairs. How about seeking some answers from these individuals? What do you think Mr President because we are anxiously waiting for some answers?Anywhere Mr President the hundred days have come and gone. Still there is no sign of criminals getting arrested, still no end in sight to long bank queues and there is no tangible improvement in public services. People on the ground say the cost of living has gone through the roof. In fact, a sizeable percentage of the electorate are missing Robert Mugabe. But I do not think they will miss him on the ballot papers because there will be some new young, fresh and energetic able CHAMISA.Lastly, I wish you luck in selling brand #ED DOESN'T DESERVE MY VOTE.Opinion / Columnist

The recent unfortunate remarks by the Dean of African Diplomatic Corps and Democratic Republic of Congo Ambassador Mr Mwawapanga Mwananga cannot go unchallenged. Hopefully as Head of African diplomats he is not speaking for the rest of African diplomats in Zimbabwe. Mr Mwananga claims that the current election environment in Zimbabwe is characterised by too much freedom' granted by government which he concludes is now being abused, supposedly by opposition parties. Mr Mwananga is speaking from a very misinformed platform and his conclusion about the electoral environment in Zimbabwe is both unfounded and uncorroborated.Mr Mwananga comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo, an otherwise very rich country which unfortunately is bridled and entangled in tribal and civil wars for decades. Such a background should usually embolden a person such as Mr Mwananga to support Zimbabweans in advocating for absolute freedom from the shackles of Zanu Pf. For the past three decades, Zimbabweans have been suffering political persecution, harassment, torture, abductions at the hands of Robert Mugabe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, Joyce Mujuru, ZRP and the Army. Coincidentally Mr Mwananga has been living and working in Zimbabwe during such a torrid time for Zimbabweans but surprisingly he has never raised a single voice against the apparent dictatorship and suppression of basic human rights.Mr Mwananga falsely believes that freedom in Zimbabwe is granted by the government and that this time the government has given too much of it hence it is being abused. Let it be categorically stated to Mr Mwananga and any other misled African diplomats that our freedom is derived and enshrined in the constitution of Zimbabwe. Therefore, all arms of the state, politicians included, are bound to respect and allow us our constitutional freedom. Let us not be misled by Mr Mnangagwa or ZEC's piecemeal reforms which Mr Mwananga is singing praises about. This time Zimbabweans are demanding complete freedom. We want a wholesale change, a paradigm shift from 38 rotten years of dictatorship and corruption that Zimbabweans suffered under the brutal rule of Zanu pf.Opinion / Columnist

The MDC Alliance's front man, Nelson Chamisa, who has been throwing baby-like tantrums and waxing hysterical about the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) and its alleged shortcomings, has been exposed.Speaking to tens of thousands of ZANU PF supporters, who thronged the Mutare Aerodrome in the eastern border city of Mutare for a star rally, President Emmerson Mnangagwa removed Chamisa's mask and uncovered his hypocrisy and dishonesty. The President told his supporters, all Zimbabweans and foreign election observers that Chamisa chaired the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee which oversaw the selection process of ZEC commissioners. It is obvious that Chamisa and his MDC-T faction thought that their involvement in the process would enable them to pick people, who would do their bidding during the ongoing electoral process.The main reason why ZEC Chairperson, Justice Priscilla Chigumba is being vilified and being accused of all manner of things, is because of her professionalism. Chamisa and his Alliance have been wishing for Justice Chigumba to misstep in order to pounce on her and use the incident to discredit the election and dispute it.President Mnangagwa also hung out Chamisa on the electoral clothesline to dry when he rhetorically asked how a politician who believes that he is more popular than the President would be so obsessed with the position of the ZANU PF Presidential election candidate on the ballot paper. Chamisa's name is on second position on the first of the two columns of candidates' names and he has been making so much noise as if his name is the one that is way down the list. President Mnangagwa's name in on second position on the second column of names and is the 15th out 23 candidates but he has not made so much a whimper of complaint about it. This is because experience has taught him that elections are won in the hearts of the electorate and not through the position of a candidate's name on the ballot paper. The actual poll is a mere confirmation of the choice of the already-won-over electorate. The gravity of some of the issues which Chamisa is raising betrays his panic, which is born of ill-preparedness on the part of the Alliance. The various foreign observer teams which he has met so far should be cracking their ribs with laughter behind their hotel room doors at the childishness of some of his "concerns".The current election season, unlike the previous ones, has been characterised by peace, much to Chamisa and his Alliance's disappointment. They would have wanted to use any incidents of political violence to position themselves as victims which would aid any election petition they would mount after polls. Chamisa's charges instead of preparing for the election by rolling out life-changing development projects, primed themselves for violence. The political grouping's youths have been dominant in terms of the politically-motivated incidents of violence recorded so far. They have been at the forefront of abusing female candidates and female ZEC officials, which drew the attention of and invited rebuke from the Group of Elders who were in the country last week.Given the MDC-T Chamisa faction's violent streak, it is no wonder that last week his retinue of bodyguards bludgeoned one of their own, the Alliance Gutu Central candidate, Crispa Musoni for seeking audience with Chamisa over the imposition of one Ernest Mandingo in the same constituency. Musoni had initially been chosen to be the Alliance's candidate for the constituency until Chamisa decided otherwise and endorsed Mandingo. So much for the leader of an opposition faction and Alliance, which claims to champion democracy.During the same ill-fated Maungwa Business Centre campaign trip, Chamisa also tripped up on his own words thereby exposing his ulterior motive for pursuing power. In a bid to besmirch ZANU PF, the opposition leader claimed that ZANU PF inoti mwana anodya ndeweZANU PF chete (ZANU PF exploits its incumbency to favour its own members only). Chamisa promised that, once in power, he would ensure that MDC-T faction members would benefit from its incumbency first for sometime before serving other Zimbabweans. Other Alliance members must have been surprised to learn that, by implication, when in power he would consign them all to the political village hearth unremembered in favour of his faction.It is very clear that some of the people who are crying "Chamisa chete chete (Chamisa only)" on Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp are not paid up or regular party members and they are in for a shock in the unlikely event of Chamisa winning. This is because he was unequivocal about those sympathisers who just vote his party just because the private media conditioned them against ZANU PF without valid reasons. There is nothing in it for them if they are not MDC-T Chamisa faction members despite the hollow, incongruous and disrespectful chants of "God is in it."Chamisa's inadvertent disclosure laid bare the fact that he is not in the race to serve his fellow countrymen and bring about "change" as he outwardly claims, but to satisfy his ego and unbridled ambition, which saw him using unorthodox and unconstitutional means to grab the reins of his party before his successor, the late Morgan Tsvangirai's body had been laid to rest. The MDC-T's unprecedented nature of succession read like a Shona novel storyline and plot woven around Chamisa's uncouth behaviour and unscrupulous ways.As the country counts down towards the end of the month and the election season, the electorate should read between the lines and subject their candidates' statements to scrutiny to ensure that they do not vote into power politically immature people who think that political power is all about self-enrichment and corruption.Opinion / Columnist

Stan Zvorwadza's utterances are stupid. He needs a psychiatrist especially when he claims that Chamisa and the late President Morgan Tsvangirai see Mnangagwa as a double hero.Stan Zvorwadza can not qualify to speak on behalf of President Nelson Chamisa and the late Visionary leader Morgan Tsvangirai, for he is a sell out who has betrayed the suffering vendors.What Stan needs to know first is that the vendors he claim to represent are graduates who are educated than him.He should be aware that his days of stealing from the poor vendors are numbered for the majority of vendors will be working in companies; which will be opened under a new government by a new and young President.Zvorwadza is just a chancer who does not know where the wind is blowing from.As Zimbabweans, vendors in particular call upon Zvorwadza to order for we do not subscribe to his stupid utterances. We do not even support his coup President Dambudzo Munangwa even an inch for we know that he (Dambudzo) is the one who created vending. We don't want to be vendors but workers.Opinion / Columnist

As we approach the elections, there is much discussion of the processes of the election. What order should the candidates should appear on the ballot paper? What direction should the candidates face as they cast their ballots? And even, should people be permitted to take selfies whilst voting.I must confess to caring very little about these procedural issues. I think most people will choose their candidate irrespective of their order on the ballot paper, and I really am not bothered whether people post selfies on Facebook or not.But there is one issue about the election that nobody seems to be talking about, that I do care about.One of the most fundamental principles of democracy is that you accept the will of the people. For better or for worse.Of the two leading candidates, one has been unequivocal about accepting the people's verdict, whether positive or negative. After months of pledging a free and fair election and to respect the will of the people, this week President Mnangagwa told South African television in no uncertain terms that "if we lose these elections, we will hand over power to the party which wins the election. This is democracy."Unfortunately, the other candidate - Nelson Chamisa - has made no such commitment. Instead, he has numerous times stated that he refuses to accept the election results unless he wins.A few weeks ago, he announced that "if I don't win, it won't be a free and fair election." On Wednesday, at a press conference intended to highlight the lack of democracy, he refused to commit to accepting the election results if he loses.For a man who talks of little except for the need for free and fair elections, he is fairly confused about what free and fair actually means.Just as ED has been clear on his preparedness to accept the election results irrespective of the result, the self-styled 'People's President' has been equally clear on his refusal to accept the people's verdict.Now just imagine the roles were reversed. Imagine that it was ED who said the elections would only be considered fair if he wins. There would be outrage. Chamisa would be calling foreign military intervention to depose him. And the observers would be shouting from the rooftops that ED was an enemy of democracy.But when it is Chamisa refusing to accept the will of the people, the same voices are strangely quiet. This is hypocrisy, plain and simple.I believe in democracy. Passionately. But the democracy I believe in is about the will of the people, not trivial issues such as who is where on a ballot paper.For ultimately, the biggest threat to Zimbabwe's peace is Chamisa's refusal to accept the election results.The polls are showing ED will win, fair and square. The only question is whether Chamisa sufficiently understands democracy to concede the election and preserve the peace.Unfortunately, the evidence suggests he does not. And we will pay the price.Opinion / Columnist

I am not surprised when someone from DRC, a country that is yet to hold free and democratic elections comments that Zimbabweans have too much freedom which is being abused.Mr observer, when opposition are denied access to state media to reach their supporters you call this too much freedom, when only a ruling party uses state funded agricultural inputs to lure voters you call that too much freedom. When all government departments including the GMB has been militarized you call that too much freedom.When someone is forced to cast a vote in front of your boss you call that too much freedom? When only one party has been granted access to the voters database you call that too much freedom. When opposition do not know where ballot papers were printed, and not given a chance to sample test it, you tell us this is too much freedom in your country? You have already seen too much freedom with just two hours of landing in Zimbabwe.I have now seen the reason why your war torn country is yet to hold a free and democratic elections. Zimbabwe and DRC the problematic twin babies of Africa. We freedom not your own version of freedom.The Best Drink Recipes From Americas Best Beach Bartenders

Are These The Best Summer Cocktails In America?

The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service.

What is it about sun-kissed afternoons, warm breezes and long weekends that make us adjust our libation expectations? Neat bourbons and dark ales might be nice in winter, but come summer, our taste buds could use a tropical vacation. Enter tiki bars and fruity beverages embellished with enough accessories to decorate a surfside cabana.

But you dont need to venture to faraway beaches or expensive resorts to taste sunshine in a glass. Weve gathered the best recipes from beach bartenders around the country so you can make these delicious drinks at home. No shirt? No Shoes? No problem!

Beach Plum Farm Margarita

Served at: The Rusty Nail - Cape May, NJ

The Rusty Nail - Cape May, NJ Mix Master: Jamie Soporito

Jamie Soporito Level of difficulty: Easy-breezy

Easy-breezy Flavor: Fresh and green

The Rusty Nail

Margaritas are the signature drink of summer and this updated Beach Plum Margarita is a fresh spin on a seasonal classic. The addition of fresh cucumber and mint dresses up this favorite drink, making it a perfectly refreshing choice after a long day in the surf and sand, says Soporito, whos been crafting cocktails at the iconic beachside hangout for more than a decade.

The Mix:

5 slices of cucumber,

Handful of fresh mint

1 lime,

1.5 oz of Avion tequila

0.5 ounces of Cointreau

The Method:

Muddle cucumber, mint and lime in a shaker. Add tequila and Cointreau. Serve over ice or straight up with an optional salt rim and garnish with a fresh cucumber wheel.

An Evening With Rose

Served at: The Coast Guard - Narragansett, RI

The Coast Guard - Narragansett, RI Mix Master: Connor Hornung

Connor Hornung Level of difficulty: Just chilling

Just chilling Flavors: Herbal and refreshing

Coast Guard

New England beaches may not be known for their warm ocean temps, but the bartenders there sure can whip up a cold and refreshing drink. We chose to use the Sons of Liberty True Born Gin since it from a local distiller and the flavor profile is more floral, which works well with the Rose Vodka, says veteran bartender Connor Hornung of his summer favorite. The rosemary simple joins it all together.

The Mix:

1.5 oz Hangar 1 Rose Vodka

.75 oz Sons Of Liberty Gin

.25 oz Rosemary simple (Mix one cup granulated sugar with one cup water and two large rosemary sprigs. Simmer and stir until sugar completely dissolved. Cool.)

Splash of club soda

Rosemary sprigs for garnish

The Method:

In a shaker, combine vodka, gin and simple syrup. Shake. Top with a splash of club soda and serve it in a mason jar with a rosemary sprig.

Passion Ginger Mojito

Served at: Kane Tiki Bar + Grill - Marco Island, FL

Kane Tiki Bar + Grill - Marco Island, FL Mix Master: Dalio Calado

Dalio Calado Level of Difficulty: Strolling in flip flops

Strolling in flip flops Flavors: Fruity and sharp

Kane Tiki Bar

This drink calls upon the tropical flavors one would find in a beachside paradise, says Dalio Calado, the beverage specialist at the Kane Tiki Bar thats part of the JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort. The blend of fresh fruit juices and passion fruit mash, alongside the light rum and ginger beer add kick, whether youre looking out at the Gulf or just admiring the green of your backyard.

The Mix:

6 Mint Leaves

1.5 oz. Bacardi Light Rum

0.25 oz. Passion Fruit Mash

0.25 oz. Homemade Syrup

2 oz. Ripe Cold-Pressed Persian Lime Juice

1 oz. Barritts Ginger Beer

The Method:

In a shaker, combine Bacardi Light Rum with passion fruit, cold-pressed lime juice and mint. Shake vigorously. Finish with ginger beer to taste.

Madame Pele

Served at: Palm Grove Bar at the Four Seasons Resort - Hualalai, Hawaii

Palm Grove Bar at the Four Seasons Resort - Hualalai, Hawaii Mix Master: Grant Windle

Grant Windle Level of difficulty: Long-distance swim

Long-distance swim Flavor: Floral and spicy

Four Seasons

The Hawaiian Fire Goddess, Pele, is the inspiration behind this lush and fiery blend of sage, basil, mint, and Hawaiian chili pepper made by bartender Grant Windle. Admittedly, its not a drink you can whip up in an instant, but one youll need to plan in advance to make the special infusions. The upside: Your hard work will definitely guarantee you Big Kahuna status at any party or BBQ. Bonus points if you can freeze an actual Hibiscus (the Hawaii state flower) into the ice of this delightful drink.

The Mix:

1.5oz Hawaiian Chili Pepper infused Ocean Vodka (Add 6 Hawaiian Chili Peppers to 1 liter Ocean Vodka and infuse for 48 hours)

.75oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth

.75oz sage syrup (Combine agave, water, and fresh sage then infuse for 48 hours).

Hibiscus syrup and Hawaiian chili pepper ice ball (In an ice ball or large ice cube mold, combine 1tsp hibiscus syrup with still water until half full. Let freeze overnight. When frozen, add two Hawaiian chili peppers and fill remaining area of ice ball mold. Let freeze completely)

Kiawe salt for rim

The Method:

Rim lowball glass with Kiawe salt. Combine vodka, vermouth, and sage syrup over ice in shaker and shake vigorously. Put ice ball in the lowball glass. Strain contents of shaker into glass, garnish with fresh sage.

The Rum Line

Served at: The Strand House - Manhattan Beach, CA

The Strand House - Manhattan Beach, CA Mix Master: Matt Watkins

Matt Watkins Level of difficulty: A morning surf

A morning surf Flavors: Tropical and zesty

The Strand House

This complex cocktail is the newest invention of the the high-end South Bay beach restaurant and bar that hugs the California coast. This drink is special because of the many layers and dimensions that seem to come together harmoniously, with two different rums, spice from the ginger, and the blackberry accent, says Matt Watkins, The Strand House and StrandBar Bar Manager. Lots going on, but still incredibly refreshing.

The Mix:

The Method:

Combine rum, pineapple juice, ginger agave and lime. Shade vigorously in cocktail shaker and pour over ice. Garnish with blackberries and mint.

The Bra Slinger

Served at: Flora-Bama Yacht Club - Pensacola, FL

Flora-Bama Yacht Club - Pensacola, FL Mix Master: Shelly Rosera

Shelly Rosera Level of difficulty: Dozing in a hammock

Dozing in a hammock Flavors: Liquid berry candy

Flora-Bama

This is probably not what youd serve at a socialite party in the Hamptons. The easygoing and easy-to-swallow drink is one of Flora-Bama's signature cocktails named after the "Bra Room," one of three live music stages in the bar. Women sling their bras onto a string in the ceiling, explains bartender Shelly Rosera. Its pure Florida fuel that slides down as easy as the inhibitions  and apparently, the underwear  of those who drink it.

The Mix:

The Method:

Mix Pickers Blueberry Vodka with ice and a dash of cranberry juice. Top with a splash of soda water.

Almost Home

Served at: Canoe Club Restaurant - Bluffton, SC

Canoe Club Restaurant - Bluffton, SC Mix Master: Jason Klenke

Jason Klenke Level of Difficulty: A paddle across the lake

A paddle across the lake Flavors: Warm and woodsy

Canoe Club

No matter how far you roam on vacation, theres nothing like the feeling of coming back home. Jason Klenke, bartender at the Canoe Club Restaurant in Montage Palmetto Bluff created this drink out of a similar nostalgia for the place he grew up. "The blackberries remind me of home in Indiana where my family would pick them," he says. "It brings back sweet memories of summer and family time."

The Mix:

5 muddled blackberries

.25 oz. honey

1.5 oz. Gin

.75 oz. ginger-thyme-lavender simple syrup (Mix 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water with fresh ginger, fresh thyme, and fresh lavender. Heat until sugar dissolves. Chill mixture, then strain before storing.)

.50 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice

Thyme sprig

Blackberry jam, toast

The Method:

Muddle blackberries in a glass or shaker, add the rest of the ingredients and ice. Stir for 2030 seconds and strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with a sprig of thyme and a toast point topped with blackberry jam.

AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service. To find out more, please read our complete terms of use.Never Have I Ever: Been To A Sex Party

This Couple Went To A Swingers Party... Then Told Us Everything

Did you ever play Never Have I Ever in college? Here are the rules: Everyone puts up ten fingers, and you go around in a circle and one by one share something that youve never done (and as human nature goes, the experiences shared are usually sexual). If youve done it, you have to put one finger down, and of course, drink. The first person to put all 10 fingers down loses or wins, depending on how you look at it.

One day we all have to become grown-ups, but that doesnt mean we have to stop playing Never Have I Ever, or better yet  checking things off your bucket list. AskMen is still playing, and the rules are simple: In each edition of this column, we speak to a couple about something theyve always wanted to try in bed. They tell us about the fantasy, and why it turns them on. Then, they actually do it, and we get the lowdown on how the experience matched the fantasy.

When we think about sex parties, the mind often conjures images of orgies with strangers, or naked models in masks. Are sex parties secret societies akin to Eyes Wide Shut? Are they safe? What if they turn you on, but youre in a committed relationship?

RELATED: This Couple Had A Threesome - And Told Us All About It

As a sex writer who has been to more than her fair share, I can assure you, that when done properly, a sex party is much safer than a frat party, as members are screened, taught about consent, and there are usually guardians on sight making sure everything happening is safe and consensual. Orgies with strangers can take place, but like most social events, a good sex party is what you make it.

Sylvia and Dion are a couple in their 20s living in San Francisco. Theyre passionately in love and enjoy a sex life that reflects that. While they are monogamous, many of their friends are in open relationships, and they enjoy kinky sex, such as role-playing, use of toys and restraints, and frequently check in with one another to make sure theyre both happy and satisfied in their relationship. Neither of them has ever been a sex party before, but it was on both of their sexual bucket lists.

However, they had questions. Could they go and only sleep with one another? Wouldnt a sex party be so hot they may end up fooling around with someone else, and then regretting it later? Would people watching them make love be creepy, or hot? After selecting a party that friends assured them was classy and safe, not sleazy, they dressed up in costume (yeah, most sex parties require some sort of costume) and went. What happened, and how did it affect their relationship?

Read on to learn about Sylvia and Dions first sex party experience.

AskMen: What made you want to go to a sex party in the first place?

Dion: I think it was mostly curiosity for me.

Sylvia: Yeah, I was curious as well. I have so many friends in the scene who love it. But I admit I was nervous, I dont know, sex parties are still taboo, and most of my friends in the scene are [polyamorous], and were not, but we decided to go and just sleep with one another.

How did the conversation go down?

Sylvia: It was an ongoing conversation. I feel like weve been talking about going to a sex party for months, honestly. And then our friend invited us to one that shes involved with; it was small, and under-water themed, haha, so we said yes.

Dion: We might try playing with others at some point, but for our first time we decided that we would just have sex with one another and see if we liked the scene.

So did you? How did the fantasy of a sex party match up with the reality?

Dion: Well, it was more of a normal party than I expected, to start. It took a few hours before people started having sex, but it was held in a house, and the first part was just drinks and mingling and like a Burning Man-type-vibe party with everyone all dressed up. I think I expected to walk into a full-blown orgy, but the sex started happening naturally, people just kind of started pairing off.

Sylvia: Also, watching sex in real life isnt like porn. I mean yes, we both got super turned on watching everyone else have sex, but you know theres condoms around, and lube, and starting and stopping. Thats one thing I keep telling everyone, watching sex in real life is different than watching it in porn.

So basically, it sounds like everything was more realistic and normal than you expected. What were your concerns, if any, going in?

Dion: We agreed to just have sex with each other, but I have to admit, I dont know, part of me wondered if we, or me, or Sylvia, would end up getting super turned on and approached by someone else, and wed have group sex or sex with other people, and in the moment it would be fine, but the next day wed feel weird about it.

Did that happen?

Sylvia: No, it was perfect, honestly. We waited until other people started having sex because we didnt want to be the first ones. The thing about sex parties, I mean duh, but just being in that environment is so hot. We were both so turned on, and after a bit of watching went into one of the rooms upstairs and just fucked.

RELATED: Everything You Need To Know About Swinging, Explained

Dion: There was another couple in there, and some guys hanging around. That was the part I thought would be creepy, but it turns out that I really get off on dudes watching me fuck Sylvia.

I very much understand. And for you, Sylvia? How was it?

Sylvia: Oh god Im addicted. I came so hard. I was watching the other couple fuck while Dion went down on me and Jesus Christ, I haven't come that hard in a long time. And then, to be honest, after we both came, we dipped and went home.

So it sounded like it went above and beyond expectations. Will you go again? Do you think youd ever hook up with other people or do some group stuff?

Dion: Maybe a few more times just us, but after this Im open to it.FILE - In this Tuesday, July 17, 2018, file photo, released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian troops flash the victory sign next to the Syrian flag in Tell al-Haara, the highest hill in the southwestern Daraa province, Syria. Israel shot down a Syrian fighter jet it said had breached its airspace on Tuesday, as Syrian forces reached the Golan Heights frontier for the first time in seven years. (SANA via AP, File)

BEIRUT (AP) -- Israel shot down a Syrian fighter jet it said had breached its airspace on Tuesday while advancing Syrian government forces retaking territory from rebels reached the Golan Heights frontier for the first time in seven years.

The Israeli military said it monitored the advance of the Syrian Sukhoi fighter jet and shot it down with a pair of Patriot missiles after it penetrated Israeli airspace by about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles).

Syria's military, however, said one of its jets was targeted by Israel over Syrian territory as it flew sorties against Islamic State militants.

Syrian forces have been battling rebels and IS militants at the frontier with Israel for weeks in a campaign to restore President Bashar Assad's rule over southwestern Syria.

On Tuesday, government forces reached the border fence where a U.N. peacekeeping force is deployed at the edge of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. It was the first time Syrian government had managed to retake the area since 2011, when an uprising swept through Syria against Assad.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in 1967. The U.N. deployed peacekeepers between the two sides in 1974.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the breach of Israeli territory a "gross violation" of a 1974 agreement that established the demilitarized zone between Israel and Syria.

"I have reiterated and made clear that we will not accept any such violation. We will not accept any such penetration of or spillover into our territory, neither on the ground nor from the air," he said in a statement.

Israel's military has been on "elevated alert" along the frontier because of activity on the Syrian side of the fence, said military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus. Israel has warned Syria through various channels not to violate the 1974 agreement, he added.

Minutes before the reported downing of the jet, Syria's state-run Al-Ikhbariya TV was broadcasting footage from the fence demarcating the U.N. buffer zone between Syrian and Israeli forces in the Golan Heights. A U.N. observer post could be seen just on the other side of the fence.

Story continues

The camera showed an Israeli post 400 meters (440 yards) away.

Israel's military said the Syrian jet took off from the T4 air base, which Israel is believed to have attacked earlier this year in its bid to prevent Iran from establishing a military presence in Syria. Seven Iranian military personnel were killed in that strike.

The plane flew toward Israel at "relatively high speed" before breaching the country's airspace, said Conricus. He said it was unknown if the plane deliberately crossed into Israel.

The plane crashed in the southern part of the Syrian Golan Heights, he said. Israel had no reports on the condition of the pilot.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said one pilot was killed and that the condition of the other was unknown.

An official based in Syria and allied with government forces said Islamic State militants have seized the body of the downed pilot. He did not elaborate.

The fate of the other pilot remains unknown, said the official, who is with the so-called "Axis of Resistance" that is led by Iran and includes Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and other groups fighting alongside Assad's forces. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

At the United Nations, Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said that Israel seeks "no escalation in the region" and that the military acted only after the Syrian aircraft entered Israeli airspace.

The Israeli military tried to contact the plane's pilot several times but there was no response and its only option was "to protect our civilians," Danon told reporters.

"We cannot wait to see what are the real intentions of the pilot," he said. "That's what any other country will do in a similar situation."

Syrian rebels surrendered their last pockets in the southwestern Quneitra and Daraa provinces last week, leading thousands of opposition fighters, their families and other civilians to evacuate to the rebel-held province of Idlib in northern Syria.

According to the Observatory, some 9,500 people have been bused from southwest Syria to Idlib. It is unlikely they will be able to return to their homes in the near-term. The U.N. has condemned such arrangements as forced displacement, a war crime.

Over the weekend, rescuers from the Syrian Civil Defense  also known as White Helmets  and their family members were evacuated through Israel to Jordan, after they were promised asylum in Canada and European nations.

The White Helmets have been a target of the Syrian government, which accuses them of staging poison gas attacks and participating in terrorism, claims which have not been proven.

Government forces are now concentrating their fire on one remaining enclave not yet in their hands  a sliver of land along the Golan Heights frontier that is held by the militants linked to the Islamic State group.

___

Associated Press writers Tia Goldenberg in Jerusalem, Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, July 25, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Mexican officials went out of their way yesterday to tell their Canadian counterparts not to read anything into the fact that their trade negotiators and the Americans are meeting bilaterally in Washington on Friday  that the new government in Mexico City isn't planning to cut a separate deal with the U.S. outside of NAFTA.

"The fact that this time we're going to Washington for a bilateral is just a sequence of things," said Mexico's Secretary of the Economy Ildefonso Guajardo, who handles the NAFTA file. He added that the Canadian and American negotiating teams also often hold two-way talks, and Friday's bilateral isn't an indication that Canada could be left out in the cold.

"It's just a method, not a direction," Guajardo continued. "We're not moving in the direction of a bilateral agreement. We still want a trilateral NAFTA."

In a joint news conference with his Canadian counterpart Chrystia Freeland yesterday, Mexico's Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray insisted that "we will be closing ranks with Canada  For us, NAFTA is a trilateral agreement."

The statement came in response to speculation prompted by a series of public claims by U.S. President Donald Trump that the U.S. and Mexico would make a separate two-way trade deal to replace NAFTA.

Trump seemed to reference those claims yesterday as he met with the EU's Jean-Claude Juncker in the White House, when he remarked that "we're doing very well with Mexico."

Mexican officials maintain that any negotiations on a two-way trade deal between Mexico and the U.S. remain a figment of the U.S. president's imagination.

A Mexican government official speaking on background to CBC said his government was frustrated by the fact that stories giving credence to those claims had circulated in Canadian media.

"I don't know how it even got started," he said, adding that the Mexican government had given no such signals.

Story continues

Transition going smoothly

One of the reasons for the talks being held Friday is to introduce the members of the incoming Mexican government to their Washington counterparts.

One of them  tapped to take over from Guajardo as the head of the NAFTA team  needs no introduction. Jesus Seade Kuri is a respected economist who has known U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer personally for many years, since Seade Kuri's time as an ambassador and deputy director at the World Trade Organization.

Like his brother, a well-known mathematician and academic, Seade Kuri holds a doctorate from Oxford.

In a radio interview on Tuesday, Seade Kuri expressed optimism about reaching a three-way NAFTA deal in the near future. "A very feasible expectation is that we'll be concluding the negotiation in the next two months if possible, or if not, a few months further down the road."

He also dismissed Trump's talk of a bilateral deal with Mexico as mere posturing.

"It would be a legislative commotion, a horrible argument that would last a year and cost him a lot politically," he said. "I don't think it's going to happen."

Seade Kuri won't be the only incoming official accompanying Guajardo and Videgaray to Washington. Each man is also bringing along the person waiting in the wings to replace him when the new Mexican government takes power on December 1.

The incoming foreign minister is Marcelo Ebrard, who  like his leader, President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador  was mayor of Mexico City, and a very successful one. Guajardo will be replaced by Graciela Marquez Colin, an economic historian with a PhD from Harvard.

A cabinet designed to reassure

Fears that Lopez Obrador's election would trigger a run on the Mexican peso did not materialize, and Mexico's private sector has been notably sanguine about the political ascent of a man who once provoked fears of confiscation and nationalization.

That's partly because he selected a cabinet of competent technocrats, with few posts going to militants of his own MORENA (Moviemiento de Regeneracion Nacional) party.

The cabinet picks include a number of academics. While some, including Marquez Colin, lack executive experience, most are respected experts in their fields.

The youngest member of the cabinet  and one of the few with strong left-wing activist credentials  is Luisa Maria Alcalde, a 30-year-old Berkeley graduate who will take over the Labour and Welfare portfolio. She has pledged to help young people find work and supports increasing the minimum wage. Boosting wages in Mexico  particularly in the auto sector  is a key goal of both U.S. and Canadian trade negotiators.

Another important NAFTA player is Canadian-educated Victor Villalobos, who takes over at Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Grains, meat, fruits and vegetables are important articles of trade between the three NAFTA members and can be among the most contentious.

Marco Antonio Fernandez, a professor at the School of Government of Tecnologico de Monterrey, says the cabinet-in-waiting has created a good first impression by making clear it will stay the course in the NAFTA talks.

"The doubt I have is about what they have in mind as a Plan B if the talks fail," he says. "It would be a total mistake to open the door to a bilateral deal with the Trump administration."

Fernandez says Trump sent a "flattering" letter to Lopez Obrador congratulating him on his huge margin of victory, but the letter also contained a threat. It said that a successful NAFTA renegotiation could bring benefits to both countries, "but only if it can go quickly, because otherwise I must go a much different route."

"I hope the new cabinet will continue the dialogue, but cannot be rushed and should not feel subject to any threat," said Fernandez. "I want to see that Marcelo Ebrard (who showed the Trump letter to the Mexican media) understands that."

Lopez Obrador, often seen as a firebrand and provocateur in the past, has shown a cooperative attitude toward the outgoing government, pledging to support it in ongoing NAFTA talks and speaking favourably about its approach.

He's also committed to respecting any NAFTA deal the Pena Nieto government reaches during the transition period. That concession probably increases the chances of a deal emerging by the fall.

Luis Videgaray said that outgoing ministers "have been given strict instructions to collaborate closely with the team of President-elect Lopez Obrador. That is for the good of Mexico, not only so that the transition will be orderly and efficient, but also so that Mexico can present a common front to the world, and particularly to the government of the United States."

Foreign Minister Freeland also was sounding a positive note yesterday about her first encounter with the president-elect and his team. The Canadians, she said in a conference call after the meeting, wanted to know "where this government  which has a very strong mandate  was when it comes to NAFTA. We have a clear understanding now.

"I'm hopeful to move NAFTA talks back into high gear now that we're past the Mexican elections."

The dreaded auto tariff

The Mexican and Canadian ministers used almost identical language to condemn a proposed 25 per cent U.S. tariff on vehicles from the two countries. Both Guajardo and Freeland said NAFTA negotiators were close to agreement on new rules of origin for cars and car parts, and that the changes would entail a shift to a new business model for carmakers.

Referencing the U.S. proposal to add a five-year sunset clause to NAFTA, Guajardo said "we can't ask the automobile industry to invent a new industry and at the same time, tell them this may all change in five years."

Guajardo added that he was optimistic that the U.S. won't impose the tariffs, saying he was encouraged by the fact that the American auto industry roundly condemned the proposal in recent hearings.

"There was practically no one who spoke out in support of this measure in public testimony. Ninety-nine per cent of those who expressed themselves were against. That wasn't the case with the hearings on the steel and aluminum tariffs."

If the tariffs go ahead, Videgaray said, "we're going to respond as we have throughout this negotiation. First of all, we'll do it through a professional team of negotiators, and with seriousness, and not through the media.

"Secondly, we'll do it in the closest coordination with our Canadian colleagues."By Se Young Lee and Tom Daly BEIJING (Reuters) - A bomb exploded outside the U.S. embassy in Beijing on Thursday, wounding the lone assailant, the embassy said in a statement, although police described the weapon merely as a "firework device". The explosion happened on the street outside southeast corner of the embassy compound. Beijing police said the suspect, a 26-year-old man from China's Inner Mongolia region whom they identified only by the surname Jiang, had injured his hand and had been taken to hospital. Police did not provide a motive but said in a statement via their official account on the Chinese social networking service Weibo that the suspect had a history of mental illness and was once hospitalized for treatment. The suspect was hearing voices, the statement said. China and the United States have been involved in a trade dispute initiated by Washington, with the two sides imposing tariffs on $34 billion worth of each other's goods. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened ultimately to impose punitive tariffs on all Chinese imports. While Chinese officials and state media have been outspoken in their criticism of Washington's trade moves, there has not been a groundswell of outrage on China's heavily censored social media, and no reported boycotts of U.S. goods. Witnesses told Reuters that they heard an explosion near the embassy and felt tremors. "I'd just arrived and started to queue and then heard a loud explosion about 100 meters away," a 19-year-old high school student who gave his name as Li told reporters. Li said the blast happened shortly after 1 p.m. as he queued to apply for a U.S. visa to take an exam in Los Angeles. A police SUV appeared to have been damaged, with its back windshield missing, and was cordoned off by police before being removed, a Reuters witness said. The embassy resumed normal operations at about 1.45 p.m., it said. Crowds were still queueing outside the embassy after the explosion, and traffic was moving as normal in an area of northeastern Beijing that is home to numerous embassies including those of France, India and Israel. (Graphic showing site of explosion in Beijing: https://tmsnrt.rs/2K1qL1Y) Postings on social media showed pictures of smoke close to where people line up outside the compound for visa appointments. Some video clips and images were later removed. Li Shaohui, a 58-year-old sanitation worker, said he felt the ground shake and that some people screamed. "I thought first there was a big car crash," Li told Reuters, adding that the smoke had cleared quickly. There was no damage to U.S. embassy property, the embassy said. Staff members at the Indian and South Korean embassies said they were unaware of any unusual incident and were working as normal. The state-run Global Times reported separately, citing witnesses, that police took away a woman who sprayed herself with gasoline in a suspected self-immolation attempt outside the embassy at around 11 a.m. It was not clear whether this woman's actions were related to the later explosion, the paper said. A witness who did not want to be identified told Reuters that he saw a middle-aged woman with two buckets of gasoline. On her back were the Chinese characters for "sue them". Beijing police and the U.S. embassy did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the woman. Security in the Chinese capital is tight and protests are often quickly disbanded. Violent crime rates are low in China, according to official statistics. (Reporting by Se Young Lee, Tom Daly, Pei Li, Lusha Zhang, Cate Cadell, Josephine Mason, Dominique Patton, Michael Martina, Yawen Chen, Thomas Suen, Judy Hua and Fang Cheng; Writing by Tony Munroe; Editing by Nick Macfie and Hugh Lawson)Sacha Baron Cohen (Credit: Reuters/Paul Hackett)

A town in Arizona is the latest to kick back against Sacha Baron Cohen and his new TV series Who Is America?

Residents of Kingman, in Mohave County, unwittingly took part in one of Cohens skits in the shows latest episode.

Posing as his provocatively ultra-liberal character Dr. Nira Cain-NDegeocello, he brought together locals from the town to propose a new project, which he then reveals is the largest mosque outside the Middle East.

The residents in attendance then turn on Cohen, with one linking the word mosque to terrorism, and another saying that black people werent welcome in the town and are merely tolerated.

Cohen also brings up that the town was once home to Oklahoma bomber Timothy McVeigh, who he confrontationally describes as a civil rights activist.

One member of the crowd openly announced he was racist towards muslims, while another said that a rendering of the planned mosque would look good in a fire.

However, speaking to The Washington Post, the towns mayor has said that she didnt recognise a soul in the video, and has slammed Cohen for implying Kingman is racist.

Sacha Baron Cohen as Dr Nira Cain-NDegeocello (Credit: Showtime)

An official statement published on the towns Facebook page reads: Every city has resident voices that challenge respect and dignity for others. They are wrong and unfortunate. That was no exception on Sundays Who Is America? show on Showtime in which an actor baited purported residents to vociferously oppose a fictitious, supersized mosque in our city.

Another in the audience also stated negative feelings towards African-Americans. No matter the instigation or that numerous focus group participants dont even live in Kingman, the shows characterization in the words of one member of our Kingman City Council broke her heart.

Why? Because our community has made great strides to erase previous perceptions. We do have a mosque. We do have a robust Latino community. We do welcome tourists from all over the world, especially more and more from Asia fascinated by our Route 66 history. We do have African-Americans applying for leadership positions with the city. This is the Kingman of today, not of yesterday.

Story continues

Town Mayor Monica Gates, who has lived there for 30 years, added that people in the segment wrongly referred to themselves as Kingmaners  when the more common term is Kingmanites  and that she also did not recognise the building the meeting took place in when shown in external shots.

Showtime, which Gates said did not make any contact with the town ahead of filming, has declined to comment on how the town was chosen, or whether all those involved in the meeting lived in the town.

The statement from the town goes on: But shrugging this off is not going to be us. Were going to use this opportunity to keep moving our community forward with the help of many community stakeholders including the Kingman Interfaith Council. And while weve been making progress the comments in the show, fairly or unfairly, show that we still have more work to do.

In addition, it says that the town is intending to host events for National Hispanic Heritage Month in September, will be taking extra steps to honour Martin Luther King Junior Day in January, and is planning to further develop the towns first diversity commission.

The show has already hit headlines, skewering the likes of Dick Cheney and a number of US congressmen who endorsed an initiative to arm toddlers to help protect against school shootings.

This week, Georgia state representative Jason Spencer resigned after he was filmed shouting racial slurs and exposing himself in a spoof segment about anti-terrorism techniques.

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I found that early June was extremely windy in the area, so my challenge was to figure out how to paint on location, as my easel would surely blow over in the wind. It was very frustrating, as I was anxious to get outside to paint. It took me awhile, but I thought of my Painting Edges series of paintings works on paper. I had some large sheets of watercolor paper with me and I was lucky to find some large sheets of foam core at the Weymouth Mercantile to use for supports. I cut them just large enough (14 x 22) to paint while sitting in the car.

Because of this challenge, the residency moved me to expand an existing body of work to create original paintings in this series instead of replicating existing paintings edges as before. I completed one painting and started another, which I will finish in the studio from my photos. I also was able to paint a large painting of the amazing view from the house which captivated me the whole two weeks on a less windy day and some mini canvases from the house.

The most valuable thing that I learned was how to take an extreme challenge (the wind) and to have the time to figure out how to make the challenge a positive factor in my work. I have been traveling to paint all over Maine and New Brunswick for over twelve years and have had many plein air challenges of every kind, but this one was a unique learning experience because I had a full two weeks to figure it out without the pressure of any kind of deadline, other than the end of the residency. I am very grateful to have had the time in Nova Scotia to explore, photograph and get back to painting after my successful eye surgeries. I am particularly grateful that my alma mater was able to provide this meaningful experience.





"Riverside Road" acrylic on canvas, 12 x 30

"Painting Edges 16" acrylic on paper, 12 x 20

"Painting Edges 17" acrylic on paper, 12 x 20, in process





photos of paintings Jay York Photography



A big hello and thank you to my new Nova Scotia friends: Margaret at the Weymouth Library, Jeanne at Sissiboo Landing, Lisa at the hardware store, Bill and Georgette, Melanie, Eleanor and Wayne of The Weymouth Bridge, my new friends Marie and Denise, Eddie and family, La Cuisine Robicheau, Chez Jean, Rendez-vous de la Baie Visitor's Centre, and The Cat for my return ferry from Yarmouth! So many wonderful and friendly people, I love Canada! A bientot! "Riverside Road 5" acrylic on canvas, 4 x 6photos of paintings Jay York PhotographyA big hello and thank you to my new Nova Scotia friends: Margaret at the Weymouth Library, Jeanne at Sissiboo Landing, Lisa at the hardware store, Bill and Georgette, Melanie, Eleanor and Wayne of The Weymouth Bridge, my new friends Marie and Denise, Eddie and family, La Cuisine Robicheau, Chez Jean, Rendez-vous de la Baie Visitor's Centre, and The Cat for my return ferry from Yarmouth! So many wonderful and friendly people, I love Canada! A bientot!









I am so grateful to the Jenny Family and to Maine College of Art (MECA) for the wonderful opportunity to be in residence for two weeks in early June at Baie Ste Marie, Nova Scotia. I traveled to Nova Scotia directly from a four day annual painting retreat in Pemaquid, Maine, with the Pastel Society of Maine staying overnight in St. John, New Brunswick and driving from there to New Edinburgh.It was my first plein air painting outing after major eye surgery in January and March.I remember an intense week away on a youth camp, being asked a question - what is wrong with the world?

I immediately answered sin. Others had mentioned man's selfishness, greed and other specific sins. Looking back now I wonder what I really meant when I said sin. Did I just mean that the world was really dark and evil and there was just so much suffering? Or did I mean something more?

Anyone could talk about evil, darkness and suffering - whether from a faith background or not.

So, what does sin really mean?

Often people have said sin is active rebellion against God. So perhaps whats really wrong with the world is that it's full of people rebelling against God. And why do we rebel against God? Because we don't know him, don't love him. But how do we know and love him when we are so full of sin?

We need to be made right with him. Recently I've thought more about what is really wrong with the world and what man's biggest problem is. It's so clear to me that man's biggest problem is not being right with God.

Family breakdown leads to an immense amount of heartbreak, suffering and often impacts many areas of our lives. Imagine being unable to speak to your brother or father. Imagine that but infinity times worse... man is unable to speak and relate and have deep beautiful intimacy with his creator. Nothing is worse than that. Nothing even dares come close.

Where problems come from

There are endless problems in all societies of the world. We have access to knowledge of the suffering of the world more than any other society has in history due to its display in the paper, on our phones, in the media. Everyone knows suffering but how come people are still asking,

why there so much suffering in the world?

We need knowledge of where our suffering and problems stem from. But thing is, man's been trying to understand the roots of our problems for centuries. The list is endless loss, grief, poverty, racism, family breakdown. Much of the discourse around Australia's current issues is shifting blame on government systems.

Let's look at the first society that was created. It started with two perfect people. This world was good and without problems because man was right with God and trusted him with all things.

Our societies now are far from God, don't trust him and are therefore not good. We need to be right with God before we can start looking at how to fix things.

Temporary fixes

Because our world doesn't see the spiritual reason behind its problems it therefore only has temporary and not always satisfying solutions. We tend to fill the void we feel with things that aren't good for us and we end up even further away from God than we started.

Just last week I felt ill, upset and mentally overwhelmed. The stress of life had gotten to me and sort an end to my struggle through sleep, comfort food, complaining to family, and avoiding catch ups. I just wanted to be made well again through feeding myself with as much self-pity and rest as possible, believing that would help relieve my anxiety and I wouldn't be overwhelmed anymore.

However, I soon came to realise that the reason I was seeking such temporary fixes was because I hadnt been looking to God for help. Weeks had gone by where a distrust of God had begun to root itself within me. I had become distant from him and didn't run to him like I had in other times. I began to weep as I realised how empty and lonely I felt.

I realised that the root of all my mental health issues was a result of not being right with God. I wasn't trusting in his hand over my life, his provision to provide mine and my family's needs, his strength to carry me through each day.

All those ways I had tried to fix my problems were good self-care mechanisms (besides complaining) but should be built upon a right relationship with God. Otherwise, they are just temporary fixes which only distract us from our problem.

Eternal solution

Man can not only be distracted by temporary fixes but also temporary problems. People that do not know God think that the problems of this world are the only ones, yet how little do they know. The biggest problem is a spiritual one that goes beyond this world and has an eternal solution if we are to grab hold of it.

Being apart from God is man's biggest problem and will ultimately lead many to the gates of hell if it isn't fixed.

Unlike any other problem, this one has the most perfect, joyous and free solution! Turning to Christ for salvation, repenting of your sin and making him Lord of your life is all it takes to be made right with God.

Now once your deepest and biggest problem is solved, not all your other problems will suddenly disappear. That's definitely not what I'm saying.

But now, you'll have the most special and everlasting relationship with your King, Saviour and friend that all your other problems will seem small compared to what was once your deepest and biggest.

Renee Jenner resides in Sydney, Australia and is currently in her third year of studying Social Work. She is the first born of home-base missionary parents whose ministry has made a huge impression on her heart. She always writes from the soul to the soul, desiring to encourage readers to enjoy God, relax in His goodness and spread His love to the utmost parts of the earth. She loves a good cuppa with a deep, thoughtful conversation. You can find her other writings at renee.jenner.wordpress.comFor many years, Global Premium Cigars and 1502 Cigars could be considered interchangeable, but all of that changed this year as Global Premium Cigars introduced its second brand called Cachitos.

Cachitos introduces a value-priced bundle-packaged offering  filling a gap that existed in CEO Enrique Sanchezs cigar portfolio. Cachitos utilizes a Nicaraguan wrapper over a Honduran binder and a combination of Nicaraguan and Honduran fillers.

Cachitos comes in one size  a 4 1/2 x 50 petite robusto packaged in 20-count bundles. Like the rest of Global Premium Cigars portfolio, the cigar comes out of the Plasencia factory in Esteli, Nicaragua.

Meanwhile, the 1502 brand was prominently on display  highlighted by the 1502 XO Torpedo, the latest size of the 1502 XO line to get a full launch. The 1502 XO Is Global Premium Cigars ultra-premium line. Sanchez isnt disclosing the details of the blend other than its using 18-year-old tobacco and it is also coming out of the Plasencia factory.

2018 Product Reports

Photo Credits: Cigar CoopOn July 8th one of the longest military standoffs in Africa ended with a peace agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Eritrea was joined with Ethiopia in 1950 and there had been a movement fighting for independence since 1958. After a three decade civil war from 1961-1991, independence was finally won and granted in a referendum from 1993. However, tensions have remained extremely high, with a number of border skirmishes since the Ethiopian government under the former prime ministers refused to officially accept the border. The much smaller Eritrea has maintained a large military force on the border equal in size from the much larger Ethiopia, and this has resulted in mobilizing the majority of Eritrea's population, crippling its economy and causing Eritreans to be one of the major sources of African migrants. True peace between these two nations has so many beneficial possibilities, both economic, and social, and cultural. This is an incredibly hopeful development and most on both sides of the border are celebrating, we will hear a number of new Eritrean and Ethiopian songs celebrating this peace.

Ethiopia

Teddy Afro - Single - Single Peace Summit 2018

Dehab Fatinga - Single - Single Selam

Mahmoud Ahmed - Single Selam N'fikri

Elsa Kidane - Single - Single Ethiopian Peace Song

Al Tascith Joe - Single - Single Eritrean song

Abraham Afewerki - Single Jirra

Hachalu Hundessa - Jirra - Jirra Selam

Robel Haile - Single - Single Yefkir Engurguro

Hailu Mergia - Lala Belu - Awesome Tapes From Africa Elilta

Girma Yifrashewa - Love & Peace - Unseen Worlds Piano Sonata no. 3 in b minor Op. 58

Frederic Chopin/Marc-Andre Hamelin - Chopin - Hyperion Surma

Mulatu Astatke with Fatoumata Diawara - Sketches of Ethiopia - Jazz VillageJavaScript is disabled on your browser.

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Hanoi, July 26, 2018A Sichuan province court on July 13 sentenced Chinese freelance political cartoonist Jiang Yefei to prison for six years and six months on charges of inciting subversion of state power, and illegally crossing a national border, during a secret trial, according to the U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Asia and the independent news website Hong Kong Free Press. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned his conviction and sentencing which were made public today and urged Chinese authorities to release Jiang immediately.

Jiang Yefeis trial in secret on trumped-up political charges is a travesty, said CPJ Deputy Executive Director Robert Mahoney from New York. The Chinese governments fear of a cartoonists pen does not justify depriving a man of six and half years of his liberty.

Jiang fled to Thailand in 2008 after he faced harassment from Chinese authorities for criticizing the governments handling of the Sichuan earthquake, CPJ research shows. According to media reports, the natural disaster left at least 69,000 people dead and provoked questions about why buildings in the earthquake-prone region collapsed. In October 2015, Jiang was arrested in Thailand for allegedly breaking Thai immigration rules by helping a Chinese human rights activist enter Thailand; he was repatriated in mid-November, according to CPJ research. On November 26, 2015, Jiang appeared on the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, dressed in prison clothes, and confessed to human smuggling, CPJ research shows.

China was the second largest jailer of journalists in CPJs most recent prison census, with 41 journalists behind bars in December 2017.Share this: Twitter

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Washington, D.C., July 26, 2018 Egyptian national security prosecutors in the past two weeks prolonged the detention of at least five journalists, according to Egypts Journalists Syndicate, the local press freedom group Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), and news reports. Authorities accuse the journalists, who had been arrested separately beginning in March, of belonging to a banned group and spreading false news.

Yesterday, a Cairo national security prosecutor ordered Mohammed Ibrahim Ezz, a local reporter for the pro-government daily Al-Nahar, to be detained for 15 days on charges of belonging to a banned group, ANHRI reported. Karim Abdelrady, Ezzs lawyer who also works with ANHRI, told CPJ that it is not clear why the journalist, who covers cultural events and local news, was arrested.

Ezz was arrested in the city of Tanta, north of Cairo, on July 10, Khaled el-Balshy, a former board member of the Journalists Syndicate, told CPJ. Abdelrady told CPJ that the prosecutor will look into renewing Ezz detention again on August 5.

Egypt is continually renewing pretrial detention for freshly arrested journalists, even as others have been imprisoned for years without a conviction, said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour. We call on authorities to immediately free Ezz and all other journalists who have been arrested arbitrarily.

The latest arrest comes as award-winning photojournalist Mahmoud Abou Zeid, known as Shawkan, is expected to appear in court to hear a possible verdict on July 28. Shawkan has been jailed since August 2013 and could face the death penalty.

After the prosecutors decision, the Journalists Syndicates lawyer, Mokhtar Bakr, told the local news website Katib that the syndicate only learned about Ezzs arrest the previous week, after his wife reached out to them when her appeals to the authorities about his whereabouts went unanswered for more than two weeks.

CPJs requests for comment sent via email to the prosecutor generals office were not immediately answered.

Separately, Cairos national security prosecutors added four more journalists to a case that includes 8 other journalists as well as activists and academics. All have been arrested since January on false news and anti-state charges, including:

Masr Al-Arabiya news website editor Adel Sabri, who had been arrested on April 4 and was due to be released on July 9, was instead re-arrested and added to the case on July 10, his employer reported.

Two other journalists, Bawabet Masr news website co-founder Aly Rashad, who had been arrested on March 14, and Mohamed Saeeda former reporter for the private, pro-government daily Al-Shirouk who had been arrested on June 1were added to the case on July 16 and July 17 respectively, ANHRI lawyer Nour Fahmy told the local independent news website Mada Masr.

co-founder Aly Rashad, who had been arrested on March 14, and Mohamed Saeeda former reporter for the private, pro-government daily Al-Shirouk who had been arrested on June 1were added to the case on July 16 and July 17 respectively, ANHRI lawyer Nour Fahmy told the local independent news website Mada Masr. Documentary filmmaker Mohamed Momen was added to the case on July 18, Abdelrady told CPJ. Momen had been arrested at a video production company in Giza on June 10 while working on a documentary about Suleiman Khater, an Egyptian soldier who killed seven Israeli tourists in Sinai in 1985, Abdelrady said.

Of the 20 journalists in Egyptian jails at the time of CPJs most recent annual prison census on December 1, 11 were held on anti-state charges and eight were charged with false news, according to CPJ research. CPJ has documented how Egyptian authorities used false news charges and other measures this year to curb critical reporting ahead of the March presidential elections. The crackdown on journalists and activists continued after President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was re-elected.The sub-committee of Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB) has recommended prohibition of 343 fixed drug combinations (FDCs) after reviewing 349 and called for regulation and restriction of remaining six. FDC means combination of two or more drugs in fixed dosage ratio.

Key Facts

The expert sub-committee in its reports suggested banning 343 FDCs, three should be restricted for specific indications or diseases and other three FDCs should be restricted to specific quantities of ingredients and for specific indications. It stated that for most FDCs, their use will lead to unnecessary overuse and patients will be exposed to risk of multiple ingredients when one will suffice.

Background

In March 2016, Union Government had banned total 344 FDC on suggestion of Kokate committee, which had studied irrationality of various FDCs, recommended ban on 344 of them, citing rising antibiotic resistance in the country as one of reasons. Later in December 2016, Delhi High Court struck down ban stating that Government had acted in haphazard manner.

The matter then went to Supreme Court, which in December 2017 which directed health ministrys expert body DTAB for fresh review of safety, efficacy and therapeutic justification of these 349 FDCs. It had stated that DTAB or its subcommittee will have to decide whether it is necessary in larger public interest, to regulate, restrict or prohibit manufacture, sale or distribution of such FDCs. Therefore, DTAB had formed sub-committee, which studied issue and submitted its recommendations.

Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB)

DTAB is highest statutory decision-making body on technical matters related to drugs in the country . It is constituted as per the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. It is part of Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.Airport personnel in Semarang, Central Java, thwarted on Tuesday an alleged drug smuggling attempt by a Thai national, according to the provincial branch of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN).





Wilaiwan Boonyiam, 22, who hails from Nakhon Pathom province in Thailand, was caught by customs officials at Ahmad Yani International Airport with 1.6 kilograms of sabu sabu (crystal methamphetamine) on July 1.





Boonyiam flew from Bangkok to Singapore via Singapore Airlines flight SQ-973 before flying to Semarang with SilkAir. She admitted to receiving instructions from someone in Thailand [to smuggle the drugs], head of the Central Java BNN, Tri Agus Heru Prasetyo, said in a press conference on Tuesday in Semarang.





The woman reportedly told investigators that she had been instructed to stay at a hotel in Semarang before meeting someone who would retrieve the crystal meth.





She allegedly received US$1500 for the job.





Boonyiam will be charged under the 2009 Narcotics Law, which carries a maximum penalty of death, Tri said.





He further said that Central Java had become a growing target market for drugs coming from Thailand.





On Oct. 13, 2016, BNN and customs personnel arrested a courier traveling from Bangkok who was caught with 180 grams of crystal meth hidden in the sole of his shoe.





On March 15, 2017, authorities confiscated 57 gr of meth sent through the post from Thailand.





The Central Java BNN revealed that in several joint operations, it had seized a total of 7.65 kg of crystal meth from 21 suspects between January and July.

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar WildeBAGHDAD, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces captured Wednesday a local leader of extremist Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, while an Iraqi court sentenced a prominent IS leader to death penalty.





Maj. Gen. Faisal al-Abadi, chief of Diyala's provincial police, told Xinhua that a joint force from police intelligence and Counter-Terrorism Service carried out an operation in Tabaj area in northeast of the provincial capital Baquba, some 65 km northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, and captured an IS leader and three of his aides.





The leader is responsible for movement of IS militants and suicide bombers in Himreen mountainous area which stretches on the provincial border between Diyala and its northern neighbor Kirkuk, al-Abadi said.





The captured leader was "emir" of IS responsible for applying the law of the extremist group in the town of Hawijah, but he ran away after the Iraqi forces liberated the areas in west of Kirkuk in October last year.





Despite repeated military operations in the Diyala province, remnants of IS militants are still hiding in some rugged areas near the border with Iran, and in the sprawling areas extending from the western part of the province to Himreen mountain range.





Meanwhile, Nineveh Criminal Court in Iraq's northern province of Nineveh issued a verdict of death penalty for an IS leader, known as al-Muhajir.





He was sentenced for his role in slaughtering civilians in the town of Sinjar, some 120 km west of Mosul, and fighting against the Iraqi security forces during the battles to liberate IS major stronghold in Mosul in 2017, Abdul Sattar al-Biraqdar, spokesman for Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council, said in a statement.





In another statement, Biraqdar said the Central Criminal Court in Baghdad issued two verdicts of life imprisonment for two terrorists for joining IS group and involvement in terrorist acts against civilians and Iraqi security forces.





On Dec. 9, 2017, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi officially declared full liberation of Iraq from the IS extremist group.

 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com



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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar WildeJapan has executed the remaining members of a cult behind the deadly 1995 Sarin attack on the Tokyo subway.





The six men were the last members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult on death row, and were executed on Thursday, the justice ministry said.





Seven others responsible for the attack, including leader Shoko Asahara, were put to death earlier this month.





The Sarin attack, Japan's worst terror incident, killed 13 people and injured thousands more.





The cult was accused of several other murders and an earlier Sarin gas attack in 1994 which killed eight and left 600 injured.





"The pain and anguish of the people who were killed and their families as well as of the survivors left with disabilities, was unimaginable," said justice minister Yoko Kamikawa at a news conference.









 Related content: Aum cult founder Asahara, 6 followers hanged Those put to death on Thursday included a key Aum Shinrikyo recruiter and cult members who released the nerve gas in train carriages, reported Japanese broadcaster NHK.





The execution of all 12 cult members involved in the attack as well as Asahara had been postponed until their final appeals were completed, which happened in January.





What was the Tokyo attack?





On 20 March 1995, cult members released Sarin on the subway in the Japanese capital.





Witnesses described noticing packages leaking some liquid and feeling stinging fumes hitting their eyes soon afterwards.





The toxin struck victims down in a matter of seconds, leaving them choking and vomiting, some blinded and paralysed. Thirteen people died.





Aum Shinrikyo, often shortened to Aum, believed that the end of the world was coming and that those outside the cult would go to hell - unless they were killed by cult members.





In the months after, members of the cult made several failed attempts to release hydrogen cyanide in various stations.





What is Aum Shinrikyo?





The cult, whose name means "supreme truth", began in the 1980s as a spiritual group mixing Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, later working in elements of apocalyptic Christian prophesies.





Cult leader Shoko Asahara declared himself to be both Christ and the first "enlightened one" since Buddha.





Aum Shinrikyo gained official status as a religious organisation in Japan in 1989 and picked up a sizeable global following.





The group gradually became a paranoid doomsday cult, convinced the world was about to end in a global war and that only they would survive.





The cult went underground after the 1995 attack, but did not disappear, renaming itself Aleph or Hikari no Wa.





Aum Shinrikyo is designated a terrorist organisation in the US and many other countries, but Aleph and Hikari no Wa are both legal in Japan, although designated as "dangerous religions" subject to surveillance.

Japan hangs all 6 remaining Aum death row inmates





The six  Satoru Hashimoto, Toru Toyoda, Kenichi Hirose, Yasuo Hayashi, Masato Yokoyama and Kazuaki Okazaki  were convicted of involvement in one or more of three crimes  the 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, another sarin attack in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, in 1994, and the murders of a lawyer, his wife and their baby son in 1989.





"I ordered the executions after giving it careful repeated consideration," said Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa, adding she gave the green light Tuesday.





"The suffering of the victims, bereaved families and those who survived are unimaginable," she said.





Asahara, the mastermind of the series of crimes committed by the cult, was executed along with six of his former followers on July 6, nearly 12 years after his death sentence was finalized by the Supreme Court in September 2006.









The crimes, which courts said were committed to further Asahara's bid to "control Japan in the name of salvation," resulted in the deaths of 29 people among a total of over 6,500 victims.





Japan has faced persistent international criticism for its death penalty.





The executions came at a time when the country is preparing for the abdication of Emperor Akihito in 2019, which will end the current Heisei era that started after Emperor Hirohito's death in 1989. With the cult's crimes being the deadliest terror attacks in the country during the era, the authorities decided to draw a line under them before the era comes to a close, according to sources.





Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference the justice minister "must have made the decision in light of upcoming schedules among various other factors."





Trials over the cult's crimes ended this January, meaning there was no need to keep the executions of the 13 on hold for trials of accomplices.





All 13 Aum death row inmates were initially kept at the Tokyo detention center, but seven of them were transferred to other facilities across the country in March, fanning speculation they could be executed anytime.









The order in which the inmates were executed apparently reflects ranks within the cult as the first group of inmates put to death were the leader and senior members who were described as ministers or secretaries in the cult, which adopted an organizational structure resembling the national government.





Lawyer Taro Takimoto, who was subjected to an Aum sarin attack, said the latest executions were "cruel," writing on his blog he wondered how the six executed Thursday must have felt during the 20 days since Asahara and the first six were hanged.





Japanese security authorities are stepping up vigilance and closely monitoring Aum's successor organizations  Aleph and two splinter groups.





Aum Shinrikyo evolved from a yoga school established by Asahara in 1984 and had about 1,400 live-in followers and over 10,000 lay followers at its height.





The doomsday cult also attracted over 30,000 other followers in Russia, which designated the group a terrorist organization in 2016. A senior member was arrested in Russia in May for recruiting others, indicating it is still active overseas.

Japanese justice ministers 16 execution orders the most since end of death penalty moratorium in 1993

With the hangings of six former members of the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult Thursday, Yoko Kamikawa became the justice minister who has ordered the most executions, 16, since Japan lifted its 40-month moratorium on the death penalty in 1993.





Thirteen of the 16 executed individuals were former members of the doomsday cult. Aum founder Shoko Asahara, who masterminded the 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway system and other heinous crimes, and six others were hanged earlier this month.





Kamikawa ordered one execution during her yearlong stint as justice minister from October 2014.





Since resuming the position in August last year, she has ordered two executions in December and 13 this month.





All of the orders were under the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.





Japan implemented a moratorium on the death penalty between November 1989 and March 1993 due to increasing international pressure to abolish capital punishment.





Justice Minister Masaharu Gotoda, during the administration of Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, lifted the moratorium and executions have taken place roughly every six months to a year since then.





Justice Minister Seiken Sugiura, a lawyer-turned-politician, did not greenlight any executions during his 11 months in office between October 2005 and September 2006 under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, citing his Buddhist beliefs.





His successor, Jinen Nagase, took the opposite approach and ordered executions for 10 death row inmates before he stepped down in August 2007.





Nagases successor Kunio Hatoyama further accelerated the pace of executions by carrying them out roughly every two months, sending 13 inmates to the gallows by the time he left office in August 2008.





The Asahi Shimbun daily dubbed him the Grim Reaper.





When the Democratic Party of Japan came to power after defeating the Liberal Democratic Party in a 2009 general election, the pace of executions slowed.





Nine death row inmates were hanged by justice ministers of DPJ administrations up until the LDP retook power in 2012.





Keiko Chiba, the first justice minister under the DPJ administration and a lawyer who belonged to an anti-death penalty parliamentarian group before assuming the post, initially took a cautious stance on executions, but eventually ordered hangings of two inmates in July 2010.





In an unusual move, she witnessed the executions and allowed members of the media to visit the execution chamber at the Tokyo Detention House the following month in a bid to stir public debate over the death penalty.





After the LDP came back to power in December 2012, justice ministers ordered executions periodically, with Sadakazu Tanigaki sending 11 inmates to the gallows, Mitsuhide Iwaki four and Katsutoshi Kaneda three.

6 remaining ex-AUM cult members on death row executed

TOKYO -- The Ministry of Justice announced on July 26 that the six remaining former members of the AUM Shinrikyo cult on death row over a series of terror and murder cases were executed the same day.





Their hangings followed the executions on July 6 of seven former cult members including leader Shoko Asahara, whose real name was Chizuo Matsumoto, over the same cases.





The latest executions, signed off by Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa, came as the last enforcement of criminal punishment on all 190 cult members and related individuals convicted in the terror cases, which included fatal attacks using the deadly sarin nerve gas by the cult on Tokyo's subway system in 1995. The terror cases and murders committed by the cult deeply shocked Japan.





Following the executions, Justice Minister Kamikawa told a press conference that the crimes committed by the ex-cultists were heinous and should never happen again. "I gave the (execution) orders after giving repeated careful considerations," she said.





It is extremely rare for the government to carry out executions on two occasions in a single month. The total number of executions approved by Kamikawa now stands at 16, including three she ordered during her previous tenure between October 2014 and October 2015.





The number is the highest among justice ministers since 1993, when executions were resumed following a suspension of three years and four months due to the stance of justice ministers during the period, among other reasons. The previous high was 13, held by the late former Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama.





Those executed on July 26 are the following, in the order of their death penalty finalized by court: Kazuaki Okasaki, 57, who had earlier changed his surname to Miyamae, at the Nagoya Detention Center; Masato Yokoyama, 54, at the same facility; Satoru Hashimoto, 51, at the Tokyo Detention Center; Yasuo Hayashi, 60, who had his surname changed to Koike, at a Sendai Detention Center branch; Toru Toyoda, 50, at the Tokyo Detention Center; and Kenichi Hirose, 54, at the same Tokyo facility.





The six death row inmates, like the seven former cult members executed earlier this month, committed at least one of the following three crimes: The murders of lawyer Tsutsumi Sakamoto, his wife and their baby son; the sarin attack in the central Japan city of Matsumoto in Nagano Prefecture; and the Tokyo subway attack. All of them were convicted and placed on death row from 2005 through 2009.





The 13 convicts had been held in the Tokyo Detention Center until seven of them, excluding Matsumoto, were moved to five other detention facilities nationwide in March this year.





According to the court rulings that were finalized and other sources, Okasaki, who was the first among the 13 to see his death sentence finalized, was involved in the Sakamoto murders. He later quit the cult and confessed to his crime.





Yokoyama, on the other hand, sprayed sarin gas in the subway attack but no one on the train car he deployed the deadly chemical died as a result. Hashimoto played a role in the lawyer's case and drove the car used to spray the nerve agent in the Matsumoto case.





Hayashi was involved in creating the car with the capability to spray sarin, and killed eight people in the subway attack using three bags of the poison. Toyoda and Hirose also sprayed sarin on the Hibiya and Marunouchi subway lines, each killing one person.





The latest executions mark the 14th application of the death penalty since the inauguration of the second Abe administration in December 2012, with 34 death row inmates executed in total.

Japan: 'unprecedented execution spree' continues as six more Aum cult members hanged

Japans recent spate of executions will not make the country safer, said Amnesty International, in reaction to the executions of a further six members of the religious cult Aum Shinrikyo (Aum) this morning (Thursday 26 July).





July has now seen 13 people executed for their involvement in the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, which killed 13 people and injured thousands more, as well as their involvement in other illegal activities. The last time Japan executed more than 10 people in a year was in 2008. It is also extremely rare for Japan to carry out two rounds of executions in the same month.





Hiroka Shoji, East Asia Researcher at Amnesty International, said:





This unprecedented execution spree, which has seen 13 people killed in a matter of weeks, does not leave Japanese society any safer. The hangings fail to address why people were drawn to a charismatic guru with dangerous ideas. The taking of a life in retribution is never the answer. It is high time for the Japanese authorities to establish an immediate moratorium on all executions and promote an informed debate on the death penalty as first steps towards its abolition.





The six people executed in the early hours of Thursday morning were: Satoru Hashimoto, Yasuo Koike (Hayashi), Kenichi Hirose, Kazuaki Okazaki (Miyamae), Toru Toyota, Masato Yokoyama. Four of those hanged had requests for a retrial pending.





Amnesty opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception regardless of the nature of the crime, the characteristics of the offender or the method used by the state to carry out the execution and has been campaigning for abolition of the death penalty for more than 40 years.

 | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com



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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar WildeThe Government today dismissed a warning by the European Union (EU) on implementing the death penalty.





Cabinet spokesman Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said the Government was not concerned over the possibility of losing the EU GSP Plus trade facility as a result of a decision to implement the death penalty on serious repeat offenders of drug smuggling.





Responding to a question posed at a media briefing today, Senaratne said that President Maithripala Sirisena is firm on the decision taken on the death penalty.





Asked if the Government was not concerned over the possibility of losing the EU GSP Plus trade facility once again, Senaratne said that the Government was not concerned and that it will go ahead with its decision.





Senaratne said the Police have identified 19 convicts and only these convicts who have been found to continue to engage in dug trafficking despite being in prison, will be sent to the gallows.





The President is firm that no matter what facility we lose the death penalty must be implemented on these convicts, he said.





The Delegation of the European Union, the missions of the EU Member States in Sri Lanka as well as the diplomatic missions of the Governments of Canada and Norway in Sri Lanka had recently written to President Maithripala Sirisena saying that they strongly and unequivocally oppose capital punishment in all circumstances and in all cases.





There were reports Sri Lanka may lose the EU GSP Plus facility if it goes ahead with the death penalty.





No execution have taken place in Sri Lanka since 1976.





Sri Lanka lost its preferential access to the EU market in 2010 after failing to meet its human rights commitments but regained access last year after the current Government made an appeal and assured it will meet the EU expectations.

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,

but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar WildeHubballi: In a direct reaction to Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's jibe at voters of north Karnataka, the North Karnataka Agitation Committee on Wednesday called for a shutdown across 13 districts to press for a separate state.

President of the committee, Somashekar Kotambari, told the media here the bandh would be a mark of protest against Chief Minister Mr Kumaraswamy's statement on whether local residents would be able to generate the revenue for completion of Upper Krishna Project (UKP) in case a separate state was formed.

All agitators would also protest in case elected representatives fail to support their demands. "The governments have been meting out step-motherly treatment to north Karnataka for seven decades. All these governments have failed to focus on overall development and neglected the region in all sectors including education, irrigation. They concentrated only on Bengaluru and southern parts of the state while setting up big industries and information technology firms.

Therefore, injustice can be resolved only after realising our dream to form separate state for the region", he added. Urging Mr Kumaraswamy to recommend to the Union government to carve a separate state for north Karnataka instead of raising questions over mobilization of funds for development of the region, he said various organizations would pressurize Kannada activists including Vatal Nagaraj to support their demand.

He said a committee would be constituted to gather the opinion of people of all thirteen districts in connection with the demand for separate statehood as the region had sufficient infrastructure including a bench of the high court, and Suvarna Soudha to run the administration after formation of separate state.

The other grouse was the state government's inability to resolve Mahadayi river water dispute. Various organisations are contending that the government has failed to take up major projects in north Karnataka and not allotted additional funds to restore balance in terms of development. They claimed that the irrigation projects like Upper Krishna Project, Kalasa Banduri did not get due attention in the Budget despite being the lifeline of farmers in the drought prone region.

Terming the governments' move to hold legislative session at Suvarna Soudha in Belagavi merely as an eyewash, leaders of several organizations said that no measures are taken to shift several departments from Vidhan Soudha make administrative machinery more accessible to the people of the region.

Meanwhile, several BJP leaders from North Karnataka have been protesting against the neglect of their region by the JD(S)-Congress coalition government and have even spoken in favour of a separate north Karnataka state.

B01The average forecast for Nokias second quarter operating profit is 373 million euros.

Telecom network equipment maker Nokia is expected to post another plunge in quarterly profits on Thursday ahead of an anticipated boost later this year from next-generation 5G networks.

The industry has struggled since demand for the current generation of 4G mobile equipment peaked in 2015, but the Finnish company has forecast 5G roll-outs will start later this year in the United States, followed in 2019 by renewed buying cycles in Japan and South Korea.

This should be the last weak quarter of this network market cycle, said Mikael Rautanen, an analyst at research firm Inderes, who has a buy rating on the stock.

Chief Executive Rajeev Suri is upbeat on the outlook for the second half: Almost all profit expectations for their network business are based on his words at the moment, Rautanen said.

Shares in the company were boosted last week as Swedish rival Ericsson posted an unexpected swing to a modest operating profit, citing growing 5G sales in North America. Nokia stock is up 30 per cent year-to-date.

Until now, Ericsson was more cautious than Nokia about the outlook, so this is encouraging, Rautanen said.

The average forecast for Nokias second-quarter operating profit is 373 million euros ($436 million), down 35 per cent from a year earlier, according to a Reuters poll of analysts.

Profits will suffer from investments it is making to prepare for upcoming 5G business, analysts said.

Sales in the network business, which makes around 90 per cent of Nokias revenue, are seen falling 8.6 per cent to 4.5 billion euros.

Rautanen said that the US trade ban on Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE may offer further help. Due to the ban, ZTE has lost a deal to upgrade radio equipment for Italys Wind Tre, which will use gear from Ericsson instead, sources said.

Although the ban has been lifted, operators are cautious... it is quite a risk for them if the vendor cant deliver what is needed, so this should be positive (for Nokia) in the short-term, he said, referring to possible additional contract wins.

The majority of Nokias bottom line in the second quarter is expected to come from its highly-profitable patent licensing business, which stems from the times Nokia was the worlds largest handset maker.

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.Vietnam must not become a dumping ground for other countries scrap, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has warned.

Authorities need to work in co-ordination to stop scrap from entering Vietnam and affecting the environment and peoples lives, he said at a meeting of the governments standing committee on importing scrap Wednesday.

They need to investigate the scrap containers that have entered the country without anyone accepting delivery so far and occupying huge space at ports, he said.

They need to take legal action against violations of environmental laws and illegal imports of scrap, he said.

They should not permit businesses to import scrap, he warned further.

The Prime Minister approved a proposal to issue a directive on controlling scrap imports, which will be an important legal basis for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to stop their imports.

Since China announced last year it would stop allowing imports of waste as part of its war on pollution Vietnamese experts and officials have been concerned this country could become the next dumping ground for the worlds scrap.

Over 900 Vietnamese firms import paper, plastic and metal scrap for use in manufacturing, according to Vietnam Customs.

In the first six months 8,000 containers of scrap arrived at Cat Lai port in Ho Chi Minh City, said its operator, Saigon Newport Corporation.

A third have remained at the port for over 90 days without anyone carrying out clearance procedures for them, it added.

This year Vietnam had imported 2.28 million tons of metal scrap for over $816 million as of June 15, an increase of 55 percent year-on-year, according to customs.Nguyen Manh Hung, 56, the new leader of Vietnam's information ministry. Photo courtesy of Viettel

Nguyen Manh Hung, acting Minister of Information and Communication, is a long-standing army man.

Hung was born on July 24, 1962 in Phu Tho Province, two hours northwest of Hanoi.

He graduated from the Military Technical Academy in 1979 and was selected by the Ministry of National Defense to pursue a bachelors degree in electronics and telecommunications in the Soviet Union in 1980.

Later, he obtained a Masters in telecommunications from the University of Sydney in Australia and another one in business administration from Vietnams National Economics University.

Hung was one of the first officers assigned to work at military telecom firm Viettel when the firm was established in 1989 under the name Sigelco.

He started as a technical assistant and went on to become deputy head, and later, head of the investment and development office in 1995.

In 2000, he was appointed as a deputy director of Viettel when it was still a company. He became deputy CEO of Viettel Group in 2010.

Two years later, he was promoted to the rank of Major General. In 2014, he replaced his retired predecessor as CEO of Viettel Group.

In 2016, he was voted to become a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam and assigned to be the first chairman of Viettel Group in June this year.

Through his 20 years at Viettel, Hung has contributed significantly to Vietnams leading telecom firm making successful forays to foreign countries, investing in Cambodia, Laos, East Timor, Haiti, Mozambique, Cameroon, Burundi, Tanzania, Myanmar and Peru.

Hung is also vice chairman of the Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Military Bank) and board member of the Vietnam Construction and Import-Export Corporation.Real estate giant shakes up market with yet another business

Vingroup has invested VND2.4 trillion ($103.2 million) in payment intermediary services firm VINID Joint Stock Company. Photo by Reuters

Vingroup has decided to make a foray into payments industry to take advantage of the many products and services it sells.

Vingroup has invested VND2.4 trillion ($103.2 million) for an 80 percent stake in payment intermediary services firm VINID Joint Stock Company, according to a statement on the National Business Registration Portal.

VINID, incorporated this week, has a charter capital of VND3 trillion ($129 million) and its other two founding shareholders are Hanoi-based VICARE Corporation (19 percent) and a person named Nguyen Minh Hong (1 percent).

VINID sought to operate in 12 different areas of business, and received a registration certificate from the Hanoi Department of Planning and Investment.

The payment services business must wait for State Bank of Vietnam permission, but the company has indicated it intends to begin as soon as it gets the green light.

VINID is running Vingroups customer loyalty program, issuing VinID cards to customers of all of Vingroups subsidiaries.

The firm takes care of four million card holders, Pham Nhat Vuong, chairman of Vingroup, told the 2018 annual general meeting held in May.

The entry into the payments industry is meant to take advantage of Vingroups huge range of products, the company stated.

The entry into payments comes on the heels of a slew of announcements the company has made about new business plans this year.

In June Vingroup had said it would make electronic goods with the Vsmart brand of smartphones getting priority.

It has set up VinSmart company with a charter capital of VND3 trillion ($129 million) to produce smart electronic products including phones and carry out R&D into artificial intelligence, automation, and next-generation materials.

It will build a plant at the Dinh Vu  Cat Hai Economic Zone in the northern port city of Hai Phong.

In April Vingroup revealed plans to enter the pharmaceutical industry and set up a medical research and production facility in the northern province of Bac Ninh.

It would invest VND2.2 trillion ($94.6 million) in the first phase of the project, the company said.

Vingroup is the largest listed company in the Vietnamese stock market with its market capitalization reaching $13.62 billion, the group stated on its website in April.

Last year it raked in net revenues of VND89.350 trillion ($3.84 billion), a 55.1 percent increase year-on-year.Administrative reform has made much headway in Vietnam, but it is still to catch up with advanced countries, experts say.

At the National Single Window (NSW) and ASEAN Single Window (ASW) conference recently held in Hanoi, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue cited a World Bank report on the gains Vietnam has made with its admin reforms so far.

These included a $19 drop in the average customs clearing charges per shipment, he said, noting that by the end of 2017, Vietnam had saved $205 million in 10.81 million paperwork applications, as well as 15 million and 33 million hours in export and import paper-work respectively.

Nguyen Dinh Cung, director of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), noted that the reforms were still distant from targets set by the nation, and there is still a big gap compared to other countries.

Cung said some product categories have to face two to three inspection rounds within the same department or ministry.

The Ministry of Finance admitted at the meeting that Vietnam was still far behind in achieving an NSW. Ministries have only completed 53 out of 283 protocols required for this to happen, it added.

Businesses and independent surveyors also reported that when filling out paperwork, enterprises were still being asked to send documents electronically and as hard-copies. Furthermore, the lack of information sharing between departments led to overlaps and loss of time.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc set a specific minimum target of completing 130 protocols for the NSW by the end of this year.

Phuc also set other targets  keeping the amount of shipments required to pass inspections below 15 percent, and cutting the amount of products in the specialized management and management categories by 50 percent.The 26 Vietnamese people trapped in the aftermath of the dam collapse in Laos have been airlifted to safety.

The 24 employees of a subsidiary of the Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) group, and their two children, suffered no injury during their two-day ordeal and are in stable condition.

They are set to return to Vietnam on Thursday.

The rescue operation, which used helicopters, was organized by HAGL on Wednesday afternoon.

A helicopter team who joined the rescue of Hoang Anh Gia Lai workers trapped after the Laos dam collapse on Wednesday. Photo by VnExpress/A Hoa

The 26 people had been stranded on a hill in the rubber plantation cultivated by their company since Monday night when a hydropower dam just 600 meters away collapsed in Laos' southeastern province of Attapeu.

The workers said theyd just returned to their tents on top of the hill after work on Monday afternoon when they heard thundering sounds and saw raging waters sweeping trees away right under them.

"We knew immediately that it was a dam breach. We panicked. Many of us started to cry, said Nguyen Van Hai, deputy director of the plantation that was set up two years ago.

The workers said there were heavy rains several days earlier. We did not imagine that the dam would break because it was new and looked firm, one of them said.

They had enough food while they were stranded, but the spirit was low, Hai said.

Some of the Vietnamese workers who have been rescued from the dam collapse zone in Laos. Photo by VnExpress/A Hoa

Meanwhile, Lao authorities have found 26 bodies and listed 131 people as missing. 17 injured people have been hospitalized and over 3,000 are believed to be trapped amidst the floods triggered by the dams collapse.

Theres been no report of Vietnamese casualties and none of the missing are from Vietnam, according to Laos authorities.

Vietnams agriculture officials have warned that the incident could send water level in the border province An Giang to rise seven to 10 centimeters this weekend.

The dam is part of a hydropower project being built by the Vientiane-based Xe Pian Xe Namnoy Power Company, or PNPC, a joint venture between Laos, Thailand and South Korea formed in 2012.

Work on the $1.02 billion dam had started in February 2013 and was scheduled to be completed later this year.

The 410MW hydropower plant was to export 90 percent of its electricity output to Thailand, and send 10 percent to the national grid in Laos.A military training aircraft crashed in Nghe An Province at noon on Thursday, killing both pilots on board.

Smoke is seen from afar after a Su-22 fighter aircraft of Vietnam Air Force crashed in the central province of Nghe An on Thursday. Photo acquired by VnExpress

The Su-22 fighter aircraft departed at 11:06 a.m. on Thursday on a training flight from the Sao Vang Airport in Thanh Hoa Province.

It lost contact at 11:35 a.m. and crashed in the neighboring Nghe An Provinces Nghia Yen Commune in Nghia Dan District.

The two pilots on board were Lieutenant Colonel Khuat Manh Tri, 40, and Senior Lieutenant-Colonel Pham Giang Nam, 46.

The jet, operated by Vietnam Air Force's Regiment 921, shattered into many pieces, said Hoang Van Phuc, Chairman of Nghia Yen.

Local authorities and forces from the Ministry of National Defense have cordoned off the accident site, 300 kilometers (186 miles) south of the capital city of Hanoi, for further investigation.

Vietnam has used Su-22 fighter, made by the Soviet Union, since the 1970s.

From 1989 onwards, these planes have been used for patrolling the area around Spratly Islands in the East Sea, which is known internationally as the South China Sea.

A search team walks into the jungle in Nghe An after a military plane crashed on Thursday. Photo acquired by VnExpress

Many accidents

Vietnam's military airforce reported multiple deadly crashes in recent years, including at least two incidents in 2016 in which four military members were killed.

In June 2015, Vietnams Air Defense suffered a double loss in just one week. A Su-30MK2 Vietnamese fighter crashed off Nghe An and only one of the two pilots made it out alive. Two days later, a CASA aircraft went missing while searching for the plane, and nine people on board were later found dead.

In January 2015, four people were killed when a Vietnamese military helicopter crashed minutes after it took off from Ho Chi Minh City. In July 2014, 19 people died and two others were injured when a Russian-made Mi-171 chopper crashed in Hanoi during a training exercise.

In 2008, five Vietnamese air force officers were killed when their twin-engine light transport aircraft crashed on the outskirts of Hanoi.(From L) Pham Thi My Linh, Nguyen Thi Dao and Pham Nhu Huynh at the court in Ho Chi Minh City on July 25. Photo by VnExpress/Vu Doan

The owner of a kindergarten in Ho Chi Minh City will spend three years in jail for violence meted out to 24 children.

A court in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday ruled that Pham Thi My Linh and her two assistants at the Mam Xanh (Green Buds) Daycare Center in District 12 had violated the dignity and health of the children, caused public outrage, dishonored the image of teachers in general and undermined the child protection policy of the country.

The court also made Linh, a trained preschool educator, pay VND800 million ($34,466) in compensation to the childrens families.

The two untrained assistants, Pham Nhu Huynh, 22, and Nguyen Thi Dao, 24, were given suspended sentences of 1.5 years and two years, respectively.

The indictment against the three women said they shared tasks in taking care of 30-40 children aged between three and five, whose parents mostly work in factories in the area.

Linh opened the daycare center in 2016.

Between October and November last year, the three regularly slapped, kicked, punched and beat the children with anything close to hand, including a knife, and forced them to put stacks of plastic stools on their heads.

Medical examinations found two of the children, aged 5 and 2, suffering intellectual disabilities.

Linh and Huynh accepted their wrongdoing, while Dao told the court that it was Linh who told her to beat the children.

The abuse came to light last November when the Tuoi Tre newspaper published video footage of the beatings, which quickly went viral online.

Police subsequently arrested Linh and shut down her center, while Dao and Quynh were placed under house arrest.

Child abuse at nurseries is not uncommon in Vietnam, but criminal charges are rarely brought against the culprits.

In a rare case, a court in the southern province of Kien Giang sentenced two babysitters to three years in jail in January 2014 for torturing children at an unlicensed private nursery.

The same year, a babysitter in Saigon received an 18-year jail sentence for killing a baby because she couldnt stop him crying. She escaped the death sentence because she was under 18 at the time.

According to government data, every year, more than 2,000 children in Vietnam suffer serious abuse requiring special assistance and intervention.A Vietnamese American woman has been found guilty of murder and arson after two firefighters died in a Kansas City fire in 2015.

A judge in Kansas City, Missouri, agreed with the prosecutions charge that Nguyen Thu Hong, 46, she had deliberately set fire to her own nail salon.

The ensuing blaze took the lives of 43-year-old Larry Leggio and 39-year-old John Mesh and seriously injured two others.

Hong can be punished by up to 30 years in jail for her offense, the Kansas City Star reported on Monday. Sentencing has been set for September 14.

Prosecutors argued that Hong had intentionally lit the fire by pouring flammable liquids into a storeroom in her salon on October 12, 2015. The two firefighters who died were among 100 people sent to the three-storied building to put out the blaze.

They died after a wall of the burning building collapsed.

Prosecutors said Hong had a previous record of burning a nail salon she operated for the purpose of receiving insurance money.Bags of cocaine are discovered in a scrap shipment to Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. Photo by VnExpress/Truong Ha

Authorities are investigating a cocaine haul worth around $35 million from a scrap steel shipment in southern Vietnam.

Customs officers at the Tan Cang Cai Mep-Thi Vai Port in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau found a 17-container shipment suspicious and decided to carry out a thorough inspection on Tuesday.

Inside one of the containers, they found four large sacks containing 119 kilograms (262 pounds) of a white powder among the scrap steel.

Tests found that the powder was high-quality cocaine, putting the total value of the haul at VND700-800 billion ($30.2-34.5 million).

According to logs, the Liberia-flagged cargo ship, Mark Shenzhen, which transported the scrap steel shipment, began its voyage from Trinidad and Tobago two months ago and docked in Panama for half a month before arriving in China on July 15.

The ship then berthed at the Tan Cang Cai Mep-Thi Vai Port on Tuesday morning, where it unloaded the scrap steel containers before leaving for Singapore immediately afterwards.

Authorities have identified the shipment's owner as Singaporean company Stamcorp International Pte. Ltd. and its recipient as local firm Pomina Steel 2. The seal on the container, however, did not match documents provided by the shipment's owner.

In a press release issued on Wednesday, Pomina Steel JSC. confirmed that its subsidiary Pomina Steel 2 had signed a contract to buy 355 tons of scrap steel from Stamcorp International but denied any knowledge of the cocaine.

The company stressed that it "does not import prohibited goods" and said it is working with the shipment's owner and the authorities to clarify this issue.

Ba Ria-Vung Tau police have said that this is the largest-ever drug haul in the province.

Vietnam has some of the worlds toughest drug laws. Those convicted of possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or cocaine or more than 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine could face the death penalty. The production or sale of 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal narcotics is also punishable by death.Before adopting a new pet, guests have to fill out some basic information and sign off on vaccination and sterilization paperwork. We believe that people genuinely want to adopt these cats, so we ask them fill out forms to prevent them from selling or eating them, Minh said.At the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School for boys, students can practice driving military vehicles on a simulator -- one room is crammed with small arms, another holds a tank with moving caterpillar tracks, and shooting is a key subject. Photos by AFP

Well beyond the Kim family, the top echelons of North Korean society are a self-perpetuating ruling class.

Not many schools have classrooms equipped with tanks, jet fighter simulators, and grenade launchers. But North Korea's Mangyongdae Revolutionary School for boys is no ordinary establishment.

Originally set up by the North's founder Kim Il Sung to educate the orphans of those killed in the fight against Japanese colonial rule, it has evolved to become the country's top school, and one of the institutions that knits the ruling elite together.

A bronze statue of Kim and his son and successor Kim Jong Il - an old boy - embracing pupils overlooks the playing field, and the corridors are lined with weapons identification posters.

One room is crammed with small arms, another holds a tank with moving caterpillar tracks, and shooting is a key subject, with training taking place on an electronic range.

The 1,000 shaven-headed boys wear a military-style uniform said to have been designed by the senior Kim's wife Kang Pan Sok, a red line down their trousers symbolising their devotion to the cause of revolution.

After graduating they will all go into the military, a key part of the nuclear-armed North Korean state - Kim Jong Il espoused a "military first" philosophy and current leader Kim Jong Un, the third of the dynasty to rule, regularly appears flanked by officers on one side and officials on the other.

A bronze statue of Kim and his son and successor Kim Jong Il - an old boy - embracing pupils overlooks the playing field, and the corridors are lined with weapons identification posters.

There are six 45-minute classes a day, with half the curriculum devoted to politics and ideology, almost a quarter on military subjects, and the rest for traditional academic disciplines.

Afternoons are reserved for physical activities, with the boys screaming shouts of encouragement in the weights room of the well-equipped gym or performing impressive topless taekwondo tumbles.

They also regularly clean and maintain the nearby estate where Kim Il Sung was born, now a major pilgrimage site and the origin of the school's name.

A separate girls' school named after Kang Pan Sok stands in the Pyongyang suburb of Chilgol, where she was born.

'Fatherland and people'

A separate girls' school named after North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung's wife Kang Pan Sok stands in the Pyongyang suburb of Chilgol, where she was born.

The schools are a Kim family project: the North's founder visited 118 times, his wife 62 times, their son 94 times, and Kim Jong Un - who was educated in Switzerland himself - has been six times so far.

"The Supreme Leader comrade Kim Jong Un is the true parent of all our revolutionary schoolchildren," says Lieutenant Choe Su Gyong, a guide to the Mangyongdae school museum, where pictures show Zairean dictator Mobutu Sese Seko and Romania's Nicolae Ceausescu visiting, and Benin president Mathieu Kerekou, whose sons attended for six years.

The exhibits include a rifle held up by Kim Il Sung on one of his trips, whom Choe quoted as saying: "The sons and daughters of the revolutionaries have to grow into flowers of the revolution, following in their parents' footsteps."

With the Japanese colonial period now decades in the past, entry to the school has been broadened to those who have at least one parent or grandparent deemed to have been a loyal servant of the state.

"We choose the sons and daughters of the patriots who fought for the party and government and country and fatherland and people," said Senior Colonel Kim Yong Ho, the school's deputy education department director.

The resulting networks of friendships and influence can last a lifetime. As well as Kim Jong Il, the school's graduates include Yon Hyong Muk, the North's premier in 1988-92.

Ruling elite

The schools are a Kim family project: the North's founder visited 118 times, his wife 62 times, their son 94 times, and Kim Jong Un - who was educated in Switzerland himself - has been six times so far

Well beyond the Kim family, the top echelons of North Korean society are a self-perpetuating ruling class.

"The North Korean elite is remarkably closed to outsiders, it is hereditary to a degree which would be inconceivable in any other communist country," said Andrei Lankov of Korea Risk Group.

"The majority of North Korean top officials are children of top officials."

Pyongyang proclaims its citizens as equals but classifies them by socio-political background according to a detailed and hereditary system known as songbun, with loyalty to the authorities a crucial factor - those whose ancestors were capitalists or collaborated with the Japanese rank low.

Only those with good songbun can expect to secure a place at a top university or permission to live in Pyongyang, although the advent of private business is now opening up opportunities for others.

When the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School was founded in the early days of the Democratic People's Republic, it copied the Soviet Union's Suvorov military schools for veterans' orphans.

Afternoons at the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School outside Pyongyang are reserved for physical activities, with the boys screaming shouts of encouragement in the weights room of the well-equipped gym or performing impressive topless taekwondo tumbles.

At the time there were four main factions in the ruling Workers' Party - the partisans who had fought alongside Kim Il Sung, domestic Communists, those who had been exiled in China, and Soviet Koreans.

A series of purges left Kim's trusted comrades-in-arms as the unquestioned top flight.

"Then the function of the school changed," said Lankov, attributing its prominence to "the militarisation of North Korean society in the 1960s and emergence of the quasi-religious cults of the guerrillas who are essentially presented as apostles to Kim the Great."

Even so its appeal may be waning for the next generation, he added.

"The great-grandchildren of tough and rustic guerrillas have grown spoiled and do not appreciate the tough and simple values of their forebears," he said.

"They would prefer study foreign languages and computer programming, rather than handguns and ways of killing a human with only a short knife."

But Senior Colonel Kim has no doubts.

"We have to educate our schoolboys as the hard core of the Korean People's Army," he said.The developer quit the firm after being asked to turn over the profit from using company property

The CEO of Russian e-payments firm Qiwi said Wednesday that an employee used its payment terminals to mine 500,000 bitcoins in 2011.

CEO Sergey Solonin told the story while speaking to students at the Moscow Advanced Communications School. Solonin  whose company has thrown its weight behind the Russian government's work with blockchain and launched its own blockchain subsidiary in March of last year  said the experience was what first introduced him to the concept, according to a transcript published on the website Rusbase, reports Coindesk.

Solonin said he discovered that one of his developers had hijacked the company's hardware to mine bitcoin when the machines were not in use. Moreover, he found that the developer had made roughly $5 million over the course of a few months  a great deal more than the company had seen in profit from the machines.

He explained: "I thought 'what a crazy stuff,' we're struggling to earn 3 cents on those terminals and such a gold mine is actually hidden here."

Read alsoNo license required in Ukraine for cryptocurrency mining

The developer quit the firm after being asked to turn over the profit from using company property, Solonin added. While he told his remaining employees to continue mining, the network difficulty had become too great for Qiwi's hardware to handle.

Qiwi refused to disclose the name of the developer to the Russian newspaper Vedomosty, which confirmed the story with the press office.

As Solonin told the website The Bell, his understanding is that the employee in question went on to lose all their coins at a now-failed cryptocurrency exchange.In the coming weeks, several states will exempt customers from sales tax on certain items during tax holidays. Ever since Ohio and Michigan created automobile tax exemptions in 1980, states have tried to boost consumption by temporarily removing the sales tax on specific products. While customers are eager for the deals, a new Tax Foundation report by Joseph Bishop-Henchman and Scott Drenkard illuminates how tax holidays disrupt the market and promote cronyism without providing any long-term economic benefits.

The end of summer is the prime time for these holidays. Tennessee will have a tax-free weekend from July 27th through July 29th, while Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Virginia will have Back to School tax holidays from August 3rd through August 5th. In total, 17 states have designated certain days as sales tax holidays this year.

State politicians tout these carve-outs as opportunities for low-income families to purchase seasonal goods, such as school and storm supplies, at reduced rates. A study by Professors Justin M. Ross and Felipe Lozano-Rojas of Indiana University, however, found that more than half of tax savings went to households with income above $50,000 per year. If policymakers are looking to ease the plight of the impoverished, there are surely more effective ways to do so.

Consumption may seem to increase during tax holidays, but the Tax Foundation report reveals these increases are mostly illusory. A 2017 study from the Federal Reserve found that timing of purchases is significantly altered when consumers are presented with tax holidays. Customers rush to stock up on durable goods such as furniture and appliances that they would have otherwise purchased at a later date, distorting shopping patterns. Consequently, stores have to deal with lower sales for the rest of the year.

The flawed logic of tax holidays is similar to that of the Cash for Clunkers program undertaken during the Obama Administration. Under that policy, vouchers were given to individuals who sold old cars and replaced them with new, fuel-efficient models during a two-month period. A study by Professors Mark Hoekstra and Steven L. Puller of Texas A&M and Professor Jeremy West of MIT concluded that, even without the subsidy, all purchasers would have bought a new car within eight months of the sale anyway. Since demand did not change in the long run, economic benefits were negligible, while program costs totaled $3 billion .

The Tax Foundation report emphasizes how irregular patterns of spending hurt both consumers and businesses. The sales tax reprieve drives up demand among consumers, but if stores do not respond with an equivalent supply increase, a shortage will ensue. Projecting how much inventory to keep in stock and how many temporary employees to hire, however, is difficult. Businesses could also compensate with an increase in pre-tax prices to bring demand back to equilibrium. That increase, however, would disproportionally push low-income consumers out of the market, once again highlighting the potential pitfalls of a tax holiday.

A more effective solution would be to permanently decrease the sales tax so that consumers can spend more throughout the entire year. States that have no sales tax are more attractive to out-of-state customers. Counties bordering the Connecticut River in Vermont and New Hampshire, for instance, had identical per capita sales until New Hampshire repealed its sales tax, at which point it saw per capita sales triple.

Ending tax holidays would also reduce cronyism. Currently, businesses lobby government to make their products tax-exempt while maintaining restrictions on their competition, leading to absurd discrepancies. During Virginias tax holiday, customers must pay sales tax on masking tape and wigs but not on duct tape and costumes. In Wisconsin, tax holiday shoppers are exempt from paying sales tax on scissors but not staplers. By creating lists of eligible items, states are favoring one product over another and opening the door to corporate welfare and favoritism.

Recognizing the numerous flaws of this temporary gimmick, some states have suspended the practice altogether. Citing $70 million per year in lost revenue, Georgia eliminated tax holidays last year. A few weeks ago, Louisiana followed suit by reducing the state sales tax from 5 percent to 4.45 percent while simultaneously canceling future tax holidays.

Other states would be wise to follow their lead. Though tax reductions are generally beneficial, these holidays are mirages. Lawmakers should consider cutting taxes to promote economic growth  but only celebrate once the reductions are permanent.

Stephen Vukovits is a contributor to Economics 21. Follow him on Twitter @svukovits.

Interested in real economic insights? Want to stay ahead of the competition? Each weekday morning, E21 delivers a short email that includes E21 exclusive commentaries and the latest market news and updates from Washington. Sign up for the E21 Morning Ebrief.Ameriabank and HSBC Armenia to provide their customers access to each others ATMs without additional fees

Ameriabank. 62.5% Growth in Taxes YOY

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans have provided 300 million AMD to overcome the infertility in Armenia

UCOM has officially launched the sale of IPHONE 13

Six servicemen were wounded by the attack of the Azerbaijani armed forces in Artsakh, two of them in critical condition

S&P Improved the Outlook on Ameriabank to Positive

Ararat Mirzoyan to visit to Minsk

Foreign Minister of India visits the Memorial of Armenian Genocide

1217 new cases

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group

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

Google Ad

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

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Will Robert Kocharyan be interrogated? (video)

Before the government session, head of the SIS Sasun Khachatryan touched upon the topic of whether there will be an interview with the head of the investigation group of March 1 case Vahagn Harutyunyan: "If there is a necessity in a criminal case, if he is considered guilty, he will certainly be held accountable." He noted that body conducting the proceedings will decide whether to videotape Robert Kocharyan's interrogation: "The video is part of the criminal case. If it is even recorded, it does not mean that it will be publicized. It will be attached to the criminal case. Yes, we have a decision to record it." assured him To the question why the name of the new head of the March 1 case is kept secret, Sasun Khachatryan assured that it is not a secret: "He is one of our investigators. The name is not disclosed to avoid excessive attention." The SIS Head did not answer whether Robert Kocharyan is going to the interrogation today, and nor he said who is going to interview the 2nd President.Trouble is, as this column has been arguing, Canberra has to rediscover the value of independent media as a foreign policy instrument. And the ABC, too, has to rediscover its history and confront its failure to meet the international dimensions of its charter.

Well tested by history, with a proud heritage of great journalism and a wonderfully prescient charter, that instrument is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Simple as ABC, really.

Australia frets about threats to the rules-based system as the tectonic plates of geopolitics and geo-economics crunch. Luckily for Canberra, amid all the disruption, theres a perfect media instrument ready to serve as Australias voice in the AsiaPacific, to do journalism thatll serve our interests and values.

CANBERRA - The wrack and roil afflicting the international system matches the digital disruption of news media. The rules and norms of the foreign policy game and media world both shake, shift and suffer.

To explain, come into my anecdotage, in a previous life as an ABC correspondent. Two decades agomany cycles back in the media revolutiona sardonic line rattled around ABC executive ranks: A peasant in Longreach is more important than a peasant in Lombok.

The bitter point of the comparisoncentral Queensland versus an Indonesian islandwas that the ABC must devote scarce cash to its domestic users, not its potential international audience. When the ABC took the axe to its shortwave service to the South Pacific last year, it simply underlined the corporate view that Longreach is more important than Lautoka or Lae.

Money choices are always an excruciating expression of whats most important. And the repeated tough fate of the ABCs international effort shows that its a low priority, allowed to wither. Canberra and Aunty are equally culpable for this wastage.

The ABCs international TV was chopped and changed, treated as a government plaything. The shortwave service, Radio Australia, suffered because it was seen as old technology, weighed down by Cold War historya recipe for institutional starvation. RA kept paying a postCold War peace dividend as it was cut to pieces.

Times shift and the need for our international media voice suddenly looks timely. Power politics zoom back, the digital revolution rages and Australias foreign policy dilemmas demand that the ABC get back into the international journalism game, bigger and better.

Three distinct decision strands need to combine for the back-bigger-and-better conclusion to be realised. Strands one and two reside in Canberra.

First, there has to be political and policy consensus that the international tectonic plates are crunching, that the erupting lava is melting the rules-based system. Theres policy agreement about how nasty things are looking: expressed in the 2016 defence white paper, the 2017 independent intelligence review and the 2017 foreign policy white paper.

The LiberalLabor unity ticket on foreign policy is substantial. As always, argument rages about whether the government or opposition will do a better job on China or the US alliance or in the South Pacific.

Whats not in dispute is the importance of the issues and the troubling trends. Beneath the usual political argy-bargy is a broader consensus, based on a shared sense of foreboding.

The second strand is the tough bit: the shift from description to prescription, from anxiety to action. What can/should/must we do? This series of columns is built around the review of Australias media reach in the AsiaPacific, arguing that hard news must be the sharp edge of Oz soft power.

A strong Oz voice in the AsiaPacific, based on the ABC, is one part of the answer to the challenge of fundamental changes in the international system, extremism with global reach and accelerating technological change.

The broadcasting review is the chance to move from the agreed description of problems in strand one to a new Canberra consensus on the use of the ABC in support of our interests and values in the South Pacific, Southeast Asia and beyond.

Lots more cash is needed to rebuild a powerful and consistent broadcasting voice, to rejoin regional conversations and contests. Tough international times demand good journalism, just as they require steady political attention, economic engagement of every kind, smart diplomacy, good aid, effective intelligence and a strong defence strategy.

Canberra has to agree on the prescription, set the policy response and do the budget numbers for a sustained media commitment.

And that brings us to strand three: how the ABC needs to change. The past two decades show that the ABC will always choose Longreach. Its a logical ABC response; its priorities are domestic, not international. Yet it fails to serve our interests and values beyond our shores. We need a future ABC that can always do what Australia needs for Lombok and Lautoka and Lae.

In my submission to the broadcasting review, Ill be arguing that the solution is to resolve the domesticinternational tensions inherent in the demands of the ABC charter. The international responsibility must be more than a declining division of the ABCit must become a new planet in the Australian policy universe. The new planet must be created by the ABC and draw on its values as well as its resources. To focus exclusively on the international job will require a new corporation.

The new entity should be called the Australian International Broadcasting Corporation. The AIBC would have its own chair and board and its own separate budget, meeting the special responsibility for international broadcasting demanded by the ABCs charter.President Sarkissian meets with graduates of class 2018 of Leadership School

Today, President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian met with graduates of class 2018 of the Leadership School. The students had a frank conversation with the president, and discussed prospects of the countrys development, existing challenges, issues concerning the Diaspora and much more. Sarkissian said that having a vision of development of the state is very significant. We must develop not only our vision, but also understand in which direction and in what way will the world develop in the future 20-30 years, and where will we stand in this process. In line with the vision, we must have a plan which will clearly mention the areas providing progress, and we must maximally encourage the development of these areas, the president said. Sarkissian emphasized the role of the younger generation as leaders of tomorrow, and attached importance to their potential, urging the youth to have active participation in the development of the country.Ameriabank and HSBC Armenia to provide their customers access to each others ATMs without additional fees

Ameriabank. 62.5% Growth in Taxes YOY

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans have provided 300 million AMD to overcome the infertility in Armenia

UCOM has officially launched the sale of IPHONE 13

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Six servicemen were wounded by the attack of the Azerbaijani armed forces in Artsakh, two of them in critical condition

S&P Improved the Outlook on Ameriabank to Positive

Ararat Mirzoyan to visit to Minsk

Foreign Minister of India visits the Memorial of Armenian Genocide

1217 new cases

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group

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"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

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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

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National joint-stock company Naftogaz Ukrainy has said that RGC (Regional Gas Company) is trying to divert public attention from illegal gas pumping by companies that are part of the group.

"The statements of the RGC about the nature of searches carried out by law enforcers in the office of this company allegedly ordered by Naftogaz are provocative and are designed to divert public attention from gas thefts by companies belonging to the Regional Gas Company," the press service of Naftogaz said on Wednesday.

Naftogaz reminded that from August 1, 2018, the new edition of the Gas Transportation System Code, approved by the previous staff of the National Commission for Energy and Housing Utilities Services Regulation (NCER), without taking into account the proposals of Ukrtransgaz, should come into force. "There are good reasons to believe that the creation of this code involved lawyers working for the oligarch Dmytro Firtash, the real owner of the RGC," Naftogaz said.

Naftogaz said that the code in its current version "is designed to consolidate both the monopoly of regional gas companies in regional markets and the opportunity for them of being engaged in unauthorized gas pumping, that is, stealing gas, with impunity."

"Naftogaz consistently advocates the early introduction of daily gas balancing in Ukraine, but based on European principles of transparency and ensuring the interests of all market participants. The introduction of daily balancing, based on the existing code of the gas transit system, created to satisfy the interests of regional gas companies, will only lead to the legalization of the schemes of gas theft and discredits the very idea of creating a transparent and efficient gas market in Ukraine," Naftogaz said.

The RGC Group manages about 20 gas distributing companies throughout Ukraine.The government of Ukraine has approved the issue of UAH 28 million (about $1 million) from the reserve fund of the national budget to the State Space Agency to pay the costs of Ukrkosmos state enterprise for a judicial settlement in the London Court of International Arbitration of a dispute with Canadian MDA within the project of creating and launching a satellite of the national satellite communication system Lybid.

The draft cabinet resolution, prepared by the Ukrainian space agency, was approved at a government meeting without discussion.

In accordance with the order, funds are allocated from the reserve fund on a return basis and must be returned to the national budget before December 25, 2027.

The State Space Agency must submit a report on the use of funds to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, the Ministry of Finance and the State Treasury Service by December 25 of the current year.

According to an explanatory note to the draft document available to Interfax-Ukraine, on February 26, 2018 Ukrkosmos filed a lawsuit to the London Court of International Arbitration against Canadian MDA in connection with the unreasonable attempt of the Canadian company to unilaterally break the contract, signed in 2010, for the creation and launch of the satellite of the national satellite communication system Lybid. The litigation of the dispute with MDA in the London Court of International Arbitration is stipulated by the terms of the contract. The Ukrainian side requires MDA to return more than $224 million transferred to it from the national budget for the project implementation.The International Finance Corporation (IFC) could enter the capital of Ukrgasbank (Kyiv) by the end of the year, Acting Minister of Finance Oksana Markarova has reported.

"I think that the entry of the International Finance Corporation into Ukrgasbank could take place by the end of the year. Today the bank has fulfilled all the terms of the memorandum and the roadmap, and all the requirements from the political point of view have been fulfilled. The only thing left is to renew supervisory council members in line with the IFC's comments. And immediately after this, in autumn, we will agree on the decision on the IFC's joining the bank," she said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

Markarova also reported that the EBRD intends to buy a stake in state-controlled Oschadbank (Kyiv).

"The same thing with Oschadbank and the EBRD. This process is restrained by only one thing - the exclusion of the bank from the list of companies banned for privatization. I hope that the Verkhovna Rada will support us with this change. Afterwards we will move actively enough. Suma Chakrabarti at a meeting in London once again confirmed the interest of the bank. If in September the parliament allows the EBRD to acquire a minor stake in Oschadbank, then perhaps we will have time to do it by the end of the year," she said.

Markarova also reported that at present the issues of assessing the problem portfolio of state-owned banks are being discussed with potential partners.The Criminal Investigation (CI) division of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service is ready to provide the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine with information about Ukrainian officials who are involved in smuggling, Spokesperson of the State Fiscal Service Natalia Nepriakhina has said.

"And again about the CI division of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service... They are ready to provide the State Fiscal Service with operational information about officials, as well as affiliated companies that are engaged in smuggling," Nepriakhina wrote in the Facebook social network, describing the first results of the official visit of acting Head of the State Fiscal Service Myroslav Prodan to Washington.

She said that the branches of the CI division work not only in the United States, but also in Europe - Frankfurt and London, interacting with Europol, as well as in Asia and Australia.

"Therefore, they have information about the illegal operations of companies affiliated with officials and politicians at different levels," she added.Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has thanked the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump for not recognizing the Kremlin's attempt to annex the Ukrainian Crimea and urged Ukraine's partners to support the "Crimea Declaration."

"I welcome Washington's historic statement on the non-recognition of an attempt by the Russian aggressor to annex the Ukrainian Crimea. It is a decent response to the Kremlin's hybrid provocations after the Helsinki meeting. I am sincerely grateful to the Presidential Administration of Donald J. Trump for the uncompromising position to support the territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders," Poroshenko wrote on his Facebook page on Wednesday evening.

He said that this statement by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo "will finally deprive Kremlin of its imperial illusions."

"Regardless of the passage of time, armed occupation and illegal annexation of a part of a sovereign state will only end in one way - with the liberation of the occupied territory, restoration of territorial integrity and compensation for all damage caused by the aggressor," the report says.

Poroshenko noted that a common strategy is to move from the policy of non-recognition to the de-occupation policy.

"With one voice we will make Russia stop its aggression and respect the international law!" he said.

The document titled "Crimea Declaration" signed by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo states that the Russian Federation, through its 2014 invasion of Ukraine and its attempted annexation of Crimea, sought to undermine a bedrock international principle shared by democratic states: that no country can change the borders of another by force.

"As we did in the Welles Declaration in 1940, the United States reaffirms as policy its refusal to recognize the Kremlin's claims of sovereignty over territory seized by force in contravention of international law. In concert with allies, partners, and the international community, the United States rejects Russia's attempted annexation of Crimea and pledges to maintain this policy until Ukraines territorial integrity is restored," reads Pompeo's statement.

In this document, the United States calls on Russia to respect the principles to which it has long claimed to adhere and to end its occupation of Crimea.

The declaration notes that "as democratic states seek to build a free, just, and prosperous world, we must uphold our commitment to the international principle of sovereign equality and respect the territorial integrity of other states."

"Through its actions, Russia has acted in a manner unworthy of a great nation and has chosen to isolate itself from the international community," the declaration says.Two wounded in 24 attacks on Ukrainian positions in Donbas over past day

Militants have violated the ceasefire regime in eastern Ukraine 24 times over the past 24 hours, wounding two Ukrainian soldiers, the headquarters of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) has said.

"The enemy opened fire on the positions of our troops 24 times, including once from heavy weapons," the JFO HQ said in a report posted on its Facebook page on Wednesday morning.

According to the report, militants fired at the defenders of Stanytsia Luhanska, Krymske, Luhanske, Novoluhansk, Pivdenne, Avdiyivka, Maryinka, Opytne, Pisky, Bohdanivka, Vodiane, Pavlopil, Hnutove, Lebedynske and Shyrokyne. At the same time, a 120mm mortar was used near Pisky.

"During the current day, militants of the Russian occupation forces opened fire twice on the positions of Ukrainian defenders near Lebedynske and Vodiane," the headquarters added.

According to Ukrainian intelligence, one militant was killed and three more wounded.The UK Foreign Office has declared support for the "Crimea Declaration" adopted by the U.S. State Department and issued on July 25, according to a report posted on the website of the British government.

"The UK echoes the United States' firm statement of opposition to Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea. The UK position is clear: we condemn Russia's continued breach of international law; Crimea is Ukrainian territory. We remain fully committed to upholding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders," a Foreign Office spokesperson said.

The office also stressed the systematic persecution of minority groups and of those who voice their opposition to Russia's illegal annexation of the territory continues in Crimea.

"We call again for Russia to release all Ukrainian political prisoners held in Crimea and in Russia, and to allow unrestrained access for international human rights monitoring bodies to the peninsula," reads the statement.The Italian government does not recognize Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and adheres to the sanctions policy of the European Union, Italian Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi has said.

"The government believes that the rules of international law must always be respected. Italy did not recognize the regional authorities appointed in March 2014, following the sanctions in accordance with the EU," the Yevropeiska Pravda ezine quoted the minister as saying at a parliament meeting, with reference to the Ansa agency.

Milanesi answered the questions of MP Laura Boldrini regarding a statement made by Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini who defended the legitimacy of Russia's holding a referendum in Crimea after annexation of the peninsula.

Salvini believes that Russia legally annexed the Ukrainian Crimea and called the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine "fake," according to Yevropeiska Pravda. In fact, Crimea is under military occupation by Russia.

The Italian interior minister also confirmed his commitment to the cancellation of European sanctions against Russia.FUCHS offers to appear at Ukraine's General Prosecutor's Office, answer all questions

Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist Pavel Fuchs has said that he is willing to be questioned by Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) and answer all questions.

Fuchs made the offer on his Telegram messaging channel.

"I found out that I needed to come to the PGO on July 16 as a witness for interrogation. I learned this from media after the scheduled interview," he said.

Fuchs said he did not receive a summons for interrogation.

"I did not receive a summons. I was not notified. The new appointment is August 22. I will definitely show up at the PGO and answer their questions," the businessman said.

As earlier reported, Ukraine's PGO has said it wants to question Fuchs, as indicated on its website.

"Mr. Fuchs Pavel Yakovlevich ... You need to appear on August 22, 2018 at 3:00 pm to participate in an interrogation pursuant to criminal proceeding No. 42017000000001533 as a witness," the notice reads on the PGO's website.

At the same time, law enforcement officers do not specify what exactly the case is about.

According to information from the register of court decisions, proceedings were opened in May 2017 "on assisting unidentified persons involved in a criminal organization."

As earlier reported, Fuchs said that in Ukraine it is necessary to make a number of unpopular, but necessary steps for the survival of the state: to lift the moratorium on the sale of land and to conduct privatization. Fuchs has also said that Ukraine's long-term rating at "B-" with a stable outlook, which was confirmed by the international rating agency Fitch, is a signal for investment.The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine at a meeting on Thursday approved the strategy for information reintegration of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

According to an Interfax-Ukraine reporter, it is expected that the implementation of the strategy will help create a unified system for coordinating the state policy of information reintegration of these regions. In addition, the strategy is aimed at forming an understanding and support in residents of occupied territories that they belong to the economic, political and cultural space of Ukraine.

The objectives of the strategy are realizing information human rights and freedoms, increasing citizens' support for state policy in the field of information reintegration, and creating mechanisms for ensuring the access of Ukrainian citizens who live in the occupied territory to the all-Ukrainian information space.

The implementation of the strategy will be financed from the state budget, local budgets and within international technical assistance.

In addition, the Cabinet of Ministers instructed the Ministry of Information Policy and interested bodies to prepare and submit to the government a draft of measures for the implementation of the strategy.A draft resolution on applying the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine regarding the healthcare reform efficiency audit has been registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

The initiator of the relevant document, registered in the parliament on July 23, was Serhiy Kaplin (the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction).

The draft document also provides for an appeal to the Cabinet regarding taking measures to increase the salaries of medical workers by increasing the tariff levels of a single tariff scale, as well as the possibility of establishing an allowance for the prestige of labor in the amount of 20% of the salary from 2019.

The text of the document also refers to the need for the government to submit a proposal on the candidate of the Minister of Health to the Rada.

If the document is adopted, the Cabinet will inform the parliament about the state of implementation of the measures before October 15 this year.Ukraine intends to apply to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) with a lawsuit against the Russia for illegally deporting Ukrainian citizens from Crimea, which is under military occupation by Russia, Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Justice and European Court of Human Rights Commissioner Ivan Lishchyna has said.

"The Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the European Court of Human Rights, together with human rights defenders and the Crimean Prosecutor's Office, to which we are very grateful for materials about Ukrainian political prisoners, will prepare another interstate lawsuit to the ECHR against Russia, which will concern the circumstances of this case," he said during a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday.

Lyshchyna said mass expulsion of foreigners is in itself a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, noting it was "standard practice" for Russia, as evidenced during Russian aggression against Georgia in 2008.

Roman Martynovsky, an expert at the Regional Center for Human Rights NGO, said 9,548 rulings involving migration rights violations were handed down from July 2014 to May 2018 by courts in Crimea. He said the total number of persons expelled was 2,425, with 1,018 being Ukrainian citizens. Citizens from 37 other countries, as well as "four stateless persons whom we manage to identify," were also ordered to leave the peninsula.The Investigative Department of the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (ARC) has established complete identification data for more than 9,000 law enforcement officers suspected of high treason, first deputy prosecutor of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Mykola Ivanets has said.

"The Investigative Department of the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea carries out pretrial investigation in 123 criminal proceedings on the facts of committing treason. In the course of the pretrial investigation, the staff number of 18 law enforcement agencies operating on the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol before the occupation of the peninsula, was established. This is about 18,600 people," Ivanets said at a coordination meeting of law enforcement bodies of Crimea, the website of the Prosecutor's Office of the ARC said on Thursday.

He stressed that due to the work of the Investigative Department of the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, complete identification data for more than 9,000 people had been established.

"The collection of evidence is carried out mainly by investigators of the prosecutor's office. Today we have the relevant registers containing the necessary information on more than 4,000 people from among law enforcers," the first deputy prosecutor added.Hummer driver who ran over girl at pedestrian crossing in Kyiv arrested for 2 months

Kyiv's Shevchenkivsky district court has chosen a preventive measure in the form of custody for a period of two months to the driver of the off-road car "Hummer", who ran over a 10-year-old girl at the pedestrian crossing on Lesi Ukrainky Boulevard in Kyiv.

"He has been arrested without the right to bail," press secretary of the prosecutor's office of the city of Kyiv, Nadia Maksymets, informed the Interfax-Ukraine agency on Thursday.

As reported, at about 22:30 on July 24, the driver of the off-road car "Hummer" ran over a girl in the center of Kyiv. He was served a suspicion notice under Part 2 of Article 286 (violation of road safety rules) of Ukraine's Criminal Code of Ukraine.

On July 25, head of the Main Department of the National Police of Kyiv Andriy Kryshchenko said that the driver was informed of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 286 of the Criminal Code, and the investigator detained him under Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Kryshchenko said the driver left the scene of the accident before being apprehended.

Kyiv's Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) said the suspect is 23 years old. Prosecutors said he ignored a red light and ran over a 10-year old girl, who died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Law enforcement agencies reported that the girl was a Russian citizen.Anticorruption organization Transparency International Ukraine calls on head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) Nazar Kholodnytsky to leave his post on his own.

"The Ukrainian chapter of the global anti-corruption movement is convinced that it is the only move that can be made by head of the SAPO to restore trust in the institution headed by him and renew intense anti-corruption activity in Ukraine," TI Ukraine said in its statement posted by the press service on Thursday.

TI Ukraine said, "The head of an institution is its leader and the representative by whom the entire institution is judged  that is why his soiled reputation casts shade on the entire SAPO."

"Transparency International Ukraine urges Head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutors Office Nazar Kholodnytsky to resign from his work in prosecution. Given the circumstances, preservation of SAPO's independence and peoples trust in the institution is essential for further anti-corruption activity in Ukraine," the statement reads.

Earlier on this day the Qualification and Disciplinary Commission of Prosecutors (QDCP) recommended that Head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) Nazar Kholodnytsky be reprimanded, rather than dismissed from his post for a committed disciplinary offense.

Director of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) Artem Sytnyk told the meeting of the QDCP that the Security Service of Ukraine is investigating the criminal proceedings on the fact of instigating Kholodnytsky to testify and disclose the information of the pretrial investigation: "I know that, in fact, incitement to testify was made in the Unified State Register of Court Decisions and on the fact of disclosure of information of pretrial investigation. These proceedings were sent to the Investigation Department of the SBU."

In March 2018 it was discovered that Nazar Kholodnytsky had hidden recording devices installed in his office. The recordings revealed that head of the SAPO warned individuals involved in criminal proceedings about investigative actions, interfered with prosecutors' activity and gave specific advice to witnesses and suspects on how to avoid punishment.Ex-head of state-run Ukrspecexport Serhiy Bondarchuk, who is accused of large-scale embezzlement in Ukraine, has received political asylum in the United Kindom, Ukraine's Deputy Prosecutor General Evhen Yenin has said.

"The hero of Ukraine was afraid to appear before Ukrainian justice for his corruption crimes ... and asked for political asylum in Britain. It's a pity that the British court granted him refuge, despite the efforts of Ukrainian and British prosecutors," Yenin said on his Facebook page on Thursday. He added that Bondarchuk's case is "an annoying exception, but not the rule."

As earlier reported, Bonadrchuk in March 2017 was released in London on bail. PGO spokeswoman Larysa Sarhan said court hearings on his extradition were scheduled for March 24.

On January 21, 2015, the chief military prosecutor's office said that Bondarchuk was suspected of embezzling $7.428 million from the state-run company. He is suspected under Part 5 of Article 191 (gross embezzlement via abuse of office under a preliminary collusion by a group of persons) and Part 2 of Article 366 (fabrication caused serious consequences) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

On January 29 the investigating magistrate of Pechersky district court of Kyiv permitted to detain the former head of Ukrspecexport and sent him to court to decide on his arrest.

The court also arrested assets of the suspect - $10 million at one of the Ukrainian banks and two Range Rover cars worth over UAH 2 million.

In February 2015 the Interior Ministry of Ukraine put Bondarchuk on the wanted list.

Interpol placed former head of Ukrspecexport Serhiy Bondarchuk on the international wanted list on June 15, 2015.

Bondarchuk headed Ukrspecexport from March 2005 through June 2010 and signed the largest arms deals in Ukraine's history with China, India, Thailand and Iraq.

Ex-Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko in February 2010 awarded Bondarchuk the "Hero of Ukraine" medal for outstanding services to the state in the development of Ukraine's Armed Forces.

From 2010 Bondarchuk was a member and later head of the political council of Yushchenko's Nasha Ukraina (Our Ukraine) Party.While almost everybody has lined up in Iran's leadership to join the war of words with President Donald Trump and respond to his all-caps tweet, the Irans Foreign Ministry has found a niche to retaliate against the comments of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made on July 22 in a speech to Iranian-Americans in California.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said on Wednesday, July 24 that following Pompeo's meddlesome remarks and unfounded claims, Iran has officially objected to these actions via a letter to the Swiss embassy in Tehran.

The Swiss Embassy has represented U.S. interests in Iran since May 21, 1980.

Following the interfering [in Iran's internal affairs] remarks and unfounded claims of US Secretary of States Mike Pompeo in an anti-Iranian meeting in California, Iran has officially protested over these via a letter handed to the Swiss embassy in Tehran, the state-run Mehr news agency (MNA) cited Bahram Ghasemi as saying.

Voicing Irans official objection to US administration, the letter condemns baseless remarks of Pompeo and considers it as an interference in Irans internal affairs", Ghasemi added.

Describing the actions of US Secretary of State as violation of the United Nations Charter and bilateral commitments of US, especially of Algeria Declaration, Ghasemi said that US should be accountable for these acts.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on July 22 had blasted Irans ruling elite and its religious leaders for using their positions to line their pockets while the average person "cries out for jobs, reform, and opportunity."

Pompeo also called Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other Islamic religious leaders in the theocratic government "hypocritical holy men" and pointed out officials who had amassed hundreds of millions of dollars of wealth taking advantage of their positions.

He said the accumulation of wealth among leaders and the corruption of the violent government indicated that Iran is something that resembles the mafia more than a government.

He added that the regime in Iran has been a nightmare for the Iranian people.

Pompeo was delivering an address titled Supporting Iranian Voices at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute in Simi Valley, California.

There are an estimated 250,000 Iranian-Americans in Southern California.

Pompeo vowed that the United States would continue to support the long-ignored voice of the Iranian people and would continue to spotlight the abuses perpetrated against the countrys citizens by their government.Iranian President Hassan Rohani has said he feels no need to respond to what hecalled "empty threats" from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Iran's IRNA news agency reported on July 25 that, after Rohani mentioned "baseless comments" by "some U.S. leaders," he told a cabinet meeting "there is no need for us to respond to any nonsensical comment and answer back to them."

"We should respond with action," Rohani said.

Rohani's remarks came in response to a July 22 all-capital-letters post on Twitter by Trump in which Trump warned Iran not to "threaten the United States again or you will suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before."

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi, responding to Trump's post on July 24, said there would be "a reaction and equal countermeasures from Iran" if the United States attempted to block Tehran from exporting oil.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif responded to Trump with a Twitter post of his own, saying: "We've been around for millennia & seen fall of empires, incl our own, which lasted more than the life of some countries."

On July 24, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis voiced concerns about Iran's actions in the Middle East, including Tehran's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and for Huthi rebels fighting the government in Yemen.

"I think the president was making very clear that they're on the wrong track," Matthis said. "It is time for Iran to shape up and show responsibility as a responsible nation."

During a speech two days after his Twitter post, however, Trump said the United States "was ready to make a real deal" on constraining Iran's nuclear program.

In May, Trump decided to withdraw from a landmark 2015 agreement between Tehran and global powers that restricted Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

Trump has called that agreement a "disaster."

With reporting by IRNA, Reuters, and APAFP

The UN's top court said Thursday it will hold hearings next month in a bitter battle between Iran and the United States, after President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions on the Islamic republic.

"The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will hold public hearings from Monday 27 to Thursday 30 August in the case" concerning Iran versus the United States, the tribunal said."The hearings will be devoted to the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by Iran," it added in a statement.

Tehran filed its case with the ICJ last week calling for the judges to order the immediate lifting of the sanctions which they said would cause "irreparable prejudice."Iran maintained restoring the penalities, lifted under the landmark 2015 deal aimed at reining in Tehran's nuclear ambitions, violated a decades-old treaty.

Nuclear-related sanctions are set to be reimposed by Washington in two phases in August and November, and seek to bar European and other foreign companies from doing business with Iran and blocking its oil sales abroad.Iran argued in its filing to the court that the move would break a 1955 Treaty of Amity and Economic Relations concluded between the two countries before the Islamic revolution under the regime of the shah.

But the two foes have not had official diplomatic relations since 1980.The court, set up in 1946 in The Hague to rule in disputes between nations, revealed Wednesday that its president, judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, had taken the unusual step to write a letter about the case directly to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

It did not reveal the contents, but said under its rules the court could appeal to any party "to act in such a way as will enable any order the court may make ... to have its appropriate effects."Over the objections of allies, Trump in May withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal signed between Tehran and world powers in 2015.

He ordered the reimposition of the US sanctions that had been suspended in return for controls on Tehran's nuclear programme, effectively barring many multinational firms from doing business in Iran.Four days of hearings into an earlier complaint lodged by Iran in October 2016 against the US for freezing around $2 billion of its assets abroad are due to start on October 8 when the United States will argue the court has no authority to hear the case.jkb/harBEIRUT, July 25 (Reuters)

Iran will never take part in one-sided negotiations with the United States under threat, foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Wednesday.

His comments appeared to be a reaction to U.S. President Donald Trump's statement on Tuesday that he is ready to "make a real deal" with Iran.

"America should forget forever the idea of one-sided negotiations under the shadow of a threat," Tasnim news agency quoted Qassemi as saying.

According to the IRNA news agency, Qassemi also said that Iran has filed an official letter of objection to the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which oversees U.S. diplomatic relations in the Islamic Republic.

This concerned a speech made by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in California on Sunday in which he compared Iran's leaders to a "mafia".

(Reporting by Babak Dehghanpisheh; editing by David Stamp)

Mass graves of political prisoners including inmates who were executed in the late 1980s have been razed to the ground in the city of Ahvaz, southwestern Iran, prominent human rights activist Shadi Sadr has reported.

The caption of a picture published by the Justice for Iran website on July 25 says, This is a mass grave site in Ahvaz, Iran. At least 44 political prisoners executed in 1988 were secretly buried here. In the following years, the authorities turned the site into a rubbish dump. Now, the site is at imminent risk due to a road -widening project. There are fears that it will be destroyed for a green space or commercial development.

Sadr said her report on the graves is verified, based on investigative research as well as numerous pieces of footage, documents, news, and images.

The graves, which have been completely razed to the ground by hydraulic excavators, are currently under tight control and supervision by security agents.

The operation to raze the site, which included tombstones laid by relatives of the victims, took less than 24 hours in an apparent attempt to draw as little attention as possible, eyewitnesses told Justice for Iran.

Citing the relatives of political prisoners who were executed in late 1988 while serving their prison terms, Sadr reported, In 1988 and in the heat of executing political prisoners across Iran, the bodies of at least 44 male and female inmates in Ahvaz were secretly buried in an unmarked mass grave in the citys Padadshahr neighborhood.

According to Justice for Iran, an eyewitness, named Eissa Bazyar, has testified he saw bodies buried overnight in freshly dug mass graves in the late 1980s in Ahvaz.

The relatives of the victims believe that the mass graves were immediately paved over with concrete to prevent the families from finding the burial place.

In the past few decades, Sadr notes, The location of the graves was used as a garbage dump and piling up building debris to cover it up from the public eye and deprive the prisoners relatives access to the tombs.

The wiping-out operation by the municipality of Ahvaz initially began in late 2017 but was almost immediately stopped after widespread protests.

Justice for Iran, along with Amnesty International (AI), published a special report on the mass graves two months ago and warned the Iranian authorities, Mass graves are crime scenes that require professional forensic expertise to undertake exhumations and ensure preservation of evidence and accurate identification of bodies. By desecrating the site, the authorities will be destroying vital evidence that could one day be used to shed light on the number and identity of those killed in state custody.

AI Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa Magdalena Mughrabi noted, By attempting to destroy the mass grave in Ahvaz, the Iranian authorities appear to be embarking on a sinister and deliberate effort to destroy crucial evidence of their past crimes and deprive the families of the victims of the 1988 mass prisoner killings of their right to truth, justice and reparation. This is a shocking assault on justice that must be stopped immediately.

For her part, director of Justice for Iran, Shadi Sadr noted, For years the authorities have inflicted unbearable suffering on the families of the victims of the 1988 extrajudicial executions. They have denied them the right to give their loved ones a dignified burial and forced them to walk through piles of rubbish to visit their dead. Now they are planning to destroy their final resting place and trying to obliterate their memory from history.

Destroying mass graves of political prisoners in Iran is a deliberate action and not limited to Ahvaz, AI and JFI have noted.

In ar least seven other cities, the authorities have led similar operations, challenged by the victims relatives.

Most of the prisoners who fell victim to mass executions in the late 1980s belonged to anti-Islamic establishment armed groups, including the Peoples Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MeK or MKO), followed by the members of the pro-Soviet Union Tudeh Party and the Marxist Fedayeen Khalq.

The number of prisoners who were executed by firing squads or hanging is still unknown, but many analysts believe that up to 5,000 were killed during that period.

Late Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, at the time serving as the successor of the leader of the Islamic Revolution and Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, openly declared that the prisoners were executed by direct orders issued by Khomeini.

Most of the victims were kept in different prisons in Tehran, and their bodies were mainly buried in unmarked graveyards, including the one known today as Khavaran.Riyadh, July 25, 2018 (AFP)

Saudi Arabia has temporarily halted all oil shipments through a key waterway after Yemen's Iran-aligned Huthi rebels attacked two crude vessels, officials said on Wednesday.

"All oil shipments through Bab al-Mandab Strait have been suspended temporarily until... maritime transit through the area is safe," Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said in a statement released by state media.

Two oil tankers operated by the Saudi shipping group Bahri, each with a two million barrels capacity, were attacked by Huthi rebels in the Red Sea, state giant Aramco said in a statement.

"One of the ships sustained minimal damage. No injuries nor oil spill have been reported," Aramco said.

The oil giant said the decision to suspend shipments was "in the interest of the safety of ships and their crews and to avoid the risk of oil spill."

Earlier, the pro-Huthi Al-Masirah television said that the rebels had targeted a Saudi warship named Al-Dammam, without providing further details.

The coalition has repeatedly raised alarm that Huthi rebels threaten vessels in the Red Sea -- a key shipping route for world trade -- through their control of the strategic Hodeida port.

The Bab al-Mandab Strait, one of the world's busiest shipping routes, is the southern entrance to the Red Sea.

"This terrorist attack is a dangerous threat to the freedom of navigation and international trade in the Red Sea," said Turki al-Maliki, a spokesman for a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.

"Port of Hodeida is still the starting point of terrorist attacks."

Pro-government forces backed up by a coalition led by Saudi Arabia have paused their offensive on Hodeida port in a bid they say to give UN-led peace efforts a chance.

The United Arab Emirates, whose forces in the coalition have been spearheading the Hodeida assault, has warned that troops could "liberate" the port city if those efforts fail.

Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen in 2015 at the head of a military coalition backing the country's government after Huthi rebels ousted it from the capital Sanaa the previous year.LONDON, July 26 (Reuters)

The United Arab Emirates is ready to deploy more troops across the Middle East to counter its foes as it believes it can no longer rely on Western allies like the United States and Britain, UAE minister Anwar Gargash said on Thursday.

Filling the vacuum left by the administration of former U.S. president Barack Obama, the UAE has extended its influence by deploying troops and cash across the Middle East and Africa, where it has built up local armies and set up military bases.

"In this current international system, it is no longer 'write a cheque and someone is going to come and secure the stability in the region.' You have to do some of the burden-sharing," Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said in a speech in London.

The UAE has been fighting the Iranian-aligned Houthis in Yemen for more than three years, and backed forces opposed to political Islam in Libya and elsewhere.

With its closest ally Saudi Arabia, the UAE has been locked in a power struggle with their arch-rival Iran that has played out across the region and taken on a sectarian dimension. Each accuses the other of creating instability in the region.

Gargash said he was concerned about divergence between Western powers over the future of relations with Iran.

"As we move forward, we do really hope that the current American effort to bring about a change in Iranian approach is successful. We are worried a little bit about what is seen as a divergence of view between Europe and the United States over Iran," he said at the Policy Exchange think tank event.

UAE sees the more forceful approach towards Iran taken by the United States as a more effective means of curbing what it sees as Iran's malign activity and development of ballistic missiles than European attempts to rescue a 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

In May U.S.President Donald Trump withdrew from the multinational agreement that lifted sanctions in exchange for curbs on Tehran's nuclear programme, calling it a "horrible deal".

Gargash also said UAE was engaging in a mediation process with Somalia, whose coastline sits close to key shipping routes and across the water from Yemen, following a row over the seizure of several million dollars from a UAE civilian aircraft at Mogadishu airport.

"There are attempts currently to mediate between us and Somalia," he said. "We'd like to continue to do our work, but we have made it very clear that we have been wronged with regards to how we were treated with the shipment of nine-point-something million dollars ... we are asking for an apology for that." (Reporting by William James; additional reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi in DUBAI; editing by Stephen Powell)Baku, Azerbaijan, July 26

Trend:

Over the past 24 hours, Armenias armed forces have 100 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said July 26.

Armenias armed forces were using large-caliber machine guns.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districtsBaku, Azerbaijan, July 26

By Elchin Mehdiyev  Trend:

The Azerbaijani Military Prosecutor's Office continues to carry out the investigation in connection with the crimes committed by the Armenian armed forces against the Azerbaijanis, Lieutenant-General Khanlar Valiyev, deputy prosecutor general, military prosecutor, said at a meeting in the Military Prosecutor's Office in Baku July 26.

During the meeting, Valiyev spoke about the course of the investigation in connection with the tragedies in Khojaly, Garadaghli, Meshali, Baganis Ayrim, as well as torture, terrorist acts and crimes committed by the Armenian armed forces.

He stressed that intensive investigative measures are underway.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.Baku, Azerbaijan, July 26

Trend:

The most interested party in the soonest peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijanis, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmet Hajiyev told Trend July 26.

Hajiyev was commenting on the statement of the Armenian prime minister and his wife about peace.

As a side subjected to military aggression and occupation, the Azerbaijanis have been suffering from this war most of all for more than 25 years, he said.

"In an interview with Echo of Moscow radio, Armenian prime minister, as well as his spouse said they want peace, Hajiyev said. If they really want peace, they must put an end to the war being waged by Armenia against Azerbaijan, withdraw the Armenian troops from the occupied Azerbaijani territories and ensure the return of Azerbaijani internally displaced people to their houses.

The status quo based on the occupation should be changed and the very fact of military occupation should be eliminated, he said. This is the main issue: Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated that in this case it is possible to establish a lasting peace and stability in the region. And this is precisely the essence and formula of the talks being conducted with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs."

However, on the one hand, continuing the occupation, pursuing a policy of annexing the occupied Azerbaijani territories, not allowing hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people to return to their homes, and on the other talking about peace is an insincere approach and nothing but false propaganda, not based on reality, he said.

"I hope that these peaceful intentions of new Armenian prime minister and his wife will be realized not in words but in deeds in the directions which we have mentioned," Hajiyev said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.Baku, Azerbaijan, July 26

Trend:

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has signed an order on the construction of a carpet weaving workshop in the Tartar region.

Under the presidential order, 2 million manats was allocated from the state budget for 2018 to Azerkhalcha Open Joint Stock Company.Baku, Azerbaijan, July 26

By Ilkin Shafiyev  Trend:

The statements made by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during an interview with Russias Echo of Moscow radio are biased and do not stand any criticism, Fikret Sadikhov, political analyst and professor of the Western Caspian University, told Trend July 26.

During the interview, Pashinyan stated that the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast "withdrew" from Azerbaijan in accordance with the laws of the Soviet Union.

"Pashinyan is grossly mistaken, at least because during the Soviet period the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast in accordance with the Soviet laws did not have the right to withdraw from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, he added.

No autonomous region within a Soviet republic had such a right, even if the regional council, consisting of several people, voted for withdrawal from Azerbaijan without taking into account the opinion of the huge number of Azerbaijanis who lived in Nagorno-Karabakh for centuries," Sadikhov said.

Pashinyan also stressed that no violent actions were taken against Azerbaijanis in Armenia. This is also another stupidity because there were dozens of killed, wounded, crippled Azerbaijanis, Sadikhov added. Moreover, 250,000 people who lived in their historical lands in the territory of present-day Armenia were expelled. This is so primitive and biased that it does not require comment."

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 the author on Twitter: @IlkinShafiyevBaku, Azerbaijan, July 26

By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) hopes to start emitting bonds in Azerbaijani manats in the near future, the bank's head office told Trend July 9.

At the same time, the source told Trend that, the EBRD can not disclose specific dates of emission of manat bonds.

"Currently, we continue the process of discussing this issue with the Financial Markets Supervision Chamber of Azerbaijan. First of all, it is necessary to amend the legal framework so that we can emit manat bonds. The emission of bonds in the national currency remains a priority for us. We would like to thank the Chamber for its close cooperation and hope that we will be able to start issuing bonds in the near future, but I can't point out any specific dates," the head office stated.

The EBRD announced its intention to issue manat bonds in Azerbaijan in 2016.

The Baku office of the EBRD told Trend that the manat bonds will be sold within Azerbaijan and the issue of the bond delivery to the foreign markets can be considered in the future.

The source also told Trend that, the bank aims to continue issuing loans in the national currency.

"The EBRD is very interested in continuation of issuance of loans in local currency. We hope that we will sign a few more deals, as we have a large number of potential customers interested in manat loans," the source told Trend.

In late 2017, the EBRD allocated the first corporate loan for Azerbaijan in manats. The loan was allocated for METAK company, the producer of plastic and metal pipes. The loan amount was eight million euros in manat equivalent.

Azerbaijan has been cooperating with the EBRD since 1992. Since then, the bank has invested more than $3 billion in 165 projects in the financial, corporate, infrastructure and energy sectors of Azerbaijan

Meanwhile, 26 percent of investments fall on the private sector.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Anvar_MammadovBaku, Azerbaijan, July 26

By Fikret Dolukhanov  Trend:

Russian automaker AvtoVAZ PJSC is exploring all possible opportunities for increasing its presence in the Uzbek market, the Russian company told Trend on July 24.

At the same time, the company is currently represented in the Uzbek market in the low price segment and the recently introduced benefits in the country for cars with prices exceeding $40,000 and electric vehicles will not affect the company.

"The cost of the most expensive model, LADA Vesta SW Cross, with the most expensive options does not exceed $17,000 in the market of Uzbekistan. The change in duties for cars that do not compete with LADA in any other price segments will not affect the sales of our brand in any way," the company noted.

The representative of the Russian company also added that AvtoVAZ currently has no plans to produce cars with electric or hybrid engines.

In 1H2018, the Russian automaker AvtoVAZ tripled its sales in Uzbekistan compared to the same period in 2017.

It was earlier reported that Uzbekistan will implement zero customs duty on import of cars produced no more than two years ago and costing $40,000 or more.

The excise tax on such cars will be 20 percent of the customs value.

Zero customs duty will be applied to electric vehicles as well.

The new rates of customs duties for the two categories of cars imported into Uzbekistan will come into force from January 1, 2019.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @FDolukhanovBaku, Azerbaijan, July 26

By Ali Mustafayev  Trend:

Kazakhstan's premium meat producer Altyn Mark exports most of its products to the Middle East, a source in the company told Trend.

"Middle Eastern countries account for 44.8 percent of beef and mutton meat produced by Altyn Mark, and by the end of 2018 this figure may increase," the source said.

The rest of the company's products, in addition to deliveries to the domestic market of Kazakhstan, are exported to Russia and the EU countries. In particular, Russia accounts for 23.5 percent, and the EU countries account for 11.1 percent of the company's exported products. The company supplies 20.6 percent of its products on the domestic market of Kazakhstan.

The intention to start exporting Kazakh-made meat to the Middle East and the EU countries was announced by the countrys Ministry of Agriculture in August 2017.

Potential markets for Kazakh meat are also Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Malaysia.

Presently, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Iran and China are also among the main exporters of fish, beef and mutton meat from Kazakhstan.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Ali_MustafayevBaku, Azerbaijan, July 26

By Ilkin Shafiyev - Trend:

The growth of the export of Azerbaijani goods to Europe opens up great prospects for expanding cooperation between Azerbaijan and Latvia, the Ministry of Transport of Latvia told Trend July 26.

"We see great prospects for expanding our cooperation in the area of increasing the export of Azerbaijani goods to the European market. The opening of the Azerbaijans Trade House, held in Riga on July 23 in the framework of the visit of the Deputy Minister of Economy of the country Sahib Mammadov, will give a new impetus to the bilateral cooperation. We are confident that as the volume of sales increase, the volume of freight traffic between our countries will increase. And we also see ample opportunities for the creation in the future of trade, logistics and manufacturing enterprises for the products of Azerbaijan in Latvia for their further processing and distribution in the markets of the Baltic states, northern and western Europe," the ministry said.

The ministry stressed that Azerbaijan is an important partner of Latvia in the field of transport and logistics in the Trans-Caucasian region.

"Historically, our states have always been an important part of trade routes due to their favorable geographical location, and this advantage should definitely be used in further work with our Azerbaijani colleagues in the field of transport. The possibility of our cooperation within the international transport corridor "North-South" is being worked out. The market of transport services is developing rapidly and dynamically, new logistics solutions are being created, the work over which has a positive impact on the transport industries of our countries and contributes to the development of mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation", the ministry noted.

It was stressed that the cooperation in the field of air transport is developing between the countries. "We are glad that our national airline Air Baltic in cooperation with Azerbaijan Airlines serves the passenger transportation between Riga and Baku twice a week in the summer season, and Air Baltic extends the period of flights by 10 weeks this year. This will undoubtedly contribute to the development of tourism and business contacts between our entrepreneurs," the ministry said.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @IlkinShafiyevBaku, Azerbaijan, July 26

By Fikret Dolukhanov  Trend:

Uzbek automaker Uzavtosanoat JSC intends to attract third-party organizations and enterprises to localize components for cars, the Uzbek company said.

With this aim, Uzavtosanoat also invites all willing parties to cooperate in supply of household goods, stationery, spare parts for equipment, tools for assembling automobiles and general-purpose tools, measuring instruments, lifting mechanisms and spare parts for them, personal protective equipment, electrical goods, metal rolling of construction purpose, office equipment and consumables, chemical gases (argon, oxygen, propane, carbon dioxide), chemicals and reagents, paint and varnish materials, as well as in rendering services on setting up and assembly of various equipment.

On July 24, during a speech at the Nuclear Physics Institute of the Academy of Sciences dedicated to the tasks and problems of science development, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev touched upon the problem of the low level of localization of products of the Uzbek car industry.

"...We are proud to produce cars, although in fact we are assembling them. The first car factory was built over 20 years ago, but spare parts are still purchased abroad. The question is: where is the science, where are the enterprises that implement its results? Why the young people not going into science?" the president said.

This was Mirziyoyev's second speech, in which he expressed dissatisfaction with the Uzbek automobile industry.

On June 26, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev has delivered a serious blow to the country's auto industry, which has been rather chaotic recently.

Mirziyoyev noted that the automobile industry plays a vital role in the country's economy, however, production and exports have recently declined. The head of state criticized the widespread corruption, bribery, nepotism at all levels in the sphere.

The president reminded that there are a lot of debts in the structure of Uzavtosanoat JSC (the country's major car manufacturer). Several enterprises of the company completed 2017 with losses. For a number of years the export of cars was carried out at a price lower that the prime cost and no action was taken to actually reduce the latter.

We covered the developments around Uzavtosanoat in detail. The series of articles on the automotive industry of Uzbekistan was summed up to a logical conclusion, where we expressed hope that public criticism, coupled with the instructions of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev personally, will lead to qualitative changes in development of the industry.

Apparently, after the head of state outlined the necessary priority directions of activity in this area, Uzavtosanoat made appropriate conclusions.

Obviously, it was decided to start the changes with an increase in the level of localization of products, which, of course, is the right decision that can affect both the cost of production and the quality of products, and, ultimately, lead to the comprehensive development of the sphere as a whole.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @FDolukhanovBaku, Azerbaijan, July 26

By Leman Zeynalova  Trend:

Kazakhstans Ministry of Agriculture has imposed temporary restrictions on the chicken import from Russia, said a message from the ministry.

Veterinary Control and Supervision Committee of the ministry has taken such a decision due to new outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus, said the message.

The avian influenza virus has been found in Orlovsk, Rostov and Nizhny Novgorod regions of Russia.

Aside from poultry meat, the restrictions have been imposed on import of live chickens, hatching eggs, feathers, all kinds of poultry products that have not undergone heat treatment (at least 70  C), feed and feed additives for birds, as well as hunting trophies not treated with taxidermist.

Moreover, Kazakhstan has imposed restrictions on the import of equipment used in the Orlovsk, Rostov and Nizhny Novgorod regions of Russia for bird slaughter and cutting.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_ZeynBaku, Azerbaijan, July 26

By Azad Hasanli - Trend:

Azerbaijan's NIKOIL Bank and non-bank credit organization TBC Kredit [subsidiary of Georgian TBC Bank] are holding negotiations on the merger, Georgian media reported.

The media noted that, to this end, both parties signed an agreement on strategic partnership.

A source close to the negotiations told Trend that, it is too early to talk about the actual merger, because there are still a lot of issues left unresolved.

"Currently, the shareholders of both entities simply have the intention to merge NIKOIL Bank and TBC Kredit, but the negotiations on this issue can last more than one month. There are still many issues that the parties have not solved. The merger should be approved by the regulator-the Financial Markets Supervision Chamber," the source said.

Georgian media reported that, NIKOIL Bank will also study in the framework of the agreement the experience of the Georgian banking sector in the field of retail lending, lending to small and medium-sized businesses, as well as digital banking. The media also reported that TBC Bank will be represented in the Board of NIKOIL Bank and will participate in the development of the bank.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @AzadHasanliBaku, Azerbaijan, July 26

By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:

Fitch Ratings has assigned Kazakhstan's ForteBank JSC (FB) the Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of 'B' with a Stable Outlook.

The ratings of FB are driven by its intrinsic strength as expressed by its Viability Rating (VR) of 'b', said a message from Fitch.

The ratings reflect FB's exposure to the cyclical Kazakh economic environment and a substantial amount of legacy problem loans, which may require additional provisioning. The ratings also capture FB's reasonable domestic franchise, particularly in retail business, its adequate performance and capital position as well as a solid funding and liquidity profile.

Fitch estimates that at end-2017 the total amount of FB's high-risk exposures, net of loan loss allowances, equaled to 265 billion tenges or 1.4x Fitch core capital (FCC). This included: NPLs (non-performing loans, 90 days overdue), of 125 billion tenges or 68 percent of FCC. These are predominantly foreign-currency (FC)-denominated retail loans secured with real estate (hence moderate recoveries are possible); Restructured loans of 72 billion tenges, or 39 percent of FCC; and Non-core assets (mostly foreclosed real estate) of 68 billion tenges, or 37 percent of FCC.

Fitch believes that FB will have to incur additional impairment losses related to at least some of these assets. Most of the NPLs and other problem exposure were originated before October 2014; since then FB's asset quality has been gradually improving as suggested by net recovery of NPLs (adjusted for write-offs) of 2 percent and 3 percent of average performing loans in 2017 and 2016, respectively. Further moderate recoveries are likely, particularly in light of FB's plans to participate in the sector-wide FC-mortgage refinancing program launched by the National Bank of Kazakhstan.

FB is mainly customer-funded (78 percent of total liabilities at end-2017), although typically for the market, the deposit concentrations are quite high, with the 20-largest customers accounting for 39 percent of total liabilities. Three out of the four-largest account balances (26% of total liabilities) relate to state and quasi-state entities, including large 267 billion Samruk Kazyna (BBB/Stable) deposits, most of which was placed as part of the bank's recapitalisation during a merger with Alliance Bank and Temirbank in late 2014. Repayments of FB's wholesale funding (21 percent of total liabilities) are limited until 2022. FB has a solid liquidity buffer, at around 40 percent of total liabilities at end-2017.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_ZeynTehran, Iran, July 26

By Kamyar Eghbalnejad, A. Shirazi - Trend:

Maqsood Samani, the chairman of the Association of Iranian Airlines, said the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed restrictions on European plane makers, adding that plane makers will have "tough days" ahead.

"With the restrictions imposed by the OFAC on European aircraft companies, it would not be an easy task for them to deliver planes to Iran," Samani told Trend on July 24.

"They will have a tough time ahead and need to talk OFAC into allowing them [to maintain their contracts]".

Referring to recent remarks by Iran's Deputy Transport Minister Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan that Tehran is seeking to put its contacts with global aviation giants Airbus, Boeing and ATR on hold, Samani said efforts are aimed at suspending the deals to address the problem.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he said the government would make all-out efforts to upgrade the countrys ageing fleet and offer suitable services to people.

He added that this is not the first time that Washington is seeking to impose sanctions on Tehran, expressing the hope that Iran could pass through tough days one more time.

Iran Air and the French-Italian aircraft manufacturer ATR spent months negotiating an order for 20 ATR 72-600 aircraft worth $576 million at list prices, with options for another 20.

During a January 2016 visit to Paris by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Tehran signed a major contract with Airbus worth about $27 billion to buy 118 planes.

Later in June 2016, Iran sealed another deal worth around $25 billion with the US aerospace heavyweight, Boeing, for the purchase of 100 passenger planes.

In December 2016, the deal with Boeing was finalized, allowing Iran to buy 80 planes within 10 years.

Iran has so far imported only about 11 aircraft, three from Airbus and eight from ATR.

In a speech from the White House on May 8, US President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the JCPOA, which was achieved in Vienna in 2015 after years of negotiations among Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, US, UK, France and Germany).Baku, Azerbaijan, July 26

By Ilkin Shafiyev - Trend:

Azerbaijani state company SOCAR-AQS has won a tender for implementation of drilling work in Bangladesh, CEO of the company Ramin Isayev said at an event dedicated to the signing of a joint venture agreement with KCA Deutag.

"The work is continuing successfully. We have already completed the first two phases of the work. There remain 45-50 days until its full completion," Isayev said.

The cost of the project is about $35 million, he added.

SOCAR-AQS LLC was established in 2007 by SOCAR and Absheron Drilling as a joint venture providing integrated drilling and well servicing operations.

The company is currently conducting drilling at the Gunashli, Western Absheron, Umid and Bulla Deniz fields.Details added (first version published at 12:44)

Baku, Azerbaijan, July 26

By Ilkin Shafiyev - Trend:

SOCAR AQS drilling enterprise and KCA Deutag international oil service company have established a joint venture in Azerbaijan.

The parties have signed a corresponding agreement in Baku. General Director of SOCAR-AQS Ramin Isayev and CEO of KCA Deutag Norrie McKay have put their signatures under the document.

The joint venture will be titled Turan Drilling and Engineering Company.

Isayev noted during the signing ceremony that the establishment of the joint venture is a significant event for both the extractive and the whole oil industry of Azerbaijan.

"Creation of a joint venture means the concentration of great potential and opens up new opportunities in this area. The created material and technical base and human resources will serve the further development of this industry," he said.

KCA Deutag is one of the main contractors of BP not only in Azerbaijan, but also in other countries, in particular in Kazakhstan.

The company has been working in Azerbaijan for more than 20 years. The company is headquartered in Aberdeen, United Kingdom.

KCA Deutag has a valid contract with BP, which is the operator of the Azerbaijani offshore fields Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli and Shah Deniz. The contract provides for drilling operations and maintenance on seven platforms of BP at the fields of Central Azeri, East Azeri, West Azeri, Chirag and West Chirag, the deep water section of the Gunashli field and gas condensate field Shah Deniz.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @IlkinShafiyevBaku, Azerbaijan, July 26

By Ilkin Shafiyev - Trend:

"Turan drilling and engineering company" which is a joint venture of Azerbaijans SOCAR-AQS company and the British KCA Deutag company, will determine the main directions of its activities In the near future, the General Director of SOCAR-AQS company, Ramin Isayev told reporters July 26.

The ceremony of signing of the agreement between SOCAR-AQS and KCA Deutag companies on the establishment of the joint venture entitled as "Turan drilling and engineering company" has been held today in Baku.

"The new enterprise will be engaged in drilling, maintenance, design and construction of drilling rigs," Isayev said, adding that the company will operate both in Azerbaijan and outside the country.

He noted that, the Azerbaijani side will be the main holder of the company's shares:

"However, the foreign partners will play a great role in the activity of the company, all their resources will be used to the maximum.

Speaking about the possibility of competition with the drilling company entitled as Caspian Drilling Company which is functioning in the country currently, Isaev noted that, this company is mainly engaged in drilling on floating platforms, and the "Turan drilling and engineering company" will be engaged in drilling on stationary platforms and onshore fields.Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it was suspending oil shipments through a strategic Red Sea lane after Yemens Iran-aligned rebels attacked two tankers in the waterway, underscoring the risk of an escalation in tensions in the region, Reuters reports.

Brent crude futures rose 59 cents to $74.52 a barrel by 1008 GMT, extending their rally into a third day but falling from a 10-day high in earlier trading.[O/R]

Saudi Arabia and arch-foe Iran have been locked in a three-year proxy war in Yemen, which lies on one side of the Bab al-Mandeb strait at the southern mouth of the sea, one of the most important trade routes for oil tankers heading from the Middle East to Europe.

The Houthis, who have previously threatened to block the strait, said on Thursday that they had the naval capability to hit Saudi ports and other Red Sea targets. Iran has threatened to block another strategic shipping route, the Strait of Hormuz.

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said the Houthis attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea on Wednesday, one of which sustained minimal damage.

Saudi Arabia is temporarily halting all oil shipments through Bab al-Mandeb strait immediately until the situation becomes clearer and the maritime transit through Bab al-Mandeb is safe, he said.

The chairman of Kuwait Oil Tanker Company said the country was studying whether to follow suit.

The powerful commander of Irans Revolutionary Guards Quds force, Qassem Soleimani, criticised the U.S. role in the worlds top oil exporting region.

The Red Sea, which was secure, is no longer secure with the American presence ... (U.S. President Donald) Trump should know that we are nation of martyrdom and that we await him, Soleimani was quoted as saying on Thursday.

Industry and shipping sources said the suspension was unlikely to impact Saudi crude supplies to Asia, but could add shipping costs to Saudi vessels heading to Europe and the United States due to a longer transit.

Traders said the suspension order was only for Saudi-owned vessels, so state-owned Saudi Aramco could still charter foreign ships to move its crude.

Saudi Arabia, the worlds largest oil exporter, also has a pipeline route to the city of Yanbu on the Red Sea keeping Europe and North America well supplied  the 5 million barrels per day (bpd) Petroline.

The OPEC heavyweight, an important U.S. ally, has led a pact among global oil producers to boost output to cool the market after Trump imposed sanctions on Iran and criticised OPEC for high oil prices.

Saudi state media reported shortly after Falihs announcement that the kingdoms Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman chaired a meeting of the Political and Security Affairs Council but did not mention what topics were discussed.

Saudi Arabia leads a coalition of Sunni Muslim Arab states which intervened in Yemens war in 2015 to restore the internationally recognized government in exile and thwart what Riyadh sees as Tehrans expansionist ambitions in the region.Baku, Azerbaijan, July 26

By Huseyn Valiyev - Trend:

Vodafone Ukraine, a mobile operator, is interested in the implementation of the Call Signature solution of Azerbaijans Digital Services Company (DSC), a source in the company told Trend.

The product has been recently presented to the operator, which is interested in its deployment for its subscribers, according to the source.

"The integration process is rather complicated, due to which technical specialists and lawyers of Vodafone Ukraine will have to study all the details regarding the deployment of this service," the source said. "In addition to Vodafone Ukraine, the Call Signature service will be offered to other mobile operators in Ukraine, because it becomes much more interesting to use the service when it is deployed by all mobile operators, as it was implemented in the Azerbaijani market."

Call Signature service allows subscribers of mobile operators to subscribe to each call, and the subscriber who is being called, can see not only the number, but also the signature that the caller has chosen. In this case, the caller's signature can be displayed on the screen, even if the number is not registered in the contacts.

The service is available in the networks of all three mobile operators of Azerbaijan - Bakcell, Azercell and Azerfon (Nar).

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Follow the author on Twitter: @h_veliyevAshgabat, Turkmenistan, July 26

By Huseyn Hasanov - Trend:

The closed joint-stock "Turkmen Hemrasy" company is negotiating the lease of transponders of the TurkmenAlem 52  E communications satellite with Turkish broadcasters, the "Neutral Turkmenistan" newspaper reports.

Negotiations are also being conducted with European companies to service satellite networks of the corporate sector. Currently, TurkmenAlem 52.00 E provides transmission channels of national television and foreign companies.

In total, the satellite has 38 active communication channels - transponders. Of these, 26 are used by Turkmenistan for their own purposes, the remaining 12 are leased to Space Systems International Monaco S.a.m.

TurkmenAlem 52.00E, which is on orbit at an altitude of several tens of thousands of kilometers above the Earth's surface, provided remote settlements for mobile communications located in the Karakum Desert, said the source.

The locals were able to use the services of communication and the internet. The connection was made by the state telecommunications company "TurkmenTelecom" and "Turkmen Hemrasy".

The launch of TurkmenAlem 52 E took place on April 28, 2015 from Cape Canaveral (Florida, USA). The first Turkmen satellite is equipped with three antennas covering the coverage of dozens of countries in Europe and Asia, as well as countries in the Middle East and North Africa.Baku, Azerbaijan, July 26

Trend:

Iran has conducted negotiations with the Azerbaijani officials on development of mutual cooperation in field of health tourism, Vice-President and Head of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Ali Asghar Monesan said, IRNA reported.

He made the remarks while visiting the northwestern province of Ardebil.



Referring to the fact that Azerbaijani tourists visit Iran for medical care and visiting Iranian religious sites, Monesan urged for improvement of eco-tourism between the two countries.Tehran, Iran, July 26

By A. Shirazi - Trend:

Tajik Ambassador to Tehran Nematollah Emamzadeh said the US sanctions against Iran would not be able to curb the export of Iranian goods to other countries, particularly those in the region.

Many of Iranian products and goods have high quality and the sanctions would not be able to curb their exports to other countries, Emamzadeh told IRNA news agency on July 26.

He added that Iranian goods have their own customers everywhere there is not much of concern about their future sale.

US President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May, and Washington now plans to reimpose sanctions on Tehran next month. The first round of US sanctions on Iran goes into effect in August, followed by ones targeting Iran's oil exports in November.

Referring to old-age relations between Tehran and Dushanbe, he said, Expansion of economic ties between the two countries is top of the agenda.

He added that Iran and Tajikistan should work together to boost their tourism industries as both of them have numerous cultural and religious commonalities.

Emamzadeh concluded that the export of Persian rugs will be never halted, and that Tajikistan will enhance its cooperation with Iran to produce rugs.

Recently, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, a division of the US Treasury Department, said on its website that US rug dealers must wind down their Iranian imports by Aug. 6. They will not be allowed to import Iranian-made rugs from other countries either, even if those rugs have been out of Iran for decades. Dealers will still be permitted to sell Persian rugs that are already in the United States.Baku, Azerbaijan, July 26

Trend:

A senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) says that the Red Sea will not be safe for the US navy.

Major General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the IRGCs Qods Force, a division primarily responsible for extraterritorial military operations, said the Red Sea, which was safe previously, is no longer safe for the Americans today, Tasnim news agency reported July 26.

The Qods force is capable to combat the US military, Soleimani said, adding that the US may start a war but it will not be the party that could end it.

You can start a war, but we are the side to end it, he said.

He further advised the US President Donald Trump not to threaten the Islamic Republic.

Yesterday, Yemens Iran-aligned Houthi movement attacked two Saudi Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) in the Red Sea, one of which sustained minimal damage.

The top oil exporter Saudi Arabia said on July 26 that it was temporarily halting all oil shipments through the strategic Red Sea shipping lane of Bab al-Mandeb after the attack.

Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been battling the Houthis in a three-year war, lies beside the southern mouth of the Red Sea, one of the most important trade routes in the world for oil tankers. The tankers pass near Yemens shores while heading from the Middle East through the Suez Canal to Europe.Georgian Minister of Foreign Affairs David Zalkaliani has held a meeting with experts of US think tanks and research centres as part of his visit to Washington DC yesterday, Agenda reports.

The strategic partnership between the US and Georgia was the major topic during the meeting, as well as Georgias integration process into NATO, and the countrys geostrategic importance in transnational energy and transport projects.

David Zalkaliani also provided information to US organisations about reforms planned by the Georgian government.

"Special emphasis has been put on NATOs recent summit in Brussels and its results in terms of security across the Black Sea region, as well as the practical directions of further NATO-Georgia cooperation, MFA said in a release today.

Foreign Minister Zalkaliani is visiting Washington DC on the invitation of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to participate in an international conference on freedom of religion attended by foreign ministers from more than 20 other countries.The United Arab Emirates is ready to take on more of the security burden in the Middle East because it can no longer rely on military operations by allies the United States and Britain, UAE minister Anwar Gargash will say on Thursday, Reuters reports.

We are ready to take up more of the burden of security in our own neighborhood, Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, was due to say according to an advance copy of a speech in London.

We know that we can no longer rely on the United States, or the United Kingdom, to lead such military operations.

The UAE is concerned about divergence between Western powers over the future of relations with Iran, and sees the approach taken by the United States as favorable to European attempts to rescue a 2015 nuclear deal that lifted sanctions in exchange for curbs on Tehrans nuclear program.

We hope that United States pressure on Iran will bring it back to the negotiating table for an agreement wider than the JCPOA (the nuclear deal): one that addresses Irans ballistic missiles and regional meddling, Gargash will say at the Policy Exchange think tank event.Chinese President Xi Jinping said here on Thursday that China is ready to deepen friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields with Uganda in an all-round way, Xinhua reproted.

Xi made the remarks when meeting with his Ugandan counterpart, Yoweri Museveni, on the sidelines of the 10th BRICS summit held in Johannesburg on July 25-27.

The Chinese president applauded Museveni for his long-term dedication to the promotion of the development of China-Uganda relations as well as China-Africa relations.

Xi stressed that China and Uganda have seen sustained and rapid development of bilateral relations in recent years.

Development strategies of the two countries are compatible and present each other with important opportunities, Xi said.

He called on the two countries to maintain the momentum of high-level exchanges and continue to staunchly support each other on issues of their core interests and major concern.

The Chinese side supports the efforts of the Ugandan side in developing economy and improving people's livelihood, and is ready to steadily advance major cooperative projects jointly with Uganda to better benefit the two peoples, Xi said.

Xi called on China and Uganda to keep close communication on major international and regional hotspot issues and safeguard the common interests of the two countries and developing countries as a whole.

Xi said that the Ugandan president has made important contributions to the development of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), and that China is willing to work with Africa to make the upcoming FOCAC Beijing summit a success.

Museveni said Uganda-China relations have seen strong development momentum.

He thanked China for its long-term assistance to his country and said he is satisfied with the progress made in bilateral cooperation.

Uganda hopes to deepen practical cooperation with China in such areas as industrial parks, infrastructure construction and electric power, and welcomes more Chinese companies to invest and develop in Uganda, he said.

Museveni said the Ugandan side supports the Chinese side in hosting a successful FOCAC summit in Beijing.Russia and China plan to sign a visa-free travel agreement in the near future, which will make it possible to substantially increase the tourist flow in both directions, Deputy Head of the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism Nikolai Korolyov informed TASS on Thursday.

"We discussed the organization of visa-free travel for Russian and Chinse citizens and are well aware of the fact that this issue is related to both the activities of tourist regulators and the work of the relevant competent authorities, in particular, border authorities, the Russian and Chinese Interior Ministries and the Foreign Ministries of the two countries," he noted commenting on the results of the 15th meeting of the Subcommittee on Tourism of the Russian-Chinese Commission on Humanitarian Cooperation held in Sanya, Hainan province (southern China).

"We have reached an understanding with China, and we will hold a few more working meetings on the issue, the more so since this is related to the activities of tourism regulators, and we will soon agree on the final document, which will be signed," the official went on to say.

Korolyov recalled that visa-free travel is a comprehensive task, which involves a number of procedures related to crossing the border and staying in another country. "I believe our project fits well into the overall policy of the Russian state, including in terms of improving travel within the framework of the bilateral cooperation in the field of information technologies," he concluded.

The Russian delegation led by Korolyov is paying a visit to China to discuss with the Chinese counterparts cooperation in tourism, the provisional results achieved at the consultations on visa-free guided group tours, interaction on international platforms, development of new cooperation areas and the creation of the Russian-Chinese cooperation mechanism to control and regulate the tourism market.The tenth meeting of the deputy foreign ministers of the countries acting as guarantors of the Astana process (Russia, Iran and Turkey) on the settlement in Syria will be held in Sochi on July 30-31, Russian Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Artyom Kozhin said on Thursday, TASS reports.

"The tenth high-level Astana-format international meeting on Syria will be held on July 30-31 in Sochi. Taking part in the event will be representatives at the level of the deputy foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey as the guarantor nations of the Astana process to promote the Syrian settlement," the diplomat said.

He noted that the delegations of the Syrian government and the Syrian opposition, observers from the UN and Jordan would take part in the meeting, adding that an invitation has been sent to the US as well.

According to Kozhin, "the participants in the meeting will consider the developments in and around Syria, exchange views on the process of launching intra-Syrian negotiations based on UN Security Council Resolution 2254 and taking into account the decisions of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi and continue to discuss further steps to launch the work of the Constitutional Committee at an early date as an important tool to promote a political solution to the Syrian crisis."

The diplomat added that the parties would discuss in detail efforts to resolve the humanitarian situation in that country. The fourth meeting of the working group on the release of detainees and hostages, transfer of bodies and the search for missing persons set up as part of the Astana process is expected to be held in Sochi too.Baku, Azerbaijan, July 26

By Rufiz Hafizoglu  Trend:

Turkey will continue to fight against the Gulen movement, which was able to penetrate into the ranks of the Turkish army, Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar said, Turkish media reported July 26.

Akar noted that, the ranks of the Turkish army were cleaned from supporters of Gulen after the attempted military coup.

He noted that, the Gulen movement is a serious threat to the future of Turkey.

A group of rebels attempted a military coup on the night of July 16, 2016 in Turkey. The main fighting took place in Ankara and Istanbul. More than 250 Turkish citizens were killed, more than 2,000 people were injured, the rebellion was suppressed.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizogluUS Vice President Mike Pence called out North Korea Thursday for its persecution of Christians and other human rights abuses, Yonhap reported.

Pence has been an outspoken critic of the Pyongyang regime's alleged human rights violations even as the two countries seek to resolve their standoff over the North's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

Speaking at the inaugural Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, the vice president highlighted the brutality of North Korea's regime.

"While we all hope that relations between the United States and North Korea continue to improve, and we certainly hope that the threat posed by North Korea's nuclear and ballistic weapons program can be eliminated, there is no escaping the plain fact that North Korea's leadership has exacted unparalleled privation and cruelty upon its people for decades," he said during the event hosted by the US State Department.

"Torture, mass starvation, public executions, murders and even forced abortions, and industrial scale slave labor have been the means by which that regime has retained hold on its power for more than 70 years," he said.

North Korea bristles at such charges, viewing them as a US-led campaign to topple its regime.

Pence pointed to a North Korean defector in the audience, who he said was imprisoned and tortured for possessing a bible her mother had given her. After a botched escape attempt, North Korean authorities forced her to abort her child.

"Contrasted with a thriving Christian community in South Korea, North Korea's persecution of Christians has no rival on the earth," Pence said. "It is unforgiving, systematic, unyielding and often fatal."

Pence met with North Korean defectors in February when he traveled to South Korea to attend the opening of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games. He was accompanied by the father of Otto Warmbier, a US college student who died last year after being detained in the North for more than a year.The court will on Wednesday also hear the arguments of Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the NCB.PEPFAR-supported surveys reveal several countries have made significant gains in HIV prevention, treatment, and viral suppression and provide critical insights into key regional and population disparities

Amsterdam, The Netherlands (July 25, 2018)--The Government of the Republic of Namibia, the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and ICAP at Columbia University (ICAP) released new data today at the 2018 International AIDS Conference demonstrating that the HIV epidemic is coming under control in Namibia.

Results from the Namibia Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (NAMPHIA) show that 77 percent of all HIV-positive adults in Namibia have achieved viral load suppression, a widely used measure of effective HIV treatment in a population, surpassing the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) target of 73 percent by 2020. Compared with the UNAIDS 2012 estimates, Namibia has reduced its adult HIV incidence rate by 50 percent in the past five years.

Namibia has made this tremendous progress by either reaching or exceeding the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets among women and, nationally, by attaining 86-96-91 among adults. Namibia accomplished this through the strategic expansion of HIV prevention and treatment services, with a focus on viral load suppression at the individual and community level, and the swift implementation of forward-leading HIV policies.

NAMPHIA results also suggest that women ages 15-24 still have a far higher HIV incidence rate (0.99 percent) than same-aged young men (0.03 percent) in the country. This highlights the continued need for expanded primary HIV prevention in young women, including through the PEPFAR-led DREAMS Partnership, and ensuring all men 25-35 are virally suppressed, such as through the new MenStar Coalition.

"These exciting new data demonstrate that a community-centered approach results in high community viral suppression, which decreases the rates of new HIV infections. Several African countries are now on track to reach HIV epidemic control by 2020, accelerated progress that was only possible because of partner country political leadership and their rapid adoption of policies focusing primary prevention and treatment resources for maximum impact," said Ambassador Deborah L. Birx, M.D., U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy. "Together, we are making the impossible possible, moving farther and faster toward ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030."

"The results of this survey demonstrate the importance of providing innovative, data-driven prevention, care and treatment to those affected by HIV," said CDC Director Robert Redfield, M.D. "CDC continues to support Namibia's efforts to control its HIV epidemic - and we remain committed to global efforts to change the course of the HIV pandemic and help save lives."

The PHIAs evidence important advances being made under the PEPFAR Strategy for Accelerating HIV/AIDS Epidemic Control (2017-2020). Among the ten countries (Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) that have released PHIA results, Namibia has achieved the highest level of viral load suppression among all HIV-positive adults. Other countries surveyed show varying levels of progress toward reaching the viral suppression target of 73 percent, highlighting key areas for improvement, particularly the need to increase the coverage of HIV testing among adult men, adolescent girls, and young women.

"The impressive findings from the NAMPHIA survey demonstrate the Government of Namibia's successful commitment to confronting the HIV epidemic," said Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH, MPA, ICAP global director. "The survey findings also provide a blueprint to guide HIV policies and programs in-country moving forward."

New data from PHIAs in Cameroon and Cote d'Ivoire released earlier this week highlight substantial gaps in western Africa toward reaching epidemic control despite significant investments, pointing to the depth and breadth of key policy barriers to HIV service uptake that need to be addressed.

Overall, the PHIAs reveal key gaps in HIV prevention and treatment programming for women ages 15-24 and men ages 25-34 that require urgent attention and action. In all countries surveyed, lower percentages of these groups reported knowing their HIV status, current use of HIV treatment, and had viral suppression than older adults. PEPFAR is aggressively addressing these challenges, including through its innovative public-private partnerships.

###

The PHIAs are funded by the U.S. government, through PEPFAR, and conducted by the CDC, ICAP, and local governmental and non-governmental partners. With PEPFAR support, four additional countries - Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, and Rwanda - will release PHIA data on a rolling basis through 2019, providing an ability to chart and validate further progress toward reaching epidemic control by 2020.

The U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief

PEPFAR is the United States government's response to the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, which represents the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history. Through the compassion and generosity of the American people, PEPFAR has saved and improved millions of lives, accelerating progress toward controlling and ultimately ending the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat. For more information, please visit http://www.pepfar.gov, and connect with PEPFAR on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

CDC works 24/7 saving lives and protecting people from health threats to have a more secure nation. HIV and tuberculosis (TB) are the world's two most deadly infectious diseases, and CDC's Division of Global HIV & TB works with partners to tackle these two epidemics and produce the greatest global health impact. More information can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/globalhivtb.

ICAP at Columbia University

ICAP was founded in 2003 at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. A global leader in HIV, tuberculosis, other health threats, and health systems strengthening, ICAP provides technical assistance and implementation support to governments and non-governmental organizations. More than 2.2 million people have received HIV care through ICAP-supported programs, and over 1.3 million have received antiretroviral therapy through such support.smartarm founders

Microsoft

SmartARM, founded by two 20-year-old college students, just won Microsoft's 2018 Imagine Cup.

The prize includes $130,000 in cash and Microsoft Azure cloud credit  plus a one-on-one advice session with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

SmartARM cofounder Hamayal Choudhry is an intern at Tesla, in addition to his studies.

The Imagine Cup had over 3,000 entries.



SEATTLE - SmartARM, a prosthetics startup founded by Canadian college students Hamayal Choudhry and Samin Khan  both 20 years old beat 3,000 other teams to take the first-place prize in Microsoft's annual Imagine Cup.

Microsoft announced the winner of the Imagine Cup, its annual startup pitch contest for student tech entrepreneurs, at a finals ceremony in Seattle on Wednesday.

SmartARM will walk away with $130,000 in cash and credits to the Microsoft Azure cloud platform  plus, the opportunity for a private meeting with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella himself, who will give the founders some personal advice.

With SmartARM, Choudhry and Khan are promising a cheaper, 3D-printed prosthetic hand, augmented with some Azure-powered artificial intelligence: A camera in the palm of the prosthetic hand will use computer vision to identify an object and subtly adjust the fingers to the most appropriate grip. It makes prosthetics more elegant and intuitive, the founders said on stage.

Choudhry is a second-year mechatronics engineering student at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, and recently scored an internship at Tesla. His partner in SmartARM, Samin Khan, is a third-year computer science student at the University of Toronto.

In second place at the 2018 Imagine Cup was iCry2Talk, a team from Greece with an app that promises to translate a baby's cry, so you can tell if a newborn is actually in pain or just exhausted. In third place was Mediated Ear, from Japan, with an app for the hearing impaired that enhances the volume of human voices in noisy areas.

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The competitors were judged on several criteria, including feasibility of the concept and viability as a business. All three teams went away with Microsoft Azure credits and free Microsoft Surface Laptops.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella himself was on hand at the ceremony, as well as special guest Chloe Kim, the Olympic champion snowboarder. Nadella praised all three teams as using artificial intelligence to solve "un-met, unarticulated needs" and helping people in real life.

Nadella also joked that all of the Imagine Cup teams had accomplished more than he did at their age, and that he may actually be in a poor place to give advice to the finalist teams.

"I definitely wouldn't have made this final," quipped Nadella. "This is a problem."

NOW WATCH: What happens when you hold in your pee for too long

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SEE ALSO: This $30 million startup is building a new kind of holographic display to save the world from the 'dystopian future' of virtual realityChina, the worlds top crude-oil buyer, imported around 718,000 barrels a day on average from Iran between January and May of this year.

China's imports are equivalent to more than one-quarter of Irans oil exports.

China has increased Iranian oil purchases by near-10 percent recently and is not expected to stop buying when U.S. sanctions go into place in November.

Since President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal in May, Iran has been pleading with other nations to keep its oil-dependent economy alive. The need for economic ties to the rest of the world increased when the Trump administration announced planned sanctions on Iranian oil exports starting in November. For Iran one nation matters more than any other to its oil economy, and it is also Trump's largest global trade rival: China.

European companies have been winding down their purchases of Iranian oil, and the threat of sanctions on Iranian business has pushed out banks, many of which had paid severe fines for sanction violations in the past. But China, already the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, is not expected to heed U.S. demands. In fact, the Iranian oil sanctions could give China leverage in stalled trade negotiations with the United States.

Now that the trade relationship is in jeopardy, why would they do that? Derek Scissors, resident scholar of the American Enterprise Institute, said of China's pulling back on purchases of Iranian oil. If we tell the Chinese, Oh, well cancel our pending tariffs as long as you stick to the Iran sanctions, theyll do it in a second.

On Monday a war of words between the United States and Iran erupted , with Trump and his top national security advisor John Bolton threatening Iran. The harsh White House words apparently came in response to recent suggestions from Iran that it could close the Strait of Hormuz , a critical seaway for global oil shipments. The U.S. Energy Information Administration states that by volume of oil transit, the strait is the busiest global choke point for oil. In 2016, data from the EIA showed total flows through the channel reached a record high of 18.5 million barrels a day. China, Japan, India, South Korea and Singapore are the largest destinations for oil moving through the strait.

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On Tuesday Irans foreign ministry reportedly said it would implement countermeasures against the United States if it tries to block its oil exports . "If America wants to take a serious step in this direction, it will definitely be met with a reaction and equal countermeasures from Iran," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi was quoted as saying.

China, the worlds top crude-oil buyer, imported around 718,000 barrels a day on average from Iran between January and May of this year, according to official Chinese customs data  equivalent to more than a quarter of Irans oil exports. Chinas increased its imports of Iranian oil by 9.3 percent during the same time period from the year prior and is not expected to slow down purchases anytime soon. The United States expects that China will buy even more oil once the U.S. sanctions take place in early November, as reported recently by The Wall Street Journal.

How China historically has responded to US sanctions

In refusing to comply with U.S. sanctions, the worlds second-largest economy will dull the sanctions fiscal impact, but Chinas current position on Iranian oil sanctions is consistent with its historical approach.

The Chinese position in general has been that they will honor U.N. sanctions and they are reluctant to recede to bilateral sanctions, said senior fellow David Dollar of The John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution. Dollar said the Chinese have been averse to U.S. sanctions  bilateral and unilateral  in the past, usually choosing their own business interests over cooperation.

However, under the Obama administration, the United States successfully negotiated with China to reduce their investments in Iranian oil, following bilateral sanctions. Dollar suggests that during that time period, China valued mutual interests with the United States, including climate change, security concerns and the two nations' strong economic ties. Conversely, Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement and has strained economic ties between the two countries with the imposition of $34 billion tariffs on Chinese exports to the United States. More recently, Trump has threatened to impose sanctions on all of China's exports to the United States. Experts say these moves have weakened the U.S. position when it comes to any Chinese collaboration on Iranian oil sanctions.

The evolving trade war has taken a toll on Chinas stock market this year. Among the 32 exchange-traded funds that track broad China equities indexes and specific sectors of the emerging economy, only three have generated positive performance this year, including an energy ETF, a health-care ETF and an ETF that tracks Chinese stocks listed in the United States.

The nuclear deal had lifted economic restrictions on Iran, allowing its oil industry to rebound. Iran is the third-largest producer in the 15-member OPEC group. In June 2018 it produced 3.8 million barrels of oil a day, OPEC data shows.

Under any circumstances, its a bit of an uphill fight to get China to abide by U.S. sanctions, but not impossible. In this current situation, its hard to see the U.S. getting China to cooperate, Dollar said. If I were the Chinese, I would bring in these trade issues, he added. Its not in Chinas narrow economic interest to stop buying oil from Iran.

Speaking to the House Financial Services Committee on July 12, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin claimed that the Trump administration has the intent to enforce sanctions on Iran-related oil against everybody, including China.

At a press conference last Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that he has held personal discussions with top officials from many of those countries, including China, to ensure that the U.S. economic sanctions work. "They have a commitment; they understand where we're headed," Pompeo said of countries that the Trump administration has asked to cut off economic ties with Iran. "What they've asked us to do is review how we get there and the timeline for that."

Growing economic ties between China and Iran

But recent history shows that Beijing intends to intensify its trade relationship with Tehran, not lessen it.

Shortly after the Trump administration announced that it would reinstate sanctions, Irans Foreign Minister Javad Zarif met with foreign leaders for support. His first visit was to Beijing. Following the visit, the Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua announced the launch of a new rail connection between Bayannur, in Chinas Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, and Iran. The new train line will expedite travel times by 20 days in comparison to cargo shipments, as a part of Beijings $124 billion Belt and Road initiative, according to the Xinhuas announcement. The broader initiative aims to build new infrastructure between China and Europe, financing billions of dollars' worth of Chinese-led projects in Iran to build railways, highways, ports and power plants, greatly expanding trade.

Last week, when asked if China would cooperate with U.S. sanctions, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters, China is always opposed to unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction.

Analysts predict that the oil market will become increasingly unpredictable over the next several months . In recent trading, oil prices have seesawed as the potential impact of a trade war on global demand, and Iranian sanctions on supply have created a short-term stalemate. The market will struggle for the next two months until the drop in Iranian exports materializes, analysts at Energy Aspects said in a research note published Monday.

Last Wednesday, White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said that while talks to strike a deal with Chinese officials have been positive, President Xi refuses to compromise over Beijings trade policies.

I dont think President Xi at the moment has any intention of following through on the discussion we made, and I think the president is so dissatisfied with China on these so-called talks that he is keeping the pressure on  and I support that, Kudlow said in an interview at CNBC's Delivering Alpha conference in New York.

Chinas foreign ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying, hit back during a scheduled briefing in Beijing last Thursday, saying, "The relevant United States official unexpectedly distorted the facts and made bogus accusations [that are] shocking and beyond imagination. She added, The United States' flip-flopping and promise-breaking is recognized globally."

WATCH: Here's what drives the price of oil





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How this family of 5 is housesitting its way across Europe, staying nearly for free

Imagine plowing through your travel bucket list in one short year. Now, imagine being able to bring your family along for the ride and housesitting your way across a continent, saving thousands on accommodations in the process. One American clan is proving that such an epic adventure can be not only attainable, but even sustainable.

In 2017, Jessica and William Swenson (now 35 and 37, respectively) were living in the Bay Area of California with their three young children, Ezra, Theo and Vesper (now 8 ,6 and 5 years old). Life was humming along until William, who worked in finance, lost his job when his company relocated. Not long after, his mother passed away from lung cancer.

It was a tough year for the family. So Jessica proposed they take a yearlong trek around the world. Sure, it was an out-there idea, but the timing felt right; plus, Jessica was a photographer with a flexible schedule, their kids were home-schooled and the couple had always dreamed of traveling.

We had this long list of places we wanted to see, and why not go with 2017 just kind of being a crap shoot for us? Jessica recalls reasoning. It kind of gave us the energy to catapult into the unknown, to be able to see those places weve always wanted to see," she tells CNBC Make It.

We call it the perfect storm, Jessica says. A lot of things crumbled in order for us to find the faith to leap.

The family had some money to get them started  William had received a compensation package from his former employer and inheritance after his mother's passing, and they had some savings.

Still, I knew because we didnt have remote work in place, that we would just have to be really creative with how to stretch our money, Jessica says.

So Jessica started researching their options and discovered TrustedHousesitters , a U.K.-based housesitting platform. For a $119 annual membership users get access to the TrustedHousesitters network, which features thousands of housesits available worldwide. In exchange for watching over a clients pets and house while the owner is away, sitters stay in the home at no cost. Since it was founded in 2010, the platform has made headlines for offering luxurious accommodations, essentially for free, and boasts housesits in locations ranging from Kuching, Malaysia, to Istanbul and Vienna.

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Sitters can choose from different levels of verification , including criminal background checks and ID document checks, with the level of verification that theyve achieved prominently displayed on their profile. TrustedHousesitters also offers a 24-hour vet advice hotline and membership support.

Theres actually no money being exchanged, which works really well, because you can run into things with [work] visas, and different things depending on the country and government regulations, Jessica says. So you kind of get away from that, in it just simply being a trade sort of economy, as opposed to it being currency exchanged.

Knowing free accommodations would alleviate a huge part of their travel costs, Jessica opened a membership on the site and tried out a few gigs in the Bay Area as a test. When that went well, she took her family for a trial-run gig overseas on an English farm. The trip was a success. It was the validation the family needed to dive into the nomadic lifestyle.

It was kind of a practice run like, Hey can we actually do this thing? Is it too good to be true? There has to be a catch, Jessica says. But then we did it, and we said this is awesome; we can totally foresee ourselves doing this and it can be sustainable. Just that local flair; we like that off-the-beaten track, we like going to places you wouldnt necessarily go to.

Since sitters on the site dont make actual income from their services, the Swensons also decided to rent out their San Francisco home during their time abroad as a revenue stream. The Swensons estimated that their yearlong trip around the world for a family of five would cost around $45,000 to $55,000 all-inclusive, which is about $25 to $30 per family member per day.

In October 2017, the Swenson family packed up their bags  which included just one backpack per person (with youngest daughter Vesper sporting a Disney "Paw Patrol" sack) and left the comfort and familiarity of home for what Jessica calls their, epic field trip.

First the family traveled through to a slew of countries using redeemed credit card points for free hotels and staying at a combination of cheap hotels, Airbnbs and hostels to keep things affordable, before hitting the U.K. and Europe to start housesitting in March. In most of the initial countries, the Swensons stayed for shorter stints and didn't want the responsibility of "working" by taking care of someone's pets or home.

"We were obviously hoping the rest of the trip would fall on the less expensive side," Jessica says.

Over the first six months, they traveled to China, Bali, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Morocco and beyond. It was everything they'd imagined.

"I just feel like we were a flurry of emotions, and it felt like an out-of-body experience that we could have this dream and actually walk through the dream together as a family," Jessica says.

Then in the spring, they headed to London to housesit their way across the U.K. and Europe, staying virtually for free.

"Flights are so inexpensive coming in and out of London that we have used that as a 'home base' as we housesit and travel throughout Europe," Jessica says. "TrustedHousesitters is also based in England, so finding sits there is very easy."

While Jessica says they travel with personal toiletries, homeowners often allow the family to use food that's left in the pantry or fridge, as well as things like laundry and dish soap. And "we now look for sits that either include a car or dont require one to save even more and not have to rent," Jessica adds.

So far, the Swenson's TrustedHousesitters profile lists 18 housesits since 2017. They've had gigs in Vasteras, Sweden, and Doolin, Ireland, and they housesat their way through France, shacking up in spots like Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouet and Biarge. In England, they've hit places like Shifnal, Brighton and Thornton-le-Dale.

"It also allows us to stay in expensive countries longer," Jessica explains. "For example, Sweden is so costly. One time, we bought coffee and some sandwiches at a Starbucks, and our bill was over $50! On our own, we may have been able to stay four to five nights. But since we also housesat there, we stayed four weeks, comfortably within our budget."

Every stay varies, says Jessica, but a typical week for the Swenson family includes a mix of trips hiking and to museums, along with some homeschooling for the kids. Its a seemingly idyllic balance of exploration, education, family time and taking care of the home theyre staying in, she says.

Just the enjoyment of the family unit, I feel like thats sometimes lost in the hustle and bustle, especially in the Bay Area, Jessica says. People are commuting one to two hours for their job, they dont always have that special family unit time. And weve really invested in our family this year, and weve really seen the fruits of that."

"I also really just love being around my husband," Jessica adds. "And this year has allowed for us to spend lots of time together being a team as we travel and navigate through different countries."

Of course, the housesitting half of their trip has involved more strategy and prep work.

"Since Im a big planner, I secure sits and organize our calendar up to three months in advance so we know where we will be," Jessica says. "Owners tend to start listing their [vacations] one to three months in advance, although theres also a good handful who post last minute. Weve secured a few short ones to fill in our calendar gaps this way. Ireland was high on our list of countries to visit, and we were able to do a short trip through confirming a last-minute housesit as well as a cheap flight."

The extra work is well worth it, says Jessica, not only financially, but for the experiences they have along the way.

"The biggest difference outside of saving in big ways with budget, is that youre also experiencing a country at a local level," Jessica says. "Its a bit like how Airbnb started out before places became investments and run by property managers," she says, referring to the vacation rental website's recent abundance of corporate-run listings in some locations.

"With housesitting, we spend time with owners before they leave, as well as have opportunity to connect with neighbors. One housesit we did, the neighbors had a little boy around the same age as our boys. They played together daily during that two-week sit," she says.

In addition to Europe, the Swensons also housesat through many cities in Australia (like Mount Gambier, Melbourne and Brisbane, among others) and South Africa. Jessica remembers her family connected so well with one family of Australian homeowners that they watched the Swenson's three kids while Jessica and William went out for a rare date night to see a musical.

Jessica acknowledges that there are also risks involved, noting that when you housesit, you are relying on homeowners to follow through with the confirmed sits. (So far, the Swensons had only two cancellations but were able to find replacement sits.)

And the adventure has not been free from turbulence. Figuring out mundane, routine tasks  like grocery shopping  can pose a challenge, says Jessica. Then, there have been a few emergency situations: In Bali, Jessica rolled her ankle and, in France, her son dropped a piece of wood on his toe, prompting a trip to the hospital.

When something happens, you forgot how youre accustomed in your own home country, knowing the process, where to go, how its handled, Jessica says. And whether you like how its handled or not, you at least understand the system. With each new country, we really have to understand the system that you just take for granted in your home country.

Housesitting also adds an extra layer of responsibility, which the Swensons, including their kids, take seriously. (The children are indeed well-behaved, according to some of the reviews on the family's Trusted Housesitters site profile.) But now, after traveling for so long, Jessica says those housesitting duties actually provide them with downtime, where they don't feel pressured to use every spare second to squeeze in sightseeing.

"Some may say that they don't like having the responsibility of taking care of pets as it may limit their tourism activities, but we really enjoy it," Jessica says. "It allows you to slow down and have rest days. We are still able to get out during the day and we love being in one location for a while to really explore. We also love being able to model taking care of others' things and furry loved ones. We see it as an act of service and love being able to do it as a family."

The Swensons are currently in Finland on a monthlong housesit, after which they plan to head back to England, and then hit Scotland, Germany and Denmark before returning to California in October. They have yet to put a clear plan in place regarding what life will look like when they get home, but Jessica says they loved traveling and have tossed around the idea of buying a camper van and road-tripping throughout the U.S. too.

What Jessica wants her children to gain from their experiences abroad, she says, is world citizenship.

Just understanding that theres more than just our one country, she says. I feel like when we left, we learned that Americans, its like 40 percent of Americans have passports, which just blew my mind." (As of 2017, there were 136,114,038 valid U.S. passports in circulation, according to the State Department , which is more than 41 percent of the number of American citizens that year .)

"Yes, we are a large country and you can go different places staying in your country, but knowing that theres just that global mind view, theres so much more out there ... embracing different perspectives and different worldviews," she says.

What the Swenson family has found, she says, is that every culture in which they have immersed themselves during their journey has embraced children; whether its making silly faces with their kids on the bus or just saying "hi."

I loved how they really have been able to make friends wherever they go, Jessica says. As long as you meet someone thats kind to you, they speak the language of play. They can play together, they may not have the same language shared, but they can still enjoy each others company, and they can glean from that.

So I think just that world perspective and that kindness goes a long way, she adds. And that there are universal truths with family life, which has just been really fun. Kids whine and have bad attitudes all across the world, and everyone needs a nap," she laughs.

"And so yes, there are differences, but there is also commonality in us all. And just a sense of adventure; knowing that you have dreams and you can see them through fruition, as long as you are dedicated and you work hard and you research and you dont give up.

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By Rania El Gamal

DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it was suspending oil shipments through the Red Sea's Bab al-Mandeb strait, one of the world's most important tanker routes, after Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis attacked two ships in the waterway.

Brent futures rose 19 cents to $74.12 a barrel by 1305 GMT, extending their rally into a third day but slipping from a 10-day high in earlier trading.

Saudi Arabia and arch-foe Iran have been locked in a three-year proxy war in Yemen, which lies on one side of the Bab al-Mandeb strait at the southern mouth of the sea, one of the most important trade routes for oil tankers heading from the Middle East to Europe.

The Houthis, who have previously threatened to block the strait, said on Thursday that they had the naval capability to hit Saudi ports and other Red Sea targets. Iran has threatened to block another strategic shipping route, the Strait of Hormuz.

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said the Houthis attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea on Wednesday, one of which sustained minimal damage.

"Saudi Arabia is temporarily halting all oil shipments through Bab al-Mandeb strait immediately until the situation becomes clearer and the maritime transit through Bab al-Mandeb is safe," he said.

It was not clear if a Saudi-led military coalition would take additional security measures or impose further restrictions on imports to Yemen, which is struggling with the world's most urgent humanitarian crisis.

A senior oil source said Saudi Arabia had already beefed up oil security and that all crude vessels in the area are accompanied by security ships.

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Saudi crude exports through Bab al-Mandeb are estimated at around 500,000-700,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to analysts and Reuters data. Most Gulf oil exports that transit the Suez Canal and SUMED Pipeline pass through the strait.

The chairman of the Kuwait Oil Tanker Company said the country was considering whether to follow suit.

The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Quds force, Qassem Soleimani, criticised the U.S. role in the Red Sea.

"The Red Sea, which was secure, is no longer secure with the American presence ... (U.S. President Donald) Trump should know that we are nation of martyrdom and that we await him," Soleimani was quoted as saying on Thursday.

Industry and shipping sources said the suspension was unlikely to impact Saudi crude supplies to Asia, but could add shipping costs to Saudi vessels heading to Europe and the United States due to a longer transit.

Traders said the suspension order was only for Saudi-owned vessels, so state-owned Saudi Aramco could still charter foreign ships to move its crude.

Saudi Arabia also has a pipeline route to the city of Yanbu on the Red Sea keeping Europe and North America well supplied -- the 5-million-bpd Petroline.

The world's largest oil exporter has kept its crude shipments flowing during previous regional conflicts, including the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war when the two sides sought to disrupt each other's oil exports in what was known as the Tanker War.

The OPEC heavyweight, a key U.S. ally, has led a pact among oil producers to boost output to cool the market after Trump imposed sanctions on Iran and criticised OPEC for high prices.

Saudi state media reported shortly after Falih's announcement that the kingdom's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman chaired a meeting of the Political and Security Affairs Council but did not mention what topics were discussed.

Saudi Arabia leads a coalition of Sunni Muslim Arab states which intervened in Yemen's war in 2015 to restore the internationally recognised government in exile and thwart what Riyadh sees as Tehran's expansionist ambitions in the region.

HODEIDAH IS KEY

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates backed Trump's decision to quit a nuclear deal with Iran. They accuse Iran of supplying the Houthis with weapons including missiles, which the group and Tehran deny.

The latest attack on Saudi oil tankers could strengthen the Arab states' position ahead of possible U.N.-sponsored peace talks between Yemen's warring parties, which aim to avoid an all-out assault on the country's main port city of Hodeidah.

The Western-backed military alliance launched an offensive on June 12 to wrest Hodeidah from the Houthis in a bid to cut off the primary supply line of the movement, which holds the most populated areas of Yemen including the capital Sanaa.

But the alliance did not make major gains and on July 1 it halted operations to give the United Nations a chance to resolve the situation in Hodeidah and the wider conflict which has killed more than 10,000 people.

"The only way forward is to get Hodeidah. What we are planning to do is give diplomacy every possible chance to secure that," Anwar Gargash, the UAE's minister of state for foreign affairs, said in London.

The United Nations fears that cutting off Hodeidah may trigger a famine in Yemen, where around 8.4 million people are believed to be on the verge of starvation.

The United Nations says the Houthis have offered to hand over management of the port to the world body, but the Saudi-led coalition says that the Houthis must quit the western coast.

One of the coalition's main justifications for intervening in Yemen was to protect shipping routes such as the Red Sea. It has said it foiled previous attacks there in April and May.

The Bab al-Mandeb strait is only 18 miles (29 km) wide, making hundreds of ships potentially an easy target. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said an estimated 4.8 million bpd of crude oil and products flowed through it in 2016.

(Additional reporting by William James, Aziz El Yaakoubi, Hesham Hajali, Florence Tan and Jonathan Saul; Writing by Ghaida Ghantous; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall and Giles Elgood)DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Oil prices rose to a 10-day high Thursday after Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil company announced it was temporarily halting crude shipments through a strategic Red Sea shipping lane after Yemen's Shiite rebels attacked two tankers in the strait the previous day.

Futures for Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, hit $74.83 per barrel before falling back in later day trading to $73.99, up 6 cents.

The spike came after Saudi Aramco, the kingdom's oil giant, said it was stopping all oil shipments through the Bab El-Mandeb Strait, raising supply concerns.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, typically transports its oil from fields clustered in the east of the country around the Arabian Peninsula, then north through the Bab El-Mandeb Strait, and through the Red Sea and Suez Canal before on to Europe through the Mediterranean.

It can bypass the strait by moving oil across the country by pipeline and then loading it on to tankers at the Red Sea port of Yanbu, though at reduced output.

Paul Sheldon, chief geopolitical adviser at S&P Global Platts Analytics, said the Saudi move will likely force tankers on a longer trip around Africa.

"It should boost Med barrels, and could eventually raise Brent and other grades due to the higher requirement for volumes at sea," he said in a statement.

Eastern Gulf nations like Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates don't have that option, however, and it was not immediately clear how they would react to the attack on the Saudi ships.

The Houthis, who are fighting a Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's internationally recognized government, attacked the 2-million-barrel capacity Saudi tankers on Wednesday, causing minimal damage to one.

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The United Arab Emirates' minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, said on Twitter the attack showed the need to take back the key port of Hodeida.

"The targeted attack on the Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea confirms the necessity to liberate Hodeida from Houthi militias," said Gargash, whose country is part of the Saudi-led coalition.

"This systematic attack is a terrorist act which shows the nature and aggression of the Houthis."

Saudi Aramco said Thursday there were no injuries or spills and that shutting the route was a precautionary measure.

"In the interest of the safety of ships and their crews and to avoid the risk of oil spill, Saudi Aramco has temporarily halted all oil shipments through Bab El-Mandeb Strait with immediate effect," it said. "The company is carefully assessing the situation and will take further action as prudence demands."

The Bab el-Mandeb strait, which connects the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea is only about 30 kilometers, or 20 miles, wide between Yemen and Djibouti, leaving ships more vulnerable as they pass through.

Following the attack, the Saudi coalition said the rebels "had almost caused an environmental disaster," according to the state-run al-Ekhbariya TV channel.

Earlier, the rebel-run Al-Masirah TV said their "naval forces have targeted the Saudi Dammam battleship off the western coast."

It later said the "battleship" was targeted using a missile and that the rebels attacked another boat belonging to the coalition.

___

Associated Press writer David Koenig contributed to this report from Dallas.Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on fellow BRICS countries to remain united in opposition to protectionism and unilateralism in the wake of threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to impose global trade tariffs.

Xi on July 25 said the world must decide "between cooperation and confrontation" as there will be no winner should a global trade war erupt.

"Unilateralism and protectionism are mounting, dealing a severe blow to multilateralism and the multilateral trading regime," Xi told the opening of the 10th summit of BRICS countries in Johannesburg, South Africa.

"We are facing a choice between cooperation and confrontation," said Xi, who added that his country would pursue economic development with its doors wide open.

The BRICS group unites the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

Before the opening, South African Trade Minister Rob Davies said the international trade system was experiencing a period of "enormous turbulence," citing concerns over new U.S. tariffs and retaliatory actions from other countries.

Trump has accused China, along with the European Union, Canada, Mexico, and other allies, of conducting unfair trade policies and has threatened to impose harsh tariffs unless the countries agree to new trade deals with the United States. Some of the sanctions have already been put in place.

The official agenda for the BRICS summit also includes topic such as peacekeeping, new technologies, and vaccine research.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the heads of several African countries have also been invited to attend the summit.

The BRICS group represents more than 40 percent of the world's population.

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, Reuters, and dpaEnglish Icelandic

Strong revenue and EBIT growth







Financial highlights

Orders received were EUR 291.1m (2Q17: 272.7m).

Revenues were EUR 296.7m (2Q17: 244.0m).

EBIT* was EUR 43.2m (2Q17: 35.9m), translating to an EBIT* margin of 14.6% (2Q17: 14.7%).

Net result was EUR 29.5m (2Q17: 18.6m) and earnings per share (EPS) were EUR 4.31 cents (2Q17: 2.62 cents).

Cash flow from operating activities before interest and tax in the quarter was EUR 56.4m (2Q17: 61.2m).

Net debt/EBITDA was x1.8 at quarter-end (1Q18: x2.0). Targeted capital structure is x2-3 net debt/EBITDA.

The order book was EUR 523.2m (YE17: 472.3m).





Arni Oddur Thordarson, CEO:

We continue on a good note with record revenues and stable profit margins in the second quarter. In the first 6 months of the year, revenues and EBIT were up 18% compared with the same period last year. It requires the passion and dedication of our 5,500 employees, as well as great partnership with our customers and suppliers, to deliver double digit organic growth as we anticipate this year. The order book is strong and cash flow remains robust enabling us to continue to invest in the platform to support further growth and value creation.

We are pleased to announce that Marel has reached an agreement to acquire MAJA, a German food processing equipment manufacturer focused on skinning, portioning and ice machines. Having worked with them through Sulmaq in Brazil in recent years, we know them to be a highly innovative and well managed business with around 200 employees and annual revenues of roughly EUR 30 million. We expect to finalize the transaction later this year.

Market conditions have been exceptionally favorable in recent quarters and are now adjusting towards more normalized levels. Driven by innovation and market penetration complemented with acquisitions, we aim to continue to grow faster than the long-term market rate.







BUSINESS HIGHLIGHTS

Acquisition of MAJA, German food processing equipment manufacturer

Marel has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of MAJA-Maschinenfabrik Hermann Schill GmbH & Co. KG and related companies (MAJA). This transaction is in line with Marels strategic objective to be a full-line supplier of advanced food processing solutions and accelerate market penetration through acquisitions.

Since its founding in 1955, MAJA has been a highly innovative manufacturer of food processing machinery, specializing in skinning and portioning with main focus on the meat market as well as ice machines for the preservation of fresh food. Based in Kehl-Goldscheuer in Germany, MAJA has around 200 employees and annual revenues of roughly EUR 30 million in 2017.

With MAJAs innovative product offering and complimentary geographical reach, Marel is able to offer full-line solutions for the meat industry globally and strengthen its market presence. Marel also aims to utilize MAJAs high-quality innovation and manufacturing site as an addition to existing production sites. MAJAs experienced management team will stay on board and continue to lead MAJA.

The closing date of this transaction is expected to be in the third quarter of 2018. Closing is subject to anti-trust approval and standard closing conditions. The transaction will be funded from cash on hand.

Changes in the organizational structure and Executive Team

In June 2018, Marel announced an organizational change where the Commercial function was split into two new functions, Service and Global Markets and new appointments were made to Marels Executive Team. This new structure will allow for closer proximity to customers and better scalability to support Marels ambitious growth strategy going forward.

Ulrika Lindberg was appointed as the Executive Vice President of Service, and Einar Einarsson was appointed as the Executive Vice President of Global Markets. Ulrika has over 20 years of experience in global services having held senior positions at large international organizations such as Alfa Laval and Tetra Pak. Einar has managed Marels sales and service operations in North America since he became President of Marel Inc. in the US in 2003. Prior to his US posting, Einar held several positions within Marel as a Sales Engineer, Area Sales Manager and Product Manager. Simultaneously, Petur Gudjonsson stepped down from his position as Executive Vice President of Commercial and will take on a new role within Marel.





FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE IN 2Q 2018

Order book at good level, balanced across geographies

There was a solid intake of orders over the quarter. Marels commercial position continues to benefit from its full-line offering and steady launch of innovative high-tech products for smarter processing. On the back of exceptionally strong orders received in 1Q18, orders received in 2Q18 totaled EUR 291m, up 7% from the EUR 273m in 2Q17. Orders were well spread geographically and across the three key industries.

The order book was EUR 523m at quarter-end, compared to 472m at year-end 2017. Greenfields and projects with longer lead times constitute the vast majority of the order book. The strong order book continues to provide a good foundation for the full operational year 2018. The order book was at a very good level at the end of 2Q18, equaling 46% of 12-month trailing revenues.



Strong revenue growth with a stable profit margin

Marel continues to deliver strong revenue growth with a stable profit margin. Revenues were a record EUR 296.7m in 2Q18 and the adjusted EBIT margin was 14.6%. EBIT was EUR 43.2m, up 20.3% year-on-year.

Assembly and manufacturing load was very high in key locations. The recently implemented co-location strategy for manufacturing has allowed for better production management, which in addition to the recently extended Nitra facility and outsourcing has been a key success factor in the improved management of the production load.

Non-recurring advisory costs, relating to recently announced changes in the organizational structure to strengthen the global sales and service platform, M&A activities and the review of possible listing alternatives, were unusually high in the quarter and not especially adjusted for.

All industries delivered strong revenues in 2Q18. Poultry continues to be the biggest driver with 52% of total revenues and EBIT of 17.4%. The meat industry showed marginal improvement in the quarter with 32% of revenues and EBIT* of 12.8%. The fish industry is on track with 15% of revenues and showing good margin for the second quarter in a row with EBIT margin of 8.5% in 2Q18, up from 5.0% at 4Q17.

Robust cash flow continues to support substantial investments in innovation and the future platform

Cash flow remained robust in 2Q18. Cash flow from operating activities before interest and tax in the quarter was EUR 56.4 (2Q17: 61.2). Marel continues to invest in the business to prepare for future growth and its full potential. Investment activities are expected to be, on average, above normalized levels for the coming quarters.

Net interest bearing debt decreased by around EUR 28m in 2Q18. Net debt/EBITDA including lease liabilities was x1.8 at the end of 2Q18, compared to x2.0 at the end of 1Q18. Currently leverage is below the targeted capital structure of x2-3 net debt/EBITDA, which underpins the financial capacity to support further growth and value creation.

Net result in 2Q18 was EUR 29.5m, up 59% compared to EUR 18.6m in 2Q17, translating to Earnings per share (EPS) of EUR 4.31 cents (2Q17: EUR 2.62 cents).

IFRS impact minimal and in line with previous estimates

On January 1, 2018, Marel implemented the new IFRS standards. For detailed impact and explanations of these new standards reference is made to the 2017 Consolidated Financial Statements and 2Q18 Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Statements. The impact in 2Q18 was minimal and in line with previous estimates.

Impact of new IFRS standards in 2Q18:

IFRS 9 (Financial instruments): Very limited with main impact on net finance costs which was EUR 0.3 m higher. Non material impact on adjusted EBIT.

IFRS 15 (Revenues from contracts with customers): Very limited impact on revenues of negative EUR 0.1m and positive EBIT effect of EUR 0.5m. Revenues and adjusted EBIT are therefore EUR 297m and EUR 43m respectively both before and after IFRS.

IFRS 16 (Leases): Minimal in 2Q18 and in line with what was estimated at year-end 2017. Non-material impact on adjusted EBIT, annual effect on EBITDA is estimated around EUR 8m and net interest bearing debt increased by EUR 31m.

Impact of new IFRS standards in 1Q18:

Impact of IFRS 9 (Financial instruments): Very limited with main impact on net finance costs which was EUR 0.3 m higher. Non material impact on adjusted EBIT.

Impact of IFRS 15 (Revenues from contracts with customers): Revenues were EUR 288m with an adjusted EBIT of 44m, but would have been EUR 292m and EUR 47m respectively before the IFRS 15 effect.

Impact of IFRS 16 (Leases), was minimal in 1Q18 and in line with what was estimated at year-end 2017. Non-material impact on adjusted EBIT, annual effect on EBITDA is estimated around EUR 8m and net interest bearing debt increased by EUR 31m.

Impact of main items on opening balance sheet as at January 1, 2018:

IFRS 9: an increase in retained earnings of EUR 4m relating to modifications in the Groups loan facilities.

IFRS 15: deferred revenues of EUR 16m resulting in a decrease in retained earnings of EUR 9m, which deferral leads to an increase in the order book of EUR 16m (one time effect).

IFRS 16 (early adopted): recognition of right of use assets and lease liability of EUR 33m. No impact on retained earnings.

INDUSTRY PERFORMANCE IN Q2 2018

Marel Poultry - 52% of total revenues and 17.4% EBIT margin

Marel Poultry contributed EUR 155 million in revenues in 2Q18, or 52% of total revenues, and adjusted EBIT margin was 17.4%.



With the most complete product range and the largest installed base worldwide, Marel Poultry is a leading global provider of advanced food processing systems and services for broilers, turkeys and ducks. Strong orders were received across all product groups in 2Q18. Projects were well distributed geographically with large orders booked in the UK and Oman.

Revenues for Marel Poultry in 2Q18 were up 16% YoY or EUR 155m (2Q17: EUR 133m), EBIT was EUR 27m (2Q17: 25.0) and the EBIT margin was 17.4%.

Marel Meat - 32% of total revenues and 12.8% EBIT* margin

Marel Meat contributed EUR 94 million in revenues in 2Q18, or 32% of total revenues, and the adjusted EBIT margin was 12.8%.

Marel Meat had good order intake in 2Q18. Projects were well distributed geographically, with large orders booked in Russia, Vietnam, Spain and China.

Revenues in 2Q18 were good for Marel Meat. Manufacturing load was very good in the quarter which improved revenues. Revenues were EUR 94m, up 19% YoY (2Q17: EUR 79m) and adjusted EBIT was EUR 12m, up 16% YoY (2Q17: 10m), resulting in an adjusted EBIT margin of 12.8%.

Recent acquisitions have made Marel Meat a full-line supplier to the meat processing industry, from live animal intake to finished consumer product, and larger installations and greenfield projects have become more prominent. To better align execution with strategy and ensure the best customer journey for our customers in the meat processing sector, Marel Meat introduced some internal organizational changes in April 2018. The two business units of primary and secondary processing were combined under a new management team, and a more focused approach was defined for the sales organization and other facets of the segment to ensure better scalability.

The agreement to acquire MAJA, a German food processing equipment manufacturer, will better position Marel in its full-line approach in the meat processing sector and support its growth objectives. MAJA is a highly innovative manufacturer of food processing machinery, specializing in skinning and portioning with main focus on the meat market as well as ice machines for the presentation of fresh food. With MAJAs complimentary product offering and geographic reach, Marel will be able to further accelerate market penetration in the meat processing sector.

Marel Fish - 15% of total revenues and 8.5% EBIT margin

Marel Fish contributed EUR 45 million in revenues in 2Q18, or 15% of total revenues. The adjusted EBIT margin of 8.5% is in line with 1Q18 however still below long term targets.

2Q18 was a good quarter for Marel Fish who have shown continued operational improvements, although results are still below long-term targets. Projects were well distributed geographically and between different products. Marel Fish is focused on becoming a full-line provider for wild whitefish, farmed salmon and farmed whitefish. Large orders were secured in Chile and Iceland.

In 2Q18, Marel Fish generated EUR 45m in revenues and EUR 4m in EBIT, translating to an EBIT margin of 8.5%. This is a 54% increase in revenues and a significant rebound in EBIT compared to 2Q17.

Marel Fish has been transformed in recent years and is delivering higher EBIT margins for the second quarter in a row. Higher investments in innovation to close application gaps, and greater emphasis on standardization of the business have delivered good orders received and improved margins. The landmark next generation salmon plant for Leroy in Norway is a recent example of excellent project execution for Marel Fish.





Outlook

In light of the results delivered in the beginning of the year and robust order book, we expect strong organic revenue growth and good operational results for the full year 2018. The third quarter is expected to be softer than other quarters in 2018 due to seasonality and product mix.

Market conditions have been exceptionally good in recent quarters and are expected to adjust towards normalized levels. Marels management expects 4-6% average annual market growth in the long term.

In the period 2017-2026, Marel is targeting 12% average annual revenue growth through market penetration and innovation, complemented by strategic partnerships and acquisitions.

Marels management expects 4-6% average annual market growth in the long term. Marel aims to grow organically faster than the market, driven by innovation and market penetration.

Maintaining solid operational performance and strong cash flow supports average 5-7% revenues growth annually by acquisition.

Marels management expects Earnings per Share (EPS) to grow faster than revenues.

Growth will not be linear but based on opportunities and economic fluctuations. Operational results may vary from quarter to quarter due to general economic developments, fluctuations in orders received and timing of deliveries of larger systems.





Investor meeting and webcast 26 July 2018

On Thursday July 26, 2018, at 8:30 am (GMT), Marel will host an investor meeting where CEO Arni Oddur Thordarson and CFO Linda Jonsdottir will give an overview of the financial results and operational highlights. The meeting is conducted in English and will be held at the Marel headquarters in Iceland.

Please note that the meeting will also be webcast live on marel.com.





Financial calendar

Marel will publish its interim and annual Consolidated Financial Statements according to the below financial calendar:

Q3 2018 results - 31 October 2018

Q4 2018 results - 6 February 2019

Annual General Meeting - 6 March 2019

Financial results will be disclosed and published after market closing.





Investor relations contact

Tinna Molphy, Manager in Investor Relations, investors@marel.com and tel: (+354) 563 8603.





Forward-looking statements

Statements in this press release that are not based on historical facts are forward-looking statements. Although such statements are based on managements current estimates and expectations, forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain. We therefore caution the reader that there are a variety of factors that could cause business conditions and results to differ materially from what is contained in our forward-looking statements, and that we do not undertake to update any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

Market share data

Statements regarding market share, including those regarding Marels competitive position, are based on outside sources such as research institutes, industry and dealer panels in combination with management estimates. Where information is not yet available to Marel, those statements may also be based on estimates and projections prepared by outside sources or management. Rankings are based on sales unless otherwise stated.

AttachmentsIliaT112 wrote:

Hi All,



I'm a 28 y/o white male, educational background is in pharmacy, GPA:4.0. Ive also attended an MD/PhD program for about a year, but decided to take a leave of absence, which I technically am still on. Both programs were at a top university in Europe.



Ive been working in clinical trial management at a well-known, large academic center on the west coast for about 3 years now and Im also consulting at a couple of local biotech startups. Im looking to transition to the industry full-time this year. Ive had a strong interest in diversifying my background to include more formal business training, specifically geared towards healthcare/pharma.



This and a handful of other forums have been quite informative so far. However, I haven't been able to find a lot on people with clinical (trial) backgrounds wanting to pursue an MBA.



I would be most appreciative for any and all advice.



Thank you

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Contact us for a complimentary profile evaluation Susan BerishajSia Admissionsinfo@siaadmissions.com+1 (646) 690 - 9996website: http://www.SiaAdmissions.com Contact us for a Signature Read MoreWork Experience:

Extra-curricular:

Other details:

Hobbies:

Post MBA Goals:

Still figuring out how to get around this amazingly helpful platform. Signature Read More

Hi!I'd be grateful if you can evaluate my profile.26 M, Indian. Looking to get into a top US business school.5 years WEGMAT - 720, 48Q/41VExpecting 110+ on the TOEFLUndergrad: 3.0 GPA in Engineering from a not-so-popular Indian university.Very passionate about startups and entrepreneurship.Battled my way through severe anxiety and depression.(would be) First in the family to study abroad.Current: Entrepreneur. Bootstrapped an ed-tech startup from scratch to a $150,000 ARR business in 3 years. Still running it with positive cashflow. I know $150k might not sound that impressive to US adcoms, but the company is based in India, it's in a small niche, and it is growing y-o-y. Grew the business from 0 - 10,000 paying customers from over 150 countries. Singlehandedly built and grew the company's blog from 0 to 2 million annual readers without spending a dime on ads. The site is currently ranked very highly in the test prep niche. Helped over 1000 students improve their test scores, through one-on-one personal interaction and mentorship.Previous: Director of Support for 2 years. First hire at a SaaS startup company funded by top global VC firms. Helped scale the company's online support system from 0-10,000 B2B customers. Worked with the CEO and the engineering teams to improve customer experience.Previously, I also co-founded an offline test prep company straight out of undergrad. It did really well for a year or so, and we gave the major players (the likes of Princeton Review and Manhattan Review) a run for their money, but had to shut it down due to lack of funding (needed to expand operations). Used this experience to pivot the service into an online platform (the aforementioned ed-tech startup).Startup Festival - 3 years Organized the first ever startup festival in my home state (which is also one of India's largest entrepreneurship events) with over 2500 delegates attending from across the country. Led a team of 20 managers and 60 volunteers, and played a key role in raising funds, partnering with the state government, and managing over 100 speakers, startups, corporate, sponsors, and partner companies. The event kickstarted innovation and tech in our state. Not sure how relevant it is to my application, but I have a letter of recommendation from our State Minister for IT & Entrepreneurship (similar to Secretary of State), as I worked closely with the state government on building a startup ecosystem.President and Regional Head at a major national level non-profit - 3 years Built and lead the city chapter of one of India's largest non-profits (on the lines of Teach for India) from scratch to the city's largest and the fastest growing non-profit org. Recruited, trained, and mentored over 250 young volunteers to teach, train, and mentor over 300 underprivileged children across 5 shelter homes in my city. Helped the organization expand to two new cities in South India. Recruited, trained, and managed over 30 young leaders and over 300 young volunteers, who in-turn impacted more than 500 underprivileged children in 10 shelter homes across the region. Although this was a few years ago, it wasn't just another community service activity. I actually worked 10-15 hours a week for 3 years straight. Was a founding member of my university's student magazine. Was also a member of a couple of clubs in college (entrepreneurship, speaking).I'm a fitness enthusiast. Have done freelance modeling, and was also a Mr. India 2016 quarter-finalist.Also an avid reader and debater.LORs:Can get strong letters of recommendation from my supervisors.Cons: No recent community service experience. No international exposure. Although I've built a successful business, I haven't worked for big brand corporate companies. Indian male. Although I'm not in the IT sector. Low GPA?Long term goal is to build a global business (ed-tech SaaS company). I plan to use the business acumen and the vast network from my MBA to achieve this. To get there, I believe I need experience in the SaaS domain. My immediate post MBA goal, therefore, is to join a growing SaaS company in the US. Over the past couple of years, I've had a growing interest in the SaaS revolution in the US, and I very much want to be a part of it.Can you please evaluate my profile? Since I have a relatively unique background (and experience), I'm having a hard time understanding how competitive my profile would be at a top school. I'm also looking for schools where my profile would be very competitive, so I can secure a handsome scholarship (half-ride, or GA). I'm planning to apply in Early or Round 1 this year.Please suggest what schools I would be a good contender at. Whether they would be among the Top 10 (Haas, MIT, Ross), Top 30 (Duke, UCLA, Cornell), or Top 50 (Indiana, UT-Austin, Carlson), etc. Thank you very much._________________Three headlines sum up which industry is seeing early casualties in the just-launched trade war between the U.S. and its biggest customers:

Trade war rhetoric shifts to reality

U.S. farmers hardest hit in Trump trade war

Soybean prices plunge to a 10-year low

Farmers, of course, began seeing the effects of a trade war well before it officially began on July 6, as anticipation of what was coming dragged down futures markets. Grain farmers have been hit hard, and soybean farmers hardest of all.

In a typical year, just over 40 percent of all U.S. soybeans are used somewhere else in the world, with roughly two-thirds of that amount going to China, the biggest U.S. customer. In March, when a trade war began to shape up as more than blustery talk, buyers in China began to cancel hundreds of thousands of tons worth of orders, causing prices in the U.S. to plunge.

On March 25, the price of soybeans on commodity markets was $10.415 per bushel. On July 16, they traded as low as $8.11 before closing at $8.31. Thats a 20 percent implosion in less than eight weeks. Corn prices were $4.085 per bushel on May 23 and $3.40 on July 11.

Those declines are on top of a year that USDA had already forecast to be bad. In early spring, it said soybean farmers with an average national yield of 49 bushels per acre would lose about $13 per acre. But that assumed an average price of $9.25 per bushel, so at current prices the red ink will be much deeper.

Corn farmers were forecast to lose $54 per acre and wheat farmers to lose $84 per acre.

The downturn in markets has been so strong that National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson said last week that, American corn, soybean, and wheat farmers have already lost a collective $13 billion as a result of our current trade war with the world. And while the tariffs can end tomorrow, the effects of this trade war will continue for years.

Dairying has been hit, too. While lower grain prices do mean lower feed costs, Class III futures markets clearly appear to be spooked about prospects for dairy exports during the rest of the year.

On May 23, the Class III milk price futures average for the last six months of 2018 was $16.75 per hundredweight at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. On July 17, it was just $15.28.

Yes, U.S. dairy exports did set new monthly records this spring in terms of percentage of total production that is sold abroad, but traders seem to believe they will also become casualties of the trade war.

To comment, email your remarks to intel@hoards.com.

(c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2018

July 23, 2018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Although the article was more broadly focused on urging democratic nations to safeguard the rights of religious minorities all throughout the world, it began by focusing on the case of Mohammad Salas, a member of the Iranian Sufi community known as the Gonabadi dervishes who was recently executed following a judicial process in which he was reportedly tortured and denied due process while facing accusations of responsibility for the deaths of three policemen during clashes between protesting dervishes and Iranian security forces.

Pompeo emphasized that the Salas case is only one part of a much larger crackdown on the Gonabadi dervishes, some of whom have apparently died during the period in which hundreds have been imprisoned on the basis of their beliefs. The article went on to state that Irans well-publicized religious persecution is by no means limited to the dervishes, but includes either outright attacks or systematic denials of civil rights to Christians, Jews, Sunnis, Bahais, Zoroastrians, and other minority religious groups simply trying to practice their faiths.

Also on Tuesday, Forbes published an article by author and human rights activist Ewelian Ochab in which she outlined the particular tactics of persecution facing one of these groups, the Bahai. The article reiterated the familiar claim that this faith, with its origins in early 20th century Iran, maybe the most systematically persecuted in the country, even though that persecution is rarely expressed through bloodshed. Ochab characterized the repression of Bahai religious practice as being subtle but also comprehensive, involving an average of 100 arbitrary detentions per year over the past decade, along with concerted efforts to deny adherents access to education, the means to earn a livelihood, and the same modest legal protections afforded to officially-recognized religious groups.

The Pompeo and Ochab editorials both concluded with similar calls to action, urging governments and all defenders of human rights to undertake measures that would affirm the defense of religious freedom while putting pressure on Iran and other states with poor records in this area. Ochab specifically observed that the Bahai community in Iran demonstrates how the destruction of a minority group can be achieved relatively quietly within a state or region, and thus underscores the need for pre-emptive action to prevent such an outcome.

Of course, it is only natural that some observers find more motivation to speak out on such matters when the affected groups are personally familiar to them. So while the Bahai community, which has only a small global presence, may receive less international attention than its persecution would warrant, it nonetheless stands to benefit from the general attention that is given to Irans persecution of religious minorities, as a result of the impact of that phenomenon on global faith communities like evangelical Christians. This may have been evident early this week when members of that community came together with supporters of Irans regional adversary, Israel, at an event in Washington.

The two aforementioned editorials coincided with the two-day conference called Christians United for Israel. In two separate reports on the event, Voice of America News highlighted some of the ways in which the event provided an outlet both for international defense of Iranian Christians and for Christian solidarity with the various Iranian activists who have been protesting against the clerical regime during recent months.

In the first place, VOA pointed out that Israeli officials addressed the assembled evangelicals to affirm that they would continue exerting pressure on Iran over issues including its domestic human rights violations and its institutionalized discrimination against Christians. Although the Iranian constitution technically lists Christianity as an officially-recognized religious minority, legal protections extend only to persons born into Christian communities, even in best case scenarios. Those who convert to Christianity are typically condemned to 10 years in prison, but can also be executed for apostasy.

VOA quoted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as saying Israel stands in complete solidarity with persecuted Christians in Iran. He went on to invoke calls to action similar to those of Pompeo and Ochab, asking rhetorically, Why are so many people silent as Christians are jailed  in Iran? Netanyahu described the attendant persecution as brutal and acknowledged that it has resulted in Christians fleeing not only from the Islamic Republic but also from other areas of the region in which Iran exerts influence.

The same VOA article quoted the renowned evangelical pastor and CUFI founder John Hagee as saying that participants in the conference stand with young Iranians who oppose the clerical regime. You deserve a bright and predictable future, you deserve fair and free elections, and you deserve better than the iron-fisted dictators that have enslaved your nation, he said before crediting the current American presidential administration with greater attention to such issues that had been offered by its predecessors.

Accordingly, the other VOA article emphasized the efforts by four Republican senators to connect concern for Iranian Christians and support of pro-democracy activism to the assertive policies that have been adopted by the Trump White House. Senators Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, Tom Cotton, and John Cornyn each called attention to their own efforts to support that assertiveness, as by introducing legislation that, in Grahams words, sides with the Iranian people against the ayatollah and his henchmen.

VOA reported that CUFI organizers joined each of these lawmakers in urging attendees to visit Congress on Tuesday and insist upon broader support for measures that are aimed at defending persecuted minorities in Iran while also putting pressure on the regime over the full range of its malign behavior in the region and across the globe.On Tuesday, July 24, dozens of devoted fans of Shamlou attempted to hold a commemoration ceremony to mark the 18th anniversary of his death, near his grave at a cemetery in the city of Karaj, west of Tehran, but they were prevented by the brutal Iranian security forces.

The suppressive forces closed the cemetery gates in order to prevent the gathering by Shamlous grave, according to a member of Irans Writers Association who attempted to attend the event. The gates remained shut even after the security forces dispersed the crowd, according to eyewitnesses.

The security forces arrested five people, including two members of the Writers Association, which has been under pressure from the authorities in recent years. Only one detainee has been subsequently released.

However, this is far from the first time that the Iranian Regimes authorities have attempted to stop people from marking Shamlous death and remembering him at his grave. Indeed, the Regime would prefer that the Iranian people forgot all about Shamlou and his works.

Who was Shamlou?

Shamlou was a groundbreaking poet who used his work to push for greater freedoms in Iran and describe the atmosphere of fear and repression that plagued the country following the 1979 revolution that brought down the Shah and led to the Regimes rule.

He is considered by many to have been Irans most influential contemporary poet, but much of his work was banned by the Regime, who notoriously oppose anyone who questions them.

Shamlou also wrote poems that criticised the rule of the Western-backed shah, who was also a dictator who oppressed the Iranian people, so the Shah banned some of his work before 1979.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) awarded Shamlou the Freedom of Expression prize for his efforts in support of human rights.

He died in Tehran in 2000.

Why is the Regime so desperate to stop commemorations to him?

The atmosphere in Iran is incredibly volatile right now, with an ongoing popular uprising that has been raging since December. The Regime knows  and is terrified that  any gathering in Iran will turn into a protest, especially when you consider that the man they would have celebrated was such a stringent advocate of human rights.

It says a lot about the weakness of the Regime that they can lob threats against the US, but they cannot let their own people gather to commemorate a poet.This description was met with approval from the audience, who know that there are no moderates in the Regime, no matter how polished President Hassan Rouhani and foreign minister Javad Zarif appear before politicians and news cameras.

In his speech, Pompeo addressed the growing problem of terrorism by the Regime, which recently culminated in a foiled bomb plot against the Iranian Resistance in Paris.

The Regime planned to bomb the Free Iran rally, attended by over 100,000 people, including many dignitaries from around the world, but thankfully their terrorist was caught before the attack could take place. This is the most recent attack, but it is far from uncommon. The Regime has left a trail of blood across Europe and the Middle East, according to Reza Shafiee from the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

The Regime is not only bloodthirsty enough to plans these attacks, but theyre also arrogant enough to do so when they are still trying to convince Europe to stay in the 2015 nuclear deal, which Donald Trump pulled out of in May.

How could these people be considered moderates? The only way to stop Irans destructive behaviour is to cut ties with them and join with the Iranian Resistance.

Shafiee wrote: We are asking every nation who is sick and tired of the Islamic Republics destructive behaviour to join our pressure campaign. This especially goes for our allies in the Middle East and Europe, people who have themselves been terrorized by the violent regimes activity for decades.

The world must see the mullahs as the people of Iran do, as bloodthirsty thugs more concerned with profit and power than people. There are no moderates; only those who wear masks and those who dont.

We can see this through Irans many threats against the US and US interests in the Middle East. No moderate would threaten terrorist attacks or close down key shipping lanes that would disrupt global oil trade or the mother of all wars.

It is clear that the US sees past this, with Trump warning Iran in an all-caps tweet to NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE and Pompeo likening the rulers to mob bosses.

All in all, the rest of the world should stand with the Iranian people and advocate for regime change.

Shafiee wrote: Time has come for EU countries to uphold Iranian peoples hunger for a new and free nation. It no doubt benefits them in the long run.Black Panther Party Co-founder Elbert Big Man Howard dies

Elbert Big Man Howard, a co-founder of the Black Panther Party who served as newspaper editor, information officer and logistics genius behind the groups popular social programs, has died at age 80.

His wife, Carole Hyams, says Howard died Monday in Santa Rosa, California, after a long illness.

Friends and family described Howard as a gentle giant who could paint in words what a jazz song was saying. Howard was an author, volunteer jazz disc jockey, author, lecturer and activist in Sonoma County, where he later made his home.

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Howard was one of six people who founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense in Oakland in October 1966, along with Bobby Seale and Huey Newton. The political organization started out patrolling police for possible abuse against blacks.

Key members quit in 1974 after years of fatal fights with police and each other. Later it became clear that the FBI had engaged in surveillance and harassment to undermine the party and incriminate its leaders.

Howard quit the party in 1974, but in its active years, he served as editor of its newspaper and deputy minister of information. He traveled to Europe and Asia to set up chapters and was responsible for the social programs that made the party famous.

Billy X. Jennings, a longtime friend and party archivist, said Howard was the person who negotiated lower prices and organized refrigerated trucks for food giveaways. Later, as an administrator at a local college, he organized a program for jail inmates to take courses.

He was a beloved member, Jennings said. People might have had different grudges against Bobby or Eldridge (Cleaver), but nobody got a grudge against Big Man.

Howard was born Jan. 5, 1938, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, as the only child of Emma and Anderson Howard. He joined the Air Force and was posted to Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California.

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Jennings said after he was discharged, Howard enrolled in Merritt College, where he met Seale and Newton. Seale remains active in politics. Newton was killed in 1989.

Hyams was a nurse when she met Howard in 1969; they broke up when he started traveling on party business.

He was huge, he was impressive, he was quiet, she said. He seemed shy almost, but carried himself with great distinguishment.

After Howard left the party, he returned to Tennessee and worked as a sales manager, Jennings said. The friends got back in touch in the 1990s, and Howard became active in party reunions and events.

In 2005, Hyams reached out to Howard by phone after a friends son found his information online. They got back together and were married in her Sonoma County home in 2008.

In addition to his wife, survivors include his daughter Tynisa Howard Wilson of Landover, Maryland, and grandsons Jaylen and Amin; stepson Robert Grimes of San Pablo, California, and three step-grandchildren.Blacks Must Not Be Chained to Traditional Politics

African Americans interests are not well-served by being overwhelmingly diehard Democratic Party loyalists. And it doesnt help that many, if not most Black politicians seem to be more loyal to the Democratic Party than to their constituents.

Increasingly tough issues facing Blacks in the 21stcentury underscore the need for new and more effective leadership: It follows that new, client and community-oriented political and economic strategies are a must. Since partisan politics is neither designed nor particularly concerned with improving Black life, new thinking and new political alignments that better serve their interests are necessary.

Term limits have not changed the dynamics of money-driven electoral politics and the fat cats still win at the polls. The chief rationale for term limits was that elected officials tend to become ossified but still remained in office ad infinitum.

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Have things really changed? Has term limits benefited Blacks? Many now maintain term limits cause too rapid a turnover which does not allow sufficient time for elected officials to master their craft. Given the sorry track record of traditional Black politicians, local, state and federal, this charge is almost laughable. In California, prior to term limits, Black elected officials were barely accountable; since term limits, has that really changed? The traditional electoral charade may have worsened since Jockeying for more open seats has actually increased the primacy of money. Candidates with the most money still almost always win, and key issues still get short shrift by both elected and aspiring office-holders.

When pressed, Black politicians will acknowledge the need for alternatives to traditional politics, but traditional, ineffective Black leadership remains the norm, not the exception. (An especially glaring example of this was Representative Barbara Lee (Oakland) standing as the lone dissenter from the congressional resolution granting President George W. Bush carte blanche authority to wage war against terrorism. Her African American colleagues were silent. Later, they all concurred that Bushs arbitrary, imperialistic war on Iraq was itself terrorism of the highest order; tens of thousands of lives were lost because of Bushs arrogance.

Black leaders regularly invoke the deeds of famous leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, but rarely emulate their teachings. To the contrary, too many seem eager to accommodate those whose values, policies and behavior are contrary to their constituents best interests. Of course, the Black community shares responsibility for their leaders unacceptable behavior because it fails to hold them accountable. As Ive mentioned repeatedly, changing Black leadership requires re-examining and adopting different values, assumptions and strategies. And racial pride and responsibility are central in any new leadership model which should grounded in moral and ethical values, not individualism and materialism. (A crass example of Black leaderships timidity is evident at Democratic National Conventions; they make no forceful challenges to the partys platform that is often of little, if any benefit for the Black community.)

Clearly, African American leaders tend to skirt issue of leadership accountability. They are largely locked into values and practices that perpetuate the status quo that is inimical to their own, and their constituents best interests.

In the latter part of the 19thcentury, middle-class Blacks called themselves leaders and were so considered by whites, which arguably, is still true. Middle-class Blacks remain the principal beneficiaries of Black leaders agendas that more often than not, fail to give proper weight to poorer Blacks issues. Unless and until the diverse interests of all African Americans are addressed, our plight will likely stay the same. For Blacks, the political and economic implications of unequal public education, housing, employment, etc., are as ominous as ever. Therefore, it is imperative that African American leaders unify around principles and operational priorities that actually address Black peoples needs. This is especially important given todays increasingly complex challenges, including Trumpisim.

Among others, Dr. Cornel Wests thoughts on leadership are instructive in developing a new African American leadership paradigm- his previous controversial meanderings with Tavis Smiley, notwithstanding. West emphasizes the need to approach leadership from a historical perspective with the politics of conversion as central to such leadership. He says, Love and care must be supported by, and accountable to, grass roots organizations, adding that politics of conversion confronts the self-destructive and inhumane actions of Black people.

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Wests leadership models include Jesse Jacksons presidential campaign. He describes Jackson as brilliant and charismatic, .but at the expense of weak programmatic follow-through. The broad failure in Black leadership, for Cornel West, creates a vacuum filled by sensationalistic Blacks with even narrower vision. The crisis in Black leadership contributes to political cynicism among Blacks that is already promoted by Americas culture; he asserts, Unless and until political priorities are determined by Blacks themselves, others without primary interests in African Americans will continue to chart their course.

Blacks indiscriminate loyalty to the Democratic Party is not in our best interest and can only be debunked by unified, more discerning Black leaders and a better informed, politically involved Black community. Also, operating strategically from positions of strength is necessary to effectively collaborate with other groups and essential for offsetting steadily changing demographics that have decreased Blacks political influence in urban areas throughout the nation.

How many of us are sufficiently dissatisfied, or otherwise motivated, to become actively involved in helping to ensure a better future for the Black community?Call 2 Worship  July 26

First Ladies Health Initiative sponsors a Back to School Party on July 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the First Ladies Health House, 2249 South Hobart Blvd., in Los Angeles. Free vaccinations will be available for children and free health screenings for adults for diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, hepatitis, HIV/AIDS and various cancers. Also, 1,000 backpacks filled with school supplies will be distributed to students. For details, call (424) 234-8483 or (773) 405-1250.

AME Southern California Conference Women In Ministry presents an Appreciation Luncheon and Comedy Show on July 28, at 12 p.m., at First AME Church, 2270 S. Harvard Blvd., in Los Angeles, said the Rev. Dr. Charolyn J. Jones, SCCWIM coordinator. Presiding Elders Roosevelt Lindsey, Jr., and Allen L. Williams, Sr., will be honored and Ramona Stephens will perform. The donation is $55. For information or tickets, call (213) 448-7304 or email sccwim@hotmail.com.

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Lewis Metropolitan CME Church honors Rev. Travis A. Morris, pastor and Dr. Garnica Morris, first lady, on July 29, at 10:30 a.m., at 4900 S. Western Ave., in Los Angeles. The Rev. Mark A. Harding, pastor of Hays Tabernacle CME Church and Los Angeles District presiding elder will be the guest preacher. A fellowship luncheon takes place at 1:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend. Elaine Thompson-Esters is the program chair. For information, call (323) 292-0179.

Murph Chapel-St. Paul AME Church presents Back to School  Stay in School on Aug. 4, at 10 a.m., at 1381 Pass and Covina Rd., in Valinda, said Pastor Tracey Johnson. Caring Adult Foundation, Love My Neighbor Foundation and the NAACP San Gabriel Chapter co-sponsor the event. Mayor Lloyd Johnson is the guest speaker. Free backpacks and supplies will be distributed to students. Call (626) 917-3686 for details.

First New Christian Fellowship Baptist Church offers free meals for children ages 18 and younger through August 10, at 1555 West 108th Street, in Los Angeles, said Pastor Norman S. Johnson, Sr. The FNCF Community Development Corporation sponsors the program. Meals are served weekdays, 7 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. To learn more, call (323) 756-2541.

Carson Community Deliverance Center Church holds a Womens Prayer Service on Saturday, August 11 at 10 a.m., at 555 E. 220th St., in Carson. The public is invited to attend for worship and prayer. For information, call (310) 835-7905.

Disciples On the Move holds its 21st Annual Gospel Crusade Rally on August 11, at 11 a.m., at the Venice Beach Boardwalk on Pacific and Winward Avenues in Los Angeles, said Joann Daughtery, organizer. Choirs, soloists, artists and speakers will perform at the free event. Call (213) 359-3185 for details.

Congregational Church of Christian Fellowship hosts the Sally Bell Mentor Groups 2018 Combined Award Ceremony on August 11, at 5 p.m., at the 2085 S. Hobart Blvd., in Los Angeles, said Pastor James K. McKnight. Winners of the SBMG Essay/ Poetry event and the Young Artists will perform. Shirley Starke-Wallace will be honored as the 2018 Art Angel of the Year. To learn more, email fowgs@earthlink.net.Congress Must Stop Family Separation

Like many Americans, the treatment of children and families at the border has shaken me to my core.

San Diego-based U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw has essentially said to stop defying the courts and reunite these families.

The deadline to reunify parents with children under 5 was July 10th, and the deadline to reunify children five and older is July 26th. The Administration has asked for an extension saying it would need more time to reconnect parents and children in certain cases. They have requested an extension to the deadline, but the court is still monitoring and it has yet to be granted.

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Its no secret that Donald Trump views immigrants with disdain. He has called Mexicans rapists and referred to immigrants as animals.

The Trump Administration has embraced nativist dog whistles from day one.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the shameful zero tolerance policy pursued by President Trump, which has separated families, locked kids in facilities, and traumatized innocent children.

Families come to this country seeking asylum. They undertake grueling, dangerous journeys in the hope that America will provide safe harbor from the violence that they are fleeing. Some are escaping domestic abuse, others have come to our shores to save their families from gangs. None expect to have their children ripped from their arms when they finally reach safety.

Two weeks ago, I travelled to McAllen, Brownsville and Los Fresnos, Texas to visit detention centers and see the situation firsthand. I witnessed terrified kids sleeping on cold concrete floors. I saw scared toddlers separated from their families. I heard from mothers unsure if or when they would see their children again. Some parents didnt even have a phone number to reach their children.

This is not the first time in Americas history that we have separated young children of color from their parents. It happened during the Middle Passage.

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It chills me to the bone to know our government would repeat this dark history of jailing children and splitting up families.

Before the abolition of slavery, children of Black slaves were sold by owners at will. This was a constant fear for enslaved familiesthat their beloved children would be sold away, never to be seen again.

Starting in the 19th century, Native Americans were forced to send their children to government or church-run boarding schools, known as Indian Schools. There, these children were stripped of their culture, forced to cut their hair and given new names. These schools existed in America until the 1970s.

America also has a long history of jailing entire families, like the Trump Administration now wants to do with asylum seekers. Who can forget the devastating internment camps of the 1940s, where people of Japanese ancestry were forced to live during World War II. This policy was such a source of national shame that in 1988, the U.S. government signed legislation formally apologizing and providing restitution to interned Japanese-Americans.

Instead of learning from our painful history, the Trump Administration is repeating the mistakes of our past and inflicting more trauma on families seeking safe harbor from the violence and abuse they left behind.

And now, rather than proposing real solutions, the Trump Administration wants to lock immigrant families up indefinitely. Let me be clear: jailing children is unacceptable under any circumstances.

Ending the policy of separating familiesbut forcing kids to live in jail for months on endis just replacing one form of child abuse with another.

These human rights violations must be addressed immediately.

I have asked UN Secretary-General Anthony Guterres to send observers to report on the conditions at detention facilities and to ensure the thousands of children who have been separated from their parents are reunited.

Im also asking for the resignation of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Sessions established the inhumane zero-tolerance policyknowing the trauma and distress it would cause families seeking asylumand Secretary Nielsen implemented it and lied to the American people. The stunning immorality on display from both of these officials should preclude them from ever serving in public office again.

I am proud of Judge Sabraws decision to bar the separation of migrant children from their parents, ordering them to be reunited within 30 days.

Now, we need Congress to pass the Keeping Families Together Act to stop this from happening again and to mandate U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents complete child welfare training on an annual basis.

Above all, Congress must get serious about fixing our broken immigration system. Our immigrant brothers and sistersand most of all, childrenmust be treated with dignity, compassion, and respect.Dr. Edward W. Savage, Jr. Celebration of Life at Holman United Methodist Church

Dr. Edward W. Savage, Jr. passed last week at the age of 85. A gynecologic oncologist, Dr. Savage was one the few board certified specialists providing medical treatment for women in the Southern California area. His celebration of life service will take place at Holman United Methodist Church, 3320 Adams Boulevard on Thursday, July 26, 2018 at 2:30pm. Rev. James Mc Knight will serve as officiant of the Celebration of Life.

Dr. Savage was a proud graduate of Talladega College and Meharry Medical College. He made a significant impact in the practice of medicine in the Southern California region and on the national level within the field of gynecologic oncology. Starting his practice of medicine at King Drew Hospital in 1973, Dr. Savage was a fighter for quality health care, especially for residents of South Los Angeles. Dr. Savage served as the Medical Director of King Drew Medical Center from 1996 to 2002. Despite many medical and political challenges during this time, King Hospital received an outstanding rating during his tenure. He believed the community should have input in the governance of health care institutions.

Dr. Savage also received a dual appointment as the dean of Clinical Affairs at Charles R. Drew University. He was a member of many organizations including the Society of Gynecologic Oncology, 10th president of the Western Association of Gynecologic Oncologists, National Medical Association, and 7th president of 100 Black Men of Los Angeles.

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Dr. Edward Savage was honored with the City of Los Angeles Hall of FAME Award held at Los Angeles City Hall during the African American Heritage Month Celebration.

Dr. Savage leaves to cherish his memory, his wife Carole, children Cheryl, Racheal and Edward III, sister Dove Savage Pinkney and a host of grandchildren, relatives, and friends.Ellene V. Miles Is Sony Pictures New SVP Intersectional Marketing

Ellene V. Miles will join Sonys Motion Picture Groups marketing team in the newly created role of SVP Intersectional Marketing, said a staff-wide memo by Andre Caraco, co-president of domestic marketing.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Miles will take up the new post on Aug. 13, [and] will report to Andre Caraco, co-president of domestic marketing, and Paul Martin, who heads Sonys corporate diversity and inclusion office.

In the memo, it was said that Miles role will be a broad, 360-degree diversity-based marketing strategies that will inform all facets of our film campaigns including publicity, creative, digital, media, research, and promotions.

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Miles has almost two decades of experience in the field of marketing and most recently, she was the vice president of Terry Hines and Associates targeted marketing division, the MRKT, and principal and founder of EV Miles Media, a specialized media relations agency.

She has worked on projects at the DuVernay Agency including Girlfriends, Dreamgirls and Collateral.

An email sent by Tiaka Hurst, Full Bloom Marketing president, including an article by Deadline and attached was the written message, LETS ALL SAY CONGRATS TO ELLENE!!!! @SoundHer22.

On Wednesday, Miles posted on her personal Instagram account @evmilesmedia, a screenshot of The Hollywood Reporter article and was met with over 120 comments of congratulations.

User @dawnchelle_ said, Congrats !!! Youve worked hard and are now reaping the benefits ! Im so happy for you!Florence Corridor Between Crenshaw and Western Set for Improvements

Residents along Florence Ave. said they are excited that city officials and members of Los Angeles Economic Development Department are gearing up to make improvements along the corridor between Crenshaw and Western. The $40 million plan, according to organizers, will include the resurfacing of many buildings in the area as well as repair, paint, re-facing and modernization of several of the real estate structures in need of serious upgrades. Once completed, project lead, John M Culpepper, Jr. said he will also work within the corridor to help bring in a grocery store, mini clinic, beauty and barber salon, dentist and vision Dr., an elder location, drug store and more to ensure a new beginning for many who reside and work in the area without needed resources or transportation for their well being

Culpepper, a minister and pastor of New St. Holy Andrews MBC, said he has a 39-year history of watching the area denigrate to unhealthy circumstances for the residents, and claims he and his parishioners just want to give back while they can.

The best way is to help make the area safe for all concerned, he said.

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Project consultant Dr. Marcia Coppertino said she is happy about the new corridor. She is excited, she said, about completing the first phase which involved about 7 months of planning and interfacing with potential investors and the cooperation of those who have signed up as volunteers, organizers and outside advisors to help spearhead the vision of Dr. Culpepper to support an area of over 50 properties which are rife with drug use, homelessness and neglect.

Theyve already garnered the assistance of private investors, some of whom grew up in the area and want to see it improved.

Coppertino feels the revitalization is important since a sustainable community needs things like a grocery store or clinic things the corridor residents just dont have.

About 75 percent of the low-income residents do not own a car, so something like getting groceries becomes a challenge, she said.

When people cant get basic needs met in a community, it creates problems.

The county and city of Los Angeles officials can only do so much to assist corridor spaces, and that it is up to the citizens themselves to shoulder responsibility for their working and living spaces, and to help make them safe and sound, Coppertino said.

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[Those working on the project] are poised to work hard and make sure they have the citys blessing before moving ahead full speed.

A website for the project is currently under construction and a groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for August.

[The groundbreaking will be] on the first acquired property within the corridor, Coppertino explained.

After the groundbreaking in August, it should take about 1 to 2 years to complete the project.

We have about 18 residents and commercial who have said yes to building up the area. Were just a stones throw from the improvements in Inglewood so we need to have this area revitalized.

Project leaders have been communicating with residents who are concerned about gentrification. Everyone will be able to stay put, Coppertino said. Bond measures as well as city money, will help maintain the new area.

Dr Culpepper is eagerly expecting to see old and new friends who agree that Florence avenue will be the place to celebrate as the anticipated Florence Corridor Program Project takes shape and form for our community and city of Los Angeles.Hotel Industry Commits $75,000 Grant for LA Opportunity Youth Training

On Thursday, July 19, The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation (AHLEF), in partnership with the California Hotel & Lodging Association (CHLA), Hotel Association of Los Angeles and Grads of Life, a national non-profit, celebrated the first graduating class of 27 local youth who received training in a hospitality industry program with local community-based organizations LeadersUp and iFoster.

As part of the training program, each youth has earned the AHLA Certified Guest Service Professional designation, the highest acknowledgement of guest service for employees in the hospitality industry. The graduation comes on the heels of a $75,000 AHLEF grant commitment to local Los Angeles community-based organizations to train youth in the hospitality industry.

AHLEF President Rosanna Maietta joined California Hotel and Lodging Association President and CEO Lynn Mohrfeld, Hotel Association of Los Angeles Chair Jonathan Litvack, Grads of Life Director Erika Cospy, and other representatives from the hotel industry at the event.

In Los Angeles, nearly 190,000 young adults are looking for employment. Each year, the Los Angeles hotel industry has more than 8,300 job openings, with 400 positions currently listed. Grant funds are helping to connect these youth to employers in the hospitality industry and provide training to help them succeed.

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The event was part of AHLAs Empowering Youth Project, an initiative of the industrys Dreams Happen Here campaign, a national awareness effort to showcase career advancement opportunities, community commitment, and economic importance of hotel and lodging businesses to every city and state across America.

The hotel industry employs more than 8 million people across the United States. This grant represents our continued commitment to providing career opportunities and driving economic growth in the hotel industry and in the communities where we live and work, said Rosanna Marietta, president of AHLEF. By partnering with organizations such as Grads of Life, we can take meaningful steps to close the jobs gap and provide our nations youth with the necessary skills to launch long, successful careers in the hotel industry.

The demand for talent in our industry, and especially in Los Angeles, is greater than ever, and we must continue working hard to meet the anticipated growth, said Lynn Mohrfeld, president and CEO of the California Hotel & Lodging Association. By providing youth the tools and training to enter the hotel industry, we will continue to make sure our industry always provides a ladder of opportunity.

Los Angeles hotels are proud to partner with community-based organizations like LeadersUp and iFoster to develop and train the next generation of hospitality leaders, said Jonathan Litvack, Chair of the Hotel Association of Los Angeles. We are confident this grant will make a big difference in the lives of many Los Angeles youth who are not only ready, but better prepared to join the exciting world of hospitality.

At Grads of Life, we work each day to match employers in need of talent with innovative solutions that also provide Opportunity Youth with the skills and access necessary for meaningful career pathways, said Erika Cospy, director of Grads of Life. AHLAs grant commitments will help advance our mission to close the opportunity divide and aid countless young people looking to gain stable employment in the hotel industry.

We applaud AHLA and CH&LA for taking the initiative to galvanize its members in using innovative solutions to finding talent that benefit both the community and businesses, said Jeffery Wallace, CEO of LeadersUp. Our partnership is a clear example of how industries across the nation can build a talent pipeline that connects to the diversity, skills and limitless potential of Opportunity Youth.Justice Department Reopens Emmett Till Murder Case

The U.S. Department of Justice has once again reopened the infamous Emmett Till case. The 1955 murder case was a major turning point in the Civil Rights Movement and one of the most notorious murders in United States history.

In August 28, 1955, Emmett Till, who was 14, was murdered in the town of Money, Mississippi by Roy Bryant and his half-brother J.W. Milam after Bryants wife Carolyn alleged that Till whistled at her and groped her. Bryant and Milam abducted Emmett Till from the home of his great-uncle, beat him, shot him in the head and dumped his body in the Tallahatchie River. Tills body was weighted down by a cast iron cotton gin pulley. Three days later his corpse was recovered from the river.

Tills body was sent to his mother, Mamie Carthan Till, in Chicago. She demanded that her son would have an open casket funeral. The decision would lead to worldwide press attention after hundreds of attendees were given full view of Tills mutilated corpse. The Black Press, led by Jet magazine, widely covered Tills murder, featuring several jarring photos.

In a Justice Department statement on July 13, the reason given for reopening the Till investigation was related to, receiving new information. However, the Justice Department did not detail exactly what the new information was. According to USA Today, the decision was revealed to Congress in a February report, but it is unclear what the Justice Department is prepared to act on.

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In September 1955, Bryant and Milam were acquitted by an all-White jury after less than 90 minutes of deliberation. Tills murderers later admitted to the crime in a 1956 interview for LOOK magazine.

Bryant died in 1994 and Milam died in 1980.

CNN.com reported that, Several interested parties asked the Justice Department in 2004 whether any surviving suspects could be prosecuted.

At the time the Justice Department determined that the statute of limitations prevented any federal prosecution, according to CNN.com.

Three years later, a Mississippi grand jury declined to issue new charges, CNN.com reported.

Many have speculated that the reopening of Emmett Tills death by the Justice Department is related to last years publication of the book The Blood of Emmett Till, by author Tim Tyson. Tysons book revealed that Bryants ex-wife, Carolyn Bryant Donham admitted in 2008 that she lied when she claimed Till whistled at her, a tale she would later tell her husband that set off a chain of events leading to Tills murder.

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In 1955 Carolyn Bryant Donham was 21 year-old former beauty queen; now, shes more than 80 year-old and living in North Carolina.

The original casket of Emmett Till was donated to the Smithsonian Institution and is now displayed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

The story of Emmett Till is one of the most important of the last half of the 20th century. And an important element was the casket, said Lonnie Bunch, the director of NMAAHC, in a 2009 interview with The Washington Post. It is an object that allows us to tell the story, to feel the pain and understand loss.

Bunch continued: I want people to feel like I did. I want people to feel the complexity of emotions.L.A. Sentinel Goes One-On-One with Newly Appointed LAPD Chief, Michel Moore

This month, the Los Angeles Sentinel had the opportunity to conduct a sit-down interview with Los Angeles Police Department chief, Michel Moore regarding his new position and the departmental goals he hopes to accomplish during his tenure.

Who is Michel Moore?

Moore grew up in a poor family as one of five children. Throughout his childhood, he moved across the United States and eventually they moved back to his state of birth California. Growing up Moore had a passion for helping others and found that to be meaningful, however, law enforcement wasnt yet on his radar.

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When I was growing up in the South, my objective was to become a certified public accountant. So I was going to go to business school, a big difference. When I came out [to California] though as I started going to school for that business degree, I found myself drawn to something more than just a nine-to-five job, said Moore.

I found that as a young adult [I was] looking for something more challenging than just balancing out the balance sheet if you will and going through financials. Thats where LAPD caught my attention and the profession caught my attention. As I dug into it, this was the only department I applied for and I was accepted a few months after my application and Ive never looked back.

Moore chose to pursue law enforcement for many reasons. For one, he was looking for career stability. Secondly, he wanted to hold a position that was well respected. Lastly, he wanted to be a part of change while at the same time be challenged. As a man of faith, Moore believes that everyone is here for a purpose and he is living out his purpose through his profession. Today, Moore steps into his new position having 37 years of law enforcement under his belt.

Appointing New Staff

With Moores appointment as police chief, came new department openings. With that being said, Moore appointed deputy chief Robert Arcos to assistant chief. Arcos is not new to the Los Angeles community. He was one of three finalist competing for the assistant chief position. With Arcos appointment came a new opening for deputy chief. Moore appointed Regina Scott who will oversee operations with the downtown core, East LA, northeastern part, Rampart area of Los Angeles. Scott, who the Sentinel ran an article on last week (July 19), is the first Black female to be promoted to LAPD deputy chief. Moore went on to say that he announced deputy chief Robert Bob Green as his new chief of staff, Phillip Tingirides, deputy chief from South Bureau will be moved to transit services and Dennis Kato will be a deputy chief on the west side. He also promoted a new commander, Jeff Nolte, and he will be Katos partner.

Additionally, Moore has promoted other individuals including captain Beverly Lewis who was appointed to commander to serve in the San Fernando Valley as the number two person there, Gerald Woodyard, who will oversee the community engagement group, and captain Darnell Davenport who is the patrol captain for the southwest area.

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Beverly Lewis is a resident of Los Angeles and an African American women who I found to be very capable and a great leader. Shes a great mom as well but that move is going to allow us to I think to demonstrate to the people that were serving that we are reflective of all of our communities, said Moore.

Both [Woodyard and Davenport] are huge enthusiast for Los Angeles, for LAPD and I believe that as we go to deepen our engagement in the African American community and build trust that their leadership role can be most informed about what is working and what would work better.

Moore also mentioned that the LAPD will be releasing a community survey that was completed in April and May of 2018 at the Board of Police Commissioners.

What it shows is what we know and that is while trust in the Los Angeles Police Department is high, it is not uniform across the city in particularly in the areas in which we see some set back is in the African American community, he said. If the level of trust in the police department is not as high in that community as it says, say in the Latino community or the Caucasian community and I want to change that. I intend to work on that. Its not unique to LAPD, its not unique to LA city this is an American policing problem but I believe that LAPD can be a leader in restoring and deepening that trust in the African American community by the manner in which we police this city by demonstrating that we are worthy of the trust.

Next, Moore discussed implementing diversity within the police department.

My commitment is to deepen our diversity in the African American communitiy as well as with women, he said. I think that in both of those areas that while we have made gains such as promotions with Regina Scott but I think that we can go deeper and weve been at a barrier if you will or seemingly stuck on a 19 percent of our organization is being women, Id like to see that number grow and be more consistent with what the civilian workforce is.

How does Moore plan to accomplish this? Through the job design and the departments recruitment efforts.

We need to assure that as we are recruiting women to the positions that what constitutes qualifications that if we see something that is having an adverse impact or a despaired impact on women that we look at what that function is or what is that requirement; is it truly needed, said Moore.

According to Moore, in 2017, the department hired 550 people but only 51 of them were African American.

We need to get better at [hiring more African Americans] and one of the tasks I have for my team is working with the mayors office and office of innovation on what we can do, and how we can engage to attract qualified applicants that will allow us to build that diversity, he said.

Bridging the Gap Between LAPD and the Black Community

Historically, the relationship between LAPD and the Black community has been strained for decades, dating back to the beating of Rodney King, the 1965 Watts Rebellion and many other historic events that took place. Given some of the more recent brutal beatings of Black women and men both locally and nationally, some African Americans believe the police department has a long way to go before putting a dent in the issues at hand. We asked, chief Moore what his plans are to bridge the gap between the community and the police department?

The first step is encouraging more Black men and women to apply and join the Los Angeles Police Department.

With that, how are we insuring that as we engage all of our communities that were acting, that were seeking- that they know the door is open, that theyll find an employer a profession that needs their service, that would benefit from their insights and their abilities but also its going to be one thats going to be very rewarding to them, said Moore.

That its not just stable employment but its a good profession, it has good benefits. You can raise a family you can live a life that many of us have dreamed of growing up with [the dream of having] their own home, the ability to go out and really enjoy life here in Los Angeles and thats what a police officer, a very noble profession, can provide for African American men and women.

The second step is increasing the departments community engagement.

Are we in the churches that we should be, are we in community settings, are we in the town halls, are we in the opportunities with Coffee With A Cop or impromptu meetings that allow people to understand that were not just engaging but were welcoming and in need and asking for more applicants from the African American community to take a step forward? Be part of the change that this department is going through, he said.

Aside from implementing these aspects to bridging the gap, the importance of accountability within the police department is another pertinent issue which Moore is well aware of.

When you talk about accountability and holding people accountable, I think that what your audience can expect from me is what Ive represented in the past, he said. I am a person that I believe is fair and is forthright. My word is the only bond that I have, an integrity that must exist. When I say that I will hold people accountable I mean to hold everyone accountable meaning myself as well as the leadership team, the men and women of this organization.

Moore also stated that he plans to hold communities accountable.

What I mean by accountability for the public is that that accountability is in determining whether or not Im being fair is that people look at all the facts and circumstances as theyre known and not rely upon a word of mouth or a rumor about what someone else represents as what occurred, he said.

Protecting and Serving

The current temperature of South Los Angeles shows that many community members feel as though they are being harassed and not protected or served. Moore spoke with the Sentinel about what he plans to do within the department to combat that.

Currently, there are two major initiatives Moore plans to use.

Im identifying 200 additional personnel that work currently in specialized positions to bring them back out to geographic areas so that staffing in areas can be bolstered so officers have more time to have that Coffee With A Cop, to have that time in a church pew, to have that encounter in a town hall or just a community meeting and not feel that they have to shorten those interactions because theres an emergency or theres a call that needs their response down the street, he said.

The next part of the initiative is improving the departments technology.

We have technology thats decades old and its impacting our officers abilities to be efficient and work through taking reports and completing the paperwork required its taking hours today when it should take minutes, said Moore. I believe that Ive made some adjustments for the organization that well be looking to work with private donors in the philanthropic community to find the means of building technology that can modernize the way in which we record nearly 400,000 reports a year. Both those efforts is meant to give officers more time and more ability to have the simple interaction because we find that when my personnel are able to talk with other individuals and people in the community and just have a more casual setting that both sides of that conversation prove the perspective on both sides improve.

Moore was appointed as chief of police on June 4, by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. During his tenure, he pledged to be visible, responsive, and accessible and ultimately build a deeper trust in the community by proving to them that he will be fair and hold officers accountable.

This is an exciting time for me and my family and I intend to enjoy this by taking on this challenge head on and again. For the public knowing who Mike Moore is I hope to wear it on my sleeve. I love this city and its important to me that the people of Los Angeles believe in their police department, that they support them. We dont always get it right and when we mess up we gotta own it and I intend to be a chief that communicates that but at the same time when we get it right that people will also support us and I think thats the fair contract if you will, a social contract between all of us, he said.

For more information on the departments operations or to volunteer with LAPD please visit, www.lapdonline.org .Olivet Lutheran Hosts Grown Women  Real Talk

Finding scriptural support for decisions in life can be challenging, but a new workshop hopes to bring clarity to those with questions.

The Grown Women  Real Talk session will provide a wealth biblical insight during the event set for Saturday, July 28, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Olivet Lutheran Church, 2606 W. Imperial Highway in Hawthorne.

According to Deacon Tempie Beaman, This exciting and heartfelt session is as real as it gets as the truths of scripture are aligned with the circumstances of our daily lives. This is the kind of gathering where you can ask personal questions about relationships, family, friends and finances.

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Open to women, ages 17 and up, the event is sponsored by the African Descent Lutheran Association  L.A. Chapter. The guest speaker will be the Rev. LaTresa Jester, Arizona State Bishop and pastor of Gideon Full Gospel Baptist Church in Tucson, Arizona.

This session allows you to privately ask those probing and annoying questions, receive feedback and if you desire, and have personal time alone with Pastor Jester, added Beaman. Tell a friend or bring your women friends because this is, indeed, for us ladies!

The free program will include the Suicide Prevention 101 Workshop from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. The Rev. Tracy Williams, MSW, and pastor of Holy Redeemer Lutheran Church in Bellflower, will be the facilitator.

Beaman described the rate of suicide as an often staggering, yet misunderstood, reality within our communities Frequent victims include recent combat veterans, bullied students and young adults disillusioned with life.

This workshop will offer ideas and suggestions in helping us be our brothers and sisters keeper more profoundly and purposefully, she said.

To learn more, email deaconbeaman@gmail.com.Pastor, Writer Sue Winfrey Over Greenleaf Series

A pastor and a screenwriter are suing Oprah Winfrey, alleging they gave her the idea for the Greenleaf megachurch drama series for the Oprah Winfrey Network, but were not compensated.

Pastor Lester Eugene Barrie and Shannan Lynette Wynn filed the breach- of-contract suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on July 17. The complaint naming Winfrey and OWN seeks unspecified damages and mirrors a lawsuit filed previously in federal court in Los Angeles that was dismissed July 13.

The plaintiffs allege that Winfrey heard a proposal they pitched to her in 2014 for their story, Justice & Glory, but that she rejected it and later launched Greenleaf in 2016 on her cable television network.

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Defendants used plaintiffs ideas and materials in Greenleaf, the suit alleges. However, defendants have not compensated plaintiffs for the use of such ideas and materials.

The suit states that while allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination has brought Hollywood under increasing scrutiny, the victimization of hard-working writers also must be addressed.

Creative theft, in Hollywood, has become a cottage industry, the suit says.Police Officer Fired Shot That Killed Trader Joes Worker at End of Chase

The bullet that killed a Silver Lake Trader Joes assistant manager during a police shootout with a man who took more than a dozen people hostage inside the store was fired by a police officer, not the suspect, Los Angeles police Chief Michel Moore confirmed today.

This is a heartbreaking reminder of the split-second decisions that officers must make every day, an emotional Moore said during a morning news conference. And it is also a sobering reminder of the destruction a lone individual with a handgun can create.

Melyda Corado, 27, was killed around 3:30 p.m. Saturday when a man suspected of shooting his grandmother and girlfriend in South Los Angeles crashed a car in front of the Trader Joes market at the end of a police chase and fled inside, allegedly while exchanging gunfire with pursuing officers.

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The suspect, Gene Evin Atkins, 28, was charged Tuesday with 31 felony counts, including murder. Even though he did not shoot Corado, Atkins was charged with her killing because he allegedly set off the chain of events that led to her death.

Atkins allegedly shot his 76-year-old grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Madison, as many as seven times and shot a 17-year-old girl around 1:30 p.m. Saturday at his grandmothers South Los Angeles home in the 1600 block of East 32nd Street. He then allegedly kidnapped the teenager and drove off in his grandmothers 2015 Toyota Camry. Police spotted him in Hollywood, sparking a chase in which Atkins fired shots at pursuing officers through the rear window

of the Camry, Moore said. A short time later, Atkins crashed into a light pole outside the Trader Joes in the 2700 block of Hyperion Avenue.

As Atkins exited his vehicle, witnesses reported they observed Atkins shoot at the officers. The officers exited their vehicle and returned fire as Atkins ran towards the entrance of Trader Joes, Moore told reporters.

Moore said the two officers  one a six-year veteran, the other a two- year veteran  fired a total of eight shots in return. One of them struck Atkins in the left arm, but he continued running inside. Another struck Corado, traveling through her arm and into her body, Moore said. The woman managed to stumble back inside the store after being shot, collapsing behind the managers station.

She was carried out of the business by others in the store, but paramedics were unable to save her.

The police chief said it is every officers worst nightmare, to harm an innocent bystander during a violent engagement. I spoke to both of these officers this morning. They are devastated. They were devastated in the immediate aftermath of this event  that a person died in their efforts to stop Atkins.

But Moore  dealing with the first high-profile officer-involved shooting since becoming chief at the beginning of July  stood behind his officers actions, urging people to put themselves in their shoes and reflect on how they would have reacted in the same situation, with shots being fired in their direction.

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Moore said he believes the officers did what they needed to do in order to defend the people of Los Angeles and defend the people in that store and defend themselves.

As chief of police, I am sorry for the loss, this tragic loss, not just to the Corado family, to her father, brother, (but) to her friends, to her work colleagues at Trader Joes, Moore said. This has been a devastating ordeal. On behalf of myself, and the men and women of this department, I want to express my deepest condolences and sympathy to her family and to everyone who knew her.

The Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union representing LAPD officers, issued a statement expressing sorrow for Corados death, but saying the officers faced an impossible choice between opening fire or allowing an armed suspect to run into a crowded market.

While it is easy to second guess the split-second decisions officers are forced to make when bullets are flying at them, our officers made the right call to try and protect as many innocent people as possible, according to the union.

Moore said Atkins fired additional rounds at police from inside the store, but officers did not return fire. As many as 40 people were believed to be in the store when he initially ran into the market, police said Saturday.

Several employees and customers were able to escape from the store, while others were released by Atkins at various times before he surrendered to SWAT officers around 6:30 p.m. Saturday after about three hours of negotiations, according to the police chief.

Along with the murder charge stemming from Corados killing, Atkins was charged with trying to kill his grandmother and the 17-year-old girl  the latter of whom was rescued by Los Angeles police officers from the passenger seat of the Camry outside Trader Joes. The teen, described by police as Atkins girlfriend, was shot once in the head and was listed in fair condition.

Atkins was also charged with four counts each of attempted murder of a peace officer and assault on a peace officer with a semiautomatic firearm, along with 13 counts of false imprisonment of a hostage.

The other counts against him include fleeing a pursuing peace officers motor vehicle while driving recklessly, grand theft of an automobile, driving or taking a vehicle without consent, discharge of a firearm with gross negligence, shooting at an occupied motor vehicle and assault with a firearm.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gustavo Sztraicher ordered Atkins to be held in lieu of $1.87 million bail pending his arraignment, which was postponed to Aug. 14 in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.

He could face a life prison sentence if convicted as charged, according to the District Attorneys Office.

The Trader Joes store has been closed since the shooting, but a memorial of signs and flowers in memory of Corado continued to grow outside the building. A GoFundMe page set up to help cover her funeral expenses had raised more than $33,000 as of early Tuesday afternoon.

Atkins cousin, Charleo Egland, told City News Service she didnt know exactly what prompted the initial shooting in South Los Angeles, but said the grandmother did not want Atkins girlfriend in the home, and that likely led to a fight that prompted the shooting.

Another cousin, Deshon Hayward, said in a statement Monday to ABC7 that Madison, who was hospitalized in critical condition, is doing good and is in good spirits.

She has a long journey ahead but everything is looking good, he said. We would like to send our deepest condolences to everyone that was affected by this horrible tragedy.

Margaret Stewart of the Los Angeles Fire Department said paramedics treated 10 people at the scene of the Trader Joes, including Atkins, his girlfriend and Corado. Four people were hospitalized with minor injuries and three others were evaluated but declined to be taken to hospitals.

At the Tuesday morning news conference, Moore released dramatic body- camera and dashboard-camera video of the chase and the shooting outside the Trader Joes to give a snapshot of what happened. He said a more comprehensive video would be released within 45 days of the shootout, under a new policy recently mandated by the Police Commission. A final report would be issued sometime after that, which would include video and written materials.

He conceded that the video will be closely analyzed by the community and become the topic of discussion by critics who might question the tactics. But he again asked people to ask themselves, What would you have done?

Mayor Eric Garcetti, who is traveling out of the country, issued a statement saying: Saturday was a dark day for the family of Melyda Corado, and it is our responsibility to shed light as quickly as possible on what happened. Melydas loved ones are entitled to answers  and Angelenos deserve complete transparency in understanding the full circumstances of her death.

There was no immediate response from Corados family. Her brother, Albert Corado, retweeted posts Tuesday morning about Moores announcement, but did not respond to the news that it was a police officer who shot his sister.

On Monday night, he commented about the growing memorial outside the Silver Lake market.

The amount of people who have left flowers and notes and have lit candles is astonishing, he wrote. Saw so many of her coworkers and people who came to celebrate my sisters life.Rep. Waters Statement Regarding Los Angeles Protests at Her District Office

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43), ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, released the following statement today:

I must once again reiterate that non-violent and peaceful protest is a right we are all entitled to under the Constitution. This is even true for a group as repugnant as the Oath Keepers, an antigovernment militia known for its intimidation tactics and for protesting in military-style clothing while carrying assault weapons. Although I was very concerned about their planned protest at my office because of the groups reputation for being armed, I honored their right to do so anyway. This is precisely why I implored the community through a widely distributed written statement to not engage the Oath Keepers and to refrain from staging a counter-protest in response to their militant tactics and racist rhetoric.

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Many people from within the community heeded my advice and steered clear of the event, but there were groups of individuals who felt compelled to participate and show their support for me despite my request. While most of those counter-protesters remained peaceful, I have learned that there were others in attendance who were not necessarily from the 43rd District, but who nevertheless participated as counter-protesters not so much in support of me, but to seek press attention in furtherance of their own agendas. Unfortunately, this groups actions with respect to the American flag, and their passing physical contact with other protestors, has created fodder for partisan media outlets to exploit and overshadowed the majority of counter-protesters who engaged in peaceful demonstrations.

While I do not agree with torching the flag as a form of protest, I understand the Constitution guarantees everyone the right to this form of free expression. However, physical violence, or even the perceived threat of violence, is not an acceptable way to protest injustice today and can never be tolerated.

I am thankful to those who did not take the Oath Keepers bait and further the groups efforts to inflame, divide, and disrupt our community. I am also appreciative of those from within the community who remained peaceful.

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I continue to support peaceful protest and disavow all forms of violence against others who may not share our communitys values. Furthermore, I do not take a backseat to anyone on patriotism and my respect for the Constitution. As a member of Congress, I will always honor and respect the law and encourage everyone to do the same.Rosa Parks Family House Set For Auction Next Week

The house where Rosa Parks sought refuge after fleeing the South amid death threats is scheduled for auction next week with a minimum bid of $1 million.

Auctioneer Guernseys plans to put the house up for auction July 26 in New York City, and has set a pre-auction estimate of $1 million to $3 million. Its part of an auction that will feature several other items related to African American history and culture.

Parks moved to Detroit in 1957, two years after refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a White passenger in Montgomery, Alabama. Her family says Parks stayed in her brothers tiny wood-framed house with 17 other relatives.

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The house was going to be demolished by the city of Detroit when it was rescued by Parks niece, Rhea McCauley, and a Berlin-based American artist who took it apart and shipped it to Germany. Artist Ryan Mendoza rebuilt it in his yard, turning it into a work of art.

In Berlin, it attracted international attention and a steady stream of visitors interested in learning more about Parks and her importance in the civil rights movement. It was shipped back across the Atlantic Ocean earlier this year to be displayed in Rhode Island. Its now in storage in Massachusetts.

The house also includes ceramic sculptures of furniture that was in the home when Parks stayed there.

Proceeds from the sale will be split between Parks family and Mendoza, the auction house said. Guernseys will also auction bricks from the homes chimney, which had to be dismantled for the project.

Mendoza has said that he wants the house to end up in the hands of somebody who loves Rosa Parks and who wants to display it publicly. The house has become a way to tell the story of how redlining and segregation affected Black communities in America, he said.

This is a way to save this chapter of Black oral history, Mendoza said.State AGs to DeVos: Work with, Not Against, State Law Enforcement

With 44 million people together owing a still-climbing $1.5 trillion in student debt, consumers have a huge investment in higher education. And as the price of college continues to rise, student loan borrowing will continue its upward trajectory for the foreseeable future.

At the same time, bad actors with little or no regard for honesty or even legality, have been the focus of many investigations, lawsuits, and settlements at both the state and federal levels of government. When branches of government work collaboratively, particularly in sharing related information, consumers are protected, and these bad actors are held accountable.

Thats a good thing.

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So why would Education Secretary Betsy DeVos recently take actions to end good government practices of cooperation? In June, the Education Department gave notice that it is revising its policy on disclosing student loan information to law enforcement agencies. In effect, this action reversed a decade long practice in which the federal government routinely disclosed student loan information on request to state Attorneys General and other federal agencies (AGs) who are investigating potential civil fraud and crime.

Allow me to share a portion of this developments backstory.

Starting last summer, student loan servicers like Navient have been lobbying DeVos to shield them from liability for their practices. And its worked. Despite objections from a bi-partisan group of Attorneys General (AGs), the National Association of Governors, and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, DeVos and the Department of Education have increasingly made it more difficult for state and federal law enforcement agencies to do their jobs by retracting information sharing agreements with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and instructing servicers not share student loan information with state law enforcement and banking supervisors.

This March, the Department published a memo declaring that state consumer protection laws undermined federal regulator requirements. This perspective had no legal basis. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act explicitly granted AGs the authority to pursue alleged fraud if there was no effort at the federal level. In short, this memo attempted to preempt state laws and related prosecutions.

Some could contend that these developments are an effort to stop AGs from doing their jobs. The CFPB, FTC, and state AGs will not have access to the information they need to enforce the law.

But with a departmental notice published in the Federal Register, the Educations intent has become clear: defrauded student loan borrowers will have to look to the Department for relief. And if the Department has no information, we can all wave goodbye to enforcement actions and financial fairness.

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Had the Education Department been actively working with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on student loan fraud, there might be a valid explanation. But instead, the Department has been undermining investigations and enforcement actions at every turn.

So lets recap: Under Secretary DeVos, the Education Department ended its cooperative relationship with CFPB and tried to preempt states from enforcing their own statutes. Now, the decision to withhold related information on active state and federal investigations becomes yet another road block to financial fairness.

In response these and other actions, a coalition representing 20 state AGs sent Secretary Devos a July 13 letter. These elected officials represent the states of: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington.

The higher education industry requires vigilance and vigorous enforcement from state law enforcement agencies, wrote the AGs. We are particularly concerned by predatory practices in the for-profit schools industryWe respectfully submit that the Department is making a mistake.

Consumer advocates agree with the AGs.

If it wasnt clear before, it certainly is now, observed Whitney Barkley-Denney, a Senior Policy Counsel with the Center for Responsible Lending.

The Department of Education and Secretary DeVos are more interested in shielding corporate actors like Navient and for-profit colleges from taking responsibility for their bad acts, added Barkley-Denney. Like the Attorneys General speaking out against this latest development, we remain dedicated to standing up for students, and urge Secretary DeVos to remember who she was appointed to serve.Suspect Arrested in Oakland Train Station Stabbing Attack

The wounded sister of an 18-year-old Black woman fatally stabbed in the neck while transferring trains said they were blindsided by a maniac.

Lahtifa Wilson, 26, said that she, her baby sister Nia and a third sister had been returning from a family outing when they were attacked by a man Sunday (July 22) night.

I looked back and he was wiping off his knife and stood at the stairs and just looked. From then on, I was caring for my sister, Wilson told ABC7 News on Monday, speaking outside a family members home with a bandage on her neck.

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On Monday, July 23, authorities arrested John Cowell, 27, who is suspected in the attack at the MacArthur Station in Oakland, according to Bay Area Rapid Transit spokesman Chris Filippi.

Surveillance footage showed a man identified as Cowell fleeing the station through a parking lot and stripping off his clothes there. Detectives recovered a knife they believed was used in the attack at a nearby construction site, said Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Chief Carlos Rojas.

Surveillance video on the train and at the stations platform showed Cowell had been riding the same car as the sisters, but they did not interact, Rojas said.

As the group got on the platform, Cowell quickly attacked them. It looks like it was an unprovoked, unwarranted, vicious attack, Rojas said.

Wilson said a woman with a stroller gave her a baby blanket to apply pressure to her sisters neck, but Nia Wilson died calling out her sisters name for help.

Wilson said she told her sister she loved her.

Were gonna get through this, I got you, youre my baby sister, she said.

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The womens father, Ansar Muhammad, said one of his daughters called him, crying hysterically, and told him to get to the MacArthur station.

Its nothing imaginable, seeing your child on the BART platform with a yellow tarp over her body, Muhammad said Monday evening as he and other family members joined dozens of people for a vigil at the station. That is an image Ill never forget for the rest of my life. So I want justice. All I want is justice.

Cowell was released from state prison on May 6 after completing a sentence for second-degree robbery, said Vicky Waters, spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Rojas said that Cowell was cited for fare evasion on July 18 and his photo was captured by an officers body camera.

BART officials released that image and another one from surveillance video that shows him at MacArthur station Sunday night dressed in a white and gray sweatshirt and carrying a backpack.

In addition to serving time for a 2016 robbery in Contra Costa County, Cowell had prior arrests in Alameda County, as well as warrants out for his arrest, the East Bay Times reported.

Rojas said investigators were trying to determine what led to the attack. They have no information it was racially motivated, but they are not discarding that as a possible motive, he said.

Cowell is a White man, authorities said. The Wilson sisters are Black.

Nia was the baby among six children, said her eldest sister, Unieve Wilson, 37.

She was spunky, feisty, loved to dance, she said. She wouldnt harm a fly.

Ebony Monroe, a cousin of the victims, initially said the third sister, 21-year-old Tashiya Wilson, had been injured but authorities later said it was Lahtifa.

Monroe was among several relatives who went to the train station Sunday night after hearing about the attack. She said the Wilson sisters were returning home after celebrating Nias late boyfriends birthday. He drowned in a lake two years ago, Monroe said.

Monroe, 24, said her cousin attended Oakland High School and loved her family, dancing and makeup.

She was a beautiful person inside and out, and she didnt deserve it, Monroe said.

A man who witnessed the attack told them the suspect came out of nowhere and slit Nias throat while she was sitting down in the train and that he stabbed her sister as she tried to stop him, she said.

She died for no reason, Monroe said. We want to see justice.

The killing was the third possible homicide on the BART line in just five days, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

A homeless man at the Bay Fair Station in San Leandro died Sunday at a hospital, a day after he was punched by an attacker and fell down and hit his head on the pavement. He was identified as Don Stevens, 47.

Another man, Gerald Bisbee, 51, died Friday at his Pittsburg, California, home.

Bisbee was attacked by a man who was quickly arrested and suffered a bloody lip and a small cut to the back of his knee.

An autopsy Sunday determined that Bisbee died because the cut became infected, Rojas told the Chronicle.

The three deaths appear to be unrelated but they represent a worrying anomaly, the police chief said.

Its rare that we have a homicide, so of course this is ramped up to the highest priority when you have three deaths, Rojas said.Thanks to the L.A. Sheriffs Department, White Democratic Donor is Likely to Escape Criminal Charges in Fatal Overdose of Black Gay

Youd think it was the made-up plot for the sequel to Jordan Peeles Get Outif it wasnt true.

A 63-year-old White prominent Democratic political donor living in West Hollywood uses the internet to stalk and prey on young, Black gay men who are usually homeless, HIV positive and often work as male escorts. One of those young men ends up dead of a crystal meth overdose. The police deem it an open and shut case of an accidental overdosepresumably because he was Black and the White man told him that he had no idea the dead man was in his house doing drugs and must have overdosed. That is until the same young mans journal is published and other young Black gay men come forward with photos and videos recounting similar stories about a White man in West Hollywood with a lot of money who has a Tuskegee Experiment like fetish. A man who likes to shoot crystal meth into young Black men that he picks up off the street or via dating hookup websites just to see how they react to it while he makes them dress up and pose in White underwear.

But this is not fictionits the story of the tragic death of 27-year-old Gemmel Moore in the home of Ed Buck one year ago July 27. A home that a coroners report confirmed was littered with drug paraphernalia including 24 syringes with brown residue, five glass pipes with White residue and burn marks, a plastic straw with possible White residue, clear plastic bags with White powdery residue and a clear plastic bag with a piece of crystal-like substance.

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In his journal Moore wrote, I honestly dont know what to do. Ive become addicted to drugs and the worst one at that, a December entry reads. Ed Buck is the one to thank. He gave me my first injection of crystal meth it was very painful, but after all the troubles, I became addicted to the pain and fetish/fantasy.

My life is at an alltime [sic] high right now & I mean that from all ways. I ended up back at Buck [sic] house again and got munipulated [sic] into slamming again. I even went to the point where I was forced to doing 4 within a 2day [sic] period. This man is crazy and its [sic] sad. Will I ever get help?

His last entry, dated Dec. 3, 2016 reads: If it didnt hurt so bad, Id kill myself but Ill let Ed Buck do it for now.

Buck has since been accused of being a sexual predator, kidnapping, forced drug use, injecting them while unconscious with crystal meth, filing false police reports to cover his crimes, coercion and pimping and pandering by multiple victimsall criminal charges.

One year later, Ed Buck is no closer to facing criminal charges than the night they carried Gemmel Moores lifeless body out of his apartment.

While the media made much of the fact that the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department reopened Moores death as a homicide investigation, had they followed up they would have learned that it was mostly to save face after Moores journal had been published and made national news. The investigation consisted of the Sheriffs Department relying on me and Gemmel Moores family attorney Nana Gyamfi to provide them with evidence, witnesses they could interviewwitnesses that we fought and won immunity for in order for them to give statements to police that they didnt trust in the first placeohand one flyer asking for more information about the death of Gemmel posted at Bucks frequented haunts in West Hollywood. A flyer that featured Gemmels photo rather than a photo of the man known for soliciting Black gay men behind West Hollywood bars. In fact, the detectives early on verbally took on the role of prosecutors and were seemingly more concerned about what charges they thought Buck could fight and get off on including using Proposition 47than completing a thorough investigation. That was their investigation.

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So here we are one year later and once again Gemmel Moores name is again in the news and trending on social mediathis time because the Sheriffs Department has turned in their investigation to prosecutors for consideration.

Whats not in their investigation is the account of a young man that detectives called a illegal male escort. Why? Because before the interview could be scheduled they had already offended the young man to the point of no repair.

Im sure whats not in their investigation is the how the West Hollywood Sheriffs Department failed to act on complaints by victims of Ed Buckand how if they hadGemmel Moore might be alive today.

Whats not in their investigation are the multiple cell phones owned by Gemmel Moore that he used to communicate with Buck which probably hold additional evidence.

Whats not in their investigation is a video from May 5 of this year showing yet another young Black gay man at Ed Bucks house. A young man who told me that Buck also paid him to do meth but only if Buck was the one to shoot it into his veins. A young man who similar to Gemmel MooreBuck bought a ticket from Los Angeles to Dallas.

And while Dr. Conrad Murray (Michael Jacksons personal physician) and Cathy Smith (John Belushi) are proof that theres precedent, in Ed Bucks case, this all amounts to him being on his waycourtesy of the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Departmentto getting away with criminal charges including first-degree felony murder, second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, torture, furnishing controlled substances, possession of controlled substances, assault causing great bodily injury, illegal possession of drug paraphernalia, pimping and pandering, providing false statements to the police, false imprisonment and filing a false police report.

Ed Buck should be charged with murder in the death of Gemmel Moore.

If the roles were reversed, Gemmel Moore would not have benefited from his years of political donations and relationships with politicians. His word on what happened would not have been taken for face value by the police. Gemmel, or any other Black man who had a dead White man who overdosed on drugs in his apartment, would have been met with: do not pass go, do not collect $200, go straight to jail.

Gemmel Moore and Bucks other victims may have been male escorts. They may have even agreed to do things for money that you might find utterly abhorrent. Thats not really the point because Gemmelno matter what elsedid not agree to be killed that day.

Criminal justice reform isnt only about police killing unarmed Black men and women. Its about changing an entire system that doesnt value the lives of Blacks whether were the suspect or the victim.

American education officials have sought new ways to make schools more secure following several deadly shootings in recent years.

One of them took place in February at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The attack, carried out by former student Nikolas Cruz, killed 17 people.

The killings set in motion a nationwide debate over school security and gun control. Many security proposals have been discussed, including the hiring of armed guards and putting metal detectors in schools.

The principal of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Ty Thompson, recently tweeted about new security measures that will take effect during the new school year beginning next month. Among the changes will be adding four security officers, the addition of metal detectors and numerous new cameras.

Some American schools plan to take camera technology a step further by adding facial recognition equipment to improve security. Such systems work by continuously searching faces for the identities of individuals whose images have already been entered.

Facial recognition technology

The Lockport City School District in western New York state has approved a facial recognition system at all its schools. District officials say the equipment will soon be in place to identify former students and employees, sex offenders and weapons. Schools in other states have also considered using the technology.

A security expert who worked with Lockport officials says such a system can prevent shootings like the one in Parkland, Florida. This would have identified (Nikolas Cruz) as not being able to be in that building, Tony Olivo told the Associated Press. Olivo said cameras placed throughout the school would have followed Cruzs every move on school grounds.

The system chosen by Lockport administrators was created by Canadian-based SN Technologies. The companys website says the facial recognition system can notify officials immediately when certain individuals are detected on school property. It is also designed to identify the most commonly used firearms.

Lockports director of technology is Robert LiPuma. He told the Associated Press that past violence has forced officials nationwide to decide what new security methods are needed. He said he hopes the districts system will become a model for other schools.

A U.S.-based company recently announced it will start offering a free version of its facial recognition system to schools in the United States and Canada. The SAFR system by RealNetworks is also designed to keep people identified as possible threats from entering schools. Also, the system lets parents or others register their image so they can gain electronic entry to the school.

A question of privacy

Some critics of facial recognition technology say it should be kept out of schools. The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) has asked the state Education Department to block the technology from any New York school. Education officials have said they would review the groups request.

In its letter to state officials, the NYCLU said the system will harm, not help students. Rather than protecting them, the district is treating every child as a threat. Rather than human relationships, the district is relying on machines to do its job, the letter said.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, has called on schools considering facial recognition to carefully examine how the systems will be used. It said officials must consider who will have access to collected information, how the system would be managed and whether students can decide not to take part.

Some critics have also questioned the effectiveness of facial recognition systems. A study released in February by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University found that some facial recognition systems do not work as well on women or minorities.

Khari Demos is a father with two children attending Lockport High School. He said he thinks facial recognition can be an effective tool when used as part of a complete security package to keep students safe.

Itll actually identify who should and shouldnt be in the school, Demos said. The system will never be 100 percent perfect, but its a step in the right direction, he added.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from the Associated Press and other online sources. Hai Do was the editor.

______________________________________________________________

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Quiz - Can Facial Recognition Help Prevent School Shootings? Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

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Words in This Story

detector  n. piece of equipment used to discover something, especially something that is hidden

principal  n. the person in charge of a school

rely  v. depend on

access  n. way of being able to use or get something

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.After launching a line of Google Home smart speakers in 2016 and rolling out support for third-party speakers in 2017, this year Google announced that Assistant was coming to Smart Displays.

Basically these are smart speakers with touchscreens, adding a visual element to the Google Assistant experience. Ask for a weather update and in addition to reading one aloud, Google can show it to you. Ask for a recipe, and you can read along as you cook.

Lenovo, JBL, and LG all unveiled Smart Displays, and now Lenovo has brought the first two to market. A $200 Lenovo Smart Display with an 8 inch screen should be available this weekend, along with a $250 model with a 10 inch display.

Basically, these Smart Displays are the Google and friends answer to Amazons Echo Show and Echo Spot products. But while there are some things Amazon is better at and others that Google is, theres at least one key advantage to getting a Google Assistant-powered device: it will support YouTube, allowing you to watch millions of videos that arent currently available on an Amazon Echo Show.

Some of the first Lenovo Smart Display reviews are in, and for the most part people seem to like the design, the performance, and the experience of using Google Assistant on this style of device. Audio quality is said to be mediocre though, and for some reason the YouTube app doesnt offer access to subscriptions or playlists. Its still better than what you get with the Echo Show, I guess.

YouTube TV is also supported, allowing you to tune into live television programming with a Hey Google watch ESPN-style voice request.

And Smart Displays are also compatible with other Google Assistant-enabled smart home accessories, allowing you to control lights, thermostats, locks, and other internet of things devices.

The Lenovo Smart Display 8 inch model has a 1280 x 800 pixel display while the 10 inch version has a 1920 x 100 pixel screen. Both have 10 watt speakers. And both have privacy covers that can slide over the camera if youre not using it to make Google Duo video calls, to help provide a little extra privacy/security/peace of mind.

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This week Panasonic added the Toughbook N1 handheld device to its line of ultra-durable portable computing gadgets. Now the company is introducing two more models.

The Panasonic Toughbook T1 is a rugged handheld with a 5 inch display, and the Toughbook L1 is a rugged 7 inch tablet. Both feature shock-resistant designs, dust and water resistant bodies, and built-in barcode scanners. These are aimed at the enterprise market rather than consumers, and theyre priced to reflect that: both models will sell for about $1499 and up.

For that price its a little disappointing that both devices also feature Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 processors. On the bright side, they ship with Android 8.1 and include hot-swappable batteries, allowing you to change our batteries in the field without pausing to turn off the device.

Heres a run-down of the spec sheet for each model:

Toughbook T1

5 inch, 1280 x 720 pixel display

10-point multitouch input and support for glove touch

Optional passive stylus

Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 quad-core processor

2GB RAM

16GB eMMC storage

microSD card up to 64GB

3 mics + mono speaker

8MP rear camera

micro USB port

Headphone jack

802.11a/b/g/nd/h//r, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, NFC, and optional LTE

3,200 mAh battery

MIL-STD-810G tested (5 foot drop-resistant)

IP66 and IP68 dust and water resistant (up to 5 feet of water for 30 minutes)

2 user defined buttons

Toughbook L1

7 inch, 1280 x 720 pixel display

10-point multitouch input with support for glove touch

Optional passive stylus

Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 quad-core processor

2GB RAM

16GB eMMC storage

microSD card up to 64GB

2 mics + mono speaker

8MP rear camera

micro USB [prt

Headphone jack

802.11a/b/g/nd/h//r, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, NFC, and optional LTE

3,200 mAh battery

ML-STD810G tested (5 foot drop resistant)

IP65 and IP67 dust and water resistant (up to 3.3 feet of water for 30 minutes)

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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.U.S. airlines plan to comply with a Chinese government demand that they revise their website identifications of Taiwan to reflect Chinas claim on the island territory, said a person familiar with the discussions.

The U.S. carriers affected by the mandate  American Airlines Group Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc., United Continental Holdings Inc., and Hawaiian Holdings Inc.  will begin to change the Taiwan references over the next day or two, said the person, who asked not to be named because discussions among the carriers were private.

The four airlines had been hoping for a negotiated resolution between the U.S. and Chinese governments ahead of yesterdays deadline. Other airlines, including Qantas Airways Ltd., Air France-KLM and Deutsche Lufthansa AG, have already cooperated with Chinas wishes.

In April, the Civil Aviation Administration of China sent a letter to more than 40 foreign airlines telling them that they shouldnt place China, Hong Kong and Taiwan on an equal footing, and must refer to China Taiwan or the China Taiwan region. Maps must display the territories in the same color as mainland China and the websites cant place Taiwan in other categories such as Southeast Asia, the order said.

Chinas foreign ministry applauded the airlines changes as positive progress. China welcomes foreign businesses if they abide by Chinese laws and regulations, sovereignty and territorial feelings, and the feelings of the Chinese people, ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said yesterday.

Were a business with significant international activities and we need to deal with regulations in all of those jurisdictions, Peter Ingram, Hawaiians chief executive officer, said Tuesday by telephone. And obviously sometimes that can put us in challenging positions in one jurisdiction versus another.

Hawaiian consulted with its U.S. peers and government officials in both the U.S. and China before deciding to comply, Ingram said. The company doesnt fly to Taiwan itself but does sell tickets through a codeshare relationship with China Airlines Ltd., which flies nonstop from Taipei to Honolulu. Hawaiian also operates its own service to Beijing.

China has waged a campaign to force global businesses to conform to its world view if they want to stay in its good graces. Democratically governed Taiwan has been a central issue among the territorial disputes, especially after the Trump administrations growing ties with the islands pro-independence President Tsai Ing-Wen.

China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since Chiang Kai-

sheks Nationalist government fled to Taipei in 1949, and the Communist Party regards the island as a province to be taken by force if necessary. Hong Kong and Macau were also requested by the aviation authority to be referred to as Chinese territories.

Airlines feared a failure to comply would result in some kind of commercial penalty from China, which would threaten the carriers operating conditions in the countrys fast-growing aviation market.

Hong Kongs flag carrier Cathay Pacific listed Taiwan as part of China on its website on yesterday after a request from mainland authorities. Cathay Pacific and subsidiary Cathay Dragon had previously listed Taiwan as its own entity, but as of yesterday morning, the island was listed as Taiwan, China on both its English and Chinese language websites. Air India also chose to rename Taiwan as Chinese Taipei on its website after the threat of a hefty penalty for non-compliance.

In early May, the White House had dismissed Chinas directive to the airlines as Orwellian nonsense, adding it was part of a growing trend by the Chinese Communist Party to impose its political views on U.S. citizens and private companies.

We would oppose a governments demand on private corporations that private corporations label something the way that the government demands it to do that, said Heather Nauert, a spokeswoman for the State Department. She referred questions about the airlines to the individual companies.

Last year, airlines made 7.95 million flights between China and the U.S., a 5.8 percent increase. United, Air China and China Eastern together account for more than 50 percent of the market share, followed by China Southern. Hainan Air replaced Delta as the fifth-largest carrier on this route amid its aggressive launch of direct flights from second-tier Chinese cities to the U.S. MDT/AgenciesInternational Film Festival & Awards  Macao (IFFAM) organizers met on Tuesday with the China International Culture Communication Center and the China Film Producers Association successively in Beijing to introduce the latest progress for the upcoming edition of the event.

During the meeting, the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO) and the China Film Producers Association signed a memorandum of cooperation for the IFFAM. The agreement was signed by Chairman of the China Film Producers Association, Ming Zhenjiang, and MGTO Director Helena de Senna Fernandes, on behalf of their respective entities.

With the memorandum signed, the Association has become a supporting entity of IFFAM and will recommend influential mainland Chinese film celebrities to join the film festival.

In addition, both parties will give mutual recommendation of remarkable films and make collaborative endeavors to promote exchange and cooperation with international filmmakers and nurture the next generation of film talent.

According to a statement from MGTO, by collaborating with different entities, festival organizers seek to augment the charm and effect of IFFAM, thereby advancing local tourism development.

Another memorandum of cooperation was signed with the China International Culture Communication Center (CICCC) in early March, followed by continuous mutual communication and the Centers support to promote the IFFAM among the mainland film industry.

In this visit to Beijing, Senna Fernandes and her team met with the Secretary of the Leading Party Members Group and Executive Chairman of the China International Culture Communication Center, Long Yuxiang, to share the latest preparations for IFFAM.

During the meeting, CICCC Executive Chairman Long Yuxiang expressed his recognition for the role of IFFAM as a cultural exchange platform between the East and West, and backed the continuous support of the Center to the work of the IFFAM Organizing Committee.

According to MGTO, both sides engaged in a profound dialogue on the tasks that lie ahead.Fosun International Ltd., the Chinese group backed by billionaire Guo Guangchang, is considering an offer for all or parts of Belgian insurer Ageas in what could be its boldest move to expand its international footprint, people familiar with the matter said.

Shanghai-based Fosun is talking to advisers about alternatives including teaming up with a partner to split the Brussels-based company or increasing its current stake, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. No final decisions have been made and Fosun may decide against pursuing a deal, they said.

Shares of Ageas jumped to their highest in almost a decade yesterday, giving the company a market value of about 9.3 billion euros (USD10.9 billion). The countrys biggest life insurance provider this month won court backing for an amended 1.31 billion-euro settlement with some former investors in its predecessor, Fortis, helping bring to a close a battle with roots in the global financial crisis and clearing the decks for a takeover. Still, a potential deal could draw scrutiny from regulators globally because of Ageass prominent role in Belgiums financial sector and its far-flung operations.

Now that Ageas is Fortis free, it could be a compelling target for a Chinese conglomerate willing to expand its activities, according to Jason Kalamboussis, an analyst at KBC Securities. Nevertheless, given its positions as number one in life insurance in Belgium and number two in non- life, there could be some political push back to an outright takeover.

Fosun has continued to expand its international business empire amid a Chinese crackdown on overseas deals in some industries thats forced other conglomerates like Anbang Insurance Group Co. to shed assets. This year, Fosun announced deals for Brazilian brokerage Guide Investimentos and French fashion house Lanvin.

Its biggest overseas forays abroad have been in insurance. The company bought control of Portugal-based Caixa Geral de Depositos SAs insurance business in a roughly 1.6 billion-euro deal in 2014. It also acquired U.S.-based Ironshore Inc. in 2015 for $2.1 billion and then sold it less than two years later.

Fosun already holds about 3 percent of Ageas, though Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. is the largest shareholder with a 5 percent stake, according to filings. Shares of the Belgian company rose 5.1 percent to 45.90 euros in Brussels, after earlier trading up to 46.53 euros, its highest since October 2008.

In addition to operations across Europe, Ageas sells products in China, Malaysia, India, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore and Vietnam. Its also a minority partner in a joint venture with China Taiping Insurance Holdings Co. BloombergNewly declassified documents have revealed that British officials were concerned about an influx of immigration from Macau to Britain in the late 1980s, following the handover of the former Portuguese enclave to China.

The documents, obtained by the South China Morning Post, show that the then-British home secretary, Douglas Hurd, had urged the government to put pressure on Portugal to restrict its practice of granting nationality to inhabitants of Macau, lest it encourage their counterparts in Hong Kong to request the same treatment.

In a letter dated October 16, 1985, Hurd expressed his worry that the negotiations underway for the Macau 1999 handover to China would set a precedent for Britain to take in more immigrants from Hong Kong, as well as open the door to those wishing to leave Macau.

With Macau perhaps returning to the control of China at the same time as Hong Kong, it may well be that there will be many Macanese of Portuguese nationality who will decide that Europe rather than Macau is the place to be and if, as I understand it, they speak English, they will naturally seek to come here if the way is open for them to do so, the home secretary wrote in the letter.

He speculated that residents of Macau would try to use their Portuguese passports as a means of gaining entry into the United Kingdom, a course made possible following Portugals 1986 admission to the European Union.

Hurd also noted that having succeeded in avoiding large scale immigration from Hong Kong as a consequence of the negotiations [] we really should not drift into a position in which the unintended consequence of Portuguese accession is the potential immigration of large numbers from Macau.

Studies at the time suggested that around 85,000 Macau residents would be entitled to register for Portuguese nationality, and Hurd feared many of them would use their admission into Europe to travel unimpeded to the United Kingdom.

Moreover, Lisbons policy of granting passports and full citizenship rights to anyone born in Macau before November 20, 1981  as well as the fact that nationality could be inherited by their descendants  meant that many more in Macau might immigrate to Europe in the future.

Residents of neighboring Hong Kong have argued that they should have been permitted the same right of abode treatment as their Macau counterparts. However, Britain did not have the same laws as Portugal regarding citizenship rights of its colonies inhabitants.

Surely it is clear that we may come under some pressure, because of the position of Portuguese nationals in Macau, to allow freer access to the United Kingdom to Hong Kong [British Dependent Territories Citizens] than is presently permitted, continued Hurd in the letter. I am sure we should resist such pressure but in doing so we are likely to attract a lot of adverse criticism.

According to the South China Morning Post, Britain put pressure on Lisbon to change its policy of granting nationality to colonial residents of Macau, with a view to deterring those in Hong Kong from asking for the same. But the Portuguese government refused to capitulate, arguing that it was the individuals lawful right to acquire citizenship if they chose to do so.

The United Kingdom implemented a different system for the inhabitants of its former colony. The government, then-led by Margaret Thatcher, conferred residency rights to around 50,000 Hong Kong inhabitants and their families, while offering only the British National (Overseas  BNO) passports to others.

The BNO passport is considered by many critics to represent a second-class document. There are around 3.4 million holders of these passports in Hong Kong.

Several prominent British politicians, as well as a number of Hong Kong activists, have lobbied for the current administration in London to empower BNO passport holders with the right to permanently reside within the United Kingdom. Their calls have fallen on deaf ears. DBIvanka Trump is shutting down her fashion line of dresses, shoes and handbags that became a target of political boycotts and spurred concerns about conflicts of interest after her father was elected.

The presidents daughter said in a statement she made the decision so she could focus more on work as a White House adviser. She had stepped away from the day-to-day management of her company when she joined President Donald Trumps administration.

After 17 months in Washington, I do not know when or if I will ever return to the business, but I do know that my focus for the foreseeable future will be the work I am doing here in Washington, she said. She called the move the only fair outcome for my team and partners.

The Ivanka Trump brand has been buffeted by politics since she joined the White House early last year. Sales appeared to surge at times due her celebrity as the U.S. presidents daughter  White House adviser Kellyanne Conway once urged on Fox News for people to go buy Ivankas stuff  only to get battered as those who disliked her fathers policies urged shoppers to boycott the line.

Nordstrom dropped the Ivanka Trump line last year, citing slowing sales, and recently Hudson Bay reportedly did the same.

The company said that its business was strong, and the decision to shut down had nothing do with its performance.

Analyst Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, said that while the company is still viable, doing business has become far more challenging and these problems will only increase.

Ivanka Trump recently has been encouraging U.S. companies to pledge to hire American workers. Her own company has been criticized for making its products in Chinese factories, for the conditions in those factories, and for being granted trademarks by foreign governments such as China that would want to curry favor with the president.

Her announcement comes amid a worsening trade fight between the United States and China. President Trump is seeking to drive China to the negotiating table and rectify what he sees as years of unfair trade practices. APThe Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lionel Leong, said yesterday that the government was making a continued effort to optimize its existing subsidy and loan schemes available to local businesses. Speaking to reporters on Hengqin Island, Leong said the government had asked its lawyers to continue the case against Viva Macaus guarantor in order to recover a loan made to the bankrupt airline. He added that following Viva Macaus bankruptcy, the government hired an external team of lawyers to pursue the case  via civil litigation  against the Hong Kong-registered guarantor of Viva Macau. Leong said that at the time, the approach was considered to be more efficient for following up the case, rather than requesting a team of civil servants from the Industrial and Commercial Development Fund to do so.

Earlier this week, Legislative Assemblys (AL) directly elected lawmakers, Jose Pereira Coutinho and Sulu Sou, jointly delivered a proposal during the plenary session for discussion and clarification over the loans granted by the government to Macaus bankrupt low cost airliner Viva Macau.

The lawmakers proposed a discussion on the subsidies conceded by the government, totaling MOP212 million, to the company by the Industrial Development and Commercial Fund (FDIC) which were not able to be retrieved after the company filed for bankruptcy.

According to a statement from the office of the president of the Court of Final Appeal (TUI), as the Times reported on Monday, the courts informed that

all the procedures related to the bankruptcy process of Viva Macau concluded on June 6 and creditors will not be able to recover investments made in the bankrupted company.

The FDIC is the second largest creditor of the company (MOP212 million), right after the Eagle Airways Holdings Limited, to whom Viva Macau owes around MOP470 million.

According to the statement, the bankruptcy administrator was only be able to sell some of the seized assets (including automobiles, luggage containers, airplane meal trolleys and office supplies) to obtain MOP98,000, which when added to the MOP20,759.64 in the bank accounts at the time of bankruptcy, reached a total amount a little less than MOP119,000. This led to a judge to issue an order on January 23, noting that the sentence was final and that Viva Macau no longer had any other property or sums to pay the debts of creditors.

In their statement, the courts also noted that efforts to claim the payment of MOP212 million in five different installments of the government subsidy from the guarantor, Eagle Airways, was not possible due to the attachment order over Eagle Airways Hong Kong bank account. At the time (October 2011), there was no judicial co-operation agreement signed between Macau and the neighboring region of Hong Kong.

In the debate proposal now made by the two lawmakers, the government has been asked for an explanation as to why there was no action taken to seek compensation for the amount of the loan earlier, as well as the reasons why it continued to support the company financially, having given two of the five installments even after there were problems fulfilling the duties regarding the first three.

Coutinho recalls the letters to the president of the AL sent back in 2008, 2009, 2013 and 2014, when he had questioned the government via verbal and written enquiries on the case and had received no replies. He urges the government to come to the plenary to explain their negligent responsibilities on the loans and on the consequent damage to public safety.

The lawmakers also claim that the call for the debate is to ascertain what went wrong in the process in order to ensure that similar cases do not happen again, stating that hopefully such a proposal can gather the support of other lawmakers.Luxury conglomerate LVMH said it plans numerous product launches before the end of the year as it races to stay ahead of fast-growing competitors like Kering SAs Gucci and closely held Chanel.

Second-quarter sales rose 11 percent, the Paris-based owner of Louis Vuitton handbags and Sephora cosmetics said in a statement late Tuesday, beating analysts expectations. The worlds largest luxury company reported double-digit percentage growth in sectors from fashion to jewelry and cosmetics. The shares rose as much as 2.6 percent early yesterday in Paris.

LVMH has so far thrived despite the opening rounds of a global trade war, as the Chinese consumers appetite for French luxury goods surged during the quarter. But because of the threat of higher tariffs and other economic uncertainties, the current trends cannot realistically be extrapolated to the second half of the year, Chief Financial Officer Jean-Jacques Guiony said on a call.

Management sounded quite confident, despite ongoing concerns about Chinese demand and tougher comps, Raymond James analyst Hermine de Bentzmann wrote, adding that the result augured well for Kering.

Chinese consumers account for roughly a third of luxury purchases, according to consulting firm BCG  and as much as 70 percent of the sectors growth. LVMH sales in Asia surged 17 percent last year, and traveling Chinese shoppers lifted other markets. Now, investors are watching carefully to see how long the boom can last for luxurys leader, especially as U.S. President Donald Trumps trade moves risk shaking confidence in the industrys biggest client base.

The threats are there but I dont think they have materialized yet in any way, Guiony said.

Shanghais CSI 300 stock index has fallen 11 percent this year, fueling fears that high-end shoppers could tighten their belts. China moved to bolster consumption by lowering import duties on many products earlier this month, and luxury brands including Louis Vuitton and Hermes have cut prices to pass the benefit on to consumers.

The company said its coming product launches include new perfumes from Christian Dior, endorsed by Jennifer Lawrence, and Givenchy, promoted by Rooney Mara. A Guerlain skin serum and a Chinese launch of the Kenzo World line are among the other debuts.

The plans come as LVMHs competitors have thrown down the gauntlet in recent months. Gucci set a midterm sales target that would rival estimates for Louis Vuitton, long the worlds largest luxury brand with more than 9 billion euros in annual sales. Chanel released its yearly financials for the first time in 108 years  at the same time as Vuittons most recent fashion show  to reveal that its sales of quilted leather handbags and No. 5 perfume had already bested Vuitton by some measures.

In a bid to keep its edge, LVMH has reshuffled the creative leadership at its biggest fashion brands in recent months. Designer Hedi Slimane, who set the menswear agenda for more than a decade with skinny jeans and suits at Dior Homme and Kerings Saint Laurent, has been tapped to add menswear and haute couture at LVMHs womenswear brand Celine, with his first shows this fall. New menswear chiefs at Vuitton and Christian Dior both made their debuts in June.

LVMHs first-half profit was boosted by rapid growth at Vuitton and the exit of a duty-free concession at the Hong Kong airport. Sales in the second quarter totaled 10.9 billion euros (USD12.7 billion), above analysts prediction of 10.79 billion euros. Robert Williams, BloombergForeign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said yesterday that Malaysias new government will adopt a firmer stand in tackling a decades-old territorial row in the South China Sea amid Chinas aggressive expansion in the disputed area.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who won a stunning electoral victory in May, has said warships should be removed from the South China Sea.

Saifuddin said that Mahathir was sending a signal that we want to be more firm, more serious in handling the maritime dispute.

The 2002 declaration of conduct by claimants in the South China Sea that set loose guidelines for behavior in the disputed waters has no fangs, and Chinas continued militarization of the area has raised concern and could potentially escalate regional tensions, he told Parliament.

China has sent big coast guard vessels that resemble warships to the potentially energy rich territory and has caused uneasiness among its neighbors, he said.

Malaysias previous government rarely criticizes China, even though Chinese coast guard ships have sailed near Malaysias waters. In the Spratly island chain, China has constructed seven man-made islands and equipped them with runways, hangers, radar and missile stations, further cementing its vast territorial claims in the busy waterway.

Saifuddin said Southeast Asian foreign ministers meeting in Singapore next week will seek to accelerate negotiations for a new code of conduct to ensure peace in the South China Sea, which is claimed by China almost in its entirety. Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan all dispute Beijings holdings.

All parties should exercise self-restraint and any actions must be based on international law, Saifuddin said.

China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations earlier this year began negotiations on the new code of conduct. However, officials have warned it could take a long time, with no agreement on whether the pact will be legally binding, raising doubts over its effectiveness.

Mahathir, who previously led Malaysia for 22 years until 2003, has sought to reduce Chinas economic influence by reassessing lopsided Chinese investment since taking power for a second stint. The government recently suspended work on a multi-billion-dollar rail link that is central to Chinas Belt and Road initiative, and two gas pipeline projects to renegotiate for better terms.

Analysts however, say Mahathirs more assertive stance on the South China Sea is unlikely to amount to a challenge to Beijing, which is Malaysias top trading partner. APThis website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. AcceptPresident Donald Trump yesterday accused China of vicious tactics on trade as he prepared for tough negotiations with European leaders in an escalating trade battle among world powers.

Trump tweeted that China was specifically targeting U.S. farmers with retaliatory tariffs because they know I love & respect them. His defense came after his administration announced a plan to provide USD12 billion in emergency relief for farmers who have been slammed by the presidents trade disputes with China and other countries.

Addressing the China trade relationship, Trump wrote on Twitter, They are being vicious in what will be their failed attempt. We were being nice  until now!

The president was meeting at the White House today with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and other European officials as their trade dispute threatens to spread to automobile production.

Trump has placed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, saying they pose a threat to U.S. national security, an argument that the European Union and Canada rejects. He has also threatened to slap tariffs on imported cars, trucks and auto parts, potentially targeting imports that last year totaled $335 billion.

The European Union has warned that it will retaliate with tariffs on products worth $20 billion if Trump puts duties on cars and auto parts from Europe.

On Tuesday, Trump suggested in a tweet that both the U.S. and the E.U. drop all Tariffs, Barriers and Subsidies! That would finally be called Free Market and Fair Trade! Hope they do it, we are ready  but they wont!

The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese goods in a dispute over Beijings high-tech industrial policies. China has struck back with duties on soybeans and pork, affecting Midwest farmers in a region of the country that supported the president in his 2016 campaign.

Trump has threatened to place penalty taxes on up to $500 billion in products imported from China, a move that would dramatically ratchet up the stakes in the trade dispute involving the globes biggest economies.

The moves have been unsettling to lawmakers with districts dependent upon manufacturers and farmers affected by the retaliatory tariffs.

The Agriculture Department said it would tap an existing program to provide $12 billion in direct payments to farmers and ranchers hurt by foreign retaliation to Trumps tariffs and other assistance, such as the purchase of excess crops.

With congressional elections coming soon, the government action underscored administration concern about damage to U.S. farmers from Trumps trade tariffs and the potential for losing House and Senate seats in the Midwest and elsewhere.

The administration said the program was just temporary.

This is a short-term solution that will give President Trump and his administration the time to work on long-term trade deals, said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue as administration officials argued that the plan was not a bailout of the nations farmers.

But that provided little solace to rank-and-file Republicans, who said the tariffs are simply taxes and warned the action would open a Pandoras box for other sectors of the economy.

I want to know what were going to say to the automobile manufacturers and the petrochemical manufacturers and all the other people who are being hurt by tariffs, said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. Youve got to treat everybody the same.

Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said the Agriculture Department was trying to put a Band-aid on a self-inflicted wound. The administration clobbers farmers with an unnecessary trade war then attempts to assuage them with taxpayer handouts. This bailout compounds bad policy with more bad policy.

Trump pushed back against critics of his plan, telling them to be cool because the end result will be worth it!

On Twitter, Trump said people snipping at your heels during a negotiation will only delay the process. He wrote: Negotiations are going really well, be cool. The end result will be worth it! (See page 14) Ken Thomas, Paul Wiseman & Lisa Mascaro, Washington, APMany farmers remain critical of President Donald Trumps tariffs and the damage done to commodity prices and markets but were appreciative early yesterday [Macau time] that he offered to provide some cash to help offset their losses.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a USD12 billion three-part plan that would borrow money from the U.S. Treasury to pay producers of soybeans, sorghum, corn, wheat, cotton, dairy, and hogs.

The USDA also will buy the surplus of commodities that would otherwise have been exported and distribute them to food banks and other nutrition programs. That will cover fruits, nuts, rice, legumes, beef, pork and milk.

The third prong of the plan is to help farm groups develop new export markets.

This is a short-term solution to allow President Trump time to work on long-term trade deals to benefit agriculture and the entire U.S. economy, said Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue.

The money comes from the Commodity Credit Corporation, a USDA agency founded in 1933. It has authority to borrow up to $30 billion from the Treasury at any one time to stabilize, support, and protect farm income and prices.

Farmers said they would rather have Trump settle the trade disputes with China, Mexico, Canada and the European Union and get free trade flowing again.

A Band-Aid doesnt cure an illness, but it might make it temporarily better, said Dave Struthers who grows corn, soybeans and hay on a 1,100-acre Iowa farm near Collins, about 48 kilometers northeast of Des Moines. He also sells about 6,000 pigs a year.

Reaction from trade partners to Trumps tariff policies have pushed soybean prices about 18 percent lower and corn and pork prices down 15 percent from the time Trump began discussing tariffs this spring.

China is the largest buyer of U.S. soybeans and one of the largest importers of U.S. pork.

U.S. farmers are expected to grow 14.2 billion bushels of corn this year and 4.3 billion bushels of soybeans, down some from last year but still huge crops. There were 73.5 million pigs on farms as of June 1, the highest number on that date since records began in 1964.

Experience has shown that trade wars and all this tit-for-tat is devastating to the [agriculture] economy and drives prices down, said Richard Schlosser, who grows soybeans, corn and wheat in Edgeley, in southwest North Dakota. He called the Trumps tariffs government interference at its worst.

Schlosser said he had been transitioning his farm to his son, but the future doesnt look good for young farmers now, he said.

The temporary aid is more of an admission by the president of the huge impact the trade war is having on farmers, said Mark Watne, president of the North Dakota Farmers Union, which has more than 45,000 members in the state. APArmed men associated to the Islamic State group (ISIS) murdered two policemen at a checkpoint in the town of Al-Aqilah, in the eastern region, a security official told media Tuesday.

Some armed men that security official Ahmed al-Gabiely believed linked to ISIS stormed the checkpoint manned by Al-Aqilah police and slit a police officers throat and killed another in a shootout.

The attackers later raided a local police office, set the establishment, police cars and ambulances ablaze. They also hoisted the terror groups flag atop of the building.

At least four people were unaccounted for following the attack, reports say.

Such attacks, according to Ahmed al-Gabiely became wide currency over the past months, in the same town.

Libyan authorities, based in Tripoli, have managed to expel the group out of the oil-rich country after US airpower helped retake control of Sirte in December 2016.

The terror group, after it lost ground, resorted to guerilla attacks. ISIS entered Libya in 2014 taking advantage of lawlessness that became the order of the day in the wake of Muammar Gaddafis death in 2011.The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday lauded the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea for their bold and historic rapprochement.

Abu Dhabis Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan said after meeting Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki that their diplomatic overtures to ease tensions and resolve the longstanding dispute between the two countries will have a far reaching positive impact on the whole Horn of Africa region.

The historic step taken by the leaders of the two neighboring countries to end the 20-year old conflict and open new horizons for cooperation and joint coordination is a model that can be followed in resolving conflicts around the world, Sheikh Mohammed said.

The Ethiopian Prime Minister and the Eritrean President have been awarded the Order of Zayed, the United Arab Emirates highest medal, in recognition of their efforts to establish peace between their two nations.

The medals were handed to the two African leaders by Sheikh Mohammed, at a ceremony held Tuesday in Abu Dhabi.

Sheikh Mohammed re-affirmed his countrys commitment to consolidate its partnership with Eritrea and Ethiopia and to support their peace and development efforts.

The long-time rivals signed an agreement earlier this month to restore ties, ending two decades of hostility since the conflict erupted in 1998.

The conflict killed more than 80,000 people and at least 350,000 people living on both sides along the border were uprooted and forced to flee.

The UAE, along with other Gulf Arab states, has taken an increasingly active role in the Horn of Africa and has set up military bases and commercial ports in several countries there.

Ethiopia and Eritrea signed a peace deal in 2000  but Addis Ababa refused to implement it. Both armies have since been facing off across their border in a frozen stalemate. Abiy Ahmed, who came to office in April, agreed to implement the deal.

Embassies have reopened, phone lines between the two nations are restored and flights have resumed.Author Tim Edwards dog Tui is part of a team of canines being trained to detect lung cancer in breath and saliva samples. Credit: University of Waikato, CC BY-SA

We know that dogs have an excellent sense of smell. They are already helping rescue teams locate people in disaster areas and work with customs officers to identify contraband. Some have been trained to sniff out landmines.

In our research, we explore dogs' ability to distinguish between people with and without lung cancer, using breath and saliva samples.

Our goal is two-fold: we want to determine the potential for a scent-detection system for early lung cancer screening, and we hope to help develop a functional "electronic nose" for diagnosing lung cancer.

Animals as early disease detectors

Lung cancer is responsible for most cancer-related deaths internationally. Early detection is the most important factor in determining the success of treatment. Unfortunately, when the symptoms are severe enough to trigger a visit to the doctor, the disease is usually well advanced. Most patients in this situation die of their lung cancer within a year.

There is no simple, effective and inexpensive test for lung cancer. This is one reason why regular screening is rarely conducted. Dogs could represent a low-tech solution to this problem, but we need more information about their accuracy and the operational feasibility of a scent-detection system for lung cancer screening.

Researchers at the University of Waikato are training dogs to sniff out lung cancer, using breath and saliva samples.

We explored the evidence supporting the use of dogs and other animals for human disease detection. Of the 27 studies we reviewed, 20 were targeting at least one type of cancer and six were looking specifically at lung cancer detection. We found considerable evidence that animals can distinguish between samples collected from disease-positive and disease-negative individuals.

However, most of the data were collected under conditions that are not realistic under operational conditions. For example, in most studies, the animals were choosing one sample out of a line-up in which a single sample was positive and the rest were negative.

Sniffing out cancer

We train dogs to sniff breath and saliva samples. If the sample is negative, the dog operates a lever to rotate to the next sample. If they detect a positive sample, the dogs are trained to respond by holding their nose in the sample portand that triggers a food reward.

When we are training dogs, we usually have a known mixture of positive and negative samples. But when the dogs move into screening samples operationally, we will not know in advance which samples are positive or negative. Further tests would be required to confirm a diagnosis of lung cancer.

Trained detection rats can quickly check human sputum samples for tuberculosis. Any suspect samples are then re-checked using WHO endorsed confirmation tests. Credit: APOPO: Briana Marie, CC BY-SA

One of us, Tim Edwards, has conducted research previously with the humanitarian organisation APOPO, which is the only organisation we could find that employs animals for operational medical diagnostic work on a large scale. Instead of working with dogs, APOPO employs giant African pouched rats to screen for tuberculosis.

Canine cancer screening

With our colleague, respiratory physician Cat Chang at Waikato Hospital, we are now examining dogs' ability to detect lung cancer in breath and saliva samples.

We have already recruited more than 200 patients and have a team of six dogs that are trained on our scent-detection protocol and ready to transition to the medical samples. We anticipate that it will take several months to train the dogs to classify the samples correctly, but we will be using this time to develop a training assessment process. The amount of training conducted in previous studies of this kind has been highly variable, and this could explain why the estimates of diagnostic accuracy were also variable.

In previous studies for lung cancer detection training, researchers collected breath samples by asking the patient to breathe into a tube through a filter that captures chemicals in the breath. We are collecting breath samples and saliva samples for our research.

The sample-sniffing apparatus is fully automated, which means that the researcher can leave the room while the dog is working. Credit: Tim Edwards, CC BY-SA

If we find that dogs can work just as well with saliva samples, we will use saliva exclusively for future research. Although both sample types are non-invasive and inexpensive to collect, saliva samples are easier to store, divide and re-use for training and testing purposes.

Building on some of the procedures and equipment developed by APOPO (including a semi-automated scent-detection apparatus), Tim Edwards has designed an automated canine scent-detection apparatus. The sample presentation, data collection and reward delivery are entirely automated, and the researcher is not in the same room as the animal when it is working.

Among other advantages, this prevents the researcher from accidentally cuing the dog (a rather serious issue  you may recall the story of Clever Hans) and allows for objective data collection. This apparatus has already been tested in several research projects and can produce highly accurate and robust scent-detection performance.

Working with analytical chemists Merilyn Manley-Harris and Megan Grainger, we plan to determine the chemical profiles of samples that the dogs evaluate. This will allow us to describe positive and negative samples and, uniquely to this project, the profiles of positive samples that the dogs missed and negative samples they responded to. With this information, we can identify some of the key compounds the dogs use and help in the development of an electronic nose to diagnose lung cancer.

Explore further Sniffer dogs can be used to detect lung cancer

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.Huntingtin protein (green) accumulated in the cells from the brains of mice given a placebo. Credit: Krzyzosiak et al./ Cell

A new drug discovery system allows scientists to specifically target members of an important family of enzymes, called phosphatases, which were previously considered mostly "undruggable".

Scientists from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology, in Cambridge, UK, demonstrated the capabilities of the new system by identifying a molecule that could successfully target a phosphatase to reduce the accumulation of Huntington's disease-associated proteins in the brains of mice.

The findings, published in Cell, could enable scientists to screen for drugs that can target specific phosphatases. Phosphatases are a type of enzyme that are a key part of signalling in cellsturning processes on and off. Most signalling starts with an activation signaloften when a type of enzyme called a kinase attaches a chemical tag, a phosphate group, to specific proteins to change their function. The signal is stopped by phosphatase enzymes, which cut off the phosphate group.

There are more than 200 types of phosphatases involved in many different processes in cells, so any drug must selectively target only the right one, otherwise it will produce serious side-effects or kill the cell.

Many drugs have been developed that can target specific kinases (such as anti-cancer drugs), but developing drugs that can specifically target particular phosphatases has proved difficultbecause the functional part that cuts off phosphate groups is common to all phosphatases, so drugging one phosphatase inhibits hundreds of them and kills cells.

Dr. Anne Bertolotti from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, who led the study, said: "For decades, with no way to selectively target phosphatases, research into them has lagged behind kinases and they've been described as undruggable. Our new system is only a first step, but we hope cracking this problem will stimulate phosphatase research and drug development.

"Targeting phosphatasesinstead of kinasesis like targeting the brake, rather than the accelerator, on signals in cells. By inhibiting a phosphatase, we prolong a signalling event that has already been turned on, which may offer safer ways to specifically alter signalling in cells and help to create new drugs with fewer side-effects."

Reduced build-up of huntingtin protein (green) in cells from the brains of mice treated with Raphin1. Credit: Krzyzosiak et al./ Cell

The new system builds on previous work by the same scientists in which they created functional synthetic versions of phosphatase proteins.

These synthetic phosphatases are tethered to chips so they can be screened to find a molecule that binds to one type of phosphatase, but to none of the other types. The successful molecule is then tested in cells grown in a dish to check it is safe before beginning testing in mice.

Targeting Huntington's disease

The researchers used the system to discover a molecule that showed promise in a mouse model of Huntington's disease.

Many neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntingdon's diseases, feature misfolded proteins that accumulate in cells in the brain. The researchers hoped that slowing down a cell's production of proteins could leave its 'quality control machinery' with more capacity to clear up the misfolded proteins.

In this study, they aimed to slow down the cell's protein production machinery by targeting a specific phosphatase (designated 'PPP1R15B'). They used their new drug discovery platform and found a molecule, called Raphin1, that targeted only that phosphatase.

When they tested Raphin1 in a mouse model of Huntington's disease, they found it could cross into the brain where it reduced the accumulation of the disease-associated misfolded proteins in neurons. The scientists emphasise that this is early stage research and more work is needed to test if the drug will be safe or effective in humans.

Dr. Anne Bertolotti said: "Since Huntington's disease runs in families and can be diagnosed genetically, early diagnosis could provide what we hope is a window of opportunity to target the disease before symptoms appear. Our unique approach manipulates cells to slow down normal functions and give them a chance to clear up the misfolded proteins that are characteristic of Huntington's. However, it will take some years before we know if this approach works in humans and is safe."

Explore further Researchers mapped interactions of key group of human proteins, the protein phosphatases

More information: Target-Based Discovery of an Inhibitor of the Regulatory Phosphatase PPP1R15B, Cell (2018). www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(18)30798-0 Journal information: Cell Target-Based Discovery of an Inhibitor of the Regulatory Phosphatase PPP1R15B,(2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.06.030Confocal microscopy images showing morphological aberrations in leukocytes isolated from the peripheral blood of a patient carrying homozygous mutations in the gene encoding the actin regulator WDR1. The composite image shows a representative neutrophil with nuclear herniation, a monocyte assembling dense actin foci upon LPS stimulation, a T cell with accumulation of actin at the center of the anti-CD3 evoked synapse and a B cell emitting extended filopodia upon BCR/TLR stimulation. F-actin is shown in white and DAPI (for the neutrophil) in blue. Credit: Loic Dupre & Javier Rey-Barroso

In order to move, a body needs a strong scaffold. This is not only true on a macroscopic level, where animals rely on skeletons to support their muscles. It is also true on a cellular level: The cytoskeleton, composed of actin filaments, is crucial for every active movement of a cell. By rearranging these filaments, cells can stretch and wander in every direction, squeeze into the smallest gaps or wrap themselves around an object. Those processes are particularly important for the cells of the immune system, which are the most motile cells of the human body in order to fight against infectious agents. Defects of the cytoskeleton can thus have detrimental effects on the immune response and thereby on the ability of the organism to control infections.

In their most recent study, scientists from the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Rare and Undiagnosed Diseases (LBI-RUD) and the CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with the University of Toulouse III and INSERM, found that a rare genetic defect characterized by a malfunctioning of the immune system affects the ability of lymphocytesthe most important cells of the adaptive immunityto rearrange their actin cytoskeleton. The study, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology was conducted in collaboration with clinicians from Izmir and Ankara and specialists of lymphocyte biology from the University of Vienna and the University of Rotterdam.

The gene defect was found in six patients who presented with severe infections of the lung, skin and oral mucosa. Genetic analyses of their genomes revealed mutations in a gene for a protein called WDR1, an important factor for the turn-over of actin filaments and thereby the dynamic remodeling of the cytoskeleton. It was recently shown that the innate arm of the immune system is affected by WDR1 mutationsthe impact on cells of the adaptive immunity, however, was hitherto unknown. Through a series of extensive analyses, the researchers found that WDR1 deficiency leads to aberrant T-cell activation and B-cell development.

"We were able to show that T lymphocytes, although they appeared to develop normally in the patients, accumulated atypical actin structures. However, even more severe were the observed abnormalities in B lymphocytes," says Laurene Pfajfer, Ph.D. student at LBI-RUD and shared first author of the study.

"Only few B cells were observed in the blood, and their progenitors in the bone marrow were also rare", Visiting Key Researcher at LBI-RUD and shared senior author Loic Dupre, specifies. "And the few B cells we found showed a whole range of abnormalities, including reduced clonal diversity, abnormal spreading and increased apoptosis upon B-cell receptor stimulation".

"Our report expands the phenotypic spectrum of WDR1 deficiency, which comprises marked defects of both innate and adaptive immunity and illustrates the tight connection between immune system and uncontrolled inflammation which results in disease," summarizes Kaan Boztug, Director of LBI-RUD and shared senior author. "The results allowed us to gain new insights into the key role of actin cytoskeletal dynamics in supporting immune cell function. This study is another example for the value of research on rare diseasesnot only for the few affected patients, but for a more global and fundamental understanding of human biology. Furthermore, the elucidation of the fine mechanisms leading to such diseases provides unique insights for the development of precision medicine.

More information: Laurene Pfajfer et al, Mutations affecting the actin regulator WD repeatcontaining protein 1 lead to aberrant lymphoid immunity, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (2018). Journal information: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Laurene Pfajfer et al, Mutations affecting the actin regulator WD repeatcontaining protein 1 lead to aberrant lymphoid immunity,(2018). DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2018.04.023

Provided by CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of SciencesThe House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to kill a sales tax on medical devices that the medical-technology industry have battled for nearly a decade.

Republican U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen of Minnesota introduced the stand-alone repeal legislation. The bill had 277 cosponsors and a seal of approval from the White House going into the vote. It eventually passed 283-132.

"I wanted to tee things up with a strong vote," said Paulsen, who believed the tax, designed to help pay for the Affordable Care Act, hurt innovation and penalized small device makers. "I feel more optimistic than ever (about Senate passage)."

The House vote was more lopsided and bipartisan than a Paulsen-sponsored repeal bill that passed in 2015 but never came to a vote in the Senate. Fifty-seven Democrats voted for repeal Tuesday, including members of the Minnesota House delegation.

The 2.3 percent tax on medical device sales passed in 2010 along with the rest of the Affordable Care Act. Supporters said the tax would be offset by increased device sales prompted by a broad expansion of Americans with health insurance. Critics said collecting the tax on sales rather than profits would hurt small device companies and startups.

The government did not begin collecting the tax until 2013. Congress suspended collection three years later after taking in $5 billion.

An initial two-year moratorium in 2016-2017 was extended to 2018-2019 earlier this year.

Meanwhile, getting rid of the tax entirely has been one of the device industry's top priorities for the past eight yearsand one of the most difficult to attain.

But the political landscape has changed significantly since 2015, most notably with the election of Republican President Donald Trump, an avowed foe of the Affordable Care Act. Democratic President Barack Obama once promised to veto any device tax repeal bill that reached his desk because he saw it as a first shot in a Republican-led battle to undercut his signature health care reform.

Still, the device industry's lobbying against the tax has taken a firmer hold in states such as Minnesota that rely on robust medical-technology sectors to sustain their economies.

"What you're seeing is a growing consensus that (the tax) is bad policy," said Scott Whitaker, chief executive of the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), the nation's major medical device industry trade group. "People want to move on to a better policy."

Jeff Mirviss, an executive vice president at Boston Scientific and president of the company's Twin Cities-based peripheral interventions business, said uncertainty about the tax has taken a toll.

"Repeal will allow us to continue to focus on driving new innovation without the tax looming while we navigate the rapidly changing health care environment for the next 18 months," Mirviss said.

Whitaker said he met recently with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and both "expressed a willingness to act."

"For sure, there is more support (than in 2015)," said Shaye Mandle, CEO of Minnesota's Medical Alley, a state trade group representing hundreds of medical technology companies. "The votes for repeal in the Senate are there. Support is broad and bipartisan. We're hoping a strong vote in the House moves this up on the Senate's priority list."

Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, both Democrats, favor device tax repeal, as do Democrats from several med tech-rich states.

In 2010 Klobuchar voted for the overall health care reform package, which included the device tax. She has since sponsored legislation to get rid of it.

"This is an additional tax on manufacturing, innovation and research at a time when we need manufacturing to be strong," Klobuchar said in a statement to the Star Tribune.

"We have worked across the aisle to secure suspensions of this tax for 2016 through 2019, and I will continue to work in the Senate on bipartisan efforts to permanently repeal or suspend this tax."

Smith noted that "the medical device industry's lifesaving innovations have contributed to the health of millions of people in Minnesota and around the worldand they employ tens of thousands of people in our state. I think it's time we pass a permanent repeal."

Industry insiders would like Senate action in August or September to keep device tax repeal legislation from being pushed aside by controversial matters such as the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Whether the Senate vote comes before or after the Supreme Court debate, AdvaMed's Whitaker said Tuesday's big vote could provide the momentum that leads to action by the end of the year.

Explore further Senate GOP setting up 'Obamacare' vote on highway bill

2018 Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Newborn babies who were born with high levels of an immune-related protein in their blood cells were less likely to develop malaria throughout their early childhood, new research led by Curtin University has found.

The research, published in Scientific Reports, screened a number of immunity proteins, known as cytokines, at birth and investigated whether these small proteins provided protection against malaria for newborn babies.

Lead author Dr. Yong Song, from the School of Public Health at Curtin University, said childhood malaria remains one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality resulting in 500,000 deaths annually, and with more than 90 per cent of malaria infections occurring in sub-Saharan Africa.

"We found that newborn babies born with a high level of a certain type of cytokine, known as IL-12, in their umbilical cord blood had a higher resistance to the development of malaria in the first two years of their life," Dr. Song said.

"Our research also investigated how newborn babies develop high levels of IL-12 in the cord blood. We found that the inbred quantity of these small proteins was not only influenced by children and mother's genetic variation, but was also dependent on the immune system conditions of the mother during pregnancy."

Co-author Associate Professor Brad Zhang, also from Curtin's School of Public Health, said the research examined 349 Mozambican pregnant women and their newborn babies up to two years of age.

"The study could have significant implications for future vaccine design techniques that could assist with the prevention of malaria in high-risk countries such as Mozambique," Associate Professor Zhang said.

"Further research is needed to investigate how IL-12 could protect infants from childhood malaria, but the findings suggest that there is a strong link between levels of this particular protein obtained from the umbilical cord blood and the development of malaria in early childhood."

More information: Yong Song et al. Cord Blood IL-12 Confers Protection to Clinical Malaria in Early Childhood Life, Scientific Reports (2018). Journal information: Scientific Reports Yong Song et al. Cord Blood IL-12 Confers Protection to Clinical Malaria in Early Childhood Life,(2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-29179-y(HealthDay)It's been 40 years since the birth of the first baby conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF), and there have been more than eight million born since.

Louise Joy Brown, who was 5 pounds 12 ounces when she was born in the United Kingdom on July 25, 1978, made global headlines and gave new hope to infertile couples, the Washington Post reported.

Brown, whose also goes by her married name of Mullinder, told reporters this week in London that she was 4 when she learned that she was conceived via IVF.

Her mother was among about 280 women who were part of an IVF experiment. Only five of them became pregnant, and Brown was the only birth, the Post reported.

More information: More Information

Copyright  2018 HealthDay. All rights reserved.A gravid trap collection bag is inspected by an entomologist during the xenomonitoring study in Bangladesh. Credit: Irish, et al. (2018)

To ensure elimination of the Wuchereria bancrofti, a parasitic roundworm that causes lymphatic filariasis, public health workers must follow up mass drug administration with careful monitoring for recurrence. To that end, a study published this week in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases analyzes the effectiveness of mosquito screening as a tool to gauge parasite presence.

The parasitic nematode worm W. bancrofti, spread by mosquitos, is the major cause of lymphatic filariasis (LF), which can cause elephantiasis severe swelling of the extremities. Since 2000, the World Health Organization has undertaken a global program to eliminate LF, which revolves around mass drug administrations to treat entire populations for the parasite. Currently, monitoring efforts post-drug administration include regular testing for the presence of antibodies among adult humans.

In the new work, Seth Irish, of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and colleagues collected mosquitos from 180 traps sites in each of two areas of Bangladeshone which was previously endemic for LF and the other non-endemic. Using real-time PCR, they conducted molecular xenomonitoring (MX) on the insects to detect any W. bancrofti DNA.

A total of 24,436 mosquitos were collected, and 10,344 (41%) were Culex quinquefasciatus, the mosquito which transmits W. bancrofti in Bangladesh. None of the 594 pools of mosquitos collected during the study period tested positive for W. bancrofti DNA, correlating with the results of surveys that had been carried out in the human population to track any reemergence of LF.

"The practical application of xenomonitoring activities is worthy of discussion," the researchers say. "Further operational research and information sharing about how to programmatically simplify and standardize MX evaluations will also make these evaluations more accessible to a larger number of LF endemic countries entering the post-elimination validation period."

Explore further Infections with the parasitic worm W bancrofti associated with increased risk of HIV infection

More information: Irish SR, Al-Amin HM, Paulin HN, Mahmood ASMS, Khan RK, et al. (2018) Molecular xenomonitoring for Wuchereria bancrofti in Culex quinquefasciatus in two districts in Bangladesh supports transmission assessment survey findings. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 12(7): e0006574. Journal information: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases Irish SR, Al-Amin HM, Paulin HN, Mahmood ASMS, Khan RK, et al. (2018) Molecular xenomonitoring for Wuchereria bancrofti in Culex quinquefasciatus in two districts in Bangladesh supports transmission assessment survey findings.12(7): e0006574. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006574Ocular (eye) oncologist Renelle Lim, MD, recommends annual eye exams with an ophthalmologist. Credit: Robert A. Lisak

As an an ocular oncologist treating cancers of the eye, Renelle Lim, MD, sometimes fields questions about how to keep eyes safe from the sun. Doing so is important, but eye cancer is not the same as skin cancer, and any link between sunlight and eye melanoma has not been proven, says Dr. Lim, who is the only full-time ocular (eye) oncologist in Connecticut affiliated with a major academic center.

Before joining Yale Medicine Ophthalmology, Dr. Lim trained at Will's Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, specializing in ocular oncology and plastic surgery for the eye. At Yale, she often works with other specialists, including otolaryngologists and neurosurgeons, to surgically remove tumors precisely, in order to protect nearby delicate structures that could affect a patient's sight.

Eye cancer is rare, with the American Cancer Society predicting 3,500 new diagnoses in 2018. It can develop at any age, although risk increases as people get older. Many eye cancers are highly treatable when caught early. The problem is that there are often no symptoms, so people with eye cancer often don't have any idea something is wrong. For that reason, Dr. Lim says that the best thing anyone can do to detect eye cancer early is to have a dilated eye exam once a year with an ophthalmologist.

Dr. Lim answered our questions about eye cancer, and its diagnosis and treatment.

Eye cancer is so rare. Are people surprised to learn they have it?

Yes, it can be surprising because many types of eye cancer may be asymptomatic. Sometimes, there may be flashes of light, blurry vision or a shower of black floaters. Sometimes, it can be painful. But if the cancer is small and in a location that's not near the vital structures of the eye, there may be no symptoms at all.

What types of eye cancer are there?

Well, cancer can exist near the eye, on the surface of the eye or inside it. Cancers of the eyelid are actually skin cancers that are close to the eye. So, you can get a basal cell carcinoma on your arm or your back, or you can get one on the eyelid. Cancers can also occur behind the eyeball, or orbit. These cancers can spread from other parts of the body.

Cancers that exist inside the eye are different than skin cancer. Uveal (or eye) melanoma is the most common primary tumor in the eye. It occurs in the uvea or middle layer of the eyeball, and it can happen when a genetic mutation develops in pigmented cells of the eye. It's unclear why it develops, though there are genetic predisposition syndromes that may be responsible for it.

People often don't realize that cancers can spread from other parts of the body, like the lung or the breast, and affect the eye. In fact, the most common cancer of the eye isn't primaryit's a metastasis, or cancer that started in another part of the body and has spread to the eye. Ophthalmologists will look for this if there is a history of cancer elsewhere in the body, and new eye symptoms like loss of vision or flashing lights occur.

Who is most at risk for these cancers?

Eye melanoma can affect anyone, but it tends to occur more in people with lighter hair and eye color. Some studies suggest that welders have a slightly increased risk of uveal melanoma, which some think is due to ultraviolet radiation from welding tools or other environmental causes. There is no strong scientific evidence to support the claim that sun exposure is linked to uveal melanoma. Beyond that, we really don't know what causes the mutations that lead to eye cancers.

When you suspect eye cancer, how do you diagnose it?

I perform a complete eye exam using a silt lamp and an indirect ophthalmoscope. This gives me a full picture of what's occurring inside the eye. It's enough to identify a mass, which can be dome-shaped or have a mushroom configuration; it can also be elevated or small and flat. I use multiple imaging modalities to get as much information about the tumor qualities as possible. I use an ultrasound to determine the density of the mass and to look at its features and precisely measure the thickness. I also use optical coherence tomography to shed light on the retinal layers and assess the presence of subtle fluid, a sign of tumor activity. I even use magnetic resonance imaging when needed.

Sometimes, I will do a fine needle biopsy to take a small sample of the tumor cells, which I then provide to a cytopathologist (a pathologist who analyzes cells). He or she will let me know if it is aggressive and can confirm the diagnosis within a few days.

How do you calm people's fears of biopsies and other eye procedures?

I know people are scared of having something performed on their eye. But it sounds much worse than it is. It's important to make the patients feel comfortable about the procedure by answering all their questions and letting them know exactly what to expect. As it turns out, patients actually tolerate eye surgery very well.

How do you treat eye cancer?

Tumors on the surface of the eye can be managed by topical chemotherapy, targeted therapy, radiation or surgical excision. Tumors inside the eye are managed differently. The typical treatment is radiation in the form of brachytherapy. It's most commonly used for uveal melanoma, but it can be used for other eye cancers, too. The procedure uses a plaque made out of gold (about the size of a quarter) with radioactive seeds on the surface. Radiation oncologists and physicists configure the seeds based on the location and size of the tumor. Once the plaque is custom-designed for the patient, I surgically apply the plaque onto the surface of the eye, where it emits radiation directly over the tumor.

The eye is patched, and then the patient can go home. Once adequate radiation is applied (based on the tumor thickness), I will surgically remove the plaque. We try to give the smallest amount of radiation dosing so that we can protect vital structures, like the optic nerve, which transmits visual information from the retina to the brain. The goal is to maximally treat the tumor but keep other areas in the eye safe.

How well does this work in saving a person's vision?

Our success depends on the type of eye cancer and its stage of development. There is a 95 to 98 percent success rate in achieving local control of the tumor. To ensure that the plaque is placed in the ideal location, I use transillumination, where I shine a bright light into the eye, so that the tumor will cast a shadow. The tumor shadow is outlined and the radioactive device is placed directly over the tumor. Ophthalmoscopy or direct visualization is used to double check that the margins are accurate.

Cancer treatments are evolving rapidly. Is that changing your role?

I work with medical oncologists daily to help patients who are being treated with immunotherapy for other types of cancer. These powerful agents that stimulate the immune response in the body have really changed the treatment paradigm for skin and other types of cancer, including some patients with uveal melanoma. But these treatments can have ophthalmic side effects that affect any part of the eye. Sometimes, the side effects are mild dry eye. Other times, however, the side effects can be severe and lead to vision loss with corneal thinning and other forms of ocular inflammation. Luckily, these side effects are rare and treatable when detected early.

What can you do if you're concerned about eye cancer?

We recommend annual eye exams with an ophthalmologist, especially if there is a family history of skin cancer.

Is there anything you can do to prevent it?

I recommend using sunglasses and sunscreen. The sun isn't directly linked to uveal melanoma, but we know UV exposure can affect eye structures and predisposition patients to cataracts and eyelid cancers. In general, maintaining a good immune system helps prevent cancerso, don't smoke, eat right, exercise, and take care of yourself!

Explore further Ophthalmologists link immunotherapy with a serious eye conditionIn this file photo taken Nov. 22, 2014, Blue Bridge Benefits LLC agent Patricia Sarabia, right, and Adolfo Briceno, left, with Spanish Speaking LLC, help a potential customer with Blue Cross Blue Shield at a kiosk promoting Obama Care at Compare Foods in Winston-Salem, N.C. A new poll finds that more than half of Hispanic adults have encountered a communication barrier in the health care system. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome, file)

Nearly 6 in 10 Hispanic adults have had a difficult time communicating with a health care provider because of a language or cultural barrier, and when they do they often turn to outside sources for help, according to a new study conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The survey finds that half of those who have faced those barriers turned to a family member or to another health care provider for assistance. In addition, more than 1 in 4 looked to a translator, public resources in their community or online sources for help when they faced those issues.

Antonio Torres, 53, of Orlando, Florida, who is bilingual and legally blind, told The AP he regularly struggles to understand the medical terms used by doctors and nurses.

"When I tell them I don't understand them, they'll bring someone over to speak to me in Spanish and I don't understand them, either," said Torres, who is Puerto Rican and was raised in New York. "We didn't grow up speaking that formal Spanish, so I have no idea what they are saying."

At times, Torres said he even gets medicine with his name misspelled on the bottle. "And I don't know if I'm taking my medicine or someone else's," he said.

The language and cultural barriers in health care for Latinos are something advocates have been pointing out for years.

In 2014, for example, the Obama administration faced criticism following the rollout of the Spanish version of the federal health care website, CuidadoDeSalud.gov. The translations were so clunky and full of grammatical mistakes that critics say they must have been computer-generated. The website also translated "premium" into "prima," the Spanish word more commonly used to mean a female cousin among Mexican-Americans and Mexican immigrants.

Along with communication challenges, many Hispanics are concerned about language or cultural accommodations for people in their community who seek long-term care services.

Fewer than half say it would be easy for older Latinos in their area to find a nursing home or assisted living facility with staff that speaks their language, or to find a home health aide who does. Even fewerless than 3 in 10say the same about finding long-term care providers who can prepare the kind of food they are used to. Some have concerns about finding nursing homes and assisted-living facilities that will respect their religious or spiritual beliefs, though fewer have the same concern about home health aides.

Torres said he's not confident he'll find a culturally sensitive nursing home when he's gets older. "I'd rather just live alone and poison myself by accident rather than stay in one of those homes right now," he said.

Like other older Americans, many Hispanics age 40 and older expect to rely on government programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid to pay for long-term care services, even though Medicare does not cover most nursing care or home health aides. But only about 2 in 10 think any of these programs will still be providing at least the same level of benefits five years from now. Just 15 percent of older Hispanics are very confident they will be able to pay for their own future long-term care needs.

**HFR THURSDAY, JULY 26**FILEIn this Dec. 27, 2017, file photo, Community Council health care navigator Fidel Castro Hernandez, left, hands a Spanish help line phone to legal U.S. resident Maria Ana Pina, right, as she signs up for the Affordable Care Act with her son Roberto Pina at the Community Council offices in Dallas. A new poll finds that more than half of Hispanic adults have encountered a communication barrier in the health care system. (AP Photo/LM Otero, file)

The survey also finds that a large majority of older Hispanics are open to using at least one type of telemedicine to receive care, including phone consultations, text messages or video services like Skype, although older Hispanics are somewhat less likely than others in their age group to say they'd be comfortable using some types of telemedicine.

Gabriel Vargas, 41, of Lancaster, South Carolina, who is from Veracruz, Mexico, said he felt these resources in his area already were helping Latino residents. The growth of online options, he said, is breaking down the stigma held by Hispanics around regular checkups and preventative care.

"There's a nonprofit group here that goes out of its way to help," said Vargas, whose first language is Spanish. "Maybe 10 years ago, it was tough. But today I think it's become easier."

___

The survey was conducted March 13 to April 5 by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, with funding from the SCAN Foundation.

It involved interviews in English and Spanish with 1,522 adults nationwide who are members of NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population, including 458 Hispanic adults. Results from the full survey have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points, and plus or minus 9.5 percentage points for the Hispanic sample.

Explore further New survey of older Hispanics reveals many face language and cultural barriers to care

 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.L-R: Dr Karen Soldatic, pictured with field researchers and study participants Nisha Shariff and Mallika Kumarihamy, and fellow researchers Dr Dinesha Samararatne from the University of Colombo and Binendri Perera from Law & Society Trust. Credit: University of Western Sydney

Researchers from the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University, together with the Sri Lankan Law & Society Trust, have officially launched an innovative report documenting the stories of hardship and resilience of Sri Lankan women with disabilities living in war affected areas.

The collaborative report, "Out of the Shadows: War-affected Women with Disabilities in Sri Lanka," which was closely developed in conjunction with Sri Lankan women with disabilities and advocates for their rights, was launched by Human Rights Commissioner of Sri Lanka, Ambika Satkunanathan, who responded to report recommendations at this week's launch.

The report was launched at the Sri Lanka Foundation in Colombo, Sri Lanka to key Sri Lankan officials and policy makers, including The Honourable Dr. Thusitha Wijemanna, Sri Lankan Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, and member of the Sri Lankan Women Parliamentarians' Caucus.

Co-author of the report, Dr. Karen Soldatic from the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University, says key recommendations create a new framework for the social, cultural, and legal transformations of women with disabilities in Sri Lanka  a group who are often considered a burden on society.

"One of the strongest findings of our research shows that despite an excellent emergency health care service available to women with disabilities in Sri Lanka, the same access isn't available when it comes to the regular health care system," says Dr. Soldatic.

"Our research has found that by improving access to regular health care services, in addition to improved access to other everyday services such as mobility access and transportation assistance, vulnerable women are empowered to become more self-sufficient."

"This can break the cycle of burden and stigma within society, restores dignity to vulnerable women, and help solve health care problems in the early stages, rather than allowing minor illnesses and issues to progress into chronic or life-threatening conditions."

The report highlights that the emergency health care system in Sri Lanka is excellent  but similar to any emergency health care system around the world  it can be inundated with cases that could be entirely prevented with better management, and improved access to everyday services that are currently inaccessible or unattainable to vulnerable women.

Research conducted for the project has also highlighted that the cultural, religious, and gender based stigma of vulnerable women, is a contributory factor toward the current treatment and social policies and laws regarding disability. Further, it highlights how war has exacerbated this  as one woman quoted in the report notes: "I was very happy before the war. Now I have lost everything and I have been living alone. There are many women in our society who live like me."

The report was officially launched on July 24 at the Sri Lanka Foundation, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and Dr. Karen Soldatic presented her research recommendations, bringing vulnerable women living with a disability out of the shadows.

More information: Out of the Shadows: War-affected Women with Disabilities in Sri Lanka. Out of the Shadows: War-affected Women with Disabilities in Sri Lanka. westernsydney.edu.au/__data/as  _Report_25072018.pdfBritish doctors will be able to prescribe medicinal cannabis, the government announced Thursday following a reviewbut insisted it was not a first step towards legalising recreational use.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid, the interior minister, decided to relax the laws about the circumstances in which specialist clinicians can give medicinal cannabis can be given to patients.

It follows several high-profile cases, including those of young epilepsy sufferers whose conditions appeared to be helped by cannabis oil.

"Making medicinal cannabis available on prescription will benefit the lives of ill patients currently suffering in silence," Javid wrote on Twitter.

"There is nothing harder than seeing your loved ones in painwhich is why I have taken this decision."

Under the new rules, to be brought in later this year, senior doctors will be able to prescribe the medicines to patients deemed to have an exceptional clinical need.

Rapid review

Javid had commissioned a review on June 19.

An initial review by Sally Davies, the government's chief medical adviser, concluded there was evidence that medicinal cannabis had therapeutic benefits.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which conducted the second part of the review, last week said doctors should be able to prescribe medicinal cannabis provided products meet safety standards.

"Recent cases involving sick children made it clear to me that our position on cannabis-related medicinal products was not satisfactory," Javid said in a statement.

"That is why we launched a review and set up an expert panel to advise on licence applications in exceptional circumstances.

"Following advice from two sets of independent advisers, I have taken the decision to reschedule cannabis-derived medicinal productsmeaning they will be available on prescription.

"This will help patients with an exceptional clinical need, but is in no way a first step to the legalisation of cannabis for recreational use."

The Home Office interior ministry said in a statement that it was not proposing to change wider laws on cannabis.

"The government is clear that today's announcement does not pave the way towards legalising cannabis for recreational use. The penalties for unauthorised supply and possession will remain unchanged," it said.

'Normal life' for epileptic boy

One of the recent cases in the public eye involved epilepsy sufferer Billy Caldwell, who turned 13 on Thursday.

His mother Charlotte Caldwell called the dramatic change "amazing".

She said her son could now "live a normal life" due to "the simple ability to now administer a couple of drops a day of a long-maligned but entirely effective natural medication".

Mike Penning, who co-chairs the recently-established cross-party Medical Cannabis Under Prescription parliamentary group, said the announcement brought hope to thousands of people.

He added: "Any move to restrict medical cannabis in the UK to a very narrow range of derived products, each requiring full pharmaceutical trials, thereby blocking out the many products available overseas, will lead to great disappointment and be a missed opportunity."

The Liberal Democrats, the fourth-biggest party in parliament, have long campaigned for liberalising cannabis laws.

"This is a very welcome and long overdue change," said health spokesman Norman Lamb.

"However, it is disappointing that the government has refused to commit to a wider review of the outdated and harmful laws around the recreational use of cannabis as well."

Doctor Tom Freeman, a senior academic fellow at King's College London university, said Javid's decision would have a "substantial impact on research by facilitating the development of safer and more effective medicines".

"Similar reviews are now warranted for other Schedule 1 drugs with potential medical value, such as MDMA and psilocybin," he added.

Explore further What you need to know about CBD oil

 2018 AFPSpring Hill, FL - A Hernando County nurse is facing charges after deputies say she stole medication from the health and rehab center where she worked.

Administrators at the Spring Hill Health and Rehab Center on Cortez Boulevard reported a theft to the Hernando County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday. They identified one of their nurses, 33-year-old Ashley Taylor, as the suspect.

Detectives then confronted Taylor on Wednesday as she showed up for work.

Ashley's husband Zach isn't surprised.

He suspected she had a problem and says it got worse after she had back surgery about four years ago. He even resorted to drug testing her, himself.

"I did. I did urine tests on her and she must have gotten clean urine from somewhere," said Zach Taylor.

"Because she passed the test that I gave her. "

He started noticing changes in her behavior.

"Just stuck in her phone all of the time, always sitting out back," said Taylor. "Always just kind of keeps to herself, um, just doesn't care about the normal things that a normal person should put effort and care into."

When deputies notified him of her arrest, he was shocked, but not surprised.

According to the sheriff's office, the nurse admitted to stealing Norco, alprazolam hydrocodone, Percocet, morphine, morphine sulfate, clonazepam, temazepam, hydromorphone, hydrocodone, codeine and dilaudid. She told detectives she took the medications while she was working and assigned to the narcotics cart.

Deputies say Taylor told them she ordered extra medication from the pharmacy so none of her patients would go without their prescriptions. After she signed out the medication, deputies say she would hide it and take it home for later.

Detectives say the nurse was cooperative and allowed them to search her home. The sheriff's office found over 300 empty blister packs. They say at one point, the packs held more than 10,000 tablets of various medications.

Taylor was arrested on several charges, including possession of a controlled substance and obtaining a prescription by fraud. She was taken to the Hernando County Detention Center on $31,000 bond.

Zach and Ashley have two young children.

Zach is now hopeful her arrest will be the first step in getting her the help he believes she so desperately needs.

"You don't know what's going on in somebody's head that's addicted to something like that," he said.

"I think she's really going to take this as an eye opener and hopefully we can get past all of this."

Spring Hill Health and Rehabilitation issued the following statement:

Spring Hill Health and Rehabilitation is dedicated to the safety and well-being of our patients and residents. As such, we are working diligently with local authorities and state agencies in the on-going investigation of the event that we reported to authorities earlier today. While we are not able to comment on the details of the investigation, patient and resident safety is, and will always be, our top priority.Knox City, TX - Police arrested a woman over the weekend who's charged with pretending to be a nurse at two Colorado nursing homes.

Glenwood Springs police told Contact7 they tracked down Heather Wood -- also known as Heather McCray -- to Knox City, Texas, where they said officers there arrested her at home around 11 p.m. Saturday.

"She was cooperative during the arrest," Glenwood Springs Police Chief Terry Wilson said in an e-mail to Contact7.

Wood's case was first exposed in Contact7's "Unlicensed, Unpunished" series of stories, which culminated in a 30-minute television special that aired June 30.

State documents reveal that Wood worked at both Elk Run Assisted Living in Evergreen in 2016 and later at Glenwood Springs Health Care in Glenwood Springs in 2017.

State regulators from the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) took nearly two years to issue a cease and desist order against Wood despite receiving a complaint from a patient's family and then repeated inquiries from Contact7 Investigates. When they finally alerted law enforcement, after Contact7 started asking questions about the case, police acted within weeks. They generated an arrest warrant on charges of criminal impersonation and unauthorized practice of nursing.

Contact7 discovered state documents that reveal Wood, at one point, had presented the license number of a woman named Heather Stone from Texas. Colorado regulators seemingly took her word for it while investigating the 2016 complaint. Later, after she took the nursing job at Glenwood Springs Health Care, the facility's staff discovered she did not have a nursing license. They contacted regulators who then determined Heather Stone and Heather Wood are different people.

Heather Stone told Contact7 that Colorado regulators never contacted her and never made her aware of the case. Contact7 was the first to tell her about it.

State regulators have changed their policies and procedures on orders from Governor John Hickenlooper who said Contact7's reporting is "actually making the community safer." One of the changes enacted by DORA involves prompt and documented case referrals to law enforcement.

Wood has not responded to Contact7's previous requests for comment. It's unclear when she'll be scheduled to appear in Colorado to answer to the charges. She bonded out of the Knox County, Texas jail on Sunday.New Orleans, LA - A 26-year-old man has been arrested by New Orleans Police and booked with the murder of a Black Lives Matter activist from South Carolina who was fatally shot while riding a bicycle on Bienville Street.

Roosevelt Iglus was booked with second-degree murder in the death of 32-year-old Muhiyidin Moye, police announced Wednesday (July 25). Moye, who preferred the last name d'Baha, was killed Feb. 6 in the 1900 block of Bienville Street. He was shot in the thigh and taken in critical condition to a local hospital, where he later died.

In announcing Iglus' arrest, police did not discuss any possible motive for the shooting. In February, police said it may have occurred during a robbery attempt.

Arrest documents for Iglus say that surveillance cameras captured the shooting. d'Baha was riding a bicycle when a man on foot approached and "unsuccessfully tried to knock the victim from his bicycle," according to the documents. d'Baha rode away as the man shot at him several times, and a white SUV was then seen on camera driving away from the scene.

On Tuesday, someone called NOPD Detective Brett Mathes and said they had information about d'Baha's death, according to the documents. In an interview with NOPD, that person identified Iglus as the shooter and said they had been with him that night, that he was armed with a 9 mm handgun and that he had been driving a white Jeep. It was not clear from Iglus' arrest warrant whether the person who spoke with NOPD witnessed the shooting itself.

Iglus was arrested without incident Tuesday in the 700 block of Iberville Street and booked into the Orleans Parish Justice Center.

d'Baha lived in Charleston, S.C. but friends said on social media that he had been staying in New Orleans for some time. He made national headlines in February 2017 after a video circulated showing him taking a flying leap to wrestle a large Confederate battle flag from a protester in South Carolina.

d'Baha made national headlines in February 2017 when he took a flying leap to wrestle a large Confederate battle flag from a protester.

Iglus had an initial appearance in court Wednesday morning and was represented by the Orleans Public Defenders office, court records show. In addition to the second-degree murder charge, he was booked with possession of amphetamines. Court records in Orleans Parish show one previous arrest for Iglus on drug and weapons charges in 2016, to which he pleaded guilty.

Orleans Magistrate Judge Harry Cantrell set Iglus' bond at $505,000 after finding probable cause to hold him on the murder charge and on amphetamine possession. Police initially also charged Iglus with possession of heroin, but Cantrell found no probable cause for that charge.

Assistant District Attorney Michael Henn noted Iglus was on parole related to the drugs and guns case, which Criminal District Judge Karen Herman oversaw.

Anyone with additional information on this homicide is asked to contact NOPD Homicide Detective Brett Mathes at 504-658-5300. Citizens with information that can help solve crimes are asked to call Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111 or toll-free at 1-877-903-STOP.The Samsung Pay app is live in the Google Play store in South Africa.

Although the service does not appear to be active, it displayed a page which stated that Standard Bank will be a local launch partner.

Samsung Pay is an application which lets you store bank card details on a device, and pay merchants by tapping or swiping your smartphone rather than a physical bank card.

The app lets you make payments via Magnetic Secure Transmission, which mimics the magnetic stripe on the back of your card.

It can also use NFC in contactless cards for tap-and-go payments.

Early access

Earlier this year, the CEO of Samsung Africa, Sung Yoon, said the company plans to launch Samsung Pay in South Africa in June 2018.

This statement proved to be too ambitious, as Samsung Pay is not yet available to the public. However, Samsung has been conducting a closed test of the app.

When the app didnt launch in June, a MyBroadband reader contacted Samsung and was informed by a support agent that Samsung Pay will launch in South Africa during August.

Samsung told MyBroadband that Samsung Pay was still in a closed beta test, and said it planned to launch an open beta in the week of 30 July 2018.

Once the open beta has started, Samsung will be able to set a firm launch date for Samsung Pay in South Africa.

The aim is to officially launch by late August or early September, but it depends on the feedback from the testing, said Samsung.

An early access programme, which Samsung refers to as its open beta in South Africa, is in line with the companys approach in Hong Kong, Malaysia, and India, where early adopters helped test Samsung Pay and iron out potential issues before launch.

Devices and launch partners

Earlier today, launching the Samsung Pay app would open a work in progress webpage, which listed details about the supported devices, and confirmed a launch partner  Standard Bank.

The company confirmed to MyBroadband that Samsung Pay will support the following devices when it launches: Samsung Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy S9 and S9+, Galaxy S8 and S8+, Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, Galaxy A8 (2018), Galaxy A7 (2017 and newer), and the Galaxy A5 (2017 and newer).

The information in the app stated it will support Standard Bank Mastercard credit and cheque cards, and that debit cards will be supported soon.

Samsung said it could not comment on the launch partners of Samsung Pay in South Africa.

The Samsung Pay app no longer redirects to this webpage, however, shown in the screenshots below.In the midst of the hearing, state Sen. Jeff Stone, a Riverside County Republican, announced the Idyllwild area had been evacuated in the face of a fast-growing brush fire.

A suspected arsonist was detained in Hemet in connection with the fast-growing Cranston fire after Cal Fire officials reported the man's vehicle to local authorities, Hemet police officials said.

Another press for action came Tuesday from Brown, who sent the committee chairmen a proposal that would soften the liability standard for utilities, allowing judges to determine "whether the utility acted reasonably" in awarding damages in cases in which electrical equipment is a "substantial cause of the fire."

Last week, a PG&E spokeswoman said the utility giant wants to see the policy include a "reasonableness standard," relieving the company of liability for fire damages if it has acted reasonably.

Cal Fire has determined the utility's equipment was responsible for causing 16 major fires across Northern California in October. In 11 of those blazes, the utility allegedly violated state code by failing to keep tree limbs clear from its equipment, according to Cal Fire, which forwarded its findings to local district attorneys for potential prosecution.China has quietly resumed its activities in the Doklam area and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade it, a top US official has said while comparing Beijings actions in the Himalayan region with its manoeuvres in the disputed South China Sea, said a news agency report.

I would assess that India is vigorously defending its northern borders and this is a subject of concern to India, Alice G Wells, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing while responding to a question on Chinas increased road-building activities along the border.

Although both countries back down, China has quietly resumed its activities in Doklam and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade it. Chinas activities in the Himalayas remind me of its south China Sea policies. How should our failure to respond to the militarisation of the South China Sea inform the international response to these Himalayan border disputes? Wagner asked.

Recently Chinese and Indian troops faced off on the disputed Doklam plateau between Bhutan and China after the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army began building roads through the area.

Troops of India and China were locked in a 73-day-long standoff in Doklam from June 16 last year after the Indian side stopped the building of a road in the disputed tri-junction by the Chinese Army. Bhutan and China have a dispute over Doklam. The face-off ended on August 28.



It also does not reflect the views of the Firm of which the Author is working for.





Since the inception of this blog, the Author has avoided writing views and opinions of his clients or views and opinions which third parties has paid him to write.





The Author has maintained editorial independence since Day One.





Any individual or group affected by the opinions and views of the Author can write the author thru mangubat.patricio@gmail.com.

Opinions and views expressed in this blog are personal views of the Author and does not involve organisations and companies being serviced by the Author as part of his profession as a Strategic Communications professional.Turkish FM threatens to resign due to scandal over ambassadors

Armenia opposition MP: 11% increase of military budget is rather low indicator in post-war period

Armenia removed from list of countries whose citizens are permitted to enter Italy

Armenia emergency situations minister receives Poland Ambassador

New generation business is founded in Armenia

Ameriabank and HSBC Armenia to provide their customers access to each others ATMs without additional fees

Armenian legislature speaker meets with Cyprus-Armenia parliamentary cooperation committee chair

Aliyev, Erdogan attend groundbreaking of Zangezur corridor in occupied territories of Artsakh

Driver of Armenia MOD truck runs over female pedestrian in Yerevan who dies at hospital

China FM calls on US to lift sanctions against Afghanistan

Armenia legislature concludes closed discussion of situation on line of contact with Azerbaijan

Armenia former deputy PM, now MP Gevorgyan not ruling out petitioning to international courts to protect his rights

Armenia Police: Criminal case is launched in regard to police beating citizen in front of his children's eyes

Dollar stable in Armenia

How 2 sisters died in Armenias Aragatsotn Province?

Armenia opposition MP candidate not elected vice-chairman of parliamentary committee for ninth time

Armenia 2nd President Kocharyan, ex-deputy PM and now MP Gevorgyan criminal case judge denies self-recusal motion

Substitute for General Affairs of Holy See to visit Armenia

Armenia PM sending deputy environment minister to Great Britain for 16 days

Armenia Gegharkunik Province governor has new deputy

Armenia PM dismisses head of one of divisions of Office of High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs

Armen Sarkissian: Armenia-Uzbekistan cooperation will be further strengthened through joint efforts

Fotis Fotiou: Armenia-Cyprus-Greece trilateral relations are one of Cyprus' priorities

Armenia parliament holding closed discussion on situation on Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact

Aliyev, Erdogan launch international airport in Artsakhs occupied Varanda-Fizuli

Tense situation in Armenia parliament

Government proposes to reduce Armenia citizenship application review period

World gold prices dropping

Armenia ex-President Kocharyan, former deputy PM and now MP Gevorgyan criminal case court hearing resumes

2 more persons die of coronavirus in Artsakh

Dead body of Armenia village girl, 11, taken to hospital

Lawyer: Armenia military given time to either submit vaccination certificate or resignation from service

World oil prices going up

1,517 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

State minister: It will be possible to reach final settlement of Karabakh conflict through long, difficult struggle

Armenia official on reducing New Year holidays: I saw every day how unprepared we were for war

Azerbaijan border issue to be discussed in Armenia National Assembly behind closed doors

Russia MFA: Moscow is optimistic about prospects of investing in Armenia

Armenia opposition MPs greet released fellow opposition lawmaker with applause in legislature

2 foreigners get lost in forest near Armenia lake

3 dead, 1 injured after SUV falls into gorge in Armenia

Armenia parliament kicks off regular sessions

Elephant tramples poacher to death in South Africa's famed Kruger National Park

Newspaper: Amnesty to be declared in Armenia

Newspaper: Opposition Armenia bloc to run in Vanadzor local elections?

Famous Istanbul Armenian linguist is deported from Greece

Erdogan renounces threats to expel ambassadors of 10 countries

Official: Armenia universities to hold classes online, schools to extend autumn break for a week

Commemorative fountain unveiled in memory of Armenia serviceman who fell in 44-day Karabakh war

Armenia army's General Staff deputy chief's attorney on client's case over missiles, demands that they are fired

Earthquake hits 8 km east from Armenia's Bavra, felt in Shirak and Lori Provinces

China FM to meet with the Taliban in Qatar

Armenia Parliament Speaker, Cyprus FM discuss issues on regional and bilateral agendas

Armenia Parliament Council holds session, 18 items on agenda for plenary session on Oct. 26

Armenia Deputy Prosecutor General discusses nature protection rights in basin of Araks River and cooperation with Iran

Armenia parliament sets up committee to lead probe into facts impeding fair trial

Armenia Deputy PM Suren Papikyan visits Zangezur Copper-Molbydenum Combine

Erdogan to leave for Azerbaijan to attend opening of airport in seized Varanda of Karabakh

Armenia Parliament Speaker-led delegation meets with Cyprus defense minister

Armenia Parliament Speaker holding meetings in Cyprus

NATO Secretary General: Too early to comment on Turkey's decision to declare 10 countries' envoys 'persona non grata'

Earthquake hits Armenia, felt in Gyumri, Spitak and Tashir

Dollar goes up in Armenia

Azerbaijan defense minister receives NATO delegation

Iran, Armenia reach agreement on use of alternative routes for transport of goods

EU is closely following situation created after Turkey decided to expel envoys

Turkey offers Russia to join NATO

Armenia National Security Service left several examinations incomplete in ex-defense minister case, says his lawyer

Armenia Finance Ministry: Construction and industry might become main engine of economic growth in 2022

Finance minister: Armenia government national debt payment spending will continue to increase in 2022

Opposition 'Armenia' faction MP: Rallies and marches might be held sooner than Nov. 9

Azerbaijans levying of tolls from Iranian trucks is against trilateral agreement, says Iran ambassador to Armenia

Direct passenger flights between Yerevan, Vilnius to kick off mid-December

Artsakh offers to return Azerbaijani paintings in exchange for Armenian ones remaining in now-occupied Shushi

Armenia ruling party, opposition ARF to run for post of Ijevan mayor

One more person dies of coronavirus in Karabakh

Artsakh state minister, US lawmaker discuss cooperation

Armenia opposition MP, ex-defense minister: 'Unblocking of transport roads' will lead to deeper blockade

Premier: Armenia has no intention to conquer territories

Pashinyan: Border delimitation start to create favorable conditions for Azerbaijan army withdrawal from Armenia

1,184 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

PM: Projects launched to turn Armenia from raw material exporting country to developed metallurgical nation

Garden of the Eternal: Parents of about 200 soldiers killed in Artsakh war partake in tree planting first phase

Premier: Absolute record number of paid jobs registered in Armenia in September

Russia peacekeepers, philanthropists deliver 1.25 tons of humanitarian aid to Karabakh kindergartens, schools

Sudan soldiers detain country's PM

Turkey, Azerbaijan presidents to meet in Istanbul

PM on Armenia 2022 state budget draft: We forecast 7% economic growth

World gold prices going up

World oil prices on the rise

Armenia village head: No compensation paid for 80 cows that came under Azerbaijan control since June 5

Armenia PM visits late statesman, writer Vano Siradeghyans family

Armenia President holds discussion with Yandex Deputy Director Tigran Khudaverdyan

Armenia Ombudsman meets with France Ambassador, presents urgency of Armenian POWs' return

Armenia village head: No news about conscript who has gone missing from Vardenis since May 18

Earthquake hits Armenia, felt in cities and villages of Shirak and Lori Provinces

Armenia opposition to hold rallies on Nov. 9 and 10

How Armenians of Cyprus greeted Armenia Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan

Opposition 'Shant Alliance' releases list of candidates for local self-government elections in Armenia's Kapan

Facebook accused of inciting religious hatred in IndiaSecond President Robert Kocharyan is at the Special Investigation Service (SIS) of Armenia, and he is being questioned in connection with the criminal case into what had occurred in capital city Yerevan on March 1, 2008.

SIS spokesperson Marina Ohanjanyan told about the aforementioned to Armenian News-NEWS.am. She added that investigative activities were underway with Kocharyans participation, and that other details will be provided later.

Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Yuri Khachaturov, on Thursday arrived in the Special Investigation Service (SIS) of Armenia.

The Armenian News-NEWS.am reporter informed from on location that when asked by journalists as to whether he had come for questioning in connection with the criminal case into what had occurred in capital city Yerevan on March 1, 2008, he responded, Yes.

Restoration work is underway at the Armenian church in Aksehir town of Turkeys Konya Province. The church, which is being restored through the Aksehir municipality funds, is planned to be turned into an art center, according to Istasyon Gazetesi of Turkey.

The mayor of Aksehir got familiarized with the restoration work, and assured that the 2mn-lira (approx $500,000) restoration will be completed in January 2019. He stressed that this Armenian church will become an art center where art exhibitions will be held.

Armenias Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan gave an extensive interview to Al Jazeeras flagship interview program Talk to Al Jazeera.

In particular, Pashinyan told Al Jazeera he is ready to meet Azerbaijans President face-to-face to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict and that Armenia is ready to establish a diplomatic relationship with Turkey without any precondition and that its side of the border with Turkey has never been closed.

Also, he told Robin Forestier-Walker that the recent revolution in Armenia now guarantees all Armenian citizens equality under the law and equal playing field for all businesses. His message to those who want to do business with Armenia and in Armenia is that his government guarantees the security of any investment.

The 102nd Russian Military Base in [Gyumri] the Republic of Armenia corresponds to national interests of the Republic of Armenia, the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, stated in an interview with Echo of Moscow radio station of the Russian capital city.

In Pashinyans words, the Russian border guards in Armenia protect the countrys border with Turkey.

And thats very indispensable for Armenia, since its very good for us [Armenia] that we actually are exempt, our armed forces are exempt, from that obligation, he added. Because assuming the responsibility for the protection of that long border would be a great load to us [Armenia].

And when asked whether Armenian authorities were going to remove the 102nd military base, Pashinyan responded as follows, in particular: It [the base] is a very important part of the security system of the Republic of Armenia because we have contracts; and under those contracts, that military base has specific commitments.

During her visit to Moscow, Russia, Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyans wife Anna Hakobyan visited the State Tretyakov Gallery on July 24 and met with its director Zelfira Tregulova. At the meeting, Hakobyan and Tregulova discussed a number of issues concerning cooperation with the gallery, including issues related to the possible opening of the Tretyakov Gallerys Yerevan branch.

Afterwards Hakobyan met with a number of women figures of different Russian sectors.

The PMs wife informed the participants of the meeting about her Women For Peace campaign, asking them to accept her speech exclusively as a speech of a woman and a mother.

Noting that the main mission of the initiative is to contribute to the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Hakobyan particularly said: I actually think that it isnt important how this conflict originated. What matters is the human lives, the young human lives which are paid before this conflict.16 Nepali women rescued from Delhi

A joint team of Delhi Commission for Women, KI Nepal and Indian police personnel rescued 16 Nepali women from a house in Munirka area of the Indian capital on Tuesday night.Doctors warn crusader may lose consciousness

Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) doctors on Wednesday warned Dr Govinda KC could lose consciousness any time since his health has deteriorated significantly.Draft protocol ready, awaits Cabinet approval

A draft protocol of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicle Agreement has been finalised and is awaiting a Cabinet nod.Farmers face fertiliser shortage once again

The paddy farmers of the district are facing acute shortage of fertiliser during peak paddy plantation season. Around 3645 tonnes of chemical fertiliser is needed in the district to plant paddy on around 60,757 hectares of land. The amount is equivalent to 72,908 sacks of fertiliser.First digital Cabinet meet begins today

The first digital meeting of the Cabinet that convenes in Kathmandu on Thursday will fulfil Prime Minister KP Sharma Olis vow to go paperless.Dear Newsie Readers,

Newsie has now permanently ceased it's services as of Friday 20th December 2019.

Newsie has been an owner-funded operation since day one.

Coming up to three years old, while we still firmly believe Newsie has a place in the New Zealand media landscape, the cost in both time and money has become too burdensome for the owners to continue alongside other ventures.

With the current government looking to restructure public broadcasting, and seemingly supporting NZME buying a ring-fenced Stuff, the time seems right to call it a day.

Should it happen, the combination of NZME and Stuff will ensure New Zealands national media will die a death by a thousand opinion-based articles.

Newsie has always tried to stick to balanced news, to inform readers of the facts of a situation, amid being largely ignored by government. Hopefully, one day someone else will take up the challenge to fight the good fight.

The good news, however, is that there were no job losses as a result of Newsie closing. Thanks to careful structuring, everyone involved in Newsie will retain their current positions.

We hope you all have a happy Christmas and new year. Stay safe, and stay out of the news.

The team at NewsieAir-con clothes? Scientists develop cooling fabric inspired by the comet moth

Silkworms may have a new competitor when it comes to producing refreshingly cool and bright-looking silk fabrics. The fibers spun by wild Madagascar comet moths look much more vivid and feel much cooler on the skin. An article in Newswise reports that research engineers have created artificial materials based on these fibers to replicate their cooling and optical properties.

The Columbia Engineering research team reported that comet moth fibers possess interesting one-dimensional nanostructures. These tiny structures not only vent heat but also send light signals and images.

Associate professor Nanfang Yu led the efforts to replicate these nanostructures and their properties. The research team published their findings in the science journal Light: Science & Applications.

Yu said comet moth fibers were the best natural fibers when it came to repelling sunlight. The fibers could even guide light signals or even send images from one end of the fiber to another. They could serve as biomedical materials that would not be rejected by the body of a patient and would dissolve or even get absorbed after their role is fulfilled. (Related: Scientists take super close-up shots of the human bone to understand why they are so strong.)

Metallic fiber spun by comet moth caterpillars can block light

Domesticated silkworms spin threads that look like solid, see-through cylinders in a microscope. In comparison, the fibers spun by comet moth caterpillars have a metallic appearance.

The latter fibers have lots of nano-sized air voids that run along the length of the fibers. They act like mirrors that reflect more than 70 percent of the visible light that hits them. It takes around 10 layers of typical textiles  such as silk  to achieve the same reflective properties as one comet moth fiber.

Furthermore, comet moth fibers can also reflect the infrared spectrum of light, which makes up about 50 percent of sunlight. They can also absorb ultraviolet light. When combined, these properties allow the fibers to block sunlight.

This ability to redirect light comes from the filamentary air voids along the threads. Using transverse Anderson localization, the air voids scatter optical light into the cross-section of the fiber. Light is thus restricted to traveling along the fibers.

Study author Norman Shi of Columbia Engineering said the way by which comet moth fibers guided light is different from the one used by undersea fiber-optic cables. It is also the first time transverse Anderson localization has been found in a natural material.

Synthetic version of comet moth fibers can make air-conditioned clothes

Shi, Yu, and the other researchers developed fiber pulling methods that copied how comet moth caterpillars could spin threads with a lot of particulate or filamentary voids. Their synthetic fibers achieved a void density that can reflect around 93 percent of sunlight.

They made the bio-inspired fibers out of both regenerated silk and polyvinylidene difluoride. The first was a natural and bio-compatible material, while the latter is a synthetic substance that can be mass-produced.

Yu said their new fibers do not have the solid core of conventional fibers. Instead, they have engineered nanostructures that allow them to give new optical and thermodynamic properties into fibers.

The new fibers can be used to make ultra-thin air-conditioned clothes. Several layers can make an opaque textile that is much thinner than paper. Yet it will not turn translucent when the wearer perspires.

Furthermore, the porous fibers could combine the evaporation of sweat, the air flow between the human body and its surroundings, and the way the body radiated heat outwards for the perfect cooling experience.

The next step for Yu is to raise the number of bio-inspired nanostructured fibers produced by his current process, which uses the spinning method used by the fiber industry.

Read about more scientific breakthroughs on nanostructured materials at Discoveries.news.

Sources include:

NewsWise.com

Engineering.Columbia.eduGerm Theory

Yong Discusses Wonderful World of Microbes

Photo: Chia-Chi Charlie Chang

The topic is quite infectious, though most kinds of microbes are not. Were colonized by trillions of bacteria and other microbes, the bulk of them beneficial or harmless. Fewer than 100 species of bacteria can even cause infectious diseases in people, writes author Ed Yong in his bestselling book I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life.

Yong, a British science writer living in Washington who writes regularly for The Atlantic, recently sat down with NIH director Dr. Francis Collins to discuss his book at the second annual Big Read. This giant book club event in Masur Auditorium followed weeks of informal book discussions at the NIH Library among interested staff.

In writing I Contain Multitudes, a title borrowed from a line in the Walt Whitman poem Song of Myself, Yong said he wanted to convey that microbes arent just bugs that make us sick. Theyre the dominant form of life on the planet, he said. Theyre everywhere and they do interesting things.

Microbes are fascinating to me; theyre sort of natural underdogs, said Yong. Theyve been feared and reviled for a very long time and were starting just now to understand how important they areIts fodder for a lot of good narrative.

A story he recently covered for The Atlantic highlights the tenuous relationship among microbes, hosts and the environment. The mystery involved saigas, Central Asian antelope, whose globular noses Yong likened to a Dr. Seuss character. In 2015, two-thirds of the entire population died within a couple of weeks in a land area the size of Florida. The culprit turned out to be a normally harmless bacterium that lives in the saigas nasal cavities but became lethal when it seeped into their bloodstream. The microbes went haywire, its believed, in response to extreme climate fluctuations.

Photo: Chia-Chi Charlie Chang

Relationships between hosts and microbes are often on this knifes edge between disease and health, between parasitism and commensalism [peaceful coexistence], and that can tip easily, said Yong. Its a reminder, he added, that the microbe-host relationship may evolve as the world around us changes.

Most of Yongs book focuses on how the microbiome works, develops and can be manipulated in humans and animals. The last chapter is devoted to microbes in the environment. Do our choices, from building design to sterilizing surfaces, contribute to the spread of pathogens? Its an area of ongoing debate.

Regardless, Collins interjected affably, nothing said during the conversation absolves NIH clinicians from handwashing.

Throughout the Big Read, Yong and Collins discussed the art of making science writing dynamic and comprehensible.

A lot of people think of science as a set of discoveries or papers, but its so much more than that, said Yong. Its stories of successes and failures; its the motivations that got people into this in the first place; its tales of feeling out of place or curious about something and these human universals that make science so compelling.

One microbial procedure with mixed results is fecal transplant. Transferring the microbiome contained within poop from a healthy donor to a patient has proven effective in fighting Clostridium difficile, a bacterial infection often resistant to antibiotics. So far, though, said Yong, fecal transplant has much less success against other types of infection.

Altering someones microbiome is as complicated as changing a rain forest or a coral reef, he said.

A major drawback of fecal transplant, apart from the ick factor, is that the donors stool can transfer all kinds of diseases. The therapy might solve one condition but impart others, said Yong, so its critical to explore regulatory issues and long-term risks.

Another promising area is disease control. Many insects, and some mosquito breeds, carry bacteria called Wolbachia. While scientists were studying the organisms reproductive properties, they discovered that the kinds of mosquitoes that dont carry Wolbachia are the ones that carry and spread dengue, yellow fever and Zika virus.

Photo: Chia-Chi Charlie Chang

In clinical trials in tropical areas worldwide, scientists are injecting small groups of pathogenic mosquito breeds with Wolbachia and releasing them into the wild. Potentially, after a few generations, these mosquitoes will naturally carry the bacteria and no longer be vectors for human disease.

I think its an interesting example of basic research having these unexpected and wonderful applications, said Yong.

The investigators have had to tread carefully, though, since conducting such experiments in nature is bound to create public concern. Youre basically saying to people: we want to release mosquitoes on your property, said Yong. Theyve been loaded up with bacteria they dont normally have...Those insects will probably bite you. Are you cool with that?

Uncertainties abound in science, said Yong, and can make for illuminating stories.

I dont think you need to tell people youre going to change their lives or change the world to get them excited about science, he said. One of his most widely read articles, he noted, concerned hippo dung.

Writing a book is a lonely endeavor and theres the underlying fear it wont sell, said Yong.

I wrote the book because I thought it would be an intellectually satisfying exercise and I was going to be proud of the product regardless of how well it did. Everything on top of that is a bonus.Thursday, July 26, 2018

What to watch today

On Thursday, investors will be inundated with corporate earnings as 74 members of the S&P 500 are scheduled to report results, with McDonalds (MCD), MasterCard (MA), Southwest Airlines (LUV), Comcast (CMCSA), McKesson (MCK), Celgene (CELG), Under Armour (UAA), and American Airlines (AAL) all releasing earnings before the market open.

And alongside Amazons results after the close will be results from Starbucks (SBUX), Chipotle (CMG), Western Digital (WDC), Electronic Arts (EA), Expedia (EXPE), Intel (INTC), Lam Research (LCRX), and Amgen (AMGN).

But the main event will be Amazon (AMZN), set to report earnings after the market close.

Read More

Top news

(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Trump and Europe are teaming up against China on trade: After meeting with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, U.S. President Trump said the United States and Europe will work together to address unfair trading practices, including forced technology transfer, theft of intellectual property and overcapacity. Neither man mentioned China, but thats exactly who they were talking about. [Yahoo Finance]

Facebook user numbers disappoint, stock nosedives: Facebook (FB) on Wednesday afternoon reported second-quarter earnings that just missed Wall Streets expectations on revenues and user growth. Management also warned revenue growth rates would decelerate in Q3 and Q4. The social networks stock fell 23% in after-hours trading. [Yahoo Finance]

Qualcomm walks away from $44B NXP deal: Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM), the worlds biggest maker of chips for mobile phones, said on Wednesday it would drop its bid to buy Dutch chipmaker NXP Semiconductors after failing to secure regulatory approval from China against a backdrop of widening trade tensions. [Reuters]

Big auto trim forecasts: Detroits Big Three auto makers lowered their profit outlooks for 2018, and each said fallout from U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum is weighing on their bottom lines. The second-quarter results issued Wednesday by General Motors Co. (GM), Ford Motor Co. (F) and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV made clear the elevated costs will linger through the year and into 2019, shadowing a relatively healthy backdrop for U.S. auto sales. [The Wall Street Journal]

Story continues

Barbie maker Mattel to cut more jobs: Mattel (MAT), hurt by the closing of Toys R Us stores, said Wednesday that it will cut more than 2,200 jobs as the maker of Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels cars seeks to save money. Like other toy companies, Mattel has lost sales as Toys R Us faltered. [AP}

For more of the latest news, go to Yahoo Finance

The view of the U.S. embassy after an explosion on July 26, 2018 in Beijing, China. A man exploded a small homemade bomb outside the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, injuring only himself, according to police and an embassy spokesperson. (Photo by Emmanuel Wong/Getty Images)

Yahoo Finance Originals

Tilson: Why I like Alphabet more than Apple

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Exclusive: Inside Google Assistants personality team

26-year-old launches Instagram-fueled fast fashion brand



Like what you just read? Get the Morning Brief sent directly to your inbox every Monday to Friday by 6:30 a.m. ET. And feel free to share it with a friend!

The Morning Brief provides a quick rundown on what to watch in the markets, top news stories, and the best of Yahoo Finance Originals.South Sudan's government and main rebel group have signed a preliminary power-sharing deal aimed at ending the country's nearly five-year civil war.

However, a coalition of nine opposition parties has refused to sign the document, saying their suggestions for the deal were ignored.

The agreement, seen by VOA, leaves President Salva Kiir as head of a transitional government while returning rebel chief Riek Machar to his previous position as first vice president.

It also calls for creation of a 550-person transitional national legislature and the appointment of another four vice presidents, one of whom will be a woman.

Salva Kiir (L) and Riek Machar signed a peace deal on Wednesday

The agreement was signed in Sudan's capital, Khartoum on Wednesday. The government and Machar's group reached a separate peace deal in 2015 but the agreement collapsed a year later amid a flare-up of deadly violence in the South Sudanese capital, Juba.

The East African bloc IGAD mediated the talks leading to the latest agreement. The civil war broke out just two years after South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011.

Fighting has led to widespread hunger and prompted nearly 2.5 million South Sudanese to flee the country. Another two million are displaced internally.Forum chairman blames mediocre printers for taxis not giving receipts

The chairperson of a private taxi association in Nepal on Wednesday said most taxi drivers do not issue fare receipts to passengers because of mediocre quality printers that malfunctioned within a few months of installation.Constitutional court judge, Justice Cheboroin Barishaka has delivered a contradicting judgement on the age limit petition.

Barishaka, one of the five and the first judge to deliver the much anticipated judgement on the petition, ruled that amendment of presidential age limits was legal and constitutional.

After the controversial December 2017 constitutional amendment that saw the scrapping of presidential age limits, the extension of all political offices from five to seven years, and the reintroduction of the two presidential term limits, dissatisfied Ugandans went to court.

Barishaka said the constitutional amendment bill as presented by a Igara West MP Raphael Magyezi was constitutional and legal. However the added clauses of extending the MPs and Local Governments tenure from 5 to 7 years was unconstitutional, selfish and not acceptable.

As such, the judge in his ruling delivered today Thursday at the Mbale High court declared the extension null and void. He said by not consulting the people on the extension of their tenure, the MPs had arrogated to themselves powers that the Constitution grants to people to determine their leaders.

And by extending the MPs tenure by an extra two years, the MPs had denied the people elective positions in 2021, the scheduled year for the next general elections.

"The Constitution must serve the people & not the other way round," he said.

[Constitution's] role is to uphold and respect the will of the people. Constitution must be beyond the reach of temporary excitement & popular passion of majority for quick & routine amendments," he added.

Barishaka also cleared speaker Rebecca Kadaga of any responsibility for the violent eviction of members of parliament on September 27, 2017. Barishaka said he found the intervention of army timely and justified as it had been confirmed that one member of parliament had entered the chambers with a gun and MPs had become unruly.

Such, the judge said was life-threatening and constituting an emergence situation that necessitated the military to intervene.

He said excessive force was used when evicting the MPs and that arrest of some of them was unnecessary as the speaker had only called for their eviction. He said the MPs were to blame for the violence in the House after they failed to heed to the speaker's calls to restore order. He said neither side of the House was willing to listen.

On the police directive that barred MPs from consulting outside their constituencies, the judge said he found it surprising that the custodians of the law (police) were the ones limiting the right to free movement.

He also said, moreover MPs belong to different political parties, and it is expected that they would consult and rally support together with like-minded colleagues.

The other justices of the Constitutional court set to deliver their rulings are Deputy Chief Justice Alphonse Chigamoy Owiny-Dollo, Remmy Kasule, Kenneth Kakuru, and Elizabeth Musoke.

More to follow...She sound really happy with Phil. I can't recommend his album A Crow Looked at Me enough, if you've ever been through a major loss. It's heartbreaking and not super cathartic but it made me feel so much more sane knowing someone else was having all these wild thoughts that I kept having.

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that album made cry so much. it was beautiful.

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It's so heartbreaking :( I'm so glad he's found love again.

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I do read, but...how old is her daughter? I WILL read it, promise.

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Thank you kindly! Also, TWELVE?! Where does the time go?!

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She's 12 or 13 i think.

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It fucks me up both her and Katie Holmes have 12 year olds.



Yes, Suri is 12 too. LIKE WHAT IN THE FUCK.

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Everyone should listen to The Glow Pt. II:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Sgq8l1m9W0







Edited at 2018-07-26 06:27 pm (UTC) I love Phil and his music. I'm really happy for both of them and wish them all the best.Everyone should listen to The Glow Pt. II:

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Yeah, I fixed it, thanks. And thanks for the rec, I've heard of him as a musician before, but had no idea where to start with his music.

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No problem, thanks for making such a nice post. He's not super well known but has a lot of great music out.

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Her new husband, an indie musician who records and performs under the name Mount Eerie (and, before that, the Microphones), also lost a partner in tragic circumstances while parenting a small child. His late wife, illustrator and musician Genevieve Castree, was diagnosed with inoperable stage-4 pancreatic cancer in 2015, four months after the birth of their daughter, and the two very private artists went public with a GoFundMe page to help defray medical costs. Castree died 13 months later, in July 2016, leaving Elverum with an 18-month-old daughter

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Jfc

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This is one of the most well written/interesting celeb profiles Ive read in a while. Michelle seems like a really cool and intelligent person.

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a remake of the Danish film After the Wedding



butwhoaskedforthis.gif





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Aw, congrats on the marriage!

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Im so happy for her. This is a really great profile

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I really like the styling of this cover

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I googled her man and he looks like one of those white nationalist militia guys.

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Lol i see it, but he's very much the opposite of that.

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Well I'm sure Michelle Williams isn't marrying a Nazi. He's probably nice and gentle and woodsy and all that stuff she probably loves.



He just LOOKS like he'd be carrying a tiki torch.

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he is very white

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Liking plaid and being a slight below average looking white guy doesn't automatically make you a white nationalist type.

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he looks PNW hippyish to me

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I cant imagine going into my local post office and seeing a poster for someone wanting info on me and my young daughter. Creepy as fuck.





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She's always been a favorite of mine, I'm glad she is happy.

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That cover is lovely. She looks great.

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I love that cover

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i feel like i'm in trouble looking at that cover

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She's not mad she's just disappointed.

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LinkSaudi Arabia halted crude oil and oil product shipments via the Bab el Mandeb chokepoint in the Red Sea after a Houthi attack on two Saudi tankers near the port of Hodeidah yesterday.

Reuters quoted Saudi Oil Minister Khalid al-Falih as saying Saudi Arabia is temporarily halting all oil shipments through Bab al-Mandeb Strait immediately until the situation becomes clearer and the maritime transit through Bab al-Mandeb is safe.

Initial reports of the attacks only mentioned one tanker targeted by the Houthis, but later it became clear that two Very Large Crude Carriers had been targeted, one of which sustained minor damage.

Following the announcement, oil prices continued their climb that started earlier this week on reports from the American Petroleum Institute and the Energy Information Administration about falling crude oil and gasoline inventories.

The Bab el Mandeb strait is the route that most crude oil shipments through the Suez Canal take to reach international markets, with a daily throughput of some 4.8 million bpd of crude and oil products as of 2016. The strait is between the northeastern African coast and Yemen, and while in the past pirates from North Africa were the biggest threat for vessels there, now the Houthi-Saudi conflict has added substantial risks for maritime transport in the region.

Related: The Regulation That Could Push Oil To $200

The conflict, widely seen as a proxy war between Iran, which supports the Houthi militia, and Saudi Arabia, has escalated in recent months with a series of missile exchanges and a humanitarian crisis in Yemen that has turned into the worst one in recent history.

It has also naturally had an effect on the oil industry and international prices, with the Houthis early this year threatening to block Bab el Mandeb if the Saudi-led coalition forces tried to take the port of Hodeidah. The coalition nevertheless advanced on the port city and is currently fighting the Houthis for control over it.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:The worlds biggest oil companies called the end of the downturn with the pretty good profits they reported for the first quarter this year. As the earnings season for the second quarter begins, Big Oil will update shareholders and analysts on how they plan to spend the extra cash they will have reaped thanks to the higher oil prices.

Capital allocation discipline continues to be the key theme on both investors and CEOs minds. So the major oil companies now have to strike a delicate balance between keeping the shareholders who have stuck with them through thick and thin happy, and investing in growth to replenish their oil reserves.

A year or two ago, the main theme for both shareholders and oil firms was to keep dividends sustainable amid the oil price crash. Now shareholders want more than dividendsthey want returns on top of the dividends. Some companies have already announced buybacks, and some others may announce share repurchases when they start reporting Q2 financials this week.

Shell, Total, Equinor, and Repsol report second-quarter earnings on Thursday. Eni and the two U.S. majorsExxonMobil and Chevronreport on Friday, while BP will be wrapping up Big Oils earnings season next Tuesday.

Those eight major firms, plus Portugals Galp Energia SGPS, are expected to have a combined US$8 billion of extra cash in Q2 even after share buybacks, according to estimates by RBC Capital Markets. Related: Oil Markets Stabilize On Major Crude Draw

The current oil price at around $70 is a sweet spot for the majors and a good opportunity to return cash to shareholders, Phil Gresh, a JPMorgan equity analyst who covers the integrated oils and refining sector, told Bloomberg this week.

Oil at $70 is comfortably above the average $50 a barrel needed to cover dividends, and below the $80 that could start hurting oil demand, according to Gresh.

Investors should be looking for companies announcing growth per share on a free cash flow basis, instead of focusing on production growth or just higher profit figures, the JPMorgan analyst says. Putting all cash into buybacks is not the answer for oil majors, but putting 100 percent of extra cash into growth isnt either, Gresh said.

JPMorgan expects that Chevronits top pickcould potentially announce a buyback when it reports Q2 figures, while Exxon is not expected to do so.



Although oil stocks havent rallied in lockstep with oil prices in recent months, the companies with buybacks and shareholder-friendly moves have significantly outperformed the others, Gresh reckons.

The five biggest integrated oil companiesExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, Total, and BPare poised to reap the benefits of the higher oil prices, Moodys said in a report this week.

Related: Is The Solar Industry Really In Trouble?

The five major oil companies principal business risk is oil and gas price volatility, and they proved their fundamental strength though the depths of the oil price crash, Pete Speer, a Moodys Senior Vice President, said.

Moodys expects those companies to announce a 5-percent annual increase in total capital spending in 2019. At the same time, the higher oil prices have allowed them to fully fund capital expenditures and dividends with operating cash flow, the rating agency said.

According to Wood Mackenzie, the oil majors are set to achieve cash flow neutrality at an average of $55 a barrel oil in 2018 after dividends and buybacks. Although profit margins grow, Big Oil will stick to capital discipline, and revisions on capital budgets are more likely to be downwards rather than upwards, according to the analysts. Reducing gearingthe debt-to-equity ratiowill continue to be a key priority for Shell, BP, and Equinor, and less of a concern for Exxon, Chevron, Eni, and Total, which reported gearing below 20 percent at end-Q1, WoodMac says.

With capital allocation discipline still a top priority for Big Oilexcept for Exxon which is raising capex to boost earnings in all segmentsthe worlds biggest oil firms now face the after-the-downturn dilemma: how to spend the cash the right way so as to keep shareholders happy and at the same time position themselves for growth amid the energy transition and peak oil demand narratives.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:China unveiled this week measures to reinvigorate its economic growth with support for infrastructure investments that are likely to boost demand for various commodities, including oil.

As the U.S.-China trade war is escalating and policy makers around the world are warning that tariffs and counter-tariffs could weaken global economic growth, China is looking to boost its economy with measures to expand domestic demand and promote investments, including in infrastructure.

Chinas key policies in supporting investment include guaranteeing funds for projects under construction, and promoting the construction of major projects. The investment, which would welcome private equity participation, will be focused on the transportation, oil and gas, and telecommunications sectors, according to the Chinese cabinet meetings statement.

Beijing also plans to pursue a more proactive fiscal policy, extend loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and cut corporate taxes.

The planChinas most notable attempt this year to accelerate its economic growthis expected to lead to growing demand for oil and other commodities, according to analysts.

The Chinese economic stimulus plan boosted financial markets in Asia and commodity markets on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In the oil market, the Chinese economic and fiscal package boosted investor confidence earlier this week that a potentially stronger Chinese economy would raise oil demand in the worlds top crude oil importer. Related: Oil Prices Spike Again After Brief Respite

Oil prices were also supported on Wednesday by the weekly U.S. inventory reportthe Energy Information Administration reported a draw in crude oil and another draw in gasoline inventories for the week to July 20. Crude oil inventories were 6.1 million barrels lower in July 16-20 than in the week before, when the EIA reported a surprise build that made the price rally stutter.

Chinas economic growth eased in the second quarter of this year to 6.7 percent, in line with expectations, but slightly down from the 6.8 percent growth of the previous three quarters.

The Chinese government is intent on preserving growth amid the rising U.S.-China trade tensions. Beijing targets economic growth for the full-year 2018 at 6.5 percent, but flagged the fact that the economy in eight provinces, regions, and cities saw slower growth in the first half. The Tianjin area, for example, showed signs of a marked slowdown, posting just 3.4 percent growth in the first half of 2018.

The government is sending a clear signal that it is preparing to defend growth, ANZ economists Raymond Yeung and Betty Wang said in a note, commenting on the Chinese economic stimulus.

According to Iris Pang, economist for Greater China at ING, most of the fiscal spending has already been planned and in the pipeline. Related: Is This The Next Coal Megaproject?

The good news, however, is that the government wants to spend money earlier than planned, Pang wrote, noting that ING expects additional fiscal spending later this year.

We expect more aggressive fiscal spending will be announced later if and when the trade war escalates and believe this years stimulus could be around 4.5% GDP, Pang said.

At such an unusual time, the Chinese government will likely apply unusual measures to shield itself from an economic slowdown sparked by a trade war.

Analysts expect China to protect the pace of its economic growth and not let it slow down markedly. This is good news for oil demand in the worlds largest crude oil importer and a potential bullish factor for oil prices.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:While everyone has been watching the Strait of Hormuz amid rising tension between the U.S. and Iran, a chokepoint on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula is now at the center of the action.

Saudi Arabia temporarily halted all oil shipments through the Bab al-Mandeb strait after Saudi Aramco reported attacks from Houthi rebels on two oil tankers. The two ships in question were very large crude carriers (VLCCs), each carrying 1 million barrels of oil, and one of them sustained minor damage. The Houthis said that they have the naval capability to hit Saudi ports and other targets in the Red Sea, according to Reuters.

In response, Saudi energy minister suspended oil shipments through the strait. Saudi Arabia is temporarily halting all oil shipments through Bab al-Mandeb strait immediately until the situation becomes clearer and the maritime transit through Bab al-Mandeb is safe, Khalid al-Falih said. The Kuwait Oil Tanker Company said that it might also suspend tanker traffic through the narrow chokepoint.

The sudden risk to two of the worlds most critical chokepoints has pushed up oil prices a bit this week, although serious outages have yet to materialize.

Nearly two-thirds of the worlds oil trade travels via maritime routes. Here is a quick rundown of the top global chokepoints for the oil trade.

1. Strait of Hormuz. The most vital chokepoint in the world sees nearly 19 million barrels per day (mb/d) of oil traffic, according to the EIA. At its narrowest point, Hormuz is only 21 miles wide. Through that narrow passage, oil exports from Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar (including large volumes LNG exports), the UAE and Saudi Arabia must pass. The U.S. Navy patrols the area because of its strategic importance. Iran has threatened to disrupt oil traffic through the Strait, but for now the market is assuming that is all bluster. Related: Saudi Arabia Halts Oil Shipments At Key Chokepoint



2. Strait of Malacca. The second most important chokepoint in terms of oil volumes is the Strait of Malacca, between Indonesia and Malaysia, which saw 16 mb/d of oil in 2016. The Strait links the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and is the main route for oil from the Middle East to reach Asian markets. The Strait is only 1.7 miles wide at its narrowest point, creating a natural bottleneck with the potential for collisions, grounding, or oil spills, according to the EIA. China, the largest oil importer in the world, has a strategic interest in seeing uninterrupted tanker traffic through the Strait.

3. Suez Canal and SUMED pipeline. Located in Egypt, the Suez Canal is another crucial chokepoint. Combined with the SUMED pipeline, which bypasses the canal and connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, the two routes account for roughly 9 percent of the worlds daily seaborne oil, or 5.5 mb/d. Most of the oil goes north, from the Middle East to Europe. The Suez Canal cannot handle the largest oil ships, ultra-large crude carriers (ULCCs), and it can only handle VLCCs that are not fully laden. As such, VLCCs can offload some of their cargo onto the SUMED pipeline, and then the lighter ship can pass through the canal, picking up the oil at the other end of the pipeline in the Mediterranean. The SUMED pipeline can carry 2.34 mb/d, and offers a hedge of sorts against an outage at the Suez Canal.

(Click to enlarge)



4. Bab el-Mandeb. The Strait of Bab el-Mandeb is a narrow passage between the horn of Africa and the Middle East (between Djibouti and Yemen, specifically). It connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, or more broadly, it is the linkage between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. This chokepoint saw just under 5 mb/d of oil traffic in 2016, but its importance is magnified for two reasons. First, most oil that has to pass through the Suez Canal/SUMED pipeline must first pass through the Bab el-Mandeb, so, tankers have multiple obstacles on this Middle East-to-Europe route. Second, it is, at this point, close in proximity to the war in Yemen. Related: The Most Important Waterway In The Oil World





There are a series of other smaller chokepoints, but these four are the most important in terms of size of the trade and because of the risk. An outage at any of these locations, even for a brief period of time, has the potential to force steep oil price increases, with the effects magnified by the size and duration of the outage. Even the whiff of a potential outage, particularly when the oil market is tight, can add a few dollars per barrel as a risk premium.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:French Total booked a 44-percent improvement in its second-quarter net profit on the back of record-high quarterly oil and gas production, the company said today. At US$3.6 billion, the adjusted net figure translated into earnings per share of US$1.31, up 36 percent on the year.

Total pumped an average 2.7 million barrels of oil equivalent daily in the second quarter, which was 8.7 percent more than in the second quarter of 2017. CEO Patrick Pouyanne attributed the healthy increase to the acquisition of Danish Maersk Oil and the production increase in projects including Yamal LNG in Russia, Moho Nord in the Republic of the Congo, and Fort Hills in Canada.

The French company also boasted a 35-percent increase in cash flow from operations, to US$6.2 billion, for the second quarter, although for the first half of the year, its free cash flow position declined by 11 percent to US$8.3 billion.

Like its peers, Total reaped the benefits of higher oil prices this year, which helped it carry out its share buyback program, Pouyanne also said at the presentation of the companys results.

While sticking to its core business of producing oil and gas, Total has been expanding into renewable energy as well to improve its positioning for the future since the 2014 oil price crash. It has also been focusing on growing its natural gas exposure as well. The latest acquisitions here include utility Engies LNG business, which made the French company number-two in LNG globally, and, this week, the purchase of two gas-fired power plants in France, owned by KKR-Energas.

With its strong focus on gas, which also included the French companys entry into Russian Novateks Arctic LNG-2 project earlier this year, the decision to quit the giant South Pars gas field in Iran must have stung. However, Total could not stay in Iran after President Donald Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, not least because of its sizeable presence in the U.S. oil and gas industry and the substantial exposure to the U.S. banking system, characteristic of all Big Oil majors.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:In a breakthrough in EU-U.S. trade talks, President Trump and European Commission (EC) President Jean-Claude Juncker agreed yesterday in a meeting at the White House to suspend new trade tariffs while negotiating over trade.

Both Trump and Juncker pledged to expand European imports of U.S.-sourced liquefied natural gas (LNG) and soybeans. They also vowed to lower industrial tariffs, excluding autos.

The U.S. and EU will hold off on other tariffs while negotiations proceed, as well as re-examine U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs and retaliatory duties imposed by the EU in due course, Juncker said in remarks to reporters after the much-heralded meeting.

Analysts claim that the pledges have pulled the two major partners from the brink of a possible full-fledged trade-war.

Trump, for his part, said after the meeting We had a big day, very big. We are starting the negotiation right now, but we know where it is going. Trump hailed what he called a new phase of trade relations. The two didnt take questions from reporters.

As recently as last week, at a cabinet meeting Trump warned that he would move forward with 25 percent EU auto tariffs if the meeting with Juncker didnt go well. However, the results of the meeting were met with guarded relief on both sides of the Atlantic. The development also comes as Trump continues to ramp up trade tensions with China, Mexico and Canada.

Gas matters

Juncker also said Europe would build more LNG terminals to import U.S.-LNG. Trump said, they want very much to do that, and we have plenty of it They will be a massive buyer [of gas], and they will be able to diversify their energy supply.

Both Juncker and Trumps comments on more U.S.-sourced LNG heading into Europe will have major geopolitical ramifications in both the EU and even Russia.

The EU for its part, notably Germany, has pushed back in the past year and a half against Trumps gas import push into European markets. Many on the continent see Trumps promulgation of U.S. gas as merely a ploy to enhance American LNG producers masked in the guise of security concerns. Related: Strong Dollar Could Cap Oil Prices

However, several EU members, notably Poland and the Baltic states, have welcomed U.S. gas imports as a way to break free from decades old reliance on Russias gas monopoly in Europe.

Russia, for its part, has long accused Trump of politicizing EU gas imports, also claiming that his concerns over the ongoing Nord Stream II gas pipeline are unfounded. Nord Stream II is a 759 mile (1,222 km) natural gas pipeline running on the bed of the Baltic Sea from Russian gas fields to Germany, bypassing existing land routes over Ukraine, Poland and Belarus. It would double the existing Nord Stream pipelines current annual capacity to 110 bn cubic meters a year and is expected to become operational by the end of next year, enough to meet almost a quarter of total demand across the EU.

Criticism

After the Trump-Juncker meeting, replies started coming out of Russia, mostly criticizing the meeting. Financial policy analyst Daniel Sankey told Sputnik News Wednesday that the joint U.S.- EU announcement was so thin of substantive details that it could be only described as political theater.

"Ultimately this is political theater where the Trump administration is going to try to play up these minor concessions as some kind of substantial victory to increase support from his base," he said. Related: Is This The Next Coal Megaproject?

"Both sides have pledged to stop imposing tariffs while the talks continue. However, should the talks break down; we'd be back to square one. The EU is throwing some minor concessions to the US, most likely for the US to save face, and the solid details of those concessions have yet to materialize, so we will have to wait and see if they are substantial or not," Sankey added.

However, Russian angst notwithstanding, any formal gas agreement that could be reached between the U.S. and EU would have enormous ramifications for not only floundering U.S.-EU relations but for European gas markets. Despite European claims to the contrary, Russias gas monopoly poises one of the greatest security risks facing EU members, and since many EU members are part of NATO as well, it also poses a significant risk to the NATO alliance.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has in the past shown little restraint in using natural gas supply to Europe as a geopolitical weapon and has more than once cut off or threatened to cut off gas supply during the winter over political issues.

In 2016 almost 90 percent of Russias 7.5 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas exports were delivered to customers in Europe via pipeline, with Germany, Turkey, Italy, Belarus, and the UK receiving the bulk of these volumes, according to the EIA.

By Tim Daiss for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:Oil price projections are infamously all over the map, but the current chasm between various pricing forecasts is striking, offering wildly different views.

On the low end we have Citibank, which recently stated that Brent oil prices could fall to as low as $45 per barrel within the next year. Citis Ed Morse said that Brent could very well fall back into a band of between $45 and $65 per barrel, a range that was familiar between much of the market downturn between 2014 and 2016.

The so-called shale band theory, popularized several years ago, posited that shale production would go offline below $45 per barrel, putting a floor beneath prices at that level, while any surge above $65 brought new supply online, which would push prices back down. Citi sees the recent run up in oil prices as temporary. We think oil is headed back to that range by the end of 2019, Morse said in an interview with the Financial Post in Calgary. The bull argument is based on faulty analysis, he said.

Morse argues that drillers are spending much more efficiently. There should be no debate that the efficiency of capital has improved by at least 50 per cent since at least 2014. The doubts are whether thats going to continue, he said. So far, those that have predicted cost reflation have been proven wrong, including in the shale plays.

Moreover, drilling technology is also vastly superior compared to years past, which means producers can squeeze more oil out of wells while spending less. Finally, he argued that the assumption of significant decline rates are overblown, and he says that only about 40 to 45 million barrels per day (mb/d) will suffer from decline rates on the order of about 5 percent. Morse says most energy analysts apply assumptions about decline rates for most or all of the 100 mb/d of supply, which is not a reasonable assumption. Related: Strong Dollar Could Cap Oil Prices

Morse is certainly going against conventional wisdom right now, but he has been there before. His prediction carries extra weight because he rightly predicted the crash in 2014.

He may be on the pessimistic end of the spectrum but he is not alone. We do not see material upside risk from current price levels during this quarter, Barclays wrote in a recent note, arguing that unless there are even further disruptions than baked into our balances, the fundamental market balance should weaken through end-2019.



Barclays says demand remains strong for now, but high oil prices will undercut consumption. Both OPEC and non-OPEC production continue to grow, which means that, fundamentally, the oil market will return to surplus this year, with inventories building throughout 2019.

The investment bank sees WTI falling to as low as $61 per barrel in the third quarter of 2019  not as dramatic as Citis prediction, but bearish nonetheless.

At the bullish end of the spectrum there is Goldman Sachs, although the investment bank has acknowledged a growing number of bearish risks to its forecast recently. The prospect of more Saudi production and a potential SPR release could spoil further gains to prices, but the forthcoming outages from Iran could push the oil market into a serious deficit  perhaps running at about 0.6 million barrels per day by November.

Goldman tends to be more bullish than other forecasters, but is sticking with a range of $70 to $80 per barrel for Brent for the time being. (A recent paper from economist Philip K. Verleger suggested that oil prices could shoot up to $200 per barrel because of new regulations hitting maritime fuels in 2020, but that forecast is an outlier). Related: Are Oil Markets Underestimating Irans Threats?

Bank of America Merrill Lynch goes a bit further, suggesting that Brent could rise to as high as $90 per barrel in the second quarter of 2019. However, a hardline from the U.S. on Iran remains a major upside risk (which is true for all forecasts). In our view, a complete cutoff of Iran exports would be very hard to manage and likely result in an oil price spike above $120/bbl, Bank of America Merrill Lynch wrote in a note in early July. For now, the uncertainty around US government policy is leading to lower exports and an increase in Iranian oil in floating storage.

To be sure, there are a variety of other forecasts that offer variations of these arguments, but anyone can find evidence and an oil price forecast from a prominent investment bank to back up any particular viewpoint they might have. Such is the unpredictable nature of the oil market.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:The Iran-backed Shiite Houthis targeted a Saudi oil tanker on Wednesday, causing minimal damage, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

The attack took place in international waters in the Red Sea, off Hodeidah portthe only port that the Houthis control.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition was quick to condemn the attack, adding that the it failed due to the actions of the coalitions fleet.

The Arab coalition recently captured the Hodeidah airport, and now has its eyes on claiming the port for its own, a vital waterway for the Houthis.

Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Irana backer of the Houthi movement in Yemenhave intensified in recent months, manifesting in claims of ballistic missile firings and drone strikes at different targets in Saudi Arabia, including at Aramco facilities.

Todays events are nothing new, and follow another reported attack one week ago today when the Houthi rebels claimed to have targeted an Aramco refinery in Riyadh with a long-range drone.

The Houthis targeted another oil tanker back in April, also sitting off the port of Hodeidah, also sustaining minor damage.

The Arab coalition asserts that the Houthis are using this Hodeidah port for terrorist operations as well as missile and weapons smuggling.



Related: Oil Jobs Under Threat From Drones

Houthi rebels have fired or claimed to have fired many missiles on Saudi Arabia since aligning with Iran in 2015, although they have caused minor damage, with many of the strikes successfully thwarted by the Saudi military, according to Saudi Arabia.

The unrest between Yemen and Saudi Arabia has significant ramifications for the oil industry. Yemen lies along one of the main global oil chokepoints in the Red Sea, through which millions of barrels of crude oil pass every day as they make their way from the Suez Canal to Europe.

The Houthis threatened to block the critical shipping lane in January if Saudi Arabia continued to push towards Hodeidah.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:Govt, Dr KC reps resume talks

Talks between government and representatives of Dr Govinda KC are underway at the Prime Ministers office in Singha Durbar.Hindustan Petroleum has cancelled a crude oil shipment from Iran after its insurer refused to provide coverage for the cargo on concern about U.S. sanctions, Reuters reports, citing three unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

Hindustan Petroleum, Indias third-largest state-owned refiner, ordered the 1-million-barrel shipment earlier this month, and after the refusal of its insurance company to cover a cargo loaded on an Iranian tanker, it tried to sell it on but could not find buyers, the sources said.

The Indian refiner imports about 20,000 bpd of Iranian crude, which is a relatively small part of its daily consumption, which amounts to 316,000 bpd, but other Indian refiners could run into the same problem, Reuters notes. Hindustan Petroleum had just renewed its installation insurance when the insurance company refused to cover the cargo and bigger refiners might have to cancel Iranian cargoes, too, if their insurance policies happen to have to be renewed before the November 4 deadline given by Washington to all companies doing business with Iran before sanctions kick in.

India, the worlds fastest-growing economy has been importing Iranian crude at an average daily rate of 588,000 bpd since the start of the year. This makes it Irans second-largest client after China, and the nation that is struggling the most as the sanctions start date approaches.



Related: Is The Solar Industry Really In Trouble?

Initially, after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. pullout from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, India took a tough stance, saying it will continue to import crude from Iran as it does not honor unilateral sanctions.

Later, however, as Iranian crude imports into India fell from over 700,000 bpd in May to just 592,800 bpd in June, it began to emerge that despite the governments stance, refiners were wary of losing their access to U.S. bank financing. Still, like other U.S. allies in Asia, India is looking for a way to secure a sanction waiver so it can continue buying crude from Iran: it is heavily dependent on imported oil, and diversity of supplies is vital for the country.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:Kuwait is mulling over whether to suspend oil shipments via the Bab el Mandeb strait in the Red Sea, a Kuwaiti oil official told Reuters on Thursday, after Saudi Arabia said it was suspending oil exports via the crucial chokepoint in the Middle East following an attack on two of its tankers by the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels.

All options are possible but there is nothing confirmed so far, Badr al-Khashti, chairman of Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC), told Reuters today. Kuwait, a close ally of Saudi Arabia, has not made any decision yet on whether to halt oil exports via Bab el Mandeb, the official added.

On Wednesday, the Houthis targeted a Saudi oil tanker, causing minimal damage, according to the Saudi Press Agency. The attack took place in international waters in the Red Sea, off Hodeidah portthe only port that the Houthis control.

Following the attack, Saudi Arabia temporarily halted crude oil and oil product shipments via Bab el Mandeb until the situation becomes clearer. Initial reports of the attacks only mentioned one tanker targeted by the Houthis, but later it became clear that two Very Large Crude Carriers had been targeted, one of which sustained minor damage.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), also an ally of the Saudis, described the Houthi attack as totally irresponsible.

This is a totally irresponsible act, the UAEs Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash, said in London on Thursday. The effect of it actually is much wider than the region.



Related: Chinas CNPC To Invest $22 Billion In New Oil Frontier

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is one of three crucial chokepoints around the Arabian Peninsula. Located between Yemen, Djibouti, and Eritrea, Bab el-Mandeb connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.

An estimated 4.8 million bpd of crude oil and refined petroleum products are being shipped through Bab el-Mandeb, which is a narrow strait limiting tanker traffic to two 2-mile-wide channels for inbound and outbound shipments, and potentially making tankers easy targets.



By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:Some residents of Spotsylvania County, Virginia, are concerned that a proposed 500-MW solar project in their county is planned closer to residential areas than other similar large-scale projects in the United States and have formed a group to seek more answers and express their worries.

Sustainable Power Group (sPower), which owns and operates more than 160 renewable energy projects across the U.S., has proposed the construction of the 500-MW Spotsylvania Solar Energy Centera solar project in western Spotsylvania County, Virginia. The Project Site consists of around 6,350 acres, of which some 3,500 acres will be developed into the solar project, while the remaining 2,850 acres will be preserved as undeveloped, vacant land. The Project Site currently consists of recently timbered land and borders other forested lands and scattered single-family residences, sPower says.

The Concerned Citizens of Fawn Lake and Spotsylvania County (CCFLSC) group, however, have voiced concerns with the project. Their main concern is that other projects of such size in the United States are built in desert areas in the southwest, far away from residential areas.

As proposed, at 10 square miles, 6,500 acres  thats half the size of Manhattan  this would be the fifth largest solar power plant in the United States  surrounded by thousands of homes and farms. The other four largest solar plants  theyre in the desert southwest, miles and miles from any residential areas, Kevin McCarthy, a member of Concerned Citizens of Fawn Lake and Spotsylvania, said in a statement to The Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF).



Related: Oilfield Service Majors See Bright Future Ahead



Our research into commercial solar power plants has revealed several areas of concern with the proposed 500 MW solar power plant that sPower intends to build on 6,350 acres  These concerns include risks that may harm human health, your property values and finances, and the environment, which must be avoided or mitigated, the concerned citizens Facebook group says on its page.

sPower submitted Special Use Permit (SUP) Applications for the project to the Spotsylvania County Planning Department in March 2018. The county has one year to reply. The Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors hasnt made a decision yet, which may push back the companys timeline to begin construction in August or September.

Either ensure Do No Harm or do not build it, a spokesman for the Concerned Citizens group, Dave Hammond, told The DCNF.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:In this photo taken Wednesday July 25, 2018, the waters of Zegrze Reservoir made green by cyanobacteria bloom that has led authorities to ban bathers from getting into the water, in Zegrze, near Warsaw, Poland. Authorities in Poland on Thursday july 26, 2018, banned swimming at over 50 beaches along its Baltic coast, after hot weather led to the toxic growth of bacteria in the unusually warm sea.(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Thinking of a dip in the Baltic Sea to cool off from the unusually scorching European summer? It's too hot for that.

Authorities in Poland this week banned swimming at over 50 beaches along its Baltic coast, after hot weather led to the toxic growth of bacteria in the unusually warm sea. Baltic Sea water temperatures exceeded 23 degrees Celsius (73.4F) in some places Thursday.

Emergency water rescuers told vacationers on hot sandy beachesfrom Swinoujscie in the west to Gdynia in the eastnot to enter the sea, where thick green-brown cyanobacteria colonies have grown and pose a health threat.

Regional sanitation authorities have issued warnings that contact with the bacteria may cause allergies and rashes. Drinking contaminated water can also lead to serious digestive problems.

The Baltic Sea has not seen such intense growth of cyanobacteria for 12 years. It results from exceptionally high air temperatures of 34 degrees Celsius (93.2 degrees Fahrenheit) that have raised the temperatures of the usually cold Baltic.

A similar ban has been issued for some inland lakes and reservoirs, such as the Zegrze Resevoir near Warsaw.

In neighboring Germany, authorities issued a warning about the higher than usual growth of vibrio bacteria in the warm Baltic that can cause deadly illness in people with compromised immune systems. They said a 70-year-old man with a chronic illness died of vibrio infection over the weekend, and warned elderly people and those with chronic illnesses such as diabetes or HIV to avoid contact with the sea or brackish water.

In Finland, the Loviisa nuclear power plant said in a statement it briefly reduced energy production in both its units Wednesday to prevent the Baltic Sea water that cools its infrastructure from getting too warm. It said there was no danger to people or the environment.

Explore further No day at the beach as toxic algae hit Baltic coast

 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.Amazon is looking to push its supply chain into the heavens as it goes full steam ahead on drone deliveries.

The e-commerce titan recently received a patent for product-distribution warehouses that float in the sky, and are carried and held aloft by blimps.

It's part of Amazon's grand plan to move from ground-based deliveries into the airspace above our heads, where drones would zip quietly overhead, carrying our paper towels, toasters and printer cartridges to us in record time, and generating substantial cost savings for the $887 billion company.

The heavenly warehouses, or "aerial fulfillment centers" as Amazon describes them, would be serviced by a fleet of drones, which the company likes to call "unmanned aerial vehicles."

"An AFC may be positioned at an altitude above a metropolitan area and be designed to maintain an inventory of items that may be purchased by a user and delivered to the user by a UAV that is deployed from the AFC," the patent document says.

The blimps, or "airships," would contain a lighter-than-air gas such as helium, or heated air, so they would float.

Of course, stationing a floating warehouse over a city and having drones coming and going from it raises safety concerns that previous Amazon patents have already identified. The company has patented a system that would cause a drone to fragment in case of malfunction, to reduce the falling-object hazard. Amazon has also noted that drones could fly into buildings, or be hijacked by "nefarious individuals."

It's not clear that the Seattle firm headed by CEO Jeff Bezos will achieve its goal of delivering many products by drone. And it is also unclear whether the company will pursue the technologies described in the warehouses-in-the-sky patent.

2018 The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Researchers from ASU and the Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chize in France show for the first time that animals may be able to use their own muscles to get water when it's not available. In a study of Children's pythons, the researchers discovered that the snakes can change how they use internal resources based on limitations in the environment. Credit: Sandra Leander/ASU School of Life Sciences

Water is vital for life. But as our climate changes, the availability of water is also changing, leaving animals with limited or unreliable supplies of this critical resource.

However, a new Arizona State University study published in the Royal Society journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences shows for the first time that animals may be able to use their own muscles to get water when it's not available. Researchers from ASU and the Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chize in France teamed up on the project and the findings were published June 27.

"We know about the importance of fat reserves to fuel the energetic costs of reproduction. But what about water? Our study shows that during reproduction, muscle metabolism is linked to the water requirements of developing offspring. Fat is only about 10 percent water, whereas muscle is closer to 75 percent, so burning muscle will release extra water," said George Brusch IV, lead investigator for the project and doctoral student at Arizona State University. "From an evolutionary perspective, the concept of capital breedingor using stored resources to fuel reproductionis currently restricted to energetic needs. We propose that this should extend to a broader, multi-resource strategy that also includes water allocation."

The researchers looked into this concept by studying the effects of water deprivation on the reproductive efforts of female Children's pythons, a medium-sized snake that reproduces during the dry-season in Australia, where natural water sources are extremely limited. They found that muscles play an important role in providing water to the body when none is available.

Credit: Samantha Lloyd/ASU VisLab

"Female Children's pythons can change how they use internal resources based on limitations in the environment," said Brusch. "Understanding exactly how animals cope with resource restrictions will help scientists predict whether the animals might be impacted by future climate change, where, in many regions, rain is expected to be less reliable," said Brusch, a doctoral candidate in the School of Life Sciences biology Ph.D. program.

During the study, the researchers paired pregnant Children's pythons with similarly sized non-reproductive females. During a three-week period when the snakes were pregnant, only half of the pairs had access to water. Reproductive females, both in the lab and the wild, don't eat during pregnancy and rely on internal reserves such as fat and muscle for their energy needs.

The scientists then measured the by-products of burning fat and muscle such as ketones and uric acid, as well as muscle size and impact on the snakes' eggs and clutch sizes. The animals without water burned more muscle than fat to meet their water requirements. In addition, the animals without water laid a similar number of eggs per clutch, but their eggs weighed less and the shells were thinner.

For the first time, ASU researchers found that animals can use muscle for as an internal water source if they can't find water externally. Here, undergraduate researcher Brittany Kaminsky and doctoral candidate George Brusch IV give a Children's python a bath. The snakes are originally from a humid region in Australia. Because Arizona's air is so dry, bathing the snakes helps them completely shed their skin. Credit: Sandra Leander/ASU School of Life Sciences

Brittany Kaminsky, an ASU student researcher on the team, just graduated from the School of Life Sciences with a Bachelor of Science degree in neurobiology, physiology and behavior. Kaminsky, who will attend U.C. Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in the fall, coordinated much of the project.

"I think what was most interesting about our results is that dehydration can play complex roles in reproduction, such that it affects other body systems. I feel, at the organism level, a single ailment can manifest in a variety of ways, and I think this is valuable information that I will carry with me into my veterinary career," said Kaminsky.

During the project, Kaminsky helped pair the females into the reproductive and non-reproductive groups by mass and snout-vent length. She also monitored the reproductive progress of the females by ultrasound and learned how to collect blood samples, process and store them.

"Few of my peers have had the opportunity to train a team of other undergraduates or learn some of the technical skills I developed throughout the course of the study, such as cardiocentesis and ultrasound," said Kaminsky. "Dr. Dale DeNardo and George were both there when I needed guidance, but they also gave me a lot of space to learn on my own and grow as a scientist. I couldn't have asked for better mentors."

Most animals need steady access to water in order to survive, especially during reproduction, and the authors suggest that using muscle as a water store may be a widespread phenomenon. "Our enhanced knowledge regarding the relationship between hydration and reproductive investment will also enable us to better understand global responses to water limitations and change the way scientists approach reproductive investment in ecological contexts, which, in the past, frequently ignore water and focus solely on energetic resources," said Brusch.

Explore further 'Cold-blooded' pythons make for caring moms

More information: George A. Brusch et al, Muscles provide an internal water reserve for reproduction, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2018). Journal information: Proceedings of the Royal Society B George A. Brusch et al, Muscles provide an internal water reserve for reproduction,(2018). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.0752The Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) of the BepiColombo mission during launch preparations at Europes Spaceport. Credit: ESA - S. Corvaja

Europe's first mission to Mercury will target the early morning of 19 October for launch, Arianespace and ESA announced today.

The joint ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission will launch on an Ariane 5 from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, setting a trio of spacecraft on course for Mercury. The spacecraft will travel together: a transfer module will carry the two science orbiters  the ESA Mercury Planetary Orbiter and the JAXA Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter  using a combination of solar power and electric propulsion, and nine gravity-assist flybys of Earth, Venus and Mercury.

Lift-off is anticipated for around 01:45 GMT (03:45 CEST), equivalent to 18 October 22:45 in local time (GFT).

The date chosen represents the first option to launch, taking into account some additional, unplanned testing performed in Kourou. The launch window remains open until 29 November.

"We have had a great start to our launch campaign in Kourou, and are on track for launch in less than ninety days," says ESA's BepiColombo project manager Ulrich Reininghaus.

"We have an incredibly packed schedule, but it is great to see our spacecraft building up together for the final time."

Animation visualising BepiColombo's launch and cruise to Mercury. Some aspects have been simplified for the purpose of this animation. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab

Since arriving at the Spaceport in May, many essential preparations have been completed. For example, the spacecraft have been fitted with their protective high-temperature blankets, xenon and nitrogen tanks have been checked, loaded and pressurised, and the deployment tests and final installations of the solar arrays are underway.

Simulations for key operations have also started at ESA's operations centre in Darmstadt, Germany. Personnel are also practicing non-routine events to be prepared for all eventualities on the journey to Mercury.

The composite spacecraft 'stack' will make the first flyby of Mercury just three years after launch. A number of scientific instruments will be active during the planetary flybys, with the transfer module's 'webcams' offering the potential to capture simple images before the main science camera is operational in Mercury orbit.

Once separated into their final orbits, the two scientific craft will make complementary measurements of the innermost planet and its environment, from its deep interior to its interaction with the solar wind, to provide the best understanding of Mercury to date. The results will provide insight into how the innermost planet of a solar system forms and evolves close to its parent star.

BepiColombo simulation. Credit: European Space Agency

Explore further BepiColombo gets green light for launch siteCredit: CC0 Public Domain

California hit its target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions below 1990 levels four years early, a milestone regulators and environmentalists are cheering as more proof that you can cut pollution while growing the economy.

But a closer look at data released by the state Air Resources Board shows that while emissions from electricity generation in California have plunged, other key industries are flat and transportation pollution is increasing.

Further complicating matters is a Trump administration plan to weaken fuel economy standards and revoke California's power to set its own, stricter rulesa move that could cause vehicle emissions to rise even more.

The uneven progress shows the big challenges that loom as California advances toward its more ambitious goal: slashing planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions another 40 percent by 2030.

Growth in renewable energy was the main reason California met its 2020 climate goal in 2016, the emissions report released this month shows.

"We've seen a substantial increase in solar and wind power, particularly rooftop solar installations," said Dave Edwards, chief of the Air Resources Board's greenhouse gas and toxics emissions inventory branch.

Driving the shift is early compliance with the state's mandate that 33 percent of electricity come from renewable sources by 2020 and the falling cost of solar panels, which has spurred more commercial and rooftop installation. By 2016, the state was already at 46 percent renewable electricity. Solar electricity grew 33 percent in 2016, while natural gas decreased by more than 15 percent.

California also got an assist from the weather. After five years of punishing drought, rains swelled rivers and generated more hydroelectric power. During drier years, the state relied more on natural gas.

Overall, the growth in renewables combined with waning imports of coal power to send emissions from electricity generation plunging 18 percent in 2016 compared with 2015.

Now for the downside.

Emissions from cars and trucks, already California's biggest source of greenhouse gases, have been on the rise for the last few years in step with post-recession economic growth. Increased driving is the main reason why transportation pollution ticked up another 2 percent in 2016.

"The deep reductions from electric power generation are compensating for lackluster performance in other sectors of the economy, including an uptick in the transportation sector where we know we have our work cut out for us," said Alex Jackson, senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council who tracks California climate policy.

To blame for the increase in vehicle pollution is a combination of low gas prices, a growing economy, consumers' preference for roomier, less efficient vehicles and a slower-than-anticipated transition to electric models. Those factors are essentially wiping out gains from the state's emissions-cutting regulations.

In another impending obstacle, the Trump administration is expected to release its plan to scrap aggressive Obama-era fuel economy standards soon, according to sources familiar with the proposal. The administration's move would also take away the authority granted to California and other states under the Clean Air Act to continue pursuing those stricter standards.

The rollback would be an enormous hit to the state's efforts to clean its air and slow global warming by eliminating the current goal of getting cars and SUVs to meet fleet-wide averages of more than 50 miles per gallon by 2025. Instead, gas mileage targets would be frozen in place in 2020.

A drawn-out legal battle is likely. California and other states have already sued the administration to prevent the weakening of clean car rules.

Slashing car and truck pollution is crucial because other key sectors of the economy, such as oil refineries, residential heating and agriculture, saw greenhouse gas emissions remain relatively flat or even rise slightly in 2016.

State regulators say that in itself is a triumph. Pollution from transportation and industry, they contend, would have been much higher without California's climate change policies, which functioned as a lid keeping emissions in check even as its economy grew.

Air Resources Board officials played down the significance of rising car and truck pollution. Instead they are crediting measures such as cap-and-trade and the low-carbon fuel standardmarket-based programs the state is using to push industry to cut pollution and shift to cleaner transportation fuelswith preventing emissions from rising even higher.

"All the indicators we're looking at are moving in the right direction," Edwards said. "We think that we're on the right trajectory right now toward 2030."

For now, California's reductions in greenhouse gas emissions remain modest, and are broadly consistent with a nationwide decrease in recent years. The trend across the U.S. is the result of an economic shift: We're getting less electricity from dirty, coal-fired power plants and more from cheaper, lower-polluting natural gas.

Yet while California's greenhouse emissions dipped below 1990 levels in 2016, the national rate remained 2.4 percent above 1990 levels, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

And though California's electricity grid is powered increasingly by renewables, it was cleaner than the nation's to begin with. California's per-capita greenhouse gas emissions today are about half that of the nation as a whole. And they keep dropping, from a peak of 14 metric tons per person in 2001 to 10.8 in 2016.

That was viewed as an obstacle when California adopted its landmark 2006 climate law, AB 32, which enshrined the goal of cutting greenhouse gases below 1990 levels by the year 2020. At the time, industry and other critics argued that California's relatively clean power grid would make its climate goals painful and prohibitively costly to reach. That fear, regulators and environmentalists say, has now been proven wrong.

To reach its tougher 2030 goal, however, California will have to pick up the pace and roughly double its greenhouse gas reductions. That feat, environmentalists say, will require not only a cleaner electrical grid but also a rapid shift to zero-emission vehicles powered by it.

"Looking at the electricity sector 10 years ago, solar in that time went from exotic to conventional," says Jimmy O'Dea, senior vehicles analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists. "And that's where we're at with electric vehicles going forward. They're going to go from exotic to conventional in a short period of time."

Explore further California meets greenhouse gas reduction goal years early

2018 Los Angeles Times

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.A high-yield palm oil farm in Ghana. Credit: Ben Phalan

The conversion of forests to farmland is recognized as a major contributor to rising levels of greenhouse gases. And yet it hasn't been clear how to best minimize the loss of sequestered carbon into the atmosphere. Is it better to maximize farm yields so as to use less land area over all? Or should farms be operated so as to retain more carbon on site, even at the expense of crop yields? Researchers reporting in Current Biology on July 26 say that, based on their extensive studies of agricultural operations in the humid tropics of Ghana, the dry tropical forest in Mexico, and temperate wetlands and forests in Poland, the best course in all cases is to limit the conversion of natural habitat to farmland, a strategy known as land sparing. That means maximizing yields on existing agricultural lands.

"At one extreme, farmers can try to produce all their food from as small an area of farmland as possible, by having very high yields," says David Williams from the University of California, Santa Barbara. "This will probably reduce the amount of carbon stored on their farmland, but allows policy makers and farmers to free up more space to conserve natural habitats, where there is likely to be a lot of carbon stored. At the other extreme, farmers can try to use lower yield farming practices to increase the carbon stored on farmland, which will reduce the area of natural habitats available for conservation. And then there are all the in-between strategies that use a mix of high and low yield farmland.

"We found that the first strategywhat we call 'land sparing'resulted in a greater amount of carbon being stored than any other. So, slightly counter-intuitively, trying to conserve carbon on farmland resulted in less carbon being stored across the landscape as a whole. This was because it resulted in lower yields and so required larger areas to produce the same amount of food, and therefore meant less land could be spared for natural habitats."

To investigate the impacts of different land-use strategies, the researchers needed to have study sites across the whole range of possible land-uses, from zero-yield natural habitats through low-yield farming and then through to high-yield sites. Those sites also needed to be comparable: having the same soils, climate, slope, and more. They also needed reliable ways to measure yieldshow much food each site produced per unit areaand the carbon stored on each site.

Intensive cattle farming in Mexico. Credit: David Williams

Williams and co-authors Ben Phalan and Claire Feniuk conducted field surveys of over 11,000 trees. They also conducted in-depth interviews with farmers along with using existing agricultural data to evaluate the potential impacts of different agricultural strategies on above-ground carbon stocks across a diverse range of agricultural and natural systems. To ensure that their findings would be broadly applicable, they included agroforestry and oil palm plantations in the humid tropics of Ghana, cattle ranches in dry tropical forest in Mexico, and arable cropping in temperate wetlands and forests in Poland.

"We were a bit surprised by just how consistent and how strong the result was," Williams says. "The three systems we investigated are very different both in terms of the natural habitats and the farming systems, but in each case it was clear that land sparingcombining high-yield agriculture with preserving or restoring natural habitatsconsistently had the potential to store greater amounts of carbon than any other system."

The evidence showed clear potential benefits of land sparing for reducing the loss of carbon stocks overall. That pattern held no matter how much (or how little) food was produced. Of course, he says, those benefits hold only if the land that's "spared" is actually used for natural habitat conservation.

The findings highlight the importance of considering the whole landscape, not just agricultural land.

Intensive cattle farming in Mexico. Credit: David Williams

"When you assess the impacts of different types of agriculture, it is vital to look at the off-farm, as well as the on-farm impacts: lower-yield farmland consistently held more carbon than high-yield farms, so it is tempting to think that it would be better for overall carbon stocks," Williams says. "But, once you account for the greater land use required, you see that the opposite is true. We've got to make sure that we look at all of the impacts of food production, no matter where they are."

Regardless of which land-use strategies are chosen going forward, the researchers say that there are sure to be big losses of carbon into the atmosphere if the amount of food produced increases. That means efforts to reduce food demand, including reducing food waste and meat consumption, will be also essential for conserving carbon stocks across the world.

Williams says they are now working to uncover policy approaches with potential to alleviate threats to biodiversity at the global scale. "Many of these revolve around reducing the area of farmland that we will need to feed the 10 billion people that the world is likely to hold in the next few decades," he says. "So things like increasing agricultural yields, reducing meat consumption, and even leveraging trade to concentrate production in high-yield regions could all be important.

Explore further Protecting wild species may require growing more food on less land: study

More information: Current Biology, Williams et al.: "Carbon storage and land-use strategies in agricultural landscapes across three continents" DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.05.087 Journal information: Current Biology , Williams et al.: "Carbon storage and land-use strategies in agricultural landscapes across three continents" www.cell.com/current-biology/f  0960-9822(18)30755-3Pumpkin, an acoustically tagged white shark, made an appearance last year in Minas Basin, Nova Scotia. Credit: Dalhousie University

When Darren Porter obtained his commercial weir license eight years ago and set up shop in Bramber, Nova Scotia, he never thought he'd be at the centre of an international shark-tracking effort.

The Dalhousie-based Ocean Tracking Network (OTN) has been linking up the Bay of Fundy and surrounding inland waters with monitoring devices to track commercially and ecologically valuable marine species. Porter's weir is a perfect monitoring spot to help capture the migrations of fishes like American shad, skates, and striped bass, tracking them as they travel throughout the Basin and beyond.

As the tides in the Bay of Fundy ebb in and out from the shoreline, a V-shaped net traps fish and other marine animals and allows fishers to harvest only what they need.

"We have diff ponds set up to hold things in that we don't commercially use, when the tide comes back in, it just lifts to fish up and they move away. I harvest only a little piece of each tide."

For the last two years, Porter has looked after a key acoustic telemetry monitoring infrastructure in the Minas Basin. He works with OTN researchers at Acadia University studying sturgeon in particular  a critically endangered species, and the source of precious and expensive caviar. Tidal turbine developments scheduled for Fundy region may impact sturgeons' movements and survival. But lately, Porter's focused on another animal moving through his waters, (though not in his weir): white sharks.

Credit: Dalhousie University

Tracking Anadale

Andale is a white shark acoustically tagged by Greg Skomal and John Chisholm at the Massachusetts Shark Research Program (MSRP) in 2012. She has been documented going back and forth between southern Atlantic U.S. and Canada, including Nova Scotia's southwestern shores into the Bay of Fundy, for six years.

She was detected just off Cape Split, Nova Scotia, a popular hiking area and home to seal hangouts.

(Image right: Acoustic receiver monitoring coverage in the Minas Passage/Bay of Fundy.)

While the appearance of white sharks on North America's east coast has caused a stir among beach-goers, both fishers and scientists maintain that the animals have always moved through these waters.

Darren Porters commercial fishing weir in Bramber, Nova Scotia, is built and torn down each year from March to April during low tide. Credit: Dalhousie University

"Its all about basic needs," says Fred Whoriskey, executive director of OTN. "The Atlantic region, including Cape Cod up to Newfoundland, has seal colonies  sharks are just following the food."

The power of collaboration

For the last few years, Porter's found himself in a unique position as a citizen scientist. Not only does he help maintain the existing OTN monitoring system, he's added to it by buying and deploying his own gear (funded through Big Moon Power) to track species important to his own livelihood.

"I can access places cheaper, faster and more efficiently than anybody else because I already have the gear and my life already revolves around nature," he says.

Porter regularly checks in with OTN and MSRP on white shark detections in the area. He hopes the public perception of sharks will change and marine animals can be seen as more than just resources. "We have to have more outreach, we must educate the public on what's here."

Credit: Dalhousie University

He also strongly advocates for the integration of local and traditional (First Nations) knowledge when it comes to designing research studies. "You need a basic understanding prior to the commencement of any scientific operation," explains Porter. "We fish 14 tides a week for 299 tides straight; every single fish counted measured and recorded. That's never been done before and that's what we need: fishermen, Indigenous knowledge and traditional uses."

Research through partnership

Last year, the OTN Minas Basin receivers picked up Pumpkin, another white shark tagged by the Massachusetts team. The news generated significant buzz for being one of the earliest white shark detections in this area ever recorded and, fittingly, was detected near Windsor, Nova Scotiaknown as the pumpkin capital of the world.

"I've seen sharks out my backdoor for many years but not everyone believed me. Now she's 'real' because she's been detected with acoustic receivers. Pumpkin was a great way to bring people closer to the value of local knowledge holders." Pumpkin was detected in Cape Cod on July 17.

Andale will be monitored by roughly 80 receivers in the Minas Passage while she's here and is expected to move off when waters begin to get colder in late summer/early fall, or when food becomes scarce. Porter continues to offload receivers in Minas Passage weekly, sometimes daily, and connects with OTN and MSRP scientists adding significant capacity to the research.

"This is a story of partnership, transparency and technology: you have the U.S. and Canada working together, fishermen working with scientists, and different technologies and uses coming together," says Porter. "If you can partner with all the stakeholders, you bring us all to the table, you take the skill sets of everyone involved, we can achieve second-to-none science."Gyawali says Nepal on course to enter middle income club

Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali has said Nepal has been on track in its aim to join the middle-income country club in the next 12 years.With the prospect of Amazon and UPS drones dropping packages at your door and farmers surveying their fields from above, federal aviation officials are looking to experiment with looser airspace regulations.

The state of Kansas and Black & Veatch are helping.

Black & Veatch, an Overland Park-based engineering firm, is working with the Kansas Department of Transportation on a federal initiative announced in May by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao. Kansas is one of several sites chosen for a federal pilot program that will help determine whether federal regulations could be eased to boost use of drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles, in rural areas.

Kansas and other pilot sites could inform future Federal Aviation Administration regulations.

"As drones become more mainstream with their versatility, these projects in Kansas and elsewhere are key in testing all applications of these unmanned aircraft systems and, if successful, may ease airspace rules for everyone's betterment," said Jamare Bates, head of Black & Veatch's unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAS, operations.

Black & Veatch said in a press release that it will help test drones beyond the line of site of the operator, which is currently barred by the FAA. Testing will focus on inspecting infrastructure and improving precision in agriculture by helping farmers better use seeds, pesticides and fertilizer.

"A drone's promise of giving a bird's eye view of any problematic area of croplandand getting (drone)-delivered treatment for itcomes at a time when producers face mounting pressure to meet food demand," the release says.

Drones also could help farmers take high-definition images or video of assets, inspect fields and gather data.

2018 The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.)

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.This undated photo provided by The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows a vaquita porpoise. On Thursday, July 26, 2018, a judge ordered the U.S. government to ban the import of seafood caught by Mexican fisheries that use a net blamed for killing off the vaquita, the world's smallest and most-endangered porpoise. (Paula Olson/NOAA via AP)

A judge has ordered the U.S. government to ban imports of seafood caught by Mexican fisheries that use a net blamed for killing off the vaquita, the world's smallest and most-endangered porpoise.

Judge Gary Katzmann, of The U.S. Court of International Trade, on Thursday granted a motion after three environmental groups filed a lawsuit seeking a ban on seafood caught with gillnets in part of the Gulf of California, where the vaquita live.

Some scientists estimate that there could be as few as 15 of the vaquitaSpanish for "little cow"left. The court noted that experts believe they could be extinct by 2021 without intervention.

Their numbers have been severely reduced illegal fishing and by the gillnets, which are used to catch a variety of shrimp and fish.

The nets are hung in the water to catch seafood. The Mexican government has banned their use in some areas and for some species, but allows it for other species.

There also is illegal fishing in the vaquitas habitat for the Mexican totoaba fish, which goes for high prices because its swim bladder is considered a delicacy in China and reputed to boost fertility.

The Justice Department, which had opposed the ban, did not immediately answer an email seeking comment.

The groups that filed the suit are the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Animal Welfare Institute.

Giulia Good Stefani, staff attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council who argued the case, called the ban a "lifeline" for the species.

"Our organizations have spent over a decade working to save the vaquitaand never has extinction felt so closebut now, the world's smallest and most endangered porpoise has what may be its very last chance," she said.

Explore further Mexico to put endangered vaquita porpoises in refuge

 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.As the sun rose over this harbor town on Santa Catalina Island, four scuba divers with cameras and notepads finned toward canopies of undulating kelp.

The seaweed off Santa Catalina Island was teeming with small fish that flashed kaleidoscopically vivid colors. The small fish attracted larger fishopaleye, kelp bass, sheepshead and bright orange garibaldi, the California state marine fish.

But they were of little interest to the divers from the University of California, Santa Barbara and the Aquarium of the Pacific, who descended in search of something much bigger.

Their mission: to confirm reports of unusually large numbers of giant sea bass gathering at Avalon's Casino Dive Park, one of the most popular scuba diving sites in California.

It's part of an effort by scientists to understand and encourage the remarkable but still fragile comeback for one of the biggest fish of all, which all but disappeared from the Southern California coast due to overfishing.

Giant sea bass can live at least 70 years, grow to 7 feet in length and weigh up to 560 pounds. The breeding population of the giant sea basswhich is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Natureis believed to be only about 500 individuals.

Three decades ago, there were no giant sea bass returning to spawn around Catalina each year, scientists say.

Today, there are about 40 to 50, and many are under 20 years old, which suggests they were hatched around the time that catching them was banned in California.

The divers' depth gauges read 30 feet when one of the silvery behemoths, with black spots, pouty lips and a downward mouth, emerged from the kelp and almost bumped noses with Douglas McCauley, a marine biologist at UCSB.

Within a few hours, the group documented nine more of the bottom-dwelling fish within a few hundred yards of Avalon's curving, cafe-lined promenadeone of the largest gatherings of spawning giant sea bass seen in the area since the 1970s, when the species was driven to the brink.

Ashore, people asked, "What'd you see down there?"

"We saw a remarkable number of giant sea bass as rare as black rhinos," McCauley said with a smile. "That's encouraging, because this species is an important part of the history and culture of California, and it appears to be making a comeback just 22 miles off the mainland."

Since spot patterns on the flanks of individual giant sea bass are unique and can be read like natural bar codes, the divers took photos of the right and left sides of specimens they encountered.

The photos will be uploaded to Spotting Giant Sea Bass, a new website launched by the Aquarium of the Pacific where researchers and recreational divers can share information and images about when and where individual fish were seen. The website will make matches by using pattern-recognition algorithms first developed by astrophysicists to spot patterns in star constellations.

With more than 1 million dives logged annually in California, makers of the website hope it will help with the recovery of the species by identifying their spawning grounds, calculating how far they move, determining whether they inhabit protected marine areas, and observing the threats they encounter in their travels.

The largest carnivores in the kelp forests off Southern California, giant sea bass were once very common, scientists say. But their slow reproduction and tendency to aggregate in large groups made them vulnerable to commercial fishing and spear-slinging divers. The few that remained were hunted as trophies until the state in 1982 made it a misdemeanor to kill the fish (commercial fishers who accidentally capture giant sea bass in gill nets are not prosecuted).

Since the species was given protection under state law, fishers have mostly kept their distancethough the practice is still memorialized in bygone snapshots hung in Southern California bait shops showing proud anglers and spear fishermen beside 500-pound catches.

Giant sea bass snared in gill nets occasionally wind up in local fish markets. Giant sea bass sold for $19.99 a pound at a market in Ventura earlier this month, according to a conservationist who visited the business.

Historically, the fish were found from Humboldt Bay in Northern California to Baja California. The largest on record measured 7 { feet and 563 pounds.

They congregate around the Channel Islands from April through October to spawn, then disappear each winter. No one knows where they go.

That may change, however. A research team led by Larry Allen, a professor of marine biology at Cal State Northridge, recently attached acoustic transmitter dart tags to six giant sea bass off Catalina to monitor their movements.

Other hot spots for giant sea bass include Anacapa Island, about 11 miles off the coast of Port Hueneme, and a shipwreck off the Santa Monica Pier.

An effort to raise giant sea bass in captivity has been difficult. The Aquarium of the Pacific in 2016 became the first public aquarium to spawn, hatch and rear a giant sea bass, providing a valuable glimpse into the development of the species.

Today, that fish "is doing great," said Sandy Trautwein, vice president of animal husbandry at the aquarium. "It's about 8 inches long, weighs a little more than a pound and on public display."

At Catalina, recreational scuba diving with adult giant sea bass has become one of the hottest attractions around.

"We're seeing crazy numbers of giant sea bass out there right nowup to five, six and seven at a time," said Robert Park, 26, a staffer at Avalon's Catalina Divers Supply.

"Customers arrive each day with this burning question: 'Will I see a giant sea bass?'" he added with a laugh. "I say, 'No problem. But don't touch them because they're endangered, have really big mouths and get kind of (cranky) in breeding season.'"

Explore further Giant sea bass have more value as living, breathing undersea wonders than as commercial catch

2018 Los Angeles Times

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Deforestation of the 'overlooked' Guiana rainforests, at the northern boundary of the Amazon rainforest, will have 'drastic impact' on the rainfall patterns that support ecosystems and livelihoods right across South America, scientists have warned in a new report.

The Guiana Shield rainforests covers parts of northern Brazil, southern Venezuela, eastern Colombia, and all of Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.

Despite comprising 1.3 million sq km of near continuous tropical forest, until now it has mostly been overlooked by climate researchers in favour of the Amazon Basin, and little climate data exists for the region.

Now, scientists from across the UK have quantified the likely impact that deforesting less than a third of the Guiana Shield, in areas under threat from mining, logging and agriculture, would have on the climate of South America.

The researchers describe the scenario as realistic, given the extensive deforestation that has already occurred along the Amazon's southern margin.

Dr. Isabella Bovolo, a climate modelling expert at Durham University said: "The Guiana Shield, at the northern boundary of the Amazon, is located at the start of two atmospheric rivers that carry moisture across South America.

"The Guiana Shield is therefore a sensitive 'hotspot' which, when disturbed even on a small-scale, can affect hydro-climatics 1000 km to the west and 4000 km to its south.

"Our climate simulations suggest that if less than a third of the Guiana Shield is deforested, rain and runoff would more than double in lowland forests, increasing the likelihood of flooding."

Dr. Geoff Parkin from Newcastle University said: "Forests in Venezuela and Brazil would also experience an increase in rainfall by up to 25%, severely impacting remote, indigenous communities, food supply and ecosystem stability.

"Mean annual temperatures could increase by up to 2.2 degrees Celsius in the northern savannahs, and that nearly two-thirds of the Amazon would experience longer and more severe droughts. "

Dr. Ryan Pereira from the Lyell Centre at Heriot-Watt University said that "The intensification of climate variability across the continent will also affect the more populous areas in the south and east of South America, directly impacting food production in one of the largest food and crop producing areas of the world."

The findings were reported in Environmental Research Letters, and included a warning about the current threats facing the Guiana and the need for vigilance around its deforestation.

Professor Tom Wagner, also from the Lyell Centre at Heriot-Watt University said: "This study demonstrates how small-scale land-use change in sensitive hotspots can alter the flow of critical atmospheric rivers, with large consequences.

"We therefore need an urgent, international effort to better understand and sustainably manage the Amazonian biome across national boundaries to safeguard this unique global ecosystem, maintaining its role in global climate for future generations."

Explore further Amazon forests stabilise each other during drought

More information: C Isabella Bovolo et al. The Guiana Shield rainforestsoverlooked guardians of South American climate, Environmental Research Letters (2018). Journal information: Environmental Research Letters C Isabella Bovolo et al. The Guiana Shield rainforestsoverlooked guardians of South American climate,(2018). DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/aacf60The pygmy elephant was belived to have been killed after destroying villagers' crops in a remote area of Borneo

A pygmy elephant was shot dead on Borneo island after it destroyed villagers' crops, a Malaysian wildlife official said Thursday, the latest of the endangered creatures to be killed.

The male elephant, believed to be about four years old, was found Monday by the side of a road in the state of Sabah, on the Malaysian part of Borneo, local wildlife department director Augustine Tuuga told AFP.

He said the "merciless" killing was carried out near a remote settlement, and authorities were investigating who was responsible.

"[The elephant] was killed out of revenge for destroying crops," he said, adding the crops included palm oil trees.

He said the creature's tusks remained intact, indicating the elephant was not killed by poachers seeking to sell its ivory on the black market.

It was the latest case in Malaysia of human-animal conflict, which happens when human settlements or agricultural plantations expand into a species's natural habitat.

Malaysia is home to vast tracts of rainforest and a kaleidoscope of exotic wildlife, from elephants to orangutans and tigers, but the numbers of many rare species have fallen dramatically in recent decades.

As well as human-animal conflict, many endangered animals are hunted for their body parts which fetch a high price for use in traditional medicine in China, and elsewhere in Asia.

At least 18 pygmy elephants have been killed in Malaysian Borneo since April, The Star newspaper reported. Causes of death included elephants being targeted by poachers and poisoning.

Pygmy elephants are baby-faced with large ears, plump bellies and long tails that sometimes drag on the ground, according to environmental group WWF.

Rainforest-clad Borneo is the world's third-largest island and is shared between Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

Explore further Six pygmy elephants found dead on Malaysian Borneo

 2018 AFPPhoto illustration on evolution of efflux pumps with the background of cave paintings Credit: Structure

Different types of efflux pump proteinswhich are the key focus of Gram-negative bacteria antibiotic resistancemight have evolved independently instead of, as previously thought, all from a common ancestor, according to a new study led by a University of Kansas computational biologist.

The discovery could be crucial in future research advancing treatments to mediate antibiotic resistance of bacteria strains such as E. coli, Salmonella, Shigella, Meningococcus and others.

"Antibiotic resistance is all about evolution; it's about proteins evolving functions to allow the bacteria to survive and to ensure bacterial evolutionary success," said Joanna Slusky, KU assistant professor of molecular biosciences and computational biology. "By learning from nature, we can learn the evolutionary steps and then the question becomes, can we design proteins using evolutionary steps that will ultimately ensure our own genetic success?"

Slusky works on designing proteins that will re-sensitize bacteria to common antibiotics and on overcoming drug-resistant superbugs.

She was the lead author of the study published Thursday in the journal Structure. Co-authors include KU graduate students in computational biology, Meghan Franklin, and Ryan Feehan, who also served as a KU undergraduate research assistant in KU's Center for Computational Biology. Other co-authors are Sergey Nepomnyachiy and Rachel Kolodny, both of the Department of Computer Science of the University of Haifa, Mount Carmel in Israel as well as Nir Ben-Tal from the Tel Aviv University. Nepomnyachiy is also affiliated with the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Tel Aviv University.

The researchers examined proteins called beta barrels that are in the bacterial surface. The study started by comparing most types of beta barrels with the beta barrels of efflux pumps. In efflux pumps the beta barrel forms the outer crown of the large pumps that push antibiotics out of the cell.

In examining the sequence-level variation of these beta barrels, the researchers discovered the beta barrels that were involved in antibiotic resistance lacked sequence linkage to other beta barrels and also had structural differences. This led them to conclude that the efflux pump beta barrels and the other beta barrels may not have divergently evolve from a common ancestor.

Instead the pressures of naturethrough convergent evolutionmay have forced bacteria to develop both types of barrel proteins separately.

"We went from saying, 'how are these related?' To saying, 'oh, we think they're not related, and what does having a different structure mean for the mechanism of antibiotic resistance?'" Slusky said.

It has been a challenge for scientists to document the homology of outer-membrane beta barrels because of the extreme bacterial sequence variation making proteins seem more different. Also, the counter influence of the high sequence similarity required for the strands of beta barrels makes proteins look more similar.

There are about 100 varieties of outer membrane proteins in each species of Gram-negative bacteria.

Slusky said there clearly is a need for bacteria to utilize efflux pumps to move certain compounds from the cell, but in the context of defeating drug-resistant superbugs they can hold a key piece of the puzzle.

"The efflux pumps are the very same pumps that we're trying to target to remediate antibiotic resistance," Slusky said.

The evolutionary process the researchers documented promotes the hypothesis that the beta barrels in the efflux pumps function similar to the iris of an eye that expands and contracts due to the level of light in a person's environment, she said.

"We're going to be looking out for this iris-like mechanism," Slusky said. "If this is the mechanism for antibiotic resistance, then the next question is, how do we disable that mechanism?"

As part of the paper, the researchers also found that autotransporters may be the best known models for the primordial outer-membrane beta barrel structure, giving biologists clues to how the beta barrel essentially became stitched together over time.

"Understanding evolution tells us where biology was, which is interesting to people because it tells us our own history and the earth's history," Slusky said. "But it also tells us where we could be going and what mechanisms are possible. It tells us how might life evolve and what tools can biologists use to change and diversity the molecules at our disposal."

Explore further Melting bacteria to decipher antibiotic resistanceThis Chandra X-ray photograph shows Cassiopeia A, the youngest supernova remnant in the Milky Way. Credit: NASA/CXC/MIT/UMass Amherst/M.D.Stage et al.

Findings from a Rochester Institute of Technology study provide further evidence that the outskirts of spiral galaxies host massive black holes. These overlooked regions are new places to observe gravitational waves created when the massive bodies collide, the authors report.

The study winds back time on massive black holes by analyzing their visible precursorssupernovae with collapsing cores. The slow decay of these massive stars creates bright signatures in the electromagnetic spectrum before stellar evolution ends in black holes.

Using data from the Lick Observatory Supernova Search, a survey of nearby galaxies, the team compared the supernovae rate in outer spiral galaxies with that of known hostsdwarf/satellite galaxiesand found comparable numbers for typical spiral outskirts and typical dwarf galaxies, roughly two core-collapse supernovae per millennium.

The study, "Supernova Rate beyond the Optical Radius," will appear in an upcoming issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Low levels of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium found in dwarf/satellite galaxies create favorable conditions for massive black holes to form and create binary pairs. A similar galactic environment in the outer disks of spiral galaxies also creates likely hunting grounds for massive black holes, said Sukanya Chakrabarti, lead author and assistant professor in the RIT School of Physics and Astronomy.

"If these core-collapse supernovae are the predecessors to the binary black holes detected by LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory), then what we've found is a reliable method of identifying the host galaxies of LIGO sources," said Chakrabarti. "Because these black holes have an electromagnetic counterpart at an earlier stage in their life, we can pinpoint their location in the sky and watch for massive black holes."

The study's findings complement Chakrabarti's 2017 study, which showed that the outer parts of spiral galaxies could contribute to LIGO detection rates. The regions form stars at a comparable rate to dwarf galaxies and are low in heavy element content, creating a conducive home for massive black holes. The current study isolates potential candidates within these favorable galactic environments.

"We see now that these are both important contributors," Chakrabarti said. "The next step is to do deeper surveys to see if we can improve the rate."

Co-author Brennan Dell, a recent graduate from RIT's computer science program, analyzed the data with Chakrabarti during his undergraduate co-op.

"This work may help us determine which galaxies to be on the lookout for electromagnetic counterparts of massive black holes," Dell said.

Explore further Monster colliding black holes might lurk on the edge of spiral galaxies

More information: The supernova rate beyond the optical radius, arXiv:1807.07585 [astro-ph.GA] Journal information: Astrophysical Journal Letters The supernova rate beyond the optical radius, arXiv:1807.07585 [astro-ph.GA] export.arxiv.org/abs/1807.07585In this WorldView-2 satellite image of Totten Glaciers front  acquired on Oct. 11, 2015  ice flows from left to right. The heavily crevassed surface of the floating part of Totten is visible on the left, with larger undulations in topography associated with bottom crevasses. The dark area in front of the glacier is open water, and on the right is thin and pack sea ice. Credit: DigitalGlobe Inc.

A team of scientists from the University of California, Irvine has found evidence of significant mass loss in East Antarctica's Totten and Moscow University glaciers, which, if they fully collapsed, could add 5 meters (16.4 feet) to the global sea level.

In a paper published this week in the American Geophysical Union journal Geophysical Research Letters, the glaciologists estimate that between April 2002 and September 2016, the two glaciers lost about 18.5 billion tons of ice per yearequivalent to 0.7 millimeters (0.03 inches) of global sea level rise over the analyzed time period.

UCI's researchers discovered this by applying a locally optimized technique to data from NASA's Gravity Recovery & Climate Experiment satellite mission, combined with mass balance approximations from regional atmospheric climate models and ice discharge measurements by NASA's Operation IceBridge and Measures projects.

"For this research, we used an improved methodology with GRACE data to retrieve the mass loss in an area undergoing rapid change," said lead author Yara Mohajerani, a graduate student in UCI's Department of Earth System Science. "By overlaying these data with independent measurements, we improve our confidence in the results and the conclusion that Totten and Moscow University are imperiled."

Making up roughly two-thirds of the Antarctic continent, East Antarctica has been viewed by polar researchers as less threatened by climate change than the volatile ice sheets in West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula.

"Both of these glaciers are vulnerable to the intrusion of warm ocean water and hold considerable potential for sea level rise," said co-author Eric Rignot, Donald Bren Professor and chair of Earth system science at UCI. "This work highlights that East Antarctic glaciers are as important to our future as those in the continent's western regions."

According to co-author Isabella Velicogna, professor of Earth system science, it's challenging to study the Totten and Moscow University glaciers because the signal of change is much weaker than that of their counterparts in the west.

"In this remote part of the world, the data from GRACE and other satellite missions are critical for us to understand the glacier evolution," she said.

Explore further Antarctica ramps up sea level rise

More information: Mass Loss of Totten and Moscow University Glaciers, East Antarctica, Using Regionally Optimized GRACE Mascons, Geophysical Research Letters (2018). Journal information: Geophysical Research Letters Mass Loss of Totten and Moscow University Glaciers, East Antarctica, Using Regionally Optimized GRACE Mascons,(2018). agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.co  10.1029/2018GL078173Scorching hot weather set the conditions for Greece's deadly wildfires

Scorching hot weather set the conditions for Greece's wildfiresEurope's deadliest this century with scores killedwhile record temperatures in the north of the continent have also sparked blazes causing widespread damage in recent days.

Ten EU countries have mobilised firefighters and equipment to help battle the fires in Greece as well as Sweden and Latvia.

Here is a roundup of the devastation.

Greece

The fires in Greece, which broke out Monday, are the deadliest in living memory. At least 82 people have been confirmed dead, while emergency crews were Thursday searching incinerated homes and vehicles for at least 27 missing, who include nine-year-old twin girls from the village of Mati.

Coastal villages near Athens popular with holidaymakers were especially hard hit, with at least 300 homes destroyed or badly damaged.

Sweden

Sweden, experiencing an unprecedented drought and the highest temperatures in a century, is battling 23 fires across the country, down by half since last week.

The fires have laid waste to at least 25,000 hectares (62,000 acres) including 13,000 hectares in the central Karbole region alone.

Temperatures are still rising, with Pierre Schaller, the head of a French contingent helping the Swedes, telling AFP that with Thursday's predicted high of 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit) the fires could "take off again".

Emergency crews were searching incinerated homes and vehicles in the village of Mati, near Athens

But cooling rains are forecast for the weekend, when two Italian water-dropping aircraft that were deployed in Sweden last week will head to Greece, Swedish authorities told a news conference.

Latvia

A Belarusian helicopter was headed to Latvia on Thursday to help Latvian and Lithuanian firefighters battle a blaze that broke out on July 17.

It has ravaged around 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) of peat bog, forest and scrubland in the west of the Baltic state but has not claimed any lives.

Latvia has turned to neighbouring Belarus for help because EU resources are stretched fighting the wildfires in Greece and Sweden, according to the local Baltic News Service BNS.

Wildfires in Sweden have laid waste to at least 25,000 hectares (62,000 acres) of mainly forested land

Britain

Britain has been in the grip of its longest heatwave in decades, sparking wildfires in northwest England, water restrictions in Northern Ireland and record-breaking temperatures in Scotland.

Sun worshippers in London's Hyde Park lounged in deck chairs set out on parched grass. The city's fire chief Dany Cotton remarked: "I never thought I'd say this, but we are praying for rain."

A new British temperature record may be set on Friday, topping the 38.5 Celsius (101 Fahrenheit) registered in Kent in August 2003.

With just 47 millimetres (1.8 inches) of rain recorded in Britain between June 1 and July 16, fire chiefs have warned that parks and other grasslands are like a "tinderbox".

Visitors set out deck chairs on the parched grass of London's Hyde Park

The Netherlands

The Dutch meteorological institute on Thursday officially declared the Netherlands' first heatwave in three years, with the mercury hitting 36 degrees Celsius (97 Fahrenheit).

The spell has lasted 12 days, making it the sixth longest heatwave since 1901.

Authorities are planning for water shortages in several parts of the country.

Santra Hostikka enjoyed a paddle on Lake Pallas in Finland's northernmost Lapland province

Elsewhere in Europe

In Norway, which experienced its hottest May temperatures on record, one firefighter was killed on July 15 while battling one of a string of fires.

Unaccustomed bikini weather has also come to Finland's northernmost Lapland province, the legendary headquarters of Father Christmas.

Explore further Sweden faces 'extreme' fire risk in coming days

 2018 AFPColor combined HST WFC3/IR F125W and F160W images of W2M J1042+1641 over two visits along with output from a morphological analysis with galfit (Peng et al. 2002). Credit: Glikman et al., 2018.

Astronomers have discovered a highly magnified, gravitationally lensed quasi-stellar object (QSO). The newly found quasar, designated W2M J104222.11+164115.3, is dust-reddened, and exhibits a significant flux anomaly. The finding is reported in a paper published July 14 on the arXiv pre-print server.

Quasars are active galactic nuclei of very high luminosity, emitting electromagnetic radiation observable in radio, infrared, visible, ultraviolet and X-ray wavelengths. They are among the brightest and most distant objects in the known universe, and serve as fundamental tools for numerous studies in astrophysics as well as cosmology.

Some quasars are obscured by dust as they transition from a heavily dust-enshrouded phase to typical, unobscured QSOs, which reddens their light. Finding quasars during such a transition could help astronomers better understand the processes of galaxy evolution and star formation.

A group of astronomers led by Eilat Glikman of the Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, has conducted a search for red quasars by analyzing the available data from the WISE and 2MASS (W2M) surveys. They were selecting objects based on their infrared colors, which resulted in identifying 40 red QSOs.

Among the newly found objects was one quasar designated W2M J104222.11+164115.3 (W2M J1042+1641 for short). This QSO interested the researchers as it was more luminous than any other known radio-quiet quasar and implied extreme properties suggestive of gravitational lensing.

"In this paper, we report the discovery of a quadruply lensed, radio-quiet red quasar discovered in a search for red quasars using WISE color selection and no radio criterion," the paper reads.

In order to get more detailed information about W2M J1042+1641, Glikman's team also analyzed observational data of this quasar collected by Hubble Space Telescope (HST), Large Binocular Telescope (LBT), NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) and Keck I telescope.

W2M J1042+1641 was found at a redshift of 2.517. According to the paper, the quasar has an infrared luminosity of about 120 trillion solar luminosities and is moderately reddened from dust intrinsic to its environment.

The researchers noted that W2M J1042+1641 exhibits outflows in its spectrum as well as morphological properties suggestive of it being in a merger-driven transitional phase. Moreover, the quasar showcases significant flux anomaly as its 20 cm flux density was found to be below 1.0 mJy.

In concluding remarks, the researchers emphasized that the case of W2M J1042+1641 could be helpful for studies of less luminous, more typical infrared-selected quasar at high redshift. However, they noted that the origin of flux anomalies of this quasar is still uncertain, which should be a target for further investigation.

"Microlensing magnification maps may be explored to investigate the possibility of the flux anomalies being due to microlensing. On a longer timescale, monitoring observations would separate microlensing and intrinsic flux variations. Since the quasar is radio-faint, observations probing narrow line emission from the source, too spatially extended to be affected by microlensing, would be required to separate the effects of microlensing and substructure," the astronomers wrote in the paper.

Explore further New quasar discovered by astronomers

More information: A highly magnified gravitationally lensed red quasar at z = 2.5 with significant flux anomaly: Uncovering a missing population, arXiv:1807.05434 [astro-ph.GA] A highly magnified gravitationally lensed red quasar at z = 2.5 with significant flux anomaly: Uncovering a missing population, arXiv:1807.05434 [astro-ph.GA] arxiv.org/abs/1807.05434 Abstract

We present the discovery of a gravitationally lensed dust-reddened QSO at z=2.517 discovered in a survey for red QSOs by infrared selection. Hubble Space Telescope imaging in the WFC3/IR F160W and F125W filters reveals a quadruply lensed system in a cusp configuration. We find that compared to the central image of the cusp, the nearby, brightest image is anomalous by a factor of 711. Although the source is extremely bright in the mid-infrared, a magnification by a factor of 50120 places an upper limit of 1.35 mJy on the intrinsic mid-infrared brightness, well below the WISE W4 detection limit of 6 mJy. We find that this QSO is moderately reddened, with E(BV)=0.7 and that 1% of the intrinsic spectrum is leaked back into the line of sight resulting in an upturn in its UV spectrum. We conclude that the QSO's reddening is intrinsic and not due to the lens. Consistent with previous red quasar samples, this source exhibits outflows in its spectrum as well as morphological properties suggestive of it being in a merger-driven transitional phase. Depending on how Lbol is computed, the quasar's accretion rate may be as high as 0.26 LEdd. We detect two Lyman limit systems, at z=2.102 and z=2.431, with absorption by metal lines likely at small impact parameter to the QSO, and a putative lens redshift of z=0.599. Given the rarity of quad lenses, the discovery of this source allows detailed study of a less luminous, more typical infrared-selected quasar at high redshift.

 2018 Phys.orgIndian PM Modis tight schedule leaves EPG report in limbo

The fate of joint report prepared by Eminent Persons Group (EPG) on Nepal-India relations has been shrouded in uncertainty because of the hectic schedule of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Mars south polar cap, as seen from Mars Global Surveyor. Buried beneath, we now know, is a lake of liquid water. Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS

We now know that there is permanent liquid water on Mars, according to a paper published today in the journal Science.

This new finding comes from research using the Mars Express spacecraft that has been orbiting the red planet since December 25, 2003.

One of the suite of instruments carried by Mars Express is MARSIS (the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding), which allows researchers to use radar to study features beneath the planet's surface.

Using observations spanning a period of four years, a team of researchers from Italy found evidence of a large lake of salty water, buried 1.5 kilometres beneath Mars' southern polar cap. That lake is at least 20 kilometres across, and seems to be a permanent feature.

More than droplets

The reason people are excited about this discovery is because on Earth, everywhere you find liquid water, you find life. NASA has long espoused a philosophy of "follow the water" in its program of astrobiological research  trying to answer the question "are we alone?"

Over the past two decades, we have seen mission after mission travel to Mars. Some, like Mars Express, are orbiters, whereas others (such as the incredible Spirit and Opportunity) are rovers. A unifying theme across those missions has been their attempts to see whether Mars once had the right conditions for life to exist and thrive.

Through them we have found abundant evidence that Mars was once warm and wet. We also have evidence that liquid water can still be found on the surface of Mars, from time to time.

But until today, the evidence of modern water all pointed towards fleeting moments - droplets condensing on the Mars Phoenix lander; or evidence of brief outflows of salty water in Martian valleys.

Compared with today's discovery, those earlier findings are a drop in the ocean.

Mars has a lake

The latest observations reveal something remarkable: a salty lake buried deep beneath the ice, which seems to be a permanent feature rather than a transient phenomenon.

The comparison that springs to mind are the myriad lakes buried under the ice of Antarctica. So far more than 400 such lakes have been found beneath the surface of the frozen continent.

Perhaps the most famous is Lake Vostok  one of the world's largest lakes, buried and hidden away. But the one to which I want to draw your attention is named Lake Whillans.

Lake Whillans is buried some 800 metres below the ice in West Antarctica. In 2013, a team of researchers succeeded in drilling down into the lake and recovering samples. What did they find? That it was teeming with microbial life.

In other words, the best Earth-based analogues for the newly discovered Martian lake are not just habitable, they are inhabited. Where there's water, there's life.

The locations on Mars surface visited by landers to date. It is far easier to land near Mars equator than its poles. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Is there life on Mars?

Finding this new lake, buried beneath Mars' south pole, is another exciting step on our journey of discovery of the red planet. Could there be life there, beneath the ice?

The short answer is that we still don't know. But it seems like the ideal place to look. What we do know is:

Mars was once warm and wet, potentially with oceans, lakes, and rivers

On Earth, where you find water, you find life

The transition from warm, wet Mars to the cold and barren Mars we see today occurred over millions of years

Life adapts to changing environments, so long as that change is not too fast or dramatic.

So what do you get if you put all that together? Well, this is where things get speculative.

But let's imagine that in the far distant past, Mars had life. Perhaps the life originated there, or maybe it was delivered from Earth, hitching a ride on a meteorite.

Once life is established, it is amazingly hard to get rid of. Over millions of years, Mars cooled and its water became locked in permafrost. Its atmosphere thinned and it became the red planet we see today.

But maybe, just maybe, that life would have been able to follow the waterto move underground, where it might have found a niche, in a dark salty lake, buried beneath the ice of Mars' southern polar cap.

That's all well and good, but what next?

That's all speculation, but it shows the kind of thought processes that have driven our ongoing exploration of Mars for the past couple of decades.

Now that we know for sure that there is a reservoir of liquid water just beneath the planet's surface, astronomers around the globe will be thinking of ways to get down to that water to see what's there.

That is easier said than done. Landing on Mars is challenging at the best of times, and the great majority of missions to date have landed within about 30 latitude of Mars' equator. The two exceptions are the Viking 2 and Phoenix landers, both of which landed in Mars' northern lowlands.

In addition, landing on Mars' southern hemisphere is harder still. The north is the lowlands and the atmosphere there is markedly thicker, and the surface smoother (as befits, potentially, the floor of an ancient ocean).

To the south, you have less atmosphere to slow your descent and a rougher surface to make your landing harder.

But, while tricky, it is not impossible. And now we have a huge motivation to try.

It would not surprise me if, within a decade, we see missions being designed to visit Mars' south pole and drill down to this great lake, to see what lurks within.

Explore further Liquid water is buried beneath Martian landscape, study says

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.The Okinawan habu is endemic to the Ryukyu islands of Japan. It is the longest and the most venomous of the three habu species found in the region. Credit: Prof. Hiroki Shibata

It is more likely to see a habu snake in a bottle of Okinawan rice liquor than to see one slithering by the wayside. Even so, habus are very common in the Ryukyu islands, of which Okinawa is a part. Okinawa is home to three species of habu; the Okinawan habu (Protobothrops flavoviridis), endemic to the Ryukyu islands, is highly venomous.

A collaborative team of scientists from many research institutes and universities across Japan has now mapped the entire genome of the Okinawan habu, including the genes involved in venom production. Professor Nori Satoh and his team of researchers from Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), were a part of the study, which was published in Scientific Reports. Snake venom has attracted the attention of many scientists worldwide as it has tremendous potential in the development of new drugs. The findings from this study might advance efforts to identify novel therapies for treating ailments such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases and many others.

For the study, the researchers caught Okinawan habus in the wild using a long metal pole with a hook at one end, and collected venom, blood and tissue samples. Then, using the cutting-edge DNA sequencing facilities at OIST, the researchers identified nearly 60 genes from 18 gene families that help the snake make its venom.

Nearly 50 peoplemost often farm workers tending crops in fields and orchardsare reportedly bitten by habus every year in Okinawa alone. The venom of the Okinawan habu is hemotoxic, destroying blood cells and tissues. Though antidotes are now available, bites can still cause severe pain and permanent tissue damage in humans. The scientists hope the results of this study will contribute to more effective antidotes and treatments for habu bites. "The findings of this study are very important, especially to the people of Okinawa and the surrounding islands where the Okinawan habu is found," says Prof. Satoh.

The Okinawan Habu can produce a large amount of venom. The venom is hemotoxic and destroys the blood cells and tissues of the prey. Credit: Prof. Hiroki Shibata

Snake venom is a cocktail of complex proteins. "Though the Okinawan habu is not as venomous as cobras or taipans, it can produce a large amount of venomup to 1 ml," says Prof. Hiroki Shibata, a collaborator from the University of Kyushu. Its long, sharp fangs help discharge the venom deep inside the prey, he explains.

The genome of any organism is a treasure trove of information. Mapping venom genes of the habu not only allows scientists to explore its potential in drug development, but also gives scientists the tools to study how venom toxins have evolved, their composition, and the mechanism by which they do their damage.

The researchers explored this venom's evolutionary history by constructing a phylogenetic tree of venom genes, including those that they identified in the habu. A phylogenetic tree helps illustrate the relationship between two or more organism groups by identifying the similarities and dissimilarities between them. The distance between the groups in a tree translates to different degrees of relatedness between them. The groups that are closely placed are more related to one another than those placed further away.

Venomous snakes around the world belong to one of the two families; Viperidae or Elapidae. The members of the family Viperidae, including the habu, have hemotoxic venom, whereas the members of the family Elapidae, such as cobras, have venom that is neurotoxic. In this study, the researchers found many common components among venom genes of both families, thereby tracing back the origin of the present-day venom toxins to a common ancestor that existed millions of years ago. "The venom gene copies originated a long time ago, possibly at the early stage of vertebrate evolution," explains Prof. Shibata. The scientists believe that combined information gathered from venom research so far will help unravel the enigma behind the process of venom production in snakes.

Explore further Okinawan pit viper genome reveals evolution of snake venomAtomic-scale images of gemcitabine-loaded nanoparticles reveal an unusual cylindrical shape. Credit: Tony Tam

In the treatment of cancer, chemotherapy is a cleaver, not a scalpel. By attacking rapidly dividing cells, chemotherapy effectively fights tumors, but it also ravages healthy cells in the gut, bone marrow, the scalp and other organs, leading to severe side effects. These toxic chemicals save lives, but at a great cost to patient well-being.

In an effort to tip the balance toward the upsides of chemotherapy, Glen Kwon, a professor in the University of WisconsinMadison School of Pharmacy, is turning to nanoparticles capable of enhancing these drugs' therapeutic properties.

In new work recently published in the journal ACS Nano, Kwon's lab developed a stabilized form of a common chemotherapy agent, gemcitabine, and encased it in nanoparticles capable of slowing down their release. In mouse models of human lung cancer, the improved drug inhibited tumor growth more effectively than standard gemcitabine.

"There's been a lot of hype about nanotechnology," says Kwon, who has worked in the field for more than 20 years. "It's an ambitious goal: to target drugs to particular places in our body."

That goal may be some way off, Kwon says, but particles that ferry drugs into the bodyknown as nanocarriersare already proving effective. "What nanocarriers can do is reduce toxicity," he says.

In work with his graduate student Tony Tam two years ago, Kwon developed an improved system for delivering the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel, commonly sold as Taxol, during treatment. Tam attached a short chain of lactic acid to the drug, which helped it load into nanocarriers made, in part, of lactic acid. The nanocarrier has been used in humans before.

So when turning to gemcitabine, Tam tried the same tacticadd on chains of lactic acid and load it into the nanocarrier.

"But the first trial that we had was not stable at all," says Tam, now a senior scientist at Merck in San Francisco. To increase the drug's stability, he turned to 30-year-old work out of Japan.

In the 1980s, researchers at Kyoto University combined chains of lactic acid that were identical except for one key featuretheir handedness. Many molecules come in mirror-image forms of themselves, and when the Japanese researchers combined left- and right-handed versions of lactic acid polymers, the resulting crystals, called stereocomplexes, were much more stable.

When Tam produced gemcitabine-linked stereocomplexes of lactic acid and loaded them into the nanocarrier, the drug's stability spiked. Compared to gemcitabine attached only to the left-handed form of lactic acid, the stereocomplex released gemcitabine 15 times more slowly in an artificial solution. Since gemcitabine breaks down so quickly in the body, it's usually given at high doses to make sure enough reaches the tumor. If this nanocarrier system slowed release in the body, it could mean gentler doses.

Curiously, the nanoparticles adopted an unexpected shape. While similar nanocarriers envelop drugs in a sphere, images taken at the atomic scale show the gemcitabine stereocomplexes adopting a stretched-out, cylindrical shape. You could stack 10,000 of these cylinders end-on-end within the thickness of a piece of paper.

In mice harboring a human-derived non-small-cell lung cancer line, treatment with the stereocomplexed nanocarriers over three weeks kept the tumors from growing. In contrast, the tumors more than doubled in size in the mice treated with standard gemcitabine. The mice were treated at a fairly low dose to assess differences between the forms of gemcitabine.

"Ultimately our goal is to get this into human beings," says Kwon, adding that many steps, such as scaling up production and preliminary safety studies, will be required.

With the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, Kwon and Tam submitted a patent based on their modifications to gemcitabine that enhanced its stability and release. And Kwon co-founded Co-D Therapeutics, a preclinical stage company developing nanocarrier-based medicines based on his earlier work with paclitaxel.

"This research relied on really good teamwork in the School of Pharmacy community," says Tam, noting that members of two other labs in the school contributed to the ACS Nano paper.

"Collaboration is very important."

Explore further Targeting headaches and tumors with nano-submarines

More information: Yu Tong Tam et al. Stereocomplex Prodrugs of Oligo(lactic acid)n-Gemcitabine in Poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(d,l-lactic acid) Micelles for Improved Physical Stability and Enhanced Antitumor Efficacy, ACS Nano (2018). Journal information: ACS Nano Yu Tong Tam et al. Stereocomplex Prodrugs of Oligo(lactic acid)n-Gemcitabine in Poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(d,l-lactic acid) Micelles for Improved Physical Stability and Enhanced Antitumor Efficacy,(2018). DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.8b04205The adsorber technology that NASA technologists originally developed to trap harmful contaminants that outgas from instrument components is highly porous -- a characteristic that allows it to entrap contaminants. Credit: NASA

A technology that has shielded some of NASA's highest-profile space observatories from potentially harmful molecular contamination is now being evaluated as a possible solution for protecting the Smithsonian Institution's cultural artifacts and natural-science specimens.

Under a Space Act Agreement with the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History, Nithin Abraham, a thermal-coatings engineer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and museum conservators are testing the effectiveness of the patent-pending Molecular Adsorber Coating, or MAC. Goddard engineers originally created the technology to entrap outgassed molecular contaminants so that they couldn't adhere to sensitive instruments and components.

Made of zeolite, a mineral widely used in water purification, and a colloidal silica that acts as a glue, MAC is highly permeable and porousattributes that allow it to trap contaminants that outgas in a process similar to what creates the new car smell in vehicles. Because it doesn't contain volatile organics, the coating itself doesn't cause additional outgassing. Easy to use, the coating can be applied directly to the hardware itself or on varying-sized panels that are inserted inside instrument cavities and test chambers.

Target Contamination: Mercury Vapor

Under the one-year research effort begun last summer, Goddard and museum personnel are determining whether MAC can reduce the presence of mercury vapor and other contaminants that offgas from plant and mineral specimens. These contaminants are tainting specially designed metal cabinets at the Museum Support Center in Suitland, Maryland, a sprawling storage facility that holds more than 54-million collection items.

These offgassed chemicals pose health risks to humans and degradation to specimens, said Collections Program Conservator Catharine Hawks, who has used a wide range of techniques and materials to take up and hold vaporized contaminants in both exhibit and stored specimens. "Conservators are constantly faced with problems of volatile contaminantseither cross-contamination among collection materials or contaminants that come from materials used with collections," she said. "Consequently, we're always in need of technologies to provide protection."

NASA Thermal Coatings Engineer Nithin Abraham removes samples treated with a patent-pending adsorber from specimen-storage cabinets at the Smithsonian's Museum Support Center in Suitland, Maryland, a sprawling storage facility that holds more than 54-million collection items. Credit: Chris Gunn/NASA

Learning of the Goddard-developed coating, Hawks said she and other museum conservators thought it worthwhile to explore MAC's effectiveness in artifact protection. Abraham agreed. "We thought this collaboration presented us with an interesting opportunity to explore how MAC would perform in terrestrial environments," she said. "We have quite extensively tested the coating to mitigate outgassing in vacuum environments for space applications, but not in ambient conditions."

NASA Uses

To date, NASA engineers have used the coating to entrap hydrocarbons, plasticizers, and silicones that outgas and spread easily inside thermal-vacuum chambers and other test facilities. To prevent these contaminants from affixing, Abraham and her team treated specially made panels with MAC and placed them in strategic locations inside these facilities. The James Webb Space Telescope, the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS), the Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD), and the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS), among others, have all benefited from MAC, Abraham said.

However, its use hasn't been restricted to ground-based vacuum chambers. NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, mission, which is studying the dynamic zone in the atmosphere where Earth weather and space weather meet, makes use of the coating.

"This is the first flight application of MAC within an instrument cavity," Abraham said. Several MAC-treated plates will mitigate on-orbit molecular outgassing within ICON's sensitive far-ultraviolet instrument. In addition, NASA's Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation, known as GEDI, also plans to fly the coating when it launches in November 2018.

Jennifer Domanowski (forefront) and Nithin Abraham begin evaluating the effectiveness of a NASA-developed adsorber coating for removing mercury vapor and other contaminants inside Smithsonian-owned specimen-storage cabinets. Credit: Chris Gunn/NASA

Analysis Underway: Jury is Out

The goal of the museum experiment initially focused on determining if more than 100 MAC-treated samples affixed to the doors of three storage cabinets could adsorb mercury vapor from both botanical and mercury-based mineral ores. Although the museum never used mercury-based chemicals to preserve its plant specimens, Hawks said many collectors and preparators used them widely for nearly two centuries. Given the fact that the Smithsonian's collections come from institutions worldwide and, in some cases, are very old, mercury offgassing has become a persistent problem.

The more recent use of vapor-impermeable bags has helped mitigate the offgassing, Hawks said. However, before their use, the mercury vapor had already contaminated the cabinets and is proving resistant to cleaning. "We wondered if MAC panels could be used to take up the residual vapor that is coming from these surfaces," she said. The experiment has since been expanded to determine exactly which contaminants MAC adsorbs in ambient conditions, where atmospheric offgassing of materials occurs.

After spending a year affixed to the doors, it's not yet clear whether MAC is effective at trapping mercury vapor. "It's been a challenging yet insightful process evaluating this," Abraham said. Abraham's team will collect all the samples by early August and is now testing earlier exposed samples to see what chemical constituents the coating did collect. However, initial analysis has indicated that the samples are trapping a number of other contaminants. She expects final results in a couple months.

"We really won't know how well the MAC is working until after Nithin completes the analysis. Whether or not the MAC is successful for mercury, we'll be very interested in knowing about any chemical species the technology adsorbs," Hawks said.

Abraham is equally interested. The collaboration allowed her to study how well the technology works in ambient or non-vacuum conditions, and how she and her team could possibly tailor the coating to make it even more effective for both space and terrestrial applications. She also believes this work could lead to future museum collaborations, which could lead to additional technology improvements, to say nothing of the potential licensing opportunities with companies that manufacture cabinets for specimen storage.

"This was a definitely a worthwhile learning experience," Abraham said, adding that the team plans to write a technical paper about the coating's effectiveness once testing is complete. "We have gained valuable knowledge on better ways to test the coating and advance the technology for distinct applications."

Explore further NASA technology protects Webb telescope from contaminationChanges to the Endangered Species Act proposed by the Trump administration could end federal protection of the three dozen remaining red wolves in North Carolina, wildlife advocates say.

Among their many changes, the proposals announced last week would let federal authorities consider economic impacts in deciding whether to add or remove species from the endangered and threatened lists. The proposals were among recent attacks on the 1973 law "on a scale not seen in decades," according to The New York Times.

But another provision seems aimed squarely at the red wolf: Is it a distinct species or, as critics in North Carolina have long contended, a hybrid of gray wolves and coyotes?

The administration's proposal says species already on the endangered list can be removed if new information or analysis shows they aren't a "valid taxonomic entity." A study of the red wolf is already underway.

In March, Congress ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to get an independent analysis of whether red wolves and Mexican gray wolves are real species and subspecies, respectively. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine will name an expert panel to review scientific literature and report back next March.

Ron Sutherland, a Durham-based conservation scientist with the Wildlands Network, said the species provision echoes past comments by wolf critics. At the urging of U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., a Senate committee last fall asked the Fish and Wildlife Service to end the 32-year effort to save red wolves in the wild.

The Trump administration's proposal "seems much more politically motivated and targeted toward the red wolf and other species that have been attacked by industry groups," Sutherland said. "I would agree that the (act) needs to be updated to reflect complicated genetic realities, but the people doing the revisions shouldn't be the ones talking for decades about getting rid of the act."

Red wolves were listed as endangered in 1967, before the act was adopted, and declared extinct in the wild in 1980. In 1986, the federal agency started an experiment to recover them by releasing captive-raised wolves into North Carolina's coastal Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge.

Their numbers peaked at 120 to 130 in 2006 but have dropped sharply since then, largely because of shootings. About 35 wolves now roam a five-county area, but private landowners have complained about them. Last month the Fish and Wildlife Service proposed allowing wolves that are outside federal land to be killed.

The proposals announced last week, which will be open to public comment for 60 days, say the same definition of species that is used to protect animals and plants would also be used to remove protection.

Asked whether that could result in protection being removed from red wolves, a Fish and Wildlife Service official said the agency's intention is "to avoid the goalposts being moved for listed species that are recovered.

"We want to ensure that everyone is clear that one standard (of being in danger of extinction or likely to become so in the foreseeable future) is used to list and delist," public affairs chief Gavin Shire said by email. Higher criteria couldn't be applied in order to keep protection for species that no longer need it, he said.

Sierra Weaver, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center in Chapel Hill, doubts that the proposal would remove protection for red wolves. The Fish and Wildlife Service has long considered the wolves a species, she said. In April, the agency confirmed that recognition but added that there remains "considerable scientific uncertainty."

Other aspects of the administration proposals are more worrisome, Weaver said. Among them are changes to preserving habitat for endangered species and calculating the damage from federal projects such as highways.

"The scope of these proposals is massive, so massive it's hard to know how they'll affect any particular species," she said. "They're targeting the way we have known and implemented the Endangered Species Act for decades."

Sixty-seven species that are known or believed to occur in North Carolina now have federal protection. Nearly half are plants, including the Schweinitz's sunflower found in the Charlotte area. Animals on the list range from 300-pound loggerhead sea turtles to a dainty butterfly called the Saint Francis' satyr.

In announcing the proposed changes last week, federal officials said they're intended to streamline species protection while meeting the administration's mandate to cut regulations.

"The Trump administration is dedicated to being a good neighbor and being a better partner with the communities in which we operate," Fish and Wildlife Deputy Director Greg Sheehan said in a statement. "One thing we heard over and over again was that ESA implementation was not consistent and often times very confusing to navigate. We are proposing these improvements to produce the best conservation results for the species while reducing the regulatory burden on the American people."

The species provision "is directly aiming the crosshairs at the red wolf," said Asheville-based attorney Perrin de Jong of the Center for Biological Diversity. But he said other aspects of the administration proposal could make it harder to add species to the endangered list.

In April the center sued the Fish and Wildlife Service for not deciding whether to protect two rare species found only in eastern North Carolina. They're the Carolina madtom, a small catfish found in the Tar River, and an aquatic salamander called the Neuse River waterdog. The center had petitioned the federal agency to list them in 2010 but no decision has been made.

Allowing the agency to consider the economic costs of protecting the animals, as the administration proposes, wouldn't likely favor the madtom and waterdog, de Jong said. Unfinished parts of Raleigh's beltway, Interstate 540, would cross the waterdog's last best habitat.

"The Endangered Species Act is strong because it requires decisions to be made on the best available science," he said. "When economic considerations become part of the equation, science takes a back seat."

Explore further US proposes shrinking last endangered red wolf habitat

2018 The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Qualcomm said recently it has developed breakthrough antenna technology that will help power uber-fast speeds in next-generation 5G smartphones.

The San Diego company highlighted several antenna modules that are being tested by smartphone makers today. They could show up in mobile devices next year.

Some harness millimeter wave radio frequencies to deliver fiber-optic like speeds. That potentially solves a stubborn technical puzzle surrounding 5G: How to make antennas that are small enough for use in smartphones but also capable enough to receive finicky millimeter wave radio signals that are susceptible to interference.

Some industry experts have questioned whether it was technically feasible to miniaturize antenna technologies so smartphones could tap millimeter wave frequenciesor at least doubted it was possible by the time the first 5G wireless networks begin rolling out in 2019.

But Qualcomm claims to have done it with antenna modules about the size of a fingernail.

"Now these type of modem-to-antenna solutions ... make mobile 5G networks and devices, especially smartphones, ready for large scale commercialization," said Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon. "With 5G, consumers can expect gigabit-class Internet speeds with unprecedented responsiveness in the palm of their hands, which stand to revolutionize the mobile experience."

Qualcomm is betting that the transition to fifth generation 5G networks will re-ignite growth in the smartphone market, which has seen sales slow as consumers hang onto their fourth generation 4G LTE devices longer.

The San Diego cellular technology giant typically thrives in the early stages of transitions to next generation of wireless technologies.

Coming 5G networks are expected to connect a plethora of devicesranging from cars to health care gadgetswith imperceptible transmission delays and at low cost.

These networks also promise to deliver internet speeds on par with today's fiber optic linespowering new services such as streaming ultra-high definition video and virtual reality.

The wireless industry is counting on millimeter wave spectrum to provide a good portion of the capacity required for 5G. Millimeter wave frequencies, however, don't travel very far before degrading. They're prone to bouncing off buildings or other obstaclessuch as a person's hand holding a phone. They work best when there is unobstructed line of sight between the transmitter and antenna.

That's why some were skeptical about using 5G millimeter wave in smartphones, said Sherif Hanna, a Qualcomm spokesperson. Conventional wisdom was that this spectrum would be deployed for fixed wireless broadbanddelivering fast last-mile bandwidth to stationary homes and businesses, not mobile devices.

But Qualcomm has used beam forming and other techniques that it believes will allow smartphones to tap millimeter wave spectrumdelivering the full promise of 5G to mobile users.

Qualcomm's antenna modules are paired with its 5G cellular modem, which was announced last October. Versions are available for millimeter wave frequencies as well as sub-6 gigahertz spectrum bands that are also earmarked for 5G.

Explore further Qualcomm is packaging up 5G phones with antenna modules announcement

2018 The San Diego Union-Tribune

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Steve Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm, said the tie-up with rival Dutch chipmaker NXP won't happen as a result of failure to win approval in China

US computer chip giant Qualcomm abandoned a $43 billion merger with Dutch rival NXP on Thursday, as the deal became an apparent casualty to trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.

The deal was called off after antitrust authorities in China failed to approve the merger after a two-year wait.

The decision ends the tie-up aimed at creating a diversified chipmaker with Qualcomm's dominant position in smartphones and NXP's foothold in the market for chips powering "internet of things" connected devices.

Qualcomm said it would pay NXP a $2 billion dollar breakup fee required under its agreement, and would begin a $30 billion stock repurchase plan.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin expressed disappointment that the deal fell through but sidestepped questions on whether it was related to the standoff with Beijing.

The deal "was approved in every single other territory," Mnuchin told CNBC television, adding that "we're just looking for US companies to be treated fairly.

"I think it's unfortunate that that didn't get approved after a long two-year process."

Analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy said the merger plan was clearly a victim of the trade dispute between the US and China.

"This wasn't an American company trying to buy a Chinese company," Moorhead said.

"There were not even any protests that Qualcomm could go in and fix. To me it's belligerent and will lead to an escalation."

Analysts at the political consulting firm Eurasia Group also warned of worsening tensions as a result of the deal's collapse.

A research note from the group said that China's decision appeared to be a "naked politicization" of its antitrust review and suggests a breakdown in the bilateral relationship.

"The move does increase the risk that the US will target Huawei or other Chinese tech firms through executive action when it finds a legal basis for doing so," the research note said.

The California firm ended its effort when the bid expired at 11:59 pm Eastern time (0359 GMT Thursday).

In Beijing, officials denied that tensions with Washington affected the proposed merger.

"The issue with the case is related to anti-monopoly law enforcement and has nothing to do with China-US trade frictions," commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng told reporters at a weekly press briefing Thursday.

The deal's collapse comes with the US set to ramp up tariffs on Chinese imports following President Donald Trump's complaints of unfair trade.

Rubio rails at ZTE

Recently the US imposed tough sanctions on Chinese tech firm ZTE that could have led to the firm's collapse, but the Trump administration later reached a deal that helped the firm remain in business.

US Senator Marco Rubio slammed the move by China and said Washington should retaliate.

Rubio tweeted that "@CommerceGov does #China a favor & reverses ban on #ZTE buying chips from Qualcomm. And how did China return the favor? By blocking Qualcomm deal with NXP despite the begging & pleading from @USTreasury & Commerce Dept. We should reimpose ZTE ban."

Qualcomm had extended the deadline several times for the tie-up, which would have given the dominant smartphone chipmaker firm a broader array of semiconductor products.

It also raised its bidfrom $110 to $127 a sharein February, to the irritation of fellow chipmaker Broadcom, which itself recently launched a hostile bid for Qualcomm blocked by the White House.

Washington said the acquisition of Qualcomm by Broadcomwhich had been Singapore-based until its recent relocation to the USwould help Chinese competitors such as Huawei, particularly in the emerging market for fifth generation (5G) wireless internet, where a stronger China could present a national security issue.

Based in the Dutch town of Eindhoven, NXP is a leading maker of chips for the auto industry, as well as for contactless payment systems.

A former division of the Dutch electronics giant Philips, it became independent in 2006.

NXP's president and CEO Richard Clemmer said, "While it is unfortunate that the semiconductor powerhouse that would have resulted from the transaction with Qualcomm could not close after 21 months of diligent efforts by the team, we are confident in our future as an independent market leader."

Explore further Broadcom withdraws Qualcomm offer after Trump blocks bid

 2018 AFPEarlier this month, in the Indian state of Rajasthan, bystanders took selfies while three men lay dying after a road accident. The week before, two men were beaten to death by a mob in the state of Assam after false rumours of their involvement in a kidnapping were spread on WhatsApp. And a study recently found that India is the world leader when it comes to selfie-related accidents.

Only around 30% of Indians have access to the internet and under 15% use social media, but social media and selfies have captured the public imagination.

Some fear that the social media sensation has gone too far, encouraging dangerous behaviours and exacerbating tensions between groups. Others are using social media to bring about positive social change.

Selfies: from pop culture to politics

Selfies have certainly become a much more prominent part of Indian society in recent years.

Part of this has to do with Bollywood actors and other entertainers spreading the popularity of selfie culture through films, music and television. The chorus of the song "Selfie Pulla" from the Tamil movie Kaththi, for instance, is a catchy repetition of "Let's take a selfie, pulla (girl)". It also includes the lines, "Let's live in Instagram, let's shoot and snap every moment of our life", and "Let's share on Facebook to get unlimited likes and shares".

India's prime minister, Narendra Modi, is also a skilled social media user who has the second-highest Twitter following of any world leader (after a certain @realDonaldTrump) and is the most "liked" leader in the world on Facebook.

But with this enthusiasm for social media has come criticism. In 2015, Modi encouraged fathers to send him photos of themselves with their daughters via Twitter, using the hashtag #SelfieWithDaughter. The initiative was part of efforts to reduce the preference for male children.

But feminists were not impressed, taking issue with the failure of the initiative to adequately address the issue, the invisibility of mothers in the campaign, and the hypocrisy of some supporters who had otherwise misogynist Twitter feeds.

Actress Shruti Seth tweeted, "A selfie is not a device to bring about change Mr. PM. Try reform," with the hashtag #selfieobsessedPM.

Selfie culture turns dangerous

Such is the explosion of selfie culture that young Indians have gone to great lengths in pursuit of the perfect shot. Sadly, an 18-year-old woman drowned after she and her friends fell into the sea while taking selfies in a Mumbai suburb. A young man died while taking a selfie on top of a train in Delhi.

To curb this occasionally fatal quest for online "likes", authorities are starting to take action. The Ministry of Railways issued a warning to young people taking selfies near train tracks, while the Mumbai police identified and publicised 16 selfie danger zones and the Karnataka government in southwestern India announced plans for a safe selfie campaign.

Among other recent measures, the Hindu Kumbh Mela festival was declared a "no selfie zone" to avoid stampedes, and selfie sticks were banned at 46 museums across the country to protect archaeological artefacts.

The backlash has also extended to college campuses. At many university colleges, selfies and mobile phones have been banned for reasons ranging from destruction of the academic culture to facilitating kidnapping and rape.

Mob violence fuelled by WhatsApp

Authorities have also targeted WhatsApp, the largest online communication platform in India with over 200 million users.

In recent months, some two dozen innocent people have been killed by angry mobs in India after false rumours of child kidnappings were spread on WhatsApp.

To try to curb incidents of mob violence, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) recently mandated that WhatsApp "ensure that their platform is not used for such malafide activities". In response, WhatsApp announced it would test a feature that would prevent Indian users from forwarding messages to more than five people or groups at once.

In the highly militarised state of Jammu and Kashmir, a district magistrate has gone so far as to order all WhatsApp group administrators to register with the police.

This idea that new media fans the flames of communal tension is also making internet shutdowns an increasingly common strategy in times of unrest.

An edited video that sparked fears of child abduction on WhatsApp.

New media, old issues

Are social media platforms really to blame for social ills, though?

In a recent article, Divij Joshi, a research fellow at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, argues that authorities in India should be focusing on the social issues contributing to mob violence, rather than the platforms used to inflame tensions and spread rumours.

A similar point is made by a team of researchers from a global social media research project called Why We Post. Digital platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook make new forms of interaction between people possible. But, these researchers argue: "The platform is surprisingly irrelevant to finding explanations for why and how people use social media. It provides the place, but not the cause nor the explanation."

For example, in the South Indian field site for the project, researcher Shriram Venkatraman found that people connected mostly with others of similar social status online and some families restricted women's access to the internet to prevent relationships with men. Social media does not create these class and gender inequalities. It is simply a new space where these old problems persist.

Social media restrictions are not just ineffective solutions, they may also undermine India's democracy. There is evidence that such restrictions are being used to silence voices critical of the government.

As researchers from India's Internet Democracy Project point out, the government and courts already have very broad powers to limit and censor online communication. Expanding these powers poses a serious threat to freedom of expression in the digital space.

Social media for positive social change

Restricting access to social media also overlooks its potential for positive social change. New media is being used in India to enable young people and marginalised groups to tell their stories, for example, and to provide information on sensitive issues like mental health and sexual and reproductive health rights.

Social justice organisations have also begun adapting their social media use to reach greater numbers of people. Japleen Pasricha, founder and director of Feminism in India, told me her organisation added WhatsApp to their social media repertoire at the end of last year, hoping to make their content go viral to "counter the sexist memes and jokes we all receive in various family and friends' WhatsApp groups".

Some of this social justice work is aimed directly at transforming the way information technology is used in India. This includes tackling the gender gap in access to technology (71% of internet users in India are men) and educating young people about staying safe online.

Social media may often be a tool for exacerbating the conflicts and reinforcing the inequalities of the offline world, but people across India are working to change this.

Explore further WhatsApp curbs India service after lynchings

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.In this July 24, 2018 photo, Julio Rosario instals a solar energy system at a home in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. The nonprofit environmental group Casa Pueblo has installed solar systems at two hardware stores, one barber shop and several corner stores that activists hope will serve as a power oasis where people can charge their phones and store medications during a storm if needed. (AP Photo/ Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

Ten months after Hurricane Maria, Adjuntas still loses power any time a heavy rain or wind pounds the rickety power lines feeding this town high in the central mountains of Puerto Rico.

That leaves its 20,000 people once again in the dark, without light, fresh water or air conditioningexcept for a handful of homes and businesses glowing in the night thanks to solar energy.

The people of Adjuntas call those places "cucubanos," an indigenous Puerto Rican firefly. They're part of a small but growing movement to provide the U.S. territory with sustainable, renewable energy independent of the decrepit power grid.

A scattering of hardware stores, barbershops and corner stores across the island are embracing solar energy, trying to wean themselves off a state-owned power company that remains heavily dependent on imported petroleum. The numbers remain smalla few dozen or hundreds out of millions of power usersbut power industry officials and environmentalists are closely watching this as a test of whether Puerto Rico can make a large-scale switch to renewable, off-grid energy.

Currently, renewables represent 4 percent of generation at Puerto Rico's power company, against a U.S. national average of 15 percent, so it likely will be years before solar could account for a significant share of Puerto Rico power.

In this July 20 photo, solar panels installed by Tesla, power a community of 12 homes in the mountain town of Las Piedras, Puerto Rico. Las Piedras still doesn't have power off the national grid, more than 10 months after Hurricane Maria and now is operating exclusively on solar energy. (AP Photo/ Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

Even so, "Puerto Rico can be an experimental workshop for solar and wind," Rep. Darren Soto, a Florida Democrat, said at a congressional hearing Wednesday.

While Adjuntas is dotted with solar-powered islands, a community of 12 homes in the mountain town of Las Piedras still lacks central power and is operating exclusively on solar energy provided by Tesla, the high-tech maker of electric cars and other power products. It installed 160 solar panels on a plot of land owned by resident Jose Santana.

Santana, an electronics technician, said he loves the smartphone app that lets him monitor the solar-charged Tesla batteries. He said the government should consider going solar and dumping the current "archaic" power grid.

"This can pull us out of the mess we're in," he said. "There's nothing wrong with having a vision of the future. It's time to start making changes."

In this July 20 photo, Jose Santana poses for a picture showing his phone app where he can monitor the power generation and consumption of the solar system at his home in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico. Santana, a 64-year-old electronic technician, says he loves the smartphone app that lets him monitor the solar-charged Tesla batteries. He said the government should consider going solar and dumping the current "archaic" power grid. (AP Photo/ Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

As in Las Piedras, some solar users are relying on corporations and nonprofit groups to donate the expensive equipment. Others have become so exasperated with continuing outages that they are taking it upon themselves to install their own systems.

"I'm a musician. I have a salsa orchestra. I know nothing about electricity," said Felix Torres, who recently installed nine solar panels on the roof of his home, perched on a mountain in the eastern city of Caguas. "I was afraid of getting electrocuted and damaging equipment worth thousands of dollars. ... But we should not depend so much on the government. They already have their hands full."

Torres recently joined nearly two dozen other people at a three-day workshop to learn about the costs and lifespans of solar systems, the equipment required and precautions they need to consider. The clip-clop of horses interrupted their chatter as the sun set on hills where electricity returned several months ago.

Many at the workshop pulled out their power bills along with pens and notebooks as they made comparisons and shared their frustrations. Among them was Jose Barreto, who set up a makeshift solar system at his house in the mountain town of Guavate.

In this July 20 photo, a trailer with batteries and inverters from the Tesla, is parked on top of a hill in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico. Las Piedras still lacks central power is operating exclusively on solar energy provided by Tesla, the high-tech maker of electric cars and other power products, which installed 160 solar panels on a plot of land owned by resident Jose Santana. (AP Photo/ Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

"It hasn't collapsed because God is merciful," he said, grumbling that his wife insists on washing and ironing at night, sucking up precious battery life. "I tell her, look, this is a lifestyle that runs on daytime hours."

A few hundred Puerto Ricans still haven't recovered electricity service since Hurricane Maria hit Sept. 20, and millions suffer periodic outages. Crews are trying to fortify the unstable grid in the middle of this year's hurricane season. When the remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl passed through in early July, up to 47,000 customers were left without lights, although most of the power was restored the same day.

In Las Piedras, Blanca Martinez, a retired school bus driver who is married to Santana, started to weep as she described the happiness of having a solar-powered home.

"It's sometimes hard to explain," she said. "When you're a person who is in need, who is suffering, this comes along and you have light without having to worry whether a wire fell."

In this July 20 photo, solar panels installed by Tesla, power a community of 12 homes in the mountain town of Las Piedras, Puerto Rico. The homes still do not have power from the national grid, more than 10 months after Hurricane Maria and now is operating exclusively on solar energy. (AP Photo/ Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

Another corporation, German-based sonnen, helped donate and install at least 15 solar microgrids across the island to help power laundromats, schools, community centers and medical clinics.

Adam Gentner, the company's director of business development and Latin American expansion, said the aim is to create a resilient system that can operate regardless of weather conditions.

This week, Siemens published a report in which it envisions the construction of 10 mini-grids across Puerto Rico that would depend on renewable energy. Unlike microgrids, officials said, mini-grids are bigger and can use the current distribution infrastructure.

In Adjuntas, the nonprofit environmental group Casa Pueblo has installed solar systems at two hardware stores, a barber shop and several small stores that activists hope will serve as power oases where people can charge their phones and store medications during a storm if needed. In upcoming months, some 30 homes also will be fitted with the system.

In this July 20 photo, a sign in Spanish that reads "Attention government, AEE. Montones wants light. Six months without light," hangs from a pole in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico. A scattering of hardware stores, barbershops and corner stores across the island are embracing solar energy, trying to wean themselves off a state-owned power company that remains heavily dependent on petroleum. (AP Photo/ Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

Wilfredo Perez said he can now open his barbershop 11 hours a day, six days a week thanks to the new system.

"Since it was installed, it hasn't failed me," he said, adding that he hasn't had to switch over to the power company's system. "The electricity in Puerto Rico doesn't work."

Federal officials are growing more worried about the turmoil at Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority, which has seen five directors since Hurricane Maria. A U.S. House committee held a hearing Wednesday on the company's troubles.

Officials have stressed the need to depoliticize the company, create an independent regulator and resolve its $9 billion public debt as it prepares to privatize power generation and award concession for transmission and distribution.

In this July 24, 2018 photo, Julio Rosario, right, and his team instal a solar energy system in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. The nonprofit environmental group Casa Pueblo has installed solar systems at two hardware stores, one barber shop and several corner stores that activists hope will serve as a power oasis where people can charge their phones and store medications during a storm if needed. (AP Photo/ Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

None of this worries Arturo Massol, associate director of Casa Pueblo in Adjuntas.

"Let them do what they want over there," he said. "We're taking control of our energy destiny."

In this July 24, 2018 photo, a technician instals a solar energy system at a home in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. In upcoming months, some 30 homes will be fitted with the system. In upcoming months, some 30 homes also will be fitted with the system. (AP Photo/ Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

In this July 24, 2018 photo, a set of solar charged batteries power Edilberto Rivera's restaurant in Adjuntas, Puerto rico. The system was provided by the nonprofit environmental group Casa Pueblo. The nonprofit has installed solar systems at two hardware stores, a barber shop and several small stores that activists hope will serve as power oases where people can charge their phones and store medications during a storm if needed. (AP Photo/ Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

In this July 24, 2018 photo, Julio Rosario, left, instals a solar energy system with the founder of the nonprofit environmental group Casa Pueblo Alexis Masol, in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. The nonprofit environmental group Casa Pueblo has installed solar systems at two hardware stores, one barber shop and several corner stores that activists hope will serve as a power oasis where people can charge their phones and store medications during a storm if needed. (AP Photo/ Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

In this July 24, 2018 photo, Sergio Vega, owner of the Olympia corner store poses for a photo at his business in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. Vega's shop is power by a solar energy system provided by the nonprofit environmental group Casa Pueblo. (AP Photo/ Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

In this July 24, 2018 photo, barber Wilfredo Perez poses for a photo in front of his solar powered barber shop in Adjuntas, Puerto Rico. Perez says he can now open his barbershop 11 hours a day, six days a week thanks to the new system.(AP Photo/ Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo)

Explore further Tesla delays truck launch, eyes battery power for Puerto Rico

 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.A spin-trio of electrons trapped in quantum dots (red). Quantum mechanical tunnelling between the quantum dots results in a dipole moment that couples strongly to the electromagnetic wave of a resonator (yellow). Credit: Visualisations: ETH Zurich / Andreas Landig

To make qubits for quantum computers less susceptible to noise, the spin of an electron or some other particle is preferentially used. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now developed a method that makes it possible to couple such a spin qubit strongly to microwave photons.

Quantum computers use quantum bits or "qubits" to do their calculations  quantum states, that is, of atoms or electrons that can take on the logical values "0" and "1" at the same time. In order to wire up many such qubits to make a powerful quantum computer, one needs to couple them to each other over distances of millimetres or even several metres. One way of achieving this is by exploiting the charge displacement caused by an electromagnetic wave, which is the working principle of an antenna. Such a coupling, however, also exposes the qubit to disturbances due to unwanted electric fields, which severely limits the quality of the logical qubit operations.

A team of scientists working in several research groups at ETH Zurich, assisted by theoretical physicists at Sherbrooke University in Canada, have now demonstrated how this problem can be avoided. To do so, they found a way to couple a microwave photon to a spin qubit in a quantum dot.

Qubits with charge or spin

In quantum dots, electrons are first trapped in semiconductor structures measuring just a few nanometres that are cooled to less than one degree above the absolute zero of the temperature scale. The logical values 0 and 1 can now be realized in two different ways. One either defines a qubit in terms of the position of the electron on the right or left side of a double quantum dot, or else by the spin of the electron, which can point up or down.

The first case is called a charge qubit, which couples strongly to electromagnetic waves through the displacement of electric charge. A spin qubit, on the other hand, can be visualized as a tiny compass needle that points up or down. Much like a compass needle, a spin is also magnetic and, therefore, does not couple to electric but rather to magnetic fields. The coupling of a spin qubit to the magnetic part of electromagnetic waves, however, is much weaker than that of a charge qubit to the electric part.

Three spins for stronger coupling

This means that, on the one hand, a spin qubit is less susceptible to noise and keeps its coherence (on which the action of a quantum computer is based) for a longer period of time. On the other hand, it is considerably more difficult to couple spin qubits to each other over long distances using photons. The research group of ETH professor Klaus Ensslin uses a trick to make such a coupling possible nevertheless, as the post-doc Jonne Koski explains: "By realising the qubit with not just a single spin, but rather three of them, we can combine the advantages of a spin qubit with those of a charge qubit."

In practice, this is done by producing three quantum dots on a semiconductor chip that are close to each other and can be controlled by voltages that are applied through tiny wires. In each of the quantum dots, electrons with spins pointing up or down can be trapped. Additionally, one of the wires connects the spin trio to a microwave resonator. The voltages at the quantum dots are now adjusted in order to have a single electron in each quantum dot, with the spins of two of the electrons pointing in the same direction and the third spin pointing in the opposite direction.

Charge displacement through tunnelling

According to the rules of quantum mechanics, the electrons can also tunnel back and forth between the quantum dots with a certain probability. This means that two of the three electrons can temporarily happen to be in the same quantum dot, with one quantum dot remaining empty. In this constellation the electric charge is now unevenly distributed. This charge displacement, in turn, gives rise to an electric dipole that can couple strongly to the electric field of a microwave photon.

The scientists at ETH were able to clearly detect the strong coupling by measuring the resonance frequency of the microwave resonator. They observed how the resonance of the resonator split into two because of the coupling to the spin trio. From that data they could infer that the coherence of the spin qubit remained intact for more than 10 nanoseconds.

Spin trios for a quantum bus

The researchers are confident that it will soon be possible to realize a communication channel for quantum information between two spin qubits using this technology. "This will require us to put spin trios on either end of the microwave resonator and to show that the qubits are then coupled to each other through a microwave photon", says Andreas Landig, first author of the article and Ph.D. student in Ensslin's group. This would be an important step towards a network of spatially distributed spin qubits. The researchers also emphasize that their method is very versatile and can straightforwardly be applied to other materials such as graphene.

Explore further Scientists demonstrate coherent coupling between a quantum dot and a donor atom in silicon

More information: A. J. Landig et al. Coherent spinphoton coupling using a resonant exchange qubit, Nature (2018). Journal information: Nature A. J. Landig et al. Coherent spinphoton coupling using a resonant exchange qubit,(2018). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0365-yJust deserts

It would be right if a woman was named to replace the chauvinist law minister5 hours ago

If You Don't Watch Out, These 3 Tax Issues Could Blow Up Your Retirement

No matter how you save your money  whether you go for a retirement fund, mutual fund or another method to build up your nest egg  you know the IRS will eventually want its cut. You may have a hazy idea that you need to protect your money, but without understanding exactly how to do it, it's also possible to let tax issues slide.

Read ArticleJuly 26, 2018 in Financial (E)

[prMac.com] Vilnius, Lithuania - Jumsoft Money, the sweetest personal finance tracker for Mac, has been updated with a bunch of new features. The update brings technical and visual improvements, that will not only improve the overall experience, but also allow users a much greater amount of flexibility in the way they view and manage their financial records. This brings the version number of Money to 5.4.



On the technical front, Money 5.4 introduces a completely reworked iCloud sync framework. iCloud sync in Money will now be much snappier and more reliable and offer a much more seamless experience than before. The reworked iCloud sync framework also opens a path for new and exciting features to be added in the future.



The other additions in Money are much more visual. Money 5.4 brings a popularly requested classic table view, which can be enabled in the View section in the menu bar. The table view shows transactions in a classical accounting view, with designated columns which can be rearranged to match the user's needs. The table view is a much more condensed view of the account and allows much more flexibility for sorting transactions by the parameters in columns. Multiple items can now be selected and edited at the same time.



"Money is the sweetest personal finance app on the App Store and we work hard to stand by this claim. We have released Money 5 last Spring, and it was a bold new look into what a modern finance tracker should be. Our users have been very active in providing us feedback on improving Money further, and Money 5.4 is essentially the fruition of these suggestions" said Algirdas Unguvaitis, CEO of Jumsoft. "Money evolves at a tremendous pace. Our recent addition that enabled over 50,000 direct connections to financial institutions has been a hit with users, and we were overwhelmed with the positive feedback it received. This makes us push even further in making Money the best finance tracker on the market. This update does not only complement Money in its current state, but also lays groundwork to the many features we have planned ahead!"



Money 5.4 also brings a popularly desired change to the subscription plans: new users will now get a one-month free trial when opting in to a 1-year Money Premium plan. Naturally, the users will not be charged before the trial period ends and can cancel any time.



Money is available as a free download on the App Store. The free version is limited to 100 transactions, while unlimited offline accounts and transactions can be recorded with a one-time Money Standard purchase, and Money Premium (Mac only), available in convenient monthly and yearly plans, enables all Money Standard benefits plus over 50,000 financial institution connections across 57 countries.

Based in Vilnius, Lithuania, Jumsoft is a privately funded company, founded in 2002. Committed to developing highest-quality applications, Jumsoft consists of a team of macOS and iOS experts and enthusiasts who dedicate their time to develop amazing tools for personal and professional use. Copyright 2002-2018 Jumsoft. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iWork and macOS are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.

###Malaysia keen to resolve worker crisis

Malaysia has shown positive intent to resolve the Nepali migrant worker crisis.The crisis started after Nepal government shut dubious visa processing agencies that illegally charged fees from Nepali workers.Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. (Photo: Getty Images)

By Jason Koutsoukis and Cecilia Yap

Almost two years after China pledged $24 billion in investment to the Philippines, barely any projects have materialized, prompting deepening concerns that President Rodrigo Duterte has undermined the countrys sovereignty with little to show in return.

Of the 27 deals signed between China and the Philippines during Dutertes visit to Beijing in October 2016, China originally agreed to provide $9 billion in soft loans, including a $3 billion credit line with the Bank of China, with a further $15 billion worth of direct investments from Chinese firms in railway, port, energy and mining projects. It didnt specify a timeline.

Since then, the Philippines has completed only one loan agreement with China worth $73 million to fund an irrigation project north of the capital, Manila, according to Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia. Two bridges in Manila to be funded with Chinese grants worth up to $75 million were inaugurated last week.

The process of securing loans from China seems to be moving slower compared to getting assistance from other countries such as Japan, Pernia said at a briefing earlier this month.

Duterte has repeatedly touted Chinas financial help as a key reason for pivoting away from the U.S. and Europe, which he says havent produced material gains for the Philippines. Yet while Beijing remains the Philippines largest trading partner, when it comes to foreign direct investment, China is outranked by Japan, the U.S., the Netherlands, South Korea and Singapore.

As the Philippines only treaty ally, the U.S. also remains a key security partner, providing crucial assistance to the countrys armed forces last year as they struggled to defeat hundreds of Muslim militants who had laid siege to the city of Marawi.

Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs disputed the assertion that it had not followed through on its investment commitments in the Philippines, pointing to the bridge and irrigation projects.

Story continues

China-Philippines relations are continuously strengthening and deepening, it said in an emailed statement. China attaches great importance to friendly cooperation with the Philippines and enthusiastically supports President Dutertes Major Construction, Strong Construction plan.

Dutertes visit to Beijing in 2016 served as a turning point for his administration, reinforcing his  separation from the U.S. and cementing his shift toward China. His critics have accused him of failing to respond forcefully after Beijing landed bomber aircraft on territory claimed by the Philippines and asserted its presence at Sandy Cay in the Spratly Island chain.

Under Duterte, the Philippines has forward deployed its geopolitical concessions, Richard Heydarian, non-resident fellow at ADR-Stratbase Institute, a think-tank, said in an interview. We have been used by China.

Territorial Dispute

Chinas popularity has suffered in the Philippines, with net trust in the country plummeting to its lowest since April 2016, the month before Duterte was elected president, according to a Social Weather Stations survey of 1,200 voters conducted over the last weekend in June. Almost nine in 10 said they wanted the Philippines to assert its claims against China in the South China Sea.

For Alvin A. Camba, a doctoral candidate at Johns Hopkins University, timing isnt the issue. The real measure is the annual foreign direct investment from China and Hong Kong, which has already reached $800 million, nearly two-thirds of what it was during the previous administration, Camba said.

There shouldnt be any expectations for these deal to be completed, or to be close to completion, Camba, who has written extensively on Chinese investment in the Philippines, said in an email. Opening the economy to Chinese FDI was the correct move.

Still, many of the biggest deals dont seem to be happening at all.

Greenergy Development Corp., which is based in Mindanao, signed an agreement to develop a $1 billion, 300-megawatt hydropower plant with Power China in October 2016.

When China Power asked for the initial project deadline to be extended several times through January last year, Cerael Donggay, chief executive of Greenergy, agreed.

The last extension was in February 2017 and still nothing happened, so we terminated the agreement, Donggay said in a phone interview, adding that his company was now in talks with a Hong Kong-based company to try to complete the project.

One of the Philippines largest nickel miners, Global Ferronickel, signed an agreement with Baiyin Nonferrous Group in October 2016 to explore the construction of a stainless steel plant in the Philippines for up to $700 million.

It was put on hold, Global Ferronickel president Dante Bravo said in an interview, because the government was yet to lift an executive order banning new mining projects. It was exploratory. We have to convince them that its really viable, Bravo said.

Another agreement signed in October 2016 was a $780 million proposal to raise three islands from a waterlogged area of Davao, Dutertes hometown. That was canceled in July last year after the citys mayor and presidential daughter, Sara Duterte-Carpio, said a review of the project found that it was not commercially viable.

After the wave of euphoria which greeted those announcements in 2016, we realize now that those Chinese investment claims were hugely inflated, said the ADR-Stratbase Institutes Heydarian. Looking forward, I expect Japan, the U.S. and other partners in Europe to remain the main suppliers of foreign investment to the Philippines.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jason Koutsoukis in Singapore at jkoutsoukis2@bloomberg.net; Cecilia Yap in Manila at cyap19@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ruth Pollard at rpollard2@bloomberg.net; Daniel Ten Kate

 2018 Bloomberg L.PArrests skyrocketed by more than 730 percent last year in China's far-western Xinjiang as the government ramped up a security crackdown in the traditionally Muslim region, activists said Wednesday. The ruling Communist Party has justified increasingly tight policing of Xinjiang by saying it faces a threat from Islamic extremism and separatism, but many Muslims in the region accuse Beijing of religious and cultural repression. Authorities in Xinjiang arrested nearly 228,000 people on criminal charges in 2017, according to data compiled from official government sources by rights group China Human Rights Defenders (CHRD). That's around 21 percent of all arrests in China last year, the group said, even though the sparsely populated region has only around 1.5 percent of China's nearly 1.4 billion population. The dramatic increase in arrests followed the introduction of draconian new restrictions on religious practices in Xinjiang, where about half the population of around 22 million are ethnic minorities. "Though the government does not provide the data disaggregated by ethnicity, criminal punishment would disproportionately target the Uighur Muslim group based on their percentage of the population," CHRD wrote. The report drew on public data released by Chinese prosecutor's offices at the national and local levels. Indictments in Xinjiang also increased at a rate "far out of proportion" to its population, amounting to a 422 percent increase year-on-year in 2017, it said. The increases follow significant drops in both statistics in 2016, when arrests fell by 20 percent and indictments by 15 percent, respectively. China's legal system has a conviction rate of over 99.9 percent, virtually guaranteeing any indictment will end in a conviction. - Three forces - China says its policies in Xinjiang are aimed at rooting out the "three forces" of separatism, religious extremism and terrorism. Simmering resentment exploded in deadly rioting by Uighurs in the regional capital Urumqi in 2009, and Uighurs have since been tied to mass stabbings and bombings that have left dozens dead across the country. Civil unrest and clashes with government forces have killed hundreds more. Last year marked a dramatic turning point in Beijing's approach to the strategic region as the government in 2017 pushed its plans to foster greater trade with Central Asia and Europe, a programme that puts a premium on security. In March, local authorities introduced stringent new restrictions on religious practices, forbidding beards and the wearing of veils and the distribution of "extremist" religious content including everything from songs with Arabic lyrics to unofficial editions of the Koran. Members of the Uighur diaspora say relatives have been arrested for seemingly innocuous acts such as sending Ramadan greetings to friends or downloading popular music. Authorities are also believed to have detained hundreds of thousands of Muslims in a secretive network of extra-judicial political re-education centres, where inmates are given language and ideological training and forced to participate in military-style drills. The local government pumped more than 58 billion yuan ($9 billion) into security spending in 2017, nearly double the year before, according to Adrian Zenz, a China security expert at Germany's European School of Culture and Theology. It also flooded the region with tens of thousands of security personnel, Zenz's research has shown.A typical coffeeshop in the neighbourhood of Bishan. (Yahoo News Singapore file photo)

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) will be dissolved, with its functions being taken over by National Parks Board (NParks) and a new statutory board from April 2019, said the Ministry of National Development (MND).

In a press release on Thursday (26 July), an MND spokesman said that the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), will be formed to oversee food safety and security, a function that was previously covered by AVA. It will come under the purview of the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR)

The SFA will also manage food-related functions currently carried out by the National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Health Sciences Authority (HSA). In addition, SFA will handle food-related regulations, such as licensing matters and food safety regulations across the entire chain.

The integration will enhance regulatory oversight over all food related matters from farm to fork and further strengthen our food safety regime. It will facilitate better partnership with food businesses to develop new capabilities and solutions, and seize future opportunities, said the MND spokesman.

Chief Executive Officer AVA Lim Kok Thai will be concurrently appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (Designate) of SFA.

Plant and animal-related issues currently handled by the AVA will be taken over by NParks, which will be the lead agency for animal and wildlife management, as well as animal and plant health.

The formation of SFA and the transfer of functions to NParks will take effect from 1 April next year. Until then, AVA, NEA, HSA and NParks will continue to carry out their existing functions.

Two new agencies will also be formed under SFA and NParks to handle more specific food and animal-related matters respectively.

The National Centre for Food Science (NCFS) will consolidate the food laboratory capabilities of AVA, HSA and NEA. The NCFS will cover food diagnostics, and research and development in food safety to ensure that food continues to be safe for consumption.

Meanwhile, the Animal and Veterinary Service (AVS) will be formed under NParks, to handle animal-related issues for pet owners and businesses, and animal welfare groups. It will take over AVAs current role as the first responder for animal-related feedback.Mountainous and landlocked Laos, known as the "Battery of Asia", is building dozens of dams at breakneck speed so it can sell energy to power-hungry neighbours as a fast track out of poverty. But the communist country's ambitious power plans are highly controversial. Most energy is exported to neighbouring countries Vietnam, Cambodia and China, with the lion's share going to Thailand -- whose Bangkok mega-malls alone suck up huge amounts of power. That leaves local communities with little of the revenue from projects that often require compulsory resettlement of hundreds of villages and reshape the landscape and river systems. The dam collapse this week in southern Laos that left at least 26 dead and scores missing has shed light on the perils of the country's big bet on hydropower. Here are a few key questions: Why so many dams? With a vast river system, mineral-rich mines and a population of just six million, Laos is richer in natural resources than manpower. As revenues from timber exports and gold and copper mines have tailed off, the country -- and foreign investors -- have ploughed billions of dollars into hydropower development, billed as a clean source of energy to electrify Laos and supply its power-hungry neighbours. There are currently 46 operating hydropower plants with a capacity of 6,400 MW, with another 54 under construction and set to go online by 2020, according to the Laos News Agency. If all goes to plan, Laos wants to generate a whopping 28,000 MW of power in just two years -- almost enough to power all of Thailand for a year. It has targeted graduating from a lower-middle income country by 2020, according to its World Bank classification, and raise its annual per capita GDP from $2,457 today. Where does the power go? About 85 percent of all energy generated in Laos is exported, mostly to Thailand where two-thirds of it is sucked up in and around the sweaty capital Bangkok, according to the International Energy Agency. Almost 90 percent of Laos has access to electricity but supply can be patchy, especially in rural areas. "Even if it could be enough... to power all the homes, it doesn't reach all the homes, so there is a gap there at the very least in terms of access," said Vanessa Lamb, geography lecturer at the University of Melbourne. So who's making the money? Laos's government is earning revenues by selling power to its neighbours. Although figures are not public, the World Bank says investments in the sector are not on par with how much goes towards the national budget. The real rewards may still be decades away. Many contracts stipulate that hydro plants -- often built and operated by foreign firms, including those from China or Thailand -- will be handed over to the Laos government in 20 or 30 years, according to Keith Barney, a lecturer at the Australian National University's College of Asia and the Pacific. "Although there's been a lot of dam construction, the actual royalties and budget revenues -- which are opaque -- have not been that lucrative so far," he told AFP. "They're coming down the line as these projects move toward their mature phases." Do local communities benefit? Most agree that so far, revenues have yet to trickle down to village level. Unlike in some other countries, residents are not paid a percentage of the money earned from exporting power and may suffer from hydropower projects. Villagers are routinely resettled to make way for plants and dams, and farmers have complained that diverting river water destroys farmland, while damming rivers interrupts fish flows. An April report from the Mekong River Commission predicted that up to 40 percent of fish species in the Mekong River basin could be disrupted by dam-building in the region, a warning echoed by others. "Poor people in the project areas are worse off because of these dams, not better off," said Ian Baird, assistant professor of geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "People aren't being properly compensated and then when the revenue comes in it's not getting back to those people," he told AFP.Bulgaria on Thursday strengthened measures against hooliganism at football matches, after violence marred last season and saw two police officers injured in April. The parliament passed legal amendments that allow detention up to 25 days, community work up to 220 hours and fines up to 5,000 leva (2,500 euros), six times the average monthly salary in the European Union's poorest country. Until now, hooligans faced a detention of up to 20 days and a fine of up to 2,000 leva (1,000 euros). Community work was not part of the penalties. The amendments were introduced after several cases of violence. In April, two police officers were injured during a match between the country's two most popular clubs, Levski and CSKA. A small home-made bomb shattered a glass door, injuring one of the officers in the eye. Parliament also decided that fans' IDs will be scanned, while installing surveillance cameras has become mandatory and selling alcohol strictly forbidden under the new law. Participating in fights is punishable by a fine and a ban from sports events in Bulgaria and abroad for one or two years. The law says hooliganism includes carrying explosives and fireworks, storming the pitch, wearing masks, making vulgar insults and inciting racial, ethnic or religious hatred or violence. The new top-flight season in Bulgaria started last weekend.Former Cuban president Raul Castro on Thursday accused the United States of tightening "the noose" around his country, Venezuela and Nicaragua but vowed to "respond to every challenge." "For us, the same as for Venezuela and Nicaragua, it's very clear that the noose is tightening, and our people need to be ready to respond to every challenge with unity, resolve, optimism and unwavering faith in the victory," Castro said. Those three countries -- all currently subject to US sanctions -- are among the last bastions of far left governance in Latin America amid a general trend to the right in recent years. Since Donald Trump's election as US president, relations with Cuba have deteriorated after a historic rapprochement under his predecessor Barack Obama. Castro, the brother of late revolutionary hero Fidel, said the return of right-wing governments in the region and Washington's hostility towards the left had "reawakened euphoria among our enemies who dream of destroying the Cuban example." Dressed in military uniform, Castro was speaking at an event marking the 65th anniversary of a guerrilla attack on a military barracks seen as the start of the Cuban revolution against US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista. Raul Castro, who is 87, assumed the Cuban presidency after Fidel stepped down for health reasons in 2008. He in turn handed over the presidency to Miguel Diaz-Canel in April. Bilateral US-Cuban relations had improved since Raul came to power, with full diplomatic relations restored in 2015 -- they had been dissolved in 1961 after Cuba fostered close ties with the communist Soviet Union. Cuba has been run as a single-party socialist or communist state since Batista was ousted in January 1959. Castro said the US-led blockade of Cuba had "intensified... in particular the persecution of our financial transactions." He also blasted statements about Cuba by US officials as "disrespectful, aggressive, interventionist and crudely manipulating historical facts."(Getty Images file photo)

Eldercare workers in Singapore are the lowest paid compared with their peers in four other major Asia Pacific economies despite the huge demand for their services amid the countrys rapidly greying population, according to a study by Lien Foundation released on Thursday (26 July).

These long-term care (LTC) workers  such as those who look after the elderly in nursing homes or daycare centres  are also paid significantly lower than those in other jobs with similar qualifications, such as a lorry driver or a sales assistant, the study by the philanthropic organisation showed.

Local nursing aides earn about $1,350 per month on average while foreign nursing aides in Singapore draw about $850 monthly, after tax adjustments, the study revealed. These salaries are significantly lower than what their counterparts earn in South Korea ($1,830), Japan ($3,000), Australia ($3,290) and Hong Kong ($3,750).

The salaries of LTC workers in South Korea, Hong Kong, Australia and Japan are not differentiated based on whether they are foreign or local, added the report.

In comparison, a lorry driver and a sales assistant in Singapore can earn higher than a local nursing aide  at an average of $1,730 and $1,547 per month, respectively.

With Singapores elderly population set to increase by 18 per cent from 2017 to 2020, low pay, limited prospects and high turnover in the sector may hinder the direct care workforce from growing by a necessary 45 per cent to 12,000 workers by 2020, the study said.

Citing March 2017 data from the Ministry of Health, the study estimated that about 8,300 LTC workers in Singapore are in direct care roles such as therapists, nurses and nursing aides.

The study on the LTC sector across the five economies, which focused on direct care workers, comprised research and findings from interviews conducted with around 35 care providers, as well as face-to-face surveys of around 250 LTC workers and 50 hospital workers.

The study also found that Singapore had the highest percentage of dependence on foreign LTC workers at 70 per cent, followed by Australia (32 per cent), Japan (10 per cent), Hong Kong and Korea (both five per cent).

Story continues

Significantly, 42 per cent of foreign LTC workers in Singapore surveyed would consider leaving to work in another country, amid fierce competition for their services from economies like Japan and Hong Kong.

We need a skills competency framework and progressive wage model system (for the sector), said Radha Basu, the foundations director of research and advocacy. I hope foreign workers are included in that as well.

For instance, some of the levy imposed on foreign workers here could be channelled into funding for training and wage boosts, she added.

To tackle the pressing manpower needs in the sector, Low Mui Lang, executive director of The Salvation Army Peacehaven Nursing Home, suggested tapping new technology. For instance, homes in Singapore can implement a tracking system for elderly patients  as it is done in countries in Holland  to reduce the number of nurses required on night duty.

While the $800 million expenditure on the sector in Singapore for the 2016 financial year (FY) rose from $600 million in the previous year, it was still lagging when compared with the countrys economic output, according to the study.

It found that while Singapore had the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita at $71,000 in FY2016, the governments spending on public LTC relative to GDP at 0.19 per cent was the lowest among the five economies. The comparative figures were higher at 0.29 per cent in Hong Kong, 0.92 per cent in Australia and two per cent in Japan.

We do think theres room (to spend more), said Basu. What we seeing is there is a gap between the real cost of care compared with the norm cost.

She stressed the need for more credible national-level data on the sector in Singapore, and that there is not enough clarity about the cost of long-term care in Singapore currently. This is crucial so that Singaporeans can have informed discussions about the type of health care system they want and how much they would pay for it, said Basu.

We have out of pocket data on health care, but not on long-term careIf we knew that, we will get a better sense of what the (magic) number (for government spending) should be, she added.

Other Singapore stories:

NTUC chief Ng Chee Meng calls on more employers to raise workers retirement age



Little India slashing: Suspect brought by police to Lower Pierce ReservoirFrance's Emmanuel Macron makes his first visit as president to Spain and Portugal, starting Thursday, in his push to overhaul the EU, with the two southern allies seeking French help to connect their energy grids to Europe. Macron will meet first with Spain's new Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who travelled to Paris soon after coming to power in June. The visit was seen as a sign of Sanchez's intention to play a bigger role in European affairs compared with his predecessor Mariano Rajoy. A source in Macron's office hailed Sanchez's desire to "be more involved in European matters," at a time when Paris faces resistance to its EU reform blueprint from other countries, not least Germany. The two men, both ambitious leaders in their 40s, "have a very close relationship," the source said, adding there was "nearly total convergence" on their goals for the eurozone. In particular, Macron is trying to win support for a eurozone budget, which he sees as a symbolic step towards closer European integration. Spain and Portugal have first-hand experience of such solidarity, having both received multi-billion-euro rescue packages in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Madrid and Paris are also broadly aligned on how to handle the thousands of migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Europe, an influx that has bolstered populist parties. Both countries support the creation of "disembarkation platforms" outside the bloc to process refugee applications. Spain has seen a surge in migrant arrivals in recent weeks as Italy's populist government vowed to stop letting rescue ships dock, sparking an EU crisis that was barely papered over by an accord reached in June. More than 18,000 migrants have reached Spanish shores so far this year -- more than Italy, and nearly three times the number in the same period last year. - Energy 'island' - Macron will attend a state dinner hosted by King Felipe before heading Friday to Lisbon for lunch with Prime Minister Antonio Costa and an EU summit on improving the Iberian Peninsula's energy links with the rest of Europe. While lacking in oil and gas, Portugal and Spain have raced ahead with developing renewable energy sources like wind and solar power, and hope to sell their surplus electricity beyond the Pyrenees. "We are expecting concrete projects from this summit so that the Iberian Peninsula will no longer be a sort of island in Europe in energy terms," said Portuguese foreign minister Augusto Santos Silva. But officials in Macron's office speak only of increasing electricity links, whereas Madrid and Lisbon want to link up gas pipelines as well. The summit is set to confirm the Bay of Biscay project, which will stretch a high-voltage underwater cable 370 kilometres (230 miles) from Spain's northern coast to southwest France. The link will nearly double the interconnection capacity between the two countries to 5,000 megawatts, and will see the EU contribute a record 578 million euros ($675 million) for the project. For natural gas, Madrid is hoping to become a strategic source for Europe by pushing a pipeline project called MidCat that would link Catalonia to France, allowing it to send on some of the gas it imports from Algeria. "But the French are not at all in favour, and the viability of this project is far from certain," said Gonzalo Escribano, an expert at the Elcano Institute. Analysts say Spanish officials suspect that France wants to protect its huge nuclear power industry and its former energy monopolies, in which the state still owns stakes, from foreign competition. "I'm not expecting any breakthrough on the gas question, that's where the talks are going to be tough," Escribano said. Before the summit, Macron will hold one of his trademark "citizen consultations" on the future of Europe, speaking and answering questions from dozens of young people alongside Costa. The town-hall style meetings are seen by Macron as a way to counter the rise in populist and far-right governments ahead of European Parliament elections next year.The project manager of Ethiopia's Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam was found dead in the capital Addis Ababa on Thursday, state media reported. Simegnew Bekele was the public face of the dam being built near the country's western border with Sudan that, when completed, will be Africa's largest. The state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate said Simegnew "has been found dead in his car at Meskel Square," in the centre of Addis Ababa. "The cause of his death is unknown," Fana added. The dam has faced opposition from Egypt, which fears the $4-billion (3.2-billion-euro) project on the Blue Nile which is expected to produce 6,000 megawatts -- the equivalent of six nuclear reactors -- will affect the river's downstream flows. In May, Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia agreed to set up a scientific committee to study the dam's impact. The renaissance dam is one of several "mega-projects" Ethiopia is pursuing that include railways and industrial parks aimed at transforming its economy and pulling the country out of poverty. Construction started in 2011, and two of its 16 turbines are scheduled to start producing power in 2018, the Ethiopian authorities said earlier this year. Cairo is primarily concerned at the speed at which the dam's reservoir would be filled. The Blue and the White Nile converge in Sudan's capital Khartoum and from there run north through Egypt to the Mediterranean. Simegnew's death is the second of a high-profile company official in recent months. In May, gunmen ambushed and killed Deep Kamra, the country manager for Nigeria's Dangote Cement, alongside two others in the Oromia region outside Addis Ababa.Worsening violence between farmers and herders could hit Nigeria's general election and "destabilise" the country, according to a new report published Thursday. The International Crisis Group (ICG) said the long-running battle for land and resources, fuelled by pressures from an increasing population, was now "Nigeria's gravest security threat," outstripping the peril from jihadism. At least 1,500 people have been killed in clashes between nomadic herders and sedentary farmers in central states since September last year, the thinktank said. Of these, more than 1,300 occurred between January and June this year, it added. This is at least six times higher than the number of people estimated estimated by the UN to have been killed by Boko Haram in the same period. The ICG said some progress had been made in tackling the crisis but more needed to be done ahead of elections, which typically heighten the risk of ethnic, religious and political tensions. "It (the conflict) is exacting an ever deadlier toll and, with elections looming in 2019, could destabilise the country if the government and other actors fail to contain it," it added. The first half of this year was the deadliest six months since the crisis worsened in 2014, it said in the report, "Stopping Nigeria's Spiralling Farmer-Herder Violence". The overstretched police and military were unable to cope and with attacks largely unpunished, communities had taken matters into their own hands. But much of the tit-for-tat violence has become more planned and involved increasingly well-armed and organised militia. In the deadliest attack, 11 villages were attacked last month in the Barakin Ladi area of Plateau state, in which more than 200 people from farming communities were killed. - Human and political cost - The ICG said "scorched-earth" campaigns had made more than 300,000 people homeless, with the displaced forced to stay with family and friends or in overcrowded, unsanitary camps. Local aid agencies were overwhelmed but there was very little help available elsewhere because of the humanitarian crisis sparked by the nine-year Boko Haram insurgency, it added. Mass displacement has had an affect on food production and was likely to drive up prices, as farmers were unable or unwilling to work the land because of fear of fresh attacks. President Muhammadu Buhari has been accused of failing to act against the herders because, like him, they are ethnic Fulani and Muslim. The ICG said that argument was "unsustainable", as Buhari had equally been unable to stop a rise in banditry and cattle rustling against Fulani Muslims in some northern states. But the perception had increased anti-Fulani and anti-Muslim sentiment in a country where communal tensions are rarely far from the surface and frequently boil over into violence. On the election, the researchers said the unrest could affect the ability of people to register to vote and political campaigning. Buhari, who was elected in 2015 on a pledge to defeat Boko Haram and improve security across the country, could equally see an erosion in support in central states, they added. He may still be able to rely on widespread support in his northern powerbase but his security record could hurt him elsewhere, they added.More than 150 Nepali women feared caught in trafficking racket

A woman who was said to be among more than 150 Nepali women held captive in Benaras, India, before their hostage-takers decided to free her has filed a human trafficking complaint against two alleged captors at Shivapur Police Station in Varanasi, India.By Prak Chan Thul

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Five former members of Cambodia's outlawed opposition party were found guilty and fined $2,500 each on Thursday for calling for a boycott of Sunday's general election.

The main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was dissolved last year and 118 members were banned from politics for five years, part of a wide-ranging crackdown by Prime Minister Hun Sen who is looking to extend 33 years in power.

Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) lodged a complaint against 30 former CNRP members in Battambang province after they posted pictures of themselves raising their index fingers on Facebook in what authorities said was an appeal to Cambodians to abstain from voting.

The CPP also complained about the sharing of messages by the former CNRP leader Sam Rainsy, who lives in exile in France.

Sam Rainsy launched a Clean Finger boycott campaign earlier this year. It refers to the ink used to stain the fingers of citizens who have voted.

"Their actions caused confusion among the population," Hang Puthea, spokesman for the National Election Committee (NEC), told Reuters, referring to the five found guilty.

Authorities have said calls to boycott the vote are illegal, but rights groups argue the advocacy is not against the law as Cambodia has a voluntary voting system and the right to free speech in its constitution.

Hang Puthea said that Chea Chiv, a former head of the CNRP in Battambang and one of the five people fined, was banned from politics by the Supreme Court when it dissolved the party last year and could face further punishment.

Another CNRP leader, Kem Sokha, was jailed in September on treason charges which his supporters say were politically motivated. He is currently in pre-trial detention near Cambodia's border with Vietnam.

Chea Chiv said he was worried about being arrested.

"This is the most unfair decision," Chea Chiv told Reuters. "Laws are being interpreted in ways that benefit (the ruling party)."

(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul. Editing by Tom Allard.)The military wing of Gaza's rulers Hamas on Thursday vowed revenge after Israeli strikes killed three militants in the latest flare-up of violence. Israel said the artillery fire late Wednesday was in retaliation for shots fired at troops along the border which injured one soldier. "We announce the raising of the preparedness level to the highest and alert all of our soldiers and forces in every location," said a statement from the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. "The enemy shall pay a high price in blood for the crime which it commits daily against the rights of our people and our fighters." The Gaza border was quiet Thursday morning, however. The three men were killed Wednesday by Israeli artillery fire targeting a Hamas military base near the border east of Gaza City. In total the Israeli army said it hit seven Hamas sites throughout Gaza in response to the border shooting. The military said nine projectiles -- likely mortars or rockets -- were fired at Israel from Gaza overnight, including one that was intercepted by air defence systems. It said most were fired at "open territory adjacent to the security fence". No injuries or damage were reported. The latest bloodshed came five days after the UN and Egypt brokered a deal to halt a July 20 surge in violence. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008. Tensions have spiked since Palestinians began protesting along the Gaza border in late March, with Israeli fire killing at least 153 Palestinians since then. Most were shot dead during protests and clashes but others were killed in Israeli airstrikes or artillery fire. One Israeli soldier was killed by sniper fire from Gaza, setting off a wave of Israeli strikes on July 20.Scorching hot weather set the conditions for Greece's wildfires -- Europe's deadliest this century with scores killed -- while record temperatures in the north of the continent have also sparked blazes causing widespread damage in recent days. Ten EU countries have mobilised firefighters and equipment to help battle the fires in Greece as well as Sweden and Latvia. Here is a roundup of the devastation. - Greece - The fires in Greece, which broke out Monday, are the deadliest in living memory. At least 82 people have been confirmed dead, while emergency crews were Thursday searching incinerated homes and vehicles for at least 27 missing, who include nine-year-old twin girls from the village of Mati. Coastal villages near Athens popular with holidaymakers were especially hard hit, with at least 300 homes destroyed or badly damaged. - Sweden - Sweden, experiencing an unprecedented drought and the highest temperatures in a century, is battling 23 fires across the country, down by half since last week. The fires have laid waste to at least 25,000 hectares (62,000 acres) including 13,000 hectares in the central Karbole region alone. Temperatures are still rising, with Pierre Schaller, the head of a French contingent helping the Swedes, telling AFP that with Thursday's predicted high of 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit) the fires could "take off again". But cooling rains are forecast for the weekend, when two Italian water-dropping aircraft that were deployed in Sweden last week will head to Greece, Swedish authorities told a news conference. - Latvia - A Belarusian helicopter was headed to Latvia on Thursday to help Latvian and Lithuanian firefighters battle a blaze that broke out on July 17. It has ravaged around 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) of peat bog, forest and scrubland in the west of the Baltic state but has not claimed any lives. Latvia has turned to neighbouring Belarus for help because EU resources are stretched fighting the wildfires in Greece and Sweden, according to the local Baltic News Service BNS. - Britain - Britain has been in the grip of its longest heatwave in decades, sparking wildfires in northwest England, water restrictions in Northern Ireland and record-breaking temperatures in Scotland. Sun worshippers in London's Hyde Park lounged in deck chairs set out on parched grass. The city's fire chief Dany Cotton remarked: "I never thought I'd say this, but we are praying for rain." A new British temperature record may be set on Friday, topping the 38.5 Celsius (101 Fahrenheit) registered in Kent in August 2003. With just 47 millimetres (1.8 inches) of rain recorded in Britain between June 1 and July 16, fire chiefs have warned that parks and other grasslands are like a "tinderbox". - The Netherlands - The Dutch meteorological institute on Thursday officially declared the Netherlands' first heatwave in three years, with the mercury hitting 36 degrees Celsius (97 Fahrenheit). The spell has lasted 12 days, making it the sixth longest heatwave since 1901. Authorities are planning for water shortages in several parts of the country. - Elsewhere in Europe - In Norway, which experienced its hottest May temperatures on record, one firefighter was killed on July 15 while battling one of a string of fires. Unaccustomed bikini weather has also come to Finland's northernmost Lapland province, the legendary headquarters of Father Christmas. burs-gd/rlpJapan on Thursday executed the last members of the cult sentenced to death for their role in the fatal 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway, weeks after the group's leader was hanged. The execution of the six Aum Shinrikyo members, years after they were put on death row, draws a line under the horrific attack which shocked the world and prompted national soul-searching over the group and its crimes. "Today the state executed six people," Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa said at a press conference. "I ordered the executions after extremely careful consideration." In all, 13 Aum members, including the cult's near-blind leader Shoko Asahara, were on death row for crimes including the 1995 sarin attack on Tokyo's subway. Local media said authorities wanted the death sentences against the Aum members to be carried out before Japan's emperor abdicates next year, when a new imperial era will begin. Since the Aum's crimes were committed during the Heisei era of the current emperor, authorities wanted the executions complete before the new era begins, local media reported. Some of the Aum's victims said it would be hard to simply move on. "With the 13 members executed, perhaps the case is closed from the point of view of criminal justice," Shizue Takahashi, whose husband was killed in the subway attack, told reporters. "(But) the damage done to the victims continues even after the executions. I find it very hard." The Aum gained international infamy with the 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway during rush hour, which killed 13 people and injured thousands more. Members of the group released the chemical in liquid form at five points throughout the subway network, and soon commuters began struggling to breathe, staggering from trains with their eyes watering. Others keeled over, foaming at the mouth, with blood streaming from their noses. The attack plunged the capital into chaos, and prompted a crackdown on the cult's headquarters in the foothills of Mount Fuji, where authorities discovered a plant capable of producing enough sarin to kill millions. Aum members, including those executed this month, were also convicted of crimes including an additional sarin attack in the town of Matsumoto the year before the Tokyo attack, and the murder of an anti-cult lawyer and his family. Many of the group's members remain in prison. - 'Heinous crimes' - The 13 cult members spent years on death row as prosecutors investigated their crimes, and some activists opposed the executions, fearing the members would be elevated to the status of martyrs. But victims of the group's attacks welcomed the execution of Asahara and six other Aum members earlier this month. One man who was injured in the subway sarin attack told AFP he felt "the world had become slightly brighter". Japan is one of the few developed nations to retain the death penalty, and public support for it remains high despite international criticism, including from rights group Amnesty International. "The taking of a life in retribution is never the answer," the group's East Asia researcher Hiroka Shoji said in a statement Thursday. But Kamikawa said it was "not appropriate under the current circumstances to abolish the death penalty." "I think we can't avoid capital punishment for those who have committed extremely heinous crimes," she said. Asahara developed his cult in the 1980s, and at one point the wild-haired "guru" had at least 10,000 followers, including the doctors and engineers who produced the group's chemical agents. Despite the crackdown on the Aum, it was never formally banned. It officially disowned Asahara in 2000 and renamed itself Aleph, but experts say the former guru retained a strong influence before his execution. Asahara's execution set off a battle among his surviving family members for his remains, with his wife and several children who are in successor cults to the Aum seeking to obtain them. He was cremated days after his execution, and his youngest daughter, who has broken with the Aum's successor cults, said she would receive his ashes, which will reportedly be scattered at sea to avoid creating a pilgrimage site for Asahara's followers.Two days before thousands of Singaporeans gathered to celebrate the 10th anniversary of gay pride rally Pink Dot, an LGBTQ activist was unceremoniously barred from taking part in a TEDx Talk session at St. Josephs Institution (SJI).

Despite being one of the key speakers asked to talk to students about her experiences, Rachel Yeo  Research & Advocacy director of the Inter-University LGBT Network  was disinvited just a day before the July 20 event by TedxYouth@SJI organizers, who pointed to still-unspecified Ministry of Education (MOE) regulations.

While the MOE did not respond to queries about the matter, an audio recording obtained by Coconuts Singapore of a recent speech to students made by SJI Vice Principal Leonard Tan seems to suggest that the schools powers that be are not down with the concept of activism. Full stop.

In the 15-minute recording, which addresses the controversy at length, Tan took pains to remind students that as a Catholic Lutheran school, SJI has its own Gospel-driven beliefs and values to uphold, a philosophy that has no room for socially divisive ideas.

Activism  any form of activism is socially divisive, he told the students. It divides society. It divides a community and a principle of the Josephian is were community builders. It goes against the very grain of what we stand for. We are community builders. We dont divide community. That is something that every one of you [have] got to think about in your journey in SJI, as you grow.

And if activism is bad, dont even think about protests.

On that subject, Tan suggested students read Platos Republic for a better understanding of why Singapore is right to suppress demonstrations. We assume here that hes referring to the philosophers discussion of the five types of regimes  a philosophy in which aristocracy is the highest form of government, while democracy  yikes  ranks just ahead of tyranny.

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In other words, the impressionable young students were told that the right thing to do is to keep their heads down and stay in line, even if they think public policy or social mores might be incorrect or discriminatory.

Photo: Saint Josephs Institution / Facebook

But what exactly is discrimination? You might think its the kind of thing you know when you see it, but its more complicated than that, the students were told, much more complicated.

Were not going to lie, what follows is a bit hard to dissect and we cant really do it justice, so were just going to let it speak for itself.

What exactly is this discrimination? Now before we jump on any bandwagon and say oh yeah, this so and so is discriminated against, this group is discriminated against  as potential leaders, as decision makers, as influencers, how do we understand discrimination? What is important to think about when we talk about discrimination? How does discrimination look like, in what forms does it take? How is the discriminated discriminated against? In what form? Is discrimination the lack of freedom for or the lack of freedom from What exactly is discrimination and what about those who are affected by this discrimination. That means within this discriminated group and the groups outside, the feelings of others. How does it look like? Do we consider the feelings of those when we advocate for this particular group, OK?

Its important, yes, the newspapers, online media, theres lots of information. But your call is to be discerning enough to see that through. Youve got the ability to think and think well. Sieve through, muddle through, cut across, cut away all the misinformation, all the stepping, all the distraction what exactly is the core issue when you talk about discrimination. What exactly is the point? What exactly is discriminated, is the discrimination about? And what exactly is wanted or not wanted? This begs a lot more discussion. I wont say I have the full answer.

Well, it may not have been the full answer but it was definitely a long one. Whew.

In response to the leaked recording of the speech, Yeo noted that she was most taken aback by VP Tans take on activism, something thats typically the lifeblood of young minds on university campuses the world over.

I think the public can form their own opinion. The only thing Id like to say is how disturbed I was by his bit on activism how warped it was, said Yeo. Its a shame this is what the boys are being taught.

The post Leaked recording reveals St Josephs Institution VP taking issue with activism in students appeared first on Coconuts.50Gram has conceptualised something called video bouquet, wherein it bundles short video recordings together with gifts sent by their customers

The 50Gram team

Kuala Lumpur-based online flower and gifting company 50Gram announced today that it has raised an undisclosed sum in seed funding led by TBV Capital.

The funds will be used to scale the e-commerce startups current operations, as well as expand the business into new markets across Malaysia and Singapore. A portion of the capital will also go into improving the platform.

Founded in 2016 by Spring Wong (CEO) and his brother Titus Wong, 50Gram has conceptualised something called video bouquet, wherein it bundles short video recordings together with gifts sent by their customers.

Also Read: This IoT device sends instant feedback of a players performance to the coach when he is in action

I started 50Gram to send flowers to my mother with a video attached on the card about 2.5 years ago. Ive realised that the experience was deeply satisfying for the recipient as it brings back many happy memories. With the skills and values that Ive brought in along with my partners, weve managed to scale 50Gram to become a well-reputable brand in the region, said Spring Wong, Co-founder of 50Gram.

I believe the new funding could bring the love. It opens up the opportunity for us to broaden our experiences in many other cities. That being said, more and more people will be able to experience our value, he added.

According to the Spring, 50Gram attained profitability in its third month of operations. Today, it claims to have surpassed over RM2 million (US$500,000) in annual turnover.

Launched in 2016 by serial entrepreneur and investor Andrew Tan, TBV Capital (earlier known as TinkBig Ventures) is a US$10-million fund that focuses on seed to series A investments across Southeast Asia. 50Gram has built a unique and personalised gifting experience that has made them profitable after just 3 months since establishment. With a injection of new capital, this would greatly enhance the network of gifting experiences across 30 cities nationwide including east Malaysia. Once they have scaled the franchising business model, they will be looking to expand to Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and Taiwan by the third quarter of 2019, said Tan.

The post Malaysias online flower and gifting startup 50Gram gets seed funding from TBV Capital appeared first on e27.Murder accused among three leaders takes ministers oath

The Province 2 government inducted three state ministers, including a murder suspect, from the Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJP-N) into the Cabinet on Wednesday.Many Chinese companies will go bankrupt, if US delivers on tariff threats, court newspaper warns

Chinas judiciary should prepare itself for a possible spike in the number of corporate bankruptcy cases as a result of the trade dispute between Beijing and Washington, state media warned.

In an opinion piece published on Wednesday by Peoples Court Daily, Du Wanhua, deputy director of an advisory committee to the Supreme Peoples Court, said that courts needed to be aware of the potential harm the tariff row could cause.

Its hard to predict how this trade war will develop and to what extent, he said. But one thing is sure: if the US imposes tariffs on Chinese imports following an order of US$60 billion, US$200 billion, or even US$500 billion, many Chinese companies will go bankrupt.

As Chinese courts have yet to have any involvement in the trade dispute, the fact that the newspaper of the nations top court, ran an opinion piece  for a judiciary-only readership  suggests concerns might be rising in Beijing about the possible socioeconomic implications of the row.

China to speed up US$199 billion of domestic spending to protect growth during US trade war

Du said the judiciary should also quickly familiarise itself with the possible complexities of such cases, which are probably unlike those they have handled in the past.

Preparedness ensures success. Unpreparedness spells failure, he said. Our courts need to look into these possible Chinese corporate bankruptcies as early as possible.

The worlds two largest economies have so far imposed 25 per cent tariffs on US$34 billion worth of each others imports, with reciprocal duties on a further US$16 billion of goods expected to take effect soon.

Washington has also threatened to impose 10 per cent tariffs on an additional US$200 billion of Chinese imports, with Beijing saying it would counter with qualitative and quantitative measures.

Chinese money pours into Brazil as US trade war bites, with US$54 billion across 100 projects

The tit-for-tat dispute escalated against last week when US President Donald Trump said he was prepared to add tariffs to almost all Chinese imports, or about US$500 billion worth of goods based on last years trade.

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A spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday that threats and intimidation would never work.

While Beijing has not published any forecasts for how the trade dispute might affect Chinas export companies, jobs or the economy, the commerce ministry said it was monitoring the situation on a continuous basis.

Huang Libin, a spokesman for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said on Tuesday that there had yet to be any significant impact on industrial output.

We hear complaints from [Chinese] companies that US clients have requested a suspension of orders and deliveries, but so far it has had only a limited impact on the industrial sector, he said.

Du also wrote that any bankruptcy cases created by the trade dispute would be very different from those involving the liquidation of zombie companies  a term used for underproductive and outmoded state-owned behemoths  as several of the firms at risk were promising hi-tech companies.

As deadline looms, US-China trade war leaves fate of Qualcomm-NXP merger hanging

While he did not mention any companies by name, Chinese telecoms manufacturer ZTE looked recently like it might be facing the threat of bankruptcy after being blacklisted by Washington. The Shenzhen-based company was banned from sourcing essential components from American suppliers after it was found guilty of breaching US business laws. The restriction was later lifted.

Du said in his article that Chinas hi-tech firms could find themselves paying more for imported raw materials, and if their sales markets were closed off they would soon be on the brink of insolvency.

Under such circumstances, the courts strategy should be protecting these companies under the law  or protecting their overall production capabilities, instead of liquidating and auctioning their assets piece by piece, he said.

Trump administration plans to send billions in emergency aid to US farmers affected by tariffs

Du also called for a list to be compiled of influential companies and investors in different industries that could be called upon to help restructure any companies that find themselves in trouble because of the trade dispute.

Because of the possible socioeconomic implications of the fallout, the government should also provide its full backing to the nations courts, he said.

Without the governments involvement and support, these problems wont be solved effectively, he said.

[And] even though bankruptcy procedures resulting from the trade war wont start immediately, we need to take precautions.

This article Many Chinese companies will go bankrupt, if US delivers on tariff threats, court newspaper warns first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018.By Sam Edwards

MADRID (Reuters) - More than 600 African migrants forced their way through the heavily fortified border fence separating the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco on Thursday, using circular saws, shears and mallets to cut through the wire.

Around 800 migrants tried to push through the barrier at dawn, the Interior Ministry said in a statement, deterring police from intervening by hurling plastic bottles of excrement, quick lime and using makeshift flame throwers.

Migration has become a political issue in Spain since Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez took office in June and shortly thereafter agreed to receive more than 600 migrants aboard a charity-run ship rejected by Italy and Malta.

Illegal migration to Spain has been increasing steadily for more than a year and arrivals by sea have risen dramatically in recent weeks with the arrival of warmer weather, straining services in some towns in southern Spain.

While the numbers of migrants crossing the land border in Ceuta has remained stable, irregular arrivals by sea have more than doubled from last year to almost 17,000 so far this year, according to Interior Ministry figures.

The recent spike in migrant arrivals is making it hard to process and accommodate the incomers, authorities and charities said on Thursday. Coast guard unions have called on the government for more resources to help with the influx.

The government held a crisis meeting with rescue services, police and charities on Wednesday to find emergency accommodation for 400 recently arrived migrants in the southern region of Andalusia.

Over 200 rescued migrants were forced to sleep on the rescue boats that brought them to shore this week in the town of Algeciras because there was nowhere to accommodate them, a city council spokesman said on Thursday.

"The processing centre we have is overwhelmed," he said.

Algeciras overlooks the narrow Strait of Gibraltar which separates Africa from Europe at just 14 kilometres (nine miles) at its narrowest point and has become a key route for migrants seeking to enter Europe.

(Editing by Sonya Dowsett and Stephen Powell)Reuters

Farmers in India are gathering in the largest rice crop in history, which promises record exports, while making sure to keep up their longest-running protest, set to turn a year old next month. The sit-in against controversial agriculture reforms is taking place in the capital, miles away from the five acres (2 hectares) of lush green rice paddies tended by Sukrampal Beniwal in his village of Munak, in the northern state of Haryana. "We'll not budge until the government rolls back the laws," he said, referring to three measures the farmers, demonstrating by the tens of thousands in New Delhi, say will threaten their livelihoods.LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's foreign minister told Britain on Thursday it should keep its doors open to "construction workers and waiters" as well as high-end professional migrants after it leaves the European Union.

"I've had the opportunity to tell the home secretary that Portugal doesn't have a segmented view on people's movement," Augusto Santos Silva said when asked about Britain's plans to prioritise highly-skilled European migrants after Brexit.

"Therefore the brightest EU migrants are also the construction workers and the waiters," Silva told reporters after meeting UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid.

Thousands of Portuguese live in Britain and many work as nurses, waiters and cleaners while British citizens living in Portugal are mostly pensioners. Portugal is actively courting wealthy British to move and invest there in the run up to Brexit.

Javid was in Lisbon to present London's recently published plan on leaving the EU and to discuss the rights of European and British citizens in both countries.

Britain and Portugal have the world's oldest alliance, signed under a 1386 treaty.

(Reporting By Catarina Demony; Editing by Axel Bugge and Andrew Heavens)Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told Russian media on Thursday his regime's next priority would be retaking Idlib province, currently dominated by rebels and jihadists. "Now Idlib is our goal, but not just Idlib," Assad said of the northwestern province, in comments carried on Russian newswires. "There are of course territories in the eastern part of Syria that are controlled by various groups... So we will be moving into all these regions," Assad added. "The military -- and it is at their discretion -- will decide priorities and Idlib is one of these priorities," he said. "Now we have liberated Ghouta, we will finish the liberation of the south-western part of Syria," Assad said. Syrian government forces launched an offensive last month backed by Russian planes to retake the south of Syria, including Daraa and Quneitra provinces. Russia, Turkey and Iran have held talks under the Astana peace process launched last year and agreed to create four "de-escalation" zones to pave the way for a nationwide ceasefire. Idlib is part of one such zone. It borders Turkey to the northwest but is otherwise almost totally surrounded by regime territory, prompting fears the government would eventually attack it. Idlib has received many rebels and their families evacuated from other regions under Russian-brokered "reconciliation deals" that then saw regime forces move in to take rebel-held areas. According to the United Nations, Idlib's population today stands at 2.5 million -- half of them displaced people. In the same interview Assad said rescue workers from the White Helmets group would be killed if they did not turn themselves in. "Either they can lay down their arms as part of an amnesty ongoing for four or five years, or they will be liquidated like any other terrorist," he said. Israel on Sunday helped more than 400 people -- opposition-linked White Helmets rescuers and their families -- flee a pocket of southwest Syria as government forces bore down on them. But hundreds more remain trapped in the south, fearing reprisals from approaching regime troops. Damascus accuses the White Helmets of being a front for jihadists. Assad also appealed for Syrian refugees, especially those who had their own businesses in the country, to return. The war has killed more than 350,000 people since it began in 2011 with a brutal government crackdown on protesters.NA meet postponed following NC protest

The meeting of the National Assembly (NA) has been postponed after the main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) obstructed Wednesdays procession, standing from their seats in a gesture of protest.Two technicians charged with rigging tests on concrete used to build a multi-billion-dollar bridge connecting Hong Kong with China and Macau have been jailed for 22 and 32 months respectively, reports said Thursday. Billed as the world's longest sea bridge, the project has been touted as an engineering wonder by its supporters but slammed as a "white elephant" by its critics. Officials say it will boost business and cut travel time, but opponents in Hong Kong see it as another attempt by Beijing to tighten its grip on the semi-autonomous city. There have also been safety concerns -- multiple workers have been killed in construction-related accidents and 19 lab workers were charged last year over faking concrete test reports, with one man jailed for eight months last December. Senior lab technician and supervisor Mak Pui-shing was sentenced to 32 months in prison on Thursday, while former assistant Kwong Fu-yin was jailed for 22 months, local media reports said. The court was told earlier that Kwong's attempts at rigging the tests included substituting the brick with a metal cylinder to meet strength requirements, the South China Morning Post reported. Dogged by delays, budget overruns, accusations of corruption and the deaths of construction workers, it is unclear when the bridge will officially open. Since 2011, at least 369 industrial accidents and nine deaths have been recorded, according to the labour department. Building started in 2009 on the 55-kilometre (34-mile) crossing, which includes a snaking road bridge and underwater tunnel, linking Hong Kong's Lantau Island to the southern mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai and the gambling enclave of Macau, across the waters of the Pearl River Estuary. Officials put the current cost overrun of the main bridge section at 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion), partly driven by engineering challenges, which have included problems with the drifting of reclaimed land. The original cost of that section, including bank loans, was 37.7 billion yuan.Motorcyclists ride past a Taiwanese national flag on referendum day that will decide if casinos can be built on the outlying island of Penghu, Taiwan October 15, 2016. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/Files

By Adam Jourdan

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Forty of 44 international airlines have amended their website references to Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, China's civil aviation regulator said on Thursday, adding that measures taken by U.S. airlines were still incomplete.

China has demanded that foreign firms, and airlines in particular, do not refer to self-ruled Taiwan as a non-Chinese territory on their websites, a demand the White House slammed in May as "Orwellian nonsense."

Taiwan is China's most sensitive territorial issue. Beijing considers the island a wayward province of "one China" and has not renounced the possible use of force to bring it under its control.

Hong Kong is a former British colony which returned to China in 1997 with wide-ranging autonomy. Macau, a former Portuguese colony, returned to China two years later.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), which has been pushing airlines to make the change, said four airlines had submitted rectification reports on Wednesday and sought a two-week extension for website audits.

The four were American Airlines Group Inc, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, it added.

The aviation regulator did not say in what way the amendments by the four airlines were incomplete.

Checks on Wednesday showed all four of the U.S. airlines now list only Taipei's airport code and city, but not the name Taiwan.

They made the changes in a bid to avoid Chinese penalties ahead of a deadline that had been set for July 25.

The CAAC added it would closely monitor the matter and could decide to take "appropriate steps" depending on the situation.

A Delta spokeswoman said U.S. carriers, including her airline, were in the process of implementing the website changes at China's request.

"We will remain in close consultation with the U.S. Government throughout this process," she said in response to the CAAC statement on Thursday.

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It is unclear how China might punish airlines that do not comply, but in December it added a clause to rules governing foreign airlines saying regulators could change a company's permit if it did not meet "the demand of public interest".

Representatives of American Airlines, United Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines did not respond immediately to requests for comment outside normal U.S. office hours.

(Reporting by Adam Jourdan and John Ruwitch in Shanghai; additional reporting by Jamie Freed in Singapore Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Nick Macfie)The heartbreaking violence thats become a daily occurrence in Honduras is regularly presented as a result of gangs and drugs  with victims chosen at random. But this problem cannot be understood without accounting for the current political climate. With farmers associations, indigenous activists and multinational companies at odds, victims are often targeted because of their occupations. These victims have included media professionals, human rights defenders, lawyers, peasant group workers and activists in the political opposition. The countrys already high rate of violent crime rose sharply after the 2009 coup detat and has remained at record levels ever since. Commentators are certainly correct that violence is spurring many Hondurans to flee for other countries, mostly Mexico and the United States, but they often miss that its inextricably linked to a toxic political situation.

Photography and text by Francesca Volpi.

Reporting for this article was funded by an Adelante fellowship and a grant from the International Womens Media Foundation.

_____

See more news-related photo galleries and follow Yahoo News Photo on Twitter and Tumblr.ELAINE K.

Bangkok, Thailand.- Massive flooding from a South Korean-constructed hydroelectric dam in Laos left several people dead and hundreds missing, state media said Tuesday. Rescue efforts were underway as top government officials rushed to the site and public appeals were launched for aid. The official Lao news agency KPL said part of the XepianXe Nam Noy hydropower dam in southeastern Attapeu province collapsed Monday evening, releasing large amounts of water that swept away houses, flooded villages and made more than 6,600 people homeless.

The website of the state-run Vientiane Times newspaper said two people were confirmed dead as of Tuesday afternoon and the government had declared the area an emergency disaster zone. It said continued rain and strong winds predicted for the next few days could make the situation worse. KPL said the disaster left hundreds of people missing, without providing details.

Many areas of Laos have recently been hit by floods from heavy seasonal rains. The dam was built by a joint venture led by two South Korean companies with Thai and Lao partners, and was still under construction. SK Engineering & Construction, one of the two South Korean partners, said in a statement that part of the upper area of one of five auxiliary dams at the project got swept away Sunday night after several days of heavy rain.

It said the auxiliary dam consisted mainly of earth and rock. SK E&C said repair work was hampered by heavy rain, and damage to the dam worsened on Monday, causing water to overflow and flood seven out of 12 villages in the area. The company said it joined rescue efforts and was trying to contain further damage. Photos and videos posted on social media showed people sitting on rooftops to escape the surging water, while others were carried to safety or rescued by boat.

State media said helicopters were also being used to rescue people. Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith suspended his governments planned Cabinet meeting and traveled with fellow ministers and other senior officials to Sanamxay district to monitor rescue and relief efforts, KPL and the Vientiane Times reported. Provincial authorities issued a call for emergency aid  clothing, food, drinking water, medicine, cash and other items  from the party, government organizations, business community, officials, police and military forces and people of all strata.Nepal holds first digital Cabinet meet (With photos)

Nepal government on Thursday held its first digital Cabinet meeting at Singha Durbar, Kathmandu on Thursday. The digital Cabinet meet was part of Prime Minister KP Sharma Olis commitment to go paperless.Christchurch, New Zeland.- Delaney Tarr says Valentines Day was supposed to be a time to celebrate beauty and love but instead turned into a day of fear when a gunman attacked her Florida school. But now shes finding inspiration among others who overcame heartbreak half a world away.

The 18-year-old senior is one of 28 students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, who are visiting New Zealand this week.

The goal of the trip is for the students to learn how to keep a youth movement going long after a tragedy has faded from the headlines. The model is New Zealands Student Volunteer Army, which began helping citizens in Christchurch after earthquakes devastated the city, including a 2011 quake that killed 185 people. More than seven years later, the group is continuing its civicminded work.

As part of their visit, the Florida students planted 17 trees on Tuesday to commemorate each of the students and staff members who were killed at their school. They placed pictures and notes with the saplings, and recounted memories of their former classmates and mentors in a ceremony that brought many of them to tears. While the tragedies in Florida and Christchurch came from very different origins, both groups of students say they feel a common bond. Tarr said the students in both countries banded together and got something done. We will never be able to really experience Valentines Day, to experience school, to experience life in the same way that we used to, she said.

And while that is heartbreaking, weve tried to make the most out of it. Weve tried so hard to make some positive change out of something that never should have affected us, never should have affected anyone.

And ultimately, thats why we are here now. Not as much to mourn the past but as to look forward to the future.CSLDF is fighting attacks on science. Heres how you can help.

Posted on 26 July 2018 by Guest Author

This is a guest post from Lauren Kurtz of the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund (CSLDF).

We at the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund (CSLDF) wanted to share what weve been up to in 2018 and ask for your help raising $100K to protect science.

As you know, todays political environment is extremely dangerous for science and scientists, which means were busier than ever. To help us meet the demand for our services and prepare for the challenges that lie ahead, Charles Zeller, one of our founding board members, is matching all donations, dollar for dollar, up to $50,000.

Weve raised $35K so far and need your help to meet our summer fundraising goal. Please consider making a gift to CSLDF today. Your contribution will not only be doubled, well put it to immediate use protecting science.

Were extremely grateful to the SkS community for contributing to our work since our founding over six years ago. With your continued support weve been able to provide vital free legal services to scientists, educate researchers about their legal rights and responsibilities, and call out attacks on science.

With that, heres a quick roundup of what weve accomplished so far this year:

Weve provided free legal advice and direct representation to 22 researchers on issues ranging from open records to scientific integrity complaints. We expect to exceed the number of scientists we helped in 2017.

Were documenting attempts by the Trump administration to restrict science. As of today, the Silencing Science Tracker, our project with the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, contains 145 entries  and counting. Read about it in The New Republic, Scientific American, and Think Progress.

We hosted a session at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting, where attorneys from CSLDF and the ACLU discussed steps scientists can take to avoid ending up in political crosshairs.

We hired a new attorney, Augusta Wilson, bringing our total staff to five. Augustas work is focused on defending scientists from threats and educating researchers on how to protect themselves.

Among our recent publications is a first-of-its-kind guide to the research protections available under state open records laws. Its designed to help scientists understand how the laws may affect their work and to help lawmakers to realize the implications of not protecting scientific research.

We expanded our Campus Reps initiative and held a third program training in April. As a result, there are now 23 law professors across the United States providing education and assistance to scientists at their institutions.

We continue to publish Scientists Stories, which focus on how attacks and anti-science actions impact researchers, both personally and professionally.

And there will be no shortage of action in the coming months. Among our many activities: In July we held an event in New York City with our local 500 Women Scientists pod; in September, were co-hosting a panel on attacks on climate science at Columbia Law School as part of Climate Week NYC; in November were co-hosting a webinar with the American Geophysical Union (AGU) on anti-lobbying restrictions for scientists; and in December youll find us at the AGU Fall meeting with an expanded presence.

If you cant support us financially, please help by spreading the word to others who might not be familiar with CSLDF. For more information, visit csldf.org or SkS own Getting involved with Climate Science via crowdfunding and crowdsourcing page.

Many thanks to SkS readers for your support and interest in our work  and the public service you provide at SkS!Hollywood may be built on lies and exploitation, but, according to the new film Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood, ex-pimp Scotty Bowers constructed an island of Utopian sex work and safe, queer hedonism for four decades within it, servicing both Hollywood royalty (Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Bette Davis, Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh) and literal royalty (the Duke and Duchess of Windsor). Sometimes Bowers did the work himself; often he outsourced the labor to his male and female contractors. With near-bored matter-of-factness, the ninetysomething Bowers recalls that J. Edgar Hoover preferred to have sex in drag and that Cole Porter once hired 15 men at the same time. (Whatever youre imagining probably isnt as filthy as what the iconic songwriter allegedly intended to do with them).

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How much of director Matt Tyrnauers film is true? Its impossible not to wonder. Not because Bowers comes across as a con artist, a teller of tall tales, or a man whose memory has begun to betray himhes none of those things. But his accounts and generalizations are based on anecdata and one mans limited-by-default perspective. Take Bowers insistence that Hepburn and Tracy were each others beards and that it was the actress who suggested that the gentleman hustler expand his services to include female escorts for female clients. The second of these assertions is impossible to verify. The first is confirmed by a Hepburn biographer, but the nature of the off-screen relationship between the legendary co-stars has long been disputed among historians and may well have wildly shifted during the actors quarter-century acquaintance.

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Its an important corrective to many contemporary and historical accounts of Hollywood, reinstating the queerness that has too often been straight-washed out of them.

It doesnt help that Tyrnauer often leaves details fuzzy or altogether behind. Looking at a class photo, he says of a schoolteacher he guesses he was taught by at age 11, I used to fix her up with a girl I was going with because she was a dyke, and her brother was gay, and I was tricking her brother. Who was a lesbian, and whose brother was gay, and how old was everybody involved? These data points are crucial to evaluating how much of the story that Bowers recounts is good, queer fun or something much less innocent.

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Thankfully, most of the time its pretty clear what kind of story were hearing. Scotty offers an afternoon with a nonagenarian telling his life story as he rifles through some photos and possessions. Bowers happens to be blessed with the spryness of someone three decades youngerin the opening scene, he affectionately honks his wifes boob for the cameraand a cache of showbiz dish to rival Hedda Hoppers entire body of work. But the doc is far from a mere jaunt through the rumor mill. Its also an important corrective to many contemporary and historical accounts of Hollywood, reinstating the queerness that has too often been straight-washed out of them, as well as a fascinating chronicle of an apparently nonexploitative model of sex work. And, most compellingly, its a tale about how the Depression shaped the course of one farm boys existence, keeping him active and hoarding into his 10th decade on Earth.

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I created the rainbow in Hollywood, Bowers says of his past life as a pimp to the stars. His recollections of his haven of sexual freedom, located within a gas station and nearby trailer on 5777 Hollywood Blvd., are notable for revealing a side of screen sex symbols whom generations of audiences would have preferred to ignore, even as others were desperate to connect to it. Indeed, Bowers is accosted by an angry reader at a book signing for his memoir, Full Service, who accuses the author of outing his former clients. In a different scene, a hairdresser tells Bowers, You took away their dream. Shame on you. (Never mind that Bowers waited until everyone he mentioned in his book was dead before he wrote about them.) But Bowers has no patience for those who prefer PR pablum to the truth, nor for the implication that there is something disgraceful about being gay. His defiance isnt just defensiveness. Hes rightly satisfied by having carved out not just a queer space in Hollywood history at a time when homosexuality was considered a career killer, a mental illness, and a virtual invitation for police brutality, but an evidently happy one.

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Such a feat wouldnt have been possible without Bowers fraternal template for sex work. A Marine during World War II, Bowers saw himself as helping out fellow veteransgood guys, he calls themwho, like him, ended up in Los Angeles after returning from Europe or the Pacific. Shockingly, Bowers didnt take a commission from his referrals. A former hustler attests, Ive tried working for pimps, and it was horrible. Scotty was never a pimp. He was a friend doing another friend a service, and helping both ends. Given Bowers entrepreneurial spirit, the revelation that he didnt bother taking a cut is unexpected, to say the least. (Apparently he made his living from a combination of sex work, renting out rooms in the gas-station trailer, and possibly being supported by a wealthy lover.) Given the distinctness of Bowers business plan, more context about the male hustling world of that era might have shed greater light on the ways Bowers stood apart.

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But Tyrnauer presses just the right amount when it comes to Bowers personal lifea mix of tragedy and grit whose contours are thoroughly those of the greatest generation. Bowers speaks with chuckling pride of the sexual experiences and labor he underwent as a youngster during the Depression. (Again, the film is vague about at what ages exactly.) Tyrnauer rightly asks whether his subjects first sexual encounter amounted to child abuse. In turn, Bowers is understandably annoyed, and understandably inflexible, when the filmmaker tries to reframe his origin story. Bowers similarly resists when Tyrnauer asks about his deceased daughter, who died, seemingly, of an illegal abortionproof that erotic liberty and indulgence have always been more readily accessible to some groups than others. Guided tours through his multiple homes and storage spacesso full of memorabilia, priceless and otherwise, that he and his wife, Lois, can barely move around in their own homesuggest a lifelong obsession with remembering his place in history: a revolutionary who knew he was doing something big, even if it was in secret. Now that hes gone from quietly supporting the movies to being the subject of one, hopefully Bowers can rest a little bit easier in the knowledge that his achievements wont be forgotten.Right-wing activists are on a pedophile-hunting spree. Over the past several days, supporters of Donald Trump have targeted a series of left-leaning celebrities for tweets and jokes that make light of child rape. Trump-hating filmmaker James Gunn, who was set to direct the third Guardians of the Galaxy movie, was fired by Disney on Friday after Mike Cernovich, Jack Posobiec, and other far-right trolls resurfaced years-old tweets in which Gunn joked about sex acts and children, including one in which he wrote, I like when little boys touch me in my silly place.

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In the wake of Gunns ouster, Cernovich, Posobiec, et al. began circulating a 2009 video that showed Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon pretending to sexually assault a baby doll.

Harmon, who has ranted about Trumps pandering to Nazis on his podcast, apologized and deleted his Twitter account. Adult Swim, which airs Rick and Morty, has stood by Harmon.

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While Harmon reportedly filmed the video as a low-budget send-up of Dexter, Trump fans on public-facing platforms like Twitter said the clip was evidence of his perverse sexual fantasies and/or his lack of concern for survivors of childhood abuse. In the privacy of their own forums, they told a different story. The Guardian reported that a 4chan user defended the decision to publicize the video by referencing Roseanne Barrs ouster from her eponymous ABC sitcom after she compared black Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett to an ape. If they get to take scalps for someone making racist jokes, the user wrote, we get to take scalps for them making pedophilia joke.

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To understand the nature of these public and private conversations, start by looking back at Pizzagate, the conspiracy theory that Cernovich and Posobiec helped spread just after the 2016 election. That myth, which took hold in the white-supremacist fringes of the internet, held that Washington pizzeria Comet Ping Pong was a cover for a pedophilic sex-trafficking ring led by Democratic Party leaders, including Hillary and Bill Clinton. The propaganda campaign eventually inspired a believer with an assault weapon to shoot up the pizza place, claiming he was there to free the captive kids. Since that incident, Cernovich has deleted his Pizzagate-related tweets, while Posobiecwho went to Comet to livestream an investigationlater claimed that he never believed the conspiracy theory.

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The attacks on Gunn, Harmon, and Comet Ping Pong are all examples of the same bizarre phenomenon: a bad-faith, right-wing fixation on pedophilia as a panic-raising ploy to discredit and silence progressive celebrities. While the Pizzagate gunman had clearly convinced himself that something sinister was going on in the back rooms of Comet Ping Pong, we should take Posobiec at his word that he thought the rumors were stupid claims. Similarly, its impossible to imagine that Cernovich, Posobiec, and their ilk genuinely believe that Gunns tweets are anything more than bad jokes. Cernovichs tweets comparing Barr and Gunn (Roseanne made an accidental racial joke. Once. Gunn had a patter and history going back years) made it clear he was playing a political game. Posobiec, meanwhile, started the hashtag #JamesGunnMovieTitles on Tuesday morninghis own entries included Illegally Blonde, KinderGuardians of the Galaxy, and Mad Max: Felony Roadseamlessly transitioning into making jokes about child rape after spending a couple of days decrying jokes about child rape.

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Right-wing pedophile-accusers are simply grasping for the easiest way to tarnish someones name. Adult women are unsympathetic as a victim classotherwise, Cernovichs own history of rape tweets might have forced him to fire himself from his job as an inveterate tweeterbut imaginary children are just right. Once the word pedophilia is uttered, a risk-averse corporation like Disney is going to do what a risk-averse corporation does. (Adult Swim deserves credit for not falling for this ploy.) This is the same tactic Cernovich pioneered during Gamergate, the movement in which a group of mostly men targeted mostly women who wrote feminist analyses of the video game industry and gamer culture. In one case, Cernovich successfully lobbied Gawker advertisers to end their arrangements with the site after a Gawker writer tweeted an obvious joke about bullying gamers.

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The same strategies that worked back thentarget individuals critical of your movement, make their identities known to a large group of angry people, embarrass their employersare still effective now. In both Gamergate and this current wave of pedophilia accusations, far-right agitators have ginned up legitimate-sounding pretexts (ethics in games journalism, child rape) to abet their goal of harming their political enemies. With the help of social media platforms that allow them to spread disinformation to millions of users and bots, these guys can easily win the numbers game that convinces companies that firing a progressive employeelike Sam Seder, who was briefly let go from MSNBC after Cernovich found a 2009 tweet joking about Roman Polanskiis the smart thing to do.

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Pizzagate and pedophile-smearing also have something in common with the day care and satanic-abuse hysterias of the 80s and 90s. Moral panics function somewhat like parables: They validate a groups anxieties in a dramatic way, they exonerate the anxious from culpability, and they assign blame, wrote Richard Beck, author of We Believe the Children: A Moral Panic in the 1980s, of the relationship between Pizzagate and those earlier conspiracies. Alt-right and mens rights activists are nothing if not anxiousanxious about falling white birth rates, the increasing prominence of communities of color, the entrance of feminist rhetoric into mainstream discourse, growing visibility and rights for LGBTQ people, the election of a black president and the near-election of a female one, and mounting pushback against people who say racist and sexist things in public. By accusing progressives of pedophilia, men scared of losing power can convince themselves and their like-minded peers that they have legitimate reasons to orchestrate their opponents downfall.

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The day care abuse hysteria, Beck noted, was similarly rooted in anxieties about gender equality and perceived threats to the heterosexual nuclear family. As the institution that cared for the children of working mothers during the week, day care became an object of suspicion for people who believed that a womans proper place was at home with the kids, he wrote. People who suspected that day care pedophilia rings were sweeping the country were partially preoccupied with the idea of gay people existing around children. Gay people like day care worker Bernard Baran and the lesbians of the San Antonio four were unjustly prosecuted on account of their sexuality under the guise of a crackdown on pedophilic abuse. Likewise, Pizzagaters latched on to Comet Ping Pong as a supposed site of child rape in part because the owner is a gay man, an easy target for accusations of pedophilia. The white supremacists who went after the pizza place dug up pictures of drag queens who performed there and presented a gay bartenders personal Instagram post of two men sharing a slice of pizza as apparent proof that something depraved was going on there.

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Cernovich, Posobiec, and the other right-wingers who have now made vocal anti-Trump comedians their main targetsincluding, in recent days, Patton Oswalt and Michael Ian Blackarent saying the so-called pedophiles theyre exposing are gay. But their followers have been quick to link one moral outrage with the other.

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People on the right are hungry for a win on the family-values front, a morals-based excuse to vote and advocate for the profoundly immoral.

In a forum on HLTV.org on Sunday, users discussing Harmons video joked that the LGBTQ acronym should be changed to LGBTP. Those people need to be slaughtered, one person wrote. On FFTodayForums.com, a user who quotes Trump in his profile posted a link to the video under the title, #Himtoo Dan Harmon next up for being a pedophile. Farther down the thread, others commented that this is the crew constantly moralizing at the rest of us and that Hillary spent half her campaign hanging out with them  they couldnt trot enough of them out on the stage at the DNC. Its not entirely clear to whom them refers in that comment, but its most likely trans people. (The July 2016 Democratic National Convention was the first in history to feature a transgender speaker.) Another user explicitly linked pedophilia to the issue of trans bathroom access, which the GOP has tried to restrict through legislation: You mean you are opposed to your little girl using the same restroom as a grown man who decides to take a little extra peek between the door crack when hes walking by and hears her going tinkle? Bigot.

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Its tempting to dismiss the pedophile-pushers as fringe actorsnuisances whose fake pedophile hunts will peter out when they run out of bad tweets to trumpet. But theyve already gotten themselves a sympathetic audience in Congress: Sen. Ted Cruz has tweeted multiple times that Gunn should be prosecuted if hes telling the truth about molesting children in his joke tweets. Cernovich has been tweeting and retweeting requests for members of Congress to schedule a hearing on child sex abuse in Hollywood. It wouldnt shock me if such hearings actually took place.

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People on the right are hungry for a win on the family-values front, a morals-based excuse to vote and advocate for the profoundly immoral. Our Republican president allegedly liked to make surprise tours of his pageant dressing rooms to ogle the half-naked teenage contestants. He also once speculated about the size of his 1-year-old daughters future breasts and has told several young girls that hed be dating them in a few years. Thats not to mention the more than 20 women whove accused the president of sexual harassment or assault. With this unabashedly abusive man leading the GOP from the White House, and with a literal Nazi and a credibly accused child molester representing the party on the ballot, mainstream right-wingers are sick of holier-than-thou liberals scolding the GOP. Cernovich and his acolytes arent interested in the right developing a conscience. Theyd rather do away with moral authority altogether than try to reclaim some semblance of it for themselves.The former archbishop of Washington was abruptly removed from public ministry last month after an investigation by the Archdiocese of New York found credible an accusation that Theodore McCarrick had sexually assaulted a 16-year-old altar boy in the early 1970s. McCarrick, who retired more than a decade ago, released a statement saying, I have absolutely no recollection of this reported abuse, and believe in my innocence. But, he wrote, he accepted the decision that he no longer practice public ministry. McCarrick is the highest-ranking American Catholic leader to be removed from office due to an accusation of child sexual abuse.

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Since the announcement last month, more accusations against McCarrick have continued to emerge, thanks to reporting from the New York Times and the Washington Post. In a recent piece, one man said that McCarrick abused him for almost two decades, starting when the boy was just 11 and McCarrick was a 39-year-old family friend the children called Uncle Teddy. When the boy was 15, the priest took him to a restaurant in San Francisco and poured vodka in the teenagers drink, then brought him back to his hotel room and masturbated the boy and himself. Last week, the accuser filed a police report, hoping to, as the Times wrote, give courage to others who might have been abused, and to find some justice for himself. Several men who were studying to be priests in McCarricks diocese have also accused him of various degrees of sexual misconduct.

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Just months before the Globes Spotlight team broke its story of child sexual abuse, McCarrick was made archbishop of Washington.

These abuses of power were not public, but neither were they secret. Two dioceses in New Jersey paid settlements to McCarrick accusers, in 2005 and 2007. A New York priest sent letters to the Vatican and two American authorities about McCarricks actions; another priest wrote to a New Jersey bishop about his alleged experiences of abuse. None of this stopped McCarrick from a steady series of promotions and honors within the church. He retired in 2006 and was reportedly allowed to live on a seminary property in his retirement. (In 2016, the Vatican found that the founder of the religious order that staffs the parish engaged in inappropriate sexual relationships with seminarians.)

In 2001, just months before the Boston Globes Spotlight team would break the story of the last major abuse scandal to rock the American church, McCarrick was made archbishop of Washington. In that role, he helped design and promote new policies on protecting young people in the church and dealing with the sexual abuse of minors, which were announced with great fanfare at a bishops conference in Dallas in 2002. We must put an end to this, McCarrick said at the time, sitting on a public panel announcing the new documents. We cannot have Dallas two and Dallas three and Dallas four.

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But as many critics have pointed out over the past few weeks, there was an important moment at that meeting of bishops that went largely ignored at the time. The committee replaced the term clerics with the phrase priests and deacons in a document on how the American church should respond to abuse allegations. Clerics would have included bishops in the disciplinary policy, while priests and deacons omitted them. That decision meant that since 2002, priests and deacons accused of sexual misconduct with seminarians have generally been prohibited from serving as pastors and church leaders. But that level of accountability has notit now seemsapplied to the higher ranks of bishops.

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As accounts of McCarricks alleged abuses now emerge, Catholic columnists and media outlets are enraged by the code of silence that protected him for so many years. On Wednesday, Ross Douthat called for an inquest, a special prosecutoryou can even call it an inquisition if you want to find out who knew what and when about McCarricks violations, and why they remained silent. The National Catholic Reporter proposed a Vatican investigation of the American church.

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McCarricks fate within the church now rests with Pope Francis, who is also facing clerical abuse scandals in Honduras and Chile. Boston Cardinal Sean OMalley, the popes main adviser on sex abuse reform, issued a statement on Tuesday highlighting the major gap between the churchs policies toward abusive priests and abusive bishops. But OMalley himself has been accused of ignoring McCarricks sins: In 2015, according to the Washington Post, a New York priest wrote OMalleys office a letter about the reports he had heard from seminarians about McCarricks behavior. OMalleys office wrote him back, saying it wasnt his job to review individual accusations of abuse.The city of Kingman, Arizona, is the latest target of Sacha Baron Cohens satirical show Who Is America?, and local officials are scrambling to respond to the comedians portrayal of Kingman residents as racist.

In a segment that aired on Sunday, Cohen poses as a member of a development firm presenting plans for a multimillion dollar project in Kingman to a focus group of residents. When Cohen reveals the project would be the worlds largest mosque outside the Middle East, the locals are not pleased, and they vehemently criticize Cohens increasingly outlandish ideas. One participant says that he associates the word mosque with terrorism and later states that we dont even want [Muslims] in our town. Another man asserts outright that he is racist towards Muslims. Someone else implies that even black people are unwelcome in Kingman.

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Once Kingmans leaders saw how the show depicted the city, they quickly tried to do some damage control. Mayor Monica Gates condemned the shows portrayal, saying that it was misleading and did not reflect the city she knows. Gates also questioned whether the focus group participants were actually members of the community. I didnt recognize a soul in that video, she told the Washington Post.

On Tuesday, the city posted a statement on Facebook, claiming that Cohen baited the focus group participants into making bigoted statements and further alleging that many of the people in the segment do not actually live in Kingman. The statement initially tries to downplay the significance of the Who Is America? segment, pointing to the shows very low ratings and noting that other American cities have their fair share of intolerant residents.

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However, the statement then pivots to announce that the city will double down on its diversity and inclusion efforts in response to the segment:

It might be easy to laugh off what took place Sunday night  [b]ut shrugging this off is not going to be us. Were going to use this opportunity to keep moving our community forward with the help of many community stakeholders including the Kingman Interfaith Council. And while weve been making progress the comments in the show, fairly or unfairly, show that we still have more work to do.

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The statement lists plans to introduce a resolution in support of National Hispanic Heritage Month, invite a prominent black pastor to Kingman to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and coordinate with Kingmans Interfaith Council to develop the citys first-ever Diversity Commission. These initial steps are promising, though it remains to be seen what will happen once the public outcry over the segment wanes.

Could Cohen have imagined that a town would attempt to reckon with the deep-seated racism and xenophobia exposed by his show? If so, Who Is America? might be good for much more than a few laughs.In what was either an act of radical political sabotage or radical teenager-ness (or both), a big old yacht belonging to the family of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was surreptitiously untied from its dock in Lake Erie last weekend, causing thousands of dollars in damage. From the Toledo Blades report on the incident in Huron, Ohio:

The Seaquest was moored at the Huron Boat Basin, 330 Main St., according to a police report. The captain of the 163-foot yacht, worth a reported $40 million, called police at about 6 a.m. Sunday, telling them that he and the crew realized at sunrise that someone had untied Seaquest from the dock, setting it adrift. The crew eventually got control of the yacht, but not before it struck the dock, causing an estimated $5,000 to $10,000 in damage from large scratches and scrapes, according to the police report.

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The Seaquest is among at least 10 boats owned by the DeVos family, the Wall Street Journal has reported. (DeVos is heir to an auto-parts fortune and married into the family that co-founded Amway.) The DeVoses also own at least four planes and two helicopters and maintain a company, RDV Corp., to manage family affairs; job listings at the company have included a Household Administrative Assistant position whose duties included Assist teen with identifying list of clothing and personal items to pack for travel.

Its not clear what the DeVos yacht was doing in Huron, a small town between Toledo and Cleveland, but Im guessing it was not related to a reservation at the Quality Inn:

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Free breakfast! And yes, that includes eggs, sausages, and pancakes, not just rolls and stuff. (I called to check.)

Huron, its worth noting, is only 10 miles from the Cedar Point amusement park, a Midwestern institution so beloved that one Slate staffer attested this morning that her family named their dog Mil after its Millennium Force roller coaster. Cedar Pointfun place.An attorney for Brock Turner, who famously served just three months in a California county jail after sexually assaulting a woman on the ground behind a dumpster at Stanford University, appeared in court on Tuesday to appeal Turners conviction on the charge of attempted rape. Turner wasnt attempting rape at all when he thrust his body against an unconscious womans naked genitals in 2015, lawyer Eric Multhaup told the three appellate court judges. He was merely attempting outercourse.

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The particularities of language matter a great deal in Turners case. When he first became a household name following his victims release of her heart-wrenching, beautifully written impact statement, anti-rape activists argued that journalists should start calling him a rapist, not a Stanford swimmer. And last year, a college textbook about criminal justice placed his mugshot next to the section titled Rape, calling him rapist Brock Turner.

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But Turner was never convicted of rape. He was convicted of three felonies related to sexual assault: assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated person, sexually penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object, and sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object. In California, rape requires a perpetrator to commit forcible sexual intercourse, which Turner did not.

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According to a report from the San Jose Mercury News, Turner is trying to get his conviction on that first charge overturned by arguing that he only wanted to nonconsensually rub his body against hers, without penetrating her. Turner only stopped abusing the woman when two graduate students on bicycles found Turner on top of her and saw she was not moving; when Turner tried to run, they tackled him. Now, Multhaup is trying to convince the appeals court that if those two men hadnt stopped by, Turner would have stopped on his own, without going any further than penetrating her with his fingers.

The term outercourse is not widely used, but in the sexual health community, it generally means anything besides penis-in-vagina sex. That leaves a wide range of acts Turner could have committed, or intended to commit, under the terms umbrella. His lawyers argument, taken at face value, would also render the charge of attempted rape nearly impossible to prove. Juries and judges can only assess a perpetrators intent based on his or her actionsrare is the perp wholl flat-out tell a victim or bystanders, Im trying, unsuccessfully, to rape this person!

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Short of that kind of blatant admission, Turners behavior offers about as clear a picture of his intent as a prosecutor could hope for. He pulled off the victims bra from under her dress, hiked the dress up around her waist, removed her underwear, and spread her legs. He put his fingers inside her, mounted her, and didnt get off of her until he was under threat of being caught. Theres nothing to suggest he intended to stop just short of rape and walk away after another minute or two of nonconsensual outercourse.

But thats exactly the story Multhaup tried to sell to the judges on Tuesday. He said jury members unjustly filled in the blanks when they deduced that Turner intended to rape the woman in 2015. The Mercury News described the judges as poker-faced, but one, Franklin D. Elia, seemed skeptical of Multhaups argument. I absolutely dont understand what you are talking about, he said. Intent is rarely proved by direct evidence. If direct evidence were the standard for attempted rape, the only real proof would be rape itself.Its over: Centrists are fighting to moderate the Democratic Partys energy. But, Osita Nwanevu writes, the ideas that enthuse most people on the left right now are already emphatically progressive.

Swipe and tap: Cashlessness is the wave of the future, businesses say. Cashless payments have serious disadvantages for the consumer, Henry Grabar counters.

Too much power: Stand your ground laws supposedly apply to all races. But in actuality, because of the way killings tend to be prosecuted, they give white people the impunity of police officers, Jamelle Bouie writes.

One way to do it: For people who own real estate in desirable urban locations, Felix Salmon argues, paying off your mortgage is the same thing as saving for retirement. (You gotta have the money to buy in those expensive cities first, though.)

For fun: A New Yorker in Los Angeles.

Suffering through it,

RebeccaPolitical observers are quite familiar by now with the Brett Kavanaughshaped dilemma facing red-state Democratic senators this year: They dont want to alienate their liberal base by voting for Donald Trumps Supreme Court pick, but they also need to win over a substantial slice of Trump voters this fall. For now, the vulnerable incumbents have settled on making a show of not making up their minds, hoping voters will see indecision as independence.

Faced with a similar quandary from the opposite side, however, the most vulnerable Republican senatorarguably the only oneup this November never hesitated. Sen. Dean Heller was hyping the prospect of an opening on the high court as far back as March, and he urged his colleagues to confirm Trumps pick even before the president made it. The senior senator from Nevada then joined Trump at the White House for the official announcement earlier this month, and after meeting with Kavanaugh in private last week, Heller lauded him as a mainstream jurist and an exceptionally qualified nominee.

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Hellers early support comes with considerable risk, though. Heller is the lone Republican senator up for re-election this year in a state that voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016. And after vehemently opposing candidate Trump that year, Heller has increasingly embraced President Trump. The GOP attempt last year to repeal Obamacare was an illustrative example: After opposing one bill, Heller eventually bowed to Trumps pressure to vote for a narrow version. Look, he wants to remain a senator, doesnt he? Trump told reporters as Heller looked on nervously at the White House. The president rewarded Heller for his eventual loyalty by clearing the GOP primary field for him this spring, and coming to Nevada to stump for him this summer.

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All of that would have made it difficult for Heller to dither over his Kavanaugh decision, but if he had, he could have presented it as evidence that hes not the rubber stamp for Trumps agenda that Democrats argue he is. Instead, Heller is betting big that joining the sure-to-be-messy confirmation fight will impress Nevada Republicans, many of whom remain skeptical about just how conservative Heller is.

Nevada Democrats, unlike those in red states like North Dakota or West Virginia, seem eager to have the SCOTUS fight. Their well-funded nominee, first-term Rep. Jacky Rosen, isnt in any position to cast a vote, but she told Politico this week that while shes still doing her homework on Kavanaugh, right now I couldnt see myself voting yes to confirm him. Unlike Heidi Heitkamp, Joe Manchin, and other vulnerable Democratic incumbents, Rosen has the luxury of coming out against Kavanaugh now because her path to victory doesnt necessarily require winning over Trump voters. If the Senate-race vote breaks down between the two parties the same as it did in the presidential race, Rosen will beat Heller and head to Washington next year.

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Rosen doesnt have much room for error, thoughClinton won Nevada by a little more than 2 points and with only a plurality of the total vote, even though Obama won it by far larger margins twice. But a contentious confirmation fight could help her improve on Clintons numbers. A clear majority of Nevadans believe abortion should be legal in most cases, giving Rosen the chance to play up Kavanaughs expected role in gutting Roe v. Wade. And in a NIMBY twist, Kavanaugh once issued a ruling from the U.S. appellate bench that effectively thwarted the Obama administration on the one issue that unites both parties in Nevada: scrapping plans to create a massive federal repository for Americas nuclear waste about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

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The Yucca Mountain project, as its known, dates back to the Reagan administration and has long been a top priority for the nuclear industry and its Republican allies in Congress, but derailing it has largely been a bipartisan goal in Nevada. Both Heller and Rosen have taken credit for helping slow down the plan, but Democrats are already trying to wield Kavanaughs ruling as a weapon against Heller. They can also point to Trumps support for the project to make their case.

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It doesnt take much in this deep purple state to tip a Senate race to one party or another. Heller won his first full term six years ago by less than 2 percentage points, or about 12,000 votes of nearly 1 million cast. The last Senate election was also a squeaker, with Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto eking out the win by a little more than 2 points over her GOP opponent, who withdrew his endorsement of Trump a month before Election Day after the Access Hollywood tape. In both years, roughly 4 percent cast protest votes for None of these candidates, an option on the Nevada ballot.

Faced with that treacherous political landscape, Heller appears to have put his faith in Trump, believing the president will attract more Nevadans than he will repel this year. Its unclear whether Heller had any other option if he wanted to survive his primary, but its a curious decision in a state Trump didnt win two years ago.Nepal-China team to build cross-border power line

Nepal and China have formed a joint technical team to expedite the construction of the first ever cross-border transmission line. The 400 kV trans-Himalayan power line will link Rasuwagadhi and Kerung across the northern border.Donald Trumps historic unpopularity has yet to harden into conventional wisdom, even as hes trailed previous presidents in job approval at nearly every point in his administration. Instead, mainstream pundits and reporters focus on his relatively high marks with Republican voters, convinced that this gives insight into his political standing. The idea isnt completely unreasonable; without Republican unity, Trump would have lost the election. The moment GOP voters break with the president is the moment hes undeniably in political trouble.

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But this is also a truism: the moment any president loses his base is the moment he is trouble. A better measure, especially for the winner of a close election like Donald Trump, is performance with more marginal supporters: people who werent typical Republican voters, who didnt like Trump himself, but who chose him over the Democratic alternative for contingent and provisional reasons. They are voters who liked Trumps message on jobs and trade, and ignored his crude and inflammatory rhetoricvoters who wanted a generic change in the White House, and thought Trump might deliver.

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We know that these voters were disproportionately white, and less likely to hold a college degree. And we know they were concentrated in the industrial Midwest, where Trump made dramatic gains over previous Republican presidential nominees. The latest national survey from Marist and NBC News polls several of those states, giving us a snapshot of the presidents popularity with voters he has to hold to win a second term. The picture isnt great.

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In Michigan, where Trump won by 11,000 votes, 54 percent of registered voters disapprove of his performance, compared to 36 percent who approve. In Minnesota, where he narrowly lost, 51 percent currently disapprove, compared to 38 percent who approve. And in Wisconsin, a state he won by 23,000 votes, 52 percent disapprove, compared to 36 who approve.

By wide margins, voters in these states want a Democratic Congress. They want that Congress to act as a check and balance on Trump. Despite the growing economy, few give him credit for economic improvement, and looking ahead to 2020, nearly two-thirds in each state say its time to give a new person a chance in the White House.

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Trumps unpopularity, nationally, and Democrats growing advantage on the congressional generic ballot havent made a substantial difference in how the president is covered. Some of this reflects the way his most visible supporterswhite, blue-collar workersare used to symbolize an authentic Americanness which then colors perceptions of Trump himself. If he wins these most American of Americans, then perhaps he still channels the popular will in some imperceptible way. Likewise, some of this reflects shell shock from the 2016 election: Even those aware Trump could win didnt believe he would, prompting a crisis of epistemology when he did. If we were wrong thenignorant of his appeal to millions of Americansperhaps we are wrong now.

But the lesson of 2016 isnt to ignore the polls; its to pay greater attention to what theyre actually saying. On the eve of the election, they were increasingly favorable to Trump. As Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight wrote at the time, the possibility of an Electoral College-popular vote split keeps widening in our forecast.

What are polls saying now? That Trump, and his party, are in serious political danger.Todays ruling by federal court Judge Peter Messitte in one of the three emoluments cases against President Trump was a big win for the plaintiffsand a bigger win than many had expected. It sets the stage for potentially shutting down the Trump International Hotel in D.C. as a violation of the government lease and thus an unconstitutional emolument. The legal interpretation in this decision would force Trump to divest from the hotel entirely.

For a little background, recall there are two emoluments clauses in the Constitution: The Foreign Emoluments Clause provides that no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under [the United States], shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

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The Domestic Emoluments Clause provides, The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

After the court ruled that the Foreign Emoluments Clause applies to the president, it adopted the plaintiffs definition of emolument as any profit, gain, or advantage, relying on the research of law professor John Mikhail (a co-author with me of our amicus brief in the case). The court acknowledged this historical purpose of the clauses: the Court does not see how the historical record reflects anything other than an intention that the Emoluments Clauses function as broad anti-corruption provisions.  The Foreign Emoluments Clause was unquestionably adopted against a background of profound concern on the part of the Framers over possible foreign influence upon the President (and, to be sure, upon other federal officials). The court cited many examples of the historical context from the founding, and discussed how the executive branch has applied the clauses in a manner consistent with that interpretation of the clauses. (The court acknowledged an exception for de minimis benefits, i.e., inconsequential minor benefits.)

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Then the court applied this interpretation to the Trump Organization and the Trump International Hotel specifically. In addition to problems with foreign and state governments spending money at the hotel, the court focused on an even more fundamental problem and laid out the facts hinting at an allegation of direct corruption [emphasis added]:

Plaintiffs allege that the Hotel received an emolument from the Federal Government in the form of the GSA Lease, which governs the Hotels use of the Old Post Office Building in the District of Columbia, where the Hotel is situated. Section 37.19 of the Old Post Office Lease states: No  elected official of the Government of the United States  shall be admitted to any share or part of this Lease, or to any benefit that may arise therefrom. Plaintiffs allege that, before the Presidents inauguration, the then-Deputy Commissioner of the GSA indicated that the President would be in violation of the Lease unless he fully divested himself of all financial interests in it. Shortly after his inauguration, the President replaced the Acting Administrator of the GSA. Plaintiffs allege that several weeks later, on March 16, 2017, less than two months into his term, the President released a proposed budget for 2018 that increased the GSAs funding, while cutting back on other the funding of other agencies. On March 23, 2017, the GSA issued a letter determining that the President and the Hotel were not in violation of the Lease. Plaintiffs allege that the GSAs abrupt about-face position was and is in direct contradiction of the plain terms of the Lease and that, by determining that the Hotel was and is in compliance with the Lease, the Federal Government bestowed upon the President an emolument in violation of the Domestic Emoluments Clause. These allegations plausibly state a claim under the Domestic Emoluments Clause.

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While procedurally this ruling is merely a denial on a motion to dismiss, Judge Messitte is making conclusions of law that would apply at trial and adding the clear conditions of the lease. After all, any benefit means any benefit.

Even if a trial might not factually establish a corrupt deal by Trump, this ruling strongly suggests that a trial would lead to shutting down the Trump International Hotel as an unconstitutional violation and would force Trump to divest entirely. If there is a motion for summary judgment, the court already might have sufficient evidence to shut down the hotel. And plaintiffsthe attorneys general of D.C. and Marylandwould still be able to investigate the impermissible emoluments that Trump has already accepted.

Of course, Trump will appeal to the Supreme Court first. But if there is a trial, the next phase of discovery might investigate how Trump was able to obtain this lease in contradiction of its clear terms. And because such direct corruption could be considered an abuse of power, this trial could become even more perilous legally and politically for Trump.On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman rejected the governments efforts to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census, ruling that the Trump administration may have added that question illegally.

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced in March that a citizenship question would be included on the upcoming census. He asserted that the question, which has not been on the decennial census since 1950, was requested by the Department of Justice so that the agency could maintain a reliable calculation of the citizen voting-age population to enforce the Voting Rights Act. This highly dubious rationale never made any sense, and a group of state attorneys generalalong with advocacy groups like the American Civil Liberties Unionsued to block the inclusion of the question. In July, Furman allowed discovery in the case to proceed, declaring that the plaintiffs had made a substantial showing of bad faith on the part of the government.

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Now Furman has formally denied the Justice Departments motion to dismiss key constitutional questions in a ruling that casts further doubt on the legality of the administrations actions. Furman found that, while the government theoretically has authority to ask about respondents citizenship status, it may not insert the question out of discriminatory intent. And here, even at this early stage in litigation, the plaintiffs have put forth persuasive evidence that the citizenship question has a discriminatory purpose.

Furman wrote that it is entirely plausible that the Trump administration added the citizenship question to discriminate against immigrants and minorities by provoking a major undercount of their communities. This undercount would deprive these communities (and the states in which theyre located) of vital federal funds, as well as representation in Congress and the Electoral College. Thus, the lawsuit may move forward, and plaintiffs may continue deposing administration officials and procuring evidence of their allegedly unlawful actions.

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In adding the citizenship question to the census, the judge wrote, the government departed from the normal procedural sequence in a number of alarming ways. These departures include overruling career staff who strongly objected to including the citizenship question, he explained, failing to extensively test reintroduction of the question, and ignoring the recommendation of the Census Bureaus advisory committee. Every expert believed the question would be very costly while harming the quality of the census countyet Ross overruled their objections.

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Even worse, the specific sequence of events leading up to the insertion of the citizenship question indicates that Ross sole proffered rationale  may have been pretextual. Ross initially (and repeatedly) suggested that the Department of Justices request triggered his consideration of the issue. Yet it now appears that the sequence of events was exactly opposite: Ross pushed the Justice Department to make the request, then cited its letter to justify the addition of the question. This dissembling, pretextual process spark[s] suspicion of discriminatory intent at a minimum.

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President Donald Trumps comments, Furman added, only bolster the impression that racial animus lay behind the administrations decision. As the government prepared the question, Trump complained of immigrants from shithole countries coming to the United States, and that certain immigrants turn out to be horrendous. (Theyre not giving us their best people, folks.) It was Ross, Furman conceded, who made the formal decision to add the question, not Trump. But since then, Trump has implied that he was personally involved in the decision. For instance, his own re-election campaign asserted in an email that the president officially mandated it. All of this evidence, Furman concluded, evinces racial animus in violation of the Fifth Amendments due process and equal protection guarantees.

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Furmans ruling is a major victory for the coalition that sued to keep the citizenship question off the 2020 census. But perhaps the most important aspect of the decision is buried in two footnotes. The plaintiffs argued that the questions addition violated both the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act, which bars arbitrary and capricious actions by federal agencies. Earlier this month, Furman declared from the bench that the plaintiffs were entitled to discovery on their APA claim. In Thursdays decision, he affirmed and expanded upon this holding. Given the evidence of pretext here, Furman wrote, the plaintiffs have clearly stated a plausible claim that the government ran afoul of the APA. Indeed, even if their constitutional arguments ultimately fail, Furman noted, this pretext may well suffice to prove a violation of the APA.

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As discovery proceeds, then, the Trump administration will be boxed in on every side. Plaintiffs will continue to gather evidence that the citizenship question was added in bad faith. Theyve already proved that Ross lied about the real reason for the addition. And even if they cannot prove racial animus, they seem overwhelmingly likely to prevail on their APA claim that the questions inclusion is arbitrary and capricious. If the administration wishes to save itself from further embarrassment, it should drop the question altogether, rather than risk revealing in court just how badly it failed to cover its tracks.This piece was originally published on Just Security, an online forum for analysis of U.S. national security law and policy.

Like a dripping corrosive liquid, ISIS and the response it provokes from governments are slowly eating away at key human rights principles. Driven by a desire to appear tough on the extremist group, Western democracies are compromising on principles they have defended for years. Each compromise, on its own, may appear small or limited to exceptional cases, but together these compromises are eroding the edifice of key protections that have been built over the last half-century.

The latest casualty is the United Kingdoms long-standing opposition to the death penalty and its corollary refusal to extradite or share evidence in cases in which the death penalty could be exercised. The Daily Telegraph has published extracts from a letter from U.K. Home Secretary Sajid Javid to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in which he agrees to hand over intelligence to help prosecute captured ISIS members Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee el-Sheikh, both members of the infamous ISIS cell of British jihadis knows as the Beatles. This in itself is unexceptional. What is exceptional is that Javid says in the letter that the U.K. will not seek any assurances that the pair will not face the death penalty in the U.S.

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The leaked letter is a stain on the moral authority of the U.K. government as it seeks to promote human rights around the world.

The British government, like other European governments, has for decades refused to extradite people alleged to have committed serious criminal offenses, including acts of terrorism, to the U.S. and other countries without an assurance that they would not be subject to the death penalty. This policy is based on firm human rights norms, which prohibit transfer of an individual to somewhere that they may risk inhuman treatment (as may happen on death row in the U.S.), and opposition to the death penalty, long abolished in the U.K. and across most of the European continent.

The British policy also extends to refusing to provide evidence or cooperation in trials where the death penalty is being sought or where there is a risk of torture or ill treatment. The U.K. maintained this position even in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Indeed, the U.K. government has refused to extend legal cooperation to prosecution of detainees in Guantanamo Bay and instead supports calls for the prisons closure.

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Javids letter acknowledges this policy. He notes in his letter that it is the long-held position of the UK to seek death penalty assurances, and our decision in this case does not reflect a change in our policy on assistance in US death penalty cases generally, nor the UK Governments stance on the global abolition of the death penalty. If thats the case, why did he find that there are strong reasons for not requiring a death penalty assurance in this specific case?

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Javid provides no details. Is it because he thinks that the U.S. will not pursue the death penalty? The U.S. has not said anything to suggest that, and it seems unlikely given these men have been publicly accused of kidnapping, torturing, and murdering U.S. and U.K. citizens. Or is it because the U.K. revoked their citizenship, as has been widely reported but not yet officially confirmed by the U.K. government? Nowhere in the published excerpts does Javid make this argument, and in the past, the U.K. has not limited its policy of no collaboration in death penalty cases to British nationals. Nor can simply revoking citizenship with the stroke of a pen absolve the U.K. from its duty to avoid exposing them to the risk of capital punishment or other serious human rights abuse.

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The answer may actually lie in another U.K. government document from which the Telegraph also quoted in its report. Issued on the same day as the letter and circulated to key civil servants, a government briefing reportedly notes that Javid and Boris Johnson, then U.K. foreign secretary, decided to share evidence with the U.S. on the two ISIS members without seeking death penalty assurance as they concluded that the risks associated with no prosecution being brought against Kotey and El-Sheikh if UK evidence is not shared, outweigh the risks of direct UK assistance to a conviction that could lead to execution and the implications for the UKs wider death penalty policy.

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Take the time and reread the sentence. This is not language that defends a long-standing principle of British policy and fundamental human rights norms but rather the language of competing policy interests and compromises.

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Moreover, the second document referenced in the Telegraphs expose says that the U.K. government will not lobby the US not to send them to Guantanamo despite its preference for federal trials and a desire to see that prison closed. And so it appears that standards on fair trial, due process, and adherence to the rule of lawall undermined at the Guantanamo Bay detention campare also up for compromise. But they dont have to be.

The prosecution of these two men, like other ISIS members suspected of committing heinous crimes, is important and is something that Human Rights Watch has long called for. But why shouldnt the U.K. insist on the same guarantees from the U.S. that it has sought in cases of other suspected terrorists? Why compromise on a key principle when it is possible to articulate support for U.S. prosecutions in federal courts while insisting on the same assurances usually sought from the U.S. that the death penalty will not be applied?

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The U.K. position is particularly troubling given that the parents of the U.S. hostages, whom these men are accused of torturing and killing, have opposed the death penalty for them. In a powerful joint op-ed in February, the parents of four American ISIS victims wrote that they agree with the longstanding British government position that it would be a mistake to send killers like these to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, or to seek the death penalty in court. Either path would make them martyrs in the eyes of their fanatic, misled comrades in armsthe worst outcome.

British officials may try to present their position in these cases as a compromise of necessity to get the U.S. to prosecute these men. But U.S. authorities are perfectly capable of prosecuting people alleged to have committed terrorism offenses without recourse to the death penalty.

The leaked letter is a stain on the moral authority of the U.K. government as it seeks to promote human rights around the world. It represents a massive step backward in building and promoting a criminal justice system in which the death penalty has no place. And it can be viewed as a victory for countries like China, Saudi Arabia, and Iran, which have been fervent proponents of the death penalty.Donald Trump has appointed a record-breaking number of judges, the overwhelming majority of which are white men. While the president has had plenty of time to course-correct after getting criticized for this practice, he has not done so; in wave after wave of nominations, he has provided mostly male candidates for the Senates approval.

The numbers alone tell a damning story. Trump has nominated 101 people to federal district courts, only 29 of them women. He has made 34 nominations to the federal courts of appealsa powerful position one level below the Supreme Courtjust six of whom are women. Of Trumps confirmed nominees to Article III courtsthose with lifetime appointmentsjust 23 percent are women. By comparison, 42 percent of Barack Obamas confirmed Article III nominees were women, including two Supreme Court justices. Both of Trumps Supreme Court nominees, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, are men.

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For many Republicans, Trumps judicial-nomination machine will remain beyond criticism so long as it continues operating at a rapid clip. (The president has far outpaced Obama and George W. Bush in confirmations thanks to a friendly GOP Senate with no judicial filibuster.) But its not just progressives who have criticized Trumps lack of female nomineesand Trumps allies have struggled to respond to their critiques without resorting to sexist assumptions and stereotypes.

Top conservative intellectuals and scholars are overwhelmingly men. The ratios are quite dramatic, as anyone who is interested in conservative thought knows.  Amy Wax, University of Pennsylvania Law School professor

Ed Whelan, who has played a behind-the-scenes role in Trumps judicial selections, has asserted that well-qualified conservative attorneys are more likely to be male than female, shrinking the pool from which Trump could draw. Theres some truth to that: According to the American Bar Association, 64 percent of active attorneys are men, and 36 percent are women. In an article for National Review, Whelan further justified the administrations numbers by noting that the percentages of women Trump has nominated to judgeships are similar to the figures for the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations.

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But Bush was rightly criticized for nominating so few women. And Clintons numbers29 percent of his confirmed Article III nominees were femaleexceeded Trumps at a time when fewer women were working in the law. That does not excuse Clintons own apparent preference for male nominees. But its notable that, even in the 1990s, his numbers exceeded Trumps. Today, only about one-third of federal judges are women, despite eight years of Obamas more balanced nominations. Clinton and Bush both should have done better; their bias for male judges does not justify Trumps.

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Whelan sees things differently. He wrote that the relatively small percentage of women in the hypothetical candidate pool does not speak meaningfully, if at all, to the percentage of highly educated women lawyers. Many female attorneys, he wrote, may take time off from their careers to raise their kids, pursue fields with predictable or flexible hours, or face discrimination from legal academia. These roadblocks and setbacks prevent them from attaining the level of success required for a judicial nomination. Whelan concluded:

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From everything Ive heard over the past 16 months, the White House is vigorously seeking female and minority judicial candidates. The nomination statistics, fairly construed, dont provide any evidence to the contrary.

If qualified female judicial candidates are so difficult to come by, how did Obama manage to nominate so many? Whelan suggests that only those with a very robust quota mentality would even ponder this question. He argues that the president is entitled to select nominees who share his Administrations judicial philosophy and refrain from criticizing him.

Trump plainly agrees. The president campaigned on appointing staunch conservatives to the Supreme Court, and he recognizes that picking far-right judges is essential to appeasing skeptics in the GOP base. He has outsourced this task to a small clique of advisers, namely White House counsel Don McGahn and Federalist Society chief Leonard Leo. The Federalist Society, an influential group of conservative lawyers, has spent decades grooming its members for future government service, particularly on the bench. Since its foundation in 1982, the organization has achieved an astonishing level of success, building an alternative legal elite whose views closely mirror those of the Republican Party.

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The Federalist Society does not provide statistics about its members, but its leadership is predominantly male; all 12 people on its board of directors, for instance, are men. Harsh Voruganti, an expert on the judicial-nomination process who runs the nonpartisan Vetting Room blog, has written that the Federalist Societys overall membership is predominantly white and male. ThinkProgress Ian Millhiser, who reports on the groups annual meeting every year, told us attendees are overwhelmingly male.

Because Trump draws so heavily from the Federalist Society, some gender disparity among his judicial nominees might be inevitable. But the presidents advisers dont rely exclusively upon the organization to identify possible judges; most of his district court nominees arent Federalist Society members, though many have some affiliation with the group. These advisers could have made a concerted effort to look farther afield for conservative women. It appears they have not.

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Trumps allies dismiss this disparity by insisting that, as Whelan argued, the percentage of women nominated by Trump roughly mirrors the percentage of qualified female candidates. Carissa Byrne Hessick, a law professor at University of North Carolina School of Law who has praised many of Trumps nominees, vigorously contested that premise. Having not been involved in the judicial nomination process, I dont know why the president has nominated only six women to be appellate judges, Hessick told us. But the suggestion that there are only six conservative women in this country who are qualified to sit on the federal courts of appeals is incorrect and offensive.

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Renee Knake, a law professor in legal ethics at the University of Houston Law Center, is unimpressed by Trumps record on nominating female judges. Knake, a co-author of a forthcoming book about nine women who were short-listed for the Supreme Court before Sandra Day OConnor became the first female justice, told us that there are ample numbers of qualified women to nominate. She continued:

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On the Whelan piece in particular, I find his comparisons to presidents in the past as a way to justify continued low numbers absurd (in the same ballpark as Bushs and Clintons). Thats over a decade ago; there were plenty of women then and even more now. As Im sure you well know, women have been entering the profession in equal numbers to men for decades and succeeding in all areas of the profession.

Knake speculated that the disparity in nominations stems in part from what credentials make candidates seem qualified. I think that many women lawyers do not strategically plot for positions on a court, and so they may not have the easily identifiable conservative record, Knake said.

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But some conservative women in the law agree with Whelans findings, justifying the gender imbalance by claiming there just are not that many conservative women in the field.

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According to Joyce Lee Malcolm, a professor at George Mason Universitys Antonin Scalia Law School who specializes in constitutional law and the Second Amendment, 23 percent of confirmed nominees seems a good number, given that 33 percent of judges [are] women and many of these, maybe most of these, [are] progressives.

Likewise, Amy Wax, a professor of social-welfare law and policy at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, told us, Women with elite legal backgrounds and training are predominantly left of center, more so than are men. She noted:

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Also, as a general matter, we should resist the knee jerk presumption, which is part of the left orthodoxy, that men and women are equally represented among the most qualified or accomplished in any given endeavor or category, because in many cases its just not so. For example, top conservative intellectuals and scholars are overwhelmingly men. The ratios are quite dramatic, as anyone who is interested in conservative thought knows.

Elizabeth Price Foley, a professor of constitutional law and civil procedure at Florida International Universitys College of Law, thinks the gender imbalance of Trumps nominees should not be surprising, given Trumps conservative political philosophy:

[I]t would be unrealistic to expect him to elevate membership in a particular categorybe it racial, gender, religion or sexual orientation, or whateverover merit-based qualifications such as education and experience. Conservative philosophical objections to affirmative action suggest that achieving category-based quotas, or emphasizing category-based diversity, is not going to be a primary objective for President Trumps nominating decisions, unlike President Obamas.

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Supporting a diverse judiciary, however, is not the same thing as calling for a quota system. And if its true that there are too few conservative women for Trump to nominate, that would seem to be an indictment of the conservative legal movement itself. If the Federalist Society has truly alienated generations of right-leaning female lawyersa claim implicit in Whelans defense of the current gender imbalancethen the problem goes much deeper than Trump. And if there are, in fact, a substantial number of qualified women attorneys on the right, then Trumps pathetic numbers cannot be defended as anything but sexism by his advisers. Its 2018. If the Federalist Society really is a frat house, its time for Trump to look farther afield.Vladimir Putin wont be dropping by the White House in the fall. National Security Adviser John Bolton said in a statement Wednesday that President Donald Trump now believes that a follow-up meeting between himself and the Russian leader should take place after the Russia witch hunt is over, so weve agreed that it will be after the first of the year. Its not exactly clear why he believes the witch hunt will be over by then.

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The Helsinki summit last week wasnt exactly a political winner for Trump. More than half of American voters now believe the Russian government has compromising information about him. So it may be that Trumps advisers talked him out of a sequel. But the real reason for the postponement may be that Putin wasnt into the idea.

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Last week, Trump asked Bolton to invite Putin to Washington in the fall, but the Russians were coy about the idea, as Reuters reported Tuesday, with Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov saying that no preparations for a visit were under way and that there would be other options for the two leaders to meet, including on the sidelines of an upcoming G-20 meeting in Argentina.

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The wariness makes some sense. Putin more or less got what he wanted out of Helsinki, and theres probably not much more hed gain by going to Washington, where hed be in the middle of a partisan fight and face much larger protests than he did in Helsinki.

Ushakov also hinted that the Kremlin has been taken aback by the negative reaction to the summit in the international media, saying, After the summit you know what kind of atmosphere there is around its outcome. I think it would be wise to let the dust settle and then we can discuss all these questions in a business-like way. But not now.

Even the Russians, it seems, thought that summit was a little much.The ACLU released a report on Thursday revealing that Rekognition, Amazons facial recognition tool, had falsely matched 28 members of Congress to mug shots. Members of the ACLU purchased the version of Rekognition that Amazon offers to the general public and ran public photos of every member of the House and Senate against a database of 25,000 arrest photos. The entire experiment costed $12.33, which, as ACLU attorney Jake Snow writes in a blogpost, is less than a large pizza.

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Almost 40 percent of the representatives that Rekognition falsely matched were people of color, even though they make up only 20 percent of Congress. Six members of the Congressional Black Caucus were among the false positives, including Georgia Rep. John Lewis and Illinois Rep. Bobby Rush. These results demonstrate why Congress should join the ACLU in calling for a moratorium on law enforcement use of face surveillance, Snow wrote in the post. Facial recognition systems are notorious for misidentifying women and people of color. While some companies that produce the software have addressed the concerns with public bias testing, Amazon has neglected to disclose any data on the matter.

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One of the misidentified congressmen, New Jersey Rep. Frank LoBiondo, told Slate, It wasnt a very flattering mug shot, and declined to comment further. Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who was also falsely matched, issued a lengthier statement:

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Are you sure Amazon isnt just talking to Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson and Breitbart? Because they think all Latinos are criminals. But on a more serious note: If this technology has not been proven effective and has a systematic bias against people of color, then it will hurt, not help law enforcement and anyone else who uses it. I have to say, I am not surprised. Disappointed, yes, but not surprised.

Another misidentified congressman, Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva, also gave Slate a statement:

If the facial recognition software cannot even correctly identify 28 public figures, how can we expect it to accurately identify millions of Americans? I have serious privacy and public safety concerns that this tool is already marketed to police departments across the country without public input and detailed analysis of its negative consequences. We need more information on this technology before we empower law enforcement with a tool that can be used to terrorize immigrants, facilitate negative police interactions, and erode important privacy protections.

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Police in Orlando, Florida, ended a pilot program using Rekognition last month. The department tested the software to determine whether it could identify officers in a video stream from eight surveillance cameras. Police in Maryland recently used a different facial recognition tool to identify the shooter who attacked the Capital Gazette newsroom in June. A sheriffs office in Oregon has also been using similar software to identify suspects for around a year.

Activists, members of Congress, and even Amazon employees have raised privacy and discrimination concerns with the use of such software. In May, more than 40 civil rights groups sent a letter to CEO Jeff Bezos asking him to stop offering Rekognition to governments, arguing, People should be free to walk down the street without being watched by the government.

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At around the same time, the Congressional Black Caucus sent a letter to Amazon urging caution in developing the software, which noted, We are troubled by the profound negative unintended consequences this form of artificial intelligence could have for African Americans, undocumented immigrants, and protesters. Then, last month, more than 100 Amazon employees signed a letter calling on Bezos to stop selling Rekognition to law enforcement, which read in part, This will be another powerful tool for the surveillance state and ultimately serve to harm the most marginalized.

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Amazon issued a statement to Business Insider quibbling with the confidence thresholds the ACLU used in its test:In recent weeks, Facebook and YouTube have strained to explain why they wont ban Alex Jones Infowars, which has used its verified accounts to spread false news and dangerous conspiracy theories on the platforms. Meanwhile, the midterms are approaching, and Facebook wont say definitively whether the company has found any efforts by foreign actors to disrupt the elections. Facebook did recently say that it will start to remove misinformation if it may lead to violence, a response to worrisome trends in Myanmar, India, other countries. The social media platforms are being called on to explain how they deal with information that is wronga question made even more complicated because the problem takes so many forms.

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To understand the many forms of misinformation and disinformation on social media, we recently spoke with Claire Wardle, the executive director of First Draft, a nonprofit news-literacy and fact-checking outfit based at Harvard Universitys Kennedy School, for Slates tech podcast If Then. We discussed how fake news spreads on different platforms, where its coming from, and how journalists might thinkor rethinktheir role in covering it. The interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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Listen to If Then by clicking the arrow on the audio player below, or get the show via Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play.

April Glaser: I want to start with definitions, because youre an academic. I want to know what we should mean by misinformation and disinformation, because the problem has often been reduced down to the term fake newsor as Facebook calls it, false newsand I want to know what are the different types of not-accurate information out there, and how do you define the space?

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Claire Wardle: Youre right, I do love definitions, and thats partly because this space is really complex, and so that term F-asterisk-asterisk-asterisk news is just used as this throwaway term, and were not actually clear what we mean. Misinformation is false information, but the people who share it dont realize that its false. So thats my mum resharing an image of a shark during a hurricane that she doesnt understand is not real. Disinformation is also false information, but its actually shared by people who know its false, and theyre trying to do harm.

I also talk about a distinction called malinformation, which is actually genuine imagery or content that is used to cause harm, so that could be, for example, leaked emails. They are genuine emails, but they are shared to cause harm. It could be revenge porn. It could be an old image from a previous breaking news event that recirculates that is a genuine image. The reason that those definitions are needed, I think, is because this is a complex space, and that one term does not reflect that complexity.

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Glaser: As journalists, the concept of F-asterisk-asterisk-asterisk news, as you put it, or false news, or not quite correct information, is kind of really offensive to us because our whole job is to not write false news, right? If we do, well be fired. And so I and Will, we have a bias against false reporting. Thats what we do. With that in mind, what would you say the role is of journalists in fighting disinformation? Is my job to debunk fake news now, or is it to report on all the other tragedies in the world, and how do I deal with the fact that this is obviously something that Im opposed to?

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Youre absolutely right, and thats why people go, Oh, youre stupid not using that term. The reason I refuse to use the term is because its actually being used against the news industry. Its been weaponized, and its being used by, particularly, politicians around the world to describe any type of information they dont like. And when its being used and targeted againstIm just going to use the term the mainstream media, which does have professional standards, it does have fact-checkers, it does have multiple pairs of eyes looking at things, it does have a corrections policy, then its really important that were distinctive when we use these terms.

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News is a mixture of the fact that a friend is hungover, another friend is pregnant, and theres just been a new chemical weapons attack in Syria.  Claire Wardle

So we need to talk to audiences increasingly about What do you think when I use the term fake news? Increasingly, the numbers are going up, because people go, Ill tell you whats fake news, Claire. Its the mainstream media. So weve got a problem here: We in the journalism space are using a term thats not being used by the audience.

To your question about is it your job to debunk it, its also a really, really important question, because ultimately, 20 years ago, journalists never really had to deal with the stuff that wasnt true. It ended up on the cutting-room floor. It was the thing that people said, well, we deal in truth. Were journalists. But the problem now is because audiences can get the same information as you as journalistsfor example, during a breaking news event. They want help navigating that information ecosystem. They are looking to journalists to say Is that post thats going viral on Twitter  is that true? Is that video on Facebook  is that true? Can you help me navigate that?

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So what that means is increasingly newsrooms have had to play a role in helping audiences navigate this space.

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Glaser: Facebook and YouTube have kind of had this flattening effect, where any random person that wants toa conspiracy theorist or a grassroots journalist, even, which I would say is a good thing in many waysthey can have mass influence as broad as a verified news organization, right? And platforms have certainly played a role in the disinformation crisis that were in now where people often dont know if what theyre seeing is true or not. What do you think the platforms can be doing going forward?

So a big part of this is that the iPhone was created in 2007. A lot of these social networks were created in 2004, 2005. Our brains are trying to catch up with a new type of information. So, to your point, April, youre right. Every post on Facebook looks identical. Whether its wrong, the New York Times, whether its from Slate, whether its from a crazy conspiracy blogger, they look identical on Facebook or YouTube.

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And so our brains are desperately looking for heuristics, which are these mental shortcuts we need to help us make sense of information. So in an age of gatekeepers, where we used to go to a newsstand and give somebody some money, and buy a newspaper, our brain would be like, Im about to consume some news. Or at 7 p.m., wed hear the bongs, and it was like, Bong, bong, bong, this is the news, and our brain would be like, This is the news. Now, news is a mixture of the fact that a friend is hungover, another friend is pregnant, and theres just been a new chemical weapons attack in Syria, and my brain does not know how to make sense of all that information in a feed where everything looks the same.

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So, youre right, weve had a flattening kind of move in terms of our information ecosystem, but also visually, everything looks the same, and we havent made up for that. And I hope in 30 years time, well look back and be like, Whew, do you remember 2018 when everything looked the same? Because I think well look back at this period and say we werent helping ourselves. Our brains are struggling, but the amount of information we consume every single day on these tiny smartphone screens, we just havent thought about how can we help our brains.

Glaser: Right. Its hard to know whats the top-shelf information, and whats the well, right?

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Exactly. Yeah.

Will Oremus: Tell us a little bit about the negative effects of misinformation. Whats the worst that can happen?

Lets go back to that shark example. Somebody photoshops a shark into an image from a highway, and [they] say this is from the latest hurricane. Thats not great, but I would hope many people now might just say, Oh, theres no problem with that. The bigger problem is when we have misinformation or, more frequently, disinformation where people are deliberately trying to sow confusion, and actually use divisions, particularly social and cultural divisions, to pit people against each other, or to simply confuse people to such an extent they dont know what to believe.

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Thats a real challenge I see, even something like this podcast, I think, am I actually flagging something that makes people say, I dont even know who to trust anymore, Claire? And so, what were seeing potentially is people turning inwards to people that they know, and thats what were seeing in places like India, with closed messaging apps like WhatsApp. When people dont trust the mainstream media, and they dont trust Facebook, or Twitter, or these big social media platforms, they are retreating into these closed messaging spaces because partly they dont know who to trust, and theyre worried that if theyre online, somebodys going to abuse them or harass them.

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And so what that means is that, as a society, were kind of becoming smaller, even though we have all this information we can access. So I think this question of by even discussing it, are we driving down trust? I think we have to be very careful about saying to people, Theres more information than ever. You can find valid, accurate information. You need to be a little bit wary, but please dont lose trust in everything, because I think thats ultimately the end goal for those people who are trying to sow disinformation.

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Glaser: You brought up something that is really fascinating, and that is the difference between closed ecosystems where disinformation spreads versus open ecosystems. And you mentioned WhatsApp, which is more popular in Brazil and India versus Facebook, which is an open system thats more popular in the United States. WhatsApp circulates messages in groups of, I think, 256 people maximum, and disinformation has been spreading like wildfire through WhatsApp. Can you break apart the differences between how disinformation spreads or even how it percolates in these two different spaces?

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Yeah, and this is really pertinent at the moment. I think lots of people have been reading about the problems in India where people have actually lost their lives. Its actually leading to murders and people on the street protesting. And in many ways, you hear people say, Yes, because social media, like WhatsApp  WhatsApp shouldnt actually be described as a social media platform. Its a closed messaging app, and youre right to say people can be in groups of up to 256. The average size of a group tends to be about six.

So what that means is you have people hit very many of these small groups. We are used to thinking in a broadcast way, so whether its radio, or whether its Twitter, we think, well, theres one message, and with social media, it can go everywhere. Or radio allows it to go everywhere. With WhatsApp, we dont have that same mechanism, but its jumping very, very quickly between trusted peers.

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We dont normally stand with a megaphone and talk to thousands of people like we can with Twitter. WhatsApp is like our own little rumor mills.  Claire Wardle

So on Twitter, you might say, Well, that guys an idiot. I dont trust him. In WhatsApp, youre more likely to be in a group with your best friends, or family, or co-workers, which means, again, going back to that conversation about our brains  our brains are looking for those heuristics. So actually, if you get forwarded a piece of information from your best friend, your brains like, Dont really need to check that out because Marthas always right.

So the problem we have with WhatsApp is we need to understand networked environments. In the same way as when everybody talks about Obama in 2008, he understood that, so he had millions of people individually having parties in their house and fundraising individually. He understood that power. When we think about WhatsApp, if youre trying to slow down misinformation on WhatsApp, you cant just send out one message that will hit everybody. You need to have ambassadors in every one of those millions of groups say, P.S., Ive just debunked this.

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So that is a huge challenge, and within the journalism and communication space, we never had anything like that. Were kind of back to the era of people in their living rooms, andIm Britishin their pubs, having conversations within small groups. Thats the challenge with WhatsApp. Its a very different beast to the social platforms weve had before.

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Glaser: And this information kind of gets seeded on WhatsApp then, right? So there might be a piece of disinformation that somebody receives, and then they just spread it.

Yeah, absolutely. And so, for example, in India, theres one particular political party that really understands WhatsApp, and they have 1,500 operatives starting lots of small Facebook groups, and then even more are started. And so they understand that networked environment. They understand that they need to create these small groups with tight people, because they are trusted nodes, and thats why I say we need to kind of understand the networked society, because it basically mirrors society much more closely than a Facebook or Twitter. We dont normally stand with a megaphone and talk to thousands of people like we can with Twitter. WhatsApp is like our own little rumor mills.

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Because thats the other thing to remember: As humans, we cant really stop this because weve always loved gossip. Weve always loved rumors. Because if somebody tells me right now that a best friend is having an affair, am I going to verify it? Probably not. Im going to pick up the phone and talk to somebody else about it. So when we have those issues with WhatsApp, thats whats happening. Its taking advantage that, as humans, we connect with other humans through information at an emotional levelnot necessarily a rational level. And that, in a place like India, where people are actually  Theyve come to the internet much more recently.

They havent necessarily understood how you need to check information, how everything you see online isnt true, but at the same time remember, a lot of times theyre getting information from trusted friends, which means their brains are much likelier to say, Oh, OK. Im not even going to check.

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Oremus: To me, thats a fascinating point. And for one thing, its a good reminder that misinformation is not just a newfangled phenomenon, right? Technology is enabling it, and algorithms that make stuff go viral are maybe making it worse. But weve probably always had misinformation in just human networks, word-of-mouth networks. And Twitter, it feels toxic or scary sometimes because strangers can yell at you, but youre highlighting that theres a downside to a site where strangers cant yell at you and tell you that youre wrong, or correct your information easily.

But I wanted to ask you about the standards that the different social media platforms are using to determine what content is allowed on their platform and what isnt. Historically, platforms like Facebook and Twitter said, Look, its not our job to decide what people can say. We just are connecting people, and theyll say whatever they want to say. Now theyre accepting more responsibilities, but theyre trying to make these distinctions, because obviously they dont want to be in the business of regulating everything everyone says. So you get stuff like Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook saying that he doesnt take down posts that are denying the Holocaust because maybe he cant discern the intent. Maybe people really believe that, and so they shouldnt be banned just for saying things that are wrong, because we all get stuff wrong. You also hear a standard  Facebook has a new policy where if theres misinformation that could lead to physical violence in the real world, then theyll take that down, but they wont take down other types of misinformation necessarily.

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Where do you land on what are the right standards, and how are the platforms doing in terms of finding the line between speech that they should allow and speech that they should not allow?

Great question, and, again, I love to think about how historians will think about this era because from the moment the platform started, they recognized that if they had to take responsibility for the content that was on their platforms, they were going to be in trouble, because they were going to have to hire thousands and thousands and thousands of moderators to make really difficult decisions, because anybody who works in the publishing business  talk to any journalist, theyll tell you, these decisions are really, really hard. So what theyve tried to say is we are not a publisher. We are simply a communications platform. And now what you see is this kind of frustrating wrangle where people go, Zuckerberg, just admit that youre actually a publisher, and hes like, No, were just a communications platform. And he goes round and round and round. The truth is they are a hybrid. Weve never had anything like a Twitter, or a Facebook, or a YouTube, and so what the problem is  We havent caught up in terms of regulation or legal frameworks. So were in this tussle.

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And so what were seeing is that evolution. So at the very beginning, they wanted to make absolutely no editorial judgments whatsoever, and I think one of the first cases where they took down content had been a beheading I think in Syria, and actually Facebook said, OK, we will take this down, or Twitter did. And that was almost the first stage.

And then they started saying, OK, were going to take down pornography and extremist content, because thats actually illegal speech. And so when we had speech that people agreed was illegal, they could stand behind that, because they said theres a legal framework.

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What they hate is this middle ground, this gray area, and theyve been trying to hold back and say, We dont want to have to make decisions. The minute they said this week or last week when they said, In Sri Lanka, were going to have this pilot to say anything that may lead to violence, we will take down. Now, this is a huge step, and I actually think a step that they need to take, and its come about because of pressure, because weve seen violence in places like Sri Lanka and India, and theyre under huge pressure both from regulators and civil society to do something. But I think that just shows a natural progression that theyre going to have to own up to the fact that they are publishers, and theyre going to have to actually hire lots of moderators.

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And I think even this time last year, there were a lot of discussions about Facebook Live, and we were seeing people committing suicide. We were seeing drive-bys.  It was awful, and everyone was like, You cant possibly let this happen on your platform, Facebook, and Mark Zuckerberg said, Were going to hire 10,000 moderators. Were going to put A.I. on this to help us alert us to the signals, and lo and behold, it is happening, but to a much, much lower level.

The truth is they, I think, are just going to have to hire incredibly high numbers of moderators across the world who speak local languages, have local context, and I think thats just what theyre going to have to accept. And if they dont, we will see very, I think, impressive regulation, which they dont want either. So I think theyre just going to have to throw a lot of money at this problem.

Glaser: That might affect their massive profit margins, but 

Its so massive, I think there can be a bit of a dent.On Thursday morning, President Donald Trump used Twitter to criticize  Twitter. Twitter SHADOW BANNING prominent Republicans. Not good. We will look into this discriminatory and illegal practice at once! Many complaints, he wrote.

Shadow banning refers to social media companies practice of making users posts visible only to themselves, without banning them outright from the platform. The tactic has been used by Reddit and other social media sites to manage users who violate the platform rules.

The recent kerfuffle over shadow banning came about after Twitter implemented a new strategy to fight troll-like behaviors. The company wrote in a May blog post that it was making some changes to its search bar: People contributing to the healthy conversation will be more visible in conversations and search.

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But it seems to have had an unintentional effect. Gizmodo reported on Sunday that some far-right figuressuch as Jason Kessler, who organized the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and far-right blogger Mike Cernovichhad been buried by Twitters search feature. (As HuffPosts Ashley Feinberg pointed out Wednesday, the approach had also affected the accounts of left-wing podcast Chapo Trap House and its co-host Will Menaker.)

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Then, on Wednesday, Vice published a story under the headline Twitter Is Shadow Banning Prominent Republicans Like the RNC Chair and Trump Jr.s Spokesman. It said that Twitters new strategy to make trolls less visible was accidentally ensnaring some Republican politicians, making it harder to find them in the search bar by not autofilling their account names. Vice reported that the affected accounts included those of Reps. Jim Jordan, Mark Meadows, and Matt Gaetz; Republican Party Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel; and Donald Trump Jr.s spokesman Andrew Surabian.

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Twitter appears to have fixed the search problem, as product lead Kayvon Beykpour said it would on Wednesday. When I typed the names of Matt Gaetz, Ronna McDaniel, and others mentioned in Vices report into the search box, their accounts immediately appeared in the dropdown menu.

Furthermore, the problem is not exactly shadow banning, because the accounts are still visible to users and still appear when users search them. As New York magazines Select All explained Wednesday,  Shadow banning, as generally imagined and described by the activists who claim theyve been affect [sic], would actively suppress user content even to followers, not just make accounts one click more difficult to find. Moreover, a Twitter spokesperson told NBC News, As we have said before, we do not shadowban.  As that statement suggests, this isnt the first time this has come up for the company.

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For instance, conservative media outlets attacked Twitter in January, after James OKeefes Project Veritas released secretly recorded videos of Twitter employees discussing the platforms content moderation and political culture, and claimed the videos were evidence of a conspiracy to suppress conservative speech through shadow banning. But the videos were taken out of context, Ars Technica reported.

Pro-Trump bloggers Lynette Diamond Hardaway and Rochelle Silk Richardson have also accused Facebook and other social media sites of shadow-banning them, as they discussed at an April 26 House Judiciary Committee hearing on the filtering practices of social media platforms. Their written testimony said:

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Facebook along with other social media sites have taken aggressive actions to silence conservative voices such as ourselves by deliberately restricting and weaponizing our page with algorithms that censored and suppress our free speech. These bias algorithms are tactics designed to pick up on keywords, thus telling the pages how to behave in ways that repress and stifles expressed ideas including Shadow banning, which blocked our content from being seen by our followers while depriving our brand through the demonetization of our videos. Followers stop receiving notifications when we posted videos & content. Followers were also mysteriously unliked from our page.

The committee held another filtering practices hearing last week, with conservative lawmakers grilling representatives from Twitter, Facebook, and Google. Some GOP lawmakers appear to be relishing the fight, using it as grist on the campaign trail. House speaker hopeful Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has run ads on Facebook railing against the alleged suppression of conservative voices on social media.

But there isnt very strong evidence that Twitter is biased against conservativesit may be that the technology isnt very good, New York Law School professor Ari Ezra Waldman testified at the House Judiciary Committee in April.In the months before the 2016 election, the managers of Sinclair Broadcast Group sent a series of mandates from their headquarters in Hunt Valley, Maryland, to their stations around the countryorders to air must-run segments with a decidedly antiHillary Clinton bent. One from September 2016, the Washington Post reported, directed anchors to ask why the Democratic candidate had struggled with disclosing her medical diagnosis?  Can a president lead with so many questions of transparency and trust? Another prompted station anchors to discuss Clintons private email server, mandating that the journalists stress how it had been 18 months since the first story broke and shes still in the mode of damage control. Other must-runs in September included a package called Women for Trump, detailing the work of Lara Trump, the candidates daughter-in-law, on his campaign. Suffice it to say, there were no similar segments about Trumps refusal to disclose his medical or tax records or a feature about how Chelsea Clinton was involved in her mothers campaign.

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With 192 operations under its control, Sinclair is the largest television-station owner in America. When it was reported in April 2017 that the company had engineered a deal to acquire about 40 more television stations from Tribune Media, I admit I was mortified. The pro-Trump tilt that saturates Sinclair stations would spread to more local TV-news operationsthe most consumed source of news in the country, according to a Pew study. With 37 percent of adults saying that they use it often to get news, local TV has a viewership that surpasses cable news, newspapers, and social media. With more TV stations, the ideologically motivated Sinclair would be able to exploit the trust of its growing audience while simultaneously diminishing local coverage in favor of national editorial mandates and must-run features. Worse, the company was vying to control more stations in swing states, major markets like Los Angeles and New York, and even multiple stations sometimes in the same city, either through direct ownership or programming and management agreements. And this was happening against a backdrop in which more of the media industry was consolidating, with layoffsand weakened local coveragefrequently following in the name of trimming costs. That very effect was visible this week when Tronc, the Chicago-based owner of the New York Daily News, announced it was laying off half the papers editorial staff.

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All summer, it seemed like the Sinclair deal was plowing alonguntil, as of last week, it wasnt.

Barring a few tweaks and a handful of station divestitures to satisfy regulators, the merger was slated to go through just in time for the midterm elections, with Sinclair increasing its the number of stations it owns or controls to to about 232 stations, enough to potentially reach 72 percent of U.S. households. But on Monday, the Federal Communications Commission issued a surprising announcement: After months of rolling back media-ownership regulations in ways that appeared custom-tailored to help consummate the Sinclair-Tribune merger, Trump-appointed FCC Chairman Ajit Pai had decided that the details of Sinclairs proposed divestitures raised serious concernsso serious that he requested the commission vote on sending the merger proposal to the agencys administrative judge to review the legality of the deal. It did. Now it appears the deal that was supposed to make the largest television owner in the nation even bigger may be on its deathbed. In 2015, when the FCC under President Obama used the same maneuver with the proposed Comcast and Time Warner merger, the companies abandoned their proposal. Tribune is assessing its options, while the president appears to be fuming:

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So sad and unfair that the FCC wouldnt approve the Sinclair Broadcast merger with Tribune. This would have been a great and much needed Conservative voice for and of the People. Liberal Fake News NBC and Comcast gets approved, much bigger, but not Sinclair. Disgraceful!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2018

Pais unforeseen decision to effectively halt the Sinclair merger should come as a moment of relief from a news environment that delivers plenty of woe to journalists these days. The consolidation of media ownership and reckless, profit-enhancing measures by media-owning companiessuch as Alden Global Capital, a New York Citybased hedge fund that has dramatically cut head counts at the more than 50 newspapers it owns around the countryare among the biggest threats to journalism. And this follows the brutal industry transition of the last decade-plus, in which the arrival of the internet, the disruption of ad-supported medias business model, and the ravages of the Great Recession gutted newsrooms. The bloodletting has been particularly harsh for print operations, where the sector lost more than 238,000 jobs between 2001 and 2016. Consolidation ran rampant at the same time that largely unregulated internet companies became the main conduits of distribution, driving how consumers find the news. The size and influence of companies like Facebook and Google have been used as an excuse to justify even more consolidation of journalistic outlets, which almost always translates to fewer reporters and less local journalism. That can further erode trust in the mediaa particularly worrisome thing at a time when the president uses the press as his main rhetorical punching bag.

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For anyone concerned about these trendsnot to mention the creep of partisan programming mandates into local newsthe likely dashing of the Sinclair deal is great news. But it wont stop media consolidation, and the current FCC is a large reason why.

Until last week, Pai seemed to be an usher of Sinclairs expansion, particularly since the man who appointed him is apparently a big fan of the company. On the campaign trail in 2016, Sinclair chairman David Smith told Trump in a meeting, We are here to deliver your message. Period. The president praised Sinclair in a tweet in April for being far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke. That was in response to mounting public ire at Sinclair after it sent dozens of its stations across the country a must-run script declaring that biased and false news is extremely dangerous for democracya talking point out of the presidents Twitter shtick.

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The likely dashing of the Sinclair deal is great news. But it wont stop media consolidation, and the current FCC is a large reason why.

Two Sinclair chiefs, chairman David Smith and CEO Christopher Ripley, met with Pai a day before Trumps inauguration in 2017, when, according to agency filings, the group discussed the possibility that the FCC would relax restrictions on stations sharing things like studio space and staff and jointly selling advertising between stations. Sinclair has used sharing arrangements in the past to evade local-ownership limits, like by selling a station to a Sinclair-friendly buyer that lets Sinclair continue to run the station. Fifteen days later, after Pai was confirmed as chairman, the FCC rolled back the rules to allow for more such sharing arrangements. Then, in March 2017, Pai moved to reinstate an archaic rule that allowed broadcasters on higher channels to only tally a portion, sometimes even half, of their market size when counting their reach to make up for poor-quality transmissions on those channels. That rule changewhich had no basis in technological necessity, since advancements in broadcasting have long evened out the reception discrepancies on higher channelshelped Sinclair to recalculate its reach in such a way that allowed its holdings to fall below national ownership limits so that it could acquire more stations. In May 2017, Sinclair officially announced its plans to acquire Tribune Media for $3.9 billion.

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And the deregulation continued throughout last year. The FCC eliminated an 80-year-old rule requiring broadcasters to maintain a studio in or near their community of license. The intent of this rule, of course, was to ensure some level of local accountability and local programming. Now a broadcaster can own a station in Milwaukee and run it from California with no local presence. In November, the FCC moved to loosen the local-ownership limit that prevented a single television-station owner from owning more than one of the top four stations in a single market. One of the main ideas behind such media-consolidation rules is that when one company owns too much media in a single area, it has too much control over what people who live in that area know, which helps determine how people decide to vote or what issues they care about. You might think youre changing the channel to get a different viewpoint, but if multiple stations are owned by the same company in a single market, that might not be the case. It was that rule change in particular that would, as Democratic Reps. Frank Pallone and Elijah Cummings noted in a letter to the FCCs inspector general requesting an investigation last November, clear away virtually all remaining obstacles to Sinclair increasing its reach beyond the Tribune merger proposal. The agency watchdog agreed to look into the matter, and Pai and his staff are currently being investigated for potentially making its deregulatory moves for the benefit of Sinclair.

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Not all of Pais proposed rule changes have cleared yet, and Sinclair agreed to divest from 23 stations this April, hoping that it would help its merger pass the scrutiny of the FCC and the Department of Justice. It was widely reported at the time that Sinclairs divestitures werent genuine, and though many would change owners, they would still remain operated by Sinclair; this arrangement is whats commonly called a sidecar deal. Considering Pais zeal for industry-friendly deregulation, and all hes done to clear the way for Sinclair, his decision last week to send the merger for reviewbecause, as he put it, the evidence weve received suggests that certain station divestitures that have been proposed to the FCC would allow Sinclair to control those stations in practice, even if not in name, in violation of the lawfelt extremely out of character.

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We dont know what motivated the apparent U-turn. But now that its on the record that Pai found Sinclairs sidecar deals to be in potential violation of the law, any similar deals that help Sinclair or other companies skirt national ownership limits may also become fair game for scrutiny. If the Sinclair merger isnt approved by Aug. 8, Tribune has the right to pull out of the deal. A resurrection isnt impossible now, but it wont be an easy lift.

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Yet as the Sinclair drama unfolded, the Justice Department approved Disneys bid to buy large assets from 21st Century Fox and lost a case challenging AT&Ts acquisition of Time Warner Inc. just weeks ago (though the DOJ plans to appeal). That puts CNN in the hands of the worlds largest telecom company, a move the media and telecom giants justified based on the desire to compete with behemoth internet companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon. And the deregulatory moves put in place by Pai are already largely on the books, clearing the way for yet more consolidation by other companies as well as more modest moves by Sinclair. Fewer companies are likely to own more and more media outlets.

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One result of this is the shrinking of local newsrooms. Its what often happens when a distant owner buys a local media outlet. Its what Sinclair, which is based near Baltimore, did last year to KOMO, a TV station it owns in Seattle, when it cut the investigative-reporting team. Its what Chicago-based Tronc did this week with the New York Daily News, slashing 50 percent of its editorial staff after buying the newspaper last year. A 2014 report by Pew found that 1 in 4 local television broadcasters dont produce their own local content at all. And sometimes, broadcasters in the same city have even entered into content-sharing agreements, resulting in the sharing of reporters and stories; in 2014, one newscast in Hawaii ran on two different stations simultaneously.

Its Americans trust in local media that Sinclair has exploited for its own political agenda. Unfortunately, the likely end of Sinclairs bid to buy Tribune Medias stations may well be an aberration, with other conglomerates continuing to expand (though perhaps without the use of overtly shady tactics like sidecar deals). The deregulation that Pais FCC approved in advance of this failed merger leaves plenty of room for the next one.Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information (hereinafter referred to as the SMCEI) strived to make a number of significant overseas projects settled in Shanghai, including the autonomous vehicle project of Waymo, during its visit in Silicon Valley from July 17 to 20, according to SMCEI's official website.

During the trip in Silicon Valley, Shanghai governmental delegation visited several tech companies, such as Google, Baidu USA, Synopsys, Applied Materials, ARM Holdings, Tesla, Pony ai., and Intel, etc.

To attract technical projects for Shanghai, Chen Mingbo, director of the SMCEI, elucidated the future development highlights for Shanghai and hoped that companies could increase investments in some key technical domains. Besides, he also analyzed the bottlenecks that hamper the implementation of major projects and delivered feasible solutions at the same time.

Before they left the U.S., Shanghai governmental representatives and relevant firms reached some common understandings in introducing several projects to Shanghai, including the Alphabet-owned Verily's life science project and Waymo's autonomous vehicle project, Synopsys's security software, ARM Holdings's innovation AI platform as well as Pony.ai's self-driving technologies, etc.

In addition, Mr. Chen earnestly invited AI tech companies to attend the 2018 Global AI Conference to be held in Shanghai in September.

Members of the Shanghai governmental mission had trial ride of autonomous vehicles developed by Waymo, Baidu and Pony.ai. On 27 February 2018, Shanghai government issued the Shanghai Regulations on Intelligent and Connected Vehicles Road Testing, which legislatively paved the way for autonomous car development in this city. Moreover, some Shanghai-based automakers, like SAIC Motor and NIO, have been given governmental licenses that permit them to test autonomous vehicles on public roads.Police intervene in rally of docs, medical students; 25 arrested

Police have intervened in a rally organised in the Capital on Thursday by medical students and professionals to pressurise the government to immediately fulfill the demands put forth by Dr Govinda KC, who has been staging an indefinite hunger strike for the past 27 days.It all makes sense once you realize they want to kill us, by Mike Whitney - The Unz Review : 'It is now apparent that these products in ...Carmaker Kia uses a summer holiday shutdown for preparation of novelties

The Kia Sportage will be electrified and the second generation of Kia Ceed will be replaced by a new version of the Ceed Sportswagon.

The Slovak arm of the Korean car maker Kia Motors Slovakia (KMS) has stopped its production lines on the Teplicka nad Vahom (Zilina Region) plant on Monday, July 23 for the annual two-week summer holiday, this time for maintenance work and technological modifications in its production halls.

The carmaker just finished the production of the second generation Kia Ceed. It will be replaced by the new combi version of the Ceed Sportswagon. Another novelty will be the electrification of the Kia Sportages powertrain. The new diesel mild hybrid EcoDynamics+ 48v is the first powertrain Kia is introducing on the market within its worldwide electrification strategy of powertrains.

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We believe that novelties from our plant will confirm its stable position on the European market and that they will appeal to new customers, and that our current 50 percent share of our cars on the sale of the Kia brand in Europe will even grow, said Dusan Dvorak, spokesperson of Kia Motors Slovakia, as cited in the press release.

During the first half of 2018, Kia Motors Slovakia produced more than 170,000 cars and 236,000 engines. The Kia Sportage, Ceed and Venga models manufactured in Slovakia were exported most often to Russia (17.7 percent), Great Britain (14 percent) and Italy (7.5 percent). A stable share of about 1.5 percent was sold in Slovakia. Customers confirmed the trend of preferring petrol engines with a share of 72 percent during the first half of the year.

Simultaneously, Kia Sportage, the most sold Kia model in Europe, was the most produced model (66 percent). It was followed by Ceed (28 percent) and Venga (6 percent) at the Kia plant in Teplicka nad Vahom.

In 2017, Kia Motors Slovakia invested more than 107 million into the adaptation of its production lines. This year the investments are projected at more than 200 million.

26. Jul 2018 at 12:45 | Compiled by Spectator staffBratislava extends free WiFi in the city centre

The service also offers smart information about Bratislava.

Citizens and visitors of Bratislava can continue to use free WiFi in the city centre. The service was launched in 2016 when Slovakia held the presidency in the Council of the European Union for six months. During two years of its existence, more than 170,000 people have used it.

It was a matter time for us to provide such services for citizens and visitors of Bratislava, especially during a time when most information is in a virtual form, said Bratislava Mayor Ivo Nesrovnal, as cited in the press release.

The service is provided by the mobile operator O2 in cooperation with the Bratislava City Council and the Bratislava Tourist Board (BTB).

BTB considers providing a free, quality internet connection to be a high-standard part of the touristic and information infrastructure of the city. The importance of this service is proven by interest from foreign visitors, whose share on all connections accounts for as much as 40 percent.

This is why we have decided that apart from access to the internet, the service will also offer smart information about Bratislava, based on the locality of its user with interconnection to the citys destination web visitbratislava.com, said Alzbeta Melicharova, chairwoman of the BTBs board of directors.

People use free WiFi most often on the Main Square, Hviezdoslavovo Square and SNP Square. During peak hours, as many as 1,300 devices are being connected. They transfer an average of 170 GB data a day.

The free WiFi network VisitBratislava is also available on Razusovo Nabrezie, Vajanskeho Nabrezie and Fajnorovo Nabrezie embankments, on squares Safarikovo, Rybne, Frantiskanske, Primacialne, Namestie Ludovita Stura, and Namestie Slobody and around streets Zidovska, Staromestska, Kapucinska, Gondova and Rigeleho.

26. Jul 2018 at 22:44 | Compiled by Spectator staffSlovaks involved in the acid attack on a child

They were charged with conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.

Five men, including three Slovaks, are facing trial in the United Kingdom after a suspected acid attack on a three-year-old boy. He suffered serious burns at the Home Bargains store in Worcester on July 21.

The 39-year-old father of the boy from Wolverhampton, Afghani Jabar Paktia (41) from Wolverhampton, and the Slovaks Norbert Pulko (22) from London, Jan Dudi (25) and Adam Cech (27) from Birmingham, appeared at the Kidderminster Magistrates Court charged with conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm, the BBC website reported.

The father cannot be named for legal reasons.

They will next appear at the Worcester Crown Court on August 28, BBC reported.

The alleged attack happened in the Tallow Hill area of the city at about 14:15 BST. The child was treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to hospital for treatment to his face and an arm.

He was discharged on July 22 but the long-term implications of his injuries are not yet known, BBC reported.

26. Jul 2018 at 12:42 | Compiled by Spectator staffRoma organisations outraged by attack in Zilina

The three attackers face four to 10 years in prison.

Three men were detained after attacking another three, including one Roma, in Zilina in the early hours of July 21. They have already been taken into custody by the Zilina district court.

The reason is the concern that they will continue in criminal activities, said Milan Cisarik, spokesperson for the regional prosecutors office in Zilina, as quoted by the TASR newswire.

The incident outraged the Roma living in Slovakia and abroad and they are planning protests, the SITA newswire reported.

What happened?

The attack took place on Kuzmanyho Street in Zilina between July 20 and 21. The three men, 21-year-old Lukas, 22-year-old Tadeas and 23-year-old Peter, assaulted a 21-year-old man. Subsequently, they attacked another two men, 19 and 31, who tried to help the former, spokesperson for the regional Police Corps directorate in Zilina, Radko Moravcik, described for TASR.

Two of the attacked men were seriously injured, Moravcik added.

The Teaching Hospital with Policlinics in Zilina confirmed that they hospitalised the two men after the incident. One, suffering from bleeding in the brain, was admitted to the anaesthetics and intensive medicine ward, while the other with an open ankle fracture was treated in the surgical ward.

If the court finds them guilty, the attackers can spend four to 10 years in prison, TASR wrote.

The police continue to investigate the case.

Roma plan a protest

A young boy was beaten by neo-Nazis and fascists so badly that he ended up in the hospital with bleeding in the brain, said Frantisek Tanko, head of the Roma Union in Slovakia civic association, as quoted by the SITA newswire. Its unbelievable how people start attacking us Roma, but unfortunately it is the result of the government repeatedly failing to solve this problem for more than 20 years.

He thus called on General Prosecutor Jaromir Ciznar, PM Peter Pellegrini and Interior Minister Denisa Sakova (both Smer), to become personally involved and not let this problem be swept under the carpet.

To show their dissatisfaction with the current situation, the Roma Union is organising a protest march to be held in front of the municipal authority building in Zilina. However, he failed to specify the date.

The incident in Zilina only results in the disobedience of Roma in Slovakia, Tanko went on.

Were fed up with situations when somebody beats a person only because they are Roma, Tanko said, as quoted by SITA, adding that they were also born in this country and are its citizens.

Proxy responds

Roma expected the Office of the Governments Proxy for Roma Communities or the People against Racism non-governmental organisation to comment on the attack, but it has not happened yet, as Tanko told SITA.

The governments Proxy for Roma Communities Abel Ravasz commented on the attack on July 24 on his Facebook profile, calling the incident a textbook example of hate crime.

Ravasz also commented on the attacks motive.

The empathy towards Roma in Slovakia is low; public officials and municipalities cannot tolerate or even support this state anymore, he continued, as added by SITA. Similar incidents have no place in Slovakia and deserve the broadest condemnation by possible.

26. Jul 2018 at 12:44 | Compiled by Spectator staffFilla and Fulla - parallels between the two Czech and Slovak artists

There are several ways of commemorating the 100th anniversary of the creation of Czechoslovakia; one way is comparing two visual artists, Czech Emil Filla and Slovak Ludovit Fulla, and their inspiration, work and fate.

Of the two artists whose works are currently shown in the Esterhazy Palace of the Slovak National Gallery, Czech painter Emil Filla (1882 - 1953) was older than his Slovak counterpart, Ludovit Fulla (1902 - 1980) and this can partially be seen in the timing and development of their works. The overview of their lives and works of art offer an insight into at least 50 years of the common state of two nations, Czechoslovakia (with an interruption during the war).

Their fates are intertwined as if in a kind of phase shift: splitting dramatically during World War II  when Czechoslovakia was split into two countries  and connecting symbolically again in the second half of the 1940s and 1950s, curator Katarina Bajcurova explained.

The woe of selection

Due to the limited extent of this exhibition, I had to omit something, so I decided to skip the initial expressionist phase of Filas creation, as well as the last part, the end of the 1960s and 1970s, of Fullas work, she said, adding that despite this limitation, the Filla  Fulla: The Artists Fate exhibition comprises 140 works by each of these two artists.

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Bajcurova specifically stressed the importance of the willingness and readiness of Czech private collectors and museums/galleries which enabled the possibility to present Filas output to an extent unparalleled in Slovakia.

Similarities and differences

While Fila was perceived as a staunch successor of cubism, Picasso and Braque, Vincenc Kramar, a fan, collector and connoisseur of cubism, suggested that rather than that, cubism was more of a philosophy and world view for the Czech artist which was then reflected in works of other genres.

Fulla, on the other hand, was rather a representative of avant-garde, especially in Slovak art where he was one of its pioneers.

They both held in common a strong and deep inspiration in folklore and traditional myths: Filla made folk or folk-inspired myths and poems part of his works and after World War II made a famous cycle inspired by Slovak outlaw songs, while Fulla illustrated Slovak fairy tales collected by Pavol Dobsinsky, among other works.

Both of them were prolific artists creating in several genres, styles and forms, moreover, both of them were also theoreticians. Both of them worked for some time as professors at schools of applied arts. However, Fillas works of art were found too ugly and brutal for the optimistic culture of the new communist state, and so he was prevented from exhibiting (except for a series of landscapes) and from teaching.

This probably did not help improve his poor health. During WWII he was detained and imprisoned in Dachau and later Buchenwald concentration camp where he survived six heart attacks. After the war Filla withdrew from public view to focus on creating.

Fulla, on the other hand, was luckier in the communist regime: he donated several of his works to the state and, in exchange, the state built a studio for him where his museum was later opened, featuring the donated artworks. He also strangely became friends with then-top communist official, Vasil Bilak.

The current exhibition  to run until October 21, 2018  is a rare attempt to find comparisons and parallels, as well as specifics and differences in the artistic and personal careers of these two unmistakable individualists, the SNG writes in its bilingual leaflet accompanying the event. The leaflet also adds that even though these two artists were not strictly contemporaries, they both opened art in Czechoslovakia to new and radical paths of development. The turbulent story of Czechoslovakia, its establishment and the twists and turns of its fate were reflected both in their works and in their activities and teaching careers.

Exhibition and more

Apart from the exhibition, there will also be accompanying events (also in English after the summer break) offering a more detailed insight into the background of these two personages.

An accompanying catalogue is available in the form of a bilingual book of 235 pages, full of reproductions of the works and portraits/private photographs completing the image of the era. Some of the photos were made by outstanding art photographers of that time (Frantisek Drtikol, Jaromir Funke, Josef Sudek, Karol Kallay, Magdalena Robinsonova).

Read also:

Read also: Slovak National Gallery marks 70th anniversary with a special programme Read more

In its text, the catalogue maps the era of around half a century, touching on the biographies of the two personalities, their preferred art genres, their inspiration and favourite motifs, their fights and struggles  usually connected with the political and social earthquakes of the Czechoslovak state or its successor states.

The monographic double exhibition prepared in the joint cycle Made in Czechoslovakia with the Moravian Gallery in Brno thus focuses on Czech and Slovak (and Czechoslovak) art through two iconic figures of the nations modern art.

26. Jul 2018 at 15:14 | Zuzana VilikovskaTalks fail as KC panel walks out

Talks between the federal government and Dr Govinda KC panel failed on Wednesday as the former refused to negotiate the provisions of controversial National Medical Education Bill that is the main demand of doctor on indefinite hunger strike.One of the most striking aspects of Detroits economic decline has been the neglect and decay of some of its most historic buildings. Michigan Central Station, once an emblem of the citys automotive industry, has been left to rotits shell a magnet for graffiti artists and urban explorers. The opulent grandeur of the Michigan Theatre, in its heyday a 4,000-seat movie palace which played host to Doris Day, the Marx Brothers, and Louis Armstrong, is now a parking garage. Other landmarks, like the Detroit Museum of Art, are simply gone.

But some, like the historic Wurlitzer building on Broadway in the citys downtown, are being slowly brought back to life. The Siren Hotel, a newly opened restoration of the Wurlitzer by the design development firm ASH NYC, aims to continue the regeneration of Detroits once-bustling downtown. The hotel boasts 106 rooms, seven restaurants and bars, a barbershop, and in the lobby, a sleek cafe by Bay City, Michigan native Populace Coffee Roasters.

Although finishing touches are still being made (the lobby staircase was being painted during a recent visit) the hotel feels very much alive and bustling. Walking through the front door today is to step into the past. The lobby is grand and opulent, with antique furniture, huge ornate mirrors, chandeliers, and marble touches throughout.

On the right hand side as you enter is a marble topped check-in desk flanked by enormous tropical plants, and opposite is Populace Coffees beautifully appointed bar. The lobby doubles as the cafes seating area, with an eclectic collection of plush vintage armchairs and sofas allowing guests and visitors alike to sit and soak up the ambiance.

Andrew Heppner founded Populace in his hometown in 2010, after getting his start in specialty coffee in California at Intelligentsias Venice cafe. Originally a wholesale roaster, with just Heppner and now-co-owner Dave Daniele running the entire show, Populace opened a retail location in Bay City last October, and currently employs a staff of 12 between the roastery and its two cafes. Even still, Heppner spends a lot of time traveling between his home base and Detroit, making sure that everything is running smoothly at the Wurlitzer.

The coffee bar has been designed to blend into the old-world elegance of the hotel. For espresso, Populace employs a two-group La Marzocco Linea EE with support from Mahlkonig Peak and GH2 grinders. Drip coffee is supplied by FETCO batch brew, while a Chemex option also exists for those wanting to linger and share. The menu is succinct but comprehensive.

This is not, however, just another hotel cafe. For Heppner, the intent has always been to attract customers from the surrounding neighborhood in addition to hotel guests.

Our goal is really to attach the neighborhood as much as possible, he says. Because there are a surprising amount of people that live in this immediate area.

As of a week into operation, Heppner says that about three quarters of Populaces customers have been non-guests. Being located in such a unique setting definitely helps; as he puts it: Its nice that its pretty in here.

Populaces involvement with The Siren Hotel goes back 18 months, and since then Heppner has watched the renovations unfold with anticipation.

For me, it was such a big deal to open, and to be a part of this project, he says. In preparation, he visited The Dean Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island, also designed by ASH NYC. I just fell in love with their design, their attention to detail.

For the wider coffee industry, its these creative partnershipslike a collaboration between a pioneering hotel restoration and one of Michigans outstanding coffee roastersthat will allow the states maturing coffee scene to progress still further. If youre a coffee lover visiting Detroit in the near future, this is the place to stay.

Fionn Pooler is a journalist based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the publisher of The Pourover. Read more Fionn Pooler on Sprudge.

All photos by the author unless otherwise noted.District Health Boards have made a new pay offer to nurses, and their union says they should accept it.

It's understood nurses will ballot the offer next week. It is the fourth offer DHBs have extended to the nurses in negotiations.

Nurses went on strike for 24 hours two weeks ago, the first national strike in three decades, as the row largely over pay and staffing deepened.

DHB spokesperson Jim Green says they were pushed hard by the union.

"To put together a package that met their members' demands for action on safe staffing, as well as bringing the new top salary step for registered nurses and midwives into the term of the agreement.

"The key differences in this offer relate to the sequencing and timing of the elements."

"The offer contains $38m that DHBs will use to start recruiting additional staff immediately and they'll work with NZNO locally on the areas where staff are most urgently needed."

Mr Green told Checkpoint there was no extra government money in the latest offer, but the salary step aspect would be discussed with the ministry.

"The government's made it really clear that there is no more money from them in terms of supporting this but we're going to work with the Ministry of Health about how we can work this through.

DHBs also agreed a process for providing reports to union members on staffing and brought forward the proposed new RN7 top salary step so it will be within the new employment agreement.

Funding for this is to be discussed with the Health Ministry.

DHBs say the offer went further than either the Employment Relations Authority facilitator or the Independent Panel suggested, and ensured an agreement would apply from June this year instead of two weeks after ratification.

Nurses say it retains previously achieved benefits, including on pay equity.

Nurses Organisation industrial services manager Glenda Alexander told Checkpoint's John Campbell that the revised offer would deal more quickly with the nursing shortage.

"What we believe is the real improvements in this latest offer is the issues around having clearer monitoring and reporting mechanisms.

"Also ensuring that there will be real, enforcable mechanisms now to make sure that we can get those nurses into the hospitals where they need to be and to make sure that everyone has a much better environment."

The union also says they gained clearer monitoring and reporting and enforceable measures on extra staffing.

Health Minister David Clark says he's pleased there had been progress in negotiations with nurses over pay and conditions.

He says he knew nurses believed DHBs have not always held up their end of the bargain and found it difficult to trust them.

He said he was committed to fixing that.

He congratulated both negotiating teams for their continued hard work to find common ground and said he encouraged nurses to closely consider the latest offer.Terms of reference for airlines revised

The Civil Aviation Ministry has revised the terms of reference for the establishment of new airlines and upgradation of domestic airlines into international carriers in a move to properly manage and increase their market share of foreign routes.LUXEMBOURG-VILLE  A native and resident of Kehlen who works as a civil servant in the capital has admitted to suffering from deep feelings of inadequacy and worries that he is linguistically challenged when in the presence of colleagues who speak more languages than him.

Marco Pohlen, who works in the Bierger Center, says that his professional life has been turned upside down after the recent hiring of a woman from Mersch who speaks eight languages.

I can only speak six, he admitted to the Wurst.

While Pohlen is limited to communicating in French, German, Luxembourgish, English, Portuguese, and Italian, Lina M., his new colleague, speaks all of the aforementioned languages plus Spanish and Polish. To make matters worse, she has a rudimentary knowledge of Russian and Hungarian and uses every opportunity to throw them in Marcos face, he says.

If a guy from Estonia comes in and asks me if I speak English, Lina will pick up on his accent, jump in, and start speaking to him in Russian, right in front of me, and its very hurtful, he said. It makes me realise that I have a severe language handicap.

I dont know why I was able to master syntax, grammatical cases, and hundreds of thousands words in only three Germanic languages and three Latin ones, he says. Maybe I had a prolonged fever as a child, or someone dropped me on the head when I was a baby.

Sources indicate, however, that the new colleague, who at one time hoped to work as an interpreter at the European Commission, abandoned her plans after becoming demotivated and terribly embarrassed when she realised that most of those with whom she would have to compete could speak between 10 and 15 languages  and get by in another five.

The Luxembourg Wurst is a humour and satire website about life in the Grand Duchy.

Read more at wurst.luMountain Shadows in Wayanad is just the place for a dreamy vacationUpcoming HBO drama My Brilliant Friend, an eight-part series based on Elena Ferrantes novel of the same name, will screen on Showcase in 2019 .

Based on the first book in Ferrantes four-part series, the 8 part series trace the friendship of two girls, Elena and Lila, in post-war Naples.

Almost 9,000 children and 500 adults auditioned for the cast of ore than 150 actors and 5,000 extras.

Newcomers Elisa Del Genio and Ludovica Nasti were chosen to portray the two lead roles of Elena and Lila as young children, with teenage actors, Margherita Mazzucco (Elena) and Gaia Girace (Lila) to assume older roles.

The series tells the story of Elena Greco, a now-elderly woman who discovers the most important friend in her life, Raffaella Lila Cerullo, has disappeared without a trace. A writer, immersed in a house full of books, Greco turns on her computer and starts writing the story of their tempestuous friendship, stating from the point when Elena met Lila in their first year of school in 1950.

Set in a dangerous and fascinating Naples, their story goes on to cover more than 60 years of their lives, as she tries to describe the mystery of Lila, Elenas brilliant friend and  in a way  her best friend and worst enemy.

My Brilliant Friend is an HBO, RAI Fiction and TIMVISION series, produced by Lorenzo Mieli and Mario Gianani for Wildside and by Domenico Procacci for Fandango, in co-production with Umedia Production.

Production is currently underway in Caserta, Italy.Netflix has confirmed new horror / fantasy series Locke & Key with Carlton Cuse and Meredith Averill as showrunners.

A pilot was developed for Hulu featuring Frances OConnor but she is not expected to appear in the Netflix version.

Based on a comic franchise co-created by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez revolves around three siblings who, after the gruesome murder of their father, move to their ancestral home in Massachusetts only to find the house has magical keys that give them a vast array of powers and abilities. Little do they know, a devious demon also wants the keys, and will stop at nothing to attain them.

Joe Hill and Aron Eli Coleite will pen the first episode of a 10 part series.Seven has announced a spin-off of Miss Fishers Murder Mysteries to centre around the niece of Phryne Fisher (Essie Davis).

Ms. Fishers MODern Murder Mysteries will be 4 telemovies set in Melbourne in the 1960s with Peregrine Fisher in the title role, created by Every Cloud Productions Deb Cox and Fiona Eagger.

Set in 1964, audiences will meet the gorgeously reckless Peregrine Fisher who inherits a windfall when the famous aunt she never knew goes missing over the highlands of New Guinea. Peregrine must prove herself brilliant enough to become a world class private detective in her own right.

Production on the series will begin in October with Fiona Eagger and Deb Cox as Executive producers, Beth Frey producing, Director is Fiona Banks and Writers are Deb Cox, Samantha Winston, Chelsea Cassio and Jo Martino.

Were very excited to tell our legion of Australian and international fans that were expanding the world of Miss Fisher into the fabulous era of the 1960s. The series will be full of the usual three Fs our fans have come to expect  feminism, fashion and fun! Fiona Eagger says.

Ms Fisher, next generation, will be as glamorous as her aunt, brandishing her signature pearl-handled pistol and bantering endlessly with the main man in her life  but her stylish apartment, her sleek sports-car and her cutting-edge wardrobe have certainly moved with the times, Deb Cox adds.

Author of the original Phryne Fisher Books, Kerry Greenwood, said, To see fabulous Phryne inspire a whole new generation of murder mysteries and for the Fisher family to expand in this way gives our lovely fans even more of what they crave. The 1960s was another decade of exciting change for women and were all in for a real treat.

It marks the second time Seven has continued a drama franchise which began on the ABC with The Blake Mysteries to air later this year.

Head of Production at Screen Australia, Sally Caplan said: The Miss Fisher TV Series has had extraordinary success with international sales in over 170 territories. Recent data published by Screen Australia shows the first two series of Miss Fishers Murder Mysteries attracted the second and third most returns for dramas that Screen Australia invested in for 2017.

Its fantastic to see such a clever reimagining of this popular series involving strong female characters, which will appeal to a highly engaged fan base and will be driven by a talented female creative team. I look forward to seeing director, Fiona Banks, and producers Fiona Eagger, Deb Cox (also writing) and Beth Frey, bring to life the action-packed world of 1960s Melbourne and our new heroine Peregrine Fisher.

Maartje Horchner, EVP Content at all3media international, said: all3media international are thrilled to be involved in the new Ms Fisher venture Ms. Fishers MODern Murder Mysteries. We have thoroughly enjoyed working with Every Cloud on this brand for more than eight years now and we look forward to continuing our collaboration for many years to come. We believe the international fans will embrace the vibrant character of Peregrine Fisher.

Victorias Minister for Creative Industries, Martin Foley said: The Miss Fisher story is a thrilling tale, both on screen and off  one that features Victorian creativity every step of the way. From the books by Victorias own Kerry Greenwood to the much loved locally-made series, its connected our creative industries with a global audience. We are very proud to support this production, which continues the tradition, and will bring an exciting new chapter of this story to the screen.

Later this year, the feature film Miss Fisher & The Crypt of Tears, set in 1929 and starring Essie Davis will also go into production.

Casting is yet to be announced.There are major deficits in the provision of mental health care for those in Ireland, according to a new report released by Irelands independent mental health service regulator, The Mental Health Commission. Released on Wednesday (25 July), the MHCs annual investigation of mental health (MH) facilities has found a number of poor care standards including placing children into adult rather than Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), failure to maintain cleanliness and upkeep of facilities, and widespread use of physical restraint and isolation.

The Chairman of the MHC, John Saunders, has branded services unsafe and substandard.

Failing to comply

While some areas of improvement since earlier years are noted in the report, such as several services working in partnership with the people whose care they deliver, the areas of improvement are overshadowed by the multiple problems.

Out of 64 approved centres inspected, only two were fully compliant with legislative requirements. All others failed to comply with one or more of the requirements. Low staff levels, unsuitable use of physical restraints and seclusion (with 69% of approved centres that used physical restraint not being compliant with its use), and levels of availability of therapeutic activities are some of the areas of shortfall.

Non-conformance with national policy regarding person-centred and recovery-focused care is another area the report highlights. In those where individualised care plans were technically compliant, the report says these plans were not always person-centred or recovery-based. This goes against A Vision for Change, Irelands national policy for MH.

Having recovery and person-based plans makes sure service users needs are met and gives them goals to work towards. The plans should be created collaboratively between them and a multidisciplinary care team.

'Undermining' of human rights

The report writes that the level of failings in some areas contributes to an undermining of human rights.

This pertains, among others, to instances where children are placed in adult services, rather than CAMHS where they should be placed.

In total, the report found that 82 children admitted into MH care were admitted into adult units. This is up from 68 in 2016. Reasons for the failure of children being admitted into the correct type of unit include a shortage of beds in CAMHS units and absence of an out-of-hours CAMHS service in some areas.

Further breaches of human rights, cited in the report, include service users not having freedom of movement around the facility they were in, not having privacy, or the ability to access drinks when desired. Regarding the human right to privacy, 45% of the approved centres examined failed to meet it.

Irish childrens charity, ISPCC, has echoed the MHCs terming the admitting of children into adult services a breach of human rights by calling the practice inappropriate and a breach of the rights of children and young people.

Mental Health Commission's 2017 Annual Report highlights a concerning rise in the number of children placed in adult mental health units last year. This practice is both inappropriate and a breach of the rights of children and young people. It must be brought to an end. https://t.co/naBB7vBTUu  ISPCC Childline (@ISPCCChildline) July 25, 2018

A World Health Organisation report on long-term MH care institutions in Europe also found concerns over the human rights of those receiving care.

The report, published in June, included concerns over privacy, and a lack of human rights knowledge by members of staff.

Calls for reform of Mental Health Act

The MHCs Chairman, John Saunders, has said that in light of the findings of the report, combined with problems consistently being found in MHC reports since 2012, reform of the 2001 Act is now urgently needed. The Mental Health Act, passed in 2001, outlines the rights of those in Ireland receiving care for mental ill-health and what rules should be followed. Currently, however, it is not believed to go far enough.

Despite a review of the 2001 Act being published in 2014, changes called for have not yet been legislated. In a statement issued after the MHCs report publication, the Director of Mental Health Reform, Dr Shari McDaid, has said that the Irish government should urgently update our mental health law so that people can feel safe accessing the services they require. Mental Health Reform is the countrys national coalition on MH. McDaid also calls on increased funding to be given to MH services above and beyond that which the government has already pledged in Budget 2019.Greece is the scene of deadly wildfires. So far more than 70 people have died, ABC reported. Tourists to the Attica area, the region where Athens is located, fled to beaches to escape the flames. People were found dead in the water and one large group of more than 20 people died near Mati, CBS noted. International help is on the way. In the meantime, people have lost their pets in the face of the terrifying fires and confusion.

New Facebook community page for missing pets

A new Facebook page was set up to help those people who have lost their pets in the Attica wildfires to post photos.

Meanwhile, other people who have found animals fleeing the flames can also post up photos. The idea of the website is to get as many lost pets reunited with their owners as possible. Right now, Greek authorities are focused on saving people, but that did not stop them from helping out where they could. Firemen were seen rescuing a bird in a cage and giving water to a dog.

There are already quite a lot of heartbreaking posts on the Facebook page, showing animals lost and found in the Greek region of Attica.

Greece Attica pets lost and found during tragic fires are on Facebook https://t.co/eqBXjHzz6W pic.twitter.com/PWqy1U37L1  Jane Flowers (@zimkwacha) July 25, 2018

People in Attica have a place to go with their pets

Meanwhile, there is a place that people can go if they have their pets and no place to keep them.

Keep Talking Greece website says that they can go to Vasilis Zermpoglou who "invites people hit by the fire who have pets with them and have nowhere to go [to go] to Spata, near the Athens International Airport." He also has a Facebook Page under the account of vasilis.zermpoglou.

There are some lovely acts of kindness going on in Greece.

Reddit has some photos of people going out of their way to assist animals in trouble. The BBC showed photos of the tragic fire and one of them showed a dog lying on a rock, surrounded by water.

The Attica Fire destroyed homes, killed more than 70 people

So far, the Attica fires in Greece have destroyed many homes. In fact, an updated report from TRT says the death toll has now risen to 80 people.

Tourists were rescued off beaches on Tuesday. Today firefighters are still battling blazes in places, and rescuers search through ash and debris for victims. Attica was declared to be a state of emergency. "Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras cut short a visit to Bosnia and announced three days of national mourning," TRT wrote.

It is feared that more victims will come to light. So far there are reportedly many people still missing in Attica. Some of the hospitalised patients are in serious conditionTokyo announced on Thursday that the last six executions of the members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult were carried out this week. Seven people were put to death this earlier this month. The BBC noted that the leader of the terror attack, Shoko Asahara and other members were all hanged. The remaining cult members were waiting to get their appeals heard. Now, all the cult terror attackers are dead.

The Aum Shinrikyo cult sarin attacks

The group was tried for the March 1995 sarin poison attack which killed 13 people and injured nearly six thousand. They were also suspects in "several other murders and an earlier sarin gas attack in 1994 which killed eight and left 600 injured," BBC noted.

The 1995 attack was done in a busy subway in Tokyo. It was the biggest terror incident on Japanese soil. Japanese NHK news outlet reported that the cult members released the gas in railway carriages.

Speaking at a press conference, Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa said, "The pain and anguish of the people who were killed and their families as well as of the survivors left with disabilities, was unimaginable." 23 years after the attack, the painful memories still remain for the families of the sarin victims.

About the Shinrikyo cult

The cult was led by Shoko Asahara and was founded in 1984. He was legally blind, the Daily Best wrote, which added to his aura. Highly intelligent, but twisted, he believed that the apocalyptic times were upon us.

He also believed he was Christ and the successor to Buddha. The cult became a mix of apocalyptic Christian beliefs mixed with Hindu and Buddhist beliefs. They believed that they should kill everyone who did not believe as they did.

Many people believe the cult ended with the arrest of the sarin attackers, but they also operated under the names of Aleph and Hikari no Wa.

They have a worldwide following, including people in the USA. Apart from wanting to become the King of Japan, Asahara got enough of a following in the USA to plot an attack on New York city from their US offices. Overall, he wanted to rule the world. The Daily Beast noted that the cult is "anti-American" and "anti-Semitic."

Is the cult dead and can Japan now find closure?

Sky News reported that one victim said after the executions, that the "world had become slightly brighter." The executions may have put an end to the terror attackers, but their cult may still be in the shadows, particularly in the USA.

The cult is registered as a terrorist organization in the US, the EU, and Russia. In Japan, it is recognized as a "dangerous" religion and they are watched.

In their book, "The Cult at the End of the World: The Terrifying Story of the Aum Doomsday Cult, from the Subways of Tokyo to the Nuclear Arsenals of Russia," authors David E. Kaplan and Andrew Marshall, claimed their practices remain secret. Just two years ago, Russia raided the cult and confiscated various items and literature. In 2017, Japan raided some of their offices for controversial recruitment practices.YEREVAN (Reuters) - Armenian investigators on Thursday charged former President Robert Kocharyan with usurping power and filed a court motion to arrest him, the special investigation service said.

The move comes three months after power change in the ex-Soviet country following weeks of mass protests against corruption and cronyism.

Kocharyan served as Armenia's second president from 1998 to 2008 and investigators have charged him with an attempt to overthrow the constitutional order during post-election events in March 2008, when his ally Serzh Sarksyan was elected the next president.

In February-March 2008 the opposition held protest rallies, contesting the results of the election and claiming that their candidate, Levon Ter-Petrosyan had won the vote.

The protests were dispersed and 10 people were killed in clashes with police. The Constitutional Court upheld the election results.

Nikol Pashinyan, an opposition activist at the time who was imprisoned in June 2009 on charges of fomenting unrest during post-election protests, was elected prime minister by parliament on May 8 this year.

Kocharyan said the latest charges were politically motivated, but added he was ready to spend time in prison.

"These charges are fiction, fabricated, unjustified and have a political implication," he told an independent Armenian Yerkir Media TV.

Kocharyan also said the most likely development was his arrest, but he did not intend to run away.

"I'm going to go sit in prison and fight to the end."

(Reporting by Hasmik Mkrtchyan; writing by Margarita Antidze; editing by David Evans)

See Also:FILE PHOTO: Portugal's Foreign Affairs minister Augusto Santos Silva attends a news conference at Necessidades Palace in Lisbon, Portugal July 27, 2016. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante

Thomson Reuters

LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's foreign minister told Britain on Thursday it should keep its doors open to "construction workers and waiters" as well as high-end professional migrants after it leaves the European Union.

"I've had the opportunity to tell the home secretary that Portugal doesn't have a segmented view on people's movement," Augusto Santos Silva said when asked about Britain's plans to prioritize highly-skilled European migrants after Brexit.

"Therefore the brightest EU migrants are also the construction workers and the waiters," Silva told reporters after meeting UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid.

Thousands of Portuguese live in Britain and many work as nurses, waiters and cleaners while British citizens living in Portugal are mostly pensioners. Portugal is actively courting wealthy British to move and invest there in the run up to Brexit.

Javid was in Lisbon to present London's recently published plan on leaving the EU and to discuss the rights of European and British citizens in both countries.

Britain and Portugal have the world's oldest alliance, signed under a 1386 treaty.

(Reporting By Catarina Demony; Editing by Axel Bugge and Andrew Heavens)

See Also:BERLIN (AP)  A court in Austria has acquitted 17 members of the far-right Identitarian Movement of incitement to hatred and forming a criminal organization in connection with several high-profile stunts directed against migrants.

Public broadcaster ORF reported that the Graz regional court found one member of the group guilty Thursday of bodily harm and harassment, and another of property damage. They were fined several hundred euros (dollars) each.

Most of those indicted have been active in the group since its founding in 2012, including its most prominent figure, Martin Sellner. British authorities denied Sellner entry into the country earlier this year.

The group, which campaigns against Islam and immigration, has ties to the U.S. far-right movement and the Austrian Freedom Party, which is part of the country's governing coalition.FILE PHOTO: Traders offload beans and jerrycans from their boats on the Congo River during the vaccination campaign against Ebola in the port city of Mbandaka, Democratic Republic of Congo May 23, 2018. Picture taken May 23, 2018. REUTERS/Kenny Katombe/File Photo

Thomson Reuters

By Amedee Mwarabu

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Congo's health minister said on Wednesday that when its Ebola outbreak was first announced less than three months ago, he never dreamed it would be possible to contain it so swiftly.

"On the 8th of May 2018, when I declared that Democratic Republic of Congo was facing a new epidemic of Ebola, I didn't think I'd be able to say these words so soon," Health Minister Oly Ilunga Kalenga told a news conference.

"The epidemic had every sign of a major crisis that was going to break out of our national borders."

Instead, a swift response by Congolese authorities, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and partnered aid agencies, combined with a rapid deployment of experimental vaccines, enabled the epidemic to be contained by Tuesday - a rare triumph for a central African nation beset by dysfunction.

In the past few years, Congo has lurched from one crisis to another. President Joseph Kabila refused to step down when his mandate expired at the end of 2016, triggering a constitutional crisis and street protests in which scores died.

An election is nearly two years overdue. Ethnic and militia violence has erupted across the country, leaving four-and-a-half million people displaced. Nearly eight million Congolese are facing food insecurity and 13 million are in need of humanitarian aid, the United Nations says.

Yet, faced with an Ebola epidemic that risked a repeat of the devastation wrought on West Africa in 2013-2016, when the virus wiped out 11,000 people, health authorities swung into action.

Unlike officials in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, they were able to draw on the country's experience facing down eight previous outbreaks of the virus, named after the eponymous river in northern Congo where it was first detected in 1976.

Kalenga highlighted fast testing by Congo's biomedical research experts, quick deployment of logistics to the remote towns in northwest Congo where the virus was detected, a campaign of educating the public, as well as an experimental vaccine given to over 3,300 people under supervision of the WHO.

Story continues

(Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

See Also:By Aaron Maasho

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The project manager of a $4 billion (3.05 billion pounds) Ethiopian dam was found shot dead in his vehicle in Addis Ababa on Thursday, police said, prompting scores of people to take to the streets in the capital and his home city calling for justice.

People in the crowds said they believed Simegnew Bekele had been murdered, though there was no immediate confirmation from the authorities, or details of any motive.

"We have confirmed that engineer Simegnew Bekele was shot dead ... He had a bullet wound behind his right ear," the head of Ethiopia's Federal Police Commission, Zeinu Jemal, told reporters.

Zeinu said a Colt pistol was found in the vehicle in the city's Meskel Square - a massive road junction and open space usually packed with vehicles and pedestrians during daylight hours.

Ethiopia's new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was "saddened and utterly shocked" by the death, his chief of staff said in tweet.

Simegnew was the public face of the Grand Renaissance Dam project on the River Nile - the centrepiece of Ethiopia's bid to become Africa's biggest power exporter.

Ethiopia has been pushing on with the project in the face of opposition from Egypt which fears it will affect the flow of the Nile, its main source of water. In June, the leaders of Ethiopia and Egypt vowed to iron out their differences peacefully.

Crowds in Addis Ababa marched to the state television station's headquarters chanting "No to killings" and "Justice for Simegnew".

Hundreds also packed the streets of his birthplace, the northern city of Gondar. "Amongst our requests is the repatriation of his body back to his own city," said one protester, who only gave his name as Geremew.

A Reuters photographer saw blood stains along an arm rest inside his vehicle - a gold Toyota Land Cruiser - before an ambulance took away the body.

The dam is currently only half complete, but the government says it is designed to churn out 6,000 megawatts (MW) of power on completion.

(Editing by Omar Mohammed and Andrew Heavens)VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) _ Goldcorp Inc. (GG) on Wednesday reported a second-quarter loss of $131 million, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier.

On a per-share basis, the Vancouver, British Columbia-based company said it had a loss of 15 cents. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, were 5 cents per share.

The results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 7 cents per share.

The gold mining company posted revenue of $793 million in the period.

Goldcorp shares have risen 4.5 percent since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $13.35, a decrease of 0.5 percent in the last 12 months.

_____

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on GG at https://www.zacks.com/ap/GGIn this photo taken Wednesday July 25, 2018, the waters of Zegrze Reservoir made green by cyanobacteria bloom that has led authorities to ban bathers from getting into the water, in Zegrze, near Warsaw, Poland. Authorities in Poland on Thursday july 26, 2018, banned swimming at over 50 beaches along its Baltic coast, after hot weather led to the toxic growth of bacteria in the unusually warm sea.(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Thinking of a dip in the Baltic Sea to cool off from the unusually scorching European summer? It's too hot for that.

Authorities in Poland this week banned swimming at over 50 beaches along its Baltic coast, after hot weather led to the toxic growth of bacteria in the unusually warm sea. Baltic Sea water temperatures exceeded 23 degrees Celsius (73.4F) in some places Thursday.

Emergency water rescuers told vacationers on hot sandy beaches  from Swinoujscie in the west to Gdynia in the east  not to enter the sea, where thick green-brown cyanobacteria colonies have grown and pose a health threat.

Regional sanitation authorities have issued warnings that contact with the bacteria may cause allergies and rashes. Drinking contaminated water can also lead to serious digestive problems.

The Baltic Sea has not seen such intense growth of cyanobacteria for 12 years. It results from exceptionally high air temperatures of 34 degrees Celsius (93.2 degrees Fahrenheit) that have raised the temperatures of the usually cold Baltic.

A similar ban has been issued for some inland lakes and reservoirs, such as the Zegrze Resevoir near Warsaw.

In neighboring Germany, authorities issued a warning about the higher than usual growth of vibrio bacteria in the warm Baltic that can cause deadly illness in people with compromised immune systems. They said a 70-year-old man with a chronic illness died of vibrio infection over the weekend, and warned elderly people and those with chronic illnesses such as diabetes or HIV to avoid contact with the sea or brackish water.

In Finland, the Loviisa nuclear power plant said in a statement it briefly reduced energy production in both its units Wednesday to prevent the Baltic Sea water that cools its infrastructure from getting too warm. It said there was no danger to people or the environment.Russia's President Putin shakes hands with South Africa's President Ramaphosa at the BRICS summit in Johannesburg Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) shakes hands with South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa at the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa July 26, 2018. Sputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin via REUTERS

By Alexander Winning

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the subject of a nuclear deal at a private meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, but his host said Pretoria could not sign such a deal for now.

Russian state firm Rosatom was one of the front runners for a project to dramatically increase South Africa's nuclear power-generating capacity championed by former president Jacob Zuma.

Ramaphosa has put nuclear expansion on the back burner since taking office in February, saying it is too expensive, and has focused instead on pledges to revive the economy and crack down on corruption.

"While we remain committed to an energy mix that includes nuclear, South Africa is not yet at the point where it is able to sign on the dotted line," Ramaphosa's spokeswoman Khusela Diko said about the meeting between Putin and Ramaphosa.

Hours earlier, one of the top six officials in South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) had said that Pretoria would not rush into major nuclear investments but that it was still open to future deals with Russia.

"Once we are clear that this is affordable for us to do, we are open for business including with Russia," ANC Treasurer General Paul Mashatile said.

He spoke on the sidelines of a three-day BRICS summit attended by the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

"I think the approach we will take is to avoid the Big Bang approach. The initial intervention was that we would do close to 10,000 megawatts (MW). ... It's unaffordable," he said.

Mashatile also said the ANC wanted greater private investment in struggling state-owned power utility Eskom, which swung to a loss for the year to end-March.

ROSATOM STILL KEEN

Russia wants to turn nuclear energy into a major export industry. It has signed agreements with African countries with no nuclear tradition, including Rwanda and Zambia, and is set to build a large nuclear plant in Egypt.

Story continues

Rosatom is "still interested" in helping South Africa expand its nuclear capacity, a Rosatom executive told Reuters.

"If there is a place for nuclear energy in the energy mix, we are happy to cooperate. We are happy to follow each and every procedure that will be communicated to us by the South African government," said Dmitry Shornikov, Rosatom's chief executive for central and southern Africa.

Rosatom on Thursday signed a separate agreement with South African state nuclear firm Necsa to explore joint production of nuclear medicines and other ways of harnessing nuclear technology, a statement from the two firms showed.

The agreement, which is non-binding, is a further sign that Rosatom is keen to cement its position on the African continent.

South Africa currently operates Africa's only nuclear power plant, with an installed capacity of around 1,900 MW.

The nuclear expansion deal backed by Zuma envisaged adding an additional 9,600 MW, but ratings agencies cited the project as a cause for concern given the country's recurring budget deficits and ballooning public debt.

(Editing by James Macharia and Elaine Hardcastle)Lone suspect in blast near U.S. embassy in Beijing caught

By Se Young Lee and Tom Daly

BEIJING (Reuters) - A bomb exploded outside the U.S. embassy in Beijing on Thursday, wounding the lone assailant, the embassy said in a statement, although police described the weapon merely as a "firework device".

The explosion happened on the street outside southeast corner of the embassy compound. Beijing police said the suspect, a 26-year-old man from China's Inner Mongolia region whom they identified only by the surname Jiang, had injured his hand and had been taken to hospital.

Police did not provide a motive but said in a statement via their official account on the Chinese social networking service Weibo that the suspect had a history of mental illness and was once hospitalised for treatment. The suspect was hearing voices, the statement said.

China and the United States have been involved in a trade dispute initiated by Washington, with the two sides imposing tariffs on $34 billion (25.8 billion) worth of each other's goods. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened ultimately to impose punitive tariffs on all Chinese imports.

While Chinese officials and state media have been outspoken in their criticism of Washington's trade moves, there has not been a groundswell of outrage on China's heavily censored social media, and no reported boycotts of U.S. goods.

Witnesses told Reuters that they heard an explosion near the embassy and felt tremors.

"I'd just arrived and started to queue and then heard a loud explosion about 100 metres away," a 19-year-old high school student who gave his name as Li told reporters.

Li said the blast happened shortly after 1 p.m. as he queued to apply for a U.S. visa to take an exam in Los Angeles.

A police SUV appeared to have been damaged, with its back windshield missing, and was cordoned off by police before being removed, a Reuters witness said.

The embassy resumed normal operations at about 1.45 p.m., it said.

Crowds were still queueing outside the embassy after the explosion, and traffic was moving as normal in an area of northeastern Beijing that is home to numerous embassies including those of France, India and Israel.

Story continues

Postings on social media showed pictures of smoke close to where people line up outside the compound for visa appointments. Some video clips and images were later removed.

Li Shaohui, a 58-year-old sanitation worker, said he felt the ground shake and that some people screamed.

"I thought first there was a big car crash," Li told Reuters, adding that the smoke had cleared quickly.

There was no damage to U.S. embassy property, the embassy said. Staff members at the Indian and South Korean embassies said they were unaware of any unusual incident and were working as normal.

The state-run Global Times reported separately, citing witnesses, that police took away a woman who sprayed herself with gasoline in a suspected self-immolation attempt outside the embassy at around 11 a.m. It was not clear whether this woman's actions were related to the later explosion, the paper said.

A witness who did not want to be identified told Reuters that he saw a middle-aged woman with two buckets of gasoline. On her back were the Chinese characters for "sue them".

Beijing police and the U.S. embassy did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the woman.

Security in the Chinese capital is tight and protests are often quickly disbanded. Violent crime rates are low in China, according to official statistics.

(Reporting by Se Young Lee, Tom Daly, Pei Li, Lusha Zhang, Cate Cadell, Josephine Mason, Dominique Patton, Michael Martina, Yawen Chen, Thomas Suen, Judy Hua and Fang Cheng; Writing by Tony Munroe; Editing by Nick Macfie and Hugh Lawson)Vanilla farmer Jao Nasaina holds a spear as he patrols at his plantation, to guard the crop against thieves, in Ambavala, near Andapa, Sava region, Madagascar July 14, 2018. REUTERS/Clarel Faniry Rasoanaivo

Thomson Reuters

By Lovasoa Rabary

AMBAVALA, Madagascar (Reuters) - Soaring global prices of vanilla should have been good news for Jao Nasaina, a 58-year-old farmer of the luxury spice on the northeast tip of Madagascar.

Instead, it has brought poverty, stress and sleepless nights patrolling his little patch of jungle with a spear and home-made pistol to ward off the thieves who sneak in to hack off the prized pods under cover of darkness.

Over the last year, police and vigilante groups guarding the northern Malagasy forests of Sava - the world's vanilla capital due to its perfect climate - have caught more than a thousand vanilla rustlers, most of whom are now behind bars, according to local police chief Sirnot Besoa.

Sometimes, however, villagers whose livelihoods depend almost exclusively on the spice used to flavor everything from ice cream to coffee have taken matters into their own hands, beating apprehended suspects to death.

"They cut all the vanilla, the pods. They cut the vines and put all of them in bags. Since then, I am more watchful," Nasaina, who lost his entire crop last year, told Reuters as he sat beside a fire in a clearing in the forest.

"I live here now. I hope that this time my harvest will not be lost."

The crime wave started last year when the price of black non-split Madagascar vanilla [VAN-MG-BNS], the benchmark for the giant Indian Ocean island's leading export, shot up to a record $635 per kilo from just $100 two years earlier.

The surge in prices, sparked by growing luxury market demand for natural - as opposed to synthetic - vanilla, has since eased slightly to $530 but remains high enough for illicit vanilla hunters to take the risk.

"Those who've got firearms come with firearms. Those who've got spears come with spears. Others bring sticks, stones and iron bars," said Rafely, a member of one of the vigilante committees patrolling the plantations.

"We're armed because the robbers are armed. There's no choice."

Story continues

"TRESOR DE SAVA"

Last year when the thieves first struck, farmers opted to harvest the green finger-like pods early rather than lose them altogether, a logical but ultimately disastrous decision, as the premature cropping led to a steep decline in quality.

Madagascar produces up to 6,000 tonnes of green vanilla each year, according to the commerce ministry, and last year exported 1,600 tonnes of processed beans valued at $680 million, the country's biggest export, bringing in more than its nickel and textiles.

It remains well ahead of Indonesia, the number two natural producer, but last year's involuntary early harvest put a dent in its reputation for premium quality 'Tresor de Sava', built up over more than a century from French colonial times.

The content in the beans of vanillin - the organic compound that gives vanilla its distinctive sweet taste - dropped from the usual 1.8 percent to 1 percent, said senior trade ministry official Josielle Rafidy.

Some overseas buyers even sent their shipments back.

In a coordinated fight-back, police and vigilantes now conduct spot checks around plantations to make sure nobody is sneaking out early-harvested pods that might leach onto the international market and compromise Malagasy vanilla's top-notch brand.

"Pods that are picked prematurely are intercepted and then destroyed," Besoa, the Sava police chief, said.

Unfortunately for farmers, however, the extra security comes at a price, making Malagasy vanilla less competitive against Indonesian varieties or the synthetic vanillin that dominates the global food industry.

"Vanillin extracted from other products such as cloves or other species is starting to gain a foothold and to interest buyers in the international market," Rafidy, the trade official said.

(Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

See Also:The European Union plans to grant UK Prime Minister Theresa May a "final" chance to sell her Brexit plan directly to the bloc's leaders in September.

Brexit secretary Dominic Raab is in Brussels on Thursday to meet the European Commissions chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, for another round of talks ahead of the autumn deadline to agree a draft withdrawal treaty.

But the EU has agreed to a special summit in Salzburg in September, The Times reported, which would be a "final chance" for May to push her blueprint after it was all but rejected by Barnier last week.

The PM will address European leaders at a special summit in Salzburg as part of the countrys EU Council presidency schedule, which had otherwise been scheduled to address security issues.

Salzburg could give Brexit negotiations a kickstart after coming to a standstill in recent weeks after May and her warring ministers seemingly agreed a plan to present to the EU just days before David Davis resigned as Brexit Secretary and Boris Johnson quit the Foreign Office in protest.

The issue of the Irish border is also one of the major bumps in the Brexit road with EU and UK officials unable to agree on a workable solution for both sides.

Due to these problems, optimism for a workable deal has dropped in the past few weeks as both Europe and the UK have been planning for a no-deal scenario. The European Commission recently ordered member states to step up their preparations for Britain leaving the block without an agreement.

Newly-appointed Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Monday the EU risks forcing the UK out without a deal  and warned that the country will not "blink" in negotiations.

At a press conference in Berlin, Hunt said: "When it comes to Brexit, there is now a very real risk of a Brexit no-deal by accident. And this is because I think that many people in the EU are thinking that they just have to wait long enough and Britain will blink, and thats not going to happen."Facebook published disappointing second quarter results late overnight as the social media giant's revenues and user numbers fell short of expectations, while profits margins contracted as its battles to improve data protection and combat fake news.

After a slowdown in revenue growth and contraction in operating margins, chief financial officer David Wehner warned that both factors would continue for some time.

Our total revenue-growth rates will continue to decelerate in the second half of 2018, and we expect our revenue-growth rates to decline by high-single-digit percentages from prior quarters sequentially in both Q3 and Q4, he said on the conference call. Wehner also said Facebook still expects expenses to grow 50% to 60% from last year.

Operating profit fell to 44% in the second quarter from 47% a year ago, and Wehner said it will slump to the mid-30s for more than two years.

The California-based company earlier reported an increase in revenues to $13.2bn from $9.3bn for the second quarter of the year, with net income climbing to $5.12bn from $3.89bn despite operating margins being squeezed to 44% in the quarter compared to 47% a year ago.

The social media firm reported daily active users up 11% year-over-year to 1.47bn but still below the consensus estimate of 1.49bn, as compiled by FactSet.

Earning per share of $1.74 were above analysts estimates of $1.71 per share, but revenues were short of the $13.36bn expected by Wall Street.

Facebooks stock futures were down almost 19% to $177 ahead of Thursday's opening bell, pushed lower by comments from Wehner and others in a conference call.

The company also addressed the impact of the European General Data Protection Regulation which knocked off 3m of European daily active users from the platform.

Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg said: "GDPR has not had a significant (ad) revenue impact, but we also recognise it wasn't fully rolled out this quarter.

Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said that it had been a solid quarter across all of the Facebook owned platforms and that the company had been working hard on improving security, data protection and combating fake news.

As Ive said on past calls, were investing so much in security that it will significantly impact our profitability, Zuckerberg said. Were starting to see that this quarter.

Earlier this year it was revealed by a whistleblower that political analysis Cambridge Analytica had used 87m Facebook users' profiles without consent to target American voters with political adverts for Donald Trump and other Republican candidates before the 2016 election.

Facebook remains under investigation by the US Department of Justice, the FBI, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission.US President Donald Trump and European Commission counterpart Jean-Claude Juncker agreed to work towards zero tariffs in new deal struck on Wednesday in the White House.

Trump and Juncker agreed that Europe would purchase more soy and liquefied natural gas from its the US and promised to work together to eliminate the tariffs on industrial goods. The tariffs that are already in place from both sides, such as on steel, will be revised and could be withdrawn soon.

We are close partners and allies, not enemies. We must work together, said Juncker at a White House briefing overnight. We represent half of the worlds trade. We have to work together. We have to talk to each other, not at one another, and thats what we do today.

After the meeting President Trump said that there was a new phase in relations and it was a big day for free and fair trade.

"We agreed today, first of all, to work together toward zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods," Trump said. "We will not go against the spirit of this agreement, unless either party terminates the negotiation. We're starting the negotiation right now but we know very much where it's going.

However, Trump exempted cars from the agreement and could still consider putting 25% tariffs on nearly $200bn car imports from Europe since the issue was not dealt with during the meeting. The block warned the US before the meeting they would respond with similar duties.

However, on Thursday morning, shares of European carmakers such as BMW, Volkswagen, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Daimler jumped in response to the deal.

US markets also welcomed the deal, with the S&P 500 closing Wednesday's session at its highest level since late January.

"This was best outcome that could have been expected from the meeting," said market analyst Jasper Lawler at London Capital Group. "The market was cautious approaching the summit and even further talks were looking doubtful. Yet the EU cutting tariffs and promising to buy 'a lot more' soybeans has been sufficient to avert a trade war, for now. Who knew Mr Juncker could be so quick to make a trade pact when he wants to."

Michael Hewson at CMC Markets added a little caution. "There was no mention of removing the existing retaliatory tariffs imposed in the last few months, and while the pledges to work towards zero tariffs is certainly a noble goal, it is likely to face significant obstacles from some national governments in Europe, which means its unlikely to ever happen," he said. "To get an idea of the obstacles you only need to look at the failure of TTIP.

But on the plus side, Hewson said the prospect of 25% tariffs on European cars has receded for now, along with EU retaliation, "which probably helps explain the positive market reaction".US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened Turkey with sanctions if it did not release an American pastor being held on espionage charges.

Trump said on Twitter: The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long-time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great christian, family man and wonderful human being. He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!

Brunson, who has maintained his innocence throughout his imprisonment, was arrested in the aftermath of the July 2016 coup attempt against Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

US sanctions would place considerable strain on a Turkish economy where public finances are vulnerable to shock factors following government efforts to spur bank lending by increasing loan guarantees.

The Turkish lira extended losses, leading EMFX declines, after US Vice-President Mike Pence earlier told the Turkish government to release pastor Andrew Brunson now or be prepared to face the consequences.London stocks were set to nudge up at the open on Thursday as investors braced for a deluge of earnings reports, while headlines from US President Trump's meeting with EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker helped to soothe investors' nerves.

The FTSE 100 was called to open five points higher at 7,663.

CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "While automakers remained under pressure US markets remained resilient against the backdrop of trade tensions getting a late pre-close lift on reports that the meeting between President Trump and EU officials had yielded some progress, though details were a little vague with reports of lower industrial tariffs and an agreement to import more US soybeans.

"As a result, the S&P500 closed at its highest level since late January, when it hit an all-time high above 2,870, which should translate into a positive European open, despite Asia having a weak session.

"The resulting press conference between Presidents Trump and Juncker filled in some of the blanks with pledges to work towards zero tariffs on industrial goods, strengthen co-operation on energy particularly liquefied natural gas, along with a confirmation that the EU would import more US soybeans."

Hewson highlighted the fact that there was no mention of removing the existing retaliatory tariffs imposed in the last few months, adding that while the pledge to work towards zero tariffs is "a noble goal", it is likely to face significant obstacles from some national governments in Europe, which means its unlikely to ever happen.

In corporate news, Royal Dutch Shell launched a $25bn (19bn) share buyback as the oil producer posted a 30% increase in second-quarter profit.

Britains biggest oil company said it would buy back at least $25bn of shares ending in 2020 subject to debt reduction and oil prices. Earnings for the three months to the end of June rose to $4.8bn from $3.7bn a year earlier.

Sky reported a 5% increase in like-for-like revenue in its results for the year to 30 June on Thursday, to 13.6bn.

The subscription broadcaster and telecoms retailer said its established business EBITDA rose 11% to 2.5bn, while EBITDA rose 9%. Earnings per share were ahead 10% year-on-year, to 67.3p.

Compass Group reported a jump in third-quarter revenue on Thursday as it said it continues to "well" and backed its full-year expectations.

In an update on its performance since the end of March, Compass said organic revenue was up 5.7%, or 5.1% excluding the impact of Easter, driven by strong net new business in North America, an acceleration in Europe and good progress in Rest of World.

For the nine months to 30 June, organic revenue was 5.1% higher.

British American Tobacco reported a fall in pro forma revenue for the first half of the year due to currency swings and a fall in cigarette and tobacco heating product volumes.

On a reported basis, revenue rose 57% to 11.6bn thanks to the acquisition of Reynolds American, though on an adjusted pro forma basis, as if Reynolds had been owned the year before, revenue fell 6.4%, but would have been up 1.9% but for the impact of currency movements. Adjusted, diluted earnings rose 2.1% to 137.2p at reported rates, and 10.4% at constant currencies.Supermarkets would be unable to stockpile fresh food including vegetables, fruit, meat and dairy in the case of a no-deal Brexit, a former Waitrose managing director said on Thursday.

The comments from Mark Price, also a former Conservative trade minister, came after new Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab confirmed the Government was planning on keeping an "adequate food supply" if the UK and EU fail to strike a deal.

We only produce in this country about 25% of the fruit and veg we consume. On fruit 30% comes from Europe, the rest comes from around the world, but on vegetables 80% comes from Europe and particularly Spains salad crops," Price told the BBC.

Even if the UK could get the goods from other parts of the world, importers would still be hit with additional costs if the UK reverts to World Trade Organisations tariffs, he added.

"What you will see is, rather than a pinch on supply - although that is highly likely - a pretty significant increase in the cost of fruit and veg, the cost of meat and the cost of dairy products, he said.

French minister for European Affairs Nathalie Loiseau said the UK would suffer the worst from a no-deal divorce, it would also slow down trade relations between the UK and France, Belgium, the Netherlands and every entry point to the EU.

"On the day of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union with no deal, we should start with new tariffs (and) controls and that means of course traffic jams in Calais and in each and every European port welcoming goods and people coming from the United Kingdom," she said.Online trading platform CMC Markets hailed a "solid" start to its financial year on Thursday, with first-quarter net operating income "moderately" higher than the same period a year ago.

In an update for the three months to 30 June, the group said its focus on premium clients led to an 8% increase in revenue per active client. As previously guided, it said costs for the full year will be moderately higher than FY18 as it continues to invest in strategic initiatives to drive growth.

CMC also said it continues to expect revenue from elective professional clients to account for at least 40% of UK and European revenues.

The company said it was making good progress developing its white label ANZ Bank in line with its plan.

Chief executive officer Peter Cruddas said: "I am pleased to report that CMC has made a solid start to our financial year. Our strategy of focusing on high value clients, technology and partnerships is supporting the delivery of long term sustainable growth.

"At the same time, we are successfully diversifying CMC's business model into markets where we can leverage our technology, such as through our growing institutional business and stockbroking partnerships in Australia. We are on track to deliver another successful year in 2019."

Peel Hunt said: "In our view, CMCs focus on high-value professional clients will show regulatory resilience and the shares will re-rate as the market sees the sustainability and attractions of this model."

The brokerage added that the stock's valuation does not consider the attractions of the business including the ANZ deal and the scalability of the well-invested platform.

Meanwhile, RBC Capital Markets, said: "We expect that consensus expectations for FY19 net operating income of 177.4m are likely to remain stable for now (RBC estimate 174.7m), especially ahead of the ESMA regulatory changes which will be introduced in August 2018."

It added that the company's strategy of attracting and retaining high value and experienced clients should help to mitigate the as yet uncertain outcomes from the new ESMA regulations.

At 1430 BST, the shares were down 0.1% to 190.60p.Diageo s annual profit rose 6% as thirst for Tanqueray gin and Johnnie Walker whisky helped sales increase across the drinks company's regions.

Operating profit before exceptional items for the year to the end of June increased to 3.8bn from 3.6bn as net sales rose 1% to 12.2bn. Organic operating profit rose 8%.

The FTSE 100 company, which also owns Guinness, said it would buy back 2bn of shares after generating 3.1bn of net cash during the year.

Net sales rose 4% in Europe and Turkey with European sales driven by 8% growth in the UK. British drinkers bought more Tanqueray as the gin boom continued and Johnnie Walker led a 6% growth in Scotch sales. Johnnie Walker also helped fuel 4% net sales growth in North America where Baileys and Don Julio Tequila sold well.

Diageo benefited from particularly strong growth in Asia of 9%, on the back of 29% sales growth in China, with India up 9% and travel retail also contributing 22% growth.

Ivan Menezes, Diageos chief executive, said: Diageo has delivered another year of strong, consistent performance. Organic volume and net sales growth is broad based across regions and categories.

Diageo shares, up 20% since the end of March, fell 1.3% to 28.11 at 09:04 BST.

Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: Diageo results were very positive but despite very strong free cash generation and a fresh 2bn buyback shares have fallen as investors decided to take profits. Whilst its easy to criticise firms for buybacks, what else is Diageo supposed to do with all this cash?

Analysts at RBC Capital Markets said sales growth and EBIT both modestly beat consensus expectations.

"Guidance is for the companys tax rate to increase to 21-22% in 2018/19 (were currently forecasting 20.5%), which might put a lid on consensus upgrades, but otherwise we can find little to fault in these numbers."GlaxoSmithKline 's application to market a new biologic drug for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has been rejected by the advisory board of the US medical watchdog, though the company remains confident in the drug as a COPD treatment.

GSK said it would continue to work with the US Food & Drug Administration to address outstanding questions after the regulator's pulmonary allergy drugs advisory committee voted 16-3 against approving the use of mepolizumab as an add-on treatment to inhaled corticosteroid-based maintenance treatment for the reduction of exacerbations in patients with COPD.

The committee voted on the basis of data presented that the risk-benefit profile of mepolizumab was not adequate to support approval and also voted 16-3 that there was not substantial evidence of the efficacy of the treatment.

One positive was that the committee suggested further data to characterise the patient population that would be most likely to benefit from this targeted biologic therapy after voting 17-2 that there was adequate evidence of the safety of the drug.

As FDA advisory committees recommendations are non-binding, GSK is still working towards a 7 September goal date for approval as a prescription drug.

GSK's respiratory research and development chief, Dave Allen, said: "Having participated in today's advisory committee meeting and heard the recommendation we will continue to work with the FDA to address outstanding questions. We remain confident our data supports mepolizumab as a targeted treatment for patients continuing to experience COPD exacerbations guided by blood eosinophil count."

Mepolizumab has been approved under the brand name Nucala in over 20 other markets as an add-on maintenance treatment for patients with severe eosinophilic asthma, and in the US, Canada and Japan as add-on maintenance treatment for patients with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis, but is not currently approved for use in COPD anywhere in the world. No biologic therapies have yet been approved for COPD sufferers.

GSK shares fell 2% to 1,510p on Thursday morning.

Analysts at Shore Capital said the submission was based on data from the METREX and METREO trials which produced mixed results: "Namely, in patients with high blood eosinophil count in METREX, there was a statistically significant effect for Nucala, but in Metreo (which enrolled only high blood eosinophil patients), the effect size didnt reach statistical significance, although the point estimates for a 100mg dose of the drug in both trials was fairly consistent.

"Notably, in METREO, a 300mg dose had a weaker effect size vs. a 100mg dose, which may have warranted further questions from the regulator."By Ruth Anderah

The justices of the constitutional court will today deliver their judgment on the presidential age limit petition at the High Court premises in Mbale town.

The five-judge panel led by Deputy Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny Dollo will pronounce itself on 14 issues presented by petitioners to the court for determination.

The other justices are Remmy Kasule, Elizabeth Musoke, Cheborion Barishaki and Kenneth Kakuru.

Of the 14 issues, 3 stand out prominently, like determination whether sections 3 and 7 which amended Article 102(b) to remove the age limit on the presidency are inconsistent with the constitution.

The court will also determine whether Sections 2and 8 of the Act extending the term of LC 5s and Parliament from 5 years to 7 is unconstitutional.

The removal of the presidential age limit means president Museveni can stand for re-election as many times as he wishes.

The current 5-year term for president and parliament ends in 20121, but the amendment extended their tenure by two years, elapsing in 2023.

If the extensions are upheld by court, the next elections will be held in 2023 instead of 2021.

Meanwhile, security has been beefed in the Eastern town of Mbale ahead of todays landmark age limit ruling.

According to the Resident District Commissioner James Shilaku, all efforts have been made to secure the court premises and entire town to enable all Ugandans to follow the proceedings today.

He says large screens have been placed at strategic points outside the court room to allow every willing Ugandan to watch and follow the judgment.

He also warns against all forms of violence saying it will not be tolerated and security agencies are ready to deal with any skirmishes that may arise.Despite a challenging UK market, car showroom operator Inchcape 's strong international diversification and beginning of its 'Ignite' strategy ensured underlying profits grew in the first half.

Inchcape grew group revenue 3.8% in actual currency to 4.6bn and said growth of 6.8% at constant currency rates was "encouraging". Pre-tax profits, however, tumbled 15.6% to 161.2m due to some exceptional costs, with underlying profit before tax growing 2% at constant currencies to 179.5m. Earnings per share slipped 18% to 26.9p.

Inchcape said the retail market performance reflected "significant vehicle margin pressure" in UK and Australia and, as expected, the unit had seen a 61% fall year-on-year in constant currency but said that comparatives looked set to ease in the second half.

The core distribution business's trading profit increased 21% in constant currency, thanks to a strong showing in Asia.

Group operating margins fell half a percent to 4.2%, reflecting the challenging trading environment in the UK and Australia retail and the prior year property profit, partially offset by Asia. The new Central America business contributed 5.3m of operating profit to the half year, in-line with expectations. Excluding the acquisition, pre-exceptional operating profit declined 4.0% in constant currency.

The FTSE 250 listed group confirmed its full-year guidance and continues to expect solid constant currency profit growth. The interim dividend was increased 13% to 8.9p per share.

Chief executive Stefan Bomhard said, "We have made good progress in distribution, the higher margin core of our business, over the first half of 2018, offsetting the expected challenges in our retail markets."

"The group's resilient first-half profit performance is broadly consistent with the phasing of our full year guidance and so we reiterate our expectation of a solid profit performance for the year as a whole," he added.

On the Ignite strategy, he said it had been the key driver in the push to further differentiate the company in all core areas of operation, as well as providing a strong foundation from which to grow both organically and through M&A.

"Most significantly, we continued our expansion in high growth potential markets with the acquisition in March of Grupo Rudelman and the Suzuki distribution contracts for Costa Rica and Panama. This was our second scale acquisition in Latin America in 18 months and also included the rights to distribute several Chinese automotive brands, further highlighting our commitment to building growth platforms for the future.

"Over the period Jaguar Land Rover awarded Inchcape new business in Colombia and, as announced today, have awarded Inchcape the distribution contract for Kenya. From January we also started to operate as the distributor for BMW in Guam."

As of 1000 BST, Inchcape share had gained 1.46% to 798.50p.Intu Properties announced the departure of chief executive David Fischel as the shopping centre operator swung to a first-half loss caused by a fall in the value of its estate.

In the six months to the end of June Intu recorded a pre-tax loss of 490m compared with a profit of 100m the year before. Revenue fell to 286 from 307m.

The loss was caused by a 617m fall in the estimated value of Intus property portfolio. Intu, which owns Manchesters Trafford Centre, said the decline was caused by weaker expectations for the retail property market and uncertainty about the UK economy.

Net rental income fell to 223.1m from 226.2m, reflecting a 4m effect of disposals. Like-for-like growth was 1.3% and Intu warned the annual increase would be at the low end of its 1.5% to 2.5% target range. The company blamed retail tenants entering administrations and company voluntary arrangements.

Shares of the company, which dropped out of the FTSE 100 and into the FTSE 250 in 2018, fell 6.7% to 168p at 11:01 BST.

Intus results for the first half mark a shift in its message to shareholders. In April the company reiterated its guidance for net rental income growth and as recently as 14 June it published a glowing update on new tenants for its malls.

Fischel said: During a period of weakening sentiment in the retail market which has impacted prime shopping centre valuations, Intu has delivered a resilient operational performance in the first half of 2018.

Intus gloomier outlook follows the scrapping of its takeover by Hammerson in April. Hammerson pulled out of the deal under pressure from shareholders who opposed the company buying extra exposure to the squeezed middle-ground of Britains fragile retail market.

Intu said Fischel would have left if the Hammerson deal had gone ahead and that, after seven years in charge and 33 years at the company, it was time for a new boss. He will leave once the board finds a replacement.

Chairman John Strachan said: The board is enormously grateful to David for agreeing to remain in post for a longer period than he had envisaged, giving the board sufficient time to search for a suitable successor. I would like also to extend my personal gratitude for the substantial contribution David has made to this business over many years."With official confirmation scheduled to take place on Thursday evening, Khans party, Pakistan Movement for Justice or PTI, is expected to fall short of an overall majority after an election campaign that has been marred by violence.

Thanks to God, we won and we were successful, said Khan in a television address. If God wills, we will set an example.

In a speech claiming victory, Khan said he wants "trade ties" with India, adding that leaders of both countries should talk to resolve the Kashmir dispute.

"I say this with conviction that it is in the interest of the subcontinent that India and Pakistan get along," he said in his speech.

He also pledged to "uplift Pakistans poor" and help the countrys labourers. "Corruption has been eating Pakistan like a kind of cancer. We will set an example that the law will be the same for everybody."

Khan entered politics in 1996 and, after initially struggling against a playboy image from his days as a fast-bowling all-rounder, now fashions himself as a populist anti-poverty reformer with conservative views.

He now finds himself on the brink of shouldering responsibilities such as the nations financial crisis, crippling debt and rampant militancy. In the short-term the completion of the election clears the way for negotiation of an urgently needed IMF loan.

Moeed Yusuf, associate vice-president of the Asia Center at the US Institute of Peace, said: The new government is going to be in an unenviable position, and especially Imran Khan, as he is not the preferred prime minister for Pakistans two traditional chief patrons, China and the US.

Khan has been accused of 'coysing up' to clerics with the funding of radical Islamic religious schools and criticising US military presence in neighbouring Afghanistan, which could spark a new conflict with a certain powerful Twitter personality.

Not surprisingly after losing a big share the vote, Khans leading rival Shahbaz Sharif, who heads the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), rejected the outcome of the poll, adding to concerns that disgruntled losers could delay the formation of the next government.

Pakistans independent human rights commission said women were blocked from voting in some regions and that there are ample grounds to question the legitimacy of the result.

Khan, who has the backing of Pakistan's powerful military, said: I feel that this election has been the fairest in Pakistans history. If any party has any doubts, we will open the results of those constituencies up for investigation.

There were 149 people were killed and 400 wounded when a suicide bomber struck at a campaign rally in Balochistan earlier this month, with candidate Siraj Raisani among the dead, while a blast at a polling station south-western city of Quetta killed 31 people on the day of the vote, with ISIL claiming responsibility for the attack.

Analysts at Exotix Research pointed out that an elected government can credibly commit to reforms unlike the interim government. "This should re-establish the credibility of macroeconomic management after the loose monetary and fiscal stance and the overvalued, fixed FX rate in the latter stages of the previous elected government."

Long-term, a Khan victory could be a step to better economic governance, Exotix said.

"Pakistans fiscal policy is captured by vested interests from the undocumented economy that do not pay tax or utility bills and gouge value out of state owned enterprises. As long as undocumented interests thrive then the only response to resulting fiscal deficits is to increase the tax rate on the documented part of the economy and increase government debt."

A coalition of the Army, an independent and interventionist Judiciary and the civilian government led by Imran Khan, "may finally arrest this vicious fiscal cycle", Exotix said. "Long-term, this is the potential change that overwhelms all other discussions around the election for investors. Otherwise, we are simply in for more of the same: buy Pakistan as it heads to the IMF and sell before the IMF loan ends."Donald Trump and European Union officials stepped back from a trade war on Wednesday as they struck a deal to work towards zero tariffs, barriers and subsidies. The EU also agreed to buy billions of dollars worth of American exports, including soya beans and natural gas, and work to reform international trade rules. - Guardian

European leaders plan to let Theresa May sell her Brexit blueprint directly to member states in an effort to kickstart stalled talks on Britains departure. A meeting in Salzburg in September is being lined up as the venue where the prime minister can hold direct talks to avert a no-deal Brexit. The proposal emerged after the intervention of Angela Merkel, who is concerned at the apparent drift in the talks. - The Times

Nearly a fifth of British retailers are planning to cut the number of people they employ in the next three months as the high street continues to suffer from rising costs and a shift to buying online. The number of people employed in the retail sector, the UKs biggest employer, has already dropped nearly 3% in the past three months, according to the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Redundancies rose to three times the level this time last year. - Guardian

The Scottish parliaments Brexit bill is perfectly practical and in keeping with EU principles of legal certainty and continuity, the supreme court has heard. Backed by senior legal representatives from Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotlands chief legal officer, James Wolffe QC, argued on Wednesday that the emergency bill  designed to sidestep Westminster by taking direct control over the repatriation of significant EU legislation  should not be struck down because it does not cut across EU or UK laws. - Guardian

Facebook stock price tumbled more than 20% in after-hours trading, after the companys chief financial officer said revenue growth would continue to decelerate in the second half of 2018 as the company increased its investment in security and privacy. In its earnings report for the second quarter of 2018, Facebook just missed Wall Streets estimates on revenues and user growth, though it still made $13.2bn  a 42% year-on-year increase. - Guardian

Qualcomm chief financial officer George Davis said Apple likely wont use its cellular modems in the next iPhones, cutting the chip maker out of one of the consumer electronics industrys best-selling products. In prepared remarks during an earnings call with analysts Wednesday, the CFO said Qualcomm expects Apple to use a competitors modem in the new iPhones and will only use Qualcomms modems in older models. - Telegraph

MPs have told the chancellor to take more responsibility for the poor state of family finances in a report that calls for the abolition of a perverse savings account that they claim discourages people from investing in pensions. The Treasury select committee warned Philip Hammond that the health and sustainability of households was under growing pressure because of years of weak income growth, a growing pile of personal debt, the emergence of the gig economy and an ageing population. - The Times

Automatic pensions enrolment is key to funding a new era of retirement which is increasingly reliant on private savings rather than the public purse, MPs will say today  but it relies on contributions being raised. The pensions triple lock in particular will become too expensive for the state to bear and will have to be scrapped, leaving pensioners in need of more private incomes, the Treasury Select Committee said. - Telegraph

ITV is preparing to remove programmes such as Broadchurch and Victoria from Netflix as it plans to launch a rival subscription streaming service alongside the BBC and Channel 4. Dame Carolyn McCall, ITVs chief executive, said the broadcaster is ready to pull down its archive of hit shows from Netflix to support plans for a competitor backed by Britains main channels. - TelegraphOnline trading platform CMC Markets hailed a "solid" start to its financial year on Thursday, with first-quarter net operating income "moderately" higher than the same period a year ago.

In an update for the three months to 30 June, the group said its focus on premium clients led to an 8% increase in revenue per active client. As previously guided, it said costs for the full year will be moderately higher than FY18 as it continues to invest in strategic initiatives to drive growth.

CMC also said it continues to expect revenue from elective professional clients to account for at least 40% of UK and European revenues.

The company said it was making good progress developing its white label ANZ Bank in line with its plan.

Chief executive officer Peter Cruddas said: "I am pleased to report that CMC has made a solid start to our financial year. Our strategy of focusing on high value clients, technology and partnerships is supporting the delivery of long term sustainable growth.

"At the same time, we are successfully diversifying CMC's business model into markets where we can leverage our technology, such as through our growing institutional business and stockbroking partnerships in Australia. We are on track to deliver another successful year in 2019."

Peel Hunt said: "In our view, CMCs focus on high-value professional clients will show regulatory resilience and the shares will re-rate as the market sees the sustainability and attractions of this model."

The brokerage added that the stock's valuation does not consider the attractions of the business including the ANZ deal and the scalability of the well-invested platform.

Goodwin reported a 44% increase in pre-tax profits to 13.3m in its last trading year, despite group revenues losing ground.

Back in January, the group's chairman John Goodwin promised that "things are about to get better" at the 135-year-old company. Even though revenues dropped 5.3% to 125m, Goodwin's delivered on that promise by upping its dividend a massive 97% to 83.47p per ordinary share.

Gross profit margin moved from 25.6% to 28.6%, return on capital employed grew from 8.4% to 12.3% and cash generation as net cash flow from operating activities shot up 83% to 31m.

Trading profits from Goodwin's refractory division rose 78% from its 2016 figure to 7.5m as at April, excluding the sale of its land in India, which realised an additional 1.6m of pre-tax profit.

Goodwin said the success of its Indian operations meant that for some time it had been operating out of "much larger, bespoke built, freehold premises" and after the right opportunity arose during the year, the group chose to dispose of its redundant original freehold investment in the country.

The AIM-listed firm's mechanical engineering division saw its three largest engineering companies - Goodwin International, Noreva and Goodwin Steel Castings - be rewarded with "substantial orders" coming from areas other than oil and gas, something the firm expects to improve its profitability in the coming financial year.

Goodwin said, "It would be inappropriate not to make mention of how very difficult the last two financial years have been for the foundry, Goodwin Steel Castings. Indeed for all foundries worldwide other than those addressing the automotive industry and the aerospace industry, it has been a very challenging three years."

"At Goodwin, we have taken the opportunity over the past eighteen months to reposition the foundry such that we can address more efficiently very large high integrity castings for nuclear fuel reprocessing and for military boat building programmes in the USA, the UK and other overseas countries," he added.

Frontier Smart Technologies expects the first half of its trading year to result in a loss after revenues slipped 32% year-on-year, it said on Thursday.

The AIM-listed firm said it expects revenues to drop from the $25m - seen at the midway point of its previous trading year - down to $17m, and anticipates an EBITDA loss for the period of approximately $2.1m - a 250% turnaround from the $1.4m profit posted just 12 months earlier.

Frontier doubled down on the full-year guidance it amended back in May, stating that it still expected $47.7m in revenues and $1m in EBITDA - a 10% and 61% decline, respectively.

The UK-based firm said the reduction in revenues was largely due to lower retail sales of DAB radios following the completion of the FM switch-off in Norway in December 2017, and by its customers holding excess stock at the start of 2018 which adversely impacted Frontier's order book.

Anthony Sethill, chief executive of Frontier Smart Technologies, said, "As anticipated, trading conditions in the first half of the year have been challenging, especially when compared to H1-2017 which was significantly ahead of plan and our normal seasonality."

"I expect an improved year-on-year performance in H2-2018, with our digital radio and smart audio businesses both likely to achieve moderate growth. Nevertheless, the H1-2018 results will have an impact on full-year revenues, and accordingly, we have reduced our cost base and extended our debt facility," added Sethill.The supposed criminals Nuraly Kiyasov and Arman Kudaibergenov gave confessions in committing this crime and gave material evidence, press service of the Almaty Department of Internal Affairs reports.





The suspected criminal Kudaibergenov, during the verification of the testimony at the scene, showed the place where the murder weapon was hidden - a knife that was subsequently withdrawn and attached to the materials of the criminal case." In this criminal case, a number of forensic examinations have been appointed, including molecular genetics, forensic medical examination, medical and criminalistics of the instrument of crime, medical and biological examination, " the press service said.





During the confrontation, the held in killing Nuraly Kiyasov admitted that it was he who stabbed Denis Ten. At the same time, eyewitnesses of a crime with whom the suspects were identified were identified.





During the investigation, in accordance with the requirements of the Criminal Procedure Code of Kazakhstan, the suspects were explained their rights, including the right to refuse to testify, testify against themselves and they are provided with the protection of lawyers who have the appropriate licenses.





In words of Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan Rashid Zhakupov announced currently the investigation of the death of the prize-winner of the Olympic Games is underway.





Currently, two persons held in the killing. They made confessions, the investigative measures in the criminal case are carried out. As of the numerous comments on social networks, the information that the police arrested the first available does not correspond to reality. The sentence is the prerogative of the court, we think that we will provide enough evidence of guilt of that very suspected criminals," the deputy minister added.





Zhakupov also stressed that the police are also engaged in the verification of the involvement of suspects in other criminal cases.





As reported earlier, July 20 in Almaty, the second suspect in the murder of the Olympic prize-winner in figure skating Denis Ten - Arman Kudaibergenov was detained.





According to some media reports, Kudaibergenov, while attacking Ten, was supposed to be in the Astana jail on charges of stealing a car mirror from a car in Astana on July 11, 2018, but he was released on his own recognizance and run away.





Moreover, the parents Nuraly Kiyasov, a native of the Zhambyl region, who held in killing Denis Ten recorded a video message stating that their son was not guilty of killing an athlete.







After working as a finance and insurance manager at a car dealership for seven years, followed by running her own insurance business for seven years, Luisa Diaz-Kope felt the ground literally move under her feet and decided to change her life.

"My family was living in the San Diego, California, area and we had an earthquake," she said. "So I said that we needed to go someplace that did not have earthquakes. I decided at that same time to go back to school and get my degree."

Diaz-Kope and her family moved across the country to Virginia and Old Dominion University, where she obtained her master's degree in 2011 and a doctorate in 2016. Now she advises graduate students as the coordinator of the Master of Public Administration (MPA) program at University of North Georgia (UNG).

"I love talking to prospective students," Diaz-Kope said. "I love advising students. I love the opportunity to enhance someone's career path. And I firmly believe that education will open doors for you that may not have been open for you previously."

To help students aim for and reach that goal, Diaz-Kope offers them some snippets of advice in her classes. She teaches American government to undergraduate students, and collaboration and foundations of public administration to graduate students.

One piece of the advice she gives to students is to stop limiting themselves.

"I tell my students that someday they may want to go to graduate school and then get a Ph. D," Diaz-Kope said, indicating one student recently took her advice to heart. "One student told me he never thought he could go to graduate school, but because I talked about it, he considered it."

His consideration made all the difference. He applied and was accepted to an MPA program.

Diaz-Kope then follows up her advice by encouraging students through her words and experience working in the private sector for a couple of decades. For example, one MPA student from California had written a paper about her desire to start a nonprofit organization that focuses on youth probation.

"She saw this gap of services," Diaz-Kope said. "So I told her, 'If you build on this, you could get it published.' Her eyes just lit up. No one had ever told her that what she says on paper could get published."

It's those reactions and responses from her students that keep Diaz-Kope going in the world of higher education versus the private sector.

"The private sector pays well, but you don't have the same feeling at the end of the day," she said "The reward is not the same."

Diaz-Kope's rewards also have increased. When the MPA program started, seven to eight students were enrolled. Then the program went fully online in fall 2017 and has grown exponentially since. That equals a big future for UNG's MPA program.

"The best part of the online program for the MPA at UNG is no restrictions geographically," she said. "I talk to people from South Dakota and Colorado."

She said when she reads the students' discussion boards, she sees the different perspectives between the younger students who finished their undergraduate degree recently and the older adults who bring their real-world experience to the conversation.

"I love the entire interaction with the students," she said. "You see when the light goes on. It's not just obscure theories being taught, but real examples of how it will help them one day when they are a director of a nonprofit.""Counting On" fans will be thrilled to know that the Duggar Family announced a new engagement. John David Duggar has chosen Abbie Grace Burnett to be his life-partner. The announcement was made today (Wednesday, July 25), on the Duggar family website. The family seems to be very happy about it and the statement said they were "thrilled to announce the engagement."

According to US Magazine, they've known each other for four years now, but things between them really sparked when they both went to the same church event in Oklahoma.

John David's new fiance has a 'deep love for the Lord'

John David chose the right person to be his wife by the looks of it. The Duggar Family announcement described her as having "a deep love for the Lord." It went on to say that she's a lovely young woman, full of tenderness and compassion." It maybe wasn't necessary to add that the family loves weddings, but they did anyway, writing, "We love weddings in this family and cant wait for this next one!"

The wedding probably won't be too far off either, as according to People, the couple said, "Now we need to start thinking about a wedding! They added, "Wow! We are engaged! This feels even more real than before! It was a special moment to share together." The Duggars seldom hang about once the decision is made to get married, but the courtship takes time.

That's so they are sure they really want to stay together. They are also mindful of God's direction in their lives.

New Duggar pairing is an exciting time for 'Counting On' fans

This is an exciting time for "Counting On" Fans. Jinger Duggar just had her baby girl with husband Jeremy Vuolo. That was a moment of joy for the fans of the couple.

Discuss this news on Eunomia

Now, there's another wedding to look forward to and most likely new babies in the not too distant future. The couple is so excited as well, and obviously deeply in love. Their statement also said, " We want to spend the rest of our lives together. One of the most amazing things about following Christ is being able to trust Him to direct your path and lead your life."

Duggar explained that courtship is very different from an engagement in their faith and lifestyle.

When they are courting they are really getting to know one another, but when it comes to engagement, it's about making a serious life commitment.

An honest and upright Duggar citizen will be married to his special girl Abbie

John is a constable in Arkansas, and People reminded us that he's a part-time officer with the Tontitown Police Department." He was born in January 1990 and is 28-years old. In Touch Weekly shared that Jill Duggar Dillard posted a photo to her Instagram yesterday, saying that she ran into John and Abbie at a Smoothie King. Fans speculated she caught them without a chaperone. But they probably already discussed their engagement with the family before her post hit the internet.

'Counting On' returns to our screens on July 30 at 9 p.m. ET on TLC. Remember to follow the Duggar Family channel on Blasting News for more spoilers and news about "Counting On."Twenty miles east of Senegals capital city, hundreds of guests arrived in Senegals newest city, Diamniadio, for the grand event.

Youth photographers snapped pictures of the guests before they strolled down the green carpet. In fact, the stars of this event included the entire guest list  the dedicated volunteers, leaders, partners, and participants who support the engagement of Senegals youth in the countrys economic growth.

On May 22, the Center for International Research, Education, and Development (CIRED) officially launched its newest project, Feed the Future Senegal Jeunesse en Agriculture (Youth in Agriculture), at the Centre International de Conferences Abdou Diouf in Diamniadio.

Funded by USAID, the five-year, $4 million project will carry on the work of the CIRED-led Education and Research in Agriculture (ERA) project in Senegal by expanding 4-H clubs across the country and institutionalizing positive youth development (PYD) nationally. The project will also work with vocational training institutions to strengthen their connections to private-sector actors and markets, including the piloting of innovative approaches for creating entrepreneurship and income-generating opportunities for youth.

Youth who work with the ERA project hosted the ceremony, which featured adult and youth speakers representing Virginia Tech, USAID/Senegal, and the government of Senegal, as well as Senegalese agricultural institutions and womens food processing platforms. Guests were also treated to video highlights, commemorative photos, and a wall of fame, a display in which participants wrote messages in support of the project. Staff from Virginia Cooperative Extension were on hand to provide support for many of the activities.

With a focus on the next generation of farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs, Feed the Future Senegal Jeunesse en Agriculture will help build a prosperous future for all Senegalese, said Kitty Andang, USAID/Senegal deputy mission director, during the ceremony. Jeunesse en Agriculture will increase youth participation in Senegal's economic growth by implementing a positive youth development program, already launched as part of the first phase of Feed the Future in Senegal.

In 2015, the 4-H Senegal PYD program was established in Toubacouta, south of the capital of Dakar, as part of the ERA project. Modeled after the 4-H Youth Development program of the Cooperative Extension Service and land-grant university system in the U.S., the 4-H program in Senegal has already attracted more than 600 members.

With the launch of Feed the Future Senegal Jeunesse en Agriculture, CIRED redoubles its commitment to helping youth around the world to become thriving, confident, and skilled actors in economic growth, said Van Crowder, executive director of CIRED, part of Outreach and International Affairs. Jeunesse en Agriculture is another testament of CIREDs commitment to link Virginia Tech to the world through innovative research, partnership, and collaboration.

This project fits squarely within the priorities of the government of Senegal and of USAID, both of which realize the importance of engaging young people in positive youth development and agricultural entrepreneurship. As a result, this launch event has generated a lot of buzz, and expectations are high, said Tom Archibald, project director and assistant professor. We really look forward to achieving meaningful positive impacts in the lives of thousands of young people across Senegal, which can also provide lessons to share with other development projects across West Africa and around the globe.

Fatou Diouf, a student at the Institute for Advanced Agricultural and Rural Training in Bambey, Senegal, and a member of 4-H Senegal, delivered an impassioned speech during the ceremony. We are proud to celebrate the launch of the project, because we remain convinced that a project cannot be more useful than one that serves humanity, Diouf said. This ambitious program, implemented by passionate and unselfish actors, is a model for the path to development.

Jeunesse en Agriculture will remain housed under ERA during the projects first year. Subsequently, the project headquarters will be embedded within the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, and Innovations new offices in Diamniadio as well as in the regional offices of the national PYD program within universities.

Written by April RaphiouJohn Horgan in Scientific American:

In August 1992 I visited David Bohm at his home in a London suburb. His skin was alarmingly pale, especially in contrast to his purplish lips and dark, wiry hair. His frame, sinking into a large armchair, seemed limp, languorous, and at the same time suffused with nervous energy. One hand cupped the top of his head, the other gripped an armrest. His fingers, long and blue-veined, with tapered, yellow nails, were splayed. He was recovering, he said, from a heart attack.

Bohms wife brought us tea and biscuits and vanished. Bohm spoke haltingly at first, but gradually the words came faster, in a low, urgent monotone. His mouth was apparently dry, because he kept smacking his lips. Occasionally, after making an observation that amused him, he pulled his lips back from his teeth in a semblance of a smile. He also had the disconcerting habit of pausing every few sentences and saying, Is that clear? or simply, Hmmm? I was often so hopelessly befuddled that I just smiled and nodded. But Bohm could be bracingly clear, too. Like an exotic subatomic particle, he oscillated in and out of focus.

Born and raised in the U.S., Bohm left in 1951, the height of anti-communist hysteria, after refusing to answer questions from a Congressional committee about whether he or anyone he knew was a communist. After stays in Brazil and Israel, he settled in England. Bohm was a scientific dissident too. He rebelled against the dominant interpretation of quantum mechanics, the so-called Copenhagen interpretation promulgated by Danish physicist Niels Bohr.

Bohm began questioning the Copenhagen interpretation in the late 1940s while writing a book on quantum mechanics. According to the Copenhagen interpretation, a quantum entity such as an electron has no definite existence apart from our observation of it. We cannot say with certainty whether it is either a wave or a particle. The interpretation also rejects the possibility that the seemingly probabilistic behavior of quantum systems stems from underlying, deterministic mechanisms.

More here.The Greater Albuquerque Business Alliance, a newly formed coalition of business owners, believes it has the solution to Albuquerques growing problem of homelessness.

The alliance, which thus far consists of 30 businesses in north Downtown neighborhoods where homeless service providers are located, says a single large campus that has on-site housing and social services is the answer.

The initiative, called Homeless Vision 2018, envisions a campus of about 20 acres located in a remote area  for example, on the far West Side near where the Metropolitan Detention Center is currently located.

The homeless have not been seriously cared for the way they need to be, said business alliance president Connie Vigil during a Wednesday news conference to announce the creation of the organization and its proposal.

There is homelessness and mental illness everywhere you look and crime is skyrocketing, Vigil said. The Downtown and surrounding areas are being seriously hurt. We need a real solution.

The proposed campus, Vigil said, would have different services spread out around the property. There could be one section of the campus for youth, another for treating drug addictions, another for people who need help with jobs, she said.

She acknowledged that nobody from the city or county has formally endorsed the project, which is still in the formative stages.

Gerald E. Bischoff, an attorney whose offices at Fourth and Interstate 40 are next to Coronado Park  now almost exclusively used by homeless people  said the current services in the north Downtown area are inadequate.

He also said a proposal by HopeWorks, formerly St. Martins, to build a 42-unit permanent housing site on its campus as part of a multi-phase redesign, is a Band-Aid approach. It doesnt come close to addressing the housing needs for the estimated 1,400 to 2,000 homeless surviving in the neighborhoods just surrounding Downtown  and in fact may exacerbate the homeless problem.

Were asking the city to take another look at this and slow down the process until it can be further analyzed along with the proposal we have, Bischoff said.

HopeWorks and the other service providers in the area, including Steelbridge, The Rock at Noon Day and Albuquerque Healthcare for the Homeless, would certainly be invited to enter into leases in this new facility envisioned by the business alliance. And hopefully, he said, the city will buy into the concept, too, and help figure out the logistics of site location and funding.

Sylvia Ortiz Spence, who operates Silverado Apparel and Home at 1318 Fourth NW, said businesses in the neighborhoods where the homeless service providers are located are negatively affected as their customers try to avoid those areas.

Further, she said, there is precedent for the large campus, single-site approach the business alliance is proposing. It is modeled after similar campuses in San Antonio, Texas, and other cities.

What we want to create is one centralized facility in a safe place, somewhere that all the services can be located, including housing, health care, treatment for mental illnesses, drug and alcohol addictions, and finally job training, so we can get these people introduced back into society, Spence said.

Mayor Tim Keller and members of his administration recently toured the 22-acre San Antonio campus, Haven for Hope, along with representatives of the county and the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce.

Following that trip he praised the one-stop shop comprehensiveness of the campus, but said he wasnt convinced it would work in Albuquerque. For one thing, he told the Journal, the campus cost $101 million to build and has an operating budget of nearly $20 million, making it cost prohibitive.

Members of the alliance said they recently looked at sites on the West Side, near MDC.

Theres a lot of open space out there that could be used for the creation of a large homeless campus, complete with housing, meals, and wrap-around social services, Bischoff said.

Ideally, the city or county could contribute the land, and the business alliance would spearhead an initiative to find donors, Vigil suggested.

There are agencies here in Albuquerque that dont totally depend on government funding, and wed like to approach it from that standpoint, she said, pointing out that large organizations like Sandia National Laboratories, Intel and Kirtland Air Force Base, might be inclined to provide funding, along with smaller businesses and individual donors.

Our goal is to present this to the city as a non-taxpayer based entity Vigil said.The city of Albuquerque has settled a lawsuit brought by the children of a man who was shot and killed by Albuquerque police in 2010 for $375,000, according to an attorney representing the children.

Mickey Owings was fatally shot in a Wal-Mart parking lot after he dropped another person off at a vehicle that police believed to be stolen. The case was one of the shootings that was criticized by the Department of Justice in a 2014 findings letter that found Albuquerque police had a pattern of using excessive force. Those findings have led to an ongoing reform effort by the police department.

Plainclothes officers had surrounded Owings car and blocked him from leaving. Owings then backed his vehicle into a police vehicle and then crashed into parked cars in an apparent attempt at escape when he was shot by officer Kevin Sanchez.

The police created a chaotic situation where plainclothes officers  are engaged in an ad hoc or unplanned attempt to arrest him and they shot him, said Albuquerque attorney Joseph Kennedy, who represented the family. There was no reason given whats at stake  a stolen car  to shoot him.

The DOJ, in its 2014 letter to the city, found that in many Albuquerque police shootings, including that of Owings, officers acted recklessly and created the dangerous situation.

Owings did not pose a threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or anyone else; he was driving straight into unoccupied, parked cars when he was shot. This damage to property, as serious as it was, did not justify taking Owings life, the DOJ wrote.

Kennedy said his firm was approached by Owings family after the DOJs findings letter was released. That was more than four years after the shooting. Because so much time had passed, Kennedy said the only claim still available to Owings family was a loss of consortium claim, which essentially means the children were seeking damages for their loss of a relationship with Owings.

The city filed a motion to dismiss, citing four reasons the plaintiffs didnt comply with Tort Claims Act rules. Second Judicial District Judge Denise Barela-Shepherd dismissed the complaint based on one of those reasons. New Mexico Court of Appeals Court Judge Michael Bustamante wrote in the opinion reversing the dismissal that the district court judge erred when she dismissed the complaint because the children did not suffer a battery.

Barela-Shepherd approved the settlement this week.

The parties reached an agreement on the Owings case, which is one of the last few remaining cases still pending from the previous administration listed in the DOJ report, Alicia Manzano, a spokeswoman for Mayor Tim Keller, said in a prepared statement.Its Tehrans turn for the fire and fury treatment.

In response to Iranian President Hasan Rouhani telling Donald Trump not to play with the lions tail because war with Iran is the mother of all wars, the president fired back in an emphatically all-caps tweet warning of CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE.

Since the last time Trump theatrically threatened a regime with destruction he quickly turned around and had warm talks with Kim Jong Un in Singapore, his Twitter account has lost some of its deterrent force.

But the exchange of words has focused attention on a growing confrontation with Iran, in which the United States has the upper hand. When Trump pulled out of the Iran deal earlier this year, there were warnings that it would split the Western alliance, prompt an Iranian nuclear breakout or leave the U.S. isolated and unable to effectively sanction Iran on its own.

Instead, Iran is in the midst of an economic crisis before the U.S. has truly ratcheted up the pressure. In less than a year, the Iranian currency, the rial, has lost half its value. There have been broad-based demonstrations around the country. Major multinational companies are pulling back from doing business in Iran, including General Electric, Siemens and A.P. Moller-Maersk.

Iran wasnt in position to take economic advantage of the windfall of the nuclear deal. It was most interested in funding its terrorism and foreign adventurism, and even if it werent, its economy is hopelessly corrupt. Despite then-Secretary of State John Kerry urging Europeans to do business in Iran, the terror state obviously doesnt present a stable business climate. The governor of the Central Bank of Iran has been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury for helping the Revolutionary Guards funnel funds to Hezbollah.

U.S. sanctions that were lifted as part of the Iran deal begin to snap back on Aug. 6, and the administration has a goal of getting Iranian oil exports to zero by November. Although this isnt realistic, and the administration will grant exceptions to some allies, Iran could lose 1 million barrels a day in exports  in May, its exports had hit a new record at 2.7 million barrels a day.

This is nothing less than financial warfare against the regime, aimed at denying it hard currency to fund its foreign operations and ultimately at destabilizing it.

The administration denies that it has a policy of regime change, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeos demands for a new deal are so sweeping and fundamental that Tehran couldnt comply short of a radical re-orientation toward becoming a normal state.

The economic campaign is coupled with a strategy of backing our allies  Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates  to the hilt in resisting Iranian aggression in Syria and Yemen.

This is all to the good. The problem is that Trumps desire to get out of Syria entirely is at cross-purposes with pressuring Iran on all fronts, and the hope that a cynical and self-interested Russia will significantly aid us vis-a-vis Iran is surely misbegotten.

With proxy forces across the region, Iran has cards to play, and the regime is inherently dangerous. At a time when it should be doing everything to curry favor with the Europeans, one of its diplomats was arrested a few weeks ago in Germany for plotting a terror attack on an Iranian opposition group in France.

But Iran lacks several advantages enjoyed by North Korea. It doesnt have an overwhelming, powerful patron like China. It unites Israel and the Arab states, and none of our regional allies are pressuring us to negotiate with Tehran the way South Korea pushed us to talk with Pyongyang. Finally, Iran doesnt yet have nuclear weapons.

This gives the administration leverage.

The mullahs shouldnt fear presidential tweets as much as the economic clamp-down to come.

Rich Lowry can be reached via e-mail: comments.lowry @nationalreview.com.  2017 by King Features Syndicate.Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  The presentation could have been called the Ghost of Tax Reform Past.

A panel of state lawmakers studying New Mexicos complex tax system heard on Wednesday from experts who tried to reshape the tax code more than 20 years ago.

Robert Desiderio, a former dean at the University of New Mexico Law School and an expert in taxation, said that an effort he participated in during the 1990s was disbanded after a governor pulled support. Gary Johnson, then a Republican, was governor at the time.

Legislators today face many of the same issues he and his colleagues struggled with at the time, such as whether, or how, to tax nonprofit groups; whether to reshape the tax code all at once or in pieces; and how to handle food sales.

Desiderio suggested taking a comprehensive approach  reshaping the code in one legislative package, rather than in smaller pieces.

The lesson to me, first of all, is that you cant piecemeal a tax system, he told members of the Revenue Stabilization and Tax Policy Committee.

But lawmakers also said its difficult in any one session  they last only 30 or 60 days each year  to push through such complex, far-reaching legislation.

Its like dealing with a 112-member committee, said Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming.

Benjamin Roybal, an Albuquerque lawyer who worked on past tax studies, urged lawmakers to maintain some flexibility, while keeping on eye on a comprehensive overhaul. No solution, he said, is going to be perfect.

There are good reasons for not following the book on every particular tax you impose, Roybal said.

Optimism about overhauling New Mexicos tax system has picked up over the past year.

Smith, chairman of the influential Senate Finance Committee, said now is a good time to revise the tax code. The states budget picture has improved enough, he said, that lawmakers should have a cushion to help absorb any unintended consequences.

On the other hand, Smith said, there will also be political pressure to spend the extra money. In any case, Smith said, the state needs a new tax system that better supports local governments and the state as a whole for the long term  not just a political deal.

There is a dire need for a complete overhaul, Smith said.Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  The Entrada pageant, a Hispanic and Roman Catholic tradition that dates back to the early 20th century, has been discontinued after growing protests by Native Americans, according to a spokesman for groups that have been negotiating since last year over the future of the event.

Regis Pecos, a former Cochiti Pueblo governor and co-director of the Leadership Institute at Santa Fe Indian School, said discussions over the last 10 months with representatives from the All Pueblo Council of Governors, the Santa Fe Mayors Office, the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, the Santa Fe Fiesta Council and the Caballeros De Vargas  the group that organizes the Entrada  have recently culminated in a decision to end the divisive performance.

Pecos called the agreement a profoundly significant event in the history of New Mexico.

I think its unequivocally the consensus that for the health and benefit of the public, that its an event that is best that we let go of because of the controversy that it continues to create, he said.

The Entrada, a re-enactment of the 1692 Spanish reoccupation of Santa Fe by Don Diego de Vargas 12 years after the Pueblo Revolt, began in 1911 as part of the annual Fiesta de Santa Fe.

The public event on Santa Fes historic Plaza has long been met with pushback from Native Americans, but the protests have grown over the past three years. This years Fiesta de Santa Fe will be Sept. 7-9.

Protesters say the performance, which portrays a peaceful meeting between de Vargas and pueblo leaders, is revisionist history that ignores the conquest and threat of violence, and celebrates the oppression of indigenous people.

Script changes in recent years were intended to show the Indian characters as being less submissive and supporting their own religion even as the Entradas Hispanic characters honored and sang hymns before an image of the Virgin Mary that de Vargas carried with him.

Last September, about 150 protesters shouted phases like Entrada is racist during the performance, even after the starting time was moved up unannounced in an effort to keep them away.

Eight demonstrators were arrested, though the charges were later dropped. Police had forced the protesters into what were called free speech zones to keep them away from other people who attended the Entrada or who went to the Plaza for the fiesta.

Fiesta and Caballeros leaders say the Entrada was intended to celebrate a peaceful moment in history and the origins of northern New Mexicos cultural mix.

Pecos said the fiesta will revert to its original intent centered on a shared faith of people through ongoing events such as the annual Mass and a religious procession to the Cross of the Martyrs, which stands above downtown Santa Fe in memory of Franciscan friars killed during the 1680 Pueblo Revolt.

I hope that 100 years from now, 200 years from now, 300 years from now, generations of that time will reflect upon this time and give thanks that individuals with wisdom and vision could resolve themselves to overcome something as controversial as this that has eluded other cities and people across the country, Pecos said.

Caballeros De Vargas President Thomas Baca-Gutierrez and Fiesta Council President Melissa Mascarenas did not respond to messages Wednesday afternoon. Allen Sanchez of the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops referred questions to Pecos. A city spokesperson did not provide a comment.

Elena Ortiz, an activist and Ohkay Owingeh tribal member who has helped organize the public protests of the Entrada since 2014, told the Journal she was thrilled by the news that the Entrada is ending.

This is a battle that was started by women and youth, students, college students who saw an injustice, who saw a celebration of the genocide of their culture and decided to step up and fight for change, she said. Our tribal leaders, our governors, our elders, supported us and defended us. And this is the result of it.

Pecos said that in a forthcoming public announcement, the various groups that have been negotiating will be able to speak collectively about the process that led to the decision.

He also mentioned interest in creating a newly defined event that would be more inclusive.

He said that before the start of this years fiesta, there will be a public event that will include the unveiling of a city proclamation that will address reconciliation as well as Santa Fes past, present and future.

This planned event is really just the beginning of looking at something more broad in creating opportunities for people to engage and deepen their understanding and appreciation of the diversity that were all a part of and makes this place such a special place.

A 1712 Santa Fe proclamation called for an annual religious commemoration with vespers, masses, sermon and procession on the Plaza as the Fiesta de Santa Fe. A former state historian has said the Entrada was created in 1911 as a tourist attraction and was the brainchild of an Episcopal minster and the founder of the Museum of New Mexico.A man is behind bars after police say he fled the scene of a crash that left a woman dead last week in northeast Albuquerque.

Casey Zuni, 24, is charged with vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident in the death of 28-year-old Alyssa Barboa.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, Zuni was driving drunk around 1 a.m. on July 18 when he crashed into a car being driven by Barboa near Comanche and Pennsylvania NE. Barboas car went through a brick wall and she was pronounced dead at the scene. Two passengers in her car were uninjured.

Police say Zuni fled the crash and was picked up by a motorcyclist who dropped him off in a nearby neighborhood.

According to the complaint, Zuni crawled to a home and used the homeowners phone to call his mother, who ordered him an Uber.

Police say the Uber driver dropped Zuni off at his home but called 911 afterwards because he noticed blood on Zunis clothes.

According to the complaint, officers found Zuni at his home and took him into custody.

Zuni told police he drank four beers at the bar before the crash occurred and he left the scene because his license was suspended.More than 25 Mexican attorneys general and other officials in those offices attended a conference just north of Albuquerque with many of their American counterparts this week.

The goal was to improve communication among the officials and to seek more training opportunities, said Victor Antonio Carranca Bourget, the attorney general of the Mexican state of Puebla, during a Wednesday news conference.

New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas said at the conference that New Mexico and the Mexican state of Guanajuato have launched a pilot project aimed at improving communication between Americas attorneys general and their counterparts south of the border.

The project allows for certain information to be shared between American and Mexican AGs.

State attorneys general in the United States are responsible for handling extraditions of state court fugitives who flee to Mexico, Balderas said. He said his office handles two or three extradition cases per year.

Were hoping thats the future model, where law enforcement can share nonconfidential information with law enforcement agents in Mexico in an attempt to quickly locate an individual, he said.

Balderas announcement of the pilot project came during a Conference of Western Attorneys General at a resort on Santa Ana Pueblo.DUBAI, United Arab Emirates  Oil prices rose to a 10-day high Thursday after Saudi Arabias state-owned oil company announced it was temporarily halting crude shipments through a strategic Red Sea shipping lane after Yemens Shiite rebels attacked two tankers in the strait the previous day.

Futures for Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, hit $74.83 per barrel before falling back in later day trading to $73.99, up 6 cents.

The spike came after Saudi Aramco, the kingdoms oil giant, said it was stopping all oil shipments through the Bab El-Mandeb Strait, raising supply concerns.

Saudi Arabia, the worlds largest oil exporter, typically transports its oil from fields clustered in the east of the country around the Arabian Peninsula, then north through the Bab El-Mandeb Strait, and through the Red Sea and Suez Canal before on to Europe through the Mediterranean.

It can bypass the strait by moving oil across the country by pipeline and then loading it on to tankers at the Red Sea port of Yanbu, though at reduced output.

Paul Sheldon, chief geopolitical adviser at S&P Global Platts Analytics, said the Saudi move will likely force tankers on a longer trip around Africa.

It should boost Med barrels, and could eventually raise Brent and other grades due to the higher requirement for volumes at sea, he said in a statement.

Eastern Gulf nations like Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates dont have that option, however, and it was not immediately clear how they would react to the attack on the Saudi ships.

The Houthis, who are fighting a Saudi-led coalition backing Yemens internationally recognized government, attacked the 2-million-barrel capacity Saudi tankers on Wednesday, causing minimal damage to one.

The United Arab Emirates minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, said on Twitter the attack showed the need to take back the key port of Hodeida.

The targeted attack on the Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea confirms the necessity to liberate Hodeida from Houthi militias, said Gargash, whose country is part of the Saudi-led coalition.

This systematic attack is a terrorist act which shows the nature and aggression of the Houthis.

Saudi Aramco said Thursday there were no injuries or spills and that shutting the route was a precautionary measure.

In the interest of the safety of ships and their crews and to avoid the risk of oil spill, Saudi Aramco has temporarily halted all oil shipments through Bab El-Mandeb Strait with immediate effect, it said. The company is carefully assessing the situation and will take further action as prudence demands.

The Bab el-Mandeb strait, which connects the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea is only about 30 kilometers, or 20 miles, wide between Yemen and Djibouti, leaving ships more vulnerable as they pass through.

Following the attack, the Saudi coalition said the rebels had almost caused an environmental disaster, according to the state-run al-Ekhbariya TV channel.

Earlier, the rebel-run Al-Masirah TV said their naval forces have targeted the Saudi Dammam battleship off the western coast.

It later said the battleship was targeted using a missile and that the rebels attacked another boat belonging to the coalition.

___

Associated Press writer David Koenig contributed to this report from Dallas.The hosts of a popular New Jersey radio show were suspended for 10 days Thursday for calling the nations first Sikh attorney general turban man  the latest slur against a career prosecutor who says he faces countless small indignities and humiliations no matter how far he rises or how important his position.

WKXW-FM hosts Dennis Malloy and Judi Franco issued a written apology to Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and the Sikh and East Asian communities, writing they were deeply sorry for the pain they caused. The station also apologized and suspended the pair without pay until Aug. 6.

The longtime hosts of the Dennis & Judi show uttered the slur on their Wednesday show while talking about Grewals directive to prosecutors to temporarily suspend marijuana prosecutions statewide. Malloy said he couldnt remember Grewals name, telling Franco: Im just going to say the guy with the turban.

Malloy and Franco acknowledged their words might be offensive, but Malloy said if that offends you, then dont wear the turban and maybe Ill remember your name.

The pair continued to refer to Grewal as turban man throughout the segment.

Grewal, who wears a turban and full beard, took to Twitter on Thursday morning to call for an end to small-minded intolerance. Advocacy groups condemned the radio hosts remarks, as did Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who said hate speech does not belong on our airwaves.

Neither host responded to emails seeking comment.

For Grewal, the son of Indian immigrants, Wednesdays slights stood out only because the audience for them was bigger.

He said hes been called a towel head and a terrorist, and told to go back home  Grewal was born and raised in New Jersey  more times than he can count. He said hes felt eyes on him everywhere he goes.

Throughout my life and regardless of the positions Ive held, Ive faced these small indignities and humiliations, Grewal said in May.

And it continued after he took office in January.

Grewal said he was invited to give a speech at a corporate office. His staff arrived ahead of him and had no problem gaining admittance. When Grewal showed up, a security guard told him he wasnt on the list and wouldnt let him through.

Grewal said he spent 15 minutes explaining who he was. He was finally let in and delivered his speech  on diversity and inclusion.

The Sikh Coalition, a New York-based advocacy group, said the visible markers of the faith  unshorn hair and turbans  have long made Sikhs a target for bigotry and hate crimes. The group on Thursday requested religious and cultural sensitivity training for the radio stations staff.

These statements against the top law enforcement official in the state of New Jersey are particularly egregious coming from amplified voices of radio hosts, given the prominence of racism and xenophobia against Sikhs across the country, said Satjeet Kaur, the Sikh Coalitions executive director.

On Twitter, Grewal noted he has three daughters and yesterday, I told them to turn off the radio. In a follow-up tweet, he added: Its time to end the small-minded intolerance.

Grewal served as a federal prosecutor in New York and New Jersey before Republican Gov. Chris Christie tapped him to lead the prosecutors office in Bergen County, New Jerseys most populous. Christies replacement, Murphy, picked Grewal to be attorney general, saying he wanted a prosecutor who would stand up to President Donald Trump.

As attorney general, Grewal has threatened to sue firearms companies unless they stop marketing and selling untraceable weapons; launched an investigation into the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal; and joined other Democratic attorneys general in suing the Trump administration over the separation of migrant families.

Grewal appeared eager to move on from the hosts remarks, tweeting later Thursday: Ok, back to business. Through his office, he declined an interview request.

The Dennis & Judi show has been a fixture on New Jersey radio for more than 20 years, and many of the shows loyal listeners called the station Thursday to protest the hosts removal.

I can tell you theyre not racist. Theyre just not, fill-in host Steve Trevelise, a longtime friend of Malloy and Franco, said on the air Thursday. Not a racist bone in their body.

The stations president, Ron deCastro, said the hosts are known for their plainspoken brand of humor, but in this case, the language used was clearly demeaning and inappropriate.FARMINGTON  The grounds of the San Juan College School of Energy are home to a replica pumpjack that was installed this week after it was donated by a New Mexico State Land Office commissioner.

Officials from San Juan College and Commissioner Aubrey Dunn celebrated the donation of the miniature replica pumpjack during a ceremony this morning.

The pumpjack with a red Zia symbol on its side was first installed in the summer of 2015 at the New Mexico State Land Office in Santa Fe. It is a working model with its motor powered by solar panels.

San Juan College President Toni Pendergrass thanked Dunn for the donation to the San Juan College Foundation. She explained during the ceremony that the pumpjack commemorates the first commercial oil and gas pumpjack used on state land.

We were so honored and really excited they thought of San Juan College and our School of Energy, San Juan College Foundation President Gayle Dean said.

Yates Petroleum installed the first commercial pumpjack on state trust lands in 1924, according to Dunn.

Dunn selected San Juan College to serve as the home of the pumpjack after visiting the School of Energy facility and taking note of its focus on energy in New Mexico. He said he thought the School of Energy would be a great place for the replica to be installed.

I think it represents how important the oil industry is for New Mexico and what it generates, Dunn said about the pumpjack.

The replica pumpjack became the subject of controversy at its original home in Santa Fe after Dunn had it installed at the state land office in place of an existing work of art. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that some Democrats had discussed removing it to help demonstrate the agency would focus more on renewable energy and conservation.

Dunn said in a press release he donated the pumpjack to the college to ensure the next administration doesnt desecrate or destroy the pumpjack. He described the pumpjack as an important symbol, and the fate of artwork shouldnt be determined by political whim, according to the press release.

Dunn said he was happy to learn the San Juan College Foundation was willing to place it at the School of Energy.

Dunn did not seek re-election to the state Land Office commissioner position. But he is running as the Libertarian Party candidate for the U.S. Senate for New Mexico in the November general election against Republican candidate Mick Rich and incumbent Democrat Martin Heinrich.

The pumpjack was transported to the college Tuesday and installed that evening.

Solar panels to power the pumpjacks motor will be installed soon, according to Dean.

Joshua Kellogg covers crime, courts and social issues for The Daily Times. He can be reached at 505-564-4627 or via email at jkellogg@daily-times.com.



2018 The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.)

Visit The Daily Times (Farmington, N.M.) at www.daily-times.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.WASHINGTON  President Donald Trump declared on Thursday the United States will impose sanctions on Turkey, a crucial NATO ally, in retaliation for the detention of an American pastor on terror and espionage charges.

Turkeys response was both harsh and dismissive, calling his words unacceptable and a cheap threat.

Trumps promise of unspecified punishing action marks the latest deterioration in relations between Turkey and the U.S. as President Recep Tayyip Erdogans powers expand two years after a failed coup against his government.

Trump also has praised his counterpart, saying Erdogans leadership is getting very high marks.

The U.S has long depended on a key air base in Turkeys south, most recently to launch airstrikes against the Islamic State group.

Pastor Andrew Craig Brunson was first detained by Turkish authorities in the aftermath of the failed 2016 coup. On Wednesday, he was let out of jail after 1 1/2 years, transferred to house arrest because of health problems, according to Turkeys official Anadolu news agency.

Trump said that was insufficient.

He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately! Trump wrote on Twitter.

The announcement of sanctions  though no details of how or when  came as the State Department was holding a three-day event promoting religious freedom. Brunsons case has become a cause for conservative Christians who form an important part of Trumps political base.

Turkey responded that Brunsons detention falls within the jurisdiction of its independent judiciary. Rule of law is for everyone; no exception, said Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, also via Twitter.

And an Erdogan spokesman warned the U.S. to reconsider its approach and adopt a constructive position before inflicting further damage to its own interests and its alliance with Turkey.

Vice President Mike Pence announced the threat of action at the religious freedom conference, then Trump tweeted that his government will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson.

Trump could impose certain sanctions unilaterally or try to act through Congress. Senators have previously taken steps toward blocking the sale of F-35 jets to Turkey, citing Brunsons detention as an instance of Erdogans disregard for the rule of law.

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley declined Thursday to discuss the timing of a sanctions announcement or the decision-making process.

The president was clear on Twitter today, as was the vice president, that they fully expect, the president expects and wants Pastor Brunson to be returned immediately to the United States and, if not, they can expect sanctions, Gidley said.

Brunson, 50, an evangelical Christian pastor originally from North Carolina, could face up to 35 years in prison if convicted of espionage and committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member, references to outlawed Kurdish militants and the network of a U.S-based Muslim cleric blamed for the failed coup attempt.

Brunson denies the charges.

Brunson is an innocent man, there is no credible evidence against him, Pence said in his remarks Thursday.

Trump said on Twitter last week that the pastors detention was a total disgrace. One of Brunsons attorneys is Jay Sekulow, who also represents Trump in the federal Trump-Russia investigation.

Ties between NATO ally Turkey and the United States have been strained by other issues.

Turkey recently finalized a deal to purchase Russias long-range S-400 missile defense system, refusing to back down despite strong opposition from the U.S. and other NATO members.

The U.S. and Turkey have also clashed over American backing of Kurdish fighters in Syria who Ankara considers terrorists.

At the conference, Pence highlighted cases of what he said were religious repression in Nicaragua, Iran, North Korea, China and Myanmar. He also condemned Islamic State group violence toward religious minorities and what he described as rising anti-Semitism in Europe.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also spoke. He announced additional aid for a region of Iraq previously held by the Islamic State group. Pompeo said the U.S. would provide $17 million for de-mining efforts in Nineveh, an area of Iraq historically home to many of the countrys religious minorities.

Erdogan has previously linked Brunsons return to the U.S. to the extradition of cleric Fethullah Gulen, the man Turkeys government holds responsible for the failed 2016 coup.

Gulen, who denies orchestrating the coup attempt, lives in Pennsylvania. Turkish requests for his arrest and extradition have not been granted.

More than 77,000 people have been arrested across Turkey since the government declared a state of emergency in the failed coups aftermath. The crackdown has targeted journalists, activists and opposition figures.

Brunson has lived in Turkey for 23 years and served as pastor of Izmir Resurrection Church, a small Protestant congregation.

During a recent hearing, Brunson he rejected charges against him.

I believe in and support Turkeys territorial integrity, he told the court. I forgive those who lie and bear false witness against me.

Brunsons case has been adjourned until Oct. 12.

___

Associated Press writer Cinar Kiper in Istanbul contributed to this report.BCSO investigating death of inmate

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An inmate was killed during a ...DENVER  Dianne Sam Law and Deb Lathrop were in awe when they returned to the their historic Uptop ghost town near Old La Veta Pass after Spring Creek fire evacuations were lifted. Though much of the sisters 300-acre property was charred, the view from their cabin at Uptop was entirely green.

When youre up there, you cant tell there was a fire, which is Herculean, Law said. They fought so hard to save that place and they succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.

Uptop is home to an 1877 train depot and a former timbering community. In the 1940s and 1950s, it became a thriving tourist stop for those traveling over 9,400-foot-high Old La Veta Pass between Walsenberg and the San Luis Valley before a stretch of the road was moved north. Today, nine historic buildings remain, including a dance hall, tavern and a chapel. The depot has been converted into a small museum.

Crews worked hard throughout the fire to mitigate damages near Uptop and help save its historic buildings, La Veta fire chief David DeTray said. Firefighters used a sprinkler system to provide structural protection and employed aerial resources to fight the fire.

I just think the fire itself was a challenge just because it was going in so many different directions, DeTray said.

Ultimately, the fire likely came within about a quarter of a mile of Uptop structures, DeTray said. Of the buildings, only one barn was destroyed. The fire chief provided updates on Uptop during community meetings and frequently traveled up to the site to check the property.

For the local folks that know that area, along with myself, its one of those staples of the western part of the county and were very happy and relieved we were able to save that area, he said.

Law and Lathrop didnt plan to move to La Veta or restore the historic site they eventually named Uptop. But during a road trip through Colorado, reliving memories of childhood camping trips in the state, the self-described Massachusetts transplants drove over the dirt road that passes through the town. They ended up purchasing a house there.

My sister is saying I think I might want to live in Colorado and I said Ive been thinking the same thing. We just happened to see a house on fluke and said Lets buy it, so we did, Law said.

That was in 1999. A year later, they purchased the land the town sits on. The sisters worked for nearly four years to restore Uptop, forced to wear gas masks during much of the work and filling several large trash bins during the renovation process. Their goal: create a community hub that played host to musical performances and charitable events. The land is accessible year-round to hikers and cross country skiers, they said.

All of their efforts were threatened, however, when the Spring Creek fire passed through Huerfano and Costilla counties in late June and early July and imperiled the historic site. The land was put on pre-evacuation orders and then quickly moved to mandatory evacuation status. Throughout the fire, which burned more than 108,000 acres, the sisters came to accept the uncertainty of the situation.

It was going to be what it was going to be, Law said.

As the fire raged nearby, the sisters stayed at their home in La Veta and waited for news of Uptop.

I felt like we had everything in our control safely packed and the rest was up to fate, Lathrop said.

When the sisters returned to Uptop, the property was coated in red retardant, from the fields stretching across the land to the windows of its buildings.

Our color (at Uptop) is red. Of all the colors it could be, we werent unhappy it was red or pink, Law said. We could see how much effort had gone into preserving our building.

Its almost like I dont want to wash it off, its such a great reminder of the firefighting, Lathrop said.

Throughout the fire, the sisters received an outpouring of support and community members anxiously awaited news of the historic site. When the sisters saw Uptop for the first time following the fire, they couldnt wait to share the good news, Law said.

If your home burns, its a tragedy, but you can build again, Law said. If history burns, its gone.

___

Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.comSANTA FE  Gov. Susana Martinezs schedule was updated online Thursday after going months without any new entries.

The change came after the Santa Fe New Mexican reported that the schedule listed on her website hadnt been updated by her staff since March.

The schedule offers insight into what groups meet with the governor and how she spends her time. It now shows she traveled to Taiwan in June. Meetings with Japanese trade officials followed in July along with events related to a recent meeting of governors from around the U.S.

A maintenance issue was to blame for the problem, Martinezs office said.

The public facing calendar was accidentally disabled and was not reflecting the regular updates that had been made by our staff, spokesman Ben Cloutier said in an email to The Associated Press. The issue has been resolved and the previously unavailable portions of the calendar are now visible on the website.

The Martinez administration initially began publishing weekly schedules in 2013 following requests from the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government and news organizations.

The Associated Press had sued Martinez in an effort to get public records related to her travels and work schedule, among other things. That case was eventually settled and was among the complaints filed by media and watchdog groups against Martinez, who had promoted herself as an advocate of a transparent government.

The itineraries posted early on usually included public appearances, meetings and other events that could help the public better understand what issues Martinez was focused on, who she was considering for appointments or who was lobbying her on particular matters.

However, the amount of detail disclosed in the calendars had declined.

Before Thursdays update, the most recent week published was March 12. It did not mention any events. The preceding week only listed a budget-signing ceremony in Albuquerque.

And for a time, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported that the governors office stopped updating her calendars altogether.

In September, the Albuquerque Journal reported that the office had fallen behind by about three months. At that time, her office said it was an oversight and that the calendar would be updated more regularly in the future.

Theres no requirement for the governor to post her calendars, but many government leaders elsewhere do so.

That includes numerous governors, from Delaware and Pennsylvania to Nebraska and Wyoming.Virgin Galactics SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity rocket hit new altitudes and speeds in its third powered flight test Thursday morning, moving the company one step closer to passenger flights from southern New Mexicos Spaceport America.

The rocket soared to 170,800 feet, or 32.3 miles above the Mojave Desert, after breaking away from the WhiteKnightTwo mothership, which carried the Unity on its underbelly to about 46,000 feet. At that point, rocket pilot Dave Mackay fired up the ships hybrid motor, and the vehicle shot upward to a Mach 2.47 velocity, or more than twice the speed of sound.

That pushed the unity into the mesosphere, the next level beyond the stratosphere. The flight was still well short of space at 264,000 feet, or 50 miles up, according to NASAs definition of suborbit.

But its far higher than the Unitys last flight in May, when it reached 114,500 feet, or 22 miles. And it was significantly faster than the Mach 1.9 speed the rocket reached in May, thanks to 11 more seconds of rocket burn on Thursdays flight, said Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides.

It went substantially faster and higher than weve done in the past, Whitesides told the Journal. It puts us another step closer to space.

To get to suborbit, the rocket motor must burn for about 60 seconds to achieve needed thrust. Thursday mornings flight was planned for a 41-second burn, up from 30 seconds during the May flight.

Well go into data review now to look at everything and to plan what well do in the next flight, Whitesides said. We hope to achieve longer burns and faster speeds next time. Were doing it in incremental steps to achieve a safe journey into suborbit, but obviously, were not too far away from a long-duration burn.

Once the company successfully reaches suborbit and has fully assessed all flight impacts on the vehicle  including inside the cabin where paying passengers will eventually sit  Virgin Galactic will begin moving its operations to New Mexico. It currently manages all operations at the Mojave Air and Space Port, where Virgin Galactic is headquartered.

Virgin Galactic has pre-sold some 700 tickets at $250,000 a pop for space tourists seeking a few minutes in microgravity and spectacular sights of the Earths curvature below. Those flights will be managed at Spaceport America near Upham, about 50 miles north of Las Cruces.

Virgin Galactic is the spaceports anchor tenant, but the company no longer predicts a timeline for when commercial operations will begin, especially after the fatal 2014 crash of Virgins first rocket, the SpaceShipTwo Enterprise. That rocket broke apart in flight after the co-pilot prematurely ignited the vehicles breaking system, killing him and injuring the pilot.

The newly designed VSS Unity has automatic safety features built in to protect against such human error.

In the latest flight, chief pilot Dave Mackay flew the rocket on its upward trajectory, and co-pilot Mike Sooch Masucci brought it back to ground using the vehicles feathering system, in which its wings shift upward, slowing the rocket and allowing it to safely re-enter the Earths atmosphere. The spacecraft then glides back down and lands on a runway like a typical airplane.

It was a thrill from start to finish, Mackay said after the flight, according to a blog post on Virgin Galactics website. Unitys rocket motor performed magnificently again and Sooch pulled off a smooth landing. This was a new altitude record for both of us in the cockpit, not to mention our mannequin in the back, and the views of the Earth from the black sky were magnificent.

Sooch said in the post that the the view at 170,000 feet was amazing.

The flight was exciting and frankly beautiful, he said. We were able to complete a large number of test points, which will give us good insight as we progress to our goal of commercial service.It was photographers curiosity that took William E. Crawford to Hanoi.

He went there first in 1985, with a group of filmmakers and veterans, a full decade after the Vietnam War ended. At the time, noted The New York Times recently, the American trade embargo of Vietnam continued, the fate of missing American servicemen remained an emotionally charged question, and the United States was still demanding that Vietnam withdraw its troops from Cambodia. Crawfords group had gone to Vietnam as part of an unofficial effort to jump-start friendlier relations.

Over the the following three decades, Crawford would return to Hanoi to explore the city as it evolved. The result is his new book Hanoi Streets 1985-2015.

I wasnt interested in hearing about the lessons of Vietnam, which always struck me as dangerously oversimplified, at best, Crawford writes in the book.

In was in 1986, after the introduction of economic liberalization policies, that Crawford saw changes taking place in Hanoi: cars and motorbikes replaced bicycles,buildings got taller, and tourists became commonplace.

Hanoi has gained substantially in economic terms, Crawford tells The Times. People live much better than they did when I started visiting. But it has lost its charm along the way.

Young Men Talking, 1988



Illegal Construction Requiring Partial Demolition, 1995

Dude, 2009

Crawford shot in the streets of Hanoi with a large-format camera and tripod. Since he did not speak Vietnamese, he relied on two Foreign Press Center interpreters  Nguyen Quang Dy and Vu Binh, whom he met on his first trip to the country, notes The Times. Crawford photographed everything from circus performers and business owners to bicyclists and doctors.

When he wasnt photographing Hanoi, Crawford was flying: After getting a pilots license and a number of certifications in the 1980s, he began competing in aerobatic competitions and eventually opened an aerobatic school based in Plymouth, Massachussetts.



Skating in Ho Chi Minh City

Meanwhile, The Washington Post recently featured photographer Martin Bertrands images of Ho Chi Minh Citys burgeoning skating scene.

Skating in Ho Chi Minh City can be tough. Traffic is heavy, and the pavement is uneven. There is some respite, though, noted The Post. Outside the city and at the end of a long and dusty road stands the only skate park in town. Built in 2013, the park costs a little over $2 to get in. It is a little run-down and the roof leaks, especially during the rainy season. Despite this, young people who skate in the park are happy with it and cant imagine asking for anything more. It is a place where the skateboarders feel as if they can be themselves.

Servicing the young skaters is the Saigon Skateshop, in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City. Previously, the only skateboards that could be found were cheap ones from China that would break easily, noted The Post. While the shop exists to sell boards, clothing and other accessories, it also serves as headquarters for Thong and his friends; they gather at the shop and then head out on motor scooters to seek out places to skate.

____________________

At top: form Martin BertrandShanghai (Gasgoo)- SF Motors announced Jinguo (Chinese character ) as its official Chinese name on July 25 in Beijing. Meanwhile, the SF 5, the first electric SUV model under this EV brand, also made its China debut. Moreover, the model's Chinese name was also revealed as Jinguo EV.

In September, Jinguo EV plant will finish the modulation and adjustment of facilities and start to carry out trial production. In the following October, Jinguo EV will commence to test its model products' reliability and endurance.

Specifically, Jinguo EV also revealed that the SF 5 can be available for experience as early as January, 2019, and can be preordered in the Chinese market from March, 2019. In the third quarter of 2019, the intelligent electric SUV model will hit the market and can be mass delivered.

Adopting a design style that resembles coupe SUV, the Jinguo EV looks very sporty thanks to the fastback design style. The new model also offers exaggeratedly-designed headlights, looking very aggressive, futuristic and unmistakable. Moreover, the large-size wheel rims further enhance the model's sportiness.

Different from the sharp-looking front end, the model's rear end features very simple and neat design with fashionable pulling-through LED tail lights.

The new model also offers a neatly-designed cabin with a range of cutting-edge amenities. With the steering wheel and center console decorated with rosy golden trims, the white and black colored interior looks very futuristic and stylish. Besides, the model also comes fitted with full-LCD and extra-large center console screens.

Thanks to SF Motors's self-developed four electric motor drive technology, the model can sprint from 0-100km/h within 3 seconds. Strikingly, the model's range can top 500 km with high-energy-density batteries.Posted Thursday, July 26, 2018 10:31 am

Down a dirt road north of Sunfield, Kyle Browns bee farm is a humble operation tucked amid farming fields and a red barn.

The sense of apple pie Americana is strong. Kittens run out to greet visitors and various old vehicles are strewn about in different states of repair.

Ive always had an interest in bees, but the way the book Secret Life of Bees described them really resonated with me, said the 25-year-old former Chinook and Blackhawk helicopter mechanic. That started me on the path to when I see them, I try to rescue them, he added.

His desire to rescue bees sprung while he was away from home.

Before I came back to Michigan, I was stationed in Kansas for a while. My last six to 12 months, I started doing it in a city called Salina in West Kansas. I pulled them out of peoples houses and would take them to the country.

Brown said 90 percent of his bee boxes, frames filled with honeybees and their honeycombs, were cut out of a house. First advertising on Facebook, Brown said he wanted to get the word out to people before they could accidentally mistake honeybees for hornets or wasps, and kill them out of ignorance.

His efforts drew attention on Lansing-based reddit pages, Brown said. I used reddit in college. It was a really good platform to connect with anyone and everyone about anything. There is always someone on reddit that can help you out, or needs something done.

Brown recalls a time he received a phone call just shy of midnight, which led to him spontaneously suiting up for a night catch. I went all the way down to Battle Creek, then 45 minutes east. I did that swarm catch at midnight, Brown said.

Beekeeping is an early morning business, said Brown. I do a lot of my work early in the morning. I wake up around 5:30 or 6 a.m., especially during the summer. Once it gets warm, the comb gets melty and weak. If you pull something out and tip it to look at it, it is liable to fall, tip out and break.

Driving as far as two hours out for a call, Brown said he does it for the love of bees and to keep their numbers up. A lot of people charge to take them out of houses. Ill do it for free, because I really just want to get the bees out of there and get them to a safe spot.

A 2014 presidential memorandum on honeybee conservation from the Obama administration reported that, Honeybee pollination alone adds more than $15 billion in value to agricultural crops each year in the United States.

But honeybee numbers are dwindling.

The National Agriculture Statistics Service reports that there were 2.44 million honey-producing colonies in the United States in 2008, down from 4.5 million in 1980 and 5.9 million in 1947.

This trend is alarming, Brown said. For humans, within four to seven years there will be no plant based food or very little.

Crops worldwide depend on honeybees. Thats not very good, said Brown.

In Michigan, spring poses a specific threat to honeybees, said Brown. About a month and a half after spring starts, we get a big die off when the farmers do all of their pesticides and everyone starts treating their yards, Brown said.

However, some pest companies are making changes to address this problem, said Brown.

I know what the exterminator company Orkin does specifically  when people call them out for honeybees they wont do it and wont kill them.

Getting out to a rescue requires an assortment of beekeeping and common tools that ensure the safety of the bees and their hives.

I have temporary boxes and if its a swarm, Ill put the box under the tree and shake the limb to drop as many as I can in the box. Then Ill seal them up and give them a minute to get used to it, and Ill tape everything up and bring them home, said Brown.

The honeybee rescue business calls for some homemade ingenuity as well. I have a bee vacuum, which is just a small Shop-Vac with holes in the tubing, so I dont kill the bees when I suck them up, said Brown. It is a little bit less pressure. I do that and put them in a temporary plastic box.

After all his good Samaritan work, Brown doesnt even sell his honey.

When I get a couple frames of honey, I just kind of spin them out to family and friends and give them away. I just do it for the bees. I raise them and split them as many times as I can to build them back up.

To contact Kyle Brown for a honeybee problem, email him at kylebrown_15@yahoo.com.CAIRO  Egypts parliament gave its vote of confidence to the new government July 24, signifying its approval of new Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli, Cabinet members, and the government's social, economic and political policy statement.

This program, however, stirred wide controversy as Finance Minister Mohammed Moaet announced July 5 that the government will increase its investments to 100 billion Egyptian pounds ($5.6 billion) from 70 billion pounds ($3.9 billion) in the 2017-18 fiscal program.

The increase directly contradicts International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommendations for Egypt's economic reform program, which say the government should reduce its investment role and expand the private sector's contribution. The IMF approved a $12 billion loan to the Egyptian government in November 2016 to finance the economic reform plan.

Asked to comment on Egypts government investment expansion, Subir Lall, head of the IMF mission to Egypt, told Al-Monitor the IMF believes the private sector can grease Egypt's economic wheels, achieve rapid growth and provide job opportunities.

"The government wouldn't be able to [accommodate] the need for employment at a time when Egypt is required to provide 700,000 job opportunities per year to be able to cope with the huge population growth," he said.

Egypt's public sector stopped hiring people in 2015, as it is overstaffed, employing roughly 7 million civil servants to serve a population of 85 million. In comparison, the United States employees about 2 million in the public sector to serve more than 300 million people. Even when accounting for government contractors and grantees, the United States only employees roughly the same number of people for over three times the population.

Egypt's heavy debt makes it difficult to expand hiring. Meanwhile, private investments offered 486,000 job opportunities in 2017.

"Many developing countries have learned from past experience in economic reform that the state's excessive interference in the economy deprives the private sector of opportunities that can otherwise enable it to achieve economic growth and create jobs in many fields away from any competition with the state and all its resources. In other words, it would be better for the state to either promote public-private partnerships [PPPs] or encourage the private sector to expand," Lall added.

A source from the Egyptian Ministry of Finance told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that $5.6 billion in government investments isn't a huge figure and wouldn't impede the private sector or prevent it from expanding. Egypt receives about $9 billion in foreign investments per year, excluding Egyptian private investments.

The source pointed out that many of the government investments under the new program will be earmarked for developing existing projects. This, he explained, doesn't count as governmental expansion at the expense of the private sector, as most of these projects are PPPs.

The source said most of these investments will focus on oil and gas exploration, power plants and electricity distribution networks, mining projects, infrastructure and development in slum areas.

He also stressed that all the projects include private sector companies as key partners. Chief among these are British Petroleum (BP) and Italy's Eni SpA in the fields of gas and oil; Germany's Siemens AG in power plants; and Orascom Construction Ltd. and Arab Contractors (Osman Ahmed Osman & Co.), both of Cairo, in infrastructure and development in slums.

That information was confirmed by Mohammed Maher, CEO and vice chairman of investment bank Prime Holding for Financial Investments SAE. Prime Holding conducts periodic studies on the impact of government projects and private sector expansion on the stock market. "We are aware of the government's investment plan until 2022, and most of these investments are indeed PPPs," he said.

Maher explained that the government investment plan, in partnership with the private sector, earmarks $24.4 billion to develop gas and oil fields until 2022. During the same period, $8.2 billion will go to oil refining projects and $12.6 billion to build natural gas and oil transmission lines from Egypt to several countries. This would turn Egypt into a regional gas export hub because by 2022 these transmission lines will extend more than about 650 kilometers (404 miles). Also, he added, $4.2 billion will be dedicated to produce petrochemicals, and $2.8 billion to expand mining projects, namely gold mining.

"These projects include coal power plants with investments worth $6 billion and pumped-storage hydroelectricity plants in the Safaga region of the Red Sea at a cost of $2.7 billion," he added.

Mohammed Fouad, a management professor at Modern Science and Arts University in Cairo, told Al-Monitor that PPPs rescued Egypt's oil sector after the government partnered with Eni, BP and Russia's Rosneft, and in the electricity sector with Siemens. Meanwhile, for infrastructure projects, slum projects and the new administrative capital project, the government partnered with major construction companies.

Fouad pointed out several problems that would prevent the government from providing the necessary liquidity to establish major investments unless it partners with the private sector. Chief among these is the huge budget deficit and accrued interest the state is required to pay annually, especially in light of the huge loans that it has taken out, including the IMF loan in November 2016. Egypt, he said, is required to accelerate the pace of investments in general to provide thousands of job opportunities.

Ahmed Sabri al-Hakim, a traffic engineering and transport planning professor at Al-Azhar University, told Al-Monitor that expanding government investments in transportation would be beneficial if carried out as PPPs.

He added that Egypt had a strong transportation system in the 1990s and early 2000s because it had private sector partnerships with Abu Rajaileh Transport Co. for public transport organization and Heliopolis Co. to manage Heliopolis Metro.

Hakim believes all these services have deteriorated as the private sector role subsided. He said that the only solution to developing transportation and other projects is to turn them into PPPs managed by the private sector.After the American and Iranian presidents engaged in a war of words, President Hassan Rouhani decided to step back, saying of Trumps tweets, There is no need to respond and go back and forth with them. But then, just as there seemed to be a lull in tensions, Quds Force commander Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani addressed President Donald Trump directly.

During a July 26 speech in the city of Hamedan commemorating Operation Ramadan from the Iran-Iraq War, Soleimani directed his words at Trump over his threats, saying, It is not at the level of our president to respond to you. I will respond to you as a soldier. Quoting part of Trumps tweet, Soleimani said, You threaten us with action that has no precedence in history. This is the language of a cabaret. Only a cabaret owner talks like this with the world.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leader continued, What can you do that you havent done in the last 20 years? You came to Afghanistan with dozens of tanks and hundreds of helicopters and committed crimes. What have you done from 2001 to 2018 with 110,00 soldiers? Today youre begging to have dialogue with the Taliban?

Continuing on the point of American presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, Soleimani added, Do you remember how you used to provide adult diapers for your soldiers in tanks and now you threaten us? What did you do in the 33-day war (between Israel and Lebanon)? Did you not accept Hezbollahs terms for ending the war? He also reminded Trump that it was American commanders at the time who asked Soleimani to use his influence in Iraq to stop attacks on US soldiers while they exited. Soleimani also said the United States and its allies, using the most advanced US weapons, have not been able to subdue Yemen and have turned the Red Sea, which was safe, into an unstable part of the world.

Referring to Trump as a gambler, Soleimani said, I will stand alone against you. He added, This nation has passed through difficult events. If you start the war we will end it. Ask your predecessors. Do not threaten us with death. We are ready to stand against you.

Soleimani also had praise for Rouhani, whose comments warning to the United States not to play with the lions tale initiated the most recent war of words between the United States and Iran. Our dear and valuable president spoke words that were from our heart, Soleimani said. He added it was a mistake to criticize Rouhani for his comments as some within the country have done.

Soleimani also addressed domestic issues, specifically the management of the country. While not referencing corruption or mismanagement of any individuals, he said, Maybe with [correct] management there will not be any miracles but we can create approval, justice, coexistence and brotherhood. He said that during the Iran-Iraq War no one would ask if an individual was a leftist or a Principlist or a Reformist. Rather, Soleimani said, people were judged based on their abilities and their responsibilities.

While Rouhani is receiving praise from the countrys hard-liners for his tough stance against the United States, he is battling a currency crisis that has forced him to reshuffle his Cabinet. Abdolnasser Hemati has replaced Valiollah Saif as the head of the central bank. Also, the head of Irans Planning and Budgetary Organization, Mohammad Bagher Nobakht, said that he had resigned, but that Rouhani had rejected the resignation.

Regardless, rumors of a Cabinet shuffle have been swirling for months given its inability to address the currency crisis. Many are not impressed with the changes. Economist Gholamreza Nazarboland told Shargh Daily that simply changing the Cabinet is useless. He compared it to Mohammad Reza Shah changing his prime ministers multiple times in the final years of his government. He urged fundamental changes to address the myriad economic problems.

Iranian journalist Arash Hasania tweeted that changing the economic team of the administration is like changing the wallpaper in the dining room of the Titanic. In a follow-up tweet he wrote the hashtag fundamental changes.The Finnish capital, Helsinki, turned into the main center for international diplomacy July 16 by hosting a long-awaited summit between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, as Iran and Syria topped the agenda of the two presidents discussions at the summit, Tehran was trying to adapt its Syrian strategy by sending special envoys to Moscow and Damascus.

Five days prior to the meeting, on July 11, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's foreign policy adviser Ali Akbar Velayati traveled to Moscow to deliver separate messages from Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani to the Russian president. Although the visit was primarily aimed at cementing cooperation with Russia in the aftermath of the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal, a great part of Velayatis discussions in Moscow was focused on the Syrian issue and the Iran-Russia partnership in the war-torn country.

Upon his arrival in the Russian capital, Velayati touched upon Syria, saying that cooperation between Iran and Russia, as well as other countries of the region, is indicative of an exemplary, strategic and long-term partnership between the two countries. The issue was indeed one of the main topics of Velayatis discussions with Putin on July 12. According to the official statement issued by the Kremlin after the meeting, The discussion focused on Russian-Iranian cooperation issues as well as the situation in the region, including developments in Syria.

Although no details have been published on which exact matters concerning Syria were discussed, some of Velayatis remarks in the days following the meeting could shed light on the Iranian position. In a speech at Moscows Valdai Discussion Club on July 13, the top Iranian official said that Iran coordinates its presence in Syria with Russia as well as the Syrian government. Elsewhere in his remarks, Velayati addressed the possibility of a deal between Moscow and Washington over Syria, saying, I told the Russian officials: Now the Americans are telling you that the Iranians must leave Syria and tomorrow they will ask you what you are doing in Syria.

It can thus be reasonably explicated that Irans message to Russia on Syria contained two main components. On the one hand, the Islamic Republic reiterated its commitment to continue coordinating its moves in Syria with Moscow; this means that the Russians need not worry about the potential for unpredictable actions by the Iranians that might undermine Russias interests and initiatives. This could especially be the case with regard to Moscows determination to observe Israels security concerns in southern Syria, where Tel Aviv appears determined not to let Iranian influence grow as a result of the ongoing military campaign by the Syrian military.

On the other hand, by saying that in case of Irans withdrawal from Syria, Russia would be the next to be asked by the United States to leave, Tehran warns Moscow not to compromise on its presence in Syria with Washington. In other words, according to the Iranian leaders, the interests of Iran and Russia in Syria are so tightly intertwined that they cannot be pursued separately; so, if Moscow wants to maintain the balance of power in Syria in its own favor, it would need Irans close cooperation on the ground.

Meanwhile, another aspect of Irans current approach toward Syria was reflected in the visit of Hossein Jaberi Ansari, a senior adviser to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, to Damascus on July 15. In a meeting with Ansari, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stressed the importance of boosting the bilateral strategic relationship between Iran and Syria, saying that relations will continue to develop despite some internal and external threats. Ansari also had a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, in which the two sides discussed the latest political developments as well as issues related to the Syrian Constitutional Committee. Other topics on their agenda included matters related to the upcoming meeting in Geneva between the three guarantor states of the Syrian cease-fire  Russia, Turkey and Iran  and the UN special envoy, as well as the next round of Syria talks to be held in Sochi July 30-31. The talks will be part of the Astana process and are different from the Syrian National Dialogue Congress, which was held earlier this year in the same city.

As Iran has been persistently declaring that its presence in Syria is legal and upon the official request of the Syrian government, Ansaris visit to Damascus could be seen as an attempt by Tehran to renew its mandate to stay in Syria. In other words, Iran senses that since the Syrian military has managed to retake most of the country from rebel and terrorist groups, Assads foreign adversaries  and especially the United States and Israel  are shifting their strategies toward accepting his rule, conditioned on his compliance with their demand to expel Iranians from Syria.

Against this backdrop, having Assad publicly support the development of ties with Iran despite the internal and external threats clearly means that the Islamic Republic is not about to let its interests in Syria be affected by external pressures. At the same time, Jaberis comprehensive portfolio in his talks with Muallem  ranging from developments on the ground to the Constitutional Committee and from Geneva to Sochi  is an indication of Irans determination to play an active role in all political frameworks when it comes to the future of Syria.

With the prospect of US-Russia collaboration ahead  as indicated by Trump and Putin  and as Israeli airstrikes in Syria continue, Iran appears to have devised a dual-aspect precautionary strategy to preserve its interests in Syria. The Islamic Republic believes that although Russia is neither able nor willing to expel it from Syria for now, possible political pressure on Assad as collateral damage of a US-Russian agreement together with Israels military pressures may change the viewpoint of the Syrian government toward cooperation with Iran. As such, by sending special envoys to Moscow and Damascus, Iran is seeking to keep Russia committed to its partnership while also moving to prevent Assad from giving in to the pressures.Some ambassadors to Israel celebrate their country's national day at the poolside of their official residences in Herzliya, just north of Tel Aviv. Others mark the day with receptions at fancy Tel Aviv hotels. Swiss Ambassador Jean-Daniel Ruch chose to celebrate his countrys independence in a unique spot. He will welcome his guests, among them government, Foreign Ministry and Knesset representatives, to the Jewish Arab village of Neve Shalom-Wahat al-Salam, which lies midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The principles on which this community, the first and only one of its kind, was founded run counter to the spirit of the nationality law  Israels new law that excludes the countrys 20% Arab minority, strips their mother tongue of its official status and negates their national narrative.

The official invitation to the event says that Neve Shalom  Hebrew for Oasis of Peace  is a village of Jewish and Palestinian Israeli citizens working together for justice, peace and equality in the country and the region. Its vision, the invitation quotes from Neve Shaloms founding principles, is to offer "a model of equality, mutual respect and partnership, challenging the existing patterns of racism and discrimination as well as the continued conflict. Contrary to the nationality law, which reads that Israel views the development of Jewish settlement as a national value and will act to encourage and promote its establishment, the 70 Jewish and Arab families living in the village reject the idea of Jewish-only communities. The Arabic language has equal footing with Hebrew. The village children attend a bilingual school and unlike other Israeli schoolchildren, are allowed to mark the Palestinian Nakba and to protest the Israeli occupation.

The village was established in the early 1970s by Bruno Hussar, who was born in Cairo in 1911 to a secular Jewish family that moved to France, where he converted to Christianity and became a monk. Readings of the Bible drew him back to Judaism and he migrated to Israel. His tombstone is adorned with both a Star of David and a cross. The name of the village, established on the grounds of the Latrun Trappist Abbey, was taken from the Book of Isaiah (32:18): "My people shall dwell in an oasis of peace." Shortly after its establishment, the Arabic version, Wahat al-Salam, was added to the name.

Many of the residents teach in its School for Peace, a unique institution that holds workshops and classes for Palestinians and Jews of all ages and walks of life, grooming agents of social change who can promote a true dialogue of equality in their chosen fields. Over the years, some 65,000 Jews and Arabs have taken part in these peace, justice and reconciliation projects.

Blogger and feminist activist Samah Salaime, who lives with her family in the village, said in an interview with Al-Monitor this week that hundreds of families are knocking at the doors of the small village and its school. My Jewish neighbors dont need the nationality law that seeks to split my people and discriminates against me, says Salaime, born 40 years ago to a Palestinian refugee family from the northern Israeli village of al-Shajara (now the Jewish community of Ilaniya). She declares that native Palestinians such as herself will remain here for eternity in spite of discriminatory legislation like the nationality law. Salaime argues that the nationality law actually challenges Jews on issues they seek to evade, such as the question of the Jewish people's identity, the contradiction between being an occupier and a free nation and the borders of our land.

Boaz Kitain, one the village's first residents, told Al-Monitor he and his friends are violating the spirit of the nationality law, since the mission of the communitys selection committee is to ensure equal numbers of Jews and Arabs in the village rather than limiting it to Jews. Kitain, the former principal of the School for Peace, says he is particularly concerned by the prevailing view, especially among his religious Zionist friends, that equality is not a value nor a goal. They want everyone to know that we, the Jews, are the lords of the manor, and that all the rest do not have and should not have rights equal to those we deserve.

Neve Shalom, Wahat al-Salam, is true to its name, says Kitain. Today, more than ever, it stands out as a desert oasis, with the changes in the political climate around us threatening to desiccate everything thats good and the evil winds turning the desert into a more desolate and threatening place than ever. Kitains personal story illustrates that the Israeli reality and the Israeli-Arab conflict do not stop at the village gates. The decision by his son, Tom, to serve his compulsory military service and his death in a 1997 helicopter disaster stirred controversy over his commemoration in the small community.

Some had a hard time digesting the army, the uniform and our desire to erect a monument in Toms memory in the village, says Kitain, who is also active in the forum of bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families. It was painful, we paid a price, but we got through it. Three years on, a harsh argument broke out over Kitains invitation to light a torch at the annual Independence Day ceremony on Jerusalems Mount Herzl to honor education for peace and co-existence. That was under Labor Prime Minister Ehud Barak. These days, the days of the nationality law, residents of a Jewish-Arab community must console themselves with an invitation to the national holiday of Switzerland.

In her book, Against All Odds: The Story of a Binational Village," professor Amia Lieblich defines Neve Shalom as a human laboratory researching in real time the central riddle of our existence here: Is integration possible, despite it all? How does an ideological community exist in a divided world, with all the attendant arguments, divisions, mutual guarantees, struggles and achievements?

Psychology professor David Bar-Gal started his review of the book by quoting Sigmund Freud, who believed man was innately evil and that destructive tendencies were imprinted at birth. He claimed any element contributing to the establishment of affinity among human beings, engendering cooperation among them and feelings of community solidarity, can help thwart war. The community of Arabs and Jews living together in Neve Shalom, Bar-Gal wrote, is taking a small but significant step forward toward shaking off this calamity.

Kitain insists on believing that flourishing islands such as this village will survive in the political Israeli desert and will help it bloom when Israelis decide once again to strive for an end to the conflict and for reconciliation. Blessed is the believer.The Knesset approved Israels new "nationality law" on July 19, upholding the Jewish character of the State of Israel. The controversial law has generated varied reactions inside Israel and abroad. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reacted especially harshly.

On the Israeli side, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus response to Erdogan's outburst against the new law was relatively mild, although Erdogans anti-Israel rhetoric was harsher than usual.

Addressing members of his ruling party in parliament on July 24, Erdogan compared Israels actions to those of Nazi Germany. There is no difference between Hitlers Aryan race obsession and Israels view that all ancient lands belong to Jews only. Hitlers spirit has re-emerged among certain senior officials in Israel, he said to wild applause.

Netanyahu responded that Erdogan's criticism is "the greatest compliment, saying, Turkey under Erdogan is becoming a dark dictatorship, while Israel is meticulously maintaining equal rights for all its citizens, before and after the law.

Of course, one may question how Netanyahu can claim that the law is not racist and somehow provides equal rights for all citizens, but his pro forma reaction was probably given to avoid exacerbating tensions with Ankara. Just think, only a decade ago the two countries were allies coordinating their moves in the Middle East, and now they are on the verge of severing diplomatic ties.

Unlike Netanyahus measured response, the governments National Security Council recently determined that Israel could no longer ignore the Turkish presidents harsh rhetoric. The NSC recommended that if Erdogan attacks Israel again, it must respond with actions rather than words. One of the steps it suggested was restricting the activity of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), whose East Jerusalem office helps Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu appointed Meir Ben-Shabbat as NSC chair almost a year ago, initially as a stand-in and then as a permanent post. He previously headed the southern district of the Shin Bet, acquiring great expertise about events in Gaza. Ben-Shabbat is highly knowledgeable about the Hamas movement that controls Gaza, having headed the agencys activities during Israels Operation Cast Lead against Hamas in late 2008. Ben-Shabbat also serves as the governments national security adviser and is privy to all the messages conveyed by Hamas via Egypt, including the latest understandings regarding a cessation of hostilities.

Under a 2008 law, the NSC operates in the prime ministers office under his guidance, dealing with foreign policy and defense issues. Because the head of the NSC also serves as national security adviser, the proposal to hit back at Erdogan over his outspoken attacks and to hurt one of his pet projects comes from the defense agency closest to Netanyahu.

Turkey established TIKA in the early 1990s after the Soviet Unions collapse as a government agency operating in former Soviet states with sizable Muslim populations. Over time, it expanded its activities to other regions, including the West Bank area under control of the Palestinian Authority and the Gaza Strip. TIKAs Israel office is located in the predominantly Palestinian East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarah, and it prides itself on running over 500 projects that benefit Palestinians.

TIKAs biggest project these days is the construction of a Gaza hospital as well as the paving of roads and rehabilitation of the Strips collapsing sewage system. With funding from the Turkish government and donations from Muslim charitable foundations, TIKA also promotes smaller projects in the PA. On May 21, Israel Hayom reported that in a bid to buy influence, TIKA was handing out $500 checks to Palestinian merchants in East Jerusalem, in return for which they were told to fly the Turkish flag. Israel believes Erdogan is trying to use TIKA to gain a foothold in Jerusalems Al-Aqsa Mosque, to the dismay of Jordan as the holy sites custodian.

The NSCs detailed recommendations to restrain TIKA have yet to be reported, and it is not known whether the measures are designed to limit its activity only in East Jerusalem and the PA, or whether it also targets activity in the Gaza Strip and contacts with Hamas. Al-Monitor asked the prime ministers office to address the NSC proposals but was told the information was confidential.

Ben-Shabbat appears to be toeing the line of the defense echelons, which argue that the humanitarian crisis in the Strip is one of the prime irritants between Hamas and Israel, and that Israel must therefore help alleviate the suffering. Therefore, he is unlikely to suggest restricting projects that improve the situation in Gaza and provide hundreds if not thousands of scarce jobs in the Gaza Strip, which suffers one of the highest unemployment rates in the world.

Even if the recommendations only target the PA and East Jerusalem, it seems likely that the NSC adopted them primarily to get back at Erdogan. After all, it has not suggested immediate action to counter a perceived attempt by Turkey to spread its word in East Jerusalem and the PA under Israels nose. The proposal to impose sanctions if Erdogan attacks Israel again proves that the NSC is more interested in revenge against him than it is concerned about TIKA activity in Jerusalem and the PA.

Netanyahu reacted with moderation in the latest clash with Erdogan, but the recommendation of his national security adviser to strike back with actions rather than invective remains on his desk. Will taking steps against the Turkish governments aid agency stop Erdogan? Ben-Shabbat, an experienced Shin Bet operative, appears to think it will.The last election Libya had was on June 25, 2014, when Libyans cast their votes to elect their representatives in the new House of Representatives after the interim General National Congress mandate expired. The hope was that elections would bring about stability and put an end to the violence that has plagued the North African country since its longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi was toppled with NATO help in October 2011.

In the 2014 election, most Libyans were frustrated and increasingly suspicious of the entire political process; only 630,000 voters cast their votes  less than half of eligible registered voters. The elections did not deliver peace nor end the violence. On the contrary, troubles increased and another war emerged when a coalition of Islamists refused to accept the election outcome and decided to take control of the country by force. They launched a military offensive dubbed Operation Dawn of Libya, which began July 13, 2014, and ended in August 2014, by taking full control of the capital, Tripoli, after destroying its international airport and inflicting huge damage to civilian and government properties.

Elections, it seems, do not always deliver what people wish for. But they seem to be the best idea the United Nations envoys can come up with. The current UN envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salame, is no exception. On May 29, French President Emmanuel Macron hosted a summit in Paris bringing together all of Libya's rivals, who agreed to the next elections proposed by Salame for Dec. 10 as the only way out of the mess in the country.

And again the French are the ones at the forefront, pushing once again for all Libyan parties to keep their promises to hold elections on the stated date. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian visited Libya on July 23 to tour its three centers of power: Tripoli, Misrata and Benghazi.

In Tripoli, he informed the Government of National Accord that France will contribute 100 million euros ($117 million) toward the election expenses, and elections should go ahead.

In Misrata, Le Drian wanted to make sure that its local council and its armed militia does not interrupt the agreed-upon elections since Misrata was not represented at the May Paris meeting.

In Benghazi, Le Drian met with Aqila Salah, the speaker of parliament, to make sure that parliament passes the required election law as previously agreed. The French officials meeting with Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter, commander of the self-styled Libyan National Army, intended to remind the strong military leader that elections must not be delayed for any reason and that the army should help in securing them.

But is Libya really suffering from lack of elections? At least France seems to believe this as a fact while it pursues its policy toward the country, partly because its rival, Italy, seems to believe otherwise. Notably, Italy was not invited to the May meeting hosted by France. Italy is the former colonial power in Libya (1911-1943) before the allies  including France  defeated it. That gave France dominance and control in Libyas southern region, known as Fezzan.

In a previous meeting hosted by Macron between the Government of National Accord Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj and Hifter on July 24, 2017, Rome was angry at what it interpreted as the increasing snubbing by the new French president. An Italian diplomat at the time told Reuters, Macron wants to be much more involved in Libya. That is fine, but he has brushed us away. We were not consulted.

Italy has always taken the lead in the Libyan dossier, and almost all EU countries seem to accept that as a fact. Indeed, Italys historical ties to its former colony and its wide-ranging economic ties have always been the centerpiece in its policy toward its Mediterranean neighbors.

Le Drian and French Ambassador to Libya Brigitte Curmi did not respond to Al-Monitor's request for a comment on the matter.

In 2008, Italy and Libya signed a historic treaty ending the two countries long-running feud over the colonial period. The treaty set the stage for a new era in relations, which saw Italy accept responsibility of its brutal colonial occupation of Libya and agree to compensate it to the tune of $5 billion over a period of 25 years.

In return, Italy got a favored commercial partner status with the oil-rich country, among other benefits. Noteworthy is that Italy imports 25% of its oil and 10% of its gas needs from Libya. ENI, Italys giant energy company, has major stakes in Libyas oil and gas industry. While Frances Total rivals ENI, publicly Paris seemed to let Rome lead the way on the Libyan issue  until recently, that is.

Italians still prefer to see elections in Libya delayed, calling on foreign powers not to intervene in deciding when such elections should take place. Italian Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi said July 11, It is the Libyan people and their broader institutions who will decide when the country should hold elections.

Indeed, Libya can hardly conduct elections in a fair and peaceful manner at this stage. The lack of security is a major hurdle, particularly in the southern region where both the Government of National Accord and its Tobruk-based rival have little control and the region is rife with armed militias and criminal gangs, as it has been for the last seven years.

If the 2014 elections produced the most serious political division in Libya, any upcoming elections taking place amid the current security fluidity and political tense rivalry in the country could actually push it further into partition along regional lines. One important indicator of this emerged on July 19, when Fathi Majbri, a representative of the eastern region of Cyrenaica in the Government of National Accord, resigned and left Tripoli. The move came in protest against what he called militia dominance in the capital that is effectively paralyzing the Government of National Accord.

The French-Italian competition over dominance in Libya is clearly not helping the country but instead could further push it toward disintegration, in which case neither France nor Italy will win in the long run.GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  Led by prominent factional figures and activists, hundreds of Palestinians swarmed the streets of downtown Ramallah in the West Bank on July 18. Protesters asserted that the stipends paid by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to Palestinian prisoners in Israel are a red line that Israeli authorities should not cross.

This protest is the first of many to be staged across various capitals of the world and in Palestinian governorates in the coming days and weeks. The movement is part of a national campaign launched during a meeting on July 12 in Ramallah by the PA's Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, the PA-funded Palestinian Prisoners Club, and several factional bodies and activists. The campaign aims to counter the bill passed by the Israeli Knesset on July 2 freezing part of the PA funds used to pay the monthly stipends to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

The new Israeli bill allows Israel to slash part of the Palestinian tax revenues collected by Israel on behalf of the PA under previous interim peace accords. This part is equivalent to the monthly stipends paid by the PA to Palestinian prisoners convicted of carrying out attacks against Israeli targets and to the families of Palestinians killed or wounded in confrontations with Israelis. These monthly stipends are equal to $300 million a year.

The fresh bill provides that the deducted amount will be placed in a special fund aimed to compensate the families of Israelis who were killed during military operations with Palestinians.

Qadoura Fares, head of the Palestinian Prisoners Club, spoke with Al-Monitor during the protest. This protest aims to denounce Israels piracy and theft of the stipends due to Palestinian prisoners and families of martyrs. It falls in the context of a new national strategy to mobilize Palestinian official and popular circles abroad and inside Palestine against the new bill. The PA cannot alone face this bill; this needs a unified Palestinian stance, Fares said.

Head of the PA's Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, Issa Qaraqaa, told Al-Monitor, The national campaign has two objectives: The first is exposing Israel's practices against the prisoners in detention, including the policy of torture of detained children and the policy of medical negligence that causes the death of prisoners.

In a press statement issued on May 20, the Palestinian Prisoners Club noted that seven prisoners have died as a result of medical negligence in [Israeli] detention centers during the past five years. Most recently, Palestinian prisoner Aziz Oweisat, 53, died on May 20 in an Israeli prison hospital days allegedly after suffering a heart attack.

Qaraqaa added, The second objective of the campaign is putting international pressure on Israel, forcing it to drop the bill on slashing part of the Palestinian tax funds. The campaign seeks to highlight the fact that Israel passed this bill as a political and financial punishment against the PA for refusing any future peace negotiation with Israel after the US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on Dec. 6, 2017."

He explained that the campaign will organize local and international events and activities. Local events will be organized by community and factional forces to strengthen the prisoners steadfastness against this Israeli bill that seeks to weaken their resolve. Palestinian embassies and expatriates scattered around the world will also be organizing similar protests and sit-ins, Qaraqaa added.

As part of this campaign, representatives of the Palestinian embassies will meet with government figures from around the world to discuss Israel's violations of Palestinian prisoners and to expose Israel's use of the new bill as a political punishment against the PA.

The PA has made its decision and will not stop paying the salaries of the prisoners and the families of the martyrs," PLO Executive Committee member Wasel Abu Yousef told Al-Monitor. He added, The PA, factional bodies and activists decided to launch this campaign to halt the ongoing decline in foreign aid to the PA and to counter this Israeli bill that urges foreign countries to block financial aid to the PA."

Of note, the launch of the campaign comes after Australia announced July 2  the day the bill was passed  that it would stop its direct financial aid to the PA of $10 million a year for fear of seeing it disbursed to Palestinians convicted of politically motivated violence. Australian aid goes instead to the United Nations Humanitarian Fund for the Palestinian territories that offers health, water, shelter and sanitation services.

This comes while the cash-strapped PA battles a steady decline in foreign financial aid to its budget of 70% compared to 2010. The PAs deficit in this year's budget is estimated at about $1 billion.

The campaign carries a political dimension that goes beyond the mobilization of international sympathy for the Palestinian prisoners issue, political analyst Talal Okal told Al-Monitor. The main objective of the campaign is to preserve the remaining international support for the PA."

He added, The PA fears that international bodies or other countries supporting the Palestinians, such as the European Union, which this year provided the PA with 158 million euros in direct aid, would follow in Australias footsteps. This campaign aims to form an international opinion against the Israeli bill on slashing Palestinian tax revenues.

Okal pointed out that the PAs efforts to gain international sympathy through this campaign reflect its indignation at the Arab countries' failure to activate the Arab safety net. This net was established during the March 2015 Arab Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, and which aims to provide $100 million per month to the PA from Arab donations.

For his part, Ahmed Awad, a professor of political science at Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, believes the PA is caught between a rock and a hard place. It could either continue paying the Palestinian prisoners salaries and lose more foreign support, or halt the payment of these salaries and lose more public support.

He added, This campaign aims to find a solution to this predicament while sparing the PA any loss of foreign aid or local support. The campaign is intended to assure the local public that the PA will not give up on Palestinian prisoners. It also seeks to create international opposition to the new Israeli bill."

Qaraqaa hopes this campaign will create an international public opinion against the new Israeli bill that pressures Israel to renounce it.As the Syrian regime continues to make advances in the country's south and expand the area it controls, government forces have deployed soldiers along the border with Jordan near Daraa province and the Golan Heights in Quneitra. Meanwhile, signs indicate that there is rapprochement between Damascus and the opposition's political and military components in northern and eastern Syria (east of the Euphrates River), where the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are in control.

At its third conference in Tabqa city in the northern province of Raqqa on July 16, the Syrian Democratic Council announced the establishment of a comprehensive platform labeled the Democratic Autonomous Administrations. The platform will represent the autonomous administrations of the SDF-controlled areas in potential future talks with the Syrian regime.

The Syrian Democratic Council is an alliance of political parties and blocs founded Dec. 8-9, 2015. It is the political wing of the US-backed SDF, which is still fighting the remaining groups affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) in eastern Syria on the border with Deir ez-Zor.

There are signs that practical measures to open communication channels between some autonomous administrations and the Syrian regime are being taken. On July 13, a co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council, Ilham Ahmed, told the local Hawar news agency that there are talks between the local council of SDF-controlled Tabqa and the regime to improve services and to restore the regimes powers over the Tabqa dam.

There are talks at the local level. Officials at the regimes service institutions and others at the Tabqa local council and service institutions are negotiating [the possibility] that former employees and experts at the dam return to work for the dam administration in Tabqas civil administration, Ahmed said.

Since the outbreak of the protests in Syria in early 2011, Kurds, represented by the Kurdish People's Protection Units, and other Arab and ethnic components in northern and eastern Syria strengthened their presence by forming the military force known as the SDF.

Serving as the US ally against IS, the SDF was able to expel the group from areas and take over about 35,000 square kilometers (13,500 square miles) of Syria's total surface area of 185,000 square kilometers. The SDF-controlled areas do not fall under the authority of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The latter threatened May 31 to restore them, saying, The SDF is the only persisting problem in Syria.

The SDFs concern that the areas it controls may be the next target of the Russian-backed Syrian regime forces seems to be the main reason behind pushing for talks and finding common ground.

Sihanouk Dibo, a political adviser to the Democratic Union Party (PYD), a key component of the Syrian Democratic Council, told Al-Monitor over the phone, This could be true, particularly since neither the US nor Russia will prevent such negotiations. Reaching a solution for the Syrian crisis is a UN demand.

The Syrian Democratic Council is increasingly discussing negotiations and formed a platform consisting of the democratic autonomous administrations and civil councils from Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor and Manbij  which are entirely under its control  in addition to SDF representatives. Meanwhile, as military operations against IS are coming to an end, the stance of the US  a key supporter of the SDF  is getting more ambiguous by the day when it comes to a military presence in the area, as it declared its intention to withdraw its troops without setting a date.

The US stance could weaken the SDF position before groups that are hostile to them and the regime and which reject their presence in their areas, such as the Arab tribes, which are not part of the SDF. This being said, talks with the strongest party, namely the regime, seem to be the most logical option.

Nevertheless, Dibo indicated that the reason behind the intention to negotiate with the Syrian regime is the Syrians desire, in both the north and east, to find a solution to this crisis (the Syrian war). In addition, the regime does not have the luxury of taking decisions on its own, since Russia is a main ally. On the other hand, there is an international and Arab coalition led by the US in the east of the Euphrates River  which means that the Syrian people in general barely have a say in the decision-making process.

He said, Engaging in negotiations with the regime does not mean that we have surrendered. He stressed that no official communication has been initiated so far between the autonomous administrations and the authorities in Damascus.

The Democratic Autonomous Administrations project to prepare for negotiations with Damascus is a new and improved system that completely differs from the federal system, known as the Democratic Union of Rojava in northern Syria. The latter, declared on March 17, 2016, is yet to see the light.

Dibo believes that this goes perfectly with the prevailing situation. The autonomous administrations and local and civil councils in the north and east of Syria are the most appropriate, particularly since the solution of the Syrian crisis requires a democratic system to succeed after the central government system failed.

On Oct. 17, 2017, the Syrian regime and representatives of the Kurdish parties met for talks at the Russian-controlled Hmeimim base on the Syrian coast. The regime was not serious, said Dibo. Yet he stressed the desire to hold UN-supervised negotiations as the best way to ensure a smooth process. We still believe the negotiations between the SDC [Syrian Democratic Council] and the regime to be a difficult and long process.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines of the Syrian Democratic Council conference, former PYD co-chair Salih Muslim stressed July 16 a willingness to negotiate with the Syrian government, provided that there is an international guarantor to implement the results of the agreement between the parties.A Turkish court abruptly agreed to release US pastor Andrew Brunson from prison July 25, after almost two years, and place him under house arrest instead. The decision comes just a week after the court had refused his request.

How did this happen? Was the court influenced by pressure from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan or US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo? The threat of sanctions from Congress? Was it US President Donald Trumps tweets, or perhaps the friendly fist-bump between the two presidents at the NATO summit in Brussels?

The court simply cited health reasons for its decision. It didnt disclose details, though Brunson is said to suffer from depression. The evangelical pastor from North Carolina, a missionary in Turkey for more than 20 years, was detained in October 2016, not long after the failed coup in July of that year. Erdogan primarily blames US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen for the coup attempt, which Gulen denies. Brunson is charged with espionage, aiding Gulen and supporting terror organizations. Prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of 35 years. Brunson denies the charges, and many think his arrest was politically motivated.

Erdogan has long been frustrated by the US refusal to extradite Gulen, repeatedly saying, Give us the priest and take your pastor, proposing a swap of Brunson for Gulen.

On July 19, six US senators introduced bipartisan legislation to sanction Turkey financially by cutting off loans from the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The proposed legislation, called the Turkey International Financial Institutions Act, reiterates US policy to oppose any effort by a foreign government to detain US citizens for political leverage. It stands against arbitrary detention of and denial of freedom of movement to US citizens (including dual citizens) and locally employed staff of the United States mission to Turkey. It calls for the international financial institutions to oppose any loans or other assistance to Turkey  except for humanitarian causes, or projects designed to decrease Turkeys dependence on oil from Iran and Russia.

The proposed US sanctions, after several private and public warnings to senior Turkish officials, come as Turkeys economy is facing serious challenges. Although Erdogan repeatedly brags about his willingness to lend money to the IMF, Turkey ranked No. 2 among recipients of International Finance Corporation funds, with $927 million in new long-term commitments. Turkeys dependency on this institution is well established. For example, in 2013 the corporation delivered $985 million for various projects in the country. And Turkey ranked No. 1 among European Bank for Reconstruction and Development borrowers in 2017, with about $1.8 billion in new commitments.

In such a precarious economic environment, any talk of sanctions should worry Turkeys government and public. Yet only a handful of independent media outlets reported about the US legislation. Indeed, the Senates webpage where the text was posted could only be accessed in Turkey via a proxy, such as a virtual private network, or VPN. Although social media accounts promptly shared photos of the proposal with prominent journalists, Erdogan did not comment on it, so the pro-government media chose to ignore it.

Given that the United States can erect several short- and medium-term hurdles for Turkey, why doesnt the Turkish government seem bothered by the potential legislation?

Al-Monitor spoke with a diverse group of academics, senior bureaucrats and lawyers who offered explanations for why the US governments voice isnt heard in Turkey.

First: Does Congress really matter? This is a line frequently heard in Ankara when people talk about US foreign policy. Ankaras experience gives it no strong reasons to take Congress seriously under the Trump administration. In October, the United States suspended non-immigrant visas from Turkey after the arrest of a US Consulate employee in Istanbul. Just one month later, the United States started issuing some visas, and by January the ordeal was over. Regardless of whether the visa leverage was appropriate, it was a strong decision  but the United States failed to follow through properly. This told Ankara that it can ride out the waves of uncertainty in foreign policy between the State Department and other agencies in Washington.

Second is Erdogans bromance with Trump. The pro-government press cherished the fist-bump at the NATO summit and shared images on TV for days. Ankara sees Trump as the decision-maker, and since the US president hasn't spoken about sanctions, it's not worth the worry.

And though Trump has demanded Brunsons release several times, that merely signals Ankara that Brunson is worth keeping, to get more from Trump. Also, in the postelection era, Ankara doesnt need to publicly engage in a war of words with the United States for domestic consumption, so its best for Erdogan to simply ignore the chatter from Congress as long as possible.

The last explanation involves pressure Turkey may be feeling regarding its pending deal to buy F-35 fighter jets from the United States. Congress is threatening to hold up the sale because of Turkeys decision to buy Russian S-400 air and missile defense systems.

Thats why pro-government media in Turkey welcomed US Secretary of Defense James Mattis advice to Congress not to delay or nix the sale.

Ankara perceives that rifts within the US government can work out to its benefit, especially when it doesnt see a strong posture on the US side, and knowing well that congressional powers are limited.

The decision for the pastors release from prison to house arrest arrived when Ankara saw the value the US government was putting on the lives of its citizens. Ankara also understood that Brunsons continued captivity is increasing US scrutiny of Turkish human rights violations. To summarize the opinions of a few sober bureaucrats in Ankara, Erdogan is pushing the limits of playing hardball with the United States. How long can Turkey resist without Western financial support if these sanctions are enforced?

The question remains: Is Congress determined to follow through with the stick if rewarding Erdogan fails? If Ankara sees this determination, it will decrease its arbitrary detention of US citizens.President Donald Trump threatened to impose sanctions on Turkey today for its ongoing detention of a US citizen, bringing his administration in line with a monthslong congressional effort to punish the NATO ally.

Trump took to Twitter to threaten large sanctions on Turkey for their longtime detention of Pastor Andrew Brunson, adding, This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!

The presidents threat came a mere hour after a key Senate panel advanced legislation intended to cut Turkey off from international financial institutions.

We never wanted this bill to be necessary, but we warned the Turkish government that there would be consequences if it did not cease its unjust detention and harassment of US citizens and locally employed embassy staff, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said before the panel voted unanimously to pass the Turkey International Financial Institutions Act. We will continue to pressure the Turkish government until we see an end to the harassment and arbitrary detention of all US citizens.

The bill directs the US-appointed executive directors of the World Banks International Finance Corporation and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to vote against extending any loan or financial or technical assistance to Turkey. The prohibitions are to remain in place until the president certifies that Ankara is no longer arbitrarily detaining or denying freedom of movement to United States citizens  or locally employed staff members of the United States mission to Turkey.

The legislation does not go so far as to mandate a no vote at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It does, however, direct the IMFs US director to work with other key donor countries to develop a coherent policy approach to future engagements with and lending to the government of Turkey, in a manner that will advance human rights.

This is probably a potential sanction that Ankara deeply cares about given the state of Turkeys economy, said Aykan Erdemir, a former Turkish member of parliament from the opposition who is now a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington. Most indicators show that an economic crisis is imminent in Turkey. Therefore, Turkey could shortly be in need of a major bailout package from the IMF, for example.

Coupled with Trumps tweet and similar threats from Vice President Mike Pence today, the legislation is indicative of an emerging consensus between the executive branch and Congress favoring punitive measures against Turkey.

Despite bipartisan calls to sanction Turkey for its detention of Brunson, the State Department had until now favored postponing punitive measures as it sought to sort out a thorny military standoff between the Turks and US-backed Kurds in Syrias Manbij.

Previously you had members of the Senate who were very eager to take an aggressive approach to sanctioning Turkey over a host of issues, Nicholas Danforth, a senior analyst at the Bipartisan Policy Centers national security program, told Al-Monitor. It was the State Department and the administration which was holding them back in the hope that they could negotiate something without resorting to these measures. The fact that so far their approach seems to have failed, that they were not able to secure Brunsons release, has dramatically strengthened the hand of people who think its time to get tough with Turkey.

Indeed, Corker told Al-Monitor he expects his bill will be very widely supported within both Congress and the Trump administration.

It remains unclear, however, if the Senate bill could actually prevent international institutions from carrying out projects in Turkey as other shareholders are entitled to vote on continued financing for Ankara. Turkey is the European aid banks largest borrower at roughly $1.8 billion. Ankara also received $927 million in long-term funding commitments last year from the World Banks International Finance Corporation.

The bill does contain exemptions for humanitarian and energy diversification projects. The International Finance Corporation has invested around $3 billion in Turkish energy projects to date.

The European aid bank declined to comment on the record. A World Bank spokesperson simply said, This is a bilateral matter between the United States and Turkey.

In response to a request for comment, the Turkish Embassy in Washington directed Al-Monitor to a tweet by Turkish Ambassador Serdar Kilic. "It is so unfortunate that the US Authorities failed to hear my explicit advice.  No one should expect Turkey to give in to threats and that as an Ally [the] US should not resort to threats against us, he wrote.

While Turkey transferred Brunson from jail to house arrest Wednesday, the evangelical minister still stands accused of consorting with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party and exiled Islamist cleric Fethullah Gulen. Ankara accuses Gulen of masterminding the failed 2016 coup against Erdogan.

Although Pastor Brunsons transfer from prison to house arrest is a good first step, after 21 months, this development is long past due, Corker said at todays vote, at roughly the same time Pence made similar remarks in a speech on religious freedom.

Turkey has also detained and convicted another US citizen, NASA scientist Serkan Golge, on similar charges, in addition to arresting Turkish staffers employed by US consulates.

While the Turkey International Financial Institutions Act is a marked escalation on the part Congress, it follows several other legislative initiatives that have also drawn Ankaras ire.

Pending annual defense authorization legislation, for example, takes the first step toward kicking Turkey out of the international consortium building the F-35 fighter jet. The bill bars the transfer of F-35s to Ankara until the US Defense Department submits a report assessing the impact of a significant change in Turkeys participation in the program.

In a show of support, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders issued a statement today welcoming the defense bills language recognizing the ongoing and wrongful detainment of Andrew Brunson and Serkan Golge.

Meanwhile, two cosponsors of the Corker bill  Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and James Lankford, R-Okla.  inserted a provision in pending foreign aid spending legislation that would bar Turkish officials involved in the detention of US citizens from entering the United States.Posted Thursday, July 26, 2018 10:31 am

If not for a twist of fate, Michigan could have becn the home of rabid cheeseheads. Despite being one of the earliest places in the country to manufacture cheese, Michigans rightful place in cheesehead fame was derailed in 1923.

Norman Bradish Horton, a Lenawee County court state senator, son of a cheesemaker and owner of nine cheese factories in Lenawee County, shepherded through a law which, in essence, banned the production and sale of Soft Michigan cheese.

Almost overnight, 23 of Michigans 26 producers of soft cheese found themselves out of business.

Michigan historian Laurie Catherine Perkins writes about this little known sliver of Michigan food history in her new book: Cheese Fever: A History of Soft Michigan Cheese, 1825-1925.

By 1923, 26 small farmers were producing soft cheese, using a recipe brought to Michigan by a New Yorker. Of Hortons decision she writes: What prompted Horton to introduce this bill is unknown.

Horton bit the hand that fed him. His family wealth was the result of more than 60 years producing Soft Michigan.

Lenawee County and Michigans first commercial cheesemaker was Rufus Baker, who began manufacturing cheese in 1866. Perkins tells how, by 1870, Baker was producing cheese worth nearly $60,000 a year. Thats a lot of cheese.

Cheesemaking expertise was imported from Herkimer County, New York  a noted area of cheese production. Lucina Perkins Horton (no relation) moved to Lenawee County in 1851, and shared her recipe for what would become Soft Michigan cheese. Lucina would go on to manage the cheese factory founded by her husband, George Byron Horton, Lenawee Countys second cheesemaker.

Author Perkins interest in the history of cheese production comes naturally, as she grew up on a farm in Lenawee County. Her interest was further piqued when she was working on her Ph.D. at Michigan State University.

While casting around for a topic for her dissertation, Perkins was inspired to dive deeper into the topic by an assignment from the Archives of Michigan.

Perkins was tasked to look at a couple of bound volumes compiled by state dairy and food inspector Charles O. Bradley, who in 1905 had inspected 26 cheese factories in Lenawee County to rate their compliance with state law.

In his report, Bradley also included the only known recipe to exist for Soft Michigan cheese.

Descriptions of Soft Michigan go across the cutting board and Perkins writes: Soft Michigan has holes of varying sizes, is soft as opposed to the hard texture of cheddar. It is without an acidic taste.

Thanks to her long association with the Lenawee Historical Society and Museum in Adrian, Perkins was able to use its extensive collection to document the history of the dairy industry in Lenawee County.

Austin also writes about Michigans "cheese governor," Fred Warner of Farmington Hills, who ran for office in 1904 while operating 13 cheese factories.

In the primary, Warner had to defeat fellow cheeseman George Byron Horton of Fruit Ridge. Both men used cheese wheels in their campaigns, and editorial cartoons of the day posed the candidates with cheese wheels.

Perkins writes how the burgeoning agriculture industry resulted in Michigan Agricultural College being formed with the express purpose of educating the states future farmers. In 1897, more than 19 students  all men were enrolled in a fourweek short course that taught cheese making.

Perkins said women were not allowed in the classes, because they would be a distraction. It would be another 20 years before women could enroll in dairy education at MAC.

As the dairy and agriculture industry grew, so did government oversight. Perkins sheds light on the history of government regulation, and shows how establishing and enforcing standards created a better product.

Soft Michigan cheese was at a distinct disadvantage, because of these standards. First, the process required a much lower heat temperature and the soft cheese only had a 30 day shelf life.

Because the cheese was being sold to the public, consistency was important. Perkins said the cheese producers in Lenawee County, despite using the same recipe, would end up with each having a different looking and tasting cheese.

The days of the small cheesemaker on factory farms were soon eclipsed by industrialization. Perkins makes the case that Lenawee Countys soft cheese, which could not be made in a uniform manner, was doomed.

In less than 100 years, the cheese making craft had transformed itself from one woman mastering the curds and whey process to an industrial model with science as the basis.

However, as in the craft beer business, artisanal cheese makers are once again making small batches of specialized cheeses. Thats the case in Onsted, Michigan  not far from the birthplace of Soft Michigan. Thats where the Cambridge Cheese Co., recently opened by Courtney and Justin Chamberlain, makes soft Michigan cheese curds in six flavors.

The market has come full circle, Perkins said.Three years after setting out to clear her name from an Internet smear, the story of a Huntsville realtor is finally coming to light - a story of an online vendetta that went all the way to California, cost a woman most of her business, and involved three people who apparently didn't know each other.

All of it started over a comment on an online news story.

Monika Glennon of Huntsville received a judgment in her favor in federal court July 3, U.S. District Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala finding she was the victim of libel, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, which interfered with her business.

In September 2015, Glennon's name showed up on shesahomewrecker.com, an Internet site for shaming people in affairs. The post accused Glennon of having a sexual encounter with a client's husband in a home on the market.

That same post showed up on badbizreport.com and others. In fact, a Google search for Glennon's name still places the story high on searches today.

The post told the fabricated tale of a woman saying she and her husband were house hunting and used Glennon as their agent. The woman stated she was late to an appointment to view a home, but arrived to find her husband and Glennon's cars parked out front.

When she went inside, the writer said she found the two engaged in a sexual act.

"When I walked into the master bedroom my heart stopped. There on the plush, white carpet was my husband and our realtor," it reads. The poster claims she took pictures of the encounter as the two were hastily redressing. The only picture with the post, though, was a facial shot from Glennon's realtor bio page.

"I can't even describe what it was like," Glennon told AL.com in 2016. "It was like getting stabbed in the heart. I knew it never happened, but people will believe what they want to when they see it. I knew it had the potential to damage everything I've worked so hard for."

The post referred to Glennon variously as "a nasty slut" and "the enemy of decent women everywhere" with no "remorse or moral compass." It went on to warn readers not to use her as a realtor. She estimates the post, which was seen more than 95,000 times, cost her about $200,000 in business, and $100,000 in legal fees, according to Gizmodo.

Glennon's lawsuit sought to unmask who wrote the post. It argued the anonymous poster's use of her facial photo was copyright infringement. She had no idea who could have done it - a rival realtor, someone she knew who was angry.

"It's made me look at everyone around me and wonder who did this," she said at the time.

The person who targeted Glennon was later found to be Mollie Rosenblum, an Athens resident who became offended by comments Glennon made on a 2014 news story from WHNT-19 News in Huntsville. The story dealt with Breanna Mitchell, an 18-year-old from Roanoke, who took a selfie of herself during a visit to the notorious Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz, in Poland.

Critics said Mitchell's selfie was disrespectful, while Glennon, who grew up in Poland, defended her as simply having made a mistake.

Rosenblum, who is of Jewish descent, disagreed. She later said, in a Facebook post, that she felt the selfie was inappropriate, but that those making death threats against Mitchell should be held accountable. Glennon, at one point, told Rosenblum that Auschwitz "belongs to all and was a former killing zone of all," including Polish people.

Rosenblum's anger over the exchange, however, didn't end there. As she later stated, she was in the throes of "full blown methamphetamine addiction."

"My normal reactions to everyday things, were horribly skewed," she said. "I was angry. Every time it crossed my mind over the next week I wondered how she could be so flippant, especially as a citizen of the country whom ignored this atrocity. I then proceeded, through the poor decision making methamphetamine so often accompanies... to do something very wrong to this woman."

Rosenblum said she researched Glennon online and wrote out the story of their fake encounter, submitting it to the "She's a Homewrecker" site. More than a year later, probably after the site was bought out, the story finally made it to the Internet.

From this point, a Facebook user under the name "Ryan Baxter" began sharing the story at various places, including the Re/Max Facebook page, with Glennon's bosses and some of her social media contacts.

Glennon went to court, but another post appeared on "Report My Ex," written by someone claiming to be the husband who had cheated with Glennon, according to Gizmodo.

According to the lawsuit, "Ryan Baxter" was actually an Oxnard, Calif. woman named Hannah Lupian. After she was served with a legal complaint, the Ryan Baxter profile disappeared from Facebook.

To clear the air, Glennon met face-to-face with Rosenblum in an Athens restaurant. It was scary, Glennon said. Rosenblum had been charged in a 2016 Athens kidnapping and assault case.

Glennon's husband waited across the street from the restaurant in a car, she said, just in case she "had to run out."

The two women talked for four hours, she said.

"I told her, 'Ask me anything you want,'" she said. "I told her my life story. Eventually, she told me her's. I cried. She cried."

Rosenblum then recanted the story of the discovered affair in an affidavit. She is currently serving time in an Alabama penitentiary for her outstanding charges.

Visit the badbizreport.com post, and you'll see a comment from Rosenblum, dated from last September:

"This behavior on my part has damaged Mrs. Glennon's personal and professional life as well. It is my deepest desire to rectify my former sentiment and set right that indeed Mrs. Glennon is NOT an antisemite and i deeply apologize for the harm my slanderous words have caused her, her husband, and friends. Mrs. Glennon is in fact a kind and compassionate person with whom I share many common values. Please accept my deepest regret for the harm I have brought to the lives of her and tjose whom love her."

The court decision this month orders websites carrying the story to remove it, and for search engines to deindex the story.

Glennon said she felt good that a precedent had been set for other Alabamians who might find themselves facing outrageous, anonymous charges on the Internet. She probably won't see any money in damages from either woman, she said.

But her business has picked up, largely because of hard work. Only one woman came to her during the three years after hearing her story, wanting Glennon to sell her home after hearing of her trouble.

It is unclear whether the court action will ever completely wipe the story from the Internet. But she remains hopeful.

"I'm ready to put it behind me," she said.John Owen is Regions Financial's new chief operating officer.

A graduate of Auburn University, Owen is senior executive vice president and chief operating officer for Regions. He joined the company in 2007 as head of operations and technology.

Through his career with Regions, he has served in several capacities, including consumer services, business lines, regional banking, enterprise services and consumer banking.

He previously held positions as CEO of Assurant Specialty Property, and worked with Citicorp Credit Services, Arrow Electronics, American Airlines and McDonnell-Douglas.

"John is an outstanding leader who has demonstrated an ability to build strong teams and highly effective products and businesses," John Turner, Regions president and CEO, said.

As COO, Owen will oversee the enterprise operations, information technology, data and analytics, corporate real estate and procurement, corporate marketing and digital banking groups. He also heads "Simplify and Grow,: Regions' initiative to improve the customer experience and create more efficient and effective processes.

Owen serves on the boards of directors for the Birmingham Business Alliance, Innovation Depot, and the United Way of Central Alabama, and the advisory board for the UAB Collat School of Business.Birmingham film fans better mark their calendars down to the tiniest details because the

just announced their full and totally loaded 2018 schedule.

Along with the two opening night films (for Sidewalk and SHOUT), fans can see 27 documentary features, 27 narrative features, 23 shorts blocks, six blocks of kids and family programming, four encore slots, two unique special events, two closing night films and one awards show.

And Sidewalk even teased at a few still-to-be-announced feature film titles, along with panels, workshops and VR programs.

, but we want to point out a few must-see movies you won't want to miss when the festival runs Aug. 20-26 in Birmingham.

Opening this year's SHOUT festival is Matt Tyrnauer's documentary

"Studio 54."

The film seeks to tell the real story behind the iconic New York City nightclub, the epicenter of 70s hedonism and a place that symbolized an entire era thanks to co-owners Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell.

(Wednesday, Aug. 22 at 7 p.m. at Saturn)

Sidewalk's opening night film is

"White Tide: The Legend of Culebra."

Theo Love's documentary tells the larger-than-life story of a desperate Florida family man who goes on a wild treasure hunt for $2 million worth of cocaine. Love is a Sidewalk Film Festival alum and producer Bryan Storkel, a regular attendee since 2007, has screened six films at Sidewalk. The filmmakers and subjects are scheduled to attend.

(Friday, Aug. 24 at 8 p.m. at Alabama Theatre)

Stephen Kijak's documentary

"If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd"

is an authorized exploration of the iconic band's music and backstory, focusing on frontman Ronnie Van Zant.

(Saturday, Aug. 25 at 5 p.m. at Alabama Theatre)

Fans of "Call Me By Your Name" and its Oscar-nominated breakout star Timothee Chalamet will definitely want to check out

"Hot Summer Nights"

from director Elijah Bynum. It tells the story of a boy who comes of age during a summer he spends in Cape Cod.

(Saturday, Aug. 25 at 7:20 p.m. at Alabama Theatre)

Set in the Wild West (circa 1870)

"Damsel"

stars Robert Pattinson as an affluent pioneer who ventures across the American frontier to marry the love of his life. As his group traverses the west, the once-simple journey grows treacherous, blurring the lines between hero, villain and damsel.

(Sunday, Aug. 26 at 3:20 p.m. at Lyric Theatre)

Brett Haley's coming-of-age musical drama

"Hearts Beat Loud"

is Sidewalk's official closing night film. It stars Nick Offerman as a single dad and record store owner preparing to send his daughter off to college while being forced to close his shop. Hoping to stay connected through their shared musical passions, he urges her to turn their weekly jam sessions into a father-daughter live act.

(Sunday, Aug. 26 at 5:35 p.m. at Alabama Theatre)

SHOUT's closing night film is

"Mapplethorpe,"

Ondi Timoner's documentary taking a look at the life of controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe from his rise to fame in the 1970s to his untimely death in 1989.

(Sunday, Aug. 26 at 5:45 p.m. at Lyric Theatre)

Composed of intimate and unencumbered moments of people in a community, RaMell Ross' documentary

"Hale County This Morning, This Evening"

gives you an emotive impression of the Historic South, trumpeting the beauty of life and consequences of the social construction of race, while simultaneously providing a testament to dreaming, despite the odds.

(Sunday, Aug. 26 at 7:25 p.m. at The Multiplex at the Alabama School of Fine Arts)

Before you see Luca Guadagnino's 2018 remake, be brave and see Dario Argento's horror classic

"Suspiria"

late Sunday night. An American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders. Things get weird and wild, and you'll want to see it on the big screen.

(Sunday, Aug. 26 at 8 p.m. at Alabama Theatre)

VIP, Weekend and Day Passes for Sidewalk are now available, along with several special event tickets. Premium Single Tickets will be available for purchase on Friday. For questions about ticket products and passes, contact Sidewalk at

tickets@sidewalkfest.com

.

Don't forget to seek out the shorts from filmmakers out of Alabama and elsewhere, plus the panels and other fun activities the folks at Sidewalk have planned for 2018. We'll have much more ahead on other films and events you should check out at the 20th annual festival.A giant M for Motion stands at the front of Legacy Arena at the start of the Motion Conference on July 26, 2018.

The Church of the Highlands, Alabama's largest church, opened its annual Motion youth conference on Thursday at BJCC Legacy Arena with attendance expected to top 14,000.

It's called Motion X, the 10th annual Motion conference, and has drawn nearly 50,000 students from 38 states in previous years. It moved off the church's campus to the BJCC Arena in 2013.

The conference offers church leadership training and worship sessions for youth. The youth conference sponsored by the Church of the Highlands draws students from across the Southeast.

"It's focused on teens," said Diane Mwai, 17, a student at Thompson High School in Alabaster. "We can all come together."

The three-day conference continues through Saturday, with speakers including Louie Giglio, Charlotte Gambill and Rich Wilkerson. Musical guests include Hillsong Young and Free from Australia.

"I really like the music," said Abigail Vining, 18, who attends the Church of the Highlands Alabaster campus, one of 15 branch campuses that draws more than 40,000 worshippers a week to Highlands across Alabama.

"I'm looking for a closer relationship with God," Vining said. "It's been awhile since I felt that."

The Motion conference was started in 2009 to promote Christian ministry leadership among youth.

"Our generation is always going forward; we're always in motion," said Sophia Surrett, 16, a Hewitt-Trussville High School student who attends the main campus of the Church of the Highlands on Grants Mill Road in Irondale.

Surrett said she began attending Church of the Highlands about two years ago. "It's really modern," she said. "I walked in and didn't feel judged. I felt welcome."Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore and his wife Kayla have filed another lawsuit related to his unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign last year.

The suit, filed today in Etowah County Circuit Court, lists several people and political action committees the Moores say ran or contributed to misleading and defamatory commercials related to allegations of sexual misconduct against Moore going back almost 40 years.

Moore is already involved in lawsuits in Montgomery and Etowah counties relating to allegations of sexual abuse made against him about a month before the election.

Moore has repeatedly denied all accusations. Moore lost to Democrat Doug Jones in December.

The defendants named in the lawsuit included four men who worked with Longleaf Strategies of Montgomery, Highway 31 Super Pac and Bully Pulpit Interactive, Waterfront Strategies and Priorities USA, Washington, D.C.-based entities the suit says worked with Highway 31.

Josh Schwerin, communications director for Priorities USA and one of the men named in the suit, said, "We expect the courts to quickly dismiss this frivolous lawsuit and remain grateful to the people of Alabama for rejecting Roy Moore's failed bid to join the United States Senate."

The suit lays out what it says were television, radio, digital and mail ads which made allegations the Moores say led to his defeat in the special Senate election last Dec. 12.

"These advertisements included false content, which a reasonably prudent person knew or should have known to be false and the advertisements were so published with a reckless disregard as to their falsity," the suit states.

Senate Majority PAC was the primary backer of Highway 31, which spent $6 million on the campaign against Moore. Because of reporting and payment schedules, Highway 31 didn't disclose its donors during the campaign despite its heavy spending.

A portion of the suit deals with television commercials that stated Moore had been banned from the Gadsden Mall since the 1970s, an ad Moore's campaign last year called "patently false." Another ad referenced in the suit was eventually removed from YouTube. It suggested that a record of how citizens voted in the Senate election would be kept on file.

In one part of the suit, a former employee of a cafeteria at the Gadsden Mall claims an unnamed "prominent man of Etowah County, who is now deceased...was banned for reasons such as the allegation against Judge Moore." He says Moore was never banned.

An attorney for Moore, Melissa Isaak, said during an afternoon news conference in Gadsden that Moore's reputation was "smeared beyond belief."

"This was a political hit job, no question about it," she said.

Moore did not comment during the news conference on the lawsuit, or respond to questions about his interaction with comic actor Sacha Baron Cohen. Moore earlier this month said he was duped by the actor in his upcoming Showtime series, "Who Is America?"

Roy Moore press conference in Gadsden. Posted by al.com on Wednesday, July 25, 2018

It's the latest legal action related to the campaign. Moore himself has been sued by Leigh Corfman in Montgomery County. Corfman leveled the most serious charge against Moore, saying that he touched her inappropriately when she was 14 years old and he was a 32-year-old assistant district attorney in Gadsden.

Moore has filed a counter lawsuit against Corfman in that case.

At Moore's April press conference, he discussed filing a "political conspiracy" lawsuit in Etowah County against Corfman and four other defendants relating to the accusations.

Roy Moore Lawsuit by William Thornton on ScribdBirmingham Water Works Board member Sherry Lewis received cash payments and expensive meals from a contractor for the company, according to new court documents filed this month by the Alabama Attorney General's Office.

The Attorney General's Office on July 3 filed documents that provide more definite information regrading Lewis' alleged use of her office for personal gain. She pleaded not guilty to the charges in January.

Lewis, a former chairwoman of the BWWB who still sits on the board, former Arcadis Vice President Jerry Jones, and Mt. Vernon Mayor Terry L. Williams, who is the owner of Global Solutions International LLC., are all charged in the case.

Lewis is charged with using her position for personal gain or for the gain of a family member, voting on matters in which she or her family members had financial interest, and solicitation or receiving anything for the purpose of corruptly influencing official action. Jones and Williams are charged with of aiding and abetting Lewis in committing those crimes, with offering her money and other items for the purpose of corruptly influencing official action.

The AG's latest court filing states Lewis helped retained Malcom Pirnie- which later became Arcadis- as the independent engineering consultant for the BWWB. She participated in the review and approval of payments to Arcadis, granted additional scope of work agreements to the company, and decided that money should be transferred from several BWWB accounts to the BWWB operating account based on certifications provided by Arcadis.

Jones was the principal-in-charge of Arcadis' Birmingham and Atlanta offices, and frequently attended BWWB meetings and advised its members.

Williams was the owner and sole member of GIC, which acted as a subcontractor for Arcadis. At Jones' request, the filing states, Williams hired Lewis' son and provided him cash payments starting in 2010 through 2013.

Sarcor is another subcontractor for Arcadis. Its owner and principal member Selena Rodgers Dickerson also hired Lewis' son at the request of Jones in 2014, records state. Lewis' son also received payments from another subcontractor, Donald Taylor, starting in 2009.

Jones also paid Lewis and her son directly, the document states. Lewis leased an apartment in Huntsville, which portion of her son's payments paid the rent on.

The filing also states that Jones provided several meals to Lewis and her son:

On Valentine's Day 2013, Jones and Lewis made plans to visit Las Vegas before a water works conference in Arizona. Lewis had the BWWB executive assistant book her a flight from Las Vegas to Arizona.

In March, she flew to Las Vegas with Jones and he paid for drinks and food during a layover. The same night, "Jones treated Lewis to an expensive dinner at Michael Mena's Restaurant at the Bellagio Resort in Las Vegas. Jones used a corporate credit card belonging to GSI, LLC, to pay for this meal, even though Jones was not an employee or member of GSI, LLC," the filing says.

In 2014, Jones provided a $553.25 meal at Gianmarco's restaurant for Lewis' family, and expensed the meal to Arcadis. The next day, Lewis moved that the BWWB approve a $405,020.94 payment to Arcadis, that the board approve a $1,499,830 scope-of-work agreement with Arcadis, and authorize an estimated $851,000 scope-of-services agreement with Arcadis. The resolution passed with Lewis being the deciding vote.

In 2016, Lewis received a $1,400 payment from Jones about a week before she voted in favor of accepting another agreement with Arcadis--this time for a project at an estimated out-of-pocket cost to the BWWB of $3,600,000.

During a trip to Chicago for a water works conference that year, Jones treated Lewis to meals at the Rosebud Restaurant, Wollensky's Grill, and the Capital Grille. Jones also wrote a letter of recommendation for Lewis' son on his Arcadis letterhead.

Requests for comment to the defendants' attorneys were unsuccessful by the time of publication. This post will be updated.Authorities are trying to locate family members of a man found dead in his southwest Birmingham home last month.

William F. Bridier, a 76-year-old white male, died June 16 at 3356 Alemeda Avenue, according to the Jefferson County Coroner's Office. Bridier died of natural causes, but authorities have been unable to locate his next of kin to notify them of the death.

Bridier possibly has a brother living in the Midfield area. Family members or anyone with information on relatives are asked to call the coroner's office at 205-930-3603.A former Birmingham police detective was arrested Thursday on a felony charge on allegations that he was sexually involved with a suspect he was investigating.

Eric Grimes was booked into the Jefferson County Jail at 4:02 p.m., jail records show. He was released at 5:12 p.m. after posting $5,000 bond.

Grimes, who was a burglary detective, is charged with ethics violation. The detective resigned from the department about a month ago after the Internal Affairs Division launched an internal probe into allegations that Grimes was sexually involved with a suspect in one of his cases.

Birmingham police spokesman Sgt. Johnny Williams confirmed to AL.com that IAD investigators completed their probe and turned their findings over to BPD criminal investigators which obtained the warrant against Grimes.

No additional information was released.A federal grand jury today indicted two Jefferson County men on charges related to three bank robberies in June, according to U.S. Attorney's Office.

The three-count indictment charges 54-year-old Birmingham man Terry Lynn Forehand and 52-year-old Mulga man Derrick Terrell Bivens with the June 7 robbery of a BB&T Bank on Meadow Brook Road in Birmingham and the June 27 robberies of the same BB&T branch and a Regions Bank on Second Avenue Southwest in Graysville, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.

Derrick Terrell Bivens

Each robbery charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, per federal law.

Forehand was released from federal prison in 2015 after serving 13 years for bank robberies in St. Clair and Etowah counties, court records show. Bivens has a criminal history dating back to his first felony conviction in 1989 in Jefferson County.

The FBI investigated the case, along with the Hoover Police Department and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Geer III is prosecuting the case.

This story was updated at 4:57 p.m. to clarify the spelling of Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Geer III.The Marion County Sheriff's Department said at 10:10 a.m. that three inmates who escaped early Thursday morning have been recaptured.

Thomas Joe Green, Leslie Dewayne Cameron, and Christopher Cole Spain escaped from the county jail at approximately 2 a.m., the sheriff's department said on Facebook. While details of the escape were not released, the department said the three men overpowered a corrections officer.

The department asked the public to look out for the three men, and notify police if they're spotted.

Green is 6 feet tall and weighs 170 pounds, with hazel eyes and brown hair. Green was in jail on charges of first-degree rape and second-degree escape. He has ties to Colbert County and Arkansas.

He escaped from the jail in May, but was captured the same day.

Cameron is 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 175 pounds. He has green eyes and brown hair, and was in jail on charges of attempting to elude police, and using a false identity to obstruct justice. He has ties to Franklin County.

Spain is 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 165 pounds, with hazel eyes and brown hair. He was jailed for charges of first-degree and second-degree theft of property, first-degree criminal mischief, and breaking and entering a vehicle. Spain has ties to Walker County.

Deputies didn't release any information on where the three were captured or where they were headed.Posted Thursday, July 26, 2018 10:31 am

State officials earlier this month granted operational approval for four medical marijuana-related enterprises, including Lansing-based Capital Transport, a secure transporter with plans to set up shop on Rensen Street. The nod from the Michigan Marijuana Licensing Board was the first and only directed toward the state capital.

But managing partner Michael Pedrosi  stuck in a sort of legal limbo  has no plans to open his doors until the state greenlights additional licenses. And another lawsuit recently filed against city officials could continue to delay other local licenses while City Clerk Chris Swope wades through a lengthy list of outstanding applications.

Were waiting for the industry, Pedrosi added. We literally just have to start up the vans.

State law mandates dispensaries and cultivators use a third-party transport company to legally shuffle their products from facility to facility. Pedrosi was the first of his kind to receive approval from the state, but his business represents only one of two compliance functions required for the industry to get off the ground.

Although state officials have made progress on several applications in different sectors of the market regulators have yet to issue a single operating license for a safety compliance facility. And those testing laboratories are also required to ensure entrepreneurs are peddling safe and secure strands into the hands of their ailing consumers.

Pedrosi could technically open tomorrow, but nobody is legally authorized to test the weed he wants to haul. Capital Transport is aimed at a statewide market but the absence of provisioning center and processor licenses from the city also means hell have no local partners regardless of how quickly the state can kick it into gear.

Its such a new process, you kind of just have to go with it, Pedrosi said. We didnt mess around. We went full bore at this thing and really put it into overdrive. It was our goal to be the first license in the state. But you need a full supply chain to operate under the statute as its written. You need those compliance sectors.

State officials expect at least one safety compliance facility will be approved for a license at the boards Aug. 9 meeting, said Licensing and Regulatory Affairs spokesman David Harns. But any of the businesses recently approved for a license prior to that decision are warned to proceed with caution under the new guidelines.

Approved businesses can continue to operate under emergency rules enacted months ago by the state, but theyll soon be required to have their products tested once they pay the $48,000 fee to activate their licenses. Basically everyone has chosen to operate under those emergency rules to maintain their business operations, Harns said.

Everyone is so anxious because everyone is excited, Pedrosi added. Its a brand new industry.

But the market in Lansing has all but ground to a halt while Swope continues to pore over stacks of license applications. Fourteen cultivators, one safety compliance facility and Capital Transport are the only businesses to receive approval from Swopes office. Dozens of dispensaries and processors have yet to receive his blessing.

State law mandates approval from both the state and a local municipality before a business can operate. But Swope said it might not be possible for him to approve those licenses until those who have already been denied have a chance to fight his decision through an administrative appeal. And those could take months.

Were steadily moving forward, Swope said, noting he has no timeframe for when others will be approved.

Officials at Seman Consulting Services Inc. earlier this month filed a lawsuit against the city seeking more than $25,000 in damages after their dispensary  identified as Green Crush in city records  was denied a provisioning center license for a shop on Pennsylvania Avenue. Theyre currently pursuing an appeal.

Swope said the lawsuit  which argues the city made an arbitrary and capricious decision based on a whimsical scoring methodology  could toss another wrench into an already convoluted process. The citys ordinance allows for 25 pot shops, slots that Swope is hesitant to fill until numerous appeals have concluded.

It puts us in a weird situation, Swope added. Im trying to figure out if we can come up with some number (of licenses) that we can issue that still keeps the door open for these people who might win on an appeal.

Multiple attempts to contact Seman President Renee Seman and the companys attorney, Jim Kelly, were unsuccessful.

Messages left with City Attorney Jim Smiertka, much like the last time the city was sued, were not returned.

A Freedom of Information Request filed with city officials showed they spent more than $20,000 to defend against a recently dismissed lawsuit from Let Lansing Vote, but the figure didnt account for the salaries paid to Smiertka and others within his office who defended the legality of the citys medical marijuana ordinance.

Other early birds to the marijuana market are gearing up for business following partial approval but ongoing delays in the licensing process have thrust them into legal uncertainty while the rest of the industry catches up.

Officials at Green Peak Innovations were recently given preliminary licensing approval from the state for 12 cultivator facilities, one processor and 19 more for dispensaries. They aim to operate a growing facility and three provisioning centers in Lansing but the absence of local approval creates a temporary obstacle to those plans.

Greenpeak CEO Jeff Radway isnt deterred as he looks to snatch up real estate around the city and construction continues at his headquarters within a 131-acre marijuana business park off Creyts Road. Radway said the facility will also handle his research and development efforts. He listed plans to hire up to 170 local residents.

Our view of both the Lansing and the state process is that its rigorous, Radway said. And it should be. Its more important for regulators and lawmakers to get it right than it is to do it quickly. At this point, our team is solely focused on bringing our facilities up to speed and to remain compliant.

Others are less than hopeful. The entrepreneur behind one medical marijuana-related facility that was already approved by Swopes office is contemplating cutting his losses as the wait continues for the state to issue its licenses. He spoke about the uncertain future to City Pulse only under the condition he remain anonymous.

The licensing board has been known to be really judgmental to outspoken critics of the process, he added. And he said the state  and Lansing  could be lagging behind in an industry pegged to generate millions.

Michigan has become this sort of wildcard and were considering pulling out of the state altogether, he added. Until we have a clear picture of where everybody going, its tough to make good business decisions and we want to make sure the market is growing. We need a robust market to really support this operation.

The city earlier this month filed a motion to toss out Semans lawsuit. Smiertka argued the companys request for court-ordered relief flies in the face of state law and was merely an attempt to circumvent the citys ordinance to remain open, court records state. Judge James Jamo could make a decision at a hearing on Sept.5.

Visit lansingcitypulse.com for previous and continued coverage of the citys burgeoning medical marijuana market as the lawsuit proceeds in 30th Circuit Court. Industry professionals who care to share their perspectives on the topic are encouraged to contact the author of this story via email or by phone at 517-999-6715.Clad in a bright orange Madison County Jail jumpsuit, Jonathan Scott hung his head and cried.

The 52-year-old was sentenced to 20 years, split to serve five years in prison and the remainder of the sentence suspended for five years of probation.

"You took the law in to your own hands and you had no right to," Madison County Circuit Judge Chris Comer told Scott at sentencing Wednesday afternoon.

Scott has been convicted of manslaughter for the June 21, 2016 fatal shooting of 16-year-old Mustafa Bearfield. Bearfield was gunned down as he ran from Scott on a south Huntsville street early that morning.

Scott testified at trial that Bearfield stole a lunchbox from his bread delivery truck outside a convenience store at the corner of Fourth Street and Ninth Avenue. Scott told the jury that he tried to scare Bearfield into dropping or returning the lunchbox by firing multiple shots over the teen's head. The final of six shots hit the back of Bearfield's head.

Mustafa Bearfield was gunned down on June 21, 2016.

"I wonder what would be going through somebody's head that they would put the desire to get that lunchbox back over anything else," Comer said. "Thank god there weren't other children on the street. Thank god there were no mamas with strollers walking down the street."

Before he was sentenced, Scott apologized to his own family and Bearfield's mother. With his hands cuffed and feet shackled, Scott pushed black-framed reading glasses onto his face and pulled a folded piece of paper from the pocket of his bright orange jumpsuit. He sobbed and cried aloud as stood in front of the dias and read a statement to the court.

"I am so sorry from the deepest part of my soul for what has happened," Scott said. "The pain never goes away and never will. I see his (Bearfield's) face at night when I try to go to sleep and I wake up thinking about him."

Scott asked the judge for mercy before returning to the defense table and taking a seat next to attorney Chad Morgan.

"There's no winners in this one," Morgan told the judge. "I've represented a lot of people, and I can tell you this man has shown remorse from day one." Morgan asked for the minimum sentence of 10 years. The defense wanted the sentence split so that Scott only would have to serve probation.

'A terrible message'

Randy Dill, a deputy district attorney, asked for the maximum sentence. He said although no prison sentence could bring Bearfield back or dull the pain his family feels, a tough sentence was necessary for deterrence.

"The pain is not just localized to his family," Dill said. "It echoes out into our community. It damages our community as a whole. People should live in peace, but that's taken away by the actions of the defendant."

The judge said he agreed with the defense that Scott has learned his lesson and isn't likely to commit another crime. But, for the purpose of deterrence, Comer said Scott had to go to prison. A probation sentence, the judge said, "would send a terrible message."

"You pulled that trigger multiple times and destroyed two families," the judge said.

In addition to prison and probation, Scott is ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, plus court costs.

'Justice for Mustafa'

Bearfield's mother, Shameka Williams, said her son was walking to summer school the day he died. His future, accomplishments, dreams and goals were taken away that morning, she said. Bearfield didn't get the chance to graduate high school, go to college, have children or become a grandparent.

"I miss my baby," Williams told the judge. "My baby had a big heart."

Bearfield's little sisters -- a 5-year-old and 9-year-old -- lost their hero and role model, Williams said.

"Jonathan Wayne Scott, you took away my son's future," she said. "What we have lost as a family is unbearable."

Asking the judge to hand down the maximum sentence, Williams said, "We just want justice for Mustafa."

'Mercy and forgiveness'

About 20 of Scott's relatives and friends sat in the courtroom. Several people wrote letters to the judge on his behalf. Four people, including his younger sister, spoke at sentencing. They described Scott as a Christian, hard-working, friendly, upbeat, generous man.

"Jonathan has one of the best hearts of anyone I know," one friend told the judge. "Everybody loves Jonathan because he's an instant friend.

Scott's aunt asked the judge to remember that though he decides prison sentences, God decides a person's eternity.

"Jonathan has faced this almighty God and asked for his forgiveness," the woman said. "My plea for Jonathan is mercy and forgiveness."

Scott's younger sister said their family is heartbroken over the case. She said her brother relives the tragedy every day.

"He will forever carry this nightmare with him," she said. "He will never forgive himself."Attorney General Jeff Sessions is backing Rod Rosenstein after a group of conservative lawmakers introduced an impeachment resolution against the deputy AG.

Speaking in Boston, Sessions described Rosenstein as "highly capable."

"I have the highest confidence in him. You probably know that not only did he go to the Wharton School of Business, but he graduated from Harvard right here in this area," Sessions said.

"What I would like Congress to do is focus on some of the legal challenges that are out there. We need Congress to address the immigration question," he added. "There are loopholes in our laws that are being exploited. We need to get them focused and we are pleading with them to do so."

Attorney General Jeff Sessions: "My deputy, Rod Rosenstein, is highly capable. I have the highest confidence in him." pic.twitter.com/4vwB7ASvps  Fox News (@FoxNews) July 26, 2018

On Wednesday, a group of lawmakers led by Reps. Mark Meadows, R-N.C. and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, introduced articles of impeachment against Rosenstein, accusing him of hindering the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Rosenstein is overseeing the special counsel investigation after Sessions' recusal, a move that put the AG and president at odds.

Meadows said Rosenstein has "made every effort to obstruct legitimate attempts of Congressional oversight."

"This level of conduct, paired with the failure to even feign an interest in transparency, is reprehensible," he said. "Time is up and the consequences are here. It's time to find a new Deputy Attorney General who is serious about accountability and transparency."ISTANBUL - A Turkish court on Wednesday ordered that Andrew Brunson, an American pastor detained for nearly two years on terrorism-related charges, be released from prison and placed under house arrest while his trial continues, Brunson's Turkish lawyer said.

The Trump administration has repeatedly pressed the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to release Brunson, 50, a longtime resident of Turkey who was swept up in a campaign of mass arrests that followed a coup attempt against Erdogan in the summer of 2016.

While the decision to place Brunson under house arrest could be a step by the Turkish government toward resolving his case - for instance, by deporting him - he remains on trial. He faces charges that include espionage and collusion with terrorist groups and is banned from travel, according to the court order. Local media outlets Wednesday circulated photographs of Brunson being released from prison in the western Turkish city of Aliaga.

In a message posted on Twitter, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said:

We welcome long overdue news that Pastor Brunson has been moved from prison to house arrest in #Turkey, but it is not enough. We have seen no credible evidence against Mr. Brunson, and call on Turkish authorities to resolve his case immediately in a transparent and fair manner. pic.twitter.com/So2A4hfinZ  Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) July 25, 2018

Brunson's case has been a major irritant as the relationship between the United States and Turkey has grown more acrimonious in recent years. The NATO allies have argued over the jailing of American citizens in Turkey, the war in Syria and Turkish plans to purchase a Russian missile defense system.

The intertwining of the disputes has put the administration between a rock and a hard place as it tries to mollify Turkish concerns while achieving U.S. objectives.

U.S. officials, and NATO, have said that a planned Turkish purchase of Russia's S-400 air defense system would pose a serious security risk to alliance networks. At the same time, legislation signed into law by President Donald Trump last summer mandated sanctions against countries that do business with certain Russian industries, including defense.

The law could affect a number of U.S. allies who are also in negotiations with Russia over the S-400, including India. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have also expressed interest in the system.

More immediately, Turkey is specifically targeted in new provisions inserted in the fiscal year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act that delay, and open the door to potential cancellation of, Turkey's purchase of 100 U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets, pending favorable resolution of the Brunson and air defense disputes. The conference version of the bill, completed this week, must undergo a final vote by Congress and be signed by Trump.

In remarks to Turkish media Wednesday in Ankara, Erdogan indicated that Trump had told him, when the two met at the NATO summit in Brussels this month, that the F-35 deal would go forward. "This issue, as you know, is completely at the disposal of the U.S. president," Erdogan said, noting that Turkey has already paid $900 million on the aircraft contract.

Banning delivery of the jets, Erdogan said, "is out of the question."

As it negotiated first with China and more recently with Russia over a new air defense system, Turkey has said that it would be happy to have the newest version of the U.S.-made Patriot system. But it has charged that the United States was blocking the purchase, apparently over U.S. resistance to Turkey's pursuit of more technology transfers.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, speaking at a panel during the NATO summit, said that deployment of the Russian system posed no threat to the alliance. "I tried to buy from my allies," he said. "I wanted to buy from the U.S. for the last 10 years. It didn't work. I couldn't buy from NATO allies, so Russia gave me the best proposal."

U.S. officials have recently indicated some flexibility.

The administration is "trying to give the Turks an understanding of what we can do with respect to Patriot," Tina Kaidanow, the acting assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, told reporters last week.

Additional outstanding issues between the two governments include U.S. administration plans to reimpose sanctions on the purchase of oil from Iran, including by Turkey, which buys more than half of its crude oil supplies from Tehran.

Congress has been far more adamant than the administration about not allowing the F-35 sale if other matters cannot be resolved. In a recent letter to lawmakers, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned that delayed delivery of the aircraft would not only harm relations with Turkey but would also start a "supply chain disruption" that could increase the price of the plane for other purchasers.

"If the Turkish supply chain was disrupted today," Mattis wrote, "it would result in an aircraft production break, delaying delivery of 50-75 F-35s, and would take approximately 18-24 months to resource parts and recover."

Beyond the planned Russian purchase, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., a sponsor of the provision, said in a statement Tuesday, "the current state of relations and continued detention of innocent U.S. citizens and embassy staff does not allow for our two nations to discuss defense matters freely and openly."

Several Turkish American citizens, and two Turkish employees of the U.S. Embassy there, have also been arrested on charges similar to those placed against Brunson.

In addition to insisting on Brunson's guilt, Erdogan has also tied his case to his demand that the United States extradite Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric living in Pennsylvania who is accused by Turkish authorities of orchestrating the failed coup. In a speech last year, he suggested that Gulen could be traded for Brunson.

Gulen has denied involvement in the attempted coup. The Justice Department, which must evaluate Turkey's extradition evidence for presentation to a U.S. federal court, has not taken any action.

(c) 2018, The Washington Post. Kareem Fahim and Karen DeYoung wrote this story.Marshall County bus driver Dennis Wright's summer vacation ended with a jolt - that led to a lawsuit pitting thorny issues of patient privacy against the need for public safety.

During a leisurely August motorcycle ride in 2015, he drifted off the side of the road.

The last thing Wright remembered was the speedometer, which read 45 miles per hour. His son, who was riding with him, said the bike rolled three times and threw the 49-year-old 30 feet into a culvert, according to court documents.

The crash left him with fractures in three vertebrae. Staff at Huntsville Hospital cared for Wright for five days, then transferred him to a rehabilitation facility across the street.

That's when Wright's treatment plan started to fall apart. The patient spent one night at the rehab center and complained staff wouldn't respond to his calls for assistance, and that the hospital bed cramped his 6-foot-5 frame, according to a deposition.

He spent much of the evening on the phone to his mother, and by the time she arrived the next morning, Wright told her he was going home. He refused to eat his breakfast and left the rehab hospital.

Dr. Keith Young, who oversaw his care, barely had time to get to know his patient before Wright left against medical advice but saw some red flags that got him concerned about Wright's return to work. Young checked a database that tracks opioid prescriptions and discovered that the bus driver had obtained more than 1,600 pills from several different doctors in less than four years.

"My situation was, with this case, there was a prescribing history that was going on with this bus driver that was problematic," Young said. "It was exuberant prescribing. It really was exuberant."

Wright's entry also contained anti-anxiety medication and sleeping pills that don't mix well with driving. He also noted that Wright appeared to be sweating and irritable, possible signs of drug withdrawal. Based on that assessment - he decided to call the Board of Education in Marshall County to report his concerns.

When Wright tried to return to work in October, he was told he had been put on paid administrative leave. Then he found out about Young's call and read his discharge summary from rehab.

It described him as "a very unfortunate 46-year-old male with a known history of chronic benzodiazepine and narcotic dependence."

Those words shocked Wright, who said in depositions had never been diagnosed with drug dependence. In a deposition, he argued that he hadn't taken all the pills that had been dispensed and had passed random drug tests. Wright said he was out on medical leave during the time he was taking opioids.

He filed a lawsuit against Young, alleging defamation and medical malpractice, and sought $6 million in damages.

Privacy vs. safety

Mark Rothstein, a law professor at the University of Louisville and an expert on medical ethics, said the case raises thorny issues about patient privacy and public health. Laws such as HIPAA that are designed to safeguard medical information make exceptions for issues of public health.

"HIPAA has a provision that says it's not a violation to disclose private health information for a public health reason," Rothstein said.

The exemption probably fits in this case, he said. Even if there's not a HIPAA violation, a patient can still sue under state law - which is exactly what Wright did.

While doctors can report dangerous behavior by patients, Rothstein said it should always be a last resort. When possible, doctors should speak directly to patients about the risks of prescribed drugs, and steps than can be taken to ensure safety.

"One of the things you don't want to have is conflict between the physician and the patient," Rothstein said. "You can tell them, 'I don't think you can safely drive a school bus while you're taking these,' and then develop a plan together not to drive while on the powerful drugs."

Wright's lawsuit went all the way to trial, but the jury ruled in favor of the doctor. Chuck Dauphin, an attorney for Wright, would not comment on the lawsuit, but did respond to Young's statements about excessive prescribing.

"Every other doctor who looked at it did not see that pattern," he said.

Young said he also wishes he hadn't had to call authorities to report Wright. But he said the process for screening bus drivers for substance use has too many gaps.

Physicals are required at least once every two years for school bus and truck drivers. Young said he believes doctors who complete those exams should be required to check the prescription database and report drugs dispensed to the patient.

"I should never even had had to make that call. Someone else should have made that call," Young said.

Unfit to drive?

Wright was seeing several doctors in 2015 for treatment of diabetes, which led to at least one major foot infection. One of those physicians signed off on his required bus driver physical.

"The state is licensing drivers but they're not checking their own database," Young said.

Chad Carpenter, administrator for pupil transportation at the Alabama State Department of Education, said the state doesn't require checks of the prescription database. Bus drivers are required to pass a pre-employment drug screen. School systems administer random drug tests every quarter and are required to test 25 percent of drivers every year, he said.

The federal agency that regulates commercial drivers reduced the required drug tests from 50 percent to 25 percent of drivers in 2016. That change happened because less than 1 percent of drivers flunked random tests.

"It's possible for them to go for a year - or more," without being tested, Carpenter said.

Bus drivers should work with doctors to avoid treatment that might impair their ability to drive, Carpenter said. Together they can find treatments that won't impair the ability to drive.

The trial ended in late June. At least one twist emerged during testimony. Wright had been involved in a bus accident as a high school student that left him with lingering injuries. So he understood first-hand the importance of safety.

Dauphin said he doesn't believe Young was motivated by public safety.

"I don't believe for a second that Young contacted Wright's employer over concern for the schoolchildren," he said.

Young has since relocated to Tennessee, where he continues to practice medicine. He said he does not regret reporting Wright, even after fighting a $6 million lawsuit.

"If you're going to be drug into court," said Young, "you would much more like to be drug into court for that than for the deaths of 40 school children."

Updated at 3:35 p.m. with comments from Chuck DauphinA day after criticizing President Trump's plan to implement tariffs on foreign-made cars, trucks and auto parts as "the worst," U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, D-Ala., teamed up with a Republican senator from Tennessee on a bill that would delay the tariffs by prompting a study on the auto industry.

"His tariffs are not leading to more manufacturing jobs in Alabama; instead they have manufactured a crisis that threatens to permanently harm our businesses and our farms," Jones said in a floor speech Wednesday.

Alabama's junior senator said 500,000 Alabama jobs, or one in four jobs in the stat, are tied to global trade. "Those jobs are needlessly at risk today," he said.

The bill sponsored by Jones and Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander would delay the implementation of the tariffs until the International Trade Commission studies the impacts of the tariffs on American jobs. Jones said the hope is that the study would highlight the benefits of not levying tariffs on automobiles, and said he would be looking at ways to help other industries threatened by tariffs, such as manufacturing jobs and farmers.

"The president can save our auto industry today by simply calling off the [U.S. Commerce Department] investigation" that led to the tariff proposal, the senator said. "If we are not vigilant, hard-working Alabamans [sic] are going to be the losers in this game of chicken with China, the European Union and others."

Jones said that many business owners in Alabama support the president and voted for Trump but are hesitant to speak out "because they don't want to appear disloyal or harm him politically." Still, Jones said, the business owners are scratching their heads over the president's plan.

Jones said Trump's plan to steer aid to farmers hurt by tariffs might help in the short term but creates a "slippery slope" if other industries receive similar relief caused by tariffs.

"The damage to supply chains and markets cannot be undone," he said. "I believe these tariffs are bad for Alabama and bad for America."EPA Southeast Regional Administrator Trey Glenn is sworn in by Deputy RA Anne Heard at the regional office in Atlanta on Aug. 28, 2017.

A coalition of environmental groups led by Birmingham-based Gasp, have formally asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Region 4 Administrator Trey Glenn to recuse himself from all matters involving the EPA's 35th Avenue Superfund site.

Glenn was also asked to recuse himself from all other matters involving Drummond Coal, law firm Balch & Bingham and other entities Glenn worked for as a private contractor before joining EPA.

In a recusal statement published in January, Glenn pledged to recuse himself from "participating personally and substantially in certain matters in which l have a financial interest, or a personal or business relationship," including former clients Balch and Drummond. That recusal expires in 2019, two years after Glenn joined the Agency.

In a certified letter sent to the EPA, Gasp executive director Michael Hansen asked Glenn to make those recusals "in perpetuity."

"As a consultant, you testified that you helped Drummond Company and Balch & Bingham oppose the EPA's proposal to list the 35th Avenue Site on the National Priorities List and to fight the EPA's investigation into potential contamination in Tarrant," Hansen wrote. "In other words, you were hired to do the bidding of the polluters, and not the people. And you did so without hesitation.

"Today, I, along with the undersigned, write to respectfully request your indefinite recusal from any and all matters relating to Balch & Bingham, Drummond Company, ABC Coke, and any other party involved with whom you have done any business relating to the 35th Avenue and Pinson Valley Neighborhood sites."

The letter is co-signed by leaders from the Alabama Rivers Alliance, Black Warrior Riverkeeper, Cahaba Riverkeeper, Choctawhatchee Riverkeeper and the Environmental Defense Alliance. The Cahaba River Society wrote a separate letter to ask for Glenn's permanent recusal.

Gasp also set up an online petition for the public to voice their support.

EPA Region 4 spokesman James Pinkney said Glenn will adhere to the terms laid out in the statement published in January.

"Regional Administrator Glenn is aware of his obligations and works closely with career EPA ethics officials on recusal matters and will continue to follow those guidelines laid out in his recusal statements," Pinkney said in an email.

Glenn testified earlier this month in the trial of a Balch lawyer and Drummond executive about his role working with the defendants to organize opposition to adding the 35th Avenue site to the EPA's National Priorities List and to expand the soil testing into the neighboring areas of Inglenook and Tarrant.

Joel Gilbert, a former partner at Balch, and David Roberson, a vice-president at Drummond, were each convicted of conspiracy, bribery, money laundering and honest services wire fraud in connection with their efforts to oppose expanding or expediting the cleanup, which Drummond could be forced to pay for.

Glenn worked as a technical consultant for Gilbert and Balch in those efforts. Now, as head of the EPA's Southeast Region, Glenn is in charge of the agency which is still working to remove contaminated soil from the Birmingham neighborhoods of Collegeville, Fairmont and Harriman Park.

Other aspects of Glenn's past have also raised concerns among the environmental community. He resigned as head of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management in 2009 after an ethics investigation. His current EPA financial disclosures show he also worked as a consultant for the landfill that brought the infamous "poop train" shipments of sewage sludge to Jefferson County.

Hansen said Glenn's current recusal status was insufficient given his history.

"He clearly owes it to the people of north Birmingham and Tarrant to do whatever it takes to be as transparent as possible," Hansen said. "We should never have to wonder whether the guy in charge of protecting our environment are looking out for people's health or for polluters' profits.

"Until further notice, until he permanently recuses himself, we are left with mountains of doubt."

SEE ALSO: 'We are a forgotten community': North Birmingham residents speakGov. Kay Ivey's campaign on Wednesday accused her Democratic rival of unveiling a "so-called ethics plan" over the weekend that includes provisions already enacted by the Ivey administration.

"While Walt Maddox has been busy writing campaign promises, Kay Ivey has actually been leading ethics reform efforts and cleaning up Montgomery. In addition to the list republished by Walt Maddox, Kay Ivey has also prohibited lobbyists from serving in the executive branch, replaced nearly half the cabinet from the previous administration and shut down unnecessary tasks forces," the Ivey campaign said in a statement. "They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, but the people of Alabama should be concerned that Walt Maddox is this out of touch with the state's ethics requirements."

When he unveiled the plan Saturday, Maddox attempted to tie Ivey to the string of corruption scandals that plagued Montgomery and across the state during her tenure as lieutenant governor and governor, which included the convictions or resignations of House Speaker Mike Hubbard, Gov. Robert Bentley and state Rep. Oliver Robinson.

Ivey's campaign pointed AL.com to executives orders, policies and bills signed by the governor to strengthen transparency in government, including banning the use of loaned executives, preventing nepotism involving state contracts and greater accountability for companies seeking economic development projects in Alabama.

In response, the Maddox campaign again attacked the Ivey campaign for not committing to debate the Tuscaloosa mayor and accused the governor and then-lieutenant governor of standing idle during scandals.

"Yesterday, Governor Ivey had an opportunity to embrace transparency and accountability by agreeing to debate Walt Maddox," Maddox campaign spokesman Chip Hill said in an email. "Today, she chooses to put out another desperate, negative and misleading attack. After spending more than 30 years in Montgomery, Governor Ivey is obviously not in touch with reality, and even worse, not in touch with the people of Alabama. Alabama is ranked as one the most corrupt states in America and over the last eight years, while serving in the two top offices of state government, Ivey has presided over the most corrupt period in Alabama's history. As corruption burned and her colleagues were indicted, her only response was the sound of silence. Since she continues to hide from the public, we can only assume her silence was an act of self-preservation, opportunism or both. With each new negative attack, it becomes painfully obvious that Alabama needs a new direction and a new governor."A law enforcement foundation is setting up a fund to help a six-year veteran of the Piedmont Police Department pay for treatment after being diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer earlier this year.

The Police Benevolent Foundation and the Alabama Division of the Southern States Police Benevolent Association announced Thursday that they have created the "Officer Kevin Blue Recovery Fund." All donations to the fund are tax-deductible, with 100 percent of contributions going to Blue. You can donate here.

Blue was diagnosed with stage 4 multiform glioblastoma earlier this year after going to the doctor for memory problems. The Piedmont officer was given six months to live.

"He is fighting so that he can see his 9-month-old grandson put on cleats on day," said his sister, Kalicia Todd.

Blue is a graduate of Jacksonville State University and was an all-state athlete in high school.

An officer from a neighboring law enforcement agency described Blue as selfless.

"When Kevin was telling everyone about his diagnosis, his first concern was how he had been carrying a gun and badge while he was sick," the officer said. "His first thought was about how he could have potentially hurt someone. He wasn't concerned about himself."Both sides of a roaring partisan dispute over adding a citizenship question to the 2020 U.S. Census are urging their backers to weigh in publicly before an Aug. 7 deadline.

In Alabama, though, the public comment period has become the focus of something else: A May 21 lawsuit, filed by the state, challenging whether undocumented immigrants should be counted for congressional reapportionment purposes.

At issue is whether the public comments should be encouraged - or if they are even valid -- regarding a lawsuit that now pits Republican leaders like Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and conservative U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks of Huntsville against immigrant advocacy groups, such as the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF).

According to Marshall's office, the current public commenting period for all things Census-related does not apply to Alabama's lawsuit. They contend that the public comment period on the issues the state raises on that lawsuit, filed in federal court, closed in May 2015.

On the opposing side is the MALDEF, a Latino civil rights advocacy group that filed a petition earlier this month to intervene in the lawsuit. Its leader says comments opposing the citizenship question are encouraged, and that they can be linked to the Alabama lawsuit.

"Alabamians are encouraged to weigh in as they choose," said Mike Lewis, spokesman with Marshall's office. "But as far as our lawsuit is concerned, it's not addressed in the public commenting period."

Said Thomas Saenz, president and general counsel with MALDEF: "The federal comment period permits the entire nation to inform the Trump Administration that we all see and deplore the unprecedented politicization of the decennial Census through the late and completely unwarranted addition of a citizenship question."

He added, "At the same time, strong comments against the citizenship question will demonstrate how completely unwarranted is the more extreme demand from Alabama to collect immigrant status in Census 2020."

'Taken by California'

Alabama's lawsuit is an attempt to salvage one of the state's seven congressional seats and one of is nine electoral votes. The state is at-risk of losing one seat in the U.S. House, as well as an electoral vote during presidential elections, because of slower growth compared to other states since 2010, when the last decennial Census count occurred.

Alabama lawmakers argue that some states, like California and Florida, have a lot more undocumented residents than Alabama.

Numbers from the Migration Policy Institute shows great disparities in immigration in general.

Immigrants consist of more than a quarter of California's overall population and 20 percent of Florida's population. But in Alabama, statistics show, only 3.4 percent of state's population are immigrants. Only six other states have an immigrant population mix lower than Alabama.

The Migration Policy Institute classifies "immigrants" as foreign-born, or people who reside in the U.S. but who were not U.S. citizens at birth.

The Alabama lawsuit also estimates that Ohio could also lose a congressional seat because of the inclusion of undocumented immigrants in the next count.

Dan Tierney, spokesman with Republican Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, declined comment.

Alabama, which leans heavily Republican, has leaped into the explosive immigration debate that has roiled the country in recent months with the Trump Administration's push to separate families apprehended near the Texas-Mexico border.

Brooks, a congressman who faces Democrat Peter Joffroin in the Nov. 6 general election, is the only Alabama lawmaker joining Marshall as a plaintiff in the lawsuit filed against the U.S. Department of Commerce, which administers the Census.

"Alabama will likely lose a congressional seat if the Census Bureau counts non-Americans for purposes of apportionment of congressional seats and Electoral College votes," Brooks said in an email to AL.com. "If non-citizens are counted for congressional apportionment purposes, Alabama's political power will likely be diluted as one of our congressional seats is likely taken by California or some other state that harbors large numbers of illegal aliens."

Said Brooks: "We cannot allow a few states to cheat the rest of America by promoting illegal immigration with their sanctuary policies and then reward their lawless conduct with even more representation in Congress and the Electoral College that elects American presidents."

'Straightforward' case?

Alabama's lawsuit, Marshall and others contend, is more narrowly focused than the Department of Commerce's plans to add the citizenship question to Census documents. In Alabama, the legal battle takes aim at the 14th Amendment's "Residence Rule," which gives the Census Bureau authority to count undocumented immigrants when determining congressional seats in locations where they reside.

Conservative groups, like The Heritage Foundation, are applauding Alabama's efforts in protecting its congressional representation just as they are supporting the Trump Administration's push to get the citizenship question added to the Census.

"That's an important lawsuit," said Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a former Justice Department lawyer under President George W. Bush. "Alabama is claiming, and they are correct by this, in that the state gets cheated when non-citizens are used to determine which congressional representation each state gets."

The MALDEF, out of concern that the Trump Administration will not adequately defend the law, filed a petition to intervene earlier this month.

"The current administration cannot be trusted to defend against the sordid lawsuit because the president and other administration officials regularly treat immigrants, in rhetoric and in practice, as less than human," Saenz said in a July 12 news release.

Marshall's office is arguing for them to stay out of the legal case. The attorney general believes the original lawsuit is "a straightforward" case between "two sovereigns" and "should remain so."

The state also argues that MALDEF and other intervening applicants - Santa Clara County, California; King County, Washington; and the city of San Jose, California - filed to intervene in an untimely manner since the federal government hasn't even responded to the state's initial lawsuit. The Department of Commerce has until Sept. 13.

Citizenship question

The citizenship question was last asked of all households in 1950, and critics contend that adding the question will suppress overall counting of non-citizens.

"Our lawsuit focuses on the inclusion of illegal aliens in apportionment, and it determines how many Electoral College votes each state gets," said Lewis. "The Census comment period doesn't address that issue, but the broader issue on whether or not the Census should include the citizenship question."

He added, "We are not opposed to the citizenship question, but it doesn't address what we are looking at on whether you should include illegal aliens in the apportionment count. It's a narrower question. It's an important distinction."

But the issue has split advocacy groups who are encouraging their supporters to provide their two-cents over the fate of the citizenship question through the Federal Register.

Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and former head of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department under President Barack Obama, is encouraging people to "raise our collective voices" to "ensure the 2020 Census is fair and accurate." Her group, in conjunction with other civil rights organizations, are pushing for public comment opposing the citizenship question.

Von Spakovsky, of the Heritage Foundation, is also soliciting comments, but for a different reason. He wants people to add their comments in support of adding the citizenship question, arguing that the question will allow for a more complete and accurate count with data that can be used for enforcement of the Voting Rights Act to the distribution of federal funds.

"People should comment and they should support the Administration in putting the citizenship question back on the Census," he said.

Von Spakovsky also said that the citizenship question is not anything that is new, noting that citizenship question has long been included on the longer-form American Community Survey, which is a more comprehensive data collecting operation by the Census but reaches fewer households.

Jennifer Bellamy, senior legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) based in Washington, D.C., said adding the question back onto the Census will "have a huge impact on communities at risk of being undercounted."

Do comments matter?

That said, both Bellamy and von Spakovsky agree on one thing: Commenting is important and the Commerce Department won't automatically dismiss the public statements.

"Elected officials pay attention what the public says," Bellamy said.

Von Spakovsky, a former member of the Federal Election Commission, said there were times he can recall commissioners changing their positions on issues based on a swell of public comments.

"They did influence the final versions we put out," he said.

Terri Ann Lowenthal, a former staff director of a House oversight subcommittee on the Census and an expert on the decennial operation, said it's "hard to predict" whether a high volume of public comments opposing the citizenship question will convince the Trump Administration to remove the question.

"But a broad outcry could influence Congress, which also has the power to remove the question through the legislative process," she said. "And while the public review law does not require (Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross) to give any particular weight to comments in making a final decision, as a practical matter, comments that elevate sound scientific arguments against the question could be useful to litigants who are challenging the citizenship question in the courts."The attorney for state Rep. Jack Williams of Vestavia Hills said he does not expect Williams to go to trial on charges that he took part in an alleged bribery scheme.

A grand jury indicted Williams in April, but Williams was not charged in a superseding indictment issued Tuesday in the same case.

Jake Watson, Williams' attorney, said today he expects a resolution soon.

"All I can say is that we are in the process of resolving the previous indictment. And I would think it will be resolved within the next few weeks," Watson said.

Watson said he could not be more specific. Asked if he expects the charges to be dropped, Watson said, "I expect it to be resolved in a manner that is favorable to the government and to Mr. Williams."

Doug Howard, a special assistant U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Alabama, said prosecutors are working with Williams and his attorney to reach a resolution. He said he did not know what the resolution would be.

Howard noted that superseding indictments, like the one issued Tuesday, do not eliminate the previous indictment in a case.

The case concerns an alleged conspiracy to benefit a company that licensed diabetes treatment clinics in Alabama.

The new indictment issued Tuesday added another state lawmaker as a defendant, Rep. Randy Davis, R-Daphne. It also charged lobbyist Marty Connors and G. Ford Gilbert, CEO of Trina Health, the California-based company that licensed the clinics. Connors and Gilbert were charged in the April indictment and pleaded not guilty, as did Williams.

The attorney for Davis, Al Agricola, declined comment as he and Davis left the courthouse on Wednesday.

The actions alleged in the indictment are related to three clinics affiliated with Trina Health that opened in Alabama in 2014 and 2015. The clinics provided a therapy for diabetes patients called "outpatient intravenous insulin infusion therapy" (OIVIT). Alabama's largest insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, would not cover the treatments. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had determined in 2009 that evidence did not show that OIVIT was beneficial.

The indictment alleges that Trina CEO Gilbert paid former Rep. Micky Hammon of Decatur to work behind the scenes in 2016 to promote a bill to require insurers to cover OIVIT. Hammon pleaded guilty to mail fraud last year in a case involving using campaign funds for personal expenses. Hammon recently finished a three-month prison term. He is not charged in the bribery scheme.

The previous indictment in April said that Williams knew about Hammon's ties to Gilbert and worked to have the legislation requiring insurance coverage of OIVIT assigned to the Commerce and Small Business Committee, which Williams chaired, and held a public hearing on the bill, hoping to apply pressure to Blue Cross Blue Shield.

The new indictment says Davis tried to help Hammon recruit investors for Trina clinics and received finder's fees. It says Davis tried to lobby Blue Cross Blue Shield to cover OIVIT and promoted the bill to require coverage, speaking in favor of it at the public hearing that Williams held. The bill did not pass.

The indictment says that Gilbert hired Connors to lobby for the bill and that Connors knew that Gilbert was paying Hammon.

Connors has said he did nothing wrong.

"The charges against me are totally unfounded, and will be vigorously defended," he said in April.

Davis, Gilbert and Connors are charged with conspiracy to commit bribery related to federal programs. Gilbert is charged with bribery. Gilbert and Davis are charged with interstate travel and communications in aid of racketeering. Connors is charged with making a false statement to a federal agent.

If convicted of the most serious offenses, each defendant faces up to 10 years in prison.

Arraignment for Davis, Gilbert and Connors is scheduled for Aug. 8 in the courtroom of U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Coody.

Neither Davis nor Williams sought reelection this year and their terms are set to end in November. Davis, who is completing his fourth term, initially announced a run for Baldwin County probate judge but later withdrew. Williams, who has served in the House since 2004, lost in a race for the Jefferson County Commission this year.

The Trina Health clinics in Alabama have closed.

Updated at 1:39 p.m. with comment from U.S. attorney's office.Posted Thursday, July 26, 2018 10:31 am

Voter, beware: Ratings by LAHR PAC are not what you think they are.

Thats become clear in the PACs unfair negative rating of Paul DeWeese, who is seeking the Democratic nomination in the race to represent Lansing in the state House of Representatives. DeWeese previously represented another House district as a Republican.

LAHR PAC is the political action committee of the Lansing Association for Human Rights, a gay rights organization. Each election going back decades, it asks candidates to fill out questionnaires on their views on issues important to the gay community. Its a valuable service.

But the rating in DeWeeses case shows serious flaws that LAHR PAC needs to correct.

One is that the candidates completed questionnaires are not made public.

Lansing City Clerk Chris Swope, who serves on the committees board, says they keep the answers secret in order to promote candor.

But if completed questionnaires are kept secret, people cannot judge candidates for themselves. The decision to rate DeWeese negative is a case in point.

It is hard to imagine more positive responses than DeWeeses to LAHR PACs questions, which he shared with me. He supports the U.S. Supreme Courts ruling on same-sex marriage. He thinks the states Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act should be amended to include the term sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, a longtime goal of gay rights activists.

Moreover, he opposes legislative efforts to invalidate local pro-gay rights ordinances and promises to work to keep that from happening if he is elected. He favors restrooms of choice for transgender people. He agrees transgender people should be addressed by their chosen names and pronouns without having to resort to a legal name change. He supports amending hate crime laws to include crimes motivated by sexual orientation and gender identity or expression and would speak out in favor of that. Hes against discrimination against gay people when it comes to adoptions.

The questionnaire also asks his positions on two non-LGBT issues. One is the Supreme Court ruling in the Hobby Lobby case that says corporations need not cover contraceptives under their health insurance because of religious beliefs. DeWeese disagrees.

The other is abortion. DeWeese supports a womans right to privacy. DeWeese, a devout Catholic, once backed Right to Life positions, but his views have evolved. Today he is prochoice except for partial birth abortions.

As I studied DeWeeses questionnaire, I had to wonder why he was rated negative  the same as conservatives such as Lt. Gov. Brian Calley and just ahead of the very negative rating accorded Attorney Gen. Bill Schuette, both actively antigay candidates for the GOP gubernatorial nomination.

I suspected it was because DeWeese, who has strong name recognition, was perceived as posing a threat to the Democratic establishments favored candidate, Ingham County Commissioner Sarah Anthony. Throw into that DeWeeses conversion from having been a Republican, which irks some Dems, even though DeWeese has been a Democrat for a decade now.

I was wrong, according to Penny Gardner, LAHR PACs president.

DeWeeses negative rating resulted from something completely unrelated: His legal problems. DeWeese lost his medical license for overprescribing opioids. And he was convicted of insurance fraud stemming from his private practice.

In a word, hes sleazy, said Gardner. Having written and edited stories about DeWeeses legal troubles, I know they were more nuanced than that. But I see her point.

The problem is that unless you were privy to LAHR PACs internal reasoning, youd assume DeWeese was rated negative for his views on gay issues. And thats just unfair to him, and disingenuous of LAHR PAC.

After all, LAHR PAC strongly implies over and over that its ratings are based on questionnaires. Our committee spent considerable time reviewing the responses, says the letter to candidates. Its website refers to only the questionnaire as the basis for its ratings unless a candidate didnt return it, in which case ratings are based on voting records and other public information.

DeWeese returned it. He and the public should have expected his rating was based on it.

LAHR PACs negative rating of DeWeese is not just unjust, its hurtful. DeWeese has two gay sons. He was the only candidate for the house seat to march in the Michigan Pride parade.

LAHR PAC owes DeWeese an apology and a revision of his rating.

Moreover, LAHR PAC needs to revisit its policy. At a minimum, it needs to become transparent. That means publishing candidate responses and clearly stating what its ratings are based on.

Otherwise, its ratings should be considered irrelevant, which would be a real loss to the community.President Donald Trump on Thursday said the United States would impose "large sanctions" on Turkey for its detainment of Andrew Brunson, an American pastor held for nearly two years on terrorism-related charges, who U.S. officials say is innocent.

In a tweet, Trump called Brunson "a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being" and demanded his immediate release.

His comments on Twitter echoed a stern warning from Vice President Pence to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a speech in Washington earlier Thursday. Pence said Erdogan should allow Brunson to return to the United States "now or be prepared to face the consequences."

On Wednesday, a Turkish court ordered that Brunson be freed from prison and placed under house arrest while his trial continues, according to Brunson's lawyer.

"This is a welcome first step, but it is not good enough," Pence said during remarks at the close of a three-day conference on religious freedom at the State Department. "I know that his faith will sustain him, but it shouldn't have to. Pastor Andrew Brunson deserves to be free."

The Trump administration has repeatedly pressed the Turkish government to release Brunson, 50, a longtime resident of Turkey who was swept up in a campaign of mass arrests that followed a coup attempt against Erdogan in the summer of 2016.

He was among 20 U.S. citizens arrested and charged after the failed coup.

While the decision to place Brunson under house arrest could be a step by the Turkish government toward resolving his case - for instance, by deporting him - he remains on trial. He faces charges that include espionage and collusion with terrorist groups and is banned from travel, according to the court order.In what may bode well for Mobile-based shipbuilder Austal USA, the U.S. House of Representatives has approved a defense spending bill that includes three Littoral Combat Ship contracts in 2019.

The House voted 359 to 54 on Thursday to approve a conference version of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2019. Back in May, the House had passed a NDAA draft that included funding for three new LCS contracts. But in June the Senate passed a version funding just one.

The conference committee formed to reconcile the two versions produced a version earlier this week that includes funding for three. The conference committee reported that it "continues to be concerned about the stress on the Navy forces and families. The Navy has been unable to meet Combatant Commander requirements because it has too few ships. As a consequence, the Navy has occasionally extended the length of time that vessels are deployed. To partially address the vessel shortfall, the NDAA supports the accelerated construction of the fourth Ford-class aircraft carrier, construction of two additional Littoral Combat Ships, and options to build two additional Virginia-class attack submarines in fiscal years 2022 and 2023."

Alabama Rep. Bradley Byrne, a member of the House-Senate conference committee and a prominent LCS backer, said he was pleased by the House approval and that the process so far had been "a textbook example of how Congress should work."

"We will never get to the 355-ship Navy fleet that we need and President Trump wants without supporting the LCS program this year," Byrne said.

The measure must still be approved by the Senate and signed by President Donald Trump. But a report in Stars and Stripes speculated that "at this pace, the defense bill could see passage ahead of the start of the next fiscal year on Oct. 1, the first on-time passage of the NDAA in about 20 years."

The allocation for the three LCS contracts is $1.56 billion. The overall NDAA spending allocation is $717 billion, which also includes well over $1 billion for programs at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville.

Austal is one of two manufacturers building LCSs. Their version is a futuristic-looking aluminum trimaran built on the Mobile waterfront. Seven of the ships have entered Navy service and have been assigned to a San Diego-based squadron; six more are in various stages of construction or testing, and contracts are in hand for two more after that, ending with LCS 30.

In recent years, the Navy and Congress have disagreed on the number of additional ships needed. The Navy, looking ahead to a future frigate program, has favored one new ship per year, while Congressional planners have favored two or three. LCS backers have argued that more ships are needed at least in part just to keep the shipyards in business so they're there for future shipbuilding programs.

In 2017, two contracts went to Austal and one to Lockheed Martin. After much debate, in 2017 Congress approved defense spending plans including three new contracts to be awarded in 2018. It's not yet clear how those will be allocated to the two shipbuilders.

This year, debate over 2019 military spending again ranged from one to three new LCS orders.Portions of Mobile-area coastal waters that were closed to oyster harvesting on July 20 have been reopened.

The announcement from State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris was effective as of 10 a.m. Thursday. The ADPH had closed Area II of Mobile Bay-area waters due to water sample testing that showed unacceptable levels of bacteria.

Area II covers Portersville Bay, a body of water south of Coden whose features include the mouth of West Fowl River. It lies on the north side of the Mississippi Sound, opposite Dauphin Island.

The July 20 closure did not affect any waters inside Mobile Bay itself.

For more updates on public health notices, visit the Alabama Department of Public Health website.Beijing police say a 26-year-old man from Chinas Inner Mongolia region is suspected of triggering the blast.

A firework device has exploded outside the US embassy in Chinas capital Beijing, injuring the suspect, according to police.

The explosion took place near the southeast corner of the embassy compound at around 1pm local time (05:00 GMT) on Thursday, read a statement from the US embassy in Beijing.

Other than the bomber, no other people were injured and there was no damage to embassy property, the statement said.

Update from the Embassy on the July 26 Incident

There was an explosion at approximately 1pm today on the street outside the South East corner of the Embassy compound. According to the Embassys Regional Security Officer, there was one individual who detonated a bomb. pic.twitter.com/luGv57OwlA   US MissionCN (@USA_China_Talk) July 26, 2018

Beijing police said the suspect, a 26-year-old man from Chinas Inner Mongolia region, was taken to hospital for treatment. No information has been released by authorities regarding his motives.

Loud explosion

Al Jazeeras Adrian Brown, reporting from Beijing, said staff inside the embassy was evacuated to secure parts of the building under the guidance of US marines following a loud explosion nearby, according to an embassy staff.

Normal services have since resumed at the embassy.

Chinas state-run Global Times newspaper reported, citing a witness, that police took away a woman who sprayed herself with petrol in a suspected self-immolation attempt outside the embassy around two hours prior to the blast.

Authorities are yet to comment on the report.Simegnew Bekele managed the $4.8bn Ethiopia Grand Renaissance Dam being built along the Nile river.

The project manager of a controversial dam being built by Ethiopia along the Nile river was found shot dead in his vehicle on Thursday.

Semegnew Bekeles body was found inside a Toyota Land Cruiser, which had been parked near a busy road at Meskel Square in the heart of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

We have confirmed that engineer Simegnew Bekele was shot dead, Zeinu Jemal, head of Ethiopias Federal Police Commission, told reporters.

He had a bullet wound behind his right ear, Zeinu said, adding a Colt pistol was found inside the car.

Bekele managed the $4.8bn Ethiopia Grand Renaissance Dam that is being built along the Nile river. He had been overseeing the project since the dams construction began in 2011.

Hundreds of protesters angry at the engineers death, which many suspect to be a murder, gathered in front of state television ETV calling for justice.

{articleGUID}

At the scene, apparent bloodstains were visible inside the car, where Bekele was found in the drivers seat.

Engineer Semegnews body is now taken to a hospital for examination, state broadcaster ETV said.

The news brought shock, with many Ethiopians mourning his death, and social media full of comments and speculation.

On Twitter, Fitsum Arega, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmeds chief of staff, said Abiy was saddened and utterly shocked to hear of the killing.

Currently about half completed, the project  which is expected to more than double Ethiopias current electricity production  has caused a long-standing dispute with neighbouring Egypt, which fears the dam could reduce its share of the Nile waters.

A bone of contention for Ethiopia and Egypt is the speed at which the dams reservoir would be filled, with Cairo fearing the rivers flow will be significantly reduced.

Under a new 2015-2020 development plan, Addis Ababa wants to raise power generation to 17,346MW from a current capacity of just over 4,300MW from hydropower, wind and geothermal sources.

In June, the leaders of Ethiopia and Egypt vowed to iron out their differences peacefully. They also agreed to take steps to put into effect an agreement, which includes Sudan, to set up a fund for investing in infrastructure in the three countries.The US-EU ties have recently taken nosedive following US decision to impose tariffs on aluminium and steel from the EU.

The United States and European Union have made an initial agreement to ease the threat of a trade war after European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker met US President Donald Trump in Washington.

Trump promised the US would not impose tariffs on the import of European cars, something the US had threatened to do in retaliation to taxes imposed on certain American goods entering Europe following Trumps decision to levy extra taxes on imported aluminium and steel.

A joint statement said the result of the meeting was the launch of a new phase in the relationship between the United States and the European Union.

This is why we agreed today, first of all, to work together toward zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods, the statement read.

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We will also work to reduce barriers and increase trade in services, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, medical products, as well as soybeans.

The EU said it will also import more liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US in an attempt to diversify its energy supply.

The announcement comes two weeks after Trump criticised Germany for importing large amounts of LNG from Russia and claiming Germany is captive to Russia for its dependence on Russian energy.

The relationship between the US and EU has recently taken a nosedive following the US decision to impose tariffs on aluminium and steel from the EU and other allies such as Canada.

Following that decision, Trump had troubled meeting with EU leaders during the G7 summit and during his visit to Europe two weeks ago, where he attended a NATO summit.

In advance of that NATO meeting, Trump called the European Union a foe of the US for what they do to us in trade  a statement refuted by European Council President Donald Tusk as fake news.

In recent months, Trump has also started a trade dispute with China after the US implemented tariffs for what it called unfair trade practices by Beijing.

To help farmers hurt by the trade war, the US government announced a multibillion-dollar aid package for US farmers.

The $12bn bailout is seen as an admission that Americans are being hurt by the presidents protectionist policies.

The money is aimed at shielding farmers from US President Donald Trumps disputes with China and other leading trading partners.Evictions in the Italian capital took place despite the European Court of Human Rights ruling against the expulsions.

Rome, Italy  Despite a decision by the European Court of Human Rights to halt the evacuation of a Roma camp in northern Rome, Italian police and municipal authorities evicted its roughly 300 residents on Thursday.

The operation at Camping River started in the early morning and deployed a large police contingent, continuing throughout the day. By early afternoon, however, more than 100 residents were still outside the camps gate with their belongings and said they had nowhere to go.

Some of the evicted families had been lucky to find some shade amid cardboard boxes, luggage, and piled up mattresses strewn in front of the entrance to the camp, as well as along the long country road that leads to the nearest village. A woman pushed a fridge up the road on a cart, but was not able to say where she was headed.

Ive seen many evictions, but this is the first time we are given no alternative, Jemilia Mehmeti, a 44-year-old Kosovar, told Al Jazeera.

Today, they should have come to bring us some answers. Instead, they came in with the cars, pushing and shoving, Mehmeti continued.

We were expecting it for tomorrow, not today. Everyone could have taken their things and left on their own. There was no need to be aggressive towards women and children; were not in a war.

An evicted resident hauls away her fridge with nowhere to go [Ylenia Gostoli/Al Jazeera]

On July 24, the European Court of Human Rights ordered the Italian government to halt the eviction following an appeal filed by three of the camps residents aided by human rights organisation Associazione 21 Luglio.

The court had asked the government to clarify the situation of those who filed the recourse, Elena Risi, a spokesperson for the organisation, told Al Jazeera. The deadline was tomorrow.

But Italys far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, in a meeting with Romes Mayor Virginia Raggi on Wednesday, said the eviction was to proceed, despite the Strasbourg courts decision.

Im interested in restoring the rule of law, regardless of what letters from courts say, Salvini said.

Raggi pointed out this was a long-standing issue. We are going ahead and yesterday, in less than 24 hours, we sent a response to the Strasbourg court.

It was the end of a tug-of-war between the municipality and camp residents that had started last September, when the cooperative that formerly managed the camp pulled out after its contract expired and local authorities took over some of the basic services in the camp. According to residents, this led to the gradual deterioration of conditions.

Then in late June, the municipality began dismantling the camp, caravan by caravan, while residents found alternative refuge within or slept in tents next to the wreckage of their former homes.

It is estimated half of Italys 120,000 Roma people hold Italian citizenship [Ylenia Gostoli/Al Jazeera]

In July 2017, the Rome administration decided to extend the citys Roma plan, whose stated aim is integration, to residents of Camping River, one of the capitals seven equipped villages. According to residents and observers, it is one of the best and most organised, and also has the highest percentage of children attending school.

But residents say none of the solutions proposed by the municipality worked. When offered cash to find apartments outside the camp, no one was able to find anywhere to rent.

They gave us a paper that says in it we are of Sinti ethnicity. When we show that paper [to prospective landlords], they refuse to rent to us. I have been to agencies, I called, said Adriana Staicu, a 36-year-old mother of four while sitting on a mattress outside the camps gates.

The municipality then put another offer on the table, that of voluntary repatriation. But only 14 out of about 370 residents had taken up the offer up as of today.

My children have learned to read and write Italian, where do they want us to go? Staicu, a cleaner who comes from Romania and has been in Italy for 15 years, added. Many children and teenagers from the camp are Italian citizens or were born and grew up here.

After weeks of protests, this morning some residents eventually accepted the municipalitys offer for women and children to be divided from men and be hosted in reception centres. The only alternative to that was a shantytown outside Rome, which Staicu found the least acceptable of all solutions.

It would have been in a kind of plastic tent, with bunk beds, Staicu, who said she had just returned from there with her 14-year-old daughter who has Down syndrome, recounted.

When I saw the place, I cried. It would have been impossible to stay there under the sun in this heat. It would have been unsafe for my child. They say there are drug addicts there. I prefer staying here with the community I know, til they find me a better place. I will sleep here.

They should have found a solution first, but they did nothing [Ylenia Gostoli/Al Jazeera]

The eviction comes just weeks after Salvini said Roma communities in Italy should be counted in a census, and if they are foreigners, deported. His statements sparked outrage among critics who argued that an ethnic-based census echoed the policies of a fascist regime.

Estimates put the number of Roma in Italy between 120,000 and 180,000  one of the lowest in Europe  with about half holding Italian citizenship.

Rome remains the city with the most settlements, 17 formal and 300 informal. In 2017 alone, Associazione 21 Luglio documented 230 Roma evictions across Italy.

Another family among those left behind said they refused to be divided.

They should have found a solution first, but they did nothing, said Ianis Salkanovic, 41, whose five children include a two-year-old.

You know when they last divided people, men on one side and women on the other? It was in 1941 when they took them away to gas chambers.Complete transcript of the victory speech by PTI chairman and election frontrunner as he addresses nation from capital.

Follow Al Jazeeras Pakistan elections 2018 coverage here

When I came into politics, I wanted Pakistan to become the kind of country that our leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah wanted.

This election is a historic election in Pakistan. In this election, people have sacrificed a lot.

Profile: Who is Imran Khan?

There was terrorism in this election. I want to especially praise the people of Balochistan, the kind of difficulties that they had to face. The way they came out to vote, I want to thank all those people.

I saw the scenes on TV, the way the elderly and disabled came out in the heat to vote, the way overseas Pakistanis came out to vote  I want to praise them because they strengthened our democracy.

In the run-up to the elections, Ikram Gandapur [candidate] was killed by a suicide bomber. Haroon Bilour [another candidate] was killed in a suicide attack. Despite all that, this election process was completed.

I want to thank the security forces  my party members, where we had suicide attacks in 10 locations, I want to commend all of them

Thank god we have been successful and got a mandate.

Briefly, I want to describe the kind of Pakistan I want to see  look, my inspiration is the Prophet Muhammad, the city of Medina that he founded, how it was based on humanity. For the first time, the state was formed based on humanitarianism.

That is my inspiration, that Pakistan should have that kind of humanitarian state, where we take responsibility for our weaker classes.

The weak are dying of hunger. I will try my best  all of my policies will be made to raise our weaker classes, for our labourers  for our poor farmers, who work all year and get no money  45 percent of children have stunted growth, they dont reach the right height, or their brains dont develop.

There are countries with less than 25 million people, and we have that many children out of school.

My effort will be that we try our best to raise these people up, that all of our policies be focused on human development. I want the whole country to think like this.

No country can prosper when there is a small island of rich people, and a sea of poor.

I want all of Pakistan to unite. I want to make it clear that anyone who was against us, who voted against us, I think the kind of personal attacks that I have seen, no one has seen those, but I have forgotten all of those, they are behind me.  my cause is far bigger than me.

We will not do any kind of political victimising. We will establish supremacy of the law  whoever violates the law, we will act against them.

Our state institutions will be so strong that they will stop corruption. Accountability will start with me, then my ministers, and then it will go from there.

We will set an example of how the law is the same for everyone. If the West is ahead of us today, it is because their laws are not discriminatory . this will be our biggest guiding principle.

The biggest challenge we are facing is the economic crisis  we have never had such a huge fiscal deficit. All of this is because our economy is going down because of dysfunctional institutions.

PTI chief Imran Khan: "We will uplift the poor people, we will uplift the labourers" #ElectionPakistan2018 pic.twitter.com/Js8HneBcvd  Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) July 26, 2018

We need to make an atmosphere for doing business.

I think our greatest asset is our overseas Pakistanis  we will fix governance and invite them to invest here.

Our second problem is unemployment. We have the second youngest population in the world  they need jobs.

Where Pakistan is standing right now, I am telling you that we will run Pakistan like it has never been run before  and we will start with ourselves.

All rulers who have come so far, they spend money on themselves . the way our ruling elite spends money, how will anyone pay tax?

People dont pay taxes, because they see how our ruling elite spends that money [on themselves].

I promise that I will protect the peoples tax money. We will cut all of our expenses. I am telling you here that the PM House, this huge mansion  in a country where there are so many poor people, I would be embarrassed to live there.

We will use as an educational institute  all governor houses will be used for the public. We might convert some of them into hotels, as we did in Nathia Gali.

My point is that what we have seen in Pakistan so far, the way the ruling elite has lived off the countrys taxes, I will end this.

We have to escape this economic crisis. No one is coming to save us.

We will strengthen the anti-corruption institutions  and hopefully, our farmers, the whole government will work to make sure the farmers make money somehow.

We will help small businesses. We will bring in new things to bring in employment for young people.

The next thing I want to talk about is that we face a very big foreign policy challenge  if any country needs peace right now, then it is Pakistan.

Our economic crisis is such that we want to have good relations with all our neighbours  China gives us a huge opportunity through CPEC, to use it and drive investment into Pakistan.

We want to learn from China how they brought 700 million people out of poverty  The other thing we can learn from China is  the measures they have taken against corruption, how they have arrested more than 400 ministers there.

Then there is Afghanistan, a country that has suffered the most in the war on terror. Afghanistans people need peace. We want peace there. If there is peace in Afghanistan, there will be peace in Pakistan. We will make every effort to achieve peace there.

We want to have open borders with Afghanistan one day

With the US, we want to have a mutually beneficial relationship  up until now, that has been one way, the US thinks it gives us aid to fight their war  we want both countries to benefit, we want a balanced relationship.

We want to improve ties with Iran. Saudi Arabia is a friend who has always stood by us in difficult times. Our aim will be that whatever we can do for conciliation in the Middle East, we want to play that role. Those tensions, that fight, between neighbours, we will try to bring them together.

On India: I was saddened in the last few days, how the media in India portrayed me as a Bollywood film villain. It seemed like India feared everything bad would happen if Imran Khan came into power. I am the Pakistani who has the most familiarity with India, I have been all over that country.

I think it will be very good for all of us if we have good relations with India. We need to have trade ties, and the more we will trade, both countries will benefit. The unfortunate truth is that Kashmir is a core issue, and the situation in Kashmir, and what the people of Kashmir have seen in the last 30 years . they have really suffered.

Pakistan and Indias leadership should sit at a table and try to fix this problem. Its not going anywhere.

We are at square one right now [with India]. If Indias leadership is ready, we are ready to improve ties with India. If you step forward one step, we will take two steps forward.

I say this with conviction, this will be the most important thing for the subcontinent, for both countries to have friendship.

To end, I pledge to my Pakistani nation that I will prove that we can fix our governance system in this country, we can also bring a governance system that can make the peoples lives easier.

I pledge this to you today, it will be my foremost aim to remain as simple as possible  in this poor country, these huge symbols, these mansions and protocols, on publics money, I pledge that there will be a different kind of governance in Pakistan.

I am saying to you today, that for the first time, Pakistans policies wont be for the few rich people, it will be for the poor, for our women, for our minorities, whose rights are not respected. My whole aim will be to protect our lower classes and to bring them up.

Finally, on rigging. Today political parties claim there was rigging. The first thing I will say is that this election commission was formed by the two main political parties, the PPP and PML-N. This was not a PTI election commission. I say to you today, if you say there was rigging in any one constituency, we will stand with you and aid in its investigation.

Today I say, in any constituency you want to investigate, we are ready to stand with you and investigate it. This is the cleanest election in Pakistans history.Autopsy reports show the children had gone without food for up to nine days prior to their deaths.

Indias public was in shock on Thursday as authorities confirmed three children starved to death in the national capital of the fastest-growing economy in the world.

Mansi, 8, Shikha, 4, and two-year-old Parul were declared dead in a New Delhi hospital on Tuesday, bringing malnourishment and hunger within India into sharp focus.

The disbelief was so great that authorities opted for a second postmortem to confirm the children had indeed died of starvation.

Police accounts said the children were left to fend for themselves because their father, Mangal Singh, was missing and their mother, Beena, struggled with mental health issues.

Reports confirmed the minors died of gross malnutrition.

The forensic test that was done at our hospital clearly suggests the children who were looking marasmic died of hunger. The pictures depicted gross malnutrition, there was no hint of fat anywhere on their bodies, Dr Amita Saxena, medical superintendent at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital in New Delhi, told Al Jazeera.

When we opened their bodies up, the stomach was empty, the bladder and the rectum were empty, as well. There were no signs to show that the kids had eaten anything in the past eight to nine days, she added.

The childrens mother Beena, 29, is struggling to answer police queries, Constable Sateesh at Mandawali police station, where a case has been registered, told Al Jazeera.

Nikhil Dey from Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, a peasant and workers organisation in the western Indian state of Rajasthan, described the case as a tragedy beyond words.

Starvation deaths are happening under the radar in many villages across India. But these Delhi deaths are glaring because they took place in the national capital, where people have so much in terms of wealth, money and availability of resources, Dey told Al Jazeera.

The parents of the kids  a rickshaw puller and a mentally unstable person  these are double, triple-vulnerable Indians with young children in a big city.

According to 2011 government data, 65 million Indians live in slums that lack basic facilities. Multiple starvation deaths were reported this year in Jharkhand, one of Indias poorest states.

Dey said the crisis is caused by rising inequality and a failure of the implementation of public distribution systems.

Wealth is increasing in the hands of the one percent and is flowing less and less to those at the bottom. Our public distribution systems need to worry about the terrible tragedies that result out of these exclusions, he said.

Up to 670 million Indians, who comprise the poorest half of the population, saw just one percent increase in their wealth while the richest one percent cornered 73 percent of the national income generated in the country last year, according to a 2018 report by anti-poverty charity Oxfam.Special forces general tells US president war with Iran would destroy all that you possess as war of words continues.

The head of Irans Quds Forces responded to President Donald Trumps threats in a speech on Thursday, saying if the US started a war Iran would destroy all that you possess.

Major-General Qassem Soleimani  commander of the special forces of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard  warned the United States not to start a conflict, replying to comments made by Trump earlier this week in which he threatened Iran.

You will start this war but we will be the ones to impose its end. Therefore, you have to be careful about insulting the Iranian people and the president of our republic, Iranian news channel Al Alam quoted him as saying.

You know our power in the region and our capabilities in asymmetric war. We will act and we will work.

Soleimani is one of Irans top military commanders, leading the elite Quds force responsible for secret military operations outside of Iran, including its involvement in the war in Syria.

Back and forth

His comments are the latest in a series of back-and-forth threats between high-ranking Iranian and American officials.

Earlier this week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned his US counterpart not to escalate tensions with Iran, saying a confrontation with the Islamic Republic would be the mother of all wars.

Those remarks were followed by aggressive comments from both Trump and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Pompeo blasted Irans religious leaders as hypocritical holy men whom he said were more interested in lining their pockets and spreading hardline views abroad than helping out their cash-strapped citizens.

Pompeo and US National Security Adviser John Bolton have used combative rhetoric against Iran since Trump withdrew on May 8 from the 2015 deal to stop Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

Trump followed those comments by tweeting at Rouhani, warning him that a war with the US would be disastrous for the country.

To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2018

Responding to the late-night threats, Irans foreign minister sent out a tweet mocking him and calling Trumps behaviour erratic and dangerous.

COLOR US UNIMPRESSED: The world heard even harsher bluster a few months ago. And Iranians have heard them albeit more civilized onesfor 40 yrs. Weve been around for millennia & seen fall of empires, incl our own, which lasted more than the life of some countries. BE CAUTIOUS!  Javad Zarif (@JZarif) July 23, 2018

Rising tensions

Tensions between Iran and the US have risen after the US pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Earlier this month, Rouhani hinted Iran may block regional oil exports if its own sales are halted following the US withdrawal from a 2015 nuclear deal signed by world powers.

The suggestion, which did not mention the strategic Strait of Hormuz, was in reaction to looming US sanctions and efforts by the Trump administration to prevent countries from purchasing Iranian oil.

Following the US pullout from the nuclear agreement in May, Iran said it was interested in keeping the deal alive, but only if the remaining powers can guarantee it will not face economic isolation under Washingtons sanctions.

Europe and other signatories of the deal oppose the US decision to leave the agreement and have vowed to find ways of maintaining trade ties with Iran.Posted Thursday, July 26, 2018 10:31 am

Its two weeks before the Aug. 7 primary and Gretchen Whitmer is still dodging questions on who her running mate would be.

The Democratic gubernatorial frontrunner is focused on fending off two primary challengers before naming her lieutenant governor pick. She has until the Aug. 25 Michigan Democratic Party convention to make up her mind.

Like Whitmer, no major-party gubernatorial candidate party has picked a running mate, which speaks to the point that there is no clear-cut selection in either party for lieutenant governor.

Its not 2014, when Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown was Mark Schauers natural pick. He needed a Southeast Michigan woman to add gender balance to a maleheavy Democratic ticket, and Brown had won countywide and in competitive legislative elections.

In 2010, Virg Bernero picked then-Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence for the same reasons. The Dem ticket needed an African- American female presence with prior electoral success. Lawrence best fit that bill.

Jennifer Granholms pick of then-Senate Minority Leader John Cherry in 2002 was a no-brainer. Cherry had the legislative experience and deep union connections Granholm lacked.

Even in 1994, the Howard Wolpe-Debbie Stabenow primary was so close that Wolpes bringing Stabenow onboard as his running mate made perfect sense in that he was attempting to unify the party.

Whitmers choice is not as clear cut. What is clear is that her ticket would need balance.

U.S. Sen. Stabenow is running at the top of Democratic ticket for reelection. Dana Nessel is the partys likely attorney general nominee. Jocelyn Benson earned the partys endorsement for secretary of state. Including Whitmer, none of the four are African American. Also, Whitmer must motivate metro Detroit voters to show up Nov. 6 to beat the Republican (again, presuming shes the nominee).

So Whitmer needs an African-American male from Southeast Michigan.

Who are her better options? Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon was the early front-runner, but sources say that that isnt going to happen.

The other names in circulation all have some negatives attached to them. Former Detroit City Clerk candidate Garlin Gilchrist II ran a heck of a campaign last year, but he still lost. Hes also young and still a little green politically.

The well-respected Sen. Vincent Gregory, D-Southfield, is retired military and law enforcement, but theres some question whether a statewide campaign is his speed and if he has the zest to motivate folks to the polls.

Legislative Black Caucus Chairman and Rep. Sheldon Neeley, D-Flint, has boundless passion, energy and charisma, but hes not from Detroit, which is where Whitmer needs to the most help.

The young senator Ian Conyers is a sharp up-and-comer with that polished Clark Gable look and presence that could work statewide, but the Conyers name is tainted after his great uncles missteps last year forced him to unceremoniously resign. Also, Ian Conyers is running a distant fifth in the race to fill U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr.s seat, a sign that he may not be the best choice.

Whitmer doesnt need legislative experience like Abdul El-Sayed or Shri Thanedar could use if they win the nomination, so she could also pick someone out of the private sector like former gubernatorial candidate Bill Cobbs, with whom shes had a good relationship. But its always helpful to have a running mate who comes with at least a small network of political support from which to draw. Even Cobbs doesnt have that.

For the progressive El-Sayed and Thanedar, Whitmer would be an understandable choice if their goal is to tack toward the middle in appealing to mainstream Democrats. If not, liberal Sen.

Rebekah Warren, D-Ann Arbor, makes a lot of sense. With 12 years legislative experience, shes well educated and spoken on the issues. She sticks to her guns on core issues while having a reputation of being able to work across the aisle on issues of common agreement.

Republicans face a similar ticket-balance conundrum. House Speaker Tom Leonard and Shelby Township Clerk Stanley Grot appear to be leading the AG and SOS races, respectively, over a pair of female candidates.

Whoever ends up being the GOP nominee, he needs a female running mate unless Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker wins the AG nomination or Leonard somehow is lured to be lieutenant governor.

Schuitmaker is a defendable pick, if shes willing to take it, presuming a loss to Leonard.

The best choice would be Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller, but if she wanted a statewide post, she could have run for governor and probably done well. Miller left Congress to be closer to her home, so its hard to imagine shell want to drive two hours one way to Lansing every day.

Rep. Laura Cox and Sen. Margaret OBriens names have been mentioned, but both would have to give up runs for the state Senate for a less-than-certain gubernatorial run.

If the LG choice was a no-brainer, the candidates would have named their picks by now. With the candidates waiting until after the primary to announce their choices, its clear the running-mate decision is not clear cut for anyone.

Kumar running against Bishop Last weeks election guide should have included information on the candidacy of Lokesh Kumar, a Lansing Republican, who is running in the GOP primary against U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop in the 8th District. Kumar is the president of the Eisen Electric Co., which offers automobile racks, power controls and supply-chain management, among other services.

Kumar said he wants to increase federal school funding 50 percent to improve curriculum while providing a stronger, safer atmosphere for children.

(Kyle Melinn, editor of the Capitol news service MIRS, is at melinnky@gmail.com.)At least 1,500 people have been killed in clashes between nomadic herders and sedentary farmers since September

Fighting between farmers and herdsmen in Nigeria has killed more people this year than attacks by the Boko Haram, a new report by the International Crisis Group (ICG) said.

At least 1,500 people have been killed in clashes between nomadic herders and sedentary farmers in central states since September last year, the group said.

Thursdays report says more than 1,300 Nigerians died from the farmer-herder conflicts between January and June this year, while the death toll from Boko Harams rebellion was about 250.

This is at least six times higher than the number of people estimated by the UN to have been killed by Boko Haram in the same period, the report said.

The herders and farmers are fighting over land and water in Nigerias fertile central region.

Its a fight for resources. The government needs to make a plan to deal with the resource problem on a long-term basis, ICG senior researcher Nnamdi Obasi said.

Election threat

Worsening violence between farmers and herders could hit Nigerias general election scheduled for next year and destabilise the country, ICG warned.

The report said some progress had been made in tackling the crisis, but more needed to be done before the elections, which typically heighten the risk of ethnic, religious and political tensions.

It (the conflict) is exacting an ever deadlier toll and, with elections looming in 2019, could destabilise the country if the government and other actors fail to contain it, it added.

The researchers said the unrest could affect the ability of people to register to vote and political campaigning.

The overstretched police and military were unable to cope and with attacks largely unpunished, communities had taken matters into their own hands.

But much of the tit-for-tat violence has become more planned and involved increasingly well-armed and organised militia, the report said.

Human cost

In the deadliest incident, 11 villages were attacked last month in the Barkin Ladi area of Plateau state, central Nigeria, and more than 200 people from farming communities were killed.

The ICG said the attacks had rendered more than 300,000 people homeless, with the displaced forced to stay with family and friends or in overcrowded, unsanitary camps.

Local aid agencies were overwhelmed but there was very little help available elsewhere because of the humanitarian crisis sparked by the nine-year Boko Haram rebellion.

The government response was very poor, partly because it was overly engaged with the Boko Haram insurgency, Obasi said.

Mass displacement has had an effect on food production and was likely to drive up prices, as farmers were unable or unwilling to work the land because of fear of fresh attacks, the report added.Palestine will preside over Group of 77 which promotes economic interests and represents 80 percent of world population.

The state of Palestine has been elected as the presiding country of the Group of 77, the biggest bloc of developing countries at the United Nations, a move that has irked Israel.

The Group of 77 was established in 1964 by 77 countries and was designed to promote their collective economic interests, as well as to enhance their joint negotiating capacity on all major international economic issues within the UN.

Over the years, the bloc has expanded to include 135 members today, which represents 80 percent of the worlds population. The bloc also speaks as one voice at the General Assembly.

Palestine will take over from the current presiding country Egypt in January 2019.

In a telephone interview with The New York Times, Palestines UN ambassador Riyad Mansour confirmed the move, and said Palestine will be negotiating on behalf of 135 countries.

The move is widely regarded as a progressive move on behalf of Palestine, which holds an observer non-member state status at the UN. However, Israel has already voiced its strong opposition.

The goal of the Group of 77 originally was to facilitate the economic advancement of underdeveloped nations, Israels ambassador, Danny Danon said in a statement to The New York Times.

It is unfortunate that it will now become a platform for spreading lies and incitement. This will not promote the G-77s goals, and encourages the Palestinians to not engage in negotiations for peace.

Israels ally, the United States, raised the ire of the Palestinian Authority by recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel last December, resulting in the PA severing diplomatic relations with it.

The US has also recently cut funding to the UN Refugee and Relief Agency (UNRWA) which serves millions of Palestinians in refugee camps in the occupied territories and neighbouring countries.

Last month, the US pulled out of the UN Human Rights Council, citing anti-Israel bias.Pompeo defends Trumps Russia policy at Senate testimony

US secretary of state was questioned by Senate Foreign Relations Committee where he faced scathing criticism for Trump administrations flip-flopping on Russia.Move comes after Yemens Houthi rebels targeted Saudi oil tankers in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait on Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia, the worlds top oil exporter, temporarily suspended all oil shipments through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait after attacks on two crude-carrying vessels by Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Saudi Arabias Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Thursday the kingdom would halt all oil shipments through the strait immediately.

The suspension will last until the situation becomes clearer and maritime transit through Bab al-Mandeb is safe, al-Falih said in a statement.

Houthi rebels targeted Saudi tankers in the Red Sea, causing minor damage to one, the Saudi-Emirati coalition fighting the group in the war-torn country said.

Slight damage

A statement by the coalition said one tanker was attacked west of Yemens Hodeidah port but did not name the vessel or describe how it was hit.





The Saudi oil tanker was subjected to slight damage due to the attack by the Houthi militia, the statement said. Thankfully the attack failed due to immediate intervention of the coalitions fleet.

A statement from Saudi Aramco said two Very Large Crude Carriers [VLCCs], each with a two million barrels capacity  were attacked by terrorist Houthi militia this morning in the Red Sea. One of the ships sustained minimal damage. No injuries nor oil spill have been reported.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Houthi-run Almasirah TV network reported rebels targeted a warship named the Dammam off the western coast of Yemen. The rebels later said they launched a missile attack on the vessel.

Accordion effect

Bob Cavnar, an oil industry expert, told Al Jazeera the announcement had already added $1 to the cost of a barrel of oil on stock markets. He said any delay in the delivery of crude from Saudi Arabia would have repercussions on global supplies and economies.

Even a small shortage  like two or three million barrels of oil a day  could have a substantial effect on crude and that causes an accordion effect throughout global economies. So it could have a long-term effect, said Cavnar.

Clearly this is going to have an effect on global shipping. Any kind of danger to shipping and crews is going to cause a major disruption until the threat is neutralised.

The attacks and temporary suspension of oil transport could bring other countries into Yemens devastating war, another analyst said.

The Red Sea is a very important shipping lane. If there is a major disruption, European powers, Egypt and the United States would all have reason to intervene, energy consultant Ellen R Wald wrote in Forbes.

They have significant interests in protecting the freedom of the seas through the passageway. An international intervention against the Houthis may be just what Saudi Arabia wants.



Battle for key port

On June 13, Yemeni government forces  backed by the military alliance  waged a wide-ranging operation to retake Hodeidah and its strategic seaport from the Houthis.

Government forces continued to advance towards the city and on June 19 they seized Hodeidahs international airport. But they have since been unable to make additional gains.

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Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates main justifications for the intervention was to protect shipping routes such as the Red Sea, which is used to bring Middle Eastern oil and Asian goods to Europe through the Suez Canal. They said they foiled previous attacks in the Red Sea in April and May.

The coalition accuses the Houthis of smuggling weapons through Hodeidahs port.

Since the start of the Hodeidah offensive, more than 121,000 people have fled the city, according to a United Nations report.

Impoverished Yemen has been wracked by violence since 2014, when the Houthis overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its allies  who accuse the Houthis of serving as Iranian proxies  launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back rebel gains.

The coalition has repeatedly accused regional rival Iran of arming the rebels, allegations the Houthis and Iran deny.

Yemen is also now the worlds worst humanitarian crisis with more than 22.2 million people in need of assistance. Malnutrition, cholera, and other diseases have killed or sickened thousands of civilians over the years.Top US leaders say theyll impose significant sanctions on Turkey if Andrew Craig Brunson is not freed.

The United States has threatened Turkey with sanctions over a detained American pastor held on terrorism and espionage charges  comments Turkish officials angrily denounced.

Vice President Mike Pence said on Thursday that if Turkey does not take immediate action to free Andrew Craig Brunson, the United States of America will impose significant sanctions on Turkey.

Brunson is an innocent man, there is no credible evidence against him, Pence said.

Turkeys Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu immediately shot back: No one dictates Turkey. We will never tolerate threats from anybody.

Noone dictates Turkey. We will never tolerate threats from anybody. Rule of law is for everyone; no exception.  Mevlut Cavusoglu (@MevlutCavusoglu) July 26, 2018

Brunson, 50, an evangelical Christian pastor originally from North Carolina, was released from jail to serve house arrest because of health problems on Wednesday after spending more than a year in confinement, according to Turkeys official news agency, Anadolu.

President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter later Thursday the US will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson.

He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!

The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being. He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2018

Neither Trump nor Pence elaborated on the type of sanctions the US could impose.

If convicted, Brunson faces up to 15 years in prison for committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member. He could receive another 20 years if he is found guilty of espionage.

Brunson strongly denies the charges. He rejected evidence against him during a recent hearing, according to Anadolu.

I believe in and support Turkeys territorial integrity, he told the court. I forgive those who lie and bear false witness against me.

Unacceptable

The case, which was adjourned until October 12, has strained ties between NATO allies Turkey and the US.

The US administrations statements and its use of threatening language against Turkey, a NATO ally, is unacceptable, presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in a statement.

The United States must reconsider its approach and adopt a constructive position before inflicting further damage to its own interests and its alliance with Turkey.

The threat of sanctions prompted a downturn in Turkeys financial markets. There was no immediate comment from US legislators who have threatened to withhold weapons sales to Turkey as strains have escalated over Brunsons detention.

The Christian right, an important component of Trump and Pences voting base, has been pressuring the administration on the Brunson case.

On Wednesday, Brunson was escorted out of prison in the coastal city of Izmir and left in a convoy of cars. His lawyer said he was ordered to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet.

Done deal?

US and Turkish officials had been working on a deal that would lead to Brunsons release, and Washington had expected him to be freed at his trial last week, a source in the US familiar with developments told the Reuters news agency.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has previously linked Brunsons return to the US to the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, the Muslim leader Turkeys government holds responsible for the failed July 2016 military coup.

Gulen, who denies orchestrating the coup attempt, lives in Pennsylvania. Turkish requests for his arrest and extradition have not been granted.

Brunson served as pastor of Izmir Resurrection Church, a small Protestant congregation, and has lived in Turkey for 23 years. He was detained by Turkish forces in the aftermath of the failed coup.

The indictment against him contends he worked to convert Kurds to Christianity to sow discord in Turkey.With peace being made, expectations are rising that transformative reforms will be introduced, but many remain cautious.

Just a few months ago, it barely seemed possible that the leaders of two of Africas oldest rivals would communicate, let alone be in the same room together. Yet in recent weeks, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki have done much more than that.

In the span of a few days, the two leaders signed a peace agreement to end a bitter 20-year feud. They also made historic visits to their respective countries where they were welcomed by ecstatic crowds waving both nations flags and celebrating the beginning of a new era.

So far, the peace agreement has resulted in the reunification of families split up by the war. Embassies were also re-opened, as were telephone lines, roads and air traffic.

Along with the restoration of diplomatic ties, trade is also expected to resume, with landlocked Ethiopia getting long-sought access to the Red Sea  one of the many financial benefits that both countries are expected to enjoy after the normalisation of their relations.

But for Eritreans, peace also holds the possibility of something many in the country and the diaspora have long yearned for.

Mothers are out on the streets of Asmara celebrating because they think their children finally are coming back home, said Meron Estefanos, a human rights activist based in Sweden who is in constant contact with fellow Eritreans in the countrys capital.

Everyone is now expecting Eritrea to change; for national service to end, prisoners to be released and the constitution to be implemented.

Passengers carry the Ethiopian and Eritrean flags as they celebrate after arriving at the Asmara International Airport aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight on July 18 [Tiksa Negeri/Reuters]

Mandatory conscription

Such expectations stem from Isaias, a 72-year-old former rebel commander in power since 1991, using the conflict with Ethiopia to shape the political identity of the Eritrean state.

The country gained independence from Ethiopia in the early 1990s, but a failure to resolve a border dispute resulted in 1998 in a two-year war that killed tens of thousands of people.

Despite a border commission ruling and the signing of a peace agreement, Ethiopia refused to withdraw its troops from Eritrean territory. Since then, Isaias has argued that the country is in a no war, no peace situation, with critics such as Human Rights Watch alleging hes used this as a justification for continuing his repressive policies, turning the country into a one-man dictatorship.

The countrys first presidential elections were scheduled to take place in 2001 but were cancelled, while the countrys first constitution ratified in 1997 was never implemented. The free press was shut down and non-governmental organisations were banned. Parliament has not convened since 2002.

The mandatory national service programme was extended to encompass everyone, according to the UN and rights groups. Conscripts are scattered all across the country to work for the state, while a 2016 UN inquiry called it an institution where slavery-like practices take place and accused the government of crimes against humanity.

Eritreas government has denied the accusations and denounced the world bodys findings.

The government told us that because we are in a no peace, no war situation, it was necessary for the sake of national security to enlist every capable person, said Semhar Gebreselassie, a young Eritrean asylum seeker who fled the country in 2014.

We grow up seeing every adult we know get out from their house, go to national service and never come back. We dont want that to happen to us  that is our biggest fear. That is why we leave.

Men ride on a horse cart on the outskirts of Asmara last week [Tiksa Negeri/Reuters]

Caution

The national service programme has been cited as the main reason why 5,000 people flee the country every month. Now, with peace being made, expectations are rising that transformative reforms will be introduced.

But many remain cautious.

According to Winta Yohannes, an Asmara resident whose name has been changed to protect her identity, the publics trust in Isaias is low.

He always wanted us to believe that what he was doing to us was because of the war. That is why we were celebrating when we found out about the peace. But people never trusted him, and they still dont. We have to see some kind of action that will change our mind.

So far, Isaias has been completely silent on the domestic situation.

There is no promise to change anything whatsoever  nothing has changed, said Amanuel Ghirmai, a journalist who fled the country in 2015 and now works for Radio Erena, the only independent radio station transmitting into Eritrea. And if this peace agreement wont solve any of our problems, it means nothing to us.

Despite several attempts to contact government representatives for comment, Al Jazeera did not receive a response by publication time.

Isaias many risks

Bronwyn Burton, a political analyst at the Atlantic Council, a think-tank that has been criticised for its close links with the Eritrean government, emphasised while a lot of attention has been given to Abiy, one needs to be mindful of Eritreas role in this conflict and peace process.

Eritrea has not been in the drivers seat of this conflict. Most [of] Eritreas resources have been dedicated to defending the border. It is interesting how quickly Eritrea has grabbed this chance for peace, they have been taking a running leap and dived into the peace process, she said.

I have been astonished by how many risks Isaias has taken on, added Burton.

Isaias has for example given him [Abiy] access to Assab, restarted flights and phone calls but in terms of concrete commitment to the peace, Abiy has actually done very little.

A girl plays at the beach in the port city of Massawa [Tiksa Negeri/Reuters]

Calls for transparency

For eight years in a row, Eritrea was ranked last out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index. That changed last year when it was rated just above North Korea.

Amid this environment, Eritreans have long been dependent on state media for information. According to Winta and others in Asmara, there is very limited information coming out about the peace agreement with Ethiopia.

Semhar said the lack of information is telling. Throughout this whole process, there has been no transparency from the governments side. People dont know anything about the deal and that is not a good sign for the peace process.

If peace is coming, transparency must come with it.

During a crackdown against critics in 2001, 21 journalists and politicians were imprisoned without a trial. The government accused them of conspiring with the enemy  Ethiopia  and never granted them a trial.

Today, 10,000 of people are believed to be imprisoned for holding dissident opinions, practising prohibited religions, attempting to flee and evading the mandatory national service.

This week, a number of people who had been imprisoned for non-political reasons were released. As the government has remained quiet over the past few days, the exact details around the number of people and the bail conditions are still unknown.

The release of these people is great news for the individuals and their families, but it does not mean anything for the wider situation in Eritrea, said Semhar.

Now that people are expecting reforms, they are releasing a few people to make it look like things are changing. But there are still over 360 prisons and thousands of prisoners  the situation has not changed.

While Eritreans welcome the prospect of peace with Ethiopia, many say that as long as the domestic conditions remain the same, any positive change will be temporary.

For the Eritrean people to be compensated for everything it has sacrificed for the past 17 years, the president must step down, the constitution must be implemented, and power must be transferred to the people, Semhar said.A siege of Hodeidah by Saudi and UAE forces could have devastating consequences on the city, says Save the Children.

Thousands of people in Yemen could be affected by a new wave of deadly cholera in the coming weeks, an international charity says.

In a press release on Thursday, UK-based Save the Children warned the hot summer months are ideal conditions for cholera to spread rapidly.

It added that almost 3,000 suspected cholera cases were reported in the first week of July across the country  the highest number since the start of the year.

Cholera could spread like wildfire in Yemen, potentially infecting thousands of children and completely overwhelming an already-crippled health system, the charitys CEO Helle Thorning-Schmidt said.

Many hospitals have been reduced to rubble, and those that are still standing are barely functioning. Doctors have not been paid, pharmacies are understocked, and power cuts happen constantly.

More than one million people were infected with cholera last year.

Ground zero

Yemen is also now the worlds worst humanitarian crisis with more than 22.2 million people in need of assistance. Malnutrition, cholera, and other diseases have killed or sickened thousands of civilians.

The charity was specifically fearful that Hodeidah could become most affected as a Saudi and Emirati military coalition fighting Houthi rebels in the northern part of the country threatens to besiege the city.

Hodeidah  could become ground zero for a new outbreak of the highly contagious disease, it said.

Should the port city become besieged it would be devastating for an estimated 350,000 people who have not yet fled, Save the Children added.





On June 13, Yemeni government forces  backed by the coalition  waged a wide-ranging operation to retake Hodeidah and its strategic seaport from Houthi rebels. More than 121,000 people have since fled.

According to a doctor working with the charity in Hodeidah, the city is bracing itself for an upsurge in cholera cases.

Were terrified of another outbreak as the number of cholera cases is increasing day by day, Dr Mariam Aldogani said.

Current conditions mean that it could be difficult to keep the number of cases under control. Water chlorination isnt a durable solution, the summer heat is relentless, theres rubbish lining the streets, and the health system is bursting at the seams.

Humanitarian disaster

Impoverished Yemen remains wracked by violence since the Houthis overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa, in 2014.

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and allies  who accuse the Houthis of being Iranian proxies  launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back rebel gains. Iran and the Houthis deny the accusations.

The war in Yemen is now in its fourth year and has left 11.3 million children in need of humanitarian assistance.

Nearly eight million children go hungry every day and more than 80 percent of people rely on aid agencies for essentials such as food and healthcare, according to the charity.Zimbabwe elections: Opposition says poll threatened by fraud

With just days to go until presidential election, opposition parties say there are serious irregularities with electoral process.In the first elections after Mugabe, youth sound hopeful but sceptical new leadership will improve living standard.

Harare, Zimbabwe  For the first time in years, Tifangani Chikabure will take time off work on a weekday.

Chikabure, along with more than five million Zimbabweans, is eligible to cast his ballot in Mondays closely contested general and presidential election.

As he plans to vote for the second time, he has little hope that the new leadership will bring any change to his everyday life.

We used to vote and hope our vote will make a difference but it never did. This time, I dont think it will be any different from before, the 30-year-old told Al Jazeera.

For years, voter apathy among Zimbabwes youth, who make up more than 75 percent of the population of almost 17 million, was a real issue.

However, there is a new, palpable excitement among them this time, which may well drive more youth to come out and vote.

Astor Chingwa, an unemployed youth, hopes this election brings change [Hamza Mohamed/Al Jazeera]

For the first time since Zimbabwe gained independence from Britain in 1980, former President Robert Mugabe will not be on the ballot.

The 94-year-old was pushed out of office last year by the countrys military after more than three decades in power. He was succeeded by his former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who had been fired from his position only weeks prior after a falling out with former First Lady Grace Mugabe.

The absence of the long-time leader from the ballot has energised the countrys youth like never before. At least 60 percent of the 5.6 million registered voters are under 40.

I never thought the day will come when we will have a new leader. Every time we voted, we knew Mugabe will win no matter what, Chikabure, who works as a driving instructor, said.

Sky-high unemployment

More than 20 candidates  all first-time contenders  are running for the top post, each promising jobs and better living standards. Many of the youth say the promise of better employment prospects will drive them to the voting booths on election day.

Bianka Magaya was selling newspapers during the morning rush hour standing a stones throw from the headquarters of ZANU-PF, Zimbabwes ruling party since independence based in the capital Harare.

Magaya says she is lucky to have a job while most of her friends are out of work. The 18-year-old replaced her older sister, who stopped working after getting pregnant.

Bianka Magaya, 18, considers herself very lucky to have a job while many of her friends are unemployed [Hamza Mohamed/Al Jazeera]

I finished high school last year. My family does not have enough money for me to continue my studies, Magaya said, shielding her eyes from the sun with a cap.

I have five siblings. I have to work to support my family. I work six days a week but will go and vote on Monday, she added.

Astor Chingwa is a first-time voter hoping that this election will bring a change in his fortunes. Ever since he finished high school last year, he, along with many unemployed Zimbabwean youths, has been looking for work but to no avail.

I dont feel anything when it comes to casting my vote for the first time, but Im excited about the elections, Chingwa said, his eyes glowing.

Things could be better. I dont know what the future holds. We have suffered for a long time and I hope this election brings change, he said.

Encouraging the youth to vote

To encourage more voters to turn up in this election, youth groups and non-governmental organisations have held music concerts and mass registration drives, pushing the message that young voters can change the countrys destiny.

The youth vote is critical in this election because they are the majority of voters, said Andrew Makoni, director of Zimbabwe Election Support Network, a local NGO that organised roadshows to encourage the youth to register.

It is up to them to decide the future and nobody in their twilight years can make a decision on the next five years on behalf of young people, he added.

For now, many of the youth say they will vote but that they are sceptical whether that will bring about concrete changes.

I will vote because it is my right. But I dont believe them (politicians). For all these years, they have been talking of bringing change but we havent seen anything. I dont believe anything they tell us, Astor Chingwa said.

Follow Hamza Mohamed on Twitter: @Hamza_AfricaSerbian presidents proposals could see North Kosovo rejoin Serbia but many warn against such divisions.

Serbia has raised the prospect of a new deal with neighbouring Kosovo, which seceded from Serbia 10 years ago, that could see the two countries draw up new zones and swap chunks of territory.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that if such a demarcation agreement was not put in place, Albanians could spread out throughout Serbia in the coming years due to their high birth rates, in comments published in Serbian media on Thursday.

Vucics suggestions could see North Kosovo, which is mainly populated by Serbians, handed over to Belgrade. In exchange, the region surrounding the southern Serbian town of Presevo, which is mostly populated by Albanians, could be transferred to Kosovo.

The influential Serbian Orthodox Bishop Teodosije, who presides over Kosovo, has warned against such a division, as the small Serb minority living in central Kosovo would then increasingly emigrate.

In an interview for Croatian news magazine Globus published on Wednesday, Vucic said that he will try to retrieve as much territory as possible.

All Serbs know that they lost Kosovo, but I will try everything in my might to retrieve what I can, so that in the end its not a total defeat or total loss, Vucic told Globus.

Put more simply, Serbia would recognise Kosovo (but without explicit international recognition) in exchange for northern Kosovo rejoining Serbia, wrote Globus journalist Darko Hudelist.





Last week Vucic and Kosovo President Hashim Thaci met Frederica Mogherini, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs for talks for the second time in two months, with the aim of reaching a legally binding agreement between the two countries.

It was a short meeting, not an easy one. It was very difficult, possibly the shortest and the toughest of all meetings that we had in the last six years, Thaci said in a press conference following the meeting.

With proposals of territory swaps circulating, Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj rejected the notion, saying that partition of Kosovo would mean war.

Division for me is war. I say this without hesitation and it is dangerous to talk about division, Haradinaj told Kosovar TV on July 19, as reported by Balkan Insight.

There is no division, no exchange of territories, movement of the borders. It is dangerous; it cannot be done under these circumstances, Haradinaj said.

Kosovo split from Serbia 10 years ago after Albanians, who make up a majority in the territory, launched a rebellion against oppression.

A heavy-handed response and an indiscriminate campaign against the population prompted NATO to intervene against Serbia in March 1999, in an operation that ended with the removal of Belgrades forces three months later.

Though it lost control over the territory, Belgrade continues to claim sovereignty over Kosovo and Serbian leaders have vowed never to recognise Kosovos independence.

Serbia, backed by Russia, is blocking Kosovos promotion to UN membership.

More than 110 countries recognize Kosovo as an independent state.Arkan Mizhar, 15, is the 31st Palestinian child killed by Israeli forces in 2018 due to culture of impunity.

The night before 15-year-old Arkan Mizhar was killed by Israeli forces, he kept telling his father Thaer how much he loved him, as if he sensed that he would not live another day.

Thaer last spoke with his son over a WhatsApp video call on Sunday night, since Arkan was staying overnight with his 78-year-old grandmother in the same Dheisheh refugee camp to help take care of her.

I swear I love you, Arkan told his father, showing him what he had bought for Ghassan, his younger brother.

I bought him three types of ice cream and chips, so you dont say that I dont like my younger brother, Arkan told Thaer.

Then he repeated how much he loves me over and over again. I asked him whats wrong, but he kept saying nothing, but I just swear I love you, Thaer recounted to Al Jazeera.

The following morning Thaer received a call informing him at first that Arkan had been shot in the leg, to avoid horrifying him.

But as he rushed back to the camp, his gut feeling that his son had in fact been killed only grew stronger.

Israeli forces had shot Arkan in the chest during confrontations before dawn that day as the soldiers raided the camp to arrest youth. The camp is located just south of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.

His family describes Arkan as an active, social and hardworking student who dreamed of studying mechanics in Germany to become an electrician or car mechanic. He had just finished the ninth grade and was enrolled to attend a nearby industrial high school in September.

Israeli soldiers have killed another Palestinian child. 15-year-old Arkan Thaer Mezher was shot by Israeli occupation forces as they raided Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem, the West Bank. There will be no accountability.https://t.co/mpL3DjAFNhhttps://t.co/hogcdCwoFS pic.twitter.com/Sr0D6Fjips  Ben White (@benabyad) July 23, 2018

At the young age of 11, he had already learned how to make sofas and chairs. Noticing his sons natural talent, Thaer set up a workshop for him a few years ago.

He was always smiling and his face always happy and welcoming, Thaer said of his son.

Growing up the second-eldest of seven kids in a poor family, Arkan was always a big help, his uncle Abdel Hameed Mizhar told Al Jazeera. During the holy month of Ramadan, he sold fruits and vegetables from a cart to help provide for the family.

I wish that Arkan, my nephew, could be the last martyr from the Palestinian nation that seeks freedom and peace, Abdel Hameed Mizhar said.

[The Israelis] killed [Arkan] in cold blood as they usually do, Abdel Hameed Mizhar told Al Jazeera.





Killed in cold blood

Residents of Dheisheh say Israeli forces began raiding the camp as they regularly do, just before the dawn prayer around 3:30am to arrest youth and began heavily firing tear gas, stun grenades and live ammunition.

According to researchers from Defence for Children International  Palestine (DCIP), Arkan was shot with a single live bullet near his heart, which exited through his back. He was in the main alleyway entrance next to the camps main road where the confrontations were taking place when he was shot.

His autopsy revealed that he was most likely shot from a short distance of approximately 10 to 15 metres, said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP.

The Israeli army told the media they had arrested two young men suspected of terror activity during their raid.

Israel says these routine raids are necessary for security reasons, but Abdel Hameed Mizhar says this reasoning doesnt add up.

They killed him in cold blood as they usually do, Abdel Hameed told Al Jazeera.





The arrests happened on the east side of the camp and the kid was killed [about 800 metres away] on the west side at the main street. So its not related; its just an innocent kid, Abdel Hameed said, adding that the number of soldiers raiding the camp was unusually large.

With the number of soldiers, whoever witnessed this scene would arrive at the conclusion that they had an order to kill, Abdel Hameed said.

[These are] political decisions made by the gang of Netanyahu and the extreme right to practice not just apartheid but brutality, which is worse than apartheid.

The spokesperson for the Israeli forces did not respond to Al Jazeera for comment.

The army told media that residents had been throwing improvised explosive devices, Molotov cocktails and stones during their raid.

Two Palestinians were reportedly were shot in the leg. Altogether, 11 Palestinians were detained that night across the occupied West Bank in raids, which are a nightly occurrence.

There are around 6,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails, including around 300 children, with 440 individuals held without charge or trial.

Culture of impunity

Arkan is the 31st Palestinian child to be killed by Israeli forces so far this year, the majority of whom were aged 13-15, according to DCIP.

He is the sixth child fatality in the occupied West Bank, with the vast majority of children killed in the besieged Gaza Strip during the Great March of Return this year.

[Our] documentation reveals that there was no need at all to shoot at the children. The culture of impunity that Israeli soldiers enjoy gives them a green light to shoot to kill, Abu Eqtaish of DCPI said.





In almost all cases the Israeli authorities do not open investigations in the killing of Palestinian children and in case they do open an investigation, they close the probe without indicting Israeli soldiers.

Accountability for fatal shootings of minors is extremely rare. Abu Eqtaish noted that there has been only one incident  the killing of 17-year-old Nadeem Nawara  that resulted in an investigation and indictment.

Ben Deri, an Israeli border police officer, was sentenced to nine months in prison last April for killing Nawara with an Israeli M16 round to the chest during a demonstration in May 2014. Nawara posed no threat to the soldiers.

Under international law, lethal force may only be used when a direct and mortal threat to life or serious injury exists.

His punishment wasnt consistent with the gravity of the crimes that he committed, Abu Eqtaish said.

Palestinian stone throwers, however, can face up to 20 years in jail.





Rana Nazzal, a Palestinian who regularly volunteers with the Shoruq organisation in Dheisheh, told Al Jazeera that violence ending in arrest, injury and death is part of everyday life for the youth who live there.

The Israeli army enters the camp every week, often multiple times, Nazzal said.

Older children and teenagers begin to understand that this type of violence isnt normal and you see a lot of teenagers writing, making art or music, becoming socially and politically active or in other ways expressing their hardship.

They arent surprised any more, but that doesnt mean they dont carry the trauma. Like one 17-year-old boy told me yesterday, it will eventually hit you  that you lost your friend or your brother  but it sometimes takes months to feel the pain, Nazzal said.

Ehab Iwidat contributed to the report from the occupied West Bank.At least five people killed in the attack on Afghanistans National Directorate of Security in Kabul.

A suicide bomber detonated his explosives near an Afghan intelligence convoy on Thursday, killing at least five people and wounding six, police said, in the latest deadly attack.

The Kabul Security Commandment spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai said the attack took place in the vicinity of Bagh Daud area in the 5th police district of Kabul.

At least five people were killed, including four members of the National Directorate of Security (NDS), while five NDS personnel and a civilian were wounded.

The attacker was most likely driving a vehicle carrying explosives, Stanikzai added.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which police spokesman Stanikzai said happened at 5am (0030 GMT) on Thursday.

Gafoor Azizi, a district police chief in western Kabul, said two vehicles caught fire.

The attack comes as armed groups have been ramping up attacks in key provinces and cities of Afghanistan, including its capital Kabul, during recent months.

The assault comes two days after five rockets were fired on a residential area of Kabul, wounding at least three people. There was no claim of responsibility.

{articleGUID}

On Sunday, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives near Kabuls international airport, killing at least 23 people, including Agence France Press driver Mohammad Akhtar. At least 107 people were wounded.

That attack was claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS), which said it had targeted Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum, who was returning to Kabul after more than a year in exile.

The Taliban and members of ISIL have repeatedly carried out deadly attacks in the Afghan capital, turning it into one of the most dangerous places in the country.

According to the UN, a total of 1,692 people have been killed in the first half of 2018, with another 3,430 people wounded  the highest figure since it began keeping records in 2009.It will not be an easy ride for the new political leadership that will take over in post-election Pakistan.Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador  AMLO  received a record number of democratically cast and counted Mexican votes for president on July 1. The vote count: 53 percent voted for him.

That victory was signaled to me in February when several brainy young hi-tech workers, Guadalajara's best and brightest men and women, railed during lunch over the "impunity" of President Enrique Pena Nieto's government. Specifically, they were furious that the three-year-old mystery of the disappearance of 43 college students had not been solved and that any criminals involved in that apparent "massacre" were not in prison.

On September 26, 2014, 43 young men from Ayotzinapa (ah-yoht-zeen-AH-paw) Rural Teachers' College in the state of Guerrero (Acapulco) bused to Iguala (ee-GWAH-lah), a city between Mexico City and Acapulco, to publicly demonstrate for more funding for education and for their rural college.

Various official explanations by the Mexican federal government of the disappearance have never been proven, nor have the students or their bodies been discovered. Despite myriad theories presented by the federal government, the disappearance has not been definitively solved.

The best reporting of the disappearance was by Andalusia Knoll of Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) in January 2015.

Current termed out Mexican president Pena Nieto and his two federal attorneys general have not solved the crime, and other than accuse some police officers, a mayor, his wife, and their alleged drug gang bosses of killing the young men, little has been done. No one has been convicted of ordering the disappearance or the murder of 43 young men.

Thus the profound unhappiness expressed to me by the bright people in Mexico's "Silicon Valley"  Guadalajara  in February. These people had no problem denouncing President Pena Nieto and his political party, the old Stalinist "ruling Party" of old, known as the PRI.

Another political casualty is AMLO's old party, the once-ultra-left-wing political party known as the PRD. AMLO ran unsuccessfully for president twice as the PRD presidential candidate (2006, 2012). The PRD elected some governors and senators in southern Mexico. Despite initial success, it has ceased to be a major political force because those it managed to elect were worse than the old Stalinist party's pervasive corruption.



Photo credit: Agencia de Noticias ANDES.

The December 1 presidency of AMLO is being organized in the neighborhood of my birth, the Colonia Roma of Mexico City on Chihuahua Street.

Calming Mexico's business class is mission number one for the old leftist. The now open petroleum business that is so important to Mexico will not be dragged back into 1938 Mexico, when it nationalized the entire industry, one the largest of the era, from mostly British and American private companies.

Word is out of the transition team that President Lopez Obrador will sponsor slashing salaries of congress people and high-ranking bureaucrats. Mexico News Daily reports that he will propose a 50% reduction to salaries paid to federal elected and appointed officials.

If approved, deputies (congressmen) will earn monthly salaries of 37,336 pesos (U.S. $1,983), senators 58,700 pesos (U.S. $3,120). Lopez Obrador will, under his plan, receive half the current presidential salary of 209,135 pesos (U.S. $11,090). All perquisites and benefits currently enjoyed by politicians will be eliminated.

But first, canceling an order of $1.2 billion for new American-made helicopters for the Mexican Navy and Marines is a hint at a nascent austerity the new president is planning to implement.

At a transition office news conference, President-Elect Lopez Obrador established goals for his six-year term that include:

Establishing a federal Secretariat of Public Security.

Eliminating political immunity known as the fuero and other privileges currently afforded to government officials.

Including corruption, petroleum theft and electoral fraud on the list of serious crimes for which there is no right to bail.

Incorporating the "Estado Mayor Presidencial"  the Mexican version of the U.S. Secret Service  into the Secretariat of Defense. Interesting, considering that Lopez Obrador says he won't use presidential bodyguards.

Modifying or repealing the 2013 educational reform that gave control to unions.

Establishing the right to free, public education at all school levels in article 3 of the constitution.

To mimic the U.S. Constitution's "impeachment" provisions, Lopez Obrador is proposing a legally binding consultation mechanism that enables the presidential term to be revoked. In other words, Pena Nieto should have been fired as president.

Reviewing the need to increase the minimum salary in the northern border zone.

Announcing that the national added value tax (IVA) of 16 percent will be slashed in half in the northern border zone to 8 percent...the new tax zone is from the border with the U.S. about twenty miles into Mexico. This will encourage more spending in Mexican border cities by Mexicans that now shop in the U.S. Sixteen percent makes many consumer items more expensive in Tijuana, say, than a hundred yards north into neighboring San Diego.

Can Mexican president-elect Lopez Obrador successfully attack "impunity" and the "corruption" that chokes Mexico? Missing from his promises is he hasn't promised to solve the disappearance of the 43 students on September 26, 2014.

We hope he requests help from the U.S. and that President Donald J. Trump gladly loans President Lopez Obrador the help needed to solve the crime of the century, the crime that may have elected Lopez Obrador president of Mexico.

Contreras is the author of The Mexican Border: Immigration, War and a Trillion Dollars In Trade (Floricanto Press) and The Armenian Lobby & U.S. Foreign Policy (Berkeley Press). He formerly wrote for the New American News Service of the New York Times Syndicate.When President Trump appointed former CIA director Michael Pompeo to replace Rex W. Tillerson as secretary of state and former U.N. ambassador John Bolton as his new national security adviser, many pundits predicted that the Trump administration was serious in dealing with rogue states. B oth Bolton and Pompeo had advocated that Iran and North Korea change their behavior, or regime change would be on the table.

Many people believed that these appointments were a sign that President Trump is serious in dealing with dangerous actors. Almost immediately, the Islamic Republic's lobbyists started their propaganda machine and scare tactics, as they have done so often in the past twenty years (that war was imminent and Iranians should oppose Trumps appointments). As for the Iranian people, while cautious, they are hoping that this time around, an American administration is serious and will stand on the side of the oppressed Iranian people as former President Ronald Reagan did with the Polish solidarity movement and all the former Soviet satellite countries.

Reagan's continued policy of vigorously promoting democracy and condemning communism is credited as hastening the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and along with Pope John Paul II he was a strong supporter of Waesa's campaign for presidency in 1990.

Forgotten People

For forty years, the U.S. State Department has called the Islamic Republic of Iran the world's "most active state sponsor of terrorism," and U.S. intelligence agencies have reported that the Islamic Republic of Iran has continued to provide funding, weapons, training, and sanctuary to numerous terrorist groups based in the Middle East, including Hezb'allah, Hamas, and elsewhere, posing a security concern to the international community. Yet, no U.S. administration has ever tried to counter the Islamic Republic's propaganda machine and clearly were unwilling to help the Iranian people end this Islamic nightmare which was mostly imposed upon them by the incompetent Jimmy Carter and his administration.

Corruption and mismanagement, combined with the huge allocation of resources to acquire nuclear weapons, burdened the country's badly ailing economy and will likely bury the mullahs in the rubble of their own making. Regrettably, these purveyors of death aim to hurt and kill as many innocent people along the way to their own inevitable looming graves.

Over the past forty years, Europeans chose an appeasement policy and worked with the mullahs without consideration for human rights in Iran, and the U.S. basically forgot about the plight of the Iranian people until the mullahs installed a firebrand Islamist, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as president of the country.

Who Are the Mullahs?

The mullahs are proven vicious mass killers. They summarily executed tens of thousands of Iranian dissidents. They had no qualms about sending thousands of children to clear the minefields ahead of their tanks during the '80s war with Iraq and they have thousands of "martyrs" brainwashed and prepared to serve as bomb mules to be dispatched to any place in the world.

The mullahs are the principal agent of terror, believing their cause to be the cause of Allah. This is the outcome of an Islamic ideology. They are the result of adherence to the Islamic creed, precisely as codified in Qur'anic scripture.

Similar to the Nazis, who possessed a vast and destructive power apparatus, the Islamic Republic is on the same path of the destruction of the civilized world. Why the world had looked the other way concerning the homicidal, genocidal actions of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the past forty years, is a very good question many Iranians would like to have answered. Had the Nazis won the war, they would have slaughtered tens, perhaps hundreds of millions more around the globe, something the Islamic Republic is still dreaming about.

It is a deadly miscalculation to engage in infighting and sit and wait out this emerging catastrophe. It is little more than an exercise in denial to believe that nothing bad will happen, and that the corrupt and inept mullahs will likely shoot themselves in the foot instead of wreaking havoc in the world. We should forthwith help the Iranian democratic opposition send the death-bearer mullahs back to their mosques. It is the free world's best and most urgent option. Iranians have no doubt that it is time to end the mullahs' reign of terror.

Election of President Trump

President Trump is unafraid to speak his mind and tell the truth. Despite the MSM's nonstop negative coverage, Donald Trump has not backed down, and neither have his supporters. His ratings are going up and he has become an inspiration to all freedom-loving people around the world, including the Iranian people. In a short time, he has achieved over 138 goals in a year that even ten presidents combined could hardly have accomplished. Also, there is hope among the Iranian people that perhaps this time around they will achieve their freedom, achieve their democracy, and join the rest of the human family with a new emancipating program for life  that of liberty and progress.

On July 22, 20018, President Trump sent Secretary Pompeo to convey this message not only to Iranian people in the U.S., but especially to those suffering under the brutal regime of the IRI. To many Iranians, it is heartening to know that after some forty-odd years, they finally have a president who cares for them.

Ironically, it was only two days ago when President Trump, in an all-caps message on Twitter, addressed to President Hassan Rouhani of Iran, wrote that the country would face "CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED" if Rouhani continued to threaten the United States.

Now, after forty years of terror and intimidation, for the first time, a proud and suffering Iranian people appear to have found a real friend in the White House by the name of Donald J. Trump.President Donald Trump is right: Russo-American relations are at their lowest point in decades, and this reality is mostly the fault of Trump's post-Cold War presidential predecessors. Trump has made it his mission to rehabilitate the ailing relationship. I believe that the Trump administration is attempting to swing Moscow out of China's nominal orbit (which it has been in since Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea) and back into the West's camp.

No, Vladimir Putin is not a nice man, and he certainly has blood on his hands (both figuratively and literally). But, as former president Lyndon Johnson once quipped about J. Edgar Hoover, "it's better to have him inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in."

Further, Russia's military might makes it a natural, regional counterbalance to the rapidly rising China. The recent spat between the West and Russia has pushed Russia away and into China's camp  thereby securing China's rise in Asia by removing Russia's threat to China. Trump must play nice with Russia in order to flip Russia and better manage China's seemingly inexorable rise.

A History of Aggression

At the end of the Cold War, the United States and Russia had a relatively amicable relationship. Yet, by 2004, when the United States did its initial covert intervention in Ukraine (the so-called "Orange Revolution"), Vladimir Putin became convinced that the West was out to destroy his regime and minimize Russian power. In 2007, Putin went to the Munich security conference and delivered a vituperative speech denouncing American militarism in the Middle East and the "double-expansion" of NATO and the E.U. into Russia's periphery.

Less than a year thereafter, Russia invaded Georgia, and the Russo-American relationship all but collapsed in mutual loathing and recriminations.

Upon the election of Barack Obama to the presidency in 2008, there was a warming of relations between the new government in Washington and Moscow. President Obama refused to replicate what he believed were the militaristic excesses of the former George W. Bush administration. So Obama reached out to Russia. Russia accepted his overtures.

Unfortunately, the Obama era "reset" with Russia was less of a true reset and more of a unilateral surrender to Moscow. Obama's New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (colloquially known as "New START") limited the modernization of American nuclear arms (and the number of them) but allowed for Russia to modernize its nuclear arms. The treaty also "decimated [America's] missile defense programs," according to Larry Bell. Yet it did cool tensions.

As Thomas Grove wrote in March 2011 for Reuters, "[a] new nuclear arms limitation treaty between Russia and the United States has reinforced statements on both sides that war between Moscow and the West is unthinkable and given the Kremlin room to send more resources east."

Russia's Eastern Question

The Russian Far East is a sprawling part of the country that constitutes the bulk of its vital natural resources, yet it houses a fraction of its population. This vast territory abuts the world's most populous, fastest growing natural resource-consumer in the world: China. David Goldman once said China views other countries as glorified protein to be consumed. This holds true in the Russian Far East.

For 30 years, Chinese-born migrants have entered into the sparsely populated Russian Far East and began out-populating the native-born Russians. Inevitably, the Russian Far East will become a de facto part of China. Putin knows that this is happening. He is desperate to cling to his Asian holdings. Yet his ability to secure his vast borders is limited by a relatively small military.

We know that Putin is intent on reinforcing the Russian Far East. Presently, Moscow is sending advanced K-300P Bastion-P and BAL mobile coastal defense systems to the Kurile Islands (which it has held since 1945, despite Japan's claim).

According to the Jamestown Foundation:

The main task of the new formation  the establishment of effective military control over Kamchatka, Chukotka, the Kurile Islands, the Japanese Sea, and the Sea of Okhotsk  is to be secured by boosting the counter-offensive capabilities of Russia's Pacific Fleet[.] ... The 'center' of this project is the town of Yelizovo (located close to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky). Currently, it hosts part of the 53rd Air-Defense Division. This unit is equipped with S-400 Triumf (SA-21 Growler) air-defense weapons systems, a number of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV  since 2016, including the Orlan-10), 30 MiG-31 supersonic interceptor aircraft, Ka-27 anti-submarine (ASW) helicopters, and a squadron of II-38 maritime patrol and ASW aircraft.

Unfortunately, Moscow cannot divert enough forces away from what the Russians perceive to be greater hotspots in Europe and the Middle East. With a defense budget of $51 billion for 2018, Moscow simply must choose whether to protect its vast, resource-rich Far East from China or to defend against what it perceives to be a hostile West with an advanced military (remember: the two most recent major invasions in Russian history  Napoleon's and Hitler's  came from the West).

The Pacific Ocean is far more inviting (or should be) for a Russian national-imperialist such as Putin. It is home to some of the world's most vibrant economies; the Pacific allows for Russia to build a heavier military presence in resource-rich areas (while also building up its defenses to protect the passages into Russia's Arctic holdings  a key source of wealth for Russia). Continuing to obsess over Europe, or further enmeshing the ailing Russian Federation into the tribal politics of the Middle East, is not in Moscow's long-term strategic interests.

Washington must recognize this reality and create more amicable relations with Moscow. If it can, then Putin will complete his securitization of Russia's troubled periphery. A lasting entente between the United States, Europe, and Russia would help to stabilize Russia's western periphery. Together with the United States (and Israel), the Russians could pulverize the remaining terrorist strongholds in the Muslim world that buttresses Russia's south. Then Russia could fully focus on complicating Chinese grand strategy by reinvigorating its position in the Far East.

Such a move by the United States would fundamentally reconfigure what Zbigniew Brzezinski, the American geostrategist, used to call the "grand chessboard." It would also permanently weaken and degrade the threat that China's unchecked rise poses  not only to the United States and Asia, but to the world.

Brandon J. Weichert is a geopolitical analyst who manages The Weichert Report: World News Done Right and is a contributor at The American Spectator, as well as a contributing editor at American Greatness. His writings on national security and Congress have appeared at Real Clear Politics, Space News, and HotAir.com. He has been featured on CBS News.com, the BBC, and the Christian Science Monitor. Brandon is a former congressional staffer who holds an M.A. in statecraft and national security affairs from the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C. and is currently working on his doctorate in international relations.In response to the Muslim Brotherhood's near century-long history of Islamist political and terrorist activities and affiliations, Congressman Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) recently took the historical step of assessing whether there is factual evidence for designating the Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.

Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) initially introduced S. 2230, the Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act of 2015, to the 114th Congress. Bipartisan support would "require the Secretary of State to submit a report to Congress on the designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization."

The discovery of the "Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal of the Group in North America" in 1991 confirms the threat. The Brotherhood's "work in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within." The Brotherhood continues to use a "stealth jihad" strategy to undermine Western governments through the concerted effort of various Islamic organizations.

On July 11, 2018, the DeSantis subcommittee on national security convened a hearing with a number of experts to discuss the Muslim Brotherhood's threats, both nationally and internationally. The testimonies of three witnesses  Dr. Hillel Fradkin, Dr. Jonathan Schanzer, and the Honorable Daniel Benjamin  identified the Muslim Brotherhood as somewhat of a threat, recommending a narrow designation to a limited number of specific entities or factions around the world.

Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, however, the fourth witness and an American Muslim, ardently asserts that the entire Muslim Brotherhood should be designated as a terrorist organization. The Brotherhood has a network of affiliates, like Hamas, in over 70 countries. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates consider the Brotherhood a radical Islamist organization and have already designated the group as a terrorist organization.

President and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy Dr. Jasser stated: "No group embodies the threat of the radical Islamist more than the Muslim Brotherhood, or in Arabic, Ikhwan Muslimin. The Muslim Brotherhood is a terrorist organization[.] ... Help us, modern-minded, secular, liberal Muslims marginalize their influence by declaring them what they are  a terrorist organization."

From an interview with Ryan Mauro, director of the Clarion Intelligence Network, comes the following:

"The Muslim Brotherhood absolutely qualifies as a terrorist organization even if each member and supporter does not necessarily engage in terrorism. The largest terrorism-financing trial in U.S. history was of a Brotherhood front in America, led by Brotherhood leaders here and abroad, that was used to send millions to the Hamas terrorist group." Nearly every terrorist group known today, including al-Qaeda and Hamas, was birthed out of the Muslim Brotherhood. "The Islamist movements, chiefly the Brotherhood, overwhelm secular-democratic Muslim competitors with their resources, political access, media presence and prestige," says Mauro. "If we enforce counter-terrorism laws, it can help a truly 21st century Muslim reform movement rise up as an alternative."

Congressman DeSantis said, "Thankfully the Trump Administration has discarded the Obama-era policy of treating the Brotherhood as a potential ally. Now, the questions are focused on how expansive to make the terror designation, and whether it should be done through the State Department or Treasury Department."

"It is clear that the Brotherhood constitutes a real threat to the national security interests of the United States. We can debate the best way to counter this threat, but simply ignoring the threat is not an acceptable answer."

Mauro concludes, "President Trump disappointed foes of the Brotherhood by initially choosing McMaster as national security adviser and Tillerson as Secretary of State. Now, that has changed, and the administration is packed with people who wanted to designate the Brotherhood, but it has yet to happen. Congressional pressure like DeSantis' hearings will help remind them to turn their words into action."

J.M. Phelps is a Christian activist and journalist based in the Southeastern U.S. He is also editor and publisher of the website Lantern of Liberty.I guess you could say this is part of the "Chicago Way," too.

Fifteen former Chicago aldermen are receiving six-figure pensions, with several having payouts totaling more than a million dollars.

Illinois Policy:

Of the 38 former elected Chicago officials currently receiving pensions, 15 former aldermen see yearly payouts exceeding $100,000, according to documents from the Municipal Employees' Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago, or MEABF. Two additional aldermen receive annual pension payouts just a few thousand dollars shy of $100,000. On average, the 15 former aldermen collecting six-figure annual pensions have accumulated $768,500 in total gross pension benefits. Four of those ex-aldermen have accumulated more than $1 million in gross benefits. Some of the same officials responsible for fueling the city's $36 billion pension crisi sare among the system's biggest beneficiaries. Taxpayers, on the other hand, are not benefitting from this unstable pension system. In 2016, Chicago City Council approved a new tax on water and sewer services proposed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to help shore up the city's underwater pensions.

For years, city government refused to fully fund public employee pension funds leading to the current crisis. Most of those same politicians now receive up to 80% of their average salary from their last year of service. It's part of a pension scheme for cronies fashioned by former mayor Richard J. Daley:

The law also permits aldermen to effectively buy their way to eligibility for maximum pension benefits, without having served the required 20 years. Former Ald. Thomas Allen, 38th Ward, for example, served only 17 years but was able to purchase additional "pension credits" at a cost lower than the value of the retirement benefits he'd receive. Allen currently receives a gross annual pension of nearly $106,000, according to MEABF records. But that isn't the only lofty income the former alderman collects from taxpayers. Since 2010, Allen has also earned an annual salary upwards of $190,000 serving as a Circuit Court of Cook County judge.

Nice.

It wouldn't take much of a shock to send the entire house of cards crashing down. And taxpayers would be left to pick up the pieces.The formidable Mike Pompeo testified Wednesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Pompeo gave a powerful and informative opening statement, but from then on, the hearing devolved into a three-hour circus to behold. Apparently, not one of the Democrats sitting there heard that opening statement. Instead, each and every Democrat, when he got his chance to question Pompeo, made a complete and utter fool of himself.

Clearly, Pompeo has a lot of I.Q. points on all of them. They asked their questions as accusations, especially regarding Trump's sit-down with Putin in Helsinki. When they did not like the beginning of an answer, they rudely interrupted to make certain Pompeo was unable to finish.

It drives them crazy that they have not been provided a transcript for exactly what was said between the two leaders. They never cared, however, when Obama had private meetings with other leaders or when he quite literally sold America out to them off or on a hot mic.

Despite the many facts to the contrary, each Democrat senator accused Trump of being soft on Russia when in truth it was Obama who was pathetically soft on Russia. (It was Clinton who colluded with Russia to take Trump down and out.) Obama knew of Russian attempts at cyber-meddling in our elections but told investigators to stand down. He knew that their feeble Facebook attempts could not, would not affect the outcome.

Each Democrat accused Trump of "confusing the public and our allies." They now quote and believe the thoroughly propagandistic Russian press, which implied that Trump caved to Putin. Pompeo got a chuckle out of that one.

Pompeo patiently answered each Democrat's repetitive questions and accusations; he answered the same questions the same way over and over again. Repeatedly, the Democrats on the committee refused to hear. They loathe President Trump for winning, and their contempt for him oozes out of their mouths with every derogatory word.

The amusing aspect to their performances is the obvious fact that they think they are so smart, smarter than Pompeo and smarter than Trump. What is true is that the lot of them on the committee are rather dimwitted by comparison to this president and this secretary of state. If people doubted this, they do not any longer if they watched the hearing yesterday.

Senators Menendez, Cardin, Shaheen, Coons, Udall, Murphy, Kaine, Markey, Merkley, and Booker embarrassed themselves. They refused to acknowledge Trump's toughness on Russia, no matter how many times Pompeo listed all such actions taken, two hundred and sixteen of them. They interrupted Pompeo constantly.

New Jersey's Menendez was particularly uncivil, as though he is some paragon of ethical behavior . Like mean-girl cliques in middle school, Menendez & Company cannot abide that they do not know every word spoken between Trump and Putin in Helsinki. Menendez badgered Pompeo relentlessly without letting him speak. He rejected any answer that did not conform to his preconceived, imaginary notion of what occurred there.

New Jersey's Senator Booker was particularly unintelligible. It is doubtful anyone understood what he went on and on about. Who knew that the word "adoptions" is code for "sanctions"? The others just rudely asked the same questions over and over and over again.

Their demands to hear from the interpreter and to see her notes were just silly. Since when are they entitled to absolute knowledge of private meetings of the president? Each of them ignored or belittled Trump's success with North Korea. "Where's the evidence?" one bleated. How about that no missiles have been launched by the Norks? Not one since the Singapore summit was set.

The Republicans were at least polite and respectful, even complimentary to the secretary of state, but none of them raised a challenge to their insolent Democrat counterparts. Not one. They are too polite, too afraid to defend Trump and Pompeo, despite all they have accomplished. This was a wishy-washy bunch of Republicans. The Dems were angry and insulting. The Pubs were barely there.

No matter in the end; Pompeo was masterful. He actually knows things and can explain them. By the end, it is fair to say that nearly every senator in the room acquitted himself poorly. There is not one star among them, not one real leader.

The Democrats were all nags. The Republicans were all cowards. Pompeo, however, was a bright light. Never, over the eight years of the Obama administration, was there even one Cabinet member as brilliant or impressive as Pompeo. Trump chose this man wisely.

Who were they?

Full video of the hearing via C-SPAN 3:Thursday, July 26, 2018

A conviction led to an attorney's disbarment by the New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department

On September 19, 2017, respondent pleaded guilty, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, to obstruction of justice and perjury, under 18 USC  1503 and 1623(a), respectively. Respondent's conviction stemmed from his role in creating and transmitting false court documents for his friend, whose company, a pet retail store chain, had commenced a federal breach of contract action against a pet food manufacturer. In that action, the chain claimed to have leased a New York store to distribute the manufacturer's products, entitling the chain to increased contractual payments for its territorial expansion.

Respondent created a phony 2008 New York City commercial property lease and a phony 2011 assignment of the lease to his friend's company, with forged signatures and notarizations, for the purposes of showing that the company's New York store location was opening, to support the federal damages claim. Respondent knew that the documents he created were to be used by his friend's company to support a $1.6 million damages claim and he had the documents forwarded to the friend. In 2011, the manufacturer informed the federal court judge that it believed that the lease and assignment were false. The court then demanded sworn statements from respondent.

In response, respondent submitted to the court a sworn declaration under penalty of perjury, which included his knowingly false statements, including a description of how he obtained the 2008 lease and the circumstances surrounding the creation of the lease. He also submitted a forged affidavit purporting to be from the owner of the leased property.

(Mike Frisch)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2018/07/a-conviction-led-to-an-attorneys-disbarment-by-the-new-york-appellate-division-for-the-first-judicial-department-on-septembe.htmlDemocrats have a socialist problem that they are having trouble sweeping under the rug. The party line appears to be that their new star, self-proclaimed democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is not the face of the party; rather, she's not a radical and doesn't speak for most Democrats.

Rep. Maxine Waters went so far as to deny that Democrats are socialists at all.

CNBC:

The top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee sent a message to the party's progressive wing on Wednesday, distancing herself from the vocal lawmakers to her left as the party continues to debate its message ahead of the November midterm elections. "The Democratic Party is not a socialist party," California Rep. Maxine Waters said in an interview with John Harwood at CNBC's Capital Exchange event Wednesday. Asked about left-wing politicians who identify as democratic socialists, including 2016 presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Waters said: "I just don't think our party should be identified because we have a few people who seem to be to the left of the left." Democrats continue to face down lingering anxiety about the identity of their party, as Republicans, including President Donald Trump, seek to leverage the internal rifts over economic and social issues to their own electoral advantage. The president has zeroed in on Waters, painting her in posts on Twitter as the "unhinged FACE of the Democrat Party."

When asked if she is a capitalist, Waters said, "Of course I am."

Waters said she believes the government should do more work to protect consumers. In particular, she said she supported strengthening the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and favored stronger fines against big banks that take advantage of their customers. The CFPB has come under fire during the Trump administration as Mick Mulvaney, one of the most vocal critics of the bureau, took the helm. "When we take a look at the fines that have been levied on Wells Fargo and some of the other big banks, it's just the cost of doing business, and we've got to get away from that," Waters said. "I think we can do better."

Democrats may not admit to being socialists, but most have signed on to the Ocasio-Cortez agenda, including the $15-an-hour minimum wage, taxpayer-funded college tuition, and Medicare for all. They attempt to mask their radicalism by altering the definition of "socialist" and "capitalist" to the point where the two are interchangeable.

They are not for free markets. They are not for individual liberty. Their agenda represents government coercion and less freedom of choice. But redefining definitions and using soothing rhetoric about "family" and "community" to hide their extremism could still give them a majority in Congress in November.For all the talk about President Trump being the bull in the china shop of U.S. foreign policy, some recently declassified documents show then-president Bill Clinton as more worthy of that title.

With the documents being declassified now, and Indonesians now closely reading about them, guess who gets to clean up that mess. Yep, President Trump.

Here is what Voice of America has on it:

The Clinton administration sought to preserve close ties to the Indonesian Armed Forces as President Suharto's rule came to an end in May 1998, even as the Army carried out significant human rights abuses, according to recently declassified documents posted today by the National Security Archive based at The George Washington University. US officials were aware of the military's involvement in kidnappings and disappearances of student activists going on at the time but saw preservation of the Army's role as central to political stability in the country, the records show.

Those shenanigans were accompanied by rank economic warfare on Indonesia, under the guise of "helping" it. Over in Indonesia, back in 1998, if you recall, there was a massive economic crisis, brought on by the meltdown of the Indonesian rupiah. It was followed by riots that led to the resignation under pressure of President Suharto, the Indonesian strongman who got the country stabilized after the communists tried to take over in a bloody surge the 1960s. Clinton triggered it with an economy-killing IMF "austerity" program and tried to pin the blame for the crisis on one economist, Johns Hopkins University professor Steve Hanke, for a Hong Kong-style currency board proposal to stabilize the economy. The sharp spike between points 5 and 6 on the chart below (it should have its own red dot) shows the point at which Suharto announced that Hanke would be his adviser and the currency improving. Instead of allowing that to happen, Clinton muscled Suharto into accepting an International Monetary Fund "austerity" program that he knew would crash his country's economy instead of the currency board, which would have fixed it, and the chart's red dots went downward. Bubba loaded the strong-arm maneuver with oozing words of flattery. All the red points on the chart are worth looking at in the legend here.

The declassified documents, which are being read very, very closely in Indonesia, show that actually, it was Bubba who was at the center of the crisis, not Hanke. Steve Hanke has an important account describing how that happened.

The documents also show that Clinton was all buddy-buddy with Indonesia's shoot-'em-in-the-street military and thought they could take things over just fine if he got rid of Suharto. This has got the lefties at Georgetown's National Security Archive riled up because they don't like the Indonesian military. They are the ones who got the documents declassified  much sooner than is normally done. With the military in his back pocket, Clinton moved full speed ahead to crash the Indonesian economy to get Suharto overthrown. But the most important question is, why did he want to get rid of Suharto?

The archives have not all gotten out yet, and there are some significant things to watch for. Clinton, remember, at the time was neck-deep in campaign finance scandals, including money that went to his campaigns via Indonesia. Indonesian bankers such as James Riady and political fixers such as Johnny "subway" Chung were some of the prominent names that came up. I was there during this unrest, and I recall that a top Indonesian banker at a prominent bank there told me Riady was instrumental in a lot of the machinations over whose bank got shut down in the crisis, so at a minimum, he had a lot of power, likely derived from Clinton and his campaign connections to Clinton.

It's an absolute certainty that Suharto knew all about these machinations, and Clinton knew he knew. This may be a big reason why Bubba meddled so significantly in that country. The other factor was likely the role of former Indonesian ambassador Paul Wolfowitz, a Trump nemesis now, who was the architect of regime change in Iraq and who was loudly against Hanke's currency board. I kind of suspect there will be information about where he got his practice for that coming out. Factor three was the role China played in its multiple competitive devaluations that preceded the 1997-1998 Asian crisis. We know that Trump is looking closely at that now.

The fallout that's certain is that the Clinton revelations leave a diplomatic mess to clean up. Looks as if President Trump is going to be busy.

Image and notes credit: Arsonal via Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 and GNU Free Documentation License.Amazon has just made it easier to stream music from your smartphone to an Amazon Echo or another Alexa-enabled speaker, with Alexa Cast. It is technically the same as Googles Chromecast  a product that just celebrated its fifth anniversary this week. With Alexa Cast, you will now see a new button within the Amazon Music app, that looks similar to the Chromecast button  what looks like a WiFi signal turned on its side and a box around it  from there you can select which Alexa speaker you want to stream the music to, and youre all set. So if you dont want to ask Alexa to play specific music, you can still browse for it on your smartphone and then play it on your preferred Alexa speaker.

Currently, Amazon only has Alexa Cast available for its Music service, and the company has not yet said whether it plans on adding support for more apps and services in the future  like Spotify, Apple Music and so forth. So for now, Alexa Cast is a way to stream your Amazon Music to an Alexa speaker, and no other content, which is unfortunate, but this was just announced today, so itll likely evolve in the coming weeks and months.

Alexa has continually gotten updates and new features since Amazon debuted the assistant nearly four years ago. It went from something that Amazon had no idea what to do with, or what the end goal was, to something that is in virtually everyones home and on everyones smartphone. Alexa is able to do all sorts of things from answering questions, making calls, sending texts, playing music and just about everything in between. Now Amazon did this a bit backwards, releasing Alexa Cast after its personal assistant, whereas Google did it the other way around. But Amazon did need to have its speakers in households before it could actually debut Alexa Cast, so it makes sense.Samsungs Galaxy S10 lineup of Android flagships is likely to use an ultrasonic fingerprint reader embedded below the display of the upcoming devices, DigiTimes reports, citing sources close to Taiwanese mobile component suppliers. Industry insiders believe Samsung will also be ditching the iris scanner with the Galaxy S10 lineup as the company still hasnt placed any significant orders for such modules and supposedly remains evasive when questioned whether it intends to do so by the end of the year.

While the possibility of Samsung scrapping the iris scanner from its high-end mobile products just over two years after introducing it has already been raised by industry sources earlier this year, the latest report also implies that the Galaxy S10 series may lack a 3D camera akin to the one used by the Xiaomi Mi 8 and Apple iPhone X. Instead, Samsung could position the in-display fingerprint reader as an alternative authentication method meant to allow its upcoming devices to stand out from the competition, if only for a short while, with insiders claiming more manufacturers will commercialize the same technology over the course of 2019. The fact that the companys first 2019 flagships are likely to utilize an ultrasonic reader is likely the main reason why Samsung will be slow to embrace the technology relative to some other handset makers such as Vivo and Huawei as that particular solution is understood to be much more difficult to implement, though the ultimate result should be a more convenient and secure authentication experience, with the scanner itself not being affected by liquids such as water or sweat.

The South Korean tech giant is also expected to increase its Galaxy S10 shipment target to 40 million units, as per the latest report. The Galaxy Note 10 and the most premium Galaxy A-series smartphone Samsung will release next year will also feature an ultrasonic fingerprint reader, sources believe. The identity of Samsungs fingerprint reader supplier remains unclear, though previous rumors pointed to American chipmaker Qualcomm as the firms likeliest partner.Google has released its annual Google for Entrepreneurs Report, providing a general overview of program attendance, finances, and other advances made since tracking started two years ago. For those who may not be aware, the program includes six campuses, around the globe. Those provide a space for startups and entrepreneurs to meet up and develop ideas as well as meeting with others attempting to get their own businesses off the ground. The goal is to provide participants with a place to gain insights into their respective industries and connected industries, in addition to offering the opportunity to collaborate where possible. The latest report covers London, Tel Aviv, Warsaw, and Madrid for 2017 and among the key highlights, women now account for 39-percent of participants. Thats not necessarily a massive gain, up from the 30-percent reported just three years ago, but shows that some progress has been made in promoting more opportunity to women in business and technology.

Job creation is another key aspect of the program and Googles figures show that for the last year, those numbers have been predominantly positive too. Tel Avivs campus stands out amongst its sister sites, having created more than 9,000 jobs and employing around 479 people. It also raised just over $5.36 million for a total of around $132.9 million raised since opening. Campus Madrid generated the next highest number of jobs, 927, employing 2,064 individuals and raising approximately $88.6 million in 2017. Madrid has generated around $131.7 million in funding over the course of its existence. Setting aside jobs figures, Londons campus has done better than others since being opened with just over $256.55 million raised overall and $52.4 raised for 2017. Employment figures for the campus, meanwhile, are reported at 1,309 individuals while 523 jobs were created in 2017. Last but not least, Campus Warsaw generated 416 jobs, with a total of 748 created so far and just shy of $10.5 million raised over the past year. Warsaw has managed to raise just under $16.5 million in total.

The results are actually just a small part of a substantial number of programs in education, employment, and general outreach Google currently has implemented over more than a decade. As with many of those other programs, the search giant says that in spite of its accomplishments so far, there is still plenty of room for growth and improvement.Googles AR wearable Glass may be all but defunct for general consumers but thanks to A.I. and IoT software provider Plataine, the enterprise edition of the hardware could get some completely new features. Plataine is focusing its efforts on augmenting factory workers, according to a recent announcement and app demo made at Googles Cloud Next 2018 conference in San Francisco. The goal is to help workers on the factory floor become more productive and efficient. That all centers around the organizations A.I.-based Digital Assistant which provides documentation for real-time productivity tracking, important alerts, and recommendations completely hands-free. Using its solutions, quality control should be vastly improved, Plataine says. Meanwhile, a general A.I. is not the only technology underpinning the latest new development either. Instead, the platforms incorporation of Google Cloud incorporates machine learning and manufacturing expertise thats been brought to the table by Plataine, according to Google. That will allow a typical production facility to effectively be transformed into a smart factory.

Thats based on two primary capabilities of the newly enhanced digital assistant on offer by Plataine. First, the AR-based Google Glass platform and new software allow workers to receive alerts and other recommendations when they need it. It will also report on progress automatically. Machine learning allows the onboard A.I. to recognize when and what suggestions to make or which alerts to display. Actionable insight is provided to the appropriate workers in order to ensure that everything on the factory floor is running smoothly. In short, it provides a worker with the knowledge needed to solve any issues quickly. It also automates the process of reporting on production-related data and can be taught to identify problems earlier. That could drastically cut back on the amount of product and time lost to quality issues before they even arise.

In its demo at the Next conference, Plataine demonstrated that by highlighting a scenario in which a worker arrives to work and the system alerts that employee that a problem is present in the factory. That worker is able to ask for assistance in selecting materials via Google Clouds Dialogflow and the system obliges, in addition to directing the individual to the location of those. Meanwhile, those employees who are providing oversight of the factory floor have instant access to the video feed from the repair work and to other workers for real-time tracking of the floors productivity. The company hasnt provided any information with regard to when the software may be made available or at what cost. Bearing that in mind, its not difficult to see how a system like Plataines could save both time and money when it does hit the market.LG Electronics published its consolidated financial report for the second quarter of the year earlier today, revealing positive performance across a majority of segments, but not smartphones. The companys mobile division saw sales drop to $1.92 billion, losing nearly $172 million over the three-month period ending June 30. Last quarter, LGs smartphone unit managed to generate $2.01 billion in sales with under $127 million in losses and while year-on-year comparisons are generally more interesting to investors, this sequential decline is now predicted to continue throughout the second half of 2018.

LGs mobile sales also declined in terms of annual performance, with the company primarily blaming that drop to the stagnation in the global smartphone market, particularly the Latin American segment where consumers are now losing interest in entry-level and mid-range devices as they appear to be holding on to their purchases for longer or are investing in more expensive options, presumably also with the goal of increasing the longevity of their handsets. The Seoul-based original equipment manufacturer also isnt particularly optimistic regarding its prospects in the flagship segment of the Android market as its expecting rivals to up their game over the second half of the year, though it remains adamant to continue promoting the LG G7 ThinQ and LG V35 ThinQ in the coming months. The firms latest financial report gave no indication of the LG V40 ThinQ being on the horizon, though most industry watchers are expecting that model to debut no later than fall and the handset itself may end up launching under an entirely different name.

LGs vehicle component unit also lost some $30 million over the last quarter but other divisions of the tech giant were highly profitable, allowing it to generate a $13.9 billion turnover and a $715.1 million income in Q2 2018. Whereas its revenue rose by 3.2-percent compared to the same period last year, LGs second-quarter bottom line ended up being 16.1-percent higher, suggesting the companys efforts aimed at increasing its profitability have been largely successful so far.United States Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is very disappointed China didnt approve Qualcomms proposal to acquire NXP Semiconductors as part of a $44 billion deal after all other competition regulators in the world already did so, the official told CNBC on Thursday. Were just looking for U.S. companies to be treated fairly, the former investment banker said, pointing to the development as yet another example of China blocking an expansion of a U.S. company that has already been greenlit in multiple other jurisdictions.

Qualcomm confirmed its giving up on the idea of acquiring the Dutch NFC pioneer earlier today and will be paying a $2 billion termination fee to NXP. While some analysts speculated the San Diego, California-based chipmaker may opt for another extension of its tender offer for all outstanding NXP shares, the company pulled out of the deal after unsuccessfully trying to receive approval from China for nearly two years. Sources close to the tech giant recently likened Beijing to a stone wall in regards to its unwillingness to advance its antitrust review, with that passive resistance presumably being a result of the ongoing trade war between the United States and the Far Eastern country.

Qualcomm is now moving into damage control mode after spending over 20 months on convincing investors the NXP tie-up is its safest bet on long-term growth, with its Board of Directors approving a new $30 billion stock repurchase program earlier today. The move will effectively triple the companys existing repurchase initiative and create additional shareholder value in the near term but where Qualcomm goes from here remains to be seen, with the firms Thursday remarks only vaguely stating its long-term expansion ambitions remain unchanged. Washington pushed hard to save Chinas ZTE from certain bankruptcy earlier this summer, having ultimately managed to have the Commerce Departments denial order imposed over repeated violations of international trade sanctions replaced with a set of less harsh concessions. The move was interpreted as good news for Qualcomm by some industry watchers but the introduction of a 25-percent tariff on $36 billion of Chinese goods earlier this month appears to have killed any goodwill Beijing may have had following the ZTE lifeline.The upcoming Motorola One Power just received certification from TENAA, Chinas equivalent to the FCC, suggesting that its official release could be just around the corner. In addition to confirming that the device is on its way, the TENAA listing also reveals the smartphones specifications. The certification authority also posted photos of the device, showing the handsets front, back, and both sides for a good glimpse of what to expect. The Motorola One Power is listed with model number XT1942-1, has a high screen-to-body ratio, slim bezels around the display, and it will work on all of the regular network bands. It will be part of the Android One lineup of devices, although it will not be a direct successor to the Moto X4.

The Motorola One Power is expected to come with a 6.2-inch display with a resolution of 2,246 x 1,080 pixels and a display notch, which will house the 8-megapixel front camera. Under the hood the handset will pack a 1.8GHz processor that could be the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636, but its unspecified for now. TENAA further lists the smartphone in three configurations with 3GB, 4GB, and 6GB of RAM. Storage options include 32GB and 64GB of native storage space, expandable up to 128GB with the help of a microSD card. The Motorola One Power will come with two cameras on its back  a 16-megapixel shooter and a 5-megapixel camera, which should allow for good bokeh photos.

The TENAA listing also notes that the Motorola One Power will come with Android 8.1 Oreo on board out of the box, and it should offer a solid stock Android experience unencumbered by other UI skins or bloatware. Since it will launch as the Motorola One Power, the handset will also boast a massive 4,850 mAh battery, which should ensure a good performance on a single charge. Motorola has yet to confirm the upcoming device or its launch plans, but it does have an event scheduled for August 2. The new Android One smartphone could make its formal debut next Thursday at the event, then go on sale a few weeks later. Its unconfirmed until Motorola makes an official announcement, but it should all be clear soon enough.Qualcomm on Thursday officially gave up on its attempted acquisition of NXP Semiconductors valued at $44 billion after the latest deadline for the deal expired following numerous extensions. The San Diego, California-based chipmaker failed to secure an approval from Chinas antitrust watchdog, with industry sources recently claiming Beijing was unwilling to cooperate due to the trade war recently started by the United States. All other competent regulators previously greenlit the deal which was originally announced in late 2016 and ended up being beefed by several billion as part of Qualcomms strategy to defend against a hostile Broadcom takeover earlier this year. NXP will receive a $2 billion termination fee from Qualcomm as a result of the latest development.

Like previously promised, Qualcomm is now reallocating its resources toward other avenues of growth so as to offset the effect of the failed bid for Dutch NFC pioneer. To that end, the companys Board of Directors authorized $30 billion stock repurchase program which is replacing its $10 billion one thats been in force until today. The majority of the repurchase initiative will be completed in 2019, Qualcomm said. Reacquiring a significant portion of its stock will create some near-term value for Qualcomm investors but wont address the issue the NXP tie-up was meant to deal with  Qualcomms extreme reliance on its licensing business. With NXP under its corporate umbrella, the firm would have diversified its operations to a large degree, creating new synergies and moving into emerging markets such as connected vehicles in a more prominent manner.

Qualcomm said its long-term strategy for generating extra shareholder value remains unchanged, though it remains to be seen how its stock value ends up being affected by the latest development. The company is unlikely to attempt major acquisitions in the near term and should continue pursuing R&D efforts in the 5G segment, as well as continuing to advance its mobile silicon technologies, though its licensing revenue could decline in the medium term as more major clients such as Apple continue pushing against its patent royalty rates.Thursday, July 26, 2018

The Florida Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee opines

Opinion Number: 2018-18

Date of Issue: July 23, 2018

ISSUE

Must a judge disclose to an attorney that the judge has filed a bar complaint against that attorney?

ANSWER: No. However, the judge may be required to disclose such filing in certain cases to the parties which would necessitate disclosure to the reported attorney.

FACTS

The inquiring judge recently filed a complaint with the Florida Bar against an attorney who appears regularly before the Court. The judge was informed by the Bar representative that since the complaint was based on a "filing" made by the attorney, the Bar could act as the petitioner and the judge would not be named as the complainant. The Bar representative informed the inquiring judge that proceeding in this way is a courtesy extended to members of the judiciary.

The inquiring judge suggests that if he/she is not named as the petitioner in the complaint, the attorney will not know that the inquiring judge made the complaint unless the judge discloses that fact to the attorney. The judge inquires as to whether he/she is required by the Code of Judicial Ethics to disclose to the attorney that the judge filed a complaint with the Florida Bar against that attorney.

Reasoning and precedent

The issue of whether a judge must disclose the filing of a bar complaint to the parties was specifically addressed by this committee in JEAC Op. 05-16. The majority of the committee determined that a judge, who files a bar complaint against an attorney for actions of the attorney on a case pending before the judge, should disclose the filing of the bar complaint to the parties . See JEAC Op. 05-16. The committee based its opinion on the commentary to Canon 3(E)(1) which provides that a judge should disclose information to the parties that might be relevant even if the judge believes there is no basis for disqualification. Disclosure to the parties would by necessity require notification to the reported attorney under these circumstances.

The committee further addressed in JEAC Op. 05-16, whether the judge was required to disclose such filing in subsequent cases in which the attorney appears before the reporting judge. The majority of the members of the committee determined that the inquiring judge did not have to disclose the filing of the bar complaint. This opinion appears to be based only on the judge's mere reporting of the attorney's misconduct to the Bar, excluding any other factors that could call into question the judge's personal bias or prejudice concerning the reported attorney.

A judge's mere reporting of perceived unprofessional conduct to the Florida Bar, in and of itself , is not legally sufficient to support a motion for disqualification. See 5-H Corp. v. Padovano, 708 So. 2d at 248 (emphasis added). However, it is not possible to determine in each and every circumstance whether other factors may exist that, coupled with the judge's filing of a complaint with the Bar against the attorney, might support a motion for disqualification. As such, the issue of disclosure to the parties in subsequent litigation and essentially to the reported attorney should be addressed on a case-by-case basis. See Kline v. JRD Mgmt. Corp., 165 So. 3d 812, 814-15 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015).

This does not suggest that the judge is required to disclose the filing of the complaint to the attorney, absent the attorney appearing before the judge in the pending case in which the attorneys actions were reported, or in subsequent cases under circumstances beyond the judge's mere filing of the complaint with the Bar.

To the extent that this opinion differs from the committee's opinion in JEAC Op. 05-16, the same is distinguished by factors beyond the mere reporting of an attorney that would potentially call into question any personal bias or prejudice the judge may have concerning the reported attorney.

(Mike Frisch)

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2018/07/the-florida-judicial-ethics-advisory-committee-opines-opinion-number-2018-18date-of-issue-july-23-2018-issue-must-a-jud.htmlAlphabet, like most companies, hire a number of contractors to do different things for the company. And according to a report out of Bloomberg, Alphabet actually had more contractors than direct employees in the past year. Seeing as Alphabets headcount is already over 85,000 in the first quarter  and jumped to over 89,000 in the second quarter  thats a whole lot of contractors. Companies use contractors as it saves them money, but unfortunately for the contractors, it means theres very little job security.

Typically, Alphabet hires contractors for areas that it doesnt have expertise, or in areas that it needs some temporary support. This includes things like covering for parental leave or spikes in work. These contractors will cover a wide range of tasks for Alphabet, which includes custodial duties, sales jobs and even some programming positions. Alphabet will usually hire these employees through staffing firms like Adecco and Cognizant, they do still get many of the company perks that regular employees get. This includes the free food that Alphabet provides its employees. But most of the benefits come from agencies that they are hired from, which cuts costs significantly for Alphabet. But it also means that these contractors may be left with some pretty big costs. One former contractor for Google said that he had to pay around $600 per month for diabetes-related coverage, as it wasnt covered by the benefits from Google and Adecco.

Contractors can save companies like Alphabet a whole lot of money, mostly because it doesnt have to pay for benefits and it can pay them less than regular employees. Which is how many are able to cut costs and improve their profit margin on their quarterly reports. But it is interesting to see that Alphabet does have more contractors than actual employees, and itll be interesting to see how that changes in the future.Mere hours following the release of its first Galaxy Note 9 teaser hinting at great battery life, Samsung resolved to publish two more promos that suggest the companys upcoming Android flagship will also debut improvements in terms of storage space and general performance. The two clips that can be seen below are unsurprisingly vague in regards to what consumers can expect from the Galaxy Note 9 but they do dovetail with some recent reports and rumors about the handset, adding more credibility to a number of claims previously made by industry insiders.

In terms of storage, Samsung is said to be working on four flagship variants with the Galaxy Note 9 lineup, up from its usual three. The two more affordable models are said to feature 6GB of RAM and offer a choice between 64GB and 128GB of storage, whereas the other pair is believed to be sporting 8GB of RAM and either 256GB or 512GB of flash memory. While Samsung traditionally reserved the top flagship models for its home country of South Korea and China, a market in which its struggling to revitalize sales due to aggressive competition, the 512GB Galaxy Note 9 model is now rumored to be coming to the West as the most expensive Samsung handset ever.

Whereas the Galaxy S9 lineup launched earlier this year was introduced alongside a slogan The Camera. Reimagined., Samsung appears to have decided to use the a lot can change in a day tagline for teasing the debut of the Galaxy Note 9, with that particular statement being attached to all three teasers it released today. The Android-powered phablet will be officially announced in New York City on August 9, with several recent rumors pointing to August 24 as its global release date. The base model should start at approximately $960, depending on the market, thus having a similar price tag to the one attached to its 2017 predecessor. While Samsung usually announces new Galaxy Note devices in late August and releases them in September, the company is said to have accelerated that timeline this year due to weaker-than-expected Galaxy S9 sales.

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https://youtu.be/qljRd9u1UqEU.S. President Donald Trump took to Twitter earlier today to threaten the very same microblogging platform, accusing it of a discriminatory and illegal practice of censoring accounts of certain high-profile Republicans. Vice News on Wednesday reported Twitter shadow-banned select GOP members, i.e. limited their reach on the service by reducing the visibility of their tweets in its search results. President Trump said the government will look into the allegations, without elaborating on the matter. Twitter Product Lead Kayvon Beykpour dismissed the accusations, having only acknowledged that its possible the reach of select accounts was limited by the behavioral ranking mechanisms the company implemented in May in an effort to improve the quality of conversations led on its platform by combating digressions.

The functionality itself is powered by machine learning and is far from the only factor that affects tweet and profile rankings, according to the official, with the main implication of his remarks being that Twitter engaged in no systematic censorship based on political beliefs. While the firms ranking mechanism is continuously being optimized and improved, its presently unclear whether the San Francisco, California-based social media giant will be manually addressing the cases brought up by Vice News. Some of the supposedly censored account names previously werent showing up as automatic suggestions even if users specifically searched for them which should have already been broadly addressed on Wednesday after Twitter tweaked some of its behavioral algorithms, Mr. Beykpour.

President Trump didnt explain how limiting the reach of any particular demographic on Twitter may be illegal, with the social media network being run by a private company which isnt obligated to guarantee First Amendment rights to its users, even though some major names in the industry like Reddit are now choosing to do so, having consequently stirred some public controversy. President Trumps threat to Twitter comes merely a day after he harshly criticized the FCC over its unwillingness to approve the merger of cable TV juggernauts Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune, referring to the move as an unfair push against the creation of a more prominent conservative media voice in the U.S.

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Twitter SHADOW BANNING prominent Republicans. Not good. We will look into this discriminatory and illegal practice at once! Many complaints.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2018

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To be clear, our behavioral ranking doesnt make judgements based on political views or the substance of tweets. We recently publicly testified to Congress on this topic https://t.co/Zk4DL7Q3hq  Kayvon Beykpour (@kayvz) July 25, 2018Samsung Gear VR users will soon be able to download and use YouTube VR, Googles subsidiary said earlier this week. New content is also on the way and theres at least one new feature that should make YouTube VR much more enjoyable for groups of friends or family. Tying into that, the biggest change appears to be support for Samsungs Gear VR headset. At some point within the next week, according to Googles announcement, Gear VR owners will be able to participate in viewing the more than 800,000 virtual experiences already present on the platform. That means that Gear VR users will be able to join owners of Googles own Daydream View, HTCs Vive, and Sonys PlayStation VR in the above-mentioned group sessions. As with those other hardware offerings, the application will be completely free to download but users will need to download the app directly from the Oculus Store.

With regard to the new feature, that appears to be available right now and allows a communal virtual space to be created for users to watch and discuss videos together in real time in VR. Accessing the feature is relatively straightforward. Google hasnt said whether every YouTube VR video will be compatible but, for those that are, a new Watch Together icon has been added directly below the playback controls. Users will be able to create or join a party following on-screen prompts. From there, users will be able to see avatars for members of the party, animated indicators when a member is talking, and a thumbnail view of what theyre looking at or what video they are watching.

Last but not least, Google plans to new content including add backstage and other music experiences starting with Portugal. The Man and Hayley Kiyoko. Thats part of a new VR180 Rockstar VR series. Another series, called The Female Planet, that follows global female leaders is set to be launched as well. The first episode will feature Ibtihaj Muhammad, who is an activist, entrepreneur, and Olympic bronze medalist in fencing. Meanwhile, SoKrispyMedia has new content that places viewers in an action-filled game world with a racing experience. Users in that experience must try to escape a game-breaking glitch before time runs out.Country

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Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of ZimbabweBarcelonaThe fast train station in La Sagrera (Barcelona), a key transport facility that is long overdue, will not be completed in 2020, contrary to what Spains previous minister for infrastructure, PPs Inigo de la Serna, had stated only a few months ago. On Tuesday the new socialist deputy minister, Pedro Saura, admitted that the completion date was unrealistic and that the deadline wont be met. He assured that Madrid will spend up to 500m on the project, as had been forecast.

We want to be realistic: it wont be finished by 2020, Saura said in an interview with Europa Press after a meeting with his Catalan counterpart, Isidre Gavin, and the Citys councillor for Urbanism and the Environment, Janet Sanz.

Mr Saura emphasised that the current pace of construction work which started up again a few months ago following a hiatus that lasted over three years is too slow for the project to be completed in the third quarter of 2020, which means that the estimation of Rajoys administration was unrealistic. He added that the La Sagrera project requires a boost and an accord, as well as realism.

The new deputy minister for infrastructure wouldnt set a new completion date for the works and stated that it is better to work and go one step at a time than to set a date because the public are tired, he noted. Mr Saura gave his assurance that the Spanish government is committed to reactivating the La Sagrera project, which he referred to as the most important mobility project in Europe.

The City Hall has estimated that between 25 and 35 per cent of the project has been completed so far. Janet Sanz remarked that, in the light of that figure, the completion date cant be all that far off, but that 2020 was not a realistic deadline; rather, she said that they needed to get down to work so that one day the new station will be finished.

The Sant Andreu Comtal station

On the subject of the building of the Sant Andreu Comtal station, as part of Barcelonas metropolitan rail network, the local councillor explained that Madrid has vowed to put the construction contract out to tender in the autumn. The previous minister for infrastructure announced early this year that a new call for tenders would have to be made and Ms Sanz insisted that the deadline must be kept to in this case in order to win back the trust of the local residents: the administrations must show that they mean business and their commitment is unwavering.

The Catalan governments deputy minister for public works promised to work hand in hand with the Spanish authorities so that the project will pick up the pace from now on. Gavin agreed with the other officials that there is a good understanding between them and that everyone is pleased to see the project revived.Russia and Qatar signed contracts for the delivery of small arms and Kornet antitank guided missiles, Russian Ambassador to Qatar Nurmakhmad Kholov said. "An agreement on military-technical cooperation was signed in October 2017. Work on its implementation began after that. Contracts have been signed for the supply of traditional weapons, for example, small arms, Kalashnikov assault rifles, grenade launchers and machineguns, as well as Kornet antitank missile systems," he said.



Russian-made Kornet AT-14 Spriggan ATGM (Anti-Tank Guided Missile) (Picture source: Army Recognition)

Russia and Qatar are discussing a possible purchase of S-400 air defense missiles, but no specific steps have been taken so far, the ambassador said. "As for air defense systems, the S-400 and so on, the issue is being discussed, but there are no specific conclusions yet. This is probably a matter for the future, but there are no specific steps in this direction yet," the diplomat said.

Commenting on Riyadhs negative reaction to the potential deal, Kholov noted that this is a matter of relations between Moscow and Doha, and Russia will be guided by its own interests. "Saudi Arabia expressed this to both us and other European countries. However, this is a bilateral issue. I dont think that, if the issue is brought up one way or another, this will be of crucial importance," he emphasized. "However, we need to take this into account, because we are on friendly terms with all regional countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which are at odds with Qatar," Kholov went on to say. "Nevertheless, we will be guided by Russias own interests."

The intergovernmental agreement on military-technical cooperation between the two countries was signed during Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigus visit to Qatar in October 2017.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The Hays Salary Guide surveyed more than 3,000 organisations and found that just 8% cut overtime over the past 12 months.

Increased business activity and a growing shortage of highly-skilled professionals have driven up overtime in some organisations, with employers turning to their existing team to ensure workloads are completed, said Nick Deligiannis, Hays in Australia & New Zealand managing director.

Employers need to seriously consider the physical and emotional impact extra work has on their people. Can overworked employees really perform at their best? he said.

To get through hectic periods and relieve pressure on staff, there could be a good business case for adding headcount, either permanent or temporary, for many organisations, he said.

According to the survey, 26% of employers said that skill shortages are likely to have a major impact on the effective operation of businesses or departments. A further 41% expected the impact to be minor.Its been a tough year for Facebook with a seemingly endless run of allegations involving data privacy and misinformation, so perhaps its not surprising that the firms top lawyer is leaving.

Colin Stritch announced this week  on his Facebook account obviously  that he is stepping down as general counsel at the end of 2018, five years after being promoted from deputy GC.

Stritch moved from Facebooks California base to Washington DC a few years ago and said that he knew the decision would make continuing as the firms GC tricky long-term.DCT

AMG

An idea shorter than the A-Class L Sedan (Z177) built and sold in China, the newcomer also happens to be shorter than the CLA but longer in terms of wheelbase (107.4 inches compared to 106.3 inches). The extensive range of wheel designs starts with 17 inchers, though the 19-inch alloys look best on the A-Class Sedan.At launch in Europe, the V177 will be available in two flavors: A 220 and A 220 4Matic. The latter, as if it wasn't obvious enough, adds all-wheel drive to the menu for additional traction. Both models feature a turbocharged inline-four engine which develops 188 horsepower (190 PS) and 221 pound-feet (300 Nm) of torque from a displacement of two liters. Instead of a six-speed manual, the standard and only transmission available is the 7G-Hopping inside the A-Class Sedan reveals a familiar cockpit, known from the A-Class Hatchback. The entry-level trim comes with two 7.0-inch displays, one for the instrument cluster and the other for the infotainment system. Customers who want to unlock the full potential of MBUX can specify the 10.25-inch optional setup.Adding to the tech-infused character of the compact sedan, the V177 can be equipped with intelligent voice control activated by using the phrase Hey, Mercedes! and a head-up display. The Intelligent Drive system from the S-Class is also available, enabling semi-autonomous driving capability in certain conditions.Intelligent Drive is more than that, adding driver-assist and safety-oriented features such as autonomous emergency braking and lane keep assist. On that note, look forward to the first models arriving at European dealers in the following months at pricing not too different from the equivalent version of the A-Class Hatchback.Turbo diesel options will be added later on, with Mercedes-to spruce the A-Class Sedan up with the 35 and 45. The uber hatchback will take its mojo from a mild-hybrid 2.0-liter turbo with a combined output of more than 400 PSJust recently, Uber scored a small victory in London when Transport for London (TfL) reinstated its license on a temporary, trial basis. It turns out, things are about to get worse for the ride-sharing company.Mission Aviation Fellowship delivers humanitarian aid to remote locations throughout the world, and that takes a special combination of talent and utility. The organization has found a perfect marriage in the short-body Cessna Caravan attached to a pair of Wipaire 8750 amphibious floats. The 100th shipset of the 8750 floats will soon be winging its way to Indonesia aboard a new MAF Caravan.

MAF Chief David Holsten took delivery of the big machine at AirVenture 2018. The principal advantage of the 8750 system is increased buoyancy allowing an additional 400 pounds of cargo.

Multiply that increase times the thousands of flights this aircraft will be making into places where there are sometimes no roads and you can see the leverage this airplane will give us, Holsten said.

The Wipaire 8750 system also includes a 600-pound baggage capacity in two float lockers port and starboard, plus a unique single-point refueling port on the main strut that allows Jet-A to be pumped into wing tanks from the ground. The system allows for a quicker turnaround to get the airplane back on task.

You can learn more from the video below. For more information go to www.wipaire.com.After 10 years of annual gatherings, participants at the CAFE Foundations Electric Aviation Symposium are starting to get realistic about technology, business strategies and certification, executive director Yolanka Wulff told AVweb this week. There are more than 100 eVTOL projects now in development, she said. Theres a call for companies to work together, and maybe each focus on certain componentsan airframe or charging systeminstead of an entire vehicle, Wulff said. The challenges now are not only to continue to develop the technology, but also to face the barriers in place regarding infrastructure, investment and certification. I think we all recognize were not going to have 100 different companies successfully rolling out eVTOLs, she said. Investment dollars are one way that companies are going to be down-selected. However, fixed-wing electric flight is consistently making strides, Wulff said, citing aircraft by Pipistrel, Eviation and Bye Aerospace. With the Part 23 rewrite, there is a clear path to certification for those aircraft, Wulff said.

For eVTOLs, the pathway still has a long way to go. I think were going to start to see applications, but for urban air taxis, its going to take a long time for public acceptance and the regulatory structure to catch up, Wulff said. CAFE also is working to ensure that all electric aircraft will be able to use one universal type of charger, to make it more practical for pilots to travel. About 60 participants from five continents attended this years symposium. The move to Oshkosh, the weekend before AirVenture, has proved popular, Wulff said, and this year CAFE lowered the registration fee for the two-day event to $175. Also, CAFE partnered with the Vertical Flight Society to record video of all the speakers. Those videos will be available free at the CAFE website in about eight weeks. Speakers at the event represented NASA, Uber Elevate, GAMA, Aurora Flight Sciences, Boeing, Kitty Hawk and more.The California state Supreme Court ordered Starbucks Thursday to pay its employees who routinely perform tasks after their scheduled shift, such as store closings.

The backdrop: This comes after Douglas Troester, a Starbucks employee, filed a complaint in court arguing that he should get paid for his time spent closing up the shop, activating the alarm and walking coworkers to their cars  in compliance with the companys policy.

Court documents reveal that, over the 17-month period of his employment, Troesters unpaid time totaled to about 12 hours and 50 minutes. At $8 per hour (minimum wage at the time), that adds up to $102.67.

That is enough to pay a utility bill, buy a week of groceries, or cover a month of bus fares, Associate Justice Goodwin Liu wrote.

A U.S. District Court had ruled against Troester, saying that the time spent carrying out the tasks was minimal. But Liu wrote that "the facts here demonstrate, a few extra minutes of work each day can add up."

But Associate Justice Leondra Kruger said there may be times that are so brief ... or difficult to accurately measure or estimate, which might be unreasonable for an employer to account for. The case has returned to the 9th Circuit for a final decision.

A Starbucks spokesperson told Axios: "We are disappointed with the courts decision. We will await further disposition of the case before the 9th circuit as the appeal process continues."Chinese leaders are pleased President Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker reached a deal to avoid a deeper trade war, at least for now, but say no progress has been made for a similar U.S.-China deal, Caixin Global reports.

What they're saying: It is certainly a good thing to not fight a trade war, not only for the U.S. and Europe, but also for the whole world, Ministry of Commerce Spokesman Gao Feng said today. We will keep an eye on whether the two sides joint statement can get implemented. Gao added that in order to begin talks with the U.S. to resolve the trade standoff, China would need "an assurance that the other side will keep its promises  a reference to Washingtons levying of protective tariffs last month after previously promising not to do so," per Caixin's report.President Trump emerged from a trade-focused meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and said Europe will become a "massive" buyer of U.S. liquefied natural gas.

Reality check: Thus far, Asian countries and Mexico have been the main buyers of U.S. LNG as the industry has emerged in recent years, but there's room for growth in Europe as exports rise and new projects come online. But while boosting gas exports to Europe is a goal that dates back years, some analysts say there's reason to doubt that the continent will ever become a huge destination for U.S. cargoes, given its closer and less expensive options.

The intrigue: However, LNG from the U.S. and elsewhere can still affect European energy markets and geopolitics. The growth of global LNG trade provides more supply options, giving Europe more commercial leverage with Russia, a huge supplier of gas, and helping to force Gazprom into concessions.

What they're saying: "U.S. LNG is competitive in Europe on the spot market when the price is low, as it is now. In the future it will be hard to compete with piped gas from Russia and closer sources of LNG," David Goldwyn, a former senior State Department energy official and now head of the consultancy Goldwyn Global Strategies, tells Axios.

"[A]s soon as the Russians get greedy, U.S. LNG provides a ready substitute. U.S. LNG has made the global gas market competitive. But it is unlikely we will export vast quantities of LNG to Europe unless the Russians overreach. If they do we will quickly take their market share."

 David Goldwyn

Go deeper: Trump and EU call trade war truce.Everytown for Gun Safety invested $1.35 million in Lucy McBath's campaign for Congress in Georgia's 6th district ahead of the primary and run-off, which she won.

Why it matters: The group is going all-in on the midterms, but this is their first major investment in a congressional candidate. Her victory suggests that gun violence is a winning issue in 2018. McBath's son, then-17-year-old Jordan Davis, was shot and killed in Florida in 2012 by a man at a gas station over a dispute about Davis playing music loudly from his car.

McBath has volunteered with Everytown and Moms Demand Action since 2013, but is on leave since running for Congress. The group recently endorsed 16 state and local candidates, which will come with some financial investment.

What they're saying: Everytown CEO John Feinblatt said they're going to continue supporting McBath's campaign through the general election in November. "Voters want candidates who side with gun safety over the NRA," Feinblatt said.

Since her son's death, McBath has been a leading voice on gun violence. She spoke at the Democratic National Convention in 2016 with other mothers affected by gun violence.

"Youre going to see young people come out and vote in November, and I can assure you the mass shooting generation is going to be a single-issue voter," Feinblatt added.

Be smart: Democrats were crushed when Jon Ossoff lost the congressional special election in Georgia's 6th district in 2017. McBath is giving them new hope in finally reclaiming that seat, which would be crucial to taking back the House.

Go deeper: Youth voter registration spiked in battleground states after Parkland.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal to organize a summit with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow because he didn't want to undercut President Trump's forthcoming Middle East peace plan, according to Israeli officials.

Why it matters: Netanyahu and Abbas haven't met since September 2010. This is the second time Netanyahu has rejected such a proposal from Putin, after another offer in September 2016. Putin's new attempt to inject himself into the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is a challenge to the Trump administration, which has been working on a peace plan for the last 18 months. The White House "peace team," which is being boycotted by the Palestinian leadership, still hasn't decided if and when to launch its proposal.

On Monday Netanyahu met with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, who arrived in Israel for talks on Syria.The death of Otto Warmbier last year amid allegations he was brutally tortured by the North Korean government became a catalyst for President Trump's June summit with dictator Kim Jong-un, but the circumstances of his death may not be so clear, Doug Bock Clark writes for GQ.

The big picture: No one knows exactly what happened to Warmbier during his 17 months in captivity  only that he was returned to his family with severe brain damage attributed, without evidence, to botulism. But after six months of reporting and conversations with dozens of North Korea experts, Clark found that the chances Warmbier's condition was caused by physical torture may be equally unlikely.

Flashback: In January 2015, Warmbier was arrested in North Korea for allegedly stealing a propaganda poster from a restricted area of his hotel. He confessed to the crime during a televised news conference while reading from a handwritten script, one expert says was likely drafted by the North Koreans, and was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.

What they're saying, per Clark's reporting:

Other Americans detained in North Korea say Warmbier was likely brought to a guesthouse run by the North Korean secret police  quite luxurious in comparison to domestic prison camps.

say Warmbier was likely brought to a guesthouse run by the North Korean secret police  quite luxurious in comparison to domestic prison camps. "For the next two months , until his forced confession, Otto would probably have been relentlessly interrogated. ... The goal wasn't to extract the truth but to construct the fabulation that Otto read off handwritten notes at his news conference."

, until his forced confession, Otto would probably have been relentlessly interrogated. ... The goal wasn't to extract the truth but to construct the fabulation that Otto read off handwritten notes at his news conference." When Warmbier was brought home , his family used damage to his teeth and foot as evidence that he was beaten. The narrative that Warmbier was tortured was used by the Trump administration as a basis for escalating tensions with North Korea, but just one of the dozen experts Clark interviewed believes there was "even a remote likelihood that he had been beaten."

, his family used damage to his teeth and foot as evidence that he was beaten. The narrative that Warmbier was tortured was used by the Trump administration as a basis for escalating tensions with North Korea, but just one of the dozen experts Clark interviewed believes there was "even a remote likelihood that he had been beaten." That is not to say that Warmbier wasn't psychologically tortured, however, and "the likelihood that his brain damage happened immediately after the sentencing...raises the possibility that he may have attempted suicide."

The bottom line: Medical examinations show that reports about Warmbier being physically beaten were likely wrong  and yet the Trump administration continued to spread that narrative even after that reality came to light.American pastor Andrew Brunson was released from prison in Turkey on Wednesday after being imprisoned for more than a year and a half on terrorism charges, according to the U.S. State Department.

The details: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called it a "positive development," but added, "it is not enough. We have seen no credible evidence against Mr. Brunson, and we call on Turkish authorities to resolve his case immediately in a transparent and fair manner." Axios has previously reported that senior Trump administration officials assume Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is using Brunson to force the U.S. to extradite Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish dissident living in Pennsylvania who Erdogan believes has been organizing a revolution against him.

President Trump has called for the release of Brunson twice this year calling it a "total disgrace" that Turkey has not released the pastor.

A tweet previously embedded here has been deleted or was tweeted from an account that has been suspended or deleted.

Brunson, 50, an evangelical pastor from North Carolina, had denied the charges. The Associated Press reports that if convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison for the failed coup attempt. Brunson could also get another 20 years if found guilty of espionage.Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Jiangling Motors Co., Group (JMCG) and Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL) signed a strategic cooperation agreement on July 25, in the presence of Qiu Tiangao, secretary of the party committee and chairman of JMCG, as well as Zeng Yuqun, chairman and founder of CATL.

According to the agreement, both parties will conduct strategic cooperation in various key models, and they also reached a preliminary agreement on deepening long-term strategic cooperation further. Both parties will vigorously explore a highly-efficient and practical cooperation mode to jointly improve their sustainable development and innovation abilities as well as powerful core competitiveness, by making full use of their advantages in their respective industry.

JMCG, one of China's crucial new energy vehicle makers, ranked fifth among all NEV makers in NEV sales during 2017. CATL is a world-renowned EV battery giant. After they signed the cooperation agreement, JMCG and CATL will further strengthen the cooperation in technology, market and brand, in order to realize complimentary advantages and win-win cooperation.

CATL has established and enhanced its partnerships with a slew of automakers in July. On July 4, Dongfeng Motor and CATL's JV dubbed Dongfeng Amperex (Wuhan) Battery System Co., Ltd. finished construction and started production, marking a significant progress for the cooperation between Dongfeng Motor and CATL. On July 17, CATL signed a strategic cooperation agreement with BMW Brilliance and will further deepen the cooperation with the joint venture. On July 19, GAC Group announced that it plans to sign a joint venture operation contract with CATL in Guangzhou. The two companies intended to jointly invest and establish two joint ventures in Guangzhou, which will be temporarily named as GAC Amperex Power Battery System Co., Ltd. and Amperex GAC Power Battery Co., Ltd.The U.S. is pressing Israel to implement a deal is has signed several years ago with Jordan for building the Red-Dead joint project  a pipeline that connects the Red Sea and the Dead Sea, Israeli and U.S. officials tell me.

Why it matters: The project, which is set to be built in Jordanian territory, is the biggest and most strategically important infrastructure project in Jordan to date and is one of the main areas of cooperation between Israel and Jordan. The projects includes water desalinization, energy and tourism facilities. Two key goals are to save the Dead Sea, which is gradually shrinking, and cement the Israeli-Jordanian relationship for generations to come. The U.S. is a central partner in the project and is also supposed to provide $100 million in funding.

The agreement between Israel and Jordan was already signed several years ago, but last summer Israel froze the project in an attempt to use it as leverage to get the Jordanians to reopen the Israeli embassy in Amman. When the embassy crisis ended several months ago the Jordanians expected Israel to unfreeze it, but the Israelis refused.

Seven Israeli officials who are intimately involved in the project described to me what happened behind the scenes in the last few months to fuel Israeli-Jordanian tensions over the project:

In early June, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's chief economic adviser, Avi Simhon, met in Amman with Jordan's minister of water. Simhon is staunchly against the project and thinks it value doesnt warrant the financial investment of almost $150 million. Simhon presented to his Jordanian counterparts an alternative project called Med-Dead  a pipeline in Israeli territory to connect the Mediterranean Sea and the Dead Sea.

The Jordanians were shocked by the Israel flip-flop after years of joint efforts on the project, and rejected Simhon's proposal outright. Senior Jordanian officials called White House officials and raised their concerns that Israel appeared to be trying to pull out of the project, requesting U.S. intervention.

Weeks earlier, in mid-June, Netanyahu arrived in Amman for his first public meeting with King Abdullah since 2014. Netanyahu raised in the meeting again Israel's Med-Dead proposal but did not present it as an alternative to the original project. The Jordanian king rejected the proposal and told Netanyahu he will not discuss a new project before the old one is implemented.

"I want an answer in 60-90 says. If you want to pull out of the project we will implement it on our own".

 King Abdullah to Netanyahu

The Trump administration joined the Jordanian pressure on Israel. U.S. ambassador to Jerusalem David Friedman, White House Special Envoy Jason Greenblatt and Senior Adviser Jared Kushner raised the issue with their Israeli counterparts.

the Jordanian pressure on Israel. U.S. ambassador to Jerusalem David Friedman, White House Special Envoy Jason Greenblatt and Senior Adviser Jared Kushner raised the issue with their Israeli counterparts. A national security council spokesman told me: "The United States told Israel that the U.S. supports the project and expects Israel to live up to its obligations under the Red-Dead agreement or find a suitable alternative that is acceptable to Israel and Jordan."

What's next: Netanyahu still hasn't made a decision on the project, which has both political and economic implications for Israel. A senior cabinet minister told me Netanyahu doesnt like the project economically but understands he needs it diplomatically. A senior Israeli official said Netanyahu is expected to make his decision within weeks, and added it will likely be a positive decision.President Trump tweeted Thursday that the U.S. "will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson," and once again called for Brunson's immediate release.

"The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being. He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!"

The backstory: Brunson was detained after the 2016 failed coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He was released from prison yesterday but remains under house arrest, facing terrorism and espionage charges, which he vehemently denies. His detention is a further point of contention with Erdogan  with whom Trump had personally been friendly despite his increasingly authoritarian behavior.Gas has loomed large in President Trumps recent diplomatic dealings: In his meeting with NATO heads of state in Brussels, Trump called Germany captive to Russian gas, and in his Helsinki summit with Vladimir Putin, he made the unusual move of fielding regulatory proposals from the Russian president to prevent plummeting prices in the international gas markets.

Why it matters: For better or worse, U.S. foreign policy is contributing to uncertainty among the three countries with the largest gas reserves  Iran, Russia and Qatar  raising alarm among major Asian and European gas importers looking for secure supply sources.

Following the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, the Trump administration has promised to reimpose energy-sector sanctions on Iran, effectively freezing investment on new developments in the market with the worlds largest gas reserves. A third gas giant, Qatar, waits in vain for a U.S.brokered end to its economic blockade by neighboring Saudi Arabia and UAE.

The Trump administrations trade policy has added to the unease in global gas markets. American liquefied natural gas (LNG) could be subject to 25% tariffs from Beijing in the next round of tit-for-tat escalation. That would create a strong headwind for U.S. LNG exporters keen to profit from the worlds fastest-growing LNG importer.

As it is, U.S. LNG developers are already alarmed by the Section 232 tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, which have increased the cost of new domestic LNG projects. Delays in NAFTA talks have also raised questions around cross-border gas pipeline projects, at a time when U.S. producers are desperate to move surging supplies to fast-growing markets south of the border.

Meanwhile, Wednesdays U.S.EU trade agreement reportedly includes provisions for Europe to import what Trump claims will be massive amounts of U.S. liquified natural gas (LNG).

The bottom line: The U.S. has long been seen as a low-risk source of LNG in the global market, especially since its exports are in the hands of the private sector and somewhat shielded from political interference  a key difference from several rival exporters. Nonetheless, the turbulent foreign policy and trade dealings in Washington could prevent the sector from reaching its full potential, as politics edges further into dynamics that have traditionally been market-led.

Robert Johnston is CEO of Eurasia Group and a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center.Don Blankenships bid to appear on the Senate ballot as a third-party candidate has been denied by Mac Warner, West Virginia Secretary of State, who argues that the bit would violate the state's "sore loser" or "sour grapes" law, which says a candidate who lost in the primary is prohibited from launching a bid in the general election.

Why it matters: This is a win for Republicans seeking to secure enough votes against Democratic incumbent Sen. Joe Manchin in the general election this fall, as the decision helps prevent Blankenship supporters from placing their votes elsewhere.By Rashid Shirinov

The new Armenian leadership is presently trying in vain to make the world believe that the victory of the velvet revolution has allegedly turned Armenia into a really democratic country that is ready to move forward to a bright future. Almost three months have passed since Nikol Pashinyan came to power in the country, but he has not yet presented an economic program with which he is going to lead Armenia to the promised progress and development.

The prime minister talks a lot about democratic reforms, struggle against corruption, large-scale investments, development of tourism and other components of the future economic boom that Armenia will allegedly enjoy soon. However, so far he can only present a bizarre model of replenishment of the state budget  by robbing the robbers. Today, many high officials, businessmen and financial magnates who are closely connected with the former ruling regime are deliberately persecuted in Armenia.

Pashinyans statement after the recent NATO summit in Brussels is particularly noteworthy in this regard: I believe that we are fighting corruption in the country quite effectively. When a European official said that they are ready to allocate funds within a program for Armenia, I replied with the name of a well-known corrupt official and said that if we shake him out properly, this amount will fall out of his pockets.

Thus, these words make it clear that the new government of Armenia intends to selectively take money from the rich, since it has not yet developed a specific serious economic plan.

The persecution of rich people has already caused panic among entrepreneurs and owners of large fortunes. The commotion in the business environment of Armenia began in late April, when the people learned about the victory of the revolution. At that time, there was a sharp increase in the flow of capital withdrawn from the country.

Large companies and holdings regularly withdraw considerable funds from the country. The money is mainly transferred to Russia, the U.S. and neighboring Georgia. The head of the Alternative analytical center, doctor of economics Tatul Manaseryan has recently told Armenian media that the annual capital outflow from Armenia to Georgia in the tourism sector alone is about $300 million.

It is also noteworthy that small and medium-sized business people in Armenia are also not happy with the new government, since its attempt to totally document the turnover has dealt a blow to their businesses. The entrepreneurs complain that as a result of excessive documentation, their tax burden has increased, but the turnover remained the same.

In summary, one can say that the Armenian prime minister is taking steps to eradicate corruption in the country, but it is obvious that he chose a totally wrong way of doing that. If he keeps this up, the Armenian economy may receive a much stronger blow because of the constant capital outflow that began when Pashinyan came to power and is still ongoing.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Rashid Shirinov

Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan leaves no space for the development of prospects for the negotiation process, Russian historian and political analyst Oleg Kuznetsov told Day.az on July 26.

He was commenting on the recent statements of the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan regarding the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, in which the Armenian leader reaffirmed his inadmissible position on the involvement of Karabakh separatists in the negotiation process.

Kuznetsov noted that Pashinyan did not say anything fundamentally new in his speech.

Moreover, the Armenian prime minister has once again confirmed the immutability of his foreign policy on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which, in fact, has already been led back to the situation of summer 1994, the expert mentioned.

Kuznetsov added that Pashinyan radically rejects all the few Armenian-Azerbaijani agreements that have been achieved over the past 25 years with Russias diplomatic mediation.

All his efforts in this direction are aimed at destroying all the stunted sprouts of the negotiation process that were raised under Russian mediation, the political analyst said.

Armenia and Azerbaijan 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 Azerbaijan 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.

Baku, in turn, has repeatedly expressed its consent to come to the negotiating table with Yerevan to finally resolve the conflict by peaceful means, but Armenia continues to play for time and avoids substantive negotiations in order to preserve the status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Naila Huseynli

Vodafone Ukraine, a mobile operator, is interested in the implementation of the Call Signature solution of Azerbaijans Digital Services Company (DSC).

The product has been recently presented to the operator, which is interested in its deployment for its subscribers.

The integration process is rather complicated, due to which technical specialists and lawyers of Vodafone Ukraine will have to study all the details regarding the deployment of this service, a source in the company told Trend. In addition to Vodafone Ukraine, the Call Signature service will be offered to other mobile operators in Ukraine, because it becomes much more interesting to use the service when it is deployed by all mobile operators, as it was implemented in the Azerbaijani market.

Call Signature service allows subscribers of mobile operators to subscribe to each call, and the subscriber who is being called, can see not only the number, but also the signature that the caller has chosen. In this case, the caller's signature can be displayed on the screen, even if the number is not registered in the contacts.

The service is available in the networks of all three mobile operators of Azerbaijan - Bakcell, Azercell and Azerfon (Nar).

Fixed-line broadband market penetration has grown moderately over the last five years. Currently, these mobile operators offer 3G, 4G services.

Recently, Azerbaijan mobile operators move towards 5G and it is ranked 13th out of 34 with a Telecoms Maturity Index score of 43.

The statistic also shows the number of mobile-cellular subscriptions in Azerbaijan from 2000 to 2016.

Since 2016, the mobile electronic signature Asan Imza (Mobile ID), a mobile identity with which one can confirm identity when accessing e-services and give digital signatures, is of particular interest to Ukraine. In the same year Ukrainian delegation visited Baku and the parties discussed a number of issues on the application of technology.

In September 2016 at the PKI Forum of Ukraine the analogue of Mobile ID the technology was presented with the possibility in a test mode to sign a document with the national certificate of the electronic digital signature of Ukraine. The pilot signing of the document between Azerbaijan and Ukraine took place with the technical support of the company "B.EST Solutions", which is the operator of the Asan Imza service, the certification center of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and the Asan Certification Services Center under the Ministry of Taxes of Azerbaijan.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Rashid Shirinov

Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) and Azercosmos may establish cooperation aimed at the production of new gamma-ray detectors and ionizing particles based on micro-pixel silicon optic amplifiers for small satellites, Vice-President of ANAS, academician Ibrahim Guliyev said on July 26.

He made the remarks at the meeting of the ANAS Strategic Research Center (SRC) and Azercosmos, which was also attended by Head of the SRC, doctor of political science Fatali Abdullayev, Azercosmos Chairman Rashad Nabiyev, as well as representatives of the ANAS Institute of Radiation Problems and the National Aviation Academy.

During the meeting, head of the SRC laboratory, Ph.D. in physics Farid Ahmadov said in his presentation that new samples of MSFD photodiodes were produced at the NanoFab Center in South Korea in 2015-2016 on the basis of the device proposed by the SRC.

He noted that having compared these photodiodes with the latest products of the Japanese company Hamamatsu, experts recognized their advantage. Some research centers and production companies of foreign countries showed an interest in the photodiodes.

Ahmadov further listed the requirements necessary for the manufacture of ionizing radiation detectors based on these photodiodes and spoke about the applications of MSFD photodiodes.

Stressing the strategic importance of the project, Abdullayev said it is necessary to reconsider the issues related to its implementation and to focus on establishing relations with companies within the project.

Nabiyev, in turn, stressed the need to support research in this area and added that it is important to study experience of ANAS in this field.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Laman Ismayilova

YARAT Contemporary Art Space invites you to the poetry event held as part of Literature Club on July 26.

The 20th century is called the best and at the same time, the most complicated period in the history of the Russian poetry. Revolution, war, expatriation and repressions.

The century had no compassion on anyone. It both gave rise to geniuses and masterpieces and owned the destructive and lethal power.

The poetry evening titled "the Arrival of the Train" will feature the story of the Russian poets, victimized by the merciless century.

Graduates and students of the Baku branch of the Moscow State University: Atika Aliyeva, Eldar Janashvili, Aisha Rahimova, Aidan Hajiyeva, Leila Kurbanova will take part in the event.

Language: Russian

Time: 19:00

Free admission

YARAT is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to nurturing an understanding of contemporary art in Azerbaijan and to creating a platform for Azerbaijani art, both nationally and internationally. Based in Baku, YARAT (meaning CREATE in Azerbaijani) was founded by Aida Mahmudova in 2011.

It realizes its mission through an on-going program of exhibitions, education events and festivals. YARAT facilitates exchange between local and international artistic networks including foundations, galleries and museums.

YARAT comprises YARAT Art Centre, ARTIM Proj

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Sara Israfilbayova

Energy Minister of Azerbaijan Parviz Shahbazov met with a delegation led by Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy at the African Union Commission Amani Abou-Zeid.

The guest was interested in Azerbaijans experience in the development of energy and prospects for cooperation with Azerbaijan in this sector.

Shahbazov spoke about the role of the energy sector in the development of the countrys economy, the implementation of international oil and gas contracts, and the implementation of global energy projects.

Also, the guests were informed about the ongoing reforms in the electric power industry, planned activities for the use of renewable energy sources, energy cooperation with neighboring countries.

It should be noted that SOCAR has offices in a number of African countries, implementing profit-making projects there.

SOCAR is a wholly state-owned national oil company headquartered in Baku, Azerbaijan. The company produces oil and natural gas from onshore and offshore fields in the Azerbaijani section of the Caspian Sea.

The company includes three production associations, one oil refining and gas processing enterprise, an oil flotilla, a deep-water base plant, two trusts, one institute, and 23 structures.

SOCAR established joint companies (including Georgia and Turkey), alliances, operating in various sectors of oil and gas spheres. It has representative offices in Georgia, the U.S., Turkey, Romania, Austria, Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Great Britain, Iran, Germany, Ukraine, Belgium and Canada.

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Sara Israfilbayova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Sara_999Is

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Sara Israfilbayova

SOCAR-AQS and the British company KCA Deutag established a joint venture, called Turan Engineering-Drilling Company.

Speaking at the event, SOCAR-AQS CEO Ramin Isayev noted that the company began drilling operations in 2008, and achieved many accomplishments.

The joint venture will become an Azerbaijani enterprise combining the experience of SOCAR-AQS and KCA Deutag, and operating in full compliance with all advanced international standards. This enterprise, which will offer customers the most advanced drilling and engineering services, will play very important role in the development of local and regional drilling industry, Isayev noted.

CEO of KCA Deutag Norri Makkey said that the joint venture will create new opportunities, adding that this joint venture will explore business opportunities also outside of Azerbaijan, in the Caspian regions.

First Vice President of SOCAR Khoshbakht Yusifzadeh, in turn, wished success to the newly created joint venture, expressed confidence that with the help of both companies the work will be even more successful.

SOCAR-AQS LLC was established in 2007 as an integrated drilling and well services management company between the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and Absheron Drilling Company (AQS) in 2007.

Currently, SOCAR-AQS implements works on drilling the wells from fixed platforms 7 and 11 located on Shallow Water Gunashli Field, fixed platform 20 on the West Absheron fixed platform 1 located on Umid Field and from fixed platform 6 located on the Bulla Field.

SOCAR is a wholly state-owned national oil company headquartered in Baku, Azerbaijan. The company produces oil and natural gas from onshore and offshore fields in the Azerbaijani section of the Caspian Sea.

The company includes three production associations, one oil refining and gas processing enterprise, an oil flotilla, a deep-water base plant, two trusts, one institute, and 23 structures.

SOCAR established joint companies (including Georgia and Turkey), alliances, operating in various sectors of oil and gas spheres. It has representative offices in Georgia, the U.S., Turkey, Romania, Austria, Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Great Britain, Iran, Germany, Ukraine, Belgium and Canada.

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Sara Israfilbayova is AzerNews staff journalistBy Sara Israfilbayova

World oil prices are growing on July 26 on news about Saudi Arabias suspension of raw materials exports through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait after the attack on an oil tanker in the Red Sea.

Brent crude oil futures rose 0.6 percent to $74.35 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Crude futures were also up 5 cents to $69.35 to the barrel, according to Reuters.

Khalid A. Al-Falih, Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia said that the kingdom decided to halt oil exports through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait after the attack on the oil tanker in the Red Sea by Yemeni rebels.

Yemeni rebels from the Ansar Allah movement (Houthis) attacked the Saudi oil tanker on July 25.

According to al-Falih, two tankers of the Saudi national transport company were attacked, each of which transported two million barrels of oil. Minor damage was received by one of the tankers. None of the crew was injured. Through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, passes a significant part of international trade routes, including key supplies of energy and food.

Contribute to the growth of the cost of oil is also the statistics from the U.S. On July 25, the countrys Energy Ministry reported that commercial oil reserves in the U.S. (excluding the strategic reserve) for the week ended on July 20 fell by 6.1 million barrels, or 1.5 percent, to 404.9 million barrels. Thus, the level of stocks has shown a minimum since February 2015.

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.

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Sara Israfilbayova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Sara_999Is

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Turkmenistan intends to put forward its candidacy for membership in the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs for 2020-2023 in order to actively participate in the efforts of the world community to combat drugs, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

This issue is expected to be considered during the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly, which will be held in New York in late September.

Drug trafficking continues to be a serious concern, and remains a threat to international peace and security. Turkmenistan has a border with Afghanistan, the territory of which, according to the UN, is actively used for cultivation of drugs.

Turkmenistan is actively cooperating with the UN, being a party to three international conventions on combating illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, adopted by the UN in 1961, 1971 and 1988.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Russian automaker AvtoVAZ PJSC is exploring all possible opportunities for increasing its presence in the Uzbek market, the Russian company told Trend on July 24.

At the same time, the company is currently represented in the Uzbek market in the low price segment and the recently introduced benefits in the country for cars with prices exceeding $40,000 and electric vehicles will not affect the company.

"The cost of the most expensive model, LADA Vesta SW Cross, with the most expensive options does not exceed $17,000 in the market of Uzbekistan. The change in duties for cars that do not compete with LADA in any other price segments will not affect the sales of our brand in any way," the company noted.

The representative of the Russian company also added that AvtoVAZ currently has no plans to produce cars with electric or hybrid engines.

In 1H2018, the Russian automaker AvtoVAZ tripled its sales in Uzbekistan compared to the same period in 2017.

It was earlier reported that Uzbekistan will implement zero customs duty on import of cars produced no more than two years ago and costing $40,000 or more.

The excise tax on such cars will be 20 percent of the customs value.

Zero customs duty will be applied to electric vehicles as well.

The new rates of customs duties for the two categories of cars imported into Uzbekistan will come into force from January 1, 2019.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Kamila Aliyeva

A new 110-kilovolt power transmission line was commissioned in Turkmenistan on July 26.

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov in his address to the participants of the opening ceremony of the Rabat-KashanKalay-Nau power transmission line, said that the line has become the result of effective cooperation between Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, based on the principles of friendship, brotherhood and good-neighborliness.

The Rabat-KashanKalay-Nau power line that is being commissioned today is yet another example of constructive steps taken by Turkmenistan towards boosting supplies of electric energy to neighboring countries.

In addition to the existing ImamnazarAndkhoy and SerhetabatHerat lines, the new power line will become the first to deliver additional volumes of electricity along the KerkiHamyapGarkyn, Marchak (Turkmenistan)Marchak (Afghanistan) and Rabat-KashanKalay-Nau routes.

Its capacity will reach 100 megawatts per hour. Commissioning of these power lines will help boost electricity supplies to different provinces of Afghanistan.

Currently, there are 13 power plants in Turkmenistan. Six new power plants have been built in the last five years alone.

Earlier it was reported that the total amount of electricity produced in Turkmenistan by 2024 is planned to be increased up to 33 billion kilowatt-hours, which is 27.2 percent more than the amount planned for 2018.

Turkmenistan sells electricity to Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey. Official Ashgabat is also studying the prospects of supplies to the markets of the Caucasus, as well as Central and South Asia.

The Central Asian countrys electricity export ambitions are getting strong support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which announced its intensions to provide $150 million to advance Turkmenistans electric interconnections with neighboring countries in its Country Operations Business Plan for 2018-2019.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Kazakhstans Ministry of Agriculture has imposed temporary restrictions on the chicken import from Russia, said a message from the ministry.

Veterinary Control and Supervision Committee of the ministry has taken such a decision due to new outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus, said the message.

The avian influenza virus has been found in Orlovsk, Rostov and Nizhny Novgorod regions of Russia.

Aside from poultry meat, the restrictions have been imposed on import of live chickens, hatching eggs, feathers, all kinds of poultry products that have not undergone heat treatment (at least 70  C), feed and feed additives for birds, as well as hunting trophies not treated with taxidermist.

Moreover, Kazakhstan has imposed restrictions on the import of equipment used in the Orlovsk, Rostov and Nizhny Novgorod regions of Russia for bird slaughter and cutting.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Kamila Aliyeva

The hopes of the new Armenian authorities who relied on their rebel image are collapsing one after another.

First, in early July, the calculation of financial reinforcement caused by the growth of European sympathies for Yerevan collapsed.

There was also a reliance on the effectiveness of blackmailing Russia by changing the political course of Armenia. It was expected that for the sake of preserving Armenia in its orbit Moscow would go on all terms, including reducing the price of gas supplied.

However, Moscow proved to be a tough nut to crack and not only did not succumb to blackmail, but also put the traitor in an incomprehensible position. Armenia should have thought twice about the proverb if you run after two hares, you will catch neither.

Russia has already made a political decision, the newspaper Hraparak (Square) reported. It says that when the term of the current agreement with Armenia expires at the end of the year, the price for gas will be raised.

As one of the Russian experts told the publication, in order this step was not commented as unfriendly towards the Armenian partner in the EAEU, Russia will raise gas prices for Belarus as well, but, then, it will be decreased.

The price for gas for Armenia will not be reduced, as the new Armenian authorities are not trusted, he said.

Such a decision by the Russian side is unlikely to surprise anyone. After Nikol Pashinyan came to power, Yerevan did everything to spoil relations with Moscow. And in this regard success was achieved.

The branch of the Russian energy giant Gazprom, Gazprom Armenia, has a monopoly on the supply and distribution of Russian natural gas in the domestic market of Armenia and owns all gas distribution networks.

In early summer, Gazprom's Board of Directors agreed on the acquisition of 5.248 million additional ordinary shares of Gazprom Armenia for 26.38 billion drams, as a result of which the share of Gazprom in the authorized capital of Armrosgazprom was increased from 80 percent to 100 percent.

Gazprom is the only shareholder of Gazprom Armenia. As part of the Gas Transportation System (GTS) of Armenia, there are 1,682.2 km of gas pipelines.

Russian gas is sold to Armenia at the border at $ 150 per cubic meter. This, it seems, is not so much, but three times more than the price for Russian consumers, which outrages the Armenian side, that believes that the price in one economic space should be unified. In Armenia, for some reason, it is believed that local enterprises should buy gas not at 103-118 drams per cubic meter, but for 42-51 drams, as Russian ones.

An agreement, according to which Armenia actually pledged to buy gas only from Gazprom, was signed in December 2013.

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzSome Restrictions on Oregon Coast Fires Lifted; Beach Fires Still Banned

Published 07/25/2018 at 3:42 PM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff





(Lincoln City, Oregon)  Beach bonfires on the Oregon coast are still banned, but Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) has lifted the ban on campfires and open flames in parks along the coast effective July 25.

In a notice sent out today  July 25  OPRD said the difference is that campfires of any kind had been banned in coastal campground parks such as Cape Lookout State Park or Fort Stevens State Park. That ban has been lifted for coastal parks only: all other state parks around Oregon or beaches cannot have open campfires.

The ban applies to wood, charcoal and other sources that cannot be turned off with a valve. Those flame sources with a valve, including propane sources, are allowed on beaches and coastal parks but not any other inland state park.

One week ago, state officials banned open campfires of any kind on both beaches and state parks due to extremely dry conditions and the states fire-fighting resources stretched so thin. Gov. Kate Browns declaration of a fire emergency throughout the state prompted the ban at the time, which is now extended at least one other week.

Next week, the ban will be evaluated again based on weather, resource conditions and input from Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) and other state and local fire officials.

An unusually high number wildfires are burning throughout Oregon, although so far nothing on the Oregon coast.

OPRD deputy director MG Devereux said in a press release the risk for accidental fires, however small, is too great, even on the Oregon coast. The main issue is the that many local fire departments have been sending firefighters to deal with some of the large fires around the state. This leaves these areas vulnerable.

We understand this is an inconvenience for campers, especially those who might not see the immediate need for local fire restrictions, said Devereux. We appreciate the publics patience and their willingness to help protect our natural areas.

Visitors planning a trip to a state park should check for up-to-date information about fire restrictions at this link or by calling the state parks info line at 800-551-6949. Oregon Coast Lodgings for this event - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours

Other Oregon Coast Travel Advice: As temperatures close in on 100 for the weekend in many inland areas, lodging openings on the beaches are tight. To find availability you must book ahead as many lodgings are already experiencing a shortage of rooms to begin with because they do not have the cleaning staff to maintain rooms. Numerous hotels on the coast are actually only able to rent out a small portion of their actual rooms because of this staff shortage.

To find lodging openings on the Oregon coast to get away from the heat, see the heatwave lodging availability page. Note that many in Seaside may already be booked because of conventions over the weekend.











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All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permittedN. Oregon Coast Events Feature Filmmaker, Intriguing Mystery Novelist

Published 07/24/2018 at 2:42 AM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff





(Seaside, Oregon)  A famed Oregon filmmaker and a rising star in the mystery novel genre are making a splash on the north Oregon coast this week, with two events that spell intrigue and the spellbinding. Manzanita boasts an appearance by a major name in Oregons film scene, while Tillamooks history museum features a mystery writer who has done some inserting of these beach towns into her novels. (Above: Rockaway Beach, where one writer's mystery novels are inspired from).

Portland filmmaker Kelley Baker is on display in the north Oregon coast town of Manzanita on July 27. The Hoffman Center for the Arts features a set of his short films that night, and Baker will be there to talk about his work and answer questions.

The presentation happens at 7:30 p.m. Admission will be $5.

Baker is an Oregon native who graduated from the University of Southern California film school, only to return home later. He has written and directed three full-length features: Birddog, The Gas Cafe, and Kicking Bird, along with eight short films and several documentaries.

His works have aired on PBS, Canadian and Australian television, and have been shown at film festivals, including London, Sydney, Annecy, Sao Paulo, Sundance, Chicago, Aspen, Mill Valley, and Edinburgh.

He is also the author of three books: The Angry Filmmaker Survival Guide, Road Dog and Parts One and Two.

Baker is also know for his work with other filmmakers, including being the sound designer on six of Gus Van Sants feature films, including My Own Private Idaho, Good Will Hunting, and Finding Forrester.

Hoffman Center for the Arts. 594 Laneda Avenue. Manzanita, Oregon. (503) 368-3846. hoffmanarts.org.

At 3 p.m. on Saturday, July 28, the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum brings in the famed author of two mystery novels set on the Oregon coast. Katherine Bolger Hyde (at right) recently penned "Bloodstains with Bronte," the second in her Crime with the Classics series that takes place in this region. Both are set in the semi-fictional town of Stoney Beach, a place strikingly similar to Rockaway Beach.

Katherine's first book about Stoney Beach was "Arsenic with Austen" and was such a hit Katherine had to return to Rockaway to get inspired for her Bronte book.

Katherine spent her career as an editor before venturing into writing. The setting of Crime with the Classics was inspired by her annual writing pilgrimage to Rockaway Beach on the Oregon coast. Katherine makes her home in the redwoods of Santa Cruz County with her husband, the youngest of her four children, and two obstreperous cats. When not reading, writing, or editing for her day job, she can generally be found knitting while watching British mystery series or singing in the choir at St. Lawrence Orthodox Church.

This program is free and open to the public. Tillamook County Pioneer Museum. Tillamook, Oregon. tcpm.org. 503-842-4553. Lodging in Manzanita, Wheeler - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours













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All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permittedBeaumont Police Department is asking for the public's help in identifying a suspect.

The woman is believed to have tried to pass a forged check with a fake Texas ID on June 28, officials say.As KKR prepares to acquire Envision Healthcare and Optum continues to grow Surgical Care Affiliates, other large healthcare and ASC chains are taking note. During the 2018 second quarter conference call transcribed in Seeking Alpha, HCA CEO R. Milton Johnson faced questions about whether the company would need to expand its ASC business; the short answer was no.

When asked about whether the company would make a bigger push to expand the ASC line through acquisitions, he said, "We're pleased with our ASC operations today. We have been selectively adding to the number of ASCs we operate. We will continue to look for appropriate opportunities to add outpatient services, especially ASCs in our business."

For the second quarter, the company reported same-facility outpatient surgeries increased 2.6 percent year over year, while same-facility inpatient surgeries were up 1.7 percent. HCA currently operates around 1,800 sites of care, including many ASCs. However, HCA isn't feeling rushed by current market activity.

HCA President and COO Samuel Hazen said during the call that acquisitions are still a part of the company's network development. "We've added some outpatient facilities here and there, some physician clinics, one of which that was sizeable in Austin, Texas, that supported our network there. So we continue to do these tuck-ins. We have, over the last year, added a few hospitals, and we'll continue to look for those as they surface. And as long as they make sense strategically and financially, we will pursue them with the same kind of disciplined approach we had in the past."

Mr. Hazen said the company was pleased with outpatient surgical growth in the quarter, due in part to physician recruitment and ASC development.

"I don't feel compelled to have to do a large acquisition which could result in us acquiring ASCs, that's not in our core market. So very pleased with our strategy today and don't see a need to have to deviate from it," Mr. Johnson said.Earl Anderson, CEO of Tennessee Orthopaedic Clinics in Knoxville, discusses the biggest trends in the ASC industry today and how his center is preparing for value-based care.

Mr. Anderson will speak at the Becker's ASC 25th Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs, October 18-20, 2018 in Chicago. Click here to learn more and register.

Question: How do you see the healthcare landscape changing and what is your strategic plan to maintain success?

Earl Anderson: Both payers and providers are trying to identify appropriate models that define and reward value, but I don't think we've quite landed on the ideal arrangement. However, in orthopedics and in our group, we've made advancements in terms of managing episodes of care and demonstrating value from those episodes. Additionally, consumers define value in healthcare differently by looking for availability and affordability, which is a primary focus of our group.



Q: What do you see your center doing over the next three to five years to promote strength and sustainable growth?



EA: Its imperative that healthcare organizations identify and align with partners who will help them grow and sustain. We're seeing some unique alignments form in healthcare these days, and groups such as ours must be open-minded to entertain partnerships that can enable us to remain independent and to succeed.April was the healthcare industry's biggest month for paper record breaches so far in 2018, according to data from the HHS Office for Civil Rights.

There were 612,955 breached paper or film records reported to the civil rights office in April, comprising 80 percent of the 757,344 breached paper or film records reported so far this year. These breaches included incidents involving loss, theft, improper disposal and unauthorized disclosure of patient information stored on paper or film.

Most of the records  582,174  were attributed to a break-in at the California Department of Developmental Services, reported to the civil rights office April 6.

During the break-in, which took place Feb. 11 at one of the department's offices in Sacramento, Calif., trespassers ransacked files, stole property and started a fire, according to a security notice the agency posted online. The agency said it had no evidence personal or health information was compromised during the incident, but noted the trespassers had access to health information files kept in the building.

Here's how many patients were affected by paper or film breaches at healthcare providers, plans or clearinghouses for each month of 2018, according to the OCR's breach portal. The month listed refers to when the incident was submitted to the civil rights office.

January: 12,268

February: 110,359

March: 3,598

April: 612,955

May: 10,986

June: 7,178

To access the OCR's breach portal, click here.Blue Springs (Mo.) Family Care is notifying 44,979 patients that their protected health information may have been compromised when the practice's computer system was infected with ransomware in May.

The clinic's computer vendor discovered May 12 that an unauthorized third party had broken into the Blue Springs computer system and loaded numerous malware programs, including "the encryption program responsible for the ransomware attack," Blue Springs' notification reads.

While Blue Springs doesn't have any evidence the stolen information has been misused, an investigation into the breach concluded the hackers were able to access all of the clinic's computer systems. Patients' names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, account numbers, driver's license numbers, medical diagnoses and disability codes held in the computer systems may have been compromised.

In response to the incident, Blue Springs has deployed a new firewall and is transitioning to a new, unnamed EHR vendor that will encrypt all of its patients' PHI. The clinic recommended all affected individuals place a fraud alert on their credit reports and monitor their reports for suspicious activity.

"We are keenly aware of how important your personal information is to you, and we understand that this situation may pose an inconvenience to you. We sincerely apologize and regret that this situation has occurred," the statement reads.Most EHR vendors have barely hit their 50th anniversary, but their namesakes trace back to origins as early as ancient Rome and early Greek mythology.

Here's how four major players in the EHR market got their names:

Athenahealth: Jonathan Bush and Todd Park founded the company in 1997 as a medical practice and birthing clinic in San Diego called Athena Women's Health  a reference to Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and war. Mr. Bush and Mr. Park noticed their team was expending significant effort to get reimbursed for their services and decided to take a stab at developing their own solution. They soon rebranded the company  now a cloud-based IT services provider for medical practices beyond women's health  as athenahealth, keeping the name "Athena" for its association with wisdom and strength.

Cerner: Neal Patterson, Paul Gorup and Cliff Illig launched Cerner in 1979 as a software company called PGI & Associates, based on the first letters of their three last names. Five years later the company launched its first product, PATHnet, a laboratory information systems program for pathology practices. The three founders chose to rename the company following the product's launch in 1984, and selected the name Cerner, derived from the Latin word cernere, which loosely translates as "to discern." The company chose the name Cerner because Jeanne Lillig-Patterson, Mr. Patterson's wife, liked it, according to Forbes.

Epic: Judy Faulkner famously founded Epic in a Wisconsin basement in 1979. The company, originally called Human Services Computing, developed data analysis software for local governments and the University of Wisconsin-Madison psychology department, according to the Madison newspaper Isthmus. The company rebranded as Epic in 1983 after releasing a patient scheduling program. Today, the company's website notes that an epic is a "glorious recounting of a nation's events  [and] like the Iliad or the Odyssey, our electronic health records chronicle the story of a patient's healthcare over time."

Meditech: Meditech's story begins in 1964  five years before it formally opened for business  when the company's founder A. Neil Pappalardo developed a computer programming language designed for the healthcare industry. The language, MUMPS, or the Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System, is still in use today. Mr. Pappalardo believed computer systems would be able to streamline care processes throughout a hospital, and he expanded his software vision into the health IT company Medical Information Technology in 1968, which opened its doors in 1969. Today, the company's name is almost always abbreviated as Meditech.

Editor's note: Allscripts, which does not outline company history on its website, did not respond to Becker's Hospital Review's request for comment July 25.CMS released its proposed 2019 rule updating the Medicare hospital outpatient prospective payment system and the Medicare ambulatory surgical center payment system.

Here are comments on the proposal from five industry organizations:

1. America's Essential Hospitals criticized the proposed rule, saying it would "impose draconian new cuts that jeopardize healthcare access for millions of vulnerable Americans," as well as "undermine the foundation of support for our nation's healthcare safety net." The organization specifically criticized extending reimbursement cuts for 340B Drug Pricing Program purchases to more hospital outpatient clinics.

Extending reimbursement cuts "doubles down on a policy that drains vitally needed support from hospitals that operate with thin or negative margins," Bruce Siegel, MD, president and CEO of AEH, said in a prepared statement. "Adding to these hospitals' financial woes  and likely to worsen care disparities in already underserved communities  are $610 million in arbitrary payment cuts for clinic visits. CMS proposes more cuts for new services, erecting yet another barrier to access."

2. The Association of American Medical Colleges also criticized extending cuts to safety-net hospitals that participate in the 340B Drug Pricing Program. It said the proposed rule contradicts a bill introduced in November that would rescind significant Medicare Part B payment cuts for certain hospitals that participate in the 340B Drug Pricing Program. The cuts are part of CMS' 2018 Medicare OPPS final rule.

"CMS' proposal to cut Medicare payments to existing outpatient departments for clinic services [also] runs counter to congressional intent and would seriously damage the ability of the nation's teaching hospitals to serve the most complex and vulnerable patients," AAMC President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, MD, said in a prepared statement. "CMS should rescind the 340B policy and not finalize the cuts to off-campus outpatient department clinic visits."

3. The American Hospital Association echoed other industry comments, saying the federal government "misconstrued congressional intent" with the 2019 proposed rule.

"In 2015, Congress clearly intended to provide current off-campus hospital clinics with the existing outpatient payment rate in recognition of the critical role they play in their communities. But CMS' proposal runs counter to this and will instead impede access to care for the most vulnerable patients," Tom Nickels, executive vice president of the AHA, said in a prepared statement.

4. 340B Health, an association representing more than 1,300 hospitals and health systems participating in the 340B Drug Pricing Program, said CMS' proposal will "make a bad rule worse."

"In 2018, CMS slashed $1.6 billion from Medicare outpatient drug payments to many 340B hospitals, a reduction of nearly 30 percent. CMS now plans to make a bad rule worse by extending the cuts to drugs provided in certain off-campus hospital clinics, including facilities providing infusion therapy for cancer patients and other high-cost drug therapies to treat chronic and life-threatening conditions," the group said in a prepared statement.

5. Aledade, a value-based care network, had a more positive reaction. Farzad Mostashari, MD, the network's founder and CEO, called the proposed rule "a significant and welcome proposal from the [Trump] administration to end incentives in the Medicare reimbursement system which increased costs for patients and promoted consolidation of healthcare providers."

"This will level the playing field between independent practices and huge healthcare systems. While hospitals, undoubtedly, will oppose this new rule, they should welcome it as it could help them become more competitive in value-based payment contracts  which is the future of health care," he said in a prepared statement.

More articles on healthcare finance:

Texas health system files for bankruptcy

Georgia hospital to close July 26

HCA's profit jumps 25% to $820M in Q2Employees of North Oak Regional Medical Center in Senatobia, Miss., have not been paid in more than two weeks, according to WREG.

About 150 employees were unable to cash the checks they received from the hospital July 20. The bank told the employees there was no money in the hospital's account.

North Oak Regional Medical Center CEO Philip Hanna told WREG the hospital can't access the funds needed to pay employees.

"The money is not the issue," he said. "We have the money in the account. It just needs to be transferred from California to Mississippi."

Mr. Hanna said new bank security measures prevented the hospital's out-of-state owner from transferring the funds.

The hospital is dealing with the payment issues just a few weeks after shutting down its emergency room due to financial challenges, according to the report.

In early July, Mr. Hanna told WREG the hospital was losing about $100,000 a month.

More articles on healthcare finance:

Texas health system files for bankruptcy

Georgia hospital to close July 26

HCA's profit jumps 25% to $820M in Q2Here are 12 recent news updates on health IT companies:

1. Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline entered into a four-year collaboration with 23andMe to use human genetics to guide drug development, the companies said July 25.

2. Anthem health plan members with the latest version of the Samsung Health app on their Galaxy devices can now access American Well telehealth services as part of a newly announced partnership.

3. Apple wants to use its smartwatch to help users measure whether they are sufficiently protected by sunscreen, according to a patent application published by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

4. The U.S. Defense Department plans to increase its health records contract with Cerner by $1.1 billion, officials said July 24.

5. Change Healthcare launched a new cloud security service July 17 as part of its value-based care analytics suite HealthQx.

6. Israel granted $33 million (120 million shekels) to three multinational companies  Medtronic, GE Healthcare and Change Healthcare  as part of an effort to boost the country's digital health industry.

7. For the first time since 2003, construction has hit a standstill at Epic's 1,100-acre headquarters in Verona, Wis.

8. Months after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a ruling on individual arbitration clauses, employees at Epic are continuing their fight for overtime wages.

9. Former Cleveland Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove, MD, is joining the Google Cloud team as an executive adviser to its healthcare and life sciences divisions, the tech giant confirmed July 23.

10. Google Cloud is working with the National Institutes of Health to make select NIH-funded datasets available to users in a secure environment for biomedical research, the tech giant announced July 24.

11. The U.S. Veterans Affairs Department and IBM Watson Health are expanding their partnership to use artificial intelligence-powered technology to support precision oncology at VA facilities.

12. IBM and New York City-based Columbia University revealed plans for a new research and education center focused on blockchain technology and data transparency July 17.The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded Google a patent for in-ear health monitoring technology July 10  a continuation of the tech giant's recent moves into the healthcare space.

Google is likely building a set of earbuds to measure a wearer's body temperature, according to market research firm CB Insights. The device will use a sensor to collect data on the wearer's temperature as they listen to music or podcasts on their smartphone.

The device will compare each day's temperature against the wearer's baseline, and, over time, will be able to identify any unexpected changes.

In its patent, Google said the device would help users identify health issues  such as if they contract a contagious disease  with the added benefit of early detection. On a broader scale, the company suggested the device could support outbreak management protocols worldwide.

"Distributing the devices during outbreaks of diseases such as Ebola and swine flu could increase early detection rates, decrease mortality and limit the scope of the outbreak," CB Insights notes.

The patent also outlined how to encourage users to regularly record their temperatures, including by providing those who participate with financial compensation.In this special Speaker Series, Becker's Healthcare caught up with Terri Rinker, revenue cycle director at Community Hospital Anderson (Ind.).

Ms. Rinker will speak on a panel during the Becker's Hospital Review 4th Annual Health IT + Revenue Cycle Conference titled "Revenue Cycle Solutions and Trends," at 3:00 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21. Learn more about the event and register to attend in Chicago.

Question: Can you share your best advice for motivating your teams?

Terri Rinker: [There is three parts. First,] tell them why. We have all heard to share the "why." My advice is to go further and give them the "whys" in many different formats. My why as a director may be to avoid issues with a regulatory agency. That may not motivate a member of my team. Normally, there is a why behind the regulatory agency's requirement. I have found it helpful to share that as well. For employees who are motivated by caring for the patient, you need to tie the why to how the new requirement makes things safer, convenient or less costly for our patients. Other employees are motivated by improving the bottom line since there may be financial incentives linked to the bottom line. If nothing else, a good bottom line helps with everyone's job security. So to motivate the entire team, you have to share all the whys since each person may have a different why.

[Second,] use different methods to share the why. I have a large team with different levels of education, at different locations and working [three different] shifts. I find it helpful to communicate the same message in many different ways  email, newsletter, meetings or one on one. I also host open office hours. While my door is always open, during these hours the staff know I am not busy and am expecting them  even if it is just to stop by and say hi so I have a chance to talk about the whys to whatever concern they may have. I normally offer some type of treat to encourage people to come by. I also regularly set aside time to sit with different people in different areas so they can ask me questions about the direction we are headed and why certain changes are made. More importantly I can learn what they are hearing from our patients and what their concerns are. This information allows me to better explain the whys.

And finally, when it comes to whys, I work hard at not being afraid to say, "I don't know why we do that. Let me do some checking and get back with you. Maybe we don't need to do it anymore." If it turns out that we don't need to be doing something, I widely communicate and thank the person that asked the original question. I give that person all the credit and encourage others to ask me or their manager why they are doing something if they don't know why. We consider it a success when we stop doing unnecessary work because someone asked, "Why?"

Q: What is one thing you've learned about your patient population that's really surprised you?

TR: Our patient population trends older and poorer. When we implemented some new technology in our patient registration process, I was concerned that our older patients may struggle or be resistant to the new process. By promoting the technology as a way to keep them safer  which it was  they were not only willing to accept the technology but embraced it.

Q: What's the best thing you've read lately?

TR: The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy is 8 years old, but I am reading it for the first time. It has motivated me, given me new ideas to try and given me a new way to set and achieve goals.Protestors gathered outside Valdosta-based South Georgia Medical Center around 7 a.m. July 25 to protest the hospital's decision to fire two leading cardiothoracic surgeons, WALB10 News reports.

Joe Johnson, MD, and Randall Brown, MD, confirmed to the Valdosta Daily Times they received letters from SGMC CEO C. Ross Berry July 23 indicating their contracts with the hospital had been terminated. The surgeons worked at the SGMC CardioVascular Institute.

Mr. Berry said in a statement to WALB10 News: "While we aren't able to discuss personnel matters regarding these physicians, I can tell you that we are actively recruiting cardiothoracic surgeons and are already thrilled to be able to bring a physician to Valdosta with the experience and expertise of Dr. Randy Metcalf. He is here in Valdosta and is already hard at work."

Protestors gathered outside the hospital July 25 to pressure officials into explaining the physicians' terminations. A billboard in the town also asked residents to attend a board meeting July 25 at the hospital in support of the surgeons, according to WALB10 News.

SGMC issued the following statement to WALB10 News July 26 commenting on the physicians' contracts: "The Hospital Authority of Valdosta and Lowndes County, Georgia met earlier today and made the following decision regarding the separation of [Drs.] Randy Brown and Joe Johnson. The termination without cause is still in effect, but SGMC will allow [Drs.] Brown and Johnson to work out a 90-day notice. During that time, SGMC will try to negotiate a new contract with these doctors.

"If the terms of the new agreement can be agreed upon during the 90-day period, [Drs.] Brown and Johnson will continue to serve patients at SGMC. If the terms cannot be agreed upon after 90 days, the termination will stand. SGMC remains committed to providing the highest level of cardiothoracic care to Valdosta and surrounding communities and will work diligently towards [sic] this end."

To access the full WALB10 News report, click here.

Editor's note: This article was updated at 10:30 a.m. to include additional information from South Georgia Medical Center.In this special Speaker Series, Becker's Healthcare caught up with Maulik Purohit, MD, senior vice president and chief medical information officer of University Health System in San Antonio.

Dr. Purohit will speak during the Becker's Hospital Review 4th Annual Health IT + Revenue Cycle Conference on "The EMR and Clinical Operations: A Marriage That Has to Happen" at 9:45 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 20, and on a panel Friday, Sept. 21, titled "The Evolving Role of CMIOs Today." Learn more about the event and register to attend in Chicago.

Question: What is the most exciting thing happening in health IT right now? And what is the most overrated health IT trend?

Dr. Maulik Purohit: I would say the most exciting and the most overrated trends right now are automation and augmented or artificial intelligence. Both are very exciting because of what they can offer in terms of predicting schedules, helping with operations, or precision medicine, [among many others]. At the same, they are not where they need to be yet. I would compare it to autonomous driving, which is a very exciting possibility, but it is not to the level that we can trust yet. I think automation and AI are both exciting because of the potential, but currently overrated in terms of what they currently offer.

Q: What's one conviction in healthcare that needs to be challenged?

MP: I think every conviction in healthcare needs to be challenged. If we were to rebuild the healthcare system from bottom up  just redo healthcare completely  would we create the current system that we have? Would we keep the same hodgepodge of insurance, the same fragmentation of care, the same complex financial systems, and so on? I would say that the entire structure of healthcare needs to be looked at in terms of what really, truly makes sense and the way we practice. Convictions come from the framework that is already built, and we need to challenge that framework. For example, lets take an emergency room visit. A patient gets multiple bills for the same thing, from the patient perspective: They go to the emergency room and they get a bill for radiology, they get a bill from the ER, they get a bill for the hospital facility fee. But all of those bills are for basically the same service, which is evaluation of an illness or pain, or whatever it may be. We don't conduct business in any other industry the same way. If you book a hotel, you don't get charged for the bed and charged for the lighting and charged for soap separately  at least not yet. But we're doing that for healthcare right now.

Q: What's the biggest misconception about health IT?

MP: The biggest misconception is that it has to be painful. There are outstanding products in health IT, and we have to incorporate them properly, but I think that health IT can get to the level of allowing us to enjoy using IT products rather than dreading them. But IT has to be looked on as an investment, not merely an expense.In this special Speaker Series, Becker's Healthcare caught up with Terri Meier, system director of patient revenue cycle at UC San Diego Health.

Ms. Meier will speak on a panel during the Becker's Hospital Review 4th Annual Health IT + Revenue Cycle Conference titled "Best Practices for the Revenue Cycle," at 9:45 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 20. Learn more about the event and register to attend in Chicago.

Question: In the past 12 months, how have you adapted to new patient experience expectations in the age of consumerism?

Terri Meier: In June 2017, we went live with Epic's single billing office. This provided us with the opportunity to retool our patient financial experience. SBO unified the patient-facing elements of our billing office for both the hospital and our physician group. Our goal was to establish a single point of contact to answer questions about billing, financial assistance and self-pay collections as well as reduce costs related to patient statements by utilizing a single patient statement and bad debt collection. Our decision to staff the customer service department with team members knowledgeable of revenue cycle  our customer service representatives are the highest paid in our billing classification  and our extensive training and education program has contributed significantly to our success. We not only provide this best-in-class customer service to our UC San Diego patients, but recently, [we] also took on customer service for UC Riverside Health. This project required establishing new roles and organizational infrastructure which involved hospital and physician leadership at all levels. Our patients now receive one bill for all services. We have opened up all channels of communication in which a single point of contact can answer both professional and technical billing questions.

Can you share your best advice for motivating your teams?

TM: Take care of your team and they will take care of you. Starting with recruiting, I involve current staff in the interview process by [asking them to help assess] job fit. I ask my staff: "Can you see yourself working across the aisle from this person?" This also makes an impression on the candidate and you can then ask them the same question. My entire SBO team takes charge of the onboarding process, starting with a personal welcome email and gathering some of the new hire's "likes" so they can decorate their new space.

When implementing SBO, my entire team was involved in the design, build and testing of their workflows, and [the team] continues to be involved in process improvement.

We gamify our training and education to make it fun and memorable. In customer service, retention is a big issue, so I have put a lot of effort into gathering feedback from the team, making sure team members are recognized for going the extra mile for our patients, and I provide educational opportunities so team members can gain new skills that can further their career and that I can leverage. We also have a built-in career path within the department as a retention strategy.

Q: What is the best thing you've read lately?

TM: I am in the process of educating my team on the "Ladder of Inference." By better understanding the thinking steps that lead to wrong conclusions, we can take a step back and consider the real facts and hopefully avoid unneeded conflict.Residents of Surprise Valley, Calif., are concerned a proposed deal to sell Cedarville, Calif.-based Surprise Valley Community Hospital may fall through, as the potential buyer has not been seen for weeks and the websites for his healthcare businesses have been shut down, according to California Healthline.

Surprise Valley Health Care District, which operates the 26-bed rural hospital, filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy in January. Last month, residents agreed to sell the hospital to Beau Gertz, a 34-year-old entrepreneur who owns at least two lab-testing and nutraceutical companies in Denver.

However, Mr. Gertz has reportedly not been seen around town since late spring, and websites for his healthcare businesses have been shut down. Four former employees, who spoke to California Healthline on the condition of anonymity, said they and the rest of his staff in Denver had been laid off, the report states. Mr. Gertz's landlord told the publication earlier in July the Denver office building housing the companies had been empty for weeks.

Mr. Gertz's reported disappearance has worried local residents, some of whom reluctantly voted for the sale to keep the hospital afloat.

Under Mr. Gertz's plan, the hospital would attempt to solve its financial issues by assuming control of one of his Denver labs and billing patients for remote treatments such as telemedicine. Without a buyer, experts told the publication property owners in the district may be responsible for repaying the hospital's mounting debts worth an estimated at $4 million. Mr. Gertz previously agreed to assume the hospital's debt as part of the sale agreement.

The hospital district board, which planned to meet July 25, declined to comment to California Healthline on the status of the sale, but said the proposed deal was "on track."

State officials, who must approve the transaction, told the publication they have not received paperwork indicating a transfer in ownership of management of the hospital.

To access the full report, click here.United Nurses and Allied Professionals Local 5098, the union representing 2,400 workers at Rhode Island Hospital and Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence, is encouraging members to apply for unemployment during a lockout, according to WPRI.

The workers, which include nurses, technicians and therapists, began a three-day strike about 3 p.m. July 23. They were willing to return to work at 3 p.m. July 26. However, Lifespan said it will not allow the workers to return until July 27 because of a commitment to temporary staff hired during the walkout.

Norman Farias, RN, executive vice president of UNAP Local 5098, told WPRI the union is encouraging workers to apply for unemployment for the 24 hours ending at 3 p.m. July 27 "because this is a day they would be working, and the hospital's telling them they can't."

It is unknown whether workers' claims will be approved by the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training.

According to hospital officials, the union was notified about the hospitals' four-day commitment to temporary staff on July 13.

More articles on human capital and risk:

Rhode Island hospital workers begin 3-day strike

Illinois hospital workers lobby for $15 minimum wage, union rights

Hospitals and unions: 9 conflicts, agreementsTwo employees at Leesburg, Va.-based North Spring Behavioral Healthcare were charged in connection to injuries sustained by a 16-year-old female patient at the facility June 11, reports The Loudoun Tribune.

The Loudon County Sheriff's Office and Department of Family Services conducted a joint investigation in conjunction with the Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney after DFS became aware of an alleged injury to a juvenile at the facility.

The investigation found the patient suffered an injury to her spine due to an improper restraint North Spring employee Stephen Holmes, 53, performed on her June 11.

Police charged Mr. Holmes with malicious wounding, along with cruelty and injuries to a child. A nurse at the facility, 45-year-old Kara Mueller, RN, was also charged with cruelty and injuries to a child. Investigators said Ms. Mueller failed to intervene when witnessing the improper restraint.

Mr. Holmes is being held at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center without bond, while Ms. Mueller was released on an unsecured bond.

In February, police charged two different North Spring workers in connection to the death of a 15-year-old patient at the behavioral health center who died after a mental health technician physically restrained him in November 2017.

More articles on legal and regulatory issues:

Dallas hospital co-founder admits to bribing physicians for high-volume surgeries



Ex-Louisiana AG launches investigation into sale of LifePoint





Man accused of punching Ohio hospital workerIn an alleged $200 million healthcare fraud involving Dallas-based Forest Park Medical Center, one of the hospital's co-founders is pleading guilty, saying he recruited high-volume specialty physicians and paid them millions in bribes and kickbacks for surgeries, The Dallas Morning News reports.

Seven things to know:

1. The hospital billed patient insurance plans more than $500 million and collected over $200 million in paid claims from 2009 to 2013, according to the Morning News.

2. Andrew Beauchamp, the Forest Park co-founder who managed the now-defunct hospital, filed documents July 23 agreeing to plead guilty to conspiracy to pay and receive healthcare bribes and kickbacks, and commercial bribery. A judge has not yet accepted the plea.

3. Mr. Beauchamp is the sixth of 21 defendants to admit guilt in the case, in which physicians, recruiters and others received $40 million in bribes and kickbacks, according to prosecutors. His lawyer declined to comment, the Morning News reports. Mr. Beauchamp faces up to five years in prison.

4. Eight of the defendants are physicians. Seven pleaded not guilty and plan to take their case to a jury. The hospital's owners targeted bariatric and spinal surgeons because "their surgeries generated the most money," according to prosecutors.

5. Richard Toussaint, MD, another Forest Park co-founder, pleaded guilty last year. Dr. Toussaint, an anesthesiologist, was the first physician to plead guilty in the case, according to U.S. Justice Department records.

6. Mr. Beauchamp and Dr. Toussaint led the alleged scheme to hide bribes and kickbacks by disguising them as marketing payments and other forms of payment, according to prosecutors. The two men say the surgeons share equal blame in the case, according to their plea agreements.

7. The trial date is set for Oct. 22.A Dayton, Ohio-based Miami Valley Hospital employee was repeatedly punched by a man July 24, according to a Dayton police report reviewed by the Dayton Daily News.

Police arrested James Green on suspicion of assault. Authorities report Mr. Green punched a female hospital worker several times. The employee's condition is unknown.

Police transferred Mr. Green to Montgomery County Jail in Dayton, where he was processed. Mr. Green is awaiting court action for the charge, according to the Dayton Daily News.



More articles on legal and regulatory issues:

Ex-Louisiana AG launches investigation into sale of LifePoint

12 latest lawsuits involving hospitals

Police perplexed by Houston cardiologist's shooting deathA homicide case involving a Pennsylvania woman fatally exposing her newborn infant to opioids via breast milk is raising broader issues surrounding breastfeeding among mothers with opioid addiction, according to The Inquirer.

Here are five things to know:

1. Police charged the woman, 30-year-old Samantha Whitney Jones, with criminal homicide after an autopsy discovered her 11-week-old son died April 2 from "a lethal combination" of methadone, amphetamine and methamphetamine transferred through beast milk. Ms. Jones told prosecutors she'd been prescribed methadone to aid in overcoming a painkiller addiction, which requires clinic visits several times a week.

2. Amphetamines and methamphetamines are active within breast milk for up to 30 hours after drug use and able to be transferred to the baby while breastfeeding, overstimulating the infant's nervous system.

3. Cases like Ms. Jones' stir up a larger debate of whether women with addiction issues should be given help, as thought by medical groups and women's rights advocates, or disciplined, as thought by many lawmakers and law enforcements officials.

4. Diane Spatz, PhD, RN, director of the lactation program at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said Ms. Jones' case raises the question of whether clinicians missed an opportunity to intervene in her care, according to the report.

"To me, we need to help moms get treatment," Dr. Spatz told The Inquirer. "Where were they in terms of working with her? Where was her follow up? It's really sad."

5. The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, along with other healthcare groups, agree women who are on methadone maintenance therapy need to be encouraged to breastfeed.

"There is very low transfer of methadone in breast milk," Dr. Spatz told The Inquirer. "And there are true benefits to breastfeeding. Their babies have less withdrawal symptoms, and they're easier to soothe."

More articles on opioids:

How a West Virginia nurse is using harm reduction to fight opioid use

Georgia's opioid overdose rate grows faster than national average

This mobile app seeks to revolutionize substance abuse treatment: 7 things to knowBlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina will offer some members a cash rebate for choosing cheaper physicians and procedures, according to The Herald-Sun.

The rebates, which range from $25 to $500 per medical procedure, are only available to companies that pay for their employees' health insurance, in which case Blue Cross only administers the plan. Rebates will be issued for more than 100 procedures, and the amount of the rebate will depend on the complexity of the procedure and the cost savings form choosing a cheaper option, according to the report.

BCBS of North Carolina will use SmartShopper, a cost and quality transparency service, to help members achieve cost savings. It costs employers between $2 and $4 per employee per month to provide access to SmartShopper, regardless of whether the employee uses the service.

SmartShopper lists all physicians in Blue Cross' network as "high quality," which has some medical professionals concerned.

"I know of surgeons on their plan who have lost their [practicing] privileges at hospitals but still were on the [health insurance] plan, how does that define quality?" Michael Haglund, MD, who specializes in spinal fusion procedures at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., told The Herald-Sun. "Still sounds pretty odd to me, just a way to pressure policy holders to choose to roll the dice with less qualified and not as highly ranked surgeons."

However, Blue Cross defended the standards used to evaluate physicians.

"While many studies have shown there is no correlation between cost and quality when it comes to healthcare, all doctors listed meet strict standards required to be part of the Blue Cross NC network, including verification of their credentials being in good standing and meeting state licensure requirements," a company spokesperson said in a statement to The Herald-Sun. "The costs listed also take quality measures into account as they represent the entire cost of the procedure, including such factors as efficiency, the length of hospital stay and the number of medical professional [sic] involved in the procedure."

Access the full article from The Herald-Sun here.

More articles on payers:

Horizon BCBS consultant's report reveals CEO downplayed cost in OMNIA selection

Centene revenue climbs to $14.2B

6 things to know about Humana's heavily guarded pharmacyHorizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey paid a consulting group $1.7 million to produce reports on how the health insurer could develop its OMNIA Health Plans, which place hospitals in two tiers based on quality and cost. Lower-ranked hospitals argue three reports from McKinsey & Co. obtained by NJ Advance Media show Horizon steered McKinsey's research to include the state's most expensive hospitals into Tier 1, according to NJ.com.

Becker's Hospital Review previously reported 10 findings from McKinsey's reports on June 28. Below are another five highlights from the analysis:



1. NJ Advance Media, which provides content to NJ.com, and several other newspapers sued to obtain copies of confidential reports prepared by McKinsey. The documents contain information about how Horizon crafted its tiered insurance products, which were rolled out in 2015.



2. In Horizon's first 2014 memo to McKinsey, the health insurer outlined OMNIA's objectives: narrow down Tier 1 and 2 hospitals and lower the health insurer's costs. Under OMNIA, if policyholders want the lowest out-of-pocket costs compared to other Horizon plans, they must visit one of the 36 hospitals in Tier 1 that agree to accept lower reimbursements from Horizon in exchange for more patients.



3. All major New Jersey health systems Horizon later designated as Tier 1 hospitals  Hackensack Meridian Health, Robert Wood Johnson University Health in New Brunswick, St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston and Atlantic Health System in Morristown  were absent from McKinsey's initial top 14 hospitals, according to NJ.com's analysis of the reports. The documents reveal Horizon CEO Kevin Conlin told McKinsey to downplay how much a hospital's size and cost would affect which hospitals the firm chose for OMNIA's Tier 1 partners. Horizon argued OMNIA's value-based model meant "past financial performance is not necessarily indicative of future cost of care," according to the report.



4. In addition, one of the reports from May 2014 highlights how OMNIA intended to steer patients away from hospitals in New York. McKinsey analyzed 2013 data to show how much Horizon paid physicians and hospitals in New York, and how much placing New York hospitals in Tier 2 would positively affect Tier 1 hospitals. For example, McKinsey projected Hackensack would see $25 million in profits "from volume in other hospital in service area," as well as $8 million from other competitors like New York.



5. In a lawsuit, two Tier 2 hospitals  451-bed Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, N.J., and 284-bed CentraState Medical Center in Freehold, N.J.  claim Horizon "breached its duty to act in good faith" by placing them in OMNIA's Tier 2, thereby costing them millions of dollars. Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck was also a plaintiff in the hospitals' case until June 26, when it and Horizon announced they had reached a confidential settlement.

Here is NJ.com's full report, which features images from McKinsey's analysis and additional comment from Horizon.AstraZeneca will not raise the price of its medications in 2018, joining the ranks of numerous drug companies changing their pricing strategies after scrutiny from President Donald Trump, reports Reuters.

AstraZeneca's CEO Pascal Soriot announced the pricing freeze July 26.

"There is a clear commitment in the company to not increase prices in the second half of the year," he told reporters, according to Reuters.

The move comes less than three weeks after President Trump tweeted drugmakers should be "ashamed" about raising prices. After the tweet, Pfizer, the largest drugmaker in the U.S., said it would delay its price hikes until the end of the year or until the president's drug-pricing plan goes into effect. About a week later, Novartis made a similar commitment to freeze price hikes in the U.S. for the rest of the year.

Last week, Merck became the first drugmaker to voluntarily lower the costs of several medications.

Note: Alia Paavola contributed to this report.

More articles on pharmacy:

Gilead Sciences CEO to step down after nearly 3 decades



Purdue pharma brings restructuring expert aboard: 6 things to know



Shares of PBMs drop on threat to drug rebatesProvidence Health System in Washington, D.C., owned by St. Louis-based Ascension, will close acute care services and focus on services to support community needs and population health initiatives.

The transition is slated to take effect by the end of this year. It will involve moving to a more "community-focused perspective" that provides services such as care coordination, telehealth/virtual care, primary and urgent care, home care, community-based behavioral healthcare, and senior care, according to Providence. The 283-bed hospital also plans to focus on services outside of healthcare geared toward improving patients' well-being.

"We know that 15 percent of a person's life is spent in actual healthcare, which means the remaining 85 percent is spent in other areas that either positively or negatively impact their overall well-being," Keith Vander Kolk, Providence president and CEO, said in a prepared statement. "That is where the greatest opportunity to make meaningful change lies, and we must put our focus and energy on advancing a model of transformation that will serve the district in new and lasting ways."

More articles on population health:

Homelessness in Seattle a 'public health disaster,' providers say

Amgen, Cedars-Sinai team up in value-based care effort

Where youth are most, least at risk in the USThe Leapfrog Group on July 19 published updates to the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade scoring methodology, which will take effect for the grades released in October.

The methodology changes include:

1. Changes to the scoring for computerized physician order entry. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade process includes a measure on hospitals' implementation and effective use of computerized physician order entry in inpatient units.

The CPOE standard in the Leapfrog Hospital Survey includes two criteria:

At least 85 percent of inpatient medication orders must be entered through a CPOE system

The hospital must participate in a simulation to test their CPOE system's ability to alert prescribers to at least 60 percent of serious or fatal medication ordering errors

2. Addition of a measure on bar code medication administration. Leapfrog is also adding a measure on hospitals' use of bar code medication administration to its Hospital Safety Grade methodology.

The new Leapfrog Hospital Survey measure includes four criteria:

A bar code medication administration system within an electronic medication administration record must be used at the bedside in 100 percent of medical surgical units, intensive care units and labor and delivery units

The system must include seven clinical decision support functions

The hospital must ensure both the patient and the medication are scanned prior to medication administration at least 95 percent of the time

The hospital must ensure at least six out of eight evidence-based processes and protocols are in place to avoid workarounds

To learn more about the methodology changes, click here.Spinal implant manufacturer Ulrich Medical USA filed a lawsuit alleging Hurst, Texas-based St. Camillus Hospital owes thousands of dollars in outstanding bills, according to the St. Louis Record.

Here are three things to know:

1. Ulrich filed the lawsuit July 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. The company alleges St. Camillus Hospital bought more than $164,000 worth of devices during 2017 and 2018 and still owes more than $132,000.

2. The Texas hospital performed at least 18 surgeries using Ulrich's implants. An invoice is sent out after each surgery, but "there remains a number of outstanding invoices for Ulrich's implants for which, despite repeated requests for payments, St. Camillus has refused to pay," the complaint alleges.

3. Ulrich seeks the amount due along with "interest at the highest legal rate," according to the complaint.

More articles on devices:

Stryker reports $3.3B in Q2 sales, neurotechnology & spine segment experiences 19.4% uptick: 6 things to know

Medtronic, Titan Spine, Wright Medical & more: 9 device company notes

US House repeals sales tax on medical devices: 4 details to knowAs the trial against Dallas-based Forest Park Medical Center approaches, the hospital's co-founder and manager Alan Beauchamp agreed to plead guilty to bribing physicians to perform high volume and lucrative surgeries, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Forest Park Medical Center is no longer in operation. Investigators allege hospital executives, surgeons and other physicians are responsible for a $200 million healthcare fraud scheme.

Here are nine things to know:

1. The plea documents indicate Mr. Beauchamp recruited high-volume specialty physicians, many of them spine surgeons, and bribed them with millions of dollars to perform their high-paying surgeries at Forest Park Medical Center.

2. Mr. Beauchamp is one of six defendants to admit guilt in the alleged scheme. Investigators have arrest a total of 21 defendants who allegedly paid $40 million in bribes and kickbacks to physicians, recruiters and others. In return, the hospital is accused of receiving $200 million in reimbursements.

3. The former hospital manager faces up to five years in prison. Anesthesiologist and Forest Park Medical Center co-founder Richard Toussaint, MD, was the first physician to plead guilty to the kickback scheme.

4. Investigators allege Mr. Beauchamp and Dr. Toussaint were the masterminds behind the fraud scheme. They are accused of disguising bribes and kickbacks as marketing and other forms of payment. In both of their plea agreements, Mr. Beauchamp and Dr. Toussaint put equal blame on the surgeons.

5. Eight of the defendants are physicians, seven of whom have plead not guilty to their role in the kickback scheme. Investigators allege surgeons were aware that the more surgeries they brought to Forest Park Medical Center the more money they could earn from an investment or in kickbacks.

6. Mr. Beauchamp allegedly told one surgeon defendant Douglas Won, MD, if he didn't increase his surgical volume he could not expect any more money. Additionally, defendant David Kim, MD, alleges Mr. Beauchamp told him he could pay the surgeon $100,000 a month if he performed 20 out-of-network surgeries monthly.

7. Defendant spine surgeon Shawn Henry, MD, wanted to invest in Forest Park Medical Center. Lacking the necessary funds to do so, Dr. Henry performed 25 to 30 surgeries a month, and Mr. Beauchamp allegedly paid him a $30,000 monthly kickback.

8. Chiropractors are also accused of referring patients from all over the state to Forest Park Medical Center. Frank Gonzalez Jr., is among the chiropractors who pled guilty in the Dallas hospital case. Mr. Gonzalez would recommend his patients travel five hours to Forest Park Medical Center in return for kickbacks.

9. A judge has not accepted Mr. Beauchamp's plea agreement. The case is set to go to trial Oct. 22.Each and every week, nijobfinder will be sharing 10 top company jobs from a popular sector.

This week, its Pharmaceutical & Science and here is a rundown of 10 of the best Pharmaceutical & Science jobs recruiting near you!

Scientific Officer, Waste Repatriation and Waste Regulation  Northern Ireland Civil Service, Belfast

Northern Ireland Civil Service is seeking applications for two full-time roles within their Waste Repatriation and Waste Regulation Department. The roles are primarily regulatory and focus on the supervision and monitoring of excavation of illegal landfill sites. To apply for the role, you will need to have at least 3 years experience within waste or environmental management and a full driving licence to fulfil the role. To shortlist this role, the following criteria will be used, a degree level qualification followed by 3 years experience of site management/supervision.

Apply for this job here

Casual Technical Work (Faculty of Engineering and Physical Science)  Queens University, Belfast

Queens University Belfast is seeking applications for Temporary Technical Support Assistants to register for casual roles within the faculty which cover employment gaps, absence and special projects. The current requirements are for electrical, mechanical, IT and general lab technicians. To apply for this role, you will need an academic or NVQ level 3 or 2 years experience within a relevant role. Ideally this role would be ideal for an immediate start.

Apply for this job here

Full Stack IT Software Developer  Randox, Antrim

Randox Laboratories is looking to recruit a Full Stack Software Developer for the development of largely web-based applications. Randox Laboratories provides diagnostic testing for multiple sectors including Healthcare, Agriculture, Preventive Health, and Food & Drinks. The successful applicant will need to hold a bachelors degree or higher in Software Engineering or Computer Science. To flourish within the position, you will need to have experience within web development, the applications of statistics and a good knowledge of SQL and C#/ASP.

Apply for this job here

Full-time Dispenser (Antrim Health Centre)  Clear Group, Antrim

Clear Group is currently seeking to recruit a full-time dispenser to work between the hours of 8.30am  6.30pm based on a 40hr week. The successful applicant will need to be to be fully flexible for working according to a rota and will need to hold a NPA Pharmacy Interact/Healthcare Assistant course or equivalent. The duties of the role will include ordering and receiving pharmaceutical stock and sales over the counter. In order to shortlist for the role, a NPA Accredited Assistants course of NVQ equivalent may be required.

Apply for this job here

Senior Analytical Chemist  Norbrook Laboratories, Newry

Norbrook Laboratories is a global leader in the Veterinary Pharmaceutical sector and provides its products to over 120 countries. The successful applicant will become a member of the Quality team and as part of the role will perform plan and schedule chemical analysis of API release, raw materials. To apply for this position, youll need to be educated to degree level in Chemistry or related subject and have at least 2 years experience in GMP laboratory experience. Not only this, but the associated benefits include free life assurance, healthcare, discounts on car insurance and more.

Apply for this job here

SAS Data Analyst  Celerion, Belfast

Celerion is looking to appoint a SAS Data Analysis on a full-time basis to join its Biometrics and Data Management team. The purpose of the role is to provide support for statistical programming of clinical data in early clinical research projects. The successful candidate will assist in highly complex projects and will also be involved with quality control using peer review from other studies. To apply for the role, youll be required to hold a Bachelors degree in Statistics, Computer Science or related subject.

Apply for this job here

Milk Recorder (Part-time)  Dale Farm, Coleraine

Dale Farm is recruiting for a part-time Milk Recorder to cover the Coleraine area. The successful applicant will work for approximately 8 hours per week and will visit their designated dairy herds daily to accurately record their yields. To apply for the role, you will need to have dairy farm experience, a full driving licence, access to your own vehicle and a mobile phone with internet. The successful applicant will need to complete and maintain accurate records and IT skills are desirable.

Apply for this job here

Quantitative Geneticist  Agri-food & Biosciences Institute, Hillsborough

AFBI is currently seeking to appoint a Quantitative Geneticist at a Hight Scientific Officer or Senior Scientific level for a new and exciting posts. The purpose of the role, will be to use novel technologies to capture the phenotypic data for genotyping livestock. The successful candidate will manage the programme and will aim to better improve farming practises. This is a highly exciting opportunity to spearhead a project with a truly international reputation.

Apply for this job here

2nd Pharmacist  Medicare Pharmacy Group, Carrickfergus

Medicare Pharmacy is a local, progressive pharmacy with over 50 branches across Northern Ireland. The ideal candidate will be a registered Pharmacist with a sound knowledge of best practise. Expert knowledge and the highest levels of customer service will be required for this role. You will report to the Pharmacy Manager to help maximise the provision of professional NHS services. Ideally, youll have been previously involved with service initiatives such as minor ailments and multiple dispensing.

Apply for this job here

Microbiologist  MCS Group, Londonderry

MCS Group is working with its esteemed client, Northern Ireland Water to appoint a Microbiologist. This role would be a fantastic opportunity to gain experience within a truly unique role. In order to apply for this role, youll need to hold a 3rd level qualification in Microbiology or related subject and has 12 months experience within an accredited laboratory setting. The successful candidate will be in charge of carrying out analysis, recording results and maintaining quality management systems. The ideal candidate will also have experience in managing the laboratory budget.

Apply for this job here

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Follow us on Facebook to see the latest jobs and to ensure your dream job wont pass you by!Chancellor of the Exchequer Phillip Hammond (right) with Jonathan Connell, vice president of operations at Bombardier during his visit to Belfast factory yesterday

Chancellor Philip Hammond announced a second multi-pound Government funding package in the space of a week for Bombardier in Belfast, during a one-day visit to Northern Ireland yesterday.

Last week the Government outlined a 15m investment into three research projects at the Belfast plant during the Farnborough Airshow. Yesterday it increased its support to 27m with a second package worth 12m to support Bombardier's development of an engine casing system for Airbus.

The Canadian aerospace manufacturer's Belfast operation was selected in December by Airbus to supply the nacelle programme for its new A320neo aircraft.

Mr Hammond said the funding, assisted by Invest NI, will help secure long-term manufacturing jobs in Belfast.

During a visit to the factory floor, the Chancellor also welcomed the recent orders for 120 Airbus A220 aircraft, the rebranded C Series jets, with the wings being produced by Bombardier in Belfast.

There was uncertainty for the company's workers in Belfast last year after US manufacturing rivals Boeing complained about the firm selling its C Series jets to Delta Airlines below cost price.

The US Department of Commerce recommended a near 300% punitive duty on sales of the jets for five years, putting around 1,000 jobs in Belfast at risk. But the International Trade Commission (ITC) in the US ruled against Boeing and in favour of Bombardier in January. Mr Hammond pledged his support for Bombardier.

"We are backing Bombardier with 12m of new money to help develop cutting edge technology - here in Northern Ireland - for modern aircraft," he said.

"This will help to secure jobs for Northern Ireland's economy and cement the UK's role as a leading manufacturer of hi-tech aircraft components."

During Wednesday's visit, the Chancellor of the Exchequer also held an hour-long round-table discussion in Limavady with major Northern Ireland-based businesses.

Hosted by the NI Chamber, the meeting was attended by Seagate, Terex, Dale Farm, Danske Bank, Henry Brothers, Foyle Port, Armstrong Medical and Coca Cola.

All the businesses were given the opportunity to put their concerns directly to Mr Hammond, covering a range of topics including Brexit, the lack of a sitting Executive and key infrastructure projects, such as the North South Interconnector.

Speaking afterwards, Ellvena Graham, president of Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry, called on Mr Hammond to use the Autumn Budget to prioritise ways of getting businesses investing.

"In these challenging times it is really important that we have a Budget that puts the economy at the centre.

"Government must do everything it can to improve the areas that are in its control, such as skills, training and infrastructure, to increase business confidence. Businesses also require incentives for investment and we urge the Chancellor to consider an increase in investment allowances."

She continued: "Our members also outlined how business costs are reducing margins significantly. For example the Apprenticeship Levy and the cost to SMEs of administrating auto enrolment. Further increases will continue to reduce business confidence."Chancellor Philip Hammond (left) watches student Carl McCready who is wearing a brain-computer interface, during his visit to the Magee campus of Ulster University in Derry

Chancellor Philip Hammond has said the UK Government will consider an application from Londonderry for a city deal.

During a visit to the Ulster University campus in the city yesterday, Mr Hammond invited a bid for beefed-up development and economic powers.

Politicians in Derry were angered last year when the Chancellor's Budget contained a city deal package for Belfast, but not the north west.

"Northern Ireland is leading the way within the UK in productivity growth," Mr Hammond said yesterday.

"I want to support this progress by inviting a bid for a Derry-Londonderry City Deal, an opportunity for the region to continue to drive forward economic growth and to build an economy that works for everyone."

The Government is investing more than 1.6bn in city deals in Scotland and Wales and is in negotiations for a Belfast City Region Deal - the first city deal in Northern Ireland.

The bespoke agreements with Government, which are already in operation in major urban centres such as Manchester and Glasgow, hand city councils greater powers to lead infrastructure developments, generate wealth and access finance.

Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley said the announcement was a positive step.

"I look forward to now engaging with local partners and across Government as proposals are developed and we build on the existing strengths of this area to deliver a real impact on the economy in the north west and across Northern Ireland."

The announcement has also been welcomed in both business and political circles.

Foyle Port labelled it "a transformative opportunity which we believe will be beneficial for the entire north west region".

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said: "The SDLP has led this campaign for a City Deal for Derry, in particular former Foyle MP Mark Durkan who identified and campaigned for it in the face of inertia by our local Executive.

"Therefore, we are delighted to see it progress to the next step to see the bid come to fruition."Northern Ireland's surveyors are the gloomiest in the UK as workloads slump in most areas except private housing, according to a report today.

Housebuilding for private buyers was the only part of the local construction sector to report growth during the second quarter of the year, according to the survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, which is carried out with law firm Tughans.

Workloads were flat across the board for the fifth quarter in a row during April to June, with some fears that the absence of devolution was holding up spending on big projects. The findings follow last week's Construction Bulletin from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (Nisra), which reported a 6% fall in output year on year.

Today's survey said infrastructure workloads and public non-housing workloads face serious challenges, as members indicated that they were getting less work in those areas.

There were less marked declines in the public housing and private industrial sectors.

And activity in the private commercial sector was also flat.

A large number of major commercial projects - including a series of new hotels in Belfast - have been completed, which is likely to be reflected in the industry figures.

And looking ahead, local surveyors were the most pessimistic in the UK, with expectations bleak for both job creation and profits next year.

Jim Sammon, RICS Northern Ireland construction spokesman, said: "While it is encouraging that housebuilding is continuing to grow in Northern Ireland, the picture presented by the survey is somewhat different across the rest of the industry, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, Northern Ireland surveyors are feeling less optimistic about the outlook than they were."

Members were also less likely than those elsewhere in the UK to be concerned about low levels of new entrants to the profession. Tim Kinney, construction partner at Tughans, said: "Those hoping to see evidence of an increase in office, retail and leisure development or further investment in our infrastructure, won't find it in the latest survey.

"A further upturn in housebuilding is certainly to be welcomed, but it really is the only bright spot in an otherwise challenging environment, which is being exacerbated by the lack of decision-making to push forward key infrastructure projects.

"The latest official construction output statistics point to a worrying decline in government spending, with 590.1m of new public sector work in 2017, compared with 641.8m in 2016.

"In the first quarter of 2018, output decreased by 6.5% compared with Q4 2017 and was 6.1% lower compared with the same quarter in 2017," he added.Tech giant Google is close to signing a deal with developers Paddy McKillen and Belfast-born Johnny Ronan to acquire the Treasury Building in Dublin for a figure in excess of 115m (102m), it has emerged. (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Tech giant Google is close to signing a deal with developers Paddy McKillen and Belfast-born Johnny Ronan to acquire the Treasury Building in Dublin for a figure in excess of 115m (102m), it has emerged.

The completion of the transaction was described as being "imminent" by a source close to the process last night. Negotiations in relation to the sale of the property on Grand Canal Street have been under way since February last year.

While agents CBRE had originally been instructed to handle the sale of a 33.33% stake in the building on behalf of Percy Nominees, it is understood Google came forward and expressed its interest in buying the 11,619sq metre (125,066sq ft) property in its entirety.

Percy Nominees bought its one-third stake in the property when it was redeveloped in 1989 by Ambiorix, a company controlled by Mr Ronan; Paddy McKillen's son Paddy Jr, and Mr McKillen's co-director Liam Cunningham.

Google's imminent purchase of the building comes just two months after the web giant completed its acquisition of the entire Bolands Quay scheme.

The sale of the development at a total cost of approximately 300m followed months of negotiations with Nama-appointed receiver Savills Ireland.

Google's interest in buying the Bolands Quay project was revealed by Belfast Telegraph sister newspaper the Irish Independent last November.

Upon completion, the development will comprise 36,851sq metre (396,660sq ft) of office, residential, retail and cultural space, and will be capable of accommodating up to 2,500 workers. Google's expected purchase of the Treasury Building represents another major coup for Mr Ronan's Ronan Group Real Estate (RGRE).

News of the deal comes just days after it was reported that Mr Ronan has entered into exclusive talks with San Francisco-headquartered tech giant Salesforce in relation to leasing all 46,184sq metre (500,000sq ft) of the office space at RGRE's Spencer Place scheme in Dublin's Docklands. While the 965 employees at Salesforce's EMEA base are currently divided between offices at the Atrium Building and One Central Park in the Sandyford Business District (SBD) in south Dublin, the company's proposed move to the Docklands will give it significant scope to expand its Irish workforce.

The Spencer Place offices will have the capacity for between 4,000 and 5,000 people.The Great British Bake Off continues to spread its sugar-laden influence around the world as it has just sold its 30th international format.

According to BBC Studios, which distributes the show, a deal for the Love Production-owned format of the popular baking show has been signed with Turner Latin America to broadcast it in Chile.

Called Bake Off Chile, El Gran Pastelero  which translates as Bake Off Chile, The Great Baker  it is the second Spanish-language adaption of the show, following the series hitting the airwaves in Argentina earlier this year.

Its a heart-warming, feel good format that really resonates with the audience and grows year on year, making it one of the most popular international shows on TV.BBC Studios' Sumi Connock

The Chilean version will be broadcast on Turners free-to-air channel in the country, Chilevision, and will see 18 aspiring bakers of all ages coming together in a bid to win the series.

Other recent sales of the format include The Great Kiwi Bake Off, which debuted in New Zealand in April, and Bake Off Greece, which was acquired by the countrys Alpha TV in June.

Bake Off also airs in countries including Thailand, Australia, France, Poland and South Africa.

Sumi Connock, creative director of formats for BBC Studios, which secured the sale, said: This 30th format deal really is a testament to the strength of Bake Off worldwide  its a heart-warming, feel good format that really resonates with the audience and grows year on year, making it one of the most popular international shows on TV.

David Hanono, senior vice-president of sales and digital, BBC Studios Latin America/US Hispanic, added: Following the ratings success of Bake Off Argentina, El Gran Pastelero, which concluded its season with a phenomenal 70.3% audience share, we are partnering again with Turner Latin America to develop the second Spanish-language edition of this popular reality show, now in Chile.

The original version of the show, The Great British Bake Off, first aired on BBC Two in 2010, before being bumped up to BBC One in 2014.

It was then sold by Love Productions to Channel 4 in 2016, debuting on the channel in 2017 with original judge Paul Hollywood, new judge Prue Leith and presenters Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding.I Dolours opens in 1999 with Dolours Price in the kitchen of her beautiful Malahide home as news breaks on the radio of the return of one of the bodies of the Disappeared.

Those unfamiliar with the Troubles would struggle to link this middle-class woman in respectable Co Dublin with some of the most shocking killings in the IRA campaign.

Read More

But over the next 82 minutes we are taken to west Belfast where Price grew up steeped in republican orthodoxy, and to England where she travelled on a bombing mission and later went on hunger strike in jail.

Of all the films that have been made about the IRA in recent years, this is by far the most powerful, honest and disturbing.

The romantic myths of the republican movement are contrasted with the savage reality of a campaign which caused so much suffering both outside and inside its own ranks.

Director Maurice Sweeney flawlessly intersperses a video-recorded interview Price gave to journalist Ed Moloney with dramatic re-enactments of the IRA woman's life.

Read More

I met Dolours Price several times and while actress Lorna Larkin doesn't get the accent right, she perfectly captures her essence - it's all in the eyes.

Price emerges as an articulate, intelligent and engaging woman who is telling the truth when she claims that Gerry Adams was the officer commanding of the IRA's Belfast Brigade who sent her out to kill. Yet shades of self-absorption and egoism are also on display. She seems very much a man's woman.

When discussing driving alleged informers across the border to their deaths, it is disconcerting that Price expresses scant sympathy for Jean McConville - indeed she calls her "very arrogant".

She claims that during the journey, McConville, who didn't know the fate awaiting her, said: "I knew those Provo b******* wouldn't have the b**** to shoot me." There is no empathy with a working class woman struggling to bring up 10 children. Yet Price's heart goes out to Joe Lynskey, an IRA man who had an affair with a comrade's wife and tried to set him up for assassination as an informer.

He was "a gentle, gentle man", she says, wishing he'd tried to jump out of the car and escape.

The image recreated of McConville walking across a beach in red slippers to her death, and of Lynskey sitting in Price's car with his overnight bag on his lap, are chilling and heartbreaking.

Price's father Albert was a 1940s IRA man who went to bomb England. He later told his daughters: "I blew them up before you did. The only thing was I didn't get caught."

She recounts as a child hearing not "Little Red Riding Hood" and other fairy tales, but rather republican stories which she loved.

Her mother's family were also staunchly republican. It wasn't "For God and Ireland" Price says - Ireland came far before God.

Her Aunt Bridie lost her hands and sight in an accident handling IRA explosives when she was 25. The house went into mourning but it was "a wake with a living body".

Price recalls as a child having to hold a cigarette to her aunt's mouth for her to smoke: "I hated the job but I did it because it was Bridie."One day she sees tears running down Bridie's cheek and she asks her mother how her aunt can cry when she has no eyes.

Price joined the IRA with her sister Marian after civil rights marchers were beaten off the streets. She told its leadership, "I don't want to be rolling bandages, I want to fight." She recalls robbing banks with Marian, dressed as nuns.

When they went to bomb the Old Bailey in 1973, Price stresses how seriously the women took the IRA operation while some of the male volunteers were carried out of establishments drunk.

Her experience of arrest and imprisonment in England is recounted in all its raw horror. Being forced to walk naked in front of police officers and 180 days being force-fed while on hunger strike. As a child, she had seen parcels being made up for prisoners and thought jail an exotic place. That illusion is quickly shattered. The sisters become the third generation of women to be imprisoned in their family.

On her first visit to see her daughters, her mother admits that her 14 days in jail were "like 14 years" but tells Dolours "no tears, not in front of these people".

Repatriated to Armagh jail, Price suffers from anorexia due to her hunger strike and the force-feeding regime. Her psychological condition deteriorates and her political beliefs appear to be shaken.

But republicanism is in her DNA. Price is aghast when the IRA leadership calls a ceasefire in 1994 without any sign of a British withdrawal.

She rails against the peace process, accusing the Sinn Fein leadership of selling out. "I would not have missed a good breakfast for what Sinn Fein achieved," she declares. She accuses the party of "climbing over corpses" of the dead to get power. This film will make for very uncomfortable viewing for those in Provisional ranks who claim the war was worth it.An Culturlann on the Falls Road,which is located at the former Broadway Presbyterian Church

Anniversaries abound in our information-loaded world, some being less meaningful than others. Last year coincided with the 500th anniversary of the year when Martin Luther composed his Ninety-Five Theses. This is surely a moment in history that is well worth our consideration.

Luther's protest against what he considered to be the systemic abuse of Church power was a key event in the fracture within Christendom that would mark the world for centuries to come.

Read More

Of course, the deep boundary line which opened between Catholicism and Protestantism is the division along which the cultural and political wars of our own small society were fought for many years.

It is a wall which, even in a more secular and tolerant age, leaves many of us still cut off from one another.

Last year, I was asked by Ballycrochan Presbyterian Church in Bangor to mark this anniversary with a series of talks on Church history and also to compose a short play about Luther. Once the play had been performed, there were inquiries from other groups, asking if I could stage the drama for them.

The play was shown in Omagh, for instance, in a cross-community context, with a lively panel discussion to follow.

Then, an invitation came from individuals involved in the West Belfast Festival. Would I be happy to bring the Luther play to a venue on the Falls Road? And if the management of An Culturlann possessed a suitable slot in their calendar, could I stage it there?

An Culturlann is an Irish language arts and cultural centre which has a theatre.

I stressed that an Irish language translation might be beyond me and my actor. But I had little hesitation in saying yes to the request.

I sought the logistic help of an organisation with which I had attempted similar projects before, the Centre for Contemporary Christianity. As a result, An Evening with Martin Luther, which is a one-man show, will be performed in An Culturlann on Saturday, August 4, followed by a panel discussion.

I cannot stress too highly the resonances that existed for us when we were rehearsing at this venue in recent days.

The vibrant Irish language centre exists on the site of the former Broadway Presbyterian Church. This place of worship once drew its congregation from the network of red-brick streets all along the Falls Road.

I discovered through accessing the research of historian Tom Hartley that, in the First World War, 135 men had gone off from the Broadway congregation to fight in the conflict and that number had included no fewer than 21 sets of brothers. Sadly, 23 of these young men did not return from the trenches.

The Broadway congregation continued to exist in the years that followed the war, with all their violence and poverty and the sea-change wrought by Irish partition. By the 1960s, change was bubbling below the surface.

An older generation of local people still remember the presence of Orange marches on the Falls Road, making their way to a Church service at Broadway.

But, with the eruption of the Troubles in 1969 and the demographic shifts that occurred all across the city in those fearful years, Broadway's days were numbered - but not until 1982 did it close its doors for the last time.

The Irish language centre which is now housed at this location has clearly gone from strength to strength and includes a cafe, book shop, gallery and performing space. Yet, An Culturlann is very careful to preserve some memory of the institution that preceded it on this site.

There is a stained-glass window on a stairwell dedicated to the story of the Broadway church. And so, it is into this historic context that An Evening with Martin Luther will step on August 4.

So, in undertaking our production, my actor, Brian Payne, and I will be very aware on the night that a congregation once worshipped here for 86 unbroken years and that for them, Martin Luther would have been a respected figure, albeit of lesser significance in Presbyterian culture than was John Calvin.

We are also aware that, in the not-so-distant past, an event openly advertising the subject of Luther and the Reformation on the Falls Road could have been deemed a sectarian provocation.

The fact that my play is happening after an invitation and that it is to be followed by frank conversation is perhaps a measure of the positive changes in our society - changes too often ignored by those who simply argue that we are a more divided and rancorous people than ever before.

In my play, a middle-aged Luther looks back over his early life. In his later years, Luther's anti-Judaism and his failure to side with the German peasants in their struggle for justice form dark blemishes on his life.

These are not matters which we address, although we do suggest in the course of the performance that a sequel to this drama would have to address them.

Rather, our narrative traces the course of Luther's early life, a period during which he is still very much the German friar, angered by perceived corruption, pondering the theology he had inherited, but under the mentorship of fellow-Augustinians. In that regard, we are not yet looking at the more visceral years of animosity between Luther and the Pope - which would also be a matter for further dramatisation perhaps, though not on this occasion.

On the night, there will be a panel discussion in which four individuals who have tried to play significant leadership roles inside their Protestant faith communities will discuss what they will have taken away from the performance.

The Reformation years constituted a time of enormous change, not least in the expansion of human knowledge, in which the role of the printing press cannot be overstated.

We can also look back and see glimmers in that period of something we now think of as national consciousness.

In this, another time of change, what are the challenges facing the churches and the wider faith community?

Perhaps there is an added resonance in undertaking such a discussion on a site that has borne witness to great change in our city, much of it painful, but much of it creative and positive.

However, it strikes me that the time may well be right for writers to tackle drama which examines the life, achievements and limitations of other important religious figures from the past.

A friend recently inquired as to whether I might tackle the subject of John Calvin.

In recent years, a brand of "reformed" theology which claims a Calvinist ancestry has made profound inroads inside Presbyterian culture, though not without hard questions being asked of it.

The time may come when society needs a greater understanding of this man's controversial intellect, of the much-debated link between Calvin and Calvinism and his remarkable theocratic experiment in Geneva.

The many "alternative" Reformations also need attention, involving the subversive teaching of the Anabaptists, the practical mysticism of the Society of Friends and the remarkable surge of mid-17th century social radicalism represented by the Diggers and the Levellers.

All these religious cultures mattered here - and some still do.

However, religious narratives can end up as a less well-grasped part of historical inheritance and I reckon that this is the case where Ulster Protestant culture is concerned. The last four years have seen a very necessary focus on commemorative projects that stress military history, whether at the Somme, Gallipoli or Jutland.

The ensuing few years will see a focus on the centenaries of constitutional change, especially the formation of Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State.

There is also a divided public memory of the bloody times that accompanied these events.

However, political, social and military history must not occlude narratives that deal explicitly with faith and religion. For instance, there is an Evangelical surge inside 19th and 20th-century Ulster Protestantism which cries out for a vivid, incisive artistic treatment of such stirring figures as the Rev Henry Cooke and the evangelist WP Nicholson. There are also plays to be written, needless to say, about the marginal role of women in many local religious narratives.

A visit to the little-visited Balmoral graveyard, which lies near the Belfast-Lisburn railway line, reveals that this is where Henry Cooke and numerous figures of bygone religious significance are buried. The almost-forgotten nature of this place suggests cultural neglect.

Without a contemporary understanding of the religious past, the self-awareness and creative capacity of a community is diminished.

An Evening with Martin Luther, written by Philip Orr and featuring Brian Payne, is at An Culturlann, Falls Road, on Saturday, August 4 at 8pm. Tickets, priced 6, are available from www.eventbrite.co.ukDUP MP Sammy Wilson has told Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab to take a leaf out of Donald Trump's book in his talks with EU officials on Thursday.

Overnight the EU and US agreed to work toward lowering trade barriers with each other. It comes after months of heightened tensions between the two which threatened a trade war.

The US president said the two had agreed to launch a "new phase" in relations. Mr Trump declared it a "very big day for free and fair trade".

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Sammy Wilson said Mr Trump had "forced" the EU into a U-turn.

"Only weeks ago, there was no sign of any such willingness of the EU countries to reconsider their selfish one-sided approach to dealing with these issues," he said.

Thursday sees new Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab head to Brussels for face-to-face talks with Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator.

Writing in The Daily Mail Mr Raab said that while 80% of the withdrawal agreement had been agreed, "Mr Barnier and I will be discussing how we complete the remaining 20 per cent, including guarantees to avoid a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland."

Mr Wilson said the minister went into the talks with a strong hand. He said that while a no deal would have "severe implications" for EU economies there would be some "disruption".

He said Mr Raab had to make it clear there could never be a customs border down the Irish Sea separating Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.

He added: "The UK still has significant leverage if there is a political will to use it. He has the strong hand of threatening trade barriers against EU goods coming into the UK, trade on which millions of EU jobs depend and a trade surplus which bolsters EU economies.

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"Preparations for a no deal would have severe implications for economies such as the Irish, French and Germans and whilst it may cause some short term disruption, proper preparations for that disruption could minimise the impact as already been indicated by a number of international agencies.

"From a Northern Ireland perspective he needs to make it clear that however much Barnier insists that there be no withdrawal agreement without a back stop arrangement for the Northern Ireland border, the British government will not sign up to any arrangement which now or in the future, separates, or has the potential to separate, Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.

"Now is not the time for sweet talk.

"Donald Trump has shown that they respond to strength, determination and credible threats. That should be the guiding principle for our negotiations between now and October and the role over tactics displayed during the negotiations on the withdrawal agreement must now be brought to an end."TUV leader Jim Allister has said a call from the SDLP for a single anti-Brexit candidate to take on Ian Paisley in North Antrim if a by-election is called would be a "gift" to the embattled politician.

It comes after SDLP Brexit spokeswoman Claire Hanna called for an agreed unity remain candidate to run in any potential election.

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The North Antrim MLA said that any Brexit candidate would distract from the real issues in any election.

"It's probably the best news Ian Paisley has heard in what must be a very dark week for him," Mr Allister said.

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"He would love to turn this election (if there is one) away from what it's about, namely sleaze to Brexit in a constituency that's overwhelmingly in favour of Brexit.

"It's a gift to Ian Paisley if this election is diverted from sleaze to Brexit."

Following the call from Mrs Hanna, the Alliance Party moved quickly to say they would be campaigning "on our own" in any potential by-election, and talk of a unity candidate was "premature".

"Alliances position on pacts is well-known and we have been successful in challenging financial scandals in a Westminster election before," the spokesperson said.

Ian Paisley has been suspended from Parliament for 30 days after it was revealed he took his family on two holidays paid for by the Sri Lankan Government.

He has also been suspended by the DUP pending an internal investigation.

A petition of recall will now be set up and if the petition is signed by 10% of the North Antrim electorate, Mr Paisley must stand down and a by-election will be called.

Mr Paisley is expected to be the DUP candidate in the event of any by-election, and in the 2017 General Election he claimed over 42% share of the vote.

Mrs Hanna made the call for a single candidate after the SDLP leader Colum Eastwood wrote to party leaders urging a 'Brexit alliance'.

In his correspondence, the SDLP leader said there is a real opportunity to take on the Tories and stop a hard Brexit.

He said Northern Ireland needs a remain voice in the Commons that will vote to stop borders in Ireland and economic devastation".PACEMAKER, BELFAST, 8/5/2015:DUP's Ian Paisley celebrates his victory in the North Antrim constituency count in Ballymena . PICTURE BY STEPHEN DAVISON

The Alliance Party has rejected a call from the SDLP's Claire Hanna for a single anti-Brexit candidate to take on Ian Paisley in North Antrim if a by-election is called following the Sri Lankan holiday scandal.

SDLP Brexit spokeswoman Mrs Hanna has called for an agreed unity remain candidate to run in any potential election, to represent the views of a majority of Northern Ireland voters who backed the United Kingdom remaining in the European Union.

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Following the call from Mrs Hanna, the Alliance Party moved quickly to say they would be campaigning "on our own" in any potential by-election, and talk of a unity candidate was "premature".

"Alliances position on pacts is well-known and we have been successful in challenging financial scandals in a Westminster election before," the spokesperson said.

"If any election takes place, Alliance would intend to campaign on our own positive, progressive, pro-European platform.

"If anyone seeking a unity candidate was serious about the intention, they would have surely contacted other parties first instead of going directly to the media."

Ian Paisley has been suspended from Parliament for 30 days after it was revealed he took his family on two holidays paid for by the Sri Lankan Government.

He has also been suspended by the DUP pending an internal investigation.

The North Antrim MP was found guilty of paid advocacy after contacting then Prime Minister David Cameron to lobby on behalf of the Sri Lankan Government regarding a UN resolution.

A petition of recall will now be set up and if the petition is signed by 10% of the North Antrim electorate, Mr Paisley must stand down and a by-election will be called.

Mr Paisley is expected to be the DUP candidate in the event of any by-election, and in the 2017 General Election he claimed a winning 42% share of the vote.

Mrs Hanna made the call for a single candidate after the SDLP leader Colum Eastwood wrote to party leaders urging a 'Brexit alliance'.

In his correspondence, the SDLP leader said there is a real opportunity to take on the Tories and stop a hard Brexit.

He said Northern Ireland needs a remain voice in the Commons that will vote to stop borders in Ireland and economic devastation".

South Belfast MLA Mrs Hanna said a remain voice was needed in Westminster to properly represent the people of Northern Ireland.

Ian Paisley has to go. He should step aside immediately, not because the SDLP is telling him to but because its the right thing to do," Mrs Hanna said.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close The Paisley family at home in 1988. From left to right Ian Junior, Cherith, Rhonda, Kyle. Pic Pacemaker Ian Paisley hurdles a fence during canvassing for 2010 election. Pic Charles McQuillan Pacemaker Ian Paisley with Donald Trump. The North Antrim MP has supported the US president. Ian Paisley and Ian jnr eating buns in the campaign trail in March 1982. Ian Paisley at the Seven Towers Leisure Centre in Ballymena after retaining his seat in the 2015 general election Kevin Scott / Presseye Ian Paisley junior left pictured with his father during the Drumcree stand off in 1996. PACEMAKER BELFAST 15/04/98 Ian Paisley MP at a Remembrance Day commemoration in Kenya Pacemaker Belfast - Archive Ian Paisley Jnr with "Justice for the UDR Four " at his Ravenhill office. 19-12-90 1053-90-BWC Ian with Arlene Foster after she was made DUP party leader 9 / 6 / 17 PACEMAKER PRESS Ian Paisley Jr celebrates with his son Matthew and wife Fiona after winning his seat for North Antrim in the UK Parliamentary Elections. PICTURE MATT BOHILL PACEMAKER PRESS Ian Paisley Jnr, whose father founded the DUP in 1971, says, 'everybody hates us but we've got the cash' [Photo: Marc McKormick, www.independent.co.uk] Ian Paisley with his late father. Credit: Stephen Davidson/Pacemaker Press PACEMAKER BELFAST. Ian Paisley and Ian Junior in Studio. 16/8/94. 704/94/bwc PACEMAKER, BELFAST, 14/1/2011: Ian Paisley Junior pictured at the Adelaide Racer awards at the Ramada hotel PICTURE BY CHARLES MCQUILLAN Paisley with Miss North West 200 Jillian Frew 3/5/2010. PACEMAKER BELFAST. IAN PAISLEY JR POSES FOR THE OFFICIAL ELECTION ARTIST, SIMON ROBERTS WHILST CANVESSING IN THE COUNTRYSIDE OUTSIDE BALLYMENA THIS AFTERNOON. PICTURE CHARLES MCQUILLAN/PACEMAKER. Pacemaker Press Belfast 22-03-2013: Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Jr, MP is the Member of Parliament for North Antrim and member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for the Democratic Unionist Party and an author. He is the son of the DUP's founder and former leader, Ian Paisley. Picture By: Arthur Allison. Ian Paisley Jr met Amari Wijewardene, the Sri Lankan High Commissioner, in Parliament to discuss a post-Brexit trade deal PACEMAKER, BELFAST, 11/7/2018: North Antrim MP, Ian Paisley at motorcycle racer William Dunlop's funeral at Garryduff Presbyterian church outside Ballymoney. Dunlop was killed in a crash during practice for the Skerries 100. PICTURE BY STEPHEN DAVISON PACEMAKER BELFAST 20/04/2017 Ian Paisley speaks to the Irish Times at Stormont Hotel in Belfast, about his father. Photo Colm Lenaghan/ Pacemaker Press Ian discusses the legacy of his father Photo Colm Lenaghan/ Pacemaker Press Ian Paisley Getty Images Pacemaker Belfast 18-06-2007: Junior Minister Ian Paisley Junior pictured at photocall at Stormont where ministers were encouraging people to cycle to work. PACEMAKER BELFAST. Copy pics from the book about the early years of the life of Ian Paisley. 13/8/86. 1197/86/bw PACEMAKER, BELFAST, 8/5/2015:DUP's Ian Paisley celebrates his victory in the North Antrim constituency count in Ballymena . PICTURE BY STEPHEN DAVISON A picture posted by Ian Paisley (right) of Arron Banks (second left), Sammy Wilson (second right) and Leave.EU campaigner Andy Wigmore Pacemaker press 21/4/15 The Democratic Unionist Party MP Ian paisley Junior launches election manifesto at Wrightbus in Co Antrim. Picture Mark Marlow/pacemaker press Paisley with Melania Trump Ian Paisley Junior PACEMAKER, BELFAST, 8/5/2015:DUP's Ian Paisley celebrates his victory in the North Antrim constituency count in Ballymena . PICTURE BY STEPHEN DAVISON DUP's Ian Paisley celebrates victory in the North Antrim constituency count in Ballymena in the May 2015 General Election. Picture Stephen Davison Pacemaker 8/5/2015. PACEMAKER BELFAST. Ian Paisley and Ian Jnr. PACEMAKER, BELFAST, 8/5/2015: DUP's Ian Paisley celebrates his victory in the North Antrim constituency count in Ballymena by singing the National Anthem. PICTURE BY STEPHEN DAVISON PACEMAKER, BELFAST, 8/5/2015: Ian Paisley arrives at the North Antrim constituency count in Ballymena with his wife, Fiona. PICTURE BY STEPHEN DAVISON 9 / 6 / 17 PACEMAKER PRESS Ian Paisley Jr celebrates winning his seat for North Antrim in the UK Parlimentary Elections. PICTURE MATT BOHILL PACEMAKER PRESS 3/5/2010. PACEMAKER BELFAST. IAN PAISLEY JR AND IAN PAISLEY SR IN HARRYVILLE, BALLYMENA. PICTURE CHARLES MCQUILLAN/PACEMAKER. Pacemaker Press 8/5/2017 DUP's Ian Paisley Jnr during the Launch of the DUP's General election campaign launch at the Castlereigh Hills Golf in East Belfast on Monday, ahead of the election on the 8th of June. Pic Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker PACEMAKER, BELFAST, 8/5/2015:DUP's Ian Paisley celebrates his victory in the North Antrim constituency count in Ballymena . PICTURE BY STEPHEN DAVISON Pacemaker Press: 22th December 2017: Ian Paisley Jr pictured with his new and old Passport Picture By: Arthur Allison. Ian Paisley Pacemaker Press Belfast 31-03-2014: Launch of North-West 200 road races at Titanic Belfast . Pictured at the launch Ian Paisley, Jr. and Arlene Foster, MLA Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. PICTURE BY: STEPHEN DAVISON Pacemaker Press Belfast 31-03-2014: Launch of North-West 200 road races at Titanic Belfast .Pictured at the launch Ian Paisley, Jr. and Arlene Foster, MLA Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment. PICTURE BY: STEPHEN DAVISON 9 / 6 / 17 PACEMAKER PRESS Ian Paisley Jr celebrates winning his seat for North Antrim in the UK Parlimentary Elections. PICTURE MATT BOHILL PACEMAKER PRESS / Facebook

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Whatsapp The Paisley family at home in 1988. From left to right Ian Junior, Cherith, Rhonda, Kyle. Pic Pacemaker

It is imperative now that all of us work to ensure that a by-election is called and it is won by an MP that will represent the interests of people in Northern Ireland at this critical time. That means only an MP who will go to Westminster and vote against the Tory Brexit can take the seat.

Today [Thursday] the SDLP Party Leader wrote to all remain voices to ask that we agree to back a remain candidate that will defeat the DUP and help protect the interests of all peoples across these islands."The fire was started in the Islay Street area of Antrim. Credit: Google.

A house in Co Antrim was badly damaged after an arson attack on the property.

Police are appealing for witnesses following the fire at a property in the Islay Street area of Antrim just after midnight on Thursday.

It is believed that the fire was started deliberately when an accelerant was ignited at the front of the house.

There were 10 people in the house at the time of the incident, two adults and eight children aged between one and 13. None were injured or needed any medical treatment.

The front door and its surrounding area were completely destroyed. There was also damage to the interior hallway and smoke damage to the front of the house.

Police are treating this incident as arson with intent to endanger life.

Antrim Ulster Unionist councillors Drew Ritchie and Jim Montgomery condemned the attack.

Councillor Drew Ritchie said: This irresponsible attack could have easily resulted in mass loss of life or injury. Thankfully nobody was hurt on this occasion but clearly those who committed this disgraceful act were not concerned in the slightest what damage they caused.

Councillor Jim Montgomery added: "This attack was designed to kill and must be entirely condemned. Not only did it risk the lives of those in the house but also of those people living nearby if the fire had spread. It is our understanding there is a domestic reason behind the attack as part of some ongoing feud.

"These types of attacks are not welcome in the area. Disputes cannot be sorted through such irresponsible and dangerous actions and there must not be a repetition of such dangerous actions.

"The local community want to get on with their lives peacefully and those who want to undertake such actions show total disregard for others around them. They are not welcome in the community because of their disregard for life and others.

Anyone who has information that could help the police investigation is asked to get in touch on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference number 05 of 26/7/18.

Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100% anonymous.The victim has been named locally as Brian Phelan. Credit: NewRayPics.com

A father-of-two has been killed after being stabbed in Newry.

The incident happened in the Carrivekeeney Road area of Newry on Thursday.

The murder victim has been named locally as Brian Phelan, who was in his 30s.

Police are currently treating his death as murder.

A 27-year-old man has been arrested and is currently in custody assisting with police enquiries.

Sinn Fein councillor Roisin Mulgrew said: "The community will be absolutely shocked.

"Knife crime is not something which is common place in our area and this is a time for asking for people to cooperate with the police if they need assistance and also to give the family of the young man time to come to terms with this terrible event."

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SDLP MLA Justin McNulty described the area where police reported the incident as having taken place as quiet and residential.

"This has come as a big shock to me, and to the community," he said.

"I would encourage anyone with information to go to police."

Tributes have been paid to Mr Phelan on social media.

Kyle Keenan said: "Hearts broke wakening up to here about Barney Brian Phelan who I've known since I was about 10 and to hear this is just so, so sad. You where always there when i called you no matter what you woulda done anything to help anyone if they where stuck.

"Your a good friend and I will have only but good memories of you."

Detective Chief Inspector Eamon Corrigan has appealed to anyone with any information which could assist detectives with their enquiries to contact them in Newry on 101.

Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.A police cordon at the scene in Sevenoaks in Londonderry

A man has been arrested over a shooting in Londonderry.

A number of shots were fired in the Sevenoaks area of the city on Tuesday, July 24.

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It's thought a silver Peugeot car rammed into a black car as it drove near the entrance to Sevenoaks before a number of shots were fired at the driver.

No one was injured. The silver Peugeot was abandoned and set alight at Lincoln Court a short time after the incident.

A 50-year-old was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of attempted murder and remains in police custody.

Detectives continue to appeal to anyone who was in the Sevenoaks or Lincoln Court areas on Tuesday morning and who witnessed any of the incidents or anyone who has any information which could assist with the investigation to contact detectives at Strand Road on 101 quoting reference number 252 24/07/18. Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime.A licence to supply and possess medicinal cannabis has been granted to the parents of Northern Ireland girl Sophia Gibson, who lives with severe epilepsy.

The seven-year-old, from Newtownards, Co Down, has a genetic condition which causes what her family describe as "frequent and dangerous fits".

She has Dravet syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy.

On Thursday a Department of Health spokesman said: "The Department of Health confirmed today a licence to supply and possess medicinal cannabis has been granted to the parents of Sophia Gibson to administer her treatment at home with the support of her clinicians.

"The Department would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge that this has been a lengthy process for the family and would like to thank the family for their patience.

"Our thoughts and sincere best wishes are with Sophia."A woman has been arrested for not paying her TV license in Belfast.

A chronically-ill grandmother from Belfast has been jailed for six days after she did not pay her TV licence.

The Irish News reports Anne Smith (59), from Poleglass, who has serious mobility issues and is awaiting a double-hip replacement, was ordered to present herself to police by 5pm on Wednesday so she could begin a six-day sentence behind bars.

She was jailed after she did not pay a 1,100 court fine for failing to pay her television licence.

The mother-of-four, who has 12 grandchildren, told The Irish News yesterday that she was "terrified" at the prospect of being imprisoned.

"I think it is utterly ridiculous that they would arrest a woman over a TV licence. I wish I had just paid the fines," she said.

"I broke my hip and was unable to get out of the house for a whole year. In hindsight, I should have had a licence but because of my health, and I had to help my sister through cancer, I didn't get to do it."

Sinn Fein MLA Raymond McCartney, the party's justice spokesman, said: This is a distressing case and the arrest and imprisonment of this woman for a fairly minor offence.

The family have made it clear there are mitigating factors given her very serious health problems and efforts were actually being made to pay the outstanding fines at the time she was arrested.

However, it seems that because the bench warrant had already been issued, this was not accepted and she was instead arrested from her home and is now being held in Hydebank Prison.

I believe that is a gross over-reaction. The system should have showed some flexibility in this case because jailing a chronically ill grandmother does no-one any service, particularly when she was making good on her efforts to pay the fines.

The relevant authorities should now intervene, show some common sense and ensure she is immediately released."

People Before Profit Councillor Matt Collins said: "I have been speaking to Anne's family today, who are naturally very worried and stressed. It is disgraceful that a 59-year-old chronically ill woman has been jailed for not paying her TV licence. This is callous treatment of a vulnerable working class woman.

"No one was arrested for the 650 million RHI bill, but when an ordinary person struggles to make ends meet they are thrown in jail. One law for the rich, one law for the poor- it's sickening and draconian. PBP are calling for Anne to be released immediately."

In a statement, a TV Licensing spokesperson said: "Newspaper reports say Mrs Smith has been sentenced to prison for non-payment of court fines for TV Licence evasion.

"The sentence is a matter for the courts and TV Licensing has no involvement in this decision. We do everything we can to help people pay and only prosecute as a last resort when all other options are exhausted. The maximum penalty for watching TV illegally is a fine of up to 1,000 (plus court costs and a victim surcharge).

"The majority of first time offenders are not prosecuted if they buy a licence within a specified time. There are many ways to pay, including weekly cash payments and we are currently trialling the Simple Payment Plan which offers even more help to those who might struggle to pay. We work with nearly 500 organisations across the UK, including many in Northern Ireland, to offer advice and support.A report has claimed Northern Ireland could be financially better off in a united Ireland.

A new report has claimed that Northern Ireland could be financially better off in the event of a united Ireland.

'Northern Ireland's Income and Expenditure in a Reunification scenario' was researched by Gunther Thurmann who worked in the German Desk for the International Monteary Fund (IMF) during German reunification and Fianna Fail Senator Mark Daly.

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The research was conducted on the behalf of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.

Senator Daly previously produced a report entitled 'Brexit & the Future of Ireland Uniting Ireland & its People in Peace & Prosperity' for the committee.

The pair carried out the report to look at the income and expenditure of Northern Ireland in a reunification situation.

They compiled the research which analysed Ireland's place in the world in various global indexes and its performance since independence.

The research found that with the current reported deficit the Northern Ireland budget could come close to a balanced budget after re-unification before examining the potential economic benefits that re-unification would bring.

Daly and Thurmann's research found that Northern Ireland's yearly social protection budget of 2.8bn would still be the responsibility of the British Government while Northern Ireland would no longer be responsible for 2.9bn in defence and UK debt interest payments.

The research said that a total of 8.5bn would be saved through reunification while the current reported deficit for Northern Ireland is 9.2bn.

Senator Daly claimed that the Department of Foreign Affairs did not want to release the findings until "after Brexit".

"This is unacceptable interference by the Department of Foreign Affairs in the work of the Dail and Seanad," Senator Daly told journal.ie.

"The fact that officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs do not what this information released and the motivation behind it need to be answered."

The Irish Department for Foreign Affairs declined to comment.A local council is set to make history next month by flying the Pride flag above its civic buildings

A local council is set to make history next month by flying the Pride flag above its civic buildings.

Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council will be the first out of Northern Ireland's 11 council areas to mark Pride Day by raising the rainbow flag at its three main centres on August 4.

The move comes after a notice of motion brought by Sinn Fein narrowly passed 12-11 at a full council meeting on Monday evening.

Each of the remaining councils have since confirmed to the Belfast Telegraph that to date no official requests have been received by their respective chambers to mark the annual festival in the same manner.

Belfast City Council, however, will be lighting up City Hall in rainbow colours next Saturday to coincide with the Pride parade, a spokesman confirmed.

The decision by ABC council has been hailed as an important milestone by Gavin Boyd, policy officer of the Rainbow Project group in Belfast.

He said yesterday that it was another sign that the province as a whole is becoming more liberal in its attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community.

"(This is) one of the most phenomenal things I've heard taking place to mark Pride this year," said Mr Boyd.

"Visibility is key to those in the LGBTQ+ community who may be facing isolation or difficulties.

"It's really excellent that Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon are showing their participation in this way."

Sinn Fein Councillor Darren McNally - who brought forward the motion backed by ABC party colleague Liam Mackle - said he was "delighted" the council had supported their proposal, despite opposition from DUP members and UUP councillors opting to abstain from the vote.

Mr McNally added that while it was a "small gesture", it was one that is deeply important to ABC citizens who are part of the LGBTQ+ community - some of whom, he added, had informed him of hate attacks occurring recently in the borough.

"Huge steps forward towards full equality have been made in recent years but there is still more to be done and actions such as this, although small, are an important symbol of solidarity," he said.

"It's important that we show solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community and send a clear message that inequality and discrimination of any kind is simply not tolerable."

The council is also following in the footsteps of the Government which flew the flag at its Stormont House building last August on the orders of the then Secretary of State, James Brokenshire amid the long-running political debate on whether same-sex marriage legislation should be extended to Northern Ireland.Firefighters and volunteers try to extinguish flames near the village of Kineta

Members of Northern Ireland's Greek community have told of their devastation and horror at the wildfires that have swept across Greece.

At least 80 people, including Irishman Brian O'Callaghan-Westropp, have died in the forest fires that have raged through villages and holiday resorts in the country.

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Ioannis Tsioulakis, a lecturer in anthropology at Queen's University Belfast, is originally from Athens but has lived in Northern Ireland for 13 years. His parents and extended family still live in the Greek capital.

He has just returned from a week in Athens where he witnessed the impact of the fires.

Ioannis said: "On the one hand this is devastating but on the other it is not uncommon.

"Greece is always threatened by wildfires especially during the summer when the weather is so hot but we haven't seen anything as bad as this in around 10 years."

Ioannis said his family do not live in the area that has been directly hit, but they are in a region that has been threatened by wildfires in the past.

"Everybody knows someone who has been affected and my own brother knows someone who died a couple of days ago," he said. "People are stunned and just trying to make sense of it all. It is hard because you don't know how to react, who to blame or how to try and prevent this happening again in the future.

"When I was in Athens I could see that most of the sky around the Athens region was covered in smoke. You feel very helpless as you don't know what you can do to assist people in any meaningful way.

"Now that I'm back in Belfast and far away I can't offer real help like blood donations or clothes, so it's more about trying to share information and ask people how they are coping."

Greek Cypriot national Koulla Yiasouma, who is the NI Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY), said: "I can't look at the footage online or on television because my heart just breaks and goes out to the families of those who have lost their lives.

"It's unspeakable what has happened to them and I can only pray that the situation will be brought under control and that no more lives will be lost."

She added: "The death toll, particularly with so many children involved, has been described as a biblical disaster.

"As a mother, your first thought is for your own children and wanting to keep them close and safe, so I can't imagine what people there are going through.

"Greece is a country that is just beginning to get back on its feet economically, so to have this level of humanitarian and ultimately financial devastation wreaked upon them is absolutely awful."

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras has said his country is going through "an unspeakable tragedy", but Koulla believes other countries will rally around.

"I have no doubt that Greece's partners and neighbours across the EU will gather support for the country at their awful hour of need."

Another Athens native is John Karamichas, a sociology lecturer at Queen's who has lived in Belfast since 2005.

"It is very saddening and upsetting to see what has been happening but thankfully my family back home are all okay."

John is still planning to travel to Athens next month to see his family. His sister was holidaying near the popular resort of Nea Makri, one of the areas worst hit.

"She realised the fire was developing so she got herself and her daughters away immediately instead of waiting for it to come closer and start to spread," he added.Concerns have been raised that postal voting on demand during the recall petition process set to be triggered by Ian Paisley's suspension from Parliament could leave the system open to abuse.

On Tuesday, the House of Commons voted to exclude the DUP MP for 30 sitting days - the joint-longest period for any member in almost 70 years.

He has also been suspended from the DUP "pending further investigation into his conduct".

Mr Paisley breached parliamentary rules by not declaring two luxury foreign holidays paid for by the Sri Lankan government.

During an election, members of the public who wish to vote by post must complete an application form specifying why they cannot go in person to vote at a polling station.

To be eligible for a permanent postal vote, a voter must demonstrate that they cannot reasonably be expected to go to a polling station or vote unaided due to disability, employment or education. To qualify for a temporary postal vote, a voter must demonstrate that they cannot reasonably be expected to go to a polling station on polling day for a short term reason such as a holiday, or short term illness.

However, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal that those wishing to have their names added by post to the recall petition, which could lead to a by-election with the potential to oust Mr Paisley from his north Antrim seat, can do so on demand. This is despite abuse of the postal voting system here in the past.

Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland Virginia McVea told this newspaper that the mechanism was due to the lack of anonymity for those entering designated centres.

"People can use a postal vote on demand - normally you have to give reasons, but this is a less anonymous process than an election would normally be," she explained. "The difference is that when you go to a polling station to vote, normally people don't know what you do on your ballot. This time, people are going in to say the MP will be removed from the seat. So people may prefer a postal vote. The different ways to sign this will be by post, in person or by proxy."

It will be the first time that the Recall of MPs Act 2015 for a recall petition process has been triggered. If the petition is signed by 10% of the North Antrim electorate, Mr Paisley must stand down and a by-election will be called.

Ms McVea said that she received a letter from the Speaker of the House of Commons yesterday saying that Mr Paisley was subject to a recall petition process.

"That means that I have 10 working days from July 25 to announce two main things: when the petition will be open for signing, and the designated places where people have to go to sign the petition," she explained.

"All the people from North Antrim will be written to, telling them where to go. The petition will be open for six weeks.

"People who go to the designated places will sign the petition and put it into the ballot box, then we will tally that up.

"But we don't publish the outcome as we go along - there's not a running tally.

"At the end of six weeks we will look to see if it crosses the 10% threshold, and if it does we are into a by-election process."

It is understood that the recall petition process could run into September.

Ms McVea said she was "confident" that the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland is "well prepared" to handle the new legislation.

Should a by-election be triggered, it is understood that this process would start in the autumn at the earliest.

However, this raises the possibility that Mr Paisley may not have fulfilled the full period of his parliamentary suspension, which is likely to last until November, at the time of such a by-election.

DUP Lagan Valley MP Jeffrey Donaldson raised concerns over the potential abuse of the postal voting system.

"I understand that the objective is to make it as easy as possible for the electorate to sign a recall petition," he stated.

"Sadly, there is a history in Northern Ireland of the postal voting system being abused, and I hope this won't happen on this occasion, but the Electoral Office will need to be vigilant to ensure it operates the way Parliament intended and that applications by post are properly verified."

Former Parliamentary Standards Chair Sir Alistair Graham added: "I understand the concerns if there's a track record of abusing the system.

"The legislation has to apply, and I think the people to blame are the Northern Ireland MPs who didn't speak around the legislation when it went through Parliament."

Meanwhile, Ian Paisley's wife Fiona posted a picture of a shark on social media on Tuesday - hours after his suspension.

The picture, posted on her Twitter account, was captioned with the German word "schadenfreude' - meaning pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune.

Mr Paisley's twin Kyle, a Free Presbyterian minister in England, also defended his brother on social media.

What next... how the process will unfoldThe Duke of Sussex is staging a charity fundraising polo match in aid of children in Africa living with HIV and Aids.

Harry will take to the field for the Sentebale Polo Cup in Berkshire, in support of his charity of the same name.

The sporting fixture has become an important annual event raising funds and awareness for Sentebale, an organisation which works with children and teenagers in Lesotho and Botswana who are coming to terms with being HIV positive, have Aids or have lost their parents to the disease.

The polo event, being held at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club, usually features international professional players and talented amateurs.

Harry will play on the Sentebale St Regis team, captained by Sentebale Ambassador Nacho Figueras, against the Royal Salute team, captained by Malcolm Borwick.

A 2004 gap year trip to the landlocked African nation of Lesotho inspired the duke to set up his charity two years later with the countrys Prince Seeiso, younger brother of King Letsie III.

Their aim was to help youngsters in need and other children who had lost one or both parents to Aids or contracted the disease themselves.

In November 2015 Sentebale opened its 2 million Mamohato Childrens Centre in Lesotho to scale up its Mamohato camps, a residential project providing psychological, social and practical support to children struggling to cope with being HIV positive.Exam boards have set up dedicated teams to monitor social media as part of moves to clamp down on cheating.

A huge amount of time and effort is spent looking for signs and indications of malpractice in exams online, exam chiefs said.

The comments came as the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ)  which represents UK exam boards  announced an independent inquiry into exam malpractice.

Malpractice is still extremely rare, it was suggested, and official figures show that last year, 2,715 penalties were issued to candidates (0.01%), along with 895 to school staff and 120 to schools and colleges.

Sanctions issued to candidates were overwhelmingly for possession of a mobile phone in an exam, the JCQ noted.

Announcing the new commission, to be led by Sir John Dunford, Mark Bedlow of the OCR exam board said: Malpractice that is deliberate is still extremely rare.

But we are seeing the occasional story pop up and it is getting profile and we are also seeing students increasingly use technology in different ways.

He added that a lot of work is already done to combat malpractice, but more can be done to look at issues such as the role of social media, and to understand the reasons for malpractice.

Alex Scharaschkin of the AQA exam board said awarding bodies are conscious of the fact that there are different ways in which information can be shared.

Mr Bedlow said: Theres all this technology change thats going on. We spend a huge amount of effort and time monitoring social media, to look for signs and indicators of malpractice.

However there are ways of subverting this, for example through secure communication systems.

He added that the board has people examining social media platforms throughout the year.

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The commission is due to begin its work in September, with a final report published next spring.

Exam chiefs insisted that the inquiry is not a response to any particular issue, but is part of ongoing work to prevent malpractice.

The announcement comes just weeks before teenagers across the country learn their GCSE and A-level results.

Last month it was revealed that exams regulator Ofqual had launched an investigation after an A-level maths paper was allegedly leaked online, just a day before thousands of students were due to sit the paper.

Earlier this year, the JCQ issued a video reminding students that mobile phones are banned from the exam hall, and the consequences of flouting the ban.Nursing vacancies are one of the "biggest threats" facing the health service, a leading think tank has warned

Nursing vacancies are one of the "biggest threats" facing the health service, a leading think tank has warned.

One in 10 nursing posts is unfilled, the Health Foundation said.

A new poll also found that almost four in five British adults don't think the NHS has enough staff to provide current services.

It comes as new analysis by the think tank showed plummeting numbers of EU nurses coming to work in the UK.

Figures from the Nursing and Midwifery Council revealed that the number of new nurses coming from the EU to work in the UK has dropped by 87% from 6,382 in 2016/17 to 805 in 2017/18.

However, it said the number of new nurses coming from outside the EU had not compensated for the drastic drop. Most new EU registrants were coming from Ireland, when traditionally the highest numbers would come from Spain, Portugal, Romania and Italy, the Health Foundation said.

More than 34,000 nursing vacancies were reported in England between April and September 2017.

Meanwhile, a poll of more than 2,000 British adults found that 71% think the UK should continue to try to attract nurses from the European Union after the UK exits.

The majority of those surveyed (79%) do not believe the NHS has enough staff to provide current services.

"The NHS has a long and proud tradition of welcoming staff from across the world," said Anita Charlesworth, director at the Health Foundation.

"It's clear that the public value the vital contribution that nurses from abroad make and want to make sure that the NHS continues to welcome staff from other countries. The huge drop in the number of EU nurses coming to work in the NHS following the referendum is a stark reminder that we must never take overseas staff for granted.

"We must make sure that the health service is an attractive and welcoming place to work for both international and home trained staff."Labour peer Melvyn Bragg has accused Jeremy Corbyn of feebleness in tackling anti-Semitism within the party.

The veteran broadcasters comments came as the UKs three leading Jewish newspapers took the unprecedented step of publishing a joint front page message warning that a Corbyn-led government would pose an existential threat to Jewish life in this country.

Under the headline United We Stand, the Jewish Chronicle, Jewish Telegraph and Jewish News described Labours refusal to adopt in full the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism as sinister.

They urged Labour MPs to back a motion to be debated by the parliamentary party in September to accept the IHRA definition in full, including its list of examples of anti-Semitic behaviour.

Labour insisted Mr Corbyn and the party are fully committed to the support, defence and celebration of the Jewish community and its organisations.

Labours ruling National Executive Committee enraged many Jews by omitting four of the examples, mostly relating to criticism of the state of Israel, from its new code of conduct on anti-Semitism. The party says the same issues are covered elsewhere in the document.

In a letter to The Times, Lord Bragg said he does not believe Mr Corbyn is a racist, but said he has failed to tackle anti-Semitism in the party effectively.

The virus of anti-Semitism is growing in the UK and Corbyn is in a strong position to stamp it out without any equivocation, said the former South Bank Show presenter.

Jeremy Corbyns feebleness on this matter is a disgrace to the Labour Party and shames its traditional creed of tolerance, as well as grossly insulting some of our fellow citizens.

The joint editorial in Jewish newspapers warned the party that was, until recently, the natural home for our community has seen its values and integrity eroded by Corbynite contempt for Jews and Israel.

The papers said Labour had diluted the internationally-recognised IHRA definition with the effect that political anti-Semitism targeting Israel is regarded as acceptable unless racist intent can be proved.

They alleged the changes were made in order to avoid the need to expel hundreds or even thousands of party members.

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With the Government in Brexit disarray, there is a clear and present danger that a man with a default blindness to the Jewish communitys fears, a man who has a problem seeing that hateful rhetoric aimed at Israel can easily step into anti-Semitism, could be our next prime minister, stated the editorial.

A Labour Party spokesman said: Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party are fully committed to the support, defence and celebration of the Jewish community and its organisations.

The next Labour government poses no threat of any kind whatsoever to Jewish people.

The security and wellbeing of Jewish people is a priority for our party and in government we will always ensure schools, synagogues and institutions are properly protected.

We understand the strong concerns raised in the Jewish community and are seeking to engage with communal organisations to build trust and confidence in our party. We know there is a huge amount of work to do.

Mr Corbyn has asked Labours new general secretary Jennie Formby to make it her top priority to strengthen disciplinary procedures on anti-Semitism, said the spokesman.

Labours code of conduct on anti-Semitism adopts the IHRA definition and expands on and contextualises its examples to produce robust, legally-sound guidelines that a political party can apply to disciplinary cases, he said.

We have concerns about one half of one of the IHRAs 11 examples, which could be used to deny Palestinians, including Palestinian citizens of Israel and their supporters, their rights and freedoms to describe the discrimination and injustices they face in the language they deem appropriate.A memorial stone dedicated to Britains last survivor of the World War One trenches has gone missing from a plinth in Belgium.

Harry Patch, who died in 2009 aged 111, was the last surviving British soldier to have fought in the conflict and paid for the memorial stone himself.

Mr Patch, from Somerset, was present at the unveiling in 2008 at Langemarck, which is six miles from Ypres where hundreds of thousands of soldiers were killed.

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The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) said it was outraged at the theft and welcomed a funding appeal to replace the memorial.

After looking on our files, I can confirm that Harry paid for the stone for the memorial and the CWGC engraved it at our main operational facility in France at no cost, said a spokeswoman.

It was our privilege and honour to do so. Although a private memorial and not a CWGC official site maintained by us, the memorial was still an important and well visited location on the former Western Front.

It beggars belief that someone would take a memorial to a man who typified the service and sacrifice of millions of young men during the First World War. Whomever has done so should be deeply ashamed of themselves.

Expand Close The memorial stone at Langemarck paid for by the Last Tommy, Harry Patch, which has gone missing in Belgium (Simon Louagie/PA) / Facebook

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Whatsapp The memorial stone at Langemarck paid for by the Last Tommy, Harry Patch, which has gone missing in Belgium (Simon Louagie/PA)

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is outraged at the theft and we are fully supportive of the efforts being made to replace the memorial as quickly as possible.

A crowdfunding appeal to replace the stone has reached its target of 1,500 euros in less than five hours.

The missing memorial was spotted by members of the RAF Air Cadets visiting the western Flanders region from Somerset.

Nick Tolson, chairman of the 914 (Glastonbury and Street) Squadron, said his wife Alison, who is officer-in-charge of the Squadron, had travelled to Belgium with a dozen cadets.

Expand Close The spot at Langemarck in Belgium where the memorial stone paid for by the Last Tommy, Harry Patch, should be (Simon Louagie/PA) / Facebook

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Whatsapp The spot at Langemarck in Belgium where the memorial stone paid for by the Last Tommy, Harry Patch, should be (Simon Louagie/PA)

Alison promised Harry face-to-face that she would look after the memorial, Mr Tolson told the BBC.

It marked the point where he crossed the Steenbeek brook in 1917 where three men were killed and Harry was injured before the attack on Langemarck.

The stone was paid for by Harry and he organised it. Harry would be absolutely gutted, he was such a peaceful gentleman.A strike by workers on South Western Railway in the bitter dispute over the role of guards on trains was being solidly supported on Thursday, unions said.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union walked out for 24 hours, with more stoppages planned over the next few weeks.

Hundreds of services were hit, causing disruption and delays for passengers.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: RMT members are standing rock solid and united again this morning across South Western Railway in the latest phase of the campaign to put public safety, security and access before private profit.

RMT is angry and frustrated that a request by the union to get serious talks with South Western Railway bolted down this week was met with the same old tired response from the company that refuses to move the process on and address the fundamental issues.

That is no way to treat a serious dispute that will impact on huge numbers of passengers through into September and SWR need to get out of this bunker mentality.

It is particularly galling as positive proposals the union put forward in earlier talks that could have formed the basis of an agreement were welcomed by the management side but were subsequently sabotaged as they were escalated up the SWR management structure.

Our members are striking today to put public safety before private profits and its about time SWR took note of what is going on elsewhere in the rail industry, and the settlements RMT has struck that underpin the guard guarantee, and started talking with us seriously around a similar package that puts safety, security and access to services top of the agenda.

The next strike is on Saturday.Boris Johnson MP (left), former Mayor of London and leading Vote Leave campaigner, speaks at Armada House in Bristol as he outlines a positive vision for Brexit, watched by former Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox.

Brexit campaign group Vote Leave relied heavily on controversial messages featuring the NHS, immigration and Boris Johnson, according to a cache of Facebook adverts paid for by the campaign and released on Thursday.

Nine adverts were viewed between two and five million times out of hundreds paid for by Vote Leave, suggesting the group had paid significantly more to have the messaging appear more prominently in peoples newsfeeds on Facebook.

Michael Moszynski, an expert in online advertising, said it was clear that those ads which were viewed the most had been the priority of the messaging which Vote Leave wanted to expose to those audiences.

Expand Close One of the adverts from Vote Leave which was seen by 2-5 million people on Facebook. (Source: House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee) / Facebook

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Five of the nine Vote Leave adverts which were viewed 2-5 million times focused on immigration.

Of those, two identical adverts stressed plans for Turkey to join the EU with an image showing a large red arrow sweeping across Europe from Turkey to the UK.

The accompanying text read: The EU is expanding and plans on granting Turkey visa-free travel. This will put enormous pressure on the NHS, our border security and economy.

Have we lost control? We already send 350 million to the EU every single week. Shouldnt we spend our money on our priorities instead? Vote Leave Day  Thursday 23 June. Is This Good News? Click No! Vote Leave.

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At the time, negotiations for Turkey to join the EU had completed one of 35 chapters of legislation and as a member the UK would be able to veto any plans.

Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, and Emmanuel Macron, president of France, have since strongly ruled out the possibility of Turkey joining the EU.

More than 30 other Vote Leave adverts, some viewed by between 500,000 and one million people, mentioned Turkey in the context of its border with Syria and Iraq. Again the images showed red arrows and figures pointing towards the UK.

The EU is expanding and plans on granting Turkey visa-free travel making our new border Syria and Iraq! reads the accompanying advert.

Another popular advert claimed more than five million new immigrants were heading to the UK.

The advert read: Immigration is out of control and our NHS can barely cope as it is. If we stay in the EU we face an unprecedented migration of 5.23 MILLION new immigrants into the UK. WHEN WILL THIS STOP?

The UK sends over 350 million to the EU each week - that's enough to build a fully-staffed, brand new hospital every 7 days!A Vote Leave advert

Under EU law every EU citizen, including people from Turkey, will have unlimited access to the UK and our NHS. Lets vote to leave the EU on 23 June and take back control! Click to Save Our NHS! Vote Leave.

The figure of 5.23 million appears to be based on the highest possible projection of EU immigration to the UK by the Office for National Statistics at the time.

Three identical adverts which were seen by between two and five million people urged voters to spend our money on our priorities like the NHS, citing the disputed figure of 350 million per week sent to the EU.

The text read: The UK sends over 350 million to the EU each week  thats enough to build a fully-staffed, brand new hospital every 7 days!

Shouldnt we spend it on OUR PRIORITIES and NOT THEIRS? Take action and vote to leave the European Union on 23 June. Lets spend our money on our priorities. Act Now & Vote Leave! Vote Leave

As one of the figureheads of the campaign, Boris Johnson featured heavily in many of the more widely-seen adverts.

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The former London Mayor, who served almost two years as foreign secretary before his recent resignation over Brexit policy, was pictured in three of the nine adverts which were seen by 2-5 million people.

In two such adverts he is quoted talking about immigration, and in a third he is pictured in front of a Vote Leave lorry with a caption urging people to vote for Brexit.

The advert reads: If you vote IN on 23 June, you are kissing goodbye permanently to control of immigration. You are voting for the current situation not only to continue but to get worse.  Boris Johnson.

The British public support immigration but they want it controlled by those who they elect. They are generous but feel their generosity has been abused.

They are right. On the 23 June they will get their chance to take back control. Click to Learn More! Vote Leave.

Vote Leave paid for significantly more Facebook advertisements around the EU referendum than the other campaign groups in the documents released today.

However, one advert from BeLeave published the week before the referendum was seen by more than five million people, more than any other adverts released by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

The advert read: Being under EU rule is severely restricting our ability to grow and reach our full potential as a great nation. It is time we take a stand for Britain. Lets vote to leave the EU on 23 June so we can have a clear and prosperous future! BeLeave in Britain! BeLeave.Theresa May is heading to Austria for Brexit talks before heading off to Italy for the start of her summer holidays.

The Prime Minister is attending a music festival in Salzburg as a guest of the Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.

As well as enjoying the musical performances on offer, which include Mozarts The Magic Flute, Mrs May will hold rounds of talks with Chancellor Kurz and Czech prime minister Andrej Babis.

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It is part of several meetings across Europe which the PM and her ministers are carrying out to win over support for the Chequers Brexit blueprint.

Mrs May was dealt a blow by Brussels on Thursday as its chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, rejected the customs proposals that form a key plank of the plan.

EU leaders are due to meet in Salzburg on September 20 for an informal summit that could be used to discuss Brexit developments amid claims German Chancellor Angela Merkel believes there has been drift in the talks.

After a turbulent political year that has seen Mrs May lose a wave of ministers for personal misdemeanours and political opposition to her EU exit strategy, the PM will be hoping for a restful time as she heads off for the summer.

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Whatsapp Mrs May and her husband Philip visiting Desenzano del Garda, near Lake Garda in northern Italy, during last years summer holiday (Antonio Calanni/PA)

The premier and her husband Philip will spend around a week in Italy before she returns to work in her constituency and Downing Street.

Mrs May is also due to attend a First World War memorial event to mark the battle of Amiens, which began on August 8 1918 and helped to secure victory.

She will then jet off for two weeks in Switzerland. The holiday plans are a repeat of last years getaway for the couple.

Although the PM remains in charge, a number of Cabinet ministers are expected to deputise for her while she is away.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is not expected to reveal his holiday plans.Any attempt by the Irish Government to impose tariffs on trade with the UK after Brexit would lead to an upsurge in smuggling at the border with Northern Ireland, former first minister Lord Trimble has warned.

The Conservative peer said an increase in smuggling would have the "delightful" side-effect of diverting criminal elements from paramilitary activity by giving them something else to do.

But he said the better solution would be to remove or reduce tariffs across the British Isles.

Lord Trimble told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The Irish Republic's main market is England and it exports over the Irish Sea into England a greater part of its produce.

"Will Dublin insist on tariffs applying? If they do, then there is an obligation under EU law for the Irish Government to put in place the appropriate infrastructure.

"They will have to do that on the Northern Irish border anyway, but that's south of the border and we are not interested in south of the border. North of the border there will be no such infrastructure.

"We haven't got clarity from the EU on this. I would like not to see tariffs there at all but if they insist on tariffs - which they probably will, they are not very good at changing their own procedures - you are going to have a problem there."

But Lord Trimble added: "It's going to have a rather delightful side-effect, because if there is this tariff barrier between southern Ireland and England, then there will be people in southern Ireland who start to move things into Northern Ireland and then into England that way to avoid the tariffs - smuggling.

"When it comes to smuggling through the border, I'm sure that people who've been long experienced in dealing with the border will come into play there. They will probably organise themselves, they will be very like the paramilitary organisations there before.

"But they are there simply for the purpose of making money and smuggling and that will actually help by keeping these chaps - who might otherwise do silly things - (busy), giving them something useful and money-making to do. It will actually have a benign effect."

Lord Trimble called on Dublin to press Brussels for a British Isles exemption from the requirement to collect tariffs on trade with countries outside the EU. "It's in its own interests for them to speak to the EU about tariffs and about the reduction or elimination of tariffs within the British Isles," said the former Ulster Unionist Party leader.

"That would be a huge step forward for everyone and it would solve all the other problems, including the problems that have been manufactured by people over the course of the last year or so."

Labour MP Ian Murray, a supporter of the People's Vote campaign for a second referendum, said: "Not only was David Trimble wrong about basic facts - Britain has not been Ireland's biggest export market for some years now - but his description of a smuggling boom as a result of Brexit as 'delightful' is a shocking misjudgement."

The Edinburgh South MP said: "In Northern Ireland, smuggling and murder were the terrible twins of the Troubles. One paid to keep the other going. No responsible politician could possibly want either to flourish and Lord Trimble's apparent belief that smuggling is in some way benign or of minimal importance is likely to make people justifiably horrified and angry."Residents have fled as the Cranston Fire clouds the skies over Highway 243, south of Idyllwild (Richard Lui/The Desert Sun/ AP)

A fast-moving wildfire believed to have been started deliberately has destroyed five homes and forced evacuation orders to be issued for a California town.

The so-called Cranston Fire, which erupted on Wednesday in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles, burned hundreds of trees and in a matter of hours grew to more than seven square miles.

Authorities said it was threatening an estimated 600 homes.

The fire was the largest of at least five that police believe were started by a man whose car was spotted at the starting point of the blaze in Riverside County.

Brandon McGlover, 32, of Temecula, was arrested on suspicion of five counts of arson, state fire officials said.

Authorities ordered residents to leave Idyllwild and several neighbouring communities, home to about 12,000 people.

William Blodgett, of Idyllwild, said he could not get home because of the fire and had to wait along with others at a petrol station in nearby Mountain Center before the flames began to move in his direction.

We were all peeling out of there as fast as we could, he told KNBC-TV. It was apocalyptic.

Horses and other animals were taken to shelters as were several hundred children who were evacuated from summer camps. About 200 were at a local high school serving as a shelter, KCAL-TV reported.

Expand Close Smoke from the Cranston Fire clouds the skies over Highway 243, south of Idyllwild (Richard Lui/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Smoke from the Cranston Fire clouds the skies over Highway 243, south of Idyllwild (Richard Lui/AP)

The fire in the San Bernardino National Forest sent up a cloud 50,000 feet high that was so enormous it created its own weather in the form of lightning, the National Weather Service reported.

Throughout the day, helicopters and planes dumped water and fire retardant that turned swathes of land and homes pink. Fire engines were also stationed to protect homes.

The fire is one of several across California amid a heatwave that has seen days of triple-digit temperatures.

To the north, in the San Francisco Bay Area, at least one home was destroyed in a fast-moving blaze in Clayton, where houses are spread out around windy roads.

Yosemite Valley, the scenic heart of the national park, was closed at noon on Wednesday during the height of the tourist season as smoke cast a pall on the region from a fire in the Sierra Nevada.

Expand Close A firefighter watches as the Cranston fire burns 1,200 acres in the San Bernardino National Forest (Terry Pierson/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp A firefighter watches as the Cranston fire burns 1,200 acres in the San Bernardino National Forest (Terry Pierson/AP)

The closure was heartbreaking for travellers, many of whom mapped out their trips months in advance to hike and climb amid the spectacular views of cascading waterfalls and sheer rock faces.

We had one guest who planned a week-long trip, said Tom Lambert, who owns a vacation rental property near Yosemite Valley. It was a father-daughter trip, for her high school graduation  Now its done. Its sad.

Officials emphasised that Yosemite was not in imminent danger from the fire. Authorities decided on the closure to allow crews to perform protective measures such as burning away brush along roadways without having to deal with traffic in the park that welcomes four million visitors annually.

Yosemite Valley will be closed until at least Sunday, along with a winding 20-mile stretch of Californias State Route 41 that leads into the area.Andrew Craig Brunson, an evangelical pastor, has been detained in Turkey (Emre Tazegul/AP))

Vice President Mike Pence has threatened Nato ally Turkey with economic sanctions over a US pastor held on terrorism and spying charges.

Mr Pence said that if Turkey does not take immediate action to free Andrew Craig Brunson the United States of America will impose severe economic sanctions on Turkey.

He spoke at the close of a three-day conference on religious freedom.

Expand Close Mike Pence has demanded the release of Andrew Craig Brunson (Emre Tazegul/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp Mike Pence has demanded the release of Andrew Craig Brunson (Emre Tazegul/AP)

Mr Brunson, 50, an evangelical Christian pastor originally from North Carolina, was let out of jail on Wednesday after 18 months to serve house arrest because of health problems, according to Turkeys official Anadolu news agency.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly demanded Mr Brunsons release and said on Twitter last week that the pastors detention was a total disgrace.

Brunson is an innocent man, there is no credible evidence against him, Mr Pence said.

If convicted, Mr Brunson faces up to 15 years in prison for committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member, references to outlawed Kurdish militants and the network of a US-based Muslim cleric blamed for a failed coup attempt. He could receive another 20 years if he is found guilty of espionage.

Mr Brunson strongly denies the charges.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has previously linked Mr Brunsons return to the US to the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, the cleric Turkeys government holds responsible for the failed July 2016 military coup.

Mr Gulen, who denies orchestrating the coup attempt, lives in Pennsylvania. Turkish requests for his arrest and extradition have not been granted.

At the end of a recent hearing, the court inside a prison complex in western Turkey rejected Mr Brunsons lawyers request that he be freed pending the outcome of the trial. The case was adjourned until October 12.The wedding of Zoe Holohan and Brian OCallaghan-Westropp, wh have been caught up in the wildfires in Greece (Handout/PA)

An Irishman has died while on honeymoon after getting caught up in the wildfires that have swept across Greece.

Brian O'Callaghan-Westropp became separated from his wife Zoe Holohan as they tried to escape the fires in the coastal town of Mati.

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The pair got married last Thursday at Clonabreany House in Kells, Co Meath, before flying out to Greece on Saturday.

Ms Holohan, who works in advertising for the Sunday World, is in hospital after suffering burns to her head and hands.

In a statement, the couple's family said: "We are deeply saddened to confirm the death of our family member, Brian O'Callaghan-Westropp.

"The families would respectfully appreciate privacy at this time as we grieve and as Zoe makes her recovery.

"Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later stage."

Ireland's ambassador to Greece, Orla O'Hanrahan, confirmed Mr O'Callaghan-Westropp's death.

She said her sympathies and heart went out to his family at this time.

The couple, who lived in Dublin, were travelling in a vehicle when they were forced to flee.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close People watch as a helicopter picks up sea water to help fight the wildfires in Mati (Thanassis Stavrakis/AP) AP/PA Images Members of rescue team search a burned house in Mati, east of Athens (Thanassis Stavrakis/AP) AP/PA Images Egyptian fisherman Halil Tawefik on his boat in Rafina port (Thanassis Stavrakis/AP) AP/PA Images Up to 80 people have died in the forest fires which have raged through Greek villages and holiday resorts (Thanassis Stavrakis/AP) AP/PA Images Migrants and refugees on the island of Kos, Greece (Jonathan Brady/PA) PA Archive/PA Images (Thanassis Stavrakis/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

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Whatsapp People watch as a helicopter picks up sea water to help fight the wildfires in Mati (Thanassis Stavrakis/AP)

Ms Holohan was able to escape to a nearby beach and was admitted to hospital on Tuesday night.

The Irish Embassy in Athens is providing consular assistance to her and her family.

Mr O'Callaghan-Westropp worked in finance for a Dublin catering company and also volunteered for Blood Bikes East, which provides an emergency medical transport service around hospitals in the city.

Committee member Franco De Bonis said: "He's a man of action and is very selfless. His heart is in the right place and will always want to help."

He added: "Brian would never walk away from a situation knowing someone needed help."American pastor Andrew Craig Brunson has been detained in Turkey (AP)

Donald Trump has threatened Nato ally Turkey with large sanctions unless a US pastor held on terrorism and spying charges is released.

Tweeting from on board Air Force One, Mr Trump said: The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being.

He said Brunson is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!

Earlier, Vice President Mike Pence said that if Turkey does not take immediate action to free Mr Brunson the United States of America will impose severe economic sanctions on Turkey.

He spoke at the close of a three-day conference on religious freedom.

Mr Brunson, 50, an evangelical Christian pastor originally from North Carolina, was let out of jail on Wednesday after 18 months to serve house arrest because of health problems, according to Turkeys official Anadolu news agency.

Mr Trump has repeatedly demanded Mr Brunsons release and said on Twitter last week that the pastors detention was a total disgrace.

Expand Close Mike Pence has demanded the release of Andrew Craig Brunson (Emre Tazegul/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook

Twitter

Email

Whatsapp Mike Pence has demanded the release of Andrew Craig Brunson (Emre Tazegul/AP)

Brunson is an innocent man, there is no credible evidence against him, Mr Pence said.

If convicted, Mr Brunson faces up to 15 years in prison for committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member, references to outlawed Kurdish militants and the network of a US-based Muslim cleric blamed for a failed coup attempt. He could receive another 20 years if he is found guilty of espionage.

Mr Brunson strongly denies the charges.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has previously linked Mr Brunsons return to the US to the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, the cleric Turkeys government holds responsible for the failed July 2016 military coup.

Mr Gulen, who denies orchestrating the coup attempt, lives in Pennsylvania. Turkish requests for his arrest and extradition have not been granted.

At the end of a recent hearing, the court inside a prison complex in western Turkey rejected Mr Brunsons lawyers request that he be freed pending the outcome of the trial. The case was adjourned until October 12.Baron Adonis has called for another referendum on whether to leave the EU

Baron Adonis of Camden Town was in Northern Ireland recently for a few days to talk about Brexit. Andrew Adonis is usually one of the shadowy figures at Westminster, where he sits in the House of Lords, and I suspect that, prior to his visit, very few Ulster folk knew anything about him.

However, he got his headline with a tweet accusing the DUP of "wanting" a "hard border" with the Republic and saying: "After 3 days I now understand DUP mindset".

You might imagine, therefore, that, during his visit, he had been engaged in extensive discussions with the DUP. But if so, you would be wrong.

In fact, he said during a radio interview that he would be meeting other political parties, but would not be meeting the DUP. He had met some of them at Westminster and already knew their thinking.

South Belfast DUP MP Emma Little-Pengelly answered him and referred to his "narrow political agenda", because for some time, Andrew Adonis has pursued a "narrow political agenda" of subverting the result of a democratic referendum.

He is an arch-europhile, he was preparing for a speech in the House of Lords on Monday and the visit was, for him, just a prelude to that speech.

A profile piece in the Guardian in 2005 described him as "a mini-Mandelson, a Blair hatchet man" and he is certainly a protege of Tony Blair.

He served for five years in a Labour government, but has never stood for election to the House of Commons and has never been elected as a Labour representative to any political office.

After deserting the Liberal Democrats in the 1990s, he joined the Labour Party and, in 1997, Tony Blair invited him to join the Number 10 Policy Unit.

His big step up came in 2005, when Blair appointed him to the House of Lords as Baron Adonis of Camden Town and made him Minister of State for Education.

He spent five years in government under Blair and Gordon Brown, a situation that ended when Labour lost the 2010 General Election.

Adonis resigned the Labour whip in the Lords in October 2015, when David Cameron appointed him chair of the National Infrastructure Commission, but he resigned from that post in December 2017.

In a vitriolic resignation letter, he said: "The European Union Withdrawal Bill is the worst legislation of my lifetime. I feel duty-bound to oppose it relentlessly from the Labour benches."

Ignoring the result of a democratic referendum, he went on to propose "a form of associate membership" of the EU and said: "Brexit is a populist and nationalist spasm worthy of Donald Trump."

That reference reminded me of Hillary Clinton's description of many American voters as "a basket of deplorables", because I think that is how many Euro-fanatics view those who voted Leave.

There is an arrogance among the metropolitan liberal elite, some of whom were suggesting that it was only the old and the uneducated who wanted to leave the EU and it was time to overturn the decision.

Lord Adonis is among those who want another referendum, because they didn't like the result of the first one, and he is also an enthusiastic tweeter. Indeed, he seems nowadays to devote most of his Twitter activity to reversing the referendum.

On Monday morning, as an appetiser to his speech in the Lords, he even tweeted a mock-up of a Brexit ration book, suggesting that we are about to face food rationing as a result of Brexit. Is there to be no end to the scaremongering?

Andrew Adonis warns of a "no deal" situation, but if there is no deal then he and his ilk will have to carry much of the responsibility, because their activities have undermined Britain's negotiating position.

They have encouraged the EU to hope that the referendum will be overturned and, thereby, they have encouraged EU intransigence.

At the same time, their arrogant elitism makes me ever more certain that when I and 17.4 million other people voted to leave the EU, we made the right decision.LeBron James barber shop show The Shop will premiere on HBO in August. The premiere is set for Tuesday, August 28th at 11 PM and will feature James, Maverick Carter, Snoop Dogg,

Odell Beckham Jr., Alvin Kamara, Draymond Green, Candace Parker, and Jon Stewart.

HBOs release promises free-flowing discussions about a variety of topics.

THE SHOP gives viewers an unprecedented barbershop experience, which for many provides a sanctuary for spirited, free-flowing discussions. The series will visit barber shops around the country to gather distinguished individuals who can speak honestly on sports, music, pop culture, world events, business and other culturally relevant topics. THE SHOP is exactly why we created UNINTERRUPTED, says LeBron James. Anyone who has been in a real barbershop, like the ones where I grew up, knows why this show can be so incredible. Im really excited HBO believed in our idea and is helping us create something special. LeBron James told us he wanted to create a place where athletes and artists can come together to share points of view freely, says Peter Nelson, executive vice president, HBO Sports. We are honored they want HBO to be the home of that conversation. We are pleased to partner with LeBron, Maverick Carter and UNINTERRUPTED on THE SHOP.

Past the first episode, the schedule is a bit hazy. HBOs release notes that The Shop will air periodically throughout the year.

Last month, HBO announced that James would serve as executive producer on a documentary called Student Athlete, taking a critical look at the NCAA. The film premieres October 2nd. A year ago, James and HBO were reportedly collaborating on a comedy about sneaker culture, but today, there doesnt appear to be much news on the progress of that project.

This spring, James and Uninterrupted got into a copyright battle with the University of Alabama over the barber shop show, which eventually led to Nick Saban and James doing some light sparring in the media. James and Uninterrupted also were sued by a Michigan man over copyrights related to The Shop, but it appears nothing came of that complaint either.British citizen Hasnat Karim leaves court in Dhaka shortly after his arrest on suspicion that he was involved in the July 2016 Holey Artisan Bakery cafe attack, Aug. 13, 2016.

A Dhaka court on Thursday again denied bail to a British man jailed for two years in the Holey Artisan cafe attack although police had cleared him of suspicion this week, while legal experts warned that securing his freedom could be a lengthy process.

The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) court received a charge-sheet submitted Monday against eight men suspected of having roles in the July 2016 terrorist attack that killed 29 people, including 20 hostages and five militants. After the chief of the CMM scrutinizes it, the charge-sheet will be sent to the Anti-Terrorism Tribunal, a court tasked with trying the case, for further action, officials said.

British citizen Hasnat Karim, who was dining in the cafe with his family and celebrating a daughters birthday when the attack occurred, was cleared in the charge sheet, according to a CMM officer.

We are confused and frustrated that his release is being delayed for lengthy procedures. We have to wait, Karims wife, Sharmina Parveen, told BenarNews on Thursday.

She said she hoped that he would be released following the days courtroom proceedings. At least 10 previous attempts to have her husband freed on bail had failed, she said earlier.

Parveen said lawyers who understood the court procedures had been assigned to seek Karims release.

Hasib-ur-Rashid, a lawyer representing Karim, filed a bail petition at the court on Thursday.

But the magistrate turned down his petition on the ground that the Anti-Terrorism Tribunal would order his acquittal, an official of the CMM court told BenarNews.

BenarNews asked an official with the British High Commission whether it would intervene to expedite Karims release since police had cleared his name, but the official indicated that the embassy would let the case go through the Bangladeshi courts.

The investigation is over ... we are happy that he has been found innocent, the official said, adding, Now we have no role in his release. The law will take its own course.

The official said representatives from the high commission used to visit Karim in jail and inquire about his health and the status of his case, and that Bangladeshi officials had granted them access once every two months.

Karim, a former professor at North South University in Dhaka, has been jailed since Aug. 2, 2016. The charge-sheet recommended discharging him from terrorism charges, Sheikh Rakibur Rahman, the general recording officer for the prosecution at the CMM court, told BenarNews.

Meanwhile, a lawyer familiar with the system told BenarNews that Karims release could be weeks away.

This is very hard to predict when the Anti-Terrorism Tribunal will hear the charge-sheet and release Hasnat Karim. This is the decision of the court, it may happen in a couple of days or a couple of weeks, lawyer Prokash Biswas told BenarNews.

The tribunal has not set a date to receive the charge-sheet, court officials said.

The court enjoys absolute authority in deciding the bail or discharge matters. They can sit even on public holiday, if necessary. So let us wait for the court, he said, adding it could take a week or two for Karim to leave prison after the court rules.

A gross violation

Along with Karim, the charge-sheet cleared two cafe employees who died as a result of the attack.

In a statement read in a Dhaka court at the time of Karims arrest nearly two years ago, police alleged that a mobile phone app was downloaded on his phone 10 minutes after the attack began and was used to send pictures of people who had been hacked to death by the terrorists. Those pictures were disseminated by the extremist group Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the attack.

The charge-sheet named eight men who have been identified as members of Neo-Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a militant organization aligned with Islamic State. The men, six who are in jail and two who have absconded, were not inside the cafe during the attack but have been identified as having roles in it, according to officials.

The five Holey Artisan militants killed 20 hostages including nine from Italy, seven from Japan and an American citizen, in the deadliest terrorist attack on Bangladesh soil.

Professor Mizanur Rahman, a former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, said Bangladeshs judicial system was developed during the colonial rule and had become cumbersome.

As Hasnat Karim is not charged in the charge-sheet, the court should have taken a pro-active role for his release. A man languishing in jail without committing any crimes, just to exhaust the procedure, is totally unacceptable and a gross violation of human rights, he told BenarNews.Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, seen here delivering his third State of the Nation address at the House of Representatives in Manila, signed the Bangsamoro Organic Law on Thursday, giving autonomy to Muslims in the south, July 23, 2018.

Updated at 4:20 p.m. ET on 2018-07-26

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday signed an autonomy law promising wider self-rule for Muslims in the south, his spokesman said.

Under the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), four million Muslim Filipinos will be allowed to form an elected parliament and administration in Islamic-majority areas of southern Mindanao and nearby islands, where five decades of insurgency have left more than 100,000 people dead.

The law looks to give the people in the south control over many local government functions, including taxation and education, and it will allow Muslim Filipinos to incorporate Islamic law into their justice system. Both houses of the Philippine congress approved the BOL bill earlier this week.

After much confusion, the president has signed into law the Bangsamoro Organic Law, presidential spokesman Harry Roque told BenarNews.

The law will go to a vote in designated provinces this year before elections, which are expected to take place next year.

As part of the autonomy deal, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is required to gradually disband its armed force, estimated by the military to be about 11,000 fighters.

Hours before the president signed the bill into law, Philippine troops hunted southern militants linked to the extremist group Islamic State (IS), killing one suspect in a gun battle, military officials reported.

Residents in Masiu, a town in mountainous Lanao del Sur province, sought the help of the military after several gunmen believed to be supporters of the Maute gang were seen in the area, an army official said.

The government forces responded to the information of the concerned civilians, said Maj. Ronald Suscano, spokesman for the 1st Infantry Tabak Division that operates in the region.

Members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front are seen inside their camp in in Maguindanao province, July 25, 2018. (Jeoffrey Maitem/BenarNews)

Soldiers from the division targeted Filipino militant leaders Panarigan Tama Baoraki and Hadji Rasul Amimbering in the strike, Suscano said. A brief encounter took place near Masiu, leaving at least one militant dead, but the two wanted militants and their followers escaped.

Both were alleged leaders of a militant faction that backed the Maute faction, which fought in the southern city of Marawi last year. The five-month battle  the biggest the Philippines has seen since World War II  ended in October 2017, leaving the city in ruins and killing more than 1,200, mostly militants.

Several fighters from Malaysia and Indonesia as well as the Middle East were killed, although military officials said they believe other foreigners could have escaped and joined other IS-linked groups in the south.

Suscano said several weapons were recovered after the battle, including at least two M16 rifles, RPG launchers, grenades and drug paraphernalia. Troops also seized black IS flags.

The military earlier reported that militants who had managed to escape from Marawi were recruiting Muslim youths with promises of cash payments they would not be able to earn elsewhere in the largely poor rural communities of Mindanao.

The military and the local government units of Lanao del Sur province have been conducting a series of activities to counter the enemy recruitment drive.

Felipe Villamor in Manila contributed to this report.The Bible Book of Acts comes at a special time in the Gospel story of Jesus Christ. Acts is one of the larger books of the Bible that contains many special insights and faith inspirations. But, have you ever felt like having a little guidance in your Bible reading would help you learn and understand more than you currently do?

Or maybe you heard an idea presented in a sermon and thought to yourself, How on earth could I have missed that?!

Learning and observing themes in certain books of the Bible can have a tremendous effect on your understanding of the book and whole Bible story.

The book of Acts contains wonderful Bible stories and there are some unique things to watch out for as you read.

In Acts, Christ had just risen from the dead, ascended into heaven, and given the apostles the Great Commission. How do the disciples combine their experience of the risen Christ, the Old Testament prophecies about Christ, and the call to make disciples of all nations? Let's dive into 4 ways you can dig deeper into Acts through specific study tips.

Photo Courtesy: ThinkstockBILD: Mr. Prime Minister, refugees are drowning off the coast of European countries every day. What do you feel when you see these pictures?

Viktor Orban: I have five children. I see them when I see these pictures, because everybody is someones child. But Im also a politician. As such, I feel a responsibility and ask myself: who is responsible? First of all, its of course those who undertake this journey. But thats too simple. The politicians in Europe who encourage migrants and give the impression that its worth setting off are also to blame. So if we want to save lives, we have to stop people at the southern shore of the Mediterranean before they take on this hopeless journey.

What should the EU do in concrete terms?

Orban: Everybody who is rescued must go back to Africa. This is the only way we can prevent these mass deaths at sea. The borders must be protected. Nobody should be brought in or allowed in. Immigration policy is not a common task for the EU. It is a national matter for each member state. Since 2015, they have tried to make this a common task  and have failed.

Whats your solution?

Orban: Every decision that sends the message to migrants that they can come will lead to further tragedies. The Hungarian solution has been based on three elements since 2015: our own external borders must be protected; help for people in need must be exported; and if a member state decides to take in migrants, it can voluntarily do that.

And Hungary would take in how many refugees ?

Orban: The Hungarians have decided that they do not want immigration. Women and children at our borders will of course receive help, but we do not take in economic migrants.

Following the EU summit in June, Angela Merkel proclaimed that an agreement on taking in and taking back refugees has been reached  one that includes Hungary. Is this correct?

Auch Interessant



Orban: Chancellor Merkel talked very openly with us and explained her intention to negotiate plans to take in refugees with everybody. Her question was: who is willing to negotiate? Hungarys answer was that we can negotiate at any time. Thats what happened. Nothing more.

But it was clear that Hungary does not want any refugees. What could then be negotiated?

Orban: Sure, but my rule is that, if Germanys Chancellor wants to negotiate, Hungary will say yes. Or rather: jawohl! (smiles)

Viktor Orban Gesprache in Berlin Wir sehen die Welt anders Nachste Runde im Asyl-Streit: An diesem Donnerstag empfangt Kanzlerin Merkel Ungarns Ministerprasident Viktor Orban.

Viktor Orban in BILD Ihr wolltet die Migranten, wir nicht! Ungarns Ministerprasident Viktor Orban erklart im exklusiven Interview mit BILD, warum er Fluchtlinge als muslimische Invasoren betrachtet

Would Hungary at least contribute financially to an EU refugee deal  and pay a ransom?

Orban: No, this is not a question of finances. What we need is a masterplan for the countries where the refugees are coming from. Projects that prevent migrants from starting their journey in the first place. With the help of the donor countries and under their supervision, modernization must take place, developing the economy and administration. In the Sahel, in Egypt. Hungary would be happy to contribute to this since we have been defending the view that the problem must not be brought to Europe for years  help must be brought to where it is needed.

In Europe, you are considered Chancellor Merkels harshest critic. How is she doing at the moment?

Orban: It is not my job to evaluate the work of the German Chancellor. Ill leave that to the Germans. Ms. Merkel has never criticized me either. But we are always honest about where, and when, our views differ. Concerning the refugee issue, Ms. Merkel is not responsible for the question of who is allowed to live in Hungary. I wouldnt allow myself to decide who lives in Germany and who doesnt. And we mean that in a very polite way.

That means that, with Merkels policy, you would be in trouble in Hungary?

Orban: If I introduced a refugee policy like your Chancellors, people would chase me out of office that very day. As a people that has been occupied for decades, the Hungarians are very sensitive about their national independence.

Who is more dangerous for the EU: Trump or Putin?

Orban: Europe has to watch out in all directions. What the US wants is quite simple: in order to survive economically against China, they cannot have a trade deficit with Europe. That means there must be negotiations within the transatlantic family. Russia is different: for some EU states, Putin poses a real geopolitical threat. Thats why countries like Poland and the Baltic states need concrete security guarantees from NATO and the EU. These have to be given to those countries. Thats why I have been promoting the idea of a common European army for years. I do not view other regions, like Hungary and western Europe, as being under this threat.

Given the sustained arguments about refugees, Hungarys longtime economic success has been largely ignored. Does that annoy you?

Orban: I am often surprised at how much Germans underestimate us Hungarians. Many people think that our economic success is simply due to EU money. But thats nonsense. There is simply an increasing amount of production in Hungary  and more profitably so than in most of the worlds regions. The Germans are particularly close to us in this respect. Germans want profit, but they are not greedy. And what they promise, theyll deliver.

Fluchtlingskrise



Many people thought that the campaign against your arch enemy Soros and his foundation had many anti-Jewish elements. Are you an anti-Semite?

Orban: Thats a German perspective. I see Soros as an old Hungarian speculator, a representative of casino capitalism, who spends his money on promoting immigration. Antisemitism has been pushed back in central Europe. In western Europe, however, anti-Semitism  which can be seen in actions  is getting stronger, especially in connection with immigration. We are concerned about this.

Didnt you go too far with your smear campaign?

Orban: No, Im proud of the campaign. We have attacked a speculator who finances migration and have revealed his true intentions to the Hungarians. Soros is Hungarian, but he has also been heavily criticized, for instance, in Israel. If Soros were a Swabian, we would have done the same.

There will be elections in Europe in May. What does the future have in store for Europe?

Orban: We have never had an election that is this decisive before. The Germans, in particular, should be watchful. There is a French idea that essentially means: there will be a French EU leadership, financed with German money. I reject something like this. We do not want a French-led European Union. And we also do not want to live off other peoples money. The opinion of the Europeans must be heard. Prior to important European decisions  the budget, migration  we must wait for the European Parliament Election.

PS: Sind Sie bei Facebook? Werden Sie Fan von BILD.de-PolitikPlus, Bill's Message of the Day, it's going to be a blue Christmas for the Biden administration.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesFor Immediate Release, July 26, 2018 Contact: Andrea Santarsiere, (303) 854-7748, asantarsiere@biologicaldiversity.org Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado Billboards Target Yellowstone Grizzly Hunt CODY, Wyo. Five billboards that will be seen more than a million times by people in three states started going up today as part of a campaign to stop trophy hunts planned this fall for Yellowstone grizzly bears in Wyoming and Idaho. The first billboards went up today in Casper, Wyo. and near Fort Collins, Colo. Others are coming soon to Cody, Wyo. and Boise, Idaho. The billboards feature a bear with its paw raised, the statement I'm not a trophy and the URL www.StopTheGrizHunt.org. Wyoming and Idaho should be absolutely ashamed for allowing some of Americas most iconic bears to be senselessly gunned down, said Andrea Santarsiere, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. Millions of people come to Yellowstone National Park every year to see these grizzlies. But the second these bears step out of the park, they could be shot dead by a hunters bullet. Its ugly and reprehensible. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and the Trump administration stripped Endangered Species Act protection from Yellowstones grizzlies in June 2017. That move paved the way for grizzly hunts in Wyoming and Idaho that are scheduled to begin Sept. 1. More than 20 grizzlies could be shot and killed, including as many as 13 female bears. The billboards, which will be up for at least a month, are part of a campaign against the hunt. There will be a national day of action on Aug. 7, a petition to Zinke to immediately reinstate federal protections, public rallies and wildlife advocates at select spots in Yellowstone National Park, speaking with visitors and urging them to oppose the hunt. Grizzly bears survive in less than 5 percent of their historic habitat. The last thing they need is to be shot just so someone can put a grizzly head on their wall or a rug on their floor, Santarsiere said. This trophy hunt goes against everything we stand for when it comes to saving species from extinction. The Center and allies are also in court challenging the Trump administrations decision to strip federal protection from Yellowstone grizzlies. The next hearing is in Missoula, Mont., on Aug. 30.For Immediate Release, July 26, 2018 Contact: Jenny Loda, (510) 844-7100 x 336, jloda@biologicaldiversity.org Lawsuit Launched to Speed Endangered Species Act Protection for Shasta Salamander Salamander Once Thought Single Species, Now Known to Be Three, Is Imminently Threatened by Plans to Raise Shasta Dam REDDING, Calif. The Center for Biological Diversity today filed a notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to act on a 2012 petition to protect three newly recognized species of salamander under the Endangered Species Act. The Fish and Wildlife Service was required to make a decision about those protections within one year, so the agencys finding is now more than five years late. Like too many California amphibians, these salamanders are spiraling toward extinction, said Jenny Loda, a Center biologist and attorney who works to protect vulnerable amphibians and reptiles. To preserve these amazing animals, the Fish and Wildlife Service has to protect them quickly under the Endangered Species Act. The salamanders are threatened by recent efforts to raise the level of the Shasta dam, which would result in flooding of their habitat. When the 2012 petition was filed, the only known salamander was the Shasta salamander. But new research published in April revealed that the Shasta salamander in California is actually three species  each more endangered than previously thought. All three live in the vicinity of Shasta Lake. The Shasta salamanders range was already restricted to a single county. The creation of Shasta Dam and Reservoir destroyed salamander populations and habitat, so raising the dam further would likely fast-track their extinction. Shasta Dam construction had stalled in recent years. But this past spring, Congress allocated $20 million in the 2018 federal Omnibus bill toward the project. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation plans to use the funds for preconstruction design and will advertise for bids on a construction contract in September 2019. Construction to raise the height of the dam would begin sometime in late spring or summer 2020. But the Fish and Wildlife Service does not plan to review whether the Shasta salamander requires protection through a 12-month finding until 2022  10 years after the petition was filed and two years after construction is slated to begin. Such a delayed decision would clearly come too late for these salamanders. Long delays in protecting species under the Act have been a persistent problem for decades. At least 42 species have gone extinct waiting for protection. If were going to save the Shasta salamanders, theres no time to waste, said Loda. With a near-perfect record at saving the species it protects from extinction, the Endangered Species Act is our best hope for keeping these rare creatures in the world.



Background

Shasta salamanders (Hydromantes shastae, Hydromantes samweli, Hydromantes wintu) are 4 inches long and dark reddish-brown. Their restricted range, coupled with ongoing threats of habitat destruction and degradation, leaves them extremely vulnerable to extinction. The recently described Samwel Shasta salamander was named for its original discovery site, Samwel Cave, and the Wintu Shasta salamander is named for the original habitants of the region, the Winnemem Wintu tribe. All three species are found within a range of about 330 square miles in the vicinity of Shasta Lake.For Immediate Release, July 26, 2018 Contacts: Kari Birdseye, Natural Resources Defense Council, (415) 875-8243, kbirdseye@nrdc.org

Sarah Uhlemann, Center for Biological Diversity, (206) 327-2344, suhlemann@biologicaldiversity.org

Marjorie Fishman, Animal Welfare Institute, (202) 446-2128, margie@awionline.org

Alejandro Olivera, Center for Biological Diversity, +521(612) 104-0604, aolivera@biologicaldiversity.org (en espanol) Court Orders Seafood Import Ban to Save Mexico's Vaquita Porpoise NEW YORK Responding to a lawsuit filed by conservation groups, the U.S. Court of International Trade today ordered the Trump administration to ban seafood imports from Mexico caught with gillnets that kill the critically endangered vaquita porpoise. As few as 15 vaquita remain, and almost half the population drowns in fishing gillnets each year. Absent immediate additional protection, the tiny porpoise could be extinct by 2021. A ban on gillnet-caught seafood from Mexicos Gulf of California is the life line the vaquita desperately needs, said Giulia Good Stefani, staff attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, who argued the case before the court. Collectively, our organizations have spent over a decade working to save the vaquitaand never has extinction felt so closebut now, the worlds smallest and most endangered porpoise has what may be its very last chance. The ruling follows a lawsuit filed in March by the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Animal Welfare Institute and the Center for Biological Diversity, and it affirms Congress mandate under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act that the United States protect not just domestic marine mammals, but foreign whales, dolphins and porpoises as well. The import ban covers all fish and fish products from Mexican commercial fisheries that use gillnets within the vaquitas range in the Upper Gulf of California. This includes shrimp, corvina (drum fish), sierra (Spanish mackerel) and chano (bigeye croaker) from the area. Gillnets are fishing nets that hang in the water, indiscriminately catching both target fish and other marine creatures, including vaquita. It is estimated that in 2017 alone more than 1,400 tons of the now-banned gillnet-caught fish and shrimp, valued at roughly $16 million, crossed the border to be consumed in the United States. With vaquitas on the brink of extinction, these economic sanctions are painful but necessary to push Mexican officials to finally protect these little porpoises, said Sarah Uhlemann, international program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. For 20 years, the Mexican government has promised to save the vaquita but failed to take meaningful action. That has to change or well lose these animals forever. The U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act requires the U.S. government to ban seafood imports from foreign fisheries that kill marine mammals, including the vaquita, at a rate that would violate U.S. standards for domestic fishers. The vaquitas mortality rate of almost half the population each year far exceeds the fisheries bycatch rates for marine mammals permitted in this country. This ruling is a vindication of a key objective of the MMPA, and ensures that the U.S. market will not hasten the extinction of an endangered species, said Susan Millward, director of the Marine Animal Program at the Animal Welfare Institute. The Mexican government must now protect the vaquita from gillnets before it is too late and this species disappears forever. In its decision, the court found that the number of permissible vaquita deaths under the [Marine Mammal Protection Act] is being exceeded, that an embargo is legally required, and that the species is at risk of extinction. The court explained that the risk of the vaquitas extinction from continued gillnet fishing in the Gulf outweighed the costs of an embargo. The court cited experts statements that extinction is . . . inevitable unless gillnets are completely removed from vaquita habitat, and that the vaquitas plight is so desperate that even one more bycatch death . . . threatens the very existence of the species. Mexico has failed to permanently ban all gillnets in the vaquitas habitat, despite repeated recommendations by scientists and evidence that the use of gillnets by any fisheryin or adjacent to the vaquitas rangewill undeniably lead to the species extinction.The MHIS phase IV implementation would cover all citizens of the state except government employees.

The Meghalaya cabinet has approved the implementation of Meghalaya Health Insurance Scheme (MHIS) phase-IV, converging with the health protection scheme of the Centre, which was launched under Ayushman Bharat Programme.

After the cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Conrad K. Sangma at the main secretariat in Shillong, health minister A.L. Hek informed that the MHIS phase-IV has been approved and the health coverage is upto Rs 5 lakh per year per household.

According to Hek, the MHIS phase IV implementation would cover all citizens of the state except government employees. The scheme would cover various tests and investigation of sickness too.The objective of the simulator called EndoMimyk is to train clinicians with graphic visualization.

A group of scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru has developed a low cost simulator for endoscopy, a medical procedure to examine the interior of a body by inserting a tube with an attached camera.

The objective of the simulator called EndoMimyk is to train clinicians with graphic visualization. Such a simulator can help bridge the spatial and temporal gap between the patient and the doctor and is useful in remote medical diagnosis and treatment.

EndoMimyk is not the first such simulator available. But the one developed by the IISc group is a novel system consisting of a haptic interface, VR models and instrumented tools. According to the researchers, haptics is a fast emerging technology that offers immersiveness while interacting with virtual environments.Guru Purnima 2021: Guru Purnima Gifts For Your Teachers As Per Zodiac Festivals oi-Renu

Guru Purnima, a day to pay gratitude to one's Guru. This year it will be observed on 24 July. The Purnima Tithi begins at 10:43 AM on Jul 23, 2021, and Purnima Tithi ends at 08:06 AM on Jul 24, 2021.

Celebrated not only as the birth anniversary of the author of the Mahabharata, Guru Vedvyas, but also as the day when Lord Shiva had disclosed the seven basic forms of Yoga to the Saptarishis (his disciples), and as the day when Lord Buddha had served his first sermon. In fact, it was also the day when Lord Mahavira, the twenty-fourth Tirthankara, had made Gautam Swami his first disciple.

Thus, it is revered as a day for offering prayers to the great Gurus, not just in Hinduism, but also in Buddhism as well as Jainism. While the idols of such highly respected and revered Gurus are worshipped on this day, there is also a provision to give gifts to one's teachers.

Here we have brought to you a list of gifts you can give to your teachers based on your zodiac so that you can attain professional success in the year ahead. Take a look.

Guru Purnima Gifts For Your Teachers As Per Zodiac:

Aries

Aries is associated with the planet Mars. You should gift a red coral to your teacher if you are an Aries. Grains or items made of grains can also be given if it's a spiritual Guru.

Taurus

Taurus is associated with the planet Venus. Even Guru Purnima is being celebrated on a Friday, the day of Venus. The best gift you can give to your teacher on this Guru Purnima would be an item made of silver. It can be a silver coin, a silver ring or even a showpiece item made of silver.

Gemini

Mercury is the planet for this zodiac. Giving a shawl as a gift to your teacher will bring you all his blessings this Guru Purnima. Buy a good shawl and gift it to your teacher to get good luck throughout the year.

Cancer

The planet associated with this zodiac being the Moon, and it will be beneficial if you gift items made of grain to your teacher. Giving sweets is a good option you can consider. Especially the items made of rice should be preferred.

Leo

The planet associated with this zodiac is Sun. Therefore, the people with this zodiac sign should give an item made with panch dhatu to their Guru, to get instant blessings. Panch dhatu is the Sanskrit name for the alloy made using the five metals: brass, copper, zinc, iron and aluminium.

Virgo

The planet associated with this zodiac is Mercury. The individuals with this zodiac should gift a diamond to their Gurus. If this is not possible, then gifting any diamond-shaped item too, can prove highly fruitful.

Libra

For this zodiac, the ruling planet is Venus. Those who belong to this zodiac should gift a blanket to their teacher or spiritual Guru.

Scorpion

This zodiac is ruled by the planet Mars, though sometimes Pluto is also said to be its ruling planet. A ruby gemstone will be the most perfect gift you can give to your teacher in order to get his blessings from this Guru Purnima.

Sagittarius

The ruling planet for this zodiac is Jupiter. Gifting gold items will get blessings of your Guru. Brihaspati is the Lord of this planet and he is considered as the Guru of the gods. Thus gold being a yellow coloured item will please Lord Brihaspati as well.

Guru Purnima:      ,    | Boldsky

Capricorn

Capricorn is ruled by the planet Saturn. People with this zodiac also should gift yellow coloured items to their teacher on this Guru Purnima.

Aquarius

Uranus being the ruling planet for this zodiac sign, individuals of this zodiac should give white coloured items as gift to their teachers. It can include white clothes such as a shirt, or even white coloured shoes.

Pisces

This zodiac is associated with the planet Neptune. Those with Pisces as their zodiac can gift sweet dishes made with gram flour to their teachers.

When To Do Guru Purnima Puja On Lunar Eclipse Day

Besides gifting these to your teachers, making donations to the poor and the needy will get you the blessings of Lord Shiva as well.Guru Purnima 2021: Guru Purnima Puja Vidhi To Get Your Teachers Blessings Festivals oi-Renu

Guru Purnima:      ,    | Boldsky

A teacher is the 'light' who removes the darkness of ignorance from the life of his disciple. He lights the path, corrects mistakes and leads his students on to righteousness. Guru Purnima is a day during which one can thank one's past and present teachers and get their blessings for a bright future ahead. Falling on the fifteenth day of the bright fortnight, during the Shukla Paksh in the month of Ashadha, Guru Purnima is celebrated as a day for paying gratitude to one's Guru, basically the spiritual guide as per Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Let us take a look at what is the significance of the day in different religions.

Significance Of Guru Purnima In Hinduism

Historically, it is the birth anniversary of Guru Vedvyas, believed to be the first Guru who is also credited to have authored the Mahabharata and the Vedas and Puranas. Having given such valuable sources of learning to the world, Hindus offer their prayers to Guru Vedvyas.

Another story says that Lord Shiva had given the secret of Yoga and higher spiritual consciousness to his seven disciples, collectively known as the Saptarishis on this day. Therefore, Lord Shiva is also called Adi Guru - which is a Sanskrit term translating to the first Guru, or the first teacher.

Significance Of Guru Purnima In Buddhism

In Buddhism, this day is celebrated as the day when Lord Buddha had served his first Sermon at Sarnath. Thus, Lord Buddha is offered prayers on this day.

Significance Of Guru Purnima In Jainism

In Jainism, the day is celebrated as Trilok Guru Purnima, a day when Lord Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara had made Indrabhuti Gautam, his first disciple.

Irrespective of who you are offering the prayers to, the day holds deep spiritual significance, and everyone must honour one's teacher on this day. Here we have brought to you the procedure for performing Guru Puja.

Guru Purnima Gifts For Your Teacher As Per Zodiac



Guru Purnima Puja Vidhi To Get Your Teacher's Blessings

This year it will be observed on 24 July. The Purnima Tithi begins at 10:43 AM on Jul 23, 2021, and Purnima Tithi ends at 08:06 AM on Jul 24, 2021. The procedure to perform puja for Lord Shiva or Guru Vedvyas is as follows:

1. On the Purnima day, wake up before sunrise and take bath in the Brahma Muhurta.

2. Make a Vyas peeth, on a white cloth, at the place of worship. If you do not know how to make a Vyas Peeth, it is better to take the help of a priest.

3. Sprinkle Gangajal, light the lamp and incense stick.

4. Chant the mantra 'Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnu Gurur Devo Maheshvarah Guru Sakshat Par Brahma Tasmaye Shri Guruve Namah'.

5. Offer all the sacred things including dhoop-deep, flowers and sweets before the image of Guru.

6. Throw rice(akshata) in all the directions after this.

7. Invoke Lord Shiva, Lord Buddha, Lord Mahavira, Mahatma Vedvyas and other spiritual Gurus that you want to offer your prayers to.

8. Then you can offer Guru Prasad to a priest or a Guru whom you have invited to offer the Guru Purnima feast to.

9. Thereafter, honour your teacher with a gift as Dakshina.

10. At the end, do not forget to distribute prasad among the family members and to make some donations to the needy.

How The Year's Second Big Blood Moon Will Affect Your ZodiacPR Newswire

VANCOUVER, July 26, 2018

VANCOUVER, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Nevsun Resources Ltd. (TSX:NSU) (NYSE AMERICAN:NSU) ("Nevsun" or "the Company") is pleased to report its financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018. Unless otherwise noted all financial results are in millions of US dollars.

Q2 2018 Highlights

"We improved metallurgical performance at Bisha in the second quarter with the implementation of the new reagent scheme. Production volumes were down principally due to the processing of lower grade material, however we expect to revert to processing higher grade material through the balance of 2018. Most importantly, we were able to convert a portion of our extensive resources to reserves in a capital efficient, economically attractive mine life extension, which is expected to extend Bisha cashflows, reducing Timok funding requirements," said Peter Kukielski, Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Kukielski continued: "At Timok, the initial resource declaration for the Lower Zone confirmed the project as one of the largest copper porphyry discoveries in recent years and highlighted why we are so optimistic about the deposit's long-term prospects. At the Upper Zone, the ground-breaking ceremony for the exploration decline demonstrated strong support from the Serbian government and other important local stakeholders. In the third quarter, we will complete the trade off study on the ramp up scenario for the Timok Upper Zone. We also continue to engage with potential strategic partners who could both invest in Nevsun and potentially bring complementary technical or other capabilities required for successful execution of the project."

"Taken together, the solid progress and improvements this quarter at both of our key assets have increased the fundamental value of the Company, and set the stage for further value enhancement in the months ahead."

Timok Project Update

In Q2 2018, the Company announced an initial NI 43-101 compliant inferred resource for the Timok Lower Zone with 1.7 billion tonnes grading 0.86% copper and 0.18 grams per tonne gold (0.96% copper equivalent) for 31.5 billion pounds of copper and 9.6 million ounces of gold. The mineral resource model includes the data from the recently completed $20 million drill program and demonstrates the impressive copper grade, continuity and thickness of mineralization in the Lower Zone. A core relogging program is in progress to better define the geological constraints on this resource to be used in future economic studies. The Company expects to file a NI 43-101 Technical Report incorporating the initial resource statement for the Timok Lower Zone in Q3 2018.

Progress also continued at the Timok Upper Zone where a contract for construction of the exploration decline was awarded in the quarter and site preparation activities commenced in May 2018 in advance of construction of the portal and development of the exploration decline. Drilling also continued as part of a condemnation drill program aimed to ensure that no significant mineralization is present near proposed infrastructure. The Company has acquired 100% of the land required for development of the exploration decline and 64% of the required private land for construction of the Upper Zone project as at June 30, 2018.

A ramp-up scenario is being examined starting with initial production at 1.6 million tonnes per annum ramping up to 3.25 million tonnes per annum over a two-year period. An update on this study will be provided in the third quarter. Discussions with potential off takers and potential finance providers continue to be advanced in parallel with the feasibility study ("FS").

The 2018 regional drilling program commenced in June and is focused on searching for additional high grade Upper Zone-style mineralization. Exploration drilling resumed in the Eastern Target 2 area 500 metres east of the Upper Zone with three holes currently in progress. Strong Upper Zone style alteration with associated pyrite, enargite and minor covellite mineralization typical of the outer edge of the Upper Zone is being encountered. Recent work has highlighted another area immediately to the west of the Upper Zone with similar high potential.

Bisha Mine Update

The Bisha Mine maintained total quarterly material movement above five million tonnes for the third consecutive quarter. This sustained improvement in mine performance reflects the deployment of new heavy mining equipment ("HME"), and the implementation of a plan for in-pit waste dumping with favourable impacts on haulage distance. The mine is expected to continue to benefit from the in-pit waste dumping until the end of 2018. These benefits were offset by variances to the mine plan which resulted in tighter ore supply in the pit. Lower grade ore encountered outside of the reserve model on the western side of the open pit maintained the supply of primary ore to the process plant, but resulted in lower zinc feed grade in Q2 2018.

The decrease in ore milled in Q2 2018 resulted from reduced operating time for maintenance activities. This, together with reduced feed grades, resulted in zinc in concentrate produced decreasing in Q2 2018 from Q1 2018. The implementation of an alternate reagent scheme in mid-June continued to benefit copper-zinc selectivity and resulted in improved copper concentrate grade and copper recovery from Q1 2018.

2018 Outlook Update

Through the first half of 2018, the Company achieved three 2018 objectives for the Timok Project, with the completion of the pre-feasibility study, the commencement of the exploration decline and the declaration of an inferred resource on the Lower Zone. Through the second half of 2018, the Company will complete the initial study work on the Timok ramp up scenario and advance the FS, with expected completion in mid-2019. Land acquisition and permitting activities will continue to advance in parallel with a significant majority of the private land required for the Timok Project expected to be purchased in 2018.

The Company's previously published 2018 outlook production is 210 to 240 million pounds of zinc and 20 to 30 million pounds of copper. Zinc production in the first half of the year was 122.9 million pounds. The Company expects to revert to processing higher-grade material in the second half of 2018 and remains confident that it will achieve its 2018 zinc production guidance. Copper production in the first half of the year was 17.5 million pounds and it continues tracking toward the higher end of guidance.

C1 cash costs per payable pound of zinc sold on a by-product basis are expected to be $0.60 to $0.80 in 2018. C1 cash costs on a by-product basis were $0.65 in the first half of the year and the Company expects it to remain within the expected range in 2018.

Q2 2018 Financial Review

Q2 2018

Q1 2018

Q4 2017

Q2 2017 (Restated)(1)

Revenue (millions)

$

76.4

$

106.7

$

80.6

$

66.1

Impairment reversals (charges) (millions)

5.0

-

18.0

(69.7)

Earnings from mine operations (millions)(1)

2.4

23.4

15.0

(64.9)

Exploration expenses (millions)(1)

(1.6)

(8.2)

(10.2)

(15.2)

Net income (loss) (millions)(1)

(9.3)

0.5

2.2

(84.2)

Net loss attributable to Nevsun shareholders (millions)(1)

(9.4)

(4.5)

(3.8)

(57.9)

Basic loss per share attributable to Nevsun shareholders(1)

$

(0.03)

$

(0.01)

$

(0.01)

$

(0.19)

Unrestricted cash (millions)

$

125.1

$

149.6

$

124.6

$

171.4

Working capital (millions)

170.4

187.6

162.3

172.1

Zinc price realized, per payable pound sold(3)

$

1.14

$

1.51

$

1.54

$

1.16

C1 cash cost per payable zinc pound sold, by-product basis(2)

0.71

0.58

1.13

0.68

C1 cash cost per payable zinc pound sold, co-product basis(2)

0.84

0.79

1.23

0.92

Copper price realized, per payable pound sold

$

3.09

$

3.01

$

3.26

$

$2.65

C1 cash cost per payable copper pound sold, co-product basis(2)

1.39

1.56

2.01

1.59

(1)

Effective December 31, 2017, the Company voluntarily elected to change its accounting policy with respect to exploration and evaluation expenditures, and as such, certain financial measures have been restated. Please refer to the Company's 2017 annual consolidated financial statements for the full accounting policy, and to the Company's Q2 2018 interim financial statements for disclosure surrounding the effect of the change as at and for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017.

(2)

C1 cash cost per pound is a non-GAAP measure. See page 23 of the Company's Q2 2018 MD&A for discussion of non-GAAP measures and page 6 of the Company's Q2 2018 MD&A, Cash Costs, for explanation of per-unit costs.

(3)

Zinc price realized per payable pound sold includes provisional pricing adjustments for shipments not yet settled, including shipments in previous quarters. In Q2 2018, zinc price realized per payable pound sold of $1.14 is inclusive of downward provisional pricing and other adjustments of $0.23 per payable pound sold  see page 26 of the Company's Q2 2018 MD&A for a reconciliation of realized metal prices.

Q2 2018 Operating Review

Q2 2018

Q1 2018

Q4 2017

Q2 2017

Mining

Ore mined, tonnes(1)

582,000

640,000

362,000

654,000

Waste mined, tonnes

4,900,000

4,525,000

4,981,000

3,739,000

Strip ratio, using tonnes

8.4

7.1

13.8

5.7

Processing

Ore milled, tonnes

491,000

563,000

520,000

590,000

Zinc feed grade, %

6.1

7.1

6.9

5.3

Copper feed grade, %

1.1

1.2

1.2

0.8

Recovery, % of zinc

77.6

81.1

72.6

62.2

Recovery, % of copper(2)

69.4

61.5

27.4

51.6

Zinc concentrate grade, %

47.8

47.8

45.6

41.5

Copper concentrate grade, %(2)

21.5

20.9

18.7

17.4

Zinc in concentrate produced, millions of pounds

51.3

71.6

57.7

43.0

Zinc in concentrate produced, tonnes

23,300

32,500

26,100

19,500

Copper in concentrate produced, millions of pounds

8.6

8.9

3.6

5.7

Copper in concentrate produced, tonnes

3,900

4,100

1,600

2,600

Payable zinc in concentrate sold, millions of pounds

53.8

53.4

44.6

34.3

Payable zinc in concentrate sold, tonnes

24,400

24,200

20,200

15,400

Payable copper in concentrate sold, millions of pounds

4.3

7.8

3.6

7.7

Payable copper in concentrate sold, tonnes

2,000

3,500

1,600

3,500

(1)

Ore tonnes mined for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 consisted of 582,000 and 1,222,000 tonnes of primary ore (Q2 2017  643,000 and 1,237,000 tonnes of primary ore and 11,000 and 68,000 tonnes of supergene ore).

(2)

This represents the copper recovery to copper concentrate from the copper flotation circuit only, and excludes copper recovered to zinc concentrates.

The Company's Interim Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") are available on the Company website at www.nevsun.com, on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

Q2 2018 Results Conference Call and Webcast Details

The Company will hold a conference call and webcast on Friday, July 27, 2018, at 8AM Vancouver / 11AM Toronto, New York / 4PM London, to discuss the financial and operating results.

Conference Call:

Please call in at least five minutes prior to the conference call start time to ensure prompt access to the conference. Dial in details are as follows:

North America: 1 888-390-0546 / +1 416-764-8688 / +1 778-383-7413

UK: 0800 652 2435 (toll free)

Other International: +1 416-764-8688 / +1 778-383-7413

The conference call will be available for replay by phone until Friday, August 3, 2018, by calling 1 888-390-0541 / +1 416-764-8677 and entering passcode 439304 #.

Webcast:

A live audio webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company's website www.nevsun.com or by clicking here.

Qualified Persons Statement

Mr. Peter Manojlovic, PGeo, and Vice President Exploration of Nevsun Resources Ltd. is a Qualified Person under the terms of NI 43-101 and has reviewed the exploration and mineral resource and reserve statements of this press release and approved its dissemination.

Cautionary Notes to Investors  Resource Estimates

In accordance with applicable Canadian securities regulatory requirements, all mineral resource estimates of the Company disclosed or incorporated by reference in this news release have been prepared in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, classified in accordance with Canadian Institute of Mining Metallurgy and Petroleum's "CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves Definitions and Guidelines" (the "CIM Guidelines").

The Company uses the terms "mineral resources", and "inferred mineral resources". While those terms are recognized by Canadian securities regulatory authorities, they are not recognized by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and the SEC does not permit U.S. companies to disclose resources in their filings with the SEC.

Pursuant to the CIM Guidelines, mineral resources have a higher degree of uncertainty than mineral reserves as to their existence as well as their economic and legal feasibility. Inferred mineral resources, when compared with measured or indicated mineral resources, have the least certainty as to their existence, however, it is reasonable to expect that the majority of inferred mineral resources could be upgraded to indicated mineral resources with continued exploration. Pursuant to NI 43-101, inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of any economic analysis, including any feasibility study. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of a mineral resource exists, will ever be converted into a mineral reserve, or is or will ever be economically or legally mineable or recovered.

About Nevsun Resources Ltd.

Nevsun Resources Ltd. is the 100% owner of the high-grade copper-gold Timok Upper Zone and 60.4% owner of the Timok Lower Zone in Serbia. The Timok Lower Zone is a joint venture with Freeport-McMoRan Exploration Corporation ("Freeport") which currently owns 39.6% and upon completion of any feasibility study (on the Upper or Lower Zone), Nevsun Resources Ltd. will own 46% and Freeport will own 54%. Nevsun generates cash flow from its 60% owned copper-zinc Bisha Mine in Eritrea. Nevsun is well positioned with a strong debt-free balance sheet to grow shareholder value through advancing Timok to production.

Forward Looking Statements

The above contains forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward looking statements including statements with respect to the Company's Bisha Mine in Eritrea and its intentions for its Timok Upper Zone Project in Serbia (the "Timok Project"). The Company also cautions the reader that the PEA previously released in September 2017 and the PFS released in March 2018 on the Timok Project that support the technical feasibility or economic viability of the Timok Project, including the marketability of the concentrate, mining method, costs, processing, metal recoveries and any other technical aspects related to the Timok Project, are preliminary in nature and there is no certainty that the PEA or the PFS will be realized.

Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "hopes", "intends", "estimated", "potential", "possible" and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions or results "will", "may", "could" or "should" occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements are statements concerning the Company's current beliefs, plans, objectives and expectations about the future, including but not limited to statements and information made concerning: statements relating to the business, prospects and future activities of, and development plans related to the Company, exploration activities, the adequacy of financial resources, anticipated production, processing and recoveries of zinc and copper, mineral reserve and resource estimates, mining efficiencies and access to mineral reserves, goals, strategies, future growth, planned future acquisitions, anticipated C1 cash costs to produce zinc or copper, resolution of metallurgical challenges from variable ore materials to produce concentrate and the ability to increase processing and recovery rates of zinc and copper, achievement of and timing for achievement of any key milestones including, planned mineral movement at the Bisha Mine and other events or conditions that may occur in the future regarding the Company or its projects.

The actual achievements of the Company or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors. These risks, uncertainties and factors include general business, legal, economic, competitive, political, regulatory and social uncertainties; actual results of exploration activities and economic evaluations; fluctuations in currency exchange rates; changes in project parameters; changes in costs, including labour, infrastructure, operating and production costs; future prices of copper, gold, zinc, silver and other minerals; resource estimates and variations of mineral grade or recovery rates; metallurgical challenges on the variable ore materials being processed and if the significant improvements in recovery rates of zinc and copper will be maintained or that recoveries to initial design levels will be achieved; the ability to extend mine life beyond the current mine plans; operating or technical difficulties in connection with exploration; land acquisition; mining method, production profile and mine plan; other development or mining activities, including the failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; performance on ore production and waste movement and improvement in mining capability; delays in exploration, development and construction activities including commencement of the decline construction as planned; changes in government legislation and regulation; the ability to maintain and renew existing licenses and permits and the ability to obtain other required licences and permits in a timely manner or at all; the ability to obtain financing on acceptable terms and in a timely manner or at all; contests over title to properties; employee relations and shortages of skilled personnel and contractors; the speculative nature of, and the risks involved in, the exploration, development and mining business including, without limitation, other risks that are more fully described in the Company's Annual Information Form for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 (the "AIF") and the Company's management discussion and analysis for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 (the "MD&A"), which are incorporated herein by reference.

The Company's forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date the statements are made and the Company assumes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements in the future, except as required by law. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements.

Further information concerning risks and uncertainties associated with these forward-looking statements and our business can be found in our AIF and MD&A, which is available on the Company's website (www.nevsun.com), filed under our profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and on EDGAR (www.sec.gov) under cover of Form 40-F.

NEVSUN RESOURCES LTD.,

"Peter G.J. Kukielski"

Peter G.J. Kukielski President & Chief Executive Officer

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nevsun-announces-second-quarter-2018-financial-results-300687524.html

SOURCE Nevsun Resources Ltd.:

"Important that Secretary Pompeo agrees China is the principal challenge for the United States over the coming years. China does not seek parity. They seek to overtake us."

Be prepared  be very prepared!

What will the airlines tell their passengers when landing in Taiwan? pic.twitter.com/pLRMOomwLs  Bonnie Glaser /  (@BonnieGlaser) July 26, 2018

This is a national disgrace. Today our nation's airlines crumbled under pressure from the Chinese Communist Party and changed the name of Taiwan on their websites, distorting the truth.  Ian Easton (@Ian_M_Easton) July 25, 2018

And no, I dont mean name-calling and bluster from Trump. Just a quiet firm message that if China denies landing rights to US airlines over Taiwan, US will deny Chinese airlines landing rights in US.  Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) July 26, 2018

This bullying of the airlines is really just one small piece of a much larger puzzle, and one that we need to continue to be vigilant about, Cornyn said. Airlines scrubs Taiwan references from website after China demands https://t.co/fSzJ5lauvK  Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) July 26, 2018

Unacceptable that #China is forcing US business to become Communist Party mouthpieces. #Taiwan exists and is an important US ally. However, the airlines were right to coordinate with the #StateDept. https://t.co/Repw0lpHWx  Ted Yoho (@RepTedYoho) July 25, 2018By Padraig Hoare

Cork businesses are being encouraged to explore Chinese markets by joining the county councils trade mission to the Jiangsu region later this year.

Jiangsu on the eastern Chinese coast has 80 million people and the second highest GDP of the Chinese provinces at over $1 trillion (855m), Cork County Council said.

The local authority said Jiangsu is home to many of the worlds leading exporters of electronic equipment, chemicals and textile and has been Chinas largest recipient of foreign direct investment since 2006.

County council chief executive Tim Lucey said there was unique potential available for companies who wish to enter or expand with the Chinese market by joining the upcoming trade mission.

It presents unique opportunities and benefits to participants including access to key economic and government decision-makers, in-market intelligence, unparalleled networking opportunities, business-to-business meetings with potential partners and an opportunity to seek valuable market insight exposing your business to new market opportunities, Mr Lucey said.

The mission is focusing on export-ready businesses, is open to all interested parties and is not sector specific, Cork County Council said.

The local authority established a partnership agreement with Jiangsu in November 2017.

County mayor, Cllr Patrick Gerard Murphy said Cork and Jiangsu are working together to promote economic links between our two regions and this trade mission presents a real prospect for our businesses,

Asia trade in 2017 is estimated to have been worth around 15bn to Ireland, double the value of trade in 2013, according to Government figures. Official Government strategy is to double Irelands global diplomatic and trade footprint by 2025.

Executive director of think-tank Asia Matters, Martin Murray, has said there are vast business opportunities in information technology (IT) and pharmaceuticals in Asia as well as food and agriculture on the continent.

Irish food and drink exports to China have increased sixfold in the last six years.By Padraig Hoare

Shares in Tullow rose 3% as its new boss said he was confident legal issues and other factors suppressing the share price are now all behind us.

Chief executive Paul McDade said he expected relative stability in the global oil market in the coming months as the Irish-founded exploration company announced net profits of $55m (47m) on revenues of $900m for the six months to the end of June.

Shares in the oil firm are down around 25% in the past 12 months. Earlier this year it reported its first operating profit in four years, of 22m for 2017.

Mr McDade said founder Aidan Heavey, who has now left the company, was a great loss having built a phenomenon in Tullow but that he was confident he could build on the legacy left behind.

Issues suppressing the share price are now all behind us and we are confident heading into the future, he said. The firm will use free cashflow of $401m to pay down debt and invest rather than pay an interim dividend, it said, after having raised the possibility of a return to payouts.

Tullow plans to drill an exploration well in Namibia in September and expand drilling in Ghana into next year. It aims for final investment decisions on Uganda towards the end of this year and Kenya in late 2019, which would open up those countries oil industries for exports.

In Kenya however, Tullow has stopped a pilot scheme producing oil and trucking around 600 barrels a day to the coast due to security issues around cattle rustling and banditry, Mr McDade said.

-ReutersUpdate 12.55pm: Efforts are being made to repatriate the body of the Irishman who died in the Greece fires.

Brian O'Callaghan-Westropp was on honeymoon in the resort of Mati when he went missing while trying to escape the blazes.

His wife Zoe Holohan remains in hospital with burn injuries.

Brian's mother is travelling to Greece to identify her son's body - her other son died in 1997 in a motorbike crash.

Family friend Fr Shay Casey says Brian was a hard-working man who was great fun.

He said:

Brian would be a go-getter, he'd have worked hard at getting on in life. He was a very good-humoured and light-hearted kind of guy, big into outdoor pursuits and sports. He was very good to his Mum.

Earlier: Tributes paid to Brian O'Callaghan-Westropp who died in Greece wildfire

Tributes are being paid to the Irish man who has died in the Greek wildfires.

Brian O'Callaghan-Westropp was on honeymoon in the resort area of Mati, when he went missing after becoming separated from his wife, Zoe Holohan, while trying to flee the blazes.

Newlyweds Brian O'Callaghan-Westropp and wife Zoe Holohan. Photo: Facebook.

He has been described as a "vivacious character with an ability to enter a room and touch everyone with a smile" by Blood Bikes East, where he worked as a volunteer.

The charitable group wrote on Facebook that Mr O'Callaghan-Westropp was "a diligent colleague and dear friend."

We will miss Brian's huge personality and infectious smile. His no-nonsense, can-do approach to the work of volunteering meant that he helped BBE to become the professional organisation we are today.

"Despite it being a year and 3 months as a BBE Volunteer, it feels like he was involved for so much longer, and his influence will last for decades to come.

"Thank you Brian for everything, you leave us bereft but better for having known you!

"Rest In Peace now our friend, your work is done."

In a statement, the families say they are "deeply saddened" to confirm Brian's death and have asked for privacy.

"We are deeply saddened to confirm the death of our family member, Brian O'Callaghan-Westropp.

"The families would respectfully appreciate privacy at this time as we grieve and as Zoe makes her recovery.

"Funeral arrangement will be announced at a later stage."

The Tanaiste Simon Coveney has described the death of Mr O'Callaghan-Westropp as a "terrible tragedy".

In a statement, Mr Coveney says he is "deeply saddened" at confirmation of his death - and says the Irish embassy in Athens will continue to provide whatever help is needed.

I am deeply saddened at confirmation of the death of an Irish citizen in Greece. This is such a terrible tragedy, my thoughts are with the families and friends who have requested privacy.

Officials at our Embassy in Athens will continue to provide every possible assistance.  Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) July 25, 2018

Ms Holohan was able to flee to a nearby beach and was admitted to hospital on Tuesday night. She is being treated for burns to her head and hands.

Over 80 people have died in the wildfires with more than 200 injured.

Rescuers have intensified a house-to-house search for more casualties, as the Greek military said it was using footage from US combat drones to try to determine whether arsonists were behind the blaze.

Joint patrols of the fire service, army personnel and volunteer rescuers discovered more bodies in the gutted homes near the port of Rafina east of Athens, raising the death toll to 81.

- Digital Desk and PABy Sonya McLean

The Central Bank has been granted access to the transcripts and exhibits in the recent trial of former Anglo Irish Bank CEO David Drumm.

The application was made before Judge Karen O'Connor today at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court after written submissions and the relevant case law were handed into the court last Tuesday.

The application was not contested by either the Director of Public Prosecutions or David Drumm.

Drumm was jailed for six years last month for his role in a multi-billion euro bank fraud scheme in 2008. The jury had returned unanimous verdicts of guilty on charges of conspiracy to defraud and false accounting, after just over ten and a half hours of deliberations.

It was the State's case that Drumm (51) of Skerries, Co Dublin, conspired with Irish Life & Permanent's former CEO, Denis Casey, Anglo's former financial director Willie McAteer and former Head of Treasury at Anglo, John Bowe, among others, to carry out 7.2bn in fraudulent circular transactions in order to bolster the customer deposits figure on Anglo's balance sheet.

The State also alleged that this 7.2bn was falsely accounted for as part of the bank's customer deposits in preliminary accounts published on December 3rd 2008, therefore misleading the market as to Anglo's true strength.

Bowe (54) from Glasnevin, Dublin; McAteer (67) of Greenrath, Tipperary Town, Co Tipperary and Casey (58) from Raheny, Dublin were convicted in June 2016 on the conspiracy to defraud charges.

Today, Devina Brady BL, for The Central Bank, acknowledged that the bank had a watching brief throughout the 87-day-trial but said while it was a helpful summary the bank required the more formal transcripts.

Counsel referred Judge O'Connor to the written submissions she had handed in earlier in the week, which she said set out the public function of the bank.

She said it had a gatekeeper role and that this was in keeping with the Fitness and Probity Regime introduced by The Central Bank under the Central Bank Reform Act 2010.

This applies to persons in senior positions within Regulated Financial Service Providers (RFSPs) and also applies to RFSPs who are obliged to ensure that their senior personnel comply with the Fitness and Probity Regime.

Ms Brady said numerous individuals had given evidence during the course of the trial and the bank wanted the transcripts to allow them to assess the evidence.

Judge O'Connor said it was a trial which was administered in public in accordance with the constitution and the law.

David Drumm

She noted that neither the Director of Public Prosecutions nor David Drumm were consenting to or objecting to the application by The Central Bank.

The judge said the handing over of the material was necessary for the purpose of doing justice and she could see no legal prejudice in allowing The Central Bank have access to what they had requested.

She said she was granting the application. She said it had been a lengthy trial and it was clearly in the public interest that the Fitness and Probity regime adopted by The Central Bank be facilitated by allowing them access to transcripts of the entire trial and the exhibits involved in the case.Gardai are appealing for the public's help in tracing the whereabouts of 32-year-old Dario Cofone.

Dario was working in Ireland since January 2018 and his family have not been able to contact him since April 23.By Ann O'Loughlin

A 37-year old mother with cancer who is suing over the alleged misinterpretation of two of her cervical smears tests today told the High Court she is not frightened to die, but she does not want to.

Ruth Morrissey who has cervical and breast cancer and may only have between one to two years to live said the news of her prognosis was devastating.

"You have to dig really deep. You are not going to be the same person. I am not frightened to die, but I dont want to," she said on the second day of her case.

Ms Morrissey and her husband Paul Morrissey of Kylemore, Schoolhouse Road, Monaleen, Co Limerick have sued the HSE and the US laboratory Quest Diagnostics Ireland Ltd with offices at Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin along with Medlab Pathology Ltd with offices at Sandyford Business Park, Dublin 18.

It is claimed there was an alleged failure to correctly report and diagnose and there was an alleged misinterpretation of her smear samples taken in 2009 and 2012. A situation it is claimed allegedly developed where Ms Morrisseys cancer spread unidentified, unmonitored and untreated until she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in June 2014.

The HSE the court has heard admitted it owed a duty of care to Ms Morrissey but not to her husband and it admits the results of the reviews should have been made known to Ms Morrissey. The laboratories deny all claims.

Opening the case Jeremy Maher SC instructed by solicitor Cian O Carroll said aggravated and exemplary damages are also being claimed in the action by the couple who have a seven-year-old daughter.

Counsel said Ms Morrisseys 2009 smear was tested by the US Laboratory Quest Diagnostics and her 2012 smear was tested by the Medlab Dublin laboratory. Counsel said the evidence from their side will be that the smears were  incorrectly and negligently reported.

Counsel said the results of the reviews of the 2009 and 2012 smears of Ms Morrissey were carried out and conveyed to her treating gynaecologist in 2016, but Mrs Morrissey was not given the review results until May this year, when she already had a cervical cancer recurrence. Ms Morrissey was also diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year.

Counsel said experts on their side will say if the cervical smear of 2009 had been correctly reported she would have been referred for a colposcopy which would have disclosed pre-cancerous cells and she may not have developed cervical cancer in 2014 which recurred this year.

Counsel said Ms Morrissey should never have developed cancer in 2014 or have had a recurrence and she is being deprived of seeing her daughter grow up and of an opportunity to live the life she had hoped.

Ms Morrisseys husband Paul broke down in the High Court today as he told how at bedtime he has heard his daughter Libby ask her mother not to die.

"You hear her at bedtime say Mammy, dont die, dont leave me. It is devastating," he said.

He told the court he and his wife do everything together.

She is not only my wife. She is my best friend, he told Mr Justice Kevin Cross.

He said his wife had been given a death sentence and he feels anxious and completely stressed all the time.

"My wife should not be in this situation. She is beautiful inside and outside."

He told the judge but for the media and publicity around CervicalCheck smears, they would not have found out what happened.

"I am devastated to think Ruth is not going to see her daughter make her communion, confirmation and marry, it is soul destroying and heartbreaking.

The case before Mr Justice Kevin Cross continues.By Tom Tuite

An 18-year-old burglar who ransacked an elderly widower's home and stole his deceased wifes jewellery to buy drugs has been jailed for one year.

The pensioner was in his eighties, the Dublin Childrens Court heard.

The youth said he started abusing drugs to cope with the loss of relatives in the 2015 Carrickmines fire, which claimed the lives of ten people including five children.

Christopher Lynch from Sallys Rest, Blind Lane, Bray, Co. Wicklow had been aged 17 and still a juvenile, at the time of the incident but had delayed his case by skipping court earlier this year.

Judge John OConnor said the youth had now aged out by turning 18, and had reached adulthood, by the time of his sentence hearing yesterday.

The teen had dodged custody on April 11 due to space shortage at a juvenile detention centre and failed to turn up to his next hearing at the Childrens Court two days later.

A warrant was then issued for his arrest and he remained at large for five weeks.

He had been on remand in custody since May 24 and later entered guilty pleas.

Det Garda David Lestrange had told the court that 1,300 in cash was taken along with jewellery worth 6,850 including an engagement which belonged to the mans late wife.

A female accomplice was waiting outside at the time of the burglary on April 6 last at the Stillorgan Road, in Dublin.

The elderly widower was not present at the time but arrived when raiders were leaving. Gardai at Blackrock station were alerted and the teenager was identified from CCTV footage.

None of the property was recovered because it was sold for drugs, the judge noted when the case resumed today.

The court also heard the teenager admitted criminal damage costing 400 to a patio door of a house at The Gallops, in Leopardstown, Dublin 18 on January 29 last and criminal damage worth 650 to a PVC at another house on the same date.

He also pleaded guilty to entering another house as a trespasser on February 29, 2016, theft of 50 from a shop on July 1, 2017, and stealing a wallet containing 70 on June 30 last year.

The teenager furnished the court with a letter expressing his remorse and explaining that he was about to become a father.

The letter was read into the court record and in it the youth said he had lost family members in the Carrickmines fire tragedy and he began self-medicating by taking tablets to deal with the grief.

He also said he now wanted to get counselling.

However, Judge OConnor noted the youth had skipped court previously, escaped from custody when brought on a hospital visit in June and had handed in letters like this before, which he described as self-serving.

He also noted the teenager was placed at a high risk of re-offending by the Probation Service with whom he had failed to co-operate when given chances by the courts previously.

He also noted the teenager had sold the jewellery to buy drugs.

Could you imagine it? This mans deceased wife, the trauma he would have gone through, his wifes jewellery and you took it, the judge put to the youth who didnt reply.

He said the teenager had created victims, had ignored the courts and continued to be involved in criminality after he had appealed previous probation orders and was released to an appeal of a prior custodial sentence.

The teens drug addiction was not a mitigating factor, the judge stressed.

Pleading for leniency, defence counsel Amy Deane asked the court to take into account that the youth was under 18 at the time of the offences and had pleaded guilty to the charges which saved the State resources.

He had become addicted to cannabis, alcohol and unprescribed medication, she said, adding that he was remorseful.

In addition to the 12 month sentence, the judge ordered that the teen was to be on supervised probation for one year following his release.By Ann O'Loughlin

Judgement has been reserved in High Court proceedings brought over the conduct of elections for the national executive of the Irish Country Women's Association (ICA).

Patricia Madden who joined the ICA 39 years ago has brought proceedings against the organisation over the conduct of elections for the ICA's national executive.

The ICA argues her action should be dismissed, and say it has put a set of proposals its says would allow its members to decide on the issues raised by Ms Madden.

Ms Madden, a barrister of St Mobhi Road, Glasnevin, Dublin, claims the organisation breached its constitution when it failed to count ballots cast by its membership in advance of its AGM last May.

She claims the ICA should have declared the winners of the election at the AGM for positions on its national executive board including national president, for a term of office from 2018 to 2021

Ms Madden claims that procedures adopted and the decisions taken by the ICA at its AGM, and at earlier EGM and a meeting of its National Executive were "ultra vires" to its constitution and based on "tainted and flawed" legal advice.

Proposals by the ICA to keep some existing national executive members in place on a caretaker basis until new elections could be conducted were "specifically excluded," she said.

Ms Madden seeks various injunctions, including restraining the ICA filling any vacancies on its board, until the dispute has been decided.

The ICA represented by Frank Beatty SC, with Brendan Kirwan BL said there were problems with the ballot papers for the 2018 elections which his client wants to rectify.

It has made proposals that would allow the ICA move forward, but that for some reason Ms Madden had rejected the proposals, Mr Beatty said.

Following the conclusion of submissions from both parties, Ms Justice Una Ni Ni Raifeartaigh reserved her decision.Lotto players in Cork are being urged to check their tickets after Wednesday nights Lotto draw produced a 117,790 winner.

The winning ticket was a QuickPick, purchased yesterday, at the Centra store on Patricks Street in Fermoy.

Brian Herlihy - owner of the lucky Centra store - said: "We just got the good news this morning and we are absolutely thrilled for Fermoy.

"I would be very confident that we have a local winner because the vast majority of our loyal customers are from the town and it is incredible to think that one of them is waking up to this amazing win this morning."

The Match 5 + Bonus prize winner was one number away from a jackpot of 6.6m - which rolls over to 7m in Saturday's draw.

The winning numbers were: 03, 16, 21, 36, 47 and the bonus was 35.

Meanwhile, the National Lottery has appealed to Lotto players in Wicklow to check tickets as the deadline for a 90k prize expires on August 3.

A Quick Pick ticket holder won 90,987 on May 5 and has until Friday week to claim the prize.

The ticket was purchased on May 3 at Stanleys Cards N Things store in the Tesco Shopping Centre in Greystones, Co. Wicklow.

- Digital DeskGardai have launched a murder investigation following the fatal stabbing of a 25-year-old man in Waterford in the early hours of this morning.

Jack Power, from Brownstown in Dunmore East, died from a stab wound to the chest.

A post-mortem was carried out by Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis this evening.

A 17-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with the incident as is being detained at Waterford Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.

Gardai and emergency services were called to an incident at Shanakiel in the seaside town at 3.40am where they discovered Mr Power and treated him at the scene.

He was taken by ambulance to University Hospital Waterford where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

Gardai are appealing for witnesses and anyone with information to contact them.

They are particularly appealing to anyone who was in the Shanakiel area of Dunmore East in the early hours of this morning to come forward and contact the incident room at Waterford garda station on 051-305300 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111.

The investigation is ongoing.

Shanakiel, Dunmore East. Picture: Mary Browne

- Digital DeskA man has been charged with the murder of Martin Clancy at a flat in Limerick in January.

33-year-old Alex Kelly with an address at Little O' Curry Street appeared before Limerick District Court this morning charged with murder on January 1, 2018.By Ann O'Loughlin

Kerry mother Emma Mhic Mhathuna who has terminal cancer is to move near Dublin where she is receiving medical treatment, the High Court heard today.

Mr Justice Kevin Cross directed that a further 650,000 be released to the 37- year old mother of five so she has a fund of 1.75million to buy a house near the capital.

Her counsel Patrick Treacy told the court it had been originally thought Ms MhicMhathuna would buy a house in Kerry but she is now receiving excellent treatment in Dublin. He also said that a house that they had been intending to purchase in Kerry turned out not to be suitable. The family he said had been on holiday in Morocco since the settlement of her case.

The remaining funds of the 7.5million settlement will stay in court for the benefit of Ms Mhic Mhathunas children.

Mr Justice Kevin Cross after hearing from Ms Mhic Mhathuna she was happy that the money be paid out directed the pay out.

Emma Mhic Mhathuna and her five children who sued over CervicalCheck in June settled their legal action for 7.5m.

Liability was also admitted in the case by the HSE and US laboratory Quest Diagnostics Incorporated.

Letters of apology from the HSE and Quest were also be sent to Ms Mhic Mhathuna.

Patrick Treacy SC for Ms Mhic Mhathuna instructed by Cian Carroll solicitor at the time said the admission of liability by the HSE related to failing to disclose the findings of cervical cancer. Quest Diagnostics admitted misreading her two cervical smear slides in 2010 and 2013.By Aoife Nic Ardghail

The behaviour of an African national who caused serious harm to two former partners by infecting them with HIV has been described as grossly reprehensible by the trial judge.

Judge Martin Nolan sentenced the man to ten years in prison after the court heard how the lives of the two women had been dramatically changed after they became infected with the virus.

The two women revealed in their victim impact statements that the man (28) would tell people to stay away from them because they had the virus.

One woman said the man, who cannot be named to protect the victims' identities, began to tell me repeatedly that nobody would want me after her diagnosis. She said this was the reason she married him.

This woman, in her victim impact report, said the man pestered her so much and wouldn't leave her alone, that she ended up in hospital and attempted suicide numerous times. She said he would tell people I had HIV and not to go near me.

The second victim said she was close to overdosing on her HIV medication and found it hard to get out of bed when she was first diagnosed. She said when she drank, she got drunk and on a few occasions I tried to walk out in front of cars.

She said the man constantly rang, texted and followed her and would tell everyone she talked to that she had HIV. The woman, in her victim impact statement read out on her behalf, revealed the man told her he still loved her even though he blamed her for infecting him.

This woman said her former partner told her that nobody would want to be with her.

Victim's heart 'smashed into a million pieces'

The man's former wife read from her victim impact statement, in which she described how her life had dramatically changed and how he had taken away her personality, health and positivity.

She said her heart was smashed into a million pieces and that she was serving a sentence of her own.

Now most days I can't even get up out of bed, never mind encouraging my daughter to go live her own life, she said.

The second woman said she had isolated herself from everyone, including her family, and that it had affected her ability to look after her daughter. She said she felt she could not have a healthy relationship because of the damage done and that she would need a lot of therapy to feel happy again.

The man, who lives in Dublin, was convicted after a trial in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court earlier this month of intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to the two women on dates between November 2009 and June 2010.

He had pleaded not guilty to the offences.

The judge accepted the man was remorseful, that he was young at the time and had had a difficult upbringing in his home country.

Women 'condemned in their ability to establish future relationships'

However, he also said both injured parties are condemned to take medication for the rest of their lives and they have also been condemned in their ability to establish future relationships

He noted that this case was the first of its kind in the country and that the Director of Public Prosecutions had given him no indication of where to place it in terms of seriousness. The court heard the maximum penalty for serious harm offences is life in prison.

Garda Colm Kelly told Dominic McGinn SC, prosecuting, that the man commenced relationships with both women about the same time in 2009. Both women detailed how the man was reluctant to use contraception and had unprotected sex in those relationships.

Gda Kelly said one woman found out she was pregnant in early 2010 and tested positive for HIV during ordinary neonatal screening. The man was approached about getting tested for the virus, agreed and expressed a degree of surprise when the results came back positive for the infection.

Gda Kelly told Mr McGinn that about the same time, the second woman decided to get screened and found out she was HIV positive in June 2010.

The court heard Dr John Lambert was treating both women at the time and realised they had named the same man as their partner. The man denied any knowledge of the second woman when the doctor spoke to him about her.

Dr Lambert sought the man's medical records, which revealed he had been diagnosed as HIV positive in 2008 and had received treatment, advice and medication.

He was advised against engaging in unprotected sex and prescribed antiretroviral medication, which would have eliminated his symptoms and rendered him non-infectious

Tests implied man wasn't taking medication

Gda Kelly told Mr McGinn that the man had a positive viral load when he was screened in 2010 and this implied he had not been taking his medication.

The garda said the man's relationships with the women continued in 2010 to different extents and both victims subsequently had children with him.

He said scientific evidence at the trial showed all three had the same subtype of the infection, as well as the same mutation. The jury heard evidence that prior to their relationships with the man, both women had limited sexual history and used condoms with previous partners.

Paul Greene SC, defending, submitted that the man would have a very difficult time in prison as a foreign national who is unwell and because of the notoriety associated with the case.

Counsel said his client regretted the two injured parties had to undergo cross-examination but that it was necessary in defending his case. He asked the judge to take into account that the man's behaviour was reckless rather than intentional.

The court heard the man has five previous convictions, including four for drugs and one for possessing a knifeRyanair announced today that it has cancelled 20 flights scheduled for next Friday, August 3.

The cancellations come as Irish Ryanair pilots are set to hold a fourth day of strikes.

Ryanair says the affected flights, which are on Ireland-UK routes, account for just 7% of the 300 flights planned to go to and from Ireland next Friday.

The airline said in a statement that the cancellations were "regrettable" but that all 3,500 affected customers have been notified and will be re-accommodated or refunded.

Around 100 Dublin-based Ryanair pilots announced their intention to hold one-day strike yesterday.

Meanwhile, the airline warned that the jobs of up to 300 pilots and cabin crew could be at risk, as it plans to scale back its fleet in Dublin.

Digital DeskThree new schools affected by the shut down of construction company Carillion will be finished next month.

Loreto Secondary in Wexford, along with Colaiste Raithin and Ravenswell primary school in Bray town, will open in time for the new school year.Ann O'Loughlin

A woman with physical and intellectual disabilities and terminal cancer has secured a 40,000 settlement over an alleged assault on her by a nurse at a centre for women with intellectual disabilities.

The settlement was made without admission of liability.

Linda Kavanagh's family only learned in 2015 of the alleged assault on her by a nurse in 1999, the High Court heard.

Through her sister Noeleen Kavanagh, Cherrywood Park, Clondalkin, Linda Kavanagh (51) sued the board of management of St Margaret's Centre, Brookvale Road, Donnybrook; the Sisters of Charity, owner of the centre; and Careen Cunningham, a nurse whose name was removed from the register of nurses and midwives in 2009.

Ms Kavanagh has physical and intellectual disabilities secondary to Spina Bifida and cerebral palsy and became a resident of the centre in 1996.

It was claimed, when her sister asked her in February 2015 how she was getting on at the centre, she said she was very unhappy and hated it. Asked why, she said she had been physically assaulted by Ms Cunningham and hit on the head.

She also told her sister, after she fell out of bed onto the floor one time, she asked Ms Cunningham to help her get back into bed but the nurse refused to help her and also prevented another member of staff doing so with the effect she had to remain on the floor until she managed to clamber back into bed herself.

Ms Kavanagh also indicated Ms Cunningham had been verbally abusive to her, "roaring" and giving out to her and telling her to go to her room and not to leave it, it was claimed.

It was claimed the family had noticed a deterioration in Ms Kavanagh's behaviour after her admission to the centre, her appearance seemed neglected and she was soiling herself. It was claimed they raised the issue of her behaviour and were reassured by the centre's manager.

Ms Kavanagh had expressed a wish to live in the community but that has not been deemed possible, due to the nature of her disabilities and her cancer.

In their joint defence, the centre and Sisters of Charity pleaded prejudice by delay in taking the case and denied the alleged assault.

They also pleaded, if Ms Kavanagh suffered injury, which was denied, that was due to the alleged unlawful and criminal acts perpetrated by Ms Cunningham. They pleaded they took reasonable care for Ms Kavanagh's safety, conducted a detailed investigation of her complaints and notified gardai of those.

In her separate defence, Ms Cunningham also pleaded prejudice by delay, denied the claims and denied she assaulted, battered or mistreated Ms Kavanagh

Seeking approval today for the settlement, John Gordon SC, instructed by Coleman Legal Partners, said the delay in taking the case was because the family were unaware until 2015 of the alleged assault.

They were also unaware of a complaint by an agency nurse abut Ms Cunningham's alleged mistreatment of Ms Kavanagh or of an internal investigation which led to Ms Cunningham being reinstated after a suspension.

There would have been difficulties establishing assault and injury but Ms Kavanagh complained at the time in the presence of a nurse, he said.

What is important is the matter had been acknowledged and the "wrong has been righted at last insofar as money can do so".

Mr Justice Cross approved the settlement and also approved it being paid out to Noeleen Kavanagh to ensure Linda has as much comfort as possible in her declining state.

Outside court, Noeleen Kavanagh thanked her sister's lawyers for their "trojan work".

"I think today is really all about justice for Linda. I'm delighted we could be a voice for Linda, she could not really articulate what has happened to her."

She was happy Linda would be well looked after into the future, she added.The Boyz are back with new single Because as their long goodbye begins.

Boyzone have released the lead single from what will be their last ever studio album, Thank You and Goodnight.

The upbeat tune was co-written by Ed Sheeran whose influence is felt in the catchy acoustic hooks.

Sheeran even makes a cameo in the music video which features clips of fans from all over the world lip-syncing along.

Thank You and Goodnight is set to be released on November 15 and will embark on a farewell tour of Ireland and the UK in the new year.

They will kick off their last tour in Belfast's SSE Arena on January 23 followed by Dublin's 3Arena on January 24.

Speaking earlier this year about their decision to say goodbye to Boyzone, Shane Lynch said: "I think it's an honourable thing for us to do.

"25 years of music - an amazing milestone - and in terms of all the Boyzone supporters they're always saying 'give us one more tour', 'give us one more album' and we're going to do it to the best of our ability.

"This is it, we're signing off."Fionnula Flanagan is one of Ireland's most loved actresses with a career spanning 40 years on stage and screen but for many she is known as the downfall of Lost.

The Dublin actress has revealed that despite only joining the hit TV series in season four people blame her for how it came to a close.

Speaking to Dave Fanning on RTE Radio 1 this morning, she said: "People come up to me at airports and blame me about the way it ended as though I wrote it."

The actress hadn't seen any episodes of Lost before appearing in the show but was told by the director not to bother.

If you haven't seen it from the beginning you won't understand anything anyway, I don't he said.

Despite her character, Ellie, having all knowledge of the past and the future, Fionnula still doesn't quite know what happened in the show.

However, there is much, much more to the 76-year-old's illustrious career.

She shows no signs of slowing down as she currently has six projects in the works.

Coming out in the US later this year is comedy Supervized which was filmed here in Ireland and co-stars Tom Berenger and Beau Bridges.

While quirky dark comedy Birthmarked co-starring Toni Collette premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh earlier this month.

Her love for theatre and acting was sparked at a young age when her mother would take her to the Gate Theatre where they would pay a shilling and six pence to sit in the back row of the stalls.

"I knew that they were having a lot more fun up there in the light than I was having sitting in the dark."

You can listen to the full interview with Fionnula Flanagan below:National Australia Bank will refund 305,000 superannuation customers more than $67 million for not explaining to some customers they could switch off a financial planning fee.

The refund comes as a result of ongoing discussions between Nulis and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the NAB-owned MLC said in a statement on Thursday.

The refund comes as NAB's NULIS prepares to appear at the royal commission.

The superannuation trustee for NABs MLC arm, Nulis, will stop deducting the fees from MLC MasterKey Personal Super member accounts from September 30. The same fee, the plan service fee, will also be switched off for members of MLC MsaterKey Business Super on November 30.

The average refund will be $220. The refund comes as NAB is in the process of demerging its MLC business, including its superannuation and wealth management functions.Take the matter of the so-called African gangs. It has become a very emotionally-charged subject and not easy to discuss but let me try. Lets begin at the beginning. People from African countries have been Australian citizens for more than 40 years. They have come from over 54 different countries and in 2016 numbered at least 93,851 in Victoria or something like 1.6 per cent of the population. More than 20 per cent are under 25 years of age. Loading There is also no doubt their crime profile is not in proportion with their population. The number of people from New Zealand who commit crimes is also disproportionate to their numbers here. Further, official Victorian crime statistics of 2017 show there were more alleged offenders from India, the UK, Vietnam and others.

I have met leaders from the African communities and they are working hard to rein in the young folk. They need our recognition and support. The problem of youth crime only gets worse when their elders and their whole community start to feel that they are not welcome here. This is where I go back to recalling my early years when the well-meaning authorities thought I should have been in an orphanage. I would have been deported and stigmatised if my family had not surrounded me. None of this means we should abandon our culture of the rule of law and a fair go for all. If anything, it means we must redouble our commitment to fairness. So, what is actually being done about the problem? Well, its formidable and will take time to work, but it will. The Victorian government has increased the expenditure for what they term multicultural affairs from just under $30 million in 2013-14 to $84.6 million in the current year. That is nearly a three-fold increase.

But what is it being spent on? Well, much of it is being spent on bringing people together and supporting community leaders in their efforts to improve health, education and employment prospects for their young people, especially jobs - the dignity of work. The areas of western Melbourne and the south east around Dandenong are receiving priority assistance. Loading I understand the self-defensive knee-jerk reaction when we hear reports of racially identified migrant groups breaking the law, but we must draw breath and remember that nearly 50 per cent of Australians are first or second-generation migrants. The fact is that we will always have new people and so we should. And some newcomers will always have difficulty adapting to a new home, but eventually they do. And younger generations of all cultures, especially boys, will need to be reined in.Because this is an authentic voice writing about what it means to be an Indigenous Australian in contemporary times, Lucashenko has taken on the tough issues that come with generational trauma  displacement, incarceration, abuse, racism, substance abuse, poverty, marginalisation. Nobody gets let off, neither Indigenous nor white characters. A resounding slap from a mission priest can ricochet down two generations and land on a grandchild; an eye taken out by a brutal landowner with a stock whip that destroys a boy's chances in life can hurt the next two or three generations. She doesn't shy away from any of it, nor is she preachy or bitter. She does it with humour, satire, dialogue with the kind of wild wit that can come with profanity. It is the voice of her people, her world. Measured and layered, the comedy leavens the tragedy. The great achievement is finding the balance; the redemption and understanding. "As I was writing it I had in mind on the one hand Once Were Warriors, which my Maori woman friends tell me is a very strong and accurate depiction of one Maori subculture, and on the other hand, The Beverley Hillbillies, which was a show that made a lot of sense to me growing up. "I couldn't have written this book in my 40s. I wrote it when I was 50 and 51. It was only in this period of my life that I reached a position of strength and could look at these hard issues and also have the amount of detachment that I needed to write it. It was a frightening book to write. It is a big thing to sit with it everyday and to write it, it is retraumatising." Lucashenko's 2013 novel, Mullumbimby, won the Queensland Literary Award and was long-listed for other major prizes. In both books she has achieved the tone of wry amusement while offering the other dimension of seeing the natural world through Aboriginal eyes. There is symbolism, and there is a profound communication with the avian and animal world.

Mullumbimby was important and beautiful in explaining a visceral, animistic feeling for nature as something supernatural. Birds bringing messages, ancient voices on the wind. At the time, Lucashenko said being Aboriginal was like having "double vision". The ancestors are always present, and the land itself is mythical and historical. In this book a local mayor is planning on developing a bend in a river that is sacred to this family, where the ancestors are. In their chaotic, quibbling way the Salter family fight the development. The outcome is a beautiful fluke. "I wanted to show people that we are resourceful in the midst of great adversity, because that is the reality too. It is the job of the artist to look at what is going on around them. I look around at my community and I see struggle and I see people being exceptionally brave. And I also see a lot of depression and ennui. But the flip side of that is survivor humour, the incredible laughs and the insight the black fellas have into Australian life. Sometimes it is just so penetrating and so very very funny. The power of the powerless is to laugh really and to tell the truth. People are endlessly hilarious to me, especially white people." Later she adds: "I'm thinking of that American musician who said inside him there is a little man with an axe and every day it is a matter of stopping that little man from going berserk. I think as an Aboriginal person that resonates a lot for me. You have got to have a sense of humour, if you didn't you would be a mass murderer."

Lucashenko works with the prison women's advocacy group Sisters Inside helping criminalised women when they are released. "I love them and they might be depressed but they are also fighting back. We've got voices and we've got hope and anger, we can fight back and we should. It is not inevitable that injustice triumphs." She grew up on the outskirts of Logan, a multiracial metropolitan area south of Brisbane. She is the only person in her family to go to university, to Griffith, where she did a master's degree in public policy because there was no money for her brothers to even finish year 12. University, she says, "taught me how to put sentences together and gave me the chance. When I started to write this book I reflected on some of the older women that I know and that I'm related to. I asked myself the question of who would I be if I hadn't gone to university, who would I be if I had never left Logan. "It is about class as much as anything else. I wanted to talk about families with violence as the bedrock, and racism in poverty and to what extent can we make good choices out of that environment." In the book Lucashenko has sailed headfirst into almost every sensitive issue there is.The Imperial Tea Party

Frances Welch

The Imperial Tea Party. By Frances Welch.?

Short Books, $29.99

After the out-break of the First World War the Tsar's sister wrote despairingly that it was all Britain's fault for not clearly committing to support Russia and France, adding "Willy would never have dared to make a single move". Willy was the Kaiser, and what this record of the three meetings of the Russian and British royal families brings home is what a family affair the war looked to them: Kaiser Bill, King George V and the Tsar all related via Queen Victoria: king and Tsar looking eerily similar. Frances Welch, an imperial Russia specialist, combines the details of the royal visits with glimpses (Lenin in London) of the tectonic shifts taking place beneath the royals' feet. The revolution eventually claimed the lives of Tsar Nicholas and family, with George V blaming Prime Minister Lloyd George for not providing them asylum when it was his decision to refuse to help.A week ago Baker Boy was playing to one of the biggest audiences of his fledgling music career at Byron Bay's Splendour in the Grass festival. Last night in South Australia the 21-year-old hip-hop artist from Arnhem Land received another career boost, winning the breakthrough independent artist of the year award at the annual AIR (Australian Independent Record Labels Association) awards. On a night when Milk! Records' Jen Cloher collected the best independent artist award and her label picked up the gong for best independent label, there was plenty to celebrate, and not just for the winners. There's the multiple worthy nomineess, the countless artists, bands and their supporters around the country making and listening to independent music, as well as some great live performances inside Adelaide's Queen Theatre, including Darwin's Caiti Baker, who performed her soulful song I Won't Sleep, something Splendour attendees no doubt knew a thing or two about last weekend. Other winners included Perth's Methyl Ethel (best independent album or EP for Everything is Forgotten), King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (best hard rock, heavy or punk album for Murder of the Universe) and Sydney's Pnau, winning twice with Go Bang and Changa. For all the AIR winners and nominees, go to air.org.au

album of the week

The Bamboos

Night Time People

(Pacific Theatre/BMG)



Multiple ARIA award nominees the Bamboos have released their eighth album and the only thing better than that is the outrageously good supports they've lined up for next month's tour, their first in three years. For tour information go to thebambos.com and don't waste another minute checking out new tracks, including Lit Up with it's instantly addictive groove and Kylie Auldist's soulful, world class voice out front of this stunning nine-piece party starter. Australia's Urthboy, German songwriter and rapper Teesy and Atlanta-based MC J-Live all guest on Broken, highlighting the Bamboos' widening reach.

Baker Boy

selecta

Keep Up - Loose Tooth

Lamp Lit Rose - Dirty Projectors

Forced into a Corner - Asteroid B-612While the ACT government has committed to a review of the subclass 190 visa program and made qualified commitments of support to students, colleges facing financial pressure have not received any concrete promises about their futures.

A spokeswoman for Higher Education Minister Meegan Fitzharris said the government was committed to supporting the industry, but did not outline what actions would be taken as the industry reacts to the cancelled enrolments of hundreds of students after a review of the visa program was announced.

Meegan Fitzharris hasn't committed to meeting with college operators after students drop out in their hundreds. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

"As Australias education capital, the higher education industry in Canberra is incredibly important and is one of our major export industries. The ACT government is committed to continuing to support Canberras education industry, whether it is private colleges, CIT, our world class universities or other institutions," the spokeswoman said.

The spokeswoman repeated the commitment made by Chief Minister Andrew Barr's office to review the program.A team of Gungahlin locals will be running in the City2Surf in Sydney on Sunday, August 12 as part of Team Dainere's Rainbow.

They are running to increase research and funds for paediatric brain tumours, which kill more children than any other disease in Australia.

Dainere Anthoney, a softly-spoken and inspirational15-year-old from Gungahlin, passed away in 2013 after being diagnosed with a brain tumour - or high-risk medulloblastoma - in 2009.A forensics expert threw every possible technique he could at the scene of Colin Winchesters alleged murder in the attempts to uncover fingerprints from all manner of surfaces, a jury heard Thursday.

But there was once exception - the two spent bullet cartridges police found lying on the grassy strip alongside the police chiefs car, where the man was slumped dead in the drivers seat.

I was never given the chance to examine them, fingerprint expert Terrence Nesbitt said of the cartridges.

Mr Nesbitt told the court he would have gone to the ends of the Earth to examine an item potentially handled by the perpetrator of the crime.

Prosecutors allege it was former public servant David Harold Eastman who used a Ruger 10/22 to shoot Mr Winchester twice in the head after he pulled into his neighbours Deakin driveway.Its hard to know what to expect when a prime suspect is called to give evidence in a 25-year-old missing persons case.

But when serial rapist Paul Vincent Phillips appeared at the 2009 inquest into the 1984 disappearance of Canberra schoolgirl Megan Mulquiney, the most - or perhaps least - surprising thing about him was how creepy he was.

Paul Vincent Phillips leaving the ACT Magistrates Court in 2009. Credit:Vikki Wilkes

Tall, weatherbeaten, with dark, piercing eyes and a long, white beard, he could have come straight from central casting.

The news that he would be brought before the court in Canberra to give evidence at a re-opened inquest into Megans disappearance had been another installment in what was already a horrifying case.Dr Andrew Jacob is profoundly sorry for being late to the phone call. Hes been up in the old tower, he explains, dropping the Time Ball.

Its one of the key responsibilities for the curator of Sydney Observatory. Every day, at precisely 1pm, for the past 160 years, a curator has dropped the 120-kilogram yellow orb down its five-metre pole atop the observatorys old tower.

Ships in Sydney Harbour used to set their watches to the balls drop. Before the invention of the digital watch and GPS, knowing the precise timing was crucial if a sailor wanted to determine their longitude at sea.

Andrew Jacob, curator at Sydney Observatory, stands inside one of the building's domes. Credit:Steven Siewert

This observatory wasnt built for pure research purposes. It was there to be a useful benefit to society, says Dr Jacob.Fisheries Queensland director Andrew Thwaites death during a recreational Morton Island scuba dive in August 2016 was tragic and avoidable, a Queensland coroner has found.

Handing down her findings into Mr Thwaites death, Coroner Christine Clements said it was hoped lessons would be learned to prevent similar tragedies.

Fisheries Queensland director Andrew Thwaites, 44, did on a recreational scuba dive off Moreton Island in 2016.

Both experienced divers, Mr Thwaites, 44, and his partner Kelly-Anne Masterman had joined a group of recreational scuba divers from their diving club on a day trip to the eastern side of Moreton Island on August 10, 2016, on a day of perfect conditions.

On their second dive of the day, at about 22 metres underwater, Mr Thwaites indicated to Ms Masterman that he wasnt feeling well and wanted to surface.Four patients have been taken to hospital suffering the effects of a suspected chemical leak on Sydney Street in Mackay on Thursday morning.

Four patients were taken to Mackay Hospital in a stable condition before 10am, and another six patients were taken to two separate local health clinics suffering "minor ailments" from the incident.

A Queensland Ambulance Service spokesman said paramedics were called just after 9.30am to reports of multiple patients following a chemical leak.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services were also on-site, with a spokeswoman saying crews attending tested air quality and found no hazardous chemicals.

It was believed a chemical being used in a retail precinct had entered air ducts and caused fumes that affected patients, she said.Two people  a 47-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy  have been charged after a man was set on fire and suffered burns to his body at his home north of Mackay.

At 11.30pm on Wednesday night, Queensland Police attended reports of a duplex on fire, on Fisher Street at Bucasia.

A 42-year-old man was taken to hospital with burns to his body.

The unit's occupant, a 42-year-old man, was found nearby with burns to his upper body and with facial injuries.

Police officers were told a man claiming to be a police officer had attended the unit just before the fire.Borce Ristevski was challenged by his daughter about where he drove to on the day his wife Karen went missing, a court has heard.

Before magistrate Suzanne Cameron began deliberating on whether to commit Mr Ristevski to trial, on murder or the lesser charge of manslaughter, prosecutor Matt Fisher said the accused man's actions in June and July 2016 pointed to evidence he had "murderous intent" and deliberately killed his wife.

Borce Ristevski and his daughter Sarah appeal for information after Karen Ristevski went missing in July 2016. Credit:Penny Stephens

Mr Ristevski, 54, is charged with murder and must wait a week before he learns whether he will front a jury, and if so on what charge, as Ms Cameron adjourned her decision on committing the accused man until next Thursday.

She must assess the evidence and submissions from Mr Ristevski's eight-day committal hearing and said she had several unrelated matters to hear over coming days.A mother charged with the murder of her eight-year-old son has died in jail.

Joanne Finch, 42, from Tootgarook on the Mornington Peninsula, was charged with murder over the death of her son Brodie Moran, 8, at their seaside home in March.

Joanne Finch and her son Brodie. Credit:Facebook

She was found dead at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in Ravenhall, west of Melbourne, on Tuesday.

A police spokeswoman said the death was not being treated as suspicious.Is preventing a child from repeating a year of school discriminatory?

A young woman from Victoria's west called Jennifer certainly thinks so, and recently won a payout from the Victorian Education Department after her family's pleas to let her repeat Year 10 were ignored.

A young Victorian woman has won a payout from the Education Department after being promoted to the next year level Credit:Tamara Voninski

The now 18-year-old, who has a mild intellectual disability, believes Heywood and District Secondary College indirectly discriminated against her when it promoted her to Year 11.

Her father, who took legal action on her behalf in the Federal Court, said his daughter wasn't able to meet the requirements of Year 11 because of her disability. Moving Jennifer up a year, he argued, would disadvantage her.Two pairs of gumboots were all that remained at the front door of the modern grey home on Friday afternoon. Two childrens bikes also rested alongside the house. The property is nestled among trees and partly obscured from view. Alice Bradley, a friend and colleague at Cowes Medical Centre, said Ms Fraser had shared fears about her safety and that of her children in the months leading up to her death. Her parents had also moved into the home recently and it is believed they were also concerned about her safety, but they were overseas at the time of her death. "She had mentioned to me a lot that she felt unsafe ... at times she was really frightened," Ms Bradley said.

She said that Ms Fraser had worked at the Cowes Medical Centre a couple of days a week for two years, treating both adults and children as a psychologist. "She was a great mum, she was very involved in the local school, she had a large group of friends," Ms Bradley said. "She was very popular and just gorgeous." Ms Fraser dropped off her two daughters and son in the morning, then caught up with friends for coffee between 9am and 11am. She told them she had a midday appointment, but she did not show up. Police visited her home at 4.30pm to check on her due to concern for her welfare, and they found her body in the garage.

A post-mortem was conducted, and homicide squad detectives have taken over the investigation. "Based on the circumstances of her death, it is strongly believed to be suspicious and will now be investigated by detectives from the homicide squad," a police spokesman said.

Detective Sergeant Sheahan did not specify the cause of death but said Ms Fraser suffered "assault injuries". "I can't confirm to you if it's random or targeted, but as I said, I don't have a concern for the safety of the community here. There are extra police resources dedicated to the area and investigating Samantha's death," he said. Peter Fusinato, the local area commander for Bass Coast, said the death had hit the community particularly hard. "There is a sense of loss. Samantha was well known, she had three young children at the primary school ... naturally [the community] is grieving," he said.

One of Ms Fraser's neighbours, Sue, said Ms Fraser lived at the home with her children and her parents, but her parents had been overseas on holiday when Ms Fraser died. "We are devastated. It's horrible. It's just so sad, she was so young and with a young family and we feel for the kids," Sue said. She said Ms Fraser had lived at the property for the past four years. The last time Sue saw Ms Fraser, who was known locally as Sam, was on Sunday when they waved at each other from the front garden. She said Sunday had been Ms Fraser's birthday.

Another neighbour confirmed Ms Fraser's parents had been in the US for a holiday when the incident occurred, but had since returned to care for the three children. "It's so sad, she was beautiful. Just a beautiful girl," she said. She said Ms Fraser was once married, but had split from her partner. Another colleague, Dr Adam Wilson, said they were struggling with the news.

Friends from the tight-knit seaside town of Cowes have paid tribute to the victim. Credit:Robert Blackburn / Visions Victoria "I know she was loved by our reception staff, nurses, doctors, so a lot of people in our work environment are struggling," he told radio station 3AW. "People are just very shocked about what happened." A fundraiser has been started for Ms Fraser's children, with donations already topping $20,000.In Friday's Age, there would have been a story about the first legal challenge being mounted against Victoria Polices sweeping new powers to crack down on gun crime through warrantless searches.

The story, Toby Mitchell's violent past revealed in firearms test case, outlined Victoria Polices case for issuing a Firearm Prohibition Order against the notorious underworld figure.

VCAT has issued a supression order against The Age Credit:Frank Maiorana

But The Age has been barred from publishing the contents of that story due to a suppression order obtained by police and issued by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

The interim suppression order was issued by VCAT, without hearing The Age's arguments, after a last-minute application by Victoria Police. The Age has not been provided with a copy of the police's application for the suppression order.Further details of how Perth and Peel will make room for 800,000 new homes within 30 years without further urban sprawl were revealed on Wednesday by the state planning system's top public servant.

The government has formed an implementation plan for the Perth and Peel@3.5 Million plan's four frameworks  Central, North-west, North-east and South Metropolitan Peel.

Mass clearing of native vegetation on the Swan Coastal Plain, and the high lifestyle and infrastructure costs associated with urban sprawl, have led to a push for infill. Credit:Pat Scala

These include targets for the number and location of jobs to be delivered in each local government area, while protecting amenity and the environment, as the population reaches a projected 3.5 million by 2050.

The final frameworks dont quite set boundaries for Perth but permit only half the homes to be greenfield, the rest being infilled as high and medium density in established areas.Two weeks before he leaves his job, public service chief John Lloyd has responded sharply to what he says are unionists' regular insults.

The Public Service Commissioner, who will resign on August 8, spoke out this week after Labor senator Jenny McAllister questioned his impartiality and accused him of undermining staff.

In an article in The Canberrra Times, the senator said Mr Lloyd's replacement must be a leader whom public servants respected.

Loggerheads: Labor senator Jenny McAllister and Public Service Commissioner John Lloyd.

The commissioner said the senator's comments were inaccurate and insulting.Improper use of power for personal benefit and inappropriate relationships with property developers are among the allegations arising from a crime watchdog investigation into the Ipswich City Council.

In a submission to a parliamentary committee considering a government bill that would sack the Ipswich City Council and appoint an administrator until 2020, Crime and Corruption Commission chair Alan MacSporran revealed an outline of his investigation.

Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission chairman Alan MacSporran fronts a budget estimates hearing at Queensland Parliament House on Thursday. Credit:AAP

Allegations included an improper use of power and influence for personal benefit and inappropriate relationships between council and the private sector  in particular property developers and contracts.

Other allegations included an inability or unwillingness of council officers to stand up to inappropriate instructions or the behaviour of former mayor Paul Pisasale; failures to report suspicions of corruption including by CEOs; instructions to council officers to breach policy and procedures and falsify records; and abusive attitudes towards council officers.A ReachTEL poll of voters heading into WA's "Super Saturday" byelections shows comfortable wins for Labor, but has the Liberal Democrats out-polling the Greens in the seat of Fremantle.

The research, commissioned by Legalise Vaping Australia, put Liberal Democrat candidate John Gray on 17.4 per cent of the Fremantle primary vote, ahead of the Greens' Dorinda Cox on 16 per cent.

New polling shows comfortable wins for Josh Wilson in Fremantle and Patrick Gorman in Perth. Credit:Fairfax Media

Labor candidate Josh Wilson was ahead in the race, with the poll showing he could secure 49.3 per cent of the primary vote and 69 per cent of the two-party preferred vote.

In Perth, the poll showed Labor's Patrick Gorman leading the race with 44.9 per cent of the primary vote, ahead of the Greens on 17 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on 13.4 per cent.This 'Perth China Club' is the result of a highly successful campaign waged by Chinas regime to make its strategic ambitions more palatable in the west. "It's in the interests of the state and in their interests as well to do whatever's possible to cosy up to the Chinese Communist Party, its agents and agents of influence," Professor Hamilton said. Professor of public ethics Clive Hamilton says a group of WA business leaders and politicians, which he has dubbed "Perth's China Club", was the result of a campaign waged by Beijing to make its strategic ambitions more palatable. Credit:Rohan Thomson "I noticed as I was researching and writing my book, Silent Invasion, that Western Australia seemed to be particularly prone to political influence through the business community and through political leaders who've been cultivated over many years." Professor Hamilton said the CPC targeted regions feeling hard done by or which struggled economically to gain political influence.

"In Australia we've seen that particularly in Western Australia and Tasmania, he said. Ross Babbage is the former Head of Strategic Analysis for the Office of National Assessments, the intelligence agency responsible for advising the Prime Minister and Cabinet's National Security Committee. Now a senior fellow at Washington D.C.'s Centre for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, he is warning politicians and business leaders of the risks of dealing with Beijing. "I think it's really interesting that senior members of the state government go to China at all, frankly," he said. "And then when they express those views, I start wondering about whether they are really well informed, whether they've done their homework.

"It's so incredibly frustrating that people  are operating as though China is somehow like the UK, or Germany or Japan. It isn't." WA a target for 'political warfare' and the subtle art of influence Western Australian MP Andrew Hastie, a former SAS officer and chairman of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, called the kinds of influence foreign states are seeking to exert in WA "political warfare". He told parliament in June, without naming the countries involved, that "authoritarian states are using political warfare to undermine the legitimacy of Western democracies by targeting our media, political processes, financial networks and personal data". "These authoritarian states view political warfare as a standard instrument of statecraft rather than a specialised tool," he said.

"Their centralised regimes can leverage all elements of their national power towards their strategic objectives." And those strategic objectives include Western Australia. Ross Babbage, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (Washington) and chief executive of the Strategic Forum. Credit:Christian S. Eskelund/US Naval War College Mr Hastie told WAtoday our resource-rich state is "certainly a target" for our strategic competitors. He said they are "wanting to know what our business leaders are thinking, what our political leaders are thinking, what sort of decisions might be around the corner".

And the aim of these intelligence operations is to leverage influence. Mr Hastie said the methods used by these states are more subtle than the cloak and dagger of traditional espionage. "There are inducements offered to our political and business leadership to get them to support the interests of another country, for example," he said. There is no suggestion any inducements were offered to Mr McGowan. Cyber-attacks on the nation's data and communications networks are also tools of the trade.

Professor Hamilton said the CPC had spent decades developing an arsenal of "sophisticated and subtle techniques for influencing foreigners by developing warm personal relationships" to bring people around to seeing the world the same way as Beijing's regime does. "There are manuals to train the Communist Party cadre in these techniques; it's what they do and they're very good at it," he said. "It really is painful to see Australia's political leaders continue to travel to China and come back to Australia and start mouthing world views that reflect Beijing's interests. "I think the Labor party has a particular problem with this." In relation to Mr McGowan's comments criticising the Australian Government's China strategy, Dr Hamilton said it seemed the Premier had been influenced in that way.

Mr Hastie pointed to a recent $136 million deal struck by the state government with Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei to build a network of mobile towers along Perths rail corridors for rail communications. The deal was recently thrust into the spotlight after WAtoday revealed the company paid for a delegation of five WA state politicians  including the minister responsible for the tender  to tour China and gave the MPs mobile phones. Liberal MP Andrew Hastie has negotiated cross-party support for foreign influence laws in the Federal Parliament. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Mr Hastie said the Huawei trip and the gift of phones to the MPs from the company "had a very fishy smell about it" and was the kind of activity through which foreign powers attempted to influence Australia. "Certainly, I would've liked to have known about that before the decision was made," he said.

Mr Hastie said his committee recommended a foreign influence transparency scheme for the Federal Parliament which included a register of interests for MPs to declare gifts. But aren't close ties to China the future for WA? Mr McGowan said his criticism of the Australian Government was about keeping in Beijing's good books because the state's economy depends on it. He said wherever he goes and whoever he talks to, his priority is to act in the best interests of the state. "Chinese investment in WA creates thousands of jobs for Western Australians, which is why it is important that we maintain a strong trade relationship," the Premier told WAtoday.

"During my recent trip to China, in virtually every meeting, I pointed out that the relationship between the Federal Government and China is improving. "I called on the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister to visit China, and I stand by that view." Mr McGowan's official trips to China were paid for by the state government. But Dr Babbage said although WA doesn't want to walk away from "big bags of gold", he questions the emphasis placed on the Chinese economy by our political leaders. "My attitude is, when you look at the economic relationship between Australia and China and here's an obvious myth you see repeated often, where they say China is Australia's most important economic partner, that simply is not true," he said.

"If you actually do the sums, we sell a lot of stuff to China, we don't invest regularly there. They sell a lot of stuff to us and they don't invest very heavily here despite the controversies." He said there was "too much loose thinking" about the relationship with Beijing, especially because of the ageing of the Chinese population, the rapidly changing structure of its economy, and its rapidly falling growth rate. Premier Mark McGowan celebrates the 30th anniversary of the WA-Zhejiang sister-state relationship with Province Communist Party of China Secretary Che Jun on November 10, 2017. Credit:Twitter/@MarkMcGowanMP Mr Hastie said politicians especially had to be more transparent about their dealings with foreign governments and their agents when fostering closer diplomatic and economic ties. "We welcome foreign influence in our democratic system," he said.

"Thats a good thing, we have lots of allies through the region and through the world. "They have views they want to put and thats fine, we just ask that they do so in a transparent manner. "But where foreign governments seek to disguise their influence, then thats a problem." Better education, more transparency According to many in Australia's community of intelligence officials, there is a lack of understanding about the risks of dealing with Beijing.

"What we're talking about here is a completely different sort of regime," Dr Babbage said. "And these people are coming back from visits there as though it's just a visit to Japan. It's breathtaking, almost." He pointed to ASIO director general Duncan Lewis who said recently there were more espionage agents operating in Australia now than at the height of the Cold War. "And yet you have these people going to China and coming back and giving the impression that it's all sweetness and light and that these are our friends that we can deal with forever," Dr Babbage said. Professor Hamilton said Australian political leaders were succumbing to bullying from Beijing.

"Australian political leaders have been intimidated out of defending basic Australian values," he said. Politicians needed to be more transparent about the influence that China is bringing to bear on them. Loading "I think we need all the transparency we can get because so much of this influence activity goes on in private, we don't see it, we don't hear about it, all we see is political and business leaders suddenly start to repeat what is basically Beijing propaganda," he said. "The more important thing here is for the Australian public to be alert to what is going on and to insist that their political leaders continue to represent Australia's interests rather than being won over to a Beijing point of view."

There is a high-level attempt by Australia's intelligence community to school WA's politicians and business leaders about Beijing's influence operations. "There is a deeper issue here, I think there is a real need, and I've been quietly encouraging officials to do this and there is some of it happening. There needs to be a better communication flow from the official community and from people in the know to everybody else," Dr Babbage said. "I think it makes a lot of sense for there to be a closed session of COAG and a briefing that's not the highest level of security, but reasonably high, of premiers, and they should be told pretty bluntly what the facts of life are." But Dr Babbage said the news wasn't all bleak. "There have been occasions when I've been asked to brief business groups and others, and when I do nearly everybody says, 'We had no idea'," he said.How-to-vote cards distributed by Labor and a candidate associated with the Western Australia Party ahead of Saturday's Perth byelection have raised the ire of the Greens, who have been locked out of preference flows in the seat.

Labor candidate Patrick Gorman and Julie Matheson, a founder of the Western Australia Party which did not get registered in time to be listed on the ballot paper, appear higher in each other's preferences than Greens candidate Caroline Perks.

Labor will be sending preferences to a Western Australia Party candidate ahead of the Greens in Saturday's Perth byelection. Credit:Fairfax Media

Ms Matheson, a Subiaco councillor who was once a member of the Greens, is a controversial figure inside the party after leaving to form her own political movement.

Although Ms Matheson said no preference deal had been done with Labor, a senior Greens source said, "I know what what a deal looks like and this looks everything like deal."Facebook's ongoing campaign of punishing users over rule violations, while refusing to explain the charges so users can defend the allegations, continues to devastate page owners who've built up millions of followers.

America's Clea Smith (not her real name) has built up 3.3 million followers on her page 'Mommy Needs Vodka', through posting irreverent parenting and drinking-related memes. In June, Facebook slapped Clea with a permanent link ban without warning; preventing her posts with links to external websites from appearing in the news feeds of her page followers.

The Mommy Needs Vodka page has millions of followers.

Facebook's support team repeatedly refused to reveal the reason for the link ban, only insisting that it was permanent due to "a violation of our policies" and could not be appealed.

While Clea can still post memes on Mommy Needs Vodka, which provides an income, she is also an author. The ban means she can never share links to her work on the page and reach her millions of followers, including links to promote her upcoming Mommy Needs Vodka spin-off book.Tuesday's public release of the Trump-Cohen audio came as a surprise to prosecutors handling the Cohen case in the Southern District of New York, according to people familiar with the matter. Current and former law enforcement officials questioned why Cohen  someone seen as angling for a plea deal  would choose to make potential evidence public. That kind of manoeuvre generally angers investigators and can make it harder to cut a deal, these officials said. As part of their inquiry into campaign finance issues involving Cohen, federal investigators have recently expressed interest in what Cohen's interactions with the Trump campaign were, including his role in handling the accusations of sexual impropriety from various women. They also are trying to discern if anyone other than Cohen had prior knowledge about two such women, Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, before they were named in news inquiries and reports. In their search warrant, federal investigators asked Cohen to turn over any communications the two men or campaign aides had about a 2005 Access Hollywood tape that captured Trump boasting about grabbing women's body parts, according to a person familiar with the investigation. 'Who is this guy to betray me? Inside the White House, Trump raged about the release of his and Cohen's September 2016 conversation about financing the deal with McDougal, a former Playboy model, to sell the rights to her story of an alleged 10-month affair with Trump to American Media, the owner of the National Enquirer, which never published her account.

Trump is angry that his personal attorney was recording him without his knowledge, though he had known before this week that the audio file existed, according to people familiar with his thinking. "What kind of lawyer would tape a client?" Trump tweeted Wednesday morning. "So sad!" The government has seized more than 100 recordings that Cohen made of his conversations with people discussing matters that could relate to Trump and his businesses and with Trump himself talking, according to two people familiar with the recordings. Cohen appeared to make some recordings with an iPhone  without telling anyone he was taping them. A significant portion of the recordings is Cohen surreptitiously recording reporters who met with or questioned Cohen about Trump during the campaign and after Trump's election, the people said. Trump's voice is on several of the recordings, but only in snippets  typically when he is returning a call from Cohen or asking Cohen on a voice-mail message to call him back, the people said. The only recording in which Trump and Cohen have a substantive conversation is the one that Davis released Tuesday, according to these people.

"Michael Cohen had the habit of using his phone to record conversations instead of taking notes," Davis said. "He never intended to make use of the recordings and certainly didn't intend to be deceptive." Trump's advisers are privately debating whether they need to seek a ruling from the court overseeing these recordings on Cohen's indiscriminate release of material, or whether they should release tapes that they describe as unflattering to Cohen, according to two Trump allies. Trump has been asking outside advisers about Cohen's business interests and work outside Trump Tower. The President views Cohen as a turncoat who profited off his association with Trump, associates said. One of them described Trump's attitude as "who is this guy to betray me? He would be nobody were it not for his relationship with me." Another factor that worries Trump is the impact the latest disclosures will have on his marriage, as it thrusts allegations of his infidelity back into global headlines, according to a Republican operative in frequent touch with the White House who spoke anonymously to share private details. The timing of McDougal's alleged affair was shortly after Trump's marriage to his third wife, Melania, and the birth of their son, Barron, in 2006. Stephanie Grisham, the first lady's spokeswoman, issued a statement Wednesday saying it was "kind of silly" of reporters to worry "if she heard some recording on the news," and instead should focus on other issues, such as neonatal abstinence syndrome or bullying  issues the first lady has focused on.

Trump team questions Cohen's move Within Trump's political orbit, the uncertainty about what other damaging information Cohen may possess  and if he plans to weaponise it against the President, as now seems possible if not likely  has allies worried. "The general feeling inside and outside the building is that if there was anything, this would be the guy who would know it and now give it up," said the operative close to the White House. Trump's legal team considers Cohen's chess move inexplicable, arguing that the release of the recording does not hurt the President and questioning what Cohen may be trying to accomplish. Some Trump loyalists believe Cohen betrayed the President by hiring Davis, a fiercely partisan Democrat who for decades has been a friend and adviser to Bill and Hillary Clinton. (In February, Hillary Clinton attended a party in Georgetown celebrating Davis' book The Unmaking of the President 2016: How FBI Director James Comey Cost Hillary Clinton the Presidency.)

Early Wednesday, Trump aides and allies exchanged grousing text messages about the Cohen-Davis relationship, while hosts of Fox and Friends, the pro-Trump morning show on Fox News Channel, voiced sharp criticisms of Cohen on their broadcast. "We all think he's being used by Lanny, who has a vendetta," said former Trump adviser Sam Nunberg, who worked with Cohen for years. Referencing Roger Stone, another former Trump adviser and a self-described master of political dark arts, Nunberg said, "I'm still a Stone-ite, and we eat Clintons for breakfast." Giuliani, the former New York mayor who is now one of Trump's personal attorneys, has been punching at Cohen for, as he put it in a Wednesday tweet, "leaking falsely privileged and confidential information. So much for ethics!" Davis said Cohen feels isolated and is "suffering" and "sees himself as alone against the President of the United States, Rudy Giuliani and the whole administration." An unlikely hero

Cohen's feud with Trump could make him an unlikely hero of the resistance movement. Davis recalled walking through New York's Pennsylvania Station on Wednesday following his interview on ABC's Good Morning America and people slapped him on the back and said, "Please tell Michael Cohen, 'Thank you for telling the truth.' All of a sudden, millions of people have invested their hopes in Michael Cohen." In the search warrant served on him in the FBI's April 9 raids, Cohen learned he was under federal investigation for bank fraud as well as possible campaign finance violations as part of his informal role in Trump's campaign. FBI agents were scrutinising whether Cohen had lied on bank and loan forms or had seized evidence that he had vastly inflated the value of his taxi medallion business to seek additional financing. Cohen told friends in the early summer he expected he could be arrested any day. In the immediate aftermath of the raid, Cohen expressed an interest in talking directly to Trump, but lawyers repeatedly and strenuously worked to block such a conversation out of fear it would appear Cohen was seeking to shape his story in talking to the president. Trump's attorneys stressed that the President faced a similar but larger political risk of being accused of comparing notes with a witness who had potentially embarrassing information about him. Trump did call Cohen four days after the raid for a brief check-in, which was first reported by The New York Times, but the two men have not spoken since. Cohen got what he considered a strong signal in June that Trump had turned a cold shoulder on his legal jeopardy, according to two people familiar with his account. After the raid, the Trump Organisation and Cohen had agreed to an arrangement under which Trump's business would pay for a portion of the legal work to determine which documents seized from Cohen's home and business were protected by attorney-client privilege and should not be shared with investigators.

But after several months, Trump Organisation officials began complaining about  and later balking at paying  what they considered unusually high legal fees from Cohen's law firm to review the records. There remains a dispute between the two sides about whether Trump Organisation stopped payment or simply threatened to. Cohen complained to friends about his mounting legal bills and feared he was being cut off from Trump's world. An attorney for the Trump Organisation, Alan Futerfas, declined on Wednesday to answer questions about the Trump Organization's payment arrangement with Cohen. He had previously told The New York Times that any suggestion "that people stopped payment, that is not true." Davis did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the payment dispute. Some have argued Cohen has been seeking a back-channel commitment from Trump that he would pardon him if he faced criminal charges. But Davis has said in media interviews that his client is not currently seeking a pardon, and Giuliani told The Washington Post on Tuesday night that discussing a pardon would be "extremely inappropriate at this point." "I'm certain there are no talks about pardons for" Cohen, Giuliani said. "Any pardon is up to the President." 'He always treated Michael like a lap dog'

During his decade in Trump's employ  first as a lawyer for the Trump Organisation and then as his personal attorney  Cohen professed and displayed his fealty. This is in part because of the nature of his work for Trump, which was not of the typical legal counsellor. Cohen described his approach as akin to that of Ray Donovan, the fictional fixer in the Showtime series of that name makes the problems of Hollywood stars disappear. But the respect and allegiance was not always mutual, according to Tim O'Brien, author of the biography TrumpNation. "He always treated Michael like a lap dog, as somebody who would perform tasks for him, but not someone he considered a peer or ever really treated with professional respect," O'Brien said. "You constantly get this impression that Michael is trying to please the paterfamilias, and Trump is barking quick requests about what he wants to get done." Cohen's loyalty to Trump began to fray in recent months as he felt neglected by his longtime patron. Last week, Cohen invited the Reverend Al Sharpton, a civil rights advocate who has been at loggerheads with Trump, to meet for breakfast at the Regency Hotel, where Cohen has been staying. Cohen chose a table in the middle of the see-and-be-seen restaurant, Sharpton recalled.India's Bharti Airtel Ltd posted a surprise first-quarter profit on Thursday, helped by tax gains in the period. Profit fell 73.5 per cent to Rs 973 million ($14.17 million) for the quarter ended June 30, as a pricing war that has upended the telecoms sector continued to weigh on the mobile carrier. The company had reported a profit of Rs 3.67 billion a year earlier. Analysts, on average, expected a net loss of Rs 3.08 billion, according to estimates by Thomson Reuters. Revenue fell about 9 per cent to Rs 200.80 billion, the company said in a statement.Dear Reader,

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Digital EditorTerming crypto-currency as "junk", President and CEO has said an "anonymised" currency that can fluctuate "wildly" does not deserve to be considered as a medium of exchange.

The India-born head of the American multinational financial services corporation voiced concern that 95 per cent of all illegal transactions on the dark web, including child prostitution, drugs, credit card and social security fraud, are paid for using crypto-currency.

A crypto-currency is a digital currency in which techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank.

I think crypto-currency is junk.The idea of an anonymized currency produced by people who have to mine it, the value of which can fluctuate wildly - that to me is not the way that any medium of exchange deserves to be considered as a medium of exchange, Banga said here.

He was responding to questions about crypto-currency during the New India Lecture' organized earlier this week at the Indian Consulate under the aegis of Consul General Ambassador Sandeep Chakravorty.

The lecture series is organised by the Consulate in partnership with the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF).

Banga said crypto-currency is not a good medium of exchange as it does not have predictability and transparency.

"Why is that the medium of exchange that is being preferred, he said.

Banga also referred to the indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers in the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and for interring in the US elections, saying that the FBI had disclosed that the Russian agents handled the most delicate transactions using Bitcoin. Banga said was used in such dealings because it is anonymous.

Why civil society would like to put a snake in its backyard and think that somehow the snake will only bite my neighbor, I don't get it, he said.

On the escalation of trade wars between countries as they impose tariffs on goods in a tit-for-tat manner, Banga said countries that have benefited over the years from the openness and transparency of nations that had opened up their markets for trade, need to also be willing to play by the rules, whether it is the obvious rules or the slightly less obvious, surreptitious rules.

My worry about trade is not to do with the idea that the principles of global trade need to be renegotiated to create a more level-playing field on all sides of this environment for recipient and exporting countries but also that the way of getting to that agreement has to be more mature than what I feel currently is the pathway that is being followed, he said.

Banga stressed that in the current environment, it is time for people to have a debate about how open trade should be constructed.

He said globalisation worked by opening up trade but the manner in which those trade rules have been decided and the manner in which some countries follow rules and others openly and flagrantly violate the rules, whether it been in intellectual property protection, duties, creating sneaky artificial barriersneeds to be addressed.

Banga also made a strong argument over the need for society to prefer electronic payments instead of using cash, emphasizing that cash and not credit cards are used to fund illicit activities such as drug distribution and terrorism.

India is deeply impacted by terrorism as is this country. Do you really believe that the drugs that flow through from to to India and corrupt the youth in Punjab today, that the drugs in Americas campuses come in exchange for a credit card payment.

They come in exchange for cash and yet society buys into the logic that cash is free and electronic payments are expensive. Society needs to wake up, Banga said.

He supported Prime Minister Narendra Modi's push towards digitisation and enabling a cashless society in India. Cash is not free. That's with the Indian Prime Minister has said and the reason why he is saying this is that he gets it.

On a question on the importance of diversity in the world, Banga said surrounding oneself with people who look different, who don't walk like you, talk like you, didn't have the same experiences as you, didn't go to the same schools as you, makes an individual richer.

It makes you more innovative more creative. You don't have the same blind spots and you benefit as a human being. He said it is a shame to surround oneself with only one kind of people.Facebook Inc. has racked up plenty of milestones in its pioneering journey. Now the social-media giant has added another one that it would have rather avoided: the biggest stock-market wipeout in American history.

Shares tumbled as much as 20 per cent in New York on Thursday as sales and user growth disappointed investors. This translates to a $124 billion decline in market capitalization, which is the largest ever loss of value in one day for a US traded company. Biggest Losers The following is a look at some of historys other notable one-day share slams, ...The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal today reserved its order over plea filed by former promoter of Bhushan Steel challenging the sale of the debt-ridden company to Tata Steel under the

The appellate Tribunal has also reserved order over pleas of engineering firm Larsen & Toubro Ltd, an operational creditor of Bhushan Steel, which has supplied goods worth Rs 9 billion to the company.

A two-member bench headed by Chairman Justice S J Mukhopadhaya has said that the parties, which also includes Bhushan Energy, may file their written submissions by tomorrow.

In May, the Principal bench of the (NCLT) had approved Tata's Rs 325 billion deal along with 12.27 per cent equity to the lenders.

This was challenged before the by the promoters, including Neeraj Singhal, and operational creditors of the company.

Nearly 1,700 other operational creditors of Bhushan Steel has also moved the appellate tribunal seeking to know how Tata Steel, which has committed to pay Rs 12 billion would pay them.

Bhushan Energy had also moved the appellate tribunal as NCLT had rejected its claim to ensure continuance of its power purchase agreement with Bhushan Steel, which is proposed to be terminated under Tata Steel's resolution plan.

Bhushan Steel had entered into two power purchase agreements with Bhushan Energy for supply of power until September 2024 and December 2024, respectively.The central government is considering allowing its employees to go abroad on Leave Travel Concession (LTC), top officials said on Thursday.

A proposal in this regard has been finalised by the Personnel Ministry, which has asked for comments from other departments concerned such as Home, Tourism, Civil Aviation and Expenditure "at the earliest possible", they said.

The plan, which has been mooted by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), proposes to include five central Asian countries -- Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan -- under the scheme, the officials said, citing a communique in this regard that has been accessed by PTI.

The move to allow central government employees to visit these countries is aimed at increasing India's foot print in the strategically important Central Asian region, they said.



Earlier in March, the government had said it has shelved a proposal to allow to its employees to visit SAARC countries.

The allows grant of leave and ticket reimbursement to eligible central government employees.

"A proposal of LTC facility to government employees to SAARC countries with a purpose to enhance people to people contact and boost relations in the SAARC region was examined by the government and after thorough examination of all aspects involved, the proposal was found not feasible and decided not to take it forward," Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh had said then.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a group of eight nations comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.https://www.cbsnews.com/news/san-francisco-looks-to-ban-free-lunch-at-tech-companies/

Lavish free lunches are the stuff of Silicon Valley legend, and a treasured perk in the roster of on-campus benefits that tech companies use to lure workers. But two San Francisco legislators are looking to do away with the practice, saying it hurts local businesses who can't compete, reports CBS San Francisco.

"We see thousands of employees in a block radius that don't go out to lunch and don't go out in support of restaurants every day," said Ryan Corridor, owner of Corridor, a restaurant blocks from San Francisco's city hall. "It's because they don't have to."

On the other hand, when Square, a nearby payment processing company, closes its cafeteria every other Friday, Corridor sees such a surge it sometimes has to increase its staffing, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

"You can't compete with free. Free food is a wonderful amenity but doesn't do anything to extend the community around it," said Gwyneth Borden, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association.

San Francisco Supervisors Ahsha Safai and Aaron Peskin introduced legislation Tuesday prohibiting in-house cafeterias in new office buildings and tech campuses. They insist the city has the legal right to do this through a zoning amendment using certain planning and public health codes.Two Indian nationals, Bharat Vatwani and Sonam Wangchuk, are among the six personalities named for this year's Ramon

The Ramon Magsaysay award, widely known as Asia's prize, is now in its 60th year of "honouring greatness of spirit and transformative leadership in selfless service to the peoples of "

The other recipients of the annual honour include Cambodia's Youk Chhang, who has been honoured for "preserving historical memory for healing and justice"; Maria de Lourdes Martins Cruz from East Timor for "building a caring society brick by brick"; Howard Dee of the for "Championing the human face of peace, justice and economic growth"; Vietnam's Vo Thi Hoang Yen for "claiming opportunities for the differently abled".

In electing Vatwani, the board of trustees recognised "his tremendous courage and healing compassion in embracing India's mentally-afflicted destitute, and his steadfast and magnanimous dedication to the work of restoring and affirming the human dignity of even the most ostracized in our midst."

Since its inception, over 330 individuals and organisations have joined the distinguished community of Ramon Magsaysay Awardees. Also read: Meet Sonam Wangchuk, the man who inspired Aamir Khan's role in '3 Idiots'

Wangchuk, the inspiration behind the hugely popular bollywood movie "Three Idiots", has been recognised for "his uniquely systematic, collaborative and community-driven reform of learning systems in remote northern India, thus improving the life opportunities of Ladakhi youth, and his constructive engagement of all sectors in local society to harness science and culture creatively for economic progress, thus setting an example for minority peoples in the world".

The prestigious award is given to persons -- regardless of race, nationality, creed or gender -- who address issues of human development in with courage and creativity, and in doing so have made contributions which have transformed their societies for the better.

The awards will be presented on August 31 at Main Theater, Cultural Center of thePrime Minister on Thursday said India wants to work with BRICS nations on the and called for sharing the best practices and policies in the area.

The (4IR) is the fourth major industrial era since the initial Industrial Revolution of the 18th century. It is characterised by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital and biological spheres.

Modi, who arrived in Johannesburg on Wednesday to attend the BRICS Summit, said technological innovations can help to enhance better service delivery, productivity levels.

"India wants to work collectively along with BRICS nations in the area of and all nations must share the best practices and policies on this," the prime minister said.

"Compliance with laws, the example of better delivery by direct payment technology to beneficiaries of social security and government schemes," he said.

He said the Fourth Industrial Revolution will have more importance than the capital.

"High-skill but temporary work will be the new face of employment. There will be radical changes in industrial production, design, and manufacturing," Modi said.

He also underline the need for schools and universities to create the curriculum so that they can prepare the youth for the future.

BRICS is a grouping of five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as "BRIC", before the induction of South Africa in 2010.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Election Commission of Pakistan on Thursday rejected the "blatant" rigging allegations levelled by the incumbent PML-N after trends showed Imran Khan's party was inching towards a majority, saying it did "our job right."



In an unusual press conference at 4 am local time, Chief Election Commissioner Muhammad Raza Khan congratulated the people of Pakistan for participating in the election process.

He, however, acknowledged that the delay in announcement of election results has "caused some annoyance".

The short pace of counting has given currency to the allegations of manipulation of the election process. The results were expected by this morning, but the CEC only announced what he called was the "first non-official, preliminary result".

The CEC stressed the delay was on account of a new system -- Results Transmission System -- introduced by it.



ALSO READ: Software glitch delays Pak election results

"We were implementing it for the first time. Therefore, there was some delay," Dawn online quoted him as saying.

Asked about the doubts and the allegations, he said: "We will prove ourselves that we did our job right."



The early-morning press conference came hours after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president Shahbaz Sharif in Lahore outrightly rejected the results, alleging "blatant" rigging of the election, even though the vote count was underway.

Sharif warned his party would launch protests against the alleged rigging. He did not say who he believes could have rigged the polls, but allegations of manipulating the elections have been made against the country's powerful military.

"Some five other parties including have raised the rigging issue in polls. After consulting them, I will announce the future course of action. Pakistan has suffered today," he told journalists at the press conference in Lahore.

"We will fight this injustice and use all options," he said, adding that there has been a "blatant violation" of the mandate.





chairman Zardari also tweeted last night, saying he had not received official results from any constituency he was contesting, despite it being past midnight.

"My candidates [have been] complaining [that] polling agents have been thrown out of polling stations across the country. Inexcusable and outrageous."



According to Geo TV, Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was leading on 112 seats followed by PML-N on 65, latest trends showed based on reporting of 42 per cent of polling stations. Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party was leading on 43 National Assembly seats.

At his midnight press conference, Sharif said that "these were the dirtiest polls in Pakistan's history."



"This is a horrible situation which I have never seen in my 30-year political career...The results of several constituencies have been withheld where PML-N candidates were winning. We will not accept this."



PML-N senator Mushahid Hussain Syed too raised similar doubts on the election results.

"This is the first time in Pakistan's history that five political parties have called a foul play in the polls and termed them massively rigged," he said.

Shortly after the allegation was made, ECP secretary Babar Yaqoob said the Result Transmission Service failed after results of 25,000 out of 85,000 polling stations were uploaded.



He too rejected any wrongdoing in the election and said, "The issue of fraud can be discussed after ECP announces the results."



However, the Imran Khan-led PTI claimed victory.

Sensing victory, hundreds of PTI supporters came out on streets in jubilation. They parked their vehicles in the middle of roads, played loud music and danced through the streets in several cities, including the capital Islamabad.

"We have got our Naya Pakistan," Shahid Ali, one of the supporters, said as he danced euphorically near the busy Faizabad interchange, which links Islamabad with the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

The wild celebrations led to traffic jams at many places.

The Press Trust of India correspondent was caught for several hours in traffic while returning from the election coverage as highly-charged PTI workers raised victory slogans.

The victory claim and joy in the PTI camp appeared premature in the wake of rigging allegations.



ALSO READ: Imran Khan leads battle for Pakistan

"Our polling agents were not given results and we will not accept it," Khurshid Shah of said.

Analysts predicted tumultuous weeks ahead for Pakistan as a strong opposition to the election results was building up.

"[PML-N and PPP] will make a lethal combination if they joined hands against Imran Khan," analyst Sohail Warriach said.

A party can form the government if it manages to clinch 172 seats out of the total 342. A single party will need at least 137 of the 272 directly-elected seats to be able to form the government on its own.China on Thursday said it stands ready to work with the new establishment in Pakistan, as Imran Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaaf inched closer to victory.

also said it was glad to see "smooth elections" in and hoped the results will not affect the development of bilateral ties.

China has high stakes in where it has invested over $50 billion on a multitude of infrastructure projects under its ambitious Belt and Road programme.



ALSO READ: China clears 14 Indian rice companies for export amid trade war with US

"We are glad to see the election in Pakistan went through smoothly. We sincerely hope the country can maintain political social stability and focus on development," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang.

Friendship between China and Pakistan is supported by the two people and the bilateral ties will grow, regardless of the election result, he said.

"China stands ready to work with the new government in Pakistan to move forward all-weather strategic partnership," Geng added.

China calls Pakistan its all-weather ally and defends the country on terror, which frustrates India.US President believes he should not meet his Russian counterpart till the "witch hunt" over Moscow's alleged interference in American elections concludes, and as such the next bilateral meeting between the two would take place next year, his top national security adviser said on Thursday.

The two leaders had held their first bilateral summit in Helsinki, Finland on July 16, vowing a fresh start to troubled relations between their countries.

"The President believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the witch hunt is over, so we've agreed that it will be after the first of the year," National Security Adviser said.

Trump last week had asked Bolton to explore the possibility of meeting Putin this fall.

During their meeting, they had also expressed a desire to cooperate on global challenges, after talks on an array of issues from Syria, and to trade tariffs and the size of their nuclear arsenals.President Donald Trump is firing back at his longtime personal attorney after the release of a recording Cohen secretly made of a conversation between the two men.

"What kind of lawyer would tape a client? So sad!" the president says today on Twitter. The tape, made two months before the 2016 presidential election, captures Trump discussing a potential payment for a former Playboy model's account of having an affair with him.

Lawyers for the two men have said the payments ultimately were never made.

The tape appears to contradict the Trump campaign's later claim that Trump knew nothing about payments to a media company to keep model Karen McDougal's story from becoming public.

Trump suggested Wednesday that the tape cuts off when he was "presumably saying positive things" and that other clients and reporters were taped by Cohen.

Cohen's attorney has said he released the tape after being subjected to an "intense campaign of disparagement" by the president's team.

The attorney for Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's longtime lawyer, says is "inventing words" as he defends Trump after the release of a tape Cohen secretly made of Trump discussing a potential payment for a former Playboy model's account of having an affair with him.

On the audio tape, made two months before the election, Trump can be heard saying "pay with cash." Giuliani, Trump's current lawyer, says he's had an expert enhance the muffled recording. He says Trump actually says, "Don't pay with cash," showing Trump was not trying to hide the potential payment to a media company to keep model Karen McDougal's story from becoming public. Trump's lawyers say the payments were never made.

What kind of a lawyer would tape a client? So sad! Is this a first, never heard of it before? Why was the tape so abruptly terminated (cut) while I was presumably saying positive things? I hear there are other clients and many reporters that are taped - can this be so? Too bad!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2018

Lanny Davis, Cohen's lawyer, said on ABC's "Good Morning America" today that Cohen is not seeking a pardon from the president as he faces a federal criminal investigation on campaign finance and bank fraud allegations in New York.

ALSO READ: Trump accuses China of targeting US farmers to get concessions on trade

Two months before the 2016 election, Donald Trump and his lawyer discussed plans for hush money payments to a former Playboy model alleging an affair.

That's according to a secretly recorded tape of the conversation released amid an escalating feud between the president and his longtime personal attorney,

The tape appears to contradict the Trump campaign's later claim that Trump knew nothing about payments to the model, Karen McDougal, made through a media company.

The tape captures the soon-to-be president and his lawyer discussing logistics of financing and whether to "pay with cash," although the sound is muffled and Trump's instructions on that are unclear. Lawyers for the two men are disputing what was said.

Cohen's attorney, Lanny Davis, provided the tape to CNN, which aired yesterday.India's largest organic food brand, 24 Mantra, is leveraging the power of digital marketing to reach out and connect directly with its target audience, globally. For this, the brand has partnered with one of country's leading digital marketing firm, GenY Medium. The mandate includes managing 24 Mantra's social media presence, search engine optimization, ORM and driving direct sales through e-commerce.

Yashwant Kumar, CEO says, "We bring our core strengths in consumer understanding and digital to craft the right message and micro-target to the right audience over digital channels." On marketing an organic product brand in a market that is still warming up to the concept, he adds, "Organic is good for us - that's a given. But the first goal would be consumer awareness and education before going on to influence any buying decision. Therefore, the challenge is to come up with concepts that make people pause and think and makes them take the food they are consuming very seriously. These are scenarios where branding plays a critical role and our creative team is well-equipped for this."

GenY Medium, brand's CEO, N. Balasubramanian, said, "True to our mission of getting organic produce directly from farm to the fork; we wanted to extend this further by going directly to the consumer using digital. Understanding their needs and addressing them with our products. We see GenY Medium as a very equipped partner in helping us achieve this goal.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)At least four National Directorate of Security (NDS) force members were killed in a suicide attack in Afghanistan's capital city Kabul, early Thursday morning, local police officials confirmed.

According to Tolo News, the attack took place at about 5 am local time after a suicide bomber targeted the NDS forces in Bagh-e-Daoud area in PD5 of Kabul city, a spokesman for Kabul police chief Hashmat Stanekzai confirmed.

"The investigation is ongoing into the attack and more details will be shared soon," Stanekzai said, as quoted by Tolo News.

The Taliban has claimed responsibly for the attack.

This comes after at least 16 people were killed and 60 others wounded in a suicide bombing outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul last Sunday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Amid President Ram Nath Kovind's visit to Chhattisgarh, Naxals on Thursday uprooted train tracks in Bhansi area of Dantewada district.

This was done to call a bandh in different parts of Bastar Division from July 28 to August 3, against security forces who killed Maoists.

The Naxals also dropped pamphlets at the tracks stating, "Make Bastar bandh successful."

President Ram Nath Kovind, who is on a two-day visit to Chhattisgarh, arrived in Bastar's Jagdalpur on Wednesday. He was received by Chief Minister Raman Singh.

Today he will meet and interact with farmers and women self-help groups at the Integrated Farming System facility in Heeranar of Dantewada district and Jagdalpur of Bastar district.

Later, he will visit the Atal Bihari Vajpayee City in Jawanga and also meet differently-abled children of the Saksham School and Ashta Vidya Mandir.

The President is also scheduled to inaugurate a medical college and hospital, before addressing a public gathering at the Baliram Kashyap Memorial College Campus in Jagdalpur.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A police team is scheduled to leave for Taiwan today to fetch and bring back Ozamiz City Councilor Ricardo Ardot Parojinog to Manila after two months of detention following his arrest by immigration authorities last May 23. Philippine National Police Chief Oscar Albayalde, however, could not provide specific details of his repatriation. His return surfaced through leaked reports from unknown sources, but Albayalde would not confirm it except to say still a plan but thats a big possibility. Parojinog, brother of the late Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr., one of the local executives in President Rodrigo Dutertes drug list, was arrested last May 23 in Taiwan after violating immigration laws. His arrest in Taiwan came 10 months after he deserted Ozamiz City following the death of his brother Reynaldo and his wife Susan and 14 others in a raid by PNP operatives last September. Prior to his arrest in Taiwan, the Ozamiz City councilor was being hunted for his alleged involvement in the illegal drugs trade and complicity in other unlawful acts in his turf.Albayalde said the Taiwan-bound police team would be composed of at least three people to escort-back Parojinog to Manila and would be eventually heavily guarded upon his arrival at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Upon his arrival, Albayalde said Parojinog would be subjected to booking procedures, medical examination and subsequently transferred to the concerned court that issued the warrant for his arrest. Albayalde said Parojinogs repatriation would be considered vital to investigators particularly matters relating to who facilitated his travel to Taiwan. Probers would also try to unravel his potential networks and the magnitude of the illegal drugs trade. The PNP, Albayalde said, would provide enough security escorts for Parojinogs safety.A group of Republican House lawmakers introduced articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

Rosenstein is a top Department of Justice (DOJ) official overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller's Russian meddling allegations.

These articles contain a series of allegations, including conflict of interest in Mueller's probe.

The Hill quoted Meadows, the head of the House Freedom Caucus and ally of President Trump, as saying, "For nine months, we've warned them consequences were coming, and for nine months we've heard the same excuses backed up by the same unacceptable conduct. Time is up and the consequences are here. It's time to find a new Deputy Attorney General who is serious about accountability and transparency."

"As such, his conduct in authorising the FISA surveillance at issue in the joint congressional investigation makes him a fact witness central to the ongoing investigation of potential FISA abuse," read the articles of impeachment, referring to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

The statement also called out to General Rosenstein's failure to recuse himself in light of this inherent conflict of interest and failure to recommend the appointment of a second Special Counsel constitute dereliction of duty.

"Wherefore, Rod Rosenstein, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office," the statement read.

The impeachment articles come less than two weeks after special counsel Robert Mueller indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers in the 2016 hacking of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Clinton presidential campaign.

In the recent past, reports surfaced suggesting the possibility of firing Rosenstein after US President Donald Trump was asked if he retained confidence on the former following the release of Republican memo, which indicated alleged surveillance abuses of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

However, an official of the White House said that there were no discussions about firing Rosenstein.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An explosion was reported outside the United States embassy in the Chinese capital Beijing on Thursday.

The US embassy is located in Beijing's Chaoyang District.

According to The New York Times, the blast occurred at around 1 pm (local time) and it is not clear why the explosion occurred.

Many people posted images and videos on social media showing grey smoke hovering over the street.

Sources said it was a very low-intensity blast near the Indian embassy. Also, there are no reports of fatalities or injuries.

The police are investigating the matter and the blast has caused no harm to Indian embassy or any staff, sources added.

In 2008, the US embassy opened and was inaugurated with a dedication ceremony, which was attended by former US President George W. Bush.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Muzaffarpur shelter home rape case, where 40 girls were allegedly exploited sexually.

Kumar wrote a letter to the state's Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary and the Director General of the Police to hand over the probe of the case to the CBI.

Eleven employees of the shelter home have been arrested in this regard.

The police, on Monday, raided the premises and rescued 44 girls.

While addressing the media, Bihar DGP KS Dwivedi said that medical reports of twenty-nine out of forty-two girls indicated that sexual contact was established with them.

Terming the incident unfortunate, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader, Tejashwi Yadav, accused the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led state government of shielding the culprits.

One of the victims had revealed her ordeal and told interrogators that a girl was allegedly killed and buried underground in the premises of the shelter home.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for reformed multilateralism.

Addressing a press conference here, officials from the Ministry said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi voiced the requirement for United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reforms.

"Prime Minister said what we need today's is reformed multilateralism. He stressed on the importance of UNSC reforms," the MEA official said.

The Prime Minister also stressed on the need for BRICS cooperation for global portable social security framework, intending to benefit nearly 215 million people who are working outside their nations.

"Strengthening cooperation amongst BRICS on Circular Economy in the context of the Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP). We note that the circular economy approach represents enormous potential to reduce waste, to forge more environmentally sustainable processes, diversify our economies whilst contributing to economic growth and job creation," MEA noted.

Prime Minister Modi, who arrived in Johannesburg on Wednesday, finished the last leg of his Africa tour and presented India's statement at the BRICS leaders' closed session earlier today.

The three-day summit began yesterday with the BRICS Business Forum Meet.

India signed MoUs in the fields of education, skill, health and agriculture with South Africa.

Prime Minister Modi had earlier visited Rwanda and Uganda.

The 10th BRICS Summit, as a milestone in the history of BRICS, was held under the theme "BRICS in Africa: Collaboration for Inclusive Growth and Shared Prosperity in the fourth Industrial Revolution".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday said that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will probe the Cambridge Analytica data breach case.

Allegedly in the case data from nation's electorates and, Facebook users were compromised by London-based political consultant Cambridge Analytica.

Prasad while addressing the Rajya Sabha said, that the Central probe agency will investigate whether the British company violated laws to manipulate the electoral process during the 2014 general elections.

"Cambridge Analytica has denied that data from Indians was breached, but Facebook has made a contradictory statement," Prasad said in the Rajya Sabha.

"Notice also was sent to Facebook in March, and it promised to improve its internal processes regarding hacking of personal data. They also promised to take various other steps to ensure that such things don't recur," he added.

London-based embattled analytics company Cambridge Analytica two months back filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York.

Cambridge Analytica illegally accessed data from millions of Facebook accounts, whistleblower Christopher Wylie had disclosed earlier.

Facebook confirmed the charge in April and informed that the data of a total of 87 million users was used without authorisation by the data firm.

Known for its connection with US President Donald Trump's 2016 Presidential campaign, Cambridge Analytica was recently alleged to have influenced the 2014 general elections in India as well.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A new short film, 'Chalo Jeete Hain', invited a lot of praise from ministers after it was screened at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre on Tuesday.

Reportedly inspired by the early life of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the trailer reveals the story of a young boy, who keeps on asking his parents and other people as to what it is that they live for after reading a phrase 'a winner is one who lives for others'.

President Ram Nath Kovind took to Twitter to praise the movie. He wrote,"#PresidentKovind watched the film Chalo Jeete Hain at a special screening at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre. Directed by Mangesh Hadawale, the film captures the theme of childhood and innocence, empathy and fraternity."

Union Ministers, who also watched the movie, took to their respective Twitter handles to praise the film.

While mentioning Prime Minister Modi in his tweet, Union Finance Minister Piyush Goyal wrote, "From childhood struggles and difficulties to the Jujhata lad, how to devote his life to others, let me https://youtu.be/4ys5ZC-SjR8 understand the film, @NarendraModi inspired by the Prime Minister's childhood struggles, this film is a life-telling direction.

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad dubbed the movie extraordinarily. He tweeted, "Saw the movie #ChaloJeeteHain. A very emotional and effective portrayal of a young man born in poverty and deprivation and yet creates hope to live life for others. Extraordinary movie."

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman wrote, "The official trailer of #ChaloJeeteHain leaves a sure impact. What positive impressions can do to a child in becoming an adult comes out beautifully. And the adult lives his life for others and not self. A cameo on @narendramodi 's childhood."

Praising the film, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda said, "It was wonderful to watch #ChaloJeeteHain yesterday. The film is highly inspiring & gives us a very relevant message."

Helmed by Aanand L. Rai and Mahaveer Jain, the movie will release on July 29.

.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Islamophobia's rise inside China is both due to government action and its failure to act, according to an expert in China's affairs.

In an op-ed titled 'Censorship, Geopolitical Time Bombs, and China's Islamophobia Problem', written by Matt Schrader of The Jamestown Foundation, a US-based institute for research and analysis, the writer opined that China is grappling with a serious and worsening problem of Islamophobia.

According to Schrader, there has been a "normalisation" of online hate speech campaigns against Chinese Muslims, despite the fact that the relations between the minority group and the Han majority have been anxious and tense, after the deadly inter-ethnic riots between the two communities happened in 2009.

To support the claim, the writer cited an example of a prominent imam, whose recent death sparked a string of online hate messages following an incident at a Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) plenary session in 2014.

Ma Changqing, a leader among the Muslims of China's far western province of Qinghai, gained nationwide attention when he did not stand during a moment of silence to pay their respects to the victims of a fatal knife attack done by homegrown Islamic terrorists, The Jamestown Foundation report says.

Although, it was revealed later that he had age-related problems and was reportedly sitting in a wheelchair, the moment was not forgotten or overlooked by the Chinese citizens.

When Ma died on July 16 this year and reports of huge crowds attending his funeral service surfaced on China's internet, many responses shockingly consisted of "blatant" hate speech against the 83-year-old-imam.

Schrader said: "Ma was, by all accounts, a compliant member of the party-state structure. That netizens would attack him and his fellow Muslims on such slight grounds reveals the degree to which the CCP's campaign to stamp out Islamic terrorism in China's far west has turbocharged latent xenophobic tendencies."

He added: "That campaign has seen hundreds of thousands of Uighurs, a Muslim minority group rounded up and interred in 're-education camps' meant to purge them of 'extremist' behaviours. It has also increasingly affected the Hui, China's other large Muslim minority, despite Hui communities having co-existed peacefully alongside China's Han majority throughout the country for hundreds of years."

China's ruling Communist Party has failed to publicly denounce Islamophobia expressions caused due to the state-run media's habit of linking and mixing China's Muslim minorities with terrorism and extremism respectively, as per the report.

Schrader asserted that this "shortfall" is not due to the Communist Party of China's (CPC) harsh policies or Islamophobia among the Han community, but mainly due to the incapacity of some of the Chinese Muslims to adhere to "acceptable, state-sanctioned and modern expressions of Islamic faith."

To support the above claim, the writer espoused an example of a Chinese professor of Arabic, who is the secretary of the China Arabic Literature Studies Association and a lecturer at one of China's top universities, who recently gave a speech on "Extremism and Islamophobia" in Arabic to the officials from 16 Arab countries.

The professor, Xue Qingguo, hailed the accomplishments of Islamic civilisation, and admitted that "Islamophobia has gotten some traction in China in recent years".

However, he put the blame on Chinese Muslims saying that those who would "distort a civilisation that produced significant advances in all fields of scientific endeavours, a civilisation steeped in humanism, into a mass of trivial minutiae about beards, veils, and clothing".

Schrader explained: "Xue's speech is emblematic of a party-state that preaches ethnic unity, but abhors any self-reflection that could be interpreted as criticism of the party line, or as support for greater political autonomy for China's minorities. The problem is exacerbated by the way the CPC's online censorship apparatus functions."

The writer says that CPC's failure to condemn the Islamophobic rhetoric has led to a situation, where anti-Islamophobic voices are at a disadvantage in public debate.

Also, speaking in defence of the Chinese Muslims could also be read as an "implicit criticism" of the Chinese government's negligence to address such problems on their behalf, The Jamestown Foundation reported.

"Since CCP leaders brook no criticism of their hardline policy towards Muslim minorities, all but the most anodyne expressions of support for China's Muslim citizens have a difficult time gaining purchase in wider discourse," Schrader opined.

However, China's external factors could spell out more hope, even if the internal policies of the country have little prospects for change. For instance, the Gulf is a key market for weapons and supplier of oil for Beijing.

Despite the turmoil in China's far west, there are no signs that the rulers and the citizens of the Gulf region will not turn against the Chinese government.

Recently, Chinese President Xi Jinping made a whirlwind visit to the region, wherein he was welcomed warmly, with the Gulf countries rolling out a perfect welcome mat for him, the report says.

The Gulf rulers expressed optimism over President Xi's speech at the Arab League, where he stressed Beijing's willingness to serve as a "keeper of peace and stability in the Middle East," thereby expressing his country's keenness to take on a larger security role in the Gulf region.

Schrader concluded by saying: "For China, the 'real time bomb' may not be the way it treats Muslims at home, but how that treatment is perceived abroad.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Mishra on Thursday downplayed the 'Padmavat' controversy stating that if the apex court upheld the right of the producer to show 'Bandit Queen', then 'Padmavat' was nothing.

The magnum opus had been facing protests from various groups, particularly from the Rajput Karni Sena, for allegedly tampering historical facts.

"Many states issued directions banning screening of 'Padmavat'. I cannot really conceive how a film can be banned. If this court upheld the right of the producer to show 'Bandit Queen', then 'Padmavat' was nothing. It is a poem presented in celluloid, that's what court said," Misra said while addressing a gathering here.

States like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, had protested that the film will not be allowed to be released in November last year.

The protesters said changing the name of the film from 'Padmavati' to Padmavat was not enough. They also requested the censor body that they should not do anything which in turn would hurt anyone's cultural beliefs.

The flick, based on the legend of Rani Padmini, a 13th century Hindu Rajput queen, mentioned in Padmavat, an Avadhi poem written by Sufi poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi in 1540, had been facing protests from various groups.

The CBFC had also suggested five modifications in 'Padmavati', which included changing the film's title to 'Padmavat', in December last year.

The movie featured Deepika Padukone in the title role as Rani Padmavati, alongside Shahid Kapoor as Maharawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh as Sultan Alauddin Khilji.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi government on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that it wants to purchase standard floor buses instead of disabled-friendly low floor ones.

An advocate appearing on behalf of the Delhi government said the latter is willing to install hydraulic lifts in the new buses to make them accessible to differently-abled people.

After the Delhi High Court stalled the process of procurement of new standard-floor buses on the ground, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had approached the apex court for its approval.

Earlier, two tenders were floated-one by the AAP government in January and another by Delhi Transport Corporation in March -inviting bid for 1, 000 buses each.

On July 11, the Delhi cabinet had approved the engagement of 1,000 low-floor environment-friendly electric buses.

The cabinet, headed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, appointed Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) as a Project Consultant for this project.

The cabinet approval to the Transport Department's proposal will help in modernising Delhi's transport sector and substantially reducing air pollution.

DIMTS had been asked to submit its report within three months.

The Transport Department had sought the cabinet's in-principle approval to engage 1,000 pure low floor air-conditioned electric buses, in the Gross Cost Model of contracting under the Cluster scheme so that further process of hiring Project Consultant for the technical detailing and Bid Process Management can be carried out.

The Department will construct bus depots at six locations for these 1000 electric buses - East Vinod Nagar, Bawana Sector 5, Burari, Rohini Sector 37, Revla Khanpur and Narela. Electric power for charging of electric buses and the housing of requisite numbers of charging units shall be the responsibility of the Concessionaire(s), who will arrange the infrastructure at their own cost, in consultation with DISCOMs.

The Transport Department was also directed to explore the possibility of Hydrogen buses, as suggested by the Supreme Court.

Currently, pure electric buses are operating in over 200 cities in 48 countries worldwide but the major share (about 98%) is in China.

The production of the electric buses had been slow traditionally but it has picked up substantially in the last three years with China itself procuring 12,760 e-buses in 2014, 94,260 e-buses in 2015 and 115,700 e-buses in 2016.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah congratulated the Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan as unofficial results indicate towards his win in Pakistan polls.

"I congratulate Imran Khan. I'll also say that his statement regarding India that he wants to have better relations with India and solve issues with dialogue, is kind-hearted. We want him to implement what he is saying" Farooq Abdullah told ANI.

In his first speech after the elections, Khan said he would like to have good relations with India and work to resolve all outstanding issues through dialogue. Mentioning Kashmir as the core issue of dispute between the two nations, Khan said that it was time the two countries sat across the table and discussed the issues of concern.

PTI is set to emerge as the single largest party with Imran Khan likely to be the new prime minister of Pakistan.

According to ARY news, citing unofficial results, the PTI is leading at 120 seats, while PML-N and PPP are closing in at the second and third positions respectively.

Other parties are leading in 20 constituencies so far, while independent candidates are also leading in 20 seats.

However, various political parties and journalists have alleged that the elections were rigged in favor of Imran Khan.

Pakistan went to polls on Wednesday and the counting of votes began soon thereafter in the evening.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Davao CityPresident Rodrigo R. Duterte has set a limit to the countrys representation to climate change conferences to only one, lamenting that en masse travels abroad did nothing good for the country but drain The government could not afford to send a big delegation and only allow one representative from the Climate Change Commission to attend conventions as one mouth is enough, the President made the remarks during the Asia-Pacific Healthy Islands Conference 2018 in Davao city last Wednesday. The President also said that he has fired 19 high-ranking officials because of travels to participate in such conferences abroad. The President admitted it pained him to see them go because most of them were his friends and supported him during the election campaign. It pains me deeply to see them go, he said. He also regretted that many of the top government officials he fired were his close friends. I fired a lot. Most of them were my friends who were with me when I was campaigning, and it pains me deeply to see them go, the President said. It makes me sad but you know... Once and for all, we decide. We cannot be going to conventions every now and I would insist on one representative from the Climate Change Commission, and I will not allow everybody to go out, he told the audience. Duterte said he saw the list of some 11 climate change-related travels all over the world but nothing has been done to my country except expenses.Once and for all we decideinsist one representative from Climate Change Commission, not allow everybodywe need only one mouth. We are not as rich as France. We can afford only to send one and maybe if it is to my liking, join her, Duterte told participants. Despite limiting the number of Philippine representatives to climate change conferences or meetings, the President remains committed to supporting all endeavors to make the Asia-Pacific region and the rest of the world a much happier place to live in. To hell with climate change because whether you like it or not, the typhoon is coming from... The Philippines is the window of the Pacific Ocean. So that is how you b*** s*** with the money. You go, Duterte said. He said having too many representatives cannot help change the climate, saying theres a climate change in Africa and they are there. Theres a climate change in New Zealand and they are there en masse. Then theres a climate change in Tokyo, they are there. Every department sends somebody who does not even know the definition of a climate and how it changes. How is the process done to create a problem for the ecosystem and environment? he asked You need only one mouth. We are not as rich as France, Great Britain where you can send a delegation. We can only afford to send one and maybe if it is to my liking, I might join her in the trip so that makes two of us, no more.. he added. In his speech, the President joked that he might join to attend the convention if it is to his liking. I might join her in the trip so that makes two of us, no moreI think theres a very articulate lady somewhere but shes outside of the country. They say that you know, theres a lot of issues against her but theres the same, he saidIn connection with the 2017 Ghatkopar building collapse incident, the Bombay High Court on Thursday rejected bail applications of accused Sunil Shitap and interior designer Ranjeet Agale.

The High Court observed that "serious complicity has been brought on record and thus they don't deserve to be released on bail".

In the operative part of the Order, Justice AS Gadkari observed that their complicity was noticed and they don't deserve bail.

Sunil Shitap was a local Shiv Sena leader of that area and was running a nursing home at the ground floor of the building. There was a renovation work going on in the nursing home at the time of collapse.

Shitap and interior designer Angale were arrested days after the collapse under the charges of culpable homicide.

Earlier, they tried for bail from Sessions Court also in October 2017, but were denied. Later they approached the Bombay High Court, where some interveners opposed their bail pleas along with prosecution.

Eight family members of the victims of this tragedy and two flat owners had intervened against the bail applications of Shitap and Angale. Interveners were represented by lawyers Ashish Mehta and Sujay Kantawala, while accused Sunil Shitap and Ranjeet Angale were represented by Amit Desai and Ashok Mundergi in the High Court.

This is an operative order while detailed judgement will be uploaded on the court's website on Friday.

The four-storey building in Ghatkopar collapsed around 10.45 a.m. on July 25 last year in which 17 people were crushed, including two toddlers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)NK Kalia, father of Kargil martyr Captain Saurabh Kalia, has congratulated the soldiers on the occasion of the 19th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas.

"First of all, I would like to pay my heartiest respect to all the soldiers. It is because of these brave soldiers that we are safe and sound in the country and enjoy almost everything. Had they not been there at the borders or elsewhere, our life would have been different all together. I would like to congratulate our soldiers for bringing home the victory in Kargil War despite all odds," NK Kalia told ANI.

Saurabh Kalia and his five other soldiers were killed and mutilated during the battle with the Pakistan army. NK Kalia has been seeking justice for his son from past 19 years.

NK Kalia moved to the Supreme Court in 2014 to 'fight for the dignity and honour of armed forces.'

"We had to move to the Supreme Court for this. We understand this is an issue between the two nations and unless External Affairs Ministry take up this issue with Pakistan or at the international level I am afraid any action impossible," said Kalia, whose son lost his life in Pakistani captivity.

NK Kalia was assured justice by both former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and his successor Narendra Modi, but nothing has happened in the issue so far.

"I was promised by the then prime minister of India, defense minister and external affairs minister that this issue will be taken with Pakistan as well as at the international forum but all these years it never appeared that any concrete or solid action has been taken on the part of the Indian government," added Kalia.

Kalia further said that he is determined to fight for the same as long as he is alive.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said India and China have reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining peace and tranquillity along the border areas.

Addressing a press briefing after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit here, he said, "Both PM Modi and President Xi Jinping have reaffirmed once again their readiness to give the necessary direction to their militaries to enhance communications between them and to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas."

Furthermore, Gokhale said an Indian delegation will visit China on August 1 and 2 to examine ways to enhance trade and exports.

"An important issue which Prime Minister Modi has raised with President Xi at his previous meetings is how to enhance Indian exports to China, particularly agricultural exports. It has been decided that an Indian trade delegation will be travelling to China on August 1 and 2," he noted.

The Foreign Secretary further stated that the two leaders were particularly satisfied by the efforts that are being made by officials on both sides to strengthen the engagement and implement some of the decisions and understandings reached at Wuhan in April.

During the meeting held along the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, Prime Minister Modi and President Xi addressed several issues, including the upcoming Chinese delegation's visit to India this year.

"The two leaders also agreed that the high-level people-to-people mechanism which will be established on the two sides and will be headed by External affairs minister on the Indian side and the state council and Chinese minister on the Chinese side will also meet this year," Gokhale added.

Prime Minister Modi and President Xi's meeting comes three months after the informal summit held in China's Wuhan city.

During the Prime Minister's visit to China in April, both the leaders held delegation-level talks and underscored the need for strengthening bilateral relations between India and China.

While Prime Minister Modi had said that the bilateral relations between the two Asian giants would be based on shared vision and strong relationship, President Xi agreed to cooperate and work with India to seek guidance.

The two leaders will next meet in Argentina at the G20 Summit in November this year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Islamabad administration has already begun providing state protocol to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan, even before the final results of the 2018 general elections are announced.

According to Samaa TV, 30 policemen have been deployed outside Imran's Bani Gala residence in Islamabad, in place of his private guards.

Meanwhile, Imran won NA-53 (Islamabad-II) constituency with 92,891 votes, defeating former Pakistan prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's (PML-N) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who finished as runner-up with 44,314 votes, The Dawn reported, citing unofficial results.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi (91,381 votes) also lost to PTI's Sadaqat Ali Abbasi (97,104 votes) in NA-57 (Murree) seat.

PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, the brother of jailed and ousted Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif, lost to PTI's Sardar Muhammad Khan Leghari in NA-192 (Dera Ghazi Khan-IV) constituency.

However, Shehbaz defeated PTI candidate Muhammad Nauman Qaiser by over 65,000 votes in the NA-124 (Lahore-II) seat.

Meanwhile, Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chairperson Bilawal Bhutto lost to PTI candidate Junaid Akbar by nearly 38,000 votes, Geo News reported citing unofficial results.

The Bhutto scion is also in danger of losing the NA-200 (Larkana) seat, a traditional PPP stronghold and is trailing behind Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal's (MMA) Rashid Mehmood Soomro.

While Soomro is leading with 13,878 votes, Bilawal has got 12,915 votes so far.

Pakistan went to polls on Wednesday and the counting of votes began soon thereafter in the evening.

Various political parties and journalists have alleged the elections to be rigged in favour of Imran Khan.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday said that results of the general elections were delayed due to a software error.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Five security personnel got injured after, terrorists on Thursday hurled a grenade at a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) bunker in Bijbehara town of Jammu and Kashmir.

The security forces are now conducting a search operation in the vicinity.

This comes after one terrorist was gunned down by security forces earlier today in an encounter in Kupwara district.

In recent months, the state has witnessed an increase in terror activities.

On July 24, one personnel of CRPF was killed and two others sustained bullet injuries after terrorists attacked a CRPF party at Srinagar's Batmaloo area.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Thursday address the 10th BRICS Summit in South Africa's Johannesburg at around 11

The theme of this year's summit is, 'BRICS in Africa - collaboration for inclusive growth and shared prosperity in the 4th industrial revolution'.

According to sources, Triple "TTT" (Trade, Talks and Terrorism) is the key area which will be also raise by India side.

Besides Prime Minister Modi, heads of the four other BRICS nations - Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa - will take part in the meeting. All nations are expected to deliberate upon global issues, international peace and security, global governance and trade issues among others.

The three-day summit began yesterday, with the BRICS Business Forum Meet.

In his keynote address, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said, "This year marks the decade of co-operation between BRICS nations. The grouping has achieved lot like the formation of the New Development Bank which fills a critical gap in project funding."

Besides attending the summit, Prime Minister Modi will hold bilateral meetings with the leaders of the participating nations, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. For the first time, a BRICS leaders' retreat is being organised wherein the leaders will deliberate and take stock of BRICS co-operation during the decade and on its future prospects.

The three-day summit began yesterday with the BRICS Business Forum Meet. Delivering the keynote address, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said, this year marks the decade of co-operation between BRICS nations. During this period, he said, the grouping has achieved lot like the formation of the New Development Bank which fills a critical gap in project funding.

Besides attending the summit, Prime Minister Modi will hold bilateral meetings with the leaders of the participating nations, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

"Good evening South Africa! PM Narendra Modi arrives at the Waterkloof air base to a warm welcome. PM will attend the 10th BRICS Summit and related meetings in Johannesburg and several bilateral meetings on the sidelines," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet.

India is likely to sign MoUs in the fields of education, skill, health and agriculture with South Africa.

For the very first time, a BRICS leaders' retreat is being organised wherein the leaders will deliberate and take stock of BRICS co-operation during the decade and on its future prospects.

Prime Minsiter Modi has reached South Africa last evening on the final leg of his three-nation visit to Africa. He had earlier visited Rwanda and Uganda.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Pandalam Royal family on Thursday has challenged the petition seeking entry of women to the Sabarimala Temple, terming it to be 'mischievous' as seem to be targeting the practices of the Hindu faith.

Advocate Radhakrishnan, arguing for the Pandalam Royal family, told the Supreme Court that it should not interfere with the religious practices that have been in place for generations.

"The petition, seeking entry of women in the age group of 10-50 to the Sabarimala temple, is mischievous since they seem to be targeting only the practices of the Hindu faith.The Apex Court should not interfere with religious practices which have been practised for generations together," Radhakrishnan said during the argument.

While opposing the petition filed by the Indian Young Lawyers' Association (IYLA), Radhakrishnan argued that the "Will of God requires tapasya", that is 41 days of penance in case of the Sabarimala temple."

A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday continued to hear the case relating to entry of women into the Sabarimala Temple for the sixth day.

Former Kerala High Court Judge, Justice V. Giri, now a senior lawyer, arguing on behalf of the Thantri, the chief priest, of the Sabarimala temple told the Apex Court that the worship of deities has to be done as per the 'Shastras'. "Worship of idols is the essence of Hindu faith," he said.

On Wednesday , various Hindu outfits in Kerala called for a state-wide strike on July 30 against the state government's decision supporting women's entry inside the Sabarimala temple.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra on Wednesday questioned senior counsel K. Parasaran as to "why are women excluded from entering it (Sabarimala temple)?" Parasaran argued that "the right of State to make laws to throw open Hindu Temples to all classes and sections of Hindus does not include women within its scope."

On July 18, the Apex Court observed that banning the entry of women in Sabarimala by the temple authorities is unconstitutional. One of the Judges, D.Y. Chandrachud had observed that the right to pray is equal for both men and women.

As per norms prescribed by the temple board, women aged between 10 and 50 are prohibited from visiting the premises. In January 2016, the court had questioned the ban, saying this cannot be done under the Constitution.

In November the same year, the Kerala Government had told the Supreme Court that it was ready to allow women inside the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, a prominent pilgrimage site among Hindu devotees in the state of Kerala.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)With the monsoon hitting the city, Hyderabad has shown an alarming increase in malaria and dengue cases in the past few weeks.

Even though anti-larval operations and fogging are being conducted in the city, there is no respite for the people from mosquitoes.

Recently, scores of people have been tested positive with the mosquito-borne virus in the state.

Speaking to ANI, Superintendent of Fever Hospital Dr Shankar said, "Recently eight to ten cases of Malaria have got positive in the Fever Hospital. Most of the cases turned positive are vivax malaria, which is 100% curable while some cases are falciparum malaria."

"We are admitting the patients whose samples turned positive and providing all kinds of treatment. Even though the vivax malaria is not dangerous but the cases are increasing," added Dr Shankar.

Dr. Shankar said that dengue cases are also reported at Fever Hospital, but they are less in number as compared to malaria.

"Till now, two to four cases of dengue turned positive. Compared to last year, the number of malaria cases has increased," he said.

It should be noted that Falciparum malaria is the most dangerous form of malaria, having the highest death rate.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Bihar's social welfare department minister Manju Verma on Thursday rejected the allegations against her husband of frequently visiting the Muzaffarpur Shelter Home.

Claiming that the wife of one of the accused was making baseless allegations against her husband Chandeshwar Verma, the minister said that her husband had accompanied her to the shelter home in 2016.

"Wife of one of the accused, who was arrested, is making baseless allegations after a month. My husband accompanied me to the shelter home in 2016. We never visited the shelter home afterwards," Manju Verma told ANI.

This comes after the wife of an official arrested in connection with the shelter home case in Muzaffarpur has accused Chandeshwar Verma for spending "long hours in the girls' room".

One of the victims had revealed her ordeal to the interrogators recently alleging that a girl was killed and buried in the premises of the shelter home.

At least 11 employees of the shelter home have been arrested for allegedly sexually harassing several girls living at the facility, police said on Tuesday.

The issue of alleged sexual exploitation of more than 40 girls at a Muzaffarpur shelter home was uncovered more than a month ago by a Mumbai-based social science institute.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that North Korea was still producing fissile material.

He further said that progress was being made in connection with the process of denuclearisation of North Korea.

"We are engaged in patient diplomacy, but we will not let this drag out to no end. I emphasised this position in the productive discussions I had with Vice Chairman Kim Yong-chol," Yonhap News Agency quoted Pompeo, as saying.

He further noted that there was an 'awfully long way to go' in dialogue and 'a great deal of work to do'.

"Our objective remains the final, fully verified denuclearisation of North Korea, as agreed to by Chairman Kim Jong-un," he added.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump, while addressing the Veteran of Foreign Wars convention, said that North Korea had begun the process of dismantling a key missile site.

"We are pursuing the denuclearisation of North Korea and a new future of prosperity, security and peace on the Korean Peninsula and all of Asia," CNN quoted Trump, as saying.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)President Rodrigo Dutertes decision to withdraw from the establishing treaty of the International Criminal Court will be put to test, as the Supreme Court has issued guidelines for the upcoming Aug. 14 oral arguments on the consolidated pleadings challenging the decision. The SC, in its July 17 advisory, has set four major issues on the President s decision to pull out the countrys membership from the genocide and war crimes court, after a prosecutor has alleged that the President had sanctioned the killing of drug suspects in the governments war on drugs. The SC will hear the arguments on whether or not the SC may take cognizance of the consolidated petitions, and whether or not the withdrawal from the Rome Statute, the ICCs establishing treaty, through a note verbale delivered to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, is valid, binding and effectual. These will also cover whether or not the governments executive branch had valid grounds to withdraw from the Rome Statute, and if the withdrawal needed at least two-thirds of the Senate, as claimed by its challengers. Also set for oral arguments are whether or not the countrys withdrawal from the Rome Statue constitutes a breach of its obligations under international law; and whether or not the pullout will diminish the Filipino peoples protection under International Lawand if it is at all a question that could be subject to trial in a court of law. The SC will be hearing the consolidated pleadings petitions filed by opposition senators Leila de Lima, Francis Pangilinan, Franklin Drilon, Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, Risa Hontiveros, and Antonio Trillanes IV, and of the Philippine Coalition for the ICC (PICC), led by former Human Rights Commissioner Etta Rosales and 11 other individuals. In its note verbale, the government argued that the decision to withdraw is the Philippines principled stand against those who politicize and weaponize human rights, even as its independent and well-functioning organs and agencies continue to exercise jurisdiction over complaints, issues, problems and concerns arising from its efforts to protect the people. But the petitioners claimed that the respondents committed usurpation of legislative powers, which is punishable under the Revised Penal Code. President Duterte had announced on March 14, 2018 the Philippines withdrawal of its ratification of the Rome Statute, a United Nations (UN) treaty creating the ICC. Duterte cited baseless, unprecedented and outrageous attacks against him and his administration by the ICC as the reason for his withdrawal as a state party. In their petition, opposition senators asked the SC to declare invalid and ineffective the Philippines withdrawal from the Rome Statute without the nod of two-thirds of the members of the Senate, the body that ratified it in 2011. The petitioners also argued that the Office of the President and the DFA gravely abused their discretion in formulating the decision.They said the Rome Statute is a treaty validly entered into by the Philippines, which has the same status as a law enacted by Congress, thus, can only, be withdrawn with the approval of Congress. They also asked the Court to compel the DFA and the Philippine Permanent Mission to the United Nations to notify the United Nations Secretary-General that it is revoking the notice of withdrawal that it received on March 17, 2018. The coalitions petition, on the other hand, wants the Philippines Notice of Withdrawal from the ICC declared void ab initio, and the government ordered to recall and revoke the document submitted to the UN Secretary General. Named respondents in the petitions were Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, Permanent Philippine mission to the UN Teodoro Locsin, Jr., and chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo. In a related development, opposition senators appealed to the Supreme Court to allow De Lima, who is currently detained, to argue in their behalf, in connection with their petition seeking to nullify the decision of President Duterte to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). In their manifestation, the opposition lawmakers argued that it has been a practice of the SC to allow members of Congress to appear before it and argue cases that they file in their capacity as senators or representatives, who are real parties-in-interest. The undersigned manifesting senators, in the course of their preparations for this case and in compliance with this Honorable Courts directive for the respective parties or their counsels to attend the oral arguments for this case as scheduled, are of the strong conviction that the arguments for the case of all the petitioners will be best presented before this Honorable Court by their colleague, Senator de Lima, stated the manifestation signed by Pangilinan, Drilon, Senator Paolo Benigno Bam Aquino, Risa Hontiveros, Trillanes IV and De Lima. According to the lawmakers, the issues raised in their petitions are of transcendental importance, thus, the detained senator should be allowed to personally argue the case during the oral arguments. The opposition senators informed the SC that they will no longer be represented by counsel during the oral arguments as they have decided to adopt in whole the arguments and positions that De Lima would raise. De Lima is currently detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center pending resolution of the illegal drug charges filed against him before the court. She has been accused of benefitting from the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in Muntinlupa during her stint as Justice secretary.The 19th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas is being celebrated on Thursday. The day marks India's victory over Pakistan in the 1999 Kargil War and remembers those who sacrificed their lives for the country.

On 26th July 1999, India successfully took command of the high outposts, which had been lost to Pakistani intruders. The war was fought for more than 60 days.

The three-day celebrations began on Tuesday at the Drass War Memorial in Kargil town in Jammu and Kashmir. On the first day, tributes were paid to the War Heroes by laying wreath at the memorial.

On Wednesday, the veterans of the war and serving heroes shared their experiences during the war at a function. There was a briefing on Operation Vijay battles.

The Army said, "The country celebrates the 19th anniversary of Kargil War. This is also an occasion that invokes feelings of both pain and pride for the families of the brave jawans who laid down their lives protecting the territory of India from intruders."

Lt. General Ranbir Singh, AVSM, YSM, SM Northern Army Command of the Indian Army paid tribute to martyrs at Kargil War Memorial Drass

The main function of the wreath-laying ceremony will be held today.

The Kargil Vijay Diwas is celebrated every year for three days till 26th July to commemorate India's emphatic victory against Pakistan. It remembers the supreme sacrifice of 500 heroes who laid down their lives and those who are still alive.

President Ram Nath Kovind also remembered the supreme sacrifice of the brave jawans on the day.

He said, "On Kargil Vijay Diwas, every Indian acknowledges the efforts and gallantry of our Armed Forces. We salute the ultimate sacrifice of the martyrs of Kargil, and record our everlasting debt to their families.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Student's Union of India (NSUI) has claimed that a photograph of former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru has been replaced by that of pro-Hindutva activist and freedom fighter, Vinayak Savarkar, in Class 10 social science textbooks in Goa.

The Chief of NSUI, the student wing of the Congress Party, claimed that ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has come to power in Goa, it has tried to impose a right-wing ideology in the minds of people.

"The BJP has been trying to put Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideology in our minds, ever since they've come to power in Goa," NSUI chief Ahraz Mulla told ANI.

The Congress' student wing chief further said the student body will meet Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to address their concern.

"Tomorrow, they'll (BJP) remove the photo of Mahatma Gandhi and question us what the Congress has done in 60 years. We'll meet Goa CM (Parrikar), but if he also follows RSS ideology and doesn't put Jawaharlal Nehru's photograph back, we will take to the streets and protest," he said.

The Class 10 textbook titled "India and the Contemporary World II - Democratic Politics" contained a photograph of Nehru, which has been replaced with a coloured photo of Savarkar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The voters and staff members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), among other officials, have complained of inadequate arrangements at various polling stations in Lahore.

The 2018 general election took place in Pakistan on Wednesday while the results of the same are currently awaited.

"We have no break and no support staff. We all have been thirsty since morning, but no one provided us with water. Can anyone explain why this has happened to us?" asked Assistant Presiding Officer (APO) Muhammad Rizwan at polling station No.72 of NA-131 (DHA), where Imran Khan and Khwaja Saad Rafique were the main contestants, reported the Dawn.

"We are surprised that no one is offering to us even tea since we are working continuously. How will we spend the entire day since the situation is affecting our work," Rizwan added.

Tariq Javaid, a presiding officer at polling station No. 73, also came forward with similar complaints.

It was further observed that a few polling stations were established in small premises or buildings of private schools.

The situation was apparently worst at polling station No. 110, which was made in a congested building of a private school situated at Mast Iqbal Road near Chungi Amar Sadhu.

"You can see the situation we are passing through, as here we have no refreshment in such an inclement weather," a female polling officer told the Dawn.

Her presiding officer Zakir Mubeen also mentioned various problems which were faced by the polling staff.

Saba Salman, who was looking after polling station No. 37, said the only problem faced by her team was the disruption of electricity supply, making the heat unbearable. She also complained that her duty was placed too far away from where she lived.

A female polling officer at station No. 132, a constituency where PML-N chief Shahbaz Sharif and PTI's Mansha Sindhu were the main candidates, termed the arrangements worst ever since she started performing election-related duties.

"It is really an ill-managed elections, as I faced too much difficulty in getting the material (ballot papers, forms etc) weighing 40 to 50 kilogram shifted from the office of returning officer (sessions courts) to here at this polling station," the female officer said.

Meanwhile, the Dawn reported that most of the voters in urban posh localities started visiting polling stations after 3 p.m.

A huge rush of voters was witnessed at a polling station at Lahore Cantonment - the constituency where the main contest was between PML-N's Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and PTI's Aleem Khan.

"As many voters rushed here after 3 p.m., it became difficult for us to handle such a huge crowd," said Saqlain Raza, polling officer at station No. 205.

On the other hand, some voters complained of not being allowed by the staff to cast votes.

"My ID card got misplaced. I showed them the FIR regarding my (misplaced) card. But they didn't allow me to cast vote," said a voter, Muhammad Usman Ali.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday announced that final results of Pakistan elections will be out within 24 hours.

The Commission further stated that the Pakistan polls were conducted freely and fairly.

"Final results will come out within 24 hours. There is no delay in the results. Also, 90 per cent of results have been announced by returning officers in the field. We have received 82 per cent out of it," Election Commission of Pakistan told media here.

"Free and fair elections have been conducted. Turnout has been impressive, we will share the numbers tomorrow," the Commission added.

Meanwhile, Benazir Bhutto's daughter Bakhtawar took to social media and slammed the election commission over pending results.

She took to Twitter and said "More than 24 hours passed since polling ended, our Prime Minister Select has done his speech, but still no results of Chairman @BBhuttoZardari from #Lyari or #Larkana #WhatsGoingOn #Elections2018".

Earlier in the day, Former Maldives President congratulated Imran Khan for leading in the election. He took to Twitter stating "Congratulations @ImranKhanPTI . I wish you all the best."

While the final results are yet to be announced by the Pakistan's Election Commission, Imran Khan with 120 seats so far is a clear winner sweeping in five constituencies. He won from NA-131 (Lahore), NA-53 (Islamabad), Karachi (NA-243), Mianwali (NA-95) and Bannu (NA-35) seats respectively.

According to The Dawn, citing unofficial results, the PTI is leading at 120 seats, while PML-N (61 seats) and PPP (40 seats) are closing in at the second and third positions respectively.

Pakistan went to polls on Wednesday and the counting of votes began soon thereafter in the evening.

Various political parties and journalists have alleged the elections to be rigged in favour of Imran Khan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has called for a consultative meeting with his party leaders at his Bani Gala residence here on Thursday, according to sources.

The meeting comes after his party has gained inroads in the National Assembly (NA) tally, according to unofficial results.

The meeting, which is scheduled to be held at 12 pm (local time), will take a call on a future action plan of government formation, Geo News quoted sources as saying.

The party leaders will also contact the winning independent candidates from across the Punjab province.

Sources further said that the meeting will also decide a future course of action against the reaction of the opposition parties in connection to the general election results.

The PTI is set to emerge as the single largest party with Imran Khan likely to be the new prime minister of Pakistan.

According to ARY news, citing unofficial results, the PTI is leading at 120 seats, while PML-N and PPP are closing in at the second and third positions respectively.

Other parties are leading in 20 constituencies so far, while independent candidates are also leading in 20 seats.

Various political parties and journalists have alleged the elections to be rigged in favour of Imran Khan.

Pakistan went to polls on Wednesday and the counting of votes began soon thereafter in the evening.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday said that results of the general elections were delayed due to a software error.

Meanwhile, Imran's first wife Jemima Goldsmith announced that the PTI chief would be Pakistan's next prime minister.

Taking to her Twitter handle, Goldsmith wrote, "22 years later, after humiliations, hurdles and sacrifices, my sons' father is Pakistan's next PM. It's an incredible lesson in tenacity, belief & refusal to accept defeat. The challenge now is to remember why he entered in the 1st place. Congratulations @ImranKhanPTI"

Recalling Imran's first election in 1997, she tweeted, "I remember IK's 1st election in 1997- untested, idealistic & politically naive. I waited up for the call in LHR with 3 mo old Sulaiman, who I had lugged around the country. Eventually he called. "It's a clean sweep" & after my gasp, ". the other way." He roared with laughter."

.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS summit here on Thursday (local time).

The two leaders, who are meeting for the third time in less than four months, held talks to further friendship between India and China.

A tweet posted by the Prime Minister's Office read, "Furthering India-China friendship. PM @narendramodi and President Xi Jinping hold talks on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in South Africa."

In April this year, Prime Minister Modi had visited China for an informal summit with President Xi.

In China's Wuhan City, the two leaders held delegation-level talks and underscored the need for strengthening bilateral relations between India and China.

While Prime Minister Modi said that the bilateral relations between the two Asian giants would be based on shared vision and strong relationship, President Xi agreed to cooperate and work with India to seek guidance.

On a related note, Prime Minister Modi, who arrived in Johannesburg on Wednesday for the BRICS Summit, also met Argentinean President Mauricio Macri on Thursday.

The 10th BRICS Summit, as a milestone in the history of BRICS, was held under the theme "BRICS in Africa: Collaboration for Inclusive Growth and Shared Prosperity in the fourth Industrial Revolution".

The three-day summit began yesterday with the BRICS Business Forum Meet.

India signed MoUs in the fields of education, skill, health and agriculture with South Africa.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the sidelines of 10th BRICS Summit in South Africa's Johannesburg.

According to sources, Triple "TTT" (Trade, Talks and Terrorism) is the key area which will be also raised by India side.

The meeting of Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Jinping comes three months after the informal summit held in China's Wuhan city. During PM Modi's visit to China in April, he held delegation-level talks with Chinese President Jinping and underscored the need for strengthening bilateral relations between India and China.

Similarly, Prime Minister Modi in May held a day-long informal summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia's Sochi, during the meet the two leaders vowed to strengthen their relationship and work towards a strong multipolar This was the first meeting between President Putin and Prime Minister Modi this year.

The theme of this year's summit is, 'BRICS in Africa - collaboration for inclusive growth and shared prosperity in the 4th industrial revolution'.

Besides Prime Minister Modi, heads of the four other BRICS nations - Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa - will take part in the meeting. All nations are expected to deliberate upon global issues, international peace and security, global governance and trade issues among others.

For the first time, a BRICS leaders' retreat is being organised wherein the leaders will deliberate and take stock of BRICS co-operation during the decade and on its future prospects.

The three-day summit began yesterday with the BRICS Business Forum Meet.

India is likely to sign MoUs in the fields of education, skill, health and agriculture with South Africa.

For the very first time, a BRICS leaders' retreat is being organised wherein the leaders will deliberate and take stock of BRICS co-operation during the decade and on its future prospects.

Prime Minsiter Modi has reached South Africa last evening on the final leg of his three-nation visit to Africa. He had earlier visited Rwanda and Uganda.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)As India's public sector bankers have breathed a huge sigh of relief with the long-awaited amendment of the Prevention of Corruption Act in the Parliament, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) president Rashesh Shah has also welcomed the decision.

"This will help in expediting the decision-making process in the government besides a revival in bank lending," said Shah.

The amendments propose significant changes to the anti-corruption law, ranging from redefining criminal misconduct to bringing collusive bribe givers under the lens of the investigative agencies.

"The applicability of the law only if any official has accumulated assets disproportionate to his income or has misappropriated assets, will go a long way in protecting the honest officials from undue harassment," added Shah.

"Overall, this will help in improving the ease of doing the business scenario in the country," Shah concluded.

In order to prevent honest bankers from prosecuting agencies, the Parliament passed the Prevention of Corruption Act (Amendment) Bill, 2018 on Tuesday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)On the 19th anniversary of India's victory over Pakistan in the 1999 Kargil War, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the valour of the soldier who gave a befitting reply to Pakistan.

" On Kargil Vijay Diwas, a grateful nation pays homage to all those who served the nation during Operation Vijay. Our brave soldiers ensured that India remains protected and gave a befitting answer to those who tried to vitiate the atmosphere of peace," he tweeted.

The Prime Minister also praised the leadership provided by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during Operation Vijay.

"India will always remember with pride, the outstanding political leadership provided by Atal Ji during Operation Vijay. He led from the front, supported our armed forces and clearly articulated India's stand at the world stage," he added.

On July 26, 1999, India successfully took command of the high outposts, which had been lost to Pakistani intruders. The war was fought for more than 60 days.

The three-day celebrations began on Tuesday at the Drass War Memorial in Kargil town in Jammu and Kashmir. On the first day, tributes were paid to the War Heroes by laying wreath at the memorial.

On Wednesday, the veterans of the war and serving heroes shared their experiences during the war at a function. There was a briefing on Operation Vijay battles.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir on Thursday said that the people of Pakistan have 'voted against terrorism by voting against Hafiz Saeed.'

Hafiz Saeed-backed Allahu Akbar Tehreek (AAT) has failed to win a single seat.

Speaking to media, Ahir said, 'It is clear that Pakistan's public did not help Hafiz Saeed win the elections. We hope that the government that is formed will make good relations with us. The best thing is that the public voted against terrorism by voting against Hafiz Saeed.'

MoS for Power RK Singh said, "I don't see any change because as far as India is concerned, important matters like export of terrorism by them are not going to change. Military used to decide this policy and they will do it now as well."

Speaking to ANI, Bhartiya Janta Party leader Shahnawaz Hussain said that the Pakistan elections took place under the shadow of Military's influence.

Pakistan went to polls on Wednesday and the counting of votes began soon thereafter in the evening.

Various political parties and journalists have alleged the elections to be rigged in favour of Imran Khan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Commission on Elections has sided with Vice President Leni Robredo in seeking for the reversal of the ruling of the Supreme Court, acting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal, that set the 50-percent shading threshold for validity of votes in the ongoing election recount on 2016 vice presidential race. In a 13-page comment, the Comelec stood firm in the 25-percent shading threshold it used in canvassing of votes cast during the May 9, 2016 elections as stated in its Minute Resolution No. 16-0600 that was submitted to the PET by Robredos camp for her appeal. To reiterate, for purposes of the 09 May 2016 National and Local Elections, Comelec, in order to ensure that votes are not wasted due to inadequate shading or that not accidental or unintended small marks are counted as votes in order to reflect the true intent of the voter, had set the ballot shading threshold at 25 percent, the Comelecs legal department said. The comment was filed in compliance with an earlier order of the SC for Comelec to submit its position after Solicitor General Jose Calida opted to drop the poll body as a client and file its own position as tribune of the people. The Comelec invoked its constitutional power to not only administer elections and decide all questions affecting polls even while it acknowledged the authority of the PET to be the sole judge of all election contests relating to the president and the vice president. In deciding election disputes, like election protest, decisions should be based on the standards and procedures used during the conduct of elections and in ascertainment of election results. To use different standard would be erroneous and may result to unnecessary questions on the legitimacy of all elected officials, from the president down to the last Sangguniang Bayan member, the poll body said. The Comelec also cited its Random Manual Audit Guide on Appreciation of Markings as the factual basis for the 25-percent threshold rule. It cannot be overemphasized that the threshold issue as it is now being presented is more an issue of fact than a question of law. Otherwise stated, it is more an issue of what was used to appreciate, count votes and proclaim winners, than an issue of which rule, as between those of Comelec and the Supreme Court, should prevail, it added. The Comelecs position contradicts that of the Office of the Solicitor General, which had backed the 50-percent threshold in favor of Robredos challenger, former senator and defeated vice presidential candidate Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr. The PET currently applies a 50-percent threshold in the manual vote recount, a practice Robredo and her allies say would lead to the massive disenfranchisement of voters whose system-counted 2016 poll choices would be invalidated during the recount. Earlier, Solicitor General Jose Calida asked the PET to deny the appeal of Robredo and instead affirm its resolution last April 10, which invalidated votes shaded by less than 50 percent in the ongoing manual recount. Calida argued that in vice presidential elections, it is the PET that has the sole authority to judge all contests and the Comelec has no jurisdiction over the case, citing Section 4, Article VII of the Constitution. The chief state lawyer also pointed out that the matter on what percentage of threshold should be applied in determining the validity of votes was already settled by the tribunal in its Rules promulgated in 2010. In her appeal before the PET, Robredo insisted that the Comelec had set the threshold at 25-percent and that it informed the court about it through a letter in September 2016. The said letter informed the court that the 25 percent threshold would be used for the May 9, 2016 national and local elections. However, Calida had said that the letter cited by Robredo actually referred to an optical scan counting and not manual counting, which is being carried out by the tribunal.Lastly, Calida rebutted the claim of Robredo that votes would be disenfranchised because of the 50-percent threshold set by the Tribunal. Differently stated, insofar as the voters were concerned, they knew that for their votes to be counted they should fully shade the oval space, he said. The ongoing recount covers three pilot provinces - Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental - covering a total of 5,418 clustered precincts. After the recount of these three provinces, the PET will decide whether to not to proceed with the recount on a total of 132,446 precincts in 39,221 clustered precincts covering 27 provinces and cities identified in the protest of Marcos. Marcos filed the protest on June 29 2016, claiming that the camp of Robredo cheated in the automated polls in the May 2016 national polls. Meanwhile, Robredos satisfaction rating remained at good despite a 2-point drop in the second quarter of 2018, according to a survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) that was released on Thursday. Conducted from June 27 to 30 of this year, the survey said 54 percent of Filipinos are satisfied with Robredos performance while 22 percent are dissatisfied. This is equivalent to a +32 satisfaction rating, which is lower than the +34 the Vice President received in March this year. SWS said the decline in Robredos satisfaction rating is due to decreases in different parts of the country, as she suffered a 5-point decrease in Balance Luzon, and 2 points in Metro Manila. In Visayas, however, Robredos rating showed a 3-point increase in Visayas to +50 from +47 last March. Her Mindanao rating, on the other hand, stayed moderate at +26. The second quarter SWS survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults (18 and above) and has a +/-3 percent margin of error for national percentages. Robredo is the acknowledged leader of the opposition, which is set to release its senatorial line-up for the 2019 mid-term polls in September.The Supreme Court on Thursday instructed the Kerala Government to furnish a status report on Kerala church sex scandal case by August 6.

The apex court division bench, headed by Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri, also stayed the arrest of two accused, Jaise K. George and Father Sony Varghese, till August 6.

Out of four accused priests, the other two accused, Father Job Mathew and Father Johnson V. Mathew, were earlier granted conditional bails by the Kerala High Court.

The scandal first came into light when a woman parishioner visiting the Malankara Orthodox Church in Kerala's Ezhakadavu had accused five priests of sexually abusing her for a decade. Her husband lodged a complaint that she came under the duress from at least five priests.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The third alleged murderer of Hollywood rapper XXXTenatacion has been arrested.

According to TMZ, Robert Allen, the third murderer was arrested in America's Georgia state.

Currently, Allen who is being held in Dodge County in Georgia was picked up from his sister's home. The police authorities said that his sister was cooperative when the officers showed up to arrest him.

Allen was the guy who was initially wanted as he was caught on surveillance video outside a motor shop where XXXTentacion was before he was murdered.

Prior to this arrest, he along with other two suspects Michael Boatwright and Trayvon Newsome-the two alleged gunmen along with the already arrested, Dedrick Williams was indicted by a grand jury for first-degree murder and armed robbery with a firearm.

He will now be moved to Broward County in Florida state as he will now be giving company to Michael Boatwright and Dedrick Williams.

Trayvon Newsome is the only suspect who is still at large.

On a related note, the Hollywood rapper was shot dead in Florida's Deerfield Beach in the United States on June 19.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)United States President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker have joined hands to eliminating tariffs.

The meeting turned out to be fruitful since the elimination of tariffs would reduce the growing tension between EU and the USA.

President Trump called the meeting a 'very big day for free and fair trade'.

"We agreed today, first of all, to work together toward zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods," CNN quoted Trump, as saying.

Ahead of Jean-Claude's visit to the White House on Wednesday for a meeting to negotiate a trade deal, Trump suggested the European Union drop all tariffs barriers.

"The European Union is coming to Washington tomorrow to negotiate a deal on Trade. I have an idea for them. Both the U.S. and the E.U. drop all Tariffs, Barriers, and Subsidies! That would finally be called Free Market and Fair Trade! Hope they do it, we are ready - but they won't!" he tweeted.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration slapped tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from several U.S. allies, including the EU.

Trump also threatened to impose a 20 per cent tariff on all European automobile imports.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The sub-divisional magistrate of Delhi's Preet Vihar area said two separate inquiries have been initiated to probe the death of three sisters in East Delhi.

"We are doing a separate enquiry on the incident apart from the police. Reports of the second post-mortem are yet to come. Last rites have been performed," Preet Vihar SDM Arun Gupta told ANI.

The initial post-mortem examination report indicated that the girls, aged two, four and eight, died of starvation.

Police were reportedly treating it as a case of natural deaths initially, but the recovery of pills and medicine bottles prompted them to look into the poisoning angle.

The girls, who were brought to the hospital by a member of the family, were declared dead on arrival.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)United States President Donald Trump has shared a picture of him with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker after a joint press conference, where both joined hands to eliminate tariffs.

In the picture, Trump and Juncker can be seen sharing a hug, meanwhile, president of the European Commission kissing the US President's cheek.

"Obviously the European Union, as represented by @JunckerEU and the United States, as represented by yours truly, love each other!" Trump captioned the photo.

Obviously the European Union, as represented by @JunckerEU and the United States, as represented by yours truly, love each other! pic.twitter.com/42ImacgCN0  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2018

Trump shared the photo shortly after the two leaders delivered a joint statement on Wednesday, announcing that they have reached a deal to begin resolving a dispute over tariffs and avoid a trade war.

President Trump called the meeting a 'very big day for free and fair trade'.

The meeting turned out to be fruitful since the elimination of tariffs would reduce the growing tension between EU and the USA.

In another tweet, the US President said, "European Union representatives told me that they would start buying soybeans from our great farmers immediately. Also, they will be buying vast amounts of LNG!"

Earlier this year, the Trump administration slapped tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from several U.S. allies, including the EU.

Trump also threatened to impose a 20 per cent tariff on all European automobile imports.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The West Bengal Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution to change the state's name to 'Bangla'. The resolution will now go to Union Home Ministry for approval.

The West Bengal government, led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has been at loggerheads with the Centre for changing its name since a long time.

In August 2016, the West Bengal Assembly had passed a resolution for renaming the state as 'Bangla' in Bengali and 'Bengal' in English. However, the Central Government had turned down the state government's proposal.

Before that in 2011, the state government had sent a proposal to the Centre for renaming West Bengal as "Paschim Bango", but that too never got the green signal.

One of the main reasons given by West Bengal government for changing the name of the state was that whenever there was a meeting of all states, West Bengal came at the bottom of the list alphabetically.

After the partition of India in 1947, Bengal was bifurcated as East Bengal and West Bengal. While East Bengal became a part of Pakistan, and later in1971 got liberated and became Bangladesh, the name West Bengal continued with Indian side of Bengal.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Hero MotoCorp was up 0.77% to Rs 3136 at 9:23 IST on BSE after net profit fell 0.53% to Rs 909.17 crore on 10.39% rise in net sales to Rs 8809.82 crore in Q1 June 2018 over Q1 June 2017.

The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 25 July 2018.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 127.51 points, or 0.35% to 36,985.74.

On the BSE, 16,000 shares were traded in the counter so far compared with average daily volumes of 50,000 shares in the past two weeks. The stock had hit a high of Rs 3,187.65 and a low of Rs 3,052.10 so far during the day. The stock hit a record high of Rs 4,200 on 23 August 2017. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 3,037.10 on 24 July 2018.

Hero MotoCorp registered the highest-ever quarterly sales of 21,06,629 units in the first quarter of the fiscal (April-June 2018). The record sales translate to a robust 13.6% growth over the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, when the company sold 18,53,647 units (Q1 June 2017).

The company's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) margin stood at 15.6% compared with 16.2% in Q1 of last year. EBITDA margin was impacted by commodity costs, although offset to a large extent by pricing and continuing cost management. The impact on the PAT in the quarter has been on account of the tax benefits coming to an end in Q4 March 2018 at the company's manufacturing facility at Haridwar.

Pawan Munjal, chairman, managing director & CEO of Hero MotoCorp said that the Indian economy continues to grow in the face of global headwinds from several fronts. However, the industry has been adversely impacted by the volatility in commodity prices driven by global trends. Despite these challenges, the industry will maintain the growth momentum during the rest of the fiscal, with consumption expected to remain high on the back of a normal monsoon and the upcoming festive season. Hero MotoCorp is geared up to ride the positive momentum with new premium motorcycles and scooters, lined up for launch in the coming months.

Meanwhile, the company's board approved investment of Rs 130 crore through CCDs (compulsorily convertible debentures) in Ather Energy.

The board also approved participation in the rights issue of Hero FinCorp (HFCL). The existing shareholding (viz 41.03%) of the company in HFCL will only change, if other shareholders do not subscribe in full, in the rights issue. The detailed disclosure will be made, if required, post closure of rights issue of HFCL.

Hero MotoCorp is the world's largest manufacturer of two wheelers, based in India.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Tata Power rose 5.75% to Rs 71.70 at 14:32 IST on BSE after consolidated net profit rose 379.09% to Rs 1670.91 crore on 14% rise in net sales to Rs 7313.41 crore in Q1 June 2018 over Q1 June 2017.

The result was announced during trading hours today, 26 July 2018.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 38.83 points, or 0.11% to 36,897.06.

On the BSE, 10.06 lakh shares were traded in the counter so far compared with average daily volumes of 2.13 lakh shares in the past two weeks. The stock had hit a high of Rs 72.40 and a low of Rs 68 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 101.75 on 5 January 2018. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 66.65 on 23 July 2018.

During the quarter ended 30 June 2018, the company sold investments in Tata Communications and Panatone Finvest (associate companies), which were classified as assets held for sale in the previous year. The resultant gain on sale of investments of Rs 1897 crore has been disclosed as an exceptional income in the financial results.

Tata Power is India's largest integrated power company and, together with its subsidiaries & jointly controlled entities, has an installed capacity of 10757 MW.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi government will install hydraulic lifts in 1,000 standard-floor buses to be purchased by it on its own cost to make them accessible for differently-abled persons, it on Thursday told the Supreme Court.

A bench of Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan was told that after the Delhi High Court had on June 1 restrained government from going ahead with the tendering process for purchasing buses, a meeting was held on June 19 by Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot on the issue of wheelchair friendly/accessible buses.

In its affidavit the Delhi government stated: "Pursuant to the meeting, the government of NCT of Delhi is agreeable to have these mechanical lifts fitted on all the buses proposed to be acquired under the Cluster scheme by the L1 bidders.

"The mechanical lifts will be installed by the Vehicle Manufacturers as Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM). The fitment of hydraulic lifts is also envisaged under the harmonised guidelines issued by the Ministry of Urban Development," it said, adding that the cost of this additional fitment - hydraulic lifts - which was not mentioned in the original tender specification, has been agreed to be borne by the Delhi government in principle.

The decision has been taken considering the dire need to augment the existing bus fleet, particularly on the rural routes identified for the purpose and the urgency of doing so in larger public interest and also specifically the need for disabled friendly public transport, the government further stated.

The affidavit also said that its decision will address the issue of accessible public buses to passengers with locomotor disability and to avoid any further delay in the acquisition of buses for public transport as a fresh tender may delay the entire process by more than a year.

The Delhi government and the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has challenged June 1 order of the Delhi High Court by which it had barred them from procuring 2,000 standard-floor buses as they were not disabled-friendly.

On Wednesday, the apex court had asked the Delhi government to apprise it whether it wants to make these cluster buses friendly to differently-abled persons by fitting them with hydraulic lifts.

--IANS

gt/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A suicide attack on an Afghan intelligence convoy travelling towards the Afghan capital on Thursday killed at least six people and injured six others, officials said.

The attack took place at 5 a.m. in the fifth police district of Kabul when a Taliban suicide bomber detonated explosives hidden in his vehicle as the National Directorate of Security (NDS) convoy passed by, police spokesperson Hashmat Stanekzai told Efe news.

He indicated that according to initial information, four officers of the NDS and one civilian were killed in the attack. Six others -- five intelligence officials and one civilian -- were wounded.

With the death of the attacker, the death toll stood at a total of six.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack through its spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, who identified the suicide bomber as Ahmad Ghaznawi and confirmed the convoy was their intended target.

According to Mujahid, the intelligence group was responsible for coordinating night raids against the Taliban in the neighbouring provinces of Maidan Wardak and Logar.

The strike marked the first suicide attack perpetrated by the Taliban in Kabul since a three-day ceasefire declared in mid-June on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr.

In recent months, Kabul has been subject to a large number of attacks.

The last major one took place on July 22 near an international airport in Kabul, minutes after the motorcade of Afghan Vice-President Abdul Rashid Dostum left the area.

The attack, which killed 23 people and injured 107 others, was claimed by the Islamic State terror group.

--IANS

soni/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Story

12 August 2021

Young women entrepreneurs from the Republic of Moldova support the local market with healthy lifestyle promoting businesses

Women entrepreneurs increasingly succeed overcoming outdated gender stereotypes pose obstacles for them over the years. This story is about two young women entrepreneurs who started their own businesses in the Republic of Moldova, promoting a healthy lifestyle, and using local products. One of them is Nadejda Hadjivu. The young entrepreneur, founder of the business Moft Dulce, came back to the Republic of Moldova after living in the United States of America for a while. That experience inspired her to establish her own enterprise in her home country. She produces peanut butter and healthy chocolate, which does not contain beet sugar, gluten or milk. When I came back to Moldova, I noticed that we dont have a large product assortment. There were just peanut butters containing palm oil, different additives and sugar. Thus, I started producing healthy sweets . I use healthy ingredients, stevia, coconut sugar, products recommended even to children. There are too many low quality food products on our local market, Nadejda says. Nadejda mostly uses local products, especially hazelnuts. Besides finding raw materials, she undertakes a lot of activities in her company. I use to buy hazelnuts from a woman who has ecological, very sweet peanuts. I import some cashew nuts and peanuts but the majority of products are local ones. (...) I undertake technological activities, being a production manager, a head of office and an accountant, tracking my business. As the workload increases, a young food technologist helps me. A while ago, we used to produce 50-70 kilograms of peanut butter per hour but the new mill which was bought along with other equipment using the grant from ODIMM and UN Women, can produce up to a ton, she says. The young entrepreneur says that at the beginning she made a lot of mistakes, as she didnt have knowledge in business administration. Moreover, she had to make more effort to be taken seriously when she decided to start her business. I think 80% of my actions were wrong. I started working without necessary knowledge and I learned from my mistakes. I have burned over 100 kilograms of nuts while testing. Many people dont take you seriously when you are young, especially when you need to have an official business. It is necessary to be very persistent, and follow your dreams. At the beginning, many people said that it is impossible, that we would close our business but its been a year, Nadejda said. At last, the entrepreneur says that she has the ambition to reach the Romanian market. She believes it is achievable, as she has analyzed the experiences of other local business which managed to do this. Victoria Sobol is another young entrepreneur running a family beekeeping business. Besides promoting a healthy lifestyle, she wants to contribute to mental wellbeing of people who visit the resting place from Bravicea village, Calarasi district. An innovation promoted by Stupina Codrilor, the business managed by Victoria, is buzzing therapy, which, according to her, has a beneficial impact on the mental wellbeing. We started this activity together with my husband who was a student at the department of apiculture, and myself at the department of finance and economics. We decided to start a business with the aim to have a resting place for people interested in bees activities and life. We wanted them to have excursions outdoors, to taste agricultural products, to learn about their benefits, and to undertake buzzing therapy tested by a few entrepreneurs from the Republic of Moldova. It is a successful one, and we decided to start such a business, especially because we have a very good environment for bee development, the entrepreneur says. The business managed by Victoria and her husband is a complex one. Besides buzzing therapy, we have accommodation places for our visitors and excursions to apiary with protection equipment. We explore the hives together, and if there is some honey, we extract it together, testing the products we have besides honey. Also, we have little houses for apitherapy. There are places for 2 people who lie down on the bee bed and get relaxed in those little houses. It is a very important moment to forget about all worries, letting the vibrations created by bee buzzing to work on our health and nervous system, as we are all having a stressful period, full of worries. Victoria and her husband work on equal terms. She said she was encouraged to continue, especially by grant opportunities. People often ask me how difficult is it to work in an apiary as a woman. I prove every day that a woman can be a beekeeper. We hope to employ more people in the future and extend our business. I should come to fairs and excursions. Sometimes it is quite difficult to manage our time but we try to. We equally share our responsibilities with my husband. We dont get bored. We both are excited, Victoria said. The young entrepreneurs are beneficiaries of the UN Womens regional project Responding to the urgent needs of women and girls in marginalized and vulnerable situation exacerbated by COVID-19 in Europe and Central Asia (June 2020 to May 2021), implemented by ODIMM and the financial support of Japan. Svetlana Andries, Programme Specialist UN Women Moldova, mentioned: Women Economic Empowerment is among the main priority areas of the UN Women work in Moldova as parity is yet to be achieved in the labor market and in the number of women in business. Support women in business and potential entrepreneurs by offering them access to proper education, peer-to-peer support and financial resources is of great need, especially if those women come from an underrepresented group. By joining our forces with ODIMM (SMES development organization) and devoting adequate resources for womens economic empowerment, including through topping up the national financing for development mechanisms, we can make substantive changes in womens lives and contribute to the advancement of gender equality in the Republic of Moldova. According to a research conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics from the Republic of Moldova in 2018, supported by UN Women Moldova, UNDP Moldova and Sweden, the potential of women entrepreneurs is not harnessed, especially in the fields where women may come with technological innovations which could improve the way we develop the society, in all aspects of life. However, having ambitions to develop and be well-known on local and international market, women who decide to enter this field are sure that efforts made by them are essential for the development of local and national economy.On the 19th anniversary of the day India defeated Pakistan to recapture the Kargil peaks, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday paid floral tributes to the martyrs of the Kargil war and remembered their sacrifices in the line of duty.

Adityanath, also met the family members of the soldiers of both the Kargil war and the Kakori episode and assured them that the government is with them always.

He also exhorted all municipal corporations of the state to ensure that one park is named after a martyr.

At a function to mark the victory in the Kargil war, he said that these bravehearts will be an inspiration to many generations to come and exhorted every Indian to be patriotic and prepared to serve the nation in whatever capacity one can.

"It was this day of July in 1999 that the brave soldiers of India chased the Pakistani aggressors out of the country and hoisted the victory flag" the chief minister added. The day, he added, was symbolic of the valour, bravery and courage of India and urged the young generation to redeem the pledge of safeguarding the motherland when required.

Addressing the event, deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma called for having the inspirational stories of these brave soldiers in the educational curriculum so that the patriotic fervour in the students is reinforced at a formative stage.

--IANS

md/anp/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Haryana government on Thursday said Rakbar Khan alias Akbar from Nuh district of the state fell victim to mob lynching in Rajasthan "on mere suspicion of cow smuggling" and announced a total aid of Rs 8 lakh to the next of kin.

Rakbar was a native of Kaul village in Ferozepur Jhirka area of Haryana.

"Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal has announced a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to Rakbar's family who was lynched in Alwar on mere suspicion of cow smuggling," a government statement said.

It said that Haryana Waqf Board Chairman Raheesha Khan has announced assistance of Rs 3 lakh to the family.

"Thus, Rs 8 lakh in total will be provided as assistance by the government."

Rakbar Khan is survived by his wife, four daughters and three sons.

--IANS

vg/tsb/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The 19th commemoration anniversary of 'Kargil Vijay Diwas' was observed by the army on Thursday in Drass town of Jammu and Kashmir's Ladakh region, a defence official said.

A solemn wreath laying ceremony at the Kargil War Memorial was led by Northern Command chief, Lt Gen. Ranbir Singh, said Defence Ministry spokesman, Col Rajesh Kalia, adding gallantry award winners, next of kin of the martyrs, including "Veer Naris", senior army officers and civil dignitaries also paid tributes

"This was followed by a pledge taken by all Service personnel at the function to re-dedicate themselves to the service of the Nation.

"The sombre mood at the ceremony brought home memories of the losses borne so proudly by the martyrs' families. Many in the audience were moved to tears when the buglers played the poignant tune of 'The Last Post' after the wreath laying.

"The event was celebrated with full military decorum and solemnity," he added.

Kalia also said that the Army commander, while talking to the media, thanked them for participating in the event and said that the commemoration is "the Army's modest homage to the martyrs and a way of remembering the contribution of the units and formations in the conflict that gave India its finest victory in recent times".

--IANS

sq/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The West Bengal Assembly on Thursday gave its approval to the Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill, 2018, which keeps the Chief Minister beyond its ambit with regard to allegations of corruption in matters concerned with public order.

According to the legislation, the Lokayukta can investigate allegations of corruption against the Chief Minister on 58 of the 59 subjects on the state list, but only after a nod by two-third members of the House present and voting.

Just before the Bill was passed, ruling Trinamool Congress legislator Tapas Roy moved the amendment - which was passed by the House - adding the clause about the Lokayukta needing the pre-approval of the House to start an investigation on corruption allegations against the chief minister.

The debate was heated, with the opposition resenting the two clauses - the Chief Minister being kept outside the purview of the Lokayukta on matters of public order and the pre-requisite for the Lokayukta to get the approval of two-third members of the House present and voting before starting a probe into allegations against the Chief Minister on other matters.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, however, claimed that she had given the people the right to question her credibility.

Alleged that the opposition and a section of the media were creating confusion by claiming that the Chief Minister has been kept entirely outside the purview of the Lokayukta bill, she said exclusion of the office of the Chief Minister on maters of public order only pertained to police recruitment, force deployment and any other emergency situation.

"Other subjects in the state list are within the ambit of the Lokayukta. I feel credentials are the biggest assets of a politician. Let the people of the state judge my credentials," she said.

The legislation claimed that the clauses related to excluding the Chief Minister were in line with the provisions under section 41 (1) (a) of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 passed by parliament. The particular section of the Central Act refers to excluding Prime Minister from the purview of investigation of Lokpal.

The Bill passed by the assembly on Thursday also includes a provision that approval of the state government would be needed for investigating a complaint against a public servant.

Leader of the Left Front legislature party Sujan Chakraborty alleged that the amendments have diluted the powers of the Lokayukta.

The Bill was later passed by voice vote.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Thursday reported a 74 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit for the April-June quarter 2018-19 on a year-on-year basis.

Its net profit for the first quarter (Q1) of 2018-19 stood at Rs 97.3 crore, down from Rs 367.3 crore reported in the corresponding period of 2017-18, Bharti Airtel said in a statement.

The company reported a total revenue of Rs 20,080 crore for the period under review, nine per cent lower than 21,958.1 crore earned in the Q1 of FY18, it said.

Although its revenue from India and the South Asian region declined by 13.3 per cent to Rs 15,027.8 crore, the revenue from the Africa rose by around nine per cent to Rs 5,284.1 crore.

The company further said its total number of customers stands at 45.7 crore across 16 countries, up 21.2 per cent on a year-on-year basis, excluding divested units.

Commenting on the developments in the quarter ended June Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India and South Asia said: "The acquisition of Telenor's India unit was completed during the quarter, and I am delighted to welcome all the Telenor customers into the Airtel family. Industry pricing continues to remain untenable."

"However, led by our successful bundles, content partnerships and handset upgrade programs, our mobile data traffic surged 355 per cent on a YoY basis," Vittal added.

MD and CEO for the Africa region, Raghunath Mandava said: "With 4G services live across 9 countries and continuing up-gradation of capacities across the OPCOs (operating companies), we remain best placed to capture the ever growing data market. We have rolled out 1,000 broadband towers during the quarter."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The opposition in Bihar on Thursday demanded the resignation of Social Welfare Minister Kumari Manju Verma and the arrest of her husband in connection with the alleged rape of over 40 minor girls in a shelter home in Muzaffarpur district.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) along with the Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist (CPI-ML) members staged protests in and outside the state assembly, and raised slogans for the fourth consecutive day.

Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary adjourned the House till 2 p.m. following the disruption.

The RJD and CPI-ML legislators have demanded the resignation of Verma and her husband's arrest and have made it clear that they would not allow the House to function till it happens.

The opposition's demand comes following an allegation made by the wife of one of the accused who said her husband, a government official, was falsely implicated to shield the Verma's husband, who frequented the facility and spent "long hours in the girls' rooms" at the shelter home.

Shibha Kumari, wife of Muzaffarpur District Child Protection Officer Ravi Roshan, who was arrested a month ago, said that the Minister's husband's role must be probed.

Verma, however, has refuted the allegations against her husband. On Thursday, she said as the state government has recommended a CBI probe into the case, everything would be investigated and the guilty would be punished.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A bipartisan bill has been introduced in the American Congress that seeks to advance the US-India strategic partnership to a new level for collective military planning and maritime security framework, apparently to resist Chinese hegemony in the Indo-Pacific region.

The "United States-India Enhanced Cooperation Act of 2018" was moved by influential Congressman Joe Wilson (Republican), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on Wednesday. It has support from Congressman Ami Bera (Democrat) - the longest serving Indian-American in the Congress - and the House India Caucus Co-Chairs, Congressman George Holding (Republican) and Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (Democrat).

If enacted, the legislation would ensure that the US State Department treats India as a "Major Defence Partner" when it considers approval of defence sales to New Delhi.

Wilson's legislation builds upon India's Major Defence Partner status, which is currently limited to the Department of Defence's jurisdiction.

"The bill seeks to approve and facilitate the transfer of advanced technology and strategic capability...and supports combined military planning with India for missions such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, counter piracy, freedom of navigation and maritime domain awareness missions, and to promote weapons systems interoperability," according to its statement of policy.

It also reassures India that the US recognizes the importance of security of supply for major defence capabilities acquired from America and its industries, and "as such will endeavour to not disrupt such supply".

The bill also proposes collaboration with India in developing mutually agreeable mechanisms to verify the security of defence articles, defence services and related technology, such as appropriate cyber security and end use monitoring arrangements.

"It promotes policies that will encourage the efficient review and authorization of defence sales and export to India and to continue to enhance defence and security cooperation with India in order to advance US interests in the South Asia and greater Indo-Asia-Pacific regions."

"India is the world's largest democracy, a pillar of stability in the region, and has shown strong commitments to export control policies. This adjustment to US law will further allow the US-India partnership to flourish in line with our security commitment to the Indo-Pacific region," Wilson said in his statement.

He said the relationship with India remained "a cornerstone of security in the Indo-Pacific region" and by designating India as a Major Defence Partner, "we can strengthen our alliance and enhance our defence and security cooperation with India".

He said the bill, if passed, will ensure that the US and India can address emerging common threats, support maritime security in the region and enhance military cooperation for joint exercises and humanitarian assistance.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Crime Investigating Department (CID) of the Jharkhand Police has served notice to 88 non-governmental organisations that received funds totalling Rs 265 crore in three years starting 2013, informed sources said on Thursday.

CID sources said the NGOs have been asked to explain whether they are registered under the relevant laws, details of office-bearers, sources of funds, including from abroad, and income and expenditure details of the last five years, among others.

The sources said that these NGOs had received Rs 265 crore between 2013 and 2016, following which the Special (Intelligence) Branch had expressed apprehensions in 2016 that foreign funds were being misused for religious conversions in the state.

The sources said that a probe was initiated following directions from the Home Ministry to the state government.

"The Ministry had received a complaint against these NGOs which were receiving funds from abroad. These NGOs allegedly did not file annual income tax returns and also hid their sources of income and expenditure," one source added.

The Additional Director General of Police (CID) is monitoring the probe.

The Ranchi police is already investigating the Missionaries of Charity after an uproar over the alleged sale of several newborns at its Ranchi shelter home.

On the other hand, Christian organisations have accused the state's Bharatiya Janata Party government of "harassing them by levelling false allegations".

The Jharkhand Police has recommended a CBI probe into the activities and funds received by the Missionaries of Charity and affiliated organisations. The Raghubar Das government is yet to take a decision.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Civil society groups on Thursday condemned passage of the Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill 2018 by the Lok Sabha and urged Rajya Sabha for a close examination of the legislation.

"Various civil society representatives, labour unions, sex workers, activists, legal experts and human rights groups have condemned the Bill saying it was passed without scrutiny and examination which it desperately needs ," said a joint statement.

"We urge members of the Rajya Sabha to ensure that the Bill is examined and evaluated and not hastily passed into law," said the group of NGOs.

The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Bill to prevent human trafficking, especially of women and children, and provide rehabilitation to the victims and prosecute offenders. The Bill was introduced by Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi.

"We fear that the proposed law would give even more power to the police and other law implementing agencies to harass the already vulnerable community of sex workers," All India Network of Sex Workers President Kusum said.

Kusum is, however, hopeful that the Rajya Sabha members would closely examine the bill that marks a new low in the country's legislative response to the weak and vulnerable sections of society.

The civil society groups said the Bill is replete with problems and adopts a flawed approach towards the problem of trafficking. They said the Bill should have been referred to a standing committee in Parliament like all other far-reaching bills are.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in persons, especially women and children, and the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery have expressed grave concerns about the Bill.

They said the Bill's focus on addressing trafficking from a criminal law perspective is not sufficiently complemented by a human-rights based and victim-centred approach, and this risks further harming the already vulnerable individuals.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Qatar is planning to launch a sugar processing plant at the latest by 2020 to strengthen its independence and prevent future sugar supply disruption after its neighbors, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bahrain plus Egypt, severed ties with the tiny gas-rich Gulf country.

The project, according to two sources quoted by Reuters, who asked not be named, will be having a production capacity of 110,000 tons of sugar a year, way beyond domestic demand estimated at 80,000 tons.

The refinery is expected to be erected next year or at the latest in 2020, a third source told the agency, adding that the plant will be located near Hamad port, 40 km south of Doha.

Qatar heavily depends on foreign food supply to feed its 2.7 million population. The supplies in June last year were severely disrupted after the quartet cut off ties with Doha that they accuse of supporting terrorism.

Saudi Arabia and its allies imposed a sea, air and ground blockade on the emirate.

The projected sugar refinery might likely bring in raw sugar from Brazil.

Qatar turned to India and other producers for its white sugar needs following the establishment of the blockade."The Ballad of Buster Scruggs", a Netflix Western anthology series of actors Western Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, has now turned into a feature-length movie.

The 132-minute film will debut in competition at the Venice Film Festival this year, before hitting theaters and premiering on Netflix just in time for the awards season, reports variety.com.

The Coens said in a statement: "We've always loved anthology movies, especially those films made in Italy in the Sixties which set side-by-side the work of different directors on a common theme."

Cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel shot the film with the Arri Alexa camera, making "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" the Coens' first-ever digital photography production.

Joel and Ethan Coen have each been nominated for 14 Academy Awards. They collectively won the original screenplay Oscar for 1996's "Fargo" and the best picture, director and adapted screenplay prizes for 2007's "No Country for Old Men."

The 75th annual Venice Film Festival will take place from August 29 till September 8.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Congress on Thursday slammed the government over appointment of Justice A. K. Goel as National Green Tribunal Chairman after his retirement as a Supreme Court judge.

Raising the matter in the Lok Sabha, party member Suresh said the "entire Dalit community has expressed concern over the wrong message sent by the appointment."

Justice Goel had headed the Supreme Court bench which delivered the judgment forbidding immediate arrest under Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and Congress and some other parties have alleged that the judgement has "diluted" the Act.

Suresh said the Dalit community is demanding Justice Goel's immediate removal from the Chairmanship of NGT, adding SC/ST members in the ruling National Democratic Alliance had also expressed their concern and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan had written a letter to Home Minister Rajnath Singh in this connection.

He said Dalits in different parts of the country had protested against the judgment.

Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said the retired judge's appointment to NGT indicated that the government supported his judgment.

Justice Goel was earlier this month appointed theChairperson of the National Green Tribunal hours after he retired from the Supreme Court.

Congress members also raised the issue of a UGC circular which mentioned that the numbers of the reserved faculty posts across universities will be calculated department-wise and not on the aggregate vacant posts in a university, and said it will adversely affect the weaker sections.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said that vacancies were not being filed based on the circular and a Special Leave Petition had been filed in the Supreme Court.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday questioned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's silence on the death of three minor girls due to "starvation" and said a government like this should be ousted.

Delhi BJP President Manoj Tiwari said they have also written to President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, requesting them to dismiss the government.

"The death of three kids have shocked us and this incident has happened in the constituency of Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia," the BJP leader told the media here. He was accompanied by East Delhi BJP MP Maheish Girri while addressing the media.

Hitting out at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the national capital, Tiwari said that Sisodia has not visited the family members yet.

Questioning the silence of Kejriwal, Tiwari said: "Kejriwal, who keeps on commenting on the issues of country and the world, has not spoken a single word on the death of three kids."

Slamming the city government, Tiwari, who represents the Northeast Delhi constituency in Parliament, said: "Under the Right to Food Act, the Centre allots food to every state so that no one dies due to hunger. But in the national capital three kids have died due to hunger."

"This is an inhuman incident for us. The Delhi government did nothing on the complaint of fake ration cards. The ration meant for the poor is going to the ration mafias," he alleged.

The BJP leader said that he is not doing "politics" on the death and neither intends to join a "blame game". "We are raising this issue so that the poor get justice," he said.

He also alleged that ration card was not provided to the family. "Sisodiaji talks about door-to-door delivery of ration, but the fact is that bribe is demanded from the people for issuing ration cards," he said.

"The government responsible for the death of three children has no right to remain in power. Earlier, people in Delhi died over the issue of water scarcity, and now we are seeing that people are dying without food."

Slamming Sisodia, East Delhi MP Girri said that he is saying a white lie in the social media to hide his government's failures and demanded removal of the government.

"The Deputy Chief Minister is speaking a white lie in Twitter that the family came to the area two days ago," Girri said.

He also said that he has written to the PM, President and the LG demanding removal of the AAP government in the city.

Hitting out at the Mohalla Clinics of the AAP government, which provided medicines to the two girls, Girri saad: "It should also be probed as to what medicines were given to the girls, and how the medicine was allowed to be given when the girls had not eaten anything."

Three sisters -- aged two, four and eight -- were found unconscious in their one-room house in east Delhi's Mandawali area on Tuesday. The Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Hospital authorities said the children were brought dead.

An autopsy at the LBS Hospital on Wednesday suggested that starvation "appears" to be the cause of their death. The Delhi government has ordered a magisterial probe into the deaths.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A group of Democratic lawmakers has urged the Donald Trump administration to reunite the thousands of migrant children separated from their parents at the border with their parents.

"The American Academy of Pediatrics tells us what's happened to these kids... is institutional child abuse, at the hands of our government," said Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, the second highest lawmaker within his party in the upper house, at a press conference on Wednesday, Efe news reported.

The Democrats requested the US President to renunite the migrant kids with parents within 24 hours (July 26), when the deadline set by a federal judge expires.

"The bottom line is this: this is a disgraceful chapter in our history, and we're only coming to the end because of a federal judge (and a court order). There are lives that will be harmed and changed forever because of this zero tolerance policy," said Durbin.

The practice "doesn't reflect the values of the American people. The American people are caring people. They do not want children to be victims of this type of political exploitation," he added.

However, Durbin and his colleagues said they regretted the fact that the Trump administration "will not comply" with the deadline, given that - on Wednesday there are "about 2,000" children who are being held apart from their parents due to the US government's zero tolerance policy on illegal immigration.

Durbin called the situation a mixture of "toxic cruelty" and "incompetence".

To date, the US government has reunited with their parents just 58 of the 103 children under age 5 who had been removed from their parents' custody after they illegally crossed the US border, according to figures provided by Democratic lawmaker Yvette Clarke at the same press conference.

Besides criticizing the slowness of the process of reuniting the kids and their parents, Democrats derided some of the conditions under which the parents and children are being held at detention centres.

"These centres are not federal property, but rather are private. That means that they want to maximise their profits at all costs," Congressman Luis Gutierrez told Efe news.

Among other things, the lawmakers criticised the fact that the parents are being forced to pay $8 for a telephone call if they want to speak with their children.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Director-producer Karan Johar who is happy with the success of his recently-released film "Dhadak", on Thursday praised filmmaker Shashank Khaitan saying that this is the best film that he has directed till date.

Johar was interacting with media at success meet of "Dhadak" along with film's actors Ishaan Khatter, Janhvi Kapoor and director Khaitan.

Asked what was his reaction after watching "Dhadak", he said: "When Shashank told me that he wants to remake (Marathi film) 'Sairat', I was bit scared because that film has its own individuality. The kind of tone that filmmaker (Nagraj Manjule) has been able to hold is very difficult to capture but confidence of Shashank is very infectious so, when we decided to make the film, I know it had to be with new talent.

"When I saw end of 'Dhadak', it made me shake a little bit but when I again watched it, I felt Shashank has done an exceptional job in adapting the source material."

Praising Khaitan further, Johar added: "He has taken lot of sequences from the original one but he made a new film and characters for pan India audience. It his third film as a director but in all three films that Shashank made, I think 'Dhadak' is his best film directorially.

"There are certain scenes where he has tried to take extra pauses and also added energy from his side. He has been very graphic, intelligent, strategic & emotional. As a director myself, I feel this combination is very rare to achieve so, I am very proud of him."

Asked whether he was nervous when his production house decided to remake the Marathi film in Hindi, Johar said: "I wasn't nervous, I was petrified and I still am because I think every time, you touch piece of art and recreate or adapt it, there is always monumental fear but I never looked at it like that. I have always said that this film is not anywhere meant to be compared with 'Sairat'.

"It's fan boy's homage to original source material so, if making 'Dhadak' is wrong, then every fan in the world is also wrong who appreciate great piece of art. In fact, I see so many people going back to watch 'Sairat' after they have seen 'Dhadak' and that is an achievement of homage. You cannot ever compete with brilliance of that filmmaker because he conceived it, wrote it and executed it so, we are just big fan of that film."

"Dhadak" has managed to mint a total of RS. 48.01 crore at the end of 6th day since its release and is expected to cross Rs 50 crore mark soon.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Amidst speculation on the fate of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, a group of six Independent legislators on Thursday came out solidly in his support, warning the Bharatiya Janata Party against a leadership change in the state.

"In case the decides to remove Fadnavis, we shall withdraw support to the state government," the leader of the Independent legislators group Ravi Rana told media persons here.

On Wednesday, MP Sanjay Raut created a flutter by claiming that the top leadership was contemplating replacing Fadnavis in the wake of the violent Maratha quota stir which rocked the state since the past three days.

However, several senior state leaders and ministers promptly dismissed Raut's contentions as "rumour-mongering" even as the government came under severe fire from its ally Shiv Sena, the opposition Congress, Nationalist Party (NCP) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) for its failure to tackle the Maratha reservations issue.

"The CM is committed to giving reservations to the Maratha community. We shall not allow him to be replaceda If the BJP attempts to remove him, we shall pull our support to the government," said Rana.

Adding a new dimension to the ongoing political row, Women and Child Welfare Minister Pankaja Munde on Thursday said that "if the Maratha reservations file had come to my table, I would have cleared without a moment's delay".

Meeting a group of Marathas agitating in her home town Beed, she expressed her complete support to the community's demands, but said the delay was because the matter is currently sub-judice.

"I am fully behind the Maratha community. I shall act as your ambassador and if required, I shall approach the CM and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for your cause," she assured them.

Munde promised to take up the demand for a special legislature session to discuss the Maratha quotas issue with Fadnavis and also dealing leniently with the innocent protestors.

Meanwhile, at least four more legislators - two from BJP, one each from and Nationalist Party - have offered to quit their seats in support of the Maratha reservations.

On Wednesday, two MLAs  one from and one from NCP  had resigned from their seats to build pressure on the government to resolve the issue.Armed with a favourable order from the Competition Commission of India (CCI), two chess players -- Karun Duggal and Gurpreet Pal Singh -- are gearing up to file a case against the All India Chess Federation (AICF) for compensation.

"We will be filing a case claiming Rs 50 lakh as compensation for the sufferings, loss of reputation, loss of opportunities," Duggal told IANS.

The complaint against the AICF was that it had not allowed players to participate in events not authorised by the federation. The players had also complained to the CCI that their Elo rating points were removed by AICF without giving any prior notice for participating in a chess tournament sponsored by the Chess Association of India (CAI) in 2010. The tournament was not authorised by AICF.

For chess players, gaining Elo points is a tough task as they have to play in several rated chess tournaments to improve their points.

The CCI held in its July 12 ruling that the undertaking prescribed by AICF for players regarding non-participation in events not authorised by it amounted to "restraints" and violative of the Copetition Act of 2002.

AICF is said to be mulling an appeal against the CCI order.

Singh told IANS that like a King caught in the centre of the chessboard -- the CCI order had caught the AICF in the open. "Having one's rook on the seventh rank gives a player a positional advantage on the chess board. The CCI order has given us that advantage to press further."

He said there was nothing more left for them to lose. "But we would like to see that other players do not suffer in the future," he added.

Gurpreet, who as the National Junior Champion in 1994, was 37 with an Elo rating of 2,306 points at the time when his rating was revoked.

The 44-year-old Singh, who was employed by the Railways, said that "not being able to play even in the department tournaments was really hurting."

Duggal, a school teacher and twice Delhi State Rapid Chess champion, had an Elo rating of 1,979 points when they were revoked.

The complaint against AICF was filed by four chess players -- Singh, Duggal, Hemant Sharma and Devendra Bajpai -- alleging contravention of provisions of Sections 3 and 4 of the Competition Act.

The complainants also alleged that AICF had removed the ratings of 151 chess players on that ground.

"The AICF had banned about 2,500 chess players. Ratings of 151 players were revoked. Majority of the 2,500 players who were banned have quit chess," Duggal said.

In its order, the CCI directed AICF to lay down the process and parameters governing authorisation/sanctioning of chess tournaments. In doing so, AICF would have to ensure that the parameters were necessary to serve the interest of the sport and these shall be applied in a "fair, transparent and equitable manner".

AICF was also asked to take all possible measure(s) to ensure that competition was not impeded while preserving the objective of development of chess in the country.

According to the order, the AICF needs to establish the prejudice caused by a chess player, before taking any disciplinary action against the player.

The CCI order also asked AICF to review the disciplinary action taken against the four players who had complained.

Singh said perhaps this is the first time players had won a legal battle against AICF.

(Venkatachari Jagannathan can be contacted at v.jagannathan@ians.in)

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former nuns, who have quit the Catholic ministry, have given a clean chit to the Bishop, who has been accused of sexually abusing a Kerala nun, police said on Thursday.

According to the Kottayam Police probing the allegations, the few former nuns, who had worked under Franco Mulakkal, the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jalandhar (Punjab), have said that he is "not a trouble-maker".

The police team went to Bengaluru to take the statements from the former nuns.

The probe team has also sent a notice to a lady, presently based in north India to come forward, as she has complained against the nun who has levelled the allegation against Mulakkal.

These events have come as a huge relief for the bishop for the first time since the allegation was made.

The turnaround for the beleaguered bishop comes after former Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan on Tuesday wrote to state police chief Loknath Behra, demanding Mulakkal's arrest.

Achuthanandan had also handed over a detailed statement supporting evidences from the father of the nun who has suffered at the hands of Mulakkal.

This new development in the case has come after the police stepped up protection to the convent near Kottayam, which is home to the nun, who had alleged that she was sexually abused by Mulakkal.

Seven time legislator P.C. George also expressed doubts on the veracity of the allegations against the Bishop.

"What surprises me is as per statements she says that she was abused 13 times before and now she has complained. This is something baffling. Let us wait for the complete truth to unfold," said George, also a Catholic.

For Mulakkal, trouble started in June when the nun alleged that she was sexually abused by him several times between 2014 and 2016.

An FIR was registered against the bishop and a 114-page detailed statement was taken from the nun and other inmates of the convent at Kuruvalangadu. She alleged that the abuse took place at the convent.

Mulakkal maintains that he has done no wrong.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday apologised to Guna MP Jyotiraditya Scindia in the Lok Sabha after he said he was not invited to an official function in his constituency in Madhya Pradesh and that his name was missing from the plaque.

The foundation-laying ceremony of the Rs 3,900-crore Shivpuri-Devas four-lane project was held on July 23.

As the Zero Hour started, Scindia said: "The local MPs should be invited for such programmes as per the protocol. But if the rules would be flouted and local MPs are insulted, then I am moving a privilege motion."

He said he wanted to move a privilege motion against the Chief Minister (Shivraj Singh Chouhan).

In reply, the Minister for Road Transport and Highways apologised since the function was organised by his Ministry, and admitted that it should not have happened. He also said that he has inquired into the matter and found it to be true.

"I am aware of this and since I was present there (at the inauguration), I should be held responsible. The parliamentarian's name should have been there. This was a mistake. I apologise on behalf of everybody and this will not happen again," said Gadkari.

A war of words ensued between Scindia, supported by Congress MP K.C. Venugopal, and BJP MPs Ganesh Singh (Satna, Madhya Pradesh) and Narendra Singh Tomar, who is the Rural Development Minister.

Scindia was not satisfied with the reply and said that interests of the members of Parliament should be protected and action taken against those responsible for the mistake since it was a matter of breach of privilege of the lawmaker.

Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said that MPs should not be treated in this manner. Kharge demanded that the Speaker should give an instruction that the MPs should be invited for official functions.

Replying to him the Speaker said: "The government has already instructed that the MPs should be invited for official functions in their constituencies. But, wherever this is not happening, they should be invited."

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan had to intervene as Scindia was not ready to relent. "Do I have to apologise? If you don't allow me to speak, how will I give protection? Should I use a stick to provide protection?"

"I appreciate that Gadkariji showed greatness in tendering an apology but this should not be the conduct on the other side."

"This is not how one should conduct (in the house). This is not a good attitude," said Mahajan.

Tomar said that the matter should not be politicised as the Minister had apologised.

"It is wrong not to invite the Congress MP, but during the UPA rule, BJP MPs were not invited to such events. Which BJP MP was invited during UPA rule? when Gadkariji has apologised, this should be a closed chapter now," said Tomar.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Months after Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's pre-election overtures to Karnataka BJP leader B.S. Yeddyurappa, expressing willingness to work out an amicable settlement to the Mhadei river water issue, Goa's Water Resources Minister Vinod Palienkar told the state assembly that no agreement or negotiation has taken place with the neighbouring state.

"The government of Goa has not agreed or has not negotiated with the state of Karnataka on sharing the water of Mhadei river," Palienkar said in a written reply tabled during the ongoing monsoon session of the Goa Legislative Assembly.

In the run-up to the recent Karnataka state assembly polls, Parrikar in a letter to Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s chief ministerial candidate had said: "Government of Goa is willing to consider the request to work out an amicable settlement strictly restricted to drinking water only to the drought-prone areas."

The comment had triggered a furore in Goa, with the opposition accusing Parrikar of selling out the interests of the state for political purposes, even as Parrikar had maintained that those who believed that Goa would not have to share the Mhadei river water with Karnataka, were living in "fool's paradise".

BJP national President Amit Shah, while campaigning in Karnataka, had also promised to divert the Mhadei river water to Karnataka six months after polls results were elected, if the BJP won the assembly election.

Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra are currently battling a dispute over the controversial Kalsa-Bhandura Dam project across the Mhadei river at a central tribunal.

Mhadei also known as the Mandovi river, is known as a lifeline in the northern parts of the State. It originates in Karnataka and meets the Arabian Sea in Panaji in Goa, while briefly flowing through the territory of Maharashtra. While 78 per cent of the basin of the Mhadei river lies in Goa, 42.79 per cent of the basin is located in Karnataka and a small portion comes under Maharashtra.

Karnataka also aims to build seven dams at various points along the river, including at Kalsa village, with an objective to divert the flow into what it claims is the water-starved Malaprabha basin in north Karnataka. The state has demanded that Goa allow the transfer of over seven TMC water to tide over its irrigation and drinking water needs.

Diversion of the water was one of key issues in the north Karnataka region during the recently concluded assembly election.

On Wednesday, the Goa government claimed that Karnataka had removed two out of the three blockades on water diversion conduits built illegally by the Karnataka government along the Mhadei river, and that the water is already being diverted from the Mhadei river to the Malaprabha river basin in the southern state.

--IANS

maya/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Head of the Iranian Revolution Guards Wednesday indicated that US threats to thwart Irans oil exports to its buyers will be easily answered.

If the current capabilities of the Revolutionary Guards  reaches the ears of the adventure-seeking president of America, he will never make this kind of mistake and will reach the understanding that an oil threat can be easily answered,

Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari said, according to the Tasnim agency.

Jafari did not disclose how Iran might respond to the US threats.

The United States after walking away from the 2015 nuclear pact signed between Iran and world powers, has urged allies to cease buying oil from Iran by November. President Donald Trump also urged OPEC and its member country Saudi Arabia to increase oil production to make up for the shortage likely to be caused by the absence of the Iranian oil on the international market.

Jafari, early this month, reportedly indicated that his forces could block sea traffic in the Strait of Hormuz in response to the US aggressive campaign aiming at isolating Iran and drying out its money resources.

The threats by Jafari prompted a quick reaction by China, which called Tehran to promote peace and stability in the region and around the Strait, the main route of oil shipments.

Both Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani have floated counter-actions in case Irans oil exports are blocked.Goa-based writer Damodar Mauzo has been provided police security following threat to his life in view of revelations made by those arrested in the murder case of activist-journalist Gauri Lankesh, police sources said on Thursday.

"The lead about a possible threat to the life of Mauzo came during the interrogation of the alleged killers of Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru," the sources said. Director General of Police Muktesh Chander, however, refused to comment.

The award-winning Konkani writer and progressive thinker Mauzo confirmed to IANS that round-the-clock security was provided to him after he was informed by a central intelligence agency about threat to his life.

"No bullet can defeat a thought," Mauzo said.

The writer said that he had initially declined security when offered earlier this week, but top police officials insisted on providing him with police guards.

"I have not received a death threat personally. But I was told by certain agencies that there is a threat to my life," he said.

The writer is a part of a writers collective known for "progressive" ideology.

The sources said the security detail was allotted to Mauzo in view of fatal attacks on writers and rationalists like Govind Pansare, M.M. Kalburgi, Narayan Dabolkar and Gauri Lankesh. Lankesh was shot dead on September 5, 2017, in Bengaluru in Karnataka.

Mauzo, who writes in Konkani, was awarded the Sahitya Akademi award for his novel 'Karmelin' in 1983.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)To increase the footfall of tourists in the state, the Gujarat government on Thursday decided to upgrade its infrastructure related to Mahatama Gandhi.

The decision to revamp the present infrastructure related to Mahatma Gandhi was taken during a high level meeting led by the Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani at the Mahatma Mandir, here.

As the Gujarat government looks forward to the celebration of Mahatma Gandhi's 150th birth anniversary on October 2, Rupani said the state government will be planning a series of programmes throughout the year. "Programmes with people's participation to inspire them with Gandhian philosophy are being also being planned."

"Although, the 150th anniversary celebrations will be a nationwide event, but being a birth state of the Mahatma Gandhi, Gujarat's share will have to be a significant one," Rupani is said to have told the reporters.

To make the celebrations more effective and purposeful, the state government will also invite institutions and organisations related to Mahatma Gandhi to become partners in the event. The government has also sought creative suggestions from people to make the event grand.

Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, officials of the state government and representatives of Gandhian and spiritual organisations attended the meeting. Suggestions were made to prepare programmes to attract youth towards Gandhian values, thinking and simplicity.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Thursday called a 12-hour nationwide strike on Saturday (July 28) to protest against the "anti democratic and anti poor" National Medical Commission Bill, 2017.

"IMA, fully conscious of its responsibility towards the generations of doctors to come, is withdrawing non-emergency medical services across the country on Saturday, July 28, 2018 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.," it said in a release.

Terming it a "Dhikkar Diwas" (shameful day), the IMA, whose website says it has more than 2,15,000 doctors as members, said the government is going ahead with the enactment of the Bill despite deep resentment and opposition by medical professionals.

On Saturday, all non-emergency services including OPD would remain closed for the 12 hours. However, critical services including deliveries, emergencies and in-patient care would be provided, the doctors' association said.

"We are left with no choice but to resist the move with determination and resolve ... Withdrawal of non-emergency services for 12 hours is only a token of our resistance," it said hinting at a bigger action later to defend the autonomy of medical profession.

IMA National President Ravi Wankhedkar said they have made the world know of their opposition still the government is proceeding to decide how the medical profession of the country will be governed, which is completely unacceptable.

IMA said it has extended its support to Ayushman Bharat despite its legitimate concerns on package rates.

"The Bill has a draconian character which will cause irreparable damage to the interests of all the stakeholders and would reduce down regulatory mechanism to a puppetry with its strings attached to the government," the release said.

--IANS

mgu/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)As early results showed the victory of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in the general elections, PTI chairman Imran Khan summoned his party leaders on Thursday for consultations at his residence in Bani Gala.

According to the sources in the know of the development, the party leaders will discuss and decide the strategies for forming a government.

Khan is expected to ask his party leaders to contact independent candidates from across the Punjab and enlist their support. The meeting will formulate a strategy to counter opponent's allegation that the elections were rigged.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has rejected the results citing outright rigging.

Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) denied the allegations, asserting that the elections were "100 per cent fair and transparent."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India and China reiterated their commitment to maintain peace and tranquility along their border by enhancing communications between their militaries during a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the annual BRICS Summit here.

"Both leaders have reaffirmed once again their readiness to give their militaries the necessary directions to enhance communications between them and to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas," Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said at a media briefing here on Thursday evening.

Indian and Chinese troops were in a face-off position for over two months on the Doklam plateau at the India-Bhutan-China tri-junction last year.

The stand-off began in June when Indian troops stalled a road building by the Chinese Army in the area, citing the disputed status of the region and its close proximity to India's artery in the northeast.

New Delhi objected to Chinese road building in Doklam because of the disputed status and its proximity to the Siliguri Corridor which links India's northeast to the rest of the country.

The stand-off ended in August after both sides retreated from the point of the face-off.

Thursday's meeting was the third between Modi and Xi after their informal meeting in Wuhan, China, in April initiated by Xi, and on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Summit (SCO) last month.

During the Wuhan meet, both Modi and Xi pledged to keep the India-China border quiet and personally guide their respective armies to avert a Doklam-like military stand-off in future.

According to Gokhale, during the meeting in Johannesburg, both sides saw "forward movement in the sense of delegations going to have specific talks on imports by China".

He said that a delegation representing the Indian pharmaceutical industry will visit China on August 21-22.

Beijing had given approval to import of generic Indian cancer-treatment drugs earlier this year.

"In addition, a number of Indian mills in the non-Basmati rice sector have been cleared by a Chinese delegation on the grounds of phyosanitary and quarantine requirement," the Indian Foreign Secretary said.

Following the Modi-Xi meeting in Qingdao, the 2006 Protocol on phytosanitary requirements for exporting rice from India to China was amended to include the export of non-Basmati varieties of rice from India.

Gokhale described the bilateral meeting as "very productive".

"The two leaders will meet again on the margins of the G20 Summit in Argentina at the end of this year," he added.

Modi and Xi earlier in the day participated in the 10th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit here.

--IANS

ab/qd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India and South Africa signed three agreements, including in the areas of agriculture and space cooperation, following bilateral talks between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on the sidelines of the annual BRICS Summit here.

Addressing the media here on Thursday evening, Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said that both leaders expressed satisfaction at the growth of bilateral trade.

India-South Africa trade stood at a little over $4.1 billion till the end of August last year.

"Among the areas the Prime Minister said the South African companies should be exploring in India are defence, food processing and health insurance," Gokhale said.

The two sides signed three agreements on cooperation in exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, setting up of Mahatma Gandhi-Nelson Mandela Centre of specialisation for artisan skills, and agricultural research and education.

This was Modi's first meeting with Ramaphosa after the latter assumed office in February this year.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that India will work with other member states of the BRICS economic bloc to prepare for the Fourth Industrial Revolution while reiterating India's commitment to multilateralism, international trade and rule-based world order.

Addressing the plenary session of the 10th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit here, Modi said that everybody knows the importance of working together to fight the challenges thrown up by cyber security.

"Industry 4.0 will further increase these challenges and needs," he said.

"India will like to work with the BRICS on the issue of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We need to together prepare best practices and policies in this connection."

Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum Klaus Schwab is credited with coining the term Fourth Industrial Revolution for having written a book by the same name.

It is the fourth major industrial era since the initial Industrial Revolution of the 18th century and is characterised by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.

It is marked by emerging technology breakthroughs in a number of fields, including robotics, artificial intelligence, block chain, nanotechnology, quantum computing, biotechnology, the Internet of Things, 3D printing and autonomous vehicles.

"Keeping in mind the importance the changes in technology taking place these days and in the future have for BRICS nations as well as the whole world, I would like to suggest to our ministers discuss this issue in detail," Modi said.

"And if need be, take the help of experts as required."

According to Modi, the world that is being created by new industrial technology and digital interface offers opportunities as well as challenges.

"New systems and products will open new roads for economic development," he said.

"People and human values are of utmost importance in development and progress."

Stating that Industry 4.0 will make the world flatter, the Prime Minister said that many deprived classes will be able to make big leaps with the help of technology and development.

At the same time, he said it is difficult to say what effect this will have amid growing inequalities, a fast changing society and human values.

"In the Fourth Industrial Revolution, talent will become more important than money," Modi stated.

"The new face of employment will be high skilled but temporary jobs," he said.

He was of the view that digital platforms, automation and data flows will reduce the importance of geographical distances.

"When digital platforms, e-commerce and and marketplaces will get linked with such technologies, a new kind of industry and business leaders will surface," he said.

Stating that the type and opportunities for employment will be an important issue, Modi said that though traditional manufacturing will continue to be an important means of job creation, it will become extremely important for workers to enhance their skills.

He was of the view that school and university curricula must be prepared in such a way that the youth can prepare for the future and said that it must be ensured that the changes in technology find place in such curricula.

"In India, because of this, the National Skill Development Mission has been started," the Prime Minister said.

"The intention is to impart to our youth relevant technical and vocational skills," he said, adding that his government is trying to ensure that quality technical, vocational and higher education is available to all sections of the society.

Modi also said that technological innovations can help in better service delivery, increase in productivity levels and better management of labour issues.

"In today's times, technology has become the biggest disruptor," he said. "The effects of Industry 4.0 just cannot be imagined.

Speaking on the occasion, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, host of this year's Summit, said that technology should not be allowed to change society.

"The needs of society should shape technologies," Ramaphosa said.

He also said that the Fourth Industrial Revolution should not be allowed to be the preserve of a handful of nations.

Prior to the plenary session, Modi attended the leaders' closed session of the Summit and presented the country statement of India.

"Reaffirming our commitment to reformed multilateralism, international trade and rules-based world order," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted referring to the statement.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Rome, July 26 (IANS/AKI) Drones will be deployed by Italy's Coastguard in its search and rescue operations aimed at saving boat migrants' lives in the Mediterranean, Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said on Thursday.

"Thanks to the patrol boat decree, coastguard will be able to use drones in monitoring, search and rescue operations.

"We will give new tools and more technology to enable our coastguard to save human lives and best carry out their many tasks," he tweeted.

A total of 1,492 migrants perished on the crossing from North Africa to Europe this year, and more than half these deaths occurred since June 1, according to the United Nations migration agency, the International Organisation for Migration.

A total of 564 boat migrants who attempted to cross from North Africa to Italy were reported drowned on missing in June while 3,136 arrived: a death rate of almost 18 percent, the IOM figures showed.

The number of deaths in the Central Mediterranean in June was the highest since 2014 and compares with 529 in June 2017: 2.4 percent of the 23,524 arrivals that month, according to the IOM data.

The sharp rise in deaths in the Mediterranean since June came as overall arrivals by sea to Europe almost halved this year to 53,269 from 110,603 last year, IOM reported.

Italy's populist government that took office on June 1 has taken a tough stance against boat migrants and has closed its ports to NGO and international rescue ships, turning away several, and has set a goal of zero arrivals.

Meanwhile Italy and Malta have scaled back their search and rescue operations in international waters leaving the European-trained Libyan coastguard to save migrants off Libya.

Italy also wants the rules of engagement for the European Union's Sofia anti-trafficking mission to changed so that migrants rescued by its vessels do not have to be taken to Italian ports.

--IANS/AKI

vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The controversy over granting 'Institute of Eminence' status to Jio Institute figured in the Rajya Sabha today as many members questioned the wisdom behind ranking the yet-to-come-up institute with the likes of IITs and others that have a proven record for decades.

Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar told the House that Jio Institute has "only been issued a letter of intent" and not given the tag of Institute of Eminence.

The Minister's statement failed to convince the opposition MPs with Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien saying that some media reports have linked the tag of eminence with electoral bonds (through which corporates and individuals can donate to political parties).

The Minister clarified that while the three public sector Institutes of Eminence -- IIT Delhi and Bombay and Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore -- would be given Rs 1,000 crore each, none of the private institutes would get any such funds.

"The government was not directly involved in the selection process and (monitored it) from an arm's length. The selection was done by an expert panel," Javadekar said.

Spelling out the process, he said the sponsoring organization of Jio Institute has proposed to set up the institution at Karjat, Maharashtra. The institution has been given Letter of Intent for setting up Institutions of Eminence Deemed to be University in the next three years, the minister said.

"The sponsoring organization will submit a report to the Ministry indicating its readiness for commencing academic programmes within three year of this Letter of Intent," Javadekar said.

"During this period, the proposed institution will not admit students. The students will only be admitted after the ministry isses a notification," he added.

"The Institutions were recommended and approved by the Empowered Expert Committee (EEC) and the University Grants Commission based on their detailed vision plan on how to meet the criteria for attaining the status of an Institution of Eminence," Javadekar said.

He informed the House that the UGC in its meeting held on July 9, 2018 considered and approved the EEC report and recommended IIT-Delhi, IIT- Bombay and IISc-Bangalore as Institutions of Eminence.

Also, it recommended for issuance of Letter of Intent to Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences (BITS), Pilani; Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal and Jio Institute under the greenfield category.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A post-election crisis looms large over Pakistan as mainstream political parties, apart from the PTI which is celebrating its success in the general election, voiced grave concerns over "systematic manipulation in compilation and announcement of results" by the polling staff.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif rejected all results as he cited complaints of irregularities from across the country.

Sharif in a midnight presser pointed out that other political parties too had raised similar objections.

He said that official results of all constituencies in Lahore had been held up while results of far-flung town and cities in Punjab had been announced.

The Election Commission, he claimed, had stopped issuing "Form 45" to PML-N polling agents, adding that they had all been evicted from booths before the counting process was initiated.

Form 45 is known as the statement of the count, according to the poll body. It is supposed to show the number of valid votes for each contesting candidate and ballot papers excluded from the count.

"This clearly amounts to rigging. People's mandate has been defiled... This is intolerable. Election laws are being blatantly violated all over the country," Sharif said, adding that the situation had forced him to reject the outcome of the 2018 general elections.

The democratic process in the country has been pushed back by almost three decades, he said, adding that he had convened the meeting of the PML-N's Central Executive Committee to discuss the emerging situation.

"PML-N will get in touch with all political parties who faced similar treatment on the poll day in a bid to chalk out a common strategy."

Former Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb alleged that PML-N's polling agents were evicted from polling stations in areas where the party's candidates held a clear lead.

Leaders of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) also raised their voice against what they termed "forcible expulsion" of the patry's polling agents during the process of vote counting.

They also complained that their representatives had not been provided certified copies of "Form 45".

Soon afterwards, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) made same allegations. Veteran leader Raza Rabbani said that some elements were trying to make elections controversial through undemocratic means to create an atmosphere of political confrontation.

"(Resorting to) such tactics will have grave repercussions," he said, adding the poll body should take notice of such widespread complaints.

Party leader Sherry Rehman said that all but one mainstream national party was being pushed against the proverbial wall.

Meanwhile, Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, spokesperson for PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, alleged that Bilawal's chief polling agent in Lyari had gone "missing".

Even the conglomerate of religio-political parties, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), and Tehreek Labaik Pakistan (TLP) cried foul.

Chief of TLP Khadim Rizvi called the 2018 general election "the most rigged in the country's history". He said that his party was consulting within its ranks and would soon make a decision in this regard.

Similar allegations were repeated by MMA. Its leader Shamsur Rehman Swati said that the Election Commission had failed in conducting transparent elections. He said presiding officers were refusing to hand over certified results to polling agents of the alliance.

--IANS

ahm/soni/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The United States decided to lift restrictions on $195 million military aid held last year over concern on Egypts poor human rights record, an official of the US State Department announced Wednesday.

The decision to allow Cairo to use the previously blocked funds is intended to recognize steps Egypt has taken over the last year in response to specific US concerns and in the spirit of strengthening the partnership with Egypt, the official said.

The Trump administration last year blocked $195 million of its military aid package to the Arab country citing failure by President Fattah al-Sisis government to make progress on respecting human rights and democratic norms.

Washington was irked after the parliament passed a bill that curbs the work of NGOs.

Motives behind the shift have not been disclosed but the official who spoke under condition of anonymity however said preservation of US security cooperation with Egypt, which includes countering militant groups, was part of the rationale for releasing the funds, Reuters reports.

We have serious concerns regarding human rights and governance in Egypt, and we will continue to use the many tools at our disposal to raise these concerns, the official said.

At the same time, strengthened security cooperation is important to US national security. Secretary Pompeo determined that releasing these funds is important to supporting these needs and continuing to improve our partnership with Egypt.

Egypt has scored poorly in the States Departments human rights report released in April. Washington has raised concerns over torture practices, limits on freedom of expression, government control over NGOs and the use of military courts to try civilians, Reuters recalled.

Under the military aid, known as Foreign Military Financing, Egypt will buy US-made military equipment.President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday paid homage to the martyrs of Kargil on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh also paid tribute to those who served the nation during Operation Vijay.

President Kovind said every Indian acknowledges the efforts and gallantry of India's armed forces.

"We salute the ultimate sacrifice of the martyrs of Kargil, and record our everlasting debt to their families," he tweeted.

Modi also tweeted: "On Kargil Vijay Diwas, a grateful nation pays homage to all those who served the nation during Operation Vijay. Our brave soldiers ensured that India remains protected and gave a befitting answer to those who tried to vitiate the atmosphere of peace."

Hailing former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he said, "India will always remember with pride, the outstanding political leadership provided by Atal ji during Operation Vijay. He led from the front, supported our armed forces and clearly articulated India's stand at the world stage."

Home Minister Rajnath Singh added: "On Kargil Vijay Diwas, we salute the unflinching courage and supreme sacrifice of all those soldiers who fought valiantly in 1999. Every Indian citizen is proud of their heroism and service to the nation."

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Supreme Court was told on Thursday that it could not interfere with the practice of prohibiting women in the age group of 10 to 50 years from entering in the Sabarimala temple where the idol of Lord Ayyappa is in a state of "Naishtika Brahmacharya" as it was an essential part of temple customs.

Naishtika Brahmacharya, the five judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, was told requires the Brahmachari to observe the vow of celibacy without any room for departure and deity too has rights under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Asserting the rights of the deity, advocate J. Sai Deepak, appearing for group "People for Dharma", told the constitution bench to balance the rights of one set of people who are advocating the entry of women of all age in the temple with that of others who want custom and tradition to be preserved.

Deepak told the court that barring women from entering Sabarimala temple is an essential part of customary practices of the temple and thus is protected by the Constitution.

Besides CJI Misra, other judges of the constitution bench are Justices Rohinton Fali Nariman, A.M. Khanwilkar, D.Y. Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra.

He said that there was no complete ban on the entry of women but only a restriction on women in the age group of 10 to 50 years from entering the temple and it could not be construed as discriminatory.

As Justice Chandrachud said that every custom and practice will have to be examined within the constitutional framework and constitutional morality, Deepak said in that case court will have to examine the evidence on theological grounds - a view the court did not share.

Apparently not persuaded about extending the Article 21 to the deity at Sabarimala temple, Chief Justice Misra said: "The framers of the Constitution envisioned that right under Article 21 for living human beings and not for a deity."

In an argument coupled with rhetoric, the court was told that the "political correctness or the claimed popularity or otherwise of a view cannot be the touchstones for testing the validity of the impugned religious practice".

"...if that were to be the case, the constitutionality of every religious practice would need to be determined by a public poll," Deepak said, adding that "clearly, that would be untenable, unreasonable and impermissible".

Tracing the roots of practice in religious, ritualistic, puranic and tantric aspects of Sabarimala temple, senior counsel K. P. Kylasanatha Pillay said that any encroachment would trample on the rights of the Sabarimala temple and that of the devotees.

Urging the court to hold its hand, he said that any interference by the top court or judicial review of the existing custom would lead to social tensions in Kerala.

"I don't want another Ayodhya (like situation) in Kerala," he told the constitution bench cautioning against the repercussion of interfering with practice.

Pillay had appeared for the Ayyappa devotees organizations - 'Kshetra Samrakshna Samiti', 'Mathru Samiti' and 'Ayyappa Seva Samajam'.

The constitution bench is hearing an October 13, 2017 reference by a three-judge bench which had framed four questions to be addressed by it, including whether excluding women (10-50 years) constitutes an essential religious practice and whether a religious institution can assert a claim in that regard under the umbrella of right to manage its own affairs in the matters of religion.

Besides, the court is examining whether the Ayyappa temple has a denominational character and if it was permissible for a religious denomination managed by a statutory board and funded by the Kerala and Tamil Nadu governments to indulge in practices violative of the constitutional principles.

The hearing will continue on July 31.

--IANS

pk/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who staged a stunning election upset earlier this year to return to power aged 92, has said he inherited a government riddled with corruption and untrustworthy officials.

"From outside we saw the damage, but we never expected the damage to be so extensive," Mahathir told CNN at his offices in Putrajaya, south of the capital.

"Most of the top echelons in the government are corrupt," he said in the interview to CNN published on Thursday.

Mahathir's predecessor and former protege Najib Razak has been charged with multiple counts of corruption for allegedly embezzling millions in public money from Malaysia's 1MDB fund.

"I have to work with some of those people who are suspect... It's a very difficult job, if you don't work with people you trust, you don't know whether what you want them to do will be done or not."

The CNN report also touched on succession plans after Mahathir steps down as Prime Minister.

Before the 14th General Election, Mahathir's Pakatan Harapan had announced that he would be Premier for two years before handing over the reins to Anwar Ibrahim.

Anwar, once considered a potential future leader, was jailed on charges of corruption and sodomy after falling out with the government. But Mahathir won the general election on a pledge of freeing him.

Anwar and Mahathir, former allies and then implacable foes, joined forces to oust the administration of Najib.

"If the condition for us working together is my serving as Prime Minister for two years or three years, for me that is not important. I will abide by the wishes of the people," Mahathir said.

In 1998, Mahathir sacked Anwar from the Cabinet over sodomy charges which triggered the formation of People's Justice Party and the Reformasi movement.

Despite the chequered history between the pair, Mahathir told CNN that his personal opinion about Anwar did not matter.

"I have to trust him - whether I like it or not. I can't be here all the time," he said, adding that if people wanted him to serve beyond the time agreed with his coalition partners, he would.

Mahathir also told CNN that the country's relationship with China has "always been friendly".

"There's a saying the powerful will take what they will, the weak will yield what they must," he said.

Mahathir added that although China-backed mega projects were welcomed in Malaysia, he cautioned against government or businesses relying on borrowing Chinese money.

Additionally, he also commented on US President Donald Trump's economic policies, saying that trade wars would do no good for the world.

--IANS

soni/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A man detonated a bomb on a street outside the US Embassy in Beijing on Thursday, rattling the diplomatically sensitive area in the capital.

The police identified the man as 26-year-old Jiang Moumou, who set off a device made from fireworks, injuring his hand. He hails from China's Inner Mongolia region.

"There was an explosion at approximately 1 p.m. on the street outside the South East corner of the Embassy compound," the US mission said in a statement.

"There was one individual who detonated a bomb. Other than the bomber, there were no injuries and there was no damage to Embassy property. The local police responded," it added.

The street in front of the Embassy, Tianze Road, which is also near the embassies of India and Israel, was closed for about an hour after the blast. Soon after the street reopened, a new line began to form outside the Embassy compound.

State media outlet Global Times tweeted that local residents had heard a "thunder-like bang". Video and images posted on social media showed smoke rising from the vicinity of the Embassy in the heart of the Chinese capital with crowds gathering.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang called the explosion an "isolated security incident".

"Chinese police have dealt with it in a timely and proper manner," he said.

A visa agent, who said he was about 30 feet away when the blast occurred, said the source appeared to be an explosive device, set off by a man who had been trying to call attention to a human rights issue.

Earlier in the day, the police arrested a woman spraying petrol on herself in a suspected attempt at self-immolation. It was not clear whether the two incidents were related.

The incident came at a time when the US and China are locked in a trade war.

Attacks on sites in the Chinese capital are rare. The most serious incident in recent years saw a car ploughing into a crowd at Tiananmen Square in 2013, killing five people including the attackers.

--IANS

gsh-soni/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former Prime Minister said on Thursday that the mandate has been snatched from the people of the country.

The Muslim League-Nawaz supremo made the remarks during a meeting with party leaders at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.

is currently completing his jail sentence after he was convicted by the accountability court in a case pertaining to the Sharif family's Avenfield properties in London.

During the meeting, the three-time Prime Minister also rejected the results of the general election 2018, in which Tehreek-e-Insaf has taken a lead.



Despite the poor performance of PTI's government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Imran Khan was handed victory on a plate.

Sharif said that Khan no longer holds the same position that he did in 2013.

reiterated that he firmly adheres to his "respect for vote" stance, adding that he is standing for the restoration of civil supremacy.The Anti-Trafficking Bill, passed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, "will not facilitate or harass sex workers," Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi told the House.

In a reply to senior Congress lawmaker Shashi Tharoor, Maneka said: "There is no question of harassing them the Bill focuses on the victim, a voluntary sex worker is not a victim."

The Bill seeks protection and rehabilitation of victims of human trafficking and prosecution of offenders.

Maneka said the House has received comments from two groups, one representing the victims and the other representing the sex workers.

"Tharoor represents the second group," the Minister said.

Debating on The Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018, Tharoor said: "Section 370 of the IPC is used extensively against sex workers in conjunction with Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1956 (ITPA) and there are numerous instances in which the police have threatened sex workers under this section, demanding bribes and even sex."

He said the Bill had no safeguards against the misuse.

--IANS

sm/prs/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Although self-driving cars remain a distant reality for the Indian roads, a Mumbai-headquartered firm has become the first desi company to develop high-precision HD maps for a customer in the United States which is at the forefront of autonomous vehicle technology.

Established in 1995, Genesys International Corporation Ltd has completed an extensive HD mapping of road and street network for an autonomous driving project in North America that will enable residents to access self-driving taxis at their doorstep.

Core to the autonomous vehicle technology, HD self-navigation maps enable, aid and guide autonomous cars to self-drive and navigate.

The HD map has high-precision navigational geometry and 360 degree panoramic imagery leading to a unique "fingerprint" of every stretch of the road.

"We cannot disclose the customer name as we are bound by non-disclosure. Through our technical expertise, we were able to support our customer to quickly verify the assumptions on large-scale areas," Kuldeep Moholkar, CEO-Designate, Genesys International Corporation Ltd, told IANS.

"Once we completed initial data deliveries, we were able to scale up to the customer's requirements. This has now given us the confidence to undertake HD map creation for large volume of work involving counties, states and even entire countries," Moholkar emphasised.

The HD maps are created from Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) source data which consists of billions of pixels -- commonly referred to as a point Cloud.

These billions of data points are curated to extract the features to create a machine-readable image of the road as well as the entire surrounding environment.

LiDAR sensors calculate how far a given object is, by measuring how long it takes for a pulse of infrared laser light to reach a car and bounce back.

Currently, Google' Waymo and global cab-hailing service Uber rely on the LiDAR technology but not Elon Musk's Tesla that uses high-end computer vision technology via cameras.

HD maps aid the autonomous vehicle in real time decision-making capability, by localising the earth spatially and letting the vehicle know the position of its exact location, thus guiding the vehicle to align to the road, when to drive, where to head and when to stop.

The HD map content is currently being rigorously tested on autonomous cars for real world readiness and large scale deployment. Once successfully passed, the autonomous car fleet will start using the HD maps data for self-navigation within the community in the US," Moholkar explained.

Genesys has nearly 2,000 professionals with expertise in Geographical Information System (GIS) and Geospatial Engineering domain.

The company is working in the fields of remote sensing, LiDAR, aerial survey, photogrammetry and GIS-based e-governance solutions.

Based in the financial capital, Genesys also operates production and software development centres in Dehradun and Jaipur.

"We are in discussions with auto-makers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and various product/services companies in the autonomous vehicle eco-system to partner and provide value-based services.

"We are also close to signing a formal MoU with another technology company for supporting their autonomous vehicle initiative. We will talk about that subsequently," Moholkar told IANS.

Considering the existing infrastructure, driving culture and the breadth of our geography, lamented Moholkar, the idea of an autonomous vehicle being fully functional on the Indian roads looks a little distance away at the moment.

"Having said so, Genesys and many Indian technology companies are investing heavily to build competence in this space via LiDAR technology, deep learning and Machine Learning (ML)," the Genesys executive said.

Hundreds of technology startups are currently engaged in creating products and services related to autonomous vehicles in the country.

"The resultant technology stack can be potentially used to build and implement our very own indigenous autonomous cars which will operate within a small geographical area such as corporate campuses, universities, airport lounges and large industrial premises, etc," Moholkar noted.

(Nishant Arora can be contacted at nishant.a@ians.in)

--IANS

na/vm/hs/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Filmmaker Nandita Das says she is not afraid of facing failure as it "allows her to try out new things".

Her upcoming film "Manto" is making the right noise and travelling to different film festivals. Nandita says she just wants to live up to everyone's expectations.

"Very early in my life, and largely thanks to my parents, I decided not to have a fear of failure. It frees me from pressure and allows me to try out new things," Nandita told IANS.

"Having said that, many people -- producers, cast and crew -- have put a lot of faith in me and I just want to live up to their expectations. And now with the buzz, I feel the audiences are also expecting something special. I hope all our intent and hard work will translate into an experience that they cherish," she added.

"Manto" will be screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), where she last went with her directorial debut "Firaaq" a decade ago. The movie, on the life of late Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Manto, will be screened as part of a Special Presentations section. TIFF will be held from September 6-16.

"Manto" follows the most tumultuous years in the life of iconoclastic writer Manto and those of the countries -- India and Pakistan -- which Manto inhabited and chronicled.

The film stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui as the writer, Rasika Dugal as his wife and Tahir Raj Bhasin, Rishi Kapoor and Divya Dutta in key roles.

Talking about going to the fest, she said: "I have been to TIFF as an actor many a time, right from my first film 'Fire' in 1996. But it is my second time as a director. I went for the world premiere of 'Firaaq' in 2008, can't believe it has been 10 long years!

"I am so looking forward to being back, and that too with 'Manto'. TIFF attracts a very engaged and enthusiastic audience -- both international and the diaspora of the sub-continent. This is still the beginning run of the festival circuit so I am looking forward to seeing how the audience responds; how similar or different will they be from Cannes film fest or the film fest in Syndey."

She says her past experience shows that films transcend boundaries and human emotions are universal.

"While 'Manto's context is very local, his story, I feel, will resonate with the widest of audiences. There have been Mantos in every era and in different parts of the world. In fact, I have made the film to invoke the Mantoiyat ('Manto-ness') that we all have within us."

--IANS

sug/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)NASA is set to announce the names of the astronauts assigned to the new commercial crew capsules from Boeing and SpaceX, early next month.

NASA will announce on August 3, the astronauts assigned to crew the first flight tests and missions of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX Crew Dragon, and begin a new era in American spaceflights, the space agency said in a statement on Thursday.

The agency will also announce the crew assignments for the crew flight tests and the first post-certification mission for both Boeing and SpaceX, in a press conference to be presided over by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine.

In 2014, NASA had partnered with Boeing and SpaceX to develop the Starliner spacecraft to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and the Crew Dragon launching atop the Falcon 9 rocket, respectively.

The Starliner and Crew Dragon will launch American astronauts on American-made spacecraft from American soil to the International Space Station for the first time since NASA retired its Space Shuttle Programme in 2011.

The station is critical for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflights, and necessary for a sustainable presence on the Moon and missions deeper into the solar system, including Mars.

But, according to a recent US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, neither is expected to be ready until 2019.

--IANS

rt/mag/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A driver working with cab aggregator Ola Cabs was brutally murdered by unidentified men and his body dumped in Bawana canal in west Delhi, police said on Thursday.

An Ola cab driver has since been detained for questioning.

Police said Salimuddin, a native of Haryana's Mewat area, was killed on Monday though police came to know of the crime on Tuesday when an accidental car was found parked at a desolate place in Bawana area.

"A blade, knives, cutters and human hair were found in the rear seat of the cab, following which its owner Hamid was summoned," a senior police officer said.

Hamid told us that his driver Salimuddin was missing and his personal mobile phone and another phone linked to Ola service app were also found switched off.

"He said that when he could not contact Salimuddin he sought the help from Ola representatives but they did not help him," the officer said.

Police investigation revealed that the cab was booked by five persons from Kashmiri Gate ISBT to travel to Murthal in Haryana. Thereafter, his location was not be tracked since Salimuddin's mobile phone was switched off by his attackers. The body was found near Haidarpur.

"Prima facie, it appears to be a case of personal enmity. We are trying to find the killers. We have detained an Ola cab driver whose mobile phone was used to book the cab," the officer said.

Ola Cabs, in a statement, said: "It is very disturbing news. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the deceased. We are in constant touch with the police to help them investigate the case. We hope that the criminals will be caught at the earliest."

--IANS

sp/tsb

(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.)IBM's Watson recommended 'unsafe and incorrect' cancer treatments, STAT report finds

Written by Julie Spitzer | July 25, 2018

IBM's Watson supercomputer, once hailed as a revolutionary cancer treatment tool, reportedly gave physicians inaccurate cancer treatment advice, and company medical specialists and customers reported "multiple examples of unsafe and incorrect treatment recommendations," according to internal IBM documents reviewed by STAT.

Here are 10 things to know:

1. The documents blame IBM engineers and New York City-based Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center  one of the early adopters of Watson for Oncology  for poorly training Watson software by using just a few hypothetical cancer cases instead of real patient data as well as treatment recommendations from a few specialists as opposed to "guidelines or evidence." This calls into question the validity of the tool as physician's personal preferences trumped IBM's touted machine learning analyses. IBM also promised Watson used historical patient data, but according to the documents, that was not the case.

2. According to STAT, the documents  slide decks from June and July 2017 by then-IBM Watson Health Deputy Chief Health Officer Andrew Norden, MD  include customers' assessments of Watson for Oncology that say it produced "often inaccurate" recommendations that pose "serious questions about the process for building content and the underlying technology." No patient deaths have resulted from hospitals' use of Watson for Oncology, STAT reports.

3. IBM executives have repeatedly told customers that Watson for Oncology's advice is based on real patient data and physicians around the world love the tool.

4. A previous STAT investigation showed Watson for Oncology wasn't living up to the company's expectations, but these new documents show IBM officials knew its product was making recommendations that conflicted with national treatment guidelines and that physicians did not find useful for treating patients. All the while, IBM executives were speaking favorably about the supercomputer.

5. "This product is a piece of s," one physician at Jupiter Hospital in Florida told IBM executives, according to the documents. "We bought it for marketing and with hopes that you would achieve the vision. We can't use it for most cases."

6. The documents also showed that several IBM employees told Dr. Norden the product was "very limited."

7. In a statement to STAT, IBM defended its software, stating: "We have learned and improved Watson Health based on continuous feedback from clients, new scientific evidence and new cancers and treatment alternatives. This includes 11 software releases for even better functionality during the past year, including national guidelines for cancers ranging from colon to liver cancer."

8. A Memorial Sloan Kettering spokesperson told STAT the documents reveal the "robust nature of the process" of building and deploying Watson for Oncology in clinical care, and that the cancer center is working with IBM to improve the accuracy of the system's recommendations.

9. "Patient safety is paramount," the cancer center's spokesperson said. "While Watson for Oncology provides safe treatment options, treatment decisions ultimately require the involvement and clinical judgement of the treating physician No technology can replace a doctor and his or her knowledge about their individual patient. To that point, the tool is also not equivalent to the cancer care delivered at MSK."

10. IBM recently laid off a number of Watson employees, including several from its three recently acquired companies Truven, Phytel and Explorys. Those employees revealed several issues with the company's faulty internal organization and inability to make Watson profitable.Saudi Energy minister announced Wednesday temporarily suspension of the oil shipments through Bab Al-Mandab Strait following attacks by Yemen Houthi rebels.

According to Saudi officials, the rebels staged armed assaults on two oil tankers on the worlds most crucial oil shipping route.

All oil shipments passing through Bab Al-Mandab Strait have been suspended temporarily until navigation through the area is secure, Al-Falih said in a statement released through the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) and state TV Al-Ekhbariyah.

Two oil tankers of state-owned Aramco carrying each 2 million barrels of crude oil came under attack in the Strait by Yemen Houthis rebels believed backed by Iran.

One of the ships sustained minimal damage. No injuries nor oil spill have been reported, Aramco said.

The suspension, according to the kingdoms largest company, is to ensure the safety of ships and their crews and to avoid the risk of oil spill.

The rebels are fighting a Saudi-led international coalition in Yemen seeking to restore the rule of President Mansour Hadi expelled from the capital Sanaa that the Shia rebels seized in 2004. The rebel are currently in control of the Port of Hodeida on the Red Sea.

The rebels, earlier in the day, said they attacked a Saudi warship named Al-Dammam. The latest attack is the second in a weak by the rebels on Aramco. Last week, Houthis said their drone air forces targeted the Aramco refinery in Riyadh.

Aramco denied the Houthis claims saying the incident was due to a fire, not an attack. It also added that no personnel was injured and operations carried on normally.

The rebels have also fired scores of missiles towards the kingdom. Most of the missiles launched have been destroyed by Saudi defense systems.Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday appealed to the Congress high command, as well as to the opposition party leaders in Goa to back an amendment to a central act, which will help restart mining in Goa, which has been banned since February this year.

"We can go for a request provided everyone supports and the Congress in Delhi supports. After that I will go to Delhi and talk to the person concerned," the Chief Minister said while replying to a debate on the mining issue.

Parrikar said that the state government would request the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre to amend the Goa, Daman and Diu (Abolition of Concession and Declaration as Mining Leases) Act, 1987, passed by Parliament to bypass the Supreme Court's order and extend the validity of Goa's mining leases.

"It is the only lasting solution," Parrikar said.

The Chief Minister also said that both ruling and opposition parties should come together to amend the central legislation "in the interest of Goa and Goans".

The mining issue has been hanging fire in Goa every since the apex court banned extraction and transportation of iron ore from 88 mining leases from March while also directing the state to re-issue mining leases.

This is second time in less than a decade that all mining activity in the state has come to a standstill.

The 2012 ban was later lifted by the apex court in 2014, but the court was forced to impose fresh restrictions while slighting the state government for messing up with the lease renewal process.

Before Goa was liberated by the Indian armed forces in 1961, mining leases in the state were permanent concessions granted by the Portuguese colonists for exploration and exploitation.

Once India took over the new colony, the Central government via the Goa Daman and Diu (Abolition of Concession and Declaration as Mining Leases) act, 1987, converted the same concessions into mining leases under the Mines and Minerals Development Act, 1954, making them valid for a fixed tenure, which lapsed in 2007.

Though passed by the Parliament in 1987, in case of Goa, a late entrant into the Indian Union, the law was retrospectively brought into effect from 1961, the year Goa was liberated from Portuguese yoke.

The Supreme Court in its February 2018 order has now held that any mining activity carried out since 2007 was illegal.

In his speech in the state assembly on Thursday, Parrikar proposed an amendment to Section 2 of the Act, which is aimed at altering the retrospective date of conversion of concessions to leases from 1961 to 1987, the year when the law was actually passed in Parliament. The amendment, he said, would extend the validity of leases from 2007 to 2045.

--IANS

maya/nir

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday said his government would seek the help of Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj to secure the release of Ryan de Souza, who was in April this year sentenced to 517-year imprisonment by a Dubai court for alleged involvement in a $200 million ponzi scam.

"I can't decide the matter. It depends on facts though I have sympathy for him. The case has been decided by the Dubai Court. I will meet the External Affairs Minister when I visit Delhi either August 7 or 8," Parrikar told the Goa assembly, in response to a question raised by Thivim MLA Nilkanth Halarnkar.

De Souza is a resident of Siolim village in North Goa and was employed at the Lemos Foundation, run by Sydney Lemos, an alleged mastermind of the ponzi scam, who was similarly sentenced by the Dubai Court. De Souza, 24, was arrested while attempting to leave the Emirate.

Pointing out that India shares warm relations with Dubai, he said the cordiality should help in resolving the matter.

Among other legislators, who urged the Chief Minister to speed up the process were Opposition leader Chandrakant Kavlekar and Nationalist Congress Party MLA Churchill Alemao.

On April 11, De Souza, along with his employer Sydney Lemos, promoter of the Exential Group, were sentenced by the Dubai Misdemeanours Court for their involvement in the ponzi scam probed by the United Arab Emirates authorities.

--IANS

maya/prs/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)French police have searched the office of a former senior security aide embroiled in a scandal at the Elysee Palace.

Alexandre Benalla, 26, was fired last week and faces several charges after footage emerged showing him assault demonstrators at May Day protests, BBC reported on Wednesday.

The president's office said the former bodyguard was present for the search.

President Emmanuel Macron has spoken for the first time on the scandal -- lashing out at press coverage of it.

He told guests at a closed-door reception on Tuesday evening: "We have a media that does not seek the truth... I see a media power that want to be a judicial power."

"What happened on May 1 is terrible, serious, and for me it was a disappointment and a betrayal," Macron told lawmakers.

"The only person responsible for this affair is me," he said. "If they're looking for someone to hold responsible, he's right in front of you. They can come and get me."

Lawmakers have been demanding to know why the presidency did not act sooner as the interior minister admitted he knew of the video on 2 May.

Macron again criticised members of the media on Wednesday, telling journalists from two outlets: "You've been saying a whole lot of nonsense over the past few days."

--IANS

pgh/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)FC Porto have reached a deal with Sao Paulo to sign right-back Eder Militao, the Brazilian club has said.

The 20-year-old will be tied to the Portugeuse outfit for the next five years in a transfer worth four million euros, reports Xinhua news agency.

Wednesday's agreement includes a clause that guarantees Sao Paulo 10 percent of any future deal involving the former Brazil U-17 international.

Militao made 65 appearances for Sao Paulo after being promoted from the club's youth academy in 2017.

He will join Porto after August 5, ensuring his availability for Sao Paulo's next four matches against Gremio, Cruzeiro, Colon and Vasco da Gama.

--IANS

ajb/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Much against the popular notion, not a single prominent religious leader has been able to make a cut in the Wednesday's National Assembly elections of Pakistan.

Both emerging religious entities, the Khadim Rizvi-led Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed's political front Milli Muslim League (MML), failed to secure any of the 14 National and 30 Punjab Assembly seats.

Interestingly, the extreme-right TLP had fielded two women candidates for National Assembly seats though none of the two -- Sumera Noreen and Memona Hamid -- ever appeared in the public to seek votes.

Using "Khatme Nabuwat" issue for its electioneering, the outfit managed to mobilize voters from certain pockets in Lahore but could not make any visible dent in the votes of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

Most of the TLP and MML presence was seen in the form of banners and flexes, as their polling camps and polling agents were seldom found in and around the polling stations.

Leader of Jamiat Ulema-e Islam (F) Maulana Fazal ur Rehman suffered a major shock as he was ousted by rookie candidates of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in two seats in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. He contested the general elections from the two seats in the province, losing both by a fair margin.

Muttahida Majlis Amal's leader Siraj-ul-Haq suffered a shock defeat in Lower Dir by approximately 17,000 votes.

--IANS

ahm/soni/nir/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Supreme Court on Thursday sought status report of police investigation in the case relating to the Malankara Orthodox Church priests facing charges of sexual abuse of a parishioner.

A bench of Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan asked police to file report on investigation within two weeks and posted the matter for hearing on August 6.

Two priests had moved the apex court seeking an anticipatory bail in the case.

Sony (Abraham) Varghese and Father Jaice K. George had approached the top court challenging the order of the Kerala High Court which had denied anticipatory bail to three priests, including them.

A woman, who regularly visited the Malankara Orthodox Church, has accused five priests of sexually abusing her for a decade.

Initially, it was only one priest who first exploited the woman. When she sought help from another priest, he too threatened her and shared her contact with a fellow priest and she was eventually victimised by five of them.

One priest, however, escaped action as the victim mentioned only four names.

The National Commission for Women is monitoring the case.

--IANS

gt/vd

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pakistan on Thursday denounced what it called an uproar triggered by the Indian over general elections in Pakistan and asked the neighbouring country to focus on its internal affairs.

Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said that elections are a part of the democratic process and the Indian must focus on its internal matters.

He urged India to stop propagating "venomous propaganda" against Pakistan.

Faisal said that the position of any leading party must be accepted in the wake of the election results.

Several Indian outlets had claimed that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan's victory could create serious problems for India in the region.

They had alleged that Khan exploited anti-Indian slogans to gain electoral ground for the PTI.

--IANS

ahm/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)At least four Afghan intelligence officers were killed in a suicide attack here in the city early on Thursday, police said.

The Taliban has claimed responsibly for the attack, Tolo News reported.

The National Directorate of Security (NDS) force members were killed in the attack that took place around 5 a.m. in the Bagh-e-Daoud area, a spokesman for Kabul police chief Hashmat Stanekzai said.

A probe has been launched.

--IANS

in/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US President Donald Trump has announced he has reached an agreement with the European Union (EU) to move forward together toward a "zero tariff" situation, thus avoiding a trade war, after meeting the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker.

Trump on Wednesday said he had reached an agreement with the EU to work together toward a policy of "zero" tariffs and trade barriers, adding "we are starting the negotiation right now, but we know where it is going" and proclaiming "a new phase" in US-EU trade relations, Efe news reported.

Meanwhile, both Washington and Brussels will "hold off on other tariffs" while the talks are under way, Juncker said.

In a joint appearance before the press with Juncker, Trump said that the EU will begin importing soybeans from the US Midwest, as well as liquefied natural gas to "diversity" its energy sources, in addition to reducing some industrial tariffs.

The EC chief, meanwhile, hailed the trade agreement, which includes reducing tariffs by both parties and easing the bilateral frictions that had arisen in recent months.

Juncker said that he had gone into his Oval Office meeting with Trump with both parties intending to reach an agreement.

He also said that the pact establishes the "resolution" of the US tariffs on European steel and aluminium that had sparked a trade brouhaha between Brussels and Washington, although neither Trump nor Juncker specified whether these would be immediately annulled.

Minutes later, at a conference at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Juncker said that the agreement emphasised the "special" nature of the alliance between the US and the EU going on to stress that trade between the two parties comprises half of all global commerce.

Juncker's visit to Washington aroused great expectations after the exchange of accusations and the imposition of tariffs by Trump on European steel and aluminium, to which Brussels had responded with identical measures on assorted US products, including motorcycles and jeans.

Trump has insisted in recent months on the need for the EU to agree to his demands to facilitate US access to the European market and has threatened to impose tariffs of up to 20 per cent on imports of European automobiles if the bloc did not make concessions to Washington.

--IANS

pgh/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Patients with advanced cancer who spoke with a trained nonclinical worker about personal goals for care were more likely to talk with doctors about their preferences, report higher satisfaction with their care and incur lower health costs in their final month of life, Stanford University School of Medicine researchers report.

The findings, from a pilot study of 213 patients, suggest that patients with a serious illness are more at ease with decisions about their care and more likely to mention their care preferences to health care providers when they discuss those preferences soon after their diagnosis, and on an ongoing basis, with someone outside the medical context, said Manali Patel, MD, assistant professor of medicine at Stanford and the studys lead author.

She and her colleagues employed a lay health worker to conduct conversations with patients about their personal desires for care and to encourage them to share this information with providers. The intervention was based on prior research conducted by Patel when she was a fellow at Stanfords Clinical Excellence Research Center in which patients expressed a preference for having these discussions with nonclinical workers. Though more research is needed, the new study suggests it is a promising approach for improving the quality of end-of-life cancer care while lowering the costs, she said.

A goals-of-care conversation is not about prognosis. Its a holistic approach to understanding the patients wishes and how they want to experience their life, Patel said. You dont need higher-level training to have that conversation. You just need a very supportive ear.

The study was published July 26 in JAMA Oncology. Its senior author is Kate Bundorf, PhD, associate professor of health research and policy at Stanford.

Conversations about goals of care

Patel and her fellow researchers followed patients at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System for 15 months after they were diagnosed with stage-3 or -4 cancer or with recurrent cancer. Half were randomly assigned to speak with a lay health worker about goals of care over a six-month period.

The lay health worker had participated in a training curriculum created by Patel that included an 80-hour online seminar, as well as four weeks of observational training with the hospitals palliative care team. During several telephone and in-person conversations, the worker led patients through a structured program that addressed questions, such as, What is your understanding of your cancer? What is important to you? Have you thought about a time when you could be sicker? How would you want to spend your time in that situation? Together, they also established care preferences, identified a surrogate decision-maker and filed an advance directive.

...When providers listen to patients and theyre receiving care thats concordant with their goals, they seem to have better outcomes, especially at the end of life.

We trained the worker to address these questions over multiple time periods and to revisit the conversation when unexpected events occurred, such as an emergency department visit or bad scan results, Patel said. How a patient feels and what they express as their desires today may be different from how they may feel a week from now, if they had a really horrible side effect from the chemotherapy that theyre receiving and theyre finding themselves in the hospital for two weeks rather than spending the time with their family.

Patients in the study who participated in conversations with the lay health worker were more likely to have documentation of end-of-life care preferences in their electronic health records within six months of those conversations starting (92 percent compared with 18 percent in the control group). Researchers used this documentation to gauge whether patients had discussed the topic with their doctors.

Patients in the intervention group also rated their oncology care higher, giving it an average satisfaction score of 9.16 out of 10, compared with the average of 7.83 from the control group. They also posted higher satisfactions scores when queried about their care-related decision-making.

This indicates that patients in the intervention were having a better experience with their providers despite having been prompted and activated to discuss really difficult topics, Patel said. This is consistent with what other studies have shown indicating that patients value honest and open communication regarding their prognosis.

Use and cost of health care

The researchers also monitored health-care costs and use among patients in the two groups.

They found few significant differences over 15 months; however, for patients who died during the study, the final 30 days diverged markedly. Those who discussed goals of care with the lay health worker were six times less likely to visit the emergency department or be hospitalized than members of the control group, and twice as likely to use hospice services. Their median health care cost within 30 days of death was $1,048, compared with $23,482 for the control group.

Overall, patients who participated in conversations with the lay health worker used hospice at higher rates than the control group  a finding that tracks with other research, Patel said.

Consistently, patients who understand that they have an incurable cancer are more likely to choose less aggressive care, and we see that same result here, she said. Communication and listening to patients seem to be the common theme because when providers listen to patients and theyre receiving care thats concordant with their goals, they seem to have better outcomes, especially at the end of life.

Other Stanford co-authors of the study are biostatistician Vandana Sundaram; Manisha Desai, PhD, professor of medicine and of biomedical data science; VJ Periyakoil, MD, associate professor of medicine; James Kahn, MD, professor of medicine; Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, professor of medicine; Steven Asch, MD, professor of medicine; and Arnold Milstein, MD, professor of medicine.

Patel is a member of the Stanford Cancer Institute.

The research was funded by the California Health Care Foundation, Veterans Affairs Office of Healthcare Transformation Specialty Care and the National Institutes of Health (grants UL1TR001085, U54MD10724 and R25MD006857).

This work was also supported by Stanfords departments of Medicine and of Health Research & Policy.US President Donald Trump has said that he has reached a deal with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to work towards eliminating tariffs and barriers on trade, reducing tensions for now in a brewing trade war.

A pan-European Business Confederation on Thursday applauded the trade relations agreement.

The Confederation of European Business, also known as BusinessEurope, is a lobby organization based in Brussels, established in 34 European countries, advocating for Europe's business growth and competitiveness at both the continental and global level.

"Reason has prevailed. The agenda for talks between the EU and the US to de-escalate the current trade conflict is the right one," said BusinessEurope president Pierre Gataz.

On Wednesday, Trump said: "We are starting the negotiation right now, but we know where it is going and proclaiming 'a new phase' in US-EU trade relations."

While Juncker said that both Washington and Brussels will "hold off on other tariffs" while the talks are under way.

In a joint appearance before the press with Juncker, Trump said that the EU will begin importing soybeans from the US Midwest, as well as liquefied natural gas to "diversity" its energy sources, in addition to reducing some industrial tariffs.

The EC chief, meanwhile, hailed the trade agreement, which included reducing tariffs by both parties and easing the bilateral frictions that had arisen in recent months.

Juncker said that he had gone into his Oval Office meeting with Trump with both parties intending to reach an agreement.

He also said that the pact established the "resolution" of the US tariffs on European steel and aluminium that had sparked a trade brouhaha between Brussels and Washington, although neither Trump nor Juncker specified whether these would be immediately annulled.

Minutes later, at a conference at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Juncker said that the agreement emphasised the "special" nature of the alliance between the US and the EU going on to stress that trade between the two parties comprises half of all global commerce.

Juncker's visit to Washington aroused great expectations after the exchange of accusations and the imposition of tariffs by Trump on European steel and aluminium, to which Brussels had responded with identical measures on assorted US products, including motorcycles and jeans.

Trump has insisted in recent months on the need for the EU to agree to his demands to facilitate US access to the European market and has threatened to impose tariffs of up to 20 per cent on imports of European automobiles if the bloc did not make concessions to Washington.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US President Donald Trump's star on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles has been vandalised again, officials said.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) on Wednesday said Trump's star on Walk of Fame was vandalised with pickaxe by a man who turned himself in to Beverly Hills police later, Xinhua news agency reported.

The suspect was taken into custody by police.

The suspect removed the pickaxe from a guitar case and began swinging it at the star on Hollywood Boulevard, leaving chunks of concrete strewn across the sidewalk, the KFSN-TV reported.

The star of Trump was "totally demolished, not just vandalised," according to the Hollywood reporter.

Trump's star has been vandalised several times since the beginning of his presidential run and this is the second time the star was totally destroyed.

In October 2016, Los Angeles man James Otis, dressing as a construction worker, took a pickaxe to the star and destroyed it. Otis struck a plea deal with prosecutors in February 2017 that saw him avoid jail time in exchange for paying $4,400 to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the Hollywood Historic Trust.

Trump was honoured with the star in 2007 for his work producing the Miss Universe pageant and for his hit NBC reality television show The Apprentice.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The BRICS summit presents an important opportunity for its member countries and Turkey to develop closer cooperation, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.

Erdogan made the remarks during a press conference on Wednesday at Ankara airport, adding that the BRICS member countries have contributed in the last decade to 50 per cent of the global economic growth, Xinhua news agency reported.

The five BRICS countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, seen by analysts as rising challengers to established Western economies, will hold the group's latest summit in Johannesburg, the largest city of South Africa.

Turkey is not a member of the BRICS, but Erdogan will attend a special session of the event in his capacity as the current chair of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Turkish presidency said in a statement.

This visit came after Erdogan's election victory last month, which granted him extra executive power and another five-year presidential term after Turkey's political system shifted to a presidential one.

The Turkish president will be accompanied by a delegation of economic and political high-ranking officials as he will discuss means and ways to further maximise economic and political ties with the BRICS.

As part of his visit, the Turkish leader is also due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the summit, according to the statement.

The Turkish presidency described Erdogan's participation in the summit as Turkey's "first high-level contact" with the BRICS members.

In this context, South African Ambassador to Turkey Pule Malefane stressed the significance of Erdogan's visit to Johannesburg in enhancing bilateral ties.

"It is not by accident that President Erdogan was invited to the BRICS summit," Malefane told Daily Sabah.

"Turkey is regarded as a strategic ally in strengthening South-to-South relations and Agenda 2063, which is a strategic vision of the African Union," he said.

BRICS countries account for 26 per cent of the world's land mass and are home to 46 pe rcent of the world's population and approximately 23 per cent of the global GDP.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Turkish parliament has ratified a new anti-terrorism law proposed by the ruling party, six days after the two-year-long state of emergency ended.

The law was backed by lawmakers of the ruling Justice and Development Party and Nationalist Movement Party, Xinhua news agency reported.

The new legislation, approved on Wednesday, empowers governors and security forces with certain powers that they could previously exercise under the state of emergency for another three years.

With the law, governors can prohibit individuals from leaving or entering a defined area for 15 days over security concerns, while suspects can be detained without charge for 48 hours or up to four days if there are multiple offences. This period can be extended on two occasions under special circumstances.

The law also authorizes the government to dismiss personnel of Turkish Armed Forces, police and gendarmerie departments, and public servants and workers if they are found linked to a terror organisation.

On July 18, the country's state of emergency rule came to an end since it was not renewed by the cabinet. The opposition Republican People's Party had criticized the new anti-terror legislation as a ploy to make "emergency rule permanent."

The law will be forwarded to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his formal approval and will be published later in the official gazette.

--IANS

pgh/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two men have been arrested on the charge of gang raping and blackmailing a young woman in east Delhi over a period of four years, police said on Thursday.

The woman, aged 24, complained at the Pandav Nagar police station on Wednesday against Faisal and Javed.

"Faisal, a neighbour, had invited the young woman to his house in Pandav Nagar to celebrate his birthday four years ago. After the guests left, both accused gang raped her and made a video clipping of the crime on a mobile phone," a senior police officer said.

"They were blackmailing her ever since and raping her at different places, including at hotels, friends' flats and guesthouses."

"Her medical examination confirmed rape. Faisal and Javed, who were arrested on Wednesday from their homes, have been booked for gang rape, criminal conspiracy and blackmail," the official added.

--IANS

sp/tsb/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Sri Lanka Under-19 players scored 47/3 in the second innings, trailing by 250 runs against India Under-19 at the end of the third day's play of their second and final Youth Test here on Thursday.

Nuwanidu Fernando (2) and S. Senarathne (0) were at the crease when umpires dislodged the bails for the day.

After India declared their first innings for a massive 613 for 8 wickets on Wednesday, the bowlers did a fantastic job to reduce Sri Lanka to 140 for four. Resuming the third day, overnight batsmen Pasindu Sooriyabandara (115) and Sonal Dinusha (51) played beautifully to give some hope to the hosts but lack of support from other batters cost them.

S. Mendis (49) also tried to contribute but could not continue for long as he got dismissed after playing 109 balls.

The lower-order also failed and the Sri Lanka team got dismissed at 316.

Following on, Sri Lanka again found themselves in trouble when the Indian bowlers took three crucial wickets with just 47 runs on the board.

Opener Kamil Mishara (5) was dismissed cheaply. But his partner Nishan Madushka (25) played sensibly with skipper Nipun Dananjaya (8) but the latter was dismissed in the ninth over.

Soon, in form Madushka was also sent packing in the 17th over, making the score read 46/3.

For India, Arjun Tendulkar, Yatin Mangwani and Ayush Badoni chipped in with a wicket each.

--IANS

gau/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned Wednesday's suicide attack outside a polling station in Pakistan's Quetta that killed 31 people, said his spokesman.

Guterres extended his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and to the government and people of Pakistan, said Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman, in a statement on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The United Nations stands in solidarity with and supports the efforts of the government of Pakistan in the fight against terrorism, said the statement.

The election day attack outside a polling station in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province in the southwest, killed at least 31 people and injured about 40 others.

--IANS

pgh/

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said that he is committed to working with the Congress on a new Russia sanctions bill, after he issued a "Crimea Declaration" that rejected Russia's control of Crimea.

Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Pompeo on Wednesday said that he will support the bill to hold Russia accountable for its behaviours around the globe.

He confirmed the necessity to raise the cost of Moscow's alleged malpractice "if we can find the right places and the right leverage point", Xinhua news agency reported.

Saying that sanctions focusing more on Russian individuals and oligarchs are necessary, Pompeo noted "that the things that impact the Russian economy are the things that I hear the Russians are most concerned about."

He also said that Washington does not and will not recognize the Kremlin's control of Crimea.

"There will be no relief of Crimea-related sanctions until Russia returns control of the Crimean Peninsula to Ukraine," he said, noting the US stance regarding Crimea is a "policy of nonrecognition".

Citing the 213 sanctions on Russian entities and individuals since the Trump administration assumed office, Pompeo said "with respect to Russia, this administration has been tougher than previous administrations, and I fully expect it will".

"The President... will be their toughest enemy, most difficult enemy," he said.

The relations between Washington and Moscow have been strained over Ukraine, Syria, Iran, the poison attack of an ex-Russian spy in Britain, and Russia's alleged meddling in US 2016 elections.

The two nations' presidents met earlier this month in Finland. However, due to the wide backlash inside the US over President Donald Trump's remarks there, the White House announced earlier on Wednesday that the next meeting between Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will be delayed till next year.

In the Crimea Declaration, Pompeo said "the US reaffirms as policy its refusal to recognize the Kremlin's claims of sovereignty over" Crimea.

Russia was expelled from the Group of Eight in 2014 and has since then endured sanctions of the West for its incorporation of Crimea.

--IANS

mag/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The West Bengal Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution renaming the state as "Bangla", with the Left Front and the Congress backing the move by the Trinamool Congress government.

The BJP, however, preferred the existing name of the state - West Bengal in English and Paschim Banga in Bengali.

As per the resolution, the state would now be called Bangla in three languages - Bengali, English and Hindi.

The resolution would now be sent to the Union Home Ministry, and once it gives its approval, the new name would come into effect.

The change in the nomenclature would enable the state to move up in the alphabetical order and thus it can now present its point of view early in meetings of all states, where the alphabetical order is followed. So long, West Bengal languished at the bottom of the list, as its name started with "W" in English.

In fact, with its new name, the state now comes fourth after Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Assam.

Soon after coming to power in 2011, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had expressed her frustration for her turn to speak coming last in meetings involving all states.

On August 29, 2016, the state assembly had passed a resolution proposing the name of the state be changed to 'Bangla' in Bengali, 'Bengal' in English and 'Bangal' in Hindi.

But after the Central government turned down the proposal of having three names for the state in three different languages, the Mamata Banerjee cabinet passed a resolution rechristening the state as "Bangla" on September 8 last year.

On Thursday, Banerjee told the assembly that her government did not want any controversy regarding the name of the state, and so it has opted for "Bangla".

"Earlier we had sent the proposal containing the three names in the three languages, but the Central government first sat on it for long time, and only recently they have advised us through a communication that we should choose one name, and not three.

"We don't want any controversy related to the name of the state. So we have opted for Bangla," she said.

In 2016, when the state assembly had debated the issue of name change, the Congress sought a referendum, while the Left Front moved an amendment that called for only one name for the state - Bangla. But the amendment was defeated then.

However, the BJP was against any change in the state's name.

"The name 'West Bengal' evokes lot of sentiments and memories of partition are involved with the name. So we want the state to retain its existing name, as our tradition and culture is linked to it", state BJP president Dilip Ghosh told media persons.

On the other hand, intellectuals of the state welcomed the new name.

"It is a matter of great happiness that the state has now been named 'Bangla'. The happiness is all the more, as this name will be in currency in all languages," said Academy award winner poet Sankha Ghosh.

Incidentally, the erstwhile Left Front regime of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, which in 2001 renamed the capital Calcutta as Kolkata, had sent to the centre a proposal to rename the state "Bangla", but the then Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool had opposed it tooth and nail then.

After the partition of India in 1947, Bengal was bifurcated as East Bengal and West Bengal. East Bengal became a part of Pakistan. It was rechristened East Pakistan in 1956 and later emerged as the independent nation of Bangladesh after the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.

--IANS

ssp/vd

(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.)External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said that India will raise the issue of changing H1B visa norms with the US at the 2+2 dialogue scheduled to be held on September 6 in New Delhi.

"We are already raising the issue formally at various fora. We are speaking on it with the White House, with state administration as well as with Congressmen... We will raise it humbly at the 2+2 dialogue on September 6 in New Delhi," Sushma Swaraj told Rajya Sabha.

She said that although there has been "no major change so far" in the H1B visa policy from the US side but the prevailing sentiment in the US about tightening of visa norms was a cause of concern for the "Indian government, the opposition members and the entire House".

The minister said that in fact the number of visas has actually gone up from 1,08,000 in 2014 to 1,29,000 in 2018.

"But yes, the apprehensions are there. The number of visas may be cut or the norms may be made stricter. But we are trying our best that this should not happen. I have raised it with my counterpart Rex Tillerson. The Finance Minister raised it with US Trade and Commerce Secretary and our Commerce Minister too raised it recently," she said.

In February, the Trump government came up with a new visa policy that makes the procedure for issuing H-1B visas tougher. As per the new policy, the hiring company would have to prove that its H-1B employee at a third-party worksite has specific and non-qualifying speculative assignments in speciality occupation.

The India-US 2+2 dialogue involves the External Affairs and Defence Ministers of the two sides and the dialogue is aimed at elevating the strategic relationship between the two countries.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary James Mattis would participate in the dialogue.

--IANS

mak/soni/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Moroccan ambassador to Mauritania, Hamid Chabar has visited the facilities of the National Industrial and Mining Company (SNIM) in the West African nation. The mining company, the largest in Mauritania, accounts for 15% of the countrys GDP.

ONYHM, the Moroccan National Bureau of Petroleum and Mines, holds 2.30% of the companys capital.

On the sidelines of his visit to Nouadhibou, the second largest city in Mauritania, the Moroccan diplomat toured the headquarters of the SNIM, which exploits Mauritanian iron ore. The diplomat also visited the companys facilities at the mining port of Nouadhibou.

SNIM, Africas second-largest producer of iron ore with a capacity of 12 million tons, operates a mine in Zouerate and exports the ore from the port of Nouadhibou.

During the visit, the ambassador discussed with the managing director of the mining company, Ahmed Salem Ould Bashir, ways of developing cooperation between SNIM and Moroccan companies in the field of mining, rail and training.

Morocco accounts for 30% of Mauritanias trade with the African continent and seeks to increase the level of its investment in the neighboring country.

Moroccan investments in the Nouadhibou Free Zone (ZFN) located 465 kilometers north of Nouakchott, has reached 40 million and according to the Free Zone authorities, Moroccan operators are the second-largest investors in the ZFN.

Nouadhibou, due to its geographical proximity to Morocco, can accommodate more Moroccan companies, particularly in the mining, fishing, renewable energies, metallurgical and service sectors.After Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan allegedly dubbed him a "traitor", senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Thursday approached the police to get himself arrested. The police, however, refused to act in the absence of any complaint/case against him.

The Congress leader, a former Chief Minister, announced he would take legal action against Chouhan for calling a traitor.

As announced earlier, Digvijay Singh along with his supporters visited the TT Nagar police station but the police maintained there was no case against him.

"I had thought that they may have evidence against me for treachery/treason. But officials of the TT Nagar police station, which is near my residence, informed me that there was no case," the senior Congress leader told the media here.

"I have been told in writing that no case is registered against me. It means the Chief Minister has told a lie while occupying a constitutional post. I will approach a court of law and initiate legal action against Chouhan," Digvijay Singh said.

"The Chief Minister has called me a traitor. It means I am a threat to India's unity and integrity. The Chief Minister has taken oath under the Constitution and has to work accordingly. So, I thought I should approach police to court arrest," the former Chief Minister added.

--IANS

hindi/tsb/sed

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)There were 21 incidents of damage to aircraft engines during flights in 2017 and the figure is also the highest in the last four years, according to official data.

A total of 59 such incidents were reported in the last four years starting from 2014, according to the data provided by the Civil Aviation Ministry to the Lok Sabha.

The number of incidents of damage to aircraft engines was 14 in 2014 and 12 each in 2015 and 2016. Last year, the count rose to 21.

"During these incidents there was no consequential damage to aircraft structure," Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said in a written reply.

He was responding to a query about the total number of passenger jets to have suffered mid-flight engine damage or technical difficulties while flying during the last four years.

"The occurrences of engine damage during flight are investigated by the DGCA. Based on the findings of the investigation, corrective actions are taken to avoid the recurrences," the minister said.

He also noted that engines are maintained by aircraft operators as per the maintenance programme prescribed by the aircraft/ engine manufacturer.

To another question on whether the government proposes to formulate a regulatory authority for controlling and monitoring airfares, Sinha replied in the negative.

"Airfares are not regulated by the government," he added.

Further, the minister said that under provisions of the Aircraft Rules 1937, airlines are free to fix reasonable tariff having regard to all relevant factors, including the cost of operation, characteristics of service, reasonable profit and the generally prevailing tariff.

Ticket prices are displayed by airlines on their websites.

Airlines remain compliant with the regulatory provisions as long as the fare charged by them does not exceed the fare established and displayed on their websites, Sinha said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Jammu and Kashmir's excise department recovered 500 kg of poppy husk and detained two persons in Kathua district today after foiling a major bid to smuggle the narcotics material out of the state in a truck carrying fruit boxes.

Sleuths of the state excise department intercepted a vehicle at Lakhanpur toll post and recovered 500 kg of poppy husk from it, officials said.

The narcotics material was hidden under fresh fruit boxes in a bid to smuggle them out of the state, they said, adding that truck had been seized.

The driver and the conductor have been detained and investigation was handed over to the police, the officials added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 70-year-old priest was found dead today on the premises of Ramdev temple in Rajasthan's Barmer district, said a police official.

The police suspect the priest was looted and then killed on Wednesday night. The incident came to light today when devotees came to the shrine in Bamini village for morning prayers.

Hari Ram was a priest at the Ramdev temple for the last 20 years. "Gold jewellery and other valuable items were missing, indicating that the priest was looted and then murdered," Additional SP Kailash Dan Ratnu said.

The post-mortem report is yet to be released. As of now, the police suspect a head injury led to Ram's death. The body has been kept at a mortuary. A case was registered at Sindhri police station, the ASP said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A nine-year-old boy was trampled to death, while his mother and infant sister were seriously injured by a wild tusker in Odishas Keonjhar district, police said today.

The incident happened yesterday at Khuntakata village under the jurisdiction of Bansapal police station, the police said.

The jumbo stormed into the victim's house late last night and trampled the boy to death when his mother was trying to escape with both the children, police said.

While the 9-year-old boy was killed on the spot, his mother and five-month-old sister received serious injuries, a police officer said.

They were admitted to a hospital at Bansapal initially, he said, adding, after sometime they were shifted to the district headquarters hospital here since their condition deteriorated.

Irate villagers staged a road blockade for sometime and demanded that concrete steps should be taken to save the locals from elephant attacks, the officer said.

The villagers also demanded adequate compensation for the family of the deceased, the officer added.

The blockade was lifted after assurance from the officials, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Just a year after he was appointed as the Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, the Aam Aadmi Party today removed its firebrand leader and Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira from the post.

The party has named Dirba MLA Harpal Singh Cheema, a Dalit face, as the new LoP.

"AAP has decided to change its leader of opposition in Punjab. Shri Harpal Singh Cheema, MLA Dirba constituency shall be Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly," senior party leader and in-charge of its Punjab affairs Manish Sisodia tweeted.

However, in his tweet, Sisodia gave no reason for Khaira's removal.

Reacting to his removal, Khaira said he discharged his duty with utmost sincerity and accused party's senior leadership of doing what the Congress and the SAD-BJP wanted.

He also said that he was prepared to let go 100 such posts for the sake of Punjab.

"I have discharged my duty as LoP with uttermost sincerity, dedication n fearlessness towards PB n Punjabis. If speaking d truth n espousing d cause of PB, Punjabis n Sikhs cost me LoP I'm prepared let go 100 such positions. Those at d helm have done what Cong-Sad-Bjp wanted (sic)," Khaira said in a tweet.

Meanwhile, Punjab AAP co-president Balbir Singh welcomed the move, saying it was a decision of AAP legislators from the state.

"Whatever decision was taken by the MLAs of Aam Aadmi party, I welcome it. This is called internal democracy of the party," said Balbir.

Khaira's removal comes days after he had accused Balbir Singh of making false allegations on him that he was accepting money from party workers.

A few days ago, Khaira, in a Facebook post had said that he had come to know from a party worker that Singh had accused him of taking money from them.

Last month, Khaira's purported statement on 'Referendum 2020', a movement initiated by a US based advocacy group 'Sikhs For Justice' for a separate Sikh state, had also left AAP leaders red-faced.

Sisodia had reportedly rebuked Khaira and had asked him to come clean on it.

When AAP's national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejrwal had recently tendered an apology to Akali leader and former minister Bikram Singh Majithia for accusing them of being involved in drugs trade, Khaira was vocal against the apology and had expressed his disappointment over it.

As the Leader of Opposition, Khaira took on ruling Congress and Akalis and over the issue of drugs and illegal sand mining.

Khaira was unanimously elected as Leader of Opposition on July 2017 after Dakha legislator and noted lawyer H S Phoolka tendered his resignation from the post. Khaira, a former Congressman, had joined the AAP in year 2015.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The National Commission of Women (NCW) has recommended abolishing the practice of "confessions" in churches as it can lead to blackmailing of women.

A central agency also needs to do a proper investigation into the increasing incidents of rape and sexual assaults in churches of Kerala, NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma said.

"The priests pressure women into telling their secrets and we have one such case in front of us, there must be many more such cases and what we have right now is just a tip of the iceberg," she said.

The recommendations come in the backdrop of a rape case against four priests of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church who have been accused of sexually exploiting a married woman belonging to their church.

The issue came to the fore after the victim's husband wrote to the church, alleging that the priests blackmailed and abused his wife, a school teacher.

The National Commission of Women has constituted an inquiry committee to look into alleged sexual assaults against women in churches, and has sent its findings to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi and the DGP of Kerala and Punjab.

"The woman was socially harassed. She left her job after the incident as her photograph was circulated on social media. The two priests are at large and they need to be nabbed," the DCW chairperson said.

In another incident, a nun, in a complaint to the Kottayam district police chief last month, alleged that Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal raped her and had unnatural sex with her multiple times at a small town near Kottayam between 2014 and 2016.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Dumping of Chinese solar panels in India, once a major exporter of the product, is estimated to have cost 200,000 jobs, a said on Thursday and asked the commerce department to properly implement its probing arm DGAD's suggestions on cheap imports from

Expressing shock at the job loss estimates it quoted, the panel strongly recommended resolution of problem of poor implementation of the findings of the Directorate General of Antidumping and Allied Duties on dumping of Chinese goods as also subsidies they get.

These observations have been made by Parliament Standing Committee on Commerce in its report on impact of Chinese goods on Indian industry.

It is disheartening to note that India was one of the major exporters of solar products between 2006-2011 before started dumping their products at the cost of Indian manufacturers.

"Presently, the exports from India have been decimated and brought to a standstill," the report said, adding that the government must take strong note of such dumping.

Immediate trade remedial measures need to be deployed to protect the domestic solar industry, it said.

"The anti-dumping framework also suffers with lax implementation. The unscrupulous elements are able to import the Chinese goods by circumventing the goods put under anti-dumping framework through misclassification of products," it added.

On steel sector, the report stated that nothing has been done to revise or rationalize the anti-dumping duty imposed.

It recommended that the steel industry, in consultation with DGAD, look into this matter on an urgent basis and make the anti-dumping duties realistic and effective to ward-off any adverse consequences of dumping of Chinese steel goods in the country.

The report also said there are concerns about the mega trade deal -- (RCEP), of which India and are participants along with 14 other countries.

It suggested following caution during the negotiations and asked the government to calibrate its approach in such kind of agreement.

The bloc comprises 10 Asean group members (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos and Vietnam) and their six FTA partners  India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

India's trade deficit with China increased to $63.12 billion in 2017-18, from $51.11 billion in 2016-17.

"...nothing should be agreed to at the cost of our industrial health," the panel said.

Further noting that tariff barrier is an important tool to counter dumping of Chinese goods, it said: "The government tariff protection must also be accompanied with production subsidy or incentives which can be a match to Chinese assistance so that our domestic production gets a real boost."



On pharmaceutical industry, the report said that it is high time that India's dependency on Chinese bulk drugs has reduced drastically.

"Such a strategic product cannot be left at the mercy of China as it impacts the nation's health security," it said.

To protect textiles sector, the report suggested hike in customs duty on garment imports.

It also said that all zero duty access that have been provided on imports of garments into India should be made subject to sourcing of raw materials from India.

Commenting on the firecracker industry, it called for prohibiting import of hazardous Chinese firecrackers.

French hotels giant AccorHotels today said it has dropped plans to buy a minority stake in AirFrance-KLM, which has been wracked by months of crisis triggered by a wave of strikes.

On June 3, Accor said it was mulling the acquisition of a minority stake in the embattled carrier.

Air France is still looking for new leadership after its CEO Jean-Marc Janaillac resigned in May when employees rejected his offer in labour negotiations.

French financial newspaper Les Echos had earlier reported that Accor was considering taking over all or part of the French government's 14.3 per cent holding in the airline.

Analysts at the time had questioned whether Accor would benefit from such a takeover, given Air France's crisis.

The government's stake in Air France is currently worth about 450 million euros (USD 530 million), though Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in May there was no plan to sell the stake as part of a privatisation drive.

Today, in its half-year earnings statement, Accor said it has dropped any plans to take over the carrier.

"Given that required conditions for the acquisition of a minority stake in Air France-KLM have not been met at this stage, AccorHotels has decided not to further pursue this opportunity," the hotels group said.

Speaking to reporters by phone, Accor's chief financial officer Jean-Jacques Morin said the group remains certain that partnering with airlines can reap significant benefits.

"Are we able to come to an agreement with Air France and to have the conditions in place which at this stage allow us to go ahead (with an acquisition)? The answer is no," Morin said.

Air France-KLM is currently led by a non-executive head, Anne-Marie Couderc. Her main task is to recruit a new leader for the firm.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industries of India (ASSOCHAM) today urged the Karnataka government to adopt and implement the Centre's draft guidelines for the direct selling business.

At a regional conference on the topic 'Promoting direct selling for developing entrepreneurship and job creation' here, the speakers sought the government toadopt the guidelines so that the direct selling would push industry's growth, spur skill development, and job creation.

In his address, chairperson of the ASSOCHAM Task Force on Direct Selling, Vijay Sardana said," ASSOCHAM would soon undertake a research on the best operational model suited with the current policies for direct selling industry in Karnataka together with the realchallenges being faced by the sector and share it with the state government."



He noted that the Model Framework for Guidelines on Direct Selling were issued by the Union Consumer Affairs Ministry in September 2016.

However, only seven states, Chhattisgarh, Sikkim, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal have adopted them, whereas other states have not accepted it, Sardana said.

He claimed that if the state government ensures speedy implementation of the guidelines, it will result in creation ofover 10 million entrepreneurs by 2020 as direct selling has agreat potential to create jobs and self-employment.

Speaking on the occasion, Director of Corporate Affairs, QI Group Zaheer K Merchant said, "India has embarked on a keystep forward with framing guidelines and legislation beingformed or reformed, and undertakings of such nature particularly when supported by the state government are admirable.

We simply need robust guidelines,infrastructure and their proper implementation for aprofessional and ethical industry.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The 10th annual BRICS Summit has officially kicked off on Wednesday as leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa gathered in Johannesburg for their annual meeting.

This years summit is themed BRICS in Africa: Collaboration for Inclusive Growth and Shared Prosperity in the 4th Industrial Revolution.

According to organizers, about 1,000 delegates deliberated on the current global political economy and its implications for BRICS member countries and the impact of the 4th Industrial Revolution on inclusive growth and transformation.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said at the opening ceremony this year marks a decade of BRICS collaboration, during which the member countries have successfully shaped an ambitious agenda for development that recognizes the great potential the countries possess for collective action.

He said intra-BRICS cooperation has been gaining momentum in areas such as finance, agriculture, trade, combating transnational crime, science and technology, health, education, security and academic dialogue.

South Africa has invited the leaders of 22 other countries to participate in this weeks summit, including 19 from Africa.

The BRICS group comprises more than 40 per cent of the global population. Analysts say its members have struggled to find a unified voice, but their common opposition to US trade policy could help to galvanize them.

Chinese President Xi Jinping who also attended the opening ceremony, in a speech, said there would be no winner in a global trade war. He urged the countries taking part in the summit to be resolute against closed-door protectionism.

Xi Jinping believed that the collective rise of emerging markets and developing countries is unstoppable and will make global development more balanced.

As a reminder, last week, President Donald Trump said he was ready to impose tariffs on all $500 billion of imported goods from China.Debt-laden Air India has received Rs 27,195.21 crore worth equity infusion till date from the government under the turnaround and financial restructuring plans approved back in 2012.

In the current financial year, the state-owned airline received an equity infusion of Rs 650 crore up to June, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha told the Lok Sabha today.

A Turnaround Plan (TAP) as well as a Financial Restructuring Plan (FRP) were approved for Air India by the previous UPA regime in 2012.

All government guaranteed loans and interests thereon are being paid by the government by way of equity infusion into the airline, Sinha said in a written reply.

The minister said that under the FRP, high cost of working capital loans have been converted into long term debt carrying lesser rates of interest so as to reduce the financial burden on Air India.

"The TAP/ FRP includes budgetary support amounting to Rs 30,231 crore spread over 10 years ie. up to FY 2020-21 and also equity support for the payment of principal/ interest of the non-convertible debentures.

"Air India has received an equity infusion of Rs 27,195.21 crore till date," Sinha said.

At the end of March 2017, the national carrier had a debt burden of more than Rs 48,000 crore.

The government's proposed strategic disinvestment of Air India failed to take off in May.

Against this backdrop, Sinha said the government remains committed to the disinvestment of Air India.

"In view of volatile crude prices and adverse fluctuations in exchange rates, the present environment is not conducive to stimulate interest amongst investors for strategic disinvestment of Air India in immediate near future.

"The issue would be revisited once global economic indicators, including oil prices and forex conditions stabilise," the minister said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu today expressed hope that the issue of dues the Delhi airport operator owes to the CISF, which provides security cover to the IGI Airport, would be addressed soon.

He made the comments after he had a meeting with Home Minister Rajnath Singh, under whose ministry the CISF comes, and Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha



The Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), the airport operator, owes over Rs 600 crore to the CISF, sources said.

Report suggests that there is a demand to increase the Passenger Service Fee (PSF) to clear the dues. A PSF of Rs 154 is collected from each passenger flying out of the Delhi airport and part of the amount is set aside for security component.

"Had a fruitful meeting with Hon'ble Home Minister @rajnathsingh ji along with my colleague @jayantsinha ji. Discussed issues related to Passenger Service Fee. Extremely hopeful for the redressal of the same in near future," the minister tweeted tonight.

Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey was also present during the meeting.

The meeting came against the backdrop of the Home Ministry warning the Civil Aviation Ministry in a communication recently that the CISF security cover for the airport could be withdrawn by the year-end if the dues are not cleared.

According to officials, the Civil Aviation Ministry is looking at possible funding from the exchequer and other options to help DIAL clear the outstanding dues.

A DIAL spokesperson had earlier said that security-related expenses of the airport are met from an escrow account which has money collected as PSF.

The DIAL is working in a fiduciary capacity on behalf of the Indian government and is collecting the PSF from embarking passengers as per the tariff decided 10 years ago, the spokesperson had said, adding that the entire collection is passed to an escrow account.

Due to the cost exceeding the collection over a period of time, there is a deficit in PSF (Security Component) account. The DIAL management has had a meeting with the ADG CISF (Airports) in the recent past and apprised him about the reasons for the deficit in PSF (SC). We are coordinating with Ministry of Civil Aviation to make sure that this issue is addressed, he had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Alappuzha and Kottayam, the worst hit in the recent south west monsoon rains in Kerala, will soon be declared flood-hit districts, officials said today.

A decision in this regard was taken by the state disaster management authority, an official release said.

Once a notification is issued, farmers in the two districts will be able to claim insurance for crop loss, according to the release.

In Alappuzha district, Rs 2.44 crore has been sanctioned by the authority, of which Rs 1.69 crore has to be used for reconstruction of bunds and to prevent floods, it said.

The authority has allocated Rs 35 lakh for undertaking repairs on the Alappuzha Changanassery (AC) road passing through Kottayam-Alappuzha districts.

The Chief Minister's office dismissed as 'baseless' reports that discrimination had been shown in the allotment of funds to some districts, which suffered loss in the rains.

In Alappuzha district, 12 people have lost their lives since the onset of the monsoon on May 29.

Twentyfour houses were damaged fully and 575 partially in the district, where many places are still water-logged.

Nine deaths have been reported from Kottayam district where 774 houses are partially damaged and eight fully, according to official sources.

In Alappuzha, crop loss in 5833.48 hectares has been reported, while in Kottayam crops in 5121.89 hectares have been destroyed.

According to the sources, 44,727 people are staying in Alappuzha district in 187 relief camps, while in Kottayam 4408 people have been housed in 32 camps.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India and four other member nations of the BRICS grouping today urged all parties to the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal to fully comply with their obligations and ensure the full implementation of the agreement to promote global and regional peace and security.

Iran agreed a long-term deal on its nuclear programme with the P5+1 group of world powers - the US, UK, France, China, Russia and Germany in 2015 under which Tehran agreed to limit its sensitive nuclear activities and allow in international inspectors in return for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions.

In May, President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear agreement struck by the previous Obama administration by calling it the "the worst" deal ever negotiated. The US is also pressuring all nations to stop importing oil from Iran by November 4 to ramp up sanctions on Tehran.

At the BRICS Summit here, India, Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa, signed the Johannesburg Declaration, took note of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear programme.

"We call upon all parties to fully comply with their obligations and ensure full and effective implementation of the JCPOA to promote international and regional peace and security," it said.

The 2015 deal was struck after years of tension over Iran's alleged efforts to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran insists that its nuclear programme was entirely peaceful.

The Johannesburg Declaration also welcomed the recent developments to achieve the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and maintain peace and stability in North East Asia.

"We reaffirm the commitment for a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution to the situation," the declaration said, weeks after President Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore for a historic summit on the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

On Afghanistan, the Declaration said, "We reaffirm our support for the process of an "Afghan-led, Afghan-owned" national peace and reconciliation process.

The grouping expressed its concern over the "deteriorating" situation in Afghanistan particularly the increase in the number and intensity of terrorist-related attacks on the Afghan security forces, the Government and civilians.

"We call on the international community to assist the government and the people of Afghanistan with the objective of working towards the realisation of peace," it says.

On the issue of Syria, the Johannesburg Declaration reaffirmed the commitment of the BRICS nations for a political resolution of the conflict through an inclusive "Syrian-led, Syrian-owned" political process that safeguards the state sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Syria.

The grouping also reaffirmed the need for a comprehensive reform of the UN, including its Security Council, with a view to making it more representative, effective and efficient, and to increase the representation of the developing countries so that it can adequately respond to global challenges.

In the Declaration, China and Russia, both UN Security Council members, reiterated the importance they attached to the status and role of Brazil, India and South Africa in international affairs and supported their aspiration to play a greater role in the UN.

The Declaration also reaffirmed the commitment of the BRICS grouping to the strengthening of multilateral institutions of global governance to ensure that they are able to comprehensively address global challenges.

The grouping also reiterated its commitment to shaping a more fair, just and representative multi-polar international order to the shared benefit of the humanity.

"We emphasise the indivisible nature of peace and security and reiterate that no country should enhance its security at the expense of the security of others," the Johannesburg Declaration says.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi represented India at the BRICS Summit.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Antigua Government has indicated that it may consider "a legitimate request" from to send back the uncle of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, who has taken citizenship there, according to a newspaper report in that country.

The Daily Observer on Thursday quoted a Cabinet press briefing issued by the Chief of Staff, Lionel "Max" Hurst, to state that Antigua and Barbuda government will make every effort as per law to honour a "legitimate" request from

The issue of Choksi, a fugitive from involved in an alleged scam worth over $2 billion, getting citizenship in Antigua in November last year was discussed in a Cabinet meeting of Antigua and Barbuda government, the newspaper said.

A CBI request, India's nodal agency for matters, to issue a Red Corner Notice against Choksi is pending with the international police organisation and is likely to be granted soon.

The Cabinet underlined that they do not have extradition treaty with India and that Choksi has not been charged for any crime, it reported.

The paper also stated that the Cabinet noted that no request has been received by the Antigua and Barbuda government for any action against Choksi.

The Citizenship by Investment unit of Antigua faced criticism from the paper for allowing Choksi to get passport of Antigua in November last year. The unit had informed the paper that Choksi's request was allowed after "due diligence" and detailed background check from

The CBI has denied that ever approached it regarding background checks on Choksi, who was facing inquiries from various agencies last year.

In an editorial, the paper said, There is a perception that the CIU's due diligence is a farce and that CIP money trumps due diligence. This is a perception that cannot be allowed to linger because it will have damaging effects on our country's reputation. The government must produce all the documentary evidence of the due diligence process so that the citizens of this country can have confidence that there is integrity to the process,



It also noted that India is a friendly country, an "ally", and that it had helped Antigua in past on several occasions and it was a time to reciprocate.

Beyond that, India is an ally. They have provided assistance to us in the past, and they have been tapped to provide assistance in the future. Most recently (as in April of this year), we sought their technical assistance in the areas of health and the management of public finance. Will we now turn our backs on them and give safe harbour to a fugitive from their justice system?, an editorial in the paper said.



Meanwhile, the has moved to a Special court in Mumbai seeking to declare Nirav Modi and his uncle Choksi 'fugitive economic offenders' which will enable them to seize their assets in India.

Nirav Modi and Choksi are being investigated by the ED and the CBI after it was detected that they allegedly cheated the of more than Rs 134 billion with purported involvement of a few of the lender's employees.

The scam, which reportedly began in 2011, was detected in January this year, after which PNB officials reported it to the probe agencies.

Choksi and Modi fled the country in January this year nearly a fortnight before the scam was detected.

Choksi's actions show that he had planned his escape and subsequent life in advance knowing that the scam would blow up after the retirement of PNB employee Gokulnath Shetty, who was allegedly helping him with renewal of letters of undertaking, sources said.

He escaped the country on January 4 on an Indian passport and took the oath of allegiance in Antigua on January 15, they said.

Next day, his firm approached the Brady House branch of the seeking renewal and issuance of letters of undertaking which were denied as the officer concerned sought cash guarantee for issuing these notes, a CBI FIR in this connection alleged.



The executives told the officer that they have been taking these letters over last several years without any demand of such guarantee, it said.

The officer could not find instructions for such LoUs in the bank's system which led to a detailed scrutiny. It is then that the alleged scam surfaced prompting the to approach the CBI with a complaint and an FIR was registered on January 31.

An LoU is a guarantee given by an issuing bank to Indian banks having branches abroad to grant short-term credit to an applicant.

Choksi allegedly swindled Rs 70.8086 billion, making it possibly the biggest scam in the country, the FIR has alleged.

Choksi and his companies allegedly availed of credit from overseas branches of Indian banks using the fraudulent guarantees of the PNB given through LoUs and letters of credit issued to Brady House branch which were not repaid bringing the liability on the state run bank, the officials said.

A charge sheet filed in a special court in Mumbai after a three-and-a-month probe alleged that Shetty, a deputy manager in the PNB and arrested by the CBI, received Rs 1 crore from the companies of Choksi to issue LoUs to his companies, they said.Port infrastructure developer Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) on Thursday said it has entered into a long-term pact with state-run GAIL (India) to provide liquefied natural gas regasification services at its upcoming LNG import terminal at Dhamra port in Odisha.

The LNG regasification services would be provided to GAIL on a use or pay basis, the company said in a BSE filing.

has booked 1.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) regasification capacity for a period of 20 years, it said.

GAIL plans to supply the gas to its portfolio of customers located in the eastern region and along the under development Jagdishpur Haldia gas grid.

The LNG facility "will also become a hub for supply to Bangladesh and Myanmar", CEO Karan Adani said.

The foundation stone of the project was laid in July last year and construction has been commenced by Larsen & Toubro. The terminal is likely to be commissioned during the second half of 2021.

The proposed Dhamra LNG import terminal is designed for an initial capacity of 5 MTPA, expandable up to 10 MTPA. It will be the second LNG terminal on the east coast after IOC's Ennore terminal in Tamil Nadu.Top officials of the Army paid tributes to the Kargil martyrs on the war's anniversary by placing a wreath at a memorial in Jaipur Military Station today.

The day marks the victory of Indian forces over Pakistan in the hills of Kargil and the success of India's Operation Vijay in 1999.

Chief of staff of Sapta Shakti Command,Lt Gen Vijay Singh,laid a wreath in remembrance of the soldiers, who sacrificed their lives for the nation.The ceremony was attended by all officers, JCOs and jawans of Jaipur Military Station, a defence spokesperson said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Army has rescued 150 passengers travelling in over 40 vehicles, which got stranded due to multiple landslides on Mughal Road in Poonch district, a Defence spokesman said here today.

The traffic on Mughal Road was disrupted for five hours due to multiple landslides because of continuous heavy rains, causing severe blockades at several locations last night, the spokesman said.

"No injuries or damage of any kind was reported. Army also provided tea and refreshments to the stranded people. After dedicated efforts, the traffic resumed on the Mughal road by midnight", he said.

The Army unit deployed for the protection of the Mughal Road, connecting Jammu region with the Kashmir Valley, immediately sprung into action and with the determined operation could clear the road for the traffic, the spokesman said.

The passengers came shoulder to shoulder with the soldiers to remove boulders from the road amidst the heavy rains, he said.

The efforts of the Army were very much appreciated by the people, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Arunachal Pradesh Governor Brig (Retd) Dr B D Mishra paid tributes to the martyrs of Kargil war on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas today.

"On proud occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas (Kargil Day), I salute the courage, patriotism and sacrifice of our gallant Indian Army soldiers who from May 5 to July 26 1999, valiantly fought at the high altitude, snow-bound areas of Kargil mountains in Jammu and Kashmir to liberate the Indian territory from the Pakistan Army," the governor said in his message.

They had perfidiously occupied the bunkers on the top of the mountains during the thinning out period of the Indian Army units, the governor said.

"The vigour and valour of the Indian Army in the Kargil war has been unparallelled and whole nation stands beholden to the Kargil heroes of the Indian Army, Mishra said.

May the Martyrs of Kargil war ever live in our memory, the governor said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh presented himself today before the police here and dared them to arrest him, a week after Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan termed his actions as "anti-national".

The police, however, told the former chief minister that he could not be arrested as there was no case registered against him.

Singh, accompanied by hundreds of party workers holding banners and placards against Chouhan, marched for around one km from the party's state office to T T Nagar police station.

Talking to PTI later, the Congress leader's son Jaivardhan, who also accompanied him, said: "Police handed over a letter to my father that read- 'No criminal case or complaint of sedition against Digvijay Singh has been lodged in T T Nagar police station as per the records'."



Talking to reporters outside the police station, Digvijay Singh said, "I have a letter from the police... Chouhan, who is holding a constitutional post, is telling 'lies'. I am going to drag him to court for calling me a traitor."



"I am going to seek the opinion of lawyers to file a complaint against Chouhan soon," he added.

"I directly accuse Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his family of being guilty in (multi-crore admission and recruitment racket) Vyapam. If he has the courage, he should lodge a defamation case," Singh said as he dared Chouhan.

Singh had announced last week that as the BJP government dubs him anti-national, he would go to the T T Nagar police station on July 26 and that the police should arrest him.

In a letter to the chief minister, Singh had said: "I have taken a oath to follow the Constitution. So I have decided to present myself before the law to protect the uuity and integrity of India....I would present myself at T T Nagar Police Station.

"Meanwhile, submit the evidence of my being anti-national to your administration so that they can file a case and arrest me," he had said.

Chouhan had earlier slammed Singh for 'visiting the homes of slain terrorists' and talking about "Hindu terrorism".

"Many times, such acts of Digvijayji seem anti-national," Chouhan had told a press conference at Satna on July 19.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Morocco and the European Union initialed in Rabat on Tuesday, July 24, a new 4-year fisheries agreement under which European trawlers will operate all along the Moroccan Atlantic coast, from Cap Spartel in the North to Cap Blanc in the far South of the Sahara, much to the discontent of the Polisario and its mentor, Algeria.

The separatist front was dealt this blow just few days after it suffered another scathing setback, when the European Court of Justice rendered on July 19 a ruling dismissing an appeal lodged by the Polisario in 2014. The complaint sought to annul the Morocco-EU fisheries agreement signed in 2013.

The judges of the European Courts Fifth Chamber slammed in their July 19 verdict the separatist front as ineligible to lodge such an appeal, stating that the Polisario is not directly or individually concerned by the fisheries agreement and cannot, in any event, be considered, in view of the arguments it relies on, as having locus standi.

The judges of the Luxembourg-based European Court have thus declared the action for annulment as inadmissible in its entirety and ordered the Polisario to pay in addition to its own costs, the judicial proceeding costs incurred by the Council of the European Union.

Even in its previous rulings on Morocco-EU agreements and the inclusion of the Sahara in these agreements delivered in 2015 and 2016, the European Court of Justice did not mention the Polisario, which, by the way, is not recognized by any European country.

These new developments represent a devastating fiasco of the Algeria-backed separatists, and show, if need be, they are losing the judicial war they have been waging, at the instigation of Algeria, against Moroccos trade agreements with the EU. They found themselves caught in their own trap.They are neither mythological characters nor epic heroes, yet an anonymous group of volunteers cleaning the Karnataka capital of garbage have caught the imagination of the publishers of popular comic book Amar Chitra Katha.

The hugely popular magazine, which usually publishes stories with illustrations of legends andhistorical figures, has chosen to feature 'The Ugly Indian', a group of unknown youth involved in cleaning Bengaluru streets.

Preferring to work anonymously with the motto 'Kaam chalu,mooh bandh' (stop talking, start doing), The Ugly Indian hasbecome a platform to clean up ugly black spots wheregarbage piles up.

Its members call the removal of garbage and beautifying theplace 'spot fixing'.

When the PTI tried to reach them through email, the group replied: "If you are from the media, we're sorry but TUI has astrict mouth-shut policy. Nobody is authorized to speak onbehalf of TUI, no interviews are given, and no names/numbersare shared.

"Anonymity is everything. Let the actions do thetalking - all work done is published on Facebook."



A brief introduction about the group in the reply read: "TUI is not an NGO or formal organization. Thereis no office or leadership or founders or local chapters. TheUgly Indian is just an idea That we are all ugly Indians, andonly we can save us from ourselves. The Ugly Indian is anattitude."



It said a positive can-do attitude is demonstrated every day by thousands of anonymous citizens across India whodo "spot-fixing".

The cover page of the comic reads 'Swachch Bharat- Ek Swachchata Kranti', showing young boys and girls with brooms.

Narrating the story of The Ugly Indian, they gave the title 'Kaam Chalu, Mooh Bandh: Satya Ghatna ParAadhaarit' (Stop talking, start doing: Based on true story).

The story begins with the young boys and girls changing the heart of 'Shetty Uncle', who had the habit of throwing garbage in public places without bothering about the consequences.

The youth remove all the garbage thrown by Shetty, compelling him to introspect.

Posting portions of the cartoon strip on their Facebook page, The Ugly Indian wrote, "DID YOU KNOW? The Ugly Indian isfeatured in Amar Chitra Katha! May "Kaam Chalu Mooh Bandh"become part of our folklore someday soon. #theuglyindian#amarchitrakatha".

As it spread from one locality ofBengaluru to another, it also gained in popularity. Their Facebook page is liked by4.46 lakh people from across the country and their pictures'Before and After' are a source of inspiration for many acrossIndia.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Germany today welcomed an agreement between US President Donald Trump and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker to ease a trade spat that has been simmering for months.

"The government welcomes the agreement for a constructive approach on trade. The European Commission can continue to count on our support," wrote German government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer on Twitter.

Germany's Foreign Minister Heiko Maas had earlier said the outcome of the talks showed the power of a united EU.

"Europe showed yesterday that it won't be divided. And we have also seen that if Europe is united, then our words have weight. Then we can speak to everyone with confidence and as equals," Maas said.

"I have said: the response to America First can only be Europe United," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Bharat Soka Gakkai (BSG), the Indian affiliate of Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a global organisation promoting peace, today held a symposium here.

Dignitaries, during the symposium, shared their views on this year's peace proposal, titled "Era of Human Rights: Building a People's Movement", submitted by SGI president Daisaku Ikeda to the United Nations on January 26.

Bharat Soka Gakkai chairperson Vishesh Gupta said that this was the 36th peace proposal submitted to the UN by Ikeda.

Ikeda, in the peace proposal, has urged the UN to focus on key issues such as climate change, rights of refugees and their children, women's equality as well as the rights of the elderly, Gupta told reporters ahead of the symposium.

"This is a proposal made for the entire world, keeping global issues in mind. We are giving a direction based on which a road map can be developed by each country depending on their situation" said Gupta.

Prominent speakers who shared their views with the audience during the event included Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad Director, Professor Errol D'Souza and Kartikeya Sarabhai, founder-director of the Centre for Environment Education.

The BSG's website claims that it is an organisation engaged in peace, culture and education activities based on the humanistic philosophy of Buddhism.

The website adds that the BSG is part of the larger Soka Gakkai International (SGI) network, a global organisation that seeks to promote the values of peace and respect for all people and comprises more than 12 million people in 192 countries.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar recommended a CBI inquiry today into the alleged sexual exploitation of girls at a state-funded shelter home in Muzaffarpur district, even as the opposition MLAs protested in the state Assembly demanding the probe to be monitored by the high court.

Terming the incident "deplorable", the decision to hand over the case to the CBI was taken to prevent rumour-mongering in the state, an official release said.

Medical examinations of 29 of the 42 shelter home inmates confirmed that they were sexually exploited, state Director General of Police K S Dwivedi had said.

"Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has directed the Chief Secretary, the Director General of Police and the Principal Secretary (Home) to immediately hand over the case to the CBI," the release said.

"A deplorable incident has taken place in Muzaffarpur, where the police has been carrying out a diligent investigation. Although the government was committed to conducting an impartial probe, the decision for handing over the probe to the CBI has been taken to dispel the 'bhram ka vatavaran' (environment of rumours/falsehood) that was being created," it said.

Opposition parties in the state, while demanding a CBI inquiry, had alleged that the state government was baulking at handing over the matter to the central agency as it wanted to "shield" some of the key accused who were said to be close to the ruling dispensation.

Earlier this week, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had said in Parliament, where the issue was raised by a number of MPs, that the Centre would consider the matter if the state government recommended a CBI inquiry.

The matter of sexual exploitation of inmates at the shelter home had come to light in the report of a social audit conducted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

An FIR was subsequently registered on a complaint by the state social welfare department and 10 persons, including the patron of the NGO which ran the shelter home and the then district child protection officer, were arrested.

Meanwhile, the Bihar Assembly was paralysed on the issue for the third consecutive day today as the Opposition leaders demanded that the CBI inquiry must be monitored by the High Court and that Social Welfare Minister Manju Verma be sacked.

Yesterday, the wife of the arrested district child protection officer had alleged that her husband, a government official, was falsely implicated to "shield" the husband of Manju Verma who frequented the facility.

The allegation was strongly opposed by the minister who termed the allegation as politically motivated.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Shravan Kumar said, "People with any evidence against any person could now approach the CBI".

Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary sought to pacify the agitated members of the RJD, the Congress and CPI(ML), pointing out that only the court could take a decision as to whether it would monitor the CBI inquiry or not.

As sloganeering in the House went on unabated, many of the MLAs trooped into the well as the Speaker adjourned the House till 2 pm.

Later, Congress MLC Prem Chandra Mishra also said the investigation be monitored by the court since the CBI is known for acting under the influence of the government at the Centre.

A Public Interest Litigation filed some time back seeking a CBI probe into irregular functioning of shelter homes for children, including the one at Muzaffarpur, also came up for hearing before the Patna High Court today.

Advocate General Lalit Kishore informed a Division Bench comprising Justices Dr Ravi S Ranjan and S Kumar that the government has recommended handing over the Muzaffarpur shelter home case to the central agency.

The court posted the matter for further hearing to the first week of August.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar



recommended today a CBI inquiry into the alleged sexual exploitation of girls at a state-funded shelter home in Muzaffarpur district.

Terming the incident "deplorable", the decision to handover the case to the CBI was taken to prevent rumour-mongering in the state, an official release said.

Medical examinations of 29 of the 42 shelter home inmates confirmed that they were sexually exploited, state Director General of Police K S Dwivedi had said.

"Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has directed the Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and Principal Secretary (Home) to immediately hand over the case to the CBI," it said.

"A deplorable incident has taken place in Muzaffarpur, where the police has been carrying out a diligent investigation.

Although the government was committed to conducting an impartial probe, the decision for handing over the probe to the CBI has been taken to dispel the 'bhram ka vatavaran' (environment of rumours) that was being created," the release said.

Opposition parties in the state, while demanding a CBI inquiry, had alleged that the state government was baulking at handing over the matter to the central agency as it wanted to "shield" some of the key accused who were said to be close to the ruling dispensation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today recommended a CBI probe into the alleged sexual exploitation of girls at a state-funded shelter home in Muzaffarpur, an official release said.

Kumar's deputy Sushil Kumar Modi said the state government would request the Patna High Court to monitor the probe.

Opposition MLAs had paralysed the state Assembly for three days with their vociferous demands for a high court-monitored CBI probe into the scandal. They also demanded that the state Social Welfare Minister Manju Verma be sacked.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had told the Parliament that the Centre would consider if the state government recommended a CBI inquiry.

Recommending the CBI inquiry this morning, Kumar directed the chief secretary, the director general of police and the principal secretary (home) to immediately hand over the case to the central investigating agency, a government release said.

The decision to hand over the case to the CBI was taken to prevent rumour-mongering in the state, it said.

"A deplorable incident has taken place in Muzaffarpur, where the police have been carrying out a diligent investigation. Although the government was committed to conducting an impartial probe, the decision for handing over the probe to the CBI has been taken to dispel the 'bhram ka vatavaran' (environment of rumours/falsehood) that was being created," it said.

Sushil Modi said, "During the next hearing, the state government will itself request the high court to monitor the CBI inquiry into the matter."



Medical examinations of 29 of the 42 shelter home inmates confirmed that they were sexually exploited, state Director General of Police K S Dwivedi had said. Ten out of 11 accused persons have been arrested in the case.

"Lalu (RJD chief Lalu Prasad) and company's faith in the CBI has increased which is evident from their demand for CBI probe into the Srijan scam and Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual exploitation case. I hope that Lalu Prasad's family who used to criticise CBI will not take U-turn and term its action in the Railways tender scam and benami properties case as political vendetta," Sushil Modi said.

The RJD supremo is serving sentence in a number of fodder scam cases. In the IRCTC case, the alleged scam which took place while Prasad was the Railways Minister, he and many of his family members face money laundering charges.

Earlier in the day, the Bihar Assembly was adjourned till lunch break within 10 minutes of commencement of the proceedings on the issue as opposition members trooped into the well and created ruckus demanding monitoring of the case by the high court, sacking of the social welfare minister and arrest of her husband Chandeshwar Prasad Verma for visiting the home often.

The legislative council too witnessed noisy scenes in the first half when opposition members raised anti-government slogans making similar demands.

Opposition parties in the state demanding the CBI probe had alleged that the state government was not handing over the matter to the central agency as it wanted to "shield" some of the key accused who were said to be close to the ruling dispensation.

The alleged sexual exploitation of inmates at the shelter home had come to light in the report of a social audit conducted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

An FIR was subsequently registered on a complaint by the state social welfare department and 10 persons, including the patron of the NGO which ran the shelter home and the then district child protection officer, were arrested.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Disciplinary committee of the Jammu and Kashmir BJP today recommended suspension of party MLA Gagan Bhagat in connection with the allegation of an ex-serviceman that he had abducted his daughter.

On June 24, the ex-serviceman accused the R S Pura MLA of abducting his daughter, a charge denied by the woman as well as the politician who termed the allegation as an attempt to defame him.

"The committee proposes to the president of J&K BJP that Gagan Bhagat be immediately suspended for a period of three months from the party," Chairman of disciplinary committee Sunil Sethi said.

The committee also said that within the suspension period, Bhagat be given directions to settle all dispute to the satisfaction of the complainant parties, he said.

The three member committee, including Sethi, N D Rajwal and Virinderjeet Singh has sent their recommendation to the party president.

The committee also proposes that Bhagat be restrained from holding any official position in the party for the period of one year, Sethi said.

If Gagan Bhagat fails to resolve all disputes to the satisfaction of complainant parties within a period granted to him, he be expelled from the party to not only do justice but also send a message to all members of the party that indiscipline in the party will not be tolerated and the members of the party have to keep their image clean in the public," he said.

The committee also said that Bhagat be informed about his right to appeal, in case, the state president choose to inflict punishment, it said.

All the record of the matter including file and other material have been sent to the president, Sethi said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A short film, which is said to be inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's childhood, was screened for the Bharatiya Janata Party MPs and its leaders at the Parliament's library building today.

Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Ananth Kumar; Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and veteran BJP leader L K Advani were among those who watched the 32-minute movie, 'Chalo Jeete Hain' (Let's live).

The film was screened yesterday as well with Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu being the chief guest. It was screened on Tuesday at Rashtrapati Bhavan for President Ram Nath Kovind. It claims to be about formative years of a young boy "destined to serve the nation" and bears a striking similarity with Modi's childhood.

Describing the movie as "inspirational", Mahajan said it gave the message that "we should dedicate our lives for the larger benefit of others in the society". Top party leaders, including Union ministers, praised it.

Its main character is named 'Narendra' whose mother washes utensils at people's homes and father sells tea. The movie shows 'Narendra' in a quest for finding out what people live for and then using his earnings from a drama to buy dress and books for a Dalit boy who was unable to attend school due to his family poverty.

'''Chalo Jeete Hain' is a short film which compels you to think who do you live for? It presents an inspiring story of young Naru, destined to serve the nation. Guess who?" the tweet from the BJP's handle said, adding that its world premiere would be aired on a private channel on Sunday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Body of a 14-year-old girl, who had not returned home from her tutions, was found lying on a bed in a locked house under Bagnan police station in Howrah district today, a senior police officer said.

The girl's mother went to her tution class after her daughter had not returned home at New Development block yesterday.

On enquiring from her friends, she was told that her daughter had been sighted accompanying the mother of a 15-year-old boy, a resident of Nabasan area under the limits of the same police station.

After visiting the house at Nabasan area, about three kilometre from her residence, she found the main door of the house locked from outside following which she lodged a complaint with the police, Howrah Additional Superintendent of Police (rural), B Thakur said.

The landlady of the house alerted neighbours today morning after she peeped in through the window and sighted legs dangling from a bed in the locked room, Thakur said.

The police broke open the door of the room and found the body with injury marks on her head, he said.

The exact cause of death will be known after post-mortem examination, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The body of a 34-year-old Ola cab driver was found with head injuries in Haiderpur canal after he was reported missing since July 24, police said today.

The deceased was identified as Salimuddin, a resident of Sohna in Gurgaon.

His family members claimed that it was a case of hate crime as his hair had been cut, but the police have so far ruled out the allegation.

On July 23, some passengers had boarded a Swift Dzire cab at the Kashmere Gate bus terminal. They told the driver they wanted a bigger car after which the cab driver booked another car for them, they added.

Salimuddin, who used to drive an Ertiga, arrived there and they asked him to take them to Murthal. They paid the fare in advance.

Around 3 am on July 24, Salimuddin's car was found rammed into a tree in Bawana but he was missing.

It was found that the car was owned by one Hamid, a resident of district Mewat in Haryana, who told them that he had given the car to Salimuddin to drive.

Salimuddin's family told police that he had not returned home from July 23 and a case was registered.

Yesterday, Salimuddin's body was found with head injuries in a channel connecting Haiderpur canal and Sonipat.

The post-mortem examination was carried out today and the body was handed over to the family.

It is suspected that he was attacked with stones.

Police are questioning the driver of the Swift Dzire about the passengers.

It is being probed whether the accused had robbed the Ertiga from Salimuddin, and then killed him. It is suspected that after robbing the vehicle, they were driving it and ended up ramming it into a tree and then dumped it there.

Meanwhile, Ola released a statement on the incident.

"This is a very disturbing Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the deceased . We are in constant touch with local police to help them investigate the case. We hope that the perpetrators of the crime would be caught at the earliest," an Ola spokesperson said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)'Like' us on Facebook Follow us:

Posted on: July 27, 2018

Heaven Is Only A Frame of Mind Away

Structured Guidelines for a Spiritual Aspirant from Sai, the Sadguru

By Dr Michael Goldstein

Part 01

Dr Michael Goldstein hails from the United States of America and is a doctor by profession. He qualified from the University of California and later earned his post-graduate degree in Doctor of Medicine from George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington. He served as the Medical Director of a general hospital and a multi-speciality medical group in Southern California, USA.

He has been serving Bhagawan in various capacities for over four decades. He was the central co-ordinator of the Sathya Sai Organisation USA, and Latin America. Later he was the chairman of World Council, chairman of Sri Sathya Sai World Foundation, and the chairman of Prasanthi Council which oversees the functioning of International Sai Organisation.



He was also blessed by Bhagawan to be the chief guest at the Convocation of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning in 1999. This indeed was a very special blessing conferred by Bhagawan for his devoted service to the Lord and His mission.



As we observe Guru Poornima, the festival where we offer gratitude to Swami for assuming the role of our Sadguru, we present this edited transcript of a talk delivered by Dr Goldstein in the Sai Kulwant Hall on March 29, 2018.



In this talk, he shares some very valuable lessons he learnt at the divine lotus feet. He presents them in the form of a nine-point spiritual program that we can lay out for ourselves to ensure steady progress on the spiritual path. The thoughts he expresses are indeed profound and highly relevant for every pilgrim on the path to self-realisation. We hope it guides you and inspires you.



With humility and love I offer my pranams at the divine Lotus Feet of our beloved Swami. My dear brothers and sisters, Sai Ram to all of you. We are gathered here in the Divine Omnipresence of Consciousness, Kali Yuga Avatar Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, our beloved Swami. He chose to assume a physical presence and walk among us. Now He is with us and within us as Divine Omnipresence always and forever.

He has inspired us to free ourselves from worldly bondage and achieve liberation; to be in the world but not of the world; to help, and not hinder the spiritual progress of mankind. He taught us that we are divine consciousness contained in mortal human minds and bodies.

I submit to you that every man and every woman, everyone everywhere are spiritual seekers. We are all consciously or unconsciously seeking in our lives identity and purpose. 'Who am I, what am I, how am I, where am I' - these are the questions that we ask ourselves. This is the beginning of spirituality.

Our beloved Swami has taught and demonstrated that mankind is unique among all of God's creation. We are capable of turning inward deeply and intensely in finding the divine source and essence of our lives.

Our spiritual heart, our inner voice, our souls  these are all names for our true spiritual identity. That is who we really are and that is what we are seeking to realise in our lives.

The truth is that we are manifestations of the Omnipresent Divinity, the Lord God, Divine Consciousness, our beloved Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba.

Faith is a Prerequisite for the Spiritual Quest

It is an illusion that we are merely a conglomeration of flesh and bone, instinct and sensation, thoughts and emotion. It is an illusion that we are limited to these small human identities, frail human bodies, and these fickle faulty minds. We are much more. Human life is bestowed by Divinity, human life is imbued with Divinity.

Nevertheless, many of us remain oblivious to our glorious role in creation. We think and act as if these minds and bodies will persist forever. We become engrossed and seduced by the familiar and comfortable pursuits of this world. And in so doing, our lives become mechanical and reactive. We preclude the profound inner awareness of our innate Divinity. We fail to discern the divine purpose of our human lives.

As a result, Divinity seems distant and incomprehensible to many of us. We cannot perceive Divinity with our senses or define with words or formula or equations.

Why should we have faith in Divinity? How can you describe or demonstrate faith with logical argument?

Only that which speaks to the heart can effectively advocate the need and importance of faith. Only the moving example of noble deeds, only the inspiration conferred by selfless love can effectively inspire Divinity.

Faith is like pure water; water is the elixir of life for the body of men. Without water these organs of the body are reduced to non-functional cells which in turn are degraded into lifeless chemicals.

Faith is the elixir of life for the spirit of man. Without faith the spiritual principles given by God to man are not served. When they are not served, chaos ensues among the people. This chaos demoralises men and women and demeans society. This lack of faith is prevalent right now in this Kali Yuga. For that reason, Bhagawan, the Kali Yuga Avatar, chose to walk among us. By word and deed, He initiated the restoration of faith and spiritual awareness among all people everywhere.

Is Swami the Conscience?

In Brindavan ashram our beloved Swami would often call a number of His students and some elders after evening bhajans. Informally and lovingly Swami would speak with us. Love and joy prevailed during these Trayee Brindavan sessions with our dearest Swami.

On one such occasion one of Swami's students innocently asked a simple question. Swami are You my conscience? And like a Divine Mother and Father He answered the young man, Swami is not your conscience, Swami is Consciousness.

Conscious is being awake; conscience is the ability for us to turn inward and relate to our Divine Consciousness. Consciousness is the Lord God manifested within us.

This is a very important distinction; it is the key to the door of self-realisation. It is the key to become who and what we really are. Our beloved Swami has taught us that Divinity is Consciousness and the essence of Consciousness is selfless love. Consciousness is Sat Chit Ananda. Our goal in life is to experience this truth, not merely to ponder intellectually. We must make use of this remarkable opportunity to spiritually realise our Divine Selves. Swami has taught us that we can achieve self-realisation through love and God's grace.

Now is the Best Time to March towards the Goal

Over the years Swami referred to His devotees, to all of us as Prema Swarupalara and Atma Swarupalara (Embodiments of Divine Love and Divine Atma). That is who we really are. But we impose worldly obstacles that preclude the manifestation of our divine nature.

Self-realisation is possible, probable, actually inevitable now or whenever in this lifetime or in lifetimes to come. It depends on our faith, our yearning to know God, our karma and most importantly the grace of God.

It will come to pass whenever we decide to stop procrastinating and we put aside our worldly obsessions. It is our prerogative to do or not to do, to be or not to be. We must never forsake our great expectations.

In the beginning, Divinity, our beloved Swami took a human form in a village in Andhra Pradesh. Then Divinity as a child played with other children and taught them goodness by His own example.

Then Divinity proclaimed His divine purpose and intention. He sang Manasa Bhajare Guru Charanam. Then Divinity began harvesting the faithful. He let His light radiate throughout the world gathering people from all races, religions, nations and cultures in order to inspire, redeem and transform them.

We have the good fortune to be among the gathered ones; are we transformed? Yes, all of us are transformed somewhat, some more than others. We cannot evaluate the degree of spiritual transformation in our brothers and sisters. We do not judge each other, we love each other with love that is selfless, that is pure, that transcends body and mind. It is love that is devoid of desire.

As Swami was transforming us He examined the institutions of society that men had conceived and found them wanting. Then Divinity began the redemption and transformation of the institutions of education and medicine, and so many other divine works.

Now His work continues in part through us, by virtue of the love and light that emanates from our very being. Now all of creation participates in the divine intention of our Lord. Spiritual movement towards Divinity cannot be determined. That is the mystery of Divinity. We can do what we must do and thereby consciously participate in the intention of our beloved Swami.

Raging the War Within

In the Treta Yuga there was a war between two different people and two different lands. Lord Rama, Divinity Himself took up arms against Ravana and the rakshasas. In the Dwapara Yuga there was a war between two families. Arjuna and the Pandavas opposed the Kauravas. Lord Krishna, Divinity Himself, was the Divine Advisor.

Today in the Kali Yuga, good and evil reside within each man and woman. Bhagawan Himself plays the role of divine witness. Our beloved Swami has said each individual must fight against the demonic forces within oneself and vanquish them. When this is accomplished, man's inherent divine nature will manifest itself of its own accord.

Swami teaches us that the spiritual war of the Kali Yuga is within ourselves. On one side there is our real, spiritual self, represented by our noble mind on the Kurukshetra battlefield. Opposing this spiritual us ferociously is the wayward us, the worldly us, the sinfulness us.

Swami enumerates the six cardinal enemies of man - lust, anger, greed, pride, attachment and jealousy; they are the generals of these ignominious army of the worldly us.

There are soldiers of them responsible for the multitude of sins that comprise the mischief of mankind. They line up on the Kurukshetra seeking to destroy the real us, the noble us, the spiritual us but we will persevere. Spiritual us is eternally true, ever present. The worldly us is a transient intruder.

Our true Divine Selves will inevitably prevail if not in this battle or in this life, in the next life or the life thereafter.

Then, as Swami has promised, our divine nature will manifest itself of its own accord. Let us pray to Swami now, 'Dearest Swami let it be now in this life, let it be now, O' Lord, bring all of Your children home'.

Heaven is within ourselves, heaven is spiritual victory when the real us, the spiritual us, prevails in this Kali Yuga war within ourselves. Heaven is the realisation of innate divinity - Sat Chit Ananda which is being consciousness divine bliss.

Our beloved Swami says heaven is not a super terrestrial region of perpetual spring. It is an inner experience, a state of supreme bliss.

My dear brothers and sisters, I submit to you, heaven is only a frame of mind away. We are all ever so close to the realisation of our great expectations. Everyday we see the sun rise and shine. It provides us with light and warmth. Everyday we see the flowers blossom, enchanting us with their beauty and innocence.

And everyday if we look into our own hearts with reverence and intensity we will experience that heaven is ever so near. Our beloved Swami has taught us that we can be in the world without being framed and contained by the world.

Inculcate Spiritual Common Sense

Sometimes these minds of ours run amok and dampen even silence, the divine beckoning from our inner selves, the whispering of our hearts. Sometimes we become diverted from our purpose and forget why we are here in these human lives. We should replace this worldly nonsense with spiritual common sense.

What is this spiritual common sense? It is sense that is common to all of us. It is spiritual knowledge that is innate in all of us - why are we here, what is our purpose, what are we doing to realise our purpose? We must turn inward, seeking the light that shines deeply in the spirit and in our heart.

We must ask these fundamental questions and act upon the wisdom that emerges from deep within ourselves. That is the common sense to which I refer. Go where the answer can be found in our own spiritual hearts. Find the answer, its inevitable. Follow the answer, do not procrastinate. The Lord has endowed all men and women with this common sense. That is our innate ability to find and follow the light of God awaiting acknowledgement from within ourselves. Let us make the best use of this very precious time that we have been given in these human lives. That is quintessential common sense.

How should we apply ourselves to discern and achieve the spiritual purpose of our human lives? It seems so very simple and at times very elusive. We know that logic and intelligence alone will not produce spiritual progress. Intellectual analysis without intuition and inspiration results in spiritual paralysis, not progress, not selfless love, not liberation.

We must look deeply and intently into our own hearts. Deep and true spiritual self-enquiry is essential. With determination and love we can each appeal to our beloved Swami to enlighten us. He is always there and waiting for our prayer. It is a heavenly soliloquy to truly commune with the Lord, our beloved Swami, and truly know our divine selves.

Our beloved Swami succinctly describes the essence of spiritual enquiry. Swami says, 'Who are you? God. Where did you come from? God. Where are you going? To God'.

He is teaching us that all people will realise their divine heritage; it is inevitable. That is the divine intention. Our true selves are part of Him. The separateness between ourselves and Him is created by us, therefore let our spiritual self-enquiry, our divine soliloquy proceeds in this manner - 'True Self, kindly reveal to me who are we and who He is.' The degree to which we comprehend and experience the answer to these simple questions is the extent to which we have understood and experienced the spiritual nature and purpose of our lives.

Become Spiritual Knowers Not Spiritual Thinkers

Intellectual cognition of spiritual truth is helpful but superficial. Spiritual experience is profound and essential for spiritual progress. Our minds think, our hearts know. We are seeking to become spiritual knowers not merely spiritual thinkers.

Spiritual knowing is a function of spiritual experience. If we are knowers, what is it that we should know? Are we content with our worldly life without contemplating a deeper meaning and purpose to life? Do we think about who we are above and beyond our personality and relationship with others in this world? Do we know from experience the divine nature of human life and live accordingly?

In the context of spirituality, the thinker studies and digests spiritual information intellectually. He reads books and attends lectures, he becomes the theologian, a scholar of the divine texts. The knower also studies but he intuits truth, experiences spiritual knowledge within himself and becomes an exemplar of the divine scriptures and of selfless love. Ultimately he becomes the saint, the realised soul.

To really know is to realise, to experience who we really are. To really know is to identify our mission in life and apply ourselves to it wholeheartedly. To really know is to fulfil the purpose of human life.

Different Sadhana for Different Aspirants

One morning some time ago, I was in the ashram and I was reading Swami's words. I realised that I had not been reading regularly and concluded that it was time for me to embark on a systematic review.

I thought I must make a programme and systematically review all of Swami's books again. I went to darshan on this particular morning and Swami called me into the interview room with a group of western devotees making their first pilgrimage to Prasanthi Nilayam.

Swami's grace and love flowed abundantly and the devotees were filled with joy. Then one devotee asked Swami about his sadhana.

Swami instructed him, Study for steady. It was very important that if Swami spoke in your presence you should take whatever He said seriously. You were there to hear what He was saying for a reason.

Then Swami stood up and instructed me to follow Him into another room. He gave me some instructions regarding the Sathya Sai Organisation.

Then He was very receptive to my questions. If one can say that God has moods I would say that Swami was in a very very good mood.

At times Swami could be very distant and austere like Divine Father, like the Lord of the universe that He was, is and will always be. Or sometimes He could be very loving and tender like Divine Mother that He was, is and always will be.

In this instance Swami was Divine Mother. I was elated. I took the liberty of telling Swami that I was thinking that I must make a programme for myself and reread all of Swami's books, just as He had given advice to the devotees that were in the interview room.

I sought Swami's blessings, approval and guidance for this endeavour. I asked Swami if His words to the devotees in the interview room, 'study for steady' was also a confirmation that I should also study for steady. Like a child I wanted so much for Swami to confirm that this was a good plan. I felt that if Swami confirmed this then I might find what I am seeking in Swami's books.

Much to my surprise Swami said, No, book study is not for you. Your study is to remember and think about every time you have seen Swami, every time Swami has spoken to you and every time you have taken padanamaskar. Swami was telling me that the contemplation of the joy of His divine darshan, sparshan and sambashan was proper study for me.

When Swami said this, I felt a deep peace and joy. The Divine Teacher was giving a great homework for this spiritual student - to think of the most joyful moments in my life with Swami over and over again.

Swami was teaching and emphasising that the love and joy derived from divine experience supersedes the lessons learnt from study of scripture. That does not mean that we should abandon the study of Swami's books especially now. Please do not misunderstand me.

First learn, then experience. Swami's writings should be regarded as divine scripture. The spiritual value of Swami's writings cannot be measured. We must study His words. However, we should realise that our book study is not an end onto itself. If our hearts are open and receptive, then Swami's words will facilitate the emergence of inner spiritual experience. Experience is very important - that was the meaning of Swami's instructions to me.

Many people have not had the opportunity for Swami's physical darshan, obviously that is not a prerequisite for spiritual experience. Deep contemplation of His love and presence in our hearts and in our lives is spiritual experience.

A moment of pure, silent contemplation, prayer, meditation, or profound inner peace is spiritual experience. An instant of exaltation and bliss while singing a bhajan is spiritual experience. There are many sources of spiritual experiences in our everyday lives.

Time is crucial, we shouldn't procrastinate. Swami refers to time as the body of God. Regarding time, our beloved Swami reprimanded all of us on many occasions over the years. Swami said repeatedly, Many years have gone by, but your old habits have not changed, and your lives remain the same. The reason is that you are not making an effort to experience the principle of Divinity which is present in all of you in the form of love. We need to have a plan for this great journey that man can make beyond country and continent, beyond this planet, galaxy or universe.

As thinkers we have understood intellectually, but we are knowers to the extent that we have spiritually experienced this knowledge. Our minds think, our hearts know. Now we need a plan. Is there anything more important in life than acknowledging our reason for being and applying ourselves to the spiritual fulfilment of our human lives? We need a plan to accomplish our purpose in life.

We do not squander money, we make plans to acquire and retain it. Why do we squander our greatest treasure, the precious time of our human lives that we have been given by the Lord? Focusing on our spiritual purpose and our plans are of paramount importance.

Our purpose is to realise that we are embodiments of prema and atma. Become that and act accordingly, that is our purpose. Now to make a good plan we must have some fundamental understanding of the divine drama.

Creation, Civilisation and Realisation

First there is creation, God invests Himself in mankind. Our genetic pre-disposition and the circumstances of our birth are determined by our past lives. We are born into a situation that permits us to learn the spiritual lessons that we require, to earn the spiritual rewards that we deserve and to atone for our transgressions in the past. We learn what we need, we earn what we deserve, and we atone for our mistakes. In this manner, we truly reap what we have sown in past lives. And we have an opportunity to realise our spiritual selves now.

Dr Goldstein with the Love of his life

Then there is civilisation. As it progresses men and women recognise that the quality of life is enhanced by peace and love. Men and women seek a purpose to their lives, next comes self-enquiry. Our character determines our spiritual stature and civilisation.

First creation, then civilisation, finally there is self-realisation. Men and women experience and become one with their innate divinity. They live in constant perpetual awareness of their divine reality, this is self-realisation. It is selfless love, it is divine bliss. Experience of this is the divine purpose and the ultimate goal for all human lives.

First we are born and we see the light of day. Then we learn and we experience the light of selfless love and wisdom. Finally we identify with our conscience which unites with consciousness that is innate in all of us, and we become the light of God. We see, we experience, we become.

It is simple yet it's illusive, we must always have great expectations. The nature of this consciousness is selfless love. We will then recognise that we are all brothers and sisters. We will lovingly serve those of our brothers and sisters who are in need.

My dear brothers and sisters, to realise our divine selves is the only real purpose for which we are born on to this earth and live these human lives. We must have a plan to accomplish our God-given purpose in life. Each must have their own individual plan in life that suits them and serves them. Heaven is only a frame of mind away.

Plan Your Course According to Your Inner Inspiration

All of us are quite different as individuals but our differences are superficial. Spiritually we are brothers and sisters. Our beloved Swami says unity in diversity. That is, the unity of our essential nature despite the diversity of our external appearances and circumstances. For each of us the most effective way to move forward spiritually might differ.



Consider the three pathways to God - Bhakti marga or path of devotion, Jnana marga or path of wisdom, and nishkama karma yoga or action without desire. Each of us can look within ourselves and intuitively know what is prevalent in us, what is our own spiritual course. The paths are not mutually exclusive.

Sometimes one path is prevalent in our lives for any given circumstance. I'll give you an example. Many years ago Swami instructed me to arrange public meetings in five American cities regarding Swami's teachings. These were the first public meetings on the life and message of our beloved Swami that had ever been conducted. This took place decades ago. It began in New York at the Beacon Theatre on Broadway.

The task was daunting, it entailed coordinating strong-minded experienced participants in such a manner that an authentic and cohesive theme would predominate. It required more than I anticipated. I was daunted by the complexity of this task. Five meetings in five cities! I was in Brindavan with Swami three days before the first meeting was to take place in New York.

I prayed to Swami for wisdom. I asked Swami to give me meditation that would bring calmness and wisdom so that I would be enabled to proceed effectively. Swami smiled, He was amused by my request. Then He said to me, You have no time for meditation, you have too much work to do.

And then He hit me on the forehead. The noise was very loud when He did. And He held His hand there for one minute. Perhaps only a minute, I don't know. One loses track of time when Swami hits you on the head and holds His hand to your forehead. I was oblivious to everything except Swami's hand on my head and my desire that He should not remove His hand from my head. I became very peaceful and all anxiety left my mind. Then Swami took His hand away and permitted me to take padanamaskar and discharged me.

When I got to New York I began to work on all of the meetings. I slept for only one hour on each of the three nights preceding the first meeting. My wife is a witness.

I was alert, oriented and prepared to continue the work. I didn't feel tired. It was Swami's leela! The meeting was an enormous success. I remember I was the moderator. Dr Hislop spoke. The deputy secretary general of the United Nations too addressed the gathering. The deputies in New York rallied together and welcomed the guests, and had a beautiful display of Swami's books and beautiful music while the people were being seated. It was an event that was truly memorable.

I tell you about this experience in the context of the three spiritual pathways. I asked Swami for meditation, Swami hit me on the head instead. There was no time for meditation and told me to go do work, nishkama karma yoga. The three spiritual paths bhakti, jnana and nishkama karma yoga are like tributaries that empty into the mighty river of enlightenment. They become one regardless of our preferred path. Whatever we do and however we do it, it must be comparable with the teachings of Divinity. Inevitably all paths become one.

Go to Part 02



What are your impressions about this Tutor? Please share your feedback by writing to [email protected] or [email protected] . Do not forget to mention your name and country please.Boys in schools may be more 'cliquey' than girls, forming the most tight-knit friendship groups often structured around gender, a study has found.

A clique describes group of individuals who exclusively interact with one another, and are often not welcoming to outsiders.

The findings, published in the journal PLOS ONE suggests that factors such as location and timetable may have an impact on the social networks that children develop.

Social mixing patterns are commonly used in mathematical models of infectious disease which can play a vital role in public health planning, such as determining effective vaccination strategies.

Children's mixing patterns are recognised as particularly important, as they represent a key risk group for disease transmission.

As school is the primary location for many of their interactions, understanding how children socialise there is vital.

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and the University of Cambridge in the UK, examined the features and structure of children's social networks within different schools.

Previous research on social interactions among children has generally focused on just a single day. The team surveyed the self-reported contacts of 460 year 7 pupils across four UK secondary schools over a five month period (between January and June 2015).

In total pupils completed 1,254 surveys, reporting contact information such as who they spend the most time with.

The schools in the study were selected to be representative of different geographical and socioeconomic settings, for example including rural and urban and single-sex and mixed-sex schools.

Researchers found that while the overall structure of contacts within children's networks was generally consistent within schools, the patterns of interactions varied considerably between each school.

In most schools, children formed well-defined groups, whereas in one school, children interacted more widely.

Interestingly there were only small differences reported in individuals' contacts and networks over the five months, suggesting that well connected and weakly connected, ie popular or less popular - children remain that way over time.

The characteristics of social networks were found to be mainly dependent on gender and to a lesser extent on other factors, such as school class. In particular, males tended to cluster together more in each mixed-sex school in the survey.

"Previous studies have typically looked at social interactions over a single day, so there has been limited information available on how much variation there might be in social mixing patterns over time in schools," said Adam Kucharski, lead author at LSHTM.

"Showing boys are potentially more cliquey than girls, perhaps going against gender stereotypes, and that popular children remain popular over time, is an interesting social insight but for mathematical modellers this type of information is also extremely valuable," said Kucharski.

"Understanding age-specific social mixing patterns is vital for studying outbreaks of infectious diseases like flu and measles which can spread rapidly, particularly among children," he said.

"It's useful to find that mixing patterns are fairly consistent, as this suggests it will be easier to analyse social interactions among children than was previously thought. It also shows the value of working directly with schools to study these questions," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD), the central government's think tank on policing issues, has decided to execute two pan-India projects aimed at improving police behaviour and ensuring better response by the personnel in 'khaki' to victims of major or heinous crimes.

The department, that functions under the Union home ministry, will undertake a pilot project soon in this context.

BPRD Director General (DG) A P Maheshwari told PTI that the bureau will undertake a country-wide operation, with the help of various state police forces, to improve police behaviour while dealing with a common man or a victim of crime.

"This will be a comprehensive action plan aimed to ensure that the policeman on ground treats and behaves nicely while rendering his duty.

"A pilot project will soon be launched in Uttar Pradesh in this context," Maheshwari said.

He added that a pan-India 'crime victim survey' that will ascertain the perception and feedback of the people while going through various policing processes is also on the anvil.

"We have chosen eight heinous crimes whose victims will be contacted for this survey. This is aimed to better understand the exact problem faced by the victims while dealing with the police," he said.

The DG said the bureau is also researching and developing protocols to find ways as to how police summonses could be served to the people with the help of the internet and over email or WhatsApp.

Usage of artificial intelligence and psychometric tests in ascertaining the well being of police personnel is also being planned, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Corruption remains a global challenge with long-lasting impact, including the undermining of legal systems of states, India and four other members of the BRICS grouping said today as they vowed to combat the menace.

Underlining the need to enhance BRICS anti-corruption cooperation, the five member nations signed the Johannesburg Declaration, saying, corruption also presents a threat to economic growth by discouraging the necessary local and foreign investment in a country.

The declaration reaffirmed the commitment of the grouping - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to international cooperation under the United Nations Convention Against Corruption as well as under the BRICS Working Group on Anticorruption Cooperation.

Subject to the domestic legal systems of the BRICS member nations, they agreed to cooperate in anti-corruption law enforcement, extradition of fugitives, economic and corruption offenders and repatriation in matters relating to assets recovery and other related criminal and non-criminal matters involving corruption.

They called on the International community to deny safe haven to corrupt persons and proceeds of corruption.

"We regard experience sharing and exchange as key to increasing mutual understanding and enhancing BRICS anti-corruption cooperation and will continue our efforts in this aspect as we have done in previous years.

"We will further offer each other support in the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption by creating platforms for exchanging information and exploring convergences in multi-lateral platforms.

The declaration also lauded the African Union on choosing 2018 as the year of combating corruption.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Bombay High Court rejected today the bail pleas of a Shiv Sena worker and a contractor arrested in connection with a building collapse incident here in which 17 people were killed in July last year.

Shiv Sena member Sunil Shitap and an interior work contractor, Ranjit Agale, had approached the high court for bail after a sessions court rejected their applications in October last year.

Justice Ajey Gadkari, while rejecting the pleas, said the "complicity" of Shitap and Agale was noticed in the case and they do not deserve to be released on bail.

A ground-plus-three storey building, called 'Sai Siddhi', in suburban Ghatkopar had collapsed on July 25 last year, killing 17 people and injuring 22 others.

Police had in August arrested Shitap, who owns the ground floor of the building, and Agale, under whose supervision Shitap was allegedly carrying out an unauthorised work on the premises.

According to police, Shitap was converting the ground floor premises into a nursing home.

Eight family members of victims of the tragedy and two flat owners had also moved the high court as interveners and opposed the bail pleas.

Lawyers Sujoy Kantawalla and Ashish Mehta had argued on behalf of the victims' family members that Shitap had carried out unauthorised work at his property which weakened the building, resulting in its collapse.

The building had 15 flats, including three commercial premises, on the ground floor which Shitap owned.

In his bail plea, Shitap claimed that the building was over three-decade old and in dire need of repairs. Hence, he cannot be held responsible for its collapse.

Shitap and Agale have been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 304(II) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A suspended junior bureaucrat has been arrested for his alleged role in the arson attack at the Meghalaya Public Service Commission (MPSC) building earlier this month, police said.

Meghalaya Civil Service (MCS) officer G H Passah, who was identified as the main accused of the attack, was held after he surrendered at a police station, they said.

"He (Passah) surrendered along with his lawyers and we have arrested him," Director General of Police S B Singh told PTI.

Passah was today produced in a local court here where he was remanded to seven days custody.

On July 10, two unidentified persons entered the MPSC premises and lobbed a petrol bomb in the room of Secretary WAB Booth, damaging important documents and computers.

East Khasi Hills District SP Davis Marak said preliminary investigation revealed that the arrested officer was involved in "paying" for the petrol bomb attack.

"We have circumstantial evidence in the case," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Supreme Court today said irrespective of the submissions that Lord Ayyappa of the Sabarimala temple has "celibate character", it cannot remain "oblivious" of the fact that the entry of women in the age group of 10-50 was barred on "physiological ground" of menstruation.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, however, termed as "impressive" the persuasive and vehement submissions of advocate Sai Deepak, appearing for People for Dharma and NGO Chetna that Lord Ayyapa being a "juristic person" has the right to preserve his "brahmacharya" (celibate) character under the Constitution.

"Your (lawyer) arguments are impressive, I must admit that," the CJI observed.

"But, the court can't be oblivious of the fact of the case that a class of women is disallowed due to physiological reasons (menstruation)," the bench, which also comprised justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, said.

The bench, which was hearing pleas of Indian Young Lawyers Association and others challenging the ban, asked whether the practice at Sabarimala of barring women of the age group of 10-50 years from entering the temple was an "essential and integral" practice of a religious denomination.

Justice Chandrachud intervened and said there was no need to even go into the "essentiality" test and "the core of issue is whether Constitution overrides all other aspects. If yes, then nobody can exclude a class of women from visiting temple".

"I go beyond the essentiality test. Essentiality aspect has taken charge of Article 25 (freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion) under the Constitution, but it should not be so. Because of the fact that something is essential to the religion it becomes inviolable," Justice Chandrachud said.

Due to this essentiality doctrine, judges including the Supreme Court judges are now assuming a "theological mantle" which we are not expected to do, he said.

"The test should be whether a practice subscribes to the Constitution irrespective of whether it is essential or not," Justice Chandrachud said.

At the outset, lawyer Deepak said Lord Ayyappa of the Sabarimala is a "juristic person" for the purposes of property ownership and taxes and hence, he equally has rights under Article 21 (protection of life and personal liberty), 25 (freedom to practice religion) and 26 (freedom to manage religious affair) of the Constitution.

The deity has the right to remain a 'Naishtika Brahmachari' (eternal celibate) and this was also part of the right to privacy of the deity, the lawyer said, adding that the will of the deity needed to be respected.

The women has been respecting the tradition for a long time now and and "This is not a case of temple versus women or men versus women".

The public nature of the temple, which not also funded by the State or its Consolidate Fund of India, did not dilute the separate denominational right of the temple and devotees of Lord Ayyappa, he said.

"Who constitute separate religious denomination," the bench asked. The devotees of Lord Ayyappa, the lawyer replied.

During the day-long hearing, the bench asked whether Article 14 (equality before law) and 15(1) (prohibition of discrimination) would apply in the Sabarimala case as these fundamental rights are enforceable against the State and its instrumentalities.

It further said that rule is part of State action.

The rule was not the state action and it was just a "codification" of customary religious practices and if the court decides to strike down the rules then it amounts to striking down the "custom itself", the lawyer said.

The issue of exclusion of women was not based on notion of purity and rather dependent on facts like celibate nature of the deity which has been preserved for years, he said.

The court and others should not be "superimposing" their social views on the temple which has stated its position "loud and clear".

"Tomorrow somebody can say that he would like to offer chicken as 'prasadam'," he said, adding that can such an offer be entertained and the rules of religion and the God cannot be changed.

Individual rights have to be respected and simultaneously, the right and the nature of the deity were also required to be protected.

The bench then said that there was a need to strike a balance between the individual right with the rights of the religious institutions of a particular denomination.

Radhhakrishnan says various kind of morality are in built in Article 25(1) of the Constitution. He says the word morality be prefixed with "public" i.e., public morality.

Senior advocate K Radhhakrishnan, appearing for the Pandalam royal family, referred to the concept of morality and and said that the constitutional morality cannot override the private morality in cases of religious practices.

"The silent majority has been doing 41 days of 'penance' and they are not being heard this court," he said, adding that the deity is celibate.

Another senior advocate V Giri, appearing for head priest of the temple, also stressed the fact of uniqueness of the deity and said that the celibate character of the deity cannot be challenged by those who wished to pray.

"The belief of the devotee has to be in sync with the belief of the deity and it cannot be the case that you challenge the nature of the deity and want to pray also," he said.

The advancing of the arguments of would continue tomorrow.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Centre has asked the CBI to probe the alleged misuse of data of India's users by British political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica, Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

In a significant move ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Prasad said the probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) will determine whether violated the Information Act, 2000 and the Indian Penal Code(IPC). The data mining and analysis firm earlier faced allegations it used personal information harvested from 87 million accounts to help Donald Trump win the 2016 US presidential election.

As members in the Upper House expressed concern over social media platforms being used to spread rumours and fake news, Prasad also said the government has asked them to provide technological solutions so that verified fake news and provocative messages can be filtered.

Cambridge Analytica(CA) is at the centre of a storm in the country over the alleged breach of user data seeking information about its clients in and whether it had harvested their user profiles. The controversy had triggered a war of words between the BJP and the Congress.

Prasad while responding to the concerns by members during a calling attention notice on the misuse of social media and propagation of fake news causing unrest and violence referred to the reported breach at Facebook where the data of a large number of users were allegedly compromised by

He said notices were immediately issued to the two companies and their response sought.

"Facebook responded that they will streamline their internal processes regarding the handling of personal data. They stated that the case of was a case of breach of trust. They promised to take various other steps to ensure that such breaches do not recur," Prasad said.

However, he said, Cambridge Analytica gave an initial response that data of Indians was not breached but this was not in conformity with what was reported by Facebook. Cambridge Analytica also did not respond to a subsequent notice.

"The Government has entrusted this issue to be investigated by the CBI for possible violation of Information Act, 2000 and IPC," Prasad said, adding it is suspected that Cambridge Analytica may have been involved in illegally obtaining data of Indians which could be misused.

He said there were also reports that user data was "illegally accessed by hardware manufacturers who had tie-ups with Facebook. In regard to this issue, Facebook has reported that they are not aware of any misuse of information, including Indian users' information."



Prasad also said that the Centre will strengthen the legal framework to ensure that significant social media and instant messaging service providers targeting Indian users, do not deprive them of the right to hold proceedings in and protecting Indian laws, the Electronics and Information Technology(IT) minister said.

He said the government was seriously considering appropriate rules requiring all social media platforms to locate their grievance officers in

"The duty of such grievance officer should cover not only to receive grievances in real-time basis but also to inform law enforcement agencies," Prasad said.

Earlier, members including Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad had raised serious concern over the incidents relating to abuse of social media leading to mob lynchings, with some of them even accusing the government of inaction.

In his response, Prasad said "these (incidents) are deeply painful and regrettable, as well as a matter of deep concern for the Government. The Government has taken prompt action".

However, he said "a challenge has emerged (but) in its wake, we cannot abolish the existence of social media. India has emerged as a digital power. Even a common Indian is armed with the power of information and can raise questions.

"We should see both aspects. Social media is helping many students, small groups are exchanging information, farmers are using it. We need to introspect if you question the relevance of social media."



He said the government planned to issue directives in public interest requiring all social media platforms to ensure that they "do not become vehicles for promoting hatred, terrorism, money laundering, mob violence and rumour mongering."These platforms should provide technological solutions so that verified fake news and provocative messages can be filtered by technical solutions.

They should also "bring in a more effective mechanism for receiving grievances and report to the law enforcement agencies. They should seek to provide the facility of verifying fake news on the platform itself," he said.

Observing that the government does not regulate content appearing on social networking platforms, Prasad said these platforms however are required to follow due diligence in accordance with the Information Act and the Rules.

"They (social networking platforms) have also to follow Article 19(2) of the Constitution and ensure that their platforms are not used to commit and provoke terrorism, extremism, violence and crime," he said.Celekt, a multi-brand retail stores brand today said it was planning to open 200 outlets across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana soon and foraying into Maharashtra market by September this year.

According to a press release issued by the retail chain, Celekt bought over allthe stores of another popular brand "Univercell" across Telugu states.

"The expansion plans includes opening of "200" stores across telugu states soon..also the company is making its foray into Maharashtra market by September 2018.

There are huge plans ahead and with popular star "NTR" being roped in as a brand ambassador, we're looking at huge campaign ahead," Y Guru founder and CEO of Celekt said.

Celekt aims to reach the top position in telugu states in the next one year and would be looking forward to becoming the largest retail brand of the country in next 3 years, he added.

He, however, did not disclose the the deal value of Univercell buyout citing a Non-Disclosure Agreement between both the companies.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda today blamed the Centre and the Delhi government for the deaths of three girls here reportedly due to starvation and said they cannot "wash their hands" of the incident.

Three sisters were found dead in east Delhi's Mandawali area with the initial postmortem report hinting that it was a case of starvation, prompting the city government to order a magisterial probe into the matter.

"It is unfortunate that Delhi being the capital of one of the most powerful countries of the world, has had to see starvation deaths.

"It is absolutely unacceptable. Both the governments, the Kejriwal government in Delhi and the Modi government, are responsible," Hooda told reporters outside Parliament.

He said the Centre and the Delhi government cannot "wash their hands" of it.

The girls, aged eight, four and two years, were taken to a hospital by their mother and a friend on Tuesday, and the hospital authorities informed police about their deaths.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Centre has ordered an inquiry into the deaths of three children in the national capital reportedly due to starvation, Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan said today.

Three sisters, aged two, four and eight, were found dead in east Delhi's Mandawali area. The initial postmortem report attributed it to "malnourishment/starvation and its complications", prompting the city government to order a magisterial probe into the matter.

"We have ordered an enquiry into the matter," the consumer affairs, food and public distribution minister said today.

Meanwhile, official sources refuted claims by some AAP leaders that the state government's proposed doorstep delivery of ration scheme would have averted such a tragedy, saying the family was not eligible for subsidised ration as it did not have a ration card.

The AAP government has been alleging that the Lieutenant Governor, a Centre's appointee, is not allowing it to implement the scheme.

The sources said it is up to the state government to fix eligibility criteria for ration card beneficiaries. The responsibility of food distribution also lies with the state government, they added.

The central government's job is to deliver subsidised good to the state's godowns, they said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)China has quietly resumed its activities in the Doklam area and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade it, a top US official has said while comparing Beijing's actions in the Himalayan region with its manovers in the disputed South China Sea.

China claims sovereignty over all of South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims.

China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources and are also vital to global trade.

"I would assess that India is vigorously defending its northern borders and this is a subject of concern to India," Alice G Wells, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing while responding to a question on China's increased road building activities along the Indian border.

"As (India) ahead to its own strategic stability, it certainly helps drive and is a factor in driving closer partnership that we enjoy with India," Wells said in response to a question from Congresswoman Ann Wagner.

India and China have clashed repeatedly over territories in the Himalayas. Most recently Chinese and Indian troops faced off on the disputed Doklam plateau between Bhutan and China after the Chinese People's Liberation Army began building roads through the area, Wagner said.

"Although both countries back down, China has quietly resumed its activities in Doklam and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade it. China's activities in the Himalayas remind me of its south China Sea policies. How should our failure to respond to the militarisation of the South China Sea inform the international response to these Himalayan border disputes?" Wagner asked.

As the US looks to the Indo-Pacific strategy put forward by the Trump administration, Wells said it has been taken in light of the 'South China Sea's Strategy'.

"How do we maintain the region to be open, to have maritime security, to not have militarisation that would imperil the 70 per cent of global trade?" she asked.

"We need to do that by giving authority to sovereign nations to have choices in how they develop, to have choices in their partnerships," Wells said.

Congressman Ted Yoho, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee on Asia and the Pacific, raised the issue of China's aggressive posture in South Asia.

"What are your thoughts on what is the best way to counter China in that region?" Yoho asked.

US should not be seeking to compete with China dollar for dollar, Wells responded, adding that instead of a state lending on terms that may not be to the benefit of countries or their citizens, the US and its companies are providing USD 850 billion in foreign direct investment in the region, which is far more than what has been injected by China.

"We're trying to gather likeminded countries who can bring resources to the table, who can coordinate assistance and an effort so as to provide countries with meaningful alternatives," Wells said.

Troops of India and China were locked in a 73-day-long standoff in Doklam from June 16 last year after the Indian side stopped the building of a road in the disputed tri-junction by the Chinese Army.

Bhutan and China have a dispute over Doklam. The face-off ended on August 28.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 26-year-old Chinese man set off a small explosive device outside the US embassy in Beijing today, injuring his hand in the blast before he was taken into custody, police said.

Chinese police said there were no other injuries in the incident, which took place near where visa applicants typically line up to enter the embassy for interviews.

The explosion was set off by a man from China's Inner Mongolia region surnamed Jiang, police said, adding that his injuries were not life-threatening.

Video clips that circulated on social media shortly after the explosion showed smoke in the air outside the embassy compound, and AFP journalists arriving at the scene found heavy Chinese security.

"We heard a rather strong explosion around 1:00 pm (local time) so we went out on the street to have a look, but very soon the police had cordoned off the area," said a witness who declined to be identified.

Further details about the incident were not immediately available, with police quickly cordoning off the spot where the blast took place and China's state-censorship apparatus moving swiftly to block searches for "US Embassy" on the popular Twitter-like Weibo platform.

China regularly sees cases of disgruntled individuals lashing out at society over various grievances or perceived injustices, often harming themselves or others.

AFP journalists said the visa office adjacent to where the blast took place appeared to have resumed operation not long after the incident.

The area where the incident took place is on the outskirts of Beijing and home to several embassies, including those of the United States, India and Israel.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Firing a fresh salvo against senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh for addressing slain Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden as "Osama-ji", Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today said he should realise the difference between a patriot and a terrorist.

"Those who have remarked against martyred police official Mahesh Chandra Sharma and termed dreaded terrorist Osama Bin Laden as Osamaji should think on their own that who is a patriot and who is a terrorist," the chief minister said.

He was talking to reporters here during his ongoing 'Janashirwad Yatra'.

Chouhan had last week, in an apparent reference to Singh's calling Osama bin Laden as "Osama-ji" years ago asked, if adding the honorific 'Ji' for a terrorist was not an anti-national act.

After Chouhan calling his actions and statements anti-national, Singh had said that he would appear before the police and they could arrest him.

To this, Chouhan said today that Singh was free to do so. "We have not asked him to do so."



Continuing his tirade against the Congress leader, Chouhan said, "Singh talks of getting arrested, but he does not know that he should not say anything against patriots."



Terming some Congress leaders as "Raja" and "Maharaja" (kings), Chouhan, without taking names, said they are capable of making any comment against the common man.

"I belong to a simple family of farmers and am also the chief minister. But they have always commented against me and my family. I don't have any problem with it. The people of the state are watching them," he said.

Those who are linking 'saffron' with terrorism should realise that it (saffron) is our ancient culture and nobody should comment on it, the chief minister said.

Chouhan also alleged that Singh had ruined the state during his 10-year rule as chief minister.

On the contrary, his BJP government, he said, has developed the state and was making it prosperous.

Chouhan said a diamond park will be developed in Panna, which will also be included under the 'mini-smart city' project.

Meanwhile, Digvijay Singh along with his supporters headed to the T T Nagar police station in the state capital Bhopal for appearing before the security personnel over his actions and statements being dubbed as anti-national.

State Congress president Kamal Nath handed over the party's flag to Singh before he embarked on the foot march to the police station.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) has been selected for the Champion of Earth Prize-2018, the highest environmental honour instituted by the United Nations.

CIAL said in a statement that it was honoured for its successful execution of one of the revolutionary ideas of using solar energy which made CochinAirport a first in the world fully powered by it.

"This is the United Nation's highest environmental accolade and reflects your leadership in the use of sustainable energy," said a communiqu signed by Erik Solheim, Executive Director of the United Nations Programme (UNEP).

"As the world's first fully solar powered airport, you set an ambitious example that we hope many others will follow," the communique addressed to the CIAL Managing Director V J Kurian said.

The award, instituted in 2005 to recognise outstanding environmental leaders, will be presented at a gala ceremony on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on September 26.

The UN established Champion of Earth award in 2005 to recognise outstanding environmental leaders from the public and private sectors, and from civil society.

The awardees for 2017 include Chile President Michelle Bachelet, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre, world's largest bike sharing app Mobike and Chinese afforestation community Saihanba.

CIAL, the company which owns and operates Country's first airport built under Public Private Partnership mode became power neutral in August, 2015 with the commissioning of its 12 MWp solar power plant.

It scaled up the installedcapacity to 30 MWp by April 2018.

Kurian saidthe UN recognition would transcend CIAL's green ideas to a global audience.

"We showed the world that big infrastructure projects like airport can be put into operation fully using alternative energy sources," he said.

By September 2018, the solar capacity at CIAL will be increased to 40 MWp, with a power potential of 60 million units per annum and resulting in a cost saving of approximately Rs 40 crore per annum to the airport, Kurian said.

The airport stands fourth in the country in termsof international traffic and seventh in total traffic has handled 10 million passengers in 2017-18.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)As the scientists across the country gear up to witness the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century - which will coincide with the closest approach of Mars to our planet - experts say that cloudy skies are likely to mar the event for amateur space enthusiasts in India.

The Astronomical Society of India cautioned against creating a hype around this event in a statement.

"For serious astronomers, this event does offer an extraordinary opportunity to study Mars through their telescopes. However, the layperson who might expect to see dramatic details of the surface of Mars would probably be disappointed," the statement said.

"Since we are in the middle of the monsoon here in India, the sky is likely to be cloudy," it said.

"People in Jammu & Kashmir, and Tamil Nadu are most likely to be able to witness the event clearly," Aniket Sule, Chair of the Public Outreach and Education Committee (POEC) of Astronomical Society of India, told PTI.

On the night of July 27, the total lunar eclipse will coincide with another relatively rare celestial phenomenon known as the Mars opposition.

At 10:37 pm IST, Mars, Earth, and the Sun will be along as straight a line as possible.

Mars would rise around the sunset time and will set around the time of sunrise. An opposition happens when Mars is the closest to Earth in its orbit, both on the same side of the Sun.

The red planet will appears brighter and bigger than usual. Though the opposition of Mars is on July 27, it comes closest to us on 31 July. This curious fact is because the orbits of all planets around the Sun are not a perfect circle, but an ellipse.

Due to this, the closest approach of Mars to us will occur 4 days later than its opposition. This is also one of the reasons why the distance between Mars and Earth is not the same during every opposition.

The distance between Mars and the Earth ranges between about 400 million kilometers (2.7 Astronomical Units, or AU) and 56 million km (0.38AU). The closest approaches occur during oppositions.

This time, Mars comes the closest to Earth as compared to any time in the last 15 years. As a consequence, it will also appear to be the biggest and brightest in the last 15 years.

At this time, Mars will be just 58 million kilometres from the Earth.

In technical terms, the angular diameter of Mars as seen from the Earth will be more than 24" and it will be brighter than -2.75 magnitude.

For comparison, the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius will be about 3 times fainter than Mars on that day and the average angular size of the moon is 1800.

Even at closest approach, Mars will seem small. It would take a telescope equipped with a lens or mirror that is at least 6 inches in aperture to discern even the major surface features of Mars.

Nonetheless, it would be an exciting opportunity to view the bright red planet right next to the red (eclipsed) Moon on that night.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Haryana government would constitute steering committees at district-level to ensure complete ban on smoking and sale of tobacco in the periphery of medical and educational institutions in the state.

Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij today said a special campaign will also be launched to encourage and sensitise people about the ill effects of tobacco and its products.

"The steering committees will be constituted at district level to ensure the complete ban on the sale of tobacco and smoking in the periphery of medical and educational institutions in the state," he said at an event.

The tobacco free villages will be honoured by the state government, the minister said.

He also asked religious institutions, NGOs and social organisations to participate in this campaign.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Congress today joined the chorus against the National Green Tribunal's new chairperson A K Goel, saying the former Supreme Court judge's appointment to the post showed the BJP's support for a bench that had "diluted" a law on atrocities against SCs and STs.

The Congress' comments came ahead of a 'Bharat Bandh' called by Dalit groups on August 9.

Though the ruling BJP had not taken a stand on the issue, its Dalit MPs and ally Ram Vilas Paswan's party LJP sought removal of Goel, who was appointed the NGT chairman immediately after he retired from the apex court early this month.

Paswan had written a letter to Home Minister Rajnath Singh conveying this demand of All India Ambedkar Mahasabha, a Dalit rights group, which had also sought a law to restore the original provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Paswan earlier said that Goel's appointment had sent a wrong message and his son and Lok Sabha MP Chirag Paswan wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his removal.

Today, Congress members Mallikarjun Kharge and K Suresh raised the issue in Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour, with the latter alleging that Goel was close to a Hindutva organisation and had given the judgement under its pressure.

The government had "rewarded" him for this, Suresh claimed, as the BJP's Anurag Thakur protested his comments.

Goel was one of the two apex court judges on a bench that introduced several safeguards in the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Dalit bodies and almost all major political parties said the judgement had "diluted and weakened the law".

Kharge claimed that Goel's appointment indicated the government supported his judgement.

Suresh said the development had sent out a wrong message and Dalits were demanding his removal.

Dalit and tribal outfits had given a call for 'Bharat Bandh' on August 9. They had also given a similar call on April 2, which had turned violent.

The BJP has not spoken on the issue of Goel's appointment. It cited the Centre's review plea in the Supreme Court against its order on the atrocity law an another petition on quota in promotions for the scheduled castes and tribes to highlight its support for their demands.

Kharge also raised the issue of a UGC's directive that different departments of a university be treated as separate units for implementing quota for different communities, instead of the entire educational institution.

It was causing a lot of harm to the SCs, STs and OBCs, he said, wondering, "Do you want to end reservation?"



Intervening in the matter, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the government had already issued directions for stopping the implementation of this UGC decision and also filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court, as the directive was an outcome of a court's verdict.

He also underlined the NDA government's commitment to reservation, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi had often asserted that even a full stop and coma in the current quota rules would not be changed.

The BJP, party leaders said, was treading cautiously on these Dalit issues while supporting the just demands of the community.

The party's traditional support base of upper castes and a section of backward castes was unlikely to react very favourably if it was seen to be very vocal on these demands.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The opposition to the appointment of a former Supreme Court judge who was part of a bench that had "diluted" a law on atrocities against SCs STs as National Green Tribunal chairman, today echoed in Parliament with the Congress saying it indicated the BJP-led government's support to his judgement.

The leader of Congress Mallikarjun Kharge and his party colleague K Suresh raised the issue in Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour, with the latter alleging that Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel was close to a right-wing outfit and had given the judgement under its pressure.

The government has "rewarded" him for this, Suresh claimed, as BJP's Anurag Thakur protested his comments.

Goel was one of the two apex court judges on a bench that introduced several safeguards in the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Dalit bodies and almost all major political parties have said the judgement has "diluted and weakened the law". The government appointed him as the NGT chairman immediately after he retired from the top court early this month.

Kharge said Goel's appointment indicated that the government supported his judgement.

Suresh said the development has sent out a wrong message and Dalits have been demanding his removal.

He also referred to the reported opposition to Goel's appointment by Dalit MPs of the ruling NDA and Union Minister and BJP ally Ram Vilas Paswan's letter to Home Minister Rajnath Singh against it.

Paswan, who was present in the House, appeared to be gesturing to speak but did not. He was seen speaking to Suresh later and also called union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, a Dalit member of the BJP, for some deliberations.

Kharge also raised the issue of the UGC's directive that different departments of a university be treated as separate units for implementing quota for different communities, instead of the entire educational institution.

It is causing a lot of harm to the SCs, STs and OBCs, he said, wondering, "Do you want to end reservation?".

Intervening in the matter, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the government has already directed stoppage of implementation of this UGC decision and also filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court, as the directive was an outcome of a court's verdict.

He also underlined the NDA government's commitment to reservation, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often asserted that even a 'full stop' and 'coma' in the current quota rules would not be changed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Members of the Congress and TMC today sparred in the Lok Sabha over holding of regular meetings of a coordination committee on district development in West Bengal.

Congress member from Murshidabad Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury alleged that there is "no democracy" in West Bengal as no meeting of District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee of Rural Development Ministry have taken place for the past six years.

He claimed that though he heads the panel, his requests to hold the meeting has not be accepted. He said a district collector who once convened the meet was transferred the next day.

When members from the treasury benches started raising slogans against the TMC, members of the ruling party in West Bengal started hooting.

The Congress member raised the issue when Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar was responding to supplementaries on open defecation.

Tomar assured Chowdhury that he would write to the West Bengal Chief Minister in this regard. In a lighter vein, he said the Congress member should raise the issue with TMC counterparts in the House.

Tomar informed the House that so far 417 districts and 4,00,820 villages across India have become open defecation free.

He said a study has shown that 93 per cent of toilets constructed are being used and efforts are on to increase awareness among people against defecating in open.

He said a UNICEF report has acknowledged that diarrhoea- related deaths have come down following a drive to check open defecation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)With some outfits raising the demand for a separate north Karnataka state alleging discrimination by successive governments towards it, Congress today said the party would give maximum representation to the region in the next round of cabinetexpansion.

"Congress party will give more priority to the north Karnataka region during the next cabinet expansion.

Of the six positions that are vacant, maximum representation will begiven to north Karnataka," Rao said.

Conceding that the present cabinet lacked adequate representation to the region, he said "we willcorrect it."



Former chief minister Siddaramaiah has recently said the next round of cabinet expansion will be taken up after the end of the inauspicious month of 'Ashada' (which ends on August 11).

On June 6, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy expanded his cabinet,inducting 25 new ministers which included 14 lawmakers from congress, nine of Kumaraswamy's JDS, and one each of the BSP and Karnataka Pragnavanta Janata Paksha.

As per the coalition arrangement, there are six vacant ministerial positions left for Congress and one for the JDS.

A day-long bandh has been called by some outfits in 13 districts of north Karnataka on August 2 demanding statehood for the region, alleging discrimination by successive governments towards it.

The 'Uttara Karnataka PratyekaRajya Horata Samiti'(North Karnataka Separate Statehood Protest Committee) has alleged discrimination in allocation towards the region in the budget presented by ChiefMinister H D Kumaraswamy on July 5 and also lesser representation in the cabinet.

Reacting to this, Rao said the argument was being put forward by those who have understood the budget wrongly.

"There has been no discrimination, all round development along with providing additional funds to those sections that are in need is the duty of the government, we are for it. We want all round development of entire Karnataka," he said.

The chief minister and the coalition government were committed towards developmentof the entire state, he said.

On Kumaraswamy's recent statement that JD(S) entering into a pre-poll alliance with congress for Lok Sabha polls would depend on how the ally would treat his party, Rao said an announcement to this effect (contesting the polls together) was made in hispresence.

"Both parties will have to go with proper coordination. So the conduct of both parties will be important....both parties should be right," he said.

The Congress and JD(S), which formed a coalition government after the May 12 assembly polls threw up a hung verdict, had announced during the power sharing pact that theywould fight the Lok Sabha polls together.

Seat sharing between Congress and JD(S) for the Lok Sabha polls, especially in the old Mysuru region, is seen as atest for the coalition as both parties are considered arch rivals in the region, where they had bitterly fought against each other during the assembly polls.

He dismissed as "baseless" reports that there were differences between him andsenior state party leaders, including working President EshwarKhandre and deputy chief minister G Parameshwara.

"There is not an iota oftruth to it," Rao said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Leader of the Opposition in Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia today condemned Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju's statement that all non-Muslim immigrants coming to India before December 31, 2014 were legal.

The Akhil Gogoi-led peasant body Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) has also warned the Centre and the BJP to not violate the Assam Accord, which states that all immigrants coming after March 24, 1971 were illegal.

"This announcement has clearly exposed the BJP government's conspiracy to legitimise the presence of illegal Hindu Bangladeshi migrants in Assam and is a harbinger of grief for Assam," Saikia said in a statement.

Rijiju had reportedly said in the Rajya Sabha yesterday that all Hindus, Sikhs, Parsees, Jains and Christians coming to various states, including Assam, till December 31, 2014 would not be considered as illegal migrants.

The senior Congress leader said that Rijiju's statement discriminating between people on grounds of religion has "lowered the dignity" of the Constitution and the Supreme Court in view of the ongoing update of the National Register of Citizens, which fixed March 24, 1971 as the deadline to become a citizen of the country.

"The concept of having different yardsticks for grant of citizenship based on religion is alien to the democratic and secular ethos of India.

"The previous Congress government of the state had written to the Central government suggesting that citizenship may be granted to those settlers who were eligible as per existing laws and rules," Saikia said.

Strongly condemning the statement, KMSS said people of Assam will never accept the new deadline to settle the Hindu Bangladeshis in Assam for political gains.

"There is no question to accept a new deadline now," the organisation said in a statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Congress would take out a morcha against the non-disclosure of the Rafale jet purchase price by the BJP-led Central government, in Mumbai on July 30.

The forthcoming march is the part of similar protests the Congress is planning to organise across the country, senior party leaders said today.

The morcha would start from Fashion Street and conclude at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai.

The Congress has been demanding that the government disclose the purchase price of each Rafale jet during the ongoing session of Parliament.

Addressing a press conference here, Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan said the incumbent NDA government was buying the fighter jets from France at "much higher" price than the one negotiated by the erstwhile Congress-led UPA government.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said the government cannot reveal the exact deal price owing to a secrecy clause in the purchase deal.

Raising the issue aggressively, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had alleged no such clause existed, only to be contradicted by the French government.

"The government cannot hide corruption under the guise of the secrecy clause. There is no transparency in the deal as it has been done without taking anybody into confidence. There is a lot of room for suspicion," Chavan said.

He said the people should know the exact price at which the jets are being purchased.

"Secrecy is understandable for technical details and technology transfer, but not for the price of the aircraft," the former chief minister said.

He said the current price of the jets is "300 times higher" than the one decided upon by the erstwhile government.

"In 2012, the UPA government had fixed the deal at Rs 526 crore. We were going to get 36 Rafale jets for Rs 18940 crore.

"However, Narendra Modi government renegotiated the deal under which each fighter jet will cost Rs 1670 crore. Moreover, India is not getting any technology transfer," he claimed.

Chavan said the Hindustan Aeronautical Ltd (HAL) was supposed to get the work order worth Rs 30,000 crore under the UPA deal unlike in the present case, where a "private company formed ten days before the deal was inked got the contract".

"Qatar and Egypt have also purchased Rafale jets for Rs 319.80 crore per aircraft," Chavan claimed.

Mumbai Congress unit president Sanjay Nirupam alleged that the Rafale deal is a "scam" worth Rs 41,205 crore.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)President Ram Nath Kovind said today that there is no place for violence in Constitution, as he remembered sacrifices made by security forces involved in anti-naxal operations in Chhattisgarh.

He also lauded efforts made by people and the government to win over the confidence of youth misguided by the outlawed Maoist movement and to check terror and violence.

"In some parts of the country, few people misguided by naxalism tried to create an environment of violence and fear. Our culture and tradition and, above all, our Constitution do not have any place for violence," he said.

He was addressing a gathering after dedicating to the nation the newly-built hospital building of Lt Baliram Kashyap Memorial Medical College at Dimrapal village in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district.

The president said he was happy to know that the administration and "sensible people" of the society have won the confidence of misguided youth (referring to naxals).

They have made efforts through non-violence coupled with developmental activities to curb the menace of violence and terror, he said.

He appreciated the Chhattisgarh government and the Centre for their efforts to bring about development in the naxal-affected regions and also hailed people's support to it.

"I also salute the supreme sacrifices made by the police and paramilitary personnel in naxal-affected regions while ensuring security to people and protecting the state's integrity," Kovind said.

"Today is Kargil Vijay Diwas and I also salute the Indian Army and its families for their sacrifices," he added.

Hailing the state's Raman Singh government's development-oriented initiatives in Bastar, the president said the region has witnessed a remarkable transformation, which is evident by roads, educational institutions, Internet connectivity and other facilities set up in the area.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)With the government slashing rates on select white goods by 10 per cent, consumer durable makers say they will pass on the benefit to consumers and cut prices of commonly used items by 7-8 per cent.

The Council had announced a reduction in tax rates on items like small screen TVs, fridges and washing machines to 18 per cent, from 28 per cent. The new rate will take effect from Friday.

"With the revision of rate on refrigerators and washing machines, there will be a reduction of price to the tune of 7-8 per cent for the end consumer. will pass on the entire benefit of GST reduction to the consumers," Appliances Business Head and Executive Vice President Kamal Nandi said.

Nandi said the revision of GST rate from 28 per cent to 18 per cent will provide relief to the appliances industry.

"The revision will make refrigerators and washing machines more affordable which will accelerate the penetration of these appliances across India. This, in turn, will lead to a spur in demand which will lead to increase in production and hence have a positive impact on the GDP," he added.

Agreeing with Nandi, India Business Head Vijay Babu said, "As a market leader... confirms that it will pass on 100 per cent GST reduction benefit to the consumers with effect from July 27. The price reduction for washing machine, refrigerators and vacuum cleaners will be in the range of 7-8 per cent".

Manish Sharma, president and CEO, India and and President, said the tax (GST) cut will provide a new impetus for growth, especially before the upcoming festive season.

"The goods to benefit the most will be washing machines and refrigerators, where we expect growth to pick up substantially. The reduced taxes in television sets of up to 26 inches will ensure increased penetration and affordability in smaller parts of the country. We plan to pass on the complete benefits translating to around 7-8 per cent," he added.

Last week, brought down tax rates to 18 per cent from 28 per cent on 15 items, including vacuum cleaners, washing machine, 68 cm (27 inch) TV, fridge, laundry machines, paints, hand dryers, food grinders and varnishes.A Thane court has rejected the bail plea of a 42-year-old Bangladeshi national arrested for illegally staying in India and observed that an Aadhaar card cannot be considered proof of citizenship.

District Judge R S Patil Bhosale rejected the bail application of Mohammad Nasir Hafiz Saddar, who was booked under IPC sections pertaining to cheating and forgery, and provisions of the Passport (Entry into India) Act and the Foreigners Act along with 11 other Bangladeshi nationals.

The judge said last week that it has been rightly submitted by the prosecution that an Aadhaar card cannot be considered proof of citizenship.

"It has been observed by the Calcutta High Court that the Aadhaar card by itself shall not confer any right of or be proof of citizenship or domicile in respect of the holder thereto," he said.

In view of these facts, if the accused is released on bail, there is a possibility of his absconding as he prima facie appears to be a foreigner, the court said.

Considering the facts and punishment prescribed for the alleged offence, it will not be just and proper to release the accused on bail, the judge said in his order on July 21



According to the prosecution, Saddar had been residing in Thane's Mira Road area since March 2016 without valid documents or a passport.

He was arrested along with 11 others in December 2016 for allegedly staying in India illegally.

During the investigation, he produced a fabricated PAN card, an Aadhaar card, a ration card, an election card and a school transfer certificate, the prosecution said.

The judge said the school transfer certificate submitted by the accused was fake as the educational institution concerned in West Bengal denied issuing it.

The accused opened a bank account on the basis of his passport, birth certificate, Aadhaar card, PAN card and the school transfer certificate, he noted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)After months of distress calls and knocking on multiple doors for help, the crew of Indian merchant ship Maharshi Vamadeva, detained at the Fujairah port in United Arab Emirates, will "abandon ship" on July 31, the captain has said.

By the end of the month, the 18-member crew will be left with no food or drinking water, master of the vessel Captain Kumar Krishna said.

The vessel, a gas carrier, was detained by Fujairah port authorities over a year ago for alleged non-payment of dues by ship owner Varun Global, a company under liquidation due to bankruptcy.

The present batch joined the vessel in February this year after the initial crew was evacuated following protests.

"We have decided to abandon the ship on July 31, 2018 (Tuesday) early morning. By July 31, it will be a complete month living in blackout condition. Also, by this date we will be left with no food and even drinking water," master of the vessel Captain Kumar Krishna told PTI over a mail.

The mail has also been marked to various ministries in the government.

The captain had earlier said the health of the 18 crew members on board was deteriorating fast with rapid weight loss, high stress and multiple ailments.

The present batch of 18, managed by Gurgaon-based Darya Shipping Agency, have alleged that they had limited access to essentials like food and water and have not been paid their full wages.

Darya Shipping Agency CEO Rajesh Deshwal said it was impossible to retain any crew on board under the present circumstances.

"All crew will sign off and we will not be responsible for this vessel under these dangerous conditions and no support from the stakeholders. The UAE authorities have given their consent to evacuate the ship completely," Deshwal told PTI.

Varun Global, the primary owner of the ship, could not be contacted.

Family members and others have written to various authorities, including the Directorate General of Shipping, the Indian embassy in UAE and the External Affairs Ministry, seeking their intervention.

The company, Deshwal had said earlier, was made to sign a contract by the Insolvency Resolution Partner (IRP), appointed by the National Company Law Tribunal to take over the insolvent company on behalf of the bank and manage all activities of the company.

"They asked us to take over a vessel, owned by State Bank of India which was the lead mortgagee bank for the vessel. We said we cannot unless we are paid. So SBI called us, signed a contract and told us they will make regular payments. They made an initial remittance of around Rs 1 crore too. Once the crew was there, they stopped payment and said they wouldn't make any payment until the vessel is sold," he alleged.

SBI had not responded to an email sent for comments.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former Cuban president Raul Castro today accused the United States of tightening "the noose" around his country, Venezuela and Nicaragua but vowed to "respond to every challenge."



"For us, the same as for Venezuela and Nicaragua, it's very clear that the noose is tightening, and our people need to be ready to respond to every challenge with unity, resolve, optimism and unwavering faith in the victory," Castro said.

Those three countries -- all currently subject to US sanctions -- are among the last bastions of far left governance in Latin America amid a general trend to the right in recent years.

Since Donald Trump's election as US president, relations with Cuba have deteriorated after a historic rapprochement under his predecessor Barack Obama.

Castro, the brother of late revolutionary hero Fidel, said the return of right-wing governments in the region and Washington's hostility towards the left had "reawakened euphoria among our enemies who dream of destroying the Cuban example."



Dressed in military uniform, Castro was speaking at an event marking the 65th anniversary of a guerrilla attack on a military barracks seen as the start of the Cuban revolution against US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista.

Raul Castro, who is 87, assumed the Cuban presidency after Fidel stepped down for health reasons in 2008. He in turn handed over the presidency to Miguel Diaz-Canel in April.

Bilateral US-Cuban relations had improved since Raul came to power, with full diplomatic relations restored in 2015 -- they had been dissolved in 1961 after Cuba fostered close ties with the communist Soviet Union.

Cuba has been run as a single-party socialist or communist state since Batista was ousted in January 1959.

Castro said the US-led blockade of Cuba had "intensified... in particular the persecution of our financial transactions." He also blasted statements about Cuba by US officials as "disrespectful, aggressive, interventionist and crudely manipulating historical facts.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A delegation led by Gujarat Assembly Speaker Rajendra Trivedi today called on



Vice-President and Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu.

Naidu welcomed the delegation and gave a brief introduction about the constitutional set-up of the parliamentary system.

He talked about the composition, nature of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and highlighted the relationship between the two Houses of Parliament, as well as telling them about the parliamentary procedures.

Naidu underlined the importance of deliberations in parliamentary committees, where discussions are held above party lines and their recommendations are of considered value for the government.

The Rajya Sabha chairman informed the delegation about some of the new initiatives taken by the Upper House like simultaneous interpretation facility available in 22 Indian languages for Members of Parliament listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.

The Speaker of Gujarat Legislative Assembly thanked Naidu for apprising the delegation of various procedural devices of Parliament.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Delhi Minister Imran Hussain has called for a complete ban on the sale, production, storage and import of Chinese manja or the kite-flying threads made out of plastic or nylon.

In a letter to Union Minister Harsh Vardhan, Hussain said these sharp edged threads not only hurt birds but also children.

"Additionally, users of non-biodegradable threads pose environmental hazard," Hussain said.

There have also been instances of tripping of power lines and sub stations causing power interruptions.

Calling for a complete ban on the sale, production, storage and import of kite strings made of plastic or nylon, Hussain said only cotton threads which are not sharp should be permitted.

Earlier in the month, the Delhi government directed the departments concerned to strictly implement the ban on glass-coated threads or Chinese manja in view of large scale kite-flying in the city on the occasion of Independence Day and Raksha Bandhan.

A complete ban on Chinese manja or any other kind of thread made of nylon, plastic or any other synthetic material was imposed by the Delhi government vide its notification on January 10 last year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Georgian Mine Company Fires 3 Management Members

By Tea Mariamidze

The Georgian Industrial Group, the largest holding in Georgia owning the Saknakhshiri Company, which operates mines in Georgia, has fired 3 members of the management team following the demands of the miners.The company reports that Saknakhshiri General Director Jambul Jakeli dismissed the Director Akaki Akhvlediani, Director of Production Giorgi Karkashadze and Chief Engineer Gizo Kirkitadze.The changes came after 4 miners died and 6 were severely injured in one of the Saknakhshiri mines  Mindeli, Tkibuli Municipality, on July 16.Tkibuli Mayor, Temur Chubinidze says the Head of Mindeli shaft and his deputy will be temporarily suspended until the investigation is over.The Interior Ministry launched the investigation after the incident under the second part of Article 240 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, which implies a violation of safety rules in mining, construction or other works.Moreover, Saknakhshiri says the General Director is ready to resign, but he cannot do this before the investigation is over.The miners and the trade unions were demanding the dismissal of the mine administration. They are holding protest rallies in Tkibuli center, asking for administrative changes, strengthening of safety conditions in mines and guaranteed salaries while the mine is closed during the investigation process.The main demands of the miners trade union are:1. An objective investigation of April 6 and July 16 accidents in Mindeli mine.2.Temporary conservation of shafts to evaluate the existing risks and a full modernization of the facility;3. Full compensation of employees during the entire period of mine conservation;4. Meeting with the prime minister, which will be attended by the representatives of trade unions, company Saknakhshiri administration and government, as well as the miners of the Mindeli mine.5. Signing a document when the agreement is reached regarding the abovementioned issues.Since April 6, 2018, 10 miners have lost their lives in Mindeli mine. The last accident killed 4 and injured 6.A seven-member group of employees composed of labor inspectors under the Ministry of Economy stated they found some violations in the mine, adding the possible link between these violations and the incident will be assessed after the investigation is completed.The Delhi government today told the Supreme Court that it will install hydraulic lifts in 1,000 standard-floor buses to be procured under the cluster scheme on its own cost to make them accessible for differently-abled persons, especially those on wheel chair.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has challenged an order of the Delhi High Court by which it had barred them from procuring 2,000 standard-floor buses.

The top court, had yesterday asked the government to explain by today, whether it intends to make these cluster buses friendly to differently-abled persons by fitting them with hydraulic lifts.

A bench of justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan was told that a meeting was held by Delhi's Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot on the issue of wheelchair friendly/accessible buses on June 19, after the High Court had on June 1 restrained it from going ahead with the tendering process for purchasing buses.

"Pursuant to the said meeting, the government of NCT of Delhi is agreeable to have these mechanical lifts fitted on all the buses proposed to be acquired under the Cluster scheme by the L1 bidders," the Delhi government said through an affidavit.

It further said, "The mechanical lifts will be installed by the Vehicle Manufacturers as Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM). The fitment of hydraulic lifts is also envisaged under the harmonised guidelines issued by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India."



The government said in the meeting it was decided that the cost of this additional fitment (hydraulic lifts), which was not mentioned in the original tender specification, has been agreed to be borne by the government of Delhi in principle.

Justifying the move, the AAP government said this decision has been taken by it considering the dire need to augment the existing bus fleet, particularly on the rural routes identified for the purpose and the urgency of doing so in larger public interest and also specifically the need for disabled friendly public transport.

"The decision will address the issue of accessible public buses to passengers with locomotor disability," it said, adding that the decision was also taken to avoid any further delay in the acquisition of buses for public transport as a fresh tender may delay the entire process by more than a year.

The bench took the affidavit on record and posted the matter for further hearing next week.

The apex court had yesterday asked probing questions to the AAP government and the DTC over their intention to purchase 2,000 standard-floor cluster buses, which are not friendly to differently-abled persons.

The government had later during the hearing had informed the court that a tender floated on March 16 by the DTC for procurement of 1,000 standard-floor buses is most likely to be scrapped as only one bidder has come forward.

It had said that fitting of hydraulic lifts to make the buses friendly for differently-abled persons, would entail a total cost of around Rs 80-90 crores.

The government counsel had said that after talking to Gahlot, he was informed that a decision has been taken to procure additional 500 low-floor buses, which will be friendly to differently abled persons.

He had said that this decision of procuring additional 500 buses will be soon placed before the cabinet, as the government intends to increase the fleet of public transport buses.

The high court had on June 1, pulled up the AAP government for "not taking a single step for ensuring accessible transport" for disabled persons in the national capital and restrained it from procuring standard-floor buses as it impedes their mobility.

It had said that the government is bent upon "treating the disabled as non-existent, or, in any case not having any rights".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi High Court today directed JNU to allow three students, who were penalised for misconduct during different protests, to submit their thesis and register for courses.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) had imposed varying punishments on them, including fine and withdrawal or transfer of hostel facility.

The court asked the students to file appeals before the varsity's vice chancellor challenging the punishments imposed by JNU.

It granted them liberty to file appeals within two weeks.

Justice Siddharth Mridul directed JNU to dispose of the appeals expeditiously and made it clear that the appellate authority shall abide by principles of natural justice and accord an opportunity to the three students to defend the findings in the proctorial enquiry.

The court said till the time, the university takes a decision on the appeals, JNU is directed "not to take any coercive steps against the three students and that they are granted all facilities, including the acceptance of thesis, accommodation and registration for process of studies as it is necessary for them to continue their studies in the institution."



It also directed the students -- Geeta Kumari, Vikas Yadav and Mukesh Kumar -- to participate in the proceedings before the vice-chancellor and to abstain from a conduct which is unbecoming of a student or disrupt the sanctity of the institution.

The court asked the varsity to video record the proceedings before the vice-chancellor.

Senior advocate Salman Khurshid and advocates Nikhil Bhalla and Harsh Bawa, appearing for Yadav and Kumar, said the order passed by the chief proctor was arbitrary and initiated with malicious intentions and such a hasty action against them jeopardises their academic record and career ahead.

According to the petition, JNU's NSUI president Yadav and vice president Kumar had started a peaceful symbolic protest on February 5 against the rule of compulsory attendance and seat cuts and 100 per cent weighage to vice-voce in M.Phil and Ph.D courses in the university.

Later, the chief proctor passed an order withdrawing the hostel facility of Yadav and transferring the hostel of Kumar along with a fine of Rs 20,000 each.

JNU students union president Geeta Kumari was held guilty for being involved in protest, obstruction, confinement, physical abuse and manhandling against the Dean of Students on March 12.

She was fined Rs 10,000 and also transferred to another hostel from her present accommodation.

JNU counsel Monika Arora said the students should file an appeal before the appellate authority of the university instead of directly approaching the court.

The court had earlier directed JNU to allow submission of thesis and hostel facility for five students who were penalised in connection with a 2016 campus event in which anti-national slogans were allegedly raised.

The five students along with 10 others, including former JNU students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar, were found guilty of violation of disciplinary norms in connection with the February 9, 2016, incident on the campus by a five-member panel of the university.

On February 9, 2016, a poetry event was held at JNU in connection with the third anniversary of Guru's hanging for his role in the attack on Parliament on December 13, 2001.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The BJP's Delhi unit today demanded dismissal of the AAP government over the deaths of three minor girls due to starvation in east Delhi's Mandwali area.

The party's city unit president, Manoj Tiwari, and other leaders, including local MP Maheish Girri, met the girls' parents and said a financial assistance of Rs 50,000 will be extended to them.

It's a matter of "shame" for the AAP government and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal that "the three little girls died due to hunger in Delhi", Tiwari said.

"The common man is dying under the AAP rule in Delhi. It is even more shameful as the area where the deaths occurred falls in the constituency of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia," he said.

The BJP MPs, including Girri, raised the matter in the Lok Sabha.

Girri has also written a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind, demanding that the Kejriwal government be "sacked".

"Development and welfare works were already hampered in Delhi. It will not be unfit to dismiss the Kejriwal government in view of the deaths of three girls due to starvation," Tiwari said.

The sisters, aged eight, four and two, were taken to the LBS hospital on Tuesday. They were later declared brought dead.

Doctors said today they were "visibly malnourished" and the autopsy report showed their "stomachs were empty" as if they had not eaten for over a week.

Tiwari demanded that a survey be conducted to find out if there were other such families that were reeling under starvation.

Girri demanded a probe into the treatment given to the girls at a local mohalla clinic where they were reportedly taken by their mother when their condition deteriorated a few days ago.

"A neighbour told that the girls were taken to a local mohalla clinic after their condition deteriorated a few days ago. They claimed that their condition worsened as they suffered bouts of loose motion and vomiting after treatment at the clinic," Tiwari said.

The AAP government was "hyper active" recently over the ration distribution issue, but the deaths of the children due to hunger shows it is "insensitive" towards the needs of the people.

"We met around 30 families in the neighbourhood where the deaths occurred. All of them complained that they were not issued ration cards despite making repeated efforts," he claimed.

Tiwari also attacked Sisodia, saying he should also be held responsible for the deaths as the incident occurred in his assembly constituency.

The Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta, also visited Mandwali.

He atacked the AAP government over its promise to open Aam Aadmi canteens to provide subsidised food to the poor in the city.

"Had the government implemented the scheme, many would have been saved from hunger," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Congress's Delhi unit chief Ajay Maken today said the "tall claims" of the BJP and the AAP of being pro-poor failed to save the lives of three girls, who reportedly died due to starvation here.

Three sisters were found dead in east Delhi's Mandawali area with the initial post mortem report hinting that it was a case of starvation, prompting the Delhi government to order a magisterial probe into the matter.

The girls, aged two, four and eight, were brought to a hospital by their mother and a friend on Tuesday and the hospital authorities informed police about their deaths.

Terming the deaths as a matter of "shame", Maken, who visited Mandawali, said the incident raised questions over the governance of the AAP and the BJP.

"The AAP government in Delhi that claims to be pro-poor, and the Modi government which boasts of the 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' campaign, could not save the lives of three innocent girls," he said.

Maken asked why the family of the girls had no ration cards and if the eldest girl, who went to school, received mid-day meals.

He also took a dig at the AAP government over its ambitious Aam Aadmi Canteen Scheme for providing meals to poor, which is yet to take off.

"These questions must be answered since the deaths occurred in the constituency of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia," Maken said.

The Congress leader was accompanied by former Delhi ministers Arvinder Lovely, A K Walia and other party leaders.

Maken and the others also provided immediate financial help to the family.

Delhi Congress leader Mukesh Sharma demanded registration of a culpable homicide case against the guilty in the tragic deaths and demanded resignation of Delhi Food minister Imran Hussain.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The high court here has asked Haryana government officials not to create hurdles to interfaith marriages, saying some of the information sought under the state's rules violated privacy.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court's order was on a petition against a checklist' framed by the state government, one of whose provisions required informing a couple's parents about the planned marriage.

The court has suggested that the state government should modify and simplify its court marriage check list (CMCL) to ensure minimal executive interference.

The court said the procedure must reflect the mindset of the changed times in a secular nation instead of the officialdom raising eyebrows and laying snares and landmines beneath the sacrosanct feet of the Special Marriage Act, 1954.

In his July 20 order, Justice Rajiv Narain Raina said the Haryana checklist for the registration of marriages should be brought in line with the Act, "avoiding unwarranted overload of obstructions and superfluity.

A Hindu woman and a Muslim man had sought directions from the court to the Gurugram district marriage officer to not send notices of the intended marriage to their parents.

The couple also wanted the court to stop the officer from publishing anything on the marriage in a national newspaper, as demanded under the checklist.

The notices to the parents impinged on their right to privacy, the couple argued.

The woman's petition said she faces virulent opposition to the proposed marriage from her parents.

The counsel for the petitioners had argued that the CMCL directives are highly offensive, insensitive, arbitrary, primitive and out of sync with the rapidly changing social order.

Referring to the condition that the couple should not be staying at one place, the counsel said it amounted to moral policing "in a country where live-in relationships are judicially recognized by courts as precious rights among informed adults, whether or not they intend to marry, so long as they do not violate any law."



The court said it has to be kept in mind that the Act was meant to enable a special form of marriage for Indian nationals professing different faiths, or those who wanted a civil form of marriage.

It added that any unwarranted disclosure of matrimonial plans by two adults may in certain situations jeopardize the marriage itself.

In certain instances, it may even endanger the life or limb of one or the other party due to parental interference," the court said.

The court directed the marriage officer to consider the temporary residences of the couple in the marriage application instead of seeking their permanent address.

It directed the officer not to send advance notices to the couple's parents so as to strictly maintain their privacy rights and their right to life and liberty.

The high court was informed by the Gurugram Deputy Commissioner that no officials are asked to visit the residences of the couples for address verification.

The court directed the marriage officer to consider the application only in accordance with the Act and the judgment.

The notice of the intended marriage will be put up at the office of the marriage officer for 30 days, after which the officer may proceed to register the marriage and issue the certificate, the court said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US President Donald Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame has been destroyed.

According to Los Angeles Times, the police arrested Austin Clay, 24, in connection with the apparent act of vandalism.

The police said that Clay strode up to Trump's star off Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue and proceeded to destroy the majority of the star with a pick axe which he was carrying in a guitar case.

Soon afterward, he surrendered to Los Angeles police and is being held on USD 20,000 bail.

In a statement, Leron Gubler, president and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, said the president's star will be repaired immediately and asked people to "project their anger in more positive ways than to vandalize a California State landmark".

"The Hollywood Walk of Fame is an institution celebrating the positive contributions of the inductees," Gubler said



"When people are unhappy with one of our honorees, we would hope that they would project their anger in more positive ways than to vandalize a California State landmark. Our democracy is based on respect for the law. People can make a difference by voting and not destroying public property," he added.

This is not the first time when Trump's star has been the target of an attack. It was smashed by a man in 2016 shortly after the "Access Hollywood" recording of Trump bragging about sexual assault surfaced.

The star has also been subjected to defacement with 'swastika', the mute sign and expletives drawn on it on different occasions.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pakistan watchers in the US on Thursday doubted the fairness of the general election for which Imran Khan's party received the army's backing while the PML-N and the ran their campaigns "under constraints".

The Trump administration said it was closely monitoring the situation in Pakistan but refused to declare the polls "free and fair". The State Department, too, refused to confirm that. Its mission in Pakistan did not deploy election observers primarily because of security concerns.

"We continue to monitor developments and have consistently emphasised our support for free, fair, transparent and accountable elections in Pakistan, as we do around the world," a State Department spokesperson told the Press Trust of India.

Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistan ambassador to the US, said that the result of the election was "foretold".

"PML-N and were running under constraints and was operating with complete freedom and establishment backing."



Haqqani, who is with the Hudson Institute think-tank, said the result was unlikely to change anything in Pakistan unless the military-led establishment decides to shut down its "jihad business" and recognises it as the source of the country's isolation and economic difficulties.

"It is unlikely that a prime minister Imran Khan will act decisively against jihadis, given his sympathy for their cause but miracles can happen," Haqqani said.



The comments came as political parties in Pakistan, including the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, too raised allegations that the election was manipulated and rigged in chief Khan's favour.

At a midnight press conference when the vote count was underway, PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif said the election was a "blatant violation" of the mandate of the people. Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Zardari too raised doubts over the slow pace of vote count and other procedural irregularities.

"There are serious allegations of tampering and interference for virtually all parties except the So the Election Commission of Pakistan will have to respond but it is unclear how," former state department official Alyssa Ayres, who is now with the Council on Foreign Relations, said.

In an early-morning press conference, the Election Commission rejected the charges, saying it did "our job right."





"In the meantime, the prospect of an Imran Khan-led government will in my view introduce further rockiness into US-Pakistan ties. He is on the record saying things like 'America is destroying Pakistan' and will likely seek to reduce Pakistan-US cooperation, already troubled to begin with. So count me concerned," Ayres said.

Imran Khan, Pakistan experts widely believe, has the backing of the Pakistani army.

Jeff M Smith - from the Heritage Foundation - said it was important to acknowledge that a peaceful transition of power via a democratic election is still a rare commodity in Pakistan and thus would be a positive step forward. Though, even that has been put in doubt by "some very troubling accounts" of electoral tampering and manipulation, he said.

"The bigger problem, by far, is that the results of the election carry only limited meaning so long as the Pakistani military remains the principal power broker and puppet master governing from behind the scenes," Smith said.

It ensures that regardless of who wins the election, there is unlikely to be any great deviation from the military's policies and priorities in domestic and foreign affairs, he said.

"Past history suggests those daring enough to try and chart a more independent course or assert some degree of civilian control over the military are quickly discarded and emasculated by Rawalpindi, which inevitably finds a new political host to co-opt," Smith said.

Khan's position on the US is far more hawkish than former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, noted Moeed Yusuf, from US Institute of Peace. "On India, even though Khan is likely to take a more balanced approach, he will certainly not be as forward-leaning as Sharif," he said.



Appearing at the Atlantic Council, a US think-tank, Ikram ul Majeed Sehgal, chairman of the Pathfinder Group, said the Pakistani army always had a major say in elections.

This time it made it publicly known that it favored Khan in general elections but did not interfere in the elections itself, he said in response to a question.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) busted a foreign currency smuggling racket at Mumbai International Airport by arresting eight persons who had concealed USD 410,000 (about Rs 2.75 crore) in laptop bags, officials said today.

They claimed that the foreign currency smuggling racket was one of the largest ever busted by the agency in recent times.

An official said that the interrogation of the accused had revealed that these persons had made over 100 trips in the past one year and had managed to smuggle over Rs 50 crore in foreign currency out of the country.

"In an overnight operation at Terminal-2 of the Mumbai International Airport, following a tip-off received from abroad, four passengers were intercepted as they were about to board two flights headed to Bangkok and Dubai," the official informed.

"During a search conducted on these four persons, a total of USD 410,000 (Rs 2.75 crore in rupee terms) was found concealed in four laptop bags," he said.

The DRI then picked up four other members of this syndicate, who had booked tickets for Goa, the official said.

"The eight have confessed to the crime and have told investigators that they had been operating this racket for about a year now," the official stated.

Explaining the modus operandi, the official said that a few members of the cartel would book themselves on domestic flights, through Air India, and a few others would book tickets on international flights, all within a space of a few hours.

"The domestic passengers would carry the foreign currency to be smuggled. They would hand over the money, carefully concealed in laptop bags, to their accomplices flying abroad. The handover was done at the food court at the airport's Terminal-2," he explained.

"The passengers who were to travel abroad had, by then, completed check-in formalities and would have passed through baggage screening," he said.

With about half an hour to an hour to go before boarding, the passengers booked on international flights would exchange their bags with the domestic passengers and proceed to the boarding gates, he said.

The racket, in which dollars were being illegally taken out of the country, was resulting in the weakening of the rupee, the official claimed.

The foreign currency was reportedly being used to pay for illegal items like smuggled gold, the official said, adding that further investigations into the racket were underway.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A syndicate that smuggled undervalued and mis-declared readymade garments from China and Hong Kong SAR into India has been busted with the arrest of four people, the DRI said today.

The accused were part of a Kolkata-based syndicate operating through different ports in the country and involved in importing goods valued at over Rs 130 crore by under-valuing the price and evading customs duty of at least Rs 25 crore, a statement issued by the agency said.

Giving details, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) said a consignment imported by a local firm was examined.

"On examination, mis-declared items such as ladies fancy top, girls fancy night wear, fancy swim wear, ladies waist accessories etc, in commercial quantities were found against declared items like girls slips, ladies stocking, girls night dress, washing bag etc, valued at Rs 4.62 crore against the declared value of Rs 35 lakh, and subsequently seized," it said.

The firm is part of the syndicate engaged in mis-declared imports through the Kolkata and Haldia ports. Four other firms are also part of this illegal activity.

The DRI also intercepted another mis-declared consignment of ready made garments imported by the syndicate in the name of one of these firms.

The goods were found to be mis-declared in terms of description, value and quantity.

Upon examination, the value was found to be Rs 6.62 crore against the declared value of Rs 36 lakh, the DRI said.

Three other consignments of three different firms of the syndicate were also intercepted and examined, and found to be mis-declared in terms of description, value and quantity.

"Thus, a total of five live consignments pertaining to the syndicate, having total market value of about Rs 20 crore against the total declared value of Rs 1.5 crore, have been seized," it said.

The DRI said a follow-up inquiry was conducted in Mumbai at certain premises, owned by one of the accused.

The officials found Rs 77 lakh from these premises, which admittedly was the sale proceeds of such mis-declared goods, which were seized, the agency said.

Besides cash, original invoices revealing the correct and much higher values of 86 consignments imported in the past by the syndicate with respect to the five companies were also recovered.

The accused have admitted that they were involved in the fraudulent import of mis-declared goods in respect of 130 consignments, the differential value of which is more than Rs 100 crore and which involves evasion of customs duty of about Rs 25 crore, the probe agency said.

The DRI said another 132 consignments have been imported in the past by the syndicate using the same modus operandi and it has evaded huge customs duty.

"Thus, the total evasion of customs duty by the syndicate could be much higher than Rs 25 crore," it said.

Detection of this modus operandi will not only discourage cheap and fraudulent imports by unscrupulous traders, but will protect domestic readymade garment manufacturers, especially small and medium sector enterprises which form the backbone of the textile industry, the DRI said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A school van driver, who was allegedly heavily drunk, was arrested by the police here today after he dozed off at the wheel while ferrying children home.

Suresh Shiravale (45), the driver, allegedly fell asleep when driving the van this afternoon. There were around 15 children of various ages in the van.

Seeing his head resting on the steering wheel of the moving van, the children panicked.

Traffic Constable Santosh Bagul heard their screaming when the van was on the service road in Louis Wadi area, said inspector Anil Mangle.

Bagul forced the driver to stop and disembark. Another driver was arranged to ferry the children home, the inspector said.

Shiravale was found to be drunk. He was arrested under section 185 (drunken driving) of the Motor Vehicles Act, the inspector 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.)Parliament Approves New Pension System for Georgia

By Levan Khutsishvili

The Parliament of Georgia has supported the draft law on a new pension model, which envisages accumulation of money for pension in earlier years.Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Ekaterine Mikabadze presented the draft law to the parliament. According to her, the accumulated pension system will accumulate savings proportionate to the salary generated by the employer over the years to receive a higher replacement coefficient."The answer to social challenges is the accumulated pension scheme. With this reform, the state will significantly help the Georgian population save money. We create a real basis to deal with the problems that exist today in terms of justice and effectiveness. This is the main goal of the reform. However, it should also be noted that the reform has a positive economic impact. As a result of the reform, savings will be increased in the economy, and new financial resource will be accrued, which is a sharp motive for the development of the capital market. This is an alternate long-term resource that enables businesses to implement new productive investments that will create new jobs and help economic growth," saidMikabadze.Initiators of the bill explain the need of the reform. According to Geostat, in 2017, 732 100 people received pensions and based on the demographical and economical calculations, it is expected that the number will increase significantly by 2030, and by 2060 the amount of pensions will be about 30% of budget revenues.Authors of the law say that pension is a heavy load for the budget and on the other hand, there is a low coefficient of the replacement (wage pension), which is 18% in Georgia and to compare with the international standards of a good coefficient - 40-50%, is very small. Government has attempted to solve this problem with accumulative pension fund.According to the project, involvement in accumulating the system will be obligatory for employed citizens under 40, and voluntary for those employed and self-employed over 40.The principle of accumulative pension isfollowing: 6% of the unpaid wage amount will be transferred to the individual pension account. Employees, employers and the state each pay 2%. For those whose annual salary is between 24 and 60 thousand, the state will only transfer 1%. If the annual income of a person exceeds 60,000 GEL, it will not be able to accumulate in the system.Specialists say the pension reform was crucial and underline the importance of accumulative funds. Part of the society, who doesnt trust the governmental institutions, questions the preservation and management of their money, doubting that the reform is reliable.Eminent personalities in West Bengal today welcomed the TMC government's move to rename the state as 'Bangla'.

The state Assembly today passed a resolution to rename the state as 'Bangla' in three languages -- Bengali, English and Hindi.

Film director Goutam Ghosh said that he was happy with the move.

The name Paschim Bango (West Bengal) had reference to the partition, he said. "It rekindles the painful memory of migration and leaving behind one's residence and property, one's place of birth and growing up."



The new name will leave behind that past, Ghosh, who had directed a film on the partition a few years ago, said.

"It will enable Bengalis to think they have a state of their own. Like the way the people in Bangladesh feel that the Bengalis have a country of their own in this world," he said.

Thespian Soumitra Chatterjee said while the name 'Paschim Bango' (West Bengal) had been in use for a long time after Independence, the new name 'Bangla' is all right.

"I have no problem if our state is known as Bangla from now on," the Dada Saheb Phalke award winner said.

Popular Bengali writer Sirshendu Mukhopadhyay said, "We all had been asking for this for long."



"Feeling happy, this is what I had wanted. We all had known this place as Bangla since our childhood days. Hence renaming it after the partition as West Bengal was totally illogical," Mukhopadhyay said.

"By renaming it as Bangla, we are retaining the tradition and the long history of this region," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An encounter broke out today between terrorists and security forces in Handwara area of Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district, police said.

Security forces launched a search operation in Check Sodul village in Handwara area following information about the presence of terrorists in the area, a police official said.

He said the search operation turned into a gun battle when the hiding militants opened fire on the security forces.

No casualties had been reported in the exchange of fire between the two sides so far, the official added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The physical stamping of boarding passes would be done away with at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here from August onwards, a spokesperson for the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said today.

The facility will start at the T-2 terminal for GoAir passengers in the first week of next month and be introduced for other airlines subsequently, the spokesperson said.

A passenger only has to flash his boarding pass at a scanner machine placed at the security area for frisking. CISF personnel will give a 'go-ahead' command through a terminal placed at his end before frisking the passenger, said officials involved in its implementation.

"It will subsequently be rolled out to other airlines at the Airport as well. This will start at a few gates at T2, and be expanded to all the gates gradually," the spokesperson said.

A senior CISF official said a person who uses the new system would be frisked and checked if the security person on duty finds them suspicious. The final call on the security clearance of a passenger rests with on-duty security personnel.

DIAL described it as a first phase of the launch of the e-boarding facility.

The e-boarding facility will help domestic air passengers enjoy a complete paperless boarding experience at airports. It would cover all boarding processes right from entry into the terminal building, check-ins, security checks, boarding gate and boarding bridge check before entering the aircraft.

All that a passenger would need is a mobile e-boarding card.

The e-boarding facility is being piloted under the 'digi-yatra' initiative of the government.

Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey had earlier said that once the digi-yatra facility is in place, passengers can enter the airport via an e-gate after a face-based identification process.

The system, he said, will be a win-win situation both for the passengers, the security apparatus and the airlines. The system will ensure shorter queue, faster boarding, self baggage drop and self check-in.

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) had recently asked airports in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru to do away with the boarding pass stamping. This would not only help passengers save time but also reduce the queue.

The manpower employed to manage the operations could also be used for other purposes.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A man accused of extortion and other crimes escaped from police custody today after being produced at a court in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir, a police officer said.

Bulbir Singh, a resident of Kathua district, was arrested in an extortion case and was also charged with other crimes in Rajouri district. He was taken to the Samba court, Samba Superintendent of Police Anil Magotra told PTI.

Singh's handcuffs were opened before he was produced in the court. When the police were putting back the handcuffs, Singh managed to fight off few of the guards and escaped, the SP said.

The police have launched a manhunt to nab the accused.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Extremist and banned groups, including Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-backed Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek, have failed miserably in Pakistan's general elections despite their massive campaign.

Hundreds of individuals linked with hardline and banned groups were competing in the polls but so far, according to the unofficial results, none of them was seen as winning a seat in the national or provincial assemblies.

Only few could garner a respectable number of votes including Maulana Muhammad Ahmad Ludhianvi whose name was removed from a banned list called Fourth Schedule ahead of election and allowed to contest, inviting international backlash.

Geo TV reported that hat Ludhianvi received more than 45,000 votes but was nowhere close to the victory.

Before the elections, concerns have been raised in the country over the participation of hardline Islamist groups in large numbers.

Mili Muslim League linked with Saeed fielded dozens of candidates from the Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek as it was denied recognition by the Election Commission of Pakistan. Saeed himself led the campaign by addressing several rallies but his candidates were not seen anywhere near victory.

Hafiz Talha Saeed, the son of Saeed, contested from NA-91 seat from Sargodha (about 200-km from Lahore), the home town of the Jamaat-ud Dawa leader. Saeed's son-in-law, Khalid Waleed, was a candidate in PP-167.

Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), a Sunni sectarian group, fielded more than 100 candidates but none of them came closer to victory, according to unofficial results so far.

Mutahida Majlis-e-Aml (MMA) was the biggest religious alliance of several leading parties was leading on only eight seats of national assembly despite massive campaign by its leader which included influential Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Accusing him of mishandling the Maratha quota agitation, the Congress today demanded that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should quit before his own party decides to show him the door.

Violence was witnessed at many places during yesterday's shut-down called by Maratha outfits demanding reservations in government jobs and educational institutes.

Speaking to the media here, state Congress chief Ashok Chavan said the law and order situation in the state was bad because of "poor decision-making of the chief minister".

Asked about Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut's claim that there was "talk" within the BJP that the state leadership should be changed, Chavan said, "Congress is not concerned about the BJP's internal issues.

"The fact is that law and order situation in the state is not good, and the state government and Fadnavis are responsible for that. We want him to quit before being replaced," said the former chief minister.

Chavan denied the allegation that Fadnavis was being targeted because he is a non-Maratha.

"There is absolutely no truth to this allegation. The promise of providing reservations to the Marathas and Dhangars which he made was not implemented, resulting in unrest," said Chavan.

Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam said Fadnavis was the home Minister as well, but he was nowhere to be seen yesterday.

"He even cancelled his scheduled meeting in Sangli fearing protesters. He broke the tradition of chief minister performing the annual Ashadhi Ekadashi Puja at Pandharpur. He should resign before being removed," Nirupam said.

Asked about reports that the Centre was planning to introduce reservations based on economic status, Chavan said until socially backward classes are brought into the mainstream completely, it must be debated whether reservations on economic grounds are appropriate. "It could lead to new issues," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A day after Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut created flutter saying there is talk within the BJP of replacing Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnvis over the Maratha quota stir, his party leader Manohar Joshi today said there is no such possibility.

Joshi, former Chief Minister, said Fadnavis "failed" in handling the Maratha quota issue as is evident from the way in which the community members have taken to the streets in "huge numbers" to demand reservation in jobs and education.

The former Lok Sabha Speaker suggested that having a comprehensive dialogue with the protesters was the only way out to address the issue.

"No," the Sena veteran quipped when asked if Fadnavis would be replaced.

Raut had yesterday said that there were "talks within the BJP" to replace Fadnavis, in the backdrop of the agitation which has taken violent turn since last two days.

Asked about speculation that Fadnavis could be replaced, state Congress chief Ashok Chavan said, "Congress is not concerned over internal issues of BJP. The law and order situation in the state is not good and the BJP-led state government and Fadnavis are responsible for this."



"We want Fadnavis to quit before being replaced," Chavan said. He rejected the claim that Fadnavis was being targeted because he was a non-Maratha.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray also hit out at the Fadnavis-led regime and asked the BJP-Shiv Sena combine to exit the government if it is unable to deliver on the Maratha reservation promise.

Thackeray took to Twitter to advise Maratha youth not to give up their lives as each of them was required to build Maharashtra and to fight the "outside threat", an apparent reference to influx of non-Maharashtrians to the state.

A youth had flung himself into Godavari river in Aurangabad district earlier this week during the Maratha quota stir. Another demonstrator died yesterday after consuming a poisonous substance a day before.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The torrent of water unleashed in a deadly Laos dam collapse has drained into Cambodia, forcing thousands to be evacuated, as rescuers today battled monsoon rains to find scores of Laotians still missing after whole villages were washed away.

Twenty-seven people have been confirmed dead, with 131 still missing, after the Xe-Namnoy dam collapsed on Monday in a remote southern corner of Laos, leaving villagers with little time to escape.

It is an unprecedented accident to strike the hydropower industry in Laos, where the Communist government has dammed large sections of its myriad waterways to generate electricity that is mostly consumed by its neighbours.

The search and rescue effort entered a third day today, with China, Vietnam and Thailand sending in specialists, while villagers picked through their wrecked, mud-caked homes for possessions as the flood waters receded.

Carcasses of livestock floated in the knee-deep waters in a devastated village visited by AFP. Thousands of villagers downstream in Cambodia have also been forced to flee as the water once held back by the dam flowed south.

"Water is still rising, so more people will be evacuated," Men Kong, a government spokesman in Cambodia's Stung Streng province, told AFP.

In Laos, Chinese rescuers in life jackets and helmets today joined local soldiers searching for the missing, according to an AFP reporter at the scene, while community volunteers pitched in with private boats to return to villages still totally submerged.

Residents recalled their terror as water rushed through their homes.

Tran Van Bien, 47, from Ban Mai village close to the ruined dam, said he was told to evacuate just two hours before the dam burst on Monday evening, running to a neighbour's house with his family as his home quickly filled with water.

"We were on the roof of that house the whole night, cold and scared. At 4:00 am a wooden boat passed and we decided to send my wife and my kid out," he told AFP from a nearby village where he eventually found dry land.

"My wife tied our child to her body, saying if they died, they would die together rather than being alone."



The USD 1.2 billion dollar Xe-Namnoy dam, a joint venture between Laos, Thai and Korean companies, was still under construction in southern Attapeu province when it collapsed after heavy rains pounded the area earlier this week.

Two South Korean companies involved in the project's construction and operation said damage was reported a day before the auxiliary "Saddle D" dam collapsed.

However, a timeline from operator Korea Western Power Company obtained by AFP said 11 centimetres of subsidence was spotted at the dam's centre. The company told AFP it could not yet determine the cause of the collapse.

"It is too early to define whether it was a natural disaster or a manmade disaster," a spokesman told AFP today.

Southeastern Laos is regularly lashed with monsoon rains, and dam operators release water from reservoirs in order to avoid overflow -- or collapse.

The 410 MW Xe-Namnoy project is one of more than 50 hydropower plans underway in Laos, which has billed itself as the "Battery of Asia" in its ambitious bid to become a major power exporter in the region.

The company has said it wants to double its power generation capacity to 28,000 MW by 2020 and has opened its doors to foreign investors -- mainly from China, Thailand and Vietnam -- to build dams on its vast river network.

But the projects have come under fire from rights groups who say local communities are forcibly moved and lose key access to river waters for farming and fishing.

"This tragedy has compounded their suffering," International Rivers said in a statement today.

"Communities were not given sufficient advanced warning to ensure their safety and that of their families. This event raises major questions about dam standards and dam safety in Laos," it said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Four CRPF personnel were injured in a grenade attack by militants in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir today, a police official said.

Militants hurled a grenade towards security forces at Bijbehara in Anantnag district, resulting in injuries to four personnel, the official said.

The area was cordoned off and search operations launched to nab the militants, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief Kamal Haasan today said freedom of expression was "slowly being snatched away" in the country and this should change.

"Certainly," was his response when a reporter cited recent arrests of protesters over various issues and asked if freedom of expression was being "snatched" in the country.

"Certainly. It is slowly being snatched... The situation in the country should change," he told reporters here.

His comments come in the backdrop of Tamil Nadu witnessing a series of protests including against Sterlite copper plant and the proposed Rs 10,000 crore eight-lane Salem-Chennai greenfield corrdior project.

Opposition parties have accused the government of indiscriminate arrests of protesters, a charge denied by Chief Minister K Palaniswami who wondered if democratic rights were being used appropriately in the state.

To a question on the Salem-Chennai expressway, the actor-politician reiterated that people should decide whether they require the big ticket road project.

"People should decide whether they want it or not," he said.

On his recent meeting with Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy over the Cauvery issue, over which he faced criticism from some quarters, Haasan said he had "no shame" in seeking water for Tamil Nadu farmers.

A 'spin' was given to that meeting by some that MNM was against the setting up of a Cauvery Management Authority (CMA), he alleged.

"We need the authority," the MNM chief said, adding, such a panel was required to handle water-sharing during distress.

On the controversy surrounding the use of a military helicopter to airlift Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam's ailing brother recently, Haasan said late Chief Minister M G Ramachandran had flown in in a private carrier for his medical treatment.

Ramachandran "flew in a private aircraft even when he was battling for life," Haasan said in an apparent reference to the former's US visit for medical treatment in early 1980s.

DMK working president M K Stalin had yesterday demanded the resignation of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Panneerselvam following the controversy.

Panneerselvam had earlier said his New Delhi visit on Tuesday was only to thank Sitharaman for arranging a military air ambulance to shift his brother to Chennai from Madurai, prompting Stalin to question how a defence helicopter can be provided for use by a private individual.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)President Trump is known for public unveiling his inner thoughts on Twitter. But one of the most revealing comments hes ever made came recently in a private discussion with lawmakers about trade policy.

According to Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., when senators visited the White House they told the president what farmers want is access to markets, not a payment from government. To this Trump replied, Im surprised, Ive never heard of anybody who didnt want a payment from government.

Unfortunately, the president is probably right. In 1888, the British Liberal leader Sir William Harcourt declared, We are all socialists now. A similar claim could be made in America in 2018: We are all New Deal socialists now.

Currently, there are two competing models of New Deal socialism in the U.S. The first is the democratic socialism represented by Bernie Sanders. The second type is the economic nationalism represented by Trump.

Both sides are attempting to be the heir of Franklin Roosevelts welfare state nationalism. Sanders is more overt about the connection. Let me define for you, simply and straightforwardly, what democratic socialism means to me, said Sanders in 2015. It builds on what Franklin Delano Roosevelt said when he fought for guaranteed economic rights for all Americans. But many of Trumps economic policies are similar aligned with FDR vision of economic rights. Trump even admitted there was one area where he was aligned with Sanders: We have one issue thats very similar, and thats trade, Trump said in 2016. He and I are similar in trade.

Sanders and Trumpand their supportersshare much more in common, though, than just protectionist trade policy. Each side is collectivist and seeks to use the power of the federal government to advance the economic interest of the group over the individual. And when the individual is economically harmed by these protectionist policies, the federal will protect them by giving them payment from government (i.e., the profits earned by other Americans and collected by the government for redistribution).

This is why both Sanders and Trump, like FDR, want a federal government that is big enough and strong enough to control the economy. Franklin Roosevelts nationalism was, first, a doctrine of federal centralization, says Samuel H. Beer. The principle of federal activism, which some have seen as the principal dividing line in American politics since the 1930s, was introduced by the New Deal.

New Deal socialist believe free markets and free individuals are secondary to the national economic interest identified by the government. The individual is permitted to act only if it is in the interest of the collective. As Senator Elizabeth Warren has said, We grudge no man a fortune in civil life if it is honorably obtained and well-used. We should permit it to be gained only so long as the gaining represents benefit to the community.

Commenting on Warrens remark, Kevin Williamson says,

The words permit it speak to the divide between traditional conservatives on the classical-liberal model and the (New) New Nationalists on the Roosevelt-Obama-Trump model. This permission mentality touches every aspect of nationalist economic thinking, which is how such meaningless bookkeeping exercises as the calculation of trade deficits and income inequality come to be understood as pressing national concerns. Putting markets under economic discipline is where progressivism, socialism, fascism, and nationalism all intersect, each of those ideas being based on the superstition that the nation has interests distinct from those of the people who compose the nation.

The reason Christians should reject New Deal socialismand its component parts socialism and nationalismis because it makes an idol of national economic concerns. Under New Deal socialism we are no longer stewards of Gods resources, vice-regents of Gods creation called to fulfill the cultural mandate (Genesis 1:28). Instead, we are made stewards of the national economic interest, permitted to engage in economic activity with the permission of the national government, and subordinating the interest of real people to the interest of an abstract nation.

This is a form of subjugation that no free people should be expected to endure. But because we are all New Deal socialists now, were willing to trade our freedoms in exchange for, as our president says, payment from government.The Goa government will plant fruit bearing trees in forest areas to prevent wild animals from invading human settlements in search of food, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told the Legislative Assembly today.

"As far as the Forest department is concerned, there are some problems that need to be resolved. One of them is wild animals entering human habitation. We have the issue of wild monkeys, wild boar and wild bison entering farms and destroying them," he told the House.

"We are planning to plant fruit bearing trees in the jungle so that they dont stray into human settlement. Perhaps, because we have encroached on their land, so they are encroaching on our land," Parrikar said.

He said that the state's forest policy would be redrafted once the national forest policy is in place.

The CM informed the House that the state's forest cover had increased by 19 square kilometres as per latest reports.

"We have a forest cover of 2,229 square kilometres which is 61 per cent of the total area of the state," he said.

Parrikar said that five lakh people visited wildlife areas in the state of which three lakh visited Dudhsagar waterfalls in South Goa.

"About 1.5 lakh people visited Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary in North Goa, 18,000 went to Chorao Bird Sanctuary near Panaji and 21,200 went to Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary," he told the Assembly.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union Minister Nitin Gadkari today apologised to Jyotiraditya Scindia in the Lok Sabha after the Congress MP raised the matter of the Madhya Pradesh government dropping his name from a plaque and invitations meant for inauguration of a highway in his Guna constituency.

Immediately after the commencement of Zero Hour, Scindia said the state government did not invite him for the inauguration of the highway and the plaque carrying his name was changed by the state government.

Citing government protocol, Scindia said local MPs should be invited to such programmes and "I want to move a privilege motion" against the state chief minister.

Responding to this, the Roads and Highways Minister said he was aware of the matter and it should not have happened.

"As I was present there, I should be responsible for this. MPs name should have been there. I apologise on behalf of everybody and next time it will not happen," Gadkari said.

Notwithstanding his apology, Scindia stated that interest of MPS should be protected and action should be taken against people who are responsible for this mistake.

As he repeatedly raised the demand, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said, "Should I use a baton to provide protection (sanrakshan lathh leke dun)".

Mahajan said it was Gadkari's greatness that he has tendered an apology on the matter.

Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge too said that MPs should be not be treated like this. "This is not good".

Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said issue should not be politicised as a senior minister has already apologised.

He said BJP MPs were not invited to such events during the UPA regime.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the murder of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh has arrested one more person, suspected to have provided shelter to the man who shot her dead.

H L Suresh (36) was arrested in Tumakuru yesterday and produced before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court, which remanded him in judicial custody, a SIT release said here today.

Sources in the SIT claimed that Suresh had provided shelter to Parashuram Waghmare, who allegedly pulled the trigger, killing Lankesh outside her house here.

With this, a total of 11 suspects have been arrested so far in connection with the case.

Lankesh, known for her vociferous anti-Hindutva stand, was shot dead on September 5 last year.

Her killing drew widespread condemnation from various quarters.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Berlin is preparing for the first time to veto the takeover of a German company by Chinese investors for "strategic" reasons, local media reported today, a year after ministers toughened up rules over fears the country could lose vital technologies.

Business weekly Wirtschaftswoche reported the economy ministry will prevent Chinese investor Yantai Taihai Corporation from buying Leifeld Metal Spinning.

The 200-employee firm produces high-strength parts for the car and aerospace industries that also have nuclear applications.

"The cabinet will make the decision on August 1," the magazine said.

A spokesman for the ministry declined to comment on the specific case when contacted by AFP.

But he said that "the economy ministry can examine whether a purchase endangers public order or the security of the Federal Republic of Germany."



The government can take a closer look if a foreign investor plans to buy at least 25 per cent of a firm and last year modified rules to extend the range of firms eligible for a probe under "critical infrastructure" provisions or considered to be developing "key technologies".

Ministers also doubled the amount of time civil servants have to examine deals by non-European Union or European Free Trade Association (EFTA) buyers from two to four months.

The moves followed a string of high-profile takeovers or attempted takeovers of high-tech German firms by foreign companies.

Robot maker Kuka was bought by China's Midea in 2016, while factory automation specialist Grohmann Engineering was snapped up by US-based Tesla Motors.

A study by consultancy EY found Chinese companies bought 54 German firms last year and invested USD 13.7 billion in Europe's largest economy.

In March, then-economy minister Brigitte Zypries said continuing approaches from China might encourage Berlin to lower the ownership threshold that could trigger a government probe of a foreign investment.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi High Court today asked the Centre to give details of its deliberations before grant of clearance (EC) for the redevelopment of seven south Delhi colonies at the cost of over 16,500 trees.

Calling for the records related to grant of EC, a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar directed authorities executing the project to ensure that there is no change in traffic and unit density of the areas in question till further orders.

The court asked for the "considerations and deliberations" carried out by the Ministry before grant of EC, after an expert on development and said the clearance for the project area of over 600 acres was given in one sitting, which was not possible if there was application of mind.

The court had on the last date asked for the opinion of the expert, Gautam Mann, with regard to the project and its impact on the environment.

He told the court today that the entire clearance needed a re-look on the basis of the precautionary principle.

Mann and another environment expert appointed by the court also said compensatory afforestation or transplantation was unviable and instead standing trees should be included in the redevelopment plan.

During the hearing, the bench termed as "worrying" the Delhi Development Authority's (DDA) move to increase floor area ratio on the basis of increasing population density without applying its mind to the services that would need to be provided.

The court observed that as a result of the project, there would be a huge impact on traffic density, air pollution, impact on public health and transportation.

The National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC), which is executing the work along with the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), said the project was sanctioned by the Union Cabinet that has considered the master plan of Delhi before giving a go-ahead to the redevelopment work.

To this the bench said "if you are talking of master plan, then it is high time we have a green master plan for Delhi" and added that "we cannot compromise on environment no matter the cost".

The court also impleaded the Delhi government's Public Works Department (PWD) and Irrigation department, and the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC).

It asked them to give details, like date of construction, specifications and the population they were to cater to, of the roads and storm water drains in the project areas.

The bench made the authorities a party saying that development and redevelopment work in Delhi will have an immediate effect on traffic as well as flow of rainwater into storm water drains.

On the last date, the court had prohibited felling of trees in the national capital and today the Forest department said tree officers were not approving cutting of any tree anywhere in Delhi, even those which are dead or might pose a threat to life or property during Monsoon.

Clarifying its order, the bench said the prohibition on tree felling in Delhi will not apply to situations where such cutting is necessary for the reason a tree is dead or constitutes a danger to life or property.

The court was hearing several PILs which have challenged the terms of reference (ToR) and EC granted to the housing projects at Sarojini Nagar, Naoroji Nagar, Netaji Nagar, Thyagaraja Nagar, Mohammadpur, Kasturba Nagar and Srinivaspuri, claiming it would lead to felling of over 16,500 trees.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The government today approved the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular that will create the country's largest mobile phone operator worth more than USD 23 billion with a 35 per cent market share, according to top officials.

The Department of Telecommunication has given its stamp of approval for the amalgamation after the two firms provided for Rs 7,248.78 crore as one-time spectrum charge (OTSC), a senior government official told PTI.

Confirming that approval has been accorded for the mega deal, Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan said the government expects the market to stabilise post merger.

"We expect to see robust growth in the telecom sector with the emergence of three strong private sector players, and one public sector player," she told PTI.

The combined entity -- Vodafone Idea Ltd -- with nearly 430 million customers would overtake Bharti Airtel, which currently has 344 million users. The deal also comes at a time of raging price war, triggered by new entrant Reliance Jio, in the world's second-largest telecom market.

In Mumbai, Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla confirmed getting the nod, saying it marks the beginning of an "exciting journey".

"The actual work starts now so we will see...we are very optimistic about it," Birla, who will be the Non-Executive Chairman of the combined entity, said.

Idea Cellular is part of the diversified Aditya Birla Group.

On how long it will take for the merged entity to be operational, Birla said it would take "a few weeks" and added that the companies are yet to decide on the branding for the new entity.

The mega deal was announced by Vodafone India and Idea Cellular in March 2017 to take on competition from richest Indian Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio, which has shaken up the telecom market with free voice calls and dirt cheap data offering.

As per norms, telecom operators who were allocated spectrum without auctions and beyond the limit bundled with their licence were required to pay the market price for the radiowaves. Of the total demand raised by the telecom department, about Rs 2,100 crore was on account of OTSC of Idea cellular and the rest for Vodafone.

Accordingly, the DoT had asked the two companies to pay Rs 3,926.34 crore in cash and furnish bank guarantees worth Rs 3,342.44 crore. The approval follows the two entities' recently complying with the DoT's requirement "under protest".

In the combined entity, Vodafone would own 45.1 stake, Aditya Birla Group would have 26 per cent and shareholders of Idea Cellular would have 28.9 per cent.

The Aditya Birla Group has the right to acquire up to a 9.5 per cent additional stake from Vodafone under an agreed mechanism with a view to equalising the shareholdings over a period of time.

If Vodafone and the Aditya Birla Group's shareholdings in the combined company are not equal after four years, Vodafone would reduce its stake in the combined company to equalise shareholding with that of its Indian partner over the following five-year period.

The deal gave Vodafone India an implied enterprise value of around Rs 82,800 crore and Idea an enterprise value of Rs 72,200 crore.

The senior DoT official said the two entities would now appraise the Registrar of Companies (RoC) of the various approvals received, wrapping up the last leg of formalities.

The approval comes with the riders that the merged entity would have to abide by the decisions of the telecom tribunal and other courts.

Kumar Mangalam Birla would be the non-executive Chairman and Balesh Sharma the new CEO of the merged entity, which would remain listed.

Industry watchers said that the combined entity might breach the stipulated subscriber threshold in select telecom circles but would have an year's time to address the issue.

Shares of Idea Cellular closed 3.64 per cent higher on BSE at Rs 56.95 a piece.

On Wednesday, Vodafone Group CEO Vittorio Colao had said that the company expects the merger to close in August.

"In India, where competition remains intense, we have now received conditional approval from the Department of Telecoms for the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, which we aim to close before the end of August, allowing us to unlock substantial synergies," Colao had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Government today gave final approval to the mega merger of Vodafone and Idea Cellular which creates India's largest mobile operator with about 35 per cent market share and nearly 430 million subscribers.

The new telecom behemoth -- Vodafone Idea Limited -- will dislodge Bharti Airtel, the current market leader with 344 million customers from its pole position.

A senior DoT official privy to the development confirmed that the final approval has been accorded to the merger today and the two entities will now apprise the Registrar of Companies (RoC) of the various approvals received, wrapping up the last leg of formalities.

The approval comes with the riders that the merged entity will have to abide by the decisions of the telecom tribunal and other courts.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) had given conditional nod for the merger of these companies on July 9 and had asked them to meet the demands raised for taking merger on record.

Following this, Idea Cellular and Vodafone India, earlier this week, made joint payment of Rs 7,268.78 crore 'under protest' to the government. This included Rs 3,926.34 crore paid in cash and Rs 3,342.44 crore furnished as bank guarantees.

The combined might of Idea and Vodafone will result in a telecom juggernaut worth over USD 23 billion (or over Rs 1.5 lakh crore), with a 35 per cent market share and a subscriber base of around 430 million.

Kumar Mangalam Birla will be the non-executive Chairman and Balesh Sharma the new CEO of the merged entity, which will remain listed.

The merger is expected to bolster the efforts of the debt-ridden firms Idea Cellular and Vodafone to take on the intense competition in the market where entry of Reliance Jio -- backed by India's richest man Mukesh Ambani -- has led to a bruising tariff war.

Vodafone will own 45.1 stake in the combined entity, while Aditya Birla Group will have 26 per cent and Idea shareholders 28.9 per cent.

Shares of Idea Cellular closed 3.64 per cent higher on BSE at Rs 56.95 a piece.

The Aditya Birla Group has the right to acquire up to a 9.5 per cent additional stake from Vodafone under an agreed mechanism with a view to equalising the shareholdings overtime.

If Vodafone and the Aditya Birla Group's shareholdings in the combined company are not equal after four years, Vodafone will sell shares in the combined company to equalise its shareholding to that of the Aditya Birla Group over the following five-year period.

Vodafone Group CEO Vittorio Colao had yesterday said that the company expects the merger to close in August.

"In India, where competition remains intense, we have now received conditional approval from the Department of Telecoms for the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, which we aim to close before the end of August, allowing us to unlock substantial synergies," Colao had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A bill seeking to replace the existing Central Council of Homoeopathy with a board of governors and aimed at bringing accountability and quality in homoeopathy education system, was moved in the Lok Sabha today for consideration and passage.

"The amendments are aimed at improving the quality of homoeopathy colleges and education in the country", Aayush Minister Shripad Yesso Naik said while moving the bill, amid objections by the opposition members that the government was frequently coming out with ordinances and subverting the democratic process.

The Homeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2018 seeks to replace the ordinance which was promulgated by the President in May.

Naik said the government had to come out a law to abolish the Central Council of Homepathy (CCH) as it was finding it difficult to deal with its chief and other office-bearers who faced "grave charges of corruption".

The CCH chief was arrested by the CBI for allegedly accepting bribe of Rs 20 lakhs as part payment for granting approval to a homoeopathy college.

Blaming the government for subverting the democratic process by frequently coming out with ordinances, Congress member Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said it was unfortunate that it had abolished a "democratically elected" CCH because it could not deal with the erring chief.

Ranjan also blamed the government for saffronising the institutions by appointing persons close to the ruling establishment.

As per the draft bill, the members of the board of governor will replace the existing functionaries of the CCH and comprise seven eminent homeopathy practitioners and administrators who will be appointed by the government.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Human right activists termed the deaths of three minor girls due to starvation in east Delhi's Mandwali area unfortunate and said the government should stop being in denial of existence of poverty in the country.

Noting that such incidents of starvation deaths were very much prevalent in other parts of the country like Jharkhand and Maharashtra, the activists called upon the government to ensure the basic right to food and shelter of every individual is met.

The Delhi Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan (DRRAA) has stressed on the need to strengthen the framework of food security and remove barriers which prevent people from accessing it.

"Making food security conditional upon peoples' ability to produce identity proof, residence proof and Aadhaar etc is inhumane and a violation of the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution," they said in a statement.

The DRRAA demanded a detailed inquiry into the deaths to examine whether the family was covered under several ongoing food security and social welfare programmes like whether they received ration under the Public Distribution System or if the children below the age of 5 were enrolled at Anganwadi and whether the mother was receiving any support or treatment for mental health issues that she was facing as per media reports and the testimony of neighbours.

"If the family was left out of the purview of these programs, the inquiry must examine the reasons for their exclusion. The inquiry must fix accountability and ensure that officials who were in any way responsible for the exclusion of the family from these programmes are held responsible," said Dipa Sinha, co-convenor with the Right to Food Campaign.

Social activist Anjali Bhardwaj said these starvation deaths highlight the alarming situation of distress and food insecurity in the capital of India.

"Immediate steps must be taken by the Delhi government and the central government," she said.

Reacting to the incident, activist and General Secretary of All India Progressive Women's Association Kavita Krishnan said, "It is not surprising that such an incident took place in Delhi. We need to identify that there is an extreme poverty in Delhi and survival and livelihood are enormous issues for the poor population. There have been starvation deaths across the country and poverty is a reality and the government should stop pretending that it has ended."



Activist Mariam Dhawale said, "We have been saying this again and again but within the city, there is a very high poor population. Aadhaar and biometrics are further preventing them from getting ration. We have seen it in Jharkhand then in Maharshtra and now in Delhi."



Meanwhile, a political blame game has started over the starvation deaths of three minors including a toddler in the national capital, with the BJP-led central government attacking the Kejriwal dispensation for the incident, which has yet again put the spotlight on lack of basic needs for a large section of the society.

The horrific deaths taking place in Delhi came as a big shock with the state's per capita income of Rs 3.29 lakh being the second highest in the country and nearly three times of the national average.

Three sisters were found dead in east Delhi's Mandawali area with the initial post-mortem report hinting that it was a case of starvation, prompting the city government to order a magisterial probe into the matter.

The girls, aged two, four and eight, were brought to a hospital by their mother and a friend on Tuesday and the hospital authorities informed police about their deaths.

The girls' father, a casual labourer, is missing since yesterday, though locals had said he had gone in search of work and would return in a couple of days. The girls' mother is not "mentally sound" and told police that she did not know what happened to her daughters and how they died.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The government is planning to sell up to 10 per cent stake each in and as also 3 per cent in through an offer for sale (OFS), which could fetch about Rs 59 billion to the exchequer.

The will soon float Request for Proposals (RFP) to appoint merchant bankers for managing the of and NBCC, a source said.

"The Cabinet has cleared up to 10 per cent in and through OFS. Whether it would be sold in one go or not would be decided based on investor response," he said.

At the current market price, a sale of 10 per cent in HUDCO and could fetch about Rs 10 billion and Rs 12 billion to the exchequer. NTPC's 3 per cent OFS would fetch about Rs 3,700.

The Cabinet had already approved 10 per cent in power producer NTPC, of which 7 per cent was sold in August last year.

The source said that depending on market condition, the stake sale will happen.

With regard to state-owned HUDCO and NBCC, the ministry is keeping the ready to launch it as and when the time is ripe.

HUDCO and NBCC OFS will take time, could be in October-December quarter, the source said.

Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) had listed itself on the stock exchanges in May last year.

The source said one-year lock-in requirement is over and government can now go ahead with follow on offers or OFS. The IPO of HUDCO saw huge demand from investors and was subscribed nearly 80 times.

The government had last sold 15 per cent stake through an OFS in NBCC for about Rs 22 billion in October 2016.

Currently, it holds 89.81 per cent in HUDCO and 73.69 per cent NBCC. In NTPC, its stake stands at 61.71 per cent.

of HUDCO were trading flat at Rs 53.15 on BSE, while that of NBCC were quoted at Rs 67.55, up 0.45 per cent. were trading up 0.96 per cent at Rs 152.40 on the

The share sales would help the government move further towards the Rs 80,000 crore disinvestment target of the current fiscal. It has so far raised Rs 90 billion.Lelectricite est devenue, de nos jours, un besoin dune importance majeure, et cela, dans tous les domaines dactivite. Que ce soit dans les maisons ou []The government has asked the Supreme Court collegium to reconsider its recommendation to appoint two lawyers as high court judges but did not cite any reason for its move, a senior government functionary said.

The SC collegium had in 2016 recommended names of Harnaresh Singh Gill and Mohammed Nizamuddin for appointment as judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Calcutta High Court respectively.

While returning the names to the collegium, the government did not cite any reason, the functionary said.

Recently too, the top court collegium's recommendation for the appointments of two lawyers, one of them a former top court judge's son, as judges of the Allahabad High Court was returned for the second time by the government citing complaints against them.

The two lawyers are Mohammad Mansoor and Basharat Ali Khan. Mansoor is the son of former Supreme Court judge late Saghir Ahmed.

The government had also returned the name of advocate Nazir Ahmed Beig for elevation as a Jammu and Kashmir High Court judge.

The names of three others - Wasim Sadiq Nargal, Sindhu Sharma and district judge Rashid Ali Dar - are being processed by the Law Ministry. There was no immediate word on why Beig's name was returned to the collegium.

Citing seniority and regional imbalance, the government had in April returned the file relating to the elevation of Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice K M Joseph.

The collegium has recently reiterated its recommendation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Several government primary schools in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia and Ghazipur districts have been found using 'Islamia' as a prefix and closing on Fridays instead of Sundays prompting the local authorities to order probes into the matter.

Earlier it was found that five schools in Deoria district had prefixed 'Islamia' to their name and remained closed on Fridays. The authorities in Deoria took corrective action and ordered the schools to remain closed on Sundays and also removed the 'Islamia' prefix.

However, similar cases soon were found in other eastern Uttar Pradesh districts.

In Ballia, nine government primary schools are runing with "Islamia" as a prefix and closing on Fridays, official sources here said.

"While six such schools are in Siyar, two in Rasda and one in Sukhpura," an official said.

District Magistrate Bhawani Singh Khangaraut has ordered a probe into the matter and directed the Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSA) to submit a report after which action will be taken, he added.

In Ghazipur district, there were 11 government primary schools using 'the Islamia' prefix after which District Magistrate K Balaji ordered a probe, an official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A second summons was today issued against former BJP MLA Jayanti Bhanushali in connection with a rape case filed against him by a 21-year-old woman, police said.

Surat Police Commissioner Satish Sharma said that the second summons was issued today after Bhanushali (53) failed to respond to the first one issued on July 23 under section 160 of the CrPC.

"We are trying to locate him. Investigation into the case is on," Sharma said.

Another official said that the second summons, asking the former BJP MLA to appear before Sarthana police in Surat, had been sent to his residence in Ahmedabad.

He informed that police needed to record Bhanushali's statement and also subject him to a medical examination as part of the investigations into the rape case.

Sharma said that a new Investigating Officer would soon be appointed for the case since the current IO, Zone IV deputy commissioner of police Leena Patil, had been transferred to Panchmahal as its Superintendent of Police.

On July 19, an FIR was lodged against Bhanushali for allegedly raping a 21-year-old woman on the pretext of securing admission for her in a reputed fashion designing college.

In her complaint, the victim had alleged that Bhanushali raped her on several occasions between November 2017 and March 2018.

He has been charged under sections 376 (2) (public servant committing rape), 506(2) (criminal intimidation), 420 (cheating), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 465 (forgery), among others, of the Indian Penal Code.

Bhanushali, who was the BJP MLA from Abdasa Assembly seat between 2007 and 2012, had tendered his resignation as state BJP vice-president in the wake of the rape allegations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Gunmen burst into a funeral parlour in Mexico and opened fire on mourners, killing six and wounding four, authorities said.

No arrests were immediately made after the assault yesterday in the town of Uruapan in western Michoacan state, which is situated along a Pacific coast drug trafficking route to the United States.

Police set up checkpoints around the city, the state government said.

Local media said the people shot had been mourning the death of a young man whose body was found in a park earlier yesterday.

Michoacan used to be the turf of a powerful drug cartel called the Caballeros Templarios, and is now a theatre of operations for smaller drug trafficking cells.

The drug trade, battles between cartels and government efforts to end trafficking have exacted a horrible toll.

Mexico saw a total of 15,973 murders in the first semester of this year, up from 13,503 over the same period in 2017, until now the bloodiest year of record, according to official figures.

Drug-related violence has claimed more than 200,000 lives since 2006, when the government called in the military to fight the cartels.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The military wing of Gaza's rulers Hamas today vowed revenge after Israeli strikes killed three militants in the latest flare-up of violence.

Israel said the artillery fire late Wednesday was in retaliation for shots fired at troops along the border which injured one soldier.

"We announce the raising of the preparedness level to the highest and alert all of our soldiers and forces in every location," said a statement from the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.

"The enemy shall pay a high price in blood for the crime which it commits daily against the rights of our people and our fighters." The Gaza border was quiet Thursday morning, however.

The three men were killed Wednesday by Israeli artillery fire targeting a Hamas military base near the border east of Gaza City.

In total the Israeli army said it hit seven Hamas sites throughout Gaza in response to the border shooting.

The military said nine projectiles -- likely mortars or rockets -- were fired at Israel from Gaza overnight, including one that was intercepted by air defence systems.

It said most were fired at "open territory adjacent to the security fence". No injuries or damage were reported.

The latest bloodshed came five days after the UN and Egypt brokered a deal to halt a July 20 surge in violence.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008.

Tensions have spiked since Palestinians began protesting along the Gaza border in late March, with Israeli fire killing at least 153 Palestinians since then. Most were shot dead during protests and clashes but others were killed in Israeli airstrikes or artillery fire.

One Israeli soldier was killed by sniper fire from Gaza, setting off a wave of Israeli strikes on July 20.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Haryana's Department of Social Justice and Empowerment will launch a special campaign to control the menace of drugs, especially in the districts bordering Punjab, state minister Krishan Kumar Bedi said today.

He said the campaign would also include prevention of sale of drugs, treatment of drug addicts, and making people aware about the adverse effects of drugs on their health.

"A Task Force has already been formed at the district level under the chairmanship of the deputy commissioner concerned. A committee has also been constituted at the state level under the chairmanship of the chief minister, in which representatives from health, home, social justice and empowerment and other departments have been included," Bedi told reporters here.

Bedi said 60 drug de-addiction and rehabilitation centres were operating in the state in collaboration with non-government organizations (NGOs). Besides, such centres are operating in district hospitals also.

"A special campaign will be launched to control the menace of drugs, especially in the districts bordering Punjab," he said.

NGOs working for drug de-addiction would be identified and honoured at a state level function where the chief minister or a union minister would be the chief guest.

The department has invited applications from such institutions by August 14, 2018 and they would be honoured in September or October.

Meanwhile, Bedi said that nearly Rs 448 crore is being disbursed to 25,12,535 beneficiaries per month under all social pension schemes in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Expressing its inability to help, the Madras High Court has dismissed a visually impaired student's plea seeking a direction to allot him a MBBS or BDS seat under the handicapped quota.

The court said norms disallowing persons with visual disability of 40 per cent or more cannot be held illegal.

Rejecting the plea of J S Vignesh Balaji recently, Justice S Vaidyanathan said in spite of being meritorious, the petitioner was not eligible to pursue medical education since he did not satisfy the conditions specified in the prospectus on medical education and the Medical Council of India's guidelines.

The petitioner sought a direction to the Selection Committee for MBBS/BDS courses for academic year 2018-2019 under the Physically Handicapped Quota.

Out of 120 seats under the handicapped quota, only 20 seats were filled, according to the petitioner and he made a representation to the selection committee to consider his candidature under the reservation.

Since there was no response, he moved the high court by filing a writ petition.

"Undoubtedly, the petitioner is a bright student," the judge said.

Balaji had a score of 480 marks out of 500 in Class 10 and 1,061 marks out of 1,200 in Class 12. His NEET score was 117.

"It is paining to note that God is too severe to candidates like that of the petitioner," the judge said, noting that the petitioner's visual impairment, as per the disability certificate is 75 per cent.

As per the prospectus, which details the recommendation of an expert on visual impairment (under the head 'Operational Recommendations') a person with visual disability of 40 per cent or more shall not be eligible to pursue graduate medical education.

Hence, "this Court is left with no other option, but to turn a blind eye to candidates like that of the petitioner, in view of the guidelines and policy decisions of the government, which cannot be said to be illegal," the judge said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Following are the top stories from the northern region at 5.30 pm



SRINAGAR DEL9 JK-BUKHARI-MLAT



Srinagar: A Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty request has been sent by the Jammu and Kashmir Police for the United States requesting for preserving data of Facebook and Twitter accounts of journalist Shujaat Bhukari, who was killed by Lashkar-e-Taiba last month, which will be followed by a Letters Rogatory for handing over the data.

JAMMU DES16 JK-PASSENGERS-RESCUE



Jammu: The Army has rescued 150 passengers travelling in over 40 vehicles, which got stranded due to multiple landslides on Mughal Road in Poonch district, a Defence spokesman said here today.

JAIPUR DEL23 RJ-HEMA MALINI



Jaipur: Politician-actor Hema Malini has said she can become the chief minister anytime but would rather be free to pursue other interests.

DEORIA DES10 UP-PRISION



Deoria (UP): After recovery of several objectionable items from the barrack of UP strongman Atiq Ahmad in Deoria Jail, the district magistrate has written to the state prison authorities to shift him out of the district jail to some other high-security prison in the state.

SRINAGAR DES9 JK-MEHBOOBA



Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said today that the decline in stone-pelting incidents in the Valley when the anti-militancy operations were suspended for Ramzan vindicated her stand that it was a positive initiative which needed to be continued to improve the situation.

BALLIA DEL7 UP-BJP MLA-CHILDREN



Ballia: A child is a gift from God and every Hindu should have at least five, two for the man, two for the woman and one surplus, BJP's controversial Uttar Pradesh MLA Surendra Singh has said.

NAINITAL DES3 UKD-ACCIDENT-VIDEO



Nainital: Trying to film his journey while at the wheel proved fatal for a 28-year-old man, whose car fell into a deep gorge when he lost control while negotiating the sharp bends of Uttarakhand's hill roads, police said.

IN THE PIPELINE



Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government gives its sanction to prosecute senior Samajwadi Party leader and former state minister Azam Khan for allegedly making objectionable remarks against CRPF personnel last year.

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked government officials to minimise executive interference in inter-faith marriages.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Shares of Idea Cellular rose by over 4 per cent today amid reports that the government gave final approval to the mega merger of Vodafone and the company.

The stock moved up by 3.64 per cent to settle at Rs 56.95 on BSE. During the day, it soared 4.64 per cent to Rs 57.50.

On NSE, shares of the company jumped 4.18 per cent to close at Rs 57.20.

The company's market valuation rose by Rs 872.68 crore to Rs 24,829.68 crore.

In terms of equity volume, 17.77 lakh shares of the company were traded on BSE and over 2 crore shares changed hands on NSE during the day.

A senior DoT official today said that the final approval of the mega Idea-Vodafone has been accorded today and the entities will now approach Registrar of Companies (RoC) for stipulated filings for approval, completing the last leg of formalities.

The move comes just days after Idea Cellular and Vodafone India made a joint payment of Rs 7,268.78 crore 'under protest' to the Department of Telecom (DoT) for merging their mobile businesses.

The merger will create the country's largest mobile operator with 35 per cent market share and around 430 million subscribers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Tehreek-e-Insaf chief on Thursday claimed victory in the general elections after his party emerged as the single largest in the National Assembly with its candidates winning 104 seats and leading in 14 others, amid rival political parties claim of blatant rigging.

Jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharifs Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won 58 seats and was leading on four, while Peoples Party (PPP) led by former won 37 seats and was leading on six, according to the latest unofficial results.

Pakistan's National Assembly comprises a total of 342 members, of which 272 are directly elected whereas the rest - 60 seats reserved for women and 10 for religious minorities - are selected later through proportional representation among parties with more than 5 per cent of the vote. A party can only form the government if it manages to clinch 172 seats in total.

After a 22-year-long struggle, the almighty God has finally given me the chance to implement the manifesto I had dreamed up over two decades ago, Khan, 65, said in his first public address after the polls.

In his speech that was broadcast live via video link, Khan promised to make Pakistan's institutions stronger under which everyone will be held accountable. First, I will be subjected to accountability, then my ministers and so on. Today we are behind (other countries) because there is a separate system for those in power and a separate one for ordinary citizens, Khan said as he promised to end the VIP culture and convert the existing PM House into an educational institution.

He also vowed to improve the governance and overcome the economic challenges faced by Pakistan.

His speech came as two main parties  PML-N and PPP  raised questions on the transparency of the vote counting process, alleging their polling agents were not allowed to verify vote counts as is mandated by law.

ALSO READ: Imran Khan ready to mend ties with India, but raises Kashmir issue

PML-N chief Shehbaz Sharif, who was the prime ministerial candidate of his party after the jailing of his brother in a corruption case, rejected the election results, alleging blatant rigging. He did not say who he believes could have rigged the polls, but allegations of manipulating the elections have been made against the countrys influential military.

Awami National Party, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, Pak-Sarzameen Party, Muttahida Majlas-i-Amal and Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan also suspected rigging in the counting of votes.



Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf emerged as the single largest party in the National Assembly today with its candidates winning 76 seats and leading in 43 others according to the latest unofficial results and trends in the parliamentary polls, amid rival political parties' claim of "blatant" rigging.

Jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) won 43 seats and was leading in 20 constituencies while Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led by former president Asif Ali Zardari won 18 seats and its candidates were leading in 19 seats.

A single party will need at least 137 of the directly elected seats to be able to form the government on its own.

The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) -- an alliance of traditional religious parties such as Jamaat-e-Islami, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan and Tehreek-e-Jafaria -- and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) were leading in eight seats each.

In the eastern city of Lahore, capital of Punjab province and the country's political heartland, PTI supporters rejoiced by waving flags and raising party slogans as results trickled in after the voting yesterday.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) officially announced the first result at 4.00am.

While final results are expected in the coming hours, initial outcomes show that the PTI was emerging as the single largest party in the National Assembly.

Pakistan's National Assembly comprises a total of 342 members, of which 272 are directly elected whereas the rest - 60 seats reserved for women and 10 for religious minorities - are selected later through proportional representation among parties with more than five per cent of the vote.

A party can only form the government if it manages to clinch 172 seats in total.

The two main parties - PML-N and PPP - have raised questions on the transparency of the vote counting process, alleging their polling agents were not allowed to verify vote counts as is mandated by law.

PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif, who is hoping to become the next prime minister after the jailing of his brother and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a corruption case, rejected the election results, alleging "blatant" rigging.

He did not say who he believes could have rigged the polls, but allegations of manipulating the elections have been made against the country's influential military.

Awami National Party, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, Pak-Sarzameen Party, Muttahida Majlas-i-Amal and Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan also alleged that their polling agents were either ousted of the polling stations at the time of counting or denied certified results by the polling staff.

"Some five other parties including the PPP have raised the rigging issue in polls. After consulting them, I will announce the future course of action. Pakistan has suffered today," Sharif told journalists.

He has convened a meeting with other parties this evening to discuss the issue and formulate a common strategy.

"We will fight this injustice and use all options," he said, adding that there has been a "blatant violation" of the mandate.

The ECP rejected the "blatant" rigging allegations.

In an unusual press conference early today, Chief Election Commissioner Muhammad Raza Khan congratulated the people of Pakistan for participating in the election process.

He, however, acknowledged that the delay in announcement of election results has "caused some annoyance". He stressed the delay was on account of a new system - Results Transmission System - introduced by it.

Asked about the doubts and the allegations, he said: "We will prove ourselves that we did our job right."



"These elections were fair and we have not received any complaint. If anyone has proof, we will take action," he asserted.

Elections were also held yesterday for four provincial assemblies - Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The provincial trends showed that the PTI was leading in 120 seats in Punjab followed by the PML-N with 119 seats in the provincial assembly of 299 members.

In Sindh, the PPP was heading towards a two-thirds majority in its traditional bastion. The party was leading in 72 seats according to the latest trends available for 113 of the provincial assembly's 131 seats.

In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the PTI was heading towards a two-thirds majority with its candidates leading in 67 seats. The KP assembly has 99 seats.

Balochistan was heading towards a hung assembly. Balochistan Awami Party was ahead in 12 seats while MMA was leading in 9. Balochistan National Party was leading in 8 seats.

The election marks the second democratic transition of power in the nation's 70-year history. The military has ruled Pakistan through various coups for nearly half of the country's history since independence in 1947.

The run up to the elections had seen a massive crackdown on the media and allegations that the military has secretly backed the campaign of Khan while targeting his political opponents.

The ECP was also criticised for deploying the Army both inside and outside of polling stations.

Controversy has also arisen over allowing militant groups to participate in the election. The leading among them are Mumbai-terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led banned Jamat-ud Dawa's candidates who suffered humiliating defeats.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Independent MLA Ravi Rana today warned that he and six other independent legislators supporting the BJP-led Maharashtra government would withdraw their support if Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is replaced.

"We have heard that a section of the BJP is contemplating replacing the chief minister. Hence, we want to make our stand clear that our support is to Devendra Fadnavis and if he is replaced, we will withdraw our support to the BJP government," Rana, MLA from Badnera in Amravati district, told PTI.

He said Fadnavis alone was capable of providing reservation to Maratha and Dhangar communities.

"Fadnavis is doing good work for the welfare and development of Maharashtra," Rana said.

Referring to a Shiv Sena leader's statement yesterday that there were talks within the BJP to replace the CM, Rana claimed, "Fadnavis, not Uddhav Thackeray, controls the Shiv Sena."



He said he was clarifying the stand of the group of independent MLAs as he had information that a section of the BJP was contemplating replacing the chief minister in the wake of the ongoing Maratha quota stir, which turned violent.

In the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, the ruling BJP has 122 members and has the support of three MLAs of Bahujan Vikas Aghadi, one member of Rashtriya Samaj Paksh, seven independents and the lone MNS legislator. With its 63 MLAs, the Shiv Sena is part of the government.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut had yesterday said there were "talks within the BJP" to replace Fadnavis, in the backdrop of the violent Maratha quota agitation.

"(BJP president) Amit Shah and (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi will take the final decision on changing the leadership in the state. But there is talk within BJP of changing the chief minister," Sena leader Sanjay Raut had told reporters here.

However, two senior BJP ministers have rubbished Raut's claim, saying there was no talk within the BJP of replacing Fadnavis.

Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil had said there was no reason to replace the chief minister. "The CM is much more in favour of giving Marathas reservation than even I am," he had said.

Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar had said there was no talk within the BJP of replacing Fadnavis. "All decisions in the party are taken collectively," he had said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India is expecting an improvement in its ranking in the World Bank's ease of doing business index as the multi-lateral lending agency would take into account implementation of GST and the new insolvency provisions, a government official said.

The World Bank is expected to come out with its next report in October or November.

"This year, we are bullish on three major areas including measures to improve trading across borders, implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and insolvency provisions," the official said.

In its last report, India jumped 30 places to rank 100th in the World Bank's 'ease of doing business' ranking.

With June 2017 as cut-off for assessing business environment, last year's ranking does not take into account the reform of GST, which implemented in July last year.

This year, the commerce and industry ministry is expecting improvement in three parameters - paying taxes, trade across borders, and resolving insolvency.

Following the enactment of the insolvency and bankruptcy code, as many as 118 cases under corporate insolvency resolution process concluded with orders for liquidation as on May 31.

Total admitted claims in these cases are Rs 58,653.22 crore.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India U-19 team inched towards a clean sweep after dismissing Sri Lanka for 316 in their first innings and then reducing the hosts to 47 for 3 at stumps, having enforced a follow-on here on the penultimate day of the second 'Youth Test'.

Left-arm medium pacer Mohit Jangra (4/76) was the pick of the bowlers while Yatin Mangwani (2/30), Ayush Badoni (2/39) and Siddharth Desai (2/84) scalped two wickets each to wrap up the hosts for 316 in 114.3 overs.

Following on, Sri Lanka U-19 continued to find it difficult to negotiate the Indian bowlers and were soon reduced to 47 for 3 at stumps.

At the draw of stumps, Nuwanidu Fernando (2) and Kalhara Senarathne (0) were at the crease with Sri Lanka U-19 still needing 250 runs with 7 wickets in hand to make India U-19 team bat again. Arjun Tendulkar has got a wicket in the second innings.

Resuming their first innings at 140 for 4, overnight batsman P Sooriyabandara scored a hundred while GS Dinusha's 51 and Sandun Mendis' 49 came off 195 and 153 balls respectively. Sri Lanka were dismissed in 114.3 overs.

Tendulkar, who went wicket-less in the first innings, provided the first breakthrough in Sri Lanka's second essay when he dismissed K Mishara in the fourth over. Mangwani and Badoni also picked one wicket each.

Brief Score:



India U-19 1st innings: 613/8d



Sri Lanka U-19 1st innings: 316allout in 114.3 overs (P Sooriyabandara 115; M Jangra 4/76)Sri Lanka U-19 2nd innings: 47 for 3 (F/O) in 18 overs (N Fernando 25;Y Mangwani 1/2).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The government today expressed concern over the tightening of the visa regime in the United States following President Donald Trump's "Buy American, Hire American' policy and said it would effectively raise the issue at the "2 plus 2 dialogue" to be held here in September.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told the Rajya Sabha that there has not been any reduction in the number of H-1B visas to Indians so far, as "no significant changes" in the visa regime have taken place yet.

Responding to queries from members during Question Hour, the minister said the government has taken up the issue with the US authorities at various bilateral meetings and fora and also raised it with several US Congressmen.

"This is an issue of concern not just for the government and the opposition, but the entire House and the nation shares this concern," she told the members.

Swaraj said "the danger is looming large" as the strengthening of the US visa regime could lead to reduction in the number of H1-B visas and the rules may be made more stricter.

She said to ensure that this does not happen, the government is making efforts and talking to the White House, the State Administration and the Congressmen.

"We have already raised the issue at our formal interactions.

"I assure you that the '2 plus 2 dialogue' which is to be held in Delhi on September 6, in which the External Affairs and Defence ministers of both countries will participate, we will certainly and forcefully raise this issue during that too," Swaraj told the members.

She said she has taken up the issue during her meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson as well as US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, while the Finance Minister had raised the matter with US Finance Secretary.

"The Government has decided to continue our engagement with the US side proactively," she said.

In her written reply, Swaraj said this process was still underway and "no comprehensive changes have been made to the work-visa programme so far".

"I would like to state that so far there is no significant change with regard to H-1B Visas. Changes have taken place, but no significant changes are there so far," she said.

Disclosing details, the minister said the number of H-1B visas have gone up from over 1.08 lakh in 2014 to 1.29 lakh visas now.

Citing official figures, she said while in 2014, a total number of 1,08,817 H-1B visas were issued, a total of 1,19,992 such visas were issued the next year.

"In our engagements, we have emphasised to the US side that the mopvement of Indian skilled professionals to the US has been a mutually-beneficial partnership which should be nurtured.

"They have contributed to the growth and development of the US economy and have helped the US retain its comprehensive edge and innovation advantage," she said.

Swaraj said first came the 'Buy American, Hire American' policy memorandum, then they said that the contract and itinerary will be handed over at the time of filing a petition (for visa).

Thereafter, a notification came whereby the documents provided at the first opportunity would be taken into account and visa could be denied on the basis of original documents submitted.

"The US Administration has taken some steps towards stricter enforcement of the world visa programmes," she said, adding that these include placing the burden on the petitioner to demonstrate that the beneficiary is employed in a third-party worksite for a specific assignment in a speciality occupation.

Listing out the steps taken towards stricter enforcement of work visas, she said these include applying the same level of scrutiny to both original petitions and extension requests, issue of memos by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) by multiple H-1B filings.

The Minister also said that full discretion has been given to USCIS adjudicators to deny an application or petition without prior filing of a Request for Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) in certain cases on the basis of initial evidence.

"Some of these measures would necessitate additional documents on the part of the petitioner or applicant," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Indian Army is capable of meeting any contingency or challenge along the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan or the Line of Actual Control (LAC)



with China, a top commander said today.

He said the modernisation of armed forces was going on in a big way which had improved operational preparedness.

He also described the situation in Kashmir as stable but fragile.

"I can tell you that Indian Army is fully prepared to take on any challenge along the Line of Actual Control and even along the Line of Control," Northern Army Commander Lt General Ranbir Singh told reporters here after paying tributes to the 1999 Kargil conflict heroes.

In the last 19 years, as far as the modernisation of the armed forces is concerned, it is going on in a big way, he said.

"We have been able to identify certain areas where we required additional focus -- whether it in the form of infrastructure development close to the LoC or even on the LAC or improvement of night vision capability, surveillance capability, night fighting capability. There is a substantial improvement that has taken place in so far as ops preparedness of the armed forces is concerned," he said.

Singh downplayed incidents of transgression along the LAC by the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA) saying these happened due to differing perception.

"On a large number of occasions, there are reports that the PLA of China has carried out transgressions in various areas along the LAC. But such transgressions have always taken place in areas where we have differing perception of the LAC. We do not have a delineated LAC. Similarly, when we speak to Chinese authorities, they also refer to us having transgressed into their territory on several occasions," he added.

The Army commander said there were well-established working mechanisms in place to resolve issues.

"We have got very well established mechanisms -- whether it is hot-lines between the forward posts or flag meetings which we do or border personnel meetings. At the higher level we have got a working mechanism for consultation and coordination for border affairs. At the highest level we have special representatives of both the countries who discuss issues related to the resolution of boundary dispute and each of these mechanisms is effective," Singh said.

We have been able to use these mechanisms to our advantage and have been able to resolve all, even very very tricky and touchy issues, with tranquillity and have been able to resolve them well to meet the aspirations of the Indian Army and PLA of China, he added.

Lt Gen Singh refused to be drawn into the post-election scenario in Pakistan, where Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party was emerging as the single largest party, saying it should be left to the authorities and people of Pakistan on how they handle the challenges inside their country.

"But with regard to the challenges to Indian Army along the LoC, I want to tell you that Indian army is prepared for any contingency. Any kind of movement, any kind of misadventure which our adversary tries to undertake, they will be given a befitting reply as always. So, be very very sure that the army is fully trained, we are equipped and motivated and always prepared to take on any contingency," he said.

Referring to the post-Kargil war political developments in Pakistan, the army commander said they "did not affect our preparations".

On the situation in Kashmir, he said it was stable but fragile.

"The situation in Kashmir is stable. However, it is fragile. The violence parameters which we have seen in 2018 are relatively better as compared to 2017 and earlier years. The stone-pelting activities are relatively less this year. That shows an understanding and comprehension in the minds of the local youth that it is futile to come out and carry out stone pelting on government agencies and security forces," he said.

They need to understand that it is the dividend of peace that needs to be exploited, he added expressing confidence that things were moving in that direction.

Lt Gen Singh said the situation deteriorates for sometime whenever Pakistan pushes in funds, weapons or militants.

"Some incidents do take place which act as triggers to spoil and vitiate the entire security situation. This essentially happens because of the nefarious designs of our adversary across the LoC. Whenever an impetus in terms of weapons, funds or pushing in Pakistan-trained terrorists is done, then obviously the situation deteriorates for some time but overall today the situation is stable. Security forces are in full control and should be able to handle any of the contingency that arises," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An individual's privacy is supreme and should not be disturbed, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra today said.

He said he always believe that privacy is a constitutional concept and one area where there has been a surge in constitutional rights was human rights and their implementation.

"My house is my castle, how can you disturb me at my home? Even as a lawyer, you have to have some kind of appointment with me. My time is my time, my life is my life. My privacy is supreme to me," he said while delivering M C Setalvad memorial lecture on the topic of 'Dynamic Ascendance of Constitutional Rights-A Progressive Approach'.

Justice Misra also spoke on gender equality and mentioned a case from Madhya Pradesh on a proposal for 50 per cent reservation for women in panchayat elections. He said that the argument that women cannot administer and will depend on their husbands was "preposterous".

"Women are more superior to men in most occasions," Misra added.

He said that constitutional rights are dynamic and for sake of democracy should not stop growing as it will contribute to strengthening the democratic set up.

Justice Misra said rights are "not ephemeral or transient", but "eternal, sublime and constitute the soul and spirit of humanity".

"Therefore, constitutional and human rights have to be honoured and enforced with a tenacious, indomitable and indefatigable spirit," he said at the lecture organised by the Bar Association of India.

"It is this quintessential spirit that keeps the torch of justice burning bright. It is our strong allegiance and fidelity to this ethos that will lead us on the path of constitutional renaissance and constant awakening thereby ensuing protection of constitutional rights for all," the CJI said.

"The Universal Declaration of Human rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights have served as an important stimulus for all the three wings of the state, the judiciary in particular, for implementation of human rights by raising their status to that of fundamental rights," he said in his speech.

He said that constitutional rights have to be construed and developed in a manner that their real intent and existence percolates to the lowest rungs of the society and in this exercise an important role is played by the state which has to ensure effective implementation of the rights.

"The state action has to be concrete and not such that its effects leak into so many rivulets that they dissipate. Mere rhetoric and passivity by the state without reflection of serious commitment will only result in reducing the solemn duty of the State to that of a feigned act of affectation," Justice Misra said.

According to the CJI, constitutional rights define and shape the life of citizens and societies in general.

"Their positive exposition and assertive and energetic appreciation constitute the lifeblood of progressive societies.

"These rights would become a dead letter without their dynamic, vibrant and pragmatic interpretation," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Gita Mittal said that judges have to overcome many hurdles before delivering judgments.

She said when being a lawyer, "you won't realise the bias inside you".

Mittal said once a person becomes a judge, that bias has to be set aside.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi today highlighted the importance of industrial technology, skill development and multilateral cooperation in creating a better world as he attended the BRICS Summit here.

Speaking at the summit, Modi said the new industrial technology and digital interface that the world is building is an opportunity and also a challenge.

Modi, who arrived here yesterday to attend the BRICS Summit, said technological innovations can help to enhance better service delivery, productivity levels.

New systems and products will open new ways of economic progress, he said.

"At the session with fellow BRICS leaders, I shared my thoughts on various global issues, the importance of technology, skill development and how effective multilateral cooperation creates a better world," Modi tweeted after his address.

He said India wants to work with BRICS nations on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and called for sharing the best practices and policies in the area.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is the fourth major industrial era since the initial Industrial Revolution of the 18th century. It is characterised by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital and biological spheres.

"A welcome result of Industry 4.0 will be more close contact. The world will be flatter for those who can benefit from it. Many disadvantaged classes will be able to take big leap across the many sectors of technology and development," he said.

He said nations must think seriously about the consequences of the fourth industrial revolution in the technology world, which would have a far-reaching impact on the public and economy of the countries.

"India wants to work collectively along with BRICS nations in the area of Fourth Industrial Revolution and all nations must share the best practices and policies on this," the prime minister said.

"Compliance with laws, the example of better delivery by direct payment technology to beneficiaries of social security and government schemes," he said.

He said the Fourth Industrial Revolution will have more importance than the capital.

"High-skill but temporary work will be the new face of employment. There will be radical changes in industrial production, design, and manufacturing," Modi said.

He also underlined the need for schools and universities to create the curriculum so that they can prepare the youth for the future.

BRICS is a grouping of five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as "BRIC", before the induction of South Africa in 2010.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with lawmakers from the minority Druze community today after a court challenge over a deeply controversial law declaring Israel the nation state of the Jewish people.

Opponents have called the law "racist" as it makes no mention of equality and Israel's democratic character, implying the country's Jewish nature takes precedence.

It speaks of Israel as the historic homeland of the Jews and says they have a "unique" right to self-determination there.

Members of Israel's 130,000-strong Druze community -- who serve in the police and military -- have been among those strongly denouncing the legislation.

Community leaders have filed a court challenge to the law, given final passage in the middle of the night on July 19. It becomes part of Israel's so-called basic laws, a de facto constitution.

Two key ministers have called for changes to the law in response to concerns from the Druze.

Netanyahu held a meeting with Druze lawmakers on the issue, along with Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Tourism Minister Yariv Levin and Communications Minister Ayoob Kara.

Kara, a member of Netanyahu's right-wing Likud, is Druze but voted in favour of the law. He has since reportedly received death threats.

Netanyahu planned another meeting tomorrow with Druze community leaders and a plan would later be developed to express Israel's "profound commitment" to the Druze, the prime minister's office said.

Kahlon called for changes, saying the law had been "passed in haste".

"The last thing that we want is to harm the Druze community," Kahlon, whose Kulanu party is the second-largest in Netanyahu's coalition, told army radio.

His comments followed similar ones yesterday by Education Minister Naftali Bennett of the religious nationalist Jewish Home party.

Bennett, who was a prominent advocate for the law, said he had now realised damage was done, adding that the Druze were "our brothers who stand shoulder to shoulder with us on the battlefield".

"We, the government of Israel, have a responsibility to find a way to heal the rift," he said.

The law has sparked international criticism of Israel and intense controversy at home.

A freelance cartoonist for a local magazine who drew Netanyahu and other politicians as pigs alongside a reference to George Orwell's "Animal Farm" after the passing of the law has become a subject of criticism.

The Jerusalem Report magazine decided to stop publishing Avi Katz's cartoons "after a number of them in recent months sparked angry reactions", a statement from the magazine's owner, The Jerusalem Post Group, said today.

"A cartoon showing Israeli leaders with pigs' heads causes harm and incitement, and has no place in any of our publications," it said.

Some said the cartoon contained anti-Semitic images even though it was a clear reference to Orwell's book, with the quote: "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others." Press freedom advocates criticised the magazine's move to let him go.

The controversy over the new law is set to continue in the coming days, with Druze leaders planning a demonstration against the law in central Tel Aviv on August 4.

The Druze are an offshoot of Shiite Islam. Officials say there are 110,000 of them in northern Israel and another 20,000 in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The legislation makes Hebrew the country's national language and defines the establishment of Jewish communities as being in the national interest.

Arabic, previously considered an official language, was granted only special status.

Arab Israelis have also denounced the law, saying it encourages discrimination and racism.

Arab citizens make up some 17.5 per cent of Israel's more than eight million population.

The Palestinian leadership has lashed out at the passage of the law.

Palestine Liberation Organisation secretary-general Saeb Erekat told journalists today that "this law was introduced to constitute the basis of cancelling the concept of a two-state solution and to officially replace it with one state, two systems -- apartheid.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A special court here today convicted an Income Tax official for demanding a bribe of



Rs 2 lakh from a tax assessee in 2011 and sentenced him to four years rigorous imprisonment.

Daya Shankar, then Income Tax Commissioner (Appeal), was found guilty under the Prevention of Corruption Act by special judge M G Deshpande. He was sentenced to four years in jail and also fined Rs 25,000, special public prosecutor Kavita Patil said.

According to the prosecution, the complainant, Haresh Bhawnani, had filed an appeal with Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeal) against an assessment order for additional tax liability of Rs 1,41,41,546 for the year 2008-09.

The case was presented to Shankar who demanded a bribe of Rs 25 lakh from the complainant to reduce the latter's tax liability to Rs 2.5 lakh.

The bribe amount was later reduced to Rs 2 lakh.

Bhawnani approached the Anti-Corruption Unit of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 23, 2011 which laid a trap and caught Shankar red-handed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Scores of Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers today staged a protest against the Modi government over a range of issues, including the Rafale fighter air craft deal, at Raisina Road here.

The protestors, however, were stopped from marching towards the Parliament House by police. Several IYC activists were detained and released later.

The Youth Congress leaders from various parts of the country questioned the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance(NDA) government over the Rafale deal, unemployment, atrocities against Dalits, minorities and women, corruption and the agrarian crisis in the country.

Senior party leader and Uttar Pradesh Congress president Raj Babbar took a dig at the BJP over Congress president Rahul Gandhi's hug to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament.

"They should see how people embrace each other on Holi and Eid to understand what a hug means. But, they do not believe in love and brotherhood, they revel in animosity and hatred," Babbar commented.

The IYC alleged, in a statement, that the Centre "misled" the nation by quoting "illogical and imaginary data" while answering the Congress president's questions in Parliament.

"Head of the government along with the defence minister during parliamentary session ducked the question by Congress president Rahul Gandhi on the Rafale deal," the statement said.

IYC president Keshav Chand Yadav alleged that the BJP government was showing "apathy" to people of the country, including its soldiers.

Top IYC leaders, including the outfit's in-charge Krishna Allavaru, Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev, AICC secretary Biswaranjan Mohanty among others participated in the protest demonstration.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Janata Dal (United) today demanded central assistance to provide relief to farmers in Bihar who are facing problems in Kharif sowing due to deficient rains.

"Bihar is facing a drought-like situation," said JD(U) MP Ramnath Thakur while raising the demand during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha.

Highlighting the plight of farmers due to deficient rains, he said they are not able to sow crops and there is also a shortage of fodder for livestock.

According to him, borewells have also been affected because of drop in water level in several parts of the state.

He demanded that the Centre immediately send a team in Bihar to assess the situation and also provide financial assistance for providing relief.

Congress member M V Rajeev Gowda demanded government intervention to end the strike called by truckers. He said transportation of goods was being affected due to the strike.

Gowda said the problem is due to problems in implementation of e-way bill under the GST.

Ram Vichar Netam of BJP spoke about the problems faced by people in Chhattisgarh due to movement of elephants. He said 200 people have lost lives and thousands injured due to attack by elephants.

Netam said the present compensation of Rs 2 lakh given to families of people killed in elephant attacks is too little and should be enhanced.

Bhupender Yadav (BJP) highlighted the importance of water management in the wake of a recent report by Niti Aayog, while K G Kenye (NPF) raised the issue of supply of adulterated fish, vegetables and fruits in Nagaland.

Besides 16 Zero Hour mentions, the House also took up 10 special mentions.

As part of his special mention, Sukhram Singh Yadav (SP) demanded that the Azamgarh Railway Station be renamed after noted Urdu poet Kaifi Azmi.

Vijila Sathyananth (AIADMK) made a demand to upgrade the ESIC Hospital at Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu to 100 beds from the current 50 and also fill up vacancies on water footings to ease problems faced by labourers.

Prasanna Acharya (BJD) demanded establishment of a permanent bench of the Odisha High Court in western part of the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Jute Corporation of India Ltd today said money transferred to around 1,000 farmers for jute procurement bounced back from their Jan Dhan accounts as the maximum savings limit of such accounts is only Rs 50,000.

The company is now taking written commitment from farmers not to provide any Jan Dhan accounts during trading of jute in order to avoid any such situation in future.

"Jan Dhan accounts can have maximum capital of Rs 50,000. So, when we transfer money to farmers for jute procurement, which are usually big amounts, these get bounced. Then we again had to ask them for separate accounts or changed those to normal accounts," Jute Corporation of India (JCI) Chairman and MD KVR Murthy told PTI.

During the last financial year, deposits from around 1,000 accounts bounced back, he added.

"This figure also include some minor accounts. Due to lack of knowledge, some farmers provided account details of their minors. That is also not allowed," Murthy said.

In order to avoid repetition of such situation, the company is carrying out an awareness drive among jute farmers and taking written commitment before procurement that only normal accounts will be accepted for money transfer, he added.

The PSU jute trading company, however, achieved 100 per cent target of transferring benefits directly to the accounts of farmers during 2017-18.

Murthy informed that the corporation is expecting a flat year with sales target of Rs 180 crore, the same amount in 2017-18.

"The turnover depends on crop arrival. If the market price remains above the MSP, then it is good for us. But if the prices go lower than MSP, then we also lower our target. This year raw jute procured under MSP will rise significantly compared to 6.08 lakh quintals last year," the CMD said.

The JCI is aiming to procure 72 lakh bales of jute during the current financial year as against 81 lakh bales in last fiscal, he added.

The corporation has presence in six states of West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Tripura through 62 procurement centres.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union minister Alphons Kannanthanam today came out in support of a 21-year-old college going fisher woman from Kerala who became the victim of cyber bulling.

The story of Hanan, a BSc student at a private college in Thodupuzha, selling fish at Thammanam in Ernakulam after her college hours, was carried by leading Malayalam daily 'Mathrubhumi' two days ago.

Her touching story was widely shared on social media by many, including film artists and politicians.

But, a section of people on social media expressed doubts on Hanan's story and termed it as fake.

The student had to face vicious trolling.

However, Hanan's college principal and neighbours came out in support of her and said the story published in the regional daily was not fake.

Reacting to the news, Kannanthanam wrote on his Facebook page, Kerala sharks stop attacking #Hanan. I'm ashamed. Here is a girl trying to put together a shattered life. You vultures!.

The tourism minister hailed the woman's attitude to do hard work and move forward in life.

Kannanthanam also referred to the difficulties faced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his teenage and said the latter fought against all odds to become the prime minister.

A teary-eyed Hanan appealed her critics with folded hands to leave her alone.

I do not want any help. Kindly leave me alone and allow me to do any kind of menial jobs to earn my daily bread," she said.

Kerala Women's Commission chairperson M C Josephine



said she would visit Hanan in Kochi.

Any sort of attack on such a hardworking woman is condemnable, she said.

Hearing Hanan's story, a filmmaker, Arun Gopy, offered her a role in his forthcoming movie starring Malayalam superstar Mohanlal's son Pranav Mohanlal.

The trolls also targeted the filmmaker for such an offer, but Gopy remained firm on the offer.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today announced a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the family of Alwar lynching victim Rakbar alias Akbar Khan.

The chief minister announced the grant as Khan belonged to Kaul village near Ferozepur Jhirka of Nuh district in Haryana.

In addition to the financial assistance announced by the chief minister, Haryana Waqf Board Chairman Raheesha Khan has also announced an aid of Rs 3 lakh to his family, an official statement said here.

"Thus, a total of Rs 8 lakh would be provided as financial assistance by the government, the statement said, adding that Rakbar Khan is survived by his four daughters and three sons."



Khan, along with his friend Aslam, was taking cows to their villages in Haryana through a forest in the Ramgarh area of Alwar last week, when they were caught by a mob and assaulted.

Though Aslam had managed to flee, Rakbar succumbed to his injuries later.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation in paying homage to the martyrs of Kargil on Kargil Vijay Diwas today.

The day marks the victory of Indian forces over Pakistan in the hills of Kargil and the success of India's Operation Vijay in 1999.

"On Kargil Vijay Diwas, every Indian acknowledges the efforts and gallantry of our Armed Forces. We salute the ultimate sacrifice of the martyrs of Kargil, and record our everlasting debt to their families," the president said.

Vice President Naidu said he saluted the valour, courage and sacrifice of the brave jawans that resulted in a "spectacular victory for our country in the Kargil War in 1999".

"Vijay Diwas helps in reminding our countrymen of the bravery of soldiers who are all the time alert in extremely difficult situations and environment in defence of our country and for the safety and security our lives," he tweeted.

Prime Minister Modi said a grateful nation pays homage to all those who served the nation during Operation Vijay and remembered former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee for the leadership provided by him during the operation.

"Our brave soldiers ensured that India remains protected and gave a befitting answer to those who tried to vitiate the atmosphere of peace.

"India will always remember with pride, the outstanding political leadership provided by Atal Ji during Operation Vijay. He led from the front, supported our armed forces and clearly articulated India's stand at the world stage," he said on Twitter.

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the three Service chiefs -- Army chief General Bipin Rawat, Naval chief Admiral Sunil Lanba and Air chief Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa -- laid wreaths and paid rich tributes to the martyrs on the 19th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas at the Amar Jawan Jyoti here.

"We salute all the bravehearts who proudly protect the nation," the defence minister said.

Other ministers also paid tribute to the soldiers.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, "On Kargil Vijay Diwas we salute the unflinching courage and supreme sacrifice of all those soldiers who fought valiantly in 1999. Every Indian citizen is proud of their heroism and service to the nation."



External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj added that she saluted the "courage, valour and sacrifice of our martyrs and heroes".

Union minister Arun Jaitley tweeted, "Salute to indomitable courage of our soldiers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Homegrown mobile handset maker Lava International is keen to tap the "vacuum" in the sub-10K category, as most Chinese smartphone majors are moving above this price segment.

"The current Chinese handset majors, who had earlier disrupted the category with aggressive pricing, are now gradually turning to the over-Rs 10,000 smartphone segment. We want to tap this vacuum with under Rs 12,000 handsets," Lava International Group Product Manager Deepak Mahajan told PTI.

Lava claimed a marketshare of 12 per cent and 4.5 per cent in feature phones and smartphones, respectively.

The company had earlier announced plans to revive the brand in the smartphone segment, offering a two-year warranty and money-back guarantee to highlight product quality.

It used to sell about 2.5 million handsets per month a couple of years ago, which slipped to about 1.5 million devices now.

However, the company sees revival in the domestic market, following the consolidation phase in the industry.

"With government polices in the form of import duties on components pushing for make-in-India, handset makers will not be able to survive without high localisation. Major players are already making PCBs, including us, to stay competitive," Mahajan said.

Lava is evaluating setting up two major manufacturing hubs or industrial parks at Greater Noida and Haridwar that could entail investments of up to Rs 2,600 crore.

"We are negotiating with mobile component makers for having presence in these locations to create an eco-system," he said.

If these two projects get executed, then Lava's capacity could significantly rise from the existing three million per month.

The company is also bullish on exports as it enters deeper into Africa.

"We are selling in some 14-15 countries of Sarc, Middle East and Africa. Exports are about 40 per cent of business. Foraying deeper in Africa, the share of exports would go up to 50 per cent of total sales," Mahajan said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Congress today accused the BJP-led state government of utilising taxpayers' money from Maharashtra to ensure progress of Gujarat through the proposed bullet train project.

Alleging uneven cost distribution in favour of the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Anant Gadgil said only four of total 12 stations on the proposed Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train route fall in Maharashtra.

"Instead of Gujarat taking 2/3rd share and Maharashtra 1/3rd share of the total expenditure, we are bearing 50 per cent of the cost (of the bullet train project). This means Gujarat's development is taking place with the money of tax payers from Maharashtra. Is this called as the Gujarat model?" the MLC asked.

The ambitious project entailing the total cost of around Rs 1.10 lakh crore is being executed with the loan provided by Japan.

The first bullet train is expected to become operational by 2023.

The Congress and other parties have been opposing the project, terming it as waste of the public money.

Gadgil accused the prime minister of allotting big ticket projects like Nanar refinery to foreign companies.

The Congress leader cited a survey to question the "exorbitant" cost of the bullet train project.

"According to a survey, there is 35 per cent vacancy of seats on the existing mode of transport between Mumbai and Ahmedabad," he said.

Gadgil said, "the project cost comes around Rs 250 crore per km while the maintenance cost is Rs 45 lakh per km. To make the project feasible, at least one lakh passengers should use the train per year".

He said Maharashtra would lose 75,000 hectares of land for the project.

"....50,000 trees will be felled.. more than 70 villages will be affected by this project," he claimed.

He attacked the state government over its ambitious Samruddhi corridor project which envisages construction of a 700-km long highway connecting Mumbai with Nagpur.

"Maharashtra is reeling under a huge debt, and has already availed an overdraft of Rs 350 crore. How will this project worth Rs 45,000 crore be funded?" he questionned.

Gadgil said the farmers are being pressurised by the government to part with their land for both the projects.

The Congress leader also questionned the "swiftness" with which Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis cleared the Mumbai Development Plan (DP) 2034.

"The committee appointed to finalise the draft of the DP took almost one year to work on it. A total of 75,000 suggestions and objections were received from various quarters. I was shocked to know that the CM cleared the DP within an hour of the draft being submitted to him," he claimed.

Gadgil questionned DP provisions like hiking FSI (Floor Space Index) and allowing construction on salt pan lands in Mumbai.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Taking a dim view of violence during the Maratha quota stir in Maharashtra, the Shiv Sena said today the state paid the price for the government's nature to "suppress" issues, and criticised Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for "missing from the scene".

The BJP usually leads in taking credit (for its various policies), and it should do the same for yesterday's bandh and violence, the Sena said.

Had the chief minister agreed to talk to the Maratha community when it all started with some people protesting in Parli (Beed district), the subsequent events would not have taken place, it said.

"However, the state had to pay the price for the government's nature, wherein it tends to suppress issues," the Sena alleged in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.

It had become difficult for police to control the crowd taking part in the Maratha morchas because apart from being emotional, this (the community's demands) has also become a prestige issue and the government seemed helpless in the last 24 hours, the Sena noted.

It said that Chief Minister Fadnavis, who usually tries to solve every problem himself, was missing from the scene and nobody knew his whereabouts or what he was up to, while the state was in chaos as the Maratha agitation turned violent.

Similar was the condition of Sudhakarrao Naik's government after the 1992 riots, said the Sena, which is an ally of the BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra.

"Where was the chief minister when protesters turned violent, burnt vehicles. Why did the government run away? Maharashtra should know this," the Marathi daily said.

It said the government's decision to fill over 70,000 posts was also responsible for the violence.

"The violence was only natural when the community members feared losing all of these jobs in the absence of reservation," it said.

The policies framed by Fadnavis and his colleagues with regard to the community would be keenly watched, the Sena said.

Notably, Fadnavis had said in the state legislature last week that his government would allot 16 per cent of the 72,000 posts it is going to fill to the Maratha candidates in the form of backlog, if the Bombay High Court allows quota for the community.

"Some people are saying that the posts won't be available to the Marathas in case the high court announces reservation for them if we went ahead with the mega recruitment. I would like to assure that we have more posts available than this," Fadnavis had told the assembly.

"Even if we fill the 72,000 posts, 16 per cent posts would be filled as a backlog as and when reservation is granted to the Marathas. Therefore, there would be no injustice meted out to the community," he had said.

The Sena said, "The BJP is at the forefront of taking credit. Similarly, they should take credit for yesterday's bandh and violence. They may take full credit for providing reservation to the Marathas but there should be an end to this violence."



The previous Congress-NCP government could have resolved this issue keeping the legal aspects in mind. However, it chose the ordinance route to grant 16 per cent reservation to Marathas which was ultimately challenged in court, it noted.

(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 brought up the topic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifting cows to a village in Rwanda during his recent visit to the African nation and mockingly said the state would start doing the same at weddings.

Banerjee said, "I have heard that the PM is gifting cows. We should also start gifting cows at weddings."



The country has witnessed cow vigilantism in the recent months and the BJP has been blamed by opposition parties for it. An incident at Alwar in Rajasthan last week claimed one life.

Turning to BJP state president Dilip Ghosh, she said, "We could start by gifting one to you."



The prime minister had recently gifted around 200 locally sourced cows to a village in Rwanda, which he visited as part of a three-nation tour to Africa.

The cows were gifted to support the 'Girinka' programme which mandates one cow for one poor family. The programme was initiated by Rwanda President Paul Kagame in 2006 to reduce poverty and tackle childhood malnutrition in the African country.

Ghosh was singled out for attack by Banerjee when he commented in the House that West Bengal lagged far behind states such as Andhra Pradesh in fish production.

He said that while in West Bengal, the sector had grown by a mere 20 per cent, in Andhra Pradesh it had grown by 133 per cent in the past 10 years.

Fish consumption is high in West Bengal and local production can hardly meet its demand. Fish is therefore bought in bulk from Andhra Pradesh and from neighbouring states.

Stating that fish consumption is part of the traditional food practice in West Bengal and there are more takers for it here compared to other states, she said Ghosh "should know the state well before making such remarks".

"So what do you (Ghosh) want to say ? Will the poor stop eating fish ? Or meat? Are you (BJP) giving such directions?" Banerjee asked.

Earlier, she lauded the fisheries department for its "remarkable job" in improving pisciculture in the state and meeting its supply deficit.

Banerjee said that the state was working towards saving the transport cost of importing fishes from other states.

(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 questioned the BJP-led NDA government over its failure to appoint the Lokpal at the Centre.

"There are certain leaders who are questioning us. But I want to ask why the Centre has not appointed a Lokpal so far. The Lokpal Bill had been passed by the Centre in 2013," she said while speaking on the West Bengal Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill, 2018.

The opposition has been vocal about the chief minister being kept out of the purview of West Bengal Lokayukta Amendment Bill, 2018 in matters relating to public order. The Bill was passed in the assembly today.

The Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill-2013 envisages establishment of anti-graft body Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in states to look into cases of corruption against certain categories of public servants.

Hearing a case on the delay in the appointment of a Lokpal, the Supreme Court had recently expressed dissatisfaction over the Centre's response on appointment of search committee members.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led panel may consider appointment of eminent persons as members of the Lokpal search committee, the central government had said yesterday.

Banerjee today came down heavily on the Congress legislature party for its desire to vote against the government during the passage of the The West Bengal Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill, 2018 in the assembly today.

"I am not afraid of voting. Today you will vote against me, tomorrow I will vote against you. As you sow so will you reap. We are working in Bengal doesn't mean Bengal is out of our reach," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Spanish police said today they have arrested a man suspected of causing a fast-moving wildfire that raged for two weeks and forced the evacuation of more than 100 people.

The unidentified man is believed to have deliberately started the fire that broke out on August 21 last year in the county of La Cabrera in the northern region of Leon, the Guardia Civil police force said in a statement.

The blaze charred over 9,000 hectares (22,000 acres) of pasture, pine, oak and shrub land, and saw more than 100 people evacuated from 11 hamlets before it was put out on September 3.

"The damage caused by this fire alarmed the public, affected a large area of forest, caused serious soil erosion, damaged wells... and endangered the lives of people, local residents as well as those who worked to put it out," the statement said.

Police said the man, who is from Madrid, faces a possible jail term of up to five years in jail for arson.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today flagged issues of burgeoning traffic due to rapid urbanisation and rumour mongering through the social media as major challenges before the police in the country.

After inaugurating the 2nd conference of young Superintendents of Police, the Home Minister also asked senior police officers to behave in a respectable and decent manner with their sub-ordinates and those in the constabulary in order to have good morale in the forces.

The two-day conference is being organised by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) that functions under the Union Home Ministry.

"The police has numerous challenges and with rapid urbanisation, traffic management is becoming a big problem. We (the police and security establishment) will have to think about it and find effective solutions," the minister said.

In Delhi too, Singh said, "people have to face the traffic problems and we get regular complaints on this subject."



Talking to the SPs and Commandant rank officers of various state police and central paramilitary forces, the Home Minister said the menace of spreading malicious and rumours using various social media platforms is a "big challenge."



Recently we saw there were some movements and protests in the country but there was no physical meeting held to strategise about these actions, but a message on social media platforms did all the job, he said.

"There is no doubt that social media is a good tool too but it should be ensured that it is used constructively," he said.

The Home Minister also talked about the image and working conditions of the police personnel in the country.

While everyone expects the policeman to be courteous and efficient, which he should be, the difficulties faced by them (police personnel) should also be seen, Singh said.

"The workload on an average policeman is so much...at times they get meals only once in 18 hours times. You can understand the mental state of such a person...after all every policeman is an emotional creature too," he said.

Singh asked the police officers to behave in a befitting and decent manner with their sub-ordinates and have a connect across their ranks as he underlined that "there has always been a dearth" in this subject.

The Home Minister recounted his young days in politics and said he was once put off by the rude behaviour of a Deputy SP rank officer in Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh when he went to meet him regarding a murder probe.

"The officer hurled all kinds of abuses on his Inspector who was handling the case. I told him that I do not approve of such a behaviour and I left his office even as my work was not done," he said.

You should lead by example and exhibit good behaviour and promote good work culture, the minister advised to the police brass in attendance.

The minister asked the Bureau of Police Research and Development, the think tank on policing subjects, to work and strengthen the capabilities of the agencies vis-a-vis the use of drones, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and forensic techniques while rendering law and order duties and investigations.

He stressed that "predictive policing" should be taken up more and more in the police agencies so that "crime is stopped before it happens."



The minister also urged police organisations to develop smartphone apps (applications) to help the public as per their respective mandates.

Singh also broached the subject of coastal security and said all the stakeholders in this domain-- the Navy, Coast Guard and costal police -- need to enhance their coordination to effectively thwart threats to the Indian maritime boundary that is over 7,000-kms long.

He underlined that an answer to any policing challenge should be found out through more and more "out-of-box solutions.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi today favoured inclusion of information on prevention of human trafficking in school text books.

Gandhi said she will request her counterpart in the Human Resource Ministry to take appropriate steps in this regard, after a member suggested in the Lok Sabha that NCERT text books could include information about the Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill.

Gandhi, while replying to the debate, said every text book in schools now has POCSO (Protection of Children Against Sexual Offenders) Act as well as depiction of 'what is good touch' and 'what is bad touch' in the last page.

"I would request the HRD Ministry to put some information on the anti-trafficking law in the text books as well," she said.

The House later passed the bill through a voice vote.

Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Ray commended the Minister for bringing a "good bill" and responding to each and every member of the House who spoke on the bill during the debate.

"I have seldom heard a minister reply to every members who have spoken. I hope other ministers do the same," Ray said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Maratha Kranti Morcha (MKM) activists today observed fast in front of the district collector's office here for quota demand.

Activists of the All India Kisan Sabha also supported the agitation.

On the occasion, BJP MLA Rahul Aher, who represents Chandvad-Deola constituency, handed over his 'resignation letter' to the MKM activist for the reservation cause.

"Please treat this letter as my resignation. Whenever required, the Maratha community members could hand it over to Assembly Speaker," he stated.

A bandh was observed in Manmad and Yeola towns in the district.

The Maratha community has been demanding reservation in government jobs and education under the OBC category.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Facing heat due the renewed agitation for Maratha quota, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has called a meeting of BJP ministers and party legislators from the Maratha community.

The chief minister has called a meeting late this evening of a select group of the party's Maratha legislators alongwith BJP ministers, who can open channels of communications with the leaders of the agitation, a government source said.

The government's stand on the Maratha community's demand for reservation in government jobs and educational institutes has been that the issue is pending before the Bombay High Court.

"To ensure that its decision (to give 16 per cent reservation to the Marathas) stands scrutiny in the court, the government will provide all possible assistance to the Backward Classes Commission to expedite its survey work," the source said.

The government will provide additional manpower and technical support to the commission so that it can submit its report by August-end, a month before the scheduled date, the source said.

The commission has been tasked with collecting data about socio-economic condition of the Maratha community.

After meeting BJP ministers and legislators, Fadnavis is expected to invite Opposition legislators from the Maratha community for talks, the source said.

Following the resignations of Shiv Sena MLA Harshawardhan Jadhav and NCP MLA Bhausaheb Chikatgaonkar, who said they were quitting to support the agitation, MLAs Seema Hirey and Rahul Aher (both BJP), Bharat Bhalke (Congress) and Ramesh Kadam (NCP) have offered to tender resignations over the quota issue.

Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde took a veiled swipe at Fadnavis today by telling Maratha protesters in Beed district that she would have taken decision on the quota demand quickly if the "file" had been on her table.

Before that, as violence was reported from various places during the bandh called by Maratha outfits yesterday, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut created a flutter, stating that there was talk of replacing Fadnavis within the BJP.

The BJP immediately denied Raut's claim.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Madras High Court today said it was a "million dollar question" how approval given to a real estate developer to construct a 13-storeyed residential building here, which has no access.

It directed the authorities concerned to file an affidavit explaining how the sanction was accorded.

Perusing the sketch of the property given by the Revenue department, a division bench of Justices N Kirubakaran and Krishnan Ramasamy said, "it is very clear that the developer has got no access from Anna Salai or any road."



"To put it in other words, there is no arrangement to enter the premises from any side, as the site is bound on the North by Adyar River, East by Dhobigana, and West by a water channel."



The matter relates to a batch of petitions regarding properties shown as Primary Residential Area by Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority.

"When there is no access to the property in question from Anna Salai or from any other side, as the land on the Southern side belongs to Tamil Nadu Highways Department, it is a million dollar question as to how the approval has been granted for the said building," the bench observed.

The bench directed all the authorities responsible for giving approval for the construction of the building to file an affidavit giving details as to how such approval was given in the absence of ingress and egress to the property.

"It is impossible to think that the concerned authorities would have lost sight of the material point," it said.

Referring to the No Objection Certificate given by the Water Resources department, which declared the area as "Flood Prone Zone," the bench said, "Admittedly, in the instant case, the Adyar River and from the photographs produced before this Court, it is clearly seen that there is no gap between the water way and the new construction."



The bench then directed the Chennai River Restoration Trust to inspect the subject property and file a report on the aspects of the distance between the waterway and the new construction, presence of any river bund in the particular spot and the details of money sanctioned by the government to it for the past five years.

It also impleaded the Tamil Nadu government as a respondent in the case and posted the matter for further hearing to August 2.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Three men, who were trying to help a boy cross a road, were rescued by police from an angry mob which suspected they were child-lifters, police said today.

The incident happened in the Hanumanganj area here yesterday evening and police managed to save the three persons from a mob of 12-15 people who were assaulting them, Inspector Sudesh Tiwari told PTI today.

"The three men, Dhan Singh, Ram Swaroop Sen and Dashrath Ahirwar were under the influence of alcohol and were trying to help a boy who was scared to cross a road near Futa Makabara Square," Tiwari informed.

Some passersby saw the incident and started shouting "bachcha chor" (child-lifters) after which a mob gathered and started beating up the three men, the official said.

"We managed to reach in time and save them. The three hail from Vidisha district and were here to purchase an autorickshaw. A medical examination has revealed that they had consumed alcohol. They did not receive major injuries," Tiwari said.

On July 19, a mentally retarded woman was lynched in Balaghat district by a mob which suspected her to be a child-lifter.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A museum for all former prime ministers of the country will be built in the Teen Murti Bhavan complex, which houses the Jawaharlal Nehru memorial, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) director Shakti Sinha said today.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who chaired the 43rd annual general meeting of the NMML today, assured those who attended the meeting that the move is not an attempt to dilute the legacy of India's first prime minister, who was in the office for 17 years.

The iconic Teen Murti Bhavan in the capital was the official residence of Nehru and the NMML at the premises was set up in his memory as an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Culture.

"We will build a museum for all prime ministers in the 25 acre estate (Teen Murti Bhavan complex). This will be separate from the existing structure of the Nehru Memorial," Sinha told reporters after a two-hour meeting.

Sinha said Rs 280 crore has already been sanctioned by the central government for the construction of the museum for all prime ministers.

"This will be a modern technologically advanced museum and it will be constructed with the help of international consultants," he said, adding the present structure is located just on a half an acre land plot.

Sources said Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who attended the meeting, has opposed the move saying it would dilute the legacy of Nehru and suggested the memorial for all prime ministers should not be constructed in the Teen Murti Bhavan complex but elsewhere.

Responding to Kharge, the home minister said the question of diluting the legacy of Nehru does not arise at all and no one can do that as the contribution of country's first prime minister was unparalleled, sources said.

However, a decision is yet to be taken whether a separate society will be formed for the museum or rules of the NMML will be changed to facilitate the construction of the new structure.

Sources said it is strongly felt by the NDA government that the contribution and story of India's executive, as represented by the Prime Ministers, is told for the benefit of future generations.

Under the supervision of the NMML Society, which has the Prime Minister as its head, the NMML council has been managing the overall affairs of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library.

The landmark Teen Murti Estate, however, belongs to the government and there is a view that setting up a museum on prime ministers would be of great service to the future generations and those interested in the history of independent India, souces said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today recommended a CBI probe into the alleged sexual exploitation of girls at a state-funded shelter home in Muzaffarpur, an official release said.

Kumar's deputy Sushil Kumar Modi said the state government would request the Patna High Court to monitor the probe.

Opposition MLAs had paralysed the state Assembly for three days with their vociferous demands for a high court-monitored CBI probe into the scandal. They also demanded that the state Social Welfare Minister Manju Verma be sacked.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had told the Parliament that the Centre would consider if the state government recommended a CBI inquiry.

Recommending the CBI inquiry this morning, Kumar directed the chief secretary, the director general of police and the principal secretary (home) to immediately hand over the case to the central investigating agency, a government release said.

The decision to hand over the case to the CBI was taken to prevent rumour-mongering in the state, it said.

"A deplorable incident has taken place in Muzaffarpur, where the police have been carrying out a diligent investigation. Although the government was committed to conducting an impartial probe, the decision for handing over the probe to the CBI has been taken to dispel the 'bhram ka vatavaran' (environment of rumours/falsehood) that was being created," it said.

Sushil Modi said, "During the next hearing, the state government will itself request the high court to monitor the CBI inquiry into the matter."



Medical examinations of 29 of the 42 shelter home inmates confirmed that they were sexually exploited, state Director General of Police K S Dwivedi had said. Ten out of 11 accused persons have been arrested in the case.

"Lalu (RJD chief Lalu Prasad) and company's faith in the CBI has increased which is evident from their demand for CBI probe into the Srijan scam and Muzaffarpur shelter home sexual exploitation case. I hope that Lalu Prasad's family who used to criticise CBI will not take U-turn and term its action in the Railways tender scam and benami properties case as political vendetta," Sushil Modi said.

The RJD supremo is serving sentence in a number of fodder scam cases. In the IRCTC case, the alleged scam which took place while Prasad was the Railways Minister, he and many of his family members face money laundering charges.

Earlier in the day, the Bihar Assembly was adjourned till lunch break within 10 minutes of commencement of the proceedings on the issue as opposition members trooped into the well and created ruckus demanding monitoring of the case by the high court, sacking of the social welfare minister and arrest of her husband Chandeshwar Prasad Verma for visiting the home often.

The legislative council too witnessed noisy scenes in the first half when opposition members raised anti-government slogans making similar demands.

Opposition parties in the state demanding the CBI probe had alleged that the state government was not handing over the matter to the central agency as it wanted to "shield" some of the key accused who were said to be close to the ruling dispensation.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav lashed out at the government over the "rumour mongering" phrase, saying, "By blaming the opposition, the government has shown a lack of shame and remorse over what has happened. It has been trying to shield the culprits."



Yadav, who is the leader of the opposition in the assembly, also demanded the resignation of two ministers whose names have cropped up in the case.

Though he did not take names, Yadav dropped ample hints that the ministers were Manju Verma and Urban Development Minister Suresh Kumar Sharma.

Verma, whose husband has been accused of being a regular visitor at the shelter home by wife of a government official arrested in connection with a case, told a press conference "My husband had visited the shelter home only once and that too in my presence. If charges against him are proven, I will not just resign but retire from politics".

Verma had also engaged in a heated exchange with former Chief Minister Rabri Devi when the latter demanded her expulsion from the cabinet on the floor of the state legislative council.

"I am being targeted because I am a woman belonging to an OBC group", Verma said.

Sharma, who represents Muzaffarpur in the assembly, said "If Tejashwi Yadav comes out with any proof to back his allegations, I will resign. He cannot simply make a baseless allegation just because I am the local MLA. I am going to send him a legal notice".

The alleged sexual exploitation of inmates at the shelter home had come to light in the report of a social audit conducted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

An FIR was subsequently registered on a complaint by the state social welfare department and 10 persons, including the patron of the NGO which ran the shelter home and the then district child protection officer, were arrested.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today inaugurated a bridge over Janbai river and announced Rs 100 crore for development of the area on its other side, which was cut-off for around five decades in the Maoist-hit zone of the district.

The Rs 187.25 crore bridge will connect 151 villages in the cut-off area in Chitrakonda block. The area remained encircled by water on three sides after construction of reservoirs at Machhkund in 1960s and Balimela in 1980s.

There was no means of communication to the villages other than boat service, officials said.

Giving a new name to the cut-off area as "Swabhiman Anchal", Patnaik said Gurupriya bridge is the national pride and symbolises peace, cooperation & progress.

"It is a testimony to our commitment to integrate all parts of Odisha to mainland and thereby to prosperity. It is our dream come true and the Bridge Of Progress," Patnaik said.

"Gurupriya Setu signifies a resurgent#Odisha, will transform lives in 151 villages that were cut off for 5 decades. It is not just a bridge, it will be the identity & Swabhiman of #Malkangiri. I dedicate this special project of #Odisha and India #Jai Jagannath," Patnaik tweeted.

Calling upon left wing extremists to return to the mainstream, Patnaik said violence is not a solution to any problem. "Peace is essential for development," Patnaik said.

The programme was held amidst unprecedented security arrangements as the area is Maoist-affected.

Besides connecting 151 villages with 30,000 odd people, the bridge will provide tactical advantage to security personnel in tackling the Maoist menace, officials said.

The foundation stone of the bridge was laid way back in 1982 by the then chief minister JB Patnaik and again by Naveen Patnaik in 2000.

However, none came forward to take part in the bidding process attempted by the state and central governments mainly due to technical challenge of the site. Construction was very difficult there as, out of the total 910 m length of the bridge, the depth of water in a stretch of 240 m ranges from 70 to 90 feet, officials said.

The 910-metre-long bridge and 1200-metre approach road on either side have been built by a Kolkata-based firm. The work began in 2014 with the deployment of Border Security Forces at both ends of the bridge.

After inaugurating the bridge, Naveen Patnaik returned to the district headquarters and unveiled a new 300-bed annexe on the premises of the District Headquarters Hospital.

Addressing a meeting there, Patnaik announced Rs 100 crore special package for the cut-off area.

The fund will be utilised in construction of roads, bridges, development of health and education facilities, he said adding: "I will personally look after the development of the 151 villages in other side of Janbai river."



In view of Patnaik's visit, elaborate security arrangement was made both at the district headquarter town and also near Gurupriya bridge.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Amid claims and counter claims by political parties, seeking credit, for constructing the Gurupriya bridge, connecting a cut-off area in Malkangiri district to the mainland, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today received unprecedented recognition on the social media from across the country.

Immediately after inaugurating the 910-metre-long Gurupriya bridge constructed at a cost of Rs 187 crore, Patnaik had tweeted at least three times to inform the nation about the project.

"#GurupriyaSetu signifies a resurgent #Odisha, will transform lives in 151 villages that were cut-off for 5 decades. It is not just a bridge, it will be the identity & Swabhiman of #Malkangiri. I dedicate this special project to people of #Odisha & India #JaiJagannath," Patnaik tweeted.

"Unprecedented national recognition for CM Naveen Patnaik on dedicating Gurupriya Setu to Odisha. With over 11,000 tweets nationwide, both Gurupriya Setu and Malkangiri have become trending topics on Twitter and are dominating in the digital space," a statement issued by the chief minister's office (CMO) said.

"India has taken note of the incredible achievement that is Gurupriya and appreciated efforts of the Odisha government that literally moved mountains to construct the bridge after overcoming odds and obstacles.," the CMO statement added.

The Odisha chief minister while speaking to the media after inaugurating the bridge today said, "Gurupriya Bridge is a bridge of progress and will be the identity of Malkangiri."



Patnaik also said that the Gurupriya Bridge is the pride of the nation which symbolises peace, cooperation and progress.

However, the opposition Congress and the BJP were not ready to give the credit to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik though the state government completed the Gurupriya bridge project in record four years time despite several odds, including Maoist threats.

"Today the dream of Sri Janaki Ballav Patnaik is realised who envisaged the idea of the Gurupriya bridge project. Congress has always and will continue to work towards connecting people." the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president, Niranjan Patnaik, said.

In 1986, J B Patnaik, the then chief minister of Odisha, had laid the foundation stone at Janbai in Malkangiri district for construction of the bridge.

However, the work could not be taken up due to different reasons including threat from Maoist elements, Niranjan pointed out.

The BJP state spokesman Golak Mohapatra, however, said that the credit for the Gurupriya bridge should go to the BSF jawans who stood solid against the Maoists and facilitated the construction of the bridge.

"The credit goes to the people of Odisha and the residents of the cut-off area," BJD leader Amar Prasad Satpathy said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team was called in Himachal Pradesh's Sirmaur district to rescue four people stranded on one side of the Giri river due to high water level, officials said today.

A total of six people were stranded in Paonta Sahib tehsil on Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand border following heavy rainfall, Sirmaur Superintendent of Police Rohit Malpani said.

Two of them have been rescued by the police with the help of local divers, but four are still stranded, he said.

The NDRF team has reached the spot and will soon start a rescue operation, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The National Green Tribunal today formed a monitoring committee on the cleaning of the Yamuna and directed it to submit an action plan on the issue.

A bench headed by National Green Tribunal (NGT) Chairperson A K Goel appointed retired expert member B S Sajwan and former Delhi chief secretary Shailaja Chandra as members of the committee while directing them to submit action plan by September and a detailed report in the matter by December 31.

The green panel asked the Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments to assist the committee on Yamna rejuvenation.

The Tribunal directed the authorities to take strict action against encroachments on the Yamuna floodplains.

It also directed the Delhi Development Authority and the Delhi Jal Board to hold a meeting on July 30 for identifying land for setting up of a sewage treatment plant on a drain which falls under phase-II of the Yamuna cleaning programme.

The NGT had earlier rapped the Delhi Jal Board over cleaning of the Yamuna and had said there has been no "meaningful progress" on the ground in the last three years.

The green panel had noted that the work on 14 sewage treatment plants (STPs) had not even begun. These were supposed to be completed by March 2017 as per the court's January 13, 2015 judgment.

The STPs would treat the effluents and ensure no pollutants enter the river.

"In spite of proceedings in the case in the last three years, there is no meaningful progress at the ground level. It does appear that the present in-charge may not be competent enough to handle the issue.

"Today, we are in a failure situation. We don't want useless and incompetent people, who have failed us, the people and the country," a bench, headed by the NGT Chairperson, had said.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the situation, the tribunal had directed the CEO of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to put in place a suitable officer who can ensure that work on the 14 STPs starts within a month and asked him to file an affidavit in this regard within two weeks.

The bench, also comprising Justice S P Wangdi and Expert Member Nagin Nanda, had directed Haryana to file an affidavit on the steps taken to ensure that no untreated effluents flow into the Yamuna.

The Phase-I of the clean Yamuna project aims to lower the pollution levels in the Najafgarh and Delhi Gate drains, while Phase-II deals with Shahdara, Barapullah and other drains.

The DJB informed the tribunal that with regard to Phase-II, 11 drains have been trapped and effluents were being treated.

It also said the work for trapping of three out of the remaining six drains will be completed by December 2020 and that for other two by December this year.

The tribunal had earlier directed the Delhi government and the DJB to submit a status report on the progress of the work in the first phase of cleaning the Yamuna.

It had then directed Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to file a complete report of the stretch of the Yamuna falling beyond the national capital.

The green panel had said pollution in the Yamuna was of serious concern as it was highly contaminated with industrial effluents and sewage.

It had also asked the Haryana and Himachal Pradesh pollution control boards to jointly conduct a study of water quality and the flow of Yamuna at the point it enters Haryana, and submit the list of industries located in the catchment area.

The green panel had noted that almost 67 per cent of the pollutants that enter the Yamuna would be treated by the two sewage treatment plants at Delhi Gate and Najafgarh under the first phase of the 'Maili se Nirmal Yamuna Revitalisation Project'.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The governor of a Nigerian state badly hit by violence between farmers and herders has quit President Muhammadu Buhari's ruling party, after a wave of defections by lawmakers.

Samuel Ortom was elected as governor of Benue in 2015 for the All Progressives Congress (APC) party but has been openly critical of the government's response to the deadly clashes in his state.

The International Crisis Group said in a report today that more than 1,300 people had been killed in the violence across central states since January. Ortom announced late on Wednesday that he was moving back to the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after "due consultations with relevant stakeholders".

"I have resolved that the way forward is to rejoin (the) PDP," he said. Ortom's move comes after dozens of lawmakers in parliament in Abuja on Tuesday dumped the APC for the PDP in a sign of growing discontent at Buhari's leadership as elections approach.

Buhari, 75, is seeking a second, four-year term of office in elections set for February, despite claims he is too old and questions about his health following a lengthy, undisclosed illness.

The former military ruler has also been criticised for his handling of rising violence as well as the alleged used of security services to target his perceived political opponents.

Ortom has been one of the most vocal opponents of Buhari's response to the resource conflict, which has become polarised along ethnic, political and religious lines.

The governor's ethnic Tiv kinsmen, who are Christian, have been targeted. The herders are mainly ethnic Fulani Muslims, as is Buhari.

APC flags have now been removed from public places in Benue, according to an AFP reporter in the state.

The ruling party said it was "somewhat surprising" Ortom had left and it was still working to try to reconcile disgruntled members.

"Even with this development, we don't think it is too late for reconciliation," the party said in a statement.

Buhari met APC senators in Abuja late on Wednesday as part of efforts to broker a truce in the party, which last month saw a splinter group emerge of disaffected members.

In separate unrest that is putting Buhari's government under pressure, cattle rustling gangs were suspected of killing 20 people in the northern state of Zamfara.

Two residents told AFP that gunmen riding motorbikes stormed the herding and farming village of Kwaddi, in the Zurmi area of the state, and opened fire on a mosque.

The attack happened at about 4:00 pm (1500 GMT) on Tuesday.

"The bandits killed 20 people and injured several others in the attack," said Kalla Wadatau, who lives in the remote village.

"They came while it was raining and opened fire on the mosque, forcing people to flee and shut themselves indoors. But they broke into homes and shot people," he added.

Another local, Bube Sule, gave a similar account and said the gunmen were angry with villagers who had refused to pay them protection money of one million naira ($2,763, 2,362 euros).

"We are a poor community which doesn't have a fraction of what they demanded," he said, adding that two weeks ago the bandits killed eight people as a warning.

State police confirmed the attack but did not give exact details. Both the bandits and kidnappers are largely Fulani Muslims and the violence is seen as mostly criminal.

Zamfara has been hit in recent years by a rise in violence but extra troops sent to the state and a police ban on civilian militia have been unable to stop the clashes.

Militia forces have also been accused of carrying out their own attacks, leading to reprisals.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A PMLA court here summoned on Thursday diamond jeweller and his uncle to appear before it on September 25 and 26 respectively on the Enforcement Directorate's plea seeking action against them under the new fugitive economic offenders law in the alleged $2 billion PNB bank fraud case, officials said.

The agency had recently moved the court seeking to declare the diamond traders as 'fugitive economic offenders' and to confiscate their assets worth Rs 35 bn in the case.

The court has sought their appearance on September 25 (Nirav Modi) and 26 (Mehul Choksi) respectively under the fugitive economic offender law, they said.

The ED had filed two separate applications against the duo before the special court that hears matters under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Parliament on Wednesday only passed the fugitive bill by a voice vote in the Rajya Sabha. The Lok Sabha had cleared this Bill on July 19.

The agency, early this month, had moved a similar application against businessman in the Rs 90-bn alleged bank loan fraud case and the court has summoned him for August 27.

In this case of the diamantaires', the agency seeks to confiscate assets, both movable and immovable, including those located in the United Kingdom and the UAE.

The move has been made on the basis of the two PMLA charge sheets filed by the agency against the two designer diamond jewellers on charges of alleged money laundering.

"Investigations have revealed that and have committed the offence of cheating against Bank (PNB) in connivance with certain bank officials by fraudulently getting the LOUs/FLCs issued without following prescribed procedure and caused a wrongful loss to the bank.

"They have further siphoned off the proceeds of crime so generated through layering through multiple dummy, related, connected entities in India and abroad," the agency had said in its application.

and Choksi are being investigated by the ED and the CBI after it was detected that they allegedly cheated the Bank of more than Rs 134 bn with the purported involvement of a few of its employees.

The scam, which reportedly began in 2011, was detected in January this year, after which PNB officials reported it to the probe agencies.

Two criminal complaints were filed by the ED in these instances after taking cognisance of CBI FIRs.

Non-bailable warrants were issued against the two, while an Interpol 'red corner' arrest warrant was issued against them on the request of the ED.

The agency had conducted 260 searches in this case across the country.

The Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018 was introduced in Lok Sabha on March 12 and passed on March 19.

"A fugitive economic offender is a person against whom an arrest warrant has been issued in respect of a scheduled offence and who has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution, or being abroad, refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution," the government had said.

Cases of frauds, cheque dishonour or loan default of over Rs 1 bn would come under the ambit of this ordinance.

The government has said the ordinance offers necessary constitutional safeguards in terms of providing hearing to the person through counsel, allowing him time to file a reply, serving notice of summons to him, whether in India or abroad and appeal before the high court.There is no change in America's sanctions policy with regard to Russia, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said as opposition lawmakers grilled him over the recent meeting between President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland.

Testifying before Senate Committee on Foreign Relations yesterday, Pompeo assured Senators that the US does not and will not recognise the Kremlin's purported annexation of Crimea.

We stand together with allies, partners and the international community in our commitment to Ukraine and its territorial integrity. There will be no relief of Crimea-related sanctions until Russia returns control of the Crimean Peninsula to Ukraine. This Crimea declaration formalises United States policy of non-recognition, he said.

Responding to questions from angry lawmakers on the recent Trump-Putin meeting, Pompeo said there has been no change in sanctions policy with regard to Russia.

The US policy with respects to sanctions remains completely unchanged, he said during a heated exchange of words with the Democratic Senator, Robert Menendez, who is the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Pompeo said Trump was "very clear" with Putin about US positions. "They are the US positions that are the Trump administration's positions and he spoke about them very firmly and clearly when he met with Vladimir Putin, he said.

Pompeo said from the outset the US administration's approach has been to steadily raise the cost of aggression until Putin chooses a less confrontational foreign policy while keeping the door open for dialogue in national interest.

Between our two nations, the US and Russia possess over 90 per cent of the world's nuclear weapons. President Trump believes the two great nuclear powers should not have a contentious relationship. This is not just in our interests but in the interests of the whole world, he said.

He strongly believes that now is the time for direct communication, our relationship in order to make clear to President Putin that there is the possibility, however remote it might be, to reverse the negative course of our relationship. Otherwise, the administration will continue opposing tough actions against Russia in response to its malign activities, the top American diplomat said.

Defending Trump, Pompeo said in Helsinki, the US sought to explore whether Russia was interested in improving the relationship, but made clear that the ball is in Moscow's court.

We defended America's fundamental strategic interest in Syria and Ukraine. And I, personally, made clear to the Russians, there will be severe consequences for interference in our democratic processes, he said.

Trump is well aware of the challenges that Russia poses to the United States, and its partners and allies. He's taken a staggering number of actions to protect our interests, he asserted.

As "proof", he cited several examples, including 213 sanctions on Russian entities and individuals in the Trump administration, expel of 60 Russian spies from the US and the closure of Russian consulates in Seattle and San Francisco.

On US sanctions over North Korea, Pompeo said it will remain in place till the country eliminates its weapons of mass destruction.

"America's objective remains the final, fully verified de-nuclearisation of North Korea...We're engaged in patient diplomacy. But we will not let this drag out to no one...President Trump remains upbeat about the prospects for North Korean de-nuclearisation. Progress is happening. We need Chairman Kim Jong-un to follow through on his commitments that he made in Singapore, he said.

Until North Korea eliminates its weapons of mass destruction, US sanctions and those of the United Nations will remain in effect. Multiple UN Security Council resolutions require the country to eliminate all of its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, he told the lawmakers.

Those resolutions were passed unanimously and they remain binding. We absolutely need every single nation to maintain the enforcement of those sanctions to which every nation has committed. The path ahead is not easy, but our hopes for a safer world and a brighter future for North Korea endure, Pompeo said.

Responding to questions, Pompeo said he is very confident that the North Korean's understand the definition of denuclearisation, and a very broad one, that it goes from infrastructure of nuclear war heads, though chemical biological weapons systems.

Pompeo said the North Koreans continue to produce vessel material. However, he refused to go into any further detail.

We have made very clear that the entirety of the North Korean CBW programme is contained in the US understanding of denuclearisation and I am confident that the North Koreans understand clearly America's definition and they have agreed to denuclearize, he asserted.

When asked by Senator Ed Markey whether the US have an inventory of North Korea's warheads, materials, facilities and other programs, Pompeo said, I can't answer that here, and added that human rights abuses continue in North Korea.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union Minister Jitendra Singh today said the time has come to change the narrative on Kashmir and to declare that there is no issue except to retrieve the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Speaking at a seminar to commemorate the 'Kargil Vijay Diwas' here, he said time has come to unmask the Kashmir "apologists" within India who are responsible for emboldening Pakistan's anti-India designs.

Singh came down heavily on the Kashmir-centric politicians both from the so-called separatists lobby as well as from the so-called mainstream, and said, their was based more on convenience and less on conviction, according to an official statement.

They were guided not by any ideology, he said, but by their respective political agendas.

"That is why, when in power, they speak a different language, but when out of power, they turn to separatist jargon, which goes to the advantage of Pakistan and its sympathizers in India," the statement quoted him as having said.

It has become a trend among certain sections of polity in India to refer to Pakistan in apologetic terms, simply to exploit the sentiments of their domestic constituency, without realizing that this, in turn, only helps in emboldening and encouraging the Pakistan's designs, said Singh, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

He said that the time has come to change the narrative on Kashmir, to declare that there is no issue as far as Kashmir is concerned except to retrieve the PoK and, at the same time, reach out to the common youth of Kashmir Valley who are ready to move on and be a part of India's development journey.

Singh said the partition of Indian subcontinent was the biggest mistake in recent history and after independence, this got compounded by another blunder on the part of the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Nehru did not allow the then Home Minister and his cabinet colleague Sardar Patel to handle Jammu & Kashmir with the same freedom and discretion as Patel was handling over 500 other princely states of India, the statement said.

"Later,Nehru's decision to take Kashmir issue to UN left a bad legacy," he said.

The minister was also critical of the decision to return over 90,000 Prisoners of War (PoWs) from Pakistan following the 1971 war.

He said, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had invested too much trust in her Pakistan counterpart Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, never realizing that the political authority in Islamabad was never in complete control of the decision making process, particularly vis-a-vis India.

The rest, he said, is history with Zia-ul-Haq taking over the reins in Pakistan and laying the foundation of a long drawn road map of a proxy war with India based on his "thousand cuts" theory.

Having lost the conventional wars in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999, he said, Pakistan continues to wage an unending proxy war by exporting terrorism into the Indian territory, the statement said.

Kargil warriors Lt Gen Vinod Bhatia, Col K K Sharma and Convener of J&K People's Forum Mahinder Mehta also spoke on the occasion.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today sought to allay fears among people on their names missing from the NRC, saying no one will be treated as a foreigner if his or her name does not appear in the final draft of the state's citizens list.

Chairing a high-level security review meeting here, he asked officials to guide people, whose names do not figure in the National Register of Citizens (NRC), through the procedure of claims and objections.

"If someone's name does not appear in the complete draft, he or she is not to be considered a foreigner. Public should be clearly explained the process of claims and objections after publication of the NRC," Sonowal was quoted as saying by one of the officials present at the meeting.

The chief minister also directed the officials not to refer any case to the Foreigners Tribunal based on the NRC final draft, the official said.

The Home Ministry had yesterday asked the Assam government not to take any action against those whose names do not figure in the NRC.

"There is no question of referring the persons whose names do not figure in the draft NRC to the Foreigners' Tribunal as people are entitled to file claims and objections and due opportunity has to be given to them before final publication," an advisory of the ministry had said.

The NRC is being updated with March 24, 1971 as the cut-off date for legitimate claim to Indian citizenship in Assam.

The final draft will be published on July 30. The first draft of the NRC was published during the intervening nights of December 31 and January 1, containing 1.9 crore names out of a total applications of 3.29 crore people.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Puducherry PWD Minister A Namassivayam today said "there is no opposition from any quarters to the demand for statehood to the union territory."



The upgraded status would enable the territorial government to evolve and implement several schemes and programmes without delay, he told reporters here.

A delegation of legislators led by Chief Minister V Narayansamy cutting across party lines recently met the Vice-President, Union Ministers, leaders of different political parties and Congress President Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi recently to seek their support for the demand, he said.

"There is absolutely no opposition from any quarters to the demand for statehood," he said.

Namassivayam, who is the Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee president, said all the leaders whom the delegation met had promised to take up the issue in Parliament and ensure that the demand was met.

The Puducherry assembly has been adopting resolutions in almost every budget session urging the centre to grant statehood, he added.

Asked whether Health and Tourism Minister Malladi Krishna Rao, who represents Yanam constituency was not in favour of the demand for statehood, Namassivayam said it was not correct.

Puducherry which became free following a dejure treaty between France and India became an Union Territory in 1963 and has an elected Assembly constituted under the Representation of People Act.

Lt Governor Kiran Bedi, who assumed charge in 2016 has been at loggerheds with the Narayanasamy-led Congress government on various issues including nomination of three BJP members to the assembly.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi today hailed the passage of the anti-trafficking bill in Lok Sabha, saying the smooth passage is the evidence of collective moral conscience and political will of India's leaders who have risen above party lines to protect its people.

The Lok Sabha today passed a comprehensive law to deal with the menace of human trafficking.

Members cutting across party lines supported the bill.

Even as Congress and CPI(M) demanded that the bill be sent to the standing committee, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said "the bill is long overdue ... The law is victim centric and conviction rate will hopefully improve after the bill is enacted".

The Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018, provides for confidentiality of victims, witnesses and complainants, time-bound trials and repatriation of the victims.

Satyarthi hailed the passage of the anti-trafficking bill in Lok Sabha.

"Trafficking of innocent children, women & men is the biggest threat against humanity. The Indian Parliament has taken a strong first step to end this menace by passing Anti Trafficking Bill 2018 in Lok Sabha today," Satyarthi tweeted as he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Maneka Gandhi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

"Smooth passage of Anti Trafficking Bill 2018 in Lok Sabha today is the evidence of collective moral conscience and political will of India's leaders who have risen above party lines to protect its people from this heinous form of slavery that exists on our sacred land," he added.

"The Anti Trafficking Bill 2018 is a progressive legislation that seeks to provide for a comprehensive solution to trafficking in persons in India, that goes beyond it criminalisation. I call upon Rajya Sabha MPs to echo the same sentiment & extend their support for this landmark bill," he said.

Sunita Krishnan, a social activist, also welcomed the bill saying, the unity in the parliament has sent a huge message across.

"It was long overdue but it is great that it was finally passed," she said.

Ministhy S, Commissioner of Food Safety in UP government who has been closely associated with rescuing children caught in the trafficking ring, has also welcomed the passage of bill, saying it is an excellent

"I believe that it has many provisions which addresses a lot of convergence issues including rehabilitation, victim support and compensation and fixing responsibilities at different levels," she said.

However, the bill received mixed response from others.

Certain civil societies raised concern over the bill, saying the bill is replete with problems and adopts a flawed approach towards the problem of trafficking, especially the weak and the marginalized.

"Many of these problems were alluded to by Members of Parliament, who demanded that the Bill be referred to a Standing Committee in Parliament," the All India Network of Sex Workers said in a statement.

Another activist Kusum Kumari has said that all important and far-reaching Bills in Parliament are referred to a Standing Committee. Why was the Trafficking Bill treated as an exception? The Government's tearing hurry and avoidance of the Standing Committee shows absolute disregard for democratic processes and parliamentary procedures".

The bill provides for confidentiality of victims, witnesses and complainants and time-bound trials and repatriation of the victims.

It proposes to create institutional mechanisms at district, state and central levels. It calls for punishment ranging from 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine not less than Rs one lakh.

This bill, when passed will be the only legislation dealing with all form of human trafficking.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Passengers in the north central railways (NCR) region can now book their unreserved tickets through a mobile-based application, an official said today.

The appplication would benefit the train passengers at all stations under the NCR region who would no longer be required to wait in long ques for unreserved tickets.

Additionally, the app also allows booking platform tickets.

The NCR region of the Indian Railways spans over parts of UP, Haryana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

The NCR has now introduced unreserved tickets on mobile phones and the facility is available for all the stations under the NCR region, PRO, NCR, Amit Malviya told PTI.

For booking of tickets, the passengers have to download the mobile app "UTS on Mobile" through Google play store/Window Store/App Store or I-phone.

The app, developed by the Center for Railway Information Systems (CRIS)was formally launched today by General Manager, NCR, MC Chauhan.

"The app is free and the users can download and install it without incurring any charges for the same. Once the app has been downloaded, the passenger has to register by providing his/her mobile number, nearest station, default booking train type, class, ticket type, number of passengers and frequently travelled routes", Malviya said.

After successful registration, 'R-Wallet' will be created automatically with zero balance and could be recharged.

A bonus of 5 per cent is given on every recharge of R-wallet, he said.

While the option of booking a printable paper-ticket is available on the app, a passenger can book a paperless journey ticket, season ticket and platform ticket as well.

A passenger can book a paperless journey ticket within the radius of 5 km of the station of journey commencement while for platform ticket the radius limit is 2 kms.

No extra charge is levied on passenger for booking of such ticket if the ticket is booked through R-Wallet. For other payment options, a gateway service charge will be applicable, he said.

On successful booking, the passenger gets the details of the ticket on his/her mobile application.

A "Show Ticket" option helps the passengers to see their booked active/valid ticket, he said, adding that cancellation is not allowed for paperless mobile ticket.

He said that the app works in offline mode also, which means that a paperless ticket, once booked, is stored within the app and can be accessed by the passenger without the need for an internet connection.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Nagaland government was deploying additional forces along the border with Assam as preventive measure to thwart a possible influx of illegal immigrants after the final draft of NRC is published on July 30, official sources said.

The state government has also decided to form special task forces (STFs) in every district to "prevent lynching", according to a bulletin.

Home and Police Departments under the chairmanship of Nagaland Chief Secretary Temjen Toy held a meeting yesterday to decide on the preventive measures to be adopted, the state government said in the bulletin.

The state police was deploying additional forces including units of the India Reserve Battalion (IRB) along the Nagaland-Assam border, they said.

The Centre has already sent over 22,000 central paramilitary troops in order to beef up security in Assam and adjoining states in view of the publication of the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

"The state government is also writing to village councils to remain vigilant and not allow the illegal immigrants to enter their jurisdictions or employ them in any manner," the bulletin said.

The deputy commissioners have also been instructed to take appropriate measures and issue necessary advisories to house owners to verify the identity of tenants from the authorities concerned and not let out their premises to doubtful and suspicious people, the bulletin said.

Several areas of Assam such as Sivasagar, Jorhat, Golaghat, Uriamghat and Karbi Anglong are located on the Assam-Nagaland border.

"All the districts will have Special Task Forces under their respective Superintendents of Police to prevent lynching," the bulletin said.

The Centre has also asked the governments of Assam and neighbouring states to ensure peace and maintain law and order following the publication of the NRC final draft.

The NRC part draft was published on the intervening night of December 31 and January 1, wherein the names of 1.9 crore of the 3.29 crore applicants were incorporated.

On July 30, the NRC will be published.

Meanwhile, the apex students' body in the state - Naga Students Federation (NSF) -- has appealed the general public not to entertain illegal immigrants and also asked the Nagaland government to place strict mechanism to monitor the entry and exit of people.

In a release, the NSF said with the publication of the final draft of the NRC, it is being viewed that "massive migration of illegal immigrants is bound to happen if the state government does not take necessary measures to monitor their flow".

It claimed the final draft of the NRC poses the biggest demographic threat to the Assam's neighbouring states, particularly Nagaland.

Saying that the NSF would conduct spot verification in the entry and exit points of the state, the students' body further urged everyone to remain vigilant and monitor the situation closely.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Odisha government has signed a MoU with 'Sightsavers', a global organisation working to prevent avoidable blindness, to strengthen inclusive for the blind and low vision students, state government officials said.

The Odisha Primary Programme Authority (OPEPA) on behalf of Department of School & Mass signed the MoU with Sightsavers yesterday, they said.

"As part of the MoU, Sightsavers will provide technical support to OPEPA in strengthening the mainstream education of the blind and low vision children studying in general schools across the state," an official said.

Sightsavers will also provide technical support in disability management, low vision assessment, curriculum and special skill development among visually impaired students, the official said.

It will also help in capacity building of resource and classroom teachers towards quality education delivery for the children with special needs, he said.

The project while targeting approximately 25,000 visually impaired students, will also promote enabling environment at schools for approximately 1.3 lakh students with special needs, currently enrolled in general schools of the state, the official added.

As part of the initiative, Sightsavers will demonstrate the application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based education, low vision devices, daisy players, tablets, accessible education materials, disabled friendly Teaching Learning Materials (TLM) for better learning outcome of the targeted students, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Punjab Minister O P Soni released one lakh fish seeds into the Beas river today as a part of the state government's commitment to further improve the aquatic ecosystem and within the water body.

Accompanied by Baba Bakala-constituency MLA Santokh Singh Bhalaipur and Amritsar Deputy Commissioner Kamaldeep Singh Sangha, the minister took a boat ride for releasing the fish seeds.

Talking to media persons on the sidelines, the minister said a fine of Rs 5 crore was imposed on a firm which had spilled molasses in the river. He said the mill was still closed.

Soni said the need of hour was to sensitise the people for this cause, adding that the 'Tandrust Punjab' mission would act as a catalyst to save the

He assured that all-out efforts would be made to make the state's rivers pollution-free and clean. Twenty-lakh fish seeds will be released in the rivers by August 15, Soni added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Rajasthan BJP chief Madan Lal Saini has put his foot in the mouth, saying Humayun told Babur to respect cows if he wanted to rule India.

The senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader was caught on camera getting his history wrong, confusing the father with the son.

I recall that when Humayun was on the deathbed, he called Babur and told him that he should respect cows, Brahmins and women if he wanted to rule Hindustan, Saini told reporters at the BJP's state headquarters.

Saini goofed up on the historical fact that Babur was Humayun's father, and not the other way round. Babur died in 1530, about 25 years before Humayun's death.

The reporters had sought Saini's comments on the recent lynching of Rakbar Khan, also known as Akbar Khan.

Saini said even during the times of staunch Muslim rulers like Aurangzeb there was a ban on cow slaughter.

Akbar who died in Alwar had a case of cow smuggling lodged against him. Whatever happened was unfortunate. We live in a democracy which is run by laws, so taking the law into one's hands is not acceptable, Saini said.

Other Rajasthan BJP leaders have also criticised cow slaughter even while condemning the lynching.

Rajasthan Labour Minister Jaswant Yadav had said that members of the Muslim community should stop cow smuggling and respect the sentiments of the Hindus.

BJP legislator Banwari Lal Singhal had made a sweeping statement, accusing people from the victim's Meo community of being involved in crime in Alwar district.

The state police have so far arrested three men in the case. An assistant sub inspector has been suspended and three constables sent to the police lines for negligence.

The government has also ordered a judicial inquiry.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The death of three sisters reportedly due to starvation today found a mention in Parliament with opposition members expressing concern over the incident.

During the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra sought to know whether the government had taken note of the serious incident.

Minister of State for Planning Rao Inderjit Singh said the incident was a very "unfortunate" but it needed to be seen under what circumstances the deaths took place and whether starvation was the reason.

Mishra expressed dissatisfaction with the minister's reply, saying the media had reported starvation as the reason.

Singh said not everything that appeared in newspapers was "gospel" and added the reports needed to be verified.

Congress leader Anand Sharma said it was a very serious matter and the members would seek a discussion on the issue.

During his reply, Singh also said that country was trying to eradicate poverty which was an ongoing process.

He said more and more people were coming out of poverty each year. But poverty is relative, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Orissa High Court today rejected the pleas of convicted IAS officer Vinod Kumar and three others challenging the order passed against them by a vigilance court.

Justice J P Dash ordered the four to appear before the vigilance court on August 4 when their quantum of punishment would be pronounced.

The high court, however, granted some relief to the IAS officer by directing vigilance sleuths not to execute the non-bailable warrant issued against Kumar by the vigilance court.

In an interim order earlier, the high court had stayed the operation of the vigilance court's order.

The vigilance court in Bhubaneswar had found the senior IAS officer guilty of financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 55 lakh during his tenure as managing director of Odisha Rural Housing Development Corporation (ORHDC). The Court had also issued NBW against him.

Soon after the conviction order, Kumar had gone underground. But through his counsel he approached the high court challenging the conviction order and sought to quash the NBW issued against him claiming that the vigilance court had not given him any opportunity of hearing.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi High Court was informed that 378 foreign prisoners, including 54 women, were lodged in Delhi prisons and most of them were facing prosecution in drug cases in which bail was a rarity.

Regarding the status of bail, the jail authorities said out of 54 foreign women inmates in Tihar and Mandoli jails, 20 had already applied for the relief and the applications were pending in courts, pleas of seven had been rejected and 13 prisoners had not applied.

In a status report filed by the director general of prisons, Tihar Jail, it was stated that the details of status of bail pleas of remaining 14 foreign women prisoners were not available with the jail department.

The report was filed before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar and the matter would be taken up for hearing on August 2.

The court, while hearing a PIL related to the issue of denial of bail and proper phone call facility to foreign women inmates arrested in drug cases and lodged in the Tihar Jail, had earlier sought for a status report from the authorities.

Regarding foreign men prisoners, the report said as of date 324 of them were lodged in Delhi prisons and as per the available information, 57 bail applications were filed in the courts out of which 43 had been disposed of.

"Most of the foreign prisoners are facing trial in cases under the NDPS Act which is a special act with stringent provisions and bail is a rarity," it said.

The report, filed in the court on July 24, also said that most of the foreign prisoners had engaged private counsel and bail applications were directly filed by them and not routed through the office of the jail superintendent concerned due to which complete details on status of their bail pleas and orders were not readily available on jail record.

The court had earlier asked the prison authorities here to give the details of all the foreign inmates lodged in the Tihar Jail, the status of their bail pleas, and the orders passed on them.

The court had extended the ambit of the plea to all the foreign inmates, not just women, on the request of amicus curiae Ajay Verma.

The bench had taken up the issue after receiving a letter from the foreign women inmates narrating their plight.

The foreign women had claimed that their Indian counterparts, arrested in similar crimes, had been granted bail, but they were not.

They alleged that they were not being granted bail by the trial courts on the sole ground that they, being foreigners, would abscond or go abroad if the relief was granted to them.

They were also aggrieved by the few minutes they are allotted twice every month to call their family and that too by using a calling card.

The women claimed that while they get two phone calls of five minutes every month, their Indian counterparts got to make a phone call of five minutes every day.

They sought that they be allowed one phone call per week.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The HRD Ministry had received 30 complaints from across the country regarding poor quality of mid-day meals during past three years and 887 students were reported ill after having those meals during the period, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

The information was shared by Union Minister of State for HRD, Upendra Kushwaha, in response to a written question in Rajya Sabha.

"A total number of 30 complaints from 15 states and union territories including Delhi regarding poor quality of serving of mid day meal have been reported during the last three years. A total number of 887 children were reported ill after having the meals in the country during the period," Kushwaha said.

"To address the issue, the government has issued guidelines on quality, safety and hygiene in school level kitchen to all states and UTs. These guidelines provide for instructions to schools to procure Agmark quality and branded items for preparation of mid-day meals, tasting of meals by 2-3 adult members of school management committee before serving to children," he added.

The HRD Minister further said the government has also adopted an elaborate monitoring mechanism at central, state and district levels to ensure quality food is served to children under the scheme.

According to statistics, maximum number of children, (259), were reported to be ill after consuming mid-day meals in Jharkhand followed by Maharashtra (201) and Uttar Pradesh (154).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pakistan authorities were today faced with hiccups in finalising the outcome of the general elections due to logistic and technical problems, resulting in allegations of rigging.

More than 85,000 polling stations were set up for elections to the national and provincial assemblies but transmission of results from there stopped due to fault in the Result Transmission Service - a special software designed for it.

Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Babar Yaqoob told media that the process had picked up after mid-day and as polling staff had physically submitted about 90 per cent results with Returning Officers (ROs) who compile final tally of every candidate.

"There was some delay but we are still faster than many other countries where it takes days before final results are ready," he said.

Yaqoob said that his analysis showed that voters' turnout was around 55 per cent but it was an "initial assessment and could change".

But contrary to his claims, the official website of the ECP showed that results of just 152 out of 270 contested seats of National Assembly were received.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Parliament today passed a bill aiming at allowing a court to try offences related to cheque bounce expeditiously and direct the drawee to pay a minimum of 20 per cent of the cheque amount as interim compensation.

The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2018, which was passed in the Lok Sabha on July 23, was passed by the Rajya Sabha by a voice vote.

Moving the bill for consideration and passage, Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said presently over 16 lakh cases of cheque bounce are pending in subordinate courts. Moreover, 34,000 such cases have gone to the high courts following appeal.

"We have brought the amendments to ensure that people have trust and faith on issuing cheques," the Minister said, adding that 1881 law on negotiable instruments has been amended from time to time.

The latest amendments aims to insert Section 143A and Section 148 in the Act to provide that a court trying a cheque bounce offence under Section 138 may order the drawer of the cheque to pay interim compensation to the complainant.

The drawer, who pleads not guilty of the accusation, will have to pay at least 20 per cent of the cheque amount as interim compensation within 60 days of the trial court's order. An additional 20 per cent compensation will have to be paid if the drawer goes for an appeal.

If the drawer is acquitted, the court may direct the payee to repay the amount paid as interim compensation with interest.

Cutting across the party line, members of opposition parties including Congress supported the bill but suggested stringent penalties to curb cheque payment defaults.

They said the government should come out with laws like in France and the UAE where a person who defaults on cheque payments is barred from issuing a cheque for five years. This has proved to be an effective deterrent in these countries, they said.

The members also suggested that the government make cheque payment default a non-bailable offence.

Participating in the debate on the bill, Congress leader Madhusudan Mistry said the penalty proposed was not that deterrent to curb fraudulent practices.

A Navneethakrishnana (AIADMK) said the bill allows a court to try an offence and direct the drawer to pay 20 per cent of the cheque amount as interim compensation to the complainant. "20 per cent payment is not good and not sustainable."



Manish Gupta (TMC) said the amendments will not have any great impact but a step towards improvement.

"Payment of 20 per cent of the cheque amount as interim compensation is not sufficient. It should be 30-40 per cent," he said, adding there was a need to identify the cause of pendency of cases in courts.

Gupta also suggested the need for a role of the regulator RBI in curbing cheque bounce cases.

Ramachandra Prasad Singh (JD-U) said the compensation amount needed to be raised to 50 per cent and after appeal, the compensation amount should be 75 per cent of the cheque amount.

He also demanded that cheque payment default should be made a non-bailable offence.

Opposing the bill, K Somaprasad (CPI-M) said about 18 lakh cheque bounce cases are pending in the country in various courts and speedy disposal is essential. "How can there be speedy disposal of cases without adequate judicial staff?"



Ramkumar Kashyap (Ind) also stressed on making cheque bounce a non-bailable offence and increasing the jail term from 2 to 4 years. He said that issuing blank cheque should also be considered a crime.

V Vijaysai Reddy (YSRCP) said that fixing interim compensation will not solve the purpose and there was a need give more powers the court.

K C Ramamurthy (Cong) stressed on reducing the pendency of cases in courts saying these will not come down unless there is a strong deterrence. In Karnataka, 3 lakh cases out 7 lakh criminal cases are related to cheque bounce.

"The bill provides a piece meal solution," he said and suggested that the compensation amount be raised and a time fixed for disposal of cases.

While Vandana Chauhan of NCP said that provisions of awarding the interim compensation of 20 per cent even without being heard is against the principles of natural justice, Binoy Viswam (CPI-M) said this amendment was not a panacea.

"The bill has presumption that drawee is wrong and payee is right, which is not good. In some cases payee are also culprit," Viswam said.

Sanjay Seth (SP), Ashok Bajpai (BJP), Veer Singh (BSP), Sushil Kr Gupta (AAP) and Mahesh Poddar (BJP) also participated in the debate.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar today informed Governor Mridula Sinha that he will be in charge of the departments of two ailing ministers, Francis D'Souza and Pandurang Madkaikar, in their absence.

Both ministers belong to the BJP and are currently undergoing treatment in hospitals in Mumbai.

While Madkaikar was admitted in Kokilaben Hospital after he suffered a brain stroke, D'Souza is undergoing treatment at Lilavati Hospital for an undisclosed ailment.

"Chief minister has communicated that he will retain the portfolios of the two ministers....The CM will respond to questions related to these departments in the House," an official from Parrikar's office told PTI.

The Raj Bhavan issued a notification in the afternoon, which said that the governor, in consultation with chief minister, has directed that Parrikar shall look after "the business of Government allocated to the said ministers" in their absence.

Madkaikar holds Power and Social Welfare departments, while D'Souza is Urban Development and Law minister.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A police constable, who tried to pacify two groups fighting over a minor car accident, was thrashed by them in northeast Delhi's Khajuri Khas area, an official said today.

Yesterday, after receiving a call about a quarrel between two groups, a policeman attached with the police control room reached the spot and tried to handle the situation. But, the crowd attacked him.

In a video that surfaced on social media, a burqa-clad woman was seen attacking the policeman with slippers for being partial. Subsequently, a group of men also joined her in beating up the policeman, the official said.

A case has been registered and two men have been arrested in connection with the case, the officer said, adding the police was scanning through the video to identify the other accused.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Pema Khandu led Arunachal Pradesh government has said it would soon replace the health insurance scheme conceived by the previous regime with a new one, an official release said today.

The new Chief Minister's Arogya Arunachal Yojana (CMAAY) will enable citizens to avail cashless health services in empanelled hospitals.

"Please work overtime and ensure that the scheme is launched on August 15," Khandu was quoted as saying during the soft launch of the CMAAY yesterday.

Once launched, the scheme will offer healthcare services of up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year.

"Launching a scheme is not difficult but successfully running it is difficult. Therefore, everything should be well studied from the very beginning and all scopes for hurdles to creep in should be nipped at the bud," Khandu said.

The vision is to accord quality and cashless healthcare services to the people of the state envisaging universal health care to all by 2020, the release said.

The CMAAY will be dovetailed with the Centre's Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection Mission and implemented by the Chief Minister Arogya Arunachal Society through its web portal by the same name.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The government today told the Supreme Court that pet coke was a "highly polluting" fuel and its use should be allowed only in certain industries as feedstock and not for manufacturing purpose.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) told a bench of justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta that it had convened a meeting with the officials of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) and Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) in this regard and had also discussed it with Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).

Additional Solicitor General A N S Nadkarni, appearing for the MoEF&CC, said that a consensus decision was taken during the deliberation that use of imported pet coke all over the country be permitted only in industries like cement, lime stone and calcium carbide.

Nadkarni said that import of pet coke was running into Rs 15,000 crore annually and decision to ban it would have implication on foreign exchange and they would discuss with the Ministry of Finance on this issue.

"But we have said that it (pet coke) is highly polluting. It can only be used for cleaner purposes," he told the bench.

Advocate Aparajita Singh, assisting the court as an amicus curiae in the matter, said that the MoEF&CC, MoPNG, DGFT and EPCA were on the same page on this issue and pet coke should be allowed to be used as a feedstock in industries.

"Today, the MoPNG, which is the nodal agency for pet coke, has clearly said it (pet coke) has to be regulated. DGFT has also clarified its position that they have no objection on it. In the meeting, MoEF&CC has also agreed on it. I would request the Supreme Court to pass an order based on this consensus," Singh said.

The amicus said that EPCA has suggested that domestic pet coke should be preferred over imported pet coke for these category of industries.

Meanwhile, Nadkarni said that since the issue of import of pet coke have implications on foreign exchange, the Finance Ministry has to be consulted and it would take some time.

The bench observed that when the US and China banned use of pet coke, Indian industries started using it become cheaper.

Nadkarni said that issue of use of pet coke by aluminium and steel industries was pending consideration and it would take eight weeks time to take a decision on it.

The bench



said that since a decision has been taken by the authorities on use of pet coke, the same should be notified and implemented immediately.

The apex court, which noted that it had earlier asked the Centre to decide on the issue of banning import of pet coke by June 30, has posted the matter for hearing on October 9.

The court was hearing the matter on ban on import of pet coke which had cropped up while adjudicating a matter which had raised the issue of air pollution in the Delhi-national capital region.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A petition was moved today before the Calcutta High Court questioning the propriety of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's recent announcement that its circuit bench at Jalpaiguri will be inaugurated in August.

The petitioner's lawyer claimed before Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty that the chief minister of a state cannot make such an announcement on a decision which is to be taken by the high court itself.

It is for a full court meeting of judges of the high court to make a decision on setting up of a circuit bench, petitioner's counsel Bikash Bhattacharya submitted.

After a full court decision, the President makes a formal notification for the setting up and inauguration of a circuit bench, he claimed before Justice Chakraborty.

The petitioner cited some newspaper reports which said the chief minister made an announcement in Siliguri on July 10 that the circuit bench will be inaugurated on August 17.

Appearing for the state, Advocate General Kishore Dutta said the petition is not maintainable.

The hearing was adjourned after lawyers for the high court administration prayed for time to get the records and other relevant documents with regard to the setting up of a circuit bench.

Justice Chakraborty directed that the matter would be taken up for hearing next Thursday.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the then Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court Justice J N Patel laid the foundation stone for the circuit bench in September 2012 on 40 acres of land given by the state government for the purpose.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Goa government is planning to extend the working hours of lifeguards till 8:30pm in the wake of a rise in drowning incidents along the state's beaches, Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar said today.

Lifeguards currently patrol the state's beaches between 8am to 7pm every day.

In a written reply tabled in the state Legislative Assembly today, the minister said that incidents of drowning had risen from 23 in 2016 to 26 in 2017 and the figure had already touched 22 for the current year.

He said that several of these incidents had happened after sunset.

The issue was raised by Congress MLA Nilkant Halarnkar.

"It has been proposed that working hours of the lifeguarding services on the beaches be extended till 8:30 pm," he said.

He informed the House that the state government had constituted a committee to examine drowning incidents along the beaches as well as issues like vendors operating illegally on beaches and consumption of liquor there.

"The committee has directed us to erect signboards with instructions at specific locations prohibiting swimming and venturing into unmanned water bodies in the state," he said.

He said that the state government was also examining if the services of the Beach Security Police can be extended beyond midnight till the early hours of the morning.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi today held bilateral meetings with presidents of Argentina and Angola on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit and discussed ways to boost ties, including in areas of energy and agriculture.

Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted a photograph of Prime Minister Modi and Angolan President Joao Lourenco together at the start of the talks.

"Bilateral meetings continue for PM @narendramodi in Johannesburg! With the President of Angola Joao Lourenco. Discussed intensifying relations in trade and investment, agriculture & food processing, pharma, oil and natural gas. #IndiaatBRICS," Kumar said in the tweet.

India and Angola have traditionally enjoyed friendly ties. India supported the Angolan freedom struggle against the Portuguese colonial rule till it attained independence in 1975.

India has become the third-largest trading partner of Angola, sharing about 15 per cent of that country's external trade. Angola remained the second-largest source of crude oil for India, after Nigeria, in the Sub-Saharan Africa, according to information available on the MEA website.

There are estimated 4,000 people of Indian-origin in Angola holding passports of different nationalities.

The Prime Minister's Office tweeted that both leaders "discussed ways to enhance cooperation in trade, energy and other sectors."



In another tweet, the PMO said Modi held a separate bilateral meeting with Argentine President Mauricio Macri.

"Accelerating ties with Argentina. During their meeting, Presdent @mauriciomacri and PM @narendramodi talked about strengthening relations especially in the areas of agriculture, pharmaceuticals and investment (sic)," the PMO tweeted.

As president of the G20, Macri was invited to participate in the BRICS Summit.

The two leaders previously met on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Hangzhou, China, in September 2016. That time, Modi had thanked Macri for supporting India's membership bid at the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Modi arrived in Johannesburg on Wednesday to attend the two-day BRICS Summit. The theme of the summit this year is 'BRICS in Africa'.

BRICS is a grouping of emerging nations formed in 2009 and comprises five countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Representing over 4o per cent of the world's population, the block's growth rates surpass those of the developed countries of the G7.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the in Johannesburg and said the friendship between the two countries is deep-rooted.

The meeting between the two leaders comes after their informal meet in the Black Sea coastal city of Sochi, Russia in May.

The two leaders then met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Qingdao, China, in June.

"Wide-ranging and productive talks with President Putin. India's friendship with Russia is deep-rooted and our countries will continue working together in multiple sectors. @KremlinRussia," Prime Minister Modi said in a tweet.





Wide-ranging and productive talks with President Putin. Indias friendship with Russia is deep-rooted and our countries will continue working together in multiple sectors. @KremlinRussia pic.twitter.com/xMl1k6XWX9  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 26, 2018

During their meeting in Sochi, India and Russia had elevated their strategic partnership to a "special privileged strategic partnership".

Modi arrived in Johannesburg on Wednesday to attend the two-day The theme of the summit is 'BRICS in Africa'.

BRICS is a grouping of emerging nations formed in 2009 and comprises five countries - Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa. Representing over 40 per cent of the world's population, the block's growth rates surpass those of the developed countries of thePrime Minister Narendra Modi today met South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and the two leaders discussed ways to expand the bilateral ties in a number of sectors, including trade and investment, IT and defence.

Following the delegation-level talks between Modi and Ramaphosa, three MoUs were signed on cooperation in exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, setting up of Gandhi-Mandela Centre of specialisation for artisan skills and agricultural research and education.

Modi, who arrived here yesterday, met Ramaphosa on the sidelines of the two-day BRICS summit whose theme this year is 'BRICS in Africa'.

"Kicking off a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of BRICS! PM Narendra Modi meets the host South African President Cyril Ramaphosa," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet.

India and South Africa are celebrating 21 years of strategic partnership.

"India and South Africa are proud inheritors of legacies of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela," Kumar said.

"PM Narendra Modi and President Cyril Ramaphosa discussed expansion of our relationship in trade and investment, agriculture and food processing, IT, defence and people-to-people contacts," he said.

BRICS is a grouping of five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as "BRIC", before the induction of South Africa in 2010.

India's relations with South Africa date back several centuries. India was at the forefront of the international community in its support to the anti-apartheid movement.

This year also marks 25 years since the resumption of India's diplomatic relations with South Africa in 1993. This year also marks the 125th year of the Pietermaritzburg railway station 'incident' involving Mahatma Gandhi.

The South African Indian-origin community numbers around 1.5 million and constitutes about 3 per cent of South Africa's total population.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with the other heads of BRICS states today imparted their hand impressions on clay during a visit to South Africa's famous Cradle of Humankind at Maropeng.

The Maropeng Visitor Centre is an award-winning attraction situated in the Witwatersberg and Magaliesberg mountain ranges, just an hour from Johannesburg and Pretoria.

It is the official Visitor Centre of the Cradle of Humankind, one of South Africa's eight world heritage sites and one of the major tourist attractions in the country.

"Leaving a lasting impression! @PM @narendramodi and other #BRICS leaders imparting their hand impression on clay in a symbolic demonstration of our connect to the Cradle of Humankind at Maropeng. (sic)," Raveesh Kumar, the spokesperson for Ministry of External Affairs, tweeted.

Modi is in South Africa to attend the BRICS Summit.

The BRICS is a grouping of five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as "BRIC", before the induction of South Africa in 2010.

South Africa is hosting the 10th annual summit of the BRICS bloc here from July 25 to 27.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi today reaffirmed India's commitment to multilateralism, international trade and rules-based world order as he participated in the BRICS Summit here.

Modi, who arrived here yesterday on the last leg of his Africa tour, presented the country statement of India at the BRICS leaders' closed session.

"Celebrating a decade towards peace, harmony and shared development and prosperity! PM @narendramodi joins fellow #BRICS leaders at the group photo at Sandton International Convention Centre at the formal beginning of the Summit," Raveesh Kumar, the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, tweeted.

The prime minister reaffirmed India's commitment to multilateralism, international trade and rules-based world order, he said.

The grouping's leaders during the 10th edition of the BRICS Summit are expected to deliberate on global hot-spot issues, international peace and security, global governance and trade issues among others.

Modi is also expected to meet BRICS leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders.

BRICS is a grouping of five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as "BRIC", before the induction of South Africa in 2010.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar today accused the police of humiliating his party workers, alleging that the forces' behaviour was maligning the image of the government.

The minister's comments follows his visit to the Rasra police station in the district when its station house officer (SHO) did not reach his home after being called by him.

"The police is humiliating my party workers. Their behaviour is maligning the image of the government. I will meet the CM (Yogi Adityanath) in this regard," Rajbhar, the state backward class welfare minister, told reporters here.

Some people had reached the minister's residence with their problems, following which he asked his assistant to call the SHO, Gyaneshwar Mishra, at his residence, but he did come after repeated calls. Rajbhar then reached the police station and accused them of biased action in a land dispute that took place on Sunday in the area.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty has been sent by the Jammu and Kashmir Police for the United States requesting for preserving data of Facebook and Twitter accounts of journalist Shujaat Bhukari, who was killed by Lashker-e-Taiba last month, which will be followed by a Letters Rogatory for handing over the data.

The request under the MLAT was sent to the Home Ministry which will route it to the United States through legal and treaties department of the Ministry of External Affairs soon, officials said.

"We believe that there are threatening messages sent to him on social networking sites from Pakistan which will help the police in nailing all the conspirators behind the killing of the journalist," an official said.

This is for the first time that the Jammu and Kashmir Police has been making efforts to gather evidences in a systematic and scientific way.

Facebook and Twitter are based out of the US and so is the Google, which runs e-mail services. The preservation of data and subsequent transfer will give us more leads into the case, the officials said.

Both the US and India are signatories to an MLAT since 2005 which enables the two countries to pursue their common objective of law enforcement of putting in place a legal mechanism to enable them to provide to each other assistance in connection with the investigation, prosecution, prevention and suppression of crime including those relating to terrorism, narcotics, trafficking, economic and organised crime.

The treaty shall include taking the testimony or statements of persons; providing documents, records and items of evidence; locating or identifying persons or items; serving documents etc.

The officials said a Letters Rogatory for handing over the data as part of evidence will be sent later once the trial begin in the case.

On June 14, Bukhari, the editor-in-chief of a local English daily 'Rising Kashmir', was shot dead outside his office here when he was on his way to break his fast during the holy month of Ramzan.

The police has named banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba behind the attack and identified the killers as Naveed Jatt, a Pakistani national who escaped from custody in February this year, Azad Ahmed Malik and Muzafar Ahmad Bhat, both Lashkar operatives.

The police have also named Sajad Gul, a resident of Kashmir who is now based in Pakistan, as one of the conspirators in the killing of Bukhari.

He had been attacking the Kashmiri scribe through his blog and it is believed that he had threatened the victim in past.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A political slugfest broke out today over the starvation deaths of three minors including a toddler in the national capital, with the BJP-led central government attacking the Kejriwal dispensation for the incident, which has yet again put the spotlight on lack of basic needs for a large section of the society.

The horrific deaths taking place in Delhi came as a big shock with the state's per capita income of Rs 3.29 lakh being the second highest in the country and nearly three times of the national average.

Even as the police today formed teams to trace the father of the three girls who died in East Delhi's Mandawali area on Tuesday, the issue also resonated in Parliament, where the BJP members attacked the AAP government alleging that a "ration" scam in Delhi was resulting in subsidised grains not reaching the poor.

The Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan said the Centre has ordered an inquiry into the deaths.

Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the shocking incident was a result of the "biggest failure of system" and asked the Directorate of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) to submit details of concerned officials who had responsibility of keeping record of people living in the area and also fix their accountability.

The girls, aged eight, four and two years, were brought to a hospital by their mother and a friend at around 1 pm on Tuesday, and the hospital authorities had later informed police about their deaths. The initial postmortem report said that the girls died due to "malnourishment/starvation and its complications.

A second second autopsy was conducted at GTB Hospital that found no injury marks, with doctors saying "It looked like a typical case of malnutrition, dishevelled, monkey-like face, no trace of fat in the bodies."



"And when the body was opened, stomach, bladder and rectum were all found empty," Medical Superintendent of LBS Hospital, Dr Amita Saxena said adding they did not suspect any foul play like poisoning as there was "no food in the stomach".

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has sought a report by tomorrow from Delhi Police and the district administration in connection with the deaths.

The Commission has issued notices to the Manadavali police station Station House Officer and the Sub-divisional Magistrate of Preet Vihar (East District). It has also sought a factual report along with complete details of circumstances that led to the deaths along with the health status of the parents.

In its notice to the police, the women's panel has asked for a status report on the investigation and a copy of the post mortem. "The incident is extremely shocking and tragic. The Commission has instituted an inquiry into the matter," the notice said.

Meanwhile, Sisodia visited the SDM office in East Delhi where he met girls' mother. "I want to say that be it girls have died of starvation, poverty or illness, it is the biggest failure of our system," Sisodia told reporters here.

He directed the planning department of Delhi government to conduct 100 per cent census on the status of children and people, including their living condition, education and chronic disease, age factor among others.

Hitting out at ICDS which comes under the Union Ministry of Women & Child Development, Sisodia said the Integrated Child Development Services was formed to help children faced with hunger and starvation so that government come forward and provide a help to them in the country.

He said there are anganwadi and ICDS officers in Delhi as well, but the "system has failed somewhere".

"I have directed the directorate of ICDS to submit his report till the evening about concerned officials who had responsibility of keeping record of people living in the area and also fix their accountability. If family's details were in the record, what were concerned officials doing?" he said.

Sisodia said the Delhi government has decided to provide Rs 25,000 to the family.

Meanwhile raising the matter in Lok Sabha, BJP leaders from Delhi -- Ramesh Bidhuri, Parvesh Verma and Maheish Girri -- alleged there was a "ration scam" in Delhi that was stopping subsidised grains from reaching the poor.

The area where the tragedy occurred falls in the constituency of Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister, Bidhuri said while attacking the AAP government.

Congress' Deepender Hooda said both the city government and the Union government were to be blamed for the deaths.

During the Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha, BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra sought to know whether the government has taken note of the serious incident.

Minister of State for Planning Rao Inderjit Singh said the incident was a very "unfortunate" but it needed to be seen under what circumstances the deaths took place and whether starvation was the reason.

Congress leader Anand Sharma said it was a very serious matter and the Rajya Sabha members would seek a discussion on the issue.

Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken visited the area and said the incident raises several questions as to what happened to the 'Aam Aadmi canteen' that was announced with much fanfare and if the girl went to school, why did she not get the midday meal.

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said it is a matter of "shame" for the AAP government and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal that three little girls died due to hunger in Delhi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Observing that prescribing medicines to patients without diagnosis amounted to culpable negligence, the Bombay High Court has turned down the anticipatory bail pleas of a doctor couple booked for the death of a woman patient.

Justice Sadhana Jadhav made the observations yesterday while hearing the anticipatory bail pleas filed by a gynaecologist couple - Deepa and Sanjeev Pawaskar.

The doctors have been booked by the Ratnagiri Police under section 304 of Indian Penal Code (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) after the patient died earlier this year.

According to the police, the woman was admitted to the accused couple's hospital in Ratnagiri in February this year where she underwent caesarean operation and gave birth to a baby.

The court order said The woman and the child were normal and were discharged two days later.

However, the next day the woman fell sick and her relatives called up Deepa Pawaskar, who asked them to go to a medicine shop and let her speak with the chemist there over phone, it said.

The doctor spoke with the chemist who then gave some medicines to the relatives of the woman. However, even after taking the medicines, the woman did not feel better and was taken to the same hospital, it said.

Both Deepa and Sanjeev Pawaskar were not present at the hospital at that time but they told the woman's family that they should admit her and she would be discharged the next day, the order said.

When the woman's condition deteriorated the next day, the doctors at the hospital shifted her to another hospital, where she died, it said.

The doctors at the second hospital informed the victim's kin that she had died due to negligence on part of the Pawaskars, following which a case was registered against them, the order said.

The high court noted that there was no effort to refer the woman to another doctor in the absence of Deepa Pawaskar and she (Deepa) continued to prescribe medicines telephonically.

"There was no resident medical officer or any other doctor to look after the patient in the absence of Deepa and Sanjeev Pawaskar even when the couple knew that they would not be available in the hospital," the court said.

"Prescription without diagnosis would amount to culpable negligence. This amounts to gross negligence from the point of standard of care and recklessness and negligence, which is a tricky road to travel," it said.

The accused couple, in their pleas, argued that they could not be charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder and should, at the most, be booked under section 304 (A) (causing death due to negligence).

Under section 304 (A), a person, if found guilty, faces a maximum punishment of two years in jail. Under section 304, a convicted person can be sentenced to life imprisonment.

The high court, however, said that in the present case, the applicants took the risk of doing something with recklessness and indifference to the consequences.

"An error in diagnosis could be negligence and covered under section 304 (A) of the Indian Penal Code. But this is a case of prescription without diagnosis and, therefore, culpable negligence," Justice Jadhav said.

"When a doctor fails in his duty, is it not tantamount to criminal negligence ? The courts cannot ignore the ethical nature of the medical law by liberally extending the legal protection to the medical professionals...," the order said.

The couple also claimed that this case fell under the purview of a civil liability and hence, they could be directed to pay compensation to the victim's family.

To this, Justice Jadhav said mere monetary compensation cannot buy a child her mother and a husband his wife.

The court noted that medical professionals have been put on a pedestal and time has come to weed out careless and negligent persons in the medical profession.

"Segregation of reckless and negligent doctors in the profession will go a great way in restoring the honour and prestige of large number of doctors and hospitals who are devoted to their profession and scrupulously follow the ethics and principles of the noble profession," it said.

The court rejected the pleas, but stayed its order till August 2 to allow the accused couple to file appeals against the order.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A parliamentary panel today asked Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) to investigate the delay in recovery of outstanding arrears which have soared to over Rs 8,380 crore.

The corpus of the ESIC, a social sector scheme, is built on contributions from employers as well as employees.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour regretted that ESIC has not been able to recover the arrears despite the presence of harsh provisions for recovery of arrears, attachment of accounts, arrest warrants, and the statutory requirements for employers to file monthly contribution details online.

"It has appeared to the Committee that the enforcement of these provisions by ESIC is, perhaps, weak and measures need to be taken to not only recover the huge outstanding arrears but also to minimise the arrears in the future," said the report of the panel tabled in Parliament today.

The Committee noted that as on date Rs 8,380.06 crore (sum of arrears from 2013-2017) is due out of which Rs 4,863.06 crore is non-recoverable.

Further, out of the targets fixed in the last five years for recovery of Rs 1,225.01 crore by ESIC, only Rs 1,147.09 crore could be recovered due to one reason or the other.

"The ESIC has also informed that out of the total outstanding arrears, a substantial amount is not recoverable," the report said.

The Committee has desired ESIC to initiate necessary action for recovery of outstanding arrears amounting to Rs 8,380.06 crore. It has recommended that the ESIC needs to investigate and determine accountability in a time bound manner.

The Committee wants to be apprised of the action by ESIC for ensuring prompt action against defaulters, the report said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The process for extradition of Vijay Mallya is progressing as per the India-UK extradition treaty and the matter is currently sub-judice, Rajya Sabha was informed today.

In a written reply, Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh said a formal extradition request was handed by the ministry to the British High Commission in New Delhi on February 9, 2017.

The matter is currently sub-judice at the Westminster Magistrate's Court in London, where hearing for final arguments on closing submissions of the case has been fixed on July 31, 2018, Singh said.

"From the developments so far, it can be concluded that the process for extradition of Mr Vijay Mallya has progressed/is progressing as per the India-UK extradition treaty. Whether the person will be extradited to India or not will depend on the court's decision where the process is awaiting conclusion," he said.

To another question, he said the total number of people served at the 93 Passport Seva Kendras since 2014 was 4,68,74,655.

On Afghanistan he said, "No Indian national was killed in the suicide bomb attack in Jalalabad, on July 1, 2018. However, twelve Afghan Sikh and one Afghan Hindu national were killed in this attack.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Jammu and Kashmir Police has arrested a man from Punjab after 8 kg of poppy was allegedly found in his possession here, an official said today.

During a routine patrolling last night, a police team found Iqbal Mohd -- from Doraha village in Ludhiana -- moving suspiciously near the Bus Stand area. The police found 8 kg of poppy after searching him, a police official said.

A case was registered and further investigation is going on, the official added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The House of Elders today paid tributes to brave soldiers who laid down their lives for the country on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas.

The day marks the victory of Indian forces over Pakistan in the hills of Kargil and the success of India's Operation Vijay in 1999.

As the Rajya Sabha met for the day, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu paid tributes on the occasion of the 19th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas.

He recalled that on this day the brave soldiers with their valour, courage and sacrifice recaptured Kargil Heights resulting in a spectacular victory for the country.

"Today, on behalf of the whole House and on my own behalf, I pay glowing tributes to our brave soldiers who faced extreme conditions and difficult situation to defend our country to secure our lives.

"We pay our respect to memories of the brave soldiers who laid down lives in the defence of our country," the Chairman said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Karnataka Chief Minister H DKumaraswamy today said he was open for a discussion on thedevelopment of North Karnataka, a day after some outfits called for a bandh on August 2 to press their demand for statehood for the region.

The chief minister also invited those demanding a separate state for a meeting to discuss the issues concerning the region.

"Do they have any information about thedevelopments in the last 60 to 70 years? Without getting anyinformation with some personal interests they are doing allthese things," Kumaraswamy told reporters here.

He asked whether the discrimination has happened inthe last two months.

"Do the people of north Karnataka feel let down after I assumed charge as chief minister and my government came to power? I'm ready to discuss it anywhere," Kumaraswamy said.

"Those wanting to divide the state, why they are asking for this?...I'm ready to call for a public hearing or invite the organisations to Suvarna Vidhana Soudha (in Belagavi) for a meeting.

I openly request them to bring their problems to my notice," he said.

A day-long bandh has been called by some outfits in 13 districts of north Karnataka on August 2 demanding statehood for the region, alleging discrimination by successivegovernments towards it.

Calling for the bandh, 'Uttara Karnataka Pratyeka Rajya Horata Samiti'(North Karnataka Separate Statehood Protest Committee) has alleged discrimination in allocation towards the region in the budget presented by Kumaraswamy on July 5 and also lesser representation in the cabinet.

Commenting on the demand for a separate north Karnataka state, deputy chief minister G Parameshwara said development of "Akhanda Karnataka" (united Karnataka) was the government's agenda.

"Whole of Karnataka is one, there is no second or third Karnataka. It is akhanda Karnataka....we don't have anything like- one part should develop and other part should not," he said.

Parameshwara also recalled efforts by successive Congress governments for the development of northern parts of the state, including getting special category status for the Hydrabad-Karnataka region.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Bangladeshis appeared indifferent to the West Bengal government's decision to rename the state today, considering it an internal matter of India, although some scholars feared the change could create confusion among the native people in the region across both sides of the border.

The West Bengal Assembly earlier in the day passed a resolution to rename the state as 'Bangla'. The state will have to wait for the nod from the Indian Home Ministry for a final approval on the resolution.

Bangladesh's ruling Awami League's Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Haque Hanif said the decision was not their concern as they are not related to it.

"We are neither North Bengal nor South Bengal, we are independent Bangladesh and so their decision will not affect our status or identity and neither it is conflicting to our interest," he told PTI.

Professor Arefin Siddique, a former Vice Chancellor of Dhaka University, the oldest university in Bangladesh, said though the people of his country and West Bengal share a common language and heritage in intellectual terms, "the political geography made a clear division" and the "decision is unrelated to us".

"It is an internal affair of our neighbouring country," Siddique said.

Playwright and poet Iraj Ahmed, however, said the West Bengal state assembly's resolution could create confusion as "the very concept of Bengal which once was there, does not exist anymore" since the 1947 Partition.

"Being a citizen of another country, I don't have any say, but I think it could be a little confusing as some of their (West Bengal) intellectuals as well (have) earlier criticised the renaming move," he said.

Bangladeshi journalists' apex forum Federation of Bangladesh Union of Journalists (BFUJ) Secretary General Omar Faruque largely agreed with Ahmed, saying he viewed it as an "incorrect decision".

"It is not a pleasant decision for the people of Bangladesh ... it could create a confusion over the identity of Bangladeshis and West Bengal people," he said.

But poet Ruhul Ghani Jyoti said the decision would not create identity crisis for Bangladeshis or the people of West Bengal.

"The reality is their (West Bengal people) prime identity is they are Indians ... it is good if the decision brings them any benefit," he said.

The West Bengal government's move is aimed at climbing the alphabetical sequence of state names in which West Bengal appears last in the list now.

Earlier, the Indian government at the Centre had rejected the state government's proposals of having three names Bangla (in Bengali), Bengal (in English) and Bangal (in Hindi).

The Mamata Banerjee government's proposal of renaming West Bengal as "Paschim Bango" in 2011 was also turned down by the Centre.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Chinese cyberespionage group called APT10 relentlessly attacks US engineering, telecom and aerospace industries. last year compromised dozens of US energy companies.

Iranian hackers known as "Rocket Kitten" repeatedly target American defense companies in hopes of stealing information to boost Tehran's missile and space programs.

While Moscow's efforts to meddle in the 2016 US presidential election are widely known, spy services from China, Russia and Iran, along with their proxy hackers, also are hard at work trying to steal trade secrets and proprietary information from the United States, according to a government report released today. A classified version of the report was sent to Congress.



"Foreign economic and industrial against the continues to represent a significant threat to America's prosperity, security and competitive advantage," the National Counterintelligence and Security Center said. "China, Russia and stand out as three of the most capable and active cyber actors tied to economic and the potential theft of US trade secrets and proprietary information."





Cyberespionage is a relatively low-cost, high-yield way to access and acquire information from US research institutions, universities and corporations, the report said.

More vulnerabilities will emerge with the increase in cloud computing, and the proliferation of vehicles, home appliances, medical devices and other items connected to the internet.



Cyberoperations are the preferred method for conducting economic espionage, the report said, but US adversaries also acquire sensitive information by hiring sophisticated hackers, recruiting spies or gleaning material from foreign students studying at American universities.

Adversaries also are infiltrating computer networks of suppliers that serve large companies and then using that connection to worm their way up the chain into large corporate computer systems. Bill Evanina, the nation's top counterintelligence official and director of the centre, told reporters at a briefing that business leaders need to investigate the security of computer systems used by companies that supply their air conditioning and heating, printers and copiers and the like.

"Our economic security is our national security," Evanina said "We cannot just get numb to our adversaries stealing our intellectual property." The report listed two dozen technologies that have piqued the interest of foreign intelligence collectors.



ALSO READ: Cyber heists

They include oil, gas and coal-bed methane gas energies; smart grids; solar and wind technologies; biopharmaceuticals and new vaccines and drugs; defensive marine systems and radar; hybrid and electric cars; pollution control; high-end computer numerically controlled machines, which are used to control factory tools and machines in manufacturing; space infrastructure and exploration technology; synthetic rubber; rare earth materials; quantum computing; and next generation broadband wireless communications networks.

Michael Moss, deputy director of the government's Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center, said incidents of economic are growing rapidly. "The thing that continues to surprise me is how fast it continues to accelerate. It's getting faster and faster," he said.

uses joint ventures to try to acquire technical know-how, the report said. It said Beijing seeks partnerships with US government labs to learn about specific technology and information about running such facilities and uses front companies to hide the hand of the Chinese government and acquire technology under US export controls.



The has railed against China, imposed new tariffs and called for Beijing to end the theft of intellectual property from U.S. companies. The administration also wants to curb policies that require American and other foreign businesses to hand over technology in exchange for access to the Chinese market.

"If this threat is not addressed, it could erode America's long-term competitive economic advantage," the report said.

Economic espionage conducted by hackers linked to Russia is mostly aimed at finding ways to inflict damage on the United States, disrupt services or benefit its economic interests, according to the report.

"In support of that goal, Russian intelligence services have conducted sophisticated and large-scale hacking operations to collect sensitive U.S. business and technology information," the report said. It also said that Russian "military modernisation efforts also likely will be a motivating factor for Russia to steal US intellectual property."



Iranian's operations have typically targeted adversaries in the Middle East, such as Israel and Saudi Arabia. But it also tries to infiltrate U.S. networks to acquire technologies to bolster economic growth, modernize its military and increase exports.

"The loss of sensitive information and technologies not only presents a significant threat to US national security," the report said. "It also enables to develop advanced technologies to boost domestic economic growth, modernize its military forces and increase its foreign sales.The CPI(M) and AIADMK today asked the government to respond to the nationwide indefinite strike by truck operators, saying its continuation would have implications on the availability and prices of essential commodities.

Raising the issue during Zero hour, P R Sundaram (AIADMK) said common people have been hit due to the strike in Tamil Nadu.

He said that goods worth over Rs 300 crore were lying in stock due to the strike. "Vegetable prices are going up. I request the government to end the strike of truck operators," he added.

Mohd Salim (CPI-M) too said the government should respond to the strike as they have raised a very pertinent issue.

All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), which claims support of 93 lakh truckers, started a nationwide indefinite strike on July 20.

Transporters' demands include a reduction in central and state taxes by getting diesel under the GST so that the price of the deregulated commodity can be reduced. Essential commodities have been kept out of the strike.

Besides this, the truckers are also opposing the "flawed and non-transparent" toll collection system saying it favoured the concessionaires and alleged that the time and fuel loss amounted to up to Rs 1.5 trillion annually on this count.

Raising the issue of spread of rumours about child snatchers, B Mahtab (BJD) said the government should take steps to contain spread of false rumours about child snatchers.

Citing an example of three people from Odisha being chased in Chennai over such rumours, he said those found guilty should be prosecuted within a fixed time-frame.

He also expressed concern over rising incidents of mob lynching in the country on account of rumours of child lifting.

Chintamani Malviya (BJP) demanded that the government frame a law to control atrocities and crime against SC/ST people.

"Arrest in these cases are getting delayed, SC/ST people are felling helpless. I request the government that if the court is not ready to take up the matter on priority, they should frame a law," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A 65-year-old man, a retired employee of the Indian Railways, was booked for allegedly molesting a teenage girl at Titeya village in Rajasthan's Jhalawar district.

The girl is a neighbour of the accused. He took the girl to an isolated place on Saturday last and sexually assaulted her, SHO, Uneil, Prahalad Singh said. He said that a case was registered late last night after the victim's father, who was in Ujjain, arrived in the village.

A case under relevant sections of the IPC and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was registered against Vardha Balai for allegedly molesting and outraging the modesty of the 11-year-old class 3 student.

The girl was playing outside her home when the accused lured her to an isolated spot in her school after the classes were over, the SHO said. The girl raised an alarm following which some women passersby rushed to the spot to rescue her.

Soon after, the accused fled the spot, he said, adding that efforts are underway to nab him.

The accused was an employee of the Indian Railways and retired from the service about five year ago, the SHO said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A parliamentary panel today suggested that the government review India's free trade agreement in goods with ASEAN in view of rising trade deficit with the South East Asian bloc.

A report by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce said there is all likelihood that this trade deficit will further increase once the utilisation of this agreement for import increased.

The review was put on hold by ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) member states on the ground that conclusion of ongoing RCEP negotiations will address India's concerns, which is "unfair", said the report.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is a mega trade deal being negotiated among 16 countries including India, ASEAN and Australia.

"The committee is of the considered opinion that a review of the ASEAN India trade in goods agreement is imperative in view of the rising trade deficit with ASEAN," it said.

It also called for product specific rules in the India-ASEAN pact to check the possibility of passing off of other countries' goods like Chinese goods through preferential tariff route.

It asked the commerce ministry to make efforts to persuade ASEAN members for review of the agreement so that iniquitous terms of trade may be corrected.

The India-ASEAN trade in goods pact came into force from January 2010. Since its implementation, India's trade with ASEAN stood at USD 71.69 billion in 2016-17.

India's trade deficit with the 10-nation bloc has increased from USD 4.98 billion in 2010-11 to USD 9.56 billion in 2016-17.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Romanian minister apologised today for having compared the incineration of dead pigs infected with African-swine-fever to the Auschwitz concentration camp.

"I respect all the members of the Jewish community and clarify that I only wished to describe the difficult situation facing Romanian breeders due to the African swine fever," Agriculture Minister Petre Daea said in a statement.

Daea said in a television interview Tuesday that in breeding grounds affected by the disease, "pigs are incinerated, it's extraordinary work, it's like Auschwitz".

"I have never offended anyone. I just expressed my pain", said the minister, whose statements often cause confusion.

The Israeli embassy in Romania expressed its "dismay and consternation at the affirmations of the Minister of Agriculture".

"We hope, though, that such an association was made by Minister Daea due to the lack of detailed information on what was the Holocaust and Auschwitz, without the intention of dishonouring the memory of millions of victims", the embassy said in a statement.

The centre-right opposition has called for Daea's resignation, with former prime minister Dacian Ciolos saying it was "unacceptable to compare the incineration of pigs to a world tragedy".

The National Council for Combating Discrimination said it would open an inquiry and demand explanations from Daea.

"These declarations are susceptible to violate human dignity and create a hostile climate, humiliating all those who remember the Holocaust," the group's president Csaba Asztalos told AFP.

Auschwitz-Birkenau is a symbol of Nazi Germany's genocide of European Jews, over one million of whom were killed at the camp between 1940 to 1945.

African swine fever is a highly contagious disease that causes fatal haemorrhages in pigs. It is transmitted through contact with other infected pigs or ticks as well as by feeding pigs infected kitchen waste. The disease does not affect humans.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have in their custody two more suspects in connection with the SIM card swap fraud.

The suspects, Douglas Kiplimo Too and Linda Najoli Idali, were nabbed in Eldoret and are wanted by DCI officers from Molo, Kitale, and Garsen. They were both identified as Safaricom employees.

The arrest comes a day after yet another Safaricom employee was arrested alongside two accomplices. They include Joseph Kuria Kariuki, Grace Wanjira, and Meshack Okoth Okuta, who were arrested in connection with defrauding Ikinu MCA Stanley Kiarie Wanjiku Sh1.9 Million.

So far, seven suspects have since been arrested after another two were arrested last week Friday. They included Safaricom employee Maurice Michael Musoti and a Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) engineering student, Rian Obaga Nyagaka.

Mosoti was on Tuesday arraigned and charged with conspiracy to commit a felony. Appearing before Nairobi before Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi at the Milimani Law Courts, the suspect pleaded to one count of conspiracy to commit a felony. He denied the charges.Over Rs 250 crore was spent on the 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' scheme in the last three fiscals, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

The sex ratio at birth has also shown improvement in 104 of the 161 districts studied, Minister of State for Women and Child Development (WCD) Virendra Kumar said.

In 2015-16, Rs 59.37 crore was spent, and in 2016-17 and 2017-18, Rs 28.65 crore and about Rs 169.10 crore were spent respectively.

So far, in 2018-19, Rs 25.40 crore has been spent, the Rajya Sabha was informed.

The scheme was launched as a comprehensive programme to address the declining child sex ratio (CSR) and issues related to empowerment of women over a life-cycle continuum.

Of the 161 selected districts, the top five districts that showed improvement in sex ratio at birth (SRB) in 2016- 2017 as compared to the previous year were Dibang Valley (761 to 1,176); Lakshwadeep (832 to 955); Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh (849 to 943); Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh, (500-594) and Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, (949-1,018).

The five districts that have shown the sharpest decline during the same period are Saiha, Mizoram (1,022-898); Nicobar (948-839); Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh (977-908); and Shopian, (1,062-959) and Bandipore (964-885) in Jammu and Kashmir.

SRB is the number of girls born every 1,000 boys and is recorded at birth. This data is collected annually.

CSR is recorded for a population in the age group of zero to 6 years and is collected once in 10 years. It is primarily influenced by SRB and mortality in early childhood.

Haryana, which has the worst child sex ratio according to the 2011 census (834 girls for every 1,000 boys against the national average of 918), has shown improvement in sex ratio at birth in 18 of the total 20 districts selected in the state for the programme.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Russia scoffed at a US declaration that said Washington would not accept Moscow's annexation of Crimea, suggesting the country's Ukraine policy could change in the future.

"We know the worth of these 'fateful declarations'," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a sarcastic comment on Facebook late yesterday.

She suggested that Washington's Crimea policy could still change -- perhaps even under a new leader in the future.

In the declaration, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Russia to "end its occupation of Crimea," and said Moscow had sought to "undermine a bedrock international principle" shared by democratic states, that no country can change the borders of another by force.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko hailed Washington's "historic" statement, calling it a "worthy response" to the Kremlin's provocations after Donald Trump's hugely controversial summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.

The US administration stepped up its damage control operation and on Wednesday also delayed a second summit with the Kremlin chief until next year. There was no immediate Kremlin reaction to the postponement, which was announced just a day after the Kremlin said Putin and Trump had agreed in Helsinki to continue their "useful contacts".

Zakharova derided what she called the inconsistency of Washington's policies, citing as examples US reversals on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and the Paris agreement on slowing climate change.

These "were also official US policy not long ago" because Trump's predecessor Barack Obama "personally decided so", she said. "And then Trump came and decided differently," she said.

The US declaration came after the Russia's ambassador to Washington said Putin had made concrete proposals on resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine to Trump at the Helsinki summit.

The ambassador, Anatoly Antonov, spoke after a media report said Putin had called for a referendum to be held with the help of the international community in Ukraine's breakaway regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, which Russia-backed separatists control.

Speaking about a possible new summit between the Russian and US leaders, Putin's top foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov said earlier this week that the Kremlin received several days after the Helsinki meeting a US proposal to organise a new summit in Washington "at the end of the year".

Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, said the postponement of a new summit was "the right move".

"Both sides need to focus on what deliverables can be," he said on Twitter. "Most important however is not to let US domestic overshadow international diplomacy. Learn from Helsinki!"



After a Western-backed popular uprising in Kiev in 2014 ousted a pro-Kremlin regime, Russia annexed Crimea and moved to support a separatist insurgency in Donetsk and Lugansk. Moscow made Crimea part of Russia after a hastily conducted referendum whose results were rejected by the international community.

Putin has said the results of the vote would not be revisited.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Supreme Court today praised a lawyer for his spirited defence of the practice of banning entry of women in the age group of 10-50 into the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, which is hearing pleas challenging the bar on the entry of women of the particular age group into the over 800 year-old temple, commended lawyer Sai Deepak, who represented 'People for Dharma' and NGO 'Chetna' in the matter.

"Your arguments are impressive, I must admit that," Justice Misra observed.

The lawyer, who was initially granted 10-15 minutes time in the forenoon to put forth his submissions, argued for more than one-and-half hours without being asked by any of the judges to stop and was quick to respond to queries from the bench.

Arguing for the "constitutional right" of Lord Ayappa, he said the deity's will to remain celibate needed to be respected under Articles 21 (right to life and personal liberty) and 25(1) (freedom of religion) of the Constitution.

He also said evidence be called from both sides on the existence of the custom that women in that age group cannot enter the temple given the character of the deity.

The bench, however, said that it cannot remain "oblivious" of the fact that the entry of women in the age group of 10-50 was barred into the shrine on "physiological ground" of menstruation.

Senior advocate Kailasanatha Pillai, appearing for 'Ayyappa Seva Sangham', opposed the plea seeking entry of women into the temple and said he did not want "another Ayodhya in Kerala".

"Your lordships have to be very circumspect when exercising judicial review in matters of faith," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Supreme Court today slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for filing a draft report of the vision document on protection and preservation of the Taj Mahal and asked whether the apex court was supposed to vet it.

A bench comprising Justices M B Lokur and Deepak Gupta came down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh government and questioned the state's concern in the matter.

"Why have you given a draft plan? Are we supposed to vet it for you? Is it our job to vet it?" the bench asked the counsel appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government.

The apex court said it was "surprising" that the Archeological Survey of India (ASI), responsible for protection of the 17th century monument, was not consulted in framing the draft report.

During the hearing, the bench asked Attorney General K K Venugopal whether the Centre or the concerned authorities had submitted the management plan on Taj Mahal to UNESCO's World Heritage Centre in Paris.

"What will happen if UNESCO says that we will withdraw the World Heritage tag of the Taj Mahal?" the bench asked Venugopal.

Responding to the query, the attorney general said the Taj Mahal was one of the seven wonders of the world and it would be a "great, great embarrassment" for the country if the World Heritage tag of the historic monument was withdrawn.

The apex court also asked the AG which department of the Centre and the state government was responsible for maintenance of the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ).

TTZ is an area of about 10,400 sq km spread over the districts of Agra, Firozabad, Mathura, Hathras and Etah in Uttar Pradesh and Bharatpur district of Rajasthan.

The top court also asked the state government to supply the draft report to a panel of conservation experts, including INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage), for their comments.

The bench has listed the matter for further progress on the draft report of the vision document on August 28.

The apex court, which has been monitoring development in the area to protect the Taj Mahal built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal at Agra in 1643, will take up the matter on a day-to-day basis from July 31.

The ivory white marble mausoleum is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Supreme Court today slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for filing a draft report of the vision document on protection and preservation of the Taj Mahal and asked whether the apex court was supposed to vet it.

A bench comprising justices M B Lokur and Deepak Gupta came down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh government and questioned the state's concern in the matter.

"Why have you given a draft plan? Are we supposed to vet it for you? Is it our job to vet it," the bench asked the counsel appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government.

The apex court said it was "surprising" that the Archeological Survey of India (ASI), responsible for protection of the 17th century monument, was not consulted in framing the draft report.

During the hearing, the bench asked Attorney General K K Venugopal whether the Centre or the authorities concerned had submitted the management plan on Taj Mahal to UNESCO's World Heritage Centre in Paris.

"What will happen if UNESCO says that we will withdraw the World Heritage tag of the Taj Mahal," the bench asked Venugopal.

Responding to the query, the attorney general said the Taj Mahal was one of the seven wonders of the world and it would be a "great, great embarrassment" for the country if the World Heritage tag of the historic monument was withdrawn.

The apex court also asked the AG which department of the Centre and the state government was responsible for maintenance of the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ).

TTZ is an area of about 10,400 sq km spread over the districts of Agra, Firozabad, Mathura, Hathras and Etah in Uttar Pradesh and Bharatpur district of Rajasthan.

The top court also asked the state government to supply the draft report to a panel of conservation experts, including INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage), for their comments.

The bench has listed the matter for further progress on the draft report of the vision document on August 28.

In the draft vision document filed on July 24, the Uttar Pradesh government said that the entire precinct of Taj Mahal should be declared a no-plastic zone and use of bottled water be also prohibited there.

The state government also said that all polluting and sick industries from the area be removed and focus should be on having a comprehensive traffic management system in which pedestrian movement should be encouraged.

The draft report, running into more than 220 pages, said a balanced approach towards environment and development should be adopted at Taj Mahal precinct level and the comprehensive traffic management plan should encourage the visitors to travel on foot or use eco-friendly modes of transport.

It said road widening schemes in the heritage precincts to accommodate the increasing traffic need to be prohibited and battery operated eco-friendly modes of transport along tourist routes was required to be introduced with designated stops for 'hop on hop off'.

According to the state, to deal with the issue of pollution in the area, afforestation should be promoted in the TTZ region by increasing the green areas and polluting and private vehicles should be restricted in the region.

The state said no construction or built forms should be proposed on the flood plains and Yamuna river banks should only have natural plantations.

It has suggested about "closure of polluting industries in the region and promotion with incentives in alterative industries as per availability of raw materials" and "removal of sick industries and allocating lands to more economical non-polluting white and green category of industries" there.

The vision document was submitted after an angry apex court on July 11 had lashed out at Uttar Pradesh government for its apathy towards the historic monument.

The apex court, which has been monitoring development in the area to protect the Taj Mahal built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal at Agra in 1643, would take up the matter on a day-to-day basis from July 31.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A city-based private women's hostel owner, wanted for allegedly seeking sexual favours from the inmates in return for waiver of room charges, was found dead in a well in Tirunelveli district today, police said



The body of Jagannathan was found inside a well in Alankulam in that district, they said.

Punita, warden of the hostel had taken five women inmates to a hotel under the pretext of celebrating the birthday of Jagannathan on July 22 and allegedly asked them to extend sexual favours to him to waiver the room charges.

After the parents of the women lodged a complaint, a case was registered against Jagannathan and Punita, on July 24, on charges of threatening to murder and under the Prevention of Atrocities on Women Act, 2016.

The two had been absconding since then and the body of the owner was found today.

Police said they were investigating the death from all possible angles, including suicide.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)DMK president M Karunanidhi is facing a "slight decline" in his health, a hospital bulletin said, even as the party is gearing up for celebrating his 50th year as party chief tomorrow.

"There has been a slight decline in the health of DMK president M Karunanidhi due to age related ailments," a bulletin issued by Kauvery Hospital Executive Director Dr Aravindan Selvaraj said.

The 94-year-old leader is currently being treated for fever due to urinary tract infection with intravenous antibiotics and fluids.

"He is being monitored and treated round the clock by a team of medical and nursing professionals, who are providing hospital level care at his (Gopalapuram) home," the bulletin said.

The hospital said considering his medical condition, the team has strongly advised restriction of visitors.

Earlier, in a letter to party workers, Karunanidhi's son and DMK working president M K Stalin said, "Let us celebrate the golden jubilee of our leader assuming office as party chief."



"Our beloved" leader shouldered the responsibility of heading the party as its president on July 27, 1969 after the death of DMK founder-leader C N Annadurai, Stalin said.

Hailing Karunanidhi for his 'tireless' work in steering the party for half a century, he listed the welfare initiatives launched by his father during his five terms as chief minister.

Karunanidhi worked "without any respite" all his life, Stalin said, adding that "time has given some rest," a reference to his age-related health issues.

The party was confident that "time and medical science," will fulfil the party workers' yearning to hear his 'magnetic' voice again, he said.

DMK will celebrate the event by distributing sweets and distributing welfare assistance, a party leader here said.

Karunanidhi has been not keeping well since October 2016 and days ago he had underwent a procedure to change his tracheostomy tube, provided to help breathing.

Yesterday, Stalin had said Karunanidhi was suffering from fever and doctors were providing medication as he assured there was nothing to worry about his health.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)With members in Rajya Sabha expressing concern over social media platforms being used to spread rumours and fake news, government today said it has asked them to provide technological solutions so that verified fake and provocative messages can be filtered.

Government will strengthen the legal framework to ensure that significant social media and instant messaging service providers targeting Indian users, do not deprive them of the right to hold proceedings in India and protecting Indian laws, Electronics and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

Responding to the members' concerns during a calling attention motion notice on the misuse of social media platforms and propagation of fake causing unrest and violence, he said government is seriously considering that through appropriate rules all social media platforms should be required to locate their grievance officer in India.

"The duty of such grievance officer should cover not only to receive grievances on real time basis but also to inform law enforcement agencies," Prasad said.

WhatsApp, he said, has informed that it will introduce fact-checking and fake verification mechanisms to help people check the veracity of content on the platform.

Earlier, members including Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad had raised serious concern over the incidents relating to abuse of social media leading to mob lynchings, with some of them even accusing the government of inaction.

In his response, Prasad said "these (incidents) are deeply painful and regrettable, as well as a matter of deep concern for the Government. The Government has taken prompt action".

He said the government planned to issue directives in public interest requiring all social media platforms to ensure that they "do not become vehicles for promoting hatred, terrorism, money laundering, mob violence and rumour mongering."



These platforms should provide technological solutions so that verified fake news and provocative messages can be filtered by technical solutions.

They should also "bring in a more effective mechanism for receiving grievances and report to the law enforcement agencies. They should seek to provide the facility of verifying fake news on the platform itself," he said.

Observing that the government does not regulate content appearing on social networking platforms, Prasad said these platforms however are required to follow due diligence in accordance with the Information Technology Act and the Rules.

"They (social networking platforms) have also to follow Article 19(2) of the Constitution and ensure that their platforms are not used to commit and provoke terrorism, extremism, violence and crime," he said.

Referring to the reported breach at Facebook where the data of a large number of users were compromised by Cambridge Analytica, he said notices were immediately issued to the two companies and their response sought.

"Facebook responded that they will streamline their internal processes regarding handling of personal data. They stated that the case of Cambridge Analytica it was a case of breach of trust. They promised to take various other steps to ensure that such breaches do not recur," Prasad said.

However, he said, Cambridge Analytica gave an initial response that data of Indians was not breached but this was not in conformity with what was reported by Facebook. Cambridge Analytica also did not respond to a subsequent notice.

"The Government has entrusted this issue to be investigated by the CBI for possible violation of Information Technology Act, 2000 and IPC," Prasad said, adding it is suspected that Cambridge Analytica may have been involved in illegally obtaining data of Indians which could be misused.

The Minister said there were subsequent reports that users' data was "illegally accessed by hardware manufacturers who had tie-ups with Facebook. In regard to this issue, Facebook has reported that they are not aware of any misuse of information, including Indian users' information."



In addition, the government will also promote initiatives to increase awareness among the citizens to become adept in noticing fake news and to avoid becoming a party to viral circulation of fake news, he said.

"A campaign to educate school children about the misuse of social media for propagation of false news will be taken up. The Common Service Centres will also be engaged in the task of promoting this message among people especially in rural areas," Prasad said, adding that stakeholders such as educational institutions, professional and industrial associations, are involved in the campaign.

"The State Governments will also be requested to join in this effort to make the citizens more aware to prevent the use and abuse of social media. In this regard I will be writing to all Chief Ministers," Prasad said.

During the debate on the issue, V Muraleedharan of the BJP said the "sinister designs of some people" have led to large-scale violence.

Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said it was a matter of "shame" that such incidents happened in a civilised nation like India and tarnish its image within as well as abroad. He said 40 lynching incidents have taken place this year so far in 13 states across the country based on rumours.

Without taking names, Azad said Union Ministers and MLAs "go to jail to meet those allegedly involved in mob violence or felicitate such people. They should be dropped."



RJD's Manoj Kumar Jha said the messages on social media run on television channels, thereby inciting violence. He also mentioned the incidents involving trolling of senior ministers on social media.

CPI leader D Raja said social media was being used to create strains among human relations and conflicts have increased manifold. He claimed that right-wing organisations spread falsehoods to intimidate their opponents.

Derek O' Brien (TMC) alleged that the BJP came to power in 2014 used social media to condition the minds of people.

Javed Ali Khan (Samajwadi Party) said the government has "washed off its hands" saying it does not regulate social media and said it is a cause of worry when political parties spread rumours in an organised manner.

V Vijayasai Reddy (YSRCP) said there has to be constant vigilance and monitoring to curb the spread of misinformation, adding that it was imperative for the government to engage with all the stakeholders on the issue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkiah Naidu today urged members to sort out differences over a bill related to persons with autism and multiple disabilities to the Select Committee, within a couple of days saying it was a sensitive issue.

Naidu's remarks came after opposition members objected to certain provisions of the bill to amend the 1999 National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, which was moved for consideration and passage by Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot.

Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said the issue concerned millions and alleged that the government was not serious.

Questioning how the government was not able to select a suitable chairperson for the Trust for four years, Sharma said many eligible and eminent persons had applied for the post but they were not called for interview.

He also said that none of the concerned institutions were consulted before bringing the amendement.

Objecting to a clause in the amendment that in the absence of suitable candidate, officials could be directed to perform as the Chairperson, he said the bill should be sent to a Select Committee.

Satish Chandra Misra, Ram Gopal Yadav (SP), D Raja (CPI), TK Rangarajan and others demanded that the consideration of the bill be deferred and it should be sent to Select Committee.

The members said the Trust should not become a tool in the hands of any IAS officer.

However, Gehlot urged the House to consider the Bill, saying the Act came in 1999 and such tough rules were framed that despite seeking applications for the post of Chairperosn four times, no eligible candidate came foward.

He said there was a provision in the Act that the chairperson will continue till a successor comes.

The rules could be amended only through Parliament's, he said and assured the House that once the law was amended, a suitable candidate will be appointed.

He countered the Congress charge and said no one could be appointed even during the UPA tenure.

Chairman Naidu then remarked: "This is an important bill and the issues should be sorted out in a day or two."



The Bill has already been passed by Lok Sabha.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two days after three girls died in east Delhi's Mandawali area due to "starvation", Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the deaths due to "poverty and illness" was the "biggest failure of our system".

Sisodia said he has asked the Directorate of Integrated Child Development Services to submit details of the officials responsible for keeping records of the people living in the area, and fix accountability.

The girls, aged eight, four and two years, were brought to a hospital by their mother and a friend at around 1 pm on Tuesday, and the hospital authorities informed police about their deaths.

According to the initial postmortem report, the girls died due to "malnourishment/starvation and its complications".

The deputy chief minister visited the SDM office in east Delhi today and met the girls' mother, whose mental condition is not good.

"I want to say that be it due to starvation, poverty or illness, it is the biggest failure of our system," Sisodia told reporters here.

He directed the planning department of the Delhi government to conduct a complete census of children in the national capital.

Criticising the ICDS, which comes under the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Sisodia said that Integrated Child Development Services was formed to help children reeling under hunger and starvation.

In Delhi, too, there are anganwadi and ICDS officers, and "our system has failed somewhere", he said.

"I have directed the Directorate of ICDS to submit his report till evening about the officials responsible for keeping records of the people living in the area and fix accountability.

"If the family's details were in the record, what were the officials concerned doing?... I have sought a report from the ICDS," he said.

The ICDS refused to comment on the matter.

The deputy chief minister said it's a very "shocking incident" and the magisterial inquiry will bring the facts to the fore.

He said the Delhi government has decided to provide Rs 25,000 to the family.

"I have been told that the girls ate food on Monday... The mother is admitted to a hospital. The best medical treatment will be provided to her. The government will provide all possible help to the family," he said.

Asked whether the government failed to provide ration to the family, Sisodia said, "In view of complaints about theft of ration, we are implementing the doorstep delivery of ration scheme which was being opposed by the L-G and the BJP.

"The easy way to stop ration theft is the doorstep delivery of ration," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Corporal punishment may be reintroduced in Kenyan schools if plans by MPs are successful. The lawmakers are planning to introduce a bill in Parliament that will see a return of caning of indisciplined students following unrest in schools across the country.

In recent weeks, more than 40 schools have been set ablaze leading to the indefinite closure of many.

As a result, National Assembly Deputy Minority Whip Chris Wamalwa says MPs are seriously thinking about re-introducing caning as a disciplinary measure in schools to avert the unrest.

These cases of burning dormitories in schools should come to an end and the only way of stopping it is by re-introducing caning in schools.

When corporal punishment was there during our time, such cases were not there, said the MP.

The Kiminini MP further attributed cases of burning schools to lack of discipline, adding that the vice can be eradicated by corporal punishment.

Burning of schools is a criminal offence and those found should be treated as criminals and the law is very clear on what to do with such criminals.

We dont condone indiscipline in schools, said Wamalwa.

Wamalwa was speaking on Tuesday at St Elizas Girls Secondary School Kabichbich, in West Pokot County, to mark the Catholic World Education Day.

Gem MP Elisha Odhiambo has also called for the return of corporal punishment for students saying it is the high time that the Childrens Act, which was enacted in 2001 to outlaw corporal punishment, is revoked in order to give teachers better control over their students.

We must repeal the Childrens Act to ensure that discipline can get back to where it was before. Other than engaging our students, it is important to have a more effective way or system of disciplining the students, said the MP last week.

If a student does something bad they must be caned. People were caned before. I am an advocate of giving teachers the power to discipline. Let us get back corporal punishment. Let us as a society stop treating our kids like eggs and ensure that we have values that they must grow up knowing, he said.The police have formed teams to trace the father of the three minor girls who died on Tuesday allegedly due to starvation in east Delhi's crowded Mandawali area, even as a second autopsy concluded their "stomachs were empty" and "no trace of fat" was found in their bodies.

The Centre also ordered an inquiry into the deaths of the three sisters, including a toddler, while Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the deaths were due to "poverty and illness" and was the "biggest failure of the system".

The incident triggered a political slugfest, within and outside Parliament, with the BJP and the Congress putting the blame on the AAP government for such a "shocking" case in the national capital having a per capita income of Rs 3.29 lakh i.e. three times the national average, and the Arvind Kejriwal's party countering the charges asking leaders to refrain from politicising it.

The political leaders from across the parties made a beeline in the area with several of them giving cash to the mother, who appeared distraught and unwell. The father has not returned home since he left on July 24, when the mother had taken the three girls, aged two, four and eight, to a hospital.

Sisodia also asked the Directorate of Integrated Child Development Services to submit details of the officials responsible for keeping records of the people living in the area, and fix accountability.

The National Human Rights Commission issued notices to the Delhi government and the WCD Ministry over the deaths asking them to send reports within four weeks. The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) also sought a report from the police and the district administration.

Terming the deaths as "unfortunate", human right activists raised the issue of lack of food and social security for the poor and marginalised, saying the government should stop being in denial of existence of poverty in the country.

The BJP leaders attacked the AAP government, claiming there was a "ration scam" in Delhi, resulting in subsidised grains not reaching the needy.

The girls were taken to the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital by their mother and a family friend where they were declared brought dead. Initial postmortem had suggested the deaths were due to starvation.

Doctors today said the autopsy showed that their "stomachs were empty" as if they had not eaten for over a week. "The postmortem was conducted on Tuesday evening itself, and it was over by 6:30 pm.

"On Wednesday, they wanted a review, so chemical toxicology was also suggested. And, therefore, a medical board was set up and a second autopsy was conducted at the GTB Hospital," Medical Superintendent of LBS Hospital Dr Amita Saxena said.

Asked what the postmortem found, she said, "There were no injury marks. It looked like a typical case of malnutrition, with dishevelled, monkey-like faces and no trace of fat in the bodies. The stomach, bladder and rectum were found empty."



Saxena said the experts did not suspect any foul play, as there was "no food in the stomach. It was as if they had not eaten anything for 8-9 days".

"We wanted a second opinion and be doubly sure, so a second autopsy was done at the GTB Hospital," she said.

Meanwhile a senior police official said they have formed various teams to trace the father of the three girls. The girls' father, a casual labourer, had left on the morning of July 24 for finding work and has not returned.

Police are on the lookout for him and he will be questioned in connection with the matter, he said.

Sisodia said the deaths were due to "poverty and illness" and was the "biggest failure of the system". Sisodia said he has asked the Directorate of Integrated Child Development Services to submit details of the officials responsible for keeping records of the people living in the area, and fix accountability.

The deputy chief minister visited the SDM office in the east Delhi and met the girls' mother, whose mental condition is not good. "I want to say that be it due to starvation, poverty or illness, it is the biggest failure of our system," Sisodia told reporters here.

He directed the planning department of the Delhi government to conduct a complete census of children in the national capital. Criticising the ICDS, which comes under the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Sisodia said that ICDS was formed to help children reeling under hunger and starvation.

In Delhi, too, there are anganwadi and ICDS officers, and "our system has failed somewhere. I have directed the Directorate of ICDS to submit his report till evening about the officials responsible for keeping records of the people living in the area and fix accountability.

"If the family's details were in the record, what were the officials concerned doing?... I have sought a report from the ICDS," he said.

The ICDS refused to comment on the matter.

The deputy chief minister said it's a very "shocking incident" and the magisterial inquiry will bring the facts to the fore. He said the Delhi government has decided to provide Rs 25,000 to the family.

The NHRC, meanwhile, has taken suo motu cognisance of media reports on the matter and issued notices to the Delhi Chief Secretary and Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development, seeking reports in four weeks.

Both the authorities have also been asked to submit a status report on the Antodhya Anna Yojana -- a central government-sponsored scheme to provide highly subsidised food to the poorest families, the NHRC said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)To achieve housing for all by 2022, the Centre has asked states and Union Territories to fast-track submission of project proposals, the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

Nearly 53.74 lakh houses are being funded under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (Urban) in the country, according to the government.

In a written reply, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the PMAY (U) guidelines provide flexibility to states and UTs for appraising and approving project proposals based on the demand assessed.

They have to approach the ministry only for release of central assistance for projects approved at the state level, he said.

"Keeping in view the road-map for achieving the goal of housing for all by 2022, the Centre has asked states and union territories to strategize fast tracking submission of their project proposals to saturate their entire demand by 2018-19," Puri told the Upper House.

In another reply, the Union minister said non-performing assets (NPAs) in the housing loan slab declined from 2.71 per cent on March 31, 2017, to 2.42 per cent on March 31, 2018.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Actor Priyanka Chopra has thanked an online magazine for including her in its list of the 500 most influential people, saying it encourages her to tell important stories.

Popular magazine Variety had recently unveiled its list of influential people and apart from Priyanka, it also featured the names of Indian celebrities such as Karan Johar, Salman Khan and Ekta Kapoor among others.

The 36-year-old actor took to Instagram to express her happiness over being included in the list and shared the credit with her team.

"Big thanks to @variety for including me in your #Variety500 for the second year in a row! What makes this one extra special is the little name right above mine... @purplepebblepictures," the actor wrote.

"Stories are at the heart of everything we do, regardless of genre or language, and it's a wonderful feeling to know we're on the right path. This would not be possible without my team, and most importantly, my incredible partner and co-founder, @madhumalati.

Feels like miles to go, but truly grateful for every step we take," she added.

Priyanka currently has two Bollywood projects in her kitty -- Ali Abbas Zafar's "Bharat" with Salman Khan and "The Sky Is Pink" with Farhan Akhtar.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A state leader of the Campus Front, a student organisation of the Islamic outfit Popular Front of India



(PFI), has been taken into custody in connection with the killing of an SFI leader here earlier this month, police said today.

Muhammed Rifa, state secretary of the Campus Front, who has been taken into custody had "strong involvement" in organising and executing the killing of the Ernakulam Maharajas College student Abhimanyu, they said.

Rifa, a law graduate student hailing from Kannur district, was reportedly apprehended from Bengaluru.

Police suspect that Rifa has also a leadership role along with the outfit's leader in the Maharajas College, Muhammed, in organising the gang and executing the crime.

So far, 14 people have been arrested in connection with the case, besides, one Fasaluddin, who allegedly assisted the killer gang, has surrendered before a magistrate court here, police said.

Last week, the police had arrested Maharajas College student and prime accused in the case, Muhammed.

Muhammed, who is also a third year Arabic degree student in the Maharajas College, had allegedly organised the gang of 15 to 17 men comprising activists of the PFI, its political offshoot SDPI and the Campus Front, to attack SFI activists in the college campus early this month.

Adhil, a Campus Front Ernakulam district committee member from Aluva area, was arrested on July 15 from his house.

Police had yesterday arrested Saneesh, a member of the gang which committed the crime.

While Abhimanyu was stabbed to death, two other SFI activists suffered grievous injuries in the attack allegedly using sharp-edged weapons.

Police had earlier informed the Kerala High Court that a man, who was one of the accused in the case relating to chopping off the hand of a professor in 2010, had a key role in the killing of Abhimanyu.

Joseph's right hand was chopped off on July 4, 2010, while he was returning home after attending Sunday mass at a church in Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam district, on charges of blasphemy.

They said Manaf, the third accused in the case had an important role in executing the killing of the SFI leader.

A division bench, comprising Justice P R Ramachandra Menon and Devan Ramachandran, was considering three separate pleas filed by relatives of the accused in the killing, alleging harassment by police probing the case.

Dismissing the pleas, the court had said the petitioners' apprehensions were unfounded and directed police to go ahead with the probe into the killing.

Launching a state-wide crackdown on the activities of the SDPI, the PFI and Campus Front after the killing of Abhimanyu, police have taken several of their workers into preventive custody.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A suicide bomber blew himself up near an Afghan intelligence convoy today, killing at least five people and wounding six, police said, in the latest deadly attack in the city.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the National Directorate of Security (NDS), which police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai said happened at 5:00 am (local time).

Most of the victims were NDS officers, Stanikzai said.

Four members of the NDS and a civilian were killed, while five NDS personnel and a civilian were wounded.

The attacker was "most likely" driving a vehicle carrying explosives, Stanikzai added.

The assault comes two days after five rockets were fired on a residential area of Kabul, wounding at least three people. There was no claim of responsibility.

And on Sunday, a suicide bomber blew himself up near Kabul international airport, killing at least 23 people, including AFP driver Mohammad Akhtar. A further 107 people were wounded.

That attack was claimed by the Islamic State group (IS), which said it had targeted Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum, who returned to Kabul after more than a year in exile.

Taliban and IS militants have repeatedly carried out deadly attacks in the Afghan capital, turning it into one of the most dangerous places in the country.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress leader Shashi Tharoor was granted exemption from personal appearance for today by a court here in a case relating to his wife Sunanda Pushkar's death almost four years ago in a luxury hotel here.

The court granted the relief to Tharoor, who was granted bail earlier this month after he had appeared before it as an accused, on an application moved by his advocate.

In his application, Tharoor said that he was unable to come to court since Parliament was in session.

The court accepted the application, moved by senior advocate Vikash Pahwa on behalf of the politician, for the day and posted the matter for further hearing on August 23.

Pushkar was found dead in a suite of a luxury hotel in the city on the night of January 17, 2014. The couple was staying in the hotel, as the official bungalow of Tharoor was being renovated at that time.

The court also directed Delhi Police to hand over various documents filed along with the charge sheet, including statements of witnesses, to Tharoor on a plea moved by him.

The Thiruvananthapuram MP was granted regular bail by court on July 7 after he appeared before court in pursuance to the summons issued against him.

The court had on June 5 summoned Tharoor, observing there was sufficient ground to proceed against him.

Tharoor has been charged under sections 498A (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) and 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), but has not been arrested in the case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Syrian relief workers and the United Nations began distributing humanitarian assistance provided by France to the battered region of Eastern Ghouta today, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent announced.

The organisation said on Twitter "3,840 blankets, 572 kitchen kits and tents from (the) French aid," as well as 30 medical kits, were being handed out late today morning.

Pictures published by SARC show a convoy of their trucks and UN vehicles, as well as blankets being handed out to a child and adults.

A source from the organisation told AFP a total of seven trucks entered Douma, the main town in Ghouta, and unloaded the aid there.

Residents of Eastern Ghouta had faced five years of crippling siege during which even the most basic food and medicines were virtually unaffordable, forcing around 400,000 people to rely on UN aid deliveries.

SARC did not say exactly who or how many people would benefit from the latest aid delivery.

The assistance was part of a humanitarian aid operation coordinated between Moscow and Paris, the first such mission between Russia and a Western country.

More than 40 tonnes of medical aid and humanitarian supplies were loaded onto a Russian military cargo plane in the central French city of Chateauroux early Saturday.

The supplies, including medicine, clothes and tents, was flown to the Russian military base in Syria's Hmeimim before being brought to the outskirts of Damascus today.

France had said it had secured "guarantees" from Russia that the Syrian regime would not obstruct the distribution of the aid, and that it would not be misappropriated or used for political purposes.

"This humanitarian operation, conducted jointly with Russia, is being implemented under the supervision of the United Nations in Syria," a French foreign ministry spokesman said on Wednesday.

Syrian troops recaptured Ghouta from rebels in April, after a blistering assault which killed hundreds and ended in a surrender deal that transferred tens of thousands of opposition fighters and civilians out of the area.

Thousands stayed in the suburb and others have returned in recent weeks, although many of Ghouta's towns remain in ruins.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Syrian relief workers and the United Nations began distributing aid provided by France to the battered region of Eastern Ghouta today, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent said.

The organisation said on Twitter that "3,840 blankets, 572 kitchen kits and tents from (the) French aid" as well as 30 medical kits were being handed out.

Pictures published by the Red Crescent showed a convoy of their trucks and UN vehicles, as well as blankets being distributed.

A source from the organisation told AFP a total of seven trucks entered Douma, the main town in Ghouta, and unloaded the aid.

Residents of Eastern Ghouta had faced five years of crippling siege during which even the most basic food and medicines were virtually unaffordable, forcing around 400,000 people to rely on UN aid deliveries.

The Red Crescent did not specify how many people would benefit from the latest aid delivery.

The assistance was part of a humanitarian aid operation coordinated between Moscow and Paris, the first such mission between Russia and a Western country.

More than 40 tonnes of medical aid and humanitarian supplies were loaded onto a Russian military cargo plane in the central French city of Chateauroux early Saturday.

The supplies, including medicine, clothes and tents, was flown to the Russian military base in Hmeimim in Syria's Latakia province before being brought to the outskirts of Damascus today.

France had said it had secured "guarantees" from Russia that the Syrian regime would not obstruct the distribution of the aid, and that it would not be misappropriated or used for political ends.

"This humanitarian operation, conducted jointly with Russia, is being implemented under the supervision of the United Nations in Syria," a French foreign ministry spokesman said.

Syrian troops recaptured Ghouta from rebels in April, after a blistering assault which killed hundreds and ended in a surrender deal that transferred tens of thousands of opposition fighters and civilians out of the area.

Thousands stayed in the suburb and others have returned in recent weeks, although many of Ghouta's towns remain in ruins.

In the country's southern province of Daraa, the Red Crescent brought in 38 trucks of aid to nearly a dozen areas where rebels had agreed to hand over territory to the government, an AFP correspondent there said.

The 38 trucks were loaded with food and flour.

Syria's government has waged a fierce offensive in Daraa since June 19, bringing almost all the province under its control, through a combination of military force and rebel surrenders.

An official in Daraa city told AFP today that the aid convoy carried nearly 5,000 food parcels.

Parts of Daraa are still held by the opposition but deals provide for those areas also to be handed over to government troops.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Telangana Prisons department has launched an initiative to help the ex-prisoners to lead a normal life and not fall back upon the life of crime, a top official said today.

"We have started 'Aftercare Service' teams in all the jails, who will approach the ex-prisoners and other stakeholders in the society in order to stop repeat offenders by helping them in not coming back to jail.

The concept also facilitates ex-prisoners in getting loan, jobs," Director General (Prisons and Correctional Services) V K Singh told reporters here.

"The objective is to facilitate and help the ex-prisoners lead their normal life and not fall back upon the life of crime.

The ultimate aim is to empty the jails and 'Aftercare Services' is one of the mechanism," Singh said.

Referring to a data on repeat offenders, the Telangana Prisons Chief said the arrival of repeat offenders in jails is still continuing inspite of the department's best efforts.

"We want to reduce it to zero. Almost 80 per cent of the offenders and prisoners are first timers.

We have to spread awareness among the people so that they do not commit any offence," he said adding the jail officials have records of those who have been released and 20 per cent of them can be repeat offenders and more focus needs to be given to them.

The Telangana Prisons department known for its several social service initiatives, has also started a massive social awareness campaign to bring about a change by involving citizens and is in the process of forming groups of conscientious people at district, mandal and village levels, Singh said.

The objectives of the social movement are to curb illiteracy and reaching every child including school dropouts, make all villages dispute free by spreading spirit of mutual consultations and legal literacy and strengthening democracy etc, Singh explained.

"I expect that our social movement or social campaign will bring about visible results in the villages in a year.

I appeal to all well-meaning persons to join this movement and build happy and healthy Telangana," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.): Telangana is set to enter into MoUs with a few players, experts in Blockchain Technology, to adopt it in some government applications, said a senior official of the State government today.

"We are planing to implement Blockchain Technologies in six or seven government applications. We will be signing MoUs with a few companies in the upcoming International Blockchain Congress to be held next month month," the state's IT and Industries Secretary Jayesh Ranjan said at a press conference here.

The idea is bring more transparency and efficient service to the people, he added.

He however, declined to name the areas in which Blockchain Technology will adopted.

Meanwhile, a three-day international Blockchain Congress will begin here on August 3.

The first two days of the conference will be held here while the third day of the event will be held in Goa, said Abhishek Pitti, CEO of Nucleus Vision orgainser of the event said.

He said Telangana Minister for IT and Industries KT Ramarao, Goa IT minister Rohan Khunte, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant would be among the guests at the event.

Pitti said over 3,000 participants are expected to attend the meeting with over 80 speakers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The proverbial forty days of a thief last Friday caught up with Wambui Muturi, a grandmother from Muranga County who ran a kidnapping ring.

During the day, the octogenarian was a devout Catholic and a reserved villager. But after sunset, Wambui got in her true element and masterminded a kidnap ring that terrorised Mt Kenya residents. Police believe the grandmas operations extended to Nairobi and environs.

Last Friday, the grandma was gunned down alongside her accomplices in Gatundu village, Muranga County. In the process, a woman they had kidnapped was rescued.

The granny and her accomplices John Mwangi and her nephew Samuel Kangethe were demanding Sh5 million ransom from their victims family.

The kidnap victim, Margaret Waithera, had been held for six days when police raided the compound and killed the three.

The cucu (granny) was the one cooking for me. She also threatened to have me circumcised, Waithera told the Nation.

Waithera said the old woman would prepare dry rice or boiled maize and tea for breakfast.

She would threaten to circumcise me or cut off my hands if I did not cooperate with them.

Area residents and administrators said crime runs in the grannys family.

Gatundu chief John Wachira said two of the womans sons died at the hands of lynch mobs while another was shot dead by police officers in Nairobi.

A fourth died after a short illness, leaving behind two daughters. According to the Chief, the killing of her sons changed the widow for the worst.

She became reclusive, the administrator told reporters.

Gatundu resident John Mwangi added that Wambui Muturi did not get along with neighbors and villagers.

She did everything in secret. In fact, some people thought she was a witch, said Mwangi.

According to Muranga County police boss Mohammed Farah, signals from the kidnappers mobile phones helped track them to their hideout.

The grannys daughter, Margaret Wanjiru, said she did not know her mother was a criminal.

I call on well-wishers to assist the family bury her. Despite the circumstances, she was still a mother and needs a proper sendoff, she said.

Heres a short video report courtesy of Nation.An unidentified terrorist was today killed in an encounter with security forces in Handwara area of Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district, police said.

Security forces launched a search operation in Check Sodul village in Handwara area following information about the presence of terrorists in the area, a police official said.

He said the operation turned into a gun battle when the hiding terrorists opened fire on the security forces.

An army official said one terrorist was killed in the encounter. The person's identity was not immediately known, he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today directed officers that there should be no dearth of ghats in the city for this year's Chhath Puja.

He said this during a review meeting on the preparedness of ghats for the Puja.

The meeting was attended by Burari MLA Sanjiv Jha and officials of the Irrigation and Flood Control Department.

Last year, Delhi had more than 600 Chhath Ghats and the these were well equipped.

"The chief minister said he wanted that there should be no dearth of ghats for the Puja and all proposals for ghats should be executed well in time," the government said in a statement.

It stated that the CM discussed various aspects of the Puja and the readiness of the IFC department on them.

He went through the list of the ghats ready and those under progress and would get ready by November for the Puja, the statement said.

The department submitted that they were well prepared and all the ghats would be ready in time for the Puja.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Gujarat government today informed the high court that identity proofs other than Aadhaar were also valid to get ration till September 30.

The state government was responding to a petition filed earlier this month by the Gujarat Fair Price Shop Owners Association which had asked the court to direct the government to allow beneficiaries to avail ration by producing ID proofs other than Aadhaar.

The Gujarat government told the HC that it had already issued a notification declaring ID proofs like driving license or voter ID card as valid proofs to get ration.

In its petition, the Gujarat Fair Price Shop Owners Association, with around 17,000 members, had claimed that people were unable to procure ration despite having Aadhaar cards due to a technical snag in the online PDS system.

The association demanded that PDS shop owners should be allowed to distribute ration by taking other ID proofs if the Aadhaar-connected system was not responding.

Though the government in March this year had announced that other ID proofs were also valid, the notification in this regard had lapsed on June 30.

When the petition came up for final hearing on July 23, Justice Bela Trivedi was informed by the state government that it had already issued a notification declaring that 13 other ID proofs, such as driving license and voter ID card, were also valid to get ration.

However, the state government has clarified that the notification will remain in effect till September 30, a deadline set by the Centre for Aadhaar registration.

The plea has been disposed of following the assurance from the state government.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)As the truckers' strike entered the seventh day today, the Tamil Nadu government sought the Centre's intervention, flagging concerns over shortage of essential commodities and increase in their prices if the stir continued.

In a letter to Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Chief Minister K Palaniswami said the strike had led to stagnation of perishables like vegetables, flowers, eggs and poultry from various parts of the state.

Noting that over 4.5 lakh lorries and trucks are registered in the state and more than 10 lakh people were directly and indirectly dependent on the goods transport sector, he said the livelihood of many had been affected by the strike.

"There is a danger of increase in the price of essential commodities and continuance of this strike might result in shortage of essential commodities in the State" he said.

"I, therefore, request your immediate intervention in the issue to resolve the strike and to pave the way for uninterrupted transport of goods," he urged Gadkari



The CM's action came on a day when trade and industry expressed concern over the situation citing piling up of products and commodities.

However, the striking lorry owners maintained that they would continue the stir till the government addressed their demands.

"We are continuing the strike. We want the government to look into our demands," Tamil Nadu State Lorry Owners' Federation, Secretary, C Dhanaraj told PTI.

To a query, he said leaders of All India Motor Transport Congress are holding discussions in New Delhi to decide on the next course of action.

Federation of Indian Exports Organisation, Regional Chairman, A Sakthivel said over Rs 5,000 crore worth of goods was lying in factories pending for dispatch and urged Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari to take steps to end the strike.

"Export was in the path of revival due to various initiatives taken by the Centre. Due to present market conditions, the buyers are ordering just delivery and even a two-day delay will result in losing business," he said.

Due to uncertainity over the lorry strike, several factories in the State are on the verge of declaring layoffs which would affect export earnings, he said.

At the wholesale Koyambedu vegetable market here, supply of vegetables remained "limited" as traders transported the goods from various parts of the city.

Meanwhile, a report from Coimbatore said textile goods worth several crores from neighbouring Tirupur, considered as a 'textile hub' were lying at manufacturing units due to the lorry strike.

Tirupur Exporters' Association, President, Raja M Shanmugham sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention on the issue saying textile exporting units were largely affected as they could not transport the finished garments.

"The cascading effect would be severe on the exporting units and the delay in settling the issue would derail the exports and affect entire textile industry," he said.

South India Small Spinners Association, President, S K Rangarajan said 25,000 tonnes of yarn valued at Rs 550 crore were lying in godowns due to the strike.

Following the non-arrival of lorries from neighbouring states, the traders were not getting the necessary raw materials, he claimed.

A report from Erode said due to the lorry strike power loom owners were affected as stock were lying at the factories as they could not dispatch to the customers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former Pakistan prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, his party president Shehbaz Sharif and chief of the right-wing Jamat-i-Islami Sirajul Haq were among the stalwarts who suffered shocking defeat in the general elections, Pakistani media reported today.

Abbasi, who assumed premiership after the Supreme Court disqualified Nawaz Sharif, had contested from NA-57 parliamentary seat in Rawalpindi, his native constituency of hill resort of Murree, and NA-53 Islamabad, where he lives, as a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate.

But according to the unofficial results, the former premier had lost from both the seats.

The NA-57 is considered as one of the safest seat for the PML-N, from where Abbasi's father had won for the first time in 1985. Abbasi had won this seat in 1990, 1993, 1997, 2008 and 2013 general elections. He had lost only once in 2002.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Traffic was severely affected due to heavy rains in the national capital today with waterlogging contributing to chaos at various intersections.

According to traffic police officials, vehicular movement was affected at the Vivek Vihar underpass, the Seema Puri underpass and under the Ghazipur flyover.

"Traffic is also affected from Narayana T Point to Loha Mandi due to water logging on the Girdhari Lal Goswami Marg in west Delhi. Commuters should avoid the stretch," an official said.

Traffic was reported to be affected from Apsara border to Shahdara, Seema Puri to Apsara border and Khaira Mor to Bahardurgarh bus stand in Najafgarh.

There was obstruction in traffic from Lal Kuan in south Delhi to Badarpur due to water logging.

The traffic police also issued advisories with alternate routes on its Twitter handle for motorists.

Heavy rains lashed the city overnight and continued till the morning. The weatherman has predicted more rainfall during the day.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Tripura cabinet today approved a list of recommendations to be sent to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) including financial package for the indigenous people of the state.

The MHA has asked the state government to dispatch a list of problems faced by the indigenous communities in Tripura, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ratan Lal Nath said after the cabinet meeting.

The cabinet would also suggest terms of reference to the modality committee announced by the Centre to study social, economic, linguistic and cultural problems faced by indigenous communities of the state, Nath said.

The cabinet said the modality committee could recommend steps for proper utilisation of forest land 'patta' granted to traditional forest dwellers under the Forest Rights Act, 2006.

Nath said the state government has asked the modality committee to explore possibilities of recommending "suitable economic development package" for people living in the Autonomous District Council.

The state cabinet also granted social security pension to 159 cancer and AIDS patients in an effort to provide relief to the terminally ill, he said adding that 4.19 lakh people are listed for different social security pensions in Tripura.

These include old age pension, pension for transgenders, leprosy patients, carpenters and people from other vocations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Tripura police has filed an FIR against top CPI-M leaders comprising Deputy Speaker Pabitra Kar and former ministers Badal Chowdhury and Ratan Bhowmick for holding rallies in the state without permission.

Police said the FIR was lodged against the three CPI-M leaders for holding the rallies against 'murder of democracy' in Tripura here on Tuesday without taking permission from police.

West Tripura superintendent of police, Ajit Pratap Singh said the case against Kar was registered under section 82 of Tripura Police Act and CRPC 107 (security for keeping peace) for holding the rally here.

Cases were lodged under the same sections against Chowdhury and Bhowmick for holding rallies at Udaipur, the district headquarters of Gomati district yesterday.

Kar said the rally was part of the national program of the Left parties to protest against the "murder of democracy" in Tripura and West Bengal and the police permission was denied even after it was sought.

"This is an act of intolerance and undemocratic functioning of the Tripura government," Kar told reporters and alleged that the Udaipur rally was attacked by BJP workers in the presence of police.

At least 25 CPI-M supporters were injured in the attack, he claimed.

"In the name of peace and tranquility police are not allowing opposition parties to hold any rallies," he said.

Recently opposition INPT filed a case in the Tripura High Court against the administration after it was denied permission to hold a protest rally here, Kar said.

Earlier, the CPI-M state committee had accused ruling BJP of mobilising police to destroy the "democratic ambience" in the state and perpetrate violence.

In the four months of BJP-IPFT rule, four CPI(M) members and leaders were murdered, a large number of party members and supporters were attacked, around 750 offices of the CPI(M) and its trade union were burnt, ransacked or captured, he claimed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The indefinite strike by the truckers' entered seventh day today continuing to affect movement of goods across Tamil Nadu prompting various industry bodies to seek Centre's intervention to end the stir.

Even as industry and the trade expressed concern over the situation citing piling up of products and commodities, the striking lorry owners said they would continue the stir till the government addressed their demands.

"We are continuing the strike. We want the government to look into our demands," Tamil Nadu State Lorry Owners' Federation, Secretary, C Dhanaraj told PTI.

To a query, he said leaders of All India Motor Transport Congress are holding discussions in New Delhi to decide on the next course of action.

Federation of Indian Exports Organisation, Regional Chairman, A Sakthivel said over Rs 5,000 crore worth of goods was lying in factories pending for dispatch and urged Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari to take steps to end the strike.

"Export was in the path of revival due to various initiatives taken by the Centre. Due to present market conditions, the buyers are ordering just delivery and even a two-day delay will result in losing business," he said.

Due to uncertainity over the lorry strike, several factories in the State are on the verge of declaring layoffs which would affect export earnings, he said.

At the wholesale Koyambedu vegetable market here, supply of vegetables remained "limited" as traders transported the goods from various parts of the city.

Meanwhile, a report from Coimbatore said textile goods worth several crores from neighbouring Tirupur, considered as a 'textile hub' were lying at manufacturing units due to the lorry strike.

Tirupur Exporters' Association, President, Raja M Shanmugham sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention on the issue saying textile exporting units were largely affected as they could not transport the finished garments.

"The cascading effect would be severe on the exporting units and the delay in settling the issue would derail the exports and affect entire textile industry," he said.

South India Small Spinners Association, President, S K Rangarajan said 25,000 tonnes of yarn valued at Rs 550 crore were lying in godowns due to the strike.

Following the non-arrival of lorries from neighbouring states, the traders were not getting the necessary raw materials, he claimed.

A report from Erode said due to the lorry strike power loom owners were affected as stock were lying at the factories as they could not dispatch to the customers.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Truckers associated with transporters' union AIMTC remained off road for the seventh consecutive day across the country to press for their demands even as auto makers said they have adjusted their production due to disruption in supply of components.

All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), which claims support of 93 lakh truckers, said its core team in an emergency meeting today resolved to suspend all operations voluntarily and any attempt to quell it will only foment anger.

"With every passing day it is getting strong and all this has been possible because of the resolve that this time it is 'do or die' situation," AIMTC Core Committee Chairman Bal Malkit Singh said.

He claimed that the transporters' loss stood at Rs 28,000 crore in the seven days and urged government's intervention for tangible resolution of the issues.

Automobile industry sources said the stir has affected supplies of parts and distribution of vehicles, forcing companies like Tata Motors, Ford India and Skoda to adjust production.

Tata Motors has undertaken block closures of its Pune and Sanand plants by advancing weekend holidays and compensating for it later on, they claimed.

"Even retail has started getting impacted as dispatches of finished vehicles to dealers are affected," a source said.

Transporters' demands include a reduction in central and state taxes by getting diesel under the GST so that price of the deregulated commodity can be reduced.

Essential commodities have been kept out of the strike.

The Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training (IFTRT), however, said that the strike has failed to make much impact.

"There has not been much impact on supply and prices of onion and garlic due to truckers' strike in Maharashtra. The supplies were adequately met from other growing states like Rajasthan," Onion and Potato traders association (in Azadpur mandi ) general secretary Rajendra Sharma said.

Prices are stable in mandis here, he added.

Apart from demanding reduction in diesel prices, truckers are also against the "flawed and non-transparent" toll collection system that favours road concessioners and alleged that the time and fuel loss amounts to up to Rs 1.5 trillion annually on account of it.

Truckers are also miffed at high insurance premia and want a reduction in third-party premium, exemption on third-party premia from GST.

Apart from this, they are also pressing for exemptions and abolition of indirect taxes, national permits for all buses and trucks and also doing away with the direct port delivery tendering system.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Des professionnels de medias invites a renforcer leur implication dans les processus de prevention, dalerte et de gestion des crises de catastrophe au Togo

Lome, le 22 mai 2018. Des professionnels de medias invites a renforcer leur implication dans les processus de prevention, dalerte et de gestion des crises de catastrophe au Togo. Une rencontre de partage dinformations a ete initiee a leur endroit par lAgence Nationale de la Protection Civile (ANPC). Plusieurs ministres du Gouvernement togolais ont pris part a cette session d`echanges, tout comme le President de l`OTM, Aime Ekpe..The ongoing nationwide strike by truckers has hit the automobile industry by affecting supplies of parts and distribution of vehicles, forcing companies like Tata Motors, Ford India and Skoda to adjust production.

According to industry sources, Tata Motors has undertaken block closures of its Pune and Sanand plants by advancing weekend holidays and compensating for it later on.

"Even retail has started getting impacted as dispatches of finished vehicles to dealers are affected," a source said.

When contacted Tata Motors spokesperson declined to comment citing silent period ahead of the company's upcoming first quarter result.

When contacted, Ford India President and MD Anurag Mehrotra said: "The transport strike is impacting both domestic movement of parts and vehicles. We expect it to soon impact exports too, with the container association joining the strike."



He further said, "Given its impact on not just business but livelihoods, we urge the government and the associations to resolve this issue at the earliest."



Skoda Auto India's Aurangabad plant was also closed today due to supply constraints of parts.

"Normal production will be resumed from tomorrow at the plant," a company spokesperson said.

Comments from major players such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor India and Mahindra & Mahindra could not be immediately obtained.

The nationwide strike by transporters continued for the seventh day today with no breakthrough between truckers' union, AIMTC and the government.

The All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), which claims support of 93 lakh truckers, started a nationwide indefinite strike on July 20.

The transporters' demands include a reduction in central and state taxes by getting diesel under the GST so that price of the deregulated commodity can be reduced.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The ongoing nationwide strike by truckers has hit the Punjab's industry hard by disrupting supply of raw materials and finished goods, inflicting heavy financial losses on units, industry officials said today.

With no movement of trucks for past several days, the state industry has also scaled down the production in the wake of "insufficient" raw material and expressed fear that it could lead to job losses if the strike continued for more days.

"Truckers strike which has entered seventh day today has dealt a severe blow to Punjab's industry. No industry vertical in the state remained unaffected by the truckers strike," said former President of Federation of Indian Export Organisations, S C Ralhan said today.

"There is no arrival of raw material and similarly there is no dispatch of finished goods in almost all the sectors like bicycle, auto parts, hand tools," said Ralhan while adding that the trade had suffered financial loss to several hundred crore because of truckers' strike.

Truckers under the banner of All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) have been on a nationwide indefinite strike since July 20 to press for several demands, including a reduction in central and state taxes by getting diesel under the GST.

"It is estimated that output by state industry has been scaled down by over 10 per cent. Exports are also hit as there is no movement of containers at the inland container depots in Ludhiana," said Ralhan, who is also president of Ludhiana Handtool Association.

North India Induction Furnace Association President K K Garg said that steel furnace units had been on the verge of closure because of truckers' strike.

"There is no production of iron and steel items because of non-availability of scrap which is the raw material for us," he further said adding that the government should intervene at the earliest to resolve the issue.

Mandi Gobindgarh - known as the steel town of Punjab has more than 400 units including 80 induction furnaces with daily production of 12,000 MT. It caters to several industry verticals including construction industry and light engineering sector.

Ludhiana-based Duke Group Chairman Komal Jain said they have started stocking finished items at their factory premises because of not being able to send goods to buyers.

"If strike continues for four-five days more, then it will have a worst effect on industry," said Jain whose company produces t-shirts, trousers, jeans, jackets etc.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The West Bengal government today asked the Kolkata Police to put a check on the movement of trucks in the city and its surroundings after 6 am.

Movement of trucks on city roads till 8 am causes traffic snarls during office hours, a senior state government official said.

From now on, trucks would be allowed to ply till 6 am, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Turkish authorities arrested a German national over making terror propaganda for outlawed Kurdish insurgents, local media reported.

The German man was detained yesterday by police in the southern province of Hatay and then charged later in the day, DHA agency said.

No details were given by the agency about the man except naming him as Dennis E.

He is accused of spreading terror propaganda on social media for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has fought an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.

The PKK is blacklisted as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies.

Diplomatic tensions mounted between Ankara and Berlin over the crackdown that followed the July 2016 failed coup and the state of emergency during which several German nationals were also imprisoned.

The two-year state of emergency ended last week.

But following the release of several German nationals including the German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel earlier this year, the strains have eased somewhat.

Last week, Germany lifted economic sanctions on Turkey and relaxed its travel advice to the country, removing a warning on its website about its nationals facing a high risk of arrest when visiting Turkey.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two technicians charged with rigging tests on concrete used to build a multi-billion-dollar bridge connecting Hong Kong with China and Macau have been jailed for 22 and 32 months respectively, reports said today.

Billed as the world's longest sea bridge, the project has been touted as an engineering wonder by its supporters but slammed as a "white elephant" by its critics.

Officials say it will boost business and cut travel time, but opponents in Hong Kong see it as another attempt by Beijing to tighten its grip on the semi-autonomous city.

There have also been safety concerns - multiple workers have been killed in construction-related accidents and 19 lab workers were charged last year over faking concrete test reports, with one man jailed for eight months last December.

Senior lab technician and supervisor Mak Pui-shing was sentenced to 32 months in prison today, while former assistant Kwong Fu-yin was jailed for 22 months, local media reports said.

The court was told earlier that Kwong's attempts at rigging the tests included substituting the brick with a metal cylinder to meet strength requirements, the South China Morning Post reported.

Dogged by delays, budget overruns, accusations of corruption and the deaths of construction workers, it is unclear when the bridge will officially open. Since 2011, at least 369 industrial accidents and nine deaths have been recorded, according to the labour department.

Building started in 2009 on the 55-kilometre (34-mile) crossing, which includes a snaking road bridge and underwater tunnel, linking Hong Kong's Lantau Island to the southern mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai and the gambling enclave of Macau, across the waters of the Pearl River Estuary.

Officials put the current cost overrun of the main bridge section at 10 billion yuan (USD 1.5 billion), partly driven by engineering challenges, which have included problems with the drifting of reclaimed land.

The original cost of that section, including bank loans, was 37.7 billion yuan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two more MLAs from



Maharashtra today announced their decision to quit in support of the Maratha quota demand, a day after as many legislators offered to resign for the cause.

The MLAs are Bharat Bhalke (Congress) and Rahul Aher (BJP).

Bhalke, who represents Pandharpur seat in Solapur district, said he would resign from the legislative assembly to express solidarity with the quota protests.

Talking to PTI from Pandharpur, Bhalke said he had visited the family of Maratha youth Kakasaheb Shinde, who had committed suicide by jumping into the Godavari river in Aurangabad district on July 23.

"The sentiments of the Maratha youth are intense. There is lot of unrest (among them) over the lack of (job) opportunities. Promises made to them have not been fulfilled. I have decided to resign to express my solidarity with the Maratha quota protesters as well as in support of the demand for quota by Dhangars and other deprived communities," Bhalke said.

Members of Dhangar (the shepherd) community have been demanding reservation under the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.

"I am quitting membership of the Assembly to highlight the unrest among the Marathas, Dhangars, Muslims and Mahadeo Koli communities," he said.

Bhalke said the Maharashtra government had stayed the previous Congress government's decision to allot quota for Muslims even though the (Bombay) high court had not passed any adverse comment on the Muslim reservation.

The Bombay High Court had in 2014 stayed implementation of the erstwhile Congress-NCP government's decision to provide reservation to Marathas.

The HC had also stayed the the government's decision to provide five per cent reservation to the Muslims in government service, but allowed quotas for them in educational institutions.

Aher, who represents Chandwad seat in Nashik district, also announced before the Maratha protesters in Nashik that he would resign as MLA.

He handed over his resignation letter to the Maratha Kranti Morcha activists, who were fasting in protest outside the district collector's office this afternoon.

"Please treat this letter as my resignation. Whenever required, the Maratha community members could hand it over to Assembly Speaker," he stated.

Yesterday, two MLAs---Harshvardhan Jadhav (Shiv Sena) and Bhausaheb Patil Chikatgaonkar (NCP)---from Aurangabad district had offered to resign in support of the quota demand.

Aurangabad district in Marathwada region has emerged as the epicentre of the Maratha quota agitation.

Jadhav, who represents Kannad assembly constituency, submitted his resignation letter in the office of the Legislative Assembly Speaker this morning.

Chikatgaonkar (Vaijapur) said he had e-mailed his resignation to the Speaker and would submit a hard copy of the same when he visits Mumbai.

In 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, the Shiv Sena has 63 MLAs and the NCP 41.

The Maratha community has been demanding quota under the OBC category in government jobs and education.

The members of the community held protests in various parts of Maharashtra for their demands in the last two days and have observed bandhs in Mumbai and rest of the state.

The protests had turned violent at many places.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Shiv Sena today put up posters here with slogan "Chalo Ayodhya, Chalo Varanasi", two days after party chief Uddhav Thackray announced he would soon visit the two key cities in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh.

Shiv Sena secretary Milind Narvekar, a close aide of Thackeray who put up the posters, said the proposed visit is "an important step in the country's politics".

In his recent interview to party mouthpiece "Saamana", Thackeray had announced his intention to visit Ayodhya to pay respects to Lord Ram.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party is a constituent of the BJP-led NDA governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra.

The Sena has often targetted the BJP for "delaying" the construction of the temple of Lord Ram in Ayodhya despite having majority.

Thackeray had recently said the BJP would once again rake up the emotive issue of the construction of the temple in run-up to the 2019 polls.

The Sena chief had also said that he would soon finalise the schedule for visiting Ayodhya and Varanasi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi represents Varanasi in Lok Sabha.

When contacted, senior Sena leader Sanjay Raut confirmed that Thackeray would visit Ayodhya and address a rally. "He would also visit Varanasi and participate in the Ganga Aarti and offer prayers at Kashi Vishwanath temple there," he said.

Raut, however, said nothing much should be read into the proposed visit of Thackeray to the BJP-ruled state. Thackeray's proposed visit also assumes significance given that no high-ranking Sena leader had visited Ayodhya in the recent past.

Though the Sena is a constituent of the government, the party had been critical of the BJP and the prime minister.

The Sena had resolved to go solo in the future elections (read Lok Sabha and Maharashtra assembly elections due next year).

Political observers feel that the Sena might be preparing to contest all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP in 2019. They feel that Thackeray's visit might be aimed at strengthening the party cadre in the northern state.

After the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992, Sena patriarch (late) Bal Thackeray had remarked that if at all Shivsainiks had been at the forefront of the demolition then he was proud of them.

However, he had never visited Ayodhya, contending that all the Hindutva forces did not unite under one banner.

Ahead of Palghar (ST) Lok Sabha bypoll held in May this year, Thackeray had slammed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for "disrespecting" Chhatrapati Shivaji by not removing his footwear while garlanding the portrait of the Maratha king.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Vijay Mallya has lost his attempt to appeal against a UK High Court order in favour of 13 Indian banks to recover funds amounting to nearly 1.145 billion pounds, in another setback to the embattled liquor tycoon.

The UK's Court of Appeal refused the 62-year-old businessman, who is separately undergoing an extradition trial in a UK court over fraud and money laundering charges by the Indian authorities, the permission to appeal against the High Court order dated May 8.

In the ruling, Judge Andrew Henshaw had refused to overturn a worldwide order freezing Mallya's assets and also denied permission to appeal, which left Mallya with the only option of turning to the Court of Appeal.

Judge Henshaw's order marked the first recorded case of a judgment of the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in India being registered by the English High Court, setting a legal precedent.

The Court of Appeal judges looked into Mallya's application seeking permission to appeal and decided against it yesterday.

As a result of the High Court order, the Indian banks - State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Corporation bank, Federal Bank Ltd, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Mysore, UCO Bank, United Bank of India and JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Co Pvt Ltd - have the right to enforce the Indian judgment against Mallya's assets in England and Wales.

"In the event permission has been refused, then the decision of the judge is final and Mallya does not have any further recourse of appeal against his decision," said Kartik Mittal, Senior Solicitor at London-based Zaiwalla & Co LLP.

"The English judicial system does not give parties an unfettered right to appeal. The right to appeal is restricted. A party can only appeal a decision of the first instance Court if the first instance Court or the Appellate Court gives the party permission to appeal," he explained.

"A party is granted permission to appeal only in cases where the appeal appears to have a real prospect of success or there is some other compelling reason why the appeal should be heard. Therefore, in majority of the cases permission is refused," he added.

In a related High Court ruling on June 26, Justice Bryan had issued an enforcement order in favour of the banks, granting permission to the UK High Court Enforcement Officer to enter Mallya's properties in Hertfordshire, near London, where he is based.

While it is not an instruction to enter and that particular order can be appealed against, the banks have the option to use the order as one of the means to recover funds owed to them.

"The High Court Enforcement Officer, including any Enforcement Agent acting under his authority, may use reasonable force to enter the Property if necessary," it states.

Mallya has since said that he has handed over a full statement of his UK assets to the court and there was no question of use of force to enter his home Ladywalk in the village of Tewin in England.

The former Kingfisher Airlines boss had also issued a lengthy media statement last month, condemning the charges against him as politically motivated.

He then took to social media to clarify that he made the statement "after a long period of silence" because he had filed an application before the Karnataka High Court on June 22, setting out available assets of approximately Rs 13,900 crores.

"Media reports quote an ED [Enforcement Directorate] official stating that I am attempting a plea bargain. Would respectfully suggest that the official read the ED charge sheet first," Mallya had said in his last Twitter message on the issue on June 30.

"I would invite the ED to advance the same plea bargain theory in Court in front of whom I have placed my assets," he said.

Meanwhile, Mallya remains on bail since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April last year.

He will return for his extradition hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on July 31, when closing arguments are expected from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), acting on behalf of the Indian government, and Mallya's defence team.

A judgment is expected in the case at a later date, which will be arranged by Judge Emma Arbuthnot.

While the CPS claims it has successfully established a prima facie case of fraud against the businessman, Mallya's lawyers have sought to establish that the criminal charges against him are "without substance".

They have also challenged the case on human rights grounds, questioning the conditions at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, where the businessman is to be held post-extradition.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)British doctors will legally be able to prescribe medicinal cannabis, the government announced today following a review -- but insisted it was not a first step towards legalising recreational use.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid, the interior minister, decided to relax the rules about the circumstances in which medicinal cannabis can be given to patients.

It follows several high-profile cases, including those of young epilepsy sufferers whose conditions appeared to be helped by cannabis oil.

"Making medicinal cannabis available on prescription will benefit the lives of ill patients currently suffering in silence," Javid wrote on Twitter.

"There is nothing harder than seeing your loved ones in pain -- which is why I have taken this decision." Javid commissioned a review on June 19.

An initial review by Sally Davies, the government's chief medical adviser, concluded there was evidence that medicinal cannabis had therapeutic benefits.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which conducted the second part of the review, last week said doctors should be able to prescribe medicinal cannabis provided products meet safety standards.

"Recent cases involving sick children made it clear to me that our position on cannabis-related medicinal products was not satisfactory," Javid said in a statement.

"That is why we launched a review and set up an expert panel to advise on licence applications in exceptional circumstances.

"Following advice from two sets of independent advisers, I have taken the decision to reschedule cannabis-derived medicinal products -- meaning they will be available on prescription.

"This will help patients with an exceptional clinical need, but is in no way a first step to the legalisation of cannabis for recreational use.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today condemned the killing of dozens of people near a polling station in Pakistan's western Quetta city in a suicide attack.

The suicide bombing killed at least 31 people and injured another 70. It was claimed by the terror group Islamic State.

Pakistan has witnessed violence across the country in the run up to the parliamentary and provincial assembly elections held yesterday. The elections mark only the second time that one civilian government has handed power to another after serving a full term in office.

"The Secretary-General condemns the suicide attack at a polling station in Quetta claimed by Da'esh," his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement, using the Arabic name for IS.

"He extends his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and to the government and people of Pakistan."



Despite the violence, outlets reported that millions of Pakistanis showed up to cast their vote across the 85,000 polling stations.

The spokesperson stressed that "the United Nations stands in solidarity with, and supports the efforts of the Government of Pakistan, in the fight against terrorism."



President of the UN General Assembly Miroslav Lajck also condemned the attack, which he called "despicable".

The suicide bombing in Quetta followed a series of terrorist attacks earlier in the month in Pakistan, including one in Mastung, in which 153 people lost their lives.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)At least 30 people were killed and dozens wounded in a suicide attack on a polling station in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, officials said, as millions voted in a nationwide election Wednesday.



"(The bomber) was trying to enter the polling station. When police tried to stop him he blew himself up," a local administration official in Quetta, Hashim Ghilzai, told AFP.



Dr Wasim Baig, spokesman for the Sandeman Provincial Hospital in Quetta, said the death toll had risen to 30 after two people succumbed to their injuries. Earlier, officials had said 28 people were killed and more than 30 injured.



The attack was not immediately claimed by any group.



Balochistan, Pakistan's poorest and most restive province, suffers from Islamist and separatist insurgencies.



It suffered the brunt of a series of attacks that killed more than 180 people across Pakistan during the brief but acrimonious election campaign, including a devastating blast claimed by the Islamic State group which killed 153 people this month, and was Pakistan's deadliest ever suicide attack.



The blast, which struck a crowd at a political rally, also killed local politician Siraj Raisani. He was one of three election candidates killed by militant attacks in Pakistan during the election campaign.



An earlier attack in Balochistan on Wednesday left one policeman dead and three wounded when a hand grenade was thrown at a polling station in the village of Koshk, in Khuzdar district.



The military has stationed over 370,000 personnel across Pakistan to ensure security for the election, bolstered by an additional 450,000 police.



The contest has largely become a two-way race between Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of ousted premier Nawaz Sharif, whose brother Shahbaz is leading its campaign.









AFPThe Uttar Pradesh government recommend a CBI probe over the alleged Rs 126 croreYamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) land scam.

The state authorities had found direct involvement of former YEIDA CEO P C Gupta in the purchase of 57.1549 hectares of land in seven villages of Mathura at a cost of Rs 85.49 crore, which caused a loss of Rs 126 crore to YEIDA.

"The state government has sent the reference to Centre recommending a CBI probe," Secretary (Home) Bhagwan Swarup said.

It is alleged the purchase was meant to benefit the coteries and relatives of the accused.

The Greater Noida police has already added three more names of former and current bureaucrats in the FIR lodged against the 22 accused on June 3.

Gupta was arrested on June 22.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The US' financial pressure campaign against Iran is having an impact and the Trump administration is determined not to let Tehran acquire nuclear weapons, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said today.

The US had, in May, pulled out of a landmark Iranian nuclear deal and ramped up its sanctions against Iran. It had also threatened to cut off access to the American banking system for foreign financial institutions that trade with Iran.

"President Trump has said that Iran is not the same country it was five months ago. That's because our campaign of financial pressure, our withdrawal from the nuclear deal, and our full-throated support for the Iranian people, which he articulated in a speech this past Sunday, are having an impact," Pompeo said during a Congressional hearing.

After withdrawing from the Iranian nuclear deal, the Trump administration is piling pressure on countries like India, China, and other buyers to end all imports of Iranian oil by a November 4 deadline or face sanctions, as it looks to choke the Persian Gulf state's economic lifeline with sanctions over its nuclear programme.

"There is enormous economic challenge inside Iran today. It's an economic structure that simply doesn't work," he said.

"When you are a country of that scale that foments terror through Lebanese Hezbollah, through Shia militias in Iraq, into Yemen, conducts assassination attempts in European countries, provides enormous support for Assad outside of Lebanese Hezbollah in Syria, that's expensive," he said.

Pompeo said that Iranian People are beginning to see that it is not the model that they want.

"That the Iranian expansionism, that the supreme leader in Qasem Soleimani so favour, is not what they're looking for," he said. "You are beginning to see the economic impact, combined with understandings inside of Iran of the Kleptocracy that it is, leading to fundamental decisions that the Iranian people will ultimately have to make," he told lawmakers.

When Senator Ben Cardin asked that Iran was no longer isolated as it is getting support from Russia, China and Europe and he was unable to understand the US strategy with regards to preventing nuclear proliferation, Pompeo said that the Trump Administration want neither Iran nor North Korea to have the capacity to proliferate nuclear weapons, to enrich uranium or build their own weapons programme.

"That's the mission set. It draws them together," he said.

"That sets the conditions for President Trump's understanding of how one achieves non-proliferation in the world and that's the mission state we're undertaking in each of those two countries. They're in different places and we are working on our approach in each place that we think increases the likelihood that we're able to successfully achieve that, a mission I know you share," Pompeo said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The top US envoy for South Asia has met with Taliban officials for peace talks in Qatar, the Wall Street Journal street reported today.

Alice Wells, the senior official for the State Department's Bureau of South and Central Asia Affairs, met with the Taliban this week to try to find a new path toward ending Afghanistan's 17-year conflict, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The State Department did not directly confirm the report, but noted Wells had been in Doha this week, where she met with Qatari government officials "to discuss recent progress towards an Afghan-owned, and Afghan-led peace process."



Officials noted they did not have any other meetings to describe "at this time" and said the US "is exploring all avenues to advance a peace process in close consultation with the Afghan government."



"Ambassador Wells welcomed the Qatari government's constructive partnership and dedication to Afghanistan, and expressed the deep US appreciation for efforts to reach a peaceful resolution to the conflict," a State Department statement read.

The Journal, citing US officials, said the Doha talks fully included the Afghan government -- the US has long insisted that any peace process must be Afghan-led.

As recently as last week, US officials were denying reports they were ready to speak directly to the Taliban.

The Taliban has established a political office in Qatar that serves as a de-facto embassy.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A US Congresswoman has claimed that has "quietly resumed" its activities in the area and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade it, an assertion that was denied by New Delhi on Thursday.

Congresswoman Ann Wagner made the claim during a Congressional hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee for Asia and the Pacific. During the hearing, she posed a question to a State Department official, Alice G Wells, on Beijing's actions in the Himalayan region and compared them with its manoeuvres in the disputed South Sea.

Tensions between India and reached their peak during a 73-day standoff in near Bhutan over Beijing's construction of a road in the area. The standoff ended after both sides agreed to disengage, and there have been no confirmed or official reports of China resuming any activities since then.

"Although both countries backed down, China has quietly resumed its activities in and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade it. China's activities in the Himalayas remind me of its south China Sea policies. How should our failure to respond to the militarisation of the South China Sea inform the international response to these Himalayan border disputes?" Wagner asked.

Wager did not elaborate on her claim of China resuming its activities.

In her response, Wells, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, did not directly refer to Doklam, but told Wagner and other lawmakers: "I would assess that India is vigorously defending its northern borders and this (the situation at the northern borders) is a subject of concern to India."



Wells said US looks to the Indo-Pacific strategy put forward by the Trump administration in light of the 'South China Sea's Strategy', a reference to China's aggressive claims of sovereignty over all of South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims.

"How do we maintain the region to be open, to have maritime security, to not have militarisation that would imperil the 70 per cent of global trade?" Wells said. "We need to do that by giving authority to sovereign nations to have choices in how they develop, to have choices in their partnerships," Wells said.



In New Delhi, Minister of State for External Affairs Ministry told Rajya Sabha on Thursday that there have been no new developments at the site of the face-off with China in Doklam and its vicinity, and status quo prevails in the area.

"Since the disengagement of Indian and Chinese border personnel in the Doklam area on August 28, 2017, there have been no new developments at the faceoff site and its vicinity. The status quo prevails in this area," Singh said in a written reply to a question on whether China has constructed new roads in the southern part of the Doklam Plateau.

In a statement later, Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Raveesh Kumar repeated Singh's comments.

Although the Congressional hearing was to discuss the Trump administration's budget request for the financial year 2019 for South Asia, the sub-committee chairman, Congressman Ted Yoho, raised the issue of China's aggressive posture in South Asia.

"What are your thoughts on what is the best way to counter China in that region?" Yoho asked.

US should not be seeking to compete with China dollar for dollar, Wells responded.

She added that instead of a state lending on terms that may not be to the benefit of countries or their citizens, the US and its companies are providing USD 850 billion in foreign direct investment in the region, which is far more than what has been injected by China.

"We're trying to gather like-minded countries who can bring resources to the table, who can coordinate assistance and an effort so as to provide countries with meaningful alternatives," Wells said.The United States, Canada and Mexico could conclude talks to remake the North American Free Trade Agreement as soon as next month, the lead US trade negotiator said today.

The remarks follow yesterday's joint declaration of a pause in trade hostilities between the United States and the European Union, raising the possibility of closing two fronts in President Donald Trump's global trade offensive.

The three North American trading partners could reach "some kind of conclusion during the course of August," US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told a Senate committee.

He said "that's not an unreasonable timeframe if everybody wants to get it done," and would allow Mexico's President Enrique Pena Nieto to sign the new deal before he leaves office December 1.

"That's what our hope is," Lighthizer said.

Lighthizer is due to meet later Thursday with Mexico's economy minister Ildefonso Guajardo and representatives of Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Lighthizer suggested he still favored a so-called sunset clause in US trade agreements, requiring parties to renew them every five years.

US insistence on the sunset provision helped derail the NAFTA talks earlier this year after both Canadian and Mexican officials rejected it outright.

Lighthizer also faced stiff questioning from senators anxious to know how much longer Trump's trade confrontations would last, citing farmers and manufacturers suffering from trading partners' retaliation.

Lighthizer said he believed the United States faced a more intractable problem.

"I think directionally we're going to have a problem with China that's going to take years," Lighthizer said.

"That's not to say all we're doing will be in place all that time.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The US wants India to play a leading role in developmental assistance and infrastructure development in the broader neighbourhood, a senior Trump administration official has said, amidst efforts by America to counter China's growing influence in Asia.

Alice G Wells, Senior Bureau Official for South and Central Asian Affairs, said the US also recognises India's development challenges and would continue to partner with the country to address these issues and identify the best practices.

"At the same time, we want to encourage India to play a leading role in developmental assistance and infrastructure development in the broader neighbourhood," Wells said.

Experts say the US needs India to counter China's growing dominance in Asia to ensure the US cements some type of influence in the region.

Appreciating India's significant commitment of economic assistance to Afghanistan, she hoped to explore a trilateral relationship with Japan and India to support infrastructure development in the Indo-Pacific region.

"We will continue to partner with India in promoting high-standard development practices across the region," Wells said.

The Indo-Pacific Strategy, announced during US President Donald Trump's historic trip to the region in November, seeks to strengthen that system and protect the political and economic sovereignty of all Indo-Pacific nations, so they may chart their own path forward, free from external coercion, she said.

The strategy will enhance the freedom of the seas and skies; promote market economics; and support good governance, transparency, and liberty.

President Trump believes it is clearly in America's strategic interest to work with partners for mutual prosperity, she said.

For the fiscal year 2019, the State Department has requested USD 42.1 million for India to address shared security challenges and promote long-term sustainability in priority development areas: health, water, and sanitation.

"India is a critical leader in the Indo-Pacific region, and vital to both the administration's Indo-Pacific Strategy and its South Asia strategy," Wells said.

The US-India strategic partnership stands upon a shared commitment to uphold the rule of law, freedom of navigation, democratic values, and free and fair trade.

"The administration supports India's emergence as a leading global power and a stronger strategic and defense partner. India is the world's largest democracy, at over 1.3 billion people, and in addition to being the fastest growing major economy in 2018, is also one of the world's largest markets, Wells said.

India's large and growing middle class is increasingly connected to international commerce, and bilateral trade has increased to over USD126 billion, with the potential for significant growth in the aviation, energy, and defense sectors in particular.

American and Indian companies are investing in both directions, with US firms active in India and Indian companies investing and creating jobs in the United States, she said.

However, US firms continue to face market access impediments in India.

"We are working with India to ensure fair and reciprocal trade for U.S. companies and achieve greater balance in our trade deficit," she told the lawmakers.

"India is already a Major Defense Partner of the United States, a status unique to India. We seek ways to enhance interoperability between India's military and our own, and ensure India can help protect the air and maritime shipping routes that underpin global commerce. We continue to advocate on behalf of US defense industry to compete for defense deals in the Indian market," Wells said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Vice President Mike Pence today warned Turkey that the United States will slap sanctions on the country if it does not take "immediate steps" to free an American pastor held since 2016 on terror-related charges.

"If Turkey does not take immediate actions to free this innocent man of faith and send him home to America, the US will impose significant sanctions on Turkey until Pastor Andrew Brunson is free," Pence said at a State Department ministerial meeting to advance religious freedom.

Pence said he had a message to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on behalf of US President Donald Trump: "Release Pastor Andrew Brunson now or be prepared to face the consequences."



Brunson was moved from jail to house arrest yesterday, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the move was "not enough.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat today paid tributes to the Kargil martyrs on the war's anniversary by placing a wreath at the 'Shaheed memorial' here.

Saluting the brave soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice, the chief minister said it was due to their bravery that the frontiers of the country were safe.

"The Kargil war was fought in adverse circumstances, but showing indomitable courage, our soldiers routed the enemy," he said.

Rawat said apart from the bravery of the Indian Army, Kargil war would also be remembered for the strong political will shown by the then BJP government headed by prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Kargil war hero Captain Vikram Batra's father recalls his son's bravery and patriotism and says his feat has elevated their status to that of proud parents of a Param Vir Chakra recipient.

"Though we miss him every moment, we feel that he is always with us spiritually. The departure of a noble son is of course painful, but to bring forth such a son is also great luck. We will always be proud of him," says G L Batra.

Captain Vikram died fighting Pakistani forces during the Kargil war in 1999 at the age of 24. He was given the highest wartime gallantry award Param Vir Chakra posthumously.

"We had never imagined that a son could make his parents worthy of the amount of honour we received from people across our country in the last 20 years after his martyrdom. He has elevated our status to that of proud parents of a Param Vir Chakra recipient," his father says.

Due to his exemplary feat, Captain Vikram was awarded with many titles. He came to be fondly called the 'Tiger of Drass', the 'Lion of Kargil', the 'Kargil Hero', and so on. His bravery, zeal and determination had set a standard for everyone fighting the war.

Captain Vikram's most difficult mission was the capture of crucial peak - Point 4875. But even after that the enemy continued to fire from a position north of the point. Reinforcements were immediately brought up.

Despite having high fever and fatigue, Vikram volunteered to head a party to the battlefront. Motivated by his offer, many soldiers volunteered to accompany him, his father recalls.

"Vikram and the soldiers began their arduous trek. From eyewitnesses, I heard later that, while still at the task, somewhere along the climb, suddenly Vikram's face changed. The signs of fatigue and fever vanished. He became a man fired by a mission," Batra writes in the foreword of a revised edition of Harinder Baweja's book "A Soldier's Diary: Kargil, The Inside Story".

On 7 July, the mission was almost over, when Captain Vikram ran out of his bunker to rescue another officer, Lt Naveen Anaberu, whose legs had been severely injured in an explosion.

"As Vikram was dragging Naveen towards cover, the gravely wounded officer pleaded with Vikram to let him continue the fight. Just then a bullet pierced through Vikram's chest. Vikram was martyred, but he managed to save the life of Lt Naveen," writes his father in the book, published by Roli.

"Enraged by Vikram's death, the soldiers of the 13 JAK Rifles pursued the enemy. Unnerved by the fury of the attack, the Pakistanis fell back. The Indian soldiers gained the upper hand. Captain Batra's sacrifice paved the way for the success of our troops and the consolidation of the Indian hold on Point 4875," he says.

Batra says that when one of Vikram's friends had told him to be careful since war had begun, he had replied, 'Don't worry. I will either come back after raising the Indian flag in victory or return wrapped in it.'



Batra then goes on to describe his and his wife's visit to Drass in Kargil in 2002.

"The feeling of pride, as if we were visiting our beloved son as a commanding officer, was spiraling through our veins," he says.

Due to their age, they could not visit Point 4875, which was 17,500 feet above sea level.

"The journey would not have been complete without touching the soil where Vikram laid down his life. It was an overwhelming gesture when the corps commander gifted us with two glasses filled with the soil of Point 4875 and Tololing. For us, it was nothing less than visiting a pilgrimage site," Batra writes.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Delhi High Court today asked the municipal and other civic bodies, which manage the storm water drains in the city, to map all such drains indicating the geographical areas they service.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar ordered a "consolidated" mapping of the storm water drains in the city after it was told by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) that different agencies were responsible for each of the drains.

The court said it does not want several plans from each of the agencies and instead called for a single "composite plan".

It also made the Delhi Cantonment Board (DCB) and the New Delhi Municipal Council a party in the matter and asked them to also join the exercise of mapping the storm water drains and filed a consolidated colour coded map before the next date of hearing on August 17.

Delhi government, meanwhile, told the court that the storm water drains in the city were not designed to handle the amount of rain that inundated some areas, especially under the Minto Road bridge, in the capital recently.

The bench, however, did not accept the argument and said that since waterlogging was a repetitive phenomena, the government should have made efforts to increase the capacity of the storm water drains.

The government also told the court that it has installed water pumps in several areas to address the problem of waterlogging.

The DCB said there was no waterlogging in the areas under its control.

The Urban Development Ministry, represented by central government standing counsel Ripudaman Singh Bhardwaj, said it was working towards preventing problem of waterlogging.

The court was hearing a PIL initiated by it after taking note of reports about roads being waterlogged, disrupting traffic across Delhi, after heavy rainfall between July 10-13.

Taking suo motu cognisance of the reports, the bench had asked the Delhi government and the civic agencies why waterlogging was a recurring problem every time it rains and sought to know the steps taken to prevent it.

It had said that the fallout of waterlogging was not only the loss of man-hours with people unable to reach on time to their destinations, including hospitals, but the idling engines of vehicular traffic would add to the air pollution in the city.

The flooded roads and pavements would also lead to spread of water-borne and vector-borne diseases, the court had said.

The DJB was on the last date asked to explain the manner in which drainage of water takes place in Delhi as well as the date of construction of various drains, including storm water drains, steps taken to maintain them and their efficacy.

The Board in an affidavit placed before the court today, said it was not responsible for management of the storm water drains which are under the control of separate agencies like the different municipal corporations and the Irrigation and Flood Control Department.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The West Bengal Assembly passed a resolution today to rename the state as 'Bangla' in three languages -- Bengali, English and Hindi.

The move is aimed at climbing the alphabetical sequence of state names in which West Bengal appears last in the list now.

The state will have to wait for the nod from the Home Ministry for a final approval on the resolution.

Earlier, the Centre had rejected the state government's proposals of having three names Bangla (in Bengali), Bengal (in English) and Bangal (in Hindi).

The Mamata Banerjee government's proposal of renaming West Bengal as "Paschim Bango" in 2011 was also turned down by the Centre.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The West Bengal Assembly today passed a resolution to rename the state as 'Bangla'.

The state will now have to wait for a nod from the Union home ministry for the resolution's final approval.

The move was aimed at climbing the alphabetical sequence of state names in which West Bengal appears last in the list now, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier said.

The resolution said the state will be called Bangla in three languages -- Bengali, English and Hindi.

The Centre had in the past rejected the state government's proposal of having three names -- Bangla (in Bengali), Bengal (in English) and Bangal (in Hindi).

The Mamata Banerjee government's move to rename West Bengal as 'Paschim Bango' in 2011 was also turned down by the Centre.

She told the Assembly, "There were detailed discussions on the name change many times. Last time, it was discussed on August 29, 2016. The Union home ministry did not act on our proposal of changing the name for two years. Subsequently, I had personally requested the Union home minister."



The chief minister said, "The home ministry told us that three names cannot be approved and we have to choose any one name for our state and pass another resolution in the Assembly."



Banerjee also said that the name 'Bangla' was chosen as "it is the identity of Bengal".

"We cannot say Bangal because it will be a problem for non-Hindi speaking people," she said.

"So many states have changed their names. There was talk about renaming the state during the Left Front rule. We too had taken a decision earlier. I do not want to go into any controversy. Rather, I would say that let us pass the resolution unanimously and send it to the Centre for its approval," she said.

Bengali is the fifth most-spoken language in the world, she said and referred to the International Mother Language Day.

State Education Minister Partha Chatterjee moved the resolution in the House which was unanimously passed.

BJP member Dilip Ghosh, who was present in the House, did not participate in the discussion.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The West Bengal Assembly today passed the Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill, 2018, keeping the



chief minister out of its purview in matters relating to public order.

The Bill, however, allows the Lokayukta to investigate into matters relating to the chief minister on the other 58 subjects under the State List, with the approval of two-third of the members of the assembly present and voting.

There are 59 subjects in the State List.

Speaking on the Bill, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stated that recruitment of police, deployment of forces and any other emergency situations would be regarded as public order.

She said a section of the media and opposition parties were "spreading canards" that the chief minister has been kept out of the purview of the entire West Bengal Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill.

It is not true as only matters related to public order have been exempted, she said.

"Other subjects under the State List are under the purview of the Lokayukta," the chief minister said.

"The people of this state will decide my credentials. For me, the credentials are the biggest thing that a politician can possess. I have been elected by the people," she asserted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Though the Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution to change the name of the state from to 'Bangla', the process for the final approval is a long drawn one that includes an amendment in the Constitution.

The first proposal of the government to rename had faced opposition from the Centre on the ground that it sounded similar to a neighbouring country's name, Bangladesh. Also, the Centre wanted just one name for the state in three languages -- Bengali, Hindi and English, officials said.

When the fresh proposal formally comes to the Union Home Ministry, it will prepare a note for the Cabinet to bring an amendment to the Schedule 1 of the Constitution. After that, the Constitution amendment bill will be introduced in the Parliament, which has to be approved with a simple majority, before the President gives his assent.

When the 2011 proposal was received, there was an objection from the Central government that suggested name 'Bangla' has similarity to Bangladesh and it would be difficult to differentiate the two at international forums, said a senior official privy to the developments then.



At that time, the state government had proposed three names - Bangla (in Bengali), Bengal (in English) and Bangal (in Hindi).

The central government had objected that there should not be separate names in the three languages.

The government had also proposed that the name should be changed to 'Paschim Bango' (West Bengal in Bengali) but it too did not find favour in the central government.

It is to be seen what will be the central government's view now as the state assembly on Thursday proposed to change the name 'Bangla' in all three languages, the official said.

The name of any state was changed last time in 2011, when Orissa became Names of Bombay was changed to Mumbai in 1995, Madras to Chennai in 1996, Calcutta to in 2001.

The central government had approved the name changes for 11 cities of Karnataka, that include Bangalore to Bengaluru, in 2014.The West Bengal government's decision to change the state's name to Bangla drew mixed reactions from experts, with majority calling the axing of 'west' as a "good riddance" while some thought that the use of localised nomenclature may lead to "linguistic confusion".

Historians, architects, authors and art aficionados, all concurred that the word 'west' in the state's name had been "superfluous" and an "alphabetical liability" for the past 70 years.

"In all public meetings, and government conferences, the 'W' set us down in the pecking order. By the time the state's turn came, it would be either lunch time or fag end of the event. So, it is good if we lose that 'W' from our name," said Jawhar Sircar, former chief of Prasar Bharati, who was born and raised in Kolkata.

He termed the move as a "very good step", saying Bengal and Calcutta were "Europhile" names.

The West Bengal Assembly today passed a resolution to rename the state to Bangla. The state will now have to wait for a nod from the Union Home Ministry for the resolution's final approval.

Noted historian Irfan Habib, said, "The 'West' in West Bengal had really become irrelevant as there is no 'East Bengal' now. But I feel Bengal would have made much more sense, and have had historical relevance. But politicians try to appeal to local sentiments."



"But, anyway, people continue to use Calcutta, Bombay, Bangalore, Mysore despite their rechristenings, so I guess, Bengal would also not fade away even though it may be inked out officially," he told PTI.

Author, poet and musician Amit Chaudhuri, who has been fighting to save the built heritage of Kolkata, termed the decision an "exercise in futility" to "score political points".

"It is a waste of time. Had it been accompanied with real work in reviving of the industry and art and culture of Bengal, I would have understood, but is the real work happening. Look at the plight of heritage in our city (Kolkata)," he rued.

"Did renaming of Calcutta to Kolkata achieve anything? Did we become a better city? Did the living standards and quality of life of people improve? Did our institutions become better, on the other hand they became more politicised. And, I personally feel, old names should not be changed. Bengal is fine," he said.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told the West Bengal Assembly that the name Bangla was chosen as "it is the identity of Bengal".

Artist Subhaprasanna Bhattacharjee, who is also the chairman of the West Bengal Heritage Commission (WBHC), said, after the approval by the Centre, claimed the renaming of the state to Bangla has been a "long-standing demand" of the people, and it will reflect our "Bengali pride".

"Once approved, the WBHC will become 'Bangla Heritage Commission' and other government institutions would change names accordingly. Just like Kolkata, people will start using Bangla for the state name. Only a snobbish English daily and a few people use 'Calcutta' which was used by the British." he said.

Chaudhuri, author of 'Calcutta: Two Years in the City' however, countered that "Bengali pride, does not come from merely changing names of streets, parks and cities, and erecting giant statues, but actual, concrete work".

"Politicians would do well to focus on actual work than renaming exercise," he said.

G M Kapur, convenor of the Kolkata Chapter of Delhi-based heritage body INTACH, said, the word Bangla would also lead to confusion, linguistic or otherwise.

"The word Bangla has many shades of meaning -- it refers to the state, the language Bengali, but in colloquial term, it also refers to country-made liquor. And, Bangla is also a truncated reference to Bangladesh, which was East Bengal during the colonial days," he said.

"So, one can only imagine the confusion it is going to unleash, not mention the humour it will trigger," Kapur said.

A Mumbai-based conservation architect, who did not wish to be named, said, "I am a Bengali, and yet I feel a sense of loss of identity when I think of losing Bengal from our state's name."



"The loss would also mean a loss of history, as identity and history are deeply intertwined. So, we we are venturing into a very ambiguous and ambivalent space here," she said.

"For non-Bengali speakers, Bangla also means a bungalow or a house. It will confuse non-Bengalis and Bengalis, who do not reside in the state. So, let's play it by the ear till then and see what happens," she said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Supreme Court on Thursday slammed the Centre, the Uttar Pradesh government and Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) authority for their failure to restore the pristine glory of and asked what would happen if withdraws the world heritage site tag of the iconic monument.

The apex court came down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh government for filing a draft report of the vision document on protection of the and observed it was "surprising" that the Archeological Survey of India (ASI), which was responsible for preservation of the ivory white marble mausoleum, was not even consulted in the process.

A bench of justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta also wondered as to how 1,167 polluting industries were operating in the TTZ area and said that the TTZ authority, which was set up following an apex court order of 1996, was a "flop" and it appeared that a 'tamasha' (drama) was going on in the matter.

TTZ is an area of about 10,400 sq km spread over the districts of Agra, Firozabad, Mathura, Hathras and Etah in Uttar Pradesh and Bharatpur district of Rajasthan.

"The Unesco's world heritage centre is in Paris. Have you been filing management plan (of Taj Mahal) before the world heritage centre of This is not being filed. What will happen if the says that we will withdraw the world heritage tag of Taj Mahal," the bench asked Attorney General

Responding to it, Venugopal said, "It will be great, great embarrassment for the country" and "we cannot afford to get it (Taj Mahal) removed from the list of Unesco's world heritage site".

The bench, while making it clear that somebody has to take responsibility for protection of the Taj Mahal, asked the Attorney General to "categorically and unequivocally" apprise the court by July 30 as to which departments of the Centre and Uttar Pradesh government would be responsible for maintenance and protection of TTZ.

It also directed the authorities to inform it by July 30 about the short term measures which were essential and needed to be acted upon immediately for protection of and TTZ.

"We would also like to know from the government of India whether the authorities have submitted the management plan to the world heritage centre of Unesco at Paris for Taj Mahal," it said.



The bench came down heavily on TTZ authority and said it has done nothing and the situation would not have become so serious if the authority would have done its work properly.

At the outset, the bench pulled up the Uttar Pradesh government for filing a draft report of the vision document and asked whether the apex court was supposed to vet it.

"Why have you given a draft plan? Are we supposed to vet it for you? Is it our job to vet it," the bench said, adding, "What is this going on? Are we supposed to correct your draft report?".

"Is this the kind of concern which you are showing? What is this happening?," the bench said.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Tushar Mehta, who was appearing for the state, said that the draft report of vision document was prepared as per the apex court's directive and it was prepared by School of Planning and Architecture in Delhi and not be the Uttar Pradesh government.

"The attempt is to show our bonafide. Now, there will be consultations on it and within a period stipulated by the court, the final report will be prepared," the ASG said.

The bench then referred to an affidavit filed by TTZ and told Venugopal, "It says 1,167 polluting industries are right there. This is the figure by the officials".

The Attorney General said these industries were running on "clean fuel" and told the bench that draft report was prepared as per court's direction and the apex court should tell the authorities as to what they should do.

"Frankly, what the Supreme Court has undertaken is so massive," he told the bench and said tremendous efforts were put in for preparing the draft report and Rs 280,000 was spent for it.

When the bench observed that it was only a draft report and it could be changed later, Venugopal said, "it cannot be in a final form as other stakeholders can give their suggestions on it".



"You are not doing us a favour. Lets be clear about it," the bench said.

During the hearing, the bench took exception that affidavits were filed in the matter by Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the TTZ authority and other agencies.

The top court also said that the draft report be supplied to a panel of conservation experts, including INTACH (Indian Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage), ICOMOS (The International Council on Monuments and Sites) and the Aga Khan Foundation, so that they could also give their comments and suggestions on the draft report within four weeks.

It said that draft report be supplied to environmentalist M C Mehta, the petitioner in the case, so that he could also give his suggestions.

The court has posted the matter for hearing with regard to draft report on August 28.

The apex court has been monitoring development in the area to protect the Taj Mahal, built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal at Agra.

Its construction was completed in 1643 but work continued on other phases of the project for another 10 years. The ivory white marble mausoleum is a Unesco World Heritage Site.

'What is happening in Kerala, priests are becoming accused in rape cases', the Supreme Court wondered today as it asked the state police to file a status report on the investigation done against four clergymen accused of sexually abusing a married woman.

The top court also refused to stay the trial of another alleged rape case involving a priest from Kerala. The trial in the case is scheduled to start from August 1.

"What is happening in Kerala, priests are becoming accused in rape cases," said a bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan.

The bench directed the state police to file a status report on the probe done so far into the sexual abuse case, involving four priests attached to the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church.

It asked the counsel for Kerala Police to file the status report within two weeks and posted the matter for August 6.

The two accused priests--Father Sony Verghese and Father Jaise K George--have been granted protection from arrest by the apex court till it pronounced a verdict on their anticipatory bail pleas.

On July 19, the apex court had said the protection from arrest granted to two clergymen would continue till it pronounced the verdict on their anticipatory bail.

The clergymen had moved the apex court seeking anticipatory bail in the case after their plea was rejected by the Kerala High Court on July 11.

Four priests attached to the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church are accused of sexually abusing a 34-year-old married woman by using her confessional statement.

The court was earlier informed that two of the accused had surrendered, while two were before the court seeking anticipatory bail in the case.

The Crime Branch wing of the Kerala Police had on July 2 registered a case against Father Varghese and three other priests on the basis of a statement given by the woman belonging to the same church accusing them of sexually assaulting her on many occasions.

In another rape case of Kottiyoor in Kerala also involving a priest, the apex court today refused to stay the trial scheduled to be starting from August 1.

Two doctors and a hospital administrator, accused in the case, had moved court seeking stay of a criminal trial against them.

The bench was informed by the state government counsel that charges have already being framed in the case and the trial is scheduled to start from August 1.

Senior advocate R Basant, appearing for the two doctors and hospital administrator, requested that the trial in the case be stayed for a week or their case be heard before the trial starts.

"They are reputed doctors and not the main accused in the case. It will be very difficult for them to stand trial along with the main rape accused," Basant said.

The bench said the trial could not be stayed, but the case before it could be heard on August 1 itself.

The Supreme Court had on July 13 termed "very serious" the charges in the Kottiyoor sex scandal, which involved the alleged rape of a minor by a Catholic priest.

The two doctors and the hospital administrator have been charged under the provisions of the POCSO Act for allegedly covering up the crime, not reporting it to the police after they had come in contact with the minor rape victim and destroying evidence.

The victim had given birth to a child at their hospital and was under their care.

The three accused Hyder Ali, a paediatrician, Sister Tessy Jose, a gynaecologist and Sister Ancy Mathew of Christraj Hospital-- had appealed against the decision of the Kerala High Court, which had said that a full-fledged trial was required in the case.

The Kerala government had opposed their plea and pointed out that the biological father of the victim was framed in the case.

It had said the accused were influential and powerful people, while the father of the victim, who belongs to a poor background, was framed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The BJP today said the Congress governments could not achieve in 65 years what the Narendra Modi-led government did in just four years.

"What Modi government did in four years, the Congress was not able to do that in the last 65 years of rule", Jammu and Kashmir BJP spokesperson and MLA Priya Sethi said.

The former minister attacked the Congress for its "double standards" and said that the party is putting its vested "self-interest over the national interest".

She accused the Congress of playing the vote bank and said it wants only to come to power.

Whereas, the BJP believes in equal development for all and nation-building, she said.

Sethi claimed that the Congress was "never concerned" for the development of the state, in particular the Jammu region.

Otherwise Jammu would have never been neglected to such extent, she said.

The newly appointed BJP state spokesperson boasted about the development initiatives taken by the BJP-PDP coalition government in the Jammu region.

"Within a short span of less than three years, that too in a coalition government, we have taken up a number of development initiatives in the Jammu region such as Mubarak Mandi heritage complex, cable car project, multi-level parking complexes, artificial lake, IIT, IIM, which were long pending demands of people of the region," she said.

She added that it was in our tenure that the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) for legislators was enhancement from Rs 1.50 crore to Rs 3 crore and the guidelines for spending CDF have also been modified to incorporate various other social and developmental activities under the scheme.

A legislator can now utilise upto Rs 20 lakh as medical assistance, with a ceiling of Rs 10 lakh per patient, out of CDF for providing assistance to BPL patients for treatment of liver or kidney transplant, bone marrow and heart transplant, blindness and other dangerous diseases, she said.

She said, going by the mantra of Prime Minister Narendra Modi - "Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas" - adequate facilities were being provided to people in every village and town irrespective of their cast, creed, religion or region.

The spokesperson said that the BJP is a party of nationalists and its every member will always put the national interest first.

She added that the Modi government has launched many women-specific schemes which are benefiting them.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)For the first time in Pakistan's electoral history, women in some conservative parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces cast their votes in the general elections as candidates sought to fulfil the legal requirement of minimum 10 per cent women's turnout to validate their result.

In the restive Balochistan, too, women came out in large numbers to vote yesterday despite terror attacks and repeated threats, the Dawn reported.

Women in tribal areas and other conservative areas had been barred from voting in the past general elections, as the practice of keeping women away from voting was a norm under verbal and written agreements between candidates and family elders in such areas.

However, for the first time, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) annulled the result of Dir Lower bypolls in 2015 after finding that none of the registered women voters had cast votes.

The Elections Act requires the ECP to declare an election null and void if women's turnout in a constituency is less than 10 per cent of its total polled votes.

Yesterday, candidates and local administration on ECP directives ensured at least 10 per cent turnout of women voters in the districts notorious for barring women from voting.

The measures encouraged women voters not only in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Dir Lower but also in a village of Punjab's Sahiwal district to visit their respective polling stations and cast their vote.

In North Waziristan, Bajaur and other far-flung parts of Mohmand tribal agency also saw a rise in female voters' turnout despite lack of facilities and slow polling process.

Considering past voting trends in the conservative parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the ECP had issued directives to district returning officers and deputy commissioners to ensure women's voting in six districts namely Swat, Dir Lower, Dir Upper, Shangla, Swabi and Batagram.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Actor Henry Cavill has expressed his interest in taking over the mantel of playing famed British spy James Bond from Daniel Craig.

Craig is all set to hang his boots after his final outing as the famed British Secret Service agent in Bond 25.

Cavill, who is currently awaiting the release of "Mission: Impossible - Fallout", said he is up for job and would "love to do it".

"I would love to do it of course. I think Bond would be a really fun role. It's British, it's cool. I think that now that I have my 'Mission: Impossible' badge we can do real stunts and really amp it up as well..." the actor told Yahoo Movies.

"Not to say they weren't doing real stunts I'm just saying it would be fun for me to actually take what I've learnt on this and carry it through to a movie like Bond. I'd love to play a Brit. I don't get to play a Brit very often. So yes, I would love the opportunity and if they were to ask I would say yes," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Japan's so-called sharing economy, including "minpaku" private lodging businesses, totaled 470 billion to 525 billion yen in 2016, according to Cabinet Office estimates released on Wednesday.

The estimates were the first by the government on the nation's sharing economy.

But the government agency said it was difficult to precisely figure the size of such economy, with as much as a quarter of it yet to be reflected in gross domestic product statistics.

By category, economic value produced from exchanging goods is estimated at around 300 billion yen, thanks to the spread of flea market apps, followed by up to 180 billion yen from sharing space, including the minpaku service, and maximum 25 billion yen from utilizing skills and time for the sake of others, namely homemaker services.

Crowdfunding and other shared activities directly involving money were worth up to 20 billion yen, the estimate also showed.By Dominique VidalonPARIS (Reuters) - AccorHotels, Europe's largest hotelier, said it had abandoned plans to buy a minority stake in Air France-KLM, which has been hit by boardroom and staff unrest.While some investors said they saw sense in a tie-up between AccorHotels and Air France-KLM, notably through cooperation on loyalty programmes, others had questioned why Accor would need to buy a stake in the troubled airline.The airline has been hunting for a new boss to fill a gap left by the abrupt departure of chief executive Jean-Marc Janaillac in May, after staff rejected a pay proposal aimed ...By Kate HoltonLONDON (Reuters) - The boss of Dentsu Aegis Network plans to exploit the weakness of rivals such as WPP by snapping up the most attractive businesses in the advertising sector to protect its above-average growth.Jerry Buhlmann, a Briton who runs the operations of ad giant Dentsu outside Japan, said the group would continue its M&A drive to see it through a revolution in the advertising industry that has upended so many of its rivals. WPP, the world's biggest advertising agency, is embarking on a programme of "radical change" after it failed to grow in 2017, while rivals Omnicom ...SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil, the world's largest soybean exporter, is vying for a 5 million tonne export quota to sell soymeal and soyoil to China, the newspaper Valor Economico reported on Thursday, quoting Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi.The petition would allow Brazil to boost trade of higher-value products with the Asian country, Valor reported. China bought 78 percent of Brazil's soybean exports in the first half of the year, a trade worth $18.43 billion, according to government data. Brazil exported about $6 billion worth of soymeal and soyoil in 2017, according to oilseeds ...(Reuters) - The government has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe political consultancy Cambridge Analytica's misuse of Facebook user data, law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told parliament on Thursday."It is suspected that Cambridge Analytica may have been involved in illegally obtaining data of Indians which could be misused," Prasad said.Facebook has faced increased scrutiny in the United States and the European Union over how Cambridge Analytica obtained the personal data of 87 million Facebook users. The consultancy allegedly used the data to support U.S. President ...JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a concerted effort by global institutions such as the United Nations, the G7 and the World Trade Organisation to fight unilateralism and protectionism in a speech on Thursday at a BRICS summit in South Africa.Xi also called for dialogue to settle disputes on global trade, underlining remarks he made at the opening of the summit the previous day urging a rejection of unilateralism in the wake of tariff threats by U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump's warnings have given Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa fresh impetus ...LONDON (Reuters) - A bad Brexit deal with the European Union for financial services would hit provincial British cities harder than the sector's base in London, research showed on Thursday.The City of London, home to the "Square Mile" financial district, published research looking at which places stand to lose most if banking and insurance fail to obtain sufficient access to the EU market after Britain leaves next March.Financial services make up a larger share of overall exports for Cardiff, Northampton, Leeds and Edinburgh than for London, the research conducted by Centre for Cities ...By Madeline Chambers and Leigh ThomasBERLIN/PARIS (Reuters) - Europe expressed relief on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump and the European Commission chief agreed to tackle their transatlantic trade row, although France cautioned that any deal must be limited and benefit both sides.Reaction on financial markets ranged from enthusiasm on stock exchanges to scepticism among currency investors, while commodities experts said Trump's proclamation that Europe would buy "lots of" soybeans from U.S. farmers hit by his trade row with China was not all that it seemed.After meeting European ...By Maggie Fick and Aaron MaashoADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia has embarked on a root-and-branch overhaul of its economy, though its currency will not be devalued any time soon and liberalising the state-dominated banking sector will take years, the recently appointed head of its central bank said. Yinager Dessie took the helm last month as one of the main players in a far-reaching programme of political and economic reforms that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is pushing though. In a candid interview at odds with the secretive traditions of the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), the 47-year-old ...ZURICH/MILAN (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler said it knew nothing about the medical condition of Sergio Marchionne after a Swiss hospital said on Thursday it had been treating the deceased chief executive for more than a year."Due to medical privacy, the company had no knowledge of the facts relating to Mr. Marchionne's health," a Fiat Chrysler spokesman said. Questions have been raised about how long Marchionne, who died on Wednesday, was ill and how much the company knew before it made the situation public.Marchionne rescued Fiat and Chrysler from bankruptcy after taking the wheel of the ...By Madeline Chambers and Paul CarrelBERLIN (Reuters) - Germany welcomed an initiative agreed between U.S. President Donald Trump and the head of the European Commission to ease the threat of a trade war and shares rose on the news, but business groups urged the two sides to back up their words with deeds.After a meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at the White House on Wednesday, Trump agreed to refrain from imposing car tariffs while they start talks on cutting other trade barriers.European stocks jumped in morning trade on Thursday, with the trade initiative ...(Reuters) - D.R. Horton Inc, the biggest U.S. homebuilder, topped Wall Street profit estimates on Thursday for the seventh straight quarter, fueled by higher demand for new homes and underscoring a robust housing market in the United States.Orders, an indicator of future revenue for homebuilders, rose 12.3 percent to 14,650 homes in the third quarter ended June 30.The results come on the heels of Wednesday's data pointing to new U.S. single-family home sales falling to an eight-month low while data for May was revised sharply down.However, D.R. Horton, which mainly sells affordable ...By Karl Plume and David Alire GarciaCHICAGO/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican bread, pasta and flour-tortilla makers are seeking alternative suppliers of wheat to reduce their dependence on the United States as trade relations between the two neighbors deteriorate.Mexico, the top importer of U.S. wheat, is increasingly turning to cheaper supplies from Russia, which surpassed the United States as the top global wheat supplier in 2016.Now the U.S. market share decline is accelerating as Mexico casts about for more alternative suppliers in Latin America and elsewhere to hedge against the risk that ...By Alastair Macdonald and Jan StrupczewskiBRUSSELS (Reuters) - Some personal chemistry with a fellow veteran dealmaker and a quick sense that Donald Trump was ready to bargain helped Jean-Claude Juncker strike a surprise accord to avert a transatlantic trade war, for now.That is the view of European Commission officials familiar with the EU chief executive's meeting at the White House on Wednesday, after which the U.S. president declared there was "love" between the two sides and withdrew a threat to slap new tariffs on EU cars that would have drawn retaliation in Europe."Clearly there is a ...(Reuters) - India's largest selling car maker, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, posted a lower-than-expected first-quarter profit on Thursday, as forex losses and increased costs of raw materials partially offset higher sales of compact and utility vehicles.The company, majority-owned by Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp, reported profit of 19.75 billion rupees ($287.38 million) for the quarter ended June 30, versus 15.56 billion a year earlier.That compared with an average estimate of 22.71 billion rupees by 18 analysts, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.Total revenue from operations rose 13.6 percent to ...(Reuters) - NXP Semiconductors NV, whose buyout deal with U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm Inc fell through due to lack of approval from China, said on Thursday it would buy back $5 billion worth of shares.The company said Qualcomm has informed the company it would pay $2 billion breakup fee by 9 a.m., New York City time, on Thursday.NXP also reported second-quarter revenue of $2.29 billion, a 4 percent increase from last year, missing the average analyst estimate of $2.36 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. (Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bengaluru)(This story has not been edited by ...By Rania El GamalDUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it was suspending oil shipments through the Red Sea's Bab al-Mandeb strait, one of the world's most important tanker routes, after Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis attacked two ships in the waterway.Brent futures rose 19 cents to $74.12 a barrel by 1305 GMT, extending their rally into a third day but slipping from a 10-day high in earlier trading. Saudi Arabia and arch-foe Iran have been locked in a three-year proxy war in Yemen, which lies on one side of the Bab al-Mandeb strait at the southern mouth of the sea, one of the most ...By Cynthia Kim and Hayoung ChoiSEOUL (Reuters) - A rapid fall in capital investment slowed South Korea's economic growth in the second quarter, while weaker export growth highlighted concerns over the outlook for trade in the second half of the year.Gross domestic product grew a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent in the second quarter, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said on Thursday, slowing from 1 percent growth over January to March, as expected. Year-on-year growth logged 2.9 percent, slightly below 3 percent growth seen in a Reuters survey. Investment in plant and equipment dropped 6.6 percent, the ...By Hallie Gu and Josephine MasonBEIJING (Reuters) - China's state planner has discussed with top feed makers ways of reducing soymeal levels in animal feed, sources briefed on the matter said on Thursday, as Beijing scrambles to help its vast farm sector cope with a protracted trade war with Washington.The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) called the companies to a meeting in the Chinese capital on Wednesday, the two sources said. The discussions also looked at how to secure alternative protein-rich ingredients, they added. Representatives of New Hope Group, Beijing ...BELMONT RESOURCES INC

Belmont Engages Harris Exploration Drilling to Commence Drilling Kibby Basin, Nevada Lithium Property





ID: 1538979

(firmenpresse) - Belmont Engages Harris Exploration Drilling to Commence Drilling Kibby Basin, Nevada Lithium Property



Vancouver, B.C. Canada, July 26, 2018 - Belmont Resources Inc. (TSX.V: BEA; FSE: L3L1; DTC Eligible - CUSIP 080499403); (Belmont, or the Company).



Kibby Basin Drilling:

Belmont has engaged Harris Exploration Drilling and Associates Inc. (Harris Drilling), a California company, to mobilize equipment and to commence drilling on the Kibby property with an anticipated start date of July 28, 2018.



Harris Drilling has extensive experience drilling in the Clayton Valley lithium brines, in recovering core in unconsolidated lakebed sediments, and in lithium brine testing.



Robert Cuffney, Exploration Geologist, has selected the first holes based on the results from the Quantec MT geophysical survey completed in January. The proposed drill holes are designed to test a large strong MT conductor, which may represent aquifers containing lithium brines. Holes have been designed to intercept the MT anomaly starting at depths of 325 m (1065 ft.) and continuing to as much as 760 m (2500 ft.) with the objectives of determining the nature of the conductor, collecting sediment samples for lithium analyses, identifying aquifers, and sampling water and any brines encountered.



Harris Drilling will employ an RD 10 rotary drill to complete the holes. Drill samples will be collected continuously on 3 m (10 ft.) intervals and analyzed for lithium and associated elements. Water samples will be collected periodically as the hole progresses and will be analyzed for lithium, associated elements, and physical properties (conductivity, pH, TDS). Downhole geophysical logging will be performed by Southwest Exploration Services of Chandler, Arizona to identify permeable/aquifer zones and zones of conductivity. Aquifer water will be sampled using downhole packers to isolate the aquifer intervals.



Previous drilling by Belmont reached a depth of 457 m (1498 ft) in playa sediments outside of the MT anomaly.





NI 43-101 Disclosure

Robert (Bob) G. Cuffney, Certified Professional Geologist, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release.



About Belmont Resources Inc.

Belmont is an emerging resource company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties in Canada and Nevada, U.S.A.



For further information see our Website at: www.BelmontResources.com

--Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Nevadalithium/

--Twitter https://twitter.com/Belmont_Res



Belmont has recently optioned 31 mineral claims encompassing approx. 7 sq.km; located 24 km northwest of Saint John, New Brunswick - the Mid Corner/Johnson Croft - a Zinc, Cobalt prospect.



On March 30, 2016; the Company acquired sixteen placer (16) mining claims, representing 1036 hectares (2,560 acres) in Esmeralda County, Nevada, U.S.A. The Kibby Basin property is located 65 km north of Clayton Valley, Nevada-U.S.A. The Company believes the property to be highly prospective to host lithium. Subsequent ground geophysics & gravity surveys, surface sampling and a two hole- 2046 ft. diamond drill program have confirmed the presence of lithium on Kibby.



In June 2018; the Company has updated its land position staking, and now holds 126 x 20 acre additional placer mineral claims totaling approx. 1,020 hectares ( 2,520 acres) , adjoining the Kibby 16, for a total Kibby Basin land position (the Property) to 2,056 hectares (5,080 acres).



In 50/50 ownership with International Montoro Resources Inc., Belmont has acquired and is exploring joint venture opportunities for its two significant uranium properties (Crackingstone -982 ha & Orbit Lake - 11,109 ha) in the Uranium City District in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada



ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

James H. Place

James H. Place

CEO/President



This Press Release may contain forward-looking statements that may involve a number of risks and uncertainties, based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of exploration and other risk factors beyond its control. Forward looking statements in this news release include statements about the possible raising of capital and exploration of our properties. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Companies forward-looking statements and expectations. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, that we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval; that we may not be able to raise funds required, that conditions to closing may not be fulfilled and we may not be able to organize and carry out an exploration program in 2016; and other risks associated with being a mineral exploration and development company. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and, except as required by applicable laws, the Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results differed from those projected in the forward-looking statements.



Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.





























Juristisches zu dieser Pressemitteilung

Weitere Pressemitteilungen von BELMONT RESOURCES INC

Bereitgestellt von Benutzer: irwDatum: 26.07.2018 - 03:06 UhrSprache: DeutschNews-ID 1538979Anzahl Zeichen: 7721contact information:Contact person:Town:Phone:Kategorie:Typ of Press Release:type of sending:Date of sending:Anmerkungen:Diese Pressemitteilung wurde bishermal aufgerufen.Die Pressemitteilung mit dem Titel:steht unter der journalistisch-redaktionellen Verantwortung vonBeachten Sie bitte die weiteren Informationen zum Haftungsauschlu (gema TMG - TeleMedianGesetz ) und dem Datenschutz (gema der DSGVO ).Terming cryptocurrency as "junk", Mastercard President and CEO Ajay Banga has said an "anonymised" currency that can fluctuate "wildly" does not deserve to be considered as a medium of exchange. The India-born head of the American multinational financial services corporation voiced concern that 95 per cent of all illegal transactions on the dark web, including child prostitution, drugs, credit card and social security fraud, are paid for using cryptocurrency.

A cryptocurrency is a digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank. I think cryptocurrency is junk.The idea of an anonymised currency produced by people who have to mine it, the value of which can fluctuate wildly -- that to me is not the way that any medium of exchange deserves to be considered as a medium of exchange, Banga said here. He was responding to questions about cryptocurrency during the New India Lecture' organised earlier this week at the Indian Consulate under the aegis of Consul General Ambassador Sandeep Chakravorty. The lecture series is organised by the Consulate in partnership with the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF).

Banga said cryptocurrency is not a good medium of exchange as it does not have predictability and transparency. "Why is that the medium of exchange that is being preferred, he said. Banga also referred to the indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers in the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and for interfering in the US elections, saying that the FBI had disclosed that the Russian agents handled the most delicate transactions using cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Banga said cryptocurrency was used in such dealings because it is anonymous.

Why civil society would like to put a snake in its backyard and think that somehow the snake will only bite my neighbour, I don't get it, he said. On the escalation of trade wars between countries as they impose tariffs on goods in a tit-for-tat manner, Banga said countries that have benefited over the years from the openness and transparency of nations that had opened up their markets for trade, need to also be willing to play by the rules, whether it is the obvious rules or the slightly less obvious, surreptitious rules.

My worry about trade is not to do with the idea that the principles of global trade need to be renegotiated to create a more level playing field on all sides of this environment for recipient and exporting countries but also that the way of getting to that agreement has to be more mature than what I feel currently is the pathway that is being followed, he said.

Banga stressed that in the current environment, it is time for people to have a debate about how open trade should be constructed. He said globalisation worked by opening up trade but the manner in which those trade rules have been decided and the manner in which some countries follow rules and others openly and flagrantly violate the rules, whether it been in intellectual property protection, duties, creating sneaky artificial barriers needs to be addressed.

Banga also made a strong argument over the need for society to prefer electronic payments instead of using cash, emphasizing that cash and not credit cards are used to fund illicit activities such as drug distribution and terrorism. India is deeply impacted by terrorism as is this country. Do you really believe that the drugs that flow through from Afghanistan to Pakistan to India and corrupt the youth in Punjab today, that the drugs in America s campuses come in exchange for a credit card payment?

They come in exchange for cash and yet society buys into the logic that cash is free and electronic payments are expensive. Society needs to wake up, Banga said. He supported Prime Minister Narendra Modi's push towards digitisation and enabling a cashless society in India. Cash is not free. That's with the Indian Prime Minister has said and the reason why he is saying this is that he gets it.

On a question on the importance of diversity in the world, Banga said surrounding oneself with people who look different, who don't walk like you, talk like you, didn't have the same experiences as you, didn't go to the same schools as you, makes an individual richer. It makes you more innovative more creative. You don't have the same blind spots and you benefit as a human being. He said it is a shame to surround oneself with only one kind of people.The West Bengal Assembly passed a resolution today to rename the state as 'Bangla' in three languages -- Bengali, English and Hindi.

The move is aimed at climbing the alphabetical sequence of state names in which West Bengal appears last in the list now.

The state will have to wait for the nod from the Home Ministry for a final approval on the resolution.

Earlier, the Centre had rejected the state government's proposals of having three names Bangla (in Bengali), Bengal (in English) and Bangal (in Hindi).

The Mamata Banerjee government's proposal of renaming West Bengal as "Paschim Bango" in 2011 was also turned down by the Centre.National Fishworkers Forum (NFF), an umbrella body of the traditional fishing communities across India, has demanded the withdrawal of a draft Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification issued by the environment ministry recently.

In an interaction between the Members of Parliament and traditional fishing communities, their unions and local community leaders from across the country in Delhi, NFF alleged that the draft, if notified, will be counterproductive as it will destroy the coastal ecosystem instead of protecting it. The government has brought in the changes in the existing CRZ notification to help develop infrastructure projects like Coastal Industrial Corridors, Sagarmala, Bharatmala, economic zones, power plants, petroleum and manufacturing plants along India's coastlines without consulting the fishing communities whose lives and livelihoods depend on the existence of the coastal ecosystem, NFF leaders said.

"The CRZ Notifications of 1991 and 2011 have been amended 38 times mostly for tourism and industrial purposes and never for the benefit of those dependent on the coast for their livelihoods" says T. Peter, General Secretary, NFF.

NFF seeks the enactment of a comprehensive law to replace the CRZ notification.

The fish workers interaction saw parliamentarians cutting across party lines offer their support.

While Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu assured the government's commitment towards the fisher people, Congress leader K.V. Thomas expressed his solidarity with the steps that NFF has taken in bringing the issue of CRZ to the forefront. BJP MP from Daman and Diu Lalubhai Patel wanted the government to sensitise the officials who prepared the notification about the implications of CRZ. Shiv Sena MP Vinayak Raut wanted the government to ignore the Shailesh Naik Committee report that recommended the CRZ amendment and define separate CRZs for the east coast and west coast in consultation with local bodies, community organisations and fishworking community. He also pointed out that the notification should be supplied in various regional languages so that people are able to read this and understand the implications clearly. Narendra Sawaikar (Goa), Mohammed Salim (West Bengal), Pradeep Bhattacharya (West Bengal) and Rajendra Gavit (Maharashtra) were among the Paliamentarians who expressed solidarity with the fishing community.

The Delhi government also sent their solidarity message in NFF's fight to scrap the draft CRZ Notification 2018.We are nearing July 31, an important date for all taxpayers as it is the last day for filing FY2017/18 income tax returns (ITR). The tax-filing experience has gradually improved over the years - from a complicated and tedious process to an easy and user-friendly one - as India has mostly done away with paper-based filing. The country has embraced electronic filing, or e-filing, which involves digital verification either through a 10-digit alpha-numeric electronic verification code (EVC) or through a one-time password based on Aadhaar. These measures have been taken to make the process quite simple and, hence, improve tax compliance. Of course, individuals aged 80 or above can file returns manually and the same applies to an individual/HUF whose income is up to Rs 5 lakh and who does not claim any refund. But for the rest of us, it has to be done digitally, keeping in mind the recent changes.

If you miss the July 31 deadline, you will still have a window to file your ITR before the end of the financial year. It means for this year, you can file a delayed ITR until March 31, 2019, but it will come with a cost. "If you file it after the due date but before December 31, 2018, you will end up paying a fee of `5,000 under section 234F of the Income Tax Act. You have to pay Rs10,000 if you file it after December. Non-filing of ITR may lead to penalties if there is any tax payable. In extreme cases, tax authorities may invoke prosecution provisions under Section 276CC," says Kuldip Kumar, Partner and Leader, Personal Tax, PwC India. So, it is always better to file your ITR on time. Also, the recent digital drive has enabled the taxman to keep a close watch. So, they will keep sending reminders to those who delay or fail to submit their returns.

In case you are not able to collect all relevant information and documents on time due to unavoidable circumstances, file your ITR along with the documents and data you already have and pay the due tax before the deadline mentioned above. It will save you from paying the mandatory late fee. You can revise your return later on when you get the updated information. If your total income (after deductions) does not exceed Rs5 lakh in the concerned financial year, the maximum late fee payable will be Rs1,000 if you file your return between August 1, 2018, and March 31, 2019. If your income is below the basic tax exemption limit and there is no refund due, you are not required to file ITR and no late fee will be applicable.

What Changed This Year

If you have been paying taxes for years, note that things will be different from now on. You need to know the key changes in the tax-filing process that came into effect from April 1, starting with which ITR form you should use (see table Which Forms to Fill). Here is the low-down to get you going.

Use of ITR Form-1 (Sahaj): If you are a non-resident Indian (NRI) or a resident but not ordinarily resident (RNOR), you can no longer use the simple one-page ITR Form-1 (Sahaj). "ITR Form-1 can only be used by ordinarily resident taxpayers with income of less than Rs50 lakh from salary, one house property (except carry-forward losses) and other sources (except winnings from lottery, horse races or dividend income exceeding Rs10 lakh)," says Kuldip Kumar, Partner and Leader, Personal Tax, PwC India.

Salary break-up: Earlier, a salaried taxpayer had to submit his/her gross salary, but this has now changed. You need to provide a salary break-up, including non-exempt allowances, the value of perquisites, profit in lieu of salary and deductions claimed under section 16 of the Income Tax (IT) Act. "These details are available in Form 16 and Form 12BA, which employers issues to their employees," points out Kumar.

Details of income from house property: When you are providing details of income from house property, you have to mention the Permanent Account Number (PAN) of your tenant in the form ITR-2. It was optional last year, but this year it has been made mandatory. "Those using ITR-1 will have to provide a detailed account, viz. gross rent received, tax paid to local authorities and interest paid on borrowed capital. People using ITR-2 have been providing such details and this change is only for those using ITR-1," adds Kumar.

Overseas account details for NRIs: If you are an NRI, you will now find a field in ITR-2, ITR-3 and ITR-4 where you can provide your overseas bank account details and get the refund in your foreign bank account.

Disclosure of fair market value: The new forms require you to disclose the fair market value when you are reporting capital gains from sales of unlisted shares.

Asset and liability declaration: The government, in its effort to curb anti-money laundering activities, has brought in more transparency in the tax-filing process and taxpayers are required to reveal greater details of their assets and liabilities. However, these disclosure norms will be applicable only when your taxable income exceeds Rs50 lakh. "The assets to be reported are land, building, jewellery, archaeological collections, paintings, vehicles, yachts, bank balance, insurance policies, shares and securities, loans and advances and cash in hand. If there are corresponding liabilities in relation to these assets, the same should be reported under the liabilities section," says Kumar.

Additionally, if you have a foreign bank account, you must disclose it. "People need to be extremely careful when providing details about their overseas assets under the FA Schedule (applicable to ordinarily residents having assets/accounts, etc., in a foreign country)," says Kumar. India has existing treaties with many other countries to get information regarding any financial irregularity. So, any omission or misrepresentation can have serious repercussion under the new anti-black money law.

Prepare For Tax Filing

If you are a salaried person, keep a few things handy before starting the filing process. These include your PAN, correspondence address, Form 16 issued by tax-deducting entities, Form 16A featuring your bank transactions and interest details, a detailed break-up of salary and other income, details of income from house property, capital gains, deductions under sections 24B, 80C, 80D, 80E and all other eligible deductions. "Before starting, you must have all the information with you and the same should be kept in digital or printed format for reference. Also, keep your phone near you and keep it fully charged as you may need it to e-verify tax filing," says Anil Rego, Founder and CEO of Bengaluru-based Right Horizons Financial Services.

If you are filing ITR for the first time, you must have a PAN and an Aadhaar number. Once you have these, register on the tax department's website (incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in) to generate your password, and then log in for e-filing. To enhance log-in security, you can also opt for the second level of authentication that can be activated through a feature called the e-filing vault. "It is also essential to link your Aadhaar number with PAN and register your e-mail ID and mobile number correctly as these will be required to access EVC. E-verification is a crucial step in successful filing of ITR. Apart from EVC, all important details will be sent to the registered modes of communication," points out Archit Gupta, Founder and CEO ClearTax, an e-filing intermediary.

Self-filing: "For a salaried taxpayer, the process of ITR filing is quite simple and straightforward as most of the work has already been done by the employer while issuing salary certificates. So, this class of taxpayers can do it on their own without any professional help. In case of any query or concern, abundant guidance is provided on the income tax portal," says Taranpreet Singh, Partner at New Delhi-based TASS Advisors, a firm specialising in tax solutions and services. Akash Dwivedi, Deputy General Manager, Taxmann.com, concurs. "An individual facing fewer complexities in his/her tax affairs or filing ITR-1/ITR-4 can go for self-filing," he says. Simply put, if you are Internet savvy and comfortable with numbers, you can easily fill in simple returns such as ITR-1 and ITR-4 without any professional help.

Professional help: If self-filing is not your cup of tea because you have too many queries and doubts or a complex mix of salary and business incomes, it is wise to get professional help. Although a salaried taxpayer may not have a business income in most cases, there could be other sources of income, making the filing process a little complex. "If an individual has only salary income and savings bank interest, he/she can file it. In case one has business income or income from property sale or gains or losses from the stock market/mutual funds, it is better to approach a tax consultant," says Sameer Arora, Managing Partner at ATMS, a Mumbai-based CA firm.

"Taxpayers who may have other incomes such as capital gains may need some technical assistance to avoid potential errors or discrepancies at a later stage. In fact, the government has introduced a Tax Return Preparer (TRP) Scheme to provide affordable professional assistance to small taxpayers. In my view, where the tax issue is not complex, small taxpayers may seek guidance from TRP Scheme for filing returns on their own to avoid omissions or errors," says Singh of TASS Advisors. Additionally, there are many third-party websites which can help you file taxes and also provide assistance.

"In case you are doing it yourself, you need to have a PC and Internet connection and must know the rules to do the job. Many salaried professionals also use tax-filing websites, which have different plans for different levels of service," points out Rego of Right Horizons

Data protection: While filing your ITR, you provide a lot of personal data which could be misused if it falls into the wrong hands. "A person filing ITR through third-party websites or tax consultants should be cautious about how they function when it comes to data privacy, encryption level and data retrieval," says Dwivedi of Taxmann. You need to verify the credentials of the professional or the website and do due diligence about the track record and the trust level of people in such entities. "One should be extremely cautious of data privacy as he/she is sharing critical information. Further, everybody should have copies of the documents filed with the Income Tax Department along with a record of username and password of the e-filing site," says Arora of ATMS.

When you have decided to opt for professional help after doing due diligence, you should disclose each financial transaction/event (that may or may not have tax implications) to the tax consultant or on the third-party website. "Disclosure of facts will help the advisor evaluate your tax position correctly and explore suitable tax-planning avenues to help you achieve better tax efficiency. If you are using a third-party website, it is important to have a non-disclosure contract signed with that entity due to the confidential nature of the information," says Singh of TASS Advisors.

Handling House Property, Capital Gains

Income from house property: If you have income from house property, you need to provide all rent details. You are entitled to deduct all municipal taxes from this rental income. You will also get a standard deduction of 30 per cent on net rental income. If you have an ongoing home loan against a rented property, the interest amount up to Rs2 lakh will be eligible for tax deduction against the rental income. In case you wish to avail income tax benefit on interest and the principal amount of a home loan for a self-occupied property under section 24B (up to Rs2 lakh) and section 80C (up to Rs1.5 lakh), you need to provide a break-up of the interest and the principal amount paid. You can get a statement for the same from your lender. If you are staying in a rented house, you can claim HRA exemption, depending on your basic income and the city of residence. Under section 80GG, one can also claim a deduction for the rent paid if he/she is self-employed or salaried but not getting HRA from the employer and does not own any residential property.

Capital gains: If you have invested in stocks, debt instruments and mutual funds, you can get detailed statements from your brokers and fund houses for filing purpose. Having an online brokerage account also gives you access to details of capital gains from your investments. "You can manually enter the details of asset sales or use an excel sheet to upload all sales entries at one go. In case there has been a lot of trading activities, say if you are a day trader buying and selling large quantities of stocks or regularly trading in Futures and Options, the IT Department will classify it as a business activity. In such cases, you need to file ITR-4 and show the profits/losses from share trading under the head Income from Business and Profession," says Rego of Right Horizons. If you have capital gains from the sale of house property in the assessment year, you need to show that in your filing. You have the option to claim exemption on this capital gain under sections 54, 54EC and 54F by providing the details of your investments if they fall under any of these sections.

Processing Time

Most people expect a speedy refund from the IT department but do not know how long it takes to process an ITR and credit the refund (if any) to the bank account. "There is no defined timeline for this," says Gupta of ClearTax. "But the earlier you file, the faster it could be processed." You can also check the status of your tax return on e-filing portal by clicking on View Returns/Forms. "Anecdotal evidence suggests that women taxpayers may get refunds faster. Usually, these are processed within 90-120 days of filing. But sometimes, it can take a long time if the refund amount involved is large or there is extra scrutiny," says Rego.

@naveenkumar80The initial public offer (IPO) of HDFC Asset Management Company (AMC), country's second-largest mutual fund firm, was fully subscribed on the first day of bidding, following robust demand from investors yesterday.

The mutual fund firm's Rs 2,800-crore public offer received bids for 1,93,96,884 shares against the total issue size of 1,88,04,290 shares, translating into 1.03 times subscription, as per NSE data.

The category reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIB) was subscribed 1.19 times, non institutional investors 55 per cent and retail investors 1.34 times.

The IPO is available at a price band of Rs 1,095 to 1,100 per share. The issue size comprises 2.5 crore equity shares which includes 8,59,2,970 (4.08 per cent stake) equity shares by HDFC Ltd and 16,864,585 (7.95 per cent stake) equity shares by Standard Life Investments.

Post-issue, excluding reserved portion for employees and shareholders, HDFC's shareholding will come down to 52.92 per cent from 56.97, while that of Standard Life will be down from 37.98 to 30.03 per cent. HDFC AMC operates as a joint venture between Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) and Standard Life Investments.

The IPO will close on July 27, 2018. Shares can be bid in lots of 13 equity shares and multiples thereof. The fund house had filed preliminary papers with Sebi in March, seeking its approval to float an IPO.

Ahead of the share sale, HDFC Asset Management Company garnered Rs 732 from anchor investors July 24. The company's IPO committee finalised allocation of 66,53,265 equity shares to 35 anchor investors at Rs 1,100 per scrip, the firm said. At this price, the total proceeds will be Rs 731.86 crore.

Camas Investments, Reliance Strategic Investments, Goldman Sachs (Singapore), Abu Dhabi Investment Authority - Relval, FIL Investments (Mauritius), HSBC Indian Equity Mother Fund, SBI Large and Mid Cap Fund, Kotak Emerging Equity Scheme and Smallcap World Fund, Inc were among the anchor investors.

HDFC AMC, which has a total asset under management of over Rs 3 lakh crore as of March-end, is the country's second largest fund house after ICICI Prudential AMC that has an asset base of Rs 3.06 lakh crore during the same period.

Written and edited by Aseem ThapliyalAt an event in City Hall this morning Dublin City Council announced the arrival of SoftBank to its smart city testbed and detailed how the two parties will facilitate the exchange of smart city solutions across Japanese and Irish cities.

SoftBanks key focus is on developing IoT business opportunities to expand its business domain and this is the first European IoT outreach for the company. The company, who already provides smart solutions for a number of local authorities in Japan, plans to roll out next generation of IoT solutions to address the current and future needs and challenges of Dublin and other cities, learning and adapting to scale globally.

The SoftBank team led by Hidebumi Kitahara, (Vice-President Global Business Strategy Division), are in Dublin to finalise project details while also setting out their vision for global IoT and smart city expansion.

Softbank say Dublin was chosen for this unique collaboration due to its open approach to smart city development developed through the Smart Dublin programme. The city council alongside the CONNECT centre for future networks based in TCD provides opportunities for SoftBank to pursue its IoT strategy and smart city developments in Dublin.



Speaking this week, Chief Executive at Dublin City Council, Owen Keegan said, "Our Smart City Programme has gone from strength to strength with many of the worlds leading companies now collaborating with Dublin to deliver technologies that can transform city life. SoftBank has a great vision for the city of the future and we are proud to be the first city outside Japan to work with them to deliver solutions for our citizens and those across the globe."

Mr Kitahara added, "The development of an innovative IoT platform is a key strategy for SoftBank and we are delighted to collaborate with Dublin, with its unique smart city test bed, supported by a cluster of technology companies and an open and collaborative approach from Dublin City Council. We want to deploy technologies that can make the lives of citizens and companies easier and more productive in a variety of ways."

Source: www.businessworld.ieThe Irish Research Council has today opened its call for nominations for the 2018 Researcher of the Year awards. Now in their second year, the Researcher of the Year awards recognise and commend the very best of its current awardees or alumni working in academia, industry, civic society or the public sector.



In addition, recognising that many of their alumni work outside of academia, the Council is seeking direct nominations for the award of Alumnus of the Year. This third award will mark the contribution that a former Council awardee has made working in industry, civic society or the public sector.



Speaking this week, Chair of the Irish Research Council, Professor Jane Ohlmeyer said, "Last year, we received many excellent nominations of current and previously funded Council researchers who are at the very top of their game in their area of expertise. The Councils 2017 Researchers of the Year have been great ambassadors for Irish research both at home and abroad, and we want to continue to showcase the quality that is there across all disciplines."

She added, "Having a vibrant research community  and strong public support for research  is now more important than ever. These awards are all about recognising the excellence in the sector and how important researchers are for society, the economy, and of course our higher education system."

Source: www.businessworld.ieA bad Brexit deal with the European Union for financial services would hit provincial British cities harder than the sector's base in London, research showed on Thursday.

The City of London, home to the "Square Mile" financial district, published research looking at which places stand to lose most if banking and insurance fail to obtain sufficient access to the EU market after Britain leaves next March.

Financial services make up a larger share of overall exports for Cardiff, Northampton, Leeds and Edinburgh than for London, the research conducted by Centre for Cities found.

Apart from Northampton, those cities voted to remain in the EU in the 2106 referendum. But the research found that more than half of the cities that voted to leave are more reliant on financial services exports than London.

Some commentators portrayed the overall 52-48% vote to leave as provincial voters seeking to knock "metropolitan elites" in London, which voted strongly in favour of staying in the bloc.

The research showed that while a change in Britain's trading relationship with the EU would in aggregate affect London the most given its size, there would be substantial consequences for many other British cities.

"This data makes clear that some of the UK's major cities rely heavily on financial services, and that a detrimental Brexit deal for the UK's financial sector will be felt nationwide  not just in the capital," said City of London policy chairman Catherine McGuinness.

Andrew Carter, chief executive of Centre for Cities said that London is well-placed to bounce back from any post-Brexit downturn.

"However, the worry is that many other cities  especially those outside the Greater South East  will struggle to adapt to the potential shocks that might lie ahead," Carter said.

Two thirds of the 1.1 million financial services jobs in Britain are based outside London. A third of all Britain's financial services exports go to the EU. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ieEuropean Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's deal on Wednesday to end U.S. President Donald Trump's threat of new tariffs was hailed as a major success by EU officials and other European governments.

"Breakthrough achieved that can avoid trade war and save millions of jobs! Great for global economy!" tweeted German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Economy Minister Peter Altmaier as news of the Washington deal broke late in the evening in Europe.

"This is a big day for the Commission, it's a big day for Juncker," a senior EU official said. "The imminent sanctions and everything that could have happened unilaterally ... is off now.

"We have a system engaging them in dialog, not confrontationally," the official added. "For as long as the dialog continues we can make this win-win."

Brussels had been playing down expectations before the meeting that the EU chief executive could dissuade Trump from imposing new tariffs on European - notably German - cars.

The plan had been to lay out a threat of EU retaliation on U.S. goods that the EU said could wipe $50 billion off U.S. national income in the coming years while also renewing offers of resuming talks on lowering barriers to transatlantic trade.

In the end, Trump agreed to resolve arguments over the steel and aluminum tariffs he introduced to European dismay earlier this year, to scrap any other planned penalties and to join in a dialog with Brussels on enhancing trade. The EU will work to ease U.S. imports, including soybeans and natural gas.

The EU official said Trump's agreement came as something of a surprise to the European delegation, but the U.S. president appeared to have appreciated the risk of a further trade war.

"We were surprised but I think that they also saw that the potential of a deal would be much more than the cost of retaliation," the official said. "I think they weighed what it would mean to open up a 50-billion-euro trade nightmare."

"Any potential threat ... is off the table. And we have a process now and they are hooked into the process."

Another Merkel ally, the center-right leader in the European Parliament Manfred Weber, tweeted: "Once again it is clear this evening -- Europe is strong when it acts with determination."

Earlier this month, while Trump stirred new consternation in Europe with criticism of Germany and others during a NATO summit in Brussels, Juncker faced questions, notably in Germany, over his fitness to negotiate for the EU as he appeared unwell.

He dismissed suggestions he was drunk, blaming sciatica. The apparent success of his talks in Washington is certain to be portrayed by the Commission as proof that the EU executive is capable of defending the interests of the 28 member states. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.iePolice and paramilitary police officers are seen at the scene after an explosion at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing around 1p.m. Thursday. Photo: Xia Weicong/Caixin

A man set off an explosive device outside the U.S. Embassy in Beijing at about 1 p.m. Thursday, an embassy spokesperson said.

Beijing police confirmed the incident, saying a 26-year-old man from the Inner Mongolia autonomous region set off the device at an intersection near the embassy.

Other than the bomber, there were no injuries, the embassy spokesperson said.

Beijing police said in a statement late Thursday that the suspect, surnamed Jiang, set off a firecracker-like device. Police found remnants of firecrackers and a lighter at the scene.

Citing Jiangs family and hospital records, police said that Jiang has had hallucinations since 2016 and was diagnosed with paranoid personality disorder. He has had psychotherapy, police said.

Police said they will continue investigating the incident.

Videos and photos began circulating on social media soon after the blast, showing smoke, chaos and what appeared to be police responding to the scene.

The outside of the embassy is often busy with Chinese citizens lined up waiting to enter the facility to get visa services.

A flight-ticket agent near the scene told Caixin that she heard a blast and saw a man with an injured hand fall outside the embassy gate. Police took away the man, the agent said.

Other witnesses also told Caixin that they heard the blast and saw heavy dust afterward. Police closed off the street near the embassy.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a routine news briefing Thursday that the explosion was an isolated public-security incident.

Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com)Employees of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences examine a finless porpoise in Poyang Lake in Duchang county, Jiangxi province, in March 2017. Photo: IC

The population of the endangered Yangtze finless porpoise has fallen slightly due to water pollution, development and overfishing, though at a slower rate than in previous years, a new study shows.

Also known as the narrow-ridged finless porpoise or the river pig, or by its scientific name, Neophocaena asiaeorientalis, the species is native to Chinas Yangtze River, but populations also live in two basins off the river  Poyang Lake and Dongting Lake.

While the lake populations have grown recently, the Yangtze River population continues to experience declines, according to Yu Kangzhen, a vice minister of Chinas Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

There were 1,225 Yangtze-based finless porpoises in 2006, but only 505 in 2012. That number fell to 445 last year.

But the population in Poyang Lake, a body of water in the eastern province of Jiangxi thats connected to the Yangtze, rose from 450 in 2012 to 457 last year.

The population in Dongting Lake, in Hunan province, rose from 90 in 2012 to 110 at the end of 2017, Yu said.

The findings are based on a new survey by Chinese scientists along the Yangtze, the countrys longest waterway, the third such study since 2006, the vice minister said.

Yu attributed the decline of the Yangtze population to water pollution, hydro-dam development, shipping, overfishing, and illicit sand excavation, which has led to greater fragmentation of the porpoises habitats.

At least a dozen Yangtze finless porpoises were found dead along the 6,000-kilometer (3,700-mile) waterway, according to an earlier Caixin report.

The porpoise was first listed as vulnerable in 2012 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which elevated its protection status to endangered last year.

Contact reporter Li Rongde (rongdeli@caixin.com)news, latest-news

ActewAGL has confirmed it is reviewing jobs in its brand, communications and corporate affairs branch, with former branch head Paul Walshe saying staff are "devastated'' and he is "shocked'' by the number of job cuts he believes are being proposed. Staff have suggested as many of six of the 15 jobs in the section have been touted to go, although ActewAGL says it can't confirm numbers yet. Mr Walshe, who retired on July 13 as ActewAGL's director of brand, communications and corporate affairs after almost 40 years with the company, said he knew a review of the section was underway while he was still in the job. But he was rocked by the talk of how many positions may go. The review only became public on Tuesday night when Mr Walshe tweeted about the "devastating news'' and urged staff to stay strong. ActewAGL has not released any details about any proposed cuts, saying only that consultation is now under way. But Mr Walshe says staff have told him six of the 15 jobs in the section could be cut. Mr Walshe said he had no idea such job cuts were likely when he was at ActewAGL. "I was aware of the review but I'm shocked by the number of positions that are being reduced and I feel for the staff because they're the ones who are devastated by this decision, but this is a decision the company has made,'' he said. "My thoughts are more with the staff. I've been talking to them again today. I think they're shocked. They weren't expecting these kinds of cuts and I certainly wasn't expecting them as well.'' ActewAGL corporate affairs general manager Peter Holden would only say that a consultation period had started about changes to the branch. "Consultation has commenced on proposed changes to the current brand, communications and corporate affairs branch for a period of two weeks following the provisions of our enterprise agreement. After all feedback received has been considered, a final structure will be confirmed and implemented,'' Mr Holden said, in a statement. Mr Holden was asked if the job cuts were a means to save on costs, especially in the wake of rival company Origin Energy's aggressive play for ActewAGL customers. "We are unable to confirm the impact on staff numbers until the end of the consultation period, which was initiated as a result of a process that has been underway for some time. It did not commence as a result of the recent competitor activity,'' he said. Just before leaving ActewAGL, Mr Walshe spoke candidly about what he perceived as a changing culture in the organisation, one in which managers had "really lost compassion for our staff''. Mr Walshe also believed he had been shunted out of his position because other managers felt he was past it and a "dinosaur''. It's understood of the current 15 staff in the branch, eight staff and a manager will remain, under the ActewAGL plan. That would be three people in the digital team, a specialist brand manager, specialist media manager, a communications officer for evoenergy and one also for the ActewAGL retail and an events and sponsorship officer, plus the manager. Currently there are three people working in events and sponsorship. ActewAGL gives out about $1 million a year in sponsorship, from the Canberra Show to Red Nose to the Canberra Capitals. Mr Walshe was known as a passionate advocate for sporting and community organisations in his role with ActewAGL. Now that he is gone, there are fears sponsorship will be cut back. But ActewAGL says there are no such plans. "We are not reducing the sponsorship budget so there will be no impact to the community or sporting groups,'' Mr Holden said.

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Workers on Canberra's light rail project have been ripped off $700,000, according to a wage theft lawsuit to be filed in the Federal Court this week. It is understood the construction union will allege several contractors, working on the ACT Government's billion-dollar project, underpaid workers. It is the second wage theft lawsuit filed by the union this year, with allegations up to $70,000 had been kept from employees on a $300-million ACT government office project. CFMEU ACT secretary Jason O'Mara accused the government of abandoning workers and walking away from an election commitment to legislate a secure local jobs code intended to stop exploitation. The government has promised a raft of legislative, regulatory and administrative changes to ensure the government awarded contracts to companies that met the highest ethical standards. It released a discussion paper on the package in February, and has been reviewing feedback and conducting consultations since. ACT Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the government remained committed to the changes. But the process has taken too long for the union, which this week heaped pressure on the government via a leafleting campaign, which alleged Ms Stephen-Smith had abandoned the pledge. And Mr O'Mara warned the campaign could escalate to include phone calls and door knocking if the issue remained unresolved. "We're almost two years on from the election and all weve seen from Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith is a draft code that will provide no real protection to construction workers," Mr O'Mara said. "While Minister Stephen-Smith has sat on her hands, wage theft continues on ACT Government projects. "Weve previously identified up to $70,000 worth of wage theft at the Constitution Place site right next to the Assembly. In addition, this week we'll be lodging documents in the Federal Court that reveal wage theft on the Governments Light Rail project totalling $700,000." Mr O'Mara said his members had been outraged that their tax dollars had gone to employers who tried to rip them off, and many other companies felt theyd been disadvantaged in the tender process. "The time for talk is over, now it's time for action. We'll be campaigning on this issue over the coming months until it is fixed," he said. "It's too important to our members to walk away from. We've already sent out a flyer to everyone in Kurrajong letting them know about Minister Stephen-Smith's inaction on this issue. "We wont stop there. We'll keep sending out flyers, we'll do phone banks and we will run door knocking sessions until this issue is resolved." Ms Stephen-Smith said the government had completed "significant and detailed work" to develop a Secure Local Jobs Package "that will ensure our procurement processes promote the highest ethical and labour standards in ACT Government contracts". The minister said the work had been complex and detailed to ensure the new laws would "provide stronger protections for workers in organisations that perform work for the territory government than have been achieved in any other state or territory to date". "We have been working through extensive feedback from unions as well as representatives of the business community in order to achieve the best outcome for workers in the ACT," she said. "The Government remains committed to implementing a package of measures that will ensure that the ACT Government contracts only with companies that respect workers rights and treat them fairly."

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The ACT will have a soft landing as the rest of Australia stares down the barrel of a massive residential building sector slump, territory industry experts say. Earlier this week market analyst BIS Oxford Economics released a gloomy report on the country's construction sector, forecasting the sharpest market contraction since the 2008 global financial crisis. "The building sector is switching from being a strong growth driver to a drag on the economy," BIS Oxford economist Adrian Hart said. "Over the next two years, the fall in residential building starts will accelerate sharply, particularly in the investor-driven apartments segment, which is set to fall 50 per cent." The BIS Oxford report forecast the number of new buildings being started in the territory could fall by 27 per cent between 2017/18 and 2018/19. "The key driver of the residential building downturn is falling investor demand," Mr Hart said. "Domestic and foreign investor demand is weakening in the face of tougher lending criteria and increased foreign buyer charges." Housing Industry Association ACT director Greg Weller said the territory's apartment boom might tail off a little bit, but that was only part of the story. "I think we are talking about a little bit of a tail off," he said. "But the important story is that this is driven by multi-unit buildings. Detached home buildings will actually increase we predict. "I don't think it's something that will have dire economic consequences." The territory's apartment downturn would likely see the numbers of units being built fall slightly after record growth in recent years, Mr Weller said. "We see no reason to think its going to be a hard landing for units  maybe it will tail off and go back to a more steady growth," he said. Economic indicators such as the ACT's strong population growth also meant that the apartment sector was far from dead, Mr Weller added. "Write off the apartment market at your peril," he said. "Strong population growth helps as well, so that when an investor steps out of the market, there are other people willing to step in." Master Builders ACT chief executive Michael Hopkins offered a similarly upbeat assessment, singling out positive signs for the non-residential construction sector as well. "The ACT building and construction industry is currently experiencing a very positive phase, with the residential, commercial and civil sectors all performing well," he said. "Residential building approvals in the ACT have been above the decade average for the last three years driven mostly by an increase in apartment construction." Predictions of a sharp downturn in the ACT also failed to take into account several important territory-specific factors, Mr Hopkins said. "Predictions of a sharp downturn in ACT construction industry fail to take into account the Territory's above-average population growth, investment in light rail, increasing private sector land release and government initiated urban infill. "Indications of a strong construction sector are reinforced by job figures which reveal that in the past year alone the industry created more than 100,000 new skilled jobs, accounting for more than one in every four new jobs created."

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To some, they are the lost causes of the conservation world; a handful of species not only on the brink of extinction but elusive, hard to get to and even harder to track. Difficult. They have led Dejan Stojanovic into some of the most remote corners of Australia, through rivers of mud and up trees. If the wind picks up, some days he will get motion sick in the branches. But to Dr Stojanovic, saving these birds is not mission impossible, it's just hard work. He's part of a small team of ANU scientists taking on some of Australia's most challenging conservation cases at the aptly-named Difficult Bird Research Group, based in Canberra. "We do the rejects," Dr Stojanovic explains. "The birds where everyone goes 'oh there's nothing we can do for them, the conditions are too tough', basically the high-needs species. "Everything we do is so urgent, there's no room to be defeatist." Through a mix of old-fashioned field work in Tasmania, NSW and the ACT, as well as new technologies, the group has helped pull a number of species back from the brink, including Australia's most threatened bird, the orange-bellied parrot. Last year, the team's research convinced authorities to start controlled burn-offs again in parts of south-eastern Tasmania to encourage the parrot's favourite food to sprout, and that summer an extra 10 chicks were born. For forty-spotted pardalotes, the simple idea of coating nesting materials in insecticide has helped ward off blood-sucking parasites known to kill their young. Dr Stojanovic had his own "eureka moment" one day in 2011 while checking on a nesting box and stumbling across a crime scene. "The bird was completely torn apart," he says. The culprit turned out to be an unlikely suspect - a sugar glider. "Until then we hadn't known them to prey on swift parrots." That discovery helped the team engineer solar-powered nest boxes that close against gliders at night to keep birds safe. The model has since been successfully exported to a handful of other threatened species in the area including the orange-bellied parrot. But director Professor Robert Heinsohn says the research group has come in danger of extinction itself on more than one occasion in a climate of "chronic underfunding" for conservation. To survive, the group has turned to crowd-funding for urgent projects, he says. "I've been overwhelmed by people's generosity." Fortunately, the research does attract a certain commitment from its scientists. "We're all adventurous types," he admits, recalling a few near-misses up trees of his own. "What the team do is heroic really, but they do it because it's worth it. "Everyone has sort of written these birds off and a lot of the work is skewed towards captive populations rather than the ones in the wild. "Government agencies are frozen into inaction because they don't have the information they need to know what will help, and there's kind of this culture now that it's unattainable but it's not the case, we're out there doing it." This week, the group was nominated for a Eureka Prize for its pioneering work in environmental research. Learn more about the team at difficultbirds.com

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/8d317269-1c27-477b-84c7-59b9def18fec/r0_302_3264_2146_w1200_h678_fmax.jpgGULFPORT, Miss. -- A Moss Point man pled guilty to being an unlawful user of controlled substances in possession of a firearm, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced.

Kevin Lamarcus Mitchell, 20, of Moss Point, pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola on Tuesday and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release.

Mitchell, his twin brother Tevin, and Joseph Smith went to the Pascagoula Police Department on April 6 where they were looking to retrieve firearms seized by police at the end of March.

Pascagoula police officers and agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested Tevin and Smith for being unlawful users of controlled substances with guns from the prior incident.

While searching Smith's car, police found a gun stolen from St. Tammany Parish, La., under Kevin's seat. Kevin admitted to a friend in a recorded jail call that he brought the gun to the police station.

Kevin will be sentenced by Judge Guirola on Oct. 16, 2018, at 10 a.m.

The Pascagoula Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Annette Williams is prosecuting the case.The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) will be conducting the upper subordinate exam every year. The exam is conducted for the highest job positions which are similar to the All India Services in the state. UPPSC has rolled out many changes in the exam that include the exam pattern.

With the introduction of negative marking in the preliminary exam, candidates should shift their preparation from objective to subjective orientation. The cut-off is also expected to fall this year because of the introduction of negative marking. Aspirants have to prepare for each subject meticulously, which is possible only through good study material and preparation books.

Last-minute Preparation Tips For UPPSC PCS Preliminary Exam

The UPPSC preliminary exam consists of two general studies papers. Paper-I consists of subjects such as current affairs, history, geography, economy, Indian polity, environmental and ecological concepts and general science. Paper-II consists of topics such as English, interpersonal skills, decision making, comprehension and general mental ability.

Here are the best books for UPPSC prelims exam.

UPPSC Exam: History

1. History of Modern India - Bipan Chandra

2. Spectrum Modern History

3. India's Struggle For Independence - Bipan Chandra

4. India's Ancient Past - R.S. Sharma

5. History of Medieval India - Satish Chandra

UPPSC Exam: Geography

5. Certificate Physical and Human Geography - Goh Cheng Leong

6. Geography - A Comprehensive Study - Mahesh Kumar Barnwal

7. Geography NCERT class VI to Class XII

8. Oxford School Atlas - Oxford

UPPSC Exam: Environment

9. Environmental Studies: From Crisis to Cure - Rajagopalan

10. Shankar IAS Notes on Environment and Ecology

UPPSC Exam: Indian Polity

11. Indian Polity by Laxmikant

12. Constitution of India

13. Governance in India by Lakshmikanth

UPPSC Exam: Indian Economy

14. Indian Economy - Ramesh Singh

15. Economic Survey

16. Uttar Pradesh Year Book

UPPSC Exam: General Science

17. General Science - Lucent Publication

18. Science subject NCERTs

UPPSC Exam: Current Affairs

The current affairs section is the most important section in any competitive exam. Along with regularly reading the newspaper, one should read some good monthly magazines. While reading the newspaper, we advise students to prepare a timeline for the trending issues.

19. Monthly Magazines

20. Current Affairs - Arihant Publication

How To Crack The UPPSC Preliminary Exam?Hindustan Prefab Limited (HPL) has released an employment notification calling out aspirants to apply for the post of Senior Engineer. 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 27000 per month. The selection process is through a walk-in interview that will be held on Aug 3, 2018. The engagement of candidates is on a contract basis for a period of one year that is extendable based on the projects and requirement.

HPCL Recruitment 2018: Earn Up To INR 180000

HPL Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details

CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Senior Engineer Organisation Hindustan Prefab Limited (HPL) Educational Qualification Degree or diploma in electrical engineering Experience 3 to 5 years Skills Required Engineering skills Job Location New Delhi Salary Scale INR 27000 per month Industry Engineering Application Start Date July 25, 2018

Interview Date Aug 3, 2018 Maximum Age Limit 35 years

Also Read: HPSC Recruitment 2018 For Managers And More: Earn Up To INR 45000!

How To Apply For HPL Recruitment 2018

In order to apply for HPL Recruitment 2018, follow these steps:

Step 1: Log on to the HPL official website.

Step 2: Choose the language of the website you would like to read.

Step 3: Click the CAREER tab.

Step 4: Click on the PDF file link against Employment Notice No. 05/2018 - Advt.

Step 5: The detailed advertisement will be displayed on the screen. Read the details carefully.

Step 6: Prepare your application in the prescribed format and attached the documents mentioned.

Step 7: Carry it to the venue at the time of the interview.

Venue:

Regional Office, Hindustan Prefab Limited, T.C. 24/656

(F.F.), Thycaud, Thiruvananthapuram- 695014, Kerala (Ph. 0471-4066026).

Click here to read the detailed official notification.The Department of Pre-University Education, Karnataka has released the Karnataka PUC supplementary exam results 2018 today. Even though, official notification has not been published on the website, reports in various other news portals suggested that the results are likely to be released by 11 am today. After a delay of two hours, the results are out by 1 pm. Even the board officials had earlier reported stating that they are doing everything to ensure that the results are declared by the end of this week.

Karnataka PUC supplementary examination was held between June 29 and July 10, 2018. The results once out will be made available online. Those who have written the exam can check it out on the official website.

How To Check Karnataka PUC Supplementary Exam Result 2018

In order to check the Karnataka PUC Supplementary Exam Result 2018, follow the steps given here:

Step 1: Log on to the Karnataka PUC official website.

Step 2: The list of results notifications will be displayed on the screen. Click on the link to check the PUC supplementary exam result.

Step 3: A login page will appear. Enter your credentials and submit it.

Step 4: The results will be displayed on the screen. Save it to your computer and take a printout of it for future reference.

The scheme of valuation for examining these papers was released on July 10, 2018. It comprised the ideal and correct answers along with the weightage and marking scheme for each of them. Last year, the results for the supplementary exams were declared on July 25, 2018.

This year, the Karnataka II PUC regular exam results were declared on April 10, 2018. Post that, students applied for re-evaluation and then those who did not get through a pass percentage even after re-evaluation appeared for the re-exam held in June and July.

Karnataka SSLC Supplementary Exam Results 2018 ReleasedThe Maharashtra Police Department has released an employment notification calling out aspirants to apply for the post of Police Patil. 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 industry standards. The last date to apply for the government job is Aug 13, 2018.

Central Bank Of India Recruitment 2018 For Directors At Aurangabad

Maharashtra Police Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details

CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Police Patil Organisation Maharashtra Police (Nandurbar Police Department) Educational Qualification Class 10 graduate from a recognised institute Experience Desirable Skills Required Physical fitness Job Location Maharashtra Salary Scale Industry standards Industry Police Application Start Date July 26, 2018 Application End Date August 13, 2018

Maximum Age Limit 45 years Application Fee INR 400 Number Of Vacancies 455 Hall Ticket Download Date Aug 27, 2018 Exam Date Sep 2, 2018 Selection Process Written test and physical standard test

Also Read: Ministry Of Defence Recruitment 2018 For Indian Coast Guard Yantriks

How To Apply For Maharashtra Police Recruitment 2018

In order to apply for Maharashtra Police Recruitment 2018, follow these steps:

Step 1: Log on to the Maharashtra Police official website.

Step 2: On the left-hand side, click on the link to apply online.

Step 3: The application instructions will be displayed on the screen. Read them carefully.

Step 4: Click OK.

Step 5: Select the option through which you want to apply for.

Step 6: The application form will be displayed on the screen. Enter your details in the fields provided and submit it to complete the application process.

Click here to read the detailed official notification.Madhya Pradesh Poorv Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Company Limited (MPEZ) has released an employment notification calling out aspirants to apply for the post of Junior Engineering Trainee. 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 103600 and be included in the employees' group insurance scheme. Once selected, bring all your supporting documents for verification to the interview. The last date to apply for the government job is Aug 25, 2018.

Ircon Recruitment 2018 For Engineers: Earn Up To INR 100000

MPEZ Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details

CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Junior Engineering Trainee Organisation Madhya Pradesh Poorv Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Company Limited (MPEZ) Educational Qualification Diploma in electrical engineering or electrical and electronic engineering Experience Freshers can apply Job Responsibilities Submit a fortnightly report of the knowledge acquired during the training Skills Required Engineering skills Job Location Madhya Pradesh Salary Scale INR 32800 to INR 103600 Industry Engineering Application Start Date July 26, 2018 Application End Date August 25, 2018

Age Limit 18 to 40 years Application Fee INR 1000

Also Read: BEL Recruitment 2018 For Senior Engineers

How To Apply For MPEZ Recruitment 2018

In order to apply for MPEZ Recruitment 2018, follow these steps:

Step 1: Log on to the MPEZ official website.

Step 2: Click on the tab that reads, Career@MPOnline.

Step 3: The list of openings for application will be displayed on the screen. Click on the link against the relevant post. (Link will be active soon.)

Step 4: The application form will be displayed on the screen. Enter your details in the fields provided.

Step 5: Upload your resume.

Step 6: Click Submit and follow the subsequent pages to complete the application process.

Click here to read the detailed official notification.The software sector in India is one of the major contributors to the nation's tax revenue. Indeed, there has been a tremendous increase in the job opportunities for the nation's youth following this IT wave. Cities like Bangalore, Chennai and Gurgaon have become IT hubs with hundreds of people travelling to these places every year in search of jobs. Interestingly, most people do find able jobs here.

While this is indeed a positive sign, what must be noted here is the fact that the world of software development is a very dynamic one. With new software coming up every day, it is important that developers keep pace with the same. If they fail to do the same, they will find their careers attaining stagnation. That way their pay packages will not rise as well.

In the current Indian scenario, Scala and Go are the highest paying programming languages. Both freshers as well as industry experts who have knowledge of these languages find themselves in better financial positions as compared to that of their peers.

This article talks about how you can make a living out of these two programming languages and the scope of career opportunities here. Read on to know more.

 Learning Golang

For people well versed with the basics of programming, learning Golang is not a major challenge. There are a number of resources available online. It is recommended that a person goes through the official Go programming language documentation before they start with anything else.

Once they are acquainted with the same, it will be a good idea to go through the online books that are available in Softcover.io and Hackr.io. Tutorial videos are available on Reddit and Google+ as well. Thus, if you are determined to learn this language, the Internet is a storehouse of knowledge for you.

 Career Growth In Golang

The performance of Golang is much superior to that of its other competitors and features like the concurrency support ensure that the coding time is reduced significantly. This cost to time effectiveness of this language has ensured that all sorts of companies have taken to this.

Thus, irrespective of whether the company in question is a start-up or an MNC, having a good understanding of the concepts of Golang will land you in a better position to bag the job of your dreams.

The sheer number of people who participated in GopherCon 2017, a national-level conference on Golang held in Pune, speaks volumes about the growing popularity of the same.

 Learning Scala

There is a lot of learning material available for Scala. Programmers across the globe vouch on the credibility of the videos that are available on the official website Scala-lang.org. For those who are well versed in Java and are looking to learn a new language, the video tutorials at Parleys.com are found to be efficient.

Coursera also has a number of quality teaching programs in this field. If you are trying to learn Scala from a digital platform, it is advisable that you install Scala on your computer so that you can practise it as and when you watch the videos. That way you will be able to make the most of the available resources and improve your foundation of the concepts of this language.

 Career Growth In Scala

Scala is the go-to solution for developing both Android as well as desktop applications. Proficiency in the ad hoc scripting in Scala ensures that the programmer will be able to tackle the challenges of highly concurrent things (like using Akka to handle messaging apps).

Since a person well versed in Scala will be able to efficiently use Scala.js to handle both front and back ends of web supplication development, a company will prefer hiring one such person instead of multiple people for the different roles.

With Big Data being the next major thing in the world of IT, the applications of Scala in the same cannot be ignored. This creates a new surge of opportunities for people who know this language.

 Getting A Job

After having attained the required skill set, the next major challenge in this field is to let the world know of your experience. The best way to do that is to code some programs or applications and put up details of your work in LinkedIn.

This will help recruiters understand how much you actually know and foster the communication between the qualified people and the teams that are looking to hire them. If you want to make it big in the competitive world of programming, you should be able to advertise yourself and your abilities well.

 Recruiters

With the world of IT recognising the role of Scala and Golang in shaping its future, more and more companies are looking for programmers in various roles who are well versed in this language. The big names here include that of eBay, Twitter, Netflix, Tumblr, Sony, Apple, Klout and more.

There are a number of lesser-known start-ups that hire as well. In the coming years, as more and more applications of these two languages continue to be found, more companies are expected to recruit Scala and Golang experts.

 Salary

The lowest average salary here is Rs 5 lakhs per annum. This is for freshers who join an organisation as a software developer straight out of college after having completed some certification in Scala or Golang. In this field, knowledge has greater importance over degrees and certifications.

For people who are working higher up the corporate ladder, the monetary compensation package is much higher. In the Indian context, senior software engineers here make an average of Rs 1,218,943 per year.

Thus, the intellectual investment that you will put in learning Scala and incorporating the same in your day-to-day coding is something that will pay off in the long run, both monetarily and otherwise.Fosun International Ltd., the Chinese group backed by billionaire Guo Guangchang, is considering an offer for all or parts of Belgian insurer Ageas in what could be its boldest move to expand its international footprint, people familiar with the matter said.

Shanghai-based Fosun is talking to advisers about alternatives including teaming up with a partner to split the Brussels-based company or increasing its current stake, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. No final decisions have been made and Fosun may decide against pursuing a deal, they said.

Shares of Ageas jumped 4.5 percent on Wednesday, giving the company a market value of 9.26 billion euros ($10.8 billion).

Fosun has continued to expand its international business empire amid a Chinese crackdown on overseas deals in certain industries thats forced other conglomerates like Anbang Insurance Group Co. to shed assets. This year, Fosun announced deals for Brazilian brokerage Guide Investimentos and French fashion house Lanvin.

Its biggest overseas forays abroad have been in insurance. The company bought control of Portugal-based Caixa Geral de Depositos SAs insurance business in a roughly 1.6 billion-euro deal in 2014, data compiled by Bloomberg show. It also acquired U.S.-based Ironshore Inc. in 2015 for $2.1 billion and then sold it less than two years later.

Close Scrutiny

Ageass U.S.-traded shares rose 6.5 percent Tuesday, the most in almost six years. Fosun already holds about 3 percent of Ageas, though Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. is the largest shareholder with a 5 percent stake, according to filings.

Representatives for Ageas and Fosun declined to comment.

A potential deal could draw close scrutiny from regulators because Ageas is the biggest life insurance provider in Belgium and No. 2 non-life insurer, according to its website. In addition to operations across Europe, Ageas sells products in China, Malaysia, India, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore and Vietnam. Its also a minority partner in a joint venture with China Taiping Insurance Holdings Co.

There are other signs that Chinas appetite for global expansion is still strong. In May, China Three Gorges Corp., the countrys largest clean energy company, offered 9.1 billion euros to raise its stake in electricity giant EDP-Energias de Portugal SA.

Fosun, meanwhile, received Hong Kong Stock Exchange approval this month to spin off its tourism and hotels unit, which owns Club Med SAS and luxury hotel development Sanya Atlantis.

Copyright 2021 Bloomberg.The 69-year-old man accused of murdering a woman Sunday night at the Best Western hotel on the Westside made a brief appearance in Kelowna court Wednesday afternoon.

Tejwant Danjou was arrested a short distance from the hotel after a woman's body was found inside, just before 7:30 p.m. He has since been charged with second-degree murder.

Police say the Danjou is from the Lower Mainland, and he and the victim were known to each other, but their relationship is unclear at this time.

A charge of second-degree murder means a killing was intended, but not planned.

Danjou made his first appearance in court Monday, but that was put over to Wednesday to allow him to find a lawyer.

He has now retained Vancouver lawyer Donna Turko as counsel, and an articling student with Turko's firm, Nigel Crowe, appeared in her place by phone Wednesday.

Crowe told the court they would be applying for Danjou's bail as soon as possible, but the Crown and defence has yet to receive any of the RCMP's evidence.

Justice Nathan Smith adjourned the case to Aug. 2, when they will see if they've received disclosure from police yet. A bail hearing will be scheduled if they've received sufficient evidence.

Danjou, an older man with dark, greying hair, remained expressionless throughout the short hearing, save for a brief nod hello to two men in the courtroom gallery. The men later claimed they did not know Danjou.Pakistan cement industry earns US$222.84m in 12MFY18

26 July 2018

Pakistan cement industry observed a positive growth of 0.9 per cent and a contraction of -6.3 per cent in terms of quantity and value in dollars respectively between July and June 2018, according to official government data.

According to the Federal Bureau of Statistics, Pakistan's cement industry exported 4.559Mt of cement and earned foreign exchange revenue of US$222.84m during FY18 compared to 4.519Mt of cement at US$237.82m during the last FY17. This shows a growth of 0.9 per cent in quantity, but value in dollars decreased by 6.3 per cent YoY.

However, the Pakistani rupee value of cement fell by 1.91 per cent in this period, despite devaluation of local currency in recent months.

On a monthly basis the Pakistan cement industry exported 369,506t of cement at US$16.318m in June 2018 against 446,741t of cement at US$20.78m in previous month. This translates a decline of 17.3 per cent and 21.5 per cent in terms of value and quantity respectively on MoM basis.

However, when the figure of June 2017 is considered  exports of 353,267t at US$18.01m  the quantity increases by 4.6 per cent but value in dollars fell by 9.44 per cent, respectively on YoY basis.

According to the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), exports to Afghanistan during this period, recorded a growth of 6.1 per cent to 1.82Mt, but India showed a fall of 3.2 per cent to 1.212Mt. The rest of the world also witnessed a fall of over 1.1 per cent to 1.75Mt.

While reviewing export competition in its special report on the cement industry, the Central Bank of Pakistan stated that with the influx of cheap Iranian cement in Afghanistan and the imposition of anti-dumping duties on Pakistani cements in South Africa (the two main export destinations), exports may remain a challenge. To achieve a worthwhile share in the export market, Pakistani cement manufacturers will have to be able to compete effectively with Iranian and Chinese cement producers through improvement in cost efficiencies, the bank urged. With the current expansion plans, the industry might be able to exploit economies of scale and gain competitive advantage. However, it will need to explore new markets to sell this higher output and increase export earnings following capacity expansion programmes.

Published underHail Cement and Tabuk Cement increase production

26 July 2018

Saudi cement producers are beginning to raise production to contribute to the US$500 Neom megaproject, according to Mubasher. Tabuk Cement and Hail Cement lead the production increases in the 1H18, showing a 20 and 55 per cent YoY rise, respectively.



"Hail and Tabuk are beating volume trends as some contracts were awarded in the Neom area earlier this year," Anoop Fernandes, an analyst at SICO, reported to Bloomberg.



While demand in the country is currently low on-year, forecasts predict that it will pick up in early 2019.

Published underTransgender Women on Hormone Therapy Have Much Higher Risk of Heart Attack, Stroke: Study Christian Post Contributor | 26 July, 2018 by Samuel Smith

Biological men who take hormone therapy in order to transition to female are at higher risk of cardiovascular problems such as stroke, blood clots and heart attacks, a recent study that purports to be the largest study of transgender individuals on hormone therapy ever undertaken.

Earlier this month, the academic medical journal Annals of Internal Medicine published a study that focused on the relationship between cross-sex hormone therapy in transgender patients over 18 and the prevalence of acute cardiovascular events.

The study was done by Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and led by the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation.

Researchers analyzed data from 5,000 transgender patients within the Kaiser Permanente health system who have taken hormone therapy for the purpose of gender transition. That data was compared with over 97,000 cisgender patients of similar ages and health.

The study found that men who transition to female on hormone therapy were 80 to 90 percent more likely to suffer a stroke or heart attack than biological women. Additionally, transgender women who transitioned through hormone therapy were twice as likely as biological men or women to have a blood clot condition called venous thromboembolism.

"The patterns of increases in VTE and ischemic stroke rates among transfeminine persons are not consistent with those observed in cisgender women," the study concludes. "These results may indicate the need for long-term vigilance in identifying vascular side effects of cross-sex estrogen."

Michael Goodman, Emory University professor of epidemiology and an author on the paper, said in a news release that the study "confirmed elevated risks of certain vascular events related to hormone therapy.

"[T]hese risks need to be weighed against the important benefits of treatment," says Goodman.

While medical professionals and experts critical of hormone therapy have voiced concern for years about the health risks associated with hormone therapy and lack of long-term research in that area, Kaiser Permanente research scientist Darios Getahun told NBC News that there were some limitations to the study that prevent him from being able to place direct causal relationships on the findings.

One concern was that the data was limited to only Kaiser's records and researchers couldn't account for outside medication.

"For now, this study is the best measure we have of the risk, and it's much better than what we've had before," Getahun declared.

Despite the concerns for men transitioning to female, the study reports that the results were insufficient to make conclusions about biological women transitioning to male through hormone therapy.

"The negative impact estrogen has on men (so called trans women) is no surprise," Dr. Michelle Cretella, a longtime critic of hormone therapy and the president of the conservative American College of Pediatricians, told CP in an email. "Regarding the potential negative impact of testosterone upon women (trans men), the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence."

"We have very good reason to be skeptical of this report," she added. "Testosterone lowers good cholesterol, raises triglycerides and elevates homocysteine levels which are all risk factors for cardiac disease. Testosterone may also cause polycythemia, sleep apnea, insulin resistance (type 2 diabetes), and unknown risks to breast, ovarian and uterine tissues."

Cretella also stated that one reason that the study may not found increased heart disease and cancers in transmasculine women is that the study only reviewed medical records from a period of eight years.

"We need to look for these drugs causing disease in the long term: 10, 20 and 30 years out from starting the synthetic hormones," Cretella wrote.

The study comes as scholars have previously raised concern with the increase of gender-confused children being subject to hormone therapy for gender transition without the proper long-term studies to determine the harm being done by such drugs.

Read more about hormone therapy on The Christian Post.Heres how the Revoice Conference describes itself: Supporting, encouraging, and empowering gay, lesbian, same-sex-attracted, and other LGBT Christians so they can flourish while observing the historic, Christian doctrine of marriage and sexuality. (Read Quick to Listen host Mark Gallis interview with its founder.)

Since the website first went up, many in the evangelical Twitter world and blogosphere have debated the merits of the conference and of the spiritual friendship movement in which the conference is grounded. Some are concerned that supporting and encouraging Christians of these sexual minorities (as the website names them) is a slippery slope ending in a liberal, relativistic Christianity that has lost its ethical moorings. Others believe that if one observes the historic, Christian doctrine of marriage, Christians of any orientation should be able to gather together and talk about their concernsand thus be supported and encouraged by one another.

At stake in these conversations: the debate over whether same-sex attraction in itself is a sinor if only the acting on that attraction is the sin.

Weve all heard sermons that say, If youre being tempted, thats not sin. Its only sin if you give into the temptation, said Phillip Cary, a professor of philosophy at Eastern University. Lets call this the soft line on temptation.

But it turns out that this view isnt necessarily one thats been taught by the Protestant greats.

Luther and Calvin and their friends took a hard line on this. They said that the desire that makes up our temptation is already sin, even before we give in or consent to this, Cary said.

And turns out Augustine had his own ideas on the topic.

Cary joined associate digital media producer Morgan Lee and editor in chief Mark Galli to discuss how the Bible defines temptation, why its hard for Christians to disentangle sin and temptation, and what it means when some of the pillars of faith reached radically different conclusions.

This episode of Quick to Listen was brought to you by the Christian Standard Bible. To learn more about the Christian Standard Bible, visit CSBible.com/CT.

What is Quick to Listen? Read more

Subscribe to Quick to Listen on Apple Podcasts

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Subscribe to Marks newsletter: The Galli Report

Quick to Listen is produced by Morgan Lee, Richard Clark, and Cray AllredPotomac Declaration and action plan hope to persuade more nations by the second US religious freedom ministerial next year.

|

Image: Courtesy of State Department

Americas first ministerial for international religious freedom will not be its last.

The State Department and USAID will partner on a new program to ensure that public and private aid can rapidly get to persecuted religious minorities.

And Secretary of State Mike Pompeo revealed today the Potomac Declaration, which proclaims religious freedom to be a far-reaching, universal, and profound human right that all peoples and nations of good will must defend around the globe [full text below], as well as an accompanying plan of action.

These documents reassert the United Statess unwavering commitment to promoting and defending religious freedom, said Pompeo. They recommend concrete ways the international community and governments can do more to protect religious freedom and vulnerable religious communities.

Vice President Mike Pence also reiterated the US commitment to religious freedom on the final day of the unprecedented event in Washington DC.

The United States is also committed to ensuring that religious freedom and religious pluralism prosper across the Middle East as well. To that end, America is launching a new initiative that will not only deliver additional support to the most vulnerable communities, but we trust that it will also embolden civil society to help stop violence in the future, said Pence as he announced the establishment of the Genocide Recovery and Persecution Response Program.

The Vice President was quick to point out that the organization would partner with local faith and community leaders, and that this support will flow directly to individuals and households most in need of help.

Pence mentioned that the Trump administration had already sent more than $110 million to the Middle East. (The funds were announced by Pence in 2017, but have been slow to arrive in Iraqi Kurdistan.)

In the first two days of the ministerial, dozens of civil society leaders from around the globe heard the stories of the religiously persecuted and learned how to better work with the philanthropy sector and US government to secure funds.

On Thursday, delegations from more than 80 countries attended the ministerial. Among them were leaders from Uzbekistan, which the US has designated a Tier 1 Country of Particular Concern (CPC), its harshest classification for countries which it does not believe respect religious freedom. Also present were leaders from some Tier 2 CPC countries: Bahrain, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, and Kazakhstan.

Earlier this week, Uzbek officials announced that their nation would begin making significant institutional reforms in the area of religious freedom. At the ministerial today, Bahrain announced that it would be establishing an ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom.

Pompeo praised both nations.

When religious freedom flourishes, a country flourishes, he said. As one example today, we applaud the steps that Uzbekistan is taking towards a more free society. We have great confidence that a degree of religious freedom greater than before will have a positive ripple effect on their country, their society, and the region as well.

Weve seen this too in several Gulf countries. As the region has become an economic hub and attracted foreigners from many faiths, several governments have taken important steps. Theyve been wise to permit the construction of places of worship like churches and temples, thus becoming an even more attractive destination for international investment.

The plight of American pastor Andrew Brunson, who is currently imprisoned in Turkey, was featured prominently at the ministerial. On Tuesday, his daughter testified about her fathers condition and character. On Wednesday, news that Brunson would be moved from prison to house arrest received a standing ovation from the audience. On Thursday, Pence threatened the fellow NATO member if it did not release him.

If Turkey does not take immediate action to free this innocent man of faith and send him home to America, the United States will impose significant sanctions on Turkey until pastor Andrew Brunson is free, he said.

Turkey was not the only country Pence named. The Vice President called out countries across the globe, starting with Nicaragua where he accused the Ortega administration of virtually waging war on the Catholic Church. He condemned Chinas persecution of its Tibetan Buddhists, Uyghur Muslims, and Christians, as well as the actions of its authoritarian neighbor: North Korea.

While we all hope that relations between the United States and North Korea continue to improve, and we certainly hope that the threat posed by North Koreas nuclear and ballistic weapons program can be eliminated, said Pence, there is no escaping the plain fact that North Koreas leadership has exacted unparalleled privation and cruelty upon its people for decades.

Pence also called out Iran. While acknowledging that its Christians, Jews, and Bahai are all persecuted by its Shia government, he specifically singled out its Sunni Kurd population.

The people of the United States of America have a message to the long-suffering people of Iran: Even as we stand strong against the threats and malign actions of your leaders in Tehran, know that we are with you, said Pence. We pray for you. And we urge you, the good people of Iran, to press on with courage in the cause of freedom and a peaceful future for your people.

Pence made no mention of the group of about 100 Iranian religious refugees who are currently stranded in Austria after the US invited them to resettle before revoking its offer.

Russias Jehovahs Witnesses, who have been subject to intense persecution in recent years, were also recognized by Pence. Theyre legally banned from practicing their faith, he said. Government agents have seized Jehovah Witnesses headquarters near St. Petersburg, raided their prayer halls across the country, and arrested and imprisoned scores of believers.

The Vice President also called for an end to anti-Semitic attacks in Western Europe.

In his remarks, Pompeo also touted several new State Department projects. One program will bring together religious freedom advocates from around the world for a 10-day project that will focus on promoting religious pluralism and protecting the rights of religious minorities. In the fall, the department will host a workshop to support public-private partnerships boosting global religious freedom. Finally, the department is working with several other countries to host regional religious freedom followup conferences.

We will also be releasing several statements on specific countriesBurma, China, and Iranand specific issues representing some of the greatest challenges to religious freedom in our world today, said Pompeo.

While not in attendance, President Donald Trump gave his support to the event.

The U.S. will continue to promote #ReligiousFreedom around the world, he tweeted yesterday. Nations that support religious freedom are far more free, prosperous & peaceful. Great job, @VP, @SecPompeo, @IRF_Ambassador & @StateDept!Uzbekistan is an unlikely poster child for religious freedom.

Open Doors currently ranks the Central Asian nation as No. 16 on its 2018 list of the 50 countries where its hardest to be a Christian. The US State Department named Uzbekistan again this year as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC)a notorious list of religious freedom violators that the former Soviet republic has been included on since 2006.

And yet, four key members of the Uzbek government were in Washington on Wednesday, on the sidelines of the State Departments first-ever Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, in order to showcase the countrys newfound commitment to take religious freedom seriously.

Uzbekistan has a centuries old history of respect and tolerance toward religious groups, said foreign minister Abdulaziz Kamilov. Our government treats religious values with profound respect. There are 140 nationalities and 16 religious faiths in our country, with operation of more than 2,000 religious organizations. All these stand as our greatest historical, cultural, and civilization heritage.

Kamilov said the CPC designation marked a low point in Uzbek-American relationsthe US had shortly beforehand shut down its military bases therebut he believed that the nations modernization could bring the two closer together.

Our country stands ready for a broad international cooperation in this sphere of religious freedom, he said.

Uzbek senator Sodiq Safoyev suggested that behind the governments policy change was a belief that addressing the issues of the modern world required economic and political transformation, and that religious freedom would play a role in making that happen.

Kamilov and Safoyev were also joined by Uzbekistans minister of justice Ruslanbek Davletov and Akmal Saidov of the nations Supreme Assembly. (President Shavkat Mirziyoev visited the White House in May, the first such visit since 2002.)

That [panel was] different than anything youve ever heard from almost any place in the former Soviet Union, said Chris Seiple, president emeritus of the Institute for Global Engagement, who organized the panel and will lead a delegation to Uzbekistan this fall.  Theyre institutionalizing the process of change. Thats the key. The process is the goal.

Much work remains before Uzbekistan leaves the CPC list. Unannounced raids on religious meetings will have to cease. A number of people also remain in jail on charges of religious extremisma designation that some fear may be overly broad.

And yet, its an incredibly hopeful and practical moment, said Seiple, who wrote his dissertation on Uzbek-American relations. Uzbekistan is bucking all the authoritarian trends worldwide and saying, Were going to set a different model. It becomes an opportunity to show the rest of the world, We can do this and it works.

If successful, religious freedom advocates hope that Central Asian neighbors take note. Both Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are also on the CPC list, while the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended that Kazakhstan join them.

During the DC press conference, Uzbek leaders outlined a number of institutional commitments that their government was in the process of making good on. They are currently streamlining the registration process for religious groups. They also promised that a multifaith religious council would work with them to review a 1998 law that places a number of restrictions on religion.

The current law was based on a 1997 Russian law designed to protect the Orthodox Church from evangelical sheep stealing, said Seiple. Its a terrible law that doesnt allow for anything. Now theyre asking experts to come in and review the law in the context of a new era and security concerns from extremists.

Uzbekistan is a secular state whose laws guarantee the right to convert, but do not permit full-time missionaries. Local Christians have been subject to raids, threats, arrests, interrogation and fines, as well as the confiscation of religious materials, reports Open Doors.

But their Muslim countrymen have arguably had it worse.

For years, Uzbekistan has offered its Muslims little autonomy. Instead, it appoints all permitted leaders and [bans] all public manifestations of Islam outside the state-controlled Spiritual Administration of Muslims, or Muftiate, reported Forum 18 last year. The state through the Muftiate also controls what imams preach, and the number and location of mosques.

Yet on Wednesday, Uzbek leaders suggested a new strategy in confronting Islamist extremism.

Now its clear that [our government] cant confront by repressive measures, said Safoyev. [We] should fight for hearts and minds of people. [We] should change [our] judicial system. Guarantee[ing] human rights and freedom and education is the best way  to confront political [extremist] Islam.

The irony is that [the Muftiate] always hollowed out the credibility of Islam to be a force against extremism, Seiple told CT after the presentation. But you heard them today say, Repression cannot work. We need to have religious freedom to stand against extremism.

The Uzbek government has previously justified its measures by pointing to the rise of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), which has sought to impose Shariah law in the secular country. In recent decades, the IMU has spread to neighboring Tajikistan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, and in 2014 pledged its allegiance to ISIS.

Why does Uzbekistan export so many terrorists? asked The Atlantic last year after an Uzbek man drove his pickup truck into a crowd in Lower Manhattan, killing eight people.

In America we have the luxury of a single focus around religious freedom. But nobody lives that way in other contexts, said Seiple. Too much tolerance leads to terrorism. They live in a tough neighborhood. In the beginning of their independence as a country, there was all kinds of extremism. Now its a different era.

Evangelicals can sometimes get worked up about laws restricting missionary work, says Texas pastor Bob Roberts, a longtime advocate for closer relationships between evangelicals and Muslims, who attended the presentation. But he sympathizes with the difficult choices faced by governments amid threats of extreme religious violence.

You cant underestimate the concern that many of those countries in those parts of the world have. Missionary activity does not just extend to Protestantism, said Roberts. It extends to these extremist groups.

A country of 30 million, the majority of citizens practice Sufism, a mystical branch of Sunni Islam. About 10 percent of Uzbeks are Eastern Orthodox Christians. Ethnically, about 20 percent of the nation is of Russian, Tajik, Kazakh, Karakalpak, Tatar, or Korean descent.

For Uzbeks, part of articulating their countrys vision of religious freedom has been to see the ways that their country has practiced this inclusivity for hundreds of years. One of the worlds oldest Jewish communities can be found there, though its numbers are dwindling. Similarly, Uzbekistan was also a home to a Nestorian Christian community.

The way we talk about other countries, we dont acknowledge that long history at the beginning and allow countries to maintain, in some ways, their own dignity, said Travis Wussow, vice president for public policy at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, who also attended the presentation. As advocates for religious freedom, we need to acknowledge that history and encourage countries to return to it.After ten years as a national correspondent, Ta-Nehisi Coates is leaving The Atlantic. In a memo to his staff, Coatess editor Jeffrey Goldberg explained that the last few years for [Coates] have been years of significant changes. Hes told me that he would like to take some time to reflect on these changes, and to figure out the best path forward, both as a person and as a writer.

Coatess writing for The Atlantic in The Case for Reparations and My President Was Blackalong with his bookshas shaped our national conversation on race. Although he's been surprised to find himself famous, his departure from The Atlantic is about much more than unease with sudden fame. Instead, it reflects a growing crisis for public intellectuals in the digital age.

Were forced to ask: Is our hyper-connected culture driving to extinction the most thoughtful among us? Put otherwise, are the conditions of our times intemperate to the work of public thinkers like Coates?

Alan Jacobs, distinguished professor of humanities in the honors program at Baylor University, traces the postwar history of public intellectuals in his essay The Watchmen. Citing the work of sociologist Karl Mannheim, Jacobs explains that a public intellectual is someone whose special task is to provide an interpretation of the world and to play the part of watchmen in what otherwise would be a pitch-black night.

Coates fits the description, even if he rejects the moniker. In an interview with podcast host Krista Tippett at the 2017 Chicago Humanities Festival, he explained his particular hesitations with being a public intellectual. First, he wants to demarcate the boundaries of his expertise. One of the things that annoys me is that people act like they know everything, he told Tippett. You dont know. Be clear about what you know and what you dont. Second, he rejects the activism expected of the public intellectual. Im a writer. I prefer solitude, he explained, speaking of his preference for a certain distance from the struggle.

With these statements, Coates put his finger on two key concerns: Its not simply the haste with which public intellectualsincluding Christian thought leadersare asked to speak, its also the breadth of their expected expertise. Just as information is now boundless, public comment knows no bounds. In that context, silence from our public intellectuals is often seen as indifference, sometimes even cruelty. To fail to tweet about the latest mass shooting, for example, is to fail compassion. Further, public intellectuals are not only expected to broadly comment; in an age where the pen is no longer mightier than the sword, theyre supposed to march, too. (Of course, there are examples of people doing both well, like Martin Luther King Jr., but few can fit that mold).

To satiate the ravenous demands of digital readers, a public intellectual today might easily ignore the limits of her knowledge and attempt to become as boundary-less as the unbounded waters of the internet. She might also give up believing in the virtue of words, forsaking her desk for the streets. (Thats where her readers want to find her, after all.) According to political theorist Jean Bethke Elshtain, she is seduced into becoming more and more public and less and less intellectual. She abandons the very conditions that produce reliable, lasting insight: namely, the silence and seclusion of study.

In the end, what looks like virtueunbounded giving of oneself to the publiceasily becomes a vice. The lesson for the public intellectual, then, is a lesson for each of us. To be faithful in our respective vocations, limits must always be observed: limits of capacity, limits of ambition.

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We find insights into this idea in a somewhat unfamiliar passage of Scripture, Numbers 18. In the story, God delineates the work of managing the Tabernacle, assigning particular projects to the priests and others to the Levites. The priests (the descendants of Aaron) are given work at the altar and behind the curtain while the Levites are given the responsibilities of transporting and maintaining other sacred objects of worship. The priests offer the sacrifices; the Levites tend the fires. By Gods direction, no one single person or group shoulders the entire burden of the Tabernacle (or later, the Temple).

Moreover, to be a Levite or priest was to be occupied with matters of worship, not warfare. When an enemy army threatened Gods people, priests didnt trade their linen robes for shields and swords. Around every vocation was drawn a necessary boundary. To accept one assignment was to reject a thousand others.

We see this same idea in the New Testament, as well. When God sends his own Son as high priest for humanity, he braves the act of his own self-limiting. He enters the confines of space and time, secures salvation under the constraints of flesh and blood, and empties himself to become Jesus of Nazareth. The Incarnation, then, at least in one sense, affirms the inherent goodness and purpose of divinely imposed limits.

In the context of our finite humanity, the work of public intellectuals is by nature creaturely work: limited in scope, limited in effect. Ta-Nehisi Coates is only one of many public figures struggling to live within these boundary lines. In knowing his own limitations, he can demur, as he did at the Chicago Humanities Festival, on questions of the single most important legal challenge facing us in the next five to ten years or the most reliable pedagogical methods for teaching history accurately. I dont know, Coates responded. For a man (however wistfully) dismissive of Christian faith, his answer is perhaps the most Christian of responses.

As believers, we affirm one of the paradoxes of the human condition put this way by G. K. Chesterton: We are chief of creatures but creatures nonetheless. We are called to do good work courageously and faithfully, and part of our courage and faithfulness involves admitting the responsibilities that do and do not belong to us.

God isnt taking applications for Messiah; hes already sent one. Accordingly, lets give to our public intellectuals the permission to say more about less. And for that matter, lets give them back their ivory towers, too.

Jen Pollock Michel is the award-winning author of Teach Us to Want and Keeping Place. She lives with her husband and five children in Toronto.Disability inclusion: Why it's about more than a ramp

I'm a disabled woman in itinerant ministry.

I'm told that I should find any one of those hard, but having the three is just plain greedy. I can honestly say I find the disability part is hardest.

There are wildly varying views in the different expressions of church throughout the UK when it comes to disability. I'm happy to report that there are some churches that are accessible, welcoming and just plain lovely, but they are in the minority.

Some say I shouldn't be in ministry because my disability dishonours God. Others just want to 'fix' me either by prayer or random suggestions such as 'Are you harbouring an unforgiving spirit?' At the other end of the scale there are churches who ask 'What is the minimum we can do to comply with the Equalities Act.?

Even without being a woman and in ministry, life is hard for disabled Christians all over the world.

This is why I was so excited to hear that the Archbishop of Canterbury was hosting a cutting edge disability conference at Lambeth Palace on July13 called 'A Place to Belong'.

Having followed the tweets from the conference, I know there was much discussed  the good, the bad and the pretty darned ugly of how the church often treats those who have disabilities. There were inspirational stories and depressing statistics side by side. Even more stories came out on the #CofeBelong Twitter stream. It's worth a look.

The majority of the invited participants had a lived experience of disability, and the diversity of disability appeared to be well represented too. Others were experts in the field of disability inclusion who added to the voice of those seeking change in the Church of England.

The heart for change was alive and well, but for change to happen this heart also needs to be alive and well in those who were not at the conference. We need change where the rubber hits the road, and I'm worried that the outcomes of this will only reach the already convinced and not the people who really need to hear it.

But how can that be done? The reports on the conference point to some resources by Livability, that I know will be excellent. But we've been here before with other excellent resources.

A brief look at the statistics and a glance at our churches offers a snapshot of the situation. One in 20 people have a disability  an exceedingly low estimate. Is this reflected in our churches? Is it reflected in those ministering in our churches? It's difficult to give a clear answer because many people have hidden disabilities, but my experience shows me it isn't. There is a hidden church out there of Christians with disabilities who feel they cannot 'go' to church.

Churches love their policies. But when they think about disability, It's often found in the health and safety section. In reality, inclusion should be a thread that runs through every policy and more importantly, every vision statement  children, evangelism, ministry and discipleship, to name just a few. Having a champion in each church to make this happen and take inclusion from basic access to true belonging is a very good start.

It's often the case that many churches  though not all  think inclusion begins and ends with a ramp. Most will provide for those of us with wheels, but even then some do it badly. In their minds, they've already ticked the discrimination box.

Disability is diverse, in both the range of disabilities and the type of support needed. There may be practical inclusion adjustments in a church, but the attitude is poor. This is why many in the disability community use the term 'belonging'. It's much more than inclusion. To quote John Swinton, who was at the conference, 'Belonging is being missed when you're not there.' Or in my own words, it's being missed for who you are, not a sigh of relief because the disabled person hasn't turned up.

I really hope that much good comes from the 'Place to Belong' conference. I hope it overflows into every other denomination and stands as an example to the communities in which we live.

It would be so nice if church was a welcome relief from the battle disabled people face daily  but sadly, at the moment, it often isn't.

Kay Morgan-Gurr is chair of Children Matter and co-founder of the Additional Needs Alliance. Follow her on Twitter @KayMorgan_GurrLeprosy champion's pilgrimage across 900 years: 'This is where they prayed for people like me'

An extraordinary encounter in Cambridge has seen a visitor from India bridge the 12th and the 21st centuries across 900 years of history.

Ganesh Muthusamy, 32, was diagnosed and treated for leprosy while still at school, by which time he had already lost sensation in his right foot which developed ulcers and became badly damaged. Through corrective surgery and protective footwear from a Leprosy Mission Hospital in India he is now able to walk again.

Ganesh is known as a 'leprosy champion' in India where the ancient stigma surrounding leprosy is still rife. And yesterday he visited Cambridge's 12th-century Leper Chapel, the oldest complete building in the city, erected to care for English people with leprosy nearly 900 years ago.

Prof Helen Weinstein of Clare Hall, Cambridge, told an audience from the local community at the Leper Chapel that there was a high number of leprosy cases in Cambridge in the Middle Ages.

While people affected by leprosy in Cambridge had to wear special outfits and even shout out 'unclean' to warn people to stay clear, there was kindness and compassion for people affected by leprosy, she said. The hospital and chapel were funded by philanthropists through the nearby Barnwell Priory with monks ministering to patients at the chapel.

Ganesh said his visit to the Leper Chapel was like 'coming home'.

'I'm very happy to be here because people who had leprosy in England prayed in this building for people like me,' he said.

'And now I'm praying for the next generation to not be disabled by leprosy. Being here feels very emotional and almost like coming home.'

Ganesh travelled to the UK to attend the Global Disability Summit hosted at Olympic Park on Tuesday. While leprosy is a disease of the past in the UK with our last indigenous case diagnosed in 1798, the disease is a 21st-century problem globally with a quarter of a million cases diagnosed each year, more than half of which are in India.

Ganesh said: 'When I was first diagnosed with leprosy I was worried people would isolate me. I did not tell anyone that I was diagnosed, except my family, because of the fear surrounding the disease. So I guess that's self-stigma as well.

'One member of my family did, in fact, want me to leave the family but thankfully is ok with the situation now.

'I find it hard to work because I can't stand or walk for long because, although I have had reconstructive surgery to correct foot drop, leprosy has left me with a numb right foot.

'It is difficult for people with a disability to work in India but people affected by leprosy would not be included in the disability group  they segregate us.

'You see this in India which still has 850 leprosy colonies  inclusion isn't happening which is affecting our fundamental rights.

"I'm still not finding a proper job when leprosy is a curable disease that anyone can get in India. People need to know about it as if it is treated early then they will not develop disabilities.'

Ganesh is one of 500 'leprosy champions' in India reaching out to 10,000 people affected by leprosy and disabilities as part of international Christian charity The Leprosy Mission's CREATE project, which seeks justice for people mistreated because of leprosy. The European Union has given more than 1m to support the project.Three Houston area residents have been sentenced and another is awaiting sentencing for a scheme that government investigators said used stolen identities to file fraudulent unemployment benefit claims against fake companies.

The investigation involved several government agencies including the Labor Department, the Internal Revenue Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Texas Workforce Commission.San Antonio-based NatureSweet tomatoes, known for petite greenhouse-grown snacking varieties, is joining forces with Florida-based open field tomato giant Lipman Family Farms.

The two companies on Tuesday described their partnership as a 100 percent joint venture between both companies with equal investments with tomatoes co-branded and distributed under the Lipman name.

The joint venture is set to launch in October.

Lipman has mastered supplying and serving very large, demanding food service customers, and weve mastered growing at scale to produce responsibly grown greenhouse tomatoes, NatureSweet CEO Bryant Ambelang said in a news release. We couldnt ask for a better partner as well both be able to provide new value for our combined customers.

Lipman, based in Immokalee, Fla., owns farms across the nation to be able to provide salad and slicing tomatoes 52 weeks a year to burger, quick service and fast casual restaurants across the United States. It is North Americas largest grower of open field tomatoes and specializes in the high flavor, high color, high density Crimson variety.

Were pleased to be able to assure a 52-week supply of exceptional slicing and salad tomatoes to our valued clients, said Lipman Family Farms CEO Kent Shoemaker. Our food service customers need access to premium product on a year-round basis. They also need greenhouse and field grown options.

NatureSweet, North Americas largest greenhouse grower, is known for its clear clamshell packs of bite-size tomatoes with trademark names including Cherubs, Glorys and SunBursts as well as its sandwich-sized Jubilees and deeper colored Eclipses. It employs more than 9,000 people and has a network of production areas in Mexico and Arizona.

NatureSweet is considered a local business success story, with Ambelang appearing before business and student groups to tell how the company grew by offering good working conditions and comparatively high pay to incentivize greenhouse workers in Mexico.

lbrezosky@express-news.netHines has acquired 107 acres adjacent to the Sam Houston Race Park for a business park planned for 1.5 million square feet of industrial and logistics space in northwest Houston.

The property, purchased from longtime owner Maxxam Inc., is at the southeast corner of the Sam Houston Tollway and Gessner Road.

The Houston-based developer plans to offer 500,000 square feet of logistics space in the first phase of Grand National Business Park. Plans are still being developed for the two-phase park, which will offer tenants access to a planned retail center and business-class hotel on the Beltway 8 frontage.

RELATED: Hines launches 'next generation' office tower

The project will offer spaces from 20,000 square feet to 1 million square feet. Jim Foreman and Allison Bergman at Cushman & Wakefield will handle leasing.

Hines is offering land for sale for retail and non-logistics uses.

"In addition to its phenomenal location and reduced transportation & delivery costs, Grand National Business Park offers tenants enhanced visibility from Beltway 8, as well as unique access to labor, restaurants and amenities," Hines senior managing director Palmer Letzerich said in an announcement.

"We have solid activity on the site already and are very much looking forward to starting construction."

RELATED: Real estate briefs

Maxxam, which headed the development of the Sam Houston Race Track, sold the land to Hines.

"After considering several strategic options, we carefully selected Hines as our counterpart for this transaction," Maxxam president and CEO Charles Hurwitz said.

"We have owned this property for years and I am looking forward to witnessing Hines take the property through its the next stage of development."

Hines' other area industrial projects include Pinto Park in north Houston, Beltway Southwest in the southwest and Independence Logistics Park in La Porte.

Also Thursday, Clay Development & Construction announced a big project in Baytown. Visit the Chronicle's subscriber site for details on the deals.Nan & Company Properties has purchased a site across from Heights Mercantile for a new office with nap pods, a meditation room and a rooftop terrace for happy hours.

The Houston-based real estate brokerage, founded by president and CEO Nancy Almodovar four years ago, is expanding to a second location in addition to its offices at BBVA Compass Plaza north of the Galleria. A three-story building, with 7,000-square feet, will be built on the Barrio Antiguo Custom Furniture site at 725 Yale, a few blocks north of Interstate 10.The Kingwood teenager charged in the deaths of two friends admitted to drinking a full bottle of MD 20/20, a fortified wine, before driving them in his car, Harris County prosecutors said Thursday at a court hearing.

Jaggar Smith, 17, had red, droopy eyes and slurred speech after the crash early Wednesday in Atascocita that killed Salma Gomez and Chloe Robison, prosecutors said.

Smith has been charged with two counts of intoxication manslaughter in the deaths of the 16-year-old girls, who were both rising juniors at Atascocita High School.

'HE HAS TO LIVE WITH THAT': Stunned Atascocita community mourns teens in HoustonChronicle.com report

His attorney, Chip Lewis, declined to discuss specifics, saying Smith's "family is appropriately concerned about any distraction from the tragedy that two families are going through."

Smith walked quickly in and out of court on Thursday, looking straight ahead as family members stood beside him.

"Theyre trying to make it," Lewis said after the hearing. "Its very very difficult because they want to reach out to these two families and as you can imagine the awkwardness of wanting to express unfathomable sorrow. They dont know how to act, what to do."

Lewis said that Smith is doing about as one would expect, considering the circumstances.

"Hes almost unable to speak, hes so overcome (with) the emotions you would expect when two very dear friends of yours are lost," Lewis said.

Before the hearing, Smith's family said they "cannot adequately express the depths of their despair" over the loss of Gomez and Robison, according to a statement from Lewis.

The statement referred to the girls as "the two most beautiful lives imaginable."

The girls, who would have been juniors in high school, died Wednesday after the car entered a large median and hit a tree, splitting the vehicle in two.

Robison died there, and Gomez died at the hospital. Smith had chest abrasions consistent with the location of his seatbelt, the prosecutor said.

Smith was charged with the felonies Wednesday morning and walked out of jail in the afternoon after posting $60,000 bond, according to the Harris County District Clerk.

The prosecutor asked the court for the conditions of Smith's bond to include an ankle monitor, no driving and home confinement.

The judge at Thursday's hearing instead ordered Smith not to drive and imposed a curfew from between 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. He is also issued an at-home alcohol monitor, or scheduled Breathalyzer tests that get reported to the court.

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is investigating where Smith might have obtained the alcohol.

The parents of both victims have declined to comment. However, Chloe Robison's great aunt, Bonnie Johnson, said she wasn't angry at Smith and showed sympathy for the high school boy.

"You can't be angry at him," said Johnson, who lives in Beaumont. "I have emotions because, like I said, he had to see the repercussions and consequences of drunk driving, and I know ... he will never, ever be able to get that out of his mind."

She continued, "As much as we're suffering, he's suffering as well. Because all of this was done because of a mistake he made trying to drink and drive."

Johnson drove into town Wednesday and attended an evening vigil at the crash site. It was a devastating day for the family, but she was struck by the outpouring from the community, she said.

"It was indescribable because there was so much love," she said. "There was no race, creed or color. There was just sympathy and empathy and love."Exxon Mobil said Thursday it commenced operations at its multibillion-dollar petrochemical expansion at its massive Baytown complex.

The years-in-the-making project includes its new crown jewel ethane cracker that's designed to churn out billions of pounds a year of ethylene, which is the primary feedstock for the world's most common plastics.

The ethane cracker, which includes eight 23-story-tall furnaces, takes cheap and abundant ethane that's found in shale natural gas liquids and converts it into ethylene. Easy access to the affordable shale ethane is the primary reason Exxon is continuing to expand its Texas petrochemical facilities.

The project was delayed a few months in part by flooding that occurred during Hurricane Harvey nearly a year ago.

Last year Exxon Mobil completed two new plastics facilities at its nearby Mont Belvieu plastics plant that turns the ethylene from Baytown into thinner and stronger versions of the common plastic, polyethylene.

The Baytown expansion includes producing an additional 1.5 million metric tons of ethylene a year, or 3.3 billion pounds, while the Mont Belvieu plant can manufacture an extra 1.3 million tons of polyethylene now. Most of that plastic is headed for export to emerging markets in Asia and elsewhere.

RELATED: Exxon Mobil completes massive plastics expansion near Houston

"Our new ethane cracker will help us meet the growing global demand for high-performance plastic products that deliver key sustainability benefits such as lighter packaging weight, lower energy consumption and reduced emissions, further enhancing our competitiveness worldwide," said John Verity, president of ExxonMobil Chemical Company.

"The abundance of domestically produced oil and natural gas has reduced energy costs and created new sources of feedstock for U.S. Gulf refining and chemical manufacturing while creating jobs and expanding economic activity in the area," he added.

The project represented Exxon Mobil's first major U.S. chemical expansion in more than 15 years.

Exxon Mobil also has a joint venture with the Saudi Arabia Basic Industries Corp., known as SABIC. The companies plan to build a $10 billion chemicals and plastics complex just north of Corpus Christi.Texas dealt a potential death blow to what would be the largest-ever U.S. wind farm: American Electric Power Co.s $4.5 billion Wind Catcher project.

The Texas Public Utility Commission on Thursday unanimously rejected the project as proposed, saying it doesnt offer enough benefits for ratepayers as currently structured. American Electric said it was evaluating its options.

Looks like curtains to me, said Paul Patterson, an analyst at Glenrock Associates LLC. Almost everyone was opposed to this. Barring any big concessions from AEP, it looks to me like its dead.

IN TEXAS: Virginia company to build $1.2 billion Panhandle wind farm

The denial could spell the end of American Electrics ambition to make one of the largest renewable energy purchases ever by a U.S. utility company. The rejection comes as utility owners including Xcel Energy Inc. and Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway Inc. have been seeking state approvals to charge customers for renewable energy projects that have become more competitive with electricity produced by fossil-fuels.

Were extremely disappointed in todays Public Utility Commission of Texas decision rejecting our Wind Catcher proposal, Melissa McHenry, an American Electric spokeswoman, said in an email.

Oklahoma Project

The project that Invenergy LLC is developing in Oklahoma needs approvals from both Texas and Oklahoma to move forward, American Electrics Chief Executive Officer Nick Akins said Wednesday during an earnings call with analysts. Oklahomas attorney general and a state administrative law judge concluded in February the company failed to prove there was an economic need for the project and that it left customers shouldering too much of the risk.

Changing the size of the project would be suboptimal, Akins said. So were really focused on making sure that all of the jurisdictions approve it.

NEVER MIND: Company cancels North Texas wind farms

He added that Wind Catcher is not needed for American Electric to meet its growth targets.Shares rose 1.8 percent to $70.65 at 2:59 p.m. on the New York Stock Exchange.

American Electrics Southwestern Electric Power has proposed owning 70 percent of the 2-gigawatt project. Arkansas and Louisiana already approved the plans. Oklahoma has yet to issue a final decision. The project includes a transmission line to take the power to Tulsa and into Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.

American Electrics proposal tapped a financial model that utilities have long used to build nuclear, coal- and natural gas-fired plants: by tacking costs -- plus a profit -- onto customers bills. The company asked regulators in four states for permission to use the strategy for a sprawling project almost twice the size of Singapore.

The costs are known, DeAnn Walker, chairman of the Texas commission, said Thursday at a hearing. But the benefits are based on a lot of assumptions that are questionable.

2018 Bloomberg L.P.LUSBY, Md.  Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Thursday that the European Union was going to become a major purchaser of U.S. LNG.

Speaking at the Dominion Energy Cove Point LNG terminal in coastal Maryland, which began operations in January, Perry said the agreement between President Donald Trump and European Commissioner Jean Claude Juncker set the stage to increase U.S. LNG exports.

"It is a new day and I think a very bright day," Perry said. "Our allies, they can count on, no strings attached, that U.S. energy will keep flowing their way."

RELATED STORY: Senate to consider bill boosting U.S. LNG exports to Europe, taking aim at Russian gas

Heavily reliant on natural gas pipelines from Russia, Europe has long been viewed as a potentially major customer for the increasing volumes of natural gas flowing from U.S. shale fields. But so far Europe has lagged behind markets in Asia and South America in shipments of U.S. LNG.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has been gearing up exports. The Cove Point facility is producing 8.3 million gallons of LNG per day, enough to fill more than 80 tankers per year  all bound for Japan and India. Then there's the recent opening of Houston-based Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass facility on the Louisiana Gulf Coast, with more facilities set to open along the Gulf Coast in the years ahead.

The Trump administration is hoping to build ever more export terminals, and the Department of Energy is examining how it might speed up a permitting process that can take years.

"The president sent a clear message he wants regulations, permits to be as streamlined as they can be," Perry said Thursday. "Government and regulations all too often have become cumbersome. If the benefits are outweighing the costs then get it out of the way."The chairman of the Galveston County Republican Party submitted his resignation on Wednesday, ending a tumultuous tenure marred by party infighting.

Carl Gustafson, a Friendswood city councilman, wrote in an email to his fellow party members Wednesday that his role as party leader "requires a significant time commitment that unfortunately, I can no longer make."

Gustafson cited family reasons as the primary reason for his departure. His 81-year old father recently underwent open heart surgery in Virginia that will require him to make frequent trips there to lend his support.

"Moments ago, I submitted my resignation, effectively immediately, to our party secretary, Hank

Dugie," Gustafson wrote. "This was not an easy decision. There is more to do but unfortunately, given current circumstances, I simply cannot make the commitment necessary for me to perform in this role at the level the voters of Galveston County have come to expect."

Gustafson, who was elected party chairman in 2015, spent the final months of his tenure as chairman attempting to stave off a splinter group of eight Galveston County precinct chairs -- who called themselves the "steering committee" -- from attempting a "political coup" to oust him and take control of the party's bank account. He alleged that the steering committee called an unauthorized meeting in November with the intention of amending the county party's bylaws to remove him as chair.

At HoustonChronicle.com: Galveston County GOP feud lands in court

The steering committee countered that Gustafson had no individual right to control the bank account since the account is in the name of the Galveston County Republican Executive Committee. The infighting led to a legal dispute in which Moody National Bank filed a lawsuit in February against the Galveston Party Executive Committee, of which Gustafson is the chairman, asking the court to declare who had legal rights to the party's bank account.

The lawsuit was settled in April, with the parties agreeing to stay the case until July and allow Gustafson, who was re-elected as chairman in the March primary election, to remain in control of the party funds until the new party term began in June. The precinct chairs also agreed to take no action on the county party bylaws until the new term starts, at which point the bylaws could be rewritten and ratified by the party.

J. Reese Campbell, the attorney who represented the precinct chairs in the lawsuit, told the Chronicle that Gustafson notified Galveston County's 56th District Court on Wednesday that he would withdraw the lawsuit entirely.

Gustafson alluded to the dispute in his farewell message, writing that he understood "all of us may not have always agreed on every issue," and hoped that they could still work together to elect Republicans to every protected seat in the county and not splinter into "tribal factions."

"Just because you may disagree with someone regarding a particular issue or candidate does not mean they should become your mortal enemy," he wrote. "Character assassination is not an admirable pastime and those who engage in it are not respected by the respectable."

Scott Apley, a precinct chair for the Galveston County GOP and member of the steering committee that fought Gustafson in court, said he appreciated Gustafson's exit message and the fact that it allowed a smooth "hassle-free" change, with the party's first organizational meeting of the new term happening Thursday night.

"For me, it's just a matter of moving forward, and now this puts the onus on those in favor of the steering committee to show that it's an effective model of organizing a local political party," Apley said.

The county GOP will adopt new party bylaws at the meeting, and Apley said he expected the bylaws the steering committee attempted to put in place under Gustafson to garner strong consideration.

The meeting Thursday will also name a new executive committee to lead the party going forward and select a new party chair. The new party chair can be an registered Republican voter in Galveston County and will serve out the rest of Gustafson's term running through spring of 2020.

Correction: A previous version of this article stated that J. Reese Campbell was Carl Gustafson's attorney; he is the attorney for the Galveston County Republican Party precinct chairs. The article also misstated the court that the lawsuit was filed under; it was the 56th District Court, not the county Constitutional Court.

Nick Powell covers Galveston County for the Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter and send him tips at nick.powell@chron.comA widow's federal lawsuit alleging that a Texas City officer rifled through her dying husband's pockets and took more than $2,000 in cash he was carrying for Christmas presents has been settled in mediation, according to court records.

The lawsuit, filed in United States District Court, brought by Linda Mabe against Texas City and former police officer Linnard R. Crouch Jr., alleged that at least $2,400 was taken on Dec. 19, from her 74-year-old husband, James Mabe, after he was found unresponsive in his pickup truck in Texas City.

The lawsuit claimed Fourth Amendment violations and argued that Texas City failed to train, supervise and discipline its officers and permitted a "code of silence."

As part of the settlement agreement, Texas City was dismissed as a defendant and Crouch will not be held liable. Mabe will receive an undisclosed monetary settlement.

Randall Kallinen, the Mabe family's attorney, confirmed the settlement in a written statement.

"It was awful what the Mabes had to suffer through due to the actions of this Texas City police officer," Kallinen wrote.

The suit was filed after James Mabe, 74, was driving his pickup when his congestive heart failure incapacitated him.

Someone called 911 to report a truck stopped on a major Texas City thoroughfare, according to the lawsuit. Crouch was dispatched, found the elderly Mabe unresponsive in the driver's seat and called for paramedics.

According to the suit, only a "few hundred dollars" was returned to her at the hospital after James Mabe was pronounced dead.

Mabe's son, Michael Mabe filed a complaint with the police department in December 2016, shortly after the incident. Michael Mabe, a real estate attorney in Texas City, said in a February letter to the police chief that Crouch approached the widow "moments" after she was told that her husband of 46 years had died.

Crouch handed her a clear baggie with a wad of cash that had a $100 bill on top, Michael Mabe wrote. However, when they opened the baggie later, they found the wad of many $1 bills.

A supervisor initially told Michael Mabe in January 2017 that they found no evidence that Crouch committed any wrongdoing. It was later revealed via a memo written to the Texas City police chief Ronald Burby and obtained by the Mabe family's attorney that Crouch's body camera video footage showed the officer "removed money from Mr. Mabe's right front pocket he appears not to have reported."

Crouch resigned Jan. 30, 2017 when faced with the allegations, and told he would be fired if he did not resign.

Crouch, 41, was indicted by a Galveston County grand jury on felony theft charges on Sept. 13. He was released on a $5,000 bond and his case is still pending.

Two weeks after this indictment, Crouch was arrested again, this time for allegedly intentionally ramming his girlfriend's car with his own vehicle at a Texas City intersection. He was indicted by a Galveston County grand jury on a felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in March. He was released on an $80,000 bond and his case is still pending.

Coincidentally, Crouch's grandfather, Clarence L. Crouch, was fired from the Texas City Police Department after a similar incident on Nov. 29, 1966, according to civil service commission records obtained by the Mabes' attorney.

Clarence Crouch and his partner were on patrol when they found a door ajar at a business, which they entered, according to the commission records. Crouch "removed several transistor radios without the owner's permission (and) stated to the officer accompanying him that the radios would make good Christmas gifts."

Nick Powell covers Galveston County for the Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter and send him tips at nick.powell@chron.comThe long-awaited dredging project on the West Fork of the San Jacinto River is officially underway, although no actual dredges are expected to be in use until Sept. 1.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is overseeing the $69.8 million project, met last week with the contractor, Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co. of Oak Brook, Ill. Under the contract terms, the company has 270 days to remove 1.8 million cubic yards of sediment from a 2-mile stretch of the river above the Lake Houston dam.It was as brazen a killing as police have seen.

Wearing a backpack and riding a mountain bike, the mysterious man swiftly passed another cyclist from behind near the busy Texas Medical Center as doctors, nurses and patients filed into the complex at the start of the workday.

REWARD OFFERED: Crime Stoppers offers $5,000 for information

The killer rode a couple of blocks ahead of his target and then, in broad daylight and with surveillance cameras and potential witnesses on every corner, opened fire on a renowned cardiologist in the middle of Main Street. The doctor, biking to work in his scrubs, was struck three times and went down immediately. Meanwhile the killer  dressed inconspicuously in a blue polo shirt, khaki shorts, sunglasses and a cap  vanished into the rush-hour crowd.

A week later, Houston police are still searching for a suspect and motive in the slaying of Dr. Mark Hausknecht, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

On Thursday, however, Chief Art Acevedo offered a new detail that confirmed what some experts already suspected: Hausknecht's July 20th slaying was likely a targeted attack.

"It is highly probable he was targeted," Acevedo said in a text message Thursday morning.

Hausknecht, 65, who had admitting privileges at Houston Methodist and Memorial Hermann hospitals and once treated former President George H.W. Bush, had practiced medicine in Houston for more than three decades. After his slaying, Bush issued a statement praising him as a "fantastic cardiologist and a good man."

The victim's wife, Dr. Georgia R. Hsieh, released a statement urging the passage of "sensible gun laws." The family has planned a funeral service for 10 a.m. Saturday at First Presbyterian Church. In addition to his wife, Hausknecht is survived by two sons, his mother and three siblings.

In the days after his shooting death, police released a composite sketch as well as a slow trickle of video and still photographs from the moments before he was gunned down. Crime Stoppers offered a $5,000 reward that netted several workable tips  but none good enough to crack the case, even as investigators combed through "tons and tons" of surveillance video, according to a source familiar with the case.

Meanwhile, police have stayed tight-lipped about progress on the investigation. It's not yet known what route the shooter took to escape, how many people may have witnessed the slaying or what kind of gun the killer used. And as of Thursday morning, authorities still offered conflicting information as to whether it appeared random or a hit.

Though CNN reported Wednesday that officials believed it was targeted, citing an interview with Acevedo, a police spokesman equivocated, saying it was also possible the shooting was random. Acevedo then put out a text and tweet expressing his belief that the doctor was targeted.

But even as authorities work to unravel the who and the how, there's still no word on why.

"Murder usually comes down to two motives: some type of passion, or money," said Charles A. McClelland, Houston's police chief from 2009 to 2016. "That's it."

McClelland, who spent eight years in the city's homicide division during his 39-year HPD career, said the case raised specific questions, particularly over the assailant's bold decision to use a bicycle in a busy area like the Med Center.

"Your avenue to escape on a bicycle is a lot more risky than in a car," McClelland said. "Usually murders are not this complicated."

But Larry Karson, a criminal justice lecturer at the University of Houston-Downtown, highlighted the possible upsides of using a bike to make a getaway.

"The advantage of a bike is they don't get caught in traffic jams, they're easily disposed of and they can go against traffic," he said. "You're a block away almost instantly and nobody knows anything."

Hausknecht was shot just before 9 a.m. while traveling northbound on Main Street near the intersection with Holcombe Boulevard. Main passes under Holcombe at the crossing, which is surrounded by medical office buildings, a hotel, parking lots and a Pizza Hut. The shooting scene is also near winding residential neighborhoods, a bike trail along Brays Bayou and Hermann Park.

It's the same set of advantages that make bike patrols appealing to police.

For Antonio Leal, a retired Texas Rangers chief, the use of a bicycle raises other questions  like the possibility that Hausknecht's killer had observed him and carefully planned the attack.

"This guy rides his bike to work every day, and for the guy who assaulted him to ride a bike as well, that tells me he's probably traveled that space several times," he said, "because it would be much easier to just run someone over in a car with no license plate."

Given what is known publicly, Leal said, it's likely not a murder-for-hire.

"In those cases there's usually a third person who will benefit from the murder who needs to be anonymous," he said.

But eliminating possible scenarios may be easier than establishing a motive  though Michael E. Anderson, former assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Houston field office, raised some of the questions that investigators are likely considering.

"Was there someone who had a dispute with the doctor, a personal dispute or professional dispute? That's what I would look at," he said. "It could be an absolute random incident  but random crimes do not occur that often."

Leal agreed, adding that if it were random, it is likely there would have been others  and there's no history of other slayings with the same tactics.

"There is a chance that it was totally random," he said, "but 95 percent of the time crime is like water  it takes the easiest path."Authorities are looking for a man accused of robbing a bank Wednesday afternoon in west Houston.

The robbery happened at the Capital One Bank at 1629 Voss Road near Hunters Creek Village, the FBI Houston office stated on social media. The office shared surveillance images of the suspect: A portly man in a green T-shirt and large-framed sunglasses, with a beard and dark, medium-length wavy hair.

The FBI Houston office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Victor Senties, a Houston police spokesman, said Wednesday night that he had no additional information the incident.

IN COURT: Houston honor killings defendant takes witness stand and denies involvement in 2012 homicides

Anyone with information on the robbery can contact Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477).With the growth coming in and around Shenandoah, comes great responsibility.

More often than not, the decisions made pertaining to developments in the area come down to the citys three-person Planning and Zoning Commission, which welcomed its two newest members, Jim Pollard and Bob Galatas, about a year apart.

We have a tight control on the community and make sure that we get the right offices built properly, and bring in the right neighborhoods, Pollard said. That whole area is booming.

The Planning and Zoning Commission in Shenandoah is responsible for initial contact between city government officials and developers and businesses seeking to build in the community.

Combing through the more than 600 pages of codes and regulations enforced by the city of Shenandoah, the commission reviews presentations by potential new businesses and residential developments, evaluates the proposals and then recommends approval or rejection to the Shenandoah City Council.

With the looming build-out of the city - only about eight parcels of property are available to develop within city limits - the commission faces a challenge in keeping current businesses up to par with the citys vision and bring in new establishments with upgraded plans, Pollard said.

We only have so many spots available, so we want to make sure we have just the right things in our community, Pollard said.

The growing tourist scene in Shenandoah - home to the Woodforest Bank Stadium and near the music venues and convention centers of The Woodlands - lends itself to growth in the accommodation sector, Pollard added.

Whats good for one is good for all of us, so we dont really compete, Pollard said.

The challenge, Pollard added, is finding a balance between what the residents want in their own community and what tourists want to see in a potential destination.

You have to weigh the rights of the property owners and what they want with whats best for the community,

Galatas, whose term started in the summer of 2017, said one of the greatest problems facing Shenandoah today  one that is within the power of the commission to assess  is the congestion on the citys freeway-facing streets.

The problem, Pollard said, is already here. The oddly-constructed intersection of Grogans Mill Road and Research Forest Drive in Shenandoah has long been considered one of the most dangerous intersections in the area, and a recent proposal to build an underpass at that location is the early stages of gaining support and research.

Galatas said traffic at the intersection is, Really bad during rush hour.

But more importantly, it's a dangerous intersection, Galatas said. There are wrecks there almost every week, and a pedestrian path runs beside the intersection.

Pollard said the commission will take considerations for the traffic impact of a project when approving or rejecting business proposals.

(We) make sure that whenever someone is going to build something, its not going to bring in so much traffic that it clogs up the streets that we have or makes the living experience in Shenandoah bad, Pollard said.

Three meetings into his new position, Pollard said he is gaining traction on another platform he chose to bring into the position - the elimination of urban blight in the less secluded areas of town.

Its already considered the premium spot in the area to live, Pollard said. I want our residents to feel its been improved. I just want everybody to feel good about it.

Originally from Corpus Christi, Pollard, comes from a career spent in the advertising industry at the Houston Chronicle, Houston Community Newspapers, Community Impact Newspaper and other publications.

The nature of his work in the newspaper industry, Pollard said, usually prevented him from becoming involved in the community he and his family have called home for 15 years.

Im retired, so I can do whatever I want to do, Pollard said. I can be a part of the community and participate, finally.

For Galatas, also a native of the area, his position on the Planning and Zoning Commission fell into his lap when his neighbor, Shenandoah Mayor Ritch Wheeler, asked him to apply for a seat on the commission.

A graduate of Conroe Independent School District schools, Galatas, his wife and his teenage children, settled in Shenandoah after a stint living in The Woodlands.

This is home for me, so I want it to turn out well, Galatas said. I think we all want quality things for our neighborhood.[July 26, 2018] Aaron's, Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2018 Results ATLANTA, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Aaron's, Inc. (NYSE: AAN), a leading omnichannel provider of lease-purchase solutions, today announced financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018. "The second quarter built on the strong results we are realizing from our strategic investments," said John Robinson, Chief Executive Officer. "We served a record number of customers across our platforms, achieved a double-digit gain in consolidated revenue and increased adjusted EBITDA compared to the prior year. We're encouraged by our momentum as we enter the second half and believe we remain on track to achieve our financial objectives for the year." "Progressive delivered another quarter of outstanding revenue and profit growth," continued Mr. Robinson. "The team continues to optimize performance across a large base of existing retail doors which is positively impacting revenue and profitability. Progressive's lease pools are performing in line with our expectations, and we're excited about our pipeline of potential retail partners." "The Aaron's Business continued to see improvement in a number of key metrics in the quarter, notably, higher year-over-year recurring revenue written into the lease portfolio and expanding lease margins. In addition, we're encouraged by the progress of our business transformation initiatives and we continue to invest to improve our omnichannel platform." "During the quarter, we returned $50 million of capital to shareholders through share repurchases and ended the quarter with $94 million in cash and net debt to capitalization of 8.9%. Early in the third quarter, we strengthened our omnichannel business with the acquisition of several Aaron's franchisees across a number of attractive markets. After these acquisitions, we remain conservatively capitalized with ample liquidity to support our strategic objectives," concluded Mr. Robinson. Financial Summary Aaron's, Inc. (the "Company") conducts its operations through three primary businesses: 1) Progressive Leasing's virtual lease-to-own business ("Progressive Leasing"); 2) Aaron's branded Company-operated and franchised lease-to-own stores, our Aarons.com e-commerce platform and Woodhaven, the Company's furniture manufacturing operations (collectively, the "Aaron's Business"); and 3) Dent-A-Med, Inc. ("DAMI"), our second-look financing business. For the second quarter of 2018, Company revenues were $927.9 million compared with $815.6 million for the second quarter of 2017. Net earnings were $38.5 million compared with $36.3 million in the prior year period. Diluted earnings per share were $0.54 compared with $0.51 a year ago. The effective tax rate for the second quarter of 2018 was 23.0% compared with 36.2% for the prior year period, primarily due to the lower tax rates provided under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the "Tax Act"). On a non-GAAP basis, net earnings for the second quarter of 2018 were $59.6 million compared with $48.5 million for the same period in 2017, and non-GAAP earnings per share assuming dilution were $0.84 in the second quarter of 2018 compared with $0.68 for the same quarter in 2017. For the second quarter of 2018, non-GAAP net earnings and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share exclude the effects of amortization expense resulting from our 2014 acquisition of Progressive Leasing and one of the 2017 franchisee acquisitions, a reversal of restructuring charges for the Aaron's Business and charges and expenses related to the full impairment of the Company's investment in PerfectHome. The Company invested in PerfectHome, a U.K. rent-to-own business in 2011. In July 2018, PerfectHome entered into the U.K.'s insolvency process and was subsequently acquired by its senior secured lender. As a result, the Company believes it will not receive any further payments on its subordinated secured notes investment and recorded a full impairment and related expenses of approximately $22 million in the second quarter. For the second quarter of 2017, non-GAAP earnings results exclude the effects of Progressive Leasing amortization and Aaron's Business and DAMI restructuring charges. Adjusted EBITDA for the Company, which excludes the charges and adjustments mentioned above, was $97.0 million for the second quarter of 2018, compared with $95.7 million for the same period in 2017. See "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information" and the related non-GAAP reconciliation accompanying this press release. During the first six months of 2018, revenues increased 13.4% to $1.9 billion compared with $1.7 billion for the prior year period. Net earnings were $90.7 million versus $89.6 million for the first six months last year. Diluted earnings per share were $1.27 compared with $1.24 for the first six month period in 2017. The effective tax rate for first six months of 2018 was 22.3% compared with 35.8% for 2017. On a non-GAAP basis, net earnings for the first six months of 2018 were $118.1 million compared with $106.3 million for the same period in 2017, and non-GAAP earnings per share assuming dilution were $1.65 compared with $1.48 for the same six month period in 2017. Non-GAAP net earnings and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share for 2018 exclude the effects of amortization expense resulting from our 2014 acquisition of Progressive Leasing and one of the 2017 franchisee acquisitions, restructuring charges for the Aaron's Business, tax effects related to a Tax Act adjustment, and charges and expenses related to the full impairment of the Company's investment in PerfectHome. Non-GAAP earnings results for 2017 exclude the effects of Progressive Leasing amortization and Aaron's Business and DAMI restructuring charges. See "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information" and the related non-GAAP reconciliation accompanying this press release. Adjusted EBITDA for the Company, which excludes the charges and adjustments mentioned above, was $191.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018 compared with $205.1 million for the same period in 2017. The Company generated $266.8 million in cash from operations during the six months ended June 30, 2018 and ended the second quarter with $94.3 million in cash, compared with a cash balance of $51.0 million at the end of 2017. The increase in cash is due primarily to cash from operations offset by common stock repurchases and an aggregate of $96.2 million of debt amortization. The common stock repurchased during the second quarter of 2018 totaled 1,233,670 shares for $50.0 million. The Company has authorization to purchase an additional $431.6 million of its common stock. Progressive Leasing Results Progressive Leasing's revenues in the second quarter of 2018 increased 29.5% to $483.7 million from $373.5 million in the second quarter of 2017. Progressive Leasing's revenues in the first six months of 2018 increased 31.2% to $970.2 million from $739.6 million for the same period of 2017. Invoice volume increased 24.7% in the quarter, driven by a 17.6% increase in invoice volume per active door and a 6% increase in active doors, to approximately 20,000. Progressive Leasing had 758,000 customers at June 30, 2018, a 17.3% increase from June 30, 2017. Earnings before income taxes for Progressive Leasing were $44.6 million and $79.6 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018, compared with $38.2 million and $74.0 million for the same periods a year ago. EBITDA for the second quarter and first six months of 2018 was $55.8 million and $102.0 million, respectively, compared with $50.1 million and $98.6 million for the same periods of 2017. As a percentage of revenues, EBITDA was 11.5% and 10.5%, respectively, for the second quarter and first six months of 2018 compared with 13.4% and 13.3% for the same periods in 2017. The provision for lease merchandise write-offs was 6.7% of revenues in the second quarter of 2018, compared with 5.5% in the same period of 2017. Bad debt expense as a percentage of revenues in the second quarter of 2018 was 10.3% compared with 9.7% in the same period of 2017. The Aaron's Business Results For the second quarter of 2018, total revenues for the Aaron's Business increased 0.3% to $435.0 million from $433.6 million in the second quarter of 2017. Revenues for the first six months of 2018 decreased 1.1% to $893.7 million compared with $903.9 million from the same period a year ago. Lease revenue and fees for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 increased 5.1% and 3.3% compared with the same periods in 2017. Non-retail sales, which primarily consist of merchandise sales to the Company's franchisees, decreased 22.9% and 23.1% for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2018 compared with the same periods of the prior year. The decline is attributed primarily to the reduction in non-retail sales resulting from the franchisee acquisitions completed in fiscal years 2017 and 2018. Earnings before income taxes for the Aaron's Business were $7.7 million and $40.8 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018, compared with $21.5 million and $70.1 million for the same periods a year ago. The decrease was primarily due to charges related to the full impairment of the Company's investment in PerfectHome and increased operating expenses related to franchisee acquisitions completed over the prior twelve months and investments in business transformation initiatives. Adjusted EBITDA for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 was $42.4 million and $90.4 million compared with $46.7 million and $107.9 million for the same periods in 2017. As a percentage of revenues, Adjusted EBITDA was 9.7% and 10.1% for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018, respectively, compared with 10.8% and 11.9% for the same periods last year. Write-offs for damaged, lost or unsaleable merchandise were 4.0% of revenues in the second quarter of 2018 compared with 3.6% for the same period last year. Same store revenues (revenues for Company-operated stores open for the entirety of the second quarter of 2018 and 2017) decreased 1.8% during the second quarter of 2018, compared with the second quarter of 2017. Customer count on a same store basis was down 4.3% during the second quarter of 2018. Company-operated Aaron's stores had 956,000 customers at June 30, 2018, a 2.6% increase from 2017. At June 30, 2018, the Aaron's Business had 1,179 Company-operated stores and 530 franchised stores. During the second quarter of 2018, the Company acquired three franchised stores and consolidated six Company-operated stores. Additionally, no franchised stores opened and two franchised stores closed. During July 2018, the Company acquired 90 Aaron's-branded franchised stores from three franchisees for an aggregated purchase price of $126.8 million. The acquisitions are expected to benefit the Company's omnichannel platform through added scale, strengthened presence in certain geographic markets, and enhanced operational control to execute our business transformation initiatives. DAMI Results DAMI's revenues for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 were $9.2 million and $18.8 million versus $8.5 million and $16.7 million for the same periods of 2017. DAMI's loss before income taxes was $2.3 million and $3.6 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018, compared with a loss before income taxes of $2.7 million and $4.5 million for the same periods in 2017. DAMI's pre-tax, pre-provision loss was $1.4 million and $3.5 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 compared with $0.9 million and $2.1 million for the same periods a year ago. Pre-tax, pre-provision loss is a non-GAAP measure that represents loss before income taxes, adjusted so that loan charge-offs and recoveries are recognized in earnings as they occur by excluding the effect on earnings of changes to management's provision for estimated future loan losses. See "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information" and the related non-GAAP reconciliation accompanying this press release for more information regarding the calculation of pre-tax, pre-provision loss. Significant Components of Revenue Consolidated lease revenues and fees for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 increased 17.8% and 17.4%, respectively, over the same prior year periods. Franchise royalties and fees decreased 5.5% in the second quarter of 2018 and 7.5% for the first six months of 2018, compared with the same periods a year ago. The decrease in franchise royalties and fees was the combined result of the lower number of franchised stores and decreases in revenues generated by the Company's franchisees. Franchisee revenues totaled $158.1 million in the six months ended June 30, 2018, a decrease of 23.6% from the same period for the prior year. Same store revenues for franchised stores were down 2.7% and same store customer counts were down 4.5% for the second quarter of 2018 compared with the same quarter in 2017. Franchised stores had 386,000 customers at the end of the second quarter of 2018. Revenues and customers of franchisees are not revenues and customers of the Aaron's Business or the Company. With the exception of the same store metrics, the year-over-year comparisons presented above are not adjusted to reflect the purchase of 123 franchised store locations whose results are included in the franchisee data for the six months ended June 30, 2017 period. 2018 Outlook The Company is reaffirming the 2018 guidance it provided in its February 15, 2018 press release and its subsequent update on April 26, 2018. Conference Call and Webcast The Company will hold a conference call to discuss its quarterly results on Thursday, July 26, 2018, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The public is invited to listen to the conference call by webcast accessible through the Company's Investor Relations website, investor.aarons.com. The webcast will be archived for playback at that same site. About Aaron's, Inc. Headquartered in Atlanta, Aaron's, Inc. (NYSE: AAN), is a leading omnichannel provider of lease-purchase solutions. Progressive Leasing, a virtual lease-to-own company, provides lease-purchase solutions through more than 20,000 retail locations in 46 states. In addition, the Aaron's Business engages in the sales and lease ownership and specialty retailing of furniture, consumer electronics, home appliances and accessories through its 1,709 Company-operated and franchised stores in 47 states and Canada, as well as its e-commerce platform, Aarons.com. Dent-A-Med, Inc., d/b/a the HELPcard, provides a variety of second-look credit products that are originated through federally insured banks. For more information, visit investor.aarons.com, Aarons.com, ProgLeasing.com, and HELPcard.com. "Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this news release regarding our business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, such as "believe," "guidance," "outlook," "expect," "will," "expectations," and "trends" and similar terminology. These risks and uncertainties include factors such as changes in general economic conditions, competition, pricing, legal and regulatory proceedings and investigations, customer privacy, information security, customer demand, the execution and results of our strategy and expense reduction and store closure and consolidation initiatives (including the risk that the costs associated with these initiatives exceeds expectations), risks related to our recent franchisee acquisitions, including the risk that the financial performance from those acquisitions does not meet expectations, the business performance of our franchisees and our relationships with our franchisees; risks related to Progressive Leasing's "virtual" lease-to-own business, the outcome of Progressive Leasing's pilot or test programs with various retailers and the results of Progressive Leasing's efforts to expand its relationships with existing retailer partners and establish new partnerships with additional retailers, increases in lease merchandise write-offs and bad debt expense associated with Progressive Leasing's growth in doors and customers and changes in product mix, and the other risks and uncertainties discussed under "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017. Statements in this release that are "forward-looking" include without limitation statements regarding: our expectations regarding our initiatives to drive innovation and improve our customers' experiences at both the Aaron's Business and Progressive Leasing; the results of our strategic investments, including our acquisition of franchisees; our financial objectives; our expectations regarding revenue and earnings growth due to our investments in the Aaron's Business and Progressive Leasing; whether those investments will strengthen our long-term competitive position; our ability to invest in our operations and in opportunities to promote growth; returning capital to our shareholders; the performance of the Progressive lease portfolio and expectations regarding innovation initiatives at Progressive, including further enhancements to its decisioning process; the outcome of the transformation initiatives for the Aaron's Business; the Company's capital strategy; the Company's projected results and the 2018 Guidance for the Company on a consolidated basis, and for Progressive Leasing, the Aaron's Business and DAMI, individually. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances after the date of this press release.



Aaron's, Inc. and Subsidiaries Consolidated Statements of Earnings (In thousands, except per share amounts)





(Unaudited)

Three Months Ended (Unaudited)

Six Months Ended



June 30, June 30,



2018 2017 2018 2017 Revenues:









Lease Revenues and Fees

$ 845,938

$ 718,089

$ 1,716,005

$ 1,461,711

Retail Sales

6,592

6,106

15,108

14,884

Non-Retail Sales

53,661

69,602

106,891

138,929

Franchise Royalties and Fees

12,125

12,824

24,987

27,025

Interest and Fees on Loans Receivable

9,208

8,532

18,750

16,733

Other

335

491

927

916

Total

$ 927,859

$ 815,644

$ 1,882,668

$ 1,660,198













Costs and Expenses:









Depreciation of Lease Merchandise

415,414

345,398

855,422

707,396

Retail Cost of Sales

4,156

3,940

9,818

9,331

Non-Retail Cost of Sales

47,068

61,818

95,088

123,903

Operating Expenses

388,337

330,548

778,569

659,373

Restructuring (Reversals) Expenses, Net

(882)

13,445

24

13,772

Other Operating Income, Net

(165)

(511)

(248)

(1,072)

Total

$ 853,928

$ 754,638

$ 1,738,673

$ 1,512,703













Operating Profit

73,931

61,006

143,995

147,495

Interest Income

154

378

356

1,352

Interest Expense

(3,807)

(5,552)

(8,133)

(11,367)

Impairment of Investment

(20,098)



(20,098)



Other Non-Operating (Expense) Income, Net

(200)

1,163

612

2,138

Earnings Before Income Tax Expense

$ 49,980

$ 56,995

$ 116,732

$ 139,618













Income Tax Expense

11,479

20,660

25,985

49,983

Net Earnings

$ 38,501

$ 36,335

$ 90,747

$ 89,635













Earnings Per Share

$ 0.55

$ 0.51

$ 1.30

$ 1.26

Earnings Per Share Assuming Dilution

$ 0.54

$ 0.51

$ 1.27

$ 1.24













Weighted Average Shares Outstanding

69,645

70,686

69,875

71,001

Weighted Average Shares Outstanding Assuming Dilution

70,837

71,697

71,428

72,040



Selected Balance Sheet Data (In thousands)





(Unaudited)





June 30, 2018

December 31, 2017













Cash and Cash Equivalents

$ 94,323



$ 51,037



Investments





20,385



Accounts Receivable, Net

84,309



99,887



Lease Merchandise, Net

1,137,428



1,152,135



Loans Receivable, Net

79,688



86,112



Property, Plant and Equipment, Net

206,984



207,687



Other Assets, Net

1,016,218



1,075,021















Total Assets

$ 2,618,950



$ 2,692,264















Debt

272,941



368,798















Total Liabilities

874,137



964,260



Shareholders' Equity

1,744,813



1,728,004















Total Liabilities and Shareholders' Equity

$ 2,618,950



$ 2,692,264



Selected Cash Flow Data (In thousands)





(Unaudited)

Six Months Ended



June 30,



2018

2017









Cash Provided by Operating Activities

$ 266,780



$ 115,608

Cash Used in Investing Activities

(43,500)



(25,644)

Cash Used in Financing Activities

(179,919)



(138,247)

Effect of Exchange Rate Changes on Cash & Cash Equivalents

(75)



57

Increase (Decrease) in Cash and Cash Equivalents

43,286



(48,226)

Cash and Cash Equivalents at Beginning of Period

51,037



308,561

Cash and Cash Equivalents at End of Period

$ 94,323



$ 260,335

Aaron's, Inc. and Subsidiaries Quarterly Revenues by Segment (In thousands)



(Unaudited)

Three Months Ended

June 30, 2018

Progressive Leasing The Aaron's Business DAMI Consolidated Total Lease Revenues and Fees $ 483,666

$ 362,272

$ 

$ 845,938

Retail Sales 

6,592



6,592

Non-Retail Sales 

53,661



53,661

Franchise Royalties and Fees 

12,125



12,125

Interest and Fees on Loans Receivable 



9,208

9,208

Other 

335



335



$ 483,666

$ 434,985

$ 9,208

$ 927,859







(Unaudited)

Three Months Ended

June 30, 2017

Progressive Leasing The Aaron's Business DAMI Consolidated Total Lease Revenues and Fees $ 373,499

$ 344,590

$ 

$ 718,089

Retail Sales 

6,106



6,106

Non-Retail Sales 

69,602



69,602

Franchise Royalties and Fees 

12,824



12,824

Interest and Fees on Loans Receivable 



8,532

8,532

Other 

491



491



$ 373,499

$ 433,613

$ 8,532

$ 815,644

Aaron's, Inc. and Subsidiaries Six Months Revenues by Segment (In thousands)



(Unaudited)

Six Months Ended

June 30, 2018

Progressive Leasing The Aaron's Business DAMI Consolidated Total Lease Revenues and Fees $ 970,183

$ 745,822

$ 

$ 1,716,005

Retail Sales 

15,108



15,108

Non-Retail Sales 

106,891



106,891

Franchise Royalties and Fees 

24,987



24,987

Interest and Fees on Loans Receivable 



18,750

18,750

Other 

927



927



$ 970,183

$ 893,735

$ 18,750

$ 1,882,668







(Unaudited)

Six Months Ended

June 30, 2017

Progressive Leasing The Aaron's Business DAMI Consolidated Total Lease Revenues and Fees $ 739,614

$ 722,097

$ 

$ 1,461,711

Retail Sales 

14,884



14,884

Non-Retail Sales 

138,929



138,929

Franchise Royalties and Fees 

27,025



27,025

Interest and Fees on Loans Receivable 



16,733

16,733

Other 

916



916



$ 739,614

$ 903,851

$ 16,733

$ 1,660,198

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information: Non-GAAP net earnings, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are supplemental measures of our performance that are not calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP"). Non-GAAP net earnings and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share for the second quarter of 2018 each exclude $5.4 million in Progressive Leasing-related intangible amortization expense, $1.2 million in amortization expense resulting from one of the 2017 franchisee acquisitions, $0.9 million in net restructuring charge reversals, and $21.6 million of charges related to the full impairment of the Company's PerfectHome Investment and the related expenses incurred. For the first six months of 2018 Non-GAAP net earnings and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share excludes $10.8 million in Progressive Leasing-related intangible amortization expense, $2.4 million in amortization expense resulting from one of the 2017 franchisee acquisitions, $24.0 thousand in restructuring charges, $0.2 million in tax effects related to a Tax Act adjustment, and $21.6 million of charges related to the full impairment of the Company's Perfect Home Investment and the related expenses incurred. Non-GAAP net earnings and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share for the second quarter of 2017 exclude $5.6 million in Progressive Leasing-related intangible amortization expense and $13.4 million in restructuring charges. For the first six months of 2017 Non-GAAP net earnings and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share exclude $12.2 million in Progressive Leasing-related intangible amortization expense and $13.8 million in restructuring charges. The EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA figures presented in this press release are calculated as the Company's earnings before interest expense, depreciation on property, plant and equipment, amortization of intangible assets and income taxes. Adjusted EBITDA also excludes the other adjustments described in the calculation of non-GAAP net earnings above. Management believes that non-GAAP net earnings, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA provide relevant and useful information, and are widely used by analysts, investors and competitors in our industry as well as by our management in assessing both consolidated and business unit performance. Non-GAAP net earnings and non-GAAP diluted earnings provides management and investors with an understanding of the results from the primary operations of our business by excluding the effects of certain items that generally arose from larger, one-time transactions that are not reflective of the ordinary earnings activity of our operations. This measure may be useful to an investor in evaluating the underlying operating performance of our business. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA also provides management and investors with an understanding of one aspect of earnings before the impact of investing and financing charges and income taxes. These measures may be useful to an investor in evaluating our operating performance and liquidity because the measures: Are widely used by investors to measure a company's operating performance without regard to items excluded from the calculation of such measure, which can vary substantially from company to company depending upon accounting methods, book value of assets, capital structure and the method by which assets were acquired, among other factors.

Are a financial measurement that is used by rating agencies, lenders and other parties to evaluate our creditworthiness.

Are used by our management for various purposes, including as a measure of performance of our operating entities and as a basis for strategic planning and forecasting. Finally, this press release presents pre-tax, pre-provision loss for DAMI, which is also a supplemental measure not calculated in accordance with GAAP. Management believes this measure is useful because it gives management and investors an additional, supplemental metric to assess DAMI's underlying operational performance for the period. Due to the growth of our originated credit card loan portfolio after our October 2015 acquisition of DAMI, we believe pre-provision, pre-tax loss helps investors to assess DAMI's operating performance until such time as the credit card portfolio reaches levels which management believes will be normal and recurring. Management uses this measure as one of its bases for strategic planning and forecasting for DAMI. Our use of pre-provision, pre-tax loss may not be comparable to similar measures disclosed by other companies, because not all companies and analysts calculate these measures in the same manner. Non-GAAP financial measures, however, should not be used as a substitute for, or considered superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP, such as the Company's GAAP basis net earnings and diluted earnings per share and the GAAP earnings before income taxes of the Company's segments, which are also presented in the press release. Further, we caution investors that amounts presented in accordance with our definitions of non-GAAP net earnings, non-GAAP diluted earnings per share, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and pre-tax, pre-provision loss may not be comparable to similar measures disclosed by other companies, because not all companies and analysts calculate these measures in the same manner. Reconciliation of Net Earnings and Earnings Per Share Assuming Dilution to Non-GAAP Net Earnings and Earnings Per Share Assuming Dilution (In thousands, except per share)



(Unaudited)

Three Months Ended

(Unaudited)

Six Months Ended

June 30,

June 30,

2018 2017

2018 2017 Net Earnings $ 38,501

$ 36,335



$ 90,747

$ 89,635

Add Progressive Leasing-Related Intangible Amortization Expense (1)(2) 4,176

3,564



8,429

7,818

Add Franchisee-Related Intangible Amortization Expense(3) 914





1,868



Add Restructuring (Reversal) Expense, net (4)(5) (679)

8,571



19

8,842

Impairment of Investment and Related Expenses(6) 16,658





16,811



Add Tax Act Adjustment 





193



Non-GAAP Net Earnings $ 59,570

$ 48,470



$ 118,067

$ 106,295













Earnings Per Share Assuming Dilution $ 0.54

$ 0.51



$ 1.27

$ 1.24

Add Progressive Leasing-Related Intangible Amortization Expense (1)(2) 0.06

0.05



0.12

0.11

Add Franchisee-Related Intangible Amortization Expense(3) 0.01





0.03



Add Restructuring (Reversal) Expense, net(4)(5) (0.01)

0.12





0.13

Impairment of Investment and Related Expenses(6) 0.24





0.24



Add Tax Act Adjustment 









Non-GAAP Earnings Per Share Assuming Dilution(7) $ 0.84

$ 0.68



$ 1.65

$ 1.48













Weighted Average Shares Outstanding Assuming Dilution 70,837

71,697



71,428

72,040

(1) Net of taxes of $1,245 and $2,413 for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 calculated using the effective tax rate for the respective periods. (2) Net of taxes of $2,026 and $4,359 for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 calculated using the effective tax rate for the respective periods. (3) Net of taxes of $272 and $535 for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 calculated using effective tax rate for the respective periods. (4) Net of taxes of $(203) and $5 for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 calculated using effective tax rate for the respective periods. (5) Net of taxes of $4,874 and $4,930 for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 calculated using the effective tax rate for the respective periods. (6) Net of taxes of $4,967 and $4,814 for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 calculated using the effective tax rate for the respective periods. (7) In some cases, the sum of individual EPS amounts may not equal total non-GAAP EPS calculations due to rounding.

DAMI Pre-tax, Pre-provision Loss (In thousands)



(Unaudited)

Three Months Ended (Unaudited)

Six Months Ended

June 30, June 30,

2018 2017 2018 2017 Loss Before Income Taxes $ (2,292)

$ (2,695)

$ (3,598)

$ (4,460)

Adjustment to Increase Allowance for Loan Losses During Period 887

1,798

132

2,389

Pre-tax, Pre-provision Loss $ (1,405)

$ (897)

$ (3,466)

$ (2,071)



Aaron's, Inc. and Subsidiaries Non-GAAP Financial Information Quarterly Segment EBITDA (In thousands)



(Unaudited)

Three Months Ended

June 30, 2018

Progressive Leasing The Aaron's Business DAMI Consolidated Total Net Earnings





$ 38,501

Income Taxes1





11,479

Earnings (Loss) Before Income Taxes 44,575

7,697

(2,292)

49,980

Interest Expense 4,249

(1,210)

768

3,807

Depreciation 1,531

13,069

257

14,857

Amortization 5,421

2,053

145

7,619

EBITDA $ 55,776

$ 21,609

$ (1,122)

$ 76,263

Impairment of Investment and Related Expenses 

21,625



21,625

Restructuring Reversals, Net 

(872)

(10)

(882)

Adjusted EBITDA $ 55,776

$ 42,362

$ (1,132)

$ 97,006







(Unaudited)

Three Months Ended

June 30, 2017

Progressive Leasing The Aaron's Business DAMI Consolidated Total Net Earnings





$ 36,335

Income Taxes1





20,660

Earnings (Loss) Before Income Taxes 38,240

21,450

(2,695)

56,995

Interest Expense 4,698

(287)

1,141

5,552

Depreciation 1,542

11,676

157

13,375

Amortization 5,590

552

145

6,287

EBITDA $ 50,070

$ 33,391

$ (1,252)

$ 82,209

Restructuring Expenses 

13,297

148

13,445

Adjusted EBITDA $ 50,070

$ 46,688

$ (1,104)

$ 95,654

(1) Taxes are calculated on a consolidated basis and are not identifiable by company segments.

Aaron's, Inc. and Subsidiaries Non-GAAP Financial Information Six Months Segment EBITDA (In thousands)



(Unaudited)

Six Months Ended

June 30, 2018

Progressive Leasing The Aaron's Business DAMI Consolidated Total Net Earnings





$ 90,747

Income Taxes1





25,985

Earnings (Loss) Before Income Taxes 79,554

40,776

(3,598)

116,732

Interest Expense 8,624

(2,033)

1,542

8,133

Depreciation 2,999

26,155

499

29,653

Amortization 10,842

3,806

290

14,938

EBITDA $ 102,019

$ 68,704

$ (1,267)

$ 169,456

Impairment of Investment and Related Expenses 

21,625



21,625

Restructuring Expenses (Reversals), Net 

34

(10)

24

Adjusted EBITDA $ 102,019

$ 90,363

$ (1,277)

$ 191,105

















(Unaudited)

Six Months Ended

June 30, 2017

Progressive Leasing The Aaron's Business DAMI Consolidated Total Net Earnings





$ 89,635

Income Taxes1





49,983

Earnings (Loss) Before Income Taxes 73,998

70,080

(4,460)

139,618

Interest Expense 9,461

(357)

2,263

11,367

Depreciation 2,935

23,553

300

26,788

Amortization 12,177

1,047

290

13,514

EBITDA $ 98,571

$ 94,323

$ (1,607)

$ 191,287

Restructuring Expenses 

13,534

238

13,772

Adjusted EBITDA $ 98,571

$ 107,857

$ (1,369)

$ 205,059

(1) Taxes are calculated on a consolidated basis and are not identifiable by company segments. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aarons-inc-reports-second-quarter-2018-results-300686842.html SOURCE Aaron's, Inc.

[ Back to the Next Generation Communications Community's Homepage ]Getting ready for back to school is about having the right tools and supplies when children hit the classroom.

There are all the basics such as backpacks, lunch kits, pens, pencils, notebooks, paper, folders and binders, but knowing the specifics is when it gets tricky.

Starter tips are available in GoodHousekeeping.com's article, The Ultimate Back-to-School Shopping Lists from Kindergarten to College, which includes the ability to print, pin or add to a cart the school supplies needed to get the job done.

Each school district has its own list for exact items. Though most are very similar, make sure to visit your district's home page and then choose your school location for each grade's specific needs.

There are typically quite a lot of items on school supply lists, and if you're buying for multiple children, it can get costly, so take advantage of the Sales Tax Holiday Aug. 10-12.

This year's tax-free weekend exempts most clothing, footwear, school supplies and backpacks priced less than $100 from sales and use taxes. For every $100 spent, shoppers could save an average of $8. Information on qualifying products under school supplies covered during the tax-free weekend and be found at https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/publications/98-490/.

Get in the spirit while receiving school supplies for returning to the classroom at the Mayor's Back to School Fest slated to be held on Aug. 11. Pre-registration is required for the Mayor's Back to School Fest to receive important information about event location, free event parking and free rides courtesy of Metro. To register, go to www.houstontx.gov/btsf/registermystudent.html.

School supplies will be given to pre-registered children in grades, kindergarten through fifth grade only. Each pre-registered student will receive one backpack with necessary school supplies. More information is available also by calling 713-837-0311.

Back to school can hit a wallet hard by the time you add in clothes, shoes and the school supplies. The Huntington Bank Backpack Index reported that for 2017-2018 school year, costs were estimated as $662 for elementary school children, $1,001 for middle school children, and $1,489 for high school students.

Houston non-profits are there to help and will have the resources to assist.

The YMCA of Greater Houston is in process of collecting supplies for children in the community. Its goal is to impact 120,000 children so they can start school with the tools to be successful. The United Way of Greater Houston also will be hosting a Back to School Bash.

Get more information and details about school supplies at these non-profit websites at Star of Hope at www.sohmission.org, Salvation Army at www.salvationarmyhouston.org, United Way of Greater Houston Community at www.unitedwayhouston.org, and YMCA of Greater Houston at www.ymcahouston.org.

Heres a list of some school supplies items that qualify for the tax-free weekend (if priced less than $100):

Binders

Book bags

Calculators

Cellophane tape

Blackboard chalk

Compasses

Composition books

Crayons

Erasers

Folders  expandable, pocket, plastic and manila

Glue, paste and paste sticks

Highlighters

Index cards

Index card boxes

Legal pads

Lunch boxes

Markers (including dry erase markers)

Notebooks

Paper  loose leaf ruled notebook paper, copy paper, graph paper, tracing paper, manila paper, colored paper, poster board, and construction paper

Pencil boxes and other school supply boxes

Pencil sharpeners

Pencils

Pens

Protractors

Rulers

Scissors

Writing tablets

Find the full list of items that qualify here.A five-week capital murder trial came to a swift ending Thursday when a Harris County jury took less than an hour of deliberations to convict a Jordanian immigrant of killing his son-in-law and orchestrating the slaying of his daughters close friend in what prosecutors said were honor killings.

Ali Mahwood-Awad Irsan, 60, was found guilty of masterminding the two homicides as part of broader plot to kill five people, including his daughter, after she ran away from the family compound in rural Montgomery County, converted to Christianity and married a Christian man.

Family members of the victims said the quick verdict indicates the jury was certain that Irsan was guilty and that honor killings are not acceptable.

"Honor killings have no place in American society," said Michael Creed, the older brother of Coty Beavers, one of the victims. "These are not infrequent events that happen in some random part of the world. They're happening in America and they're on the rise."

A lengthy punishment hearing will begin on Friday, and the jury will determine if Irsan should be sentenced to death or life without parole for the double homicide of 28-year-old Beavers in November 2012 and Gelareh Bagherzadeh, an Iranian activist who was a close friend of Irsan's daughter, 11 months earlier.

2008 SLAYING: Death row inmate who stomped baby's head in Galveston asks to be executed

As state District Judge Jan Krocker read the verdict, Irsan shook his head slightly and looked down at the counsel table where he was sitting in a black suit.

After the courtroom had been cleared, members of the Beavers and Bagherzadeh families, all with tears in their eyes, hugged the prosecutors, who also cried.

Its been hard for all of us, but its a good day, said Kathy Soltani, a family friend of the Bagherzadehs. Two wonderful lives cut short. Its senseless. Its a hard day, even though its a happy day.

The two seemingly unrelated murders shocked Houston residents in 2012, and for a time there was speculation that Bagherzadehs murder was the work of Iranian elements unhappy with her criticism of that countrys government. But an even darker motive was given in 2015 when Irsan, his wife and their son were charged with planning the killings to restore family honor.

In closing arguments, a team of special prosecutors insisted that the elder Irsan, the father of 12 children by two wives, was driven to murder by his fervent religious beliefs.

Ali Mahwood-Awad Irsan is a radical extremist Muslim who must be stopped, special prosecutor Anna Emmons told jurors. This is premeditated capital murder to carry out one mans views, its as simple as that.

She went on to say that prosecutors were not putting Islam on trial, but the religious beliefs of a man who killed two people because his daughter converted to Christianity.

Honor and shame, thats what this is all about, Emmons said. You heard him say honor is a big deal to him. And the only way to clean that honor is to kill.

Irsans defense team worked during closing arguments to blame anyone but their client.

Ask yourself, do you really know what happened at either scene? attorney Allen Tanner asked jurors. I dont think any of you can say exactly what happened.

Tanner used parts of the prosecutions case to argue that the people who testified against Irsan were actually the guilty ones.

He pointed out that prosecutors made a deal with Irsans wife, Shmou Ali Alrawabdeh, 40, to testify in exchange for dropping the murder charge she was facing.

She provided critical testimony by acknowledging she was with Irsan and their oldest son, Nasim, when they followed Bagherzadeh home late at night on January 15, 2012. Alrawabdeh testified she witnessed Nasim Irsan shoot Bagherzadeh in the head.

Alrawabdeh also testified that she was with her husband and son in November 2012 when the two men crept into the northwest Harris County apartment where Beavers lived with Irsans daughter, Nesreen.

She said the two men came out of the apartment of the newly wedded couple and told her that Irsan had killed Beavers.

Alrawabdeh also testified she was happy when Beavers was killed, a statement the defense seized on.

Its up to you if you want to believe that woman, but that is a cold-blooded lady, Tanner told jurors. I wouldnt put it past Shmou to be the person who went into that house. Shes cold.

Tanner also floated the idea that Nasim Irsan killed Bagherzadeh after the elder Irsan changed his mind about killing the activist outside her parents home, and so was not guilty. During the trial, there was testimony from Shmou and others that Irsan had chickened out, so Nasim got out of the car and shot Bagherzadeh.

Nasim Irsan, 24, is in the Harris County jail awaiting trial for capital murder.

However, Tanner did acknowledge that Irsan was angry that his daughter Nesreen ran away from home at the age of 23 and married Beavers.

He was upset that she ran off with a Christian boy, Tanner said. Thats a fact.

Irsan, who spent most of Wednesday testifying in his own defense, categorically denied any involvement in the slayings. A day earlier, he had shouted that prosecutors were devils and evil as he was led from the courtroom.

Prosecutor Marie Primm summed up the case as a mission Irsan undertook to control his family and anyone who disobeyed him.

They had dared to defy Ali Irsan, Primm said. They had dared to dishonor him, and he was going to clean his honor with blood.The Harris County medical examiner's office is working to identify a man found dead last Friday in Buffalo Bayou.

The 5-foot 9-inch black man had several identifiable tattoos, including one that read "Quinton" on his left forearm and "God's son" on his left arm. On his right arm, the man had a cross with "Mary" written underneath, as well as "Quindarius" on his right forearm.

The man was also found with gold-colored caps on his two front teeth, and a vertical surgical scar along his abdominal midline.

He was found in the bayou in the 200 block of South Jensen. Anyone with information can call the medical examiner at 832-927-5000 or 832-927-5001.

Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.comDeputies discovered a pipe bomb during a traffic stop in west Houston on Wednesday, authorities said.

Harris County Precinct 5 Constable's Office deputies pulled over two people  later identified as William Owens, 35, and Morgan Hesser, 36  around 4:30 p.m. in the 1300 block of Eldridge Parkway, according to the constable's office.

The deputies began searching the vehicle and discovered crystal methamphetamine, marijuana and an illegal firearm, authorities said.

ELUDING AUTHORITIES: Houston MS-13 member on Texas 'most wanted' list evades arrest for over a year

When deputies checked inside a bag belonging to Owens inside the vehicle, they found a "crude, homemade" copper pipe bomb apparently filled with gunpowder, the office said in a release.

Bomb Squad officials with the Houston Police Department obtained the pipe bomb as the deputies took Owens and Hesser into custody.

Owens is facing felony charges of possession of prohibited weapon and possession of a controlled substance while Hesser is facing felony charges of possession of a controlled substance and unlawfully carrying a weapon.

Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message.

Jay R. Jordan covers breaking news in the Houston area. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and our subscriber site, HoustonChronicle.com | Follow him on Twitter at @JayRJordan | Email him at jay.jordan@chron.comA year after Carlos Gonzalez-Barahona, a murder suspect and MS-13 member was placed on Texas' most wanted list, he has still managed to evade arrest.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office said Gonzalez-Barahona, 27, is suspected of shooting and killing his former girlfriend at their northwest Houston apartment last June.A Fort Worth area man is behind bars after allegedly stabbing his dog in the head because she was in heat and snapped at him.

The Parker County Sheriff's Office said Matthew Shane Clements, 30, of Cresson, used a pocket knife to stab his female pit bull above her right eye.

Clements said he got mad at the dog "because she is in heat" and "snapped" at him when he didn't let other dogs sniff her, according to police.

He told authorities he "hit the dog on the head" and went over to his neighbor's house to call police because he regretted trying to kill the dog, police said.

When authorities arrived, they found the pit bull bleeding in the bathtub and said the dog was whining and rubbing her head on the ground.

POLICE: Arrested parents blame death of 21-month-old son on demons

Clements was arrested and charged with cruelty to non-livestock animals.

His dog was taken to an emergency veterinarian clinic for treatment.

"According to the doctor, the dog may not make a full recovery, because the tip of the knife remains in her skull," the Parker County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. "Due to its location, surgery is not recommended, and would present a life-threatening procedure."

The dog is still being cared for.

Clements remained in jail as of Wednesday morning, police said.

Fernando Ramirez covers Texas news and politics. Read him on our breaking news site and on our subscriber site. | Fernando.ramirez@chron.com | @fernramirez93



The Saturday before Hurricane Harvey made landfall, Senior Rides and More volunteer Laurel Murray gave one of her regulars, fellow Meyerland resident Linda Moores, a ride to JCPenney.

There was a gap in the rain, so I picked Linda up and we went shopping, said Murray, a retired nurse. She would often drive Moores  who is blind and diabetic and has had kidney and pancreas transplants  to get groceries or to her doctors appointments.

Murray, 71, slept through Sunday mornings storms, but Moores, 63, awoke to ankle-deep water rising beneath her. She grabbed her medications, a change of clothes, her white cane and left home for the last time.

When Murray woke up, she couldnt leave her block  but she was worried about Moores. A neighbor with a pickup truck came over and said he could get to Kroger if he jumped on sidewalks. A long line of flooded residents had gathered at the Kroger on South Post Oak waiting to get on the National Guard rescue vehicles. Murray walked along, asking if anyone had seen Linda. A woman had  Moores was headed to a shelter, she said.

Moores, too, had landed in a neighbors pickup truck; but after water flooded the engine, they had to abandon it. A couple loaded her into a raft with their two children, and they swam toward the grocery store, pulling the raft.

We got on a dump truck and went to the George R. Brown Convention Center, Moores said of the six-hour trek into downtown. They ran out of food and water, and I got separated from my neighbors. Her medications and cane were misplaced at the shelter, too.

Murray was desperately searching for her friend. She contacted Moores sister in Canada, who called her 24-year-old son in Houston. He went to the convention center and picked Moores up. By Tuesday, she was back in Meyerland at Murrays home  and thats where she stayed until December.

Murray salvaged what she could from Moores flooded home. She helped her with insurance and FEMA paperwork.

More Information amber.elliott@chron.com See More Collapse

Ultimately, Moores decided to move to an assisted living facility in North Carolina. I tried to rebuild and gave up, Moores said of the house her parents built in 1952. I lived there alone for four-and-a-half years.

Murray misses her friend. Linda had no family here and nowhere to go, Murray said. But before Harvey, she lived in the house she grew up in with minimal help and got along just fine. Shes a college grad and an intelligent woman with a wicked sense of humor.

houstonheroes@chron.comFour of the five people killed in the apartment fire in San Marcos last week have been identified by the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office.

They are Dru Estes, 20, of San Antonio, Haley Michele Frizzell, 19, of San Angelo, James Miranda, 23, of Mount Pleasant, and David Ortiz, 21, Pasadena.

Belinda Moats, 21, of Big Wells, Texas, is still listed as missing.

City officials said the fifth victim of the fire remains unidentified pending DNA analysis.

RELATED: Aerial photos show the extent of damage in deadly San Marcos fire





Five people were previously listed as missing, but Thursday's announcement by the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office provides confirmation that at least four of them were killed on July 20 when the blaze tore through the Iconic Village apartments in San Marcos, displacing about 200 people.

The five bodies discovered after the fire were located in building 500 of the apartment complex, which is popular with Texas State University students, officials said.

According to a statement from George Hatt, a spokesman for the City of San Marcos, the investigation into the cause of the blaze continues.

"The San Marcos Fire Marshal's Office, in conjunction with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives National Response Team and the State Fire Marshal's office, will continue investigation operations at the scene throughout the week," he said. "Once the scene has been processed and cleanup efforts begin, the investigation could continue for months."

The Victims

Dru Estes, a sophomore at Texas State University, was a native San Antonian who attended Krueger Middle School and Roosevelt High. Family and friends described him as easy-going, friendly and always smiling.

"He was just the nicest kid," said Wright Dagget, Estes' Fine Arts teacher at Roosevelt High School. "He wasn't afraid of anyone. He was always welcoming and inclusive. He would bring the nerdiest kid into the group. He was a great citizen, a great kid."

Estes had a deep love for music and played drums in middle school, high school and college, and he was also a member of the Bobcat Marching Band at Texas State.

"I honestly never really ever seen him in a bad mood or had anything negative to say about anything or anyone," said Michael Holubec, who marched with him in the band. "Even if he saw you were down, he was always there to help pick you back up.

"I'm thankful for the opportunity of friendship and the amount of time I got to spend with him."

A GoFundMe has been set up for his family.

Haley Frizzell, too, was a sophomore at Texas State University at the time of her death. She was studying performance and production, and had graduated from Central High School in San Angelo in 2017.

Frizzell was director of the film club and "would light up a room" with her smile and energy, said recently retired Texas State theater and dance professor Tom Copeland.

"She was an exceptional young lady," he said. "She was really making a name for herself."

Sunday Vaught, her high school choir director in San Angelo, said in a Facebook post that Frizzell "was an amazing student, a friend to all in the class, and a bright spot in the room each day."

"She was a star on the stage and so humble as well. She made the new students feel comfortable getting adjusted to CHS," Vaught wrote.

According to San Angelo LIVE, Frizzell's roommate was Zachary Sutterfield, who was critically injured in the blaze.

Finally, David Ortiz was studying at Texas State at the time of his death as well. A GoFundMe created to pay for expenses incurred by his mother following the tragedy has raised more than $9,000.

Tish Eubanks, the woman who created the fundraiser, was Ortiz's former assistant principal. She described him as "the kind of kid you never worried about."

"I knew he was going to go onto college and do great things," she said.

Staff writers Emilie Eaton, Austin Horn and Scott Huddleston contributed to this report.

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"Whether it is with love or not, President Donald Trump's relationship with Russian Federation has delivered a small blow to his already poor standing with the American people", said Peter Brown, the poll's assistant director.

Even with control now, Republicans have had difficulty approving Trump's legislative agenda and likely would have even more trouble should Democrats take over one or both houses.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Washington and Moscow agreed there was a need for another Putin-Trump meeting after last week's summit in Helsinki, but said Russian Federation had not yet begun any practical preparations for a new summit.

There is now no publicly available evidence to support the president's claim that the Kremlin is interested in helping Democrats in the fall election.

USA intelligence officials have said Russia's efforts to undermine elections are continuing and now target the November 6 congressional races.

On Tuesday, a new poll from Quinnipiac University made clear that Trump's ability to sway his party on the Federal Bureau of Investigation is the rule, not the exception.

While most Americans think Trump wants to do what's best for himself, 87 percent of Republicans think he wants to do what's best for the country.

But the most logical explanation is that like many Americans, they figure a quick second summit with Putin on US soil would be the wrong big foreign-policy move for Trump, particularly if it happens right before the midterm elections.

The President caused consternation last Monday when he indicated he trusted Mr Putin's denial of interfering in the USA presidential elections over the conclusions of his own intelligence community.

Gowdy didn't answer directly, but said Trump had access to more evidence than anyone and specifically mentioned Trump's access to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, FBI Director Christopher Wray, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, all of whom Trump nominated for those roles.

All party group's approval edged up in the poll: Republicans were up 3 points, independents by 2 points and Democrats by 1 point.

Instead, GOP leaders are considering new sanctions on Russian Federation.

Do you believe that the Russian government has compromising information about President Trump?

Ryan said he did not have a problem with Trump sitting down with foreign leaders like Putin, as long as he was delivering the right message.Northrop Grumman CEO Wesley Bush acknowledged Thursday that the company "contributed" to many of the delays and cost overruns plaguing NASA's James Webb Space Telescope -- but he balked at the idea of paying the extra $800 million needed to complete the project.

"Our view on that is that it would ... significantly impede our relationship with NASA," Bush told the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space and Technology in Washington, D.C.

Thursday was the second consecutive day of hearings on the Webb telescope after the space agency announced last month it would need an extra $800 million and until 2021 to complete telescope development. This request pushes the agency past the $8 billion development cap set by Congress in 2011, which means the project must be reauthorized in the agency's 2019 fiscal year budget.

"If space exploration is going to continue to earn the public's support, then contractors

will have to deliver on time and on budget," said U.S. Rep Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, shortly before floating the idea of Northrop Grumman covering the recent cost overruns. "If they cannot, they should be penalized."

Read more: Panel seeks accountability from Northrop Grumman for telescope delays

James Webb -- the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope meant to revolutionize the world's understanding of planet and star formation -- initially was expected to launch in 2007 and cost about $500 million. Now, it is expected to launch in 2021 and cost almost $9 billion.

Bush said he understood people's frustration with the delays and cost increases, but that the project's unprecedented scope was largely to blame.

"This is the largest and most complex telescope ever built," he said. "It's a true leap ahead in technology and we've also learned that some things we thought we could do more quickly, are taking more time to perform."

Many on the committee sympathized with him, saying the scientific advances the telescope will provide are worth the cost. But a 10-member Independent Review Board in June found that human errors and other technical issues committed by Northrop Grumman -- such as missing sun shield screws and leaks in propulsion valves caused by improper cleaning -- were a major factor.

MISSING SCREWS: Human errors help delay NASA's Webb telescope and boost cost by about $1B

After much prodding from Smith, Bush said "I do not recall" anyone losing their jobs because of these errors -- even though the solvent issue cost the federal government $100 million in delays.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-California, called the contractor out on these problems after a seemingly off topic discussion prompted by committee members about how the contractor is engaging young people in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields.

"I'm sorry, I can't join you in the uplifting testimony given today," Rohrabacher said. "The question isn't whether [the telescope] is worth all the money, but about all the projects we aren't able to fund because Northrop Grumman failed at its job."

PRICE TO PAY: Cost increases for Webb telescope could cause cuts to other programs

Earlier this week, NASA officials said the agency will have to rejigger the budget in 2020 and 2021 to pay for the Webb telescope. This means cannibalizing other missions, such as Webb's successor, the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) set to launch in the mid-2020s to study dark energy, exoplanets and infrared astrophysics.

Rohrabacher suggested that contracts for major NASA projects be adjusted to hand down penalties if companies do not deliver on their promises.

"We should be changing our policy so this doesn't happen like this again," he said. "Perhaps if a company doesn't meet its goals, perhaps we shouldn't be giving them the next contract that comes down the line."

The topic of contracts also came up at Wednesday's hearing, at which NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine testified. Bridenstine argued that there already are ways to punish Northrop Grumman for its failings.

Northrop Grumman's contract for the project is a "cost plus award fee" contract, meaning the award fee is its profit. Since it was awarded the contract in 2002, the company already has lost $28 million of the $60 million award fee it could have received for reaching milestones. Bridenstine told the committee it could lose more if personnel do not deliver, and the agency could also "claw back" previously awarded fees if the company continues with errors and delays.

Bush said Thursday the company would be in favor of having all their past and future awards withheld by NASA until the project is successfully completed, a course of action first suggested Wednesday by Tom Young, chairman of the Independent Review Board.

Still, Smith had hoped the company would be amiable to taking it a step further and covering the cost overruns past Congress' budget cap.

"It is clear that Northrop Grumman did not adhere to best business practices," Smith said Thursday. "I wish Northrop Grumman would take responsibility for the problems."

Alex Stuckey covers NASA and the environment for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her at alex.stuckey@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey.Guiseppe Barranco, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER / Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise

AUSTIN  The states highest criminal court has agreed to decide the constitutionality of Texas so-called revenge porn law in a legal battle pitting free speech against expectations of privacy when sharing nude or explicit photos the subject expected would stay private.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals announced Wednesday it would take the case challenging the 2015 Relationship Privacy Act. The case involves Jordan Bartlett Jones, a man accused of intentionally disclosing an explicit photo of a woman and her identity.SUMMERLAND KEY, FLA.  On this offshoot of land in the lower Florida Keys, where the typical attire is Crocs and running shorts, Christopher Page is the resident baby daddy  of corals, that is.

From dawn to dusk everyday, he stands hunched over tanks filled with coral polyps in varying stages of development, paying close attention to the nutrients dusting the tank bottoms, as well as the water temperature and quality.

"I have thousands of babies," he jokes. "It's very challenging."

But his efforts at the Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research & Restoration are no laughing matter. In a world where a quarter of coral reefs are considered damaged beyond repair and two-thirds are under serious threat, Page is developing a replicable way to regrow reefs that are more resilient to changing water conditions.

RELATED: Researchers race against the clock to restore vital ecosystems

Page started tinkering with coral breeding at the Moore center about seven years ago, collecting coral eggs and sperm from reefs in the Florida Keys once each summer and letting them reproduce in a sterile lab environment.

In June, last year's crop of so-called "sexual recruits" already were stretching their polyps across concrete plugs in tanks sitting in the humid Florida air. Page carefully checked the water, stirring up the "pixie dust"  a mix of coral and algae particles  that he and his interns sprinkled on the coral larvae to trick them into thinking they're growing on a reef.

Page has found this method the most successful in keeping his coral babies alive. If they grow in the lab for about a year before being planted in the wild, they're much more likely to survive, he said.

His breeding program has been up and running since about 2013, but the Moore center has been working on coral restoration for decades, starting with a process called micro-fragmentation that involves slicing up pieces of coral and super-gluing them to quarter-sized concrete plugs. Those coral slices are then placed in temperature-controlled water tanks, which allows them to grow at 50 times the rate they would in the wild.

This process is center scientist Joey Mandara's baby, so to speak. With each new batch of coral fragments, Mandara runs them through a saw before they are glued to concrete plugs and allowed to grow on site.

He works with the laser-like precision of someone who knows what he's doing. Mandara's hand-painted straw hat  the scientist's signature  shields the sun from his eyes as he slices centimeter-sized coral fragments in half without a moment's hesitation  or any semblance of gloves.

Mandara's work requires a different type of precision than Page's complicated breeding process. But together, these two processes have resulted in the planting of 35,000 new pieces of coral on the Florida Keys reefs since 2013. And the vast majority of them are thriving, Page said.

"They survived two bleaching events and a Category 4 Hurricane. They seemed to not even be super affected," Page said, referring to the back-to-back bleachings in 2014 and 2015 and Hurricane Irma in 2017.

Bleaching, often caused by too warm waters, is a process in which corals expel the algae that gives them color and provides them food. They, quite literally, starve to death.

Scientists around the world are already taking note of the Moore center's success. A group in Texas is learning their techniques, and Page said he is asked to speak across the globe, including Mexico, about his process.

Soon, their restoration efforts will be taken to Caribbean Islands, Page said, and he's hopeful it will expand from there.

Until then, Page, Mandara and their colleagues in Summerland Key continue toiling in the hot Florida sun to save the reef they've grown to love.

A sign emblazoned with the center's motto couldn't describe their passion better: "Today's research for tomorrow's oceans."

alex.stuckey@chron.com

twitter.com/alexdstuckeyThe World Health Organisation has urged China to strengthen oversight on vaccines sold on the private market following the massive scandal which has rekindled public fear over drug safety. By Monday afternoon, the hashtag "Changchun Changsheng makes fake vaccines" had garnered more than 100 million views on Weibo.

"All my friends are freaking out with this vaccine case, everyone is scared". In one case, a government-run news outlet, lznews.cn, was forced to apologize after it falsely claimed that none of the substandard products had been sold in the city of Zibo, citing the local food and drug authority. The revelations come as the 10th anniversary approaches of the melamine milk powder scandal, which led to the deaths of six babies.

In a statement released Sunday, Premier Li Keqiang said the company's conduct "violated a moral bottom line", and he pledged to "resolutely crack down" on threats to public safety, according to the Associated Press. The president also added that the investigation be thorough, the punishment severe, and the case's progress be publicised on time to address public concern.

In a note published on the website of the government said: "We will pursue criminal and illegal acts that endanger the safety of people's lives, punish the transgressors and those who have failed in their duties in supervision".

On Sunday night China's Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) announced it had ordered all production stopped at the vaccine maker and launched an investigation.

Changsheng apologized in a regulatory filing and said the suspension of its vaccine would have a significant impact on its finances. The regulator asked hospitals and disease control centers around the country to immediately stop using vaccines in the same batch.

The firm said it also faces the risk of being delisted due to an investigation by China's securities regulator into suspected violations of information disclosure. They have lost 40 percent of their value since July 13.

The wider CSI 300 healthcare index was down about 5 percent.



Rabies vaccine produced by Changchun Changsheng. Source Screenshot via Changchun Changshengs official website

China's newest product safety scare burst onto the public consciousness when an obscure essay alleging corruption in the pharmaceutical industry become an internet sensation, exposing widespread anger and distrust after a string of scandals.

Authorities in Hebei announced on Monday that almost 150,000 people in the northern province received a sub-standard diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine made by another firm, Wuhan Institute of Biological Products.

A similar scandal erupted in Shandong in 2016, involving the improper storage, transport and sale of tens of millions of dollars' worth of vaccines - many of them expired.

As parents rushed to find out if their children had been exposed to Changchun Changsheng's vaccines, regulators struggled to contain the damage.

The problems have rekindled already deep fears over domestically made medicines and driven anxious parents online to swap information on obtaining imported vaccines.

The government needs to let the public know it "will punish any wrongdoers without mercy", the official newspaper wrote.

Beijing's efforts to push domestically made vaccines have been hit by the latest crisis and faith in the state drug regulator to clean up the industry shaken.Recently, in response to high-profile mass shootings, payment card companies have begun to refuse service to merchants who traffic in guns. Card companies have the right to choose with whom they do business, a discretion limited by laws protecting people from discrimination based on race, gender, religious belief and the like, none of which seem to apply in this case.

The gun merchants are outraged and are considering going to Congress to seek a new law that would treat them as a constitutionally-protected class. The Supreme Court, after all, has ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individuals right to bear arms. How can that right be realized in practice if people cannot use their credit cards to buy guns?

Platform companies run into these content controversies all the time

In response to criticism that it was not doing enough to protect the public from political manipulation, Facebook recently instituted a process to identify political ads: place them in a public file and require that their sponsors demonstrate that they are U.S. citizens. This would provide transparency, slow down the process of delivering potentially manipulative ads, and create a barrier excluding foreign actors.

It wasnt long before mistakes showed up, including the misclassification of a day care and a dog rescue benefit as political ads. More seriously, publishers accused Facebook itself of Orwellian manipulation. They were concerned that ads promoting news stories were mislabeled as political ads and put in the political content file.

More recently, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg appeared to many as unable to articulate a decent reason for generally allowing access to Holocaust-denial content on their service, despite blocking such content when asked to do so by public authorities in countries where it is illegal and taking down material that can lead to physical violence.

Some of the most intense criticism comes from the traditional U.S. press

Commentary from mainstream journalists does not advocate for government censorship. Rather, they want Facebook to act like a traditional editor and publish only those things it thinks advances the public discussion.

But this ignores a crucial difference. Traditional newspapers and broadcasters, constrained as they are by limited space and air time, publish only what they think is of highest value that will attract and hold a sufficient audience to pay for itself.

Facebook and other platforms are not equally constrained by technology and economics. This allows them to serve a broader public purpose. They dont vet pieces to fit a pre-set vision of what should be in the public discourse. Their role is to let a thousand flowers bloom and constrain content only when it threatens to harm their community, or the public or is so far outside the boundaries of acceptable discourse that no reasonable person could allow it.

Drawing the right boundaries is not easy

Internet infrastructure provider Cloudflare faced the problem last summer. When their CEO pulled the plug on the neo-Nazi site, Daily Stormer, after it published a story appearing to celebrate the killing of an anti-Nazi demonstrator in Charlottesville, they were immediately condemned by free speech groups for censoring the Internet.

Facebook, too, is in trouble on the free speech side of this conversation. Many conservatives think Facebook discriminates against their point of view by downgrading and blocking sites like Diamond and Silk. Facebook and other social media outlets have had to explain themselves to angry Representatives at two separate Congressional hearings on this topic.

Some think the answers are easy, and they make fun of Facebooks fumbles. We all know, they seem to say, fake news and hate speech when we see it; we all can distinguish a disinformation campaign from legitimate political advertising. But, they say, platforms have business interests that are contrary to doing anything real about lies and fake news. They argue that platforms cannot be trusted to handle this on their own and some (unspecified) outside source of the right answer must instruct them what to do.

If only the world were so simple. In fact, turning the job over to bodies like Congress, the Supreme Court, the Federal Communications Commission, or civil liberties groups wont solve this thorny problem. In an ironic illustration of the difficulties, Russia recently announced that it will propose its own regulatory steps to deal with fake news in a way that appears likely to limit free expression online.

Internet platforms, like the payment card networks before them, do not want to be where they are

Internet platforms need all the advice and guidance they can get. Fortunately, academics and civil society groups are responding with thoughtful workshops and reports.

In January, Harvard law professor Cass Sunstein provided some solicited advice for Facebook, and recently the Information Society Project at Yale recently issued a workshop report on Fighting Fake News recommending several new approaches, but warning that there is no quick, permanent, or easy fix to these problems.

Dipayan Ghosh and Ben Scott at the New America Foundation examined the technology underlying disinformation campaigns in Digital Deceit and discovered that it is identical to the technology used for mainstream marketing and political campaigns.

Former FCC Commissioner Susan Ness is beginning a project through the German Marshall Fund to explore how to address online hate speech and viral disinformation while preserving freedom of expression. She recently held an initial convening with Member of the European Parliament Jeppe Kofod and U.S. Representative Susan DelBene to explore the complexities of the issues.

It is hard to sympathize with Facebooks unforced errors. But it is struggling with the free speech issue of our time  how to adapt speech rules designed for an older media to the new technology. Facebook is doing a lot of growing up in public, but anyone who pretends that what it needs to do is easy or that the solutions are obvious hasnt been paying attention.Progressives praise California as the harbinger of the political future, the home of a new, enlightened, multicultural America. Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill has identified California Senator Kamala Harris as the party leader on issues of immigration and race. Harris wants a moratorium on construction of new immigration-detention facilities in favor of the old catch and release policy for illegal aliens, and has urged a shutdown of the government rather than compromise on mass amnesty.

Its political leaders and a credulous national media present California as the woke state, creating an economically just, post-racial reality. Yet in terms of opportunity, California is evolving into something more like apartheid South Africa or the pre-civil rights South. California simply does not measure up in delivering educational attainment, income growth, homeownership, and social mobility for traditionally disadvantaged minorities. All this bodes ill for a state already three-fifths non-white and trending further in that direction in the years ahead. In the past decade, the state has added 1.8 million Latinos, who will account by 2060 for almost half the states population. The black population has plateaued, while the number of white Californians is down some 700,000 over the past decade.

Minorities and immigrants have brought much entrepreneurial energy and a powerful work ethic to California. Yet, to a remarkable extent, their efforts have reaped only meager returns during Californias recent boom. California, suggests gubernatorial candidate and environmental activist Michael Shellenberger , is not the most progressive state but the most racist one. Chapman University reports that 28 percent of Californias blacks are impoverished, compared with 22 percent nationally. Fully one-third of California Latinosnow the states largest ethnic grouplive in poverty, compared with 21 percent outside the state. Half of Latino households earn under $50,000 annually, which, in a high-cost state, means that they barely make enough to make ends meet. Over two-thirds of non-citizen Latinos, the group most loudly defended by the states progressive leadership, live at or below the poverty line, according to a recent United Way study.

This stagnation reflects the reality of the most recent California miracle. Historically, economic growth extended throughout the state, and produced many high-paying blue-collar jobs. In contrast, the post-2010 boom has been inordinately dependent on the high valuations of a handful of tech firms and coastal real estate speculation. Relatively few blacks or Latinos participate at the upper reaches of the tech economyand a recent study suggests that their percentages in that sector are decliningand generally lack the family resources to compete in the real estate market. Instead, many are stuck with rents they cant afford.

Even as incomes soared in the Silicon Valley and San Francisco after 2010, wages for African-Americans and Latinos in the Bay Area declined. The shift of employment from industrial to software industries, as well as the extraordinary presenceas much as 40 percentof noncitizens in the tech industry, has meant fewer opportunities for assemblers and other blue-collar workers. Many nonwhite Americans labor in the service sector as security guards or janitors, making about $25,000 annually, working for contractors who offer no job security and only limited benefits. In high-priced Silicon Valley, these are essentially poverty wages. Some workers live in their cars, converted garages, or even on the streets, largely ignored by Californias famously enlightened oligarchs.

CityLab has described the Bay Area as a region of segregated innovation. The Giving Code, which reports on charitable trends among the ultra-rich, found that between 2006 and 2013, 93 percent of all private foundation-giving in Silicon Valley went to causes outside of Silicon Valley. Better to be a whale, or a distressed child in Africa or Central America, than a worker living in his car outside Google headquarters.

For generations, Californias racial minorities, like their Caucasian counterparts, embraced the notion of an American Dream that included owning a house. Unlike kids from wealthy familiesprimarily whitewho can afford elite educations and can sometimes purchase houses with parental help, Latinos and blacks, usually without much in the way of family resources, are increasingly priced out of the market. In California, Hispanics and blacks face housing prices that are approximately twice the national average, relative to income. Unsurprisingly, African-American and Hispanic homeownership rates have dropped considerably more than those of Asians and whitesfour times the rate in the rest of the country. Californias white homeownership rate remains above 62 percent, but just 42 percent of all Latino households, and only 33 percent of all black households, own their own homes.

In contrast, African-Americans do far better, in terms of income and homeownership, in places like Dallas-Fort Worth or greater Houston than in socially enlightened locales such as Los Angeles or San Francisco. Houston and Dallas boast black homeownership rates of 40 to 50 percent; in deep blue but much costlier Los Angeles and New York, the rate is about 10 percentage points lower.

Rather than achieving upward class mobility, many minorities in California have fallen down the class ladder. This can be seen in Californias overcrowding rate, the nations second-worst. Of the 331 zip codes making up the top 1 percent of overcrowded zip codes in the U.S., 134 are found in Southern California, primarily in greater Los Angeles and San Diego, mostly concentrated around heavily Latino areas such as Pico-Union, East Los Angeles, and Santa Ana, in Orange County.

The lack of affordable housing and the disappearance of upward mobility could create a toxic racial environment for California. By the 2030s, large swaths of the state, particularly along the coast, could evolve into a geriatric belt, with an affluent, older boomer population served by a largely minority service-worker class. As white and Asian boomers age, California increasingly will have to depend on children from mainly poorer families with fewer educational resources, living in crowded and even unsanitary conditions, often far from their place of employment, to work for low wages.

Historically, education has been the lever that gives minorities and the poor access to opportunity. But in California, a state that often identifies itself as smart, the educational system is deeply flawed, especially for minority populations. Once a model of educational success, California now ranks 36th in the country in educational performance, according to a 2018 Education Week report. The state does have a strong sector of gold and silver public schools, mostly located in wealthy suburban locations such as Orange County, the interior East Bay, and across the San Francisco Peninsula. But the performance of schools in heavily minority, working-class areas is scandalously poor. The states powerful teachers union and the Democratic legislature have added $31.2 billion since 2013 in new school funding, but Californias poor students ranked 49th on National Assessment of Education Progress tests. In Silicon Valley, half of local public school students, and barely one in five blacks or Latinos, are proficient in basic math.

Clearly, Californias progressive ideology and spending priorities are not serving minority students well. High-poverty schools are so poorly run that disruptions from students and administrative interruptions, according to a UCLA study, account for 30 minutes a day of class time. Teachers in these schools often promote progressive values, spending much of their time, according to one writer, discussing community problems and societal inequities. Other priorities include transgender and other gender-related education, from which parents, in some school districts, cannot opt out. This ideological instruction is doing little for minority youngsters. San Francisco, which the nonprofit journalism site Calmatters refers to as a progressive enclave and beacon for technological innovation, also had the lowest black student achievement of any county in California, as well as the highest gap between black and white scores.

Ultimately, any reversal of this pattern must come from minorities demanding a restoration of opportunity. Some now see the linkage between state policy and impoverishment, which has led some 200 civil rights leaders to sue the state Air Resources Board, the group that enforces the Greenhouse Gas edicts of the state bureaucracy. But perhaps the ultimate wakeup call will come from a slowing economy. After an extraordinary period of growth post-recession, Californias economy is clearly weakening, as companies and people move elsewhere. Texas and other states are now experiencing faster GDP growth than the Golden State. Perhaps more telling, the latest BEA numbers suggest that Californiawhich created barely 800 jobs last monthis now experiencing far lower income growth than the national average, and scarcely half that of Texas, Colorado, Michigan, Arizona, Missouri, or Florida. Out-migration of skilled and younger workers, reacting to long commutes and high prices, seems to be accelerating, both in Southern California and the Bay Area.

One has to wonder what will happen when the California economy, burdened by regulations, high costs, and taxes, slows even more. Generous welfare benefits, made possible by taxing the rich, could be threatened; conversely, the Left might get traction by pushing to raise taxes even higher. The pain will be relatively minor in Palo Alto, Malibu, or Marin County, the habitations of the ruling gentry richbut for those Californians who have already been left behind, and for a diminishing middle class, it might be just beginning.

Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty ImagesLate last year, Congress passed and President Trump signed a law that cut taxes for many corporations and wealthy individuals. It did not, however, treat all affluent families the same. One of the laws provisions capped the deduction for state and local taxes (SALT) at $10,000. This will mean a noticeable tax hike for many families in states with relatively high local taxes, like New York. Democratic  and even some Republican  politicians in these states are, understandably, upset about being targeted this way. And New York decided to fight back: Its taking the federal government to court over the SALT deduction cap.

But the arguments advanced by the suit are weak, and they have virtually no chance of succeeding. And, even though the suit pits Democratic-controlled states against the avaricious Republican president and Congress, liberal New Yorkers should root against their state in court. Thats because New Yorks legal reasoning would, if accepted by the U.S. Supreme Court, cripple the federal governments powers of taxation in ways that would restrict future Democratic congresses as well.

When Gov. Andrew Cuomo first floated the idea of this suit, I reviewed several of the potential arguments states might make against the legality of capping the SALT deduction. New York v. Mnuchin, the lawsuit filed this month by New York along with three other states  Connecticut, Maryland, and New Jersey  forgoes most of them to focus on two constitutional amendments: the 10th and the 16th.

Arguments that rest largely on the 10th Amendment tend to be particularly weak, and this is no exception. The amendment declares: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. It does not itself place restrictions on federal power. It simply makes explicit what is implicit in the structure of the Constitution: While states retain any powers not explicitly forbidden to them by the Constitution, the federal government has only powers specifically granted to it by the text of the Constitution.

The obvious problem with invoking the 10th Amendment in this context is that the taxation power is explicitly given to Congress by Article I of the Constitution, and the power to pass an income tax was explicitly granted to Congress by the 16th Amendment. On its face, this would make the 10th Amendment irrelevant  the SALT cap involves a power expressly delegated to Congress by the Constitution.

Trying to get around this inconvenient fact, the suit alleges that the SALT cap violates an implicit limitation placed on the taxing power by the 16th Amendment. This limitation is not found directly or indirectly in the text of the amendment itself, which does not qualify the power to levy an income tax at all: The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

Rather than the text, the suit relies on history. As the suit observes, the first federal income taxes made state and local taxes deductible, and this has remained an enduring feature of the federal income tax ever since. This fact, according to the suit, establishes that Congress understood that its newly minted power to impose a federal tax on incomes was subject to the same federalism limitations that had applied to every federal tax statute since the Founding.

But the choice made by Congress to make state and local taxes deductible does not transform the choice into a constitutional requirement. The fact that Congress has thought a policy was desirable for an extended period does not make similar choices constitutionally required by future congresses.

The suit also alleges that the SALT cap violate[s] the constitutional guarantee of equal state sovereignty. Given recent developments in the U.S. Supreme Courts federalism jurisprudence, this would appear to be the most promising avenue. The Supreme Court in the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder held that Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 violated the principle of equal state sovereignty when it chose to treat jurisdictions with a history of vote discrimination differently than jurisdictions that do not.

Liberals, however, should be very wary of invoking this doctrine. As retired judge Richard Posner observed, the doctrine created by Chief Justice John Roberts had little discernible basis in the text of the Constitution: There is no doctrine of equal sovereignty. The opinion rests on air. To read secessionist John C. Calhouns theories of federalism into amendments designed to erase the vestiges of Calhounism from American constitutionalism was perverse. (Indeed, presumably because Shelby County is so reviled among liberals, the lawsuit doesnt even cite it.)

But, one might argue, however wrong the decision was, the doctrine is now out there, so why shouldnt liberals use it for their own ends? But precisely because Shelby County was so outcome-oriented, this is unlikely to work. The Supreme Courts conservative majority only takes such unprecedented steps to benefit their own preferred policies and their fellow Republicans. Roberts had a long-standing aversion to the Voting Rights Act; he and the other Republican-appointed justices presumably dont have a similar aversion to punishing high-tax high-service Democratic states.

And it wouldnt be hard to distinguish the cases  the Voting Rights Act singled out specific states, whereas the SALT cap treats individuals in all 50 states the same. It is true that the SALT cap affects some states differently than others  but one can say the same thing about virtually any federal tax policy (including the SALT deductions themselves).

So the lawsuit will fail. This is a good thing. If it won, it would wreak havoc on federal tax policy. Taken to its logical conclusion, New Yorks line of reasoning could be used to overturn progressive income taxation altogether: Income is not distributed evenly among the 50 states, Ian Millhiser writes in ThinkProgress, and any tax regime that imposes additional burdens on the wealthy will violate the rule described by the New York complaint.

This is a fight that will have to be won at the ballot box.

Scott Lemieux is a lecturer in political science at the University of Washington.Most New Yorkers dont know much about the city charter. Even fewer know that commissions can be set up to review and revise New York Citys charter. And only the most die-hard political junkies know that the citys charter is being revisited not once, but twice.

To get our readers up to speed, here are the basic details about the process  and what key officials are saying about how its playing out.

The first commission was convened by Mayor Bill de Blasio, who also appointed each commissioner. The second was created by the City Council, with members appointed by the council speaker, borough presidents, city public advocate, city comptroller and de Blasio. Although the mayors commission began its work first, the council has been working to create one since last year. However, the legislation to do so only passed in April.

A charter revision commission reviews the city charter, holds public hearings and can put initiatives on the ballot. If voters approve any of the proposed changes, the charter is amended.

De Blasio directed his commission to explore campaign finance reform and ways to improve democracy in the city. It intends to have initiatives on the ballot this fall. The councils commission has no stated directive and will review the charter more broadly. It plans to have its ballot initiatives ready in 2019.

Cesar Perales

Chairman, New York City Mayors Charter Revision Commission

With the release of your commissions preliminary staff report, how do you feel about the initial recommendations based on the first round of hearings?

Im very pleased with the work that the staff has done. The report reflects very much our thinking. It reflects what we heard in many of the hearings and were certainly pleased with what we did is an accurate representation of the process so far.

How many of the recommendations that the staff made do you think might end up on the ballot in November?

I really dont know. Ive asked folks in the past how many recommendations end up as a ballot initiative and the number Ive heard is three maybe less, maybe more, but certainly a handful. No more. That that is generally what happens.

Was there anything that surprised you in hearing testimony in terms of what people chose to bring up?

Probably the number of people that commented on community boards and their desire to see community boards improved as the arm of the community in terms of setting policy. We got an awful lot of comment from the public on that. And the other issue that came up that got a surprising amount of comment was the redistricting process for the City Council.

So were those both things that were perhaps not something that you would have expected to hear a lot about?

I think that thats an accurate way of stating. I certainly expected to hear a great deal about the campaign finance reform. I know that the whole question of corruption in government is uppermost in peoples minds. And that the response to this perceived corruption, and sometimes its real, is campaign limits and getting more people engaged in the process that are not the rich, the well-to-do, the influential.

Do you think theres any risk of overlap in terms of what gets addressed in your commission versus the City Councils commission?

Well, the time frames are so different that I dont think we will have either conflict or working in tandem. The reality is that we were set up to come up with proposals for this November. The City Council set up their own commission to work toward proposals for the following year. It seems to me that theres a reason for it to be redundant. I think they will see what we do, and they will have a free hand to address other topics and other issues. I certainly dont see a conflict.

Now that you have your preliminary staff report out, moving forward, what are the next steps in the process?

I think we want to get our report out, make sure that people will hear about it. And were going to go back out with borough hearings, listening to as many people as possible in terms of their reaction to this preliminary report. I think what weve done is weve narrowed the issues. There is hopefully going to be a greater focus on specific issues this time around, which I think will be very, very helpful to us. And staff will continue to figure out, for example, and when it comes to campaign finance reform, theyll have time to do some modeling, to see how that would work. Theres lots of work to be done, very little time, and Im just so glad that weve been able to so effectively focus on some of these issues.

Has the time crunch been stressful at all?

Its certainly not stressful. I think were cognizant of the fact that we have a limited time to come to some conclusions. But in some ways, thats very helpful. Having too much time, you can end up paying too much attention to the need for more housing in the city. A variety of the kinds of issues that came up, which I dont think are particularly relevant to the city charter. That enabled us to say to folks, this is what were interested in hearing. It enabled us to identify the kinds of experts we wanted to hear from. So I think to some extent, its been helpful. We know what we want to do. We know how much time weve got to do it in, and I think were on schedule. Im very confident that at the end of this process, were going to have some very important ballot initiatives.

Gail Benjamin

Chairwoman, New York City Council Charter Revision Commission

Did you ever expect that you would be tapped to be the chairwoman of a charter revision commission?

I cant say that I did, or that I didnt. I was delighted to get the call is what I would say, and Im really happy and thrilled to be able to do it.

Were there any issues that came to mind that you hope the commission will address once the hearings begin?

Over the course of (the) years, there have been lots of issues that have been brought up to me and that I have thought of. And whether the commission will ultimately decide that they are worthy issues, I dont know. But I think every commissioner, and anybody who agrees to be on such a commission, has some thoughts.

You used to be involved with land use for the City Council and its a topic that has come up in the mayors commission as well. Is that something that you would want to look into with your commission?

Im open to looking into anything. Obviously, if you have read the transcripts from the hearing on this legislation (to create the council commission), you will know that in adopting this legislation, much of the discussion was about land use and about governance. So I am expecting that those things will be some of the subjects that we look at.

Do you think there will be overlap between your commission that was created by the council and the mayors?

I wouldnt expect there to be. The mayors commission will be finished or is expected to be finished with their work and to submit their final proposals by Sept. 7. So well just be getting started then. We will know what they have done. We will know what they have left on the table. When the mayor originally announced his Charter Revision Commission, it was to deal with two issues, campaign finance and conflict of interest. And as these things happened, as they had their hearings, and people came to speak, they raised other issues. Im not sure that they have enough time to really deal with all of the issues that may have been raised. So I think there will be lots leftover without stepping on each others feet.

Do you think something that the mayors commission addresses might get changed by your commission?

I would say that if the mayors commission has addressed a problem and completely addressed it, we would be silly to take it again. However, if the mayor has addressed a part of an issue, I dont think that that would be off the table.

Given your background and expertise in the area of land use, could you explain why a change to the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure might be something your commission addresses?

As I said, I believe that this commission has a broad mandate to look at all of the areas of the charter, which has not been done since 1989. I understand that land use is a sexy issue that people feel like they can wrap their hands around, and so it gets bandied about as if that was the sole mandate of this commission. I repeat, it is not the sole mandate, and I think the commission will be looking at many, many broader issues which may well also include land use. So I want to put it in that perspective, that this is not a commission whose job is land use and thats it. This is a commission that received a broad mandate to overhaul the charter, which has not been done since 1989.

Why do you think this commission is necessary now? Or is it just that time has passed and the time has come?

I think its the latter. I think time has passed. I think the world has changed greatly. And government has changed since 1989. And I think every 30 years is a good time to take it out and kick the tires and see whats changed and what we can do differently and better. Weve now gotten a solid period of time when weve used this new charter and we can see where some things  just the fact that in 1989, there really wasnt cellphones, or the usage of cellphones, the usage of the internet and the way that we do now. And that has changed how government functions and how governments can function. So I think it really was an issue of the time being right to overhaul.

Given the short time frame of the mayors commission, you would imagine that there will still be plenty that hasnt even been touched on at all?

Absolutely.

Rafael Salamanca

Chairman, New York City Council Committee on Land Use

The mayor's commission just identified land use as a topic of interest maybe for future commissions to address. What is it about land use that you think makes it a popular topic among citizens?

The charter revision really offers a unique opportunity to revisit the land use process. And I plan on being very involved as the land use chair in exploring how we can improve and build upon the current land use process. I come in with a rather unique position or very unique experiences because I was a district manager my local community board in which I represent. So I experienced times where I felt that developers or the city was not really listening to the needs of the local community board. I'm looking forward to really talking to my colleague to get their input as to how they feel they can improve the process. I know that there's a number of recommendations and ideas that are out there. I just want to talk to my colleagues and to the stakeholders and really listen. I'm going to use this opportunity to really listen to what they have to say before I come out with a big public statement or agenda on what my recommendations are on the length.

Do you think that this is a topic that could be potentially one of the biggest topics to come out of maybe the Council's commission?

Yeah, it definitely will be one. Speaker Corey Johnson, the discussions that we've had as council members is that he is planning on looking at how government works in its entirety. They're going to look at the entire city charter. The mayors commission had key focus areas that he wanted to focus on, which the main one was campaign finance. But Corey Johnson in conversations with the leadership and just talking to to to our Council members, they want to focus on everything. The role that different city agencies play, the role that community boards play, whether or not their input is really taken into consideration in the land use process, the process from from the very beginning on how you apply to the way that you communicate with the community. So the way it goes before the borough board, the City Planning Commission and ultimately to the City Council. I know one of the main goals here is how we can get communities more involved and how can we get their voices heard more in this process.

Do you think that as it stands the way that ULURP works that there is not enough input input from the communities?

I don't want to speak ahead of myself. I can just speak about my experience and and I tell this to developers when they come and they want to build in my district. I think that when you have a good developer and they go to the community board months before they certify their application, they are viewed differently in front of a community board, because they know that, hey, they really want to get input from the community. And then you have your other developers who do not visit the community board and they come see you right when the time starts, right when that community for process starts when when their application issent. So that's always up for debate, how to get more community input on at the beginning of the process.

What is it that you kind of hope will be the outcome of the Councils commission?

I, as a former district manager, I'm a community guy, very grassroots and it was very frustrating for me when you had communities making recommendations, whether it's land use applications, whether it's the amount of shelters that they're putting in. They're just building a district without proper community input. There's a wide range of issues as to how government works in our communities. I was there, I was at that side of the table and it's it's frustrating and it's degrading and it really brings your morale down. And I think that we have an opportunity here, or at least myself sitting in the City Council, to really sit down with my colleagues and look at different levels of government different city agencies and really have detailed conversation as to how we can improve community input and as part of the process of the way the city agencies operate.

Ben Kallos

Chairman, New York City Council Subcommittee on Planning, Dispositions, and Concessions

What are the parts of the city charter that you think are in most dire need of attention?

I would say the Uniform Land Use Review (Procedure), or ULURP as it goes. The way the city has made land use decisions under this charters ULURP process has resulted in a process that favors developers over communities, and has allowed real estate to buy out government and get what they want. And it is a rare occasion that you see a community win a rezoning.

Do you think that there is going to be overlap between the two commissions?

Im concerned that the mayors charter commission might put something out that is later revisited by the council Charter Revision Commission and subsequently undone. That is a real concern for me. Im a big nerd and Im hoping that the City Council Charter Revision Commission actually takes the entire charter, reads through all of, it removes all the dead weight and comes back with a document that is slimmer, written in plain language that anyone can pick up and understand.

Does another level of bureaucracy or review further complicate the already complex land use process, or do you think that getting the community involved more can only make it better?

The problem with real estate development is those that benefit the most and are bought out and profit end up leaving the community with those profits and they arent able to benefit the community which they were a part of. So when you see a rezoning that is increasing the value of property, you are losing the part of the community that was going to profit. That money doesnt get reinvested into the local community. And prices gentrify and displace anyone in the surrounding area that didnt personally benefit. So we need to work together on a community rezoning that actually benefit the people who live there and the people continue to live there.

Would more community involvement just make it harder to create necessary facilities like supportive housing and homeless shelters if, in general, communities tend to oppose their construction?

Leadership can sometimes mean following and supporting the community. Other times it means actually leading the community to do the right thing. In my district, we are building supportive housing. When I got elected, I saw that there was a homeless crisis and it wasnt being dealt with at the time. I put together a coalition of the faith leaders on (the Upper) East Side, the nonprofits, the homeless service providers, the community groups. And I got everyone at a table called the Eastside Taskforce for Homeless Outreach and Services. And I said to everyone, if youre sitting at this table, you support providing services for the homeless and you want to build supportive housing on your block, in your backyard. And (state) Sen. (Liz) Krueger said, I want to be a part of that. Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer said she wanted to be a part of it, and we founded it. We worked with the community, we lay the groundwork and when we got supportive housing in the community on 91st Street, across the street from three public schools  a public school, a middle school and a school for children with developmental disabilities  we actually brought the students, the principals, the parents, every elected official and faith leaders and people who live on that block and across the street to gather to do a welcoming ceremony with (former City Council Speaker) Christine Quinn. So that was a very long answer to say when we empower the community, it means elected officials who want to do the right thing need to put in the work and build the coalition and build the community support necessary to move forward and do the right thing.

What sorts of changes do you think should be made to the charter to better empower community boards and give them more influence?

I am requesting that the community boards have binding power. What that means is that if a community board requests rezoning, the city should be on the hook to pay for it. So what Im suggesting is the community board plus their council member or community board plus their borough president should be able to initiate land use matters. On the same note, I would like if the community board votes no, a borough board votes no and the borough president votes no, and creates a triple no, that would actually be binding. So if all three bodies vote no, that it should stop there.

If this idea doesnt come to fruition with the mayors commission, will you testify again before the City Council commission as well with the same ideas?

The same ideas or better. Im committed to getting this done.Cookie Preferences Cookie List

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If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.The Maryland Insurance Administration (MIA) continues to investigate and prosecute individuals and businesses for committing insurance fraud. Insurance fraud, one of the most costly crimes in the country, costs Maryland consumers money in the form of higher premiums.

During the first half of 2018, MIA investigations led to the criminal prosecution of 12 people for committing insurance fraud. The agency issued another 25 civil fraud orders. Enforcement efforts resulted in a combined total of $68,092 in fines and penalties as well as $146,400 in restitution to insurance carriers impacted by the fraudulent activity.

Our talented Insurance Fraud staff follows up and investigates every confidential tip received and we want the public to report all suspected insurance fraud to us, said Insurance Commissioner Al Redmer, Jr. The MIAs efforts to root out fraud have resulted in fines, penalties and restitution in excess of $2 million over the past several years. Our investigations have led to criminal convictions and jail time as well.

Specifics on Civil Fraud in Maryland

In October 2012, the MIA was granted authority to issue insurance fraud civil orders. Since 2013, the MIA has sanctioned 198 individuals with committing insurance fraud in Maryland. Penalties totaling more than $821,648 have been issued and those individuals were also ordered to pay $269,552 in restitution.

Specifics on Criminal Fraud in Maryland

Since 2011, the Insurance Administration has investigated 371 fraud cases which were prosecuted through the offices of local States Attorneys and the Attorney General. Twelve cases resulted in criminal convictions, jail time, and fines totaling $26,272. The Courts also ordered the defendants to pay more than $1,077,373 in restitution to the insurance carriers and individuals impacted by the fraudulent activity. In the first six months of 2018, 12 cases resulted in total fines and restitution of $105,581.

The Insurance Administration is an independent State agency charged with enforcing insurance laws and regulations. Its Fraud Division, staffed by former law enforcement officers and prosecutors, investigates reports of fraudulent activity related to insurance matters.

Source: Maryland Insurance AdministrationFacebook is now banned from operating its eponymous network in China, where the government exercises strict control of social media sites and requires foreign tech companies to maintain servers in the country.

The Facebook subsidiary has been registered in the southern China city of Hangzhou and financed with an investment of 30m, according to the details of the filing, which were seen by Reuters and the New York Times on China's National Enterprise Credit Information, before they were removed.

In reports initially carried by the Reuters news agency, Facebook described the Chinese venture as an innovation hub to support Chinese developers, innovators and startups.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during the annual F8 summit at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California on May 1, 2018.

The new office will be located in the city of Hangzhou and be officially called Facebook Technology. China's social media firms cooperate with government censors and maintain large teams of staff to scrutinize and edit user comments.

It has always been an ambition of Facebook to be in China.

Last year Facebook's messaging app WhatsApp was blocked in the run up to the country's twice-a-decade congress, and it has remained mostly unavailable since. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg made personal appeals to the Chinese Communist Party's top brass, including learning Mandarin and taking a notorious "smog jog" through Tiananmen Square, braving toxic air pollution for a photo op in 2016.

Following widespread criticism, Facebook last week began removing posts from its platform that contain misinformation inciting violence. "We're a long time away from doing anything" in China, Zuckerberg told technology news site Recode.

"If we adopt a stance which is that, okay, we're going to, as a country, decide that we're going to clip the wings of these [American] companies and make it so that it's harder for them to operate in different places or they have to be smaller, then there are plenty of other companies out there that are willing and able to take the place of the work that we're doing", he said, specifically suggesting Chinese tech companies as the replacements.

Correction: An earlier version of this story said Facebook had opened an office in China after obtaining a permit. Facebook has created similar hubs in France, Brazil, India and Korea to focus on training and workshops, the spokesperson said.Samsung Electronics and a group representing ailing Samsung computer chip and display factory workers said Tuesday they have agreed to end a years-long standoff over compensation for deaths and grave illnesses among Samsung workers.

Samsung and Banolim said they will unconditionally accept terms of compensation and apologies to be drafted over the next two months by a mediator.

Banolim said it will stop its protests outside Samsung buildings, where its supporters camped out for nearly three years to demand that Samsung apologize for making workers sick and provide compensation for their illnesses.

The agreement represents a breakthrough in a more than decade-old civic movement that raised awareness about the health risks from toiling in the lucrative semiconductor industry.

The grassroots movement was started by Hwang Sang-gi, a taxi driver who refused to accept a settlement when his daughter Yu-mi died of leukemia in 2007 at the age of 23 after working at a Samsung chip factory. Hwangs search for the cause of Yu-mis death galvanized a broader movement to hold businesses and the government accountable for safety lapses in the chip and display industries, which use huge amounts of chemicals.

Its regrettable that for more than 10 years we could not solve the problem of workers who had no money and no power and died from diseases due to chemicals, Hwang said at a signing ceremony attended by the mediator and Samsung, wiping away tears. But it is fortunate that we found a way to solve the problem of industrial diseases at Samsung.

More than 100 Samsung workers have reported grave illnesses such as leukemia but only a few won government recognition and compensation for suffering industrial diseases. Increasingly, workers denied such recognition and compensation have won court victories in recent years.

Judges have acknowledged the need and the importance of using state funds to aid the sickened workers even when they were unable to prove why and how they became ill, sometimes due to a lack of information about the chemicals they were exposed to.

Kim Sunsig, a senior vice president at Samsung Electronics, said accepting the proposal without condition was a difficult decision for Samsung.

Only the complete resolution of the problem would be a consolation to the sickened workers and their families and also valuable for the society, Kim said. We will actively cooperate with the mediation committee.

Its a step closer to resolving one of the companys biggest headaches as its leader Lee Jae-yong, a vice chairman and a grandson of Samsungs founder, solidifies his leadership.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.North Texas Woman Heading to Prison for Burning Down House

A Dallas, Texas, woman with a history of filing 31 insurance claims against a dozen companies got burned when one turned out to be arson.

Genevieve Thompson was sentenced this week to 30 years in prison after Dallas Judge Tracy Holmes found Thompson intentionally set her house on fire to collect insurance money. Thompson pleaded guilty to arson and insurance fraud.

On June 12, 2017, the Dallas Fire Department was called to a house fire on Rock Bluff Drive. An investigation found that the fire had been started on purpose. The Texas Department of Insurance Fraud Unit assisted the Dallas Fire Department on the case. Their investigation revealed Thompson had filed at least 15 insurance claims on her home in the 18 months before the fire.

Stephanie Martin, the lead prosecutor for the Dallas County District Attorneys Office was assisted by TDI Chief Prosecutor Kyson Johnson. Dallas County is one of five district attorneys offices around the state that work with TDI by embedding prosecutors and investigators to fight insurance fraud.

Texas Mutual Insurance Company Announces Two Workers Comp Healthcare Fraud Convictions

Texas Mutual Insurance Company recently announced that Marcos Ricoy of Harlingen, Texas and Enrique Colon of Deer Park, Texas pleaded no contest to a felony charge of engaging in organized criminal activity involving workers compensation health care fraud.

Ricoy will serve three years deferred adjudication, complete 120 community service hours, and paid $10,000 in restitution to Texas Mutual. Colon will serve three years deferred adjudication, participate in any court-ordered treatment or counseling, and pay $10,000 in restitution to Texas Mutual.

The convictions are in connection to alleged fraud committed by Expert Medical Evaluators International Inc. (EME). Texas Mutual investigated EME, an entity that determined impairment ratings and performed functional capacity evaluations on injured employees in Texas. Texas Mutual alleged that EME used unlicensed providers to perform services and overbilled Texas Mutual. The investigation led to several indictments by a Travis County grand jury on June 28, 2017.

Former Alabama Officer Pleads Guilty to Insurance Fraud

A former police officer in Alabama has pleaded guilty to fraud and theft charges.

The Montgomery Advertiser reported Monday that 51-year-old Leon Todd Townson of Prattville pleaded guilty to insurance fraud in one case and burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary in an unrelated case.

Circuit Judge Ben Fuller has scheduled Townsons sentencing for Aug. 13. The charges carry penalties ranging from two to 20 years in prison. The burglary charge carries a penalty ranging from one year to 10 years in prison.

Townson was a lieutenant with the Prattville Police Department before he resigned resigning in 2005.A recent decision by a Colorado federal appeals court could have significant impact on hail claims and appraisals across the country.

Copper Oaks Master Home Owners Association v. American Family Mutual Insurance Co. involves a claim of hail damage that led to a dispute regarding damages.

According to the facts outlined within the opinion, Copper Oaks managed several residential buildings in Lakewood, Colo., at the time of the loss. On September 9, 2013, a hail storm allegedly caused property damage to the Copper Oaks complex. Due to debris scattered about the premises, the property manager, Mark Richardson, contacted Derek O Driscoll of Impact Claim Services, LLC, and requested he conduct a free inspection of the building roofs. At a November 2013 board meeting, ODriscoll discussed his roofing evaluation and offered to represent Copper Oaks as public adjuster on its anticipated claim to American Family.

A month later, a separate report commissioned by Richardson found that Copper Oaks was severely undercapitalized given the size, age and condition of the complex. The report found that the HOA was severely underreserved  it had $70,112 in reserves, just 11 percent of the recommended amount of $625,597 to carry out extensive repairs needed. A special assessment of $1500 per unit was recommended but there was no evidence that was conveyed to the unit owners.

Copper Oaks hired Impact Claims in March 2014 as its public adjuster and agreed to pay a contingent fee of 15 percent of any insurance award.

American Family was first notified of the loss in April 2014. The insurer inspected the property damage and provided an estimate of $620,979 as the replacement cost value (RCV). The insurer issued payment of $497,765.43, the actual cash value of the loss, in July 2014.

Impact Claims determined Copper Oaks loss to be much higher than the amount paid by American Family. Later in 2014, ODriscoll estimated the total damage due to the hail storm at nearly $3.6 million. Upon learning of the increased damage estimate, American Family hired Madsen, Kneppers & Associates to appraise the loss. After an inspection, the firm issued a report estimating the total RCV loss at $608,398.49.

Disappointed with the amount American Family initially paid on the claim, Copper Oaks filed suit in state court. American Family had the case removed to federal court. The Amended Complaint stated four claims: 1) a request for declaratory judgment as to the appraisal process and award; 2) a request to compel an appraisal award in accordance with process specified in the Policy; 3) breach of contract in failing to pay the amounts owed under the Policy; and 4) unreasonable delay in payment in violation of C.R.S. 10-3-1115 and 1116.

Besides the dispute on damages, the parties disagreed as to whether the complex was actually damaged by hail during the storm. The court noted there wasnt any contemporaneous evidence that hail had impacted any part of the property  no statements of occupants, photos or the like.

A requirement when the value of a claim is disputed is that the parties to the policy must engage in an appraisal process to determine the value of the loss.

The parties were ordered to participate in the appraisal process. The policy requires each party to appoint a competent and impartial appraiser. The two appraisers then jointly select a neutral umpire. Each appraiser submits an opinion as to the amount of the loss to the umpire. Upon the agreement of the umpire and at least one of the appraisers, the amount of the loss is conclusively determined.

The appraisal process, according to Steven Badger, a Dallas attorney with Zelle LLP, was intended to be an amicable and expeditious approach to resolving disputed insurance claims. Appraisal clauses have been found in insurance policies for over 100 years, with the process serving as a valuable way to bring disputed claims to closure without the need for lawyers or lawsuits.

Copper Oaks selected George Keys of Keys Claims Consultants, Inc. to act as its appraiser. American Family selected James Whipple. Keys and Whipple selected Robert Norton as the umpire.

Keys appraisal, submitted on February 29, 2016, found that every roof, every elevation, every chimney, and virtually all of the siding on every building at the Copper Oaks property had either been damaged by hail or, if undamaged, would nevertheless have to be replaced in order to fully repair the hail damage.

His initial loss estimate was $4,968,115.62 and was later revised to $5,066,238.99.

Whipples damage appraisal came in at $406,234.29.

Norton, as the umpire, concluded that there was some hail damage, but not nearly as much as Keys claimed. In July 2016, Norton proposed an appraisal award of $3,061,201.44. Neither appraiser agreed with the umpires proposed amount leading to Nortons advisement that if they couldnt agree, he would circulate a proposed final award of $2,943,919.72.

According to the opinion, Keys submitted his bill to Copper Oaks a week after the appraisal award of $2,873,085.35 was announced. The bill reflected 666.40 hours of work, all charged at a rate of $350 per hour, totaling $233,240. Of importance was that there wasnt any differentiation in hourly rates based on the tasks performed or by the person performing the tasks.

In January 2017, the parties announced a dispute over the validity of the appraisal award. Copper Oaks sought to enforce the appraisal award, while American Family filed a motion to vacate the appraisal award.

During a hearing, the court bifurcated the allegations within the complaint into claims that concerned the appraisal process (Claims 1 and 2) and claims that concerned breach of contract and statutory bad faith breach of contract (Claims 3 and 4).

American Family contended that the appraisal award should be invalidated because the appraiser selected by Copper Oaks and the umpire were not impartial. Copper Oaks responded that American Family i) waived any objection to Keys and Norton, ii) was estopped from challenging them, and iii) its request is barred by the doctrine of laches.

Prior to and during this case, there were several judicial opinions in unrelated cases involving Keys that disqualified him as an appraiser and vacated associated appraisal awards.

Analysis of records and testimony by the appraisers led the court to determine that It was essential that the appraisal award be high enough to allow Copper Oaks to pay the bills of Keys, ODriscoll, and related vendors as well as sufficient enough to allow Copper Oaks to make the repairs. The court noted that Copper Oaks was required to obtain an appraisal award of nearly 128 percent of actual repair costs, simply to break even.

After a bench trial to determine the sufficiency of the appraisal award, the court stated it intended to grant American Familys motion to vacate the appraisal award. The Court reasoned that Keys was not fair and competent, because he had a direct material interest in the amounts determined by the appraisal process and because he did not disclose facts that a reasonable person would consider likely to affect the appraisers interest in the amounts determined by the appraisal process.

The courts decision disqualified Keys and invalidated the appraisal award. The court stated, Mr. Keys appraisal was so bereft of methodology and supporting evidence as to be completely implausible.

The court deemed Norton as also not, fair, competent and impartial. This, too, invalidated the appraisal award.

According to the federal court, judgment was entered in favor of American Family on the first and second claims in Copper Oaks Amended Complaint. As a result, the court stated, Because the vacatur of the appraisal award nullifies any determination as to amount that existed at the time of filing this action, Copper Oaks had no standing to bring its third claim, sounding in breach of contract for failure to pay.

Thus, Copper Oaks third claim was dismissed.

Copper Oaks fourth claim for relief, based on the allegation of an unreasonable delay, was scheduled for determination by trial.

The decision highlights changes in the appraisal process over the past decade, said Badger.

A cottage industry has emerged comprised of individuals who inject themselves into the appraisal process for their own financial gain. Since the appraisal process is not governed by any formal procedural rules or ethical guidelines, the process is now ripe for abuse, manipulation and outright fraud, said Badger. With this cottage industry, no longer is the objective to achieve a prompt and fair resolution of the claims, but to extort the highest possible payment from the insurance company to maximize profits to the contractors, public adjusters, appraisers and lawyers who are all part of these schemes.

Badger is the author of several articles on fraud abuse in hail claims published by Claims Journal, including The Emerging Hail Risk: What the Hail Is Going On?

The Copper Oaks matter is a prime example of the abuses that have sadly become commonplace in the insurance claim appraisal process, particularly in Texas and Colorado, said Badger. Sadly, it took federal court litigation to remedy the clear abuses that took place during this appraisal process. 

Badger described the common abuses seen in the appraisal process.

These abuses include significant and unsubstantiated increases in the alleged damages once the matter is in appraisal, appraisers motivated to jack-up claim values based on having a financial interest in the outcome, undisclosed friendly relationships between appraisers and umpires, and literal extortion by umpires when the insurance company appraiser refuses to sign their excessive proposed awards, he said. All of these schemes were present in the Copper Oaks matter.

New schemes pop up every frequently, he added, describing a recent one where a policyholder appraiser charged $2,500 per hour, up to 20 percent of the appraisal award.

Its outrageous, Badger said. The clear intent with that fee is for the appraiser to receive a 20 percent contingency fee on the appraisal award, which is absolutely forbidden in both Texas and Colorado.

Though the federal court decision in this case should aid in bringing awareness to the issue, Badger said fighting the schemes is an ongoing battle.

All the insurance company wants is a level playing field  where both sides pick impartial appraisers and work fairly to achieve a prompt and fair resolution of the claim, Badger explained. Regardless of who prevails, if the process is fair then it achieves its intended purpose. But there was absolutely nothing fair about the process in the Copper Oaks case. And the federal judge exposed it. Hopefully this well-written decision will serve as a much-needed warning to the entire cottage industry engaged in these appraisal schemes.AKRON, Ohio - Want to help choose a name for two of Akron Zoo's newest baby animals?

The zoo is asking the public to vote on five possible names for a penguin chick and a musk deer fawn as part of its "Oh Deer! Waddle We Name Them?" contest, sponsored by Akron Children's Hospital.

"It has been a busy summer so far at your Akron Zoo," said Zoo President and CEO Doug Piekarz in a news release. "We welcomed not one, but two babies: a Humboldt penguin chick and a Siberian musk deer fawn - a first for the Akron Zoo. We are excited to give each baby a name and are looking forward to seeing what you choose."

Possible names for the male Humboldt penguin are Guanay, Junio, Maximo, Pacific and Rico. Name options for the female Siberian musk deer fawn are Alina, Katia, Lika, Nadia and Svetlana.

The Humboldt penguin chick hatched June 1. The chick will need to eat on his own, molt his down feathers and pass a swimming test in order to join the colony in the penguin habitat. He'll likely join the habitat later this summer.

The female Siberian musk deer fawn was born June 13. The fawn and her mother, Anastasia, are currently bonding in their bedroom. The deer's father, Vlad, is in the musk deer habitat. The fawn's public debut will likely take place in the next couple of weeks.

To cast your votes, visit akronzoo.org/naming-contest. The contest ends at noon on Wednesday, Aug. 8.

Want more Akron news? Sign up for cleveland.com's Rubber City Daily, an email newsletter delivered at 5:30 a.m. Monday through Friday.BEREA -- Vader, the Berea Police Department's new police dog, really does have The Force with him. The all-black German Shepherd patrols the night shift with Officer Dennis Bort. He has a Jedi-like list of skills: detecting five kinds of illicit drugs, tracking, searching, apprehending bad guys and protecting his officer.

Bort, who has been with the BPD since 2001, says this is "his dream job." He's a veteran of the Ohio Air National Guard, flown aircraft with the Cleveland Police Department and served with Berea's Detective Bureau.

"I've had a lot of cool jobs and this is the one I never thought I'd get," Bort said. Bort is a huge Star Wars fan, hence the name Vader - after Darth Vader, the arch villain of the sci fi series.

At 22 months and 80 pounds, Vader is still learning, as is Bort, he said. A product of Slovakia, Vader was trained there as a puppy and then received more training at a special facility in North Ridgeville, where Bort also trained.

Police dogs and their handlers in Ohio must be certified. One element of certification is the Courage Test. Vader was required to apprehend a "suspect" (an officer in protective gear) while being fired upon with fake bullets. "He never hesitated," Bort said.

Dogs also must be recertified each year. That requires 16 hours of training a month.

"We're getting fine-tuned," Bort said. Vader has been with the department for only two months. "You have to know how to read the dog. If he's doing something wrong, you have to be on it immediately."

"He knows what he'd doing," Bort added. "It's me catching up to him."

Vader can detect heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, meth and marijuana plus derivatives. "He's found stuff already," Bort said. He doesn't enter vehicles to search for drugs (there's too much of a risk of injury to the dog, Bort said) but Vader scans the perimeter. If he smells a hint of some illicit substance, he sits down at the site of the odor. "If officers don't find any drugs in the car, they have the right to search people," Bort said.

The dog has different collars for different jobs. "He figures out what's up by what I put on him," Bort said.

Vader isn't confined to Berea. Any department with a mutual aid agreement with Berea can call on the duo for help. One such request from the State Highway Patrol took Bort and Vader to the East Side to search for a suspect.

Vader lives at home with Bort. "He's a normal dog at home," Bort said. "But he doesn't go for walks or the dog park. He's very quiet. Doesn't bark a lot." Vader gets along fine with Bort's kids. "He's on the same maturity level as my 14-year-old son," Bort said.

He also is very focused on his job. And frankly gets bored on his days off.

"To him, this is a game," Bort said. "This is fun. It keeps him engaged and interested." His prize for completing a task is his favorite ball, which Bort throws and Vader chases.

Bort said the Police Department is grateful to the Berea City Club for donating the $20,000 cost of purchasing and training Vader. The team's converted Ford Explorer features the City Club logo. Big Creek Animal Hospital donates Vader's routine checkups. The dog also has a special canine first aid kit and Bort is applying for a grant for a bullet-proof vest.

Future plans call for Vader to visit schools and civic organizations, perhaps giving demonstrations of Vader's many skills.

Vader is getting used to Berea, crowds and music concerts at Coe Lake and hanging out at the police station. "He's starting to take off now," Bort said.WALTON HILLS, Ohio -- The mayor of Walton Hills announced Wednesday night that he will resign next week after the clerk of council filed a lawsuit accusing him of sexual harassment and retaliation.

Mayor Kevin Hurst announced at a Wednesday night council meeting that he would step down as of Aug. 1, the city's fiscal officer, Katie Iaconis, confirmed to cleveland.com.

The audience inside the council chambers erupted in applause after Hurst announced his resignation, according to an audio recording of the meeting posted on the village's website.

Council president Don Kolgraf will take over as interim mayor. Village council is still deciding how to proceed. The next scheduled mayoral election is in November 2019.

Hurst was first elected mayor in 2012 and was unopposed in the 2016 election.

His announcement of his departure came one day after Nancy Zolgharnain, who began working as clerk of courts in the village in 2014, filed a complaint in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court that accused Hurst of spreading false rumors around village hall that the two were having an extramarital affair. The complaint also accused Hurst of threatening to fire Zolgharian after she complained.

Hurst blamed the rumors on Carol Stanoszek, the village's Community Life Director, then on Vic Nogalo, the city's tax administrator at the time, the suit says.

Nogalo turned in a letter of resignation in November that said he planned to work with the village through May, according to a copy of the letter he provided to cleveland.com. But Hurst fired Nogalo in April, after Nogalo told Hurst he needed to tamp down the rumors of the affair, Nogalo told cleveland.com

Nogalo denied being the source of the rumors.

The lawsuit also accuses Councilman Denny Linville of making an inappropriate comment on Zolgharnain's appearance to her husband after a July 10 council meeting.

Linville was the subject of a complaint filed earlier this summer by the mother of a 16-year-old girl that said Linville approached her and two other girls and started asking her questions. He eventually asked her where she lived and never stated that he was a councilman.

He came under fire at a July 17 council meeting when, in trying to defend himself, he called the teenager an "attractive young lady."

To comment on this story, please visit Thursday's crime and courts comments page.

Correction: An earlier version of this story said that Vic Nogalo resigned his position as tax administrator for the village of Walton Hills. Nogalo told cleveland.com that he turned in his letter of resignation in November but was fired before he reached his resignation date.CLEVELAND, Ohio - Restaurateur Rocco Whalen is joining forces with the owners of Pastina Rustic Italian Kitchen for a dinner to benefit the family of fallen police officer Mathew Mazany.

The Mentor officer was killed Sunday, June 24, when a vehicle struck him as he assisted another officer during a traffic stop on Ohio 2 near Ohio 306. He was 41.

The five-course benefit dinner is 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 8. Tickets are $100 (including wine) with $75 of each ticket going to the Mazany Memorial Fund.

Whalen grew up in Mentor and got his start working at Longo's in the city.

"Mentor may be known as one of the largest suburbs, but we are a true community in every sense of the word," Tina Greci said in a release. She owns Pastina with her brother, Joe. "When a need arises, we are there for each other ready to help and offer whatever support is needed - that's why we choose to call Mentor home and do business here."

Whalen, who owns Fahrenheit in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood, will work with Pastina chef Josephine Todd to create the menu. It will consist of Fahrenheit-type dishes and new creations from Pastina.

The night will start with a welcome cocktail and appetizers at 6 p.m. with the first course served by 6:30. A rep for the event says attendees will take home "something special" while having the chance to meet the chefs.

Pastina is at 9354 Mentor Ave.INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- The Greater Cleveland Partnership held its sixth annual "Empowering Local Leadership" conference in Washington, D.C., and Independence Mayor Anthony Togliatti was among the attendees.

The Greater Cleveland Partnership's goal is to make private-sector leadership, expertise and resources more mobile to create business conditions that create new jobs, increase investments and improve a region's economy.

Togliatti said the conference "was a great opportunity for elected officials from Northeast Ohio to network and engage with Ohio Congressional representatives at our nation's capital."

It was held in conjunction with the Northeast Ohio Mayors and City Managers Association, as well as the Cuyahoga County Mayors and City Managers Association. Many other Northeast Ohio mayors attended the conference, as well.

The conference took place on June 7 and 8. The conference had several special guests, including Congresswoman Marcia L. Fudge, Congressman Dave Joyce, Congressman Jim Renacci and Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur.

The conference included an opening night reception, a White House conference, breakfast with members of the Ohio Congressional delegation and presentations on how local governments can leverage federal resources in their communities.

Joyce, Renacci, Fudge and Kaptur, along with Sen. Rob Portman, addressed the group of local leaders on Ohio's pressing issues, and initiatives on the state and federal level.

There were several other conference sessions led by Congressman Steny Hoyer; Administrator of the Small Business Administration, Linda McMahon; Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi; Congressman Kevin McCarthy; Vice President of Global Innovation Policy and Communication for Amazon, Paul Misener; and Chief of Community Outreach for the Drug Enforcement Administration, Sean Fearns.

In addition to the conferences, Togliatti attended a White House briefing led by many of President Donald Trump's Cabinet members. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, along with six other White House staff leaders, briefed the group on the president's initiatives and directives on the federal level and how these initiatives impact communities on the local level.

Togliatti said: "The conference provided a wonderful opportunity to meet with and discuss local issues with our federal representatives. All of the Congressional representatives, as well as the president's Cabinet members, were all very open and willing to answer questions."MANSFIELD, Ohio -- A 10-month-old child who police say was abducted by his father is safe after authorities in Richland County captured the suspect in a wooded area, according to reports.

Robert D. Beane, 27, had run into the woods near Mansfield with his son, Robert Beane Jr., after crashing a Chevrolet Camaro at about 1:15 p.m. while being chased by police.

Police say Beane took the child after pistol-whipping the boy's mother in Lorain. The abduction resulted in an AMBER Alert.

Richland County Sheriff's Department Capt. Jim Sweat tells the Mansfield News Journal that Beane surrendered peacefully after being caught at about 6:30 p.m. about a half-mile from the crash site.

Beane is being held in the Richland County Jail.

The baby was not visibly injured by was taken to a hospital as a precaution, Sweat tells the News Journal.

It is estimated that nearly 200 law-enforcement officials were involved in the search, which also included two airplanes and a helicopter.

Beane already had legal troubles. A warrant was issued for his arrest on July 6 after he failed to return to the Lorain County Jail after receiving medical treatment.

The Lorain County Sheriff's Office said Beane received a medical furlough to undergo treatment and did not return. He pleaded guilty to felony counts of kidnapping, aggravated robbery, assault, weapons under disability and theft.

The Lorain County Crime Scene Investigation said Beane is a member of the O.B.A. criminal street gang with an extensive history of criminal violence.

To comment on this story, visit Wednesday's crime and courts comments page.CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Western Reserve Fire Museum and Education Center, 310 Carnegie Avenue, will present a program on July 28 about the 1929 Cleveland Clinic disaster.

The clinic blaze claimed the lives of 123 people including doctors, nurses, staff, patients and a Cleveland police officer.

Additionally, some 92 victims were sent to other area hospitals.

The 2 p.m. illustrated program is part of a series, "They Battled the Flames," offered by museum historian Paul Nelson.

The Cleveland Clinic fire originated from highly flammable nitrocellulose X-ray films that were stored in the basement of the structure at E. 93rd Street and Euclid Avenue.

Heavy smoke containing toxic fumes made its way throughout the building, and many victims were found at their desks, and in hallways leading to stairwells.

The fire, accompanied by two explosions, was contained in about a half-hour. Two firefighters suffered lung damage and were hospitalized for months.

Cost of admission for the program is $8 for adults, and $6 for ages 3-17. Children under 3 are admitted free, as are museum members.

Regular museum hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.However, repairs were hampered by bad weather and water-damaged roads and the dam's walls broke on Monday night.

Fix work was hampered by heavy rain which had damaged roads, it said, and early on Monday water was discharged from the Xe-Namnoy dam - one of the two main dams in the project - to try to relieve pressure on the auxiliary structure.

There would be no opportunity to confirm these numbers officially until the rescue of survivors is complete, an official from the office said. Others boarded rickety wooden boats or stood on the roofs of partially submerged houses. It swept through seven villages, displacing an estimated 6,600 families. It showed pictures of villagers wading through muddy flood waters carrying their belongings.

Following the collapse, the dam sent millions of tons of water rampaging down at least six villages in Attapeu.

Environment rights groups have repeatedly warned about the human and environmental cost of the rapid pace of dam construction, including damage to the already-fragile ecosystem of the region's rivers.

The ministry said it has notified Stung Treng provincial authorities and advised people living along the Se Kong River - part of which forms the Cambodia-Laos border - to be ready to move to higher ground.

The $1.2 billion dam is part of a project by Vientiane-based Xe Pian Xe Namnoy Power Company, or PNPC, which is a joint venture formed in 2012 by a Laotian, Thai, and two South Korean companies, the project's website said.

Villagers wait in a temporary shelter after fleeing floods caused by the dam collapse.

The subsidiary dam, known as "Saddle Dam D", was part of a network of two main dams and five subsidiary dams.

An official at the firm said fractures were first discovered on the dam on Sunday and that the company had ordered the evacuation of 12 villages as soon as it became clear the dam could collapse.

The firm blamed the collapse on heavy rain.

"With over 70 hydropower projects now built, under construction and planned across Lao PDR - a lot of them owned and operated by private companies - authorities must immediately review how dams are being planned, designed and managed, " the group said in a statement.

Shares in major stakeholders of SK Engineering & Construction fell on Wednesday after news of the collapse.

SK Discovery Co., SK E&C's second-largest shareholder with a 28.25 stake in the builder, tumbled more than 10 percent to trade at its lowest level in more than three years.

A dam built to create electricity has collapsed in Laos.

"I don't think its going to affect the other dams", Baird told Reuters in a telephone interview.

The local authorities and rescue teams are still dispatching boats across the Attapeu area to try to save those who have been stranded by the flash flooding. People don't usually go in that area during the rainy season.

Maureen Harris, an expert on Laotian dams at the International Rivers NGO, said the flooding raised questions about the standard and safety of dams within the country.WASHINGTON, D. C. - Champaign County GOP Rep. Jim Jordan -- who had a heated exchange with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein at a House Judiciary Committee hearing last month -- has introduced impeachment articles against the number two Justice Department official.

Jordan and several of his House Freedom Caucus colleagues introduced the impeachment articles on Wednesday. They claim that Rosenstein intentionally withheld embarrassing documents and information from Congress, failed to comply with congressional subpoenas, and otherwise abused the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

"The DOJ is keeping information from Congress," said a statement from Jordan. "Enough is enough. It's time to hold Mr. Rosenstein accountable for blocking Congress' constitutional oversight role."

The articles also contend Rosenstein has a conflict of interest in special prosecutor Robert Mueller's probe of Donald Trump, since he's a potential witness, and allege his failure to recuse himself from the investigation and appoint a second Special Counsel amounts to "dereliction of duty."

Just because members of Congress introduce impeachment articles against a federal official doesn't mean that federal official will be removed from office. It's easy for congressional leaders to sidetrack such resolutions, as they did when former Cleveland Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich repeatedly introduced measures to impeach former President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney over the Iraq War. Several current Democratic members of Congress have introduced impeachment resolutions against President Donald Trump which haven't gone anywhere.

I just filed a resolution with @Jim_Jordan and several colleagues to impeach Rod Rosenstein. The DOJ has continued to hide information from Congress and repeatedly obstructed oversight--even defying multiple Congressional subpoenas.



We have had enough.  Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) July 25, 2018

In 2016, Jordan introduced impeachment articles against former Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen, contending he lied to Congress and obstructed an investigation of whether his agency improperly scrutinized tax exemption requests from conservative groups. Koskinen denied the charges, and Jordan's colleagues voted to send his impeachment measure to the Judiciary Committee, which ignored it.

When Jordan accused Rosenstein of trying to withhold information from Congress last month at a testy congressional hearing, Rosenstein told him the Justice Department has a "team of folks" consisting of "hundreds of people working around the clock" who are "doing their best to produce these documents."

"I'm not trying to hide anything from you," Rosenstein said.

Wednesday's move by Jordan and ten of his conservative colleagues came shortly after GOP lawmakers met with Justice Department officials who have provided more than 800,0000 documents that Congress requested about actions it took during the 2016 presidential race.

According to the Associated Press, House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Trey Gowdy said after the meeting that he was pleased with the department's efforts and wouldn't support Rosenstein's impeachment. House Speaker Paul Ryan has also said he is satisfied with progress on the document production.

Democrats dismissed Jordan's impeachment effort as "partisan nonsense," in the words of California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who called the effort "dangerous for the rule of law" and said "it needs to stop."

See this for what it is. An attempt by complicit Republicans led by Meadows and Jordan to delegitimize a probe being conducted by DOJ. These Trump lackeys have to decide what they value: the rule of law or doing everything to protect Trump. Be strong DOJ. https://t.co/gbuTWEUVdt  Eric Holder (@EricHolder) July 26, 2018

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder called it "an attempt by complicit Republicans" to delegitimize the Justice Department's probe.

"These Trump lackeys have to decide what they value: the rule of law or doing everything to protect Trump," Holder said on Twitter.

We can't get answers for the American people if we can't get information from the DOJ.



Its time to impeach Rod Rosenstein. https://t.co/FeNtMs3mQH  Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) July 26, 2018

The top Democrats on the House Oversight, Judiciary and Intelligence committees released a joint statement that called the impeachment resolution "a panicked and dangerous attempt to undermine an ongoing criminal investigation in an effort to protect President Trump as the walls are closing in around him and his associates."

The statement released by Representatives Elijah Cummings of Maryland, Jerrold Nadler of New York, and Adam Schiff of California said the resolution has no chance of removng Rosenstein, whom they called "one of the few restraints against the overreaches of the President and his allies in Congress."

Rep. @Jim_Jordan: "We have sent numerous letters to Rod Rosenstein they haven't complied with. Two subpoenas they haven't complied with. We've caught the Department of Justice hiding information, redacting information that they should not have redacted." @IngrahamaAngle pic.twitter.com/oXJ1aIG8Jg  Fox News (@FoxNews) July 26, 2018

"To date, Special Counsel Mueller has obtained 30 indictments and five guilty pleas against a group that includes four Trump campaign officials and 26 Russian nationals," their statement said. "The President should not mistake this move by his congressional enablers as a pretext to take any action against Mr. Rosenstein or Mr. Mueller and his investigation. Any attempt to do so will be viewed by Congress and the American people as further proof of an effort to obstruct justice with severe consequences for Trump and his presidency."CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Police say early Thursday morning that a 15-year-old boy was wounded in a shooting on the East Side.

Police have released few details, saying the shooting occurred on the 10600 block of Bryant Avenue, which is just east of East 105th Street in the Glenville neighborhood.

The teen was in unknown condition with a wound to the chest.

This post will be updated if more information becomes available.

To comment on this story, please visit Wednesday's crime and courts comments page.BRATENHAL, Ohio - Three Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers suffered minor injuries in a Thursday afternoon chase that ended in a crash in Bratenahl.

The crash happened about 3:30 p.m. Thursday at Lakeshore Boulevard and Eddy Road, just off of Interstate 90.

The troopers suffered minor injuries. They chased the 2017 Nissan Armada along I-90 because it was reported as stolen, patrol spokesman Lt. Robert Sellers said.

Troopers stopped side-by-side on Lakeshore when the SUV rammed one of the cruisers, Sellers said.

The SUV driver was arrested and taken to an area hospital with minor injuries, Sellers said.

Both a state patrol SUV and a blue SUV sustained significant damage to their front ends.

Police shut down Eddy Road after the highway and Lakeshore Boulevard while troopers are investigating the crash.

Several Bratenahl police cruisers are at the scene, along with troopers.

It's the third chase and crash involving troopers in the Cleveland area in five days.

Troopers on Wednesday chased a car on Detroit Avenue for driving recklessly. The chase reached speeds of up to 70-miles per hour and the driver eventually crashed into a building on Detroit and West 75th Street.

The driver ran off and a passenger suffered minor injuries, troopers said.

Troopers on Saturday chased a car that ran a red light on the East Side of Cleveland. That chase was called off shortly before a crash on East 124th Street and St. Clair Avenue that killed driver Antonio Whitely, 30, the driver, and passenger Ashley Martin, 25. A 17-year-old boy was also hurt in the crash.Today is Thursday, July 26, the 207th day of 2018. There are 158 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On July 26, 2002, the Republican-led House voted, 295-132, to create an enormous Homeland Security Department in the biggest government reorganization in decades.

On this date:

In 1775, the Continental Congress established a Post Office and appointed Benjamin Franklin its Postmaster-General.

In 1847, the western African country of Liberia, founded by freed American slaves, declared its independence.

In 1908, U.S. Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte ordered creation of a force of special agents that was a forerunner of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In 1945, the Potsdam Declaration warned Imperial Japan to unconditionally surrender, or face "prompt and utter destruction." Winston Churchill resigned as Britain's prime minister after his Conservatives were soundly defeated by the Labour Party; Clement Attlee succeeded him.

In 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act, which reorganized America's armed forces as the National Military Establishment and created the Central Intelligence Agency.

In 1952, Argentina's first lady, Eva Peron, died in Buenos Aires at age 33. King Farouk I of Egypt abdicated in the wake of a coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser.

In 1953, Fidel Castro began his revolt against Fulgencio Batista with an unsuccessful attack on an army barracks in eastern Cuba. (Castro ousted Batista in 1959.)

In 1986, Islamic radicals in Lebanon released the Rev. Lawrence Martin Jenco, an American hostage held for nearly 19 months. American statesman W. Averell Harriman died in Yorktown Heights, New York, at age 94.

In 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act.

In 2006, in a dramatic turnaround from her first murder trial, Andrea Yates was found not guilty by reason of insanity by a Houston jury in the bathtub drownings of her five children; she was committed to a state mental hospital. (Yates had initially been found guilty of murder, but had her conviction overturned.)

In 2016, Hillary Clinton became the first woman to be nominated for president by a major political party at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

Ten years ago: At least 22 small bombs exploded in Ahmadabad in the Indian state of Gujarat, killing 58 people.

Five years ago: Ariel Castro, the man who'd imprisoned three women in his Cleveland home, subjecting them to a decade of rapes and beatings, pleaded guilty to 937 counts in a deal to avoid the death penalty. (Castro later committed suicide in prison.) A gunman went on a rampage at a Hialeah, Florida, apartment complex, killing six people before being shot dead by police. Billionaire Texas oilman George P. Mitchell, considered the father of fracking, died at his home in Galveston; he was 94. JJ Cale, 74, whose best songs like "After Midnight" and "Cocaine" were towering hits for other artists, died in La Jolla, California.

One year ago: President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that he will not "accept or allow" transgender people to serve in the U.S. military. (The pronouncement was blocked by legal challenges, and the Pentagon began allowing transgender recruits to seek enlistment on January 1.) A thrill ride broke apart at the Ohio State Fair, killing an 18-year-old high school student and injuring seven others. Child killer Ronald Phillips was put to death in Ohio's first execution in 31/2 years; they'd been put on hold amid an uproar over the reliability of the lethal injection drugs used by the state. Actress June Foray, the voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel and hundreds of other cartoon characters, died in a Los Angeles hospital at the age of 99.

Thought for Today: "A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing." -- George Bernard Shaw (born this date in 1856, died 1950).WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused China of "vicious" tactics on trade as he prepared for tough negotiations with European leaders in an escalating trade battle among world powers.

Trump tweeted that China was specifically targeting U.S. farmers with retaliatory tariffs because "they know I love & respect" them. His defense came after his administration announced a plan to provide $12 billion in emergency relief for farmers who have been slammed by the president's trade disputes with China and other countries.

Addressing the China trade relationship, Trump wrote on Twitter, "They are being vicious in what will be their failed attempt. We were being nice - until now!"

Chinese President Xi Jinping at an international summit in South Africa that the world faces "a choice between cooperation and confrontation," in remarks that criticized escalating U.S. tariffs on goods from China and other major trading partners. He warned that those who pursue "economic hegemony" will "only end up hurting themselves."

The president was meeting at the White House later Wednesday with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and other European officials as their trade dispute threatens to spread to automobile production.

Trump has placed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, saying they pose a threat to U.S. national security, an argument that the European Union and Canada rejects. He has also threatened to slap tariffs on imported cars, trucks and auto parts, potentially targeting imports that last year totaled $335 billion.

The European Union has warned that it will retaliate with tariffs on products worth $20 billion if Trump puts duties on cars and auto parts from Europe.

On Tuesday, Trump suggested in a tweet that "both the U.S. and the E.U. drop all Tariffs, Barriers and Subsidies! That would finally be called Free Market and Fair Trade! Hope they do it, we are ready - but they won't!"

The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese goods in a dispute over Beijing's high-tech industrial policies. China has struck back with duties on soybeans and pork, affecting Midwest farmers in a region of the country that supported the president in his 2016 campaign.

Trump has threatened to place penalty taxes on up to $500 billion in products imported from China, a move that would dramatically ratchet up the stakes in the trade dispute involving the globe's biggest economies.

The moves have been unsettling to lawmakers with districts dependent upon manufacturers and farmers affected by the retaliatory tariffs.

The Agriculture Department said it would tap an existing program to provide $12 billion in direct payments to farmers and ranchers hurt by foreign retaliation to Trump's tariffs and other assistance, such as the purchase of excess crops.

With congressional elections coming soon, the government action underscored administration concern about damage to U.S. farmers from Trump's trade tariffs and the potential for losing House and Senate seats in the Midwest and elsewhere.

The administration said the program was just temporary.

"This is a short-term solution that will give President Trump and his administration the time to work on long-term trade deals," said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue as administration officials argued that the plan was not a "bailout" of the nation's farmers.

But that provided little solace to rank-and-file Republicans, who said the tariffs are simply taxes and warned the action would open a Pandora's box for other sectors of the economy.

"I want to know what we're going to say to the automobile manufacturers and the petrochemical manufacturers and all the other people who are being hurt by tariffs," said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. "You've got to treat everybody the same."

Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., said the Agriculture Department was "trying to put a Band-aid on a self-inflicted wound. The administration clobbers farmers with an unnecessary trade war then attempts to assuage them with taxpayer handouts. This bailout compounds bad policy with more bad policy."

Trump pushed back against critics of his plan on Wednesday, telling them to "be cool" because "the end result will be worth it!"

On Twitter, Trump said people "snipping at your heels during a negotiation" will only delay the process. He wrote: "Negotiations are going really well, be cool. The end result will be worth it!"

The program is expected to start taking effect around Labor Day. Officials said the direct payments could help producers of soybeans, which have been hit hard by retaliation to the Trump tariffs, along with sorghum, corn, wheat, cotton, dairy and farmers raising hogs.

The food purchased from farmers would include some types of fruits, nuts, rice, legumes, dairy products, beef and pork, officials said.

Agriculture officials said they would not need congressional approval and the money would come through the Commodity Credit Corporation, a wing of the department that addresses agricultural prices.

The officials said payments couldn't be calculated until after harvests come in. Brad Karmen, the USDA's assistant deputy administrator for farm programs, noted that the wheat harvest is already in, so wheat farmers could get payments sooner than other growers.

Soybeans are likely to be the largest sector affected by the programs. Soybean prices have plunged 18 percent in the past two months.

The Agriculture Department predicted before the trade fights that U.S. farm income would drop this year to $60 billion, or half the $120 billion of five years ago.

Mark Martinson, who raises crops and cattle in north-central North Dakota and is president of the U.S. Durum Growers Association, said the $12 billion figure "sounds huge" but there are many farmers in need. "I don't think this will cover us for a very long time -- and it might not even buy me a tank of diesel. I think it will only put out the fire a little bit."Rotunda Rumblings



Fair comments: John Kasich made his final Ohio State Fair visit as governor on Wednesday, though (to reporters, at least) his comments on public policy were of more interest than the fair attractions. The governor condemned President Donald Trump's farm bailout plan as "terrible, terrible policy." He also said he'll likely sign recently passed legislation to rein in payday lenders.



More on Kasich's fair visit: Kasich has had some fun moments during his state fair visits as governor, from riding a giant slide to showing off his knowledge about beavers. Cleveland.com's Jeremy Pelzer has a wrap-up of Kasich's state fair tour this year, which showed a leader in transition.



Where are they now? It's been 10 years since the Cuyahoga County corruption scandal rocked Northeast Ohio politics. Cleveland.com's Eric Heisig compiled all the players in the case, including their sentences and if they've been released from prison.



Worth a tip: The Ohio Matters podcast also delved into the corruption scandal this week with a special episode featuring cleveland.com editor-in-chief Chris Quinn and federal prosecutor Ann Rowland. Rowland, speaking in-depth on the case for the first time since retiring, divulged several as-yet-unknown details, including how the investigation started.

Reading, writing and readiness: A new report shows Ohio children who are not ready for kindergarten will continue to lag later in school, cleveland.com's Laura Hancock reports. The report was put out by an organization, Groundworks Ohio, that wants more state money in early childhood education.

Kidney pain: The Ohio Renal Association filed a legal challenge late Wednesday afternoon to the proposal to regulate kidney dialysis costs. The proposed constitutional amendment hasn't yet been cleared for the Nov. 6 ballot, Hancock writes.

Jimpeachment: U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan of Champaign County has introduced impeachment articles against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. As cleveland.com's Sabrina Eaton reports, Jordan and other House Freedom Caucus members claim Rosenstein intentionally withheld embarrassing documents and information from Congress, failed to comply with congressional subpoenas, and otherwise abused the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.



Anchors aweigh: A yacht owned by U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was vandalized over the weekend while docked in Huron, per the Toledo Blade. The boat - Seaquest - was set adrift and suffered between $5,000 and $10,000 worth of damage.



Great Scott! Cleveland-area pastor Darrell Scott ended up on a secret recording President Donald Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen made in September 2016, cleveland.com's Andrew Tobias reports. Scott's name is only mentioned briefly, and not in connection with the hush money allegedly paid to a Playboy model with whom Trump reportedly had an affair.



Possibly Pelosi? Danny O'Connor, the Democratic nominee for Ohio's 12th Congressional District, has repeatedly said he would oppose Nancy Pelosi for speaker of the House if he's elected. But during an appearance on MSNBC's "Hardball" on Tuesday, O'Connor grudgingly yielded that if Pelosi is the House Dems' choice for speaker, "I would support whoever the Democratic Party puts forward."



Hungry for Balderson: The Ohio Restaurant Association's board announced Wednesday it was endorsing O'Connor's GOP rival, Troy Balderson.



Smear campaign? Conservative talk-show host Sean Hannity is in the camp who thinks the "deep state" fabricated claims from Ohio State wrestlers who said U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan knew they were sexually assaulted by the team doctor. "I'm sorry you went through that smear campaign," Hannity said on his radio show.



Town hall: Democratic Congresswoman Marcia Fudge is holding a town hall this weekend in her district. The forum starts at noon at the Friendly Inn Settlement House in Cleveland.



Full Disclosure



Five things we learned from the May 9 financial disclosure statement of Ohio Supreme Court Justice Sharon Kennedy.

1. Last year, she received dividends from Procter and Gamble stock. The ethics form doesn't require her to disclose the amount. She earned $163,404 in 2017 from the Supreme Court, according to the Ohio Treasurer's office.

2. The court paid her $250 Ohio Judicial Conference dues. The court also paid for travel to the Ohio Judicial Conference's 2017 meeting, which cost $350.

3. At some point last year, she owed at least $1,000 each to Macy's, AllWealth Federal Credit Union and U.S. Bank.

4. She has a pension with the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, a retirement fund with Ohio Deferred Compensation and a Roth IRA with Crowe Financial.



5. She received gifts worth over $75 from Rick Coley and William Coley, Mick and Pam Krieger, Brandon and Barbie Vierira, William and Mary Ryan Krieger, Karen Coley and Brian Flood, Jamie and Curt Coley, M. Lynn Lampe and Shannon Gantzer and Bob Everett and the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 4.



Birthdays



Sen. Dave Burke



Straight From The Source



"By the way, I have seen every single constellation in the Northern Hemisphere except Lepus the Rabbit throughout my lifetime."



- Gov. John Kasich, while giving an art award Wednesday to a student who painted the night sky.

Capitol Letter is a daily briefing providing succinct, timely information for those who care deeply about the decisions made by state government. If you do not already subscribe, you can sign up here to get Capitol Letter in your email box each weekday for free.COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio children who are not ready for kindergarten have a hard time catching up over the years, with their scores in third grade reading and eighth grade math continuing to lag, according to a study released Wednesday.

The report, by the education advocacy organization Groundwork Ohio, found poverty is often tied to insufficient kindergarten readiness. It also found children who are black or who live in the 32-county Appalachian region tend to more often be poor.

The consequences of not being ready for kindergarten can last a lifetime, the report concluded, and affect health and even wages later in life. Groundwork Ohio believes the state needs to invest in pre-kindergarten - supporting preschools and making public child care centers more academically focused, for instance.

Shannon Jones, a former Republican state legislator from Warren County who is now Groundwork Ohio's executive director, said plenty of national data tends to show similar outcomes. But no one, until now, has extensively pulled data to find similar conclusions in Ohio. The report looked at 26 metrics - from asthma to career skills and college attainment, analyzing data from five state agencies.

Study of the brain in young children is what has lead scientists and educators to conclude early childhood education can help determine life success. When children are young, their neuro connections in their brains must be activated - and early. Genetics can play a part in life success but early enriching experiences are necessary.

Cleveland.com explored the science, best practices and economics of early childhood education in a year-long project, Cleveland Connects: the First 2,000 Days. Cuyahoga County has made universal pre-kindergarten a priority.

Among findings in the 200-page report:

Only 40 percent of kindergartners come to the classroom ready to learn.

Among children from economically disadvantaged families, 26.7 percent are kindergarten ready, 50.3 percent are reading at grade level in third grade, 40.4 are at grade level in eighth grade math.

23.9 percent of black children are ready for kindergarten, 39 percent read at grade level in third grade and 27 percent do math at grade level in eighth grade.

53.9 percent of black children live in poverty.

30.3 percent of Appalachian children live in poverty.

39.2 percent of Appalachian children are ready for kindergarten, 72 percent read at grade level in the third grade and 59.4 percent do math at grade level in eighth grade.

Legislative leadership from both political parties attended a Wednesday press conference announcing the report. The lawmakers didn't make any specific commitments to pour more money to pre-K, but they said they plan to read the report and want to make a difference next year, when they craft a new state budget.

"I grew up as one of these statistics, and I'm lucky," said Dayton Rep. Fred Strahorn, who leads Democrats in the House. "My immediate environmental factors cut me a break but my larger environmental factors, statistically, let's just say I shouldn't be the minority leader. I should be somewhere else."

Senate President Larry Obhof, a Medina Republican, said he supports the research.

"If you actually believe in small government, if you want to restrain having to spend on things like social services, an ounce of prevention saves a pound of cure," he said.CLEVELAND -- Ohio seems headed for a welcome rarity - an election for governor where both candidates want to do more for kids.

Not a single one of Ohio's huge problems related to workforce readiness, educational attainment, criminal justice costs and infant mortality can be solved without a relentless focus on and investment in the first years of a child's life. Especially in a state where only 40 percent of its children arrive at kindergarten ready to learn.

Policies related to infants require long-term commitments. And that lack of a quick fix explains why young kids are usually an afterthought among major party candidates for governor.

This year promises to be different.

And if Republican Mike DeWine and Democrat Rich Cordray keep their campaign promises on this issue, it will increase the likelihood of Ohio's 70th governor being remembered as a successful one.

Anyone who doubts the wisdom of massive investments in quality preschool should spend time with "From the Ground Up - Unearthing Fairness for Ohio's Kids."

The 219-page report released yesterday by Groundwork Ohio, the statewide nonprofit dedicated to early childhood education, is the most comprehensive look at this issue ever undertaken in Ohio.

And it adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting early childhood education works.

Also worth watching is a short video produced by Goundwork Ohio that can be found here.

Shannon Jones, Groundwork Ohio's executive director, has been lobbying the Cordray and DeWine campaigns for months on this issue.

It's paying off.

"Both candidates are talking meaningfully about the challenges of at-risk kids," said Jones. "The election of the next governor provides a real chance for Ohio's youngest and most vulnerable children to get the priority they deserve."

DeWine has a detailed plan for increasing investment in and eligibility for government-funded preschool. It also provides for parental counseling, and improvements in foster care programs.

Cordray has said he wants to provide universal preschool for poor children in part by diverting money that has been allocated for online charter schools.

The online component is part of the Democratic plan to link Republicans to the scandalous failure of the online charter school Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT).

However, the plan laid out by DeWine is easily the most substantive.

What's more, Cordray must be careful not to make his version of expanded preschool little more than a two-year extension of the public school system.

Quality preschool is markedly different than the public education system. It's unlikely the two can be successfully commingled.

Brain research consistently shows the first 1,000 days of a child's life play a crucial role in lifetime learning, healthy choices and career experiences.

And there is a direct connection between Ohio's underinvestment in those young minds and a population where only 27 percent of residents age 25 or older have a bachelor's degree or higher.

Investing in young children won't break the bank. Early childhood represents only 6.3 percent of the more than $11 billion in tax dollars the state will allocate this year for K-12 and preschool, according to Jones.

New spending totaling $500 million over the next six years might prove to be one of the best investments Ohio has ever made - saving taxpayers billions in the long haul.

But as important as quality preschool is for Ohio's future, of far more importance is the country's future.

And in choosing a new governor, voters have every right to consider the incalculable harm President Donald Trump's cruel and indefensible policies are doing to the United States and its children.

DeWine embraced Trump in his ugly GOP primary campaign against Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor. He'll be much more circumspect in the weeks ahead.

But DeWine's support for the most unfit man to ever hold the presidency, a monster whose policies result in infants being taken from their parents, is relevant.

With each passing day, and with every unconscionable attack on the rule of law and the First Amendment, it becomes increasing clear this congenital liar represents a clear and present danger to the nation and its people. Especially the ones DeWine and Cordray want to help.

Brent Larkin was The Plain Dealer's editorial director from 1991 until his retirement in 2009.

To reach Brent Larkin: blarkin@cleveland.com

Have something to say about this topic? Use the comments to share your thoughts. Then, stay informed when readers reply to your comments by using the "Follow" option at the top of the comments, and look for updates via the small blue bell in the lower right as you look at more stories on cleveland.com.Amazon reports second-quarter earnings after the bell Thursday, and its results could help it become the worlds first $1 trillion company.

Amazon is probably the most beloved of the FANG stocks," RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney told CNBC on Monday. "The revenue growth is accelerating and margins are expanding."

Analysts say Amazon is expensive based on its operating profit margins, but investors are valuing the company based on its future growth potential. Heres what 10 experts have said about Amazon ahead of earnings.The American will be under house arrest as his trial on terror and espionage charges continues.

Brunson was arrested in the Aegean province of Izmir in December 2016; he was charged with committing crimes, including spying for the PKK terror group and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the defeated coup attempt of July 2016.

His lawyer Ismail Cem Halavurt said Brunson has to wear an electronic ankle bracelet and is banned from leaving the country.

Brunson has worked in Turkey for 23 years as the pastor of the Resurrection Church. He could receive another 20 years if he is found guilty of espionage.

"In Turkey, Pastor Andrew Brunson remains wrongfully imprisoned on false charges", Brownback told foreign delegates and civil society representatives.

Brunson's detention deepened a rift between North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies Washington and Ankara - also at odds over the Syrian war and Turkey's plan to buy missile defences from Russian Federation - and financial markets took his transfer order as a positive sign. A statement by the American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative group that represents Brunson, called it "a critical first step that we believe will result in the freedom of Pastor Andrew so he can return to the United States and be reunited with his family".

"We have seen no credible evidence", Pompeo wrote.

Last week, when a judge ordered Brunson's remand after a court hearing, President Trump on Twitter called the decision "a total disgrace", adding that "he has been held hostage far too long".

After two years of uncertainty in a Turkish prison, Pastor Andrew Brunson of Black Mountain, N.C., is finally being released. He has done nothing wrong, and his family needs him!

USA support for Kurdish forces fighting the Syrian civil war and its refusal to extradite Mr Gulen have angered President Erdogan, while Turkey's decision previous year to buy Russian anti-aircraft missiles drew controversy.

Brunson is one of tens of thousands of people detained on similar charges during the state of emergency declared by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the wake of the 2016 failed coup bid. Gulen denies any involvement in the coup bid. Turkish requests for his arrest and extradition have not been granted.

The US Senate passed a bill last month including a measure that prohibits Turkey from buying F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets because of Brunson's imprisonment and Turkey's purchase of Russia's S-400 air defence system.

The same court on July 18 ordered that Brunson remain imprisoned until an October 12 hearing.A woman putting her suitcase in an overhead luggage bin on an American Airlines plane at Miami International Airport. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/UIG via Getty Images)

American Airlines is backing off of one of its stingiest rules for its cheapest seats: requiring passengers traveling basic economy to check their carry-on bags, and pay the $25 to $50 fees that come with it.

Travelers flying on basic economy tickets had been banned from bringing carry-on bags, filled with clothing or other necessities, on board when the restrictive, no-frills fares launched in early 2017. The new rule takes effect Sept. 5.

American is trying to get a leg up on its competition as the industry gets squeezed by higher jet fuel costs and reduced profits. Its shares have dropped more than 24 percent so far this year, more than other U.S. airlines.

United Airlines has a basic economy product that's similar to American's. It doesn't allow basic economy passengers on domestic flights to bring carry-on bags. While the airline isn't currently planning to change that policy, it's "continuously reviewing" its fare options, spokesman Jonathan Guerin said.

Restricting overhead bin space speeds up boarding and allows the airline's flights to leave on-time, Guerin said.

American and other airlines' so-called basic economy class is restrictive by design, so travelers will avoid the fare altogether and purchase a more expensive ticket, American Airlines executives have said. Travelers on these fares board last, cannot be upgraded, are not allowed to select a seat ahead of time, and can only bring a personal item they are allowed to bring on board must fit under the seat in front of them.

Online flight search and booking sites, like Google, help travelers filter out fares and flights by baggage allowances, which pushed American main cabin economy fares down the list because they are more expensive than basic economy, the airline's CEO Doug Parker said Thursday.

Rival Delta Air Lines offers a version of basic economy that allows passengers to bring a carry-on bag with them.Analysts called it the biotech catalyst of the summer. But as we often see with trials of Alzheimer's disease drugs, it turned out to raise more questions than provide answers.

Biogen and Eisai's experimental Alzheimer's therapy, dubbed BAN2401, was shown to slow the cognitive declines associated with Alzheimer's disease  such as memory loss and trouble thinking clearly  by 30 percent at its highest dose, compared with placebo, over 18 months. Moreover, that dose showed a significant clearance of amyloid plaque buildups in the brain, of 93 percent.

That sounds very promising. But as Eisai revealed more details about the data in a presentation at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Chicago late Wednesday, questions emerged: While the high dose showed a 30 percent improvement on a composite endpoint of cognition measures  one made up of several better-known scales  it didn't meet statistical significance on one more common measure.

There were also questions about the lower doses, which didn't appear to work. And, later, the reveal that the highest dose group, which performed so well, had significantly fewer patients with a genetic mutation known as APOE4 associated with Alzheimer's disease than the other groups. While it's not known whether patients with this mutation decline faster than those without it, analysts and investors raised questions about whether that could account for the more positive result in the high-dose group.

Biogen Chief Executive Michel Vounatsos, in an interview on "Squawk Box" Thursday morning, agreed that questions about the genetic differences among groups in the trial are fair.

"The study is a positive, but there are still some questions to be answered," Vounatsos said. "And the one on APOE is obvious and very fair. We have to follow through on that."

Ahead of the study results, Biogen shares had hit a 52-week high, but in trading Thursday, the stock shed more than 9 percent. The company, valued at $73.4 billion, is up more than 9 percent since January.

Biogen's partner Eisai, based in Japan, is taking the lead on the studies, Vounatsos said.

On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Eisai shares fell about 10 percent.

"While we speak, they're working, I'm sure, to bring more clarity to the community on APOE," he said, "and I think it's a matter of a little bit of time."

Vounatsos also said the results reinforce his confidence in the so-called amyloid hypothesis, the idea that targeting the plaque buildups, known as beta amyloid, in the brain will alter the course of Alzheimer's disease. But much skepticism remains, as the failure rate in Alzheimer's disease trials is even higher than that of the rest of drug development, with at least nine major late-stage drug failures in the last decade (not all of which targeted amyloid, but many of which did).

Eisai's Lynn Kramer, chief medical officer of the Japanese company's neurology business group, declared the trial a success Wednesday in a meeting briefing, noting, "We think this result is really the first of its kind," and "robust enough to approach regulatory authorities to discuss next steps."

The companies surprised investors earlier this month when they announced the study had met its goal after 18 months, because it hadn't done so at a 12-month look. Both Biogen and Eisai's stocks rallied so much the companies collectively gained $20 billion in market value, according to Robert W. Baird analyst Brian Skorney.

Maria Carrillo, chief scientific officer for the Alzheimer's Association, struck a more measured tone in reacting to the data Wednesday.

"This is the second trial that is demonstrating a clearance of amyloid in the brain through PET imaging, and perhaps other biomarkers," Carrillo told reporters. "And also has hints of some efficacy in cognitive tests."

The first, she noted, was an earlier-stage trial of another Biogen Alzheimer's drug, aducanumab, now in more advanced clinical trials expected to produce data in 2020.

"What we see is the amyloid hypothesis remains something that needs to continue to be tested," Carrillo said.

The 30 percent slowing of Alzheimer's progression in the results released Wednesday was measured by a scale called the Alzheimer's Disease Composite Score, or ADCOMS, a combination of commonly used endpoints that gauge cognition, or the ability to remember things and think clearly. On a more common measure of cognition, known as ADAS-cog, the highest dose of BAN2401 slowed progression by 47 percent compared with placebo.

On another well-known measure, known as the Clinical Dementia Rating, or CDR, the difference between the highest dose and placebo was 26 percent, but that result didn't meet statistical significance. That metric is particularly important because it's the primary goal of Biogen's ongoing aducanumab trial, Piper Jaffray analyst Chris Raymond wrote in a note to investors Wednesday evening.

"We do think this reaction is misplaced and shares will ultimately recover once investors put these data into perspective," Raymond wrote.

The most common side effects were infusion reaction and one known as ARIA, or amyloid-related imaging abnormalities, which can manifest as brain swelling or bleeding. Such swelling occurred in less than 10 percent of patients across all treatment groups, Eisai's Kramer said.The Capitol building in Washington, DC. Aaron P. Bernstein | Reuters

A political action committee that pushes black voter turnout, and helped Democrats flip a U.S. Senate seat in deep-red Alabama, is looking to build on that success in the 2018 midterm congressional elections. The Color of Change political action committee, which boasts the financial support of high-profile liberal donors such as George Soros, is training thousands of volunteers to convince unregistered voters and other people who don't usually turn out for elections that their votes this fall could help the black community. "What we are essentially doing is building a grassroots army of black leaders who are going to be doing large scale black voter engagement," said Arisha Hatch, director of the organization and a 2008 alum of then-candidate Barack Obama's presidential campaign. The volunteers will be working the phones and knocking on doors to have what she describes as a "peer to peer" conversation about the need for their vote. Although the PAC is not directly affiliated with a political party, Hatch says the group believes the only way to see its political goals reflected in Congress is to remove Republicans from power and to replace them with candidates who will act as a check on President Donald Trump.

Big agenda, big money

While the PAC has not settled on specific candidates to back in November, it is looking for candidates who will support affordable health-care initiatives, increased funding for public education, reducing the black incarceration rate and refining police standards. It is also joining the ranks of other groups calling for lawmakers to join them in their fight against alleged voter suppression and reforming the country's bail system. The Color of Change PAC agenda mirrors the ideologies expressed by some of the group's progressive donors. Billionaire Soros has given the group $50,000, while Onward Together, a group founded by 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, has donated $100,000, according to Federal Election Commission records. Other prominent supporters include Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, who has donated $200,000. The PAC has spent $2.5 million so far during the 2018 election cycle, according to FEC records, and had $1.2 million on hand as of July. Most of the group's spending has gone toward digital advertising in various special elections, including last year's battle between Republican former Alabama Judge Roy Moore and Democratic newcomer Doug Jones for the seat once held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The PAC spent thousands against Moore, who was accused by several women of sexual assault and misconduct decades ago. The group also spent money on digital ads to support Jones, went on to win the special election in December, making him the first Democrat to hold an Alabama U.S. Senate seat in 25 years. The PAC is looking to swing Republican-held districts in Florida, Michigan, Nevada and California. While California and Nevada voted against Trump, there are six GOP seats that are considered vulnerable throughout the two states. It also hopes to have volunteers to go door to door in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Trump won each of these states in the 2016 presidential election. "There is a real recognition from the Color of Change PAC, that in order for things to change it would mean flipping the House, shifting the dichotomy in the Senate and putting people in place who will serve as a check to the Trump administration," Hatch said.

Republicans vulnerable in swing statesQualcomm's termination of its proposed acquisition of rival chipmaker NXP reveals China has plenty of options in its trade war with the U.S., Yale economist Stephen Roach told CNBC on Thursday.

"It's a reminder that trade wars are maybe not that easy to win," Roach, a senior fellow at Yale and former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, said in a "Squawk Box" interview. "And China has a lot of ammunition up its sleeve."

Qualcomm officially terminated the deal to buy NXP after failing to get a decision from regulators in China by its deadline. It will proceed with a $30 billion stock buyback program that the chipmaker had previously said it would implement if it failed to complete the NXP deal.

The deal had been held up by Chinese regulators amid a growing trade conflict between the U.S. and the Asian country. The U.S. and China both instituted tariffs on the other country's goods.

China denied any link between the scrapped deal and the trade war.

Roach urged the Trump administration to understand that the U.S. and China "need each other," saying low-price Chinese imports are needed to "make ends meet" for cash-strapped Americans.

"The Trump administration is clearly focused on isolating China, putting more pressure on China," he said.

American farmers are among the hardest hit by China's 25 percent retaliatory duties on everything from meats and dairy to fruits and vegetables to rice and soybeans.

The Trump administration unveiled a plan this week to offer billions in aid to farmers hit by tariffs, which was quickly condemned by some Republican senators.

Roach said the plan isn't a great strategy, adding it's like "tying one arm behind your back and you use your foot to kick the ball down the field. It's not the best way to make progress on this front."Four U.S. airlines have failed to satisfy China's aviation regulator over their website descriptions of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

China is asking foreign companies to avoid referring to Taiwan in particular as a country in its own right. Beijing policy dictates that China will refuse diplomatic relations with any country that recognizes the island as a sovereign state.

At present most sovereign states only hold official diplomatic recognition with the mainland People's Republic of China (PRC), designating it, with some ambiguity, as the sole representative of China. Just 17 of 163 United Nations formally hold diplomatic relations with Taiwan, also referred to as the Republic of China (ROC).

In May, Washington described the Chinese demands over Taiwan naming as "Orwellian nonsense" and requested talks on the matter. China refused to engage and set a deadline of July 25 for firms, especially airlines, to make the changes.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said Thursday that 40 of 44 international carriers had satisfactorily amended their website references to Taiwan, as well as the former British colony of Hong Kong and the former Portuguese colony of Macau.

CAAC identifies the four outstanding airlines as United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Hawaiian Airlines. As of Thursday, all four websites for the airlines now only list Taipei's airport code but do not reference Taiwan.

The Chinese aviation body said that the remaining four airlines had submitted a two-week extension to audit their website, as full "rectification" had not been completed.

CAAC did not make clear what more is expected before it is fully satisfied with the change but said it would pay close attention before deciding to take action.

United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Hawaiian Airlines were not immediately available for comment.South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix posted record second-quarter operating profit on Thursday, beating market expectations thanks to strong sales of DRAM chips for servers.

The world's No. 2 memory chipmaker said operating profit for April-June grew 83 percent to 5.6 trillion won ($5 billion) from 3.1 trillion won a year earlier.

That compared with a 5.4 trillion won Thomson Reuters StarMine SmartEstimate from a survey of 21 analysts.

Revenue for the period rose 55 percent from a year earlier to a record 10.4 trillion won, the company said.

SK Hynix stock rose 1 percent on the result, after sliding more than 7 percent since Monday on analyst forecasts of a slowdown in DRAM sector performance.

The results come as an industry-wide shift to new production technology raises market fears of oversupply that could spell the end of a cycle of strong price growth that has underpinned record profits for the past two years.Comcast reported mixed quarterly results Thursday  beating Wall Street estimates on earnings but falling short on revenue  and posted a big beat on high-speed internet adds.

Here's how the company did compared with what Wall Street predicted:

Earnings: 65 cents per share vs. 60 cents per share forecast by Thomson Reuters

Revenue: $21.74 billion vs. $21.86 billion forecast by Thomson Reuters

Net increase of 260,000 high-speed internet customers vs. 195,000 forecast by FactSet consensus estimates

Shares of Comcast rose 4 percent by the close on Thursday.

The report comes on the heels of a busy quarter of evolving M&A strategy for the media giant, which owns CNBC-parent NBCUniversal. Comcast has been in bidding wars for U.K. broadcaster Sky and 21st Century Fox assets, but last week abandoned its bid for Fox.

The Fox bid was largely a play at international expansion, CEO Brian Roberts said on the company's earnings call, but didn't promise enough shareholder value at the higher price.

"We've looked at a lot of things  thousands of transactions over 50 years, and we've done several hundred," Roberts said. "And we have more times than not been able to create shareholder value if we can make those acquisitions work."

Comcast's pursuit of new media assets comes amid consistent declines in video customers for the last four quarters, according to FactSet.

The company continues to add high-speed internet customers, though, blowing Wall Street projections out of the water in the second quarter. Roberts said in a statement the 260,000 net new internet customers is the highest second-quarter result in a decade.

"As more people rely on faster and faster broadband and more capacity, that gave us a marvelous opportunity to make investments, to take the innovation machinery that our engineers and technology team have built and repurpose them partially to focus on innovation around broadband," Roberts said.

Last quarter, Comcast saw a revenue boost from NBC's coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl. Revenue from the company's NBCUniversal segment  absent those one-time boosts  was flat in the second quarter. Comcast also reported record-setting coverage for Telemundo, as it presented the FIFA World Cup for the first time.

The company's second quarter revenue represents a 2 percent year-over-year increase. Earnings per share jumped 25 percent from the year-ago period.

Disclosure: Comcast is the owner of NBCUniversal, parent company of CNBC and CNBC.com.Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank (ECB). Jasper Juinen | Bloomberg | Getty Images

European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi said it is "too early" to assess the impact of the recent agreement between Europe and the United States over trade. But that in any case it is a "good sign." The deterioration in trade relations between the U.S. and Europe has been closely watched not only by market players, but also by central bankers in Frankfurt. Higher tariffs and restrictions by the U.S. could ultimately dent the euro zone economy at a time when the region has finally started to see some positivity following the sovereign debt crisis of 2011. However, President Donald Trump and the European Commission struck a deal on Wednesday that was welcomed by many in Europe. Their agreement put a break on new tariffs and promised to work toward stronger trade links in the coming months. Draghi told reporters that the ECB "took note" of the deal. "It's too early to assess the actual content," he said. "It is a good sign, because in a sense it shows that there is a willingness to discuss trade issues in a multilateral framework again," the central banker said.

Draghi had warned in March  when Trump threatened to impose metal tariffs on Europe  that "unilateral decisions are dangerous." "What strikes me is whatever convictions you have about trade, we are convinced that disputes should be discussed and resolved in multilateral framework," Draghi said at the time.

'Significant' stimulus still needed

Aside from trade, the euro zone's central bank decided to keep its key interest rates unchanged Thursday. This means that the ECB's interest rate on its main refinancing operations, its marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at zero, 0.25 and -0.40 percent, respectively. Draghi told reporters that the euro zone still needs "significant monetary policy stimulus," despite announcing last month the winding down of its quantitative easing (QE) program. "Significant monetary policy stimulus is still needed to support the further build-up of domestic price pressures and headline inflation developments over the medium term," Draghi told reporters in Frankfurt, following another policy meeting. In June, the central bank outlined plans to end its massive bond-buying program in December and hinted that interest rates are likely to remain at current ultra-low levels until, at least, the summer of 2019. European policymakers repeated Thursday that this is their baseline scenario, which will only be subject to potential changes depending on upcoming data. Nonetheless, Draghi noted that uncertainty surrounding the inflation outlook is receding.

No discussion over reinvestment policyEuropean markets closed higher Thursday, as concerns over rising trade tensions between the U.S. and Europe showed signs of easing.

The pan-European closed provisionally 0.87 percent higher with almost every sector in positive territory. The German DAX was the best performing market, up by 1.83 percent. Autos stocks were the best performers, up 2.58 percent. This followed news that while both sides of the Atlantic are to work to reduce their trade differences.

On Wednesday, Trump announced that the U.S. and the European Union had initiated a "new phase" within their relationship. "We agreed today, first of all, to work together towards zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers and zero subsidies for the non-auto industrial goods," Trump said at a press conference with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

Furthermore, market sentiment was also impacted by earnings and corporate news. Elis rose to the top of the European benchmark, up by 12.68 percent, after announcing the acquisition of Kings Laundry.

Airbus rose 4.5 percent after reporting that its second-quarter profit more than doubled. CEO Tom Enders said that he was not seeking a merger of the combat jet activities with BAE Systems.

At the other end, shares of British shopping center operator Intu Properties hit an all-time low after the company warned of lower full-year rental growth. Intu Chief Executive David Fischel will step down once a successor has been appointed, the company said in a statement Thursday. Shares plummeted 8.308 percent.

And U.K. manufacturing firm Cobham's share price fell to the bottom of the European benchmark after it said Boeing is withholding payment over the troubled KC-46 aerial refueling program. The firm said it would take a 40 million ($52.6 million) hit due to delays to the program, sending the stock down 9.878 percent.

On Wall Street, the Nasdaq composite and S&P 500 fell as investors digested disappointing earnings from Facebook. The social media giant's revenues appeared to take a hit from the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. The stock is flirting with bear market territory  nearly 20 percent off its 52-week high.Car stocks got a boost Thursday following the meeting between the U.S. and European Union that earned automakers in the region a reprieve from higher import tariffs.

Car stocks in Europe were on a roll Thursday lunchtime with Fiat Chrysler trading up 5.2 percent, Porsche up 3.6 percent, BMW up 3.5 percent, Volkswagen was up 3.4 percent and Daimler up 2.6 percent.

The sector as a whole was trading 2.2 percent higher on the Stoxx Europe 600 Index and helped DAX in Germany, where the majority of European carmaker's are from, to rise by 1.5 percent.

In fact, all auto and auto-related stocks, such as auto parts suppliers such as Michelin, Pirelli and Hella, on the Euro Stoxx index were in the black apart from Valeo, down over 7 percent after it cut its profit outlook earlier Thursday.

The boost comes after President Donald Trump and Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, had a conciliatory meeting Wednesday at which Trump decided that tariffs on EU car imports would not be increased while negotiations continued, giving both sides more time to avert a potential trade war.

Trump said the leaders had agreed "to work together towards zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers and zero subsidies for the non-auto industrial goods." The future import tariffs on EU cars, which currently stands at 2.5 percent, was not addressed.

Trump threatened in Juneff to increase duties on EU car imports to 20 percent, a move that could damage Europe's key carmaking industry, particularly those in the region's largest economy Germany where the car industry supports some 800,000 jobs.

U.S. cars are currently subject to 10 percent tariffs when they are exported to Europe, which Trump has called out as unfair.

Carmakers are being tight-lipped about the meeting. Italian-American auto maker Fiat Chrysler told CNBC they would not comment on the meeting; German automaker BMW told CNBC Thursday that it did not comment on the "tariffs topic" either. Instead it referred to a previous statement in which it said that the "BMW Group is committed to free trade worldwide: Our company has a global production network and a global sales market. We also take advantage of purchasing markets around the world," it said.

"Barrier-free access to markets is therefore a key factor not only for our business model, but also for growth, welfare and employment throughout the global economy."With 42 per cent of polling stations counted, the Election Commission of Pakistan had Mr Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party leading in 113 of 272 contested National Assembly constituencies, according to Pakistan's Dawn Newspaper.

But victory in the election, which marks only the second time that power in Pakistan has been transferred from one civilian government to another, will be tempered by unprecedented allegations of voting irregularities.

The battle is set to come down to three parties: Shahbaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Imran Khan's PTI.

Earlier police said a shooting between supporters of two opposing political parties had left one person dead and two others wounded in a village near the northwestern city of Sawabi.

"I was going to vote for Nawaz Sharif, but the way that he lied on the floor of the house, that convinced me that I couldn't vote for him", said Ahmed Ali Malik, a retired banker who flew in from Manchester to vote at Lahore's Delhi Gate.

After various reports claiming tampering with the polling process surfaced in the recent past, there is a growing fear among the people of Pakistan that a grave injustice can happen to their mandate.

Khan campaigned on populist promises to build a "New Pakistan" and vowed to eradicate corruption, clean up the environment and construct an "Islamic welfare" state.

It is a stunning rise for an anti-corruption crusader who spent much of his political career on the fringes of Pakistani politics. "They will make a lethal combination if they joined hands against Imran Khan", analyst Sohail Warriach said.

According to latest unofficial election trends, ARY News reported that PTI is now leading in 115 seats, a drop from the earlier 120.

Pakistani election staff prepare election material ahead of voting.

The former ambassador added: "It is unlikely that a prime minister Imran Khan will act decisively against jihadis, given his sympathy for their cause but miracles can happen".

An elderly Pakistani man shows his inked thumb after casting his vote outside a polling station during general elections in Lahore.

Incidents of firing and grenade attacks on polling stations were also reported from the Khuzdar district in Balochistan, Larkana in Sindh province and elsewhere.

Imran is also expected to address a press conference later today.

"This is not an election, it is complete selection", said PML-N Sen.

"Happy Election Day Pakistan, you maddening, beautiful, crazy, beloved old friend".

In Lahore, the capital of what is traditionally Sharif's Punjab power base, Khan's supporters danced in the streets, waving flags bearing his image, honking horns and firing celebratory gunshots.

Khan is also likely to be met with trepidation in neighbouring Afghanistan, where he has been vocal in his opposition to the US-led invasion that followed the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Khan's camp was increasingly confident, although it still appeared likely to fall short of the 137 seats needed for a majority in the National Assembly, raising the prospect it would need to find coalition partners among smaller parties and independents.

Rights activist Tahira Abdullah said Tuesday that local jirgas, or councils of elders, from 60 areas representing 16 different constituencies had signed agreements banning women from voting despite the new ruling.Food waste is a big, big problem. Around 1.3 billion tons of food produced for human consumption is either lost or wasted every year, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).



The economic impact of such wastage is significant, with the FAO saying that food losses and waste add up to roughly $680 billion in industrialized countries. For developing countries, that figure is around $310 billion.



Winnow  which has offices in the U.K., Singapore, China and the United Arab Emirates  has developed smart technology that allows professional kitchens to monitor and reduce food waste and lower costs.



In commercial kitchens, its very difficult to understand whats being wasted, where its happening and why, Mark Zornes, co-founder and CEO of the business, told CNBCs Juliet Mann. These are busy operations, theyre very complex operations... We provide a data platform for the kitchen on what theyre wasting, to inform the chef on how they can run an operation better.



The system developed by Winnow is relatively simple. A scale is placed under a kitchens bin and connected to a Winnow tablet. With a few touches on the tablet, kitchen staff identify the items they have just disposed of, and then get back to preparing and cooking food.



Were providing data in a place where data didnt exist and were trying to provide that information in a way that will drive action, Thorn said.



The impact of the technology on businesses can be significant, he added. We find that when we put Winnow into kitchens and they implement our system to understand whats being wasted and take action on that, that ultimately, they can cut food waste in half within their business. This meant an operation could typically make a 3 to 8 percent food cost saving, he added.



Kitchens are hot, frenetic places. How then, do staff members have the time to weigh food while trying to make sure they keep on top of all their other duties?



We focus our system on being dead simple to use, it takes only a few minutes a day for kitchen staff to use this system, Thorn said. If you then think about the time that theyre saving to not prepare that food that would have otherwise been wasted, ultimately were actually making these kitchens easier to run, we're actually saving net time in the kitchen as a result.

Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook.Republicans have increasingly criticized Trump's tariffs on major trading partners such as Canada, Mexico, the European Union and China that have sparked retaliatory duties on American products. Those counterpunches targeting products including soybeans have taken a toll on agricultural states such as Kansas.

"Mr. President, it would be useful if we could narrow the scope and focus on China. And to do that we need to have a good trading relationship with Mexico, Canada, the European Union," Moran told CNBC's " Squawk Box ." "Let's single out our efforts worldwide. They share our concerns with what China's doing. Let's work together."

Sen. Jerry Moran , R- Kan ., said Thursday that following through on efforts to de-escalate tensions with allies will be "helpful in regard to our concerns with China" about alleged intellectual property theft by Chinese companies and cyberattacks originating in the country.

A Republican senator from a key agricultural state wants President Donald Trump to "rapidly" reduce trade conflicts with the European Union , Canada and Mexico to focus on what he deems the real problem: Chinese trade abuses.

Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) (C) talks with reporters before stepping into the weekly Republican policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol April 17, 2018 in Washington, DC. Vice President Mike Pence joined the GOP senators for their meeting.

Trump took one major step this week to de-escalate the mounting conflict with the EU amid fears about potentially damaging U.S. tariffs on cars and auto parts imports. After Trump met with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday, the pair said they will work toward removing tariffs, reassessing existing U.S. duties on steel and aluminum imports, and promoting more U.S. agricultural exports to the EU.

The pair did not announce details of a final agreement.

Moran has concerns about multiple pieces of Trump's trade policy ahead of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing he will lead Thursday, at which U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will testify. Moran wants Trump to keep the North American Free Trade Agreement in place, saying it has helped to make Mexico the top buyer of agricultural commodities from Kansas.

The president aims to renegotiate the three-nation agreement and has promised to pull out of it if he fails to secure better terms. White House officials have indicated Trump could seek separate, one-on-one deals with Canada and Mexico rather than revising the the multilateral NAFTA.

Moran told CNBC that farmers "need some reassurance" about their ability to do business.

"The circumstances we face, farmers and ranchers face in Kansas, is significantly challenging. It's dire I would say," the senator said.

Numerous Republicans and Democrats in Congress have cheered Trump's efforts to crack down on alleged Chinese trade abuses. However, many lawmakers such as Moran have argued his moves have gone too far and hurt American farmers.

On Tuesday, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced that the Trump administration will offer up to $12 billion in emergency aid to farmers hurt by the tariff policy.White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow predicted that the second-quarter GDP release Friday will live up to the mounting hype.

"You're going to get a very good economic growth number tomorrow. Big," Kudlow, head of the National Economic Council, told the Fox Business Network in an interview Thursday.

While he said he could not speculate on where the number will land specifically, he did not disagree with a suggestion that it would be in the 4 to 4.5 percent range.

"I have no reason to disagree with that, but I have no knowledge, no information," Kudlow told FBN. "We won't hear about that until way later today."A drop in foot traffic at McDonald's restaurants in China in recent months has CEO Steve Easterbrook worried that the trade war between the Trump administration and Asia has turned off customers there.

"A somewhat more noticeable trend over the last say, three to six months, has been in China, where we are still getting like for like sales growth but the guest count growth has gone negative in China through the quarter," Easterbrook said on a conference call discussing the company's second-quarter earnings Thursday.

President Donald Trump appears to be making important progress in trade talks with U.S. allies, but on the Chinese front, matters seem to be getting worse.

The U.S. slapped tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese products, and China retaliated. Tariffs on the first $34 billion went into effect earlier this month by both countries, with the balance yet to be implemented. But there are bigger threats in the offering, with Trump proposing $200 billion more in an effort to get China to ease its position on U.S. intellectual property and tariffs.

"There has been a big impact within that market on the uncertainty of the trade discussions...it has clearly hit the markets, which in turn has hit consumer confidence," Easterbrook said. "So, we are keeping a close eye on that and adjusting our plans so that we can be competitive."

Foot traffic in the U.S. also slumped in the second quarter, falling 0.3 percent. In the last five quarters, this metric had been positive.

Even with this decline, McDonald's same-store sales, a key metric for restaurant companies, were up 4 percent globally, higher than the 3.5 percent expected by StreetAccount. The Golden Arches' sales this year have been fueled by higher check averages, more expensive menu items and diners adding Dollar Menu items to their orders.Serhant explains that as a real estate agent, knowing how to give your time and resources without expecting anything in return is crucial.

"Im the type of person who loves surprising people, and I love giving to people because you then get to know that person through their excitement to be around you, because youre such a giver," he says, "whether its giving gifts, or advice, or a free book or whatever you want to give that person."

Serhant credits his success to knowing how to build solid relationships, in business and in life. In a recent interview on the podcast " 5 Questions with Dan Schawbel ," Serhant says that one of his core principles for sustaining key relationships is knowing how to give before you take anything.

Ryan Serhant is a real estate agent whose multi-million dollar success has made him a hit star on Bravo's reality series " Million Dollar Listing New York ," and earned him his own spin-off, " Sell It Like Serhant ," which premiered this year.

"I work for free every day until I actually sell something," he says. "If someone wants to see apartments for 10 years, I show them apartments for free for 10 years."

He says this concept has taught him "how to build relationships based on giving things for free until you get what you want." In the end, he says the good you give out "will always come back to you, because you will be the person who never asks for a single thing."

The 34 year old's idea of giving before receiving has paid off in his career and brought him a lot of long-term success. Last year, his team at New York real estate firm Nest Seekers ranked No. 5 in the U.S. in terms of sales volume, with more than $600 million in transactions.

He tells CNBC Make It that looking back on his career, even he is sometimes surprised by the success he's reached today. He entered the business in 2008 when the housing market was collapsing and many brokers were leaving the industry. In his first year as an agent, he made only $9,000. But rather than quitting, Serhant stuck it out and embraced the struggles that came with the economic crisis.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I think that 10 years later I would do [$100 million] in deals over spotty Wi-Fi while on a safari in South Africa like I did last week," he told CNBC Make It in April.

Billionaire Charlie Munger, vice chairman of investment firm Berkshire Hathaway, has a similar philosophy. In a 2007 USC Law commencement speech, Munger told students that one of the core principles that has led to his success is understanding that "the safest way to try and get what you want is to try and deserve what you want." He explained that in order to show you're deserving of something, you have to give before you receive.

"By and large the people who have this ethos win in life, and they don't win just money [or] just honors and emolument," Munger told the law students. "They win the respect, the deserved trust, of the people they deal with, and there is huge pleasure in life to be obtained from getting deserved trust."

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Don't miss: 'Million Dollar Listing' star Ryan Serhant started in real estate the day the market crashed  here's what he learnedTreasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC on Thursday a deal on NAFTA is coming in the near future.

"We hope to have an agreement in principle, clearly, very soon. That's the first priority," Mnuchin said on "Squawk Box." "I think we're making a lot of progress."

The U.S., Mexico and Canada have been in talks to renegotiate the trade deal after President Donald Trump repeatedly bashed it by calling it the worst trade agreement ever.

Earlier this month, Trump said he wanted to wait until after the U.S. midterm elections to move forward on a new deal with Mexico and Canada. "NAFTA, I could sign it tomorrow, but I'm not happy with it," Trump said. "I want to make it more fair."

Administration officials have said would be willing to do individual deals with Mexico and Canada. But top negotiators for Canada and Mexico said Wednesday they were committed to a trilateral NAFTA agreement.

Mnuchin spoke a day after Trump announced the U.S. and European Union would work together on lowering tariffs.

"I think you're going to see pieces of this roll out. So it's not just going to be one major agreement. It will be pieces that we agree to over time," Mnuchin said.U.S. trade negotiations with the European Union formed the basis of a "real agreement" that will reduce tensions, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC on Thursday.

Mnuchin spoke a day after the White House announced it had reached a general agreement with the European Union to work toward zero tariffs and reform the World Trade Organization. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker held talks Wednesday on the trade dispute.

In the wake of those negotiations, Mnuchin said the long-term goal is an elimination of all tariffs, and in the nearer term no additional tariffs and a removal of duties on steel and aluminum.

"I think we're well on our way to resolving a lot of these trade issues," he said.

Markets have been on edge as the U.S. and its trading partners have parried back and forth over the trade issues. The U.S. began the tensions with global tariffs on steel and aluminum and recently instituted $34 billion worth of charges on Chinese imports. In addition, the White House has outlined another $200 billion that it is targeting should negotiations prove fruitless.

Mnuchin's comments on "Squawk Box" indicated progress with the EU that the administration hopes can be replicated elsewhere.

"We had a long negotiation session yesterday. We concluded an outline of an agreement, and now we'll turn this into a real agreement," he said. "But this really started with President Trump and his discussions at the G-7, making it clear that we want with the G-7 and Europe free trade, which was no tariffs, no tariff barriers, no subsidies."

It's all part of a larger strategy with the World Trade Organization that Mnuchin called "WTO 2.0."

More immediately, he said the U.S. and Europe will work on ending the steel and aluminum tariffs. While those negotiations are ongoing, there will no new tariffs imposed.

"I think we have the groundwork laid, and I hope to resolve that very quickly," he said.

Mnuchin was less committal when it came to China. Larry Kudlow, the head of the National Economic Council, said last week that China has been resistant to negotiating.

"We're available any time," Mnuchin said on China. "So there continue to be some quiet conversations. We're prepared if they're going to make serious moves to negotiate."

"Our longer-term objective is not to collect tariffs. Our longer-term objective is to have free and fair and reciprocal trade," he added.President Donald Trump crosses the South Lawn upon arrival at the White House on July 8, 2018 in Washington, DC. The First Family spent the weekend at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster Township, New Jersey.

Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating whether President Donald Trump's tweets about Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former FBI Director James Comey amount to obstruction of justice, The New York Times reported on Thursday, citing three people familiar with the matter.

Mueller is investigating whether the president intimidated witnesses or sought to end the investigation, according to the report. The interest in the president's posts on Twitter is part of a broader inquiry that includes misleading statements from the White House and the dangling of pardons to possible witnesses.

The investigators are interested in the president's tweets criticizing Comey, who the president fired in May 2017, as well as Sessions, whom the president has publicly blasted for recusing himself from overseeing the Russia probe.

A spokesperson for the special counsel declined a request for comment from CNBC. The White House did not respond immediately to a request for comment from CNBC.

The president's outside attorney, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, dismissed the special counsel's interest in Trump's posts.

"If you're going to obstruct justice, you do it quietly and secretly, not in public," Giuliani told the Times.

The president has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and his attorneys have argued that the president is permitted to fire any member of his administration.

The president's attorneys are locked in negotiations with the special counsel over the contours of a possible interview with the president.

Giuliani said this week that the president would agree to an interview as long as investigators limited their questions to whether the president colluded with the Russian government. Trump would not answer questions on obstruction of justice, Giuliani said, according to Bloomberg.

Read the full report from The New York Times.

President Donald Trump (R) walks with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (L) at the start of their historic US-North Korea summit, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore on June 12, 2018.

North Korea will transfer the remains of an unspecified number of soldiers killed in the Korean War on Friday, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported, after accepting about 100 wooden caskets sent by the United States.

The repatriation of remains of U.S. soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War was one of the agreements reached during a landmark summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12.

U.S. Forces Korea said later last month they had moved 100 wooden temporary transit cases into the demilitarised zone separating the two Koreas to receive and transport the remains.

Yonhap, citing an unidentified diplomatic source, said on Thursday North Korea had accepted the caskets, which were carried in two trucks, and was expected to transfer the remains on Friday.

The planned transfer would coincide with the 65th anniversary of the 1953 armistice agreement that ended fighting.

A U.S. military transport plane was set to fly to an airfield in North Korea's northeastern city of Wonsan to accept the remains, Yonhap reported. They would then be flown to Hawaii after an initial DNA analysis at Osan air base in South Korea.

CNN, citing a U.S. official, reported earlier this week that Washington expects to receive an initial 55 sets of remains and planned to send officials to North Korea to open and photograph each casket as part of a "cursory review" of what the North Koreans turned over.

U.S. forensic specialists in Osan would then conduct a more in-depth assessment of the remains and any military uniforms, identification tags or documentation, a process that could take up to five days, followed by a formal military ceremony at the airfield.

The remains would then be flown to a U.S. military laboratory in Hawaii for DNA analysis, CNN reported.

South Korea President Moon Jae-in said during a meeting with new U.S. Ambassador Harry Harris on Wednesday that a transfer of the remains would boost the momentum for nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington.

Kim and Trump agreed to work towards denuclearisation at their Singapore summit but there has been no sign of a concrete agreement on how to achieve that goal.

Harris said the transfer, as well as the North's perceived closing of a missile engine testing site, would be an "important sign" to show Kim's sincerity about denuclearisation, Moon's office said.

Recent reports that North Korea had started dismantling a rocket test site are consistent with a commitment made by Kim at the summit but it must go further and fully denuclearize, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday.Japan executed two more members of the doomsday cult group Aum Shinrikyo on Thursday that perpetrated the deadly sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway in 1995, public broadcaster NHK said.

Japan on Thursday executed the last members of the cult sentenced to death for their role in the fatal 1995 sarin attack on the Tokyo subway, weeks after the group's leader was hanged. Japan has never executed so many people in one month, Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa said.

Combination photos shows Aum Shinrikyo cult leader Shoko Asahara, top left, and some of his cult members.

Local media said authorities wanted the death sentences against the Aum members to be carried out before Japan's emperor abdicates next year, when a new imperial era will begin.

In 1995, the group members released sarin in liquid form at five points on the subway network, targeting lines including those passing through Kasumigaseki and Nagatacho, home to the Japanese government.

The toxin struck victims down in a matter of seconds, leaving them choking and vomitting, BBC News reports. Named Aum Shinrikyo, or Supreme Truth, it was blamed for 27 deaths before authorities raided its compound near Mount Fuji in 1995 and captured Asahara almost two months later.

After the attack, authorities raided the cult's headquarters in the foothills of Mount Fuji and found a plant capable of making enough sarin to kill millions of people.

Cult leader Shoko Asahara declared himself to be both Christ and the first "enlightened one" since Buddha.

Aum Shinrikyo, often shortened to Aum, believed that the end of the world was coming and that those outside the cult would go to hell - unless they were killed by cult members. In the following months, members of the cult carried out several failed attempts at releasing hydrogen cyanide in various stations.

It officially disowned Asahara in 2000 and renamed itself Aleph, but experts say the former guru retained a strong influence before his execution.Papa John's founder John Schnatter is suing the pizza chain, seeking documents related to his ouster as chairman earlier this month and accusing the board of acting negligently or staging a possible "coup," according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in Delaware.

Schnatter resigned his post on July 11 after Forbes published an article detailing a May conference call in which Schnatter used the N-word. He confirmed his comments, apologized and stepped down as chairman that same day, after giving up his CEO post in November.

"Instead of standing behind the founder and working with news media to explain what actually occurred, the Company followed its usual, and flawed, manner of dealing with false and mistaken reporting as to comments made by Mr. Schnatter," according to the lawsuit obtained by CNBC.

Schnatter said he suspected the board breached its fiduciary duties, "either the purportedly independent directors acted without adequate information ... or [they] planned this coup in advance."

He said the company refused to correct "misreported stories" about his comments on the May conference call as well as when he took a shot at the NFL last November, blaming falling pizza sales on the league's "poor leadership" amid players kneeling during the national anthem. Instead of defending him, the board asked him to resign, he said in the lawsuit.

"Now they are doing the same thing again  rather than address the real issues like the health of the business, the Company is hiding documents that, we believe, will disclose the actual facts as to what is occurring here, including using Mr. Schnatter as a scapegoat to cover up their own shortcomings and failures," Schnatter's attorney Patty Glaser told CNBC in a statement.

Papa John's spokesman Peter Collins said the company is providing Schnatter, who remains on the board, with the documents he "is entitled to as a director."

"We are saddened and disappointed that John Schnatter has filed a needless and wasteful lawsuit in an attempt to distract from his own words and actions," Collins told CNBC in an email. "We will not let his numerous misstatements in the complaint and elsewhere distract us from the important work we are doing to move the business forward for our 120,000 corporate and franchise team members, and our franchisees, customers and stakeholders."

To read Schnatter's full suit against Papa John's click here. To read the additional material within the lawsuit click here.The Defense Department took a large step forward Thursday in its march toward procuring a secure cloud software, an acquisition potentially worth up to $10 billion.

After a nearly two-month delay, the Pentagon released its final request for proposal for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, contract. The long-awaited final request for proposal simply outlines what companies will have to deliver in order to get the lucrative deal.

The Pentagon's cloud project will transition massive amounts of data to a commercially operated secure cloud system. The deal is a "single-source" award, meaning that only one company will win the entirety of the contract.

Amazon is considered the front-runner for the contract since the tech giant already services the cloud system used by U.S. intelligence agencies.

Amazon's cloud boasts the highest possible security level, while many of its competitors' clouds do not. However, other cloud providers  such as IBM, Microsoft and Oracle  have worked with government agencies for many decades. That could help their chances of winning the decade-long JEDI contract.

The DoD "has an incredibly unique and complex technology estate and finite set of talent and resources," Pentagon Chief Information Officer Dana Deasy said in a statement. "We need help learning how to put in place an enterprise cloud and the JEDI Cloud is a pathfinder effort that will help Department of Defense do that."

Experts think the deal could be a seismic development in the defense-tech world.

"This award could be market-shaping," Andrew Hunter, director of the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in an interview.

"I think industry's concern is that this will be the premier cloud contract, the flagship one, and that other parts of DoD will gravitate to it," he added. "So, I think whoever wins the contract is likely to have a real advantage in the marketplace going forward but not necessarily a decisive one."

The desire to award a multibillion-dollar, two-year cloud contract was largely set into motion after Secretary of Defense James Mattis visited Silicon Valley last year.

TWEET

Federal defense agencies widely use Microsoft's server software, which integrates easily with the company's Azure public cloud, and among employees, Windows is the most popular operating system, Leigh Madden, Microsoft's general manager of defense, told CNBC in a prior interview.

"I think it certainly should make a difference," he said.

Similarly, IBM has worked alongside the military for decades.

"We look forward to submitting a thoughtful, comprehensive proposal for a JEDI cloud that will serve the long-term needs of America's men and women in uniform," Sam Gordy, IBM's Federal general manager, said in a statement.

In the midst of all this, President Donald Trump has attacked Amazon on Twitter, particularly as he rails against The Washington Post, which is owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, for the newspaper's coverage of his administration.

A Vanity Fair report said the Trump administration might try to "cancel Amazon's pending contract" with the Pentagon, but the department maintains that there has been no political pressure from the White House on who should win the multibillion-dollar deal.

U.S. Navy Commander Patrick Evans, a Department of Defense spokesperson, reiterated that the Pentagon's process is "transparent" and will remain "a full and open competition."

"No companies were pre-selected. We have no favorites, and we want the best solution for the department," Evans said.

Similarly, chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana White also addressed speculation Thursday that Amazon was in the lead to take the lucrative defense contract.

"The secretary has been very clear that we need to be good stewards of the American people's money," White said. "So, nothing is taken for granted and nothing is presumed. We will get a full, open and transparent competition, and this is the first of many competitions with respect to the cloud."

The Pentagon is scheduled to award the contract in September.

 CNBC's Jordan Novet contributed to this report.As Qualcomm moves forward after the collapse of its deal to acquire rival NXP, CEO Steve Mollenkopf said he is optimistic about the company's future.

"I think we got caught up in a trade war," he told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Thursday. "That being said, we thought it was important to bring certainty to the process, move on and really focus on the things that we said are going to drive value."

Shares of Qualcomm were up more than 4 percent midday Thursday thanks to a strong earnings report and a plan to repurchase $30 billion in stock. Here are the key numbers:

Earnings: $1.01 per share, excluding certain items, vs. 71 cents per share as expected by analysts, according to Thomson Reuters.

$1.01 per share, excluding certain items, vs. 71 cents per share as expected by analysts, according to Thomson Reuters. Revenue: $5.6 billion, vs. $5.19 billion as expected by analysts, according to Thomson Reuters.

Qualcomm announced Wednesday that it was planning to end its proposed deal to acquire rival NXP if China continued to withhold regulatory approval amid rising trade tensions with the U.S. The deal's termination was finalized Thursday when China's approval never came, and Qualcomm will be responsible for paying the $2 billion breakup fee.

However, Mollenkopf said that he did not see the trade war as a risk to Qualcomm's overall business in China.

"Our business in China remains quite strong," Mollenkopf said, pointing to the company's earnings report. "It's just a very difficult environment to do large M&A, at least today."

The halted merger was not the only setback for the San Diego-based company. Qualcomm also confirmed on a call with investors rumors that Apple will not use Qualcomm's modems in its next product launch.A trade war may be underway, but International Paper CEO Mark Sutton told CNBC that he's not worried about it affecting his business.

"So far we haven't had any direct impacts in any kind of retaliatory way," Sutton said Thursday on "Closing Bell." "The biggest issue for us, and companies like us, is the secondary impact."

One example is packaged food.

"If our customers are caught up in a trade war and tariffs, of course they need less packaging, and we end up getting hit," he said.

Sutton's comments come after President Donald Trump reached a general agreement on trade with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker after a meeting in Washington on Wednesday.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday on CNBC that the administration also expects an agreement with Canada and Mexico "very soon." Meanwhile, negotiations regarding future trade agreements with China remain uncertain.

"The thing about China and fiber is they need fiber to make their fiber-based products," Sutton said. But, he also pointed out, "They don't have it themselves, so depending on what type of product it is, they will need to secure it from somewhere."

International Paper produces fiber-based packaging, pulp and paper.Revenue and profit at Starbucks surged to new records during its fiscal third quarter, topping Wall Street estimates in a tough period marred by public outcry over the coffee chain's treatment of minorities.

Total sales jumped 11.5 percent to $6.31 billion, up from $5.66 billion during the same period last year, Starbucks said in releasing its third-quarter earnings after market close Thursday. The coffee chain said it added new customers to its loyalty program who spent more during the 13 weeks ended July 1.

Starbucks has been working to bolster its loyalty program, faced with a wave of competition from the likes of Dunkin Donuts, McDonald's and JAB Holdings-owned Panera Bread. It said it added 1.9 million active members during the latest period, up 14 percent from a year ago and bringing the total user base to 15.1 million. Coffee and tea drinkers, meanwhile, spent about 3 percent more per trip at its cafes, helping fuel same-store sales.

The latest quarter was an otherwise bumpy one for Starbucks, which closed 8,000 of its U.S. locations for a day in May to provide racial bias training to 175,000 employees. The company has taken a number of dramatic steps to restore its image after a store manager in Philadelphia called the police on two black men who asked to use a bathroom  igniting public outrage.

Here's what Starbucks reported for the 13-week period ended July 1, compared with what analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting:

Adjusted earnings per share: 62 cents vs. 61 cents expected

Revenue: $6.23 billion vs. $6.25 billion expected

Same-store sales: an increase of 1 percent globally vs. 0.9 percent growth expected

Despite the beat, Starbucks trimmed its same-store sales outlook for the full year. While growth in the U.S. cools, the company is embarking on an aggressive expansion plan overseas with a focus on China and its 1.4 billion people.

Although China has been Starbucks' biggest growth driver of late, same-store sales there fell 2 percent during the third quarter, compared with increases of 4 and 6 percent in the latest two periods. One concern in this market is the stricter regulations that Starbucks faces as it looks to roll out additional delivery services. Same-store sales in the U.S., meanwhile, were up just 1 percent during the latest period.

The company also on Thursday announced it would begin testing new delivery options in Beijing and Shanghai in fiscal 2019, hoping to drive same-store sales higher there.

"Let me assure you that our new delivery service will adhere to the high standards our customers in China have come to expect ... as we expand our business [there]," said Belinda Wong, CEO of Starbucks China, on the company's earnings conference call.

Starbucks shares were up less than 1 percent in after-hours trading on the news.

CEO Kevin Johnson said the company was going to raise dividends and increase its share-buyback program to return $10 billion more to shareholders by 2020 than previously promised. In November, the company announced it would return $15 billion to shareholders through buybacks and dividends through fiscal 2020.

"As we flex our balance sheet, we have now expanded that commitment equipment to $25 billion," Johnson said on an earnings call with analysts.

Starbucks earned a record $852.5 million, or 61 cents per share, in the fiscal third quarter, compared with $691.6 million, or 47 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding one-time items, the company earned 62 cents a share, one cent above Street estimates.

Looking ahead, Starbucks expects adjusted earnings for the full year to fall within a range of $2.40 to $2.42 per share, the company said. Global same-store sales are now forecast to be slightly below a prior range of growth of 3 to 5 percent. The chain still expects to open roughly 2,300 net new locations globally.

"We continue to anticipate a moderate decline in full-year operating margin for both [our] total company and the Americas ... inclusive of the incremental investments we're making in our partners and digital initiatives following U.S. tax law reform and the impact of the anti-bias training," CFO Scott Maw, who is set to retire this November, said on Thursday's earnings conference call.

Starbucks shares have fallen by about 10 percent so far this year to around $51 a share. The coffee giant has a market value of about $71.4 billion, compared with Dunkin Brands at $5.9 billion and McDonald's at $121.7 billion.

 CNBC's Sarah Whitten and Kate Rogers contributed to this reporting.Adult film actress Stormy Daniels (Stephanie Clifford) and Michael Avenatti, attorney for Stormy Daniels, speak to the media after a hearing related to Michael Cohen.

Michael Avenatti, the lawyer for porn star Stormy Daniels, said Thursday that President Donald Trump and his then attorney Michael Cohen "conspired to pay off multiple other women" besides Daniels and a Playboy model before Election Day 2016  and "also were concerned about a pregnancy."

"Cohen has evidence and info in his possession and it must be released to the public," Avenatti said in a Twitter post making that claim.

Tweet

Avenatti's bombshell allegation came after he received new evidence about hush-money payments to women linked to Trump, he said in a subsequent tweet.

Asked by CNBC about the details of that evidence, Avenatti replied that Cohen's lawyer "Lanny Davis and Michael Cohen have all the information and facts."

"They should release it now," said Avenatti, whose client Daniels says she had a one-night sexual tryst with Trump in 2006.

"And the public should demand it."

Prosecutors already are eyeing whether payouts made to two women who publicly claim they had sexual liaisons with Trump constituted violations of campaign finance law.

If Avenatti's claim is correct, prosecutors will have more instances to sift through for possible illegalities.

Avenatti's claim came two days after CNN aired a audio recording made by Cohen in September 2016 that reveals Cohen and Trump discussing buying the rights to Playboy model Karen McDougal's story from the publisher of the National Enquirer. McDougal claimed to have had an affair with Trump beginning in 2006.

The Trump-friendly Enquirer never ran her story. Trump's current lawyer Rudy Giuliani has said Trump and Cohen never followed through with the idea of buying the rights to McDougal's tale.

But the tape showed that Trump two months before his election had knowledge of the Enquirer's deal with McDougal, despite claims made by his spokeswoman closer to the election that "we have no knowledge of this."

Daniels was paid $130,000 by Cohen  who was later reimbursed by Trump  shortly before the presidential election in exchange for her silence about her alleged fling with Trump.

The nondisclosure agreement that Cohen negotiated with Daniels' prior attorney barred Daniels from disclosing "confidential information" about Trump  who was identified by a pseudonym.

Confidential information was defined by that agreement as including details of Trump's alleged sexual partners and sexual conduct, in addition to "paternity information" and "any alleged children."

Eleanor McManus, a spokeswoman for Davis, when asked about Avenatti's new claims, told CNBC, "Mr. Davis declined to comment understanding that [Avenatti] is in the middle of litigation."

Avenatti is representing Daniels in several pending legal actions, including a lawsuit against Cohen and Trump that seeks to void the nondisclosure agreement on the grounds that Trump never signed it.

The White House, which did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on Avenatti's new statement, has denied Trump had sex with either Daniels or McDougal.

Giuliani, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, took a shot at Avenatti on Twitter, saying, "Please be warned that [Avenatti] is becoming desperate since he is being ignored."

"The Cohen-Cuomo tape makes clear [Daniels'] claim is dead and with it [Avenati's] meal ticket. Most media now consider him too much of a proven liar to put on. Any reliance is gross negligence," Giuliani tweeted.

Giuliani was referring to a report in The Wall Street Journal that Cohen had secretly recorded a conversation with CNN journalist Chris Cuomo earlier this year in which Cohen, talking about the payment to Daniels, said, "I did it on my own."

Avenatti promptly fired back at Giuliani, the former New York mayor.

Tweet

Cohen is under criminal investigation by federal prosecutors in New York, who are probing his business dealings as well as the payments to Daniels and McDougal.

He has not been charged in that case.Michigan: Sen. Debbie Stabenow tries to hold her seat in another state the president won by less than a percentage point. An NBC/Marist poll indicates she may have little trouble against either of her potential opponents as of now. Fifty-five percent of registered voters responded that they would back Stabenow, versus 37 percent who said they would support veteran and businessman John James, the survey said. Against businessman Sandy Pensler, the Democrat garners 52 percent of support, compared with 37 percent for Pensler. Michigan holds its primaries on Aug. 7.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow tries to hold her seat in another state the president won by less than a percentage point. An NBC/Marist poll indicates she may have little trouble against either of her potential opponents as of now. Fifty-five percent of registered voters responded that they would back Stabenow, versus 37 percent who said they would support veteran and businessman John James, the survey said. Against businessman Sandy Pensler, the Democrat garners 52 percent of support, compared with 37 percent for Pensler. Michigan holds its primaries on Aug. 7. Minnesota: Sen. Tina Smith  who was appointed to fill Al Franken's seat following his resignation at the start of the year  also has a comfortable cushion, according to an NBC/Marist poll. Smith is running in a special election, as Franken's term was not set to end until 2020. Forty-nine percent of registered voters support Smith, versus 35 percent who back her likely opponent, businesswoman Karin Housley, the survey says. The survey did not poll voters on the race for Democrat Amy Klobuchar's seat, which is considered safe for Democrats. Minnesota will hold its primaries on Aug. 14.

The polls are more good news for the Democrats running in the three states, who enjoy a huge cash advantage over their opponents.

In Wisconsin, Baldwin has a big financial lead over possible opponents Nicholson and Vukmir. Baldwin had raised more than $21 million as of the end of June, and had roughly $7.2 million in in cash on hand. That compares with roughly $5 million raised by both opponents combined, who each had less than $1 million in cash on hand.

But the Wisconsin Senate race has drawn a surge of so-called outside spending from super PACs that don't have limits on what they raise or spend, often on TV and digital advertising campaigns. As of June 30, some $6.4 million in soft money had been spent in support of Nicholson and $1.4 million to boost Vukmir's campaign, while only $1 million had been spent to support Baldwin. Some $4.3 million went toward opposing Baldwin, compared with $2.4 million opposing Vukmir and $451,000 against Nicholson.

In Michigan, Stabenow has a solid fundraising lead with nearly $15 million in cash taken in and $9.6 million in cash on hand, as of June 30. Her GOP challengers, Pensler and James, had raised $9.1 million between them and ended June with a combined $3.6 million.

Stabenow also benefited from outside spending of $1.4 million supporting her campaign; her opponents drew less than $300,00 in outside spending to the race.Crypto merchant bank Galaxy Digital took a $134 million hit in the first quarter as bitcoin lost half its value and other cryptocurrencies struggled to break out of a bear market.

In its first-ever financial disclosure released this week, the New York-based firm reported a net loss of $103.3 million on trading, with $13.5 million on digital assets and another $85.5 million of unrealized losses on those assets. Former Goldman Sachs macro trader Michael Novogratz launched the company in November, a month before bitcoin hit its high near $20,000.

"I am very proud of the progress that we have made since the beginning of the year," Galaxy CEO Novogratz said in a statement, which was published on a Canadian financial regulator's website. Despite the loss, Novogratz, who was formerly chief investment officer of Fortress Investment Group's macro fund, said he still has "complete confidence" in the team's ability to drive growth and that Galaxy is "strategically positioned to help further institutionalize the digital assets and blockchain industry."

As part of that growth, Novogratz outlined plans to list the merchant bank on Canada's TSX Venture Exchange. In order to list, Galaxy Digital will buy Canadian crypto startup Coin Capital, then merge through a reverse takeover with Canadian shell company Bradmer Pharmaceuticals, which it plans to rename. The company will have more than 70 employees as a result.

Novogratz has long been bullish on bitcoin and blockchain, the technology that underpins it. So far this year, Galaxy Digital has invested $86.8 million across 11 different investments and six acquisitions. The company had $281.7 million in assets as of the end of March, with $225.8 million of that total digital, the release said. Novogratz contributed $302 million of his own assets to the company, according to the documents.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have yet to find price footing this year. The world's largest cryptocurrency rallied to $8,300 this week but is down more than 40 percent since the start of 2018, according to data from CoinDesk. The entire market capitalization for cryptocurrencies has also plunged, down 51 percent this year, according to CoinMarketCap.com.

Galaxy Digital declined to comment on the financial disclosure.President Donald Trump is talking up Friday's second-quarter gross domestic product release, saying he would be content with U.S. economic growth of about 4 percent or more.

"Somebody actually predicted today, 5.3. I don't think that's going to happen  5.3. If it has a 4 in front of it, we're happy. If it has like a 3 but it's a 3.8, 3.9, 3.7, we're OK," the president said Thursday during a speech about trade at a steel facility in Illinois.

The government releases GDP numbers on Friday morning. The CNBC/Moody's Analytics GDP survey rapid update showed tracking estimates dipped to 4.1 percent growth after Thursday's economic reports.

The White House typically has not talked about economic data points before their release, but the Trump administration has recently broken with that tradition. White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said Thursday to expect a "big" GDP figure, but added that he had "no knowledge" of the data at the time of his interview with Fox Business Network.

Earlier this week, Trump said the U.S. has the "best financial numbers on the Planet." In June, he tweeted about an hour before the monthly jobs report, saying he was "looking forward" to what ended up being a strong reading for May.A federal grand jury investigating President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen for possible crimes has subpoenaed the chief financial officer of Trump's company, Allen Weisselberg, to testify, a new report said Thursday.

The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the case, said that Weisselberg, who is an executive of the Trump Organization, is considered a witness in the ongoing probe of Trump's ex-attorney Michael Cohen.

The newspaper said it is not clear if Weisselberg has already testified to the grand jury, which is meeting in New York City.

Weisselberg, 70, was mentioned by Cohen in a conversation that Cohen secretly recorded with Trump in September 2016 that discussed buying the rights to the story of Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claims she had an affair with the president. The recording of that conversation was aired earlier this week by CNN.

Cohen is heard on the tape telling Trump that he needed to set up a company to make the payment, adding, "I've spoken to Allen Weisselberg about how to set the whole thing up."

The payment to McDougal was never made, according to Rudy Giuliani, Trump's current lawyer. Giulani has said that Trump waived attorney-client privilege for that tape, which had been seized by FBI agents when they raided Cohen's office and residences in New York City in April.

Last year, according the Journal, Weisselberg arranged for the Trump Organization to pay Cohen a monthly retainer of $35,000 after Cohen had paid porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 on the eve of the 2016 presidential election in exchange for her silence about an alleged affair with Trump. Weisselberg had not known about the hush money payment to Daniels, according to a source quoted by the Journal.

Weisselberg, after Trump's election in 2016, was put in charge of the Trump Organization and the president's assets along with Trump's sons, Donald Jr. and Eric.

The Journal noted that Weisselberg was once described by a person close to the company as "the most senior person in the organization that's not a Trump."

Weisselberg previously worked for Trump's father Fred in the elder Trump's real estate firm in the 1980s. He later was hired by the Trump Organization, where he reported directly to Donald Trump, the newspaper reported.

Katy tur tweet

The White House and a spokeswoman for the Trump Organization did not immediately respond to requests for comment by CNBC about the Journal's story. A request for comment from Weisselberg by CNBC was not immediately responded to.

Cohen is being investigated by federal prosecutors for the payment to Daniels, as well as for the National Enquirer's own payment for McDougal's story before the election. The Trump-friendly supermarket tabloid never published McDougal's account of the affair.

Cohen's business dealings also are being eyed by prosecutors. He has not been criminally charged.

Trump has denied having sex with Daniels. The White House has denied he had sex with McDougal.As high oil prices and improved efficiency force refineries in the USA and Europe toward closure, the industry is shifting toward the Middle East and Asia in a move fueled by a thirst for energy among emerging economies.

From there, many ships have to pass through Bab al-Mandeb to get to the Suez Canal towards Europe and the SUMED pipeline in Egypt.

Brent crude prices rose on Thursday after Saudi Arabia suspended its oil shipments through a key Red Sea strait in response to an attack on two of its tankers and as data showed USA inventories fell to a 3-1/2 year low.

A Houthi rebel attack on a Saudi oil tanker off Hodeida early Wednesday has been foiled by the Arab coalition's fleet, coalition spokesman Col.

The Bab el-Mandab Strait, which is the southern entrance to the Red Sea, is one of the world's key shipping lanes for crude oil and allows crude exports into the European market.

The Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which runs close to the shoreline of Yemen, is the main shipping lane linking the Red Sea with the Indian Ocean.

According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), roughly 4.8 million barrels flows through the Red Sea en route to the US, Europe, and the rest of Asia.

"The two million barrels capacity for each tanker were full of crude oil cargo at the time and were headed for export". One of the VLCCs sustained minimal damage.

"Fortunately, there were no injuries or oil spill that would have resulted in catastrophic environmental damage", it read.

"This terrorist attack is a risky threat to the freedom of navigation and worldwide trade in the Red Sea", said Turki al-Maliki, a spokesman for a Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.

Khalid al-Falih also said Riyadh made the decision after Yemen's Ansrullah forces attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the area. "Efforts are now underway to move the damaged ship to the nearest Saudi port".

Saudi Arabia said it was "temporarily halting" all oil shipments after an attack on two oil tankers by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement.

The Iranian president said on Monday, during a meeting with the Iranian community in Switzerland as part of a European tour, that "oil supplies from the region can not be exported when Iran's oil supplies not exported".

Al-Maliki said that returning Hodeida to the legitimate government of Yemen will end the port's use as a military base to launch terror attacks against maritime lanes.

The coalition has carried out a campaign of thousands of air strikes and restricted imports into Yemen, worsening what the United Nations says is potentially the world's worst humanitarian crisis.A storage tank stands at the Cheniere Energy Inc. liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Sabine Pass, Louisiana. F. Carter Smith | Bloomberg | Getty Images

When President Trump met with Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, at the White House, the two said they were entering a new phase in their relationship. Crucial to that will be natural gas. Demand for natural gas  a cleaner-burning fossil fuel than coal or oil  is rising worldwide, and the United States is a growing supplier of liquefied natural gas, or L.N.G. The European Union, meanwhile, wants to diversify its energy supply, which remains somewhat dependent on Russia, with which it has a difficult relationship. Mr. Trump said on Wednesday that the 28-nation European Union would be "a massive buyer of L.N.G.," before adding, "We have plenty of it." More from The New York Times: Germany imports gas from Russia. But is it a 'captive'? U.S. and Europe outline deal to ease trade feud E.U. is uneasy, and divided, about US sanctions on Russia Any such shift won't happen overnight, though.

Europe needs more gas

In simple terms: Europe's consumption of natural gas is increasing, and its domestic production is falling. Its imports have risen rapidly in recent years, and will most likely increase further in the future. "The question is: Where will these increased imports come from?" said Marco Alvera, chief executive of SNAM, an Italian natural gas infrastructure company. Many of the region's power plants are switching from being fired by coal, which has high levels of carbon emissions, to running on gas, which is significantly better for the environment (though not entirely clean). But gas production in Europe is declining. One major reason is that the Dutch government ordered a sharp reduction of output at the enormous Groningen field, because of earthquakes caused by exploration there. And some other sources may be near maximum capacity. Pipeline gas, the main source of Europe's gas imports, might have peaked, especially from sources like North Africa, our analysts say. L.N.G., a chilled form of natural gas sold by the United States that can be transported on ships to any place with a specific type of terminal, offers another option. Europe already has several such terminals in place  in fact, it is using less than half their available capacity.

Buying gas from the U.S. has its advantages

To start, just having the possibility of importing large amounts of L.N.G. from the United States, or indeed elsewhere, eases the risk that Russia could apply a gas chokehold on Europe. (Germany, for example, imports around half of its natural gas from Russia.) Poland and Lithuania, which are especially wary of Moscow, have recently built L.N.G. receiving terminals for this reason. Still, Europe's dependence on Russia is driven largely by one factor  Russian gas is cheap. European gas prices are now largely determined by trading on financial markets, but they are often too low for American suppliers to compete. The cost of liquefying gas in the United States and transporting it to Europe doubles its price for American companies. So if they were to sell to customers in Europe at current prices, they would lose money. By contrast, Russian gas sent by pipeline to Germany costs far less, allowing Russian companies to make large profits, according to Jonathan Stern, founder of the natural gas program at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. There is also another benefit: Buying more gas from the United States could give Mr. Trump a reason to hold off on imposing costly tariffs on auto imports. Giles Farrer, an analyst at the energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie, points out that the president has tried to use gas to improve the United States' trade balance in talks with Europe and China.

So what's stopping Europe?

Cost is a major factor. Europe has pushed hard in the past two decades to create a freely traded market for natural gas, according to Mr. Alvera of SNAM. The region has, in essence, bet that a functioning market is the best route to easing dependence on any one source. While American gas exports have grown rapidly, most shipments have gone to Asia and Latin America, where prices have been higher. Price differences mean American gas is usually attractive to European buyers only during cold snaps, when prices on the Continent rise. If a glut of L.N.G. emerges in the future, more of that gas from the United States may wind up in Europe, but that could mean American suppliers lose money, Mr. Stern said.

Capacity is another issueIdaho is the state most exposed to fallout from the U.S.-China trade war, even though its most famous product, potatoes, has so far been spared from the wrath of Beijing's retaliatory strikes, according to a new study.

China, which buys Idaho's frozen potatoes for its fast-food restaurants, also has been a major purchaser of the state's alfalfa hay, dairy products and even nonfarm goods such as semiconductors and computer parts. And some of those agriculture sectors such as dairy and hay are feeling the impact of tariffs, including weaker pricing.

The Trump administration earlier this month announced 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, a move that followed two earlier rounds of tariffs aimed at the world's second-largest economy. China has issued tit-for-tat tariffs on a wide range of U.S. goods, from automobiles to agriculture and farm products.

"For the majority of U.S. states, the expansion of tariffs to $200 billion of Chinese products, will affect trade totaling less than 1.2 percent of their state gross domestic products," said Michael D'Arcy, a Fitch Ratings director of U.S. public finance.

However, Idaho topped the list with bilateral trade exposure of 2.7 percent of the state's GDP, according to Fitch's report released last week.

In terms of Idaho's signature crop, the U.S. Department of Agriculture valued the 2017 Idaho potato crop at more than $1.1 billion, or about 23 percent higher than the prior year's harvest. But when including the processing side of the business the economic impact of the industry is even larger.

Using data from the Commerce Department's U.S. Census Bureau and International Trade Administration, Fitch Ratings measured the overall trade exposure of all 50 states to China as a percentage of gross state products, or essentially the state's individual GDP. They also looked at the total amount of imports and exports of the various states involving China, as a percentage of the state economy.

D'Arcy noted that the data can skew to a show a larger exposure for states with smaller populations and modest economies if they have a few industries "that are a fairly sizable presence and they are exporting products to China to the tune of few billion dollars."

According to Fitch, Idaho was one of only four states where bilateral trade with China is 2 percent or more of state GDP. The others are California, Georgia and Tennessee. The state having lowest exposure is Maine, with a mere 0.1 percent of state's GDP.

"Approximately one-quarter of Idaho's exposure is in computer and electronics products while plant and animal products also contribute," said D'Arcy.

Idaho's largest electronics company has a significant export business to China, but there have also been blowups along the way.

Last year, Boise-based semiconductor company Micron Technology had sales outside the U.S. of $17.56 billion, with almost 60 percent of that total from customers in China. But Micron also has been a target of China's alleged intellectual property theft after rejecting a takeover bid from a Chinese state-owned company in 2015.

President Donald Trump has complained about China's unfair trade practices and accused Beijing of providing state aid for the theft of American companies' intellectual property. It led him in March to impose tariffs on about $60 billion in Chinese imports, a move that followed the administration's duties on imported steel and aluminum products.

Last Friday, Trump threatened that hes "ready to go" with tariffs on $500 billion in additional Chinese products. China already has showed it's willing to target U.S. farm goods with "double whammy" tariffs, so economies such as Idaho that are dependent on agriculture could take a hit.

University of Idaho figures show Idaho's agriculture industry is by far the biggest single sector of the state's economy and directly and indirectly responsible for about 16 percent of the state's total GDP. By comparison, production agriculture such as soybeans, corn and pork represents about 7 percent of Iowa's state GDP, but when including ag-related industries, it approaches as much as 25 percent, according Chad Hart, an agricultural economist at Iowa State University in Ames.

"Agriculture is a very important sector of the economy for Idaho," said Robert Spendlove, senior economist at Zions Bank, which operates in Idaho and other Western states. "One of the largest employers is Idaho is Simplot, which is the company [that] essentially created the process of freezing french fries and is a leading producer of frozen french fries around the world."

Besides the state's potato industry, Idaho's other major ag exports include cheese, butter, milk powder and the dairy ingredient whey. In April, China slapped a 25 percent tariff on whey and certain milk powders, a move that led Chinese buyers to go elsewhere for those products, according to analysts.

The Gem State's large alfalfa hay industry helps supply feed to the local dairy industry but also has been a lucrative product for export to China. Even so, alfalfa was one of the U.S. products Beijing targeted in recent tariffs. China ranks as the world's largest foreign market for U.S. hay, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Experts say sales from hay producers to processors have declined in recent weeks as the industry waits to see how the situation develops with tariffs. The top three hay export states are California, Idaho and Washington.

"Any hay that would have traded from a grower to a processor intended for China, that trade has slowed in a wait-and-see mentality," said Jon Driver, an industry analyst with Northwest Farm Credit Services in Spokane, Washington. At the same time, he said tariffs have softened prices for a variety of hay popular with the Chinese.

Yet Idaho has faced tariff fallout not only from China but from two trading partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement  Mexico and Canada. In retaliation for steel import duties, Mexico targeted American potatoes and cheeses and Canada imposed duties on a range of products, including U.S. yogurt.

The good news for Idaho, though, is China and Canada have spared frozen potatoes from tariffs. Both countries are major buyers of American frozen potatoes, primarily for the fast-food industry.

"China is the largest export market that we have in the United States for ag products, but that's not so with Idaho," said University of Idaho agricultural economist Garth Taylor. "Canada and Mexico, our NAFTA partners, far outweigh our China connections."

Canada shares a 45-mile border with Idaho but that hasn't meant Idaho is a big exporter of dairy products to Canadians.

Idaho is home to the world's largest yogurt plant operated by Greek yogurt giant Chobani. The company broke ground in November on an expansion at the Twin Falls facility. But Canada imports only about $3 million annually in yogurt from the U.S., and most of it comes from a plant in Wisconsin.

Indeed, Canada supplies most of its own dairy needs and the country's high tariffs on dairy have been a bone of contention with the U.S. when it comes to agricultural trade issues and NAFTA talks.

In milk production, Idaho ranks in the top 4 states but has been struggling to cope given low prices and increased competition from global competitors. About a quarter of the industry's revenue comes from exports.

Over a third of the Idaho's farm gate cash receipts are from the dairy segment and over half of receipts are from livestock such as beef  another commodity that the Chinese have targeted with U.S. tariffs. China's duties on U.S. beef exports comes as more of the product is piling up in cold storage.[This stream is expected to start at 12:30 p.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.]

President Donald Trump is expected to participate in a roundtable discussion about employment and workforce development in Iowa on Thursday, two days after his administration announced $12 billion in aid to farmers hurt by tariffs.

The visit, the president's third to Iowa since carrying the state in the 2016 election, comes two weeks after Vice President Mike Pence visited. While in Cedar Rapids, Pence said that Trump's tariff plan would work out "in the long term," according to the Des Moines Register.

Trump's farm bailout has been met with mixed reactions in the state, which the Iowa Farm Bureau says is home to almost 90,000 farms. Farming is an economic engine in Iowa, and decreasing prices for soybeans have hit the bottom lines of agricultural workers, amid fears that the damage could spread to other parts of the economy.

Dubuque is represented in Congress by Rep. Rod Blum, who is thought to be one of the most vulnerable incumbents heading into the November midterms. On Tuesday, Blum said in a post on Twitter that he supported Trump's "efforts to help farmers who will bear the brunt of short term retaliatory tariffs as better trade deals are consummated."

While in Dubuque, Trump will also meet with the mayor of Marshalltown, Iowa, just a week after the town experienced a devastating tornado.

Correction: This article has been revised to clarify that the tornado in Iowa last week occurred in Marshalltown.Europe added almost 4.5 gigawatts (GW) of wind energy capacity in the first half of 2018, industry body WindEurope said Thursday, a marked slowdown from record numbers last year.

WindEurope said the new figures were "in line with expectations" but were lower than the same period in 2017, which saw 6.1 GW added.



The onshore sector added more than 3.3 GW in the first half of 2018, while the offshore sector added 1.12 GW. Onshore additions were driven by markets in Germany, France and Denmark, while additions to the offshore sector were mainly in the U.K., Belgium and Denmark.



Looking forward, WindEurope said it expected a total of 13.5 GW of capacity to be added in 2018. In 2017, Europe installed 16.8 GW of gross additional wind power capacity, a record year for annual installations.



"We are on track for a solid year in new wind farm installations but the growth is driven by just a handful of markets," Pierre Tardieu, WindEurope's chief policy officier, said in a statement.



Tardieu cautioned that the figures also masked what he described as "some worrying trends." While France had installed a lot of onshore wind in 2018, it hadn't issued a single new permit for that sector in the last eight months due to an administrative issue.



"In offshore wind, Europe is too dependent on the U.K., which is striding ahead in current installations and in committing to future volumes," Tardieu went on to add. "By contrast, the rate of new installations has slowed down in Germany. Other countries also need to beef up and speed up their plans on offshore wind."



Globally, over 52 GW of wind power was added in 2017, according to the Global Wind Energy Council. China led the way, installing more than 19 GW of capacity, followed by the U.S. and Germany, who installed more than 7 GW and 6.5 GW respectively.



The US markets regulator Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has stepped up its investigation into alleged wrongdoings at the ICICI Bank, reported Mint quoting people familiar with the development.

The US regulator's officials spoke to top executives at the bank, including Rakesh Jha, the chief financial officer and Rajendra Khandelwal, general manager of the bank, twice in the last few months, the report said.

SEC asked the officials about the banks accounting practices, especially related to the loans given between 2010 and 2016, the daily said.

The probe gathered pace after a third whistleblower complaint to the SEC, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), claiming that the lender had deliberately delayed provisioning of at least 31 loan accounts to inflate profit by at least $1.3 billion over a period of eight years, the report added.The Antigua government has indicated that it may consider "a legitimate request" from India to send back the uncle of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, who has taken citizenship there, according to a newspaper report in that country.

The Daily Observer on Thursday quoted a cabinet press briefing issued by the chief of staff, Lionel "Max" Hurst, to state that Antigua and Barbuda government will make every effort as per law to honour a "legitimate" request from India.

The issue of Choksi, a fugitive from India involved in an alleged banking scam worth over $ 2 billion, getting citizenship in Antigua in November last year was discussed in a Cabinet meeting of Antigua and Barbuda government, the newspaper said.

A CBI request, India's nodal agency for Interpol matters, to issue a Red Corner Notice against Choksi is pending with the international police organisation and is likely to be granted soon.

The cabinet underlined that they do not have extradition treaty with India and that Choksi has not been charged for any crime, it reported.

The paper also stated that the Cabinet noted that no request has been received by the Antigua and Barbuda government for any action against Choksi.

The Citizenship by Investment unit of Antigua faced criticism from the paper for allowing Choksi to get passport of Antigua in November last year. The unit had informed the paper that Choksi's request was allowed after "due diligence" and detailed background check from Interpol.

The CBI has denied that Interpol ever approached it regarding background checks on Choksi, who was facing inquiries from various agencies last year.

In an editorial, the paper said, "There is a perception that the CIU's due diligence is a farce and that CIP money trumps due diligence. This is a perception that cannot be allowed to linger because it will have damaging effects on our country's reputation. The government must produce all the documentary evidence of the due diligence process so that the citizens of this country can have confidence that there is integrity to the process."

It also noted that India is a friendly country, an "ally", and that it had helped Antigua in past on several occasions and it was a time to reciprocate.

"Beyond that, India is an ally. They have provided assistance to us in the past, and they have been tapped to provide assistance in the future. Most recently (as in April of this year), we sought their technical assistance in the areas of health and the management of public finance. Will we now turn our backs on them and give safe harbour to a fugitive from their justice system," an editorial in the paper said.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate has moved to a Special court in Mumbai seeking to declare Nirav Modi and his uncle Choksi 'fugitive economic offenders' which will enable them to seize their assets in India.

Nirav Modi and Choksi are being investigated by the ED and the CBI after it was detected that they allegedly cheated the Punjab National Bank of more than Rs 13,400 crore with purported involvement of a few of the lender's employees.

The scam, which reportedly began in 2011, was detected in January this year, after which PNB officials reported it to the probe agencies.

Choksi and Modi fled the country in January this year nearly a fortnight before the scam was detected.

Choksi's actions show that he had planned his escape and subsequent life in advance knowing that the scam would blow up after the retirement of PNB employee Gokulnath Shetty, who was allegedly helping him with renewal of letters of undertaking, sources said.

He escaped the country on January 4 on an Indian passport and took the oath of allegiance in Antigua on January 15, they said.

Next day, his firm approached the Brady House branch of the Punjab National Bank seeking renewal and issuance of letters of undertaking which were denied as the officer concerned sought cash guarantee for issuing these notes, a CBI FIR in this connection alleged.

The executives told the officer that they have been taking these letters over last several years without any demand of such guarantee, it said.

The officer could not find instructions for such LoUs in the bank's system which led to a detailed scrutiny. It is then that the alleged scam surfaced prompting the bank to approach the CBI with a complaint and an FIR was registered on January 31.

An LoU is a guarantee given by an issuing bank to Indian banks having branches abroad to grant short-term credit to an applicant.

Choksi allegedly swindled Rs Rs 7,080.86 crore, making it possibly the biggest banking scam in the country, the FIR has alleged.

Choksi and his companies allegedly availed of credit from overseas branches of Indian banks using the fraudulent guarantees of the PNB given through LoUs and letters of credit issued to Brady House branch which were not repaid bringing the liability on the state run bank, the officials said.

A charge sheet filed in a special court in Mumbai after a three-and-a-month probe alleged that Shetty, a deputy manager in the PNB and arrested by the CBI, received Rs 1 crore from the companies of Choksi to issue LoUs to his companies, they said.Nagarjuna Oil Corporation (NOCL) seems to be heading for liquidation despite the company receiving a second chance for revival from the Chennai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in April, The Times of India reported.

At its July 24 meeting, the company's committee of creditors (CoC) - comprising 15 state-owned lenders - have recommended liquidation of the company to the NCLT at its next hearing on Thursday, the report said citing a source close to the development.

In April, when the company's CoC had opted for liquidation, two key bidders - Haldia Petro of Kolkata and Gulf Petro of UAE - increased their bids.

"But even their increased bids fell short of the 'liquidation value' of Rs 1,450 crore fixed by the lenders. Thus, resulting in the current recommendation for liquidation of NOCL," the source told the newspaper.Pakistan's cricket legend Imran Khan declared victory on Thursday in a divisive general election and said he was ready to lead the nuclear-armed country after a long delay in ballot counting and allegations of vote rigging by most opponents.

"God has given me a chance to come to power to implement that ideology which I started 22 years ago," Khan, 65, said in a televised speech from his house near the capital Islamabad.

But supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who accuse Khan of colluding with the army, said the vote count was rigged and termed it an assault on democracy in a country that has a history of military rule.

Oxford-educated Khan called for "mutually beneficial" ties with Pakistan's on-off ally the United States, and offered an olive branch to arch-foe India, saying the two nations should resolve the long-simmering dispute over Kashmir.

In a speech peppered with populist pledges, Khan promised to create jobs for the poor and announced he would turn the palatial prime minister's official residence in the capital into an education facility instead of living in it.

His success in the election is a stunning rise for an anti-corruption crusader who has spent much of his political career on the fringes of Pakistani politics.

With about half the votes counted from Wednesday's election, Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), or Pakistan Movement for Justice, was in a commanding lead in the Muslim-majority nation, the country's election commission said.

Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and rival Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) both said their party monitors in many voting centres were either kicked out during counting or had not received the official notifications of the precinct's results, but instead got hand-written tallies that they could not verify.

"It is a sheer rigging. The way the people's mandate has blatantly been insulted, it is intolerable," Shehbaz, PML-N president and Nawaz Sharif's brother, told a news conference.

Khan has staunchly denied allegations by PML-N that he is getting help from the military, which has ruled Pakistan for about half of its history and still sets key security and foreign policy.

The army, which dismisses allegations of meddling, deployed 371,000 soldiers at polling stations across the country, nearly five times the number as in last election in 2013.

Khan offered to investigate all the claims of rigging and said he wants to "unite" the country under his leadership.

Pakistan faces a mounting economic crisis that is likely to require a bailout from the International Monetary Fund, although PTI has not ruled out seeking succour from China, Islamabad's closest ally.

"No Conspiracy"

Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) secretary Babar Yaqoob told reporters early on Thursday that counting had been delayed by technical failures in an electronic reporting system and the tallying was now being conducted manually. The results had been due by around 2 a.m. (2100 GMT on Wednesday).

"There's no conspiracy, nor any pressure in delay of the results. The delay is being caused because the result transmission system has collapsed," Yaqoob said.

With 48 percent of the total vote counted, Khan's PTI was listed by the ECP in its provisional results as leading in 113 of 272 contested National Assembly constituencies.

Sharif's PML-N was ahead in 64 constituencies, and the PPP, led by the son of assassinated two-time prime minister Benazir Bhutto, led in 42 constituencies.

Although Khan still appeared likely to fall short of the 137 seats needed for a majority in the National Assembly, he should have no problems finding coalition partners from smaller parties and independents.

Populist Pledge

An icon of Pakistani cricket and a London playboy who has transformed himself into a pious, firebrand nationalist, Khan's campaign speeches were littered with anti-America rhetoric and baiting of India.

But in his first speech as premier-in-waiting, Khan sought to improve ties with Pakistan's neighbours at a time the country is becoming increasingly isolated over its alleged links with Islamist militants in Afghanistan.

He called for a "balanced relationship" with Washington, which has taken a firmer line on Pakistan under President Donald Trump, suspending aid and even convincing Western allies to put Pakistan on a terror financing watchlist earlier this year.

Quipping that Indian media had recently portrayed him like a "villain in a Bollywood movie", Khan's overtures to New Delhi included calls for better trade ties to reduce poverty and to sit down and discuss Kashmir, a disputed region that was the cause of two of the three wars between the neighbours.

Khan also said he wants deepen ties with old ally Beijing and emulate China's success in reducing poverty.

Investors welcomed Khan's election success, with Pakistan's benchmark 100-share index surging as much as 1.9 percent to 42,136 points in early trade, before closing 1.8 percent up. Analysts said there was relief Khan was unlikely to have to rely on major opposition parties in a messy coalition.

Khan has promised an "Islamic welfare state" and cast his populist campaign as a battle to topple a predatory political elite hindering development in the impoverished nation of 208 million, where the illiteracy rate hovers above 40 percent.

"Accountability will start with me, then my ministers, and then we will work our way down," Khan said. "I want all of Pakistan to be united in this moment."The Korean Peninsula could "spiral toward the brink of war" unless the United States agrees to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War, the North's state-controlled propaganda outlet said Thursday.

North Korea says it has taken steps to halt its nuclear development, including placing a moratorium on missile and nuclear bomb testing, demolishing its only known nuclear test site, and dismantling a rocket facility. The remains would then be flown to a U.S. military laboratory in Hawaii for DNA analysis, CNN reported.

The website also urged the United States to do its best in enforcing what was agreed upon during the summit with North Korea last month, saying that formally ending the war can be its first step.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told senators Wednesday that he believes North Korea understands how the US defines denuclearization, but wouldn't say whether Kim Jong-un's regime is still developing nuclear weapons.

Returning the remains was one of the agreements struck between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during their June summit in Singapore. "Two great nuclear powers should not have a contentious relationship", he said.

On the North Korea front, Menendez asked Pompeo if the US goal is no less than "the dismantlement, removal of all nuclear weapons, facilities, technology, and material from North Korea".

Pompeo said Wednesday that the "primary systems" that have threatened the USA still existed.

Pompeo insisted that "progress is happening" and that Trump is "upbeat about the prospects of North Korean denuclearization".

Pompeo left Pyongyang on July 7 saying he had made progress on key issues, only for North Korea to accuse his delegation hours later of making "gangster-like" demands.

Pompeo conceded that there was an "awful long way to go" with North Korea but in answer to a question, said the US goal was for North Korea's complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization by the end of Trump's current term in office, which runs until January 2021, and "more quickly if possible". The treaty was signed by the commander of North Korea's army, the American commander of the U.N. Command, and the commander of the "Chinese People's volunteers".

"I think what his comment was that the tension had been greatly reduced", Pompeo said.

China is willing to work hard with all sides to promote the process of establishing a "peace mechanism" for the Korean peninsula, Kong added, without elaborating.Kristjan Loftsson has a lot of money, which seems to make him think it's okay for him to do whatever he wants. This summer, for instance, he plans killing 150 whales. His whaling vessel has already taken the life of one blue/fin whale hybrid.









The killing of both blue whales and fin whales is expressly forbidden by animal protection laws. Hybrids, however, are fair game in the whaling world, and that's what Loftsson claims he's brought in. The creature was killed with a harpoon cannon.





National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration





Some scientists expressed doubts that the whale was actually a hybrid. If the whale was a pure-bred blue whale, then Loftsson's actions are highly illegal. Dr Phillip Clapham from the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Centre isn't sure what might have made the men on the whaling boat think their prey was a cross-breed:

While I can't entirely rule out the possibility that this is a hybrid, I don't see any characteristics that would suggest that.

From the photos, it has all the characteristics of a blue whale; given that  notably the coloration pattern  there is almost no possibility that an experienced observer would have misidentified it as anything else at sea.





Kristjan Loftsson Snorri Goi/YouTube





Iceland's Marine Research Institute did a series of tests on the whale's body and determined it was, in fact, a hybrid. International conventions protect hybrids too, however, so what Loftsson has done may still put him in legal danger.





Sea Shepherd Conservation Society/seashepherd.org





Sigursteinn Masson from the International Fund for Animal Welfare in Iceland believes whaling should be banned altogether, for fear of harming endangered species:

The killing of a blue-fin whale hybrid demonstrates the difficulty for whalers at sea to identify which species they are pursuing. The result is that a rare and protected species has suffered as collateral damage from a cruel, unnecessary and increasingly unpopular hunt.













He went on:

Now that the evidence has been confirmed, we once again call for an immediate and permanent end to this whaling to prevent further harm to these endangered species, which not only play a crucial role within the marine ecosystem, but also embody such a rich national and cultural heritage as well.

IFAW has worked alongside Icelanders for many years to promote responsible whale watching, rather than whale killing.

This is better for whales, Iceland's tourism industry and its international reputation.

The scandal has galvanized whaling industry opponents, and some called out Loftsson directly. Others contacted the Icelandic Prime Minister.





















The whale was harvested for its meat, while the animal's blubber and bones were deposited carelessly on a beach. Loftsson is determined to take his boat back on the water and kill 149 more whales before the summer is over, despite criticisms from every corner of the globe.

Only 1% of Icelanders eat whale meat regularly, but hopefully someday we can get that down to 0%. According to Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), which chronicles its efforts to stop the harvesting of the minke whale, a type of baleen whale:

Almost all the meat from minke whales slaughtered in Icelandic waters is eaten by visitors to the country under the mistaken belief that this is somehow a 'traditional' dish. In fact most Icelanders never eat whale meat and tourist demand just encourages further cruel hunts...

In 2009, a staggering 40% of tourists visiting Iceland admitted that they had eaten whale meat. By 2014, that figure was reduced to 18% of visitors, thanks to a major outreach campaign by WDC and other organisations...

WDC asks all tourists thinking of visiting Iceland to make a positive choice and avoid eating whale meat. Whilst the number of venues offering the meat has declined in recent years thanks to greater awareness, minke whale meat is still widely available in restaurants and supermarkets both in Reykjavik, the capital and elsewhere. Whale meat is also widely offered as part of a 'traditional buffet' offered to tourists at certain venues but may not be labelled as such, so extra care should be taken!

Whale watching is massively popular in Iceland and the whale watch industry is worth an estimated ten times more than whaling - yet we still receive reports of tourists walking off whale watching vessels and straight into restaurants that serve whale meat. WDC is positively encouraging tourists to this amazing country to get out to see the whales with a responsible, local whale watching operator and asks that visitors consider the inhumane way in which these magnificent and intelligent creatures are killed before they are served up, and the impact that whaling has on the whale watching industry.









H/T - Unilad, Indy 100October 2020 brought a lighter-than-usual crop of patches. For the first time in recent memory, there were none at all for Internet Explorer or the (Chromium-based) Edge browser. The cumulative updates went in with few reports of problems, although there were many complaints about printers not working after the update.

Strange things happened, though, outside the usual monthly patching schedule. The day after Patch Tuesday, Microsoft announced a(nother) fix for a security hole in the HEVC codec  CVE-2020-17022  distributed, once again, only through the Microsoft Store.

HPs Secure Click Enterprise started falling over immediately after installing this months Windows cumulative updates. HP released a Win10 update-friendly version a couple of days later. It continues to astound me that a mainstream product from a major manufacturer isnt tested before the cumulative updates roll out.

There was a security hole plug specifically for Visual Studio programmers, CVE-2020-17023.

Then theres the security patch for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce, CVE-2020-16943, that was announced but never appeared. Its still missing in action. Something in there about counting chickens before theyre hatched.

As usual, we had dire warnings galore from the usual patch-right-now sources (Microsoft warns beeeelions of customers to patch immediately!). As usual, we havent seen any immediately exploited security holes, with the possible exception of SharePoint Server 2016 and 2019.

The usual grab-bag of bugs

Every month for the past year or two, weve seen a big accumulation of bugs arrive on the heels of Patch Tuesday. This months no exception. You can see a motley collection of blocked update error messages, error codes, blue screens, crashes, and peripheral problems in Mayank Parmars article in Windows Latest, Lawrence Abrams piece for BleepingComputer, Venkats rundown in Techdows, Gunter Borns post in Borns Tech and Windows World, and countless parrot sites around the web.

I dont see any particular pattern to any of it, which has become increasingly common. New patches just seem to bring along a trove of unrelated bugs, any one of which can be hugely frustrating  but none of which seem to be particularly widespread.

The one exception: Ive seen many reports of printers that stop working after the latest cumulative update gets installed. In every case Ive seen, pulling the plug on the printer and plugging it back in solves the problem  an easy task for individuals, not so much for admins.

'Windows cant verify the publisher of this driver software'

Some people are reporting an unexpected error when installing certain drivers. Microsoft describes the situation in the Resolved issues portion of the Windows Release Information Status page:

When installing a third-party driver, you might receive the error, Windows cant verify the publisher of this driver software." You may also see the error No signature was present in the subject when attempting to view the signature properties using Windows Explorer.

This issue occurs when one or more of the following is present in a driver package:

An improperly formatted catalog file is identified during validation by Windows. Starting with this release, Windows will require the validity of DER encoded PKCS#7 content in catalog files. Catalogs files must be signed per section 11.6 of describing DER-encoding for SET OF members in X.690.

A driver catalog file extension is not one of the supported extensions.

Thats a feature, not a bug. Microsoft suggests that you contact the driver manufacturer and ask for an update. If your hardware vendor isnt real interested in keeping up with Windows 10, well, jokes on you. Gunter Born puts it succinctly: Windows is a huge hardware exterminator, rendering still working devices as electronic waste, because drivers can no longer be installed.

'Optional' .NET previews arent optional any more

Weve seen this problem for several months, and it still hasnt been fixed.

Windows Update doesnt handle the .NET Preview monthly rollups the way you (or at least, I) would expect. Cumulative Update previews have to be manually approved by clicking a Download and install link. .NET Previews dont even offer the option.

Theres a convoluted set of rules about Windows automatically installing .NET Previews. @abbodi86 has unrolled the behavior this way:

The new .NET Previews are nothing different from all previous non-security .NET cumulative updates. They just have the term Preview in label.

If youre a seeker (click Check for updates in Windows Update), the .NET Preview update will be installed regardless of your other settings.

If you arent a seeker, when a normal update scan takes place, one of two things will happen. (1) If the previous .NET Security update is not yet installed, the .NET Preview update will be flagged as potentially superseded, and Windows Update will not offer it. (2) If the latest .NET Security update is already installed, the .NET Preview update will be installed.

If that isnt confusing enough for you, @abbodi86 has full details here.

I have no idea why Microsoft thinks that its preview (i.e., not-yet-ready-for-prime-time) patches should be installed on machines without any warning or opt-out capability. But there you have it.

Microsoft pulls back on potentially unwanted PWA apps

When is a PUP installer not a PUP installer? When its a Windows beta, of course.

Somebody at Microsoft decided it would be a good idea to jury-rig some beta test versions of Windows 10 so they automatically installed the new PWA (progressive web app) versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote. Several beta testers took umbrage at an operating system that cavalierly installed potentially unwanted programs. A couple days later, Microsoft changed course, claiming that the pushy behavior was a bug.

Right. Sean Hollister at The Verge has details.

Office 2010 and Exchange Server 2010 hit end of life

As of Oct. 13, both Office 2010 and Exchange 2010 fell off the support cycle. You wont get any more patches. A pity, really, because Office 2010 (in spite of its interface peculiarities) was a real workhorse. Patch Lady Susan Bradley has details.

Version 20H2 (or is it 2009?) rolling out

Microsoft is starting to make Win10 version 20H2 available for the masses  although you have to click Download and install to get it. At least, thats the theory.

Considering version 2004 had almost no new worthwhile features, and 20H2 has fewer still (theme-related shading on Start tiles? Alt+Tab switching Edge tabs? Puh-lease), the push to 20H2 is now under way. Think of it as yet another cumulative update, except it doesnt plug any new security holes.

If you ever needed a concrete example of why twice-a-year upgrades for Win10 make absolutely no sense at all, now you have it.

Patching problems? Hit us on AskWoody.com.The next Police and Crime Commissioner elections will not take place until May 2020 but Im pleased to see that the Conservatives are getting on with selecting candidates.

The Candidates Department has sent out this message:

I am writing to remind you that the closing date for applications to apply for the position of a PCC is Monday 6 August.

That went to those on the candidates list. But new applicants are also welcome. It is simply a matter of registering an interest here. The site declares:

If you are passionate about delivering for your community, we want to hear from you.

Our Police and Crime Commissioners come from all walks of life. With different backgrounds and different experiences.

So do you have the energy and commitment to help keep your community safe?

Then youve got what it takes to become a Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner.

Just fill in the form below  and well be in touch soon.

Does this push to encourage more applicants suggest that the Party is not exactly overwhelmed already? Perhaps. Although it be simple good practice to ensure that everyone is aware of the opportunity.

Police and Crime Commissioners were created in 2012 when Theresa May was the Home Secretary. So they were her responsibility. But the initiative was not her idea  its origins come from the 2005 Direct Democracy proposals from Dan Hannan and Douglas Carswell. They would have preferred to call them sheriffs. They didnt get their way on the name  which was a shame as the lumbering bureaucratic title chosen can hardly have helped turnout for the elections. However the key elements of substance were delivered  that the PCCs would be directly elected and have such powers as setting the police budget, determining local priorities for policing, and being able to sack chief constables.

While given the job of implementing the policy, May was not much of an enthusiast. In 2016 she told a Policy Exchange event she was worried she had created a monster. Yet she overcame such doubts and resolved not only that the PCCs should stay but that they should be given more power. Labour and the Lib Dems have abandoned their opposition. That is welcome. The previous arrangement of police authorities were a waste of time and money. They were talking shops with no power to hold the police to account.

In the 2016 PCC elections the Conservative candidates generally did well. The Conservatives won 20 of the 40 contests held in England and Wales. 15 were won by Labour, three to independents, and two to Plaid Cymru. There should be potential for the Conservatives to make some gains next time  for instance narrowly losing in Cheshire last time round was something of a surprise.

For Greater Manchester policing is the responsibility of the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham. So they dont have a separate PCC. In London the responsibility rests with the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. While Khans record has been hopeless, at least there is widespread public understanding of this. Localism gave us power  but ii is up to us if we notice this and if so if we use it effectively.James Brokenshire is Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, and is MP for Old Bexley & Sidcup.

Building the homes that Britain needs was never going to be an easy challenge, but this week weve taken a major step forward with the publication of the new National Planning Policy Framework.

The message it sends is clear and direct; we want the right number of homes built in the right places. Central to this is voice of local communities. They should be able to determine not only the right number of homes for their area, but how they fit in. Local communities now have a greater influence over the look and feel of new developments, and this should be celebrated.

As Sir Roger Scruton notes: Architecture is a public art: whether we like it or not, we are forced to witness it. Councils and developers need to focus on making sure the quality and design of homes is in line with what local communities want. The new planning changes mean we can now ensure councils have the confidence and tools to refuse permission for new developments that dont prioritise design quality or complement its surroundings.

Alongside this commitment to better and earlier conversations with local people over the quality and design of new homes, weve made additional significant changes.

Weve introduced stronger safeguards for the environment, strengthening protections for the green belt, ancient woodland and local wildlife sites. By aligning with the governments 25 Year Environment Plan, planning can now help to leave the environment in a better state for future generations. This means more protection for habitats and places greater importance on air quality when deciding development proposals.

Weve created more certainty over what can be built and where, helping to speed up and reduce the cost of planning. And weve introduced greater responsibility and accountability for councils and developers to ensure we hit our ambitious target of new homes for future generations.

But building the homes future generations need means taking tough decisions, and being clear on what government expects. If we want to create a new generation of homeowners we have to tackle affordability. This is why we have introduced a new way for councils to calculate the housing need of their local community (including different forms of housing, such as older peoples retirement homes).

This means the number of new homes we build wont be based on what a developer thinks they can sell but on the real needs of local communities. For those on lower and middle incomes, we need to build the sort of affordable homes which help people to build deposits so they can enjoy the security of ownership and realise the dream of having a place of their own to call home.

There are few more contentious issues in politics than planning, and it is because of this it is so crucial for our country we get it right. The new planning framework ensures the quantity of homes must never compromise the quality of what is built.

We have listened to the tens of thousands of people who told us their views. This really is a shared strategy for building new homes in England. I have been clear it is our ambition to build 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s, which follows 217,000 homes built last year, the biggest increase in housing supply in England for almost a decade. To do this we need a planning system fit for the future, and weve taken a big step toward achieving just that.Nicholas Mazzei is a former Army Officer who now works for BT.

Earlier this year, I wrote on this site that its unfair to tell us diehard Remainers to get over it.

The article was in response to a post by Paul Goodman, who argued that we should drop the conspiracy theories and attacked the motivations of Chris Wylie and Shahmir Sanni, the two whistle lowers from Cambridge Analytica and BeLeave, the youth-orientated pro-Brexit group. The pair claimed that electoral law had been broken, with funds funneled illegally from Vote Leave to BeLeave, and that co-ordination had taken place between them.

At the time I said that:

I am strongly in favour of accusations against the Remain campaign  of improper activity and spending  being investigated fully by journalists and the Electoral Commission. Leave campaigners should be equally horrified at the accusations that British democracy has been subverted by Russian interference on social media, or the breaking of spending limits by Vote Leave and BeLeave.

On the 4th July, Vote Leave leaked their preview of the report (which they were given so that they could respond to the inquiries findings ahead of the main publication), so that they could push out claims that they were never interviewed and create a false narrative based on peoples emotions.

This was incorrect: Vote Leave repeatedly refused to attend interviews and this was revealed in the Electoral Commissions full report. As a response, Vote Leave was fined 61,000 for the breaking of electoral law and Darren Grimes, who led BeLeave, has been fined 20,000.

And so I have waited, patiently, for the chorus of cries from Conservatives about being misled by Vote Leave, criminal activity in our electoral system and damning the experienced campaigners who sat on the board of Vote Leave and now occupy senior positions in government. I have waited for the many journalists who attacked me on Twitter to apologise for accusing me of being a promoter of post-truth arguments supporting Remain. Neither the outcry nor the apologies have come.

Today, however, I see a concerted campaign by Brexit-supporting Conservatives, journalists, and this very website, to support Grimes in appealing against the Electoral Commission. The Electoral Commission has referred their evidence to the police and this could result in criminal charges against Grimes and the Directors of Vote Leave, one of whom is now our Brexit Secretary. Wylie was attacked for being a member of the Lib Dems, while Grimes (who in 2015 was a Lib Dem and hailed Charles Kennedys leadership) is celebrated a hero of Brexit.

In his article on this site yesterday, Grimes wrote that the Electoral Commission has consistently refused to allow Leave campaigners an opportunity to defend themselves. And it has consistently refused to launch a similar investigation into Remain. Both of these are incorrect.

The report itself says that the Vote Leave campaign refused to be interviewed and work with the investigation. His claim that the Remain campaign wasnt investigated is not only incorrect, but also Remain campaign was fined 19,000 for failing to declare its spending properly during the EU referendum campaign. The Liberal Democrats were fined 18,000 of that for failing to provide acceptable invoices or receipts for 80 payments.

In the words of Sanni: Vote Leave are used to not giving the facts. And only presenting people with the opinion. What we are looking at here are literally the law vs opinion. Whose side are you on?

The law has been broken. This is not about so-called treasonous Remainers sitting on the Electoral Commission, or unpatriotic Brits trying to usurp the democratic voice of the people. This is about illegal activity. The Conservative party supports the rule of law and in the UK, the law always wins. We should choose to be on the side of it.May plays into Dublins hands on Northern Ireland

The Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement does not stipulate an invisible border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. It obviously suits nationalists to pretend otherwise  but why is the British Prime Minister indulging the same nonsense?

As I have written before, this misconception is dangerous on two levels, the first of which is that it allows Remainers/soft Brexiteers/Irish nationalists to root their demands in a document which has achieved near-sacred status.

Second, and perhaps more seriously still, it could justly undermine unionist support for the entire thing. The actual Agreement  which is not terribly long, if you want to familiarise yourselves with it  was a hard-negotiated compromise whose provisions are clearly enumerated. Allowing the spirit of the accord to effectively write in new clauses (not one of which is ever to unionisms advantage) makes a mockery of those negotiations.

From the start of the process, Theresa May has mishandled the Northern Irish brief. Appointing first James Brokenshire and then Karen Bradley, each one of a bare handful of genuine May loyalists, showed that she took the issue seriously but not that she knew what to do about it.

So instead of a forceful Secretary of State capable of articulating Britains position and challenging the Brussels/Dublin line we have had two low-key, almost entirely reactive figures who have offered unionists (who are united in opposition to the EUs interpretation of the Agreement) no leadership, nor help their views get picked up in the mainland press.

But cock-up takes on a tinge of conspiracy when the Prime Minister herself parrots lines which are not only false but are deeply injurious to British interests. Assuming she wasnt wilfully misrepresenting the UKs obligations to shepherd MPs towards accepting Chequers, she was extraordinarily badly briefed. Somebody at the NIO should face the consequences.

New report torpedoes SNPs Growth Commission case for independence

Anybody who followed the Scottish independence referendum ought to be at least passingly familiar with Kevin Hague. Ive linked to his blog on several occasions, and his line in well-evidenced and carefully-argued takedowns of what passed for the economic case for independence was always worth a read.

This week he took this one step further with a full report  published under the aegis of new unionist think-tank These Islands  tackling the report produced by the SNPs Growth Commission, which purported to set out a new, realistic economic case for independence.

Au contraire, argues Hague. According to his analysis, the new report is actually even less grounded in reality than the Nationalists 2014 wish list White Paper. You can read him arguing the case in the New Statesman, or these write-ups from the Daily Telegraph and the BBC.

Major rift in Plaid as Woods leadership attacked

Jonathan Edwards, a Welsh Nationalist MP, has launched what Wales Online calls an astonishing attack on Leanne Wood, the current leader.

He accuses her of failing to offer leadership on Brexit and, in WOs words, leaving the partys parliamentary group to its own devices  i.e. ignoring Westminster to focus exclusively on the Assembly.

The spark was apparently Edwards comments in favour of Anna Soubrys ironically-named proposal for a cross-party government of national unity which would encompass both the Welsh and Scottish separatists. Wood, who refuses to contemplate Plaid governing with the Conservatives at any level.

Edwards comments come when Wood is facing a leadership challenge from two AMs. One of these, Adam Price, represents the Assembly counterpart of Edwards own constituency of Carmarthen East & Dinefwr. Sources in the Welsh Conservatives suggest to me that were Price to win, a Nat/Con arrangement to finally displace Labour from power in Cardiff might be workable.

In other Plaid news, one of their AMs has resigned from the party following after being arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images.

Call for anti-Brexit unity candidate to face Paisley in possible by-election

The suspension of one of its DUP allies for misconduct ahead of the next set of knife-edge Brexit votes is but one of many woes besetting the Government ahead of recess. But despite the scandal  over expenses-paid holidays to Sri Lanka  Ian Paisley Jr seems unlikely to depart the Commons.

Even in the event of a recall petition triggering a by-election, his personal support in North Antrim would be sufficient to see him returned whether or not he was the official DUP candidate.

One factor which might change that calculation is a proposal from Clare Hanna, the Brexit spokesperson for the nationalist Social Democratic & Labour Party (SDLP), for a single anti-Brexit candidate to fight the seat in the event of a by-election. Whilst it almost certainly wouldnt be a threat to Paisley were he DUP candidate, it could make it very dangerous for the Democratic Unionists to disavow him and run their own candidate.

The threat is, for the moment, fairly spectral. Not only did North Antrim itself vote for Brexit, but previous attempts to build an anti-Brexit alliance ahead of the 2017 election foundered, in part because no unionist party could be induced to join. The Alliance Party has already ruled out this latest proposal, likely concerned not to spook its unionist voters.The much-touted myth that there was no alternative to the Prime Ministers Chequers policy was exploded by the publication on ConservativeHome of the draft White Paper  coherent with the Governments own stated goals  that had been prepared by DexEU but which was ditched in favour of the new proposals put together in the Cabinet Office. The myth persists in some quarters, presumably because some people prefer it to the truth, and others are genuinely unaware that it is out of date.

Whats interesting is that it is on the question of border management, and particularly the Northern Irish border, that critics of Brexit cling most tightly to the idea that there is no option even suggested other than that now touted by the Prime Minister  namely, the continued application of an EU common rulebook to the whole of UK goods, and the continued authority of the European Court of Justice.

Others have written at some length about the emotional, political and cynical reasons why the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland has become the central focus of Remainer argument, and there is little purpose in rehearsing those arguments over once more. Instead, lets look specifically at this question which seems to animate some so much: what was the alternative answer to the border question proposed by the Governments Brexiteers?

Is there a border at the moment?

To listen to some discussions of the topic, you might imagine there is currently no border between the North and the Republic. Not so  the UK and the Republic have different currencies, different tax rates, different laws and legal systems. Accordingly, as David Davis put it in his recent Sunday Times article:

What peopleforget is that there is already a border there. VAT, excise duties and other taxes differ north and south of the border. The customs authorities manage this now by careful intelligence-led policing of goods movements, which is exactly how it will work in the future. Before the issue became heavily politicised, both the head of the UK customs and Irish customs said they could operate without any customs posts. And so they will.

Panic about the idea of the creation of a border is evidently mis-founded, given that one exists already.

Ah, but is there currently a hard border?

Once upon a time, the words hard and soft had quite clear meanings  but that was before the EU referendum.

Since then, weve been treated to a good dozen or more redefinitions of both words in relation to Brexit  regulatory policy, institutional relations, and indeed border arrangements. Just as the term has slipped in meaning since June 2016 on other fronts (remember when hard Brexit used to mean no deal rather than simply leaving the EU?), so it has changed in time in relation to the border.

In the words of Dominic Lawson:

The PM agreed last December with the European Commissions chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, that whatever else, there would be no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland But in the intervening months the British governments negotiators have inexplicably allowed Barniers team to determine what hard border meant  and it duly determined that this did not just mean an absence of checkpoints, but absolutely no physical customs activity of any sort whatsoever, even remotely operated overhead cameras. Amazing, since such things are already in place close to the border.

The Governments position prior to Chequers has sometimes been described as committing to no infrastructure on or near the border. Thats misleading  there have been no proposals from the UK or the Republic of Ireland to get rid of what infrastructure already exists, which includes things like ANPR cameras. Rather, the British Government said that it would not introduce new infrastructure, ie no return to the customs checkpoints which existed between the 1920s and the 1990s.

In the meaningful sense of what you actually experience when crossing from the North into the Republic and back again, the border is practically invisible. It exists, because there are legal differences on each side, various of which are checked and monitored, including by unobtrusive technology and checks away from the border itself.

If everyone agrees that what is currently in place is not a hard border  which they seem to  then presumably a continuation of the same approach would not qualify as one if proposed for the future.

Is anyone proposing a hard border?

No. The current unobtrusive experience in terms of checks on goods or people is what everyone on all sides say they want to maintain  for practical and political reasons  and its the basis of what was the proposal put forward by DexEU. Heres Davis again:

Under no circumstances will the UK install a hard border in Northern Ireland.

Interestingly, it isnt just the former Brexit Secretary and the British Government who say this. Leo Varadkar, the Taoiseach, also says there wont be any introduction of a hard border. Olly Robbins did suggest to the Brexit Select Committee that the EU might insist on one  but the Irish Government say they have been assured by the EU that they will not do so.

In which case, as Davis asks, People might be forgiven for wondering what the exact problem is. If nobody involved  even the most dogmatic institutions of Brussels  would carry out such a scenario, why are people panicking about it and posing in border guard costumes for media stunts?

Indeed, might this offer a practical way forward? It was reported a few months ago that Jacob Rees-Mogg had put the idea to the Prime Minister that the arrangements could simply rub along on this informal basis  if no-one on either side puts up border posts, and the EU wont force the Republic to do so, and couldnt in practice even if it wanted to, why not just allow people to do what they do best and get on with life as things are? May allegedly slapped this game of chicken down as being insufficiently informal and failing to cleave to the rule of law.

Its an interesting question as to what would happen if the big day came and there just wasnt any physical border erected  but it will most likely remain hypothetical. As the DexEU planners acknowledged, there are practical and legal reasons why some formal arrangement would be preferable, not least the greater market confidence delivered by a system founded on legal certainty, and the fact that agreement would be helpful to the progress of the wider negotiations.

What would need to be checked?

This is highly variable across the different models of post-Brexit relationship that we might adopt. Customs processes dont spring into being on their own, largely, they are symptoms of the type of border which they are designed to manage. What tariffs are there? What regulatory differences apply to the goods flowing back and forth? What are the concerns and suspicions of one or both sides, and on what are they willing to outsource matters by trusting one another?

This is why it was a bizarre error to attempt to insist that the Northern Irish border could somehow be resolved before the opening of trade talks. Without knowing the trade relationship, how on earth could a border system be drafted, still less agreed between the two sides?

Tariffs are  under the UKs proposals  not intended to be a problem. The draft White Paper sought zero tariffs across all goods in order to maximise freedom of trade between the UK and the EU. That would make life somewhat easier, but even DexEU acknowledge that entirely tariff-free trade would be a step further than had been achieved in CETA, the FTA with Canada. However, Davis argued in last weeks Commons debate that even trading across tariffs is not the insuperable barrier to swift and efficient trade for joined-up manufacturing processes as some make out:

What happens in Detroit, the centre of the American motor industry? In Ontario, across a very difficult and constrained border, tougher than Dover, there is an entire industry supplying parts, components and engines for that motor car industry. It operates across a border that has tariffs on it too.The simple truth is they operate even where there are tariffs, and we are proposing a non-tariff arrangementthere would be no tariffs here; the primary concerns will not be the collection money but other things.

Rules of Origin

Do not imagine, however, that tariff-free trade is simply unobstructed. Indeed, even accurately ensuring that what is crossing the border is indeed not subject to tariffs requires the collection of information on what is being transported. There would still need to be processes to assure a variety of other things, too  is what is being traded compliant with the regulations of its destination market, be that the UK or the EU? Where is it coming from and where is it going to? Are elements of it  components or ingredients  from markets that do attract tariffs or that are subject to different rules?

The paperwork to do so can be individually simple, particularly when automated, but collectively complex  involving the collation of layers and layers of statements of origin when something with as many parts as a car has to be accurately described for customs purposes.

The draft White Paper proposed to design UK-EU Rules of Origin to allow existing supply chains within the Single Market to continue to operate without disruption  something the authors intended as a mutual benefit to both sides, ensuring limited disruption to exporters and manufacturers in each. Notably, in case that still wasnt sufficient to allow smooth trade across the Northern Irish border the text adds that:

This arrangement would allow exemptions for small traders on the island of Ireland as well as trade where the risk of tariff circumvention is negligible.

That is an interesting addendum. Effectively it is a proposal to simply allow the island of Ireland to operate as though it were a single area of origin in some cases  and small traders in that context most likely refers to farmers, an area of special interest that well return to.

Regulatory alignment

If tariff-free trade was indeed agreed, then aside from Rules of Origin regulatory compliance is the most obvious possible focus for bureaucracy around the border. A major benefit of Brexit, as many Leavers have stated, is the opportunity for the UK to vary its regulations as it might choose. While goods exported to the EU would of course have to obey the regulations of the destination market, like goods exporting to China or Brazil, the domestic UK market could gain from reducing costs, freeing up innovation and improving its competitiveness.

That would pose a challenge to the EU, which helps to explain why Brussels preference is to try to keep the UK in its entirety subject to the EU rulebook. DexEU was not willing to agree to the price of giving up such an opportunity, and instead the Government settled on proposing regulatory alignment rather than pledging non-divergence of regulations. Readers will recall that there was quite a row within Westminster about even this  the Prime Minister opted for the words full alignment, although her Brexit Secretary made clear at the time that:

alignment is not harmonisation. It is not having exactly the same rules; it is sometimes having mutually recognised rules, mutually recognised inspection and all that sort of thing. That is what we are aiming at.

He restated that meaning last week:

we interpreted full alignment as outcome alignment and relating directly to the issues in the north-south strandsprincipally, agriculture, transport, and environment as it applies to the single electricity market.

In short, what was being proposed in December of last year, and then in the DexEU draft white paper, was not a common rulebook but a principle of common regulatory outcomes, where needed to facilitate trade  allowing identical regulations if the UK chose, but also incorporating technical equivalence and outcome equivalence. That would be founded on the comprehensive system of mutual recognition committed to by the Prime Minister at Mansion House. That would work for all UK exports to the EU, of course, but its particular benefits to the only land border, in Northern Ireland, should be clear.

Where would the checks take place?

The idea of a mutual recognition system, allowing each side to accept that one anothers regulations produced sufficiently aligned outcomes, would certainly ease trade across the border. But even if such a system was extensive and able to proceed without disruption by regulatory disputes, there would still need to be some system of declaration and assurance. All goods being imported and exported would need an accompanying form or registration to state what they were, and some proportion would need to be checked either for random sampling or enforcement where problems were suspected.

Here again the debate tends to get bogged down in antiquated and overly simplistic ideas of how such a system would have to work. Instant images are summoned up of queues at the border with forms being submitted and stamped at checkpoints, but in law and practice there is little need for it to be that way. Already the norm is for the paperwork for import and export across EU borders to be done in advance, and far away from the border itself.

Nor does there appear to be any legal need to even stop vehicles at the border itself when it is deemed necessary to check them. The fact that the UK, EU and the Republic all say there will be no need for the infrastructure of checkpoints suggests pretty clearly that they are all agreed on that.

That means that just as the current border exists but is largely invisible, a new border could mostly exist elsewhere  technologically and geographically  too. Advocates of the original DexEU plan point to the example of a system used in Swiss monitoring, in which ANPR-style cameras record vehicles entering at the border and can then allocate them for checking further on in their journey, inside Swiss territory. The Swiss have other systems in place, too, but the legality and practicality of this approach has been tried and tested. As I mentioned above, such cameras are apparently already in place near the Northern Irish border, and of course there are already police and customs operations targeted at people smuggling to avoid duties, so this wouldnt mean an intensification of the physical character of the border.

Tellingly, Sky News reported this week that the Joint Customs Consultative Committee  an industry body which liaises with HMRC, and which is not famously supportive of new Brexit legislation  has itself proposed the possibility of a system of checks on vehicles away from the border itself where necessary,

Rather like the degree of regulatory difference between the two sides of the border, the strictness of the regime and the proportion of checks required could vary widely depending on the policy this country (and the EU) wishes to introduce after Brexit. It wont be zero, and it wont be 100 per cent, obviously  where exactly the proportion falls depends on the attitudes of each side and the state of relations between the two. Policy Exchange reports that the standard rate of checks on consignments from outside the EU travelling into the Union is 0.5 per cent. Consider all the rhetoric about the importance of maintaining swift and interconnected supply chains, of reducing friction and so on, and the incentives for both align in favour of avoiding disruption caused by too much oversight.

Technologically, it could be done. The Irish Government was working with the UK on such practical solutions before Varadkar came to office and cancelled the work last summer.

Furthermore, in February Dr Graham Gudgin of Policy Exchange noted that the EUs own study of border arrangements around the world found that such an approach was technologically feasible  and even offered an opportunity to develop best practice for other EU borders.

Juliet Samuels special investigation into borders and Brexit for the Daily Telegraph found that facilities and systems had already displayed the ability to adapt swiftly to changing circumstances, such as in the migrant crisis, and that while new IT systems might take up to two years, they were not the magical concepts that some in Brussels had attacked them as. Samuels sources argued that they were willing and able to prepare for change, but that they required the UK Government to bring some clarity about what that change would likely be.

In short, this means hard work on a pragmatic approach to designing and managing processes that other countries already deal with, rather than rushing into separating Northern Ireland legally from the rest of the UK (against the wishes of many of its people), or abandoning the right for the UK to democratically control its own laws (against the outcome of the referendum and the subsequent pledges of the Government).

As Davis put it:

Simply put, the answers to the customs and the [Northern Ireland] issue are detailed and technical but rely on existing technology and sensible management, not on sweeping political solutions that imperil long-standing and sometimes delicate political arrangements.

Can concerns about a back door to the Single Market be allayed?

Its fair to say that the EU has a deeper concern than the UK on this front. Brussels fears goods being snuck into the EU via the unstaffed Northern Irish border without paying the due tariffs, or without having to live up to EU regulatory standards (or both).

The scale of the actual issue may be more limited in practice than the rhetoric allows (though ultimately what matters is that our interlocutors in the negotiation want it resolved). For example, the Common Travel Area (CTA) between the UK and the Republic of Ireland has applied to each countrys citizens for almost a century, but the non-existence of border checks theoretically opens a back door into the EU and the UK for people not actually granted free movement rights under that agreement. However, in practice such a flood of illegitimate migration North-South or vice versa does not seem to have occurred. Its not unreasonable to wonder if goods are really going to move in serious quantities in that way if people dont currently take advantage of the opportunity to do so.

One reason for that absence of a problem, of course, is that the other frontiers of both countries are more closely controlled, even though the North-South border itself is not. If you have come into the UK from outside the country, your passport will have been checked already, before you get to cross from Northern Ireland into the Republic. The same, the Brexiteers argue, could effectively apply to the trade in goods. Over to Davis once more:

EU concerns about Northern Ireland becoming a back door into the EU for third-country goods is easily manageable. Much is made of the nearly 300 crossing points on the border, but little of the fact that there are barely half a dozen ports. This means surveillance on goods from the rest of the world into Northern Ireland is comparatively easy

What does that mean in practice? Place a legal requirement, backed with accompanying penalties for false disclosure, on companies so that they must declare the end destination of their imports. Check these declarations at the far fewer points of entry into Northern Ireland from outside  the ports and airports  in order to ensure the right tariffs, regulations and so on are being abided by at that stage. Are there potential opportunities for people to lie on the forms? Yes, but such opportunities already exist across the customs systems that we and other countries already have  the normal thing to do is to combat such fraud by intelligence, criminal sanctions, and a small degree of spot checking.

How can very tight supply chains be sustained?

There are two distinct types of specialised supply chain that this question applies to. The first is Just-In-Time supply chains  manufacturing and other businesses which seek to maximise their efficiency by ensuring components, ingredients, stock and so forth arrive when they are needed but not before.

In one sense, any new friction  paperwork to submit, checks to pass  in cross-border trade would be a drag on a just-in-time supply chain. However, such supply chains are not designed to only function through instantaneous trade; their purpose is to co-ordinate production in order to work across whatever conditions present themselves: borders with tariffs, across physical distance, and through various customs regimes, with a variety of different types of product and modes of transport. The easier the process, the better, hence the proposal for mutual recognition of regulatory standards, and technological solutions to problems that once would have been much more onerous.

As John Redwood put it last week in the Commons:

many successful manufacturing businesses in Britain today have these just-in-time supply chains bringing in large quantities of raw material and component from outside the EU through a system of authorised economic operators, electronic manifests and the settlement of any bills not at the port. There are not people sitting in boxes in the port taking the money.

To which Davis replied:

The presumption in all this is that we have a magical, frictionless system at the moment. Actually, we will have seen on our television screens that that is not true. This entire House will have watched Operation Stack in progress over various years. Operation Stack is what we do when one of the ports gets locked up for one reason or anothera strike in France or whatever. It has been operated 74 times in 20 years. In 2015, it took up 31 days of friction, and our businessesthe just-in-time businesses and the perishable goods businessesall coped with it, so let us not frighten ourselves in doing this negotiation. Nobody wants it and nobody likes it, but they cope with it.

That is the essence of the decision here. The alternative proposal would be low-friction, which is not the same as no-friction  but then a no-friction system does not exist, short of the UK and the EU becoming the same country, and there are costs, (regulatory, opportunity, protectionist, and democratic), in the sizeable subservience to EU law required in order to maintain the current system.

The second type of specialised supply chain relates specifically to trade within the island of Ireland: agricultural produce, and particularly milk and dairy. North-South trade is not vast, but much of what there is comes from this sector. It is also very tightly regulated  when you ship milk from the farm to a plant for pasteurising, then on to be processed into cheese or other products, EU regulations specify the conditions in which it must be kept at each stage, particularly in terms of temperature, and the timescales involved. That applies whether one is crossing an internal EU border or not, and it so happens that the sector transports produce back and forth across the border a lot.

This does pose a particular challenge for Northern Ireland and the Republic after Brexit. Effectively these are short export/import activities, repeatedly, involving the same perishable goods, and so like any other export they must be made in accordance with the destination markets regulations. The practice of that trade is obviously more sensitive to delays and disruptions than, say, a car component which is not going to go off or be in breach of safety regulations if it gets a degree too hot.

The draft White Paper proposal I mentioned above to offer an exemption to Rules of Origin for small traders on the island of Ireland was an indication that DexEU felt it necessary and justified to offer a different arrangement to allow agricultural trade to continue without undue disruption. The same goes for regulatory alignment to allow the milk trade back and forth to operate. Dairy UK argued to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee that:

If the NI dairy sector is to continue to grow and contribute to the NI economy when the UK leaves the EU, there must be continued free movement of raw milk and products to and from RoI for further processing

The proposal was, in essence, to listen to that advice. Policy Exchange proposed treating the island of Ireland as a regulatory unit for animal health and food safety issues, and cited the precedent that checks are already in place at the Irish Sea border for animal diseases such as rabies. Sources close to DEXEUs preparations, prior to Chequers, say that the department was also making reference to the decision to define the island of Ireland as a single epidemiological area during the BSE crisis.

Those legal precedents bolstered what would ultimately be a political argument to place Northern Irelands agriculture in a different regulatory position than the rest of the country in order to secure an economic benefit. There are obvious political sensitivities to any idea of legal or regulatory gaps between the rest of the Union and Northern Ireland, even only in one sector  particularly with the DUPs role in a hung Parliament  but it is worth bearing in mind that a good chunk of the DUPs core vote are farmers or live in agricultural communities. Like the rest of the plan, its architects believed it could fly in practice, as well as prove acceptable in principle.100%

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This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-09-07, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want."Our hearts are with you at this hard time". Then, at 4:57 p.m. authorities received calls on their 199 hotline reporting flames near Rafina, east of the capital.

The European Union activated its Civil Protection Mechanism after Greece sought help.

The lucky ones were able to leap off the cliffs to survive, or rush into the sea from the beach.

Residents and terrified holidaymakers were overtaken by the flames in homes, on foot or in their cars. Several bodies were recovered and more than 700 people were taken to the port of Rafina.

The death toll from forest fires that raged through seaside resorts near the Greek capital had increased to 74 last night.

One of the youngest victims was thought to be a six-month-old baby who died of smoke inhalation, officials said.

"Mati no longer exists", said the mayor of nearby Rafina, Evangelos Bournous. More than 1000 buildings and 300 cars were damaged, the village turned into a smouldering wreck.

Stavroula Malliri, a fire department spokesman, said 156 adults and 16 children had been taken to hospital, 11 of whom were in a serious condition.

It is the worst incidence of wildfire to hit the popular holiday destination in more than a decade.

The local mayor says at least 77 people have died. Defence minister Panos Kammenos said 88 people had been picked up from the sea by a military vessel.

Her 65-year-old husband, Theodoros Christopoulos, said the couple made a decision to take shelter indoors because the narrow roads were jammed.

Winds reached 80 kilometres per hour as authorities deployed the country's entire fleet of water-dropping planes and helicopters to give tourists time to escape.

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin extended his condolences to Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, insisting Moscow was ready to provide help to tackle the fires and deal with the fallout from the disaster.

Tsipras said "all emergency forces" have been mobilized to battle the fires.

A photo shows the inside of a burnt house following a wildfire in the village of Mati, near Athens, on July 25, 2018.

Some public officials have suggested that at least some hot spots might have been sparked by looters hoping to ransack houses.

"I am really concerned by the parallel outbreak of these fires", Tsipras said.

Although the fires had largely abated by yesterday afternoon, they were far from out.

Relatives of the couple are expected to arrive in Athens today.

Wildfires are a major concern across Europe this summer.

Sweden is experiencing an unprecedented drought and the highest temperatures in a century. But many were asking how so many scattered fires had broken out in so short a span and spread with such fatal velocity.

Fires have also hit Finland's northernmost Lapland province.

Officials said crews were going from house to house and auto to vehicle in seaside communities ravaged by the wildfires near Athens on Wednesday.

Philipopoulos said the girls had been with his parents, of whom there was no sight in the footage. One firefighter was killed on July 15 trying to contain a blaze.

In the Netherlands, a wildfire broke out over about 10 acres Tuesday in the central nature reserve of Hoge Velume, known for its red deer and wild boar, Dutch media said.

Fire fighters are still working round the clock to try to bring the blaze under control while rescuers search for the lost.CORNWALL, Ontario  Nav Canada hosted 30 girls from across the country this week at the Explore Aviation Summer Camp, where girls going into grade 10 got to learn about careers in aviation.

This is the first time we put this together, said Lyne Wilson, Assistant Vice President of Talent Management with Nav Canada. I think it went extremely well, and I would say that the girls would say the same thing, and the instructors. The girls learned a lot throughout the week and it was even better than we expected.

The girls, who came from all 10 provinces and two territories, learned about air traffic control, flight service specialists, technical operations, engineering and cybersecurity. They went into the aviation simulator and built a box that can track aircrafts. The girls also took day trips to Ottawa and Montreal.

Candidates were required to submit an essay, letter of recommendation and application form before they could be selected.

(Its) to promote aviation as a career for women, said Wilson. Women dont necessarily think about aviation as a career and theres a lot of opportunities for them to follow.

According to Lets Talk Science, a Canadian charity dedicated to education and outreach, 70 per cent of Canadas top jobs require a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education.

Psalm Clunies-Ross, who came from Haines Junction, Yukon has already started looking at schools she can attend to become a pilot. She knows this is the path she wants to follow.

I thought this program was really cool, said Clunies-Ross. I didnt know what to expect because Im from a small town, so I didnt really know what would happen. I really enjoyed all the tours and things. They give you a little bit about each job.

They had a fun time and they bonded so well, said Kendra Kincade, Founder and President of Elevate Aviation in Edmonton. I think a lot of them are going to leave here not only knowing about aviation but empowered to do whatever they want. And friendships that will last a lifetime. While new Xerox CEO John Visentin told investors on Thursday the company is not preparing for auction, he refused to comment on whether the iconic American printer was entertaining buyers.

The board will evaluate a strategic alternative as indicated, but at the end of the day if someone wants to come in with a strategic offer we would need to evaluate it and bring it to the board. Im not commenting on any potential discussions, Visentin told analysts during its second-quarter earnings call.

In response to a question regarding a recent Reuters report that Xerox may sell its financing division, he said only that theres no changes to communicate at this time.

Xerox reported that its second-quarter revenue came in at $2.51 billion, down 2.2 percent from a year ago but above analysts' expectations. The dip hit the company's bottom line. Earnings per share were 42 cents compared to the year ago quarter when earnings were 64 cents. Xerox said that its adjusted earnings per share were 80 cents, below analysts' expectations of 92 cents.

Xerox saw a drop in net income from $112 million this quarter compared to $164 million reported at the same time last year.

One bright spot was in equipment sales, which were up almost one percent to $561 million. For Xerox partner Josh Justice, president of JustTech in La Plata, Md. the figures came as welcome news.

Its a great sign that equipment revenue is up for Xerox, because that will bring more post-sale revenue in the coming months, he told CRN. JustTechs Xerox equipment sales  as well as most partners I have spoken to  are up year over year, especially on the SMB market. The economy is strong, and SMBs are doing well and growing.

Xerox CFO Bill Osbourn backed that up during the call, telling investors that channel sales in the SMB segment continues to be strong, up 14.4 percent in the second quarter. Meanwhile enterprise sales dipped one percent.

Justice said that Xerox should put its seasoned sales partners in the channel to use to increase revenues in other areas aside from the SMB market.

Xerox needs to send more products to the channel, including production, he said. Channel partners have shown they can increase equipment sales in Xerox products and this would allow the equipment revenue to grow even more.Google partners are signing off on Google Cloud, giving the tech giant their blessing as an enterprise-grade cloud provider.

At Google Next 2018, the company made it clear that it wants to go after bigger customers with the help of its partners. Google believes that the recent updates to its collaboration portfolio, G Suite, and the newly-added AI and machine learning features to Google Cloud Platform (GCP), will help them attract enterprises.

"I don't think there's any doubt in anyone's mind how serious Google is about the enterprise in 2018," said Tony Safoian, CEO of SADA Systems, a Los Angeles-based cloud solutions provider and Google partner that specializes in G Suite, among other Google cloud solutions.

[Related: Google Cloud Platform: 5 Bold Statements Made At Google Next 2018]

While Google was an early entrant into the cloud collaboration game, it ran into "perception struggles" because many businesses wrote its tools off as consumer services, said Aric Bandy, president of Agosto, a Minneapolis-based cloud development solution provider that partners exclusively with Google.

Looking back at Google two years ago, some of the concerns around whether the cloud platform was ready for the enterprise were valid, according to Keith Millar, senior vice president services for IT consultant and MSP Pythian, a Google partner.

Google Cloud CEO Diane Greene, who has been at the helm for two years, has been a very consistent leader, solution providers told CRN. Greene this week told partners and customers at Next that upon her appointment with the tech giant, she believed making Google more enterprise-friendly was her mission.

She said that in 2016, Google "buckled down" and today the tech giant is a leader in three of Gartner's Magic Quadrants  Infrastructure as a Service, API Management, and Content Collaboration. Google said that it has 1.4 billion Gmail users today, and 4 million businesses are using G Suite, Google's collaboration portfolio.

If you think about it, Google is an enterprise company but we're just a very modern enterprise company, Greene said during her keynote on Tuesday.

But what has really changed since 2016, according to Agosto's Bandy, is the company publicizing its customer stories.

"For a number of years, Google didn't tell their story,' he said. "Partners close to Google knew about their larger accounts and saw some of the disruptive transformation that was happening for these customers, but that wasn't getting told to the market, until now."

Each year at Google Next, the company has touted bigger names now running on GCP. This year, Google highlighted several new enterprise customers, such as Target and Whirlpool, and laid out their specific use cases.

"That is really resonating. CTOs are saying; 'Google is really here' and they want to hear more," Bandy said.

What Google needs from its partner community now is a seat at the table.

"If Google is [an option] during a customer cloud conversation, they are winning their fair share," said Paul Vallee, president, and CEO of Pythian.

Executives for Dev9, a Kirkland, Wash.-based Premier Google partner, said that Google this year has adopted much more of a white-glove approach, which is helping to court enterprise customers.

"As a consumer, you interact with Google through APIs -- there's no way to get hold of a person. Businesses hate that, and many companies told us that Google 'doesn't know how we operate," said Gabe Hicks, CTO for Dev9.

Google, through its partners, is no longer an arm's length away from customers, Hicks said.

"This last year has been amazing," he said. "The tools have always been tempting, but the enterprise needs to know you care about and understand their problems."

Pythian, a Google partner headquartered in Ottawa, also works with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. From the start, Pythian always included all three hyperscale cloud providers in every enterprise cloud conversation, much to the surprise of some customers, Vallee said.

"Google entered the scene and cobbled together a brand-new channel focused on its data-centric strategy. It was a shockingly different experience for us working with Google," Vallee said.

Thanks to Google listening to customer concerns and making the right changes in networking and security, the objections that businesses initially had when considering Google for their cloud needs are no longer valid. As such, Google cloud deployments have matured from online gaming companies, to more traditional verticals being represented in its customer base, Pythian's Millar added.

"I think its [Google] is a refreshing, interesting opportunity for the channel," he said.Microsoft is increasing prices for on-premises Office with the launch of the next version, Office 2019, later this year, the company announced.

With new Microsoft pricing that starts Oct. 1, the commercial version of Office 2019 will rise by 10 percent compared to the current pricing for on-premises Office.

[Related: 10 Major Microsoft Announcements At Inspire 2018]

The price increase applies to Office client, Client Access License (Enterprise and Core) and server products, Microsoft said in a blog post. The company did not mention any plans for an Office 365 price hike.

The pricing changes "provide yet another incentive for customers to move from legacy purchasing and distribution mechanisms to more modern licenses and technologies," said Reed Wiedower, CTO of Washington, D.C.-based New Signature, in an email to CRN.

"Many of our customers have already, in bulk, moved away from older MSI based versions of office to click-to-run, simply to ease their administrative burden," he said. "That also enables firms to use Intune as an app deployment mechanism instead of a more traditional approach."

A major technology change made in concert with these licensing choices is the new MSIX installer format, "which will provide another reason for folks to go back and re-package older apps into the new format for distribution," Wiedower said.

"The 10 percent cost increase certainly is going to be a kick in the pants for customers who continue to avoid the cloud  and since our business is built upon helping customers move to the cloud and live in the cloud, we view it as uniformly positive," he said.

Meanwhile, Microsoft also disclosed in its blog post that changes are coming as of Oct. 1 for Windows 10 Enterprise users, as well.

Firstly, Windows 10 Enterprise E3 will now only refer to the per-user offer of Windows 10 for enterprise.

The per-device offer, meanwhile, will simply be referred to as Windows 10 Enterprise starting in October.

Additionally, at that time, Windows 10 Enterprise (the per-device offer) will see an increase in price so that it costs the same as Windows 10 Enterprise E3, which is $84 per user annually.

A Microsoft spokesperson said the company is not specifying the size of the price increase for the per-device offer, or whether Office 365 and the Microsoft 365 suite--which includes Office 365 and Windows 10--will see a price increase in October.

Lastly, Microsoft announced that its per-device offer for Windows 10 Enterprise E5 will be discontinued as of Oct. 1.

"These changes will highlight the benefits of our pricing for a cloud-first world, help us move from program-centric to a customer-centric pricing structure, and create more consistency and transparency across our purchasing channels," Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft said in the blog post.The U.S. Department of Defense has finally released its request for proposals for its planned $10 billion JEDI Cloud contract, one that is slated to be signed with a single cloud service provider.

The Department of Defense on Thursday released its final request for proposals for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, Cloud program. The JEDI program is expected to eventually give a single cloud services provider a contract worth $10 billion over 10 years. However, the DoD told CRN that the contract might also be won a partnership of multiple providers.

The plan to award a single contract for the JEDI Cloud is a controversial move in the IT industry, given the size and scope of the eventual contract.

[Related: Pentagon Cloud Contract RFP Process Delayed As Defense Department Cites 'Extensive' Industry Interest]

It may also be a difficult project for which to prepare bids, especially for partnerships of multiple providers, given that the DOD will hold one-on-one meetings in August with potential bidders and select the contract winner in September.

The request for JEDI Cloud proposals was initially expected to be released this past spring, but was delayed.

The contract generated major controversy as large technology providers argued that the huge contract appears tilted in favor of Amazon Web Services, and should be divided among vendors.

Despite industry pushback led by Oracle, Department of Defense officials have maintained that the best strategy to serve U.S. forces is to leverage a single public cloud for data storage and compute. They've defended their desire for a single provider in a letter sent to congressional committees.

The single-cloud posture goes against advice from an IT trade consortium.

The Information Technology Industry (ITI) Council's IT Alliance for Public Sector, a group that's comprised of all the cloud providers involved in the dispute, previously argued that a multi-cloud approach would adhere to best practices for ensuring price competitiveness and avoiding vendor lock-in.

Opponents of the DOD's plan maintain the conditions stated in two previous draft RFPs look written to ensure AWS takes the entirety of the contract.

A coalition of tech giants came together around Oracle's protest, including Microsoft and IBM, two of Amazon's most-prominent cloud rivals, as well as hardware giants Dell and Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

Heather Babb, a Department of Defense spokesperson, told CRN via email that while the JEDI Cloud is a full and open competition that will result in a single-award contract, it does not preclude multiple vendors from participating in the project.

"Multiple vendors may form a partnership and offer a solution to compete for the single-contract award. Extensive market research has shown that multiple vendors are capable of meeting the requirements of the department," Babb wrote.

"The JEDI Cloud is a critical first step toward an enterprise cloud solution that enables data-driven decision making and allows DOD to take full advantage of applications and data resources. While JEDI Cloud is an initial step toward a department-wide cloud solution, DOD will continue to operate in a multi-cloud environment due to diverse mission needs," she wrote.

Babb also wrote that, since the RFP has been released, the DOD cannot comment further on a pending competitive action.

In announcing the request for proposals for the JEDI Cloud program, Dana Deasy, chief information officer for the Department of Defense, on Thursday called JEDI Cloud a "pathfinder" and a key component in the department's cloud environment strategy.

An enterprise approach to cloud technology is the only way to get the scale needed to quickly provide the military with access to the best information needed for informed decision making, Deasy wrote.

"The JEDI Cloud Program is a pathfinder and a critical first step in the DOD's overall cloud environment that will provide an enterprise approach for obtaining general purpose infrastructure and platform services that can meet a majority of the department's needs," he wrote.

While the DOD is expected to choose a single cloud provider for JEDI, it is not looking for a single cloud, Deasy wrote.

"With the diversity of DOD's mission, DOD will always have a multiple cloud environment, but we need to do better in applying an enterprise approach to that environment. To successfully accomplish this, we are looking for an industry partner who will learn with us and help us find the best ways to bring foundational commercial capabilities to our warfighters," he wrote.

Kaight Meyers, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force and the JEDI cloud computing program manager, wrote in a separate letter that the JEDI cloud project is an important part of helping the DOD understand how to best use the cloud.

"This production contract is key to allowing the Department to learn how to most effectively use cloud at the enterprise level. The JEDI Cloud will act as a pathfinder for us to understand how we can best achieve security, governance, and architectures at the enterprise level in a modern, relevant manner," Meyers wrote.

One potential bidder for the project, Oracle, declined to comment for this story. Sam Gordy, general manager for IBM U.S. Federal, told CRN via email: "IBM has proudly supported the U.S. military for decades, and we look forward to submitting a thoughtful, comprehensive proposal for a JEDI cloud that will serve the long-term needs of Americas men and women in uniform." Representatives from Microsoft, Amazon, Dell, and HPE did not immediately respond to CRN requests for further comment.

Ellen Lord, under secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, wrote in a letter dated July 19 that the JEDI Cloud project is expected to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning.

"Leveraging AI and ML at scale and at a tempo relevant to warfighters requires significant computing and data storage in a common environment," she said.

Lord also said the contract will start with a two-year base ordering period, a three-year option ordering period followed by a second three-year option ordering period, and a final two-year option ordering period, with the maximum cost to be $10 billion over those 10 years.

The contract includes multiple contract line items for IaaS, PaaS, and cloud support packages which will be priced by catalogs, with each offering in the catalog provided "as a service" with single, fixed unit prices. "As with any other cloud offering, once [a] new service is added to the catalog, the unit price is fixed and channel be changed without contracting officer approval, she wrote.

The planned $10-billion budget for JEDI over the next ten years is a huge project compared to the Department of Defense's other cloud computing budgets. In a redacted Congressional report on cloud computing services, the DoD plans to spend about $82.1 million on nearly 50 commercial cloud service projects in fiscal year 2018, rising to $106.8 million in fiscal 2019.

Another $147.8 million is expected to be spent on "other" cloud services for about 50 DOD projects in fiscal 2018, rising to $286.4 million in fiscal 2019.

Joseph Tsidulko contributed to this story.There are "incredible opportunities ahead" with AMD's next-generation, 7-nanometer processors as the company expects to take more server market share from archrival Intel, said CEO Lisa Su.

Su's remarks came Wednesday during the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company's second-quarter earnings call, where the company's upcoming 7nm CPUs and graphics chips, as well as its nascent EPYC server processors, dominated much of the discussion.

The second quarter, ended June 30, marked the company's best quarterly results in seven years, with revenue reaching $1.76 billion, a 53 percent increase from the same period last year, and net income climbing to $156 million, or 14 cents per share, compared to a loss of $7 million, or a loss of 1 cent per share, a year ago. AMD's stock price was up more than 5 percent after market-close Wednesday.

[RELATED: Intel's AMD Talent Raid Raises Partner Buzz Around GPU Blitz]

AMD began sampling its 7nm graphics chip, or GPU, with select customers in the second quarter and expects to start shipping the product later this year, Su said. AMD's 7nm EPYC server CPU, code-named "Rome," has also started sampling with select partners and will launch in 2019 while the 7nm client CPU will ship sometime after that, the CEO added.

"I do believe we have a very competitive position in 2019," Su said.

AMD's progress with its 7nm chip manufacturing process is significant because Intel has been struggling with its 10nm process, which is comparable to AMD's 7nm and has been delayed for multiple years because of manufacturing issues. A senior AMD executive said in June that Intel's challenges have created "a real tailwind" for the company.

Before his resignation in late June, former Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said at a shareholders meeting that he did not see the company's manufacturing issues as a competitive threat, adding that he believes the company's 14nm chips still have "a lot of leg room left in performance, along with our architectures."

During AMD's Wednesday earnings call, Su reiterated that the company projects to reach mid-single digits in the server market share by the end of the year and double-digits in the mid-term. The company's EPYC server chip line, which launched a little over a year ago, is now in over 50 platforms, including HPE's ProLiant DL325 Gen10 server, which Su said offers "significantly lower cost per virtual machine than the leading dual-socket competitor"  a reference to Intel.

Rick Gouin, CTO at Waltham, Mass.-based Winslow Technology Group, ranked No. 429 on CRN's 2018 Solution Provider 500 list, previously told CRN that while most of his customer base uses Intel, he has a number of mid-range customers that are starting to look at AMD's EPYC server chip for cost savings.

"Those types of products are starting to become more interesting to our customers because so many things are licensed by the socket," Gouin said.

Krzanich, Intel's former CEO, reportedly said to an analyst that Intel would lose server market share to AMD in the second half of this year. Intel later said that while the company expects a "more competitive environment," it's in a "great position to compete."

Su said a majority of the EPYC platforms have been shipping to multiple customers, with some deployments ranging from the hundreds to tens of thousands. That contributed to a 37 percent year-over-year growth in AMD's Enterprise, Embedded and Semi-Custom business to $670 million for the second quarter.

Su said EPYC sales and shipments have grown more than 50 percent sequentially. After seeing a longer qualification period with customers for the first-generation of EPYC, code-named "Naples," Su said the company hopes for the timeline to tighten with "Rome," the next-generation chip.

"With Rome, I think there is enhanced interest," she said.

Su said the company is aiming to increase EPYC adoption in the high-performance computing, data analytics and virtualized enterprise environment segments.

The company's Computing and Graphics business grew 64 percent year-over-year to $1.09 billion, driven by strong sales of its Radeon graphics products and "continued growth" of its Ryzen CPU products. At the same time, the business saw a 3 percent dip from the previous quarter, which AMD attributed primarily to a dip in revenue from GPU products in the blockchain market.Bodo, Norway, is a small but growing cruise destination, with hopes of seeing some 50 ships a year by 2025, according to a spokesperson.

That would be well up on 18 ships expected this year, accounting for just over 20,000 cruise guests, he said. 2018 is up over 2017s 11 calls, while 2019 is looking good too; 28 calls were booked into Bodo as of April, and we expect that number to rise, said the spokesperson.

The growth is coming in the winter, as 50 percent of business will happen between January and March as cruisers head to Norway in hopes of seeing the Northern Lights.

Bodo has organized its own local cruise network, made up of port officials, transportation providers, local officials and the shore excursion companies.

As the first port north of the Arctic Circle, Bodo offers a variety of year-round shore excursion options and can handle most ship sizes. A dredging project will make calls even easier come 2019, as Bodo will be able to take ships up to 340 meters in length.Royal Caribbean International today announced that Crystal Campbell will take over as general manager of the company's Hong Kong office.

Prior to her new appointment, she was the head of Global Business Meeting, Incentive Travel (MICE) and charter sales at Royal Caribbean's headquarters in Miami, USA, and worked extensively with major partners in the Asia Pacific region.

Starting in September, Campbell will lead the Hong Kong team to actively expand the number of homeport options and flight tours, and will aim to develop Hong Kong into a year-round homeport, the company said.

Campbell has extensive experience in the cruise industry, implementing sales strategies for all Royal Caribbean brands for over 13 years. Prior to joining the company, Campbell worked in the global finance industry, including serving Citigroup's international personal banking and managing a high-margin portfolio.

Bert Hernandez, Chief Operating Officer of Royal Caribbean International Cruises China, said: "Crystal is a senior expert in the cruise industry. Her unique experience and knowledge have brought us new thinking. Crystal's ability to analyze and formulate strategies, and her Her experience in sales and marketing has made her the best person to lead the expansion of the Hong Kong market. I am confident that Crystal will make Hong Kong a world-class cruise hub. I look forward to working with Crystal again and I am excited about the future development of Hong Kong."Louis plc announced in a prepared statement that it had sold the M/V Majesty to an "overseas company." The buyer was not named.

The Majesty launched as the Royal Majesty for Majesty Cruise Line in 1992.

The 40,876-ton ship has capacity for 1,460 guests. She sailed recently on a charter agreement with Marella Cruises, which came to a conclusion last year.

She has also spent time under the Norwegian Cruise Line and Star Cruises banners over the years.

Louis plc is a member of the Louis Group, which is engaged in the tourism industry in the Southeastern Mediterranean. Louis plc mainly focuses on the hotel sector in both Cyprus and Greece,

It is also active in the cruise sector through its subsidiary, Celestyal Cruises.Fincantieri has reported net income of 21 million euro on group basis on revenues 2.5 billion euro for the first six months of 2018, compared to net income of 13 million euro on revenues of 2.3 billion euro for the same period last year.

In the shipbuilding sector, which represented nearly 75 percent of Fincantieris business in terms of revenue during the six-month period, the company delivered four cruise ships: the Carnival Horizon, Seabourn Ovation, MSC Seaview and Viking Orion, as well as two naval vessels and an oceanographic vessel.

Also during the time period, Fincantieri signed an agreement with the French state for the acquisition of 50 percent of the share capital of STX France. The agreement also includes a loan of 1 percent of the share capital, which gives Fincantieri control of the French shipbuilder.

Furthermore, VARDs shareholders have agreed to delist the company as Fincantieri moves to take over full ownership.

The orderbook includes one more cruise delivery later this fall and 24 more cruises ships in total, according to a Fincantieri statement, plus ships being built by Vard and STX France (now back to its old name, Chantiers de lAtlantique).

In July, Fincantieri signed up TUI Cruises as a new customer for two LNG-fueled cruise ships; converted an option for two ships into orders from Norwegian Cruise Line; signed a memorandum with Princess Cruises for two new generation ships at 175,000 tons, the largest built in Italy so far; confirmed an order for a new ship for Cunard Line; as well as orders from the U.S. government for surface combat ships. In addition, Vard received an order from Viking for two expedition ships.A continuing heat wave in Japan has led to temperatures as high as 40C, with the casualties climbing up as more deaths were reported.

The authorities have also forecasted extreme high temperature exceeding 35C (95F) for most parts of Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu islands, with northerly Hokkaido the only one of the country's four main islands that seems to have escaped from the Japanese heat wave.

Among the dead was a primary school boy who collapsed after a field trip to a park 20 minutes' walk from his school.

The heat wave has persisted for two weeks right after torrential rains caused massive flooding and landslides in the country's west.

Keeping oneself hydrated, staying away from direct sunlight, and the use of air conditioners is encouraged, with the agency warning that the "potential for heat illness is higher than usual".

Public broadcaster NHK reported that until Friday a number of people had been taken to hospital due to heat stroke related symptoms.

And temperatures over 40 degrees were registered for the first time in Tokyo's metro area, where the government is promoting Uchimizu, a tradition where water is sprinkled onto the ground, as part of a summer heat awareness campaign.

The weather agency said Sunday's temperatures exceeded 35 degrees C at 233 observation points across the nation by mid-afternoon.

More than a dozen cities and towns saw temperatures around 40 deg C, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

A deadly heat wave blistering across Japan has claimed more than 30 lives this month, with little relief in sight as record temperatures are expected to persist until later this week. The morning low in Seoul was 29.2 degrees, the highest-ever in the country's capital, according to South Korea's weather agency. Seven of them died last week, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday.

However, she did concede: "Our traditional wisdom is not enough to beat the heat like this, so we will be using cutting-edge technology".

Most of the victims have been elderly.

This year's record temperatures have renewed concerns about the Summer Olympics which will be held in Tokyo in two years.Ireland would back any request by Britain to stay in the European Union after March 2019, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said, the first senior EU official to publicly raise the prospect of Brexit being delayed.

The Irish government would "absolutely" support the British government if it sought more time for negotiations with the bloc, Coveney told BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday, adding that politicians should work toward a compromise to ensure that a no-deal Brexit with "significant" costs to both sides is averted.

"I don't believe that a no-deal Brexit or Britain crashing out of the EU is likely to happen," Coveney said. "Even though the timeline is tight, it is possible to achieve an outcome that's good for Britain, that's good for the EU."

Though senior European officials have previously privately questioned whether the talks will finish on time, Prime Minister Theresa May's government has repeatedly ruled out an extension. It is stepping up plans for a no-deal Brexit, with Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab warning on Tuesday of the need to ensure adequate food supplies if the U.K. does leave the bloc without an agreement.

A move to extend the Brexit deadline, which Article 50 of the EU Treaty sets at two years after a formal notice to leave the bloc, would have to be requested by Britain and agreed to unanimously by the 27 remaining EU governments.

But the U.K. has also said its preference is for a deal, and the prime minister's decision to take full control of negotiations with the EU -- responsibility had been split with the Brexit Department -- is likely to have boosted her chances of getting one. From the EU's perspective, it represents an end to the power struggle in the British government which had hindered progress.

Both sides are aiming to strike a deal at the EU leaders' summit in October, though talks have been held up while Britain came up with a blueprint for how it sees its future relationship with EU. There's also still no agreement on how to keep the Irish border effectively invisible after Brexit.

May's preference for a soft Brexit was finally put in writing this month, which Coveney welcomed as a "step forward" -- though he warned parts of her plan will be "difficult to negotiate" with the EU focused on protecting its single market.

In particular, her customs proposal -- in which British officials would collect EU tariffs at the U.K. border on goods destined for other countries in the bloc -- is "complex," Coveney said, while the plan to separate goods from services in a trade agreement could also be "difficult."

"What's needed now is to give the professional negotiators some time and space to actually tease through those proposals, and see what the EU can accommodate and what is difficult to accommodate," Coveney said.

Coveney was speaking ahead of a British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference in London on Wednesday. In addition to the post-Brexit Irish border, talks are also likely on how to restore a power-sharing government in Northern Ireland, where the region's assembly is currently suspended.Contributed Photo / Bridgeport Police Department / Contributed Photo

BRIDGEPORT  Police are looking to identify suspects in an overnight armed robbery at a city gas station.

Police released an image of one of the suspects on Thursday in the hopes that someone might be able to ID the potential suspect.BRIDGEPORT - State prosecutors on Thursday reduced the charges against a Milford man accused of raping a Stratford woman he met through an online dating website.

States Attorney John Smriga told Superior Court Judge Robert Devlin that after consulting with the alleged victim in the case he was reducing the charges of first-degree sexual assault and second-degree unlawful restraint against Carmen Tragianese to a single count of fourth-degree sexual assault.

Smriga declined comment on the change.

Tragianeses lawyer, Edward Gavin, then told the judge they would be filing an application for accelerated rehabilitation, a pretrial probation program for nonviolent offenders.

Under accelerated rehabilitation Tragianese would not plead guilty to the charge but would be placed on probation. If he commits no other crimes during that probation the charge against him would be dismissed.

Neither Gavin nor Tragianese would comment as they later left the Fairfield County Courthouse.

Tragianese, 56, of Centennial Drive, Milford, was arrested in February.

Stratford police said the woman contacted Tragianese through a dating website last July and arranged to meet at a restaurant in Stratford for dinner. She invited him to her home to watch television, police said.

While they were watching TV, Tragianese began to kiss and grope the woman, police said. She told him no, but he held her down on the couch and raped her, police said.

Police said the woman told them she later took photographs with her phone of bruises on her arm she claimed Tragianese caused.

When they later confronted Tragianese with the woman's allegations, police said, he admitted having consensual sex with her but denied forcing himself on her. Asked about the bruising on the woman, police said, Tragianese told them she must have sensitive skin.SHELTON  A year after Whitsons Culinary Group took over the food service operation for the Shelton school district, it has settled on a contract with cafeteria workers.

The tentative agreement means the picket signs and bullhorns that have marked many school board meetings throughout the 2017-18 school year will come to an end.

As a longtime lunch lady, I am so proud of all the hard work in our fight to protect our livelihood, said Janet Martin-Allen, who has worked in the district for 38 years. In the end, we were able to achieve a contract we are proud of.

The three-year agreement provides for decent wages, good affordable health care, and income security through paid time off, according to Ian Dunn, a spokesman for Local 217 UNITE HERE!

Dunn characterized the paid time off settled upon as reasonable.

Exact terms were not disclosed. Union workers are set to vote on the deal on Aug. 23.

Throughout the negotiations, the cafeteria staff made it clear that health care premiums and paid time-off benefits they had enjoyed in the past were the main sticking points.

In a statement, Whitsons officials said the agreement provides an annual salary increase and benefits that will enable the food service program to continue operating in a fiscally sound manner.

After a long year of personal loss and hardships, we won our fight to protect good jobs for Shelton Lunch Ladies. said Barbara Jelacic, a 19-year employee in the school lunch program.

During protests held last fall, Jelacic said she loved her job but could not affort to lose 10 to 12 percent of her income.

Whitsons, which is headquartered in New York, was awarded a one-year food service contract by the city school board a year ago, which was recently extended for a second year on a 5-4 vote of the board.

The school district switched from Sodexo, its previous food service provider because it was absorbing losses each year. Whitsons promised the district the lunch program would end the year in the black.

It agreed to hire the 41 part-time cafeteria workers and offer wages of $16.57 an hour  benefits were another matter.

Schools Superintendent Chris Clouet and Board of Education Chairman Mark Holden both have said they sympathized with the workers, but maintained they could not intercede in the negotiation process.

Holden said Thursday that he was happy to hear of the tentative agreement.

lclambeck@ctpost.com; twitter/lclambeck5 1 of 5 Contributed Photo / Wilton Police Department / Contributed Photo Show More Show Less 2 of 5 Contributed Photo / Wilton Police Department / Contributed Photo Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Contributed Photo / Wilton Police Department / Contributed Photo Show More Show Less 5 of 5









WILTON  Wilton police are asking for the publics help to identify three people of interest in a recent rash of car burglaries, the department announced Thursday.

The pictures show three males who were caught on video surveillance in Waterbury, using the victims credit cards that were stolen from cars on July 10.In the last few years, the world of digital currencies has been forging forward at breakneck speed. With more than a thousand cryptocurrencies already in existence, new entities join the crypto marketplace daily in an effort to usurp the digital currency empire. For example, Bitcoin is already pretty fast and cheap, but Universas blockchain is 1,000 times faster, and its transactions are 100 times cheaper than those of Bitcoin.

Still, despite the fact that digital currency is already a major player in the fiat economy, predictions that cryptocurrencies are here to stay are difficult to swallow. Weve seen this type of disbelief before. In the 90s, the news media mocked Nicholas Negropontes prediction that the majority of readers would get their books from the internet. As unlikely as it seems now, this scenario could also play out with cryptocurrencies.

Related: IBM Is Experimenting With a Cryptocurrency, Which It Says Is More Stable

Cryptocurrencies may eventually revolutionize the entire financial sector as we know it. But to ensure its success, the crypto industry must address the following three security issues.

1. Password recovery.

Given that cryptocurrencies are decentralized, losing access to your coins leaves you with no option for redress. This could be devastating to cryptocurrency holders.

I invested in Bitcoin in mid-2017. I decided to manage my wallet on my own. Two weeks later, I was repeatedly denied access to my account. This was due to the complex structure put in place to prevent fraud.

This incident was not isolated. A recent study by Chainalysis found that between 2.7 million and 3.7 million bitcoins have been lost forever. At the current exchange rate at the time of writing, thats between $24.2 billion and $33.2 billion of lost money.

Moving forward, the cryptocurrency industry needs to address the password recovery issue to make it effective and painless.

2. Fraud.

If losing access to your account isnt scary enough for you, how about fraud?

Traditional financial institutions are expected to know their customers and their patterns of transactions. They keep records, warn their customers of unusual activities and report suspicious transactions to the authorities.

Within the cryptocurrency universe, however, anonymity has been its selling point. It has also been its Achilles heel. Although traditional banking is susceptible to fraud, decentralization and anonymity expose cryptocurrency holders to higher risk of it. In the first two months of 2018 alone, scammers stole $1.36 billion worth of cryptocurrencies.

Anonymity has also ensured that most small-scale scams are not discovered, making it a safe haven for scammers.

Related: 7 Reasons Experts Say It's Not Too Late to Invest in Cryptocurrency

3. Hacking.

A friend of mine had some of his Ripple stolen from his wallet. He couldnt call, email or chat with a customer care representative to talk about the problem. It was gone for good. However, what bothered him more was his inability to explain how the hackers got into his wallet. As a tech expert currently working at a blockchain startup, he was certain he wasnt careless.

Research has shown that after virtual currency fraud, which constitutes 30 percent of all virtual currency scams, hacking attempts are the second most common virtual currency problem, at 22 percent.

Banks still have some of the best security systems in the world. Plus, insurance protects your money in your banking account. Maybe in the future, when banks adopt cryptocurrencies, we may see some sort of crypto safe for storing cryptocurrencies. Although they are virtual currencies, ironically, the best place to store your crypto is in a physical storage wallet.

Will we see a crypto bank soon to address this problem? Probably not, but its a wonderful proposition. Thats why the folks behind the AriseBank ICO scam were able to raise such a huge amount in a short time. Many people, including me, hope to see a crypto bank or storage in future, but we might have to wait awhile.

Related: An Illustrated Glossary of Cryptocurrency Slang

Conclusion.

The number of cryptocurrencies is growing, and they are becoming more complicated. Sooner rather than later, we will need regulators to address the present difficulties. The SEC is already stepping in. This could mean that platforms trading digital currencies or exchanges would have to register with the SEC before they can operate. While were waiting to see how this plays out in the future, the cryptocurrency industry has to implement new security measures to protect its customers if its to stand any chance of competing with the traditional financial institutions and become the currency of the future.

Related:

3 Ways Your Cryptocurrency Could Vanish That You Can't Do Much About

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Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedIt took 10 months and roughly $17 million for New Zealanders to decide they didn't want a new flag.

That was an awkward discovery for then-Prime Minister John Key, who had pumped the time and money into a design competition for a new flag and a referendum on choosing one. But in 2016, after a finalist for a new flag had been selected, almost 57 percent of Kiwis opted to keep their old flag.

Key had hoped that a fresh design would better differentiate New Zealand from Australia. The two countries have nearly identical flags: New Zealand's is blue with a Union Jack emblem in the top left corner and four red and white stars on the right side; the Australian flag is also blue with a Union Jack in the corner, but has one white star below that and five white stars to the right.

The two flags look so similar that they are occasionally mixed up, and were apparently even swapped for one another at an Olympic medal ceremony in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

After the failed referendum, it seemed that the flag drama between the two countries had perhaps cooled down. But this week, acting New Zealand Prime Minister Winston Peters told TVNZ that Australia "copied" the Kiwi flag and "should actually change their flag and honor the fact that we got there first with this design." Peters, who opposed the idea that New Zealand be the one to replace its flag in 2016, is serving as the country's head of government while Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern takes maternity leave.

The dig at Australia's flag reignited an old debate and came at a tense time for Australia and New Zealand. More than half-a-million Kiwis live in Australia, and according to Australian Broadcasting Corporation, more than 1,300 of them have been deported in the past three years, raising concerns in New Zealand.

In 2014, Australia changed its immigration policies, allowing longtime residents to be deported if they didn't pass a "character test," meaning residents with certain criminal records can have their visas canceled. More New Zealanders are now in immigration detention in Australia than people from any other country. And, according to the New York Times, at least 60 percent of those sent back to New Zealand in recent years identify as Maori and Pacific Islander.

In an interview with ABC earlier this month, New Zealand Justice Minister Andrew Little said Australia's deportation policy and treatment of certain New Zealanders is "certainly not consistent with any humanitarian ideals that I thought both countries once shared."

"I never want to be part of a government in New Zealand that would deport a 16-year-old Australian back to Australia," he said, referring to the case of one deported Kiwi.

As for the history behind the flags, New Zealand adopted its current design in 1902 - Australia didn't do the same for its flag until 1954. A version of its current design was apparently flown in Australia in 1901, but a New Zealand government website claims that versions of the current New Zealand flag were flown as early as the 1860s, usually on ships."I will be deputising for the Prime Minister in the negotiations".

This would address what he called "some of the tensions that were widely reported" in the previous structure of the government's Brexit officials, Raab said.

UK-EU negotiations over the terms of the UK's withdrawal are about striking a deal that preserves access to each other's markets for trade, with one of the disagreements being over whose rules should govern that deal.

Theresa May has informed Parliament that she is taking personal control of European Union withdrawal negotiations, with new Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab "deputising" for her in talks.

Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab said the government would ensure there was an "adequate food supply", while the Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it was "responsible" to prepare for a no-deal outcome.

The ministry led by Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, ostensibly the public face of the negotiations, will instead focus on domestic preparations for Brexit, including the risk of reaching no deal.

Olly Robbins, who leads a team of civil servants within the Cabinet Office, has seen his "Europe unit" given overall responsibility for negotiations with Brussels.

He let slip details of the new arrangements in the Commons last week before Mrs May spelt out how the change will work in a written statement to MPs.

Downing Street confirmed that it will be Mr Raab who travels regularly to Brussels for direct talks with European Union chief negotiator Michel Barnier.

The poll also showed that the United Kingdom remained divided on the merits of leaving the European Union with 50 per cent voting to remain in the EU in any new referendum.

"The key interlocutor for Mr Barnier is the secretary of state", Robbins told a parliamentary committee.

"It is one part of the whole deal we are doing with our European Union partners".

"Like any business, we consider a wide range of scenarios in planning discussions so that we're prepared to continue serving customers and small businesses who count on Amazon, even if those scenarios are very unlikely", the spokesman told Fortune.Human Rights Watch denounced on Wednesday the European Union decision to entrust the Libyan coast guards with the task of managing the waves of illegal African migrants who risk their lives to reach European shores.

The EUs obstruction of nongovernmental rescues and handover of responsibility to Libyan coast guard forces is a recipe for even greater loss of life in the Mediterranean and a continuing cycle of abuse for people trapped in Libya, said HRW, calling on the EU to shoulder its responsibilities.

The EUs efforts to block rescues and dithering on where rescued people can land, propelled by Italys hardline and heartless approach, is leading to more deaths at sea and greater suffering in Libya, stressed Judith Sunderland, director at Human Rights Watch.

Instead of discouraging rescues by nongovernmental organizations, commercial vessels, and even military ships, EU member states and institutions should ensure that rescued people can be taken to safe ports where their protection needs can be met, underlined the HRW official.

The detained African asylum seekers and migrants in Libya, who were interviewed by HRW, complained about abuse by guards and smugglers, while some reported aggressive behavior by coast guard forces during rescue operations at sea.

According to HRW, the Libyan coast guard forces lack the capacity to ensure safe and effective search-and-rescue operations.

Since he came to power in early June, Italys deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has campaigned against rescue operations carried out by NGOs in the Mediterranean and refused or delayed ships from disembarking in Italy hundreds of vulnerable people rescued at sea, including military and commercial vessels.

Several rescue organizations are blocked in Italian and Maltese ports. The risk that their vessels could be impounded, or that they could face criminal prosecution or financial loss from delayed disembarkation, will deter commercial ships from rescuing people at sea, while the demand increases.This appeared in Thursday's Washington Post.

- - -

Although the full text has not yet been released, the news from Cuba about a new constitution is tantalizing. The document could lead to laws that permit same-sex marriage and could permit owning private property. If true, this would mark a reversal from decades of hostility to homosexuality and capitalism. But don't hold your breath for major change. The constitution will not allow the most basic right of all - for Cubans to choose their own leaders or determine the shape of their own government.

In Raul Castro's 10 years as president, which ended this year, there were modest openings for private entrepreneurs who were eager to build small businesses but found themselves hampered by sudden restrictions from the state, which began to hold up licenses last year. This kind of gradual, paternalistic, stop-start thinking is characteristic of the regime, even under the handpicked new president, Miguel Diaz-Canel. The constitutional rewrite, carried out under Castro's supervision, does not auger a radical break from it.

In the 1960s, Fidel Castro created penal colonies that incarcerated homosexuals, as well as others deemed "deviants" by the regime. Now, according to Reuters, the constitution will define marriage as a union between two people, not as between a man and a woman. More legislation would be required to legalize same-sex marriage, but the change would begin to catch up with evolving social values around the world. Likewise, the new constitution reportedly will tip the hat to the market and private property - but also strongly endorse the principles of a socialist system with state-owned companies in a dominant position. This does not seem likely to truly free Cuba's entrepreneurs, with all their vigor and aspirations, from the heavy hand of Cuba's long-outdated socialist dictates.

Cuba's 1940 constitutionwas a progressive document. It was followed by a dozen years of elected but corrupt government, then abrogated by Fulgencio Batista's coup of 1952.Castro took power in 1959but only got around to a new constitution in 1976 as part of an effort to consolidate his Soviet-backed, Marxist one-party state. The 1976 document included a provision that allowed 10,000 eligible voters to propose laws to parliament. When Oswaldo Paya and other dissidents put this to the test in May 2002 with the Varela Project citizens initiative, submitting 11,020 signatures to parliament demanding a referendum on democracy, a free press, free markets and freedom for political prisoners, their request was coldly ignored, and instead Castro sponsored a referendum to enshrine socialism as irrevocable in Cuba's political, social and economic life.

This leads to what is really deficient about the current exercise - it does not envision a Cuba where people are free to choose their own leaders, nor open the Communist Party to serious competition. If anything, the regime wants to don a nice new suit, but its basic authoritarian and repressive methods have not changed.WASHINGTON - Federal officials said they were on course to meet Thursdays court-ordered deadline reuniting all eligible immigrant families, but Connecticut lawmakers are wary of the hundreds of ineligible parents whove already left the country without their children.

Stunningly, federal immigration enforcement officials told many parents that the only way they would get their children back is if they left the country, said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. That is outrageous, false and cruel beyond comprehension.

U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw of San Diego issued a 30-day order to reunite 2,551 immigrant children and parents after a two-month international outcry from churches, public officials and businesses. On Tuesday  two days before the deadline  1,012 parents were reunified with their children and roughly 900 parents had been deemed ineligible for reunification.

The final number of reunified families were expected to arrive late Thursday. Two immigrant children staying in a Groton-based facility were already reunited with their parents earlier this month.

At a meeting on Tuesday behind closed doors, Kirstjen Nielsen, the chief of the Homeland Security Department, said to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus that family reunifications are on track to meet the deadline, but didnt provide numbers to back the assertion.

Sabraw said the Trump administrations progress is a remarkable achievement. But the judges remarks werent all praise, acknowledging some of the families that likely would not be together by Thursday.

Some of this information is unpleasant, he said. Its the reality of a policy that was in place that resulted in large numbers of families being separated without forethought as to reunification and keeping track of people.

In some cases, parents considered ineligible have a criminal record that disqualifies them from reunification. But in 463 other instances, the family cant be reunited because the parent was already deported or left the country voluntarily.

Connecticut lawmakers said theres no celebration until the 900 ineligible parents are reunited with their children.

This is not some big celebration, this is back where we were before Donald Trump threw a grenade in the system, Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., said. If the Trump administration splits a family, they need to put them back together.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., went as far to say that Trump administration officials should be held in contempt in court, pay fines and other appropriate remedies for initiating the border crisis.

Displaying total incompetence and brazen disregard for the courts order, the Trump administration is passing todays deadline with more than 900 parents still separated from their children, Blumenthal said.

As for those who were already reconnected, families will now have to decide whether to seek asylum in the United States or face deportation.

Sarah.roach@chron.comANSONIA  Tim Herbst got a firsthand view Wednesday of the old and new in the city, as well as earful on whats needed from the states new governor.

Over at RugpadUSA, which recently took residence in one of the vacant Farrel Foundry buildings, Kurt Froelich, its Stratford co-owner, told Herbst about the challenges his 54 employees are having meeting health care costs.

I feel bad for them, Froelich told Herbst, the former Trumbull first selectman now one of five Republican candidates seeking an Aug. 14 primary win for the gubernatorial nomination. Im paying 80 percent, but theyre having trouble meeting the 20 percent. For a family its about $1,300 a month.

Herbst said hed like to see the state devise health care options that are affordable.

We have politicians in Hartford who have Cadillac health care they contribute virtually nothing for, he told Froelich. Our state government needs to lead by example: If youre sacrificing, then we have to sacrifice.

Greg Seccombe, the third-generation owner of the 94-year-old Seccombes Men Shop on Main Street, wants business taxes cut, utility costs reduced and the income tax repealed.

Weve got to get utility costs in this state under control, said Herbst, who advocates fewer monopolies with more solar and renewable energy.

As for the state income tax, Herbst said he proposes its elimination for those earning $75,000 or less, and across-the-board cuts over four years.

At Farrel Pominis 2-year-old world headquarters, Herbst heard Paul Zepp, its chief financial officer and Kurien Thomas, its engineer manager, call for better-trained workers.

This is where Connecticut has to be ahead of the curve, Herbst said of the work being done at Farrel Pomini, which engineers, tests and manufacturers machines that make plastics. To get manufacturing like this to come back to Connecticut requires the state to have a partnership not only with our four-year colleges but our community colleges and our vo-tech schools in developing curriculum that our businesses and manufacturers need.

He proposes a tax credit for students leaving college with enormous student loans, and said hed like to enact something like Massachusetts John and Abigail Adams Scholarship, to provide free tuition to a state college for students graduating high school with a high grade point average and maintaining it.

Weve got to give our kids some kind of relief, said Herbst. Its an incentive to keep them in Connecticut.

For the five GOP gubernatorial candidates, the once Democratic Valley, now run by Republicans in Ansonia, Derby, Oxford, Seymour and Shelton, has become a battleground for votes.

This month alone, David Stemerman made three trips to the Valley and Bob Stefanowski has been in Shelton meeting with Mayor Mark Lauretti, his former opponent who now endorsed him. Ned Lamont, the Democratic Partys endorsed candidate, was in Derby Monday.

Herbst has been no stranger in the past six years, often conferring with Ansonia Mayor David Cassetti and Board of Aldermen meetings.

If Dave didnt come into office and stabilize taxes, businesses wouldnt want to come here, Herbst said. We have got to reform taxes in this state.Maybe it was the raucous atmosphere at a political forum teetering into a free-for-all; maybe it was that no one had ever asked him publicly. But on Wednesday night in New Haven, Ned Lamont said Joe Ganim should have been eligible for public campaign financing if he was allowed to run for governor.

Lamont made that statement in an evening dedicated in part to Latino issues, in a boisterous, placard-toting crowd at Albertus Magnus College. The obvious follow-up question for Lamont, the endorsed Democrat: Should Ganim have been allowed to run?

The laws of the state of Connecticut say if youve served your time, you have a chance to run, you have a chance to serve, Lamont said.

Ganim, in his second stint as Bridgeport mayor after serving seven years in the federal slammer for shaking down city contractors, petitioned his way onto the Aug. 14 primary ballot with signatures. Earlier this year he was denied public financing as an ex-felon. Even with a $60,000 loan from himself to his own campaign, his total raised as of June 30 was $676,481 -- far less than the $1.35 million grant hed have gotten for the primary if he qualified for state financing under Connecticuts clean election laws.

I appreciate that perspective, Ganim said to Lamont as the two combatants sat inches from each other, side-by-side in a hot hall.

Afterward, Lamont clarified. If hes qualified to run for governor, which he wouldnt be in probably 30 other states, then he deserves the public financing.

He added, Whether he deserves to be governor is another question.

While many in the crowd sided with Ganim, protesters peppered the Bridgeport mayor over his handling of the case of Jayson Negron, a city youth shot and killed by police in 2017. Prosecutors declined to bring charges and many in the crowd, some with placards, said Ganim could have done more.

Afterward, a fracas unfolded in the parking lot as Ganim left and a protester or two stood in front of the mayors car. Several police officers worked to maintain order. I put my body in between the protesters and the car, said Av Harris, a top aide to Ganim and spokesman for the Bridgeport police. The anger is understandable but I think theres a fine line between legitimate protest and holding someone captive.

At the forum, Ganim talked about regaining trust, a theme he repeats at every appearance - and portrayed himself as David vs. a financial Goliath in his bid against Lamont, who listed his family wealth at $90 million to $300 million in federal filings 12 years ago.

Lamont had raised $189,000 from contributors and spent $924,016 as of June 30 -- and is also not participating in the public financing program, so he can spend as much of his own money as he chooses.

Id like to think that even without public funding, with a grassroots effort, both for votes and for money, that it will be people over power, Ganim said.

Earlier Wednesday, at a meeting of the Hearst Connecticut Media Group editorial board, Ganim said he considered limiting his fundraising to $100 increments to meet the public financing requirements even after he was rejected - which might have set him up to mount a legal challenge to collect $6 million in public funding for a general election if he were to win the primary. Now, he cant bring such a challenge even if he wins because he didnt adhere to the fundraising limits.

We had to make a decision, was it to try and be competitive in a court case and probably ineffective in a campaign, Ganim said, or move forward? With the specter of a months-long court case, he gave up on public financing.

He again called for financial disclosures and criticized Lamonts wealth, which is both earned and inherited - a bit that plays well with urban audiences.

Ive got nothing to hide, Im proud of how Ive earned my money, I work my heart out every day, Lamont said. Ive created businesses, Ive created jobs and my wife has worked her heart out, so Im proud of what we did, Im not going to apologize for that. His wife, Annie Huntress Lamont, is a longtime venture capital investor who founded her own firm to finance health care and financial technology startups.

Lamont called for unity. You want a Democrat fighting to make sure everybody of color, immigrants in our society, are protected and we dont want the Trump onslaught coming through.Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and three members of the prestigious House Financial Services Committee are slated to join hundreds of credit union representatives at NAFCUs Congressional Caucus, Sept. 11-14 in Washington. Caucus is the premier credit union lobbying event of the year, featuring dozens of key administration officials, regulators and lawmakers and more than 200 meetings on Capitol Hill.

Sen. Ted Cruz serves on various committees and subcommittees that deal with credit union issues, including data security and technology and innovation. He has actively advocated against Operation Choke Point policies; NAFCU has also opposed such policies that are used by regulators to keep financial services away from a member without a material reason.

Cruz is also supportive of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (formerly the CFPB) expanding the use its exemption authority. NAFCU was the only financial services trade association to oppose subjecting credit unions to the bureaus authority under the Dodd-Frank Act and continues to press the bureau to exempt all credit unions from its enforcement and supervisory jurisdictions, as well as future rulemakings.The universal use of technology has upended business ecosystems, increasing competition for the members attention, time and money, and causing structural changes in consumer behavior. Market power is shifting from organizations to members. What motivates someone to act is growing increasingly complicated due to multiple causes including ready access to information, increasing numbers of choices, and demographic changes in the types and timing of personal decisions. This means credit union leaders have more challenges and opportunities. The chance of navigating successfully increases when you have an organizational culture that is committed to understanding the new member and incorporates new business models and strategies that benefit from technology.

Technology allows us to be more interconnected and many daily human interactions are digital. Actions and choices are more transparent than ever before as people generate data about themselves that can help formulate predictions and trends about the individual. Data analytics is a powerful tool to help organizations understand their members better. Organizations can effectively consider this abundant information to get to the heart of what makes a member act. It allows the credit union to know its members better and it puts better tools at the organizations disposal to serve them more effectively.

Knowledge of your member is a competitive advantage, particularly when technology brings credit unions additional challenges. For example, fintech start-ups attempt to cherry-pick profitable business lines from credit unions. Sufficient capital, another challenge, may not be available to take advantage of what could be an expensive investment in technology, especially at smaller credit unions. Credit union size is less significant when a third-party vendor allows a small credit union or a start-up to access the same technology as a large one.

Moreover, well-capitalized credit unions may discover that their investment in technology has been superseded by the next great app that simplifies the member experience, giving them what they want when they want it. Regardless of size, using available tools to enhance your in-depth knowledge of your member to serve them better, communicate with them more effectively and strengthen the relationship. Establishing an organizational culture of respect and caring helps to generates the loyalty that will keep members close.

Relationships are important with your employees as well. Technology can bridge the gaps between senior leaders and staff that size can bring. It can serve to let employees feel the presence of leadership  what they believe in and what the strategies are and why. This is especially important when organizations reach a scale where managing by walking around is impossible. One of our clients has effectively used podcasts for its president to regularly communicate with employees in multiple locations. These sessions allow the employees to get a good sense of the leader as a person. Smartphone apps allow for spot surveys and real time questions that can shrink large meetings, making them feel more intimate and interactive, engaging employees, and valuing their time spent.

Strategic thinking should evolve to meet the challenge that this complexity brings. The art and science of maximizing the benefit of technologys tools, expands leaderships capacity in new and creative ways to strengthen your culture and improve your relationships with both your internal and external customers  both your members and your employees.Migrants are increasingly shunning the Libyan routes for security reasons in favor of the closer and less risky Moroccan-Spanish land and sea borders.

Some 400 migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa reached Spain on Thursday after storming a double barrier between Morocco and the Spain-occupied enclave of Ceuta, with some attacking security forces with quicklime, police told The Daily Telegraph.

On July 25, Spanish authorities rescued 392 illegal migrants that embarked on board of dinghies from Morocco. A day earlier, 334 illegal migrants were rescued at sea.

The rise in migrant numbers waiting in Morocco for a chance to storm the borders of the Spain-occupied enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla or take the perilous sea journey to Spain is raising fears of a new trend in illegal migration.

Attempts at storming the borders of the two exclaves in Morocco, Ceuta and Melilla, and embarkations on board dinghies are making the headlines in Europe with the International Organization for Migration estimating that over 20,000 irregular migrants reached Spain via Morocco in 2018.

The closure of the Balkan route after the EU-Turkey agreement, the deteriorating security conditions, and the crackdown on migration in Libya, push would-be migrants to see in heavily patrolled Moroccan coasts and land borders with Ceuta and Melilla an alternative.

To address the surge of illegal migration attempts, the EU suggested outsourcing the management of migration and asylum to North Africa through the setting up of reception centers.

The proposal was met with utter rejection from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.

Morocco responded to the migration problem by launching a solidarity-based policy granting legal stay to more than 24,000 migrants and is currently processing more than 28,000 residency applications mostly submitted by Sub-Saharan migrants.

Algeria, on the other hand, opted for the use of force rounding up migrants indiscriminately and abandoning them in the desert on the borders with Niger, a move that put Algeria under the fire of international rights NGOs.Theres a narrow pathway for the Opposition to secure a majority in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. That route involves a split-mahagathbandhan strategy rather than a pre-poll nationwide grand alliance with ideologically inimical political parties, which could prove counter-productive.

For the Congress, a more sensible tactic would be to nurture two parallel pre-poll national alliances. The first would be a Congress-led UPA front comprising the Left, NCP, DMK, JD(S), RJD, NC and smaller parties. This shrunken UPA today accounts for around 75 seats in the Lok Sabha.

An implosion can't be ruled out, as there are several strong-willed leaders

Poll maths

The second thread of the parallel grand alliance would comprise independent regional parties: SP, BSP, TMC, TDP and other smaller outfits. Together they account for 65-odd seats in the Lok Sabha.

The two strands of the UPA and the federal front, thus, today, command about 140 Lok Sabha MPs  far short of a majority.

What are their prospects to cross 272 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 general election?

Consider first the qualitative argument.

If the two strands come together before the poll to form an octopus-like, hydra-headed front with several strong-willed leaders like Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadavs extended family, Lalu Prasads equally large family, Mayawati, K Chandrashekar Rao, Chandrababu Naidu, Sitaram Yechury and Sharad Pawar, an implosion cant be ruled out.

The BSP has blown hot and cold over Rahul as PM

However, if the two strands  UPA and the federal front  contest separately but with seat adjustments, coming together post-poll, their chances brighten.

Now consider the math.

If the Congress cant breach the 100-seat mark in 2019, the UPA could end up with less than 130 seats notwithstanding the DMKs likely sweep in Tamil Nadu.

Meanwhile, the federal front will depend on the SP, BSP and TMC to bring in the big numbers along with the TDP and smaller parties.

Thus, the federal front could end up with around 120 seats, adding up to 250 for the two alliances  tantalisingly short of 272 seats in a post-poll bid to form a non-NDA, mega-coalition government.

However, if the two groupings contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election with a pre-poll mahagathbandhan, they could damage their prospects further for two reasons.

First, it will be seen as a Modi versus the Rest battle that may fit into the BJPs electoral playbook.

Second, in key states (excluding UP) the mega-alliance partners could cannibalise each others votes.

Their joint seat tally may fall well below 250. Where does this leave the BJP-led NDA? In a quandary.

Theres little doubt that the BJP will be hit in Uttar Pradesh,Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Other weak spots are Haryana, Punjab and Delhi.

Neutral parties like the BJD, TRS and AIADMK (though fatally weakened) could burnish the NDAs numbers but not by much. If the Congress-led UPA and federal fronts garner 230-250 seats between them and the neutrals hold 25-50 seats in balance, the BJP-led NDA will be left with barely 250-odd seats.

In a 1996-98 redux, disenchanted voters would then elect the BJP back to power in 2021.

Hung Parliament

In a classically hung Parliament where two groupings have a similar number of seats and are each short of a parliamentary majority by a few dozen MPs, crossovers can take place. The most likely targets for the NDA are TRS in Telangana and YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh. They could deliver 20-25 seats between them and may well be amenable to a modus vivendi with the BJP.

What do these permutations mean for Rahul Gandhi?

Senior UPA leaders like the NCPs Sharad Pawar, himself a dark horse for the top post, are unenthusiastic about Rahul as PM but can be persuaded. The real hurdles for Rahul lie within the federal front.

The BSP has blown hot and cold over Rahul as PM. Mayawati sacked the vice-president of her party, Jai Prakash Singh, for declaring: Had Rahul Gandhi looked like his father (Rajiv Gandhi), he could have had a chance of success in Indian politics but he turned out like his mother (Sonia Gandhi), who is a foreigner. His blood is foreign. I can tell you with all surety that Rahul Gandhi can never succeed in Indian politics.

In case of a hung Parliament, NDA will target YSRC in Andhra Pradesh for numbers.

Piecemeal alliance

Mayawati has kept her options open by refusing to do piecemeal alliance deals with the Congress.

In Rajasthan, Sachin Pilot is confident of a go-it-alone victory.

In Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh though, the Congress is keen on a seat-sharing alliance with the BSP to consolidate Dalit votes.

If push comes to shove, however, Mayawati will back Rahul as PM in return for plum posts once her party garners 20-odd Lok Sabha seats in UP, following an alliance with the SP and Congress.

With an eye on 2024, Rahul though is prepared to concede the prime ministership in 2019 to anyone from the federal front  Mamata, Mayawati or even a dark horse as long as Modi is kept out.

The BJP knows it will lose close to 50-70 seats in UP, Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh.

It is banking on making up some of that loss in Odisha, the Northeast and West Bengal. If the BJP falls far short of 272, Modi would prefer a spell in the Opposition. The UPA and the federal front would then patch together 250-odd seats, form a minority government, quarrel over the prime ministership, and in less than two years collapse under the weight of their own contradictions.

In a 1996-98 redux, disenchanted voters would then elect the BJP back to power in 2021 with Modi returning as prime minister.

Dont bank on it, but dont rule it out either.

(Courtesy of Mail Today)

Also read: Why Mamata Banerjee's prime ministerial ambitions could rip apart Opposition unity ahead of 2019One Indian village which closely watches every development on both sides of the India and Pakistan border  and which has always favoured cordial relations between the two countries  is Jati Umra in Taran Tarn, Punjab.

Not so far from Amritsar is Nawaz Sharif's ancestral village, Jati Umra, Tarn Taran. (Photo: Google Maps)

Jati Umra is the ancestral village of Pakistan's mighty political dynasty headed by Nawaz Sharif. The Sharifs migrated to Pakistan before the 1947 Partition. Though the ancestral home of the Sharifs was converted into a gurudwara in the village after they left, the tomb of Nawaz Sharif's grandfather, Mian Muhammad Bakhsh, still bears testimony to the many rich years lived by the family in the village they once called home.

Partition meant leaving home. Forever. (Photo: Indiatoday.in)

But there is more to the relationship locals in Jati Umra have with the family of Nawaz Sharif than just warm memories or the shared respect of a common neighbourhood. Interestingly, development concerns became a connection between the Sharifs and Jati Umra residents.

It may sound unusual but in fact, the Sharif family has played a big role in the development of this village after Partition. A senior citizen not wanting to be named told us that when Nawaz's younger brother and chief minister of Pakistan's Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, came to Jati Umra on a visit in 2013, he had requested then-Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal to give a face-lift to the village.

When Shahbaz met the Badals. (Photo: IANS)

Prakash Singh Badal assured him all help and asked the department concerned to lay paving on all village paths, including the one leading to the tomb of the Sharifs' grandfather. This village now has its own sewarage system, a night shelter, even a stadium.

"The Sharif family connection has indeed resulted in the overall development of this village. It was due to the Sharif family's visit that the state government provided funds for various development schemes," says village headman Dilbag Singh Sandu.

But this is not to say that the Sharifs only came, visited, spoke of development and left Jati Umra. They also apparently employed nearly two dozen men from Jati Umra in their Gulf companies.

Such is the good impression the Sharifs have established in their ancestral village, the residents of Jati Umra want the Sharifs to stay in power, so that they can continue to influence the Punjab government. The Badals were reportedly so deeply influenced by Shahbaz Sharif that they had apparently decided to sell power to Pakistan's Punjab  but the same kicked off a controversy.

The facelift given by the Badals to Jati Umra reportedly on Sharifs request has now lost its lustre with the passage of time - the village still cries for help. The paths that were repaired after Shahbaz's visit, including the one leading to Muhammad Bakhsh's tomb, are difficult to find as the same are broken, if not overrun by bushes.

Locals hope that the political fortunes of the Sharif family pick up on the other side of the border. And that any of the Sharif brothers plan a visit to their ancestral village in the future again. A visit from people who once belonged, a visit that could remind the state government about giving a place of significance a facelift once again.

Also read: How PPP, an underdog, could emerge as kingmaker in Pakistan electionsThe AIADMK, which voted for the government against the Oppositions no-trust vote in the Lok Sabha on last Friday, is sulking. Its arch rival DMK is smirking.

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who helped airlift the ailing brother of Tamil Nadu deputy chief minister, OPS, in a defence air ambulance from Madurai to Chennai, is furious and regretting the informal help she extended.

It all began last week.

The defence minister got a call that OPSs brother was critical at a Madurai hospital and needed to be rushed to Apollo Hospital, Chennai. The defence minister was requested for help as there was no air ambulance available at Madurai and the one flying from Delhi would take too much time.

With a view to help a fellow politician  one whose party could be a future ally of the BJP  the defence minister ordered one of the defence assets (a helicopter) to rush the patient from Madurai to Chennai. Like it does always, the armed forces did the job with precision and speed.

But, by Tuesday, an ugly controversy landed at the defence ministers door, and she had to struggle to find ways to defend herself.

Opponents like the DMK chief wanted both Nirmala and OPS to resign reportedly for misusing defence assets for a private reason. Worse, OPS snubbed by Nirmala was going viral on social media.

Appointment was given to Shri V. Maitreyan, MP Rajya Sabha. Deputy CM of Tamil Nadu, Shri O. Panneerselvam has not met Smt @nsitharaman @OfficeOfOPS @maitreyan1955 @ThanthiTV  NSitharamanOffice (@nsitharamanoffc) July 24, 2018

What happened?

On the day Nirmala Sitharaman  the Good Samaritan defence minister  helped OPS with a defence air ambulance, the agreement was that the favour will be kept a secret.

After a couple of days, Sitharaman received a call that OPS wanted to come to Delhi, meet and personally thank her for the gesture.

The defence minister, sources say, turned down the offer, politely claiming there was no need to thank her for this.

AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP Maitreyen was the intermediary. When the OPS side insisted on the meeting, the defence ministers office asked them to make it on Tuesday at 2:30pm.

The defending minister of BJP and the Defence Minister of India, #NirmalaSitharaman needs her party people to defend her for Private Airforce Air Ambulance ????????#OPS  Thameesudeen Syed (@thameesudeen) July 26, 2018

Again, the oath of secrecy was reiterated and it was decided that since the issue was personal, there would be no pictures taken of the meeting (a posse of camera teams follow OPS each time he visits central government ministers).

But, much to Sitharamans dismay, media reports started emerging a day before the proposed meet, about the rescue aided by her.

Then came the revelations from the AIADMK leadership about the scheduled appointment between OPS and her and OPSs burning desire to thank the defence minister.

Soon the news hit social media platforms - and Sitharaman was trolled as some Twitter users started requesting her to send a defence air ambulance as they were suffering from colds.

@nsitharaman #NirmalaSitharaman Hi I'm in Villupuram TN. Also India citizen, now iam suffering fever so please can arrange me India Air Force... Bring to near Gh... ( Helicopter also accept)  RAVICHANDRAN (@kiliyanurravi) July 26, 2018

Breach of secrecy: Media reports started emerging a day before the proposed meet, though both the parties apparently agreed to maintain secrecy

On Tuesday morning, OPS landed in Delhi. At the Delhi airport, the AIADMK leadership received him. Photos, as usual, surfaced in media. Worse, after a couple of hours, OPS, flanked by leaders of his party like KP Munusamy and Manoj Pandian, addressed the media at the Tamil Nadu Bhavan, and openly declared what he had asked Sitharaman to be kept a secret.

While the media was calling it a scheduled meet between the Deputy CM and the defence minister and attached political significance, OPS announced, This is not a political visit. I have come to meet and pay my respects to Hon'ble Nirmala Sitharaman. She did a big favour to me by providing an air ambulance for my brother when he had taken ill, to enable him to get to Chennai from Madurai. I have come to convey my heartfelt gratitude to her.

The news of the press conference reached Sitharaman as she was going home for a quick lunch from Parliament, which was in Session. She had roster duty in one of the Houses and had barely enough time for the lunch and to meet OPS. By the time she reached home, news channels were flashing that she has already had a meeting with OPS, along with details of the gratitude OPS expressed for the help.

Stumped by the turn of events, she called up Maitreyan. She expressed her surprise to him, claiming that she has been dragged in a mess by the southern party. She had to launch damage control.

As she drove to her office, news channels in southern states, especially Tamil Nadu, were in constant Breaking News mode, claiming OPS had already met and thanked her. The trolls were having a field day on Twitter.

She spoke to Maitreyan and told him how the AIADMK first wanted an off-camera informal meet and had now let the cat out - and how. She reached her office and soon, OPS landed up at the defence ministry in South Block. He was escorted in and asked to sit along with his team of AIADMK leaders in the visitors room.

Whom was the appointment given? Ministry said Nirmala was supposed to meet Maitreyan, not OPS (Photo: India Today)

Meanwhile, the flak over her gesture on humane grounds grew to a crescendo.

Bugged, she called only Maitreyan inside her chamber and reportedly narrated how she was horrified by the indiscretion by the AIADMK top leader. Then, she conveyed that she is not going to meet OPS and the scheduled meet to thank her has to be called off.

She took to Twitter soon and posted clarifications that she had not met OPS as media reports were stating and the only meeting she had was with the go-between, Maitreyan.

After waiting for some time and realising that the extremely miffed defence minister will not meet him, OPS beat a hasty retreat from the defence ministry and went back to Tamil Nadu Bhawan. Soon, the narrative in the media had changed to Nirmala Sitharaman snubs Tamil Nadu deputy CM.

AIADMK loyalists on Twitter, who, till an hour ago were thanking her, went hostile, attacking her for showing disrespect to an elected deputy CM of a state. OPS flew back to Chennai in the evening.

But the matter didnt end here.

The DMK  rival of both the AIADMK and BJP  hit the war path.

The partys working president MK Stalin called for the resignations of Sitharaman and OPS.

OPS has said that he was in New Delhi to express his heartfelt thanks to the defence minister for having provided an air ambulance facility when his brother was not well. It is a mystery how a military helicopter facility can be provided to an individual. Hence, O Panneerselvam who enjoyed the facility and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman who permitted the facility for the use of a private individual must resign from their posts.

Even after two days, the issue refuses to die down.

The BJP rivals are utilising the event to build a narrative against the Modi government. They claim that the defence minister misused the defence asset for winning over the AIADMKs support for the trust vote and how the BJP apparently also ill-treats those who help them as allies.

If the minster was not supposed to meet OPS, why his car details were taken, asks AIADMK (File photo: PTI)

At the end, there are no answers as to why OPS decided to go public with her help and his gratitude and meeting. But sources close to Sitharaman say the defence minister is wiser for it  its better to help a clever enemy than a politically foolish friend.

Also read: How Goans are trapped in the fishing net cast by the state governmentHere is a recent Daily Record column. My past Daily Record articles can be accessed here.

*****

Lawyers should be concerned about a new Gmail security issue: heres how to fix it

If youve been reading my column over the years, you already know that unencrypted email is inherently unsecure and that its no different than sending a postcard written in pencil through the post office. Despite this fact, in the mid-1990s, bar ethics committees, including the New York State Committee on Professional Ethics, gave lawyers the green light to use email for confidential client communications.

Of course, as Ive explained many times before, as technology changes, so too do expectations regarding security and the ethical duty to maintain confidentiality. As a result, email is slowly falling out of favor as an accepted method of secure attorney/client communication. The most recent evidence of this trend was the issuance of Formal Opinion 477 by the American Bar Association last year, wherein the Ethics Committee concluded that unencrypted email may not always be sufficient for client communication.

More recently, in early July, news reports revealed that emails sent and received by Gmail users can sometimes be read by third party apps and their developers - not just machines. The reason this matters is because it was previously believed that the emails of people who used the free version of Gmail email were only scanned by machines in order to serve up relevant ads.

This newfound revelation is an important one for New York lawyers who use the free version of Gmail (as opposed the paid version - GSuite - which doesnt serve up ads to users, and thus emails arent scanned by Google). This is because the scanning of emails to provide ads was determined to be permissible by the New York State Bar Association in 2008, when the Committee on Professional Ethics concluded that since the contents of emails were being processed by a machine, not a person, for the limited purpose of serving up relevant content, it was ethically permissible to use Gmail for confidential client communications. (New York State Bar Associations Committee on Professional Ethics Opinion 820-2/08/08).

In other words, if youre using the free version of Gmail to communicate with clients, and have knowingly or unknowingly granted third party apps access to your Gmail account, you may now be violating your ethical obligation to maintain client confidentiality. And, on the flip side, even if you havent granted access to third party apps, if any of your clients use the free version of Gmail, its possible that theyve done so and are now allowing third parties to view confidential email communications.

So if you or your clients use the free version of Gmail, youll need to take steps to ensure that your communications are secure. One way to accomplish this goal is to choose a different method of communication altogether. Since unencrypted email is inherently unsecure, regardless of the email provider, why not switch to secure client portals instead? Client portals, which are often built into law practice management software, provide a secure and efficient way for lawyers to communicate and collaborate with clients. With client portals, the cumbersome back and forth process of unsecure, threaded emails is a thing of the past and is instead replaced by the ability to securely communicate in an encrypted, controlled online environment.

Alternatively, switch to the paid version of Gmail, GSuite, or lock your free version down, and ask your clients do the same. If your choice is the latter, youll need to head over to Googles Security Check-up page (online: https://myaccount.google.com/security-checkup/3) and revoke the access that any third party apps may have to your account. Your clients will need to do the same.



Regardless of the path that you take, keep in mind that as a New York attorney, you have an ethical duty to maintain technology competence. And, ensuring that the technologies that you use to communicate with clients are secure is an important part of that obligation. Its not always easy to find the time to learn about new and emerging technologies, but its important that you do so. Make it a priority to learn something new each day, whether its from blogs, books, or CLEs.

Like it or not, taking steps to understand technology is now part of practicing law in the 21st century. The good news is that at the end of the day, maintaining technology competence will make you a better, more informed, and more efficient attorney.

Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York attorney, author, journalist, and the Legal Technology Evangelist at MyCase law practice management software. She is the author of the ABA book Cloud Computing for Lawyers, co-authors the ABA book Social Media for Lawyers: the Next Frontier, and co-authors Criminal Law in New York, a Thomson Reuters treatise. She writes legal technology columns for Above the Law and ABA Journal and speaks regularly at conferences regarding the intersection of law and technology. She can be reached at niki.black@mycase.com.Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, a diversified financial institution, provides various financial products and services to personal, business, public sector, and institutional clients in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company operates through four strategic business units: Canadian Personal and Business Banking; Canadian Commercial Banking and Wealth Management; U.S. Commercial Banking and Wealth Management; and Capital Markets. The company offers chequing, savings, and business accounts; mortgages; loans, lines of credit, student lines of credit, and business and agriculture loans; investment and insurance services; and credit cards, as well as overdraft protection services. It also provides day-to-day banking, borrowing and credit, investing and wealth, specialty, and international services; correspondent banking and online foreign exchange services; and cash management services. The company serves its customers through its banking centers, as well as direct, mobile, and remote channels. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was founded in 1867 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Read More349 W. 86th St., Upper West Side (pictured above)

Built in 1900, this Beaux-Arts-style mansion was nearly made into office space in the 90s. Neighbors stepped in to save it; the building was last on the market for $50 million.

19 W. 46th St., Times Square

This 12 -foot-wide boardinghouse was built in 1865. By 1915, the block was almost completely commercial, but No. 19 survived. Now two women rent the top floor.

Photo: David Leventi for New York Magazine

124 E. 19th St., Gramercy

An 1880s-era Flemish-inspired carriage house  a former occupant is Winston Churchills great-grandson  is nestled up to a 22-unit apartment building.

The Trouble With Being So Small

Theres a high chance of possible damage from neighboring construction. Digging deeper foundations for taller construction can undermine the foundation walls of the smaller home  and theres always the risk of big, heavy things falling onto roofs that are suddenly 60 feet lower than their neighbors. And, of course, if a big building pops up next door, you might end up losing some light. Simeon Bankoff, executive director of the Historic Districts Council, the citywide advocate for New Yorks historic neighborhoods. American Consumer News, LLC dba MarketBeat 2010-2021. All rights reserved.

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LTD., Vantage Corn Processors LLC, WILD Amazon Flavors Ltda, WILD Flavors, Wild Flavors Inc., Wild Flavors International GmbH, Wild Flavors Singapore Pte. Ltd., Wild Intermare GmbH, Wild Russia LLC, and Wisium SA (PTY) LTD.1 hour ago

Billionaire tax criticized as Biden pushes for budget deal

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Democrats' idea for a new billionaires tax to help pay for President Joe Biden's social services and climate change plan quickly ran into criticism as too cumbersome with some lawmakers preferring the original plan of simply raising the top tax rates on corporations and the wealthy. Biden said Monday hes hopeful the talks with Congress can wrap up overall agreement on the package this week.

Read Article American Consumer News, LLC dba MarketBeat 2010-2021. All rights reserved.

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Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico, Cater Allen Holdings Limited, Cater Allen International Limited, Cater Allen Limited, Cater Allen Lloyd's Holdings Limited, Cater Allen Syndicate Management Limited, Centro de Capacitacion Santander A.C., Certidesa S.L., Chrysler Capital Auto Funding I LLC, Chrysler Capital Auto Funding II LLC, Chrysler Capital Auto Receivables LLC, Chrysler Capital Master Auto Receivables Funding 2 LLC, Chrysler Capital Master Auto Receivables Funding 4 LLC, Chrysler Capital Master Auto Receivables Funding LLC, Cobranza Amigable S.A.P.I. de C.V., Community Development and Affordable Housing Fund LLC (g), Compagnie Generale de Credit Aux Particuliers - Credipar S.A., Compagnie Pour la Location de Vehicules - CLV, Comunidad Laboral Trabajando Argentina S.A., Comunidad Laboral Trabajando Iberica S.L. Unipersonal en liquidacion (b), Consulteam Consultores de Gestao Lda., Consumer Lending Receivables LLC, Crawfall S.A. (b), Cantabra de Inversiones S.A., Cantabro Catalana de Inversiones S.A., Darep Designated Activity Company, Decarome S.A.P.I. de C.V., Deva Capital Advisory Company S.L., Deva Capital Holding Company S.L., Deva Capital Investment Company S.L., Deva Capital Management Company S.L., Deva Capital Servicer Company S.L., Digital Procurement Holdings N.V., Diners Club Spain S.A., Direccion Estratega S.C., Dirgenfin S.L. en liquidacion (b), Ebury, El Corte Ingles, Elavon Mexico, Electrolyser S.A. de C.V., Entidad de Desarrollo a la Pequena y Micro Empresa Santander Consumo Peru S.A., Erestone S.A.S., Esfera Fidelidade S.A., Evidence Previdencia S.A., Financeira El Corte Ingles Portugal S.F.C. S.A., Financiera El Corte Ingles E.F.C. S.A., Finsantusa S.L. Unipersonal, First National Motor Business Limited, First National Motor Contracts Limited, First National Motor Facilities Limited, First National Motor Finance Limited, First National Motor Leasing Limited, First National Motor plc, First National Tricity Finance Limited, Fondos Santander S.A. Administradora de Fondos de Inversion (en liquidacion) (b), Fortensky Trading Ltd., Fosse Funding (No.1) Limited, Fosse Master Issuer plc, Fosse Trustee (UK) Limited, GTS El Centro Equity Holdings LLC, GTS El Centro Project Holdings LLC, Gamma Sociedade Financeira de Titularizacao de Creditos S.A., Gesban Mexico Servicios Administrativos Globales S.A. de C.V., Gesban Santander Servicios Profesionales Contables Limitada, Gesban Servicios Administrativos Globales S.L., Gesban UK Limited, Gestion de Instalaciones Fotovoltaicas S.L. Unipersonal, Gestion de Inversiones JILT S.A., Gestora de Procesos S.A. en liquidacion (b), Getnet Adquirencia e Servicos para Meios de Pagamento S.A., Global Vosgos S.L. Unipersonal, Grupo Empresarial Santander S.L., Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico S.A. de C.V., Grupo Financiero Santander SAB de CV, Guaranty Car S.A. Unipersonal, HQ Mobile Limited, Hispamer Renting S.A. Unipersonal, Holbah II Limited, Holbah Santander S.L. Unipersonal, Holmes Funding Limited, Holmes Master Issuer plc, Holmes Trustees Limited, Hyundai Capital Bank Europe GmbH, Iberica de Compras Corporativas S.L., Independence Community Bank Corp., Insurance Funding Solutions Limited, Interfinance Holanda B.V., Inversiones Capital Global S.A. Unipersonal, Inversiones Maritimas del Mediterraneo S.A., Isla de los Buques S.A., Klare Corredora de Seguros S.A., Landcompany 2020 S.L., Langton Funding (No.1) Limited, Langton Mortgages Trustee (UK) Limited, Langton Securities (2008-1) plc, Langton Securities (2010-1) PLC, Langton Securities (2010-2) PLC, Laparanza S.A., Liquidity Limited, Luri 1 S.A. en liquidacion (b) (e), Luri 6 S.A. Unipersonal, Master Red Europa S.L., Mata Alta S.L., Merciver S.L., Mercury TFS, Mercury Trade Finance Solutions S.A. de C.V., Mercury Trade Finance Solutions S.L., Mercury Trade Finance Solutions S.p.A., Moneybit S.L., Mortgage Engine Limited, Motor 2016-1 PLC, Motor 2017-1 PLC, Mouro Capital I LP, Multiplica SpA, NW Services CO., Naviera Mirambel S.L., Naviera Trans Gas A.I.E., Naviera Trans Iron S.L., Naviera Trans Ore A.I.E., Naviera Trans Wind S.L. (b), Naviera Transcantabrica S.L., Naviera Transchem S.L. 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Sociedad Operadora de Fondos de Inversion, SAM Investment Holdings S.L., SAM UK Investment Holdings Limited (b), SANB Promotora de Vendas e Cobranca Ltda., SCF Eastside Locks GP Limited, SDMX Superdigital S.A. de C.V., SMPS Merchant Platform Solutions Mexico S.A de C.V, Sancap Investimentos e Participacoes S.A., Santander (CF Trustee Property Nominee) Limited, Santander (UK) Group Pension Schemes Trustees Limited, Santander Ahorro Inmobiliario 1 S.A., Santander Ahorro Inmobiliario 2 S.A., Santander Alternatives SICAV RAIF, Santander Asesorias Financieras Limitada, Santander Asset Finance (December) Limited, Santander Asset Finance plc, Santander Asset Management - S.G.O.I.C. S.A., Santander Asset Management Chile S.A., Santander Asset Management LLC, Santander Asset Management Luxembourg S.A., Santander Asset Management S.A. Administradora General de Fondos, Santander Asset Management S.A. S.G.I.I.C., Santander Asset Management UK Holdings Limited, Santander Asset Management UK Limited, Santander Back-Offices Globales Mayoristas S.A., Santander Banca de Inversion Colombia S.A.S., Santander Bank & Trust Ltd., Santander Bank National Association, Santander Bank Polska S.A., Santander Brasil Administradora de Consorcio Ltda., Santander Brasil Gestao de Recursos Ltda., Santander Brasil Tecnologia S.A., Santander Capital Desarrollo SGEIC S.A. Unipersonal, Santander Capital Structuring S.A. de C.V., Santander Capitalizacao S.A., Santander Cards Ireland Limited, Santander Cards Limited, Santander Cards UK Limited, Santander Chile Holding S.A., Santander Consulting (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Santander Consumer (UK) plc, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2013-B2 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2013-B3 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2018-L1 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2018-L3 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2018-L4 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2018-L5 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2019-B1 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2019-L2 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2019-L3 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2020-B1 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2020-L1 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2020-L2 LLC, Santander Consumer Bank, Santander Consumer Bank AG, Santander Consumer Bank GmbH, Santander Consumer Bank S.A., Santander Consumer Bank S.p.A., Santander Consumer Banque S.A., Santander Consumer Credit Services Limited, Santander Consumer Finance Benelux B.V., Santander Consumer Finance Global Services S.L., Santander Consumer Finance Oy, Santander Consumer Finance S.A., Santander Consumer Finance Schweiz AG, Santander Consumer Financial Solutions Sp. z o.o., Santander Consumer Finanse Sp. z o.o. 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Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico, Santander Insurance Agency U.S. LLC, Santander Insurance Services UK Limited, Santander Intermediacion Correduria de Seguros S.A., Santander International Products Plc. (d), Santander Inversiones S.A., Santander Investment Bank Limited, Santander Investment Chile Limitada, Santander Investment I S.A., Santander Investment S.A., Santander Investment Securities Inc., Santander Investments GP 1 S.a.r.l., Santander Inwestycje Sp. z o.o., Santander Lease S.A. E.F.C., Santander Leasing LLC, Santander Leasing S.A., Santander Leasing S.A. Arrendamento Mercantil, Santander Lending Limited, Santander Mediacion Operador de Banca-Seguros Vinculado S.A., Santander Merchant Platform Operations S.A. de C.V., Santander Merchant Platform Services S.A. de C.V., Santander Merchant Platform Solutions Mexico S.A. de C.V., Santander Merchant Platform Solutions S.A., Santander Merchant Platform Solutions Uruguay S.A., Santander Merchant Platform SolucoesTecnologicas Brasil Ltda., Santander Merchant S.A., Santander Mortgage Holdings Limited, Santander Paraty Qif PLC, Santander Pensiones S.A. E.G.F.P., Santander Pensoes - Sociedade Gestora de Fundos de Pensoes S.A., Santander Private Banking Gestion S.A. S.G.I.I.C., Santander Private Banking UK Limited, Santander Private Banking s.p.a. in Liquidazione (b), Santander Private Real Estate Advisory & Management S.A., Santander Private Real Estate Advisory S.A., Santander Real Estate S.A., Santander Retail Auto Lease Funding LLC, Santander Rio Asset Management Gerente de Fondos Comunes de Inversion S.A., Santander Rio Trust S.A., Santander Rio Valores S.A., Santander S.A. Sociedad Securitizadora, Santander Secretariat Services Limited, Santander Securities LLC, Santander Seguros y Reaseguros Compania Aseguradora S.A., Santander Servicios Corporativos S.A. de C.V., Santander Servicios Especializados S.A. de C.V., Santander Technology USA LLC, Santander Tecnologia e Inovacao Ltda., Santander Tecnologia Argentina S.A., Santander Tecnologia Espana S.L.U., Santander Tecnologia Mexico S.A. de C.V., Santander Totta SGPS S.A., Santander Totta Seguros Companhia de Seguros de Vida S.A., Santander Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych S.A., Santander Trade Services Limited, Santander UK Group Holdings plc, Santander UK Investments, Santander UK Operations Limited, Santander UK Plc, Santander UK Technology Limited, Santander Wealth Management International SA, Santander de Titulizacion S.G.F.T. S.A., Santusa Holding S.L., Services and Promotions Delaware Corp., Services and Promotions Miami LLC, Servicio de Alarmas Controladas por Ordenador S.A., Servicios de Cobranza Recuperacion y Seguimiento S.A. De C.V., Sheppards Moneybrokers Limited, Shiloh III Wind Project LLC, Sociedad Integral de Valoraciones Automatizadas S.A., Sociedad Operadora de Tarjetas de Pago Santander Getnet Chile S.A., Socur S.A., Sol Orchard Imperial 1 LLC, Solarlaser Limited, Sovereign Community Development Company, Sovereign Delaware Investment Corporation, Sovereign Lease Holdings LLC, Sovereign REIT Holdings Inc., Sovereign Spirit Limited (f), Sterrebeeck B.V., Suleyado 2003 S.L. Unipersonal, Summer Empreendimentos Ltda., Super Pagamentos e Administracao de Meios Eletronicos S.A., Superdigital Argentina S.A.U., Superdigital Colombia S.A.S., Superdigital Holding Company S.L., Superdigital Peru S.A.C., Suzuki Servicios Financieros S.L., Swesant SA, TIMFin S.p.A., TOPSAM S.A de C.V., Taxagest Sociedade Gestora de Participacoes Sociais S.A., Teatinos Siglo XXI Inversiones S.A., The Alliance & Leicester Corporation Limited, The Best Specialty Coffee S.L. Unipersonal, Time Retail Finance Limited (b), Tonopah Solar I LLC, Toque Fale Servicos de Telemarketing Ltda., Tornquist Asesores de Seguros S.A. (b), Totta (Ireland) PLC, Totta Urbe - Empresa de Administracao e Construcoes S.A., Trabajando.com Mexico S.A. de C.V. en liquidacion (b), Trabajando.com Peru S.A.C., Trans Rotor Limited (b), Transolver Finance EFC S.A., Tresmares Growth Fund Santander SCR S.A., Tresmares Santander Direct Lending SICC S.A., Tuttle and Son Limited, Universia Brasil S.A., Universia Chile S.A., Universia Colombia S.A.S., Universia Espana Red de Universidades S.A., Universia Holding S.L., Universia Mexico S.A. de C.V., Universia Peru S.A., Universia Uruguay S.A., Uro Property Holdings SOCIMI S.A., WIM Servicios Corporativos S.A. de C.V., WTW Shipping Designated Activity Company, Wallcesa S.A., Wave Holdco S.L., Waypoint Insurance Group Inc., and Wirecard (Technological Assets).Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the man who gave Donald Trump the justification for firing James Comey, is now a prime target of Trumps closest friends in Congress. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Its been a pretty crummy week or so for the president, what with the fallout from Helsinki and now a leaked tape of Trump talking about hush money with Michael Cohen before his election. Perhaps to cheer him up, Trumps closest congressional allies are stepping up their efforts to turn the tables and mess with his tormenters in the Justice Department, the intelligence agencies, and the special counsels office. House Freedom Caucus leaders Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan have formally introduced articles of impeachment against Robert Muellers supervisor, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

The right-wing litany of fury about Rosenstein seems to vacillate between accusing him of being an agent in a deep-state conspiracy to frame Trump, or simply helping cover up said conspiracy. The most immediate demand that he has ignored seems to be that he should step aside from the Mueller investigation altogether, as The Hill reports:

They charge that Rosenstein has a conflict of interest in Muellers probe, stating that he is a witness that could be called in the ongoing investigation into potential abuse since he signed off on an FBI surveillance renewal application to wiretap Carter Page, a former adviser to the Trump campaign.

In the version of events that House Republicans have been flogging, Page is a victim of a deep state/Obama hit job on the Trump campaign, and Rosenstein is complicit in it. Meadows and Jordan have a secondary gripe: their contention that Rosenstein is flouting their subpoenas, and they profess to have reached the end of their patience in a meeting with DOJ folk today that other Republican members present seemed to find satisfactory:.

The DOJ is keeping information from Congress. Enough is enough, Jordan said in a statement. Its time to hold Mr. Rosenstein accountable for blocking Congresss constitutional oversight role.

And so, the man who first drew the publics notice by offering the president the justification for firing James Comey is now right down there with Comey in MAGA hell.

Its unclear how much support this maneuver has from other House Republicans, much less from Paul Ryan. One clue is that the articles of impeachment were introduced on the eve of a five-week House recess, and were not advanced as a privileged motion involving urgent House priorities that might have triggered a quick vote. On the other hand, its hard to imagine that they took this course of action without at least a tacit green light from the White House. Its most likely that the whole gesture is just part of an effort to ratchet up the pressure on Rosenstein and the DOJ to play along with their conspiracy theories, or perhaps to undermine Mueller by discrediting Rosenstein. Should Trump at some point decide to just get rid of the deputy AG, being able to say he was the target of a real live impeachment effort might be handy. It should go without saying that even if the House impeached Rosenstein, theres no way the Senate would come up with the two-thirds margin necessary to make him the first non-presidential Executive branch official since Ulysses Grants corrupt Secretary of War William Belknap to be removed from his position by Congress.

Maybe Meadows and Jordan simply wanted to make sure the first serious talk of impeachment in the House would be about someone other than the president. In that case, taking this step before the midterm elections makes some sense.Ellie Mae, Inc. provides cloud-based platform for the mortgage finance industry in the United States. It provides Encompass, an enterprise solution that engages in running the business of originating mortgages, including marketing and lead management; loan origination and processing; underwriting; preparation of mortgage applications, disclosure agreements, and closing documents; loan funding and closing; compliance with regulatory and investor requirements; and enterprise management. The company's Encompass Digital Lending Platform helps lenders and investors across their workflow from the prospective customers to the point of loan delivery. In addition, the company provides education and training services; professional and technical support services; and loan product, policy, and guideline data and analytics services. Ellie Mae, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Pleasanton, California.

Read MoreFraport AG operates airports in Germany, rest of Europe, Asia, and the United States. The company primarily focuses on the operation of Frankfurt Main airport. It operates through four segments: Aviation, Retail & Real Estate, Ground Handling, and International Activities & Services. The Aviation segment operates landside and airside infrastructure, which covers the area of airport charges. The Retail & Real Estate segment engages in retail activities, including marketing of real estate properties and land. This segment also manages buildings and facilities, and parking and retail areas; and rents advertising space. The Ground Handling segment provides loading, baggage, and passenger services through airmail and luggage transport to freight handling. The International Activities & Services segment acquires, operates, maintains, develops, and expands airports and infrastructure facilities. This segment also offers integrated facility and corporate infrastructure management, airport expansion south, and information and telecommunication services. Fraport AG was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Read MoreWall Street analysts have given ENB Financial 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 ENB Financial wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.Illinois Republican governor Bruce Rauner is looking mighty toasty heading toward November. Photo: Antonio Perez/TNS via Getty Images

A combination of open seats and late primaries has made it hard to get a fix on the countrys 36 gubernatorial elections. As chief executives with the ability to command instant media attention and the peculiar dynamics of state government, incumbent governors are perfectly capable, moreover, of bucking national trends  for example, Massachusetts loves its Republican governor, Charlie Baker, in spite of the fact that it hates President Trump.

Still, as we get nearer to November, the picture is getting clearer, and a new batch of quarterly gubernatorial approval numbers from Morning Consult helps us better understand the races involving incumbents. Several of them are not looking very politically healthy at the moment.

The man in most dire straits at present is Illinois Republican governor Bruce Rauner, whose second-quarter approval ratio is 27/60  third-worst in the country, behind term-limited Republican Mary Fallin of Oklahoma and retiring Democrat Dan Malloy of Connecticut. Rauners popularity has not improved a whit since his very narrow March primary win over little-known conservative legislator Jeanne Ives. And his fabulous wealth wont save him against his even more fabulously wealthy Democratic opponent, J.B. Pritzker (who outspent the incumbent by a $20.1 million to $7.8 million margin in the second quarter). Aside from his poor numbers (in both approval ratings and horse-race polls), Rauner must also deal with a minor-party conservative candidate sure to deny him some votes, particularly given his rare-for-a-Republican pro-choice stance.

A more nationally famous Republican governor in a marquee race is struggling with low popularity as well. But Wisconsins Scott Walker is used to it, having survived two tough challenges and a recall effort since 2010. Still, his 43/50 approval ratio is troubling for him; his election in 2010 and reelection in 2014 came in strongly Republican years, very unlike this one. A recent poll did show him leading his most likely Democratic opponents, but they lacked the name ID the winner of an August Democratic primary will surely get locally and nationally. But the environment isnt great for any Republican; Trumps approval ratio in this state, which he carried in 2016, has deteriorated to 41/55 in the latest Morning Consult survey of presidential ratings.

Two incumbent Democrats and two Republicans are struggling with both mediocre approval ratings and serious primary challenges. Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island (44/46) faces a September Democratic primary against former secretary of State Matt Brown. Hawaiis David Ige (39/46) is in trouble in an August primary with fellow Democrat U.S. Representative Colleen Hanabusa, a fixture in the states politics. And Kansas Republican Jeff Colyer, who ascended to the position when Sam Brownback accepted a diplomatic position, is at a lukewarm 41/23 in approval, but could definitely lose an August primary to the much better-known Secretary of State Kris Kobach, Trumps favorite vote suppresser. And Vermont Republican Phil Scott suffered from a calamitous drop in approval ratios (from 65/21 in the first quarter of 2018 to 47/42 in the second) after self-described libertarian Keith Stern announced a challenge to him as a Republican-in-Name-Only, enlivening Democratic hopes for November.

A couple of other incumbents running for reelection are in a sort of popularity gray zone. Iowas Kim Reynolds, who like Colyer inherited the governorship when the incumbent took a diplomatic gig, is at 40/39, and faces wealthy Democrat Fred Hubbell in a state where Trumps popularity has notably deteriorated. Oregons Kate Brown is at a meh 44/41, and the latest poll showed a surprisingly close race with Republican legislator Knute Buehler. But unlike Reynolds, Brown will benefit from a friendly environment in a very blue state.

One of the oddest situations in the country is in Alaska, where there is an independent governor, Bill Walker, whose 29/54 approval ratio is terrible. But hes still rated a pretty good bet for reelection if he again gets the support of both independents and Democratsthough that scenario is threatened by the current plans of former U.S. senator Mark Begich to run as a Democrat.

The overall balance of power between the parties in governorships will depend a lot, of course, on the 16 open seats where incumbents are either term-limited or retiring. Three open Republican seats (in Maine, Nevada, and New Mexico) are in states carried by Hillary Clinton in 2016, and another (Michigan) is in a state Trump carried narrowly but where he isnt maintaining anything like that level of support today. Its notable that in one big battleground state, Florida, incumbent Republican governor Rick Scott is enjoying career-high popularity (54/35) that he hopes will take him to the Senate.

Donald Trump is a direct as well as an indirect factor in open gubernatorial races in both Florida and Michigan, where he has endorsed underdog primary candidates against the wishes of the local party Establishment. That worked out well for his endorsee in Georgia, Brian Kemp, earlier this week. But its unclear Trump will be much of an asset in general elections in any of these states. The landscape for governorships remains in flux as the dog days approach. But with Republicans defending 26 seats and Democrats defending just nine (and one for indie Bill Walker), the odds of Democratic gains are high. Prognosticator Harry Enten thinks they could be big:

Gov races aren't spoken about enough... That's a place where Dems are going to pickup a lot of seats... Double-digit gain not out of the question at all.  (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) July 26, 2018

If you get tired of staring at the same swing House districts between now and November, governors races will be a nice diversion. And they matter a lot in the real world of governance.PIMCO Income Strategy Fund is a closed-ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Allianz Global Investors Fund Management LLC. The fund is co-managed by Pacific Investment Management Company LLC. It invests in fixed income markets across the globe. The fund invests in a diversified portfolio of floating rate debt instruments with an average duration of around three years. It employs fundamental analysis with top-down approach to create its portfolio. The fund was formerly known as PIMCO Floating Rate Income Fund. PIMCO Income Strategy Fund was formed on June 19, 2003 and is domiciled in the United States.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of MetLife: 1001 PROPERTIES LLC, 10700 WILSHIRE LLC, 1201 TAB MANAGER LLC, 150 NORTH RIVERSIDE PE MEMBER LLC, 1925 WJC OWNER LLC, 23RD STREET INVESTMENTS INC., 500 GRANT STREET ASSOCIATES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, 500 GRANT STREET GP LLC, 60 11TH STREET LLC, 6104 HOLLYWOOD LLC, AFP GENESIS ADMINISTRADORA DE FONDOS Y FIDECOMISOS S.A., AFP PROVIDA S.A., AGENVITA S.R.L., ALICO EUROPEAN HOLDINGS LIMITED, ALICO HELLAS SINGLE MEMBER LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, ALICO OPERATIONS LLC, ALICO PROPERTIES INC., AMMETLIFE INSURANCE BERHAD, AMMETLIFE TAKAFUL BERHAD, American Life Insurance Company, BEST MARKET S.A., BIDV METLIFE LIFE INSURANCE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, BLOCK VISION HOLDINGS CORPORATION, BLOCK VISION OF TEXAS INC., BORDERLAND INVESTMENTS LIMITED, BOULEVARD RESIDENTIAL LLC, BUFORD LOGISTICS CENTER LLC, CC HOLDCO MANAGER LLC, CHESTNUT FLATS WIND LLC, CLOSED JOINT-STOCK COMPANY MASTER D, COMPANIA INVERSORA METLIFE S.A., CORPORATE REAL ESTATE HOLDINGS LLC, COVA LIFE MANAGEMENT COMPANY, DAVIS VISION INC., DAVISVISION IPA INC., DELAWARE AMERICAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, DES MOINES CREEK BUSINESS PARK PHASE II LLC, ECONOMY FIRE & CASUALTY COMPANY, ECONOMY PREFERRED INSURANCE COMPANY, ECONOMY PREMIER ASSURANCE COMPANY, EURO CL INVESTMENTS LLC, EXCELENCIA OPERATIVA Y TECNOLOGICA S.A de C.V., FEDERAL FLOOD CERTIFICATION LLC, FORTISSIMO CO. LTD, FUNDACION METLIFE MEXICO A.C., GLOBAL PROPERTIES INC., General American Life Insurance Company, Grand Bank N.A., HASKELL EAST VILLAGE LLC, HIGH STREET SEVENTH AND OSBORN APARTMENTS LLC, HOUSING FUND MANAGER LLC, INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL AND ADVISORY SERVICES LIMITED, INVERSIONES METLIFE HOLDCO DOS LIMITADA, INVERSIONES METLIFE HOLDCO TRES LIMITADA, JOINT-STOCK COMPANY METLIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, LHC HOLDINGS, LHCW HOLDINGS, LHCW HOTEL HOLDING, LHCW HOTEL HOLDING LLC, LHCW HOTEL OPERATING COMPANY, LONG ISLAND SOLAR FARM LLC, LUMENLAB MALAYSIA SDN. BHD., Logan Circle Partners, MARKETPLACE RESIDENCES LLC, MAXIS GBN S.A.S., MC PORTFOLIO JV MEMBER LLC, MCJV LLC, MCMIF HOLDCO I LLC, MCMIF HOLDCO II LLC, MCP - WELLINGTON LLC, MCP 100 CONGRESS MEMBER LLC, MCP 1500 MICHAEL LLC, MCP 1900 MCKINNEY LLC, MCP 2 AMES LLC, MCP 2 AMES ONE LLC, MCP 2 AMES OWNER LLC, MCP 2 AMES TWO LLC, MCP 220 YORK LLC, MCP 22745 & 22755 RELOCATION DRIVE LLC, MCP 249 INDUSTRIAL BUSINESS PARK MEMBER LLC, MCP 3040 POST OAK LLC, MCP 350 ROHLWING LLC, MCP 4600 SOUTH SYRACUSE LLC, MCP 550 WEST WASHINGTON LLC, MCP 60 11TH STREET MEMBER LLC, MCP 7 RIVERWAY LLC, MCP 9020 MURPHY ROAD LLC, MCP 93 RED RIVER MEMBER LLC, MCP ALLEY 24 EAST LLC, MCP ASHTON SOUTH END LLC, MCP BLOCK 23 MEMBER LLC, MCP BRADFORD LLC, MCP BUFORD LOGISTICS CENTER 2 MEMBER LLC, MCP BUFORD LOGISTICS CENTER BLDG B LLC, MCP BURNSIDE MEMBER LLC, MCP CENTER AVENUE INDUSTRIAL MEMBER LLC, MCP CLAWITER INNOVATION MEMBER LLC, MCP COMMON DESK TRS LLC, MCP DENVER PAVILIONS MEMBER LLC, MCP DILLON LLC, MCP DILLON RESIDENTIAL LLC, MCP ENV CHICAGO LLC, MCP FIFE ENTERPRISE CENTER LLC, MCP FRISCO OFFICE LLC, MCP GRAPEVINE LLC, MCP HIGHLAND PARK LENDER LLC, MCP HUB I LLC, MCP HUB I PROPERTY LLC, MCP LODGE AT LAKECREST LLC, MCP MA PROPERTY REIT LLC, MCP MAGNOLIA PARK MEMBER LLC, MCP MAIN STREET VILLAGE LLC, MCP MOUNTAIN TECHNOLOGY CENTER MEMBER TRS LLC, MCP NORTHYARDS HOLDCO LLC, MCP NORTHYARDS MASTER LESSEE LLC, MCP NORTHYARDS OWNER LLC, MCP ONE WESTSIDE LLC, MCP ONYX LLC, MCP PARAGON POINT LLC, MCP PLAZA AT LEGACY LLC, MCP PROPERTY MANAGEMENT LLC, MCP SEATTLE GATEWAY INDUSTRIAL I LLC, MCP SEATTLE GATEWAY INDUSTRIAL II LLC, MCP SEVENTH AND OSBORNE MF MEMBER LLC, MCP SEVENTH AND OSBORNE RETAIL MEMBER LLC, MCP SHAKOPEE LLC, MCP SLEEPY HOLLOW MEMBER LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL  ANAHEIM LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL  BERNARDO LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL  CANYON LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL  CONCOURSE LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL  FULLERTON LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL  KELLWO00OD LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL  LAX LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL  LOKER LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL  REDONDO LLC, MCP SOCAL INDUSTRIAL  SPRINGDALE LLC, MCP STATELINE LLC, MCP THE PALMS AT DORAL LLC, MCP TRIMBLE CAMPUS LLC, MCP UNION ROW LLC, MCP VALLEY FORGE LLC, MCP VALLEY FORGE ONE LLC, MCP VALLEY FORGE OWNER LLC, MCP VALLEY FORGE TWO LLC, MCP VANCE JACKSON LLC, MCP VINEYARD AVENUE MEMBER LLC, MCP VOA HOLDINGS LLC, MCP VOA I & III LLC, MCP VOA II LLC, MCP WATERFORD ATRIUM LLC, MCP WEST BROAD MARKETPLACE LLC, MCP  ENGLISH VILLAGE LLC, MCPF ACQUISITION LLC, MCPF FOXBOROUGH LLC, MCPF  NEEDHAM LLC, MCPP OWNERS LLC, MCRE BLOCK 40 LP, MEC HEALTH CARE INC., MET 1065 HOTEL LLC, MET CANADA SOLAR ULC, METLIFE 1007 STEWART LLC, METLIFE 1201 TAB MEMBER LLC, METLIFE 425 MKT MANAGER LLC, METLIFE 425 MKT MEMBER LLC, METLIFE 555 12TH MEMBER LLC, METLIFE 8280 MEMBER LLC, METLIFE ACOMA OWNER LLC, METLIFE ADMINISTRADORA DE FUNDOS MULTIPATROCINADOS LTDA., METLIFE ALTERNATIVES GP LLC, METLIFE ASHTON AUSTIN OWNER LLC, METLIFE ASIA HOLDING COMPANY PTE. LTD., METLIFE ASIA LIMITED, METLIFE ASIA SERVICES SDN. BHD, METLIFE ASSET MANAGEMENT CORP., METLIFE ASSIGNMENT COMPANY INC., METLIFE AUTO & HOME INSURANCE AGENCY INC., METLIFE BL FEEDER, METLIFE BL FEEDER LP, METLIFE BORO STATION MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CABO HILTON MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CAMINO RAMON MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CAPITAL CREDIT L.P., METLIFE CAPITAL LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, METLIFE CAPITAL TRUST IV, METLIFE CB W/A LLC, METLIFE CC MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CHILE ADMINISTRADORA DE MUTUOS HIPOTECARIOS S.A., METLIFE CHILE INVERSIONES LIMITADA, METLIFE CHILE SEGUROS DE VIDA S.A., METLIFE CHILE SEGUROS GENERALES S.A., METLIFE CHINO MEMBER LLC, METLIFE COLOMBIA SEGUROS de VIDA S.A., METLIFE COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE INCOME FUND GP LLC, METLIFE COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE INCOME FUND LP, METLIFE COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE ORIGINATOR LLC, METLIFE COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE REIT LLC, METLIFE CONSQUARE MEMBER LLC, METLIFE CONSUMER SERVICES INC., METLIFE CORE PROPERTY FUND GP LLC, METLIFE CORE PROPERTY FUND LP, METLIFE CORE PROPERTY HOLDINGS LLC, METLIFE CORE PROPERTY REIT LLC, METLIFE CORE PROPERTY TRS. LLC, METLIFE CREDIT CORP., METLIFE DIGITAL VENTURES INC., METLIFE EMEKLILIK VE HAYAT A.S., METLIFE EMERGING MARKET DEBT BLEND FUND, METLIFE EU HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED, METLIFE EUROPE INSURANCE d.a.c., METLIFE EUROPE SERVICES LIMITED, METLIFE EUROPE d.a.c., METLIFE EUROPEAN HOLDINGS LLC., METLIFE FINANCIAL SERVICES CO. LTD, METLIFE FM HOTEL MEMBER LLC, METLIFE FUNDING INC., METLIFE GENERAL INSURANCE LIMITED, METLIFE GLOBAL BENEFITS LTD., METLIFE GLOBAL HOLDING COMPANY I GMBH, METLIFE GLOBAL HOLDING COMPANY II GMBH, METLIFE GLOBAL HOLDINGS CORPORATION S.A. De C.V., METLIFE GLOBAL INC., METLIFE GLOBAL OPERATIONS SUPPORT CENTER PRIVATE LIMITED, METLIFE GROUP INC., METLIFE HCMJV 1 GP LLC, METLIFE HCMJV 1 LP LLC, METLIFE HEALTH PLANS INC., METLIFE HOLDINGS INC., METLIFE HOME LOANS LLC, METLIFE INNOVATION CENTRE LIMITED, METLIFE INNOVATION CENTRE PTE. LTD., METLIFE INSURANCE AND INVESTMENT TRUST, METLIFE INSURANCE BROKERAGE INC., METLIFE INSURANCE K.K., METLIFE INSURANCE LIMITED, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL HF PARTNERS LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS LLC, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL LIMITED LLC, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND I LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND II LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND III LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND IV LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND V LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND VI LP, METLIFE INTERNATIONAL PE FUND VII LP, METLIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT HOLDINGS, METLIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT HOLDINGS LLC, METLIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LLC, METLIFE INVESTMENTS ASIA LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENTS LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENTS PTY LIMITED, METLIFE INVESTMENTS SECURITIES LLC, METLIFE INVESTORS DISTRIBUTION COMPANY, METLIFE INVESTORS GROUP LLC, METLIFE IRELAND TREASURY D.A.C., METLIFE JAPAN US EQUITY FUND GP LLC, METLIFE JAPAN US EQUITY FUND LP, METLIFE JAPAN US EQUITY OWNERS, METLIFE JAPAN US EQUITY OWNERS LLC, METLIFE LATIN AMERICA ASESORIAS E INVERSIONES LIMITADA, METLIFE LEGAL PLANS INC., METLIFE LEGAL PLANS OF FLORIDA INC., METLIFE LHH MEMBER LLC, METLIFE LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, METLIFE LIFE INSURANCE S.A., METLIFE LOAN ASSET MANAGEMENT LLC, METLIFE MAS S.A. DE C.V., METLIFE MEMBER SOLAIRE LLC, METLIFE MEXICO HOLDINGS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., METLIFE MEXICO S.A., METLIFE MEXICO SERVICIOS S.A. DE C.V., METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT FUND LP, METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT GP LLC, METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT PARALLEL FUND LP, METLIFE MIDDLE MARKET PRIVATE DEBT PARALLEL GP LLC, METLIFE MULTI-FAMILY PARTNERS III LLC, METLIFE MUTUAL FUND COMPANY, METLIFE OBS MEMBER LLC, METLIFE OFC MEMBER LLC, METLIFE ONTARIO STREET MEMBR LLC, METLIFE PARK TOWER MEMBER LLC, METLIFE PENSION TRUSTEES LIMITED, METLIFE PENSIONES MEXICO S.A., METLIFE PET INSURANCE SOLUTIONS LLC, METLIFE PLANOS ODONTOLOGICOS LTDA., METLIFE POWSZECHNE TOWARTZYSTWO EMERYTALNE S.A., METLIFE PRIVATE EQUITY HOLDINGS LLC, METLIFE PROPERTIES VENTURES LLC, METLIFE RC SF MEMBER LLC, METLIFE REAL ESTATE LENDING LLC, METLIFE REINSURANCE COMPANY OF BERMUDA LTD., METLIFE REINSURANCE COMPANY OF CHARLESTON, METLIFE REINSURANCE COMPANY OF VERMONT, METLIFE RETIREMENT SERVICES LLC, METLIFE SAENGMYOUNG INSURANCE COMPANY LTD., METLIFE SECURITIZATION DEPOSITOR LLC, METLIFE SEGUROS S.A., METLIFE SENIOR DIRECT LENDING FINCO LLC, METLIFE SENIOR DIRECT LENDING FUND LP, METLIFE SENIOR DIRECT LENDING GP LLC, METLIFE SENIOR DIRECT LENDING HOLDINGS LP, METLIFE SERVICES AND SOLUTIONS LLC, METLIFE SERVICES CYPRUS LIMITED, METLIFE SERVICES EAST PRIVATE LIMITED, METLIFE SERVICES EEIG, METLIFE SERVICES EOOD, METLIFE SERVICES SOCIEDAD LIMITADA, METLIFE SERVICES SP Z.O.O, METLIFE SERVICIOS S.A., METLIFE SLOVAKIA S.R.O. V LIKVIDACII, METLIFE SOLUTIONS PTE. LTD., METLIFE SOLUTIONS S.A.S., METLIFE SP HOLDINGS LLC, METLIFE SYNDICATED BANK LOAN FUND SCSP, METLIFE SYNDICATED BANK LOAN LUX GP S.A.R.L., METLIFE THR INVESTOR LLC, METLIFE TOWARZYSTWO FUNDUSZY INWESTYCYJNYCH S.A., METLIFE TOWARZYSTWO UBEZPIECZEN NA ZYCIE I REASEKURACJI S.A., METLIFE TOWER RESOURCES GROUP INC., METLIFE TREAT TOWERS MEMBER LLC, METLIFE WORLDWIDE HOLDINGS LLC, METROPOLITAN CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN DIRECT PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN GLOBAL MANAGEMENT LLC., METROPOLITAN GROUP PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN LIFE SEGUROS E PREVIDENCIA PRIVADA S.A., METROPOLITAN LIFE SOCIETATE de ADMINISTRARE a UNUI FOND de PENSII ADMINISTRAT PRIVAT S.A., METROPOLITAN LLOYDS INC., METROPOLITAN LLOYDS INSURANCE COMPANY OF TEXAS, METROPOLITAN PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN TOWER LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, METROPOLITAN TOWER REALTY COMPANY INC., MEX DF PROPERTIES LLC, MFA FINANCING VEHICLE CTR1 LLC, MIDTOWN HEIGHTS LLC, MIM CLAL GENERAL PARTNER LLC, MIM EMD GP LLC, MIM I LLC, MIM METWEST INTERNATIONAL MANAGER LLC, MIM ML-AI VENTURE 5 MANAGER LLC, MIM PROPERTY MANAGEMENT LLC, MIM PROPERTY MANAGEMENT OF GEORGIA 1 LLC, MIM THIRD ARMY INDUSTRIAL MANAGER LLC, MISSOURI REINSURANCE INC., ML - URS PORT CHESTER SC MANAGER LLC, ML 300 THIRD MEMBER LLC, ML ARMATURE MEMBER LLC, ML BELLEVUE MANAGER LLC, ML BELLEVUE MEMBER LLC, ML BRIDGESIDE APARTMENTS LLC, ML CAPACITACION COMERCIAL S.A. DE C.V., ML CERRITOS TC MEMBER LLC, ML CLAL MEMBER LLC, ML DOLPHIN GP LLC, ML DOLPHIN MEZZ LLC, ML MATSON MILLS MEMBER LLC, ML MILILANI MEMBER LLC, ML ONE BEDMINSTER LLC, ML PORT CHESTER SC MEMBER LLC, ML SENTINEL SQUARE MEMBER LLC, ML SLOANS LAKE MEMEBR LLC, ML SOUTHLANDS MEMBER LLC, ML SOUTHMORE LLC, ML SWAN GP LLC, ML SWAN MEZZ LLC, ML TERRACES LLC, ML THIRD ARMY INDUSTRIAL MEMBER LLC, ML VENTURE 1 MANAGER S. DE R. L. DE C.V., ML VENTURE 1 SERVICER LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 1 LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 2 LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 3 LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 4 LLC, ML-AI METLIFE MEMBER 5 LLC, MLIA MANAGER I LLC, MLIA PARK TOWER MANAGER LLC, MLIA SBAF COLONY MANAGER LLC, MLIA SBAF MANAGER LLC, MLIC ASSET HOLDINGS II LLC, MLIC ASSET HOLDINGS LLC, MLIC CB HOLDINGS LLC, MLJ US FEEDER LLC, MM GLOBAL OPERATIONS SUPPORT CENTER S.A. DE C.V., MMP CEDAR STREET OWNER LLC, MMP CEDAR STREET REIT LLC, MMP HOLDINGS III LLC, MMP OLIVIAN OWNER LLC, MMP OLIVIAN REIT LLC, MMP OWNERS III LLC, MMP OWNERS LLC, MMP SOUTH PARK OWNER LLC, MMP SOUTH PARK REIT LLC, MREF 425 MKT LLC, MSV IRVINE PROPERTY LLC, MTC FUND I LLC, MTC FUND II LLC, MTC FUND III LLC, MTL LEASING LLC, MTU HOTEL OWNER LLC, NATILOPORTEM HOLDINGS LLC, NEWBURY INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED, OCONEE GOLF COMPANY LLC, OCONEE HOTEL COMPANY LLC, OCONEE LAND COMPANY LLC, OCONEE LAND DEVELOPMENT COMPANY LLC, OCONEE MARINA COMPANY LLC, OMI MLIC INVESTMENTS LIMITED, PACIFIC LOGISTICS INDUSTRIAL SOUTH LLC, PARK TOWER JV MEMBER LLC, PARK TOWER REIT INC., PJSC METLIFE, PLAZA DRIVE PROPERTIES LLC, PNB METLIFE INDIA INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED, PREFCO FOURTEEN LLC, PREFCO XIV HOLDINGS LLC, PROVIDA INTERNACIONAL S.A., SAFEGUARD HEALTH ENTERPRISES INC., SAFEGUARD HEALTH PLANS INC., SAFEHEALTH LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, SEVENTH AND OSBORN MF VENTURE LLC, SINO-US UNITED METLIFE INSURANCE CO. LTD., SOUTHCREEK INDUSTRIAL HOLDINGS LLC, ST. JAMES FLEET INVESTMENTS TWO LIMITED, SUPERIOR PROCUREMENT INC, SUPERIOR VISION BENEFIT MANAGEMENT INC., SUPERIOR VISION HOLDINGS INC., SUPERIOR VISION INSURANCE INC., SUPERIOR VISION INSURANCE PLAN OF WISCONSIN INC., SUPERIOR VISION OF NEW JERSEY INC., SUPERIOR VISION SERVICES INC., Safeguard Health Enterprises, Security First Group Inc., THE BUILDING AT 575 FIFTH AVENUE MEZZANINE LLC, THE BUILDING AT 575 FIFTH RETAIL HOLDING LLC, THE BUILDING AT 575 FIFTH RETAIL OWNER, THE DIRECT CALL CENTRE PTY LIMITED, TRANSMOUNTAIN LAND & LIVESTOCK COMPANY, UVC INDEPENDENT PRACTICE ASSOCIATION INC., VERSANT HEALTH CONSOLIDATIONS CORP., VERSANT HEALTH HOLDCO INC., VERSANT HEALTH LAB LLC, VIRIDIAN MIRACLE MILE LLC, VISION 21 MANAGED EYE CARE OF TAMPA BAY, VISION 21 PHYSICIAN PRACTICE MANAGEMENT COMPANY, VISION TWENTY-ONE MANAGED EYE CARE IPA INC., Versant Health, WDV ACQUISITION CORP., WFP 1000 HOLDING COMPANY GP LLC, WHITE OAK ROYALTY COMPANY, and WHITE TRACT II LLC.Spectris plc manufactures and sells measuring instruments and controls worldwide. The company provides products and services, which enable customers to determine structure, composition, quantity, and quality of particles and materials during their research and product development processes, when assessing materials before production, or during the manufacturing process; various range of life science services; products for measurement and control of temperature, humidity, pressure, strain, force, flow, level, pH, and conductivity; and data acquisition, electric heating, and custom-engineered products. It also supplies test, measurement, and analysis equipment, software, and services for product design optimization and manufacturing control; and designs and manufactures tooling and monitoring system for installation and acquisition services, data processing services, 24/7 monitoring, and advanced analytics consulting. In addition, the company offers various industrial automation products, including IIoT controllers and gateways, data acquisition and protocol converters, human machine interface operator displays and panel meters, visualisation software products, proportionalA-integralA-derivative controllers, remote terminal units, input/output products, and signal conditioners and sensors; and industrial networking products, which include ethernet switches, wired and wireless routers, and network and device management software products. Further, it provides on-line and off-line measurement and control solutions for the dimensional monitoring of diameter, ovality, wall thickness, eccentricity, length and speed, and other parameters; particle measuring systems; and supplies gas analysis solutions and various related product and services. The company was formerly known as Fairey Aviation Company Ltd. and changed its name to Spectris plc in May 2001. Spectris plc was founded in 1915 and is headquartered in Egham, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreWhat will non-Democrats do in a race between two Democrats running for the Senate in California?

Under Californias much-discussed and very controversial top-two primary system, two candidates from the same party can and do lock out the other party from general elections. Thats because all candidates, regardless of party, run on the same primary ballot. Whoever finishes first and second (regardless of percentage) gets a ticket to November.

That happened in the 2016 U.S. Senate race in which Democrats Kamala Harris and Loretta Sanchez were the general-election candidates, with Harris winning handily in both the primary and in November. And its happening again this year, when incumbent Senator Dianne Feinstein and state senate Democratic leader Kevin de Leon are competing in the general election.

One of the mysteries of top two is what voters from a party disenfranchised in a particular election decide to do. Will they give it a pass? Vote against the other partys incumbent? Or vote for the other partys candidate whose ideology is closest to their own? In the case of Feinstein and de Leon, it obviously could matter if Republicans voted en masse against Feinstein as the hated long-standing incumbent or voted for Feinstein as the relative centrist in the race (indeed, the idea the Feinstein is too friendly to Republicans is a big part of the argument against her among progressive Democrats).

A new poll from the well-regarded Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) supplies some clues about these questions. The most interesting finding is that about half of self-identified Republicans and a quarter of self-identified independents say they dont plan to vote for either Democrat. Among those who do intend to vote in the Senate race, Republicans split right down the middle between Feinstein and de Leon, while indies (not unexpectedly, given Feinsteins professed independence) lean toward the incumbent.

What this essentially means is that Democrats will more or less get to choose between the two members of their own party in this race. At the moment, thats great news for Feinstein, who according to PPIC leads de Leon by a three-to-one (66/22) margin among self-identified Democrats. But then again, de Leon is the endorsed candidate of the California Democratic Party, a fact that might (along with some of the money and materials the state party could make available to him) feed a pretty robust comeback down the road. Should that begin to happen, it will be interesting to see if Feinstein decides to make an open bid for Republican support. Its worth remembering that this was central to Loretta Sanchezs strategy in 2016, and it didnt work.SRC Energy Inc., an oil and natural gas company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids primarily in the Denver-Julesburg Basin of Colorado. As of December 31, 2018, it had net proved oil and natural gas reserves of 88 million barrels of oil and condensate, 771.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas, and 89.1 million barrels of natural gas liquids; and operated 985 net producing wells, as well as had 95,200 gross and 86,200 net acres under lease in the Wattenberg Field. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

Read MoreWall Street analysts have given SPDR S&P Bank 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 SPDR S&P Bank ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.Suncor Energy Inc. operates as an integrated energy company. The company primarily focuses on developing petroleum resource basins in Canada's Athabasca oil sands; explores, acquires, develops, produces, transports, refines, and markets crude oil in Canada and internationally; markets petroleum and petrochemical products under the Petro-Canada name primarily in Canada. It operates in Oil Sands; Exploration and Production; Refining and Marketing; and Corporate and Eliminations segments. The Oil Sands segment recovers bitumen from mining and in situ operations, and upgrades it into refinery feedstock and diesel fuel, or blends the bitumen with diluent for direct sale to market. The Exploration and Production segment is involved in offshore operations off the east coast of Canada and in the North Sea; and operating onshore assets in Libya and Syria. The Refining and Marketing segment refines crude oil and intermediate feedstock into various petroleum and petrochemical products; and markets refined petroleum products to retail, commercial, and industrial customers through its other retail sellers. The Corporate and Eliminations segment operates four wind farm operations in Ontario and Western Canada. The company also markets and trades in crude oil, natural gas, byproducts, refined products, and power. The company was formerly known as Suncor Inc. and changed its name to Suncor Energy Inc. in April 1997. Suncor Energy Inc. was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

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 Vanguard Russell 2000 Growth Index Fund ETF Shares 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 Vanguard Russell 2000 Growth Index Fund ETF Shares wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.Wall Street analysts have given iShares Russell Mid-Cap 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 Russell Mid-Cap ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.Mike Pompeo testifies during a hearing before Senate Foreign Relations Committee on July 25, 2018, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spent more than three hours before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today, the first administration official to submit to sustained public questioning since the NATO and Helsinki summits and their aftermath. Pompeo, who was known for his dogged and hostile harangues of Obama administration officials, got more than a taste of his own medicine, the most concentrated dose coming when Senator Menendez (Democrat, New Jersey) said, If President Obama did what President Trump did in Helsinki, Id be peeling you off the ceiling! Unsurprisingly, the hearing didnt reveal what Putin and Trump talked about in their one-on-one, two-hour conversation, but it did shed some light on how some key players view each other, and the issues at stake:

Secretary Pompeo has a tightrope to walk. Watching him try to maintain a minimal level of collegiality with senators while also staying within the boundaries President Trump expects of his courtiers was exhausting. When Senator Flake attempted to compliment him on a policy, Pompeo insisted that it was the presidents policy, prompting Flake to allude to Trumps contrary statements on the matter and conclude, just take the compliment. Later Pompeo told Corker, Somehow theres this opinion that the administration is free-floating. This is President Trumps administration.

The task of defending policy that contradicts Trumps views while not offending Trump is a difficult enough task, but Pompeo seemed to have taken on a second one  not offending the North Koreans. While he was at pains to acknowledge that negotiations are not progressing, he also went out of his way to say that I dont think its fair to characterize them as walking back from commitments. When senators from both parties asked questions about the state of North Koreas nuclear program, Pompeo insisted he couldnt discuss them in an unclassified setting  drawing surprised, if not incredulous responses.

Turns out, Russia isnt a breaking point for the Senate GOP. Two GOP Senators joined Democrats in pressing Pompeo hard on the Helsinki summit, North Korea, and other topics. No points for guessing that neither of the two (Corker and Flake) are running for reelection. Corker accused Trump of purposefully causing the American people to misunderstand the nature of NATO contributions and went on to say that that in my opinion was like what happened after Charlottesville.

As for the others, Risch congratulated Pompeo on the achievements of the NATO summit; Rubio offered kudos on progress countering Russia; and Isakson asked Pompeo why Europeans couldnt understand their own economic interests as well as the U.S. did.

Rand Paul has taken a hard turn into the pro-Russia camp. Paul spent much of his time on a vigorous defense of Trumps meeting with Putin and then moved on to attack bipartisan legislation put forward by Rubio and Democrat Chris Van Hollen aimed at ensuring prompt investigation of and response to future foreign assaults on our elections. Given that Rubio had used his own time to solicit Pompeos support for the legislation, this was an unusual display of intraparty hostility. It does make you wonder about the content of the conversations Paul had on his post-summit trip to Moscow.

Pompeo, for his part, did say clearly that Russia was attempting to influence U.S. politics and that he would favor more sanctions on Moscow. It will be interesting to see whether those comments pass muster with Trump.

Speaking of Russia, Trump is still hung up on making a commitment to Ukraines sovereignty. Pompeo spoke the phrase commitment to Ukraine and its territorial integrity, and referred viewers to a newly released Crimea Declaration, which he said reaffirms U.S. policy. However, the Crimea Declaration turns out to be a State Department press release that doesnt actually contain that phrase  instead containing some rather odd circumlocutions on the topic.

Surprise! Gun safety. Several Democratic Senators urged Pompeo to reconsider a State Department decision that will allow, if it goes ahead, plans for 3D-printable guns to be posted on the internet. Pompeo, despite his passion for administration policies on every other issue, passed on the opportunity to make a passionate defense of easily available guns, and even promised Massachusetts Democrat Ed Markey that he would review the issue.

Pompeos combativeness serves him poorly. During his confirmation, some opponents noted that he was known for a short temper and a manner that spilled over into rudeness. Today he was met with oceans of sympathy from his Republican colleagues  which he repaid with nearly as much high-handed pomposity as he lavished on his Democratic questioners. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the panels only woman, finally snapped under a wave of mansplaining and delivered a passionate lecture on Syria. Later, Pompeo managed to get into two testy exchanges with Corker, insisting that he not receive credit for policies that he insisted belonged to Trump, and then insisting that he had already answered a question Corker said he didnt expect an answer to. The sheer unpleasantness of watching these exchanges was a good reminder that one giant fragile ego per administration is far more than enough.The following companies are subsidiares of Accenture: 2nd Road, 2nd Road Pty Ltd., ?What If!, ?What If! China Holdings Ltd, ?What If! Holdings Limited, ?What If! Innovation Singapore Holdings Pte, ?What If! Limited, ?What If! Shanghai Co. Ltd, ?What If! USA LLC, ACN Consulting Co Ltd, AD Dialeto Agencia de Publicidade SA, AD.Dialeto (Digital Agency acquired by Accenture), AGS Business and Technology Services Limited, ASM Research Inc., ASM Research LLC, ATAN, Accenture (Beijing) Mobile Technology Co Ltd, Accenture (Botswana) (Proprietary) Limited, Accenture (China) Co Ltd, Accenture (Shenzhen) Technology Co. Ltd., Accenture (South Africa) (Proprietary) Limited, Accenture (South Africa) Pty Limited, Accenture (UK) Ltd, Accenture 2 Business Process Services S.A., Accenture 2 LLC, Accenture A/S, Accenture AB, Accenture AG, Accenture AS, Accenture Africa Pty Ltd, Accenture Australia Holding B.V., Accenture Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, Accenture Australia Pty Ltd, Accenture Azerbaijan Ltd, Accenture BPM Operations Support Services S.A., Accenture BPM S.C.R.L., Accenture BV, Accenture Branch Holdings B.V., Accenture Bulgaria EOOD, Accenture Business Services for Utilities Inc, Accenture Business Services of British Columbia Limited Partnership, Accenture Business and Technology Services LLC, Accenture C.A, Accenture CAS GmbH, Accenture Canada Holdings Inc., Accenture Capital DAC, Accenture Capital Inc, Accenture Central Europe B.V., Accenture Chile Asesorias y Servicios Ltda, Accenture Cloud Services GmbH, Accenture Cloud Software Solutions Ltd, Accenture Cloud Solutions Australia Pty Ltd, Accenture Cloud Solutions LLC, Accenture Cloud Solutions Ltd, Accenture Cloud Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Co Ltd, Accenture Co Ltd., Accenture Communications Infrastructure Solutions Ltd, Accenture Company Ltd, Accenture Consulting Services Ltd Tanzania, Accenture Consultores de Gestao S.A., Accenture Consultoria de Industria e Consumo Ltda, Accenture Consultoria de Recursos Naturais Ltda, Accenture Credit Services LLC, Accenture Customer Services Distribution SAS, Accenture Customer Services Limited, Accenture Danismanlik Limited Sirketi, Accenture Defined Benefit Pension Plan Trustees Ltd, Accenture Defined Contribution Pension Plan Trustees Ltd, Accenture Delivery Poland sp. z o.o., Accenture Dienstleistungen GmbH, Accenture Digital France Holdings SA, Accenture Digital Holdings GmbH, Accenture East Africa Limited, Accenture Ecuador S.A., Accenture Egypt LLC, Accenture Enterprise Development (Shanghai) Co Ltd., Accenture Federal Services LLC, Accenture Finance (Gibraltar) III Ltd, Accenture Finance GmbH, Accenture Finance GmbH in liquidation, Accenture Finance II GmbH, Accenture Finance II GmbH in liquidation, Accenture Finance II Ltd, Accenture Finance Limited, Accenture Finance and Accounting BPO Services S.p.A., Accenture Finance and Accounting Services Srl, Accenture Flex LLC, Accenture GP LLC, Accenture Ghana Limited, Accenture Global Holdings Ltd., Accenture Global Services Ltd, Accenture Global Solutions Ltd, Accenture GmbH, Accenture HR Services Ltd, Accenture HR Services S.p.A., Accenture Healthcare Processing Inc., Accenture Holding GmbH, Accenture Holding GmbH & Co. KG, Accenture Holding GmbH in liquidation, Accenture Holdings (Iberia) S.L., Accenture Holdings B.V., Accenture Holdings France SAS, Accenture Holdings plc, Accenture Hungary Holdings Kft, Accenture Inc, Accenture Industrial Software Limited Liability Company (Accenture Endustriyel Yazylym Cozumleri Limited irketi), Accenture Industrial Software Limited Liability Company (Accenture Endustriyel Yazlm Cozumleri Limited Sirketi), Accenture Industrial Software Solutions Kft, Accenture Industrial Software Solutions SA, Accenture Insurance Services LLC, Accenture Insurance Services SAS, Accenture Insurance Services SpA, Accenture International BV, Accenture International Capital SCA, Accenture International LLC, Accenture International Limited, Accenture International Sarl, Accenture Japan Ltd, Accenture Korea BV, Accenture LLC, Accenture LLP, Accenture Lanka (Private) Ltd, Accenture Limited, Accenture Ltd, Accenture Ltda, Accenture Maghreb S.a.r.l., Accenture Managed Services SRL, Accenture Managed Services SpA, Accenture Management GmbH, Accenture Middle East B.V, Accenture Middle East BV, Accenture Minority I BV, Accenture Minority III Ltd, Accenture Mozambique Limitada, Accenture Mzansi (Pty) Ltd, Accenture NV/SA, Accenture NZ Limited, Accenture Newco LLC, Accenture Nova Scotia Unlimited Liability Co., Accenture OOO, Accenture Operations Sp. z o.o., Accenture Outsourcing SRL, Accenture Outsourcing Services, Accenture Outsourcing Services S.A., Accenture Oy, Accenture Panama Inc, Accenture Participations BV, Accenture Participations II Limited, Accenture Peru S.R.L, Accenture Peru S.R.L., Accenture Post Trade Processing SAS, Accenture Post-Trade Processing Limited, Accenture Process Ltd, Accenture Product Lifecycle Services, Accenture Properties, Accenture Pte Ltd, Accenture Puerto Rico LLC, Accenture S.A., Accenture S.C., Accenture S.L., Accenture S.R.L., Accenture SAS, Accenture SG Services Pte Ltd, Accenture SRL, Accenture Saudi Arabia Limited, Accenture Sendirian Berhad, Accenture Service Center SRL, Accenture Services (Mauritius) Ltd, Accenture Services AB, Accenture Services AG, Accenture Services AS, Accenture Services GmbH, Accenture Services Ltd, Accenture Services Morocco SA, Accenture Services Oy, Accenture Services Pty Ltd, Accenture Services S.r.l., Accenture Services SRL, Accenture Services Sp. z o.o., Accenture Services Sp. z.o.o., Accenture Services and Technology Srl, Accenture Services fur Kreditinstitute GmbH, Accenture Services s.r.o., Accenture Servicos Administrativos Ltda, Accenture Servicos de Suporte de Negocios Ltda, Accenture Solutions Co Ltd, Accenture Solutions Private Limited, Accenture Solutions Pte Ltd, Accenture Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Solutions Sdn Bhd, Accenture Sp. z o.o., Accenture Sp. z.o.o., Accenture SpA, Accenture State Healthcare Services LLC, Accenture Sub II Inc., Accenture Sub Inc, Accenture Sub LLC, Accenture Systems Integration Limited, Accenture Sarl, Accenture Tanacsado Kolatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Accenture Tanacsado Kolatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag KFT, Accenture Technologia, Accenture Technologia Consultoria e Outsourcing S.A., Accenture Technology Infrastructure Services Pty Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions (Dalian) Co Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions (HK) Co. Ltd., Accenture Technology Solutions (Thailand) Co. Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions - Solucoes Informaticas Integradas, Accenture Technology Solutions - Solucoes Informaticas Integradas S.A., Accenture Technology Solutions GmbH, Accenture Technology Solutions Oy, Accenture Technology Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions S.A. de C.V., Accenture Technology Solutions SAS, Accenture Technology Solutions SRL, Accenture Technology Solutions Sdn. Bhd., Accenture Technology Solutions Slovakia s.r.o., Accenture Technology Ventures BV, Accenture Technology Ventures S.P.R.L., Accenture Uruguay SRL, Accenture Vietnam Co., Accenture Vietnam Co. LTD, Accenture Zambia Limited, Accenture do Brasil Limitada, Accenture plc, Accenture s.r.o., Acceria, Acquity Customer Insight Limited, Acquity Group, Adaptly LLC, Adaptly UK Limited, AddVal Technology, Adqptly, Advantium Inc., Agave Consultants Limited, Agilex Technologies Inc., Allen International, Allen International Consulting Group Ltd, Alnova Technologies Corporation S.L., AlphaBeta Advisors, Altima, Altima Asia Ltd., Altima SAS, Altitude, Altitude LLC, Analytics 8 LP, Analytics 8 Pty Ltd, Analytics8, Aorui Advertising (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Apis, Appaloosa Technology SAS, Arca, Ariba - BPO, Arismore, Aspiro Solutions (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Avanade, Avanade (Guangzhou) Computer Technology Development Co. Ltd., Avanade (Thailand) Co Ltd, Avanade Asia Pte Ltd, Avanade Australia Pty Ltd, Avanade Belgium SPRL, Avanade Canada Inc., Avanade Denmark A/S, Avanade Denmark ApS, Avanade Deutschland GmbH, Avanade Europe Holdings Ltd, Avanade Europe Services Ltd, Avanade Federal Services LLC, Avanade Finland Oy, Avanade France SAS, Avanade GZ Computer Technology Development Co. Ltd. (SH), Avanade Guangzhou, Avanade Holdings LLC, Avanade Hong Kong Ltd, Avanade International Corporation, Avanade Ireland Limited, Avanade Italy SRL, Avanade KK, Avanade Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Avanade Netherlands BV, Avanade Norway AS, Avanade Poland Sp. z o.o., Avanade Poland Sp. z.o.o., Avanade Schweiz GmbH, Avanade South Africa, Avanade South Africa Pty Ltd, Avanade Spain SL, Avanade Sweden AB, Avanade UK Ltd, Avanade do Brasil Limitada, Avanade Osterreich GmbH, AvantBiz Consulting Limited, Avenai, Axia Ltd., BABCN LLC, BCT Solutions, BCT Solutions Pty Ltd, BPO Servicos Administrativos Ltda, BRIDGE Energy Group, Beacon Consulting Group Inc., Beijing Genesis Interactive Technology Co. Ltd., Benext, Bionic, Blue Horseshoe, Boomerang Pharmaceutical Communications, Boomerang Pharmaceuticals Communications Ireland Limited, Bow & Arrow, Brand Learning, Brand Learning Group Limited, Brand Learning LLC, Brand Learning Ltd, Brand Learning Partners Limited, Brand Learning Pte Limited, Bridge Energy Group LLC, Brightstep AB, Byte Prophecy, CAS, CRMWaypoint, CadenceQuest Inc., Capable Marketer Limited, Capgemini - North American health practice, Capital Consultancy Services Inc., Certus Solutions Consulting Services Ltd, Certus Solutions Ltd, ChangeTrack Research Pty Ltd., Chaotic Moon Studios, Chengdu Mensa Advertising Co. Ltd., Cimation, Cimation UK Limited, Cirruseo, Cirruseo SAS, Clarity Insights, Clearhead, Clearhead Group, Clearhead Group LLC, ClientHouse GmbH, Cloud Sherpas, Cloud Sherpas (GA) LLC, Cloud Sherpas (SN) (PTE.) Limited, Cloud Sherpas New Zealand Ltd., Cloud Talent Limited, Cloudsherpas, Cloudsherpas Inc., Cloudworks, Codagenic Pty. Ltd., Computer Research and Telecommunications LLC, Concrete Desenvolvimento de Sistemas Ltda., Concrete Solutions, Concrete Solutions Ltda., Context Information Security, Coritel S.A., Corliant Inc., CreativeDrive, CustomerWorks Europe SL, Cutting Edge Solutions Ltd, D5 Global Holdings LLC, DAZ Systems Inc, DAZ Systems LLC, DAZSI Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd., DMA Solutions Limited, Davies Consulting, DayNine Consulting, DayNine Consulting (Australia) PTY LTD, DayNine Consulting (Deutschland) GmbH, DayNine Consulting (New Zealand) Limited, DayNine Consulting France SAS, DayNine Consulting Japan K.K., DayNine Consulting LLC, Declarative Holdings, Declarative Holdings LLC, Defense Point Security, Deja vu Security, Design Strategy and Research de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Designaffairs LLC, Digiplug S.A.S., Digiplug SAS, Digital Consulting & Software Services LLC, Droga5, Droga5 LLC, Droga5 Studios LLC, Droga5 UK Ltd., Duck Creek Technologies, Duck Creek Technologies LLC, Deja Vu Security LLC, ESR Labs, Elcurator SAS, Enaxis Consulting, Enaxis Consulting L.P., End-to-End Analytics, Energuia Web, Energuia Web S.A., Energy Management Brokers Ltd., Energy Quote Private Ltd., EnergyQuote JHA, EnergyQuote JHA Ltd., EnergyQuote Trading Ltd., Enimbos, Enkitec, Enterprise System Partners, Enterprise System Partners B.V. , Enterprise System Partners Bilisim Danismanlik Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Enterprise System Partners Global Corporation, Enterprise System Partners Limited, Enterprise System Partners PR LLC, Enterprise System Partners S.A.S., Entropia, Epylon, Ethica Consulting Group, Evopro Group, Exactside Limited, Exton Consulting, Fairway Technologies Inc, Fairway Technologies LLC, Filmproduction ApS, First Annapolis Consulting, First Annapolis Consulting Inc., First Annapolis Consulting LLC, First Annapolis International, Fjord, Focus Group Europe, Focus Group Europe Limited, Formicary, Formicary Holdings Limited, Formicary Limited, FusionX, FutureMove Automotive, Gapso Servicos de Informatica Ltda., Genfour, Genfour Limited, George Group Consulting L.P., Gestalt LLC, Gestion Altima Canada Inc., Gevity, Global Public Firm S.L., GlobalView SAS, GoodFilm GmbH Filmproduktion Stuttgart, H.B. Maynard and Co. Inc., HRC Retail Advisory, Hagberg Consulting Group, Hangzhou Aiyunzhe Technology Co. Ltd., Happen, Hjaltelin Stahl, Hjaltelin Stahl K/S, Hytracc Consulting AS, Hytracc Consulting Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Hytracc Consulting UK Limited, Hytracc Holding AS, I-Faber S.p.A., IBB Consulting, IMJ Corp, IMJ Corporation, INCAD, INSITUM, IT One Company Limited, ITBS Servicios Bancarios de Tecnologia de la Informacion SL, Icon Integration, Imagine Broadband (USA) Ltd, Imagine Broadband USA LLC, Imaginea Inc, Industrie&Co, Infoman AG, Infoman Schweiz AG, Informatica de Euskadi S.L., Infusion Development Inc., Infusion Development UK Limited, InfusionDev LLC, Innoveer Solutions India Pvt Ltd, Insitum Consultoria Argentina SRL, Insitum Consultoria Brasil LTDA, Insitum Consultoria Colombia SAS, Insitum Consultoria Europa SL, Insitum Consultoria Peru SAC, Insitum Consultoria S.A. de C.V., Intrepid, Intrigo Systems Inc, Intrigo Systems India Pvt. Limited, Intrigo Systems LLC, Inventor Advertisement (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Inventor Technology Limited, InvestTech, Investtech Systems Consulting LLC, Javelin Group, Javelin Group (Bulgaria) EOOD, Javelin Group Limited (UK), Javelin Group SASU, K Comms Group Limited, KCS.net AG, KCS.net AG West, KCS.net Deutschland GmbH, KCS.net Holding AG, KCS.net Osterreich GmbH, Kaper Communications Limited, Karma Communications Debtco Limited, Karma Communications Group Limited, Karma Communications Holdings Limited, Karmarama, Karmarama Comms Limited, Karmarama Limited, Knowledge Rules Inc., Knowledgent, Knowledgent Group LLC, Kogentix, Kogentix LLC, Kogentix Ltd, Kogentix Singapore Pte. Ltd, Kogentix Technologies Private Limited, Kolle Rebbe, Kolle Rebbe GmbH, Kream Comms Limited, Kunstmaan, Kunstmaan NV, Kurt Salmon, Kurt Salmon Canada LTD, Kurt Salmon UKI, Kurt Salmon UKI Ltd., Kurt Salmon US LLC, LEXTA, LINKBYNET, LabAnswer, LabAnswer Government, LemonXL Limited, Logistics Market Place Limited (UK), Loud & Clear Creative Pty Ltd, MAXIM Systems Inc., MCG US Holdings LLC, Mackevision CG Technology and Service (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Mackevision Corporation, Mackevision Japan Co. Ltd., Mackevision Korea Ltd, Mackevision Medien Design, Mackevision Medien Design GmbH, Mackevision Singapore Pte. Ltd., Mackevision UK Ltd, Maglan, Maglan Information Defense Technologies Research Ltd., Maihiro, Matter, Matter Llc, Maud Corp Pty Limited, Maxamine International, Media Audits Ltd., Media Hive, Mediasenz Pty Ltd., Meredith Specialty LLC, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing Corporation, Meridian Informed Purchasing Ltd., Mindtribe, Mindtribe Product Engineering LLC, MobGen, MobGen Technology S.L, Moonrise NV, Mortgage Cadence, Mortgage Cadence an Accenture Company, Most Champion Ltd, Mudano, N3 LLC, NBS Marketing Inc., NYTEC, Nanjing Demeng Advertising Co. Ltd., Nashco Consulting, NaviSys Inc., NellArmonia, Neo Metrics Analytics S.L., Neo Metrics Chile, Neo Metrics Chile S.A., New Content, New Content Chile SpA, New Content Editora e Produtora Ltda., New Energy Aborda, New Energy Associates Ltd, New Energy Group, New Energy S.r.l., NewsPage, NewsPage (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, NewsPage China Ltd., NewsPage Pte Ltd, Nice Agency Limited, Northstream, Northstream AB, Northstream Holding AB, OCTO Technology, OPS Rules Management Consultants, Octagon Research Solutions Inc., Octo Technology LTDA, Octo Technology Pty Ltd, Octo Technology SA, Octo Technology SPRL, Octoman SAS, Odgaard ApS, Olikka, Openmind, Openminded, Operaciones Accenture S.A. de C.V., OpusLine, Orbium, Orbium Consulting Ltd, Orbium GmbH, Orbium Holding AG, Orbium Inc., Orbium International AG, Orbium International sp. z o.o., Orbium Licences AG, Orbium Limited, Orbium Pte. Ltd., Orbium Pty Ltd, Orbium Services sp. z o.o., Orbium Sarl, Origin Digital, PCO Innovation, PCO Innovation Canada Inc., PCO Innovation EURL, PIXO PUNCH Limited, PLM Systems S.r.l, POC Holdings, PRION GmbH, PT Accenture, PT Asta Catur Indra, PT Kogentix Teknologi Indonesia, Pach Invest SARL, Pach Invest SAS, PacificLink Group, PacificLink iMedia Ltd., Paja Finanssipalvelut Oy, Parker Fitzgerald Inc, Parker Fitzgerald Inc., Parker Fitzgerald International Limited, Parker Fitzgerald Limited, Parker Fitzgerald PTY Ltd, Parker Fitzgerald Services Limited, Parker Fitzgerald Solutions Limited, Partners Technology Mexico Holdings BV, Pecaso Ltd., Pegasus Production K/S, Perseroan Terbatas. Accenture, Phase One Consulting Group, Pillar Technology, Pollux, Pragsis Bidoop, Pragsis Bidoop UK Ltd, Pragsis Technologies S.L, PrimeQ, PrimeQ Australia Pty Ltd, PrimeQ Ltd, PrimeQ NZ Pty Ltd, Procurian Germany GmbH, Procurian Inc., Procurian International I LLC, Procurian International II LLC, Procurian LLC, Procurian Singapore Pte. Ltd., Procurian Switzerland GmbH, Procurian USA LLC, Proquire LLC, PureApps Ltd., Qi Jie Beijing Information Technologies Co Ltd, Radiant Services, Radiant Services LLC, Random Walk Computing Inc., Reactive Media Limited, Reactive Media Pty Ltd., Real Protect, Realworld OO Systems Ltd., Redcore, Redcore (Asia) Pte Ltd, Redcore (India) Private Limited (India), Redcore (New Zealand) Limited, Redcore Group Holdings Pty Ltd, Redcore Pty Ltd, Renacentis IT Services, Revolutionary Security, RiskControl, Rothco, Rothco Holdings Designated Activity Company, Rothco Unlimited Company, S.C. EnergyQuote S.r.l., S3 TV Technology Limited, S3 TV Technology Ltd., SEC Servizi, SEC Servizi S.p.A., SOPIA Corp., Sagacious Consultants, Sagacious Consultants LLC, Salt Solutions, Sanchez Capital Services Pvt Ltd, Schlumberger Business Consulting, Seabury Airline Planning Group, Seabury Aviation & Aerospace (UK) Limited, Seabury Aviation & Aerospace Asia (Hong Kong) Limited, Seabury Aviation Consulting LLC, Seabury Cargo Advisory B.V., Seabury Consulting, Seabury Corporate Advisors LLC, Seabury Human Capital LLC, Seabury Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Seabury Structured Finance LLC, Search Technologies BPO, Search Technologies BPO Inc., Search Technologies GmbH, Search Technologies International LLC, Search Technologies LATAM, Search Technologies LATAM S.A., Search Technologies LLC, Search Technologies Limited, Sente Partners LLC, Sentelis, Servicios Tecnicos de Programacion Accenture S.C., Shackleton, Shackleton Barcelona S.L., Shackleton Chile S.A., Shackleton Madrid S.L., Shackleton S.A., Shanghai Baiyue Advertising Co. Ltd., Shun Zhe Technology Development Co. Ltd., Silveo, Simian Pty Limited, SinnerSchrader AG, SinnerSchrader Commerce GmbH, SinnerSchrader Content GmbH, SinnerSchrader Deutschland GmbH, SinnerSchrader Praha s.r.o., SinnerSchrader Swipe GmbH, Sinnerschrader, Sistemes Consulting S.L., Solutions IQ, Solutions IQ LLC, SolutionsIQ, SolutionsIQ India Consulting Services Private Limited, Storm Digital, Storm Digital B.V., Structure Consulting Group, Structure Consulting Group LLC, Sutter Mills, Systor AG, TQuila Limited (UK), Tadata Creative Unlimited Company, Tara Insurance DAC, Tara Risk DAC, TargetST8, TargetST8 Consulting LLC, Tech - Avanade Portugal Unipessoal Lda, Tecnilogica Ecosistemas S.A., Tecnilogica Ltd., Tecnilogica, The Brand Learning Partners Limited, The Callisto Integration Corporation, The Monkeys, The Monkeys Pty Limited, The Myrtle Group, Total Logistics, Total Logistics Supply Chain Consultants Limited, Tquila, Trivadis AG, Troop Studios Pty Ltd, VanBerlo, Verax Solutions, Verax Solutions Corporation, Vertical Retail Consulting (Shanghai) Ltd., Vertical Retail Consulting Hong Kong, Vertical Retail Consulting Hong Kong Ltd., Vertical Retail Consulting Ltd., Vivere Brasil Servicos e Solucoes SA, Vivere Brasil Solucoes De Credito Ltda., Wabion GmbH, Weblinc Pty Ltd, Wire Stone, Wire Stone LLC, Wire Stone Sarl, Wolox, Workforce Insight Inc, Yesler, Zag, Zenta, Zenta Global Philippines, Zenta Global Philippines Inc., Zenta Mortgage Services LLC, Zenta Recoveries Inc, Zenta US Holdings Inc., Zielpuls, Zielpuls (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zielpuls GmbH, avVenta, designaffairs, designaffairs Business Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., designaffairs GmbH, designaffairs group China Co. Ltd., dgroup, i4C Analytics, iDefense, and solid-serVision.com GmbH.Bank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. The company's personal banking products and services include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, and financial and investment advice services; and commercial banking products and services comprise business deposit accounts, commercial credit cards, business loans and commercial mortgages, cash management solutions, foreign exchange, specialized banking programs, treasury and payment solutions, and risk management products for small business and commercial banking customers. It also offers investment and wealth advisory services; digital investing services; financial services and solutions; and investment management, and trust and custody services to institutional, retail, and high net worth investors. In addition, the company provides life insurance, accident and sickness insurance, and annuity products; creditor and travel insurance to bank customers; and reinsurance solutions. Further, it offers client's debt and equity capital-raising services, as well as loan origination and syndication, balance sheet management, and treasury management; strategic advice on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, and recapitalizations, as well as valuation and fairness opinions; and trade finance, risk mitigation, and other operating services. Additionally, the company provides research and access to markets for institutional, corporate, and retail clients; trading solutions that include debt, foreign exchange, interest rate, credit, equity, securitization and commodities; new product development and origination services, as well as risk management advice and services to hedge against fluctuations; and funding and liquidity management services to its clients. It operates through approximately 1,400 bank branches and 4,800 automated banking machines in Canada and the United States. The company was founded in 1817 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

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 2021 Market data provided is at least 10-minutes delayed and hosted by Barchart Solutions. Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice, and is delayed. To see all exchange delays and terms of use please see disclaimer. Fundamental company data provided by Zacks Investment Research.That smile wont last once he starts reading Trumps tweets. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call,Inc.

Somewhere on the long list of reasons that Donald Trump is president is his early embrace of Twitter. First, Trump used it to promote himself as a brilliant businessman (which hes not); then, as a medium to attack political opponents (which hes good at); and now, as a way to communicate with the world as president (which is making most people crazy).

Ironically, now, according to the New York Times, theres at least a small chance that Twitter could also lead to his demise. On Thursday, the paper reported that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is probing Trumps tweets as he investigates the president for obstruction of justice.

The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, is scrutinizing tweets and negative statements from the president about Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey, according to three people briefed on the matter.

Several of the remarks came as Mr. Trump was also privately pressuring the men  both key witnesses in the inquiry  about the investigation, and Mr. Mueller is examining whether the actions add up to attempts to obstruct the investigation by both intimidating witnesses and pressuring senior law enforcement officials to tamp down the inquiry.

The report goes on to cite Muellers desire to question the president about the tweets. Among the missives in question are those targeting Sessions in July of 2017. These were sent at the same time, Mueller has learned, that Trump was privately pressuring Sessions to resign so he could be replaced with someone who would not recuse himself from the Russia investigation.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has taken a VERY weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes (where are E-mails & DNC server) & Intel leakers!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2017

Mueller is also interested in Trumps attacks on Comey, which include a veiled threat about taped conversations between the two men. Such tapes do not exist, Trump later admitted.

James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 12, 2017

While none of these tweets alone are believed to amount to obstruction of justice, theyre thought to be a part of Muellers plan to build a case that Trump was on a broad mission to interfere with the investigation.

Trumps lawyers continue to insist that hes done nothing outside of the scope of his power, though. And anyway, Rudy Giuliani told the Times, If youre going to obstruct justice, you do it quietly and secretly, not in public.CAE Inc., together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and supplies simulation equipment and training solutions to defense and security markets, commercial airlines, business aircraft operators, helicopter operators, aircraft manufacturers, and healthcare education and service providers worldwide. The company's Civil Aviation Training Solutions segment provides training solutions for flight, cabin, maintenance, and ground personnel in commercial, business, and helicopter aviation; flight simulation training devices; and ab initio pilot training and crew sourcing services, as well as end to end digitally-enabled crew management, training operations solutions, and optimization software. Its Defence and Security segment offers training and mission support solutions for defense forces across multi-domain operations, and for government organizations responsible for public safety. The company's Healthcare segment provides integrated education and training solutions, including surgical and imaging simulations, curriculum, audiovisual and centre management platforms, and patient simulators to healthcare students and clinical professionals. The company was formerly known as CAE Industries Ltd. and changed its name to CAE Inc. in June 1993. CAE Inc. was founded in 1947 and is headquartered in Saint-Laurent, Canada.

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 2021 Market data provided is at least 10-minutes delayed and hosted by Barchart Solutions. Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice, and is delayed. To see all exchange delays and terms of use please see disclaimer. Fundamental company data provided by Zacks Investment Research.Comerica, Inc. engages in the provision of financial services. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Bank, Retail Bank, Wealth Management, Finance and Other. The Commercial Bank segment involves in the middle market businesses, multinational corporations, and governmental entities by offering various products and services such as commercial loans and lines of credit, deposits, cash management, capital market products, international trade finance, letters of credit, foreign exchange management services, and loan syndication services. The Retail Bank segment includes small business banking and personal financial services, which consist of consumer lending, consumer deposit gathering, and mortgage loan origination. The Wealth Management segment offers fiduciary services, private banking, retirement services, investment management and advisory services, investment banking and brokerage services. The Finance segment comprises corporation's securities portfolio and asset and liability management activities. The Other category consists of income and expense impact of equity and cash, tax benefits, charges of an unusual or infrequent nature that are not reflective of the n

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Illinois Tool Works: A V Co 1 Limited, A V Co 2 Limited, A V Co 3 Limited, ACCU-LUBE Manufacturing GmbH - Schmiermittel und -gerate -, AIP/BI Holdings Inc., Accessories Marketing Holding Corp., Advanced Molding Company Inc., Allen Coding GmbH, Allen France SAS, Alpine Automation Limited, Alpine Engineered Products, Alpine Holdings Inc., Alpine Systems Corporation, Anaerobicos S.r.l., AppliChem GmbH, Arylux Hungary Elektromechanikus Alkatreszgyarto Kft, Avery Berkel France, Avery India Limited, Avery Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Avery Weigh Tronix, Avery Weigh-Tronix (Suzhou) Weighing Technology Co. Ltd., Avery Weigh-Tronix Finance Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix Holdings Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix International Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix LLC, Avery Weigh-Tronix Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix Properties Limited, Azon Limited, B.C. Immo, Beijing Miller Electric Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Berkel (Ireland) Limited, Berrington UK, Brapenta Eletronica Ltda., Brooks Instrument (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Brooks Instrument B.V., Brooks Instrument GmbH, Brooks Instrument KFT, Brooks Instrument Korea Ltd., Brooks Instrument LLC, Buell Industries Inc., CAPMAX Logistica S.A. de C.V., CCI Realty Company, CFC Europe GmbH, CS (Australia) Pty Limited, CS (Finance) Europe S.a.r.l., CS Mexico Holding Company S DE RL DE CV, CSMTS LLC, Calvia Spolka z Ograniczona Odpowiedzialnosci, Capital Ventures (Australasia) S.a r.l, Capmax Logistica S.A. de C.V., Celeste Industries Corporation, Coeur, Coeur (Shanghai) Medical Appliance Trading Co. Ltd, Coeur Asia Limited, Coeur Holding Company, Coeur Inc., Compagnie Hobart, Compagnie de Materiel et d'Equipements Techniques-Comet, Constructions Isothermiques Bontami C.I.B., Crane Carrier Company, Despatch Industries, Diagraph Corporation Sdn. Bhd, Diagraph ITW Mexico S. de R.L. De C.V., Diagraph Mexico S.A. DE C.V., Dongguan Ark-Les Electric Components Co. Ltd., Dongguan CK Branding Co. Ltd., Dorbyl U.K. (Holdings) Limited, Duo Fast de Espana S.A.U., Duo-Fast Korea Co. Ltd., Duo-Fast LLC, E.C.S. d.o.o., ECS Cable Protection Sp. Zoo, ELRO (Holding) AG, ELRO Grosskuchen GmbH, ELRO-WERKE AG, Elga Skandinavian AS, Elro Group, Eltex-Elektrostatik-Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Envases Multipac S.A. de C.V., Eurotec Srl, FEG Investments L.L.C., Fasver, Filtertek, Filtertek De Mexico Holding Inc., Filtertek De Mexico S.A. de C.V., GC Financement SA, Gamko B.V., Gun Hwa Platech (Taicang) Co. Ltd., HOBART Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Hartness International, Hobart (Japan) K.K., Hobart Andina S.A.S., Hobart Brothers International Chile Limitada, Hobart Brothers LLC, Hobart Dayton Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Hobart Food Equipment Co. Ltd., Hobart Foster Belgium, Hobart International (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Hobart Korea LLC, Hobart LLC, Hobart Nederland B.V., Hobart Sales & Service Inc., Hobart Scandinavia ApS, Hobart Techniek B.V., Horis, ILC Investments Holdings Inc., ITW (China) Investment Company Limited, ITW (Deutschland) GmbH, ITW (EU) Holdings Ltd., ITW (European) Finance Co. Ltd., ITW (European) Finance II Co. Ltd., ITW (European) Finance III Co. Ltd., ITW (Ningbo) Components & Fastenings Systems Co. Ltd., ITW AEP LLC, ITW AOC LLC, ITW Aircraft Investments Inc., ITW Alpha Sarl, ITW Ampang Industries Philippines Inc., ITW Appliance Components EOOD, ITW Appliance Components S.A. de C.V., ITW Appliance Components S.r.l.a, ITW Appliance Components d.o.o., ITW Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, ITW Australia Property Holdings Pty Ltd., ITW Australia Pty Ltd, ITW Automotive Components (Chongqing) Co. Ltd., ITW Automotive Components (Langfang) Co. Ltd., ITW Automotive Japan K.K., ITW Automotive Korea LLC, ITW Automotive Parts (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, ITW Automotive Products GmbH, ITW Automotive Products Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Bailly Comte, ITW Befestigungssysteme GmbH, ITW Belgium, ITW Brazilian Nominee L.L.C., ITW Building Components Group Inc., ITW CER, ITW CP Distribution Center Holland BV, ITW CS (UK) Ltd., ITW Canada Inc., ITW Celeste Inc., ITW Chemical Products Ltda, ITW Chemical Products Scandinavia ApS, ITW Colombia S.A.S., ITW Construction Products (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW Construction Products (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., ITW Construction Products AB, ITW Construction Products AS, ITW Construction Products ApS, ITW Construction Products CZ s.r.o., ITW Construction Products Italy Srl, ITW Construction Products OU, ITW Construction Products OY, ITW Contamination Control (Wujiang) Co. Ltd., ITW Contamination Control B.V., ITW Covid Security Group Inc., ITW DS Investments Inc., ITW DelFast do Brasil Ltda., ITW Delta Sarl, ITW Denmark ApS, ITW Dynatec, ITW Dynatec Adhesive Equipment (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., ITW Dynatec GmbH, ITW Dynatec Kabushiki Kaisha, ITW EAE B.V., ITW EAE Mexico S de RL de CV, ITW EF&C France SAS, ITW EF&C Selb GmbH, ITW Electronic Business Asia Co. Limited, ITW Electronic Components/Products (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW Electronics (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., ITW Epsilon Sarl, ITW Espana S.A., ITW FEG Hong Kong Limited, ITW FEG do Brasil Industria e Comercio Ltda., ITW Fastener Products GmbH, ITW Finance Designated Activity Company, ITW Finance Europe S.A., ITW Fluids and Hygiene Solutions Ltda., ITW Food Equipment Group LLC, ITW France Finance Alpha S.A.S., ITW GH LLC, ITW GSE ApS, ITW GSE Inc., ITW Gamma Sarl, ITW German Management LLC, ITW Global Investments Holdings LLC, ITW Global Investments Holdings Y Compania Sociedad en Comandita por Acciones, ITW Global Investments II Inc., ITW Global Investments Inc., ITW Global Tire Repair Europe GmbH, ITW Global Tire Repair Inc., ITW Global Tire Repair Japan K.K., ITW Graphics (Thailand) Ltd., ITW Graphics Asia Limited, ITW Graphics Italy S.R.L. in liquidazione, ITW Great Britain Investment & Licensing Holding Company, ITW Group France (Luxembourg) S.ar.l., ITW HLP Thailand Co. Ltd., ITW Holding Quimica B.C. S.L. Sole Shareholder Company, ITW Holdings Australia L.P., ITW Holdings I Limited, ITW Holdings II Limited, ITW Holdings III Limited, ITW Holdings IV Limited, ITW Holdings IX Limited, ITW Holdings Inc., ITW Holdings UK, ITW Holdings V Limited, ITW Holdings VI Limited, ITW Holdings VII Limited, ITW Holdings VIII Limited, ITW Holdings X Limited, ITW Holdings XI Limited, ITW Hungary Finance Beta Kft, ITW ILC Holdings I Inc., ITW IPG Investments LLC, ITW Imaden Industria e Comercio Ltda., ITW India Private Limited, ITW International Holdings LLC, ITW Invest Holding GmbH, ITW Ireland Holdings Unlimited Company, ITW Ireland Unlimited Company, ITW Italy Finance Srl, ITW Italy Holding Srl, ITW Japan Ltd., ITW Korea LLC, ITW LLC & Co. KG, ITW Limited, ITW Lombard Holdings Inc., ITW Lys Fusion S.r.l., ITW M FILMS II LLC, ITW MH LLC, ITW Meritex Sdn. Bhd., ITW Metal Fasteners S.L., ITW Mexico Holding Company S. De R.L. de C.V., ITW Mexico Holdings LLC, ITW Morlock GmbH, ITW Mortgage Investments II Inc., ITW Mortgage Investments III Inc., ITW Mortgage Investments IV Inc., ITW Netherlands Administration BV, ITW Netherlands Beta B.V., ITW Netherlands Finance Alpha BV, ITW New Universal LLC, ITW New Zealand, ITW Novadan Sp. Z.o.o., ITW PPF Brasil Adesivos Ltda., ITW Packaging Technology (China) Co. Ltd., ITW Participations S.a r.l., ITW Pension Funds Trustee Company, ITW Performance Plastic (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids Japan Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids Korea Limited, ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids OOO, ITW Performance Polymers (Wujiang) Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers ApS, ITW Performance Polymers and Fluids Group FZE, ITW Peru S.A.C., ITW Philippines Holdings LLC, ITW Poly Mex S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Polymers Sealants North America Inc., ITW Pronovia s.r.o., ITW Pte. Ltd., ITW Qufu Automotive Cooling Systems Co. Ltd., ITW Real Estate Germany GmbH, ITW Residuals III L.L.C., ITW Residuals IV L.L.C., ITW Rivex, ITW SMPI, ITW SPG Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Simco-Ion (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., ITW Slovakia s.r.o., ITW Spain Holdings S.L., ITW Specialty Film LLC, ITW Specialty Films France, ITW Specialty Materials (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., ITW Spraytec, ITW Sverige AB, ITW Sweden Holding AB, ITW Test & Measurement Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, ITW Test & Measurement GmbH, ITW Test and Measurement Italia Srl, ITW Test and Measurement Services Industry and Trade Ltd., ITW Texwipe Philippines Inc., ITW Thermal Films (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW UK, ITW UK Finance Beta Limited, ITW UK Finance Delta Limited, ITW UK Finance Gamma Limited, ITW UK Finance Limited, ITW UK Finance Zeta Ltd., ITW UK II Limited, ITW Universal II LLC, ITW Welding, ITW Welding AB, ITW Welding GmbH, ITW Welding Products B.V., ITW Welding Products Group FZE, ITW Welding Products Group S. DE R.L. De C.V., ITW Welding Products Italy Srl, ITW Welding Products Limited Liability Company, ITW Welding Produtos Para Solgdagem Ltda., ITW Welding Servicios Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Welding Singapore Pte. Ltd., ITW de France, ITW do Brasil Industrial e Comercial Ltda., Ideal Molding Technologies LLC, Illinois Tool Works (Chile) Limitada, Illinois Tool Works (ITW) Nederland B.V., Illinois Tool Works Norway AS, Impar Comercio E Representacoes Ltda., Industrie Plastic Elsasser GmbH, Inmobiliaria Cit. S.A. de C.F., Innova Temperlite Servicios S.A. de C.V., Innovacion y Transformacion Automotriz S.A. de C.V., Instron (Shanghai) Ltd., Instron (Thailand) Limited, Instron Brasil Equipamentos Cientificos Ltda., Instron Foreign Sales Corp. Limited, Instron France S.A.S., Instron GmbH, Instron Holdings Limited, Instron International Limited, Instron Japan Company Ltd., Instron Korea LLC, International Leasing Company LLC, International Truss Systems Proprietary Limited, Isolenge - ITW Sistemas de Isolamento Termico Ltda., KCPL Mauritius Holdings, Kester, Kester Components (M) Sdn. Bhd., Kleinmann GmbH, Krafft S.L., Loma Systems, Loma Systems (Canada) Inc., Loma Systems BV, Loma Systems sro, Lombard Pressings Limited, Lumex Inc., Lys Fusion Poland Sp. z.o.o., M&C Specialties (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., M&C Specialties Co., MAGNAFLUX GmbH, MEHB Holdings Limited, MGHG Property LLC, MOA Enterprises Inc, Manufacturing Avancee S.A., Meritex Technology (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Meurer Verpackungssysteme GmbH, Miller Electric Mfg. LLC, Miller Insurance Ltd., NDT Holding LLC, NOVADAN APS, Norden Olje AB, North Star Imaging Europe, North Star Imaging Inc., Nova Chimica S.r.l., Orbitalum Tools GmbH, PENTA-91 OOO, PR. A. I. Srl, PT ITW Construction Products Indonesia, Pacific Concept Industries Limited (Enping), Panreac Quimica S.L., Paslode Fasteners (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Peerless Machinery Corp., Penta Dnepr LLC, Penta Sever OOO, Penta Volga OOO, Polyrey, Premark FEG L.L.C., Premark HII Holdings LLC, Premark International, Premark International LLC, Prolex Sociedad Anonima, QSA Global Inc., Quimica Industrial Mediterranea S.L., Ramset Fasteners (Hong Kong) Ltd., Rapid Cook LLC, Refrigeration France, S.E.E. Sistemas Industria E Comercio Ltda., ST Mexico Holdings LLC, Sealant Systems International Inc., Sentinel Asia Yuhan Hoesa, Shanghai ITW Plastic & Metal Co. Ltd, Simco (Nederland) B.V., Simco Japan Inc., Societe de Prospection et dInventions Techniques  SPIT, Speedline Holdings I Inc., Speedline Holdings I LLC, Speedline Technologies GmbH, Speedline Technologies Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Speedline Technologies Mexico Services S. de R.L. de C.V., Stokvis Celix Portugal Unipessoal LDA, Stokvis Danmark ApS, Stokvis Holdings S.A.R.L., Stokvis Promi s.r.o, Stokvis Prostick Tapes Private Limited, Stokvis Tapes (Hong Kong) Co. Limited, Stokvis Tapes (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes (Taiwan) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes BVBA, Stokvis Tapes Benelux B.V., Stokvis Tapes Deutschland GmbH, Stokvis Tapes France, Stokvis Tapes Italia s.r.l., Stokvis Tapes Limited, Stokvis Tapes Limited Liability Company, Stokvis Tapes Norge AS, Stokvis Tapes Oy, Stokvis Tapes Polska Sp Z.O.O., Stokvis Tapes Sverige AB, Stolvis Holdings II S.A.R.L., Technopack Industria Comercio Consultoria e Representacoes Ltda., Teknek (China) Limited, Teknek (Japan) Limited, Teksaleco Ltd., The Miller Group Ltd, Thirode Grandes Cuisines Poligny, Tien Tai Electrode (Kunshan) Co. Ltd., Tien Tai Electrode Co. Ltd., Unichemicals Industria e Comercio Ltda., VR-Leasing Sarita GmbH & Co. Immobilien KG, VS European Holdco BV, Valeron Strength Films B.V.B.A., Veneta Decalcogomme S.r.l., Versachem Chile S.A., Vesta, Vesta (Guangzhou) Catering Equipment Co. Ltd, Vesta Global Limited, Viltronics Soltec, Vitronics Soltec B.V., Wachs Canada Ltd., Wachs Subsea LLC, Weigh-Tronix Canada ULC, Weigh-Tronix UK Limited, Wilsonart International Holdings LLC, Wynn Oil (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd., Wynn's Automotive France, Wynn's Belgium BVBA, Wynn's Italia Srl, Wynn's Mekuba India Pvt Ltd, ZF TRW (Engineered Fasteners and Components), and Zip-Pak International B.V..The following companies are subsidiares of Crane: "CPI-Kiev" LLC, ARDAC Inc., AeroHose, Alfa Laval - The Industrial Flow Group, Armature d.o.o., Automatic Products (UK) Ltd., Automatic Products international - Assets, B. Rhodes & Son Ltd., Barksdale GmbH, Barksdale Inc., CA-MC Acquisition UK Ltd., CR Holdings C.V., CashCode Co - Assets, Coin Controls International Ltd., Coin Holdings Ltd., Coin Industries Ltd., Coin Overseas Holdings Ltd., Coin Pension Trustees Ltd., Conlux Matsumoto Co. Ltd., Consolidated Lumber Co, Corva Corp, Crane (Asia Pacific) Pte. Ltd., Crane Aerospace Inc., Crane Australia Pty. Ltd., Crane Canada Co., Crane Composites Inc., Crane Composites Ltd., Crane Controls Inc., Crane Currency, Crane Electronics Corporation, Crane Electronics Inc., Crane Environmental Inc., Crane European Financing LLC, Crane Fengqiu Zhejiang Pump Co. Ltd., Crane Fluid & Gas Systems (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Crane Global Holdings S.L., Crane GmbH, Crane Holdings (Germany) GmbH, Crane International Capital S.a.r.l., Crane International Holdings Inc., Crane International Trading (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Crane Ireland Ventures Designated Activity Company, Crane Ltd., Crane Merchandising Systems Inc., Crane Merchandising Systems Ltd., Crane Merger Co. LLC, Crane Middle East & Africa FZE, Crane Ningjin Valve Co. Ltd., Crane North America Funding LLC, Crane Nuclear Inc., Crane Overseas LLC, Crane Payment Innovations GmbH, Crane Payment Innovations Inc., Crane Payment Innovations International Ltd., Crane Payment Innovations Ltd., Crane Payment Innovations Pty Ltd., Crane Payment Innovations Sarl, Crane Payment Innovations Srl, Crane Pension Trustee Company (UK) Limited, Crane Process Flow Technologies (India) Pvt. Ltd., Crane Process Flow Technologies GmbH, Crane Process Flow Technologies Ltd., Crane Process Flow Technologies S.P.R.L., Crane Process Flow Technologies S.r.l., Crane Pumps and Systems Inc., Crane Resistoflex GmbH, Crane SC Holdings Ltd., Crane Stockham Valve. Ltd., Crane Yongxiang (Ningbo) Valve Company Ltd., Croning Livarna d.o.o., Cummis-Allison Corp, Delta Fluid Products, Delta Fluid Products Ltd., Dixie Narco, Donald Brown (Brownall) Ltd., ELDEC Corporation, ELDEC Electronics Ltd., ELDEC France S.A.R.L, Edlon - PSI division, Environmental Products USA, Etex Group - Business, Flow Technology Inc., Friedrich Krombach GmbH Armaturenwerke, General Technology Corp., Hattersley Newman Hender - Assets, Hattersly Newman Hender Ltd., Hydro-Aire Inc., Inta-Lok Ltd., Interpoint S.A.R.L., Interpoint U.K. Limited, Kessel (Thailand) Pte. Ltd., Kontron America - Mobile Rugged Business, Laminated Profiles - Assets, Lasco Composites, Liberty Technologies, MCC Holdings Inc., MEI Australia LLC, MEI Auto Payment System (Shanghai) Ltd., MEI Conlux, MEI Conlux Holdings (Japan) Inc., MEI Conlux Holdings (US) Inc., MEI Payment Systems Hong Kong Ltd., MEI Queretaro S. de R.L. de CV, MEI de Mexico LLC, MOVATS - Nuclear Valve Division, Merrimac Industries, Merrimac Industries Inc., Mondais Holdings B.V., Money Controls, Money Controls Argentina SA, Money Controls Holdings Ltd., Multi-Mix Microtechnology SRL, NABIC Valve Safety Products Ltd., Nippon Conlux Co. Ltd., Noble Composites, Noble Composites Inc., Number One Supply, Owens Corning - FRP Panel Business, P.L. Porter, P.T. Crane Indonesia, Pegler Hattersly Ltd., Resistoflex, Sequentia Holdings, Signal Technology, Sperryn & Company Ltd., Stentorfield, Streamware, Telequip, Terminal Manufacturing Co., The Dow Chemical - Plastic-Lined Piping Products division, The Krombach Group, Triangle Valve Co. Ltd., Unidynamics / Phoenix Inc., Ventech Controls, Viking Johnson Ltd., W.T. Armatur GmbH, Wade Couplings Ltd., Wask Ltd., Westlock Controls, Xomox, Xomox Chihuahua S.A. de C.V., Xomox Corporation, Xomox Corporation de Venezuela C.A., Xomox France S.A.S., Xomox Hungary Kft., Xomox International GmbH & Co. OHG, Xomox Japan Ltd., Xomox Korea Ltd., Xomox Sanmar Ltd., and Yilme Holdings B.V..All we are saying is give trade peace a chance. Photo: Nova Safo/AFP/Getty Images

American farmers have finally found a government subsidy they dont like. Earlier this week, President Trump announced a $12 billion emergency relief package for agricultural producers  whove been harmed by the emergency of his own trade policies.

While some farm groups applauded the handout, many took it as confirmation that the White House has no intention of calling off its trade war anytime soon. After all, if the president were on the brink of a breakthrough with China, he wouldnt feel compelled to funnel such large subsidies through an obscure New Dealera program. On Tuesday, the American Soybean Association demanded a a longer-term strategy to alleviate mounting soybean surpluses and continued low prices, including a plan to remove the harmful tariffs. That sentiment was echoed by other agricultural lobbies, including the recently formed Farmers for Free Trade  which is preparing a $2.5 million campaign against the presidents tariffs. As Politico reports:

The nonprofit group, which is backed by the American Farm Bureau Federation and major commodity groups like the National Pork Producers Council, is investing $2.5 million in the four-month campaign aimed at showcasing how the tariffs are causing pain among U.S. farmers and manufacturers because of Trumps trade policies.

The centerpiece of the campaign is an advertisement set to run on Fox News, CNBC and CNN and in local television and radio markets in Iowa, Pennsylvania and Michigan. The ad calls out White House trade adviser Peter Navarros July 19 remarks where he called the impact of tariffs a rounding error.

Americas farmers and factory workers are not a rounding error, the ad says.

The organization will also deploy digital and print advertising as well as town hall events starting during the August congressional recess to get the attention of lawmakers back in their home states and districts.

These farmers frustration is understandable. In Trumps maniacally nationalistic dreamscape, American industries might be getting killed by rotten trade deals; but in reality, the United States heavily subsidizes its domestic agriculture  in ways that give it an unfair advantage in the global ag trade  and Americas allies have largely tolerated this arrangement.

Now, the president is doing everything in his power to ruin the bread belts good thing. The National Farmers Union estimates that the tariffs foreign countries have placed on American farm products  in retaliation against Trumps various tariffs  have already cost U.S. agricultural interests $13 billion. Meanwhile, the uncertainty that Trump has engineered about NAFTAs future has led Mexican millers and grain traders to reduce their reliance on American wheat. In recent months, such Mexican firms have increased their purchases of Russian wheat, and are now planning to import large quantities of wheat from Argentinas burgeoning grain exporters. As a result, U.S. wheat exports to Mexico fell 38 percent in the first five months of this year, according to Reuters.

All that said, although Trumps trade war might not be working out all that well for American farmers, or carmakers, or consumers, they are giving so much needed aid to the Democratic Partys most vulnerable Senate incumbents.TelefAnica Deutschland Holding AG provides integrated telecommunication services to private and business customers in Germany. It offers voice, data, and value-added services in mobile and fixed line networks; access to infrastructure and services for its wholesale partners; and digital products and services in the fields of Internet of Things. The company provides its products and services through a network of independently operated franchise and premium partner shops, and online and telesales channels, as well as indirect selling channels, such as partnerships and co-operations with retailers. It markets its products and services under the O2, Blau, AY YILDIZ, Ortel Mobile, FONIC, netzclub, and TArkeiSIM brand names. As of December 31, 2020, TelefAnica Deutschland Holding AG had approximately 47 million customers. The company was formerly known as TelefAnica Germany Verwaltungs GmbH and changed its name to TelefAnica Deutschland Holding AG in September 2012. The company is based in Munich, Germany. TelefAnica Deutschland Holding AG is a subsidiary of Telefonica Germany Holdings Limited.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Vodafone Group: 360 Connect S.A., [email protected] Telecom, A-ccelerator B.V., A-ccelerator Holding B.V, AAA (Euro) Limited, AAA (MCR) Limited, AAA (UK) Limited, Acorn Communications Limited, Africonnect (Zambia) Limited, Ag Mercantile Company Private Limited, Al-Amin Investments Limited, Amsterdamse Beheer- en Consultingmaatschappij B.V., Apollo Submarine Cable System Limited, Array Holdings Limited, Asian Telecommunication Investments (Mauritius) Limited, Aspective Limited, Astec Communications Limited, Autoconnex Limited, Aztec Limited, BelCompany BV, Bluefish Apac Communications Pte. Ltd, Bluefish Communications, Bluefish Communications Limited, Business Serve Limited, C&W Worldwide Nigeria Limited, C.S.P. Solutions Limited, CCII (Mauritius) Inc., CGP India Investments Ltd., CGP Investments (Holdings) Limited, COOP Mobil s.r.o, CT Networks Limited, CWGNL S.A., CWW Operations Limited, Cable & Wireless Access Limited, Cable & Wireless Americas Systems Inc., Cable & Wireless Aspac Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless CIS Services Limited, Cable & Wireless CIS Svyaz LLC, Cable & Wireless Capital Limited , Cable & Wireless Communications Data Network Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Communications Starclass Limited, Cable & Wireless Communications Technical Service (Shanghai) Co. Ltd (Beijing Branch), Cable & Wireless Europe Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless GN Limited, Cable & Wireless Global (India) Private Limited, Cable & Wireless Global Business Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Global Holding Limited, Cable & Wireless Global Telecommunication Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Holdco Limited, Cable & Wireless Networks India Private Limited, Cable & Wireless Trade Mark Management Limited, Cable & Wireless UK Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless UK Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Waterside Holdings Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Pension Trustee Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Services Limited, Cable & Wireless Worldwide Voice Messaging Limited, Cable & Wireless a-Services Inc, Cable & Wireless a-Services Limited, Cable and Wireless (India) Limited, Cable and Wireless (India) Limited Indian Branch Office, Cable and Wireless Nominee Limited, Cable and Wireless Worldwide South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Cavalry Holdings Ltd, Celfocus  Solucoes Informaticas Para Telecomunicacoes S.A, Cellops Limited, Cellular Operations Limited, Central Communications Group Limited, Central Telecom (Northern) Limited, Centurion GSM Limited, Chelys Limited, City Cable (Holdings) Limited, Cobra do Brasil Servicos de Telematica ltda., Commnet Cellular Inc., Complete Network Technology, Connect (India) Mobile Technologies Private Limited, Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure Limited, Dataroam Limited , Device Insight, Digital Island (UK) Ltd, Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited, East Africa Investment (Mauritius) Limited, Emtel Europe Limited, Energis (Ireland) Limited, Energis Communications Limited, Energis Holdings Limited, Energis Local Access Limited, Energis Management Limited, Energis Squared Limited, Erudite Systems Limited, Esprit Telecom B.V., Eudokia Limited, Euro Pacific Securities Ltd., Eurocall Holdings Limited, Europolitan Holdings AB (now Europolitan Vodafone AB), FB Holdings Limited, FM Associates (UK) Limited, FinCo Partner 1 B.V., FireFly Networks Limited, Flexphone Limited, GS Telecom (Pty) Limited, Gateway Communications Africa (UK) Limited, Gateway Communications Tanzania Limited, General Mobile Corporation, Generation Telecom Limited, Ghana Telecommunications, Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited, Global Cellular Rental Limited, Globe Limited, GrandCentrix GmbH, Grupo Corporativo ONO S.A.U., H3ga Properties (No 3) Pty Limited, HBO Nederland Cooperatief U.A., HBO Netherlands Channels sro, HBO Netherlands Distribution B.V., Hellas Online, How2 Telecom Limited, Hutchison Essar Ltd, Indus Towers Limited, Intercell Communications Limited, Internet Network Services Limited, Invitation Digital Limited, Ipergy Communications NV, Isis Telecommunications Management Limited, Jaguar Communications Limited, Jaykay Finholding (India) Private Limited, Jupicol (Proprietary) Limited, KABELCOM Braunschweig Gesellschaft Fur BreitbandkabelKommunikation Mit Beschrankter Haftung, KABELCOM Wolfsburg Gesellschaft Fur BreitbandkabelKommunikation Mit Beschrankter Haftung, Kabel Deutschland, Kabel Deutschland Holding, Kabel Deutschland Holding Erste Beteiligungs GmbH, Kabel Deutschland Holding Zweite Beteilgungs GmbH, Kabel Deutschland Neunte Beteiligungs GmbH, Kabel Deutschland Siebte Beteiligungs GmbH, Kabelfernsehen Munchen Servicenter GmbH & Co. KG, LG Financing Partnership, LGE HoldCo V B.V., LGE HoldCo VI B.V., LGE HoldCo VIII B.V., LGE Holdco VII B.V., LLC Vodafone Enterprise Ukraine, Le Bunt Holdings Limited, Legend Communications Limited, Liberty Global, Liberty Global Content Netherlands B.V., London Hydraulic Power Company, M-PESA Foundation, M-PESA Holding Co. Limited, ML Integration Group Limited, ML Integration Limited, ML Integration Services Limited, MV Healthcare Services Private Limited, Mannesmann AG, MetroHoldings Limited, Mezzanine Ware Proprietary Limited (RF), Mirambo Limited, Misrfone Trading Company LLC, MobiFon S.A., Mobile Commerce Solutions Limited, Mobile Phone Centre Limited, Mobile Wallet VM1, Mobile Wallet VM2, Mobile by Sainsburys Limited, Mobiles 4 Business.com Limited, Mobileworld Communications Pty Limited, Mobileworld Operating Pty Ltd, Mobilvest, Motifpros 1 (Proprietary) Limited, Multi Risk Indemnity Company Limited, Multi Risk Limited, ND Callus Info Services Private Limited, Nadal Trading Company Private Limited, Nat Comm Air Limited, National Communications Backbone Company Limited, Navtrak Ltd, Netforce Group Limited, Netgrid Telecom SRL, Number Portability Company (Proprietary) Limited, ONO, Omega Telecom Holdings Private Limited, Oni Way  Infocomunicacoes S.A, Oskar Mobil S.R.O., Oxygen Solutions Limited, P.C.P. (North West) Limited, PPL Pty Limited, PT Network Services Limited, PTI Telecom Limited, Peoples Phone Limited, Pinnacle Cellular Group Limited, Pinnacle Cellular Limited, Plex Limited, Plustech Mercantile Company Private Limited, Prime Metals Ltd., Project Telecom Holdings Limited, Quickcomm Software Solutions, Radio Opt GmbH, Rian Mobile Limited, SBC SMART CITY 1517 B.V., SMMS Investments Pvt Limited, Safaricom Limited, Safenet N.P A., Sarmady Communications, Scarlet Ibis Investments 23 (Pty) Limited, Scorpios Beverages Pvt. Ltd, Silver Stream Investments Limited, Singlepoint (4U) Limited, Singlepoint (4U) Ltd., Singlepoint Payment Services Limited, Siro Limited, Spar Aerospace (Nigeria) Limited, Sport TV Portugal S.A, Starnet, Stentor Communications Limited, Stentor Limited, Storage Technology Services (Pty) Limited, T.W. Telecom Limited, T3 Telecommunications Limited, TKS Telepost Kabel-Service Kaiserslautern Beteiligungs GmbH, TKS Telepost Kabel-Service Kaiserslautern GmbH & Co. KG, TNAS Limited, TSM NZ Limited, Talkland Airtime Services Limited, Talkland Australia Pty Limited, Talkland Communications Limited, Talkland International Limited, Talkland Midlands Limited, Talkmobile Limited, Tele2 Italia SPA, Tele2 Spain, Telecom Investments India Private Limited, Telecommunications Europe Limited, Ternhill Communications Limited, The Cobra Group, The Eastern Leasing Company Limited, The Old Telecom Sales Co. Limited, Thus Group Holdings Limited, Thus Group Limited, Thus Limited, Thus Profit Sharing Trustees Limited, TnT Expense Management LLC, Tomorrow Street GP S.a r.l., Tomorrow Street SCA, Torenspits II B.V., Townley Communications Limited, Trans Crystal Ltd., UMT Investments Limited, UPC Nederland Holding I B.V., UPC Nederland Holding II B.V., UPC Nederland Holding III B.V., Unified Communications, Uniqueair Limited, Urbana Teleunion Rostock GmbH & Co.KG, Usha Martin Telematics Limited, VAPL No. 2 Pty Limited, VBA (Mauritius) Limited, VBA Holdings Limited, VBA International (SL) Limited, VBA International Limited, VEI S.r.l., VM SA, VND S.p.A, VSSB Vodafone Shared Services Budapest Private Limited Company, Verwaltung Urbana Teleunion Rostock GmbH, Victus Networks S.A., Vizzavi Finance Limited, Vizzavi Limited, Voda Limited, Vodacall Limited, Vodacash s.p.r.l., Vodacom (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Business (Angola) Limitada, Vodacom Business (Ghana) Limited, Vodacom Business (Kenya) Limited, Vodacom Business Africa (Nigeria) Limited, Vodacom Business Africa Group (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Business Africa Group Services Limited, Vodacom Business Cameroon SA, Vodacom Business Cote Divoire S.A.R.L., Vodacom Congo (RDC) SA, Vodacom Financial Services (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Group Limited, Vodacom Insurance Administration Company (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Insurance Company (RF) Limited, Vodacom International Holdings (Pty) Limited, Vodacom International Limited, Vodacom Lesotho (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Life Assurance Company (RF) Limited, Vodacom Payment Services (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Properties No 1 (Proprietary) Limited, Vodacom Properties No.2 (Pty) Limited, Vodacom Tanzania Limited Zanzibar, Vodacom Tanzania Public Limited Company, Vodacom UK Limited, Vodafone (NI) Limited, Vodafone (New Zealand) Hedging Limited, Vodafone (Scotland) Limited, Vodafone 2, Vodafone 4 UK, Vodafone 5 Limited, Vodafone 5 UK, Vodafone 6 UK, Vodafone Albania Sh.A, Vodafone Alternatif Telekom Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Americas 4, Vodafone Americas Virginia Inc., Vodafone And Qatar Foundation L.L.C, Vodafone Asset Management Services S.a r.l., Vodafone Australia Pty Limited, Vodafone Automotive Deutschland GmbH, Vodafone Automotive Electronic Systems S.r.L, Vodafone Automotive France S.A.S, Vodafone Automotive Iberia S.L, Vodafone Automotive Italia S.p.A, Vodafone Automotive Japan K.K, Vodafone Automotive Korea Limited, Vodafone Automotive SpA, Vodafone Automotive Technologies (Beijing) Co Ltd, Vodafone Automotive Telematics Development S.A.S, Vodafone Automotive Telematics S.A, Vodafone Automotive UK Limited, Vodafone Belgium SA/NV, Vodafone Benelux Limited, Vodafone Bilgi Ve Iletisim Hizmetleri AS, Vodafone Business Services Limited, Vodafone Business Solutions Limited, Vodafone Canada Inc, Vodafone Cellular Limited, Vodafone Central Services Limited, Vodafone China Limited (China), Vodafone China Limited (Hong Kong), Vodafone Connect 2 Limited, Vodafone Connect Limited, Vodafone Consolidated Holdings Limited, Vodafone Corporate Limited, Vodafone Corporate Secretaries Limited, Vodafone Czech Republic A.S., Vodafone DC Pension Trustee Company Limited, Vodafone Dagitim Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Data, Vodafone Distribution Holdings Limited, Vodafone Egypt Telecommunications S.A.E., Vodafone Elektronik Para Ve Odeme Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Empresa Brasil Telecomunicacoes Ltda, Vodafone Empresa Mexico S.de R.L. de C.V., Vodafone Enabler Espana S.L., Vodafone Enterprise Australia Pty Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Austria GmbH, Vodafone Enterprise Bahrain W.L.L., Vodafone Enterprise Bulgaria EOOD, Vodafone Enterprise Chile SA, Vodafone Enterprise Communications Technical Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Corporate Secretaries Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Denmark A/S, Vodafone Enterprise Equipment Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Europe (UK) Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Europe (UK) Limited  Czech Branch, Vodafone Enterprise Europe (UK) Limited  DubaiI Branch, Vodafone Enterprise Finland OY, Vodafone Enterprise France SAS, Vodafone Enterprise Germany GmbH, Vodafone Enterprise Global Businesses S.a r.l., Vodafone Enterprise Global Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Global Network HK Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Global Network Pte. Ltd., Vodafone Enterprise Hong Kong Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Italy S.r.L, Vodafone Enterprise Korea Limited, Vodafone Enterprise Luxembourg S.A., Vodafone Enterprise Netherlands BV, Vodafone Enterprise Norway AS, Vodafone Enterprise Regional Business Singapore Pte.Ltd., Vodafone Enterprise Singapore Pte.Ltd, Vodafone Enterprise Spain S.L.U.  Portugal Branch, Vodafone Enterprise Spain SLU, Vodafone Enterprise Sweden AB, Vodafone Enterprise Switzerland AG, Vodafone Erste Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Vodafone Espana S.A.U., Vodafone Euro Hedging Limited, Vodafone Euro Hedging Two, Vodafone Europe B.V., Vodafone Europe UK, Vodafone European Investments, Vodafone European Portal Limited, Vodafone Finance Limited, Vodafone Finance Luxembourg Limited, Vodafone Finance Sweden, Vodafone Finance UK Limited, Vodafone Financial Operations, Vodafone Financial Services B.V., Vodafone Fixed Ltd, Vodafone Foundation, Vodafone Foundation Australia Pty Limited, Vodafone Gestioni S.p.A, Vodafone Ghana Mobile Financial Services Limited, Vodafone Global Content Services Limited, Vodafone Global Enterprise (Hong Kong) Limited, Vodafone Global Enterprise (Italy) S.R.L., Vodafone Global Enterprise (Japan) K.K., Vodafone Global Enterprise (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Vodafone Global Enterprise Limited, Vodafone Global Enterprise Russia LLC, Vodafone Global Enterprise Taiwan Limited, Vodafone Global Enterprise Telecommunications (Hellas) A.E., Vodafone Global Network Limited, Vodafone Global Network Limited  Slovakia Branch, Vodafone Global Services Private Limited, Vodafone GmbH, Vodafone Group (Directors) Trustee Limited, Vodafone Group Pension Trustee Limited, Vodafone Group Services GmbH, Vodafone Group Services Ireland Limited, Vodafone Group Services Limited, Vodafone Group Services No.2 Limited, Vodafone Group Share Trustee Limited, Vodafone Hire Limited, Vodafone Holding A.S., Vodafone Holdings (Jersey) Limited, Vodafone Holdings (SA) Proprietary Limited, Vodafone Holdings Europe S.L.U., Vodafone Holdings Luxembourg Limited, Vodafone Hutchison Australia Pty Limited, Vodafone Hutchison Finance Pty Limited, Vodafone Hutchison Receivables Pty Limited, Vodafone IP Licensing Limited, Vodafone India Digital Limited, Vodafone India Limited, Vodafone India Services Private Limited, Vodafone India Ventures Limited, Vodafone Institut fur Gesellschaft und Kommunikation GmbH, Vodafone Intermediate Enterprises Limited, Vodafone International 1 S.a.r.l. Luxembourg Zweigniederlassung Bern, Vodafone International 1 S.a r.l., Vodafone International 2 Limited, Vodafone International Holdings B.V., Vodafone International Holdings Limited, Vodafone International M S.a r.l., Vodafone International Operations Limited, Vodafone International Services LLC, Vodafone Investment UK, Vodafone Investments (SA) Proprietary Limited, Vodafone Investments Australia Limited, Vodafone Investments Limited, Vodafone Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l., Vodafone Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l. Luxembourg Zweigniederlassung Bern, Vodafone Ireland Distribution Limited, Vodafone Ireland Ltd., Vodafone Ireland Marketing Limited, Vodafone Ireland Property Holdings Limited, Vodafone Ireland Retail Limited, Vodafone Italia S.p.A., Vodafone Jersey Dollar Holdings Limited, Vodafone Jersey Finance, Vodafone Jersey Yen Holdings Unlimited, Vodafone Kabel Deutschland Field Services GmbH, Vodafone Kabel Deutschland GmbH, Vodafone Kabel Deutschland Kundenbetreuung GmbH, Vodafone Kenya Limited, Vodafone Leasing Limited, Vodafone Libertel B.V., Vodafone Limited, Vodafone Luxembourg 5 S.a r.l., Vodafone Luxembourg 5 S.a r.l. Luxembourg Zweigniederlassung Bern, Vodafone Luxembourg S.a r.l., Vodafone Luxembourg S.a r.l. Luxembourg Zweigniederlassung Bern, Vodafone M-PESA SH.P.K., Vodafone M-Pesa S.A, Vodafone M.C. Mobile Services Limited , Vodafone Magyarorszag Mobile Tavkozlesi Zartkoruen Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag, Vodafone Malta Limited, Vodafone Marketing UK , Vodafone Maroc SARL, Vodafone Mauritius Ltd., Vodafone Mobile Commerce Limited, Vodafone Mobile Communications Limited, Vodafone Mobile Enterprises Limited, Vodafone Mobile NZ Limited, Vodafone Mobile Network Limited, Vodafone Mobile Operations Limited, Vodafone Mobile Services Limited, Vodafone Multimedia Limited, Vodafone Nederland Holding I B.V., Vodafone Nederland Holding II B.V., Vodafone Nederland Holding III B.V., Vodafone Net Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Network Pty Limited, Vodafone New Zealand Foundation Limited, Vodafone New Zealand Limited, Vodafone Next Generation Services Limited, Vodafone Nominees Limited1, Vodafone ONO S.A.U., Vodafone Oceania Limited, Vodafone Old Show Ground Site Management Limited, Vodafone Overseas Finance Limited, Vodafone Overseas Holdings Limited, Vodafone Panafon International Holdings B.V., Vodafone Panafon UK, Vodafone Partner Services Limited, Vodafone Payment Solutions S.a r.l., Vodafone Portugal  Comunicacoes Pessoais S.A., Vodafone Procurement Company S.a r.l., Vodafone Property Investments Limited, Vodafone Pty Limited, Vodafone Qatar Q.S.C., Vodafone Retail (Holdings) Limited , Vodafone Retail Limited, Vodafone Roaming Services S.a r.l., Vodafone Romania S.A, Vodafone Romania M - Payments SRL, Vodafone Romania Technologies SRL, Vodafone Sales & Services Limited, Vodafone Satellite Services Limited, Vodafone Servicios SL.U, Vodafone Servizi E Tecnologie S.R.L, Vodafone Servicos Empresariais Brasil Ltda., Vodafone Shared Services Romania SRL, Vodafone Specialist Communications Limited, Vodafone Stiftung Deutschland Gemeinnutzige GmbH, Vodafone Technology Solutions Limited, Vodafone Teknoloji Hizmetleri A.S., Vodafone Tele-Services (India) Holdings Limited, Vodafone Telecel-Comunicates Pessoais S.A., Vodafone Telecommunications (India) Limited, Vodafone Telekomunikasyon A.S, Vodafone Towers Limited, Vodafone UK Content Services Limited, Vodafone UK Investments Limited , Vodafone UK Limited1 , Vodafone US Inc, Vodafone Ventures Limited1 , Vodafone Vierte Verwaltungs AG, Vodafone Worldwide Holdings Limited, Vodafone Yen Finance Limited , Vodafone m-pesa Limited, Vodafone-Central Limited Vodaphone Limited, Vodafone-Panafon Hellenic Telecommunications Company S.A., VodafoneZiggo Group Holding B.V, Vodata Limited , Vouchercloud SA (Pty) Ltd, Wataneya Telecommunications S.A.E, Waterberg Lodge (Proprietary) Limited, Wayfinder, Wheatfields Investments 276 (Proprietary) Limited, Wireless Interactions & NFC Accelerator 2013 B.V., Woodend Cellular Limited, Woodend Communications Limited, Woodend Group Limited, Woodend Holdings Limited, XB Facilities B.V, XLink Communications (Proprietary) Limited, Your Communications Group Limited, ZUM B.V., ZYB, Zelitron S.A., Zesko B.V., Ziggo B.V., Ziggo Bond Company B.V., Ziggo Deelnemingen B.V., Ziggo Finance 2 B.V., Ziggo Financing Partnership, Ziggo Holding B.V., Ziggo Netwerk B.V., Ziggo Netwerk II B.V., Ziggo Services B.V., Ziggo Services Employment B.V., Ziggo Services Netwerk 2 B.V., Ziggo Zakelijk Services B.V., and Zoranet Connectivity Services B.V..The following companies are subsidiares of DaVita: Aberdeen Dialysis LLC, Accountable Kidney Care LLC, Adair Dialysis LLC, American Fork Dialysis LLC, American Medical Insurance Inc., Animas Dialysis LLC, Arcadia Gardens Dialysis LLC, Ashdow Dialysis LLC, Atlantic Dialysis LLC, Austin Dialysis Centers L.P., Barnell Dialysis LLC, Barrons Dialysis LLC, Barton Dialysis LLC, Bastrop Dialysis LLC, Beachside Dialysis LLC, Beck Dialysis LLC, Bellevue Dialysis LLC, Bemity Dialysis LLC, Beverly Hills Dialysis Partnership, Birch Dialysis LLC, Bladon Dialysis LLC, Bliss Dialysis LLC, Bohama Dialysis LLC, Bowan Dialysis LLC, Braddock Dialysis LLC, Bridges Dialysis LLC, Brimfield Dialysis LLC, Brook Dialysis LLC, Brownsville Kidney Center Ltd., Brownwood Dialysis LLC, Bruno Dialysis LLC, Buckhorn Dialysis LLC, Buford Dialysis LLC, Bullards Dialysis LLC, Bullock Dialysis LLC, Calante Dialysis LLC, Campton Dialysis LLC, Canyon Springs Dialysis LLC, Capes Dialysis LLC, Capital Dialysis Partnership, Capron Dialysis LLC, Carlton Dialysis LLC, Carroll County Dialysis Facility Inc., Carroll County Dialysis Facility Limited Partnership, Cascades Dialysis LLC, Caverns Dialysis LLC, Cedar Dialysis LLC, Centennial LV LLC, Central Carolina Dialysis Centers LLC, Central Georgia Dialysis LLC, Central Iowa Dialysis Partners LLC, Central Kentucky Dialysis Centers LLC, Channel Dialysis LLC, Cheraw Dialysis LLC, Chicago Heights Dialysis LLC, Chipeta Dialysis LLC, Churchill Dialysis LLC, Cinco Rios Dialysis LLC, Clark Dialysis LLC, Clayton Dialysis LLC, Cleburne Dialysis LLC, Clinica Central do Bonfim S.A., Clinton Township Dialysis LLC, Clyfee Dialysis LLC, Columbus-RNA-DaVita LLC, Conconully Dialysis LLC, Continental Dialysis Center Inc., Couer Dialysis LLC, Court Dialysis LLC, Cowell Dialysis LLC, Cowesett Dialysis LLC, Crossings Dialysis LLC, Crystals Dialysis LLC, Cuivre Dialysis LLC, Culbert Dialysis LLC, DC Healthcare International Inc., DNP Management Company LLC, DPS CKD LLC, DV Care Netherlands B.V., DV Care Netherlands C.V., DVA Healthcare - Southwest Ohio LLC, DVA Healthcare Renal Care Inc., DVA Healthcare of Maryland LLC, DVA Healthcare of Massachusetts Inc., DVA Healthcare of New London LLC, DVA Healthcare of Norwich LLC, DVA Healthcare of Pennsylvania LLC, DVA Healthcare of Tuscaloosa LLC, DVA Holdings Pte. Ltd., DVA Laboratory Services Inc., DVA Renal Healthcare Inc., DVA of New York Inc., DaVita - Riverside II LLC, DaVita - Riverside LLC, DaVita - West LLC, DaVita APAC Holding B.V., DaVita Brasil Participacoes e Servicos de Nefrologia Ltda., DaVita Care (Saudi Arabia), DaVita Dakota Dialysis Center LLC, DaVita Deutschland AG, DaVita Deutschland Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, DaVita El Paso East L.P., DaVita Germany GmbH, DaVita HK Holdings Limited, DaVita HealthCare Brasil Servicos Medicos Ltda., DaVita International Limited, DaVita Nefromed Servicos de Nefrologia Ltda., DaVita Nephron Care Servicos de Nefrologia Ltda., DaVita Rien Servicos de Nefrologia Ltda., DaVita S.A.S., DaVita Servicos de Nefrologia Asa Sul Ltda., DaVita Servicos de Nefrologia Distrito Federal Ltda., DaVita Servicos de Nefrologia Guarulhos Ltda., DaVita Servicos de Nefrologia Jardim das Imbuias Ltda., DaVita Servicos de Nefrologia Taubate Ltda., DaVita Servicos de Nefrologia de Araraquara Ltda., DaVita Sp. z o.o., DaVita Sud-Niedersachsen GmbH, DaVita Transrim Servicos de Nefrologia Ltda., DaVita UTR Servicos de Nefrologia Ltda., DaVita VillageHealth Inc., DaVita of New York Inc., Dallas-Fort Worth Nephrology L.P., Damon Dialysis LLC, Dialysis Holdings Inc., Dialysis of Des Moines LLC, Dialysis of Northern Illinois LLC, Dierks Dialysis LLC, Dolores Dialysis LLC, Dome Dialysis LLC, Doves Dialysis LLC, Downriver Centers Inc., EURODIAL - Centro de Nefrologia e Dialise de Leiria S.A., East End Dialysis Center Inc., East Ft. Lauderdale LLC, Ebrea Dialysis LLC, Edisto Dialysis LLC, Eldrist Dialysis LLC, Elgin Dialysis LLC, Elk Grove Dialysis Center LLC, Empire State DC Inc., Etowah Dialysis LLC, Ettleton Dialysis LLC, Eufaula Dialysis LLC, Falcon LLC, Family Health Care of Central Florida, Fanthorp Dialysis LLC, Federal Way Assurance Inc., Fields Dialysis LLC, Five Star Dialysis LLC, Fjords Dialysis LLC, Flagler Dialysis LLC, Flamingo Park Kidney Center Inc., Forester Dialysis LLC, Freehold Artificial Kidney Center L.L.C., Fremont Dialysis LLC, Frontier Dialysis LLC, Fullerton Dialysis Center LLC, GDC International LLC, Gambro Healthcare, Ganois Dialysis LLC, Garner Dialysis LLC, Garrett Dialysis LLC, Gaviota Dialysis LLC, Gebhard Dialysis LLC, Genesis KC Development LLC, GiveLife Dialysis LLC, Glassland Dialysis LLC, Glosser Dialysis LLC, Goliad Dialysis LLC, Grand Home Dialysis LLC, Greater Las Vegas Dialysis LLC, Greater Los Angeles Dialysis Centers LLC, Green Country Dialysis LLC, Green Desert Dialysis LLC, Griffin Dialysis LLC, Groten Dialysis LLC, Harmony Dialysis LLC, Hart Dialysis LLC, Hawn Dialysis LLC, Healthcare Partners, Helmer Dialysis LLC, Hennepin Dialysis LLC, Hewett Dialysis LLC, Hilgards Dialysis LLC, Hochatown Dialysis LLC, Home Kidney Care LLC, Honeyman Dialysis LLC, Houston Kidney Center/Total Renal Care Integrated Service Network Limited Partnership, Hummer Dialysis LLC, Hunter Dialysis LLC, Huntington Artificial Kidney Center Ltd., Hyde Dialysis LLC, IDC -International Dialysis Centers Lda, ISD Bartlett LLC, ISD Corpus Christi LLC, ISD I Holding Company Inc., ISD II Holding Company Inc., ISD Las Vegas LLC, ISD Lees Summit LLC, ISD Renal Inc., ISD Schaumburg LLC, ISD Spring Valley LLC, ISD Summit Renal Care LLC, Iroquois Dialysis LLC, Jacinto Dialysis LLC, Jenness Dialysis LLC, Kamiah Dialysis LLC, Kanika Dialysis LLC, Kavett Dialysis LLC, Kenai Dialysis LLC, Kershaw Dialysis LLC, Kidney Home Center LLC, Kimball Dialysis LLC, Kingston Dialysis LLC, Kinnick Dialysis LLC, Kinter Dialysis LLC, Kiowa Dialysis LLC, Knickerbocker Dialysis Inc., Lakeshore Dialysis LLC, Landing Dialysis LLC, Landor Dialysis LLC, Lassen Dialysis LLC, Leasburg Dialysis LLC, Leawood Dialysis LLC, Lees Dialysis LLC, Legare Development LLC, Liberty RC Inc., Lifeline Pensacola LLC, Lifeline Vascular Center-Albany LLC, Lincoln Park Dialysis Services Inc., Livingston Dialysis LLC, Llano Dialysis LLC, Lofield Dialysis LLC, Logoley Dialysis LLC, Lone Dialysis LLC, Long Beach Dialysis Center LLC, Lord Baltimore Dialysis LLC, Lory Dialysis LLC, Lourdes Dialysis LLC, Lyndale Dialysis LLC, MVZ DaVita Alzey GmbH, MVZ DaVita Aurich GmbH, MVZ DaVita Bad Aibling GmbH, MVZ DaVita Bad Duben GmbH, MVZ DaVita Cardio Centrum Dusseldorf GmbH, MVZ DaVita Dillenburg GmbH, MVZ DaVita Dinkelsbuhl GmbH, MVZ DaVita Dormagen GmbH, MVZ DaVita Duisburg GmbH, MVZ DaVita Elsterland GmbH, MVZ DaVita Emden GmbH, MVZ DaVita Falkensee GmbH, MVZ DaVita Geilenkirchen GmbH, MVZ DaVita Gera GmbH, MVZ DaVita Iserlohn GmbH, MVZ DaVita Monchengladbach GmbH, MVZ DaVita Neuss GmbH, MVZ DaVita Niederrhein GmbH, MVZ DaVita Nierenzentrum Aachen Alsdorf GmbH, MVZ DaVita Nierenzentrum Berlin-Britz GmbH, MVZ DaVita Nierenzentrum Hamm-Ahlen GmbH, MVZ DaVita Prenzlau-Pasewalk GmbH, MVZ DaVita Rhein-Ahr GmbH, MVZ DaVita Rhein-Ruhr GmbH, MVZ DaVita Schwalm-Eder GmbH, MVZ DaVita Viersen GmbH, Madigan Dialysis LLC, Magney Dialysis LLC, Magoffin Dialysis LLC, Makonee Dialysis LLC, Marlton Dialysis Center LLC, Marseille Dialysis LLC, Mason-Dixon Dialysis Facilities Inc., Mazonia Dialysis LLC, Mellen Dialysis LLC, Melnea Dialysis LLC, Memorial Dialysis Center L.P., Meridian Dialysis LLC, Mermet Dialysis LLC, Milltown Dialysis LLC, Minam Dialysis LLC, Minneopa Dialysis LLC, Mountain West Dialysis Services LLC, Mulgee Dialysis LLC, Nansen Dialysis LLC, Natomas Dialysis LLC, Nauvue Dialysis LLC, Navarro Dialysis LLC, Nephrology Medical Associates of Georgia LLC, Nephrology Practice Solutions LLC, New Bay Dialysis LLC, Nicona Dialysis LLC, Norbert Dialysis LLC, Norte Dialysis LLC, North Austin Dialysis LLC, Northwest Physicians Network, Oasis Dialysis LLC, Ohio River Dialysis LLC, Okanogan Dialysis LLC, Olive Dialysis LLC, Ordust Dialysis LLC, Owyhee Dialysis LLC, Palo Dialysis LLC, Palomar Dialysis LLC, Panther Dialysis LLC, Parkside Dialysis LLC, Pattison Dialysis LLC, Patuk Dialysis LLC, Pearl Dialysis LLC, Pendster Dialysis LLC, Percha Dialysis LLC, Pershing Dialysis LLC, Pfeiffer Dialysis LLC, Philadelphia-Camden Integrated Kidney Care LLC, Physicians Choice Dialysis LLC, Physicians Choice Dialysis Of Alabama LLC, Physicians Dialysis Acquisitions Inc., Physicians Dialysis Ventures LLC, Physicians Dialysis of Lancaster LLC, Physicians Management LLC, Pible Dialysis LLC, Pinson Dialysis LLC, Pittsburgh Dialysis Partners LLC, Piute Dialysis LLC, Plaine Dialysis LLC, Platte Dialysis LLC, Pluribus Dialise - Benfica S.A., Pluribus Dialise - Cascais S.A., Pluribus Dialise S.A., Prairie Dialysis LLC, Prineville Dialysis LLC, Purity Dialysis, RMS Lifeline Inc., RNA - DaVita Dialysis LLC, RV Academy LLC, Ramsey Dialysis LLC, Rayburn Dialysis LLC, Red Willow Dialysis LLC, Redcliff Dialysis LLC, Refuge Dialysis LLC, Renal Center of Beaumont LLC, Renal Center of Fort Dodge LLC, Renal Center of Lewisville LLC, Renal Center of Morristown LLC, Renal Center of Newton LLC, Renal Center of Port Arthur LLC, Renal Center of Tyler L.P.L.L.L.P., Renal Center of West Beaumont LLC, Renal Center of the Hills LLC, Renal Life Link Inc., Renal Treatment Centers - California Inc., Renal Treatment Centers - Illinois Inc., Renal Treatment Centers - Mid-Atlantic Inc., Renal Treatment Centers - Northeast Inc., Renal Treatment Centers - Southeast LP, Renal Treatment Centers - West Inc., Renal Treatment Centers Inc., Renal Ventures Management LLC, RenalServ LLC, Riddle Dialysis LLC, River Valley Dialysis LLC, Rocky Mountain Dialysis Services LLC, Rollins Dialysis LLC, Roose Dialysis LLC, Rophets Dialysis LLC, Roushe Dialysis LLC, Routt Dialysis LLC, Royale Dialysis LLC, Rusk Dialysis LLC, Rutland Dialysis LLC, SAKDC-DaVita Dialysis Partners L.P., Saddleback Dialysis LLC, Sahara Dialysis LLC, San Marcos Dialysis LLC, Santiam Dialysis LLC, Sapelo Dialysis LLC, Saunders Dialysis LLC, Seabay Dialysis LLC, Secour Dialysis LLC, Sensiba Dialysis LLC, Shadow Dialysis LLC, Shayano Dialysis LLC, Shelling Dialysis LLC, Sherman Dialysis LLC, Shetek Dialysis LLC, Shining Star Dialysis Inc., Siena Dialysis Center LLC, Simeon Dialysis LLC, Skagit Dialysis LLC, Soledad Dialysis Center LLC, Somerville Dialysis Center LLC, South Central Florida Dialysis Partners LLC, South Fork Dialysis LLC, Southern Hills Dialysis Center LLC, Southlake Dialysis LLC, Southwest Atlanta Dialysis Centers LLC, Sprague Dialysis LLC, Springpond Dialysis LLC, Star Dialysis LLC, Stevenson Dialysis LLC, Stewart Dialysis LLC, Stines Dialysis LLC, Storrie Dialysis LLC, Sugarloaf Dialysis LLC, Sun City Dialysis Center L.L.C., Sunapee Dialysis LLC, Sunset Dialysis LLC, TRC - Indiana LLC, TRC El Paso Limited Partnership, TRC West Inc., TRC of New York Inc., TRC-Georgetown Regional Dialysis LLC, Talimena Dialysis LLC, Terre Dialysis LLC, The Woodlands Dialysis Center LP, Tortugas Dialysis LLC, Total Renal Care Inc., Total Renal Care Texas Limited Partnership, Total Renal Care of North Carolina LLC, Total Renal Laboratories Inc., Total Renal Research Inc., Toulouse Dialysis LLC, Transmountain Dialysis L.P., Tross Dialysis LLC, Tugman Dialysis LLC, Tunnel Dialysis LLC, Turlock Dialysis Center LLC, Tustin Dialysis Center LLC, Twain Dialysis LLC, Tyler Dialysis LLC, USC-DaVita Dialysis Center LLC, Unicoi Dialysis LLC, University Dialysis Center LLC, Upper Valley Dialysis L.P., Valley Springs Dialysis LLC, Victory Dialysis LLC, VillageHealth DM LLC, Villanueva Dialysis LLC, Vively Health LLC, Vogel Dialysis LLC, Volo Dialysis LLC, Waddell Dialysis LLC, Wakoni Dialysis LLC, Walker Dialysis LLC, Walton Dialysis LLC, Watkins Dialysis LLC, Weldon Dialysis LLC, West Elk Grove Dialysis LLC, West Sacramento Dialysis LLC, Weston Dialysis Center LLC, Whitney Dialysis LLC, Willowbrook Dialysis Center L.P., Winds Dialysis LLC, Wood Dialysis LLC, Woodford Dialysis LLC, Wyandotte Central Dialysis LLC, Yards Dialysis LLC, Ybor City Dialysis LLC, Yucaipa Dialysis LLC, and Zephyrhills Dialysis Center LLC.The following companies are subsidiares of Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft: 87 Leonard Development LLC, ABFS I Incorporated, ABS MB Ltd., Acacia (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Accounting Solutions Holding Company Inc, Alex. Brown Financial Services Incorporated, Alex. Brown Investments Incorporated, Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft mbH, Amber Investments S.a r.l., Ambidexter GmbH, Ambidexter GmbH i.L., Argent Incorporated, BHW - Gesellschaft fur Wohnungswirtschaft mbH, BHW Bausparkasse Aktiengesellschaft, BHW Holding GmbH, BHW Kreditservice GmbH, BNA Nominees Pty Limited, BT Globenet Nominees Limited, BTAS Cayman GP, BTD Nominees Pty Limited, Baincor Nominees Pty Limited, Bainpro Nominees Pty Ltd, Baldur Mortgages Limited, Bankers Trust Investments Limited, Barkly Investments Ltd., Bayan Delinquent Loan Recovery 1 (SPV-AMC) Inc, Bayan Delinquent Loan Recovery 1 (SPV-AMC) Inc., Berkshire Mortgage Finance, Betriebs-Center fur Banken AG, Biomass Holdings S.a r.l., Birch (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Blue Cork Inc, Blue Cork Inc., Borfield Sociedad Anonima, Breaking Wave DB Limited, Cape Acquisition Corp., CapeSuccess Inc., CapeSuccess LLC, Cardales UK Limited, Cardea Real Estate S.r.l., Career Blazers LLC, Career Blazers Management Company Inc, Career Blazers Management Company Inc., Career Blazers Personnel Services Inc, Career Blazers Personnel Services Inc., Career Blazers Personnel Services of Washington D.C. Inc. Washington D.C., Caribbean Resort Holdings Inc, Caribbean Resort Holdings Inc., Carpathian Investments Designated Activity Company, Cathay Advisory (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Cathay Advisory (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Cathay Asset Management Company Limited, Cathay Capital Company (No 2) Limited, Cedar (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Centennial River 2 Inc., Centennial River Corporation, Chapel Funding, Charlton (Delaware) Inc, China Recovery Fund LLC, China Recovery Fund LLC, Cinda - DB NPL Securitization Trust 2003-1, City Leasing (Thameside) Limited, City Leasing Limited, Consumo S.p.A., Consumo Srl in Liquidazione, Cyrus J. Lawrence Capital Holdings Inc., Cyrus J. Lawrence Capital Holdings Inc., D B Investments (GB) Limited, D&M Turnaround Partners Godo Kaisha, D.B. International Delaware Inc., D.B. International Delaware Inc., DAHOC (UK) Limited (in members' voluntary liquidation), DAHOC Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, DB (Barbados) SRL, DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Asing) Sdn. Bhd., DB (Malaysia) Nominee (Tempatan) Sendirian Berhad, DB (Pacific) Limited, DB (Pacific) Limited New York, DB (Pacific) Limited New York, DB Abalone LLC, DB Alex. Brown Holdings Incorporated, DB Alps Corporation, DB Aotearoa Investments Limited, DB Asia Pacific Holdings Limited (in voluntary liquidation), DB Asset Finance I S.a r.l., DB Asset Finance II S.a r.l., DB Aster II LLC, DB Aster III LLC, DB Aster Inc., DB Aster LLC, DB Beteiligungs-Holding GmbH, DB Boracay LLC, DB Capital Investments Sarl, DB Capital Markets (Deutschland) GmbH, DB Capital Partners Inc., DB Capital Partners Inc., DB Cartera de Inmuebles 1 S.A.U., DB Cartera de Inmuebles 1 S.A.U., DB Chestnut Holdings Limited, DB Commodity Services LLC, DB Consorzio S. Cons. a r. l., DB Corporate Advisory (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., DB Covered Bond S.r.l., DB Credit Investments S.a r.l., DB Delaware Holdings (Europe) Limited, DB Direkt GmbH, DB Elara LLC, DB Energy Commodities Limited (in members' voluntary liquidation), DB Energy Trading LLC, DB Enfield Infrastructure Holdings Limited, DB Equipment Leasing Inc., DB Equipment Leasing Inc., DB Equity Limited, DB Finance (Delaware) LLC, DB Finance (Delaware) LLC, DB Finance International GmbH, DB Ganymede 2006 L.P., DB Global Markets Multi-Strategy Fund I Ltd., DB Global Technology Inc., DB Global Technology Inc., DB Global Technology SRL, DB Group Services (UK) Limited, DB HR Solutions GmbH, DB Holding Fundo de Investimento Multimercado Investimento no Exterior Credito Privado, DB Holdings (New York) Inc., DB Holdings (New York) Inc., DB Holdings (South America) Limited, DB IROC Leasing Corp., DB Immobilienfonds 1 Wieland KG, DB Immobilienfonds 2 KG i.L., DB Immobilienfonds 4 KG i.L., DB Immobilienfonds 5 Wieland KG, DB Impact Investment (GP) Limited, DB Impact Investment Fund I L.P., DB Impact Investment Fund I L.P., DB Industrial Holdings Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, DB Industrial Holdings GmbH, DB Intermezzo LLC, DB International (Asia) Limited, DB International Investments Limited, DB International Trust (Singapore) Limited, DB Investment Managers Inc., DB Investment Managers Inc., DB Investment Partners Inc., DB Investment Partners Inc., DB Investment Resources (US) Corporation, DB Investment Resources Holdings Corp., DB Investment Services GmbH, DB Io LP, DB Litigation Fee LLC, DB London (Investor Services) Nominees Limited, DB Management Support GmbH, DB Managers LLC, DB Municipal Holdings LLC, DB Nexus American Investments (UK) Limited (in members'voluntary liquidation), DB Nexus Investments (UK) Limited (in members' voluntary liquidation), DB Nominees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB Nominees (Singapore) Pte Ltd, DB Omega BTV S.C.S., DB Omega Holdings LLC, DB Omega Ltd., DB Omega S.C.S., DB Operaciones y Servicios Interactivos Agrupacion de Interes Economico, DB Overseas Finance Delaware Inc., DB Overseas Finance Delaware Inc., DB Overseas Holdings Limited, DB PWM, DB Portfolio Southwest Inc., DB Print GmbH, DB Privat- und Firmenkundenbank AG, DB Private Clients Corp., DB Private Wealth Mortgage Ltd., DB RC Holdings LLC, DB Re S.A., DB Service Centre Limited, DB Service Uruguay S.A., DB Services Americas Inc., DB Services Americas Inc., DB Servizi Amministrativi S.r.l., DB Strategic Advisors Inc., DB Strategic Advisors Inc., DB Structured Derivative Products LLC, DB Structured Derivative Products LLC, DB Structured Finance 1 Designated Activity Company, DB Structured Finance 2 Designated Activity Company, DB Structured Holdings Luxembourg S.a r.l., DB Structured Products Inc., DB Structured Products Inc., DB Trustee Services Limited, DB Trustees (Hong Kong) Limited, DB U.S. Financial Markets Holding Corporation, DB UK Bank Limited, DB UK Holdings Limited, DB UK PCAM Holdings Limited, DB USA Core Corporation, DB USA Corporation, DB Valoren S.a r.l., DB Value S.a r.l., DB VersicherungsManager GmbH, DB Vita S.A., DBAB Wall Street LLC, DBAH Capital LLC, DBAH Capital LLC, DBCIBZ1, DBCIBZ2, DBFIC Inc., DBFIC Inc., DBNZ Overseas Investments (No.1) Limited, DBOI Global Services (UK) Limited, DBOI Global Services Private Limited, DBR Investments Co. Limited, DBRE Global Real Estate Management IA Ltd., DBRE Global Real Estate Management IB Ltd., DBRE Global Real Estate Management IB Ltd., DBRE Global Real Estate Management US IB L.L.C., DBRMS4, DBRMSGP1, DBUK PCAM Limited, DBUKH No. 2 Limited, DBUSBZ1 LLC, DBUSBZ1 LLC, DBUSBZ2 S.a r.l., DBUSBZ2 S.a r.l., DBX Advisors LLC, DBX ETF Trust, DBX Strategic Advisors LLC, DBO Vermogensverwertung GmbH, DEBEKO Immobilien GmbH & Co Grundbesitz OHG, DEE Deutsche Erneuerbare Energien GmbH, DEUFRAN Beteiligungs GmbH, DEUKONA Versicherungs-Vermittlungs-GmbH, DEUTSCHE BANK A.S., DG China Clean Tech Partners, DI Deutsche Immobilien Treuhandgesellschaft mbH, DIB-Consult Deutsche Immobilien- und BeteiligungsBeratungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., DISCA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, DNU Nominees Pty Limited, DSL Portfolio GmbH & Co. KG, DSL Portfolio Verwaltungs GmbH, DTS Nominees Pty Limited, DWS Alternatives France, DWS Alternatives Global Limited, DWS Alternatives GmbH, DWS Asset Management (Korea) Company Limited, DWS Beteiligungs GmbH, DWS CH AG, DWS Distributors Inc., DWS Distributors Inc., DWS Far Eastern Investments Limited, DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA, DWS Group Services UK Limited, DWS Grundbesitz GmbH, DWS International GmbH, DWS Investment GmbH, DWS Investment Management Americas Inc., DWS Investment Management Americas Inc., DWS Investment S.A., DWS Investments Australia Limited, DWS Investments Hong Kong Limited, DWS Investments Japan Limited, DWS Investments Shanghai Limited, DWS Investments Singapore Limited, DWS Investments UK Limited, DWS Management GmbH, DWS Real Estate GmbH, DWS Service Company, DWS Trust Company, DWS USA Corporation, De Heng Asset Management Company Limited, De Meng Innovative (Beijing) Consulting Company Limited, DeAM Infrastructure Limited, Deloraine Spain S.L., Delowrezham de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Deposit Solutions, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Capital Holdings New Zealand, Deutsche (Aotearoa) Foreign Investments New Zealand, Deutsche (Mauritius) Limited Port, Deutsche (New Munster) Holdings New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Access Investments Limited, Deutsche Aeolia Power Production Societe Anonyme, Deutsche Alt-A Securities Inc., Deutsche Alt-A Securities Inc., Deutsche Alternative Asset Management (France) SAS, Deutsche Alternative Asset Management (UK) Limited, Deutsche Asia Pacific Holdings Pte Ltd, Deutsche Asset Management (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Asset Management (Japan) Limited, Deutsche Asset Management (Korea) Company Limited, Deutsche Asset Management S.A., Deutsche Asset Management S.G.I.I.C. S.A., Deutsche Australia Limited, Deutsche Bank (Cayman) Limited, Deutsche Bank (Chile), Deutsche Bank (China) Co. Ltd., Deutsche Bank (China) Co. Ltd., Deutsche Bank (Malaysia) Berhad, Deutsche Bank (Suisse) SA, Deutsche Bank (Uruguay) Sociedad Anonima Institucion Financiera Externa, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, Deutsche Bank Americas Holding Corp., Deutsche Bank Bauspar-Aktiengesellschaft, Deutsche Bank Capital Finance LLC I, Deutsche Bank Capital Finance Trust I, Deutsche Bank Europe GmbH, Deutsche Bank Financial Company, Deutsche Bank Holdings Inc., Deutsche Bank Holdings Inc., Deutsche Bank Insurance Agency Incorporated, Deutsche Bank Insurance Agency of Delaware, Deutsche Bank International Limited, Deutsche Bank Investments (Guernsey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A., Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A. - Fiduciary Deposits, Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A. - Fiduciary Note Programme, Deutsche Bank Mutui S.p.A., Deutsche Bank Mexico S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple, Deutsche Bank Mexico S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple, Deutsche Bank National Trust Company, Deutsche Bank National Trust Company Los, Deutsche Bank Nominees (Guernsey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Nominees (Jersey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Polska Spolka Akcyjna, Deutsche Bank Representative Office Nigeria Limited, Deutsche Bank S.A. - Banco Alemao, Deutsche Bank S.A. - Banco Alemao Sao, Deutsche Bank SPEARs/LIFERs Series DBE-8011 Trust, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Limited, Deutsche Bank Services (Jersey) Limited, Deutsche Bank Sociedad Anonima Espanola, Deutsche Bank Sociedad Anonima Espanola, Deutsche Bank Societa per Azioni, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Delaware, Deutsche Bank Trust Company National Association, Deutsche Bank Trust Company National Association, Deutsche Bank Trust Corporation, Deutsche CIB Centre Private Limited, Deutsche Capital Finance (2000) Limited, Deutsche Capital Hong Kong Limited, Deutsche Capital Management Limited, Deutsche Capital Markets Australia Limited, Deutsche Capital Partners China Limited, Deutsche Cayman Ltd., Deutsche Colombia S.A.S., Deutsche Custody N.V., Deutsche Domus New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Equities India Private Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 1 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 2 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 3 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance Co 4 Pty Limited, Deutsche Finance No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Foras New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Immobilien-Leasing mit beschrankter Haftung, Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Immobilien-Leasing mit beschrankterHaftung, Deutsche Global Markets Limited, Deutsche Group Holdings (SA) Proprietary Limited, Deutsche Group Services Pty Limited, Deutsche Grundbesitz Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Deutsche Grundbesitz Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., Deutsche Grundbesitz-Anlagegesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Deutsche Holdings (BTI) Limited, Deutsche Holdings (Grand Duchy), Deutsche Holdings (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., Deutsche Holdings (Malta) Ltd., Deutsche Holdings Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 2 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 3 Limited, Deutsche Holdings No. 4 Limited, Deutsche Immobilien Leasing GmbH, Deutsche India Holdings Private Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services (Ireland) Limited, Deutsche International Corporate Services Limited, Deutsche International Custodial Services Limited, Deutsche Inversiones Dos S.A., Deutsche Inversiones Limitada, Deutsche Investments (Netherlands) N.V., Deutsche Investments India Private Limited, Deutsche Investor Services Private Limited, Deutsche Knowledge Services Pte. Ltd., Deutsche Leasing New York Corp., Deutsche Mandatos S.A., Deutsche Master Funding Corporation, Deutsche Mexico Holdings S.a r.l., Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group Limited, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group Public Limited Company, Deutsche Mortgage & Asset Receiving Corporation, Deutsche Mortgage Securities Inc., Deutsche Mortgage Securities Inc., Deutsche Nederland N.V., Deutsche New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Nominees Limited, Deutsche Oppenheim Family Office AG, Deutsche Overseas Issuance New Zealand Limited, Deutsche Postbank, Deutsche Postbank Finance Center Objekt GmbH, Deutsche Postbank Funding LLC I, Deutsche Postbank Funding LLC II, Deutsche Postbank Funding LLC III, Deutsche Private Asset Management Limited, Deutsche Securities (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Securities (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities (SA) (Proprietary) Limited, Deutsche Securities Asia Limited, Deutsche Securities Australia Limited, Deutsche Securities Inc., Deutsche Securities Israel Ltd., Deutsche Securities Korea Co., Deutsche Securities Mauritius Limited, Deutsche Securities Menkul Degerler A.S., Deutsche Securities S.A., Deutsche Securities S.A. de C.V. Casa de Bolsa, Deutsche Securities S.A. de C.V. Casa de Bolsa, Deutsche Securities Saudi Arabia, Deutsche Securities SpA, Deutsche Securities Venezuela S.A., Deutsche Securitisation Australia Pty Limited, Deutsche Services Polska Sp. z o.o., Deutsche StiftungsTrust GmbH, Deutsche Strategic Investment Holdings Yugen Kaisha, Deutsche Trust Company Limited Japan, Deutsche Trustee Company Limited, Deutsche Trustee Services (India) Private Limited, Deutsche Trustees Malaysia Berhad, Deutsche Wealth Management S.G.I.I.C. S.A., Deutsches Institut fur Altersvorsorge GmbH, Durian (Luxembourg) S.a r.l., EC EUROPA IMMOBILIEN FONDS NR. 3 GmbH & CO. KG i.I., Elba Finance GmbH, Elizabethan Holdings Limited, Elizabethan Management Limited, Emerald Asset Repackaging Designated Activity Company, Erste Frankfurter Hoist GmbH, European Value Added I (Alternate G.P.) LLP, Exinor SA, FARAMIR Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungs GmbH, FRANKFURT CONSULT GmbH, Fiduciaria Sant' Andrea S.r.L., Finanzberatungsgesellschaft mbH der Deutschen Bank, Franz Urbig- und Oscar Schlitter-Stiftung Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-037, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-039, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-040, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-041, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-043, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-044, Freddie Mac Class A Taxable Multifamily M Certificates Series M-047, Funfte SAB Treuhand und Verwaltung GmbH & Co. Suhl "Rimbachzentrum" KG, G Finance Holding Corp., G.O. IB-US Management L.L.C., G918 Corp., GAC-HEL Inc., GWC-GAC Corp., Galene S.a r.l., Gemini Technology Services Inc., German American Capital, German American Capital Corporation, Gladyr Spain S.L., Global Markets Fundo de Investimento Multimercado, Global Markets III Fundo de Investimento Multimercado - Credito, Greenwood Properties Corp., Grundstucksgesellschaft Frankfurt Bockenheimer Landstrae GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Kerpen-Sindorf Vogelrutherfeld GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Leipzig Petersstrae GbR, Grundstucksgesellschaft Wiesbaden Luisenstrae/Kirchgasse GbR, HTB Spezial GmbH & Co. KG, Hollandsche Bank-Unie, IOS Finance EFC S.A., ISTRON Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungs-GmbH, IVAF I Manager S.a r.l., IVAF I Manager S.a r.l., Immobilienfonds Buro-Center Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben I GbR, Immobilienfonds Buro-Center Erfurt am Flughafen Bindersleben II GbR, Immobilienfonds Mietwohnhauser Quadrath-Ichendorf GbR, Immobilienfonds Wohn- und Geschaftshaus Koln-Blumenberg V GbR, J R Nominees (Pty) Ltd, Joint Stock Company Deutsche Bank DBU, Jyogashima Godo Kaisha, KEBA Gesellschaft fur interne Services mbH, Kidson Pte Ltd, Konsul Inkasso GmbH, Kradavimd UK Lease Holdings Limited, LA Water Holdings Limited, LAWL Pte. Ltd., Latitude Australia Secured Personal Loans Trust, Leasing Verwaltungsgesellschaft Waltersdorf mbH, Leonardo III Initial GP Limited, Lindsell Finance Limited, London Industrial Leasing Limited, MEF I Manager S. a r.l., MEF I Manager S. a r.l., MHL Reinsurance Ltd., MIT Holdings Inc., MIT Holdings Inc., MPP Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Maher Terminals Holdings (Toronto) Limited, Morgan Grenfell & Company, MortgageIT, MortgageIT Inc., MortgageIT Inc., MortgageIT Securities Corp., Motion Picture Productions One GmbH & Co. KG, NCW Holding Inc., Navegator - SGFTC S.A., Navegator - SGFTC S.A., New 87 Leonard LLC, Nordwestdeutscher Wohnungsbautrager Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, OOO "Deutsche Bank TechCentre", OOO "Deutsche Bank", OPB Verwaltungs- und Beteiligungs-GmbH, OPB Verwaltungs- und Treuhand GmbH, OPB-Holding GmbH, OPB-Nona GmbH, OPB-Oktava GmbH, OPB-Quarta GmbH, OPB-Quinta GmbH, OPB-Septima GmbH, OPPENHEIM Capital Advisory GmbH, OPPENHEIM Flottenfonds V GmbH & Co. KG, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Manager GmbH, OPPENHEIM PRIVATE EQUITY Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, OPS Nominees Pty Limited, OVT Trust 1 GmbH, OVV Beteiligungs GmbH, Opal Funds (Ireland) Public Limited Company, PADUS Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, PARTS Funding LLC., PB Factoring GmbH, PB Firmenkunden AG, PB International S.A., PB Spezial-Investmentaktiengesellschaft mit Teilgesellschaftsvermogen, PBC Banking Services GmbH, PCC Services GmbH der Deutschen Bank, PT Deutsche Sekuritas Indonesia, PT. Deutsche Verdhana Sekuritas Indonesia, Pan Australian Nominees Pty Ltd, Peruda Leasing Limited, Plantation Bay Inc., Plantation Bay Inc., Postbank Akademie und Service GmbH, Postbank Beteiligungen GmbH, Postbank Direkt GmbH, Postbank Filialvertrieb AG, Postbank Finanzberatung AG, Postbank Immobilien GmbH, Postbank Immobilien und Baumanagement GmbH, Postbank Immobilien und Baumanagement GmbH & Co. Objekt Leipzig KG, Postbank Leasing GmbH, Postbank Service GmbH, Postbank Systems AG, QR Tower 2 LLC, Quantiguous, R.B.M. Nominees Pty Ltd, REO Properties Corporation, RREEF, RREEF America L.L.C., RREEF China REIT Management Limited, RREEF European Value Added I (G.P.) Limited, RREEF Fund Holding Co., RREEF India Advisors Private Limited, RREEF Management L.L.C., RTS Nominees Pty Limited, Reference Capital Investments Limited, RoPro U.S. Holding Inc., RoPro U.S. Holding Inc., Route 28 Receivables LLC, Route 28 Receivables LLC, SAB Real Estate Verwaltungs GmbH, SAGITA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SAPIO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SCUDO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., SEDO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., SENA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. Objekt Kamenz KG, SIFA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SOLIDO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, SP Mortgage Trust, SPINO Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., SPV I Sociedad Anonima Cerrada, SPV II Sociedad Anonima Cerrada, STATOR Heizkraftwerk Frankfurt (Oder) Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Sal. Oppenheim, Sal. Oppenheim Alternative Investments GmbH, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. AG & Co. Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. Beteiligungs GmbH, Sal. Oppenheim jr. & Cie. Komplementar AG, Sechste Salomon Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Sechste Salomon Beteiligungs- und Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., Service Company Four Limited, Sharps SP I LLC, Singer Island Tower Suite LLC, Somkid Immobiliare S.r.l., Stelvio Immobiliare S.r.l., Structured Finance Americas LLC, Structured Finance Americas LLC, Swabia 1. Vermogensbesitz-GmbH, Suddeutsche Vermogensverwaltung Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, TAKIR Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, TELO Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, TEMATIS Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., TERRUS Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH i.L., TESATUR Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. Objekt Halle I KG i.L., TESATUR Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH & Co. Objekt Nordhausen I KG i.L., TOSSA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, TRIPLA Grundstucks-Vermietungsgesellschaft mbH, TRS Aria LLC, TRS Leda LLC, TRS Maple II LTD, TRS Oak II LTD, TRS SVCO LLC, TRS Scorpio LLC, TRS Tupelo II LTD, TRS Venor LLC, TRS Walnut II LTD, Tagus - Sociedade de Titularizacao de Creditos S.A., Tasfiye Halinde Deutsche Securities Menkul Degerler A.S., Tempurrite Leasing Limited, Thai Asset Enforcement and Recovery Asset Management Company Limited, Tianjin Deutsche AM Fund Management Co. Ltd., Treuinvest Service GmbH, Triplereason Limited, UKE Beteiligungs-GmbH, UKE Grundstucksgesellschaft mbH, UKE s.r.o., Ullmann - Esch Grundstucksgesellschaft Kirchnerstrae GbR, Ullmann - Esch Grundstucksverwaltungsgesellschaft Disternich GbR, Ullmann Ullmann Krockow Krockow Esch GbR, VCJ Lease S.a r.l., Vesta Real Estate S.r.l., VOB-ZVD Processing GmbH, WEPLA Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, WEPLABeteiligungsgesellschaftmbH, Wealthspur Investment Ltd., Whale Holdings S.a r.l., World Trading (Delaware) Inc., World Trading(Delaware)Inc., Zumirez Drive LLC, db PBC, and norisbank GmbH.The following companies are subsidiares of The Travelers Companies: 10762962 Canada Inc., 350 Market Street LLC, 8527512 Canada Inc., Aetna Life and Casualty Co, American Equity Insurance Company, American Equity Specialty Insurance Company, Aprilgrange Limited, Arch Street North LLC, Auto Hartford Investments LLC, Bayhill Restaurant II Associates, Camperdown Corporation, Constitution State Services LLC, Discover Property & Casualty Insurance Company, Discover Specialty Insurance Company, F&G UK Underwriters Limited, Farmington Casualty Company, Fidelity and Guaranty Insurance Company, Fidelity and Guaranty Insurance Underwriters Inc., First Floridian Auto and Home Insurance Company, Gulf Underwriters Insurance Company, IHP Capital Partners Fund VIII L.P., Northbrook Holdings Inc., Northfield Insurance Company, Northland Casualty Company, Northland Insurance Company, Phoenix UK Investments LLC, SPC Insurance Agency Inc., Select Insurance Company, Simply Business Holdings Inc., Simply Business Inc., St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company, St. Paul Guardian Insurance Company, St. Paul Mercury Insurance Company, St. Paul Protective Insurance Company, St. Paul Surplus Lines Insurance Company, Standard Fire Properties LLC, Standard Fire UK Investments LLC, TCI Global Services Inc., TPC Investments Inc., TPC U.K. Investments LLC, The Automobile Insurance Company of Hartford Connecticut, The Charter Oak Fire Insurance Company, The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company, The Family Business Institute LLC, The Phoenix Insurance Company, The St. Paul Companies Inc., The Standard Fire Insurance Company, The Travelers Casualty Company, The Travelers Home and Marine Insurance Company, The Travelers Indemnity Company, The Travelers Indemnity Company of America, The Travelers Indemnity Company of Connecticut, The Travelers Lloyds Insurance Company, TravCo Insurance Company, Travelers (Bermuda) Limited, Travelers Brazil Acquisition LLC, Travelers Brazil Holding LLC, Travelers Casualty Company of Connecticut, Travelers Casualty Insurance Company of America, Travelers Casualty UK Investments LLC, Travelers Casualty and Surety Company, Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America, Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of Europe Limited, Travelers Commercial Casualty Company, Travelers Commercial Insurance Company, Travelers Constitution State Insurance Company, Travelers Distribution Alliance Inc., Travelers Excess and Surplus Lines Company, Travelers Global Inc., Travelers Indemnity U.K. Investments LLC, Travelers Insurance Company Limited, Travelers Insurance Company of Canada, Travelers Insurance Designated Activity Company, Travelers Insurance Group Holdings Inc., Travelers Lloyds of Texas Insurance Company, Travelers London Limited, Travelers MGA Inc., Travelers Management Limited, Travelers Marine LLC, Travelers Participacoes em Seguros Brasil S.A., Travelers Personal Insurance Company, Travelers Personal Security Insurance Company, Travelers Property Casualty Company of America, Travelers Property Casualty Corp., Travelers Property Casualty Insurance Company, Travelers Seguros Brasil S.A., Travelers Syndicate Management Limited, Travelers Texas MGA Inc., Travelers Underwriting Agency Limited, Ultramar Travel Management, United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company, Xbridge Limited, Zensurance Brokers Inc., and Zensurance Inc..Wall Street analysts have given iShares MSCI EAFE Growth 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 Growth ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.The following companies are subsidiares of Eli Lilly and: 1096401 B.C. Unlimited Liability Company, ARMO BioSciences Inc, ARMO Bioscience, Advanced Cardiovascular Systems, Alnara Pharmaceuticals, Alnara Pharmaceuticals Inc., Andean Technical Operations Center, Applied Molecular Evolution Inc., AurKa Pharma, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals Inc., ChemGen, CoLucid Pharmaceuticals, CoLucid Pharmaceuticals Inc., Dermira, Devices for Vascular Intervention(DVI), Disarm Therapeutics, Dista Ilac Ticaret Ltd. Sti., Dista S.A., Dista-Produtos Quimicos & Farmaceuticos LDA, ELCO Dominicana SRL, ELCO Insurance Company Limited, ELCO Management Inc., ELCO for Trade and Marketing S.A.E., ELGO Insurance Company Limited, Elanco Animal Health Ireland Limited, Elanco Switzerland Holding Sarl, Eli Lilly (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Eli Lilly (Philippines) Incorporated, Eli Lilly (S.A.) (Proprietary) Limited, Eli Lilly (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Eli Lilly (Suisse) S.A., Eli Lilly Asia Inc., Eli Lilly Asia Pacific SSC Sdn Bhd, Eli Lilly Australia Pty. Limited, Eli Lilly B-H d.o.o., Eli Lilly Benelux S.A., Eli Lilly Bienes y Servicios S de RL de CV, Eli Lilly CR s.r.o., Eli Lilly Canada Inc., Eli Lilly Cork Limited, Eli Lilly Danmark A/S, Eli Lilly Egypt for Trading, Eli Lilly European Clinical Trial Services SA, Eli Lilly Export S.A., Eli Lilly Finance S.A., Eli Lilly Ges.m.b.H., Eli Lilly Group Limited, Eli Lilly Holdings Ltd., Eli Lilly Hrvatska d.o.o., Eli Lilly Interamerica Inc., Eli Lilly Interamerica Inc. y Compania Limitada, Eli Lilly International Corporation, Eli Lilly Ireland Holdings Limited, Eli Lilly Israel Ltd., Eli Lilly Italia S.p.A., Eli Lilly Japan K.K., Eli Lilly Kinsale Limited, Eli Lilly Nederland B.V., Eli Lilly Nigeria Ltd., Eli Lilly Norge A.S., Eli Lilly Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd., Eli Lilly Polska Sp.z.o.o. (Ltd.), Eli Lilly Regional Operations GmbH, Eli Lilly Romania SRL, Eli Lilly S.A., Eli Lilly Saudi Arabia Limited, Eli Lilly Services Inc, Eli Lilly Services India Private Limited, Eli Lilly Slovakia s.r.o., Eli Lilly Sweden AB, Eli Lilly Vostok S.A. Geneva, Eli Lilly and Company, Eli Lilly and Company (India) Pvt. Ltd., Eli Lilly and Company (Ireland) Limited, Eli Lilly and Company (N.Z.) Limited, Eli Lilly and Company (Taiwan) Inc., Eli Lilly and Company Limited, Eli Lilly de Centro America S.A., Eli Lilly do Brasil Limitada, Eli Lilly farmacevtska druzba d.o.o., Eli Lilly y Compania de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Eli Lilly y Compania de Venezuela S.A., Glycostasis Inc, Greenfield-Produtos Farmaceuticos Lda., Heart Rhythm Technologies Inc, Hybritech, Hypnion, ICOS Corporation, ImClone GmbH, ImClone LLC, ImClone Systems Holdings Inc., ImClone Systems LLC, Imclone Systems, Irisfarma S.A., Ivy Animal Health, Kinsale Financial Services Unlimited Company, Lilly (Shanghai) Management Co. Ltd, Lilly Asia Ventures Fund I L.P., Lilly Asia Ventures Fund II L.P., Lilly Asian Ventures Fund III L.P., Lilly Cayman Holdings, Lilly China Research and Development Co. Ltd., Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Lilly France S.A.S., Lilly Global Nederland Holdings B.V., Lilly Global Services Inc., Lilly Holding GmbH, Lilly Holdings B.V., Lilly Hungaria KFT, Lilly Japan Financing G.K., Lilly Korea Ltd., Lilly Nederland Finance B.V., Lilly Nederland Finance B.V. - GCC, Lilly Nederland Holding B.V., Lilly Pharma Ltd., Lilly Portugal - Produtos Farmaceuticos Lda., Lilly S.A., Lilly Suzhou Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Lilly Trading Co. LTD, Lilly USA LLC, Lilly Ventures Fund I LLC, Lilly del Caribe Inc., Lilly ilac ticaret limited sirketi, Lohmann Animal Health, Loxo Oncology, Lylly Centre for Clinical Pharmacology PTE. LTD., Novartis Animal Health, OY Eli Lilly Finland AB, Origin Medsystems, PT. Eli Lilly Indonesia, Pacific Biotech, Pharmaserve-Lilly S.A.C.I., Physio-Control, SGX Pharmaceuticals, SGX Pharmaceuticals Inc, Spaly Bioquimica S.A., UAB Eli Lilly Lietuva, Valquifarma S.A., and Vital Pharma Productos Farmaceuticos.The following companies are subsidiares of Exxon Mobil: AKG Marketing Company Limited, Aera Energy LLC, Al-Jubail Petrochemical Company, Ampolex (Cepu) Pte Ltd, Ancon Insurance Company Inc., Barnett Gathering LLC, Barzan Gas Company Limited, Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Celtic Exploration Ltd., Coral FLNG S.A., Cross Timbers Energy LLC, Ellora Energy Inc., Esmeroon Oil Transporta Imperial Oil Limited, Esso (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Esso Australia Resources Pty Ltd, Esso Deutschland GmbH, Esso Erdgas Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 15) Limited, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 17) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Angola (Overseas) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Chad Inc., Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Offshore East) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, Esso Exploration and Production UK Limited, Esso Global Investments Ltd., Esso Italiana S.r.l., Esso Nederland B.V., Esso Norge AS, Esso Petroleum Company Limited, Esso Raffinage, Esso Societe Anonyme Francaise, Exxo Holdings Inc., Exxon Azerbaijan Limited, Exxon Chemical Arabia Inc., Exxon International Finance Company, Exxon Luxembourg Holdings LLC, Exxon Mobile Bay Limited Partnership, Exxon Neftegas Limited, Exxon Overseas Corporation, Exxon Overseas Investment Corporation, ExxonMobil (China) Investment Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil (Taicang) Petroleum Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil Abu Dhabi Offshore Petroleum Company Limited, ExxonMobil Alaska Production Inc., ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., ExxonMobil Australia Pty Ltd, ExxonMobil B Resources Company, ExxonMobil Capital Finance Company, ExxonMobil Capital Netherlands B.V., ExxonMobil Central Europe Holding GmbH, ExxonMobil Cepu Limited, ExxonMobil Chemical France, ExxonMobil Chemical Gulf Coast Investments LLC, ExxonMobil Chemical Holland B.V., ExxonMobil Chemical Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil China Petroleum & Petrochemical Company Limited, ExxonMobil Development Africa B.V., ExxonMobil Development Company, ExxonMobil Egypt (S.A.E.), ExxonMobil Exploracao Brasil Ltda., ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc., ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway AS, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Romania Limited, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Tanzania Limited, ExxonMobil Finance Company Limited, ExxonMobil Financial Investment Company Limited, ExxonMobil France Holding SAS, ExxonMobil Gas Marketing Europe Limited, ExxonMobil General Finance Company, ExxonMobil Global Services Company, ExxonMobil Golden Pass Surety LLC, ExxonMobil Holding Company Holland LLC, ExxonMobil Holding Norway AS, ExxonMobil Hong Kong Limited, ExxonMobil International Services SARL, ExxonMobil Iraq Limited, ExxonMobil Italiana Gas S.r.l., ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc., ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Ventures Inc., ExxonMobil LNG Services B.V., ExxonMobil Lubricants Trading Company, ExxonMobil Oil Corporation, ExxonMobil PNG Limited, ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical BVBA, ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical Holdings Inc., ExxonMobil Pipeline Company, ExxonMobil Production Deutschland GmbH, ExxonMobil Production Norway Inc., ExxonMobil Qatargas (II) Limited, ExxonMobil Qatargas Inc., ExxonMobil Ras Laffan (III) Limited, ExxonMobil Rasgas Inc., ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company, ExxonMobil Russia Kara Sea Holdings B.V., ExxonMobil Sales and Supply LLC, ExxonMobil Technology Finance Company, ExxonMobil Ventures Finance Company, ExxonMobil Ventures Funding Ltd., Fujian Refining & Petrochemical Co. Ltd., Golden Pass LNG Terminal Investments LLC, Golden Pass LNG Terminal LLC, Gulf Coast Growth Ventures LLC, Imperial Oil Limited, Imperial Oil Resources Limited, Imperial Oil Resources N.W.T. Limited, Imperial Oil/Petroliere Imperiale, Infineum Italia s.r.I., Infineum Singapore Pte. Ltd., InterOil Corporation, Jurong Aromatics Corporation Pte Ltd, MPM Lubricants, Marine Well Containment Company LLC, Mobil Australia Resources Company Pty Limited, Mobil California Exploration & Producing Asset Company, Mobil Caspian Pipeline Company, Mobil Chemical Products International Inc., Mobil Corporation, Mobil Equatorial Guinea Inc., Mobil Erdgas Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Mobil Exploration & Producing Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil International Petroleum Corporation, Mobil Oil Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil Oil Exploration & Producing Southeast Inc., Mobil Oil New Zealand Limited, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Mobil Producing Texas & New Mexico Inc., Mobil SerLimited, Mobil Venezolana De Petroleos Inc., Mobil Yanbu Petrochemical Company Inc., Mobil Yanbu Refining Company Inc., Mountain Gathering LLC, Mozambique Rovuma Venture S.p.A., Palmetto Transoceanic LLC, Papua New Guinea Liquefied Natural Gas Global Company LDC, Permian Express Partners LLC, Phillips Exploration LLC, Qatar Liquefied Gas Company Limited, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (II), SPI Limited, Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Company Ltd., Saudi Yanbu Petrochemical Co., SeaRiver Maritime Inc., South Hook LNG Terminal Company Limited, Tengizchevroil LLP, Terminale GNL Adriatico S.r.l, Trend Gathering & Treating LLC, Wolverine Pipe Line Company, XH LLC, XTO Delaware Basin LLC, XTO Energy Canada, XTO Energy Inc., and XTO Holdings LLC.Shaak Shatursun, general manager of retail at Cafe Grumpy, likes the Filtron brewer. I personally own one and use it to make cold brew in the summer, especially just before going on a road trip, he says, adding that you can spot Filtron brewers in Cafe Grumpy itself. Its how they make decaf cold brew. Mike Jones, owner of Barbara Coffee in Detroit, also recommends the Filtron. The Filtron is very easy and very consistent, which are key factors in brewing good coffee at home.

Plus, you dont need all that much gear to make it work. There are measuring lines for how much water to add based on how much coffee you are using (12 ounces or one pound), Shatursun explains, which means you dont have to use a scale. The glass carafe in which you brew also serves as a storage container.Five Point Holdings LLC engages in the development and design of mixed-use, master-planned communities that combine residential, commercial, retail, educational, and recreational elements with public amenities. It operates through the following segments: Valencia, San Francisco, Great Park, and Commercial. The Valencia segment includes community of Valencia being developed in northern Los Angeles County, California, as well as other land historically owned by FPL, including 16,000 acres in Ventura County, California and approximately 500 acres of remnant commercial, residential and open space land in Los Angeles County. The San Francisco segment involves the Candlestick Point and The San Francisco Shipyard communities located on bay front property in the City of San Francisco, California. The Great Park segment refers to the Great Park neighborhoods being developed adjacent to and around the Orange County Great Park, a metropolitan park under construction in Orange County, California. The Commercial segment consists of the Five Point Gateway Campus, an office and research and development campus within the Great Park Neighborhoods, consisting of four newly constructed buildings. The

Read MoreAgilent Technologies, Inc. engages in the provision of application focused solutions for life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets. It operates through the following segments: Life Sciences and Applied Markets; Diagnostics and Genomics; and Agilent CrossLab. The Life Sciences and Applied Markets segment offers application-focused solutions that include instruments and software that enable to identify, quantify, and analyze the physical and biological properties of substances and products, as well as the clinical and life sciences research areas to interrogate samples at the molecular and cellular level. The Diagnostics and Genomics segment consists of activity providing active pharmaceutical ingredients for oligo-based therapeutics, as well as solutions that include reagents, instruments, software and consumables. The Agilent CrossLab segment includes startup, operational, training and compliance support, software as a service, and asset management and consultative services. The company was founded in May 1999 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, CA.

Read MoreStantec Inc. provides professional consulting services in the area of infrastructure and facilities in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company provides consulting services in engineering, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, surveying, environmental sciences, project management, and project economics. It also offers water, transportation, and public works; transportation planning and traffic engineering; and resource assessment, mine development, reclamation, hydrology, and geotechnical and infrastructure engineering services, as well as urban planning, traffic assessments and optimization, environmental impact assessments, and public consultation services. In addition, the company provides structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and hydraulics engineering services. It serves urban regeneration, infrastructure, education, public and private sector, tourism and leisure, and waste and water sectors, as well as office and commercial, residential, and retail and town centers. The company was formerly known as Stanley Technology Group Inc. and changed its name to Stantec Inc. in October 1998. Stantec Inc. was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Edmonton, Canada.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Arrow Electronics: A.E. Petsche Belgium BVBA, A.E. Petsche Canada Inc., A.E. Petsche Company, A.E. Petsche Company Inc., A.E. Petsche Company S De RL, A.E. Petsche SAS, A.E. Petsche UK Limited, ACI Technology, AKS Group Nordic AB, ARROWECS Portugal Sociedade Unipessoal, ARROWECS Sociedade Unipessoal LDA, ARW Electronics Ltd., ARW Enterprise Computing Solutions S.A., ARW Portugal Unipessoal LDA, ASI Dedicated Services LLC, ASI Electrical Services LLC, ASI Managed Services LLC, ATM Electronic, ATM Electronic Corp., ATM Electronic Corporation (HK) Limited, ATM Electronics Hong Kong Limited, ATM Electronics Technology (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd, Addex Distribution AS, Adilam Pty. Ltd, Aiqi Xinxing (Beijing) Information Technology Co. Ltd., Altimate Belgium BVBA, Altimate Group, Altimate ND Belgium BVBA, Altimate Netherlands B.V., Annuity Systems Pty Ltd, Arrow (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Arrow Altech Distribution (Pty) Ltd., Arrow Altech Holdings (Pty) Ltd., Arrow Argentina S.A., Arrow Asia Distribution Limited, Arrow Asia Pac Ltd., Arrow Brasil S.A., Arrow Capital Solution BVBA, Arrow Capital Solutions Inc., Arrow Capital Solutions Nederlands BV, Arrow Capital Solutions SAS, Arrow Capital Solutions UK Ltd, Arrow Central Europe GmbH, Arrow Central Europe Holding Munich GmbH, Arrow Chip One Stop Holdings GK, Arrow Componentes ACCR S.R.L., Arrow Components (M) Sdn Bhd, Arrow Components (NZ), Arrow Components Mexico S.A. de C.V., Arrow Components Sweden AB, Arrow Denmark ApS, Arrow Denmark ApS, Arrow ECS (Ireland) Limited, Arrow ECS (NI) Limited, Arrow ECS AG, Arrow ECS ANZ Limited, Arrow ECS ANZ Pty Ltd, Arrow ECS Asia PTE. Ltd, Arrow ECS Australia, Arrow ECS B.V., Arrow ECS Baltic OU, Arrow ECS Brasil Distribuidora Ltda., Arrow ECS Canada Ltd., Arrow ECS Central GmbH, Arrow ECS Denmark A/S, Arrow ECS FZCO, Arrow ECS Finland OY, Arrow ECS GmbH, Arrow ECS Internet Security AG, Arrow ECS Internet Security S.L., Arrow ECS Kft., Arrow ECS Ltd., Arrow ECS New Zealand Limited, Arrow ECS Nordic A/S, Arrow ECS Norway AS, Arrow ECS Pty Ltd., Arrow ECS SA/NV, Arrow ECS SAS, Arrow ECS SPA, Arrow ECS Sarl, Arrow ECS Services Sp.z.o.o., Arrow ECS Singapore Pte. Limited, Arrow ECS Sp.z.o.o., Arrow ECS Support Center Ltd., Arrow ECS Support Center Morocco S.A.R.L.A.U, Arrow ECS Sweden AB, Arrow ECS a.s., Arrow ECS d.o.o., Arrow Eastern Europe GmbH, Arrow Electronice S.R.L., Arrow Electronics (CI) Ltd., Arrow Electronics (China) Trading Co. Ltd., Arrow Electronics (Jersey) Limited, Arrow Electronics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Arrow Electronics (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Arrow Electronics (Sweden) KB, Arrow Electronics (Thailand) Limited, Arrow Electronics (U.K.) Inc., Arrow Electronics (UK) Ltd., Arrow Electronics ANZ Holdings Pty Ltd., Arrow Electronics Asia (S) Pte Ltd., Arrow Electronics Asia Limited, Arrow Electronics Australia Pty Ltd., Arrow Electronics B.V., Arrow Electronics Canada Ltd., Arrow Electronics China Ltd., Arrow Electronics Components (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Arrow Electronics Czech Republic s.r.o., Arrow Electronics D.O.O., Arrow Electronics Danish Holdings ApS, Arrow Electronics EMEA Group GmbH, Arrow Electronics EMEASA S.r.l., Arrow Electronics Estonia OU, Arrow Electronics FC B.V., Arrow Electronics Funding Corporation, Arrow Electronics GmbH & Co. KG, Arrow Electronics Hellas S.A., Arrow Electronics Holdings Vagyonkezelo Kft, Arrow Electronics Hungary Kereskedelmi Bt, Arrow Electronics India Ltd., Arrow Electronics India Private Limited, Arrow Electronics International Holdings LLC, Arrow Electronics International Inc., Arrow Electronics Italia S.r.l, Arrow Electronics Japan GK, Arrow Electronics Korea Limited, Arrow Electronics Labuan Pte Ltd., Arrow Electronics Ltd., Arrow Electronics Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Arrow Electronics Norwegian Holdings AS, Arrow Electronics Poland Sp.z.o.o., Arrow Electronics Russ OOO, Arrow Electronics Services S.r.l., Arrow Electronics Slovakia s.r.o., Arrow Electronics South Africa LLP, Arrow Electronics Taiwan Ltd., Arrow Electronics UK Holding Ltd., Arrow Electronics Ukraine LLC, Arrow Elektronik Ticaret A.S., Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions Inc., Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions India Private Limited, Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions Ltd., Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions S.A., Arrow Finland OY, Arrow France S.A., Arrow Global Asset Disposition Inc., Arrow Global Supply Chain Services Inc., Arrow Holdings (Delaware) LLC, Arrow Iberia Electronica Lda., Arrow Iberia Electronica S.L.U., Arrow International Holdings L.P., Arrow International Holdings Limited, Arrow Nordic Components AB, Arrow Norway A/S, Arrow S-Tech Norway AS, Arrow SEED (Hong Kong) Limited, Arrow Systems Integration Inc., Arrow UEC Japan KK, Arrow United Holdings LLC, Arrow United International Holdings LP, Arrow Value Recovery ApS (fka Greentech Denmark ApS), Arrow Value Recovery Belgium BVBA, Arrow Value Recovery Czech Republic sro, Arrow Value Recovery Denmark ApS, Arrow Value Recovery EMEA BV, Arrow Value Recovery Finland Oy (fka Greentech Finland OY), Arrow Value Recovery France SAS, Arrow Value Recovery Germany GmbH, Arrow Value Recovery Netherlands BV, Arrow Value Recovery Norway AS (fka Greentech AS), Arrow Value Recovery Sweden AB (fka Greentech Sweden AB), Arrow Value Recovery UK LTD, Arrow eCommerce B.V., Arrow/Artlink Technology (Hong Kong) Limited, Arrow/Components (Agent) Ltd., Arrow/Rapac Ltd., Artlink Technology Co. Ltd., Aspen Labs LLC, Aspencore China Investment LLC, Aspencore LLC, Aspencore Media GmbH, Aspencore/IDG China Investment LLC, Asplenium SA, Asset Recovery Corporation, B.V. Arrow Electronics DLC, Beijing AIQI Technology, Beijing Arrow SEED Technology Co. Ltd, Beijing Canon Advertising Co. Ltd., Broomco (4184) Limited, COMPUTERLINKS, COMPUTERLINKS (UK) Ltd., COMPUTERLINKS Belgium BVBA, COMPUTERLINKS Denmark A/S, COMPUTERLINKS Nederland B.V., COMPUTERLINKS S.A., CSS Computer Security Solutions Erwerbs GmbH, CSS Computer Security Solutions Holding GmbH, CSS Computer Security Solutions Ltd., CT3 Europe Limited, Centia Group Ltd, Centia Ltd., Channel Support Pty Ltd, ChiWan Electronics (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Chip One Stop, Chip One Stop (Hong Kong) Ltd., Chip One Stop (Shenzhen) Ltd., Chip One Stop Inc., Commtech Solutions (UK) Limited, Components Agent (Cayman) Limited, Components Agent Asia Holdings Ltd., Components Distribution Business - Achieva, Conrac Asia Display Products Pte. Ltd., Conrac MENA FZE, Converge, Converge (Shanghai) International Trading Co. Ltd., Converge Asia Pte Ltd., Converge Electronics Trading (India) Private Ltd., Converge France SAS, Converge Netherlands BV, Converge Scandinavia AB, Cross Telecom, Data Modul, Data Modul AG, Data Modul Electronics Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Data Modul FZE, Data Modul France S.a r.l, Data Modul Hong Kong Ltd., Data Modul Iberia S.L., Data Modul Inc., Data Modul Italia S.r.l., Data Modul Ltd., Data Modul Shanghai Ltd., Data Modul Suisse GmbH, Data Modul Weikersheim GmbH, Diasa Informatica, Dicopel Inc., Distribution Business - Seed International, Distribution Central (MY) Sdn. Bhd., Distribution Central HK Pty Limited, Distribution Central Limited (NZ), Distribution Central Pte Limited (SG), Distribution Central Pty Limited, E-InfoChips KK, EC America, EDN Asia Advertising Pte Ltd., ETEQ Components Pte Ltd., Electronics Products Technology Co. Ltd., Embedded Developer LLC, Erf 211 Hughes (Pty) Limited, Eshel Technology Group Inc., Eurocomponentes S.A., Excel Tech, Excel Tech Inc., Firewall Systems Pty Limited, Fusion Distribution FZCO, Gates - Arrow Distributing, Gates - FA Distributing, Global Link Technology, Greentech Holding AS, Gross Telecom, ICC Global Media GmbH, IP Vista A/S, IPVista A/S, ITM USA Enterprises Inc., Intechra Holdings, Intex-semi Ltd., KeyLink Systems Group, LED Franchise LLC, LED Source Holdco LLC, LED Source LLC, LOGIX S.A., License Central Pty Ltd, Lite-On Korea Ltd., Marubun Arrow (HK) Limited, Marubun Arrow (S) Pte Ltd., Marubun Arrow (Thailand) Co Limited, Marubun Arrow Asia Ltd., Marubun Arrow Europe Kft., Marubun Corporation, Marubun USA Corporation, Marubun-Arrow Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Marubun/Arrow (HK) Limited, Marubun/Arrow (M) Sdn. Bhd (Malaysia), Marubun/Arrow (Philippines) Inc., Marubun/Arrow (S) Pte Ltd., Marubun/Arrow (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Marubun/Arrow (Shenzhen) Electronic Product Consulting Company Limited, Marubun/Arrow (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Marubun/Arrow Asia Ltd., Marubun/Arrow USA II LLC, Marubun/Arrow USA LLC, NIC Components Asia PTE Ltd., NIC Components Corp., NIC Components Europe Limited, NIC Eurotech Limited, NUH Electronics India Private Limted, Networld Systems Pty Ltd, Nextworth Solutions Inc., Nu Horizons Electronics, Nu Horizons Electronics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Nu Horizons Electronics Asia PTE Ltd., Nu Horizons Electronics Hong Kong Ltd., Nu Horizons Electronics Malaysia SDN BHD, NuHo Singapore Holdings LLC, Observatory Crest, Openway Group SA, Openway SAS, PCG Parent Corp., PCG Trading LLC, PT Marubun Arrow Indonesia, Pansystem S.r.l., Pax8 Inc., Power and Signal Group GmbH, R.D. Trading Limited, RDC, RF Wireless & Power - Richardson Electronics, Rack Systems Pty Ltd, Red Education Pty Ltd, Redemtech, Renewal Systems Pty Ltd, Richardson RFPD (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Richardson RFPD (Thailand) Limited, Richardson RFPD Australia Pty. Ltd., Richardson RFPD Canada Inc., Richardson RFPD Electronics Trading (China) Co. Ltd., Richardson RFPD France SAS, Richardson RFPD Germany GmbH, Richardson RFPD Hong Kong, Richardson RFPD Inc., Richardson RFPD Israel Ltd., Richardson RFPD Italy Srl, Richardson RFPD Japan KK, Richardson RFPD Korea Ltd., Richardson RFPD Netherlands BV, Richardson RFPD Singapore, Richardson RFPD Spain SL, Richardson RFPD Sweden AB, Richardson RFPD Taiwan, Richardson RFPD UK Ltd., Richey Electronics, San Systems Pty Ltd, Schuylkill Metals of Plant City Inc., Seneca Data, Seneca Data Distributors Inc., Shared Technologies, Silicon Frameworks LLC, SiliconEgypt Technologies LLC, SiliconExpert Holdings LLC, SiliconExpert Technologies, SiliconExpert Technologies Inc., Sphinx CST Limited, Sphinx CST Networks Limited, Sphinx Group, Sphinx Group Limited, Sphinx Professional Services Limited, Spoerle Hungary Kereskedelmi Kft, Sun Chain Technology Corp., TLW Electronics Ltd., TechTurn, Titan Supply Chain Services Limited, Titan Supply Chain Services Pte Ltd., Trafomo AB, Trafomo ApS, Transim Technology, Transim Technology Corporation, U.S. Micro Operating Company LLC, UBM Tech Electronics Network, Ultra Source Electronics (SZ) Co LTD, Ultra Source Technology Corp., Ultra Source Trading Hong Kong Limited, United Technical Publishing Division - Hearst Business Media, Universe Electron Corporation, Verical, Verwaltungsgesellschaft Arrow Electronics GmbH, Wireless and Infrastructure Business Unit - Waching Company, Yongming Xincheng (Beijing) Technology Co., e-InfoChips, e-Infochips Private Limited, eInfochips, eMedia Asia Limited, immixGovernment Inc., immixGroup, immixGroup Inc., immixSolutions Inc., and immixTechnology.Photo: Courtesy J World New York

The rolling backpack has a bad rap among high schoolers. Its the bag of choice for Darlene, the uptight Catholic-school student in Greta Gerwigs Lady Bird who memorably scolds the title character and her best friend Julie for noshing on communion wafers. But the rolling backpack might be a smarter choice in the long run.

Randi Jaffe, a New York City chiropractor specializing in prenatal and pediatric care, is a proponent of rolling backpacks for taking a load off kids. Kids can have 20 to 30 pounds on their backs, she says, which is just so much wear and tear on the shoulders, neck, and lower back. Jaffe says overloaded backpacks can cause jaw pain, neck issues, and headaches, along with more serious issues like muscle strain and spinal misalignment. Though parents should check if rolling backpacks are allowed in their childs school (some districts have banned them for being tripping hazards), we talked to two chiropractors to find nine expert-approved backpacks for kids of all ages.

JanSport Driver 8 Core Series Wheeled Backpack $200 With high-quality wheels, a telescoping handle, and durable fabric, this JanSport option meets all of Jaffes criteria for a dependable rolling backpack. One safety feature she especially likes is the tuckaway shoulder straps. If you leave the straps hanging down, they can get caught in the wheel and tear off, she says, but if they can be tucked in or removed, its not a hazard. Similar in style to other popular JanSport backpacks, and available in a rainbow of colors and printed options, it may be an easier sell to kids on the fence about using a wheelie backpack. $200 at Amazon Buy $200 at Amazon Buy

J World New York Kids Lollipop Rolling Backpack $50 Perfectly sized for little ones, this pack gets thumbs up for parents, from Jaffe. She says its important for younger kids that a backpack be height friendly and lightweight, so its not already heavy without anything in it. Weighing only four pounds unloaded, kids wont struggle carrying it by the handle when getting on and off the school bus or walking up stairs in school. The matching lunch box, included, is a nice touch. $50 at Amazon Buy $50 at Amazon Buy

Lands End ClassMate Large Wheeled Backpack $100 An easily maneuverable handle makes this Lands End bag a good option for younger kids. The straps are tucked inside a zippered compartment to eliminate the risk of tripping and falling, and reflective details ensure that kids will be visible if theyre headed to school on early mornings while its still dark out. $100 at Lands' End Buy

L.L. Bean Rolling Deluxe Book Pack From $85 In middle school, students backpacks start becoming heavier, with many schools issuing laptops and kids needing textbooks and notebooks for a full slate of classes. As a general rule, Jaffe says children should carry no more than 10 to 15 percent of their body weights on their backs, so its important that parents are conscious about weighing backpacks and opting for a rolling pack if their kids bags are getting too heavy. She likes that the L.L. Bean bag has sturdy wheels that wont break, even when bad weather forces kids to roll through the snow or ice. From $85 at L.L. Bean Buy

High Sierra Chaser Wheeled Laptop Backpack $80 Although teenagers may be most resistant to rolling backpacks because of the uncool factor, theyre just as important in high school when students are carrying around more, and heavier, stuff than in earlier grades. At my kids high school they dont use their lockers, so theyre literally putting every single thing in the backpack thats going on their back, says Jaffe. Between laptops and heavy textbooks, high schoolers bags can weigh upwards of 30 pounds  far more than the average kids back can handle. The High Sierra bag gets high marks for its numerous compartments, including ones for a laptop, tablet, pens and pencils, and charger cables. $80 at Amazon Buy $80 at Amazon Buy

JanSport Superbreak Wheeled Backpack $86 Another JanSport option for teens who are fans of the brand, this bag has low-profile wheels that are barely visible when its worn as a backpack  which might make it more palatable to style-conscious high schoolers. $86 at Amazon Buy $86 at Amazon Buy

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The Strategist is designed to surface the most useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Some of our latest conquests include the best womens jeans, rolling luggage, pillows for side sleepers, ultra-flattering pants, and bath towels. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.

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Wall Street analysts have given iShares Core 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 Core 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.Wall Street analysts have given iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond 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 iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.Indian telecom conglomerate Bharti Airtel managed to defy street expectations and come out with a profit in the June quarter. After the slim profit the telecom major managed in the March quarter of the last fiscal, it seems to be finding its feet back in the competitive Indian telecom industry. Bharti Airtel posted a sequential rise of 17.37 per cent in its profit attributed to owners, which rose to Rs 97.3 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2018. In the previous quarter, this figure stood at Rs 82.9 crore.

This, however, is 74 per cent lower than the figure of Rs 367.7 core recorded during the corresponding quarter last fiscal. Deferred tax gains to the tune of Rs 1,844.3 crore that Bharti Airtel received in the current fiscal provided the nudge for the unexpected profit in the quarter under review, when most analysts were expecting a hefty loss.

The consolidated profit for the period stood at Rs 479.06 crore. The consolidated revenue from operations of Bharti Airtel stood at Rs 20,080 crore in the June quarter of current fiscal, which is 2.2 per cent higher than 19,634.3 crore seen in the March quarter of fiscal year 2017-18. Operating profit for Bharti Airtel stood 2.9 per cent lower at Rs 6,725.8 crore in the June quarter, whereas the operating margins slipped 180 basis points to 33.5 per cent.

"Consolidated EBITDA at Rs 6,837 crore declined 12.6 per cent Y-o-Y. Consolidated EBITDA margin decreased by 1.6 per cent to 34.0 per cent in the quarter as compared to 35.6 per cent in the corresponding quarter last year. Consolidated EBIT dropped by 43.8 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 1,680 crore," Bharti Airtel said in a regulatory filing.

In the June quarter, Bharti Airtel saw its standalone loss balloon to Rs 1,457.20 crore as opposed to Rs 760.2 crore in the previous quarter. The telecom giant had posted a standalone profit of Rs 280.6 crore in the corresponding quarter for the year before.

"Industry pricing continues to remain untenable. However, led by our successful bundles, content partnerships and handset upgrade programs, our mobile data traffic surged 355 per cent on a Y-o-Y basis. Non-mobile portfolio also continues to witness healthy growth on back of investments in home passes and HD content," said Bharti Airtel's India MD and CEO Gopal Vittal.

The Indian telecom giant also posted good numbers from its Africa businesses. Airtel Africa's net revenue grew by 16.6 per cent on a Y-o-Y basis. "Data traffic grew by 75 per cent, voice minutes increased by 44 per cent, and Airtel Money throughout grew by 43 per cent on a Y-o-Y basis. Consequently, EBITDA margin has expanded by 7.8 per cent Y-o-Y. Q1 EBITDA margin is 36.4 per cent," said Raghunath Mandava, MD and CEO, Bharti Airtel Africa.

At the end of the day, the Bharti Airtel closed at 357.60-mark after climbing 5.75 points or 1.63 per cent before the Q1 results of the company were released.

(Edited by Vivek Punj)Wall Street analysts have given iShares MSCI Emerging Markets 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 Emerging Markets ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.The following companies are subsidiares of The Procter & Gamble: "Procter & Gamble Services" LLC, "Procter & Gamble" LLC, Agile Pursuits, Agile Pursuits Franchising, Arbora, Arbora & Ausonia, Arborinvest, Billie, Braun (Shanghai) Co., Braun GmbH, Braun-Gillette Immobilien GmbH & Co. KG, Celtic Insurance Company, Compania Procter & Gamble Mexico, Compania Quimica S.A., Corporativo Procter & Gamble, Cosmetic Products Pty. Ltd., Detergent Products B.V., Detergent Products SARL, Detergenti S.A., Eurocos Cosmetic GmbH, FPG Oleochemicals Sdn. Bhd., Fameccanica Data S.p.A., Fameccanica Industria e Comercio Do Brasil LTDA., Fameccanica Machinery (Shanghai) Co., Fater S.p.A., Fountain Square Music Publishing Co., Gillette (China) Ltd., Gillette (Shanghai) Ltd., Gillette Aesop Ltd., Gillette Australia Pty. Ltd., Gillette Canada Holdings, Gillette Commercial Operations North America, Gillette Diversified Operations Pvt. Ltd., Gillette Egypt S.A.E., Gillette Group UK Ltd, Gillette Gruppe Deutschland GmbH & Co. oHG, Gillette Holding Company LLC, Gillette Holding GmbH, Gillette India Limited, Gillette Industries Ltd., Gillette International B.V., Gillette Latin America Holding B.V., Gillette Management LLC, Gillette Nova Scotia Company, Gillette Pakistan Limited, Gillette Poland International Sp. z.o.o., Gillette Poland S.A., Gillette U.K. Limited, Gillette del Uruguay, Giorgio Beverly Hills Inc., Hyginett KFT, Industries Marocaines Modernes SA, LLC "Procter & Gamble Novomoskovsk", LLL "Procter & Gamble Distributorskaya Compania", Laboratorios Vicks, Liberty Street Music Publishing Company, Limited Liability Company 'Procter & Gamble Trading Ukraine', Limited Liability Company with foreign investments Procter & and Gamble Ukraine, MDVIP, MERCK KGAA NPV, Marcvenca Inversiones, Modern Industries Company - Dammam, Modern Products Company - Jeddah, New Chapter, New Chapter Canada Inc., Olay LLC, Oral-B Laboratories, P&G Distribution Morocco SAS, P&G Hair Care Holding, P&G Industrial Peru S.R.L., P&G Innovation Godo Kaisha, P&G Israel M.D.O. Ltd., P&G K.K., P&G Northeast Asia Pte. Ltd., P&G Prestige Godo Kaisha, P&G Prestige Service GmbH, P&G South African Trading (Pty.) Ltd., PGT Health Care (Zhejiang) Limited, PGT Healthcare LLP, PPI ZAO, PT Procter & Gamble Home Products Indonesia, PT Procter & Gamble Operations Indonesia, Phase II Holdings Corporation, Procter & Gamble (Chengdu) Ltd., Procter & Gamble (China) Ltd., Procter & Gamble (China) Sales Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble (East Africa) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Egypt) Manufacturing Company, Procter & Gamble (Enterprise Fund) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Guangzhou) Consumer Products Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble (Guangzhou) Enterprise Management Service Company Limited, Procter & Gamble (Guangzhou) Ltd., Procter & Gamble (Health & Beauty Care) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Jiangsu) Ltd. China, Procter & Gamble (L&CP) Limited, Procter & Gamble (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Procter & Gamble (Manufacturing) Ireland Limited, Procter & Gamble (Shanghai) International Trade Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Acquisition GmbH, Procter & Gamble Administration GmbH, Procter & Gamble Algeria EURL, Procter & Gamble Amazon Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Amiens S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Argentina SRL, Procter & Gamble Asia Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Australia Proprietary Limited, Procter & Gamble Azerbaijan Services LLC, Procter & Gamble Bangladesh Private Ltd., Procter & Gamble Blois S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Brazil Holdings B.V., Procter & Gamble Bulgaria EOOD, Procter & Gamble Business Services Canada Company, Procter & Gamble Canada Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Chile , Procter & Gamble Chile Limitada, Procter & Gamble Colombia Ltda., Procter & Gamble Commercial LLC, Procter & Gamble Commercial de Cuba S.A., Procter & Gamble Czech Republic s.r.o., Procter & Gamble DS Polska Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Danmark ApS, Procter & Gamble Detergent (Beijing) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Deuttschland GmbH, Procter & Gamble Distributing (Philippines) Inc., Procter & Gamble Distributing New Zealand Limited, Procter & Gamble Distribution Company (Europe) BVBA, Procter & Gamble Distribution S.R.L., Procter & Gamble Eastern Europe, Procter & Gamble Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Procter & Gamble Egypt, Procter & Gamble Egypt Distribution, Procter & Gamble Egypt Holding, Procter & Gamble Egypt Supplies, Procter & Gamble Energy Company LLC, Procter & Gamble Espana, Procter & Gamble Europe SA, Procter & Gamble Export Operations SARL, Procter & Gamble Exportadora e Importadora Ltda., Procter & Gamble Exports, Procter & Gamble Fabricacao e Comercio Ltda., Procter & Gamble Far East, Procter & Gamble Finance (U.K.) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Finance Holding Ltd., Procter & Gamble Finance Management S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Financial Investments LLP, Procter & Gamble Financial Services Ltd., Procter & Gamble Financial Services S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Finland OY, Procter & Gamble France S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Germany GmbH, Procter & Gamble Germany GmbH & Co. Operations oHG, Procter & Gamble GmbH, Procter & Gamble Grundstucks-und Vermogensverwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG, Procter & Gamble Gulf FZE, Procter & Gamble Hair Care, Procter & Gamble Hellas Ltd., Procter & Gamble Holding (Thailand) Limited, Procter & Gamble Holding France S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Holding GmbH, Procter & Gamble Holding S.r.l., Procter & Gamble Holdings (UK) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Home Products Private Limited, Procter & Gamble Hong Kong Limited, Procter & Gamble Hungary Wholesale Trading Partnership (KKT), Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care Limited, Procter & Gamble Inc., Procter & Gamble India Holdings, Procter & Gamble Indochina Limited Company, Procter & Gamble Industrial - 2012 C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial Colombia Ltda., Procter & Gamble Industrial S.C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial e Comercial Ltda., Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Costa Rica, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Guatemala, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Panama, Procter & Gamble International Operations Pte. Ltd., Procter & Gamble International Operations SA, Procter & Gamble International Operations SA-ROHQ, Procter & Gamble International S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Investment Company (UK) Ltd., Procter & Gamble Investment GmbH, Procter & Gamble Italia, Procter & Gamble Japan K.K., Procter & Gamble Kazakhstan Distribution LLP, Procter & Gamble Kazakhstan LLP, Procter & Gamble Korea, Procter & Gamble Korea S&D Co., Procter & Gamble Lanka Private Ltd. Sri Lanka, Procter & Gamble Leasing LLC, Procter & Gamble Levant S.A.L., Procter & Gamble Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing (Thailand) Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Belgium N.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Berlin GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing SA (Pty) Ltd, Procter & Gamble Marketing Romania SRL, Procter & Gamble Marketing and Services doo, Procter & Gamble Maroc SA, Procter & Gamble Mataro, Procter & Gamble Mexico Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Mexico Inc., Procter & Gamble Middle East FZE, Procter & Gamble Nederland B.V., Procter & Gamble Netherlands Investments B.V., Procter & Gamble Netherlands Services B.V., Procter & Gamble Nigeria Limited, Procter & Gamble Nordic, Procter & Gamble Norge AS, Procter & Gamble Operations Polska Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Overseas India B.V., Procter & Gamble Overseas Ltd., Procter & Gamble Pakistan (Private) Limited, Procter & Gamble Partnership LLP, Procter & Gamble Peru S.R.L., Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals France SAS, Procter & Gamble Philippines, Procter & Gamble Polska Sp. z o.o, Procter & Gamble Portugal - Produtos De Consumo, Procter & Gamble Product Supply (U.K.) Limited U.K., Procter & Gamble Production GmbH, Procter & Gamble Productions, Procter & Gamble Productos de Consumo, Procter & Gamble RHD, Procter & Gamble RSC Regional Service Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble Retail Services BVBA, Procter & Gamble S.r.l., Procter & Gamble SA (Pty) Ltd, Procter & Gamble Satis ve Dagitim Ltd. Sti., Procter & Gamble Seine S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Service GmbH, Procter & Gamble Services (Switzerland) SA, Procter & Gamble Services Company N.V., Procter & Gamble Services Ltd., Procter & Gamble Share Incentive Plan Trustee Ltd., Procter & Gamble South America Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Spol. s.r.o. (Ltd.), Procter & Gamble Sports and Social Club Ltd., Procter & Gamble Sverige AB, Procter & Gamble Switzerland SARL, Procter & Gamble Taiwan Limited, Procter & Gamble Taiwan Sales Company Limited, Procter & Gamble Technical Centres Limited, Procter & Gamble Technology (Beijing) Co., Procter & Gamble Trading (Thailand) Limited, Procter & Gamble Tuketim Mallari Sanayii A.S., Procter & Gamble UK, Procter & Gamble UK Group Holdings Ltd, Procter & Gamble UK Parent Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble Universal Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Verwaltungs GmbH, Procter & Gamble Vietnam, Procter & Gamble d.o.o. za trgovinu, Procter & Gamble de Venezuela S.C.A., Procter & Gamble de Venezuela S.R.L., Procter & Gamble do Brasil S/A, Procter & Gamble do Brazil, Procter & Gamble do Nordeste S/A, Procter & Gamble-Rakona s.r.o., Progam Realty & Development Corporation, Redmond Products, Richardson-Vicks Real Estate Inc., Richardson-Vicks do Brasil Quimica e Farmaceutica Ltda, Riverfront Music Publishing Co., Rosemount LLC, SPD Development Company Limited, SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH, Scannon S.A.S., Series Acquisition B.V., Shulton, Surfac S.R.L., Sycamore Productions, TAOS - FL, TAOS Retail, Tambrands Inc., Temple Trees Impex & Investment Private Limited, The Art of Shaving - FL, The Dover Wipes Company, The Gillette Company, The Gillette Company LLC, The Gillette co., The Procter & Gamble Distributing LLC, The Procter & Gamble GBS Company, The Procter & Gamble Global Finance Company, The Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Company, The Procter & Gamble Paper Products Company, The Procter & Gamble U.S. Business Services Company, This is L., US CD LLC, Vidal Sassoon (Shanghai) Academy, Vidal Sassoon Co., WEBA Betriebsrenten-Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Walker & Company Brands, and iMFLUX Inc..Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. engages in the natural gas midstream, and intrastate transportation and storage businesses in the United States. The company's Intrastate Transportation and Storage segment transports natural gas from various natural gas producing areas through connections with other pipeline systems, as well as through its ET Fuel System and HPL System. This segment owns and operates approximately 7,900 miles of natural gas transportation pipelines and three natural gas storage facilities in Texas. Its Interstate Transportation and Storage segment provides natural gas transportation and storage services; owns and operates approximately 11,800 miles of interstate natural gas pipelines; and has interests in various natural gas pipelines. The company's Midstream segment gathers, compresses, treats, blends, processes, and markets natural gas. It owns and operates natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGL) gathering pipelines, natural gas processing plants, natural gas treating facilities, and natural gas conditioning facilities. The company's NGL and Refined Products Transportation and Services segment transports mixed NGLs and other hydrocarbons; stores mixed NGLs, NGL products, and petrochemical products; and separates mixed NGL streams into purity products. This segment owns and operates various NGL pipelines, NGL and propane fractionation facilities, and NGL storage facilities. Its Crude Oil Transportation and Services segment engages in the transportation, terminalling, and acquisition and marketing of crude oil; and operates crude oil trunk and gathering pipelines. The company's All Other segment engages in the natural gas compression equipment business; provides natural gas compression equipment and compression services; manages coal and natural resources property, sells standing timber, and leases coal-related infrastructure facilities; and generates electrical power. Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. was founded in 1995 and is based in Dallas, Texas.

Read MoreThe Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has long been called upon to rescue debt-ridden public enterprises, but could it just have bitten off more than it can chew? Even before its acquisition deal with the troubled IDBI Bank has concluded, the buzz is that India's largest insurer is stepping in to rescue Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) too.

According to Moneylife, this could end up as one of the biggest bailouts in the financial sector. Because the unlisted behemoth with a vast number of subsidiaries - some of which have recently been downgraded by ratings companies - boasts a giant load of debt, the full details of which are not easily available in the public domain.

Ravi Parthasarathy, who steered the company for nearly three decades resigned as chairman last week on health grounds, and a member of LIC's top brass has quickly stepped into his shoes. LIC's managing director and its nominee on IL&FS' board Hemant Bhargava was unanimously elected to the chairman's post at a board meeting last Friday. LIC owns about 25 per cent stake in IL&FS and is its largest shareholder.

The buzz is that LIC may now be called upon to invest more in IL&FS in light of its proposed Rs 4,500-crore rights issue - already approved by the infrastructure developer and financier's board. The debt-ridden company reportedly also plans to seek liquidity support of Rs 3,500 crore from its shareholders for working capital.

According to the magazine, this means that LIC will have to invest over Rs 1,000 crore in line with its equity holding, and if it does so, it would essentially be bailing out a private entity, with some public shareholding.

It is worth mentioning here that back in 2015, Ajay Piramal, Chairman of Piramal Enterprises and the astute investor likened to Warren Buffet, had shown interest in taking control of IL&FS but had ultimately backed out. The company's debt levels were raising eyebrows even then. In fact, the report said that IL&FS' consolidated long term borrowings have snowballed from Rs 48,648 crore in March 2015 to Rs 59,764 crore in March 2017.

Moreover, the company had reported a net loss in two of the past three years for which data is available - a loss of nearly Rs 66 crore in March 2015, which grew more than twofold to Rs 174.43 crore a year later. Although the company reported a profit of Rs 43.20 crore in March 2017, its standalone net cash flow from operating activities have persistently stayed in the red right since March 2011.

Incorporated in 1987, IL&FS was ex-Citibanker Parthasarathy's brainchild and was initially promoted by the Central Bank of India, Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited and Unit Trust of India (UTI). The likes of SBI, LIC, ORIX Corporation Japan, and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) picked up stakes in the company in the 1990s.

Through the decades that Parthasarathy steered the company - without a fixed tenure or re-appointment - IL&FS was run in the mould of National Stock Exchange (NSE), Stockholding Corporation of India and other private, so-called "professionally managed" unlisted companies. Although the bulk of the shareholding in these companies was held by public sector undertakings, they were run like private sector companies with similar perks and privileges. Furthermore, IL&FS did not come under the oversight of a single regulator, or central audit and vigilance agencies, apart from being designated as a systemically-important, non-banking finance company by the RBI.

It is speculated that with Parthasarathy's resignation - incidentally without any succession planning - details of his gargantuan but shadowy empire may become available to the public. The fact that IL&FS' many subsidiary companies also boast large investments from public sector banks and institutions only makes its financials even more complex to unravel. Many of them are loss-making, too. Ratings agencies have downgraded the debt of IL&FS Transportation Networks Limited. IL&FS Engineering and Construction has been making losses consistently.

"We are in the middle of implementing our plans. We would be happy to share once consummated," IL&FS's vice chairman and managing director Hari Shankaran told Moneylife when asked to comment on the debt figures mentioned above. That's pretty cryptic but the group has reportedly been trying to trim its debt in the past year by way of major refinancing drives and selling assets. For instance, IndusInd Bank recently acquired its securities arm, IL&FS Securities Services Ltd.

The big question is whether LIC can afford to play knight in shining armour to IL&FS currently, when its own bad loans are beginning to mount? LIC's gross NPAs as percentage of its debt portfolio has jumped from 4.73 per cent in FY17 to 6.23 per cent in the last fiscal.

(Edited by Sushmita Choudhury)Schlumberger NV engages in the provision of technology for reservoir characterization, drilling, production and processing to the oil and gas industry. It operates through the following business segments: Digital and Integration; Reservoir Performance; Well Construction; and Production Systems. The Digital and Integration segment combines the company's software and seismic businesses with its integrated offering of asset performance solutions. The Reservoir Performance segment consists of reservoir-centric technologies and services that are critical to optimizing reservoir productivity and performance. The Well Construction segment includes the full portfolio of products and services to optimize well placement and performance, maximize drilling efficiency, and improve wellbore assurance. The Production Systems segment develops technologies and provides expertise that enhances production and recovery from subsurface reservoirs to the surface, into pipelines, and to refineries. The company was founded by Conrad Schlumberger and Marcel Schlumberger in 1926 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

Read MoreEven as the nation-wide truckers strike called by the All India Motor Transport Congress entered its seventh day on Thursday, a top official in the government said it shared the opinion that fuel prices should be included in GST but added that truckers cannot hold the government to ransom on this.

As estimated 90 lakh trucks have been off the roads since July 20 as truckers are protesting against high diesel prices, removal of all tall barriers across the country and reduction of third party insurance premium.

"Everybody knows the government also wants to bring fuel prices under GST but the decision to do that will be taken by the GST council and not by the government alone," a joint secretary with the ministry of road transport and highways told Business Today. "Going on an indefinite strike knowing it will affect supply of essential goods is blackmail. Some of their demands are not even genuine. They cannot be allowed to hold the country to ransom."

Some of the other demands by the truckers include abolition of TDS, rationalisation of Income Tax Act, smoother functioning E-way bill, national permit for tourists and buses and abolition of direct port delivery tendering system. AIMTC members had last Thursday met the union finance minister Piyush Goyal and road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari to inform them of their demands. They were told that the government would look into their grievances but indications were given to not expect quick resolutions.

On Monday, AIMTC had tweeted that the government remained insensitive to their demands hinting that no overture for a negotiation was made by the government. The official from the ministry of road transport and highways would not say whether somebody has reached out to the truckers body.

"Prices of diesel have gone up in line with the increase in international crude prices. It is not like the government is getting a windfall from it," the official said. "Bringing it under GST is a time consuming process as there are revenue implications and we have to build consensus across states."

The strike has begun to hit supply of goods in the country while also impacting prices of fruits and vegetables.

On Tuesday, Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Shailesh Patwari said that the strike had adversely affected Gujarat's textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemical and ceramic industry. "Movement of raw materials and finished goods have got hit. Export orders are expiring, which is affecting our prestige in the international markets," Patwari said.

Various FMCG firms like Dabur, Reckitt Benckiser Nestle and Britannia, have also started facing disruption in supplies.TCF Financial Corporation operates as the financial holding company for TCF National Bank that provides various financial products and services in the United States and Canada. It operates through Consumer Banking, Commercial Banking, and Enterprise Services segments. The company offers checking, savings, and money market accounts; certificates of deposit; individual retirement accounts; debit and credit cards; and check cashing and remittance services. It also provides investment management and custodial services, trust services, financial and estate planning, and retirement planning and employee benefit programs; residential, consumer, and small business lending products; and consumer real estate secured lending, consumer loans, loans secured by personal property, and unsecured personal loans. In addition, the company offers loans and lines of credit, deposits, cash management, capital market products, international trade finance, letters of credit, foreign exchange management services, and loan syndication services. Further, it provides commercial and industrial, commercial real estate banking, and lease financing; and treasury services comprising investment and borrowing portfolios, as well as manages capital, debt, and market risks. As of December 31, 2020, the company operated 478 branches, including 373 traditional branches, 102 supermarket branches, and three campus branches located in Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Colorado, Ohio, Wisconsin, Arizona, and South Dakota; and 1,062 ATMs. TCF Financial Corporation was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Detroit, Michigan.

Read MoreXcel Energy, Inc. operates as a holding company, which engages in the generation, purchase, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity. It operates through the following three segments: Regulated Electric Utility, Regulated Natural Gas Utility and All Others. The Regulated Electric Utility segment generates, transmits and distributes electricity primarily in portions of generates, transmits and distributes electricity in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Texas and New Mexico. In addition, this segment includes sales for resale and provides wholesale transmission service to various entities in the United States. It also includes commodity trading operations. The Regulated Natural Gas Utility segment transports, stores, and distributes natural gas primarily in portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Michigan and Colorado. The All Others segment engages in steam, appliance repair services, nonutility real estate activities, processing solid waste into refuse-derived fuel and investments in rental housing projects that qualify for low-income housing tax credits. The company was founded in 1909 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN.

Read MoreWall Street analysts have given iShares MSCI Japan 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 Japan ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.Wall Street analysts have given iShares Global Consumer Staples 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 Global Consumer Staples ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.COAS urged nation to come out and vote undeterred

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and his wife cast their ballots in Rawalpindi on Wednesday, militarys media wing said.



The army chief urged the nation to come out and vote undeterred in order to defeat enemy forces working against Pakistan, Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Major General Asif Ghafoor tweeted. We are target of inimical forces working against Pak. Weve come a long way in our comprehensive national effort to fail them. We are united & steadfast to defeat them, and TODAY through our VOTES. Please come out & vote undeterred, COAS, the tweet said.



ECP dismisses PML-Ns request for one-hour extension in polling time



The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday dismissed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawazs (PML-N) request for one-hour extension in the polling time.



We will not extend polling time anywhere in the country. Voters present in polling stations will be able to cast their votes even after 6pm, the ECP stated.



PML-N Senator Mushahid Hussain had earlier written a letter to the chief election commissioner seeking a one-hour extension in the polling time under Section 70 of the Election Act, 2017, which authorises the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to extend polling hours.



On the basis of reports that have been received from PML-N candidates from almost all constituencies of Pakistan, I would like to kindly request you to extend the polling time by at least one hour from 6pm to 7pm given that there are long lines of voters waiting in the queue, while only three to four persons are allowed to enter the polling station at a time to cast their vote, the letter read.

We completely reject election results: Shahbaz Sharif

PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif, while addressing a press conference in Lahore late on Wednesday, expressed strong reservations over the polling process, saying his party doesn't accept the preliminary results shared by the Election Commission of Pakistan.



"I am forced to say that we completely reject these results," he declared, alleging that there has been a "blatant violation of public's mandate".



He complained that Form-45 was not shared with the agents of PML-N in many constituencies.



According to the ECP website, the first Form 45 is the Result of the Count showing the number of valid votes for each contesting candidate and ballot papers excluded from the count.



"There were long queues today despite the extremely hot weather. But when the polling ended, I saw a very scary situation," he said.



"By 7pm, when results started to pour in, no result was announced from constituencies in Lahore. We received complaints from across the country that polling agents were not given Form-45 and were being expelled from the polling stations," he alleged.



"I am calling a CEC session immediately and we will announce a new plan of action as soon as possible. We are contacting other political parties having similar complaints. We will provide a proper plan of action after we consult with them," the PML-N president said.



Shahbaz showed some copies of what he said were Form-45 received from polling stations in constituencies of Khawaja Asif, Tehmina Daultana and other PML-N leaders, alleging that they were incomplete.



"Awais Leghari also complained that polling agents were being thrown out," he added.



The PML-N president said they believed in democracy and "would have accepted people's mandate, whatever it would have been". But he complained that the "public mandate is being disrespected which is intolerable".



Shahbaz termed it the dirtiest election in the history of Pakistan. "The first step was pre-poll rigging, then the polling was slowed down and no extension was given. And when the time for counting arrived, our polling agents were thrown out."



Earlier, PML-N's Marriyum Aurangzeb and Mussadiq Malik both alleged that the party's polling agents had been forced out of polling stations in various constituencies where counting is underway.



"We have serious reservations ... The counting process has been carried out behind closed doors and our polling agents have been taken out," Aurangzeb alleged, adding that changes are also being made to Form-45.



"Results of both the (provincial and national) assemblies have been withheld, we want an answer for that. What change are they going to bring behind closed doors?" she questioned.



Mussadiq Malik alleged that the "security apparatus has taken over the polling stations".



He claimed that election results have been withheld in the following constituencies:



Dera Ghazi khan, especially for Awais Laghari.

NA-133 (Pervez Malik)  particularly in UC 234.

Only 12 Form-45 have been released in Ayaz Sadiqs constituency having 262 polling stations. All others have been withheld.

Most of the Islamabad results have been withheld.

Atif Mazaris constituency results have been withheld in Rojhan.

Polling agents have been kicked out of nearly 90 per cent of the polling stations in the constituency of Rana Sanaullah, Faisalabad.

Khurram Dastagir khan was leading the elections but then results from two-third of the constituencies have been withheld.



In response, ECP Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh said that all polling agents had been providing Form-45 to polling agents. The form contains the final vote tally at each polling station.



Yaqoob asked all parties to approach the commission with specific complaints against ROs as well as the polling stations where irregularities had allegedly occurring.



He said that the only information he had received so far was that polling agents whose parties "were not performing well" were leaving the stations without taking the forms, and then saying they hadn't received them.



He said that in case any proof is brought forward, action would be taken against all individuals found involved.



The provincial election commissioner in Punjab also categorically denied the allegations levelled by the PML-N.



"Political leaders should refrain from levelling such baseless allegations without having any substantial proof," the ECP official said.



Explaining the process, the election commissioner clarified that only one polling agent of every party is allowed inside the polling station at the time of counting of votes.Jamas nos callaran



Fisica y culturalmente



Nec plus ultra, nec variatur



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Paginas vistas en total

Dolar USA Vs Euro

Sin ellas, no seremos



Deja vu



Nada que celebrar



Hasta cuando?



Colombia Hoy



Para nunca olvidar



'Parasite' painted on a statue of Queen, Elizabeth in Kent, England



Sin palabras



La UE le apunta a la paz



Cada vez mas solo



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LULA y su Pueblo



Bye Bye



Homenaje al genial Quino



Fueron ellos



Una imagen que resume



Tan bajo ha caido que se deja tocar el trasero?



Porky y el Nene (archiconocido narcotraficante)



Ladrones al poder



Asi mira el perrito a su amo



Crazy



Clamor popular



La nueva inquisicion



Bolivia



Chile Hoy



Eso es todo amigos!



Piensalo!



Pinerachet



No More Trump



Adios Macri, hasta nunca



La Marioneta se desinfla



Asi o mas cinico



Almugre



Mexico en 1794



Mas arrastrado imposible



Hasta cuando!



La pura verdad



Solidaridad con Palestina



Serie Capitalismo



Espejismos de la clase trabajadora



Asi es!



Comerciantes o delincuentes



No pasaran!



Asi es la vida



USA HOY



01/01/1959



La avaricia no tiene limites



AYUDA HUMANITARIA?



Chile Hoy



Asi son las cosas



Mapa Electoral de Venezuela



Patagonia argentina?



Un aniversario mas del mayor genocidio de la Humanidad



Retrato del franquismo en Espana



Visca Catalunya!



El Chulo de Madrid



Cuando la policia se roba la democracia



Una imagen dice mas que mil palabras



La purita verdad



Asi gobierna la maldita burguesia



Mi pobre clase media



Como Chavez nadie



Comparte La Colmena via twitter Twittear

Programa de la MUD



Asi o mas clarito



Por que Trump no ataco Corea del Norte?



Hace 15 anos Por que la OEA no se pronuncio?



Una verguenza nacional



La luz que nos guia



La Union Europea Premio Nobel de la Paz?



Feudalismo ayer y hoy



Obama, el mentiroso



Curiosa coincidencia



Un mundo de cerdos



No es extrano?



La Marioneta



Los ricos protestan, los pobres celebran



MARICORI Y OBAMA



Cuantas muertes este ano?



USA TODAY



USA HOY 6



USA HOY 5



USA HOY 4



USA HOY 3



USA HOY 2



USA HOY (1)



Insaciable



Cronologia de un agresor



Guarimbear en USA



Mexico hoy



Bolivar y Chavez



Primero Amargado



Dios los cria y ellos se juntan



USA hoy (III)



USA hoy (II)



USA hoy



Mexico hoy



Mexico hoy



Mexico hoy



Obama



La verdad sea dicha



Los ricos



Que no nos vea Obama



Pobre Obama



SOS PALESTINA



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Chavez Cuanto te queremos!



Por culpa de Chavez



Cerveza Polar







Algun dia Colombia volvera a la ideologia de Bolivar







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LOS REVOLUCIONARIOS NO TOMAN CACA-COLA No se trata solamente de un capricho, sino de una sana actitud en todos los sentidos. Desde la solidaridad con el pueblo colombiano donde la empresa Caca-Cola ha cometido los mas grandes abusos contra sus trabajadores incluyendo el presunto secuestro y asesinato de los dirigentes del sindicato, hasta la proteccion de la salud de nuestros hijos, enviciados por ese jarabe de cola y azucar, que les produce obesidad prematura. Pensemos tambien los revolucionarios, que ese dinero que gastamos en los refrescos es utilizado por esas empresas para financiar el terrorismo en nuestro pais. Es cierto, no se trata solo de la Caca-Cola, sino tambien de la cerveza, de los cigarrillos y todos esos articulos innecesarios y mas que eso, daninos para nuestra salud. Podriamos incluso pensar en un dia de parada para cada uno de ellos. Es cuestion de irnos organizando. Pero para empezar, que tal si dejamos de comprar Caca-Cola y sus similares?



























Cuando lo extraordinario se vuelve cotidiano...



Discurso del Acto de Grado en Barinas en 12 de Febrero del 2005 Queridos Graduandos:



Mas que un discurso, quiero dirigirles algunas palabras que escribi anoche, despues de visitar en las clinicas, a los estudiantes heridos, a consecuencia de los enfrentamientos con la policia de hace apenas dos dias.



Me ha tocado por razones del destino, ser la persona que les otorgue el titulo que bien merecieron con sus estudios. Y me siento sumamente orgulloso de serlo. Me consta que la Universidad de Los Llanos Occidentales Ezequiel Zamora, a pesar de lo dicho por los enemigos de esta universidad, es una universidad de primera.



No tendremos la mejor planta fisica, en los salones hace calor. En el comedor hace calor. Pero no es en lo material que las cosas deben valorarse. El mayor capital es el ser humano. Y en eso, nuestra UNELLEZ, lo digo con conocimiento de causa, esta sobrada. Los llaneros venezolanos son nobles, valientes, de coraje.



En la UNELLEZ hacen vida, en este momento, aproximadamente 67000 personas. El 97% de ellas son estudiantes. Jovenes que, como Ustedes hasta el dia de hoy, buscan ese titulo, que constata los anos de dedicacion y de estudio.



Los jovenes son el rio de la vida, ustedes graduados deben ser los capitanes de esos barcos que naveguen por el rio de la vida.



Nuestra Patria atraviesa momentos muy dificiles porque decidio dejar de ser esa matrona de edad vetusta y complaciente, para ser joven, rebelde y altanera. Nuestra imagen ya no es la de una acaudalada ricachona mayamera. En nuestro rostro brilla ahora la sonrisa del Che Guevara, con su diente delantero torcido, su pelo largo y su boina con la estrella.



Entender esto, a mi me ha tomado practicamente toda la vida. Tengo 53 anos, y ya perdi mi oportunidad de derramar sangre joven a causa de un ideal.



Ustedes son jovenes, estan en la flor de la vida. No cometan por favor el error de renunciar a su instinto de rebelion. El Che Guevara fue Ministro de a Economia en Cuba. Los billetes y las monedas se adornaban con su rostro. Nada de eso le importo. Primero fue a Angola donde paso un penoso ano de combate. Despues se fue a Bolivia, donde encontro la muerte. El Che era el ultimo que comia, el que cargaba la mochila mas pesada. Siempre se sacrificaba por los demas en un estoicismo que mas parecia fervor religioso que ideologia marxista.



Si quieren un modelo de vida. Ahi lo tienen.



Dije hace unos momentos que el 97% de la poblacion de la UNELLEZ es estudiante. Se imaginan Ustedes la Universidad que podriamos tener si todos los estudiantes tuvieran la abnegacion, la combatividad del Che?



Los momentos que se avecinan van a requerir de una gran unidad del pueblo venezolano. La alternativa de continuar siendo libres o regresar a la pobreza se nos planteara en los proximos dias de forma enmascarada, o quizas peor, desenmascarada, vestida con uniforme de soldado del Imperio.



Por nuestra parte podemos esperar lo mejor. La macroeconomia no podria ir mejor, la justicia social ha mejorado notablemente. Las misiones ocupan un papel muy importante en el pago de dicha justicia social. Aqui en Barinas ya hemos cumplido con dos de las misiones, la mision Robinson y la mision Sucre. No hay analfabetismo y no hay exclusion en la educacion superior, en estas tierras de Zamora.



Pero ay malhaya! Son precisamente estos exitos los que nos hacen mas antipaticos al Imperio. Para ellos, somos inclusive un mal ejemplo que se esta contagiando al resto del continente y cuidado sino al resto del mundo.



Nunca venceremos al Imperio. Estara siempre ahi, acechando. Por lo menos hasta que el mismo no se autodestruya. Porque, sepanlo senores, el neoliberalismo es canibal. Cuando le ataque el hambre, se devorara a si mismo.



Ustedes, queridos graduandos, a partir de hoy pasan a conformar la elite profesional que debe sostener este pais en los proximos cuarenta o cincuenta anos. Anos decisivos para el logro de nuestra libertad y del rescate de nuestra Soberania.



No se dejen comprar. No se dejen corromper. No se dejen gritar. No se dejen pisar. Que nadie les diga que comer, o que vestirse, o que leer. Sean siempre autenticos, rebeldes, contestatarios. Pero eso si, profundamente patriotas, dignos de ser hijos de Bolivar.



Muchas gracias y que Dios los bendiga.





Alguna duda?



Medio siglo de Holocausto Palestino



Oscar Zanartu Nacio en Caracas en 1960. Ha realizado exposiciones individuales en las galerias Minotauro, Clave y San Francisco, y en salas de Coro, estado Falcon, y Puerto Ordaz, estado Bolivar. En Paris su obra ha sido exhibida en el Centro Cultural Tanagra, en la Exposicion Cite Internationale des Arts, en las galerias De Mars y Arver Space, al igual que en la Galeria Municipal Levallois, en Levallois Perret (Francia). En muestras colectivas, su obra se ha expuesto en Belgica, Francia, Estados Unidos y Venezuela; en Caracas intervino en la exposicion "Del genesis a la memoria", 1995, organizada por la Fundacion La Previsora. En 1982 obtuvo el Premio Nacional Critven y en 1990 la Mencion de Honor Jose Antonio Paez, en la Embajada de Venezuela en Paris. En 1991 se le concedio el primer premio de Pintura Itinerante, en Levallois Perret, Francia.



OZ1



OZ2



OZ3



OZ4



Homenaje a Jason Galarraga



La Victoria de Samotracia



Odalisca



Mas fotos de la nevada del pasado agosto 2008



























La Sierra Nevada de Merida



Nuestro precioso Churum Meru



Homenaje a Picasso



Autoretrato



Sabes lo que bebes en una Coca-Cola?

La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.

Mi profesion?

Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.

Sal en la Coca Cola?

A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.

De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:

Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gusto

Acido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)

azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)

Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantas

Mucha Cafeina

Conservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o Potasio

Dioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebe

Sal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracion

El uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.

Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.

Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.

En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).

Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.

La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.

Bebidas Light?

Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el

Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.



Publicado por loretahur



En realidad, la formula secreta de la Coca-Cola se puede detallar en 18 segundos en cualquier espectrometro optico, y basicamente la conocen hasta los perros. Lo que ocurre es que no se puede fabricar igual, a no ser que uno disponga de unos cuantos millones de dolares para ganarle la demanda que te metera la Coca-Cola ante la justicia (ellos no perderian).La formula de la Pepsi tiene una diferencia basica con la de la Coca-Cola y es intencional, para evitar el proceso judicial. La diferencia es a proposito, pero suficientemente parecida como para atraer a los consumidores de Coca-Cola que prefieren un gusto diferente con menos sal y azucar.Tuve que aprender quimica, entender todo sobre componentes de gaseosas, conservantes, sales, acidos, cafeina, enlatado, produccion, permisos, aprobaciones y muchas otras cosas. Monte mi propio mini-laboratorio de analisis de productos.A patadas. El Cloruro de Sodio no solo refresca sino da mas sed, como para pedir otra gaseosa. Y no resulta desagradable porque la sal mata literalmente la sensibilidad al dulce... del que por cierto tambien tiene mucho: 39 gramos de azucar.De los 350 gramos de producto liquido, mas del 10% es azucar, o sea que en una lata de Coca-Cola mas de un centimetro y medio es puro azucar en polvo. Aproximadamente tres cucharadas soperas llenas de azucar por lata!!La formula de la Coca Cola es muy sencilla:Concentrado de azucar quemado caramelo- para dar color oscuro y gustoAcido fosforito (para darle el sabor acido)azucar (HFCS-jarabe de maiz de alta fructosa)Extracto de hojas de la planta de Coca (Africa e India) y otros pocos aromatizantes naturales de otras plantasMucha CafeinaConservante que puede ser Benzoato de Sodio o PotasioDioxido de Carbono en cantidad para sentir freir la lengua cuando se bebeSal para dar la sensacion de refrigeracionEl uso del acido fosforito y no del acido citrico como en todas las demas gaseosas, es para dar la sensacion de dientes y boca limpia al beber. El acido fosforito literalmente frie todo y dana el esmalte de los dientes, cosa que el acido citrico lo hace en menor grado.Trate de comprar acido fosforito para ver las mil recomendaciones de seguridad que te dan para su manipulacion (quema el cristalino del ojo, quema la piel, etc...). Esta prohibido usar el acido fosforito en cualquier otra gaseosa; solo la Coca Cola tiene permiso. Porque claro, sin el acido fosforico, la Coca Cola sabria a jabon.El extracto de coca y otras hojas casi no cambia en nada el sabor. Es mas bien un efecto cosmetico. El extracto forma parte de la Coca-Cola porque legalmente tiene que ser asi. Pero sin el, no se nota ninguna diferencia en el gusto, que esta dado basicamente por las cantidades diferentes de azucar, azucar quemada, sales, acidos y conservantes.Sabor a que...? ja, ja, ja.Aqui en Bartow, sur de Orlando, hay una empresa quimica que produce aromatizantes y esencias para zumos. Envian diariamente camionadas de sales concentradas y esencias para las fabricas de helados, gaseosas, jugos, enlatados y comida colorida y aromatizada.Cuando visite por primera vez la fabrica, pedi ver el deposito de concentrados de frutas, que deberia ser inmenso, especialmente los de naranja, pina, fresa y tantos otros. El encargado me miro, se rio y me llevo a visitar los depositos inmensos... pero de colorantes y componentes quimicos.Las gaseosa de naranja no contiene naranja.En los zumos dizque de fresa, hasta los puntitos que quedan en suspension estan hechos de goma (una liga quimica que envuelve un semi-polimero).Pina, es un popurri de acidos y goma.La esencia para helado de aguacate usa peroxido de hidrogeno (agua oxigenada) para dar la sensacion espumosa tipica del aguacate.Quieres saber la cantidad de basura que tiene un refresco 'light'? Yo ni siquiera los uso para destapar mi lavaplatos pues temo que danen los tubos de PVC. Los productos endulzantes 'ligth' tienen una vida media muy corta. Por ejemplo el aspartamo , despues de tres semanas mojado, pasa a tener gusto de trapo viejo sucio.Para evitar eso, se agregan una infinidad de otros productos quimicos, uno para alargar la vida del aspartamo, otro para neutralizar el color, otro para mantener el tercer quimico en suspension porque sino el fondo de la gaseosa quedaria oscuro, otro para evitar la cristalizacion del aspartamo, otro para realzar el sabor, dar mas intensidad al acido citrico o fosforito que perderia su sabor por el efecto de los cuatro productos quimicos iniciales... y asi sucesivamente.Un consejo final !!Despues de toda mi experiencia con la produccion de bebidas embasadas, puedo afirmar sin dudar un segundo: la mejor bebida es el agua, como tambien los jugos exprimidos de naranja o limon. Nada mas, cero azucar y cero sal.Publicado por loretahur

MARGARINA o MANTEQUILLA La margarina fue producida originalmente para engordar a los pavos; cuandolo que hizo en realidad fue matarlos.Las personas que habian puesto el dinero para la investigacion quisieronrecobrarlo asi que empezaron a pensar en una forma de hacerlo.Tenian una sustancia blanca, que no tenia ningun atractivo como comestible,asi que le anadieron el color amarillo, para venderselo a lagente en lugar de la mantequilla.Que tal esa?... Ahora han sacado algunos nuevos sabores para vender mas alos incautos como usted y yo.CONOCE USTED la diferencia entre la margarina y la mantequilla?Siga leyendo hasta el final... porque se pone bastante interesante!Comparacion entre mantequilla y margarina:

1.- Ambas tienen la misma cantidad de calorias.

2.- La mantequilla es ligeramente mas alta en grasas saturadas: 8 gramos,comparada con los 5 gramos que tiene la margarina.

3.- Comer margarina en vez de mantequilla puede aumentar en 53% el riesgo deenfermedades coronarias en las mujeres, de acuerdo con un estudiomedico reciente de la Universidad de Harvard.

4.- Comer mantequilla aumenta la absorcion de gran cantidad de nutrientesque se encuentran en otros alimentos.

5.- La mantequilla provee beneficios nutricionales propios mientras lamargarina tiene solo los que le hayan sido anadidos al fabricarla.

6.- La mantequilla sabe mucho mejor que la margarina y mejora el sabor deotros alimentos.7.- La mantequilla ha existido durante siglos mientras que la margarinatiene menos de 100 anos.

Ahora... sobre la margarina:

1.- Es muy alta en acidos grasos trans. (Si, esos que recien ahora loscientificos descubrieron que son malisimos y los gobiernoscomenzaron a prohibirlos) .

2.- Triple riesgo de enfermedades coronarias.

3.- Aumenta el colesterol total y el LDL (el colesterol malo) y disminuye elHDL (el colesterol bueno).

4.- Aumenta en cinco veces el riesgo de cancer.

5.- Disminuye la calidad de la leche materna.

6.- Disminuye la reaccion inmunologica del organismo.

7.- Disminuye la reaccion a la insulina.

Y he aqui el factor mas inquietante (AQUI ESTA LA PARTE MAS INTERESANTE! ):A la margarina le falta UNA MOLECULA para ser PLASTICO...!!Solo este hecho es suficiente para evitar el uso de la margarina de porvida, y de cualquier otra cosa que sea hidrogenada (esto significaque se le anade hidrogeno, lo cual cambia la estructura molecular de lassubstancias).Usted puede ensayar lo siguiente:Compre un poco de margarina y dejela en el garaje o en un sitio sombreado.Dentro de unos dias notara dos cosas:

* No habra moscas; ni siquiera esos molestos bichos se le acercaran (esto yale debe decir a usted algo).

* No se pudre ni huele mal o diferente porque no tiene valor nutritivo; nadacrece en ella. Ni siquiera los diminutos microorganismos puedencrecer en ella.Por que? Porque es casi plastico!!



No a la guerra, Si a la Paz



Misterios de la ciencia...



Los costos de la guerra



medicos y capitalismo...



Capitalismo...



medicos (2)



Quien educa a nuestros hijos?



Los Medios...



Sin Palabras...



Chistes feministas

- Cual es el problema, Eva?

- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz...

- Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.

- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...

- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.

- Que es un hombre?

- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.

- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.

- Cual es el truco?.

- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.

- Cual?

- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.





Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas?  Porque todos son unos cerdos

Un dia, en el Paraiso, Eva llamo a Dios: Tengo un problema.- Cual es el problema, Eva?- Se que me has creado, que me has dado este hermoso jardin, todos estos maravillosos animales y esa serpiente con la que me muero de risa... pero no soy del todo feliz... - Como es eso, Eva? - replico Dios desde las alturas.- Me encuentro sola, y ademas estoy harta de comer manzanas...- Bueno Eva, en tal caso, tengo una solucion... creare un hombre para ti.- Que es un hombre?- Un hombre sera una criatura imperfecta, con muchas artimanas. Mentira, hara trampas, sera engreido... vamos, que te va a dar problemas... Pero, va a ser mas fuerte y rapido que tu y le gustara cazar y matar cosas... Tendra un aspecto simple, pero como te estas quejando, le creare de tal forma que satisfaga tus... eh... necesidades fisicas... Y tampoco sera muy listo, y destacara en cosas infantiles como pegarse o dar patadas a un balon... Necesitara tu consejo siempre para actuar cuerdamente.- Suena bien - dijo Eva, mientras levantaba la ceja ironicamente.- Cual es el truco?.- Pues... que lo tendras con una condicion.- Cual?- Como te decia, sera chulo, arrogante y muy narcisista... asi que le tendras que hacer creer que le hice a el primero... recuerda... es nuestro secreto... de mujer a mujer.Por que a los hombres no les puede dar la enfermedad de las vacas locas?  Porque todos son unos cerdos

Ellas...



Ellas (2)...



Tres venganzas femeninas VENGANZA NUMERO 1

Hoy mi hija cumple 21 anos y estoy muy contento porque es el ultimo pago de pension alimenticia que le doy, asi que llame a mi hijita para que viniera a mi casa y cuando llego le dije:

-Hijita, quiero que lleves este cheque a casa de tu mama y que le digas que: Este es el ultimo maldito cheque que va recibir de mi en todo lo que le queda de su puta vida!!! Quiero que me digas la expresion que pone en su rostro.

Asi que mi hija fue a entregar el cheque. Yo estaba ansioso por saber lo que la bruja tenia que decir y que cara pondria.

Cuando mi hijita entro, le pregunte inmediatamente: -Que fue lo que te dijo tu madre?

-Me dijo que justamente estaba esperando este dia para decirte que no eres mi papa!



VENGANZA NUMERO 2

Un hombre que siempre molestaba a su mujer, paso un dia por la casa de unos amigos para que lo acompanaran al aeropuerto a dejar a su esposa que viajaba a Paris.

A la salida de inmigracion, frente a todo el mundo, el le desea buen viaje y en tono burlon le grita:

- Amor, no te olvides de traerme una hermosa francesita Ja ja ja!!

Ella bajo la cabeza y se embarco muy molesta.

La mujer paso quince dias en Francia.

El marido otra vez pidio a sus amigos que lo acompanasen al aeropuerto a recibirla.

Al verla llegar, lo primero que le grita a toda voz es:

- Y amor me trajiste mi francesita??

- Hice todo lo posible, - contesta ella - ahora solo tenemos que rezar para que nazca nina.



VENGANZA NUMERO 3

El marido, en su lecho de muerte, llama a su mujer. Con voz ronca y ya debil, le dice: - Muy bien, llego mi hora, pero antes quiero hacerte una confesion.

- No, no, tranquilo, tu no debes hacer ningun esfuerzo.

- Pero, mujer, es preciso - insiste el marido - Es preciso morir en paz.

Te quiero confesar algo.

- Esta bien, esta bien. Habla!

- He tenido relaciones con tu hermana, tu mama y tu mejor amiga.

- Lo se, lo se Por eso te envenene, hijo de puta!!!



machismo y cibernetica



Chiste machista La NASA ha enviado al espacio una mision experimental tripulada por dos monos y una mujer.Apenas abandona la atmosfera, se establece comunicacion con Houston.

-Atencion, simio 1, verifique sistemas hidraulicos, controle adecuada presion de los propulsores de arranque. A 60.000 pies disminuya un 25% la velocidad.

El simio hace la sena de OK.

-Atencion, simio 2, nivele al cruzar la estratosfera y active sistemas anticongelantes. No olvide monitorear sistemas de comunicacion e indicadores de presion. Comprendido?.

El simio hace la sena de OK.

-Atencion, Houston llamando a mujer: no se olvide.

-Mujer: Si, si, ya se! -interrumpe enojada- que no me olvide darles de comer a estos monos de mierda y que no se me vaya a ocurrir tocar nada!.



.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti.

Un abogado mantiene un romance con su secretaria.Al poco tiempo, esta queda embarazada y el abogado, que no quiere que su esposa se entere, le da a la secretaria una buena suma de dinero y le pide que se vaya a parir a Italia.Esta pregunta: Y como voy a hacerte saber cuando nazca el bebe ? El abogado responde: Para que mi mujer no se entere, tan solo enviame una postal y escribe por detras: Spaghetti. Y no te preocupes mas, que yo me encargare de todos los gastos.

Pasan los meses y una manana la esposa del abogado lo llama al bufete, algo exaltada: Querido, acabo de recibir el correo y hay una postal muy extrana viene desde Italia. La verdad, no entiendo que significa.El abogado, tratando de ocultar sus nervios, contesta:Espera a que llegue a casa, a ver si yo entiendoCuando el hombre llega a casa y lee la postal, cae al suelo fulminado por un infarto.Llega una ambulancia y se lo lleva. Ya en el hospital, el jefe de cardiologia se queda consolando a la esposa y le pregunta cual ha sido el evento que precipito tan masivo ataque cardiaco.

Entonces la esposa saca la postal y se la muestra diciendole: No me explico, doctor; el solamente leyo esta postal. Vea usted mismo lo que trae escrito.Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti, Spaghetti."Tres con salchicha y albondigas y dos con almejas



Gol !!!!



Chistes de Borrachos Entra un borracho a su casa todo manchado con lapiz labial por todos lados hecho un desastre, y la mujer le pregunta:-Hombre que te paso?Y el borracho le responde:-No me vas a creer, me pelee con un payaso!



Este es un borracho que entra en un bar y le dice al camarero:-Me da cinco copas de whisky?Al rato:-Me da cuatro?Al rato:-Me da tres copas?Despues:-Me da dos copas?Luego le dice:-Me da una copa?Y le dice al camarero:-Ves? Cuanto menos bebo, mas borracho estoy!

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At the current market price, sale of 10 per cent in HUDCO and NBCC could fetch about Rs 1,000 crore and Rs 1,200 crore to the exchequer.

New Delhi: The government is planning to sell up to 10 per cent stake each in real estate firms HUDCO and NBCC as also 3 per cent in NTPC through an offer for sale (OFS), which could fetch about Rs 5,900 crore to the exchequer.

The finance ministry will soon float Request for Proposals (RFP) to appoint merchant bankers for managing the stake sale of HUDCO and NBCC, a source said.

"The Cabinet has cleared up to 10 per cent stake sale in NBCC and HUDCO through OFS. Whether it would be sold in one go or not would be decided based on investor response," the source told PTI.

At the current market price, sale of 10 per cent in HUDCO and NBCC could fetch about Rs 1,000 crore and Rs 1,200 crore to the exchequer. NTPC's 3 per cent OFS would fetch about Rs 3,700.

The Cabinet had already approved 10 per cent stake sale in power producer NTPC, of which 7 per cent was sold in August last year. The stake sale fetched Rs 9,100 crore.

The source said that depending on market condition, the stake sale will happen. With regard to state-owned HUDCO and NBCC, the ministry is keeping the companies ready to launch it as and when the time is ripe.

HUDCO and NBCC OFS will take time, could be in October-December quarter, the source said.

Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) had listed itself on the stock exchanges in May last year.

The source said that one year lock-in requirement is over and government can now go ahead with follow on offers or OFS. The IPO of HUDCO saw huge demand from investors and was subscribed nearly 80 times.

The government had last sold 15 per cent stake through an OFS in NBCC for about Rs 2,200 crore in October 2016. Currently, it holds 89.81 per cent in HUDCO and 73.69 per cent NBCC.

In NTPC, its stake stands at 61.71 per cent. Shares of HUDCO were trading flat at Rs 53.15 on BSE, while that of NBCC were quoted at Rs 67.55, up 0.45 per cent. NTPC shares were trading up 0.96 per cent at Rs 152.40 on the BSE.

The share sales would help the government move further towards the Rs 80,000 crore disinvestment target of the current fiscal. It has so far raised Rs 9,000 crore.New Delhi: Shares of Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Thursday fell by nearly 4 per cent, eroding Rs 10,906 crore from its market valuation, as the company's June quarter earnings failed to cheer investors.

The stock dropped 3.70 per cent to settle at Rs 9,396.65 on the BSE. Intra-day, it tumbled 3.98 per cent to Rs 9,369.05. The stock was the worst hit among the 30-blue chips.

On the NSE, shares of the company slumped 3.78 per cent to end at Rs 9,390. Led by the decline in the stock, the company's market valuation plunged Rs 10,905.94 crore to Rs 2,83,854.06 crore.

The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) today reported 26.91 per cent increase in standalone net profit to Rs 1,975.3 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2018-19, riding on robust sales.

It had posted Rs 1,556.4 crore net profit in the April-June period of last fiscal, 2017-18, MSI said in a regulatory filing.

The company's sales during the period under review stood at Rs 21,810.7 crore. They were at Rs 19,374.1 crore in the year-ago period.

MSI said the two figures are not comparable as revenues from operation are reported net of GST since the implementation of the new tax regime in July 2017.New Delhi: With the government slashing GST rates on select white goods by 10 per cent, consumer durable makers say they will pass on the benefit to consumers and cut prices of commonly used items by 7-8 per cent.

The GST Council had announced reduction in tax rates on items like small screen TVs, fridges and washing machines to 18 per cent, from 28 per cent. The new rate will take effect tomorrow.

"With the revision of GST rate on refrigerators and washing machines, there will be a reduction of price to the tune of 7-8 per cent for the end consumer. Godrej will pass on the entire benefit of GST reduction to the consumers," Godrej Appliances Business Head and Executive Vice President Kamal Nandi told PTI.

Nandi said the revision of GST rate from 28 per cent to 18 per cent will provide relief to the appliances industry.

"The revision will make refrigerators and washing machines more affordable which will accelerate the penetration of these appliances across India. This is turn will lead to a spur in demand which will lead to increase in production and hence have a positive impact on the GDP," he added.

Agreeing with Nandi, LG India Business Head Vijay Babu said, "As a market leader...LG confirms that it will pass on 100 per cent GST reduction benefit to the consumers with effect from July 27. The price reduction for washing machine, refrigerators and vacuum cleaners will be in the range of 7-8 per cent".

Manish Sharma, president and CEO, Panasonic India and South Asia and President, CEAMA said the tax (GST) cut will provide a new impetus for growth especially before the upcoming festive season.

"The goods to benefit the most will be washing machines and refrigerators, where we expect growth to pick up substantially. The reduced taxes in television sets of up to 26 inches will ensure increased penetration and affordability in smaller parts of the country. We plan to pass on the complete benefits translating to around 7-8 per cent," he added.

Last week, GST Council brought down tax rates to 18 per cent from 28 per cent on 15 items, including vacuum cleaners, washing machine, 68 cm (27 inch) TV, fridge, laundry machines, paints, hand dryers, food grinders and varnishes.Washington: The US wants to reduce its trade deficit with India as quickly as possible, a senior official told lawmakers here, asserting that the Trump administration is aggressively pushing New Delhi on the issues of medical devices, pharmaceuticals, dairy products and agriculture.

The President wants fair and reciprocal trade...when we look at India, there are three sectors where, I think, we can get a significant boost in our trade, Alice G Wells, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing on Wednesday.

When asked by Congressman Brad Sherman if the Trump administration has a target date to reduce this trade deficit, she said, We would like the trade deficit to be reduced as quickly as possible.

Wells identified defence, aviation and energy as the three sectors which would play a key role in reducing the trade deficit over the long term.

In aviation alone, Boeing estimates that over the next 20 years there is going to be USD 290 billion sales, Wells said, adding that India-US defence trade is expected to grow to USD 18 billion by 2019. Last year, the trade deficit between the two nations was USD27 billion.

Wells said trade policy forum discussions are underway between India and the US, focussing on eliminating or reducing both the tariffs and the non-tariff barriers.

If our average tariff rate is about 3.5 per cent, India's is over 13 per cent, she said.

Alleging India to be a more closed market historically, Wells said, We are pushing for medical devices, pharmaceuticals, dairy and agricultural products.

Replying to a query by Sherman on when US firms will be able to sell a nuclear power plants to India, she said, We continue to support Westinghouse bid (in this regard).

US nuclear energy powerhouse Westinghouse is engaged in negotiations to build six AP1000 nuclear reactors in India as part of the landmark US-India civilian nuclear agreement.

We having done the hard work of creating a basis for civilian nuclear relationship with India, having engaged seriously with it as they accede to the Wassenaar Arrangement, the Australia group, and hopefully in the future Nuclear Suppliers Group, we would like to see this also manifested in our commercial relations with India and we're very supportive of US companies efforts, Wells said.The panel said that about 2 lakh jobs were lost only due dumping of Chinese solar panel.

New Delhi: In an alarming report on impact of Chinese imports, the Standing Committee on Commerce on Thursday warned that India is threatened to become a country of importers and traders with domestic factories either cutting down their production or shutting down completely.

The panel said that about 2 lakh jobs were lost only due dumping of Chinese solar panel.

It has asked the government to proactively take trade defence measures on import of Chinese goods which have caused erosion of India's manufacturing capacity.

The impact of Chinese imports has been such that India is threatened to become a country of importers and traders with domestic factories either cutting down their production or shutting down completely. The Committee is very clear that it does not want such a state of affairs to prevail in the country," said the Committee which is headed by Rajya Sabha MP, Naresh Gujral, in a report tabled in Parliament on Thursday. It said that country can ill afford its industry including MSMEs to get annihilated.

Around 84 per cent of solar equipment requirement in the country is met through imports from China. The Parliamentary panel said that it has found that monitoring, surveillance and enforcement of the trade remedies and other trade rules in the country requires more attention.

While the US and the EU have been quite aggressive and agitated over the erosion of their domestic industry and loss of employment, the Committee feels that government should be more proactive in taking trade defence measures as provided by WTO and imposition of other trade restrictions on import of such Chinese goods which have caused erosion of our manufacturing capacity," it said.

The committee pointed out that trade deficit with China at $63 billion constitutes more than 40 per cent of Indias total trade deficit. During the period 2007-08 to 2017-18, there has been an increase in Indias exports to China by $2.5 billion but imports, increased by $50 billion during this period, it said.

The Chinese import is so hard-hitting on Indian industry that many manufacturers have been forced to become traders. It will serve better to remember that a country with poor manufacturing base can never become an economic power-house in the comity of nations, it said.

The panel said that there is an urgent need to educate and encourage the people about the importance of quality products and promote buying of Indian goods.Blog Archive October 2021 (57) September 2021 (59) August 2021 (56) July 2021 (57) June 2021 (66) May 2021 (63) April 2021 (75) March 2021 (73) February 2021 (61) January 2021 (69) December 2020 (62) November 2020 (62) October 2020 (70) September 2020 (51) August 2020 (52) July 2020 (60) June 2020 (57) May 2020 (79) April 2020 (56) March 2020 (52) February 2020 (50) January 2020 (69) December 2019 (58) November 2019 (64) October 2019 (44) September 2019 (49) August 2019 (71) July 2019 (71) June 2019 (71) May 2019 (67) April 2019 (74) March 2019 (85) February 2019 (64) January 2019 (73) December 2018 (66) November 2018 (81) October 2018 (87) September 2018 (66) August 2018 (76) July 2018 (84) June 2018 (86) May 2018 (64) April 2018 (83) March 2018 (78) February 2018 (69) January 2018 (69) December 2017 (82) November 2017 (87) October 2017 (89) September 2017 (77) August 2017 (75) July 2017 (76) June 2017 (90) May 2017 (86) April 2017 (59) March 2017 (61) February 2017 (82) January 2017 (92) December 2016 (90) November 2016 (80) October 2016 (75) September 2016 (95) August 2016 (104) July 2016 (93) June 2016 (96) May 2016 (98) April 2016 (99) March 2016 (113) February 2016 (82) January 2016 (98) December 2015 (113) November 2015 (94) October 2015 (93) September 2015 (98) August 2015 (97) July 2015 (105) June 2015 (103) May 2015 (95) April 2015 (100) March 2015 (102) February 2015 (93) January 2015 (114) December 2014 (110) November 2014 (103) October 2014 (105) September 2014 (96) August 2014 (96) July 2014 (112) June 2014 (119) May 2014 (109) April 2014 (116) March 2014 (117) February 2014 (109) January 2014 (116) December 2013 (117) November 2013 (121) October 2013 (125) September 2013 (93) August 2013 (115) July 2013 (110) June 2013 (102) May 2013 (115) April 2013 (113) March 2013 (119) February 2013 (108) January 2013 (119) December 2012 (132) November 2012 (115) October 2012 (121) September 2012 (115) August 2012 (124) July 2012 (102) June 2012 (121) May 2012 (121) April 2012 (127) March 2012 (130) February 2012 (112) January 2012 (131) December 2011 (129) November 2011 (118) October 2011 (118) September 2011 (110) August 2011 (138) July 2011 (146) June 2011 (139) May 2011 (144) April 2011 (127) March 2011 (140) February 2011 (116) January 2011 (134) December 2010 (133) November 2010 (136) October 2010 (148) September 2010 (128) August 2010 (155) July 2010 (129) June 2010 (138) May 2010 (152) April 2010 (161) March 2010 (119) February 2010 (149) January 2010 (155) December 2009 (177) November 2009 (171) October 2009 (176) September 2009 (159) August 2009 (156) July 2009 (170) June 2009 (157) May 2009 (185) April 2009 (179) March 2009 (183) February 2009 (170) January 2009 (181) December 2008 (189) November 2008 (183) October 2008 (164) September 2008 (164) August 2008 (177) July 2008 (179) June 2008 (170) May 2008 (191) April 2008 (175) March 2008 (195) February 2008 (162) January 2008 (188) December 2007 (187) November 2007 (189) October 2007 (194) September 2007 (156) August 2007 (194) July 2007 (163) June 2007 (176) May 2007 (190) April 2007 (177) March 2007 (192) February 2007 (165) January 2007 (170) December 2006 (182) November 2006 (177) October 2006 (185) September 2006 (180) August 2006 (156) July 2006 (160) June 2006 (177) May 2006 (173) April 2006 (157) March 2006 (158) February 2006 (146) January 2006 (144) December 2005 (135) November 2005 (138) October 2005 (128) September 2005 (141) August 2005 (136) July 2005 (133) June 2005 (119) May 2005 (143) April 2005 (52)Tiger Shroff recently had an opportunity that not many actors get  a closed-door meeting with Sanjay Leela Bhansali to discuss a film project. Turns out the legendary filmmaker is keen on backing a dance-based action film starring the young actor.

Sanjay and Tiger had a meeting on Wednesday, and two discussed a possible collaboration. Bhansali has met with quite a few actors in the recent past, and everyones speculating about his next project. Apparently, there are a few that he will announce in the near future. At the moment, though, everythings a matter of speculation, our source reveals.

Eyewitnesses spotted Tiger leaving the meeting. And though he seemed a tad anxious, he obliged fans and photographers requests for pictures.The film Siva Manasula Pusha, whose title features the names of two politicians who were recently in the midst of a controversy, has run into trouble with the regional censor board.

The board apparently asked director-producer Vaarahi to drop some political and glamorous scenes, which he refused to do. And when he filed an appeal in Delhi, he was in for an even bigger shock. Not only did the board object to the title of his film, it also asked him to change the names of his lead characters Siva and Pushpa.

SMP is a fictional political film inspired by real-life incidents, and the lead roles are played by Vaarahi and Shivani. Defending his creation, Vaarahi says, Have names like Siva and Pushpa been banned? Or has anyone objected to the title? In that case, how did they clear the title Siva Manasula Sakthi? When they can allow films like Iruttu Arayil Murattu Kutthu, which has deeper connotations, to be released, why would they object to a simple title like Siva Manasula Pushpa?

He adds that there are no rules or regulations that allow the censor board to ask a producer to change the title of his film. Now, I have sent my film to the revising committee. If the problem persists, I will seek legal help, he says.She is smart, well-dressed and articulate. The pretty college girl rushes to classes almost on time and leaves as soon as the last bell rings. In between, she hangs out with friends, plays pranks, teases her college mates and sometimes, teachers. But outside the college gates, she is a fighter who does menial jobs to make ends meet, to feed her family, holding her head high throughout, assuring herself that whatever be the struggle, she will conquer her dream. When Meera Jasmine played Priyamvada, an extrovert in her college and a fighter who struggles 24x7 for her family in the 2003 movie Kasthooriman, people saw it as an inspiring tale of an admirable girl.

Fast forward to 2018, in the busy Thammanam Junction in Kochi, hardly-out-of-teens Hanan Hamid was seen selling fish in her college uniform. When a reporter talked to her to tell the world the story of her life, never would she have imagined that her life story was going to be viral, for all wrong reasons! Hours after Hanans story  of a shattered childhood, broken family, struggling with studies and her biggest dream to fly to Mauritius to pursue MBBS course  came to print with the photograph of a cheerful girl in her college uniform selling fish, she shot to fame. The youngster, who juggles the hats of a fish vendor, jewellery maker, accountant, call centre executive, cook and junior artiste in films, without bunking classes at Al Azar College, Thodupuzha, where she is pursuing BSc Chemistry, is very inspiring. Links were shared, liked and offers came pouring in  director Arun Gopy offered her a role in his upcoming film Irupathiyonnam Noottaandu starring Pranav Mohanlal. It was all celebrations until Hanan appeared on TV. A smart, talkative girl, who doesnt appear impoverished, was hard to digest for many! Theories started floating. Everything from her haircut to her gold ring to her hijab-less appearance to the gloves she wore while selling fish was scrutinised.

Cyber Holmes rummaged through Hanans social media accounts to dig up her stylish photos, selfies with actors and even Dubsmash videos and came up with the verdict  hers was a sham story! What followed was a vicious attack on the 19-year-old, whose melodramatic act was purported to be a movies promotional tactics. People found it hard to believe that a fighter could be smart, good looking and vocal. Many even took bytes from people in the market to expose the girl who appeared out of nowhere three days ago. The judgment was immediate and travelled faster than an epidemic  that Hanans was a fake story. Finally, her friends, teachers and Hanan herself had to go live on Facebook to prove to the world that her story is genuine. A teary-eyed Hanan had to recount her battles, her odd jobs, the early morning cycle rides with fish loads, her rush to board the 7.51-am bus to college, to convince the whistleblowers.

Since Class VII, I have been engaged in jewellery-making, taking tuitions, posing as flower girl for events, dubbing, acting in drama and anchoring. I have also been writing poems and have got featured in radio programmes. All these have been my income, she explains. She ventured into fish selling just a month ago with Babu, whom she befriended at Aluva Fest. We used to sell fish at the red tent near a bajji shop in the KalamasseryPipeline area. I moved to Thammanam three days ago when another person there misbehaved with me. You can ask Babu chettan for clarification, she says, adding that she used to accompany Babu to get the fish load and then board the 7.51-am bus to Thodupuzha from Kakkanad. When my college was closed for a week due to incessant rains, I found a new place to start my venture at the behest of a vegetable vendor in Vytilla. I sold fish till the third day  on Wednesday, till the whole media attention happened, she adds.

Having worked in call centres in back-to-back shifts, too much exposure had affected her hearing ability. The media exposure and crowd was too much for her to handle and she was hospitalised on Wednesday. By the break of dawn, everything had changed. From an inspiring angel, Hanan had become a liar and a fake. I came to know about all this only in the morning, she breaks down, adding, The photos you see on Facebook are the ones taken during the shooting of songs and films. Like others my age, I too have done Dubsmash. And the gold ring you mention was bought a few days ago using my hard-earned money. I too can have wishes like all, right? she asks. Her question hurts. Why are people so sceptical? Thats because we are slowly turning into culturally controversial creatures, observes Dr C.J. John, chief psychiatrist, Medical Trust Hospital, Kochi.

Its sort of cyber sadism. This is a feel-good life story and I am saddened by the controversy. Im very concerned by the way people are trying to find fault and looking for hidden agenda in everything. We are moving in a very dangerous direction. Its always good to look at things from a different perspective, but this is not constructive criticism. They have just killed the spirit of the girl and her story. They dont even spare a thought for the girl, who might get affected. Hanan is a beacon of inspiration for the younger generation. Instead of spewing theories, they could tell their kids to learn from her. He also sees jealousy and gender angles in the reactions. A smart young girl getting into the limelight is too much for them. Had it been a boy, I dont think the attack would have been so vile, he feels. The attacks might be horrendous, but Hanan cant be cowed down. Come what may, the go-getter is determined. I will continue to sell fish, she asserts, with confidence and elan.The drug cartel is run mostly run by African nationals, who arrive in the city on student and business visas.

Bengaluru: Kothanoor, Banaswadi, K.R. Puram, Rammurthy Nagar, Hennur, Indira Nagar and Sudgunttepalya are the hotspots where a variety of narcotic drugs are sold which range from marijuana to cocaine, nicotine to brown Sugar, afeem to hashish.

The drug cartel is run mostly run by African nationals, who arrive in the city on student and business visas. They are helped by their agents, who sell smaller quantities in areas like M.G. Road, CMH Road, Old Madras Road, Church Street, TC Palya Main Road, Wheeler Road and Horamavu Junction, said a police officer who is part of the narcotics control wing in Central Crime Bureau (CCB).

Another police officer said that after the recent, intense crackdown, drug peddlers are spilling the beans about their networks and how and where narcotic substances are traded. The dealers get ganja from the suburbs like Hoskote, Mysuru Road, Banaswadi, Electro- nics City, White field, HSR layout and Madiwala and sell it to college students and others.

Schools, colleges their main target

A senior police officer told Deccan Chronicle that once the agents get drugs, they target specific areas where student population is high. The key areas they target are Jayanagar, Chandra Layout, Vijayanagar, Raja rajeshwari Nagar, Hosa- kerehalli and nearby colleges. The buyer and peddler meet and disperse within minutes after the transaction.

Code words

The drugs are exchanged mainly near paan shops, bakeries and other petty business establishments located near colleges. The code for the 5 gm packet of ganja  One Puff, Maal, Stuff, Baby, Boom Shankar, etc.

Drug trail

Drug consignments from countries like Mynmar arrive in Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Mumbai and Goa. From there, agents easily transport it to Karnataka by trains, buses and freight vehicles.

Ganja is supplied by train from Guntur, Kurnool, Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, Hosur, Krishnagiri and Odisha borders.

Ganja farming has been reported from Western Ghats, Chamarajanagar, Mysuru, Kolar and Kodagu. The carriers use private buses, freight vans and vegetable transporting vehicles to bring drug to teh city.

Goonda Act for drug dealers?

Alarmed by the rising drug menace in the city, Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwar had commented that Bengaluru is in danger of becoming an Udta Punjab and had announced that drug peddlers would be booked under the stringent Goonda Act, but no official circular has been brought out yet.

As the growing drug menace in Bengaluru has become a matter of grave concern, the city police have been conducting regular raids across the city. On Saturday, the city police from Whitefield, East and Northeast division arrested 107 African nationals who had overstayed in the city and seized 650 gm of ganja, 60 gm of cocaine and 10 gm of LSD and arrested of six drug mules.

In October last year, the Central Crime Bureau (CCB) launched a toll-free number, 1908, for citizens to give information to the police on drug peddling.

We have received over 100 calls. We are also getting information from Whatsapp and other social media platforms. Majority of the callers complained about rampant drug abuse near schools and colleges, said a police officer.

Besides, the helpline number, the Bengaluru police in association with educational institutions have been creating awareness on the ill-effects of drug abuse among youth.

Many residents have joined hands with the police to combat the menace. The department has also adopted several measures online to create awareness.Chennai: Nearly a month after a Pondicherry-based businessman was abducted for Rs 15 lakh ransom, the Madhuranthakam police have arrested the mastermind and his two aides, who had planned the abduction, on Thursday morning.

The arrested were identified as Gnanasekaran (28) of Kotturpuram and his aides Suresh and Murali. According to a police source, the Madhuranthakam police had tried to stop a car on Chennai - Trichy National Highway near Salavakkam on Thursday morning. But the car fled past the police ensuing a hot chase for 1.5 km. The car was stopped and the trio was arrested. Gnanasekaran was the one who planned the abduction, the source added.

Already the police have arrested seven persons including Gnanasekarans mother and two wives. The police had seized an unlicensed pistol, Rs 2.5 lakh cash and the car. The gang had abducted M. Muthukumar (60) of Pillaiyar Kuppam in Pudhucherry on June 30 near Pakkam when he was going to his home in his car. The gang had stopped his car and abducted him in knifepoint.

They also called Muthukumars relative Balachandar and demanded Rs 15 lakh ransom for his release. The family handed over Rs 10 lakh after which the gang abandoned Muthukumar and car in separate locations. Kancheepuram police formed a special team and nabbed the gang.Based on the complaint given by Ruby, police arrested Srinivasan and sent him to judicial custody.

Chennai: Ambattur police have arrested a man who had entered a doctor's house in the guise of a patient and snatched her gold chain, on Thursday.

The arrested was identified as P.Srinivasan(43) of resident of Old Street in Ambattur and a car driver.

According to the police, J. Ruby (71) of Vijayalakshmi Puram in Ambattur is running a clinic adjacent to her house. On Tuesday night, Srinivasan entered her clinic and told her that he was suffering from stomach pain. Trusting him, the doctor poised to treat her patient.

At the time, he snatched her 12 sovereigns chain and fled, the police said. Based on the complaint given by Ruby, police arrested Srinivasan and sent him to judicial custody.Vijay Mallya remains on bail since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April last year. (Photo: File)

London/New Delhi: The UK's Court of Appeal has refused Vijay Mallya the permission to appeal against a High Court order in favour of 13 Indian banks to recover funds amounting to nearly 1.145 billion pounds, in another setback to the embattled liquor tycoon.

The 62-year-old businessman, who is separately undergoing an extradition trial in a UK court over fraud and money laundering charges by the Indian authorities, had sought permission to appeal against the High Court order dated May 8.

In the ruling, Judge Andrew Henshaw had refused to overturn a worldwide order freezing Mallya's assets and also denied permission to appeal, which left Mallya with the only option of turning to the Court of Appeal.

Judge Henshaw's order marked the first recorded case of a judgement of the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in India being registered by the English High Court, setting a legal precedent.

The Court of Appeal judges looked into Mallya's application seeking permission to appeal and decided against it on Tuesday.

Also Read: Vijay Mallya reaches out to authorities, willing to return to India: report

As a result of the High Court order, the Indian banks - State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Corporation Bank, Federal Bank Ltd, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Mysore, UCO Bank, United Bank of India and JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Co Pvt Ltd - have the right to enforce the Indian judgment against Mallya's assets in England and Wales.

"In the event, permission has been refused, then the decision of the judge is final and Mallya does not have any further recourse of appeal against his decision," said Kartik Mittal, Senior Solicitor at London-based Zaiwalla & Co LLP.

"The English judicial system does not give parties an unfettered right to appeal. The right to appeal is restricted. A party can only appeal a decision of the first instance Court if the first instance Court or the Appellate Court gives the party permission to appeal," he explained.

"A party is granted permission to appeal only in cases where the appeal appears to have a real prospect of success or there is some other compelling reason why the appeal should be heard. Therefore, in a majority of the cases permission is refused," he added.

In a related High Court ruling on June 26, Justice Bryan had issued an enforcement order in favour of the banks, granting permission to the UK High Court Enforcement Officer to enter Mallya's properties in Hertfordshire, near London, where he is based. While it is not an instruction to enter and that particular order can be appealed against, the banks have the option to use the order as one of the means to recover funds owed to them.

"The High Court Enforcement Officer, including any Enforcement Agent acting under his authority, may use reasonable force to enter the Property if necessary," it states. Mallya has since said that he has handed over a full statement of his UK assets to the court and there was no question of the use of force to enter his home Ladywalk in the village of Tewin in England.

The former Kingfisher Airlines boss had also issued a lengthy media statement last month, condemning the charges against him as politically motivated. He then took to social media to clarify that he made the statement "after a long period of silence" because he had filed an application before the Karnataka High Court on June 22, setting out available assets of approximately Rs 13,900 crores.

"Media reports quote an ED [Enforcement Directorate] official stating that I am attempting a plea bargain. Would respectfully suggest that the official read the ED charge sheet first," Mallya had said in his last Twitter message on the issue on June 30.

"I would invite the ED to advance the same plea bargain theory in Court in front of whom I have placed my assets," he said.

Meanwhile, Mallya remains on bail since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April last year. He will return for his extradition hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on July 31, when closing arguments are expected from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), acting on behalf of the Indian government, and Mallya's defence team.

A judgment is expected in the case at a later date, which will be arranged by Judge Emma Arbuthnot.

While the CPS claims it has successfully established a prima facie case of fraud against the businessman, Mallya's lawyers have sought to establish that the criminal charges against him are "without substance".

They have also challenged the case on human rights grounds, questioning the conditions at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, where the businessman is to be held post-extradition.Sexual exploitation of girls at a Muzaffarpur shelter home was uncovered more than a month ago during its audit by a Mumbai-based social science institute. (Photo: Youtube Screengrab)

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar recommended a CBI inquiry into the alleged sexual exploitation of girls at a state-funded shelter home in Muzaffarpur district on Thursday.

Terming the incident "deplorable", the decision to hand over the case to the CBI was taken to prevent rumour-mongering in the state, an official release said.

Medical examinations of 29 of the 42 shelter home inmates confirmed that they were sexually exploited, state Director General of Police K S Dwivedi had said.

"Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has directed the Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and Principal Secretary (Home) to immediately hand over the case to the CBI," it said.

"A deplorable incident has taken place in Muzaffarpur, where the police have been carrying out a diligent investigation. Although the government was committed to conducting an impartial probe, the decision for handing over the probe to the CBI has been taken to dispel the 'bhram ka vatavaran' (environment of rumours) that was being created," the release said.

Also Read: 29 of 42 girls in Bihar shelter raped, but no girl missing: cops

Opposition parties in the state, while demanding a CBI inquiry, had alleged that the state government was baulking at handing over the matter to the central agency as it wanted to "shield" some of the key accused who were said to be close to the ruling dispensation.Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe plans to visit India by the end of the year. (Photo: AP)

New Delhi/Beijing: In Beijing's latest outreach to New Delhi, Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe has accepted an invitation to visit India and plans to do so by the end of this year, China said on Thursday.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed in April to open a new chapter in ties, just months after the 73-day Doklam standoff near the tri-junction with Bhutan in the Himalayas rekindled fears of war.

Speaking at a regular monthly news briefing, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang said both countries were currently in communication about Wei's visit, but gave no other details.

Hundreds of troops from both sides were deployed in 2017 on the Doklam plateau, near the borders of India, Bhutan and China after India objected to Chinese construction of an illegal road in the Himalayan area in the most serious standoff in years.

Ren added that Major General Liu Xiaowu, deputy commander of China's western military region, had also visited India from July 2-6, for meetings with his counterparts.

During his trip, both countries reached broad consensus about improving front line risk management, the need to maintain peace and stability along the border and strengthening of exchanges between their two border forces, Ren said.Supreme Court asks for a status report from Kerala government on the investigation being conducted in the case of alleged rape and molestation of a woman against four Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church priests by August 6. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked for a status report from the Kerala government on the investigation being conducted in the case of alleged rape and molestation of a woman against four Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church priests by August 6.

In the meanwhile, a Bench of Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan extended the stay of arrest of two accused Father Jaise K George and Father Sony Varghese till August 6. The two priests had sought anticipatory bail.

On July 19 the proceedings were held in camera in the chamber of Justice AK Sikri and it was suggested that the order has been reserved. However, on Thursday the Bench listed the matter for further hearing and directed the Kerala government to file a status report.

On behalf of the two priests, it was submitted that it was consensual sex and there was no rape. But the Kerala police contended that it was rape and opposed grant of anticipatory bail when the probe has not been completed.

The four priests Fr. Abraham Varghese (A1); Fr. Job Mathew (A2); Fr. Johnson Mathew (A3) and Fr. Jaise K. George (A4) belonging to the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church were booked by the state crime branch for allegedly raping and molesting the woman devotee.Kathmandu, Nepal: The second Airbus with sign number as 9N-AIZ of Nepal Airlines Corporation arrives in Kathmandu on Thursday morning.





The plane was landed at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu with the 20-member Nepali delegation, which had left for France to take delivery of the aircraft.



The sisters were aged two, four and eight respectively and were declared brought dead to the hospital. (Representational Image)

New Delhi: The three sisters who were found dead in east Delhi's Mandawali area on Tuesday were starved to death. The doctors revealed on Thursday that severe malnutrition was the main cause for their deaths.

There was no trace of fat on their bodies. Postmortem showed the stomach was absolutely empty. Its a case of gross malnutrition, Dr Amita Saxena, the MS of Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital told Hindustan Times.

The sisters were brought to the hospital by their mother and a neighbour at around 1 pm on Tuesday. The sisters were aged two, four and eight respectively and were declared brought dead to the hospital. Reports stated the girls had been starved for eight days.

According to reports, the mother was mentally unstable and when she was questioned about the condition of the children, she said, "Give me food..," and almost collapsed, reported NDTV.

"The Delhi government has ordered a magisterial probe into the matter," Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said in a tweet.

Also Read: BJP, Congress slam Delhi govt after 3 sisters found dead due to hunger

A forensic team had earlier inspected the family's residence and found some medicine bottles and pills for treating loose motion, police said.

The girls' father, a labourer, is missing since Tuesday, though locals said he had gone in search of work and would return in a couple of days.

Two of the sisters, aged two and four, had been unwell for a few days. They had bouts of vomiting and loose motion, the locals said.

Police are probing as to how the third one also fell ill suddenly.

The AAP government ordered a magisterial probe in the case. However, the BJP and Congress did not spare the Kejriwal-led party and slammed them for depriving the common man of ration cards.

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said that it is "sad" that such a "mishap" occurred in Delhi where the local government claims to champion ration distribution to the poor.The ruling Trinamool Congress government placed a proposal in the state assembly to change the name of West Bengal to 'Bangla' in all languages. (Photo: File | PTI)

Kolkata: West Bengal Assembly has passed a resolution to change the state's name from West Bengal to 'Bangla'.

The ruling Trinamool Congress government placed a proposal in the state assembly to change the name of West Bengal to "Bangla" in all languages.

The resolution passed by the West Bengal Assembly will now go to the Union Home Ministry and if the Ministry of Home Affairs gives a green signal then only the name of the state will be changed to 'Bangla'.

The Centre had sent back the state's earlier plan to change the name to "Bengal" in English, "Bangla" in Bengali and "Bangal" in Hindi.

The West Bengal Assembly had passed a resolution on August 29, 2016, changing the name of the state to Bengal in English, Bangla in Bengali and Bangal in Hindi.

But following Centre's reservations with the three names, the state cabinet passed a resolution to change the name of the state to "Bangla" in all languages on September 8, 2017.New Delhi: The Centre has asked the CBI to probe the alleged misuse of data of Indias Facebook users by British political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica, law and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. The data mining and analysis firm earlier faced allegations it used personal information harvested from 87 million Facebook accounts to help Donald Trump win the election.

In a significant move ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Prasad said the probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) will determine whether Cambridge Analytica violated the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Indian Penal Code(IPC). The data mining and analysis firm earlier faced allegations it used personal information harvested from 87 million Facebook accounts to help Donald Trump win the 2016 US presidential election.

As members in the Upper House expressed concern over social media platforms being used to spread rumours and fake news, Prasad also said the government has asked them to provide technological solutions so that verified fake news and provocative messages can be filtered. Cambridge Analytica (CA) is at the centre of a storm in the country over alleged breach of Facebook user data seeking information about its clients in India and whether it had harvested their user profiles. The controversy had triggered a war of words between the BJP and the Congress.

Prasad while responding to the concerns by members during a calling attention notice on the misuse of social media and propagation of fake news causing unrest and violence referred to the reported breach at Facebook where the data of a large number of users were allegedly compromised by Cambridge Analytica.

He said notices were immediately issued to the two companies and their response sought.

Facebook responded that they will streamline their internal processes regarding handling of personal data. They stated that the case of Cambridge Analytica was a case of breach of trust. They promised to take various other steps to ensure that such breaches do not recur, Prasad said. However, he said, Cambridge Analytica gave an initial response that data of Indians was not breached but this was not in conformity with what was reported by Facebook. Cambridge Analytica also did not respond to a subsequent notice.

The Government has entrusted this issue to be investigated by the CBI for possible violation of Information Technology Act, 2000 and IPC, Prasad said, adding it is suspected that Cambridge Analytica may have been involved in illegally obtaining data of Indians which could be misused. He said there were also reports that user data was illegally accessed by hardware manufacturers who had tie-ups with Facebook. In regard to this issue, Facebook has reported that they are not aware of any misuse of information, including Indian users information. Prasad also said that the Centre will strengthen the legal framework to ensure that social media and instant messaging service providers do not deprive the Indian users of the right to hold proceedings in India.Chennai: Christian pilgrimage is emerging as one of the important focus areas for the Egypt tourism, which is eyeing Chennai, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kochi to tap the market.

With 30 per cent growth in Indian tourist arrivals in 2017, Egypt Tourism is conducting roadshows to promote its cultural, Christian pilgrimage and MICE offering. Christian pilgrimage is one of the important focus areas and for that we are focusing Mumbai, Bengaluru and specifically Kochi, says Ismail Amer, Egyptian tourism counsellor, on the sidelines of their roadshow in Mumbai. Besides Mumbai, the roadshow will be held in cities like Bengaluru, Kochi and Ahmedabad.

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, Egypt has been ranked as the second-fastest growing tourist destination of 2017. What attracts Indian travellers the most is that Egypt is a destination of great value in terms of visits to historical places and time spent on the beach. The Great Pyramid of Giza, which is one of the seven wonders of the world is the largest and oldest of the three pyramids in Giza. The Great Sand Sea - which includes a vast desert region of sand dunes - covers approximately 72,000 km square and is a great tourist attraction.

Last year also we conducted roadshows in four cities. But this time we replaced Delhi with Kochi to target Christian pilgrimage traffic from Kochi, justified Amer. He also made it clear that they are targeting Egypt as a stand-alone spiritual experience.

Egypt has everything to attract MICE traffic from India and they are working in this direction. Egypt Tourism is targeting IT, pharma and retail segments for MICE. With encouraging response from India, Egypt expects 1,30,000-1,40,000 tourists from India which has emerged as one of the best source markets for Egypt. Pyramids, Egyptian museum and old Cairo are among the very popular haunts of Indian touristsHyderabad: Hyderabad city police conducted a public auction of abandoned and unidentified vehicles at Goshamahal stadium on Wednesday Speaking to this newspaper, the Additional DCP of CAR (City Armed Reserve) department, B.S.P. Ravi Kumar said that about 4,000 to 5,000 men attended the event and 379 vehicles were auctioned off, including 243 serviceable vehicles and 136 scrap ones.

The advertisements for the auctioning event were published in all leading newspapers and was also put up on our website, he said. It was a two day event conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday at Goshamahal stadium where we auctioned off the lot. A total of 136 vehicles were sold to scrap dealers and Rs 28,18,300 was received during the auction, said the additional DCP, adding that about Rs 1 lakh more is yet to be realised as some amounts are due.

The additional DCP further said that the city police had given out the notification arouned six months ahead of the public auction so that if anyone with an objection or the owners may file an application to the commissioner of police to claim the vehicle within a period of six months from the date of notification, failing which the vehicles will be auctioned.

The condition of most of the unclaimed vehicles has deteriorated to such an extent that they can only be sold to scrap dealers. Around 10,480 abandoned and unclaimed vehicles were auctioned in the last three years, among which 9,473 were sold to scrap dealers, leaving 1,007 serviceable vehicles that were sold off in the auction.Washington/New Delhi: A US Congresswoman has claimed that China has quietly resumed its activities in the Doklam area and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade it, an assertion that was denied by New Delhi on Thursday. Congresswoman Ann Wagner made the claim during a Congressional hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee for Asia and the Pacific. During the hearing, she posed a question to a state department official, Alice G. Wells, on Beijings actions in the Himalayan region and compared them with its manoeuvres in the disputed South China Sea.

In New Delhi, minister of state for external affairs ministry V.K. Singh told Rajya Sabha on Thursday that there have been no new developments at the site of the face-off with China in Doklam and its vicinity, and status quo prevails in the area.

Since the disengagement of Indian and Chinese border personnel in the Doklam area on August 28, 2017, there have been no new developments at the faceoff site and its vicinity. The status quo prevails in this area, Mr Singh said in a written reply.

Tensions between India and China reached their peak during a 73-day standoff in Doklam near Bhutan over Beijing's construction of a road in the area. The standoff ended after both sides agreed to disengage, and there have been no confirmed or official reports of China resuming any activities since then.

Although both countries backed down, China has quietly resumed its activities in Doklam and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade it. China's activities in the Himalayas remind me of its south China Sea policies. How should our failure to respond to the militarisation of the South China Sea inform the international response to these Himalayan border disputes? Wagner had asked.

Wager did not elaborate on her claim of China resuming its activities. In her response, Wells, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, did not directly refer to Doklam, but told Wagner and other lawmakers: I would assess that India is vigorously defending its northern borders and this (the situation at the northern borders) is a subject of concern to India.Hyderabad: Indias first comprehensive anti-trafficking Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, making trafficking an organised crime.

Two crusaders from Telangana state, Prajwala co-founder Sunitha Krishnan and Rachakonda police commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat were part of the think tanks that drafted the long overdue legislation.

The Bill received unanimous support from all political parties in the Lok Sabha. Adding significance, the draft was read out by TRS MP Kalvakuntla Kavitha.

The Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018 provides for confidentiality of victims, witnesses and complainants, time-bound trial and repatriation of victims.

Reacting to the passage of the Bill, Ms Krishna told this newspaper that the journey started in 2004 when she filed a PIL (56/2004) in the Supreme Court. The verdict of it came in December 2015 .

After two years of consultations, we are seeing the legislation. All parties unanimously said they opposed human trafficking, not a single person voted against the Bill. It is a victory for the victims and the anti-trafficking moment, Ms Krishnan said.

We have moved from rhetoric and speeches to war against trafficking.

Ms Krishnan played a major role in collecting the voices of thousands of trafficked victims and submitted suggests made by the survivors. She said Ms Kavitha not only read the Bill but made a few suggestions. Union minister Maneka Gandhi promised not to make any changes in the Bill.

Not many know that Mr Bhagwat was called by the Prime Ministers Office over a videoconference to seek his suggestion on the legislation. Mr Bhagwat told this newspaper, I proposed stringent punishment against the customers, the client should be prosecuted as they generate demand. He said the law currently had no mention about the criminal role.

His second suggestion was about fast-track trial because the victims, once rescued, will not stay for a long time either at a Home or with authorities. If the trial gets delayed, the victims may re-enter the sex trade, he said. In case the victim gets married, she may refused to appear before the court. Thus a fast-track trial is important, said Mr Bhagwat, whose work against trafficking since 2004 has been recognised by the US.Gandappas was one of seven deaths in police custody in Telangana state in 2017. (Representational Image)

Hyderabad: Fifty-three-year-old Bandappa, resident of Gandhinagar-Valmikinagar, had an argument with a policeman during Bonalu celebrations in Secunderabad three years ago. He was arrested and made to stay the night at Marredpally police station. He was released the next day but his health deteriorated. He was taken to Gandhi Hospital by his family but died on the way.

Gandappas was one of seven deaths in police custody in Telangana state in 2017. TS is second only to Maharashtra, which holds the shameful record of having the most custodial deaths.

In Gandappas case an enraged family and public ransacked Marredpally police station and set it on fire and caused enough mayhem for the Rapid Action Force to be called in. But many cases get very little public or media attention and the perpetrators get away with murder.

The CBI court in Kerala was the first to sentence policemen to death for custodial deaths. Third degree or torture used on suspects to get them to confess to the crime is what causes the deaths.

Third degree as it is commonly called, includes beating the suspect on the soles of his feet with rubber truncheons; hitting the knees, elbows, buttocks, ankles, palms, in fact, any part of the body that is sensitive, taking care to ensure that no marks are visible. In some cases it was found that suspects are strung up by their thumbs on metal hooks fixed to the roof

Human rights activist and lawyer Jaipal Singh says deaths in police custody are usually the result of torture to extort information or to teach the person concerned a lesson. After an arrest is made and the person produced before a judicial magistrate within 24 hours, the police can ask to detain him longer for interrogation. And this is the crucial period for extorting information.

A report by the National Human Rights Commission said that of the 74 deaths in police custody in 2017, Maharashtra leads the table with 16 deaths recorded until August 2, 2017.

TS comes a distant second with seven deaths, while Karnataka recorded the third highest, five deaths.

Until July 25, 2018, no police officer has been prosecuted for custodial death. The order of the CBI court in Kerala to hang two policemen is the first.

P. Vamsi, a human rights activist said, The trouble is that action has not been taken against most policemen responsible for these deaths. Only a few have been transferred or suspended. In the absence of any accountability, it is hardly surprising that the police inspector, also drunk with power, goes to the extent of beating a person or shooting him to death merely because his ego has been hurt.

Information on custodial deaths is hard to come by since the police, the only witnesses, are hardly likely to expose this horror. In fact, police authorities in all states refuse to give any details on deaths in police custody.Chennai: Former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi has a unique distinction of being DMKs president for half-a-century. The 94-year-old has been the undisputed monarch of the Dravidian major, perhaps the longest serving chief of any political party.

He assumed charge as the first president of the DMK on July 27, 1969 and has been holding the post since then. As the veteran politician enters the 50th year as party president on Friday, the DMK has asked its cadres to celebrate the milestone in a grand manner.

Let us celebrate the golden jubilee of our leader assuming office as party chief, his son and DMK working president M. K. Stalin has said in a letter to the party workers on Thursday. Our beloved leader shouldered the responsibility of heading the party as its president on July 27, 1969 after the passing away of DMK founder leader C. N. Annadurai, he added.

Hailing Mr Karunanidhi for his tireless work in steering the party for half a century, Mr Stalin listed the welfare initiatives launched by his father during his five terms as Chief Minister.

He worked without any respite all his life.. time has given some rest, he said apparently referring to his frail health condition. The party is confident that time and medical science, would fulfill the party workers yearning to hear his magnetic voice again, he said.

Stating that Mr Karunanidhi had led the party through turbulent years, Mr. Stalin called upon the cadres to strive hard and bring the DMK back to power in Tamil Nadu as a tribute to the first party president. The party has faced several hurdles.

It saw a Himalayan victory in the 1971 assembly election when the party won 184 seats, a record till now. But it has also seen reverses in elections, he said. Karunanidhi had been able to keep the party intact for 13 years when the DMK had not been in power between 1977 and 1989. Soon after coming to power in 1989, Thalaivar (Karunanidhi) introduced several new schemes and brought in 20 per cent reservation within backward class, he added. DMK will celebrate the event by distributing sweets and giving away welfare assistance.Early into my tenure as Indias ambassador in Seoul in 2012, at a round table discussion on India-Korea ties, a participant representing a leading think tank asked: Ambassador, dont you think there is something amiss in Brics? He went on to remark that K (Korea) was missing, and that a more apt acronym would be Bricks!

The inaugural Bric summit (South Africa joined later in 2010, making it Brics) was held in Russia in June 2009, on the heels of the maiden G-20 summit in November 2008 in Washington, when the world was in the throes of a financial crisis, the likes of which were rarely seen since the 1929 Great Depression. I was fortunate to have a ringside view of both events as a member of Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs delegation.

As major economies saw their growth rates turn negative and iconic Western financial institutions went under, China and India among the Bric economies stood out like a beacon. In 2009, China and India registered GDP growth rates of 9.2 and 8.2 percentage points respectively. A short and succinct Bric joint statement noted: We stress the central role played by the G-20 summit in dealing with the financial crisis (para 1) and We are committed to advance the reform of international financial institutions, so as to reflect changes in the global economy (para 3). Bric had arrived, and a number of countries were contemplating joining it.

As the 10th Brics summit is being held in Johannesburg from July 25 to 27, it is appropriate to evaluate the groups balance sheet and its utility for India. According to Londons Financial Times (September 1, 2017), Brics has progressively realised its development agenda and made a significant contribution to the steady and consistent growth of the world economy.

Expanding at a rapid clip, Brics now accounts for 23 per cent of global GDP and almost 50 per cent of the worlds population. In 2017, the nominal GDP of China, India, Brazil, Russia and South Africa (in trillions of dollars) was 11.94, 2.44, 2.1, 1.47 and 0.34 respectively. And therein lies Indias opportunity and challenge.

Brics has been the most successful as an economic grouping. Its biggest achievement is the establishment of the New Development Bank (NDB) in 2015, with a capital of $100 billion, of which $40 billion has been contributed or committed by China and $18 billion each by India, Brazil and Russia. It aims to finance infrastructure projects in member nations as well as fellow developing countries. The NDB is headquartered in Shanghai and has regional centres in South Africa and Brazil.

India has floated the idea of setting up a Brics Credit Rating Agency (BCRA) as it feels (as do many other nations) that Western agencies like Standard & Poors, Moodys and Fitch, that control 90 per cent of the segment, are biased against the developing countries. The proposal is expected to be discussed during the ongoing 10th summit. However, China in particular does not appear to be very keen about it, wondering aloud about the credibility of a credit rating agency led by governments. Since the financial world is still dominated by the Western players, there are legitimate concerns about the BCRAs ability to access critical financial data and commercial intelligence in real time.

Over the decade Brics has grown in ambition. Its leaders are also likely to discuss global hotspot issues, international peace and security matters, global governance, trade issues, etc, besides cooperation in areas like the Fourth Industrial Revolution, multilateralism, global governance, climate change, health and vaccines, peacekeeping, the network of science parks, and technology, infrastructure and collaboration in multilateral forums. Here the groupings role is evolving. Limitations are also imposed by the asymmetric capability, capacity, outlook and ambition of its member states.

The growing Chinese assertiveness, ambition and muscle is a reality that cant be overlooked, especially by New Delhi, which has fraught bilateral relations with Beijing, despite the May 2018 Wuhan summit. The Chinese economy is now five times that of Indias and the gap is increasing. Even to maintain the status quo, India needs to grow at 10 per cent and China at two per cent annually, which is inconceivable any time in the foreseeable future. Chinas money power and influence peddling is evident in South Asia and Africa, a continent with which India has traditionally enjoyed warm ties. Beijing is busy developing a blue-water navy for the first time in its history and setting up military bases around India in Pakistan (Gwadar) and Djibouti.

On issues of importance and concern to India like permanent membership of the UN Security Council and terrorism emanating from Pakistan, Brics (China and even Russia) has at best been paying lip service. Over 10 years the formulation of joint statements has more or less remained the same: China and Russia reiterate the importance they attach to the status and role of Brazil, India and South Africa in international affairs and support their aspiration to play a greater role in the UN (Xiamen summit 2017). For the first time, the Xiamen declaration express(ed) concern on the  violence caused by the Taliban, ISIL/Daesh, the Haqqani Network, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, TTP and Hizbut-Tahrir. Pakistan was not named. The impact, if any, is yet to be seen.

That said, while trilateral forums like RIC (Russia, India and China) and IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa) have perhaps outlived their utility, Brics is steadily gaining in salience. India is rightly giving it due importance and has stayed fully engaged. However, New Delhi does need to guard against the inevitable Chinese attempts to hijack the Brics agenda. In time, there may be a good case for admitting tiger economies like South Korea and Indonesia to further expand the role, reach and standing of Brics.

H10



Guwahati, July 26 : Assam police have unearthed a racket being run in which money was allegedly being taken from students to pass in examination in the Assam Down Town University.





Police has arrested three persons including one faculty member of the Deputy Controller of the university located at Panikhaiti area under Pragjyotishpur police station, outskirts of Guwahati city.





According to the reports, the Guwahati police had arrested the Deputy Controller of the university identified as Arup Jyoti Dev Sharma on Wednesday in connection with the cash-for-result scam of the university.





Earlier, police had arrested two persons namely Gunajeet Choudhury, a faculty member of the university and Jalnur Uddin Ahmed, ex-student of the university in connection with the scam.





According to the reports, some passed-out students and some faculty members of the university are being allegedly running the scam.





On suspicion it, the university author had lodged a complaint at the Pragjyotishpur police station on June 25 this year and police had registered a case (no  133/2018) under sections 120B/420 of IPC.





Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) of Guwahati city police Purabi Mazumdar said that, the university authority had lodged an FIR and a case has been registered at Pragjyotishpur police station.





During investigation, we found that some students and faculty members of the university have collected money from students to pass in the examination. These persons had targeted the students who not done well in the examination, Purabi Mazumdar said.





The Assam Down Town University is a state private university and was established in 2010.





Meanwhile, police investigation is going on.



Notwithstanding the controversies surrounding the run-up to the elections, the country is set to achieve a second consecutive democratic transition. They may be dirty but the votes still count.

If opinion polls are to be believed, the PTI seems to be ahead in the contest, but that could change at the last moment with the PML(N) running a close race. Whatever the result, one thing is almost certain: no party will be able to get an absolute majority to form the next government. The battle for Islamabad will not be decided at the polls alone, raising the stakes for the smaller parties. So most likely there will be another period of coalition rule for good or bad.

A major question, however, is whether the elections will bring much-needed political stability. Given the intense political polarisation in the country and the growing imbalance of power among various state institutions, the challenges for the newly-elected government will be daunting. The worsening economic situation and multiple external problems have made things more complex.

Most importantly, the polls must be seen as credible and the results accepted by all parties and state institutions. Widespread allegations of pre-poll political engineering have already led to misgivings. But any attempt to tinker with the poll results could bring into question the entire democratic process and cause further political instability. It will be extremely difficult for a government with doubtful legitimacy to deal with the internal and external challenges.

It will require a broad consensus among the major political forces to restore the credibility of the democratic process and strengthen the elected institutions. A credible democratic transition could open a window of opportunity for a national reconciliation. There is certainly a need for a new social contract to end the confrontation between various institutions of state that has been the major cause of political instability in the country.

Surely, the democratic process cannot be sustained with the existing imbalance of power. But the supremacy of elected institutions is also linked with the rule of law. One hopes the newly-elected lawmakers and government will learn from past mistakes that have allowed non-elected institutions to gain greater space. The politics of vendetta should come to an end after the elections and a broad agreement must be reached on key national issues. Surely, it is imperative to resolve the civil-military conflict, but it is also wrong to see all the issues in that binary.

It is evident that the economy will be the thorniest issue for the new government. Unfortunately, there has not been much focus on this most critical issue in the election campaign beyond rhetoric. It is alarming that foreign exchange reserves are falling and the current account deficit growing, and it seems that the new administration will have no other option but to seek an IMF bailout. That means tightening ones belt.

Terrorism and religious extremism are another serious problem that would require parliamentary consensus. True, the level of militant violence has come down significantly because of successful military operations in the tribal areas, but the recent attacks show that the terrorist threat is far from over. The growing activities of the militant Islamic State group must be a cause of serious concern.

Political opportunism and expediency have further emboldened radical elements as seen in the emergence of new, even more extremist groups that have been allowed to participate in the elections. Similarly, banned organisations now functioning under new banners seem to have been legitimised in violation of the law and the National Action Plan.

The arbitrary mainstreaming of some militant groups has provoked international criticism. At least three candidates belonging to a banned group are on the UN terror list. The issue has become serious with Pakistan having been placed on the FATF grey list. The concern is that unless it takes action, the country could be at risk of being blacklisted.

Such a situation could increase Pakistans international isolation compounding our economic woes. Can Pakistan afford this? More worrisome is that some political parties have a soft corner for these extremist groups and ignore the concerns of the international community including some of our closest allies. It is time our lawmakers realised the gravity of the situation.

External challenges also demand a clear policy direction with all the stakeholders on board. The fast-changing regional geopolitics has exacerbated Pakistans foreign policy predicament as well as opened a new window of opportunity.

Growing estrangement with the US, the ongoing war in Afghanistan, tensions with India and relations with China will be the major foreign policy issues the new government will have to deal with. Our alliance that emerged after 9/11 has come full circle. We need to have a clear stance on how to protect our interests, but a complete break from Washington is not an option.

Perhaps the biggest foreign policy challenge for the new government will be to figure out how to normalise relations with New Delhi and manage business with Beijing.

Pakistan finds itself in complex foreign policy circumstances and once the new government is sworn in, managing foreign relations will be one of its biggest challenges. For that, there is a need for a national consensus.

By arrangement with Dawn

H10Economic fugitives involved in bank frauds in the name of trading in diamonds are running rings around the country, virtually mocking Indias diplomatic heft in bringing them to justice. The revelation that Mehul Choksi has bought an Antiguan passport that gives him access to several countries is yet another blow to Indias efforts to nab criminal businessmen on the run. In well-planned manoeuvres, the diamantaires have placed themselves beyond the reach of Indian law. It might be a laborious process to try and apprise a small Caribbean nation like Antigua of the wrongs done by businessmen who have taken money from nationalised banks by questionable methods, like corrupting bankers into adventurous or even outright fraudulent lending. The surprising lack of controls that enabled a $2 billion fraud in using banks funds to trade was the most shocking part of this particular episode.

Indias 2018 bill against fugitive economic offenders is, however, a good step that might deter businessmen in future from loot and scoot. The attaching of all the properties of declared fugitives may be bearing results if its true Vijay Mallya is tempted to return to protect his assets that may be greater than the loans taken. The defrauders always seem to be a step ahead of the law, but by attaching properties and shares it may be possible to make some recoveries. India must be seen to be proactive in bringing the likes of Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi to book. Only by diplomatic pressure at the highest levels can we hope to resolve the cases of prominent economic fugitives with the clout to loot, scoot and stay put abroad.

H10Have you ever approached the supreme being with the innocence of a child? Is your faith in him soaked in love and only love? Is the almighty your friend as well as a provider? For Bhagat Dhanna, the Lord was all in all and hence he says, Lord thy servant am I in affliction, those that to thee are devoted, thou their objectives dost fulfil. I beg for lentils, flour and some ghee, whereby may my heart be delighted. Seek I also shoes and good clothing, and grain grown over fertile land. A cow and a buffalo in milk I seek, as also a good Arab mare. Thy servant Dhanna then begs also for a wife, a good housekeeper.

This verse by Bhagat Dhanna is recited everyday in the gurdwara to remind the Sikhs of the basic tenets of Sikhism  to live an active life full of abundance and to have faith in only one Karta-Purakh. Sikhism, being a practical religion, denounces renunciation and believes in householders way of salvation. Bhagat Dhanna was a devotee who performed all his worldly affairs but at the same time his mind was ever imbued with the colours of devotion. Bhagat Dhannas faith and dedication was admired by Guru Arjan Dev  the fifth Sikh guru  who says that like Bhagat Dhanna he too wants his mind to become the Lords slave.

Bhagat Dhanna was born in Dhuan Kalan village in 1415 in the Tonk, Rajasthan. He was born into a farmer family and was a simple, hardworking and illiterate man who loved the company of saintly persons. One day he saw one brahmin offering prayers to an idol. When he questioned the brahmin, he replied that the idol would fulfil all the desires. To get rid of Bhagat Dhanna, brahmin wrapped one random stone in a paper and gave it to him. It is believed that with his deep, childlike innocence and dedication, Bhagat Dhanna could realise the almighty even in a stone. Bhai Gurdass, while narrating the incident, writes, Dhanna first bathed the stone, then offered food and butter-milk, he prayed with folded hands, and prostrated to persuade it to accept the offer. I will not eat a morsel, food I relish not if you are annoyed. God appeared before Dhanna, accepted the offering he made; innocent love of Dhanna, thus united him into the Lord!

Bhagat Dhannas journey of realisation began with idol-worship but soon he realised the futility of rituals and superstitions and thus came a shift from sargun (with attributes) to nirgun (formless) form of devotion. Bhagat Dhanna says, I wandered through countless incarnations but mind, body and wealth never remain stable... The guru has given the wealth of spiritual wisdom practicing meditation, the mind becomes one with him. Embracing loving devotional worship for the Lord, I have come to know peace, satisfied and I have been liberated... Dhanna has obtained the Lord, the sustainer of the world, as his wealth; meeting the humble saints, he merges in the Lord. Bhagat Dhanna became a disciple of Ramanand who was also the guru of other Bhakti saints like Kabir, Pipa, etc.

Bhagat Dhannas hymns are included in the Guru Granth Sahib under Asa and Dhanasari measures. His bani emphasises on Nam-simran and selfless devotion. There is a gurdwara near Jaipur, Gurdwara Bhagat Dhanna, with a well where Dhanna Jat had meditated and ultimately realised the divine truth  Satnam.

H11This is the moment when Mamata Banerjee needs to take a great leap forward, over the state lines and into the vast territory of national politics, where her principal adversary is Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister, and the ruling BJP, which has made the colloquial the idiom of choice for a new type of politics that is resolutely working to change the content of Indian democracy and the ideals of the nation as defined by the Constitution.

And she has done so by delivering two slogans stunning in their simplicity  on the 19th we will capture 2019; and we will score 42 out of 42. Like all slogans, these hold a world of meanings. On January 19, 2019, the Trinamul Congress plans to organise a massive rally at Kolkatas sprawling Brigade Parade Ground, the purpose of which will be a gathering of all anti-BJP parties across India to oust the Narendra Modi government and capture power in New Delhi. And, to prepare for that victory, West Bengal must deliver 42 out of 42 Lok Sabha seats to the Trinamul Congress.

The slogans are a call to Bengali nationalism. Mamata Banerjee invoked Swami Vivekananda and his guru Ramakrishna Paramahansa to remind voters that Bengals culture and its history of liberal inclusive secular Hinduism was tolerant rather than the Taliban Hinduism that was created by the BJP and its Sangh Parivar. By invoking Bengali pride and turning the 25th anniversary of the July 21 Martyrs Day rally into a mass pledge-taking event, Ms Banerjee has used the power of the positive to counter the Narendra Modi offensive, after he delivered a fairly typical speech which was a combination of mockery and incitement against the inequities of the Trinamul Congress by attacking the syndicate raj that has enriched itself by exploiting peoples angsts.

In using Bengali nationalism, Mamata Banerjee is hoping to widen her appeal in West Bengal among voters who are apprehensive about the BJPs overtly muscular Hindu nationalism. Her capacity to convert the sinister into vivid colloquial images  Talwar Hindu, Petao Hindu, Jaliye Dao (Burn Down) Hindu  is a tactic of mobilising all ranks of Bengalis, from the intellectuals to the marginalised. She is also pitching Bengali pride as a rallying point for a mix of voters who have not been her traditional supporters.

The appeal is to persuade her critics to see her as the lesser evil to the BJP at the state level, and to convert the 2019 Lok Sabha polls into a mandate for the liberal, secular, democratic values that matter to these segments of voters.

The choice offered by Mamata Banerjee is to participate in rescuing the nation from the divisive and destructive politics of the BJP-Sangh Parivar, which is associated with lynch mobs, cow vigilantism, encroachments on the autonomy of publicly-funded education and research institutions, regressive social attitudes and practices or to remain hapless bystanders. In West Bengal, the choice offered is a clever invocation of sentiment.

The Midnapore speech last week by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the other hand, was a projection of the voters of West Bengal as hapless and helpless people who had been exploited by successive regimes; first by the CPI(M) and now by the Trinamul Congress. The passivity of people in this representation is in striking contrast to Ms Banerjees image of people who can be active and significant as voters in 2019.

The confrontation between Mr Modi and Ms Banerjee is one of hope versus positive and purposeful action. The BJPs pitch is on presenting itself as a redeemer by offering to release the people of West Bengal from the bondage in which the Trinamul Congress holds them. If Ms Banerjee can leverage this negative representation of the proud Bengali to cut at the roots of the BJPs appeal, she will have won a popular mandate that will make her a powerful contender for leadership in national politics.

The fact that Mamata Banerjee is already battle-prepared is evident from the very deliberate measures she has taken in recent months to mop up the pockets of votes that had eluded her till now, like the Kamtapuri-Rajbanshi separatists in Cooch Behar and Alipurduar districts of North Bengal. This she has done by declaring their languages as official state languages and by setting up development boards that appear to decentralise power and delegate responsibility to local communities. The combination of micro nationalism and Bengali pride is likely to work to her advantage in 2019.

The adroit explanation of the recent panchayat election fracas in which the Trinamul Congress has been accused of murdering democracy by Narendra Modi on the one hand and the CPI(M) on the other at the July 21 rally as sour grapes is Mamata Banerjee at her brazen best. She has dismissed critics, including the Supreme Court, as biased, even though she did not say so directly by pointing out that in Uttarakhand and Sikkim far worse transgressions of the ruling parties in panchayat elections were ignored by the BJP. In other words, the Trinamul Congress, by winning over 35 per cent of seats in the recent panchayat elections without a contest, is insignificant compared to what happens in certain other states.

For voters in West Bengal, the choice has been reduced to voting for the Trinamul Congress in all 42 seats or being seen as tacit BJP supporters. The me versus them binary created by Ms Banerjee is as dangerous a narrowing of democratic choices as that of the BJP, which she incidentally described as worse than the totalitarian regimes of Hitler and Mussolini. Anybody who votes against the Trinamul Congress will become by default an enemy on the one hand and a supporter of the BJP on the other. The linking of the local with the national has reduced choice to the minimum, almost making it a coercive choice; and Ms Banerjee is both conscious of what she is doing and not apologetic about it at all.

H11Rakbar Khan, 28, father of seven small children, bled to death. The young man was a labourer in Mewat, Haryana, one of the most backward pockets of the country. A ban on mining almost a decade ago rendered many like him jobless. Rakbars family took to selling milk for livelihood. Last week, Rakbar was off to Alwar in Rajasthan to buy cattle along with his friend Aslam. On the way, he was attacked by a murderous mob masquerading as cow protectors.

Rakbars death has triggered a war of words between the local police and local politicians in Rajasthan. There is an ongoing, ghoulish debate on whether the young man was lynched by the mob or whether the thrashing by the police did him in. The police thought it was its duty to take the cows to a gaushala before taking a severely injured Rakbar to hospital. Now, amid allegations of custodial death, they referred to the callousness as an error of judgment.

These verbal jousts are likely to continue till the next savagery hits the headlines. I have not visited the family but from hundreds of miles away, a few thoughts come to mind. One cant help but wonder if Khans family, his neighbours, and other young men who are dairy farmers now think if the mob doesnt get you, the police will.

Cynics will say there is nothing new about these stories and new savageries will edge the old ones out of the spotlight.

But lets face some stark facts. Lynching  in all of its grotesque brutality  is not just murder. It is murder by a mob. It is also a political act, an act of intimidation and social control.

In Americas Deep South, in the 19th century and early years of the 20th century, lynchings of blacks werent just vigilante punishments. They were, as the Equal Justice Initiative notes, celebratory acts of racial control and domination.

Lynchings, wherever they may occur, are not just a human rights issue; they are also markers of the state of governance. As Justice Narendra Chapalgaonker, a former judge in the Bombay high court, pointed out in a 2017 article in India Legal: When the victim is accused of some crime and the mob, without giving him an opportunity to defend himself, brutally murders him as a punishment, it is lynching. Therefore, it is not only a crime against a person but it is also a crime against constitutional governance. Its seriousness will have to be weighed from this angle.

Officially, India doesnt track lynchings. The home ministry told Parliament in March this year that the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) does not maintain specific data with respect to mob lynching incidents (involving the minorities) in the country, that police and public order are state subjects under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. It added: The responsibility to maintain law and order and protect life and property rests with the respective state governments. It said advisories had been issued by the home ministry to the states and Union territories from time to time, which are available in the ministrys website www.mha.nic.in.

However, in its March 2018 response to the Lok Sabha, the home ministry also noted that between 2014 and March 3, 2018, altogether 45 persons had been killed in 40 cases of mob lynching across nine states, and at least 217 persons had been arrested.

In the backdrop of the Supreme Courts recommendation of a separate law to tackle this flood of mob violence relating to cow protection, child-lifting and so on, and lynchings becoming a regular front-page item, the Centre has set up a committee under home secretary Rajiv Gauba to deal with all the incidents of lynching.

The Narendra Modi governments key argument is that the burden of responsibility of lynchings fall squarely on the state governments. The only complication with this school of thought is that the BJP doesnt only call the shots at the Centre, it also governs 18 out of the 29 states in the country.

If the BJP can boast about its achievements in delivering electricity, toilets, financial credit, etc, in all these states, it must also own up to the murder by mobs there.

It is not that lynchings have not happened under previous governments or in Opposition-controlled states. But if governance is the trump card of the ruling party, it cant afford to constantly deflect attention by the tired argument of others are guilty too.

Mob violence is a marker of governance deficit. And as the 2019 general election nears, expect the Opposition parties to tap the issue.

This does not mean that the Modi government has no achievements to its credit, but when it talks about vikas, or development, the question will be asked whether vikas has called on everyone.

Development programmes work best when there is social stability. A climate of fear in which some groups and communities feel more vulnerable or targeted is an impediment to the equitable spread of benefits of development.

This week, a top Congress leader made the point that programmatic successes are undermined by feelings of insecurity and fear, if the minorities and marginalised feel that the social framework in which they live is not inclusive, that their voices are not heard and if they feel intimidated by dominant groups.

As Justice Chapalgaonker argued in his article: Assuming that the protection of the cow is one of the holy causes, no sane person would believe that lynching serves the purpose. The intended or unintended purpose of such crimes is to create fear in the mind of a section of society. This fear often extends beyond the communities and citizens become apprehensive to do or express anything which powerful persons may not like. This hurts the liberal democracy which has been assured by our Constitution. When people start taking the law into their hands and function both as prosecutors and judges, the whole constitutional system is endangered.

The widow of Rakbar Khan comes to mind. What is her future? What is the future of the seven small children? Or the other young men in the community who are dairy farmers? How do they feel in the wake of Khans brutal murder?

This is not just about grief. It is also about vikas. Vikas and violence do not go together.As per data from July 2017, 6.4% of the Indian population fell into the elderly category. This essentially means that roughly 80 million Indians are currently above the age of 65. Sadly, a major chunk of the elderly is living a life of stark loneliness. According to the 2011 census of India, more than 15 million people over the age of 60 are either living completely alone or with a partner, who is roughly the same age as them.

Considering the technological innovations and extensive medical research, life expectancy in India has been trending upwards since the past decade. From around 64 years in 2008, the Indian life expectancy has increased to almost 70 years in 2018. Extrapolating from these facts, it can be concluded that the elderly population in India is going to increase considerably in the coming years. With more adults adopting the nuclear family set up and opting to settle abroad, the chances of a large fraction of seniors living alone is high.

Being home alone as a senior

Considering the high number of elderly people living alone in India today, it is logical and even necessary for one to wonder about the risks of living alone in old age. A research by University College London, suggested that living in isolation significantly decreases the human lifespan. Social isolation and lack of interaction not only cause mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, but also a host of physical ailments such as high blood pressure and an increased risk of infectious diseases.

According to the study, aged individuals living alone also suffer from increased fall hazards and lack of help during emergencies. They are also unable to maintain basic housekeeping which increases the likeliness of disease-causing germs in their homes. The option of hiring domestic help exists, but comes with the added risk of crime against the elderly. A report by the Ministry of Home Affairs mentioned that the rate of crime against the elderly in India is at an all-time high. 40% of these crimes are reported in big cities including Delhi and Mumbai. Abuse and robbery cases pertaining to the elderly mostly occur in their own homes. With these facts looming over the elderly population, security becomes an added concern for those living alone.

How Artificial Intelligence pitches in at home

Artificial Intelligence has already penetrated the Indian lifestyle to a large extent. Were interacting with customer care chatbots while shopping online and asking Alexa or Siri to set timers or play music for us. But now, breakthrough innovations can transform Artificial Intelligence into secure and smart companions for the elderly living alone as well.

Where a lack of company might cause isolation issues, there are intelligent bots like Amazon Echo and Google Home which can listen, reply or adhere to commands. Echo and Amazon also allow hands free calling and voice messages, so seniors can contact their family or the authorities during emergencies. Google Home can also be used as a robust home security system complete with smart locks, smart security devices and security cameras. For the elderly living in big cities, these devices come as a true blessing.

The invention of domestic robots can solve the problem of the lack of domestic help and housekeeping within minutes. Domestic robots are smart devices that sense dirt or water on floors and intuitively mop or broom the entire house with very little need for human intervention. These robots, with their top-notch technologies, can automatically navigate through clutter and under-furniture zones to thoroughly clean any space. They also remove dust mites, allergens and germs so the health of the elderly population does not remain at risk due to a lack of cleanliness.

Cleaning sessions can be scheduled, started or stopped using a dedicated mobile app which is available for Android and iOS. Robots are also compatible with Google Home and Amazon Echo, and are constantly connected to the Wi-Fi. This level of connectivity ensures that a cleaning session can be controlled by seniors themselves or by their children sitting thousands of miles away. So, someone sitting in the US could order a robot to clean his moms home in Delhi while she sleeps peacefully.

Housekeeping robots can especially help seniors who suffer from ailments such as sciatica or arthritis that hamper their ability to move around and perform physically demanding tasks. Eliminate cleaning from their list of things to do and youll witness a huge sigh of relief.

The future of seniors and AI

The future of AI holds a lot more exciting stuff for seniors living on their own. AI-powered robot pets are already gaining traction in the West. These pets offer emotional support and companionship with absolutely no maintenance efforts like cleaning or feeding. Further technological advancements could also lead to mobility-supporting and caregiving robots. Unarguably, Robotics and AI are ensuring that seniors who are alone, never feel lonely. Instead, theyll get the quality of life they deserved to enjoy in the first place.

by Pulak Satish Kumar, COO, Puresight Systems.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the original author. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Deccan Chronicle and/or other staff and contributors to this site.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.Under the Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) that Trump signed in August, any country trading with Russias defence and intelligence sectors faces secondary sanctions. (Photo: File/PTI)

New Delhi: The United States has opened a path for India to avoid sanctions for buying arms from Russia, business leaders and experts said, almost a year after US President Donald Trump signed a law penalizing such trade.

India uses a large amount of Russian military equipment, from combat planes to ships and submarines, and is in the final stages of negotiating a USD 6 billion deal to buy S-400 long-range surface to air missile systems from Russia.

Under the Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) that Trump signed in August, any country trading with Russias defence and intelligence sectors faces secondary sanctions.

The law is designed to punish Russian President Vladimir Putin for the 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, involvement in the Syrian civil war and meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.

But the US Congress reached an agreement this week laying out conditions under which Trump can seek a waiver for allies. The administration has to certify that a country is reducing arms imports from Russia and is expanding defence cooperation with the United States.

India meets both those conditions, analysts and business leaders in New Delhi and Washington said.

Indias government declined immediate comment, and a defence official said the US Congress had still to vote on the modifications to the legislation which would then be signed by Trump into law.

Nisha Biswal, president of the US-India Business Council (USIBC), said the US move would help protect its strategic relationship with India.

At a time when India is focusing on growing defence ties with the US, we applaud Congress for also focusing on protecting this strategic partnership, Biswal said.

Jeff Smith, a South Asia expert at The Heritage Foundation, said the changes were a meaningful and positive step forward.

It reduces the possibility an Indian arms purchase from Russia will trigger CAATSA sanctions, a situation both the administration and most of Capitol Hill are keen to avoid, he said.

India has in recent years diversified its arms purchases, turning to the United States and Israel for modern equipment. It has ordered USD 15 billion of weapons from the US over the past ten years and US companies are bidding for contracts for fighter planes and helicopters worth billions of dollars.Industry body Assocham has asked the Karnataka government to facilitate speedy implementation of the Centre's guidelines on Direct Selling.

In September 2016, the Centre had issued the Model Framework for Guidelines on Direct Selling, and seven states including Chhattisgarh, Sikkim, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have adopted it.

According to the model guidelines, a direct selling entity shall not use misleading, deceptive or unfair recruiting practices, including misrepresentation of actual or potential sales or earnings, in their interaction with prospective or existing direct sellers, and it shall have an office with identified jurisdiction of its operation in the state, among others.

"We have got a positive response from the Karnataka government," Vijay Sardana, chairman of Assocham Task Force on Direct Selling, said.

Assocham conducted a regional conference on Promoting Direct Selling for Developing Entrepreneurship and Job Creation in the city and stakeholders exchanged views and spoke about the socioeconomic benefits of direct selling and the need to implement these guidelines.

"Karnataka is the fourth largest market for direct selling after Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. There is a huge market and opportunity for entrepreneurs out there," said David Stanley, MD of Healux.

According to World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (WFDSA), about 117 million people around the world are involved in this industry, out of which 74% were women. In India, of 5.1 million people involved in direct selling, 60% of them are women. The sector generated $1.5 billion sales in FY18.

The global direct selling industry in 2017 generated $189.6 billion in retail sales.

"Both India and China have 5.1 million and 5.3 million people, respectively, who are involved in direct sales. In China, sales worth $35 billion are generated. Countries like South Korea and Japan, among others, too have a very significant sales numbers," Zaheer K Merchant, Director - Corporate Affairs of Qi, said.

According to the Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA) survey, Karnataka generated annual sales of Rs 800 crore. The market share of Karnataka in total direct selling sales, which is valued at Rs 10,342 crore, is 7.81%.

A FICCI-KPMG report in 2017 projected the retail sales in direct selling to reach Rs 64,500 crore by 2025.

Rajesh Kumar, MD of Glonutra Corporation, pointed out that the industry can generate both direct and indirect employment opportunities and can create many young entrepreneurs.

All stakeholders pointed out the challenges that encompass a widely misconstrued business model due to lack of a proper regulatory framework, and they hoped that the Karnataka government would soon adopt the guidelines.As the country celebrates Kargil Vijay Diwas on Thursday, the citys fight for a memorial for martyrs hasnt borne fruit even after a decade.

Residents of the city claim that successive governments have done little to complete works on the National Military Memorial.

Apathy by the government agency, that was entrusted with the job of erecting a monolith at the memorial, has forced the martyrs children and families to take to social media.

Priya Chetty Rajagopal, an activist who has been fighting for the cause, said the foundation stone for the memorial was laid by the state in 2008-09 to honour post-Independence martyrs.

The military has done its bit. The Rs 25-crore project has to be completed by the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA). The 75-footstone monolith, which is ready, only needs to be erected here. Already, Rs 94-95 lakh has been spent on this, she said. But time and again, the officials have been citing shortage of funds, she said. Priya said the memorial has been planned on a 7.5 acre space. Several others like her have launched an online campaign #InMyFathersName.

#UnveilNMM Its Vijay Kargil Diwas on 26 July when 19 years ago 527 soldiers were martyred to protect our borders, in minus 42-degree weather. We have requested to meet the Governor, Deputy CM & BDA Commissioner on why the National Military Memorial in these martyrs memory can be so disrespected, and lies in cobwebs (sic), reads a post online.

Several of them took to social media to urge the government to give the warriors the respect they deserved. A petition was also started on Change.org in this regard.

Meanwhile, Member of Parliament Rajeev Chandrashekar  who was also the chairman of the National Military Memorial Committee  has written to Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy regarding the condition of the memorial.

Though many years and months have passed since firming up the conceptualisation and laying of the foundation stone, due to various reasons, the project continues to remain in an incomplete state. The Veeragallu, honouring our martyrs, as the traditional name itself denotes, commissioned six-plus years ago, is yet to be transported from the quarry and erected at the memorial site by the BDA, reads the letter.



Guwahati, July 26 : Five labourers including four from Assam were killed and three others injured in an electrocution incident in Meghalayas North Garo Hills district on Wednesday evening.





The incident took place at Miapara village under Mendipathar police station where the labourers, who were engaged in a road construction work, caught in a low lying high tension wire.





According to the reports, the incident occurred while the labourers were rolling a road construction machine it hit the high tension wire (11 KV) overhead.





Five labourers died on spot while three others were also at the same site were severely injured and rushed to Assams Goalpara town for medical treatment.





Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) of North Garo Hills district Nikcheng Momin said that, the labourers didnt see the overhanging high tension wire when the machine contacted the wire.





The deceased persons were identified as Sanwar Rehman, Jonal Uddin, Chand Mia, Ashraf Ali and they were hailing from Merarchar village in Assams Bongaigaon district while another Dipen Rabha from Miapara village in North Garo Hills district.





Identities of the injured three persons are yet to be received.





North Garo Hills district police has started investigation into the incident.



A police constable in Chennai sent her husband to attack the owner of a supermarket after she was caught red-handed stealing chocolates.

While constable D Nandhini has been placed under suspension, her husband, Dinesh, has been taken into custody by police.

The incident, which has been recorded in the CCTVs installed at the supermarket in Egmore area, took place on Wednesday when the constable working at G-1 Vepery Police Station, came for shopping.

The footage showed Nandhini picking up chocolates off the rack and placing them in her pocket while speaking on her mobile phone. Store owner Pranav, who was monitoring the footage, caught her red-handed. He also ensured that she sign a letter of apology for stealing chocolates from the supermarket.

Woman constable steals chocolates from shop; sends husband to beat up employees of the super market after caught. #policeattorcities #Chennai #Tamilnadu | @DeccanHerald pic.twitter.com/i1aR3ROJXy  Sivapriyan E.T.B. (@sivaetb) July 26, 2018

In the letter, Nandhini has admitted to having stolen Odomos, 5 Star chocolate bar, Gems and Bar One chocolate, amounting to Rs Rs 115, and gave an undertaking that she would not repeat this again.

Enraged at being insulted and humiliated, Nandhini went home and sent her husband to avenge Pranav's actions. Dinesh, along with a few of his friends, barged into the supermarket and attacked the employees.

Pranav, who is currently being treated at a hospital for injuries sustained in the attack, complained to the police about the incident that led to Dinesh's arrest.

The incident has come as a major embarrassment for the Chennai Police, who have been battling allegations of high-handedness by some of their personnel.This could be a grim post-script to the fickleness of Internet fame. On Wednesday, social media celebrated the story of Hanan Hamid, a 19-year-old college student who sells fish in a Kochi market to support her family.

A day later, she was left sobbing on live videos, rattled by abuses and threats, as she requested people to stop creating trolls and memes ridiculing her. What happened in between? Unverified news that Hanans story was not real, that it was a bid to hit headlines.

Hanan, a B.Sc Chemistry student at a college in Thodupuzha, says she has been taking up part-time jobs since she was in class seven. With a partial hearing problem, with her father fighting alcohol addiction, and later separating from her ailing mother, life has been rough but Hanan has tried to make ends meet by selling beaded bracelets and necklaces, giving tuition classes and working with event management companies. My day starts at 3 am. An hour later, Im tying a fish box to the back of my bicycle. By 5 am, Im at the Champakkara market looking for fish to sell in Thammanam, Hanan told reporters at the market on Wednesday.

With the help of an auto-rickshaw driver, she reaches Thammanam, keeps the fish at a house and leaves for her college, 60 km away. She returns after her classes and sells the fish in an evening market. Filmmaker Arun Gopi, taking note of her story, first reported in a Malayalam daily, made her an offer in his upcoming Pranav Mohanlal film Irupathiyonnaam Noottaandu. The young girls spirited ways were an instant hit on social media before the doubters emerged, many calling her story of struggles an act.

Soon, she was subjected to online abuse for selling a fake story, with many pointing to her fashionable appearance and photographs with celebrities and movie stars, posted on her Facebook page. It is learnt that late actor Kalabhavan Mani had helped her find opportunities in stage shows. Videos from the market were also uploaded, with people saying Hanan had started selling fish only three days ago.

On Thursday, authorities at Hanans college and her doctor confirmed that she was facing financial constraints and was struggling to run her family. A fresh round of online support has started, with the now-familiar afterthought apologies. But the less flippant have highlighted why the poor and the strugglers also have to appear poor and struggling to be taken seriously. Hanan, who aspires to be a doctor, said she was trying to move on. I didnt seek any of this media attention. Im just trying to make a living, please dont harass me, she said, tearful but resolute, in a Facebook live video.The Pakistan general election results on Thursday evoked a keen interest in Kashmir with majority of the people expressing happiness over the victory of Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) led by Imran Khan and defeat of radical parties like the one led by 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Sayeed.

"It is heartening to know that the people of Pakistan have rejected extremist forces in the elections. That is the strength of democracy. One always gets to choose," regional PDP president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti tweeted as election results poured in.

A neitzen Mohammad Afaq Sayeed while commenting on the defeat of Islamic parties in the Pakistan election wrote on his Facebook timeline, "Despite forming an absolute alliance, cumulative of all Islamic parties is stagnant at just 6 seats. Pakistan has never voted religious parties in. That is the most significant difference between Pakistani democracy and Indian democracy".

Farooq Peer a former IAS officer while sharing a link of a news story from Pakistan newspaper Dawn wrote on Facebook: "Contrary to negative impression being created by Media the elections in Pakistan have been better than 2013".

However, spokesman of Jamat-e-Islami J&K, Zahid Lone stirred a controversy by saying "Pakistan has rejected Islam" by not voting Islamist parties to power.

"Pakistani people proved beyond doubt that they never like Islamic system of life though they call themselves MUSLIMS! Virtually they inadvertently rejected Islam," he wrote on his Facebook official account.

He was grilled over his views by neitizens with Prof Sheikh Showkat, who teaches law at the Central University of Kashmir and is considered close to separatist camp, reminding Zahid that his counterparts in Pakistan have been part of different coalitions, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwan province, where Imran's PTI is in power.

"Absurd comment; voting or no voting for a party does not mean rejection of Islam," Hussain said.

Gowher Geelani, a freelance journalist, while reacting to Zahid's comment wrote on Facebook, "Rejecting those who claim to represent Islam is one thing, rejecting Islam is another".Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said BJP members have started retreating on seeing him wondering whether he would hug them too.

Now, whenever I come across BJP MPs they take two steps backwards. They may be thinking he may hug us, Gandhi said at a book launch function here on Wednesday evening.

Gandhi stole the show in the Lok Sabha during the debate on the 'No-Confidence Motion' against the NDA government when he hugged Prime Minister Narendra Modi after launching a sharp criticism of his government.

Citing his visit to Vietnam about a decade back, Gandhi said his interactions during the trip taught him that one could fight a person without hating him.

You can fight someone with all your might but hate is a choice that you make, he said.

Referring to BJP veteran L K Advani, who was in the audience, Gandhi said he may disagree with the former deputy prime minister and fight him politically without hating him.

I can fight Mr Advani every single inch, but I dont hate him, I can even hug him, the Congress president said.

The atmosphere in politics, we tend to see the world as either them and us and this is not my nature. But this is the design of our politics, its confrontational and winner takes all, Gandhi said.

We, the Congress, will take on the BJP and they will fight us, but we wont hate them. I dont know if we can expect the same from them, Gandhi said.Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday apologised to Jyotiraditya Scindia in the Lok Sabha after the Congress leader complained that he was not invited to a function organised in his constituency recently to inaugurate a four-lane national highway in Madhya Pradesh.

The Congress MP from Guna also complained that a plaque carrying his name was also removed from the spot while serving a notice for a privilege motion against Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh and his officials on the issue.

Scindia raised the issue in the Lok Sabha as soon as the Zero Hour began, demanding a reply from Gadkari, the Union road and transport minister, who attended the inauguration ceremony on July 23.

The Congress leader told the House that the project worth Rs 3,900 crore in Madhya Pradesh was sanctioned by the erstwhile UPA government.

I am moving a privilege motion. It's throttling of democracy when a Member of Parliament is insulted in such a manner, he said.

In his response, Gadkari told members that he was aware of the matter, saying it should not have happened.

I am a minister. I take the responsibility. It's true that his name was not there. I apologise on behalf of everybody and next time it will not happen, Gadkari said.

Gadkari said that he came to know about it from a Congress member of the state Legislative Assembly and asked the district collector as to why Scindia was not invited to the function.

He (the collector) said that it was conveyed to him when contacted over phone, that Scindia did not have time to spare for the event. It's ok. But, his (Scindia) name should have been there. I apologise for this, Gadkari said.

Scindia, joined by other Congress members, however, remained unconvinced. Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge demanded Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to take a tough stand on the issue so that parliamentarians are not insulted in future in such a manner.

As Scindia continued raising the demand urging the Speaker to provide protection to him, Mahajan sought to calm down the Congress leader, saying, Gadkariji has already apologised. It's his greatness. It's over. "Sanrakshan lathh leke dun kya?" (Should I use a baton to provide protection?).

Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar intervened and said that the matter should not be politicised as Gadkari had already apologised.

How many MPs were invited (to such events) during UPA regime? Tomar asked.RIVERTON  Citing increasing drought conditions and excessive water use, Riverton officials are asking residents and businesses to cut their water use by at least 25 percent.

If they don't, city officials said they may be forced to consider ways to limit water  whether that means metering or fees.

But Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs said city officials hope residents will heed their warning and do their part to conserve.

"We really prefer the choice of self-regulation," Staggs said Wednesday.

City officials issued an announcement Wednesday, warning that if residents continue using water at their current pace, the city will run into trouble.

We realize this may be an inconvenience for some people, but the conditions are such that we are going to have a real problem if we dont immediately begin to reduce our water use, Riverton City Manager Konrad Hildebrandt said in a prepared statement. This conservation request is going to take a concerted effort and a change in habits.

Staggs said the secondary water system's maximum capacity is supposed to be about 20 million gallons a day, but residents are using upward of 34 million gallons a day.

"Residents are using almost twice as much water on their lawns as they should be for the price they're paying," Staggs said.

In Riverton, every residential address has access to secondary water for a flat monthly rate based on lot size  a service that most cities don't provide, Staggs noted. That means secondary water is not metered in the city, which is likely the cause of excessive consumption, city officials said.

This conservation request is going to take a concerted effort and a change in habits.  Riverton City Manager Konrad Hildebrandt

People generally dont know how much water they are actually using to keep their lawns green," said Scott Hill, the city's water director. "Its more than you might think and we need everyone to cut back in Riverton.

We know people want to keep their lawns green this time of year, but the fact is, if a lawn is totally green right now, it is being over-watered," he continued. "Brown spots are going to show up, and we all need to get comfortable with that.

City officials said Riverton's water system is currently operating above recommended capacity, causing water pressure variation in certain areas of the city.

The system is capable of accommodating all recommended water needs from Rivertons growing population but was not designed to accommodate excessive use from individual users, city officials said.

Just turning back your sprinkler clock five minutes overall will help with the situation," Hildebrandt said. "Everyone in Riverton needs to do their part to ensure that we are conserving water and using what we have in a responsible way."

City officials said as of Wednesday, the 25 percent cut in water use is voluntary. But should the water situation worsen and residents don't begin to limit their water use, officials say they will "evaluate what additional options may be available to curb excessive use."

We know people want to keep their lawns green this time of year, but the fact is, if a lawn is totally green right now, it is being over-watered. Brown spots are going to show up, and we all need to get comfortable with that.  Scott Hill, the city's water director

Staggs said that could mean taking out another bond to expand the city's water system or spending $8 million to put meters on secondary water systems and increased fees  but he said he would rather not resort to that.

"If our residents want to continue this high utilization of water, then I think the governing body's going to have to take a look at those options," Staggs said, adding that he's been "really hesitant to contemplate that" because he has trust in residents to self-regulate.

"We've asked in the past for these things," the mayor said, noting that residents have heeded warnings whenever algal blooms or other scares affect their secondary water. "Our residents really step up and take on the challenge to conserve, so I have no reason to believe or doubt our residents. We have fantastic residents."

Riverton officials have begun to take measures to cut back watering on the city's 473 acres of city parks and other green space. The state recommends about 1.83 inches of water per week this time of year, and the city is averaging about 1.5 inches a week on city green space, officials said.

Riverton will provide water conservation tips for residents on the city's website, rivertoncity.com, and on its Facebook page.SALT LAKE CITY  A recent decision by the Republican-controlled Federal Communications Commission will likely scrub the deal that would have led to Salt Lake City's Fox 13 being acquired by 21st Century Fox.

It also raised the ire of President Donald Trump who blasted the agency  currently led by Trump-appointed Chairman Ajit Pai  in a Twitter tirade Tuesday evening.

"So sad and unfair that the FCC wouldnt approve the Sinclair Broadcast merger with Tribune," Trump tweeted. "This would have been a great and much needed Conservative voice for and of the People. Liberal Fake News NBC and Comcast gets approved, much bigger, but not Sinclair. Disgraceful!"

So sad and unfair that the FCC wouldnt approve the Sinclair Broadcast merger with Tribune. This would have been a great and much needed Conservative voice for and of the People. Liberal Fake News NBC and Comcast gets approved, much bigger, but not Sinclair. Disgraceful!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2018

At issue is a $3.9 billion media mega-merger proposal under which Sinclair Broadcast group, which owns or operates 173 TV stations, would acquire Tribune Media, owners of 42 stations. Both companies have a Utah presence with KSTU Fox 13 currently owned by Tribune Media and CBS-affiliate KUTV Ch. 2, a Sinclair property.

While the Deseret News reached out to all six members of Utah's congressional delegation for comment on whether or not they supported the president's position on the FCC action, only Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah offered statements in response. Both diverged from the president in their assessments of the decision.

The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency perfectly capable of performing its statutory mission, Lee said. I have full confidence in the commissions ability to review the facts and properly apply the law in this case."

I dont think politics had any influence on the deal, nor should it," Stewart said. "The FCC followed the law and this is welcome news post-Obama. But Congress ought to be asking itself if the law is outdated, a pre-internet relic of an era where the only outlets for news were local broadcasters and newspapers.

The deal, which has been under discussion since 2017, included various sidebar arrangements to help Sinclair win approval of the FCC, including a plan announced in early May to divest seven stations on completion of the merger. That deal, valued at over $900 million, would have moved ownership of six Fox affiliates, including KSTU, and one CW affiliate in Miami from Sinclair to 21st Century Fox.

One of the barriers the agreement would have helped Sinclair navigate is an FCC prohibition against one company owning more than one of the top four rated stations in a given market. Without the divestitures, the combined company would have access to around 70 percent of the U.S. television viewing market.

The FCC followed the law and this is welcome news post-Obama. But Congress ought to be asking itself if the law is outdated, a pre-internet relic of an era where the only outlets for news were local broadcasters and newspapers.  Rep. Chris Stewart, R-Utah

Last week, the FCC voted unanimously to move the Sinclair-Tribune deal to an administrative judge for review, a decision that industry watchers say was an abrupt reversal of the commission's previous actions related to the deal and is likely to lead to the death of the proposal. In a statement released after the decision, Pai noted that some of the planned post-deal divestitures planned by Sinclair did not pass muster.

"Based on a thorough review of the record, I have serious concerns about the Sinclair/Tribune transaction," Pai said. "The evidence weve received suggests that certain station divestitures that have been proposed to the FCC would allow Sinclair to control those stations in practice, even if not in name, in violation of the law.

"When the FCC confronts disputed issues like these, the Communications Act does not allow it to approve a transaction. Instead, the law requires the FCC to designate the transaction for a hearing in order to get to the bottom of those disputed issues."

While the FCC did not detail which portions of Sinclair's divestiture plan raised red flags, the company noted it was planning on making changes in response to the commission's decision for a so-called hearing designation order.

"While neither Sinclair or Tribune have seen the draft (hearing designation order), Chairman Pais comments and press reports indicate the FCC is questioning the proposed divestitures in Dallas, Houston and Chicago," the Sinclair statement says. "Accordingly, in order to address such concerns and to expedite the Tribune transaction, Sinclair has withdrawn the pending divestitures of stations in Dallas (KDAF) and Houston (KIAH) to Cunningham Broadcasting Corporation and Tribune has withdrawn the pending divestiture of WGN in Chicago to WGN-TV LLC."

Media watchdog group Free Press has been critical of a string of recent FCC decisions they say have been constructed to accommodate the Sinclair-Tribune merger, but lauded the commission for its call for a legal review of the deal.

"Sinclairs merger plans are all but dead," said Jessica J. Gonzalez, Free Press deputy director and senior counsel, in a statement. "The FCC isnt biting on Sinclair's latest attempt to make its takeover of Tribune more palatable. This company has been misleading the FCC for years with front groups and shady arrangements to control local TV stations, undercut competition and evade FCC rules."

FCC commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, one of two Democrats on the panel, made note of the Sinclair-Tribune decision in testimony to a U.S. House Energy and Commerce subcommittee oversight hearing on Wednesday.

"When I last appeared before you nine months ago, I alone expressed concern about how the agency had bent and twisted so many of its media policies to serve the business plans of this one company," Rosenworcel said. "This changed last week when the agency adopted an order designating the proposed Sinclair-Tribune transaction for hearing.

"I want to thank my colleagues, and the chairman in particular, for the effort to reach consensus on this matter."WEST JORDAN  A 21-year-old man was killed after crashing into a boulder at a high rate of speed early Thursday.

Suwipya Silas, 21, who was originally from Tuba City, Arizona, but recently moved to Utah to take a job at Salt Lake City International Airport, died from injuries he sustained just after midnight.

A Sandy police officer spotted Silas make an illegal U-turn and attempted to pull him over, said West Jordan Police Sgt. JC Holt. But as soon as he turned on his overhead lights, Silas sped off, he said. The officer did not chase him.

Silas turned onto Winchester Street and drove away, Holt said. Winchester dead ends near 1300 West. But for an unknown reason, Silas drove through a red light at the intersection and straight into several large boulders that are in front of town homes, Holt said.

"(Witnesses) said he just came through, didn't even stop at the red light and hit the boulder at a high rate of speed," he said.

Silas, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the vehicle. He is believed to have been killed on impact, Holt said. Investigators have no idea why Silas didn't turn or stop.

"That's the mystery. The car was searched, and officers did not locate anything suspicious. There's no drug paraphernalia, there's no alcohol-related stuff there. Nothing," he said. "And there were no obvious signs of impairment."

An autopsy will determine whether there were any substances in Silas at the time of the crash. Silas does not have family in Utah and had only been in the state a short time, Holt said.



Guwahati : Guwahati city police had arrested four car lifters including an Assam police constable from Pathar Quarry area in the city.





According to the reports, the four persons including a police constable, who worked in Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Assam police had entered into the premise of a newly opened showroom of used car at Pathar Quarry area in the city and tried to steal a vehicle.





When the security guard of the showroom noticed it, he immediately informed the employees of the showroom and also to police.





Police had reached the area and arrested the persons.





Among the arrested persons, two are hailing from Manipur.





The arrested persons were identified as Humen Baruah (CID constable), Haobam Kiyamba, Indra Kumar (both are from Manipur) and Majmal Ali.





Guwahati city police had registered a case (431/2018) under sections 379/511 of IPC at Noonmati police station.





Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) of Guwahati city police Purabi Mazumdar said that, they were informed that, few persons were entered into the premises of Carnesh Car Parking, newly opened showroom of used cars at Pathar Quarry.





We immediately rushed to the area and arrested four persons. They were planned to steal a vehicle from the showroom and owner of the showroom had already lodged an FIR. Out of those four persons, one person is a constable and working in CID, Purabi Mazumdar said.





Meanwhile, police had produced them before a local court in Guwahati and court sent them to police custody.



ST. GEORGE  A teenager accused of trying to make a backpack bomb and detonate it at a southern Utah high school will be tried as an adult.

Fifth District Juvenile Judge Paul Dame on Thursday ordered Martin Farnsworth, 16, to face felony charges of attempted murder and using a weapon of mass destruction in district court.

In March, Pine View High School was evacuated after students discovered the smoking backpack near a vending machine. No injuries were reported.

Prosecutors sought to transfer the case to district court where he would face charges as an adult, but the boy's defense attorney argued the juvenile system would have provided better treatment while still keeping the public safe.

By having him charged in district court in the adult system, we feel like we can supervise him longer.  Angela Adams, deputy Washington County attorney

"The state is very pleased with the outcome," Angela Adams, deputy Washington County attorney, said Thursday. "By having him charged in district court in the adult system, we feel like we can supervise him longer."

In testimony leading up to Thursday's decision, experts gave different views of the risk the teen may pose to the public. His parents testified he had been bullied, and a psychologist told the courtroom the teen is high-functioning on the autism spectrum, which affects how he deals with emotions.

Defense attorney Stephen Harris said the family on Thursday was absorbing the judge's decision and it was difficult to read the teen's reaction.

"We're naturally disappointed," Harris said, noting the incident happened just a few months after his client's 16th birthday.

"His family's concerned about him and his well-being. They also understand that these are serious charges, and hope they can be worked out in the public's interest and Martin's interest," Harris said.

He emphasized that he believes the teen would respond to treatment in Utah's juvenile system, which focuses on rehabilitating young offenders and can impose penalties such as fines, detention and probation.

Prosecutors argued the autism diagnosis did not fully explain the teen's behavior and said he had a plan to kill people. If he were convicted in the adult system, they argued, a judge would retain greater control of his case after sentencing and the teen could still get resources through the juvenile system until age 18.

Farnsworth is charged with use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted murder, both first-degree felonies. In May, Dame ordered the teen to stand trial on those charges and others, saying there was enough evidence for the case to move forward.

The teen also is charged with painting "ISIS is comi--" on a school wall at Hurricane High School, and cutting up an American flag at the school and replacing it with a homemade ISIS flag. But those charges will remain in the juvenile system, the judge ruled, saying they were not part of the same episode.

In March, the teen told investigators he was responsible for the device, graffiti and flag, and that he did not really care if people got hurt, according to video shown in court.

A search of the teen's laptop showed he had read webpages on how to build bombs and a fuse and researched ISIS, an FBI agent testified in June. The device that started smoking could have started a large fire but would not have exploded, according to a bomb expert who testified in court.

The judge's order was immediate, and he is expected to issue a written analysis in the coming days. A hearing in 5th District Court has not yet been scheduled.Director Mani Ratnam Hospitalised Following Chest Pain!

Renowned Film director Mani Ratnam has been hospitalized. He has been admitted to a private hospital in the Thousand Lights area in Chennai after he complained of chest pain. The Ravan director is being treated now and is in a stable condition. Close friends have also been visiting the director in the hospital.

Well, this is not the first time that the director has suffered from heart ailments. He suffered from a heart attack in 2004 while filming Yuva. He was admitted to hospital back in 2009 and 2015 too after suffering from chest pain.

We wish the Roja director a speedy recovery!Vanessa Kirby Would Love To Work Again In 'Mission: Impossible' Film

Vanessa Kirby seemed quite happy playing an elusive character in 'Mission: Impossible - Fallout'. The actress has a departure from her role of Princess Margaret on period drama 'The Crown'. And now, given a chance, she said she would love to make a comeback to the action franchise.





Moreover, Vanessa roped in for 'Fast and Furious' spinoff Kirby's character in the film is known as White Widow, an influential British socialite with a hidden agenda. "I saw her as this elusive, ambiguous character. I always want to play people that are unusual in a way, unexpected. I felt that about Margaret and I thought I got really lucky with her. I wanted to do something unconventional with her (White Widow). She's not on screen that much but I wanted her to be a sort of enigmatic presence. You are not quite sure whose side she is or what she is going to play any moment," the actor said.





The 31-year-old actor is more than willing as 'Fallout' leaves enough room for Kirby's character to make a comeback in the next film. On this, she said, "Yeah, there's a lot more to White Widow that hasn't been explored. On 'The Crown', I absolutely loved coming back because when you develop a character, you get to explore it deeply. You want to go further with things that you find exciting, I love that idea.



Moreover, also starring Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Sean Harris, Michelle Monaghan and Alec Baldwin, the film releases this Friday.





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Source: pmchollywoodlife.files.wordpress.comSri Reddy Opened Up, Felt Like Committing Suicide

Telugu actress Sri Reddy created a storm earlier this year after she stripped in public to protest against casting couch. The actress has accused some big and known personalities including Shekar Kammula, Nani and Abhiram Daggubati of sexually exploiting her. And now, Reddy threatened to kill herself if she doesnt get justice.





A police complaint has been filed against Sri Reddy. As per the complaint, activist Varahi has alleged that Sri Reddy has been accusing celebrities with a motive of extorting money from them. In a recent interview to a television channel, Sri Reddy reportedly broke down and threatened to kill herself if she doesnt get justice. Sri Reddy said that she is a victim in the issue and she is not able to get justice.





Sri Reddy has been single-handedly fighting against the casting couch culture in Telugu film industry. Talking about the sensational assault case of a popular Malayalam actress, Sri Reddy said that the whole film industry came in support of the actress, while she continues to fight a lone battle. The actress claimed that even many Kollywood personalities took advantage of her like AR Murugadoss, Sundar C, Raghava Lawrence, Srikanth and Sundeep Kishan.





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Source: images.wionews.comSky and Space Global is holding discussions with the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) about the use of its novel nano-satellite technology in the region.

Nano-satellite narrowband services to the Caribbean region will be provided by SAS' Pearls constellation once deployment commences in 2019. This supports the SAS business model of providing connectivity to equatorial locations such as the Caribbean, where these services are required.

In 2017 SAS successfully launched its 3 Diamonds nano-satellites as a proof of concept, and on 12th July this year successfully demonstrated the narrowband networks capabilities at the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) conference held in Georgetown, Guyana.

Guyana typifies the overall market SAS is focusing on more than 2 billion people worldwide that reside in the equatorial belt in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Cellular penetration is growing rapidly in these regions, but a lack of infrastructure severely limits services available to the local populations.

SAS is also working with officials in various other countries in South East Asia, Africa and Latin America, to bring affordable communications to Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime. The timetable calls for launching a constellation of 200 nano-satellites beginning next year with full scale deployment by 2020.

The commercial discussions with the CTU are focusing on the offering of a full range of connectivity services in the Caribbean region, which currently lacks the necessary infrastructure. The inter-government treaty organisation is responsible for supporting the development of the ICT sector in the Caribbean and has assessed the suitability, applicability and possible use of the SAS narrowband platform throughout the region.

Affordable communication services such as nano-satellite based communications will enable Caribbean countries to use ICT in agriculture (E-agriculture) in a way that supports the achievement of the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable development goals such as economic development, social inclusion and environmental protection.

Providing affordable connectivity to the unconnected is key for driving digital inclusion and economic growth in the developing world and for tackling poverty and improving education and healthcare," says Meir Moalem, CEO and Managing Director of SAS. "SAS is the first company to successfully use narrowband connectivity provided by nano-satellites to deliver a voice call, text messaging and financial transactions capabilities, among other world firsts. The discussions with the CTU constitute a significant step for securing additional strategic partnerships for the companys constellation of nano-satellites."There are a lot of reports surrounding the rumoured Sony Xperia XZ3 smartphone, which claim that the phone will sport a dual-camera setup at the back. In a new development, @OnLeaks and CompareRaja have leaked a string of photos showing a 360 degree view of the smartphone. Contrary to the reports, the phone has only one camera at the back, along with a centrally-aligned fingerprint sensor. A previous report had said that Sony may launch the Xperia XZ3 at an event at IFA on August 30 in Berlin.

The leaked renders show a rounded-corner design and a curvy glass back of the smartphone, something Sony seems to be carrying forward from the XZ2. The Full HD+ screen display has curved corners that blend around the front of the phone. There is no notch but the phone has thick bezels at the top and bottom of the screen. As mentioned, the render have one camera at the back and an LED flash. The presence of a single camera at the back may suggest that Sony could launch an Xperia XZ3 Premium model, just like the single-cam Xperia XZ2 got a dual-cam XZ2 Premium upgrade.

Previously, an unnamed Sony smartphone was listed on GFXBench and reports suggested that it might be the Xperia XZ3. It is speculated that Sony may launch the Xperia XZ3 with Android P, and a 5.9-inch display, with a resolution of 2880 x 1440 pixels. The phone could be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC, and have 6GB RAM, 128GB onboard storage. As per the listing on GFXBench, the Sony Xperia XZ3 features a 13MP front camera. It is still not clear what type of camera system the phone houses.

Image SourceSpace researchers at the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (iNAF) have found new evidence of water existing on Mars. According to the originally reported article on Science, the researchers came across a reservoir buried 1.6 kilometres under Martian surface in the south polar ice cap. The water reservoir spans 20 kilometres across.

Previous research has revealed signs of intermittent liquid water flowing on the red planets surface but this is the first time a persistent water body has been found. The discovery was made using Marsis (Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding), a radar instrument used by scientists to study the inner crusts of a planets surface.

Shaded relief map of Planum Australe, Mars, south of 75 deg S latitude

Although this new discovery of liquid water beneath Mars icy surface does suggest the possible presence of life on the planet, were no closer to finding and confirming it. According to the BBC, Dr Manish Patel from the Open University said, We are not closer to actually detecting life, but what this finding does is give us the location of where to look on Mars. It is like a treasure map - except in this case, there will be lots of 'X's marking the spots."

Professor Roberto Orosei of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, who led the study remarked that this newly discovered underground lake qualified as a proper body of water, unlike previous discoveries. According to him, the next step should include sending a robot probe capable of drilling through 1.5 kilometres of ice to the site for further study. This, of course, will need some technological advancements that arent yet available to us just yet.

Inline image courtesy: ScienceZuckerberg loses $16.8 bn as Facebook stock plunges 21%

Facebook shares crashed in after-hours trade on Wednesday, wiping out 21 per cent or about $130 billion of its market value on the back of disappointing results, bringing down founder Mark Zuckerbergs fortunes by $16.8 billion.

Menlo Park, California-based Facebook said its second-quarter revenue and average daily visitors declined.

The companys revenue increased 42 per cent to $13.2 billion while profit was up 31 per cent in the second quarter at $5.1 billion, although slightly below most forecasts.

The decline in revenues come as the company grapples with new data laws in Europe, criticism over its content policies and privacy issues.

Facebook shares opened lower in the New York market today and if that holds through the day, Zuckerberg will see his wealth slide to sixth place from third. It would also wipe out $13.7 billion of the years gains.

Zuckerberg said his company has been investing heavily in "safety, security and privacy"..."We run this company for long term, not for next quarter," he said.

The companys chief financial officer David Wehner had also warned of a weaker outlook in the coming quarter. Wehner said revenue growth "decelerated" in the second quarter and will decline "by high single digit percentages" and added that "we are also giving people who use our services more choices around data privacy which may have an impact on our revenue growth."

Facebook shares had slumped following the Cambridge Analytica scandal earlier this year, but the stock had risen sharply and hit record levels this month.

Zuckerberg said Facebook lost around one million users in Europe amid the implementation of new EU data protection rules, but noted that many Europeans "want to use context from ads," suggesting they are opting into allowing data collection for advertising purposes.

Almost all of Facebook's revenue - $13 billion of the total $13.2 billion - came from online advertising.

Facebook-owned Instagram is making up for some of the slowdown in growth at the social network and is expected to generate $8.06 billion in worldwide ad revenue this year.Vodafone Idea gets final regulatory approval

Vodafone India, the Indian arm of British telecom major Vodafone Group Plc, and Indias Idea Cellular are finally set for merger, with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) granting final permission for the $23-billion deal.

The merger would create the countrys biggest telecom company, replacing incumbent Bharti Airtel.

Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of Aditya Birla Group, will be the non-executive chairman while Balesh Sharma, currently chief operating officer of Vodafone India, will be the CEO of Vodafone Idea.

The DoT nod comes days after Idea Cellular and Vodafone India paid up their combined dues of Rs7,268.78 crore 'under protest'.

With the granting of permission for merger, DoT will now transfer bank guarantees for deferred spectrum payments that Vodafone owes to DoT to Vodafone Idea, the new, combined entity.

DoT sources, however, said the approval letter includes the condition that the merged entity will have to comply with the outcomes of pending cases in the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) and other courts.

The two telcos will now approach the Registrar of Companies (RoC) for stipulated filings for approval.

Post merger, the combined entity would have almost 400 million customers, overtaking market leader Bharti Airtel to account for about 40 per cent of revenue market share in India.

Aditya Birla Group company Idea Cellular and Vodafone India signed the merger agreement last year on the back of mounting losses and loss of market share to start-up Reliance Jio Infocomm. The merger follows a broader trend by Indias network operators who are rushing to consolidate amidst a fierce price war sparked by Reliance Jio.

Idea has reported losses every quarter since Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio started its services in September 2016. Idea is expected to announce fiscal first quarter results on 30 July.

Vodafone Indias revenue for the June quarter declined 31.1 per cent to 959 million weighed down by the ongoing tariff war and cuts in interconnection usage charges (IUC) for both domestic and international calls, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Vodafone Group Plcs services revenue from its India business stood at 955 million in the quarter, down from 1,385 million in the year-ago period.

Vodafone India, along with Kumar Mangalam Birla-owned Idea Cellular, settled government dues worth Rs7,200 crore earlier this week to get the final approval for their merger from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).Vijay Mallya offers to return as ED moves to confiscate his assets

Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, who is facing extradition proceedings in the United Kingdom, is reported to have indicated his willingness to return to India after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) armed itself with newly-acquired powers to confiscate his property.

Reports quoting sources at the agency, which has recently invoked the Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance (FEOO), has indicated that Mallya may come back to India.

Mallyas change of heart comes after the agency moved to confiscate his assets in India and abroad under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance.

While Mallaya has not officially communicated his willingness to return to India so far, the ED is learnt to have received inputs that he has shown the intent to come back to India to face trial in the cases against him regarding alleged wilful default of bank loans.

We have information that he may return, said an official.

The ED had, a few weeks ago, moved an application before a Special Court in Mumbai seeking issuance of a notice against Mallya under the FEOO and confiscation of assets worth Rs12,500 crore purportedly linked to him if he failed to show up in the court.

Accordingly, the court issued a notice seeking his presence on 27 August. A certified copy of the notice is now with the ministry of external affairs to be sent to the United Kingdom to be served on the beleaguered businessman.

Mallya is the first Indian to be prosecuted under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance.

Meanwhile, Indias request for extradition of Mallya from the United Kingdom is still pending with the London Metropolitan Magistrates Court. The next hearing on the extradition plea is slated for 31 July.o o o

An open letter to Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, as Delhi High Court examines clearances given by his ministry.

Dear Mr Puri,

When I first learnt that you were joining the Union government as Minister of State with independent charge in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, I was partially happy, for I thought someone like yourself a who has been a civil servant, and worked closely with the United Nations, one of the most reputed humanitarian organisations of the world a would bring us good vision and governance. Unfortunately, this euphoria was short lived as you meticulously worked out the massacre of trees in Delhi, all in the name of redevelopment.

As the Monsoon Session of Parliament is underway, I assume you will have little time and limited mind space to go through an educational piece explaining what the current crisis in Delhi is about. I have therefore taken the liberty of simplifying it as a reader, as something I prepared for my nephew who studies in Class 7.

Delhi is one of the most polluted cities in the world

In the last three years, Delhi has been honoured by several international research organisations as the most polluted city in the world. Government-run air quality monitoring stations in the national Capital have reported an air quality index of 999 on several occasions as recently as June. This level is beyond hazardous.

We first blamed this on firecrackers, then on crop burning, and now on the anti-cyclonic dust condition in the region. But as much as these factors affect Delhias ambient air quality, they just lead to a spike in the air quality index, which is already poor.

Delhias air quality problems are of its own making. Without the fire crackers, without the crop burning and dust conditions, it maintains an average air quality index of 200-300 in most areas, ranging from heavily polluted to hazardous. Many cities in the world would be shut down or even evacuated with such a consistent level of air pollution.

The Lancet Commission on pollution and health had stated in a report published in 2017 that over 2.5 million people died in India in 2015 due to pollution. A Global Burden of Disease report of 2017 states that over 1.1 million died in India in 2015 due to air pollution. A study published last fortnight in Elsevieras Process Safety and Environmental Protection journal states that more than 15,000 people died prematurely in Delhi in 2016 due to air pollution issues. Our own desi institution, the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay, shared a report early this year that air pollution deaths in India would increase to over 3.6 million a year by 2050 unless adequate and urgent action is taken.

Perhaps you are not aware of these reports. Perhaps you have not felt the smog or dust at your home in Lutyens Delhi. You could possibly be ignorant about the crisis in Delhi also because none of the death certificates of the 15,000 Delhiites who died in 2016 because of air pollution-related causes state that the cityas air caused their premature end. You are not at fault for your ignorance.

Delhi has a deficit of 9 lakh trees, as per the CAG

A Comptroller and Auditor General report states that there is a deficit of over 9 lakh trees in Delhi. Another CAG report tabled in the Delhi Assembly in April exposes the inadequacy in the functioning of the Tree Authority of Delhi, and has pulled up the Delhi government for this. The report states that there is a deficit of 23% in the number of trees that were supposed to be planted between 2014 and 2017 a 28.12 lakh trees against the target of 36.57 lakh. It also pointed out that the Tree Authority of Delhi met once between 2014 and 2017, while it is required to meet at least once in every three months. If we go by the same CAG report, the green cover in Delhi has reduced to 113 sq km in 2017, from 123 sq km in 2009.

A few decades ago, Delhi was one of the greenest capitals of the world. Today, it is inching towards desertification.

It is a fact that trees help reduce smoke and fine particulate matter, including dust. My nephew also reminded me of the process of photosynthesis by which trees release oxygen into the atmosphere, as well as that trees recharge groundwater too. You must know that 90% of Delhias groundwater has been declared to be in critical zone by a government department a the Central Ground Water Board.

People protest against the cutting of trees in Sarojini Nagar in June. (Photo credit: HT).

Delhi has a shortfall of 39,000 government houses.

In its 2017-2018 report, Parliamentas Standing Committee on Urban Development states that there is a shortfall of 39,000 houses for government officials in the national Capital. Your ministry has informed this panel that the redevelopment of seven government colonies in South Delhi will provide 16,000 houses, thus narrowing the gap between supply and demand. We understand the need for housing for government officials but we wonder if these houses need to be built in one of the greenest areas of Delhi. Could they not have been constructed in less dense green areas such as Bawana, Narela, Rohini or Dwarka, which are already connected by the Delhi Metro or will soon will be on the metro line?

Additionally, most of the old houses in these seven colonies were classified as Type I, II and III flats, and were meant mostly for the lowest in the government hierarchy. Once the new apartment complexes replace these old colonies, according to the housing plan, these homes will be classified as Type IV, V, and VI apartments, meant mostly for mid- and senior-level government officials. Perhaps the peons and the clerks of the Government of India should live on the periphery of the city, if at all. The outer boundary of what is known as the Lutyens Zone should be extended to the more powerful.

A close examination of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Ministry of Urban Development and the builder, NBCC (India) Limited, reveals that not an inch of land in one of the colonies, Nauroji Nagar, will be used for government housing. The total plot area of 1.01 lakh square metres will be diverted for fully commercial or office establishments after felling 1,465 full-grown trees and thousands of shrubs.

Similarly in Sarojini Nagar, the biggest colony the government wants to bulldoze and redevelop, 19.85 lakh square metres of built-up area will be used for residential and community facilities and an almost equal area of 17.04 lakh square metres will go for commercial blocks. Similarly, there is no clarity whether another government colony, Kasturba Nagar, is proposed to be used for commercial or residential purposes.

A close examination of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by your ministry also reveals that even residential units constructed as part of this redevelopment a not just commercial ones a can be sold to private companies. The project is nowhere close to completion, struggling to even take off well, but the advertisements of these fancy apartments have already found their way to prominent national and international property websites.

My nephew travels 40 km each day, spending over 2 hours commuting to school. He is naAve and compares himself to a government babu, who, he feels, could also live on the periphery of the city and come to work each day. Please forgive his lack of understanding that the Union government is building houses for the government and therefore needs to keep it close to the government.

16,780 trees are to be felled for the redevelopment project

I am not sure when to believe you and when to not believe you. In the past month, I have heard you say so many different things with regard to felling of trees. From ano tree has been felleda to ano trees will be felleda , to aif any tree is felled, we will plant X number of treesa . On June 28, you announced you would plant one million trees in Delhi. You perhaps are the best judge of what you mean by each of your statements or promises. But how is it possible to say anot a single tree will be cuta and then add aif it is cuta , all in one breath.

Coming to the point, cutting 16,780 trees, as per your own ministryas documents is a disastrous proposition. The logic provided by your ministry and its officials is that these trees need to be felled primarily to build underground parking for cars. The environment clearances issued by your colleagues in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, states that in the three colonies of Sarojini Nagar, Netaji Nagar and Nauroji Nagar, parking facilities for 1.10 lakh cars have to be built and therefore trees can be chopped. The irony is that the ministry that has granted permission to replace the trees with cars is the primary custodian of our environment and trees a it is not the car parking ministry.

Compensatory afforestation is a farce

Often NBCC India and you yourself have cheered the provision of compensatory afforestation. You have been living in India for a long time, therefore please allow me to share with you the farce called acompensatory afforestationa . As recently as April, the Supreme Court of India had pulled up the Union government for not using Rs 90,000 crore that is lying in the compensatory afforestation fund, which is meant for the restoration of the environment. Most of the money that is part of this fund is either unutilised or is used for construction of roads or installation of streetlights. Sir, these are observations of the highest court of the country.

Say for a moment we trust your intentions and believe that you will carry compensatory afforestation in this particular redevelopment project, as mandated by law. Please explain to us : how can a 60-year-old or 70-year-old tree be replaced by 10 saplings? What are the citizens of Delhi going to breathe for the next 10 years while these saplings attempt to survive as full-grown trees? How can trees felled in Sarojini Nagar a and the ecological impact of that on land, water and air in that area a be compensated by planting trees in Wazirabad, some 30 km away? Please understand that meeting targets is not called compensatory afforestation. Ensuring that these trees survive and they balance out the ecological damage in the long run was the basic rationale behind the provision.

With regard to this project of redevelopment of government colonies in Delhi, the National Green Tribunal had laid out clear preconditions of compensatory afforestation before undertaking any felling of trees. As per the CAG report, there is a shortfall of 84% in compensatory afforestation in East Kidwai Nagar, another redeveloped government colony, and the ones that were planted on site were ornamental species as they grow fast but they do not necessarily combat air pollution.

Dear Mr Puri, please understand that your ministry is just the custodian of public land and not the owner of this land. A project that has implications on public health or public ecology needs public consultation. The most unfortunate part is that Rs 32,000 crore of public funds will be used to plunder public resources, including its environment. Since Delhi is already a gas chamber, which, according to the Niti Aayog, another government body, is also nearing the water crisis seen in South Africaas Cape Town, it is only wise that you plan any development or redevelopment around its trees rather than over its trees.

This is new kind of cronyism a of the government, for the government, by the government.

Finally, to dismiss every public commentary or dissent as amischief mongeringa , as often stated by you, is irresponsible, and not classy.

Vimlendu Jha

(One of the organisers of the campaign against tree felling in Delhi, and a Member of the Ridge Management Board).Maratha quota stir called off in Mumbai amidst large-scale violence

The Maratha Kranti Morcha, which is spearheading the agitation seeking reservation for the community, has called off the protest in Mumbai after incidents of violence were reported from various parts of the city.

Stone throwing and arson were reported from several parts of the state, which remained on edge today and braced for a Mumbai bandh today.

Large-scale violence marred a state-wide protest on Tuesday in Aurangabad, where a constable died and nine other policemen were injured amid suicide attempt by three agitators.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, himself a Maratha, is reported to have approached chief minister Devendra Fadnavis demanding that the government accept the demands of the agitators to end the stir  a quiet play by the party in an attempt to dethrone the ruling NDA from power.

Another group, the Sakal Maratha Samaj, lead protest in Navi Mumbai and Panvel, according to reports.

Internet services were suspended in rural areas of Aurangabad district to prevent any untoward incident.

The protestors had exempted essential services like water supply, fire brigade, ambulance services, hospitals, school and colleges, school buses from the bandh.

In the central suburb of Mankhurd, miscreants pelted stones and set a bus ablaze at about 1:45 pm. The fire has been doused and no casualties have been reported.

Earlier visuals from Kalyan railway station showed another Best bus was damaged during the stir. At least nine Best buses were damaged during Maratha quota stir.

Three police vehicles were set on fire in Kalamboli. Protesters also blocked Mumbai-Pune Expressway near Kalamboli. Protestors were seen pelting stones near Kalamboli on the Sion Panvel Highway.

DCP Deepak Deoraj, PRO, Mumbai Police, said that all the necessary deployments have been made in Mumbai. He said, "The situation should be brought under control at the earliest. The CM should invite prominent representatives from the community participating in the protest for talks and start the process of resolving the stand-off. There was never any law and order issue."

On Monday, one police constable lost his life while 9 others were injured in a suicide attempt by three agitators. The outfit had called for Maharashtra bandh after twenty-seven-year-old Kakasaheb Shinde had jumped off a bridge over Godavari river in Aurangabad. He was rushed to a hospital where he was declared dead.Congress may back Mamata or Mayawati for PM to unseat Modi

The Congress, which has projected party president Rahul Gandhi as its prime ministerial candidate for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, on Tuesday indicated it is not averse to accepting a nominee from any other opposition party for the top post, only to see Narendra Modi and his party BJP defeated.

Mamata Banerjee (left) with Maya wati

Reports quoting top Congress sources said the party has given indication that it is willing and ready to sacrifice for an alliance with any party at the centre and states to prevent the BJP from coming back to power in 2019.

While the Congress has stated that it's going to be an "ideological fight", the party needs to bring all the opposition parties together to defeat the BJP.

Also, there is speculation that projecting a woman prime ministerial candidate may help win the next elections and names of BSP leader Mayawati and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee are doing the rounds.

The Congress Working Committee (CWC), which met on Sunday decided to project Rahul Gandhi as its prime ministerial face for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. It also authorised Rahul Gandhi to forge alliances with "like-minded" political parties to take on the ruling BJP.

Congress spokesmen also said while party president Rahul Gandhi will be its prime minister candidate for the general elections the party is not averse to his stepping aside for a woman candidate from a possible opposition alliance. Rahul Gandhi, sources said, "is comfortable seeing any prime minister other than an RSS-backed one" "Let's see how the dice rolls," the sources added.

"India in 2004 was different from 2014. This is beyond our regular political battle. It is for the first time all institutions are attacked," the sources said and added," the more the RSS attacks Congress, it will help the party to build."

The calculation is that the BJP will not get enough seats to win the next general polls as parties like the TDP and the Shiv Sena are not happy with its functioning.

For Narendra Modi to be the prime minister again, he has to get seats in the range of 280 and that is not going to happen, they add.

The Congress is now looking at the grand anti-BJP alliances in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to work out, which then will make it difficult for Modi to retain power.

While Uttar Pradesh has 80 Lok Sabha seats, Bihar has 40 and the two together comprise over 22 per cent of the total strength of Lok Sabha members of 543.China proposes 'China-India-Plus One' as Modi, Xi lobby in Africa

With Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on their African trail, engaged in hectic diplomacy over the past couple of days, China has proposed a China-India-Plus One cooperation in Africa.

On Monday and Tuesday, Rwandan president Paul Kagame hosted back-to-back visits by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kigali.

On Monday, Kagame was at the airport to say farewell to Xi and his wife, only to greet the Indian prime minister an hour later. Both the Chinese and Indian leaders are in Africa to attend the BRICS summit in South Africa later this week.

Rwanda signed 23 agreements with India and China over a period of 24 hours.

China signed 15 agreements, including one for the construction of a 66-km road to a pilgrimage place, a 55-km highway to Rwandas under-construction international airport and the expansion of a Chinese-funded hospital.

According to local media, there was also an agreement on the Belt and Road initiative and another on civil transport.

China is Rwandas largest trade partner, with the current bilateral import-export volume of $157 million.

On Monday night, India and Rwanda signed eight agreements in the area of defence, agriculture, trade, dairy-cooperation, culture and leather. Two pacts on lines of credit worth $200 million were signed for a special economic zone and irrigation scheme.

Rwanda is already a recipient of Indian lines of credit of nearly $400 million besides Indian training and scholarship programmes.

The latest figure for bilateral trade between India and Rwanda was about $89 million in 2016.

Modi also visited Rweru model village in Rwanda to gift 200 cows as part of a programme overseen by President Paul Kagame wherein the poorest families get dairy cows from the government and the first female calf born of the cow is gifted to a neighbour to promote brotherhood.

Reacting to the simultaneous diplomatic push, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a weekly briefing that China and India were like minded partners in deepening cooperation in various fields with African countries to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.

We hope that China and India actively explore China-India plus one or China-India-X cooperation in accordance with the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, realise mutual benefit and win-win between China and India and other countries, Geng added.

Geng referred to the informal summit between Modi and Xi at Wuhan in April this year where both countries had agreed to have joint projects in Afghanistan for capacity building. He suggested a similar Sino-Indian cooperation in third countries and especially in Africa.

While India has been working with other countries, specifically the United States, Japan and under IBSA, to develop projects in Africa, it has no so far taken up any joint third country project with China.

Both Indian and Chinese leaders also made separate visits to the Gisozi genocide memorial, which commemorates the 1994 genocide by the then majority Hutu government against the Tutsi community.

President Kagame said Rwanda was keen to learn from Prime Minister Modis Make in India campaign, as the country implements its own Made in Rwanda policy, particularly in the manufacturing, construction and ICT sectors.

From Rwanda, Modi flew straight to neighbouring Uganda, for the first visit by an Indian prime minister in over two decades. Modi had visited Kampala when he was the chief minister of Gujarat. Uganda has a 30,000 strong Indian community, many of them originally from Gujarat.

After a reception at the State House, President Yoweri Museveni and Prime Minister Modi held delegation level talks. He also announced two lines of credit worth $200 million for power infrastructure and agriculture.

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi already made his way to South Africa for the BRICS summit at Johannesburg. His last stopover will be Mauritius before returning to China.

Modi and Xi are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, which will be their third meeting this year since Wuhan.US, EU in trade talks; Trump offers $12 bn to farmers hit by China row

US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker on Wednesday agreed to work towards reducing the recently imposed tariffs and end trade confrontation.

In talks at a Nato summit in Brussels, both Trump and Juncker appeared cordial in their approach and Trump told reporters: We want to have a fair trade deal and were looking to have a fair trade deal and hopefully we can work something out.

The news comes after the Trump administration today announced a $12 billion financial assistance to American farmers hit by retaliatory tariffs imposed by China, India and the EU against punitive US tariffs on aluminium and steel imports.

US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said it will authorise up to $12 billion in programmes as a short-term measure, which is in line with the estimated $11- billion impact of the unjustified retaliatory tariffs on US agricultural goods.

"This is a short-term solution to allow President Trump time to work on long-term trade deals to benefit agriculture and the entire US economy," agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue said.

Over the years the United States has been losing hundreds of billions of dollars with the European Union, and we just want it to be a level playing field for our farmers, for our manufacturers, for everybody, and we also want a big beneficiary frankly to be the European Union, so we think it can be good for everybody and thats what were here to discuss,Perdue added.

Juncker hopes to persuade Trump not to impose punishing tariffs on car imports and risk an all-out trade war.

US officials also said the US would be pleased if all tariffs, barriers and subsidies could be scrapped.

We are close partners, allies, not enemies. We have to work together. We are representing half the worlds trade  We should talk of reducing tariffs, not of increasing tariffs. Thats what we have to do, Juncker is reported to have told reporters.

Trump also agreed. If we could have no tariffs and no barriers and no subsidies, the United States would be extremely pleased  We want reciprocal. So whether its with European Union or others, it has to be reciprocal in nature at a minimum. Were working on that and I think were making tremendous strides.

Trump has repeatedly complained about the EUs 10-per cent tariff on imported vehicles. The US has a 2.5-per cent levy on imports of passenger vehicles. The EU, however, claims that Brussels is more generous than Washington in other areas.

At the G7 summit in Canada last month, Trump had even called Juncker a brutal killer, presumably with regard to the EUs trade policies.

Yet, Trump is reported to be ready to reduce the tariff to 20 per cent on imports of cars and auto parts if the EU rethinks its trade policies.

Juncker, however, wants the US to first lift punitive tariffs on European steel and aluminium applied this year before making an offer.

Trump, on the other hand, tweeted: Tariffs are the greatest! Either a country which has treated the United States unfairly on Trade negotiates a fair deal, or it gets hit with Tariffs. Its as simple as that  and everybodys talking! Remember, we are the piggy bank thats being robbed. All will be Great!

The European Union is coming to Washington tomorrow to negotiate a deal on Trade. I have an idea for them. Both the US and the EU drop all Tariffs, Barriers and Subsidies! That would finally be called Free Market and Fair Trade! Hope they do it, we are ready  but they wont! he said later.

Cecilia Malmstrom, the EU trade commissioner, said the EU was lining up a second round of US goods to be hit with tariffs should the White House meeting end in failure.

The EU is looking at 20-per cent tariffs on 10 billion (8.9 billion / $11.7 billion) of US products, or a lower tariff on a longer list of 20 billion of US goods. Brussels has already applied tit-for-tat levies on 2.8 billion worth of US products.

We hope that it doesnt come to that and that we can find a solution. If not, the EU commission is preparing a rather long list of many American goods. It would be around $20bn, Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter quoted Malmstrom as saying.Border wall threatens biodiversity

Borderlands are synonymous with desolation, but the Mexico-US divide is something altogether different. The nearly 2,000-mile-long border traverses some of the continent's most biologically diverse regions, including forests, grasslands and salt marshes  home to more than 1,500 native animal and plant species, according to an analysis published in BioScience on 24 July.

The paper, coauthored by Stanford biologists Paul Ehrlich and Rodolfo Dirzo, warns that some of these species face extinction within the US if their movements are cut off by the continuous border wall President Trump has pledged to build.

Physical barriers prevent or discourage animals from accessing food, water, mates and other critical resources by disrupting annual or seasonal migration and dispersal routes. Work on border walls, fences and related infrastructure, such as roads, fragments habitat, erodes soil, changes fire regimes and alters hydrological processes by causing floods, for example.

The potential for ecosystem damage was highlighted more than a decade ago, when the US Congress passed the Real ID Act. The 2005 law gives the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) authority to waive any laws  including the Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act  that slow the wall's construction.

The paper calls on scientists around the world to support solutions, such as requirements that DHS identify species, habitats and ecological resources at risk from barrier construction and security operations; design barriers for maximum wildlife permeability where possible; and purchase or restore replacement habitat when environmental harm is inevitable. Nearly 3,000 scientists have signed on to endorse the paper's message.

Stanford Report spoke with Dirzo, a professor of biology and the Bing Professor in Environmental Science, and Ehrlich, a professor of biology (emeritus) and Bing Professor of Population Studies. Both are also senior fellows at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.

What makes these border regions special?

Dirzo: This area is an ecological theater where evolution has engendered a plethora of plays. A multitude of factors  climatic conditions, topography, geological history, soil types -converge to create an amazing mosaic of ecosystems. A constellation of Northern temperate and Southern tropical lifeforms and lineages coincide with endemic species, as in few areas of the globe. This means these borderlands are a global responsibility.

What impacts have border wall construction had so far on biodiversity?

Ehrlich: Any substantial construction ordinarily forces populations to extinction directly by outright destruction of their habitat or by reducing population size or restricting access to critical areas required seasonally.

Every time you see a strip mall, airport or housing development being constructed, you can be sure biodiversity is suffering. Many hundreds of miles of border wall and the accompanying construction and maintenance infrastructure would be a crime against biodiversity.

What are the ways in which border wall construction specifically threatens one species?

Dirzo: Many species, such as bighorn sheep, are composed of populations of relatively few individuals per unit area and have large home ranges  hundreds of square miles in the bighorn's case. Shrinking that range will lead to local population loss or declines.

Smaller population sizes suffer from reduced genetic variation, which reduces their capacity for adaptation. Barriers will impede the bighorn sheep's migrations and movements to track habitats that shift due to a changing climate. Cut off like this, the bighorn and other animals and plants will become zombie species  populations that are demographically and genetically doomed.

You estimate that 17 per cent of the species you analysed risk extirpation within the US if cut off by a border wall. Why should the average person care about this potential loss?

Ehrlich: Aside from effects on water flows and other natural services, the wall could rob us of iconic creatures such as the endangered Peninsular Bighorn sheep and the Sonoran pronghorn antelope.

The esthetic value of these magnificent animals, and their cultural meaning to nature lovers, hunters and native American groups, is attested to by great efforts already made to avoid their extinction.

There's also an economic loss to consider  the US Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that hunting, fishing and wildlife-watching contributed nearly $26 billion to border state economies in 2011.Dassault, not govt, chose Reliance as Rafale partner: Anil Ambani

Reliance Naval and Engineering Limited (formerly Reliance Defence and Engineering Limited) chairman Anil Ambani had refuted allegations by Congress president Rahul Gandhi of favouring his company in the Rafale fighter jet deal, maintaining that the government had no role in French Group Dassault picking up his company as a local partner.

Rahul Gandhi had also alleged that Reliance Defence lacked adequate experience to be local partner in Rafale aircraft production.

While the Congress president alleged overpayment for the French fighter jet, documents available with the defence ministry and the Indian Air Force show NDA the government, on the contrary, saved Rs59 crore per each Rafale aircraft.

In a letter addressed to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, on 12 December 2017, Anil Ambani had sought to explain how his group bagged the multi-billion dollar project.

"Not only do we have the necessary experience but we are also the leaders in several important areas of defence manufacture," Anil said in the letter.

Ambani, in the two-page letter, had also invoked his family's "respectful relationship" with the Gandhi family and that he was "personally saddened" by the "unfortunate statements" against him and his group by several functionaries of the Congress party.

"Not only do we have the necessary experience but we are also the leaders in several important areas of defence manufacture," Anil had said in the letter.

Ambani wrote the letter on the last day of campaigning for the Gujarat assembly polls that was marked by political mud-slinging over the Rafale fighter jet deal.

Ambani refuted allegation over his companys eligibility stating that Reliance Defence has the largest shipyard in the private sector at Pipavav in Gujarat and is currently building five Naval Offshore Patrol Vessels (NOPVs) for the Indian Navy and 14 Fast Patrol Vessels for the Indian Coast Guard.

In his letter, Ambani said that his group's joint venture with Dassault was to make components and systems primarily for the aerospace and defence sectors.

"This joint venture with Dassault Aviation will lead to creation of thousands of jobs in India, imparting of valuable training and skill-sets to Indian engineers in aerospace / defence manufacturing sector, and will also provide large scale business opportunities to hundreds of MSMEs, SMEs and start-ups in the country, and will further enhance our experience and skills," he wrote.

Also, Dassault would significantly contribute to high technology transfer and enhance overall defence manufacturing experience.

But, he clarified that neither his company, nor any other Indian company is manufacturing any parts for the Rafale fighter planes as these 36 aircraft are to be completely manufactured in France.

"The decision of the Government of India to purchase 36 Rafale fighter jets from France was made through an inter-governmental agreement signed between the two countries. Also, all these 36 aircraft are being manufactured in France and will be delivered on a 'fly away' basis from Dassault manufacturing facilities in France to the Indian Air Force and no Indian company has any role to play," he said.

''Dassault choose Reliance Group as its joint venture partner to meet the 'offset' or export obligation component of the deal and this was "an independent agreement between two corporate private sector entities, and Governments had no role to play in this matter," he wrote.

Opposition, however, opted to step up attack on the Narendra Modi government over the Rafale deal on the election eve despite Ambani's letter to Rahul Gandhi explaining the terms of the deal.

Rahul Gandhi has been attacking the government on the deal which he claims was inked at a much higher price than the one the previous UPA regime had negotiated.Hardik Patel gets 2-year jail for violence during 2015 Patidar agitation

`Patidar firebrand Hardik Patel has been sentenced to two years jail for vandalism at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Rushikesh Patel's office in Visnagar during 2015 Patidar protests.

The Visnagar Court in Gujarat found the convener of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) guilty and sentenced him to two years in jail and a fine of Rs50,000.

Besides Hardik, the court also found Sardar Parel Group (SPG) convener Lalji Patel and another Patidar leader Ambalal Patel guilty and sentenced them also to two years in jail each with a fine of Rs50,000. The court, however, let off the other 14 accused for want of sufficient evidence against them.

Hardik Patel is one of the accused in the FIR, which was filed at Visnagar in Mehsana district on 23 July 2015, when a rally of the Patel community seeking reservation turned violent, resulting in damage to property and assault on some media persons. During the violent agitation, the mob had torched a car and vandalised the office of local BJP MLA Rishikesh Patel.

Hardik's Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti has been protesting demanding reservation in government jobs and education for the Patel community under Other Backward Classes in Gujarat.

He was also booked under sedition charges in October 2015 over his provocative remarks where he had asked his supporters to kill policemen rather than commit suicide for the cause of reservation. He was arrested and imprisoned in Surat after he led a huge revolt of the Patidar community. His arrest had led to large-scale arson and violence by his supporters in some towns in the state.New clues to origins of mysterious atmospheric waves in Antarctica

Two years after a Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and University of Colorado at Boulder (CU Boulder) team discovered a previously unknown class of waves rippling continuously through the upper Antarctic atmosphere, they've uncovered tantalizing clues to the waves' origins.

The interdisciplinary science team's work to understand the formation of "persistent gravity waves" promises to help researchers better understand connections between the layers of Earth's atmosphere  helping form a more complete understanding of air circulation around the world.

"A big picture of Antarctic gravity waves from the surface all the way to the thermosphere is emerging from the studies, which may help advance global atmospheric models," said CIRES Fellow and CU Boulder Professor of Aerospace Engineering Sciences Xinzhao Chu, lead author of the new study published today in the Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres.

"The new understanding results from a series of journal publications, based on multiple years of lidar observations, many made by winter-over students, from Arrival Heights near McMurdo Station in Antarctica."

In the 2016 paper, Chu and her colleagues discovered persistent gravity waves: huge ripples that sweep through the upper atmosphere in 3- to 10-hour periods. And now, by combining observations, theory, and models, they propose two possible origins of those waves: they are either from lower-level waves breaking and re-exciting new waves higher in the sky, and/or from polar vortex winds.

Since 2016, the team managed to track the origin of the upper atmospheric waves down to the lower-altitude stratosphere. The team then characterised the dominant gravity waves there, but found they had very different properties than the persistent waves in the upper atmosphere.

"The upper-atmosphere waves are huge, with a horizontal length of around 1,200 miles (2,000 km), and the lower, stratospheric waves are much smaller  only 250 miles (400 km)," said Jian Zhao, a Ph.D. candidate in CU Aerospace, working in Chu's group, who stayed the 2015 winter over at McMurdo for lidar observations.

Zhao and colleagues previously described the stratospheric waves in an earlier study, and he is second author on the new study which describes how the wave energy varies over seasons and years  documenting those kinds of variations is critical for researchers trying to understand how the waves influence things like global air circulation and climate change.

The team suspects that when these lower, smaller-scale stratospheric gravity waves break, they trigger the formation of the huge waves that then travel to the upper atmosphere through a process called "secondary wave generation."

Evidence from lidar data at McMurdo station pointing to this process was described in a paper published this year, led by Sharon Vadas, a researcher from Northwest Research Associates, and colleagues.

"It's similar to ocean waves breaking on a beach," said Vadas. "When the wind flows downslope from the mountains near McMurdo, the excited mountain waves travel upward in the atmosphere, growing larger and larger until they break over huge scales, creating these secondary gravity waves."

Understanding the origins of the waves relied on Vadas' theory of secondary gravity waves and a global, high-resolution model created by Erich Becker at the Leibniz Institute of Physics in Germany. Becker's model perfectly stitches together the theory and lidar observations. It suggests that secondary wave formation is particularly persistent during winter, and that it occurs not only at McMurdo Station, but at mid to high latitudes in both hemispheres.

Another possible source of the persistent waves is the polar vortex -- a persistent pattern of wind and weather that rotates around the South Pole during winter, Chu and her colleagues reported in the latest paper.

"The fast vortex winds could either modify the waves as they move upward, or the winds could actually generate waves themselves," says Lynn Harvey, a coauthor on the study, and researcher at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at CU Boulder. "With more observations, we should be able to determine which scenario is true."

Chu and her research colleagues sometimes find themselves sitting at desks running computer models and calculations, and sometimes they are bundled head-to-toe, walking through strong winds and frigid temperatures well-below zero degrees F in Antarctica to run cutting edge lidar systems installed there.

The National Science Foundation-managed US Antarctic Program and the Antarctica New Zealand program have supported the team's work in Antarctica for eight years, starting with the installation of Chu's custom-built lidar systems, which allows her team to probe the most difficult-to-observe regions of the atmosphere. Studying atmospheric waves near the South Pole is critical to improving climate and weather models, and forming a better picture of global atmospheric behavior.

"We still have many unanswered questions," said Chu. "But in about five years, using a combination of observations and high-resolution modelling, we hope to resolve these mysteries."

Two of her students  recent graduate Ian P. Geraghty and Ph.D. student Zimu Li--will travel to Antarctica this October to continue the research.Huge reservoir of liquid water detected under the surface of Mars

Providing resolution to a decades-long debate over whether liquid water is present on Mars, researchers using radar to probe the planet's polar ice caps have detected a lake of liquid water under the Martian ice.

Colour mosaic of a portion of Planum Australe deep blue corresponds to the strongest radar reflections, which are interpreted as being caused by the presence of water / Image: USGS Astrogeology Science Centre, Arizona State University

The water body stretches 20 kilometers across, they say. The detection was made using the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS) instrument on the Mars Express spacecraft. MARSIS sends radar pulses that penetrate the surface and ice caps of the planet, then measures how the radio waves propagate and reflect back to the spacecraft.

Reflections off sub-surface features provide scientists with information about what lies beneath the surface. Between May 2012 and December 2015, Roberto Orosei and colleagues used MARSIS to survey a region called Planum Australe, located in the southern ice cap of Mars.

They obtained 29 sets of radar samplings, mapping out an area exhibiting a very sharp change in its associated radar signal, about 1.5 kilometers below the surface of the ice and extending sideways about 20 kilometers.

The radar profile of this area is similar to that of lakes of liquid water found beneath the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets on Earth, suggesting that there is a sub-glacial lake at this location on Mars.

Although the temperature is expected to be below the freezing point of pure water, Orosei et al. note that dissolved salts of magnesium, calcium, and sodium  known to be present in Martian rocks  could be dissolved in the water to form a brine.

Together with the pressure of the overlying ice, this lowers the melting point, allowing the lake to remain liquid, as happens on Earth.

Anja Diez compares the subglacial lake on Mars to such lakes under Earth's ice sheets, in an accompanying Perspective.A Donegal County Councillor has urged people in Killybegs to write to their parish priest, the bishop and the Pope on plans to zone land at the town's St. Catherine's Well.

Cllr. Frank McBrearty said there would be uproar in the county if other places of such religious importance were interfered with.

The land zoning issue has seen tension between those who wish to protect the historic St. Catherine's Well area and those who wish to allow the port area room to expand.

Cllr. McBrearty's comments came at Monday's meeting of Donegal County Council.

A recommendation from the Council CEO on the Killybegs Town Plan was taken a stage further when councilors voted by 27 to 4 to amend the zoning of lands from Amenity/Open Space and Visually Vulnerable to Port/Harbour related activities on a proposal from Independent councillor Niamh Kennedy.

The vote was taken after contributions from Cllr Kennedy and Cllr Tom Conaghan and assurances from Cllr Kennedy that a buffer zone of 40 metres with a total distance of 80 metres would help to protect the sensitive archaeological and historic importance of the well.

There were contributions too from independent councillors John Campbell and Frank McBrearty, who opposed the re-zoning of the land.

Cllr Campbell said he was opposing the recommendation of the manager in relation to the amendment.

Cllr Frank McBrearty said representations had been made to him about the historic St Catherines Well. He said it was his understanding was that this piece of land would not be zoned at all.

Cllr McBrearty said he was advising people to write to the parish priest, the bishop and the Pope, who is coming to Ireland.

There would be complete uproar if anyone interfered with Doon Well and hydrology reports said there was a possibility of spillage, he said.

Killybegs is a very historic town and it has connections with Raphoe.

A lot of visitors come to St Catherines Well and I understand that 300 people have signed a petition not to let this go ahead.

I am not against development but tourism is a big factor in Ireland.

He claimed that the proposed development could disturb the water table near the well.

It's an historic site, a holy site and I am saying publicly that the bishop would need to speak out on this.

Cllr Campbell said he outlined the reasons for his opposition to the material alterations to the amendment to the town plan in November.

He said his proposal would cover the whole archaeological site, which is a noted site.

The Department of the Marine have expressed no opinion on this land, he said.

There are four sites that have not been developed and we have a large amount of industrial zoning already of up to 50-60 hectares.

My proposal would not affect the ability of the port to develop but could it destroy St Catherines Well if there was development there? Yes it could.

I think we should offer that protection, it is a very simple thing and it does not affect the ability of the port to grow and expand.

Responding Cllr Kennedy said she was born in Killybegs and lived there all her life.

I know inside out what goes on in that community, she said.

The most important thing is St Catherines Well and I would not want to see anything happening to it.

That is why I have spent night after night and time after time trying to come up with the best solution possible to accommodate both the industry and the history and heritage.

And I think I have done that.

40 metres of a buffer zone from the Famine Walk is 85 metres from the well.

She added that a comprehensive hydrology report had been introduced.

It would break my heart if I thought anything was going to happen to that area and I would not let that happen.

There has been three rejections for planning applications on that site and I can see that happening again.

She then showed the councillors an aerial photograph illustrating the geography of the area in question.

We are protecting the well, the church and the graveyard, she said.

It has a good buffer zone and I feel it is well protected.

I would not sit here and say anything otherwise. Industry needs to move on as well.

And when we looked at it the last day there were 721 submissions in relation to this area from the community.

We now see there are 270.

The other members of the community are happy and thats why we did not put in the submissions.

There is a very strong submission from the parish priest on behalf of the parish and from the history and heritage groups who support us.

Harbour

Meanwhile Donegal Town councillor Tom Conaghan said Killybegs Harbour had been very good to the rest of Donegal.

It brought in a lot of employment, he said. I could never see anything happening to the holy well and there is so much distance from it to the development.

And I can assure the people of Killybegs that they deserve to be supported in their way.

Theres not one boat in Killybegs that would not have holy water on board and they are never going to see any damage being done to St Catherines Well.

Cllr Kennedys proposal on the recommendation was carried on a margin of 27 to 4.Former Fiat Chrysler Automobiles chief executive Sergio Marchionne has died aged 66.

The respected executive has been hailed as a dedicated, determined and creative leader credited with saving the Fiat and Chrysler groups of companies.

Marchionne died this week as a result of complications arising from surgery earlier this month. Knowing he was unlikely to recover from health concerns, FCA appointed Jeep boss Mike Manley as Marchionnes successor on Sunday.

His death triggered waves of tributes from within the automotive industry and beyond.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook described Marchionne as a visionary and a remarkable leader, while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged the Italian-born, Canada-raised leaders place as "a giant in the auto industry.

FIA president Jean Todt said Marchionne was an endearing, upstanding and brave man, an unconventional and visionary leader, and General Motors chair Mary Barra credited his remarkable legacy in the automotive industry.

Bill Ford, executive chairman of the Ford Motor Company, described the executive as one of the most respected leaders in the industry whose creativity and bold determination helped restore Chrysler to health and grow Fiat Chrysler into a profitable global automaker.

Marchionne became chief executive of Fiat in 2004. He presided over the Italian marques acquisition of an ailing Chrysler in 2009, when the US brand was gripped by the global financial crisis.

Selling off Fiats tractor-making division and Ferrari supercar business in 2011 and 2015, Marchionne put Fiat Chrysler on the path to profitability by investing in Jeep SUVs and RAM trucks as larger vehicles returned to popularity in the US and beyond.

He was the first US automotive boss to step away from unprofitable small cars, axing the Chrysler 200 sedan in a move likely to be followed by Ford and General Motors.

Unlike Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota, Fiat Chrysler did not invest enormous resources in electrification or autonomous driving technology, choosing to focus its resources on areas deemed more immediately profitable.

Global Jeep sales have increased by more than one million units over the last five years.SsangYong will rise from the ashes in November 2018, confirming an Australian launch lineup that will cross dual-cab ute plus small, medium and large SUV divides.

The South Korean brand has been absent from local shores for the past two years, when third-party importer Ateco Automotive handled the operations. However, its return will make SsangYong Australia the first factory-backed operation outside of its domestic market. It has poached Aussies from Chinese upstart Havals local outfit, including managing director Tim Smith and public relations manager Andrew Ellis, who moved across in the same roles.

On-sale from November across 20-plus dealerships, SsangYong has pledged that its quartet of new-generation vehicles will not be cheapest in class, but they should undercut established competition by up to 7 per cent.

Its Mazda CX-3-rivalling Tivoli could start under $20,000, and SsangYong has confirmed it will come with a 1.6-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine as standard, with 94kW of power, 160Nm of torque and combined-cycle fuel consumption of 6.6L/100km for the six-speed manual and 7.2L/100km for the Aisin six-speed automatic.

A 1.6-litre turbo-diesel will be optional, with 85kW/300Nm outputs and fuel economy between 5.5L/100km and 5.9L/100km for the same transmissions, while it will introduce the option of moving from front-wheel drive to an on-demand (plus 50:50 lock) all-wheel drive system.

The 4202mm-long front-wheel drive small SUV weighs in from 1270kg. It gets a 423-litre boot volume, while six airbags, stability control, reversing camera and rear parking sensors will be standard.

The XLV will then step in as a stretched version of the Tivoli, with the same engine options but featuring a 238mm-longer body (at 4440mm) and 297L-larger boot (at 720L), designed to compete with the Nissan Qashqai in the $25,000-plus small-to-mid SUV space.

However, SsangYong will have to wait until next year for its Toyota RAV4-rivalling medium SUV, with the all-new Korando set to lob in June 2019 with a 120kW/260Nm 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine. It will share its monocoque platform with the Tivoli, which around the same time will also ditch its 1.6-litre petrol for a new 96kW/230Nm 1.2-litre turbo-petrol engine.

The Korando will also close the gap to the all-new Rexton, a 2000kg-plus separate-chassis four-wheel drive to rival the Ford Everest that will arrive from brand launch featuring a 165kW/350Nm 2.0-litre turbo-petrol and six-speed auto with 10.4L/100km economy, or a 133kW/430Nm 2.2-litre turbo-diesel and a seven-speed auto with 8.4L/100km fuel usage.

Seven seats will be standard, with a 777L boot in five-seat mode, while the separate-chassis large SUV will be rare in its segment with standard multi-link independent rear suspension in addition to rear or all-wheel drive, high and low-range gearing, and 3.5-tonne towing.

Where an Everest is derived from the hugely popular Ford Ranger ute, however, SsangYong insists the Rexton large SUV was designed first and then the Musso short- and long-body derivatives were created from that wagon off-roader.

The Musso short-body dual-cab will arrive from brand launch with a 5095mm body length, five seats, a 133kW/400Nm version of the 2.2-litre turbo-diesel with six-speed manual or six-speed auto availability, plus a locking differential in addition to the Rextons drive set-up.

The Musso long-body will then arrive in January 2019 with a 310mm-longer 5405mm length that stretches further than Ranger, Toyota HiLux and Volkswagen Amarok, with the extra stretching space going all to the tray. The long-body will also get a choice of upgrading from the short-bodys coil-spring rear suspension to a leaf-spring rear for heavy-duty hauls.

Executives tipped that Musso will be priced close to the Mitsubishi Triton  so expect a low-$30K start  while a digital radio will be standard but an 8.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and a reversing camera will appear in higher model grades only.

The Tivoli, Rexton and Musso will be available in EX, EXL and Ultimate, while the XLV will take the latter two only. However, autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist and auto up/down high-beam will also only be reserved for the higher model grades, while Rexton adds a blind-spot monitor and rear-cross traffic alert availability. The Musso also misses AEB, but SsangYong has pledged to fix this by launch.

New local MD Smith believes the Tivoli and Musso will duel it out for the title of best-selling SsangYong in Australia, while the company hopes to soon eclipse the 1606 annual sales it achieved in 2011  500 units short of its best-ever sales tally notched up five years earlier in 2006  as it aims to triple dealership coverage to 60 by 2020.

While pricing has not been announced, Smith suggested that a long warranty could be on the cards, and he insisted that given the South Korean brands new lineup of SUVs and a ute, the time was ideal for SsangYong to return and capitalise on growth in those segments.

Australia is the home of the Ute and we are genuinely excited by about the prospects of the all-new Musso [which] is set to land a few punches on the established players, he said.

[And] Australias desire for SUVs continues to grow so we are confident that the Rexton 7-seater will be a hit with families. With Tivoli, well have a product thats going to be appealing to everyone  so a really budget value customer who just has a price fixed in mind [and] the top of the range will have plenty of fruit in it.If you still think of Hyundai as making cheap and cheerful small cars you need to catch up to the rest of Australia.

The brand is now firmly established as our third favourite, behind Toyota and Mazda, as we continue to flock to the South Korean models - and away from the once dominant Ford and Holden. And its little wonder when you drive the all-new Santa Fe - its new seven-seat SUV that competes with the likes of the Mazda CX-8 (and CX-9), Kia Sorento, Toyota Kluger and Skoda Kodiaq. But it also pushes the brand further and further away from its old image of small, cheap cars with a level of quality and sophistication that puts some luxury brands on notice.

What do you get?

Hyundai has a simple line up for the new Santa Fe with three models - Active, Elite and Highlander. The Active is available with either a 2.4-litre petrol engine or 2.2-litre turbo diesel while the higher grades are exclusively diesel-powered. All get an eight-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive as standard. Seven seats are also included on every model.Irish Water have confirmed to a local councillor that the long-awaited reinstatement of the cycle lanes on the Dublin Road in Dundalk will be completed this weekend.

In an email received this afternoon by Dundalk South representative, Cllr. Anne Campbell, Irish Water confirmed that their contractors, GMC, are to work on the completion of the lanes this Saturday and Sunday.

The water company said: "The Irish Water contractors, GMC , have confirmed that the final reinstatement works, including completion of the cycle lane on the Dublin Road are currently scheduled for this Saturday and Sunday.

"We expect that full reinstatement works will be completed then".

Cllr. Campbell, who has consistently raised the state of the cycle lanes following major roadworks carried out by Irish Water and later, Virgin Media, and which took place intermittently from September last year to April, welcomed the announcement.

She said: 'I was very pleased to receive this confirmation from Irish Water this afternoon. I hope, and expect, that it will finally end the long-running problems for the residents and the users of the Dublin Road. It has taken too long, of course, to reach this point and I recently asked Irish Water to ensure that the much-needed work is completed before schools return in the last week of August. I am pleased to see that they are making moves to do this and I will be happy to see this work completed.

'The cycle lanes on the Dublin Road are actually very well used, particularly by DkIT students and they will be happy that the lanes are to be returned to a proper state after months of them being almost unusable'.

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Facebook and Google have manipulated users into sharing data using so-called "dark patterns," such as misleading wording and confusing interfaces, according to a report the Norwegian Consumer Council released Wednesday.

The practices nudged users toward accepting privacy options that favored the tech companies rather than themselves, the NCC found.

Facebook and Google have no intention of providing users with an actual choice, the NCC has claimed, and their use of dark patterns constitutes a violation of the General Data Protection Regulation implemented across Europe last month.

Some of the dark patterns: providing misleading privacy-intrusive default settings; hiding privacy-friendly choices; and giving users the illusion of control while at the same time presenting them with take-it-or-leave-it options. Privacy-friendly options -- when they are provided -- tend to require more effort from the user, according to the NCC.

The companies have been manipulating users into sharing information, the NCC alleged, noting that such behavior shows a lack of respect for individuals or their personal data and privacy.

Users who declined to choose certain settings were subject to deletion of their accounts in some cases.

The Norwegian trade organization, which has been joined by other consumer and privacy groups in Europe and in the United States, has called for European data protection authorities to investigate whether Facebook and Google -- as well as Microsoft to a lesser degree, via its Windows products -- have been acting in accordance with the GDPR and U.S. rules.

If the companies are found to be in violation of the GDPR, they could face fines of up to 20 million euros (US$24 million) or 4 percent of their annual global turnover.

Default Settings

When it comes to the collection and sharing of user data, the default settings provided by the tech companies favor the companies over the end user, the NCC concluded.

Users rarely change pre-selected settings, and both Facebook and Google have set the least-friendly privacy choices as their defaults, according to the report.

More worrisome is that the sharing of personal data and the use of targeted advertising routinely are presented as being beneficial to the user, said the NCC. The wording and design suggests users actually benefit from having their data shared. At the same time, users who might want to opt for stricter privacy controls receive warnings about lost functionality.

The NCC singled out Google for designing a privacy dashboard that actually discourages users from changing or even taking control of their settings, and for implying that users benefit from the default settings.

The NCC noted that Facebook users actually are given no substantial choice -- even after they take the extra effort to change their respective settings.

Microsoft received some praise for giving equal weight to privacy-friendly and unfriendly options in its Windows 10 operating system settings.

Patterns of Deception

The impact of the report's findings is not limited to people within Europe.

"Basically, 'dark matter' reads like a list of practices that have been commonplace for years among Web companies that rely on advertising revenues for survival -- particularly Facebook and Google," said Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

"The bigger issue here is that since the EU's recently implemented GDPR outlaws those functions, offending companies need to scrub them out of their sites or risk significant fines," he told TechNewsWorld.

"The thing is that dark practices are so mundane that they've become pretty scrub-resistant, as the NCC investigation discovered," King added.

The companies have been increasingly successful at monetizing data.

"Facebook and Google have built very powerful platforms, businesses and audiences off the backs of their users' data," said Brock Berry, CEO of AdCellerant.

"Their platforms are almost a utility to the public, in many ways, that's operated like a business," he told TechNewsWorld.

"When they're divisive in their tactics, they open the doors for competitors to enter the market, and I hope consumers step up, slow their usage of these platforms, and test other options that are more customer/consumer-centric," Berry added.

"Facebook and Google have a duty to be consumer-friendly and customer-first focused," he said. "It's against everything they stand for to be surreptitious in their methods of collecting user data."

Dark Truth

Although the NCC report specifically calls out Facebook and Google, as well as Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system, this could be just the tip of the iceberg in terms of how software firms have been handling the issue of privacy.

"This practice isn't limited to the big tech companies; almost all tech companies obfuscate the data they collect about users," said Josh Crandall, principal analyst at Netpop Research.

"Most of the data are used for productive purposes, but sometimes companies have used it for more profit-oriented endeavors that users may not appreciate," he told TechNewsWorld.

However, given the severity of the fines that companies may face, the days of dark patterns could be coming to an end in Europe and the United States.

"Facebook, Google, Microsoft and others are working to address the problem," remarked Pund-IT's King.

"It's too dangerous and costly for them to ignore, but it also looks like an issue that defies a simple 'turn off the spigot' fix -- meaning we're likely to continue to see similar investigations and findings in the months to come," he predicted.

"In addition, it should be a wake-up call for companies affected by GDPR who hope they can somehow skate under the radar and escape notice," King said. "Facebook, etc., are obviously big fish, but over time the NCC and other GDPR watchdogs will turn their attention to smaller fry."

Peter Suciu has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2012. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, mobile phones, displays, streaming media, pay TV and autonomous vehicles. He has written and edited for numerous publications and websites, including Newsweek, Wired and FoxNews.com. Email Peter.



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EverString, a San Mateo, California-based startup that offers artificial intelligence software for business-to-business sales, marketing and operations teams, on Wednesday released FIRE, a four-point strategy to improve sales performance.

The FIRE methodology is designed to unite and simplify the goals of sales and marketing teams.

"FIRE" stands for Fit, Intent, Recency and Engagement:

Fit - know which accounts are a good match for your product or service;

Intent - see who's doing heightened research, indicating a motivation to buy;

Recency - get insight on how recently an account showed intent or engaged with your brand; and

Engagement - understand when and in what way an account has interacted with your brand.

The strategy has been incorporated into EverString's predictive analytics platform, which uses AI and machine learning, said Matt Amundson, VP of marketing and sales.

"Our framework makes it simple to incorporate these data signals into an existing sales and marketing stack," he told CRM Buyer.

Customers feed existing engagement data from marketing automation platforms or account-based marketing platforms, such as Terminus or Engage, into the platform.

Companies are not required to purchase EverString's platform to use the FIRE strategy, but "we make it very simple and include FIRE as a dashboard in Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics as a part of our install package," Amundson said.

EverString is offered as a Software as a Service platform, and "most companies are up and running within a week," Amundson said.

Pricing, which depends on the size of the purchasing company, begins at US$20,000 a year.

Companies on FIRE

A good fit assessment operates at scale using a data-driven platform that mines a company's existing data for the characteristics of a winning account. It cascades insights across the business Internet to identify who in the market is a likely match, EverString said.

Intent data reveals which accounts have been doing heightened research on topics related to a company's offering, indicating motivation to buy. This goes beyond intent analytics, which is based on who visits a company's website and what they do while there.

Intent data scans the entire business Internet for potential leads, spotting who is researching and engaging with other companies in the same business vertical and therefore might be a potential customer.

Fewer potential customers have been visiting company websites. Instead, they have been conducting research on third-party websites to read reviews, learn about products, and weigh their options without engaging directly with a brand or having to field sales calls and emails.

Good intent data follows prospects along their path, scoring behavior when they do research.

Recency data reveals how recently a prospect has demonstrated intent or engaged with a company. It lets sales teams prioritize target accounts by identifying who has been conducting active research within the company's category.

Further, it facilitates reaching out to existing customers who might be investigating alternatives, or who have shown interest in a newly launched product.

Recency data creates powerful opportunities for retention, upselling and cross-selling.

Engagement data shows when, and in what way, an account has interacted with a brand. When engagement data is combined with fit, intent and recency data, sales teams have the data needed to drive a powerful account-based marketing strategy, said EverString.

"When CRM came along, we discovered it was actually possible to swamp the sales process with too many mediocre leads," recalled Denis Pombriant, principal at Beagle Research.

"That was all about quantity," he told CRM Buyer. "At last, it seems, there's someone working on lead quality in a way that doesn't require human touch early in the process. This leads to much greater efficiencies and identification of which deals are truly best to pursue."

Tapping Into CRM

EverString's platform puts FIRE to work inside users' existing point solutions. It analyzes information from their Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics CRM software to build a data-driven profile of the ideal customer. It then uses automated artificial intelligence and machine learning to scan the business Internet and sort and prioritize the best target accounts.

Every marketer, sales development representative, and sales rep across the user organization can access the data directly.

EverString's platform can be integrated with a client's CRM software in less than a week, Amundson said, adding that it integrates with all marketing packages.

"EverString offers the only platform incorporating Fit, Intent and Recency data that can be fully operationalized into an existing CRM and marketing automation stack," he noted. "We offer the only platform that can be deployed within days and requires little to no setup from our customers."

How Fire Works

Users plug EverString into their CRM and marketing automation systems and use filters such as employee size, industry and technology to create a model of the leads they want.

The platform crawls business websites to index them for demographic and technographic data for indicators of intent and interest.

"We don't collect people's data, only data about businesses," Amundson noted.

The system also uses Bombora data, which monitors intent on B2B publications.

Some vendors, such as InsideView, use analytics to identify prospects either in the news or in a business vertical, while others select targets based on a company's historic experiences with similar companies, Beagle's Pombriant noted, "but it takes a long time to train a model, and often a company's data is incomplete. Being able to reach out to the Internet to fill in the holes makes a lot of sense."

EverString "offers the most reliable B2B dataset to create confidence around a single source of truth to be utilized across an entire go-to-market team -- marketing, sales and sales development," Amundson maintained.

"Everyone and their dog is talking about sales-marketing alignment," remarked Rebecca Wettemann, VP of research at Nucleus Research.

"I'm not sure there's anything special here about FIRE other than a new acronym," she told CRM Buyer.

Further, "all their dogs are also talking about data platforms and using AI and big data to attack the marketing/targeting challenge," she said.

EverString's differentiator "is combining human intelligence and AI to discover, scrub and operationalize B2B data," Wettemann said. "For companies that already have technology supporting an ABM strategy in place, EverString should be a useful accelerator."

Richard Adhikari has been an ECT News Network reporter since 2008. His areas of focus include cybersecurity, mobile technologies, CRM, databases, software development, mainframe and mid-range computing, and application development. He has written and edited for numerous publications, including Information Week and Computerworld. He is the author of two books on client/server technology. Email Richard.

States and school districts have been pushing hard to get all students to apply for financial aid. But more and more, theyre zeroing in on low-income families to address a key irony of the college affordability problem: The students who most need help paying for college are the least likely to seek it.

With billboards, yard signs, demographic analysis, and lots of networking, district and school officials are trying to reach into neighborhoods with big populations of low-income families and parents who never went to college. The message: Its important to fill out the federal financial-aid formknown as the FAFSAand we can help you do it.

In a time when we have so many conversations about college affordability, students who dont complete the FAFSA are leaving money on the table, said Kim Cook, the executive director of the National College Access Network, which studies FAFSA trends as part of its work to increase college-going rates.

The increasing focus on low-income students marks a refinement in a years-long national campaign for universal completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

The FAFSA lets students tap into a multibillion-dollar pool of federal loans, grants, and work-study arrangements. Its also typically the first step in qualifying for aid from states and colleges. As such, it plays a key role in opening college doors to millions who couldnt otherwise afford it.

A Tough Process Made Easier

In several rounds during the last decade, the U.S. Department of Education has made the FAFSA shorter and easier to submit. Under the Obama administration, the department launched a major publicity campaign for FAFSA completion. The office of federal student aid now releases weekly updates on the rates of FAFSA completion in states, districts, and schools, allowing educators to track their progress.

The campaign has paid off. In 2005-06, about one-third of high school students completed the FAFSA. Now, nearly 61 percent do, according to NCAN .

But millions of students who qualify still dont apply. NerdWallet calculated that in the high school graduating class of 2017, students left $2.3 billion in grantsmoney that doesnt have to be repaidon the table by failing to submit the FAFSA.

Overlooking the FAFSA proves to be a huge barrier to college. Studies show that not submitting the FAFSA dramatically reduces young peoples postsecondary prospects.

In the high school class of 2013, 92 percent of seniors who completed FAFSAs enrolled in college the following fall, compared with only 52 percent of those who didnt, according to the most recent federal statistics. Students who filed FAFSAs are more likely to stay in college , too, than those who dont.

The problem is particularly acute in poor neighborhoods. A 2017 study by NCAN found that students in high-poverty school districts are less likely to complete the FAFSA than their peers in wealthier districts.

With a rising awareness that low-income students are too often missing out on college aid, states and communities have retooled their outreach to target those families.

In Columbus, Ohio, a college-access group called I Know I Can quadrupled its staff of advisers, placing one adviser full-time in each of the citys 20 high schools. The advisers identify a pool of students who could succeed in college, but might not apply, said Amy Wade, I Know I Cans director of grants and data.

The advisers work closely with those students on all aspects of college planning, including FAFSA completion. Nearly all are low-income, Wade said, since 9 in 10 Columbus students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. The targeting process has enabled a tighter focus where its needed most, Wade said.

Before, we might have had advisers meeting 47 times with a student who was going to college anyway, she said. This way, we know strategically where to spend our time.

Reaching Into Neighborhoods

Using money it won in an NCAN FAFSA-completion challenge, Columbus expanded its marketing to reach immigrant and low-income families. Flyers, postcards, radio announcements, and yard signs urged students to Get cash for college now, and offered help with FAFSA completion. It put up billboard signs in places where low-income families would be most likely to see them.

The nonprofit made a particular push to post flyers at community service organizations that serve the citys large Somali and Nepali and Spanish-speaking immigrant communities, in their native languages, Wade said. Those groups also helped with language translation at school and community-based FAFSA-completion nights.

I Know I Can also expanded its FAFSA-completion workshops, making sure to offer time slots on weekdays, evenings, and weekends to accommodate a variety of parent work schedules, Wade said. Providing staff members and volunteers who are trained to help at those workshops was key, she said.

The work has paid off. Columbus raised its FAFSA-completion rate from 47 percent in 2015 to 67 percent in 2018, Wade said.

Detroit used some of the same techniques in its bid to boost FAFSA-completion rates, and the city has made a big impact. The districts 54 percent FAFSA-completion rate in 2012 rose to 70 percent in 2013, and since then, has hovered in the 60s, said Ashley Johnson, the executive director of the Detroit College Access Network.

The organization focused its efforts on schools where 80 percent or more of the students qualified for subsidized meals, and excluded its three magnet schools, even though they, too, had substantial rates of poverty, Johnson said.

The magnet schools already had a strong college-going culture, and higher FAFSA-completion rates, Johnson said. We knew that wasnt where we needed to deploy our resources.

DCAN worked with the school district, foundations, and community organizations to assemble an action team that analyzed FAFSA-completion data and set school- and districtwide goals, Johnson said.

Finding Champions

The next step was to train school counselors and teams of volunteers in all its target high schools150 to 200 people in all, Johnson saidon the importance of the FAFSA and how to complete it. Additional trainings were held to help school staff members complete FAFSAs with special populations, such as homeless students or those in foster care.

DCAN also chose a champion who would lead FAFSA campaigns in each school building. It enlisted counselors and other staff members from local colleges to help at FAFSA-completion events.

In Louisiana, a new policy prompted a big spike in FAFSA completions in the past year. In the high school graduating class of 2018, 81 percent of the students had completed the FAFSA as of July 1, compared to 65 percent a year earlier. Thats because all Louisiana students now face a new graduation requirement: fill out the FAFSA, or apply for aid through the states own scholarship program, which usually requires the FAFSA. Students can be excused from these requirements, but they have to fill out paperwork to do so.

One of the forces behind the new policy was the troubling news, unearthed through data analysis, that low-income students in Louisiana were getting a disproportionately low share of state and federal aid for college, state Superintendent John White said.

To combat that pattern, the state contracted with a handful of retired school counselors to help out with FAFSA completion at high schools around the state, said Ken Bradford, the assistant superintendent who oversees Louisianas FAFSA initiatives. It conducts quarterly trainings that have reached 1,000 counselors so far, and helps schools schedule FAFSA-completion events, he said.

The state used its influence to exert pressure on schools, too. Weekly, Louisiana officials sent FAFSA-completion updates to each school and district. But as the FAFSA filing deadline drew near, White changed tactics: He sent out a report that showed all schools and districts, ranked according to FAFSA completion, to increase the urgency and transparency behind the work, he said.

Louisiana is hoping that a simple paradigm shift of forcing students to opt out of financial-aid completioninstead of letting them opt inwill be a crucial step in helping more young people afford college, White said. Whether that translates into higher rates of college enrollment, he said, remains to be seen.We Americans are busy. We work, shop, cook, take care of the kids, and have little time left over. At a time of growing inequality, for many it feels like a struggle just to stay in place. Naturally, we are concerned about our childrens future. We wonder whether schools are preparing them for a changing economy.

Im a parent. I want to do all that I can to help my children, although Im not always sure what that might be.

Thats why we parents need regular reminders of the broader purposes of public schools. Instead of providing us those reasons, education reformers of the 21st century appeal to our fears and our pocketbooks. We are told again and again that our children will not get jobs unless they exceland that our schools are failing. Children need to be prepared for college and career, but not, it seems, to be citizens or flourishing human beings.

This is a problem that has been growing for years. The Common Core State Standards authors considered the civic and humanistic benefits of education as a natural outgrowth of high standards, not a purpose for them. As one Dayton, Ohio, Chamber of Commerce member put it in 2014, students are educated so that they can be an attractive product for business to consume and hire. Or, as former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan stated in 2012 that then-President Barack Obama knows education is about jobs.

Children need to be prepared for 'college and career,' but not, it seems, to be citizens or flourishing human beings.

There is nothing wrong with schools preparing Americans for work and encouraging social mobility. Parents reasonably expect schools to offer their children economic opportunities, and all Americans benefit from a vibrant economy. But these goals are not enough. Today, we need reformers who appeal to the better angels of our nature. We need the kind of reformers who promote the ideals that the founders of our schools did over a century ago, most notably Horace Mann.

Mannthe first Massachusetts Board of Education Secretary in the 1830scalled us to be better selves. He used his bully pulpit to celebrate the true purpose of public education. He argued that a childs right to public education begins with the first breath he draws. Children need more than food and shelter; they have minds, hearts, and souls.

Mann reasserted what the founders had said: In a republic, every citizen must be educated with the knowledge to make good decisions and to have empathy. As each citizen is to participate in the power of governing others, he wrote, it is an essential preliminary that he should be imbued with a feeling for the wants, and a sense of the rights, of those whom he is to govern; because the power of governing others, if guided by no higher motive than our own gratification, is the distinctive attribute of oppression.

Indeed, Mann hoped that public schools would foster economic opportunity, but not place economic success above other goods. To Mann, public schools should encourage public-mindedness, not just personal ambition.

Other antebellum education reformers agreed. John Pierce, the new state of Michigans first superintendent of public schools, celebrated public schools where all classes are blended together; the rich mingle with the poor ... and mutual attachments are formed. James Henry Jr., then superintendent of schools in Herkimer County, N.Y., believed that public schools would prepare every American to discharge his duties as an individual, as a member of society, and as a citizen of a free State.

We have struggled to meet these aspirations in a society segregated by class and race. Yet, antebellum reformers civic ideals continued to inspire advocates of public education.

In the 1990s, supporters of national standards in the George H.W. Bush administration offered three reasons to improve achievement: to promote educational equality, to preserve democracy and enhance the civic culture, and to improve economic competitiveness.

But that pursuit of economic competitiveness seems to crowd out the others today. This a real lowering of our expectations.

Thats why we need a new generation of reformers to inspire us Americans again with the public purposes of public education. They will not come from the top down in the form of corporate reform; they must emerge from the grass roots. In many communities across the country, this is already happening.

When we vote or attend PTA and school board meetings, we can remind our leaders andperhaps more importantlyeach other, that we value more than getting ahead. Ideally, public schools bring together a diverse community and promote equality and empathy. They will not do so, however, unless we remember what, deep down, we already know to be true. Public schools shape hearts and minds and sustain our democracy.Road legal version of TT Zero bike launched



Dean Harrison rode for Sarolea at TT 2017

A TT Zero bike has been adapted to be road legal.

Sarolea's Manx7 model completed a 108.064mph lap with Dean Harrison on board at last year's TT.

The Belgian manufacturer has now released a version of the machine for general use.

The carbon fibre chassis means the bike is just 20kg heavier than a traditional petrol bike, and has a battery than can do up to 330km in one charge.Audi releases Mountain Road footage

Audi have published footage from their week filming on the Isle of Man.

The German car brand spent a week filming on the Mountain Road to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its TT model and launch the latest version.

The film, which is just over a minute long, shows the TTS Coupe being driven along the route, along with historical footage of the TT races.

The advert makes the connection between German rider Ewald Kluge's 1938 TT win on a DKW machine and the Audi TT car.

The Mountain Road had daily closures in place for a week to facilitate the filming.Foodbank receives almost 5,000 worth of donations



The Isle of Man Foodbank recently appealed for donations after showing how low its stock were

Almost 5,000 worth of food was donated to the Isle of Man Foodbank following a collection at a supermarket.

The charity was at Tesco on Friday and Saturday last week seeking additional donations after appealing for help building up stocks ahead of the school holidays.

Customers donated 156 trays of food over the two-day period with a value of 4.735.

The Foodbank experiences a rise in demand when the schools close for summer.New bus scheme for patients with off-Island appointments

A pilot bus scheme for patients travelling off Island for medical appointments will begin next week.

Those in the north of the Island who have their travel funded by the Department of Health and Social Care will be collected at home by a minibus operated by Bus Vannin.

The service will start at 5am and drop patients at the Sea Terminal or Isle of Man Airport ahead of the earliest departures each day.

The DHSC intends to extend the service to all patients from September if the trial proves successful.

Those due to travel to the UK for medical appointments can get further information from the Patient Transfer Office at Noble's Hospital.San Francisco, Tuesday, July 24, 2018 - An agreement between the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) and the agencies that own and operate the International Gemini Observatory was signed today that established the Republic of Korea as a full Participant in the Gemini Observatory.

"After being a part of Gemini for the past four years as a Limited-term Collaborator, the Korean astronomical community is thrilled to become a full partner in the twin Gemini telescopes in Hawai'i and Chile," said Narae Hwang, Head of K-GMT Science Group, Center for Large Telescopes of KASI. "We look forward to years of fruitful exploration of the cosmos with the powerful 8-meter Gemini telescopes!"

The signing ceremony closed the second day of The Science and Evolution of Gemini Observatory meeting being held this week in San Francisco, California. Over 100 scientists, many from the partner communities in the U.S., Canada, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, and now Korea, are participating in the meeting and most attended the signing ceremony. The ceremony ended with cheers, toasts, and much anticipation of the partnership's future potential.

"I am confident that the KASI's partnership with the Gemini Observatory will help Korean researchers to lead the exciting adventures to solve the mystery of the Universe," said Hyung Mok Lee, KASI President. "We are more than happy to share this opportunity with the entire Gemini community.

Matt Mountain, President of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) that manages Gemini through a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation commented, "We welcome KASI as a full Participant in Gemini Observatory. KASI's collaboration with Gemini has already yielded new scientific discoveries, and we anticipate exciting new projects to come from Korea's full participation."

"We know that this will be the start of a wonderful friendship as well as a fruitful and long-lasting scientific collaboration," added Anne Kinney, Head of the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Division of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF funds approximately 70% of the Gemini Observatory along with Participants Canada, Chile, Brazil and Argentina. "With Korea joining Gemini we will see a fresh new perspective which I'm certain will result in a flood of great ideas and insights," said Kinney.

"In the four years since Korea entered into a limited-term partnership with Gemini, we have developed a very strong bond with our Korean colleagues," said Gemini Director Laura Ferrarese. "I could not be more pleased to see that bond cemented today." Ferrarese continued, "Gemini is only as strong as its user-base, and we are deeply grateful for Korea's willingness to join our long-standing partners and help us define the vision and future of the Observatory."

Rene Walterbos, Chair of the Gemini Board commented, "It is a testimony to the remarkable staff at Gemini that Korea decided to become a full Participant in the twin telescopes." Walterbos adds that Korea is a rising star in astronomy and rapidly establishing a leadership position in many areas of astronomical research, "I'm looking forward to watching as Korea's scientists find new and exciting ways to use Gemini, contribute to its capabilities, and further advance Korea to the forefront of modern astronomy."

"Another exciting aspect of Korea joining Gemini is the instrumentation experience they will bring to our community,' said Scot Kleinman, Gemini's Associate Director for Development. "IGRINS, developed in part by a team in Korea, has proven to be one of Gemini's most popular visitor instruments and we look forward to them bringing a similar instrument specifically for Gemini as part of their initial contribution to the Observatory."

KASI started its limited term collaboration with the Gemini Observatory in October 2014, which has enabled Korean researchers to access the twin Gemini telescopes in Hawai'i and Chile starting in 2015. Since then, and up to 2018, the Korean community has carried out about 100 science programs and published over 10 papers based on Gemini data, two of which were featured on the Gemini website. KASI is also a major partner in the team that operates the state-of-the-art near infrared spectrometer IGRINS jointly developed by the University of Texas, Austin and KASI. IGRINS was deployed at Gemini South from March to July 2018 as a visitor instrument, and established an historically high scientific demand from the community, rendering it the most popular science instruments at Gemini South for that semester.

###

ABOUT THE GEMINI OBSERVATORY

The Gemini Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation (NSF-United States), the National Research Council (NRC-Canada), the Comision Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica y Technologica (CONICYT - Chile), the Ministerio da Ciencia, Tecnologia e Inovacao (MCTI - Brazil), the Ministerio de Ciencia, Technologia e Innovacion Productiva (MCTIP - Argentina), and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI - Republic of Korea), operated under cooperative agreement by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA).

The international Gemini collaboration provides access to two identical 8-meter telescopes. The Frederick C. Gillett Gemini telescope is located on Maunakea, Hawai'i (Gemini North) and the Gemini South telescope is on Cerro Pachon in central Chile; together the twin telescopes provide full coverage over both hemispheres of the sky. The telescopes incorporate technologies that allow large relatively thin mirrors, under active control, to collect and focus both visible and infrared radiation from space. The Observatory provides the astronomical communities in each of the five participating countries with state-of-the-art astronomical facilities that allocate observing time in proportion to each country's contribution. In addition to financial support, each country also contributes significant scientific and technical resources.

Contacts:

Peter Michaud

Public Information and Outreach Manager

Gemini Observatory, Hilo HI

E-mail: pmichaud@gemini.edu

Cell: 808-936-6643

Desk: 808-974-2510

Shari Lifson

Corporate Communications Coordinator

Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)

E-mail: slifson@aura-astronomy.org

Cell: 914-400-7434

Desk: 202-769-5232?

Narae Hwang

K-GMT Project Scientist, Head of K-GMT Science Group

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI)

E-mail: nhwang@kasi.re.kr

Kyoung-Suk Lee

Head of International Relations Office

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI)

E-mail: cloth79@kasi.re.krResearchers reporting in the journal Current Biology on July 26 have completed the first systematic analysis of marine wilderness around the world. And what they found is not encouraging; only a small fraction--about 13 percent--of the world's ocean can still be classified as wilderness.

The remaining marine wilderness is unequally distributed and found primarily in the Arctic, in the Antarctic, or around remote Pacific Island nations. In coastal regions, there is almost no marine wilderness left at all.

"We were astonished by just how little marine wilderness remains," says Kendall Jones of the University of Queensland, Australia, and the Wildlife Conservation Society. "The ocean is immense, covering over 70 percent of our planet, but we've managed to significantly impact almost all of this vast ecosystem."

On land, rapid declines in wilderness have been well documented. But much less was known about the status of marine wilderness. Wilderness areas are crucial for marine biodiversity.

"Pristine wilderness areas hold massive levels of biodiversity and endemic species and are some of the last places of Earth where big populations of apex predators are still found," Jones says.

In the new study, Jones and his colleagues used the most comprehensive global data available for 19 human stressors, including commercial shipping, fertilizer and sediment runoff, and several types of fishing in the ocean and their cumulative impact. They systematically mapped marine wilderness globally by identifying areas with very little impact (lowest 10% percent) from 15 anthropogenic stressors and also a very low combined cumulative impact from these stressors.

In order to capture differences in human influence by ocean regions, the researchers repeated their analysis within each of 16 ocean realms. They found wide variation in the degree of human impacts. For instance, more than 16 million square kilometers of wilderness remains in the Warm Indo-Pacific, accounting for 8.6 percent of the ocean. But it's even worse in Temperate Southern Africa, where less than 2,000 square kilometers of marine wilderness remains--less than 1 percent of the ocean.

The study also shows that less than 5 percent of global marine wilderness is currently protected. Most of this is in offshore ecosystems, with very little protected wilderness found in high-biodiversity areas such as coral reefs.

"This means the vast majority of marine wilderness could be lost at any time, as improvements in technology allow us to fish deeper and ship farther than ever before," Jones says. "Thanks to a warming climate, even some places that were once safe due to year-round ice cover can now be fished."

The findings highlight an urgent need for action to protect what remains of marine wilderness, the researchers say. Such an effort requires international environmental agreements to recognize the unique value of marine wilderness and sets targets for its retention.

###

This research was supported Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarships, a University of Queensland Centennial Scholarship, and an ARC Laureate Fellowship.

Current Biology, Jones et al.: "The location and protection status of Earth's diminishing marine wilderness" https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(18)30772-3

Current Biology (@CurrentBiology), published by Cell Press, is a bimonthly journal that features papers across all areas of biology. Current Biology strives to foster communication across fields of biology, both by publishing important findings of general interest and through highly accessible front matter for non-specialists. Visit: http://www.cell.com/current-biology. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com.The conversion of forests to farmland is recognized as a major contributor to rising levels of greenhouse gases. And yet it hasn't been clear how to best minimize the loss of sequestered carbon into the atmosphere. Is it better to maximize farm yields so as to use less land area over all? Or should farms be operated so as to retain more carbon on site, even at the expense of crop yields? Researchers reporting in Current Biology on July 26 say that, based on their extensive studies of agricultural operations in the humid tropics of Ghana, the dry tropical forest in Mexico, and temperate wetlands and forests in Poland, the best course in all cases is to limit the conversion of natural habitat to farmland, a strategy known as land sparing. That means maximizing yields on existing agricultural lands.

"At one extreme, farmers can try to produce all their food from as small an area of farmland as possible, by having very high yields," says David Williams from the University of California, Santa Barbara. "This will probably reduce the amount of carbon stored on their farmland, but allows policy makers and farmers to free up more space to conserve natural habitats, where there is likely to be a lot of carbon stored. At the other extreme, farmers can try to use lower yield farming practices to increase the carbon stored on farmland, which will reduce the area of natural habitats available for conservation. And then there are all the in-between strategies that use a mix of high and low yield farmland.

"We found that the first strategy--what we call 'land sparing'--resulted in a greater amount of carbon being stored than any other. So, slightly counter-intuitively, trying to conserve carbon on farmland resulted in less carbon being stored across the landscape as a whole. This was because it resulted in lower yields and so required larger areas to produce the same amount of food, and therefore meant less land could be spared for natural habitats."

To investigate the impacts of different land-use strategies, the researchers needed to have study sites across the whole range of possible land-uses, from zero-yield natural habitats through low-yield farming and then through to high-yield sites. Those sites also needed to be comparable: having the same soils, climate, slope, and more. They also needed reliable ways to measure yields--how much food each site produced per unit area--and the carbon stored on each site.

Williams and co-authors Ben Phalan and Claire Feniuk conducted field surveys of over 11,000 trees. They also conducted in-depth interviews with farmers along with using existing agricultural data to evaluate the potential impacts of different agricultural strategies on above-ground carbon stocks across a diverse range of agricultural and natural systems. To ensure that their findings would be broadly applicable, they included agroforestry and oil palm plantations in the humid tropics of Ghana, cattle ranches in dry tropical forest in Mexico, and arable cropping in temperate wetlands and forests in Poland.

"We were a bit surprised by just how consistent and how strong the result was," Williams says. "The three systems we investigated are very different both in terms of the natural habitats and the farming systems, but in each case it was clear that land sparing--combining high-yield agriculture with preserving or restoring natural habitats--consistently had the potential to store greater amounts of carbon than any other system."

The evidence showed clear potential benefits of land sparing for reducing the loss of carbon stocks overall. That pattern held no matter how much (or how little) food was produced. Of course, he says, those benefits hold only if the land that's "spared" is actually used for natural habitat conservation.

The findings highlight the importance of considering the whole landscape, not just agricultural land.

"When you assess the impacts of different types of agriculture, it is vital to look at the off-farm, as well as the on-farm impacts: lower-yield farmland consistently held more carbon than high-yield farms, so it is tempting to think that it would be better for overall carbon stocks," Williams says. "But, once you account for the greater land use required, you see that the opposite is true. We've got to make sure that we look at all of the impacts of food production, no matter where they are."

Regardless of which land-use strategies are chosen going forward, the researchers say that there are sure to be big losses of carbon into the atmosphere if the amount of food produced increases. That means efforts to reduce food demand, including reducing food waste and meat consumption, will be also essential for conserving carbon stocks across the world.

Williams says they are now working to uncover policy approaches with potential to alleviate threats to biodiversity at the global scale. "Many of these revolve around reducing the area of farmland that we will need to feed the 10 billion people that the world is likely to hold in the next few decades," he says. "So things like increasing agricultural yields, reducing meat consumption, and even leveraging trade to concentrate production in high-yield regions could all be important.

###

This research was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council, the Cambridge Philosophical Society, the Cambridge Society for the Application of Research, the Tim Whitmore Fund, the University of Cambridge Fieldwork Fund, the Mary Euphrasia Mosley, Sir Bartle Frere and Worts Fund, the Santander Universities Grants, the T H Middleton Fund, the Robert Gardiner Memorial Trust, St. John's College, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Isaac Newton Trust, the United Nations Environment Programme-World Conservation Monitoring Centre, a Domestic Research Studentship, the British Ornithologists' Union, the Smuts Memorial Fund, and the Cambridge Philosophical Society, and a Sackler research fellowship at Churchill College.

Current Biology, Williams et al.: "Carbon storage and land-use strategies in agricultural landscapes across three continents" https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(18)30755-3

Current Biology (@CurrentBiology), published by Cell Press, is a bimonthly journal that features papers across all areas of biology. Current Biology strives to foster communication across fields of biology, both by publishing important findings of general interest and through highly accessible front matter for non-specialists. Visit: http://www.cell.com/current-biology. To receive Cell Press media alerts, contact press@cell.com.In summer 2018 the planets Mars and Saturn are, one after the other, in opposition to Earth. During this event the planets are relatively close to Earth, allowing astronomers to observe them in greater detail. Hubble took advantage of this preferred configuration and imaged both planets to continue its long-standing observation of the outer planets in the Solar System.

Since the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope was launched, its goal has always been to study not only distant astronomical objects, but also the planets within our Solar System. Hubble's high-resolution images of our planetary neighbours can only be surpassed by pictures taken from spacecraft that actually visit these bodies. However, Hubble has one advantage over space probes: it can look at these objects periodically and observe them over much longer periods than any passing probe could.

In the last months the planets Mars and Saturn have each been in opposition to Earth -- Saturn on 27 June and Mars on 27 July. An opposition occurs when the Sun, Earth and an outer planet are lined up, with Earth sitting in between the Sun and the outer planet. During an opposition, a planet is fully lit by the Sun as seen from Earth, and it also marks the time when the planet is closest to Earth, allowing astronomers to see features on the planet's surface in greater detail [1].

A month before Saturn's opposition -- on 6 June -- Hubble was used to observe the ringed planet [2]. At this time Saturn was approximately 1.4 billion kilometres from Earth. The taken images show Saturn's magnificent ring system near its maximum tilt toward Earth, allowing a spectacular view of the rings and the gaps between them. Though all of the gas giants boast rings, Saturn's are the largest and most spectacular, stretching out to eight times the radius of the planet.

Alongside a beautiful view of the ring system, Hubble's new image reveals a hexagonal pattern around the north pole -- a stable and persistent wind feature discovered during the flyby of the Voyager 1 space probe in 1981. To the south of this feature a string of bright clouds is visible: remnants of a disintegrating storm.

While observing the planet Hubble also managed to capture images of six of Saturn's 62 currently known moons: Dione, Enceladus, Tethys, Janus, Epimetheus, and Mimas. Scientists hypothesise that a small, wayward moon like one of these disintegrated 200 million years ago to form Saturn's ring system.

Hubble shot the second portrait, of the planet Mars, on 18 July, just 13 days before Mars reached its closest approach to Earth. This year Mars will get as close as 57.6 million kilometres from Earth. This makes it the closest approach since 2003, when the red planet made its way closer to us than at any other time in almost 60 000 years (opo0322).

While previous images showed detailed surface features of the planet, this new image is dominated by a gigantic sandstorm enshrouding the entire planet. Still visible are the white polar caps, Terra Meridiani, the Schiaparelli Crater, and Hellas Basin -- but all of these features are slightly blurred by the dust in the atmosphere.

Comparing these new images of Mars and Saturn with older data gathered by Hubble, other telescopes and even space probes allows astronomers to study how cloud patterns and large-scale structures on other planets in our Solar System change over time.

###

Notes

[1] The dates of opposition and closest approach differ slightly. This difference is caused by the elliptical orbit of the planets and the fact that the orbits are not in exactly the same plane.

[2] The observations of Saturn were made as part of the Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) project. OPAL is helping astronomers understand the atmospheric dynamics and evolution of the gas giant planets in our Solar System. Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune have already been observed several times as part of this project, but this is the first time Saturn was observed as part of OPAL.

More information

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.

Image credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, M. Mutchler (STScI), A. Simon (GSFC) and the OPAL Team, J. DePasquale (STScI)

Links

Images of Hubble - http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/archive/category/spacecraft/

Images of Mars from Hubble - http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/archive/search/?ranking=0&fov=0&release_id=&minimum_size=0&description=&published_until_year=0&published_until_month=0&title=&subject_name=Mars&credit=&published_until_day=0&published_since_day=0&published_since_month=0&type=Observation&id=&published_since_year=0

Images of Saturn from Hubble - http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/archive/search/?ranking=0&fov=0&release_id=&minimum_size=0&description=&published_until_year=0&published_until_month=0&title=&subject_name=Saturn&credit=&published_until_day=0&published_since_day=0&published_since_month=0&type=Observation&id=&published_since_year=0

Hubblesite release - http://hubblesite.org/news_release/news/2018-29

Contacts

Mathias Jager

ESA/Hubble, Public Information Officer

Garching, Germany

Tel: +49 176 62397500

Email: mjaeger@partner.eso.orgATLANTA--A thin gap has been discovered on the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram (HRD), the most fundamental of all maps in stellar astronomy, a finding that provides new information about the interior structures of low mass stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, according to a study led by astronomers at Georgia State University.

Just as a graph can be made of people with different heights and weights, astronomers compare stars using their luminosities and temperatures. The HRD is a "family portrait" of the stars in the Galaxy, where stars such as the Sun, Altair, Alpha Centauri, Betelgeuse, the north star Polaris and Sirius can be compared. The newly discovered gap cuts diagonally across the HRD and indicates where a crucial internal change occurs in the structures of stars. The gap outlines where stars transition from being larger and mostly convective with a thin radiative layer to being smaller and fully convective.

Radiation and convection are two ways to transfer energy from inside a star to its surface. Radiation transfers energy through space, and convection is the transfer of energy from one place to another by the movement of fluid.

The researchers estimate that stars above the gap contain more than about one-third the mass of the Sun, and those below have less mass. Because different types of stars have different masses, this feature reveals where different types of interior structures are on the HRD. The gap occurs in the middle of the region of "red dwarf" stars, which are much smaller and cooler than the Sun, but compose three of every four stars in the solar neighborhood. The findings are published in the journal The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

"We were pretty excited to see this result, and it provides us new insights to the structures and evolution of stars," said Dr. Wei-Chun Jao, first author of the study and a staff astronomer in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Georgia State.

In 2013, the European Space Agency (ESA) launched the Gaia spacecraft to make a census of the stars in the Milky Way Galaxy and to create a three-dimensional map. In April 2018, the ESA released results of this mission, revealing an unprecedented map of more than one billion stars in the Galaxy, a 10,000-fold increase in the number of stars with accurate distances. The research team led by Georgia State plotted nearly 250,000 of the closest stars in the Gaia data on the HRD to reveal the gap. Georgia State's researchers have studied the distances to nearby stars for years, which enabled them to interpret the results and notice this thin gap.

The team is now working to pinpoint why the gap is present. Using results from a theoretical computer model that simulates the activity inside the stars, it appears the gap is caused by a slight shrinking in size if a star is convective all the way through.

###

Co-authors of the study include Drs. Todd Henry and Douglas Gies of Georgia State and Dr. Nigel Hambly of the University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory.

The study is funded by the National Science Foundation.

To read the study, visit http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/aacdf6/meta.Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by recurrent painful swellings of the skin and mucous membranes. Without treatment, patients' quality of life is noticeably compromised: Angioedema may not only be disfiguring; in the gastrointestinal tract it may lead to severe abdominal colic ad in the upper airways it can even be fatal if left untreated. The frequency of angioedema attacks is unpredictable and varies from patient to patient; swellings may occur up to several times a week. The disorder affects about one to two in a hundred thousand people.

A new drug has been developed to help prevent attacks of hereditary angioedema and at the same offer the patients a convenient administration. It has now been investigated in an international study performed at over 26 university facilities in Europe, Canada and Australia. The results were clear: the drug is highly effective with regard to attack prevention and improvement in quality of life while offering a convenient oral administration. Dr. Emel Aygoren-Pursun, specialist in internal medicine at the Division of Oncology, Hematology and Hemostaseology at the Department for Children and Adolescents of the University Hospital Frankfurt, served as the principle investigator of the study. "Hereditary angioedema is a condition that may be associated with lifelong impairment. With this fundamentally new development, we may reduce HAE- attacks and consistently improve our patients' quality of life," explains Dr. Emel Aygoren-Pursun. The HAE competence centre at University Hospital Frankfurt is one of the leading institutions nationwide for patient care and the clinical development of therapies for hereditary angioedema. Professor Thomas Klingebiel, Director of the Department for Children and Adolescents, underlines the significance of the results: "Pioneering patient care and cutting-edge clinical research - these are what University Hospital Frankfurt stand for." The results of the study have now been published in the renowned New England Journal of Medicine.

Genetic disorder leads to uncontrolled swellings

For most cases of hereditary angioedema, the underlying cause is a congenital deficiency or dysfunction of what is known as C1-inhibitor. As a result of C1-inhibitor deficiency, plasma levels of bradykinin increase, a peptide which locally increases the permeability of the smallest blood vessels.

The central role of bradykinin in the development of angioedema attacks is well established for hereditary angioedema. Attacks of angioedema in patients with hereditary angioedema are related to the action of bradykinin, whose generation is closely linked to another plasma protein, called kallikrein. If kallikrein is active, then bradyinin generation is the result. The inhibition of kallikrein should therefore be a suitable measure for prophylaxis of angioedema attacks.

Therapeutic breakthrough in the form of capsules

So far, the prevention of angioedema attacks in hereditary angioedema was bound to medication that required injections. Although drugs were also available as tablets, these proved either ineffective or were not licensed in many countries. In addition, some of them led to severe side effects and could not be administered to children or during pregnancy.

The new drug BCX7353 tested in the study is a synthetic small molecule that acts as a specific kallikrein inhibitor and is administered as capsules. The aim of the development was to achieve an effective prophylaxis with the distinct advantages of an oral administration yet without the side effects of the oral preparations used previously.

Study methodology

During the study, 77 patients were randomized to groups of four different dose levels or placebo. They took the respective dose once daily for 28 days. The patients noted in their diaries the frequency, localization and severity of the attacks; quality of life was recorded at the beginning and the end of the study using a validated questionnaire. Changes in the frequency of the attacks were investigated, as were the side effects from the treatment and the impact on patients' quality of life.

Convincing results

The results were positive: With a daily dose of 125 mg and higher, a significant reduction of angioedema attacks was demonstrated. Patients who took 125 mg of BCX7353 per day even experienced a reduction in the frequency of their attacks of almost 75 percent compared to placebo; over 40 percent of patients in that dose group remained completely free of attacks during the study. Also the increase in quality of life was most evident for the 125 mg dose; in addition, not only the number of peripheral attacks was reduced in this group but also those in the gastrointestinal tract. Moreover, the side effects of this dose ranged mild.

Overall, the study was able to clearly corroborate the efficacy of BCX7353 and at the same time provide information about the ideal dosage and tolerability of the new drug. Further studies will now be necessary to verify the efficacy and safety with its long-term administration.

###

Publication: Aygoren-Pursun, E., et al, Oral Plasma Kallikrein Inhibitor for Prophylaxis in Hereditary Angioedema, New England Journal of Medicine 2018;379:352-62. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1716995.

Further information: Dr. Emel Aygoren-Pursun MD, Internal Medicine and Hemostaseology, Division of Oncology, Hematology and Hemostaseology, Department for Children and Adolescents, University Hospital Frankfurt, Tel. +49 (0)69- 63 01 63 12 / 63 01 63 44, aygoeren@em.uni-frankfurt.de

Current news about science, teaching, and society in GOETHE-UNI online (http://www.aktuelles.uni-frankfurt.de)

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. 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.At the 96th General Session of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR), held in conjunction with the IADR Pan European Regional (PER) Congress, David Wong, University of California, Los Angeles, USA along with Roger Alexander, Pacific Northwest Research Institute, Seattle, Washington, USA, hosted the symposium "Saliva Extracellular RNA: New Horizon in Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Research" on Wednesday, July 25. The IADR/PER General Session & Exhibition is in London, England at the ExCeL London Convention Center from July 25-28, 2018.

In 2013, the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA created the Common Funds Extracellular RNA Communication Consortium (ERCC)  a program that aims to establish fundamental biological principles of extracellular RNA (exRNA) secretion, delivery and impact on recipient cells. These principals help describe exRNAs in human biofluids and the extent to which non-human exRNAs are present to test clinical utility of exRNAs and to provide a data and a resource repository for the community at-large.

While the ERCC has a mandate to study RNA circulating in the body outside of cells, saliva is unique in that it has a large fraction of exogenous exRNA, coming not from remote organs and tissues but from the oral microbiome. exRNAs are often functional and can be used as biomarkers and leveraged into a diagnostic tool to diagnose diseases and track their progression.

Speakers in the symposium provided an overview the exRNA profiles of human biofluids, providing a foundation for the focus on saliva. Available exRNA datasets and analysis software were discussed as well as a case study showing how salivary exRNA can provide information about systemic disease.

The symposium highlighted new discoveries about oral exRNA biology, explained how to tailor the analysis of RNA sequencing data from saliva to account for its high fraction of exogenous RNA and allowed for discussion on how to capitalize on the potential of salivary extracellular RNA to improve research and practice. Talks included Extracellular RNA Profiles in Human Biofluids by Eric Alsop, Translational Geomics Research Institute (TGen), Phoenix, Arizona, USA, Overview of the exRNA Atlas and exceRpt RNA Analysis Pipeline by Joel Rozowsky, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA and Saliva Extracellular RNA (exRNA): New Horizon in Salivary Biology by David Wong. The symposium was held on Wednesday, July 25 from 3:15 p.m.  4:45 p.m. at the ExCeL London Convention Center.

###

About the International Association for Dental Research

The International Association for Dental Research (IADR) is a nonprofit organization with over 10,800 individual members worldwide, dedicated to: (1) advancing research and increasing knowledge for the improvement of oral health worldwide, (2) supporting and representing the oral health research community, and (3) facilitating the communication and application of research findings. To learn more, visit www.iadr.org.Alexandria, Va., USA - At the 96th General Session of the International Association for Dental Research (IADR), held in conjunction with the IADR Pan European Regional (PER) Congress, Tian Liang, Texas A&M University, Dallas, USA gave an oral presentation titled "Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) Is Associated With Dentinogenesis Imperfecta (DGI)." The IADR/PER General Session & Exhibition is in London, England at the ExCeL London Convention Center from July 25-28, 2018.

Non-syndromic Dentinogenesis Imperfecta (DGI) is a disorder of tooth development that causes the teeth to be discolored, most often a blue-gray or yellow-brown color and translucent. Teeth are also weaker than normal, making them prone to rapid wear, breakage and loss. DGI is caused by mutations in the dentin sialophosphoprotein (DSPP) gene.

Previously, Liang and co-authors from the Texas A&M University generated a mouse model expressing a mouse equivalent of human mutant DSPP called "Dspp mutant." In this study, they investigated the roles of unfolded protein response (UPR) in mediating the pathogenic effects of mutant DSPP in the Dspp mutant mice.

In situ hybridization, quantitative PCR (qPCR) and immunohistochemistry were used to analyze Dspp expression and the three main branches of UPR, including inositol-requiring enzyme 1a (IRE1a), pancreatic ER eukaryotic translation initiation factor (eIF)-2a kinase. In situ hybridization and qPCR showed that the level of DSPP mRNA was dramatically reduced. Immunohistochemistry revealed that the DSP protein level was increased within the odontoblasts but decreased in the dentin matrix in the Dspp mutant mice. Further analyses demonstrated that all three UPR branches were activated in the Dspp mutant mice. These results suggest that chronic UPR might be associated with DGI caused by mutant DSPP.

This research was presented as part of the Mineralized Tissue 1 oral session that took place on Wednesday, July 25 from 3:15 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. at the ExCeL London Convention Center in London, England.

###

About the International Association for Dental Research

The International Association for Dental Research (IADR) is a nonprofit organization with over 10,800 individual members worldwide, dedicated to: (1) advancing research and increasing knowledge for the improvement of oral health worldwide, (2) supporting and representing the oral health research community, and (3) facilitating the communication and application of research findings. To learn more, visit http://www.iadr.org.Senescent cells are damaged cells that do not perform their normal roles anymore but that are not dead -hence they are commonly known as zombi cells. These cells interfere with the functioning of the tissue in which they accumulate. Senescence is a cell program that is triggered by many types of damage and senescent cells are present in many diseases. They accumulate in diverse types of tissues during aging, thus contributing to the progressive deterioration associated to aging. Eliminating these zombi cells is one of the challenges facing science today.

In the Cellular Plasticity and Disease lab headed by the ICREA researcher Manuel Serrano at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) and supported by "la Caixa" Banking Foundation, the researchers devise strategies to eliminate senescent cells. In a study published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, they present a proof of principle of a drug delivery system with selectivity for tissues that harbour senescent cells.

In collaboration with a team headed by Ramon Martinez-Manez at the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, the IRB Barcelona scientists have exploited a particular hallmark of senescent cells in order to design a delivery system that specifically targets them. They have demonstrated its efficacy in cells in vitro and in two experimental mouse models, namely pulmonary fibrosis and cancer. These diseases are characterized by the presence of damaged cells, and in the case of cancer this is particularly true after treatment with chemotherapy.

In these models, the senescent cells take up the carrier more efficiently than other cells and once inside the cell the casing of the carrier degrades to release the drug cargo. When the nano-vehicles contained cytotoxic compounds, the senescent cells were killed and this resulted in therapeutic improvements in mice with pulmonary fibrosis or with cancer.

"This nano-carrier may pave the way for new therapeutic approaches for serious conditions, such as pulmonary fibrosis or to eliminate chemotherapy-induced senescent cells," explains Manuel Serrano. Another outcome of this study is that these nano-carriers could be used for diagnostic tests of senescence as they can transport a fluorescent compound or marker.

###

This study, performed by IRB Barcelona in collaboration with the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, CNIO, the University of Cambridge, CIBER-BBN, and the company Pfizer in the US, is a step towards achieving the capacity to eliminate senescent cells. Developing tools to specifically eliminate senescent cells is currently a central goal for many pharmaceutical companies, among them the one set up by Manuel Serrano himself together with Ramon Martinez-Manez and Jose Ramon Murguia, Senolytic Therapeutics, which is located at the Barcelona Science Park and in Boston.

The study has been funded by "la Caixa" Banking Foundation, the Botin Foundation, the European Research Council, CRUK Cambridge Centre Early Detection Programme, the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness/ERDFs and the Catalan Government.

Reference article:

Daniel Munoz?Espin, Miguel Rovira, Irene Galiana, Cristina Gimenez, Beatriz Lozano?Torres, Marta Paez?Ribes, Susana Llanos, Selim Chaib, Maribel Munoz?Martin, Alvaro C Ucero, Guillermo Garaulet, Francisca Mulero, Stephen G Dann, Todd VanArsdale, David J Shields, Andrea Bernardos, Jose Ramon Murguia, Ramon Martinez?Manez, Manuel Serrano

A versatile drug delivery system targeting senescent cells

EMBO Molecular Medicine (2018) DOI 10.15252/emmm.201809355IIASA researchers have led the development of new guidance for EU member states estimating greenhouse gas emissions and removals from their forests and developing plans to show how they will account for these emissions and removals in the future.

The document, written by a team led by IIASA researcher Nicklas Forsell, provides the first technical and science-based guidelines to assist EU member states in calculating their baseline projection of forestry greenhouse gas emissions and removals for the period 2021-2030, known as the country-specific Forest Reference Level (FRL), and reporting their National Forestry Accounting Plans (NFAPs).

The NFAP shows how each member state will account for greenhouse gas emissions and removals from its forest land, and a major part of the NFAP is the FRL. The FRL, expressed in metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year, will be used as a baseline to which future emissions and removals from the country's forests will be compared during 2021 to 2030, the compliance period. The net emissions from forests can be reduced through more climate-friendly management practices such as changes in tree felling or additional planting.

The development and reporting of the member state's FRL and NFAP is a new procedure set in place so that mitigation efforts from forestry can contribute to the EU's 2030 target to reduce emissions by at least 40% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. In May this year, EU member states jointly agreed on the inclusion of greenhouse gas emissions and removals from land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) within EU's 2030 climate targets. The inclusion of the LULUCF sector into this target is fully in line with the Paris Agreement, demonstrating the critical role of the sector in reaching these climate objectives.

The new estimation procedures are based on a country's historical forest management practices, with credits and debits allowing for transparent inclusion of management policies such as conserving existing forests and carbon sinks, increased generation of bioenergy from wood and the increased consumption of wood-based products to replace carbon-intensive ones. The FRL therefore gives credits to member states seeking to achieve climate targets through more climate-friendly use of their forests. The guidelines include a variety of different, practical estimation and reporting methods to allow for different member states' circumstances, and provide a crucial step in the political process by providing a scientific basis for carrying out and performing the calculations as required by the LULUCF regulations.

"This is an essential piece of information for countries to be able to do the calculations and transparently document the estimates that need to be submitted to the Commission by the end of the year. As these numbers need to be publicly vetted and available, it is important that they get guidance about how to do the calculations," says Forsell.

During the preparation of the guidance document in spring 2018, the authors participated in a total of six workshops organized by the member states and the European Commission, to discuss the requirements of the new regulation.

"These workshops were invaluable for the preparation of the guidance document. We clarified many issues with the member states in advance, and received useful feedback on suggestions that we were planning to include in the guidance document," says Anu Korosuo, a IIASA researcher and coauthor of the document. "The workshops were well attended by representatives of policy and research institutions in the countries, and served as an excellent example of collaboration between scientists and policymakers."

In addition to member states and the researchers calculating FRLs, the researchers say the document will be useful for NGOs and forestry professionals in general, allowing them to know how the calculations are done and to better interact with policymakers.

"All countries and NGOs can now take part in the process and contribute to national discussion about what the contribution from forests should be to national mitigation targets," says Forsell.

###

ICF Consulting, based in the UK, led the consortium that produced the guidance document, which, as well as IIASA, also included another UK consultancy firm, Aether.

Reference

Forsell N, Korosuo A, Federici S, Gusti M, Rincon Cristobal JJ, Ruter S, Sanchez Jimenez B, Dore C, et al. Guidance on developing and reporting the Forest Reference Levels in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/841 [pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/15375/] 2018

More information

http://publications.europa.eu/publication/manifestation_identifier/PUB_ML0418677ENN

Contacts:

Nicklas Forsell

Research Scholar

Ecosystems Services and Management

Tel: +43 2236 807 334

forsell@iiasa.ac.at

Anu Korosuo

Research Scholar

Ecosystems Services and Management

Tel: +43 2236 807 364

korosuo@iiasa.ac.at

Helen Tunnicliffe

IIASA Press Office

Tel: +43 2236 807 316

Mob: +43 676 83 807 316

tunnicli@iiasa.ac.at

About IIASA:

The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) is an international scientific institute that conducts research into the critical issues of global environmental, economic, technological, and social change that we face in the twenty-first century. Our findings provide valuable options to policymakers to shape the future of our changing world. IIASA is independent and funded by prestigious research funding agencies in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. http://www.iiasa.ac.atA new startup, DIANA Biotechnologies, has been founded at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IOCB Prague) to develop a unique technology created by postgraduate student Vaclav Navratil with the potential to significantly improve disease diagnostics and accelerate the development of new drugs. The startup has earned the trust of investors at bpd partners, who are putting more than 3 million EUR into the project.

The new company will develop a technology known as DIANA, or DNA-linked Inhibitor Antibody Assay, which was developed by Navratil and colleagues in Jan Konvalinka's laboratory at IOCB Prague. The unique method allows for ultrasensitive quantification of enzymes and other proteins in a solution, e.g. human blood, urine, or saliva. In practice, it should help doctors diagnose certain diseases (cancer and various infectious diseases, for instance) at an earlier stage than is possible with existing methods. Moreover, the technology has a second important application: It enables screening of large numbers of chemical substances for enzyme inhibitors and the identification of suitable compounds for further development as drug candidates.

"Our technology allows for the detection of enzymes in blood with sensitivity up to several orders higher than that of contemporary methods, and that's why we see a range of new and important applications for it," explains Navratil, CEO of the new startup. "DIANA Biotechnologies will continue to advance the technology and also offer a variety of services and products for diagnostics and drug discovery. Thanks to support from investors, we'll also be able to start our own drug development program. In collaboration with universities, the Czech Academy of Sciences, and other companies, we want to become a regional drug development center connecting academic research and industrial development."

DIANA Biotechnologies is being set up with support from the academic incubator of biotechnologies i&i Prague as well as from investors at bpd partners, who plan to provide over 3 million EUR in the next few years.

"For some time now, our group has been investing in startup projects and providing direct support for certain projects in the fields of biotech and medtech," says bpd partners representative Miroslav Tvrznik. "DIANA Biotechnologies isn't our first joint project with the IOCB Prague. It's one of our most interesting undertakings, and we sense a lot of potential in it. We're pleased that we succeeded in establishing cooperation with the team at DIANA Biotechnologies and with the IOCB, and we believe that in addition to support for innovative research, our participation in the project will give rise to an interesting synergy with other projects that our group is involved in both here in the Czech Republic and elsewhere in the world."

The DIANA technology was developed at IOCB Prague, the same place the great discoveries of Antonin Holy were made. The institute is known for its efforts to systematically advance the results of basic research applicable in practice and facilitate their transition to the world of business, which is overseen by the institute's subsidiary IOCB Tech (formerly IOCB TTO).

"It's fantastic to see that among the successful projects originating in our laboratories and attracting the interest of large commercial partners, achievements are also being made in research conducted as part of postgraduate studies," says Martin Fusek, head of IOCB Tech and deputy director of the IOCB Prague. "The technology developed by Vaclav Navratil and his colleagues is currently protected by two international patent applications. We've also provided a leading American university and a global pharmaceutical company with one-time licenses. And a positive result of this, of course, is the entry of investors from bdp partners into the company we've founded."

The founding of the new company to develop the results of basic research was also welcomed by the president of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Eva Zazimalova: "At the Czech Academy of Sciences, we consider collaboration with the sphere of application an inseparable part of research. I see the DIANA Biotechnologies project as another excellent example of fulfilling this important aspect of our work."

The quality and potential of the DIANA project is reflected in the prestigious Werner von Siemens Award for the most significant result in the field of development and innovation, which was recently awarded to Navratil and his team.

The CEO of Siemens Czech Republic, Eduard Palisek, had the following to say about the founding of the DIANA Biotechnologies startup: "The goal of the Werner von Siemens Award is to demonstrate to young scientists, students and their teachers that the work they do is immensely valuable and worthy of recognition. I'm delighted that only six months after Vaclav Navratil and his team won the Werner von Siemens Award, their exceptional technology is being given an opportunity for professional development. I trust that this superb example will motivate other students and young scientists to submit applications to the Werner von Siemens Award competition this year."

###

DIANA Biotechnologies website: http://www.dianabiotech.com

DIANA (DNA-linked Inhibitor Antibody Assay) is a novel analytical method suitable for diagnostics and drug discovery developed by Vaclav Navratil and colleagues in Jan Konvalinka's laboratory at the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the CAS. DIANA allows for ultrasensitive enzyme detection and can detect zeptomoles of targets in complex biological matrices. The sensitivity is up to several orders of magnitude greater than that of other contemporary methods. It should, therefore, facilitate timely diagnostics in the early stages of various illnesses, such as infectious and cancerous diseases, which in turn could lead to dramatically improved therapy possibilities. At the same time, DIANA enables the highly efficient identification of biological substances (e.g. enzyme inhibitors) that can form the basis for development of new drugs. DIANA overcomes the limitations of current state-of-the-art methods with its sensitivity, accuracy, linear range, and applicability to difficult medicinal targets, thus it is best suited for early phases of drug development. Other team members working on the development of the DIANA technology were Pavel Sacha, Ji?i Schimer, Jitka Zemanova, Pavel Majer, and Jan Konvalinka. Martin Dienstbier and Jaromir Zahradka of i&i Prague handled the commercialization of the technology, and the success has been made possible with the support of Martin Fusek and Zden?k Hostomsky, director of the IOCB Prague.

Scientific article on the DIANA technology: Vaclav Navratil, Ji?i Schimer, Jan Tykvart, Tomas Knedlik, Viktor Vik, Pavel Majer, Jan Konvalinka, Pavel Sacha; DNA-linked Inhibitor Antibody Assay (DIANA) for sensitive and selective enzyme detection and inhibitor screening, Nucleic Acids Research, Volume 45, Issue 2, 25 January 2017, Pages e10, https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkw853.

The DIANA technology will undergo further development at DIANA Biotechnologies, which was founded in July of 2018.

Vaclav Navratil has a degree in biochemistry and theoretical chemistry from the Faculty of Science at Charles University, where he is currently completing his doctoral studies. His primary area of research in the laboratory of Jan Konvalinka at IOCB Prague has been the development of various bioanalytical methods, which led to the development of DIANA. Navratil is now moving to the newly founded DIANA Biotechnologies, where he will serve as the company's CEO.

The Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences / IOCB Prague is a leading internationally recognized scientific institution whose primary mission is the pursuit of basic research in chemical biology and medicinal chemistry, organic and materials chemistry, chemistry of natural substances, biochemistry and molecular biology, physical chemistry, theoretical chemistry, and analytical chemistry. An integral part of the IOCB Prague's mission is the implementation of the results of basic research in practice. Emphasis on interdisciplinary research gives rise to a wide range of applications in medicine, pharmacy, and other fields that make life better.

Video 1: https://youtu.be/hrh82euICfU

Video 2: https://youtu.be/4lkFC2ngoZ0A new drug discovery system allows scientists to specifically target members of an important family of enzymes, called phosphatases, which were previously considered mostly "undruggable".

Scientists from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology, in Cambridge, UK, demonstrated the capabilities of the new system by identifying a molecule that could successfully target a phosphatase to reduce the accumulation of Huntington's disease-associated proteins in the brains of mice.

The findings, published in Cell, could enable scientists to screen for drugs that can target specific phosphatases. Phosphatases are a type of enzyme that are a key part of signalling in cells - turning processes on and off. Most signalling starts with an activation signal - often when a type of enzyme called a kinase attaches a chemical tag, a phosphate group, to specific proteins to change their function. The signal is stopped by phosphatase enzymes, which cut off the phosphate group.

There are more than 200 types of phosphatases involved in many different processes in cells, so any drug must selectively target only the right one, otherwise it will produce serious side-effects or kill the cell.

Many drugs have been developed that can target specific kinases (such as anti-cancer drugs), but developing drugs that can specifically target particular phosphatases has proved difficult - because the functional part that cuts off phosphate groups is common to all phosphatases, so drugging one phosphatase inhibits hundreds of them and kills cells.

Dr Anne Bertolotti from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, who led the study, said: "For decades, with no way to selectively target phosphatases, research into them has lagged behind kinases and they've been described as undruggable. Our new system is only a first step, but we hope cracking this problem will stimulate phosphatase research and drug development.

"Targeting phosphatases - instead of kinases - is like targeting the brake, rather than the accelerator, on signals in cells. By inhibiting a phosphatase, we prolong a signalling event that has already been turned on, which may offer safer ways to specifically alter signalling in cells and help to create new drugs with fewer side-effects."

The new system builds on previous work by the same scientists in which they created functional synthetic versions of phosphatase proteins.

These synthetic phosphatases are tethered to chips so they can be screened to find a molecule that binds to one type of phosphatase, but to none of the other types. The successful molecule is then tested in cells grown in a dish to check it is safe before beginning testing in mice.

Targeting Huntington's disease

The researchers used the system to discover a molecule that showed promise in a mouse model of Huntington's disease.

Many neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntingdon's diseases, feature misfolded proteins that accumulate in cells in the brain. The researchers hoped that slowing down a cell's production of proteins could leave its 'quality control machinery' with more capacity to clear up the misfolded proteins.

In this study, they aimed to slow down the cell's protein production machinery by targeting a specific phosphatase (designated 'PPP1R15B'). They used their new drug discovery platform and found a molecule, called Raphin1, that targeted only that phosphatase.

When they tested Raphin1 in a mouse model of Huntington's disease, they found it could cross into the brain where it reduced the accumulation of the disease-associated misfolded proteins in neurons. The scientists emphasise that this is early stage research and more work is needed to test if the drug will be safe or effective in humans.

Dr Anne Bertolotti said: "Since Huntington's disease runs in families and can be diagnosed genetically, early diagnosis could provide what we hope is a window of opportunity to target the disease before symptoms appear. Our unique approach manipulates cells to slow down normal functions and give them a chance to clear up the misfolded proteins that are characteristic of Huntington's. However, it will take some years before we know if this approach works in humans and is safe."

###The immune system can be an important ally in the fight against cancer. A study from McGill scientists published today in Science suggests that the reverse may also be true - that abnormal inflammation triggered by the immune system may underlie the development of stomach tumours in patients with a hereditary cancer syndrome known as Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome (PJS). The findings are likely to prompt a re-thinking of how gastric tumours form in patients with this syndrome and in others with gastrointestinal cancers. They should also open the door to potential new treatments based on targeting inflammation rather than tumour cells.

A rare, hereditary cancer syndrome

Peutz-Jeghers Syndrome (PJS) is a rare genetic disorder that affects approximately 1 in 150,000 people worldwide. PJS is caused by a mutant, inactive version of a gene (STK11/LKB1) that acts as a tumour suppressor and regulator of cell growth, metabolism, survival and polarity (the way the different elements in the cell are organized). Initial signs of the disease are the development of dark blue or brown freckles around people's mouths, eyes, and nostrils. Patients also develop benign polyps - masses of cells that form on the inside lining of their stomach and their digestive tract.

By the age of 65, those with the syndrome have a greater than 90 percent chance of developing cancer, including pancreatic, stomach, ovarian, cervical, colon or breast cancer. There is currently no cure for PJS. Patients are monitored for cancer development and often require surgery to remove polyps to prevent intestinal blockage and bleeding.

Researchers looking for a cure for PJS have long focused on the role that the STK11 gene plays in the epithelial cells of the gastrointestinal tract where polyps, and eventually tumours, form. But a serendipitous discovery in mice led McGill-based researchers to turn their attention in a completely different direction - the immune system.

A new focus on the immune system

Dr. Julianna Blagih, who was studying the role of STK11/LKB1 in immune cells as part of her Ph.D. thesis at McGill, observed that mice with disruption of the STK11 gene only in T cells - soldiers of the immune system that protect our bodies from infection - developed gastrointestinal tumours similar to those found in people with PJS. This observation led Dr. Blagih and her Ph.D. supervisor, Dr. Russell Jones, to explore how immune cells may contribute to development of the disease.

"This is a great example of how a random discovery in fundamental science in the lab can lead to new ideas about how diseases are caused, and potentially also to new treatments," said Dr. Jones, corresponding author of the study and Associate Professor in the Department of Physiology and the Goodman Cancer Research Centre at McGill. "When we investigated further, we confirmed that these were not simply random results and that the mice with T cells with these mutations developed inflammation in their gastrointestinal tract and polyps similar to those in PJS patients."

Moreover, Dr. Maya Poffenberger, the lead author and a member of Dr. Jones' research team, discovered that telltale signs of inflammation were found in polyps from human PJS patients. She also found that polyp development could be reduced in genetically-susceptible mice when they were administered medication that interrupted specific inflammatory pathways.

Changing paradigms for Peutz Jeghers Syndrome

Dr. Jones adds, "Basically, our work changes the way we have been thinking about this disease, with our focus now on understanding how the immune system contributes to polyp development. We hope that our discovery will lead to new treatments for PJS patients and others with gastrointestinal cancers. We're pretty excited about it."

Dr. Jones' next step is to work with mouse models and to continue collaborations with colleagues such as George Zogopoulos and William Foulkes at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) to study in patients the role of inflammation in the disease.

###

About the Goodman Cancer Research Centre

The Goodman Cancer Research Centre (GCRC), located within McGill University's Life Sciences Complex, is a state of the art hub for groundbreaking cancer research that attracts and retains top scientists from around the world. Originally established in 1978 as the McGill Cancer Centre, the Centre leads scientific advances that enable us to investigate cancer at a genomic, cellular and molecular level, and understand how cancer progresses, spreads and resists therapies. The Centre currently comprises 27 dedicated research teams with cutting-edge technology platforms, research and support staff and over 200 trainees. Research activities at the GCRC represent a first line of defense in the fight against cancer, with focus on fundamental research to understand why cancers fail to respond to treatment and translating findings into new targets and therapies.Hurricanes bring heavy rainfall and strong winds to coastal communities, a potent combination that can lead to devastating damage. In 2016 NASA launched a set of eight satellites called the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System, or CYGNSS, mission to gather more data on the winds in these tropical cyclones as part of an effort to increase data coverage of hurricanes and aid forecasts. As the first year of data is being evaluated, a new and unexpected capability has emerged: the ability to see through clouds and rain to flooded landscapes.

The flood maps are possible thanks to one of the innovations of the CYGNSS constellation. The microwave signal the CYGNSS satellites use to detect wind speed based on the choppiness of the ocean is actually not generated by the satellites at all. Instead the satellites use the constant and ubiquitous signals from the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system, which is also responsive to reflections from standing water and the amount of moisture in the soil.

"Before about 2015, people had inklings that you could use GPS reflection data over land to look at various things, but there hadn't been many observations to prove it," said Clara Chew, a researcher at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. "With the launch of CYGNSS we've finally been able to really prove that yes, these signals are very sensitive to the amount of water either in the soil or on the surface."

Chew developed flood inundation maps of the Texas coastline after Hurricane Harvey and of Cuba after Hurricane Irma, as well as flood maps of the Amazon River in Brazil, which overflows its banks seasonally.

"When we made our first complete map of the Amazon, everyone was really shocked because you can see a lot of the tiniest, tiniest rivers throughout the basin, and nobody knew that we were going to see rivers a hundred meters wide or so in the data," Chew said, noting that the native resolution of data over the ocean varies between 10 and 15 km and it is averaged to a consistent 25 kilometers.

"When I saw the first land images of inland water bodies, I was amazed at their quality," said Chris Ruf, CYGNSS's principal investigator at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. "We had known beforehand that there would be some instances of coherent scattering possible. That's the phenomenon that creates such high-resolution images. It rarely happens over the ocean and we hadn't really considered how often it might happen over land. It turns out that it happens quite frequently, and almost always when observing small inland water bodies. This promises to open up entirely new areas of scientific investigation."

CYGNSS's advantage over other space-based sensors for flood detection is its ability to see through clouds, rain and vegetation that may otherwise obscure floodwaters. Currently, flood detection is generally done by optical sensors on the U.S. Geological Survey-NASA Landsat satellites, which can't see through clouds, and the microwave sensors on the European Space Agency's Sentinel 1 and 2, which can't see through vegetation. Capturing data from eight satellites instead of one is another advantage because it decreases the time between observations for locations, meaning more coverage, more rapidly, of flooding in the tropics. Together this means CYGNSS could bridge gaps in current coverage.

However, this type of detection is still in its early days of development, and Chew and others are exploring how to infer the amount of water present and other parameters to complement soil moisture and flood data from other satellites. In addition, CYGNSS data currently takes two days to go from observation to data users.

"It's very fitting that one of the new things that CYGNSS is unexpectedly good at determining, the extent of flood inundation, is very often a direct consequence of the thing it was designed to measure, namely hurricanes," Ruf said. "So now, not only will we be able to observe the hurricanes while they are over the ocean, we will now also be able to map much of the damage they cause from flooding after landfall."

###

To learn more about CYGNSS, visit:

http://www.cygnss-michigan.org

To learn more about NASA's work studying hurricanes, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/hurricanes/

To read papers on CYGNSS flood mapping, visit:

A new paradigm in Earth environmental monitoring with the CYGNSS small satellite constellation

CYGNSS data map flood inundation during the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season

Soil moisture sensing using spaceborne GNSS reflections: comparison of CYGNSS reflectivity to SMAP soil moistureNew York, NY - As adults age, they all experience a natural loss of muscle mass and function. A new study finds that as the loss of muscle and function in the throat occurs it becomes more difficult for efficient constriction to occur while swallowing - which leads to an increased chance of food and liquids being left over in the throat.

The study, published in Dysphagia by Sonja M. Molfenter, an assistant professor of communicative sciences and disorders at New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, and her colleagues, helps to explain why 15 percent of seniors' experience dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing.

Among other health issues, swallowing difficulties can lead to malnutrition, dehydration and pneumonia - from food and drinks being misdirected into the lungs. Swallowing difficulties can also have a financial impact. Other studies have demonstrated that when patients with dysphagia are admitted to the hospital, they normally experience a 40 percent longer length-of-stay than those without dysphagia - estimated to cost $547,000,000 per year.

Molfenter and her colleagues noted that dysphagia in older adults is particularly relevant as the proportion of seniors in the United States is projected to increase to over 20 percent by 2030.

"Dysphagia has serious consequences for health and quality of life," said Molfenter, the study's lead author. "This research establishes the need for exercise programs for older adults that target throat muscles just like those that target the muscles of the arms, legs and other parts of the human body."

###

Charles Lenell also of NYU and Cathy L. Lazarus of Mount Sinai Beth Israel and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai contributed to this study.

The study was funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

About the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development

Located in the heart of New York City's Greenwich Village, NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development prepares students for careers in the arts, education, health, media and psychology. Since its founding in 1890, the Steinhardt School's mission has been to expand human capacity through public service, global collaboration, research, scholarship, and practice. To learn more about NYU Steinhardt, visit steinhardt.nyu.edu.To ensure elimination of the Wuchereria bancrofti, a parasitic roundworm that causes lymphatic filariasis, public health workers must follow up mass drug administration with careful monitoring for recurrence. To that end, a study published this week in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases analyzes the effectiveness of mosquito screening as a tool to gauge parasite presence.

The parasitic nematode worm W. bancrofti, spread by mosquitos, is the major cause of lymphatic filariasis (LF), which can cause elephantiasis-- severe swelling of the extremities. Since 2000, the World Health Organization has undertaken a global program to eliminate LF, which revolves around mass drug administrations to treat entire populations for the parasite. Currently, monitoring efforts post-drug administration include regular testing for the presence of antibodies among adult humans.

In the new work, Seth Irish, of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and colleagues collected mosquitos from 180 traps sites in each of two areas of Bangladesh--one which was previously endemic for LF and the other non-endemic. Using real-time PCR, they conducted molecular xenomonitoring (MX) on the insects to detect any W. bancrofti DNA.

A total of 24,436 mosquitos were collected, and 10,344 (41%) were Culex quinquefasciatus, the mosquito which transmits W. bancrofti in Bangladesh. None of the 594 pools of mosquitos collected during the study period tested positive for W. bancrofti DNA, correlating with the results of surveys that had been carried out in the human population to track any reemergence of LF.

"The practical application of xenomonitoring activities is worthy of discussion," the researchers say. "Further operational research and information sharing about how to programmatically simplify and standardize MX evaluations will also make these evaluations more accessible to a larger number of LF endemic countries entering the post-elimination validation period."

###

In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases: http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0006574

CITATION: Irish SR, Al-Amin HM, Paulin HN, Mahmood ASMS, Khan RK, et al. (2018) Molecular xenomonitoring for Wuchereria bancrofti in Culex quinquefasciatus in two districts in Bangladesh supports transmission assessment survey findings. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 12(7): e0006574. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006574

FUNDING: This work received financial support from the Neglected Tropical Disease Support Center (NTDSC), which is funded at the Task Force for Global Health principally by grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and United States Agency for International Development. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.

COMPETING INTERESTS: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.Growing a batch of carbon nanotubes that are all the same may not be as simple as researchers had hoped, according to Rice University scientists.

Rice materials theorist Boris Yakobson and his team bucked a theory that when growing nanotubes in a furnace, a catalyst with a specific atomic arrangement and symmetry would reliably make carbon nanotubes of like chirality, the angle of its carbon-atom lattice.

Instead, they found the catalyst in question starts nanotubes with a variety of chiral angles but redirects almost all of them toward a fast-growing variant known as (12,6). The cause appears to be a Janus-like interface that is composed of armchair and zigzag segments - and ultimately changes how nanotubes grow.

Because chirality determines a nanotube's electrical properties, the ability to grow chiral-specific batches is a nanotechnology holy grail. It could lead to wires that, unlike copper or aluminum, transmit energy without loss. Nanotubes generally grow in random chiralities.

The Rice theoretical study detailed in the American Chemical Society journal Nano Letters could be a step toward catalysts that produce homogenous batches of nanotubes, Yakobson said.

Yakobson and colleagues Evgeni Penev and Ksenia Bets and graduate student Nitant Gupta tackled a conundrum presented by other experimentalists at a 2013 workshop who used an alloy of cobalt and tungsten to catalyze single-walled nanotubes. In that lab's batch, more than 90 percent of the nanotubes had a chirality of (12,6).

The numbers (12,6) are coordinates that refer to a nanotube's chiral vector. Carbon nanotubes are rolled-up sheets of two-dimensional graphene. Graphene is highly conductive, but when it is rolled into a tube, its conductivity depends on the angle -- or chirality -- of its hexagonal lattice.

Armchair nanotubes -- so called because of the armchair-like shape of their edges -- have identical chiral indices, like (9,9), and are highly desired for their perfect conductivity. They are unlike zigzag nanotubes, such as (16,0), which may be semiconductors. Turning a graphene sheet a mere 30 degrees will change the nanotube it forms from armchair to zigzag or vice versa.

Penev said the experimentalists explained their work "in a way which was puzzling from the very beginning. They said this catalyst has a specific symmetry that matches the (12,6) edge, so these nanotubes preferentially nucleate and grow. This was the emergence of the so-called symmetry matching idea of carbon nanotube selective growth.

"We read and digested that, but we still couldn't wrap our minds around it," he said.

Shortly after the 2013 conference, the Yakobson lab published its own theory of nanotube growth, which showed that the balance between two opposing forces -- the energy of the catalyst-nanotube contact and the speed at which atoms attach themselves to the growing tube at the interface -- are responsible for chirality.

Five years later, that turns out to be just as true in their new paper, though with a twist. The Rice calculations show that the alloy Co7W6 promotes the formation of the Janus-like interface that ensures the necessary kink at the edge and allows carbon atoms to attach themselves to the nanotube's foundation. But the catalyst also forces the nanotube to incorporate defects that alter its initial chirality midstream.

"We uncovered two things," Yakobson said. "One is that the carbon atom types at the base of the nanotube separate into armchair and zigzag segments. The second is the tendency for the formation of defects that drive the chirality, or helicity, change. That makes (12,6) a sort of transient attractor, at least during short experiments. If they were able to grow forever, (12,6) nanotubes would eventually switch to armchairs."

The unusual growth pattern might have been diagnosed much earlier if it weren't for an age-old typo that required some dogged detective work.

"The trouble was in a standard online database that gives the crystal structure of this cobalt-tungsten alloy," said Bets, co-lead author of the paper with Penev. "One entry was wrong. That messed up the structure so badly that we couldn't use it in our density functional theory calculations."

Once they found the error, Bets and co-author Gupta went back to the 1938 German paper that was first to correctly detail the structure of Co7W6. Even with that in hand, the team's calculations used every bit of computing power they could find to simulate the energetic connections between each atom in the catalyst and carbon feedstock.

"We figured out that if we had run the calculations in series instead of in parallel, they would have taken the equivalent of at least 2,000 years of computer time," Bets said.

"This paper is remarkable in many aspects: in the timing, the amount of detail and the surprises we found," Penev said. "We've never had a project like this. We don't yet know how this will be applicable to other materials, but we're working on it."

"There are four or five experimental papers, pretty recent ones, that also show a change of chirality during growth," Bets said. "In fact, because it's a probabilistic process, it's essentially unavoidable. But until now it's never been considered in the theoretical investigation of growth."

###

Yakobson is the Karl F. Hasselmann Professor of Materials Science and NanoEngineering and a professor of chemistry at Rice. Penev is an assistant research professor and Bets is a research administrator, both in the Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering.

The National Science Foundation supported the research. Computing resources were provided by the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, supported by the Department of Energy Office of Science; the Department of Defense Supercomputing Resource Center; the NSF-supported XSEDE supercomputer; and the NSF-supported DAVinCI cluster at Rice, administered by the Center for Research Computing and procured in partnership with Rice's Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology.

Read the abstract at https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b02283

This news release can be found online at http://news.rice.edu/2018/07/26/two-faced-edge-makes-nanotubes-obey/

Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews

Related materials:

Scientists refine formula for nanotube types: http://news.rice.edu/2014/09/16/scientists-refine-formula-for-nanotube-types-2/

Yakobson Research Group: https://biygroup.blogs.rice.edu

Evgeni Penev bio: https://msne.rice.edu/content/evgeni-penev

Rice Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering: https://engineering.rice.edu

George R. Brown School of Engineering: https://msne.rice.edu

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,970 undergraduates and 2,934 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for quality of life and for lots of race/class interaction and No. 2 for happiest students by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. To read "What they're saying about Rice," go to http://tinyurl.com/RiceUniversityoverview.Analysis shows that US counties with a history of lynching events have higher contemporary mortality rates for whites and blacks

Counties with higher rates of lynching between 1877 and 1950 showed higher mortality rates between 2010 and 2014. A new study by researchers from the University of South Carolina in the US, led by Janice Probst and Saundra Glover, looks into the relationship between past occurrence of lynching - unpunished, racially motivated murder - and recent death rates. The research, published in Springer's Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, shows that when socio-economic and educational factors are taken into account, the death rate for the overall population of a county was higher between 2010 and 2014 if lynching events had taken place there in the past.

Much research shows that there is a link between historic lynching in a community and contemporary issues such as housing patterns or incarceration rates. In this study, Probst and her colleagues analysed the association between a history of lynching within a county and the county's present mortality rates.

From the Equal Justice Initiative, the researchers obtained county-level data about the number of lynchings between 1877 and 1950 for 1221 counties in 12 Southern states. Counts were standardized to the 1930 population figures, then divided into four categories, from lowest (no lynchings) to highest.

The team next obtained age-adjusted mortality rates for each county for 2010 to 2014 from the CDC Wonder database. Without adjusting for differences in county demographic circumstances, mortality ranged from 863 deaths per hundred thousand people in counties with no history of lynching to 910 in the counties where such crimes were committed most.

Their final analysis statistically adjusted for factors that could affect mortality, such as the percent of county residents with health insurance, education levels, local unemployment rates, and similar considerations. With these factors accounted for, the researchers concluded that living in a county with the strongest history of lynching, versus no such history, was associated with higher mortality rates.

They estimate that living in a high-lynching county is associated with 34.9 additional deaths per hundred thousand per year for white males, 23.7 deaths for white females, and 31 deaths for African American females.

"While white mortality rates were still consistently lower than those of their African American counterparts, this relative advantage was somewhat lessened by living in a county with a history of racial violence," explains Probst, who is still perplexed by the link between historic lynching and white mortality. "This means that while being the target of race-based bias is the more severe condition, bias also has a cost for the dominant population."

"Strange fruit yields strange harvest, among both Black and white populations," adds Probst. "While we cannot change the past, we can identify key problems and work to change the future."

The group therefore urge epidemiologists and researchers focusing on health services to expand their focus to also include aspects of historic and current racism as a dependent variable.

"Racism in America has broadly negative effects. This landmark study may suggest that tackling racism head-on could provide health benefits in the future to not only Blacks, but to whites as well," stated Cato T. Laurencin, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.

###

Reference: Probst, J.C. et al (2018). Strange Harvest: a Cross-sectional Ecological Analysis of the population ratio Between Historic Lynching Events and 2010-2014 County Mortality Rates, Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities DOI: 10.1007/s40615-018-0509-7Patients with advanced cancer who spoke with a trained nonclinical worker about personal goals for care were more likely to talk with doctors about their preferences, report higher satisfaction with their care and incur lower health costs in their final month of life, Stanford University School of Medicine researchers report.

The findings, from a pilot study of 213 patients, suggest that patients with a serious illness are more at ease with decisions about their care and more likely to mention their care preferences to health care providers when they discuss those preferences soon after their diagnosis, and on an ongoing basis, with someone outside the medical context, said Manali Patel, MD, assistant professor of medicine at Stanford and the study's lead author.

She and her colleagues employed a lay health worker to conduct conversations with patients about their personal desires for their care and to encourage them to share this information with providers. The intervention was based on prior research conducted by Patel when she was a fellow at Stanford's Clinical Excellence Research Center in which patients expressed a preference for having these discussions with nonclinical workers. Though more research is needed, the new study suggests it is a promising approach for improving the quality of end-of-life cancer care while lowering the costs, she said.

"A goals-of-care conversation is not about prognosis. It's a holistic approach to understanding the patient's wishes and how they want to experience their life," Patel said. "You don't need higher-level training to have that conversation. You just need a very supportive ear."

The study will be published July 26 in JAMA Oncology. Its senior author is Kate Bundorf, PhD, associate professor of health research and policy at Stanford.

Conversations about goals of care

Patel and her fellow researchers followed patients at the Veterans Administration Palo Alto Health Care System for 15 months after they were diagnosed with stage-3 or -4 cancer or with recurrent cancer. Half were randomly assigned to speak with a lay health worker about goals of care over a six-month period.

The lay health worker had participated in a training curriculum created by Patel that included an 80-hour online seminar, as well as four weeks of observational training with the hospital's palliative care team. During several telephone and in-person conversations, the worker led patients through a structured program that addressed questions, such as, "What is your understanding of your cancer?" "What is important to you?" "Have you thought about a time when you could be sicker?" "How would you want to spend your time in that situation?" Together, they also established care preferences, identified a surrogate decision-maker and filed an advance directive.

"We trained the worker to address these questions over multiple time periods and to revisit the conversation when unexpected events occurred, such as an emergency department visit or bad scan results," Patel said. "How a patient feels and what they express as their desires today may be different from how they may feel a week from now, if they had a really horrible side effect from the chemotherapy that they're receiving and they're finding themselves in the hospital for two weeks rather than spending the time with their family."

Patients in the study who participated in conversations with the lay health worker were more likely to have documentation of end-of-life care preferences in their electronic health records within six months of those conversations starting (92 percent compared with 18 percent in the control group). Researchers used this documentation to gauge whether patients had discussed the topic with their doctors.

Patients in the intervention group also rated their oncology care higher, giving it an average satisfaction score of 9.16 out of 10, compared with the average of 7.83 from the control group. They also posted higher satisfactions scores when queried about their care-related decision-making.

"This indicates that patients in the intervention were having a better experience with their providers despite having been prompted and activated to discuss really difficult topics," Patel said. "This is consistent with what other studies have shown indicating that patients value honest and open communication regarding their prognosis."

Use and cost of health care

The researchers also monitored health-care costs and use among patients in the two groups.

They found few significant differences over 15 months; however, for patients who died during the study, the final 30 days diverged markedly. Those who discussed goals of care with the lay health worker were six times less likely to visit the emergency department or be hospitalized than members of the control group, and twice as likely to use hospice services. Their median health care cost within 30 days of death was $1,048, compared with $23,482 for the control group.

Overall, patients who participated in conversations with the lay health worker used hospice at higher rates than the control group -- a finding that tracks with other research, Patel said.

"Consistently, patients who understand that they have an incurable cancer are more likely to choose less aggressive care, and we see that same result here," she said. "Communication and listening to patients seem to be the common theme because when providers listen to patients and they're receiving care that's concordant with their goals, they seem to have better outcomes, especially at the end of life."

###

Print media contact: Amy Jeter Hansen at (650) 497-6995 (ajeterhansen@stanford.edu)

Broadcast media contact: Becky Bach at (650) 724-2454 (retrout@stanford.edu)

Other Stanford co-authors of the study are biostatistician Vandana Sundaram; Manisha Desai, PhD, professor of medicine and of biomedical data science; VJ Periyakoil, MD, associate professor of medicine; James Kahn, MD, professor of medicine; Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, professor of medicine; Steven Asch, MD, professor of medicine; and Arnold Milstein, MD, professor of medicine.

Patel is a member of the Stanford Cancer Institute.

The research was funded by the California Health Care Foundation, Veterans Affairs Office of Healthcare Transformation Specialty Care and the National Institutes of Health (grants UL1TR001085, U54MD10724 and R25MD006857).

This work was also supported by Stanford's departments of Medicine and of Health Research & Policy.

The Stanford University School of Medicine consistently ranks among the nation's top medical schools, integrating research, medical education, patient care and community service. For more news about the school, please visit http://med.stanford.edu/school.html. The medical school is part of Stanford Medicine, which includes Stanford Health Care and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford. For information about all three, please visit http://med.stanford.edu.A new gene associated with disease severity in models of rheumatoid arthritis has been identified by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The discovery could provide a new pathway for treatment and a way to measure the prognosis of patients diagnosed with the autoimmune condition.

Through a series of experiments--on synovial cells from the inner lining of joints in humans and animals, and in animal models of arthritis--Percio S. Gulko, MD, Chief of the Division of Rheumatology, Lillian and Henry M. Stratton Professor of Medicine (Rheumatology), and senior author on the paper, and his colleagues were able to show that the gene HIP1 is a driver in inflammatory arthritis severity. This is the first time that HIP1 has been implicated in arthritis severity and in cell invasiveness. The findings will be published online in Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases on Thursday, July 26.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease affecting more than 1.3 million Americans. The disease can cause disability and deformation of joints and affects roughly 1 percent of the world's population. Drugs currently available to treat rheumatoid arthritis target the body's immune response but raise the risk of immunosuppression and susceptibility to infections such as herpes zoster and pneumonia.

"There have been major advances in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in the past 20 years, but disease remission still remains uncommon. Most drugs today target inflammation but often that is not enough to control disease," says Dr. Gulko. "At my laboratory, we have been looking for alternative strategies. In this research, we have focused on understanding the regulation of disease severity and joint damage. Our discovery led us to the synovial fibroblasts, cells inside the joint."

Through genetic strategies including linkage mapping and congenic breeding, in which specific chromosome fragments in arthritis-susceptible rodent strains are replaced with chromosome fragments from arthritis-resistant strains, Dr. Gulko and his co-researchers identified a chromosomal region that controls arthritis severity and joint damage.

This region contained 41 genes. They sequenced those genes and discovered a mutation in HIP1, a gene previously unrelated to arthritis or inflammation. The lab was then able to show that the different forms (alleles) of HIP1 affected the behavior of the synovial fibroblast, the cells that line the tissue in the inner surface of joints, by reducing or augmenting invasiveness of the cells. Synovial fibroblast enables local repair and production of the fluid that lubricates joints and nourishes the joint cartilage. In people with rheumatoid arthritis, the synovial fibroblasts increase in numbers (hyperplasia) and become invasive, and the synovial tissue becomes infiltrated with immune cells, causing joint swelling and pain. This invasive behavior is known to correlate with joint damage in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

With this crucial information, the researchers moved on to the next experiment in synovial fibroblasts derived from patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The researchers knocked down (removed) the HIP1 gene in these synovial fibroblasts. Removing HIP1 significantly reduced the ability of the rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts to respond to PDGF (platelet-derived growth factor), a potent inducer of synovial fibroblast invasiveness expressed in increased levels in the joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Knockdown of HIP1 prevented the activation of the signaling molecule Rac1, which is key for synovial fibroblast invasiveness. Dr. Gulko and his colleagues also studied HIP1-deficient mice. These mice were protected, and developed a milder form of the arthritis.

Previous research had found that increased HIP1 expression in certain cancers and correlated with worse prognosis in prostate cancer patients. Therefore, Dr. Gulko's findings also have potential relevance for cancer biology and the understanding of cancer cell invasion and metastasis.

"These new discoveries raise the future possibility of targeting HIP1 to treat rheumatoid arthritis, and also of quantifying HIP1 levels in the blood or synovial fluid cells to predict disease outcome," said Dr. Gulko.

Dr. Gulko's research provides a framework for a potential new target for therapy and, perhaps, a new predictor of a patient's prognosis. He and his colleagues plan in the future to investigate the feasibility of a drug that would target the HIP1 gene. "We are aiming for a novel way of treating the disease. One that targets the synovial fibroblast, while sparing the immune system outside the joint," he says.

###

About the Mount Sinai Health System

The Mount Sinai Health System is New York City's largest integrated delivery system encompassing seven hospital campuses, a leading medical school, and a vast network of ambulatory practices throughout the greater New York region. Mount Sinai's vision is to produce the safest care, the highest quality, the highest satisfaction, the best access and the best value of any health system in the nation. The System includes approximately 6,600 primary and specialty care physicians; 10 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 140 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. The Icahn School of Medicine is one of three medical schools that have earned distinction by multiple indicators: ranked in the top 20 by U.S. News & World Report's "Best Medical Schools", aligned with a U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" Hospital, No. 13 in the nation for National Institutes of Health funding, and among the top 10 most innovative research institutions as ranked by the journal Nature in its Nature Innovation Index. This reflects a special level of excellence in education, clinical practice, and research. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 18 on U.S. News & World Report's "Honor Roll" of top U.S. hospitals; it is one of the nation's top 20 hospitals in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Geriatrics, Nephrology, and Neurology/Neurosurgery, and in the top 50 in four other specialties in the 2017-2018 "Best Hospitals" issue. Mount Sinai's Kravis Children's Hospital also is ranked in five out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report. The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked 12th nationally for Ophthalmology and 50th for Ear, Nose, and Throat, while Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke's and Mount Sinai West are ranked regionally.

For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org/, or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.BOSTON and PORTLAND, Maine (July 25, 2018)--Tufts University School of Medicine and Maine Medical Center (MMC) have signed a 10-year agreement that continues their partnership to provide academic and clinical training to medical students, many of whom will go on to practice medicine in Maine. The new agreement begins August 1.

"When we began our agreement with Tufts a decade ago, we had a shared vision of addressing Maine's physician shortage, giving Maine students equal opportunity to pursue quality medical education and developing an innovative curriculum focused on community-based education. We're proud of the progress we've made, and through our expanded agreement we are looking forward to finding new and better ways of educating tomorrow's health providers," said Maine Medical Center President and Chief Executive Officer Rich Petersen.

In 2008, Tufts School of Medicine and Maine Medical Center partnered to create the Maine Track program. Under the agreement, Tufts, MMC, and affiliated community hospital partners provide academic and clinical training to medical students in the program. MMC and private donors also provide about $2 million in annual financial support for student scholarships, some of which are endowed. More than 200 students have graduated from the program since 2013, with roughly a quarter of those (59) pursuing residencies at Maine Medical Center and another quarter (61) at other New England hospitals.

The agreement continues what has become a successful medical education story and allows for the future expansion of the Maine Track cohort size, which is currently capped at 40. Additionally, the agreement increases the amount of time medical students will spend at MMC in Portland as part of their training. Previously, students spent the vast majority of the first two years in Boston and the majority of the third and fourth years at locations throughout Maine. Under the new agreement, students will spend their entire second year at Maine Medical Center.

"Our new program design will give students greater exposure to the clinical environment, make them more familiar with MMC, significantly improve their educational experience and ideally increase the number of graduates who choose to practice medicine in Maine," said Bob Bing-You, M.D., vice president of Medical Education at MMC and interim Academic Dean.

The new program design, which will go into effect during the fall of 2019, comes as Tufts is revising its medical education curriculum, which will also go into effect in fall of 2019. The new curriculum at Tufts emphasizes the four-year integration of basic science, clinical medicine, the science of health care delivery, and personal professional development.

"The Tufts faculty at Maine Medical Center and at community hospitals throughout the state have distinguished themselves as educators, receiving accolades and awards from Tufts for their outstanding work," said Harris A. Berman, M.D., dean of Tufts University School of Medicine. "The Maine Track partnership is providing transformative medical education that is contributing to the health of Maine's citizens in both rural and urban settings."

Maine Track was built on a simple idea: The best way to make our communities healthier is to make it easier for Mainers themselves to become doctors. The program provides scholarships as well as a top-notch environment for academic and clinical training in Maine, which reduces two critical barriers for students who want to practice medicine throughout the state.

Dr. Bing-You credits not only Maine Medical Center and Tufts with a share of the success of the Maine Track program, but also private donors who have supported student scholarships, rural hospital sites and their faculty and MMC's recently retired Senior Vice President, Chief Academic Officer and Academic Dean of the Maine Track program, Peter Bates, M.D.

"The quality of the network we have created to support medical students is really reflected in the number of graduates who choose to stay in Maine and practice medicine here. I'm excited about what's going to come over the next decade," Dr. Bing-You said.

###

About Maine Medical Center

Maine Medical Center (MMC), recognized as a Best Regional Hospital by U.S. News and World Report for 2017-2018, is a complete health care resource for the people of Greater Portland and the entire state, as well as northern New England. Incorporated in 1868, MMC is the state's largest medical center, licensed for 637 beds and employing nearly 8,700 people. MMC's unique role as both a community hospital and a referral center requires an unparalleled depth and breadth of services, including an active educational program and a world-class biomedical research center. As a nonprofit institution, Maine Medical Center provides nearly 23 percent of all the charity care delivered in Maine. MMC is a member of the MaineHealth system, a growing family of health care services in northern New England. For more information, visit http://www.mmc.org.

About Tufts University School of Medicine

Tufts University School of Medicine is an international leader in medical and population health education and advanced research. It emphasizes rigorous fundamentals in a dynamic learning environment to educate physicians, scientists, and public health professionals to become leaders in their fields. The School of Medicine is renowned for excellence in education in general medicine, the biomedical sciences, and public health, as well as for research at the cellular, molecular, and population health level. It is affiliated with more than 20 teaching hospitals and health care facilities. Tufts University School of Medicine undertakes research that is consistently rated among the highest in the nation for its effect on the advancement of medical and prevention science.Professor Arne Skerra of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has succeeded for the first time in using gaseous CO2 as a basic material for the production of a chemical mass product in a biotechnical reaction. The product is methionine, which is used as an essential amino acid, particularly in animal feed, on a large scale. This newly developed enzymatic process could replace its current petrochemical production. The results have now been published in the journal Nature Catalysis.

The industrial production of methionine from petrochemical source materials is currently done via a six-step chemical process that requires highly toxic hydrogen cyanide, among other substrates. In 2013, Evonik Industries, one of the world's largest manufacturers of methionine, invited university researchers to propose new processes for making the substance safer to produce. Methional, which occurs in nature as a degradation product of methionine, is formed as a facile intermediate during the conventional process.

"Based on the idea that methionine in microorganisms is degraded by enzymes to methional with the release of CO2, we tried to reverse this process," explains Professor Arne Skerra from the Department of Biological Chemistry at TUM, "because every chemical reaction is in principle reversible, while often only with the extensive use of energy and pressure." Skerra participated in the call for proposals with this idea, and Evonik awarded the concept and supported the project.

Supported by postdoctoral researcher Lukas Eisoldt, Skerra began to determine the parameters for the manufacturing process and for producing the necessary biocatalysts (enzymes). The scientists conducted initial experiments and determined the CO2 pressure which would be needed to produce methionine from methional in a biocatalytic process. Surprisingly, an unexpectedly high yield resulted even at a relatively low pressure - approximately corresponding to the one in a car tire of approximately two bars. Based upon the achievements after just one year, Evonik extended the funding, and now the team, reinforced by the Ph.D. student Julia Martin, investigated the biochemical background of the reaction and optimized the enzymes involved using protein engineering.

More efficient than photosynthesis

After several years of work, not only was it possible to improve the reaction on a laboratory scale to a yield of 40 percent, but also to elucidate the theoretical background of the biochemical processes. "Compared to the complex photosynthesis, in which nature also biocatalytically incorporates CO2 into biomolecules as a building block, our process is highly elegant and simple," reports Arne Skerra. "Photosynthesis uses 14 enzymes and has a yield of only 20 percent, while our method requires just two enzymes."

In the future, the basic principle of this novel biocatalytic reaction can serve as a model for the industrial production of other valuable amino acids or precursors for pharmaceuticals. Meanwhile, Professor Skerra's team will refine the process, which has been patented, using protein engineering so that it will become suitable for large-scale application.

This could be the first time that there is a biotechnological manufacturing process using gaseous CO2 as an immediate chemical precursor. Up to now, attempts to recycle the greenhouse gas, which is a major contributor to climate change, have failed due to the extremely high energy required to do so.

###

Additional information:

Methionine is an amino acid, i.e. a basic building block of proteins, which is essential for many organisms, particularly humans, but cannot be produced by them. This amino acid must therefore be ingested with food. Just like mineral fertilizers accelerate the growth of plants, methionine improves the growth of lifestock such as poultry or fish. The current global production of methionine is approximately one million tons per annum.

Publication:

Julia Martin, Lukas Eisoldt and Arne Skerra: Fixation of gaseous CO2 by reversing a decarboxylase for the biocatalytic synthesis of the essential amino acid L-methionine, Nature Catalysis 07/2018. DOI: 10.1038/s41929-018-0107-4

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Arne Skerra

Technical University of Munich

Chair for Biological Chemistry

Phone: +49 8161 71 4350

Mail: skerra@tum.de "Procedural Justice and Risk-Assessment Algorithms" | Main | Interesting reflections on modern clemency realities 

Star Parker, a conservative commentator who is founder and president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE), has this notable new Townhall commentary under the headline "Senate Should Pass the First Step Act." In addition to praising the substantive provisions of the FIRST STEP Act, the commentary makes some interesting political points in an effort to convince GOP leaders in the Senate to move forward with the bill. Here are excerpts:

You would think that Senate Republicans would be rolling out the red carpet for the First Step Act, particularly given that it's an initiative that started in the White House. Unfortunately, that's not happening. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley is not moving to embrace this bill because it doesn't including sentencing reform.

With all due respect to Senator Grassley, he's making a mistake. And as a result he's hurting his party and his country.

In all my years working in public policy, one lesson I have learned is that it is an invitation for failure to try to deal with a complex issue, one having a number of separate components, in a single huge, complicated piece of legislation. The result is either no action or a sweeping -- and bad -- law....

Everyone agrees we have a criminal justice problem. But like so many other areas, there is a woeful lack of agreement about what is causing the problem and how to solve it. And this brings us back to the incredible bipartisan passage of the First Step Act.

Senate Majority Leader McConnell and Senator Grassley should see this as an opportunity for the Republican-controlled Congress to show it can act decisively on a major national problem. Holding up prison reform to add on the complex issue of sentencing reform will result in what I said above: either nothing will happen or we'll get one big unworkable bill.

Furthermore, prison reform has major racial implications. Blacks, who constitute 12 percent of the population, make up 33 percent of the prison population. Hispanics, who constitute 16 percent of the general population, make up 23 percent of the prison population.

It's no accident that the NAACP opposes the bill. Or that Obama administration Attorney General Eric Holder wrote in The Washington Post against it. Or that two very politically ambitious black Democratic Senators, Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, oppose it.

Passage of the First Step Act would show that Republicans care and can help a large part of minority America in distress. Black Democrats don't want this to happen.

Senate Republicans must keep an eye on retaining control in November. They should get on the same page with the White House and the House and pass the First Step Act.The University of Birmingham's Head of the School of Dentistry Professor Iain Chapple has received a prestigious award to recognise his outstanding research in periodontal disease.

Prof Chapple is one of 17 scientists from around the world to receive the International Association for Dental Research's Distinguished Scientist Awards, which are designed to recognise, encourage, and stimulate outstanding research achievements.

It is the first time in 13 years that a UK scientist has won the award, with only three UK-based scientists ever previously having won the awards - Prof Tom Lehner in 1976, Prof Mike Curtis in 2005, and Prof Martin Addy in 1994.

The International Association for Dental Research (IADR) announced Prof Chapple as the 2018 recipient of the IADR Distinguished Scientist Award in Research in Periodontal Disease at the opening ceremony of its 96th General Session in London today.

An Honorary Consultant in Restorative Dentistry with Birmingham Community Health Trust, Prof Chapple completed his undergraduate studies at Newcastle Dental School before completing his PhD at the University of Birmingham.

He is a world renowned researcher in the field of periodontology with over 180 scientific peer-reviewed articles published in leading journals with focus on periodontal research.

He has largely contributed to the diagnosis, pathogenesis and therapeutics of periodontal diseases. As a clinical scientist with a strong interest in basic science, his research has focused on basic biological research with a view to translating his findings into clinical practice.

Of the award, Prof Chapple said: "This award is one I never imagined receiving, and when I look down the list of previous winners dating back to 1965, it is very humbling, special and really the pinnacle moment of my career.

"Research is very much a team effort, and therefore this is really an award to the Periodontal Research Group in Birmingham, both past and present, whose members are inspiring, hard-working and talented people, and incredibly nice to work with.

"The highlights of my career are really varied and diverse, from my time as a senior house officer at Sunderland General Hospital in 1987 to my PhD under my great friend, mentor and fantastic immunologist Dr John Matthews to a very influential sabbatical at Harvard's Forsyth Institute in Boston. "I am proud of all the research I have undertaken to date and look forward to a future focussed in periodontal research which will revolve around our basic discovery science in the pathogenic mechanisms underpinning periodontal disease and its relationship with other non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

"Also our biomarker work and spinout company aimed at providing precision and personalised approaches to dental care is very important, and our micronutrient research in modulating inflammation and oxidative stress."

Prof Chapple was also the 2001 recipient of the IADR Periodontal Research Group Anthony Rizzo Award, the President of the IADR Periodontal Research

Group from 2006 to 2007 and has presented numerous symposia at IADR Meetings.

###

For more information please contact Emma McKinney, Communications Manager (Health Sciences), University of Birmingham, Email: e.j.mckinney@bham.ac.uk or tel: +44-0-121-414-6681, or contact the press office on +44-0-7789-921-165 or pressoffice@contacts.bham.ac.uk

Notes to EditorsThe world's marine wilderness is dwindling, according to research from UCSB and the University of Queensland

The ocean, long a source of inspiration for exploration and discovery as well as a place to test the limits of humans, is no longer the wild frontier it once was. An international study published in the journal Current Biology demonstrates that only 13 percent of the ocean can still be classified as wilderness.

"The idea of wilderness is powerful for people, as well as for nature," said UC Santa Barbara professor Ben Halpern, director of the UCSB National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis and a contributing author on the study. "Just knowing wilderness exists provides a sense of existential value to many people, that nature still exists somewhere in a relatively untouched form, even if they never actually visit the wilderness." However, thanks to human activity, the vast majority of the world's oceans can no longer be considered untouched.

"Those marine areas that can be considered 'pristine' are becoming increasingly rare, as fishing and shipping fleets expand their reach across almost all of the world's oceans, and sediment runoff smothers many coastal areas," said Kendall Jones, a researcher at the University of Queensland, and lead author of the paper.

According to the study, "The location and protection status of the Earth's diminishing marine wilderness," most remaining marine wilderness is unprotected, leaving it vulnerable to being lost.

"Improvements in shipping technology mean that even the most remote wilderness areas may come under threat in the future, including once ice-covered places that are now accessible because of climate change," Jones said.

The authors used fine-scale global data on 19 human stressors to the ocean, including commercial shipping, sediment runoff and several types of fishing, to identify Earth's remaining marine wilderness -- areas devoid of intense human impacts.

They found that most wilderness is located in the Arctic and Antarctic or around remote Pacific island nations such as French Polynesia. Because human activities are concentrated near land, very little wilderness remains in coastal habitats such as coral reefs, salt marshes and kelp forests.

James Watson, a professor at the University of Queensland, director of science at the Wildlife Conservation Society and senior author of the research paper, said the findings highlight an immediate need for conservation policies to recognize and protect the unique values of marine wilderness.

"Marine wilderness areas are home to unparalleled levels of life -- holding massive abundances of species and high genetic diversity, giving them resilience to threats like climate change," he said.

Watson argues that the need to focus attention and resources on preserving the ocean's remaining wilderness is more urgent than ever.

"We know these marine wilderness areas are declining catastrophically, and protecting them must become a focus of multilateral environmental agreements," he said. "If not, they will likely disappear within 50 years."

The authors said that preserving marine wilderness also requires regulating the high seas, which has historically proven difficult since no country has jurisdiction of these areas. However, Jones noted that a recent United Nations resolution could change this.

"Late last year the United Nations began developing a legally binding high seas conservation treaty -- essentially a Paris Agreement for the ocean," Jones said. "This agreement would have the power to protect large areas of the high seas and might be our best shot at saving some of Earth's last remaining marine wilderness."

###A new study published this week in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences has identified that the earliest plant fibre technology for making thread in Early Bronze Age Britain and across Europe and the Near East was splicing not spinning.

In splicing, strips of plant fibres (flax, nettle, lime tree and other species) are joined in individually, often after being stripped from the plant stalk directly and without or with only minimal retting - the process of introducing moisture to soften the fibres.

According to lead author Dr Margarita Gleba, researcher at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, "Splicing technology is fundamentally different from draft spinning. The identification of splicing in these Early Bronze Age and later textiles marks a major turning point in scholarship. The switch from splicing - the original plant bast fibre technology - to draft spinning took place much later than previously assumed."

Splicing has previously been identified in pre-Dynastic Egyptian and Neolithic Swiss textiles, but the new study shows that this particular type of thread making technology may have been ubiquitous across the Old World during prehistory.

"The technological innovation of draft spinning plant bast fibres - a process in which retted and well processed fibres are drawn out from a mass of fluffed up fibres usually arranged on a distaff, and twisted continuously using a rotating spindle - appears to coincide with urbanisation and population growth, as well as increased human mobility across the Mediterranean during the first half of the 1st millennium BC."

"Such movements required many more and larger and faster ships, all of which largely relied on wind power and therefore sails. Retting and draft spinning technology would have allowed faster processing of larger quantities of plant materials and the production of sail cloth."

Among the finds analysed for this study are charred textile fragments from Over Barrow in Cambridgeshire, dated to the Early Bronze Age (c. 1887-1696 BC). The site was excavated by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit.

Dr. Susanna Harris of the University of Glasgow, co-author of the paper and expert in British Bronze Age textiles notes: "We can now demonstrate that this technology was also present in Britain. It's exciting because we think the past is familiar, but this shows life was quite different in the Bronze Age."

"Sites like Over Barrow in Cambridgeshire contained a burial with remains of stacked textiles, which were prepared using strips of plant fibre, spliced into yarns, then woven into textiles".

"It had always been assumed that textiles were made following well-known historical practices of fibre processing and draft spinning but we can now show people were dealing with plants rather differently, possibly using nettles or flax plants, to make these beautiful woven textiles."

###

The paper is published in open access in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.An e-learning program that trains care home staff to engage in meaningful social interaction with people who have dementia improves wellbeing and has sustained benefits

An e-learning programme that trains care home staff to engage in meaningful social interaction with people who have dementia improves wellbeing and has sustained benefits.

The average person with dementia in a care home experiences just two minutes of social interaction each day. They also showed that out of 170 available training programmes for nursing home staff, only three are evidence-based - none of which improve quality of life.

The Wellbeing and Health for people with Dementia (WHELD) programme trained care home staff to increase social interaction from two minutes a day to ten, combined with a programme of personalised care. It involves simple measures such as talking to residents about their interests and involving them in decisions around their care.

The Improving Staff Attitudes and Care for People with Dementia e-Learning (tEACH) study, conducted by the University of Exeter Medical School and King's College London in partnership with the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), was presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference 2018. The study involved 280 residents and care staff in 24 care homes over nine months.

Carers took part in an e-learning programme with key modules based on the WHELD training, with or without Skype supervision. They compared outcomes to usual care. Both treatment arms improved resident wellbeing and staff attitudes to person-centred care. The Skype supported arm continued to deliver improved resident wellbeing four months after the trial was completed.

Joanne McDermid, of King's College London, who presented the research, said: "Care home staff are under a lot of pressure - it's a really tough job. It's a challenging environment for both residents living with dementia and staff. Our programme moved care staff to see dementia through the eyes of those who are living it. We found a simple approach, delivered as e-learning, improves staff attitudes to care and residents' wellbeing, ultimately improving lives for people with dementia.

"In a traditionally task -focussed work environment, our programme reminds us of the human side; of the full life experience of those living with dementia in care."

Professor Clive Ballard, of the University of Exeter Medical School, who led the research, said: "Just take a moment to imagine life with just two minutes of social interaction each day. To accept this is discrimination against people with dementia. We urgently need to do better. Most care home training programmes are not evidence-based. We know our programme works over the long term, and we now know it can be delivered remotely. We now need to roll this out to care homes."

Watch care home staff talk about their experience of WHELD training: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt9lj6Oq6P0&feature=youtu.be

###July 26, 2018 - Patients taking opioids for at least three months before spinal fusion surgery in the lower spine are much more likely to continue taking opioids one year after surgery , reports a study in Spine . The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

"We found over 40 percent of chronic preoperative users still were filling opioid prescriptions 12 months after surgery," write Andrew J. Pugely and colleagues of University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City. Their study includes an online calculator to help surgeons assess the risk of prolonged postoperative opioid use in patients undergoing spinal fusion surgery.

Preoperative Opioids Are Strongest Risk Factor for Prolonged Opioid Use

The study included approximately 26,500 patients undergoing lower spine fusion surgery (lumbar arthrodesis) between 2007 and 2015. Patients were identified from a nationwide insurance database; more than 90 percent were aged 50 years or older and about 60 percent were women.

Overall, about 58 percent of patients had an active opioid prescription within three months before lumbar arthrodesis. Using one-year follow-up data, the researchers compared opioid prescription filling rates for patients with preoperative opioid use (OU) versus "opioid-naive" (ON) patients who didn't take opioids in the three months before surgery.

Throughout the year after spinal fusion, patients who had been taking opioids before surgery were more likely to continue to fill opioid prescriptions:

At one month, about 83 percent of patients with preoperative opioid use had filled an opioid prescription, compared to 60 percent of opioid-naive patients.

By three months, rates of prescription opioids declined, but remained higher in the OU group: 54 percent, compared to 14 percent in the ON group. After six months, rates of opioid prescriptions leveled off.

At one year, about 42 percent of the OU group were still filling opioid prescriptions, compared to nine percent of the ON group.

Preoperative opioid use was by far the strongest predictor of continued opioid use at one year. Risk was more than four times higher for patients in the OU group compared to the ON group. The magnitude of the risk increase varied for different types of spinal fusion surgery.

Other risk factors included depression/anxiety, alcohol abuse, and drug dependence (besides opioids). Based on the risk factors identified, the researchers created an interactive app for surgeons to use in estimating the risk of opioid use one year after spinal fusion surgery.

Studies have shown that opioid use before major orthopedic surgery is associated with worse outcomes as well as an increased risk of prolonged opioid use. Few studies have looked at the outcomes and risk factors for chronic opioid use after spine surgery. Lumbar arthrodesis is widely performed for various types of lower spine disorders.

The new study highlights preoperative opioid consumption as a major risk factor for continued opioid use up to one year after lower spine fusion surgery. "In our experience, this prolonged opioid use after spine fusion surgery may be largely inappropriate," Dr. Pugley and coauthors write. They emphasize that they do not advocate eliminating the use of opioids for pain treatment after spinal surgery: "Opioid overuse should not be confused with appropriate use."

However, they do recommend appropriate steps to prevent long-term opioid use after spinal fusion surgery. Dr. Pugley and colleagues conclude: "The identified risk factors and the proposed clinical utility app can be used as an adjunct to risk stratification and patient counseling for encouraging discontinuation of presurgical narcotic use, and opioid weaning strategies."

###

Click here to read "Opioid Utilization Following Lumbar Arthrodesis: Trends and Factors Associated With Long-Term Use"

DOI: 10.1097/BRS.0000000000002734

About Spine

Recognized internationally as the leading journal in its field, Spine (http://www.spinejournal.com) is an international, peer-reviewed, bi-weekly periodical that considers for publication original articles in the field of spine. It is the leading subspecialty journal for the treatment of spinal disorders. Only original papers are considered for publication with the understanding that they are contributed solely to Spine. According to the latest ISI Science Citation Impact Factor, Spine is the most frequently cited spinal deformity journal among general orthopaedic journals and subspecialty titles.

About Wolters Kluwer

Wolters Kluwer is a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services for the health, tax & accounting, finance, risk & compliance, and legal sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with specialized technology and services.

Wolters Kluwer, headquartered in the Netherlands, reported 2017 annual revenues of 4.4 billion. The company serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries, and employs approximately 19,000 people worldwide.

Wolters Kluwer Health is a leading global provider of trusted clinical technology and evidence-based solutions that engage clinicians, patients, researchers and students with advanced clinical decision support, learning and research and clinical intelligence. For more information about our solutions, visit http://healthclarity.wolterskluwer.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @WKHealth.Privacy Settings

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NOTE: These settings will only apply to the browser and device you are currently using.The Samoa Digital Company Ltd (S.D.C.L.) has been endorsed by Cabinet to oversee the switchover from analog to digital broadcasting systems in Samoa.

The regulator, Lefaoalii Unutoa Auelua-Fonoti, confirmed this in response to questions from the Samoa Observer. But the ownership of the company is unclear at this stage with both the Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Afamasaga Rico Tupai and the Associate Minister Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi unsure who owns S.D.C.L.

Last week, the Prime Minister Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi said the Government will have a television channel dedicated to broadcast initiatives such as public reforms, developments, projects including Parliamentary sessions on the proposed Digital Television that Cabinet has approved. The television channel is one of the components of the Digital TV initiative.

Speaking to Samoa Observer, Lefaoalii said the project had been in the pipeline for five years and involved extensive consultations with all the relevant stakeholders.

These sessions led to the development of a Digital TV Roadmap and a technical plan which outlined a solution suitable for Samoa. There were numerous assistance from the International Telecommunication Union (I.T.U.), in terms of advising our office on possible solutions to use for the Digital Platform and drawing the roadmap for the project.

In response to questions sent through email, Lefaoalii said there are sites identified for this project, but some of them are new and will need to be built.

As part of the upgrade to a digital broadcasting systems, a single multiplex will be construction to provide the platform for Digital TV according to Lefaoalii. Tests will need to be done following its installation to ensure all technical requirements were met.

The Office of the Regulator will also look at cost effective ways for household antennas and set top boxes with a serious of awareness workshops to keep the community informed on how to benefit from this project technically and socially. This will follow by the switch off of analog TV and switch on the Digital TV, he said.

The benefits of upgrading to a digital system are immense, with Lefaoalii saying it will boost the private sector in terms of marketing and give wider exposure to Samoan creativity and innovation. The upgrade also creates room for the encouragement of local content and creation of material unique to Samoa with the regulator indicating that the digital TV services will have more channels.From: American Evaluation Association (AEA) For Immediate Release: Dateline: Washington , DC Thursday, July 26, 2018

Susan Staggs, an independent evaluator and community psychologist, here to talk about infusing community psychology values including respect for diversity, social justice, and prevention rather than treatment into the evaluation synthesis process.

Cool Trick:

Hot Tip: One way to synthesize data is creating a set of rubrics to get to a final judgement. Below are examples of partial rubrics:

Rubric 1 for determining merit on criteria: Rubric 1: Merit Determination for Each Criteria

Criteria Importance Weighting Merit Determination Excellent Good Fair Poor Emphasis on prevention over treatment Medium 80% of funds devoted to prevention programming 60% of funds devoted to prevention programming 40% of funds devoted to prevention programming Less than 40% of funds devoted to prevention programming Explicit attention to social justice concerns High Free babysitting provided during 90% of education sessions Free babysitting provided during 85% of education sessions Free babysitting provided during 80% of education sessions Free babysitting provided during 75% of education sessions Effectiveness High Efficiency Low

and Rubric 2 for synthesizing Rubric 1 results into a final judgment. Rubric 2 has a soft hurdle requirement, which is a requirement that must be met to obtain an exemplary final rating.

Rubric 2: Final Rating Determination

Final rating Performance Standard Exemplary Performance Merit determination of excellent required on all high importance criteria and good on criteria of medium and low importance Soft Hurdle Merit determination of excellent on prevention and social justice criteria Proficient performance Good merit on criteria of high or medium importance; no poor merit Fair performance Good merit on high importance criteria; all other merit determinations of good or fair; no poor merit

Rad Resources: (on Evaluation Synthesis Methodology) The synthesis methodology chapter in Jane Davidsons book



*Special thanks to Amy Gullickson, University of Melbourne, for introducing me to the art and science of synthesis.

The American Evaluation Association is celebrating CP TIG Week with our colleagues in the Community Psychology Topical Interest Group. The contributions all week come from CP TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org.

About AEA The American Evaluation Association is an international professional association and the largest in its field. Evaluation involves assessing the strengths and weaknesses of programs, policies, personnel, products and organizations to improve their effectiveness. AEAs mission is to improve evaluation practices and methods worldwide, to increase evaluation use, promote evaluation as a profession and support the contribution of evaluation to the generation of theory and knowledge about effective human action. For more information about AEA, visit www.eval.org. Greetings AEA 365ers. Im, an independent evaluator and community psychologist, here to talk about infusing community psychology values including respect for diversity, social justice, and prevention rather than treatment into the evaluation synthesis process. Evaluation Synthesis , as defined by Jane Davidson, is  combining evaluative ratings on multiple dimensions or components to come to overall conclusions . Its a simple thing to infuse these values into the synthesis process , but its not often done, perhaps because evaluators are overly focused on criteria such as effectiveness, efficiency, and impact. Those are wonderful criteria, but if were serious about valuing diversity and creating positive social change (and our stakeholders agree), we need to explicitly evaluate performance on those criteria of merit.One way to synthesize data is creating a set of rubrics to get to a final judgement. Below are examples of partial rubrics:Rubric 1: Merit Determination for Each Criteria(on Evaluation Synthesis Methodology) The synthesis methodology chapter in Jane Davidsons book Evaluation Methodology Basics , and her UNICEF Methodology brief on evaluative reasoning *Special thanks to Amy Gullickson, University of Melbourne, for introducing me to the art and science of synthesis.The American Evaluation Association is celebrating CP TIG Week with our colleagues in the Community Psychology Topical Interest Group. The contributions all week come from CP TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this aea365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the aea365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an aea365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to aea365@eval.org.

WASHINGTON - What to do with a vast government complex of underground salt caverns that once held hundreds of millions of barrels of oil?

As Congress steadily sells off the oil contained within the Strategic Petroleum Reserve - residing 1,000 feet beneath the surface of coastal Texas and Louisiana - Democrats and Republicans are now exploring a concept that would have been inconceivable a decade ago: Allowing others to store oil in unused sections of the reserve.

Under a new bill sponsored by Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ellis, and Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Illinois, the government would make the more than four-decade old facility available to both the private sector and foreign governments, adding 200 million barrels of storage capacity at a time increasing volumes of crude are flowing to the Gulf Coast.

We havent changed the mission of the SPR since it was established in the 1970s. This is long overdue, Barton said in an interview Wednesday. This [legislation[ would be a way to improve the efficiency of the oil markets, generate some income for the taxpayer and it would be a way to modernize the infrastructure of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Constructed following the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s, the reserve is designed to pump millions of barrels a day into the global oil market during supply shortages, offsetting potentially damaging price spikes.

Related: Leadership team for combined Marathon and Andeavor announced

But with an oil shale boom on and the United States far less dependent on foreign crude that it was just a decade ago, lawmakers and economists at-large have debated the necessity of maintaining a reserve that is now nearing the end of its intended life.

Over the next nine years, Congress is planning to sell close to 300 million barrels of crude from the reserve - worth roughly $21 billion at todays prices - to fund everything from medical research to highway construction to maintenance of the reserve itself.

With domestic oil production only expected to grow in the years ahead, increased demand for storage in the nations refining hub along the Gulf Coast could offer the government an opportunity to cash in, said Kevin Book, managing director of the Washington-based consulting firm ClearView Energy Partners.

If our crude production is 11 million barrels a day now, and its building to 12 million barrels a day, were going to need storage, he said. Salt caverns are cheap, so its a pretty enticing option.

But before Congress can begin counting the money, they will need to convince potential customers that the reserve is even viable.

A 2015 report from the Energy Department described a long backlog of maintenance work, as well as an out-of-date design of pipelines and shipping terminals that could not effectively get oil to market in the event of an emergency. Two years ago, a large water pipe burst at the Big Hill reserve in East Texas - one of four facilities that make up the reserve - shutting down the facility for weeks, as contractors made emergency repairs.

It would be interesting if they could lease it out, but I dont know if anyone would be interested, said Fred Beach, assistant director of the University of Texas Energy Institute. This is built by the government. Failing infrastructure crap.

Related: Valero earnings skyrocket more than 50 percent in second quarter

At the same time, a rise in oil prices has drained storage facilities worldwide, leaving the Gulf Coast with more capacity than it needs right now. Assistant Energy Secretary Steven Winberg testified in a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee Tuesday that storage facilities along the Gulf Coast were less than 50 percent full, suggesting readily available, privately-owned existing storage capacity.

A concept conceived of less than four weeks ago, Barton said, staff members are still working out the details on how the petroleum reserve would be leased and how much revenue it could generate. But the Texas congressman said he was confident the interest was there.

I have talked to some [in the oil sector]. There is interest. Its mostly positive. Ive not had anyone tell me its a bad idea, he said.

The American Petroleum Institute, the industrys largest lobbying group, said it was still reviewing the legislation.

With bipartisan backing, the primary question is how quickly Congress might get the legislation to President Donald Trumps desk.

Rep. Fred Upton, chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said he hopes to have the legislation on the House floor for a vote in the coming months. And if history is any guide, Senate Republicans and Democrats are expected to find a way to move the legislation as well.

Congress has been happy to take money out of the SPR whenever its come up before, Book said.

james.osborne@chron.com

Twitter: @osbornejaLUSBY, Md.  Energy Secretary Rick Perry said Thursday that the European Union was going to become a major purchaser of U.S. LNG.

Speaking at the Dominion Energy Cove Point LNG terminal in coastal Maryland, which began operations in January, Perry said the agreement between President Donald Trump and European Commissioner Jean Claude Juncker set the stage to increase U.S. LNG exports.

It is a new day and I think a very bright day, Perry said. Our allies, they can count on, no strings attached, that U.S. energy will keep flowing their way.

Heavily reliant on natural gas pipelines from Russia, Europe has long been viewed as a potentially major customer for the increasing volumes of natural gas flowing from U.S. shale fields. But so far Europe has been slow to construct the import terminals necessary to receive liquefied natural gas tankers.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has been gearing up exports. The Cove Point facility is producing 8.3 million gallons of LNG per day, enough to fill more than 80 tankers per year  all bound for Japan and India. Then theres the recent opening of Houston-based Cheniere Energys Sabine Pass facility on the Louisiana Gulf Coast. Cheniere also has a export plant under construction in Portland at the Port of Corpus Christi.

The Trump administration is hoping to build ever more export terminals, and the Department of Energy is examining how it might speed up a permitting process that can take years.

The president sent a clear message he wants regulations, permits to be as streamlined as they can be, Perry said Thursday. Government and regulations all too often have become cumbersome. If the benefits are outweighing the costs then get it out of the way.After working from home for six years, filmmaker and animator Juan Moreno was starting to feel a bit  isolated.

You can only live in your own head so much, he said. I needed somewhere that I could meet other artists, where we could feed off each other and learn from each other.

He found just such a place in The Parish, an arts complex in a 107-year-old West Side building that previously has served as a private home, a Mexican Lutheran church and a medical center.

The Parish is one of three new multiuse complexes along a mile-long stretch of Buena Vista Street. Inside its whitewashed concrete walls, artists  from fashion designers and animators to special-effects makeup specialists and body painters  work, collaborate, network and meet with clients in a professional setting.

Some, like Moreno, rent studio space to get out of their own heads. Others have been priced out of their previous workspaces because the neighborhood suddenly became hot, attracting developers with visions of high-priced apartment buildings, boutique hotels and swanky retail shops dancing in their heads.

Its a story as old as New York Citys Greenwich Village and as current as the Blue Star Arts Complex. And its one that the folks behind The Parish say they hope wont happen again.

Inside, The Parish resembles a college dorm, but with much better art on the walls. Virtually all the studios, a few no larger than a large walk-in closet, are chockablock with computers, cameras and other high-tech equipment. There are a surprising number of horror special-effects masks and plenty of open space for photo and video shoots. Doors, so long as the current tenant is in, are left open, the better to socialize, and theres an energetic buzz about the place.

Open only since February, The Parish has been successful from the get-go. All 12 of its studios  from 200 to 300 square feet in size and renting for an average of $300 per month  are leased. And 20 working artists now call The Parish their professional home.

The complex was such a hit that John Hernden, a real estate investor who owns the building and supplied most of its financing, turned another building he owns down the street from office suites into smaller studios for creatives.

Ive owned that building for about 18 years and never got the occupancy rate about 40 percent, 60 percent, said Hernden, who has owned properties in the neighborhood for 30 years. Nine of the freshly renamed Brownstone Studios 13 workspaces are already rented, and Hernden said he expects to have the rest under contract shortly.

Between The Parish and Brownstone Studios sits Warehouse 5, developed by a different owner. The red-brick former uniform factory houses several small businesses, including artists, a candy maker, a leather goods manufacturer, and a sales and marketing consulting company.

The Parishs founder, Zachry Smith, said he takes several lessons from the projects quick success.

It shows theres a huge demand for studio space for artists in San Antonio, that there are more creatives working here than most people think and that prices in other areas dont work for a lot of local artists, said Smith, who, when hes not managing the property, does special-effects makeup and costuming as owner of KAZ Creations.

Conceptual artist Kristel Orta-Puente started doing photography from home 10 years ago. But as her work evolved, she started looking for bigger digs.

The places I looked at wanted $600, $700, $1,000 a month, she said. Thats impossible to afford if youre an artist.

She already knew Smith and said they used to talk about how great it would be to find a space in which to work together. So when he told her about The Parish, she was one of the first to sign up.

Im a quiet person, said Orta-Puente, who shares her space with fashion designer Agosto Cuellar, and I wasnt sure Id like the space at first. But when youre here, everybodys working and pretty focused. So you can get good work done and still have the opportunity to discuss ideas and problems youre having.

The Buena Vista Street trio of multiuse art and creative spaces arent the first that San Antonio has seen. In 1986, Blue Star Complex was established in a largely abandoned warehouse complex in what today is known as Southtown. Originally mostly artist-run, the complex was so successful in sparking development in the area  trendy restaurants, hip bars, new housing  that earlier this decade it shifted focus to include more commercial development, though Blue Star owner James Lifshutz said there were still some 20 to 30 working artists with studio space or galleries at the complex.

As a result, several of the original tenants moved elsewhere, including the Jump-Start Performance Co. and the Overtime Theater. Both theater companies are now located outside downtown.

Begun five years after Blue Star, 1906 on South Flores Street has stuck closer to its roots, with 10 exhibiting artist-run spaces, a picture framing store and gallery, a design consulting firm and an arts education nonprofit. 1906 also hosts the Second Saturday Artwalk.

Whats playing out with Blue Star and The Parish is an all-too-common chain of events in San Antonio and elsewhere, said Roderick Rubbo, CEO and president of The Arts Fund, which supports arts in the community. Artists too often pay the price for being the pioneers responsible for making a neighborhood cool.

When we came here, Blue Star was the hot arts place, he said. The next thing, youve got all this development in the area, and those artists are priced out of their workspaces. So they have to go elsewhere. It seems like its the artists who always take it on the chin.

There are, however, already signs that the burgeoning arts district around The Parish, not far from downtown and bisected by Alazan Creek, may soon become a hub of commercial development. While the nearby restaurants are mostly mom-and-pop taquerias, April saw the opening of the areas first coffee shop, Shotgun House Coffee Roasters.

Smith said he was inspired to create The Parish after hearing about similar arts complexes in San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles. When he found the building, it had been abandoned for about 20 years. After signing a lease with Hernden in November, it took three months to build out the studios, install new heating and air conditioning, cut a staircase to the second floor and finish out that second floor to make it into a large studio that can be used for anything from shoots to private parties.

In addition to the studios, there are several communal spaces where artists can relax, drink coffee, chat and bounce ideas off one another. And thats where a lot of the ad hoc collaboration happens.

For example, Juan Moreno learned how to put together a formal business proposal by talking to Richard Jemal from OK Lets Shoot and Daniel Saldivar of White Rhino Digital. He hasnt heard yet whether hell get the job, but he said the proposal was a lot more professional-looking then it would have been had he not gotten their advice.

Such profitable interactions are common in co-working spaces like The Parish. In a 2015 survey report in Harvard Business Review, the authors explained that people in these situations tend to thrive, defined as experiencing both a sense of vitality and learning, for several reasons. These include a lack of competition among members working in different companies and a culture of cooperation that such situations engender.

The authors wrote: People who use co-working spaces ... reported finding meaning in the fact that they could bring their whole selves to work.

With the artists whole selves and some equipment, theres no end to the creativity going on at The Parish.

Note: This story has been updated to include comment from Blue Star owner James Lifshutz.

Richard A. Marini is a features writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | rmarini@express-news.net | Twitter: @RichardMariniIf H.C. Carter could walk through the glass-paned front door of the three-story limestone house at 119 Taylor St., in the shadows of San Antonios modern skyline, he would feel right at home.

Carter, an attorney and former president of the Texas State Bar Association, bought the mansion more than a century ago, in 1914. Designed by renowned architect Alfred Giles, it was built in 1893 by William Maverick, son of Samuel, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence.

The Maverick Carter House, as it is known today, has withstood threats from the San Antonio River, rechanneled due to downtown flooding in the 1920s; from the construction of the McAllister Freeway, rerouted in the 1960s; and from a threatened razing for a city parking lot in the 1950s.

Now, after a three-year restoration, the house has been transformed into a sort of time portal to the Victorian era. Not only does it retain the original Giles design inside and out, the Maverick Carter House is filled with family heirlooms, from a Monarch wood-burning stove installed by the Mavericks in the kitchen in the 1890s to an 1849 daguerreotype of a Carter ancestor, Capt. Benjamin Stone Roberts, who fought in the Mexican War (and, later, as a general in the Civil War)  so rare it is kept covered with a cloth to avoid sun damage. It hangs next to a landscape by San Antonio master artist Jose Vives-Atsara.

Related: South Side Craftsman gets shack-to-chic makeover

Now Playing: Designed by renowned architect Alfred Giles, the historic Lambermont home in San Antonio's Government Hill is nicknamed The Castle the and currently serves as a wedding venue. Video: San Antonio Express-News

The downtown house sits adjacent to the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. According to San Antonio historian Maria Watson Pfeiffer, the home was part of one of San Antonios earliest subdivisions, the Alamo City, which comprised a large tract of land stretching north of the Alamo and west to the river. And it is a shining example of Giles style.

There are no shortages of masterpieces from the famed architect, Pfeiffer writes at maverickcarterhouse.org, and this house richly complements such a grand collection of Giless works.

Period furniture, from formal, high-backed settees to H.C.s many-cubbyholed law office desk, fills its 23 rooms; chandeliers and light fixtures are outfitted for both gas and electric. The red sandstone fireplace mantle in the dining room was said to be Willie Mavericks special pride.

We thought it was important to keep it just the way Alfred Giles designed it, said Marline Carter Lawson, 60, H.C.s granddaughter and co-owner of the house. No walls have ever been torn down or moved. Most of the furnishings and decorations were accumulated by the Carter family over the years. That, I think, makes it unique in San Antonio. Its a place where you can come and see how the family lived. It opens a window on time. Its almost as if the family is still here.

The family really is still in the house. A Carter has lived there since H.C. bought it in the early 19th century, and Marlines 30-year-old son Carter Brown, who was project manager for the restoration, lives in the house, tucked away in one of the second-floor bedrooms.

Im interested in the architecture, the design, the preservation of a beautiful old house, Brown said. Really, just enjoying the way they lived back then.

Related: Things really cook in these high-end kitchens

The Maverick Carter House is open to tours and small events, and the family wants to expand education programs in astronomy, music, art and literature  all passionate interests of one of the homes most prominent citizens, H.C.s second wife, Aline B. Carter.

Thirty-one years younger than her husband when the couple married in 1916, Aline had three boys  Champe, Frank and David, all born in the house  and lived there until her death in 1972 at age 80.

A San Antonio native  her grandmother was Sarah Eager, thought to be the first Anglo girl born in San Antonio  Aline was Texas Poet Laureate from 1947-49. Educated at the Boston Conservatory of Music and Wellesley College, Aline was a remarkable woman whose collection of geologic and biological specimens is kept in a corner of the vast third-floor ballroom, while her Wurlitzer harp, awaiting restringing, stands in the circular vestibule known as the courting corner on the first floor just off the entry hall.

Known as the White Angel or the Angel of St. Marks for her style of dress and her devout faith, she hosted orphans in her home for Christmas choral concerts and taught reading to inmates at the Bexar County Jail.

She was a very unusual woman in that her focus was on helping others, Lawson said. She looked like she stepped out of a history book because she always wore these white, organza dresses and hats.

Aline was responsible for the only major modifications to the Maverick Carter House, done around 1925. With acclaimed San Antonio artist and designer Ethel Wilson Harris, Aline turned Willie Mavericks library on the ground floor, once filled with oak shelving packed with books, into a small chapel, complete with stained glass windows and a Mason & Hamlin pump organ that still plays beautifully.

And generations of San Antonians have wondered about that small structure with the domed metal roof that sits atop the Victorian home.

An avid amateur astronomer, Aline built an observatory on the roof, where she hosted astronomy classes and star-gazing parties. Today it has a new wooden floor, and the 1918 Bausch & Lomb telescope is currently being restored. The dome glides 360 degrees on tracks, and inside, the beginning of a psalm, When I consider thy heavens, O Lord, is painted on the wall.

She had a great interest in science  biology, geology, astronomy  and in sharing those interests with others, Brown said. I think her interest in science was part of a process of understanding God as she saw it.

Related: These high-end, luxury outdoor kitchens of San Antonio had no cost limit

The third important addition to the house was the solarium, built atop the porte cochere. This breezeway with 1920s brown wicker furniture is a favorite family room in the house.

With its imposing rounded tower and prominent arched window over the front door, the house is one of Giles finest examples of residential architecture in the Richardsonian Romanesque style popular in the late 1800s. Its unique in that all three stories are clad in locally quarried rusticated limestone.

Perhaps the major feature of the recent restoration was a new roof of royal purple slate tile from the same Pennsylvania quarry as the original.

The roof was pretty beat up, but now I think were good for a long while, Brown said.

Other aspects of the restoration, which was accomplished for less than $2 million, according to Brown, include all-new electrical to replace the original knob-and-tube wiring, a dangerous fire hazard; a new HVAC system that provides museum-quality climate control; updated plumbing; repair of the homes more than 50 double-hung and transom windows; period landscaping by local landscape architect John Troy; and a complete paint job.

We thought about using the original interior colors, but the Victorians were a little too bold for us, Brown said. They loved these vivid, deep reds and greens, which we uncovered when we were working on the walls.

The house is painted in a more subtle palette of creams and grays with white trim, although some walls are covered in cloth in popular period patterns.

The restoration extended to details such as brass door handles and hinges and transom hardware, which was painstakingly removed, cleaned of layers of paint, and replaced.

The butler bell box, a communications system connecting the upstairs bedrooms to the kitchen was fixed, and a little architectural sleuthing was required to find the receiving end of a speaking tube from the second floor hallway to the kitchen.

I guess they used it to order pancakes, Brown said. I remember my grandfather talking about hotcakes cooked on the old wood stove.

Around every corner and in every niche of the Maverick Carter House is a historical conversation piece, from a small marble statue of the gods Eros and Psyche resting daintily on a table in the grand entry hall, which is filled with dark, carved Chinese export furniture popular in the day, to a rare 1876 Knabe square grand piano on the third floor once played by both Sarah Eagar and Aline Carter.

The stories are just so concentrated in this house, Lawson said, and we just want to continue making family history here.

To schedule a tour of the home, go to maverickcarterhouse.org, or call 210-226-1715.

Steve Bennett is a San Antonio freelancer.Texas history tours tend to include the same well-worn stops. But for those who have explored every inch of the Capitol and know the Alamo like its in your own backyard, because it is, the Lone Star State is home to plenty more unusual attractions. These day trips are lesser known, but each reveals its own slice of Texas rich, turbulent history.

Wander the Webb Gallery

Waxahachie

Though the Webb Gallery has been called a collection of outsider and folk art, the pieces housed inside a stunning 116-year-old building in Waxahachie are more than that. Within the gallerys 5,000 square feet, the paintings of tattoo artist Jackie Dunn Smith hang together with work by William S. Burroughs and posters from American fraternal societies. The diverse collections are united by a common spirit: handmade, with a narrative design and a raw, strong presence, according to Julie Webb, who runs the gallery with her husband, Bruce. While the gallery attracts some very well-known visitors, including David Byrne of the Talking Heads, the owners are dedicated to making it accessible to anybody. The current exhibition is a celebration of Texas culture and runs until Aug. 26.

Related: New San Antonio group leads members on women-only adventures

Dive Valhalla

Midland

Scuba enthusiasts have been making the trek to Midland to dive in the decommissioned nuclear silo at Valhalla for the past 20 years. The site offers a unique experience, allowing more advanced divers to explore the flooded silo the same way theyd dive a shipwreck. It now caters to those who would prefer to remain on land as well. Visitors can spend the night in another former missile silo that has been transformed into a bed-and-breakfast where they experience first-hand what life was like for the crews assigned to watch the silos  including a shut-in, lock-down drill. Though probably not for the claustrophobic, a trip to Valhalla dives deep into Texas Cold War past.

Order the calf fries at Risckys Steakhouse

Fort Worth

Calf fries (deep-fried cow testicles, for the uninitiated) can be found at restaurants across the state, but they were first served at Theos Saddle & Sirloin Inn in Fort Worth in the 1920s. The inn closed years ago, but when Risckys Steakhouse took over the building in 1993, it left the popular appetizer on the menu. Its now a restaurant staple. Calf fries are often seen as a novelty dish good for shocking out-of-town guests, but they are truly part of Texas culinary history. This cowboy delicacy is not only a nod to hardworking cowhands who didnt waste any part of an animal, it harks back even further into Texas history to the Basque immigrants, who most likely brought calf fries and Spanish ranching culture to the U.S. in the 1800s.

Related: Travelers are seeking deeper connection to wilderness

Explore the architecture at the University of Texas at El Paso

El Paso

First-time visitors to the university might find it strange to see Bhutanese-style buildings nestled into the landscape of the Chihuahuan Desert. And, indeed, the massive sloping walls, overhanging roofs and mosaic-tiled mandalas were originally a whim of Kathleen Worrell, the wife of the first dean of the school, who was fascinated with a 1914 National Geographic article on the Forbidden Kingdom. But over the past hundred years, the school has not only continued to build in the style of the Himalayan country but has cultivated a relationship with Bhutan, hosting festivals and attracting a growing number of Bhutanese students.

Imbibe inspiration from The King of the Blues at Bar 414

San Antonio

Robert Johnson, the man who influenced Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, recorded some of his greatest works in Room 414 of San Antonios Gunter Hotel. Over three days, he knocked out 16 of his most canonical songs, including Cross Road Blues and Sweet Home Chicago. One of his album covers memorializes that 1936 recording session, with a drawing of Johnson bent over his guitar in the corner of his makeshift recording studio. The hotel has been taken over by the Sheraton, but Johnsons memory is kept alive in Bar 414, which offers Prohibition-era drinks in memory of the blues legend.

Discover ancient pictographs at Hueco Tanks State Park

West Texas

For those who prefer ancient history, the cave drawings in the sacred desert sanctuary of Hueco Tanks date back millenia. These rocky hills in far West Texas have long attracted people who came for the rainwater collected in the parks natural stone basins, or huecos. Ancient peoples left their mark throughout the park, drawing people, jaguars, deer, lightning, rain and corn on the surrounding stones. Hueco Tanks is most famous for its mask paintings and is home to the largest number in North America, with more than 200. The park has become a climbers paradise because of the natural outcroppings in the rocks and is also a beautiful place to hike and camp. To protect the fragile paintings, access is restricted to 70 people a day, and visitors must make reservations beforehand.

Related: San Antonio's historic downtown Maverick Carter House a Victorian time capsule

Sample the mango ice cream at the Menger Hotel

San Antonio

Around the corner from the Alamo lies the Menger Hotel, an elegant structure packed with history. The buldings architecture is itself something to see, with Corinthian columns in the lobby and a lovely Spanish-style courtyard surrounded by azaleas. And maybe it was the building that attracted U.S. presidents to the Menger as far back as Theodore Roosevelt, who used to meet with his band of Rough Riders in the bar. The hotel also boasts photos of President Bill Clinton savoring the Mengers signature mango ice cream, a 100-year-old recipe that was served at both of Clintons presidential inaugurations.

Stroll through Austins past in Clarksville Historic District

Austin

The narrow, tree-lined streets of the Clarksville neighborhood in West Austin conceal some of the citys most important landmarks. Although now one of the citys most expensive neighborhoods, it was originally a freedmans town founded by former slaves after the Civil War. The Sweet Home Baptist Church is a legacy of that community, built before the citys black population was pushed into East Austin. The neighborhood is also home to the original location of Whole Foods, a much more humble building than the corporations 80,000-square-foot flagship a few miles away. After admiring some of the neighborhoods historical houses, a visit to Clarksville is best topped off with burgers and shakes at Naus Enfield Drug, which looks much like it did when it opened in 1951.

Plan an afternoon escape in the Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern

Houston

Houston is brimming with unusual historical sites. Take, for example, the cistern under Buffalo Bayou Park. Built more than 90 years ago, the enormous underground cavern was drained in 2007 because of an irreparable leak. The city had slated the site for destruction when it was rediscovered by the Buffalo Bayou Partnership. The group decided to turn the dramatic 87,500-square-foot expanse set with row after row of slender white columns into an attraction of its own. Book a tour of the cistern to get an entirely new view of Houstons historical waterworks. Visitors can also take in the work of artist Carlos Cruz-Diez, who has created a site-specific installation in the cistern, or join a Sunday meditation session in the surprisingly serene space.

Celebrate Texas Middle Eastern heritage

Multiple cities

Though not as well known as Texas German communities, Lebanese and Syrian immigrants have had a long and lasting impact on the state. These communities, largely made up of Christian Orthodox practitioners, began forming in the 1880s and spread to cities across the state. The Lebanese influence can be seen everywhere, from Orthodox churches to music to liquor stores (the Twin Liquors chain was founded by a pair of Lebanese brothers). The best way to experience this history is at a series of Middle Eastern festivals that happen from May to October. The biggest ones are in Austin, San Antonio, Houston, El Paso and Lewisville.

Cate Malek is a freelance writer in Austin. Email: travel@chron.com.Eduardo Hernandez, the new superintendent of Edgewood Independent School District, wants to break bread with the parents of students - literally, in their own homes.

Hell even bring his homemade salsa verde.

Turning around the districts bad reputation will take a grassroots effort, Hernandez said. He doesnt want to limit discussion to the board room, where parents step up to a microphone during the limited Citizens to be heard portion of monthly meetings.

Lots of times, building support is at dinner tables, Hernandez said.

Hired in June from the Duncanville Independent School District, near Dallas, hes taking over at a very uncertain time for Edgewood ISD, a high-poverty district on San Antonios West Side that serves more than 11,000 students. Board infighting and paralysis provoked a state takeover in 2016, when the state education commissioner appointed a five-member board of managers to replace the trustees.

Edgewood ISD is still under state oversight, but two weeks after the board confirmed its choice of Hernandez, the Texas Education Agency announced a slow transition back to a locally elected seven-member board.

Related: Next Palo Alto College president worked there for years

The process began Tuesday with the swearing-in of Martha Castillo and Edward Romero who were elected in 2016 after the state assumed control of the board and were unable to take office until now. By May 2020, the last manager will be replaced by an elected trustee. Four of the elected positions will be on the ballot this November, though no one had filed to run for the seats as of Tuesday.

An administrative team formed two years ago has been working to improve learning environments in the districts 20 schools, board president Richard Soto said. Last year, all campuses in the district passed the state accountability system for the first time in nearly a decade. The district also has added early college high school programs and science and technology-focused curricula.

Still, the pile of challenges will be mountainous for a first-time superintendent like Hernandez.

Edgewood has historically had one of the highest teacher turnover rates among Bexar County school districts. It reached 26.9 percent, the highest in the county, in the 2015-16 school year. Its 19.7 percent rate in the 2016-17 year was still almost double the turnover of some districts, Travis McKelvain, the districts talent management department director, told board members Tuesday.

And, like other non-suburban local districts, Edgewood has struggled with loss of enrollment, which declined more than 4 percent last school year compared to the 2016-2017 year and is projected to drop again this year.

Related: Pre-K 4 SA partners with South Side charter network

Hernandez said he will measure success at Edgewood by graduation rates, student retention, literacy and attendance  and the state accountability ratings, which for the first time will be in the form of an A-F letter grade when they come out in August.

The percentage of Edgewood children reading at their grade level in elementary school is low, at 52 percent of fifth graders last school year, ranging to 61 percent in the second grade. The district estimated its 2018 graduation rate was 90.9 percent, and its attendance rate was was 92.91 percent, a district spokeswoman said.

Hernandez also wants to introduce a STEAM program for girls  the acronym stands for science, technology, engineering, art and math  and to partner with area universities and train staff on customer service using lessons from the corporate world, including Chick-Fil-A and Walt Disney, to make residents in the district feel included.

If turning a school district around is like turning schools around, Hernandez is well-qualified. He gained a reputation for it in the Dallas Independent School District, where he learned the value of investing in teachers and principals.

That just sort of became my calling card, Hernandez said.

Dallas ISD superintendent Mike Moses said he tapped Hernandez as a principal for a series of schools in danger of closure due to chronic academic underperformance.

He did take on difficult assignments for us and always performed well, Moses said. He took on schools that needed to be changed.

Related: Medina Valley ISD board a contender for statewide honor

Hernandezs first principalship was in 2004 at Truett Elementary School, with about 1,400 students, which the Texas Education Agency ranked low performing in 2002. A state-appointed monitor visited the campus about three days a week, teacher turnover was high and parents had lost trust in the administration, Hernandez said.

The schools rating became academically acceptable with Hernandez at the helm. He was sent to another school, then another, four in all, to do the same thing.

Principals and teachers do all the hard lifting. The rest of us are supporting cast members, Hernandez said. They have the hardest jobs in the district.

In his new position, hell be relying on mentors, including Moses. He also recently reached out to South San ISD superintendent Abelardo Saavedra, whose work in Houston ISD from 2004 - 2009 Hernandez was familiar with.

He acknowledges hes young and must fortify himself for whats to come  I dont know what I dont know, he often says.

But he plans to learn quickly from listening to people in barber shops, at taquerias and in the bleachers at school events. And at family dinners.

Krista Torralva covers several school districts and public universities in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | Krista.Torralva@express-news.net | Twitter: @KMTorralvaAUSTIN  The school shooting at Santa Fe High School that left 10 people dead sparked new interest in Texas laws designed to protect victims of domestic violence and keep guns away from their abusers, setting up a showdown over firearms restrictions in the 2019 Legislative session.

But after hours of public testimony, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick dashed the hopes of groups calling for broader restrictions that would force gun owners to surrender their weapons in other cases, such as when they make threats. As leader of the Senate, he said he has never supported these policies, nor has the majority of the Texas Senate.

That leaves the current red-flag law focused on domestic violence suspects as the only of its kind in the state. However, experts have testified that it does little to keep guns out of the hands of people, mostly men, found by a judge to be a danger to their domestic partners or children.

Last year there were over 9,000 domestic violence protection orders issued in Texas, court records show. That same year, the states gun surrender programs in Austin and Dallas collected a total of fewer than 100 guns.

RELATED: March for Our Lives students talk gun violence in San Antonio

The Harris County Sheriffs Office received state funding to start a similar one-year pilot program by the end of this year.

San Antonios program applies only to criminal family violence cases, in which individuals can surrender their guns as a condition of bond or probation.

Alice Tripp, legislative director and lobbyist for the Texas State Rifle Association, said current laws do enough. She said protective orders are effective at keeping dangerous individuals away from victims, but that not much more can be done to legislate gun ownership in domestic violence situations.

A domestic violence suspect who wants to get a gun will find a way, she said.

How would (a judge) follow up? Tripp said. That's just impossible to keep somebody from stealing something, to keep somebody from going to his mother's room and pulling it out of the closet. How would you do that? That's unreasonable.

The typical domestic violence protection order lasts two years. But after the judge signs the paperwork, little to nothing is done to verify that a gun owner has given up his guns  and courts are not required to follow up.

The court will say, By the way, you can't have firearms, and then it stops, said Judge Mike Denton, who presides over family violence cases in Travis County. That's the only thing that ever happens. Unless there's a police report of another assault or the gun, nobody will ever know.

Dallas judge surprised by lack of impact

Judge Roberto Canas Jr. presides over family violence cases in Dallas County and began one such program in 2015. After a domestic violence protection order is granted, it typically requires a gun owner to surrender his firearms to the Dallas County Sheriffs Department, typically within 72 hours.

Last year, 875 domestic violence protective orders were signed in Dallas County, according to reports submitted to the Office of Court Administration. Canas said he expected hundreds of firearms to be surrendered each year. But in three years, only 130 firearms total have been surrendered, including those given up by people convicted of crimes.

In February, Dallas city leaders and law enforcement officials called on judges to be more proactive. Canas said since he deals solely with family violence cases, hes used to asking questions about firearms in the home, but not every judge may know to do so.

RELATED: Patrick claim about state's loaded gun law accurate

You're very reliant on people coming forward (with information about guns), and as surprising as it may sound, guns was not just a normal question that we in the criminal justice system asked at different points, Canas said. There are some judges who maybe every tenth case is a domestic violence case, and so guns arent necessarily the first thing on their mind.

And the existence of the program does not mean that every judge in the county has to use it.

In Travis County, Denton initiated the gun surrender program a decade ago.

On average, 15 to 25 guns are surrendered to the Travis County Sheriffs Department each year through protective order cases, said Mack Martinez, chief of the domestic violence and human trafficking division for the Travis County Attorneys Office.

In 2017, 296 protective orders were signed by a judge in Travis County, according to reports submitted to the Office of Court Administration.

Martinez said he still considers the Austin program a success.

It's more than we were getting before, Martinez said. It's that many more guns that are not in an abusers hands.

Nearly 100 Texas women shot, killed in abuse cases in 2016

As Harris County prepares to implement its gun surrender program, the focus is on providing a safe place to surrender weapons, and not on the yield, said Barbie Brashear, executive director of the Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, which has helped implement the program.

But the need for these programs in Texas is clear, said Linda Phan, director of public policy at the Texas Council on Family Violence.

In 2016, 146 women in Texas were killed in domestic violence homicides, the council found. Twenty-eight were killed in Harris County, and 37 were killed in Bexar County.

RELATED: Experts disagree on how students, teachers should respond when a gunman is on campus

Of the 146 women killed, 68 percent were killed using a firearm. And women are five times more likely to be killed in domestic violence incidents when a gun is present in the home, according to Everytown for Gun Safety.

When we dont have those mechanisms in place, it says that we don't value the safety of victims, Phan said. That's the message that's put out there.

As of mid-July, 13 states had laws allowing a judge to temporarily take guns away from an individual the court believes poses a threat to himself or others, according to the Everytown group.

Getting any additional red flag law passed in the Texas Legislature would be a challenge. The Texas Republican Party opposed red flag laws when approving its party platform at its June convention.

Though Gov. Greg Abbott initiated the discussion of the matter this summer, he has also said hes not advocating for more laws. Instead, hes said he is open to the idea, depending on how it works.

A proper approach must focus on quickly identifying those who pose a risk without infringing on the rights of lawful gun owners by maintaining the highest standards of due process, read the governors school safety report released weeks after the Santa Fe school shooting.

Abbott is waiting for the Legislature to develop a concrete, specific proposal before he weighs in further, said his spokeswoman Ciara Matthews.

Andrea Zelinski contributed to this report.The government began to reunite hundreds of immigrant families under the cover of darkness early Thursday as it rushed to meet the second, and final, court deadline to return separated children to their parents.

The Trump administration, which had forcibly separated more than 2,500 children at the border this spring under its zero tolerance policy against illegal border crossings, said it was on track to reunite all eligible migrant families by the end of the day.

In an afternoon court filing with only hours left to the deadline, the Trump administration reported 1,442 children between 5 to 17 years of age were reunited with their parents. The government reunited 57 younger children with their parents two weeks ago under the first deadline, imposed by a federal court in San Diego after President Trump reversed his family separation policy.

Officials said 711 migrant children were still in government custody. Most of their parents have been deported.

On Tuesday, the administration reported that 1,012 parents, or 61 percent of 1,637 who were deemed eligible, had been reunited with their children in the past few weeks. That gave the government about 48 hours to reunite the remaining families.

Advocacy groups questioned the number, because it didnt include 463 parents who could have already been deported without their children. The ACLU also pointed out the 917 parents were deemed either ineligible or not yet eligible.

Thats a self-selected group, said Lee Gelernt, lead lawyer in the ACLU case against the government. The deadline is only what the government is saying they can do, its not a full reunification of all eligible individuals.

The Trump administration has so far excluded any parents with criminal history from eligibility, though it will likely allow for some with less serious offenses to be reunified and released.

At this point, I cant trust that they know the identities of all of the children and parents, or the whereabouts of all the children and parents, said U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, who organized a rally advocating for family reunification in in the city.

My fear is that they may be labeling certain people ineligible because they dont have a handle on their identities or their whereabouts. And its an effort to buy time.

San Antonio is one of four hubs in the country designated for the reunifications.

In a rush to meet Thursdays deadline, hundreds of families were reunited in the dead of night. Two families arrived at Catholic Charities of San Antonio between 1 and 3 a.m. Wednesday night. In McAllen, over 50 families had arrived overnight.

Overall, 44 families were reunited by Thursday afternoon in San Antonio, and about 450 were reunited in McAllen. Phoenix and El Paso are the other hubs.

One Honduran woman, Sandra Elizabeth Sanchez, arrived in San Antonio with her daughter a few hours past midnight. They had been reunited earlier at the South Texas Detention Center in Pearsall.

They had been separated for more than a month.

Forgive me were the first words she said she told her daughter.

Forgive me because I didnt know what was coming, she told her daughter. I didnt want you to suffer. That wasnt my intention.

Sanchez gripped a wrinkled, tear-stained napkin several hours later as she spoke with case managers at Catholic Charities of San Antonio.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement didnt tell Catholic Charities in San Antonio and McAllen how many immigrants to expect Thursday, which was unusual, officials at both sites said. ICE had been notifying them regularly how many families to expect ever since the reunification process began.

The Trump administration has so far excluded any parents with criminal history from eligibility, though it will likely allow for some with less serious offenses to be reunified and released.

Earlier in the week, the government also said it cant locate the parents of nearly 40 children.

The fact that the individual had a child does not absolve them of the criminal activity that theyre involved in, Matthew Albence, executive associate director of ICEs Enforcement and Removal Operations, said on a press call.

On Friday, the ACLU will ask the government to delay the deportation of recently reunified families for seven days, to give them time to receive legal counsel. Lawyers said some parents signed deportation forms without realizing they could appeal their cases.

The government reported that 212 parents had waived reunification.

Once their children are here, theyre generally do not want to give up that opportunity to have their children in the country, Albence said.

Five democratic congressmen asked Secretary State Mike Pompeo to make sure U.S. consulates in Central America prioritized family reunifications with people who were deported without their children.

Meanwhile, legal advocates are trying to locate deported parents on their own. Jennifer Falcon, communications director for the San Antonio-based RAICES, said they were essentially acting as private investigators.

I suspect its going to be an enormous task, Gelernt said about locating deported parents. Im under no illusions it will be easy.

Lauren Connell, a pro bono lawyer working at the immigrant detention center in Karnes County south of San Antonio, said dozens of men showed up there  which usually only houses mothers and children  to be reunited with their children and await deportation.

These families recently, given all of the chaos and multiple transfers they underwent, and being funneled from one facility to have a criminal hearing, and another facility where they were determined to have credible fear interviews, a lot had never had the opportunity to consult with immigration lawyers, she said.

Government officials said 223 recently reunited families are housed at the Karnes center and second family detention center in Dilley.

In San Antonio, Sanchez said she and her daughter had come to the United States following the steps of her son and older daughter, who were fleeing violence and bad people in her home country, Sanchez said.

They crossed the border on June 18, three days after her daughters 15th birthday. She said they bought a little pastelito for her on their journey through Mexico.

They were separated after they were apprehended in Eagle Pass, about 140 miles Southwest of San Antonio.

They were unable to communicate during that time, she said. Christhel Nohelia Barahona Sanchez, the daughter, was staying at Casa Presidente in Brownsville. Sanchez was transferred from the Val Verde Detention Facility to the South Texas Detention Center in Pearsall.

I suffered so much, Sanchez said, tears streaming down her face. I just kept waiting for the day to see my daughter again.

Sanchez and her daughter dont have a lawyer, and she said she hadnt had the credible fear interview, one of the first steps in the process to seeking political asylum in the United States.

Now theyre headed to Washington, where her older daughter and three grandchildren live.

Im so happy, Sanchez said. Now that I have her.

Silvia Foster-Frau is a staff writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | sfosterfrau@express-news.net | Twitter: @SilviaElenaFFSAN MARCOS  If not for an argument with her longtime boyfriend, Abril Cardenas might not be alive today. She might not be engaged to marry him either.

Cardenas and Benjamin Munoz, a couple for about six years, shared apartment No. 522 at Iconic Village in San Marcos. On Thursday, they got into an argument and Munoz considered spending the night apart; hed bed down nearby at Texas State University's virtual reality lab, where he worked.

He changed his mind.

By 4:30 a.m. Friday, Cardenas and Munoz were desperately jumping from their second-story window to escape a catastrophic fire that would kill five residents in their building.

RELATED: Breaking glass and flames in the hall: the scene in the deadly San Marcos apartments blaze

Munoz, a light sleeper, sensed the danger first. He woke her up, opened the front door and saw nothing but smoke. He figured that the only way out was through the window. He went first, thinking he would then help her down. But he landed badly, severely injuring his ankle and foot.

Cardenas followed.

As if on cue, a teddy bear that she had given Munoz on their last anniversary fell down after her.

Cardenas ended up tending to Munoz . His ankle, she noticed, was not in the place that its supposed to be. ... I was with him trying to calm him down as much as possible until the fireman came. He helped get Munoz away from the building to safety.

Now on ExpressNews.com: A fire killed Zachary Sutterfield's friends. A leap saved his life. After 23 surgeries, his recovery is grueling but with significant victories.

Mere hours later, while in a hospital emergency room, Munoz, in pain and reeling from one of the most devastating events in his life, made one of the most important decisions of his life.

I knew how I felt about her, Munoz said. Ive heard so many stories about people in hospitals for routine things and them not making it. All I was thinking was, This isnt bad, but it could be. I want to have asked before anything might happen.

So he proposed marriage.

Cardenas, bruised from the ordeal but standing beside his bed as he awaited surgery for a shattered foot bone and a fractured and dislocated ankle, said yes.

RELATED: Death toll rises to five in San Marcos apartment fire

For Munoz, the shock and devastation they had just experienced, to some extent, put their relationship in perspective.

I had lost everything, but I kept her, Munoz said. Thats what is important.

I'm glad we didnt go to bed angry because then she wouldn't be here.

They had talked about marriage before the fire; now, Cardenas and Munoz, who had just two weeks until graduation from Texas State, are thinking about a wedding date but not before he gets a job.

Our recovery process has been trying to make jokes and laugh about it. In the ER, I was trying to make jokes like, If you guys gotta cut my leg off, I just want a robot one, Munoz said. Wed joke like that. and then Id immediately start crying. I almost died.

austin.horn@express-news.netThe little hospital in the small West Texas city of Van Horn has a problem. It is the only trauma facility in a vast stretch of land  and few doctors want to work there.

Rural hospitals across the state have struggled in recent years to stay open. Eighteen have closed since 2013, by one organizations count, plus one more this month. Of the 161 rural hospitals remaining in Texas, the next closest to Van Horn is 90 miles away.

Finding doctors to hire is one piece of the puzzle. Thats why Van Horns 14-bed Culberson Hospital is trying something new: using telemedicine to treat trauma patients.

The setup is unique: To be licensed as a basic-level trauma facility, the state requires that a physician be no more than 30 minutes away. With telemedicine equipment installed in Van Horn, the state waived that stipulation.

The new approach stands to have significant effects. The doctor lives a little less frantically. Nurses have immediate backup. The hospital does not need to hire expensive contract physicians when the doctor goes out of town.

Related: One-of-a-kind hospital in San Antonio treats military dogs injured in line of duty

When a patient arrives in Van Horn, staff in either of two trauma rooms can push a button to connect with an office building in Sioux Falls, S.D. A nurse there promptly appears on a large screen and, in a sort of high-tech Skype call, can loop in a doctor to help oversee care.

What that signals is a way forward to keep those hospitals up and running 24/7, as they need to be, said Nora Belcher, executive director of the Texas e-Health Alliance, a trade association.

If this fails, it sets everybody back, Belcher added.

State resisted telemedicine

Mention telemedicine to anyone working in health care in Texas, and they often bring up a court case: Teladoc vs. the Texas Medical Board.

Teladoc was an early pioneer in the telemedicine business. The company, founded in 2002, allowed people to call or connect online with a doctor and, if needed, get a prescription. The business boomed, gaining 2.4 million members in Texas by 2015, according to court records.

The state medical board, however, beginning in 2011, went back and forth with the company over whether board rules required a doctor to see a patient in person before prescribing medicine. The fight culminated in a decision by the board to make such a rule explicit.

Texas physicians had long used telemedicine to treat prisoners, oil rig workers and vacationers on cruise ships. But Teladoc saw its whole model, known as direct-to-consumer, under threat. The company sued.

The bottom line was there was this state resistance to telemedicine in general, said Deane Waldman, director of health care policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Texas used to be behind the national curve on this.

Related: University Hospital trauma cases on the rise

With time, the tide changed. In 2017, stakeholders worked on what became Senate Bill 1107, co-authored by state Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, chairman of the health and human services committee. They knew they needed to clarify when telemedicine was allowed, ensuring a high standard of care, Schwertner said.

It was time to expand the use of telemedicine, but we needed to do it in a very clear and consistent framework, Schwertner said. It had gone through the courts for years.

The bill passed, removing the requirement for an in-person consultation. The court dismissed the lawsuit.

The actions helped clear the way for telemedicine in Texas to grow, especially in rural areas, where people were generally older, poorer and less healthy. Many had to drive a long way for the health care they needed  or maybe they did not get it at all.

Help needed

It was 2013 when Mike Easley, a vice president of Preferred Management Corp., spent an afternoon with Ed Garner, a family medicine doctor, to see if he might like to work in the hospital in Van Horn.

Garner grew up in Stephenville, a North Texas town of 21,000 people. When Easley met him, he was working in Brownwood, a similarly sized city 60 miles away.

Garner took the Van Horn job, and Easley was lucky he did. Since 2004, Preferred Management had been actively recruiting for Van Horn  whose hospital is one of eight that Preferred manages  with little success.

The difficulty wasnt a huge surprise: Across rural Texas, doctors are in short supply. Of the states 254 counties, 184 are considered primary care health professional shortage areas, according to the Department of State Health Services. At last count, according to the Agriculture Department, 25 counties had no primary care physician at all.

Related: Girl Scouts transform view in hospital's pediatric rooms

Van Horn, home to 2,000 residents, rises from the harsh desert landscape along Interstate 10, about two hours southeast of El Paso. It has no Walmart, no movie theater and few restaurants. But that didnt faze Garner. The hospital was fairly new. He liked that he got to develop relationships with his patients. And it took him only three minutes to get to work.

I thought they needed some help, Garner said.

Garner arrives around 8 a.m. He sees about 15 patients a day, of all ages. Often, he knows them, but he also treats people from well beyond Van Horn. For example, in 2014, from April 1 on, the hospitals emergency room treated patients from 35 other states, plus Washington, D.C. Half of the 1,667 patients lived out of town.

Garner and three midlevel practitioners split the call time for the emergency room into 24-hour shifts, sometimes stabilizing patients and arranging for transport to a bigger trauma center in El Paso. If there is a car wreck, which they dread most, everyone goes in.

Though the doctor says he doesnt plan to consider retiring until he is 70, Easley knew that relying on Garner, nearly 67, would not last forever. Hows he going to cover that 24/7? he said.

He needed to find a fix.

Telemedicine spreads

Twelve hundred miles north, Avera Health administrators were familiar with the problem Van Horn faced. Their network includes 33 hospitals, some of which are hard to get to or in places where it is challenging to get clinicians to move.

Around 1993, the company began to use telemedicine in rural clinics. The types of services it provided expanded, including telemedicine to hospitals and from pharmacists, and Avera began to hear from hospitals around the country, hoping to set up something similar.

By the time Easley signed up with them, Avera was providing telemedicine in 16 states, including Texas. An important piece of what it offered was what Easley was after: help with emergency care. Together, they worked to replicate in Van Horn what they had achieved elsewhere, connecting a hospital in the middle of nowhere with a backup physician in South Dakota who could see, hear and communicate with those in the room.

The impact of that is making it more attractive to go to the community to be a provider, said Deanna Larson, CEO of Avera eCARE.

Related: US hospitals grapple with prolonged injected opioid shortage

It wasnt just Easley realizing the advantages to this. The idea was spreading  all the way to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., where Christopher Russi, an emergency medicine doctor, thought the concept could benefit Mayos 20 community hospitals in Wisconsin and Minnesota. They linked the hospital emergency departments to a main-campus bunker, where emergency physicians take calls. The program is expected to launch officially in October. This is where health care is shifting, Russi said.

Telemedicine also is spreading in Texas. Thanks to the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, its in ambulances and schools. Its also being supported by the TexLa Telehealth Resource Center, one of 12 regional locations that help anyone looking to start a telemedicine project.

In 2020, its expected be all over the University of Texas, in a network that will connect eight campuses for telemedicine use. Its being overseen by Mari Robinson, who was the medical boards executive director when Teladoc sued. You just kind of look around, Robinson said. There are projects everywhere.

Better alternative

In Van Horn, the staff began using the Avera eCare telemedicine system June 5, activating it every chance they got.

So far, it has helped, said Gilda Morales, a nurse practitioner who happens to be the editor of the town newspaper. In trauma situations, Avera staff can arrange transportation and keep up with paperwork, so she can focus on patient care.

In the early morning hours on a recent Wednesday, when a woman came in with a rapid, irregular heartbeat, Morales used the system to consult with the staff on the medications she was providing to try to slow the heartbeat.

Avera eCare is our backup, Morales said. Its just a little extra level of comfort.

No one thinks telemedicine will solve all the issues of rural health. But for the moment, people such as Don McBeath, director of government relations for the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals, think that what Van Horn is doing is a better alternative to no care at all.

It will help the state licensing authority understand that you really can use telemedicine and not sacrifice the quality of emergency care, McBeath said, and in fact maybe enhance the quality of the emergency care.Four of the five people killed in the apartment fire in San Marcos last week have been identified by the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office.

They are Dru Estes, 20, of San Antonio, Haley Michele Frizzell, 19, of San Angelo, James Miranda, 23, of Mount Pleasant, and David Ortiz, 21, Pasadena.

Belinda Moats, 21, of Big Wells, Texas, is still listed as missing.

City officials said the fifth victim of the fire remains unidentified pending DNA analysis.

RELATED: Aerial photos show the extent of damage in deadly San Marcos fire

Now Playing: A total of five bodies have been recovered from the Iconic Village apartment complex after a fire Friday, July 20, 2018. Video: Courtesy Chhabindra Gautam





Five people were previously listed as missing, but Thursday's announcement by the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office provides confirmation that at least four of them were killed on July 20 when the blaze tore through the Iconic Village apartments in San Marcos, displacing about 200 people.

The five bodies discovered after the fire were located in building 500 of the apartment complex, which is popular with Texas State University students, officials said.

According to a statement from George Hatt, a spokesman for the City of San Marcos, the investigation into the cause of the blaze continues.

"The San Marcos Fire Marshal's Office, in conjunction with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives National Response Team and the State Fire Marshal's office, will continue investigation operations at the scene throughout the week," he said. "Once the scene has been processed and cleanup efforts begin, the investigation could continue for months."

The Victims

Dru Estes, a sophomore at Texas State University, was a native San Antonian who attended Krueger Middle School and Roosevelt High. Family and friends described him as easy-going, friendly and always smiling.

"He was just the nicest kid," said Wright Dagget, Estes' Fine Arts teacher at Roosevelt High School. "He wasn't afraid of anyone. He was always welcoming and inclusive. He would bring the nerdiest kid into the group. He was a great citizen, a great kid."

Estes had a deep love for music and played drums in middle school, high school and college, and he was also a member of the Bobcat Marching Band at Texas State.

"I honestly never really ever seen him in a bad mood or had anything negative to say about anything or anyone," said Michael Holubec, who marched with him in the band. "Even if he saw you were down, he was always there to help pick you back up.

"I'm thankful for the opportunity of friendship and the amount of time I got to spend with him."

A GoFundMe has been set up for his family.

Haley Frizzell, too, was a sophomore at Texas State University at the time of her death. She was studying performance and production, and had graduated from Central High School in San Angelo in 2017.

Frizzell was director of the film club and "would light up a room" with her smile and energy, said recently retired Texas State theater and dance professor Tom Copeland.

"She was an exceptional young lady," he said. "She was really making a name for herself."

Sunday Vaught, her high school choir director in San Angelo, said in a Facebook post that Frizzell "was an amazing student, a friend to all in the class, and a bright spot in the room each day."

"She was a star on the stage and so humble as well. She made the new students feel comfortable getting adjusted to CHS," Vaught wrote.

According to San Angelo LIVE, Frizzell's roommate was Zachary Sutterfield, who was critically injured in the blaze.

Finally, David Ortiz was studying at Texas State at the time of his death as well. A GoFundMe created to pay for expenses incurred by his mother following the tragedy has raised more than $9,000.

Tish Eubanks, the woman who created the fundraiser, was Ortiz's former assistant principal. She described him as "the kind of kid you never worried about."

"I knew he was going to go onto college and do great things," she said.

Staff writers Emilie Eaton, Austin Horn and Scott Huddleston contributed to this report.

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The written resolution was clear.

Cynthia Brehm, the newly elected chair of the Bexar County Republican Party, should resign immediately. A public scandal, sparked by revelations that Army investigators had found probable cause to believe that Brehms husband sexually assaulted children, had injured the good name of the BCRP and was jeopardizing local Republican candidates.

But when precinct chair Becky Edler tried to introduce the lack of confidence resolution at the end of a tumultuous, six-hour meeting marred by a shoving match Tuesday night, she was blocked by a Brehm supporter who adjourned the gathering.

Presented afterward with the resolution against her, Brehm refused to resign.

The embattled chair, though, is only prolonging her own humiliation.

Related: Sexual assault allegations surface about husband of GOP party chair

As Tuesdays meeting demonstrated, Brehms foes in the party outnumber her supporters. Members of the anti-Brehm faction prevailed on multiple votes, replacing the chairs proposed bylaws with their own, for instance, and installing their preferred vice chair and secretary.

We won all our positions except one, said Patty Gibbons, a precinct chair who opposes Brehms leadership. This was the next best option we had. If youre not going to leave, were not going to give you any responsibilities having to do with our party.

Coupled with Brehms clear lack of preparation and general cluelessnes as chair, this obstructionism made for a tense, exasperating meeting. Often, Brehm would stand silently at the podium for long periods of time, uncertain how to proceed. With attendees packed into a conference room and air conditioning conspicuously absent, the meeting stretched until 1 a.m.

Shes like the dog who caught the car. What are you going to do when you catch the car? said Mike Hoffman, a precinct chair who grumbled through most of the meeting. We could have written the Constitution in the time its taking to do this.

Within minutes of arriving, I was accosted by Mark Metzger, a Brehm-friendly precinct chair who kept insisting that as a member of the media I should be forced to stand in the back of the room.

Total fake news, Metzger told me, aping President Donald Trump. The whole paper. Youre a failing organization. Anybody with two brain cells hates you guys. You uber-left, sick, pukes, communist, socialist bastards.  Go away. Its starting to smell around here.  Youre the degradation of this nation.

(Metzger later that night apologized for his rant.)

Related: Gallego faces residency questions in Senate race

At one point, Metzger sicced the partys sergeant of arms on me: Warrington Austerman, a Confederate flag-style conservative who was openly carrying an NRA-branded handgun and a knife. He was persistent but polite.

We would like you to go to the back of the room until the chairman confers with legal counsel, he told me.

Im not going anywhere, I said.

The chairman has asked me to have you go to the back of the room, please.

No, Im not going to go.

Austerman soon had bigger problems than a stubborn journalist on his hands. At the back mic, a shoving match broke out involving Metzger and two other precinct chairs, Michael Delgado and Evangeline Mathis.

I just saw Mr. Delgado push my mom, yelled Jamie Mathis, a precinct chair.

She pushed him first, Metzger retorted.

Police were called; two officers arrived, providing a temporary distraction from the slow-motion train wreck on display at the front mic.

Related: 'Chaos' hobbling Bexar County Democratic Party

Perhaps the faltering chair was thrown off by a column last week by my colleague Gilbert Garcia detailing findings by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) against her husband, Norman Brehm.

The investigation found probable cause to believe that the retired Army lieutenant colonel had forced (a child) to perform oral sodomy upon him, indecently assaulting (her) and exposing her to various forms of adult and child pornography, according to Army documents obtained by the San Antonio Express-News.

CID also found probable cause to believe Norman performed oral sodomy on a male child, fondled (his) genital area and exposed the boy to various photographic images of child pornography. In another case, CID found probable cause to believe that Norman, on numerous occasions, exposed another female child to photographic images of adult and child pornography that belonged to him.

One victim was Cynthia Brehms then-14-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, to whom Norman Brehm pleaded guilty to indecently exposing himself.

Mrs. Brehm herself did not commit any crime, said Edler, the precinct chair who tried to introduce the resolution. However, I feel like she was deceptive because on several occasions when she was asked about this, she told several different stories depending on who her audience was.

Edler added that the scandal would only make it more difficult for local Republicans to win in November.

I hate that any family had to go through this, she said. But it just cant be ignored.

bchasnoff@express-news.netSuicide has become an epidemic in America. It is at a 30-year high, and it is the second-leading cause of death in the U.S. behind motor vehicle accidents, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The recent tragic deaths of fashion icon Kate Spade, 55, and travel and food guru Anthony Bourdain, 61, catapulted the catastrophe to the consciousness of the nation, but people from all strata of society  especially the LGBT community  face the risk as well.

Most of what is known about suicide in the LGBT community comes from the research of youth issues because the latest information, a 2016 statistical analysis of that years 44,965 victims by the American Association of Suicidology, contains no data based on sexual orientation. The various agencies studying suicidal behavior in LGBT youth maintain that suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people ages 10 to 24, and that lesbian, gay and bisexual youth are three times more likely to seriously consider suicide and five times more likely to have attempted killing themselves than their heterosexual counterparts. A study of transgender people revealed that 40 percent had made a suicide attempt and that 92 percent of them tried to kill themselves before age 25.

Researchers, psychologists and others involved in mental health care believe that LGBT youth are more susceptible to suicide because of bullying that includes verbal and physical abuse, little support from family and friends, low self-esteem and the stress associated with minority status. As a result, LGBT youth are more likely to turn to alcohol and other drugs to tackle feelings of chronic hopelessness and worthlessness that exacerbate their problems. All of these factors can be translated to older groups of LGBT people who remember experiencing the same treatments and feelings in their youth and may still suffer the consequences as adults.

In a report on June 7 of this year, the Centers for Disease Control reported that the 2016 statistics reflected a 30 percent increase in suicides among Americans age 10 or older since 1999. The release of the report announcing the spike ironically coincided with the deaths of Spade on June 5 and Bourdain on June 8.

The 2016 analysis of suicides showed that white men in their middle-ages (45 to 64) made up the largest percentage of deaths, and that group has shown the largest increase in suicides in recent years. Of the 44,965 deaths, the breakdown was as follows: Males, 34,727; Females, 10,238; Whites, 40,164; Non-whites, 4,801; Older Adults (65-plus), 8,204; Middle-Ages (45-64), 16,196 and Young People (15-24), 5,723.

All of the states reported significant numbers of suicides with California in the lead at 4,294, followed by Texas at 3,488 and Florida at 3,143. The District of Columbia had the least number of suicides at 40, and Vermont and Delaware leveled out the bottom with 118 and 119 respectively. Regionally, the South had the most suicides with 17,593, and the Northeast had the least with 6,078. The West showed 11,516, and the Midwest showed 9,778.

The use of firearms, 51 percent, represented the most common method of suicide in 2016, followed by hanging and other suffocation, 26 percent, and poisoning, 15 percent. Suicides by hanging and suffocation showed a dramatic increase of 52 percent compared to other methods in a study of statistics from 1999 to 2010, according to a U.S. National Library of Medicine report. Firearm use remained level during those years while poisoning increased by 19 percent.

Both Spade and Bourdain committed suicide by hanging, and their deaths could be expected to spark an increase in the suicide rate if trends noticed in previous years continue. Crisis prevention hotlines are already reporting more calls.

A study by Columbia University noted that when actor Robin Williams, 63, hung himself in 2004 suicides rose by 10 percent in four months. A similar increase was noted in 1962 when actress Marilyn Monroe, 36, died as a result of barbiturate poisoning. The phenomenon is known as suicide contagion, and it is believed to be spread by massive media coverage of celebrity suicides. Most U.S. newspapers and other media abstain from publishing news about suicides unless it involves celebrities or politicians at least in part because of the danger of copycat suicides.

In the days following massive media coverage of suicides, people who are thinking about suicide may be more likely to act on the impulses. Research by mental health professionals shows that suicide victims often showed no signs of despair, nor did they have a history of mental illness. The suicides of both Spade and Bourdain took family and friends by surprise.

LGBT youth are arguably the most vulnerable group to suicide because they are less likely to know of resources or to be able to access them. Youth who lack strong support from family, peers or adults such as school officials are particularly at risk. Research indicates crisis prevention services such as hotlines can be effective interventions for youth in trouble.

Any youth experiencing suicidal thoughts can call the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386. Anyone who is aware of a youth in crisis can also call counselors for advice. A compassionate trained counselor will answer, Whats going on?

Adults who are in crisis can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Adults concerned about other adults also can speak to the counselors.When Dallas company JMJ Development revealed plans this week for a 14-story Hard Rock Hotel near the Alamo, it entered a battleground  literally and figuratively.

If history is any guide, JMJs proposal to build the hotel on top of the Joskes building at Shops at Rivercenter mall is likely to become another skirmish in the long struggle over how to preserve the historic battleground while San Antonios downtown grows around it.

JMJ unveiled its proposal just as the city and state are preparing to show a new draft of their controversial plan to transform Alamo Plaza from the tourist free-for-all it is now, with hollering street preachers and a Ripleys Believe-It-Or-Not!, into a more strict and somber place.

Alamo enthusiasts are fighting many of the changes, including plans to move the Cenotaph monument and close parts of Alamo, Houston and Crockett streets. They show every sign of resisting to the end.

Many San Antonians said they were surprised that JMJ would reveal its plans at such a sensitive time. The new draft of the Alamo plan, showing why officials believe the Cenotaph must be moved, is expected to be released next month.

Im not comfortable with anything being built around the plaza until we figure out what we want the Alamo to be, first and foremost, District 6 City Councilman Greg Brockhouse said. We always want that type of development  dont get me wrong  but this is subservient to the Alamo Master Plan.

JMJs proposal also must contend with the ghosts of a similar proposal that floundered on the same site in 2013.

Another Dallas developer, BC Realty Partners, wanted to build a 23-story hotel on top of the Joskes, but it ran into opposition from local residents who saw it as an intruder in the historic plaza.

The citys Historic and Design Review Commission recommended denying the proposal. City Manager Sheryl Sculley attempted to revive it by giving it another chance to go before the commission, but it never was built.

BC Realty, led by its principal Mike Beucler, has no apparent connections with JMJ, led by CEO Tim Barton. Neither company returned requests for comment, nor did Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp., the New York company that owns Shops at Rivercenter.

Public opinion toward new development in San Antonio is more nuanced than the heated back-and-forth seen at official meetings, and the proposed 300-room Hard Rock Hotel is no exception.

Local officials like to see more hotel rooms created downtown to support the tourism industry and make San Antonio more competitive in attracting conventions and events like the NCAA Final Four.

As long as it doesnt clearly violate the World Heritage site for the Alamo, Im cool with it, County Judge Nelson Wolff said. The more hotel space we get, the better off we are, because tourism is going to continue to grow.

Maggie Wright, a staunch advocate for keeping the Cenotaph in place, said she supported the hotel because it would allow for more tourists to come and remember the defenders.

County Commissioner Tommy Calvert is another supporter. By adding to San Antonios skyline, the hotel would help prevent the local tourism industry from becoming stale and boring, he told the San Antonio Express-News earlier this week.

Some elected officials said they dont know enough about the project to form an opinion, including City Councilmen Roberto Trevino and Manny Pelaez.

Yet many Alamo enthusiasts said they have concerns similar to the ones that derailed the 2013 proposal. Local real estate broker George Harcourt said the Hard Rock Hotel would give Alamo Plaza a boxed-in canyon feel.

It would make the Alamo look like its in a fishbowl, said Lee Spencer White, president of the Alamo Defenders Descendants Association.

She wants the city to create a Mission Protection Overlay District to regulate the height of new development around the Alamo, as it did around the other four missions as they were declared World Heritage sites in 2015.

Construction behind the Alamo is limited by a viewshed, but unlike with the other missions, developers dont face restrictions when they build nearby in other directions.

City officials have discussed creating an overlay district around the Alamo and will decide whether to do so after creating a final site plan for Alamo Plaza, Assistant City Manager Lori Houston said in an email.

Once a site plan for the Alamo is final, the primary approaches (to the plaza) will be established and we will have a better understanding of what views we are trying to protect, she said.

The San Antonio Conservation Society was active in the fight against the 2013 proposal, and its Executive Director Vincent Michael said it would oppose something of the Hard Rock Hotels size.

Hes concerned the proposed hotel would diminish the Joskes building, which was built in 1887 and received its current Art Deco facade in 1939.

The Joskes building is a city historic site, and is within the downtown and Alamo Plaza historic districts, so the proposed tower would have to be approved by HDRC.

Downtown San Antonios growth finally is starting to pick up steam, and several projects have been announced close to the Alamo. Zachry Corp. is building a $200 million mixed-use development, including a 14-story hotel, at Hemisfair, a quarter-mile away south of the battleground. GrayStreet Partners is rehabbing the Light building a quarter-mile north, and has talked about building an apartment complex there.

But nothing has been built as tall, or as close, as the proposed Hard Rock.

Anything we do that impacts the Alamo Plaza needs to be vetted very carefully, Pelaez said. Im going to be taking a really close look at what this is.

Alamo Plaza has been commercialized for about as long as Texas has been a state. In the late 19th century, the Alamo served as a warehouse, and a two-story grocery store ran right up to its walls. The 13-story skyscraper that now is the Emily Morgan Hotel was built across the street in 1924.

The city doesnt have to repeat the mistakes of the past by further commercializing the plaza, Harcourt said.

We cant get it back, but lets at least evoke some sort of the spirit and feel of what this was, he said. If theyre smart enough, theyll know theyre killing the goose that lays the golden egg.

Richard Webner is a staff writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | rwebner@express-news.net | Twitter: @RWebnerThe Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate has rejected Turkish Airlines' request to add an additional four weekly flights between Istanbul and Belgrade for a total of eighteen weekly services. According to the "Aviatica" portal, the additional flights were scheduled to commence on September 2 and operate with a mix of Boeing 737 and Airbus A320-family aircraft. As a result, the Turkish carrier will continue to maintain double daily services between the two cities. Although the Directorate is within its rights to limit the amount of flights and capacity offered by Turkish-registered airlines on the market as a result of a stringent bilateral air agreement between the two countries, the move is seen as an attempt to shield Air Serbia and Etihad Airways from competitive pricing offered by Turkish on a range of its routes out of Belgrade via Istanbul.





It marks the second time this year the Serbian regulator has thwarted Turkish Airlines' plans to expand its operations in Belgrade. In February the Directorate withdrew a permit issued to the carrier to run passenger services between Istanbul and Belgrade with its wide-body Airbus A330-200 aircraft throughout the summer. Instead, Turkish was limited to operating the 250-seat jet for two weeks during the EuroLeague Final Four basketball championships held in Belgrade in May, with the sporting event sponsored by Turkish Airlines itself. This year, the carrier is offering the most capacity out of the Serbian capital after Air Serbia and Wizz Air.





The Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate and Turkish Airlines have been at loggerheads in the past. In 2014, the Turkish carrier was forced to limit its operations to Belgrade by reducing flights from seventeen weekly to double daily after Air Serbia was denied better slot times at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport and was relegated to flying to the secondary Sabiha Gockan Airport instead. A compromise was later reached. Furthermore, the two have feuded over the regulation of charter services in the past, which are plentiful during the summer months. There is significant competition on flights between Istanbul and Belgrade, with services operated by Turkish Airlines, Pegasus Airlines and Atlasglobal. The latter commenced operations to the Serbian capital just over a year ago after Air Serbia pulled out from the route. A total of 99.500 Turkish tourists visited Serbia last year, up 18.9% on 2016. Apart from passenger flights, Turkish Airlines' cargo division maintains a scheduled one weekly service between Istanbul and Belgrade with its A330 freighter jet.



FAIRFIELD  Westports loss may be contributing to Fairfields gain as far beach parking goes.

So far this year, nonresident passes for Penfield and Jennings beaches increased by 158 over last year, and daily pass revenue jumped from $149,426 in 2017 to $171,791.

The increase in nonresident season passes and daily parking is a direct impact of Westport raising their nonresident fees to $775, Recreation Director Anthony Calabrese said. We heard that a lot from first-time nonresidents purchasing passes.

Nonresidents can purchase a season pass that allows parking at Jennings and Penfield beaches for $175, a figure that hasnt increased much in recent years. In 2015, a nonresident pass cost $150.

Cars without stickers can go to those two beaches for $20 on weekdays and $50 on weekends and holidays. Entering a Westport beach without a parking pass costs $40 on weekdays, and $65 on weekends.

At this time, the commission has not talked about raising the fees for next year, Calabrese said. They may look at their options in the fall as we put the budget together for the following year.

While the Board of Finance has no control over the fees, Chairman Thomas Flynn said the board has expressed the belief there may be more revenue available.

However, we have, on several occasions including this last budget cycle, requested that all boards and commissions that are responsible for setting rates perform a detailed review of the rates and benchmark them against other communities to make sure we are charging market rates, Flynn said.

Westports nonresident fee had been $490, with daily fees of $30 and $65. In Bridgeport, an annual permit that allows use of Seaside Park is $15 for residents and $130 for nonresidents. Daily fees are $30 on weekdays and $40 on weekends for nonresidents who live in Connecticut. For those coming from out of state, the daily fees are $50 and $60.

Talk of increasing fees often revolves around two issues  revenue and beach overcrowding.

Several years ago, there were complaints from residents that the beaches were too crowded for the Fourth of July fireworks due to so many out-of-towners. As a result, the town began instituting limits on the number of cars without permits that would be allowed on the day of the fireworks.

This year, the fireworks were held before the holiday, and on a Monday night.

As for the fireworks, we had a handful of residents that voiced their concern that the fireworks were held on a work night and that they werent able to barbecue with family during the day, Calabrese said. The crowds were smaller than in the past when the fireworks were held on a weekend night. Overall, we received more positive phone calls the following day from residents who enjoyed the smaller crowds.Last week the Greater Fort Lauderdale LGBT Chamber of Commerce hosted a first of its kind, Diversity in the Workplace event, at the Embassy Suites in Fort Lauderdale.

One workshop included a panel with speakers from TD Bank, Northwestern Bank, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Gina Duncan from Equality Florida.

Keith Blackburn, the event organizer, said, They talked about some success stories and how it was sort of a win-win when you when you include everyone in the community in your company, and your policies, and things like that.

The all day event began at 9:30 a.m. and was divided into different sections, starting with some networking before moving into two sessions about inclusion taught by Equality Florida.

The previous year, GFLGLCC hosted a similar event focused on Transgender inclusion called Trans-forming the Workplace. Then, it was just a panel after work, but this workshop included much more and allowed people to connect with each other as well.

I thought we should do an all day event. So when you do something like this it is a challenge to get people who are able to take a day off of work and basically the entire day and dedicate to this, he said.

The main goal of the event is to educate employers on what exactly they are, how to treat LGBT people with respect, and what questions to ask and which to avoid. And Blackburn feels that this training and education is especially relevant with todays politics.

I think in a lot of ways that the business community has always been a leader, he said. I mean before the government or before the Supreme Court ruled on same sex marriage, leading companies, corporations offered benefits to same sex partners and things like that."

One aspect that he said many people seemed to connect to was the personal story of one woman in attendance who spoke about her transgender child.

It put a human face on it for the people attending which was nice," Blackburn said.

According to Blackburn, there might be things for people to fear regarding religious freedom rulings and laws and the rights of the LGBT community, but its his hope that business can lead the way into protecting them.

The event hosted representatives from 29 different companies and Blackburn said that more said they wanted to attend, but had planned their vacations during this time.

The GFLGLCCsaid theyre planning on doing another Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace workshop next year around early September.WASHINGTON  In questioning Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Sen. Chris Murphy tried coming to grips with what might be a first in U.S. history: The president of the United States is not the ultimate arbiter of U.S. foreign policy.

Or maybe he is?

Nobody in Congress knows who is in charge, and neither do the foreign leaders, Murphy, D-Conn., said in an interview Thursday, the day after Pompeos sharp-edged performance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The hearing just confused things more.

At the hearing, Murphy took his turn questioning Pompeo and focused on the contrast between the administrations pledge of toughness on Russian interference in the 2016 election and President Donald Trumps tweet Sunday that former President Obama did nothing about it at the time because its all a big hoax.

Why shouldnt we accept this most recent statement by the president as U.S. policy on Russian interference, Murphy asked.

Pompeo came back with a list of official statements about Russian meddling and said hed heard affirmations several times from the president himself.

So what are we to make of the latest statement of the president? Murphy asked.

I leave it to you, senator, Pompeo replied. You can draw whatever inference you want for whatever purpose you so choose 

Murphy interrupted him: Theres no inference. Theres a statement from the president. Theres no inference I need to draw from that. Thats the presidents statement.

Pompeo countered that Murphy was certainly trying to draw inferences about American policy. And Im laying out for you American policy.

Murphy brushed aside Pompeos references to official White House policy statements, saying Trumps words matter more because our allies and our adversaries make decisions based upon those comments.

The Q&A with Murphy was just one of many confrontational moments between Pompeo and senators of both parties.

Committee chairman Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., suggested the White House is making (foreign policy) up as they go, and that decisions are made in a ready, fire, aim fashion.

Senators peppered Pompeo with questions on Trumps secretive meeting in Helsinki with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the lack of any accounting for what transpired in it.

Pompeo assured the panel that Trump had shared the details with him.

The secretary, a former Freedom Caucus member of the House from Kansas, insisted that U.S. policy on Russia was firm  notwithstanding Trumps appearance with Putin after the meeting, in which the president appeared to accept his Russian counterparts denials over U.S. intelligence assertions about interference.

Pompeo has got an impossible job and if I were in his position, Im not sure I could do a lot better, Murphy said on Thursday. Were stuck with total, complete, utter confusion over who is in charge of U.S. foreign policy. Thats terrible for the country.

dan@hearstdc.comKAZ Minerals PLC, together with its subsidiaries, engages in mining and processing copper and other metals primarily in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan. It operates through Bozshakol, Aktogay, East Region and Bozymchak, and Mining Projects segments. The company operates the Aktogay and Bozshakol open pit copper mines in the east region and Pavlodar region of Kazakhstan; three underground mines in the east region of Kazakhstan; and the Bozymchak copper-gold mine in Kyrgyzstan. It also develops greenfield metal deposits; operates Koksay deposit in Kazakhstan, and the Baimskaya licence area in the Chukotka region of Russia; and produces and sells various by-products, such as gold, silver, molybdenum, and zinc. In addition, the company supplies and distributes heat, water, and electricity; and offers construction, project management, financing, management, sales and logistics, and repairs and maintenance services. The company was formerly known as Kazakhmys PLC and changed its name to KAZ Minerals PLC in October 2014. KAZ Minerals PLC was founded in 1930 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreTahoe Resources Inc., together with its subsidiaries, acquires, explores for, develops, and operates mineral properties in the Americas. It explores for silver, gold, lead, zinc, and copper deposits, as well as precious metals assets. The company holds interest in the La Arena gold mine located in the Huamachuco district of northern Peru; Shahuindo mine located in the province of Cajabamba in northern Peru; and La Arena II, a copper-gold porphyry deposit located in Peru. It also holds interest in the Timmins mines, including the Bell Creek and Timmins West mines, the Fenn-Gib project, the Juby project, the Vogel project, and the Gold River project located in Timmins, Ontario. The company was formerly known as CKM Resources Inc. and changed its name to Tahoe Resources Inc. in January 2010. Tahoe Resources Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Reno, Nevada.

Read MoreTelefAnica Brasil S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides mobile and fixed telecommunications services to residential and corporate customers in Brazil. Its fixed line services portfolio includes local, domestic long-distance, and international long-distance calls; and mobile portfolio comprises voice and broadband internet access through 3G, 4G, and 4.5G, as well as mobile value-added services and wireless roaming services. The company also offers data services, including broadband and mobile data services. In addition, it provides pay TV services through direct to home satellite technology, IPTV, and cable, as well as pay-per-view and video on demand services; network services, such as rental of facilities; other services comprising internet access, private network connectivity, computer equipment leasing, extended service, caller identification, voice mail, cellular blocker, and others; wholesale services, including interconnection services to users of other network providers; and digital services, such as entertainment, cloud, and security and financial services, as well as sells wireless devices and accessories. Further, the company offers multimedia communication services, which include audio, data, voice and other sounds, images, texts, and other information, as well as sells devices, such as smartphones, broadband USB modems, and other devices. Additionally, it provides telecommunications solutions and IT support to various industries, such as retail, manufacturing, services, financial institutions, government, etc. It markets and sells its solutions through own stores, dealers, retail and distribution channels, door-to-door sales, and telesales. The company was formerly known as TelecomunicaAAes de SAo Paulo S.A. - TELESP and changed its name to TelefAnica Brasil S.A. in October 2011. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in SAo Paulo, Brazil.

Read MoreHow many of you have been bored in one or more of your classes? U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos asked a crowd of young conservative high school-aged activists Wednesday at the Turning Point USA High School Summit at George Washington University. How many of you wish you could study a subject, but your school doesnt offer it? How many of you feel like you need more or less time than your classmates in one or more of your subjects? And how many of you are told theres nothing you can do about it?

DeVos used her speech to what organizers billed as the biggest gathering of conservative high school-aged activists in recent history to make the case for her signature policy: school choice.

No one thinks choice in higher education is wrong. So why is it wrong in elementary, or middle, or high schools? DeVos asked. The truth is, theres nothing wrong with that. (So far, Congress has rejected most of the Trump administrations school choice proposals . DeVos has struggled to use the bully pulpit to win new supporters for vouchers, charter schoools, and other choice programs.)



Later, during in an on-stage interview with Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, a conservative political organization for high-school and college-age activists, DeVos offered up some advice to young conservatives. Her bottom-line? Be informed and be respectful of people who disagree with you.

Our ideas are much more positive and compelling and powerful than the other sides, and you can win on the basis of those compelling ideas and arguments, DeVos said. But I think you can win them best if you do from a posture of respect for the other person that youre talking with and setting the tone that is respectful of that conversation.

Earlier in the interview, DeVos expounded on her distaste for the federal bureaucracy.

It is hard to get anything done. It takes much longer than it needs to. Were trying to help make the [education] department and its organization more efficient and more effective to really serve the constituents that were supposed to be serving in a much better way.

Part of that reorganization could involve combining the Education Department with the Labor Department. You can read more here about the Trump administrations push to reorganize the agency, which has gotten big pushback from advocates.

DeVos was introduced by Kyle Kashuv, a survivor of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. In her remarks, DeVos said she thought that President DonaldTrump took swift action after the massacre by setting up the school safety commission, which DeVos heads. Many advocates disagreearguing that the panels work has been slow .

Turning Point USA was founded in 2012 by Kirk to help spread free market ideas on college campuses. It has gone in big for Trump and his administration. In fact, Politico Magazine wrote a profile of Kirk last year, calling him Trumps Man on Campus.

DeVos isnt the only cabinet member to participate in the four-day event. The crowd of high school and college student activists also heard from Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He joined students in chanting lock her up"a refrain of the attacks on Hillary Clinton, Trumps rival in the presidential race. Nikki Haley, Trumps ambassador to the United Nations also addressed the group.

Photo: U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos steps out of the Manhattan High School for Girls on May 15 in New York. DeVos met with students and faculty for several hours at the orthodox Jewish private school.

--Mark Lennihan/AP

Cant get enough of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos? Check out some of our best coverage:

Follow us on Twitter at @PoliticsK12 .On June 30, hundreds of thousands of people across the country rallied against the Trump administrations policies of child separation and family detention.

These policies are only the latest of several moves by the administration and by individual states that show an appalling disregard for the well-being of children. No, these are not all LGBTQ-specific issues (although I dont doubt there are LGBTQ people and families impacted by all of the policies). They are human issues, however, and as humans, we should care and act.

The threats to our children right now are far too many. Even as school shootings continue with tragic frequency, the Trump administrations response has not been a call for stricter gun-control lawsin particular, stricter background checks and a ban on the assault weapons used in most mass shootingsbut to suggest that putting more guns in schools by arming teachers could help.

A string of other federal policy changesfrom shifts in health care coverage that chip away at provisions of the Affordable Care Act, to tax cuts that benefit only the wealthywill also negatively impact many children, especially those from less financially secure families.

LGBTQ children and youth are among those particularly targeted by the administration. The U.S. Department of Education said in February, for example, that it is no longer investigating civil rights complaints from transgender students whose schools are not letting them use school bathrooms consistent with their gender identityin contrast to guidance from the Obama administration that had said such actions by the school were a form of sex discrimination prohibited under Title IX.

On the state level, Oklahoma and Kansas in May became the eighth and ninth states to allow taxpayer-funded child welfare agencies to discriminate against LGBTQ prospective parents, LGBTQ youth, or any others, such as single or divorced people or those of different religions, if providing services to them goes against the agencys religious or moral beliefs. This puts them in the company of Alabama, Michigan, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, and Virginia. The harm is both to LGBTQ children in care, who could get placed in homes that try to pray the gay away, and to non-LGBTQ ones, whose pool of possible homes is reduced.

And bills are being considered in Delaware and Ohio that would require schools to notify parents if a student asks for the school to recognize the students transgender or gender creative identity. This could cause emotional or even physical trauma for students whose parents are not accepting of these identities.

These policies, laws, and bills all show a distinct lack of understanding about childrens needs, both emotional and physical. They seem particularly ironic coming from a part of the political spectrum that has long claimed to be about family values.

Maybe, though, part of stopping these policiesand shifting the political balance in Novemberis to emphasize exactly that: how they combine into a frightening picture of harm directed at the most vulnerable members of our society. Showing this threat is more than just a political strategy, though. It is a necessity on behalf of our childrenall the children of our country.

Governmental threats to our children are sadly not new. Our country has separated families as part of the institution of slavery, removed indigenous children from their parents in order to assimilate them, and interred children with their families because of racially based fears during World War II. This is all the more reason to keep fighting, however. Our democracy is an evolving entity, and it is up to us, the people who comprise it, to shape its direction.

As a queer parent, knowing what it is like to fight unjust laws on behalf of my family and child, I feel compelled to take action to help other parents and children when their family connections, safety, and rights are threatened. I will speak out, call and write to my elected officials, donate to organizations working on the above issues, and keep myself informed. I will also pledge to vote in November and to encourage others to do so. When I feel overwhelmed or helpless, I will think about how the children targeted by the above policies must feel, and know I need to keep trying. I hope that many others will do the same, both queer parents and otherwise, for it is as a unified voice for all our countrys children that we will succeed.

Children may be the most vulnerable part of our society, but they are also the most important, for they are our future. If we do not care for them, what future do we have?

Dana Rudolph is the founder and publisher of Mombian (mombian.com), a GLAAD Media Award-winning blog and resource directory for LGBTQ parents.A farm has lost a 60,000 tractor and 45 acres of crops to a devastating field fire in East Sussex.

The field fire happened at Berwick Court Farm on Wednesday (25 July) in what firefighters described as a "serious fire".

Paul Lewis, a farmer from near Berwick and Alfriston, told the BBC how the blaze destroyed 45 acres of crops and burnt out a 60,000 tractor.

He said the seeing the crops go up in smoke is a "complete crying waste".

Photo showing the extent of the fire that @EastSussexFRS crews had to deal with earlier today. Did a great job in sweltering heat! JM #A27 #Drusillas pic.twitter.com/9RbV3SRd41  NPAS Redhill (@NPASRedhill) July 25, 2018

"It's been pretty nervous and frightening to be honest. We think the fire was caused by hot machinery, a flint and an accidental spark," Mr Lewis told the BBC.

"I didn't want my machinery to go up in flames obviously, and I've spent nine months getting my crops to this stage, so to see it just go up in smoke is a complete crying waste."

East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service received the call at 14.54 on 25 July following reports of the field fire.

Crews have now left the scene of the field fire near the #A27 #Drusillas roundabout - please check out and share our advice about keeping our countryside safe #safersummer https://t.co/7Toh42IsZk pic.twitter.com/9DpHNj7mUD  East Sussex FRS (@EastSussexFRS) July 25, 2018

At 17.40, six fire engines were at the scene, with four Landrovers, one Water Bowser and a Support Command Unit.

Locals were asked to keep doors and windows closed to help avoid the smoke. There are no reports of injuries.

The fire follows repeated warnings by farming unions, rural organisations and insurers for farmers to take extra care due to the tinder dry conditions.

Big thank you to our hardworking teams at @Sussex_Fire_999 who have a very busy day & remained as professional, efficient and effective as always! They're the unseen heroes who answer your calls for help #proud #amazing  East Sussex FRS (@EastSussexFRS) July 25, 2018

Conditions are dryer than the fabled summer of 1976 and its putting UK farms at high risk of devastating fires.Brexit will make the British agricultural industry "fit for the future" thanks to the government's "new approach", the Prime Minister has said.

Theresa May visited the Royal Welsh Show today (26 July) to set out her vision for post-Brexit farming policy.

She explained how the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will be replaced with the government's new plan for farmers to receive subsidies based on public goods in a move towards a so-called 'green Brexit'.

The Prime Minister also met with leading figures from the agricultural industry at the show.

She said: Leaving the EU presents us with a unique opportunity to transform our food, farming and environmental policies so we can have a healthy and prosperous agricultural industry that is fit for the future, and helps us to leave the environment in a better place than we found it.

"Scrapping the Common Agricultural Policy and introducing a simpler system which provides funds in return for public goods, like improving water quality, reducing emissions and planting wild flower meadows to boost biodiversity, is fundamental to our new approach, Mrs May added.

Mrs May's speech comes just days after the NFU describing a 'no deal' Brexit as the "Armageddon scenario" for the farming industry.

NFU president Minette Batters used a speech at the Royal Welsh Show to say how crashing out of the EU without a deal must be avoided.

The farming union has previously warned that a 'no deal' Brexit could bring farms to the "brink of collapse".

But Mrs May insisted that the government wants to "make the most of the freedoms provided by Brexit" to design a new scheme that is "less bureaucratic" for farmers.

'Overly prescriptive'

The Prime Minister said she wants to do "away with the overly prescriptive information farmers currently have to provide to apply for grants."

She added: This Government is committed to supporting the half a million people who work in agriculture and growing our world leading food and drinks sector, which contributes over 100 billion to the UK economy. But we also need to protect the farmed environment for future generations.

Mrs May's comments follows the release of new survey which highlights consumers concerns for the Welsh farming industry once the UK leaves the European Union.

63% of Welsh consumers surveyed said that they were concerned that trade deals could limit Welsh farmers ability to export their produce.

However, Defra Secretary Michael Gove has insisted that it is "overwhelmingly likely" that the farming industry will have tariff free trade access to EU markets post-Brexit.

'Best deal for UK'

Speaking after the meeting with Mrs May, NFU Cymru President John Davies said that he stressed the importance of government securing conditions that enable the agricultural sector to have a "productive, profitable and progressive" future.

I also took the opportunity to thank the Prime Minister for the engagement she has had with the farming industry in recent months. We welcome this continued engagement and look forward to working with the Prime Minister over the coming months as she looks to secure the best deal for the UK, Mr Davies said.

During our conversation I told the Prime Minister that NFU Cymru was encouraged by the main principles of the recent Chequers agreement and we are particularly pleased by the practical and pragmatic approach she has adopted with these plans.

Mr Davies added: I made it clear to the Prime Minister that now was the time for government to show leadership; they must not waiver or be deflected from the aim of delivering the best possible deal with the EU27 and other markets.Farmers are feeling more confident with their businesses thanks to new investments and hiring intentions despite an uncertain political outlook, a new report shows.

Business confidence in the agriculture sector  based on the outlook for sales, orders and profits  has increased since the start of the year, according to the latest 'Business in Britain' report from Lloyds Bank.

This is thanks to an increased level of investment and hiring intentions in the sector over the past six months.

The report also highlights that almost a quarter of agricultural businesses do not expect to see any impact if a trade agreement is not reached with the EU.

It follows comments by the NFU just days ago describing a 'no deal' Brexit as the "Armageddon scenario" for the farming industry.

Indeed, the report highlights that agriculture businesses are more confident than they were at the start of 2018, rising 25 points to 32 per cent in the past six months.

The net balance of farmers looking to grow investment in the next six months rose by 14 per cent, up 19 points compared with January, with 57 per cent of farmers who do plan to invest saying that they would buy new machinery and equipment.

And the net balance of farming businesses looking to hire more staff increased to 27 per cent, up 42 points since the start of the year, when a net balance of 15 per cent of farmers expected their staff numbers to go down.

The share of farming businesses that reported difficulties hiring skilled labour was flat, with 45 per cent of farmers agreeing that this remained a challenge.

Farmer confidence

The Business in Britain report, now in its 26th year, tracks a range of performance and confidence measures, weighing up the percentage of firms that are positive in outlook against those that are negative.

Agriculture was ranked in the top three sectors for business confidence, with the second highest points increase over the last six months.

Business confidence was highest in the Energy sector (41 per cent), followed by Transport (37 per cent).

Uncertainty around Brexit is now the single greatest risk to farming businesses over the next six months, according to 36 per cent of farmers.

The proportion of farmers reporting emerging technology as their greatest risk increased to 14 per cent, while those citing weaker UK demand fell sharply from 30 per cent in January to nine per cent.

Uncertainty around negotiations

More than a quarter (27 per cent) of farming businesses expect a positive impact on their business if no trade agreement is reached with the EU.

Nearly a fifth (18 per cent) expect a negative impact, while almost a quarter (23 per cent) do not expect any impact at all and 32 per cent said they didnt know.

Andrew Naylor, Head of Agriculture at Lloyds Banking Group said: While its encouraging to see overall confidence has increased amongst agricultural businesses since the start of the year, the sector has a clear split in opinion over what will happen if no trade agreement is reached with the EU.

For many farmers, stepping away from the EUs Common Agriculture Policy presents an opportunity to start afresh and focus on British interests, while the impending publication of the new Agricultural Bill, detailing government plans for the farming sector post-Brexit, continues to create uncertainty.The former National Farmers Union president, Meurig Raymond has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship for his "lasting influence" in the farming industry.

Meurig Raymond retired as NFU President in February after undertaking various roles there for nearly 40 years.

At the European Commissions High Level Forum for a Better Functioning Supply Chain, Mr Raymond represented European farmers and worked to improve their position in the food chain.

Because of his work in the industry, Mr Raymond has now been presented an Honour Fellowship from the Royal Agricultural University (RAU).

The university paid tribute to the career and impact of Mr Raymond at its graduation ceremonies in Cirencester Parish Church.

Each year, alongside presenting students degrees, the University awards Honorary Fellowships to those who have made significant contributions to agriculture and the related land-based industries.

Chief Executive of Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF) Caroline Drummond and business consultant Christine Cross have also been awarded Honorary Fellowships.

'Passionate advocate'

As Chief Executive of LEAF since it began in 1991, Caroline Drummond is a passionate advocate of greater public understanding of farming and of encouraging sustainable farming practices.

Christine Cross held senior roles at Tesco, including Business Development Director, and is now an independent adviser working across retail, manufacturing and education.

She is a judge for the Universitys annual Grand Idea competition, which invites student entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas to a panel also including Levi Roots, of Reggae Reggae Sauce, Julian Dunkerton of Superdry clothing and Charlie Beldam of Cotswold Gold rapeseed oil.

Professor Joanna Price, Vice-Chancellor of the RAU said: Meurig, Caroline and Christine have had a lasting influence on their fields and theyve shown how food production, agriculture and the land-based industries successfully combine with entrepreneurialism, enterprise and policy leadership.

Their achievements will inspire our students for years to come because RAU graduates in 2018 are global citizens who are ready to contribute to society in a myriad of ways.

With knowledge of their subjects, readiness to embrace the world of work and a willingness to adapt to change, these students will follow in the footsteps of our Fellows to be leaders and innovators.There will be no criminal matters pursued by police in relation to an investigation looking into modern slavery on a Cornish farm.

Specialist officers executed a warrant at Bosahan Farm, which is a flower picking farm near Manaccan, Helston on Thursday 8 February on the suspicion that modern slavery offences were taking place against migrant workers.

Following the warrant in February, 14 people chose to leave the farm with partnership support, of which 13 have used the services available to them to either find alternative employment or to return back to their home country.

Following a full investigation and discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service, there will be no criminal matters pursued by police in relation to this investigation.

In a statement, Devon and Cornwall Police said it "appreciates the disruption" this policing operation has caused to the wider farming, agricultural and migrant worker community.

'Serious allegations'

However, the force said it is "important to recognise" that police had to ensure that the response to "serious allegations" of modern slavery were followed up and responded to with the gravity this under-reported crime deserved.

This means ensuring that the police had the ability to safeguard all migrant workers at the farm in-case they were victims that needed support.

Around 160 migrant workers at the farm had their welfare safeguarded by Cornwall Council with support from The Salvation Army and the British Red Cross during the initial visit.

The sheer number of workers at the farm meant it wasnt possible for this policing operation to be undertaken in a less intrusive and publicly visible manner, the police said.

Whilst this investigation has been taking place over the past five months, the farm business was not prevented from operating.The Welsh government has held a "weather summit" to minimise future impacts on the farming industry in a move described as an important step in taking action.

The summit was held at the Royal Welsh Show in a bid to minimise the current and future impacts of the weather on Wales agriculture industry.

It follows a dire warning issued by the Environmental Audit Committee highlighting how sustained heatwaves will be the "summer norm by 2040s" making adaptation to them "a matter of life and death".

The heatwave has also led to a number of extreme weather derogations granted by Welsh government following requests by farmers.

The Farmers Union of Wales (FUW) described the weather summit an "important step". The event was chaired by Welsh government's Cabinet Secretary, Lesley Griffiths and attended by farming organisations.

FUW President, Glyn Roberts said: We had called for this summit to take place in early July.

This was therefore a welcome next step, and a number of further actions which could be taken were discussed at the meeting.

In particular, we emphasised the need for decisive action to be taken as soon as possible in terms of the relaxation of rules and other measures, as every day that goes by farmers are struggling to provide water for livestock and essential winter fodder is being used up on farms across Wales, Mr Roberts said.

The lack of rain and sustained heat has led to slow grass growth, affecting hay and silage yields.

The FUW President said that there were a number of steps that the union had urged Welsh government to look into, with a view to decisions and announcements being made over the coming days.

Over the past month we have provided details to Welsh government of the problems being faced by farmers around Wales, as well as steps which could be taken by government to help the situation, Mr Roberts added.

We welcome the fact that some of these steps have been taken, but had requested this meeting in order to ensure all possible actions could be properly explored.

Now that that has finally happened we expect to see far more progress.A farm in Worcestershire has been recognised as having the most progressive flock of Lleyn sheep based on the flock's genetic merit and improvement over the past 10 years.

Bank Farm Lleyn, owned by Marcus and Kathryn Bullock from Abberley in Worcestershire, has been recognised by AHDB Beef & Lamb.

Marcus interest in the Lleyn breed started when he studied the breeds that were used to bring the Lleyn out of rare breed status for his degree thesis at Harper Adams.

He gradually changed his flock from crossbreds to purebred Lleyn between 1988 and 1991 and now runs 600 breeding females.

Marcus has always recorded his sheep but in 2005 joined Signet. Before 2004 I felt the focus of the breed was on prolificacy which didnt fit with the sheep I wanted to produce, he said.

However when the breed carcase traits and index were more in line with the sheep I wanted I decided to record with Signet, and have been doing so ever since.

It is rare that stock are bought in as Marcus wants to evolve the genetics of the flock from bloodlines on farm.

I havent bought any females since the foundation ewes in 1988 and in the last six years I have only bought three rams. When selecting for breeding I look for twin-born, a very good mouth and feet, good conformation and not too big, he added.

The flock has been involved in work to enable the selection of animals for parasite resistance and so I also select for worm resistance FEC EBV.

Strict policy

Marcus has a a strict breeding policy to make sure the breed continues to move forward, and so anything that doesnt make the grade is removed from the flock.

When making breeding decisions, he explained how he has the customer in mind so he produces animals they want to buy.

Unlike many UK flocks who are looking for the reason to retain a sheep, we are constantly looking for any reason to either cull them, or demote them to our later-lambing commercial flock, he explained.

In the early years, he sold stock through society sales but the second foot and mouth outbreak in 2007 made him re-evaluate what he was doing.

The outbreak meant sales were postponed and I began to think closely about where I wanted the flock to be, explained Marcus.

I decided to sell everything from home and in 2016 started the first production sale on farm. It started with rams but in 2017 I began selling females this way too. Im finding more people want to buy off farm, all the sheep are performance recorded and the flock has a high health status, including MV & EAE accredited, CLA tested and it is also scrapie genotyped.

We tend to sell older ewes and keep our flock at home young. Theres a good demand for an older ewe and at our farm sales they go for the best price. They come with the benefit of good genetics as well as known performance that back up the figures.YFCs offered new support to upgrade club buildings

Clubs will also be offered help with new buildsThe Birthday Girl Kriti Sanon

Kriti Sanon and Nupur were raised in a simple household and were pampered by their parents just like anyone of us.

Family Comes First!

Right from the beginning, Kriti and Nupur were taught about family values and even now, they go by the motto that family always comes first, and the rest is secondary.

Studies & Play

The spot which Nupur chose for studying is what brings a smile on everyone's face.

So Cute!

Don't Kriti Sanon and her younger sister Nupur look so cute here, folks?

It's Play Time

Kriti Sanon and Nupur are doing what they loved best during their childhood days, which is playing and having a gala time.

Always Together

Kriti Sanon and Nupur have always been each other's backbone from their childhood days and the same has continued till date.

Mommy & Daughter

Mommy Geeta Sanon tightly hugs her elder daughter Kriti and this is such a picture perfect moment!

Family Holidays

It was so much fun going on a holiday with family during childhood days, isn't it? Here, Kriti and her mother are seen enjoying every bit of it.

Daddy Rahul Sanon

Daddy Rahul Sanon carries Kriti Sanon on his back, while small Nupur is wondering what exactly is happening!

Happy Birthday, Kriti Sanon!

Here's wishing the beautiful Kriti Sanon a very happy birthday and we wish more success and happiness to her!John Abraham believes regional cinema is far ahead of Bollywood in terms of content as the industry concentrates on story instead of worrying about huge unnecessary budgets. The actor-producer has entered the regional space with his first Marathi production, Savita Damodar Paranjpe.

"I sometimes feel the best content, unfortunately, I'd like to say this being a Hindi film actor, doesn't come from Hindi films. It comes from regional cinema. Because when you don't have huge unnecessary budgets, you concentrate only on content," John told reporters here.

"The content here is fantastic. I think after this, I'm sure there'll be a trend which has already started; this film will be remade in hindi. You'll be really happy with this film," he added.

The actor was speaking at the trailer launch of the film, directed by Swapna Waghmare Joshi.

John, who has also produced Hindi films, said every script demands to be made in a certain language and "Savita Damodar Paranjpe" was best suited for Marathi. "When I first heard the script, (I felt) it was meant to be in Marathi. When we got the director and the cast, it was like 'Alice in Wonderland' for me," he said.

When asked if he wishes to also act in Marathi films in the future, John said, "I'd love to do a Marathi film because I'm a Marathi boy. I am proud of it. I was born and brought up in this city, I belong to this city. Marathi is our first language, we must speak it more often but unfortunately we don't..."

On the work front, John Abraham will be next seen in Satyameva Jayate. The film also stars Manoj Bajpayee and Aisha Sharma in the key roles. The film is scheduled to be released on 15 August 2018.Kayamkulam Kochunni is undoubtedly one of the biggest ever-to-be-made films in the history of Malayalam cinema. The movie, directed by Rosshan Andrrews and featuring Nivin Pauly in the lead role, was shot for over 160 days in various locations inside and outside the country. Recently, director Rosshan Andrrews had opened up about the shooting experiences of this much awaited Malayalam movie.

The lead actor Nivin Pauly had encountered a few injuries during the shoot of the film. According to a report by Manoramanews.com, Rosshan Andrrews has stated that the actor had broken his hand while shooting for one of the action sequences in the film but still, he was ready to join the shoot on the very next day itself. The director has also added that after 2 days, Nivin Pauly had a narrow escape when a bullock cart fell over him.

The film-maker has also opened up about the experience that they had while shooting for a few scenes in Sri Lanka. Rosshan Andrrews has stated that the team had zeroed in on a wonderful location in Sri Lanka for a few portions of the film and they had to shoot a sequence, wherein Nivin Pauly had to leap in and swim across a lake situated there. But, it was after coming to the location that the crew got to know that the lake is habited by over 300 crocodiles. Later, the team employed a group to move away the crocodiles by making loud noises. But still, they witnessed 3-4 crocodiles on the pond; but thankfully, there were no accidents reported at the site.@Suriya_offl happy birthday Anna !! lots and lots of love !!  dulquer salmaan (@dulQuer) July 23, 2018

Dulquer Salmaan's Birthday Wishes For Suriya

Mollywood's own Dulquer Salmaan was one among those Malayalam celebrities who wished Suriya on the special day. He took to his social media sites to wish the actor and conveyed his heartfelt wishes to Suriya, whom he addresses as 'Anna' in the tweet.

Thank you @dulQuer trust your leg is much better now.!! https://t.co/SKjszPHlQ2  Suriya Sivakumar (@Suriya_offl) July 24, 2018

Suriya's Response To The Wishes

Suriya made it a point to thank Dulquer Salmaan for the lovely wishes that the young actor had sent. Apart from thanking the young actor, Suriya also enquired about the injured leg of Dulquer Salmaan.

When Dulquer Salmaan Injured His Leg!

For those of you who are not aware, Dulquer Salmaan had injured his leg during the rehearsal camp of AMMA Mazhavil show. Despite the injury, Dulquer Salmaan had made it a point to participate in the AMMA Show and he also had performed a dance number in style.

Much better anna ! Thanks for asking   dulquer salmaan (@dulQuer) July 25, 2018

Dulquer Salmaan's Response

Later, Dulquer Salmaan came up with a reply to the tweet sent out by Suriya. The young actor conveyed that he is much better now and also thanked him for enquiring about his injury. This interesting Twitter conversation gained the attention of all the fans of both the big stars.Some of them profited handsomely from an eventful restructuring at Kaisa Group, the first Chinese property developer to default on its offshore bonds. Others talk nostalgically about the good old days when they could buy a portfolio of soured bank loans on the cheap.

But maybe for distressed debt investors the best is yet to come as many get ready to partake in the next big short in China now that years of credit-led stimulus are coming to an end.

The first big sign that something stinky might be around the corner in China is the jump in borrowing costs. Although Chinese corporate bond yields have recently...DARMSTADT, Germany, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Not intended for UK- or US-based media

German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) recommends new formulation of Euthyrox for approval in 21 EU countries

BfArM is acting as a representative of all 21 EU countries involved in the EU worksharing procedure

Merck, a leading science and technology company, today announced that the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices has recommended to approve Merck's new formulation of Euthyrox (levothyroxine) in 21 EU countries. National approvals will be issued following this recommendation.

"The tighter specification of the active ingredient in the new formulation of Euthyrox aims to help patients have better control over their individual levothyroxine dosage," said Steven Hildemann, Global Chief Medical Officer at the Biopharma business of Merck. "Following the positive recommendation from BfArM, Merck will continue to collaborate closely with local Health Authorities, healthcare professionals and patient groups in preparation for the roll out of the new formulation in the 21 countries. Together with the respective stakeholders, and in full compliance with the local regulations, we aim to ensure that patients are appropriately informed. Therefore it is our first priority to support physicians and help them provide their patients with the best possible transition to the new formulation of Euthyrox ."

The German BfArM decision to recommend the approval of the new formulation of Euthyrox across 21 EU states was based on a study demonstrating bioequivalence between the old and new formulations.

Levothyroxine is a synthetically produced hormone that corresponds to the natural thyroid hormone Thyroxin (T4). It is used to treat hypothyroidism, goiter and to suppress TSH in the post-treatment of differentiated thyroid cancer.

The new formulation came at the request of several health authorities worldwide. It was introduced in France in March 2017 and Switzerland in April 2018. Turkish authorities have approved the new formulation and Merck expects to launch the medicine there in the course of 2018.

For thyroid drugs a small dosage variation might impact the patient's thyroid balance. Prescribing doctors are therefore encouraged to monitor patients closely when prescribing the new formulation and to adjust the individual dosage if medically required. Along with Health Authorities, Merck recommends that all patients do not switch or stop their treatment without medical advice and refer to their prescribing physician to potentially adjust the medication dose to their individual need during the transition phase.

All Merck Press Releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the Merck Website. Please go to http://www.merckgroup.com/subscribe to register online, change your selection or discontinue this service.

About Merck

Merck is a leading science and technology company in healthcare, life science and performance materials. Almost 53,000 employees work to further develop technologies that improve and enhance life - from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions. In 2017, Merck generated sales of  15.3 billion in 66 countries.

Founded in 1668, Merck is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed corporate group. Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials.

Sara Yussefi

+49-151-14546690

Sara.yussefi@merckgroup.com

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/554117/Merck_Logo.jpg )Stable underlying operations

Arion Bank reported net earnings of ISK 1.1 billion for the third quarter of 2018, compared with a loss of ISK 0.1 billion for the same period of 2017. Return on equity was 2.3% for the third quarter of 2018, compared with a negative return of 0.2% for the same period in 2017. During the first nine months of 2018 net earnings were ISK 6.2 billion and return on equity 3.9% compared with ISK 10.4 billion net earnings and 6.3% return on equity during the first nine months of 2017. Net earnings for the quarter and the first nine months are affected by impairments relating to Primera.

Total assets amounted to ISK 1,219.5 billion at the end of September 2018, compared with ISK 1,147.8 billion at the end of 2017. Shareholders' equity totalled ISK 199.3 billion, compared with ISK 225.6 billion at the end of 2017. Arion Bank paid dividend of ISK 10 billion at the end of September 2018.

The Bank's capital ratio at the end of September was 21.7%, compared with 24.0% at the end of 2017. The CET1 ratio was 21.6% at the end of September, compared with 23.6% at the end of 2017.

Highlights of the income statement and key income related performance indicators:

In ISK millions Q3 2018 Q3 2017 % diff. 9M 2018 9M 2017 % diff. Net interest income 7,445 7,250 3% 21,966 22,570 (3%) Net commission income 4,246 3,865 10% 12,280 10,703 15% Net financial income 582 (734) - 2,849 2,471 15% Net insurance income 984 716 37% 1,885 1,769 7% Share of profit of associates and impairment 34 17 100% 18 (917) - Other operating income 431 483 (11%) 1,310 2,858 (54%) Operating income 13,722 11,597 18% 40,308 39,454 2% Salaries and related expenses (4,168) (3,841) 9% (13,815) (12,624) 9% Other operating expenses (3,817) (3,699) 3% (11,777) (8,756) 35% Operating expenses (7,985) (7,540) 6% 25,592 21,380 20% Bank levy (937) (814) 15% (2,621) (2,388) 10% Net impairment (2,678) (2,551) 5% (2,969) (1,262) 135% Net earnings before taxes 2,122 692 207% 9,126 14,424 (37%) Income tax expense (973) (805) 21% (3,078) (4,071) (24%) Discontinued operations, net of tax - - - 112 - - Net earnings 1,149 (113) - 6,160 10,353 (41%) KPI's Return on equity 2.3% (0.2%) 3.9% 6.3% Earnings per share (in ISK) 0.63 (0.06) 3.00 5.17 Cost to income ratio 58.2% 65.0% 63.5% 54.2%

Highlights of the balance sheet and key performance indicators:

In ISK million 30.09.2018 31.12.2017 Diff. % diff. Loans to customers 819,965 765,101 54,864 7% Other assets 399,565 382,653 16,912 4% Liabilities 1,019,474 922,021 97,453 11% Equity 200,056 225,733 (25,677) (11%) Loans to Deposits ratio 169.2% 165.5% RWA / Total assets 66.2% 66.8% CET 1 ratio 21.6% 23.6%

For detailed information on the accounts please refer to Arion Bank's Consolidated Interim Financial Statements for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2018 on the Bank's website, www.arionbanki.is.

Hoskuldur H. Olafsson, CEO of Arion Bank

The third quarter financial results were below expectations, with the bankruptcy of Primera Air being a key factor as the Bank needed to impair assets as a result. However, the Bank's underlying business remains strong. We see solid year-on-year growth in both commission income and income from insurance activities. At the same time the net interest margin is stable in a highly competitive environment. It is clear, however, in the near term that the Bank will be focusing more on the profitability of its loan portfolio, even at the expense of loan growth.

The Bank has a strong capital position despite substantial dividends and share buybacks totalling ISK 33 billion during the year. In September Arion Bank paid out a dividend of ISK 10 billon in accordance with the Bank's policy on reducing its capital. At the same time the Bank remains focused on achieving its stated targets on for example capital, cost-to-income ratio and profitability.

Arion Bank has been focused on cost control in an ever more complex operating environment. Managing costs is essential for returns going forward and the Bank is undertaking certain cost cutting initiatives. In recent years the Bank has successfully managed to adapt services to our customers' ever changing needs. Our key focus has been on digital solutions, developing the Arion Bank app, online banking and other online services to enable our customers to take care of their finances whenever and wherever it suits them. We have also continued to modify and adapt our branch network. This means both enhancing our core branches, which offer diverse banking and advisory services, and also redesigning our smaller branches, many of which have moved into commercial centres frequently visited by our customers. The latest example of this is the branch in the supermarket Hagkaup in Gardabaer. By merging and moving branches we have streamlined the branch structure, for example by substantially reducing the amount of office space we occupy.

Equality issues have been a key concern at the Bank for many years and we have achieved a great deal in this area. Arion Bank was recently the first bank and one of the largest companies in Iceland to receive permission to use the Ministry of Welfare's equal pay symbol. Arion Bank first introduced an equal pay management system in 2015 and subsequently received equal pay certification from the labour union VR. The equal pay management system is an important management tool and helps to ensure that people performing jobs of equal value are not discriminated against in terms of salary. We have also endeavoured to attain gender balance in the Bank's management team. Now that the Bank has been listed on the stock exchange in Stockholm, it is pleasing to see that we are at the forefront in this area compared with other listed companies in Sweden. On a list recently published by AllBright, a Swedish non-profit foundation working for equality and meritocracy in the business community, Arion Bank is in the 17th place out of 329 companies listed in Stockholm in terms of gender diversity in the management team. We will continue on this path with the aim of further improving gender equality at the Bank.

The cost-to-income ratio developed positively during the quarter. We are making systematic efforts to streamline the business and increase efficiency. The strategic journey we have embarked on with digital services and the evolving branch network is critical in this respect, as in the long term it will yield reduced costs and higher income. The Bank is also looking to outsource certain tasks and find strategic partners in order to share employees, materials and premises.

Valitor continues to expand internationally and offers its customers in the Nordic region and the United Kingdom diverse solutions in payment services. Strategic planning on the future ownership of the subsidiary has now been completed and Arion Bank is currently in the process of engaging an investment bank for the divestment of Valitor, either as a whole or in part. A decision on the next steps will be announced in the near future.

Conference call in English

Arion Bank will be hosting a meeting / webcast on Thursday 1 November at 8:30 GMT / 9:30 CET where CEO Hoskuldur H. Olafsson and CFO Stefan Petursson will present the results and answer questions from participants. The meeting will take place in English at the Bank's headquarters, Borgartun 19, and will be streamed live.

Those attending the meeting in Borgartun 19 need to register here. To participate in the webcast via telephone and to submit questions please call in using the relevant number indicated below before the start of the webcast:

IS: 800 7417

SE: +46 856 642 665

UK: +44 20 3008 9808

The webcast will be accessible live on financialhearings.comand a link will also be made available on the Bank's website under Investor Relations.



For further information please contact Sture Stolen, head of Arion Bank's Investor Relations at ir@arionbanki.isor Theodor Fridbertsson at Investor Relations at theodor.fridbertsson@arionbanki.is, tel. +354 444 6760.

This is information that Arion Bank hf. is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above.

AttachmentsAnna Chokina Vice President, Global Brand Marketing, Skincare and Personal Care

Elena Degtyareva, Vice President, Global Brand Marketing, Fashion & Home

LONDON, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE: AVP), a global leader in direct selling of beauty products, today announced a series of senior appointments in global brand marketing.

Anna Chokina has been appointed Vice President, Global Brand Marketing, Skincare and Personal Care a $1.6Bn category, effective September 24th, 2018. She will drive growth and brings deep brand marketing and beauty experience with a background of an international career. Anna joins Avon from L'Oreal Paris, where as General Manager, Russia she led the business to consecutive years of growth. Anna also oversaw successful brand strategy development and played a central role in making L'Oreal Paris the number one digital beauty brand in Russia. In addition, she brings a strong Consumer Goods background to this new role, having worked at Procter & Gamble and PepsiCo in the Feminine Care and Snacks categories, respectively.

Elena Degtyareva, currently Vice President, Global Marketing Operations will assume the position of Vice President, Global Fashion and Home a $1.4Bn category. In this role, Elena will be responsible for growing Avon's fashion and home business, which currently delivers a quarter of Avon's global revenue. Elena brings 20 years of experience working with beauty and fashion brands, in addition to her valuable knowledge and insight of Avon. She is a skilled marketer and has worked in both global roles and in Eastern Europe in a variety of strategic and operational positions where she has overseen category growth and embedded marketing excellence.

"We are excited for Anna to join the Avon team and for Elena to take on her new assignment. They each have deep category and beauty experience and will drive to restore growth in our categories. Further, these appointments are a testament to our commitment both to develop our winning category strategies and to drive operational excellence across all categories and regions as part of our turnaround plans," said Jonathan Myers, Chief Operating Officer. "We are confident that these leaders will help Avon to better deliver fast-beauty to our Representatives and consumers and drive growth in core areas."

About Avon Products, Inc.

Avon is the Company that for 130 years has proudly stood for beauty, innovation, optimism and, above all, for women. Avon products include well-recognized and beloved brands such as ANEW, Avon Color, Avon Care, Skin-So-Soft, and Advance Techniques sold through approximately 6 million active independent Avon Sales Representatives. Learn more about Avon and its products at www.avoncompany.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including Avon's efforts to deepen its pool of talented leaders to drive operational and financial excellence. Because forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties, actual future results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the possibility of business disruption, competitive uncertainties, and general economic and business conditions in Avon's markets as well as the other risks detailed in Avon's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Avon undertakes no obligation to update any statements in this press release for changes that happen after the date of this release.PHILADELPHIA, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- FMC Corporation (NYSE: FMC) today announced that it will rebrand its lithium materials business as Livent Corporation (pronounced lye-vent) following the previously announced plan to separate FMC Lithium into a publicly traded company.

Logo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/331912/fmc_corporation_logo.jpg

"FMC has been a leading producer of lithium compounds for more than 40 years," said Paul Graves, chief executive officer, Livent Corporation. "As an independent company, Livent will build on our strengths as a fully integrated, lithium technology leader with a broad portfolio of products for electric vehicles and other energy storage applications, polymers and synthesis, lithium alloys, high-performance lubricants and other specialty uses."

Livent Corporation is one of only a small number of companies with the capability, reputation, and know-how to produce high-performance lithium compounds that are helping meet the growing demand for lithium.

"Today's announcement marks another major step in our progress to create two stand-alone leading public companies," said Pierre Brondeau, FMC Corporation CEO and chairman. "As an independent company, Livent will have the freedom and ability to chart its own course and business strategy. Its leadership and employees will have the flexibility to experiment, thrive and pursue its growth plans with a great new brand. And we are equally excited about FMC's future as one of the largest agricultural technology companies focused on bringing advanced innovation and sustainable solutions to farmers around the world."

Brondeau is expected to serve as chairman of the board of Livent following the separation, and will continue to lead FMC Corporation as CEO and chairman.

Livent has universal appeal, appropriate for a premier, pure-play lithium material sciences company with an expansive global footprint and worldwide business opportunities. The new Livent brand, including the brand mark and visual identity, will be revealed closer to the separation date.

About FMC

For more than a century, FMC Corporation has served the global agricultural, industrial and consumer markets with innovative solutions, applications and quality products. On November 1, 2017, FMC acquired a significant portion of DuPont's Crop Protection business. FMC employs approximately 7,000 people throughout the world and operates its businesses in two segments: FMC Agricultural Solutions and FMC Lithium. For more information, visit www.FMC.com.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Act of 1995: Statements in this news release that are forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning specific factors described in FMC Corporation's 2017 Form 10-K and other SEC filings. Such information contained herein represents management's best judgment as of the date hereof based on information currently available. FMC Corporation does not intend to update this information and disclaims any legal obligation to the contrary. Historical information is not necessarily indicative of future performance.NEW YORK, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On the latest episode of the goop podcast, goop CEO and Founder Gwyneth Paltrow interviews actor, producer and businesswoman Sarah Jessica Parker.

In an intimate conversation at Paltrow's home, the two discuss a wide range of topics, such as motherhood, shoes, why they started businesses, SJP's book short list and Cynthia Nixon's campaign for governor of New York. The poignant and funny conversation also touches on how Sex and the City got Paltrow through a breakup and Parker's insightful take on heartbreak. Below are select quotes from the episode.

This link must be included in any coverage: https://goop.be/2A44VLH

On GP getting married again

"I think you should be [optimistic]. The only reason I feel you probably should be optimistic is that you're a grown-up woman and you're making a choice for entirely different reasons. Perspective and life experience is everything, it informs everything but I think the value of you being a sophisticated woman and choosing marriage is promising."

On heartbreak

"I think it's great to have been wrong in love and been destroyed and heartbroken. I just think it makes what you imagined to be a life choice better. Everybody should date if that's what you're interested in and you should be wrong, and you should break some hearts and your heart should be broken, and you should lay in bed in your old days next to a telephone looking at it hoping it's going to ring and be disappointed that it never does."

On women's tendencies to please and the idea of having it all

"It's like I was a host for experiences that were upsetting or they made me feel bad or I didn't feel listened to over and over even though I was in charge, do you know what I mean? I just made it okay because I also didn't want to be difficult, I didn't want to be thought of as a diva or all those things that we even as children of mothers, we're on the front lines in the women's movement. I thought I inherited all that, I could be everything, I could have it all, I could do this, and this, and this, and this. It's not true."

On the enduring popularity of Sex and the City

"The intimacy of the friendships, the more honest portrait of friendships, when they're good and when they're bad, when they're betraying each other, and when they're really supportive and good to each other when they're reliant to comment on one another in ways that's inspiring and familiar. I think just the really candid nature of the dialogue was just something that perhaps women were experiencing in their own lives, but they never seen it in cinema."

On Cynthia Nixon running for governor

"She's brilliant. She's formidable. She's learned and she's willing to learn, and she has a point of view about the city where she was born and raised just like anybody else who might run for public office. We don't typically question the provenance of the candidates so much, and we certainly didn't have the same standard for a gentleman who was elected president, and in a democracy that is what happens. You cannot argue, right, with that. That's choice, like we have a choice."

PRESS CONTACT:

Noora Raj Brown, goop, noora@goop.com

ABOUT GOOP:

goop is a lifestyle brand with its roots in content across six key pillars: Wellness, Travel, Food, Beauty, Style, and Work; within those pillars, goop curates and sells a tightly-edited array of products; we also make our own goods. goop products include a luxurious, high-performance skincare line made from organic ingredients; a regimen-based vitamin program to address the acute needs of modern women; an artisanal collection of fragrances, crafted entirely from natural elements; a limited-edition range of fashion essentials, all made in Italy's finest mills and factories; a collection of five extraordinary, therapeutic baths based in Chinese medicine and herbalism; and a set of body essentials that cleanses, nourishes, and detoxifies our bodies.

goop launched in the fall of 2008 out of Gwyneth Paltrow's kitchen as a homespun weekly newsletter; GP wanted to share her unbiased travel recommendations, health-centric recipes, and shopping discoveries, and she also wanted to get her own questions-about health, fitness, and the psyche-answered. goop continues to be a place for GP, now the company's CEO, to introduce readers to incredible experts who have mentored her throughout her life, along with new ideas about where to shop, eat, wear, cook, and stay.PORTLAND, Oregon, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, "Food Authenticity Market by Target Testing, Technology, and Food Tested: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2018-2025," the global food authenticity market was valued at $5,312 million in 2017, and is estimated to reach $9,840 million by 2025, registering a CAGR of 8.1% from 2018 to 2025. In 2017, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology segment accounted for more than one-third share of the total food authenticity market.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg )



Request Sample Report at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/2329

Food fraud is committed when food is deliberately altered for financial gains with the intention of deceiving consumers or customers. The food standards agency (FSA) specifies two main types of food frauds, namely sale of food that is unfit and potentially harmful, and deliberate mis-description of food. In the recent times, food authenticity testing is not just a tool to identify gross substitution such as whisky, horsemeat, or olive oil, it is now quite possible to differentiate between Welsh or Scottish lamb, farmed or wild salmon, and pure or sweetened fruit juice. Food authenticity testing is not only used in identification of gross substitution in whisky, horsemeat, or olive oil but also is used to differentiate between Welsh or Scottish lamb, farmed or wild salmon, and pure or sweetened fruit juice.

Various regulations on food safety particularly in the developed economies, growth in instances of food fraud, and rise in Economically Motivated Adulterations (EMA), owing to high competition among food producers drive the food authenticity market. However, high cost of food authenticity, availability of relatively cheap substitutes, and anti-dumping policies on food authenticity are expected to hamper the food authenticity industry growth.

In 2017, the processed food segment was the leading revenue contributor to the global food authenticity market. The processed food segment includes numerous processed products, such as infant formula, packaged food, wine, bakery & confectionery, and other processed food products; hence, there are large chances for food frauds.

For Purchase Enquiry: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/2329

KEY FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

In 2017, Europe dominated the global food authenticity market, with more than two-fifths food authenticity market share in terms of value.

dominated the global food authenticity market, with more than two-fifths food authenticity market share in terms of value. Asia-Pacific is estimated to witness the highest growth during the forecast period.

is estimated to witness the highest growth during the forecast period. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) segment is estimated to register the highest growth rate, in terms of revenue, registering a CAGR of 8.7% from 2018 to 2025 and generated the highest revenue in 2017.

The meat speciation segment is estimated to register a highest growth rate, in terms of revenue, registering a CAGR of 8.7%.

In 2017, processed food was the leading segment, which occupied around one-third food authenticity market share in global food authenticity market, in terms of revenue.

In 2017, Europe dominated the global market, owing to the strict food safety regulations and large number of consumer complaints. Furthermore, presence of major players in the region is anticipated to boost the food authenticity market in the near future. North America is the second leading revenue contributor to the global food authenticity industry, and is expected to register a CAGR of 7.8% in terms of revenue.

The key companies profiled in the report include SGS S.A., Intertek Group PLC., Eurofins Scientific SE, ALS Limited, LGC Science Group Ltd., Merieux Nutrisciences Corporation, Microbac Laboratories, Inc., EMSL Analytical Inc., Romer Labs Diagnostic GmbH, and Genetic ID NA, Inc.

Access KNOWLEDGE TREE (Premium on-demand, subscription-based pricing model) at:https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/knowledgetree

Knowledge tree is a cloud-based intelligence platform that offers more than 2,000 selective, off-the-shelf reports on niche markets to enable our clients gain deep insights on the latest trends, dynamic technologies, and emerging application areas.

Similar Reports:

Food Preservatives Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2017-2023

Food Traceability (Tracking Technologies) Market - Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2017-2023

About Us

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

Contact:

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Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.comTORONTO, July 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just Energy Group, Inc. (TSX:JE) (NYSE:JE), a leading retail energy provider specializing in electricity and natural gas commodities, energy efficiency solutions, and renewable energy options, today announced that it will release operating results for first quarter fiscal 2019 after market close on August 8th, 2018. The Company will host a conference call and live webcast to review the fiscal first quarter results beginning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on August 9th, 2018 followed by a question and answer period. Chief Executive Officer Patrick McCullough, and Chief Financial Officer Jim Brown will participate on the call.

Just Energy Conference Call and Webcast

Thursday, August 9 th , 2018

, 2018 10:00 a.m. EDT

Those who wish to participate in the conference call may do so by dialing 1-877-300-9306 and ask to be joined into the Just Energy call. The call will also be webcast live over the internet at the following link:

https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/1731/26565 (https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/1731/26565)

An audio tape rebroadcast will be available starting one hour after the conference and will be available until August 16th, 2018. To access the rebroadcast please dial 1-877-344-7529 and use replay access code 10122264. The webcast will also be archived on the JE investor relations website for one year.

About Just Energy Group Inc.

Established in 1997, Just Energy is a leading consumer company specializing in electricity and natural gas commodities, energy efficiency solutions, and renewable energy options. With offices located across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland and Japan, Just Energy serves approximately 1.6 million residential and commercial customers providing homes and businesses with a broad range of energy solutions that deliver comfort, convenience and control. Just Energy Group Inc. is the parent company of Amigo Energy, EdgePower, Green Star Energy, Hudson Energy, Interactive Energy Group, Tara Energy and terrapass. Visit justenergygroup.com to learn more. Also, find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated. These risks include, but are not limited to general economic and market conditions, levels of customer natural gas and electricity consumption, rates of customer additions and renewals, rates of customer attrition, fluctuations in natural gas and electricity prices, changes in regulatory regimes, results of litigation and decisions by regulatory authorities, competition and dependence on certain suppliers. Additional information on these and other factors that could affect Just Energy's operations, financial results or dividend levels are included in Just Energy's annual information form and other reports on file with Canadian securities regulatory authorities which can be accessed through the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com, on the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov or through Just Energy's website at www.justenergygroup.com.

Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange nor the New York Stock Exchange has approved nor disapproved of the information contained herein.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:



Jim Brown

Chief Financial Officer

Phone: (713) 544-8191

jbrown@justenergy.com (mailto:jbrown@justenergy.com)

or

Michael Cummings

Investor Relations

Phone: (617) 461-1101

michael.cummings@alpha-ir.com (mailto:michael.cummings@alpha-ir.com)

This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: JUST ENERGY GROUP INC. via Globenewswire

PALM BEACH, Florida, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

FN Media Group Presents WallstreetNation.com Market Commentary

After peaking at $72.50 in 2011, uranium prices plummeted on supply issues that plagued the industry for years to come. However, many uranium producers now believe prices could rise as the market significantly underestimates demand with tightening supply. It's no wonder then that analysts have high expectations for a uranium industry revival. Several legitimate players include Anfield Energy (TSX-V:AEC)(OTC:ANLDF), Cameco Corporation (NYSE:CCJ), Energy Fuels Inc. (TSX:EFR)(NYSE:UUUU), Nexgen Energy Ltd. (NYSE:NXE)(TSX:NXE) and Uranium Energy Corporation (NYSE:UEC).

On the supply-demand issue, investors have taken renewed interest in miners such as Energy Fuel, which operates the White Mesa mill and Anfield Energy, which owns the Shootaring Canyon in Utah and the Irigary ISR (in situ recovery) processing plant in Wyoming.

The Long-Awaited Uranium Recovery

Back in 2011, the world was producing far too much uranium supply, which weighed heavily on prices. Then, as the Fukushima disaster unfolded, it forced Japan to shut down its reactors, releasing even more supply into a spot market filled to the brim. Spot prices responded by sliding from $72.50 to $18 in a few short years. However, in recent years, producers decided to help slow the price decline. Kazatomprom announced that it would reduce production by 20% to better align output with demand. Cameco Corporation even suspended operations at McArthur River the world's largest uranium mine. Now, as a result of the closures, analysts expect for the bulk of uranium inventory to be burned off by existing, growing demand.

"Those deliberate cuts to production should finally begin to prop up prices as reserves of the rare metal dwindle and nuclear power generators rush to lock-in long-term contracts," notes sector veteran John Borshoff, as quoted by Reuters. In fact, once utilities see a surplus of demand over supply, "that's when you will see a dramatic change. The whole issue of fear of lack of supply will start to seep in when they realize they are competing for rare pounds of uranium."

We also have to consider that a "decade of declining uranium prices has seen little investment in uranium mining, resulting in a projected supply deficit absent material increases in the uranium price. Even with a material increase in the uranium price, it may take years before new sources of uranium are ready to be mined, due to delays associated with permitting for exploration and development of uranium mines," notes uranium trader, Yellow Cake.

That's great news for companies such as Energy Fuels Inc., which operates the White Mesa mill in Utah, which is one of the only fully licensed and operating conventional mills in the U.S. with a capacity of eight million pounds of uranium per year.

Anfield Energy is also likely to benefit from the resurgence of uranium with its Irigaray processing plant and its Shootaring Canyon Mill in Utah.

Anfield Energy has Uranium Supply

A key asset for Anfield's is the Shootaring Canyon Mill in Garfield County, Utah, which is strategically located within one of the historically most prolific uranium production areas in the United States, and is one of only three licensed uranium mills in the United States.

The company also has a Resin Processing Agreement with Uranium One.

This will allow Anfield to process up to 500,000 pounds per year of its mined material at Uranium One's Irigaray processing plant in Wyoming.

Anfield also holds 24 ISR mining projects in the state, located in the Black Hills, Powder River Basin, Great Divide Basin, Laramie Basin, Shirley Basin and Wind River Basin areas. In addition, it entered into an agreement with Cotter Corporation to acquire the Charlie ISR Uranium Project in the Pumpkin Buttes Uranium District in Wyoming. The Charlie Project consists of a 720-acre Wyoming State uranium lease which has been in development since 1969 and sits immediately adjacent to two of Uranium One's producing mines.

"Anfield continues to strategically position itself for both the inevitable rebound in the uranium price and the continued resurgence of the vanadium price," said Corey Dias, CEO of Anfield Energy, as quoted by Baystreet.

Other Miners Active in the Energy Market include:

Cameco Corporation (NYSE:CCJ)

The company produces and sells uranium worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Uranium, Fuel Services, and NUKEM. The Uranium segment is involved in the exploration for, mining, and milling, as well as purchase and sale of uranium concentrates. Its operating uranium properties include the Cigar Lake property located in Saskatchewan, Canada; the Inkai property situated in Kazakhstan; the Smith Ranch-Highland property located in Wyoming, the United States; and the Crow Butte property in Nebraska, the United States.

Energy Fuels Inc. (TSX:EFR) (NYSE:UUUU)

The company engages in the extraction, recovery, exploration, and sale of uranium in the United States. It operates in two segments, Conventional Uranium and ISR Uranium. The company owns and operates the Nichols Ranch uranium recovery facility located in Wyoming; the Alta Mesa project located in Texas; and the White Mesa Mill located in Utah. It also holds interests in uranium and uranium/vanadium properties and projects in various stages of exploration, permitting, and evaluation located in Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado.

Nexgen Energy Ltd. (NYSE:NXE) (TSX:NXE)

NXE is an exploration stage company that engages in the acquisition, exploration, and evaluation of uranium properties in Canada. Its principal property is the Rook I project that consists of 32 contiguous mineral claims covering 35,065 hectares in Saskatchewan.

Uranium Energy Corporation (NYSE:UEC)

The company operates as a uranium mining and exploration company. Its projects in South Texas include the Palangana ISR mine, the permitted Goliad ISR project, and the development-stage Burke Hollow ISR project; and project in Wyoming comprise the permitted Reno Creek ISR project. The company also controls a pipeline of advanced-stage uranium projects in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Paraguay.

For a more in-depth look atAnfield Energy (TSX-V:AEC)(OTCQB:ANLDF),please read the full report on WallStreetNation.com.

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ROCKVILLE, Maryland, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Bike riding has undergone a radical change with a dramatic increase in participation by men, women and children. Rising participation in motocross racing has remained instrumental in providing significant traction to motocross gears worldwide. Apart from rising participation in racing, sales of motocross gears are likely to witness a substantial increase in the coming years, largely influenced by introduction of hi-tech gear accessories by manufacturers. Fact.MR foresees that the demand for motocross gears is projected to rise at a steady CAGR of 4.9% in terms of value throughout the period of assessment, 2018-2028. Sales of motocross gears are likely to remain concentrated in the developed countries of Europe such as Germany, Italy and Spain, with United States complementing the demand during the assessment period.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/713666/FactMR_Logo.jpg )

A paradigm shift from traditional motocross gears to novel products has enhanced the scope of use of motocross gears among various demographics. There is more to this than meets the eye, as smart technology proliferates the motocross gears industry, enabling production of advanced gears. Integration of smart technology in motocross gears with artificial intelligence in picture could be the next "Jarvis" in the motocross gears domain, powering suits and helmets with advanced intelligence in turn enhancing their safety quotient.

Request For Sample Report-https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=1258

Manufacturers of motocross gears are incorporating Wi-Fi and Bluetooth novelties and other gizmos in helmets facilitating enhanced riding experience along with improved safety. For instance, using Android/iOS platform, smart tech wear can issue an automatic SOS signal in case of impact. In addition to visibility using LED lights, smart helmets can arrange for calls using wireless technology as well as a playback music as required. The concept of connected riding is now a possibility as riders can use walkie-talkie to stay in constant contact with other users on road. That said, implementation of smart technology is likely to accelerate demand for motocross gears in turn boosting sales.

Specialty stores have been at the forefront apropos of sales of motocross gears and are likely to showcase dominance on other sales channels. However, manufacturers are focusing on tapping individuals that are located in remote areas underpinned by rising inclination toward motocross as a preferred hobby. Emphasizing this fact, the report envisages that manufacturers are increasingly relying on third party online channels as an additional sales funnel in order to boost sales of their products. The sales volume generated by third party online channel is likely to expand in the coming years on back of the convenience aspect they deliver. The report is bullish on the growth prospects ofmotocross gears market and projects sales of motocross gears through third party online channel to grow at 6.3% through 2028.

To know more about Motocross GearsMarket Trends, check the link -https://www.factmr.com/report/1258/motocross-gears-market

Riding gears are likely to reach a billion dollar benchmark by end of 2028 against the backdrop of increasing preference for jackets and jerseys. Jerseys have become more of a recognition of the brand they are associated with along with enhancing the rider's persona. Various motocross bike manufacturers are providing jerseys to increase their visibility; for instance the KTM Motocross MX Jersey which is a long sleeve t-shirt is one of the bestsellers so far. Likewise, improvements in jackets in terms of material used and integration of advanced features such as anti-shrink, anti-pilling and anti-wrinkle have pushed the sales of jackets in the motocross gears market.

The report anticipates that protective gears such as helmets and guards are likely to witness a significant upsurge in terms of demand and sales during the period of forecast. Helmets have been gaining high traction since the past years, not only as a protective gear but also as a fashionable trend. Against this backdrop, manufactures are focusing on incorporating improvements in their products in all areas such as durability, lightweight, fitting and adjustment systems.

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To what extent can helmets contribute to the overall growth of the motocross gears market? Write in to know more on the topic along with other captivating insights on motocross gears market by Fact.MR.

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Read Industry News at - https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/MUNICH, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID), a non-profit organization and public-private partnership dedicated to strengthening the world's defense against deadly influenza threats, today welcomed a 250,000 donation from Seqirus, a leading innovator in influenza vaccine technologies and pandemic response solutions.

GISAID is recognized as the world's foremost global collaboration of scientists and governments, from developed and developing countries, to promote the near-real time exchange and analysis of data on the ever-changing influenza viruses that threaten global populations. It has brought together 8,000 scientists from 1,000 institutions around the world to create the largest and most up-to-date publicly-accessible collection of genetic data on influenza viruses.

This initial contribution from Seqirus is the first of its kind from the influenza vaccine industry and will bolster GISAID's efforts to advance bioinformatics and the interpretation of influenza data. The donation will be used to enhance GISAID's database, to fund education programmes that aim to strengthen understanding of the impact of influenza and to support general operations.

"Seqirus is proud to support GISAID in its mission to provide open and rapid access to influenza virus data for the public health good of all nations," said Gordon Naylor, President of Seqirus. "The GISAID platform plays a crucial role in the timely identification of changes in the viruses to reduce response times and mitigate the impact of seasonal and pandemic influenza."

"The centenary year of the 1918 pandemic presents an opportune moment to reflect on progress made against the threat of pandemic influenza," said Peter Bogner, President of GISAID. "We are grateful for Seqirus' generous support for the global influenza community. By strengthening the sustainability of GISAID, Seqirus is helping to ensure the world will be better prepared when a similar event emerges to threaten global health".

About GISAID:

The GISAID Initiative is an international public-private partnership which provides a data sharing platform hosted by the Federal Republic of Germany, featuring a unique mechanism that ensures free, open, unhindered collection and dissemination of influenza genetic information, also essential for the Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) and the biannual WHO influenza vaccine recommendations. GISAID is a key player in global health security and crucial for pandemic preparedness of the global community, as evident in the early response to the 2009 influenza pandemic and to emerging threat of H7N9 bird flu in China. In 2017, Health Ministers of the G20 recognized the importance of GISAID.

About Seqirus:

Seqirus is part of CSL Limited (ASX:CSL), headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. The CSL Group employs more than 20,000 people and has operations in more than 60 countries. As one of the largest influenza vaccine providers in the world, Seqirus is a major contributor to the prevention of influenza globally and a transcontinental partner in pandemic preparedness. It has leading R&D capabilities, a broad portfolio of differentiated products and a commercial presence in more than 20 countries.

Media Contacts:

GISAID - Todd Ringler +1 (917) 251-8613 todd.ringler@edelman.com

Seqirus - Polina Miklush +1 (908) 608-7170 polina.miklush@seqirus.comSYDNEY, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Monash plant scientists have discovered a new molecular mechanism of gene regulation, which could have major implications for the development of treatment strategies for Friedreich's ataxia -- a debilitating genetic disorder that causes damage to the nervous system.

The study - the first plant-based original research paper with an exclusive Australian affiliation to the prestigious journal Cell, was published today.

"Our findings have opened up unprecedented opportunities with immense potential for human genetic diseases," said study lead Associate Professor Sureshkumar Balasubramanian, from the Monash School of Biological Sciences.

"This research has major implications for our understanding of how the genetic mutation that underlies Friedreich ataxia, leads to damage of the nervous system and thus symptoms of this condition," said Professor Martin Delatycki, a clinician and researcher from Murdoch Children's Research Institute who has studied Friedreich ataxia for more than 20 years.

"This may lead to treatments that are desperately needed for this devastating disorder," he said.

Friedreich's ataxia is the most commonly inherited genetic ataxia affecting young adults for which there is currently no cure.

The disease occurs due to a type of DNA mutation referred to as 'triplet repeat expansion'. In individuals affected by Friedreich's ataxia, the mutation is present in a region (known as intron) of the affected gene, which is removed during the production of mRNA.

However, the presence of the expansion typically leads to a reduction in the levels of the mRNA, which in turn results in reduced protein leading to disease.

"While there have been efforts to increase the mRNA levels as a potential therapeutic strategy, it has been difficult, since it was not clear how the triplet repeat expansion results in the reduced in mRNA levels," Associate Professor Sureshkumar Balasubramanian said.

The researchers made their discovery using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.

"When we found the first and only triplet expansion associated genetic defect outside humans, we asked the fundamental question 'how do triplet expansions lead to reduced mRNA levels?'," Associate Professor Sureshkumar Balasubramanian said.

"We show in this paper that triplet repeat expansions lead to accumulation of small RNAs and these small RNAs, target the gene harbouring the repeat expansion via epigenetic gene silencing," he said.

"We have pointed at least 11 different genes in this process and it is remarkable that if we perturb these genes we can abolish the negative impacts of this mutation - at least in plants," said Dr Sridevi Sureshkumar, a research fellow who shared the first authorship with Dr Hannes Eimer, a recent PhD graduate from the Balasubramanian group.

World-renowned plant biologist Professor Detlef Weigel Foreign Member of Royal Society from the Max Planck Institute in Germany, described the work as an impressive example of the potential of basic plant research.

"Small RNAs were first discovered in plants, but later found to play important roles in all organisms including humans," Professor Weigel said.

"Now the Monash group has linked them to a phenomenon with great relevance to human genetic disease.

"This was possible because experiments can be conducted in plants that are simply not possible in humans."

Other researchers who were part of the Monash-led study include Avilash Singh Yadav, Calvin Kraupner-Taylor, Andrei Seleznev, Tamblyn Thomason, Stephanie Frances Gordon from Balasubramanian group, and collaborator Professor Bernie Carroll and his student Stephen Fletcher from the University of Queensland.

The full paper titled RNA-dependent epigenetic silencing directs transcriptional down regulation caused by intronic repeat expansions can be found here ( https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2018.06.044 ).

Further information:

Silvia Dropulich Marketing, Media and Communications Manager, Science

T: +61 3 9902 4513 M: +61 (0) 0435138743

E: silvia.dropulich@monash.edu

Media interviews:

Associate Professor Sureshkumar Balasubramanian

T:+61 434734536

E: mb.suresh@monash.eduLyon, 26 July 2018 - 6.00 pm. Visiativ Group, publisher and integrator of innovative software platforms, is listed on Euronext Growth in Paris (ISIN code: FR0004029478 - ticker: ALVIV).

Visiativ reported first half 2018 consolidated revenues of 64.1m, up 16% (+2% like-for-like1).

The period featured very contrasting results within various divisions as follows:

Very buoyant Software division with organic growth of 15% in the second quarter (growth accelerated compared to the first quarter +12% excluding major non-recurring business);

The Integration division grew despite a slowdown in high-margin SOLIDWORKS sales in a lacklustre market. Conversely, there was notable growth in the 3DEXPERIENCE business;

Innovation consulting, spearheaded by ABGI Group which has been consolidated since 1 April, turned in an excellent first quarter under Visiativ with double-digit revenue growth (as per pro forma data).

Meanwhile, in 2018 Visiativ has done significant groundwork to pave the way for future growth - Group restructuring and consolidation of its latest acquisitions. These investments, along with the Group's usual seasonal fluctuations and lower than expected revenues on SOLIDWORKS segment will dampen first half operating earnings, which as usual (with the exception of H1 2017) will come in as a loss.

First half consolidated revenues - unaudited

In  million H1 2017 H1 2018 Change Organic growth1 Total revenues 55.1 64.1 +16% +2% o/w recurring revenues 30.0 35.6 +19% +0% % recurring revenues 55% 56% Integration 44.5 46.7 +5% +1% Software 10.6 11.9 +12% +3% Innovation consulting - 5.5 - -

The Integration division's various segments posted contrasting first half results as follows: SOLIDWORKS Integration sales edged up, fuelled largely by the late 2017 c+e forum acquisition. As a result, the SOLIDWORKS business came in up 1% but down 3% at constant scope. Growth was buoyant for the 3DEXPERIENCE segment with organic growth of 8%. The steps taken by Visiativ to boost market share in this segment are beginning to pay off.



Sales in the Software division leapt 12% to 11.9m: Whilst reported organic growth year-on-year amounted to 3%, after adjusting for signing of a major licence contract in early 2017 worth around 1 million with customer from the insurance sector, first half year-on-year revenue growth came in at 14%. Second quarter revenue organic growth amounted to 15%. Taking on board the latest acquisitions will pave the way for the Group to market an enhanced offering backed by the Moovapps store, premier app store for business customers, and Moovapps Factory, a collaborative app development platform.



Innovation Consulting with ABGI Group, consolidated under Visiativ as of 1 April, turned in a buoyant first half and all France and US-based ABGI subsidiaries made progress in their markets of 18%.

First half 2018 total Group recurring revenues - including maintenance, SaaS and subscriptions - amounted to 35.6 million, up 19% year-on-year from 30.0 million. The proportion of recurring revenues rose 1 percentage point to 56% of total Visiativ first half revenues.

In Software in particular, recurring revenues surged 18%, including 2% like-for-like, accounting for 54% of the division's total revenues. Ground-breaking revenue streams like subscriptions and SaaS in first half 2018 amounted to 5.8 million, up 25% (8% like-for-like).

2018 Outlook

Visiativ continues to roll out its strategic priorities seeking to build up the Group's market share and expand its offering to its 15,000 customers to support their digital transformation.

The first half also saw the completion of a number of acquisitions (the most significant being consulting firm ABGI/ACIES, UK-based integrator SOLIDWORKS InnovaSystems and software developer Audros Technology) to build a Group around a solid and attractive Digital Transformation offering with a focus on SMEs.

The disappointing performance of the SOLIDWORKS segment, traditionally a high-margin contributor to Group earnings, and the investments made to structure the company and equip it for a new phase of growth, will dampen Group first half profitability, which as usual (except in 2017) will come in as a loss.

For the full year, the Group reaffirms its revenue target of between 150 million and 155 million, representing year-on-year growth of between 20% and 25%.

In view of the Group's ongoing investments, seasonal earnings fluctuations, spike in revenues earned at the year-end and its revenue mix, Group management consider it is too early at this stage to estimate operating earnings for full year 2018.

Successful employee share issue

During the second quarter of 2018, Visiativ performed a successful capital increase through the employee shareholding fund FCPE Salaries Visiativ, which purchased 9,476 new Visiativ shares amounting to 365,000 total capital increase. Said share issue seeks to bring as many employees as possible on board and give them a stake in the Group's future.

Introduction of 25 million of additional funding during the second quarter

As a reminder, the second quarter also saw Visiativ successfully complete a 7-year 20 million private Euro PP private placement bond. Meanwhile, the Company secured a 5 million capex credit line from its banking pool to fund ongoing future growth.

Next publication: first half 2018 earnings will be published 18 September 2018 after Euronext Paris market close.

About Visiativ

Integrator of innovative software solutions, Visiativ steps up the digital transformation of companies via its collaborative and social business platform. Working with mid-caps since its foundation in 1987, the Visiativ Group posted 2017 revenues of 124m and boasts a diverse portfolio of over 15,000 customers. Covering every economic sector in France and with operations in Switzerland and Morocco, Visiativ has nearly 830 employees. The Visiativ share (ISIN code FR0004029478, ALVIV) is listed on Euronext Growth Paris. The share is eligible for the PEA and PEA-PME personal equity plans and FCPI/FIP investments funds, thanks to its status as an "innovative business" recognised by Bpifrance.

For further information, visit www.visiativ.com

CONTACT VISIATIV

Lydia JOUVAL Communications Manager

Tel.: +33 (0)4 78 87 29 29

ljouval@visiativ.com CONTACTS INVESTISSEURS / PRESSE ECONOMIQUE

Actus

Theo MARTIN / Serena BONI

Tel.: +33 (0)1 53 67 36 75 / +33 (0)4 72 18 04 94

tmartin@actus.fr / sboni@actus.fr

1 Like-for-like revenue growth adjusting for the consolidation of Numvision and Spread as of 1 July 2017, c+e forum as of 1 December 2017, and ABGI and Valla as of 1 April 2018. Innova Systems and Audros Technology will be consolidated as from 1 July 2018. Timelab, a start-up in which Visiativ purchased a majority stake in February 2018, is not consolidated.

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Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-54500-visiativ_pr_turn-over-h1-2018_20180726_en.pdfSES-imagotag (Euronext: SESL, FR0010282822), the global leader in digital and retail IoT solutions, today announces the signature of an ESL roll-out contract with a top 25 European food retailer.

After an in-depth testing phase of solutions to automate price execution and product information at the shelf, the retail chain, a leading retailer in Benelux, has chosen SES-imagotag's VUSION solution to digitise all its stores.

This contract covers the accelerated deployment (by the end of 2019) of nearly 3 million VUSION smart labels within all the retailer's stores. The taylored solution includes the development of a specific label format with new improved merchandising capabilities. This deployment will be based on SES-imagotag's VUSION cloud software platform which greatly simplifies installation, IT operations and maintenance.

This project will cover all areas and product categories of the store, including fruit and vegetables and fresh produce. A world first as it is the first full roll-out (all stores and all products) of color ePaper graphic labels in a food retail chain.

About SES-imagotag

For 25 years, SES-imagotag has been the trusted partner of retailers for in-store digital technology. SES-imagotag, the worldwide leader in smart digital labels and pricing automation, has developed a comprehensive IoT and digital platform that delivers a complete set of services to retailers. The SES-imagotag solution enables retailers to connect and digitally transform their physical stores; automate low-value-added processes; improve operational efficiency; inform and serve customers; ensure information integrity to continuously optimize on-hand inventory; prevent stock-outs and waste and create an omni-channel service platform that builds loyalty and meets evolving consumer expectations.

www.ses-imagotag.com

SES-imagotag is listed in compartment B of the Euronext Paris

Ticker: SESL - ISIN code: FR0010282822 - Reuters: SESL.PA - Bloomberg: SESL

Contact

NewCap - Investor Relations & Financial Communications

Marc Willaume / Tristan Roquet Montegon: Tel: +33 (0)1 44 71 00 13 / ses@newcap.eu

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Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-54491-372-ndxkyywimoaaszrxgzsw-20180726-1648_ses-imagotag_pr_-20180726_europefoodretail_eng.pdfWavestone's Combined Ordinary and Extraordinary Shareholders' Meeting was held on Thursday July 26, 2018 under the chairmanship of Michel Dancoisne, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, and in the presence of the Company's Statutory Auditors.

The voting results for each resolution submitted to the Shareholders' Meeting for approval will be made available on the Company's website at www.wavestone.com (section Investors, Annual general meetings) within the statutory time frame.

Approval of 0.81 per share dividend to be distributed on August 3, 2018

Wavestone shareholders adopted the eighteen resolutions submitted for their approval, notably concerning the annual and consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018 and the proposed appropriation of profits.

Accordingly, Wavestone will distribute a dividend payout of 0.81 per share for the 2017/18 fiscal year. This implies a 33% increase on 2016/17 and represents a payout rate of 15% of Group share of net income in line with previous years.

Payment of the dividend, which will be paid as a cash dividend, will take place on August 3, 2018.

Division by four of the company's shares

The combined ordinary and extraordinary shareholders' general meeting also ratified the division by four of the company's shares, and the exchange of each existing share for four new shares in the company. Wavestone's objective is to expand its shareholding by making its shares more accessible and increasing their liquidity.

As a result, the total number of shares making up the company's capital will be multiplied by four, and a shareholder holding one share in Wavestone before the change will hold four after it, with the market price of each share divided by four.

The company will trigger these changes to shares at the end of August: old shares will be delisted, and new shares will be listed under their new ISIN code by the start of September.

Next publication: November 6, 2018 (after market close), publication of 2018/19 H1 revenue.

About Wavestone

In a world where understanding transformation is the key to success, Wavestone's ambition is to provide its clients with advice that is unique in the market, enlightening and guiding them in their most strategic decisions.

Wavestone draws on some 2,800 employees in eight countries. It is a leading independent player in European consulting, and the number one in France.

Wavestone is listed on Euronext, Paris, and is eligible for the PEA-PME (a French investment instrument that encourages individuals to invest in smaller and intermediate-sized firms). Wavestone is recognized as a Great Place to Work.

Wavestone

Pascal IMBERT

Chief Executive Officer

Tel.: +33 (0)1 49 03 20 00

Sarah LAMIGEON

Communications Director

Tel.: +33 (0)1 49 03 20 00 Financial news

Mathieu OMNES

Analyst & investor relations

Tel: +33 (0)1 53 67 36 92

Nicolas BOUCHEZ

Press relations

Tel: +33 (0)1 53 67 36 74

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Full and original release in PDF format:https://www.actusnews.com/documents_communiques/ACTUS-0-54480-38-w1ll4w7ycugbrgxpg0yt-20180726-1535_cp-approbation-des-resolutions-ag-270717-en.pdfWASHINGTON, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Professor Mike Caslin, The Global Center for Social Entrepreneurship Network's (GCSEN Foundation) Founder and President, presented an important lecture at the Int'l Association of Jesuit Business Schools' (IAJBS) 24TH Annual Conference, hosted by Seattle University. Entitled "Universities as Place-Makers in the Local Economy", the whitepaper was co-authored and presented by Caslin and Dean Mary Kate Naatus, KPMG School of Business, Saint Peter's University. Additional co-authors were Joe Szocik, GCSEN; Tony DeMarco, SUNY New Paltz Business School & Managing Director of GCSEN Global Platforms; and Distinguished Lecturer Len Green, Babson College. The World Forum's theme was "College Innovation for Sustainability", attended by faculty representing over two hundred colleges and universities in the Jesuit Association, and other institutions of higher education from many countries.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/723453/GCSEN_Foundation___Universities_Local_Economy.jpg

The lecture focused on the critical role colleges can play in the sustainable economic development of local communities, as anchor institutions. Place-Making is an economic development strategy wherein a community's existing public amenities, such as colleges, are intentionally utilized to make genuine economic progress. Colleges as place-makers provide instruction in business and social entrepreneurship, overseeing social venture and business internship opportunities to students and adult learners, enabling them to engage in well-paying career paths in the local economy.

Mike Caslin, currently Professor of Social Entrepreneurship at SUNY New Paltz Business School in New York, has spent the last three decades studying, lecturing and facilitating efforts to promote and develop social entrepreneurship on a global scale. GCSEN's leadership and influence in the field of Social Entrepreneurship in Higher Education continues to build, as seen with its support of Wheaton College's successful effort this past winter to secure an historic impact grant of $10M from the visionary Diana Davis Spencer Foundation of Bethesda, MD. The gift established an endowed Professorship in Social Entrepreneurship, also providing for the renovation of a business department building on campus, and funding up to four new faculty positions in social entrepreneurship studies at Wheaton.

At the conference, Professor Caslin said, "We are very grateful and humbled that IAJBS, CJBE and IgnitEd welcomed GCSEN Foundation into this globally influential and inspiring network of leaders from 200 Jesuit Business Schools and Universities. These service leaders, administrators and faculty, are truly world class. We look to the future with great excitement and hope to provide GCSEN's "what, how, who and why" prac-ademic tools and framework as a unifying model and innovative process, to help students and alums to act more ethically, compassionately, effectively and efficiently in creating fulfilling lives and ventures. We want to empower more college, graduate and adult learners to quickly and practically take the right steps to make meaning, make money and move the world to a better place as 4P Social Entrepreneurs, by acting with purpose for People, Profit, Planet and Place."

The whitepaper is based on research completed by GCSEN regarding the current needs of college students attempting to find meaningful employment in an ever-changing global economy, and highlights GCSEN's experiences providing social entrepreneurship curricula and field experiences to students. The paper also touches on the benefits to colleges when they provide such innovative educational experiences. Input in the whitepaper also came from Saint Peter's University, which developed its IgnitEd Institute in partnership with Rising Tide Capital, a nonprofit organization. Since 2015, Rising Tide Capital, with IgniteEd's support, has trained over 1,500 participants in entrepreneurship, mostly in Hudson County NJ, Saint Peter's location.

Founded twenty-five years ago, IAJBS' mission is to enhance the ability of business school deans and administrators to lead in the creation and transmission of scholarship and knowledge, to prepare students for the profession and vocation of business leadership in a global economy. Jesuit Business Schools are dedicated to help students develop in ethics, service, social justice and responsibility, and where appropriate, in spirituality and Ignatian principles.

GCSEN was recently featured in a five-page article in Inner Compass, the IAJBS global publication. Entitled "Moving the World to a Better Place - Business, Social Entrepreneurship and Social Good." Inner Compass goes out to deans, administrators and faculty from 200 Jesuit Business Schools in North America, Latin America, Africa, India, China and the EU.

The opportunity for Professor Caslin to speak at the IAJBS conference represents the second consecutive year he has presented at the Global Forum, and highlights GCSEN's role as an ideas and action influencer in the global academic and business communities. The findings presented best practices for setting up college Place-Making opportunities, and denoted how creative Place-Making is funded, highlighting cities where such efforts are evolving. The paper presented is eligible for publication in both The Journal of Management for Global Sustainability and the Journal of Jesuit Business Education.

Whitepaper co-author Dean May Kate Naatus said, "I am so pleased to be able to represent St. Peter's University at this conference at to be able to collaborate with GCSEN Foundation and its 4P Social Entrepreneurship framework at arguably one of the most effective conferences taking place today anywhere in the world. It is palpable, it is real, it is compassionate, and it is possible to move our world to a better place via universities as place-makers in the local economy."

IAJBS includes 45 countries, reaching hundreds of thousands of students. The list is impressive:

Argentina, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Columbia, Croatia, Dem. Rep of the Congo, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Guatemala, India (70 campuses), Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lebanon, Madagascar, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, S. Korea, Spain, Taiwan, UK, USA (28 campuses), Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Recently, GCSEN announced its latest higher education initiative, the Social Venture Internship program (SVI). Combining an innovative on-line blended learning experience with an individualized applied internship, SVI offers undergrad and recent graduate enrollees the opportunity to create their own social venture business internship, gaining practical business experience and a GCSEN Social Venture Business Formulation Certificate. The GCSEN Foundation is an IRS-approved 501(c-3) higher education not-for-profit organization promoting and facilitating social entrepreneurship around the world.

GCSEN has been a leader in the effort to accelerate innovative Social Entrepreneur (SE) curricula in partner colleges, while offering similarly innovative programs to individuals. Caslin says, "It is vital that a new generation of business oriented, socially conscious millennials emerge, creating with purpose a "4-P Impact" with people, profit, planet and place, to make meaning, make money. And move the world to a better place."

GCSEN Foundation's goal is to provide life-transforming learning experiences to 1 million millennials, while assisting in the formulation and launch of 10,000 new social ventures by 2027. The organization's Social Entrepreneur System Institute's on-line courses, campus-based Meaning Maker Boot Camps, faculty and administrator certifications, and at international academic forums help spread the word about the importance of accelerating the Social Entrepreneurship movement.

GCSEN has been featured in highly influential print and web-based forums, on social media, and on its GCSEN YouTube and Meaning Makers TV channels. GCSEN President Mike Caslin is the author or co-author of a number of highly regarded books, textbooks and whitepapers on social entrepreneurism, working closely with colleges, businesses and philanthropies promoting the movement. For its college campus partners, GCSEN offers its innovative, life-changing blended-learning SES Institute program, benefiting colleges with enhanced recruitment and retention rates, and increased student intellectual and practical engagement.

Mike Caslin is a graduate of Babson College's prestigious Fast-Track MBA Program at the Olin Graduate School, considered one of the top-ten in the world. The Founder and President of GCSEN Foundation, he is currently Professor of Social Entrepreneurship at SUNY New Paltz Business School. Co-founder and Global CEO of NFTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship) from 1988-2008, Caslin is a past faculty member of Babson College, CUNY-Baruch, Marist College School of Business and Manhattanville College, Prof. Caslin has been a featured lecturer and speaker at the Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Dartmouth Tuck School of Business, and Columbia Univ. Business School Eugene Lang Center for Entrepreneurship, among others. Prof. Caslin has been called in as a Subject Matter Expert for the United Nations, the U.S. Congress and The White House.

For more information about GCSEN, or for an interview with Founder & President MikeCaslin, call 212-444-2071; e-mail mike@gcsen.com or visit www.gcsen.com

GCSEN Foundation

The Global Center for Social Entrepreneurship Network Foundation

430 Old Neighborhood Road

Kingston, NY 12401

212-444-2071; www.gcsen.comOver the past decade, member nations of the BRICS grouping have had to grit their teeth and paddle through some rough patches.

Leaders of the BRICS economies -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- are in South Africa this week for their annual three-day summit. The event is being held against a backdrop of a trade war, triggered by the actions of US President Donald Trumps administration.

In a quiet week on the economic front, analysts and investors will be tracking announcements from the summit, which is hosting over 1,000 delegates including heads of state and business leaders at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. The 10th BRICS Summit concludes on Friday.

Modi bats for 4IR

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, presenting Indias statement at a closed-door meeting of BRICS leaders on Thursday, reaffirmed the countrys commitment to multilateralism, international trade and a rules-based world. He is also expected to meet several leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the PTI reported.

Modi also said India wants to work with the other member nations on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), and called for a sharing of best practices and policies in the area. He said the 4IR will have more importance than capital. "High-skill but temporary work will be the new face of employment. There will be radical changes in industrial production, design, and manufacturing," Modi added.

On 25 July, President Xi Jinping, speaking at the inaugural session of the BRICS summit, said there would be "no winner" in any global trade war, a direct warning to President Trump who has threatened to slap levies on all Chinese imports.

Trump has said he is ready to impose tariffs on all $500 billion of Chinese imports, complaining that China's trade surplus with America is owing to unfair currency manipulation, reported the AFP. The IMF has warned that rising trade tensions between America and the rest of the world could cost the global economy $430 billion.

BRICS in numbers

China and India are the top two economies in the BRICS group.

The four charts (given below), sourced from the 'BRICS Joint Statistical Publication 2017', throw light on how the five countries stack up against each other.

The Indian agenda

India is looking to set up a BRICS rating agency, reasoning that the methodologies of Fitch, Moodys and S&P are biased against emerging economies.

Furthermore, co-operation in the areas of energy security and cyber security will be discussed. That apart, India is expected to lodge its protest against US trade sanctions and the global trade war.

The silver lining to a dark cloud

Over the past decade, the five nations have had to grit their teeth as they paddled through some rough patches. Topping that list is the China-India border row. That apart, South Africa and India are competing for permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

But, the one area where the grouping has exceeded expectations is the New Development Bank (NDB).

The NDB -- established by the bloc in 2014 -- has a mandate to mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in the five nations and other emerging economies. NDB supports public and private projects via loans, guarantees, equity participation and other financial instruments.

On 23 July 2018, in the run-up to the BRICS summit, the New Development Bank (NDB) and the BRICS Business Council (BBC) co-hosted a Business Breakfast in Durban, South Africa. Sihle Zikalala, the acting premier of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, the NDB management, heads and members of the national Chapters of the Council and business leaders participated in the meeting, where they discussed investment opportunities and methods for strengthening cooperation between the NDB and the BBC.

Earlier in the month, the NDB decided to lend to two projects, with loans aggregating $600 million in South Africa and China, according to a statement.

The NDB will provide a $300 million loan without a sovereign guarantee to the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) for a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction and Energy Sector Development Project. It will also hand out a $300 million sovereign loan to China to support the construction of a new metro line in the city of Luoyang, located in central China.

---With inputs from agenciesThe response came in the wake of reports about bankers being skeptical of writing off farm loans.

Bengaluru: Amid reports of banks' reluctance to waive farm loans in Karnataka, Canara Bank on Wednesday said a decision on the issue can only be taken after the state government prepares its guidelines.

"Two committees set up for Grameen and commercial banks are going to meet on 1 August to deliberate on the government's suggestions on the modalities to waive farm loan," Canara Bank Executive Director Matam Venkata Rao told reporters here during the Q1 results of the bank.

"Once the committees deliberate with the government, then they will come out with final guidelines," he said.

The response came in the wake of reports about bankers being skeptical of writing off farm loans.

"The guidelines will then be placed before a competent authority and thereafter, a decision will be taken with regard to farm loan waiver," Rao added.

Only after drafting of the guidelines, the bankers would be able to prepare the list of defaulters whose loans would be waived, Rao said.

The bankers' committees were formed during a State Level Bankers Committee meeting with Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.

The delay in waiving loans has upset the farmers, who have given a 15 August deadline to the government. They have threatened to go on statewide bandh if the government failed to take steps in this regard.

Kumaraswamy had unveiled a Rs 34,000 crore farm loan waiver in his 5 July budget. A week thereafter, he announced additional farm loan waiver amounting to Rs 10,700 crore.Shares of Dr Reddys Laboratories closed at Rs 2,134.55 per scrip on BSE, up 2.19 percent from its previous close.

Hyderabad: Pharma major Dr Reddy's Laboratories on Thursday reported a nearly eight-fold jump in consolidated profit after tax to Rs 456.1 crore for the first quarter of 2018-19, mainly on account of operational efficiencies, forex gains and launch of gSuboxone in the US market.

The company had posted a PAT of Rs 59.1 crore for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

President, CFO and Global Head of HR of Dr Reddy's, Saumen Chakraborty told reporters that consolidated revenue of the company stood at Rs 3,720.7 crore in the April-June quarter this year against Rs 3,315.9 crore for the same period year ago.

"Part of the gross margin improvement is attributed to gSuboxone but there has been benefit forex (gains) as well as the operating leverage of our manufacturing facilities.. the forex gain has also contributed 400 to 500 basis points to the profit,"Chakrabortysaid.

Revenues from Global Generics segment was at Rs 3060 crore with year-on-year growth of 12 percent, primarily driven by contributions from Emerging Markets, India and launch of gSuboxone in the US.

He said the drug maker spent Rs 416 crore on Research and Development during the first quarter and indicated that the capex would be in the range of Rs 800 crore to Rs 1000 crore for the full year.

Just a couple of days after Dr Reddy's launched gSuboxone in the USA market, a US District Court had issued a temporary restraining order on the sale and commercialisation of the drug.

Replying to a query on jobs cuts at the mid-management level, Dr Reddy's co-chairman and CEO GV Prasad said it is an ongoing process and the company had identified about 150 to 200 positions which they feel are "redundant."

"There is truth to that. We are looking at our own design, optimising it. As part of that, some jobs were redundant and we have taken action.

It is an ongoing process. The big phase of cuts is over. Overall put together it is 150 to 200 number we are looking at," Prasad said.

On the outlook, Prasad said, "we are cautiously optimistic. The Suboxone verdict will have some impact on the ongoing performance.. we will not have the benefit for the next few quarters.

However, we continue to improve the productivity. While there is pressure in the US (on pricing), there is also opportunity elsewhere and US."

He said the first quarter results were boosted by the launch of 'gSuboxone,' which is indicated for the treatment of opioid dependence.

As of 30 June, cumulatively 112 generic filings are pending for approval with the USFDA (including three New Drug Applications (NDA).

Of the 109 ANDAs pending with the FDA, 61 are Para IVs out of which the companybelieves30 have 'First to File status.

Revenues from Emerging Markets was at Rs 660 crore Year-on-year growth of 16 percent and revenues from India was reported grew by 30 percent (year on year)at Rs 610 crore,

the DRL official said.

Shares of Dr Reddys Laboratories closed at Rs 2,134.55 per scrip on BSE, up 2.19 percent from its previous close.LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - A long-running legal battle between global chocolate giants over the shape of KitKat finger wafers was sent back to the EU's trademark office on Wednesday after judges dismissed appeals by both companies.

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - A long-running legal battle between global chocolate giants over the shape of KitKat finger wafers was sent back to the EU's trademark office on Wednesday after judges dismissed appeals by both companies.

The ruling by the European Court of Justice means the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) must review a 2012 decision to uphold Swiss-based Nestle's trademark on the shape of the four-finger chocolate-covered wafer biscuit over objections raised by Mondelez of the United States.

The Luxembourg court found that Nestle had failed to show that consumers in enough EU countries recognised the shape as distinctive but also dismissed an appeal by Mondelez against some of the grounds for a lower EU court ruling in 2016 that had found the EUIPO was wrong to reject the U.S. firm's complaint.

The outcome leaves open that the trademark agency could, while respecting the judges' ruling, take account of other evidence -- such as new proof the shape is distinctive to people in more countries -- and might preserve protection for KitKat's shape. The brand name "KitKat" is not at issue in the case.

Proceedings have been followed closely by trademark lawyers, who see implications for brands operating across the EU single market, where there are varying histories in national markets.

It has also at times featured in Britain's Brexit debate, with some supporters of cutting ties with the EU suggesting that EU courts have failed to defend a much-loved British treat first marketed by Rowntree's, which was bought by the Swiss in 1988.

In 2015, the Brexit-supporting Daily Express newspaper headlined a story on an earlier ruling: "End of the KitKat?". It said an EU "diktat" might "spell the end of" the wafer bars as the "market could now be flooded with copycat confectionery".

The case has also been mirrored by a dispute between the two multinationals in the British courts, where Nestle objected to a trademark for the purple colour used by Cadbury, bought by the Americans in 2010, to wrap its Dairy Milk chocolate bars.

(Reporting by Megan Dollar and Alastair Macdonald, editing by Louise Heavens)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.The Bill ostracises an offender from any civil rights to make his case legally and gives the power to local authorities to attach his assets and initiate proceedings.

For the most part of his two-year-long fugitive life in the United Kingdom, embattled liquor king Vijay Mallya has put up a defiant face, refusing to return and openly challenging Indian authorities. By taking my passport or arresting me, they are not getting any money, he said in an interview to London-based Financial Times.

Mallyas tone seems to have changed a lot this week. Reportedly, he has sent feelers to officials to say that he would like to return and face the law. What could have led to this sudden trigger of change? The answer is the creation of a new law in India, called Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, which has got the Rajya Sabha nod on Wednesday. This law is a potent weapon, if rightly used, can get all the runaways, currently making trips from one country to another, to evade arrest back home.

What is special about this law? To put it simply, it ostracises an offender from any civil rights to make his case legally and gives the power to local authorities to attach his assets and initiate proceedings. Present laws do not allow to impound offenders property easily and typically litigations go on for years. Once a person is declared an economic offender, his property will be confiscated, managed and disposed of. Any offenses involving funds over Rs 100 crore will be dealt with under this law. Investigative agencies can even seize properties that are not only in the name of the offender but also the ones that are benami. Among the long list fugitive economic offenders, Mallya is a potential first to be n med as a fugitive economic offender; he qualifies most of the criteria.

In June, a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Mumbai had summoned Mallya to appear before it on 27 August, on the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) plea seeking action against him under the fugitive economic offender's ordinance in an over Rs 9,000 crore bank fraud case. It was the first time that action was initiated under the ordinance promulgated by the Narendra Modi government. If Mallya does not appear before the court, he risks being declared a fugitive economic offender, and properties linked to him will be confiscated.

Mallya left India in March 2016 just before a clutch of banks moved to the Supreme Court to seek his detention after close to Rs 9,000 crore loans were given to erstwhile Kingfisher Airlines (which was grounded on 20 October 2012). Since then, Mallya has been fighting a bitter legal battle with Indian authorities and investigative agencies after his passport was revoked and multiple courts in India issued summons to Mallya. If Mallya indeed returns now, it will be a big political victory for the Narendra Modi government ahead of crucial state elections and 2019 general elections. Modi can claim this as a victory for the government in the war against large loan defaulters.

Mallya has so far defended his position saying an Indian-government sponsored witch-hunt is targeting him and continued to play the victim-card from the UK, but a recent court ruling in the UK permitting Indian banks to attach his assets there came as a blow to the fugitive liquor baron. From being a poster boy of the Indian civil aviation sector to the poster boy of bad loans, Mallyas rise and fall is a good case study of all that is wrong with the Indian banking sector today.

In fact, Mallya is only a small fish among large loan defaulters and fraudsters thriving on the corporate-banker nexus. For instance, as this writer pointed out in an earlier column, one can argue that compared with what the uncle-nephew duo of Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi did to the Punjab National Bank (PNB), Mallyas charges would be less serious in nature. Choksi, another industrialist facing arrest in India for charges of financial fraud, is another example. But the success of the new law will depend on how it is implemented. Good laws have failed in the past for lack of proper implementation. It will be critical for authorities to move swiftly. This is the tricky part.Idea Cellular's market valuation rose by Rs 872.68 crore to Rs 24,829.68 crore

New Delhi: Shares of Idea Cellular rose by over 4 percent on Thursday amid reports that the government gave final approval to the mega-merger of Vodafone and the company.

The stock moved up by 3.64 percent to settle at Rs 56.95 on BSE. During the day, it soared 4.64 percent to Rs 57.50.

On NSE, shares of the company jumped 4.18 percent to close at Rs 57.20.

The company's market valuation rose by Rs 872.68 crore to Rs 24,829.68 crore.

In terms of equity volume, 17.77 lakh shares of the company were traded on BSE and over 2 crore shares changed hands on NSE during the day.

A senior DoT official on Thursday said that the final approval of the mega Idea-Vodafone has been accorded on Thursday and the entities will now approach Registrar of Companies (RoC) for stipulated filings for approval, completing the last leg of formalities.

The move comes just days after Idea Cellular and Vodafone India made a joint payment of Rs 7,268.78 crore 'under protest' to the Department of Telecom (DoT) for merging their mobile businesses.

The merger will create the country's largest mobile operator with 35 percent market share and around 430 million subscribers.By Angelo Amante ROME (Reuters) - Italy's government, which has questioned the validity of ArcelorMittal's planned takeover of Italian steelmaker Ilva, on Wednesday said it was not happy with new bid proposals put forward by the steel giant. Italy's deputy prime minister Luigi Di Maio said that while the Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal had improved its environmental pledges, it could still do more on the jobs front.

By Angelo Amante

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's government, which has questioned the validity of ArcelorMittal's planned takeover of Italian steelmaker Ilva, on Wednesday said it was not happy with new bid proposals put forward by the steel giant.

Italy's deputy prime minister Luigi Di Maio said that while the Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal had improved its environmental pledges, it could still do more on the jobs front.

While putting pressure on ArcelorMittal to enhance its original offer, the new coalition has also ordered a review of the 2017 tender process, warning it will scrap the deal if it finds serious irregularities.

"We will pursue these two paths in parallel because we must be ready for all eventualities," said Di Maio, who is head of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and also serves as both industry and labour minister.

ArcelorMittal said on Wednesday it had presented Di Maio with "additional proposals", adding that it hoped it could shortly complete its planned takeover of Ilva.

"We have participated in this tender in good faith and remain hopeful that we will be able to complete the transaction soon," it said in a statement.

The industry ministry said on Tuesday the tender review would take 30 days and came after Italy's anti-corruption body suggested the previous centre-left government might have failed to follow the correct procedures for such a public offer.

ArcelorMittal agreed last year to buy Ilva, Europe's largest steelworks, and had been due to take it over on July 1.

However, the government delayed the handover, heightening speculation about the future of the troubled Ilva, which was placed under state-supervised special administration in 2015 three years after magistrates had intervened in the company, saying it had to be cleaned up or shut down.

ArcelorMittal promised last year to pay 1.8 billion euros to acquire Ilva and then invest 1.2 billion to boost productivity and a further 1.1 billion to curb pollution at the firm's main Taranto plant in the southern heel of Italy.

It has also told unions it plans to reduce the Taranto workforce to around 7,600 from 10,900 now.

Di Maio said ArcellorMittal had improved its environmental commitments, but added that the labour plan was "not satisfying". He gave no further details.

"ArcerolMittal does not want that its updated proposal be made public because it is worried about competitors getting hold of the information," Di Maio said.

Officials in Taranto have said Ilva is losing one million euros a day and warn that unless the ArcelorMittal deal is rapidly sealed, the business might be forced to close.

Ilva is one of Italy's largest industrial concerns and its closure would be a blow to local businesses that rely on it for much of their steel production.

(Additional reporting by Francesco Guarascio; Writing by Crispian Balmer; editing by David Evans)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.ITC said its agri-business had a revenue of Rs 3,151.27 crore as compared to Rs 2,760.52 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

New Delhi: Diversified ITC on Thursday reported 10 percent increase in standalone net profit at Rs 2,818.68 crore for the first quarter ended on 30 June, 2018, aided by lower expenses, good growth in agri-business and other FMCG business despite a decline in cigarettes sales.

The company had posted a standalone net profit of Rs 2,560.50 crore in the first quarter last fiscal, ITC said in a BSE filing.

Revenue from operations was at Rs 10,874.59 crore. It was at Rs 13,800.42 crore in the same quarter of last fiscal.

The two figures are not comparable as revenue from operations is net of GST after the implementation of the new tax regime from July 2017.

The company said its total expenses for the quarter under review stood at Rs 6,978.50 crore as against Rs 10,332.61 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal.

During the first quarter, revenue from cigarettes vertical stood at Rs 5,127.59 crore as compared to Rs 8,774.16 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal, down 41.5 percent, ITC said.

Other FMCG segment had a revenue of Rs 2,870.03 crore as against Rs 2,600.89 crore in the same period a year ago.

ITC said its agri-business had a revenue of Rs 3,151.27 crore as compared to Rs 2,760.52 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

Hotels business posted a revenue of Rs 341.28 crore in the first quarter this fiscal as compared to Rs 304.89 crore in the same period last year, while the paperboards, paper and packaging vertical posted revenue of Rs 1,355.83 crore as against Rs 1,359.82 crore in the same period last fiscalL&T won new orders worth Rs 36,142 crore at the group level during the June quarter, recording a 37 percent growth, with a pick-up in domestic ordering activity. International orders at Rs 9,404 crore constituted 26 percent of the total order inflow

Mumbai: Engineering major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) reported a 43.14 percent jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,472 crore in the June quarter. The company had reported a net profit of Rs 1,028.3 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Its total income in the quarter under review rose by 17.12 percent to Rs 28,527.48 crore, compared with Rs 24,355.52 crore in the year-ago period.

"The strength of the performance is borne out of the fact that the company has done very well across various parameters and exceeded previous fiscal quarter results," the company's group chief financial officer R Shankar Raman told reporters here.

Raman said the revenues, which is a part of the total income, for the periods up to 30 June, 2017, includes excise duty collected from customers. Revenue from 1 July, 2017, onwards is exclusive of goods and service tax which subsumed excise duty.

New orders record 37% growth

The company won new orders worth Rs 36,142 crore at the group level during the June quarter, recording a 37 percent growth, with a pick-up in domestic ordering activity. International orders at Rs 9,404 crore constituted 26 percent of the total order inflow.

"Infrastructure, hydrocarbon and heavy engineering businesses largely contributed to the growth in order inflows during the quarter. We are witnessing a strong tendering activity, especially from the public sector," he said. Also, Raman said sponsors are looking at opportunities to put capital to work and this is a good sign for the industry and L&T to ensure robust growth in order inflow backed up by investment momentum.

"Public sector spending by the central and state governments and PSUs, aided by increased funding by bilateral and multilateral agencies are leading to the building of essential infrastructure," he said.

Progress on the resolution of the stressed private sector corporates through the IBC, according to him, is expected to resolve the issue of overleveraged businesses and kick-start the flow of banking sector credit growth. The consolidated order book stood at Rs 271,732 crore as on 30 June, 2018, of which international segment accounted for 23 percent.

"We continue to focus on profitable execution of our orders, continuous improvement of working capital and cost competitiveness," Raman said.

While the company's infrastructure business recorded revenues of Rs 12,135 crore, the power segment clocked a turnover of Rs 1,080 crore and the heavy engineering business reported an income of Rs 334 crore.

New business vertical

The company has carved out a new business vertical -- defence engineering - as a part of its restructuring strategy, which comprises defence and aerospace business (part of heavy engineering segment till March 31, 2018) and shipbuilding business, which was a part of 'others' segment till then. The segment recorded customer revenue of Rs 727 crore, posting a 34 percent growth over the same quarter last year, with progress on projects under execution.

The electrical and automation segment posted customer revenue of Rs 1,279 crore during the June quarter, a 6 percent year-on-year growth over the year-ago period. The hydrocarbon business registered revenues of Rs 3,511 crore and the IT and technology services segment revenue stood at Rs 3,324 crore.

The company's financial services segment recorded customer revenue of Rs 3,058 crore during the quarter, mainly driven by growth in loan assets and disbursements in the focused business verticals of rural and housing finance. Its developmental projects segment posted customer revenue of Rs 1,494 crore during the quarter.L&T's statement comes a day after the government informed Parliament that SFIO has received complaints against private sector lender ICICI Bank and engineering firm Larsen and Toubro.

New Delhi: Larsen and Toubro said on Wednesday that it has not so far not received any letter or notice from the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) or any authority.

The statement comes a day after the government informed Parliament that SFIO has received complaints against private sector lender ICICI Bank and engineering firm Larsen and Toubro. The probe agency comes under the corporate affairs ministry.

"According to media reports...SFIO has received a complaint against the company alleging 'thousands of crores' of financial irregularities, including money laundering and tax evasion. The media report further stated that SFIOs Mumbai Regional Office has written to the Head Office in Delhi stating that 'it is a fit case to be investigated'.

"We wish to inform the exchange that the company has so far not received any letter or notice from SFIO or any Authority on this matter nor any letter or notice from NHAI black listing the company on account of any default of its road subsidiaries/ projects," the company said in a BSE filing.

Minister of State for Corporate Affairs P P Chaudhary said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha yesterday said that "SFIO receives various complaints against companies. Complaints have been received against Mehul Choksi, ICICI, and L&T".

However, the minister did not provide details of the complaints about ICICI and L&T.MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Canadian and Mexican officials insisted on Wednesday that the North American Free Trade Agreement remain a trilateral pact and reiterated their opposition to U.S.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Canadian and Mexican officials insisted on Wednesday that the North American Free Trade Agreement remain a trilateral pact and reiterated their opposition to U.S. calls for a so-called "sunset clause" that could end the deal after five years.

After a meeting in Mexico City, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said they remained optimistic about negotiations to revamp the 24-year-old trade pact.

Talks began last August but stalled in the run-up to the Mexican presidential election. That was due, at least in part, to U.S. demands for sweeping changes in the auto sector and for a sunset clause, which would put the deal forming one of the world's largest trading blocs up for renewal every five years.

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the pact if he cannot renegotiate it to better serve his country's interests.

Freeland and Guajardo struck an upbeat tone, with Guajardo saying about two-thirds of the agreement has been ironed out.

In Washington on Wednesday, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue raised the prospect that NAFTA could be negotiated separately with Canada and Mexico, in order to reach an agreement first with Mexico by September.

Although Mexican officials are heading to Washington this week to meet with their U.S. counterparts, Guajardo stressed that a deal between all three countries remained the goal.

"The fact that we are going to Washington to participate in bilateral talks is to reinforce the concept of the trilateralism of this agreement," he said. "The essence of this agreement is trilateral, and it will continue being trilateral."

Freeland also expressed support for a three-way deal, as did Mexico's incoming foreign minister, Marcelo Ebrard.

"It should and can be modernized but we're not thinking about it having a different nature to that of today," Ebrard said, speaking after a meeting between Freeland and President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Freeland said the sunset clause could harm the auto industry, adding that Ottawa opposed a U.S. investigation of auto imports.

Lopez Obrador, who won the nation's July 1 election, has said he wants to accelerate the negotiations. His lead NAFTA negotiator, Jesus Seade, will join the Mexican delegation in Washington this week.

Freeland, who held what she described as a good meeting with the president-elect, said she came away with a clear understanding of where he stood on NAFTA but declined to give details.

"Canada's very clear desire is to move the NAFTA negotiations back into higher gear now that we are past the Mexican election," she told reporters.

(Reporting by Noe Torres and Christine Murray in Mexico City and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Writing by Julia Love; editing by Tom Brown and Dan Grebler)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.Sebi said it was considered important to reach out to the independent trustees of mutual funds, to interact with them, sensitize them on the significant role played by them and seek their feedback.

New Delhi: The mutual fund industry, which is witnessing record growth, needs a good governance system, markets regulator Sebi said on Thursday.

The statement was made after Sebi chairman Ajay Tyagi, its whole-time member Madhabi Puri Buch and senior officials met more than 80 independent trustees of mutual funds. There have been concerns in certain quarters about some industry players not following best practices.

Apart from the interactive session, discussions were held on issues like the role of trustees, investor relations, technological advancements, among others.

Noting that the role of trustees being critical, Sebi said it was considered important to reach out to the independent trustees of mutual funds, to interact with them, sensitize them on the significant role played by them and seek their feedback.

"Mutual Fund is a significant industry with the recent times witnessing record growth. Therefore, there is a need to have a good governance system in place" the regulator said.

The country's 42 mutual fund houses have seen multi-fold growth in the assets managed by them in a span of 10 years. The asset under management of the industry has grown to over Rs 23 lakh crore in June-end this year from Rs 5 lakh at the end of March 2008.

The asset management company (AMC) manages operations of mutual funds and the trustees act as supervisors.

Under the norms, every fund house needs to have at least four trustees, of these, two-thirds should be independent.

The concept of appointment of trustees on the asset management company's board was introduced by Sebi in order to ensure a first-level regulator for firms that manage investors' money.Drought and overgrown forests are often blamed for major fires in the western United States

New research using unique NASA before-and-after data from a megafire site indicates that highly localized winds sometimes play a much larger role -- creating large, destructive fires even when regional winds are weak.



The study was led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. It focused on the 2014 King Fire, using data from airborne instruments managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, with advanced computer simulations from NCAR. The King Fire occurred in the Sierra Nevada mountain range during California's severe multi-year drought and burned more than 97,000 acres (39,000 hectares).



The study team found that winds -- both very localized winds related to topography and winds created by the searing heat of the flames -- were the reason the fire suddenly ran 15 miles (24 kilometers) up a steep canyon one afternoon. Winds like these, sometimes only a few hundred yards (meters) across, often go undetected by weather stations that may be several miles away. In fact, for several days before the fire, nearby weather stations measured only weak winds.



"This brings into question several widely held and largely unquestioned assumptions, such as very large fires being caused by the accumulation of vegetation, persistent dry conditions, or requiring extreme conditions," said NCAR scientist Janice Coen, the lead author of the study. In the King Fire, she pointed out, "Small-scale winds and winds generated by the fire had a much greater impact on this fire, and potentially others like it, than any of the other factors."



JPL scientist Natasha Stavros, a coauthor on the study, said, "The NASA airborne measurements were unique in that we observed the forest's vertical structure before and after a fire. These observations let us better identify the type of fuel -- grass, shrubs, or trees. That improved the model simulations, particularly of how the fire spread in areas where previous fires had burned or timber had been as harvested, and in areas where the burn severity was greatest."



Experimenting with a Megafire



Large and destructive megafires are becoming more frequent in the western United States. Experts have attributed this to a changing climate, which is causing hotter and sometimes drier conditions, or to a century of fire suppression policies that have left forests with more vegetation to fuel the flames than in the past. Scientists cannot experiment with large and destructive wildfires, so they have fallen back on examining statistical correlations to try to tease out the key factors associated with megafires.



The area consumed by the King Fire, however, had been previously mapped by JPL's Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) and MODIS/ASTER Airborne Simulator (MASTER) instruments in visible and thermal infrared wavelengths, as well as by a U.S. Forest Service lidar instrument, resulting in an extensive database about the forest structure and vegetation types. In addition, the authors had access to airborne thermal imagery collected during the fire. The detailed data gave them a rare opportunity to recreate an actual wildfire within a sophisticated NCAR computer model that combines weather prediction and fire behavior, testing the importance of different factors.



Simulations of the King Fire under more extreme drought conditions did not change the ultimate extent of the fire or greatly alter its expansion, and simulations with half of the actual fuel load (as might exist in a less overgrown forest) unfolded in about the same way as the real fire did.



The scientists concluded that the fire became stronger in the canyon because of the inclined slopes. Drought conditions or increased vegetation did help the fire to generate the strong updraft that drew flames up the canyon slope. These factors had little impact while the fire was on flatter ground.



"This is just one case, but it illustrates how the causes of a megafire have sometimes been misunderstood," Coen said.



The study, titled "Deconstructing the King Megafire," was published in the journal Ecological Applications. The research was funded by NASA.



For more information, see:



https://www2.ucar.edu/atmosnews/just-published/133629/fanning-flames-megafires



Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.Panasonic India expects its consumer business to be double in the next three years.

New Delhi: Japanese consumer electronics major Panasonic is aiming for revenues of Rs 12,300 crore in India this fiscal, driven by its refrigerator and TV businesses. Panasonic India reported revenues of about Rs 10,500 crore in the previous financial year.

The company also expects its B2B business to contribute almost half of its revenues by FY 2020-21 as it is expanding its presence in the segment.

Panasonic also introduced new models of OLED and 4K TVs here to strengthen its presence in the segment.

"This financial year, we are looking at Rs 12,300 crore revenue overall. Last year we had closed around Rs 10,500 crore," Panasonic India and South Asia President and CEO Manish Sharma said. This includes Panasonic's revenue from its step-down firm Anchor Electricals.

"Our intention is to grow for three years with a CAGR of 20 percent and this year, we are looking for 30 percent growth in TV," he added. "By FY 2020-21, we expect our B2B business to contribute half of our revenue," Sharma said.

Panasonic also expects its consumer business to be double in the next three years.

"Last year, we had Rs 7,800 crore from the consumer business (including Anchor) and we are looking it at Rs 9,100 crore this financial year," said Sharma who is also vice president, Appliances Company, Panasonic Corporation.

"Last year, B2B was Rs 2,300 crore and this year it is expected to be Rs 3,200 crore," he said.

In the mobile phone market, where Panasonic is struggling, the company has decided to focus only on the niche segment.

"We are looking at Rs 800 crore this year and the strategy in mobile is to focus on niche segment of Rs 9,000 and above," he said.

In the TV segment, the company expects its 4K range of televisions to account for around 25 percent share of sales this fiscal.

"This year we are looking at 1.2 million units of sales which is 11 to 12 percent of value share. Market share is currently 9 percent and next year, we are looking at 11 to 12 percent," he said.

"From less than one million units last year, we are looking up to 1.5 to 1.6 million unit in next three years," Sharma said.

The TV market in India is estimated to be around 12.5 million units. It is growing at around 10 percent every year and is expected to touch 14 million units in 2018, he added.In the mobile phone market, where Panasonic is struggling, the company has decided to focus only on the niche segment.

New Delhi: Japanese consumer electronics major Panasonic is aiming for revenues of Rs 12,300 crore in India this fiscal, driven by its refrigerator and TV businesses.

Panasonic India reported revenues of about Rs 10,500 crore in the previous financial year.

The company also expects its B2B business to contribute almost half of its revenues by FY 2020-21 as it is expanding its presence in the segment.

"This financial year, we are looking at Rs 12,300 crore revenue overall. Last year we had closed around Rs 10,500 crore," Panasonic India and South Asia President and CEO Manish Sharma told PTI.

This includes Panasonic's revenue from its step-down firm Anchor Electricals.

"Our intention is to grow for three years with a CAGR of 20 percent and this year, we are looking for 30 percent growth in TV," he added.

"By FY 2020-21, we expect our B2B business to contribute half of our revenue," Sharma said.

Panasonic also expects its consumer business to be double in the next three years.

"Last year, we had Rs 7,800 crore from the consumer business (including Anchor) and we are looking it at Rs 9,100 crore this financial year," said Sharma who is also vice president, Appliances Company, Panasonic Corporation.

"Last year, B2B was Rs 2,300 crore and this year it is expected to be Rs 3,200 crore," he said.

In the mobile phone market, where Panasonic is struggling, the company has decided to focus only on the niche segment.

"We are looking at Rs 800 crore this year and the strategy in mobile is to focus on niche segment of Rs 9,000 and above," he said.

In the TV segment, the company expects its 4K range of televisions to account for around 25 percent share of sales this fiscal.

"This year we are looking at 1.2 million units of sales which is 11 to 12 percent of value share. Market share is currently 9 percent and next year, we are looking at 11 to 12 per cent," he said.

"From less than one million units last year, we are looking up to 1.5 to 1.6 million unit in next three years" Sharma said.

Panasonic has on Wednesday introduced new models of OLED and 4K TVs here to strengthen its presence in the segment.

The TV market in India is estimated to be around 12.5 million units. It is growing at around 10 percent every year and is expected to touch 14 million units in 2018, he added.With the passing of the Prevention of Corruption Bill 2018, it is no longer possible for the bribe-giver to turn an approver and stand in the witness stand against the bribe- taker.

The Parliament on 24 July 2018 had passed the Prevention of Corruption Bill 2018, provisions of which have been hanging fire since 2013. It treats bribe-givers at par with bribe-takers and prescribes jail term (in addition to fine) ranging from three to seven years to both on conviction for being equal partners in the crime of corruption.

Teachers and invigilators do not tire of admonishing and punishing students showing their answer sheets to the weak students in examinations. Obviously, this basic school lesson was lost at higher levels.

The Bill has done well to bring it into the nations consciousness. As a corollary, it is no longer possible for the bribe-giver to turn an approver and stand in the witness stand against the bribe- taker.

The Bill also does well to distinguish between voluntary and coerced bribes given. Accordingly, if the bribe-giver can prove that he was driven into giving bribes by lodging a complaint within seven days of paying, he will be absolved of the charge of being an equal partner in the crime of bribe-giving. But this may not be easy for the harried bribe-giver because there are obviously no tangible records of bribe giving linking it to a day and time.

The Minister for personnel Jitender Singh, however, has promised to provide for some leeway in the rigor of seven days in the rules to be made. Bestirring within seven days of giving bribe incidentally would protect a vast majority of bribe-givers because most of the speed money is thanks to unstated coercion. Power corrupts, and a supplicant needing a government favor, as it were, is often driven into bribing. But even if he is coerced, he cannot mount the witness stand to depose against the public servant in a belated show of remorse.

The Amendment that has received both bouquets and brickbats is the one relating to prior sanction of the concerned government before inquiring into the charge of corruption against a public servant---a pre-condition hitherto applicable only to Joint Secretaries and above. Now, this requirement would apply across the board irrespective of the officials rank.

Critics have complained against this Amendment as a capitulation to corruption and dilution of the anti-graft stance of the Narendra Modi government.

The key takeaway of the Bill, however, is its distinction between intention and action of the public servants. An intention may be mala fide but if it has not translated into disproportionate assets in at the hands of the public servant or misappropriation of government resources, the charge of being corrupt will not stick. This is a huge relief especially for bankers whose loan sanctions are always looked down upon with suspicion both by the public and the investigating agencies.

The act of sanctioning a loan involves judgment which in hindsight can be assailed as wrong. Hindsight will not be reason enough to haul a banker or for that matter any public servant over coals. But eyebrows have gone up over the monetisation, so to speak, of corruption.

If the prosecution is unable to dredge up disproportionate assets, its charge of corruption against the public servant will come unstuck even though he might be guilty of showing undue favors and otherwise being delinquent. But then corruption has come to be associated with money or its equivalent. And equally error of judgment is often supported by the absence of monetary deals.

And talking of coal, one recalls the travails of the former Coal Secretary Harish Gupta arraigned under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 as being a party to free allotment of coal to companies whimsically as was done by the previous UPA government. Gupta has been known to be an upright officer but got caught in the crossfire of coal allotment ignited as much by the desire for score-settling as for the need for transparent and revenue producing mechanism in allotment of this precious natural resource. Unfortunately for him, the Amendment is only prospective whereas retrospectivity could have been conferred in all fairness to public servants done in by circumstances and sheer association with the alleged corrupt government in power during his/her term in office. His fellow bureaucrats took up cudgels for him and the result is there for everyone to see. Their plea has been heeded by the 20th Law Commission headed by Justice (retd) AP Shah in its 254th Report.

The Amendment also permits inquiry into the conduct of retired bureaucrats thus keeping the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads and putting a possible question mark over their pension in case they are held guilty.

These amendments to the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 were necessitated by the obligation of India to review the existing provisions of the Act so as to bring it in line with the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).

(The author is a senior columnist and tweets @smurlidharan)Pincon Spirit figured among the firms against whom Sebi initiated action last year by ordering trading restrictions after receiving the list of 331 'suspected shell companies' from the government.

New Delhi: Markets regulator Sebi on Wednesday banned Pincon Group company LRN Finance and its 12 present and former directors from the securities market for raising money illegally from investors. Among the present directors are Siddhartha Roy, Swapan Kumar Sircar, and Raj Kumar Roy.

The former directors include Manoranjan Roy, Arup Thakur, Singh Jagbahadur Negi, Chandan Kumar Adhikary, Diwakar Singh, Goutam Ghosh, Hari Singh, Sandeep Thakur and Subhajit Saha.

According to the data available with the BSE, Arup Thakur is the current Chief Financial Officer of Pincon Spirit.

Pincon Spirit figured among the firms against whom Sebi initiated action last year by ordering trading restrictions after receiving the list of 331 'suspected shell companies' from the government.

In an interim order, Sebi said the offer and allotment of secured redeemable non-convertible debentures (NCDs), from April 2012 to March 2015, to 4,256 persons amounting to Rs 40.60 crore by LRN "prima facie" qualifies to be construed as an offer made to the public in terms of the Companies Act.

Since, the offer and allotment of NCDs was a public issue in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act, the same had to be dealt on a recognised stock exchange. However, LRN prima facie did not comply with the provision.

Among other requirements, the firm was to register a prospectus with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), which it failed to do.

The regulator said LRN and its 12 directors "shall not mobilize fresh funds from investors through the offer and allotment of any securities, to the public and/ or invite subscription, in any manner whatsoever, either directly or indirectly".

LRN and its directors "shall not access the securities market either directly or indirectly in any manner whatsoever", the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said.

According to the order, the Directorate of Economic Offences (DEO), Kolkata, has initiated action against Pincon Group, including LRN, and has requested depositors, secured creditors and other affected persons to furnish the necessary documents with regard to their investment, for refund.

Considering the fact that the proceedings to refund the investors, including the debenture holders, have already been initiated by the DEO, the regulator said "it is felt that no meaningful purpose will be served if Sebi were to initiate separate refund proceedings against the noticees (LRN and its directors) at this juncture".

Accordingly, Sebi directed the entities to ensure refund to all the NCD holders through the process being carried out by DEO.

The regulator has also called upon the entities to show cause as to why they should not be banned from the securities market for a period of four years from the date of completion of refund to all the allottees of NCDs.

The entities have to file their replies within 21 days from the date of receipt of the interim order.

In the event of the respective entities failing to file replies or requesting for an opportunity of personal hearing within 90 days, the preliminary findings and directions will become final and absolute against them without any further orders, Sebi said.Private sector banks are expected to increase it from 30.9 percent in March 2018 to 38-40 percent in the foreseeable future and stabilise at that levels

Mumbai: The state-run banks which are not under the prompt corrective action (PCA) framework are expected to maintain their loan market share at 50-51 percent in the near future, while the overall credit growth is likely to be 8-9.5 percent in the next two years, says a report.

"Loan market share of public sector banks which are not under the PCA is expected to be maintained at 50-51 percent while private sector banks are expected to increase it from 30.9 percent in March 2018 to 38-40 percent in the foreseeable future and stabilise at that levels," ICRA said in a report on Wednesday.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has since end-FY17 been tagging badly performing state-run banks under the PCA framework and so far as many as 11 of them are under this. Being under the PCA means such banks cannot engage in fresh corporate lending and can mostly be from deposits and recoveries only.

The RBI started this punitive action on these banks' after bad loans ballooned to high double-digit levels.

The report said with the expected resolution under the bankruptcy code, the asset quality for all state-run banks is expected to improve over next couple of years. Improvement in recoveries and capital infusion may help them come out of the PCA framework and stabilise their market share, though at lower levels of 9-12 percent.

Depending on the capital position, state-run banks under PCA may start posing competition for private sector banks from FY21 onwards restricting the market share gain by the latter.

ICRA's financial sector rating's head Anil Gupta said despite being faced with lingering asset quality concerns, dwindling profitability, and capital constraints, the state-run banks not under the PCA managed to hold on to their loan market share at around 50-51 percent for the past two years.

Private sector ones were able to gain market share in advances to 30.9 percent as of March 2018 from 25.8 percent as of June 2016 primarily at the expense of the NPA-laden state-owned banks whose market share declined to 18.6percentt from 23.3 percent during this period.

Unlike the gain in loan market share, private banks were unable to gain significant market share in deposits given the strong deposit franchise of the government owned banks. Within state-run banks, non-PCA ones held on to their market share at 52-53 pe cent, however, deposit market share of PCA ones declined to 21.9 percent as of March 2018 from 25.1 percent as of June 2016.GST Council secretariat has been tasked to compile the suggestions and responses and send to the CBIC, which is the apex body for Indirect taxes in the country, by Friday

New Delhi: Tax officers in states and union territories will reach out to trade and industry bodies, MSMEs, to understand their issues and grievances relating to GST and would place them before the council on 4 August.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) had earlier this week written to the GST Council secretariat asking them to write to states and UTs asking them to contact MSME taxpayers and their trade and industry associations in their respective states and UTs, collect their grievances/issues related to GST along with suggestions thereof for mitigating the issues.

The GST Council secretariat have been tasked to compile the suggestions and responses and send to the CBIC, which is the apex body for Indirect taxes in the country, by Friday.

Also Director General GST in the CBIC has been asked to collect information from Goods and Services Tax (GST) zones across the country and report to the GST policy wing in the board.

The 29th GST Council meeting, to be held on 4 August, will discuss issues faced by the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) and ways to solve their problems.

Finance Minister Piyush Goyal had last week said that the next meeting of the Council will focus on simplification, rationalisation and relief to small taxpayers.

The council has already allowed companies with a turnover of up to Rs 5 crore to file GST returns quarterly. This was hiked from Rs 1.5 crore decided earlier.The combined operations of Idea and Vodafone will create a telecom operator with a 35 percent market share and a subscriber base of around 430 million.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) on Thursday gave its final approval to the Vodafone-Idea Cellular merger, government sources said. The merger will create the countrys biggest telecom operator and the behemoth -- Vodafone Idea Limited -- will dislodge Bharti Airtel, the current market leader with 344 million customers, from its pole position.

India is the worlds second-largest mobile phone services market by users after China. The deal follows a broader trend by the country's network operators who are rushing to consolidate amidst a year-long price war sparked by the entry of Reliance Jio.

The DoT has specified that the licenses of Vodafone Mobile Services Limited (VMSL) and Vodafone India will be transferred to Idea Cellular Ltd, along with the assets and liabilities of both the Vodafone companies, sources familiar with the development told The Economic Times.

A senior DoT official privy to the development said the two entities will now apprise the Registrar of Companies (RoC) of the various approvals received, wrapping up the last leg of formalities. The approval comes with the riders that the merged entity will have to abide by the decisions of the telecom tribunal and other courts.

Kumar Mangalam Birla will be the non-executive Chairman and Balesh Sharma the new CEO of the merged entity, which will remain listed.

Shareholding pattern

Vodafone will own a 45.1 stake in the combined entity, while the Aditya Birla Group will have 26 percent and Idea shareholders 28.9 percent.

The Aditya Birla Group has the right to acquire up to a 9.5 percent additional stake from Vodafone under an agreed mechanism with a view to equalising the shareholdings overtime.

If Vodafone and the Aditya Birla Group's shareholdings in the combined company are not equal after four years, Vodafone will sell shares in the combined company to equalise its shareholding to that of the Aditya Birla Group over the following five-year period.

Market share

The combined operations of Idea and Vodafone will create a telecom operator worth over $23 billion (or over Rs 1.5 lakh crore), with a 35 percent market share and a subscriber base of around 430 million.

The merger is expected to give both debt-ridden Idea and Vodafone a breather from cut-throat competition in a market where margins have hit rock bottom with free voice calls.

Following the development, shares of Idea Cellular surged over four percent to Rs 57.50 in afternoon trade on Thursday. Idea, a part of the Aditya Birla conglomerate, and Vodafone signed a merger agreement last year.

"Idea Cellular and Vodafone have made payment under protest as demanded by the DoT for the merger. Rs 3,926.34 crore have been paid in cash and bank guarantee of Rs 3,322.44 crore have been furnished," said an Idea Cellular official, confirming the development.

Vodafone Group CEO Vittorio Colao on Wednesday said the company expects the merger to close in August. Britain's Vodafone is the worlds second-largest cellphone operator.

On Tuesday, inching closer to the formation of the country's biggest telecom operator, Idea Cellular and Vodafone made a joint payment of Rs 7,248.78 crore, under protest, to the DoT for merging their mobile business.

The Department of Telecom gave its conditional nod for the merger of the two firms on 9 July and asked the companies to meet the demand raised for taking the merger on record.

--With inputs from agenciesA 28-year-old woman in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu died of birth complications after trying to deliver a baby at home

A 28-year-old woman died in Tamil Nadus Tirupur due to birth complications after delivering a baby at home on Sunday, media reports said.

The deceased, who was identified as K Krithiga, a school teacher, and her husband Karthigeyan were residents of Rathnagiriswarar Nagar. According to The Times of India, the couple attempted to deliver their child at home by watching YouTube videos.

The woman reportedly bled to death when the placenta did not come out of her during the delivery.

A report from The News Minute, quoting the Nallur Police, said that Kirthiga was taken to the hospital an hour and a half after she went into labour. The contractions began at 2 pm but she was taken to the government hospital at only 3.30 pm after the baby was born. The husband has been booked and will be investigated in connection to the death, the police said.

City health officer K Boopathy told The Times of India that Praveen and Lavanya, a couple who were friends with Kirthiga and Karthigeyan, were the ones who recommended natural medical practices. They convinced Kirthiga and her husband that giving birth at home was better than giving birth at a hospital. This prevented Kirthiga from registering her pregnancy with the urban primary health centre (UPHC).

The health officer said that he had registered a case against Praveen and Lavanya.The Home Ministry on Thursday had asked the Assam government not to take any action against those whose names do not figure in the list of the state's citizens.

New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said affected people will get adequate opportunities to register their claims and objections after the release of the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam next week and there was "no cause for worry".

The part draft of the NRC was published on the intervening night of 31 December and 1 January, wherein the names of 1.9 crore of the 3.29 crore applicants were incorporated. On 30 July, the fate of all 3.29 crore applicants will be decided.

"No one should be worried about it (the release of the draft NRC). People will get adequate time to register claims and objections and if someone is not satisfied, they can also approach the foreign tribunal. "I can say that there is no reason for worry," Singh said on the sidelines of an event here.

The Home Ministry on Thursday had asked the Assam government not to take any action against those whose names do not figure in the list of the state's citizens. It had also rushed over 22,000 central paramilitary troops in order to beef up security in Assam and adjoining states to ensure peace and maintain law and order.

The massive registration exercise, aimed at identifying illegal immigrants in the north-eastern state bordering Bangladesh, is being carried out following a decision in 2005 after a series of meetings involving the central and state governments and the influential All Assam Students' Union (AASU).The Assam Police has prevent a minor girl from committing suicide after Facebook alerted them about a post she had put up earlier about wanting to kill herself

The Assam Police rescued a girl minor girl from committing suicide in Guwahati on Monday, after Facebook from its US office alerted them about a post the girl had put up earlier that day.

Press Trust of India reported that the girl was rescued 30 minutes after the police was alerted.

"The Facebook headquarters on Monday informed the state police that a minor girl was contemplating suicide. The state police reacted promptly and saved the girl," The Times of India quoted Director General of Police Kuladhar Saikia as saying.

An NDTV report quoted Additional Director General of Police Harmeet Singh as saying, "Facebook had sent an alert to our nodal officer and he at once activated our social media centre and we were able to tracke the girl. Our field teams got activated and the family was traced. We counselled the girl and the guardian. The girl is safe and sound. This has been a great success of our social media initiative."

"The information was received from Facebook headquarters. A life was saved," police officials said. Assam Police tweeted that the child was located in half an hour.

Info was received from Facebook last night that a minor girl had updated her status as- 'I am gonna to commit suicide today'. The child was located in 30 mins & her safety ensured. She & her family were counselled. She is safe and in their care. @CMOfficeAssam @IPS_Association pic.twitter.com/w4u3XxZY0a  Assam Police (@assam_police) July 24, 2018

The Assam Police has recently launched a social media centre and its first social media anti-rumour campaign called Think. It has been launched to prevent incidents of mob lynching and suicides.

With inputs from PTIWe can't seem to find the page you are looking for.

You may have typed the address incorrectly or you may have used an outdated link.A bill that seeks to further strengthen the US' strategic relationship with India has been introduced in the House of Representatives by several influential American lawmakers.

Washington: A bill that seeks to further strengthen the US' strategic relationship with India has been introduced in the House of Representatives by several influential American lawmakers.

The US India Enhanced Co-operation Act was introduced by Congressman Joe Wilson along with Indian-origin lawmaker Ami Bera, George Holding and Tulsi Gabbard.

The act seeks legislative changes in the Arms Export Control Act that would bring India on par with its major allies.

"The United States-India relationship is a cornerstone of security in the Indo-Pacific region. By designating India as a Major Defense Partner, we can strengthen our alliance and enhance our defense and security cooperation with India, Wilson said.

"Together, we can address emerging common threats, support maritime security in the region, and enhance military cooperation for joint exercises and humanitarian assistance, he said.

The citizens of America and India cherish the same values and independent freedoms, and the United States-India Enhanced Cooperation Act will strengthen this important alliance, Wilson said.

Seeking to enhance the capabilities of the US and India to address emerging common threats, increase security cooperation, and expand joint military exercises, the act urges the US to encourage and facilitate India's role as priority partners in the South Asia and greater Indo-Asia- Pacific regions.

It asks the US to support the mutual interest in maritime security and maritime domain awareness, as well as enhanced military cooperation in joint exercises, training, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

Among other things, it urges the US to conduct a joint assessment, led by the Secretary of State in partnership with the Secretary of Defense, of the extent to which India possesses capabilities to support and carry out military operations of mutual interest to the United States and India.

It also included an assessment of the defense export control regulations and policies that need appropriate modification, in recognition of India's capabilities and its status as a major defense partner.

The act says that the US is committed to continue to work toward facilitating technology sharing with and transfer of advanced strategic military capability to India on a level commensurate with that of its closest allies and partners.

The leaders of the two countries reached an understanding under which India would receive license-free access to a wide range of dual-use technologies in conjunction with steps that India has committed to take to advance its export control objectives, it said.CBI will investigate whether personal data from Indian voters and Facebook users was compromised by political consultant Cambridge Analytica.

The central government has ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to initiate a probe into data mining and analysis firm Cambridge Analytica on Thursday.

According to The Financial Post, CBI will investigate whether personal data from Indian voters and Facebook users was compromised by the political consultancy firm.

Cambridge Analytica data breach case will be investigated by CBI: Ravi Shankar Prasad, IT Minister in Rajya Sabha pic.twitter.com/lmLLdl5VIP  ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2018

The minister of electronics and information technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad said in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that the CBI will determine whether the British company violated Indian laws.

The Economic Times reported that Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITy) had written to the CBI on Wednesday evening, demanding a probe against the company.

The issue broke out before the Parliament on Thursday. Responding on the issue of action on the misuse of social media and fake news, the government said that it has entrusted the issue to be investigated by the CBI for possible violation of Information Technology Act, 2000 and IPC.

According to Prasad, a notice was sent to Facebook in March, and it promised to upgrade its internal processes regarding the hacking of personal data.

They also promised to take various other steps to ensure that such things dont recur, he said.

Cambridge Analytica declared bankruptcy in 2018 following allegations that it used personal information harvested from 87 million Facebook accounts helping Donald Trump win the 2016 presidential election.

With inputs from The Associated PressThe situation in Kopar Khairne was still tense, the official said. Last evening, the police had lobbed teargas shells and used baton-charge in Kopar Khairane area in Navi Mumbai after a group of protesters stoned vehicles, clashed with local people and indulged in arson. Miscreants had also set fire to a police outpost.

Mumbai: Internet services in the neighbouring Navi Mumbai township have been suspended since early Thursday, a police official said. The decision was taken in the wake of the situation in areas like Kopar Khairane, which witnessed violence during the Maratha quota agitation on Wednesday, he said.

The situation in Kopar Khairne was still tense, the official said. Last evening, the police had lobbed teargas shells and used baton-charge in Kopar Khairane area after a group of protesters stoned vehicles, clashed with local people and indulged in arson. Miscreants had also set fire to a police outpost.

The incidents took place after the Maratha organisations, seeking reservations in government jobs and education, had called off the bandh. A group of protesters who were returning home last night had hurled stones at vehicles of local people in Kopar Khairane, a police official earlier said.

Later, some members of local communities had gathered at the spot and clashed with protesters, he said. The mob then hurled stones in which some offices and shops were damaged. They also set fire to a police chowky (outpost) near D-Mart supermarket in sector 6.

Five to six cars and over a dozen two-wheelers parked in front of the chowky were also vandalised and torched. A hotel was set on fire in sector 3, the official said.Nida Khan was recently ostracised from Islam because of a fatwa issued by Shahar Imam Mufti Khurshid Alam of the Ala Hazrat Dargah.

Bareilly's Shamatganj, where tiny bylanes see rickshaws, pedestrians and an occasional car compete for space, and edges of poorly-contructed flyovers graze the roofs of adjacent houses, is home to Nida Khan, a known anti-triple talaq crusader.

Nida was recently ostracised in her community and from Islam because of a fatwa issued by Shahar Imam Mufti Khurshid Alam of the Ala Hazrat Dargah. "No medicines will be provided if she falls ill. If she dies, no one is allowed to offer 'namaz' (prayers) on her 'zanaja' (funeral procession)," the fatwa read. "She cannot be buried in a kabristan (graveyard) after her death."

When Firstpost reached out to her, by visiting her house on the afternoon of a 'Jumma' (Friday), to hear her side of the story, Nida was not home. She had a court hearing while her brother and father were at the local mosque for namaz. When her mother opened the door, holding on to her phone, she looked worried. She told us she had received a phone call from a relative, who had told her that her husband and son had been barred from offering prayers at the mosque. This was the first Friday since the fatwa was issued.

However, when Nida's father and brother returned, an hour later, they told her that it was just a rumour. The man said he reached right when the prayer were about to start and left before the rest of crowd.

To learn the other side of the story, Firstpost went to the Jama Masjid. At first, the Maulana, who had issued the fatwa, refused to talk and complained against the nonchalance and arrogance of media-persons to chase only one side of the story. After assuring him that he will be given a chance to speak, he asked us to meet the nearly hundred women gathered inside the mosque first.

When we entered the mosque, a woman named Rafia Shabnam was addressing the crowd. She was talking about a campaign called 'Sabki Awaaz' in which she was taking signatures of one lakh Muslim women against the questions raised on Shariat's law.

She also made it a point to mention, multiple times, that some women were giving a bad name to her religion. "Do you people know that 'nikah halala' is to make divorce difficult for men? The question is, what's the point in going back to a man who has divorced/left you? This is against your self-respect. Shariat permits you that once a man divorces you, you have all the right to move ahead in life and marry again. Then how does Halala amount to rape?," she said.

Referring to the recent Sabina Halala case from Bareilly, she said, "Today, a woman from our town has accused a 60-year-old man of rape, a man of her father's age. Didn't she feel ashamed while making such claims publicly? Just because five or say 10 percent women think that 'nikah halala' is wrong, will a law from the Shariat become invalid? What our 'Huzoor' has written 1400 years ago, will that become wrong? Nida has questioned the Shariat for personal gain."

When asked if she was okay with what happened to Nida, Rafia said that is was Nida's personal matter. "We've had divorce victims in society since ages. There is no need to attack religion over personal feuds."

When Firstpost questioned the women standing behind her, if they found anything wrong with talaq-e-biddat, the format of talaq banned by the Supreme Court last year, most of them shied away and didn't reply. One of them gave an awkward smile, while another started looking at Rafia, as if to seek her approval to talk.

Then, a woman standing behind in the crowd, said, "We have complete faith in Quran and Hadith. Our constitution has given us the right to preach the religion of our choice and if the Constitution goes against our Quran or Hadith, we will go against the Constitution."

Soon after, we met the Maulana and asked him that if Nida was fighting for her rights, then why was she ostracised and who gave him the authority to do this?

The Maulana, aggravated by our question, said: "Who am I to ostracise her from Islam? One who dares to go against the Quran and the Hadith, will be expunged. We are here to reiterate the tenets of the religion. It's mentioned, if someone has made a mistake of going against Quran he/she should repent, apologise and then only can he/she be a Muslim as before."

The Maulana went on to add that a rumour is making rounds that there isn't any evidence of halala in the Quran, and that the age old practise is nothing but oppression against women. "Then, I must tell you that halala is Khuda's command. It isn't, in any shape of form, a matter of force," he said.

On being asked if he was against the pattern of divorce talaq-e-biddat, on which a ban was imposed by the Supreme Court, the Maulana said that the SC is only saying what the Shariat has already said. "Talaq-e-biddat or triple talaq in one go is wrong, it's a gunah (crime) but if a husband has said this, divorce is a must. He is a 'gunahgar' (criminial) who has given three divorces together."

But when Shariat also says it is wrong, then why is it wrong to rally against it? He replied that Nida is already divorced and that the religious heads don't have any problem with Nida fighting for her rights. "But in her battle of rights, she should not target the Shariat, she should not go against Quran or Hadith. These lines of fatwa are quoted from the Hadith. The fatwa is not just against Nida... it is written in Quran. Anyone who denies the law of Hadith, this law of Islam will be applied to him/her."

Why then has the All India Muslim Personal Board not endorsed your fatwa, and condemned it instead? He said that it is his responsibility to warn and make people aware of the law of Hadith. "He whose faith is in the Quran, in the Hadith, will never say that Islam is discredited by these fatwas. Rather, the fatwas are a mercy towards believers and are issued by the order of city Kazi."

When we drew his attention to a 2014 Supreme Court ruling, which states that there is no legitimacy of the fatwa and nothing is above the constitution, he replied, "First we will see the Quran, then the law of the Supreme Court."

On returning to Nida's house after meetin the Maulan, we found her sitting in the balcony, counselling the mother of a victim of domestic violence, who had been evicted from her house after the death of her husband. Nida, while consoling her, said that they will fight against this, legally.

Nida runs an organisation called Al Hazrat Helping Society, that helps women suffering because of the practices of triple talaq, nikah halala, polygamy, domestic violence etc.

Speaking on the recent court decision in her triple talaq case, in which the Bareilly court had held her divorce as invalid, Nida said that she was content. "The fatwas have always been used to circumvent the law. They are unconstitutional and irrelevant. It can be used for counseling, not to disgrace or disrespect anyone. The kind of things written in the Fatwa (issued against her) is a violation of my Fundamental Rights. And I am better off not responding to this fatwa... I should take action against him," Nida told Firstpost.

"There is one law, one Constitution... how can there be parallel constitutions/courts/laws? My constitution gives me the right to preach whatever religion I want to and no fatwa can stop me from doing so. I will take this fatwa to the Supreme Court and will fight this battle until the end," she added.

Responding to the Maulana's claims, she said, "The sad thing is that the Maulanas, who have been given the responsibility of representing Islam, offer such false picture of Islam with such fatwas. What message they want to convey to the society at large? They will ostracise/reject from Islam anyone fighting for his/her rights. I think triple talaq or talaq-e-biddat is a sad reality in our society, and its end is significant."

Talking about the practice of nikah halala, Nida said, "... according to the Shariat, halala was a punishment for men, but women have to bear the real punishment in this. It has been made a business in today's time."

When asked what she wants from the present day government, Nida said, "This is the first and the only government that has raised the issue of triple talaq and perhaps, for the first time, women suffering from it are raising their voice against it. So far, triple talaq was happening in the name of Shariat, but now, when the Supreme Court has banned it, now what? We have a law for rape too, but does that stop rapes in the society? It is fine that these will improve the status of Muslim women, but only when that law is properly implemented. Reform for any society is essential."The Bombay High Court rejected on Thursday the bail pleas of a Shiv Sena worker and a contractor arrested in connection with a building collapse incident here in which 17 people were killed in July last year.

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court rejected on Thursday the bail pleas of a Shiv Sena worker and a contractor arrested in connection with a building collapse incident here in which 17 people were killed in July last year.

Shiv Sena member Sunil Shitap and an interior work contractor, Ranjit Agale, had approached the high court for bail after a sessions court rejected their applications in October last year.

Justice Ajey Gadkari, while rejecting the pleas, said the "complicity" of Shitap and Agale was noticed in the case and they do not deserve to be released on bail.

A ground-plus-three storey building, called 'Sai Siddhi', in suburban Ghatkopar had collapsed on 25 July last year, killing 17 people and injuring 22 others.

Police had in August arrested Shitap, who owns the ground floor of the building, and Agale, under whose supervision Shitap was allegedly carrying out an unauthorised work on the premises.

According to police, Shitap was converting the ground floor premises into a nursing home. Eight family members of victims of the tragedy and two flat owners had also moved the high court as interveners and opposed the bail pleas.

Lawyers Sujoy Kantawalla and Ashish Mehta had argued on behalf of the victims' family members that Shitap had carried out unauthorised work at his property which weakened the building, resulting in its collapse.

The building had 15 flats, including three commercial premises, on the ground floor which Shitap owned.

In his bail plea, Shitap claimed that the building was over three-decade-old and in dire need of repairs. Hence, he cannot be held responsible for its collapse.

Shitap and Agale have been booked under Indian Penal Code sections 304(II) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others).Harinder Baweja talks about writing the book as a soldier's diary, and the 'cavalier attitude' shown by India's top brass during the Kargil War

As a journalist who covered the Kargil War, Harinder Baweja was right in the thick of the action, watching and observing it unfold. In her book Kargil: The Inside Story, which was originally published in 2000, she revealed a reality of the war unknown to many of India's citizens  the lack of preparedness on the part of the Indian contingent, and the obtrusive politics that cost many lives.

Baweja wrote the book as a soldier's diary, fuelled by the firsthand stories of Indian and Pakistani troops, as well as information from After Action Reports (AAR) filed by units involved in the conflict. Nineteen years after the war and 18 years after her book first came out, she speaks to Firstpost about her experiences in Kargil and how India has failed to learn from experience.

Why has the Kargil war been such an impactful part of history for you? Why do you think it still captures the imagination of Indians?

The short but sharp war over the frozen heights in Kargil came soon after India and Pakistan declared their nuclear prowess. Pakistan's audacious plan of capturing the heights at a time when the nuclear tests had signalled a deterrence and India's response, caught the imagination of Indians. The first televised war was streaming in practically every home. The common Indian could see the valour and courage of the soldier firsthand. The fact that the then army chief, General Pervez Musharraf, had set his Kargil plan into motion even before Atal Bihari Vajpayee crossed the land border into Lahore on a bus, was also seen as an act of great treachery.

For me personally, the true story of the war came through long interviews with the battalions involved in the war. The inside story of the war  which was not told on television  lay in the After Action Reports (AAR) filed by various battalions. My book reveals fine details of what the Indian soldier actually endured. The politicians wrapped the country in patriotic fervour by saluting coffins of dead soldiers, but why and how did these soldiers die, is the question I have tried to answer in the book.

Tell us about your experience in Kargil.

I drove into the war theatre from Srinagar and was quite unprepared at the end of the nine to ten-hour journey; the war could be witnessed on the main road. Guns were booming and artillery shells were flying around and exploding at close proximity. After interviews with various army units, it became clear that India had been caught by complete surprise. The Pakistanis had the advantage of height and for the first few weeks of the war, the Indian soldiers fought bravely but with hands tied behind their backs. The book captures the details of the unequal war.

In what ways was India prepared or unprepared for the war?

India was unprepared would be the honest answer. When unit after unit was ordered into Kargil, they had no idea of who the enemy was, their numbers, their location or even the extent of the intrusion. They were not even well equipped. Units had been thrown into Kargil, without proper clothing and ammunition.

In the book, you say that Indias top brass had quite a cavalier attitude towards the war. Do you see any change in this attitude in the present day?

The 'cavalier attitude' has been well documented in the book. India has not been put to the war test since Kargil, but given that the recommendations of the K Subrahmanyam committee have not been implemented in their entirety or understood for their worth, it would be safe to say that we have not learnt our lessons from Kargil. The terror attacks in Mumbai and Pathankot are perfect examples of our 'cavalier' attitude to a real and pressing problem.

India-Pakistan relations today are as tense as ever. Could you comment on how far we have come, and what is needed to arrive at a solution?

The just-concluded election in Pakistan points to the difficulties in the India-Pakistan relationship. The shadow of the Pakistani army is written all over the electoral process and will continue to complicate the relationship between the two neighbours.

Why did you choose to write the book as a soldiers diary?

I was clear from the very beginning that the book could only be told in the soldier's first person. Kargil was about the soldier from start to finish, and the only way to tell the inside story of the war was through the experiences of the soldiers.

What were the challenges you faced while writing this book?

The senior leaders in the war theatre were not always accessible. They had been caught by surprise and did not want to be found out. I remember a Brigade's liaison officer calling different units every evening to check if any journalists were staying with them. I was, but this was completely unknown to the Brigade headquarters. Since I had been covering the Kashmir conflict and many of the Valley's units were tasked to go to Kargil, I had an advantage as I was already known to these units.

How do you think war reporting/journalism has evolved over time?

Covering conflict is a risky business and takes a psychological toll. Exposure to dead and mutilated bodies affected me and I remember I would often wake up at night. I covered the war from the roadhead. The actual war was fought on heights ranging from 14,000 to 17,000 feet. I kept asking myself one question: what happened on those heights? I finally went back after the war was over and spent time with the soldiers to find answers. That is how the book took shape. News organisations need to pay more attention to not just the physical safety of their reporters but also their psychological well being.

Would your approach differ if you had to write the book today?

I would write it in exactly the same way!

Do you think Kargil has been mythologised  turned into a fable of struggle and horror  instead of being looked at as a learning opportunity to be better prepared and equipped?

I agree. The new edition of the book has a new introduction that delves into exactly this aspect. Sadly, we have not learnt our answers.A Hindu woman and a Muslim man had sought directions from the court to the Gurugram district marriage officer to not send notices of the intended marriage to their parents.

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked Haryana government officials not to create hurdles to interfaith marriages, saying some of the information sought under the state's rules violated privacy.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court's order was on a petition against a checklist' framed by the state government, one of whose provisions required informing a couple's parents about the planned marriage.

The court has suggested that the state government should modify and simplify its court marriage checklist (CMCL) to ensure minimal executive interference.

The court said the procedure must reflect the mindset of the changed times in a secular nation instead of the officialdom raising eyebrows and laying snares and landmines beneath the sacrosanct feet of the Special Marriage Act, 1954.

In his 20 July order, Justice Rajiv Narain Raina said the Haryana checklist for the registration of marriages should be brought in line with the Act, "avoiding unwarranted overload of obstructions and superfluity.

A Hindu woman and a Muslim man had sought directions from the court to the Gurugram district marriage officer to not send notices of the intended marriage to their parents.

The couple also wanted the court to stop the officer from publishing anything on the marriage in a national newspaper, as demanded under the checklist.

The notices to the parents impinged on their right to privacy, the couple argued. The woman's petition said she faces virulent opposition to the proposed marriage from her parents.

The counsel for the petitioners had argued that the CMCL directives are highly offensive, insensitive, arbitrary, primitive and out of sync with the rapidly changing social order.

Referring to the condition that the couple should not be staying at one place, the counsel said it amounted to moral policing "in a country where live-in relationships are judicially recognized by courts as precious rights among informed adults, whether or not they intend to marry, so long as they do not violate any law."

The court said it has to be kept in mind that the Act was meant to enable a special form of marriage for Indian nationals professing different faiths, or those who wanted a civil form of marriage.

It added that any unwarranted disclosure of matrimonial plans by two adults may in certain situations jeopardize the marriage itself.

"In certain instances, it may even endanger the life or limb of one or the other party due to parental interference," the court said.

The court directed the marriage officer to consider the temporary residences of the couple in the marriage application instead of seeking their permanent address.

It directed the officer not to send advance notices to the couple's parents so as to strictly maintain their privacy rights and their right to life and liberty.

The high court was informed by the Gurugram Deputy Commissioner that no officials are asked to visit the residences of the couples for address verification.

The court directed the marriage officer to consider the application only in accordance with the Act and the judgment.

The notice of the intended marriage will be put up at the office of the marriage officer for 30 days, after which the officer may proceed to register the marriage and issue the certificate, the court said.Nishikant Dubey's reaction to Rahul Gandhi's statement comes at a time when the Supreme Court is dropping hints favoring the likelihood of decriminalisating homosexuality in the near future.

A day after Congress president Rahul Gandhi mocked BJP leaders and said the saffron party MPs take "two steps back" because they're scared he might hug them, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey retorted that BJP leaders were afraid of hugging Rahul because their wives might divorce them.

"Yes, we do fear hugging Rahul Gandhi as our wives might divorce us after that. Also, Section 377 hasn't been scrapped yet. If he gets married, we will hug him," Dubey was quoted as saying on Thursday by ANI.

Dubey's reactionand his disturbing and unwarranted concern for Rahul's marital statuscomes at a time when the Supreme Court has hinted at decriminalisating homosexuality in the near future.

The Twitterati were quick to pounce on Dubey's comments:

Not at all funny. Sick!!! Someone should tell these guys.. just bec there is a mic in front of you.. u don't have to talk! #NishikantDubey https://t.co/xmbGJ8BRsx  Rohit Khilnani (@rohitkhilnani) July 26, 2018

So a man hugging another man is gay, according to BJP MP Nishikant Dubey. What about this then? pic.twitter.com/XtSsBFtT33  Mahim Pratap Singh (@mayhempsingh) July 26, 2018

Nishikant Dubey only likes hugs from some of Indias top corporates! https://t.co/AMe2pWi2cY  Rohini Singh (@rohini_sgh) July 26, 2018

Nishikant Dubey Ji - What sort of Nasha you take? Your Modi Ji has deserted his wife a long time back but for the past 4 years has been hugging any world leader he finds around him. When are you going to recommend section 377 for that seral hugger? https://t.co/Rk1RyfPzHH  Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) July 26, 2018

Rahul hugged Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the debate on the no-confidence motion last Friday in the Lok Sabha. His move drew severe criticism from the BJP.

On Sunday, BJP's national media in-charge Anil Baluni said in a tweet that the Congress chief might have "forcibly" hugged Modi in the Parliament, but the people will not hug him in the 2019 general election. "You should prepare yourself for bringing a no-confidence motion in 2024," he said.

On 17 July, the Supreme Court reserved its verdict on a clutch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of Section 377 of Indian Penal Code which criminalises consensual gay sex.

The verdict is likely to be pronounced before 2 October as Chief Justice Dipak Misra, who is heading the five-judge bench hearing the matter, would be retiring as the CJI on that day.An individual's privacy is supreme and should not be disturbed, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said.

New Delhi: An individual's privacy is supreme and should not be disturbed, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said. He said he always believed that privacy is a constitutional concept and one area where there has been a surge in constitutional rights was human rights and their implementation.

"My house is my castle, how can you disturb me at my home? Even as a lawyer, you have to have some kind of appointment with me. My time is my time, my life is my life. My privacy is supreme to me," he said, while delivering MC Setalvad memorial lecture on the topic of 'Dynamic Ascendance of Constitutional Rights-A Progressive Approach'.

Justice Misra also spoke on gender equality and mentioned a case from Madhya Pradesh on a proposal for 50 percent reservation for women in panchayat elections. He said that the argument that women cannot administer and will depend on their husbands was "preposterous".

"Women are superior to men on most occasions," Misra added. He said that constitutional rights are dynamic and for sake of democracy should not stop growing as it will contribute to strengthening the democratic set up. Justice Misra said rights are "not ephemeral or transient", but "eternal, sublime and constitute the soul and spirit of humanity".

"Therefore, constitutional and human rights have to be honoured and enforced with a tenacious, indomitable and indefatigable spirit," he said at the lecture organised by the Bar Association of India. "It is this quintessential spirit that keeps the torch of justice burning bright. It is our strong allegiance and fidelity to this ethos that will lead us on the path of constitutional renaissance and constant awakening thereby ensuing protection of constitutional rights for all," the CJI said.

"The Universal Declaration of Human rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights have served as an important stimulus for all the three wings of the state, the judiciary in particular, for implementation of human rights by raising their status to that of fundamental rights," he said in his speech.

He said that constitutional rights have to be construed and developed in a manner that their real intent and existence percolates to the lowest rungs of the society and in this exercise an important role is played by the state which has to ensure effective implementation of the rights.

"The State action has to be concrete and not such that its effects leak into so many rivulets that they dissipate. Mere rhetoric and passivity by the state without reflection of serious commitment will only result in reducing the solemn duty of the State to that of a feigned act of affectation," Justice Misra said.

According to the CJI, constitutional rights define and shape the life of citizens and societies in general. "Their positive exposition and assertive and energetic appreciation constitute the lifeblood of progressive societies. "These rights would become a dead letter without their dynamic, vibrant and pragmatic interpretation," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Gita Mittal said that judges have to overcome many hurdles before delivering judgments. She said when being a lawyer, "You won't realise the bias inside you". Mittal said once a person becomes a judge, that bias has to be set aside.As the results pour in, both Kashmiri separatists and those who have been closely tracking the Pakistan election hope that a stable government in Pakistan will help resume dialogue with India

Srinagar: After Pakistani voters braved violence and blasts to turn up at the polls in the general election on Wednesday, Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) pulled into the lead on Thursday. Despite the PTI chairman criticising former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for his alleged proximity with India, that's only seen as election rhetoric.

As the results pour in, both Kashmiri separatists and those who have been closely tracking the Pakistan election hope that a stable government in Pakistan will help resume dialogue with India. Khan earlier tweeted: Why whenever Nawaz Sharif is in trouble, there is increasing tension along Pakistans borders and a rise in terrorist acts? Is it a mere coincidence? Nawaz, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief and his daughter Maryam have been imprisoned after being convicted in the Avenfield corruption case.

Even as Kashmiri separatists said the Pakistan election campaign was largely restricted to the country's internal problemsfrom its struggling economy to endemic corruptionthey admitted that Kashmir remains Pakistan's most important foreign policy issue.

Though Nawaz earlier accused the Pakistan Army and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of attempting to rig the elections, which were held amid heavy security, in Kashmir a general view has emerged that the army backing a civilian government in Pakistan will only increase the prospects of peace.

Despite the fact that Nawazs brother and PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif expressed strong reservations over the polling process and stated that his party doesn't accept the results, the prospect of improved relations between India and Pakistan is seen in the offing.

Former Hurriyat chairman and senior separatist leader professor Abdul Gani Bhat said, Kashmir, as a dispute will have to be addressed. The sooner the better for India, Pakistan and for us in Kashmir. I trust that the talks will occur and this time, hopefully with a realisation that without resolving disputes we can never ensure stability in the region and economic growth. I see a ray of hope that honourable peace will return.

Even as many see Khan as a hardliner, political analysts believe that policies proposed during the election differ from that of a political leadership in government. Former Pakistan president General Pervez Musharraf was seen to have initiated the Kargil War, but as a president he joined the peace process with India, said political analyst professor Noor Mohammad Baba.

On Khans charge of Nawaz being close to India, Bhat said sentimentalism shouldnt be misconstrued as reality. Sentimentalism or emotionalism during elections cant last. Over the prospect of talks between India and Pakistan under the possible leadership of Khan, Bhat said, Everybody should feel concerned about what constitutes the threat to peace.

India and Pakistan started a bus service across the Line of Control during the Manmohan Singh-Pervez Musharraf era. After the launch of Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service on 7 April, 2005, Musharraf visited New Delhi from 16 to 18 April that year.

India and Pakistan then released a joint statement: Conscious of the historic opportunity created by the improved environment in relations and the overwhelming desire of the peoples of the two countries for durable peace and recognising their responsibility to continue to move forward towards that objective, the two leaders had substantive talks on all issues. They determined that the peace process was now irreversible.

In May 2006, India and Pakistan held talks on on enhancing interaction and cooperation across the LoC in New Delhi and the two sides agreed that Poonch-Rawalakot bus service would commence from 19 June, 2006. Unlike the push the Kashmir peace process received under the tenure of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Singh, Prime Minister Narenda Modi is seen as not having any consistent policy on Kashmir.

Though Modi invited Nawaz for his oath-taking ceremony, he subsequently called off talks between the countries' foreign secretaries as Pakistan invited separatist leaders for talks to Delhi. In December 2015, the Indian prime minister made a surprise stopover in Pakistan to meet Sharif on his way back to India. However, relations between the two countries only deteriorated and Kashmir remained in the grip of protests which continued for months following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander Burhan Muzafar Wani.

Since Musharaf also headed the army after he assumed office in a bloodless coup, the former Pakistan president later proposed a four-point formula which talked of self-governance and gradual reduction of forces and was a seen as clear departure from Pakistan's long-held position to seek a plebiscite as per the United Nations' resolutions on Kashmir.

Musharrafs policy was the policy of the government, said Hurriyat (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. When we met Benazir Bhutto, she said Musharraf should take parliament into confidence and we'd have a debate and discussion on it.

Some separatists said the momentum on the resolution of Kashmir problem was lost when Musharaf stepped down in 2008 to avoid impeachment. Bhat added, Things went wrong as Vajpayee lost elections, and Musharraf lost power. But the forces of history will make two countries talk.

Follow all the live updates to the Pakistan general elections hereCongratulations to Amber Guse of London, Ont., for winning Standardbred Canadas National Caretaker Appreciation Day (NCAD) Selfie Contest.

Guse took this great shot of herself and two-year-old trotter, Speedy Duncan, at Steve Bossence Stables in Dorchester, Ont., where she currently works. She keeps herself busy also working as a caretaker at a thoroughbred breeding farm with six yearlings.

Amber has worked as a caretaker for over 20 years, committing herself to the horses day in and day out for practically her entire life. I dont have one specific reason why I love being a caretaker but having that bond with the horse is my favourite! There is nothing more rewarding then them feeling safe with you and loving you back! The pure enjoyment of watching them race each week and knowing all the hard work you've put in, there is no greater feeling then meeting them back in the winner's circle! I know I couldn't imagine my life without them in it!

Amber has won a $150 gift card to Woodbine Mohawk Park, and an official NCAD t-shirt and hat!

Thank you to everyone who entered their selfie photos in the contest using the #thehorsecomesfirst #caretakerday18 event hashtags.Facebook and Twitter are based out of the US and so is the Google, which runs e-mail services. The preservation of data and subsequent transfer will give us more leads into the Shujaat Bukhari case, the officials said.

Srinagar: A Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty has been sent by the Jammu and Kashmir Police for the United States requesting for preserving data of Facebook and Twitter accounts of journalist Shujaat Bhukari, who was killed by Lashker-e-Taiba last month, which will be followed by a Letters Rogatory for handing over the data.

The request under the MLAT was sent to the Home Ministry which will route it to the United States through legal and treaties department of the Ministry of External Affairs soon, officials said. "We believe that there are threatening messages sent to him on social networking sites from Pakistan which will help the police in nailing all the conspirators behind the killing of the journalist," an official said.

This is for the first time that the Jammu and Kashmir Police has been making efforts to gather evidence in a systematic and scientific way. Facebook and Twitter are based out of the US and so is the Google, which runs e-mail services. The preservation of data and subsequent transfer will give us more leads into the case, the officials said.

Both the US and India are signatories to an MLAT since 2005 which enables the two countries to pursue their common objective of law enforcement of putting in place a legal mechanism to enable them to provide to each other assistance in connection with the investigation, prosecution, prevention and suppression of crime including those relating to terrorism, narcotics, trafficking, economic and organised crime.

The treaty shall include taking the testimony or statements of persons; providing documents, records and items of evidence; locating or identifying persons or items; serving documents etc. The officials said a Letters Rogatory for handing over the data as part of evidence will be sent later once the trial begin in the case.

On 14 June, Bukhari, the editor-in-chief of a local English daily 'Rising Kashmir', was shot dead outside his office here when he was on his way to break his fast during the holy month of Ramzan. The police has named banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba behind the attack and identified the killers as Naveed Jatt, a Pakistani national who escaped from custody in February this year, Azad Ahmed Malik and Muzafar Ahmad Bhat, both Lashkar operatives.

The police have also named Sajad Gul, a resident of Kashmir who is now based in Pakistan, as one of the conspirators in the killing of Bukhari. He had been attacking the Kashmiri scribe through his blog and it is believed that he had threatened the victim in past.On the 19th anniversary of the Kargil Vijay Diwas, the nation on Thursday paid homage to the brave Indian soldiers who made sacrificed their lives to secure India's frontiers while fighting Pakistan's misadventure in the Kargil War of 1999.

The nation on Thursday paid homage to the brave Indian soldiers on the occasion of the Kargil Vijay Diwas who sacrificed their lives to secure India's frontiers while fighting Pakistan's misadventure in the Kargil War of 1999.

The Kargil Vijay Diwas is observed on 26 July every year, in honour of the Indian Army's win in the war in the Kargil-Drass sector of Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian soldiers successfully gained back the high altitude outposts which were infiltrated by Pakistani intruders culminating in Operation Vijay of 1999.

Over 500 Indian armed forces personnel were martyred during the three-month-long war. The war occurred after the then Pakistan Army chief General Pervez Musharraf spurned the peace initiative of the then Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The shelling from Pakistan began on 9 May 1999, as more intruders crossed over to the Indian side. After gathering actionable inputs, the army soon began to position its troops in the Kargil sector and, by the end of May 1999, the IAF launched massive air strikes to regain control of several key positions in the Batalic sector. Tiger Hill, a Pakistani stronghold and the highest peak in the Kargil-Dras sector, was captured after an eleven-hour-long battle. The Kargil War Memorial was built by the Indian Army in Dras, in the foothills of the Tololing Hills.

Paying tribute to the war heroes, President Ram Nath Kovind tweeted, ''On Kargil Vijay Diwas, every Indian acknowledges the efforts and gallantry of our Armed Forces. We salute the ultimate sacrifice of the martyrs of Kargil, and record our everlasting debt to their families.''

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Chief of the Army Staff General Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba and Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa paid their tributes at Amar Jawan Jyoti in Delhi on Thursday morning.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, "On Kargil Vijay Diwas, a grateful nation pays homage to all those who served the nation during Operation Vijay. Our brave soldiers ensured that India remains protected and gave a befitting answer to those who tried to vitiate the atmosphere of peace."

On #KargilVijayDiwas, a grateful nation pays homage to all those who served the nation during Operation Vijay. Our brave soldiers ensured that India remains protected and gave a befitting answer to those who tried to vitiate the atmosphere of peace.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 26, 2018

India will always remember with pride, the outstanding political leadership provided by Atal Ji during Operation Vijay. He led from the front, supported our armed forces and clearly articulated Indias stand at the world stage. #KargilVijayDiwas  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 26, 2018

Whereas speaking on the occasion, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, GOC-in-C, Northern Command said that the "Indian Army is fully prepared to take on any challenge along the Actual Line of Control and the Line of Control."

#KargilVijayDiwas , named after the success of Operation Vijay. On 26 Jul 1999, India successfully took command of the high outposts of Kargil, which had been lost to Pakistani intruders. Kargil Vijay Diwas is celebrated on 26 July every year in honour of the Kargil War Heroes. pic.twitter.com/uufWLRu4vZ  Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) July 26, 2018SC asked for a status report from the Kerala govt by 6 August, in the case of rape and molestation against four Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church priests.

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked for a status report from the Kerala government up to 27 August, in the case of rape and molestation against four Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church priests, according to News18.

The Supreme Court also stayed the arrest of two accused Father Jaise K George and Father Sony Varghese till 6 August, according to ANI.

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday granted conditional bail to Job Mathew, the second accused. Granting the bail, Justice V Rajavijaya Raghavan directed the priest to appear before the investigating officer twice a week and not to influence the witnesses or tamper with the evidence.

Mathew was arrested after he surrendered before the police in Thiruvalla on 12 June. He has been accused of sexually assaulting the woman since 2009 by misusing her confession. Mathew, a vicar of a local church, was also directed not to leave the country.

It was on the basis of the statement given by a woman belonging to the same Church, accusing them of sexually assaulting her on many occasions. The high court had earlier granted bail to another priest and third accused Johnson V Mathew, a counsellor of the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church, who was arrested on 13 July.

The two priests had surrendered after the high court dismissed their anticipatory bail plea and that of two other priests, observing that they had acted as "predators" and took "undue advantage" of the woman. The two other priests, accused in the case, have moved the Supreme Court seeking anticipatory bail

The incident came to light after an audio clip of the purported conversation of the husband of the victim with a church official about the alleged sexual abuse of his wife by the priests was circulated on social media. The woman's husband had last month accused the priests of using his wife's secret confession to "blackmail and sexually abuse" her.

With inputs from PTIThe incident happened in the Hanumanganj area in Bhopal on Wednesday evening and police managed to save the three persons from a mob of 12-15 people who were assaulting them

Bhopal: Three men, who were trying to help a boy cross a road, were rescued by police from an angry mob which suspected they were child-lifters, police said on Thursday.

The incident happened in the Hanumanganj area in Bhopal on Wednesday evening and police managed to save the three persons from a mob of 12-15 people who were assaulting them, Inspector Sudesh Tiwari told PTI on Thursday.

"The three men, Dhan Singh, Ram Swaroop Sen and Dashrath Ahirwar were under the influence of alcohol and were trying to help a boy who was scared to cross a road near Futa Makabara Square," Tiwari informed.

Some passersby saw the incident and started shouting "bachcha chor" (child-lifters) after which a mob gathered and started beating up the three men, the official said. "We managed to reach in time and save them. The three hail from Vidisha district and were here to purchase an autorickshaw. A medical examination has revealed that they had consumed alcohol. They did not receive major injuries," Tiwari said.

On 19 July, a differently-abled woman was lynched in Balaghat district by a mob which suspected her to be a child-lifter.Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese president Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg's South Africa on Thursday,

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese president Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg's South Africa on Thursday.

#WATCH: PM Narendra Modi meets Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Africa's Johannesburg pic.twitter.com/Ev1o9uGZHt  ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2018



Modi earlier reaffirmed India's commitment to multilateralism, international trade and a rules-based world order. Modi, who arrived in Johannesburg on Wednesday on the last leg of his Africa tour, presented the country statement of India at the BRICS leaders' closed session.

"Celebrating a decade towards peace, harmony and shared development and prosperity! PM @narendramodi joins fellow #BRICS leaders at the group photo at Sandton International Convention Centre at the formal beginning of the Summit," Raveesh Kumar, the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, tweeted. The prime minister reaffirmed India's commitment to multilateralism, international trade and rules-based world order, he said.

The grouping's leaders during the 10th edition of the BRICS Summit are expected to deliberate on global hot-spot issues, international peace and security, global governance and trade issues among others.

Modi is also expected to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin and other world leaders. BRICS is a grouping of five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as "BRIC", before the induction of South Africa in 2010.

With inputs from PTIUN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday condemned the killing of dozens of people near a polling station in Pakistan's western Quetta city in a suicide attack.

United Nations: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday condemned the killing of dozens of people near a polling station in Pakistan's western Quetta city in a suicide attack.

The suicide bombing killed at least 31 people and injured another 70. It was claimed by the terror group Islamic State.

Pakistan has witnessed violence across the country in the run-up to the parliamentary and provincial Assembly elections held on Wednesday. The elections mark only the second time that one civilian government has handed power to another after serving a full term in office.

"The Secretary-General condemns the suicide attack at a polling station in Quetta claimed by Da'esh," his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement, using the Arabic name for Islamic State. "He extends his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and to the government and people of Pakistan."

Despite the violence, news outlets reported that millions of Pakistanis showed up to cast their vote across the 85,000 polling stations. The spokesperson stressed that "the United Nations stands in solidarity with, and supports the efforts of the Government of Pakistan, in the fight against terrorism."

President of the UN General Assembly Miroslav Lajcak also condemned the attack, which he called "despicable". The suicide bombing in Quetta followed a series of terrorist attacks earlier in the month in Pakistan, including one in Mastung, in which 153 people lost their lives.

Follow Pakistan Election Results 2018 LIVE Updates herePresident Ram Nath Kovind said on Thursday that there is no place for violence in the Constitution, as he recalled sacrifices made by security forces involved in anti-naxal operations in Chhattisgarh.

Jagdalpur: President Ram Nath Kovind said on Thursday that there is no place for violence in the Constitution, as he recalled sacrifices made by security forces involved in anti-naxal operations in Chhattisgarh.

He also lauded efforts made by people and the government to win over the confidence of youth misguided by the outlawed Maoist movement and to check terror and violence.

"In some parts of the country, few people misguided by Naxalism tried to create an environment of violence and fear. Our culture and tradition and, above all, our Constitution do not have any place for violence," he said.

He was addressing a gathering after dedicating the newly-built hospital building of Lieutenant Baliram Kashyap Memorial Medical College to the nation, at Dimrapal village in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district.

The president said he was happy to know that the administration and "sensible people" of the society have won the confidence of misguided youth (referring to Naxals).

They have made efforts through non-violence, coupled with developmental activities to curb the menace of violence and terror, he said.

He appreciated the Chhattisgarh government and the Centre for their efforts to bring about development in the Naxal-affected regions and also hailed people's support to it.

"I also salute the supreme sacrifices made by the police and paramilitary personnel in Naxal-affected regions while ensuring security to people and protecting the state's integrity," Kovind said.

"Today is Kargil Vijay Diwas and I also salute the Indian Army and its families for their sacrifices," he added.

Hailing the state's Raman Singh government's development-oriented initiatives in Bastar, the president said the region has witnessed a remarkable transformation, which is evident by roads, educational institutions, Internet connectivity and other facilities set up in the area.It is suspected that Naxals on Wednesday damaged railway tracks on the Visakhapatnam-Kirandul route in Dantewada district, disrupting the movement of trains, police said, on a day President Ram Nath Kovind arrived in Chhattisgarh for a two-day visit.

Raipur: It is suspected that Naxals on Wednesday damaged railway tracks on the Visakhapatnam-Kirandul route in Dantewada district, disrupting the movement of trains, police said, on a day President Ram Nath Kovind arrived in Chhattisgarh for a two-day visit.

The railway administration has undertaken the track restoration work.

There was no disruption in the president's itinerary and he attended several functions during the day in the state.

"The damage was detected in the track this evening under Bhansi police station limits following which Visakhapatnam-Kirandul passenger train, that had crossed Dantewada for Kirandul, had to be brought back to Dantewada," state's Deputy Inspector General (anti-naxal operations) Sundarraj P said.

The railway's ground staff spotted that few fishplates of the track were removed, following which they immediately informed their senior officials, who then conveyed it to police.

Prima facie it seems the Naxals have committed the offence in view of their 'Martyrs Week' to be observed by them between 28 July and 3 August.

After getting information of the incident, teams of police personnel, as well as railway officials, have reached the spot and the railway administration has launched the track restoration work, he said.

However, since the spot is located inside the forest area, it will take some time to for restoration work.BEIRUT (Reuters) - A senior Russian official on Thursday urged Syrian refugees to return to Syria where he said they faced no threat from President Bashar al-Assad's government or the Syrian security apparatus. Alexander Lavrentyev, Russia's Syria envoy, also said the Syrian government was not able to provide much financial help to returnees and urged foreign donors to provide assistance, saying the issue should not be politicised

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A senior Russian official on Thursday urged Syrian refugees to return to Syria where he said they faced no threat from President Bashar al-Assad's government or the Syrian security apparatus.

Alexander Lavrentyev, Russia's Syria envoy, also said the Syrian government was not able to provide much financial help to returnees and urged foreign donors to provide assistance, saying the issue should not be politicised.

The United Nations says that conditions for returns to Syria are not yet fulfilled, more than seven years into a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people since spiralling out of an uprising against Assad's rule.

While some refugees are trickling back, many Syrians who fled the country fear persecution by the Assad government.

Russia, whose military has helped Assad defeat insurgents across much of Syria, last week declared it had set up a refugee centre in Syria to help refugees return.

Lavrentyev, who met Assad in Damascus on Wednesday, said people were returning to Syria every day.

"People understand that there is no threat from the government and from the governmental security apparatus and they are returning to their homes, to their territories which are now under the control of the government," he said on a visit to Lebanon.

Some 5.6 million Syrians are registered as refugees in the region, around 1 million of them in Lebanon, where Lavrentyev met President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday.

"People are returning," Lavrentyev said. "It is a good sign, and it is a good signal for all those refugees who are still in Lebanon, in Jordan, in Turkey, that it is time to think it over, and to decide to return to their home," he said.

The Syrian government was "really willing to accept all those who want to come back to their homes", he said.

A Russian official said last week that preliminary assessments indicated 890,000 refugees could return to Syria from Lebanon in the near future, 300,000 from Turkey and 200,000 from European Union countries.

Aoun told Lavrentyev that Lebanon welcomed the Russian initiative, a Lebanese presidential statement said. Aoun expressed "Lebanon's readiness to offer the necessary assistance to implement the Russian proposals", the statement said.

Aoun has described the refugees as an existential threat to Lebanon, and has been calling for their voluntary return to secure areas of Syria before a political settlement to the war.

Lebanon's General Security directorate has worked with Damascus to coordinate the return of hundreds of refugees in recent weeks. The names of those wishing to leave Lebanon must be approved by Damascus before they can go back.

In April, a Syria conference hosted by the European Union and co-chaired by the United Nations in April said conditions for returns were not yet fulfilled, and that present conditions were not conducive for voluntary repatriation in safety and dignity.

Assad has recovered control of most of Syria in the last few years. Much of the north and a large part of the east remains outside his control, however. The Syrian war is estimated to have killed hundreds of thousands of people.

Western states have said they will not help rebuild Syria until a negotiated political transition is under way.

(Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Alison Williams)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.Shiv Sena secretary Milind Narvekar, a close aide of Thackeray who put up the posters, said the proposed visit is 'an important step in the country's politics'

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena Thursday put up posters with slogan "Chalo Ayodhya, Chalo Varanasi", two days after party chief Uddhav Thackeray announced he would soon visit the two key cities in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh.

Shiv Sena secretary Milind Narvekar, a close aide of Thackeray who put up the posters, said the proposed visit is "an important step in the country's politics".

In his recent interview to party mouthpiece "Saamana", Thackeray had announced his intention to visit Ayodhya to pay respects to Lord Ram.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party is a constituent of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra.

The Sena has often targetted the BJP for "delaying" the construction of the temple of Lord Ram in Ayodhya despite having majority.

Thackeray had recently said the BJP would once again rake up the emotive issue of the construction of the temple in run-up to the 2019 polls.

The Sena chief had also said that he would soon finalise the schedule for visiting Ayodhya and Varanasi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi represents Varanasi in Lok Sabha.

When contacted, senior Sena leader Sanjay Raut confirmed that Thackeray would visit Ayodhya and address a rally. "He would also visit Varanasi and participate in the Ganga Aarti and offer prayers at Kashi Vishwanath temple there," he said.

Raut, however, said nothing much should be read into the proposed visit of Thackeray to the BJP-ruled state. Thackeray's proposed visit also assumes significance given that no high-ranking Sena leader had visited Ayodhya in the recent past.

Though the Sena is a constituent of the government, the party had been critical of the BJP and the prime minister. The Sena had resolved to go solo in the future elections.

Political observers feel that the Sena might be preparing to contest all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh in 2019. They feel that Thackeray's visit might be aimed at strengthening the party cadre in the northern state.

After the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992, Sena patriarch (late) Bal Thackeray had remarked that if at all Shivsainiks had been at the forefront of the demolition then he would be proud of them.

However, he had never visited Ayodhya, contending that all the Hindutva forces did not unite under one banner.

Ahead of Palghar (ST) Lok Sabha bypoll held in May 2018, Thackeray had slammed Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath for "disrespecting" Chhatrapati Shivaji by not removing his footwear while garlanding the portrait of the Maratha king.Trot Insider has learned that the connections of 2018 Meadowlands Pace champ Courtly Choice will be supplementing the sophomore to the upcoming Cane Pace at The Meadowlands. The first leg of pacing's Triple Crown, the Cane takes place as part of the Hambletonian Day card of harness racing on Saturday, August 4.

Courtly Choice (Art Major - Lady Ashlee Ann) has won six of eight starts as a sophomore, including his two most recent outings in the elim and final of the Crawford Farms Meadowlands Pace -- a race his connections anted up roughly $60,000 to participate in. He won the final in a time of 1:47.1, just two-fifths off the stakes and world record for a three-year-old pacing colt.

Blake MacIntosh of Cambridge, Ont. trains Courtly Choice for owners Hutt Racing Stable of Paoli, Penn., Mac & Heim Stables (MacIntosh and Steve Heimbecker of Conestogo, Ont.), Daniel Plouffe of Bromont, Que. and Touch Stone Farms (Barb & Joe Intine) of Guelph, Ont. The trainer told Trot Insider that the decision to pay the $35,000 supplement was made last week.

"Late last week I talked to everybody and they were in agreement to go there instead of going to Yonkers (NYSS). We're committed now that Yonkers has drawn...we'll take our shot and see what happens."

MacIntosh notes that a stakes schedule for Courtly Choice remains undetermined. The win in the Meadowlands Pace gives the connections the option to race in the 2018 Little Brown Jug should they chose, with the New York Sire Stakes circuit still an option as well.

"There are two races left in the NYSS if we want to go that route. We're considering the [Little Brown] Jug, we'll see how we do in the Cane," said MacIntosh. "We have the Empire Breeders after this week...from there we have a NYSS race at Yonkers, I believe, and then we'll decide from that race on what we do.

"They're animals, you have to play it ear and make sure they're healthy. We'll do what's best for the horse."

MacIntosh noted that he'll have Courtly Choice out for a training mile at The Meadowlands this Saturday to ensure his prized pupil is all systems go before dropping him in the box on Tuesday, July 31. All entries for the Cane are due that day, with the number of entries dictating the distance of the race. If the race receives 10 or fewer entries, the distance is one mile. The distance extends to 1-1/8 miles should the race receive 11 or 12 entries.#TalkToAMuslim, to those who started the movement, was a way to drive home the urgency (and necessity) of bridging the drastically widening gap between Muslims and those from other religions

Yes, Congress is a Muslim party read the headline in the 12 July edition of the Urdu daily The Inquilab, attributing the quote to party president Rahul Gandhi. What Gandhi had actually said, as per an Alt News report, was: If BJP says that Congress is a party of Muslims, it is fine. Congress is a party of Muslims, because Muslims are weak and Congress always stands with the weak.

Attacked by the BJP over the (wrongly quoted) Muslim party remark, Gandhi responded with a tweet:

I stand with the last person in the line. The exploited, marginalised and the persecuted. Their religion, caste or beliefs matter little to me. I seek out those in pain and embrace them. I erase hatred and fear. I love all living beings. I am the Congress.

Even as Gandhi was putting out his rejoinder, a group of intellectuals took to Twitter to invite people to #TalkToAMuslim. #TalkToAMuslim was a response to what this group  comprising actors Swara Bhasker and Mohd Zeeshan Ayub; Delhi-based writer Zainab Sikander; Tarushikha Sarvesh, assistant professor, Centre for Women's Studies, Aligarh Muslim University; and Ansab Amir Khan, an engineering student at Aligarh Muslim University among others  perceives as years of hate mongering, fuelled by fake news and divisive politicians.

The initiative, according to Zainab Sikander, is an intervention "in the highly problematic public discourse" to ensure the voice of common Muslim citizens was heard.

"We began to think about the statement we wanted to put out there to counter this hateful, hysterical and untruthful vitriol that was circulating on TV channels. A young Muslim boy  an AMU student  came up with #TalkToAMuslim. The hashtag had been used before on Twitter internationally, but we felt it was apt for the Indian context at a time when people were cancelling Ola cabs because they were assigned Muslim drivers, or telling Airtel customer care that they do not want to speak to Muslim executives," said Sikander. She maintains that the campaign transcends political trappings and has a larger social implication.

The first tweet was pushed out by Ayub and retweeted by Swara Bhasker on 17 July, following which, it snowballed into one of the top trends on Twitter for days. It gained traction through retweets by Muslim influencers like actress Gauhar Khan who held up placards that read, "We are humans too". The initiative was also criticised by prominent figures  like journalist Barkha Dutt and actor Anupam Kher  as being problematic.

Also read on Firstpost: 'I'm a Muslim. Here's why you should talk to me.'

Ansab Amir Khan, however, defends the intentions of the campaign. Many of our wellwishers claim we are not propagating a vision of a secular and free nation, for both majorities and minorities (through #TalkToAMuslim). However, the other-isation, the villain-isation, and the ghettoisation of the minorities had been so rampant that purposely asking for an innately natural act as a sort of last resort seemed the best way to make people realise how low the current regime has made our nation fall  as a democracy, and as a society," Khan said.

#TalkToAMuslim, to these campaigners, was a way to drive home the urgency (and necessity) of bridging the drastically widening gap between Muslims and those from other religions. "The fact remains that an eight-year-old Bakharwal Muslim girl in Kathua was gangraped in a sick and sinister premeditated plan to install fear in the Muslim community, said actress Swara Bhasker. This is not conjecture, this is the confession statement of the Kathua accused. If we, the privileged, choose to blind ourselves to the hate crimes that are occurring with worrying consistency in India, we too are complicit in these crimes. I think the Alwar-Rakbar Khan lynching proves that our campaign was pointing towards an accurate state of what we have become as a society  that the otherisation of Muslims exists  we simply called it out."

The communication gap that #TalkToAMuslim is attempting to address goes deep. Tarushikha Sarvesh illustrated the point by saying, You realise it (the gap) exists on the ground when your domestic help, who belongs to the PAASI community, expresses her apprehension about sharing space with Muslims and feels good that their settlements are not close to her basti. You know it exists on the ground when people want their domestic help to change their names before hiring them. The perception that Muslims produce more children and are violent by nature is commonplace. The everyday-ness and disturbing normalcy of this reality is realised when you talk to people with an intention of actually listening to them."

For actor Zeeshan Ayub, #TalkToAMuslim is all about more people putting across a counter narrative that harps on inclusivity, plurality and diversity of Indian culture in times where hate has become the new normal".

#TalkToAMuslim, for this group of campaigners, is a remedy to the divisive politics that seems to have become the order of the day. While not absolving the Congress of its own share of responsibility for the state the minorities find themselves in today, Ansab states that it is ironic that the BJP, which came to power by selling an agenda of 'development' and 'good governance', is playing the communal card ahead of the 2019 elections. "After they've failed the economy after GST and demonetisation, and the rampant lawlessness of lynchings and mob culture, the only resort left is to isolate religions and spew hatred among them, so as to ensure voting along communal lines. Already, talk of Ram Mandir and a Hindu Rashtra is picking up more momentum than discussions about the country's economy or welfare."

The views expressed by each person interviewed for this article represent their own, and not necessarily those of the entire group.Cases of sexual exploitation against priests belonging to different churches of Kerala prompted the Supreme Court to react on the situation on Thursday.

Cases of sexual exploitation against priests belonging to different churches of Kerala prompted the Supreme Court to react to the situation on Thursday.

"What is happening in Kerala, priests are becoming accused in rape cases," the Supreme Court wondered as it asked the state police to file a status report on the investigation done against four clergymen accused of sexually abusing a married woman.

The first case before the bench is against Joseph Therakam, who is accused of trying to help the main accused priest cover up the incident. The accused priest was arrested in 2017 on charges of raping a minor girl and impregnating her. The father of the victim had claimed that he earlier falsely admitted to raping his own daughter in order to protect the priest and the church.

The second case involves four priests from the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Two accused clergymen  Sony (Abraham) Varghese and Jaice K George have approached the apex court challenging the order of the Kerala High Court which had denied anticipatory bail to them.

The Supreme Court on Thursday sought a status report of police investigation in the case relating to the Malankara Church priests. The bench asked the police to file a report on investigation within two weeks and posted the matter for hearing on 6 August.

A woman, who regularly visited the Malankara Church, had initially accused five priests of sexually abusing her for a decade.

Initially, it was only one priest who first exploited the woman. When she sought help from another priest, he too threatened her and shared her contact with a fellow priest and she was eventually victimised by five of them. The name of the fifth clergyman was not included in the FIR for want of substantial evidence.

The National Commission for Women is monitoring the case.

According to NDTV, at least 12 priests have been arrested in the last 18 months in different cases related to sexual abuse. Since May, three such cases have surfaced.

With inputs from agenciesYogi Adityanath said it was only during BJP regime that sons from Dalit and OBC families became the prime minister and president

Gorakhpur: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Thursday said the BJP was the "real well-wisher of Dalits" as it was only during its regime that sons from Dalit and OBC families became the prime minister and president.

He also hit out at the opposition parties for playing "negative politics" and creating a "poisonous" environment in the country.

"BJP is the real well-wisher of the Dalit community and only in the BJP regime, sons from Dalit and OBC families could become a President and Prime Minister. The other parties are limited to a person or family," the chief minister said during a meeting with party office-bearers.

"Those who are depressed, hopeless and rejected by people are taking up irrelevant issues and saying that the BJP is anti Dalit-OBC, which is absolutely wrong," he said.

The priest-turned-politician also asked the party office-bearers to reach out to the people in creative ways and make them aware about the state government's work.

He asked the party workers to use technology, organise slogan writing competitions and take the help of wall paintings to spread the word about the BJP government in the state.

"Use wall paintings, WhatsApp, Facebook and door-to-door contact to talk about the government schemes to people," he said.

Emphasising on the use of wall paintings, Adityanath said, "The Election Commission will not erase the wall paintings during elections as they carry only information about the government schemes, and not of any party. These wall paintings will remind people of the government's work".

The Uttar Pradesh chief minister also defended his government on the law and order front and other arenas.

"The law and order situation in the state has improved. The arrangements in hospitals have become better and people are getting continuous power supply. The BJP is fulfilling its promises.

"In the last 15 months in the state, investment has increased and on 29 July, the prime minister will kick start Rs 60,000 crore-projects from Lucknow," Adityanath added.Introduction: Palestine rarely makes the news in Indian media. When it does, it is usually because "clashes" or hostilities have flared up yet again. Knee-jerk sentiments are often quick to ascribe Palestinians with terrorism. The reality is that the Palestinians are an exceptionally warm and welcoming people.

Perceptions about Palestine are too often shaped by lack of information or by propaganda. It is easy to dehumanise those we are ignorant about.

This 10-part series on Palestine consists of photographs from East Jerusalem and the West Bank taken by the author during a visit in early 2018. They convey varied aspects of Palestines natural beauty, her ancient and unique history, Palestinian art, education and culture, and the grim realities of their lives under Israeli military occupation.

In part five, we look at the architecture of oppression in Palestine  the fences, walls , and segregation.

[Below: A map of West Bank, Gaza and Israel (L); the West Bank (R). Courtesy: palestinett.org]

***

Israel has constructed an imposing segregation wall separating the West Bank from Israel whose stated purpose is security. However, 85 percent of the route of the wall encroaches well into the West Bank. Its unstated purpose is land and resource theft from the Palestinians, who have no power to force Israel to change course.

An invasive network of permanent and moving checkpoints and road blocks inside the West Bank  manned by heavily armed, belligerent Israeli soldiers  makes even the shortest travel an always unpredictable, often dangerous, chore.

These are part of the vast, sophisticated and expensive architecture Israel has erected in the West Bank to control, micro-manage and frustrate Palestinian lives. Here's a look at this architecture of oppression:

A section of the segregation wall in Bethlehem. The wall has become a canvas for graffiti art on the Palestinian side.Amit Shah is scheduled to visit Allahabad on Friday to connect with seers and take stock of the arrangements for the Kumbh Mela 2019.

BJP president Amit Shah is scheduled to visit Allahabad on Friday to take stock of the arrangements for the Kumbh Mela 2019. During his visit, he will meet with seers and collect their feedback ahead of the pilgrimage.

Shah's day-long itinerary will be also be packed with temple visits and religious functions, Hindustan Times reported.

The visit comes a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lucknow trip, to meet various industry captains.

According to a News18 report, Shah is scheduled to visit Maujgiri Ghat for ganga aarti and bhasma aarti. He will also visit the Bade Hanuman temple and Juna Akhara. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath will also join Shah on his visit to the Sangam city.

While in Allahabad, Shah will also meet the saints of the Akhara Parishad, including its chief Narendra Giri. The Akhara Parishad is the apex body of saints from all the 14 akharas that participate in the Kumbh and whose feedback on Kumbh 2019 will be an important one, the report added.

Meanwhile, experts claim that the timing of the Kumbh 2019  close to the Lok Sabha polls  will present a good opportunity for BJP to reach out to its electorate.

"Kumbh will offer a stage, like no other, to the BJP to connect with the masses...It also fits in well with the larger line of Modi talking development and the party chief connecting with BJPs core voters," Athar Siddiqui of the Centre for Objective Research and Development was quoted by Hindustan Times as saying.The chief minister has called a meeting late this evening of a select group of the party's Maratha legislators along with BJP ministers, who can open channels of communications with the leaders of the agitation, a government source said.

Mumbai: Facing heat due to the renewed agitation for Maratha quota, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has called a meeting of BJP ministers and party legislators from the Maratha community.

The chief minister has called a meeting late this evening of a select group of the party's Maratha legislators along with BJP ministers, who can open channels of

communications with the leaders of the agitation, a government source said.

The government's stand on the Maratha community's demand for reservation in government jobs and educational institutes has been that the issue is pending before the Bombay High Court.

"To ensure that its decision (to give 16 percent reservation to the Marathas) stands scrutiny in the court, the government will provide all possible assistance to the Backward Classes Commission to expedite its survey work," the source said.

The government will provide additional manpower and technical support to the commission so that it can submit its report by August-end, a month before the scheduled date, the source said.

The commission has been tasked with collecting data about socio-economic condition of the Maratha community. After meeting BJP ministers and legislators, Fadnavis is expected to invite Opposition legislators from the Maratha community for talks, the source said.

Following the resignations of Shiv Sena MLA Harshawardhan Jadhav and NCP MLA Bhausaheb Chikatgaonkar, who said they were quitting to support the agitation, MLAs Seema Hirey and Rahul Aher (both BJP), Bharat Bhalke (Congress) and Ramesh Kadam (NCP) have offered to tender resignations over the quota issue.

Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde took a veiled swipe at Fadnavis today by telling Maratha protesters in Beed district that she would have taken decision on the quota demand quickly if the "file" had been on her table.

Before that, as violence was reported from various places during the bandh called by Maratha outfits on Friday, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut created a flutter, stating that there was talk of replacing Fadnavis within the BJP. The BJP immediately denied Raut's claim.Though Jammu and Kashmir local bodies' elections will not be fought on a party basis, major parties will field proxy candidates to test the electoral mood.

Jammu and Kashmir: Its raining elections in the state. Scheduled later this year are the urban local bodies and panchayat polls. The governor may well also dissolve the Assembly, currently in limbo, which would mean fresh Assembly elections as well. And of course, the Lok Sabha polls are scheduled for May next year.

And though the local bodies' elections will not be fought on a party basis, given that most candidates will be proxies of the main parties  the PDP, National Conference, Congress and BJP  it will indicate the level of support each has before the 'big fight'.

As Shafiq Mir, chairman of All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference said: "Though these polls are more social than political in nature, political parties do field proxy candidates."

The main battles will inevitably be in the Valley and Jammu, and it'll be the first test of their standing with the electorate for both the BJP and PDP  since their split, with the state coming under Governor's Rule, on 19 June. Both parties have lost ground in their respective strongholds. The BJP, in particular, faces the ire of the Jammu electorate, who feel the party has failed to highlight the discrimination of the region during its three-year reign with the PDP.

Most party leaders, however, feel that the Assembly elections should have been held before the local bodies' elections. But, Governor NN Vohra has cleared the decks for local polls, including clearing an amendment by which the sarpanch will now be elected directly by the voters and not by the elected panch, as favoured by the BJP-PDP.

An official spokesperson of the Raj Bhawan said that the measure will restore the primacy and importance of the sarpanch, giving the post the necessary legitimacy to be able to discharge various functions.

Earlier called off by Mehbooba govt

All parties have begun preparations, calling on their cadre to step up poll activities. Addressing a convention of Congress workers in Jammu, Sham Lal Sharma, former minister and senior Congress leader, said, "... people of Jammu are fed up with the lies of BJP and its promises of development in Jammu have been exposed. People of the region will teach the PDP and BJP a lesson as discrimination with Jammu exceeded all limits during their rule."

There are 78 urban local bodies that include Jammu Municipal Corporation and Srinagar Municipal Corporation, 70 Municipal Committees and six Municipal Councils in the state. Elections to urban local bodies have been due since 2010, while polls to panchayats are due since 2016.

A total of 4,082 sarpanch posts and 28,253 panch posts were filled in 2011, with an average voter turnout of about 77.71 percent. The current round of polls was earlier scheduled in February this year but was called off by the Mehbooba Mufti-led government, citing an adverse security situation. But the governor, on 19 July, had constituted State and Divisional Level Committees to conduct preparatory work for the elections.

The political slugfest has begun, and even as Congress leaders attacked the BJP for its failure to implement promises, the BJP has begun its own preparations by constituting panels of potential candidates. The party has set up a new team that includes vice-presidents, general secretaries, state secretaries and its IT and social media cell.

BJP is trying hard to woo the Hindu-dominated Jammu. The region had drifted apart from the saffron party during its three years of rule with the PDP, mainly due to the BJPs failure to end the perceived discrimination of the region.

PDP, BJP at a disadvantage

In a meeting of newly appointed state office bearers, which was attended by the minister of state in the PMO, Dr Jatinder Singh, Lok Sabha member Jugal Kishore Sharma and MP (Rajya Sabha) Shamsher Singh Manhas, the BJP discussed its poll prospects.

Singh told party leaders that, "BJP must perform well in the polls as the nation's eyes are on the happenings in Jammu and Kashmir". BJP leaders have asked their elections in-charges to keep in mind the personal integrity of candidates.

The PDP (which won 28 seats in the last Assembly elections) is attempting to regain lost ground among the Valley electorate, where its popularity dipped when it allied with the BJP. PDP chief and former chief minister Mufti has, in recent times, made statements aimed at appeasing Pakistan-backed separatists in Kashmir and pleasing the Valley voters.

"The Recent ban of over 30 TV channels on account of threatening peace in Jammu and Kashmir is questionable, wrote Mehbooba on Twitter. The 30 channels  telecast mainly from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia  it was felt, were peddling propaganda against India and some religious communities. The National Conference too is working to gear up its cadre.

Jammu-based political commentator Professor Hari Om echoed the general sentiment, that the PDP and BJP are at a disadvantage. "While political parties may take different postures to keep their vote bank intact, some political leaders do not want the panchayat polls to be held," he said.

"Though conditions in Jammu and Ladakh region are not volatile, an impression was given to the world as if the whole state is a disturbed area and thus a narrative was peddled that in such situation, polls should not be held."

The author is a Jammu-based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.The Maratha community has been demanding quota under the OBC category in government jobs and education. The community held protests in various parts of Maharashtra and had observed bandhs in Mumbai and rest of the state.

Mumbai: Two more MLAs from Maharashtra Thursday announced their decision to quit in support of the Maratha quota demand, a day after as many legislators offered to resign for the cause.

The MLAs are Bharat Bhalke (Congress) and Rahul Aher (BJP).

Bhalke, who represents Pandharpur seat in Solapur district, said he would resign from the legislative assembly to express solidarity with the quota protests.

Talking to PTI from Pandharpur, Bhalke said he had visited the family of Maratha youth Kakasaheb Shinde, who had committed suicide by jumping into the Godavari river in Aurangabad district on 23 July.

"The sentiments of the Maratha youth are intense. There is lot of unrest (among them) over the lack of (job) opportunities. Promises made to them have not been fulfilled. I have decided to resign to express my solidarity with the Maratha quota protesters as well as in support of the demand for quota by Dhangars and other deprived communities," Bhalke said.

Members of Dhangar (the shepherd) community have been demanding reservation under the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.

"I am quitting membership of the Assembly to highlight the unrest among the Marathas, Dhangars, Muslims and Mahadeo Koli communities," he said.

Bhalke said the Maharashtra government had stayed the previous Congress government's decision to allot quota for Muslims even though the (Bombay) high court had not passed any adverse comment on the Muslim reservation.

The Bombay High Court had in 2014 stayed implementation of the erstwhile Congress-NCP government's decision to provide reservation to Marathas.

The HC had also stayed the government's decision to provide five percent reservation to the Muslims in government service, but allowed quotas for them in educational institutions.

Aher, who represents Chandwad seat in Nashik district, also announced before the Maratha protesters in Nashik that he would resign as MLA.

He handed over his resignation letter to the Maratha Kranti Morcha activists, who were fasting in protest outside the district collector's office this afternoon.

"Please treat this letter as my resignation. Whenever required, the Maratha community members could hand it over to Assembly Speaker," he stated.

On Wednesday two MLAs - Harshvardhan Jadhav (Shiv Sena) and Bhausaheb Patil Chikatgaonkar (NCP) - from Aurangabad district had offered to resign in support of the quota demand.

Aurangabad district in Marathwada region has emerged as the epicentre of the Maratha quota agitation.

Jadhav, who represents Kannad assembly constituency, submitted his resignation letter in the office of the Legislative Assembly Speaker Thursday morning.

Chikatgaonkar (Vaijapur) said he had e-mailed his resignation to the Speaker and would submit a hard copy of the same when he visits Mumbai.

In 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, the Shiv Sena has 63 MLAs and the NCP 41.

The Maratha community has been demanding quota under the OBC category in government jobs and education.

The members of the community held protests in various parts of Maharashtra for their demands in the last two days and have observed bandhs in Mumbai and rest of the state. The protests had turned violent at many places.The Maharashtra chief minister wouldnt have much autonomy because Maharashtra is a dicey state in so far as the 2019 Lok Sabha and then the Assembly elections are concerned because anything done or not done has to fit the matrix that Amit Shah is developing.

When NT Rama Rao, the Telugu cine star won the 1983 elections to the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, one essential factor, apart from Telugu pride, was the backward classes (BC) backlash against what they thought was too much attention to the SCs and STs while BCs were side-lined.

Would Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis develop that kind of a strategy  mind you, in the early 1980s of Andhra Pradesh, it happened naturally without politicians even talking much about the BC grievances indicating the simmering caste divides  to beat back the Maratha clamour for quotas? The jury would be out on this in thee party backrooms already for the polls are quite close for comfort.

He wouldnt have much autonomy because Maharashtra is a dicey state in so far as the 2019 Lok Sabha and then the Assembly elections are concerned because anything done or not done has to fit the matrix that Amit Shah is developing. It has to been seen if Fadnavis takes a chance and persuades Shah.

On the face of it, ignoring about a third of the population of a state to bind together the others into a phalanx of voters favourable to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is electorally risky. In a state where majority of cooperatives are controlled mostly by Marathas, a new poll-related social engineering could be tough. It needs time to fashion.

In so far as the demands of the Maratha Kranti Morcha is concerned, two of its demands have already been met  prosecution of the rapists of Kopardi and their punishment, and the Supreme Court disallowing "instant arrest: of people against whom complaints are filed for crimes under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989, or the SC-ST Act.

The community is aware that the matter of 16 percent reservation for them had been stayed by the court, is now being studied by a Commission as suggested by the Bombay High Court to fix the numbers, and any action by the Maharashtra government could be contemptuous of the court. Fadnavis has spoken of this fact.

If the state went ahead with filling up some 72,000 posts in a mass drive, he has assured, there would still be room for finding the community youth jobs to meet the 16 percent demand. He cannot opt for an ordinance and attract the ire of the courts. The states plea in the apex court against the earlier high court order did not succeed.

It is in this background that we need to see the sudden revival of demand for the quota and its escalation to a violence of the kind comes as a surprise. Suicides, arson, massive public disorder was not expected of the agitators who held 58 silent morchas across the state. They were the much-lauded orderly agitators, never been seen or heard of before, and spread over much of a year.

The point is that the Commission has been set up and is apparently not in the line to receive data on backwardness without which, no progress could be made. Even the demanded ordinance on quotas would wend its way to the court ultimately. The immediate provocation, if any, for the restart of the stir in a violent way, remains a mystery. The resignation of MLAs should now give us an idea of how it is getting political from what was essentially a socio-economic issue.

Such a massive arrangement including T-shirts, caps, mobilisation of volunteers etc. does cost money and the suspicion that political parties excluding BJP may have covertly supported it, does remain. Despite the intense clamour for quotas among them, it could not necessarily have been a simple WhatApp mobilisation. This, of course, is rubbished by the Maratha Kranti Morcha. But even established political parties, including those in power, struggle to ensure good attendance at rallies.

Many non-BJP leaders had been seen at many of the silent morchas, walking behind people they would otherwise have led  a strange spectacle indeed  does eloquently express their support for the cause. Now the Congress has demanded a special session of the legislature on this matter, and NCP has said that together, all quotas could go as high as 70 percent.

The sudden burst of violence, so intense that despite the bandh being called off at 3 pm, the violence did persist till the evening should imply two possibilities. One, after the long break from mobilisation, the agitators communication network has broken down, and two, the likely covert but different involvement of political parties in stoking the fire.

That the elections are just around the corner, that the Shiv Sena, despite abstaining from the no-trust debate and vote in Lok Sabha continues to be a serious thorn in the flesh, that the other political parties are unsure of the BJP-Sena relationships existence or even contours for the next years poll does raise suspicion that street level politics has been brought to life.

Fadnavis has his task cut out. Whatever he does would either be brave or foolhardy, depending on the impact it has on the 2019 elections. He does not seem to have much room, and that elders like Sharad Pawar who do have influence among the Marathas  Pawar is not limited to Marathas  arent helping. They are not even thinking of mediating to sort out a sticky problem, because, at the end of the day, all of them play politics.Indo-Asian News Service

China has withdrawn its approval for Facebook Incs plan to open a new venture in the eastern province of Zhejiang, the New York Times reported on 25 July, citing a person familiar with the matter.

A Chinese government database showed that Facebook had gained approval to open a subsidiary, but the registration has since disappeared, according to checks made by Reuters.

The move is a setback for Facebook, which has been struggling to gain a foothold in China, the most populous country in the world, where its website and messaging app Whatsapp remain blocked.

The incident also illustrates how difficult it can be for a US company to navigate the government bureaucracy in a country where so many technology firms have tried and failed.

Terms like The Great Firewall often gives outsiders the impression that the Chinese government is totally united on technology policy, said Matt Sheehan, an expert on China-California relations and fellow at The Paulson Institute think tank. In reality, within that Firewall are lots of competing fiefdoms and ongoing turf wars.

Chinas decision comes amid escalating tensions with the United States after the worlds two largest economies imposed tariffs on each others imports.

Tougher foreign investment restrictions targeting China, which will be part of a new law expected to pass the US Congress next month, are likely to worsen relations between the two countries and companies have been caught in the middle.

US chipmaker Qualcomm Incs deal to buy NXP Semiconductors NV has yet to win approval from Chinese regulators, the only holdout from eight of nine global regulators required to approve the deal.

Barring a last-minute reprieve, Qualcomm said 25 July it would make good on a pledge with NXP to call off the merger if it had not won Chinese regulatory approval by 23:59 Eastern US time on 25 July.

Facebook, which said on 24 July it planned to create an innovation hub to support local startups and developers, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Its hub was a planned for the province of Zhejiang, whose capital, Hangzhou, is a tech centre home to some of Chinas top software and internet companies, including conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding.

Facebooks plans for China were similar to businesses it set up in other countries: Station F in France, Estacao Hack in Brazil, Tech Hub launch in India and Innovation Hub in Korea.

The decision to take down the approval came after a disagreement between officials in Zhejiang and the national internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, which was angry that it had not been consulted more closely, according to the New York Times.

This is more about internal Chinese politics than it is about Facebook and China, said Gary Rieschel, a longtime venture investor in China and founder and managing partner of Qiming Venture Partners. The central Cyberspace Administration of China regulators were miffed they were not consulted more thoroughly by the Zhejiang authorities prior to approval.

I dont think it means anything new for US tech firms trying to enter China, he said.

Chinas central government has made it clear that it wants the country to lead in technologies like artificial intelligence, putting pressure on provincial governments to attract more technology talent.

The Chinese internet regulator was not immediately available for comment. Other Chinese officials could not be reached outside business hours.

Shares of Facebook fell as much as 24 percent in after-hours trading on 25 July after the company reported slowing revenue growth amid larger expenses to address concerns over privacy and security of user data.

The decision does not necessarily spell the end of opportunities for Facebook in China, and the governments withdrawal does not mean Facebook was close to bringing its social network into the country, said investors who have worked in China.

Facebook opening a research centre in Hangzhou wasnt going to fast-track the entry of its main product to Chinese markets, Sheehan said.

China strictly censors foreign news outlets, search engines and social media including content from Twitter Inc and Alphabet Incs Google.

While Facebook had hoped to dip a toe in the market and work with Chinese developers, its very presence appears to have become a large, and incendiary, political question, said Daniel Morgan, a portfolio manager at Synovus Trust, which holds 73,386 Facebook shares.tech2 News Staff

Executives from Facebook, Twitter and Google will soon testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee this year in September to face intense questioning by lawmakers regarding foreign interference on their own platforms.

The prime concern at the moment is the meddling in the upcoming US Elections in November 2018 by the Russians.

Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Richard Burr on 25 July told BuzzFeed News that he doesn't "know the exact date but its that first week.

Also, according to the report by BuzzFeed News, Facebook, Twitter and Google will come to testify. Facebook's chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey have confirmed that they will attend the hearing. However, there is no information from Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

There are no comments from either of the companies on the situation.

The hearing which is scheduled for September will come after an initial hearing which should probably take place next week according to Burr.

This hearing comes in at a crucial time as the elections are around the corner and the tech giants feel a lot of pressure because of the role that their platforms play in shaping public opinion.

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg has already testified at a hearing in April at the Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees to answer questions regarding Cambridge Analytica.

As the elections approach, the tech companies are taking various safety measures. Officials at Facebook on 24 July said the company is using a range of techniques including artificial intelligence to counter Russian operatives or others who use deceptive tactics and false information to manipulate public opinion.tech2 News Staff

European Union's General Data Protection Regulation has had a serious impact on Facebook's user base. According to the recent announcement by Facebook, it was revealed that the company's stocks fell by 20 percent, wiping over $130 billion off its market value. This was because Facebook's revenue and user growth in the second quarter of 2018 fell short of investor expectations.

According to Facebook, the company lost about 1 million monthly active users in Q2 2018.

In the first quarter of 2018, Facebook had 377 million monthly active users (MAU) in Europe, whereas in the second quarter the number has decreased to 376 million MAU. The decrease may not be much, however, it can be said that this is possibly due to the implementation of the GDPR, by the European Union in May 2018.

Another possible reason could be the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data breach this year when personal information of up to 87 million users, mostly in the United States, was shared without consent with political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica.

The social media giant has seen an increase of only 11 percent (year-over-year) with 2.23 billion reported monthly active users, which is the slowest growth the company has seen in more than two years.

Also as the mid-terms are around the corner, Facebook, along with Google and Twitter have been summoned to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee this year in September to face questioning by the lawmakers regarding foreign interference on their platforms.

Facebook's chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Google CEO Sundar Pichai are expected to be at the hearing.

Facebook is also taking some safety measures. On 24 July it said that it is using a range of techniques including artificial intelligence to counter Russian operatives or others who use deceptive tactics and false information to manipulate public opinion.

While a loss of 1 million users in Europe doesn't guarantee a trend for the downfall in future, the numbers might just keep falling because it seems that Europeans are a little more sensitive when it comes to privacy issues than the rest of the world.

Facebook will have to revamp its systems or get into a habit of losing more users, slowly and gradually.tech2 News Staff

Apple's Taiwanese contract manufacturer in India, Wistron, the company which makes iPhones in the country has just stated that it may raise its investment in Karnataka to Rs 3,000 crore.

Wiston is currently setting up a manufacturing facility at Narasapura industrial area of Kolar district in Karnataka with an earlier proposed investment of Rs 700 crore. According to a report by Economic Times, the manufacturing unit is expected to produce smartphones, IoT products and biotech devices.

As per the report, a team from Wistron Infocomm Manufacturing India recently met Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy and provided him a brief description of the progress made so far. The chief minister extended full support of the government and asked Winston executives to step up investments in other areas of mobile technology as well.

Country head of Wiston India, Gururaj A, speaking to the chief minister mentioned that the setup will be the largest project of its kind in the country, creating 10,500 jobs as the company expands the unit in phases.

The Taiwanese company has been so far assembling affordable iPhone models like the iPhone SE, iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6S out of a rented facility, located in an industrial suburb near Bengaluru. The move to the new facility is expected to see the company assemble higher-end iPhone variants using locally made components. This the government expects to bring down prices of iPhones by 20 percent.

Gaurav Gupta, principal secretary, Industries and Information Technology departments, speaking to the publication said, "We have engaged with them [Wistron] on a regular basis to ensure the project comes up fast."tech2 News Staff

After the launch of the JioPhone in July 2017 in the Indian market, the feature phone now tops the segment in India with almost half the market share.

According to statistics by Counterpoint Research, the JioPhone by Reliance Jio currently holds a total market share of 47 percent, ahead of Samsung and Nokia. The report is published according to the numbers from the second quarter of 2018.

In the second quarter of 2017, the phone was at 0.3 percent. Considering that, Jio has grown tremendously in just a years time.

Also, Jio's market share is more than five times of that of Samsung, which currently holds a 9 percent share in Q2 2018. Last year Samsung was leading at 27 percent. The market share this year for Samsung is three times less than that of last year.

Samsung may not be unhappy about the fall though, because even if the market share fell considerably in the feature phone segment, it is currently leading in the smartphone segment. According to the same research paper published by Counterpoint, Samsung has a 29 percent market share, toppling its Chinese rival Xiaomi which has gathered a close 28 percent.

At the third position in the feature phone segment, is Nokia, at 8 percent. It was 3 percent last year, which means unlike Samsung, Nokia has seen a growth in the feature phone segment, however, it's not much.

Itel in India stands at number four with 6 percent market share, which is close to Nokia. It has a market share of 16 percent in 2017, which has fallen tremendously this year.

According to the report, Reliance Jio is likely to maintain the growth momentum as it refreshed its JioPhone 2 this month, coupled with an upgrade offer of Rs 501 and bringing popular apps including WhatsApp to JioPhone 2.

JioPhone 2 will also see offers like limited time exchange offers, wherein users with feature phones can exchange their current devices for a JioPhone with access to Jio network at really low prices.

Disclosure: Firstpost is part of Network18 Media & Investment Limited which is owned by Reliance Industries Limited.Indo-Asian News Service

Although self-driving cars remain a distant reality for the Indian roads, a Mumbai-headquartered firm has become the first desi company to develop high-precision HD maps for a customer in the United States which is at the forefront of autonomous vehicle technology.

Established in 1995, Genesys International Corporation Ltd has completed an extensive HD mapping of road and street network for an autonomous driving project in North America that will enable residents to access self-driving taxis at their doorstep.

Core to the autonomous vehicle technology, HD self-navigation maps enable, aid and guide autonomous cars to self-drive and navigate.

The HD map has high-precision navigational geometry and 360-degree panoramic imagery leading to a unique "fingerprint" of every stretch of the road.

"We cannot disclose the customer name as we are bound by non-disclosure. Through our technical expertise, we were able to support our customer to quickly verify the assumptions on large-scale areas," Kuldeep Moholkar, CEO-Designate, Genesys International Corporation Ltd, told IANS.

"Once we completed initial data deliveries, we were able to scale up to the customer's requirements. This has now given us the confidence to undertake HD map creation for large volume of work involving counties, states, and even entire countries," Moholkar emphasised.

The HD maps are created from Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) source data which consists of billions of pixelscommonly referred to as a point Cloud. These billions of data points are curated to extract the features to create a machine-readable image of the road as well as the entire surrounding environment.

LiDAR sensors calculate how far a given object is, by measuring how long it takes for a pulse of infrared laser light to reach a car and bounce back.

Currently, Google's Waymo and global cab-hailing service Uber rely on the LiDAR technology but not Elon Musk's Tesla that uses high-end computer vision technology via cameras.

HD maps aid the autonomous vehicle in real-time decision-making capability, by localising the earth spatially and letting the vehicle know the position of its exact location, thus guiding the vehicle to align to the road, when to drive, where to head and when to stop.

The HD map content is currently being rigorously tested on autonomous cars for real-world readiness and large-scale deployment. Once successfully passed, the autonomous car fleet will start using the HD maps data for self-navigation within the community in the US," Moholkar explained.

Genesys has nearly 2,000 professionals with expertise in Geographical Information System (GIS) and Geospatial Engineering domain. The company is working in the fields of remote sensing, LiDAR, aerial survey, photogrammetry and GIS-based e-governance solutions.

Based in the financial capital, Genesys also operates production and software development centres in Dehradun and Jaipur.

"We are in discussions with auto-makers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and various product/services companies in the autonomous vehicle eco-system to partner and provide value-based services.

"We are also close to signing a formal MoU with another technology company for supporting their autonomous vehicle initiative. We will talk about that subsequently," Moholkar told IANS.

Considering the existing infrastructure, driving culture, and the breadth of our geography lamented Moholkar, the idea of an autonomous vehicle being fully functional on the Indian roads looks a little distance away at the moment.

"Having said so, Genesys and many Indian technology companies are investing heavily to build competence in this space via LiDAR technology, deep learning and Machine Learning (ML)," the Genesys executive said.

Hundreds of technology startups are currently engaged in creating products and services related to autonomous vehicles in the country.

"The resultant technology stack can be potentially used to build and implement our very own indigenous autonomous cars which will operate within a small geographical area such as corporate campuses, universities, airport lounges and large industrial premises, etc," Moholkar noted.Reuters

Qualcomm, the worlds biggest maker of chips for mobile phones, said on 25 July it would drop its $44 billion bid for NXP Semiconductors after failing to secure regulatory approval from China against a backdrop of widening trade tensions.

Investors expressed relief at the end of the project that has dragged on since 2016, all while Qualcomm fended off a $117 billion takeover bid from Broadcom Inc, fought in court with Apple, and faced billions of dollars in fines from antitrust regulators around the world over its licensing practices.

The San Diego chipmaker also delivered surprisingly strong third-quarter results and a rosy outlook for so-called 5G technology, the next generation of wireless data networks. Those numbers, combined with a $30 billion share buyback plan that Qualcomm had promised to implement if the NXP deal fell through, sent its shares up almost 6 percent to $62.95 after the bell.

Qualcomm still faces challenges, including expectations that its chips will not be in the next round of Apples iPhones and the need to find new markets beyond mobile phones without NXPs help. But it cited progress on one of two major patent royalty conflicts, thought to be with Chinese phone maker Huawei, in the form of a $700 million interim agreement, $500 million of which was paid this quarter.

The collapse of what would have been the largest-ever merger of two chip companies may discourage other US firms hoping to buy into Chinas huge developing markets and companies, although technology deals seemed the main concern.

We obviously got caught up in something that was above us, Qualcomm chief executive Steve Mollenkopf said in an interview after the announcement.

We think moving on, reducing the amount of uncertainty in the business and increasing the focus is the right thing to do with the company.

Qualcomm needed approval from China, the last of nine global regulators to be consulted, because the country accounted for nearly two-thirds of its revenue last year.

Barring a last-minute reprieve, the chipmaker said in its results release it would make good on a pledge with NXP to call off the merger if it had not won Chinese regulatory approval by 23:59 Eastern US time on 25 July.

Qualcomm forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $5.1 billion to $5.9 billion, and adjusted earnings of 75 to 85 cents per share. Analysts were expecting forecasts of $5.45 billion and 76 cents respectively, according to Thomson Reuters.

NXP Semiconductors shares fell almost 4 percent to $94.50.

Trump's Role

Moves by the Trump administration have played an outsised role in Qualcomms fate, and there had been expectations that the lifting of a ban on US chipmakers doing business with Chinas ZTE Corp would clear the way for the NXP deal.

Dealmakers advising on mergers and acquisitions hoped the fallout would be limited to the technology sector in which China is racing for primacy against the United States.

United Technologies chief Gregory Hayes said earlier this week that the industrial conglomerate was on track with regulatory approvals to close its $23 billion acquisition of US airplane-parts maker Rockwell Collins, seeking to quell fears that China could delay its review.

No other major semiconductor deal is pending. Broadcom, whose $117 billion hostile bid for Qualcomm was blocked by the United States in March on national security grounds, says its $19 billion purchase of US software company CA Technologies does not require Chinas blessing.

For Qualcomm, the deals demise means it will have to focus on expanding beyond making mobile chips.

Qualcomm predicted on 25 July that Apple would drop the companys chips from its next-generation iPhones in favour of modems from Intel, the latest sign of fallout from their acrimonious battle over pricing and licensing costs. Qualcomms revenue projections had already assumed it would gain no new revenue from Apple.

Intel and Apple both declined to comment.

Qualcomm sold $3 billion of chips last year for non-phone use, up 75 percent from two years ago. It has a $5 billion backlog of chip sales to the automotive industry, in which NXP is also a dominant player, it said.tech2 News Staff

It's been a long time since we heard about the foldable smartphone from Samsung. Initial rumours and speculations had pointed out that the device would be called the Galaxy X or the 10-year anniversary Galaxy smartphone. However, recent reports have pointed out that Samsung could be starting a new lineup of foldable smartphones with the brand name Galaxy F.

As per a report by Sammobile, this isn't the first time we are hearing about the Galaxy F-series of smartphones. Back in 2013, Samsung was rumoured to be working on a series of premium smartphones which would be dubbed as the Galaxy F. However, nothing panned out from Samsung at that time. Now it would seem that the F-series may indeed be a reality and in-line with the device being a super high-end smartphone, chances are that the Galaxy F is the foldable Samsung smartphone everyone is ravening for.

But wait! The report also states that Samsung is also going to produce Galaxy R and Galaxy P series of smartphones for the Chinese market. This could mean that F-series may simply be an ultra-premium smartphone designed only for the Chinese market. In any case, Galaxy X does seem to have more appeal than Galaxy F, so we hope that Samsung does stick with Galaxy X as the smartphones name.

In more Samsung news, the Galaxy Note 9 is most probably going to be launched at Samsung's Unboxed event in New York on 9 August. A report by 91Mobiles claims that the phone could be launching in India as soon as a week after the official launch in New York. The estimated date of launch is sometime between 12- 16 August in India while the sale of the device has been rumoured to start in the first week of September.The 10th edition of the BRICS Summit will take place in Johannesburg on Thursday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending it to culminate his three-leg Africa tour.

The 10th edition of the BRICS Summit will take place in Johannesburg on Thursday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending it to culminate his three-leg Africa tour. Modi will be looking to use this opportunity to further his 'make in India' mission and bring together the member nations on a common ground against terrorism and trade wars.

BRICS is a grouping of five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as "BRIC", before the induction of South Africa in 2010. The members, this year, are expected to deliberate on issues like international peace and security, global governance and trade wars among others.

The theme of the summit this year is 'BRICS in Africa: collaboration for inclusive growth and shared prosperity in the 4th Industrial Revolution'. India's relations with South Africa date back several centuries as India was at the forefront of the international community in its support to the anti-apartheid movement in Africa. The year 2018 also marks 25 years since the resumption of India's diplomatic relations with South Africa in 1993. The South African Indian-origin community is around 1.5 million strong and constitutes about 3 percent of South Africa's total population.

Modi's stance

Modi, however, will be doing a balancing act of cooperation and parity with all the other members. On one hand, he will be seeking new deals for India, while on other he will ensure that the member nations reach a consensus on key issues like trade tariffs and terrorism.

The issues broadly include: multilateralism, global governance, health and vaccines, socio-economic empowerment of women, peacekeeping, network of science, parks and technology, inclusive growth, sustainable development and infrastructure. But for the first time, a BRICS leaders' retreat is being organised wherein leaders will deliberate and take stock of BRICS cooperation during the decade and on its future prospects, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in its press release.

The idea of a BRICS rating agency will also be taken up during this year's summit, said Secretary Economic Relations in MEA, TS Tirumurti. India had pressed the BRICS nations to set up an independent rating agency of the five-member group during the first meeting of the BRICS finance ministers and Central bank governors which was held on the sidelines of the IMF/World Bank spring meetings in April 2018.

Whereas, speaking at the informal meeting of the BRICS leaders on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in 2017, Modi had also said that expeditious action should be taken to establish the BRICS credit rating agency while asserting that the BRICS group has to be a voice of stability, reform, progress and governance at the world stage.

Key issues and member agenda

The summit might also see the five nations hit out against US president Donald Trump's protectionist trade policies as norms on greater financial integration and investment facilitation are discussed, a Business Standard report said.

According to the report, the nations are also set to take forward discussions on the 'BRICS Investment Facilitation', a mechanism to facilitate investments among member nations. However, India and China are on opposite ends of the investment facilitation debate with Beijing actively pushing for a trade facilitation agreement on investments at the WTO and India insisting that such a decision should only be taken with a consensus. At the BRICS finance ministers meeting earlier in 2018, the BRICS nations had agreed to "fight against trade protectionism together".

Even in BRICS 2017, four documents, including one on economic and trade cooperation, were signed by all the five BRICS countries with an aim to deepen commercial ties among the group members. But, the agenda for 2018 could largely predicate on some key factors like trade wars.

Firstly, this summit is being held in the backdrop of the US trade war which is likely to hit all five nations of the group. The focus will thus be on consolidating intra-BRICS trade through reduced tariffs. Secondly, Russia and China may not be having the best of relations currently with the US and the rest of Europe but both President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin will look to consolidate their leadership for closer cooperation within the BRICS community.

President Xi on Wednesday called on the BRICS members to uphold multilateralism and improve global governance. "We should urge all parties to fully observe collectively adopted international rules, and we should treat all countries as equals regardless of their size," Xi said. He asked the BRICS countries to promote common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security and to get actively involved in mediation efforts for resolving geopolitical issues. "It is important for us to firmly support the multilateral trading regime, advance global economic governance reform and increase the representation and voice of emerging markets and developing countries," Xi said, as per reports by Xinhua.

Thus, the threat of a worsening global trade war will top the agenda of this year's summit. Russian economy minister Maxim Oreshkin said ahead of the meeting that "this summit is about the context  we are at a time when the US and China announce new measures almost every week". He said much of the discussions with China would focus on what is happening with the United States. "This is a trade war, so leaders' discussions are particularly important in coordinating our positions," Oreshkin said.

Meanwhile, China has pledged to boost cooperation with fellow countries in response to trade frictions with the US. It will do so in response to the "challenges posed by the changing policies of certain developed countries," said China's assistant foreign minister Zhang Jun.

Therefore, Johannesburg will see much emphasis on consolidating members trade relations through the likes of reduced tariffs. This will also boost trade between the member countries, which has been stagnant or declining in recent years.

For India, the agenda will be two-fold. Firstly, it needs to use its influence to cultivate the Russia-China axis as a counterweight to the US, which is becoming increasingly inward-looking. Secondly, India will have to present its market as wide open for a higher level of investments from these countries.

Apart from this, Africa and sustainable development will also receive much attention in this year's summit. Despite the heavyweight delegates list, South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa will stand apart as a host and a debutante president. Since Africa's economy has been shrinking marred with corruption issues, Ramaphosa will be hoping to secure extra investment and trade agreements from his counterparts.

The leaders of other African countries and institutions are also attending the summit as a part of BRICS ongoing outreach programme, following tours of the region by both the Indian prime minister and Chinese president.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian delegation will be looking for new forms of co-operation that can benefit their sluggish economy, which is threatened by the large-looming American trade and currency war.

As for Russia, its substantial political influence will be its main card to play at a time when Russia is on the verge of being an outcast for some countries. President Putin would look to demonstrate warm relations with the fellow members. Also, following Putins recent bilateral talks with US President Donald Trump, the summit is a chance for Russia to enhance its global position and undermine Western containment, particularly the economic sanctions imposed after the Crimean crisis in 2014. In fact, close ties between Russia and China will also be a theme, after Chinas foreign minister recently described them as being at their best level in history, the Eyewitness News reported.

Turkey's Role

Moreover, a significant additional feature to this year's summit is the participation of Turkey. "The summit presents an important opportunity for its member countries and Turkey to develop closer cooperation", as the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan put it.

Before heading to South Africa, Erdogan made the remarks during a press conference at the Ankara airport, adding that the BRICS member countries have contributed in the last decade to 50 percent of the global economic growth. And, even though Turkey is not a member of the BRICS, Erdogan will attend a special session of the event in his capacity as the current chair of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Xinhua reported.

Russia and Turkey's cooperation has significantly increased in recent years and the two countries look to work together on Syrian issues to find a peaceful solution to the crisis at the Turkish border.

However, will the BRICS members emerge as a credible bloc that can stand up to the US, EU, the G7, and the OPEC is what will remain to be seen after the Johannesburg summit gets over.Following the delegation-level talks between Modi and Ramaphosa, three memorandum of understanding (MoUs) were signed on cooperation in exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes

Johannesburg: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday met South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and the two leaders discussed ways to expand the bilateral ties in a number of sectors, including trade and investment, IT and defence.

Following the delegation-level talks between Modi and Ramaphosa, three memorandum of understanding (MoUs) were signed on cooperation in exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, setting up of Gandhi-Mandela Centre of specialisation for artisan skills and agricultural research and education.

Modi, who arrived Wednesday, met Ramaphosa on the sidelines of the two-day BRICS summit whose theme this year is 'BRICS in Africa'.

"Kicking off a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of BRICS! PM Narendra Modi meets the host South African President Cyril Ramaphosa," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet.

"Saluting the enduring legacy of Mahatma and Mandela! Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa jointly released a stamp commemorating the two iconic personalities," he tweeted.

India and South Africa are celebrating 21 years of strategic partnership.

"India and South Africa are proud inheritors of legacies of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela," Kumar said.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Cyril Ramaphosa discussed expansion of our relationship in trade and investment, agriculture and food processing, IT, defence and people-to-people contacts," he said.

BRICS is a grouping of five major emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as "BRIC", before the induction of South Africa in 2010.

India's relations with South Africa date back several centuries. India was at the forefront of the international community in its support to the anti-apartheid movement.

This year also marks 25 years since the resumption of India's diplomatic relations with South Africa in 1993. This year also marks the 125th year of the Pietermaritzburg railway station 'incident' involving Gandhi.

"2018 is a historical year for our relations, as it marks the commemoration of twenty-five years of diplomatic relations between South Africa and India," the South African Presidency tweeted.

The South African Indian-origin community numbers around 1.5 million and constitutes about 3 per cent of South Africa's total population.US National Security Adviser John Bolton said that president Donald Trump will not be meeting his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin until after Moscow's involvement in the American election is cleared

Washington: US President Donald Trump believes he should not meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin till the "witch hunt" over Moscow's alleged interference in American elections concludes, and as such the next bilateral meeting between the two would take place in 2019, his top national security adviser said on Wednesday.

The two leaders had held their first bilateral summit in Helsinki, Finland on 16 July, vowing a fresh start to troubled relations between their countries.

"The President believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the Russia witch hunt is over, so we've agreed that it will be after the first of the year," National Security Adviser John Bolton said.

Trump last week had asked Bolton to explore the possibility of meeting Putin this fall.

During their meeting, they had also expressed a desire to cooperate on global challenges, after talks on an array of issues from Syria, Ukraine and China to trade tariffs and the size of their nuclear arsenals.By Aaron Maasho ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The project manager of a $4 billion Ethiopian dam was found shot dead in his vehicle in Addis Ababa on Thursday, police said, prompting scores of people to take to the streets in the capital and his home city calling for justice. People in the crowds said they believed Simegnew Bekele had been murdered, though there was no immediate confirmation from the authorities, or details of any motive. 'We have confirmed that engineer Simegnew Bekele was shot dead ..

By Aaron Maasho

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The project manager of a $4 billion Ethiopian dam was found shot dead in his vehicle in Addis Ababa on Thursday, police said, prompting scores of people to take to the streets in the capital and his home city calling for justice.

People in the crowds said they believed Simegnew Bekele had been murdered, though there was no immediate confirmation from the authorities, or details of any motive.

"We have confirmed that engineer Simegnew Bekele was shot dead ... He had a bullet wound behind his right ear," the head of Ethiopia's Federal Police Commission, Zeinu Jemal, told reporters.

Zeinu said a Colt pistol was found in the vehicle in the city's Meskel Square - a massive road junction and open space usually packed with vehicles and pedestrians during daylight hours.

Ethiopia's new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was "saddened and utterly shocked" by the death, his chief of staff said in tweet.

Simegnew was the public face of the Grand Renaissance Dam project on the River Nile - the centrepiece of Ethiopia's bid to become Africa's biggest power exporter.

Ethiopia has been pushing on with the project in the face of opposition from Egypt which fears it will affect the flow of the Nile, its main source of water. In June, the leaders of Ethiopia and Egypt vowed to iron out their differences peacefully.

Crowds in Addis Ababa marched to the state television station's headquarters chanting "No to killings" and "Justice for Simegnew".

Hundreds also packed the streets of his birthplace, the northern city of Gondar. "Amongst our requests is the repatriation of his body back to his own city," said one protester, who only gave his name as Geremew.

A Reuters photographer saw blood stains along an arm rest inside his vehicle - a gold Toyota Land Cruiser - before an ambulance took away the body.

The dam is currently only half complete, but the government says it is designed to churn out 6,000 megawatts (MW) of power on completion.

(Editing by Omar Mohammed and Andrew Heavens)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.A large explosion took place near the US Embassy in Beijing on Thursday as witnesses posted images on social media, of smoke surrounding the building

An explosion took place near the US Embassy in Beijing on Thursday as witnesses posted images of smoke surrounding the building on social media.

An explosive device has been detonated in a public area at the US embassy in Beijing, close to the main compound, said an embassy spokesperson to CNN. The only person injured was the individual who detonated the explosive device.

According to Radio Free Asia News, witnesses on the scene stated that a man made his own explosives and originally wanted to throw it into the embassy, but it exploded next to him, damaging a car.

A Chinese police SUV has been damaged in the incident.

Chinese police also took away a woman who sprayed herself with gasoline, in what was suspected to be a self-immolation attempt outside the embassy, the State-run Global Times reported.

The footage from the site shows confusion and panic in the street following the explosion, as security personnel work at the scene. The area seems to be cordoned off.

No confirmation has been given by the US or Chinese embassies yet, while the Indian and South Korean embassies said they were unaware of any unusual incident and were working as normal.

With inputs from ReutersBy Brad Haynes SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc on Wednesday took down a network of pages and accounts used by a right-wing Brazilian activist group, cracking down on what it called a misinformation network ahead of elections in October.

By Brad Haynes

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc on Wednesday took down a network of pages and accounts used by a right-wing Brazilian activist group, cracking down on what it called a misinformation network ahead of elections in October.

Facebook said in a statement that it deactivated 196 pages and 87 accounts in Brazil for their part in "a coordinated network that hid behind fake Facebook accounts and misled people about the nature and origin of its content, all for the purpose of sowing division and spreading misinformation."

The statement did not identify the pages or users involved, and a Facebook representative declined to identify them.

However, sources told Reuters that the network was run by senior organizers from Movimento Brazil Livre (MBL) or "Free Brazil Movement."

MBL later said in a statement on Twitter that several of its organizers had been affected, confirming the Reuters report.

The group rose to prominence in 2016 leading protests demanding the impeachment of leftist former President Dilma Rousseff with an aggressive style of online politics that has helped to polarize debate in Brazil.

The MBL statement criticized Facebook for blocking several organizers without giving a full explanation, complaining that some of the banned accounts were using members' real names and personal information.

"Freedom of expression and democracy are pillars of the MBL. We will use all of the legal, political and media resources offered by democracy to recover the blocked pages and undo this persecution," the group said.

A federal prosecutor in the state of Goias called on Facebook to disclose the pages and accounts it had deactivated, along with a justification for each, within 48 hours.

Facebook declined to comment on the prosecutor's request or the criticism from MBL.

The deactivated pages, which together had more than half a million followers, ranged from sensationalist general news feeds to political fare with an openly conservative slant, carrying names such as Jornalivre and O Diario Nacional.

By misrepresenting the shared control of the pages, MBL organizers were able to spread their coordinated messaging as if it were coming from various independent news outlets, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Facebook said it took down the network in Brazil after a "rigorous investigation" because the profiles involved were false or misleading, violating its authenticity policies. The social network has a separate set of tools to discourage the distribution of fake news with help from outside fact checkers.

Facebook has been under heavy pressure to stop the use of fake accounts and other types of deception on its network.

The company last year acknowledged that the platform had been used for what it called "information operations" employing fake accounts and other methods to influence public opinion during the U.S. election in 2016, and it pledged to crack down.

U.S. intelligence agencies say the Russian government engaged in a campaign to influence the U.S. presidential election, and cases of political groups using social media in deceptive ways have since emerged around the world.

There was no indication of foreign involvement in the MBL network taken down on Wednesday, the sources said.

(Reporting by Brad Haynes; additional reporting by Lais Martins; editing by Marguerita Choy and Cynthia Osterman)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.Oksana Shachko was one of four feminist activists who founded Femen in Ukraine in 2008

Paris: Oksana Shachko, one of the founders of the Femen feminist protest movement, has been found dead in her Paris apartment, the group said on Monday.

Activists from Femen, known for its bold topless protests, said the 31-year-old Ukrainian had been found on Monday with a suicide note next to her body.

"It is with great regret and deep pain that I must confirm the death of Oksana," said Inna Shevchenko, one of Femen's leaders, who also lives in the French capital.

Another Femen founder, Anna Gutsol, wrote on Facebook - "RIP. The most fearless and vulnerable Oksana Shachko has left us.

"We mourn together with her relatives and friends," she said, adding that the group was awaiting "the official version from the police".

Shachko was one of four feminist activists who founded Femen in Ukraine in 2008.

Exiled in France since 2013, she had since left the group and was working as an artist.

Operating under the slogan "I came, I stripped, I won," Femen quickly drew attention around the world with its bare-breasted protests against sexism.

Their protests eventually started targeting authoritarianism and racism, with Russia's Vladimir Putin a particular target, alongside France's far-right National Front party.

But in recent years the group has struggled with internal divisions as well as legal proceedings against its members.

In 2011, Femen said Shachko was among three members "kidnapped" by security agents and forced to strip naked in a forest after staging a topless protest mocking Belarussian strongman Alexander Lukashenko.

"The agents had poured oil over the three women, threatened to set them on fire, and cut off their hair," Femen said.

According to the group, She was abducted again by unknown assailants during a visit by Putin to Ukraine.

Femen's lawyer said Shachko was beaten so badly that she was briefly hospitalised.Four CRPF personnel were injured in a grenade attack by militants in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, a police official said.

Srinagar: Four CRPF personnel were injured in a grenade attack by militants in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, a police official said.

Militants hurled a grenade towards security forces at Bijbehara in Anantnag district, resulting in injuries to four personnel, the official said.

The area was cordoned off and search operations launched to nab the militants, he added.DHAKA/KUTUPALONG REFUGEE CAMP, Bangladesh (Reuters) - Heavy monsoon rains triggered landslides and flooding in southeastern Bangladesh on Wednesday, killing five children and forcing a thousand people to relocate, including in the Rohingya refugee camps. The children were killed in landslides near Cox's Bazar and Ramu, said Kazi Abdur Rahman, a senior Bangladesh government official in the area. Three more people were injured and taken to hospital and a thousand were evacuated

DHAKA/KUTUPALONG REFUGEE CAMP, Bangladesh (Reuters) - Heavy monsoon rains triggered landslides and flooding in southeastern Bangladesh on Wednesday, killing five children and forcing a thousand people to relocate, including in the Rohingya refugee camps.

The children were killed in landslides near Cox's Bazar and Ramu, said Kazi Abdur Rahman, a senior Bangladesh government official in the area. Three more people were injured and taken to hospital and a thousand were evacuated.

It was not immediately clear how many Rohingya refugees were relocated. Aid agencies have warned that the monsoon, which typically peaks in July, could threaten many thousands of people.

"A number of families were moved due to flooding and minor landslides," said Abul Kalam, the Bangladesh government official in charge of the refugees. "The rain shows no sign of stopping but there has been no major catastrophe inside the camps," he said.

The UNHCR and IOM were also unable to immediately provide figures.

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled across the border from Myanmar since Aug. 2017 when the Myanmar military launched a violent crackdown in Northern Rakhine State. The Rohingya say thousands were killed or raped and their homes were burned down. Myanmar denies this and says its security forces were conducting legitimate counter-insurgency operations.

In the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, the market near the Modhuchara bamboo bridge began flooding in the early hours of the morning, said a refugee who lives there.

"We were awake when the flooding started," said Abul Hakim. "We could not sleep well because of the fear of flooding."

"I want to move from here. There is a high risk of flooding and drowning and a high risk of landslides," he said as his one-and-a-half year-old grandson played in the water.

He said there were about 15 Rohingya families living in the area near the market, and it was the second time it had flooded. Floodwaters near Hakim's bamboo and plastic shelter were shin-deep.

At least three refugees have been killed in the monsoon since early May.

As of July 18, about 21,000 refugees had been relocated because their shelters were threatened by landslides, the UNHCR said.

(Reporting by Serajul Quadir in DHAKA and Clare Baldwin in KUTUPALONG; Editing by Andrew Bolton)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.Narendra Modi arrived Wednesday on the last leg of his Africa tour, presented the country statement of India at the BRICS leaders' closed session

Johannesburg: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday reaffirmed India's commitment to multilateralism, international trade and rules-based world order as he participated in the BRICS Summit here.

Modi, who arrived Wednesday on the last leg of his Africa tour, presented the country statement of India at the BRICS leaders' closed session.

"Celebrating a decade towards peace, harmony and shared development and prosperity! PM @narendramodi joins fellow #BRICS leaders at the group photo at Sandton International Convention Centre at the formal beginning of the Summit," Raveesh Kumar, the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, tweeted.

"The prime minister reaffirmed India's commitment to multilateralism, international trade and rules-based world order," he said.

The grouping's leaders during the 10th edition of the BRICS Summit are expected to deliberate on global hot-spot issues, international peace and security, global governance and trade issues among others.

Modi is also expected to meet BRICS leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders.

BRICS is a grouping of five major emerging economies- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as "BRIC", before the induction of South Africa in 2010.The hosts of a popular New Jersey radio show were off the air Thursday after calling the nation's first Sikh attorney general 'turban man'  the latest slur against a career prosecutor who says he faces countless 'small indignities and humiliations' no matter how far he rises or how important his position.

New Jersey: The hosts of a popular New Jersey radio show were off the air Thursday after calling the nation's first Sikh attorney general "turban man"  the latest slur against a career prosecutor who says he faces countless "small indignities and humiliations" no matter how far he rises or how important his position.

Gurbir Grewal, who wears a turban and full beard, took to Twitter on Thursday morning to call for an end to "small-minded intolerance" after he was attacked by the hosts of the "Dennis & Judi" show.

WKXW-FM hosts Dennis Malloy and Judi Franco uttered the slur on their Wednesday show while talking about Grewal's directive to prosecutors to temporarily suspend marijuana prosecutions statewide. Malloy said he couldn't remember Grewal's name, telling Franco: "I'm just going to say the guy with the turban."

Malloy and Franco acknowledged their words might be offensive, but Malloy said "if that offends you then don't wear the turban and maybe I'll remember your name."

The pair continued to refer to Grewal as "turban man" throughout the segment.

Officials at the station, New Jersey 101.5, suspended Malloy and Franco indefinitely. The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund called the suspensions an "appreciated first step" but called for the station to apologize. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy said hate speech "does not belong on our airwaves."

Neither host responded to emails seeking comment.

Grewal himself addressed the duo's remarks on Twitter, noting he has three daughters "and yesterday, I told them to turn off the radio." In a follow-up tweet, he added: "It's time to end the small-minded intolerance."

For Grewal, the son of Indian immigrants, Wednesday's slights stood out only because the audience for them was bigger.

He said he's been called a "towel head" and a terrorist, and told to "go back home"  Grewal was born and raised in New Jersey  more times than he can count. He said he's felt eyes on him everywhere he goes.

"Throughout my life and regardless of the positions I've held, I've faced these small indignities and humiliations," Grewal said.

And it continued after he took office in January.

Grewal said he was invited to give a speech at a corporate office. His staff arrived ahead of him and had no problem gaining admittance. When Grewal showed up, a security guard told him he "wasn't on the list" and wouldn't let him through.

Grewal said he spent 15 minutes explaining who he was. He was finally let in and delivered his speech  on diversity and inclusion.

The Sikh Coalition, a New York-based advocacy group, said the visible markers of the faith  unshorn hair and turbans  have long made Sikhs a target for bigotry and hate crimes. The group on Thursday called for religious and cultural sensitivity training for the radio station's staff.

"These statements against the top law enforcement official in the state of New Jersey are particularly egregious coming from amplified voices of radio hosts, given the prominence of racism and xenophobia against Sikhs across the country," said Satjeet Kaur, the Sikh Coalition's executive director.

Grewal served as a federal prosecutor in New York and New Jersey before Republican Gov. Chris Christie tapped him to lead the prosecutor's office in Bergen County, New Jersey's most populous. Christie's replacement, Democrat Phil Murphy, picked Grewal to be attorney general, saying he wanted a prosecutor who would stand up to President Donald Trump.

As attorney general, Grewal has threatened to sue firearms companies unless they stop marketing and selling untraceable weapons; launched an investigation into the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal; and joined other Democratic attorneys general in suing the Trump administration over the separation of migrant families.

Grewal appeared eager to move on from the radio hosts' remarks, tweeting later Thursday: "Ok, back to business." Through his office, he declined an interview request.

The "Dennis & Judi" show has been a fixture on New Jersey radio for more than 20 years, and many of their loyal listeners called the station Thursday to protest the pair's removal. Fill-in host Steve Trevelise, a longtime friend of Malloy and Franco, said on the air that the situation was "fluid."

"I can tell you they're not racist. They're just not," Trevelise said. "Not a racist bone in their body."TORONTO/CAIRO (Reuters) - Canadian police denied claims on Wednesday by Islamic State that it was responsible for a weekend shooting in Toronto that killed two people and wounded 13. Faisal Hussain, 29, was identified by police as the gunman who opened fire on a busy Toronto street, killing a 10-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman.

TORONTO/CAIRO (Reuters) - Canadian police denied claims on Wednesday by Islamic State that it was responsible for a weekend shooting in Toronto that killed two people and wounded 13.

Faisal Hussain, 29, was identified by police as the gunman who opened fire on a busy Toronto street, killing a 10-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman. He was found dead shortly after the shooting, authorities said.

Islamic State said he "was a soldier of the Islamic State and carried out the attack in response to calls to target the citizens of the coalition countries."

The group did not provide further detail or evidence for the claim made by its AMAQ news agency.

"At this stage, we have no evidence to support these claims," said Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders.

"We will continue to explore every investigative avenue including interviewing those who knew Mr. Hussain, reviewing his online activity, and looking into his experiences with mental health."

Hussain's family said their son, who worked in a grocery store but spent much of his time at home, struggled with severe mental illness.

Police said it was not yet known how Hussain obtained a gun.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, citing an unnamed police source, said on Wednesday that he got the gun from his brother and the weapon was traced to the United States.

The brother has been in a coma for some time, neighbours told Reuters, and is hospitalized. A sister died after a car accident several years ago.

Late Tuesday, police identified the 10-year-old victim as Julianna Kozis. Reese Fallon, 18, a recent high school graduate also died.

(Reporting by Omar Fahmy in Cairo and Danya Hajjaji in Toronto; Editing by John Stonestreet and Susan Thomas)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.BERLIN (Reuters) - German opposition parties have criticised Chancellor Angela Merkel for not providing more detail of her discussions with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the head of Russia's military general staff Valery Gerasimov.

BERLIN (Reuters) - German opposition parties have criticised Chancellor Angela Merkel for not providing more detail of her discussions with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the head of Russia's military general staff Valery Gerasimov.

A spokeswoman for Merkel had on Tuesday disclosed the meeting, also attended by Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, and said the talks centred on Syria, the situation in the Middle East and the conflict in Ukraine. She gave no further details.

Greens lawmaker Omid Nouripour told the mass-circulation Bild it was "hard to believe" that Germany had used a waiver to allow Gerasimov to visit Germany even though he has been barred from entering the European Union under sanctions imposed in April 2014, after Russia annexed the Crimea region of Ukraine.

He criticised Merkel's government for failing to provide details of the reason and substance of the surprise talks, and said his party would now "pursue the issue parliamentarily". It was not immediately clear what such action could entail.

Bijan Djir-Sarai, foreign policy spokesman for the pro-business Free Democrats, said it was "regrettable and odd" that the German government was being so tight-lipped about the meeting, and had not announced it ahead of time.

He told the paper the silence on the matter was "suspicious".

The paper quoted Ulrike Demmer, deputy government spokeswoman, as saying the meetings were confidential.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Andrew Bolton)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.A federal appeals court on Wednesday struck down a California school districts policy of inviting clergy members or others to lead prayers before its school board meetings.

The ruling involving the 28,000-student Chino Valley Unified School District adds to the disagreement among federal appeals court circuits about school board prayers, potentially making the case one that might interest the U.S. Supreme Court.

The boards prayer policy and practice violate the establishment clause, said a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, in San Francisco, in reference to the First Amendments prohibition against government establishment of religion.

The boards invocations are not the sort of solemnizing and unifying prayer, directed at lawmakers themselves and conducted before an audience of mature adults free from coercive pressures to participate, that the legislative-prayer tradition contemplates, the court said in a unsigned per curiam opinion in Freedom From Religion Foundation v. Chino Valley Unified School District . Instead, these prayers typically take place before groups of schoolchildren whose attendance is not truly voluntary.

The Chino board has included prayers since at least 2010, court papers say, but in 2013 it adopted a policy calling for clergy members with congregations within the district to lead prayers. If no clergy member is available for a given meeting, the board member may solicit a volunteer from the audience or the board itself, which has five adult members and one student representative.

Court papers say the prayers delivered at Chino board meetings have overwhelmingly been Christian, with board members sometimes amplifying Christian thoughts and beliefs. At a 2014 meeting, the school board president urged everyone who does not know Jesus Christ to go and find Him, the appeals court said.

At another meeting, that same board president thanked the minister who had delivered the invocation for your serving the Lord Jesus Christ and serving all of our students because we do need your prayers [on a] daily basis, court papers say.

The prayer policy and practices were challenged under the establishment clause by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a Madison, Wis.-based group that has been increasingly active in challenging religious practices at public schools.

A federal district judge ruled against the policy and issued an injunction barring the board from conducting or permitting prayers at its meetings. In its July 25 decision affirming the district court, the 9th Circuit court panel held that prayers at school board meetings were in a different class from the legislative prayers upheld by the Supreme Court in Marsh v. Chambers , a 1983 case involving state legislative invocations, and Town of Greece v. Galloway , a 2014 decision that upheld prayers at a town council meeting.

We find that the practice of prayer at Chino Valley Board meetings does not fit within the tradition long followed in Congress and the state legislatures, the court said.

Unlike a session of Congress or a state legislature, or a meeting of a town board, the Chino Valley Board meetings function as extensions of the educational experience of the districts public schools, the 9th Circuit panel continued. The presence of large numbers of children and adolescents, in a setting under the control of public-school authorities, is inconsonant with the legislative-prayer tradition.

The panel recognized that three other federal appeals court have ruled on school board prayers, with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit , in Cincinnati, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit , in Philadelphia, striking down such policies in decisions issued before the Supreme Courts decision in the Town of Galloway case. In 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, in New Orleans, upheld a Texas school districts policy of permitting students to lead prayers. The Supreme Court last November declined to take up an appeal of that decision.

The 9th Circuit panel noted that there was no student board member on the Texas board in the 5th Circuit case, while there is a student representative at every Chino Valley board meeting.

The panel also upheld the district courts broad injunction against the policy, rejecting the school boards arguments that the prohibition against prayers at its meetings would require board members to censor speech protected by the First Amendment.

The only speech that [the injunction] requires the board members to refrain from engaging in or permitting others to engage in is speech that would cause the district to violate the establishment clause, the court said.Imran Khan was portrayed as a messiah in the land of the pure by the national media while Sharif was shown as a symbol of evil. And this game started a year ago, if not more.

The general elections in Pakistan were full of surprises and shocks, some we have heard and seen, the others would have to still wait. In the early hours of Thursday morning, we tried entering one of the polling stations at Islamabad's NA-53 constituency, but were told media persons cannot go in with their cell phones, cameras and notes. It was shocking. Whispering into my ear, a German colleague asked me if journalists were treated the same way back in 2013.

I made a few calls and learnt that journalists did have a free hand in Islamabad when it came to reporting and visiting polling stations with their equipment in 2013. Some in the neighbourhood were questioning how the elections were expected to be transparent if journalists were not allowed to report freely.

Eventually, journalists had a sigh of relief when they were told they could visit the polling station one at a time, though they couldn't spend much time inside with their equipment. And one by one, on the basis of their teams, the security officers called the journalists to see what was happening, and they could carry their cameras as well.

The question of rigging

Even before polling day, the issue of rigging elections had been highlighted. The crackdown on Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers helped its arch-rival Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif was portrayed as a criminal and the media was ordered to keep mum and to stop using the term "former prime minister of Pakistan" for Sharif.

Imran Khan was portrayed as a messiah in the land of the pure by the national media while Sharif was shown as a symbol of evil. And this game started a year ago, if not more.

It's a known fact, at least in urban areas, that it's impossible for the establishment to directly get involved in rigging elections, like it does in rural areas. So what it does in the cities is to create a divide within a political party's votebank, which may result in the party suffering a defeat. This was also on display with the PML-N, by using the carrot and stick policy, while dealing with its party workers.

In rural areas, however, they control everything  from the ballot boxes to the polling stations.

"The army and the Military Intelligence personnel are snatching the identity cards of our supports in different areas to stop them from polling," tweeted Mohsin Dawar, a founding member of Pakthun Tahafuz Movement, and provincial candidate for Khyber Pakthunkwa.

Approximately 60 percent of Pakistan's population lives in rural areas. These places rarely get a chance to make it to the national media, thereby making it easy for the manipulators to select their favorite candidates.

While requesting anonymity, a Pakistani senator from Balochistan said, "Just a day before the election, the establishment shifted ballot boxes to its headquarters and started stamping to support its candidate. In many constituencies in Kech district, particularly in areas along the Iran border, such as Buleda and Tump, where insurgents control large swathes, the ballot boxes have been given to the candidates favoured by the establishment. And they are all supporting the newly established political party, the Balochistan Awami Party."

Many such incidents have been reported from Balochistan itself. Rubina Baloch, a resident of Mashkay, one of the most troubled towns in the troubled province, said, "In Jebiri, Ronjan and Konaro of PB-44 Awaram-cum-Panjgoor, I could see no ballot boxes though polling stations had opened. This is how elections are held in Balochistan."

"The security officials came up with the ballot boxes around 12 o'clock, but by 4 pm, they shut down the doors of the stations for the public. And they invited their favorite candidate in the station after closing it down," she added.

Security situation

A guard at a polling booth told us that Islamabad is "on high security alert" because of the deadly attack in Balochistan. But despite the heavy presence of the army, the frontier corps and assorted law enforcement agencies, the restive province remains vulnerable. Religious forces, not only in Balochistan but also in the rest of the country, are given a free hand by the State in countering nationalist forces, while these elements now operate independently of their former handlers and create mayhem whenever they want to.

Less than two weeks before polling, a suicide bomber detonated himself in Mastung, killing 151 persons and wounding 177. The blood on the walls in Balochistan hadn't even dried that another suicide bomber killed himself and 31 others at a polling station in Quetta. "We were naive to think that this election would be more peaceful than the last ones. Elections are always violent in the country, and this fear hasn't let people leave their homes and cast their votes either," said Rasheed Baloch, a local journalist based in Quetta.

Yasmeen Lehri, a provincial candidate, called it a security lapse, adding, "The forces have failed to provide us security. And they also have failed in conducting peaceful elections. A transparent election is a myth in the land of pure."

Is history repeating itself?

Back in 1970, Pakistan conducted its first ever electoral cycle. The Awami League won the election by a landslide, but the party's mandate was not accepted by the authority in the power corridor. The league was not accepted as the representative party of the masses which resulted in a catastrophe.

However, one thing is common to both 1970 and 2018: The public mandate is not accepted. Last time, it was the establishment who ignored the reality that the league had emerged as victorious, while recently, the PML-N's mandate might be manipulated by blatant rigging.

This election wouldn't pave the way for a democratic or peaceful Pakistan. If things do go in the way intended, there would be a power tussle in Punjab and elsewhere. The establishment would try and suppress it. But the people won't take it lying down. It would be turned into another disaster if the true representatives aren't accepted by the establishment.A European Union monitoring team said that the campaign for Pakistans general election this week featured a lack of equality that meant it was not a level playing field for all parties.

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As per the latest unofficial trends on ARY News , PTI is leading on 111 seats and PML-N on 63 seats. PPP is trailing at 38 seats.

He rejected any wrongdoing in the election and said "the issue of fraud can be discussed after ECP announces the results."

"Result Transmission Service stopped working under pressure and has delayed results. Presiding officers have been asked to meet their returning officers, along with army officers assigned to their voting booths, with the results," he said.

Facing questions over the delay in declaring results, ECP secretary Babar Yaqoob said the Result Transmission Service failed after results of 25,000 out of 85,000 polling stations were uploaded.

When asked about the delay in transmission of results he said, "There only has been a delay; there was no problem in the system. The delay has now happened and we cannot do anything about it." He also added that the elections were "100 percent fair and transparent".

He also announced the first non-official, preliminary result of PP-11 (Rawalpindi VI), which PTI's Chaudhry Adnan won with 43,079 votes, reported Dawn .

Chief Election Commissioner Sardar Raza Khan held a press conference at 4 am on Thursday morning to apprise the media the reasons behind the delay in posting results. He began by thanking police and security personnel, the Pakistan Army and chief of armed staff for their role in ensuring the smooth conduct of elections.

As per unofficial trends, according to Dawn , PTI is leading in 112 seats, while PML-N is second with 65 seats. Bilawal Bhutto's PPP is trailing at third place with 43 seats.

According to Pakistan Today , PTI chief Imran Khan has bagged 8,033 votes in NA- 131 Lahore and is in the lead against PML-Ns Khawaja Saad Rafique, who has garnered 7,644 votes so far.

As per unofficial trends, Pakistan Today reported PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif is leading NA-132 Lahore with 84,362 votes against PTIs Mansha Sindhu who has managed to secure 52,213 till now.

- The Presiding Officer takes a screenshot of both the forms and uploads them to the Results Transmission System, which is an Android app enabling election officers to send results to the ECP in real time.

- The presiding officer fills Form 45 and Form 46 for every NA and PA seat. These forms contain information about the candidate and how many votes they received. This data can be shared with polling agents and candidates present at stations.

- The bags are then handed over to the Returning Officer (RO) who, in turn, hands it over to the District Returning Officer (DRO). The DRO then submits the bags to the ECP's offices or storage houses. Green bags are for NA votes, white for Provincial Assembly votes and blue for unverified votes.

- Votes that are dropped into ballot boxes are manually counted by presiding officers and assistants in the polling booth.

Facing questions over the delay in declaring results, ECP secretary Babar Yaqoob said on Thursday morning, the Result Transmission Service failed after results of 25,000 out of 85,000 polling stations were uploaded. According to Dawn , this is how votes are counted:

Following technical glitches in the Result Transmission System which led to delay in announcement of results, an ECP source said that system has not yet recovered, and it will take about three to four hours more to get all the results.

Will take 3-4 hours to get all results out, says ECP

The Express Tribune reported that according to unofficial results, the Awami Muslim League (AML) president Sheikh Rasheed has won NA-62 (Rawalpindi-VI) with 1,17,718 votes.

In Islamabad, PTI bagged all seats, where in NA-54 (Islamabad-III), Asad Umer defeated Anjum Aqeel Khan, while in NA-53 (Islamabad II) Imran Khan defeated former Abbasi. Similarly, in NA-52 (Islamabad-I), PML-N candidate Tariq Fazal Chaudhary lost to PTI's Raja Khurram, Chaudhary was regularly elected to National Assembly since 2008.

The biggest setback for former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is losing both seats from his home constituency NA-57 (Rawalpindi-I) and NA-53 (Islamabad II).

Results in constituencies where Tahreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan is winning have been stopped and polling agents are forced to leave the premises without giving them signed copies of Form 45. TLP founder chairman Khadim Hussain Rizvi and and Pir Mohammad Afzal Qadri have condemned the action of the poll officials, and said that this is a blantant violations of the rules. Via Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan

PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif (22,756 votes) has lost NA-3 (Swat-II) as well to PTI's Saleem Rehman (68,162 votes), unofficial results show as per The Express Tribune. However, Sharif is currently is leading NA-132 (Lahore).

Former education minister Balighur Rehman, who served in the Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Cabinet, has suffere a defeat, as have former law and home minister Rana Sana Ullah, and PML-N candidates Tehmina Daultana, Tallal Chaudhary. The secular Awami National Party's chief Asafandiyar Wali Khan and the Jamat-e-Islami chief contesting on an MMA ticket have also suffered defeats.

PTI chief has polled 92,891 votes from Islamabad's NA-53 constituency, securing an easy victory over former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi of the PML-N.

Bezinjo went on to say, "Frontier Corps, army and the Election Commission of Pakistan have been on the same table for manipulating the election in Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan. The country has become a laughing stock globally because the final election results are still withheld and the army, and not the masses, has decided the results. In Balochistan, the army, ECP and FC did the selection. In PB-44, they did not allow our people to cast their votes, and did not count the results from many polling stations. They did it in the whole of Balochistan. But we will not keep mum. We will fight for democracy and to uphold the people's mandate."

All major political parties have rejected the election results. Senator Mir Hasil Khan Bezinjo, the National Party president, told The Guardian, "The election was completely rigged, one of the worst elections in the history of Pakistan. We will not accept the result. All major political parties who rejected the result  PML-N, PPP, MMA, NP, etc.  will hold a press conference on Friday in Islamabad in order to decide their future course of action concerning the rigged elections."

Calling the results "realistic, former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf rejected charges of poll rigging in the election. "I certainly won't (pay heed to the allegations of poll rigging), because I think this is bad habit with those who lose here. They always start cribbing that there has been rigging. I don't think there has been rigging. The results are very realistic," he said.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, which has maintained a steady lead in the results so far, on Thursday indicated that party leader Asad Umar, who also won the national assembly seat from Islamabad (NA-54), could be the next finance minister of the country. Umar managed to retain the seat he won in 2013 in a battle with PML-N's Anjum Aqeel.

According to local media reports, an FIR has been registered against PML-N candidate Imtiaz Ahmed and 150 other workers in Rahimyar Khan for attacking a returning officers office. Samaa TV reported that the workers were holding a protest against the alleged irregularities in the counting process and they ended up destroying some property. A cases was registered against them under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Reporting for 101reporters from Pakistan, Riazul Haq gives a brief recap of all that has happened so far in Pakistan election. Results were expected to come in at 2 am Pakistan Standard Time on 26 July, however, due to allegations of rigging and irregularities, results have been delayed so far.

WATCH: A quick wrap of all that has happened so far in Pakistan General Election

So far a little over 50 percent of the votes have been counted, and the trends so far suggest that no candidate of Hafiz Saeed-backed new political party has been successful across the country.

PTI candidate from NA-25 (Nowshera) seat, Pervez Khattak has registered a massive win with a margin of over 47,000 votes. Khattak defeated Syed Zulfiqar from the MMA.

Moreover, this is the first time that the province has re-elected an incumbent party to power.

However, the reason all there names figure in a single sentence is because they all suffered a major setback in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as people defeated these political heavyweights, Samaa TV reported. The trends so far suggest that the rPTI is set to return in the provincial Assembly and it also retains a comfortable lead in all National Assembly seats in the region.

PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif, MMA president Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Jamaat-e-Islami chief Siraj-ul-Haq, ANP head Asfandyar Wali Khan and Qaumi Watan Party chairperson Aftab Sherpao: These are the heads of six mainstream political parties in Pakistan.

PTI chief Imran Khan said that in the past decade, he saw the rise and fall of Pakistan. He condemned the violence in elections, especially in Balochistan as he praised the people for coming out in large numbers to vote despite the intimidation.

"I came into politics 22 years ago because I believe that the potential of our country was not being realised. The Pakistan that I saw growing up deteriorated in front of my very eyes. I came into politics because I wanted Pakistan to become the country that Jinnah had envisioned. This has been a historic election," Imran Khan said.

"I just want to say a few things about the kind of Pakistan I want to see. My inspiration is our Prophet (PBUH) who believed in a welfare state; where we take responsibility for our weak. We became the opposite of the welfare state we were to become. The state where poverty rose, and the big dream for equality in Pakistan deteriorated," Imran Khan said.

"I have dreamt of a Pakistan where weak, repressed and downtrodden are helped out by state. I have envisioned Quadi-e-Azam's Pakistan in which basic human rights are fulfilled, merit is followed and poor are given what a welfare state should give out," Imran Khan said.

"There will be no political victimisation towards any of my opponents. The rule of law will apply equally to my supporters and those who are not. Accountability will begin with me, our ministers and then it will trickle down," Khan said. He said that he believes in strengthening the accountability courts and the institutions in the country in such a way that they hold people and politicians accountable.

Imran Khan said that he will feel ashamed to live in a palatial prime minister's house when 50 percent of the nations population lives under the poverty line. "We will use all governor houses for public and will live a life with low expenses," Khan said.

"I promise that I will protect the taxpayers' money. We will improve tax culture in such a way that common person will pay tax in confidence that their money will not go waste," Khan said.

Imran Khan said that unlike his predecessors, he will not spend the taxpayers' money on pomp and show but will bring in austerity measures to improve expenditure.

"We face grave economic challenges. From internal debt, to currency imbalance to trade deficit, due to dysfunctional institutions. We will create conducive environments for business & investment in Pakistan by rooting out corruption, Khan said.

"Our focus is will be on youth empowerment and relief for our farmers and labourers. Job creation and technological improvements will the cornerstone of our policy. We will improve institutions, farmers will be supported and skill education for youth," Imran Khan said.

"In the last few days, Indian media has portrayed me as if I was a villain in a Bollywood film. The narrative was that Imran Khan's election will bring about everything wrong in India-Pakistan relations. But I am the Pakistani who has traveled most extensively across India because of cricket," Imran Khan said.

He said, "Kashmir remains the biggest contention between the two nations and because of the human rights violations over last 30 years, the people of Kashmir have suffered massively. The countries must come together to stop this."

"Despite negative portrayal by the Indian media of me and my party, I will aim to work with India to develop better ties and develop good neighbourly nations with them. We must find an amicable solution for Kashmir and develop trade relations," Khan said.

"Foreign policy is a huge problem for us as a country right now. We need better relations with our neighbours so we can focus on nation-building," Khan said.

Imran Khan bats for ending blame game with India, says Kashmir solution can only be found across a table

"If India takes a step towards us, we are ready to reciprocate by walking two steps. But the step should at least come from them. Right now it is one sided where India is constantly just blaming us. ," Khan added.

He also said that he has seen that the ties have not progressed because the two countries have always indulged in blame game which further stagnated the bilateral relations. "Every time a terror-related incident happens anywhere in the world, India blames us, while we think that whatever happens in Balochistan is India's conspiracy. We should look beyond this blame game and strengthen our trade ties," Khan said.

Ready to take two steps towards India, if New Delhi takes one, says Imran Khan

Imran Khan, in his first media address since trends indicated that his party was in the lead, said that he is ready for an investigation into the rigging allegations being levelled by major political parties in Pakistan. "I will ensure that all and every concern of the Opposition is addressed. We will acknowledge all concerns, unlike previous governments. These are the cleanest, most transparent elections in the history of Pakistan," Khan said.

" We will strengthen and improve our relations with China. We want to work towards success of CPEC. We also want to send teams to learn poverty alleviation from China. How to lift our most poor who cant even eat two meals a day. The second thing we can learn from China is how they curbed corruption and set the example that corruption does not pay," Khan said.

PML-N candidate Mian Najeeb Ud Din Awaisi has won the NA-173 constituency, according to unofficial results. So far, 86,142 polls have been counted in favour of Awaisi while PTI's Khadeeja Aamir is the runner-up at 60,211 votes.

He urged India to stop propagating "venomous propaganda" against Pakistan. Faisal said that the position of any leading party must be accepted in the wake of the election results.

Pakistan on Thursday denounced what it called an uproar triggered by the Indian media over general elections in Pakistan and asked the neighbouring country to focus on its internal affairs. Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said that elections are a part of the democratic process and the Indian media must focus on its internal matters.

According to Dunya news, unofficial results suggest that of the 297 provincial seats in Punjab, PML-N looks set to win 126 seats, while the PTI trails close behind at 114. Reports have suggested that with PML-N short of majority mark, PTI may try and stitch an alliance with Independents to unseat the Sharifs'-led party in their home state of Punjab.

Nawaz further said that he firmly adheres to his 'respect for vote' stance, adding that he is standing for the restoration of civil supremacy.

Nawaz Sharif has rejected the election results and said that the mandate was snatched from his party, Geo News reported. The former Pakistan prime minister made the remarks during a meeting with party leaders at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi. reported.

Stood for restoration of civil supremacy but mandate has been snatched from us, says Nawaz Sharaf

Pakistan's election commission has said that the turn out for these polls was impressive, even though it said that the exact numbers will be revealed tomorrow. The poll panel's statement comes at a time when all major political parties (except winning PTI) had claimed that voters were prevented from casting vote due to slow polling process, and panel's failure to extend the deadline.

Pakistan's election commission has said that the official results can be expected to come out in the next three to four hours. The poll panel rejected all claims of rigging but acknowledged that it received over 670 complaints during the polling process. "There is no delay. 90% of results have been announced by Returning Officers in the field. We have received 82% out of it," ECP secretary Babar Yaqoob said.

He secured 37,245 votes while Zakaullah received 18,323 votes. Malani, a Pakistani Hindu Rajasthani Pushkarna Brahamin politician, was a member of parliament from 2003-08 on a reserved seat, nominated by the PPP. In 2013 general elections, Malani was elected as Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) in Sindh.

Mahesh Kumar Malani of Pakistan Peoples Party today became the first Hindu to win the National Assembly seat from Tharparkar in southern Sindh province. Malani, the 55-year-old minority community leader, defeated his nearest rival Arab Zakaullah of the Grand Democratic Alliance in the NA-222 constituency.

Lawyer Jibran Nasir, who contested election from Karachi as an Independent candidate, has criticised the Election Commission of Pakistan for failing to hold free and fair elections.

PPP leader and senator, Sherry Rehman said that PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto is yet to receive the formal results from his Lyari and Larkana constituencies. The claim came amid poll panel's claims that the elections were free and fair.

Due to the overwhelming crowd, the people who were already at the residence faced problems in going back. Babar Awan, a senior leader of PTI, was seen crossing the wires on a motorbike. Noman Ahmed, a security guard, who travelled hundreds of kilometres to come to Islamabad just to get a glimpse of Khan said, "I am waiting to just cross these barbed wires that are separating me from my leader. Its the happiest day of my life and I knew that my leader would be the next PM. He is our only hope."

Khans followers have come from across the country to congratulate him. Naseeb Ullah who came from Khyber Pakhtunkhva, said, "I am here to felicitate Khan and the Pakistani nation. This, definitely, is not just Khan's win but today the entire nation has triumphed.

Soon after Imran Khan's victory speech, his Bani Gala residence in Islamabad was filled with a huge crowd to celebrate the victory. The road, which leads to his place, was closed and police officials were standing alert while his supporters, were eagerly waiting. The barbed wires were a bulwark between Khan and his followers. "We can allow no one, even journalists, to go there because there is already an unmanageable crowd. The road is one way, so we have orders to stop people here," said a security guard.

She aslo said that the RTS crashing was quite a beautiful co-incidence. It shows that the election commission had no idea that there will be so much pressure on it, that there will be so much on the technology (RTS) that it will crash.

The PML-N leader questioned the delay in the results and claimed that Rawalpindi, Multan, Faisalabad and Lahore were targetted especially. "Why were the polling agents forced to leave the polling booths?" she asked, adding, "They (establishment) did everything to get their favourite elected. It was a beautiful co-incidence that the RTS crashed. The election commission had no idea that there will be so much pressure on it, that there will be so much on the technology (RTS) that it will crash.

She said that an All Parties Conference will be held in Islamabad where the parties will discuss the rigging of the election. "All the parties have reservations over releasing the result on handwritten slips and not via Form 45. This is a violation of the Election Code of Conduct," she added.

I n a series of tweets, quoting PML-N leader Maryam Aurangzeb, the party said, "The mandate for PML-N was stolen. The political parties have gathered the evidence of election rigging together, and have raised objections that the results of the election were delayed."

 As per the latest update from ECP, around 94.89 percent results of National and Provincial assemblies have been declared. PTI has won 110 seats in the National Assembly; PML-N 63 seats and PPP 42 seats.

Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has emerged as the largest party in the National Assembly with 119 seats, India Today reported quoting official poll results. The majority mark is 137 seats in the National Assembly.

Khan sincerely believed that he could rewrite the rules to suit the moment. He had scant regard for tournament rules, opponents, television channels, his own board, or anyone else for that matter. He ran the Pakistan team like a megalomaniac, caring two hoots for the selectors and dropping any player he thought would not fit into his scheme of things. He chose players at his whims and fancy. His word was law.

The Election Commission of Pakistan has released results for 95 percent of seats  ie: 251 out of 272 seats  and the PTI is leading in 110 of them. Even if it manages to win all 19 of the seats where counting is currently in progress, it may not be able to form government on its own.

Out of 356 aspirants from religious and banned outfits, not one could make his/her way to Parliament. This includes Hafiz Saeed's sons and the candidates the Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek leader had fielded, all of whom suffered defeats.

Former Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi took to Twitter to congratulate Imran Khan and said, "The 22 yr old struggle has finally paid off & deservedly. Pakistanis have a lot of expectations from u I really hope u lead from the front!"

It is a lesson that technologies should not be introduced before multiple tests. We will see how it can be improved, The Dawn quoted him as saying.

Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad has said that the unprecedented delay in releasing official results was due to the failure of the result transmission system (RTS), saying it did not work as expected.

In his first reaction over the general election results, Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has alleged that the polls had been "stolen" and warned that the "tainted and dubious results would cast a "bad impact" on the country's politics. Talking to visitors in Adiala Jail on Thursday, the incarcerated leader of the PML-N, expressed his reservations over the elections results in Faisalabad, Lahore and Rawalpindi, the Dawn reported.

PTI has denied rumours that it was in touch with Bilawal Bhutto-led PPP to get the required numbers to form a government at the Centre. The party tweeted out PTI leader Fawad Chaudhary's rebuttal to such rumours.

According to the official election commission data, the voter turnout for the National Assembly polls was 51.85 percent as compared to the 53 percent recorded in 2013 elections. In provincial polls, Balochistan saw the lowest turnout at 44.79 percent while Punjab had the highest turnout at 55.09 percent. Here is the state-wise turnout data. The data reflects only the number of valid votes casted.

Bilawal Bhutto-led Pakistan People's Party has decided to skip the all-party meet called by the PML-N in Islamabad on Friday. Party spokesperson Farhatullah Babar told Dawn, that the PPP was not informed in advance regarding the MPC, and the party did not see the need to attend it when its own leadership was gathering in Karachi to discuss the issue.

Nisar, who has been a National Assembly member since 1985, lost both his NA seats  NA-59 and NA-60  to PTI. Moreover, he lost one of the two provincial seats he contested from in Punjab.

Veteran Pakistani politician Chaudhary Nisar Khan, who was the interior minister in the previous PML-N government and only recently parted ways with the party owing to several differences, was defeated from his traditional stronghold of Rawalpindi.

Although there were several legal provisions aimed at ensuring a level playing field, we have concluded that there was a lack of equality and (of) opportunity, Michael Gahler, chief observer of the EU Election Observation Mission, told a news conference in its preliminary assessment of the poll.

A European Union monitoring team said that the campaign for Pakistans general election this week featured a lack of equality that meant it was not a level playing field for all parties.

Losing Lyari seat was perhaps one of the most humiliating defeats for the PPP. Bilawal Bhutto, whose family has a long association with the Lyari seat and even regarded it as a second home, only manage to get to third place in the electoral race. Besides, Bilawal managed to win from the PPP's fort of Larkana but lost to the PTI in Malakand.

The RO has ordered for a recount in the constituency, according to Geo TV .

Rafique, who lost to the PTI chairman in a closely-fought contest, has filed a complaint with the returning officer alleging that the presiding officer deliberately rejected hundreds of votes as invalid.

Absolutely no truth in the news of PTI establishing contact with PPP for the formation of government. @fawadchaudhry https://t.co/vvMs8Z188A

PTI has denied rumours that it was in touch with Bilawal Bhutto-led PPP to get the required numbers to form a government at the Centre. The party tweeted out PTI leader Fawad Chaudhary's rebuttal to such rumours.

According to the official election commission data, the voter turnout for the National Assembly polls was 51.85 percent as compared to the 53 percent recorded in 2013 elections. In provincial polls, Balochistan saw the lowest turnout at 44.79 percent while Punjab had the highest turnout at 55.09 percent. Here is the state-wise turnout data. The data reflects only the number of valid votes casted.

Bilawal Bhutto-led Pakistan People's Party has decided to skip the all-party meet called by the PML-N in Islamabad on Friday. Party spokesperson Farhatullah Babar told Dawn, that the PPP was not informed in advance regarding the MPC, and the party did not see the need to attend it when its own leadership was gathering in Karachi to discuss the issue.

Nisar, who has been a National Assembly member since 1985, lost both his NA seats  NA-59 and NA-60  to PTI. Moreover, he lost one of the two provincial seats he contested from in Punjab.

Veteran Pakistani politician Chaudhary Nisar Khan, who was the interior minister in the previous PML-N government and only recently parted ways with the party owing to several differences, was defeated from his traditional stronghold of Rawalpindi.

Although there were several legal provisions aimed at ensuring a level playing field, we have concluded that there was a lack of equality and (of) opportunity, Michael Gahler, chief observer of the EU Election Observation Mission, told a news conference in its preliminary assessment of the poll.

A European Union monitoring team said that the campaign for Pakistans general election this week featured a lack of equality that meant it was not a level playing field for all parties.

Losing Lyari seat was perhaps one of the most humiliating defeats for the PPP. Bilawal Bhutto, whose family has a long association with the Lyari seat and even regarded it as a second home, only manage to get to third place in the electoral race. Besides, Bilawal managed to win from the PPP's fort of Larkana but lost to the PTI in Malakand.

The RO has ordered for a recount in the constituency, according to Geo TV .

Rafique, who lost to the PTI chairman in a closely-fought contest, has filed a complaint with the returning officer alleging that the presiding officer deliberately rejected hundreds of votes as invalid.

Pakistan Election Results 2018 latest updates: A European Union monitoring team said that the campaign for Pakistans general election this week featured a lack of equality that meant it was not a level playing field for all parties.

Losing Lyari seat was perhaps one of the most humiliating defeats for the PPP. Bilawal Bhutto, whose family has a long association with the Lyari seat and even regarded it as a second home, only manage to get to third place in the electoral race. Besides, Bilawal managed to win from the PPP's fort of Larkana but lost to the PTI in Malakand.

According to the official election commission data, the voter turnout for the National Assembly polls was 51.85 percent as compared to the 53 percent recorded in 2013 elections. In provincial polls, Balochistan saw the lowest turnout at 44.79 percent while Punjab had the highest turnout at 55.09 percent.

PTI has denied rumours that it was in touch with Bilawal Bhutto-led PPP to get the required numbers to form a government at the Centre. The party tweeted out PTI leader Fawad Chaudhary's rebuttal to such rumours.

The ECP has corrected the results of NA-190 (DG Khan II), declaring Independent candidate Muhammad Amjad Farooq Khan Khosa as the winner, reported Dawn. Previously, PTI candidate Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa was declared as the winner with a thin margin. As per the new Form 47, the "clerical error" occurred due to entering the wrong number of votes in the Results Management System.

According to local Pakistan media, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has released provisional results of 251 out of 270 National Assembly (NA) seats which were polled on 25 July. According to the results, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is leading the NA tally with 110 NA seats. Trailing is the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) with 63 and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) with 42 seats.

There are a total of 12 independents in the NA so far as well.

PML-N leader and Shehbaz Sharif's son, Hamza said that the party will form government in Punjab province despite allegations of poll rigging. In a press conference on Friday, he said, "The democratic process should continue. The answer to a weak democracy is another democracy."

PTI chairman Imran Khan has reportedly tasked his confidant Jahangir Tareen with recruiting Independent Members of the Provincial Assembly in Punjab. The decision was made after an advisory meeting in Islamabad.

The Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) workers staged a protest in Karachi on Thursday night after their chairman, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, was defeated in NA-246 (Karachi South I), a PPP stronghold, as per unofficial results, reported Geo TV.

According to Dawn, PML-N's Khwaja Saad Rafique has challenged Imran Khan's NA-131 (Lahore) win in a petition submitted to Returning Officer Muhammad Akhtar Bhango. The former minister has alleged that the presiding officer deliberately rejected several votes in the constituency.

The Election Commission of Pakistan has released results for 95 percent of seats  ie: 251 out of 272 seats  and the PTI is leading in 110 of them. Even if it manages to win all 19 of the seats where counting is currently in progress, it may not be able to form government on its own.

As per the latest update from Election Commission of Pakistan on Friday, around 94.89 percent results of National and Provincial assemblies have been declared. PTI has won 110 seats in the National Assembly; PML-N 63 seats and PPP 42 seats.

Pakistan's election commission has said that the official results can be expected to come out in the next three to four hours. The poll panel rejected all claims of rigging but acknowledged that it received over 670 complaints during the polling process.

Poll panel has said that the turn out for these polls was impressive, even though it said that the exact numbers will be revealed tomorrow. The poll panel's statement comes at a time when all major political parties (except winning PTI) had claimed that voters were prevented from casting vote due to slow polling process, and panel's failure to extend the deadline.

Nawaz Sharif has rejected the election results and said that the mandate was snatched from his party, Geo News reported. The former Pakistan prime minister made the remarks during a meeting with party leaders at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.

Nawaz further said that he firmly adheres to his 'respect for vote' stance, adding that he is standing for the restoration of civil supremacy.

Imran Khan said that he is ready for an investigation into the rigging allegations being levelled by major political parties in Pakistan. "I will ensure that all and every concern of the Opposition is addressed. We will acknowledge all concerns, unlike previous governments. These are the cleanest, most transparent elections in the history of Pakistan," Khan said.

Imran Khan said that he has seen that the ties between India and Pakistan have not progressed because the two countries have always indulged in blame game which further stagnated the bilateral relations. "If India takes a step towards us, we are ready to reciprocate by walking two steps. But the step should at least come from them. Right now it is one sided where India is constantly just blaming us. ," Khan added.

Prime minister-elect Imran Khan said that the new Pakistan under the leadership of PTI will focus on policy, governance, transparency and foreign policies. Imran slammed the Indian media when he started speaking about its eastern neighbour and said that the media portrayed him as a "Bollywood villain" when the two nations should focus on furthering better ties with each other. Imran said the blame-game between India and Pakistan must stop. "Kashmiris have suffered significantly. India and Pakistan must take steps to improve trade relations and the situation in Kashmir."

Imran mentioned China and said that there are lessons to be learnt from Beijing too. "We will strengthen and improve our relations with China. We want to work towards success of CPEC. We also want to send teams to learn poverty alleviation from China. How to lift our most poor who cant even eat two meals a day." Lauding China's zero tolerance policy for corruption, Imran said, "The second thing we can learn from China is how they curbed corruption and set the example that corruption does not pay."

"We will not let political victimisation of anyone happen. No one will be above the law; this is our aim. And for these checks and balances, we need strong institutions. I dont think any leader has seen as many personal attacks as I have seen in the past 3 years. I have forgotten it all and its behind me. This is bigger than Imran Khan. This is about the country. We want to set an example that the law will be supreme. The west is ahead of us purely because of these principles and this must become our guiding principle."

Khan said that in the past decade, he saw the rise and fall of Pakistan. He condemned the violence in elections, especially in Balochistan as he praised the people for coming out in large numbers to vote despite the intimidation. "I came into politics 22 years ago because I believe that the potential of our country was not being realised. The Pakistan that I saw growing up deteriorated in front of my very eyes."

Trends show that chiefs of six mainstream political parties, including PPP's Bilawal Bhutto and MMA president Maulana Fazlur Rehman, are set to lose elections in the PTI stronghold, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. This was the first time in history of Pakistan that KPK is poised to re-elected a party in the provincial Assembly.

PTI chief Imran Khan is the first ever Pakistani politician to have contested five seats and win all of them. Prior to Khan, only Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto contested from four constituencies at the same time, of which he won three and lost out on one seat to Mufti Mehmood.

Former Pakistan prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who was contesting from Murree and Islamabad, has lost both seats to PTI candidates. Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Islam chief and prime minister in-waiting Imran Khan is expected to deliver his victory speech at 4 pm PST from Islamabad's Bani Gala area.

Former Pakistan prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi (1,24,703 votes) has lost to PTI's Saddiqui Ali Abbasi (1,36,249 votes) on his home turf NA-57 (Rawalpindi I).

Quoting party sources, Dawn reported that Hamza Shehbaz Sharif and Saad Rafique have been tasked with recruitment of Independent winners to ensure PML-N is able to form government in Punjab.

According to latest unofficial election trends, ARY News reported that PTI is currently leading in 115 seats, a drop from the earlier 120. PML-N, on the other hand, is now ahead in 64 seats, and PPP in 38 seats.

According to The Guardian, Pakistan will have to wait until Thursday evening for official results to be announced, ECP officials have said. It is 24 hours after polls closed on Wednesday evening. Meanwhile, the Pakistan stock market showed a bullish trend, a day after the country voted for the second consecutive democratic government, as early unofficial election results tipped PTI to win most seats.

PML-N chief Shehbaz Sharif's son, Muhammad Hamza Shehbaz Sharif has bagged NA-124 (Lahore II) with 1,46,294 votes, defeating PTI's Muhammad Nauman Qaiser, who secured 80,981 votes unofficial results show. As per latest unofficial trends, PTI leading in 119 seats, PMLN in 61 seats and PPP is ahead in 40 seats.

According to Dawn, PML-N's Muhammed Riaz won NA-123 (Lahore-I) with 97,193 votes, defeating PTI which secured 72,535 votes. Meanwhile, the Awami National Party general secretary, Iftikhar Hussain rejected the election results.

The biggest setback for former Pakistan prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is losing both seats from his home constituency NA-57 (Rawalpindi-I) and NA-53 (Islamabad II).

In Islamabad, PTI bagged all seats, where in NA-54 (Islamabad-III), Asad Umer defeated Anjum Aqeel Khan, while in NA-53 (Islamabad II) Imran Khan defeated former Abbasi. Similarly, in NA-52 (Islamabad-I), PML-N candidate Tariq Fazal Chaudhary lost to PTI's Raja Khurram, Chaudhary was regularly elected to National Assembly since 2008.

Following technical glitches in the Result Transmission System which led to delay in announcement of results, an ECP source said that system has not yet recovered, and it will take about three to four hours more to get all the results.

Imran Khan's spokesperson Naeemul Haque said that the PTI chief will address Pakistan on Thursday at 2 pm PST, reported Dawn, in celebration and recognition of the massive support received from the people of Pakistan in the 2018 elections which was a contest between the forces of good and evil.

PTI chief Imran Khan has bagged NA-95 (Mianwali) with 1,27,530 votes, reported ARY News, as per unofficial results. He defeated PML-N's Abdullah Khan who received 49,532 votes.

Amid allegations of wrongdoing and rigging in the Pakistan elections, PML-N chief Shehbaz Sharif said the party rejected the election results. "We will use all political and legal options for redressal of these glaring excesses. This is an outright rigging and the results based on massive rigging will cause irreparable damage to the country," he said in a tweet.

As per unofficial trends, according to Dawn, Imran Khan's PTI is leading in 112 seats in Pakistan, while PML-N is second with 65 seats. Bilawal Bhutto's PPP is trailing at third place with 43 seats.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday rejected allegations of any wrongdoing in the general election after several political parties raised objections over the process and said they feared rigging.

The ECP said the election results were being collected and the first official result will be announced soon.

ECP secretary Babar Yaqoob said Result Transmission Service failed after results of 25,000 out of 85,000 polling stations were uploaded.

He rejected any wrongdoing in the election and said "the issue of fraud can be discussed after ECP announces the results". The Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has claimed victory despite serious questions being raised over the authenticity of the election process.

Sensing victory, PTI supporters erupted in jubilation as trends showed the party was leading on 111 seats. According to latest trends available, PTI was followed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of jailed leader Nawaz Sharif. PML-N was leading on 68 National Assembly seats.

Hundreds of PTI supporters came out on streets in several cities, dancing and celebrating. "We have got our Naya Pakistan," said Shahid Ali, one of the supporters, as he danced euphorically near the busy Faizabad interchange, which links Islamabad with the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

The Press Trust of India correspondent was caught for several hours in traffic when returning from the election coverage as highly-charged PTI workers raised victory slogans.

Reports said similar celebrations were being organised in other cities as well. The victory and joy in the PTI camp appeared premature as the incumbent PML-N and Bilawal Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) rejected the results. "Our polling agents were not given results and we will not accept it," said Khurshid Shah of PPP.

PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif alleged that the election process was "blatantly" rigged. He warned of protests. Analysts predicted tumultuous weeks ahead for Pakistan as a strong opposition to the election results was building up.

PML-N was leading on 67 seats and PPP on 39. "They will make a lethal combination if they joined hands against Imran Khan," analyst Sohail Warriach said.

A party can form the government if it manages to clinch 172 seats out of the total 342. A single party will need at least 137 of the 272 directly-elected seats to be able to form the government on its own.Despite Election Commission of Pakistan's orders to ensure a regulated power supply across the country, voting was delayed at several booths.

As Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) inches closer to becoming the single largest party in the country's general elections, by leading in an early count of votes, allegations of electoral rigging by rival political parties have raised doubts about the election process.

To make matters worse, the results are likely to be delayed because of a failure in the transmission service. Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) secretary Babar Yaqoob on Thursday said that 'Result Transmission Service' has stopped and is behind the delay. "Presiding officers have been asked to meet their returning officers, along with army officers assigned to their voting booths, with the results," said Yaqoob.

Several rival party leaders had earlier alleged that the delay was caused by a 'wicked conspiracy' or pressure by PTI. "The RTS system had not been tested in Pakistan," he remarked.

Local media said that less than half the votes had been counted more than 13 hours after polls closed, an unprecedented delay that has fuelled widespread fears over the legitimacy of the exercise.

The Election Commission of Pakistan dismissed allegations of manipulation, blaming the delay on glitches in new, untested counting software.

"These elections were 100 percent fair and transparent," said Chief Election Commissioner Sardar Muhammad Raza early Thursday as the outcry grew.

Raza, however, did not say when election authorities would be in a position to announce the results.

Glitches, power outages, malfunctions

The delayed result comes in the backdrop of multiple complaints of hampered voting and poor infrastructural arrangements ahead of voting on Wednesday. There were no back-up plans in case things went wrong or if the counting system faced problems.

And that is exactly what happened. Despite the Election Commission of Pakistan's orders to ensure a regulated power supply across the country, the Dawn reported power outages at several polling stations in Peshawar and around that delayed voting. This led to women voters and election staff facing several difficulties, the report said.

Meanwhile, Times Now reported that in Jacobabad, in the Sindh province, unavailability of ink led to delays in the polling process. Several polling stations in Lahore also witnessed delays as the election staff did not reach the venue on time, the report said.

The report also mentioned that election agents were not allowed to enter polling booths in Nawabshah, in the Sindh province, thus resulting in a delay in voting. In North Waziristan's Khaisor village, poll officials didn't turn up, preventing over 1200 from exercising their franchise.

'ECPs performance leaves much to be desired'

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), meanwhile, had observed the electoral process across Pakistan over the past several months, paying special attention to reports of violence, allegations of pre-poll manipulation and the arrangements put in place by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

On polling day, the commissions monitoring teams carried out detailed observation in 67 National Assembly constituencies, including 12 in Balochistan, 14 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 21 in Punjab and ICT, and 20 in Sindh.

It noted: "Overall, HRCP observes that the ECPs performance leaves much to be desired. While the latter has carried out its clerical functions reasonably well, the political content of its work has fallen short of expectations. Polling schemes were poorly rationalised, with many voters in the Lahore Cantonment, for instance, indicating they did not know where to go to vote. Numerous observers have also reported that many polling stations were clustered together, but too small to cater to the number of voters. As a result, the polling process remained sluggish through the day. This, compounded with ill-trained staff in many cases, meant that many people who reached their polling station in time were compelled to queue outside the premises for want of space, but were not let in to cast their vote,"

"In one instance, HRCP received a complaint from a presiding officer who had spent the night at his designated polling station, but not received any official provision to feed his colleagues. Many polling stations consisted of small, dark, humid rooms, in some cases not even equipped with fans. The Commission feels strongly that ECP staff should have been better looked after, given the enormity of their task," it said in the report.

"The Commission also notes that, in some places, polling staff appeared to be biased toward a certain party, with voters who had received slips from another partys stall being turned back on flimsy grounds. In at least one instance, women voters reported being asked whom they intended to vote for. Such instances are serious contraventions of the law and HRCP hopes that these will be promptly and transparently addressed," it added.

Wednesday's elections, conducted under high levels of security, were meant to be a rare democratic transition from one civilian government to another in the young, nuclear-armed country which has been ruled by the military for roughly half its history.

Some 800,000 military and police were deployed to provide security on election day. But it was still marred by violent attacks. The largest, a suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group, left at least 31 dead and 70 wounded near a polling station in Quetta, in southwestern Balochistan province.

The voter turnout was recorded at 50-55 per cent of the nearly 106 million electorates, similar to the previous electoral contest in 2013.

A single party will need to bag at least 137 of the directly elected seats to be able to form the government on its own.

As many as 12,570 candidates were in the electoral fray for a total of 849 seats of national and provincial assemblies in the country's 11th general election.

With inputs from agencies

Follow LIVE updates on the Pakistan Election Results 2018Even as the counting for Pakistan election 2018 is underway, allegations of rigging and manipulation of the election process have surfaced.

Even as the counting for Pakistan election 2018 is underway, allegations of rigging and manipulation of the election process have surfaced.

The short pace of counting and the fact that the results were actually expected by Wednesday morning have further raised suspicions.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shahbaz Sharif in Lahore outrightly rejected the results, alleging "blatant" rigging of the election, even though the vote count was underway, according to Press Trust of India.

Sharif warned his party would launch protests against the alleged rigging. He did not say who he believes could have rigged the polls, but allegations of manipulating the elections have been made against the country's powerful military.

"Some five other parties including PPP have raised the rigging issue in polls. After consulting them, I will announce the future course of action. Pakistan has suffered today," he told journalists at the press conference in Lahore.

"We will fight this injustice and use all options," he said, adding that there has been a "blatant violation" of the mandate.

I have not seen the kind of malpractices done today after the polling time expired in my whole political career. We heard complaints from the whole country that Form 45 was not being given & the polling agents of the party were driven out.  Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) July 25, 2018

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also tweeted last night, saying he had not received official results from any constituency he was contesting, despite it being past midnight.

Its now past midnight & I havent received official results from any constituency I am contesting my myself. My candidates complaining polling agents have been thrown out of polling stations across the country. Inexcusable & outrageous.  BilawalBhuttoZardari (@BBhuttoZardari) July 25, 2018

Bilawal's sister Aseefa B Zardari also called the election process a "facade".

The ECP has abdicated all responsibility in this election and have been nothing more than pawns. From throwing out polling agents to withholding results, the facade has been stripped away. This is blatant rigging !  Aseefa B Zardari (@AseefaBZ) July 25, 2018

PML-N senator Mushahid Hussain Syed too raised similar doubts on the election results. "This is the first time in Pakistan's history that five political parties have called a foul play in the polls and termed them massively rigged," he said. Some Pakistani journalists also tweeted about the delay in the start of polling.

Numerous complaints already from Punjab and KP particularly of late start of polling, absence of basic facilities, staff misconduct. Its just the first hour.  Syed Talat Hussain (@TalatHussain12) July 25, 2018

Huge turnout of voters in Punjab but slow-voting method being used in many key constituencies, as a result millions of voters will not be able to cast their votes. Slow-vote NA120 (last year's Lahore election where Kulsoom Nawaz won) strategy in place across Punjab  Murtaza Ali Shah (@MurtazaViews) July 25, 2018

However, political analyst Zahid Hussain said allegations of rigging were common in Pakistan after polls. "After every election, we usually hear this kind of complaint, so this is nothing new. So each time the party which loses the election always has this kind of complaint," Dawn quoted Hussain as saying.

Arifa Noor, another analyst, told the newspaper that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was likely to set up an election tribunal to address such complaints. "They (the parties making allegations of rigging) will have to figure out how they are going to proceed with these allegations. Generally what tends to happen is that if something like this happens, the ECP sets up an election tribunal and most people who have complaints take their complaints to the tribunal," Noor said.

ECP, however, has already responded and has rejected the "blatant" rigging allegations. In an unusual press conference at 4 am local time, Chief Election Commissioner Muhammad Raza Khan congratulated the people of Pakistan for participating in the election process. He, however, acknowledged that the delay in announcement of election results has "caused some annoyance".

The CEC stressed the delay was on account of a new system - Results Transmission System - introduced by it.

"We were implementing it for the first time. Therefore, there was some delay," he said. Asked about the doubts and the allegations, he said: "We will prove ourselves that we did our job right."

With inputs from Press Trust of IndiaPTI supporters rejoiced in Islamabad as it leads in the Pakistan election but PPP and PML-N leaders have rejected the election results as they believe them to be rigged

Islamabad: Tumultuous street celebrations erupted in Pakistan after trends showed that Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was leading other political parties by a wide margin in the general election marred by violence and allegations of rigging.

According to latest trends, PTI was leading on 110 seats, followed by the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of jailed leader Nawaz Sharif on 67.

Hundreds of PTI supporters came out on streets in several cities, including the country's capital Islamabad, dancing and celebrating with loud music. They had parked their vehicles on main roads and on the sideways, leading to massive traffic jams.

"We have got our Naya Pakistan," said Shahid Ali, one of the supporters, as he danced euphorically near the busy Faizabad interchange, which links Islamabad with the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

The Press Trust of India correspondent was caught for several hours in traffic when returning from the election coverage, as highly-charged workers of Khan's party raised victory slogans.

Similar midnight celebrations were being organised in many other parts of Pakistan. But the euphoria among PTI workers appeared premature as the PML-N and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have rejected the election results. "Our polling agents were not given results and we will not accept it," said Khurshid Shah of PPP.

PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif also rejected the election outcome, alleging "blatant" rigging. He warned of protests.

Analysts predicted tumultuous weeks ahead for Pakistan as a strong opposition to the election results was building up.

PML-N was leading on 67 seats and PPP on 39. "They will make a lethal combination if they joined hands against Imran Khan," analyst Sohail Warriach said.

A party can form the government if it manages to clinch 172 seats out of the total 342. A single party will need at least 137 of the 272 directly-elected seats to be able to form the government on its own.With reports of mismanagement, delay in counting of votes, and unavailability of Form 45a document which has the details of the candidates and the votes they receivedPakistan's general election has been as controversial as predicted.

Peshawar: With reports of mismanagement, delay in counting of votes, and unavailability of Form 45a document which has the details of the candidates and the votes they receivedPakistan's general election has been as controversial as predicted.

Complaints of poll rigging were made even before the elections, especially from erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) north and south Waziristan districts where members of popular Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) Mohsin Dawar, Muhammad Ali Wazir and Abdullah Nangyal accused Election Commission of Pakistan and security forces of manipulating the election.

Mohsin filed a petition in the Peshawar High Court three days before polls against appointment of male staff at women's polling stations in the ultra-conservative society of the Pashtun tribals. He also complained that polling stations for women were set up almost 25 kilometres away from their respective areas. Dawar complained his supporters were being deprived of their national identity cards numbers.

Similarly, Muhammad Ali Wazir, a member of PTM, who is contesting election from south Waziristan, complained that Peace Committee (mostly pro-establishment militants) were harassing his supporters. Moreover, turnout was low due to threat alerts.

Elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were held fairly but the manipulation started after polling ended, said Ijaz Khan, former head of department of International Relations, University of Peshawar. Parties that were made to lose should learn how to counter such manipulated elections. They should stand up today or their prospects will be bleak tomorrow.

A presiding officer in Mardan, who requested anonymity, said that after they submitted ballot boxes to returning officers, they were forced to wait outside for three hours. We dont what happened inside, the presiding officer added. The official results of major constituencies had not been declared even after 18 hours of counting.

Major political parties including Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, Awami National Party and Qaumi Watan Party rejected the results. Mere statements wont work, said Haq Nawaz Khan, a senior journalist working at The Washington Post. If there is any rigging they should rise up and protest peacefully.

He said it was astonishing to see candidates like Fazal-ur-Rehman, who was leading with 20,000 votes, suddenly get news that they lost. So far, final results from constituencies of Asfandyar Wali Khan and Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao have not arrived, Nawaz said. He added that there are many questions as to why there has been so much of a delay.Pakistan watchers in the US on Wednesday doubted the fairness of the general election for which Imran Khan's party received the army's backing while the PML-N and the PPP ran their campaigns 'under constraints'.

Washington: Pakistan watchers in the US on Wednesday doubted the fairness of the general election for which Imran Khan's party received the army's backing while the PML-N and the PPP ran their campaigns "under constraints". The Trump administration said it was closely monitoring the situation in Pakistan but refused to declare the polls "free and fair". The State Department too refused to confirm that. Its mission in Pakistan did not deploy election observers primarily because of security concerns.

"We continue to monitor developments and have consistently emphasised our support for free, fair, transparent and accountable elections in Pakistan, as we do around the world," a State Department spokesperson told the Press Trust of India. Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistan ambassador to the US, said that the result of the election was "foretold". "PML-N and PPP were running under constraints and PTI was operating with complete freedom and establishment backing."

Haqqani, who is with the Hudson Institute think-tank, said the result was unlikely to change anything in Pakistan, unless the military-led establishment decides to shutdown its "jihad business" and recognises it as the source of the country's isolation and economic difficulties.

"It is unlikely that a prime minister Imran Khan will act decisively against jihadis, given his sympathy for their cause but miracles can happen," Haqqani said. The comments came as political parties in Pakistan, including the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, too raised allegations that the election was manipulated and rigged in PTI chief Khan's favour.

At a midnight press conference when the vote count was underway, PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif said the election was a "blatant violation" of the mandate of the people. Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari too raised doubts over the slow pace of vote count and other procedural irregularities.

"There are serious allegations of tampering and interference for virtually all parties except the PTI. So the Election Commission of Pakistan will have to respond  but it is unclear how," former state department official Alyssa Ayres, who is now with the Council on Foreign Relations, said. In an early-morning press conference, the Election Commission rejected the charges, saying it did "our job right."

"In the meantime, the prospect of an Imran Khan-led government will in my view introduce further rockiness into US-Pakistan ties. He is on the record saying things like 'America is destroying Pakistan' and will likely seek to reduce Pakistan-US cooperation, already troubled to begin with. So count me concerned," Ayres said. Imran Khan, Pakistan experts widely believe, has the backing of the Pakistani army.

Jeff M Smith  from the Heritage Foundation  said it was important to acknowledge that a peaceful transition of power via a democratic election is still a rare commodity in Pakistan and thus would be a positive step forward. Though, even that has been put in doubt by "some very troubling accounts" of electoral tampering and manipulation, he said. "The bigger problem, by far, is that the results of the election carry only limited meaning so long as the Pakistani military remains the principal power broker and puppet master governing from behind the scenes," Smith said.

It ensures that regardless of who wins the election, there is unlikely to be any great deviation from the military's policies and priorities in domestic and foreign affairs, he said. "Past history suggests those daring enough to try and chart a more independent course or assert some degree of civilian control over the military are quickly discarded and emasculated by Rawalpindi, which inevitably finds a new political host to co-opt," Smith said.

Khan's position on the US is far more hawkish than former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, noted Moeed Yusuf, from US Institute of Peace. "On India, even though Khan is likely to take a more balanced approach, he will certainly not be as forward-leaning as Sharif," he said. Appearing at the Atlantic Council, a US think-tank, Ikram ul Majeed Sehgal chairman of the Pathfinder Group said the Pakistani army always had a major say in elections.

This time it made it publicly known that it favoured Khan in general elections but did not interfere in the elections itself, he said in response to a question.Wednesday's attacks hit Sweida, a Druze-majority province mostly held by the government which had remained relatively insulated from the country's seven-year civil war. The death toll climbed steadily throughout the day and into the night, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group

Beirut: The death toll in coordinated Islamic State group suicide bombings and shootings in southern Syria rose to nearly 250 overnight, more than half of them civilians, a monitor said on Thursday.

Wednesday's attacks hit Sweida, a Druze-majority province mostly held by the government which had remained relatively insulated from the country's seven-year civil war. The death toll climbed steadily throughout the day and into the night, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said.

"The toll is now 246 people dead, including 135 civilians," said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman. The others killed were pro-government fighters or residents who had taken up arms to defend their villages. "The toll keeps rising as civilians who were wounded are dying and people who were unaccounted for are found dead," Abdel Rahman told AFP.

The onslaught began with a triple suicide bombing in the city of Sweida, which was followed by attacks with guns and explosives on villages to its north and east. A fourth blast hit the provincial capital later in the day. IS claimed the assault hours later. At least 45 jihadists died carrying it out, the Observatory said.

It was the worst bloodshed to hit Sweida province since the civil war began in 2011. Syrian state media reported deadly attacks on Sweida and surrounding villages but did not give a specific toll.By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A long-awaited Middle East peace plan from the Trump administration will include what the White House is calling a robust economic plan to help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, an official has said. U.S. President Donald Trump's envoys are also working on the most detailed set of proposals to date for the overall plan, the White House official said in a briefing with reporters on Monday.

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A long-awaited Middle East peace plan from the Trump administration will include what the White House is calling a robust economic plan to help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, an official has said.

U.S. President Donald Trump's envoys are also working on the most detailed set of proposals to date for the overall plan, the White House official said in a briefing with reporters on Monday.

The plan thus far has no release date. Trump had hoped to reveal it early this year but his decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moving the embassy there, reversing decades of U.S. policy, inflamed tensions in the region.

The Palestinians have said that they have lost faith in the Trump administration to act as a fair mediator and have boycotted the process since last Decembers Jerusalem announcement.

The White House has offered few details on a peace plan that has drawn widespread scepticism even before its unveiling.

Trump's proposals are the product of shuttle diplomacy to regional capitals by senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, who is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka, and Jason Greenblatt, a lawyer who is playing a role in the negotiations.

The two envoys have asked leaders in the region to outline for each issue an outcome that they could live with and that the other side could accept, the official said.

Past attempts by American presidents at negotiating peace between Israel and Palestine have fizzled based on differences over the status of Jerusalem and borders.

The Trump team has studied past efforts as a guidepost to the future, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official said the Trump plan would be the most detailed package of solutions ever offered and that some finishing touches were being put on the main proposals and economic plans.

A rollout strategy was being developed, the official said.

Trump had asked his team how the embassy announcement would affect peace negotiations. He was told it would cause some short-term disruption, but that long-term the prospects for peace would be improved, the official said.

Despite Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' refusal to engage on the subject, Trump's advisers expect the Palestinian leadership to read it and provide some realistic feedback and offer some proposals on how to improve it, the official said.

(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and Toni Reinhold)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.By Tom Hals (Reuters) - The U.S. government scrambled to meet a Thursday court-ordered deadline for reuniting hundreds of immigrant children and parents who had been separated at the border with Mexico, leaving many of those families now facing potentially life-changing decisions. Lawyers and advocates working with parents and children complained of miscommunication and lack of coordination as the government shuttled children from around the country to detention centers in the U.S.

By Tom Hals

(Reuters) - The U.S. government scrambled to meet a Thursday court-ordered deadline for reuniting hundreds of immigrant children and parents who had been separated at the border with Mexico, leaving many of those families now facing potentially life-changing decisions.

Lawyers and advocates working with parents and children complained of miscommunication and lack of coordination as the government shuttled children from around the country to detention centers in the U.S. Southwest, where many parents were held.

"Were seeing some kids swept away in the middle of the night to be reunified," said Anthony Enriquez of Catholic Charities of New York, which represents some of the affected children.

Government lawyers told a federal judge in San Diego earlier this week that 917 parents out of about 2,500 who were parted from their children may not be eligible for prompt reunification because they have already been deported, have waived reunification, have criminal backgrounds, or are otherwise deemed unfit.

It was unclear on Thursday how many immigrant families will remain separated.

Those who are reunited face consequential decisions. About 900 have received final orders of removal, and civil rights groups said they must decide if they want to return home as a family or leave their child in the United States to fight for asylum separately.

The U.S. government has said it separated around 2,500 children from their parents as part of the Trump Administration's "zero tolerance" policy toward illegal immigration.

President Donald Trump ordered that the separations be stopped in June, after a widespread outcry. U.S. Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego subsequently ordered the reunifications and set Thursday as the deadline.

As of Monday, officials said they had brought together 879 parents with their children and identified 1,634 parents possibly eligible for reunification.

Updated numbers have not been provided.

"We have many reasons to be proud," said Scott Stewart, an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, at Tuesday's hearing in Sabraw's San Diego courtroom.

But Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the lawsuit that led to Sabraw's order, told the judge at a hearing on Tuesday the process was "a mess," something government lawyers disputed.

Around the United States, groups on Thursday protested the government's immigration policy. About 100 people marched outside the federal courthouse in McAllen, Texas, near the border with Mexico, while in Washington, protesters included about 20 children with handmade banners.

The ACLU has asked Sabraw to stay the deportation of reunited families for seven days, saying attorneys need the time to ensure that parents understand their rights and have considered their options.

The ACLU on Wednesday filed declarations in court detailing the stories of parents allegedly pressured into waiving reunification or signing deportation papers they did not understand. [nL1N1UL1XN]

Sabraw has criticized some aspects of the reunification process, but in recent days, he has praised government efforts to meet the deadline.

(Additional reporting by Loren Ellliott; Editing by Sue Horton, Noeleen Walder and Bernadette Baum)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.By Lesley Wroughton and Daphne Psaledakis WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday vigorously defended President Donald Trump's foreign policy actions as senators from both parties denounced Trump's behaviour, particularly at his recent summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin. Pompeo faced tough questioning from Democrats and Republicans during testimony before the Senator Foreign Relations Committee about Trump's failure to hold the Russian president accountable for Moscow's meddling in the 2016 U.S.

By Lesley Wroughton and Daphne Psaledakis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday vigorously defended President Donald Trump's foreign policy actions as senators from both parties denounced Trump's behaviour, particularly at his recent summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin.

Pompeo faced tough questioning from Democrats and Republicans during testimony before the Senator Foreign Relations Committee about Trump's failure to hold the Russian president accountable for Moscow's meddling in the 2016 U.S. election at their meeting in Helsinki last week.

"I have tremendous faith in you, I think you're a patriot ... but it's the president's actions that create tremendous distrust in our nation," the committee's Republican chairman, Bob Corker, told Pompeo.

"Is there some strategy behind creating doubt in U.S. senators' minds, on both sides of the aisle, doubt in the American people as to what his motivations are?" added Corker, a frequent critic of Trump.

Corker also criticized comments by Trump that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was "very talented" and that "he loves his people," given the country's serious human rights abuses. "Really?" Corker said.

Pompeo said he had been comprehensively briefed on Trump's one-on-one meeting with Putin, who U.S. intelligence agencies said knew about Russia's meddling in the election.

Putin has said no such interference occurred and Trump has denied there was any collusion between his campaign and Moscow. The matter is under investigation by U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

In often testy exchanges with senators, Pompeo listed actions by the Trump administration against Russia, including what he said were over 200 sanctions against Moscow.

'CRIMEA DECLARATION'

Just before his testimony, Pompeo issued a statement restating U.S. policy rejecting Russia's annexation of Crimea.

The "Crimea Declaration" appeared to try to quell suggestions that Washington could accept Moscow's 2014 occupation of the Ukrainian peninsula following the Trump-Putin meeting and questions about what Trump agreed to in the one-on-one talks.

Trump has repeatedly declined to hold Putin accountable for annexing Crimea, pointing to former President Barack Obama instead for allowing it to happen under his watch.

"The United States rejects Russia's attempted annexation of Crimea and pledges to maintain this policy until Ukraines territorial integrity is restored," Pompeo said in the statement.

"The United States calls on Russia to respect the principles to which it has long claimed to adhere and to end its occupation of Crimea," he said.

Pompeo later reassured senators that the United States would not lift sanctions against Russia until Moscow returned control of Crimea to Ukraine.

Russia's Foreign Ministry quickly dismissed Pompeo's comments. "We know the worth of such momentous declarations," ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on her Facebook account.

Speaking after the summit, Putin said Trump believed that Russia's annexation of Crimea was legal based on a referendum.

White House national security adviser John Bolton said on Wednesday that Trump would postpone a second meeting with Putin until next year after the federal probe into the alleged meddling is over.

Trump said last week he would invite Putin to Washington for an autumn meeting, a move that sparked a new outcry, including from lawmakers in Trump's Republican Party, who argued that Putin was an adversary not worthy of a White House visit.

Pompeo declined to offer details of what he knew about the Helsinki meeting. He said conversations between the president and his Cabinet should remain private.

"You come before a group of senators today who are filled with serious doubts about this White House and its conduct of American foreign policy," Corker said.

Democrats like Senator Chris Coons voiced concern about how Trump's courting of Putin unsettled long-standing allies.

"While your statements have been clear, our president's statements have confused our allies, encouraged our adversaries and have failed to be comparably clear and I'm concerned that an invitation to President Putin to the White House without clarity about his threats to our election, his threats to our allies, puts at risk clarity," Coons said.

(Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Leslie Adler and Peter Cooney)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.HTC is seemingly working on a mid-range smartphone codenamed Imagine Life, according to the marketing material. Though we dont know for sure but based on the specs and the codename, the new handset could be the HTC U12 Life and it is said to sport a 6-inch FHD+ display and Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 chipset.

The U12 Life is said to pack a 6-inch FHD+ (2160 x 1080) display and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 Octa-Core processor, coupled with 4GB RAM. 64GB internal storage, though we cant completely rule out the possibility of the bigger variant with more storage and RAM, at this point, we dont have information regarding it. In terms of optics, the phone is said to pack a dual-rear camera setup with 16+5MP shooters with phase detection autofocus, and 4K video.

On the front, is a 13MP front-facing camera with flash and beauty mode. The HTCs upcoming phone will pack a 3,600mAh battery and a fingerprint sensor. Connectivity features include Dual SIM, Bluetooth 5.0, and NFC and were not sure about the Android version it will run on. The HTC U11 Life was introduced back in November last year running Oreo, so we wouldnt surprised if we see the launch of the successor coming out in Q4 2018.

The specs of the phone are in line with the Nokia X6, Xiaomis Redmi Note 5 Pro that is priced around the $250 price tag. Were pretty sure HTC wouldnt be pricing the U12 Life that competitively seeing the U11 Life starting at $349 for the base model.

SourceOil producers in the Permian Basin are expanding their output so fast that they're about to overwhelm the region's pipeline capacity. According to one estimate, pipelines could reach their limit in just a few months. This infrastructure bottleneck has become a problem for producers without firm capacity commitments on pipelines to get their crude out of the region.

However, an issue for some is an opportunity for others. One company profiting from the Permian's pipeline capacity constraints is Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY). The largest oil and natural gas producer in the region, it owns its own pipelines, and has already hauled in hundreds of millions of dollars in added revenue by taking advantage of their spare capacity. Now, according to a report by Reuters, it is looking to further cash in on the rising value of its oil infrastructure in the region by putting it up for sale. Given its market access and the current supply/demand imbalance, Occidental's midstream system could fetch a significant premium.

Testing the waters

According to Reuters, Occidental Petroleum is exploring an auction of its midstream assets that could include its Centurion Pipeline system in the Permian, its stake in the Dolphin natural gas pipeline in the Middle East, and its interest in the Oxy Ingleside Energy Center, which is a crude oil storage and export terminal along the Gulf Coast. In addition to those midstream assets reportedly going up on the block, the company also owns an interest in Plains GP Holdings (NYSE: PAGP), which is the general partner of oil pipeline MLP Plains All American Pipeline (NYSE: PAA), as well as some gas processing plants and infrastructure relating to its enhanced oil recovery business in the Permian.

Among the assets it's looking to sell, the Centurion Pipeline and Oxy Ingleside stand out. Centurion is a 2,900-mile-long system that gathers and stores oil produced in the West Texas and New Mexico region, and ships it to the country's biggest crude storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma. Overall, the system has the capacity to transport 720,000 barrels per day (BPD) and can store 7.1 million barrels. That makes it a major system in the context of the Permian, which currently has only 3.6 million BPD of total pipeline capacity and is producing 3.3 million BPD, which is up a jaw-dropping 37.6% over the past year. Meanwhile, Oxy Ingleside is the largest export hub for Permian crude, and is undergoing an expansion to increase its export capacity to 750,000 BPD. That project should be complete by the second half of 2019.

Lots of appeal

Occidental Petroleum reportedly tried to find a buyer for its stake in the Ingleside terminal last year, but didn't complete a deal. However, it could be successful this time around thanks to the heightened awareness of the importance of market access for Permian crude. Due to the upcoming pipeline constraints, oil in the region has traded well below both the domestic (WTI) and global (Brent) oil benchmark prices. That's why oil producers have been working to lock up access on pipelines to ship their crude to higher priced markets such as Cushing or the Gulf Coast, where they can also gain access to export markets.

In addition to holding appeal for producers, the system would be a desirable purchase for midstream companies. For example, Plains All American Pipeline would be a logical buyer since it's building a new 585,000 BPD oil pipeline to Corpus Christi, Texas, which is close to Ingleside. On top of that, Plains owns a large oil-gathering system in the Permian, and operates pipelines heading to Cushing. Thus, Occidental's assets would be an excellent strategic fit in its portfolio. However, Plains is just one of many midstream companies that could benefit from picking up Occidental's Permian oil pipelines and export terminal -- the company should have no shortage of suitors.

An interesting sale to watch

Due to the current infrastructure crunch, Occidental Petroleum believes that it can get more than $5 billion for its midstream assets. That would provide the company with a significant amount of capital, some of which it could use for a needle-moving stock buyback. Given what share repurchase programs have done for its rivals, this sale could be quite the catalyst for Occidental's stock, making it something investors should watch closely.Whether you realize it or not, big things are happening with America's most important social program.

Beginning this year, Social Security will pay out an estimated $1.7 billion more in benefits than it generates in revenue. That's peanuts compared to the projected $1 trillion in income the program is expected to generate, and the nearly $2.9 trillion in asset reserves it'll hold by year's end. Nevertheless, the first net cash outflow since 1982 signals that a major shift is now under way with Social Security.

The good news, if any can be extracted from Social Security's numerous woes, is that the program is in absolutely no danger of going bankrupt. Money will continuously be flowing into Social Security thanks to its 12.4% payroll tax on wage income, as well as the taxation of benefits. The former was responsible for over 87% of the program's revenue in 2017, meaning the payroll tax will almost singlehandedly keep Social Security out of insolvency.

Still, this pattern suggests that the current payout schedule isn't sustainable. By 2034, Social Security's $2.9 trillion in excess cash is forecast to be gone. By such time, if lawmakers haven't found a way to generate additional revenue and/or cut expenditures, an across-the-board benefits cut of up to 21% may be needed. A cut of this magnitude would supposedly spare beneficiaries from any additional cuts until 2092, but it would nonetheless wallop current and future generations of retired workers who are in some capacity reliant on the program (often 80% to 90% of total beneficiaries).

Social Security has no shortage of problems, but most can be easily resolved

What's causing this degradation in Social Security? Well, all the usual culprits come to mind, such as:

The retirement of baby boomers from the workforce, which is weighing down the worker-to-beneficiary ratio.

Increased longevity over the course of many decades. Since 1960, the average life expectancy has increased by roughly nine years.

Growing income inequality that's allowed the rich to live notably longer than the poor, while collecting a fatter-than-average benefit check in the process.

Congressional inaction. The last time lawmakers passed sweeping Social Security reforms was all the way back in 1983.

Each of these issues (ahem, including the last one) could be tackled through congressional action. Or, in simpler terms, bipartisan cooperation could yield a Social Security reform bill that would increase payroll taxes on the wealthy, raising additional revenue for Social Security, while also gradually increasing the full retirement age and accounting for increased longevity. This would allow the core proposal for Democrats and Republicans to be represented, and it would, according to the intermediate-cost model projections, resolve Social Security's $13.2 trillion cash shortfall between 2034 and 2092.

Here's an issue even Congress can't fix

However, not even Congress could wave its wand and make one of Social Security's most daunting problems disappear: low fertility rates.

According to a report from The New York Times in February, based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in September 2017, lifetime births per woman fell to 1.77, which is the lowest fertility rate in the U.S. since 1976. It's down almost 4% since 2015, and a considerable 16.4% since a recent peak in 2007, when the U.S. economy and stock market were firing on all cylinders.

Generally speaking, a number of economic and social factors can affect birth rates in the United States. While the Great Recession and high unemployment rates have long been blamed for pushing birth rates down in recent years, a now-bustling economy, and a stock market that's hit multiple new highs, haven't turned around a still-declining birth rate.

The New York Times attributes this decline to a number of factors. One is that millennials are postponing marriage. With the younger generation waiting longer to get married, we've seen it take longer for the average first child to be born. Although, to be clear, the data also shows that unmarried parents have produced fewer children, too.

The report also suggests that long-acting reversible contraceptives have further reduced the likelihood of an unwanted or unplanned pregnancy. Meanwhile, technologies designed to increase the chances of a successful pregnancy, such as in vitro fertilization, remain very expensive and out of the budget of many younger couples.

Perhaps what's scariest of all is that the average age a woman has her first child, 26, is still the lowest in the U.S. of all developed countries. Throughout Europe, women don't have their first child until their early 30s, suggesting that this trend of later and lower birth rates may have room to continue.

Why low fertility rates could be a very serious problem for Social Security

The intermediate-cost model Social Security uses assumes that fertility rates will level off around 2.0 lifetime births per woman. To note, we have seen a dip in fertility rates to this level before and rebounded to more than 2.0 lifetime births per woman, so it's not as if history hasn't paved the way before. However, the New York Times data clearly shows that birth trends aren't shifting higher, despite a healthier economy. That hasn't happened before.

The reason this is so concerning is it would mean a growing number of beneficiaries and slower growth in productivity and the workforce. The intermediate-cost model has forecast a drop in the worker-to-beneficiary ratio from 2.8-to-1 in 2017 to 2.2-to-1 by 2035. Eventually this well settle at 2.0-to-1 by 2095, with an estimated 49 beneficiaries per 100 covered workers.

However, under the low-fertility (i.e., high-cost) model, which assumes a steady lifetime birth rate of 1.8 per woman, the worker-to-beneficiary ratio plummets over the long term to 1.6-to-1 by 2095, or 62 beneficiaries per 100 covered workers.

Now, what's this all mean in English? Essentially, if fertility rates don't recover, the cost to fix Social Security is going to be significantly more than the intermediate-cost model projects.

Right now, the actuarial deficit is 2.84% under the intermediate-cost model. Put another way, an estimated payroll tax increase of 2.84% would be needed today to keep Social Security solvent through 2092 without any additional benefit cuts, while ensuring that it has enough in asset reserves to cover a full year of payouts by 2092. That means an across-the-board payroll tax increase to 15.24% (12.4% plus 2.84%) on wage income of up to $128,400 (as of 2018) would be necessary to avoid cutting benefits. But if the low fertility scenario plays out, a 3.25% increase would be needed today, or a payroll tax of 15.65%, as an aggregate.

Furthermore, assuming we stayed on the current payout schedule, annual expenditures would outpace income by 4.32% in 2092, based on the intermediate-cost model, and by a considerably scarier 5.84% under the high-cost, low-fertility model.

To be clear, no one knows what's going to happen with fertility rates in the future. But if birth rates continue to trend lower for an extended period of time, Social Security could find itself with less payroll tax revenue, a falling worker-to-beneficiary ratio, and much bigger problems than first imagined.Wienerschnitzel Continues Growth With Four New Restaurants In New Mexico And Texas In July

Espanola, N.M., is the first city in the country to receive Wienerschnitzels new Heritage Plus concept

July 26, 2018 // Franchising.com // IRVINE, Calif. - Wienerschnitzel, the Worlds Largest Hot Dog Chain, is opening four new Heritage restaurants this month as the popular chain begins a season of accelerated growth.

In fact, the four new state-of-art Heritage stores - in Espanola and Los Lunas, N.M., and Lufkin and Nederland, Texas - make July 2018 one of the best months for new construction openings in recent history. Whats more, the Espanola restaurant is the first in the company to develop the revolutionary Heritage Plus design, boasting inside dining to the traditional Heritage prototype. The new inclusive dining with drive-thru, and outside patio seating all fit on the same footprint as the standard Heritage model to maximize customer access and service.

Craig Wood of RIOT, LLC, broke ground on the Espanola site in January and is honored to premiere the groundbreaking new free-standing restaurant concept to the world.

The closest Wienerschnitzel to Espanola is 90 miles away in Albuquerque - so were delighted to introduce locals to both the worlds best hot dogs and the worlds best-looking hot dog restaurant, said Woods. My passion for Wienerschnitzel has only just begun.

Craig has the drive and entrepreneurial spirit you need to be a truly successful Wienerschnitzel partner and franchisee, said Ted Milburn, director of franchise development for Wienerschnitzel. He and his wife Monica are pioneers that were delighted to welcome into the Wienerschnitzel family.

Wood steps into the Wienerschnitzel business after serving as director of development at Lotaburger for 23 years. He will host a grand opening in Espanola later this month and plans additional restaurants in the area.

The new Espanola Wienerschnitzel is at 601 Silky Road and joins a second New Mexico restaurant opening this month at 1433 Main St. SW in Los Lunas. The two locations become the tenth and 11th restaurants in the state, respectively.

The two new eastern Texas Wienerschnitzels are at 101 N. Brentwood Drive in Lufkin and 3620 Nederland Ave. in Nederland and bring the companys total number of restaurants in the Lone Star State to 42.

Details of the Los Lunas, Lufkin and Nederland restaurants will be announced at a later date.

Wienerschnitzel is a proud member of Galardi Group, Inc. A family-owned company, Galardi Group operates 333 Wienerschnitzel and Hamburger Stand restaurants in 11 states and actively targets new franchisees throughout the Pacific Coast and Southwest. For franchising information, visit www.wienerschnitzel.com/hot-dog-franchise/.

About Wienerschnitzel

Founded by John Galardi in 1961 with a single hot dog stand in Wilmington, Calif., Wienerschnitzel (www.wienerschnitzel.com) is one of the real pioneers of the quick-service food industry. Having successfully carved out a niche with hot dogs, The Worlds Largest Hot Dog Chain serves more than 120 million hot dogs annually. Irvine, Calif.-based Galardi Group, Inc., franchises restaurants throughout the U.S., including Wienerschnitzel, Hamburger Stand, and Tastee-Freez LLC.

An iconic American brand with a devoted following for over 55 years, the company recently introduced a next-generation store design that combines a unique and simple menu featuring chili dogs, chili cheese fries, corn dogs and Tastee-Freez soft-serve desserts with a smaller footprint and a lower cost of entry. As a family owned and operated company, Wienerschnitzel is actively recruiting qualified franchise candidates to grow with the brand.

For more information on owning a Wienerschnitzel, visit www.wienerschnitzel.com/hot-dog-franchise/ or contact Ted Milburn, Director of Franchise Development at franchising@wienerschnitzel.com.

Media Contacts:

Lindsay Winn

Amusement Park PR

(714) 881-2315

SOURCE Wienerschnitzel

###

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DisqusWith a new blog post, CD Projekt RED has provided more details about two of the Cyberpunk 2077 mega corporation that have regional HQs in the territory of Night City, and how they work.

In particular, Arasaka and Militech are the focus now, and they seem both equally shady and interesting, having relationships respectively with Yakuza and military.

Arasaka specializes in protective services and the distribution of their Japanese-made products throughout North America. Over the years, it has developed a dark reputation as a corporation that is to be feared and one which covers its tracks using cyberassassins, an army of lawyers as well an alleged connection to the yakuza, says the post.

Militech, on the other hand, is an arms dealer based out of the eastern US. Working closely with police and military forces, it has substantially contributed to civilian security systems. Its a powerhouse manufacturer of high-grade military technology  from simple firearms to heavily armored combat vehicles.

On top of that, CDPR also wanted to remark that Night City is a true melting pot with a lot of different cultures coming together, not only when it comes to illicit business of course.

Night City is home to many shops, restaurants, and decor that draw inspiration from Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, and Indian culture, among others. These include Kiroshi Optics, Kabayan Foods, Fuyutsuki Electronics, and Masala Studios as well as maneki-neko figurines and tengu imagery that enrich the world.

You can read more looking at the five things we learn about Cyberpunk 2077 at E3 2018. As for the release, it seems theres still a long road ahead.You've probably heard enough about Splendour but we're going to hit with some absolute gold, once again.

Most of our bank accounts take a massive pounding come festival season, it's depressing, but these guys have hacked the system and managed to get into a festival for free.

YouTube hero, Michael Fallon and his mate, conjured a genius plan to sneak into Australia's Splendour In The Grass over the weekend... And it actually worked.

His mate donned a high vis, steel caps, and some other various tradie gear, pretending to pick rubbish, while Fallon himself slipped into a wheelie bin. This was then rolled in by the mate and no questions asked. Straight into Splendour they went. Simple as that.

We aren't encouraging any of you guys to try this, but shit, we've got to give these guys a round of applause. Check out the full vid above!

Remember: this is illegal so do not try this at your local. But if you do, send us the vid.VLC media player app blacklisted from Huawei smartphone for negative reviews News oi-Karan Huawei has blacklisted VLC media player app from Google Play Store. Know why Huawei did this to VLC.

You must have used VLC media play once in your lifetime, if yes then this news will be shocking for you. One of the most popular media player VLC app has been blacklisted by Huawei smartphones from Google Play store. The company took this decision of blacklisting the devices after a lot of Huawei smartphone users left negative one-star reviews on the Google Play Store.

Huawei claimed in it tweet that the problems faced by the users, which lead them to put negative reviews are not because of any bug in the app, but it is because of Huawei.

Huawei claimed that the devices are very aggressive in killing background activities from apps that are not from Huawei. There are posts by the Huawei users on VLC's official forum that it is possible to disable the battery optimisation and let the app function properly. On the other side, VLC claims that this issue is not known to a majority of Huawei users and they are blaming the app for the issue.

VideoLAN posted on its Twitter handle that "NB: Please note that this is not for all Huawei phones but just the recent ones.

NB2: You can always download the apk from our website."

In addition, Huawei has officially launched the Huawei Nova 3 and the Huawei Nova 3i smartphone in India on July 27. These smartphones are running on the latest processors from Huawei with features like GPU Turbo and enhanced Ai capabilities which improve camera features.

The Huawei Nova 3i comes with a price tag of Rs 20,999 in India and will be available from the 7th of August, whereas the Huawei Nova 3 is priced at Rs 34,999 and will be available from August 23.

Launch offers

Pre-order for these smartphones will starts from 26th of July at 02:00 PM. The smartphones also come with No cost EMI on selected Credit Cards. Buyers will also get extra Rs 2000 off on exchange offers and Rs 1000 cashback for pre-booking. Jio users will receive a cashback of Rs 1200 cashback along with a 100 GB 4G data.

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Smartphones that are selling like hot cakes in India (Q2 2018) Features oi-Harish Kumar

Samsung is the number smartphone brand in India, which is closely followed by Xiaomi. The best-selling smartphones change from quarter to quarter. The list of best selling smartphones consists of smartphones from the Xiaomi Redmi 5A, Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro are in the 1st, 3rd, and 4th position. Whereas the Galaxy J6 is in the third position.

There are a number of reasons for a smartphone to become a "best-selling" smartphone. In the countries like India, people consider the value for money proposition.

Amazon discounts on Xiaomi smartphones and accessories: Get up to 30% off on Redmi 5, Y2 and more

In fact, the Redmi 5A is one of the most affordable smartphones with the specifications it offers and the same goes for the best-selling premium smartphone, the OnePlus 6 as well. Similarly, some smartphones sell just for the branding, like the Apple iPhone or the Samsung Galaxy S9 smartphones.

Flipkart Super Value Week: Discounts and exchange offers on Honor9 Lite, Vivo X21, Oppo A83 and more

The list of best selling smartphones consists of smartphones from the entry-level segment to the flagship level. In fact, the OnePlus 6 is the best selling smartphone in the premium segment. Here is a complete list of best-selling smartphones in q2 of 2018.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro Best Price of Redmi Note 5 Pro

Key Specs

5.99-inch (2160  1080 pixels) Full HD+ 18:9 2.5D curved glass display with 450 nits Brightness

1.8GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 636 14nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 509 GPU

4GB / 6GB LPDDR4x RAM with 64GB (eMMC 5.0) storage

expandable memory up to 128GB with microSD

Android 7.1.2 (Nougat) with MIUI 9

Hybrid Dual SIM (nano + nano / microSD)

12MP rear camera and secondary 5MP camera

20MP front-facing camera

4G VoLTE

4000mAh (typical) / 3900mAh (minimum) battery with Quick Charge 2.0 Xiaomi Redmi 5A Best Price of Xiaomi Redmi 5A

Key Specs 5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD IPS display with 1000: 1 contrast ratio, 72% (typ) / 68% (min) color gamut

1.4GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon 425 Mobile Platform with 500MHz Adreno 308 GPU

2GB RAM with 16GB internal storage

3GB RAM with 32GB internal storage

expandable memory up to 128GB with microSD

Android 7.1.2 (Nougat) with MIUI 9

Dual SIM

13MP rear camera with PDAF

5MP front-facing camera

4G VoLTE

3000mAh (typical) / 2910mAh (minimum) Samsung Galaxy J6 Best Price of Samsung Galaxy J6

Key Specs

5.6-inch (1480 x 720 pixels) HD+ Super AMOLED 18.5: 9 Infinity 2.5D curved glass display

1.6GHz Octa-Core Exynos 7870 14nm processor with Mali T830 GPU

3GB RAM with 32GB storage / 4GB RAM with 64GB internal storage

expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD

Android 8.0 (Oreo)

Dual SIM

13MP rear camera with LED flash

8MP front-facing camera with LED flash

4G VoLTE

3000mAh battery Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Best Price of Xiaomi Redmi Note 5

Key Specs

5.99-inch (2160  1080 pixels) Full HD+ 18:9 2.5D curved glass display

2GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 625 14nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 506 GPU

3GB RAM with 32GB storage

4GB RAM with 64GB storage

expandable memory up to 128GB with microSD

Android 7.1.2 (Nougat) with MIUI 9

Hybrid Dual SIM (nano + nano / microSD)

12MP rear camera with dual-tone LED Flash

5MP front-facing camera with LED flash

4G VoLTE

4000mAh (typical) / 3900mAh (minimum) battery Vivo Y71 Best Price of Vivo Y71

Key Specs

6-inch (1440 x 720 pixels) HD+ 2.5D curved glass display with 18:9 aspect ratio

1.4GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon 425 processor with Adreno 308 GPU

3GB RAM

16GB internal storage

expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD

Android 8.1 (Oreo) with Funtouch OS

Dual SIM

13MP rear camera with LED Flash

5MP front-facing camera

4G VoLTE

3360mAh (typical) / 3285mAh (minimum) battery OnePlus 6 Best Price of OnePlus 6

Key Specs

6.28-inch (2280  1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19:9 aspect ratio AMOLED display

2.8GHz Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 10nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 630 GPU

6GB LPDDR4X RAM with 64GB (UFS 2.1) storage

8GB LPDDR4X RAM with 128GB (UFS 2.1) / 256GB (UFS 2.1) storage

Android 8.1 (Oreo) with OxygenOS 5.1

Dual SIM (nano + nano)

16MP rear camera and secondary 20MP camera

16MP front-facing camera

4G VoLTE

3300mAh battery with Dash Charge (5V - 4A) Realme 1 Best Price of Realme 1

Key Specs

6-inch (2160 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ IPS display

Octa Core MediaTek Helio P60 (MT6771) 12nm processor with 800MHz ARM Mali-G72 MP3 GPU

3GB RAM with 32GB storage

4GB RAM with 64GB storage

6GB RAM with 128GB storage

expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD

Dual SIM (nano + nano + microSD)

ColorOS 5.0 based on Android 8.1 (Oreo)

13MP rear camera with LED flash

8MP front-facing camera

4G VoLTE

3410mAh battery Honor 9 lite Best Price of Honor 9 lite

Key Specs

5.65-inch (2160 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 18:9 2.5D curved glass display

Octa-Core Kirin 659 processor with MaliT830-MP2 GPU

3GB RAM with 32GB storage

4GB RAM with 64GB storage

expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD

Android 8.0 (Oreo) with EMUI 8.0

Hybrid Dual SIM (nano+nano/microSD)

13MP rear camera and secondary 2MP camera, PDAF

13MP front-facing camera and secondary 2MP camera

4G VoLTE

3000mAh battery (typical) OPPO F7 Best Price of OPPO F7

Key Specs

6.23-inch (2280 x 1080 pixels) Full HD+ 19:9 IPS display

Octa Core MediaTek Helio P60 12nm processor with 800MHz ARM Mali-G72 MP3 GPU

4GB RAM with 64GB internal memory

6GB RAM with 128GB storage

expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD

Dual SIM (nano + nano + microSD)

ColorOS 5.0 based on Android 8.1 (Oreo)

16MP rear camera with LED flash, f/1.8 aperture

25MP front-facing camera

Dual 4G VoLTE

3400mAh (typical) / 3300mAh (minimum) battery Xiaomi Redmi 5 Best Price of Redmi 5

Key Specs

5.7-inch (1440  720 pixels) HD+ 18:9 2.5D curved glass display with 450 nits Brightness, 72% NTSC Color Gamut, 1000: 1 Contrast Ratio

1.8GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 450 14nm Mobile Platform with Adreno 506 GPU

2GB RAM with 16GB storage / 3GB RAM with 32GB storage / 4GB RAM with 64GB storage

expandable memory up to 128GB with microSD

Android 7.1.2 (Nougat) with MIUI 9

Hybrid Dual SIM (nano + nano / microSD)

12MP rear camera with LED Flash

5MP front-facing camera with LED flash, f/2.0 aperture

4G VoLTE

3300mAh (typical) / 3200mAh (minimum) battery Samsung Galaxy J6 Best Price of Samsung Galaxy J6

Key Specs

5.6-inch (1480 x 720 pixels) HD+ Super AMOLED 18.5: 9 Infinity 2.5D curved glass display

1.6GHz Octa-Core Exynos 7870 14nm processor with Mali T830 GPU

3GB RAM with 32GB storage / 4GB RAM with 64GB internal storage

expandable memory up to 256GB with microSD

Android 8.0 (Oreo)

Dual SIM

13MP rear camera with LED flash

8MP front-facing camera with LED flash

Fingerprint sensor

4G VoLTE

3000mAh battery Samsung Galaxy J2 (2018) Best Price of Samsung Galaxy J2 (2018)

Key Specs

5-inch (960  540 pixels) qHD Super AMOLED display

1.4GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon 425 Mobile Platform with Adreno 308 GPU

2GB RAM

16GB Internal Storage

expandable memory up to 256GB via micro SD card

Android 7.1 (Nougat)

Dual SIM

8MP rear camera with LED flash

5MP front camera with LED flash

4G VoLTE

2600mAh battery

Best Mobiles in IndiaMoto C2 spotted on certification site; to be unveiled on August 2 News oi-Abhinaya Prabhu This could be Motorolas first Android Go smartphone.

Back in May, the first official renders of the Moto C2 surfaced online. This was followed by an FCC certification of the smartphone in June. The certification listing confirmed that it will be an entry-level smartphone and the first Android Go device from Motorola's stable.

Last month, we came across official teasers for a Motorola event slated to happen on August 2 in Chicago. At its event, the Moto C2 is expected to go official alongside the Moto Z3 flagship smartphone and the Moto One and Moto One Power. Notably, the latter models are expected to be Android One smartphones.

Given that the August 2 announcement isn't far away, the Moto C2 has been spotted on the National Telecommunications Agency of Brazil, ANATEL. According to 91mobiles, the certification agency reveals that the smartphone carries the model number XT1920-19.

Key Moto C2 details are out

Similar to the FCC listing, the ANATEL listing also reveals some of the key details. Going by the same, the device will arrive with dual-SIM and 4G LTE as well. Though these aspects have been confirmed, none of the specifications have been revealed by the certification agency.

Previous reports have tipped that the Moto C2 could arrive with 1GB RAM and 16GB of default storage space. The device is likely to boast a battery of 2000mAh capacity. The entry-level specifications make sense as it is expected to be an Android Go smartphone. The device is likely to measure 147.88 mm tall and 71.22 mm wide. The other specifications of the Moto C2 remain unknown for now.

Alleged design revealed by renders

The previously leaked renders of the Moto C2 give us a glance at the design of the smartphone. It looks like it will feature a polycarbonate body as seen in the previous models from Motorola, the Moto E4 smartphones to be precise. The camera at the rear seems to be housed in a circular ring. It looks like the Motorola Android Go smartphone will arrive with a conventional 16:9 aspect ratio display surrounded by thick bezels.

Having said that the Moto C2 was spotted at the Brazilian certification website, we can expect the smartphone to be announced sometime soon. Until then, we need to wait for an official confirmation regarding the device.

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The Report

According to a report from iGyaan, Motorola is all set for the launch of the Moto G6 Plus in India with a twist. The Moto G6 Plus was originally launched in Brazil based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 Octa-core chipset, whereas the Indian variant is likely to run on the much powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 Octa-core chipset, which also powers the smartphones like the Nokia 7 Plus and the Xiaomi Mi A2.

Motorola has seen a huge success in India, especially for the Moto G lineup. And now, the company is all set to surprise the Indian smartphone enthusiasts. In fact, the company has made a new tweet with a hashtag #BuiltForMore and the tweet speaks about time to ask more from your smartphone.

Except for the chipset, the remaining specifications are expected to stay in-line with the original Moto G6 Plus (International version).

Specs-sheet

The Moto G6 Plus will have a 5.9-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 2160 x 1080px resolution with 2.5D curved glass protection. The smartphone will have Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection on the front as well as on the back of the smartphone to offer additional strength to the smartphone. As suggested, the smartphone is likely to run on the Snapdragon 660 Octa-core chipset, instead of the Snapdragon 630 chipset, coupled with at least 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage with a micro SD card for storage expansion. The company might also launch a premium variant with 6 GB RAM and 128 GB storage as well.

In terms of camera capability, the Plus moniker will have the best camera setup amongst the Moto G6 series of smartphones. The phone will pack in a 12 MP RGB sensor with an f/2.2 aperture and a 5 MP depth sensor with an aperture of f/2.2. For the selfie enthusiasts, the smartphone will offer an 8 MP wide-angle camera with an f/2.2 aperture. The main camera setup will offer features like portrait mode, 4k video, and the front-facing selfie camera will support 1080p video recording with support for Face Unlock.

The smartphone packs in a 3200 mAh Li-ion battery with Turbo Charging via USB type C port. Just like the Moto G6, the Moto G6 Plus also has a dedicated 3.5 mm headphone jack as well.

Conclusion

Though the Moto G6 has best-in-class cameras with premium design, the smartphone was running on a sort-of-an entry-level chipset with (Snapdragon 450). With the launch of the Moto G6 Plus, the Lenovo owned smartphone brand can compete against the likes of the Nokia 7 Plus, and the Xiaomi Mi A2, which is all set to launch in India on the 8th of August.Apple might not use Qualcomm modems in 2018 iPhones: Reports News oi-Karan Qualcomm has announced that Apple is looking forward switch to Intel modems for 2018 iPhones. here is what you need to know about both the companies.

Chipset maker Qualcomm confirmed that Apple intended to use Intel modems in the 2018 iPhones which are expected by the end of this month. The company has made this confirmation during the FY Q3 2018 earnings call on July 26. The same was also reported by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo at the starting of this year. However, Qualcomm has also mentioned that it will continue providing modems for Apple legacy devices.

"Despite lower Apple business, both quarter over quarter and year over year, you're seeing strength in the 700 and 800 tiers in China in the chip business, and that's actually really moderated what otherwise would have been a more difficult margin story," said Qualcomm.

During the earnings call, Qualcomm has also said that it expects litigation expenses to be similar in the next quarter because the against Apple is still continuing.

Last year in November KGI analyst came up with a report which claimed that the 2018 iPhone models will use a faster modem from Intel called XMM 7560.

This might be the done because of the patent infringement and royalty dispute between Apple and Qualcomm. Apple filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm saying that the company has been charging royalties for technologies they have nothing to do with.

Later Qualcomm also filed a lawsuit in China against Apple, seeking to halt the manufacture and sale of Apple Inc's iPhones in the country. Qualcomm has reportedly said that Apple is in violation of three non-standard essential patents. The patents are said to cover power management and the iPhone's Force Touch feature.

However, in response, Apple has stated that the claims were "meritless," and that it would take great effort to stop its business. The company has suggested that Qualcomm's effort was opportunistic because in many years of ongoing negotiations Qualcomm hadn't brought up the patents and had now issued them just recently.

Let's see where this battle is going to end and who will win the battle of lawsuits. In both, the case any of the company has to face loss in their market.

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Google to bring AI-enabled virtual agents for call centers News oi-Sandeep Sarkar When a user makes a call to the call center, a Virtual Agent will greet the customer and it will further answer the questions

Google has recently made an announcement in which it says to have partnered with companies like Genesys and Cisco for developing AI-based technology which will ease the workloads in the call centers. The new software being developed for the call centers is dubbed as "Contact Center AI". With "Contact Center AI" feature, the tech giant will install "virtual agents" in the call centers. The "virtual agents" will be the first point of contact that will answer a phone call and connect the customers to the call centers.

Fei-Fei Li, Chief Scientist at Google said that "When the customer asks something that the AI cannot do, it will automatically forward the call to a human." The comment was made during the Cloud Next conference that took place late on Tuesday this week.

Li further added that"Our true goal is to empower a contact center's human agents, as well as the customers that rely on them. "To do this, we built a complete solution with our partners that includes Dialogflow Enterprise Edition, as well as additional capabilities that are particularly useful for contact centers."

When a user makes a call to the call center, a Virtual Agent will greet the customer and it will further answer the questions asked by the user and will complete tasks all on its own with the help of the new AI. When a user decides to move on from the Virtual Agents, the call will be transferred to a human representative.

Google also said that "From there, the system shifts to a supporting role whereby Contact Centre AI's Agent Assist system supports the conversation and provides the agent with relevant information".

This AI will result in a flexible solution which adapts to the needs of each and every call made by the consumers. Apart from answering the calls, this new AI will also provide the user with a seamless experience between the live and virtual agents. The virtual agents will also be able to adapt themselves to a small or big role as the situation demands.

Best Mobiles in IndiaBritish Man Says Novichok Was In Perfume Bottle He Gave Partner

RFE/RL July 25, 2018

A British man poisoned with Novichok has said in interviews that he found a perfume bottle that contained the deadly nerve agent and unknowingly gave it to his girlfriend, who sprayed the liquid on her wrists and later died.

Charlie Rowley, 45, said in interviews released on July 24 that he was amazed he survived after handling the "oily" substance himself, but was still struggling with the death of his partner Dawn Sturgess, a 44-year-old mother of three.

Both fell ill in Amesbury, near the southwestern English city of Salisbury where a former Russian spy and his daughter were poisoned with Novichok in March.

In an interview with ITV News television, Rowley said he could not remember where he picked up the glass perfume bottle, but said it was still in its box and plastic packaging.

When he offered it as a gift to Sturgess, "she recognized the bottle and product as a known brand" and sprayed it on her wrists.

"Within fifteen minutes Dawn said she had a headache," and she went to lie down in the bath, fully clothed.

Rowley also got some of it on his hands but washed it off. "It had an oily substance and I smelled it and it didn't smell of perfume," he said.

'Awful And Shocking'

Both of them fell ill and were hospitalized later that day, June 30.

A few days later, authorities confirmed their exposure to Novichok, a military-grade nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Sturgess died on July 9, but after two weeks in an induced coma Rowley was discharged from the hospital on July 20.

In an interview with The Sun newspaper, he said: "It's awful and shocking. I was still on medication when they told me she passed away. I don't think I will ever be able to get over it.

"My heart goes out to Dawn's family. It's amazing that I'm alive. In a way I feel lucky I survived, but I've also lost so much."

Police are treating Sturgess' death as murder and say a link with the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia on March 4 is a major line of inquiry.

Britain and its allies blamed Russia for trying to kill Skripal, a former military intelligence colonel who was jailed for betraying Russian agents to Britain and released in a 2010 spy swap.

Russia has strongly denied involvement in the poisonings, which sparked a major diplomatic row.

Rowley said he was "very angry at the whole incident."

"It was very irresponsible for people to leave the poison for anybody to pick up. It could have been children," he told ITV.

With reporting by AFP and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/british-man-amesbury -says-novichok-was-in-perfume-bottle-he- gave-partner-sturgess-rowley/29389078.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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US Justice Dept Says Russian Citizen Indicted for Violating Export Control Laws

Sputnik News

23:51 25.07.2018(updated 00:04 26.07.2018)

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Russian citizen Alexander Brazhnikov Senior has been indicted by a US federal grand jury for allegedly violating export control laws, the US Department of Justice announced in a press release on Wednesday.

"Alexander Brazhnikov Sr., 72, of Moscow, is charged by indictment with one count each of conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to smuggle goods from the United States, and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)," the press release said.

Brazhnikov Senior was the owner and principal operator of private Russian company ANB Universal, which focused on import and export of microelectronics. Brazhnikov's son, Alexander Brazhnikov Jr., 39, owned and operated four microelectronics export companies in the US state of New Jersey, according to the release.

Father and son secretly acquired electronic components from US manufacturers and exported those parts to Russia through authorized vendors to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Federal Security Service and entities involved in design of nuclear weapons, the release added.

Previous month, US Attorney Paul Fishman announced that naturalized US citizen born in Moscow Alexander Brazhnikov Junior had admitted obtaining and smuggling sensitive electronic components worth $65 million from the United States to Russia.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard Frankel said back then that "Alexander Brazhnikov Jr. significantly undermined the national security of the US by procuring sophisticated, high-tech electronic components and smuggling them into Russia". The sentencing of the naturalized US citizen due to take place on September 15. according to the Justice Department.

 Sputnik

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US Government Seeks to Gag Lawyer for Russian National Mariia Butina

Sputnik News

22:40 25.07.2018(updated 22:51 25.07.2018)

A trial date remains unset in the case of Russian national Mariia Butina, who was arrested on July 15 for acting as foreign agent of Russia but failing to register with US authorities, a claim Butina's defense denies.

Her trial in the court of public opinion remains ongoing, however, and though a tidal wave of misleading and critical reporting on Butina has been published since her arrest, it was Butina's attorney the government sought to gag Wednesday.

Assistant US attorney Thomas Saunders refused to issue discovery to defense attorney Robert Driscoll until a protective order is secured on it, thereby gagging Driscoll on its subjects. Discovery is the process in criminal proceedings wherein the prosecution turns over its evidence to the defense. The government took objection to Driscoll's media appearances and argued that he could leak evidence to the media.

Saunders told Judge Tanya Chutkan that Driscoll "repeatedly violated the local rule," which constrains an attorney's public comments about cases they are working on, Sputnik News heard in a status hearing Wednesday for United States of America v. Mariia Butina.

Chutkan asked Driscoll, "Do you think it's in your client's interest to have this case tried in the press?"

Driscoll said that the media appearances he's done are "an eye dropper in a the tsunami of negative press that's already convicted her," reasoning, "I've got to zealously represent here."

Robert Driscoll, Mariia Butina's attorney, is the former Deputy Assistant Attorney General and Chief of Staff, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice.

"Ms. Butina is the subject of national incorrect media reporting that I'm trying to push back on," he argued. Driscoll cited a CNN report from the night prior which stated that Butina received training as a spy in Russia, an accusation which the government has not levied against his client and which he "had to correct."

Moreover, the "big issue in the media," according to Driscoll, concerns a claim in the Government's Memorandum in Support of Pretrial Detention, a document which outlined the prosecution's case against releasing Butina on bail before her trial, which was disputed in court on July 18.

"Butina offered an individual other than [her boyfriend] sex in exchange for a position within a special interest organization," the document states.

Driscoll said, "We don't believe that to be true," adding that the government is "refusing to provide evidence for that."

Another piece of fake news about Butina, which was not raised by the defense but has raised eyebrows on social media, was that she attended a meeting between former Russian Ambassador to the US Sergei Kislyak, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US President Donald Trump. The reporter who posted it later corrected herself when it became obvious it was a case of mistaken identity. As it turns out, the woman pictured was National Security Council staffer Cari Lutkins. (She and Butina both have red hair.)

Butina has been pictured with Kislyak in a selfie, which the government put forth as evidence of the inability of law enforcement to make sure Butina wouldn't flee to the embrace of the Russian embassy in DC. But it was taken in passing, Driscoll said at the pretrial hearing, at "a movie screening hosted by a Russian Cultural Center in Washington."

Chutkan alluded to the District of Columbia's news erudition, saying that DC has a "limited jury pool." Calling potential jurors "unfavorable to Russia" would be to "put it lightly," Radio Sputnik's Loud & Clear host Brian Becker said Wednesday.

The government said that it has four to six terabytes of evidence in its first round of discovery, and that another round roughly the same size will be ready to be released to the defense in the next few weeks.

The defense is seeking records of eight hours of testimony Butina made before the US Senate Intelligence Committee in April. According to her attorney, she has turned over records of her communications with Alexander Torshin, the Russian official whom she is alleged to have been coordinating with. Butina is also accused of having solicited some $125,000 to finance her operations in the US, while CNN reports that she informed the Senate Intelligence Committee of her backing from Russian billionaire Konstantin Nikolaev.

After Driscoll said Wednesday that the government was being "coy" over whether or not they had reviewed that evidence, Saunders stated they had but did not have it in their possession. Chutkan offered to have the government issue the "substance" of that bit of discovery  eight hours of closed-door hearings  "orally" to the defense.

At the heart of the case are messages to and from Butina which on their face appear damning. However, their context is unknown. At Butina's pre-trial detention hearing, Driscoll noted that she had exchanged "hundreds of thousands" of messages with her "mentor" Torshin, but that the government was focusing only on those which could be viewed as evidence of guilt when decontextualized. Driscoll said the "pictures of dogs and questions about picking up American toothpaste" exchanged by the two have been ignored.

Another piece of evidence raised by the government was a selfie Butina took in front of the US Capitol Building on Inauguration Day 2016. Torshin told her that she was a "daredevil," to which she replied "good teachings." Driscoll argued that every other student of international relations in Washington, DC, has taken that same selfie.

The most cited comment in the Torshin and Butina's catalogue is one which came a few days after the 2016 election, in which Butina said she was "ready for further orders." According to the FBI affidavit in the case, the remark was made via a Twitter direct message.

Loud & Clear host John Kiriakou, a 15-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency, said on Wednesday that "Spy-to-spy communications are not done over Twitter. I can guarantee you that. This was either a joke, or it was taken completely out of context."

Driscoll said he will issue a motion to dismiss the indictment against Butina as the process of discovery furthers and will issue a motion appealing Butina's pre-trial detention, during which she sits in solitary confinement, in two weeks. The next status hearing is scheduled for September 10.

Meanwhile, Chutkan gave the government until August 8 to submit another protective order on the discovery, giving the defense until August 15 to state any objections.

"We remain confident that Ms. Butina will be vindicated in this process and that everyone will realize the truth of the matter," Driscoll told reporters after exiting the courthouse Wednesday.

 Sputnik

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US Prosecution Wants to Classify Most Evidence in Russian National Butina's Case

Sputnik News

18:34 25.07.2018(updated 19:21 25.07.2018)

Legal defense for Russian national Maria Butina, who is accused of conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government, will appeal her detention in the US within two weeks, according to her lawyer.

The US prosecutors intend to submit up to 12 terabytes of information on the case of Russian citizen Maria Butina but to seal most evidence, a prosecutor said at a hearing in the case in the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Wednesday.

"The authorities have from four to six terabytes of data, which amounts to 1.5 million files. We are ready to hand them over to the defense as soon as possible," he noted, adding that it would take "a couple of days." Moreover, there are additional four-six terabytes of data, which will be ready in about 2 weeks, according to the prosecutor.

At the same time, the prosecution requested from the court to restrict the access to the most evidence pertaining to the case.

"It will facilitate the protection of the investigation, not only in this case but in other cases as well," the prosecutor stressed, without specifying which other cases he was talking about.

US District Judge Tanya Chutcan said during the hearing that the protective order and evidence in the case should be provided by August 8.

The defense team for Russian citizen Maria Butina may appeal her detention in the United States within couple of weeks, Butina's lawyer Robert Driscoll said at a court hearing.

Driscoll said the defense may file a petition to withdraw all charges against Butina.

Butina, 29, is a student from Russia who has recently graduated from American University in Washington DC with a Master's Degree in International Relations. On July 15, US authorities charged Butina for acting as an unregistered foreign agent in the United States. Judge Deborah Robinson declined to grant Butina lawyers' request to release their client on bail and accepted the prosecutors' arguments that Butina should remain detained because she poses a flight risk. She faces up to 15 years in jail.

 Sputnik

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South Sudan rivals ink preliminary power-sharing agreement

Iran Press TV

Wed Jul 25, 2018 06:18PM

South Sudan's government and the main rebel group have inked a preliminary power-sharing agreement that reinstates rebel leader Riek Machar as vice president, in an attempt to end a five-year civil war.

"The power-sharing document has been signed and it addresses all pending issues during the transitional term," Sudanese Foreign Minister Al-Dierdiry Ahmed said at a signing ceremony held in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, on Wednesday.

"Salva Kiir will continue as president of South Sudan and Riek Machar will be the first vice president," he said.

"There will be four other vice presidents shared between other political groups," the minister added, announcing the details of the pact.

The deal, which was guided by Sudan and other east African countries, was reached earlier this month in talks in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, but its signing was delayed due to differences over the contents of the pact.

The rival groups have already agreed on a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of their forces from civilian areas.

Ahmed said one issue that still needed more work was how to share power at the level of regions and counties.

"The negotiations on this will continue until we have an agreement," he said, adding that some opposition groups had refused to sign the deal but talks with them also continued.

According to the Sudanese minister, the "preliminary" deal should be followed by a final one on August 5.

Once a final peace agreement is sealed, it will give the rivals three months to form a transitional government under the new format. That government will then hold power for a further 36 months.

The preliminary deal stipulates the formation of a 35-member transitional government comprising 20 ministers from President Salva Kiir's group, nine from Machar's SPLM-IO rebel group, while the rest will represent other opposition groups.

The bloody civil war in South Sudan, the youngest country in Africa, began in December 2013, when the incumbent president accused his former deputy, Machar, of plotting a coup.

The two sides have been involved in a cycle of retaliatory killings that have split the impoverished country along ethnic lines. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced in the conflict.

A similar deal, which returned Machar to vice presidency, was reached in 2015 but fell apart a year later in a deadly clash that forced Machar into exile.

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Yemeni drone strikes Saudi mercenaries' command center in Bayda

Iran Press TV

Wed Jul 25, 2018 03:47PM

Yemeni army forces, supported by allied fighters from Popular Committees, have launched an airstrike against the command and control center of Saudi-backed militiamen loyal to resigned president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi in the war-torn country's central province of al-Bayda.

A Yemeni military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Arabic-language al-Masirah television network that a remote-controlled unmanned aerial vehicle fired missiles at the military site on Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier in the day, Yemeni naval forces and their allies had targeted and destroyed a Saudi military vessel in a missile attack off the coast of the country's strategic southwestern province of Hudaydah.

An unnamed military source said French-built Dammam frigate was targeted with a guided missile.

The Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights announced in a statement on March 25 that the Saudi-led war had left some 600,000 civilians dead and injured since March 2015.

The United Nations says a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in need of food aid, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger.

A high-ranking UN aid official has warned against the "catastrophic" living conditions in Yemen, stating that there was a growing risk of famine and cholera there.

"The conflict has escalated since November, driving an estimated 100,000 people from their homes," John Ging, UN director of aid operations, told the UN Security Council on February 27.

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Houthis target Saudi warship off Yemen's western coast

Iran Press TV

Wed Jul 25, 2018 09:00AM

Fighters from Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement have targeted a Saudi warship off the country's western coast in retaliation for the Riyadh regime's deadly military campaign on the impoverished nation.

Arabic-language al-Masirah television network tweeted on Wednesday that Yemen's naval force had targeted the Saudi military's Dammam battleship.

So far, there has been no comment from the Saudi-led coalition. There have been no immediate reports of damage or casualties either.

Saudi Arabia and its allies launched the war in March 2015 in support of Yemen's former Riyadh-friendly government and against the Houthis.

Yemeni forces regularly target positions inside Saudi Arabia and fire rockets at the coalition's warships in retaliatory attacks against the Riyadh-led military operation on Yemen.

Last month, the Yemeni navy said it had managed to target a warship belonging to the Saudi-led coalition off the coast of Mukha port city in Ta'izz Province.

According to a military source, the warship was carrying out hostile acts in the territorial waters of Yemen when it was targeted.

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Saudi attacks on Yemeni water systems increase disease risk: UNICEF

Iran Press TV

Wed Jul 25, 2018 06:39AM

The UN International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has condemned recent airstrikes conducted by the Saudi-led coalition on Yemen's water systems, warning that the destruction of the infrastructure could endanger more lives.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Geert Cappelaere, UNICEF Regional Director in the Middle East and North Africa, said the water facility in the northwestern Sa'ada Province had come under attack three times in recent days.

Now, he said, over half of Sa'ada's water system has been damaged and drinking water cut off to 10,500 Yemenis.

"UNICEF deplores in the strongest terms yet another attack on vital and lifesaving water systems in Yemen," Cappelaere said. "Continuous attacks on water systems in Yemen are cutting off children and their families from water; increasing the likelihood of water-borne diseases spreading in the war-torn country."

He also warned that "more lives - among them many children - will be lost" if the aerial assaults on Yemen's basic services continue.

The UNICEF official further called on the parties to the Yemen conflict to stop all attacks on the country's civilian infrastructure, including water systems and facilities, schools, hospitals and clinics.

"Attacks on civilian infrastructure including water systems are a violation of international humanitarian law," he noted.

Saudi Arabia and its allies launched the war in March 2015 in support of Yemen's former Riyadh-friendly government and against the Houthi fighters.

The military campaign has killed and injured tens of thousands of civilians.

Several Western countries, the US and the UK in particular, have been supplying Saudi Arabia with advanced weapons and military equipment.

Red Cross plane forced to land in Jizan

Separately on Tuesday, the coalition said it had forced a plane with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to land in Saudi Arabia's southwestern city of Jizan after intercepting it over Yemen.

The plane, which was heading to Djibouti, had changed its course after taking off from Sana'a, the Saudi-led coalition said in a statement published by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

"Coalition forces communicated with the aircraft on the international distress frequency... but the crew did not respond," coalition spokesman Colonel Turki Al-Maliki said. "Commands were given to redirect the aircraft away from the operations zone but to no avail. The aircraft was forced to land in Jizan."

Meanwhile, the ICRC confirmed the plane's "unscheduled stop" in Jizan, adding it was "due to technical issues."

"The issue was resolved and the plane has landed in Djibouti this evening," the humanitarian institution said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia has imposed a blockade on Yemen, which has smothered humanitarian deliveries of food and medicine to the import-dependent country.

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US expanding biggest Mideast military base in Qatar

Iran Press TV

Wed Jul 25, 2018 06:32AM

Qatar and the United States have launched a project to expand Washington's already largest military base in the Middle East region, with both sides discussing "permanent" American presence in the emirate.

The two sides "laid the foundation stone for expanding" the al-Udeid air base, located 35 kilometers southwest of the capital Doha on Tuesday, the official Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.

The project includes "the construction of barracks and service buildings to support joint security efforts, as well as improving the quality of life of the troops stationed at the airbase," it said.

The QNA said the expansion project "underscores Qatar's commitment to deepening its strategic military relations with the United States."

"The State of Qatar, along with its strategic US ally, is working on drawing up a roadmap for the future of bilateral relations, including the addition of al-Udeid Air Base to the list of US permanent military bases," it said.

Addressing a press conference that followed the launch of the project, American Charge d'Affaires Ryan Gliha called Qatar an "indispensable partner for the United States."

"We saw today the opening of a new construction project what we hope to see in the coming years and months is [the] strengthening" of the bilateral ties, he said. "Billions of dollars have been spent already at al-Udeid over the last 15 years to support our operations These are essential to the fight against Daesh and our ability to lead the coalition."

He was referring to the aerial military campaign against what is claimed to be Daesh targets in Iraq and Syria by a US-led coalition comprising scores of Washington's allies.

The facility houses some 10,000 US forces, as well as warplanes, equipment, and ammunition. It also provides services to other coalition members.

PressTV-US should remove its airbase from Qatar: UAE

The UAE has called on the US to consider the relocation of its airbase in Qatar and to pressure Doha over its alleged support of terrorism.

The expansion project went underway amid a bitter diplomatic crisis between Qatar and a Saudi Arabia-led quartet of countries.

The foursome cut their diplomatic ties with Qatar and placed it under a trade embargo last June, accusing it of "supporting terrorism." Doha roundly rejects the accusation.

US President Donald Trump initially backed the Saudi-led bloc, but later advised that the crisis be resolved.

According to various reports, the about-face came after Trump's aides, who were wary about the future of the US military involvement in Qatar, convinced him to approach the issue more moderately.

The diplomatic dispute has triggered an arms rivalry between Qatar and the boycotters -- Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt -- with the US taking advantage of the situation to sell more military equipment under lucrative deals with the feuding parties.

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US will have no military cooperation with Russia in Syria: Mattis

Iran Press TV

Wed Jul 25, 2018 05:02AM

Defense Secretary James Mattis says the United States will have no cooperation with the Russian military in Syria at least for now.

His remarks come after Moscow last week proposed plans to Washington to cooperate on the safe return of refugees to Syria following a meeting between President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.

On Friday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed the issue had been discussed by the two presidents.

However, US defense officials are shocked at the prospect of coordinating with Russia in Syria, where the two countries are conducting two separate military campaigns.

Russia is in Syria at the request of the government of Bashar al-Assad to help fight Daesh, while Washington and its allies have been launching attacks on Syria since 2014, claiming they seek to root out the terrorist group, but they are also aiding militants fighting the government.

Now, the Pentagon, which blames Russia for conditions that caused refugee flows in the first place, says coordination between the two countries requires special permission from Congress.

Presently, the only coordination between the US-led coalition with Russia in Syria is through a special hotline to insure there are no mishaps involving the two sides' ground forces or planes.

"We will not be doing anything additional until the Secretary of State and the president have further figured out at what point we are going to start working, alongside our allies, with Russia in the future," Mattis said at a press conference in California on Tuesday.

"That has not happened yet. And it would be premature for me to go into any more detail at this point, because we're not doing any more than this," he added.

Meanwhile, General Joe Votel, the top commander overseeing US military involvement in Syria, said on Thursday no new instructions were issued regarding cooperation with Russians since Trump's summit with Putin.

Congress passed a law banning military-to-military cooperation following the rejoining of Crimea with Russia in 2014.

Crimea decided to join Russia and two provinces in the east revolted by establishing self-declared republics.

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Pentagon Reluctant To Work With Russian Military On Syrian Refugees

RFE/RL July 25, 2018

U.S. military leaders are expressing reluctance to work with the Russian military following a White House agreement with the Kremlin to discuss working together to help Syrian refugees return home, drawing an angry response from Moscow.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on July 24 that, at least for now, there will be no cooperation with Russia on the plan, which came out of Russian President Vladimir Putin's summit with U.S. President Donald Trump on July 16.

"That has not happened yet," Mattis said at a press conference in California. "We will not be doing anything additional until [Secretary of State Mike Pompeo] and the president have further figured out at what point we are going to start working, alongside our allies, with Russia in the future."

Some senior Pentagon officials have expressed dismay at the prospect of working with a Russian military that has taken the opposite side in the Syrian civil war and has allegedly been complicit in the use of tactics like the bombing of civilians which they say led to the refugee problem in the first place.

Given Russia's continuing support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose military has been involved in the killing of more than 400,000 people during the country's seven-year civil war, General Joseph Votel, the commander of U.S. Central Command, said he would prefer to see "confidence-building measures" from Russia before the Pentagon gets involved with it in resettling Syrian refugees.

"I am not recommending that. And that would be a pretty big step at this point," Votel told reporters from ABC News and the Wall Street Journal on July 22. "I would want to make sure that this isn't something that we stepped into lightly."

Cooperation between the two militaries to help an estimated 6 million Syrian refugees return home is not possible under current U.S. law, Votel said.

Since 2014, the Pentagon has been prohibited from cooperating with the Russian military under legislation passed by Congress after Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.

'Some Level Of Trust' Required

Currently, the two militaries only have regular contact over a hotline established in Syria to prevent accidental clashes between U.S. and Russian forces operating in Syria's crowded airspace.

"I think if we went beyond that, I think there would have to be some level of trust, confidence-building, that would need to take place before we would feel confident that we were moving in the right direction," Votel said.

He cited Russia's backing of Assad despite incidents documented by the UN of Syrian forces using chemical weapons that have killed scores of civilians.

"I've watched some of the things that Russia has done," Votel said. "It does give me some pause here."

"These are not things that give me great confidence that just by stepping over into the next level of coordination that things are going to be fine," he added.

"It's Russia. Let's not forget that," he continued. "So there would have to be a lot, I think, beyond just people saying we can do it. That would help me build confidence we can do it."

Votel's remarks drew an angry response from the Russian Foreign Ministry on July 24, which in a statement on social media said the general "discredited the official position of his supreme commander-in-chief."

The ministry went on to criticize the U.S. military presence in Syria, calling it "illegal" and saying that U.S. forces should either withdraw or "engage in cooperation with Russia and the country's legal leadership in the process of assisting the return of refugees."

With reporting by AFP, CNN, ABC News, Wall Street Journal, and Interfax

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pentagon-reluctant- work-with-russian-military-syrian-refugees-kremlin-white- house-plan-trump-putin-summit/29389080.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Putin Not Welcome In Congress If He Visits Washington, Leaders Say

RFE/RL July 25, 2018

The leaders of the U.S. Congress, citing Russia's alleged interference in U.S. elections, say they will not invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to address Congress or visit the Capitol if he accepts President Donald Trump's invitation to a second summit in Washington this fall.

On July 24, House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell both rejected any friendly outreach to Putin and expressed disagreement with Trump's embrace of the Russian president in the wake of their one-day summit on July 16 in Helsinki.

Ryan and McConnell said they had no plans to ask Putin to address a joint session of Congress, a typical honor for visiting foreign leaders.

"We would certainly not be giving him an invitation to do a joint session," Ryan said. "That's something we reserve for allies."

"The speaker and I have made it clear that Putin will not be welcome up here at the Capitol," McConnell said.

Their comments came as a top Kremlin aide on July 24 said that Putin was waiting for the "dust to settle" over his controversial meeting with Trump in Helsinki before deciding whether to take up Trump's offer of a second summit.

Yuri Ushakov, citing a desire not to inflame what he described as an already "overheated" U.S. political situation, said no preparations were being made to visit Washington and Putin would be open to meeting with Trump in other venues, such as a Group of 20 (G20) summit in Argentina this fall.

The congressional leaders cited what they said were Russian efforts to meddle in the 2016 presidential election in shunning any embrace of the Russian leader.

The U.S. intelligence community and a U.S. special counsel have concluded that Russia used a campaign of spreading propaganda on social media and hacking Democratic documents to try to aid Trump's candidacy and hurt his opponent, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Moreover, intelligence officials have warned that Moscow is working to meddle once again in this year's congressional elections.

"The Russians better quit messing around in our elections. They did it the last time. They better not do it again," McConnell told reporters on Capitol Hill, adding that he was open to legislation to put more pressure on Moscow after Congress enacted a bill imposing tough sanctions on Russia over its alleged 2016 election meddling a year ago.

Wave Of Criticism

Ryan said he does not have a problem with Trump sitting down with foreign leaders like Putin, as long as he is delivering the right message.

"If the message is, 'Stop meddling in our country, stop violating our sovereignty,' then I support that. But it's the message that counts," Ryan told reporters on Capitol Hill.

Trump faced a bipartisan tidal wave of criticism after a news conference with Putin in Helsinki where he gave credence to Putin's denials of Russian interference while seeming to question the conclusions of U.S. intelligence agencies.

Putin acknowledged at the news conference that he wanted Trump to win the election, though he denied doing anything to bring that about.

Trump has called the summit a success and invited Putin to visit Washington in the autumn.

Besides McConnell and Ryan, other prominent congressional Republicans do not share Trump's upbeat views of Putin.

"I'm suspicious of everything Putin does," said Representative Mac Thornberry (Republican-Texas), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (Republican-Arizona) has called Putin a "tyrant" and "America's enemy."

With reporting by AP and Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-not- welcome-congress-if-visit-washington-leaders- say-ryan-mcconnell-trump/29389166.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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India, Japan Gearing Up For First Joint Military Exercise

Sputnik News

15:52 25.07.2018(updated 18:58 25.07.2018)

The two countries are also exploring possibilities to enhance cooperation between the Japan Air Self Defense Force and Indian Air Force by enabling visits by their aircraft to each other's air bases.

New Delhi (Sputnik): India and Japan are hoping to conduct their first joint military exercise later this year. Japanese Minister of Defense Itsunori Onodera is expected to discuss this matter during his visit to New Delhi in mid-August wherein he will meet his Indian counterpart, Nirmala Sitharaman. The final roadmap for the proposed military exercise will take shape when the two ministers give their stamps of approval during the meeting.

The idea was mooted during the 2017 India-Japan Annual Defense Ministerial Dialogue.

"In the context of enhanced cooperation between the two ground forces, the ministers decided to explore a joint field exercise in the field of counterterrorism between the Indian Army and the Japan Ground Self Defense Force (JGSDF) in 2018," reads a statement issued after the 2017 India-Japan Annual Defense Ministerial Dialogue.

Official sources told Sputnik that the dates for the proposed exercise would most likely be announced during ministerial level talks in New Delhi.

Last week, India and Japan concluded the fourth round of the Maritime Affairs Dialogue in New Delhi, wherein the two sides discussed ways and means to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region and maritime security.

Last month, the Indian Navy, Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force and the U.S. Navy concluded the 22nd rendition of the Malabar Naval Exercise, involving aircraft, ships and personnel from all three navies.

The defense industries of India and Japan have decided to expedite talks on the development of defense equipment. The Acquisition, Technology and Logistic Agency (ATLA) of Japan and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of India had agreed to kick-start technical discussions for research collaboration in areas involving unmanned Ground vehicles and robotics.

 Sputnik

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Houthis Target Saudi Oil Tanker Off Yemen's Coast

Sputnik News

10:54 25.07.2018(updated 14:34 25.07.2018)

Earlier, Yemeni government has provided two ceasefires to the United Nations for the withdrawal of Houthi rebels from the Al Hudaydah port, though, the militants have turned down the initiative.

Saudi-Led Coalition said that Houthis targeted Saudi oil tanker caused slight damage.

"The Saudi oil tanker was subjected to slight damage due to the attack by the Houthi militia," Saudi state TV said.

According to the Al Masirah TV, Houthi movement targeted a Saudi Arabian warship off the western coast of Yemen.

"The naval force targets the Saudi Dammam ship," the broadcaster wrote on its Twitter account.

There are no reports of damage or casualties. Saudi-led coalition did not confirm this incident.

Saudi Arabia and a coalition of mostly Gulf states have been involved in a military operation in Yemen since March 2015, striving to restore the government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi who was toppled in a series of uprisings in 2014 and 2015 by the Houthi rebels and fled to Riyadh.

The coalition has suffered a series of setbacks in recent months, with Houthis reportedly launching ballistic missiles and drones into Saudi Arabia and attacking coalition warships.

The war in Yemen has led to thousands of deaths, displaced over three million people, and pushed the country to the verge of famine.

 Sputnik

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Pentagon Awards $300Mln to Deliver Javelin Missiles to Ukraine, 5 Other States

Sputnik News

07:42 25.07.2018

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Army has awarded a $307 million Foreign Military Sales contract to Raytheon to supply more Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, Estonia and Lithuania as well as to Australia, Turkey and Taiwan, the Department of Defense said in a press release.

"Raytheon-Lockheed Martin Javelin JV, Tucson, Arizona, was awarded a $307,535,950 modification to Foreign Military Sales (Australia, Estonia, Lithuania, Turkey Taiwan and Ukraine) contract for Javelin Weapon System full-rate production," the release said.

The sale of the US-made missiles was approved in March 2018 by the US State Department and they went for the estimated price of $47 million. Included in the sale were 210 missiles and 37 launchers, the release added.

The Javelin system, built by the Raytheon Company and Lockheed Martin, utilizes a high-explosive, anti-tank warhead that is capable of defeating modern armored vehicles by attacking from above.

The process of clearing the sale to Ukraine was undertaken by the Trump administration in December 2017.

Russia has repeatedly warned against supplies of lethal weapons to Ukraine saying that this would result in escalation of the military conflict in the country's eastern Donbass region. This stance has also been supported by a number of European officials.

 Sputnik

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White House: Omission in Trump-Putin Transcript Not 'Malicious'

By Ken Bredemeier July 25, 2018

The White House said Wednesday that the omission of a key exchange in a news conference by U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin was unintentional and "by no means malicious."

Television news host Rachel Maddow reported on the MSNBC news network late Tuesday that in the transcript and audio recording of the news conference, the White House intentionally left out a question by Reuters reporter Jeff Mason related to the controversy about whether Putin wanted Trump to win the 2016 U.S. presidential election and interfered to help him claim the White House.

The U.S. reporter asked the Russian leader, "President Putin, did you want President Trump to win the election, and did you direct any of your officials to help him do that?"

Putin responded, "Yes, I did. Yes, I did, because he talked about bringing the U.S.-Russia relationship back to normal."

The Kremlin excised the entire exchange from its transcript of the news conference. In the White House version, the first portion of Mason's question was left out, regarding whether Putin wanted Trump to defeat his Democratic challenger, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The White House's video, published on its website, also appeared to leave out the exchange, leaving the U.S. media to speculate about whether the omission was intentional. The White House statement Wednesday said the omission was "by no means deliberate" and was due to the audio feed transcribed by a stenographer, in which the first half of the reporter's question was obscured by the voice of a translator giving Putin's answer to the previous question.

The Washington Post noted Wednesday that other recordings of the event exist in which Mason's question is not obscured by the translator and the exchange is heard clearly.

The problem, the Post concluded, was that the question took place while the audio feed switched from one in which the translator's voice was prominent to one in which the reporter's voice could be heard more clearly.

The Post said the existence of an alternate recording proved the White House's assertion that it had released the transcript as recorded and had not intentionally tried to edit the question out of existence.

Trump has only reluctantly acknowledged that Russia meddled in the election, while also calling it a "big hoax." He has adamantly rejected any contention that his campaign colluded with Russia, a topic of interest in U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing criminal investigation.

On Tuesday, Trump contended, without offering any evidence, that Russia would support Democrats against Republican candidates in November's U.S. congressional elections.

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White House Delays Next Trump-Putin Summit Until 2019

By Ken Bredemeier July 25, 2018

The White House said Wednesday that President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin will not hold a second summit until next year.

National Security Adviser John Bolton said Trump wants to wait until after Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election is completed.

"The President believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the Russia witch hunt is over, so we've agreed that it will be after the first of the year," Bolton said.

The statement came as the U.S. announced that it has no intention of recognizing Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula and will not drop its economic sanctions against Moscow until Crimea is returned to Kyiv's control.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that with its invasion of Russian-speaking Crimea, Moscow "sought to undermine a bedrock international principle shared by democratic states: that no country can change the borders of another by force."

The top U.S. diplomat added, "As democratic states seek to build a free, just, and prosperous world, we must uphold our commitment to the international principle of sovereign equality and respect the territorial integrity of other states. Through its actions, Russia has acted in a manner unworthy of a great nation and has chosen to isolate itself from the international community."

Pompeo's statement came shortly before he appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to answer lawmakers' questions about an array of global issues. At the top of the list were inquiries about last week's Helsinki summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, particularly the two-hour private meeting the two leaders had, accompanied only by their translators. Trump has noted a range of topics he discussed with Putin, including Ukraine, but given no details of the talks.

In prepared remarks, Pompeo said the U.S. goal in dealing with Moscow is "to steadily raise the costs of aggression until Vladimir Putin chooses a less confrontational foreign policy, while keeping the door open for dialogue in our national interest. President Trump believes that two great nuclear powers should not have such a contentious relationship."

There is no indication, however, that Putin has any intention of relinquishing control of Crimea, where 2.3 million people live.

North Korea

Pompeo said that Trump's June summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un de-escalated the threat of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons development program.

"We are engaged in patient diplomacy, but we will not let this drag out to no end," Pompeo said of on-going talks with Pyongyang.

Ahead of the hearing, Trump's congressional critics said they were particularly interested in questioning Pompeo about Trump's apparent embrace of Putin's denial that Russia had interfered in the 2016 U.S. election and equated Putin's statement with the U.S. intelligence finding that it had meddled. Putin said at a news conference he wanted Trump to win.

Pompeo said Trump accepts the U.S. intelligence conclusion that Putin interfered, although Trump just days ago called the claims of Russian interference a "big hoax."

Trump's Helsinki comments drew sharp criticism in Washington, where he later said he supported his intelligence officials and their conclusion, often coupling it with his oft-repeated statement that his campaign did not collude with the Russians and that the Russian interference had no effect on the outcome of the election.

A new Quinnipiac University poll said Americans believe, by a 51 to 35 percent margin, "that the Russian government has compromising information about President Trump." The survey said that U.S. voters, by a 52-27 percent margin, believe the summit was a failure for the United States, while those polled, by a 73-8 percent edge, believe it was a success for Russia.

Top U.S. intelligence officials say Russia is again attempting to interfere in the U.S. electoral process in the November voting, although Trump administration officials have vowed to try to stop it. The Quinnipiac poll said 63 percent of voters are "very concerned" or "somewhat concerned" about Russian interference in the upcoming vote.

Trump said Tuesday, without offering any evidence, that Russia "will be pushing very hard for the Democrats" in November's congressional elections, against his favored Republican candidates.

The U.S. leader said on Twitter that he was "very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election."

Trump claimed that "based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats. They definitely don't want Trump!"

Trump's contention that Moscow would favor Democrats in the November 6 congressional contests --when the entire 435-member House of Representatives and a third of the Senate is up for election -- is at odds with the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russia meddled in the 2016 presidential election to help Trump win the White House.

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Talks Held between Vice Foreign Ministers of DPRK and China

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK

Pyongyang, July 25 (KCNA) -- Talks were held between Ri Kil Song, vice foreign minister of the DPRK, and Kong Xuanyou, vice foreign minister of China, at the People's Palace of Culture Wednesday.

At the talks both sides had an in-depth discussion on the issues of strengthening the communication and tactical cooperation between the fields of diplomatic affairs of the two countries for developing the bilateral friendly relations onto a new high stage, true to the noble intention of the top leaders of the two countries.

Present at the talks from the DPRK side were officials of the Foreign Ministry and from the Chinese side the members of the Chinese Foreign Ministry delegation, the Chinese ambassador to the DPRK and his embassy staff members. -0-

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Pompeo: North Korea Still Making Fuel for Nuclear Bombs

By VOA News July 25, 2018

North Korea is still producing fuel for nuclear bombs despite pledges to give up its nuclear program, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday.

Questioned by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Pompeo said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's regime was continuing to produce fissile material.

He declined to answer questions about whether the North's nuclear program was still advancing generally and whether Pyongyang was looking to acquire ballistic missiles that could be launched from submarines.

Pompeo said he preferred to answer such questions in a "different setting," meaning in a classified briefing. He told the senators that answering those questions in public could hurt "complex negotiations with a difficult adversary."

During last month's Singapore summit with President Donald Trump, Kim promised to denuclearize. He gave no timetable and Pompeo said it would be impossible to predict when that would happen.

Just after the summit, Trump tweeted that North Korea was no longer a nuclear threat.

Pompeo said Wednesday that the "primary systems" that have threatened the U.S. still existed. He said what Trump most likely meant by his statement was that the tension between the U.S. and the North had been "greatly reduced."

But Pompeo told lawmakers that ongoing talks with North Korea were "verifiable evidence" of movement toward denuclearization. He said Kim understood the U.S. definition of denuclearization and that the North was not taking the Trump administration "for a ride." He told the lawmakers that they could sleep easy at night.

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US bases within reach of Iran's defense power: Iranian Chief of Staff

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Wed / 25 July 2018 / 12:29

Tehran (ISNA) - Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Bagheri says the country's Armed Forces are highly prepared to give a "crushing response to any threat at any level" against the Islamic Republic.

"The false assumptions that the US president has about the astonishing capabilities of the brave Iranian nation and the Armed Forces will never come true," Bagheri said in a statement on Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump announced on May 8 that Washington was walking away from the nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries in 2015, and that he planned to reinstate US nuclear sanctions on Iran and impose "the highest level" of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.

Trump on Monday threatened Iran with hardship "the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before" as Washington launched a new campaign in cooperation with the regime in Tel Aviv meant to foment unrest in the Islamic Republic.

Trump's pugnacious message on his official Twitter account in all capital letters late Sunday came after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's warning to him not to "twist the lion's tail" after the US unveiled a series of measures which amount to a declaration of war.

Baqeri further said the Iranian nation has maintained its unity over the past four decades in dealing with the enemies, particularly the "criminal US" and the Zionist regime as well as their mercenaries in the region and across the world, and succeeded in thwarting all their plots and would achieve a decisive victory against them.

The senior military commander said Iran has never waged a war against any country and wants peace and stability in the region, adding that the Islamic Republic has maintained cordial relations with its neighboring states and used its deterrent power and defensive might to help promote regional peace and repel any act of aggression.

"As the dominant power in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, (Iran) has always been the guarantor of the security of shipping and the global economy in this vital waterway and has the power to take action against any scheme in this region," Bagheri pointed out.

"As correctly mentioned in remarks by [Iran's] president, the enemies, particularly America, whose bases and interest are within the overt and covert reach of the defense power of the Islamic Republic of Iran, should not twist the lion's tail," he said.

"Because they will receive a strong, unimaginable and regret-inducing response of great magnitude in the region and the world," the commander added.

Bagheri warned that the new US economic and oil sanctions against Tehran would endanger the interests of Washington and its puppets.

He emphasized that the Iranian Armed Forces are fully prepared to nip in the bud any threat against the country, Press TV reported.

End Item

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US must forget about holding one-sided negotiations with Iran: Foreign Ministry

Iran Press TV

Wed Jul 25, 2018 04:54PM

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi says the US should forget about the possibility of holding one-sided negotiations with the Islamic Republic "under the shadow of threats."

"The Iranian nation has never and will never hesitate a moment to defend the people's rights and Iran's territorial integrity and independence in the face of excessive demands, domination and pressures," Qassemi said on Wednesday.

He advised US officials to never hope for the possibility of holding "one-sided negotiations with Iran under the shadow of threats" in a bid to advance their excessive demands, noting American authorities need to avoid repeating their "failed experience" of the past.

"The US should know better that the world today and the current era are no place for domination, bullying or one-sidedness," he said, adding that the negative view of the world public opinion towards US policies was indicative of a great change in the international scene.

"The United States should not bite off more than it can chew and should know its place in this era, and make further efforts to understand Iran's status, dignity and role," Qassemi added.

He said that Iran could not put trust in deeds and words of US officials to sit at a negotiating table with them.

The remarks came after US President Donald Trump on Tuesday kept open the possibility of negotiating a new agreement on Iran's nuclear program, two days after he threatened the nation with unprecedented hardships.

"We'll see what happens, but we're ready to make a real deal, not the deal that was done by the previous administration, which was a disaster," he said during a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

The remarks came after he threatened Iran risked dire consequences "the like of which few throughout history have suffered before."

Trump's message on his official Twitter account came after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's warning to him not to "twist the lion's tail" after the US unveiled a series of anti-Iran measures. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also warned the US president to be cautious after his threats.

Also on Monday, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley defended Trump's threat against Iran.

She, however, said Washington was ready to come to the negotiating table if Iran wanted a new deal.

"If you want to come to the table and work on a new Iran deal, we'll be right there to talk to you. But you're not going to threaten us to do it," Haley said in an interview with CBN News.

Trump announced on May 8 that Washington was walking away from a nuclear agreement signed between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries in 2015, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and that he planned to reinstate US nuclear sanctions on Iran and impose "the highest level" of economic bans on Tehran.

Iranian officials have said that they would not seek a new agreement and downplayed US threats to hit the country with new sanctions.

Iran files letter of objection against US

Meanwhile, Iran has filed an official letter of objection to the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which represents US interests, over recent anti-Iran remarks by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Wednesday that "following meddlesome remarks and baseless allegations by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at an anti-Iran gathering in California, the Islamic Republic of Iran officially protested the measure through a letter handed to the Swiss embassy in Tehran."

Qassemi said that the letter voiced the Islamic Republic's official protest against the US administration, and condemned the unfounded statements by the US secretary of state as interference in Iran's internal affairs.

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Iran's IRGC upgrades Sukhoi fleet

Iran Press TV

Wed Jul 25, 2018 02:59PM

A senior commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps says the IRGC has upgraded several of its Sukhoi SU-22 fighter bombers and will soon equip them with cruise missiles.

IRGC's Aerospace Division Commander Brigadier General Amirali Hajizadeh made the announcement in a Wednesday ceremony to unveil 10 overhauled SU-22 fighter jets.

Hajizadeh also said the IRGC will install air-to-ground cruise missiles with pinpoint accuracy and a range of 1,500 kilometers on its fighter jets in the near future.

Despite featuring outstanding flight capabilities like traveling at the speed of Mach 2.1 and flying at 50.000 feet, Hajizadeh said, the Sukhoi SU-22 was not upgraded in certain aspects and thus needed to be overhauled.

Having undergone the upgrade, the bomber will now be capable of carrying and launching smart bombs equipped with pinpoint accuracy, as well as air-to-ground and air-to-air missiles, and will be able to transfer data between drones from distances of several kilometers, the commander added.

Hajizadeh said that the IRGC's Aerospace Division has developed the capability to manufacture different types of equipment, saying the aircraft that were grounded for some 28 years have now been upgraded and have joined the country's air transportation system.

IRGC vows response to US oil threats

Meanwhile, IRGC Chief Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Ja'afari reacted to US threats to block Iranian oil exports, saying the Islamic Republic can take effective counter-measures.

"If the current capabilities of the IRGC, which are based on the will of the revolutionary young specialists and part of which was displayed today,  reaches the ears of the adventure-seeking US president, he will never make such a mistake and will come to the understanding that an oil threat can easily be answered."

In May, US President Donald Trump announced that he was pulling America out of a 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran and would re-impose the sanctions that were lifted as part of the deal.

The sanctions would include restrictions over purchases of crude oil from Iran and investing in its oil sector projects.

Trump's administration has now been pressing other countries to stop buying Iranian oil or face US sanctions.

On Sunday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reaffirmed again that no country can block Iran's oil exports.

"No one with even a basic understanding of politics will ever say, 'We will block Iran's oil exports,'" Rouhani said, reminding America that, "We have many straits; the Strait of Hormuz is but one."

Also on Wednesday, Rouhani responded to recent Trump's threats, and said national integrity, unity and resistance provide the most powerful response to the US adversity and inappropriate rhetoric.

Recently, Trump warned Iran of consequences "the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before."

Rouhani noted that Iran has undertaken legal international efforts to confront the US misdeeds.

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Iran: Resistance strongest response to US empty rhetoric

Iran Press TV

Wed Jul 25, 2018 10:22AM

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says national integrity, unity and resistance provide the most powerful response to the United States' adversity and inappropriate rhetoric.

"The Iranian nation has from the start stood up to the American rulers' intransigence, misconduct and breach of promises in all areas, and has chosen the path of resistance," President Rouhani told a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

He dismissed the recent belligerent comments by American officials against the Iranian nation as "baseless and unfounded," noting that their "hollow threats" do not even warrant a response.

Following its much-criticized withdrawal from an international nuclear deal with Iran in May, the administration of US President Donald Trump has ramped up its tough rhetoric against Iran.

Recently, Trump threatened Iran with hardship "the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before" as Washington launched a new campaign meant to foment unrest in the Islamic Republic.

Rouhani said domestic efforts directed towards increasing production and exports as well as closer public coordination with the government with an aim to stabilize the market would be a "decisive response" to enemy plots and White House officials.

Confronting US in global arena

President Rouhani further noted that Iran has undertaken legal international efforts to confront the United States' misdeeds.

The chief executive pointed to the complaint filed with the International Court of Justice over Washington's decision to re-impose nuclear-related sanctions against Iran after quitting the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal.

Rouhani said the proceedings have yielded their "first success" with the court announcing to the US that it was not allowed to take any action that would influence the tribunal's potential rulings before "Iran's complaint is addressed."

The tribunal warned the US secretary of state about his actions and plans concerning the matter, Rouhani said. "This is a warning to the US by the world's most senior legal authority."

"Today, an absolute majority of world states condemn or view US actions as wrong," said the president, describing it as proof that the Iranian nation's resistance has been fruitful.

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Iran's Rohani Says No Need To Respond To 'Empty Threats' From U.S.

RFE/RL July 25, 2018

Iranian President Hassan Rohani has said he feels no need to respond to what hecalled "empty threats" from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Iran's IRNA news agency reported on July 25 that, after Rohani mentioned "baseless comments" by "some U.S. leaders," he told a cabinet meeting "there is no need for us to respond to any nonsensical comment and answer back to them."

"We should respond with action," Rohani said.

Rohani's remarks came in response to a July 22 all-capital-letters post on Twitter by Trump in which Trump warned Iran not to "threaten the United States again or you will suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before."

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi, responding to Trump's post on July 24, said there would be "a reaction and equal countermeasures from Iran" if the United States attempted to block Tehran from exporting oil.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif responded to Trump with a Twitter post of his own, saying: "We've been around for millennia & seen fall of empires, incl our own, which lasted more than the life of some countries."

On July 24, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis voiced concerns about Iran's actions in the Middle East, including Tehran's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and for Huthi rebels fighting the government in Yemen.

"I think the president was making very clear that they're on the wrong track," Matthis said. "It is time for Iran to shape up and show responsibility as a responsible nation."

During a speech two days after his Twitter post, however, Trump said the United States "was ready to make a real deal" on constraining Iran's nuclear program.

In May, Trump decided to withdraw from a landmark 2015 agreement between Tehran and global powers that restricted Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

Trump has called that agreement a "disaster."

With reporting by IRNA, Reuters, and AP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-s-rohani-no-need-to- respond-to-empty-us-threats-from-u-s-/29389862.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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After Threats, Trump Says Ready To Negotiate 'Real' Nuclear Deal With Iran

July 25, 2018

Two days after exchanging harsh warnings with Iranian leaders, U.S. President Donald Trump says he is still eager to negotiate a new nuclear deal with Tehran.

"We'll see what happens, but we're ready to make a real deal, not the deal that was done by the previous administration, which was a disaster," Trump said on July 24 in a speech to veterans in the U.S. state of Missouri.

Trump over the weekend had threatened Tehran with "consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before" after Iranian President Hassan Rohani had warned Trump not to "play with the lion's tail."

The exchange of harsh rhetoric was reminiscent of the threats that volleyed back and forth between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last year -- exchanges that disappeared after the two adversaries agreed to negotiate a nuclear deal at a summit this spring.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on July 24 declined to comment directly on Trump's threats against Iran, but he voiced his own concerns about Iranian actions in the Middle East, including Tehran's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and for Huthi rebels fighting the government in Yemen.

"I think the president was making very clear that they're on the wrong track," Mattis said on a visit to California.

"It's time for Iran to shape up and show responsibility as a responsible nation. It cannot continue to show irresponsibility as a revolutionary organization that is intent on exporting terrorism, exporting disruption, across the region."

Based on reporting by AP, dpa, and Reuters



Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/after-threats- exchange-trump-says-ready-negotiate-real- nuclear-deal-with-iran/29389114.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Kazakh Defense Minister Makes First Official Visit To Bishkek Since Soviet Collapse

RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service July 25, 2018

BISHKEK -- Kazakh Defense Minister Saken Zhasuzaqov traveled to Bishkek on July 25, making the first official visit by a Kazakh defense chief to Kyrgyzstan since the two Central Asian nations gained independence in the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

Zhasuzaqov's talks with the chief of the Kyrgyz armed forces' General Staff, Raiymberdi Duishenbiev, focused on regional security and military cooperation, the Kyrgyz military said.

An agreement on military intelligence cooperation was signed after the talks.

The two countries are members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) along with Russia, Armenia, Belarus, and Tajikistan.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kazakh-defense- minister-makes-first-official-visit-to-bishkek -since-soviet-collapse/29389486.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Election underway in Pakistan under strict security measures

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Islamabad, July 25, IRNA -- Polling to elect members of National Assembly and four Provincial Assemblies is underway across Pakistan under strict security measures.

The polling started at 08:00 am and will continue till 06:00 pm without any break. This is for the first time in history that the polling time has been extended to 10 hours.

The Prime Minister of Pakistan is elected from the National Assembly who forms the federal government.

It is a public holiday today so that the people could exercise their right to vote conveniently. While polling stations officially opened for voting at 08:00 am, enthusiastic citizens queued up outside their respective stations as early as 07:00 am.

Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is expecting high voter turnout in the elections 2018.

To hold a secure election around 350,000 troops have been deployed across Pakistan to assist the Election Commission of Pakistan in the conduct of peaceful and transparent elections.

In addition to that, some 450,000 cops would also be part of the security contingents performing election duty.

Earlier Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) retired Justice Sardar Muhammad Raza had assured voters that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was 'trying its best to hold free, fair and unbiased elections'.

In a video message released by the election body, Raza urged voters to fulfill their 'duty towards the nation' by casting their votes responsibly on polling day on July 25.

Over 12,570 candidates are in the run for National Assembly and four provincial assemblies. According to the electoral rolls, 105.96 million voters are eligible to cast the vote. In all, 85,307 polling stations have been set up across the country.

Currently there are three main political parties in Pakistan's political arena namely Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) who are flexing their muscles for the next elections.

Some small parties and independent candidates would also play an important role in forming the next government of Pakistan.

272**6125**1771

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Daesh loses ground in Daraa southwestern countryside

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, July 25, IRNA -- Units of Syrian Arab Army operating in the southwestern countryside of Daraa continued their operations against Daesh (ISIS) terrorist organization, inflicting heavy losses upon terrorists, according to SANA.

Army units launched accurate operations from Jileen town and its surrounding after intensive bombardment of terrorists' dens and gatherings. Then heavy clashes erupted among army units and terrorist groups which used various types of machine guns, missiles and snipers in a failed attempt to prevent the advance of the army units which reached the outskirts of the town and its northern part in the direction of al-Mazira village, SANA's reporter said.

The reporter added that scores of terrorists were killed and others injured due to the clashes as their fortified points were destroyed.

Later, a military source told SANA that units of the army continued their military operations against Daesh terrorist organization in the southern area, establishing control over a number of villages and towns to the north-west of Daraa and south east of Quneitra.

Among the villages and towns liberated were Khan Seida, Basala, Ayn Qadi, al-Hanout and Abou Hartin.

The source added that the engineering units began opening roads in the said villages after removing and dismantling mines and bombs there.

1396**1396

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Israel airstrike targets undisclosed region in Syria

Iran Press TV

Wed Jul 25, 2018 10:19PM

Israel says it has carried out an airstrike on an undisclosed region in Syria in what it claims to be a response to two rocket launches from the country.

The Israeli military released a statement on Wednesday, claiming it had targeted the rocket launcher that fired the projectiles.

The statement noted that the launcher's surrounding areas were also targeted in the attack, but there have been no immediate reports of possible casualties or the extent of damage caused due to the Israeli raid.

On Tuesday, Israeli military forces targeted a Syrian Air Force fighter jet over the Golan Heights as it was flying in Syria's airspace and conducting a series of airstrikes against the positions of foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants in the occupied territories.

Israel has been on high alert in recent days as Syrian government forces advance against foreign-backed terrorists near the Golan Heights.

The Tel Aviv regime has recently increased its airstrikes in Syria. Damascus has on multiple occasions denounced the Israeli regime's aggression and also warned about the "dangerous repercussions" of Israeli assaults on its territory.

Tel Aviv is widely believed to have been providing weapons to anti-Damascus militants as well as medical treatment to Takfiri elements wounded in Syria inside the occupied Golan Heights.

Earlier this month, Syrian air defenses repelled an Israeli attack on the country's Quneitra province.

Back on May 10, Israel conducted what it called its most intensive airstrikes on Syria in decades. According to Russia's Defense Ministry, Israel had used 28 warplanes in its airstrikes and fired 70 missiles. Both Damascus and Moscow said the Syrian army managed to shoot down over half of the missiles.

The Tel Aviv regime, at the time, claimed that its assault was in response to a barrage of 20 rockets fired from Syria at Israeli military outposts in Golan.

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Death toll from Daesh attacks in Syria's Sweida exceeds 220

Iran Press TV

Wed Jul 25, 2018 04:13PM

A so-called monitor group says the death toll from a spate of attacks and bombings carried out by members of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in Syria's southwestern province of Sweida has surpassed 220.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday that three attackers set off their explosive belts in Sweida city, located more than 100 kilometers southeast of the capital Damascus, as other blasts hit villages to the north and east. A fourth bomb explosion hit the city later.

"Daesh members then stormed villages in the province's northeast and killed residents in their homes," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

He added that bomb blasts and raids claimed the lives of 221 people, including 127 civilians.

The Observatory noted that the remaining 94 dead were local fighters from the pro-government popular defense groups, who had taken up arms to defend their villages against Daesh terrorists.

Abdel Rahman highlighted that the death toll is expected to further rise as some of the wounded victims are in critical condition and tens of people remain unaccounted for.

Daesh has claimed responsibility for the violence in a statement, saying "soldiers of the caliphate" attacked Syrian government positions and security outposts in Sweida, then detonated their booby-trapped belts.

The bloodiest death toll in Sweida since the start of the Syrian conflict came as Syrian government controls almost all of the province, but Daesh has control over pockets of land in its desert northern and eastern parts.

Syrian army troops are now closing in on foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants in the neighboring provinces of Dara'a and Quneitra.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups wreaking havoc in the country.

On May 21, the General Command of the Syrian Army and Armed Forces announced in a statement that complete security was restored to Damascus and its countryside after al-Hajar al-Aswad district and al-Yarmouk camp were totally purged of Daesh terrorists.

The development was preceded by flushing the Takfiris out of the towns of Yalda, Babbila and Beit Sahem on the southern outskirts of Damascus.

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The United States and France Take Coordinated Action on Global Procurement Network for Syria's Chemical Weapons Program

July 25, 2018

United States and France target suppliers to Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Center

Washington  Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated 13 persons pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13382 of June 28, 2005, "Blocking Property of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators and Their Supporters." These five entities and eight individuals are key components of a vast network procuring electronics on behalf of Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), the agency responsible for the development of Syria's chemical weapons. In a coordinated action earlier this week, the Government of France renewed an asset freeze on 24 entities and individuals from this same procurement network for providing an array of support to the SSRC.

"Syria's horrific use of chemical weapons, including attacks against innocent women and children, remains deeply embedded in our minds. Today, we are continuing our campaign to stop the Assad regime's ruthless attacks by targeting the procurement networks that have supported its chemical weapons program. Along with Sunday's actions by the French, and together with our law enforcement partners, today's actions reinforce our ongoing international efforts with our allies to halt these atrocities," said Sigal Mandelker, Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. "We remain firm in our resolve to counter Syria's horrific use of chemical weapons, and will continue to take aggressive action against those who supply the SSRC and enhance Syria's capacity to produce and use chemical weapons."

As a result of today's OFAC action, many of the entities and individuals previously targeted by the French government will now be added to OFAC's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List. Consequently, all property and interests in property of those designated today subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

Today's designations are another step OFAC is taking to bolster international efforts to stem the flow and use of chemical weapons, including those efforts championed by the International Partnership against Impunity for the Use of Chemical Weapons. The SSRC was included in the Annex to E.O. 13382 on June 28, 2005.

Lebanon-Based SSRC Procurement Network: Electronics Katrangi Trading (EKT)

OFAC is designating, pursuant to E.O. 13382, EKT and its network, which has provided, or attempted to provide, financial, material, technological, or other support for, or goods or services in support of, the SSRC. EKT is an electronics supplier based in Lebanon with operations in Syria, Egypt, China, and France, and is a leading supplier for the SSRCincluding goods used in the production of weapons of mass destruction. EKT uses various aliases and numerous branches to conduct its activities, including Electronic Systems Group (ESG), NKtronics, Smart Pegasus, Lumiere Elysees, Smart Green Power, and Al Amir Electronics.

Amir Katrangi, Maher Katrangi, Houssam Katrangi, Mohamad Katrangi, Mireille Chahine, and EKT Smart Technology are being designated for acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, EKT. Amir, Maher, and Houssam Katrangi manage EKT, and Mireille Chahine is EKT's accountant. Amir Katrangi is the Director of EKT, and Maher and Houssam Katrangi are EKT associates. Mohamad Katrangi founded EKT and remains active in operations of the company. EKT Smart Technology, which has addresses in China and the United Kingdom, supplies goods to the SSRC. Zhou Yishan, a Chinese national, is the Director of EKT Smart Technology, and is being designated for acting for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, EKT Smart Technolgy.

Golden Star Co. has provided, or attempted to provide, financial, material, technological, or other support for, or goods or services in support of, EKT. Golden Star Co., which also does business as Smart Logistics Offshore, has facilitated EKT's operations to the benefit of the SSRC.

Polo Trading is being designated for being owned or controlled by Amir Katrangi. Amir Katrangi founded Polo Trading in 2013.

Procurement of U.S.-Origin Electronics

Today's action also includes the designation pursuant to E.O. 13382 of Antoine Ajaka (Ajaka) and Anni Beurklian (Beurklian), former residents of Waltham, Massachusetts, for providing, or attempting to provide, financial, material, technological, or other support for, or goods or services in support of Amir Katrangi. Ajaka and Beuklian provided procurement services to Amir Katrangi, including the procurement of U.S.-origin electronic components, which were ultimately destined for Lebanon and Syria. Ajaka and Beurklian fled the United States in early 2018.

Lebanon-based Top Technologies SARL is being designated for being owned or controlled by Ajaka. Top Technologies SARL specializes in the import, export, and sale of network and electronic components.

OFAC Coordination with Ongoing Law Enforcement Efforts

Since 2017, OFAC has been involved in a multi-agency effort to disrupt EKT's support to the SSRC, particularly its acquisition of U.S.origin technology and components, and Syria's procurement of goods for its weapons of mass destruction programs. This effort highlights the ongoing interagency coordination necessary to effectively counter threats from proliferation networks such as EKT. Today's OFAC action with respect to Ajaka and Beurklian was taken in close coordination with other U.S. agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Boston Field Office. "This case is proof of what can be achieved through close coordination with our federal law enforcement partners in the fight against transnational criminal networks that procure deadly weapons of mass destruction around the world," said Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of the HSI Boston Field Office. "HSI Boston is proud to have been a part of the strong team effort, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Export Enforcement, the United States Department of Defense's Criminal Investigative Service, and the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, that continues to bring those responsible in this complex, dangerous case to justice."

On March 21, 2018, a federal grand jury for the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts indicted Amir Katrangi, Ajaka, Beurklian, and Top Tech US Inc., a company operated by Ajaka and Beurklian out of their Massachusetts home, on charges including conspiracy to commit export violations, conspiracy to defraud the United States, illegal provision of services to Syria, smuggling, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and mail fraud. According to Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division Harold H. Shaw, "These defendants were key players in a sophisticated scheme to illegally export electronics, computer equipment, and electrical switches to enhance Syria's capacity to produce weapons of mass destruction. The FBI will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to detect, thwart, and bring to justice those who seek to kill innocent people and defraud the United States."



Identifying information on the individuals and entities designated today

####

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Militants Kill Over 200 in Southern Syria Attacks

By VOA News July 25, 2018

The Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for a series of suicide bombings and other attacks Wednesday in southern Syria, killing at least 204 people.

Multiple bombers blew themselves up near a market and a busy square in the city of Sweida.

Hassan Omar, a local health official, said at least 180 others were wounded in the attack. Among the casualties were civilians who took up arms to defend against the IS assault, Omar said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported clashes in nearby villages between pro-government forces and Islamic State fighters.

The Islamic State group has lost much of the territory it once held in Syria and neighboring Iraq, but does still control parts of eastern and southern Syria.

Syrian forces have retaken territory from the militants in recent weeks, particularly west of Sweida near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The Observatory said Wednesday's attacks marked the deadliest day in the province of Sweida since the country's civil war first broke out in 2011.

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Taiwan won't disappear because of Beijing's bullying: MOFA

ROC Central News Agency

2018/07/25 18:22:19

Taipei, July 25 (CNA) Taiwan is Taiwan and will not disappear because of Beijing's bullying, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Wednesday in a stern protest against China as a deadline set by Beijing on foreign airlines to refer to Taiwan as part of China drew near.

"Taiwan is Taiwan and it is a democratic country that has never been ruled by China," MOFA said in a statement after China's Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) pointed the finger at six foreign aviation companies for what it called their failure to change Taiwan's designation on their official websites.

"We strongly condemn China for its rude and politically motivated intervention in international companies' operations," MOFA said.

"Taiwan has gained international recognition due to its democratic system, respect for human rights and rule of law," it said, noting that "Taiwan's democracy is envied by China's citizens who are deprived of their political freedom."

"It is a sheer reality that Taiwan exists in the international community and it won't disappear because of Beijing's bullying," it said. "Taiwan's pursuit of and insistence on democracy will not stop either."

MOFA also urged other countries that share the same ideals to cooperate with Taiwan in preventing China from carrying out hegemonic acts that are intended to meddle in the sovereignty of independent foreign enterprises.

Since April 25, China has written to 44 foreign air carriers, demanding that they designate Taiwan as part of China within 30 days. Although the deadline has been extended to July 25, China has threatened to take "further measures" to deal with airlines that fail to comply with the demand.

Under such pressure, many international carriers, such as Air Canada, Turkish Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Scoot, have made the change.

As of Tuesday afternoon, American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines Inc. -- three of the foreign airlines targeted by China -- had referred only to TPE (Taoyuan International), without mentioning the country, but in the dropdown menu for "select country," "Taiwan" remains.

Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory and objects to symbols or names that suggest Taiwan is independent from China since the two sides split in 1949 amid a Chinese civil war.

(By Elaine Hou and Flor Wang)

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Taiwan will reach out to world despite Chinese pressure: president

ROC Central News Agency

2018/07/25 18:06:18

Taipei, July 25 (CNA) Taiwan's resolution to reach out to the world will not change, President Tsai Ing-wen () said Wednesday in response to the cancellation of the East Asian Youth Games in Taichung in 2019 under pressure from Beijing.

The president made the remark when meeting with foreign scholars attending the Ketagalan Forum: 2018 Asia-Pacific Security Dialogue hosted by the Prospect Foundation, a local think tank.

Tsai said it is regrettable that the Chinese government has been challenging the global order as well as the values of freedom and democracy with its expanding economic power and "sharp power."

The term of sharp power was coined by the U.S.-based National Endowment for Democracy in 2017 to denote authoritarian regimes' manipulation of information and political environments in the target countries, according to the website of the U.S.-based think tank.

The expanding influence of China on military and diplomatic relations might pose severe threats to the safety of East Asia and increase tension in the region, Tsai warned.

Amid the increasing pressure from the Chinese government, Taiwan has remained dedicated to ensuring peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region in cooperation with other countries that have similar ideals, including partners from the Indo-Pacific region, the president said.

(By Yeh Su-ping and Hsu Hsiao-ling)

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The overrepresentation of women in the teaching workforce is likely not negatively affecting boys achievement, argues a new brief from the Brookings Institutions Brown Center on Education Policy .

The brief is part of a series examining teacher diversity in the United States, with a specific focus on underrepresentation of teachers of color.

Research has long demonstrated that the lack of racial diversity in the teaching force hurts students of color. The briefs authors, Michael Hansen and Diana Quintero, pose the question: If a mostly white teaching corps disadvantages students of color, does a mostly female teaching corps have similar effects on male students?

Most teachers in the U.S. are women. Its possible, the briefs authors write, that female teachers are more likely to use teaching strategies and enforce classroom behavioral norms that may be appropriate for girls, but not for boys, who hit certain developmental milestones at different times. Some have argued that these norms, like expectations that students will sit still and work independently , can disadvantage boys.

For the most part, though, existing data on student achievement dont support the claim that a majority-female teaching force is having a negative effect on boys outcomes, the authors write.

Though more women are graduating from college than men , that greater educational attainment doesnt necessarily translate to higheror even equalearning power later in life: The gender pay and wealth gaps that arise after graduating college still overwhelmingly favor men, the authors write.

The brief also uses scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nations report card, as another key metric. Boys do slightly better than girls in math in both 4th and 8th grades, while girls score higher in reading. But performance gaps between boys and girls in reading have shrunk since the 1990s, even as the percentage of women teachers in the country has increased.

Black Boys Face Clear Gender-Based Disadvantage

Other data also suggest that teacher gender may not be the deciding factor when it comes to boys achievement.

A recent study from Stanford University and the Learning Policy Institute comparing gender gaps across 10,000 districts found large gaps separating boys and girls in reading. But these gaps broke down differently by district: In wealthier school systems, gaps favoring boys were more common, while in poorer districts, more gaps favored girls.

The Stanford study also found that in districts with a higher proportion of black students, girls were more likely to do better in reading and math than boys. The Brookings brief also notes that gender achievement gaps break down differently by race: Black boys from low-income households face a clear gender-based disadvantage, the authors write.

Targeting male teachers of color is the only place where there could be strong enough rationale to warrant recruiting more males into the profession, the brief states.

Nationally, black men make up only about 2 percent of all public school teachers. In attempts to attract and retain more black men to the profession, some school systems and teacher-preparation institutions have set up programs to support black male candidates .

Research has shown that having teachers who look like them is beneficial for students of color: Black students are more likely to graduate if they have one black teacher .

Black teachers also can serve as role models and cultural bridges for students of color, even contributing to a sense of belonging in the academic sphere, the briefs authors write.

Image: GettyU.S. reiterates objection to China's name-change demands

ROC Central News Agency

2018/07/25 16:11:17

Washington, July 24 (CNA) The U.S. Department of State repeated its objection to China's demand Tuesday that private airlines must change their designation of Taiwan, one day before Beijing's name-change deadline of July 25.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert reiterated at a regular press briefing that the U.S. government is opposed to demands by governments upon private enterprises.

She said she was not aware of any American companies that have given in, but advised reporters to contact firms directly to ask about their stance.

China's Civil Aviation Administration sent a message to 44 foreign air carriers April 25, demanding that they not refer to Taiwan as non-Chinese territory on their websites, a move described by the White House in May as "Orwellian nonsense."

Beijing set a final deadline of July 25 for the changes, threatening penalties. Lately, the Chinese bureau said publicly that only six carriers are applying for a delay for the changes.

The resistance to China's list includes American Airlines (AA), United Airlines (UA), and Delta Air Lines Inc. The three American carriers had all given in to Beijing's demand as of the July 25 deadline.

A check of their websites shows that the companies now list only airport codes and cities, but not the name Taiwan to indicate the country or region they are located in.

Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory and objects to symbols or names that suggest that Taiwan is independent from China.

Asked by CNA via e-mail about China's demand, a spokesperson of the Department of State replied that the Chinese government is well aware of the U.S. position, which is strong objection "to China's attempts to compel private firms to use specific language of a political nature in their publicly available content."

"U.S. airlines should not be forced to comply with this order," the spokesperson said, adding that "we object to Beijing dictating how the U.S. and other non-Chinese firms, including airlines, organize their websites for ease of consumer use."

Meanwhile, Dan Blumenthal, director of Asian studies at the American Enterprise Institute, described China's name-change demand for airlines as classic "economic coercion" that harms the U.S. and its allies.

The Chinese communists are using this demand as a means to carry out their "China Dream," Blumenthal said in a written testimony to a subcommittee hearing, titled "The China Challenge, Part 1: Economic Coercion as Statecraft," at the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Tuesday.

In the testimony, Blumenthal labeled Taiwan as "ground zero" for China's coercive economic activities. There, the Communist Party of China pressures international companies to not identify Taiwan by name, in an attempt to erase Taiwan as a separate entity from the global "mental map," he said.

Examples of these include apologies from the Marriot business group and Delta for including "Taiwan" on the list of countries in which they operate, Blumenthal added.

(By Chiang Chin-yeh and Elizabeth Hsu)

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Government mulls legal action amid Chinese pressure on airlines

ROC Central News Agency

2018/07/25 15:56:17

By Joseph Yeh, CNA staff reporter

In late April, China's Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) sent a letter to 44 foreign air carriers, saying that their websites' references to Taiwan violate Chinese law and go against its one-China policy that sees Taiwan as part of its territory.

The letter requested that these companies immediately revise their websites or face possible retaliatory action.

The demand was later denounced by the U.S. administration as "Orwellian nonsense." Canada, the United Kingdom and other democratic countries have also voiced dissatisfaction over the Chinese move.

Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesman Andrew Lee () also repeatedly urged the airlines not to belittle Taiwan or damage its sovereignty and dignity by bowing to Chinese bullying.

"As an independent and sovereign nation, the people of Taiwan will not be subdued by any threat or intimidation, and any such attempts will only stir resentment from the people of Taiwan toward the Chinese government," Lee added.

But many of the airlines have complied, referring to Taiwanese destinations such as Taipei as being in Taiwan, China or Taiwan, CN.

As of May 25, 18 of the 44 airlines had changed their websites. The remaining 26 had requested an extension until July 25 due to technical reasons, a request that was granted by China's CAA.

In the latest press conference held July 13, China's CAA said only six airlines among the 44 had yet to comply.

To squeeze Taiwan internationally

With the clock ticking, Taiwan is waiting to see if the rest of the carriers will bow to Beijing's pressure.

Beijing's decision to ask private airlines to change their designation of Taiwan on their websites is part of the authoritarian government's measures to annihilate Taiwan's international space.

China has already persuaded four of the nation's diplomatic allies to switch recognition since President Tsai Ing-wen () took office in May, 2016. Currently, the island nation only has 18 allies worldwide.

Tsai's recognition of the existence of a "1992 meeting" but not the "1992 consensus" in her inaugural speech has reduced Beijing's willingness to engage with her government. Relations between Taipei and Beijing have cooled since then.

Facing China's behavior, Taiwan's call to airlines apparently have not received positive responses. Some have urged Taiwan's government to take more concrete action other than paying only lip service.

In an article published online May 19, J. Michael Cole, chief editor at Taiwan Sentinel, a local news and commentary website, suggested that the government could consider legal action against Beijing's bullying.

"If Beijing wants to use its laws to blackmail the international community in its bid to isolate a democracy, we, too, can turn to the courts to exact some punishment," Cole said in the article published at Taiwan Sentinel.

Cole suggested that Taiwan and its allies make the case that China's demands, and the compliance of foreign airlines, violate consumer rights.

"One possibility is taking this to arbitration at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Another option would be for groups of citizens (or Taiwan's CAA), to initiate a class action lawsuit in Taiwan (or other jurisdictions) against airlines that gave in to Chinese pressure, which in so doing are consequently in violation of Taiwan's jurisdiction and domestic laws," he added.

His opinion soon received support from government officials.

Speaking to the Financial Times last month, David Lee (), secretary-general of Taiwan's National Security Council (NSC), told the newspaper that Taiwan is considering taking action to counter Beijing's pressure on the airlines, including legal action and encouraging a boycott of carriers that comply.

"We will tell our people: 'Those are the airlines that caved in to China, it is your choice (whether to use them),'" Lee was quoted as saying by the newspaper June 17.

Lee said that although pursuing legal action against the companies involved would be a complex process and "may take two to three years" to obtain a ruling, "it is a signal we are fighting back, that we won't just sit idle here," the Financial Times reported.

Legal action feasible?

Legal action sounds a reasonable approach to hit back at Beijing's demands. But whether it is feasible remains in doubt to many.

Asked to comment on the proposal, ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lo Chih-cheng () urged the government to think long and hard before pursuing legal action, since such efforts could prove "expensive and time consuming."

Lo, a member of the Legislature's Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, told CNA that the government needs to think through the possible scenarios should it decide to pursue legal action over the matter.

"The government should first clarify who suffers most from Beijing's act to pressure foreign airlines to describe Taiwan as part of China, and study where and when to file a possible legal suit accordingly," said Lo, an assistant professor at Taipei-based Soochow University's Department of Political Science.

Whether the legal suit should be filed at the WTO, in which Taiwan is a member, or in the countries where these airlines are located needs to be considered, he said.

The government should also consider what kind of decision it has a chance of winning before deciding whether to take legal action.

"Or the decision will be very expensive, time consuming and to no avail," Lo said.

A source familiar with international litigation also told CNA that currently, no Taiwanese airlines have been pressured by China into changing the country's designation, making it difficult for Taiwan to take legal action at the WTO on the grounds that Taiwanese customers' interests have been jeopardized.

It is also highly unlikely that Taiwan could ask other countries, including the U.S. and Japan, to file a lawsuit on its behalf, since both countries have airlines that have chosen to change Taiwan's designation, the source noted.

Also, whether Taiwanese customers' interests are being harmed is debatable, since the name change has not yet caused financial losses to airline customers, the source said.

All these factors make it very difficult for the government to take legal action in the case, the source added.

Meanwhile, asked to comment on the latest development of the possible lawsuit, MOFA's Lee said the government has not made a final decision on whether to take legal action.

"Such measures are still being discussed and evaluated. We will make the final decision as to if and when to take action by making the national interest our top priority," he said.

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China calls on U.S. government to urge relevant enterprises to observe one-China principle

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 07:29, July 25, 2018

BEIJING, July 24 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday called on the U.S. government to urge relevant U.S. airlines to observe the one-China principle.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks at a press briefing in response to a question regarding U.S. airlines not having changed their listing of Taiwan on their websites.

In late April, China's civil aviation authority sent a formal notice to 44 foreign airlines, asking them to list Taiwan as part of China on their websites.

"The one-China principle represents the consensus shared by the international community and is the political foundation for the steady development of China-U.S. relations, something not negotiable," said Geng, pointing out that the U.S. side is very clear about this.

"We hope the U.S. government can urge the relevant enterprises to observe the one-China principle and rectify the relevant websites as soon as possible," Geng said.

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China Warns US Against Tightening Military Cooperation With Taiwan

Sputnik News

15:53 25.07.2018(updated 15:54 25.07.2018)

BEIJING (Sputnik) - Beijing is "extremely discontent" with the United States' plan to develop military cooperation with Taiwan and warns Washington against jeopardizing stability in the region, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Wednesday.

"China is extremely discontent and lodges a strong protest against the aforementioned provisions regarding the PRC [People's Republic of China, formal name of the country] in the US plan for the defense spending for the 2019 fiscal year," Geng said at a media briefing.

According to the spokesman, if the bill is passed, it will undermine trust and cooperation between China and the United States while also threatening the stability in the Taiwan Strait.

"China is urging the United States to abandon the Cold War mentality and the principle of a 'zero-sum game' by removing the negative content in question from the document in order to support the development of bilateral interstate relations and not to interfere with it," Geng added.

In May, the US Senate Armed Services Committee published a report on next year's defense budget, which contained a section on strengthening military cooperation with Taiwan, including joint drills and arms sales, and increasing US military presence in the East China Sea. The Senate passed the bill in June, however, it is yet to be approved by the House of Representatives.

Taiwan, situated on a group of islands southwest of mainland China, broke away in 1949. While business and unofficial contacts between the two sides resumed in late 1980s, China refuses diplomatic relations with any country that recognizes Taiwan as a state.

The United States is among the countries which do not recognize Taiwan as an independent state. The US government declared it would end all political ties with Taiwan after the joint 1979 communique, but continued to maintain economic and cultural relations via the American Institute in Taiwan.

In 2015, then President Barack Obama approved an arms sale package to Taiwan in the amount of $1.83 billion, while his successor, Donald Trump signed the Taiwan Travel Act, allowing US officials to travel to the island and meet their Taiwanese counterparts.

 Sputnik

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US Airlines Bow to Chinese Pressure, Change Taiwan Reference

By VOA News July 25, 2018

Three U.S. airlines have agreed to China's demands to change how it refers to Taiwan on their websites ahead of a Wednesday deadline imposed by Beijing.

American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines removed the name "Taiwan" from the results of its destination searches, using instead the name "Taipei," the island's capital.

China's Civil Aviation Administration sent out a letter to dozens of international airlines in April demanding them to switch its reference of Taiwan to "Taiwan, China," to reflect Beijing's view that the self-ruled island is part of the mainland. Dozens of air carriers, including Australia's Qantas Airlines, British Airways and Air Canada, have already complied with the demand.

"Like other carriers, American is implementing changes to address China's request," American Airlines spokeswoman Shannon Gilson said in a written statement. "Air travel is global business, and we abide by the rules in countries where we operate."

The International Air Transport Association forecast last year that China would surpass the United States as the world's top aviation market by 2020.

The Trump administration denounced Beijing's demand back in May as "Orwellian nonsense."

China and Taiwan split after Mao Zedong's Communists drove the Nationalists off the mainland in the 1949 civil war, but Beijing has vowed to bring Taiwan under its control - if necessary, by force.

Beijing has broken off contact with Taipei since President Tsai Ing-wen, the leader of the independence-leading Democratic Progressive Party, was elected president in 2016 and refused to acknowledge that Taiwan is part of China. It has pressured other nations to break off diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and has increased its military presence with naval and aerial exercises through the Taiwan Strait.

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Turkey moves to adopt security law after ending controversial emergency rule

Iran Press TV

Wed Jul 25, 2018 07:36AM

Only days after lifting a controversial state of emergency, Turkey moves to approve a new security law, which critics say will result in continued crackdown on opposition and provide state officials with non-liability for important decisions.

The Turkish parliament adopted late on Tuesday all articles of the security law, which is said to be aimed at fighting terrorism, after the two-year-old state of emergency expired last week. The measure will put to a final vote at the legislature later on Wednesday.

The new law will effectively keep in place the terms of the emergency rule, which had been imposed in the aftermath of an abortive coup against the Ankara government in July 2016.

It will also grant broader authority to local governors, extend detention periods and allow public servant dismissals if there are links to or contacts with terrorist organizations or other perceived threats to national security.

Ankara blames US-based opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen and his supporters for the failed coup.

Under the controversial state of emergency, hundreds of thousands of people with alleged links to Gulen were arrested or dismissed from their jobs.

Ankara's post-coup purge has drawn criticisms from domestic opposition and leading human rights organizations.

Ahead of the parliamentary vote, leader of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Kemal Kilicdaroglu, had said the measure aims to legalize the state of emergency rule, the Hurriyet Daily reported on Tuesday.

"People [state officials] have duties, they have authority but they have no liability. If there is an authority and duty in a state, the person who exercises this authority should have liability. When you take out the liability link from the state, then there will be no state. That is the point that we have reached," the opposition leader said.

Meanwhile, the measure's backers say the new security law will strengthen security and help ease Turkey out of the tumultuous period it has witnessed over the past two years.

The developments come as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was recently re-elected for a new tenure. During his campaign, Erdogan had promised to lift the state of emergency.

However, he also pointed out that the new counter-terrorism legislation was needed to take tough action against any threat to Turkey's security.

Turkey has been hit by numerous terrorist attacks.

Last year, a gunman shot and killed at least 39 people and wounded at least 70 others at the well-known Reina nightclub in Istanbul while customers were celebrating the New Year.

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Turkish Forces 'Neutralize' 3 PKK Members, While Group Says Kills 15 Servicemen

Sputnik News

06:35 25.07.2018

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Turkish forces have killed or captured three militants linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) during separate missions in Turkey's southeastern Diyarbakir province and northern Iraq, local media reported on Tuesday citing the Turkish General Staff.

According to the Anadolu news agency, those members of the PKK, designated as a terrorist organization in Turkey, were neutralized on Monday in northern Iraq's Kani Rash regions and in the Lice district of Diyarbakir.

Meanwhile, the armed wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party said that 15 Turkish servicemen were killed in a northern Iraqi district close to the border with Turkey, media reported on Tuesday citing the PKK statement.

"Our forces attacked Turkish army's positions in a mountainous area in the Sidakan district, north of Erbil, and killed 15 Turkish servicemen," the statement said as quoted by Youm7 newspaper.

The Turkish authorities have been conducting security operations against the PKK across the country and beyond its borders since 2015, when the ceasefire between the government and the group broke down.

According to the Turkish Defense Ministry, more than 10,000 PKK fighters have been neutralized since the collapse of the truce. The conflict has resulted in over 900 deaths among Turkish military and police personnel, and about 500 fatalities among civilians.

 Sputnik

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Ankara's Rising Balkan Influence Rattles Allies

By Dorian Jones July 25, 2018

Turkey is expanding its economic and cultural influence over the Balkans, and analysts say the strategy, which targets the region's large Muslim minorities, is worrying some of its Western allies.

The Balkan region was the center of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. That historical legacy has made the area a priority for Turkey's ruling AKP under recently re-elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey's growing influence was visible at this month's inauguration ceremony of Erdogan. While Western European leaders stayed away, five heads of state from the Balkans attended.

"Since AKP has this mental construction of re-establishing the Ottoman past, it's [the Balkan region is] important for them," said professor Istar Gozaydin, who has studied the Balkans extensively.

"The Balkans as a region, as it has for so many centuries, was under the Ottoman rule and influence. I do see the renaissance of Islamic identity of Turkish influence in the region," said international relations professor Huseyin Bagci, an expert on the Balkans at Ankara's Middle East Technical University.

"Turkey is using smart power there culturally, economically and language-wise," he continued. "When you look to those Turks living in the Balkans, they get more and more under the increasing Turkish influence."

Some European leaders are already voicing concern. "I don't want a Balkans that turns toward Turkey or Russia," French President Emmanuel Macron declared in May. Erdogan quickly shot back, saying the comment was "unbecoming of a statesman."

The Turkish economy dwarfs those of its Balkan neighbors, and economic muscle is at the forefront of Ankara's projection of influence. "Turkey is building airports, even investing in several sectors, like in Bulgaria and Romania, from textiles to many others," Bagci said.

"There is an aggressive economic policy toward the Balkan countries, which cannot compete with Turkey," Bagci said. "In the Balkans, we have two big countries getting influence. One is Germany and the other one Turkey."

Trade has helped Ankara overcome past animosities. "These countries, many of them, don't have automatic access to the EU [European Union], and many of them look to Turkey for trade," said columnist Semih Idiz of the Al Monitor website.

'Quite close'

"During the recent Balkan war, Turkey and Serbia were at opposite ends of the fence. They looked at one another with great enmity. Today, we see Serbia and Turkey are quite close, despite differences over Kosovo and Bosnia and things like that. A country like Serbia values its friendship with Turkey, and I think it applies to a certain extent to countries like Croatia, too," Idiz said. He was referring to the events that led to the breakup of Yugoslavia.

Serbia is now Turkey's main Balkan trading partner, with $1 billion in commerce.

Reaching out to the Balkans' large ethnic Turkish population, through the promotion of religion and cultural awareness, is also an essential tool deployed by Ankara.

"They are using religion. They are using diplomacy. Institutions like Tika and Diyanet have been working quite efficiently and hard in the region," Gozaydin said.

Tika is the Turkish state's development agency, while the Diyanet administers Turkey's Islamic affairs nationally and internationally. The two institutions are at the forefront of expanding Turkish influence in the Balkans.

"They work with the authorities in those countries. They try to influence the politics there," Gozaydin said. "In Bosnia, they are trying, for example, to be influential in the appointment of religious authorities so they can work together."

Turkey has been funding mosque projects across the Balkans, including two of the region's largest mosques in Albania and Bulgaria. Turkish cultural foundations also work to promote ethnic Turkish identity.

While Ankara has been successful in projecting its influence, there are signs of growing unease, Gozaydin warned. She said she had met quite a few people in the Balkans, including some authorities, "who were not happy with Turkey trying too hard to have an influence on them. So that was considered to be an interference in their domestic politics."

'Grave concern'

Last year, the United States voiced alarm about Ankara's policy. "The Balkans is an area of grave concern now," said then-national security adviser H.R. McMaster.

Ankara dismissed such criticism, contending that it was only re-establishing cultural ties that date back centuries and claiming that Russia and other European countries were jockeying for influence in the Balkans. In May, European officials held talks with western Balkan leaders in Bulgaria to reaffirm the "European perspective" of that region.

Given the Balkans' recent history of ethnic and religious conflict, however, analysts warn of the risk of a nationalist backlash if Ankara does not tread carefully.

"The Turkish minorities, or Muslim minorities, yes, they are always considered as a potential threat by the majority of the Balkan countries," Bagci said. "The more the Muslim identity gets stronger, the more populist movements in the Balkans, like in Germany and other countries, will increase and get stronger. This is the potential conflict."

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U.S. Issues 'Crimea Declaration' Reaffirming Rejection Of Russia's Annexation

Mark Najarian July 25, 2018

WASHINGTON -- The United States announced a formal policy reaffirming its rejection of Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blasting Moscow for seeking "to undermine a bedrock international principle shared by democratic states."

Pompeo's announcement July 25, released an hour before his scheduled testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, followed recent conflicting remarks by President Donald Trump and administration officials about whether Washington was moving to reverse a policy in place since Russia's seizure of the Black Sea peninsula in 2014.

"The United States reaffirms as policy its refusal to recognize the Kremlin's claims of sovereignty over territory seized by force in contravention of international law," said Pompeo's statement, titled the Crimea Declaration.

"In concert with allies, partners, and the international community, the United States rejects Russia's attempted annexation of Crimea and pledges to maintain this policy until Ukraine's territorial integrity is restored," it added.

It said the United States called on Russia to respect the "principles to which it has long claimed to adhere and to end its occupation of Crimea."

Moscow in 2014 forcibly annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, a move condemned by the international community. It has also backed separatists in eastern Ukraine fighting against the Kyiv government in a war that has killed more than 10,300 people -- actions that led to U.S. and EU sanctions being imposed against Moscow.

It wasn't immediately clear what the declaration would entail, but Pompeo in his announcement referenced the Welles Declaration of 1940. That act was a decision by the United States not to recognize the Soviet annexation of the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. That policy lasted for 50 years and outlasted the Soviet Union.

Nonrecognition of the Crimea annexation was also the policy of the previous administration of President Barack Obama, but Pompeo's remarks appear to be an effort to clearly state the current administration's attitude after the recent diplomatic confusion.

Asked by reporters on June 29 whether reports about him ending Washington's longstanding opposition to the Crimea annexation were true, Trump replied: "We're going to have to see."

Trump answered in a similar manner when asked whether he would consider lifting U.S. sanctions on Russia.

"We'll see what Russia does," Trump said. The remarks caused concerns throughout Europe, and particularly in Ukraine, that Trump could overturn U.S. policy and effectively accept the first major land grab on the continent since World War II.

In the face of Russian aggression, Ukraine has relied on U.S. diplomatic, financial, and military support that has so far remained steady and featured the delivery of lethal Javelin antitank missile systems and $200 million in additional security funding to boost defensive capabilities.

The announcement also comes as Trump continues to insist that no president has ever been tougher on Russia amid criticism from Democrats and others that he has been too complimentary toward Putin and has overlooked alleged wrongdoing by Moscow regarding meddling in elections and activities in Ukraine, Syria, and elsewhere.

Trump has regularly questioned the findings by U.S. intelligence agencies and congressional panels that Moscow interfered in the election, often calling an investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into the meddling a "witch hunt."

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/u-s-issues- crimea-declaration-reaffirming-rejection-of- russia-s-annexation/29390681.html

Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Transcript: VOA Interview with Kurt Volker, US Envoy to Ukraine Negotiations

By Myroslava Gongadze July 25, 2018

On Monday, U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker sat down with VOA to discuss the recent U.S.-Russia summit in Helsinki, Finland, and upcoming Normandy Format discussions about securing peace in Ukraine. The talks, involving political directors of Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France, are slated for July 26 in Berlin.

Question: Thank so much for coming today. Political directors of Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France, the four nations tasked with resolving the war in eastern Ukraine, are meeting in Berlin on Thursday. You've kept close contact with these representatives. What's on the agenda, and what can Ukrainians expect?

Ambassador Volker: This particular meeting, they're going to be talking about what a UN-mandated peacekeeping operation might look like. And that's something that's been on the table for a long time. Russia proposed that there be a UN protection force for the OSCE monitors, but the rest of us who have looked at thiswhether it's France, Germany or the U.S. and, frankly, the Ukrainianshave all seen that you need to have a genuine peacekeeping operation to provide broad area security. And what we're hoping to be able to do is talk about how you build up to that kind of peacekeeping operation. I've been in very close touch with my French and German counterparts both in the last week, as well as throughout the last year. And so we are very much in sync on this. They are going to be meeting with Ukrainian and Russian counterparts on Thursday, as you indicated. I'll also be reaching out to my Russian counterparts soon to convey the same information.

Q: A representative of Russia's Foreign Ministry told media outlets that they're planning to renew talks on a possible referendum on occupied territories in eastern Ukraine, a claim the White House quickly rejected. Are there any grounds to believe there may be renewed talks on a referendum?

VOLKER: No, I really don't think so. First off, as you mentioned, the White House put out a very strong statement on Friday saying that they do not believe that any such referendum could or should be held, and that it would not be legitimate if it were held. And that's because you can't really hold a referendum in a part of Ukraine where the Ukrainian government is not in control. [The Donbas is] under conditions of terrible hardship for the populationlack of freedom of movement, a million-and-a-half displaced personsso there's no way that this could be a fair vote. Moreover, there's no basis for doing it because this is really the result of foreign intervention and occupation of the territory, not the result of an indigenous uprising in Ukraine, as is often said. Certainly the wishes of the local population need to be respected in terms of their ability to vote for local governance. That's something they have not been able to do since the conflict began, and it's what the Minsk agreement actually calls for: an opportunity for the local population to participate in local elections, after which the territory would be restored to Ukrainian control, Ukrainian sovereignty. The Minsk agreements are the framework for addressing these things, not some separate idea of outside referendums.

Any kind of referendum is not a part of the Minsk agreement. There is no basis for it. It would not have any legitimacy if it were to take place, so it shouldn't happen.

Q: A very unpopular law on the special procedure of self-government in certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk is soon to expire, and there's not much support to extend it. How would you see the situation developing if this law is not extended?

VOLKER: First off, let me say I understand the frustration of Ukrainian lawmakers and the Ukrainian public, that they've taken steps such as passing the special status law passing an amnesty law, and Russia has done absolutely nothing to help end the conflict, to bring about security, withdraw its forces, and so forth. That being said, the law is passed but it doesn't have any application today. There is no special status as of today. It only kicks in when there is an agreement, when Russia withdraws its forces, when there are local elections. And so I don't see any harm in extending it. The situation from today would be no different the day after an extension was passed; it would be exactly the same. So I actually think there's no harm done. And then the flip side is that Russia will use this as an excuse to complain about Ukraine saying, "it's not doing its share to implement the Minsk agreement." So I would just take that argument off the table. Don't give Russia that argument. It doesn't change anything anyway. Let the special status be extended.

Q: There were a lot of rumors leading up to Helsinki about a U.S.-Russia deal on Ukraine that wouldn't involve Kyiv. Now Trump says Putin is coming to Washington in September. What can Ukrainians expect from upcoming meeting, and should they be concerned about what appears to be a new status between the U.S. and Russia following Helsinki?

VOLKER: Well, first thing I would do is call everyone's attention to the Helsinki meeting itself. There was no move towards recognition of Russia's claimed annexation of Crimea. No support for a referendum. No movement toward Russia's position on a protection force for the monitors that would effectively divide the country. A lot of things that people were worried about or had predicted might happen, did not happen, so I don't think there's really any basis to be worried here. In fact, this administration has continued to maintain sanctions on Russia and worked with our European allies very carefully. They've kept sanctions in place as well. We've lifted the arms embargo on Ukraine, so Javelins [anti-tank missiles] have been provided and other systems have been sold, such as anti-sniper systems. Just last week the Pentagon announced that there will be a new foreign military financing package available to Ukraine. So I think Ukrainians should have some confidence that the United States is doing all of the right things here. And in that context, the U.S. and Russia talking about trying to resolve this conflict is probably a good thing.

Q: Still, Ukrainian and U.S. lawmakers expressed dissatisfaction that President Trump didn't mention the illegal occupation of Crimea, aggression in eastern Ukraine during the press conference. It seems that Russia is still controlling the post-Helsinki narrative on what transpired behind closed doors. Can you provide us with some more information about what really happened, as I know you were briefed on the extended meetings held in Helsinki?

VOLKER: Let me just say this, that on all of the issues that Ukrainians would care about, nothing was given away. No handing over of gifts to Russia at Ukraine's expense.

Q: So far...

VOLKER: No, none. And in addition to that, Ukraine was not even a principal topic. I think Syria was the topic that was most prominently discussed, Ukraine rather little. And I think that's largely because we recognize that we just simply disagree with Russia on this and there isn't a whole lot of point of delving deeply into that. I do think it is useful for the presidents to get together. A situation where the United States and Russia are in the worst relationship that they have been in since the end of the Cold War is a potentially dangerous situation for lots of people. So it's better to be talking. We just need to be clear about the substance of what we're talking about as well. And in this case I think that Ukraine came out quite well.

Q: Was it enough that Poroshenko met with Trump before the meeting in Helsinki? Can the Ukrainian government do more in this situation?

VOLKER: Well, I think the Ukrainian government has done a lot. Let's give enough credit to reforms that have taken place over the last four years, since the Maidan. Everything from pensions to, last week, the national security reform, the anti-corruption court reform, the education system as well. There's quite a lot that's been done. Nonetheless, there is still more to do to create an attractive business climate for investment in Ukraine, to build up greater growth and to genuinely fight corruption so that people, both inside Ukraine and from outside Ukraine, feel that things are fair. So there's a long way to go. And that's where I think the government should be focusing its effortson making Ukraine as successful and prosperous a democracy and market economy as it can possibly be.

And another area I would mentionI always mention thisis that I think the government needs to do everything it can to reach out to the population in the Donbas. The people that live there are suffering tremendouslyeverything from questionable water supplies to power shut-offs, cell phone shut-offs, lack of freedom of movement, physical insecurity, disease, and they need as much support from their government as they can possibly get. And I know that the Ukrainian government wants to help them, but it needs to be as proactive as possible in demonstrating that.

Q: Speaking of eastern Ukraine, the OSCE remains the only monitoring in the region, and that group was recently compromised by Russia. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin recently said all Russians in OSCE are spies. There are calls to exclude Russian representatives from the OSCE mission, as it was during the Balkan war. Is this now a possibility, that Russia could be excluded from the OSCE's Special Monitoring Mission (SMM)?

VOLKER: I would say I think it's too late for that now. I think that Russia has been in the SMM from the beginning. No one should be surprised that information is being passed back to governments who have seconded people into the SMM. I'm sure lots of governments in addition to Russia are getting information from their people in the SMM. It shouldn't be a surprise to anybody. What is maybe more surprising is that is so clearly demonstrated recently and so clearly talked about, and I don't think there's anything terribly secret that the SMM is coming across that isn't already more widely known. So I think it's not something to spend too much time worrying about. If Russia were to be excluded from the SMMwhich, again, I believe would be impossible at this point, since they are part of the OSCE, but even if that were the caseit would probably hurt the effectiveness of the SMM in operating in the occupied territories, which is where they're most needed.

Q: Ukrainian officials have reported 15 attacks on Ukrainian Army positions in Donbass in the last 24 hours. This is almost a daily routine in the war zone. And I know we've mentioned the prospects of a peacekeeping mission. But are we now any closer to a tangible solution for stopping this warfare?

VOLKER: Honestly, no, I don't think we're any closer. These are the same issues that have been on the table since 2014, and the Normandy group has tried to convene people. They've put all kinds of creative ideas on the table to inspire implementation of the Minsk agreement. The Russians continue to deny any responsibility for it, they continue to deny their presence there. They have not implemented a cease fire. There's been no effective withdrawal of heavy weapons. That's why we believe the idea of a UN-mandated peacekeeping operation is a constructive one. Because it would be a way to create security, replace the Russian forces, and create a period of time in which you can then see political steps under Minsk implemented as well, and break this logjam in implementation. But as it is, there has been no movement on the security side or, as a result of that, on the political side.

Q: When was the last time you had contact with your Russian counterpart, Vladislav Surkov?

VOLKER: We exchanged some notes, I believe it was in May, might have been June even. It was after he was reconfirmed in his position by President Putin. Prior to that it had been January.

Q: Any plans for one-on-one conversations on the horizon?

VOLKER: I intend to reach out soon. My desire is to make sure that we are well-coordinated with our French and German colleagues first. They're having a meeting with the Russians and Ukrainians, of course, on Thursday, so I want to make sure we're all linked up, and then I'll be reaching back out again later.

Q: Are you planning to do that before the Putin-Trump meeting here in Washington, assuming it happens?

VOLKER: We don't have dates for that yet, so we'll see how that plays out. But I don't intend to wait. In fact, I'd like to be able to reach out and see whether we can test Russia's willingness to genuinely resolve the conflict in advance. That would be ideal.

Q: Again, to make a go of the peacekeeping mission, what needs to happen?

VOLKER: Russia needs to decide. That's the fundamental thing. Russia needs to decide that it wants to end the conflict and withdraw its forces. If Russia is willing to do that, and the international community is ready to step forward to create security for all of the citizensall the inhabitants that are there, to create the conditions where the Minsk agreements can genuinely be implemented, and to see the territory then restored to Ukrainian controlif Russia is willing to do that, which is what it has signed up for in the Minsk agreement, then we can get it done.

Q: And so far they haven't shown the will to do that, and some observers speculate they won't until after next year's elections in Ukraine. Do you foresee any possibility it could happen sooner?

VOLKER: Well, any possibility? There's always a possibility, right? It's just a question of people making the necessary decisions. I don't think it's likely. I think, based on four years of experience, watching how this has played out, I don't see Russia really changing what it's doing right now. But we have to keep open the possibility; we have to keep up the hope. We have to keep offers on the table as to how it can get done, so that if there is any chance at all, we're ready to take that chance.

Q: Are you regularly in touch with Trump's National Security Adviser? Do you have regular conversations with them about this situation?

VOLKER: Yes, both with National Security Adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Yes, we're in regular contact.

Q: Thank you so much.

VOLKER: Thank you.

This story originated in VOA's Ukrainian Service.

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DENVER and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 26, 2018 -- Sandspring Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:SSP) (OTCQX:SSPXF) (the Company) is pleased to announce completion of the acquisition (the Transaction) of the rights to a 386-hectare land package located in the Segovia-Remedios mining district of Antioquia, Colombia (the Chicharron Project), which includes the historic silver-gold producing Guia Antigua Mine.



The Chicharron Project was previously held through an unincorporated joint venture arrangement between Industrias Argentum SAS, a Colombian company, and a Colombian branch office of a subsidiary of Gran Colombia Gold Corp. (TSX: GCM) (Gran Colombia). The Company has acquired control of one-hundred percent (100%) of the Chicharron Project in consideration for the issuance of 36,000,000 common shares, a cash payment of US$1,000,000, and the reimbursement of certain expenses. All securities issued in connection with the Transaction are subject to a four-month-and-one-day statutory hold period.

Board Nominations

In connection with completion of the Transaction, each of Gran Colombia and AAVN Consulting Corporation (AAVN Consulting) have received the right to nominate one director to the board of the Company. These rights are ongoing provided that Gran Colombia and AAVN Consulting maintain certain ownership interests in the Company. Gran Colombia has initially nominated Lombardo Paredes Arenas, and AAVN Consulting has nominated Federico Restrepo-Solano, both of whom have been appointed to the board of directors effective immediately.

Federico Restrepo-Solano is a Colombian business executive with more than 27 years of experience in the mining, oil and infrastructure industries. Currently he is a Partner and Corporate Director of Qvartz Capital Partners, a strategic advisory firm, and has served as Senior Vice-President of Corporate Affairs with Frontera Energy and its predecessor, Pacific Exploration and Production, President of Promotora del Puerto Integrado-Propuerto S.A., President of the National Federation of Coal Producers (Fenalcarbon), Corporate Affairs Manager for Coalcorp Mining Inc., and Special Advisor on Environmental and Port Affairs for the City of Santa Marta. Mr. Restrepo holds a degree in Social Communications Sciences from Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano in Bogota, and a Diploma in Corporate Finance from Universidad del Rosario.

Lombardo Paredes-Arenas serves as Chief Executive Officer of Gran Colombia, and brings over 20 years of corporate leadership and operations management experience in the resource sector in Latin America. Before becoming an independent consultant on energy and environmental project development, Mr. Paredes held several roles with within Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). He was responsible for regional planning of investments and social development for Eastern Venezuela, and was Managing Director and a Board Member of Maraven S.A. (an affiliate of PDVSA), with responsibility for the construction and commissioning of the Cardon Refinery Conversion Project in Venezuela, a US$2.6 billion project. He was also General Manager of its Production Operations Division, with 5,000 employees and oil production of 800,000 barrels per day. Mr. Paredes holds Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Master of Economic Analysis and Financial Economics degrees.

Private Placement

The Company also announces that it has completed an oversubscribed private placement of 41,000,000 units (each, a Unit) at a price Cdn$0.25 per Unit, for gross proceeds of Cdn$10,250,000. Each Unit consists of one common shares and one share purchase warrant entitling the holder to purchase one additional share at Cdn$0.40 for a period of sixty (60) months. The placement was oversubscribed by 5,000,000 Units following strong investor interest, and included a subscription from Gran Colombia for 16,000,000 Units.

All securities issued in connection with the private placement are subject to a four-month-and-one-day statutory hold period. In connection with completion of the placement, the Company paid cash commissions of Cdn$140,950 to certain eligible parties who introduced subscribers.

The Company intends to use the proceeds of the placement to develop and advance an exploration program for the Chicharron Project, to complete the final feasibility study for both the Toroparu Gold Project and the run-of-river hydroelectric project on the Kurupung River approximately 50 kilometres southwest of Toroparu, for local partner and land rental payments at Toroparu, and for general corporate and working capital purposes.

Richard Munson, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented, We are very pleased to have closed the acquisition of the Chicharron Project and are excited to begin our initial exploration work and simultaneously evaluate the opportunities for resuming mining activity at the Guia Antigua Mine. We are also moving immediately to seek the assistance of the Gran Colombia team in reviewing the development plans for Toroparu, our flagship property in Guyana. The experience of Serafino Iacono, Executive Co-Chairman of Gran Colombia, and his team in developing and operating the Choco Mine in the Guiana Shield will be invaluable to the Company.

The addition of Mr. Lombardo Paredes Arenas and Mr. Federico Restrepo-Solano to our Board will provide immediate guidance and expertise for our operations in Colombia. The addition of these gentlemen continues our practice of seeking assistance and guidance from experienced and successful businessmen in our countries of operation as Mr. Suresh Beharry, a Guyanese businessman, also continues on our Board of Directors.



We were also very pleased in these very challenging times for the commodities market to have the support shown by both our existing shareholders, led again by Mr. Frank Giustra, and new shareholders, including of course Gran Colombia, in providing the support to allow us to close the oversubscribed financing.

Serafino Iacono, Executive Co-Chairman of Gran Colombia, commented, We are pleased to have closed this investment in Sandspring. From our previous experience in the Guiana Shield and the work we have completed in our due diligence process, we see opportunity in their Toroparu Project and we look forward to assisting management in taking this project to the next level.

Early Warning

In connection with completion of the Transaction, Gran Colombia received 15,000,000 common shares of the Company in consideration for their interest in the Chicharron Project. Gran Colombia acquired a further 16,000,000 Units of the Company in connection with the private placement. Following completion of the Transaction and the private placement, Gran Colombia has control and direction over an aggregate of 31,000,000 common shares and 16,000,000 share purchase warrants. The common shares controlled by Gran Colombia represent approximately 14.78% of the outstanding common shares of the Company. Assuming exercise of just the warrants controlled by Gran Colombia, when combined with their existing ownership, they would have control and direction over 47,000,000 common shares representing approximately 20.83% of the then outstanding common shares of the Company.

Gran Colombia has acquired the securities of the Company for investment purposes and has no present intention to acquire further securities of the Company, although may in the future acquire or dispose of securities of the Company, through the market, privately or otherwise, as circumstances or market conditions warrant.

In connection with the private placement, Frank Giustra subscribed for and acquired 2,326,000 Units. However, as a result of the issuance of securities by the Company to complete the Transaction and the private placement, Mr. Giustras percentage ownership of the Companys common shares has decreased by 3.35%. Following completion of the Transaction and the private placement, Mr. Giustra has control and direction over an aggregate of 18,427,500 common shares, 400,000 incentive stock options and 10,276,000 share purchase warrants. The common shares controlled by Mr. Giustra represent approximately 8.79% of the outstanding common shares of the Company. Assuming the exercise of just the stock options and warrants controlled by Mr. Giustra, when combined with his existing ownership, he would have control and direction over 29,103,000 common shares representing approximately 13.21% of the then outstanding common shares of the Company.

All securities of the Company controlled by Mr. Giustra are held for investment purposes. In the future, Mr. Giustra and his affiliates, may acquire or dispose of securities of the Company through the market, privately or otherwise, as circumstances or market conditions may warrant.

Copies of the early warning reports filed by Gran Colombia and Mr. Giustra in connection with completion of the Transaction and the private placement are available under the Companys profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Sandspring Resources Ltd.

Richard A. Munson

Director and Chief Executive Officer

About Sandspring Resources Ltd.

Sandspring Resources Ltd. is a Canadian junior mining company currently moving toward a feasibility study for the multi-million-ounce Toroparu Project in Guyana, South America. A prefeasibility study completed in May 2013 (NI 43-101 Technical Report, Prefeasibility Study, Toroparu Gold Project, Upper Puruni River Area, Guyana, dated May 24, 2013 completed by SRK Consulting (U.S.), Inc., available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) outlined the design of an open-pit mine producing more than 200,000 ounces of gold annually over an initial 16-year mine life. Sandspring and Wheaton Precious Metals (formerly known as Silver Wheaton) entered into a gold and silver purchase agreement for the Toroparu Project. Additional information is available at www.sandspringresources.com or by email at info@sandspringresources.com.

Contact Sandspring Resources Ltd.

Richard A. Munson

Chief Executive Officer

Tel: +1 (303)-991-5683 or via email at info@sandspringresources.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking information and statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words potential, suggesting, indicating, will, plans and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information and/or statements. Forward-looking statements and/or information are based on a number of material factors, expectations and/or assumptions that Sandspring has used to develop such statements and/or information, but which may prove to be incorrect. Although Sandspring believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and/or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements since Sandspring can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such information and/or statements, including the assumptions made in respect thereof, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results and/or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information and/or statements including, without limitation: the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development; risks associated with the uncertainty of exploration results and estimates; results from drilling and exploration activities; Sandsprings future plans; the availability of financing and/or cash flow to fund current and future plans and expenditures; the impact of increasing competition; fluctuating commodity prices; the general stability of applicable economic and political environments; the general continuance of current industry conditions; uncertainty regarding the market price for gold, silver and copper; uncertainty of conducting operations under a foreign regime; uncertainty of obtaining all applicable regulatory approvals and related timing matters; Sandsprings dependence on management personnel; and/or certain other risks detailed from time-to-time in Sandsprings public disclosure documents. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake any obligations to publicly update and/or revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of additional information, future events and/or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.BNP joins Responsible Investment Association

BNP Paribas Asset Management has become a member of the Responsible Investment Association Australasia, the industry body representing responsible, ethical and impact investors across Australia and New Zealand.

Thursday, July 26th 2018, 1:11PM

Its BNP Paribas Environmental Equity Trust has been certified by RIAA, indicating it has been independently verified as true to label. It has implemented a detailed responsible investment process for all investment decisions and has met the performance and holdings disclosure requirements of the programme.

BNPP AM Australia chief executive David Grybas said: We are delighted to become a member of RIAA; and to participate in the Responsible Investment Certification Program. The firm is aligned with local investors who demand sustainable products and who are looking to invest responsibly. Through the BNP Paribas Environmental Equity Trusts deep green environmental investment strategy, BNPP AM Australia is now offering a sustainable investment option with a ten-year strategy track record.

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Sign In to add your commentSebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen have arrived the Hungaroring wearing black armbands in Memory of Sergio Marchionne. The former Ferrari CEO passed away yesterday aged 66.

All those involved in the Scuderia team have been excused of all media duties today and tomorrow due to the exceptional circumstances. Marchionne stepped down from his position last weekend due to health issues and died yesterday.

Tributes have flooded in from fans, drivers and teams. Without a doubt, many more will come through over the course of the weekend.

Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen arriving at the circuit this morning with the BLACK ARMBAND in memory of Sergio Marchionne #HungaryGP [Kym Illman] pic.twitter.com/pdhwlRfgzK  Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) July 26, 2018Ferrari, Sauber, Haas and Renault have all made it clear they are against Liberty Media moving testing to Bahrain next season. Before agreeing to the deal, they would like to know how much of the extra costs will be covered by Liberty Media.

Earlier in the week, the owners expressed their interest in taking testing away from Europe in the hope of finding better weather. This year's testing was hampered by very cold temperatures.

But of course, a move away from Europe will without doubt increase logistics costs. Liberty said they will cover some costs but didn't state how much.

This report is according to Auto Motor und Sport.Modern Plastics has outgrown its Shelton home.

The global plastics distributors announced this month it will be expanding its 21,000-square-foot headquarters at 88 Long Hill Cross Road. The company has found continued success following its 2010 relocation from Bridgeport, but the last 18 months have been especially positive, said Bing Carbone, president of Modern Plastics.

Our business continues to grow pretty incredibly over the last six to seven years, and we are now in dire need of additional space, so our landlord was able to accommodate us, Carbone said, adding the company has experienced 15 percent year-to-year growth.

With an employee base that has doubled in a year and a half from roughly 13 to more than 30 workers, Modern Plastics will be adding 10,000 square feet to its corporate facility on Oct. 1. The company will be punching a hole in an existing wall and expanding into an adjacent building, but Carbone doesnt see that as an end.

He is expecting to increase the companys footprint once again in the coming 18 months with another 10,000 square feet, doubling their current size of their offices and development space.

Distribution of medical plastic, which include implantable products and medical instruments, has become the fastest growing component for Modern Plastic over the years, Carbone said.

Thats something we werent doing 10 years ago, he said. The business is really changing quite a bit.

The business started out as a family-owned company in Bridgeport more than 70 years ago, as a glass product manufacturer. Carbones grandfather, Joseph, started the business in 1945 at 678 Howard Ave.

Back then, the company focused on developing glass products for cars and buildings under the name Modern Glass. It wasnt until the 1960s that the business transitioned into plastic distribution, which has evolved over time.

Medical-grade plastics account for roughly 60 percent of Modern Plastics business while the balance consists of high-performance engineering-grade plastics and premium customer plastic fabrications.

We do an awful lot of work in that, Carbone said. Its a high-risk business for us, but it is also a very good business for us because we sell the products on a global scale.

Carbone attributed Modern Plastics growing presences in the medical industry to increased numbers of baby boomers joining the senior population.

The baby boomers are getting at an age where theyre requiring lots of surgeries, whether thats a knee replacement a hip replacement or spinal surgery, so medical is growing very fast and its expected to keep that way for the next 10 to 15 years, he said.

Jordan.grice@hearstmediact.comGREENWICH  The controversial assistant principal trades at Cos Cob, North Street and Glenville schools continue to puzzle parents and teachers preparing for the 2018-19 school year.

Glenville parents and teachers were saddened by the move of Kathleen Ramirez, a beloved assistant principal. Her replacement, Barbara Oxer, who received the Connecticut PTAs 2018 Outstanding Assistant Principal of the Year Award, brings Glenvilles tally to four assistant principals in four years.

Its very upsetting as a parent. I feel like our opinions dont count, Glenville parent April Shen said. I understand what theyre trying to do, but why cant they do that every three years. Every single year theres a new assistant principal. As soon as the principal gets to know the system, the childrens names, their parents, they stick them somewhere else.

Outgoing Superintendent of Schools Jill Gildea and incoming Interim Superintendent Ralph Mayo, who made the announcement Tuesday, said the swaps will give the three educators a chance to experience different school sizes, leadership styles and communities, as part of an administrator aspirant strategy.

Glenville Principal Marc DAmico said Ramirez always stood out front during pickup and drop-off. She knew every parent, nanny and babysitters car, and which child belonged inside each, Shen said. When Shen rolled down her window, the assistant principal greeted her with How are you?

When you create an emotional attachment to a teacher and theyre put into another school, it doesnt sit well with the parents, Shen said. She gave Ramirez a bouquet of flowers and a heartfelt card concluding with her excitement for her sons upcoming year at Glenville with Ramirez.

Assistant principals often work with children with Individualized Education Programs, or 504 Plans, which ensure children who have disabilities have the resources and attention they need to succeed, she said.

Last year, Liane Tel, who has children at North Street, was the parent representative for the hiring process of Michael Reid, the Glenville assistant principal moving to Cos Cob this fall. The interview process took a full day with the input of a handful of representatives, from parents to the teachers union.

Im extremely frustrated, Tel said. We went through this process, and it can just be switched by the whim of someone who can lead the district. It takes the HR process and throws it out the window.

She worked closely with Reid to start a local branch of a nationwide program called Watch D.O.G.S., or Dads of Great Students. Now, she said she must work with a new assistant principal, Ramirez, and make sure she is on board so North Street can continue the program.

He was such an integral part of our community and such a powerful influence, Tel said. Everybody loved him.

The assistant principal position at Old Greenwich remains open, after Abby Ostruzka announced her move to the Clinton School District last week. Communications Director for Greenwich Public Schools Kim Eves said that position should be filled before summer ends. An educator within the Greenwich Public School system will likely fill the position in the interim, a replacement process that creates a ripple effect, Eves said.

The strategy helps rising administrators continue to advance their careers, she said.

The transition process is late this year, with changes normally occurring in the spring so administrators are settled by July 1, Eves said. But the schools have systems and procedures to ease the process, she said.

There are strong principals in place who will assist with the transition, Eves said.

Tel said she found the reasoning behind the job changes interesting, saying it would be difficult to learn so much on the job in just one year.

Furthermore, if the reason for the trade is so the administrators can work with different people, she said the schools might be in jeopardy of getting new assistant principals every year.

We dont need to mess up something that is working well, Tel said.

Regardless of the staffing changes, the priority for every teacher and administrator is to take care of the kids, said a Greenwich teacher who agreed to speak anonymously.

If anything, its a big effect on the rapport thats been built, the trust between the teachers, students and administration, the teacher said.

Getting a new assistant principal is like starting a new relationship, she said.

The fact that theres a lack of consistency is not necessarily worrying, but it does make me curious, she said.

Shen said she was dissatisfied with the explanation given by school administrators for the changes.

I dont know how much power Peter Bernstein has, but I want him to get to the bottom of it, she said of the Board of Education chairman.GREENWICH  Town police are calling it the blackmail scam.

Letters have been showing up at the residences of married men in Greenwich, claiming I know the secret you are keeping from your wife.

The letter-writer continues: Its just your bad luck that I stumbled across your misadventures while working a job. The mysterious stranger then demands $2,000 in cyber-currency to maintain his silence.

Over the past week, the desk sergeant at police headquarters has seen five such letters turned in, according to police Lt. John Slusarz. The lieutenant said future recipients of such letters have an easy task: Just throw them away, he advised.

Authorities say the blackmail scam has been around for ages. Police say its similar to other scams around the region threatening to turn off the electricity to a home or business unless immediate payment is made  while a bit more sophisticated, and certainly more sinister. The letter writer uses actual first names in the demand letter.

Its a form letter. Someone will target an area and send a whole bunch out, the police lieutenant said, Theyre addressed to real people. They get a mailing list, and they look for Mr. and Mrs. Its been around for a while. Most of them originate overseas.

The letters turning up in Greenwich are somewhat amateurish. The author says he dug up the extra-marital dirt while working a job in a mysterious place called Southborough, and the first names in the letters are often bungled. The language is stilted, British and oddly old-fashioned (sort of like being blackmailed by Mary Poppins).

But even amateurish scams can work, police say. You send out a thousand of these, and one person pays $2,000, youve recovered your initial investment. Its all profit after that, the police lieutenant noted.

Greenwich police say they dont need more copies of the letter that residents may receive. Its a law-enforcement matter for postal investigators, and theyve already been notified.

rmarchant@greenwichtime.comQualcomm unveils 5G antennas for the X50 modem: up to four in a phone with MIMOThese are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales.Qualcomm announced its results for the three-month period, ending on June 24. Both revenue and operating income have grown on a quarterly and yearly basis, but another announcement also grabbed our attention - the San Diego company is pulling out of the NXP acquisition after failing to obtain agreement from Chinese regulators.

Qualcomm wanted to purchase the Eindhoven-based NXP back in February for $44 billion.

The San Diego chipset manufacturer got approval from 8 key regulatory bodies, but the 9th and last one - the Chinese State Administration for Market Regulation with the Ministry of Commerce still havent issued a resolution. This caused Qualcomm to abandon plans for purchasing its Dutch competitor.

The raw numbers for the third fiscal quarter reveal revenues of $5.6 billion, a 6% increase from Q2 and 4% jump from the same period in 2017. Operating income is $0.9 billion, 110% more than it was three months ago. It was supposed to be $1.4 billion, but due to disputes with Apple contract manufacturers, $500 million is yet to be wired to Qualcomm.

SourceXiaomi will start selling its Mi 8 Explorer on July 30 at 19:30 local Chinese time for CNY 3,699 or 460 converted.

Xiaomi doesn't say how many units it has in stock for the flash sale but our guess is not a lot. Previously it was rumored that the Mi 8 Explorer will start selling on July 24.

The Mi 8 Explorer has an under the display fingerprint scanner a mini-Kinect Face unlock solution similar to the iPhone X as well as a semi-translucent back panel. It packs 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Rumor has it that 4GB/64GB and 6GB/128GB models will become available soon too.

If and when the Mi 8 Explorer will leave China and become global is still unknown.

ViaZTE will have to re-brand its smartphone business to be allowed to enter US market

The US government gave ZTE green light to restart its business on US soil and also use US-made technologies but only if the Chinese vendor checks off a long list of obligations.

The most impactful one is the required split and re-branding of ZTE. The firm needs to drop "ZTE" from its smartphone branding and split from its network infrastructure. The reason for this is that authorities can't say for sure that their network business isn't a threat to security while their smartphones use US-based technologies such as Qualcomm's chipsets and are safe to use. For the very same reason the government banned Huawei from selling their devices in the USA.

And since ZTE is dependent on the US carriers as they sell most of their devices in the country, ZTE needs to comply.

Another requirement from the US government states that the ZTE's consumer devices division needs structural changes that include a new management team based outside of China.

Analysts say that other competing vendors will probably take advantage of the situation. For example, Korean OEMs will try to push the assertion that their devices are much more secure than their Chinese rivals, even if manufacturers like Lenovo and Xiaomi aren't accused of anything wrong.

In addition, the analysts warn that while US manufacturers resume their trade with ZTE, they should prepare for retaliation from the Chinese government. They might be planning state-sponsored ventures to reduce the reliance to US technologies in the future.

ViaThe sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now.

Although it is not a big trend, it is a hot topic on the internet as it is secretly expanding its market.

In this article, we will focus on sextoy and introduce recommended sextoy for Indian beginners of sextoy by gender.

India, the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, is very strict about sex.

Also, premarital sex is basically not allowed. Therefore, there are many people who are sexually restricted.

But what happens when you continue to be sexually restricted?

Frustration may build up and you may end up taking your sexual stress out on your partner.

If you are able to adopt sextoy in a timely manner, you can get rid of those problems.

I want to have more exciting sex than Im having now.

I want more variation in masturbation

I want to get even stronger pleasure than I do on my own.

If you have any of these problems, please stay with me until the end.

What is sex toys for Indian?

Sextoy, as the name implies, is a toy used during sex and masturbation.

It is a generic term for vibrators, Egg-vibrators, Electric massagers, dildo, handcuffs and condoms.

They are used to make regular sex more exciting or to make masturbation more pleasurable.

Because sextoy is very stimulating, it can help you to get rid of the problems and frustrations of being in a rut of sex with your partner for a long time, or if you are unhappy with the lack of pleasure in sex with your partner.

The ability to satisfy your desires with movement, texture, and size, which cannot be done by a normal human being, can help you to be satisfied with sex and, as a result, improve your relationship with your partner.

It is also said to help improve sexual dysfunction (inability to get an erection or ejaculate) and difficulty in feeling during sex (insensitivity), which is attracting more attention than in the past.

In recent years, the demand for sextoy has increased due to the spread of smartphones and the Internet and the increasing number of people using online shopping.

Even those who are concerned about the appearance of sextoy (and find it difficult to purchase) can now easily obtain it by using mail order.

In the case of online shopping, most of the stores have taken steps to ensure that the contents of the products delivered to you are not revealed, so you can purchase them without your family members knowing.

Until a while ago, you had to go to the store where the adult goods were sold to buy them, so it was quite a hurdle to overcome.

Also, many people may have an image that sextoy is somehow embarrassing to own.

But nowadays, some of them are so stylish and cute that you cant believe they are sextoy at a glance.

More and more people are using them for travel and outdoor use because they are not too bulky and are suitable for carrying around.

Sextoy situation in India

Before introducing the recommended sextoy for Indians, lets talk about one of the sextoy situations in India in recent years.

In India, due to the high concentration of population, the following six cities have particularly high sales of sextoy in India.

Mumbai

Kolkata

Bangalore

Delhi

Chennai

Hyderabad

These cities account for roughly 70 percent of sextoy sales in India.

In the future, the percentage of sextoy use will gradually increase in other cities in India as well.

If you never talk about sextoy publicly, that girl in your neighborhood might be a sextoy user too.

If you are interested in sextoy, you dont have to suppress your desire for it.

What are Sextoys for beginner?

Among all sextoys, sextoy for beginners are vibrators, dildo, masturbators, Sex Lubricants, and condoms.

Sex Lubricants and condoms, which are familiar to people who have had sex, are also a great beginners sextoy.

I will explain the details of each toy later, but there are many sextoy products that are painful to use and can only be used after some anal expansion.

I assume that the Indian readers of this article are people who have not had much experience with sextoy.

If such people use professional sextoy suddenly, they are at risk of injury or trauma.

Therefore, to introduce sextoy, you need to start with a beginners version and gradually become familiar with it.

Advantages of using sextoy for Indians

There are three advantages of using sextoy for Indians

You can masturbate in a wide variety of ways.

Can have stimulating sex

Can develop new sexual zones

If you try to masturbate with your own fingers or hands, it tends to be a pattern.

However, with sextoy, you can easily masturbate in a variety of ways.

You will definitely be fascinated by the attraction of new stimulation.

Also, your daily sex life will be more exciting than ever.

There are many things in sextoy that are visually stimulating and give you a strong and intense feeling of pleasure.

This allows you to see your partners promiscuity in a way that you wouldnt normally see it.

When you are in a relationship, sex with your partner may become a pattern, but it can also eliminate these problems.

It can also lead to the development of new sexual zones (which is the training of sexual stimulation to allow you to feel orgasms).

For more information on the development of new sexual zones, see the following articles

[Women's Erogenous Zone]How to find and develop, 7 hidden sexual zones !![In India] In this issue, we will dissect the female erogenous zone! ..." Many of you may be like that. Men, in particular, shou...

Thus, the use of sextoy can only be a good thing for the men and women of India.

Sextoy for beginner men in India

So, lets continue with the recommended goods for Indian sextoy beginners.

For ease of understanding, we will introduce them by gender. Lets start with the men!

The following five goods are recommended for novice Indian sextoy men

Masturbator

Cock rings

Love Doll

Sex Lubricants

Toys for the prostate

Lets check each one in detail.

Masturbator

The masturbator is a sextoy for men that elaborately reproduces a womans vagina, mouth, and anus, and is one of the most popular sextoy products.

It is used by men to masturbate, and it is popular because it provides stronger stimulation and pleasure more easily than using hands.

Most are made of good quality silicone, and their softness is something that cannot be achieved with ones own hands.

They can provide stronger pleasure than a real womans vagina, so be careful not to overuse them. (You wont be able to have an orgasm in a womans vagina anymore.)

Again Male masturbators are a wonderful toy. I do not need any favourite timing, bothersome bargaining. You do not have to worry too much.

Revolutionize your masturbation time! ! !

Made in Japan is a wonderful kinky toy.#sextoysindia #SexToyIndia #Japanhttps://t.co/4k70QGzoTP pic.twitter.com/tRVdxTKPpa   SEXToys India PR  (@SextoysIndia) November 12, 2018

Some of them are disposable, while others can be washed and used over and over again, so its fun to buy a few to use depending on your mood.

If you want to know more about masturbator, please click here

Really pleasant male masturbation and how to do it Are you in a rut with your daily masturbation routine? I'm going to show you five ways men masturbate that you might ...

[For Beginners] How to choose and use a male masturbator without fail Gentlemen.Have you ever used a masturbator? The person who sees this article is probably the one who has not experien...

Cock Ring

A cock ring is literally a ring-shaped sextoy that is worn on a mans penis.

It maintains an erection by binding the penis with a ring of rubber and blocking blood flow.

It is sometimes used as an accessory to be worn on the penis, and may be made of metal or plastic as well as rubber.

In some cases, cock rings have parts or vibrators attached to them that stimulate the vagina, so they kill two birds with one stone, giving a woman pleasure while maintaining an erection.

Cock rings are also sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction.

It can help with erectile dysfunction, where the penis doesnt get hard when you get an erection or doesnt last long when you try to insert it.

Men who are prone to breakage or who are unsure of the hardness and size of their erections can use a cock ring to increase the size of their penis and maintain an erection for a longer period of time.

Cock rings vary in price from around RS700 to over RS2000 with a vibrator function.

Some of them do not fit your penis, so you should check the size of the cock ring before you buy.

You should know the size of your partners or your own penis when it is erect.

[Penis enlargement] What is a cock ring? Types and usage Cock rings can make your penis bigger and harder. It also makes sex with women more fulfilling and increases your sat...

Love Doll

Love dolls, also known as Dutchwives, are dolls with the appearance of a woman who can experience simulated sex.

There are dolls that look like a woman, but they have no face and only have their breasts and lower torso cut off, and some dolls are so realistic that they can actually be mistaken for real women.

Some expensive dolls can cost more than 1 million yen, and the quality of the doll is easily influenced by the price.

The higher the price, the higher the quality of the doll will be, the closer it will be to the real woman, and the cheaper the doll will be, the less elaborate it will be, making it look like a real doll! Something is wrong! That is also true.

You cant go wrong if you choose a balance between price and taste.

There are stores that allow you to make custom-made love dolls, so you can create a girl of your choice.

You can make a girl of your choice. You can start with inexpensive love dolls at first, and once you get used to it, you can try custom-made love dolls.

If you want to know more about Love doll, please click here

Thorough explanation of the charm of sex dolls! Have you ever heard of sex dolls that are used primarily for pseudo-sex purposes? It is a doll that is quite close to...

Sex lubricants

Sex lubricants are used as a substitute for lubricating fluid during sex or as a lubricant for men to use masturbator rules.

It is not uncommon for women to have difficulty getting wet, depending on their physical condition, or to have difficulty getting wet due to their constitution.

Forcing the penis into the vagina at such times can cause painful intercourse.

There are various types of Sex Lubricants, some with a warming effect, some with a cooling effect, and some with a scent.

Changing the Sex Lubricant used during play is recommended as a good sex accent.

If you want to learn more about Sex Lubricants, click here.

What is sex lubricant?Explain the difference and usage of each ingredient The word "sex toy" may seem like a hurdle to overcome, but lotion is actually one of the most familiar sex toys. Many...

Toys for the Prostate

Another sextoy for men is prostate toys.

The most famous prostate toys include Enemagra, which was originally a prostate massager developed by an American urologist to treat an enlarged prostate line.

Modern prostate toys are imitations of Enemagra that have spread as sextoy for men.

Many people think of prostate toys as being used by gay men, but in fact they are often used by straight men.

What is the prostate?

The prostate is an organ found only in men. It is a walnut-sized organ located deep in the pelvis, just below the bladder, and its primary role is to protect and nourish sperm.

You cannot touch the prostate gland from outside the body, but you can touch it by inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus.

By inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus and touching the prostate and developing it, you can feel intense orgasms.

Orgasms felt in the prostate are mainly dry orgasms, which are orgasms that do not involve ejaculation. (You can also feel orgasms with ejaculation through prostate stimulation.)

The prostate is called the male G-spot, and dry orgasms can be much more intense than ejaculation.

Therefore, men who are able to develop a prostate can become addicted to the pleasure.

sextoy for beinner women in India

The following are the recommended goods for Indian women who are new to sextoy.

The following three are recommended for use by women who are new to sextoy.

Vibrator.

Dildo

Electric Masserger

Lets check out what each one is in detail.

If you want to check out womens toys, click here.

[BEST25]Sex Toys for Women in IndiaThat Can Help You Have an Orgasm There are many women who pretend to feel orgasm during sex. But don't worry, you don't have to pretend to feel orgasm...

Vibrators

A vibrator is a sextoy that vibrates with an Egg-Vibrator to provide stimulation and is often referred to simply as a vibrator.

Some vibrate as well as rotate, and there are many variations of sextoy.

It is quite a popular sextoy, and is well recognized by people who do not know much about sextoy.

Its usage is similar to that of a massager, but it is more compact and easier to carry than a massager, and many of them look as cute as a lipstick or a macaroon, so they are popular among women.

For a while, a famous influencer on twitter said, This is good! You may have heard of the topic of this article by introducing the recommended vibrators.

Vibrators are great for women to use on their own, but they are also recommended for men who have difficulty satisfying women with sex.

Since it is powered by electricity, it is far less tiring than moving your hands by yourself.

This makes it easier to satisfy a woman with sex because you can caress her for longer than usual.

Vibrators are mainly used on the female side, but they can also be used on men.

When used on men, they are used to attack the nipples and glans, and in both cases it is recommended to wear a condom for hygiene reasons.

Introducing how to use the vibrator, its purpose, and how to choose it! Vibrator uses the vibrations caused by the rotation of the motor to provide stimulation. It is one or two of the most...

Dildo

A dildo is a model sextoy made to mimic a male penis.

It can be made of silicone, elastomer (think of it as a material similar to PVC), metal or glass.

A dildo can be used by a man for his female partner during sex, or by a woman for masturbation to get pleasure from it.

They are mainly inserted into women, but some can be used in the male anus as well.

It is sometimes used synonymously with vibrators, but the vibrator is not the same thing as a vibrating device.

A model of a penis that does not vibrate is a dildo.

Some of them have suction cups that can be attached to the floor or wall so that you can enjoy realistic masturbation without using your hands.

For fun, there is a dildo made in the shape of your partners penis.

This one is also popular as a gift, and if youve been together for a long time and are having trouble finding a gift for your partner, you might want to pick one.

To learn more about dildo, please click here.

What is Dildo: Orgasms with Dildos for Men and Women A dildo is a model of a male organ that is used by women for masturbation and by men to stimulate the prostate gland. Th...

Electric Masserger

A Electric Masserger is a hand-held electric massager, also known as a handheld massager, and can usually be purchased at electronics stores.

It was originally designed to relieve stiff shoulders and back pain, so the hurdle of buying one in a physical store is quite low.

Many people may have seen or used it in some form or another, as it is often installed in leisure hotels.

Such a massager is highly recommended for beginners because it is easy for women to get pleasure from it when they use it during masturbation.

It is larger than Egg-Vibrator and vibrations are stronger than those of Egg-Vibrators and vibrators, so even just hitting the clitoris can give you a great deal of pleasure.

For those women who have never had an orgasm during sex with their man, the massager may be a good way to get a feel for what it feels like to have an orgasm.

It looks and feels like an electric massager, so you wont have to feel awkward if your roommate finds out.

If you are in a rut of having sex with your partner, if you want to feel an orgasm through masturbation, or if you are thinking of using a sextoy, why dont you try it from a simple massager?

To learn more about Electric Masserger, click here.

What is a massager? Introducing types, selection methods, and usage Originally, the Magic-wand vibrator and the massage machine were sold as a home massage machine used for the back and th...

How to choose a sextoy for Indian

Now that weve covered the different types of sextoy, heres how to choose one.

Especially if you are trying sextoy for the first time, pay attention to the following three points:  Does the size fit you (the partner)?

Does the size fit you (your partner)?

Is the environment able to produce sound without problems?

Price range

First of all, the choice of size is quite important.

Most sextoy are used against or inserted into the genitals, but the genitals are very delicate organs for both men and women.

For this reason, using an inappropriate size may cause damage.

Secondly, the environment should be able to produce sound without problems.

Some sextoys not only wear, but also rotate and vibrate. Its easier to get pleasure from something that moves than something that doesnt, but the fact that it moves means that the internal rotors make some noise.

If you live in a house with thin walls or if you have roommates, you may not be able to concentrate because of the noise, so it is best to choose one that is silent or has a low noise level.

Especially in India, where many people live with their families, it is very important that you dont have to worry about sound when you use it.

Finally, there is the price range.

The price range of sextoy ranges widely, from around RS500 at the cheapest to RS10,000 or more at the highest.

Its good to consider how much money you can afford and how much you want to buy.

Do you want your family to not find out about sextoy?

I live with my family and want to use sextoy without them finding out! If you are a man, you should buy a camouflage sextoy that does not look like a sextoy at first glance.

For men, there are many masturbators that do not look like a sextoy, and for women, there are vibrators that only look like cosmetics.

If you choose such a type, youll be safe in case your family members find out.

How to buy sextoys in India

The best way to purchase sextoy is through online shopping.

For more information on how to purchase sextoy, please see the article below.

Sextoy is one of them.

Therefore, you can easily get sextoy in India by using online shopping.

SexToysINDIA is a long established and stable sextoy store and you can have sextoy delivered to any place in India.

They also offer cash on delivery, so those who are worried about shopping with a credit card do not have to worry.

Of course, the latest security is in place, so your information will not be taken out when you use your credit card.

To begin with, many people may be concerned about whether they are legally allowed to purchase sextoy.

ikmAs it turns out, its not illegal.

Right now, it is not open to the public because the Indian adult market is still in the development stage, but it will gradually spread from now on.

Take advantage of sextoy and open the door to new pleasures and culture.

Cautions for Indians using sextoy

When using sextoy, keep the following three things in mind

Keep sex toys clean

Watch out for electrical leakage

Beware of the heat generated by the body while using a sex toy

As I mentioned earlier, many sextoy products are used for the delicate zone.

Therefore, it is most important to keep the sextoy itself clean. It is very important to keep the sextoy itself clean, because if a slight scratch is created by friction, bacteria can enter and breed there.

It is safe to wear a condom when using the masturbator, just in case.

In addition, many sextoy devices are powered by a power source, so if they are not waterproof, there is a possibility of electric shock or malfunction due to wetness.

Some may even develop heat during continuous use. If the fever becomes too much, you may get burned, so be careful.

If you get a fever during use, stop driving the sextoy immediately and refrain from using it.

You will enjoy sex more if you keep it safe and use it correctly.

Summary

What did you think?

In this article, we have introduced the recommended sextoy for the beginners of sextoy in India.

The sextoy market is growing rapidly in India and it will continue to grow steadily in the future.

As India is a rather closed-minded country, it can be difficult to be open about ones sexual habits and values.

However, being faithful to ones desires by properly dissolving ones sexual desire is very effective for ones physical and mental health.

If this is your first time to learn about sextoy, or if you are interested in using sextoy, why not give it a try?

Indian Sextoys for ur best! will introduce you to sextoy and other trivia about sextoy, sexuality, and sexuality for men and women.

I want to read more! If you think its a great idea, please bookmark it.A highly decorated veteran of World War II will be honored Saturday during Milk River Indian Days, 71 years after he died in the Pacific Theatre.

George Jay Ball, grandnephew of U.S. Army Cpl. Charles Ball, said the soldier was declared missing-in-action April 6, 1942, and declared a casualty Oct. 6, 1942.

Extensive searches to find his remains have been unsuccessful, Ball said, and he decided it was time to honor his relative.

"It's a special deal for a special person," Ball said. "He gave everything he had, and we want to honor him appropriately."

A memorial ceremony will be held Saturday starting at the Fort Belknap Communithy Center at 2 p.m. then moving to the Veterans Memorial Park nearby, where Cpl. Ball's family has installed a headstone.

There, the ceremony will continue with full military honors. Ball said an honor guard will be present, along with veterans groups including the Chippewa Cree Veterans from Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation and the Patriot Guard Riders. Military veteran and elder John "Jack" Plumage will preside in a ceremony at the memorial.

Ball said his granduncle was honored in a medal ceremony in 2001 - multiple awards including that he was the first soldier to be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for Valor during the Battle of Bataan and also was awarded two of each of the Bronze Star and Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Clusters, signifying multiple awards - but he and his family decided it was time to put up a headstone and hold a memorial.

"We decided to go for it," he said.

They are also memorializing Cpl. Ball with a special Saturday at 7 p.m. after grand entry, a men's traditional dance.

"It's especially associated with warriors," Ball said, adding that some old songs that generally have not been used for a long time will be used for the special.

Following is Cpl. Charles Ball's official obituary for the memorial.

Cpl. Charles Ball

April 9, 1916 - Fort Belknap, Montana - April 6, 1942 - Dambana ng Kagitingan, Bataan, Luzon, Philippines

Charles Ball was born April 9, 1916, in Harlem, Montana, to William and Cecelia (Azure) Ball. His siblings were Robert Ball, Mary Elizebeth Ball (Natesway), Josephine Ball (Gobert), Bartholomew Ball, Thomas Ball, Katherine Ball (Turcott), and John Ball.

Charles attended schools in Harlem and lived on the family ranch. As a young man he worked for Miller Brothers Land & Livestock in the Bear's Paw Mountains and Lodgepole on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. He also helped fight the two fires that burned all but 7,000 acres of the Little Rockies Mountains in 1936.

Charles followed the footsteps of his older brother Thomas and enlisted in the United States Army October 16, 1940, in Chinook, Montana. From the U.S. Army Pacific Transport Depot in Fort McDowell, California, he boarded the USAT Washington that sailed for the Philippine Islands. In April 1941, the USAT Washington docked at Pier 7 in Manila Bay. Upon arrival he was assigned to a machine-gun unit with the 31st Infantry Regiment, B Company, at Fort William McKinley, Taguig City, Philippines.

By all accounts, Corporal Charles Ball was deeply respected by his comrades for his bravery and his exceptional scouting and marksmanship, skills he developed as a youth in the Little Rockies Mountains and Milk River Valley on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. He is described by friends before and during his time in the service as being quite rowdy and as loyal a friend as one could have.

In recognition of his exceptional bravery and tenacity, Corporal Ball earned our nation's second-highest award for valor, the Distinguished Service Cross, on January 23, 1942, while fighting against the Japanese Imperial Army near Abucay Hacienda, Bataan, Luzon. There, he voluntarily moved ahead of B Company on narrow jungle trails, of which Japanese snipers would post themselves in the tall trees. Corporal Ball could distinguish anomalies in the jungle vegetation and would eliminate the snipers before they ever had a chance to fire on his company. When B Company was later forced to withdraw from an exposed ridgeline under heavy attack, Corporal Ball, although wounded, single-handedly held off attackers with his famed Browning Automatic Rifle, enabling B Company to escape. After dressing his own wounds, he fearlessly repeated that action on a series of ridges until the Japanese attack faltered and fell back.

After four months of brutal fighting with little food, no supplies, low ammunition, suffering numerous diseases, and exhaustion, the 31st Infantry begin to fall back under continuous Japanese attacks. On April 6, 1942, Corporal Charles Ball was reporting his reconnaissance along possible routes of withdrawal from Mount Samat to Battalion Commander Major Addison W. Dunham, when an artillery shell hit a nearby tree, mortally wounding him, Major Dunham, and several others.

Corporal Ball was officially listed as MIA April 6, 1942 and later declared deceased October 6, 1942. His remains were never recovered after an extensive search to do so. He is memorialized with his name inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Manila, Philippines. He will now be memorialized in perpetuity at the Fort Belknap Veterans Memorial Park on his home Fort Belknap Indian Reservation.

Many members of B Company who survived the fighting and subsequent Bataan Death March credit Corporal Charles Ball with saving their lives many times during the four-month Battle of Bataan.

Corporal Charles Ball's legacy lives on in the hearts of his family, and in the hearts of the people of Fort Belknap. His surviving family include nephews and nieces: George "Monte" Ball of Fort Belknap, Yvonne Ball (Bigby) of Harlem, Curtis Ball of Keiser, Oregon, Gordon Ball of Fort Belknap, Frank Ball of Fort Belknap, Robert "Bobby" Ball of Fort Belknap, William "Bill" Turcott of Chinook, John Beston of Great Falls, Gladys Turcott (Gilmore) of Chicago. Florence Turcotte of Seattle, Cecelia Turcott (Hofland) of Great Falls, Margaret Turcott (Heagy) of Houston, Texas, and Lee Roberts of Taylor, Arizona, as well as their children and great-grand children.Over 500 grams of methamphetamine along with paraphernalia that was confiscated a couple years ago by officers with the Tri-Agency Task Force lays on a table in the Havre Police station Tuesday.

Methamphetamines and opiates are on the rise again in Havre, and the police force and the Tri-Agency Task Force are making strides in keeping the substance out, officials said.

According to the Montana Incident-Based Reporting System, the drug offense rate, per 1,000 people, has almost tripled in Havre over the 10 years from 2007 to 2017, with the largest increases within the past five years.

Havre Police Chief Gabe Matosich said a large number of these drug offenses are due to a drastic rise in methamphetamines seen statewide. Matosich added that the meth that is coming to Havre is coming into the U.S. from Mexico and through California and Washington before making its way to Montana, and it is of a purer quality and cheaper than previously seen, making it very dangerous. He said that in addition to the rising drug rate, this year - with sanctuary cities and a recent lawsuit in Chicago - funding from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program may be hampered.

Without that money, the task force would have problems doing the work it has been to keep down drug sales and use, he said.

The Havre Police Department first received money from JAG in 1987, Matosich said, adding that this grant used to be the sole funding for the task force, but now the task force has to provide a 30 percent match.

In the past, the task force has had some major accomplishments such as Operation Crystal Hi-Line from 2015 to 2016, which resulted in 15 indictments, and Operation Rocky Bear Paw from 2016 to 2017, which resulted in 13 indictments, said task force Agent C.J. Reichelt.

Operation Crystal Hi-Line was a multi-agency operation that took down an organization that was bringing meth from California to Butte, then to Havre and Rocky Boy, said Reichelt. Matosich said some of the people indicted made had never been to Havre before, and it was a good operation.

The agencies included in the Tri-Agency Task Force are Havre Police Department and the Hill, Liberty, Blaine, Phillips, Valley, Sheridan and Daniels county sheriff's offices, Fort Belknap and Rocky Boy's Indian reservations and federal agencies.

The following year, said Reichelt, Operation Rocky Bear Paw took down a drug organization that has been in the area for 15 years, with nine indictments made out of Great Falls, Havre and Rocky Boy with a total of 13 indictments made.

In the 2017 calendar year task force statistics show a total of 181 cases and 108 arrests, and 2.35 pounds of meth, with the street value of $106,590, five vehicles and 23 guns were seized by the task force.

Reichelt and Matosich agreed that the fight never ends, and once one drug organization falls it is soon replaced with another. Because of that, the task force is an important part of keeping the community safe, they said.

Reichelt said the U.S. attorney's office wants to target higher-level meth dealers and violent offenders because they are the main source of supply and pose the largest threat.

He added that this effort provides vital funding for smaller communities in rural Montana and that without that it would be hard to imagine being able to operate the task force. He said the financial weight might be put on the local city and county governments to offset those costs, and there would be no way the city and county could do that.

Matosich said another drug that has been on the rise are opioids. These prescription pills are seeing a rise in price due to a drop in availability.

The rise in meth is a result of marijuana legalization, Matosich said, with drug cartels adapting to the changing market in these states.

"This is what we are seeing," he said.

He said the rise in drugs in the community affects every aspect of the community, causing a rise in crime as well as posing a major health risk.

Matosich said the majority of the crimes the police force investigate have drugs or alcohol involved.

According to the incident-based reporting system website, over the past 10 years, Hill County has seen an increase in violent crimes, aggravated assault and burglary or breaking and entering, among others.

Law enforcement agencies can take steps to fight these rising numbers, Matosich said, especially education.

Matosich said the agencies are constantly trying to educate people on the dangers of drugs and their effects on the individual as well as communities. He added that a school resource officer is now in place who does a tremendous job going from school to school educating students, teachers and parents on the risks.

"We start early on with the education," Matosich said. "We try to educate them up front about the dangers, risks, health issues and of course the criminality and prison time and all the stuff associated with it."

Reichelt said the task force does many presentations in schools and communities, such as community watch, churches, ambulance crews and first responders. He added that the task force does a presentation any time somebody wants one, more education being a benefit to any community.

The classes consist of identifying paraphernalia, drug identification and physical signs of drug use.

He said educational programs go all over Hill and Blaine counties as well as others. One of the programs they use, he said, is McGruff the Crime Dog, a program that's been going on for years and has a track record of being an effective educational tool.

Beyond community education, the task force is here to enforce the laws.

Matosich said the task force works with federal, state, local and tribal governments to go after top sellers and providers.

"That's huge for us all to work together to combat and enforce and work together to go after the drug dealers," he said.

He added that the task force has a history of working with the The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, The Drug Enforcement Administration, The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Border Patrol and other offices and agencies to work toward taking down larger drug operations.

Matosich said not all counties have a task force. Hill County is very proactive in enforcing the state and locals laws on drugs, he said, adding that the Tri-Agency Task Force goes from Liberty to Daniels and Valley counties.

He added that the numbers represented in the statistic are a result of the task force, police and Border Patrol doing their jobs.

"With more enforcement of it, the more stats you're going to develop," Matosich said.

In addition to the task force and other law enforcement agencies it is up to the community to help in the fight against drugs, Matosich and Reichelt agreed.

Matosich said the neighborhood watch or private citizens should feel welcome to report suspicious activity, even if it is an anonymous report. The community should keep an eye out for houses with a lot of traffic and properties that may seem suspicious, he added, and they will investigate it further.

He said parents should keep track of their kids and be involved with their lives. Some of the responsibility falls to the individual citizens of a community to be a positive role model for those within the community, he said, adding that education plays another important role in the war on drugs.

--

Montana Incident-Based Reporting System crime data map http://mbcc.mt.gov/Data/Crime-Data-Maps/Crime-Data-Maps/.Consequently, Patricks new WILpower program is a two-year structured cadetship which aims to deliver on-the-job learning in operational roles for talented women who may lack industry experience.

The program includes a full-time, competitive salary, dedicated onboarding to build skills and internal networks, a tailored tertiary qualification designed in partnership with a university, job rotations across a broad spectrum of roles, individualised mentoring and ongoing support.

Patrick CEO, Michael Jovicic said that Patrick believes that the WILpower Management Cadetship is a step in the right direction for encouraging women into the organisation.

We believe that by providing a program such as WILpower, we can encourage greater representation of women in operational management roles across all areas of our business, and the industry as a whole, said Jovicic.

The WILpower program is a fresh approach to our diversity strategy within Patrick and we have been fortunate to have encouraged some exceptionally talented women into Patrick as a result of the first iteration of WILpower.Prosecutors say co-worker confessed to murder on Parkway trail

Prosecutors filed federal murder charges Thursday against a 20-year-old Asheville man in the death of a female Pisgah Inn coworker on a trail near the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Derek Shawn Pendergraft is charged with second-degree murder, Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, announced.

According to allegations in the criminal complaint, Pendergraft, an employee of the Pisgah Inn, reported that a co-worker, identified in the complaint as S.E., was missing. The complaint alleges that, when initially interviewed by investigators, Pendergraft said that he and S.E. both got off work shortly after 4 p.m. Tuesday and decided to go for a hike on an unnamed trail near the employee housing area of the Pisgah Inn. Pendergraft stated that shortly after starting their hike it began to rain and S.E. decided to return to the housing area while he continued to hike. According to the complaint, Pendergraft stated that on his way back, upon reaching the point where he last saw S.E., Pendergraft saw her umbrella and hat lying on the ground. Pendergraft stated that he immediately began to search for S.E. and informed the management staff at the Pisgah Inn that she was missing. Rangers and first responders searched the area and located S.E.s body lying off an embankment, near a trail, within the boundary of the Blue Ridge Parkway, in Transylvania County.

On Wednesday night the manager of the Pisgah Inn contacted law enforcement and advised that Pendergraft was in her office and had confessed to killing S.E., prosecutors say. Law officers arrived at Pisgah Inn, interviewed Pendergraft and arrested him shortly thereafter in connection with S.E.s murder. Pendergraft is currently in custody. The charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.





In making the announcement, Murray thanked the National Park Service, the FBI, the SBI, the Transylvania County Sheriff's Office, the Haywood County Sheriff's Office, and the Cruso Fire Department for their respective work and assistance in this case. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Don Gast, of the U.S. Attorneys Office in Asheville.



Brian and Zoe on their wedding day just last week

A Dublin man caught up in wildfires while on his honeymoon in Greece has been confirmed as one of the victims.

After an extensive search, Brian O'Callaghan-Westropp's family received the devastating news yesterday afternoon that he was among the 81 people killed in the fire.

He had married his partner Zoe Holohan last week before they flew to Greece for their honeymoon.

However, when the fire tore rapidly through the coastal town of Mati, the couple became separated in the chaos.

Ms Holohan, who works in the advertising department of the Sunday World, was hospitalised in Athens having suffered burns.

It is understood that she will remain there for a period while she awaits surgery.

A source close to Ms Holohan told the Herald that both families travelled over to Greece with the Irish consulate in the hope of finding Mr O'Callaghan-Westropp alive.

Tragic

However, the Irish Embassy in Greece yesterday confirmed the tragic news.

"I'm very sorry to confirm that we do have the death of an Irish citizen and it has been confirmed as Brian O'Callaghan-Westropp," said the Irish Ambassador to Greece, Orla O'Hanrahan.

"Our sympathies and thoughts go out to his family at this time."

The Holohan and O'Callaghan-Westropp families released a statement confirming the sad news.

"We are deeply saddened to confirm the death of our family member Brian O'Callaghan-Westropp," the statement said.

"The families would respectfully appreciate privacy at this time as we grieve and as Zoe makes her recovery.

"Funeral arrangement will be announced at a later stage."

Mr O'Callaghan-Westropp, from Kilmainham, was the general manager of catering company Ready Chef. He was also an active member of Blood Bikes East for more than a year.

As the secretary of the voluntary organisation, the motorbike enthusiast helped provide free emergency transport services to Dublin hospitals.

Blood Bikes East chairman Brendan Conroy told the Herald that Mr O'Callaghan-Westroppwho, who was in his 40s, was more than a volunteer.

"Brian got along so well with everyone and I would personally consider him to be a very good friend," Mr Conroy said.

"I was at his wedding only last week and was in total shock when I found out that he was among those missing."

Mr Conroy described Mr O'Callaghan-Westropp as a "trojan worker" who always put others before himself.

"Brian was always at the forefront developing the organisation and providing vital services to hospitals," he said.

"He applied his business knowledge and management skills to really help us thrive."

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar had earlier said he was "devastated" to learn that an Irish honeymooner was among those caught up in the tragedy.

He pledged the support of the Irish Government and said the Irish team on the ground would provide every assistance to those affected.

"I've been in touch with the Department of Foreign Affairs today just to make sure that the ambassador and our people on the ground are providing whatever assistance we can," Mr Varadkar said.

"I can assure you that our embassy team in Ireland are in touch with the Greek authorities and will do anything that we can to help support our citizens over there."

The small community of Mati, a popular tourist resort with Greek holidaymakers roughly 30km east of Athens, was among the areas worst hit by the devastating blazes.

Destroyed

At least 81 people have been killed, while dozens more have been injured. However, this figure is expected to rise.

Reports in Greece suggested that 1,500 homes had been damaged or destroyed.

Mr O'Callaghan-Westropp became separated from his wife on Monday afternoon.

It is understood that the couple were travelling in a vehicle when they were forced to flee because of an approaching wildfire.

Ms Holohan suffered burn injuries but managed to escape to a nearby beach.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said it was not providing consular assistance to any other Irish people.

President Michael D Higgins said he had written to the Greek president and expressed his condolences as well as solidarity with Greece on behalf of the Irish people.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said the country was "going through an unspeakable tragedy" and declared a three-day national mourning period.A passenger waiting on news at the Madrid Barajas airport

Ryanair passengers face a fourth pilots' strike over the August bank holiday weekend when up to 20 flights will be grounded.

More stoppages are being planned despite a threat by the airline - which is planning to axe 300 posts - that it could cut even more jobs after the latest strike announcement.

Around 100 Irish-based pilots will man the picket lines a week tomorrow in the increasingly bitter dispute over the pilots' terms and conditions.

The announcement came after the low fares carrier put more than 100 of its pilots and 200 cabin crew on protective notice of redundancy.

This means they could lose their jobs in October, when Ryanair shifts six aircraft from Dublin to Poland.

Bitter

The bitter dispute over the pilots' terms and conditions deepened yesterday when the airline warned it could cut even more jobs after the latest strike announcement.

About 100,000 passengers have had their flights cancelled across Europe in the biggest strike in Ryanair's history.

There were reports that additional flights were grounded on top of 600 previously announced due to a 48-hour strike by cabin crew in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Belgium.

Ryanair did not respond to a request for a comment.

Insiders said some Irish-based pilots are set to apply for jobs at Norwegian Air due to the lay-off threat. They claimed some already have offers.

However, a message from Ryanair chief operations officer Peter Bellew sent to pilots later yesterday adopted a gentler approach.

It emphasised that not all those who got a notice would be required to transfer or be made redundant.

Aircraft

"Since at most 24 of our 30 based aircraft should remain in Dublin not everyone who receives a notice today will be required to transfer or be made redundant," it said.

"If you have an excellent performance record you will be less likely to be selected."

Union sources said they believed the job cuts were a threat rather than a promise.

"How is Ryanair going to make 100 pilots redundant when it doesn't have enough pilots as it is?" said a source.

Industry sources played down the significance of the threat.

They said the airline had always planned to expand its Polish charter business and there was nothing unusual about it cutting winter capacity.

Merrion Capital senior equity analyst Darren McKinley said Ryanair is sending out a statement to workers that "this is how we will handle strikes".

Ryanair is due to contact customers who will be affected by the August 3 strike today.Tributes have been paid to a devoted father and grandfather who has died a month after a car crash at a funeral.

Christopher 'Buddy' Phillips (78) died in Dublin's Tallaght Hospital.

Mr Phillips, from Walkins-town, but originally from Tallaght, was severely injured in the accident in the grounds of the Immaculate Conception Church, Clondalkin.

He had been due to attend a funeral on June 25, when he was injured, along with several other mourners.

A Toyota car struck mourners waiting to attend the Mass at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Clondalkin.

A garda investigation was continuing last night and off-icers said they were continuing an appeal for witnesses.

Mr Phillips' family posted a death notice that said he had passed away while "peacefully surrounded by his loving family in the kind care of the staff of Tallaght Hospital".

Prayed

The grandfather-of-nine leaves behind his wife, Jennie, and the couple's grown-up children, Patrick, Richard, Anna and Edward.

The death notice described him as a "devoted dad" and said he would be "sadly missed by his wife".

Fr Tom Clowe, from St Agnes Church, Crumlin, where Mr Phillips' funeral will be held, said: "Parishioners had prayed for Mr Phillips every day.

"The Phillips family are very much in all our prayers and we are very sorry to learn of this sad loss.

"This is such a terrible and tragic situation and the parish are very upset.

"Everyone prayed hard for his recovery, so people are understandably shocked at this loss.

"Mr Phillips' wife, all of his family and all his friends are in our thoughts and my heart goes out to them, it's just a dreadful loss.

"Sadly, this is one of the most tragic losses I can remember. He was a helpful, good man and he'd looked after his wife, I believe."

Mr Phillips' funeral will take place at St Agnes' Church, Crumlin village, on Saturday at 10am before a service at Newlands Cross Crematorium.Breast cancer is treatable and may be avoidable. What you need to knowIn Pakistans elections, Hindu-Sikh-Christian-Shia-Ahmadi minorities face daunting challenge of Islamic threat

Kathy Gannon | AP | Islamabad : As Pakistan heads into parliamentary elections this week, the countrys minorities are looking for better representation and a voice that will speak up for them in what rights groups warn is in an increasingly intolerant atmosphere in this Muslim-majority nation.

Its an uphill struggle for Pakistani Christians, Sikhs, Ahmadis and others. Minority religions make up just 4 percent of Pakistans 200 million people; Shiites account for about 15 to 20 percent of the Muslim population.

The countrys complicated electoral system allots minorities and women a small number of reserved seats, based on their parties gains at the polls.

But for the rest of the seats  both in the 342-seat National Assembly, the law-making lower house of parliament, and the four provincial legislatures  members of minority groups are increasingly choosing to run as independent candidates, without affiliation to any political party.

The minorities major concern ahead of Wednesdays vote has been the plethora of radical religious and sectarian groups that have resurrected themselves under new names and fielded candidates for the polls  including Sunni extremists who promise to rid Pakistan of Shiite Muslims.

Other radical parties have campaigned on promises to enforce Pakistans controversial law on blasphemy, which carries the death penalty and which has allowed for the prosecution of anyone deemed to offend Islam. Frenzied mobs have killed at the mere suggestion that an act of blasphemy was committed.

Pakistan is becoming more and more intolerant of minority rights, said rights activist I.A. Rehman, a founding member of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

He is urging the government to make sufficient effort to ensure minorities can cast their votes.

THE CHRISTIANS

Garbage is piled by the roadside and cinderblock homes have flimsy curtains instead of doors in Rimshah, a squatters settlement on the outskirts of Islamabad.

Years ago, scores of Christian families settled here when a mob of Muslim men, enraged over an alleged act of blasphemy by an 11-year-old Christian girl, tried to kill her and drove them out of their homes.

They named the slum Rimshah, for the 11-year-old girl with Downs syndrome who was eventually cleared of charges of tearing up pages of an Islamic religious book.

Michael Rose, an outspoken advocate of the Christian community, which numbers about 3 million in Pakistan, campaigns in Rimshah for Asif Shahzada, an independent Christian candidate.

Rose says that independent minority candidates are the best hope of getting Christian grievances heard. Minority representatives chosen on the reserved seat system tow the party line and rarely raise their communitys legitimate concerns, he says.

I jumped into this race only for my community, says Shahzada, looking around the slum. We have so many problems, no education, no health care, no jobs. We dont even have enough water.water.

THE SIKHS

Radesh Singh is one of about 200,000 Sikhs living in Pakistan, mostly in the conservative Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province along the border with Afghanistan. The Sikhs are easily identifiable because of their tightly wound and often colorful turbans, and because they share the surname Singh.

Singh said attacks by the Taliban and lately also the Islamic State group have forced thousands to leave the province, including his son. The radicals, Singh says, are killing both fellow Muslims and members of minority groups.

He is campaigning as an independent candidate in Peshawar, the provincial capital, and refuses to leave.

I wanted to show that a poor man can fight, run his own campaign and compete against these rich candidates  who take the poor peoples votes but then give them nothing in return, said Singh.

On a street lined with small shops in his neighborhood, he stops at each store, run by his Muslim neighbors, and is greeted with a smile. An elderly neighbor, Allah Mir, gave Singh a gentle hug, shook his hand and promised him his vote.

I dont care about his religion, Mir said. I care only that he is a good man.

THE HINDUS

Hindus make up Pakistans second-largest minority, with more than 2 million, living mainly in southern Sindh province where they are among the poorest.

Many live as indentured slaves on the estates of some of Pakistans largest landowners, working on the farms.

The Hindus also suffer widespread discrimination because of the decades-old rivalry between Pakistan and neighboring India, a majority Hindu nation.

Whenever relations between the two countries deteriorate, the treatment of Pakistani Hindus gets worse. Rights activist also routinely raise concerns about forced conversions of Hindu girls to Islam.

Veeru Kohli was born a slave but fled bondage, walking for three days until she found offices of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan to help her. She then returned to the landowner to recover her children and free eight other families.

Kohli is now running as an independent candidate.

If she wins, she will become the second Hindu woman in parliament in Pakistan. In March, Krishna Kumari, a member of Pakistan Peoples Party, was elected to the 104-seat Senate, the upper house of parliament  becoming the first Hindu woman elected, albeit in a vote by parliament members and not a popular election.

THE SHIITES

Though Muslim, Pakistans Shiites have suffered enormous losses, with hundreds slaughtered at the hands of radical Sunni Muslims who consider Shiites heretics and believe it is their religious duty to kill them.

However, unlike other minorities, Shiites in Pakistan are not allocated any special seats in parliament and can run either on their partys ticket or as independents.

THE AHMADIS

Ahmadis revere the 19th century founder of their Muslim sect, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, as a messiah, challenging the basic tenet of Islam that Mohammad is the final prophet.

Since Pakistan declared them non-Muslims in 1974, their numbers are difficult to gauge; they are believed to number several hundred thousand. Hundreds have been killed by zealots and their places of worship have been targeted; thousands more have fled Pakistan.

Saleem Uddin, a spokesman for the community, says Ahmadis plan to boycott Wednesdays elections after being put on a separate list of registered voters.

It means we are not the same as other Pakistanis, said Uddin. Why?

Source : Hindu ExistenceElection 2018 was a big snub to conventional politics, i.e. the status quo which has ruled Pakistan for nearly seven decades, and which Imran Khan has been relentlessly attacking. He himself eventually compromised this fundamental plank of his policy by coopting the so-called electables into his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), yet this doesnt seem to have hurt him

Pakistans fourth consecutive election demolished old myths, brought down several stalwarts and created new controversies. The entire polity aligned with former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has decried what they term the manipulative electoral process under the caretaker government.

A stunning upset was the elimination of Sharifs former right-hand man, Nisar Ali Khan. He had disassociated himself with the PML(N) after Sharifs disqualification in the aftermath of the Panama Papers scandal. After his decision to fight independently, Nisar appeared to be the pawn that the military establishment was reportedly banking on to bring in more votes which would benefit the PTI.

Nisar Ali Khan, who had won eight consecutive victories since 1985 from his Rawalpindi constituencies, fell victim to his own indecision and inconsistency.

Other stalwarts who bit the dust in their own strongholds were Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, long term chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir, Asfandyar Wali Khan, and Sirajul Haq, whose party enjoyed five years as a coalition partner of the PTI in the conflict-ridden Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They had turned against the PTI before the elections. In the past, they were considered as close proxies of the establishment, particularly against Benazir Bhutto, who had been a victim of an acute slander campaign in the 1990s, led by Husain Haqqani and these clerics.

Here is why the Election 2018 should be seen as a big step forward in Pakistans democratic transition:

First, although all those who lost the election, led by the Sharifs, have alleged rigging, the chief observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission to Pakistan, Michael Gahler, seemed satisfied on Thursday morning. Our observers visited as many as 300 polling stations in 87 constituencies and I have personally visited four polling stations... there is improvement as compared to the previous election held in 2013, Gahler said in Islamabad.

Second, despite being dubbed a close ally of the security establishment, the PTI had already assumed the high moral ground with literally no financial corruption scandal despite the adverse circumstances created by the mighty Muslim League at the centre. Millions of poor people felt that the PTI would bring in improved health, education and other government services such as police, local government and justice .

Third, deployment of nearly 350,000 troops in and around polling stations fuelled suggestions that they might be used to rig the process, but these troops, along with CCTV cameras and party agents at polling stations, have in fact deterred any possible manipulation of the ballot.

Fourth, all those projected as the proxies of the security establishment  Nisar Ali Khan, Mustafa Kamal (ex MQM), and Mulla Khadim Rizvi (Tahreek Labaik)  have lost the elections. At the same time, Baloch and Pashtoon critics of the military  such as Akhtar Mengal, and Mohsin Dawar, who had been spearheading the Pashtoon Rights Movement (PTM)  have emerged victorious in Waziristan.

Fifth, most parties raised a hue and cry over the radical religious right joining the electoral race through two major outfits, Tehreek Labaik (Rizvi) and Allah Akbar Tehreek. They did get votes but remain largely marginalised by the mainstream parties, with their parliamentary support slipping to less than five percentage.

What lies ahead? A thumping victory notwithstanding, the PTI faces a minefield of problems: a stagnating economy, shrinking government revenues and declining exports. And if the Sharif-led opposition embarks on an agitational path to protest what he claims is an electoral fraud, it will further hamper any fiscal and administrative reform that Imran Khan will try to implement.

Lastly, critics often refer to Imran Khan as the militarys favourite. But this is to overlook a simple fact; Khan, an extremely ambitious, strong-willed person, is neither a businessman nor has commercial stakes anywhere. Nobody has been able to accuse him of corruption and this is his biggest asset.

So, if he has nothing to hide, why would he kowtow to the military establishment? Being a nationalist, Khans outlook on foreign relations is very much in sync with that of the military establishment. He advocates a nationalistic narrative that focuses on self-confidence and integrity. Now he has to negotiate the turbulent political landscape complicated by a fledgling economy.

Imtiaz Gul is an author and heads the Centre for Research and Security Studies, Islamabad

The views expressed are personalThe value of Bahrain-origin exports reached BD561 million ($1.47 billion) during second quarter (Q2) of the year versus BD510 million for Q2 2017, marking a 10 per cent increase, said the Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA).



The top ten countries account for 82 per cent of the exported national origin value and 18 per cent for other countries, added the iGA in its foreign trade report of the second quarter of 2018 which encompasses balance of trade, imports, exports (National Origin) and re-exports.



Saudi Arabia was ranked as the first country importing from Bahrain with BD144 million, Oman second with BD68 million and UAE comes third place with BD66 million.



As for national exported products, agglomerated iron ores and concentrates emerged as the top products exported in the second quarter of 2018 with BD89 million; aluminium wires were positioned second products imported with a value of BD71 million; and unwrought aluminium stood third place for exported products with BD49 million.



As for re-exported field, the value of re-exports decreased by 8 per cent as it reached BD114 million during second quarter of 2018 versus BD124 million for the same quarter of the previous year. The top 10 countries account for 87 per cent of the re-exported value and 13 per cent for other countries.



Saudi Arabia was ranked as the first country to re-export from Bahrain with BD46 million, UAE ranked as the second with BD19 million, and China as the third with BD13 million.



Four-wheel drive cars emerged as the top product re-exported from Bahrain with BD17 million, cigarettes containing tobacco came as second products with BD10 million, and parts for other gas turbines as third with BD3 million.



The trade balance, difference between exports and imports, reached BD745 million during second quarter 2018 versus BD641 million for the same quarter of the previous year with increase of 16 per cent.



Aluminium oxide emerged as the top product imported to Bahrain with BD67 million, while the Non-agglomerated iron ores and concentrates as the second with BD62 million. Four-wheel drive cars came as third products with BD50 million during second quarter of 2018.



The value of imports increased by 11 per cent as it reached BD1.42 Billion during second quarter 2018 versus BD1.275 Billion for the same quarter of the previous year, while the top ten countries account for 66 per cent of the imports value and 34 per cent for other countries.



According to the report, China was ranked as the first country that exports to Bahrain with BD172 million; UAE as the second with BD137 million whereas Saudi Arabia ranked third with BD112 million.- TradeArabia News ServiceAlia Bhatt and boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor are just too cute to handle. If they are not sassing out each other, they are clicking each others photos. As Alia and Ranbir shoot Brahmastra together in Bulgaria, she shared a photo in which we see the pretty actor, standing by a window overlooking a city space with a friend. We dont see their faces as their backs are to the camera.

Sharing the picture, Alia says: The view and her too.. ??photo credit - RK. This is the closest Alia has come to confessing her real-life romance with Ranbir.

Alia Bhatt and boyfriend Ranbir Kapoor are currently shooting for their supernatural romantic thriller Brahmastra, directed by Ayan Mukherji. The film boasts of a stellar cast including the likes of Amitabh Bachchan, Telugu superstar Nagarjuna and Dimple Kapadia. The pictures that the cast has been sharing from the east European country are far to enticing.

The real deal here is the credits of the photograph which have the initials, RK. It shouldnt be hard to guess that the RK here stands for Ranbir Kapoor. The her in this photo is her bestie, Akansha Ranjan Kapoor. In her Instagram story, she announced that her best friend had joined her.

Akansha Ranjan Kapoor, Alias best friend, joined the latter in Bulgaria.

In the picture, Alia has her hand on Akanshas should and both seem relaxed as they take in the Bulgarian architecture. In another photo, shared by her, we see her somewhere deep in the forests (or maybe its the woods by their hotel), we see a dual image of her, as if like an optical illusion. Comments flooded Alias timeline, with most guessing that RK is Ranbir. While one comment said that the secret to her amazing photos has now been unlocked, most said that Ranbir is just the best boyfriend.

Find comfort in the chaos  A post shared by Alia  (@aliaabhatt) on Jul 25, 2018 at 3:27am PDT

In other pictures that the cast of the film has been sharing, we were introduced to Nagarjuna (with his lovely wife Amala) as they posed with Ayan, Ranbir and Alia with the landscape of Bulgaria forming the natural backdrop.

Some days ago, Amitabh shared pictures from the streets of unidentified streets of Bulgaria, with Ranbir and Amitabh clicking a selfie.

Superstars  A post shared by Ayan Mukerji (@ayanmukerji83) on Jul 22, 2018 at 5:44am PDT

The first schedule of Brahmastra was completed a while back in Israel. The shoot and some its prep time shifted to Mumbai, before the team left for Bulgaria.

Follow @htshowbiz for moreAre we witnessing a new and potentially dangerous form of centralisation and politicisation of the bureaucracy? Recent, ostensibly routine, strategies adopted by New Delhi point ominously in this direction and must be debated.

In April 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, a campaign to spread awareness about pro-poor initiatives of the government, reach out to poor households to enrol them and obtain feedback. The campaign focus was on achieving 100% saturation across seven flagship schemes, including Ujjwala, Suabhagya and insurance schemes.

As part of the campaign, nearly 1,200 central government officials were appointed as nodal officers tasked with co-ordinating implementation and monitoring achievements. Armed with mobile apps, nodal officers regularly uploaded pictures and reports on to a specially designed portal managed by the rural development and panchayati raj ministries in Delhi. Secretaries too were directly monitoring daily progress.

In June 2018, speaking at the Niti Ayogs governing council meeting, the PM announced that the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan was the new model for implementation and extended the abhiyaan to the 117 aspirational districts (a New Delhi flagship). An 800-strong battalion of central government officials are making their way to these districts to report back in time for the PMs Independence Day speech.

The PM too has established a direct line of communication with district collectors. In August 2017, a manthan on New India 2022 was organised between collectors and the PM. The abhiyaan goes a step further by seeking to create a direct line of accountability between the Centre and districts. Nodal officers report back to New Delhi, not state governments. State may be kept in the loop but the abhiyan, and its monitors, are driven by the Centre. This, the argument goes, improves efficiency. After all, direct interactions with the PM can be motivating and increased central monitoring can only improve delivery.

But behind this veneer of efficiency is a larger issue of accountability and potential subversion of the federal bargain. The IAS is designed as a system with dual control in which officers are accountable to both the central and state governments. In this sense, the district collector is accountable to both levels of government. But by convention, as my conversations with retired civil servants reveal, the relationship between the Centre and districts was mediated through state government officers and the chief secretary was the final authority. Direct lines of communication with the Centre, at this scale and frequency, are a new strategy.

The implications of this are significant. All governments in Delhi have been masters at using their power over purse strings and formulated central schemes for political gain. In fact, the proliferation of central schemes was key to Indira Gandhis electoral strategy. But direct lines of communication with districts undermine the basic federal bargain and were actively resisted. Back in the 1980s, Rajiv Gandhi was pilloried for meeting DMs. The accusation was made through a powerful slogan: PM to DM without CM.

Now, as Modi adopts the same approach, but for a few stray comments, state governments have been silent. This is both surprising and worrying, especially given that the abhiyan is dedicated to promoting central flagships with publicity material clearly linking programmes to the PM himself. Has Modi, the arch centraliser, succeeded in shifting the federal dynamic? Are we entering an era of deeper, more entrenched centralisation?

There is an even greater risk. This centralised approach has the potential to blur the lines between necessary activity in the line of duty and political propaganda. Direct, unmediated contact with voters is key to Modis personalised political style and likely to be at the forefront of the 2019 electoral strategy. This is visible in his recent efforts to speak directly to central scheme beneficiaries through video conferences and rallies. In this context, the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan is dangerously close to being part of a larger political strategy. Importantly, MPs, on whom responsibility for monitoring and publicising schemes legitimately falls, are conspicuously invisible in the ongoing campaign. Are babus becoming netas?

There is a larger issue at stake, one that goes beyond the politics of the day. There is now a discernible change in the IAS communication strategy. Twitter and op-eds are increasingly being used to keep the public informed of achievements. Increased direct communication in the 21st century is inevitable but an important question needs to be asked: is showcasing government achievements in the public domain really the job of the babu or the neta? And are the right rules in place to guard against risks?

As they stand, the conduct rules prohibit criticism of government. Consequently, any public communication by the IAS is necessarily about showcasing achievement. How then are the lines drawn between spreading good news and blatant propaganda? By the same token, how should critical reflection be balanced against the need for impartial discharge of duty to the elected government? How can this balance be achieved?

Rather than demonstrate real political leadership and navigate through these critical questions, our current politics has left us vulnerable to the real risk of the babu becoming neta.

Yamini Aiyar is president and chief executive, Centre for Policy Research

The views expressed are personalThe tussle between the Delhi government and Lt Governor Anil Baijal will play out in the Supreme Court on Thursday once again when the apex court will take up governments complaint that it was paralysed because it could not transfer or post bureaucrats.

Last week, a bench of justice AK Sikri and justice Navin Sinha posted the matter for July 26 for hearing after the Lt Governor sought time.

Functioning of the government is completely paralysed. We cannot post officers, we cannot transfer officers despite the recent constitution bench verdict which has explained every aspect. These issues needs to be adjudicated at the earliest, senior advocate P Chidambaram, appearing for the Delhi government had said.

The Aam Admi Party government has accused the Lt Governor of stonewalling its orders on transfers and posting despite a court order.

The AAP government has sought an early disposal of all appeals filed by the Delhi government on the scope of its powers in view of the recent verdict by a Constitution bench.

A three-judge Constitution Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justice A.M. Khanwilkar and justice D.Y. Chandrachud on July 4 ruled that the Lt Governor was bound to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.

The bench has also ruled that the Lt Governor exercised no independent powers as the representative of the central government except in law and order, police and land. The Delhi government has the powers to legislate and govern on other issues.

The apex court had said that issues regarding various notifications issued by the Delhi government in exercise of its administrative and legislative powers would be dealt separately by an appropriate smaller bench.

After the Supreme Court ruling, the Arvind Kejriwal government had sent Baijal files recommending transfer and posting of officials. But the Lt Governor stonewalled it, saying the issue involving Services was yet to be decided.

Baijal said the Union Home Ministry had advised him to keep exercising powers over Services because the May 21, 2015 notification remained valid until a regular bench of the apex court decided on it.The Bharatiya Janata Party and Delhis ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) sparred on Thursday over the deaths of three sisters, possibly because of starvation, in the Capitals Mandawali area even as the Congress blamed both the central and state governments for the incident.

Doctors said the three sisters, aged eight, four and two years who died in a hospital on Tuesday, succumbed to gross malnutrition and that their stomachs absolutely empty, with no trace of fat on their bodies.

The BJPs Ramesh Bidhuri, Parvesh Verma, and Maheish Girri raised the matter in the Lok Sabha, claiming there was a ration scam in Delhi and subsidised grain was not reaching the poor.

Bidhuri said the AAP government only indulges in blame games as he pointed out that the area where the children lived falls in the constituency of Delhis deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia.

Congress member of Parliament Deepender Hooda said both the city government and Centre were responsible for the deaths and that they cannot wash their hands of the incident.

It is unfortunate that Delhi being the capital of one of the most powerful countries of the world has had to see starvation deaths. It is absolutely unacceptable, Hooda said while speaking to reporters outside Parliament.

The AAP government, on its part, said it has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the deaths. AAPs Saurabh Bharadwaj tweeted that the Delhi governments attempts to introduce the doorstep delivery of ration to the poor was being blocked by the BJP and Lieutenant Governor.

We gave an immediate financial aid of Rs 25,000. Their mother will be admitted to the hospital and we will make sure that she gets the best treatment. Once their father returns well provide more financial help, Sisodia was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Our system has failed. I have sought a report from ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) whether these were people on our records. If yes, then why were these girls not helped? Sisodia said.

The girls were taken to a hospital by their landlords son and his friend on Tuesday after he was found out that all the three children had fainted. Doctors at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital pronounced them dead on arrival.

Officials believe their mother is mentally unstable and their father, a rickshaw puller, has not returned home and efforts are on to find him. Police also said the woman failed to help them establish the sequence of events.

When we tried to ask her if she had fed the children properly, she did not have any satisfactory reply. She only nodded or said no. We have not been able to get details from her. She is also not aware of the whereabouts of her husband, a police officer probing the incident said.Three girls  aged eight, four and two years  who died in an east Delhi hospital, succumbed to gross malnutrition, a doctor said on Thursday.

There was no trace of fat on their bodies. Postmortem showed the stomach was absolutely empty. Its a case of gross malnutrition, said Dr Amita Saxena, the MS of Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital.

The three minor girls were from Delhis Mandawali area and died in the hospital on Tuesday.

The Delhi government has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the deaths, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia announced on twitter.

While the childrens mother was found to be mentally unstable, their father, a rickshaw puller, has not returned home and efforts are on to find him.

The children were identified as Mansi (8), Shikha (4) and Parul (2).

Beena, a 29-year-old woman who was living in the slums of Mandawali with her husband Mangal Singh (32) had shifted to a small room in Talab Chowk on Saturday after their shanty was damaged in the rain.

On Tuesday, Pradeep Singh, the son of their landlord was informed that all three children had fainted. I live upstairs. When my mother Sudesh and I rushed to Beenas house, we found the children lying unconscious. With the help of a neighbour, I took them to Lal Bahadur Shastri hospital where the doctors pronounced them dead on arrival, Pradeep Singh said.

Deputy commissioner of police (east) Pankaj Kumar Singh said the first autopsy report suggested that the children succumbed to health complications related to malnourishment and starvation.

The initial post mortem at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital had also pointed to starvation as cause of deaths. The primary cause of death was definitely starvation; the children might have had infections or diarrhoea but the underlying cause is severe malnutrition. The condition of the organs, according to the post-mortem report, showed that there was prolonged malnutrition, a senior doctor from the hospital, on condition of anonymity, said.

Pradeep said Beena and her family were brought to him by one of his tenants, a man who works as a helper at a roadside eatery nearby. He told me that they lived in a slum and because of the heavy rain, they needed a better place to live. I allowed them to live for a few days until they found a better place. They were not in a condition to pay the rent, Pradeep said.

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Beena said her children died, but could not specify any reason.

Police also said the woman could not be questioned properly and has failed to help them establish the sequence of events.

When we tried to ask her if she had fed the children properly, she did not have any satisfactory reply. She only nodded or said no. We have not been able to get details from her. She is also not aware of the whereabouts of her husband, a police officer probing the incident said.

The landlord said he felt that Beena was not mentally stable when he had allowed them to stay at his house. She could not interact properly. She barely spoke to us. Her husband also came on Saturday when they shifted and since then, he has been away. We have not seen him return even after the children died, he said.An 18-year-old BA second year student of Delhi Universitys Bharti College, in West Delhis Janakpuri area, allegedly committed suicide by consuming pesticide in the colleges washroom on Wednesday morning.

Police said the exact reason behind the womans extreme step could not be ascertained as no suicide note was recovered from her. They said her family has not made any allegations or suspected foul play behind her death.

Deputy commissioner of police (West) Vijay Kumar said the police control room received a call at 9:50 am regarding a suicide in the college. A police team was rushed to the campus who found the student, identified as Vicky Kumari, unconscious inside a toilet which was bolted from inside, in the new block of the campus. She was taken to Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital where doctors declared her brought dead.

A bottle of pesticide was found in the toilet. We checked her bag and found a small knife that was used for cutting paper. Neither the students mobile nor suicide note was not found, said DCP Kumar, adding that the mother of the woman fainted at the hospital. She has been admitted and is undergoing treatment.

College authorities told police that Kumar had reached the college around 8:30 am as she had to attend her 9 am class. She later went to the toilet. When she did not return after half an hour, her classmates went to check on her and found the toilet door bolted from inside.

When repeated knocks at the door went unanswered, students alerted college staff. Security guards managed to open the door and found Kumari unconscious with froth oozing out of her mouth, said a college staff on condition of anonymity.

It is a very sad incident and I am concerned about it. Tomorrow (Thursday), I will address the students and tell them not to be in stress, said Mukti Sanyal, principal of Bharti College.

DCP Kumar said the student lived with her parents and three siblings in Delhis Uttam Nagar. Her father is a government employee. The family is originally from Bihars Chhapra.

We searched her house but found nothing useful. Her cell phone call records are being analyzed. We spoke to her friends and teachers who said she was quite but less confident. They always found her busy watching videos and movies on cell phone. She also used to bunk classes frequently, the DCP added.The patriarch of a Delhi-based family of alleged criminals which has been active in the world of crime for the last three decades, was arrested by police last week.

Police said they believed that the 55-year-old arrested accused, Mohammed Umar alias Goonga Pehalwan  arrested on charges of extortion and assault  had retired from the life of crime after his sons and nephews took over the familys alleged extortion business. However, police said, Pehalwan became active again after the arrest of his eldest son Abid on charges of murder. Abid, 31, is lodged in the same prison complex where his father was taken to following his arrest last week.

Explaining the sequence of events leading to Pehalwans arrest, deputy commissioner of police (southeast), Chinmoy Biswal, said an autorickshaw driver from Srinivaspuri last month approached them, alleging that Pehalwan had demanded Rs 3,000 from him to allow him to park his vehicle in the area. The man had also alleged that Pehalwan assaulted him when he refused to pay.

Pehalwan had demanded protection money from the driver and had also robbed the man of 4kg ghee that was in his vehicle. We had registered a case against Pehalwan but he was absconding. He had also applied for anticipatory bail in the Delhi High Court but it was rejected. On July 17, we arrested him from Jaitpur, where he had purchased a new flat. He was hiding there, said DCP Biswal.

As per police records, at least 13 of 23 members of the Pehalwan family have police cases  on charges of robbery, extortion, murder and attempt to murder registered against them. Pehalwans daughters do not have criminal records but his seven sons, including a minor, have their names etched in police records. Pehalwan has 13 known cases registered in his name. His wife Nababan, too, was arrested by police in an attempt to murder case.

Originally hailing from Khurja in Uttar Pradesh, Pehalwan is a former wrestler. He had come to the national capital in the early 80s with his younger brother Anwar alias Anwar Langda. In the mid 80s, the two brothers had opened a vegetable shop in Darya Ganj. However, they later shifted their shop to the Okhla vegetable market.

As per records, Pehalwan has been actively involved in crime since 1986. Most of the cases against the 13 members have been registered at the local Okhla police station.

In September 2015, a resident welfare association in Srinivaspuri had filed a police complaint against the family, wherein the family was accused of terrorising residents.Karnatakas department of pre-university education on Thursday announced the result of the Karnataka PUC supplementary examination 2018.

Students can check the result of Karnataka PUC exam 2018, held between June 29 and July 10, on the official website: karresults.nic.in

Here is the direct link to check result.

Karnataka PUC supplementary result 2018: Steps to check

1) Visit the official website of Karnatakas department of pre-university education

2) Click on the link for results on top nav bar of the page

3) Click on the link for PUC supplementary result 2018

4) Key in your registration number and submit on the login page that opens

5) Your result will be displayed on the screen

6) Take a print-out and save the result on your computer too

Karnataka PUC results were declared by the department of pre-university education of the state on April 30. Reports said close to seven lakh students appeared for the PUC exam held in March.

Karnataka SSLC supplementary results were announced on July 19.Sexy sophistication made its way down the runways of Falguni Shane Peacocks debut India Couture Week 2018 collection at Taj Palace, New Delhi on Thursday. Actor Kareena Kapoor Khan looked like a dazzling bride as she turned showstopper for the designers in an exquisite gold lehenga thats ideal for the woman who wants to flaunt her figure. Kareenas dreamy ensemble comprised a voluminous, crystal work embedded A-line lehenga with a train, a matching full-sleeved choli with a plunging neckline and a shimmery nude dupatta with feathery flourishes. The head-to-toe gold look was full of whimsy and romance, perfect for bride who want to look appropriate, while having a hint of sexiness. See for yourself:

Kareenas dreamy ensemble comprised a voluminous, crystal work embedded A-line lehenga with a train. (Raajessh Kashyap/HT Photo)

We have drawn our inspiration from a tale in which a Parisian queen is invited to the resplendent Junagarh Palace in Rajasthan, which is known for its meticulous architecture and grandeur, said the designers Falguni Shane Peacock. (Raajessh Kashyap/HT Photo)

Also read: Tarun Tahiliani has found his muse in Aditi Rao Hydari, wants to team up again

Kareenas cocktails-ready lehenga proves there are plenty of pretty ways to incorporate delicate plumes into your party wear. Feather embellishments, cascading feather trains, feather cuffs  no matter how they appear, with just the right touch of texture, these glamorous embellishments will leave you floating on air. Just like Kareena, here. We have one word for her: Breathtaking.

Kareenas head-to-toe gold look was full of whimsy and romance, perfect for bride who want to look appropriate, while having a hint of sexiness. (Raajessh Kashyap/HT Photo)

Have a special event coming up, but feel like you dont know what to wear? Take inspiration from Kareenas showstopping lehenga, which is sure to leave you the best-dressed at whatever event youre attending.

If youre a bold bride looking for sexy lehengas (or gowns), youll find plenty of gorgeous styles boasting plunging necklines and backlines, snug silhouettes, sheer fabric, and unexpected cutout bodices at Falguni Shane Peacocks ICW 2018 collection. This is the first time the designer duo is showcasing their couture designs at the five-day fashion extravaganza, presented by Hindustan Times and Sunil Sethi Design Alliance.

Also read: I am in character, says Kangana Ranaut on walking Anju Modis Victorian-themed fashion show

We have drawn our inspiration from a tale in which a Parisian queen is invited to the resplendent Junagarh Palace in Rajasthan, which is known for its meticulous architecture and grandeur. A mela (local carnival) is orchestrated in the honour of the queen, who is left mesmerised by the majestic and royal nature of the occasion, the designers told Hindustan Times in an interview, before their show.

India Couture Week, presented by Hindustan Times and Sunil Sethi Design Alliance, will be on from July 25 to July 29, in Delhi.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for moreDinesh Gundu Rao, 48, took over as the Congress chief in Karnataka on July 4, over a month after the party formed a coalition government with the Janata Dal (Secular) in the state. He spoke to Hindustan Times about the challenges ahead, Lok Sabha polls and managing the states coalition government. Edited excerpts:

What is the biggest challenge you face ahead of the Lok Sabha polls?

We do not know exactly when it (Lok Sabha polls) is going to come. There is a lot of speculation because the Narendra Modi government is worried about its performance. So, there is a possibility that it may happen in December. Keeping that in mind, we have to reorganise the party, revamp it and see that everything is functioning actively. We have to look at how we can increase the numbers in Lok Sabha... the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has got more seats than us (in Karnataka) in the last three-four general elections.

Has the party taken a stock of the reasons for its poor performance in the recent state elections?

We are receiving reports from every assembly constituency from our observers. And generally, we have had some discussions, but no formal committee has looked into this. We know generally what went wrong.

Does this include an acknowledgement that the Lingayat separate religion issue did not play out as anticipated?

The Congress is not against any religion or caste, but the Lingayat issue did affect us to some extent. It was never a party issue, it was what the community requested the (former) chief minister (Siddaramaiah) to do. (Siddaramaiah recommended that the influential Lingayat community be recognised a separate, minority religion.)

Was it a mistake?

I would not say that. It was misrepresented to the community that we were out to divide them when the claim to have a separate religion tag has been going on for many decades with leaders of all political parties having been a part of it. But the BJP used it very effectively to say that we were trying to divide the community, which was not true. Similarly, Hindutva in the coastal belt affected us where again false propaganda was used. Basically, emotional issues took over. We gave a stable, scandal-free government But those issues went onto the backburner.

Siddaramaiah hinted the BJPs pannah pramukh (booth-level worker) strategy worked. How do you propose to counter this?

We have booth-level workers as well. We have to make them a little bit more ideologically oriented.

The problem is our stand is less emotional. An emotional issue tends to make people feel more committed to the cause. We will use our cadre now to expose the truth behind what BJP is trying to do.

Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy broke down recently in the backdrop of farm loan waiver saying he knew the pain of running a coalition government. Has it created an apprehension in minds of Congress leaders that one party in the coalition government will take the credit for the waiver?

We spoke to Kumaraswamy. Maybe it was because he was under pressure or what was being said by media. That is what he told me.

Is there any pressure from the Congress on him?

The chief ministers job is always with pressure, from your own party, coalition partners and people. (Kumaraswamy) told me that the main reason was the negativity on the social media. And added to this was the media highlighting only the negative aspects. I do not think a chief minister should do that. He is the leader of the state and he is the person who should wipe other peoples tears.

Is Siddaramaiah emerging as a parallel force, a super CM?

Siddaramaiah remains a top leader in the state. He is now the Congress legislature party leader, coordination committee chairman, so definitely he has a role to play. The people of Karnataka and Congress leaders have a lot of trust and faith in him.250718HEALTH MINISTER ANNOUNCES KEY INITIATIVES

New Dawn FM News



The ABG Minister for Health, DENNIS LOKONAI yesterday announced key initiatives of the Health Department starting 2018 and beyond.

Minister LOKONAI made the announcement at the Launch of the MV YWAM Medical ship in Buka.

He mentioned six priority areas, as

ONE, Infrastructure improvements for the District Health Centres and Aid-Posts.

TWO, Provision of clinical equipment for health facilities.

THREE, Improve governance for Hospitals and District Health facilities with the establishment of Governing Boards and Committees.

FOUR, Establishment of Medical Supply Management System for Medical Supplies at Regional Transit Stores in BUKA HOSPITAL and ARAWA HOSPITAL.

FIVE, Provision of Electricity and Water supply to all Health facilities in order to improve maternal care and delivery and reduce maternal deaths.

SIX, Introduce initiatives to reduce communicable and non-communicable diseases in the region through appropriate interventions and effective health promotion initiatives.

New Dawn FM understands that two years ago the Bougainville Health Division released a FIVE YEAR Health Plan for Bougainville with the support of the WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION.

Ends

Oman will use South Korea's expertise in the development of the sultanates first smart city at the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Duqm, said a report.



A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed by the two countries in Muscat yesterday (July 25), the Oman Daily Observer report said.



The MoU was signed during the Oman-Korea Business Forum, which was attended by high government officials from Korea led by Prime Minister Lee Nak-Yon, while Oman was represented by Dr Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidy, Minister of Commerce and Industry, and Dr Mohammed bin Hamed al Rumhy, Minister of Oil and Gas, it said.



Saleh bin Hamoud al Hasani, director general of investors services at the Special Economic Zone Authority of Duqm (SEZAD), said that the MoU marks the first step in an ambitious effort to apply the smart city concept to Duqm.



He added that as per the agreement, the Korean side will undertake a comprehensive study that will explore how smart city principles can be adopted in Duqm.



South Korea is credited with building the worlds first smart city  the Songdo International Business District spread across 600 hectares along the waterfront in Incheon Province. The city, costing over $40 billion, will feature more than 100 buildings.Prime Minister Narendra Modis keenness to construct a museum dedicated to the legacy of all former Prime Ministers, first expressed by him in 2016, was endorsed by a majority of the 21 members of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) at the 43rd annual general body meeting here on Thursday.

The new museum for Prime Ministers will be constructed within the precincts of the Teen Murti Estate where NMML is located, with the government assuring the members that the new structure will not undermine or dilute the legacy of independent Indias first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Thursdays meeting was chaired by home minister Rajnath Singh.

The management of NMML decided to develop the museum within the premises of the Teen Murti property that served as the official residence of the first Prime Minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru, Shakti Sinha, director of NMML said.

According to an official familiar with the developments, members of the Congress Party, Dr Karan Singh, Jairam Ramesh and Mallikarjun Kharge, who were present at the meeting were assured that the new museum would not affect the existing Nehru museum by the government representatives who asserted the governments right to construct the new museum.

The Congress leaders along with Nitin Desai, BP Singh and Nayanjot Lahiri objected to the proposal, this person added, asking not to be identified.

The new museum which will include memorabilia of PMs from Lal Bahadur Shastri onwards will come up on a plot of land within the Teen Murti estate.

The home minister said the construction of a new museum for PMs is a separate project and the government wants it to be complete through consensus. He also said the ongoing renovation of the Nehru museum will not be affected by the new construction, the official said.

The ministry of culture, represented by union minister Mahesh Sharma said R270 crore has been earmarked for the new building and that there is no question of disturbing the existing museum .

The Congress has been objecting to the new construction as it feels that the proposed project seeks to dilute Nehrus legacy.

MJ Akbar, the minister of state for external affairs, who was also present at the meeting, said it was not an either-or situation and that the creation of something new will not be at the expense of the existing museum; he also said that had Nehru been around, he would not have objected to the new museum, the official said.

According to the official, the chairman of Prasar Bharati, Surya Prakash, said anybody who has no problem with diversity should not have a problem with a museum for the other PMs. He also said the estate is owned by the government and its been given to the NMML for maintenance.

A second official, who was also present at the meeting, said the Congress leaders had expressed apprehension that NMML would not be able to handle the massive project would need to hire another agency to carry out the work.

While Jairam Ramesh said the Congress leaders would need more time to read the concept note, Kharge said a new society could be given the task of handling the project. Later, Rajnath Singh said a detailed concept note should be circulated to all members within 30 days and their suggestions sought, the second official added on condition of anonymity.The special court for Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Wednesday issued notices to jewellers Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi following the Enforcement Directorates demand to confiscate their properties under the new fugitive economic offender law.

The court has granted Modi and Choksi six weeks (until September 26) to appear before it, failing which both of them would be declared fugitive offenders and have their properties confiscated.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) earlier this month made two applications to the special court to confiscate the duos properties in India, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance, 2018 which aims to impound and sell assets of alleged fugitives.

The ordinance is aimed at deterring economic offenders from evading the process of law by remaining outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts. The law seeks to expedite recovery of losses incurred by banks and other entities by confiscating their properties.

The ED said it conducted more than 260 searches across India leading to the seizure of gold, diamond, platinum, silver, precious and semi-precious stones, jewellery, and watches belonging to Modi, Choksi and the companies belonging to them.

Bank accounts and shares belonging to Modi and Choksi, and companies controlled by them were also frozen. Luxury cars and paintings were also seized, said an ED officer.

The agency has already filed charge sheets against the duo on May 24 and June 26 this year. Subsequently, the court issued non-bailable warrants against the duo. Interpol also issued Red Notice against Nirav Modi.

ED had registered a case under two cases of money laundering against the duo on the basis of two first information reports (FIR) filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in January 2018. CBI had alleged that Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi allegedly cheated Punjab National Bank (PNB) in connivance with certain bank officials by fraudulently getting Letters of Undertaking (LOUs) issued to their three firms without any collateral and without following prescribed procedure, causing wrongful loss to PNB.Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Thursday asked the police to arrest him after Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan called him a traitor, the action which the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party dismissed as a political stunt.

Singh, Madhya Pradesh Congress coordination committees chairperson, went to the TT Nagar police station in state capital Bhopal as hundreds of his party workers, including his son Jaivardhan Singh, brother Laxman Singh and several other leaders, accompanied him.

The police refused to arrest the former chief minister, saying there was no case registered against him.

We have not arrested Digvijaya Singh as we dont have a complaint, superintendent of police (south) Rahul Lodha said.

The chief minister had said recently at a press conference in Satna that Singhs actions appear to be that of a traitor. Chouhan alleged that Singh visits the house of a terrorist after his death in a police encounter referring to his meeting with the families of those killed in the Batla House encounter in Delhi.

Chouhan also said that the Congress leader addresses terrorists with honorifics like ji after Singh called former al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden as Osama ji.

Singh retaliated by writing a letter to Chouhan, saying he was going to present himself before the police on July 26 asking them to arrest him, otherwise the chief minister should apologise publicly for levelling the grave charge against him.

Shivraj Singh Chouhans police has given in writing that there is no case of a complaint against me. Now, I demand that the chief minister issues a public apology for calling me a traitor, if not I will move court, Singh said while talking to the media as waved a letter from TT Nagar town inspector.

The 71-year-old leader also alleged that the chief minister and his family were involved in the Vyapam scam, illegal sand mining, e-tendering scam and mid-day meal scam.

I am levelling these allegations if Chouhan wants he can life defamation case against me, the Rajya Sabha MP said.

BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said it was a show of strength by Singh and an attempt to ensure that he stays relevant in Congress politics.

So far as the CMs allegations are concerned, they are not new and have been in the public domain for years, Agrawal added.

The senior leader was not included in the Congress working committee (CWC) earlier in July, setting the tongues wagging about the decisions impact on the party in Madhya Pradesh ahead of the assembly election scheduled to be held this year.

Last year, the Congress removed Singh as its in-charge of Karnataka as well as Goa, where the party failed to form a government despite emerging as the largest party by votes.Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reaffirmed Indias commitment to multilateralism, international trade and rules-based world order as he participated in the BRICS Summit here.

Modi, who arrived here on Wednesday on the last leg of his Africa tour, presented the country statement of India at the BRICS leaders closed session.

Reaffirming our commitment to reformed multilateralism, international trade and rules-based world order. PM @narendramodi presented the Country Statement of India at the #BRICS Leaders' Closed Session at the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg. #IndiaatBRICS pic.twitter.com/qQCcnHJvdv  Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) July 26, 2018

The prime minister reaffirmed Indias commitment to multilateralism, international trade and rules-based world order, he said.

The groupings leaders during the 10th edition of the BRICS Summit are expected to deliberate on global hot-spot issues, international peace and security, global governance and trade issues among others.

Modi is also expected to meet BRICS leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders.

BRICS is a grouping of five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as BRIC, before the induction of South Africa in 2010. PTI NSA NSAThe Bihar government on Thursday recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged sexual abuse of at least 29 girls at a government-funded shelter home in Muzaffarpur.

The move came hours before the Patna high court was scheduled to take up the case amid the Oppositions demand that a CBI probe be ordered under the courts supervision.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar has directed the chief secretary, director general of police and principal secretary, home, to immediately hand over the case to CBI, a state government press release said. It called the abuse deplorable  and insisted the police were carrying out a diligent investigation. Although the government was committed to conducting an impartial probe, the decision for handing over the probe to CBI has been taken to dispel... rumours...

The recommendation came two days after Bihar police chief KS Dwivedi ruled out a CBI probe while insisting he was satisfied with the probe. He confirmed that 29 out of the 44 girls rescued from the shelter had been raped.

Officials said 10 of the 11 accused had been arrested in the case that came to light after Mumbais Tata Institute of Social Sciences held a social audit of shelter homes across Bihar in 2017. Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said the Centre would consider a CBI probe if the state government recommended it.

Earlier in the day, Opposition members in the state assembly demanded social welfare minister Kumari Manju Vermas resignation after her husband Chandeshwar Vermas name cropped up in the case. They demanded his arrest.

The wife of district child protection officer Ravi Kumar Raushan, who has been arrested on charges of sexual assault at the shelter home, accused Chandeshwar Verma of frequently visiting the shelter home and spending long hours with the girls there. The minister defended her husband. My husband is being made a scapegoat, she said.Months after the state was rocked by the Lingayats demand for a separate religion, northern Karnataka is on the boil again. This time, however, they are demanding that the 13 districts constituting the region be carved out into a separate state.

The Separate State Agitation Committee has announced a bandh in the northern districts on August 2 to press for the demand, which has found renewed resonance in the light of perceived neglect of the region by the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) government. Pro-statehood activists have cited the lack of new schemes announced for the region in the state budget, presented by chief minister HD Kumaraswamy on July 5, as well as the imbalance in regional representation in the administration to press for their demand.

The state cabinet is dominated by ministers from southern Karnataka, with the Vokkaliga caste getting the lions share of the berths.

Committee head Somashekhar Kotambari on Wednesday said that a bandh will be observed across 13 districts of the northern region on August 2. We will meet intellectuals, litterateurs and launch an intense agitation to press for a separate state, he said at a press conference in Hubballi.

Three seers had also backed the demand two days ago.

The districts under question are located in the Hyderabad-Karnataka and Mumbai-Karnataka regions, which were made a part of the enlarged Mysore state in 1956  when states were reorganised along linguistic lines.

While leaders of all the three political parties  including BJP chief BY Yeddyurappa  have criticised the demand, a few have come out in its support. Looking at this budget, we might have to support the separate state demand, former MP B Sriramulu said in the state assembly on July 10.

He later apologised and clarified that he was not backing the demand.

However, senior BJP leader Umesh Katti  who has long supported the demand  was not one to mince his words. Whatever indicators you take, you can see that injustice has been done to the region. I have previously supported the demand for a separate state and will do so even now, he said.

A look at the statistics does seem to bear out the suspicions of regional imbalance. According to the economic survey, released before the state budget in February, only five districts in the state had a per capita income above the state average of Rs 1.42 lakh (Bengaluru Urban recorded the highest). Among the bottom 10 districts in the state, nine belong to the northern region and one to the central.

The region did not perform well on human development either. Nine of the 10 lowest performers in terms of the district composite development index hailed from the northern region.

A recent remark by Kumaraswamy at a rally in Channapatna on the outskirts of Bengaluru seemed to have further enraged those from northern Karnataka. Apparently they want a separate state (for northern Karnataka). Take it, lets see what happens, he said, adding: Is this the reason people fought to unite this state?

The chief minister also asked Katti and Sriramulu about the source of funding for irrigation projects if a separate state was carved out. Please leave this small-mindedness. Do not divide people on the basis of caste and region, he said.

HK Patil, a Congress MLA from Gadag, said the region suffers from imbalances in both political representation and economic focus. He had even complained about many new programmes not being introduced for the northern region in letters written to Kumaraswamy.

We need to look at ways to redress these problems instead of talking about a separate state, Patil said. I had said on the floor of the House that even if one accepts that the budget was a continuation of the one presented by Siddaramaiah, the Mumbai-Karnataka region received only 2% of the additional outlay announced by Kumaraswamy. And the Hyderabad-Karnataka region received only 4%.

Political analyst Narendar Pani said any escalation in the statehood agitation was bound to affect the Congress more than the JD(S). It was unexpected for the chief minister to be so combative on the issue. Any damage caused by this controversy will hurt the Congress as the JD(S)s support is mostly drawn only from the Old Mysuru region, he added.Rajasthan BJP president Madanlal Saini got his facts mixed up when he said that a dying Mughal emperor Humayun told his father Babur that he should respect cows, women and Brahmins if he wanted to rule India.

When Humayun was dying, he called Babur and told him: If you want to rule Hindustan, you must keep three things in mind: respect cows, Brahmins and women, Saini said.

Saini, however, got his history wrong as Babur was Humayuns father and had died in 1531, 25 years before Humayun breathed his last in 1556.

The Rajasthan BJP chiefs remark on Tuesday came days after a Muslim man was allegedly beaten to death by a mob on suspicion of cow smuggling in Alwar district.

Several Twitter users pointed out the facts in history and some even ridiculed the leader.

Er, dear Sir, Babur was the father and Humayun the son !

and Humayun died in an accidental fall while descending a staircase, not in bed . https://t.co/bm3gxQmUtG  Mrinal Pande (@MrinalPande1) July 25, 2018

When Humayun was dying, he called his father Babur (who already died 26 yrs ago) and told him, "if you want to rule Hindustan, you must respect Cow, Brahmin & women" ~ says Rajasthan BJP President.



Seems to be a graduate in 'Entire Political Science' pic.twitter.com/SXonO3eydx  Gaurav Pandhi (@GauravPandhi) July 25, 2018

Hmmm...



But how exactly did a dying Humayun call his already dead father Babur?



Did he use some ancient mantra? https://t.co/Mp4eXOZ1yS  Ankit Lal (@AnkitLal) July 25, 2018

Rakbar Khan (28) was beaten to death by cow vigilantes while he and an associate were taking two cows on foot through Lalawandi village in Alwar district on July 21 to his village in Haryana on allegations that they were smuggling cows for slaughter.

Condemning the killing, Saini said no one should take the law into their hands. The government has acted swiftly and punished the accused, he said.

He also opposed cow slaughter, saying that even during the reign of Aurangzeb, who was very rigid, cow slaughter was banned. Muslim emperors did not allow cow slaughter. How are these people their followers? And the person who is documented was a cow smuggler and there was a case against him, he said.

Several BJP MLAs have made outrageous statements in the wake of the Alwar lynching. Labour minister Jaswant Singh Yadav said that Muslims should respect the sentiments of Hindus and stop the business of smuggling cows. While condoling Rakbars killing, he said Muslims should stop eating beef.

BJP MLA Bhanwari Lal Singhal blamed the Meo community for being involved in crimes in the Mewat region.Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati will soon set up a joint committee with private radio stations to figure out how much it can charge FM channels for broadcasting news aired by All India Radio (AIR).

FM radios are not permitted to produce and air news bulletins. Prasar Bharati, of which AIR is the radio broadcast arm, wants FM stations to be allowed to only replay the news that is aired on AIR, and wants these radio stations to pay for the content.

A ministry of information and broadcasting official aware of the developments said that the decision to set up the panel comes in the wake of directions from the MIB to speed up the process that has been hanging fire.

The panel will have representation from private radio service providers and Prasar Bharati and will come up with a mutually agreeable formula on pricing, the official said, requesting anonymity.

While FM stations have been petitioning the MIB to allow them to broadcast news, the government has been circumspect, citing security concerns. In the past, it told SC and Parliament that FM channels were barred from airing their own news bulletins in the absence of a monitoring system to oversee content.

The government has turned down the request by FM stations to repackage the news aired on AIR; it wants the broadcasts to be replayed in their original format, even though they dont gel with the production of other shows. It also insists on levying a fee, which FM channels fear could be exorbitant, a functionary of the Association of Radio Operators for India said on condition of anonymity.

After the unveiling of the guidelines for the third phase of FM auctions, the government came around to the suggestion that private radios be allowed to carry AIR news content verbatim as it would expand the audience for AIR news. The stations wanted to do this at no cost.

A senior Prasar Bharati official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, AIR spends a lot of money on production and news gathering, why should they be giving out their content free? AIR also has fiscal targets to meet and if it does not charge for its content, it will lose out on revenue. Most listeners will shift to FM stations and the sponsorship for AIR bulletins and news magazines will dry up.

The official cited above said the fees charged would be minimal. The Prasar Bharti official said a rate card would be drawn up for channels based on the frequency of broadcast and the content and added, If a channel replays the bulletins at repeated intervals and uses news features as well, they will have to pay more.

Harshad Jain, chief executive of Fever FM, an arm of HT Media Ltd, said the broadcast of news on radio would be a positive development. Radios ability to transmit news is far better than other traditional media platforms. We will need to figure out a new monetisation strategy for this content, he added. HT Media also owns Radio Nasha, another Hindi radio channel, besides Fever FM.

The bulletins may not go with the style, texture, format or the overall tone of the other content categories aired on private radio stations. That could be a possible flip side, said Neeraj Saraswat, national head (sales and marketing) at Fever 104.A former president of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which administers the Sabarimala temple, on Thursday announced a campaign akin to last years pro-Jallikattu stir to protect the shrines custom of barring entry of women.

We will conduct prayers in all temples throughout the state to sensitise devotees (about the shrines custom). It is a peaceful protest. No only Hindus, leaders of many other religions also promised support the dive, Prayar Gopalakrishnan who is also a Congress leader said, adding that the campaign would officially be launched on July 31.

In 2017, many people took to the streets across Tamil Nadu a to protest against the Supreme Courts order to ban Jallikattu, a traditional bull taming sport.

Gopalakrishnan said the majority of women in the state were against the proposal to change temple rituals and saw the controversy around the issue as a move to defame the shrine.

Different deities have different rituals. In Attukal Devi temple in Thiruvananthapuram men are not allowed to do annual pongala offering. And in Malayinkeezhu Sree Krishna temple women are not allowed during a particular time. We have to respect such customs, he said adding that basis of the practice was the celibate nature of the temple deity, not misogyny.

The Supreme Court has taken up a PIL filed by the Indian Young Lawyers Association challenging the temples discriminatory practice.A contentious Union government scheme to hire 10 specialists from the private sector in key decision-making roles otherwise reserved for career members of the Indian civil services has attracted more than 3,000 applications for the 10 posts on offer, according to officials familiar with the matter.

On June 10, the government notified 10 positions of joint secretaries to be hired through a lateral entry route and put out advertisements in leading newspapers asking for aspirants to come forward.

The last date for applying is July 30. The final number will obviously be higher than the over 3,000 applications received so far, said one of the officials cited above who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The June 10 advertisement called for applications from those working at comparable levels in private sector companies, consultancy organisations, international/multinational organisations with a minimum of 15 years experience. The lateral entrants would have three- to five-year tenures, according to the advertisement.

Minister of state in the Prime Ministers Office Jitendra Singh told Parliament on Wednesday that the decision to fill the joint secretary (JS)-rank posts through the lateral entry process was aimed at bringing in fresh ideas to governance. He added that it would introduce new approaches and augment the availability of personnel at the JS level. At the same time, Singh underlined that it was not being done because the bureaucracy was inefficient.

The government has cited examples of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and ex-deputy chairman of the erstwhile Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, as the examples of those who joined the government through the lateral entry process at various ranks.

The other names cited include the secretary in the department of ayurveda, yoga, unani, siddha and homoeopathy, Rajesh Kotecha, former Niti Ayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya and former power secretary RV Shahi.

A second government official pointed that the current hiring process was different because earlier appointments through the lateral entry route were not structured. There was no set process, only three or four people in the government decided on their appointments, he said.

Now we have devised a rigorous selection process that will include vetting of applicants by experts from the private as well as from the government sector. We are institutionalising the process of lateral entry, the official added.

Other than the few exceptions cited above, the government largely recruits bureaucrats through the civil services exam conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

Since June, several Opposition parties, including the Congress, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) have criticised the Centres move, saying the policy was meant to sidestep caste-based reservations and induct people who were in sync with the governments ideology. Some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and National Democratic Alliance (NDA) members also raised concerns on the reservation issue.

The lateral entry route will bypass the UPSC system under which 15% seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes, 7.5% for the Scheduled Tribes and 27% for the Other Backward Castes in the Indian Administrative Services.

Several bureaucrats also criticised the policy, calling it retrograde. Former Cabinet secretary KM Chandrashekhar said soon after the scheme was unveiled in June: We should look at the crucial aspects such as who will hire them, what will be selection process, will UPSC be tasked to hire them. First of all, these issues need to be addressed.

But several experts, including some in the bureaucracy, have been of the view that such experimentation should be encouraged.

India is on track to achieve efficiencies and excellence to bring the country up to speed with the rest of the world. Lateral inductions are just one of the many steps taken by the government of India in governance reforms that include outcome-based monitoring, ease of doing business, and digital technology reforms, career bureaucrat and Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant wrote in a June 13 article in HT.

Former home secretary GK Pillai said: The response is encouraging. But I believe the government should give them (officers joining through lateral entry) longer tenure than the period of three to five years that has been stipulated as of now. The government can think about extended their contract if they perform well. Only then these new officers will be able to enrich the governance with their fresh ideas. Besides their responsibilities and liabilities should also be fixed like their counterparts who joined the civil service through the routine channel.Saudi Arabias King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has awarded two Saudi students posthumously with the Order of King Abdulaziz of the First Degree for their bravery and service.



The two Saudi students drowned in the state of Massachusetts in the Chicopee River on June 29, 2018, while trying to rescue two children who were caught in the river's current, said a statement from the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington D.C., USA.



The King met with the families of the two students at his office in the Salaam palace in Jeddah, where he expressed his condolences and sympathies for their loss, and lauded the student's bravery and selfless act.



The families, in turn, expressed their sincere thanks for the condolences, and their appreciation for the King and the Crown Prince's efforts. The students, Theeb Alyami, 27, and Jaser Alrakah, 25, were cousins, studying civil engineering at a local university, just a few weeks shy of their graduation dates.



The award, which is one of the highest awards the Kingdom has to offer, is given in recognition of major services performed for: the country, one of its institutions, services and works of significant moral value, or to those who make great sacrifices.  TradeArabia News Service

The judicial probe into the alleged custodial death of Rakbar Khan (31), who was lynched by a mob of cow vigilantes in Alwar district of Rajasthan last week, began on Thursday, police said.

Additional chief judicial magistrate (Rajgarh), Amar Singh Champawat recorded the statements of suspended assistant sub-inspector Mohan Singh, and three constables  Surendra Singh, Harendra Singh and Vijay Singh  at the Ramgarh court, said Alwar superintendent of police, Rajendra Singh.

The constables were sent to police lines on July 23, the day the ASI was suspended, after a high-level police team led by special director general of police (law and order) NRK Reddy visited Ramgarh police station and the spot where Khan was allegedly lynched by cow vigilantes on July 21.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) took cognisance of the incident and has issued a notice to the Rajasthan government and sought a report from the state within 15 days. The commission, in a release, said it has observed that the contents of news reports about the incident which, if true, raise a serious issue of human rights violation of the victim.

Rakbar Khan and his friend Aslam Khan were taking two cows to their village, Kol in Haryanas Nuh district, on the night of July 21 when they were attacked by a mob of cow vigilantes on suspicion of smuggling the cattle for slaughter. Aslam Khan managed to escape but Rakbar Khan was injured. When police took him to hospital at 4 am on July 22, doctors declared him dead on arrival.

On July 24, home minister Gulab Chand Kataria visited the spot along with additional chief secretary (home) Shailendra Agarwal and DGP OP Galhota, and said Khans death was a custodial death and ordered a judicial inquiry.

According to the post-mortem report of Khan, he died due to shock as a result of injuries inflicted upon him during the July 21 attack. A medical board, comprising Dr Sanjay Gupta, Dr Amit Mittal and Dr Rajiv Gupta of the general hospital of Alwar, noted that there were multiple fractures of the ribs, fractures in left limb and left hand.

Rajasthan police arrested three people  Dharmendra Yadav and Paramjeet Singh on July 22 and Naresh Singh on July 23  on charges of unlawful assembly, wrongful restraint, voluntarily causing hurt and murder.An AIADMK delegation led by deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam on Thursday called on ailing DMK president M Karunanidhi at his residence in Chennai.

Karunanidhi, 94, is suffering from urinary tract infection and is being treated at home, said Kauvery Hospital, which is monitoring the party leaders health.

In a statement released on Thursday, Kauvery Hospitals executive director Aravindan Selvaraj said there has been a slight decline in Karunanidhis health due to age-related ailments.

He is currently being treated for fever due to urinary tract infection with intravenous antibiotics and fluids. He is being monitored and treated round the clock by a team of medical and nursing professionals, who are providing hospital-level care at his home, Selvaraj said.

After their visit, Panneerselvam and his cabinet colleague D Jayakumar said Karunanidhi was doing well.

Karunanidhi will return in good health soon, Jayakumar told reporters.

Jayakumar said it was political decency for the ruling party to visit Karunanidhis residence, adding that a DMK delegation visited the Apollo hospitals here when former chief minister J Jayalalithaa was undergoing treatment in 2016.

The AIADMK delegation, which included ministers S P Velumani and P Thangamani, held discussions with Karunanidhis son and working president MK Stalin.

Senior DMK leaders, including Duraimurugan and T R Baalu, were present during the meeting.

Recently, Karunanidhi had been admitted to Kauvery Hospital for change of the tracheostomy tube.Khasi women of Meghalaya who marry non-Khasis will lose their scheduled tribe (ST) status and the benefits that come with it if a controversial Bill passed by an autonomous council is approved by the states governor.

The Bill, passed unanimously by the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) on Wednesday, says children of Khasi women who marry outside the tribe would also be termed non-Khasi.

Any Khasi woman who marries a non-Khasi as well as her offspring born out of such marriage shall be deemed as non-Khasi who shall lose the Khasi status and all privileges and benefits as a member of the Khasi tribe who cannot claim preferential privileges under any law, the Bill read.

As per the Sixth Schedule of the constitution, autonomous regional and district councils in northeast India have the powers to make laws on a variety of subjects ranging from the use of land and management of forests and water to inheritance, marriage and social customs.

Khasis are one the three major tribes of Meghalaya, the others being Garo and Jaintia, which follow a matrilineal society. The children take their mothers surname and ancestral property is inherited by the youngest daughter.

The three tribes are listed as Scheduled Tribes (ST) and get all the benefits that come with the status such as government jobs and university seat quotas under an affirmative action programme targeted at disadvantaged communities.

The Khasi Hill Autonomous District (Khasi Social Custom of Lineage) (Second Amendment Bill) 2018 aims to protect the Khasi people from misuse of the custom of lineage.

It is a very simple Bill to put a stop to mixed marriages as they are a threat to our tribe. It will not be retrospective and wont affect mixed marriages that took place earlier, HS Shylla, chief executive member of KHADC, said.

Shylla, who assumed office earlier this month, said in future a similar Bill could be introduced for Khasi men marrying outside the tribe. But he said it was urgent to expedite the one dealing with women as Khasi men marrying non-Khasis is very negligible while it was not the case with women.

We will meet the chief minister early next month and ask him to expedite the process of giving the Bill a nod from the Governors office, he said.

Several prominent women residents of the state have termed the Bill unconstitutional and an example of how patriarchal and misogynist the Khasi society is beneath its veneer of matriliny.

I feel the Bill is highly unconstitutional, patriarchal, bigoted, partial and partisan. It shows KHADC is no different from the khap panchayats in other parts of the country. I am sure it will never get approved by the governor, said Patricia Mukhim, editor of The Shillong Times.

Womens rights activist Agnes Kharsiing of Civil Society Womens Organisation (CSWO) said the Bill violated the constitutional right to equality and questioned why KHADC had passed it in such a hurry.

Some said it was a pre-poll gimmick. Elections for representatives of KHADC are due early next year, and the Bill was a way of hiding non-performance under the garb of Khasi pride, they said.

This is an election gimmick. The real issues like protection of our tribal rights, land rights and other important topics are not discussed and the KHADC is wasting public time and money by passing such a Bill, which will not stand constitutional and legal tests, said Angela Rangad of Thma U Rangli-Juki, a peoples group.

While children of Khasi women who marry non-Khasis take the name of the mothers clan for Khasi men marrying outside the tribe a ceremony call tang jait is performed by which children from such marriages are incorporated into the matrilineal setup.

Over the past decades, demands have been raised, especially from a section of Khasi men, to do away with the matrilineal setup and transform the Khasi society into a patrilineal one.

Keith Pariat, president of Syngkhong Rympei Thymmai, a mens rights organization which advocates a patrilineal Khasi society, said the Bill must be debated and discussed thoroughly before it is enacted.

One cant deny the fact that over the years many outsiders have taken advantage of loopholes in our customary laws. But I feel it is necessary to take all views and opinions from stakeholders before rushing into enacting a law, he said.

(With inputs from David Laitphlang in Shillong)The wife of an official arrested on charges of sexually assaulting inmates of a short-stay home in Muzaffarpur has accused the husband of state social welfare department minister Kumari Manju Verma of frequently visiting the institution and spending long hours in the girls room.

My husband has been framed. It was the ministers husband who would often visit the shelter with department officials. He would make them sit on the ground floor and spend hours with the girls upstairs, Shiva Kumari Singh, wife of child protection officer (CPO) Ravi Kumar Raushan, told mediapersons on Wednesday.

The minister rejected the allegations against her husband, Chandeshwar Verma, stating that the Opposition was indulging in petty politics to tarnish her image. Those people (referring to RJD chief Lalu Prasads family) who are neck-deep in corruption and unfair practices are trying to malign others, Kumari Manju said, reiterating that it was her department that had detected the scandal and booked the culprits.

Incidentally, the girls had told judicial and police officers in a statement that a pet-wale netaji (a potbellied politician) and a mooch-wale uncle (a mustachioed man) used to drop by frequently to sexually abuse them.

Chandeshwar denied the allegation in an interview with a television channel, stating that he had visited the short stay home only once in the last two years  and that too after his wife became the minister of that department.

Shiva Kumari maintained that her husband would visit the short-stay home only for inspection purposes, and was always accompanied by colleagues. He is being falsely implicated in the case by people with vested interests, she told reporters. I have evidence to show that police are protecting the big fish.

She has requested chief minister Nitish Kumar to recommend a CBI probe into the case, so that only the guilty are punished. Tourism minister Pramod Kumar also asked the director general of police to investigate the case properly.On 21 July, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council decided to change the GST rate on sanitary napkins from 12% to zero. The decision is a complete U-turn from the earlier stance taken by the government in response to the demand for exempting sanitary napkins from GST.

Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in November 2017, Union minister Arun Jaitley had given two arguments against exempting sanitary napkins from GST. Because inputs used in manufacturing sanitary napkins were taxed at 12% or 18%, while the final product was taxed at 12%, effective taxation on the product had become lower compared to the pre-GST effective rate of 13.68%, Jaitley argued. This is because manufacturers are entitled to claiming input tax credit (ITC) under the GST regime. Jaitley also argued that the removal of GST on sanitary napkins would also entail removal of integrated GST on imports, giving an unfair advantage to imports from China, especially against small-scale domestic manufacturers of the product.

An earlier press release by the ministry of finance had also made a similar point. Reducing the GST rate on sanitary napkins to Nil, will however, result in complete denial of ITC to domestic manufacturers of sanitary napkins and zero rating imports. This will put domestically manufactured sanitary napkins at a huge disadvantage vis-a-vis imports, which will be zero rated, the release said.

How will the governments present decision to exempt sanitary napkins from GST impact prices and production?

The effect on prices is difficult to predict. Sachin Menon, national head of indirect taxes at KPMG India, said that the price effect of being exempted from GST will depend on the value addition component and tax rates on inputs used in the manufacturing of sanitary napkins.

A hypothetical example given in the table above can help understand why this will be the case.

The table shows two scenarios with different tax rates on inputs and different value addition component in manufacture of sanitary napkins, which used to have a GST rate of 12%. Exempting a product from GST will not lead to an equivalent reduction in the cost of the product because the manufacturer will not be eligible to receive ITC once the final products GST has been waived.

Row 7 in the table shows the final price of the sanitary napkin in a 12% GST regime, assuming the manufacturer deducts the entire ITC from the final price, and row 6 shows the prices in a zero GST regime where the ITC deduction is not available to the manufacturer.

As can be seen from row 8, although prices fall in both cases after GST exemption, the magnitude is significantly different. To be sure, things could be very different in the real world, where two-three large companies such as Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson control a huge share of the Indian market. If the companies decide to collude, they might be successful in withholding the benefits of exemption from GST rates. Yet another possibility could be a face-off between the government and companies due to such behaviour leading to allegations of profiteering.

While the jury on how GST exemption will affect the prices of sanitary napkins is still out, there is more clarity on other things. Unless the government decides to increase tariffs on sanitary napkins to compensate for the effect of integrated GST becoming zero, imports will gain in competitiveness by the amount of per unit ITC forgone by domestic manufacturers.

According to World Bank data, average annual sanitary napkin imports into India from China were to the tune of $ 31.6 million between 2012 and 2016. Chinas average annual sanitary napkin exports to the world during this period were valued at $1.4 billion. This suggests that China has the ability to exploit the Indian market in case the present policy change makes imports more competitive. A tariff increase at the current juncture  when there is a looming threat of a global trade war  might trigger other unforeseen actions by Indias trade partners.

Another fact worth highlighting is that the policy might end up benefitting the bigger companies more than small scale units and self-help groups making sanitary napkins. This is because units with a turnover below ?20 lakh were anyway exempted from paying GST on their products. These will now have to compete with the bigger manufacturers who will most likely see a decline in their tax liability.

The upshot is, while exempting sanitary napkins from GST might help the government in gaining some support among consumers via lower prices, these gains might come at the cost of hurting the interest of domestic manufacturers, especially small-scale producers. The fact that the government has changed its earlier position on the issue is proof that its political economy priorities are changing as the elections come closer.A week after the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) refused to vote with the Opposition camp in the no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government, the two regional powerhouses have joined forces with other opposition parties to demand major changes to the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill on the grounds that it erodes the power of the states.

With parties such as the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and AIADMK and the BJD demanding amendments, transport minister Nitin Gadkari may call a meeting next week to hammer out the differences.

The Opposition has largely alleged that the bill adversely affects the federal structure of the Constitution and could jeopardise the states transport sector. This policy will take away thousands of local jobs and ruin the states transport system, said BJD leader Pratap Keshari Deb.

The Opposition parties have zeroed in on over half a dozen amendments they would like to discuss with the government. The Trinamool Congress leader Derek OBrien said its up to the government to sort things out now. He said, The ball is on the governments court. They stopped the debate on the bill in Rajya Sabha the other day.

Several opposition leaders including Deb and the Aam Aadmi Partys Sanjay Singh have sought an amendment to clause 33 that says that the central government should be authorised to make its own law in consultation with states. Calling it an infringement of a states power, the BJD wants the in consultation to be amended to in concurrence with the states.

The Congress Chhaya Verma has sought an amendment to Clause 50 so that the accidental insurance cover remains in force as long as the registration of the motor vehicle is valid. The Congress also wants the power to register vehicles be given only to Regional Transport Offices and not dealers as envisaged by the Bill.

The opposition parties have said that this too is tantamount to encroaching on a states rights. The Congress and the CPI(M) are also opposing the amendment proposed under Section 66 of the bill that makes third party insurance mandatory for State Transport Undertaking (STU) buses.

Opposition parties are of the view that this will put a big burden on State Transport Authorities, many of which are already in perilous financial condition. Participating in the debate on July 23, CPI(M)s Elamaram Kareem had said the proposed amendments will result in all the STUs in each state coming under severe financial crisis and lead to the closure of STUs and result in huge retrenchments.

The government is for generating new employment opportunities, offered during election time. It was said that about two crore new jobs will be created. That Government is going to retrench thousands of employees from public sector undertakings, if this Bill is passed, said Elamaram Kareem.Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reaffirmed Indias commitment to multilateralism, international trade and a rules-based world order as he participated in the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit in South Africa.

Modi, who arrived in Johannesburg on the last leg of his Africa tour, presented the country statement of India at the BRICS leaders closed session.

At the session with fellow BRICS leaders, I shared my thoughts on various global issues, the importance of technology, skill development and how effective multilateral cooperation creates a better world, Modi tweeted.

He also met Chinese President Xi Jinping, who earlier urged fellow leaders of the BRICS emerging economies to reject protectionism outright.

Modi along Xi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brazilian President Michel Temer and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa posed for a group photograph on the second day of their meeting. The leaders reiterated their resolve to fight terrorism, but the names of terrorist organisations including the Pakistan-based ones were missing from the joint declaration.

The Xiamen Declaration of the last BRICS summit, which was celebrated last year as a victory for Indian diplomacy, had named Pakistan-based terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.

We condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations wherever committed and by whomsoever. We urge concerted efforts to counter terrorism under the UN auspices on a firm international legal basis and express our conviction that a comprehensive approach is necessary to ensure an effective fight against terrorism, the joint statement said. We recall the responsibility of all States to prevent financing of terrorist networks and terrorist actions from their territories.

In his address, PM Modi said India wants to work with the nations on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and called for sharing among them the best practices and policies in the area. The 4IR is the fourth major industrial era since the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century. Modi said technological innovations can help enhance service delivery and productivity levels. High-skilled but temporary work will be the new face of employment. There will be radical changes in industrial production, design, and manufacturing, he said.

In his address, Xi called for a concerted effort by global institutions such as the United Nations, the G7 and the World Trade Organisation to fight unilateralism and protectionism.

Xi also called for dialogue to settle disputes on global trade, underlining remarks he made at the opening day, urging a rejection of unilateralism in the wake of tariff threats by US President Donald Trump. Trumps warnings have given the BRICS nations fresh impetus to enhance trade cooperation, and their leaders found a collective voice championing global trade at the summit.

(With inputs from agencies)Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday met party spokespersons who contribute articles to newspapers and online publications and sought their views on constructing a social and economic narrative to counter the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, said three participants.

Apart from discussing the challenges before the Congress in the run-up to 2019 elections, the meeting also discussed the strategy of enhancing the partys presence on social media and other platforms, the three participants said on condition of anonymity.

Senior leaders P Chidambaram, S Jaipal Reddy, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Anand Sharma, Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari and Jairam Ramesh were among the spokespersons-cum-columnists who attended the meeting at the Congress partys war room in the national capital.

Pawan Khera, Priyanka Chaturvedi and Jaiveer Shergill were among the media panellists who took part.

While concerns were raised on how to counter the BJP attempts at perceived polarisation, Gandhi, on his part, reiterated that Congress leaders were free to express their views, but should desist from making any provocative statements, said the first participant.

Tharoor explained theHindu Pakistan remarks he made when Rajeev Shukla mentioned that some Congress leaders make inflammatory comments and hurt the partys image. Tharoor had said that India would turn into a HIndu Pakistan if the BJP is re-elected to national power next year.

At this point, the second participant cited above said, Gandhi intervened and insisted that those who cross the Congress line will not be defended by the party.

Some participants stressed the need to counter the kind of negative campaign on which the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi won the 2014 Lok Sabha elections with a similar narrative, but others said the Congress should continue to focus on positive canvassing.

A leader said the BJP continues to raise the Bofors issue to dent the Congress partys image.

According to the third participant, the spokespersons also were asked to not only write on issues such as the agrarian crisis, unemployment and corruption but also provide solutions and making these key talking points in the run-up to the 2019 polls.

The Rafale aircraft deal, in which Gandhi has alleged wrongdoing, also came up for discussion.

The purpose of the interaction is to discuss challenges before the Congress party in the run-up to 2019 elections as to understand and construct a common narrative, read the invite to the Congress spokespersons-cum-writers .

The meeting is intended to also pool our resources for dissemination of the views through the limited space that we get in print and online publications, it said.

For the past few weeks, Gandhi has been interacting with different sections of society. He met Muslim intellectuals on July 11 and also women journalists on July 24.Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Thursday said he was open for a discussion on the development of North Karnataka, a day after some outfits called for a bandh on August 2 to press their demand for statehood for the region.

The chief minister also invited those demanding a separate state for a meeting to discuss the issues concerning the region.

Do they have any information about the developments in the last 60 to 70 years? Without getting any information with some personal interests they are doing all these things, Kumaraswamy told reporters here.

He asked whether the discrimination has happened inthe last two months.

Do the people of north Karnataka feel let down after I assumed charge as chief minister and my government came to power? Im ready to discuss it anywhere, Kumaraswamy said.

Those wanting to divide the state, why they are asking for this?...Im ready to call for a public hearing or invite the organisations to Suvarna Vidhana Soudha (in Belagavi) for a meeting.

I openly request them to bring their problems to my notice, he said.

A day-long bandh has been called by some outfits in 13 districts of north Karnataka on August 2 demanding statehood for the region, alleging discrimination by successive governments towards it.

Calling for the bandh, Uttara Karnataka Pratyeka Rajya Horata Samiti(North Karnataka Separate Statehood Protest Committee) has alleged discrimination in allocation towards the region in the budget presented by Kumaraswamy on July 5 and also lesser representation in the cabinet.

Commenting on the demand for a separate north Karnataka state, deputy chief minister G Parameshwara said development of Akhanda Karnataka (united Karnataka) was the governments agenda.

Whole of Karnataka is one, there is no second or third Karnataka. It is akhanda Karnataka....we dont have anything like- one part should develop and other part should not, he said.

Parameshwara also recalled efforts by successive Congress governments for the development of northern parts of the state, including getting special category status for the Hydrabad-Karnataka region.Petitioners seeking a continuation of the ban on entry of women into the Sabarimala temple on Thursday warned the Supreme Court of another Ayodhya if the shrines customs were tinkered with.

I do not want another Ayodhya in Kerala. Your Lordships will have to be very circumspect when exercising judicial review in matters of faith, senior advocate Kailasanatha Pillai, appearing for outfit Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sangham, said and added that religious customs cannot be viewed in isolation.

The top courts Constitution Bench is hearing petitions seeking revocation of the ban on entry of women of menstruating age into the Sabarimala temple. Those defending the prohibition argued that the womens entry was restricted because of the celibate nature of the temple deity, Lord Ayappa. Arguing that the deitys celibate character cannot be altered, the petitioners stated that the deity, being a living entity under the Constitution for the purpose of taxation, also had the fundamental right to preserve his dharma.

The deity too has fundamental rights under the Constitution. The deity has the right to preserve his dharma and its the will of the deity that is expressed in the form of temple customs, advocate Sai Deepak who appeared on behalf of People4Dharma, a trust floated by women devotees, said.

Justice DY Chandrachud, a judge on the bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, remarked that due to essentiality doctrine under the Constitution the judges of the Supreme Court are now assuming a theological mantle. We are not expected to do this, he said.

There is a problem with our jurisprudence. The essentiality aspect has taken charge of Article 25 (of Constitution that gives the right to practise ones religious faith if its essential to the belief) but it should not be so, the judge went on to say. The test should be whether a practise subscribes to the constitution irrespective of whether it is essential or not, the judge said in his oral observations.

Responding to Justice Chandrachuds comments, advocate Sai Deepak said: Sometimes judges will have to play the role of theologians while deciding matters of religion.

Do we ascribe any role to the Constitution which overpowers all practises, Justice Chandrachud asked, saying a class cannot be excluded on grounds of physiology. Every exclusion is not discrimination. Petitioners are confusing diversity of Hinduism with discrimination, Sai Deepak responded.

Senior lawyer VV Giri, appearing for the temple priest, said the constitution gave right to citizens to profess, practise and propagate religion. To say I believe in the deity is their belief and must in sync with what is the character of the deity, which is the core characteristic of the deity, he said.Germany-based IBC Solar, a global leader in photovoltaic (PV) systems and energy storage, has equipped two industrial companies in Lebanon with solar power solutions.



The plants for the Al-Kazzi factory and the Woody factory were realised by IBC Solars premium partner Smart Age and show how to gain economic advantage from solar power, said a statement from the company.



Al-Kazzi, a Lebanese market leader for baked nuts, has opened a new factory in Hsoun and opted for a PV solution to save the environment and reduce energy costs. Smart Age conducted the site evaluation, determining customer requirements and associated load curves, it said.



IBC Solar provided all necessary components such as 615 IBC PolySol 265 CS modules and the IBC TopFix 200 mounting system, it added.



Al-Kazzi is one of the first adopters of the diesel-hybrid technology, which synchronises the energy production of the PV system with diesel gensets during day time. The system with a capacity of 163 kWp is supposed to generate 263,000 kWh/year.



Woody Factory is a carpentry located near the Mediterranean Sea. The high electricity costs pushed the owner to invest in an on-grid PV system.



Smart Age decided to use the IBC TopFix 200 Delta Support mounting structure for this project, as the non-penetrative assembly reduces the risk of roof leakage. The 285 IBC PolySol 265CS modules with a total capacity of 75 kWp will produce 121,000 kWh/year.



Lebanon has been an important market for IBC Solar in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) since 2015.



Albert Engelbrecht, senior vice president Solutions International: The combination of high solar radiation and attractive state funding programs will make the countries in the Mena region key solar markets in the future.  TradeArabia News ServiceBengaluru Police has made the eleventh arrest in the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh last September, when it picked up Suresh HL, a resident of Tumakuru, on Wednesday.

Suresh (36) was arrested by the special investigation team (SIT) and produced before the 3rd additional chief metropolitan magistrate on Thursday and remanded to judicial custody.

Sureshs arrest comes on the back of a flurry of arrests made by the SIT in the case  his is the fifth arrest in less than two weeks.

A senior official of the SIT, however, refused to elaborate on Sureshs role in the September 5 murder of the journalist.

On Monday, police had arrested 50-year-old Rajesh Bangera from Kodagu, which was preceded by the arrests of Amit Baddi and Ganesh Miskin, who are believed to have driven Parashuram Waghmare, the suspected shooter, to Lankeshs house on the night the crime was committed on a two-wheeler.

The first breakthrough in the case came with the arrest of KT Naveen Kumar, a resident of Maddur, in February.

Naveen allegedly confirmed a well-planned conspiracy involving Sujith Kumar alias Praveen, Amol Kale, Amit Degwekar and Manohar Yedave. Another person, Mohan Nayak, an Ayurveda practitioner, was arrested earlier this month.

Kale and Degwekar are believed to be the masterminds of the murder conspiracy. Bangera, reported to have links with right-wing organisations, is suspected to have recruited those two and one Dada alias Nihal, who the SIT is yet to track down.

While forensic analysis of the bullets found from the murder scene of Lankesh were found to be a match with those recovered from the house of Kannada scholar M M Kalburgi, who was shot dead at his house by two unidentified men, the weapon has not been recovered yet. The SIT is also trying to locate the two-wheeler used in the crime, a senior official said.Harpal Singh is a lucky man.

Last month, the Haryana government acquired the 48-year old Manesar tea sellers land for Rs 3 crore.

He was on Monday night kidnapped by two men who knew of the land deal, but was rescued barely hours later at the Delhi-Gurgaon border after the sunglasses he was made to wear by his kidnappers aroused a policemans suspicion. It was, after all, the middle of the night.

The abductors forced Singh to wear sunglasses to conceal the tape they had used to blindfold him. The kidnappers had also tied his limbs and were holding him at gunpoint while driving him to their hideout in Delhi, said Anto Alphonse, deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka).

Singh escaped with swollen eyes and injuries to his head from a pistol-whipping at the time of his kidnapping. The two kidnappers, who have been arrested, have told the police they were aware that Singh had recently come into some money.

Their immediate plan was to extract Rs 3 lakh from him. They planned to demand much more ransom in the subsequent days, said an investigator not authorised to speak to the media.

The kidnappers ran into their first problem when they realised that Singh wasnt carrying his phone. That meant he couldnt immediately arrange the money.

Singh runs a tea stall outside a Maruti Suzuki factory and also helped casual labourers find work. According to him, the fact that the government had bought his land was known to Janmahan Singh, a labourer.

Janmahan Singh, a migrant from Uttar Pradesh, shared the information with a local resident, Vatan Ram, who owns two taxis. Until a month ago, Vatans taxis were plying for app-based cab platforms.On August 27, a special court in Mumbai hearing a case against Vijay Mallya will decide whether the former liquor baron can be tagged a fugitive economic offender under the new law passed by Parliament on Thursday.

Mallyas case will be followed by similar applications by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi. The duo have been summoned by a special court hearing matters pertaining to violations of the money laundering act, on September 25 and 26, respectively. These applications were filed by ED when the new Fugitive Economic Offenders Act was still an ordinance.

EDs application against Mallya was filed in June, soon after the agency filed its second charge sheet in the case against him. The court has summoned him on August 27. If the promoter of the defunct Kingfisher Airlines does not appear before the court, he risks being declared a fugitive economic offender, besides properties linked to him being confiscated.

The fugitive status to the beleaguered liquor baron will help ED attach assets worth over Rs 12,500 crore. The agency has already confiscated Mallyas assets worth Rs 9,700 crore. The flamboyant businessman, now in the UK, defaulted on loans and fled India days before a debt recovery tribunals order. There have been reports that with the new law coming into force, Mallya could be open to returning to India rather than risk having his properties seized.

The ED has sought to attach Rs 3,500 crore of assets belonging to the diamond traders located in the UK, United Arab Emirates and India. Under the new law most of our attachments will be of overseas properties of economic offenders, said a senior ED official who did not wish to be named.

Meanwhile, the Antigua government has indicated that it may consider a legitimate request from India to send back the uncle of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, who has taken citizenship there, said a newspaper report in that country.

(With PTI inputs)The West Bengal assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution, recommending that the state be renamed Bangla, following up on a two-year-old effort to move the state up the alphabetical order of Indias states. The state government will now forward the proposal to the Centre, which notifies new names of places including states.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee told the assembly that the Centre had recently informed the state that it can accept only one name. The Centres response came after the state government wrote to it in August 2016 suggesting three names: Bangla (in Bengali), Bengal (English) and Bangal (Hindi). The assembly chose Bangla.

Although we sent the proposal a long ago, the Union government decided to sit on it. They recently sent a communication, advising us to choose one name instead of three. We do not want any controversy on this issue. We have decided to choose Bangla. Let the resolution be passed unanimously, Banerjee told the assembly.

The state government first proposed the renaming in 2016. West Bengal parliamentary affairs minister Partha Chatterjee had then argued for the change saying bureaucrats and politicians from the state often complain that they are asked to speak at the end of every national-level meeting in Delhi. This was because the speakers lists at such meeting are prepared according to alphabetical order of the states they represent.

If West Bengal gets the new name, it will leapfrog from bottom of the list to the top of the pecking order, he had said in August 2016 when the Assembly cleared the three names.

The renaming will help the state appear at the fourth spot after Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Assam in the alphabetic order of the states.

Orissa became Odisha in 2011, but that was just a de-anglicisation of the states name. Madras was renamed Tamil Nadu in 1969 and Mysore, Karnataka in 1973, but those also involved re-organisation of territories. This is perhaps the first time a state is changing its name to get ahead in the pecking order.

Historian Rajat Kanta Ray cautioned against the problems that the renaming was likely to cause. The change will also create problems in all spheres of academics and literature including poetry, prose, sociology philosophy, political science and history. It would have been better if the proposal had not been passed, said Ray, a former Visva-Bharati University vice-chancellor.

Pabitra Sarkar, a former Bengali professor at the Chicago University, said the name Bangla will create avoidable confusion with Bangladesh. Abroad, many refer to Bangladesh simply as Bangla, said Sarkar.

Ray and Sarkar said Paschimbanga, the states present name in Bengali, was a better choice.

Theatre director Debesh Chatterjee said he likes the new name. It takes us closer to Bangladesh.

West Bengals most popular writer Mani Shankar Mukherjee welcomed the new name. The other side of the border is now Bangladesh. Where is the problem if this side is simply called Bangla? I have no problem since it was a unanimous decision, said Mukherjee.

The name of the states capital, which served as British Indias seat of power until 1911, was changed from Calcutta to Kolkata in January 2001.A day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Lucknow to see industry captains formalise investments in Uttar Pradesh, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah will reach Allahabad to connect with seers on Friday.

Shahs daylong itinerary will be packed with temple visits, religious functions, meetings with seers and collecting feedback from the saints on hosting a grand Kumbh in Allahabad.

The Kumbh is scheduled for January 2019. Preparing for the 50-day mega event, considered the biggest religious gathering, will be at the core of Shahs visit, party leaders say.

Shah is also scheduled to meet the saints of the Akhara Parishad, including its chief Narendra Giri. The Akhara Parishad is the apex body of saints from all the 14 Akharas that participate in the Kumbh and whose feedback he plans to collect, BJP leaders say.

The BJP chiefs Allahabad visit will be his first after completing the first round of Lok Sabha poll preparations.

Of course, every Hindu has a deep connect with Kumbh. Its what we call as the asthaa ka sangam, the confluence of faith. Though we work for each community, we have never engaged in appeasement. Kumbh is a celebration of our eternal religion and culture. We see it as that but yes, if it helps us connect electorally too, its even better, Pavan Srivastava, a BJP leader from Allahabad, said on phone.

Political experts agree that the timing of the Kumbh close to general elections offers BJP an opportunity to connect with a diverse set of audience.

Kumbh will offer a stage, like no other, to the BJP to connect with the masses. Being the ruling party at the centre and the state, it naturally will use the opportunity to connect with such a vast, diverse audience. It also fits in well with the larger line of Modi talking development and the party chief connecting with BJPs core voters, says Athar Siddiqui of the Centre for Objective Research and Development.

The RSS has already communicated to the Yogi Adityanath government to host the Kumbh on a scale like never before. Thats why the BJP government in UP has already decided to send out Kumbh invites to all the 70 lakh odd villages of the country, government officials confirmed.

Soon after landing at the Allahabads Bamrauli airport, Shah will head straight to Baba Maujgiri Math which has its headquarters in Gujarat, the BJP chiefs home state. Friday is also the Guru Purnima day when people pay obeisance to their gurus or mentors. Its not known yet but maybe the BJP chief will like to pay obeisance to his guru here, a local BJP leader said.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who is also the head priest of the Gorakhnath temple, will reach Allahabad from Gorakhpur after participating in the Guru Purnima day rituals in his Mutt.

Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, who hails from the region, has already arrived in Allahabad and will camp there till Shahs visit.

A Ganga aarti at the Maujgiri ghat, participation in a Bhasma aarti later in the evening, a visit to Bade Hanuman temple on the banks of the holy river are on Shahs agenda. A visit to the Juna Akhara is also likely. It is considered the oldest order of Naga sadhus, the seers who often move with nothing else but ash smeared on their body to indicate renunciation of worldly pleasures.A week after Air India passengers complained of bed bugs in their business class seats, the national carrier has stated that the infestation was due to the current weather conditions.

Saumya Shetty, who was travelling to Mumbai from Newark on July 18 was attacked by the bugs and suffered bites all over her body. She tweeted about her experience and wrote to the airline as well.

Speaking to HT, Shetty said, It has taken a lot of effort to get the airline to pay attention to my grievance. I visited their Nariman Point office on Tuesday, only to learn that my complaints were not being paid attention to. It is only after my visit that I received an apology mail.

In a compensation email sent to Shetty by the airline, Air India stated: Our engineering department has assured that the rigorous fumigation of all the aircraft are done at frequent and regular intervals. Infestation may have happened due to the current weather conditions.

Shetty said that blaming the weather for the bugs made no sense. Air India has offered to refund 75% of her fare and apologised for the inconvenience.The Bombay high court on Wednesday temporarily stopped the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) from tunneling or excavating areas beneath two Atash Behrams  the holiest Parsi fire temples  in South Mumbai, saying any damage caused to the structures could create an irreversible situation. The court has now appointed an expert panel to study if the construction work will affect the temples, and has scheduled the next hearing on August 6.

The MMRCL is building the Mumbai Metro-3 line in the area.

A division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Riyaz Chagla issued the restraint, and also took into consideration the fact that neither the state government nor the MMRCL had consulted an independent expert to assess if the construction work could cause damage to the two religious places.

Acting on a petition filed by one Jamshed Sukhdawala, who has been a key petitioner, the court also appointed the Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) as an expert agency to study the possible effect of the construction of both the metro line and the proposed Kalbadevi station, on the Zoroastrian temples.

The VJTI team will submit its report in court in 10 days.

Sukhdawala has sought a realignment of the line, pointing to dangers to the structural stability of the Zarthosti Anjuman and the HB Wadiaji Atash Behrams.

He also said the underground tunnelling work was also likely to cause the wells at these holy shrines to run dry.

According to the petitioner, the Atash Behrams were regarded as the holiest shrines by the community, and only six other such shrines exist across the globe. He told the court that any damage to these would cause irreparable harm to the community. He also claimed that a ceiling of the Jer Mahal Annexe, a building in the Kalbadevi area, had collapsed because of the tunnelling and construction work.

MMRCL has, however, denied the charge saying when the incident took place at the Jer Mahal Annexe on April 2, the tunnelling work was taking place 116 metres away, and hence could not be attributed as a reason for the damage. The body also said, in an affidavit to the court in response to the petition, that it has undertaken construction after exercising extreme due diligence, and after a detailed protocol was laid down to protect the heritage structures from the impact of tunnelling and excavation. It added that the petitioners apprehensions were mere speculations, not based on facts.

On the wells of the Atash Behrams drying up, MMRCL said there was sufficient vertical and horizontal gap between the metro tunnel and the wells. It said the metro tunnel was 15 feet away from the Zartoshi Anjuman Atash Behram and 42 feet away from HB Wadiaji Atash Behram. Besides, the wells were placed in the upper soft crust at, a depth of about 20 feet, while the tunnelling work was taking place at a depth of 60-65 feet.After the organisers called off the Maratha agitation on Wednesday afternoon, CM Devendra Fadnavis issued a statement saying his government was willing to hold talks with the Sakal Maratha Samaj, the umbrella organisation leading the protests. Fadnavis statement came two days after the agitators intensified their protest by calling a bandh, first across the state and then in Mumbai and its metropolitan areas, triggered by the suicide of a young protester in Aurangabad.

After the Sakal Maratha Samaj held silent morchas in the state, the government took note of it and made several decisions for the community. Even today, the state is ready to hold talks with the community. The protests in the last few days, the suicide and attempts to suicide are extremely unfortunate, said Fadnavis, in his statement.

The recruitment for 72,000 government posts is seen as the latest trigger for the new wave of Maratha protests. The community wants it to be stayed until a decision on Maratha reservation. The state is willing to redress any concerns or shortcomings in the schemes announced. Even on the issue of mega recruitment, it is possible to address the concern raised by the community through a consensus, the CM said.

Without naming his political opponents, the CM said certain leaders were trying to gain political dividends. They should instead work for the welfare of the state, said the CM.

The Congress, however, slammed the BJP-led government for dilly-dallying on the issue for too long and demanded a one-day special session of the state legislature on the issue of Maratha reservation. The state party president, Ashok Chavan, alleged the state was conspiring to polarise the Maratha community by instigating the agitation.

There has been too much of talk on reservation by the government, it is now time for action. We demand a one-day special session of the state legislature in Mumbai to resolve the issue, said Chavan, at a press conference held in the city after the protests were called off.

The BJP government tried this earlier with Bhima Koregaon and again an attempt is being made to isolate the Maratha community and to pit it against others for political benefits. The government has resorted to cheap politics for electoral gains, he said.

He also demanded public apology from the CM for trying to defame the community. Both the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) targeted Fadnavis for making irresponsible statements about Maratha protesters trying to create a stampede-like situation in Pandharpur by releasing snakes among the warkari sect gathered for Ashadi Ekadashi.

Another Congress leader, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil alleged the state had sought caste details of police officers before putting them on patrolling duty and Marathas were kept away.

For the first time in 60 years, a government judged the integrity of an officer on the basis of his caste, he alleged.While the issue of 16% reservation for Marathas rests with Bombay High Court, the pressure is building on chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to ease the tension brewing within the community.

On Thursday, a late-night meeting was held at the residence of education minister Vinod Tawde. Besides Fadnavis and Tawde, the meeting was attended by ministers Chandrakant Patil, Subhash Deshmukh, Ranjit Patil, Ravindra Chavan, Babanrao Lonikar and Girish Mahajan. Barring Fadnavis and Mahajan, all the ministers are from the Maratha community and members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). State BJP chief Raosaheb Danve and city BJP chief Ashish Shelar too attended the meeting. However, Shiv Sena ministers were not invited. We have not been called for the meeting. It is an important issue and it should be discussed with everybody, said a Sena minister, requesting anonymity.

The Maratha agitation took sharp turn towards violence on July 23, when 28-year-old Kakasaheb Shinde performed jal samadhi by jumping into the Godavari and committing suicide.

Nanasaheb Kute Patil of Maratha Kranti Morcha (MKM) told HT, We will not rest till our demands are met and the agitation will continue with more force. MKM has organised 58 silent marches for Maratha reservation over the past two years and had called for yesterdays Mumbai bandh, which turned violent after splinter groups took over the protests in Navi Mumbai. One bystander died of injuries sustained during the agitation and a 48-hour internet shutdown has been enforced in the area.

Patil regrets the mayhem that was caused in suburban Mumbai, but remains committed to the protest. We will ensure such violent incidents do not occur in our next phase, said Patil.

Meanwhile, two more legislators announced they would resign to show their support for Maratha reservation: Bharat Bhalke a Congress legislator from Pandharpur in Solapur district and Rahul Aher a Bharatiya Janata Party legislator from Chandwad in Nashik district. Yesterday Harshvardhan Jadhav (Shiv Sena) and Bhausaheb Patil Chikatgaonkar (Nationalist Congress Party) had offered their resignations for the same reason.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray said chief minister Devendra Fadnavis should step down if his government is unable to fulfill the aspirations of the people. It is clear that the state government has failed in maintaining law and order. The irresponsible statements are testimony to this fact. Now again they will give false assurances and prolong the issue. If the State is unable to heed to the aspirations of the people they should step down instead of playing with the emotions of the people, said Thackeray.

NCPs Sharad Pawar has also criticised Fadnaviss handling of the Maratha protests.

Speaking at a function in Uttan, Fadnavis said, The BJP government has made a very sincere and serious effort to ensure reservation to the Maratha community. We remain committed to the issue. Some political leaders are trying to use the Maratha reservation issue for political gains. But, party workers should reach out and convey the governments efforts to the people.

Political analyst Surendra Jondhale said the agitation is bound to intensify. It is almost election year and we will now see more social and political pressure on the politicians, especially from those hailing from the Maratha community. No political party can afford to antagonise the politically-influential Maratha community, said Jondhale.A bandh called by the Maratha community on Wednesday did not throw Mumbai off gear, but suburbs such as Thane and Navi Mumbai witnessed incidents of violence even after the organisers withdrew the agitation in the afternoon.

In Thane and Navi Mumbai, at least four people were injured in incidents of arson, stone-pelting and police action. Late-evening violence in Navi Mumbai resulted in a lathicharge, and the police firing teargas shells, after protesters set fire to a police outpost in Kopar Khairane.

The protestors even attacked local residents and the police. Earlier, the Mumbai-Pune expressway near Kalamboli was blocked for hours, and protestors pelted stones at police personnel. By evening, the agitation in these areas reportedly died down.

On Wednesday, the most affected areas in the state were Navi Mumbai, Solapur, Thane, Pune rural, Palghar, Raigad, Thane rural and Satara. Approximately 500 protesters were detained on Wednesday across the state until the evening.

The police controlled and contained the situation effectively, or else anything could have happened, said additional director general of police (law and order) Bipin Bihari.

After the protests were withdrawn in Mumbai, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis  who has been the target of the protesters issued a statement saying the government was ready to hold talks with Maratha outfits.

The protests in the past few days, the suicide and attempts to suicide, are extremely unfortunate, he said.

The state government is willing to redress any concerns or shortcomings in the schemes announced by the government for the community, the CM said.

Even on the issue of the mega recruitment, it is possible to address their concern through consensus. Earlier in the day in Mumbai, the protesters tried to block arterial roads and suburban trains at different places, but their attempts were thwarted by the police. The suburban train service was disrupted on the Thane-Vashi route for hours, 25 buses damaged and scores of autos and taxis stayed off roads.

The worst hit was the Thane-Vashi Trans-harbour line of Central Railway that was suspended twice for about four and half hours, as protesters blocked the tracks at Ghansoli station in Navi Mumbai. The protesters even attempted to stop trains at Thane station and Jogeshwari station on Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) respectively during morning peak hours, but the security personnel removed them.

Barring these major incidents, the suburban services on both CR and WR were normally. Commuters said that the trains were not crowded as usual since several passengers preferred to stay indoors fearing violence. The protesters also targeted about 25 buses of Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai. In most places, the protesters deflated the tyres of buses. At a few locations, buses were damaged and one bus on the Santacruz-Nerul route was burnt on Mankhurd-Ghatkopar link road at around 1.30pm. The attendance in government as well as private offices in Mumbais business district was less than normal. Schools and colleges remained open though attendance was low.

The Maratha outfits have been demanding reservations in government jobs and educational institutions for about a decade. Though the Congress-NCP government took a decision in 2014 to provide a 16% quota to Marathas, it had been struck down by the Bombay high court. Following a petition in Supreme Court, the issue of reservation has returned to HC.

The demand was revived in August 2016, in addition to implementation of the recommendations of the National Commission of Farmers and punishment to those involved in the rape and murder case of a minor girl in Kopardi village in July 2016.

However, this is the first time that the protests are becoming violent, following the suicides of two protestors.

We suspect the violent activity is a political conspiracy against us to derail the issue. In the last two years, we have held 58 silent marches and now we notice the violence, said Virendra Pawar, member, coordination committee, Maratha Kranti Morcha, the umbrella body of the protesters. For years, only political bandhs have achieved success but this has proved that caste-based outfits can also come on streets for their genuine demands. Until Wednesday, the state police registered 129 cases pertaining to violence, arson, stone-pelting, causing hurt to policemen, rioting and damaging public property.Aramex, a leading global provider of comprehensive logistics and transportation solutions, has partnered with IMG Solar, a subsidiary of Jordan-based Izzat Marji Group, and successfully inaugurated a 3.2 megawatt solar photovoltaic plant for its new logistics facility in Dubai, UAE.



This is the largest single-rooftop solar photovoltaic plant project in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region and one of the largest solar photovoltaic plants connected to Dubai Electricity and Water Authoritys (Dewa) grid under its Shams Dubai initiative, said a statement from the company.



Located at Aramexs Logistics Facility in Dubai Logistics City, the 3.2 megawatt solar photovoltaic plant uses state-of-the-art components from the most reputable manufacturers, such as JA Solar, SMA Solar Technology AG, S:Flex GmbH and Meteo Control, it said.



The plant contains 9,000 solar panels, covered over a total roof area of 38,000 sq m. The energy yield for the system is around 5 GWh per year, contributing to over 3,000 tonnes of avoided CO2 emissions per year. Additionally, the design was based on optimising the available area while still implementing a modular design, to ease the installation and maintenance of the solar plant, it added.



Raji Hattar, chief sustainability officer at Aramex, said: We pride ourselves on being a leader in sustainability across the region, and are pleased with our partnership with IMG Solar FZE for the second time.



This solar photovoltaic plant will provide 60% of the power needed to run our logistics facility in Dubai Logistics City for a year. We continuously look for new ways to ensure that we operate as efficiently and cleanly as possible to safeguard our environment for future generations, Hattar said.



We have a commitment to reducing our expenditure on power, and increasing electricity consumption from renewable sources for our operations. We are currently planning a phase 2 of this project, aimed at increasing the capacity to 7 megawatt upon completion, Hattar added.



Fadi Marji, general manager of IMG Solar, said: Our company has executed more than 250 Solar Photovoltaic Plant projects in UAE, Jordan and Kuwait totalling at more than 30 megawatt, including the offering of high quality systems for Aramex, which was lined up to with its renowned high standards.



IMG Solar was the lead contractor for this project, where it was fully responsible for the design, supply of material, construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance of the 3.2 megawatt solar photovoltaic plant, said a statement.



The installation of the plant was carried out by Scan Electromechanical Cont. Co. according to Aramexs stringent HSE regulations and policies and under the supervision and management of IMG Solar.



The supervision of the entire progress of all project stages was diligently performed by Clenergize DWC, the consulting company who is specialised in solar photovoltaic plants.



The commissioning of the solar photovoltaic plant took place seamlessly and successfully through the distinguished support of Dewa.



In 2017, Aramex partnered with Izzat Marji Group and successfully inaugurated its single-rooftop solar photovoltaic plant in Amman, Jordan. The plant generates 1.2 megawatt of power, providing sufficient renewable electricity to power the Companys operations in Amman. Aramex also announced the addition of electric vehicles to its fleet in Jordan, it stated.



We remain committed to reducing CO2 emissions from our operations by an additional 20 per cent by 2020, over the initial target of 20 per cent of CO2 reduction we achieved in 2016. Therefore, where regulations and infrastructure allow, we will be looking to introduce similar projects to all of the 73 markets in which we operate, concluded Hattar.  TradeArabia News ServiceKopar Khairane resident Rohan Todkar,25, became the first victim of the riots that took place in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday. A total of 108 others were injured and one protestor is critical.

Todkar, a resident of Kopar Khairane, wasnt a part of the riots but was accidentally hit by stones and rushed to NMMC hospital, Vashi.

As his condition became critical, he was shifted to JJ Hospital at 2.15am Thursday.

He had sustained multiple injuries on his head, hands and legs. He was kept in the intensive care unit but succumbed to injuries during around 10.30am, said Dr Sanjay Surase, medical superitendent of JJ Hospital.

Todkar underwent an autopsy and the cause of injuries was revealed to be poly-trauma (multiple traumatic injuries). His body was handed over to the family on Thursday night.

Elsewhere, a 32-year-old container driver from Pune, Dattatraya Aangad Waghmare, is in critical condition after the police fired rubber bullets on the protestors. A total of 108 others were injured in Wednesdays protests in Kalamboli, a statement issued by Navi Mumbai commissioner of police, Hemant Nagrale, on Thursday read.

While Waghmare and another protestor, Narayan Baban Gayake, 25, were injured in police firing, the other protestors suffered injuries during lathi charge.

Waghmare has undergone an operation at MGM hospital in Kamothe but is critical. His family has demanded compensation.

Waghmares uncle, Bhumiputra, said, Like every other day, my nephew was transporting four-wheelers in his container trailer from Pune to Mumbai. His trailer was stopped by the protestors and was used to block the expressway. He stayed put in the vehicle to prevent it being taken away by the protestors.

As the mob violence erupted, the police began to fire. My nephew tried to escape but was hit by a bullet in his back. We dont know if he will survive, Bhumiputra said.

Meanwhile, Nagrale in his statement said that the police was compelled to use force because the mob resorted to violence.

At Kalamboli junction and Kopar Khairane, the agitators turned violent and started pelting stones on vehicles and on policemen and also set police vehicles on fire. As a result, the police used force and fired tear gas shells and shot gun bullets and also resorted to lathi charge to disperse the violent agitators to make the Expressway (E-way) and other roads free for commuters which were blocked for more than six hours, Nagrales statement read.

Around 40 rounds of shotgun, 22 rubber bullets, tear gas shells were used to disperse the violent mob at various locations, read the statement.

The situation in Navi Mumbai is peaceful and I appeal to all citizens not to believe or spread any rumour on social media, Nagrale said.

Meanwhile, the Panvel court has remanded 32 protestors in police custody till July 30 for allegedly indulging in violence at the Mumbai-Pune E-way entry point in Kalamboli. Police have booked the accused for rioting and attempted murder.

RK Patil, one of the advocates for the accused, said, These boys (the arrested men) are not criminals. Some are students, while some of them were returning from work. The police seem to have picked up people randomly. Do they have CCTV footages of the accused being involved in violence?

He added, A case should be filed against the chief minister for not keeping the promise made during the election campaign.A day after Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said that he would soon visit Ayodhya and Varanasi, the Sena put up posters in Mumbai, calling people to visit the two holy cities.

The move is seen as an attempt to mobilise Hindu votes and take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha and Maharashtra elections.

Posters put up by Thackerays aide and party secretary Milind Narvekar bear slogans of Chalo Ayodhya... Chalo Varanasi, and have been put up in Bandra and Dadar.

One of the posters put up by the Shiv Sena.

In his interview in the party mouthpiece Saamana, Thackeray said he would visit Prime Minister Narendra Modis constituency Varanasi, where he will perform the Ganga Aarti on the banks of the river. Uddhavji has already announced that he will visit these two places. Even Balasaheb [Bal Thackeray] wanted to visit Ayodhya. Uddhavji will go to Ayodhya and Varanasi after Diwali, said a senior Sena leader, on condition of anonymity.

The Sena chief, in the interview, had also said that he does not know when work on building the Ram Mandir would begin. The party has been critical of it ally BJP for not fulfilling its poll promise of building the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya despite having a majority government at the Centre. Though it has always taken a hardline Hindutva stand, the move is seen as an attempt to corner the BJP over its poll promise.

The Sena, which has so far relied largely on the Marathi votebank, is also seen as trying to widen its reach and tap into Hindu votes.For most part, the Maratha agitation has been a disciplined and largely peaceful movement, but on Wednesday, splinter groups in Navi Mumbai showed that the community leaders may not have their followers under their control.

While Mumbai remained largely unaffected by the bandh called by Maratha Kranti Morcha, protestors blocked the Mumbai-Pune expressway in Navi Mumbai and there was violence when the police tried to remove them.

This was not the face of protest we expected, said Virendra Pawar, one of the coordinators of Maratha Kranti Morcha.

In fact, these incidents of unrest forced Maratha Kranti Morcha, the umbrella body of Maratha outfits, to call off the bandh in Mumbai.

We suspect that the violent activity is a political conspiracy against us to derail the entire issue. In the last two years, we have held 58 silent marches and now suddenly we notice violent activities, said Pawar.

Violence continued in areas like Kopar Khairane, Kalamboli, Thane and Vashi for hours after the bandh was called off. The highways were blocked, disrupting traffic. Public property, like state buses, were damaged. Police resorted to lathicharge and by the end of the day, Mumbai Police had arrested 447 people from 45 regions.

The Maratha agitation began in 2016-17 with silent marches and the major demand was 16% reservation for Marathas, who form a socially dominant group, in government jobs and education. The state government accepted this demand and is awaiting legal sanction for this quota from Bombay high court.

The recent Maratha protests are the second phase of their agitation, which have been named Thok Morcha (hit march). Theyre meant to be more aggressive, but in contrast to the discipline of the silent marches, the protests of the past few days have seemed less organised and more volatile.

It is true that some of our young community members have resorted to stone pelting, but we have formed teams to pacify and convince for peaceful protest. The violent turn is maligning the image of the entire community, said Dnyaneshwar Gaikwad, one of the coordinators of the first Maratha Kranti Morcha, which took place in Aurangabad on August 9, 2016.

Not everyone in the central coordination committee of Maratha protests was convinced by Thok Morcha. We feared that this would undo what we had earned in 58 silent marches. Some of us were of the opinion that the protest would lead nowhere as the case related to the reservation is pending in the High Court. Young leaders are not paying heed to our suggestions, said a coordinator on the condition of anonymity while maintaining that it was very possible that opposing parties were trying to infiltrate the outfit and hijack the agitation for political benefit.

Pravin Gaikwad of Sambhaji Brigade blamed the violence on immature statements by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and revenue minister Chandrakant Patil. Yes it went haywire, but the instigating statements by these two politicians are to be blamed for the same. We never designed the protests this way.

Perhaps most worrying is that the splinter groups that are resorting to violence appear to be beyond the umbrella bodys control. We are not sure if they will listen to us now. We have decided to continue with peaceful sit-in protest in parts of the Marathwada, said a leader from Aurangabad.The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday removed its firebrand Bholath MLA Sukhpal Khaira from the post of leader of opposition (LoP) in Punjab assembly.

The party named first-time MLA from Dirba Harpal Singh Cheema, a Dalit face, as the new leader of the AAP legislature party. Khaira was appointed LoP in July last year.

The change was announced by Delhi deputy chief minister and in-charge of Punjab affairs Manish Sisodia on Twitter. AAP has decided to change its leader of opposition in Punjab. Harpal Singh Cheema, MLA, Dirba constituency, shall be leader of opposition in Punjab assembly, he tweeted.

Sisodia followed it up with another tweet on the new LoPs Dalit credentials, expressing confidence that Cheema will emerge as a strong Dalit leader and become a voice of all marginalised communities of Punjab. He is the third leader of the AAP legislature party in Punjab in the last 16 months.

AAPs national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has written a letter to the speaker of Punjab assembly, requesting him to appoint Cheema as the leader of opposition. Khaira, reacting to the announcement, said he discharged his duty with utmost sincerity, dedication and fearlessness. If speaking the truth and espousing the cause of Punjab, Punjabis and Sikhs cost me LoP, Im prepared to let go 100 such positions. Those at the helm have done what Cong-SAD-BJP wanted (sic), he said in a tweet.

The AAP did not give any reason for his removal or details of the process followed. Kotkapura MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan said the decision was taken in a meeting of party legislators in the national capital. Those who were not present conveyed their consent over phone, he told HT, expressing inability to give the number of MLAs present. AAP legislature party deputy leader Sarvjit Kaur Manuke said she got a call from a central leader and agreed to go with the partys decision.

AAP state unit co-president Balbir Singh, whom Khaira recently accused of hatching a plot for his removal from the post, said the decision was taken by the party MLAs from the state. Since I am not a legislator, I was not present and had no inkling, he said, welcoming the decision. Most other party leaders remained mum or kept their phones switched off. Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) chief Simarjeet Bains, a one-time alliance partner, said Khairas sacking was a mistake. Khaira had brought new energy to the party, but did not deserve to be treated in this shabby manner, he said.

Though Khairas ties with the party leadership were uneasy ever since he publicly slammed Kejriwal for his apology to SADs Bikram Singh Majithia to settle a drug allegation-related defamation case, his removal came just days after he accused Balbir Singh of levelling false allegations of accepting cash from party workers. A combative politician, Khaira, who had joined the AAP from the Congress in 2015, remained LoP for one year and his stint was marked by controversies. His purported statement on Referendum 2020, a movement initiated by US-based advocacy group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) for a separate Sikh state, had also earned the ire of the top leaders last month. While Kejriwal refused to meet Khaira, Sisodia rebuked him.

Meanwhile, Kharar MLA Kanwar Sandhu resigned as spokesperson of the AAP legislature party. He was appointed by Khaira three weeks ago. I have resigned so that the new LoP can appoint his own team, he said.The new leader of opposition in the Punjab assembly picked by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Harpal Singh Cheema, 43, is considered a loyalist of AAPs heavyweight MP from Sangrur, Bhagwant Mann, and represents one of the most developmentally backward constituencies, Dirba, reserved for candidates from the Scheduled Castes.

The Dalit lawyer, who had joined the AAP just before last years assembly elections, had led the Sangrur district bar association in 2014. He also unsuccessfully contested the zila parishad elections as an independent earlier.

A graduate from Government Ranbir College, Sangrur, and having done his LLB from Punjabi University, Patiala, he was also a participant in student politics as a member of some Left-leaning student outfits while studying law. Born and brought up in an economically weak family of Cheema village in Dhuri subdivision, he had to struggle for studies as he has five siblings, two brothers and three sisters. Now he lives in Sangrur with his wife and a three-year-old daughter.

In a triangular fight from Dirba, he defeated Congress candidate Ajaib Singh Rataul and Shiromani Akali Dals Gulzar Singh. As a lawyer, he is also fighting AAPs Delhi MLA Naresh Yadavs case in the district courts over accusations of Quran desecration in Malerkotla in 2016.

He has stayed away from controversies while being in a party beset with infighting, and bears a clean, low-key image in the AAP. As replacement to a dominant Jat Sikh leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira as AAPs choice for leader of opposition, Cheema has achieved a new high in his political career. However, as the third leader of opposition in a little over a year, he has a lot to balance within and outside the AAP.

In a congratulatory message on Twitter, Delhi deputy CM and AAPs Punjab affairs in-charge manish Sisodia, too, stressed on Cheemas humble origins: I am sure hell emerge as a strong Dalit leader and become a voice of all Dalit and marginalised communities of Punjab, in assembly and outside as well.

Cheema replied on Twitter by thanking party boss and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, besides Sisodia and Bhagwant Mann, and all AAP Punjab MLAs, for their trust and faith in common man like me.

Reaction from the ground showed that the road may be far from smooth.

AS Mann, a former AAP member from Sangrur, said, By removing Khaira (as opposition leader), AAP has committed a blunder the second time; the first one was removal of Sucha Singh Chhotepur (from party) before the elections.

However, Paramjit Kaur Mann, a prominent woman leader of AAP in Dirba, said, Khaira was an experienced man and was performing his duty with full responsibility. Cheema will have to learn many things, but we have no doubt in his capability.

Cheema was picked by AAP MLAs, stressed Dinesh Bansal, who contested on the AAP ticket from Sangrur assembly segment, He is hardworking, and will perform his duty effectively.Labour MP Preet Kaur Gill, who is also chair of the all-party parliamentary group for British Sikhs, said on Wednesday that if necessary the UK National Authority will be taken to court on the issue of having a separate Sikh ethnic identifier in the 2021 census.

Gill and MPs Eddie Hughes and Pat McFadden met John Pullinger, chief executive of the UK Statistics Authority, this week and presented the response of 112 gurdwaras from across the country, favouring the separate Sikh ethnic box in the next census to be conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Edgbaston MP Gill said: The National Statistician must recommend a Sikh ethnic tick box be included in the Census White Paper 2018 later this year or he will have serious explaining to do to MPs, ministers and the Sikh community.

The National Statisticians decision could result in the UK Statistics Authority and the ONS standing accused of racial discrimination against the Sikh community and facing embarrassing and expensive legal action.

The all-party parliamentary group (APPG) has already been contacted by the gurdwaras to discuss the establishment of a legal fund of 0.5 million if the UK Statistics Authority and ONS need to be taken to the courts, Gill added.

Over 140 British MPs have supported the demand.

ONS had confirmed to Hindustan Times on Monday that no decision on having separate Sikh identifier for the next census had been made. Over 80,000 Sikhs reportedly used Other in the 2011 census to identify themselves, and mentioned Sikh on the forms.

An ONS spokesperson said: No decision has been taken on the content of the 2021 Census. Our recommendations for the 2021 Census will be included in a government White Paper later this year.New Zealands Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters called on neighbouring Australia to change its flag on Thursday, saying it had pinched the Kiwi banners design and was causing confusion.

We designed it and they borrowed it and if we wanted to clear the matter up they should change their flag, Peters told reporters.

It must be patently obvious that all over the world people are confused. Ive been in places like Turkey and elsewhere where theyve confused our countries on the basis of those flags. Its not helpful.

Both the New Zealand and Australian flags are dark blue with the Union Jack emblem of former colonial power Britain in the top left corner.

The only major difference is that the Australian version has six white stars, five representing the Southern Cross, while New Zealand depicts the constellation with four red stars.

Peters, who is temporarily leading the country while Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is on maternity leave, feels strongly about the flag issue.

The 73-year-old also raised it earlier this week, complaining we got there first with this design.

Opposition leader Simon Bridges ridiculed Peters flag preoccupation, accusing him of populism and labelling him a poor mans Donald Trump.

Bridges said New Zealanders he had spoken to were concerned about topics such as the economy and healthcare.

They never raised with me changing the Australian flag. Thats weird by even his (Peters) standards, he told parliament.

New Zealand adopted its flag in 1902, while Australias was not officially recognised until 1954.

However, the Australian version had been used informally since 1901 and both countries say similar designs were common throughout the late 1800s.

New Zealand held a referendum on changing its flag to a silver fern design in 2016, with the proposal defeated 43 percent to 57.The US and Australia have welcomed the recent meeting of an informal consultative body they formed with India and Japan, called the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue  a move that will be heard and noted in New Delhi as it weighs its options about the grouping.

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and secretary of defence James Mattis hosted their Australian counterparts Julie Bishop and Marise Payne at a two-day ministerial held at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. Their version of the 2+2 annual meeting, called Australia-US Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN), ended on Tuesday.

They welcomed the recent US-Australia-India-Japan consultations on the Indo-Pacific in Singapore, a joint statement issued on Tuesday said.

Started in 2007, the Quad disintegrated after Australia pulled out for fear of upsetting China, which continues to view the quad as a body committed to containing and countering its influence. It was renewed last year and officials of the four countries met for the first time at a working level on the sidelines of the ASEAN meetings in Manila in November.

A second meeting of senior officials took place in Singapore in June. But an impression had begun gaining ground around then that New Delhi seemed less interested.

New Delhi may be getting cold feet, Derek Grossman, a former US defence department official and an expert with think tank RAND Corporation, argued in a recent article in Foreign Policy magazine headlined India is the weakest link in the Quad.

Grossman traces the beginning of Indias perceived reticence to Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Wuhan, China to meet President Xi Jinping. Shortly afterwards, India turned down Australias request to participate in the Malabar exercises with the US and Japan, the other members of the quad, Grossman said.

Grossman argued that Modis speech at the Shangri-La dialogue in Singapore was further evidence, citing this quotation: India does not see the Indo-Pacific Region as a strategy or as a club of limited members.

Citing a few other development, Grossman wrote, Taken together, these developments are no doubt troubling for the future sustainability of Indian participation in the Quad.

Rick Rossow of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a leading US think tank, said: I do think it is importantparticularly for Australiato publicly reiterate interest in the Quad.

Delhi privately voices concerns about Australias commitment to Quadrilateral security cooperation, pointing to Australias withdrawal from the Quad over a decade ago.

He added: If India still resists deepening Quadrilateral cooperation, the other partners will be able to assess the true reasons for this reluctance. And that is it unwillingness to alarm China, which is the undeclared target of this grouping.

With Australia signalling its on board this time, as reflected in the joint-statement, India may not be able to cite its past behaviour to explain away its perceived reticence.A 26-year-old man was detained on Thursday afternoon after he detonated a crude bomb outside the US embassy in Beijing.

The Indian embassy is located next to the US embassy.

Police said the suspect, identified as Jiang from Chinas Inner Mongolia province, was carrying the firecracker when it detonated in his hand.

No one else was injured.

Photos and videos on social media showed a large amount of smoke in the area with people running from the spot. Eyewitnesses said the situation appeared normal by early afternoon.

Soon after the explosion, police patrol cars surrounded the embassy and cordoned off the roads leading to it. The official version from the Beijing police didnt specify the US embassy but only mentioned the roads nearby.

At about 1 pm on July 26, a man ignited a suspected firecracker device at the intersection of Tianze Road and Anjialou Road in Chaoyang district (which is where the US embassy is located), causing a deflagration, causing his hand to be injured but the injury is not life-threatening, the Beijing police said in an official statement.

The police statement added that nearby personnel disposed of the explosive and controlled the impact. It said that the police subsequently took the man to the hospital.

A statement on the US embassy website said: According to the Embassys Regional Security Officer, there was one individual who detonated a bomb. Other than the bomber, no other people were injured and there was no damage to embassy property. The local police responded.

Earlier, the state controlled Global Times tweeted about an attempted self-immolation by an unidentified woman outside the embassy.

The tweet, quoting witnesses said a woman spraying gasoline on herself was taken away from outside the US embassy earlier on Thursday morning, according to witnesses.

The two incidents were not related, the newspaper later said.Italy-based Prysmian Group, a global leader in energy and telecom cable systems sector, has announced the rollout of two enhancements to its line of FlexRibbon products.



This new line of products, which feature MassLink with FlexRibbon Technology, will support large-scale data centres operated by major companies worldwide, said a statement from the company.



Philippe Vanhille, senior vice president telecom business of Prysmian Group, said: We are pleased to rollout these new enhancements to our FlexRibbon line in anticipation of Prysmian expanding into new markets.



As the demand for more powerful, higher-density cables continues to increase, this latest offering will be a key asset for large companies to navigate underground duct networks, he added.



Designed to maximise fibre density and duct space utilisation, Prysmians MassLink with FlexRibbon Technology products compact the maximum fibre count into the smallest cable possible by using extremely flexible fibre ribbons that can be rolled up for high packing densities or laid flat for ribbon splicing, it said.



The new 1728 and 3456 fibre count FlexRibbon products feature an ultra-compact outside plant cable design that contains bend insensitive fibres, small enough to fit into a 31.75mm and 38.1mm duct, respectively, it added.



Toni Bosch, vice president of telecom solutions for Prysmian Group, said: We began development of our FlexRibbon Technology product line to meet the needs of our main customers in North America requiring high fibre counts and fibre density, where ultra-compact design and efficient installation are necessities.



We have continued to heavily invest in the R&D of FlexRibbon technology, employing the most advanced equipment, which has led to the development of these new FlexRibbon product offerings to be now offered to our customers worldwide, he added.



The significantly smaller diameter and lighter weight cables have superior kink resistance and increased flexibility, which allows for easier installation and the use of smaller ducts. In the case of the 1728 fibre design, there is a 21 per cent smaller diameter (38 per cent volume reduction) over traditional flat ribbon designs.



And while the new FlexRibbon products provide high packing density, they also feature 200 and 250-micron fibre ribbons that still provide the advantages of mass fusion splicing.



Prysmian Group confirms therefore its commitment to constantly investing in its optical fibre and cable capacities to respond to the needs of the market, to support its customers in developing new reliable and efficient broadband networks, it stated.  TradeArabia News ServiceChina on Thursday said it stands ready to work with the new establishment in Pakistan, as Imran Khans Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf inched closer to victory.

Beijing also said it was glad to see smooth elections in Pakistan and hoped the results will not affect the development of bilateral ties.

China has high stakes in Pakistan where it has invested over $50 billion on a multitude of infrastructure projects under its ambitious Belt and Road programme.

We are glad to see the election in Pakistan went through smoothly. We sincerely hope the country can maintain political social stability and focus on development, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang.

Friendship between China and Pakistan is supported by the two people and the bilateral ties will grow, regardless of the election result, he said.

China stands ready to work with the new government in Pakistan to move forward all-weather strategic partnership, Geng added.

China calls Pakistan its all-weather ally and defends the country on terror, which frustrates India.The confinement of Indian Sikh asylum detainees along with the federally-charged and convicted prisoners at the Sheridan federal detention centre in Oregon, declared rather unusual by lawyers representing the detainees, has evoked a sharp response from the office of the Oregon Federal Public Defender (FPD). The FPD provides legal defence to those who are charged with a federal offence and cannot afford a lawyer. Its office has said that the continued confinement of immigration detainees along with pre-trial federal population will violate the Constitution for both.

A hundred and twenty one (121) asylum seekers, including 52 Indians, mostly Sikhs, detained at the Sheridan federal detention centre have narrated harrowing accounts of being celled together with federally-charged and convicted defendants. These Indian Sikh detainees who are seeking asylum in the United States (US) on the grounds of political persecution were detained by officers of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after they illegally crossed over to the US from Mexico.

In a communication to the warden, Josias Salazar, of the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Sheridan, FPDs Lisa Hay said Sheridan federal detention centre was simply not equipped to handle immigration detainees along with the pre-trial federal population currently housed there.

FPD strengthens the argument of lawyers

The FPD communication has strengthened the argument of Pro bono (voluntarily and without payment) lawyers providing legal assistance to Sikh detainees who raised concerns over the unusual practice of the Trump administration to house asylum detainees in federal detention facilities.

An Indian-origin lawyer from Oregon, Jaskarn Singh Sandhu, has questioned the move to keep asylum seekers with other criminals. They are asylum seekers not criminals. The problem is that a federal detention facility like Sheridan follows the same protocol for asylum seekers as they do for criminals, Sandhu said.

A Portland lawyer representing Indian detainees had said that some of the Sikh boys he met during his legal visits told him that when they were detained at the ICE detention centre at Calexico in California, there was a move to shift them to another ICE detention centre at Tacoma in Washington State. But strangely they were brought to Victorville Medium federal detention facility in California, he said. He suspected that detaining asylum seekers along with hardened criminals, and subjecting them to a tougher prison protocol was a deliberate exercise to scare away asylum seekers.

Law required detainees be kept separate from prisoners

The FPD communication copied to chief judge, US district court, Michael Mosman and US Marshal, Russel Burger, said the law requires that these populations be kept separate, but due to lack of space and the configuration of the pods in the facility, the primary mechanism for meeting this separation requirement is constant lock-down of both sides. Continued confinement to this degree will violate the constitution, for both populations, it added.

The FPD office added that if Sheridan is to be used for immigration detention, then consideration should be given to placing immigration detainees together in one full pod with no pre-trial detainees among them. This would end the need for lock-down in cells. Cultural and religious groups should also be invited to bring meals to share with the detainees, the communication read. In its written declaration before a court of law, Federal Bureau of Prisons official, Amberly Newman, admitted that some asylum detainees and pre-trial inmates were housed together at Sheridan.For the first time in Pakistans electoral history, women in some conservative parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces cast their votes in the general elections as candidates sought to fulfil the legal requirement of minimum 10% womens turnout to validate their result.

In the restive Balochistan, too, women came out in large numbers to vote on Wednesday, despite terror attacks and repeated threats, the Dawn reported.

Women in tribal areas and other conservative areas had been barred from voting in the past general elections, as the practice of keeping women away from voting was a norm under verbal and written agreements between candidates and family elders in such areas.

However, for the first time, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) annulled the result of Dir Lower bypolls in 2015 after finding that none of the registered women voters had cast votes.

The Elections Act requires the ECP to declare an election null and void if womens turnout in a constituency is less than 10% of its total polled votes.

Yesterday, candidates and local administration on ECP directives ensured at least 10% turnout of women voters in the districts notorious for barring women from voting.

The measures encouraged women voters not only in Khyber Pakhtunkhwas Dir Lower but also in a village of Punjabs Sahiwal district to visit their respective polling stations and cast their vote.

In North Waziristan, Bajaur and other far-flung parts of Mohmand tribal agency also saw a rise in female voters turnout despite lack of facilities and slow polling process.

Considering past voting trends in the conservative parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the ECP had issued directives to district returning officers and deputy commissioners to ensure womens voting in six districts namely Swat, Dir Lower, Dir Upper, Shangla, Swabi and Batagram.New Zealands acting prime minister Winston Peters on Thursday called on neighbouring Australia to change its flag, saying it had pinched the Kiwi banners design and was causing confusion.

We designed it and they borrowed it and if we wanted to clear the matter up they should change their flag, Peters told reporters.

It must be patently obvious that all over the world people are confused. Ive been in places like Turkey and elsewhere where theyve confused our countries on the basis of those flags. Its not helpful.

Both the New Zealand and Australian flags are dark blue with the Union Jack emblem of former colonial power Britain in the top right corner. The only major difference is that the Australian version has six white stars, five representing the Southern Cross, while New Zealand depicts the constellation with four red stars. Peters, who is temporarily leading the country while prime minister Jacinda Ardern is on maternity leave, feels strongly about the flag issue.

The 73-year-old also raised it earlier this week, complaining we got there first with this design.

Opposition leader Simon Bridges ridiculed Peters flag preoccupation, accusing him of populism and labelling him a poor mans Donald Trump.

Bridges said New Zealanders he had spoken to were concerned about topics such as the economy and healthcare. They never raised with me changing the Australian flag. Thats weird by even his (Peters) standards, he told parliament.

New Zealand adopted its flag in 1902, while Australias was not officially recognised until 1954.

However, the Australian version had been used informally since 1901 and both countries say similar designs were common throughout the late 1800s. New Zealand held a referendum on changing its flag to a silver fern design in 2016, with the proposal defeated 43 per cent to 57 per cent.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)A Taliban suicide bomber attacked Afghans National Directorate of Security (NDS) in Kabul early on Thursday, killing at least five people and wounding six, police said.

The attack, which was claimed by the Taliban, occurred at around 5 am local time when a car bomber targeted the convoy in the west of the city, Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanekzai said.

Most of the victims were NDS officers, Stanikzai said.

Four members of the NDS and a civilian were killed, while five NDS personnel and a civilian were wounded.

The attacker was most likely driving a vehicle carrying explosives, Stanikzai added.

The assault comes two days after five rockets were fired on a residential area of Kabul, wounding at least three people. There was no claim of responsibility.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)The US House of Representatives on Thursday passed a defence spending bill that also seeks to amend a law that threatened sanctions against countries making significant arms purchases from Russia, such as India, which plans to buy Russian S-400 air defence systems, and exempt them from secondary sanctions.

The $716 billion bill, National Defense Authorization Act for 2019  US militarys budgetpassed the House in a 359-54 vote, and now heads for the Senate, which votes on it early next week and dispatches it to President Donald Trump for his signature.

In a clear sign that Trump will sign it when it gets to his desk, the White House welcomed its passage by the House.

By supporting key components of the Administrations National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy, both of which focus on a return to principled realism in an era of great power competition, the FY 2019 NDAA enhances the Presidents ability to defend the Nation, the press secretary said in a statement.

It also supports key components of the Administrations Nuclear Posture Review, South Asia Strategy, vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region, and ongoing operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

Both chambers of the US Congress were expected to pass the bill, as the final version unveiled on Monday and currently before the lawmakers was prepared through a legislative process called conference by a joint committee of the two chambers, which had in essence written it together.

The bill amends an existing law  Combating Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA)  that seeks to punish Russia for the 2016 election meddling, but which also threatened sanctions against third countries that made significant transactions with designated Russian entities in the sectors of military and intelligence.

That would have left India open to secondary (unintended) sanctions under this law for its plans to purchase five S-400 air defence systems at an estimated cost of $4.5 billion from Russia.

The US Congress was persuaded to amend the law to exempt countries like India and Vietnam after a spirited push from defense secretary James Mattis, backed by secretary of state Mike Pompeo, who argued that by punishing these countries under CAATSA would actually push them back into the arms of Russia, which would not be in US interest.

There are nations in the world which are trying to turn away from formerly Russian-sourced weapons and systems like this. We only need to look at India, Vietnam and some others to recognise that, eventually, were going to paralyse ourselves, Mattis had said during a hearing.

US lawmakers agreed. And a summary of the conference report took the same line announcing the changes in CAATSA: it provides flexibility for strategic partners and allies to move away from the use of Russian military equipment to American equipment, while ensuring that US defence and security interests remain protected.

The new exemptions are based on conditions most of which are met by India, officials and experts have said.A rmchair grand designers are being offered the chance to tailor their new home, from mapping out the floorplan to choosing the bathroom fittings, while simultaneously reaping handsome stamp duty savings.

Under the scheme stamp duty is payable on the price of the plot only, and not on the full build cost. For a house with an end value of 500,000 this can generate savings in duty of about 15,000, depending on the price of the plot.

This form of self building without any of the hard labour is emerging as a hugely popular option among buyers.

They are getting close to building their dream home, says Gus Zogolovitch, managing director of Unboxed Homes which specialises in this kind of project. It gives them choice, with someone else to do the work for them.

The official name for this sector is custom build and the concept comes in many guises.

It can mean simply buying a serviced plot which has had gas, water and electricity installed and where planning permission for a home is already in place. The buyer then arranges the build themselves.

In other cases custom builders team up with like-minded buyers and commission builders to do the work, or at least some of it, for them and they chip in where they can to keep costs down. The idea is to offer flexibility.

POTENTIAL UNBOXED

In London and the commuter belt a series of new developments is offering the easiest and most popular of options: buying a plot and an off-the-peg new home that will be built by the developer but which will incorporate the buyers taste and ideas as they go along.

Unboxed Homes has developments in Greenwich and Sydenham in the pipeline, as well as one near Basildon, and currently on the market are homes at its Blenheim Grove scheme in Peckham. Prices start from 650,000 for a three-bedroom house up to 1.1 million for a five-bedroom property.

Buy the shell: prices at Blenheim Grove in Peckham start from 650,000 for a three-bedroom house up to 1.1 million for a five-bedroom home

These homes are sold as shells and buyers who take the option of having Unboxed complete the work for them would need to budget about 100,000 for a good-quality but not an over-the-top super-luxurious finish. A budget of 190,000 to 200,000 would be needed for the largest five-bedroom house.

As well as the potential for stamp duty savings, Unboxeds Zogolovitch estimates that these homes should work out five to 10 per cent cheaper than buying a similar new-build home in the area. And it will be a much better design and specification, he claims.

MAKING VILLAGES

Later this year the award-winning specialist developer Village Makers will launch homes at Oakley Orchards, a development of 51 houses on a nine-acre site set amid fruit orchards in the village of Great Oakley, 16 miles from Colchester, and, from there, a 49-minute commute to Liverpool Street.

Buyers will choose not only their plot  arranged around greens either planted with fruit trees or set out as allotments  but will also select a house type from one of six energy-efficient options.

They will then be able to add bespoke features such as bay windows and balconies. They will also plan the layout and pick out the interiors.

Bob Tomlinson, design director of Village Makers, says this option offers many of the benefits of self build but without the headache.

He adds: There are enough permutations and choices to make the houses individual, but buyers dont have to find the plot, get planning permission, find a builder or oversee the build.

Bespoke options: custom-build clients at Oakley Orchards in Essex can choose from six energy-efficient house types, then add bespoke windows and balconies, plan the layout and pick out the interiors

The plots at Oakley Orchards will cost between about 50,000 and 310,000, large enough to build anything from a compact 915sq ft, which would make a large two-bedroom or a smaller three-bedroom house, right up to a roomy 2,669sq ft.

Tomlinson advises budgeting around 130 to 150 per square foot for the build itself, although of course the more ambitious you are, the more expensive it will be. But custom building does come with the potential tax savings.

Payment for a custom-built home is generally made in stages.

Buyers initially pay for their plot. Then they make staged payments for the work, which is costed upfront by a project manager.

In theory, work can begin as soon as the mortgage is in place to pay for it  although Village Makers wants to sell several plots before it starts work, to avoid building in dribs and drabs and leaving a question mark over timing of the complete development.

A FIRST FOR BRITAIN

Commuters could also take a look at Bicester, Oxfordshire, a 40-minute commute to the capital.

There will, eventually, be almost 2,000 homes at Graven Hill, Britains first custom-built village, where a real variety of different designs will avoid the depressing cookie-cutter look of large housing developments.

Here, owners must choose from an approved palette of materials to keep things under control. Work began in 2016 and the first residents moved into Graven Hill earlier this summer.

Britains first custom-built village: Graven Hill, near Bicester in Oxfordshire will offer 2,000 new homes in total, a 40-minute commute from London. The first residents moved in recently

Mainstream developers are starting to cotton on to the idea of custom building. Berkeley Homes is offering buyers of houses and flats at Forbury in Blackheath the chance to choose from four different kitchen and bathroom designs that range from rustic to minimal to ultra-neutral; six carpet colours and different styles of built-in wardrobes.

All options are included in the asking price, which starts at 530,000 for a one-bedroom apartment to 1.85 million for a four-bedroom townhouse.

SIGN UP TO RIGHT TO BUILD

Anyone thinking of self build, custom build or creating community-led housing should sign up to their local Right to Build register.Pipeline

26 July 2018

Following the success of the first Bensley Collection property, Bensley Collection - Shinta Mani Angkor , an enclave of 10 luxurious Khmer inspired pool villas which opened in Siem Reap in December 2017, Bensley Collection - Shinta Mani Wild will open on 1 November 2018.

Nestled deep within Cambodia's South Cardamom National Park Wilderness in a pristine wildlife corridor three hours' drive south of Phnom Penh, Bensley Collection - Shinta Mani Wild will offer a radical new concept for a luxury tented camp experience. Guests will arrive at the gate lounge by road or helicopter from where they can enjoy a unique adrenalin-filled entry to the resort via a 380 meter (1,247 ft) zip line over river and waterfalls, arriving 'Indiana Jones style' in the Landing Zone Bar. They will be met by charismatic General Manager Sangjay Choegyal and the renowned Bensley Butlers who will be on hand to receive them with a warm welcome and cooling refreshments. For those not wanting to zip line jeep transfers are available.

Bensley who was inducted into Hospitality Design's Platinum Circle hall of fame in New York in 2017, has set out to create his most ambitious and extravagant luxury tented camp project to date. Fifteen customized luxury tents perched over 1.5 kilometers (just under 1 mile) of river and waterfalls will provide a view and experience unlike any other resort in Asia.

The fourteen one-bedroom tents (100 sqm or 1,076 sq ft) and one two-bedroom tent (140 sqm or 1,507 sq ft) have been meticulously designed to invoke the grandeur of what it would have been like to be on a luxury safari in the jungles of Cambodia with Jacky O' who travelled throughout the Kingdom with King Sihanouk in 1967.

Bensley Collection - Shinta Mani Wild will offer a unique dining experience. With no official menu, culinary offerings under the direction of the camp's talented Chef Kien Wagner will include wild edible plants sustainably foraged each day from the forest to accompany the best quality meat and seafood available. Guests are welcome to join Chef on his foraging expeditions and learn from his extensive expertise including five years in Cambodia. Fresh flavorful condiments will be made in house rather than pre-purchased and the camp will have a permaculture farm and will support local farmers and fishermen. The area has a rich source of large succulent mud crabs which are a local delicacy. All ingredients will be fresh, organic and sustainably sourced from the surrounding forests and as well as imported where necessary.

Adventure

Bensley Collection - Shinta Mani Wild will offer a range of creative luxury adventures. To the south east of this private sanctuary, guests will be able to spend a day exploring the untrammeled waterways of South East Asia's last wild estuarine ecosystem aboard a custom Bensley designed fully equipped expedition boat complete with kayaks. To the north, guests will have the chance to accompany anti-poaching rangers and researchers as they check camera points and study the wild forests and their inhabitants; a unique opportunity to explore these untamed lands with the people that know them best, taking only photographs and leaving only footprints.

An important part of the camp's ethos is having a team of rangers conducting anti-poaching patrols in order to generate a safe haven for birds and animals. A team of full time naturalists have been living at the resort during construction for the past year studying the flora and fauna. They have also developed a range of hikes for guests to explore the area.

While not adventuring and exploring this incredibly diverse region, guests can relax and enjoy their luxurious tents and camp facilities including the Waterfall Restaurant, Landing Zone Bar and Boulders Spa featuring chemical-free products by Bensley's Khmer Tonics.

Sustainability and Environment

The South Cardamom National Park is Cambodia's newest and largest National Park covering a massive 866,930 hectares (2,142,231 acres) and is one of the last great wilderness areas of South East Asia. A wild coast of pristine estuaries gives way to a majestic mountain range covered in tropical rainforest. Bensley Collection - Shinta Mani Wild is nestled in a 350 hectare (860 acres) valley between the Phnom Bokor and Kirirom National Parks.

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Shinta Mani Foundation will be spearheading the conservation and community outreach programs, including the provision of long-term employment opportunity to the local inhabitants where there is minimal infrastructure and fewer work opportunities.

Bensley Collection - Shinta Mani Wild, in conjunction with the Foundation, will nurture its natural environment through partnerships with respected conservation organizations including Wildlife Alliance, The Royal University of Phnom Penh and The Cambodian Government. This extreme exercise in ingenuity will enable guests to explore this pristine wilderness, while making the lowest possible impact on the land, offering a luxury adventure with intimate access to one of Asia's most stunning forest ecosystems.

Rates

Rates at Bensley Collection - Shinta Mani Wild will start from USD1900 per night, inclusive of all food and beverage, activities, spa treatments and land transfers from Phnom Penh or Sihanoukville airports. Helicopter transfers are additional. Rates are subject to applicable service charge and government taxes. A minimum 3 night stay is required and a minimum age of 13 years.Two Saudi Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), each with a two million barrels capacity, were attacked by Yemen's Houthi militia yesterday in the Red Sea. One of the ships sustained minimal damage, said Saudi Aramco.

No injuries nor oil spill have been reported, a statement said.

Saudi Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid Al-Falih has also confirmed the incident.

The ships are operated by the Saudi National Shipping Company (Bahri) and were transporting Saudi Aramco crude oil.

"In the interest of the safety of ships and their crews and to avoid the risk of oil spill, Saudi Aramco has temporarily halted all oil shipments through Bab El-Mandeb Strait with immediate effect. The company is carefully assessing the situation and will take further action as prudence demands," the statement said. - TradeArabia News ServicePress Release

26 July 2018

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), one of the world's leading hotel companies, today announces that it has crossed the milestone of 100 open Holiday Inn Express hotels in Canada, with the opening of the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Trois-Rivieres in Quebec. Located at 2000 rue des Grands-Marches in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, the 111-room hotel is owned by Groupe Robin.



On the heels of this 100th hotel milestone are three additional openings for the brand in Canada: Holiday Inn Express & Suites Brantford, Holiday Inn Express & Suites Kelowna - East, and Holiday Inn Express & Suites Moncton. These openings further demonstrate the brand's rapid growth throughout IHG's 56-year history in Canada.

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Compared to the industry average, the Holiday Inn Express brand has led the way in terms of its growth rate and footprint in Canada. With 103 open hotels and 24 additional hotels in the development pipeline, Holiday Inn Express properties account for more than 56 per cent of IHG's Canadian portfolio - which is more than double the number of open hotels than the next leading brand in the segment.

Jonathan Lund, Regional Vice President, Canada, IHG, said: "There is a market need for upper-midscale hotels. In 2017 alone, IHG Canada experienced unprecedented growth with 24 new hotels signings - the most we've seen in 10 years. I have no doubt that IHG will continue to extend its leadership position in the midscale segment, offering significant opportunities to Canadian owners."

Holiday Inn Express hotels cater to the rise in value-oriented travelers. In Canada, there are significantly more secondary and tertiary markets (i.e. with a population of less than 100K) than there are metropolitan markets (i.e. with a population of more than 100K+). With 75 per cent of Canada's hotels included in the economy, mid-market, upper-mid-market segments, this explains why hotels like Holiday Inn Express are so relevant and in demand.

Jennifer Gribble, Vice President, Global avid hotels, Mainstream Growth, said:"Reaching the milestone of 100 open Holiday Inn Express hotels is a tremendous achievement for IHG in Canada. Not only does it illustrate the appeal of this iconic brand to developers and domestic travelers alike, but it is a testament to the strength of our owner relationships and our well-established strategy to accelerate growth in the mainstream segment."

From a business perspective, the Holiday Inn Express brand appeals to developers and franchisees because of its smaller-than-average square footage requirement, strong return on investment, scalability, and flexible financing. For leisure and business travelers, the brand offers competitive rates, modern facilities, and dependable services - a hotel that will help them rest and go while staying productive.

IHG has 182 properties with more than 25,000 rooms in Canada, with 46 hotels and more than 5,000 rooms in the development pipeline. The Holiday Inn Express brand is part of IHG's diverse family of brands in nearly 100 countries. The scale and diversity of the IHG family of brands means that its hotels can meet guests' needs whatever the occasion - whether an overnight getaway, a business trip, a family celebration or a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Reservations can be made by calling 1-800-HOLIDAY or by going to www.holidayinnexpress.com.Press Release

26 July 2018

The Washington, D.C., chapter of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International today invited hospitality professionals from throughout the metropolitan area to attend its annual State of the Industry program Aug. 9 at the MGM National Harbor hotel in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

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The program, designed to help area hospitality sales, marketing and revenue-management professionals prepare their plans and budgets for 2019, will feature Jennifer Hill, Kalibri Labs vice president of business development; Mark Woodworth, CBRE Hotels America Research senior managing director; Elliott Ferguson II, Destination DC president & CEO; Robert Gilbert, Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International president & CEO; and John Hach, TravelClick senior hotel industry analyst & advisor.

The State of the Industry event will be hosted by MGM National Harbor and cosponsored by Kalibri Labs, CBRE Hotels America, Destination DC, TravelClick and RDR PR LLC. Registration and a networking reception will begin at 4 p.m. The cost is $40 for HSMAI members and $60 for nonmembers. Click HERE to register.

Photo: HSMAI

"Our panelists will present the facts, figures and insights that hospitality professionals need to prepare plans and budgets for 2019," said Ellen Wilson, HSMAI Washington DC Chapter managing director. "The State of the Industry is our most popular program of the year. I encourage all area hospitality executives to join us for this valuable event."

About the Panel

Jennifer Hill -

Vice President of Business Development, Kalibri Labs

Jennifer Hill specializes in revenue management, using a profit-based model of successful collaboration with sales to achieve optimal business mix. She relies on this experience to educate and inform hotel owners, operators, asset managers and other industry decision makers about Kalibri Labs' suite of hotel revenue strategy products, championing the Hummingbird PXM platform. Hummingbird PXM is designed to help key stakeholders better evaluate and predict revenue performance in a more granular and effective way than ever before.

Prior to joining Kalibri Labs, Hill was the regional director of revenue and distribution for Highgate, an industry-leading investor and manager of hospitality assets. In this role, she helped lead the revenue-strategy efforts for several Washington. D.C.-area hotels. She has over 17 years of direct hotel operations and revenue experience at branded and independent properties in Washington and New York as well as airport, suburban and city-center markets.

Hill is the immediate past president of HSMAI Washington DC's Advisory Board. She continues to serve on the board, helping deliver relevant and engaging education content to the greater Washington hospitality community. In 2017, HSMAI recognized Hill as one of the Top 25 Minds in Sales, Marketing and Revenue Optimization and awarded her the Revenue Management Professional of the Year award in 2014.

Hill earned a bachelor of arts degree in American history at Mercer University, Macon, Georgia, and earned HSMAI's Certified Revenue Management Executive designation, known as CRME.

Mark Woodworth -

Senior Managing Director, CBRE Hotels Americas Research

Mark Woodworth, national practice leader of CBRE Hotels' Americas Research, has over 35 years of hospitality industry experience, in both a consulting and hands-on operational capacity.

Woodworth has managed and conducted consulting assignments, involving both the public and private sectors, throughout the U.S. He has worked for the industry's leading lenders, developers, chains and management companies in all aspects of operations, development and financing.

Prior to joining CBRE Hotels in July 2014, he was president and national practice leader of PKF Hospitality Research and a member of the executive committee of PKF Consulting USA.

Earlier, Woodworth served Coopers & Lybrand LLP as a partner and industry chairman of its hospitality industry consulting practice and was a senior principal with Laventhol & Horwath, responsible for lodging and real estate consulting services in the Southeast.

He serves on the board of the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Finance Committee of the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta and served for two terms on the Cornell University Council. He is a member of the Conference of Business Economists and completed a three-year term on Cornell's Center for Hospitality Research board of advisors.

Woodworth earned bachelor of science and master's degrees at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, Ithaca, New York. He served on the faculty of the Center for Professional Development at Cornell for 12 years, where he continues as a guest lecturer.

Elliott Ferguson II -

President & CEO, Destination DC

Elliott Ferguson, a 27-year veteran of the travel and hospitality industry, is president & CEO of Destination DC, the District of Columbia's official destination marketing organization.

He leads Destination DC's efforts to generate economic opportunity through meetings and tourism, overseeing the organization's convention and tourism sales, marketing, finance and business development operations.

Ferguson began his tenure with Destination DC in 2001 as senior vice president of convention sales and services and has served in current role since 2009. Prior to Destination DC, he was vice president of sales for the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau and director of sales for the convention and visitors bureaus of Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia.

Ferguson earned a bachelor of arts degree in marketing and business administration at Savannah State University. He is a member of the American Society of Association Executives, Professional Conference Management Association and Destinations International, among other industry organizations.

Ferguson currently serves as the first vice chair of the U.S. Travel Association board and is a member of the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board and Hospitality Alliance of Washington, D.C. He serves on the boards of the Smithsonian National Zoo, DC Jazz Festival, Capital Partners for Education, United Way of the National Capital Area and the Ryan Kerrigan "Blitz for the Better" Foundation. He also is an active mentor with Capital Partners for Education.

Robert Gilbert -

President & CEO, Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International

As president & CEO of the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International, Robert Gilbert has guided the organization through a dynamic and exciting period of change as the 7,000-plus-member organization has been re-established globally to grow the revenue for hotels through sales, marketing and revenue optimization.

During Gilbert's tenure, HSMAI has achieved tremendous success with a number of initiatives ranging from the development of expert communities in the areas of digital marketing, resort marketing, and revenue management; the development of HSMAI University's webinars and certification programs; and global expansion through the formation of HSMAI Global and regional development in Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

Gilbert earned a bachelor of science degree at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, Ithaca, New York. He has been a member of HSMAI since joining the student chapter at Cornell.

He is a frequent guest lecturer at Cornell, past chair of the Events Industry Council and has served on the American Hotel & Lodging Association board and Travel and Tourism Coalition of the U.S. Travel Association. He also serves on several hospitality and hotel management school advisory boards.

John Hach -

Senior Hotel Industry Analyst & Advisor, TravelClick

John Hach, TravelClick's senior hotel industry analyst and advisor, joined the company in 2004 and has over 38 years of e-commerce marketing experience in the travel industry.

He is a regular industry speaker whose insights and perspective have been featured on CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg and in The New York Times.

Hach is a graduate of Chicago State University and has served as a guest lecturer and advisor at Roosevelt University, Chicago; Boston University; and Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, Ithaca, New York. He was chairman of the Florida Commission on Tourism and as executive director of the California Tourism Industry Association.

About HSMAI Washington DC ChapterRevenue per available room up 0.8 Percent to CAD140.50

The Canadian hotel industry recorded mixed year-over-year results in the three key performance metrics during the week of 15-21 July 2018, according to data from STR.

In comparison with the week of 16-22 July 2017, the industry reported the following:

Occupancy: -2.4% to 78.8%

Average daily rate (ADR): +2.8% to CAD178.33

Revenue per available room (RevPAR): +0.4% to CAD140.50

Among the provinces and territories, the Northwest Territories registered the highest rise in occupancy (+6.1% to 59.2%) and the only double-digit increase in RevPAR (+10.1% to CAD92.04).

British Columbia posted the largest rise in ADR (+7.5% to US$234.48).

Manitoba experienced the second-highest jumps in occupancy (+5.2% to 75.2%) and RevPAR (+7.0% to CAD91.24).

Newfoundland and Labrador reported the only double-digit declines in occupancy (-23.2% to 65.8%) and RevPAR (-29.8% to CAD96.21) and the largest drop in ADR (-8.7% to CAD146.23).

Nova Scotia saw the second-largest decreases in occupancy (-8.0% to 83.4%) and RevPAR (-8.3% to CAD132.48).

STR provides clients from multiple market sectors with premium, global data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights. Founded in 1985, STR maintains a presence in 10 countries around the world with a corporate North American headquarters in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and an international headquarters in London, England. For more information, please visit str.com.

Daily News Delivery Join your colleagues and stay up to date on the latest Hotel industry news and trends. Subscribe

 2021 Hotel News ResourceDoes Azealia Banks actually like anybody? It appears that she's only making headlines when she's dissing someone new or going after one of her usual targets. After canceling her upcoming album from the backlash of her Wild 'n Out appearance, Azealia is back on her hating grind by going after Nicki Minaj and 6ix9ine. While she usually finds a way to diss Cardi B, she left the new mother alone to focus her attention on the "FEFE" co-stars. Many of the posts have since been deleted but XXL found some screenshots and let me tell you, Azealia is not happy.

Banks was taken aback after hearing that the "Chun-Li" artist had collaborated with 6ix9ine, who has admitted to his involvement in a sex crime against a minor. While he is working hard to reshape his image, he has not gotten on Azealia's good side at all. The female emcee tweeted, "Too much for me. Im deleting my barb card membership. She is officially over. Pedophilia is absolutely gross and evil. Anyone who supports that shit is a lunatic. I'm sorry. Dude gets convicted and youre still trying to help him out of it? That is very dark."

While Nicki's feature does not mean that she "supports pedophilia" at all, we do see Banks' point. However, she is possibly overreacting when she compares the act to working with David Duke, the former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. "Im convinced some rappers would collab with David Duke if they felt it would chart. Despicable," wrote the rapper.

All of the Instagram stories have been deleted but the majority of her tweets remain on her page. Do you agree with Azealia?In 2016, Azealia Banks accused Russell Crowe of spitting on her, calling her the n-word and choking her. However, other guests who were at the party didn't back up her claim. She filed a police report against Crowe but an Los Angeles D.A. rejected the case. Last month, she announced that she'll be opening up a crowdfunding campaign in order to fund her possible lawsuit against Russell Crowe. More than a month later, it's reported that she abandoned the GoFundMe campaign.

According to TheBlast, Azealia Banks' appears to have given up on her GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to sue Russell Crowe over the 2016 incident. They say that Banks hasn't filled the proper information to receive her payout from the campaign. Her campaign will remain inactive until she does.

At this point, Banks' campaign hasn't been suspended or taken down but the ability to donate money has been put on hold. The last donation she received was 21 days a go.

After launching her "Sue Crowe For Spitting On AB" campaign on June 24th, she has raised $2,903 out of her goal of $100K.

Aside from her GoFundMe campaign, Azealia Banks' has had more difficulties over the past few weeks. Following her "Wild N Out" debacle, she announced that her album Fantasea II was cancelled and that she'll release new music when she feels like it.G Herbo and Southside have been teasing a collaborative album - Swervo - since the former was Lil Herb and the latter first began going by Young Sizzle. Now, while the 808 Mafia co-founder occasionally raps under the Young Sizzle moniker, this forthcoming 14-track project is being billed as G Herbos sophomore effort and the official follow up to last years critically acclaimed debut, Humble Beast. The cover for Swervo even pays direct homage to Eric B. and Rakims Follow the Leader.

Over the years, this fledgling dynamic has developed into a fruitful professional relationship that has resulted in multiple captivating moments on wax. The following eight tracks are stray collaborations between the two artists and should serve as a effective sampler prior to the release of Swervo at midnight.

***

"I'm Rollin" (2015)

When Lil Herb and Southside first started collaborating, the young Chicago rapper was fighting for his soul. Although Herb had faced countless traumatic events in his short life, the death of one of his closest childhood friends, Jacobi Herring, seemed to take a real toll on his mental health. Ballin Like Kobe, the mixtape featuring "I'm Rollin", was an ode to this friend, and bookends G Herbo's time as Lil Herb. The track itself is purposefully over the top as Herb tries unsuccessfully to relieve himself from the burden of his day to day.

"100 Days 100 Nights" (2015)

Another record from Ballin Like Kobe, "100 Days 100 Nights" is a true highlight in G Herbo's catalog. Backed by an uncharacteristically atmospheric Southside beat, Herbo is able to tone down the aggression in order to drop countless insightful gems. A majority of the first verse is autobiographical and paints a vivid image of a displaced child, first separated from his mother by circumstance, now due to tour dates. By the second verse, he's more purposeful in his commentary and militant in a manner that will go on to inform much of the storytelling throughout Humble Beast: "We ignorant, we immigrants, we murders, we prisoners/We burglars, we hustlers, you start it off, we finish it."

"Eastside Story" (2016)

A triumphant rags to riches tale, this track is a single-verse onslaught of pain, perseverance and well-deserved bravado. Although he spends the entirety of the run-time eulogizing a depressingly long list of fallen friends, Herbo's talent lies in translating those extremely personal trials into poignant morality plays for public consumption. Over a soulful Southside instrumental, G Herbo lays claim to his turbulent rise to fame; from the year he met Kobe to the moment he became G Herbo, the Humble Beast, "Eastside Story" is a great introductory track for those unfamiliar with the artist's confessional style (ironically, it can be found on a project called Strictly 4 My Fans).

"N*gga" (2017)

A rumored track that was supposedly meant for Swervo, "N*gga" features both artists on MC duty, with Young Sizzle working overtime to also provide a dramatic, piano-driven instrumental. Tracks like this one have us hoping there are at least a few Southside verses on their upcoming album.

"I Got That" (2017)

Possibly another potential Swervo joint that was left on the cutting room floor, "I Got That" is G Herbo fully on his bully. "Foenem starting to call me Swervo cause I stay in turbos," he boasts, sounding utterly unconcerned for a change.

"Legend" (2017)

Back when this Southside-produced street single first dropped, Herbo didn't even know if it was meant for a mixtape or album - now, with the project imminent, it's apparent just how tirelessly the duo has worked on crafting their collaborative debut. "Legend" is most likely the best example of what to expect from Swervo: off-the-wall instrumentals that harken back to the drill music's heyday combined with exquisitely lyrical shit poppin'.

"Actions" (2018)

A Young Sizzle track off of Trap Ye 2, "Actions" is the by far the best example of the well-known producer's understated skill as an MC. It's also proof that the prolific originator may be keeping many of his best beats close to his chest.

"Yerkys" (2018)

A street single like "Legend", "Yerkys" sees G Herbo intent on not letting the problems that haunt his mind devalue the gift that is the present. However, nothing is ever that simple with Herb. As always, the celebration is anchored by his consistent hustle, and the self-medication is never glorified.Lil Uzi Vert has kept everyone waiting anxiously for the release of his next project. While Don Cannon's assured fans that it's coming this year, we haven't received much updates on it. In recent times, we've been blessed enough to receive some new music from him, whether they're "leaked" or guest verses. Today, Lil Uzi Vert joins Thouxanbanfauni for the "Jeans Remix."

Towards the end of April, Thouxanbanfauni released the single "Jeans" and now, he brings new life to the single with an official remix featuring Lil Uzi Vert. The track was produced by Dee Money, GT Muzik and DJ Plugg. The original was already a banger but Uzi's melodic delivery gives the song a new vibe.

It feels like Lil Uzi Vert's made more of an effort to shed some light on up-and-coming artists this year. He linked up with Lil Tracy in May for the "Like A Farmer" remix and more recently, he joined forces with Juice WRLD for "Wasted."

The "Jeans Remix" serves as the third offering we've received from Uzi this week. A few days a go, Uzi released two new tracks "Introvert" and "Everything Lit." Hopefully, his run this summer serves as a build up for whatever project we'll receive from him this year.

Quotable Lyrics

Drivin' the Lamb at the Lotus

Twelve pull up, told me to slow up

Spin around and hit the donuts

I had your girl, I won't hold herChad Merrill just welcomed his son Layton into his home five months ago, but the new father was shot dead last weekend. According to CNN, Merrill was out at the Red Rose Restaurant and Lounge near York, Pennsylvania with his friend Jerrell Douglas. James Saylor approached Douglas and began calling him racial slurs, but Merrill cautioned his friend to ignore the hatred. Douglas, who is Black, followed his friend's advice, and soon after, Saylor was kicked out of the bar.

Merrill decided to leave the bar and confront Saylor. Surveillance-camera footage shows Saylor firing his weapon at the building after being kicked out. Then, when Merrill confronted him at his truck, Saylor shot him in the chest and sped off. He crashed into a sedan before making his escape, and when police went to investigate his residence, the damage on his vehicle matched the accident in the footage. Saylor is being held at the York County Prison on one count of criminal homicide. His preliminary hearing is set for August 3, and he had six previous convictions for careless driving and related traffic violations on his record.

A GoFundMe page has been started to help with the funeral costs for Merrill. The goal was set at $15,000, but donations have reached $62,615 in just five days.Papa John's embattled founder John Schnatter feels he was set up to lose by the company's board of directors. The co-chairs hired a consultant firm to ask him a series of racially sensitive questions, all of which were recorded through audio conferencing. The fallout from the incident was real, and the company's stock has taken a tumble, leading shareholders to demand Schnatter's head for their trouble and his insensitive remarks.

Not only did the board of directors vote to sever ties with the company founder but they started removing all media containing his face. The Papa John's logo is clearly etched in our minds as a cartoon depiction of John Schnatter aka Papa John, in a relaxed pose.

After giving the issue deliberate thought and legal counsel, Schnatter has decided to file a lawsuit against his former company. He is seeking all documentation filed by the company in the aftermath of his N-Word blunder, "because of the unexplained and heavy-handed way in which the company has treated him since the publication of a story that falsely accused him of using a racial slur."

As TMZ reported, John Schnatter has officially resigned as chairman of Papa John's International. He also renounced his seat on the University of Louisville's Board of Trustees, after yielding to internal pressure. As of right now, Schnatter is not seeking a big cash settlement, but rather all the documentation behind "the conspiracy to get him ousted."Post Malone will be in Tokyo, Japan this weekend to perform at the Fuji Rock Festival alongside others like Skrillex, N.E.R.D. and Bob Dylan. During his trip to the beloved land, he'll be stopping off at clothing shop NUBIAN to launch a limited edition 48-hour pop-up.

The two-day offerings will give fans a chance to cop rare merchandise including long and short-sleeved t-shirts, beanies and tote bags. All the shirts will back a different graphic design to add more appeal to the exclusive drop. An industrial themed multimedia installation will accompany the pop-up, designed by Post himself.

Peep some of the offerings below and if you so happen to be over in Tokyo, you know where to go on July 28th and 29th.

Image from Hypebeast

Image from Hypebeast

Image from Hypebeast

Image from Hypebeast

Image from HypebeastDubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) said its energy meter testing laboratory has been accredited by the Emirates International Accreditation Centre (EIAC) as per the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025:2005, which specifies the requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories.



It is adopted by the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).



Dewas lab is the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa to receive this international accreditation. This underlines Dewas leadership and excellence in providing world-class services according to the highest levels of quality.



Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, the managing director and CEO of Dewa, received the accreditation certificate from Amina Ahmed, the chief executive of EIAC in the presence of Rashid Bin Humaidan, the executive VP of Distribution Power, and Marwan Al Sabbagh, the VP of Projects and Connection Services at Dewa were also present.



On the achievement, Al Tayer said: "This is another accomplishment to Dewas long list of achievements in excellence and its efforts to improve standards and procedures. This important accreditation has a technical dimension as it covers the technical requirements to prove the efficiency of testing and calibration laboratories."



Al Tayer commended EIACs efforts and the team from the Energy Meter Testing Laboratory and other concerned departments at Dewa.



"Dewa has established its leading position amongst the world's leading utilities by continuously providing world-class services. We launched smart applications through our Smart Meters and Grids initiative, to speed up service delivery and response," he added.-TradeArabia News ServiceOver the weekend, Tekashi 6ix9ine was robbed and kidnapped but thankfully, nothing happened to him. He previously said that he feels the robbery was an inside job. However, it should be a lesson for the rapper to watch the way he moves on the street and on social media. During his trip to Chicago in June, the rapper was mocked for moving around with security but after the robbery, we would only hope that he bulks up his team. In a recent trip to the strip club, the Brooklyn rapper pulled up with his security team surrounding him.

Tekashi 6ix9ine is taking extra precaution after Sunday's robbery. The "FEFE" rapper made his way to Starlet's Gentlemen's Club in Queens last night with a whole gang of security. The rapper was seen throwing bands in the air while his song, "BILLY" played. Interestingly enough, G-Herbo was also spotted at Starlet's last night but it looks like they didn't run into each other. 6ix9ine's previously dissed Herbo on social media in the past.

Aside from keeping his security close, the rapper was recently revealed to be one of the openers on Nicki Minaj and Future's joint "NICKIHNDRXX" tour which kicks off this fall. The announcement came only a few days after the release of 6ix9ine's collaboration with Nicki on their track, "FEFE" alongside Murda Beatz. This will be the first major tour that 6ix9ine's been on since coming out the gates with "GUMMO."

[VIA]Last year, Dhiaa Jamil, chief operating officer of power conglomerate Duke Energy, watched helicopters string transmission lines as they darted between towers standing as high as 100 feet, pondering the high costs of renting the copters and risks of crashing into a power line tower or a thicket of tall trees. There had to be a better, safer and cheaper way to do this.

There was. Drones.

Jamils eureka moment was the beginning of Dukes first use of aerial drones to restring power lines. The method has been used in remote, hard-to-access jungles of Puerto Rico, helping to speed the rebuilding of the electrical system devastated last year by Hurricane Maria.

Now Playing: Ryan Baker, CEO of Arch Aerial, talks about his drone inspection company as they fly over a pipe rack at Thermal Energy Corporation, Tuesday, June 26, 2018, in Houston. Video: Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle

Duke, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., today has a team of 30 people dedicated to deploying drones undertaking a variety of tasks across electrical and pipeline operations in a half-dozen states.

Were at the starting line for this, said Jacob Velky, manager of Dukes aerial drone program. Its going to have a very large impact across many, many different lines of business.

Duke Energy is just one example of the expanding use of drones in the energy industry as power, pipeline and production companies turn to robotics to cut costs and to keep workers out of dangerous situations. Drones today are increasingly used for inspections, surveying pipeline and transmission line routes, and gathering visual data detailing the topography of areas where power lines and pipelines might run or crews might do repair work.

Drones keep tabs on solar farms, using infrared technology that captures heat signatures to determine whether individual panels are working. In the not too distant future, aerial drones will likely head offshore, allowing companies to check deepwater rigs without leaving offices in places like Houston, hundreds of miles away.

Jim Henry, the founder and chairman of Henry Resources, said his Midland oil exploration and production company has hired aerial drone companies to conduct surveys of land targeted for drilling. Henry, who has been in the oil business for more than four decades, said he expects the use of drones to grow across the industry, not only locating routes for pipelines, but also detecting oil and gas well locations.

Over time, Henry said, we will find uses for them in many more places.

The adoption of drones has come slowly not only in the energy business, but also other industries, in large part because of the wait for the Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates the nations airspace, to adopt rules for the civilian use of aerial drones.

The rules were enacted in 2016, setting the parameters of how, where and when drones can fly without interfering with commercial air traffic. Before that, companies had to go through a long process to seek waivers from the FAA to operate. Now, the rules allow a certified drone pilot to fly up to 400 feet in the air.

With the ebbing of the regulatory uncertainty, companies that provide drone services are looking to expand, with many eyeing opportunities in the energy industry. Among them are the Houston startup Arch Aerial.

Arch Aerial was founded in 2013 by Ryan Baker, then a student at the University of Texas, and three partners, two of whom were also UT students at the time. Baker, 27, who majored in archaeology, said he became aware of the potential for aerial drones while on a dig in Italys Tuscany region. Baker watched the team of archaeologists collect information about the location of artifacts by taking photos from helium balloons and correlating them with GPS data. He had an epiphany.

I figured there was a much easier way and repeatable way to capture that data, Baker said. That was with drones.

He set out to start a company aimed at building low-cost drones to collect inexpensive and repeatable data. Arch Aerials first customer was a university for which Arch provided equipment. In 2015, Baker and his partners realized the pipeline industry was a likely customer for their services.

Today, Arch Aerial has five full-time employees, including three drone pilots. Baker said the company, whose pipeline customers include Henry Resources and a subsidiary of the Houston construction company Tellepsen Builders, is growing rapidly year over year.

Arch Aerial drones conduct right-of-way inspections, which gather information about topography and alternate routes for pipelines and transmission lines. Once construction gets underway, drone surveys collect more data and use 3-D modeling to pinpoint the placement of each section of pipe. After construction, the drones document that companies have replaced grass, restored eroded areas and repaired other environmental damage.

Lance Li, a Sugarland native who founded the aerial drone company Aerospec Technologies in October 2015, said the next step for the emerging industry is to process and analyze data immediately after the drone acquires it, rather than waiting for the drone to be brought back to the office for a technician to analyze it.

Aerospec focuses almost exclusively on the energy industry. Li said he began formulating his plan for the company after the Deepwater Horizon explosion in 2010, which led him to think about how robotics could prevent such a tragedy. Robots, he figured, could conduct more frequent and thorough inspections to help detect hazards before they became tragedies.

Lis company serves oil and gas clients through its Houston office while work in its Boston headquarters focuses on artificial intelligence research and development. Li said Aerospec is attracting clients, while still raising venture capital to expand. He projects his company will employ 10 by the end of this year, up from the original two.

Aerospec increasingly specializes in surveying solar installations, where they collect hundreds of images. An algorithm developed by the company analyzes the images at high speeds.

Duke Energy also used drones to inspect solar farms, gathering data from sensors and using thermal cameras to pinpoint from where heat is emanating, an indication of whether the panel is functioning properly. Before drones were introduced, two technicians wearing hard hats, reflective vests and protective eyewear, walked from one combiner box, which includes all the wiring from a group of solar panels, to another. If an error was detected, a technician would need to follow the lines back to the panel to determine which one was defective.

In addition to the cost, said Velky, There is risk associated with it because employees have to work with energized equipment.

Industry officials say improving safety may well be the greatest attraction of drone technology, which would spare workers from some of the most dangerous jobs, such as working far above the ground, dealing with electrically charged equipment and trekking through mountainous or rough terrain.

I only see it growing, said Velky. The really powerful part about drone technology is thinking about all the places that we could put a drone where a human doesnt belong.

jose.gonzalez@chron.com

twitter.com/jrgzztxIt takes a smooth and practiced hand to load container ships at Port Houston. With two joysticks and myriad buttons, crane operators must hoist cargo over the side of an expensive vessel and onto an already massive stack of metal shipping containers.

Developing that touch takes time, a luxury no longer afforded to the increasingly fast-paced maritime sector. Theres little patience for trainees slowing down operations.

Production falls below a certain point, theyre going to pull that guy out, said Alan Robb, International Longshoremens Association president for the South Atlantic and Gulf Coast District.

RELATED: Q&A: San Jacinto College's John Stauffer trains a new generation of more educated mariners

So to increase a work force crucial to the ports future, the West Gulf Maritime Association and Port Houston spent more than $500,000 on two simulators that they will officially unveil on Thursday.

The expanded Panama Canal allows larger container ships to travel between Houston and Asia. Local population growth is spurring the need for imported goods. And the export of plastic resins will continue to ramp up as more petrochemical facilities come online.

All of this is expected to accelerate the ports container business, which handled more than 2 million of the 20-foot-equivalent containers in 2015. That number ballooned to 2.46 million last year.

All of our livelihoods and ability to grow are dependent on the people whom operate these cranes, Port Houston executive director Roger Guenther said.

Now Playing: The West Gulf Maritime Association and the Port of Houston have purchased two crane simulators to train crane operators for the port. (Video by Andrea Leinfelder/Houston Chronicle)

The port is likewise investing in new equipment. Three ship-to-shore container cranes and five rubber-tired gantry cranes, used to stack containers within the terminal, are currently en route to Houston. That will bring the operational crane totals to 26 and 85, respectively, at Bayport and Barbours Cut container terminals.

The ship-to-shore crane simulation uses seven monitors: two on the left of the crane operator, two on the right, two in front and one below. The monitor underfoot provides vertigo-inducing views, akin to what crane operators will experience on the docks, and the participants chair moves in accordance to the simulated crane.

Ideally, two weeks in the simulators  and several additional weeks in an actual crane  will get new operators to more quickly meet the expected standard of moving 30 to 35 containers each hour.

If youve got a crane operator trainee moving 20 moves per hour, its going to hurt the entire bottom line, said Chelsea Egmon, vice president of labor relations for the West Gulf Maritime Association. So if we can front-end some of this skill building, then its going to pay off for everybody down the line.

The simulators also allow instructors to provide guidance on joystick movements and the swing of containers. Trainees learn to operate safely alongside trucks and people on the dock.

RELATED: Simulator gives Ship Channel pilots glimpse into the future

Its also a safe environment for learning to operate in high wind or emergency situations, such as when a mooring line snaps.

If they mess up, the screen just cracks instead of the crane falling into the water or something like that, said Jason Meneley, president of CP Tech, the company that conducts training on the simulators.

Roberto Alvarado, 38, was in the simulator this week preparing for a job he has long aspired to hold.

Alvarados first job with the International Longshoremens Association, nearly 16 years ago, was in the hull of a ship. He labored to put chains and nylon straps around steel so it could be lifted from the vessel. He envied the crane operators.

I said, One day, Im going to be there, he recalled.

Alvarado worked his way up to the smaller onboard cranes used to unload steel. Now, hes working to be certified on the massive ship-to-shore cranes that move containers. He said the simulator is helping him get used to the new vantage point.

Its high, he said. Overwhelming, but this does help.

Crane operators are selected from the most experienced International Longshoremens Association workers, and they can earn $100,000 to $250,000 a year.

The associations Robb praised the West Gulf Maritime Association and Port Houston for purchasing the simulators. He said keeping up with the demand for more workers is paramount to both the maritime business and economy overall. Simulators will be key.

I think its probably one of the smartest things that have been done in the maritime industry in a long time, Robb said.

andrea.leinfelder@chron.com

twitter.com/andrearumbaughMothers across the country are trying to call attention to the Trump Administration's efforts to roll back Obama-era methane regulations.

The Moms Clean Air Force issued a new report called "Face to face with oil and gas: voices from the front lines of oil and gas pollution," that chronicles the health impacts families living near oil and gas plays across the country say are caused by oil and gas exploration.

The report slammed the administration of President Donald Trump for working to loosen pollution regulations related to oil and gas development. It calls out Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's proposal to revise parts of the 2016 Waste Prevention Rule to revert back to the rules in place prior to the current rule. The rule seeks to reduce the waste of natural gas and replaced regulations that were passed in 1979.

RELATED: Study says oil and gas industry leaking more methane than previously reported

It also takes issue with the Environmental Protection Agency's proposal to revisit some parts of the New Source Performance Standards, which would regulate natural gas operations to try to reduce their methane emissions.

Misti O'Quinn, who lives in Dallas County near the Barnett Shale, a major natural gas field on North Texas, says two of her three children have suffered with asthma all their lives. She blames the natural gas operations located west of Dallas -- where thousands of natural gas wells were active in 2016 -- for her children's ailments.

"It is my hope that this report spurs something that will have our lawmakers looking at keeping safeguards that can get us in attainment and protect our children," O'Quinn said.

RELATED: San Antonio's ozone levels determined to be in non-attainment by EPA

Dallas and every other major city in Texas currently has higher ozone levels than is permitted, making them out of attainment according to the EPA. Bexar County, which contains much of San Antonio, was recently determined to be in non-attainment by the EPA. Ozone can cause respiratory illnesses.

"We are very concerned about what's happening at the federal level as far as health protections for our children and for our families," said Patrice Tomcik, national oil and gas program coordinator for the group. "We want to highlight what is happening across the country and that's why we are bringing forth all of these real life experiences from moms across the nation showing that we do need these health protections."

The American Lung Association said 15 of Texas' 254 counties, including all Texas counties with large cities, scored an "F" for ozone pollution. Included in that list of counties is Houston's Harris County, which had 60 ozone warnings days including the only purple alert, the most severe warning that suggests almost everyone should avoid prolonged time outside.

Fort Worth's Tarrant County had the second-most ozone warning days with 48 days followed closely by Denton County. San Antonio's Bexar County had the sixth most days of ozone warnings at 24, according to the ALA data from its 2018 State of the Air report.

From ExpressNews.com: A natural gas pipeline rupture ruined a South Texas couple's dreams

Air quality monitors are located in less than 1,000 of the 3,068 counties in the United States, according to the ALA. Only 34 of Texas' counties have ozone monitoring.

Adelita Cantu, an associate professor at University of Texas Health San Antonio's School of Nursing, said she recently visited Karnes County -- an area at the heart of South Texas' Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas field -- and noted that it has far fewer air monitors compared to the Barnett Shale, which is located near Dallas and Fort Worth.

"With only having that limited number of monitors it constrains and puts some barriers on how we can monitor the air," Cantu said.

A study on methane emissions from U.S. oil and gas operations released in the prestigious journal Science in June said annual methane emission rates from oil and gas operations are 60 percent higher than previously reported by the EPA.Royal Dutch Shell Plc finally gave investors the share buybacks theyve been demanding, even as profit fell short of expectations despite resurgent crude prices.

The Anglo-Dutch energy producer said Thursday that it is starting a $25 billion share-repurchase program, initially buying up $2 billion of stock over three months. That should soothe investors who have grown increasingly anxious about when theyll see the reward for sticking with Shell through the biggest oil-industry downturn in a generation.

It wasnt all good news, as adjusted net income for the second quarter of $4.69 billion fell short of even the lowest analyst estimate. Its peers Equinor ASA and Total SA nearly matched or exceeded profit expectations.

SERVICES: Halliburton reports strong second quarter profit

Shells management resisted starting buybacks in the first quarter, saying its priority was paying down debt that ballooned after the more than $50 billion acquisition of BG Group Plc in 2016. Since then, crude has risen to a three-year high, cash flow has surged and the company has made further progress in paying down its borrowings.

Cash flow is whats critical here, said Oswald Clint, an analyst at Sanford C Bernstein Ltd. Its just confirming the strength of the integrated Shell-BG business.

Cash flow for the quarter reached $11.6 billion, excluding working capital movements, the highest since 2014 when crude averaged over $100 a barrel, Shell Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden said in a Bloomberg television interview.

Still, shares fell immediately after the market open and continued to decline as Van Beurden and Chief Financial Officer Jessica Uhl explained in a call with reporters that much of the earnings miss was largely due to one-time issues such as the rapid strengthening of the U.S. dollar against the Brazilian real in the quarter. Uhl also blamed the opacity of the trading business for the difference between estimates and income.

We had overall a very good quarter. That being said, there were different expectations on the earnings side, said Uhl. Currency moves had a real impact that can be difficult to anticipate and model.

Additional questions arose about the structure of the buyback program. Though it will vary quarter by quarter, according to Uhl, some thought it would have a stronger start. Christyan Malek, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase & Co., estimated the company would complete $8 billion of buybacks in the second half of 2018. That would require Shell to repurchase $6 billion of shares between October and December, triple the current pace.

RELATED: Shell in talks to sell $2 billion Nigeria oil assets

Shell B shares in London fell 3 percent to 2,644 pence at 10:28 a.m. in London. Equinor dropped 1.4 percent in Oslo, while Total rose 1.6 percent in Paris.

Now the question of buybacks has been answered, investors will also be keenly watching for any indication from management about how Shell will spend surplus cash. After years of selling assets, the company has signaled a desire to return to growth mode.

A rush of activity in northwestern Canada has increased speculation Shell could give the go-ahead for a $30 billion liquefied natural gas project this year. The company is also said to have bid, with a partner, for BHP Billiton Ltd.s U.S. onshore oil and gas business, which could be worth about $9 billion.

Shells total oil and gas production from the upstream division fell 7 percent in the second quarter, compared to a year earlier, to 2.488 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, mainly due to asset sales. The company predicted a further reduction in output this quarter, partly as a result of higher maintenance.

2018 Bloomberg L.P.Convicted felon Carlos Uresti has an ally in his fight to collect his state pension: his estranged wife.

Lleanna Uresti, who in March filed for divorce from the disgraced ex-lawmaker about a week after a jury convicted him on 11 felony charges, asked a federal judge Wednesday to allow Carlos Uresti to receive the pension he earned while serving in the state Legislature for 21 years.

Carlos Uresti, 54, has no source of income without the Texas Employee Retirement System sending him monthly retirement checks, Lleanna, 42, said in a court filing. He valued his annual pension at more than $80,000 in an interview last month when he announced his resignation from the state Senate.

Days after the announcement, he was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for his involvement in a now-defunct oil field services company that defrauded investors. As part of his sentence, he owes about $6.3 million to the victims of his crimes.

Uresti, his wife, and other family representatives are prohibited from diminishing the value of any of his property under a restraining order issued by Senior U.S. District Judge David Ezra four days after the divorce petition was filed.

There is an exception under the restraining order that allows for the payment of normal monthly living expenses  including for Lleanna.

The restraining order has prevented Uresti from receiving his pension from the Texas Employee Retirement System, Lleanna notes in her court filing.

Without these checks Mr. Uresti cannot provide the necessary and normal monthly living expenses, which pursuant to the Restraining Order, (Lleanna) is entitled to receive, her filing adds.

On Friday, Uresti filed court papers requesting that he be allowed to start receiving his state pension because he doesnt have the money to survive. He added he has no funds to pay basic living expenses.

ERS refuses to issue any checks to him because of the restraining order, his filing adds.

Ezra has set a Tuesday court hearing on Urestis request. The U.S. attorneys office has indicated to both Uresti and Lleanna that it opposes their requests, their court filings state. The government has yet to file a formal response with the court, however.

Both of the Urestis also want Ezra to rule that the restraining order doesnt prevent them from entering into an agreed divorce and property settlement.

My client just wants to get a divorce, said Juanita Pelaez-Prada, Lleannas lawyer. Unfortunately, we were tied up by this restraining order. Just how much of Urestis pension Lleanna will receive will be determined in the divorce proceeding, Pelaez-Prada said.

In requesting the restraining order, prosecutors expressed skepticism about the divorce. They alleged its mainly an attempt to avoid having to pay restitution to Urestis victims.

RELATED: Early voting ends Friday for Senate District 19 special election

Pelaez-Prada denied that was the case.

You guys have several times reported on the allegations against Mr. Uresti, which clearly include adultery, she said. My client has more than enough reasons to want to get a divorce.

Urestis five-week trial included vivid testimony about him carrying on an extramarital relationship. He and Lleanna were married in 2012.

As part of his efforts to make restitution to his victims, Uresti previously obtained court approval to sell the couples Helotes estate, valued at $1.7 million, and the McCullough Avenue office building that formerly housed his law office. He gave up his law license earlier this year.

Uresti was indicted last year over his involvement in FourWinds Logistics, a San Antonio company that bought and sold sand used in fracking for oil production. Uresti was a 1 percent owner, outside legal counsel and recruited investors. The company, which went bankrupt in 2015, turned out to be a Ponzi scheme. He intends to appeal his conviction.

The longtime San Antonio Democrat remains free until after an October trial on bribery charges that are unrelated to FourWinds. He has denied the charges.

Patrick Danner is a staff writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | pdanner@express-news.net | Twitter: @AlamoPDTexas history tours tend to include the same well-worn stops. But for those who have explored every inch of the Capitol and remembered the Alamo a few too many times, the Lone Star State is home to plenty more unusual attractions. These day trips are lesser known, but each reveals its own slice of Texas rich, turbulent history.

Wander the Webb Gallery

Waxahachie

Though the Webb Gallery has been called a collection of outsider and folk art, the pieces housed inside a stunning 116-year-old building in Waxahachie are more than that. Within the gallerys 5,000 square feet, the paintings of tattoo artist Jackie Dunn Smith hang together with work by William S. Burroughs and posters from American fraternal societies. The diverse collections are united by a common spirit: handmade, with a narrative design and a raw, strong presence, according to Julie Webb, who runs the gallery with her husband, Bruce. While the gallery attracts some very well-known visitors, including David Byrne of the Talking Heads, the owners are dedicated to making it accessible to anybody. The current exhibition is a celebration of Texas culture and runs until Aug. 26.

Dive Valhalla

Midland

Scuba enthusiasts have been making the trek to Midland to dive in the decommissioned nuclear silo at Valhalla for the past 20 years. The site offers a unique experience, allowing more advanced divers to explore the flooded silo the same way theyd dive a shipwreck. It now caters to those who would prefer to remain on land as well. Visitors can spend the night in another former missile silo that has been transformed into a bed-and-breakfast where they experience first-hand what life was like for the crews assigned to watch the silos  including a shut-in, lock-down drill. Though probably not for the claustrophobic, a trip to Valhalla dives deep into Texas Cold War past.

Order the calf fries at Risckys Steakhouse

Fort Worth

Calf fries (deep-fried bull testicles, for the uninitiated) can be found at restaurants across the state, but they were first served at Theos Saddle & Sirloin Inn in Fort Worth in the 1920s. The inn closed years ago, but when Risckys Steakhouse took over the building in 1993, it left the popular appetizer on the menu. Its now a restaurant staple. Calf fries are often seen as a novelty dish good for shocking out-of-town guests, but they are truly part of Texas culinary history. This cowboy delicacy is not only a nod to hardworking cowhands who didnt waste any part of an animal, it harks back even further into Texas history to the Basque immigrants, who most likely brought calf fries and Spanish ranching culture to the U.S. in the 1800s.

Explore the architecture at the University of Texas at El Paso

El Paso

First-time visitors to the university might find it strange to see Bhutanese-style buildings nestled into the landscape of the Chihuahuan Desert. And, indeed, the massive sloping walls, overhanging roofs and mosaic-tiled mandalas were originally a whim of Kathleen Worrell, the wife of the first dean of the school, who was fascinated with a 1914 National Geographic article on the Forbidden Kingdom. But over the past hundred years, the school has not only continued to build in the style of the Himalayan country but has cultivated a relationship with Bhutan, hosting festivals and attracting a growing number of Bhutanese students.

Imbibe inspiration from The King of the Blues at Bar 414

San Antonio

Robert Johnson, the man who influenced Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, recorded some of his greatest works in Room 414 of San Antonios Gunter Hotel. Over three days, he knocked out 16 of his most canonical songs, including Cross Road Blues and Sweet Home Chicago. One of his album covers memorializes that 1936 recording session, with a drawing of Johnson bent over his guitar in the corner of his makeshift recording studio. The hotel has been taken over by the Sheraton, but Johnsons memory is kept alive in Bar 414, which offers Prohibition-era drinks in memory of the blues legend.

Discover ancient pictographs at Hueco Tanks State Park

West Texas

For those who prefer ancient history, the cave drawings in the sacred desert sanctuary of Hueco Tanks date back millenia. These rocky hills in far West Texas have long attracted people who came for the rainwater collected in the parks natural stone basins, or huecos. Ancient peoples left their mark throughout the park, drawing people, jaguars, deer, lightning, rain and corn on the surrounding stones. Hueco Tanks is most famous for its mask paintings and is home to the largest number in North America, with more than 200. The park has become a climbers paradise because of the natural outcroppings in the rocks and is also a beautiful place to hike and camp. To protect the fragile paintings, access is restricted to 70 people a day, and visitors must make reservations beforehand.

Sample the mango ice cream at the Menger Hotel

San Antonio

Around the corner from the Alamo lies the Menger Hotel, an elegant structure packed with history. The buldings architecture is itself something to see, with Corinthian columns in the lobby and a lovely Spanish-style courtyard surrounded by azaleas. And maybe it was the building that attracted U.S. presidents to the Menger as far back as Theodore Roosevelt, who used to meet with his band of Rough Riders in the bar. The hotel also boasts photos of President Bill Clinton savoring the Mengers signature mango ice cream, a 100-year-old recipe that was served at both of Clintons presidential inaugurations.

Stroll through Austins past in Clarksville Historic District

Austin

The narrow, tree-lined streets of the Clarksville neighborhood in West Austin conceal some of the citys most important landmarks. Although now one of the citys most expensive neighborhoods, it was originally a freedmans town founded by former slaves after the Civil War. The Sweet Home Baptist Church is a legacy of that community, built before the citys black population was pushed into East Austin. The neighborhood is also home to the original location of Whole Foods, a much more humble building than the corporations 80,000-square-foot flagship a few miles away. After admiring some of the neighborhoods historical houses, a visit to Clarksville is best topped off with burgers and shakes at Naus Enfield Drug, which looks much like it did when it opened in 1951.

Plan an afternoon escape in the Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern

Houston

Houston is brimming with unusual historical sites. Take, for example, the cistern under Buffalo Bayou Park. Built more than 90 years ago, the enormous underground cavern was drained in 2007 because of an irreparable leak. The city had slated the site for destruction when it was rediscovered by the Buffalo Bayou Partnership. The group decided to turn the dramatic 87,500-square-foot expanse set with row after row of slender white columns into an attraction of its own. Book a tour of the cistern to get an entirely new view of Houstons historical waterworks. Visitors can also take in the work of artist Carlos Cruz-Diez, who has created a site-specific installation in the cistern, or join a Sunday meditation session in the surprisingly serene space.

Celebrate Texas Middle Eastern heritage

Multiple cities

Though not as well known as Texas German communities, Lebanese and Syrian immigrants have had a long and lasting impact on the state. These communities, largely made up of Christian Orthodox practitioners, began forming in the 1880s and spread to cities across the state. The Lebanese influence can be seen everywhere, from Orthodox churches to music to liquor stores (the Twin Liquors chain was founded by a pair of Lebanese brothers). The best way to experience this history is at a series of Middle Eastern festivals that happen from May to October. The biggest ones are in Austin, San Antonio, Houston, El Paso and Lewisville.

Cate Malek is a writer based in Austin. She also writes for McSweeney's and Newsweek. Email: travel@chron.com.In the past 10 years, Russians have been accused of a range of cyberattacks, including defacing government web pages, taking down election commissions, hacking political parties and government officials, hacking government computers to obtain information, interfering with elections, shutting down Twitter and Facebook, shutting down the internet and taking control of a power station.

Cyberattacks are a relatively new tool for countries to use against their opponents. How should countries that are targeted respond? Are there any circumstances under which military force might be justified?

READ MORE: U.S. blames Russia in cyberattacks against energy companies

To begin with, the defining characteristic of military force is that when used directly, the results are to destroy things and kill people.

Of course, that does not always happen. For example, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the U.S. used its naval forces to blockade the island of Cuba. No one fired shots on the blockade line. But this very well could have happened, and once it started, things might have escalated to extremely high levels of violence.

So, when military forces are involved between countries, death and destruction are a constant possibility.

But it is hard to see how the actions that Russians have been accused of could cause death and destruction, with the exception of controlling the power station. If someone could shut off the power (or on a larger scale shut down the electric grid) for a significant period of time, people would die. Consider, for example, those people with a serious medical condition who need electric devices to stay alive.

So why is it important that cyberattacks have not yet created the same level of damage as the use of military force?

One reason is a principle that goes back to the theory of just war. The theory had its origins in the writing of Saint Augustine. One important part of the theory is the principle of proportionality. If countries use military force, it must only inflict the same level of damage as the country has received. Therefore, if a cyberattack caused disruption, I believe most people would feel that any use of military force would be inappropriate.

READ MORE: All of Texas must prepare for cyberattacks

There is another important consideration. Though many people would regard a use of military force, particularly a massive one, as a very inappropriate response to all but an extreme cyberattack, one can argue that the threat of such a use of force could be useful. If a country declares that it will respond to any cyberattack with the large scale use of military force, this might deter other countries from conducting cyberattacks.

Of course, this in turn leads to another important issue: credibility. If a country declares that it will retaliate with large-scale military force to any cyberattack, will it be believed? To pose an extreme example: Would Russia believe that if it defaced the whitehouse.gov website the U.S. would respond by using a massive amount of military force? That seems unlikely. But statements that military force will be used to retaliate against cyberattacks that create large-scale destruction or kill people have credibility.

So where does this leave us? Both the theory of just war and the logic of deterrence suggest that using military force in retaliation for a cyberattack should only be done if the cyberattack attack creates extreme damage.

Richard J. Stoll, Ph.D., is the Albert Thomas Professor of Political Science at Rice University. He is also a Rice faculty scholar at the Baker Institute.

Get the Gray Matters newsletter. It is a relatively new tool for countries to use against their opponents.The Kingwood teenager charged in the deaths of two friends admitted to drinking a full bottle of MD 20/20, a fortified wine, before driving them in his car, Harris County prosecutors said Thursday at a court hearing.

Jaggar Smith, 17, had red, droopy eyes and slurred speech after the crash early Wednesday in Atascocita that killed Salma Gomez and Chloe Robison, prosecutors said.

Smith has been charged with two counts of intoxication manslaughter in the deaths of the 16-year-old girls, who were both rising juniors at Atascocita High School.

'HE HAS TO LIVE WITH THAT': Stunned Atascocita community mourns teens in HoustonChronicle.com report

His attorney, Chip Lewis, declined to discuss specifics, saying Smith's "family is appropriately concerned about any distraction from the tragedy that two families are going through."

Smith walked quickly in and out of court on Thursday, looking straight ahead as family members stood beside him.

"Theyre trying to make it," Lewis said after the hearing. "Its very very difficult because they want to reach out to these two families and as you can imagine the awkwardness of wanting to express unfathomable sorrow. They dont know how to act, what to do."

Now Playing: Jaggar Smith, 17, walking into court for a hearing. He's accused of drinking and getting behind the wheel before a crash that killed his two friends in Atascocita yesterday. Video: Samantha Ketterer, Houston Chronicle

Lewis said that Smith is doing about as one would expect, considering the circumstances.

"Hes almost unable to speak, hes so overcome (with) the emotions you would expect when two very dear friends of yours are lost," Lewis said.

Before the hearing, Smith's family said they "cannot adequately express the depths of their despair" over the loss of Gomez and Robison, according to a statement from Lewis.

The statement referred to the girls as "the two most beautiful lives imaginable."

The girls, who would have been juniors in high school, died Wednesday after the car entered a large median and hit a tree, splitting the vehicle in two.

Robison died there, and Gomez died at the hospital. Smith had chest abrasions consistent with the location of his seatbelt, the prosecutor said.

Smith was charged with the felonies Wednesday morning and walked out of jail in the afternoon after posting $60,000 bond, according to the Harris County District Clerk.

The prosecutor asked the court for the conditions of Smith's bond to include an ankle monitor, no driving and home confinement.

The judge at Thursday's hearing instead ordered Smith not to drive and imposed a curfew from between 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. He is also issued an at-home alcohol monitor, or scheduled Breathalyzer tests that get reported to the court.

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission is investigating where Smith might have obtained the alcohol.

The parents of both victims have declined to comment. However, Chloe Robison's great aunt, Bonnie Johnson, said she wasn't angry at Smith and showed sympathy for the high school boy.

"You can't be angry at him," said Johnson, who lives in Beaumont. "I have emotions because, like I said, he had to see the repercussions and consequences of drunk driving, and I know ... he will never, ever be able to get that out of his mind."

She continued, "As much as we're suffering, he's suffering as well. Because all of this was done because of a mistake he made trying to drink and drive."

Johnson drove into town Wednesday and attended an evening vigil at the crash site. It was a devastating day for the family, but she was struck by the outpouring from the community, she said.

"It was indescribable because there was so much love," she said. "There was no race, creed or color. There was just sympathy and empathy and love."Leading South Korean engineering firm Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Company has been awarded the contract for a key desalination project being developed at an investment of $203 million in Al Sharqiyah governorate of Oman.



Last December, the Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP) - the sole buyer of power and water output under the sector law - had declared Al Asilah Desalination Company (Asilah) as the winner of the licence to design, finance, build, operate and maintain a new independent water project (IWP) at Aseelah.



Asilah is majority (75 per cent) owned by Japanese engineering company JGC Corporation, while the rest of the stake is with Oman-based United Infrastructure Development Company (20 per cent) and Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction Company (5 per cent).



The contract involves the construction, operation and maintenance for a period of 20 years on a BOO (Build-Own-Operatebasis of a seawater desalination plant with the application of reverse osmosis membrane, said a statement from JGG Corporation.



Once the plant starts operation in 2021, it will supply nearly 80,000 cu m per day (equivalent to 17 million imperial gallons per day), which is sufficient to provide potable water for a population of 200,000.



All the parties have signed finance agreements this month to extend project financing towards this project and the project has started in full swing.



Part of the financing for the total project cost of around 20 billion yen will be provided through project financing by MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited and Shinsei Bank, Limited, whose loan would be covered by Overseas Untied Loan Insurance provided by Nippon Export and Investment Insurance.



JGC said the selection of Asilah as the successful bidder was a result of positive evaluations of the Japanese group's ability to apply its engineering knowledge and proven capacity to provide innovative ideas that enable the reduction of energy required to operate and its ability to keep the unit cost of the water produced low.-TradeArabia News Service



Two and a half months after police raided a private residential treatment center for girls in Willis, Child Protective Services remove girls from Care Cottage North.

County Attorney J.D. Lambright said the last girl from the north facility was moved July 13. Care Cottage South remains open with about 25 girls still residing at the facility.

This is not the result of any court order, Lambright said adding CPS officials made the decision following the raid. CPS started seeing the (extent) of the problems there.

PAST COVERAGE: CPS director testifies before judge in Care Cottage case

Lambright said he did have concerns about the south facility remaining open but said CPS officials are still present at the facility.

Thats a huge success, Lambright said of the closure.

Now Playing: Latest Local And State News Video: Houston Chronicle

CPS officials could not be reached before press time.

The Care Cottage facilities, which housed more than 50 girls placed by state child care workers in rural Willis, remains under investigation for alleged sexual and physical abuse. The investigation started after officials with the Willis Independent School District contacted Lambright to report numerous incidents involving girls who lived at the facility and attended classes in the district.

Willis Superintendent Tim Harkrider said he was relieved to hear one of the facilities was closed.

We are happy, Harkrider said Wednesday. Our concern has always been the welfare of the girls and to know they are moved to different facilities our hope is they will be taken care of and provided the counseling they need. We hope the best for them.

Chief of Special Crimes with the Montgomery County District Attorneys Office Tyler Dunman echoed Harkrider.

We are pleased to hear the news of the north location shutting down, he said.

Criminal investigation

Three staff members are facing felony abuse charges including allegedly choking one young girl and breaking the arm of a second

Cottage Care staff members Hiram Thigpen, 41, of Houston, and ex-staffer Jasmin Sabrna Lyons, 23, of Huntsville, were arrested June 12. A third staff member, Jada Thompson, 22 of Huntsville is charged with felony injury to a child, and was arrested June 14.

Thigpen has been charged with a third degree felony of injury to a child, while Lyons is facing a third degree felony charge of injury to a disabled individual. Thigpen is being held on a $25,000 bail and Lyons was released after posting a $50,000 bond late Tuesday.

Lyons left the facility in June but it was unclear if Thigpen and Thompson are still employed with Care Cottage.

The allegations

According to the arrest affidavits, on Oct. 10, 2017, Lyons allegedly injured a 14-year-old autistic girl by grabbing and twisting her arm. It wasnt until several weeks later that the girl received medical care after the girls mother intervened and took her to a doctor where she learned her daughters arm was broken, the affidavit states.

On Feb. 27, Thompson allegedly grabbed a 13-year-old girl by the neck impeding her breathing and blood circulation by applying pressure. The girl, the court documents state, told authorities Thompson choked her because she would not be quiet. The girl also alleged other girls at the facility has been restrained and hit on by staff.

On April 11, Thigpen allegedly grabbed and threw a 13-year-old girl at the facility to the floor. He allegedly put his knee on the girls neck affecting her breathing and blood circulation by applying pressure because he believed the girl was lying about taking a shower before going to school, the affidavit states.

School district concerns

Lambright said he was alerted by Harkrider of conditions at the facilities in April after school officials made dozens of complaints to CPS officials regarding the care and treatment of the girls, he noted.

The sworn statement from an investigator used to obtain the search warrant that was executed May 16 at the facilities outlined allegations reported by residents to Willis ISD officials and others concerning abuse and neglect, including leaving students unattended and staff parties involving alcohol.

The investigator said some girls in the residential facility had been injured while being restrained and that others were hog-tied by staff members and placed face down. Others girls were injured after trying to escape by jumping out of a second-floor window that was not repaired.

At least three staff members are accused of having sexual relations with girls in their care, according to the sworn statement.

The Care Cottage facilities, owned by Howard and Tabitha Taylor, are operated by HTK Care Foundation Inc., which is also registered to the Taylors.

The nonprofit foundation that operates the homes receives up to $435 per day per resident to provide care. The foundations annual report in 2016 listed income of $1.1 million and expenses of $1.1 million, with the Taylors each drawing salaries of $80,000.BOSTON - Nearly a year after Aice Jackman was gunned down in the street, his mother and 5-year-old brother walked into a Dunkin' Donuts, where the boy spotted a pit bull puppy and dashed over to pet it.

Kaiesha Skinner's gaze followed her young son and then settled on the man holding the leash. Their eyes met. She froze: It was the same man who she believes killed Jackman.

She grabbed her youngest son's hand, yanking him away from the man and back to their car.

"We all know who shot my son," Skinner said later. "They just haven't arrested him."

In the past decade, police in 52 of the nation's largest cities have failed to make an arrest in nearly 26,000 killings, according to a Washington Post analysis of homicide arrest data. In more than 18,600 of those cases, the victim, like Jackman, was black.

Black victims, who accounted for the majority of homicides, were the least likely of any racial group to have their killings result in an arrest, The Post found. While police arrested someone in 63 percent of the killings of white victims, they did so in just 47 percent of those with black victims.

The failure to solve black homicides fuels a vicious cycle: It deepens distrust of police among black residents, making them less likely to cooperate in investigations, leading to fewer arrests. As a result, criminals are emboldened and residents' fears are compounded.

In almost every city surveyed, arrests were made in killings of black victims at lower rates than homicides involving white victims.

Four cities - Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit and Philadelphia - accounted for more than 7,300 of the black murders with no arrests. But even smaller majority-white cities have amassed large rosters of these cases during the past decade: 422 in Columbus, Ohio; 277 in Buffalo, New York, 183 in Nashville, Tennessee; and 144 in Omaha, Nebraska.

In interviews with The Post, more than two dozen police chiefs and homicide commanders said they work just as hard to solve black murders but that those investigations are often hampered by reluctant witnesses.

No major U.S. city had a wider gap in arrest rates for white and black victims than Boston, where Jackman was killed last summer and where the killings of white residents are solved at twice the rate of black victims.

"We don't care what color you are," Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said. "Sometimes, because a case goes unsolved, people get the perception that we forget about their loved ones . . . We never forget about them."

Police in several cities said that some types of killings are easier to solve than others. Domestic-violence cases and bar fights may present fewer hurdles to making an arrest, while gang-related shootings and drug-related killings, which are believed to account for the majority of unsolved cases, are more complicated, police said.

"Let's face it, when you talk about murder in our urban communities - black and brown, where gang and group violence is prevalent - you got that retaliation piece," said Detroit Police Chief James Craig, whose department had an arrest rate 12 percentage points higher for white victims than for black victims. "And those are the most challenging kind of homicides to investigate."

But residents and community leaders in many cities remain skeptical that police are doing all they can to solve black homicides.

"Black life is seen as not as important," said the Rev. William Barber, a national civil rights leader, who called the failure by police to solve black homicides a civil rights crisis on par with questionable police shootings of minorities and wrongful convictions of black men.

"The black community gets cut by both edges of the sword," said Barber, who until last year led the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP. "There's no big rush to solve a case when it's considered 'black on black.' But if it is a black-on-white killing, then everything is done to make an arrest."

Aaron Williams

The survey identified five cities where the killings of black victims led to an arrest just as often or slightly more often than the slayings of white victims: Birmingham, Alabama; Durham, North Carolina; Fort Worth, Texas; Tampa,Florida; and Wichita, Kansas.

"We treat every homicide the same, regardless of where it occurs or who the victims are," said Fort Worth police Capt. Devin Pitt, who noted the department's high arrest rates for murder in Latino neighborhoods on the city's north side and black neighborhoods on the city's east side.

"Our neighborhoods still have enough trust in the police department to help us solve these cases," he said.

The Post analysis relied on racial classification for victims as recorded by police and used local news reports and public records, such as death certificates, to complete missing records.

Still, the inconsistency with which departments recorded the race and ethnicity of Hispanic victims - whose killings result in an arrest 49 percent of the time across the 52 cities - made it difficult to compare arrest rates in those cases city to city.

Other racial groups accounted for a comparatively small number of the killings in the survey.

Aaron Williams

In Houston, where police reliably tracked Hispanic victims, officers were least likely to make an arrest in a homicide if the victim was Hispanic. Police Chief Art Acevedo cited distrust of police among Hispanic residents, many of whom are undocumented and fear that cooperation will lead to their deportation.

"The playing field is not equal in terms of people's ability to feel like they can safely participate in trying to solve crime," Acevedo said.

- - -

Since 2007, Boston police have made an arrest in nearly 90 percent of the homicides with white victims but 42 percent of the homicides with black victims, who account for the vast majority of the city's killings.

Of the 435 homicides with black victims, 254 remain unsolved. Of the 57 homicides with white victims, only six are unsolved.

"There is no question that the African-American community is victimized by this out of proportion," said Ed Davis, who was the Boston police commissioner from 2006 to 2013. "It's a tragedy of our time that we're not doing more to stop this."

Boston's racial gap in solving homicides persists even though police there have been praised nationally for innovation in fighting violent crime.

About this story As part of an ongoing examination, The Washington Post has compiled up to a decade of homicide arrest data from 55 of America's largest cities. The Post mapped and analyzed the data to identify the homicides that most often led to an arrest and those that did not. This story is based on data from the 52 cities that provided the race and ethnicity of homicide victims. Homicide arrest rates were calculated by victim's race, age, gender and location. The Post's data, which provides a level of specificity lacking in the homicide data released annually by the FBI, is being released publicly and will be expanded over 2018. To determine the predominant race and ethnicity of neighborhoods, The Post used census tract data from the American Community Survey. See More Collapse

In the mid-1990s, local police, clergy and criminologists collaborated to curb youth violence by identifying gang crime hot spots and focusing on the handful of offenders responsible for the crime. Their success was dubbed the "Boston Miracle."

But by 2005, the city was facing an uptick in violence, and the rate at which police were solving homicides had dipped below the national average. Department leaders vowed to raise arrest rates, which meant they would have to solve more black homicides.

First, thedepartment changed the way it deployed detectives so that no team of investigators was juggling too many homicides.

Next, Davis dispatched two detectives to London, where investigators solve nearly every homicide, and adopted that city's practice of assigning multiple detectives to each killing in the crucial first hours of the investigation. Then he asked criminologists with Boston's Northeastern University to review several years of homicide case files and - at their suggestion - added an extra detective to each homicide squad and hired an additional crime analyst and victim-witness resource officer.

Arrest rates began to improve slightly in 2012, but the gulf between white homicides and black homicides persists.

In the city's most violent neighborhoods, community leaders blame what they perceive as apathy from police, prosecutors and local news media.

The attention a killing gets "largely depends on your status," said Rufus Faulk, an anti-violence activist and community leader in Roxbury, one of Boston's historically black neighborhoods.

"Then, oftentimes, there is this adage thrown out there that the victim was gang-involved or 'known to the police,' " added Faulk, who said he has attended at least one funeral a year for a murder victim from his neighborhood for each of the past 23 years. "That immediately shifts the victimhood away from the person who was slain and implies that they caused their own demise. And you can see why then there is a resulting lack of public outcry."

Boston law enforcement and city officials insist they are doing everything in their power to make arrests in the murders of black men and women and said they have worked to strengthen community relationships.

"I go to most of the homicide scenes, and I see the work these guys [homicide detectives] do," said Evans, who announced his retirement as Boston's police commissioner earlier this week. "A lot of people sometimes see things and they don't help us . . . Getting cooperation is the hardest thing."

Each week, city and police officials team up with local clergy to hold peace walks in several of the city's most violent neighborhoods. Police hope that improved relationships will lead to increased cooperation from witnesses and more arrests.

"The detectives understand that there's a real fear there, and there's a reason that people feel" distrustful of police, said Boston police Superintendent Gregory Long, who oversees the homicide unit. "But at the end of the day, it can become frustrating when you have, in some cases, everything set up and you just need that one person to give you the last piece of information before you can make an arrest. And sometimes it takes years."

Photo for The Washington Post by Yoon S. Byun

One of Boston's most persistent voices demanding more attention to unsolved homicides is Mary Franklin. Her husband, Melvin, who was black, was killed just down the street from their home late one night in October 1996.

He'd been walking home from a bus stop after leaving work at Boston Logan International Airport. Police called it a robbery. Franklin believes her husband stumbled upon a stickup in progress and attempted to intervene.

In the two decades since, Franklin has held countless meetings with politicians and protested in the lobby of Boston police headquarters. She even tried to run for mayor in 2017, vowing that if she was elected she would devote more resources to Boston's homicide unit and stay in better touch with the families of those killed.

Police said they have met many times with Franklin and are still doing all they can to solve her husband's slaying.

"What hurts me so badly is to see these women going through exactly what I went through 20 years ago," said Franklin, who runs the Women Survivors of Homicide Movement, a support and advocacy group, out of a one-bedroom apartment where the purple-painted walls are lined with framed newspaper clippings of articles about local homicides.

Franklin acknowledged that Boston's arrest rate has improved in recent years. But she said that her group has worked with police to help encourage witnesses in homicides to cooperate and that even with willing witnesses, some of those cases led to no arrest.

"When you look at white murders, those crimes get solved even when there's not a witness. Black murders, it seems like we've got to have a witness to the witness before we get an arrest," said Franklin. To quantify how often cases went without an arrest, she obtained from police a list of more than 1,000 unsolved homicides in the city's three predominantly black sections dating back to the 1970s. "This is a national epidemic."

In a year-long effort to examine unsolved homicides, The Post has collected and mapped a decade of homicide data from dozens of major American cities - chronicling about 55,000 killings across 55 cities to date. The analysis for this story included 52 cities where data on the race of the victims was available.

In those cities, police made an arrest in 49 percent of homicides, leaving 45 percent still under investigation.

About 6 percent of the homicides were closed by police for reasons other than arrest, such as the death of a suspect. Those cases were counted as ones with no arrest when calculating arrest rates across and within individual cities. Had those cases been excluded from the analysis, the difference in arrest rates for black victims and white victims would increase slightly in nearly every city.

Black Americans have long contended that the criminal justice system devalues black lives by allowing black killings to go unpunished. In 1892, anti-lynching activist and journalist Ida B. Wells urged black families to purchase guns to "be used for that protection which the law refuses to give."

For many, the belief that police don't value black lives was reinforced in 2012, when police in Sanford, Florida, did not immediately arrest neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman after he shot and killed Trayvon Martin, a black 17-year-old, as he walked home from a store.

Zimmerman was later arrested and charged, but his acquittal in 2013 planted the seeds of the Black Lives Matter movement. The next year, a police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black man, in Ferguson, Missouri, sparking years of national demonstrations against the alleged police mistreatment of black men and women.

"There is a straight line between black people being outraged loudly about police officers being able to shoot and kill people and being able to get away from it and black people quietly wondering when that homicide in their neighborhood is going to be solved," said Ibram Kendi, an American University historian and author of "Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America."

He added: "Black people have experienced police officers more as profilers and brutalizers, as opposed to investigators, and it takes investigators to solve very difficult homicide cases."

Across the 52 cities surveyed, The Post analysis found racial inequities in homicide arrest rates no matter the location of the killing: A black homicide was less likely to lead to an arrest than a white homicide in either majority-black neighborhoods or a majority-white neighborhoods.

Black homicides in majority-black neighborhoods had a 45 percent arrest rate. White homicides in majority-black neighborhoodshad a 59 percent arrest rate.

The rate for black homicides in majority-white neighborhoods was 55 percent, while white homicides in majority-white neighborhoods had a 64 percent arrest rate.

The failure to solve black homicides no matter the location deepens skepticism that police approach each homicide with the same fervor.

In Boston, black community leaders recall the story of Charles Stuart, a prominent white attorney who in 1989 killed his wife and unborn child and then claimed they had been killed by a black man, prompting a citywide manhunt.

"They tore the block apart; they raided people's homes; they were strip-searching young black men on the side of the road," said Milton Jones, the director of operations for the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, a Boston organization that offers support services to families of homicide victims.

The infamous case came to an end weeks later when Stuart killed himself and his brother told police that Stuart had killed his wife for her life insurance money.

"Those kids who were being strip-searched, they're in their 40s now," Jones said. "So when you talk about community relationships with the police, you have to remember that history."

Photo for The Washington Post by Yoon S. Byun

Kaiesha Skinner had spoken with her son just 10 minutes before he was shot on July 17, 2017.

He hadn't come straight home from work as a personal trainer at a gym that Monday evening, but he assured his mother on the phone that he'd be there soon. First, he said, he was going to drop off a friend's cellphone and buy some marijuana.

The eldest of four, Jackman had had run-ins with the police and gangs but had turned a corner in his life, his mother said. Jackman had received his high school diploma and had enlisted in the Navy.

Minutes after they spoke, Skinner saw chatter on Facebook: There had been a shooting near Blue Hill Avenue, where her son was headed.

She called him again, and after getting no answer rushed to the neighborhood - where she found her son's body draped with a white sheet.

After talking to police and others in the neighborhood, she believes her son had been confronted by an armed man who began firing at him. Her son, she believes, pulled out a gun in turn and fired back. He was shot three times.

Jackman died at the scene. The other man, publicly identified by police only as a 21-year-old, was wounded and hospitalized. No one has been arrested, but Skinner said she learned the other man's identity from people in the neighborhood.

Police declined to discuss Jackman's killing in detail or address Skinner's assertion about who she believes is the killer because the case remains open and under investigation.

"There may have been others present at the scene who may not be identified at this time, and we strongly urge any witnesses or anyone with any information that could assist investigators to contact the Boston Police homicide unit," said Sgt. John Boyle, a department spokesman.

Skinner said she believes there are probably at least a dozen people who witnessed her son's killing and could provide information that could lead to the man's arrest. But in a tightknit neighborhood often home to gang violence, she believes that their fear of the killer outweighs their willingness to cooperate.

In the meantime, Skinner said, she dreads the thought of again running into the man she suspects killed her son, as she did in the Dunkin' Donuts in May.

Advocates for families of the slain said these run-ins between suspected killers and the families of their victims are commonplace in the city's most violent areas.

One mother in Mary Franklin's group said the family of the man who she believes killed her son uses the same violence counselor as she does. Another mother said she lives directly across the street from the man she believes killed her son. She sees him almost every day.

- - -

The Washington Post's Ted Mellnik contributed to this report.Tariffs are the greatest! President Donald Trump tweeted on Tuesday.

Tariffs are not the greatest. They are effectively taxes on consumers, which often elicit retaliatory action from a countrys trading partners.

Everyone knows that  including the president. It hasnt prevented him from launching a trade war, of course. Trump has consistently maintained that such wars are good and easy to win. But he acknowledged, even before he launched his, that they leave some casualties.

Im not saying there wont be a little pain, Trump said in April, after his initial skirmish with China.

Still, he argued, the roaring U.S. economy meant that we could afford to take the hit and that we will have a much stronger country when we are finished.

Were playing with the banks money, Trump added last week, pointing to the fact that the stock market is up some 30 percent since Election Day 2016.

Still, the administration announced Tuesday that it would provide up to $12 billion in emergency aid to farmers who have been adversely affected by trade war due to retaliatory tariffs that will throttle their access to export markets.

Most of those producers live in areas that went for Trump in 2016. Chinas tariffs, in particular, seem to target swing states. Republicans cant afford to ignore that with the midterm elections less than four months away.

And the funds will be a Band-Aid, at best. Theres no guarantee that the trade war will be resolved quickly. Our trading partners may develop new partnerships in the meantime; some of them are doing that anyway.

What I find ominous, though, is that Trumps emergency aid isnt actually a bailout. The American farmers who voted for Trump could have anticipated the risk that Trump would launch a trade war, of course. And they should have taken that risk seriously.

But farmers didnt impose tariffs on themselves, and the emergency aid wont change their situation; itll just offset the direct losses theyre expecting come harvest season.

And the Trump administrations plan to extend emergency aid to them was several months in the making. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue began working on it because the emergency at hand was anticipated. It wasnt hard to anticipate, either. In the event of a trade war, agriculture is a predictable target of retaliatory tariffs. The industrys exports are commodities.

So Trump has, in a sense, effectively nationalized American agriculture. The situation farmers are facing is one that the White House created knowingly, if not deliberately, in the service of Trumps campaign against what he calls Fool Trade.

Thats amusing, in a way, because Trump is a Republican and Republicans have traditionally supported free markets. In fairness, though, the federal government already subsidizes many farmers directly as a matter of course. Thats preferable to supporting them indirectly via market-distorting mechanisms like the ethanol mandate, if you ask me  and its something the federal government should be prepared to do in the event of emergencies, at least, because disruptions to agricultural production can leave all of us hungry.

But in this case, Trump is just using the Commodity Credit Corporation to placate soybean farmers after using them as pawns in his pursuit of a broader agenda. And whats notable is that his reasoning on the subject could be applied to literally any industry affected by his trade war, which is ongoing. If American farmers deserve our support, so do American factory workers, presumably. And we all know Trump has vowed to be a champion for American coal miners.

So Texans should be worried about the presidents trade war if they werent already. Texas economy is still growing, as it stands. Unemployment is at 4 percent, a near-record low. And Texas farmers havent yet been directly targeted by retaliatory tariffs, interestingly. But the state leads the nation in exports. At some point, the trade war will hit home.

And well have to be stoical when it does. I actually think one could make a case for nationalizing the agriculture industry to stabilize rural Americas economic base and guarantee food security. But Trumps case for the emergency aid he announced Tuesday is simply that the private sector should serve his agenda  and that the federal government should intervene if it doesnt.

Trump has been making a similar case with regard to the energy industry, for example. In June, he ordered the Department of Energy to take action preventing coal and nuclear plants from closing, citing concerns about the grids reliability. And the president hasnt yet expressed much concern over how his tariffs on steel and aluminum might affect the oil and gas industry, even though Gov. Greg Abbott sent him a letter last month raising the issue.

Concerns about the differential impact of his policies may be inherently parochial from Trumps perspective  unless they come from a swing state. He says his goal is to make America great again. Hes stipulated that well be a stronger country as a result of his trade war. It stands to reason we should all do our part, but in the event of a trade war, Texas will have to do more than most.

erica.grieder@chron.com

twitter.com/ericagriederOne of the last details Natalie Romero remembers, before a gray Dodge Challenger plowed into her at a white-supremacist rally in August 2017, was turning around. Then, she said, everything went blank.

Her ears were ringing. Her senses were muffled. Her head felt tiny, like a speck of dust, she said.

Listen to your heart beat, she told herself. Stay awake. She vaguely remembers someone carrying her to an ambulance. She felt like sleeping but worried if she did, she might die.

Its been almost a year since authorities say James Alex Fields Jr., 21 , drove into a crowd of protesters in Charlottesville, Va. Far-right and white-supremacist groups had flocked to Charlottesville over the Aug. 11-12 weekend as part of a Unite the Right rally to oppose the removal of a Confederate statue. They were met with fierce opposition by protesters.

The attack killed one person, Heather Heyer, and injured 28 others, including Bellaire High School graduate and University of Virginia student Natalie Romero.

PRINCIPAL REACTS: Bellaire HS grad injured at VA rally was 'leader on campus'

The episode brought a tragic end to a weekend of violence, which saw scuffles Aug. 11 after torch-carrying white-supremacists surrounded a group of counter-protesters at the University of Virginia.

Fields was pro-Nazi, NPR reported. Photos from the rally, circulated by the Anti-Defamation League and others, show Fields marching and wearing the regalia of an American white-supremacist group.

In June, a federal grand jury indicted Fields on 29 hate crimes charges, as well as one other charge of bias-motivated interference with a federally protected activity resulting in death. He pled not guilty. Romero was in the courtroom, and she said she stood up and yelled What! when the plea was read.

I had a really bad panic attack after that, she said, reflecting on the attack in a phone interview from Virginia with the Houston Chronicle.

Romero, 21, suffered a fractured skull, temporary memory loss, lip lacerations, a broken tooth and ongoing knee and ankle injuries. She woke up in the hospital and saw her friends standing over her.

She couldnt speak, but said the expressions on her friends faces made her anxious.

They were so worried, she said. I wondered what had happened to me.

Romero stayed in the hospital for two days and was in a wheelchair on-and-off for about a month more. Her mother, Ericka Chaves moved into Romeros Charlottesville apartment with her, carrying Romeros backpack around the University of Virginia, where she was starting her sophomore year.

Right now, Natalie knows I hate [Fields], Chaves said. She said that her heart will forgive him one day. The day she does, I will too.

Romero wanted to stay in school, but she was getting vertigo in class and receiving threatening phone calls.

One man, she said, called her pretending to sell her a Dodge  advertising it as a great car to run people over. She sat in the bathtub one night, sobbing. Her mother found her.

Chaves stayed with Romero for about three weeks. Then Hurricane Harvey hit, and she returned to Houston to be with her boyfriend and son.

Chaves wanted her daughter back home with her, in Houston. Romero eventually relented, returning to Texas in October 2017.

Happy homecoming

When Romeros flight landed at Bush Intercontinental Airport, she was so happy to be back that she cried. I took the biggest breath of my life, she said. I almost kissed the ground.

Besides her family, Romero said she missed the citys food.

Houston food is my thing, she said, rattling off some of her favorite places: Ruggles Black, Whataburger, Mexican restaurants she doesnt even know the name of in her childhood neighborhood in southwest Houston.

On Romeros first day back, her mother took her to buy a puppy. Luna, a Shih Tzu/terrier mix, is now 1-year-old.

Romero receiving an outpouring of support in Houston and beyond. Mayor Sylvester Turner held a press conference with civic leaders denouncing hate. A GoFundMe page for her medical expenses raised more than $150,000.

Cesar Espinosa, director of the local immigrants rights group FIEL Houston, took on the role of family representative for Romero. When Espinosa met her, he was struck by the difference between her small size and her large presence, describing her as a very powerful woman.

I remember thinking, Wow, shes very lucky that it wasnt more grave than it was, he said. Its a blessing. A car coming at a tiny young woman like that could cause a lot of damage.

Espinosa helped manage the interest in Romeros case, fielding calls from reporters and well-wishers. He also saw his role as providing emotional support.

One night, months after the attack, Espinosa took Romero to a street festival in the Second Ward. We just walked around, looking at art, Espinosa said. At the end of the night, she was angry. She was like, I havent really had a night where I didnt feel unsafe in a very long time.

Romero is back at school now, a second-semester sophomore majoring in Global Development Studies at the University of Virginia. She returned in January 2018 and is currently on summer break in Charlottesville.

She said she still has post-traumatic stress disorder. She still worries about her ankles and knees, especially on rocks while hiking. But she also said that, in spite of her injuries, shed still do the protest again if given the opportunity.

I dont have any regrets, she said.Family and multi-generational travel is a rapidly expanding tourist segment within the global tourism industry, especially in the Middle East, with a number of Saudis willing to explore new destinations outside their comfort zones, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.



Konstantina Boutsioukou, a travel and tourism analyst at GlobalData, commented: Family trips dominate outbound travel from the GCC. For instance, in Saudi Arabia family travel accounts for 73.1 per cent of international departures, a fact that highlights the great opportunities for businesses willing to target this cohort.



Saudi travellers typically stay within the Middle East. Bahrain, the UAE and Jordan are the three most visited destinations. Jordan, realising the potential that lies in family travel, has effectively tapped into this trend by diversifying its tourism offering to match the needs of these visitors.



Boutsioukou said: Visits to historical heritage sites such as Petra, Wadi Rum and the Gulf of Aqaba add an educational aspect to trips. Families can combine a cultural trip with a sun and beach holiday where they can relax in the seaside resorts of the Red Sea and enjoy the areas nature and milder climate. The political stability and security, as well as the shared language, religion and values, have also played an important role in the popularity of Jordan among Saudis.



GlobalDatas report: Tourism Source Market Insights: Gulf Cooperation Council states that though the GCC countries make up only 12.6 per cent of the total population of the Middle East, they comprise 64.2 per cent of the total international departures from the region, a fact that highlights the importance and potential of the countries of the Arabian Peninsula as a global tourism source market. Furthermore, Qataris and Kuwaitis are topping the global list of average outbound expenditure per resident.



There are substantial opportunities for businesses outside the Middle East to tap into the growing GCC tourist market. Given the importance that most Muslim GCC residents place on their religion, respecting their faith, showing an understanding of their culture and trying to cater for their specific needs is essential for businesses willing to target this market.



Boutsioukou added: Hoteliers, tour operators and food service businesses can provide prayer mats and the direction of Qibla (prayer direction) as well as include halal food and special buffets during Ramadan and not offer alcohol."



Furthermore, respecting the desire of travellers to be physically close to their family members, even if this means staying on the same floor or in adjacent rooms in a hotel, businesses can ensure that they are creating a friendly and accepting environment that will make their visitors feel at ease, despite substantial differences in culture and social norms, she said. - TradeArabia News ServiceDemocratic lawmakers who met Wednesday with Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen say they are skeptical that the government will meet a deadline today to reunite all eligible children who were separated at the border from their immigrant parents.

Nielsen assured the lawmakers in a closed-door meeting that the administration is on track to comply with the deadline.

Two weeks ago, the government was two days late in reuniting children under 5 years old by an earlier court-ordered deadline, and even then reunited only half of them.

Its inconceivable theyll be able to reunite the remaining children by the deadline, Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, said at a news conference with five other congressmen Wednesday morning.

Up to 3,000 children were separated from their parents since April under a zero-tolerance policy against migrants who crossed the border illegally.

After the policy was harshly criticized, President Donald Trump reversed the family separation practice last month, while still maintaining the immigration crackdown. A federal judge in San Diego, Calif., then imposed two deadlines to reunite the families.

As of Tuesday evening, 1,012 of the 1,634  or 61 percent  eligible parents have been reunited with their children; some 900 had final orders of deportation.

In the meeting Wednesday that at times grew combative, Castro said Nielsen told several members of Congress I am not a racist. Nobody believes families should be separated.

The Thursday deadline targets the remaining 2,551 separated children between the ages of 5 and 17. As of Monday, 1,187 children have been reunited with parents or other guardians.

The Trump administration also reported that up to 463 parents could have already been deported without their children. According to Castro, Nielsen said none of these parents have reached out to the U.S. government in an attempt to locate their children.

Saying they were deeply disturbed by the deportations, Castro and four other members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking that he ensure U.S. embassies in Central America facilitate family reunifications.

To separate these children from their parents is disgusting and unconscionable. To then deport the parents from our country is a sign of just how far this Administration will go to demonstrate its hatred and vitriol towards immigrants, the letter reads.

U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw of San Diego, who is presiding over a lawsuit filed by the ACLU, commended the government for reunifying 133 parents between Mondays court filing, when 879 had been reunified at that point, and a status update on Tuesday.

This is a remarkable achievement, Sabraw said.

Sabraw assured the ACLU that it would be free, post-deadline, to challenge the government on its criteria for families ineligible for reunification.

Last week, Castro and other congressmen sent a letter to the government demanding more transparency and information on the reunification process. Health and Human Services didnt respond.

What will become of these kids? Does the government plan on finding the parents? The answers are unknown because the administration refuses to respond to any congressional inquiries my colleagues and I have sent in, a frustrated Castro said at the press conference Wednesday morning.

Sabraw also reprimanded the government for not being forthcoming about the number of parents who may have been deported  the government said the 463 parents were not traceable in the U.S. but could not confirm they were all deported.

This is a deeply troubling reality, the judge said. He demanded a complete tally on Wednesday. There has to be an accounting.

The government also acknowledged that it cant find the parents of 37 children, though they could have been unaccompanied minors who were misidentified.

Castro also asked Nielsen about whether children in HHS care had become sick or died.

Nielsen responded: Not to my knowledge, according to Castro.

Nielsen also said she would look into appointing guardians for the separated children whose parents were deported and who would eventually get placed into foster care.

Theres still a lot of unanswered questions and some mysteries, Castro said in an interview later.

After all that insult and injury, we are seeing Americans stand up, said U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Illinois, at the press conference. That gives me great hope, even in this dark hour when our government is letting us down.

sfosterfrau@express-news.net | @SilviaElenaFFAUSTIN  Craig Bessent wants a police officer at every school to protect students in Wylie Independent School District, but the assistant superintendent cant afford to put law enforcement in all of his nine campuses. So he has decided to arm teachers and staff.

I really could not tell those teachers or those parents or those students that they were going to have to wait three minutes, or five minutes for help to arrive, Bessent told lawmakers exploring arming more personnel to stop mass shootings at schools. All kids are my responsibility.

Bessent wouldnt say how many staff members are armed in the district but did say that every school building is protected.

Wylie is one of only 15 school districts out of more than 1,000 that have the school marshal program, revealing the enormity of the challenge faced by the governor and lawmakers to use armed employees to help prevent future shootings.

CY-FAIR: Call for clear backpacks as part of security plan draws mixed reaction

The program must be approved by school districts, and the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement provides 80 hours of training and licenses school staff members to possess a weapon on campus. So far, only 33 staff members are approved school marshals.

In the wake of the mass shooting at Santa Fe High School, Gov. Greg Abbott said that this summer, his office would pay for the training to increase the number of school marshals at participating school districts. The governor also instructed lawmakers to review school marshal regulations and training to encourage more districts to adopt the program.

The House Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee held a hearing Thursday to evaluate the program, and state senators held a similar hearing earlier this month. Some parents and teachers have objected to adding more guns in schools, but some school officials say they cannot afford to pay for police officers, or their own police departments, to quickly respond with force if there is an active shooter at a school.

Lawmakers are also evaluating the states guardian program, another mechanism to arm staff in schools. Individual school boards decide how much training the armed staff will receive, and there is no psychological evaluation required. About 200 school districts have guardians, the Texas Association of School Boards reported, and the state has little to no regulation over them.

David Walker, superintendent of the Christoval school district, told lawmakers that his district has placed strict standards for training guardians. Staff members must have 40 hours of handgun training in addition to having a concealed handgun license.

The district posts signs around its schools warning people that personnel there are armed. Some guardians are armed with AR-15s. But most school districts that have armed staff members do not publicize their presence.

Their identity, the schools and the districts that employ school marshals are not public information. The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement doesnt even want the public to know the number of licensed marshals. No state agency collects information on who is a school guardian.

THE LEGISLATURE: After Santa Fe, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says school security will be top priority in Texas Senate

Kim Vickers, the commissions director, said secrecy is necessary to protect the marshals and prevent school shootings. During a recent Senate committee hearing, Vickers declined to confirm the number of school marshals even though the head of the states department of public safety told lawmakers that there were 33 marshals currently in Texas schools.

You put yourself in the mind of the shooter, Vickers said. If I know this school has armed people and this school does not, where do you think I am probably going to go?

The law establishing the program says that identifying information about a person is confidential, and the commission has interpreted that to include the number of school marshals, said Gretchen Grigsby, a spokeswoman for the commission.

If you know how many school districts do have school marshals, then you also know how many dont have school marshals.

Lawmakers can request information on the program. A legislators office confirmed to the Houston Chronicle that there are currently 33 licensed school marshals in 15 districts. The state has granted more than 50 districts permission to appoint a marshal, and more than 40 districts are waiting to be approved. There are more than 1,000 public school districts and 713,000 people employed in Texas schools.

Parents also have the right to ask if their childs campus has a school marshal. By law, a school must answer a parent who asks in writing.

As a parent, I may want to know, Vickers said in a previous hearing. I dont have heartburn with that.

Alejandra Matos covers politics, immigration and education policy. Follow her on Twitter. Subscribe to the Texas Take politics newsletter.A face familiar to Houston television viewers appeared again on camera this week, but the circumstances represented a precipitous fall from the anchor desk she once occupied.

Darian Ward walked into a courtroom and stood before a judge who, appropriately enough, once headed Crime Stoppers of Houston. State District Judge Katherine Cabaniss will preside over the trial of Mayor Sylvester Turners former press secretary, who is accused of violating Texas law by deliberately withholding a cache of emails from a reporter investigating her use of city time and equipment to promote her private business.

Wards attorney, Chris Tritico, maintains the records werent public because they didnt involve official business. But we could argue its the publics business to know when a government employee is doing private business on the taxpayers dime  using a city computer on city time.

Wards prosecution is a stark warning to government employees who flout laws mandating the release of public information. The decision of a Harris County grand jury to charge Ward is an extraordinarily uncommon occurrence  even more notable in a state thats rolling back access to the information citizens need to hold the government accountable. And that brings us to a problem state lawmakers need to address next session.

Not so long ago, Texans could brag that our state had one of the strongest open records laws in the United States. Reform-minded state lawmakers adopted The Public Information Act of 1973 in the wake of a complex banking and bribery scandal. They understood that providing access to even the most arcane government information was vital to keeping politicians and bureaucrats honest.

But indictments for violating that law have been astonishingly rare, according to Houston attorney Joe Larsen, an expert in public information cases. As a result, Larsen says the law is routinely violated by government employees across the state who  as Ward allegedly did  lie by claiming they dont have public records that are actually in their files.

Meanwhile, the Texas Supreme Court struck a serious blow to the Public Information Act in 2015 when it ruled on two cases involving Boeing and the Greater Houston Partnership. In the Boeing case, the court ruled  were not joking - that governments can refuse to show taxpayers copies of certain contracts with private businesses; so if you think your county commissioner is doing dirty deals with a contractor, the county government can easily keep the incriminating documents secret. In the Partnership case, the court ruled that nonprofits collecting taxpayer money to perform jobs usually done by government dont have to open their books to the public. For all we know, folks working at those quasi-government agencies could be blowing taxpayer money at topless bars. As outrageous as it sounds, a top tourism official in Houston once was caught doing just that. How did news reporters find that out? His expense accounts were public records.

Those misguided court rulings gave a green light to secrecy that masks how our tax dollars are spent  and misspent. Last session in Austin, lawmakers in both parties proposed legislation that would have closed wide loopholes. Another bill would have provided greater access to public records hidden in private email accounts. Unfortunately, lawmakers didnt take action on these important reforms.

Not only do we have a right to know, we have a duty to know what our government is doing in our name, said a distinguished former Houston reporter named Walter Cronkite. Were pretty certain Uncle Walter would have agreed that wide access to public information is essential for voters trying to hold government accountable.

If shes convicted, Ward faces a fine of up to $1,000 and as much as six months in jail. Whatever happens in her case, we will stay on the case of lawmakers to pass open government bills that do indeed keep public institutions open and restore the kind of government transparency Texans once took pride in.What kind of lawyer would tape a client? President Donald Trump asked in a huffy tweet Wednesday, the morning after CNN obtained a recording of one of his conversations with his embattled former attorney, Michael Cohen.

Thats a question with an easy answer: The kind of lawyer who would thrive as Donald Trumps longtime fixer. The kind Trump would turn to in the closing weeks of a presidential election, when he needed to buy the silence of a former Playboy model who was claiming that she and Trump had had an extramarital affair. The kind who would fit the description that Trump bestows on the people he finds most impressive, or at least the most useful: a killer.

RELATED: Four important points that arise from the Trump-Cohen recording

EDITORIAL: Trump admins illegal alien directive continues dehumanization of immigrants

OPINION: Whatever Trump is hiding is hurting all of us now

Trump was well aware that Cohen made a regular practice of surreptitiously recording his business and political conversations. In fact, as The Post reported in April, the lawyer often played those tapes for Trump. It was his standard practice to do it, one associate said.

Now, Cohen has a more urgent concern than protecting his former client. He is under federal investigation for possible bank fraud and election law violations, and only he - and the FBI - know what is in those reams of records seized from his office in an April raid.

Cohens own lawyers include Lanny Davis, a veteran of the Clinton White Houses famed damage-control operation, whose own mantra has been: Tell it early, tell it all, tell it yourself. During the campaign finance scandals of the mid-1990s, Davis engineered the public release of White House Communications Agency videos showing Bill Clinton greeting major campaign contributors in the Oval Office, the Map Room and other parts of the White House. Republicans on Capitol Hill did not even know that such recordings existed. Daviss bet, which turned out to be right, was that hyper-transparency would end up working in the presidents favor.

Perhaps for Trump what stings is being on the receiving end of one of his own favorite tactics. As a means of intimidation, the president has long believed in the power of surreptitious recordings - and sometimes, just the threat of them:

James Comey better hope that there are no tapes of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!, Treump tweeted on May 12, 2017.

What has become evident now is that, unlike his former client, Michael Cohen is not bluffing.

cohen-trump-commentJohn Holcroft's work resonated with me immediately. I like art that tries to disturb and disrupt. Holcroft's illustrations would literally reach out and grab you and shake you were they given arms. Without them, they still do this, albeit more figuratively. These brilliant illustrations are like a mirror - a mirror showing the world to itself, us to ourselves. And John Holcroft does this brilliantly.

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Michael Ernest Sweet: John, how did you get into graphic design and illustration work?

John Holcroft: I've always liked drawing from an early age and had pretty much a clear idea what I wanted to do. When you're young and you know nothing of the industry, you go along with what your art teacher at school suggests and she suggested I pursue a career in graphic design. I did just that and after leaving my college in the middle of a bad recession there was very little work around.What little work there was, was being snapped up by experienced designers. Also it was the early 90s and computer technology was becoming prevalent. My college portfolio with cut paper and hand drawn text looked quickly out dated next to mac generated imagery. I mooched around aimlessly from job to job for the next 4 years until I decided to go freelance as an illustrator. Nowadays I'm 100% digital, back then all I had were some paints. It took a couple of years and several trips to London financed with the money I got from painting portraits of people's kids and their homes. Over the years it's been a struggle and even now I never take my steady work load for granted, you can become yesterday's news very quickly.

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Michael: Your work is powerful and political, do you do commercial work of a less political nature also?

John: I don't set out to create political work, half of my work you see around is paid commissions and the rest is self promotional. It's the self promos that I use to generate work and when I have a great idea I create a piece of artwork and see how it turns out. My concepts just happen to be mostly to do with society and politics. When creating work for paid commissions, usually they're quite specific about what they want and it's the reason why I always create self promos to generate work, my paid work is too specific and doesn't resonate with anyone but the readership of the publication it was meant for. Occasionally I might have a commission with the freedom to do what I want, but these come rarely.

Michael: In terms of the political work, you make very poignant statements about society and the world in general. What motivates you to take this on?

John: When creating self promotional work I have to create work will interest commissioning art editors. It's only been noticed within the last couple of years and now when I'm creating unpaid work, I consider whether my concepts will understood in many different cultures. I sometimes get emails from people who have been offended by some of my pieces because of cultural misunderstandings. An example would be a piece I did on corruption and bribery, and I had to illustrate a man in an airport security uniform taking a bribe. He was wearing generic uniform and a made up badge. Some guy saw this and thought that I was mocking his country because his badge was the same colors as the country's flag.

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Michael: Do you think art can change the world, even in today's society given our general attitude toward the arts?

John: Art is a powerful medium that surrounds us all and we are affected by art whether we like it or not. Adverting is the biggest example of this.

Whether you can change the world is another matter. I certainly feel that art can make people think and possibly change people's mindsets. Politically, the world is in the hands of the corporate big boys and the only way something can change is when there's a profit to be made.

Michael: What do you do with your work? Where does it end up?

John: With my work being all digital, it ends up sitting in my hard drive and occasionally printed off when someone wants to buy a signed print. Some of my work goes into stock to be used.

Michael: Many of the political and social messages in your work are blatant and obviously true. In other words, there is little debatable content, in my opinion. Given this, why do you think society is so reluctant to see its ills, to address these most obvious problems?

John: To be honest, most people either don't care, ignorant to it or they've given up trying to do something about the problems because it's out of their reach. Using world poverty as an example, this is something that can only be solved by governments internationally and no amount of charity fun runs will even scratch the surface. Unless there's something to gain these problems will never be solved over night. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out what we need to do to combat global warming, but because of greed and power we will still be facing the same quandary in 20 years.

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Michael: You've illustrated the covers of some really iconic books (Of Mice and Men, The Chrysalids & Animal Farm). This work is not as profound in terms of its message. Do you ever feel conflicted between doing the political work (which I imagine is more personally motivated) and this other commercial work?

John: The book covers I have illustrated were never commissioned, just self promotional. I don't wish to be typecast and just known for the conceptual illustrations, I have to earn a living and set my stall out, and if anyone likes what I do along the way that's a bonus.

Michael: What are your aspirations for your work long-term? What do you want the name John Holcroft to symbolize ultimately?

John: I might at some point go back to my painting on canvas and have some tangible work rather than pixels. I'm not that egotistical to want my name to become anything great. I would just like to earn a living as long as I can and if I can make people think then I can pop off this mortal coil happy knowing that I've made a contribution and hopefully be remembered.

John Holcroft grew up in Lancashire, England, where he still lives and works today. Holcroft wanted to be an artist from the very beginning and completed a graphic design degree in the early 90s. Following various struggles and hard times, Holcroft eventually developed a distinct "winning" style which continues to garner him attention on the world stage. See more of Holcroft's work at his website.Dubais Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has formed a strategic alliance with Al Tayyar Travel Group, Saudi Arabias leading travel and tourism company, to further enhance the emirate's position as the preferred destination for Saudi visitors.



The partnership will pave the way for launching unique initiatives that will help expand Dubai Tourisms marketing reach and visibility within Saudi Arabia, one of Dubais top three visitor source markets.



The promotional strategies will be primarily implemented through Al Tayyar Travel Groups strategic online business unit, the largest home-grown digital travel company in the Mena region that manages two cutting-edge online travel platforms on the web, mobile web and app: Almosafer and tajawal.

The alliance will see Almosafer creating inspirational content on Dubais tourism offerings to be promoted across all its communication channels. The online travel platform has also collaborated with one of the most prominent Saudi-based social media influencers, Mohammed Alnhet, to develop an exciting series of videos showcasing the diversity of Dubais attractions and experiences.



Commenting on the alliance, Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), said: We are pleased to form a strategic alliance with Al Tayyar Travel Group, one of Saudi Arabias leading travel companies, to work together in promoting the diversity of Dubais offerings to Saudi travellers. We have a shared vision of positioning Dubai as the destination of choice for Saudi visitors, and our partnership will further support the achievement of mutual business goals.



The geographical proximity of our countries and also the fact that we share the same values and cultural backgrounds, makes the GCC, especially Saudi Arabia, a core market for Dubais tourism industry. Moreover, families  our key audience  constitute the bulk of the visitors from this region and with the support of strategic partnerships with travel companies such as Al Tayyar Travel Group, we are confident of attracting even more visitors from this segment.



Almosafer will offer special hotel and flight deals exclusively for Saudi travellers to Dubai such as top things-to-do in the city, iconic attractions to visit, a slew of handpicked restaurants and shopping options, as well as travel tips. The online travel platform will create special Dubai-centric holiday packages, tailored to each of the travel segments - couples, families, individuals or business travellers.



Abdullah Bin Nasser Al-Dawood, CEO, Al Tayyar Travel Group said: Both Al Tayyar Travel Group and Dubai Tourism have ambitious growth plans in Saudi Arabia, and I am thrilled we have reached this new partnership that will continue to significantly benefit our respective businesses, increasing inbound tourism for Saudi travellers to Dubai, and boost GCC travel industry as a whole.



Almosafer caters to the discerned needs of Arab travellers, with simple-to-use mobile applications and easy-booking services. With a focus on making travel accessible and smooth, whilst offering the latest secure payment options, full transparency in pricing, offers and deals, Almosafer is a go-to platform for Saudi visitors to Dubai, to help plan their family vacations, business trips, staycations and more.



The strong interest in visiting Dubai is reflected in the fact that Almosafer witnessed a 41 per cent growth in Dubai bookings from 2017 to 2018, whilst Dubai Tourism confirmed that in the first five months of this year, the emirate welcomed 630,000 Saudi visitors. - TradeArabia News Service

Human trafficking is the fastest growing and second largest criminal industry in the world. A report by the International Labour Organization estimates that 24.9 million people* are living in modern slavery, over 75% of whom are women and children. Thats equivalent to the total population of Australia.

Aviation is the business of freedom. Airlines connect businesses to markets, reunite families and friends, and facilitate tourism and cultural exchange. Unfortunately, the global air transport system can also be exploited by criminals for the illegal trafficking of men, women and children.

Although the responsibility for identifying, apprehending and prosecuting those perpetrating human trafficking rests with governments and national law enforcement agencies, the airline industry recognizes that it can play an important role in helping to prevent this crime.

The role of aviation in the fight against human trafficking

A resolution denouncing human trafficking was passed at the last IATA Annual General Meeting. The resolution also reaffirms airlines' commitment to a number of actions to fight human trafficking: sharing of best practices, staff training and reporting.

Once trained, airline, airport, ground handling, security screening and customs staff can provide an important source of intelligence to prevent human trafficking. They can recognize signs of potential trafficking situations and report their observations to the authorities both at airports and during flights. See press release and resolution text: Airlines Denounce Human Trafficking and Commit to Action

NEW - Resources for airline staff training

Campaign materials



IATA's role

In addition to working with our member airlines to increase staff and passenger awareness, we are calling on governments and their enforcement agencies to provide clear, practical and anonymous mechanisms for airline staff so they can report potential trafficking situations. A good example of best practice is the US Department of Homeland Security's national toll (cost) free "tip line" and web form where airline staff can report their observations anonymously.

IATA is also working with airports and other stakeholders within the air transport sector to raise awareness on human trafficking and share our guidance material, including recognize and report' practice.

IATA position paper on Human Trafficking (pdf)

Human trafficking: a highlight on the 2018 IATA AGM agenda

View Mira Sorvino, UNODC Goodwill Ambassador's address:





Address of Jean-Luc Lemahieu, UNODC's Director, Policy Analysis and Public Affairs



*About numbers

There are no precise figures on the extent of Human Trafficking. Please find below some clarifications on numbers and definitions with their sources.Mapping fishing vessel traffic

by Tracy Staedter

July 23,2018 | Source: Inside Science

Out in the middle of the Atlantic, the scene unfolds like this: A fishing boat rendezvouses with a huge refrigerated cargo ship. In a matter of hours, the fishing boat offloads thousands of pounds of pollack to the refrigerated vessel and then heads back out to sea.



Transferring fish or other cargo from one boat to another, an activity called transshipping, is not necessarily illegal. But because it happens beyond the watchful eye of port authorities and lacks consistent regulation, the potential for illegal fishing, drug smuggling and human rights abuses runs high.



Now for the first time, researchers have exposed transshipping activity on a scale never before seen. By analyzing the largest dataset ever of vessel interactions, the scientists have revealed transshipment behaviors and estimated the corresponding global extent of it. Between 2012 and 2017, the researchers counted nearly 60,000 instances of nautical behavior that may indicate transshipping, laying bare the immense potential for illegal fishing and human trafficking, said the study's lead author Nathan Miller, a data scientist at SkyTruth, a nonprofit organization that uses remote sensing technology to monitor threats to Earth's natural resources.



In an article published today in Frontiers in Marine Science, the authors describe the worldwide distribution of these 60,000 instances, which also represent an initial step in connecting disparate nodes of a widespread network of vessels, ports, and owners that operate in an industry largely obscured from public view.



"This type of data is not available broadly and yet it's critical if we're going to understand issues related to how much fish is being removed from the ocean, issues related to illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, issues related to human rights abuses and labor abuses -- all of which have been linked to transshipments," said Miller.



Over the five-year study period, Miller and his team, which included scientists from Google and Global Fishing Watch, a SkyTruth project to map the location of vessels involved in the fishing industry, zeroed in on the transshipment activity using a few different methods. They parsed a dataset of 32 billion automatic identification system messages, which are automatically-generated, anti-collision radio signals sent every two to 180 seconds from vessels more than 120 feet long. Embedded in each signal is a nine-digit number called a Marine Mobile Service Identity, the first 3 digits of which indicates the country of the flag flying on the ship's mast.



They cross-referenced the information with other known details, including a transshipment vessel's International Maritime Organization number and a database of fishing vessels. From this, the researchers were able to map activity that could indicate transshipment. They found 10,233 occasions when two vesselsa fishing boat and a transshipperlingered within 500 meters of each other for at least two hours, traveling less than two knots, while at least 6.2 miles from a location where ships commonly anchor.



The team also mapped 46,570 events where a large transshipment vessel loitered seemingly by itself. On these occasions, automatic identification system messages were coming from just one vessel, not a pair. This could indicate transshipment to a smaller vessel, since automatic identification system transmitters are not mandatory on all fishing vessels and use varies globally among different fleets. The researchers counted the event as a transshipment if the lone vessel was traveling at speeds of less than two knots for at least eight hours, while 20 nautical miles or more from shore.



Nearly 50 percent of the suspected transshipment events that the team identified occurred on the high seas beyond national jurisdictions. Of the more than 6,000 fishing boats that fished for more than 24 hours on the open ocean, 1,181 had at least one encounter with a transshipment vessel.



The researchers discovered that transshipment activities appear most commonly around the equatorial regions of the Pacific, Atlantic and the southern Indian Oceans, as well as on the fringes of fishing zones designated exclusively to one country, called exclusive economic zones, of Peru, Argentina, Japan and Russia. Africa also sees its fair share, with transshipments clustering on the edge of the East African exclusive economic zones.



"This study shows us the magnitude of global transshipments," said Reniel Cabral, a postdoctoral researcher in the Sustainable Fisheries Group at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who was not involved in the research. "Whether it's illegal or not, we can't say," he said. But the information could aid countries trying to crack down on illegal fishing, he added. If they see that a transshipment is happening in their waters or near their exclusive economic zones, but it has not been reported, they can ping the ship or collaborate with countries to check the vessel.



Miller and his team hope that this work and future studies like it lead to greater transparency. They're currently working on identifying the owners of shipping fleets, which Miller said are often hidden behind shell companies.



Rosemary Rayfuse, a professor of International Law at the University of New South Wales said that stopping illegal fishing is a huge concern. "We have made great strides since the 1990s in dealing with unregulated fishing, but we haven't fixed it."

 2018 American Institute of Physics

Theme(s): Others.Ghana govt shifts ban on fishing

by Thomas Fosu Jnr

July 25,2018 | Source: Dailyguide Africa

Ghana's Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Elizabeth Afoley Quaye, has announced in Parliament that to partly mitigate the social-cultural impact on the ban on fishing and to ensure that cultural and traditional practices, especially those related to fishing during August are not affected, the government has shifted the ban to between August 7 and September 4, 2018.



Announcing the new move by the government in Parliament yesterday, the minister said the government had put in place some measures to mitigate the impact of the temporary ban or closed season, stressing that an Alternative Livelihood Committee had been put in place which has assisted in selecting communities to implement alternative livelihood schemes such as collecting and processing of plastics along the beaches and in the lagoons for money.



She also said Landing Beach Committees (LBCs) are supposed to use some fixed portions of the 53 per cent of the premix fuel margins meant for development to all fishermen identified within their LBCs.



She explained to the House that the temporary ban is to ensure sustainable fish food and nutrition security as well as guarantee income and livelihood for fishermen.



The closure is to prevent the huge security crisis that will arise if the artisanal fishing sector collapses that will result in mass unemployment, high incidence of poverty and increased social vices in the fishing communities, she disclosed.



She indicated that if the closure is limited to a select number of fleet and gear types, the incidence of high by-catch may not be avoided and will therefore defeat the purpose of the closure.



The Minority MPs were not happy about the ban and had earlier held a press conference to ask the government to lift the ban because it would bring untold hardship to fishermen and their families.



The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for Ablekuma South, Dr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, for his part, appealed to the government to re-look at the effect of the ban on the fishing communities adding that the ministry should have widely consulted fishermen and opinion leaders in the fishing communities on the need for the ban so that the agitation would have been minimised.

 2016 Daily Guide Africa

Theme(s): Others.EU pledges 6bn to help aquaculture and fishing

by Andrew Balahura

July 25,2018 | Source: FISHupdate

The European Union has set aside more than six billion euros (5.3 billion) to help fishing and aquaculture businesses move towards a more sustainable future.



A total of 6.14 billion will be spread over six years and channelled through a new look European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). But for the first time UK businesses will be left out because when it comes into force in 2021 Britain will have left the EU and the follow up transition period will have come to an end.



Much of the focus will be supporting small scale fishermen and businesses. Coastal communities will receive more and broader support to set up local partnerships and technology transfers in all blue economy sectors, including aquaculture.



The European Commission said: It will also help unleash the growth potential of a sustainable blue economy towards a more prosperous future for coastal communities. For the first time, it will contribute to strengthening international ocean governance for safer, cleaner, more secure, and sustainably managed seas and oceans. Finally, the Commission is reinforcing the environmental impact of the Fund with a focus on protecting marine ecosystems and an expected contribution of 30 per cent of its budget to climate change mitigation and adaptation, in line with the commitments agreed under the Paris Agreement.



EU Fisheries Commissioner Karmenu Vella, said: Healthy, well-managed oceans are a pre-condition for long-term investments and job creation in fisheries and the broader blue economy. As a global ocean actor and the worlds fifth largest producer of seafood, the European Union has a strong responsibility to protect, conserve and sustainably use the oceans and their resources. The Fund will allow Member States and the Commission to live up to that responsibility and invest into sustainable fisheries, food security, a thriving maritime economy, and healthy and productive seas and oceans.

 2018 FISHupdate

Theme(s): Fisheries Development and Aquaculture.Imperial Valley News Center

First Lady Melania Trumps Visit to Monroe Carell Jr. Childrens Hospital at Vanderbilt

Nashville, Tennessee - Tuesday, First Lady Melania Trump traveled to Tennessee to visit the Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital as part of her Be Best campaign. After arriving in Tennessee, Mrs. Trump was met by United States Representative Marsha Blackburn and United States Air Force Colonel Keith Allbritten.

When Mrs. Trump arrived at the Childrens Hospital, she was greeted by Chief Executive Officer and President of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Dr. Jeff Balser, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs, Dr. Wright Pinson, and the Chief of Staff for Monroe Carell Jr. Childrens Hospital, Dr. Margaret Rush.

The First Lady participated in a roundtable discussion on neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), which was led by TeamHOPE. Following the roundtable, the First Lady stopped inside a playroom and met with children who are currently patients at the hospital.

Mrs. Trump then spent time speaking with a NAS affected family. She also delivered fleece baby blankets to patients and families of the hospital.

Thank you to Vanderbilt University Medical Center and to the dedicated staff at Monroe Carell Jr. Childrens Hospital for hosting me today, and for sharing your important work and research on NAS, said First Lady Melania Trump. Through Be Best, I look forward to working with medical centers around the country in our effort to raise awareness and educate people on the real dangers of NAS. I also want to thank the families and patients who have shared their personal stories on this difficult but important issue  it is through honest and real dialogue that we can remove the stigma of addiction and have a positive impact on those suffering from this condition.Global Health Security Agenda Cooperation

Washington, DC - The following statement was released by the Governments of the United States of America and Australia regarding cooperation on health security as discussed at the 2018 Australia-U.S. Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN).

Given the collective threat posed by certain highly pathogenic infectious diseases  whether through naturally occurring outbreaks or deliberate or accidental release  the governments of the United States and Australia have formed a multi-sectoral partnership to strengthen health security in the Indo-Pacific Region. This partnership advances the goals of the U.S. National Security Strategy and the Australian Foreign Policy White Paper and strongly supports implementation of the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), which endeavors to create a world safe and secure from infectious disease threats.

The United States and Australia are committed to the exchange of technical expertise and best practices that complement, advance, and accelerate capacity building for health security in the Indo-Pacific Region. Our new partnership, convened by the U.S. Department of State and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, aims to strengthen coordination of our country assistance efforts and includes relevant departments and agencies of both governments, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of Defense, and U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The locus of cooperation within the Australian government is the Indo-Pacific Centre for Health Security, a whole-of-government body within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Centre draws together expertise from the Department of Health, the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research, the National Health and Medical Research Council, and the Department of Defense.

This new Australia-U.S. multi-sectoral coordination arrangement allows both sides to identify common strategies for program development and implementation, share information and policy perspectives, and explore concrete opportunities for joint action to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats.

Both governments affirm their support for transparent communication and accountability in relation to health security activities. The United States and Australia look forward to continuing to work together bilaterally, in relevant regional organizations, and in international forums such as the Global Health Security Agenda to ensure a safe and secure Indo-Pacific region.Joint Statement Australia-U.S. Ministerial Consultations 2018

San Francisco, California - Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Secretary of Defense James Mattis hosted Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop and Minister for Defence Marise Payne on July 23-24 for the annual Australia-U.S. Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) at Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution in Palo Alto, California. Holding the meeting in the San Francisco Bay Area, on the U.S. Pacific coast and near the birthplace of the ANZUS Treaty, is a fitting affirmation of the vitality of our alliance and the significance of the Indo-Pacific to our shared future.

As President Trump and Prime Minister Turnbull declared when they met at the White House in February, the U.S.-Australia alliance is steadfast and enduring, and underpinned by a deep alignment of mutual interests and shared values. This year marks a century since U.S. and Australian forces first fought side by side at the Battle of Hamel in 1918. From the battlefields of Europe to this contested century, there are no greater friends than Australia and the United States.

The Secretaries and Ministers emphasized both nations strong and deepening engagement in the Indo-Pacific. They made clear their commitment to work together  and with partners  to shape an Indo-Pacific that is open, inclusive, prosperous, and rules-based. A key outcome of discussions in Palo Alto is a joint work plan that advances our shared strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific, which has diplomatic, security, and economic dimensions.

The United States and Australia highlighted the priority each places on supporting an international rules-based order, alongside allies and partners. In the Indo-Pacific, that order has underpinned decades of stability, democracy, and prosperity. The two nations reaffirmed their strong support for ASEAN centrality and the ASEAN-led regional architecture, and discussed ways to expand cooperation in connectivity, infrastructure, and energy security. They welcomed the recent U.S.-Australia-India-Japan consultations on the Indo-Pacific in Singapore and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen trilateral dialogue with Japan. Both nations continue to place a high priority on constructive and beneficial engagement with China.

The Secretaries and Ministers highlighted the importance of U.S.-Australia defense cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, particularly through full implementation of Force Posture Initiatives between U.S. and Australian forces in Australia. They emphasized the value of Marine Rotational Force-Darwin and Enhanced Air Cooperation for improving the interoperability of U.S. and Australian defense forces. The United States and Australia highlighted their commitment to raising the number of Marines rotating to Darwin to the full complement of 2,500 as soon as practicable. They committed to strengthening bilateral security partnerships with like-minded Indo-Pacific nations through joint training and exercise opportunities. The principals also decided to integrate U.S. force elements into Australia's annual Indo-Pacific Endeavour exercise.

Secretary Mattis and Minister Payne committed to strengthening defense collaboration in science and technology, and signed an MOU to perform critical research and development of advanced cyber capabilities. Under this MOU, Australia and the United States will be able to jointly leverage each other's strengths and technical expertise to collaboratively develop tools and software to address cyber and other security threats.

The Secretaries and Ministers committed to increased bilateral and multilateral cooperation on economic development in the Indo-Pacific, recognizing that security and prosperity are mutually reinforcing. Our two governments will work together, and with partners, to support principles-based and sustainable infrastructure development in the region, which will promote growth and stability. The United States and Australia decided to collaborate to reduce the threat of emerging infectious diseases in the Indo-Pacific region, and to advance the Global Health Security Agenda and reinforce objectives of Australias Health Security Initiative for the Indo-Pacific.

They emphasized that militarization of disputed features in the South China Sea is contrary to the regions desire for peaceful development, and reiterated the obligation to respect freedom of navigation and overflight, and other lawful uses of the sea, in accordance with international law. Both sides called for the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea to be consistent with existing international law, as reflected in UNCLOS, to support existing regional architecture, to reinforce the parties commitment to cease actions that complicate disputes and not to prejudice the interests of third parties or the rights of all states under international law.

The allies welcomed the face-to-face talks between the leaders of the United States and North Korea and pledged to maintain pressure and strengthen cooperation to achieve the final, fully verified denuclearization of the DPRK.

The Secretaries and Ministers support closer cooperation to promote the security, stability, resilience, and development of Pacific Island countries. They highlighted the importance of strengthening regional information sharing, maritime security, and domain awareness. Australia welcomed the United States commitment to support the Australian Pacific Security College. The two nations also committed to coordinate sustainable capacity-building activities for Pacific Island countries with partners.

The two countries reaffirmed their determination to oppose actions that seek to undermine the international rules-based order. Noting the anniversary of the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 on July 17, the principals condemned the downing and expressed full confidence in the findings of the Joint Investigation Team concerning Russias role. The principals further called on Russia to cooperate fully with efforts to establish accountability, including the process initiated by Australia and The Netherlands to establish the truth and achieve justice for the victims and their next of kin.

The Secretaries and Ministers underscored their shared commitment to ISISs lasting defeat in Iraq and Syria, and to support Afghanistan, including through their nations development assistance and NATOs train, advise, and assist mission to the Afghan security forces. The United States and Australia reaffirmed the importance of continued cooperation on Counter-Terrorism and Countering Violent Extremism efforts in Southeast Asia.

Australia will host the next AUSMIN in 2019.Secretary Pompeo To Deliver Keynote Address at Indo-Pacific Business Forum Hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Washington, DC - On Monday, July 30, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will host the Indo-Pacific Business Forum, featuring keynote remarks by Secretary Michael R. Pompeo on Americas Indo-Pacific Economic Vision.

The Forum will introduce the economic and commercial elements of our whole-of-government Indo-Pacific strategy and will include participation from senior administration officials, the private sector, and officials representing Indo-Pacific nations.

The Secretary will deliver remarks at 9:15am EST.

Please follow the event on Twitter on @StateDept and @USChamber or using the hashtag #IndoPacificBizForum.Vice President Pence to Airmen at Grand Forks Air Force Base

Grand Forks, North Dakota - Remarks by Vice President Pence to Airmen at Grand Forks Air Force Base:

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you so much for that wonderful warm welcome, and at ease. Its an honor to be with you today, Governor Burgum, Secretary Zinke, Congressman Cramer. And how about a big round of applause for Colonel Spencer for his tremendous leadership. (Applause.)

And to all the men and women who serve in the uniform of the United States, and your families who are with us today, it is an honor to be here at Grand Forks Air Force Base with the Warriors of the North. (Applause.)

Let me begin, first and foremost, by bringing greetings  just hung up from the phone from him  your Commander-in-Chief wanted me to extend his greetings and respect. And I bring you greetings from the 45th President of the United States of America, President Donald Trump. (Applause.)

You know, just yesterday, President Trump stood before a gathering of your predecessors at the VFW National Convention. He did so, in his words, to pay tribute to the men and women who make freedom possible. Thats the very same reason that I wanted to stop by today while I was visiting North Dakota.

You know, the Bible says, if you owe debts, pay debts; if honor, then honor; if respect, then respect. And Im here today, on behalf of your Commander-in-Chief and on behalf of a grateful nation, to pay a debt of gratitude to each and every one of you whove stepped up and stood up to serve in the worlds greatest force for good: the Armed Forces of the United States of America. Give yourselves a round of applause. (Applause.)

While you all come from the rest of us  you volunteered to be here  truth be told, we know you are the best of us. But we know, for many of you, you do not serve alone. You have families at your side, or, at minimum, you have families back home. I have to tell you, as the proud father of a United States Marine, I know how proud all of your parents are. So would you join me in giving all the families that support you at home as you serve our nation a big round of applause? (Applause.) We appreciate them.

And to all the leaders of this great base, that record of service to the nation  I mentioned the Commander of the 319th Air Base Wing, Colonel Benjamin Spencer  and all of those who are in command here at this base, you make an extraordinary difference in the life of the nation. And America is proud of the 319th. Thank you again, Colonel. (Applause.)

I also want to thank a few of the leaders who are with us today. The great Governor of the State of North Dakota and a great champion of all of those in uniform, Governor Doug Burgum, thank you for being with us today. And thank the First Lady, as well. (Applause.)

And he serves at the Secretary of the Interior for the United States of America, but he is a lifelong Montanan, and he is a former Navy SEAL Commander. Would you join me in thanking Secretary Ryan Zinke for his service to the nation, yesterday and today and tomorrow? (Applause.)

I also want to thank our partners for this administration on Capitol Hill. You have a great senator in John Hoeven  a man who has been a great, great supporter of this base and of our armed forces.

And I also want to thank Congressman Kevin Cramer, who is a great champion for our national defense, and joins us here today with his wonderful wife, Kris. Thank you, Congressman Cramer. (Applause.)

I can tell you, these leaders are tireless advocates  tireless advocates of the mission and the airmen of Grand Forks. Standing here today, I can see  I can see the confidence in your faces. And I want to assure you that were all truly grateful that you literally are the eyes and ears of Americas warfighters across the globe every day.

Our nation is safer because of the diligent 24/7 work of the Warriors of the North. Thank you all. (Applause.)

And as the 319th Communications Squadron operates Americas High-Frequency Global Communications System, the 69th Recon Group flies the Global Hawks to give our theater commanders intelligence, surveillance anytime, anywhere. Cavalier Air Force Station, just over an hour northwest of where were standing, protects a critical element of the nations missile defense. And the list goes on and on.

Its an extraordinary record of success at Grand Forks Air Force Base. Its literally turned Red River Valley into a world leader in Unmanned Aerial Systems as well, with new developments and new technologies.

In fact, a few people have already mentioned to me the extraordinary history was made. The world witnessed the power of the pioneering work thats been done here just a few weeks ago when the MO-9B [MQ-9B] SkyGuardian lifted off from this airfield on a 3,000-mile journey to England, the first medium-altitude transatlantic flight by an unmanned aircraft in history. Thank you for making history at this base and driving innovation. (Applause.)

The truth is, Grand Forks Air Force Base has always played a critical role in our national security. And with widening challenges and widening threats across the globe, your strength and your vigilance is more important today than ever before.

And to all of those dedicated servicemen and women in the room, Im proud to report to you that you have a champion in President Donald Trump. In fact, this Commander-in-Chief has taken decisive action to rebuild our military and restore the arsenal of democracy. And with the strong support of Congressman Cramer and Senator Hoeven, Im pleased to report, earlier this year, President Trump signed the largest increase in our national defense since the days of Ronald Reagan. (Applause.)

This was a historic investment in our military, and, in case you didnt notice, it included the biggest pay raise for our troops in nearly 10 years. Overdue and well deserved. (Applause.)

Also, the budget the President recently signed provides new resources to support the vital work that you do here at Grand Forks, including more than $300 million for the Global Hawk program and $8 million to install a universal payload supplier on the Global Hawk Block 40.

I just want to assure each and every one of you: President Trump and I are truly grateful  truly grateful every day for the work that each and every one of you do. We believe that your mission supporting warfighters around the globe has never been more important to the security of our nation and the safety of our people.

And so, today, on behalf of your Commander-in-Chief, I give you this admonition, and that is: Stay ready. Bring your very best to this enterprise. Mind your missions. Mind your people. Because here at this airbase, youre doing work thats providing for the security of the greatest nation in the history of the world, and youre doing it with extraordinary professionalism. So keep it up. I know America can count on each and every one of you.

And as each one of you makes it possible for America to be the eyes and ears of the skies, and as you, yourself, take to the skies, know that you go with the gratitude not just of the Commander-in-Chief and of a Vice President, but of all the American people.

We know that you step forward in this all-volunteer force. You set aside other opportunities you may have had in your life to put on the uniform. And I have to tell you, its deeply inspiring to the American people. And I can assure you the American people support your work. Far beyond the precincts of Grand Forks in North Dakota, the American people are grateful every day for the sacrifices you make, and the professionalism and determination and the vigilance that you show.

But let me make you another promise that I know on behalf of the American people: That as you do freedoms work here, as you do the work of providing for the common defense of this, the greatest nation on Earth, that you do so also with the prayers of a faithful people.

And I would offer a prayer too, to all of those that rise on the wings of the dawn, and all those that go up to the heavens, that you would be confident that even, as the Old Book says, that, there, His hand will guide you, and may His right hand hold you fast as you do freedoms work.

So to the Warriors of the North, the men and women of Grand Forks Air Force Base, on behalf of your Commander-in-Chief and a grateful nation, thank you for your service. Thank you for continued vigilance.

May God bless you and your families. And my God continue to bless the United States of America. Thank you all.Presidential Proclamation on the Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 2018

Washington, DC - On the 28th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), we celebrate this historic legislation, which echoed our Nations founding promise to recognize and secure the equal rights of all men and women. Today, we reaffirm our commitment to cultivate further opportunities for all Americans to live full and independent lives, and recognize the many contributions enabled by expanded participation of Americans with disabilities in our society.

President George H.W. Bush signed the ADA into law on July 26, 1990. It has transformed the lives of millions of Americans living with disabilities by promoting their equal access to employment, government services, public accommodations, commercial facilities, and public transportation. Today, people of all ages with disabilities are better able to thrive in the community, pursue careers, contribute to our economy, and fully participate in American society.

Our Nation must continue to build upon this foundation and continue to further the participation of the more than 56 million Americans living with disabilities. My Administration continues to encourage research that will lead to advancements in technology, medicine, and other fields and better enable independent living. We are also expanding and promoting equal education and employment opportunities for Americans with disabilities to live and work. In this regard, in June of last year, I signed an Executive Order to develop more apprenticeship programs for all people, including those with disabilities. Additional training will encourage better involvement from businesses and allow people with disabilities to contribute meaningfully to a wide variety of industries.

As we commemorate the anniversary of the ADA, we recommit ourselves to fostering an environment in which all Americans have the opportunity to pursue the American Dream.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim July 26, 2018, as a day in celebration of the 28th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. I call upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities that celebrate the contributions of Americans with disabilities and to renew our commitment to achieving the promise of our freedom for all Americans.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord two thousand eighteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-third.

DONALD J. TRUMPProgress on Ukraine Energy Reforms

Washington, DC - The United States is pleased to note that the Government of Ukraine has welcomed an important announcement made today related to reform of the Ukrainian energy sector. The supervisory boards of Ukrainian state-owned Naftogaz and Main Gas Pipelines of Ukraine signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), committing to separate the production and transmission portions of Naftogaz, Ukraines state-owned gas company. This reform is consistent with market oriented policies encouraged by the EU, the United States, and the international community.

Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Frank Fannon traveled to Kyiv, Ukraine from July 22-24, and played a key role in this effort. In meetings with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, committee chairs of the Verkhovna Rada, and other senior officials, Assistant Secretary Fannon stressed the United States staunch opposition to Nord Stream 2 and broader Russian attempts to use energy to harm Ukraine and undermine European security. Assistant Secretary Fannon also discussed the critical importance of continued energy sector reforms to advance a transparent and competitive energy sector as key to the success of a stable, prosperous, democratic, and free Ukraine.

The United States notes that reform-minded Ukrainians recognize that their country has been constrained under a closed, non-transparent system beset by corrupt actors. This MOU sets a course for the creation of a gas transmission system operator that will function under anti-corruption and corporate governance standards. The Trump Administration places a high priority on energy security, and these actions represent a positive step for Ukraine as an important transit country for gas delivered to Europe, and also for European energy security more broadly.Bigg Boss 15: Tejasswi Prakash Says, "Rajiv Adatia Has Done More Than Akasa Singh and Simba Nagpal in Just One Day'Manufacturing, you may have heard, is dying--but startups and small businesses across other industries are finding new ways to fuel American innovation and create jobs. Think cloud computing, software engineering, logistics, and even product design--arenas once dominated by large corporations.

"Small- and medium-size-business owners can take advantage of technology that was previously available only to large companies," says Jeremy Bodenhamer, co-founder and CEO of Santa Barbara, California-based ShipHawk, which makes and sells shipping software. He's part of a new "supply chain economy" that's creating more jobs, hiring skilled workers, and paying higher wages, according to recent research by MIT's Mercedes Delgado and Harvard's Karen Mills, former head of the Small Business Administration. Startups working in this supply chain "are innovative, and are creating an increasing number of high-wage jobs," says Mills. "These are good jobs of the future."

SERVICES TOTAL NUMBER OF SUPPLY CHAIN TRADED JOBS, IN MILLIONS, 1998-2015 20 20 19 19 18 18 18 17 17 17 17 17 16 16 15 15 14 770,000 SUPPLIERS 13M Small businesses dominate the traded supply chain: 97% of these companies employ fewer than 500 people. 13M 12 12 12 10 10 10 10 10 10 9 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 MANUFACTURING TOTAL NUMBER OF SUPPLY CHAIN TRADED JOBS, IN MILLIONS, 1998-2015 SERVICES TOTAL NUMBER OF SUPPLY CHAIN TRADED JOBS, IN MILLIONS, 1998-2015 19 18 18 18 17 16 15 15 770,000 SUPPLIERS 13M Small businesses dominate the traded supply chain: 97% of these companies employ fewer than 500 people. 13M 12 10 10 10 9 8 8 8 MANUFACTURING TOTAL NUMBER OF SUPPLY CHAIN TRADED JOBS, IN MILLIONS, 1998-2015

Just what is this supply chain?

Companies that provide "supply chain traded services" (charted above) are high-tech big names (Microsoft, Dell EMC, Box, IDEO, Frog) and startup successes (2017 Inc. 500 honorees ShipHawk, Symbia Logistics, and DirectDefense). They do work in cybersecurity, logistics, design, cloud computing, enterprise software, and both computer and traditional engineering.

A good problem to have.

Many of the highly skilled jobs these startups are creating are also highly paid--meaning expensive labor costs for business owners. But Megan Smith, CEO of Edwards, Colorado-based Symbia Logistics, isn't complaining about spending more on employees. "We're getting more skilled people," she says, "and becoming more of an employer of choice."

What makes it so great?

These companies--those selling services to businesses and government entities across regions or countries, rather than locally--create the highest-paying jobs (average wage: $85,200) and have the greatest concentration of jobs classified as science, technology, engineering, or math (19 percent, versus 6 percent of occupations in the overall U.S. economy).

Soft bounce-back.

The slight uptick in manufacturing jobs is mostly a result of overall post-crisis recovery, Mills says, cautioning, "You can't drive the whole economy on the back of 10 percent of the activity."According to a press release by the American Association of University Women (AAUW), new U.S. Census Bureau data revealed that women working full time on average "still make 80 cents compared to every dollar men make." At the current rate of progress in closing the gap, states the report, "women will not receive pay equity until the year 2119."

Fortunately, we are ushering in a new era of hiring and promotion practices led by conscious leaders intolerant of the existing gender pay gap.

One such leader is the CEO of Salesforce, Marc Benioff. The San Francisco-based cloud computing company that sells customer relationship management tools landed the No. 1 spot for the second year in a row in a prestigious list of "Companies That Care," while continuing to level the playing field regarding pay equality.

Pay gap between men and women at Salesforce

According to a press release out yesterday, it was chief personnel officer Cindy Robbins who first raised the issue of a pay gap between men and women at Salesforce.

"We wanted to figure out what we could do to help other women at Salesforce," said Robbins. She brought it to the attention of Benioff in 2015, who was at first stunned and in denial but quickly stepped up to fix what would be a $6 million problem.

As Quartz reported last September, an audit uncovered a statistical difference in pay between men and women. "It was everywhere," Benioff admitted in a 60 Minutes interview. "It was through the whole company, every department, every division, every geography."

Benioff fixed the problem by dedicating $3 million that year to correct the discrepancy, and then another $3 million in 2017 to correct compensation differences by gender, race, and ethnicity across the company.

He also created a new rule that would make it more likely that women would be promoted and seen as leaders.

"Like, we would have a meeting and I would look around the room and I'm like, 'This meeting is just men. Something is not right,'" he told 60 Minutes. So he announced he would not hold a meeting unless 30 percent of the participants were women.

As you would imagine, under Benioff's progressive leadership, Salesforce has become a strong equality advocate for its own workforce and in the communities it serves -- whether it is gender, LGBTQ, racial, national origin, or religious equality.

As a result, the firm has racked up several awards over the years, including an impressive list in 2018 alone:

Best Workplaces in Chicago 2018 (ranked No. 1)

Best Workplaces for Giving Back 2018 (ranked No. 1)

Best Workplaces in the Bay Area 2018 (ranked No. 1)

Best Workplaces for Technology 2018 (ranked No. 3)

Best Workplaces for Millennials 2018 (ranked No. 2)

Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For 2018 (ranked No. 1)

"There's no excuse"

More and more executives at the helm of companies like Salesforce are being intentional about eliminating gender bias by implementing clear policies and guidelines against gender pay gaps, and making sure salaries are regularly reviewed for gender parity.

And that's what makes Benioff stand out. He believes you can't be a decent CEO in 2018 if you're not committed to gender equality. In his campaign to raise awareness, he's had to convince plenty of other male execs of not only its importance but also that the problem of a pay gap actually does exist.

"I've had CEOs call me and say, 'This is not true. This is not real,'" he told 60 Minutes. "And I'll say to them, 'This is true. Look at the numbers.'"

"CEOs, with one button on one computer, can pay every man and every woman equally," he adds. "We have the data. We know what everyone makes. There's no excuse."In the movie RoboCop, a crime-fighter is restored to life through technology. According to a new study by Deloitte, many real-life workers will be kept "alive" in the workplace as a result of the next generation of wearables. You may think about wearables mainly in terms of fitness, but their value is now rapidly expanding to the workplace, helping people work longer and faster, and preventing injuries.

The workforce is aging and the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that by 2026, 37 percent of people aged 65 to 69 will be actively employed, versus 22 percent in 1996.

Big business is well on its way to "robotizing" its workforce. Companies like Ford, Lowe's, and Audi are already using exoskeletons -- bionic suits or extensions of human limbs -- to help people lift and reach. GE Aviation has introduced smart glasses to their operations. Workers can get instant guidance, rather than having to check handbooks. Smart wrist wear is being worn by employees of Dayton Regional Transit Authority to monitor employee health.

The travel industry is going robotic too, with Air New Zealand introducing voice wearables to provide instant translations, improving customer service.Customer service in any industry is an obvious area where robot-assisted humans can prevail. Being able to "see" and "diagnose" problems on-the-spot will save time and expense.

According to Capterra, 54 percent of small businesses will soon be adapting these new technologies within the next year or two. Small Biz Trends cites that this movement will be led by millennials, with 71 percent of the people they surveyed reporting they would use tech to keep employees safe.

Some employees are still concerned about the "big brother" aspect of wearables, not wanting employers to monitor their performance and health data. But the benefits (cost savings, efficiency, reduced injury) seem to far outweigh the negatives.

As with all technologies, the cost of deployment will come down and small businesses will also be able to benefit from human enhancement. Work will be done faster and at a lower cost, injuries from manual labor will be reduced, customer service will be faster and more accurate, and experienced workers can be retained longer.

Manufacturing will be the first industry where robo-workers prevail. Deloitte cites that in manufacturing alone, 50 percent global enterprises plan to deploy these technologies by 2022.

To quote the Deloitte study, "It's time for companies not already utilizing wearables to assess their potential and to rethink workforce planning in light of the impact these technologies can have. After all, what employer wouldn't want a workforce with superpowers?"Its about the art of wearing clothes. This is how curator Kate Grenyer describes Liberty: Art Fabrics & Fashion, an exhibition of more than 100 Liberty items at the Dovecot Gallery in Edinburgh. The shows opening coincides with the annual Edinburgh Art Festival, and contains fabrics and clothing from across the 143-year history of the London company.

The Dovecot exhibition has evolved out of a show originally staged at the Fashion and Textiles Museum in 2015. The Edinburgh gallery, however, features various new additions and some distinctly Scottish twists in telling the story of this much-loved fashion label, whose famous prints are something of a work of art themselves.

The first is to bring into the spotlight Glaswegian designer Marion Donaldson. Although less widely remembered than Barbara Hulanicki of Biba, Donaldson spearheaded one of the most successful Swinging Sixties brands in Britain, and is credited with bringing the psychedelia of London north of the border. One of the highlights of the show is Donaldsons own quintessentially Sixties wedding dress, made in blue paisley with a mini-skirt, and worn on the big day with fishnet tights and knee-high boots.

A 1960 Liberty silk and satin embroidered kaftan (Liberty London/Fashion & Textile Museum) (Liberty London. Image courtesy Fashion & Textile Museum)

The company bearing Donaldsons name became Libertys biggest customer in the UK, using its distinctive florals and other prints in designs that helped create the now instantly-recognisable trends of Sixties, Seventies and Eighties fashion. Most surprisingly, Donaldson did all this without any formal training in fashion and design, starting out at the kitchen table with only a 50 budget.

The second big addition by Dovecot is the showcasing of a contemporary designer with a similarly stratospheric career trajectory. Richard Quinn only established his label in 2016, after graduating from Central St Martins, yet Grenyer describes his career so far as phenomenal, and shes not wrong: he recently dressed Amal Clooney for the Met Gala.

Hes now perhaps the only fashion designer able to credit Anna Wintour and the Queen of England among his fans (the pair famously sat next to each other in the front row of Quinns London Fashion Week show after he won the Queen Elizabeth II Award).

The Queen with Anna Wintour viewing Richard Quinns runway show in February (Getty)

After digitally manipulating a Liberty print to use in his MA show, Quinn was invited by the company to make use of their archive. His professional debut was held at the famous store in London and, in July 2018, an accessories line collaboration between Quinn and Libertys went on sale.

Like the other floral-loving British brand Erdem, Quinns calling card is an ability to make such a traditional element of the UKs fashion heritage feel fresh, modern and  in Quinns case  edgy and even daring. Its also worth noting that Quinns catwalk designs are the type of fashion that often feels closer to sculpture or works of modern art (it would be interesting to see HRH wearing one of his hounds-tooth Lycra gimp suits  apparently its the silk scarves she actually favours).

And its this crossover between art and fashion that this exhibition emphasises. Grenyer talks enthusiastically about Libertys first links with the Arts & Crafts movement of the late Victorian period, and how the fabrics became the talk of the anti-establishment artists of the time.

Arthur Lasenby Liberty established his company in 1875. The brands initial success owed a lot to the eras obsession with Japan and China, a cultural trend that could be seen as clearly in furniture and painting as it could in fabric and jewellery.

Ianthe print c1902, originally by French Art Nouveau designer R Beauclair and redrawn by David Hawards Studio (Liberty London)

Most famously, the Victorian Libertys worked with William Morris, who designed some of Libertys best-known prints. Theres also a neat link here to the Dovecot, as the studios founding weavers learned their craft at Morriss Merton Abbey workshops in Wimbledon, south London. The first wave of interest in Liberty fabrics coincided with the tellingly named Artistic Dress Movement, which saw women loosen corsets, bodices and waistlines in favour of the billowing, free-flowing styles whose influence could be seen decades later when 1970s hippies took up the Liberty print mantle.

In Morris day, art and fashion were inextricably linked, with women encouraged to seek inspiration for the new styles in Pre-Raphaelite and Aesthetic paintings, which in turn were filled with references to Medieval Europe and Ancient Greece.

And thats not to mention the links between Liberty and Art Nouveau (in Italy the term Stile Liberty was in fact coined to describe Art Nouveau style), Liberty and Bauhaus, Liberty and Pop Art.

The exhibition in Edinburgh, however, also demonstrates one more link between contemporary art and Liberty. Throughout its run at Dovecot, visitors to the gallery can see a series of sculptures by Lucy Wayman.

The Liberty of London department store in 1925 (Liberty London)

The Welsh artist specialises in mesmerising, tactile artworks made with craft techniques including weaving, knotting and macrame. Accordingly, Wayman was invited to respond to the 1970s part of the Liberty display (the era when macrame, crochet and other similar crafts were big news in fashion).

Having an artist now respond to clothes made using Libertys designs  a brand that has traditionally responded to artistic movements  creates a nice full circle of call-and-response between fashion and art. This is also something Dovecot as a company are familiar with in more ways than one.

Established in 1912 by the Marquess of Bute, Dovecot Studios were later consumed into the Edinburgh Tapestry Company. As with fashion, craft practices like weaving sometimes struggle to be taken seriously as art. But the Dovecots output  like Libertys  is stunning. If you need proof, just Google Alison Watts Butterfly tapestry, created for the Scottish Opera. Dovecot has also worked directly with numerous other artists including David Hockney and RB Kitaj.

The relevance of the Liberty exhibition to Dovecot can be felt in other ways too. Along with Donaldson, the show features designs by Jean Muir. She was born in London, but her father was from Aberdeen and the Jean Muir archive is owned by the National Museums of Scotland.

Muir started out working in the stock room at Libertys, before being promoted to sketching designs for them. Following this, she opened her own company but continued to use Liberty fabrics in the designs. In fact, the Fashion Museums Dress of the Year Award for 1964 was given to Muir for a frock made from  what else  Libertys silk.

One of the most impressive things about Libertys is its longevity. More than a century after Arthur Silver first designed the celebrated Peacock print, Liberty has worked with Yves Saint Laurent, Loewe, Susie Caves cult label The Vampires Wife, and many more. Grenyer mentions its ability to keep reinventing itself for each generation.

An archive Liberty design by Bernard Nevill (Liberty London Fabrics) (Liberty London Fabrics.)

So what is it about Libertys that means we still cant get enough of it  and, indeed, want to fill our art galleries with it? Quality is the word Grenyer keeps returning to: the quality of the fabric, the quality of the print and the quality of the designs it then becomes.

Theres nothing disposable about a Liberty dress; the brand is almost the exact opposite of fast fashion, despite the fact its managed to remain on trend so consistently. Perhaps this is because Libertys is always fashion  but its also always art.

Liberty: Art Fabrics & Fashion is at Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh until 12 January (dovecotstudios.com)Irish academic Emilie Pines probing essay collection Notes to Self is the small, independent Dublin-based publisher Tramp Presss first foray into nonfiction. Its easy to see how Pines voice tempted them to try something new, though. Her writing is clear and urgent, the kind that makes you sit up and take notice.

By the time we find him, begins the first piece, he has been lying in a small pool of his own shit for several hours. The collections tone is set here in this first essay, Pine is committed to exposing the blood and guts of life and death.

Notes on Intemperance is a strong opener. It tells the story of her fathers alcoholism, beginning with the liver failure that sees him end up on whats colloquially known as the dying ward in a horrifically understaffed, underfunded Corfu hospital. Its an essay about the pain of being the child of an addict, but theres love here too.

Its Pines father  also an academic  who taught her that writing is a way of making sense of the world, a way of processing  of possessing  thought and emotion, a way of making something worthwhile out of pain. Notes to Self is the product of this act of metamorphosis: within its pages, messy raw experience is transformed into meaningful, honed prose.

She writes about growing up in a single parent family and the layers of silence within her parents broken marriage. She describes her experience of miscarriage and infertility after having decided she wants a baby. Then theres her mounting anger about the things women traditionally havent been encouraged to discuss when it comes to their bodies, especially the silence and secrecy and the warped idea that blood is taboo when it comes out of a vagina.

Just when weve read enough to think we know her, she throws us a curveball in the form of Something About Me, an account of her unexpectedly wild teenage years. These essays are so personal  she writes about her experiences of sexual violence, and the final piece, This is Not on the Exam, deals with the misogyny shes encountered in the workplace  the collection actually often reads more like memoir.

No doubt many will be calling Pine brave  the go-to description for a woman writer exposing herself on the page  but the truth is in recent years weve come to expect nothing less than intimate confession from female practitioners working in the fields of personal essays and memoir.

As such, I dont quite buy the publishers claim that the collection breaks new ground, but Notes to Self is still well worth reading  not just for Pines no nonsense honestly when it comes to subjects many of us still arent comfortable discussing, but also because shes acutely aware of how shes shaped the story of her life in these pages.

Ive only given you the bad bits, she explains at the end of Something About Me. And in writing it this way, the bad bits become the whole story.

Notes to Self is published by Tramp PressThe organiser of Womad world music festival has said that entering the UK has become so difficult and humiliating since the Brexit referendum that performers are giving up.

Chris Smith stated it's become tougher to enlist performers to this year's festival due to the impact the UK visa process is having on foreign musicians - something he says has genuinely broke his heart.

Smith told Radio Times: The world has never needed events like Womad more than it does now. It stands for tolerance and understanding and learning and openness but that culture is being crushed as politicians lurch to the right.

Performers from 128 countries are scheduled to attend this year's festival, however, Smith claims that many were forced to withdraw from participation due to the visa process - a development he blames on politicians moving to the right.

Artists have accepted our invitation and then looked into the visa process and told us, sorry we're just not going to do this, he said, adding: That's a situation we should be ashamed of.

Weve had situations where, say, an African artist has been due to come who plays a particularly rare instrument, and well be asked: Cant you find someone in the UK who plays that instrument?, which is absurd.

The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Show all 8 1 /8 The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Post-Brexit immigration workers sorting radishes on a production line at a farm in Norfolk. One possible post-Brexit immigration scheme could struggle to channel workers towards less attractive roles - while another may heighten the risk of labour exploitation, a new report warns. PA The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Customs union A key point in the negotiations remains Britain's access to, or withdrawal from, the EU customs union. Since the referendum there has been hot debate over the meaning of Brexit: would it entail a full withdrawal from the existing agreement, known as hard Brexit, or the soft version in which we would remain part of a common customs area for most goods, as Turkey does? No 10 has so far insisted that Brexit means Brexit and that Britain will be leaving the customs union, but may be inclined to change its position once the potential risks to the UKs economic outlook become clearer. Alamy The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Northern Ireland-Irish border Though progress was made last year, there has still been no solid agreement on whether there should be a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. To ensure borderless travel on the island, the countries must be in regulatory alignment and therefore adhere to the same rules as the customs union. In December, the Conservative Partys coalition partners, the DUP, refused a draft agreement that would place the UK/EU border in the Irish Sea due to its potential to undermine the union. May has promised that would not be the case and has suggested that a specific solution would need to be found. Getty The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Transition period Despite protests from a small number of Conservative MPs, the Government and the EU are largely in agreement that a transitional period is needed after Brexit. The talks, however, have reached an impasse. Though May has agreed that the UK will continue to contribute to the EU budget until 2021, the PM wants to be able to select which laws made during this time the UK will have to adhere to. Chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said the UK must adopt all of the laws passed during the transition, without any input from British ministers or MEPs. EPA The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Rights of EU citizens living the UK The Prime Minister has promised EU citizens already living in the UK the right to live and work here after Brexit, but the rights of those who arrive after Brexit day remains unclear. May insists that those who arrive during the transition period should not be allowed to stay, whereas the EU believe the cut-off point should be later. Getty The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Future trade agreement (with the EU) Despite this being a key issue in negotiations, the Government has yet to lay out exactly what it wants from a trade deal with the EU. Infighting within the Cabinet has prevented a solid position from being reached, with some MPs content that "no deal is better than a bad deal" while others rally behind single market access. The EU has already confirmed that access to the single market would be impossible without the UK remaining in the customs union. Getty The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Future trade agreements (internationally) The Government has already begun trying to woo foreign leaders into prospective trade agreements, with various high profile state visits to China, India and Canada for May, and the now infamous invitation to US President Donald Trump to visit London. However the UK cannot make trade agreements with another country while it is still a member of the EU, and the potential loss of trade with the world's major powers is a source of anxiety for the PM. The EU has said the UK cannot secure trade deals during the transition period. EPA The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Financial services Banks in the UK will be hit hard regardless of the Brexit outcome. The EU has refused to give British banks passporting rights to trade within the EU, dashing hopes of a special City deal. However according to new reports Germany has suggested allowing trade on the condition that the UK continues paying into the EU budget even after the transition period. Getty

Smith continued: "What were seeing this year is unexpected and even more depressing, which is artists saying were just not going to tackle the immigration system, saying its too difficult and too expensive, and its humiliating.

Peter Gabriel founded Womad (World of Music, Arts and Dance) in 1982. The Womad Festival runs from 26-29 July at Charlton Park in Wiltshire. Its headline acts include Amadou and Mariam, Django Django and Leftfield.The shortlist for the 2018 Hyundai Mercury prize has been announced, and, as is tradition, its causing considerable debate.

Where last years shortlist felt strong because it heralded the young artists leading the future of British music  from Loyle Carner to Stormzy, Glass Animals, Sampha and J Hus  this year, half the acts have previously appeared on a Mercury Prize shortlist in some shape or form, and many of the choices feel like safe, commercial picks, rather than bold or innovative works.

Arctic Monkeys appear on the shortlist for a fourth time, for their divisive album Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, while Florence & The Machine score a third nod for their album High As Hope.

Pleasant surprises come in the shape of 21-year-old rapper Novelist, who scores a spot on the shortlist for his fantastic, self-produced debut album Novelist Guy, as did Nadine Shah, who makes a powerful statement with her third album Holiday Destination, which was inspired by witnessing the xenophobia of holidaymakers on the Greek island of Kos.

There are some great albums on there, but also some woeful omissions. While Sons of Kemet should be applauded for their album Your Queen Is A Reptile, fans of Kamaal Williams will be wondering why his album The Return didnt make it. Jon Hopkins and Four Tet would both have been suitable picks; electronic music is almost entirely absent from this years shortlist.

Where in past years critics have joked about the annual token jazz album, this year jazz has been an essential element on many of the best releases of the past year  not just in pure jazz albums but also in works by the likes of Tom Misch and DJs such as Floating Points and Bradley Zero, who have brought jazz to clubs floors around the UK. It wouldnt have been remiss of the Mercury Prize to include more than one album on this years shortlist.

In pictures - Arctic Monkeys at the Royal Albert Hall Show all 20 1 /20 In pictures - Arctic Monkeys at the Royal Albert Hall In pictures - Arctic Monkeys at the Royal Albert Hall Alex Turner Photo by Aaron Parsons The Independent In pictures - Arctic Monkeys at the Royal Albert Hall Photo by Aaron Parsons The Independent In pictures - Arctic Monkeys at the Royal Albert Hall Photo by Aaron Parsons The Independent In pictures - Arctic Monkeys at the Royal Albert Hall The Independent In pictures - Arctic Monkeys at the Royal Albert Hall Photo by Aaron Parsons The Independent In pictures - Arctic Monkeys at the Royal Albert Hall Photo by Aaron Parsons The Independent In pictures - Arctic Monkeys at the Royal Albert Hall Photo by Aaron Parsons The Independent In pictures - Arctic Monkeys at the Royal Albert Hall Photo by Aaron Parsons The Independent In pictures - Arctic Monkeys at the Royal Albert Hall Photo by Aaron Parsons The Independent In pictures - Arctic Monkeys at the Royal Albert Hall Photo by Aaron Parsons The Independent In pictures - Arctic Monkeys at the Royal Albert Hall Photo by Aaron Parsons The Independent In pictures - Arctic Monkeys at the Royal Albert Hall Photo by Aaron Parsons The Independent In pictures - Arctic Monkeys at the Royal Albert Hall Photo by Aaron Parsons The Independent In pictures - Arctic Monkeys at the Royal Albert Hall Photo by Aaron Parsons The Independent In pictures - Arctic Monkeys at the Royal Albert Hall Photo by Aaron Parsons The Independent In pictures - Arctic Monkeys at the Royal Albert Hall Photo by Aaron Parsons The Independent In pictures - Arctic Monkeys at the Royal Albert Hall Photo by Aaron Parsons The Independent In pictures - Arctic Monkeys at the Royal Albert Hall Photo by Aaron Parsons The Independent In pictures - Arctic Monkeys at the Royal Albert Hall Photo by Aaron Parsons The Independent In pictures - Arctic Monkeys at the Royal Albert Hall Photo by Aaron Parsons The Independent

Similarly, it fails to highlight a re-invigorated and youthful UK rock scene: the omission of five-piece noise rock band Hookworms and their album Microshift feels criminal (although the band have already said they arent fussed)  while Shame also deserved a nod for their debut Songs of Praise. Goat Girls playful, surrealist exploration of post-adolescence on their self-titled debut felt like another easy miss.

Instead, both Wolf Alice and Everything Everything return to the shortlist for a second time, and while you could argue their case with relative ease, the picks still feel tame compared to so many of the other potential choices.

Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds and the album Who Built The Moon? is utterly uninspired; a forgettable record that seems irrelevant to whats going on now in British music. Lily Allen, too, is shortlisted four albums too late, with No Shame, as good as it is, not coming close to her resplendent debut Alright, Still.

The Mercury Prize has consistently, stubbornly refused to lay out in clear terms what its actual purpose is. Many have noted how it tends to give its winners an extra push towards commercial success, with each successful album receiving a bump in sales after the announcement in September. But thats not really a valid reason to hold an annual music prize.

The Brits are the UKs award for commercial success, although last year they seemed to go to some effort to be more inclusive, and a little more aware of how broad the UK music scene really is. So the Mercury Prize can easily fill that space where the most innovative, ambitious and contemporary music is recognised. Judging from this years shortlist, thats not what were going to see this time round.Sipping a Pina Colada in the evening sun while on holiday, you may think you look like the perfect picture of sophistication and elegance.

However, are you actually enjoying the taste of the white rum, pineapple juice and coconut cream combo? Or are you drinking it simply because you think you should?

According to expert mixologist Tristan Stephenson, the creamy concoction is one of several cocktails that are highly overrated, despite its popularity.

Recommended Five of the best cocktails for National Tequila Day

Stephenson, whos a cocktail consultant at Fluid Movement and author of The Curious Bartender, also thinks the Negroni cocktail would taste a lot nicer if its original recipe was revamped.

This may come as a surprise to fans of the beverage, considering the fact that the Negroni was named runner up on the list of the worlds best-selling classic cocktails by Drinks International this year.

The Vesper Martini, which James Bond famously names after Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale, is also apparently far more about style than it is about substance.

Curious to find out whether your favourite tipple made it onto the list? Here are six of the most overrated cocktails, as outlined by Stephenson:

1. Negroni

The Negroni is a hugely popular Italian cocktail, made from a blend of gin, vermouth and Campari and garnished with an orange peel.

In Stephensons opinion, mixing the three ingredients together in equal proportions isnt wise, as the flavour of the gin is overpowered by the vermouth and Campari.

Classic Negroni specifications simply do not work and produce a very bittersweet drink in need of a lot of dilution, he tells The Independent.

Most importantly though, the gin barely features in the drink, which, considering its one third of the ingredients, is not what I would call a successful piece of mixological execution.

Stephenson recommends swapping the gin for bourbon in order to create a Boulevardier cocktail instead.

2. Sidecar

The Sidecar cocktail, which traditionally consists of cognac, triple sec and lemon juice, allegedly originated in Paris following the First World War.

However, Stephenson doesnt think the nostalgia attached to the drink is enough to salvage its underwhelming taste.

Cocktails should be at least as good as the sum of their parts, he says.

The Sidecar manages to erase the nuances of cognac with flabby orange liqueur then attempts to balance it with a large slug of lemon juice. It just doesnt work.

3. Vesper Martini

007 is known for being quite a heavy drinker, which is why it should come as no surprise that the cocktail he conceived is extremely strong.

People order these became James Bond does. Big mistake, Stephenson says.

The Vesper Martini is made from a mixture of gin, vodka and Kina Lillet, as outlined in Ian Flemings 1953 novel Casino Royale.

The flavour of the gin is diluted far too much by the vodka for Stephensons liking.

Then theres the fact that you wont be able to walk straight after just two of them, he says.

Cocktails of the Movies - In pictures Show all 12 1 /12 Cocktails of the Movies - In pictures Cocktails of the Movies - In pictures Cocktails of the Movies - In pictures Cocktails of the Movies - In pictures Cocktails of the Movies - In pictures Cocktails of the Movies - In pictures Cocktails of the Movies - In pictures Cocktails of the Movies - In pictures Cocktails of the Movies - In pictures Cocktails of the Movies - In pictures Cocktails of the Movies - In pictures Cocktails of the Movies - In pictures Cocktails of the Movies - In pictures

4. Pina Colada

Its abundantly clear that Stephenson is not at all fond of the overwhelmingly sweet Pina Colada.

This will be offensive to some because there are few drinks that speak of summertime by a holiday resort pool like a Pina Colada does. But thats because it tastes (and looks) like suncream, he says.

Its popular because it looks fancy, sounds fancy and is, for some reason, universally known.

Stephenson says that it is possible to make a Pina Colada that pleases the palate.

However, because the classic recipe for the cocktail contains pineapple juice, sugar, coconut cream and rum, the result is usually extremely saccharine.

5. Sex on the Beach

In Stephensons opinion, it isnt a case of the Sex on the Beach cocktail being overrated, but simply that it's far more popular than is merited.

It tastes bad, he says. Its basically a mash-up of fruit flavours that dont actually pair very well, spiked with vodka.

No need to explain why its popular.

A Sex on the Beach includes vodka, peach schnapps, orange juice and cranberry juice.

6. Irish coffee

A blend of hot coffee, Irish whisky, sugar and topped with thick cream, youd think that the Irish coffee would be the ideal beverage for any coffee or whisky aficionado.

However, as Stephenson states, its not that simple.

Being both a coffee geek and a whisky geek, this ought to be my drink. But I dont like it, and neither should you, he says.

The Irish coffee is basically a highly effective way of wasting balanced coffee and tasty whisky.

He explains how the smoky flavours of whisky dont pair well with coffee, which is why the combination doesnt work in his eyes.

The whole thing is deeply unpleasant, he summarises.The targeted campaign adverts used by the Leave campaign in the Brexit referendum have been revealed by Facebook.

They show that millions of people saw adverts attacking immigration and promoting now widely discredited claims about an additional 350m being paid to the NHS every week.

They also focused on Boris Johnson and other key campaign points, the data shows.

Recommended Sign our petition calling for a referendum on the Brexit deal

The revelations come as The Independent's campaign for a Final Say on Brexit gathered more than 225,000 backers in just a day.

The campaign demands voters are given a new referendum on Theresa May's exit terms before March next year. You can add your support by signing our petition here.

Nine adverts were viewed between two and five million times out of hundreds paid for by Vote Leave, suggesting the group had paid significantly more to have the messaging appear more prominently in people's newsfeeds on Facebook.

Michael Moszynski, an expert in online advertising, said it was clear that those adverts which were viewed the most had been the "priority of the messaging" which Vote Leave wanted "to expose to those audiences".

Five of the nine Vote Leave adverts which were viewed millions of times focused on immigration.

Brexit casualties Show all 10 1 /10 Brexit casualties Brexit casualties Andrea Jenkyns - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary at the ministry for housing, communities and local government role May 2018 - The Morley and Outwood MP said: We want to see a new relationship with Europe, with a new model not enjoyed by other countries  nothing that leaves us half-in, half-out. And in order to achieve this, we need to leave the customs union. Ms Jenkyns also said she wished to dedicate more of her time to Parliaments influential Exiting the European Union select committee, after a series of unbalanced reports produced by MPs PA Brexit casualties David Davis - Resigned from Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union role July 2018 - quit following a major row with May over her plans for post-Brexit relations with the EU. Davis resignation letter said: As you know there have been a significant number of occasions in the last year or so on which I have disagreed with the Number 10 policy line, ranging from accepting the [European] Commissions sequencing of negotiations, through to the language on Northern Ireland in the December Joint Report. At each stage I have accepted collective responsibility because it is part of my task to find workable compromises, and because I considered it was still possible to deliver on the mandate of the referendum, and on our manifesto commitment to leave the Customs Union and the Single Market. I am afraid that I think the current trend of policy and tactics is making that look less and less likely. He went on to argue that the general direction of Ms Mays policies would leave the UK in at best a weak negotiating position, and possibly an inescapable one. AFP/Getty Brexit casualties Steve Baker - Resigned from Minister at the Department for Exiting the European Union role July 2018 - Mr Baker, a key Tory figure in the Leave campaign, was David Daviss main lieutenant at Dexeu, and was hailed as courageous and principled by other Brexiteer Tories as he also left. Reuters Brexit casualties Boris Johnson - Resigned from Foreign Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. In his resignation letter to the prime minister, Mr Johnson said: "On Friday, I acknowledged that my side of the argument were too few to prevail and congratulated you on at least reaching a Cabinet decision on the way forward. "As I said then, the government now has a song to sing. "The trouble is that I have practised the words over the weekend and find that they stick in the throat." Reuters Brexit casualties Conor Burns - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary to Foreign Secretary role July 2018 - A Brexit supporter who worked alongside Boris Johnson stated in his resignation letter: I've decided it's time to have greater freedom. I want to see the referendum result respected. And there are other areas of policy I want to speak more openly on. Rex Brexit casualties Chris Green - Resigned from Department for Transport role July 2018 - The Bolton West MP said: "Parliament overwhelmingly decided to give the decision of whether to leave or remain in the European Union to the British people and they made an unambiguous decision that we ought to leave. "I have always understood the idea in 'Brexit means Brexit' is that the final deal should be clear to me and my constituents - that we have, in no uncertain terms, left the European Union. Twitter Ads info and privacy "The direction the negotiations had been taking have suggested that we would not really leave the EU and the conclusion and statements following the Chequers summit confirmed my fears. "I recognise that delivering Brexit is challenging, however I had hoped at tonight's meeting that there would be some certainty that my fears were unfounded but, instead, they have been confirmed. "I have been grateful for the opportunity to serve as Parliamentary Private Secretary and it is with regret that I offer my resignation with immediate effect." PA Brexit casualties Maria Caulfield - Resigned from Conservative Party vice-chair for women role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. Lewes MP warned that the direction of travel did not fully embrace the opportunities that Brexit can provide. Ms Caulfield said in her letter to the PM: The policy may assuage vested interests, but the voters will find out and their representatives will be found out. This policy will be bad for our country and bad for the party. The direct consequences of that will be prime minister Corbyn. PA Brexit casualties Ben Bradley - Resigned from Conservative Party vice-chair for young people role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. The Mansfield MP said: I admit that I voted to Remain in that ballot. What has swayed me over the last two years to fully back the Brexit vision is the immense opportunities that are available from global trade, and for the ability for Britain to be an outward looking nation in control of our own destiny once again. I fear that this agreement at Chequers damages those opportunities; that being tied to EU regulations, and the EU tying our hands when seeking to make new trade agreements, will be the worst of all worlds if we do not deliver Brexit in spirit as well as in name, then we are handing Jeremy Corbyn the keys to No10. PA Brexit casualties Robert Courts - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. MP Mr Courts said: I have taken a very difficult decision to resign my position as [parliamentary private secretary] to express discontent with the Chequers [plans] in votes tomorrow. I had to think who I wanted to see in the mirror for the rest of my life. I cannot tell the people of Woxon that I support the proposals in their current form. Getty Brexit casualties Scott Mann - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. "I fear elements of the Brexit white paper will inevitably put me in direct conflict with the views expressed by a large section of my constituents. I am not prepared to compromise their wishes to deliver a watered-down Brexit. "The residents of North Cornwall made it very clear that they wish to have control over our fishery, our agricultural policy, our money, our laws and our borders. I will evaluate those principles against the Brexit white paper and ensure that I vote in line with their wishes." Rex

Of those, two identical adverts stressed plans for Turkey to join the EU with an image showing a large red arrow sweeping across Europe from Turkey to the UK.

The accompanying text read: "The EU is expanding and plans on granting Turkey visa-free travel. This will put enormous pressure on the NHS, our border security and economy.

"Have we lost control? We already send 350 million to the EU every single week. Shouldn't we spend our money on our priorities instead? Vote Leave Day - Thursday 23 June. Is This Good News? Click No! Vote Leave."

At the time, negotiations for Turkey to join the EU had completed one of 35 "chapters" of legislation and as a member the UK would be able to veto any plans.

Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, and Emmanuel Macron, president of France, have since strongly ruled out the possibility of Turkey joining the EU.

More than 30 other Vote Leave adverts, some viewed by between 500,000 and a million people, mentioned Turkey in the context of its border with Syria and Iraq. Again the images showed red arrows and figures pointing towards the UK.

"The EU is expanding and plans on granting Turkey visa-free travel making our new border Syria and Iraq!" read the accompanying text.

Another popular advert claimed more than five million "new immigrants" were heading to the UK.

The advert said: "Immigration is out of control and our NHS can barely cope as it is. If we stay in the EU we face an unprecedented migration of 5.23 MILLION new immigrants into the UK. WHEN WILL THIS STOP?

"Under EU law every EU citizen, including people from Turkey, will have unlimited access to the UK and our NHS. Let's vote to leave the EU on 23 June and take back control! Click to Save Our NHS! Vote Leave."

The figure of 5.23 million appears to be based on the highest possible projection of EU immigration to the UK by the Office for National Statistics at the time.

Three identical adverts which were seen by between two and five million people urged voters to "spend our money on our priorities like the NHS", citing the disputed 350m figure.

The text read: "The UK sends over 350 million to the EU each week - that's enough to build a fully-staffed, brand new hospital every 7 days!

"Shouldn't we spend it on OUR PRIORITIES and NOT THEIRS? Take action and vote to leave the European Union on 23 June. Let's spend our money on our priorities. Act Now & Vote Leave! Vote Leave"

As one of the figureheads of the campaign, Boris Johnson featured heavily in many of the more widely-seen adverts.

The former London Mayor, who served almost two years as foreign secretary before his recent resignation over Brexit policy, was pictured in three of the nine adverts seen by up to five million people.

In two such adverts he is quoted talking about immigration, and in a third he is pictured in front of a Vote Leave lorry with a caption urging people to vote for Brexit.

The advert read: "If you vote IN on 23 June, you are kissing goodbye permanently to control of immigration. You are voting for the current situation not only to continue but to get worse. - Boris Johnson.

"The British public support immigration but they want it controlled by those who they elect. They are generous but feel their generosity has been abused.

"They are right. On the 23 June they will get their chance to take back control. Click to Learn More! Vote Leave."

Vote Leave paid for significantly more Facebook advertisements around the EU referendum than the other campaign groups in the documents released today.

However, one advert from BeLeave published the week before the referendum was seen by more than five million people, more than any other advert released by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

The advert read: "Being under EU rule is severely restricting our ability to grow and reach our full potential as a great nation. It is time we take a stand for Britain. Let's vote to leave the EU on 23 June so we can have a clear and prosperous future! BeLeave in Britain! BeLeave".

Additional reporting by Press AssociationBlockchain technology is often touted for its potential to transform everything from how we vote, to the way we pay. But the digital ledgers also enable much darker use cases, as demonstrated by a blockchain platform that has been used to set up an online assassination market.

Users of the recently-established Augur protocol are using its underlying blockchain technology to bet on the deaths of high-profile public figures, including US President Donald Trump, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and billionaire investor Warren Buffett.

The markets, first spotted by Mashable, allow people to place bets using cryptocurrency on whether or not these people will be assassinated. The market for the president's death, for example, asks: "Will Donald Trump (President of The USA) be killed at any point during 2018?"

Set up by the Forecast Foundation, Augur allows people to choose an event to predict, create a market for it, and then trade shares on the outcome of the event. Anything is fair game, the website states, from the next presidential election to the success of a companys product.

The cryptocurrency associated with Augur is currently the 40th most valuable, according to CoinMarketCap, with a market cap of over $340 million, but trading on the Augur protocol is done with ethereum  the worlds second most valuable cryptocurrency behind bitcoin.

Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Show all 10 1 /10 Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Satoshi Nakamoto creates the first bitcoin block in 2009 On 3 January, 2009, the genesis block of bitcoin appeared. It came less than a year after the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto detailed the cryptocurrency in a paper titled 'Bitcoin: A peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System' Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin is used as a currency for the first time On 22 May, 2010, the first ever real-world bitcoin transaction took place. Lazlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins  the equivalent of $90 million at today's prices Lazlo Hanyecz Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Silk Road opens for business Bitcoin soon gained notoriety for its use on the dark web. The Silk Road marketplace, established in 2011, was the first of hundreds of sites to offer illegal drugs and services in exchange for bitcoin Screenshot Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures The first bitcoin ATM appears On 29 October, 2013, the first ever bitcoin ATM was installed in a coffee shop in Vancouver, Canada. The machine allowed people to exchange bitcoins for cash Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures The fall of MtGox The world's biggest bitcoin exchange, MtGox, filed for bankruptcy in February 2014 after losing almost 750,000 of its customers bitcoins. At the time, this was around 7 per cent of all bitcoins and the market inevitably crashed Getty Images Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Would the real Satoshi Nakamoto please stand up In 2015, Australian police raided the home of Craig Wright after the entrepreneur claimed he was Satoshi Nakamoto. He later rescinded the claim Getty Images Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin's big split On 1 August, 2017, an unresolvable dispute within the bitcoin community saw the network split. The fork of bitcoin's underlying blockchain technology spawned a new cryptocurrency: Bitcoin cash Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin's price sky rockets Towards the end of 2017, the price of bitcoin surged to almost $20,000. This represented a 1,300 per cent increase from its price at the start of the year Reuters Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures What goes up... Bitcoin price crashes spectacularly, losing half of its value in a matter of days Getty Images Bitcoin's volatile history in pictures Bitcoin plunges The cryptocurrency eventually bottoms out below $4,000 in 2019 before slowly rebuilding momentum to outperform more traditional assets Getty Images

Augurs website describes several potential use cases for its platform, including political forecasting and weather prediction. But conceivably it could be used for betting on any event, which is why some blockchain analysts have previously said the creation of assassination markets were inevitable.

Augur is built from the ground up to be owned and operated by the people that use it, the platforms website states. This is a technical reality enabled by the ethereum blockchain and open source software.

While the open bets for Trump's assassination are not directly calling for his death, the nature of market means users might be incentivised to carry out the assassinations, or pay to have them carried out.

Dark web crowdfunding websites that seek to raise money for the assassination of public figures have previously included listings for Trump, with a 2016 campaign raising almost $100,000. The money raised, the site claimed, would be paid to whoever carried out his assassination.

"The consequences of having Donald Trump and Mike Pence as the leaders of the free world is extremely dangerous," stated the crowdfunding page, which has since been taken down."The political, environmental and social consequences will change the United States for the worst."

A community forum dedicated to Augur on Reddit has discussed the issue of assassination markets, noting that the decentralised nature of Augur means that it cant be regulated or shut down

One member warned that the birth of these types of markets makes it illogical for anyone under the age of 25 to want to become a public figure.

One thread states: There are currently multiple assassination markets open on Augur for Trump, and others for Warren Buffett, John McCain, Jeff Bezos, Betty White, and so on There doesnt appear to be a way to tag these markets as unethical right now.

A spokesperson for the Forecast Foundation directed comment requests to Augur's Frequently Asked Questions, which state that the foundation does not "have the ability to monitor, control, censor, or modify any actions performed on the Augur protocol."With December here, it means it's time to embrace winter as we move into the last month of the year.

In addition to cold weather and the promise of snow, the month of December also brings us closer to the next federal holiday.

On December 25, Americans, and many others, will celebrate Christmas, the last federal holiday of the year.

The holiday, which is celebrated with presents, food and quality time spent with family and friends, takes place each year on the 25th of December.

Federal holidays, often observed with paid-time off from work, were created by Congress in 1885 when it was decided that federal employees should have certain days off from work.

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

As time went by, Congress realised how nice it was to have paid-time off  and added historical days of significance to the list of federal holidays, bringing the total number to 10.

And, to ensure that Americans get the chance to celebrate the holidays no matter what day they fall on, there are guidelines for observing.

Federal holidays that fall on a Saturday are observed by federal employees on the previous Friday, whereas holidays that fall on Sunday are observed the following Monday.

On these days, non-essential federal government offices are closed and banks, post offices and schools may also be closed.

For employees in the private sector, federal holidays may or may not mean a day off  as they cannot legally be required to observe the holiday. Fortunately, most employers will still give employees the day off  or pay extra to employees working on the day.

These are the days to mark on your calendar for the coming year  and the best days to book a long weekend.

2019 Federal holidays:

New Years Day: Monday, January 1

Birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.: Monday, January 21

Birthday of George Washington (Presidents Day): Monday, February 18

Memorial Day: Monday, May 27

Independence Day: Thursday, July 4

Labor Day: Monday, September 2

Columbus Day: Monday, October 14

Veterans' Day: Monday, November 11

Thanksgiving Day: Thursday, November 28

Christmas Day: Wednesday, December 25

Other important holidays to note that you dont get off for:

Groundhog Day: Saturday, February 2

Valentines Day: Thursday, February 14

Saint Patricks Day: Sunday, March 17

Tax Day: Monday, April 15

Good Friday: Friday, April 19

Easter: Sunday, April 21

Cinco de Mayo: Sunday, May 5

Mothers Day: Sunday, May 12

Fathers Day: Sunday, June 16

Halloween: Thursday, October 31

Black Friday: Friday, November 29

Click here for easyJet discount codesMedicinal cannabis will be made available on prescription after it was approved for use by the government.

Doctors will be able to prescribe medicine derived from marijuana by the autumn, the Home Office announced.

The home secretary, Sajid Javid, said: Recent cases involving sick children made it clear to me that our position on cannabis-related medicinal products was not satisfactory.

Following advice from two sets of independent advisors, I have taken the decision to reschedule cannabis-derived medicinal products  meaning they will be available on prescription.

This will help patients with an exceptional clinical need.

But Mr Javid said it was in no way a first step to the legalisation of cannabis for recreational use.

Cannabis around the world Show all 13 1 /13 Cannabis around the world Cannabis around the world Morocco Farmers destroy cannabis plantations under Moroccan police supervision in the northern Moroccan Larache region, pictured here in 2006 AFP/Getty images Cannabis around the world Colorado Growing business: Cannabis on sale at River Rock Wellness Sam Adams Cannabis around the world Oakland Oaksterdam in Oakland, California, is the world's only university dedicated to the study and cultivation of cannabis Alain Jocard/AFP/Getty Images Cannabis around the world Seattle A cannabis smoker marks the start of the new law by the Space Needle in Seattle Getty Images Cannabis around the world China Cannabis growing wild in China, where it has been used to treat conditions such as gout and malaria Cannabis around the world Uruguay Uruguay has voted to make the country the first to legalize marijuana AFP/Getty Cannabis around the world Colorado A groundswell of support from the public led to full legalisation in Colorado Getty Images Cannabis around the world Berlin A man smokes licenced medicinal marijuana prior to participating in the annual Hemp Parade, or 'Hanfparade', in support of the legalization of marijuana in Germany on August 7, 2010 in Berlin, Germany. The consumption of cannabis in Germany is legal, though all other aspects, including growing, importing or selling it, are not. However, since the introduction of a new law in 2009, the sale and possession of marijuana for licenced medicinal use is legal. Sean Gallup/Getty Images Cannabis around the world UK The UK latest figures show 2.3 million people used cannabis in the last year AP Cannabis around the world Amsterdam Tourists visiting Amsterdam will not be banned from using the citys famous cannabis cafes Getty Images Cannabis around the world Merseyside These 25 cannabis plants, seized in Merseyside police, could have generated a turnover of 40,000 a year Cannabis around the world San Francisco April 20, 2012: People smoke marijuana joints at 4:20 p.m. as thousands of marijuana advocates gathered at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. The event was held on April 20, a date corresponding with a numerical 4/20 code widely known within the cannabis subculture as a symbol for all things marijuana. Reuters Cannabis around the world Spain A cannabis users' association will pay the town of Rasquera more than 600,000 a year for the lease of the land

Possession of the class B drug will still carry an unlimited fine and up to five years in jail, while dealers face 14 years.

It comes after Billy Caldwell, a 12-year-old boy who suffers from a rare form of epilepsy, was granted an emergency licence allowing him to be treated with medicinal marijuana by Northern Irelands Department of Health earlier this month.

Billy had previously been granted a short-term licence by the Home Office to allow him access to cannabis oil, which his mother, Charlotte, says helps to control his seizures.

Ms Caldwell said the rescheduling of medicinal cannabis was incredible. She said: For the first time in months Im almost lost for words, other than thank you Sajid Javid.

That the home secretary has announced that medicinal cannabis can now be prescribed by GPs on Billys 13th birthday is amazing. I wonder if he knew? Never has Billy received a better birthday present, and never from somebody so unexpected.

An initial review by Dame Sally Davies, chief medical adviser, concluded there is evidence medicinal cannabis has therapeutic benefits.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), which carried out the second part of the review, last week said doctors should be able to prescribe medicinal cannabis provided products meet safety standards.

It recommended cannabis-derived medicinal products should be placed in Schedule 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001.

 Jeremy Corbyn advocates the availability of cannabis for medicinal purposes

Cannabis was previously classed as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning it was thought to have no therapeutic value but can be used for the purposes of research with a Home Office licence.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) will now develop a clear definition of what constitutes a cannabis-derived medicinal product, the Home Office said.

They will then be rescheduled and made available on prescription.

Karen Gray, whose son Murray suffers from epilepsy and has been treated with medicinal cannabis, said the change represented a victory for those who sought access to the treatment.

She told The Independent: Its really going to help children out there, so its brilliant news. There are a lot of kids out there who arent getting this help and hopefully now they will.

Ms Gray started a 38 Degrees petition which garnered 240,000 signatures to make medicinal cannabis available on the NHS.

Sir Mike Penning, cochairman of the recently established cross-party parliamentary group on Medical Cannabis Under Prescription, said: I have just spoken to the home secretary to say how pleased I am that he has acted so quickly and I pay testament to the families and campaigners that have fought so hard to achieve this dramatic change in policy.

This announcement brings hope to many thousands of people.

However, there is still a very important body of work to define exactly which products will be allowed and how they will be regulated.

He added: Any move to restrict medical cannabis in the UK to a very narrow range of derived products, each requiring full pharmaceutical trials, thereby blocking out the many products available overseas, will lead to great disappointment and be a missed opportunity.

Before the changes are brought in, clinicians can still apply to the independent expert panel on behalf of patients who want access to medicinal cannabis products.

The home secretary said licence fees for applications made to the panel will be waived, and those already granted will not be charged.

Genevieve Edwards, director of external affairs at the MS Society, said: This is exceptional news and we want to thank the home secretary for the speed at which this decision has been made.

We started campaigning for cannabis for MS exactly a year ago and its incredible to see how far weve come since then. The priority now has to be making sure everyone who could benefit can access cannabis in a safe and responsible way.

We plan to work closely with the government to determine what exactly this will mean for people with MS. This life-changing decision could help thousands with the condition who havent been able to find relief for their pain and muscle spasms.Biafra has, say its supporters, an incontrovertible claim to self-determination. Today it sits within the south-east of modern Nigeria. Previously, it was an independent nation but was subsumed into the Nigerian state when the British amalgamated a number of their West African colonies, largely for administrative convenience. On Nigerian independence in 1960, the British borders remained intact.

Biafrans who seek the right to self-determination argue they have a claim which is as strong as those of the people of East Timor or South Sudan, whose independence has been acknowledged. The right to self-determination remains the most potent human right, which is why it is the first article of the main UN human rights treaties. We hear of independence claims from Catalonia, Quebec and Scotland. Referendums and the democratic process are the accepted way forward for dealing with the right to self-determination.

The Biafran people have been requesting the recognition of their right to self-determination and their right to a referendum, but their calls fall on deaf ears and are little reported. Nigerian territorial integrity provides the counter-argument.

Biafra captured the worlds attention when in 1967 it declared independence and its people were subsequently subjected to a cruel war by the Nigerians. The Biafrans, in truth, didnt stand a chance, but they sustained their independence for almost three years until they were bombed and starved into submission. The photographs of that conflict, showing the consequences of war and famine, are still among the defining images of post-colonial Africa.

We publish today a powerful letter to President Buhari of Nigeria written by Solomon Egbo, a Biafran now living in the UK, renouncing his Nigerian citizenship. Whether that renunciation is accepted is in the gift of the president. Solomon, now part of the Biafran diaspora, works for the main independence organisation seeking to achieve Biafran self-determination, the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob), which has its headquarters in Germany.

Their leader, Nnamdi Kanu, was also a UK citizen. He disappeared in 2017 following a military operation against his parents home. The Nigerian authorities seek to label both Kanu and Ipob as terrorists. The international community rejects that characterisation.

***

Dear President Buhari

I am writing to inform you that I am renouncing my Nigerian citizenship.

I am not Nigerian. I am Biafran. I lived in the country called Nigeria for 40 years. Nigeria, as you know, is a country that was created for the administrative convenience of our colonial power, Britain, in 1914. Nigeria is the forced amalgamation of different peoples, different religious groups, different customs and beliefs. Nigeria may have worked for the British but it doesnt work for the peoples forced to be Nigerians. It does not, and never has, worked for the people of Biafra.

The crimes of Empire are multiple, but surely the biggest crime of all was that, on independence, Africa was forced to retain those colonial boundaries imposed by Europeans. By accepting this post-Colonial settlement, African leaders became complicit in the oppression of Africa. Your determination to maintain the borders of Nigeria imposed by the British simply reinforces their dominion over us.

As you know, Biafra existed before the British turned up. Biafra is that landmass that nestles around the Niger Delta. To all intents and purposes, Biafra is the south east corner of modern day Nigeria. Despite colonisation and being forcibly absorbed into Nigeria, we Biafrans retained our common values and a shared sense of identity. Biafrans are made up of different people, but we are all Biafrans.

We dont all speak the same language. I am an Igbo speaker. Other Biafrans speak Urhobo-Isoko, Ijaw-Epie-Ogbia, Ogoni, Efik, Annang, Eket-, Oron-Ibibio, Ogoja, Ejagham, Igala, Idoma, Ibani and Igbanke among others. Biafra is made up of the following provinces: Rivers Province, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Imo, Anambra, Abia, Enugu, Bayelsa, Delta. I am an Igbo from Biafra. Being Igbo and Biafran is synonymous.

Up to 12,000 people starved to death every day (Getty)

The Igbo people did not do well out of the British. Colonisation was hugely disruptive. As a consequence of British policies, we were scattered across Nigeria and then, on independence, we were marginalised. Many Igbo had been settled into the northern states of modern-day Nigeria and barely before the ink was dry on Nigerian independence, the intimidation and attacks began. Massacre after massacre drove the Igbo people from the northern states. The northern elites were in control. You know this. You are part of that elite. As you know, our access to government was blocked by your people. On 30 May 1967 we had had enough and declared an independent state of our own, Biafra. We had no choice.

The world knows the war that resulted in Biafra because of those photographs of starving, pot-bellied children. Post-colonial Africa is still defined and haunted by those images. That starvation was reality for my family. The Nigerian governments response to our declaration of secession was to attack with all its might. Biafrans fought with the few weapons we had. I look back at those Biafrans who fought for their survival with such pride.

They were up against a highly trained Nigerian army with the latest weaponry. The British had formed an unholy alliance with the Soviet Union to ensure that Nigerian state forces would prevail. Biafra was but a pawn in the global politics of the time. All that mattered was who controlled Nigeria. But you know all of this. You were there. It was during this war that you made your name.

For nearly three years the Biafrans held out. Surrounded, our hospitals and homes bombed by Soviet-supplied aircraft, until a deliberate policy of starvation forced Biafra to surrender and be absorbed back into Nigeria  we know it was deliberate because at a peace conference in 1968 the leader of the Nigerian delegation said starvation is a legitimate weapon of war and we have every intention of using it against the rebels.

The most bitter part of it is that most of Africa and the world stood by and watched this wanton destruction of human lives, the raping, the sacking and plundering of towns, villages, community after community in Biafra and elsewhere. At least two million souls perished, and the UN did not lift a finger. Some put the figure as high as six million. What is not in dispute is that as many as 12,000 starving Biafrans were dying each day.

And you, President Buhari, played your own part in this war, commanding a sector along the Oji River to stop food supplies from entering Biafra. Later you reportedly said that you had no regrets and owe no apologies.

Biafra represented nationalist aspirations of many different people, including the Igbo (Getty)

It is incomprehensible to me that Nigeria got away with the crimes that were perpetrated against Biafra and then demanded that we remain part of the same country. The raped being forced to remain with the rapist. We did not want to be part of your country. We had no choice. In many ways the peace afterwards was worse than war. Those who had fled their homes found them occupied by incomers when they returned.

Our parents jobs were taken away from them, what little money we had left we lost through the issue of a new Nigerian currency which meant that Biafran supplies of the old currency were not honoured. Many, many Igbos left the country where they had no future and made their homes across the world. For decades Biafra became just a memory, and one that could not even be spoken about.

Hold your ears, my late dad told me once. It was a Sunday afternoon. I was just a boy. We were sitting together on one of his special chairs covered in animal skins. He leaned closer. You are not allowed to discuss Biafra publicly.

Quickly my response was, Why papa?

Solomon with his daughter (Solomon Uchenna Egbo)

They might kill you or you might spend the rest of your life in prison.

My parents suffered terribly during the Biafra war. They were the victims of the policies that the Nigerian authorities instigated. My uncles and most of my grandparents did not survive: beaten, starved, shot, bombed out of their homes, the women of my family raped by Nigerian soldiers. They were so hungry my mum and late dad were forced to drink urine to survive.

My mum could barely speak about what had happened. Tears would choke her. I knew some of this, but, like anyone, I wanted to know more. I wanted to know the history of my people, the Igbo, the Biafran people, before the British came, before the forced amalgamation of populations and in that brief moment when Biafra was free after independence. However, it was a big shock to me  it was one hell of a shock  to find out I could lose my life if I dared mention Biafra publicly.

Colonel Odumegwu Emeka Ojukwu, leader of the breakaway Republic of Biafra, gives a press conference during the war (Getty)

Yet within my family, it is the mention of your name that causes contempt. We despise you and all you represent. You are the symbol of our persecution; our bogeyman.

I had no future in Nigeria. Igbo who identify as Biafrans have no place in Nigeria. I came to live in Britain in 2013. I am grateful to Britain for providing me and my family a home. The irony is not lost on me that Britain, which, 50 years ago, aided my parents enemies  people like you  is now a place of sanctuary for me. In 2015 I began my work with the Ipob. I am based in Manchester but we are a global movement. There is a huge Biafran diaspora. It is wonderful to see so many of Britains rising stars are of Biafran (and Igbo) origins. People such as Chuka Umunna and Chiwetel Ejiofor have family ties to Biafra.

Ipobs mission is simple. Our struggle is to have the right to self-determination of the Biafran people recognised. We are calling for a referendum. It is for the people of Biafra to decide, but I hope that self-determination means independence. Fifty years ago, we were forced to fight for Biafran independence. Today we battle with words and music and with our bodies and our lives, but not weapons. We reject violence. We put our faith in human rights. It is the ballot box, not bullets, which will guarantee our liberation.

You and the state that you preside over reject human rights. Your instinct is to resort to force  lethal force. Which of the atrocities that the Nigerian state has committed against Biafrans since you became president in 2015 has been the worst? People have been imprisoned. There have been killings of supporters of Biafran independence  many of them, perhaps up to two thousand.

Your police and security services do not collect accurate statistics of course. We gather as much information as we can and Amnesty International has also reported on the use of lethal force against Biafrans at major events where hundreds of peaceful protesters have been mown down; but they don't compile statistics across the board as we seek to.

Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari at an anti-corruption summit in London, 2016 (PA)

Our leader Nnamdi Kanu was imprisoned on absurd charges of treason in 2015 because he dared to criticise you, President Buhari, and called for a referendum on Biafran self-determination. Your security forces kept him incarcerated without trial until April 2017 when he was finally released on the bail hed been granted over a year earlier. And then in September of last year the Nigerian Army surrounded the house where he was staying with his parents and attacked with bullets and grenades. Many supporters were killed. Since that day, neither Nnamdi Kanu, nor his mother and father have been seen. The Nigerian forces and the Nigerian government have offered no explanation of what happened. They have been disappeared. We all dread what that means.

You met your match in Nnamdi Kanu. Our leader was a man of such integrity and vision. He united Biafrans in a way that no one had since the war. He inspired us and exalted us. His certainty that we would once again all live in Biafra gave us our purpose. His rejection of violence perplexed you. He could have organised an armed struggle against the Nigerian state.

The extent of the persecution that the Biafran people are subjected to would justify force. Even the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognises that persecution and denial of rights can leave the oppressed with no choice but to resort to violence, but Nnamdi Kanu, instead, focussed on nation building and creating a blue print for Biafra that respected everyones human rights.

While you denied him his rights, he was trying to build a state that would have recognised yours. The reason that there were so many killed when your forces stormed his parents home, is that Biafrans gathered just to be near him. To hear him speak. To be part of his movement.

So, Nnamdi Kanu has been disappeared. Yet you peddle fake news about him and Ipob. Your news agencies report bogus sightings of him from Ghana to London. Our reaction to his disappearance? We have responded with peaceful demonstrations and, as you know, a very successful sit-at-home on 30 May of this year, which brought cities in Biafra, including Port Harcourt, to a stand-still and emptied the iconic Niger River Bridge at Onitsha of traffic.

I am not a fool. In our hearts we all know Nnamdi Kanus likely fate and that of his parents, but we are still not able to acknowledge his death. We live in hope. Thats what disappearing people does to the survivors. We delude ourselves. But whatever you have done to him and will do to us, we will not give up on his dream.

Nigerian students at a Biafran war protest rally at Speaker's Corner, London, in 1968 (Getty)

Your Nigerian states persecution of us continues. No one is spared. I believe I am trailed even here in the UK by agents of the Nigerian state. You continue with your fake news, desperate to suggest that there are clashes between Ipob and the Nigerian state. Yet Ipobs response to your violence is to remain passive and to endure. Faced with the level of cruelty that we are subjected to, our belief in non-violence is often tested, but you will not provoke us.

In June you even arrested a member of the Nigerian senate. Senator Abiribe had put up bail for Nnamdi Kanu and was arrested by the Nigerian department for state services for aiding and sponsoring a proscribed organisation, Ipob. Senator Abiribe is not only a supporter of Nnamdi Kanu, he has also been critical of government corruption across the board. To justify your treatment of Nnamdi Kanu and Ipob you have attempted to label him and us terrorists. Of course, the international community has rejected the suggestion. Calling for the right to self-determination and a referendum is hardly an act of terrorism.

Yet this is how the Nigerian state under your presidency, Mr Buhari, works. Criticism is branded terrorism, upholding the rule of law is aiding and sponsoring a proscribed organisation, calling for Biafran autonomy is characterised as a crime and when a man or woman is arrested, they never really know why, or when they will be released. But theyre lucky: they could be shot in the street without warning.

In 1952, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, who later became the first prime minister of Nigeria from 1960 to 1966 and a leader of Nigerian Independence  one of your heroes, president Buhari  dismissed out of hand the amalgamation of Nigeria by the British government.

He declared: [t]he Southern people who are swarming into this region daily in large numbers are really intruders. We dont want them, and they are not welcome here in the North. He went on, since the amalgamation in 1914, the British government has been trying to make Nigeria into one country, but the Nigerian people are different in every way, including religion, custom, language and aspiration. The fact that we are Africans might have misguided the British government. We here in the north take it that Nigerian unity is not for us.

Biafra is blessed with oil wealth, which is why Nigeria will never allow independence (Getty)

But Biafra was cursed with oil and everything changed. We Igbo people and others in the south-eEast agree with Sir Abubakar Balewa, and we will do everything we can to achieve our dream of self-determination. We urge you, president Buhari, to listen to your hero. We also encourage the British Foreign Office to review its policy on Biafra.

Britain is a contradiction to me. On the one hand the Home Office has provided many Biafrans, like me, with a home and at the same time the Foreign Office stands by the Nigerian state. Is asking for a referendum on Biafran self-determination too much?

Nigeria is an artificial entity. You force people to live there and by doing so you come to embody all the malevolence that is now associated with Nigeria. We bury our children killed by your security forces. Those kids only asked to be acknowledged as Biafrans. We dont have the Nigerian state on our side, but international law is.

We will hold you and your state to account. You have choices. A great African leader is a benign leader. You should have worked with Nnamdi Kanu to secure Biafras right to self-determination. Had you done that the world would have recognised you as a visionary, but instead you force us not to take up arms against you, but to use the law against you. We will win and your legacy will be revealed for what it is.

It is for this reason, president Buhari of Nigeria, that I am renouncing my Nigerian citizenship. I do not want it. I have never wanted it. My parents did not want it. My family do not want it. I have only ever wanted to live free, for my children to grow up in an independent, democratic Biafra, free from corruption and violence, free from bigotry and persecution, free from fear. Just free.

Sincerely

Solomon Uchenna EgboAustrian author Christine Nostlinger earned some of the highest honours in childrens literature.

She published more than 150 books, including collections of poetry and journalism for adults, which sold millions of copies and were translated into 30 languages.

Nostlinger, who has died aged 81, also enjoyed a reputation as a champion of disadvantaged children and racial equality.

A onetime art school student, Nostlinger thought she was about to launch a career as an illustrator when she drew a plump, red-haired girl with an impish personality. Writing a childrens story to accompany her sketches, she published Fiery Frederica in 1970  a German-language book that was more acclaimed for its prose than its pictures.

As I was very keen on approval at the time, I took to writing, Nostlinger later said.

The story of Frederica, like nearly all of Nostlingers tales for children, is fantastical but not escapist, with serious themes but a dash of silliness that drew comparisons to the English writer Edith Nesbit. At its centre is a girl who is bullied because of her brightly coloured hair, which has magical powers that enable her to flee her tormentors.

While the books protagonist escapes into a new and better world, Nostlinger said she sought to encourage children to create such a world here on Earth.

Since children live in an environment which offers them no encouragement to develop utopias for themselves, we have to take them by the arm and show them how beautiful, cheerful, just and humane this world could be, she said in 1984, accepting the Hans Christian Andersen Award for childrens literature.

Rightly done, she added, this will make children long for that better world, and their longing will make them willing to think about what must be initiated in order to produce the world they long for.

Among Nostlingers best-known books was the young-adult novel Fly Away Home (1973), which was based on her childhood in Vienna during the Second World War, when the city was occupied by Nazi forces and then the Soviet Red Army. (The book was adapted into an Austrian film of the same name in 2016.)

She also wrote books including The Cucumber King (1972), about an autocratic vegetable, and Conrad: The Factory-Made Boy (1975) about a divorcee  Mrs Bertie Bartolotti  who receives a mechanical child in the mail. Hes been delivered by mistake and, to avoid being returned, must learn how to be like the other algebra-hating, junk-food-eating real boys at school.

In 2003, Nostlinger shared the inaugural Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award with writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak. The 5m kroner prize, then worth about 500,000, is the worlds largest prize for childrens and young-adult literature.

In its citation, the Lindgren jury praised Ms Nostlingers disrespectful humour, clear-sighted solemnity and inconspicuous warmth. She was, they added, a reliably bad childrearing influence of the same calibre as Astrid Lindgren, the Swedish creator of Pippi Longstocking.

Nostlinger was born in Vienna on 13 October 1936 to a family of politically active socialists. Her father was a watchmaker and her mother ran a nursery school, and the family was made homeless after allied forces bombed Vienna during the Second World War.

Nostlinger, who was reportedly twice married, dropped out of art school in the late 1950s to raise her two daughters, Christiane Nostlinger and Barbara Waldschutz. They later contributed illustrations to her books.

A complete list of survivors was not immediately available.

Nostlinger received one of Austrias highest national honours, the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic, and in recent years published books including Being a Woman Isnt a Sport (2011), a collection of her newspaper columns, and Happiness Is a Moment (2013), a memoir.

She had stopped writing for children altogether, she told the magazine News shortly before death, in part because she found herself out of touch with todays young readers.

How am I supposed to know what makes kids move when they sit on their smartphone for half a day and do something with two thumbs on it? she said. Besides, if I hear what todays kids like to read, its mostly fantasy, and its so far from me ... I understand that they have a longing to flee this complicated world and to go to another, where other rules, different laws prevail and ultimately good always triumphs. But thats not what I could write.

In a statement, Austrian president Alexander Van der Bellen wrote that the country had lost one of its most important international literary voices as well as a loud and clear voice against all forms of injustice and oppression.

Christine Nostlinger, author, 13 October 1936, died 28 June 2018

 Washington PostThe blood moon would be reason enough to head out and look up at the sky. But this lunar eclipse is even more special: it will be the longest this century.

The sight will last for a full 103 minutes, making it even harder to miss than usual.

And the reason it is so long is similar to the reason it is happening in the first place: a neat coincidence in the way the Moon lines up with the Sun and the Earth.

Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures Show all 30 1 /30 Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures A full moon rises behind the Temple of Poseidon before a lunar eclipse in Cape Sounion, near Athens Reuters Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures The blood moon rises behind the Saentis Alpstein, Canton of Appenzell, Switzerland EPA Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures Combination of 14 pictures shows the moon during a total lunar eclipse near to La Puente town, canary Spanish island of Tenerife AFP/Getty Images Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures The Blood Moon rises behind The Hohenzollern Castle, the ancestral seat of the Prussian Royal House and of the Hohenzollern Princes, situated at the periphery of the Swabian Alb in Hechingen, Germany Getty Images Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures The full moon seen from Srinagar AFP/Getty Images Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures The red colored moon next to Berlin TV Tower EPA Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures The moon as it passes through decorative lights in Kuwait City AFP/Getty Images Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures The moon over Amman, Jordan REUTERS Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures A full moon sets over Petronas Twin Tower during a complete lunar eclipse in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia AP Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures The moon framed by the Colosseum in Rome AP Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures An effect created on the slow shutter speed showing the the moon turn red during the lunar eclipse, in Jammu, the winter capital of Kashmir, India EPA Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures A "blood moon" eclipse is seen over the roof of the Chambord Castle in France AFP/Getty Images Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures Full moon during a 'blood moon' eclipse behind a wind turbine as seen from the mount Buzludzha AFP/Getty Images Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures A full moon rising during a lunar eclipse over the temple of Apollo in ancient Corinth, Greece, EPA Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures The moon rises behind the Illimani mountain during a full lunar eclipse in La Paz, Bolivia REUTERS Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures The blood moon in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan EPA Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures The Moon turns red during a total lunar eclipse, over the Lion of Saint Mark in Venice EPA Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures A blood moon rises over Tel Aviv, Israel AP Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures The "blood moon" eclipse beside a statue of ancient Greek goddes Hera and god Apollo in central Athens AFP/Getty Images Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures People gather as they wait for the sun to go down and the appearance of the 'Blood moon' in Berlin AFP/Getty Images Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures A full moon rises above the Palestinian village of Umm Tuba, next to the large Jewish settlement of Har Homa EPA Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures An airplane leaves a vapor trail as it passes in front of a nearly full moon above Tacoma, Washington AP Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures Supermoon rises behind the Sultan Ahmet Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey Getty Images Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures Baboons silhouetted by the moon at the city zoo in Brasilia, Brazil AP Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures Skywatchers around much of the world are looking forward to a complete lunar eclipse that will be the longest this century AP Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures A lunar eclipse of a full "Blood Moon" rises behind the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi REUTERS Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures An airplane leaves a vapor trail as it passes in front of a nearly full moon above Tacoma, Washington AP Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures A lunar eclipse of a full "Blood Moon" rises behind the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi REUTERS Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures The full moon rises near Bondi Beach ahead of a total lunar eclipse Getty Images Lunar eclipse 2018  in pictures The full moon rises near Bondi Beach Getty Images

A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth blocks out the light that would usually be reaching the moon. When it does, the passage of light past the Earth makes it go a deep red  and when that bounces back off the Moon and into our eyes, it turns it a deep, bloody red and gives the event its name.

This time around, that will be long because the moon passes right through the centre of the shadow of the Earth. As such, it takes longer to get through the darkness, and so the eclipse lasts longer.

As well as that, the Earth is about as far from the Sun as it gets during its orbit. That makes the journey longer, too, since the angle and the distance makes the shadow larger.

Normally, the eclipses take a more glancing path or a closer approach of the Earth. That means that other lunar eclipses  which are fairly regular  are usually slightly shorter, though only by a couple of minutes.

Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Show all 30 1 /30 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Solar Flare An image from Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) shows a 200,000 mile long solar filament ripping through the Sun's corona in September 2013 Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Nasa Celebrates 50 Years of Spacewalking For 50 years, NASA has been "suiting up" for spacewalking. In this 1984 photograph of the first untethered spacewalk, NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless is in the midst of the first "field" tryout of a nitrogen-propelled backpack device called the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space A Hubble Cosmic Couple The spectacular cosmic pairing of the star Hen 2-427  more commonly known as WR 124  and the nebula M1-67 which surrounds it ESA/Hubble & NASA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Veil Nebula Supernova Remnant Nasa's Hubble Space Telescope has unveiled in stunning detail a small section of the Veil Nebula - expanding remains of a massive star that exploded about 8,000 years ago Nasa's most stunning pictures of space The Soyuz TMA-15M rocket launch The Soyuz TMA-15M rocket launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday, Nov. 24, 2014, carrying three new astronauts to the International Space Station. It also took caviar, ready for the satellite's inhabitants to celebrate the holidays Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Earth from the ISS From the International Space Station, Expedition 42 Flight Engineer Terry W. Virts took this photograph of the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. Gulf Coast at sunset Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Black Hole Friday Nasa celebrated Black Friday by looking into space instead  sharing pictures of black holes Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space NuSTAR X-rays stream off the sun in this image showing observations from by NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, overlaid on a picture taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Cassiopeia A c A false colour image of Cassiopeia A comprised with data from the Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes and the Chandra X-Ray observatory Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Orion Capsule splashes down The Orion capsule jetted off into space before heading back a few hours later  having proved that it can be used, one day, to carry humans to Mars Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Earth Observations From Gemini IV in 1965 This photograph of the Florida Straits and Grand Bahama Bank was taken during the Gemini IV mission during orbit no. 19 in 1965. The Gemini IV crew conducted scientific experiments, including photography of Earth's weather and terrain, for the remainder of their four-day mission following Ed White's historic spacewalk on June 3 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Frosty slopes of Mars This image of an area on the surface of Mars, approximately 1.5 by 3 kilometers in size, shows frosted gullies on a south-facing slope within a crater. The image was taken by Nasa's HiRISE camera, which is mounted on its Mars Reconaissance Orbiter Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Yellowstone from space NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman shared this image of Yellowstone via his twitter account Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Saturn This near-infrared color image shows a specular reflection, or sunglint, off of a hydrocarbon lake named Kivu Lacus on Saturn's moon Titan Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Worlds Apart Although Mimas and Pandora, shown here, both orbit Saturn, they are very different moons. Pandora, "small" by moon standards (50 miles or 81 kilometers across) is elongated and irregular in shape. Mimas (246 miles or 396 kilometers across), a "medium-sized" moon, formed into a sphere due to self-gravity imposed by its higher mass Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Solar Flare An X1.6 class solar flare flashes in the middle of the sun in this image taken 10 September, captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy An image of the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy seen in infrared light by the Herschel Space Observatory. Regions of space such as this are where new stars are born from a mixture of elements and cosmic dust Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Mars Rover Spirit Nasa's Mars Rover Spirit took the first picture from Spirit since problems with communications began a week earlier. The image shows the robotic arm extended to the rock called Adirondack Nasa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Morning Aurora From the Space Station Nasa astronaut Scott Kelly captured this photograph of the green lights of the aurora from the International Space Station Nasa/Scott Kelly Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Launch of History - Making STS-41G Mission in 1984 The Space Shuttle Challenger launches from Florida at dawn. On this mission, Kathryn Sullivan became the first U.S. woman to perform a spacewalk and Marc Garneau became the first Canadian in space. The crew of seven was the largest to fly on a spacecraft at that time, and STS-41G was the first flight to include two female astronauts Nasa's most stunning pictures of space A Fresh Perspective on an Extraordinary Cluster of Galaxies Galaxy clusters are often described by superlatives. 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This impact crater appears relatively recent as it has a sharp rim and well-preserved ejecta Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Hubble Peers into the Most Crowded Place in the Milky Way This Nasa Hubble Space Telescope image presents the Arches Cluster, the densest known star cluster in the Milky Way NASA & ESA Nasa's most stunning pictures of space An Astronaut's View from Space Nasa astronaut Reid Wiseman tweeted this photo from the International Space Station on 2 September 2014 Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Giant Landform on Mars On Mars, we can observe four classes of sandy landforms formed by the wind, or aeolian bedforms: ripples, transverse aeolian ridges, dunes, and what are called draa Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Expedition 39 Landing A sokol suit helmet can be seen against the window of the Soyuz TMA-11M capsule shortly after the spacecraft landed with Expedition 39 Commander Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, and Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan (NASA/Bill Ingalls) Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Jupiter's Great Red Spot Viewed by Voyager I Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and perhaps the most majestic. Vibrant bands of clouds carried by winds that can exceed 400 mph continuously circle the planet's atmosphere Nasa's most stunning pictures of space Chandra Observatory Sees a Heart in the Darkness This Chandra X-Ray Observatory image of the young star cluster NGC 346 highlights a heart-shaped cloud of 8 million-degree Celsius gas in the central region

The length should mean that the impact of the thunderstorms that are forecast for Friday evening  and which threaten to spoil the event  should be less. Even if it is raining and covered in clouds for some part of the time, it's likely that you'll be able to spot something.

Spotting the eclipse should be relatively easy, since you only have to look up at the Moon. There's no special equipment required, like there is with a solar eclipse.

To view the eclipse, find a hill or flat area with few trees or buildings to the Southeast, as the Moon will be low in the sky throughout the eclipse," said Gregory Brown, astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. "A pair of binoculars or a small telescope can make the event all the more impressive, but there will still be plenty to see with just your eyes too!"Police have identified four people wanted in connection with violence at a protest in support of imprisoned far-right figure Tommy Robinson.

Detectives published images of nine suspects on Monday following disruption last month which saw scaffolding, glass bottles and street furniture thrown at officers.

By Wednesday, four had been found by police following a public appeal, with five still unidentified.

Detectives are continuing to appeal for the publics help in identifying individuals they would like to speak to in connection with serious disorder which occurred during the Free Tommy Robinson Protest, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement, alongside an image of the five.

More than 20 people were injured during the trouble in Whitehall, central London, on 9 June. Vehicles and buildings were damaged.

Detective constable Jonny Wise, from the Metropolitan Polices public order investigations team, said: During this demonstration violent disorder broke out on the streets of central London. Scaffolding, glass bottles and items of street furniture were thrown at police officers and 21 officers sustained injuries.

Police release images of five people wanted following violence at far right rally (Met Police)

Serious disruption was caused to members of the public, local businesses and the local communities. Vehicles and buildings were damaged and those responsible need to be held accountable for their actions.

We are grateful to the public for their help so far in identifying individuals we would like to speak to in connection with this disorder. I am now appealing for continued support from members of the public to help identify the remaining five individuals in these images.

The demonstration took place in protest at the jailing of English Defence League founder Robinson  real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon  who admitted contempt of court after broadcasting details of a trial that was subject to temporary reporting restrictions.

Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release Show all 50 1 /50 Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release Far-right protesters demanding the release of jailed EDL founder Tommy Robinson brought chaos to central London The Independent Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release Supporters of English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson demonstrate in London REUTERS Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release The Independent Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release The Independent Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release The Independent Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release Protesters blocked a bus being driven by a woman in a headscarf Staff Photographer Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release EDL block the roads in London Staff Photographer Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release EDL fly the St George flag at a Tommy Robinson support rally Staff Photographer Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release Protesters hold up placards and wave Union flags AFP/Getty Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release The Independent Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release The Independent Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release Supporters of English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson REUTERS Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release EDL shout through pub window REUTERS Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release The Independent Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release The Independent Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release Supporters of English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson are confronted by police REUTERS Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release The Independent Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release EDL display the St George flag to a bus driver Staff Photographer Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release The Independent Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release EDL supporters in London Staff Photographer Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release The Independent Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release The Independent Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release The Independent Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release The Independent Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release The Independent Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release The Independent Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release EDL in Trafalgar Square Staff Photographer Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release The Independent Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release The Independent Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release The Independent Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release Pro-Tommy Robinson suport topless holds up a bus Staff Photographer Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release The Independent Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release The Independent Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release Police stop EDL Staff Photographer Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release The Independent Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release The Independent Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release EDL hold up traffic in London Staff Photographer Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release Bus and passengers held up by EDL fury Staff Photographer Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release Free Tommy Robinson supporters and Pro-Trump supporters come together on Whitehall PA Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release Protest placards REUTERS Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release Protesters hold up placards at a rally by supporters of far-right spokesman Tommy Robinson AFP/Getty Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release Protesters march down Whitehall in support of far-right Tommy Robinson AFP/Getty Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release London EDL protests REUTERS Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release Demonstrators hold banners supporting EDF founder Tommy Robinson and President Trump REUTERS Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release A protester dressed as a knight takes part in a rally by supporters of far-right spokesman Tommy Robinson in central London following the jailing of Tommy Robinson for contempt of court AFP/Getty Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release Free Tommy Robinson supporters PA Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release Protesters march down Whitehall AFP/Getty Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release Supporters of English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson REUTERS Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release Supporters of English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson demonstrate REUTERS Tommy Robinson march: Far-right protesters demand EDL founder release Supporters of English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson clash with police REUTERS

Supporters were filmed giving Nazi salutes and holding anti-Islam banners  although there is no suggestion any of the nine people pictured did so. Nine people were arrested on the day itself.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Met on 020 8246 0076 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.Pressure on the UK government to bring an end to indefinite immigration detention has been scaled up after the UN refugee agency backed calls for a time limit.

Following a highly critical government-commissioned review of the detention system earlier this week, home secretary Sajid Javid pledged to look into how time limits on the detention of immigrants work in other countries.

The UNHCRs assistant high commissioner Volker Turk said he hoped the study would result in limits being put in place, with detention only used as a last resort.

If, indeed, detention is unavoidable and it is the last resort that it is meant to be, there needs to be a time limitation put to it.

I think we hope very much that in the course of this study ... that indeed time limits would be the outcome.

Earlier this month, The Independent exclusively reported on an unprecedented call from the British Red Cross for a 28-day limit on detention, after the charity found cases of asylum-seekers being detained for as long as two years and seven months.

A report by the charity found that thousands of innocent asylum seekers  often fleeing war and torture  are detained each year and locked up indefinitely with no support, with some driven to attempt suicide.

Amnesty International and Liberty have also called for an end to indefinite detention, warning that the absence of a time limit is inhumane and damages the mental health of detainees.

The UK immigration detention estate is one of the largest in Europe, with around 2,500 to 3,500 people in detention at any given time. More than one in five detainees are held for at least two months.

In the Commons on Tuesday, Mr Javid told MPs he wanted a detention policy based on not only what works to tackle illegal migration, but what is humane for those who are detained and promised that he would further consider the issue of time limits on immigration detention.

His announcement followed the publication of a second review of the UKs immigration detention system by former prisons and probation ombudsman Stephan Shaw, which found people were being locked in unacceptable conditions, often for deeply troubling lengths of time.

While there has been a drop in the overall detainee population, the number of people held in removal centres for more than six months has increased. The Home Offices strategy of expanding capacity by adding extra beds into existing rooms had exacerbated overcrowding, and created unacceptable conditions, the review found.

In response to the findings, Mr Javid said it confirmed the government was on the right track in improving detention, but conceded that there were also areas where ministers could and should do better.Sir Vince Cable has hailed The Independent for its brave and correct launch of a campaign for a referendum on the Brexit deal.

The Liberal Democrat leader, whose party is the biggest to have backed a second referendum, said another national vote was critical to solving the political crisis facing the country.

The Independent kicked off its campaign for a Final Say on whatever Brexit terms emerge next year along with a petition earlier this week.

Within 24 hours almost 200,000 had signed the petition showing the strength of feeling in the wider country for people to have an opportunity to express themselves in the deal Theresa May agrees with the EU.

Sir Vince said: The Liberal Democrats have been fighting for the British people to have the final say on any Brexit deal, or worse still, no deal.

This vote must include an option for an exit from Brexit.

I congratulate The Independent for joining this campaign. Its both a brave and correct move.

 Theresa May dodges question on stockpiling ahead of Brexit

The push was launched with a major editorial on Tuesday night which set out why a Final Say is needed for the British people.

Conservative ex-attorney general Dominic Grieve backed another referendum as the sensible way forward, with Labours Chuka Umunna, Lib Dem MP Layla Moran, ex Labour spinner Alistair Campbell and Gina Miller adding their support since.

The Independents editorial read: The British people decided to pursue our course in the referendum of 2016, so as we now look for a decision on whether we will like the deal agreed with the EU (assuming there is one), it is natural that those same people should have the final say.

Indeed, given the magnitude of the decision, it would be essential for the British people to be given that final right of approval, even if cabinet and parliament were providing the leadership we need, which they are not.

 Chuka Umunna and John Rentoul debate the possibility of another Brexit referendum

The most recent polling shows that amid the chaos of the Brexit process, the largest number of people in the UK would prefer to simply remain in the EU, if forced to choose between staying or going.

The survey undertaken by BMG Research asked some 1,500 people in a balanced cross-section of the public: should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union, or leave the European Union?

Some 49 per cent said remain, while 43 per cent said leave, 7 per cent said they did not know and 1 per cent refused to answer.

When those who did not give a clear answer the first time were asked which way they are leaning towards most, a total of 51 per cent said remain, and 45 per cent said leave, while 5 per cent still said they did not know or refused to answer.The Brexit referendum asked voters whether they wanted to remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union.

Leave won the vote by 51.9 per cent to 48.1 per cent  but the result was only the start of wrangling over exactly what Britains future outside the EU should look like.

Some Brexiteers have said only their vision for a harder exit would respect the referendum result, but a number of different approaches have been suggested, with endless permutations. Heres a run-down of the main options claimed as enacting the will of 17,410,742 people.

The EU has said the prime ministers plan is too bureaucratic (Getty)

Theresa Mays plan  red, white and blue Brexit

The government wants to leave the single market and customs union, end free movement, stop major payments to the EU budget, and take Britain out of the European Court of Justice. It also wants an independent trade policy so the UK can make its own trade deals with other countries outside the EU.

But the government still wants frictionless trade with the EU  no border checks on goods. So the Chequers white paper released this summer proposes keeping the UK aligned to single market regulations for some goods, and a complicated new customs arrangement that would see the UK collect EU tariffs at its borders and pay back the difference to the EU.

The EU has said this is too bureaucratic and has indicated that it believes it is unworkable, raising a number of concerns.

The approach of being in the single market for goods but outside the customs union is sometimes referred to as the Jersey option because it replicates some aspects of Jerseys relationship with the EU.

An agreement like Canadas would not equal frictionless trade (Getty) (Getty Images)

The EUs response  Canada

The EU says that if Mays red lines are to be respected, then the UK can only really have a free trade agreement with the EU like Canada or South Korea do.

Such an agreement would mean checks on goods entering the UK, so trade would not be frictionless. An agreement could probably remove most tariffs on goods, however. There would be no free movement and the UK could not stay in EU agencies such as Europol or the European Medicines Agency.

As with the governments plan, services  which make up the vast majority of the UK economy  would lose their special ability to do business in the EU. This includes financial services, which would lose their passporting rights to do business on the continent.

Norway plus would keep the UK as close as possible to the EU, while still being outside it (Getty/iStock) (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Norway plus

The European Union has said that if the UK wants to leave the EU and have frictionless trade, there is only really one option  generally known as Norway plus.

This takes the arrangement Norway has with the EU  participation in the single market through the European Economic Area  but also adds a customs union to it to prevent border checks. (Norway has customs checks on goods traded with the EU because it is outside the customs union, despite being in the single market.)

This option would keep the UK as close as possible to the EU, while still being outside it. It is generally favoured by advocates of a soft Brexit  those who want to respect the referendum result but want the least economic upheaval and closest trading relationship.

Intense queueing at Dover is likely in the case of the hardest of Brexits (PA) (Yui Mok/PA Archive)

No deal  chaotic Brexit

Under a no-deal Brexit, the UK would leave the existing structures of the EU without anything to replace them, at least initially.

The UK and the EU both see no deal as a bad idea, but it is favoured by some ardent Brexiteers, including inside the Conservative Party, who say Britain should walk away from negotiations.

This would be the very hardest of Brexits. There would be immediate border checks with the EU, tariffs on goods and British citizens living in the EU would technically become illegal aliens overnight. There would very likely be economic chaos, with huge disruption to business and concerns about whether the lapsing of agreements in areas such as aviation, medicine and nuclear materials could cause even more serious problems.

The situation would not be the same as reverting to the situation of most non-EU members, because most countries have bilateral agreements with each other to govern their relations. The UK would have none in this case.

Both the UK and EU say they want to do contingency planning to hopefully blunt the worst effects of no-deal Brexit if it happens.

Ukraine has an association agreement with the EU (Getty/iStock)

Ukraine-style Brexit

One option sometimes suggested is to more or less copy the arrangements enjoyed by Ukraine. Ukraine is not in the single market or customs union, but has an association agreement with the EU and is subject to some European Court of Justice rulings.

While the UK government says it is happy to package its deal into an association agreement, this would be more of a wrapper for a different kind of deal, with looser ties than the one enjoyed by Ukraine.

This Brexit would be slightly softer than the one Britain currently seems to be heading for, but would still involve checks on goods and cause disruption to trade with the bloc.

The EU hates its agreement with Switzerland (iStock) (iStock//35007)

The Swiss option

Switzerland has possibly the most complicated deal with the EU  it is outside the customs union and economic area, but it participates in the single market in certain sectors through a range of bilateral treaties.

Switzerland notably does have a form of free movement with the EU and is a part of the Schengen passport-free area, which Britain is not even a member of inside the EU.

Swiss voters recently said they wanted to end free movement with the EU but the government has found this difficult to implement without tearing up the countrys entire economic relationship with the bloc.

Free movement  a massive UK red line  is crucial because it is seen in Brussels and many member states as a condition of single market participation, because it is one of the indivisible four freedoms that underpin the institution.

The EU absolutely hates its agreement with Switzerland and has been very emphatic that it does not want to replicate such an arrangement with anyone else.

The mountainous polyglot state is constantly involved in wrangling with the EU and the system is always being renegotiated.

Turkey is in a customs union with the bloc (Reuters)

Turkey

Turkey has been a candidate state for joining the EU since 1999, but is absolutely nowhere near joining, and on its current course probably never will. However, it has a unique arrangement with the EU in that it is in a customs union with the bloc.

This system removes tariffs on goods between Turkey and the EU. There are still, however, border checks on goods between the two countries because Turkey does not participate in the single market and does not have free movement. Turkey is also restricted from signing its own trade deals and does not get all the benefits of EU free trade agreements because of the limited nature of the customs union it has, which excludes some areas.

Norway still has customs checks on goods with the EU (Getty) (Getty Images)

The Norway option

A slightly harder Brexit than Norway plus, the Norway option would see the UK stay inside the single market through membership of the European Economic Area. Norway still has customs checks on goods with the EU because it is outside a customs union.

One faction of Brexiteers says the EEA agreement could be renegotiated to cover customs and prevent border checks, but the EU has not entertained this notion and it would likely require the consent of other countries that are happy with the EEA agreement as it is.

Labour wants frictionless trade and no border checks (PA)

Labours policy

Labour has said it wants a customs union with the EU that replicates the existing EU customs union, which likely be wider in scope than the one Turkey has and keep the UK enjoying the benefits of the EUs free trade agreements with other countries.

The party says it wants the exact same benefits as a member of the single market  so frictionless trade and no border checks.

But Labour also says it wants a new close relationship with the single market that gives Britain opt-outs in areas such as rules banning state-aid for British enterprises.

The EU hasnt engaged directly with Labours proposals but has generally said the single market rules cannot be waived and that non-members cannot get a better deal than members. It would likely point Labour in the direction of a Norway plus Brexit.The Independents petition calling for the public to have a vote on the final Brexit deal has been signed by more than 225,000 people.

The Final Say campaign demands the electorate is given a new referendum on Theresa May's exit terms before Britain officially leaves the bloc in March 2019.

Within hours of launching, the bid had won the support of thousands of readers, as well as politicians from across the political spectrum, including Tory ex-cabinet minister Dominic Grieve and Labour's Chuka Umunna.

Recommended Sign our petition calling for a referendum on the Brexit deal

You can support the Final Say and have your voice heard on our future relationship with the EU by signing our petition here.

The campaign, which was launched on Tuesday, calls for the British public to be given a say on whether to accept the final deal Ms May agrees with Brussels in the autumn - if there is one - or to leave without a deal.

The Independents editorial read: The British people decided to pursue our course in the referendum of 2016, so as we now look for a decision on whether we will like the deal agreed with the EU (assuming there is one), it is natural that those same people should have the final say.

Indeed, given the magnitude of the decision, it would be essential for the British people to be given that final right of approval, even if cabinet and parliament were providing the leadership we need, which they are not.

Mr Grieve, an influential Tory rebel, said it was "sensible" way to break the parliamentary deadlock, while Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said it was a "brave and correct" move to support a people's vote on the final deal.

Brexit casualties Show all 10 1 /10 Brexit casualties Brexit casualties Andrea Jenkyns - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary at the ministry for housing, communities and local government role May 2018 - The Morley and Outwood MP said: We want to see a new relationship with Europe, with a new model not enjoyed by other countries  nothing that leaves us half-in, half-out. And in order to achieve this, we need to leave the customs union. Ms Jenkyns also said she wished to dedicate more of her time to Parliaments influential Exiting the European Union select committee, after a series of unbalanced reports produced by MPs PA Brexit casualties David Davis - Resigned from Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union role July 2018 - quit following a major row with May over her plans for post-Brexit relations with the EU. Davis resignation letter said: As you know there have been a significant number of occasions in the last year or so on which I have disagreed with the Number 10 policy line, ranging from accepting the [European] Commissions sequencing of negotiations, through to the language on Northern Ireland in the December Joint Report. At each stage I have accepted collective responsibility because it is part of my task to find workable compromises, and because I considered it was still possible to deliver on the mandate of the referendum, and on our manifesto commitment to leave the Customs Union and the Single Market. I am afraid that I think the current trend of policy and tactics is making that look less and less likely. He went on to argue that the general direction of Ms Mays policies would leave the UK in at best a weak negotiating position, and possibly an inescapable one. AFP/Getty Brexit casualties Steve Baker - Resigned from Minister at the Department for Exiting the European Union role July 2018 - Mr Baker, a key Tory figure in the Leave campaign, was David Daviss main lieutenant at Dexeu, and was hailed as courageous and principled by other Brexiteer Tories as he also left. Reuters Brexit casualties Boris Johnson - Resigned from Foreign Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. In his resignation letter to the prime minister, Mr Johnson said: "On Friday, I acknowledged that my side of the argument were too few to prevail and congratulated you on at least reaching a Cabinet decision on the way forward. "As I said then, the government now has a song to sing. "The trouble is that I have practised the words over the weekend and find that they stick in the throat." Reuters Brexit casualties Conor Burns - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary to Foreign Secretary role July 2018 - A Brexit supporter who worked alongside Boris Johnson stated in his resignation letter: I've decided it's time to have greater freedom. I want to see the referendum result respected. And there are other areas of policy I want to speak more openly on. Rex Brexit casualties Chris Green - Resigned from Department for Transport role July 2018 - The Bolton West MP said: "Parliament overwhelmingly decided to give the decision of whether to leave or remain in the European Union to the British people and they made an unambiguous decision that we ought to leave. "I have always understood the idea in 'Brexit means Brexit' is that the final deal should be clear to me and my constituents - that we have, in no uncertain terms, left the European Union. Twitter Ads info and privacy "The direction the negotiations had been taking have suggested that we would not really leave the EU and the conclusion and statements following the Chequers summit confirmed my fears. "I recognise that delivering Brexit is challenging, however I had hoped at tonight's meeting that there would be some certainty that my fears were unfounded but, instead, they have been confirmed. "I have been grateful for the opportunity to serve as Parliamentary Private Secretary and it is with regret that I offer my resignation with immediate effect." PA Brexit casualties Maria Caulfield - Resigned from Conservative Party vice-chair for women role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. Lewes MP warned that the direction of travel did not fully embrace the opportunities that Brexit can provide. Ms Caulfield said in her letter to the PM: The policy may assuage vested interests, but the voters will find out and their representatives will be found out. This policy will be bad for our country and bad for the party. The direct consequences of that will be prime minister Corbyn. PA Brexit casualties Ben Bradley - Resigned from Conservative Party vice-chair for young people role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. The Mansfield MP said: I admit that I voted to Remain in that ballot. What has swayed me over the last two years to fully back the Brexit vision is the immense opportunities that are available from global trade, and for the ability for Britain to be an outward looking nation in control of our own destiny once again. I fear that this agreement at Chequers damages those opportunities; that being tied to EU regulations, and the EU tying our hands when seeking to make new trade agreements, will be the worst of all worlds if we do not deliver Brexit in spirit as well as in name, then we are handing Jeremy Corbyn the keys to No10. PA Brexit casualties Robert Courts - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. MP Mr Courts said: I have taken a very difficult decision to resign my position as [parliamentary private secretary] to express discontent with the Chequers [plans] in votes tomorrow. I had to think who I wanted to see in the mirror for the rest of my life. I cannot tell the people of Woxon that I support the proposals in their current form. Getty Brexit casualties Scott Mann - Resigned from Parliamentary Private Secretary role July 2018 - resigned over May's Chequers plan. "I fear elements of the Brexit white paper will inevitably put me in direct conflict with the views expressed by a large section of my constituents. I am not prepared to compromise their wishes to deliver a watered-down Brexit. "The residents of North Cornwall made it very clear that they wish to have control over our fishery, our agricultural policy, our money, our laws and our borders. I will evaluate those principles against the Brexit white paper and ensure that I vote in line with their wishes." Rex

Former prime minister Tony Blair also came out in support, tweeting: 33m+ people voted in the EU referendum wanting a better country, not to be poorer, not to put further pressure on our already stretched health service, not for job losses or to stockpile food and medicines. It should be your Final Say."

It comes amid growing fears over the prospect of a no-deal Brexit, as Ms May's new blueprint revealed deep divisions within Conservative ranks and put pressure on her wafer thin Commons majority.

The prime minister has urged voters not to worry about Brexit, despite a string of revelations from ministers about plans to stockpile food, blood and medicines.

She said people should take reassurance and comfort from news of the plans, to be implemented if the UK crashes out of the EU without an agreement in March next year.Tony Blair has thrown his weight behind The Independents Final Say campaign for a referendum on the terms of Brexit.

The ex-prime minister said no-one who voted in the 2016 referendum wanted a poorer country that is forced to stockpile food and medicines, as the UK is now doing.

The Independent kicked off its campaign for a Final Say on whatever Brexit terms emerge next year along with a petition earlier this week.

Recommended 25 comments from our petition for a second Brexit referendum

Within 24 hours almost 200,000 had signed the petition showing the strength of feeling in the wider country for people to have an opportunity to express themselves again.

Mr Blair took to Twitter to say: 33m+ people voted in the EU referendum wanting a better country, not to be poorer, not to put further pressure on our already stretched health service, not for job losses or to stockpile food and medicines. It should be your #Finalsay.

Theresa May has urged voters not to worry about Brexit, despite her government setting out plans to stockpile food, blood and medicine in case it goes badly.

She said people should take reassurance and comfort from news of the plans, to be implemented if the UK crashes out of the EU without an agreement in March next year.

 Exclusive: Tony Blair issues warning to the Tory party over their handling of Brexit

It came after health secretary Matt Hancock admitted he had already met with industry leaders to discuss building up NHS reserves of vaccinations, medical devices, clinical consumables and blood products if Britain crashes out of the EU without a deal.

Dominic Raab, the new Brexit secretary, also recently confirmed preparations were being made to stockpile food, as ministers ramp up planning in case the negotiations fail.

Mr Blair follows a string of other politicians baking the Independents campaign, including ex-attorney general Dominic Grieve who said another referendum is the sensible way forward, Labours Chuka Umunna, Lib Dem MP Layla Moran, ex Labour spinner Alistair Campbell and Gina Miller.

The push was launched with a major editorial on Tuesday night which set out why a Final Say is needed for the British people.

33m+ people voted in the EU referendum wanting a better country, not to be poorer, not to put further pressure on our already stretched health service, not for job losses or to stockpile food and medicines. Tony Blair

It read: The British people decided to pursue our course in the referendum of 2016, so as we now look for a decision on whether we will like the deal agreed with the EU (assuming there is one), it is natural that those same people should have the final say.

Indeed, given the magnitude of the decision, it would be essential for the British people to be given that final right of approval, even if cabinet and parliament were providing the leadership we need, which they are not.

The most recent polling shows that amid the chaos of the Brexit process, the largest number of people in the UK would prefer to simply remain in the EU, if forced to choose between staying or going.

The survey undertaken by BMG Research asked some 1,500 people in a balanced cross-section of the public: should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union, or leave the European Union?

 Exclusive: Tony Blair says the EU would take the UK back if we 'withdrew the letter' triggering Article 50

Some 49 per cent said remain, while 43 per cent said leave, 7 per cent said they did not know and 1 per cent refused to answer.

When those who did not give a clear answer the first time were asked which way they are leaning towards most, a total of 51 per cent said remain, and 45 per cent said leave, while 5 per cent still said they did not know or refused to answer.Three days after a grenade attack on President Emmerson Mnangagwa  a truly explosive start to the campaign for Zimbabwes historic elections  a photograph went viral on social media of Grace Mugabe, flashing a V for victory sign.

Robert Mugabes wife was celebrating, her critics claim, the assassination attempt which had come so close to eliminating the man who had replaced her husband in power, and who thwarted her ambition of succeeding him as leader of the country.

The fall of Mr Mugabe last year in a coup, a fascinating drama played out in front of the international media, should have been seen the disappearance of Africas longest serving head of state and his wife, pilloried as Disgrace or Gucci Grace by her many enemies who accuse her of greed and corruption on an industrial scale.

Some even believed that the couple may have experienced the grim end, execution, suffered by Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu in Romania in 1989.

But eight months on from that tumultuous time, the Mugabes are very much around: largely out of sight, but certainly not out of mind.

They are not under arrest and have the leeway to travel in and out of the country. The photo of Grace making the gesture was allegedly taken in Singapore, where her husband had gone for medical treatment.

The Zimbabwean government picked up the bill, part of Mr Mugabes agreed healthcare package for leaving the presidency.

The 94-year-old former president and his wife, who is 41 years younger, take their flights from the Robert Mugabe International in Harare. There are no plans to change the name of the airport.

They continue to live at their 25-room mansion, Blue House, as before, where visiting foreign dignitaries have been dropping in to meet Mr Mugabe frequently enough for it to make the news when the Elders, the international group of former public figures led by Kofi Annan, failed to meet the former president and his wife during a visit this month.

There is little doubt that the Mugabes still retain a degree of influence as the country goes to the polls on 30 July: the first to take place in 38 years without Mr Mugabe in power.

In parts of the country, people are holding rallies wearing T-shirts with his picture and carrying banners with his name, and there are calls from loyalists for him to return from his internal political exile.

A new political group, the National Patriotic Front (NPF), was formed in March by Mugabe supporters in the ruling Zanu-PF party with the former presidents backing.

It is now taking part in the campaign, fielding a hundred candidates, and has backed an opposition alliance led by the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change), although talks to formally join did not come to fruition.

The MDC leader Nelson Chamisa, who is running close to Mr Mnangagwa in the opinion polls, was once hospitalised with a fractured skull by security agents of the Mugabe regime.

The Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare (AP)

He is not, however, averse to receiving support from the unexpected quarter.

While denying claims of getting money from the Mugabes, and stressing that there is no formal agreement with the NPF, he has declared: We welcome every vote; Mugabe, we welcome your vote. We want a new dispensation, a fresh start.

Mr Chamisa has also dismissed rumours that Grace Mugabe or other former members of the Mugabe government may be part of an administration if he were to win the election. But there was ambiguity in the denial.

Whoever wants to join us is welcome, our bus doesnt get full but there is no way one can join a church and become a deacon the same day, he told a recent rally.

Some of the Mugabe influence is allegedly violent and dangerous. A group known as Generation 40 or G 40, part of the NPF  who had hitched their stars to Graces ascent  have been blamed for the grenade attack in Bulawayo a month ago targeting President Mnangagwa, which killed two people and injured more than 40 others.

No evidence has been produced so far to back the claim made by Mr Mnangagwa and government officials (among others) of an alleged link between G 40 and the Mugabes. A number of people were arrested after the attack; some have been freed.

There have been raids and detentions, however, of former senior officials close to the Mugabes in other prosecutions.

Those being held include Tadzingaira Tachiveyi, a deputy director of the countrys security agency, Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) who was sacked from his post following Robert Mugabes removal.

A former Mugabe cabinet minister, Samuel Undenge, is now in jail following corruption convictions. The former finance minister, Ignatius Chombo, is currently on trial, also for alleged corruption.

An attempt earlier this month to detain another former minister, Saviour Kasukuwere, failed because he was in South Africa.

The bitter rivalry between Grace Mugabe and Mr Mnangagwa, known as the Crocodile for his supposed guile, was one if the key factors behind what happened last November.

His sacking from the government by President Mugabe was widely believed to be at the instigation of Grace, who had declared at one point that the crocodile has turned into snake and must be hit on the head.

Mr Mnangagwa fled to South Africa after receiving death threats, with Grace expected to take over his post of vice-president.

But he struck back in conjunction with the head of the army, General Constantino Chiwenga, to carry out the putsch which overthrew the president.

Mr Mugabe refused to go into exile and remains in Zimbabwe under a deal which granted him  and supposedly his wife  immunity from prosecution.

One of the conditions, claim government officials, is that the former president does not get involved in politics. But many of his supporters believe that the time has come for the former president to make his presence felt.

At Mr Mugabes hometown of Chinhoyi, 120km northwest of Harare, Solomon Zivai spoke of the anger over the presidents removal.

 Mugabe resigns: Zimbabwean Parliament celebrates as decision is announced

What they did to him was completely illegal, it was against the constitution  that is very clear, said the 58-year-old, who owns several shops.

They are keeping him away from politics, but we need him to unify the people, working behind the scenes if necessary.

Of course he is old, but this is not Europe or America, here we believe that old people have wisdom which should not be wasted, especially someone like him who sacrificed so much to get us our independence.

Zanu-PF held a rally recently with Mr Mnangagwa at Chinhoyi. The president was careful not to criticise Mr Mugabe directly, as he has throughout the campaign.

But the view of Truelove Kudakwashe, a lifelong Zanu-PF supporter, and his companions was: The crocodile is not wanted here, he had worked with Robert Mugabe and then turned against him.

Mnangagwa says he is improving the economy by getting in foreign investments, but is doing nothing for the ordinary people of Zimbabwe. I would not vote for Zanu-PF this time. I would have voted for Robert Mugabe.

As for Grace, I was not a supporter, but she had good backing from some in the party, you cannot deny that. Most of all, you cannot just get rid of someone like Robert Mugabe so easily.An Air China flight was turned around after receiving suspected terrorist information during an international trip that was later said be a false threat.

The flight was travelling from France to Beijing on Thursday when it was suddenly forced to turn back and land in Paris. In a message posted across social media, the commercial airline said it "received a suspected terrorist message" after taking off.

"Air China has received a suspected terrorist message, the statement read. "Flight CA876 has returned to Paris safely, with the plane and its passengers all unharmed."

By Thursday afternoon, however, Chinese state media reported the issue was a "false alarm."

The Air China flight reported an emergency after 8:00 a.m. EST on Thursday, Reports from international air transportation monitoring agencies about an emergency on the Air China trip were posted to Twitter early Thursday morning. The flights trajectory showed the plane had not yet passed Brussels, Belgium before turning around to Paris.

Air China did not immediately respond to enquiries, but said in a statement to one of its social media profiles that it turned the flight around "to ensure safety."One day after a deadly mass shooting rocked the city of Toronto, Mayor John Tory wondered aloud why anyone in the area would need a gun. This week, the city council responded overwhelmingly: They dont.

The council voted 41-4 on Tuesday to ask the provincial and federal governments to ban all sales of handguns and handgun ammunition in the city. The motion came just two days after a gunman opened fire in the city's Greektown neighbourhood, killing two people and injuring 13.

In a speech to the city council on Monday, Mr Tory said gun violence anywhere in Canadas largest city was horrible and completely unacceptable.

"There are far too many people carrying around guns in our city and our region who should not have them," he said. "That leads to another question we need to discuss: Why does anyone in this city need to have a gun at all?"

It was unclear what immediate effect the motion would have. Canadian public safety minister Ralph Goodale said the government was considering the proposal, but cautioned that such a change would require substantial rewriting of the criminal code.

 Bystander films moment Toronto gunman opens fire

Canada currently requires all handgun owners to obtain a licence, in a lengthy process that includes firearm training, personal reference reviews, and a criminal record check. First-time license applicants must wait 28 days before making their first purchase.

Toronto has been grappling with a surge in violent crimes in recent years  particularly those involving guns. As of July, the number of shootings in the city this year had already surpassed the total for all of 2017, according to police data. The number of homicides have also more than doubled, largely due to gun violence.

The city rolled out a $3m programme to target gun violence just two days before the shooting, putting 200 more officers on the streets of at-risk neighbourhoods between 7 pm and 3 am, according to CNN.

Toronto shooting: gun attack in Greektown Show all 15 1 /15 Toronto shooting: gun attack in Greektown Toronto shooting: gun attack in Greektown A man joins a vigil for the victims of a shooting the evening before, in Toronto The Canadian Press via AP Toronto shooting: gun attack in Greektown Police investigate a car with a bullet hole AP Toronto shooting: gun attack in Greektown Friends of 18-year-old shooting victim Reese Fallon leave candles on pictures of Fallon at a makeshift memorial AP Toronto shooting: gun attack in Greektown A crime scene clean up crew scrubs the side walks AFP/Getty Images Toronto shooting: gun attack in Greektown Desirae Shapiro, 19, left, and her mother, Gina Shapiro, friends of 18-year-old Danforth shooting victim Reese Fallon, react after visiting a makeshift memorial AP Toronto shooting: gun attack in Greektown Police officers investigate a mass shooting on Danforth Avenue REUTERS Toronto shooting: gun attack in Greektown Police are seen near the scene the shooting REUTERS Toronto shooting: gun attack in Greektown A friend of a victim who died in the shooting tries to go to the crime scene AFP/Getty Images Toronto shooting: gun attack in Greektown A police officer looks for evidence under a car REUTERS Toronto shooting: gun attack in Greektown People leave an area taped off by the police near the scene REUTERS Toronto shooting: gun attack in Greektown People leave personal messages on a building under renovation, remembering the victims of Sunday's shooting on and near Danforth Avenue AP Toronto shooting: gun attack in Greektown Toronto Police officers work on Danforth St AFP/Getty Images Toronto shooting: gun attack in Greektown Residents of the Danforth area leave flowers and light candles for the victims at the scene AFP/Getty Images Toronto shooting: gun attack in Greektown Toronto mayor John Tory speaks to police officers at the scene AFP/Getty Images Toronto shooting: gun attack in Greektown Toronto Police investigate the scene of the shooting AFP/Getty Images

Reese Fallon, age 18, and Julianna Kozis, age 10, were killed in the shooting on Sunday night.

Police identified the shooter as Faisal Hussain, a 29-year-old who lived in the city. His family said Hussain struggled with severe mental health challenges, including psychosis and depression.

"Medications and therapy were unable to treat him, the family said in a statement. While we did our best to seek help for him throughout his life of struggle and pain, we could never imagine that this would be his devastating and destructive end."A $40m boat owned by the family of Betsy DeVos was set adrift by vandals while moored at a dock in Ohio, local reports say.

According to a Huron City Police Department report submitted to The Independent, the captain of the 163-foot yacht, named the Seaquest, called police at approximately 6am local time to report that someone had untied the boat from the dock.

The crew was able to gain control of the Seacrest after it was set adrift, but not before the $40m yacht struck the dock causing large scratches and scrapes, the report stated. The captain estimated that damages were between $5,000 to $10,000.

Representatives for the DeVos family have not immediately returned The Independent's request for comment.

Recommended Parkland high school students were not impressed by Betsy DeVos

The US Secretary of State hails from a wealthy billionaire family  she and her husband, Dick DeVos, have an estimated net worth of just over $1bn, according to Forbes calculations. Ms DeVos father founded automobile business Prince Corporation, and her father-in-law co-founded marketing company Amway. The education secretary is one of the wealthiest on members of Donald Trumps Cabinet.

Ms DeVos, perhaps one of the most divisive of Mr Trumps cabinet members, has received sharp public backlash since her confirmation. Many across the US have protested her policies, like her efforts to implement budget cuts for the Department of Education in exchange for funding to promote programs, like school choice. School choice allows taxpayer dollars to be diverted from public education to other schools, including charter schools, private religious-based schools and other educational institutions.

The Seaquest is reportedly one of 10 boats owned by the DeVos family. The police report noted that officers were seeking to retrieve surveillance video of the area where the boat was docked. The crew reported to have not seen any suspicious activity the night prior.US lawyers and activists have described chaos and confusion at immigrant detention facilities as the Trump administration scrambles to reunify the more than 2,500 migrant children it separated from their parents at the border in recent months.

The government is rushing to meet a Thursday night deadline set by US District Court Judge Dana Sabraw, who ordered all of the families reunified as part of a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union last month.

As of Tuesday, officials said they had identified 1,634 parents possibly eligible for reunification with their children, and successfully reunified some 1,012 of them. The government was scheduled to provide an updated count to Judge Sabraw on Friday morning.

But the government also said more than 900 parents may not be eligible for reunification because they had waived their right to reunification, had criminal backgrounds, or were otherwise deemed unfit. Some 462 of those parents had already left the country, the administration said, though it was unclear whether they had volunteered to leave or had been deported against their will.

Lee Gelernt, the lead attorney on the case, took issue with this number, saying the Trump administration was "unilaterally picking and choosing who is eligible for reunification".

"We will continue to hold the government accountable and get these families back together," he said in a statement.

Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy Show all 8 1 /8 Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy Mishawaka, Indiana AP Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy Washington DC AFP/Getty Images Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy New York Mayor Bill De Blasio speaks in Tornillo, Texas alongside the many other US mayors who have called for detained immigrant children to be reunited with their families AP Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy Albuquerque Mayor Tim Kelle leaves a teddy bear as a gift for detained immigrant children in Tornillo, Texas AP Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti leave sandals as gifts for detained immigrant children in Tornillo, Texas AP Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy San Diego, California EPA Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy US embassy, Mexico City AFP/Getty Images Families belong together protests over Trump immigration policy San Diego, California EPA

Immigrants rights groups warned that many of the parents who had left the country already may have done so under duress or coercion, or armed with bad information. Advocates described parents being pressured by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to sign paperwork they didnt understand, or being told that they would not be reunified with their children unless they agreed to be deported.

The circumstance under which many of these decisions to perhaps sign for ones deportation were made under incredibly challenging circumstances, Royce Murray, policy director of the American Immigration Council, told reporters.

She added that it would be impossible to know whether any of these parents had willingly and knowingly signed deportation paperwork without reviewing each case individually.

Maria Odom, vice president of legal services at Kids in Need of Defence, said she knew of one family in which the children arrived at a detention centre to be reunited with their mother, only to learn that she had already been deported. Ms Odom said her organisation had not been able to contact the children, ages 9 and 14, since their arrival at the detention centre.

We are mentioning them as an example of how impossible it is, at the moment, to track these children who have been placed into the black hole of reunification, she said.

 Screaming children heard crying for parents at US detention centre after being separated at border under Trump policy, in distressing audio recording

Mr Gelernt said the ACLU would attempt to track down all 463 parents who had left the country and reunify them with their children. The ACLU has also asked Judge Sabraw to briefly stay the deportation of those families who have already been reunified, saying the parents need time to understand their legal rights and consider their options.

The majority of the families were separated under Donald Trumps zero tolerance immigration policy, which the Justice Department implemented in April. The policy sparked a massive public backlash after video surfaced of families being detained in wire cages, and children sobbing after being taken from their parents.

Mr Trump signed an executive order ending the family separations in June, but more than 2,500 children had already been taken with their parents. Judge Sabraw set the strict deadlines for reunification that same month.

At a court hearing on Tuesday, Mr Sabraw commended the pace of the reunifications thus far, calling it a "remarkable achievement". But he chided the government for losing track of some parents, and for separating the families in the first place.

"Some of this information is unpleasant  the reality of a policy that resulted in a large number of families separated without keeping track of families or people," Mr Sabraw said, according to ABC News. "There has to be an accounting."A US federal judge has rejected Donald Trumps bid to dismiss a lawsuit accusing him of unconstitutionally accepting gifts.

The suit alleges Mr Trump has violated clauses of the US constitution, which bar elected officials from receiving gifts of any kind from foreign and domestic governments.

Karl Racine, District of Columbia attorney general, and Brian Frosh, Maryland attorney general, filed a lawsuit against Mr Trump in June last year, alleging the presidents business entanglements are in violation of the US constitution.

Recommended White House appears to have edited video to remove question to Putin

The lawsuit alleges the presidents connection to the Trump Organisation and the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, has violated the emoluments clause since foreign and domestic government officials have stayed at his luxury hotel in the US capital.

In Wednesdays 52-page decision, district judge Peter Messitte rejected Mr Trumps cramped view that emoluments were limited essentially to bribes.

Mr Messitte said the plaintiffs had convincingly argued that emoluments had a broader meaning, consistent with how even George Washington used the term in a 1776 proclamation.

The clear weight of the evidence shows that an emolument was commonly understood by the founding generation to encompass any profit, gain, or advantage, Mr Messitte wrote.

The Department of Justice, which defended Mr Trump, is determining its next steps to continue vigorously defending the president, spokesman Andy Reuss said. We continue to maintain that this case should be dismissed.

Mr Racine countered in a statement: Todays historic ruling is a substantial step forward to ensure President Trump stops violating our nations original anti-corruption laws.

The constitution is clear: the president cant accept money or other benefits from foreign or domestic governments.

He added: We sued because this corruption is taking place in our backyard, and because 325 million Americans shouldnt have to wonder if the president is putting his personal financial interests ahead of the national interest.

The lawsuit also claims the Trump International Hotel has put competing hotels in the area at a disadvantage.

Reuters contributed to this reportDonald Trump is reportedly most concerned about the prospect of running against Barack Obamas erstwhile deputy Joe Biden in 2020, compared to other potential candidates.

The US president is worried the veteran Democrat will appeal to his support base of white working class voters, Mr Trumps advisers told US political news outlet Axios.

They also reportedly said Mr Biden conveyed authenticity and was willing to trade verbal blows, making him a daunting contender for Mr Trump at the next US election.

Other rumoured challengers such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who propose liberal policies, are thought to be favoured by the young and African American demographics.

 Joe Biden 'we're walking down a dark path'

Mr Biden has often touted his birthplace  Scranton, Pennsylvania  as emblematic of his working-class upbringing.

The former vice president, who at the age of 75 is three years Mr Trumps senior, has not said if he is planning to run at the next presidential election, but said he was contemplating it.

In March, he said if he does not run its not because Im afraid of losing, its because theres somebody better to do it.

Were in a battle for the soul of this nation, he said.

Early this year, a heated exchange took place between Mr Biden and the US president in which they discussed who would win in a physical fight.

A guy who ended up becoming our national leader said, I can grab a woman anywhere and she likes it, he said at a University of Miami rally in Florida.

If we were in high school, Id take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him.

Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Show all 15 1 /15 Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Joe Biden and Dr Jill Biden watch Barack Obama's farewell speech on 11 January. Obama called Biden his 'brother' Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years US President Barack Obama speaks alongside US Vice President Joe Biden about the Affordable Care Act AFP/Getty Images Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama Getty Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years President Obama listens to Joe Biden speak of his work on defeating cancer on 18 October in the White House Reuters Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years U.S. President Barack Obama is applauded by House Speaker Paul Ryan and Vice President Joe Biden while delivering his final State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in Washington Reuters Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years U.S. Vice President Joe Biden interjects as President Barack Obama delivers remarks at a reception for the 25th anniversary of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics at the White House in Washington REUTERS Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Obama and Vice President Joe Biden react after a heckler was removed for their extended interruption (Reuters) Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with Speaker of the House John Boehner (R) as Vice President Joe Biden looks on Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Barack and Michelle Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden observing a moment of silence outside the White House to mark the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks Getty Images Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Barack Obama and Joe Biden putt on the White House putting green Getty Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years President Barack Obama and Joe Biden in April 2013 AFP/Getty Images Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years January 1, 2013: U.S. President Barack Obama winks as he arrives with Vice President Joe Biden (L) in the briefing room Reuters Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and others receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden in the Situation Room of the White House May 1, 2011 in Washington, DC Getty Images Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Vice-President Joe Biden, right, confirmed that the US was looking at ways of taking legal action against Julian Assange - back in December 2010 GETTY IMAGES Joe Biden and Barack Obama through the years Joe Biden, left, and retired military officers watch President Barack Obama sign orders to close down the detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in January 2009 GETTY IMAGES

Mr Trump responded in a Twitter post by claiming the former vice president would go down fast and hard if they fought each other.The European Commission president studiously refused to hold Donald Trumps hand during a diplomatic visit to Washington  in stark contrast to Theresa May.

Jean-Claude Juncker and the US president announced plans for a new pact to head off a trade war late on Wednesday evening  in an apparent warming of relations between the EU and United States.

But despite the apparent emerging entente Mr Juncker was seen firmly rejecting Mr Trumps overtures while the two stood at a podium at the White House.

The British Prime Minister was pictured holding Donald Trumps hand during her diplomatic visit to Washington DC last year. She repeated the action again when the US president visited her this year, supporting him  and even later offering another hand which was ignored by the president.

Mr Trump reportedly has a deep-seated fear of steps and slopes and sometimes seeks assistance from those around him while going up or down them.

His vulnerable conduct in these situations has sparked interest in part because it contrasts with the US president usually brash and overconfident public persona.

But Ms Mays willingness to physically support her US colleague in the highly scrutinised arena of international diplomacy was seen as a sign of the two politicians closeness.

The surprise breakthrough in Washington came after months of escalating trade war between the EU and US. The two economies are now committed to opening up each others' markets by reducing tariffs and non-tariffs barriers  at least on paper.The US government deadline to reunite immigrant families separated at the border has arrived, and thousands of children appear to still be separated from their parents.

While the administration of Donald Trump has been told to reunite those families, the process has not proceeded as quickly as the court may have liked.

With images and stories of children being taken from their parents after crossing the US-Mexico border, the issue has galvanized the American public.

Heres what you need to know about American immigrant family separation as the deadline for reunification looms.Witnesses say there has been a large explosion at the US embassy building in Beijing, China, with videos and pictures posted to social media showing a large cloud of smoke and what appear to be police vehicles surrounding the area.

Beijing police said the blast was caused by a small homemade explosive device, detonated by a 26-year-old man who hurt only himself.

It comes amid a number of conflicting reports, and after Chinese state media described the incident as "an attempt at self-immolation" and that a woman was in police custody.

A witness told Reuters a Chinese police car appeared to have been damaged in the incident.

The police statement identified the man only by his surname, Jiang, and said he was from the city of Tongliao in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia. No other injuries have been reported.

On its official social media feeds, the US mission in China continued posting but made no mention of the blast, and calls to the media wing of the embassy went unanswered.

The Global Times, an English-language arm of the state-run People's Daily, had tweeted earlier: "Witness says police took away a woman spraying gasoline on herself in suspected attempt at self-immolation outside US embassy in Beijing around 11 am Thursday."

"Something just exploded at the US Embassy in Beijing, China just a few min ago. Smoke everywhere," wrote Jimmy Zhong on Twitter.

Other videos showed a police cordon set up some distance from the embassy, surrounding a white car, with objects seen strewn on the ground and smoke still lingering in the air.Athens has been hit by flash flooding following torrential rain as the region reels from the impact of a devastating wildfire that has killed at least 82 people.

The Greek capitals fire department received 140 calls for help and to pump water from flooded homes and businesses after floodwater swept away dozens of cars on Thursday.

Fire crews headed to a car park in the suburb of Maroussi to ensure there were no people trapped in cars that were bobbing in a muddy lake that was suddenly created.

Authorities urged drivers to avoid the area and shut down a side road off the main highway leading north out of Athens.

Rescuers are still searching for survivors in areas around Athens after deadly wildfires destroyed a small town and injured 180 people in addition to those killed.

The fire broke out on Monday at 4.57pm. and spread rapidly through Mati, which is fewer than 17 miles east of Athens and was popular with local tourists.

Firefighters described a rapid change in the direction of the wind, which also picked up speed, and some suggested the thick covering of pine trees and a mood of panic was a deadly combination that would have been hard to combat.

The main factor was the wind, its speed and its direction. It should have been looked at earlier, said World Wildlife Fund Greece director, Dimitris Karavellas.

These people should have been ordered out of this area ... This is the only thing that could have saved them.

Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens Show all 30 1 /30 Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens A house threatened by a huge blaze during a wildfire in Kineta AFP/Getty Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens A woman reacts as she tries to find her dog Reuters Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens A helicopter flies over a wildfire raging in the town of Rafina, near Athens REUTERS Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens An aerial view shows burnt houses following a wildfire in the village of Mati AFP/Getty Images Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens Firefighters, soldiers and local residents carry a hose as a wildfire burns in the town of Rafina REUTERS Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens A man walks on the beach where burned trees hug the coastline in Mati east of Athens AP Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens People bring supplies for residents rescued from the wildfire in the village of Nea Makri AP Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens Flames rise as a wildfire burns in the town of Rafina AFP/Getty Images Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens Firefighters carry a dead person AFP/Getty Images Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras speaks to the media during his visit to the fire brigade's operational center in Athens EPA Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens An aerial view of a burnt urban area following fire in Kineta Hellenic Ministry of Defence/AFP/Getty Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens Reuters Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens Residents react as they look at their burned house EPA Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens Rescuers and volunteers push an inflatable boat as locals are evacuated REUTERS Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens An aerial view of an urban area burnt following fire in Mati Hellenic Ministry of Defence/AFP/Getty Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens AP Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens Asimina Psalti, 87, reacts as she sits outside her burned house in Mati east of Athens AP Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens A burnt forest following a wildfire in the village of Neos Voutzas AFP/Getty Images Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens People cover their faces from the smoke that fills the sky near Kineta AP Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens Smoke rise over an avenue during a forest fire in Neo Voutsa, a northeast suburb of Athens EPA Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens Melted metals from burned cars after a fire in Argyra Akti, Mati EPA Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens Firefighters look for missing persons REUTERS Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens Smoke fills the sky as members of the emergency services block a road near Kineta, west of Athens AP Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens Burnt cars at the village of Mati AFP/Getty Images Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens Cars are blocked at the closed National Road AFP/Getty Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens A woman sprays water outside her house that was damaged in the wildfires near the village of Neos Voutzas AP Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens Smoke from a wildfire burning outside Athens is seen over the Parthenon temple atop the Acropolis hill REUTERS Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens An aerial view shows burnt houses following a wildfire in the village of Mati AFP/Getty Images Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens Flames are seen next to firefighting vehicle during a forest fire in Neo Voutsa EPA Greece wildfire: deadly blaze rages across holiday resorts near Athens People look inside a burnt car REUTERS

Desperate relatives appeared on television to plead for information on those missing, while other residents of Mati asked why authorities had been unable to prevent so many of their neighbours from getting trapped by a wall of flame in streets with no exit route.

This shouldnt have happened, people perished for no reason, a tearful woman shouted at defence minister, Panos Kammenos, as he visited the town and nearby fire-ravaged areas. You left us at Gods mercy!

With the toll from Greeces deadliest wildfire in decades expected to rise further, about 300 firefighters and volunteers combed the area for dozens still missing.

The cause of the fire is still unclear, and is being investigated by an Athens prosecutor who is also reviewing the way it was handled.

One theory being examined is that the blaze was started deliberately in three locations at the same time.Q. Why has there been an upsurge in violence?

At the heart of the latest escalation is 16 weeks of Palestinian protests that have taken place at the border fence between Gaza and Israel.

Since 30 March, hundreds of thousands of Gazans have marched each week on the heavily fortified border demanding the right to return to lands they fled and were forced from after the 1948 war, which resulted in the formation of Israel.

Palestinians, who have suffered for over a decade under a crippling blockade, have said they are peacefully demonstrating during the Great March of Return marches, which is their right. But Israel has accused Hamas, the proscribed militant group that runs the enclave, of encouraging protesters to be violent towards their soldiers, to cut the border fence and to launch raids inside Israel.

The Israeli military has responded with live fire, leaving more than 140 Palestinians dead, and many more with life changing injuries, in moves described by the UN General Assembly as "excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate.

A kite flies over the border in an area where kites and balloons have caused blazes, between Israel and Gaza (Reuters)

At the same time, protesters say, in frustration, they have taken to launching burning kites and balloons laden with incendiary devices across the border, setting alight to over 2,600 hectares of Israeli farmland and causing hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage.

The Israeli army, that said its citizens near to Gaza are in danger, subsequently tightened an 11-year-old blockade on the strip, closing Kerem Shalom, the sole goods crossing between Israel and Gaza, and strangling Gazas fishing zones to just three nautical miles, a third of what it was before the protests. Israel said earlier this week that it would allow fuel and gas to be transferred via Kerem Shalom, and widen the fishing lanes, partially lifting the restrictions, should a shaky ceasefire hold.

Neither side to date will back down, saying their respective responses are fair and legitimate. This has created a cycle of violence that has reached boiling in the last week, with warnings from the UN that a war could break out.

Q. Why is the UN fearful there could be another war?

On Friday, 20 July, Israeli Staff Sergeant Aviv Levi, 21, was killed by what the Israeli army called a violent raid during the protests. It marked the first time an Israeli soldier was killed by Palestinian gunfire near Gaza since the last war in 2014 and so crossed a definitive red line. Israel said that gunmen had shot at and lobbed grenades at its soldiers. It responded by bombarding Gaza with tank and air fire, and said its forces struck 60 military sites run by Hamas.

Four Palestinians were killed that day. Palestinian health officials said that at least one was a civilian. Earlier in the month, there was the most intense exchange of fire between Gaza militants and Israel since the 2014 war - largely due to the border protests.

Egypt has intervened several times enforcing ceasefires which keep being broken.

Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures Show all 37 1 /37 Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures Palestinian mourners carry the dead body of Mukhtar Ebu Hamas, 25, killed by Israeli forces in Gaza on 14 May Getty Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures A Palestinian woman flashes a victory sign during a protest near the border fence AFP/Getty Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures Israeli soldiers guard on top of a watch tower along the Israel-Gaza border AP Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures Palestinian demonstrators react to fired tear gas Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures Palestinian demonstrators run for cover Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures US President's daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Senior White House Advisor Jared Kushner arrive for the controversial inauguration of the US embassy in Jerusalem. The United States moved its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem after months of global outcry, Palestinian anger and exuberant praise from Israelis over President Donald Trump's decision tossing aside decades of precedent. AFP/Getty Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures Palestinians carry a demonstrator injured during clashes AFP/Getty Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman speaks during the dedication ceremony of the new US embassy in Jerusalem Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures A Palestinian man walks in the smoke billowing from burning tyres AFP/Getty Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waves as he arrives ahead of the dedication ceremony of the new US embassy in Jerusalem. Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures Palestinian protesters lying on the floor during clashes Rex Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures Palestinian protesters burn tires AP Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his wife Sara, Senior White House Advisor Jared Kushner, US President's daughter Ivanka Trump, US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and US ambassador to Israel David Friedman attend the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem. AFP/Getty Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures A Palestinian man assists a wounded protestor AFP/Getty Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures A Palestinian man holding his national flag walks in the smoke billowing from burning tyres AFP/Getty Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Ivanka Trump unveil an inauguration plaque during the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem AFP/Getty Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures Palestinians carry a protester injured AFP/Getty Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures Ivanka Trump and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin stand next to the dedication plaque at the US embassy in Jerusalem Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures A Palestinian demonstrator uses a sling to hurl stones at Israeli troops during a protest against U.S. embassy Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures A female Palestinian demonstrator stands amidst smoke Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures Ivanka Trump attends the opening ceremony of the new US embassy in Jerusalem AP Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures Palestinian medics and protesters evacuate a wounded protester AP Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures An Israeli soldier aims his weapon at Palestinian demonstrators Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures Gazans carry an injured protestor Rex Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures Protestors gather to demonstrate Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures An Israeli soldier fires tear gas at demonstrators Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures A Palestinian demonstrator poses with a slingshot Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures Protestors carry tires Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures A demonstrator kicks a burning tire Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures Palestinians congregate prior to their demonstration against the US moving their embassy to Jerusalem Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures Female Palestinian demonstrators react to tear gas fired by Israeli troops Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures A Palestinian demonstrator reacts Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures A Palestinian man throws leaflets dropped by the Israeli military during a protest against the US embassy move to Jerusalem and ahead of the 70th anniversary of Nakba, at the Israel-Gaza border, east of Gaza City Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures A boy holds a Palestinian flag as he stands amidst smoke Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures A Palestinian demonstrator tries to put out a fire caused by objects dropped from Israeli drones during a protest against the US embassy move to Jerusalem and ahead of the 70th anniversary of Nakba, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip Reuters Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures A Palestinian demonstrator with a slingshot REUTERS Gazans protest as US embassy moves to Jerusalem  in pictures Protesters look up at falling tear gas cannisters dropped by an Israeli drone AFP/Getty

But after the severity of the activity at the borders, and the number of truces that have been violated, Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, warned that they were on the brink of a devastating conflict. He said it was imperative both Israelis and Palestinians abide by the ceasefire.

On Monday, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the UNs human rights chief, called for an investigation into Israels actions at the border calling the most recent killings shocking. He said it was also vital to address the root causes of the Gaza demonstrations which would continue, as living conditions under Israels blockade are grossly inadequate.

Q. Who is responsible?

Inevitably, both sides blame each other.

Palestinians in Gaza, including the armed factions, say the Israeli security forces have used live ammunition against peaceful protesters, and launched devastating airstrikes on the strip, killing dozens of people. They said that Israel has also exacerbated a humanitarian and economic crisis within the enclave by adding the new restrictions.

Israel maintains Hamas, that it regards as a terrorist group, has incited violence and endangered the lives of Israelis near the border. It says the fires caused by the burning kites have caused significant damage to farm land.

Q. Who are the protagonists?

The main protagonists are Israel and its army, and the myriad armed factions within Gaza, that answer to a central operations room that is ostensibly led by the militant arm of Hamas  called the Qassem Brigades. Within that are vastly different factions, with anything ranging from small far-left Marxist armed groups like the National Resistance Brigades to Islamic jihads al-Quds Brigade.

Q. What is at stake?

For this region, everything. In the last war more than 2,200 Palestinians, and 73 Israelis, were killed. Gaza took several years to recover and still has not been fully rebuilt. More fundamentally is the moribund Middle East peace process, which is arguably dragging into its eighth decade. A new devastating war would only put another nail in its coffin.

Q. Why has a ceasefire been agreed?

Egypt, that has long held a position as mediator in the Israel-Palestine conflict, has reportedly intervened multiple times in the past few weeks to broker a ceasefire. Last week Hamas said it once again stepped in and brokered a truce but it keeps being broken. Most recently on Wednesday, Israel fired a barrage of tank and artillery shells at what it identified as military targets within Gaza, after one of its soldiers was injured during an earlier cross-border exchange of fire. Three Palestinians were killed during the tank fire, Hamas confirmed the dead were members of its group.

Q. What is going to happen now?

Both sides of the conflict, as well as civilians, have repeatedly expressed an interest in stopping the current escalation from tumbling into a full-blown war. Further deaths will only worsen the situation.

Q. But if neither side wants war why does the violence continue?

Hamas is in a tricky position. Gaza is experiencing one of the most severe economic crises in its recent history. There are many reasons, including the Israeli blockade, new sanctions from the Palestinian Authority which is dominated by Hamas secular political rival Fatah and a massive shortfall in International aid funding.

In a bid to force Hamas to relinquish power over Gaza, last April the PA ordered early retirement for nearly a third of its 60,000 Gaza employees as well as restrictions on electricity access to Gaza. In May it slashed salaries to its civil servants in the enclave by at least 20 percent, piling on more pressure.

Cash-strapped Hamas, that once relied on taxing goods smuggled through tunnels to Egypt, has also been unable to pay its own 40,000 employees in full.

 Gaza militant groups prepare for war amid tough new sanctions from Israel

Meanwhile the United Nations refugee agency UNRWA said it is suffering from an unprecedented 164 million funding shortfall, after the US said it was slashing more than 80 percent of its funding to the agency. This has only exacerbated the problems. This week UNRWA announced it was getting rid of 250 jobs in the Palestinian Territories, including more than 100 in Gaza.

The 1.8 million residents of Gaza, who are already suffering from one of the highest jobless rates in the world, cannot sustain further devastation and many are increasingly frustrated with their own leaders.

Members of Hamass Palestinian political rivals in Gaza have told The Independent that Hamas wants the focus of Gazans' anger to be directed towards Israel, which it regards as an occupier, rather than at local government and themselves. And therefore, the protests at the border cannot stop.

Israel, meanwhile, is facing a potential war at its northern border as well as its frontier with Gaza. Over the last months, Israel has been increasingly concerned by Irans attempts to build permanent military infrastructure near Israel in Syria, where Tehran is backing Syrian President Assad and the rebels. Iran and its allied forces have fired into Israel.

Members of the Israeli army and government have told The Independent they have no interest in fighting a war on two fronts. But at the same time Israel is facing pressure from its own people to stop the burning kites and violence at the border.

It all depends on whether the Egyptian-brokered truces can hold.A leading Israeli newspaper has fired one of its veteran cartoonists after a drawing critical of the countrys new nation state law was slammed as antisemitic for depicting politicians as pigs.

The Jerusalem Post dismissed Avi Katz on Wednesday for his illustration portraying prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other members of the Likud party as pigs in clothes along with the caption, All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others  a quotation from George Orwells authoritarian satire Animal Farm.

Speaking to The Independent, Katz said he thought his firing was "idiotic."

"I thought my cartoon was relatively mild, and that firing me over it was idiotic."

The illustration immediately inflamed opinion on social media, where users pointed out that pigs are considered unclean in Judaism.

In six months, the issue depicted will be forgotten, but this cartoon will be the new Shylock cartoon. It will give permission for hatred of orthodox, of fat, of men, of Jews in general, one Facebook commenter said.

The law sucks but the cartoon is also permanent, uncontainable.

The picture parodied a photograph of Mr Netanyahu and fellow Knesset members taken as they took a selfie after the nation state bill passed last week.

Knesset member Oren Hazan takes a selfie with Israels prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, centre, and MP David Bitan, right of Netanyahu, after a Knesset session passed the contentious nation state bill on 19 July 2018

The new legislation, designed to strengthen Israels identity as the national home of the Jewish people, has been condemned as discriminatory towards the countrys Arab minority.

Among other measures, it downgrades Arabic from being an official language and encourages settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, and has been met with fierce protests.

The cartoon was published on Tuesday in the Jerusalem Report, a biweekly magazine supplement of the Jerusalem Post. Katz also posted his work to his personal Facebook page, describing the new law as shameful.

 Israeli parliament adopts contentious new law defining itself as Jewish nation

Following vocal criticism, the Jerusalem Post released a statement on Wednesday announcing that in accordance with editorial considerations, it was decided not to continue the relationship with the cartoonist.

Katz has worked for the company since 1990.

In a statement, the Union of Journalists in Israel voiced its support for the cartoonist.

Causing harm to a journalist because he expressed an opinion, let alone when it was approved by his editors, is a dangerous step that must not be accepted. We call on Katzs editors to retract this unacceptable step, it read.

"Im excited to see the enormous amount of support Ive seen over the last couple of days," Katz told The Independent.

A crowdfunding page set up by the Animix animation and comics festival to help Katz has already raised 80 per cent of its 80,000 shekel (16,600) goal.

A statement from the events organisers said that while they found the cartoon shocking, they believed freedom of speech in Israel must be upheld.Holidaymakers are gradually returning to Egypt after a seven-year slump that began with 2011s revolution, its subsequent political unrest and the bombing of a Russian aeroplane in 2015 that led to the death of 200 tourists.

However, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have warned travellers to the country that they may face difficulties for criticising the government, adding that comments on social media could result in a prison sentence.

So, before jetting off to the gift of the Nile, here are some things to consider.

Dress appropriately

Egypt is an Islamic country and modest dress is expected, particularly in rural areas, mosques, souqs (markets) and during the holy month of Ramadan. Womens clothes should cover the legs and upper arms and men should keep their chests covered.

Recommended Why you should consider Egypt for your next holiday

Chill on the PDA front

Public displays of affection are frowned upon, so save any amour time for the privacy of your hotel room. While things may be more relaxed in tourist resorts, its good to be mindful of local customs and traditions.

Keep political proclamations to a minimum

Publicising strongly negative opinions about Egypt or making political comments, including about the President or security forces, can cause trouble with the authorities. In some cases, derogatory comments on social media have led to custodial sentences.

Save the boozing for the bar

Drinking alcohol in the street and anywhere other than a licensed restaurant or bar is not allowed and can lead to arrest.

LGBT? Be careful who you tell

Although same-sex sexual activity is not explicitly criminalised in Egypt, the charge of debauchery has been used to prosecute LGBT people. The flying of a rainbow flag at a concert in September 2017 led to the arrest of at least 66 individuals on debauchery charges. There is little public acceptance of LGBT identities in Egypt. Public expressions and/or public displays of affection between same-sex couples are likely to attract a high degree of unwelcome attention.

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Just say no

The possession, use or trafficking in illegal drugs is a serious offence and can, even for small amounts, lead to lengthy prison sentences (25 years), life imprisonment or the death penalty. Those sentenced to life imprisonment on drugs charges will normally spend the rest of their life in prison with no possibility of parole or pardon. Khat is illegal in Egypt.

Think before you snap

Photography of, or near, military official installations is strictly prohibited - this includes the Suez Canal. Dont photograph officials without their consent. There are sensitivities about taking photographs of public buildings or infrastructure. British nationals have been arrested for photographing electricity stations, train stations and bridges. If youre adamant about capturing the perfect shot for the gram, seek permission first.

Leave the drone at home

It goes without saying that radio controlled helicopters or drones should not be used  the import of drones is banned, unless you have prior authorisation from the Egyptian Ministry of Defence. Those discovered using, manufacturing or importing drones without the appropriate authorisation face a prison term ranging from one to seven years and/or a fine ranging from will be punished by prison terms ranging from one to 7 years and/or fines of up to 2,000.If you have been on a Ryanair flight in the past decade, you will know that cabin crew sell scratch cards which offer 1m (890,000) as the top prize. These in-flight flutters comprise valuable ancillary revenue for both the airline and the staff who sell them. But its difficult to think of a bet with less favourable odds.

There is no Ryanair card that, when scratched, reveals a million-euro prize. Instead, a fortunate few qualify for the opportunity to attend an event where the idea is to select an envelope from 125 on offer. One contains that 1m prize, while the remaining 124 offer only one-twentieth as much: 50,000.

So, to become a euro millionaire courtesy of Ryanair, you have to be extremely lucky, twice.

More than 100,000 passengers this week have lost out in a different kind of Ryanair raffle. On Wednesday and Thursday this week, the airline cancelled 600 flights  about one in eight of its total schedule  because of a strike by cabin crew in Spain, Portugal and Belgium.

The unlucky travellers were those whose flights were pre-selected for cancellation, and given a weeks notice to sort out alternatives.

They may yet turn out to be winners. In an unprecedented move, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is urging everyone whose flight was cancelled to claim compensation under European air passengers rights rules. Either 250 or 400 (depending on the length of the journey) awaits, says the CAA; just ask.

Or dont bother, because the airline is rejecting all claims. As these flight cancellations were caused by extraordinary circumstances, no compensation is due, says Ryanair.

The union is acting unreasonably and totally beyond the airlines control.

You might take the view that any airline can avoid a strike simply by meeting the unions demands, and so surely it is responsible for the cancellations and should compensate passengers accordingly?

The courts have failed to agree, except for a case involving a wildcat strike in Germany, where TUI was told to pay compensation. Odd, I agree, that an unofficial strike should be regarded as within an airlines control, but not an official stoppage.

Yet, its a fair bet (fairer than the scratch-card odds, at any rate) that either a cheesed-off passenger who happens to be a lawyer or a claims-handling firm scenting a gold rush will seek a definitive court ruling on the present sequence of Ryanair strikes.

I calculate that if everyone whose flights were cancelled this week successfully claimed, Ryanair would have to pay out around 30m. (And if judges rule against the Irish airline, then British Airways and Air France are in for an expensive time too, due to the cabin-crew dispute at BA last year and frequent flight crew and ground staff stoppages at the French airline through the spring.)

For an airline that makes an average of 100,000 per hour in profits, year round, the potential compensation is small change. Ryanairs bosses are instead focused on what they see as an existential battle for the airlines ultra-low-cost model. And they are behaving in a manner completely at odds with every other carrier involved in industrial disputes.

The typical airline union spat goes like this. Pilots or cabin crew or engineers say: Were not happy, and were going to ballot for a strike.

The workforce duly votes for industrial action, which strengthens the unions hand, and also scares off a number of prospective passengers who book with rivals: even a whisper of a strike sends high-spending business travellers scuttling for other airlines.

At that point, very often, an agreement is reached and they all live happily ever after, or at least until next summer. At worst, if there is a strike, both sides swiftly negotiate a compromise from which they can both claim victory and save face.

But Ryanairs attitude shows it is in no mood to settle: We are not prepared to concede to unreasonable demands that will compromise either our low fares or our highly efficient model.

Rather than talking down the summer of discontent, it has warned passengers to expect further strikes over the peak summer period.

The strikers that Ryanair has chosen to take on for a showdown are from its own back yard: the pilots employed by the airline in Ireland. In a dispute about seniority and base transfers, they have stopped work for three days so far this month. On each occasion a couple of dozen UK-Dublin flights have been cancelled.

The pan-European campaign by cabin crew in pursuit of better pay and conditions has led to far more flights being grounded. But Ryanair appears to believe that making an example of Irish pilots will be more effective pour encourager les autres  and to to deter others from striking.

The airline has thrown down the gauntlet by announcing that six Dublin-based aircraft will be moved to Poland in the winter, leaving 100 pilots and 200 cabin crew facing redundancy.

The Irish Airline Pilots Association promptly picked it up. Within three hours of Ryanairs Dublin downsize announcement, the union called for another strike next Friday 3 August.

Ryanair duly cancelled 20 flights between the UK and the Irish capital, and said: We have told the union there will be no more meetings while they hold strikes. If they want to meet after next weeks strike, we will do so here at our office, but not if more strikes are called.

The pilots are now playing Ryanair roulette. This gamble is less lethal than the Russian variety. But at least with a pistol loaded with a single bullet the odds are five to one against losing. Ryanair roulette has far shorter odds. The airline is determined to avoid staff being seen to have gained from striking.

Meanwhile, we passengers with boarding passes (or raffle tickets?) on Ryanair face uncertainty about whether our trips will go ahead as planned. I have four future flights booked with the airline, and I calculate the odds of any of them being cancelled by strikes at around 125 to one.

I promise to buy a scratch card on board; not because I yearn to qualify for a one in 125 chance of choosing a million-euro envelope, but to give Ryanairs hard-working, always-professional cabin crew a bit of a boost. In this tempestuous summer, they need all the help they can get.In the first referendum, I voted Remain. If I were given the choice again, I would do the same. Seventy-one per cent of my peers (voters aged 18-24) voted to stay in the EU and that same 71 per cent were likely sorely disappointed when we saw the results the next morning in late June of 2016.

Two years later, that same majority of my peers, continues to be disappointed whenever we see any news coverage of Brexit. Earlier this month, for example, we had the high-profile resignations of both the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, and Brexit secretary, David Davis.

How are we, the people, supposed to have any faith in Brexit if the politicians who were staunchly in favour of it have now abandoned the cause? Furthermore, how are we supposed to have any faith in Brexit when Vote Leave unabashedly lied to the public throughout their campaign?

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

Now, Im not an economist. Nor am I a politician. What I am is a triple honours languages student who is fully aware of what Brexit may mean for my job prospects. What I am is a child of two immigrant parents who is fully aware of what Brexit may mean for cultural diversity in the UK. But ultimately, what I am, is angry.

In 2016, I couldnt articulate why I voted Remain. I didnt feel qualified enough to argue the economic policies; I wasnt knowledgable enough to argue the politics behind my decision. In some respects, that hasnt changed. What has changed, is that because of our impending exit from the EU, very real consequences have begun to manifest themselves.

Next year, for example, Im going to Toulouse with Erasmus Plus. My university has stated, however, that 2018/19 and 2019/20 may be the final years in which the programme will function as normal. Erasmus Plus has stated that they note the government position is that UK participation in some EU programmes promoting science, education and culture may continue, but realistically, that offers no concrete information.

 John Major it is the least well off who will suffer most post brexit

What does this mean for the students in the years below me? Will they, unable to do the exchange, have to pay exorbitant international student fees instead? Will programmes like these be restricted to wealthy students in the future? And, if you decide to pursue a languages degree without living or studying abroad, does your employability then take a nosedive? According to a study by Hostelworld, more than 80 per cent of employers say that travelling makes job candidates more employable.

With over 70 per cent of students last year graduating with a 2:1 or above, employers are now forced to look at more than just academic achievements. But with free travel stopping after Brexit, how many of us will be able to boost our CVs in this way? As economic forecasts, studies and politicians themselves have outlined, a post-Brexit Britain will inevitably hit the job market, and to be honest, Im not looking forward to joining the quest for employment when that happens.

My identity as a British woman of colour also raises a whole new set of Brexit-related issues. Seventy-three per cent of black Britons voted Remain, as did 67 per cent of British Asians; we foresaw the negative effect Brexit would have on BAME people.

And if we consider graduate employment in the context of race, the consequences are a lot more severe. The unemployment rate for white graduates is 2.3 per cent, while for BAME graduates its 5.9 per cent  a figure that will undoubtedly rise in post-Brexit years.

There has also been a link between Brexit and an increase in hate crimes, most of which were racially motivated. In the month after the referendum, there were 6,000 reported incidents. By the six-month mark, more than a third of BAME people had witnessed or experienced racial abuse. Hate crimes rose by 25 per cent in Norfolk, my home county, by 60 per cent in Kent, and by 100 per cent in Dorset. Besides the fact that this is a shocking display of racial intolerance, Brexit has effectively undermined any acceptance of multiculturalism the UK once encouraged, and has instead bred toxic rhetoric of hatred and xenophobia.

The truth is, people have finally realised that neither a hard nor a soft Brexit will benefit us in the slightest. People younger than me who couldnt vote two years ago are now eligible and want to have a say in the future of our country. After years of barely scratching the surface in terms of securing a remotely acceptable deal for the UK, this time, we could have the chance to do things right.Any wise government has to plan for outcomes it would not have chosen to happen. And so it is with Brexit. The health minister Matt Hancock has revealed that the NHS is stockpiling medicines and blood supplies in the case of disruption should there be no agreement over the terms under which the UK leaves the EU next year. Companies have started or will soon start similar planning to protect their supply lines in the event of customs holdups at the airports or the ports. Financial institutions have started to move staff and open offices in Europe to continue to service their customers, while some European businesses have opened units in the UK.

All this is prudent. However, the scale of the potential disruption should focus the minds of the UK negotiating team that a deal with Europe is vastly preferable to no deal. Not having a deal would be damaging to Europe, more damaging perhaps in the long term than the EU team in Brussels appreciates. But in the short term at least, the hit to the UK would be greater.

There are many reasons to want a deal with Europe. Avoidance of disruption is just the obvious starting point. Whatever happens the UK economy will remain closely bound up with that of the continent as, for example, that of Switzerland is integrated now.

That will mean that the UK will have to comply with EU standards to export goods there, just as it has to comply with US product standards to export there. To see that as somehow being subservient to Europe is absurd.

Longer term, continental Europe will remain a major market for UK goods and services, even without a deal. Indeed, were the negotiations to break down, it is overwhelmingly likely that they would be restarted very swiftly. It would be in the self-interest of both sides to do so.

There are many reasons, too, to welcome the streamlining of the UK negotiating team. For a start whatever deal is or is not reached, it will be for the prime minister of the day to sell the outcome to the British people. Bringing the core negotiators into No 10 makes practical sense.

It also makes clear that the arrangements with the EU must be acceptable to the 48 per cent of the country that voted Remain as well as the 52 per cent who voted Leave. The task of politicians is to reconcile divergent opinions  to consolidate the core, not to inflame the fringes.

It is the nature of EU negotiations that there will be a last-minute scramble, a night of high drama, the clock being stopped, as they say. We have seen this many times. Because of the way these things happen there is an extreme danger of miscalculation by either side  of no deal, or of a deal that will come unstuck in the months ahead. This danger makes it all the more important that UK voters should be given the opportunity, in the cold light of day, to approve or disapprove of what the government has done on their behalf.

To plan for no deal is prudent. The government is wise to do that. But ultimately it is not the governments decision. It is for the people to decide.

The Independent has launched a campaign for a Final Say referendum hereWill it be the Last Battle? For three years, Idlib has been the dumping ground for all of Syrias retreating Islamist militias, the final redoubt of every combatant who has chosen to fight on, rather than surrender to the Syrian army and the Russian air force  and to Hezbollah and, to a far smaller degree, the Iranians.

Brigadier general Suheil al-Hassan, the Tiger of Syrian military legend and myth  who can quote the poet Mutanabi by heart but prefers to be compared to Erwin Rommel rather than Bernard Montgomery  will surely take his Tiger Forces with him for the final reckoning between the Damascus regime and the Salafist-inspired and western-armed Islamists who dared to try, and very definitely failed, to destroy Bashar al-Assads rule.

Thanks to Donald Trump, its all over for the rebels of Syria because they have been betrayed by the Americans  surely and finally by Trump himself in those secret discussions with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, perhaps the most important of the unknowns of that translators-only chat  as they have by the Gulf Arabs.

Three weeks earlier, the Americans had told the rebels of southwestern Syria below the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights that they were on their own, and could expect no more military assistance. Even the White Helmets, the first-responder heroes or propagandists of the rebel war (take your pick, but be sure they will soon be described as controversial) have been rescued with their families from the rebel lines by the Israelis and dispatched to safety in Jordan.

The Israelis are a bit miffed that they werent thanked by the White Helmets civil defence units for their humanitarian assistance  but what do they expect when they spent their time attacking Iranian, Hezbollah and Syrian forces during the war, supplying medical aid to the Nusrah Islamist fighters who came to their lines and never  ever  bombed Isis? Do the White Helmets want to be associated with Israel right now?

But the Israelis got what they really wanted: a Russian promise that the Iranians will stay far away from the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan plateau. Its all a bit odd, since there are precious few Iranian troops in Syria  and you can forget the humbug from the Washington experts  but it fits in with Benjamin Netanyahus morbid and theatrical conviction that Iran is a noose of terror round Israels neck. In any event, Putin knows a thing or two about the Syrian war: bombs talk, but so does cash.

 This is why the White Helmets should win the Nobel Peace Prize

For why else has Putin just announced a $50bn (38bn) dollar Russian investment in Irans oil and gas industry? Isnt this simply a downpayment for Irans past investment in Syrias war? A thank you but you can go now gift from Moscow in return for a, no doubt, triumphal march-past in Tehran of Irans returning victorious forces, back from their Islamic revolutionary duties in Syria?

After meeting Putin in the Kremlin less than two weeks ago, Ali Akbar Velayati, Supreme Leader Khameneis senior adviser on foreign affairs, agreed that their talks focused on Russian-Iranian cooperation  as well as the situation in the region, including developments in Syria. And there you have it. Irans economy is propped up, but its got its Syrian marching orders from Putin.

None too soon for the Iranians, no doubt. It was quite a shock for me to see the rich and wealthier middle class Iranians flooding into Belgrade this past month, bringing their cash and treasures to the west through one of the few European countries still permitting visa-free entry for the sanctioned Iranians. Cheap flights from Tehran and other Iranian cities are landing daily in Serbia, and Belgrades hotels are packed with Farsi-speaking guests, all set  presumably  for new lives in the west. The European Union, needless to say, is threatening the Belgrade president that if he doesnt block the profitable Iranian tourists, it will end the no-visa travel which Serbian citizens enjoy in the rest of Europe.

Meanwhile the Syrian army, fighting the last no-surrender Islamist groups around Deraa, will also return to the edge of the United Nations buffer zone on Golan where it was based before the civil war began in 2011. In other words, the Southern Front will be resolved, leaving only the Idlib Redoubt and the city of Raqqa which remains in the hands of militias who are still loyal  if they can be expected to be much longer, given the fact that Trump is ratting on them  to the US. Putin can probably solve this problem, if he hasnt already done so in his Trump pow-wow.

But Idlib is a bigger deal. No doubt, we shall see further Russian-sponsored reconciliation talks between the Syrian authorities and the rebel groups inside the province. There will be agreements, private and public, whereby those who wish to return to government-controlled territory may do so. But given the fact that Idlib contains those Islamists and their families who earlier rejected such offers in other cities  many of them were bussed from Ghouta and Yarmouk in Damascus and from Homs and other towns where they surrendered, directly to Idlib province  their future looks pretty bleak.

We all like wars to have a final battle, of course. Jerusalem and Baghdad  strangely enough  were the only enemy capital cities invaded by the Allies during the First World War. And we know that the fall of Berlin to the Russians ended the European bit of the Second World War. Well leave out the fall of Saigon for obvious reasons (the wrong side won), and the various Middle East capital conquests (Jerusalem in 1967, Beirut in 1982, Kuwait in 1990, Baghdad in 2003), because they all left bloody legacies which continue to this day.

But we should remember one thing. The Syrian army is used to pitch battles. So is the Russian air force. Certainly, Nusrahs siege of the government-held Jisr al-Shugour military hospital in Idlib  and the massacre of many of its army defenders and their families three years ago  is unlikely to be forgotten when the last battle begins. Moscow is not going to welcome any Islamists home to Chechnya. And Ankara will not want to scatter Idlibs veterans across the plains of Anatolia  especially when Erdogan is still obsessed with an attempted Islamist coup two years ago, tens of thousands of whose alleged supporters still languish in Turkeys luxurious prisons.

The White Helmets assist in Douma, Syria Show all 14 1 /14 The White Helmets assist in Douma, Syria The White Helmets assist in Douma, Syria Douma, the largest town in the Eastern Ghouta area with more than 100,000 residents, is surrounded and regularly shelled by regime forces EPA The White Helmets assist in Douma, Syria EPA The White Helmets assist in Douma, Syria EPA The White Helmets assist in Douma, Syria Getty The White Helmets assist in Douma, Syria A Syrian man searches for victims as fire spreads following a reported government airstrike on the rebel-held town of Douma, on the eastern outskirts of the capital Damascus Getty The White Helmets assist in Douma, Syria Members of the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, extinguish fire following a reported government airstrike on the rebel-held town of Douma Getty The White Helmets assist in Douma, Syria Members of the Syrian Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, extinguish a fire following a reported government airstrike on the rebel-held town of Douma, on the eastern outskirts of the capital Damascus Getty The White Helmets assist in Douma, Syria Syrians run for cover following a reported government airstrike on the rebel-held town of Douma, on the eastern outskirts of the capital Damascus Getty The White Helmets assist in Douma, Syria Getty The White Helmets assist in Douma, Syria Getty The White Helmets assist in Douma, Syria Getty The White Helmets assist in Douma, Syria Getty The White Helmets assist in Douma, Syria An injured Syrian man receives treatment at a makeshift hospital following a reported government airstrike on the rebel-held town of Douma Getty The White Helmets assist in Douma, Syria EPA

The west is certainly not going to help. Theres the old UN donkey, I suppose, which could be led into Idlib on a temporary peace-keeping mission  but that will not commend itself to a Syrian president who intends to return every square kilometre of the country to the regimes exclusive control. An even tinier dumping ground might be available if the rebels of Idlib are shunted into the northern enclave of Afrin  already largely controlled and populated by Turkeys erstwhile friends from Isis. Certainly, the west wont want the detritus of the Islamist army which it helped to arm. Political asylum for the White Helmets is likely to be the full extent of its generosity, along with the usual aid to refugees.

But we must also remember that those nations which have so long sought the overthrow of Assad will now be trying  ever so slowly  to reestablish some form of relationship with the regime in Damascus. French diplomats, speak it not, have been taking tourist trips in and out of Syria from Lebanon for almost a year. So have discrete envoys from other European nations. The Americans will want to play their own little role  Trump-like and weird as it may be  and there, at this critical moment, Putin will be on hand.

But what of the five million Syrian refugees whose host countries  European, of course, but also Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Egypt  would dearly love them to go home. And therein lies, perhaps, the clue to this end of war.

The Russians are ready to supply guarantees of safe passage home to refugees  what these promises are worth remains an open question when many thousands of the homeless are fearful of the regime  and Moscows men are reported to have already arrived in Lebanon, which hosts up to a million and a half Syrians, to chat about the logistics. Gulf Arabs  particularly Qatar  are said to be interested in financially rebuilding Syria. So if they wont surrender militarily, can the Idlib rebels be bought off? Not least by the Arab nations which supported them in the first place. These are early days. But all wars come to an end. And thats where history restarts.An Bord Pleanala has granted permission under the Government's temporary fast-track planning system for 828 new homes and hundreds of student bed spaces to be developed across three schemes in Kildare and Dublin.

The largest of the projects will see publicly-listed builder Cairn Homes deliver 320 houses, 142 apartments and 483 student bed spaces on lands it owns at Mariavilla, Moyglare Road and Dunboyne Road, in Maynooth, both in Co Kildare.

In Kildare town, Ballymount Properties has been given the green light by the appeals board to proceed with its plans for the development of 200 houses and 64 apartments on the site of the former Magee Barracks on Hospital Street.

Developer Pat Crean's Crekav Trading GP Ltd, meanwhile, has received approval for the construction of 21 houses and 81 apartments on a site it owns at Church Road and Watson Drive in Killiney in south Co Dublin.

The Strategic Housing Development application system allows developers seeking permission for 100 residential units or more to bypass local authorities and apply directly to An Bord Pleanala instead.

With planning applications for such developments to local authorities typically appealed to An Bord Pleanala, approval can take up to 18 months to secure. The fast-track system sees determinations reduced to a maximum of six months.Google is close to signing a deal with developers Johnny Ronan and Paddy McKillen to acquire the Treasury Building on Dublin's Grand Canal Street for a figure in excess of 115m, the Irish Independent can reveal.

The completion of the transaction was described last night as being "imminent" by a source close to the process. Negotiations in relation to the property's sale have been underway since February of last year.

While agents CBRE had been instructed originally to handle the sale of a 33.33pc stake in the Treasury Building on behalf of Percy Nominees, it is understood Google came forward and expressed its interest in buying the 11,619 sq m (125,066 sq ft) property in its entirety for significantly more than its overall estimated valuation of 100m.

Percy Nominees bought its one-third-stake in the building when it was redeveloped in 1989 by Ambiorix, a company controlled by developer Johnny Ronan; Paddy McKillen's son, Paddy Jr; and Mr McKillen's co-director, Liam Cunningham. Mr Ronan and Mr McKillen's company continues to retain a 66.67pc interest in the Treasury Building and its overall rent roll of 5.482m per annum.

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Google's imminent purchase of the Grand Canal St property comes just two months on from the web giant's completion of its acquisition of the entire Bolands Quay scheme. The sale of the development at a total cost of approximately 300m followed months of negotiations with Nama-appointed receiver Savills Ireland. Google's interest in buying the Bolands Quay project was first revealed by the Irish Independent last November. Upon completion, the development will comprise 36,851 sq m (396,660 sq ft) of office, residential, retail and cultural space, and be capable of accommodating up to 2,500 workers. Google's expected purchase of the Treasury Building represents another major coup for Johnny Ronan's Ronan Group Real Estate (RGRE). News of the deal comes just days after this newspaper reported that Mr Ronan has entered into exclusive talks with US-headquartered tech giant, Salesforce, in relation to leasing all 46,184 sq m (500,000 sq ft) of the office space at RGRE's Spencer Place scheme in the Docklands.

While the 965 employees at Salesforce's EMEA headquarters are currently divided between offices at the Atrium Building and One Central Park in the Sandyford Business District (SBD) in south Dublin, the company's proposed move to the Docklands will give it significant scope to expand its Irish workforce. The offices at Spencer Place will have the capacity to accommodate between 4,000 and 5,000 personnel.

Elsewhere in the capital, Mr Ronan is poised to play a pivotal role in social media giant Facebook's reported plans for a 700,000 sq ft campus, capable of accommodating 5,000 employees on the site of AIB's Bank Centre headquarters in Ballsbridge.

To achieve this, Facebook is said to be looking to secure the 450,000 sq ft AIB occupies currently, as well as 325,000 sq ft of office space being developed by Ronan Group Real Estate at the front of the Bank Centre site.

Last month, Amazon hosted Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at the official opening of its new EMEA headquarters at the 172,000 sq ft Vertium Building, which RGRE developed on Burlington Road in Dublin 4.One of the oldest traditional Irish breeds of livestock, the Droimeann, which has been retrieved from the brink of extinction, is to have a new lease of life on Irish farms.

The revival has been spearheaded by Co Limerick-based organic farmer Tom Keane, who has worked tirelessly over recent years to have the Droimeann re-established as an officially registered breed of livestock in this country.

The breed is believed to date back to around 920 AD, and famed in the song An Droimeann Donn Dilis.

Next month, Tom and his colleagues in the Irish Cattle Society, which was founded two years ago, will receive official recognition of the breed, with permission being granted by the Department of Agriculture and Food to open an Irish herd book.

New Herd Book

Tom says: This is a historic event as the first new herd book of an indigenous breed of cattle to be established in over 90 years.

Our ambition is to build momentum towards our goals of establishing a viable population of the breed and maximising the economic and conservation/potential of the breed.

With no more than 15 herds believed to exist on Irish farms, the society was grant-aided by the Department of Agriculture towards genetic testing and working with ICBF while drafting rules for a new herd book.

The breed is generally black in colour with a white strip along the back but there are some variations to the colour and some are more speckled.

An Droimeann Donn Dilis is believed to have been based on the tale of an Irish farmer brought low by taxation lamenting to having been forced to part with his precious Droimeann cow.

The board of the society is as follows: Matthew English-Hayden (chairman, Rathoe, Co Carlow); Padraig Fuller (secretary, Tralee, Co Kerry); James Casey (treasurer and registrar, Skibbereen, Co Cork); Tom Keane (general manager and registrar, Askeaton, Co Limerick), Shane Daly (Registrar, Killorglin, Co Kerry), Tom Hourigan (Caherconlish, Co Limerick), John OSullivan (Ballymacoda, Co Cork), Sheena OSullivan, (Ballymacoda), Michael Keane (Askeaton), Claudia Marl (Castlepollard, Co Westmeath), Gillian Smith (Carrigaline, Co Cork), Noel Kiernan (Ballymahon, Co. Longford), Tom Linehan (Foynes, Co Limerick), Nathan Moran (Loughrea, Co Galway)Mr Trump is showing no let-up in his war of words with major economies (AP)

US President Donald Trump accused China on Wednesday of targeting American farmers in a vicious way and using them as leverage to get concessions on trade a day after the administration announced a $12 billion farm aid package.

Some farmers and farm-state lawmakers, including Trumps fellow Republicans, ripped the move, saying they would rather trade with no tariffs than receive government help.

China and other top US. trade partners zeroed in on American farmers with retaliatory tariffs after the administration imposed duties on Chinese goods as well as steel and aluminum from the European Union, Canada and Mexico.

Farmers are being targeted since they rely on export markets for agricultural produce and have broadly supported Trump. As the dispute escalates, China and other importers have slapped tariffs on incoming shipments of US soybeans, dairy, meat, produce and liquor.

China is targeting our farmers, who they know I love and respect, as a way of getting me to continue allowing them to take advantage of the US. They are being vicious in what will be their failed attempt. We were being nice - until now! Trump wrote on Twitter.

The administration on Tuesday unveiled the largest emergency farm aid package since 1998, dipping into a Great Depression-era program that will pay up to $12 billion starting in September to help US farmers weather losses.

Rural and agricultural states supported Trump by wide margins in the 2016 election, and the aid package comes ahead of US mid-term elections in November.

Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, a Trump critic, likened it to golden crutches to make up for a trade war that will cost farmers far more.

China is trying to undermine support for Trumps policies among farmers. Last week it launched a short video in English featuring a talking cartoon soybean vouching for the importance of trade.

The United States exported $138 billion in agriculture products in 2017, including $21.5 billion of soybeans which were the most valuable US export. China alone imported $12.3 billion in soybeans last year, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

Republican Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota said on Wednesday that farmers in his state have lost millions of dollars in orders.

Its going to get down to a point where theyre not going to be able to survive if this continues down the same path, Rounds told CNN on Wednesday.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said the impact of lower soy prices and the loss of Chinese buyers would likely cost farmers some $11 billion - an amount that will be covered via direct payments to farmers, government purchases of some products for food assistance programs and trade promotion.

We believe this is a temporary stop in order to get our producers to a point of profitability again by a normal trading relationship, Perdue told reporters on Wednesday, adding that he hoped the impact would ease next year.

Trump on Wednesday met with members of Congress from agricultural states to discuss trade issues. He earned praise from House Agriculture Committee Chairman Mike Conaway of Texas for the aid package and for announcing an agreement with the European Unions chief executive, Jean-Claude Juncker, to work toward eliminating trade barriers.

I thank the president and Sec. Perdue for having our farmers and ranchers backs, Conaway said in a statement.

But Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska urged Trump on Twitter to recognize that trade assistance is no substitute for trade itself.

Meanwhile, farmers inspecting crops in North Dakota said they preferred not to rely on the aid but were optimistic that Trump would find a long-term solution.

Ultimately we want to get our revenue from the markets, said Tom Bernhardt, who farms wheat, corn, sunflowers and soybeans in Linton. But if we have to dig our heels in for a little while to come up with fair trade, rather than free trade, Im sure most producers in this area are willing to go through a little hardship to eventually have a stronger end game.

Dining with the Wheat Quality Councils crop tour at a steak picnic near the state capital of Bismarck, farmer Phil Volk said he was concerned about the longer-term damage from the trade war.

This (the aid package) took a little weight off my shoulders, he said. But is that the real solution? I dont want to lose these markets that weve built.INBS collapsed into State ownership in 2010 and its dissolution left taxpayers with a 5.4bn clean-up bill.

The Central Bank forked out over 3m in legal and administrative costs over a near 18-month period to fund an ongoing inquiry into the now defunct Irish Nationwide Building Society - cementing expectations the final tally will run in to the tens of millions.

Internal invoices seen by the Irish Independent show the regulator handed more than 2.2m to three law firms with Arthur Cox, which is providing document support to the inquiry, taking the lion's share of more than 1.8m.

The bills span almost 18 months from January 2016 to May 2017 before public hearings were fully under way. They reveal payouts totalling 646,650 to seven individual lawyers, including Niamh Hyland SC, who alongside Brian O'Moore, has led the cross-examination of the society's former management team.

INBS collapsed into State ownership in 2010 and its dissolution left taxpayers with a 5.4bn clean-up bill.

So far the CBI's outlay on the inquiry equates to a fraction of that sum. The mounting bills may result in a final outlay of 15-20m according to sources.

However, the regulator has refused to disclose the full cost of its investigation on the grounds that this "has the potential to prejudice the effectiveness of the inquiry".

A spokesperson emphasised "comprehensive details of the costs incurred" will be published once the inquiry has concluded.

While Mr O'Moore's earnings are not included in the leaked invoices, the documents reveal barrister Kelley Smith, a tax specialist who has previously assisted the Revenue Commissioners, received 192,500 over the period. Ms Hyland took home 154,508 and Donogh Hardiman, another member of the inquiry's legal practitioner team collected 102,742.

Grant Thornton Corporate Finance also claimed fees of 150,000 for services provided to the inquiry, with money also provided to Dublin Dispute Resolution Centre, a joint venture between the Bar Council and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, as well as to a stenography firm, helping to bring the total legal and administrative bill for the period to 3.1m.

Costs for the three-member panel conducting the inquiry were not included in the cache, but the CBI has disclosed previously that each is paid 150 an hour, subject to a maximum of 750 per day.

Solicitor Marian Shanley chairs the inquiry and is flanked on the panel by barrister Ciara McGoldrick and Geoffrey McEnery, a former chief executive of Lloyds TSB Bank in Asia.

The documents also detail the CBI's concerns about securing a venue to host its inquiries over the next three to five years.

According to these files, the regulator paid listed developer Cairn Homes more than 1.1m to rent the DMG building at Blackhall Place until 2021.

The documents also lay bare the CBI's concerns about securing a long-term venue for its hearings. According to a source, the fit-out cost for the block soared to 944,000 and came on top of refurbishment costs to its offices in Spencer Dock that were intended to provide a fallback option for the inquiry hearings if the CBI was unable to secure a lease extension on the DMG block.

The inquiry heard last December that it may take two years for all seven "suspected prescribed contraventions" to be covered. The first phase covered alleged governance failings at INBS, with former CEO Michael Fingleton and three other members of the senior management team under scrutiny.New drilling for minerals in Ireland is on hold because of a foul-up in the drafting of legislation, the Irish Independent has learned.

The situation has led to an effective moratorium on new drilling permits for mineral explorers.

The Department of the Environment, headed by Minister Denis Naughten, is racing to solve the problem which is causing delays for companies operating in the sector here.

"A matter has been brought to the department's attention. The department has engaged with the relevant Government departments/offices and a remedy has been prepared to resolve the issue and is in the process of finalisation."

It declined to specify the exact nature of the legislative problem, but is aiming to get it solved in a matter of weeks.

Permitting falls within the purview of the Exploration and Mining Division within the department.

The minerals sector here has seen a substantial uplift in activity in recent years, particularly when it comes to exploration for zinc. Market prices for the commodity are substantially higher compared to two years ago. However, prices had their worst quarter since 2015 in the second quarter of this year.

Expectations of a rise in zinc concentrate supplies in coming years have driven the price down.

Last week, Wood Mackenzie analyst Jonathan Leng said he expected supplies of zinc concentrate to rise by 300,000 tonnes in 2018, 900,000 tonnes in 2019 and 1.25 million tonnes in 2020, but he says this will not mean a swift surge in supplies of the refined metal.

"With little new smelter capacity being built in recent years outside China and the construction of new capacity in China having slowed dramatically, refined production may be constrained by smelter capacity," Mr Leng said. "Limiting the build-up of metal inventories, this would provide support to the zinc price," he said.

Ireland is one of Europe's largest zinc producers on the back of the large mine in Navan, which is operated by Swedish firm Boliden.

Glencore, a giant of the industry, is active on a prospect at Pallas Green in Limerick, while a number of junior explorers have also boosted their activity.

One of those, Group Eleven Resources, recently completed a stock market flotation. (Additional reporting Reuters)Fourteen Paddy Power staff members have been awarded up to 1,000 each for denial of rest breaks.

The Mandate Trade Union members, employed by Paddy Power Betfair Plc, took the cases under the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

According to the Mandate, the WRC adjudication officer found the company to be in breach of the Act and urged other Paddy Power employees to come forward if they found themselves in similar positions.

In one case, a manager in a Paddy Power outlet was found to be "at the disposal" of their employer and "attending to customers during his break" despite working 40 hours a week.

The WRC found that the employee was unable to enjoy an "uninterrupted break" and awarded 1,000 as a result.

Mandate General Secretary John Douglas said working for "prolonged periods" can put workers "at risk" and encouraged members to use their right to have a break during the day.

"Workers should not put themselves at risk by working alone for prolonged periods and should take precautions at all times, including shutting the store if necessary," Mr Douglas said.

"Paddy Power is a highly profitable business and can afford to sufficiently staff their premises so that workers are safe and can avail of their legal right to rest periods."

Since the decision, it is believed that Paddy Power have notified all staff of their rest break entitlements.

Mr Douglas congratulated the workers for coming forward and urged people to join their own trade unions.

"These decisions vindicate our members in their claims and I congratulate them on their successful cases. There are tens of thousands of workers in Ireland currently being denied their rights at work because their employer believes the law shouldnt apply to them.

"Were here to tell them that it does. All workers should protect themselves against breaches such as this and should join their trade union in order to ensure their rights are upheld."

It is understood that the Mandate intends to serve a comprehensive claim on Paddy Power Betfair about pay scales, step up duty pay and premium payments, among other issues in the coming days.

A spokesperson for Paddy Power Betfair declined to comment when contacted by Independent.ieSerious flaws in the State's housing policy have been exposed after a State-backed landlord hiked tenants' rent by 6pc.

The apartment block is located inside one of the country's so-called rent pressure zones, where landlords must cap rent increases at 4pc per annum, and is funded by the State's Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF).

In addition, the landlord of the New Bancroft Centre in Tallaght, Dublin, has admitted breaching legislation by carrying out rent reviews too early.

The landlord is an entity called the DAD Property fund. The State has invested 8m via an entity known as the ISIF - formerly the National Pensions Reserve Fund.

The landlord is using an exemption in the legislation to impose 6pc rent hikes on tenants. The landlord says it is entitled to do this because the property is a new-build development.

The law says that a property that is new to the rental market and has not been let in the two years prior to the tenancy can be exempt from the 4pc cap.

In addition to the 6pc hike, the landlord issued a rent review notice outlining the increase less than a year into people's tenancies. It has admitted now that this was wrong.

"The timing of renewal notices has been raised with us and is already being addressed. Our legal advice was that rent reviews could be issued 90 days before the one-year anniversary of the lease," a spokesperson for the DAD property fund said.

"We were recently made aware the Residential Tenancies Board's interpretation of the legislation is that rent reviews are to be issued at the one-year anniversary. We welcome this clarification and are writing to all tenants who were issued rent reviews to acknowledge the required change."

A spokesman for the ISIF - the State vehicle which invested in the landlord - said it expected all the companies it invests in to comply with their legal and regulatory obligations. The spokesman said ISIF was "raising this matter with this fund".

The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) - the body responsible for resolving disputes between landlords and tenants - said it could not comment on the details of individual cases.

But it added that last year 77pc of all notices of rent review that it made a determination on were invalid.

The RTB said it would encourage "any existing, or new tenants, who are faced with increases over and above the 4pc cap to refer a dispute to the RTB, and the same applies to tenants entering a new tenancy.

"Even if a tenant has agreed to a rent in excess of the limit and signed a tenancy agreement, they are still protected under the law; they cannot contract out their rights. If a landlord has been found to have not adhered to the limits, it can have significant consequences and damages of up to 20,000 can be awarded as well as repayment of the additional rent."

A third issue with the rent review notices related to a legal requirement to provide rents levied on similar properties.

The law states rent review notices "shall" provide rent details of three properties of a similar type, situated in a comparable area. A notice seen by this newspaper provides details for two properties - with the third property described as "not available at this time".

The landlord said: "Only two examples of rents for dwellings of a similar size were provided because there were no other appropriate benchmarks available in the area at the time the letter was being issued."

It said it was "committed to delivering well-managed accommodation to our tenants with whom we aim to build long-term relationships".Have a worrying niggle in your tooth, but don't have the time, or finances, to get to the dentist? There's an app for that.

Dublin-based Toothpic, which uses disruptive technology to increase a client's access to dental care, first launched in 2015.

In the last three years, it has opened offices in Ireland and New York, employs 15 full-time staff and boasts users in 70 countries.

The app's genesis occurred when Limerick-born Mark Moore called his dad Gus, a dentist, after noticing a gap in his lower gum. Gus asked for a photo of the problem area, commented on the quality of the snap, and was able to give a relatively immediate recommendation, and Moore's entrepreneurial radar perked up.

"It was just a basic idea at first. We had a look around to see if anyone else was doing something similar but they weren't. So we built a simple app so that people could take photos of their gums and teeth and send them back to dad," the 29-year-old told the Irish Independent.

Toothpic was born, and established with co-founder Jack Berrill, whom Moore had partnered on real-time deals startup MyTipOff with.

The popularity of the app grew but, while some Irish investors were interested in the business, the market wasn't quite ready.

Investors on board include PCH CEO Liam Casey, Enterprise Ireland and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse.

Teladoc, the largest telehealth company in the US, is also backing the fledgling firm.

"Irish dentists are strong supporters of the app, most dentists want to drive volume and subsequent footfall.

"But when the app launched, the market and the insurance companies were only just coming to terms with telemedicine, so we decided to build our brand elsewhere," said Moore.

As such, Toothpic is focused on driving revenue in the US by changing the dental care delivery system as well as the reimbursement system.

The group has partnered with two US insurance companies, Dominion and HealthPartners, in an effort to bring telehealth services into mainstream dental care.

Trinity College graduate Mark also reveals that a short-term ambition of the company is to secure a national US insurance partnership, which would mean Toothpic would be available to over one million members by the end of the year.

"Different people are at different stages when it comes to dental, we offer people a variety of options in terms of that journey. The consultation is the first step, and it was the first step for us too," he said.

The app itself allows the user to have a consultation by photo sharing- and the technology allows the dentist to view the images in as much detail as if they were in an office setting, thus allowing for accurate recommendations or treatment.

Moore said that the core ambition of Toothpic is to remove barriers for those that need dental care, including negative perceptions of dentist, financial restrictions and lack of time.

"A user takes a photo and uploads it on to our site and a dentist in our network will get the notification, look at the photo and give a recommendation along with treatment options and cost estimates.

"There is also advice offered for home care to help prevent that issue from happening again in the future."

Although not yet available in Ireland, Toothpic is negotiating a new financing round to accelerate growth with insurance partners.

The company is also in the midst of a recruitment drive to expand its Dame Street team, with roles in tech, marketing and design available.

There are plans for the firm to bring its unique technology to the European market by early 2019, expecting to enter the Irish market towards the end of next year.Our team has worked hard to build on the successes of previous quarters as we continue the implementation of our strategy, said Anne OLeary, CEO of Vodafone Ireland.

Revenue at Vodafone Ireland increased 1.7pc year-on-year to 238.6m in the three months to June 30.

During the period, 12,000 contract customers were added to Vodafone's customer base. The company now has over 2.2 million customers in Ireland.

The number of fixed broadband customers at Vodafone remained steady at 263,000, the company said in a trading update yesterday.

Meanwhile, mobile data usage increased by 41pc year-on-year to over 17.8 petabytes.

"Quarter one was another positive period of progress for Vodafone Ireland," Anne O'Leary, chief executive of Vodafone Ireland, said.

"Our team has worked hard to build on the successes of previous quarters as we continue the implementation of our investment, innovation and transformation strategy."

The company also used the announcement to provide an update on Siro, its joint venture with the ESB, which connects towns to fibre broadband. Connections have now passed over 160,000 premises and is live in 30 towns across Ireland.

The increase in revenue in Ireland went against an overall decline in revenue at group level, with the group reporting a 4.9pc fall in revenues to 10.9bn for the three-month period.

During the period its service revenue growth slowed to 0.3pc, with 9.9bn posted for the quarter, as Vodafone blamed increased competition in Italy and Spain.

This dragged European service revenues down 0.4pc and took the shine off a 7.2pc hike for its Africa, Middle East & Asia Pacific (Amap) division.

India also saw "intense" competition, with service revenues plunging 22.3pc, due largely to the country's price war.

Vodafone is waiting for clearance for a deal to merge Vodafone India and Idea Cellular, a merger which is set to be completed by the end of August and will help it weather the tough conditions in the market.

The results are CEO Vittorio Colao's final set of figures before handing over the reins in October.

(Additional reporting from PA)The European Commission is drawing up a list of $20bn of US goods to hit with duties if Washington imposes tariffs on imported cars, European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom has said on the eve of her boss's meeting with US President Donald Trump.

Ms Malmstrom is in Washington for talks on trade, with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker who was due to meet Mr Trump in a bid to stop the United States from extending its import tariffs on EU steel and aluminium to cars and car parts.

"We hope that it doesn't come to that and that we can find a solution.

"If not, the EU Commission is preparing a rather long list of many American goods. It would be around $20bn," Ms Malmstrom told Swedish newspaper 'Dagens Nyheter'.

In response to the US metals tariffs, the EU has already imposed its own import duties on 2.8bn worth of US goods, including products like bourbon and motorcycles that are made in some of the electoral districts that supported Trump.

Ms Malmstrom said the next potential round of EU tariffs would not target specific US states.

"No, now it's more general goods such as agricultural products, machinery, high-tech products and other things," she said.

The Commission briefed EU countries last week on the bloc's possible response, saying in theory it could hit 9bn of US goods, according to EU sources.

However, some EU diplomats said the Commission was also looking at going for double that amount - to the level Ms Malmstrom is suggesting - at half the duty rate.

A formal proposal would only come after the US Commerce Department completes its investigation into whether car imports threaten national security.

The report's deadline is February 2019, but it is now expected by late August/early September.

The European Commission, which handles trade policy on behalf of the EU's 28 members, has insisted that Mr Juncker is seeking to open a dialogue with Mr Trump, rather than to negotiate.

EU officials have also downplayed the idea that Mr Juncker is arriving with a novel trade offer.

EU Budget Commissioner Guenther Oettinger suggested the EU would be ready to discuss mutual tariff cuts provided the Washington lifts punitive metals tariffs first. (Reuters)Operating profit at drinks giant Diageo increased 3.7pc year-on-year to 3.7bn (4.2bn) in the 12 months to 30 June.

Reported sales at the group were 12.2bn (13.7bn) for the 12 month period, up 0.9pc year-on-year, as organic growth was partially offset by adverse exchange movements.

All regions contributed to broad based organic growth, with organic net sales up 5pc and organic volume up 2.5pc, the company said in its annual results statement.

"These results reflect the high performance culture we have created in Diageo, the ongoing rigorous execution of our strategy, our focus on the consumer and our ability to move swiftly on trends and insights," Ivan Menezes, CEO of Diageo, said.

"The changes we have made in the business and the shifts in culture we continue to drive, ensure we are well placed to capture opportunities and deliver sustained growth."

In Ireland net sales were up by 3pc.

Guinness sales in Ireland grew 2pc driven by the continued success of Hop House 13 Lager and the launch of the 'Behind every town' campaign across the country. Meanwhile in spirits, Irish sales were up 14pc, which the company said was largely driven by strong performance in Gordon's and Tanqueray gins.

Overall the European market delivered net sales growth of 4pc for the group, in what Diageo described as a consistent performance for the region.

The groups performance in Europe was led by strong growth in gin, where Tanqueray gained share in the fastest growing category and Gordon's benefitted from the launch of its Pink variant.

Guinness in Europe was up 6pc driven by a good performance for Guinness Draught supported by double digit growth in Hop House 13 Lager, while net sales of Captain Morgan grew 7pc.

However sales of Smirnoff in Europe declined 4pc during the period.

Turning to the North American market and it delivered net sales growth of 4pc, with share gains achieved for all key brands in the spirits category except vodka.

The group also reported sales growth of 3pc in its African market, where Guinness and Malta Guinness grew 7pc and 4pc respectively.

The group also announced a share buyback programme to return up to 2bn to shareholders during the year ending 30 June 2019.Capitalism isn't working right. The US economy is growing, but its workers are seeing less and less of the benefits. Since the Great Recession, real gross domestic product per capita has increased substantially, but real compensation per hour - which includes benefits like health care - hasn't grown at all.

Stagnating wages are eating away at the very heart of the free-market economy there. The economy keeps growing, but Americans are finding it harder and harder to be more prosperous than their parents.

If capitalism only works for the relatively small slice of society that owns large amounts of capital, few people are going to see the value in the system.

Eventually they're going to turn to alternatives, like the socialism now gaining popularity within the Democratic party and the younger generations.

Anyone who cares about preserving the free-market system should therefore be thinking very hard about how to raise wages.

One idea is to change regulations and laws to make labour unions more powerful. Another is to strengthen antitrust enforcement to break up so-called superstar companies and prevent them from growing huge in the first place.

Both of these approaches would require a big push at the federal level in the US. That is unlikely to happen without a change of administration, and probably without major shifts in the country's political economy. But there are some simpler, humbler changes that state governments can begin taking right away, without waiting for labour-friendly politicians to take control of the White House and Congress.

One of these is to ban non-compete agreements. These bar employees from going to work for a company's competitors, short-circuiting the process of competition by which companies bid up wages. Simply banning this type of anticompetitive contract would help bring back bidding wars that increase workers' power and pay. Some states, like California, have already done this.

Another step is to vigorously police companies that try to collude to suppress wages. Most businesses, given the chance, would prefer to make agreements with their competitors to pay their workers less, thus preventing the need for a bidding war.

This is generally illegal, under the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Fortunately, the Department of Justice has begun to prosecute wage-fixing and anti-poaching agreements more aggressively. In 2015, technology companies Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe were fined for colluding to hold down the wages of tech workers, after a similar ruling against Lucasfilm and Pixar in 2013.

Fortunately, this trend seems to be continuing even under the Trump administration, with the DOJ successfully bringing a lawsuit against Westinghouse Air Brakes Technologies and its competitor Knorr-Bremse AG. More efforts might be coming in the health-care industry.

But there is one area where anti-poaching agreements might still be legal - franchise chains. Many franchises stipulate in their contracts that franchise owners aren't allowed to hire each other's workers. If you were a tax preparer working at an H&R Block franchise as recently as 2015, for instance, you couldn't get a raise by hopping to a different H&R Block, or even getting an outside offer from a competing chain. As franchise chains grow in size and importance, this could mean fewer and fewer opportunities for workers to change jobs and get raises.

In a new paper, economists Alan Krueger and Orley Ashenfelter examine the data, and find that 58pc of franchise chains had anti-poaching clauses in 2016. The collusion covers a wide range of industries, from gyms to auto-repair services to tax preparation and restaurants (though it's uncommon in the hotel and real-estate industries). The agreements are more common in low-wage industries, suggesting that it's the most vulnerable workers who suffer the greatest harm from this collusion.

Fortunately, states are beginning to respond. A group of several states has launched a joint investigation into anti-poaching in the fast-food industry. Some chains, such as McDonald's, Arby's and Cinnabon, have already agreed to give up the practice. H&R Block has done so as well.

That's a welcome move. It shows that at least some state governments are not waiting around for the federal government to step in, and are not being overly cautious about precedent.

There are a number of ways that states can help push back against the trends of wage stagnation and decreased competition - and perhaps help to save capitalism from itself in the process. (Bloomberg)Sergio Marchionne, who moved to Toronto from Abruzzo with his family when he was 14, was known in Italy as Il Dottore  The Doctor  and by his US lieutenants as The Boss. Photo: Reuters

Sergio Marchionne was one of the car industry's most demanding and tenacious chief executives, and responsible for rescuing Fiat and Chrysler, two of its most storied brands.

The gruff 66-year-old, who has died after succumbing to complications from recent surgery, spent 14 years at the wheel of Fiat Chrysler, the group he built.

He was replaced as boss last weekend after his condition worsened.

In Italy, where his turnaround of Fiat earned him legendary status, he was treated like a rock star. The former philosophy student and accountant almost never wore a tie and preferred casual sweaters, half-joking that it saved him time on dressing.

A heavy smoker until giving up a year ago, he was known for working extraordinarily long hours before he fell ill. He demanded others keep a similarly gruelling schedule, earning him a reputation from friends and foes alike for being stubborn and arrogant.

"I feel like I live in a tunnel. He is not just demanding; he wants all your life devoted to him," said one banker who worked with Marchionne on various deals in recent years.

Some could not keep up with his round-the-clock approach.

Another banker who worked with Marchionne said he would receive emails from him at all hours, even in the middle of the night.

In his last public appearance on June 26, wearing his signature sweater, Marchionne appeared fatigued and out of breath as he presented a Jeep Wrangler to Italy's paramilitary police, the Carabinieri, at a ceremony in Rome.

Days later, he went to Switzerland to undergo what Fiat Chrysler (FCA) described as a shoulder operation. FCA has not said what happened after he left the operating theatre, except that he suffered complications that suddenly worsened on Saturday.

In an emergency board meeting at the weekend, FCA chose the head of its Jeep division, Mike Manley, as his successor. On Wednesday, FCA chairman John Elkann announced that the longtime CEO had died, saying: "Sergio Marchionne, man and friend, is gone."

Marchionne has done what many thought impossible, most notably his huge gamble just over a decade ago when he set in motion the marriage between the then-ailing Fiat with bankrupt US rival Chrysler.

It is now the world's seventh-largest carmaker and is debt-free.

"Sergio was a unique blend of a visionary and an executor. He combined a grand vision and the ability of getting things done. This is a real tragedy," said Domenico Siniscalco, a former Italian finance minister who is now country head at Morgan Stanley Italy.

In the clubbish world of Italian business, where change often happens slowly and chief executives bend to the prevailing political wind, Marchionne stood out as an exception, taking on trade unions and rowing publicly with politicians.

He pulled Fiat out of Confindustria, Italy's top business group, determined to negotiate directly with unions rather than pursue national wage bargaining via Confindustria.

"Those of us watching have received an education in management, finance, politics, oratory and what's possible via sheer force of will," Bernstein analyst Max Warburton said.

However, his shrewd dealmaking kept investors on board and earned him accolades, even from competitors.

Fiat's value grew more than tenfold, helped by the spin-off of trucks and tractor maker CNH Industrial and sportscar group Ferrari, fuelling expectations of other transformational deals to come.

"You cannot ever question his leadership as a manager," said another a person who worked with him. "He has done miracles at Fiat."

The son of a carabiniere, Marchionne was born and raised in the poor central Italian region of Abruzzo.

His family moved to Toronto when he was 14 to escape what his father viewed as the confines of an Italian society obsessed with status over talent.

His background was in finance, not cars, but Marchionne earned kudos for his turnaround skills in 2004-5 when he saved Fiat, Italy's biggest industrial group with a century of history and a 200,000-strong global workforce, from near bankruptcy.

"I like to fix things and, to be blunt, Fiat needs a fix right now," he said after his appointment as CEO in 2004.

He relentlessly pursued those goals, sleeping on the couch of his private plane while jetting between offices in Detroit, Turin and London.

A tough negotiator known for getting his way, in 2005 Marchionne forced General Motors to pay Fiat $2bn not to exercise an option to sell its car division to the US carmaker.

He flattened an inflexible hierarchy, replacing layers of middle management with meritocracy.

He took a knife to costs, drastically reducing the number of car platforms, and formed joint ventures to share development and manufacturing.

He clinched a partnership with Chrysler before eventually buying out the rest of it in a deal he orchestrated over his Christmas break in 2013, at a Florida beach, in a one-on-one meeting even those close to him were unaware of.

He revived Chrysler, betting that its Jeep brand should be taken global. Jeep is now Fiat Chrysler's growth engine.

He took the bold step to end production of unprofitable sedans in the United States and retool plants to boost output of lucrative SUVs and trucks, a move since emulated by rivals.

Known by direct reports in Italy as 'Il Dottore' - The Doctor - and by his US lieutenants as 'The Boss', Marchionne ran the executive team with an iron fist, people who worked closely with him say.

Marchionne had an impressive track record of creating shareholder value, but he was less successful at delivering a string of recent, ambitious turnarounds.

Profitability in Europe is only gradually recovering and FCA has yet to make any significant inroads in China.

It has also yet to turn a profit with Alfa Romeo which, along with Jeep and Maserati, was the focus of a strategy launched in 2014.

Marchionne refused to follow rivals and invest in electrification, before finally making a U-turn as part of a strategy unveiled in June.

He also leaves FCA overly reliant on North America, a region expected to come off its peaks soon.

Even though his bid to merge with bigger rival GM to share the costs of making electric and autonomous vehicles was repeatedly rebuffed, Marchionne admitted a merger for FCA was "ultimately inevitable" to be able to compete.

"Being small, cute is going to do nothing," he said last year.

"Go home, go to a beauty parlour and do something else."

Sergio Marchionne; June 17, 1952 - July 25, 2018),A man was charged this morning with murdering another man in a flat in Limerick last January.

Alex Kelly, (23), originally from OMalley Park, but with an address at Little OCurry Street, appeared before Limerick District Court, charged with murdering Martin Clancy on January 1, 2018.

The body of Mr Clancy, aged 45, was found on January 7 last, in an upstairs apartment at Little OCurry Street.

Mr Clancy, who was originally from Moyross, had been living in the apartment building where he was found.

Details of the alleged killing were not heard.

Mr Kelly, who sat in court wearing a grey t-shirt and navy tracksuit, did not speak during this mornings brief court hearing.

Detective Sergeant Arthur Ryan, Henry Street Garda Station, gave evidence of arresting Mr Kelly on Mulgrave Street, Limerick, at 10.35am this morning.

Det Sgt Ryan said Mr Kelly made no reply after he was charged with murder.

Solicitor Ted McCarthy requested free legal aid and applied for the matter be adjourned to July 31.

Judge Marian OLeary granted free legal aid and adjourned the case for directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Mr Kelly was remanded in custody to appear before Limerick District Court on July 31.He is due to be sentenced in November Photo: Stock image

A Slovakian national who admitted to gardai that he first started downloading child pornography as a 15 year old boy will be sentenced next November.

Marian Minarik (40) who has been living in Ireland for the last 12 years, was caught after gardai were contacted by Luxembourg authorities who had been investigating the downloading of images from a particular website.

Detective Garda Gary Moran said Minarik's home was searched and a laptop and a hard-drive were seized. A total of 39,792 images of child pornography and 404 videos of child pornography were later recovered.

Minarik immediately admitted to gardai, when they arrived at his home, that he had downloaded child pornography.

He later told gardai in interview that he first started downloading child pornography when he was 15 years old. He denied he had any compulsion to have sex with children but accepted that he sometimes got sexual gratification from viewing the images.

Minarik with an address at Mountjoy Square, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possession of child pornography on dates between March 2009 and July 2010. He has no previous convictions.

Judge Cormac Quinn remanded him on continuing bail to November 9 next for sentence and ordered a probation report for that date.

Gda Moran told Pieter Le Vert BL, prosecuting, that 207 images of children with their genital area exposed, a video file of a girl masturbating on a webcam and video files of boys with their genitals exposed were discovered on the hard-drive.

He said 117 images of boys and girls engaging in both oral and penetrative sex with both children and adults were found on the laptop, along with 39,468 images of children with their genital area exposed.

The laptop also had 67 video files of children engaged in both penetrative and oral sexual acts with adults and other children, and of children masturbating on webcams. A further 337 video files showed children with their genital area exposed.

Minarik denied any involvement in the production and distribution of child pornography and Det Gda Moran confirmed that gardai were satisfied that he only downloaded the images and videos for his own use.

He admitted that the last time he had downloaded images was the week before gardai showed up at his home.

Det Gda Moran said that although Minarik's computer was seized in July 2010, it was not analysed until July 2016 due to a five to six year waiting list for analysis at the time. He added that there was no longer such a long waiting period.

He agreed with Paul Carroll SC, defending, that his client said his preference was to look at images of naked children and this claim was consistent with the online searches Minarik made.

Det Gda Moran accepted that Minarik had a girlfriend at the time of his arrest and Mr Carroll said his client was still in the same relationship.

He further accepted that Minarik travelled to Slovakia a number of times, before he was charged with the offence, to seek psychiatric help and always provided gardai with his contact details.

Mr Carroll said his client's mother died when he was 14 years old and his brother and father struggled to deal with her death.

A forensic psychologist's report stated that there were concerns that Minarik had a lack of understanding and a lack of insight into his crimes. It recommended a specialist treatment programme. He is on medication for depression.Paul and Ruth Morrissey, of Monaleen, Co Limerick, outside the Four Courts yesterday. Photo: Collins Courts

A mother who has breast and cervical cancer has launched a High Court action over alleged misinterpretation of two cervical smears tests as part of the CervicalCheck screening programme.

Ruth Morrissey (37), who may have only one to two years to live, asked for an order granting her anonymity to be lifted.

Ms Morrissey and her husband Paul Morrissey, of Kylemore, Schoolhouse Road, Monaleen, Co Limerick, wanted to ensure her remaining time was as comfortable as possible and her daughter's future was protected, counsel Jeremy Maher said.

The court was told Ms Morrissey had a CT scan this week and there is an improvement in her symptoms.

She may now be a candidate for radical radiotherapy treatment, which could improve her prognosis.

Mr Maher said Ms Morrissey's 2009 smear was tested by the US laboratory Quest Diagnostics and her 2012 smear by Medlab Dublin. Counsel said the evidence from their side will be that the smears were "incorrectly and negligently reported".

Counsel said experts on their side will say if the cervical smear on 2009 had been correctly reported she would have been referred for a colposcopy which would have disclosed pre-cancerous cells and she may not have developed cervical cancer in 2014, which recurred this year.

Counsel said Ms Morrissey should never have developed cancer in 2014 or have had a recurrence. She is being deprived of seeing her seven-year-old daughter grow up.

Ms Morrisey wanted to know why she was not told of the results of the reviews carried out in 2014 and 2015.

The HSE, counsel said, admitted it owed a duty of care to Ms Morrissey, but not to her husband. It admitted the results of the reviews should have been made known to her.

The laboratories deny all claims. They have sued the HSE and the US laboratory Quest Diagnostics Ireland Ltd, with offices at Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin, along with Medlab Pathology Ltd, with offices at Sandyford Business Park, Dublin 18.

On August 18, 2009, Ms Morrissey had a cervical smear test as part of the national screening programme. The sample was sent to a cytopathology laboratory operated by Quest Diagnostics and it came back negative with a recommendation for a routine recall.

In a letter from the HSE in September 2009, Ms Morrissey was advised the smear test detected no abnormalities.

On August 8, 2012, she had another test under the national screening programme.

That was sent to a Medlab Pathology laboratory and Ms Morrissey was told by HSE letter in September 2012 no abnormalities had been detected.

On May 2014, Ms Morrissey went to her GP complaining of bleeding and she was referred for an urgent colposcopy.

She was subsequently diagnosed in June 2014 as having cervical cancer.

It is claimed that unknown to Ms Morrissey reviews were carried out of the prior cervical screening.The mother of a young boy who died from an allergic reaction to a McDonald's chicken wrap has spoken of her heartbreak and the terrifying moment her son took ill.

Dublin coroner Dr Myra Cullinane warned parents of children with food allergies to check ingredients. She was speaking at the inquest into the death of Maleek Lawal (10), a pupil at St Audoen's National School in Dublin.

The child suffered a severe allergic reaction and died after eating a takeaway meal from McDonald's. The boy's mother told Dublin Coroner's Court he always asked for McDonald's food as a treat.

He ate a peri peri chicken wrap from the fast-food restaurant's Ilac Centre outlet on October 7, 2016. Within 10 minutes he began to feel ill.

"He was a beautiful, playful boy. My heart is truly broken for him. I would not wish this pain of losing him on my worst enemy," his mother, Rukawat Lawal, said after the inquest.

Maleek was diagnosed with asthma and eczema as a child and was advised to avoid milk, eggs, fish and nuts. On the day he died, Ms Lawal had taken her three children to a barber shop for a haircut.

"We were homeless, with nobody helping us, we were on our own and I was looking for a way to get out of emergency accommodation. I was looking for a way to keep the children happy," she said.

The mother of three left her sons in the barber shop at the Ilac Centre and went with her daughter to McDonald's where she ordered hamburgers, chicken nuggets and a peri peri chicken wrap. Maleek had often eaten hamburgers and nuggets but never the peri peri wrap, the court heard. Ms Lawal brought the food back to the barber's where the children ate it.

Within minutes his lips and face swelled up. Dublin Fire Brigade were called to the scene at 5.50pm but Maleek was not breathing and had no pulse when they arrived. The child was rushed to Temple Street Children's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7pm.

Pathologist Dr Deirdre Devaney gave the cause of death as acute anaphylactic shock following ingestion of food on the same date. Dr Cullinane returned a verdict of misadventure.The State's Chief Medical Officer told the High Court that Minister for Health, Simon Harris, is concerned that questions remain unanswered about the decision making in a maternity hospital between when a woman walked into it and ended up on an operating table where she died.

Dr Tony Holohan was giving evidence on the third day of an action by the National Maternity Hospital (NHM) against the minister seeking to quash his decision to set up a statutory inquiry into practices at the Holles Street hospital in the wake of the death there of Malak Thawley during surgery for an ectopic pregnancy in May 2016.

The NMH says such an inquiry would have consequences for maternity services throughout Ireland, be highly disruptive and de-motivate staff working in the sector. It favours a non-statutory review carried out by the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (RCOG) in the UK.

The minister denies claims he is acting irrationally, disproportionately and outside his powers.

Dr Holohan was called to give evidence after the minister's side objected to the opening by Paul Gallagher SC, for the NMH, of what the State says was without prejudice correspondence but which the NMH said was open correspondence.

Dr Holohan agreed with Mr Gallagher that in a minute of a meeting with NMH representatives in 2016 about setting up a proposed further investigation, he (Holohan) said it was not because of any deficiencies in one which had already been undertaken by the HSE.

While the note was accurate, he said there were still concerns about the decision making between the Sunday morning when Mrs Thawley walked into the hospital and to when surgery took place on her and the basis for the decision to do so.

He disputed that he was making any finding but said it was a concern and that any finding would have to be a matter for a further investigation.

He said there had been substantial efforts to have a meeting between department officials and NMH representatives.

While at the first meeting, the hospital representatives were most concerned about the previous HSE report, a decision had been made for an external review and the minister wanted to move it on as quickly as possible, he said

The minister wanted to hear from the NMH as to its modus operandis, the way it should be done.

Dr Holohan said he did not go into detail at that meeting about the reasons for the further inquiry and was not comfortable doing so. He didn't think for a public interest point of view the minister had to explain all his reasons in the context of the Thawley case.

He agreed he had told NMH representatives that "further learning" was the aim of the inquiry and said this had already happened in other cases, such as following the death of Savita Halappanavar in 2012, where an early warning score system was developed which is now used by hospitals in Ireland and abroad.

He said there was no reason to identify further concerns to the NMH people in circumstances where it was "not a good quality meeting" which he had also described as acrimonious, and where it had taken so long to set up.

Asked by counsel were there any reasons why he could not identify his concerns, which later turned about to be about patient safety rather than further learning, Dr Holohan said there was no specific reasons, but the important thing was to move forward and have an independent investigation.

In his ten years as chief medical officer, he had never experienced the kind of engagement they had with the NMH over a patient safety investigation. There was "this fruitless engagement" where they wanted a meeting with the minister and department officials wanted a meeting with them.

Asked by counsel was there any material shortcoming in the HSE report, Dr Holohan said while the HSE report agreed with the NMH's own investigation, it did not deal with how Mrs Thawley ended up losing her life in the context of the on-site consultants presence, out of hours surgery and other matters which were however referenced in that report.

He said the justification for having a further inquiry came from a variety of sources and not just the HSE report.

The hearing continues.A MAN threatened gardai with an angle grinder, brandishing it about recklessly when they came to investigate damage to a motorway toll gantry, it is alleged.

Tony Rochford (49) allegedly told gardai: the time for talking is over before switching the angle grinder on and running it aggressively in front of them.

A court heard the officers were responding to a report that Mr Rochford had caused damage to gantrys entry gate at the M50 in west Dublin.

Judge David McHugh ruled the case was too serious to be dealt with at Blanchardstown District Court and adjourned it.

Mr Rochford, of Steeple Manor, Trim Co Meath is accused of having an angle grinder intended to cause injury. The charge alleges that he was found in a confrontational state and when gardai intervened, he threatened them with the tool, attempting to strike a garda with it.

He is also charged with offensive conduct by threatening a garda with an angle grinder, breach of the peace, and causing criminal damage to the E-flow toll gantry entry gate.

Mr Rochford is further accused with causing paint damage to a gardas boots.

The offences are all alleged to have happened on May 3, 2018

Garda Sergeant Geraldine McManigan told Blanchardstown District Court

The DPP had consented to the case being dealt with summarily at district court level, rather than being sent forward to Dublin Circuir Criminal Court.

Outlining the allegations, she said gardai were called to the M50 northbound toll bridge in Dublin 15 after security reported that damage had been caused to the gate.

It was alleged the accused was standing at the back of his vehicle and had attempted to gain entry to the gantry by cutting the locking mechanism on the entry gate.

When gardai spoke to him, he replied: the time for talking is over, Sgt McManigan said.

He had an angle grinder in his hand and when one of the gardai tried to take it from him he became aggressive, she continued.

It was alleged Mr Rochford switched on the angle grinder and ran it in an aggressive manner, brandishing it about recklessly while it was active. One of the gardai drew his baton and struck the angle grinder with it, to no avail, the court heard.

At one point, it was alleged, the accused knocked over a tin of paint, causing damage to a gardas boots.

The accused was eventually apprehended and arrested. The value of the damage caused to the gate was between 500 and 1,000. Defence solicitor Valerie Buckley said she was not aware of any other loss of revenue or otherwise arising from the allegations.

Judge McHugh refused jurisdiction and asked for the DPP to consider her position.

The case was adjourned to September 6.Jack Power, who died as a result of a stabbing

GARDAI are poised to launch a murder investigation after a post mortem examination confirmed that a young Waterford fisherman died from a stab wound.

Jack Power (25) was fatally stabbed after he apparently went to investigate an alleged incident of anti-social behaviour.

The young man sustained the fatal injury shortly before 4am today in the popular coastal village of Dunmore East in Waterford.

Mr Power, who is from nearby Brownstown, had been out fishing and apparently was very concerned over an incident of anti-social behaviour involving his car which had been left parked in the village.

Locals had been increasingly concerned over recent weeks about a spate of anti-social behaviour incidents around the village ranging from malicious damage to petty thefts.

Several residents complained that a gang had been engaged in the anti-social behaviour over recent weeks.

One theory now being examined by Gardai is whether Mr Power's death may have been linked to a dispute over such anti-social activities.

Gardai and emergency services were called to a property at Shanakiel, on the outskirts of Dunmore East village, at 3.40am.

Mr Power was found lying on the ground in a critical condition with an apparent stab injury to his chest.

Paramedics battled to stabilise his condition so he could be transferred to University Hospital Waterford (UHW).

Tragically, Mr Power was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival at UHW.

Gardai immediately sealed off the scene.

Members of the Garda Technical Bureau commenced a full forensic examination of the property involved and an area of ground outside it.

That technical examination will continue tomorrow.

The Office of the State Pathologist was notified and a full post mortem examination was conducted this evening.

That examination found that Mr Power met a violent death.

Gardai for operational reasons are not disclosing the findings of the post mortem examination.

However, it indicated the young man was stabbed.

Gardai stressed that the nature of their investigation will be determined by the results of the post mortem examination at UHW.

Detectives arrested a 17 year old in the Dunmore East area this morning in relation to the incident.

He was taken to Waterford Garda Station where he was being questioned under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.

The teen has been resident in the Dunmore East area.

Waterford Gardai appealed for anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious in the Shanakiel and Dunmore East areas in the early hours of Thursday morning to contact them.

The area involved is not covered by CCTV security camera footage.

However, Gardai have appealed for anyone who may have dash-cams on their cars and who drove through the area at the time to contact them at Waterford Garda Station on (051) 305300 or the Garda Confidential Line at (1800) 666111.Gardai at the scene of a shooting in Ballymun this evening Photo: Tony Gavin

GARDAI believe that two botched shootings in the space of less than 50 minutes yesterday in Ballymun are linked.

In a bizarre development, Independent.ie can reveal that a man who was shot in the leg was not the intended target of the attack, and a house that was hit by shots 50 minutes later in retaliation was also wrongly targeted.

In the first incident, a 34-year-old local man was blasted in the leg with a shotgun at Shangan Green.

The man was rushed to the Mater Hospital where he was being treated for non- life-threatening injuries last night.

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Before the man had even arrived at the hospital, a number of shots were fired at a house in Belclare View, 2km away from the scene of the first shooting.

The shots were fired from a handgun and went up through the roof of the innocent womans home.

No injuries were caused in that incident, which resulted in damage to windows.

Gardai said two people were seen fleeing the scene on a motorbike.

No arrests have been made in either case, and gardai in Ballymun are appealing for information about both shootings.

Gardai believe that the shootings are linked, and are part of an ongoing dispute in the locality, a senior source told Independentie.

There is no evidence that yesterdays shootings are linked to a bitter feud involving Ballymun-based gangland criminal DerekBottler Devoy.

Eleven months ago, Devoy was the intended target when his sister Antoinette Corbally (48) and locksmith Clinton Shannon (30), both innocent victims, were shot dead at his family home by members of the Hutch mob.

Yesterdays incidents are linked to a spate of shootings which happened in the troubled northside suburb last year as part of a separate dispute.

Dublin North West TD Noel Rock condemned the gunmen who struck yesterday.

I was alarmed to learn of a shooting in Ballymun, he said.

A shooting like this, happening in broad daylight, in a residential area like Shangan Green which is full of children, is some thing

which would strike fear into the heart of any parent.A 73-year-old man has died after he was struck by a tractor while working in a field.

The accident happened on Tuesday on a farm in Gort, Co Galway, a spokesperson for the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) confirmed.

This is the sixth death on Irish farms in July alone.

The HSA is investigating the incident but it's understood the man was hit by a tractor when he was working in a field.

Earlier this month, a father of five died after he was seriously injured by a bull on his farm.

Kieran Byrne (58) was killed in the freak accident in Cadamstown, near Kinnitty, Co Offaly.

A man in his 90s was fatally injured in the Listowel area of Kerry and earlier in the week a woman (54) was killed in a farm accident at Curracuggeen, Co Galway.

In Laois, an 87-year-old farmer passed away following an accident involving a tractor.

Jim McCann was discovered on the farm in Clonaslee, Co Laois, by one of his sons after an accident left him with head wounds. Owen Thornton, a man in his 70s, died after a farming accident in Co Monaghan.People are seen as a wildfire burns in Mati, Greece July 23, 2018 in this picture obtained from social media on July 24, 2018. KALOGERIKOS NIKOS/via REUTERS

A woman reacts as she tries to find her dog, following a wildfire at the village of Mati, near Athens REUTERS/Costas Baltas

People are seen as a wildfire burns in Mati, Greece July 23, 2018 in this picture obtained from social media on July 24, 2018. KALOGERIKOS NIKOS/via REUTERS

Asimina Psalti, 87, sits outside her burned-out house in Mati east of Athens (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Buildings burn in the town of Mati, east of Athens (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

People sort supplies for residents rescued from the wildfire in the village of Nea Makri near Athens, Tuesday, July 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Yorgos Karahalis)

Firefighters carry a stretcher filled with body bags, following a wildfire at the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece, July 24, 2018. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

Lots of Greece is still safe for travel (Theodora Tongas/AP)

The wedding of Zoe Holohan and Brian OCallaghan-Westropp, wh have been caught up in the wildfires in Greece (Handout/PA)

O'Callaghan-Westropp, who died while on his honeymoon after becoming caught up in wildfires that have swept across Greece Photo: Blood Bank East

A family friend of an Irishman who died in the Greece wildfires while on his honeymoon has described him as an outgoing person with "an enthusiasm for life."

The body of Brian O'Callaghan-Westropp was found yesterday after he was caught up in wildfires that swept through a resort.

After an extensive search, the family of Brian OCallaghan-Westropp received the devastating news yesterday afternoon that he was among the 80 people killed in the blaze.

He married his partner Zoe Holohan last week before they flew out for their honeymoon. When the deadly blaze tore through the coastal town of Mati, the couple became separated as they tried to escape.

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Ms Holohan, who works in the advertising department of the Sunday World newspaper, was hospitalised in Athens having suffered burns.

It is understood she will remain there for a period while she awaits surgery.

Fr Shay Casey, who knows the family of Brian OCallaghan-Westropp, described his death as devastating. He said Brian was terribly outgoing, full of life and really enthusiastic for life.

If he saw somebody in need he wouldnt be slow to help them. Just a very generous soul, thats how they were reared, he told RTE's Morning Ireland.

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Fr Casey, who is Chaplain at Athlone IT, said Brian's mother Rosemary flew to Athens yesterday.

I cant imagine her waking up out there to this tragedy, he said, while asking for people to keep Rosemary in their prayers.

The Irish Embassy in Athens confirmed the tragic news yesterday afternoon.

Im very sorry to confirm that we do have the death of an Irish citizen and it has been confirmed as Brian OCallaghan-Westropp, said the Irish Ambassador to Greece, Orla OHanrahan.

Our sympathies and thoughts go out to his family at this time. she added.

The Holohan and OCallaghan-Westropp families also released a statement verifying Mr OCallaghan-Westropps death.

They said: We are deeply saddened to confirm the death of our family member, Brian OCallaghan-Westropp.

The families would respectfully appreciate privacy at this time as we grieve and as Zoe makes her recovery.

Funeral arrangement will be announced at a later stage.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has expressed his condolences to the family of and Irish man killed in the wild fires in Greece.

Speaking in Italy today Mr Varadkar said he was "saddened" to learn of the death of Brian O'Callaghan Westropp who was honeymooning in Greece.

Mr Varadkar said he understood the deceased man was a constituent of his and said the pair may have previously met.

"My condolences absolutely go to his family, for a tragedy to visit a family in this way must be truly awful," he said.

Mr Varadkar acknowledged that the family have asked for privacy and said any assistance needed would be available to them.

"Our assistance through our embassy in Athens is being offered to the family and also I've written to Prime Minister Tsipras to express our condolences to the Greek people and offer any assistance that we can," he added.

In a statement, a spokesperson for INM said the company learned of the couples plight with great sadness and that the thoughts and prayers of those within the company are with the Holohan and OCallaghan-Westropp families.

The Dubliner, from Kilmainham, was general manager of catering company Ready Chef.

He was also an active member of Blood Bikes East for more than a year. As the secretary for the voluntary organisation, the motorbike enthusiast helped provide free emergency transport services to Dublin-based hospitals.

Chairman of Blood Bikes East Brendan Conroy told the Irish Independent that he was more than a volunteer.

Brian got along so well with everyone and I would personally consider him to be a very good friend, he said.

I was only at his wedding last week and was in total shock when I found out that he was among those missing.

Mr Conroy described Mr OCallaghan-Westropp as a trojan worker who had always puts others before himself.

As the secretary of Blood Bikes East, Brian was always at the forefront developing the organisation and providing vital services to hospitals.

Hes been with us for just over a year and has applied his business knowledge and management skills to really help us thrive.

The Greek-Irish Society also paid tribute.

"The Greek-Irish Society would like to express its sincere condolences to the wife, family and friends of Brian OCallaghan-Westropp and to all the other families of the victims of this disaster."

The small community of Mati, a popular tourist resort with Greek holiday-makers around 30km east of Athens, has been among the worst areas hit by the devastating wildfires.

Speaking to RTE Radio One this afternoon Irishwoman Chloe Sugrue, who was staying in a hotel in the area, described the devastation caused by the blaze.

"It was absolutely destroyed there was nothing left. Luckily our hotel didn't get affected but there was an apartment block next to ours that was completely levelled, cars gone, houses gone, everything was levelled and just burnt to bits.

"We were blessed to be unharmed, absolutely blessed, because we were going for dinner (the day of the fire) and the next day when we went to have a look to see the damage that place had been levelled and that could have been us."

At least 80 people have been killed, while dozens more have been injured.

However, this figure is expected to rise.Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has refused to criticise one of his ministers for publicly denouncing a Government plan for 470 homes in her constituency.

An awkward dispute emerged when Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy presented the plans for a site in Inchicore, south Dublin, but was interrupted by his Cabinet colleague Catherine Byrne, who said the project was the "wrong decision at the wrong time".

Asked about his ministers disputing publicly about the plans, Mr Varadkar said he believed the development was the type the country needed to be pursuing - but said he would not criticise Ms Byrne for raising constituency concerns.

"I appreciate there is a difference of opinion on the future of St Michael's Estate... It wouldn't be the first time that a minister or politician opposed a housing development in their own constituency for local reasons - I've done it myself so I'm not going to be overly critical of Minister Byrne on this," he said.

He said he "totally understands" Ms Byrne must raise issues on behalf of her constituents and said her concerns are genuine.

Mr Varadkar said it would ultimately be Dublin City Council that would vote on the plan.The Government has been criticised over delays holding up a major review of the handling by authorities of a case involving what is feared to be largest paedophile ring in the country.

The review, which will focus on the response of Tusla and An Garda Siochana, was announced by Children's Minister Katherine Zappone on March 28 after the Dail heard a whistleblower had expressed concerns over the urgency of the response of State agencies.

However, four months on from the announcement, the review has yet to begin, amid wrangling over what specifically should be investigated.

Draft terms of reference, with input from Special Rapporteur on Child Protection Dr Geoffrey Shannon, were forwarded several weeks ago to the Children and Youth Affairs Department and the Justice and Equality Department.

But these have yet to be signed off and a spokeswoman for Ms Zappone said it was not possible to say when the review would be completed.

"The review has not yet begun due to ongoing consultations with the Department of Justice and Equality and the Attorney General's Office," the spokeswoman said.

"Draft terms of reference have been prepared and are currently being reviewed by the parties involved so are not yet finalised. It is not possible to give a time frame for the delivery of the report at this stage."

The delay was criticised as "unacceptable" by Fianna Fail TD Niall Collins, who described the case as "unprecedented in the history of the Irish State".

"There is growing public concern as to why there is an undue delay in getting to the truth here. The Government need to stop sleepwalking through the process and act with a sense of urgency," he said.

The review is to be conducted by Dr Shannon, child welfare consultant Suzanne Phelan and retired Garda chief superintendent Padraig Kennedy.

A source with knowledge of the case said it involved the grooming of children on a scale never seen before in Ireland.

The source also said authorities may have to face up to uncomfortable truths about how the matter was handled.

Last month, in response to a parliamentary question from Mr Collins, Ms Zappone said the case involved the alleged abuse and neglect of 16 children in four families.

Eleven people, ranging in age from their 20s up to their 70s, were arrested by gardai in early March. All were released without charge, but files were to be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar is meeting this morning with the Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on the final day of his Brexit offensive around Europe.

The pair are to discuss Brexit, migration, European budget and trade.

Arriving at the Palazzo Chigi this morning the Taoiseach was greeted by a rendition of Amhran na bhFiann performed by the Granatieri de Sardegna.

Today marks the third meeting with EU leaders this week as Mr Varadkar seeks to keep Irish interests foremost in the minds of his European counterparts as Brexit negotiations continue. Earlier this week Mr Varadkar visited both Croatia and Romania.

UK ministers are also on a similar offensive around Europe and today UK business minister Greg Clark is in Rome to meet with politicians and business leaders to promote the vision for Britain's exit from the EU laid out in the Chequers White Paper.Everyone loves a barbeque but with wall-to-wall sunshine over the past few weeks, some people might be looking for an alternative to the grill. So we asked some of our top chefs for their favourite summer recipes which are easy to prepare, light and fresh and taste delicious.

Richard Corrigan's buttered crab and mushrooms on toast

"This is such an easy dish to do. If you're feeling really lazy just buy picked crab meat, which should be available from most decent supermarkets and fishmongers, and this recipe will take just minutes to prepare."

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Ingredients

100g wild mushrooms

Olive oil

100g butter, in dice-sized cubes

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2tbsp white wine

2tbsp white wine vinegar

4 slices of soda bread

200g fresh crab meat

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Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Small bunch of samphire

Method

Take the butter out of the fridge about 30 minutes before preparing the dish. You don't want it to be too solid, but don't let it get too soft.

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Don't wash the mushrooms as they will contain quite a lot of moisture as they are. Just clean them carefully and trim.

Slice the mushrooms and cook in a little olive oil. If they release a lot of moisture, let it evaporate and the flavour will become concentrated.

When they are tender, add the samphire and cook for another minute. Set aside and keep warm.

Put the wine and vinegar into a non-reactive saucepan. Over a high heat, reduce quickly to half of its original volume.

Lower the heat and whisk in the butter, one cube at a time until you have a nicely emulsified sauce.

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Put the soda bread under a hot grill to toast.

Stir the crabmeat into the buttery sauce and let it warm through. Now add the mushrooms and samphire.

Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Spoon onto the slices of toasted soda bread and serve straight away.

Catherine Fulvio's beetroot and prosciutto salad

"The combination of Italian flavours and textures makes this a healthy and summery salad - and it looks great too; almost too good to eat."

Ingredients

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Extra virgin olive oil

100g prosciutto de Parma

100g French beans, sliced diagonally into thirds

For the Dressing

Red chilli finely, chopped

60ml extra virgin olive oil

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1tsp Dijon mustard

1 orange, juice and zest

Pinch of sugar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Generous bunch of salad leaves or spinach

2 beetroot, steamed and thinly sliced

2tbsp toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped to garnish

Method

Heat a little oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and fry off the strips of prosciutto until crispy. Set aside on a clean plate.

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and blanch the beans for 3 minutes until slightly tender.

Drain and refresh by placing in cold water.

To prepare the dressing, whisk together the chilli, oil, mustard and orange juice and zest.

Add a pinch of sugar and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

To assemble, place the rocket leaves on a large platter and arrange the beetroot on top.

Sprinkle the beans in between. Spoon some of the dressing over and pour the rest into a small jug to serve on the side. Lightly break up the crispy prosciutto and arrange on top.

Sprinkle over the toasted hazelnuts and serve.

Rachel Allen's lamb, bean and feta salad

"I created this with some leftover lamb - it has delicious flavours and is ideal for a midsummer lunch or supper."

Ingredients

300g cooked lamb

1 x200g tin of beans (black eye, butter or cannellini) drained

110g salad leaves

Small handful of mint leaves

24 small black olives

200g Feta cheese, crumbled

For the dressing

4tsp redcurrant jelly

2tsp red wine vinegar

4tsp extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

First make the dressing by placing the redcurrant jelly in a small bowl, add the vinegar and olive oil - season with a little salt and pepper and whisk together.

Carve or tear the lamb into thin slices and toss lightly with beans, salad and mint leaves on one big platter.

Scatter the olives and crumbled feta cheese on top.

Drizzle over the dressing and serve immediately.

Neven Maguire's warm steak salad with horseradish mustard

"We are very lucky to have the best grass fed beef [in Ireland] so both the salad and steak will make this a truly tasty summer meal."

Ingredients

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

4 x 200g striploin steaks, trimmed

150g mixed salad leaves

1 large carrot, cut into thin strips

1 beetroot, peeled and cut into thin strips

1 red onion, thinly sliced

Celeriac, peeled and cut into thin strips

8 micro-greens, to garnish

for the dressing

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 tsp creamed horseradish

1 tsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp extra virgin rapeseed oil

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp chopped fresh coriander

4 tbsp beef stock

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Remember to take your steaks out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before cooking to allow them to come back up to room temperature.

To make the dressing, place the garlic, horseradish and mustard in a bowl, then whisk in the extra virgin rapeseed oil and balsamic vinegar to form a dressing. Season to taste and add the coriander.

Set aside until needed.

Heat the rapeseed oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat. Season the steaks, add them to the heated pan and fry for 4 minutes on each side, turning once, for medium rare.

Remove from the pan and transfer to a plate. Cover loosely with foil to keep warm and leave to rest for 10 minutes.

Add the beef stock to the frying pan that you've cooked the steaks in. Bring to the boil and reduce by half, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to remove any sediment.

Whisk into the dressing. Place the salad leaves and vegetables in a large bowl and lightly coat with the dressing.

Divide among plates, then carve the steaks into thin slices and arrange on top. Drizzle over any remaining dressing and garnish with the micro greens and the edible flowers, if using, to serve.Bathroom products by the Handmade Soap Company at The Morgan. Photo: David Cantwell Photography

A bedroom at The Morgan Hotel in Dublin.

The restaurant at The Morgan Hotel in Dublin. Photo: David Cantwell

Inside a bedroom at The Morgan Hotel in Dublin.

The bar at The Morgan Hotel in Dublin. Photo: David Cantwell

Reception at The Morgan Hotel in Dublin. Photo: David Cantwell

The four-star Morgan Hotel has re-opened in Dublin's Temple Bar following a 15 million investment and redesign.

The Fleet Street hotel, which opened in 2001 and grew in popularity during the Celtic Tiger era, had been closed for refurbishment since early this year.

The reboot adds 39 bedrooms (making a total of 168) and an entirely new a fifth floor alongside its full interior redesign.

"Inspired by the vibrant Art Deco period, the hotels unique design features were created by the leading architect Nikki ODonnell (NODA) and we believe we have created a real stylish urban retreat in the bustling city centre, says Declan Curtis, the hotel's General Manager.

While the boutique-styled noughties-era hotel had been showing its age, The Morgan 2.0 shoots for "classically sophisticated ambiance in the heart of the city", Curtis adds.

Dining options will include a new Lobby Lounge opening from 7.30am for coffee and pastries, and 10 Fleet Street Restaurant, a New York-style supper club focusing on seafood and steak dishes with local ingredients.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close The bar at The Morgan Hotel in Dublin. Photo: David Cantwell Inside The Morgan Hotel in Dublin. Photo: David Cantwell A bedroom at The Morgan Hotel in Dublin. The restaurant at The Morgan Hotel in Dublin. Photo: David Cantwell Inside the Morgan Hotel in Dublin. Photo: David Cantwell SuitePad tech in The Morgan. Photo: David Cantwell Photography Inside The Morgan Hotel in Dublin. Photo: David Cantwell The Morgan Hotel in Dublin. Photo: David Cantwell Inside a bedroom at The Morgan Hotel in Dublin. Bathroom products by the Handmade Soap Company at The Morgan. Photo: David Cantwell Photography Reception at The Morgan Hotel in Dublin. Photo: David Cantwell / Facebook

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Whatsapp The bar at The Morgan Hotel in Dublin. Photo: David Cantwell

The expansion comes at a time of bustling activity in the capital's hotel scene, with The Devlin - a new venture from Paddy McKillen Jr's Press-Up Group - set to open this autumn and Dublin getting its first Hyatt Centric in 2019.

A 202-bed Marriott Aloft will open in the Liberties later this year, and the city is due to get its first Hard Rock Hotel in 2020, while this month a Smithfield site was secured by the EasyGroup (which owns easyJet) for its first Irish EasyHotel.

Despite the movement, demand still exceeds supply in a bullish tourism market, and Dublin's hotel rates are rising.

Recent figures by travel research group STR, for example, found average daily rates rose by 9.5pc to 155.75 over the last quarter, compared to a European average of 115.54.

Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Expand Previous Next Close Inside a bedroom at The Morgan Hotel in Dublin. Reception at The Morgan Hotel in Dublin. Photo: David Cantwell The bar at The Morgan Hotel in Dublin. Photo: David Cantwell Bathroom products by the Handmade Soap Company at The Morgan. Photo: David Cantwell Photography Inside the Morgan Hotel in Dublin. Photo: David Cantwell The restaurant at The Morgan Hotel in Dublin. Photo: David Cantwell A bedroom at The Morgan Hotel in Dublin. Inside The Morgan Hotel in Dublin. Photo: David Cantwell SuitePad tech in The Morgan. Photo: David Cantwell Photography The Morgan Hotel in Dublin. Photo: David Cantwell Inside The Morgan Hotel in Dublin. Photo: David Cantwell / Facebook

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Whatsapp Inside a bedroom at The Morgan Hotel in Dublin.

Midweek rates at The Morgan start from 239, rising to 289 at weekends, though a special offer sees a 20pc discount on all rooms for July and August - provided you book before August 1st.

The Temple Bar hotel is part of the Irish-owned and managed MHL Hotel Collection, which also includes the InterContinental, The Spencer and Trinity City hotels, the Hilton, The Beacon and The Westin in Dublin.

Read more:De : Dr. John bank manager ubaafricardsenegal@outlook.com

Envoye le : Ma, 9 Jan 2018 13:08

Sujet : your Visa card from your partner gaddafiaisha585@gmail.com will get to you





87 dollars. as soon as you send it within 48 hours your Visa card from your partner We have already paid for the Insurance & Delivery fees. The only fees you have to pay are their Security fees only, which is. as soon as you send it within 48 hours your Visa card from your partner gaddafiaisha585@gmail.com will get to you without any delay. we are waiting for you to proceed.

De : Aisha Gaddafi aishagaddafl50@hotmail.com

Envoye le : Me, 24 Jan 2018 10:52

Sujet : Hello dear, send to them the little money they ask you to pay



Hello dear, I am so happy to read from you again for a long time. You know I am married now so I just give you the cheque to compensate you for the good relationship we have before I married. Please I want you to follow the instruction of the Apex Company apexcouriedeliverycompan@hotmail.com in order to get the cheque. Try and send to them the little moneythey ask you to pay for them to send you the cheque. Please don't be angry if idid not send you any picture because now I am married.



Your friend,

Aisha.



Be in peace and thank you for your mail.Your friend,Aisha. De : Aisha Gaddafi aishagaddafl50@hotmail.com

Envoye le : Je, 26 Jan 2018 10:53

Sujet : Hello dear, I want you to pay the Apex Co.



Hello my dear, I am married but I have not yet do marriage ceremony. We are planing it.



Yours friend,

Aisha.



I want you to try and pay the Apex company apexcouriedeliverycompan@hotmail.com apexcourier_deliverycompany@post.com so that the can post the cheque to you.Yours friend,Aisha. De : Western Union wesunion522@gmail.com

A: undisclosed-recipients:;

Envoye le : Me, 14 Mar 2018 17:47

Sujet : $195 fees to send us about transfer



Dear valued customer,

Compliment of the day; I write in reverence of eight hundred thousand US dollars $800,000.00 left in our custody by Aisha Gaddafi, to transfer/send to you and we shall be sending the sum of five thousand United States dollars ($5,000) to you daily as that is the maximum amount we can send per day here in Ouagadougou, Burkina-Faso. I am pleased to inform you that we have issued an MTCN of your first payment of $5,000usd, kindly track and confirm MTCN of the first $5,000 in the Western Union database by following the below link: Once you clicked the below link, enter the 10 digits MTCN below in the tracking numbers (MTCN), then click track transfer and find out the position of your first payment of $5,000 in the Western Union database.

https://www.westernunion.com/us/en/send-money/app/tracktransfer

979-320-8518



Note in line with the rules and regulation governing this institution here in Ouagadougou Burkina-Faso on such deposited funds, you are requested to send to us as quickly as possible the sum of $195 been sign-off charge fee thus we are not permitted to deduct any amount from the total sum till it is fully transferred to you. The above mentioned fee should reach us via Western Union Money Transfer with the information listed below:



Receiver's name: Mohammad Jawad

Country: Burkina-Faso

City: Ouagadougou

Amount:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $195



Note as soon as we receive the sign-off fee of $195 from you, thereby we shall immediately release to you the full access to pick up your first $5,000 at any Western Union of your choice over there in your country as the $5,000 is already confirmable reflecting automatically to the Western Union computers database, and you shall be receiving $5,000 per each day until you receive your total sum of $800,000.00 that is in our custody. The payment slip of the $195 should reach us via email attach to enable us proceed.



Thanks for your co-operation

Mr. Mohammad Jawad

Foreign operation manager

Western union office Burkina Faso. From: gaddafi47 gaddafi47@aol.com

Sent: Thu, May 24, 2018 11:51 am

Subject: Hello my beloved one, I need your assistance.





Hello my beloved one, I need your assistance. .

Please bear with me i am writing this mail to you with tears and sorrow from my heart.



I am Aisha Muammar Gaddafi, the only daughter of the embattled president of Libya, Hon. Muammar Gaddafi. I know my mail might come to you as a surprise because you don't know me, but due to unsolicited nature of my situation here in Refugees camp Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), i decided to contact you for help. I have passed through pains and sorrowful moment since the death of my father. At the meantime, my family is the target of Western nations led by NATO who wants to destroy my father at all costs. Our investments and bank accounts in several countries are their targets to freeze. My Father of blessed memory deposited the sum of $5.8m (Five millions Eight Hundred Thousand dollars)



I am in search of an honest and reliable person who will help me and stand as my trustee so that I will present him to the bank for the transfer of the fund to his bank account overseas. I have chosen to contact you after my prayers and I believe that you will not betray my trust but rather take me as your own sister or daughter. If this transaction interest you, you don't have to disclose it to any body because of what is going with my entire family, if the united nation happens to know this account, they will freezing it as they freeze others, so please keep this transaction only to yourself until we finalize it.



Sorry for my pictures i will enclose it in my next mail and more about me when i hear from you. Please you can contact me through my private email addresses below.



Yours sincerely

Best regards,

Aisha Gaddafi

at the bank here in Burkina Faso which he used my name as the next of kin. I have been commissioned by the bank to present an interested foreign investor/partner who can stand as my trustee and receive the fund in his account for a possible investment in his country due to my refugee status here in Burkina Faso.I am in search of an honest and reliable person who will help me and stand as my trustee so that I will present him to the bank for the transfer of the fund to his bank account overseas. I have chosen to contact you after my prayers and I believe that you will not betray my trust but rather take me as your own sister or daughter. If this transaction interest you, you don't have to disclose it to any body because of what is going with my entire family, if the united nation happens to know this account, they will freezing it as they freeze others, so please keep this transaction only to yourself until we finalize it.Sorry for my pictures i will enclose it in my next mail and more about me when i hear from you. Please you can contact me through my private email addresses below.Yours sincerelyBest regards,Aisha Gaddafi From: Aisha Gaddafi aishag637@gmail.com

Sent: Thu, May 31, 2018 3:20 pm

Subject: Dearest friend, assist me to transfer my money, please get back



Dearest friend, I have just received your email with lots of excitement, because since when I sent the long letter to you my heart has been over occupied with thoughts and fear if my situation will touch his heart to come for my rescue. I am glad that you saw my mail and respond to me, May Allah bless you. Like I said in my first mail, I am residing now in Burkina Faso unfortunately as a refugee, and i am emailing you from the office of the refugee camp where i am staying. I told them about my communication with you and they permitted me to access my email in their office computer twice a day,I do not have a personal telephone where you can reach me at the moment due to this problem, but you can call me with the office number of the refugees camp at +226-55676467 and ask of Mrs. Aisha Gaddafi that stays in the female hostel room 12, block B when you will call me. As a refugee here I don't have any right or privilege to do anything be it money or whatever because it is against the law of this country, and we are only allowed to go out only on Mondays and Fridays of the weeks. It's just like one staying in the prison and i hope by your help i will come out here soon. The money I am talking about is deposited in Bank of Africa, Burkina Faso, by my late father with my name as his next of kin being the only daughter. And i have been to the bank several times to clear the deposit but the branch manager whom I meet in person told me that my refugee status according to the laws of Burkina Faso cannot authorize me to clear the fund alone, but he advised me to seek for a reliable foreign representative who will stand on my behalf as my trustee/husband and claim the fund as the law demand. This is the reason why I need your help to be sincere in your heart and assist me transfer the money into any account which you know will be safe either new or old empty or not. Though I do not have experience in this kind of transaction so there is nothing I can do without your help. I wouldn't have bordered you if I have full access to the fund within myself, so I am helpless without you since I have nobody at the moment. After the transfer of this money to your account, you will help me withdraw some money from the account where the money was transferred, and from it you can send some money for me to get my travelling documents and air ticket to come over to meet you in your country. You will send a letter of invitation to me so that they will give me a visa urgently to travel and join you over there for the fund investment. It is my intention to compensate you with 30% of the total fund for your services and the balance shall be my capital in your establishment, please understand my condition and do not abandon me without help. My condition here is very bad, I find it difficult to feed myself and children but i believed with your help all will be fine. I have the account details which my late father deposited the fund with my name as the next of kin, and the bank where the fund is deposited demand that I should write a transfer authorization letter to them to empower you as my foreign representative so that they can transfer the total fund direct to your nominated bank account.So please send me the below details to include in the letter. . 1. name 2. Address 3. phone 4. Age 5. Occupation 6. Country 7. picture Once i receive the above information from you, I will use them to write a letter of authorization to the bank immediately and notify them that you are my representative and after that i will send you the bank contact details so that you can contact them via E-mail and phone and apply for the transfer. In the light of above i will like you to keep it to yourself and don't review it to anyone because am afraid of losing my life and the fund if people get to know about it. And remember i am giving you all this information due to the trust i deposed on you. I like honest and understanding person, truthful and someone with vision, truth and hardworking. Lastly, please if you have made up your mind to assist me i wouldlike you to tell me more about you and your experience in business since you will be the one to invest the money. We need to know each other better for more trust and understanding between both of us. Please i would like you to answer me these questions : 1. Can you handle this transfer ? 2. Can i trust you as a genuine friend ? Meanwhile i wouldlike you to call me so that I will hear your sweet voice. Have a nice day and think about me. I have attached my family pictures for you, I and my children, dad and mum and my personal pictures Waiting to hear from you soonest Yours sincerely



Mrs. Aisha Qaddafi Hello dear,

I am obliged to inform you that I have succeeded, the

$ 10.5 million with the help of a new person

from SOUTH AFRICA Mrs.Helena, everything was done perfectly, because she

I understood my condition and provided me with tremendous help.

In recognition of your earlier help for me in receiving the

I decided to give you the sum of $ 800,000 (eight

One hundred thousand dollars) in a bank change.

I am currently in SOUTH AFRICA with my new partner

Investment project I'm here now. Meanwhile, I have your filed

Bank change with REV BENJAMIN, I told the Rev. father from the bank

Draft, he has tasked me to do that for you. Below is his contact details.

Rev. Benjamin Ogbogo.

Evangelical Lurthran Church of God (ELCG)

Ouagadougou Municipality, Burkina Faso, West Africa.

evangelicalurtheranchurch@gmail.com



When contacting Rev. Benjamin, tell him that I am the one who gave you

his contact and explain to him in others to help you more

Themoment, I am very busy here in SOUTH AFRICA because of the investment

Projects the new person and I have at hand. So do not hesitate

in contact with Rev. Father to send you your bank statement without any

Be late and inform me as soon as you know get it. When contacting Rev. Benjamin, tell him that I am the one who gave youhis contact and explain to him in others to help you moreThemoment, I am very busy here in SOUTH AFRICA because of the investmentProjects the new person and I have at hand. So do not hesitatein contact with Rev. Father to send you your bank statement without anyBe late and inform me as soon as you know get it.

Best regards,

MS. AISHA GHADDAFI From: Rev Benjamin Ogbogo evangelicalurtheranchurch@gmail.com

Sent: Wed, Jul 25, 2018 9:24 am

Subject: From Rev. Benjamin Ogbogo to send your $800,000



Rev. Benjamin Ogbogo.

Evangelical Lurthran Church of God (ELCG)

Ouagadougou Municipality, Burkina Faso.

West Africa.

evangelicalurtheranchurch@gmail.com



Good day my dear.

Aisha Gaddafi, how give me your information, because she die and you have to get your money $ 800,000, and you only have to pay Euros 250 EURO

Because Aisha died now before she die, she gaves me your information about the cube. I can not contact you, but now everything is fine. I thank God for everything. you have to get your money, you only have to pay 250 EURO . for the check



Name of the recipient: Benjamin Ogbogo

Country: Burkina-Faso

City: Ouagadougou

Amount: only 250 EURO



And your information to get your money

Name:- . . . . .

address: - . . . . .

country: - . . . . .

phone: - . .

airport: - . . . . . . If you received a similar letter, please ignore it. Do not answer it. If you do, you will end up on more of the mailing lists used by the criminals behind this fraud. Read more....For companies to sustain and boost their competitiveness, providing upskilling, training and development for employees is imperative. Skillnet Ireland announced that 2m funding will be available to industry bodies and enterprise groups to develop new Skillnet networks. These networks will enable companies to be future proofed to meet new skills challenges.

To meet the challenges and navigate the global megatrends Irish businesses are faced with, national agency Skillnet Ireland champions innovation in lifelong learning. This is to ensure that Irish workers have the skills for the future.

Paul Healy, Chief Executive of Skillnet Ireland, says: Ireland is a small open economy. However, we are vulnerable to global megatrends. One such megatrend is the impact of technology, particularly automation, artificial intelligence and the pervasive nature of tech in the workplace today. Others include demographic changes, and major geopolitical shifts which are going to be disruptive for our economy, such as Brexit. Because of these factors, businesses require ongoing reskilling and upskilling to remain competitive."

Expand Close Participants engaged in training on a MSc Applied Cyber Security through Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet / Facebook

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Whatsapp Participants engaged in training on a MSc Applied Cyber Security through Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet

Supporting SMEs

Healy continues, Small business owners need to look at their own development and training. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has identified that the low uptake of lifelong learning and management development amongst small firms is one cause of an ever-widening productivity gap between SMEs and multinationals based here.

To counteract this, Healy encourages small businesses to get involved in lifelong learning and have an upskilling strategy for their business, by engaging with one of our 60+ enterprise-led Skillnet Learning Networks.

Funding for new Skillnet networks

Skillnet Ireland have announced 2m worth of additional funding, to support Irish businesses in establishing new Skillnet Learning Networks to address their sector or regions current and future skills needs. Paul Healy says this will be particularly significant for SMEs. A Skillnet Learning Network is a collection of private sector businesses which collaborate to address needs within their sector. Today, there are over 60 Skillnet Networks in Ireland, which support approximately 15,000 companies.

Businesses can talk to an existing Skillnet Network and join that network, says Healy. Or if a relevant network doesnt exist, they can apply to establish one network through their industry federation, industry body or enterprise group. Healy explains the enterprise group or industry body that is applying must meet the following criteria: they must have clearly identified and established a skilling need for their sector.

They must also show that there is a strong momentum from the employers within the sector or region to establish a Skillnet Network and make it sustainable over the years.

Our focus is on upskilling those who are in employment and we need to ensure that the workforce has the skills required to remain competitive. Upskilling leads to greater career mobility and enhanced prospects in career and life outcomes.

And, Healy says the benefit of remaining competitive through upskilling and development training for staff is not the only advantage to becoming part of a Skillnet Network.

There is also the fact that there is a facility there to work with other companies and your peers  you become part of a network. Secondly, the training is subsidised by the State, which is a huge advantage. Our networks offer a flexible approach to suit various business needs. Whilst we work with enterprises to source and part-fund training partners to provide relevant upskilling, it is enterprise that decides exactly what training they want and runs it themselves. Employers have that chance to influence and control the process, so it is highly relevant and responsive.

Expand Close Jubilant graduates of the Retail Ireland Skillnet training programme, celebrating their achievement at the Letterkenny Institute of Technology. Photo: Clive Wasson / Facebook

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Whatsapp Jubilant graduates of the Retail Ireland Skillnet training programme, celebrating their achievement at the Letterkenny Institute of Technology. Photo: Clive Wasson

Upskilling success stories

With many of the current Skillnet Networks established for as long as almost 20 years, the success rate is exemplary.

Stephen Hickey, of Glanbia Agribusiness group, says: Our business finds that ICOS Skillnet membership is a crucial support for the development and delivery of our learning and development year-on-year. Their support in the development of relevant courses has been hugely beneficial via access to industry working groups, and in accessing the best trainers available. This helps shape the training to best meet our business needs and has added real value.

James Trindle, of security software company McAfee, adds: The partnership with IT@Cork Skillnet has been critical to progress made over the last number of years. They have been able to help us source the highest quality training from the most reputable providers, at significantly reduced prices. The network model facilitates strong engagement and interaction between member companies and we look forward to continuing our collaboration.

According to Healy: Sustaining and improving our national competitiveness through upskilling and lifelong learning goes to the heart of what Skillnet Ireland does. As advocates for workforce development, Skillnet Ireland will, in conjunction with our enterprise partners, continue to increase our engagement with SMEs. We will aim to play a key role in supplying skills to the Irish workforce by developing new and innovative programmes. Healy adds, We are ambitious for Irish enterprise. We know that one of the routes to success is through developing the workforce. The key to surviving and thriving in the modern business environment is to invest in the resilience, adaptability and skills of the workforce.

The fund will closed for applications on Thursday, 8 November, 2018. If your industry federation, industry body or other private sector enterprise group are interested in establishing a new Skillnet Learning Network, contact Skillnet Ireland at (01) 207 9630, email funding@skillnetireland.ie or visit www.skillnetireland.ie/funding for more details.

Sponsored by:Find out how you can save money with an electric heat pump

Theres a reason why heat pumps are the heating technology of choice for millions of homes around the world. Theyre simply the most energy efficient and cost effective way to heat a home.

Perhaps its no surprise that more and more Irish householders are choosing to invest and upgrade to these systems. Housing developers are also responding to the demand for more efficient heating systems in new homes.

The proportion of new homes with heat pumps rose to almost 40pc in 2017. Meanwhile, its estimated that heat pumps will provide up to 60pc of heating for households by 2050 as the government and associated industries look to remove our reliance on fossil fuels.

Despite their growing popularity, heat pumps are still deemed a relatively new technology to Irish homeowners. There is still a lack of awareness around how they work and what makes them superior to other home heating systems.

How do heat pumps work?

Heat pumps are powered by electricity and work by extracting heat from the air or ground outside the house and transfers it indoors at a warmer temperature. So how exactly does it do this?

A heat pump contains a fluid that quietly and efficiently harvests and absorbs the heat from the air or ground outside your home. The heat pump then compresses the fluid and raises it to a suitable temperature. The heat from the fluid is then transferred to the water in your heating system, including radiators and underfloor heating, as well as your hot water tank.

It requires electrical energy to operate because an electric motor drives the compressor. This energy required to run this motor is small compared to the renewable heat that it extracts from the environment. So for every unit of electricity used, three or four units of heat are produced, making it extremely energy efficient.

The cost and benefits of a heat pump

Heat pumps are more costly than conventional fossil fuel boilers. However, homeowners who adopt this low carbon alternative can avail of grants to offset the additional cost. The SEAI currently offer a grant of 3,500 towards the cost of installing a heat pump system in homes built before 2011.

Once installed, heat pumps are up to 30pc cheaper to run than gas or oil boilers and have significantly lower emissions than both. They require minimal maintenance and have a longer lifespan than conventional fossil fuel boilers.

Theyre also pretty easy to use. Simple controls allow you to easily adjust the temperature, so that its never too hot or too cold.

Insulation matters

In order to get the best performance from heat pumps, its recommended that your home is well-insulated and relatively airtight. For that reason, installation is often done in combination with a fabric retrofit to improve the buildings energy performance.

SEAI also offer insulation grants (which were increased substantially in April) to facilitate this. There are also deep retrofit programmes available, such as those run by the Tipperary Energy Agencys Superhomes initiative, which help homeowners make the most cost-effective choices to achieve an A energy efficiency rating standard.

Ireland is on a low-carbon pathway to meet future targets and hopes to reduce greenhouse emissions in Ireland by 80pc before 2050. The focus of home heating is now firmly centred around renewable energy and, with the availability of Government grants, now is the perfect time to invest in a heat pump system as a reliable, low-carbon energy choice.

See #ebsbrighterfuture for more information.

Sponsored by:Chris Hardwick will return as the host of Talking Dead following an investigation (Al Powers/Invision/AP, File)

Chris Hardwick will return as the host of Talking Dead following an investigation into allegations his former girlfriend was abused.

Hardwick had been pulled from The Walking Dead aftershow after Chloe Dykstra said she was sexually and emotionally abused by an ex-boyfriend.

Dykstra, 29, never named the man and Hardwick, 46, denied any wrongdoing.

Now, following an investigation, US TV network AMC has announced Hardwick will return as Talking Dead host and present his own weekly talkshow, Talking With Chris Hardwick.

He will make his Talking Dead comeback on August 12 following the mid-season premiere of The Walking Dead spin-off Fear The Walking Dead.

Yvette Nicole Brown, who had replaced Hardwick at several San Diego Comic-Con panels earlier this month, had been named Talking Dead interim host while the investigation was being carried out and will host The Walking Dead series nine preview special on August 9.

She will also appear as a guest on the premiere of Talking Dead.

In a statement released on Wednesday, a spokesman for AMC said: Following a comprehensive assessment by AMC, working with Ivy Kagan Bierman of the firm Loeb & Loeb, who has considerable experience in this area, Chris Hardwick will return to AMC as the host of Talking Dead and Talking with Chris Hardwick.

We take these matters very seriously and given the information available to us after a very careful review, including interviews with numerous individuals, we believe returning Chris to work is the appropriate step.

Video of the Day

Series nine of The Walking Dead will premiere on October 7.Residents have fled as the Cranston Fire clouds the skies over Highway 243, south of Idyllwild (Richard Lui/The Desert Sun/ AP)

A fast-moving wildfire believed to have been started deliberately has destroyed five homes and forced evacuation orders to be issued for a California town.

The so-called Cranston Fire, which erupted on Wednesday in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles, burned hundreds of trees and in a matter of hours grew to more than seven square miles.

Authorities said it was threatening an estimated 600 homes.

The fire was the largest of at least five that police believe were started by a man whose car was spotted at the starting point of the blaze in Riverside County.

Brandon McGlover, 32, of Temecula, was arrested on suspicion of five counts of arson, state fire officials said.

Authorities ordered residents to leave Idyllwild and several neighbouring communities, home to about 12,000 people.

William Blodgett, of Idyllwild, said he could not get home because of the fire and had to wait along with others at a petrol station in nearby Mountain Center before the flames began to move in his direction.

We were all peeling out of there as fast as we could, he told KNBC-TV. It was apocalyptic.

Horses and other animals were taken to shelters as were several hundred children who were evacuated from summer camps. About 200 were at a local high school serving as a shelter, KCAL-TV reported.

Expand Close Smoke from the Cranston Fire clouds the skies over Highway 243, south of Idyllwild (Richard Lui/AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Smoke from the Cranston Fire clouds the skies over Highway 243, south of Idyllwild (Richard Lui/AP)

The fire in the San Bernardino National Forest sent up a cloud 50,000 feet high that was so enormous it created its own weather in the form of lightning, the National Weather Service reported.

Throughout the day, helicopters and planes dumped water and fire retardant that turned swathes of land and homes pink. Fire engines were also stationed to protect homes.

The fire is one of several across California amid a heatwave that has seen days of triple-digit temperatures.

To the north, in the San Francisco Bay Area, at least one home was destroyed in a fast-moving blaze in Clayton, where houses are spread out around windy roads.

Yosemite Valley, the scenic heart of the national park, was closed at noon on Wednesday during the height of the tourist season as smoke cast a pall on the region from a fire in the Sierra Nevada.

Expand Close A firefighter watches as the Cranston fire burns 1,200 acres in the San Bernardino National Forest (Terry Pierson/AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp A firefighter watches as the Cranston fire burns 1,200 acres in the San Bernardino National Forest (Terry Pierson/AP)

The closure was heartbreaking for travellers, many of whom mapped out their trips months in advance to hike and climb amid the spectacular views of cascading waterfalls and sheer rock faces.

We had one guest who planned a week-long trip, said Tom Lambert, who owns a vacation rental property near Yosemite Valley. It was a father-daughter trip, for her high school graduation  Now its done. Its sad.

Officials emphasised that Yosemite was not in imminent danger from the fire. Authorities decided on the closure to allow crews to perform protective measures such as burning away brush along roadways without having to deal with traffic in the park that welcomes four million visitors annually.

Yosemite Valley will be closed until at least Sunday, along with a winding 20-mile stretch of Californias State Route 41 that leads into the area.Officials and security personnel stand near the site of reported blast just south of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

An explosion outside the US embassy in Beijing was caused by a small homemade device wielded by a 26-year-old man who only injured himself, according to Chinese police.

Photos on social media showed a large amount of smoke and police vehicles surrounding the embassy after the incident.

Apart from a heightened security presence, the scene outside appeared to be normal by early afternoon.

A police statement said the man was from the city of Tongliao in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia.

He was injured on the hand by the explosive device, which was made from fireworks, police said.

There was no word on a motive and the statement said the investigation was continuing.

No damage was done to embassy property and no other injuries were recorded, a US embassy spokesman said.

Neither the police nor the embassy had any comment on a report by the ruling Communist Party newspaper Global Times that said officers had earlier removed a woman from outside the embassy who had sprayed petrol on herself.

China and the US are in the middle of a trade dispute, but America remains a hugely popular destination for travel, education and immigration for Chinese citizens.

On weekdays, large lines of visa applicants form outside the embassy, which sits in a busy corner of the city hosting numerous diplomatic installations as well as hotels and stores.A champagne Casanova is in hiding after being found guilty of killing his date in a speedboat accident on the Thames.

Web designer Jack Shepherd had been trying to impress 24-year-old Charlotte Brown after meeting her on dating website OkCupid.

But their champagne-fuelled first date ended in tragedy when his boat capsized and she was thrown into the cold river in December 2015.

Shepherd, 30, originally from Exeter, had denied manslaughter by gross negligence but was found guilty in his absence at the Old Bailey.

Expand Close Web designer Jack Shepherd has been found guilty of killing his date, Charlotte Brown, in a speedboat accident Photo credit: Metropolitan Police/PA Wire / Facebook

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Whatsapp Web designer Jack Shepherd has been found guilty of killing his date, Charlotte Brown, in a speedboat accident Photo credit: Metropolitan Police/PA Wire

It can now be reported that he skipped bail and failed to attend his trial, to the anger of Ms Brown's grieving parents in court.

Despite issuing instructions to his legal team by phone, police were unable to track him down and his whereabouts remains unknown.

The court had heard how Shepherd had bought the 14ft Fletcher Arrowflyte GTO from Gumtree to "pull women".

In the months before Ms Brown's death, he had entertained up to 10 women on the 1980s model, having invited them back to his houseboat in Hammersmith.

During that time, he had been caught speeding by marine police more than once and advised on the importance of wearing life jackets.

A previous date Amy Warner told jurors she felt so uncomfortable aboard the vessel that she asked Shepherd to slow down and then got a taxi home.

On December 8 2015, Shepherd treated Ms Brown to a 150 meal at Oblix in the Shard, where they drank two bottles of wine.

The couple took a taxi back to Shepherd's place where they took champagne aboard the speedboat for a trip past the Houses of Parliament.

In mobile phone footage, Ms Brown could be heard shouting that they were going "so fast" as Shepherd drove at more than double the 12 knot speed limit.

On the return journey, Shepherd handed over the controls to business development consultant Ms Brown who followed suit and went "full throttle".

Moments before the accident, Miss Brown's sister texted her: "Is he driving this bad boy?" but received no answer.

The speeding boat hit a submerged log and tipped over near Wandsworth Bridge, sending both occupants into the water.

Riverside resident Steven Morrissey told the court that he heard a young man screaming for help.

He said in a statement: "He kept saying 'Help me, help me, somebody help me'. It was just 'Help me" - not 'us', or 'her'."

Shepherd was found clinging to the hull and Ms Brown was pulled from the water unconscious and unresponsive.

Paramedics battled in vain to save her as she was already in cardiac arrest and suffering from hypothermia.

The next day, Shepherd tearfully told police that he had taken Ms Brown out on the river as part of his seduction routine.

He said: "I was just trying to show off about having a speedboat like I thought it would impress her."

Shepherd told police Ms Brown was going "full throttle" when they crashed.

He said: "My memory is quite hazy about the whole thing because we drank heavily.

"I had no idea what happened. I was hanging on and tried to go underneath the boat to see if she was there and got trapped.

"I was feeling with my legs to see if she was there. I don't think she was there but I didn't know. I just started shouting for help, 'please help, please help'."

Prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee QC told jurors: "It was cold, it was dark, we submit, it was sheer madness."

The jackets had been tucked away, the kill cord was not connected and the boat had a number of defects, including faulty steering, the court heard.

Jurors were told the defendant denied manslaughter on the basis he had no "duty of care" towards Ms Brown.

It can now be reported that Shepherd told his lawyers in mid-May he would not attend his Old Bailey trial in July but the Crown Prosecution Service and court only found out a week before.

In legal argument, the prosecution said police had spoken to his mother on June 27 and was told he had not been in contact since March and his phone number was no longer connected.

His defence team insisted they did not know where he was even though his solicitor had maintained telephone contact.

It later emerged he had been receiving daily updates from the trial from his legal team.

But they successfully argued that the reason for his absence should be kept from jurors deciding his case and they should only told he was not in the dock and had "chosen" not to given evidence.

Mr Jafferjee said the lawyers had been "dancing on pins" as they debated exactly what to tell the jury, as the defence objected to the words "failed to attend".

Shepherd is also wanted by police for failing to attend court over another unrelated matter.

Following the verdict, Judge Richard Marks QC, the Common Serjeant of London, read out a note passed to him by the jury reading: "We are concerned that the current lack of licensing regarding private boat ownership on the Thames and lack of clarity regarding safety matters greatly increases the risk of further incidents."

It continued: "[We] would hope that the result of this case will lead to a high level review of matters going forward."

Shepherd will be sentenced at 11.30 tomorrow morning.

Following the verdict, Judge Richard Marks QC, the Common Serjeant of London, read out a note passed to him by the jury reading: "We are concerned that the current lack of licensing regarding private boat ownership on the Thames and lack of clarity regarding safety matters greatly increases the risk of further incidents."

It continued: "[We] would hope that the result of this case will lead to a high-level review of matters going forward."

Katie Brown, the victim's sister, said in a statement on behalf of the family: "The immense pain and anguish we feel will never pass and our grief will last a lifetime."

She continued: "Charlie died because she thought she would be safe taking a journey on Jack Shepherd's speedboat - a speedboat that we know was unsafe and that he bought with the sole purpose of seducing young women and one he had used recklessly many times before.

"During the trial, in his absence, with his whereabouts unknown to both the court and police, Jack Shepherd was afforded more rights that Charlie.

"Throughout this trial we have been appalled by the tactics the defence have stooped to to protect their client in his absence - a particular lie for our family was when the defence said that wearing a life jacket would not have saved Charlie's life.

"As a family, and as testified by experts, we firmly believe that Charlie would not have drowned if she was wearing a life jacket."

Shepherd has absconded and was not in court for any of his trial, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.

Katie Brown added: "We now appeal to Jack Shepherd wherever he is in the world to return and assume the responsibility of his guilt and the devastation he caused by his actions that fateful night - we appeal to Jack Shepherd's family and friends to appeal to him and urge him to face the consequences of his actions."

Ms Brown said the family now planned to work with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution to tighten the legislation on the UK's waterways to prevent further tragedies.A woman who wants to divorce her husband of 40 years because she says their marriage is unhappy has lost a Supreme Court fight in the UK.

Five justices ruled that Tini Owens must stay married to Hugh Owens. They upheld rulings by a Family Court judge and Court of Appeal judges.

Expand Close Tini Owens lost a court divorce fight at the Supreme Court after five justices ruled that she must stay married to husband Hugh. Photo credit: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire / Facebook

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Whatsapp Tini Owens lost a court divorce fight at the Supreme Court after five justices ruled that she must stay married to husband Hugh. Photo credit: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

Ms Owens, who is in her late 60s, wants a divorce and says her marriage to Mr Owens, who is in his 80s, is loveless and has broken down.

She says he has behaved unreasonably and that she should not reasonably be expected to stay married. But Mr Owens refuses to agree to a divorce and denies Ms Owens's allegations about his behaviour.

He says if their marriage has irretrievably broken down it is because she had an affair, or because she is "bored".

The pair married in 1978 and lived in Broadway, Worcestershire, judges heard. Ms Owens petitioned for divorce in 2015 after moving out.

Supreme Court justices analysed rival legal arguments, revolving around concepts of "unreasonable" behaviour and "fault", at a Supreme Court hearing in London in May and delivered a ruling yesterday.

One, Lord Wilson, said justices had ruled against Ms Owens "with reluctance".

He said the "question for Parliament" was whether the law governing "entitlement to divorce" remained "satisfactory". Lord Wilson indicated Ms Owens would be able to divorce in 2020, when the couple have been separated for five years.

Another, Supreme Court president Lady Hale, said she found the case "very troubling", but said it was not for judges to "change the law".

Ms Owens had already lost two rounds of the battle. In 2016 she failed to persuade a Family Court judge to allow her to divorce, and last year three appeal judges ruled against her after a Court of Appeal hearing.

They said Ms Owens had failed to establish her marriage had, legally, irretrievably broken down and dismissed her challenge to a ruling by Judge Robin Tolson.

One appeal judge said she reached her conclusion with "no enthusiasm whatsoever" but that Parliament would have to decide whether to introduce "no fault" divorce on demand.

Another said Parliament had "decreed" that being in a "wretchedly unhappy marriage" was not grounds for divorce.

Ms Owens's lawyers say she should not have to prove Mr Owens's behaviour has been "unreasonable", only that she should not "reasonably be expected" to stay with him. They say the case is about "proper interpretation" of legislation.

Barrister Philip Marshall, for Ms Owens, told Supreme Court justices a "modest shift" of focus in interpretation of legislation was required. But Nigel Dyer, for Mr Owens, disagreed and raised concern about the introduction of divorce on "demand".Burned cars are collected together at an old football field in Rafina (Thanassis Stavrakis/AP)

The flag on the Acropolis hill flies at half-mast (Theodora Tongas/AP)

Buildings burn in the town of Mati, east of Athens (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

Greece has "serious indications" that arson caused a wildfire that soared near Athens on Monday, killing at least 83 people and injuring scores, Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Toskas said on Thursday.

"We have serious indications and significant signs suggesting the criminal actions of arson," Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Toskas told a news conference. He said police had testimonies to that effect, but did not elaborate.

Grief became tinged with anger on Thursday as rescuers searched scorched land and the coastline for survivors, three days after a wildfire destroyed a small town and killed at least 83 people, including Irishman Brian O'Callaghan-Westropp whose body was found yesterday.

In a nation numbed by the scale of devastation, desperate relatives appeared on television to plead for information on those missing, while questions mounted why so many were trapped by a wall of flame in streets with no exit route at Mati.

"This shouldn't have happened, people perished for no reason," a tearful woman shouted at Defence Minister Panos Kammenos as he visited the town and nearby fire-ravaged areas. "You left us at God's mercy!"

It was unclear why there was no evacuation order, with the fire brigade, local administration and central government each saying the other was responsible.

With the toll from Greece's deadliest wildfire in decades expected to rise further, about 300 firemen and volunteers combed the area for dozens still missing.

After an extensive search, the family of Brian OCallaghan-Westropp received the devastating news yesterday afternoon that he was among the 83 people killed in the blaze.

He married his partner Zoe Holohan last week before they flew out for their honeymoon. When the deadly blaze tore through the coastal town of Mati, the couple became separated as they tried to escape.

Ms Holohan, who works in the advertising department of the Sunday World newspaper, was hospitalised in Athens having suffered burns.

It is understood she will remain there for a period while she awaits surgery.

The Holohan and OCallaghan-Westropp families released a statement verifying Mr OCallaghan-Westropps death.

They said: We are deeply saddened to confirm the death of our family member, Brian OCallaghan-Westropp.

The families would respectfully appreciate privacy at this time as we grieve and as Zoe makes her recovery.

The cause of the fire is still unclear, but authorities, including an Athens prosecutor, were investigating how it started simultaneously from three different locations and the way it was handled.

Furthermore, Greece's Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Toskas said satellite image analysis and ground inspections suggest the fire that broke out in multiple places in a short time frame on Monday likely resulted from arson.

More to follow...Donald Trump and the European Union struck an unexpected deal and averted an all-out trade war last night.

Following a meeting at the White House with Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, Mr Trump said there was a "new phase" in relations, and it was a "very big day for free and fair trade".

He said the US and the EU had agreed to work toward "zero tariffs" on industrial goods, apart from cars.

The US president said: "We agreed today, first of all, to work together toward zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods.

"We will not go against the spirit of this agreement, unless either party terminates the negotiation. We're starting the negotiation right now but we know very much where it's going."

Mr Trump said the EU had agreed to buy "a lot of soybeans almost immediately," and increase its imports of liquefied natural gas from the US.

He added: "Both of us will win." Mr Juncker said there would be no further tariffs, including on cars, while they negotiate, and that existing US tariffs on European steel and aluminium would be re- examined.

Wall Street was boosted by the deal with the S&P 500 closing at its highest level since January 29.

Mr Trump exempted cars from the agreement and he is believed to still be considering in the future putting 25pc tariffs on nearly $200bn (170.5bn) in car imports, which would particularly harm Germany.

European officials had warned before the White House meeting that they would respond to car tariffs by putting similar duties on $20bn (17.1bn) of US goods, including agricultural, hi-tech and other machinery.

Mr Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration that the EU imposes a 10pc tariff on imported US cars, while the US tariff on European cars is only 2.5pc.

Earlier this year Trump introduced a 25pc tariff on steel imports, and 10pc on aluminium.

The EU responded by imposing tariffs on over $3bn (2.56bn) of US goods, including iconic brands of whiskey and motorcycles.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump yesterday announced he was calling off a second summit with Vladimir Putin until an investigation into Russian collusion was completed.

The US president was planning to host the Russian leader at the White House in the Autumn, a decision that was met with surprise by his own intelligence officials when it was announced last week.Andrew Craig Brunson, an evangelical pastor, has been detained in Turkey (Emre Tazegul/AP))

Vice President Mike Pence has threatened Nato ally Turkey with economic sanctions over a US pastor held on terrorism and spying charges.

Mr Pence said that if Turkey does not take immediate action to free Andrew Craig Brunson the United States of America will impose severe economic sanctions on Turkey.

He spoke at the close of a three-day conference on religious freedom.

Expand Close Mike Pence has demanded the release of Andrew Craig Brunson (Emre Tazegul/AP) / Facebook

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Mr Brunson, 50, an evangelical Christian pastor originally from North Carolina, was let out of jail on Wednesday after 18 months to serve house arrest because of health problems, according to Turkeys official Anadolu news agency.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly demanded Mr Brunsons release and said on Twitter last week that the pastors detention was a total disgrace.

Brunson is an innocent man, there is no credible evidence against him, Mr Pence said.

If convicted, Mr Brunson faces up to 15 years in prison for committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member, references to outlawed Kurdish militants and the network of a US-based Muslim cleric blamed for a failed coup attempt. He could receive another 20 years if he is found guilty of espionage.

Mr Brunson strongly denies the charges.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has previously linked Mr Brunsons return to the US to the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, the cleric Turkeys government holds responsible for the failed July 2016 military coup.

Mr Gulen, who denies orchestrating the coup attempt, lives in Pennsylvania. Turkish requests for his arrest and extradition have not been granted.

At the end of a recent hearing, the court inside a prison complex in western Turkey rejected Mr Brunsons lawyers request that he be freed pending the outcome of the trial. The case was adjourned until October 12.American pastor Andrew Craig Brunson has been detained in Turkey (AP)

Donald Trump has threatened Nato ally Turkey with large sanctions unless a US pastor held on terrorism and spying charges is released.

Tweeting from on board Air Force One, Mr Trump said: The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being.

He said Brunson is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!

Earlier, Vice President Mike Pence said that if Turkey does not take immediate action to free Mr Brunson the United States of America will impose severe economic sanctions on Turkey.

He spoke at the close of a three-day conference on religious freedom.

Mr Brunson, 50, an evangelical Christian pastor originally from North Carolina, was let out of jail on Wednesday after 18 months to serve house arrest because of health problems, according to Turkeys official Anadolu news agency.

Mr Trump has repeatedly demanded Mr Brunsons release and said on Twitter last week that the pastors detention was a total disgrace.

Expand Close Mike Pence has demanded the release of Andrew Craig Brunson (Emre Tazegul/AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Mike Pence has demanded the release of Andrew Craig Brunson (Emre Tazegul/AP)

Brunson is an innocent man, there is no credible evidence against him, Mr Pence said.

If convicted, Mr Brunson faces up to 15 years in prison for committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member, references to outlawed Kurdish militants and the network of a US-based Muslim cleric blamed for a failed coup attempt. He could receive another 20 years if he is found guilty of espionage.

Mr Brunson strongly denies the charges.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has previously linked Mr Brunsons return to the US to the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, the cleric Turkeys government holds responsible for the failed July 2016 military coup.

Mr Gulen, who denies orchestrating the coup attempt, lives in Pennsylvania. Turkish requests for his arrest and extradition have not been granted.

At the end of a recent hearing, the court inside a prison complex in western Turkey rejected Mr Brunsons lawyers request that he be freed pending the outcome of the trial. The case was adjourned until October 12.In this edition of India Briefing Magazine, we make the case for why now is the right time for foreign firms t...Rishi Kapoor has embroiled himself in controversies so many times. Doesnt he remind you of your relative who is sometimes obnoxiously loud and mostly crazy yet lovable? With his blunt tweets on social media, the original chocolate boy of Bollywood has often proved that he can be a motor-mouth sometimes. Remember how he dissed Anurag Basu after the failure of Ranbir Kapoors Jagga Jasoos?

Ranbir Kapoor has indeed said that he sometimes feels worried about his father. He even said that he is scared of him and often tells his mom to convey his messages to him. Recently, he revealed something about him that has left many of his fans startled.

Ranbir Kapoor was recently asked, in an interview with Mid-Day, as to why he rejected PK and 3 Idiots, if he was offered the role.

Explaining that, he said, Not at all. Lets just put it this way, I didnt deserve to be in those films, given the time and place I was in my life.

He added that post the release of Lage Raho Munna Bhai, Rishi Kapoor had fell flat on Rajkumar Hiranis mother and said, Your son is a genius, and I hope he works with my son at some point.

Can you believe that? Rishi Kapoor is sometimes unpredictable.Whether its Kiki or Keke, nobody knows but everyone everywhere is dancing on the song and going bonkers over it. From cops to pregnant women and kids, everyone is going crazy doing impromptu dance on the Drakes song  In My Feelings  jumping of their cars. The Kiki Challenge or In My Feelings challenge has taken the social media by storm. Their have been accidents and epic fails too, but still, its all over my social media feed probably yours too.

The challenge started after comedian Instagram user theshiggyshow, who is a widely followed comedian. He posted a video of him dancing on the streets to Drakes song In My Feelings with his dance moves perfectly synced up to the lyrics. And since then the hashtag and the video went viral. So much so, that Will Smith and Sterling K. Brown to Drake himself, everyone has been copying his moves.

Also Read: #InMyFeelingsChallenge Takes The World By A Storm, People Jump Out Of Cars To Dance On The Song

But it is going completely out of hands now. So much so, that countries including Spain, Egypt and Dubai have banned the challenge. And in Abu Dhabi, three social media users are likely to get arrested.

What happened exactly? In Abu Dhabi, warrants have been issued against popular social media personalities for violating three traffic laws  driving in a way that endangers the life of others, causing traffic, congestion and roadblocks and using a mobile phone while driving. Abu Dhabi public prosecution has reportedly declared the challenge as punishable offence that can result to imprisonment, fine or both.

Abu Dhabis Public Prosecution has also ordered warrants for the arrest of three famous social media personalities. The warrants have been issued for endangering the lives of others and offending public morals by using social media to promote practices that are incompatible with the UAEs values and traditions, a statement from the prosecution said.

So, please stop jumping out of your cars putting lives in danger. Stop this nonsense, please!An alimonycase was on Tuesday adjourned for July 27 as a sum of Rs 24,600 could not be counted. Reason: the entire amount was in the denomination of Re 1 and Rs 2 coins.

Drama was witnessed in the district courts when a Punjab and Haryana high court lawyer handed over the monthly maintenance amount to his former wife in a bag filled with coins. The woman was furious. This is a new way to torture and harass me. It is a mockery of law, she said.

The two had filed for divorce in 2015. The court had then directed the husband to give Rs 25,000 per month as maintenance to her.

toi

But when he failed, she moved the high court. The husband was then directed to give Rs 50,000 as he had not given her money for last two months.

The woman refused to buy his argument that he did not have money. She said he is a practising advocate and has high-profile clients. He also has a number of properties on his name, she said.

I am in dire need of money. Firstly, he gave the money after so many adjournments and now he has given coins. What will I do with this money? No bank will accept this, she said.

toi

The husband justified his move. Its nowhere written that the money has to be given in denomination of Rs100 or Rs 500 or Rs 2,000 notes. I have given three juniors to count the money too. He, however, gave the rest of Rs 400 in the form of Rs100 currency notes.

Additional district and sessions judge Rajnisk K Sharma finally adjourned the case for counting the money.On Wednesday, when a Special CBI Court in Kerala awarded death penalties to two police constables and three-year jail terms to three other police officers, for the custodial death of Udayakumar, it was the victory 67-year-old single-mother, Prabhavathi Amma, fought for 13 long years.

With tears rolling down her eyes, Prabhavathi said she was satisfied with the verdict and thanked everyone who supported her for over a decade as she sought justice for her son.

"They killed my innocent son on Onam. God has heard a mothers prayer. Now they will spend their Onam in jail, Prabhavathi said after the verdict.

Life was never easy for Prabhavathi, who as a single mother brought up her son Udayakumar, doing menial jobs and working as a domestic help at various houses.

Udayakumar who used to work as a scrap collector also used to help his mother in running the household.

But Prabhavathi Amma's world came crashing down in front her on September 27, 2005, when Udaykumar who left home promising to be back with an Onakkodi (new dress for Onam) for his mother did not come back.

BCCL

Udaykumar was picked up by the Fort Police in Thiruvananthapuram along with his friend Suresh, who had a record of some petty crimes on suspicion of theft. The cops had found Rs 4,000 in the possession of Udaykumar, which they suspected was stolen.

Despite Udaykumar repeatedly saying that it was his own money the cops paid no heed. After keeping the money for themselves, the cops finally left Udaykumar to leave, but he refused and insisted on getting his money back.

Police then arrested Udaykumar on charges of theft and was brutally tortured in custody. He was subjected to a third-degree torture made infamous during emergency known as 'uruttal' which means to roll.

The subject will be tied flat to a table and the entire body is pressed by wooden sticks or iron rods. In Udaykumar's case, the torture weapon was a steel pipe which was rolled on his thighs.

After the brutal torture Udaykumar was taken to a hospital where he was declared brought dead.

According to the postmortem, there were 22 injuries Udaykumar's body including ruptured vessels which cause death.

The abject poverty that Udaykumar and his mother lived in was revealed after media approached the family to get photos of him to report on the death case.

Prabhavathi Amma said the family was never rich enough to get a photo of him clicked. The only photograph available of Udaykumar is of his dead body!

Convinced that she was up against a system that was out there to protect her son's killers, Prabhavathi pursued the legal path, for 13 years, until she got justice.

"I have nothing to lose. I should do this for my son, so that no other mother will have to go through what I went through," she had said.

PTI

On Wednesday, the CBI judge J Nazer ruled that crime as rarest of rare cases and awarded death penalties to K Jithakumar and S V Sreekumar, both of whom were constables at the time of the murder, and three other officers, T K Haridas, E K Sabu and Ajit Kumar to three years in jail for destruction of evidence and conspiracy. Another constable who was also found guilty had died during the trial.

PTI

While this may go down as the first instance of the death penalty being awarded to police personnel in India for custodial death it is more than that, it is the victory for a mother who lost everything but was determined to get justice.In a big setback to hate India doctrine in Pakistan politics, the mastermind of 26/11 Mumbai attack Hafiz Saeed backed Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek, have failed to score anything in general elections in Pakistan.

While the political outfit had fielded candidates on over hundred seats, but according to the unofficial results, none of the candidates contesting from it is even in the second lead, forget victory. Even in provincial elections which are being held simultaneously, the outfit failed to score.

Only a few garners a respectable number of votes. Maulana Muhammad Ahmad Ludhianvi whose name was removed from the banned list got the respectable number of votes. Ludhianvis name was in the Fourth Schedule which means the list of banned individuals but was allowed to contest inviting international backlash.

Geo TV reported that Ludhianvi received more than 45,000 votes but was nowhere close to the victory. Before the elections, concerns were raised in the country over the participation of hardline Islamists groups. Mili Muslim League which is often linked with Saeeds outfit had fielded many candidates as Saeeds outfit was denied recognition by Election Commission. Saeed himself was reportedly seen campaigning for the candidates, but none even got close to victory.

Hafiz Talha Saeed, the son of Saeed, contested from NA-91 seat from Sargodha (about 200-km from Lahore), the hometown of the Jamaat-ud Dawa leader. Saeeds son-in-law, Khalid Waleed, was a candidate in PP-167.

Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), a Sunni sectarian group, fielded more than 100 candidates but none of them came close to victory, according to unofficial results so far.

Mutahida Majlis-e-Aml (MMA) was the biggest religious alliance of several leading parties was leading on only eight seats of national assembly despite the massive campaign by its leader which included influential Maulana Fazlur Rehman. PTI has scored a massive victory and its leader Imran Khan is likely to become the next prime minister of Pakistan.China has quietly resumed its activities in the Doklam area and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade it, a top US official has said while comparing Beijing's actions in the Himalayan region with its manoeuvres in the disputed South China Sea.

China claims sovereignty over all of South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims.

China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources and are also vital to global trade.

AFP

"I would assess that India is vigorously defending its northern borders and this is a subject of concern to India," Alice G Wells, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing while responding to a question on China's increased road-building activities along the border.

India and China have clashed repeatedly over territories in the Himalayas. Most recently Chinese and Indian troops faced off on the disputed Doklam plateau between Bhutan and China after the Chinese People's Liberation Army began building roads through the area, Wagner said.

"Although both countries back down, China has quietly resumed its activities in Doklam and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade it. China's activities in the Himalayas remind me of its south China Sea policies. How should our failure to respond to the militarisation of the South China Sea inform the international response to these Himalayan border disputes?" Wagner asked.

AFP

As the US looks to the Indo-Pacific strategy put forward by the Trump administration, Wells said it has been taken in light of the 'South China Sea's Strategy'.

"How do we maintain the region to be open, to have maritime security, to not have militarisation that would imperil the 70 per cent of global trade?" she asked.

"We need to do that by giving authority to sovereign nations to have choices in how they develop, to have choices in their partnerships," Wells said.

Congressman Ted Yoho, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee on Asia and the Pacific, raised the issue of China's aggressive posture in South Asia.

"What are your thoughts on what is the best way to counter China in that region?" Yoho asked.

US should not be seeking to compete with China dollar for dollar, Wells responded, adding that instead of a state lending on terms that may not be to the benefit of countries or their citizens, the US and its companies are providing $850 billion in foreign direct investment in the region, which is far more than what has been injected by China.

BCCL

"We're trying to gather likeminded countries who can bring resources to the table, who can coordinate assistance and an effort so as to provide countries with meaningful alternatives," Wells said.

Troops of India and China were locked in a 73-day-long standoff in Doklam from June 16 last year after the Indian side stopped the building of a road in the disputed tri-junction by the Chinese Army.

Bhutan and China have a dispute over Doklam. The face-off ended on August 28.A quick internet search will tell you that 14 people have been killed and 42 injured in terrorist attacks in Australia since 1972, says Kel Donovan, managing principal of risk management firm Dynamiq Strategy.

Thats over a 46-year period and before questioning the categorisation of some of those cases, he tells Insurance Business. While the risk of terrorism certainly exists, it is infinitesimal.

Putting the risk into perspective, Donovan points to the death toll on Australias roads for a comparison  between 1989 and 2018, more than 27,000 people were killed in road traffic accidents.

What is your organisation doing to reduce exposure to roads? he asks.

Interestingly, the Lowly Institute Poll also found that, while the vast majority of respondents expressed concerns about a terrorist attack close to home, just 65% considered it a threat because it makes it dangerous to travel overseas.

In reality, overseas travel is a far greater risk for individuals and organisations, says Donovan.

Organisations should be focusing on where the bulk of their people-risk lies, he says. Most often its with employees that are asked to travel on assignment into uncontrolled environments such as business travellers and remote workers.

Rather than reinforcing the hysteria on terrorism, Donovan suggests brokers should be helping their clients understand the plausible risks and in putting effective protection in place.

Businesses would benefit greatly from accurate information about risks that are credible to them and their environment, he tells Insurance Business. Accurate information is necessary for making consistently good decisions across many disciplines, not least risk management.

Donovan also says organisations have three key obligations when sending staff overseas and brokers could increase their value proposition by helping clients understand and meet these requirements.

Duty of disclosure

The duty to disclose risk to travelers is the least understood obligation and, in many ways, the easiest to fulfil, says Donovan. Employers are obliged to disclose all of the risks associated with travel to a location as well as risks that may be present while in that location.

However, Donovan says smaller organisations often struggle to deliver effective and consistent risk disclosure for their travelers as they dont always have the resources required for automation.

Duty of care

Employers retain their duty of care over employees working overseas. Interestingly, the duty of care extends around the clock for such assignments, regardless of whether the employee is engaged in work or recreational activities, says Donovan.

Standard of care

Employers are also obliged to provide a standard of care commensurate with that of Australian standards when operating overseas, says Donovan. Where this is not possible, the employer must demonstrate they have provided the available care closest to Australian standards.

The broker plays a crucial role in educating their clients on their obligations, and assisting them to identify and access resources that suit their business and alleviate burden, concludes Donovan.

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Global instability pushing up World Cup premiums

Insurers urged to take the lead as terrorism risks climbInsurers and trustees need to make sure any prices increases that may flow from those changes, if there are such things, are done on a sensible and commercial basis and not used as an opportunity to reprice for more profits, said Adrian Rees, APRA general manager, in an AFR report. I know everyone is busy and finding things difficult and stressful... I guess its a matter of putting your nose to the grindstone and getting on with it.

A number of industry representatives conceded there is a risk of sharp premium increases during the repricing process.

We started off talking about 2012/13 and pricing overshooting the mark - and if we dont have the appropriate timeline to think through all the machinations and the variables at play here we could see that overshooting again, said James Carey, Metlifes head of group insurance.

The Senate Economics committee heard last week that the move would bring a double-digit spike in premiums, with a KPMG report forecasting up to a 26% increase.

A number of life insurance executives on the panel reiterated concerns about the unintended consequences of the measures, as well as the timeline for the implementation.

I frankly think to stick to July 01, 2019 is reckless, TALs Brett Clark said. Weve talked a little on price but, in some instances, they may not be even be able to get cover at all.

MetLifes Carey said group insurance businesses were making great efforts to come up with the

required resources for the changes.

There is no doubt that we are stretched, equally what it is also highlighted is a shortage of talent in various elements in our industry as we are scrambling around trying to resource the implementation, he said.

Stephanie Philips, AIA chief group insurance officer, agreed that the implementations accelerated timeline will have a major impact. She also raised questions about who was going to pay for the $80 million to $100 million in life claims lodged by the under 25 cohort each year, AFR reported.

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Public servants face 17% insurance hike as mental-health claims rise

Australia's biggest supplier of life insurance revealedI would definitely say it was harder than we thought. We didnt have a deep history or DNA of doing this so the degree of difficulty was harder, but I feel like really great progress has been made, Marlow told The Australian Financial Review.

She added that the decision to pursue a partnership model required Suncorp to have a shift in mindset  not an easy feat for many financial institutions.

The starting place for a large bank and insurance company is that we are not as used to that, Marlow told the publication. Banks and insurance companies are used to manufacturing and distributing their own product and they are fantastic at it and they are doing a great job.

At an investor roadshow last week, Matt Williams, Airlie Funds Management portfolio manager, was bullish about Suncorps prospects, saying it was among the funds top five active positions  a positive outlook built on the companys sale of its life insurance unit.

Williams remains wary, however, of execution risk faced by the industry giant as it rushes to deliver the iTunes of financial services, the report said.

Speaking about the process of signing up partners for the customer marketplace, Marlow said there was no one-size-fits-all approach to partnering but the foundations had been laid for many more.

There are lots of different types of partners, Marlow told AFR. We learned early on that to bespoke integrate a partner is really expensive. The capability we are building now is what those partnership models look like, how do you recruit them, how do you engage them, what are the different commercial models, and how do you help them be successful because you actually have to make sure they are successful?

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Suncorp unveils new offering for renters

Suncorp reveals new partnership2010 marked the beginning of a different tendency among US homeowners, one that saw a shift in preference from new construction to the remodeling of existing structures. Residential remodels have increased by about 30% from 2010 to now, growing at about 5% annually, according to BuildFax remodeling data.

Figure 1: Residential permit count by month (1990-present)

Last year, residential remodeling activity increased by 4.82%. Commercial remodels are likewise increasing, albeit at a slightly slower rate, with a 1.87% year-over-year increase from 2016 to 2017 and a 3.89% increase from 2015 to 2016. In total, more than 4.5 million substantial residential and commercial remodels occurred in the US last year alone.

This shift in remodeling preferenceswhich shows no signs of abatementsuggests that insurance carriers face increased risk of premium leakage as more properties throughout the country are no longer insured to value. As remodeling activity continues to increase, premium dollars lost to inaccurate or outdated data around individual properties will grow exponentially if carriers fail to quickly analyze premium-impacting upgrades, improvements, alterations, additions and other similar types of remodels.

Carriers traditionally review their books of business every three to five years to run replacement costs and determine updated premium prices. As remodeling activity continues to increase, the simple fact is that a carriers ability to maintain accurate data on its book of business is simply outpaced by the sheer scope of the remodeling boom. This is true even of the best replacement cost calculators that account for building material costs, key property characteristics and other critical property features, but which lag based on the speed at which remodeling work currently occurs. This is happening year after year after year, and as the US moves deeper into this shift, carriers will soon find themselves struggling to maintain an accurate book of business.

To date, carriers have relied on agent outreach or surveys, home inspections, tax assessor data or, in some cases, have been forced to trust information provided by the homeowners. For carriers, these traditional methods of maintaining an accurate view of the properties under policy are cumbersome, unsustainable at scale and oftentimes do not provide the most accurate data: Agent outreach utilizes too much human capital at scale; home inspections are costly, ranging anywhere from $30 to $1,000 per property; and tax assessor data is updated too infrequently to make intelligent decisions.

The reality is that very few people alert their home insurers of significant remodels that would affect policy conditions and premium prices, meaning that it falls squarely on the carriers shoulders to find cost-effective and data-centric ways to detect and compensate for changes to a property.

In areas like Florida, which is not only home to a higher density of remodeling projects in such cities as Miami, Jacksonville, Tampa and Orlando, but also faces greater exposure to natural disasters, failure to report even small upgrades greatly increases risk for carriers as well as policyholders.

In a recent analysis of over 100,000 policies, BuildFax honed in on the policies that experienced material change and asked that carriers review those premiums. Of the policies the carriers reviewed, increased exposure ranged from about $25,000 to $53,000 per property. For some of the largest carriers that hold policies on hundreds of thousands or millions of homes in high-risk areas, the potential for massive, unrecoverable loss becomes more daunting as the remodeling boom persists.

Detecting and accounting for change in property condition over timeand accurately reflecting that change through premium pricerarely incentivizes a policyholder to leave and can actually help avoid customer churn. The vast majority of policyholders want the changes theyve made to their homes or properties to be accurately reflected in their coverage. By communicating clearly and transparently with policyholders about property changes and their subsequent impact on premium prices, carriers will build trust with property owners while maintaining more accurate books of business.

Unfortunately, premium leakage wont be stop-gapped anytime soon. A recent BuildFax analysis found that, from 2010 through the beginning of 2017, post-sale remodels have increased by 54% compared to post-sale remodels from 2002 to 2009. In comparison, pre-sale remodels have only increased by 13%. As homeowners continue to gravitate toward remodels rather than new construction, carriers will inevitably continue to stack risk year after year unless theyre able to accurately account for premium leakage. Conversely, however, it becomes a valuable incremental revenue opportunity for carriers willing to invest in data-first methods that can accurately detect property changes over time at scale.

---

Holly Tachovsky is the CEO and co-founder of BuildFax, the leading provider of property condition and history insights. Under Hollys leadership, BuildFaxs database has grown to more than 70% national coverage and encompasses more than 23 billion data points on commercial and residential properties. She is an avid mentor in Austin and beyond, having consulted with more than 100 early-stage companies.

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Many property owners are underinsured

Philadelphia building collapse triggers builders risk complexityCRV Precast Construction LLC (CRV) and six of its employees have been indicted for misclassifying workers as lesser-skilled, underpaying them and falsifying information about payroll and employees, including a worker who was killed at a company job site.

The defendants are charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with insurance fraud in the second and third degrees, grand larceny in the third degree and scheme to defraud in the first degree, among other charges.

Time and again, weve seen how wage theft is symptomatic of an overall disregard for workers well-being on work sites where companies regularly defraud their employees. We have also seen them playing fast and loose with their workers lives and safety, said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. in a press release issued by his office. As alleged in this case, the defendants devalued their workers livelihoods, underpaying them and insuring them for lower-risk work while simultaneously sending them to carry out complicated construction projects. Misclassifying workers as lesser-skilled is a common way that employers steal from their employees.

The indictment follows a joint investigation led by the Manhattan District Attorneys Offices Construction Fraud Task Force and the New York City Department of Investigation (DOI), with additional assistance by the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF). The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

These defendants stole from their workers on city construction projects, failing to pay the legally required prevailing wage and underpaying more than $400,000 in insurance premiums, according to the charges, DOI Commissioner Mark G. Peters said in the release. In trying to skirt these laws for their own benefit, the defendants alleged conduct has instead landed them in handcuffs and facing prosecution.

Wage Theft Scheme

Under federal prevailing wage law, contractors and subcontractors on federally funded construction projects are required to pay the prevailing rate of wage and benefits to workers. The classification of these workers and the wage paid must correspond to the actual work performed so that workers are not purposely misclassified and underpaid.

In 2016, CRV was hired as a subcontractor on a federally-funded project involving the renovation of Draper Hall, a former medical dormitory, which was being remodeled as an affordable housing complex for seniors. CRV was contracted to erect a steel framework, which requires ironworkers, and install precast concrete planks, which requires ironworkers or concrete laborers, depending on the specific task.

According to the indictment and documents filed in court, CRV and multiple individuals who operated the company misclassified workers in order to pay them less than the prevailing wage rate.

By misclassifying workers on certified payroll reports as lesser-skilled concrete laborers instead of ironworkers, the defendants were able to underpay and steal approximately $40,000 from at least four workers. When workers complained about the lower wages, they were informed that they could quit.

Insurance Fraud Scheme

The defendants also filed false payroll information with NYSIF in order to lower CRVs workers compensation insurance premiums. By underreporting the companys expected aggregate payroll for 2015-2016, CRV underpaid NYSIF approximately $380,000 for the insurance coverage it received.

In addition, by misclassifying ironworkers as concrete laborers, who are insured by NYSIF at a lower risk factor, CRV fraudulently lowered the companys premium for the insurance year 2016-2017. In total, CRV underpaid NYSIF by approximately $410,000 by underreporting payroll and misclassifying workers.

In one instance, the defendants provided NYSIF with false information about an ironworker, Elizandro Ramos, who died at a CRV job site in Queens, N.Y. In a payroll summary, the victim was falsely listed as a concrete laborer, even though he was performing iron work for CRV at the time of his death.

Construction Fraud Task Force

In 2015, the Manhattan District Attorneys Office formed the Construction Fraud Task Force with partners in law enforcement, including DOI, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Inspector Generals Office, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) Office of the Inspector General, to investigate and pursue criminal cases against individuals and companies who endanger the safety of others and undermine the integrity of the construction industry.

Following a series of successful trial convictions related to the death of worker Carlos Moncayo, District Attorney Vance created the Construction Safety Community Project to train workers to recognize workplace safety hazards and signs of fraud and proactively report them to law enforcement. To date, the Construction Fraud Task Force has conducted more than 60 presentations across the city for more than 2,200 construction workers.

Source: Manhattan District Attorneys Office

Topics Fraud Abuse Molestation New York ConstructionDemocratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill announced that she wants to enshrine into law federal recommendations to improve duck boat safety such as getting rid of canopies that can trap passengers if the vehicles sink, a move that comes after a deadly accident in Missouri.

McCaskill said during a speech on the Senate floor that she is drafting legislation following the sinking of a sightseeing boat last week on Table Rock Lake near Branson that killed 17 people.

Shes working off of National Transportation Safety Board recommendations spurred by another deadly duck boat accident in Arkansas in 1999. Federal regulators then noted the amphibious vehicles have trouble staying afloat during flooding and overhead canopies can trap passengers if the vehicles sink  two areas of concern McCaskill also pointed out.

Despite the boards past recommendations for improvement, McCaskill said not much been done to address safety concerns.

Weve had 40 deaths associated with the duck boats since 1999, she said. Yet there has been little done to address the inherent dangers of these amphibious vehicles.

A U.S. Coast Guard and NTSB investigation of the latest Missouri accident is ongoing, but McCaskill said she doesnt want to wait to address some of these glaring issues in terms of passenger safety. She said that investigation could take a year or longer.

Its unclear how much progress McCaskill will be able to make is passing such legislation with the upcoming midterm elections a few months away. McCaskill is among those up for re-election.

Fellow Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt, a Republican, expressed some caution in taking action before the federal investigation is wrapped up. He said investigators will determine whether the latest accident was avoidable and whether recommendations from the Arkansas case were followed by the Coast Guard and the boat operator, or whether there was an equipment failure or other problem.

Any legislative response, including interim steps that may be needed, should be based on the facts that come out of that investigation, Blunt said in a statement. As a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has oversight of both agencies, I will continue closely monitoring the investigation and making sure we get as much information as we can as quickly as possible.

Missouri Republican Attorney General Josh Hawley, who is trying to unseat McCaskill, also appears to support waiting on investigation results.

I support new safety measures, and I think the findings from state law enforcements current investigation will be very helpful in tailoring legislation and future regulations, Hawley said in a statement.

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed two nominees to the NTSB, which had been stalled for months amid a partisan dispute. The voice vote to approve Republican Bruce Landsberg and Democrat Jennifer Homendy brings the five-member panel to full strength for the first time in several years.

Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed to this report.

Related:

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Legislation USA MissouriHundreds of Indiana schools have requested more than 3,200 hand-held metal detectors under a state program aimed at improving school safety that offers the devices for free.

Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb announced the program in early July, weeks after a student opened fire at an Indianapolis-area middle school, wounding his teacher and another student.

The governors office said Monday that 369 school entities, including 94 percent of the states public schools, have requested 3,228 wands under the program that will provide one hand-held metal detector for every 250 students.

The devices for detecting weapons are slated to arrive in August, when most of Indianas schoolchildren start the new school year. Schools that didnt place an order will be able to do so this fall, Holcombs office said.

This program is all about giving local school leaders one more resource at their disposal to include in their safety plans, he said in a statement.

The metal detectors arent Indianas first effort to improve security at its schools. A school safety grant program approved by the Legislature in 2013 has awarded more than $53 million in grants to schools for hiring school resource officers, conducting threat assessments and other uses since 2014.

Indiana has been evaluating school safety policies since Februarys fatal mass shooting at a school in Parkland, Florida. A school safety task force created by Holcomb is due in August to report its findings on school safety in advance of the 2019 legislative session.

Copyright 2021 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics IndianaThe San Francisco Board of Supervisors has become what is believed to be the first U.S. municipal body to try to force insurance companies to stop insuring and investing in fossil fuels.

The board on Tuesday voted unanimously in favor of a resolution to urge the city to screen insurers for their investments in coal and tar sands  and other U.S. cities could join San Francisco if backers of the resolution have their way.

The resolution, titled Urging Divestment by Insurance Companies From Coal and Tar Sands Industries, was introduced by Supervisor Aaron Peskin. The resolution comes as the city prepares to host climate leaders from around the world at the Global Climate Action Summit in September.

Its unclear which if any carriers now doing business with the city will be affected by the boards vote. Calls to the citys Office of Risk Management and spokespersons for the board werent immediately returned.

The Paris City Council earlier this year passed a similar declaration, while other cities have made efforts to stem climate change.

In New York theres the proposed Climate and Community Protection Act, which would commit the city to being powered by 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. The act, which has passed through state Assembly, would also mandate that at least 40 percent of state energy funds are invested into vulnerable communities, as well as creating labor protections for workers in the renewable energy industry.

Passage of the San Francisco resolution has garnered relatively scant news coverage so far, instead being eclipsed by the boards vote at Tuesdays meeting to block stores, restaurants and bars in the city from selling plastic straws.

The Sunrise Project, a supporter of the insurer screening resolution, plans to take similar proposals to other city councils around the nation.

Were really going be looking, particularly at cities in California, but well be looking nationally, said Ross Hammond, senior advisor with the Sunrise Project. We definitely have a plan to roll this out all over the United States over the next few months.

Telling insurers how to invest doesnt make a lot of sense, said Mark Sektnan, vice president of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.

This is another example of a political agenda that disregards the fundamentals of risk management, Sektnan said. Policymakers should focus on insurers solvency and consumer protection. Insurers review investments regularly and constantly analyze the risk and quality of their portfolios to manage solvency. This analysis includes all risks, including those that may be related to climate change.

Pressure to get insurers to stop doing business with fossil fuel concerns has mounted over the last few years from advocacy groups, as well as regulators.

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has often voiced his wish that insurers divest from coal, including establishing the Climate Risk Carbon Initiative. The initiative includes information on the amount of oil, gas, coal and utilities investments held by insurance companies, and whether the insurers have divested from thermal coal, the amount of thermal coal divested and any future commitments to divest.

A number large insurers, mostly in Europe, have already began to take actions to divest.

According to the Sunrise Project, 17 large insurers have divested roughly $30 billion from coal companies since 2015. In addition, five large international insurers  Allianz, AXA, SCOR, Swiss Re and Zurich  have stopped or limited underwriting coal projects, and AXA and Swiss Re have also stopped or limited underwriting tar sands projects.

Swiss Re announced earlier this month it no longer is providing reinsurance to businesses with more than 30 percent exposure to thermal coal across all lines of business. The policy applies to existing and new thermal coal mines and power plants, and is implemented across all lines of business and Swiss Res global scope of operations.

Allianz says its further integrating ecological and social responsibility into its core business, and has been in the process of making investments of more than 5.6 billion Euros ($691 billion) in renewable energy, with a portfolio that includes 81 wind farms and seven solar farms in Europe and the U.S.

Supporters of getting the insurance industry out of fossil fuels say insurers make dirty energy infrastructure projects possible by insuring and investing in these projects and the companies behind them.

It makes no sense for them to be investing in and underwriting the very industries which are causing accelerated climate change, which is increasing in the insurance claims that have to be paid out, Hammond said.

Past columns:

Topics Carriers USA Climate Change Energy Oil Gas Swiss ReA federal jury will decide what really happened between a former junior finance professor and the tenured Columbia Business School staff member she said sexually harassed her  and whether the university did enough to protect her once she reported him.

Enrichetta Ravina sued Columbia University claiming it failed to protect her from Geert Bekaert, a chaired finance professor, who she said slowed her work after she dismissed his advances. She says she was denied tenure and is seeking $30 million in damages.

Both Bekaert and Columbia knew what they were doing and acted with extreme recklessness, David Sanford, Ravinas lawyer, said during closing remarks on Tuesday. It is about consequences felt by a woman who was not given a fair shake.

Ravina, 42, testified about a pattern of sexual commentary, unwanted touching and stalled work in the years she and Bekaert, 53, collaborated on joint research. On the witness stand, Bekaert denied the allegations, and the universitys lawyers argued that Ravinas lack of academic merit was what stopped her from winning tenure at the Ivy League business school.

A jury of four men and four women in Manhattan started deliberating Wednesday on whose side to take after she-said-he-said testimonies from Ravina and Bekaert. In the #MeToo era, Ravinas accusations echo voices of other women who say their careers were damaged by gender-based discrimination, sexual harassment and misconduct that was perpetrated by men in positions of power.

Jury Box

Sanford asked the jury to make Columbia take responsibility and to do better in the future by returning a verdict in favor of Ravina. He quoted Maya Angelou and Teddy Roosevelt before telling them that the United States is watching.

Earlier in the trial, Ravina testified that Bekaert kissed her, passed his hand on her back in a taxi and talked to her about porn, prostitution and women. Emails show him sending her music and inviting her to dinners, as well as her complimenting him and commenting on Owen Wilsons good looks.

Bekaerts lawyer Edward Hernstadt said her compliments were unwarranted and embarrassing.

Look at these emails, and you can decide who is chasing who, he told the jury. During closing remarks, he asked jurors to question whether Ravina made the allegations up as a plan B for being off-track for tenure. She is not credible.

After Ravina complained to the university, Bekaert wrote more than 30 emails, often from his Columbia account, calling Ravina evil and crazy to academics and professionals around the world, including people Bekaert considered friends at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the European Central Bank and the American Finance Association, Sanford said.

Hernstadt acknowledged that the emails were rude and shocking, but said they were evidence of Bekaert defending his reputation, not retaliating against Ravina.

Research Divorce

Testimony from Columbia Business School Dean Glenn Hubbard and other university staff detailed the schools response to Ravinas complaints, from orchestrating a research divorce of Ravina and Bekaert to recruiting a relationship manager to be copied on their emails. Bettina Plevan, the universitys lawyer, told jurors that Columbia did its job in investigating Ravinas complaints and fairly considering her tenure.

It was Ravina who failed to help herself, Plevan said during closing remarks Tuesday. The evidence showed that Columbias decision to deny Professor Ravina tenure was based on the merits.

The universitys lawyer said Ravina wasnt treated any differently because of her complaint or subsequent lawsuit. Plevan told jurors the school offered Ravina a gift, a lifeline by way of an extension of the tenure clock under the condition of a changed title, which Ravina declined because she considered it a demotion.

Its not a picture of retaliation or discrimination, Plevan said. She just did not measure up, and thats why she didnt get tenure.

The case is Ravina v. Columbia University, 16-cv-2137, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

Copyright 2021 Bloomberg.

Topics Education UniversitiesA Dallas woman with a history of filing 31 insurance claims against a dozen companies got burned when one turned out to be arson, the Texas Department of Insurance announced earlier this month.

Genevieve Thompson was sentenced to 30 years in prison after Dallas Judge Tracy Holmes found Thompson intentionally set her house on fire to collect insurance money. Thompson pleaded guilty to arson and insurance fraud.

On June 12, 2017, the Dallas Fire Department was called to a house fire on Rock Bluff Drive. An investigation found that the fire had been started on purpose. The Texas Department of Insurance Fraud Unit assisted the Dallas Fire Department on the case. Their investigation revealed Thompson had filed at least 15 insurance claims on her home in the 18 months before the fire.

Stephanie Martin, the lead prosecutor for the Dallas County District Attorneys Office was assisted by TDI Chief Prosecutor Kyson Johnson. Dallas County is one of five district attorneys offices around the state that works with TDI by embedding prosecutors and investigators to fight insurance fraud.

Source: TDI

Topics Texas Fraud ArsonAspen Managing General Agency, a division of Atlanta-based Allstar Financial Group, has partnered with Tower Hill Specialty (THS) to offer property insurance programs in Texas.

Tower Hill Specialty offers a range of coverages for homes valued up to $500,000, including owner, seasonal/secondary, vacant and tenant occupied properties. Aspen MGA and THS will be offering Dwelling Fire (DP-1&DP-3), Homeowners (HO-3), Manufactured/Mobile Homeowners, and Condominium (HO-6) through Tower Hill Prime Insurance Company which has an A- rating from A.M. Best.

Tower Hill Specialty is a division of Tower Hill Insurance Group, headquartered in Florida.

one of Floridas largest property insurers. Protecting more than 1.7 million of Floridas home and businesses for nearly half a century.

Allstar Financial Group, with multiple specialty MGAs across the country, 25 offices nationwide to fully service agents by providing timely commercial, surety, and personal lines solutions and outstanding service.

Topics Mergers Texas Florida Excess Surplus Property Insurance WholesaleSeeman Holtz Property & Casualty, Inc. has acquired Lakes Insurance Group, a South Florida agency specializing in commercial insurance serving thousands of South Florida business owners.

With this acquisition, Seeman Holtz Property & Casualty continues to strengthen its commercial insurance division in Florida, the company said, adding that Lakes Insurance is a key strategic acquisition to increase its client base of business owners.

Seeman Holtz Property & Casualty, Inc. has been targeting independent agencies for geographic expansion and continued growth throughout the United States.

SHP&C offers:

Home & auto insurance

Commercial insurance

Private client insurance

Payroll, group health and employer benefits

The Seeman Holtz family of companies provides comprehensive financial and insurance advice to clients across the country.

Topics Mergers Florida Property CasualtyTwo Washington state women have been sentenced after pleading guilty to committing insurance fraud, the state insurance department announced.

The sentencing is the result of an investigation conducted by the Criminal Investigations Unit (CIU) at Washington Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI).

Katherine Hargarten, 67, of Coupeville, pleaded guilty in Island County Superior Court to first-degree theft and filing a false insurance claim, both felonies. Hargarten, a former dental clinic office manager, will serve three months of electronic home monitoring and 240 hours of community service. She will pay $817 in court fees and a restitution amount to be determined later.

According to the investigation, Hargarten filed 55 claims with MetLife insurance from June 2008 to June 2015 totaling $17,908 on behalf of her husband. Most of the claims  38  were for treatment that never occurred; the remainder were treatments the dentist provided to employees for free. The dentist discovered the questionable claims and reported them to MetLife, which in turn reported them to Kreidlers CIU, as required by state law. The dentists office terminated Hargartens employment in January 2016.

Shannon Schroeder, 39, of Seattle, pleaded guilty in King County Superior Court to one count of filing a fraudulent insurance claim, a felony. She will serve 20 days in Enhanced Community Center for Alternative Programs. She will pay $500 in court fees and a restitution amount to be determined later.

According to the investigation, Schroeder filed a claim with Esurance in July 2016 after she rear-ended another car on Interstate 5 in the Seattle area. The estimated amount of the claim for damage to both cars was approximately $9,500. Schroeder purchased the insurance policy an hour after the collision and waited one day to file the claim. The insurance company denied the claim and referred the case to CIU.

The King County Prosecutors Office charged Schroeder in April 2017. Schroeder was previously placed on the insurance departments insurance fraud most wanted list after she failed to appear in King County Superior Court in December 2017.

Source: Washington OCI

Topics Fraud Washington NumbersA contingent liability is an existing condition or set of circumstances involving uncertainty regarding possible business loss, according to guidelines from the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB). In the Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 5, it says that a firm must distinguish between losses that are probable, reasonably probable or remote. There are strict and sometimes vague disclosure requirements for companies claiming contingent liabilities.

How Do Liabilities Become Contingent Liabilities?

Contingent liabilities are sometimes referred to as "loss contingencies" by the FASB. The concept of a contingent liability is centered around the two primary aspects of an accounting liability: that they are present responsibilities and obligations to other entities.

These liabilities gain contingency whenever their payment contains a reasonable degree of uncertainty. Only the contingent liabilities that are the most probable can be recognized as a liability on financial statements. Other contingencies are relegated to footnotes as long as uncertainty persists.

How to Tell If a Contingent Liability Should Be Recognized

Contingent liability is one of the most subjective, contentious and fluid concepts in contemporary accounting.

There are two distinct hurdles when determining if a contingent liability should be recognized:

The timing of the possible liability The degree of confidence an external obligation will be realized  

This is why the FASB created three categories of contingency: probable, reasonably probable and remote. Only those classified as probable can be officially recognized.

Accrual for Contingent Liabilities

It does not make any sense to immediately realize a contingent liability  immediate realization signifies the financial obligation has occurred with certainty. Instead, the FASB requires contingent liabilities to be accrued.

Future costs are expensed first, and then a liability account is credited based on the nature of the liability. In the event the liability is realized, the actual expense is credited from cash and the original liability account is similarly debited.

Check for Disclosures in the Footnotes

If a contingent liability is deemed probable, it must be directly reported in the financial statements. Nevertheless, generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, only require contingencies to be recorded as unspecified expenses.

Any details are contained within disclosures in the footnotes. FASB Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 5 requires any obscure, confusing or misleading contingent liabilities to be disclosed until the offending quality is no longer present.

Estimating Contingent Liabilities

Estimation of contingent liabilities is another vague application of accounting standards. Under GAAP, the listed amount must be "fair and reasonable" to avoid misleading investors, lenders or regulators. Estimating the costs of litigation or any liabilities resulting from legal action should be carefully noted.

Lawsuits, especially with huge companies, can be an enormous liability and significantly impact the bottom line. Companies that underestimate the impact of legal fees or fines will be non-compliant with GAAP.

What Are Some Common Examples?

Possible contingent liabilities include loss from damage to property or employees; most companies carry many types of insurance, so these liabilities are normally expressed in terms of insurance costs.

Banks that issue standby letters of credit or similar obligations carry contingent liabilities. All creditors, not just banks, carry contingent liabilities equal to the amount of receivables on their books.

Warranties and lawsuits are commonplace in the business environment. Both are considered contingent liabilities.By Derville Rowland

In the decade since the financial crisis, global banks misconduct costs have reached over $320bn (273.7bn), with the result that public trust in financial institutions remains very low.

This lack of trust is particularly evident in Ireland. Of 28 markets surveyed, Ireland is the least trusting of the financial services sector, according to the 2018 Edelman Trust Barometer.

This is hardly surprising, given that, in the years since the financial crisis, the banks unacceptable failings had a devastating impact on 37,800 customers, who were denied a tracker mortgage or put on the wrong rate.

It was only following intervention by the Central Bank of Ireland that the banks paid 557m in redress and compensation to those customers, with the total costs to the banks amounting to 1bn, when internaladd-ons are included.

Given that misconduct can cause consumer detriment and, indeed, threaten the safety of financial institutions, there is an emerging global trend towards more intensive regulatory focus on conduct risk that arises from inappropriate, unethical, or unlawful behaviour. There is also an increasing focus on culture, which drives behaviours and, ultimately, customer outcomes.

Like other regulators worldwide, the Central Bank is increasingly insisting that firms comply not only with our regulations and codes, but also that the people who lead the firms we regulate and supervise set about building a culture that better serves their customers, their shareholders, and the wider economy in which we license them to operate.

Indeed, when Christine Lagarde, managing director of the IMF, was in Dublin in June, she spoke about how those working in the financial sector must be as serious about values as they are about valuation, and just as passionate about culture as they are about capital.

I could not agree more.

The Behaviour and Culture reviews the Central Bank of Ireland has published provide a snapshot of the current behaviour of the executive leadership teams at AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB, Ulster Bank, and KBC. These are the decision-makers who set the tone from the top at the firms they lead.

The reviews, which the Central Bank carried out in collaboration with our Dutch counterparts in De Nederlandsche Bank, leaders in the supervision of behavior and culture, found that all banks have recently taken steps to reinforce the consideration of the consumer interest. However, the reviews concluded that consumer-focused cultures at these banks remain under-developed and that all five banks still have a considerable distance to travel.

The reviews found that banks struggle to move on from a crisis-era mindset, when the focus is on urgent and short-term issues. They also found that the banks executive committees need to overcome obstructive patterns, such as fire-fighting behaviour, occasional reversal to directive leadership styles, and failure to empower senior staff, in order to transition to maturity.

The Central Bank also conducted diversity and inclusion assessments, which found that banks have much more work to do to ensure their organisations are sufficiently diverse and inclusive, particularly at senior level, to prevent group-think, guard against over-confidence, and promote internal challenge.

It is generally recognised that the banks need to rebuild trust with their customers, shareholders, and the societies where they operate. But what the banks sometimes fail to see is that they must first become trustworthy. And that is where culture comes in.

Culture is important, from both a prudential and conduct perspective. Culture should be driven by institutional standards, such as fairness, respect, integrity,, and honesty, which are promoted from the top down, echoed from the bottom up, and visible throughout the organisation.

Management and staff should be asking themselves questions derived from their institutional principles, such as: Is the tone from the top signaling the right values to staff?

Are there clear lines of accountability within the firm? Are consumers interests being taken into account, when decisions are made in the boardroom? Are the right products being sold to the right people?

Are staff appropriately incentivised? Have ambitious, diversity and inclusion targets been set, especially for board and executive committee level, and is performance against those targets being measured?

While culture is, in the first instance, a matter for the firms, regulators also have a role to play and we intend to play it.

We will require the five banks to develop action plans to address the findings and mitigate the risks identified in our reviews.

Supervisors will assess the actions planned by the banks and engage on progress. Building on our earlier work on culture, banks can also expect further changes in how we supervise them. We will conduct more intrusive, targeted conduct supervision of those firms that pose the greatest potential harm to consumers, including robust challenge of board and executive management.

Last and certainly not least, we are recommending individual accountability measures to drive better behaviour. These include proposed conduct standards for all staff in regulated firms, such as acting honestly, ethically, and with integrity; additional conduct standards for senior management; and standards for businesses.

We are also recommending to government that a senior executive accountability regime (SEAR) be implemented through legislation, which would place obligations on firms and senior individuals to set out clearly where responsibility and decision-making lie for their business.

These requirements would assist in assigning responsibility to individuals in a regulatory context and decrease the ability of individuals to claim that the culpability for wrongdoing lay outside their sphere of responsibility.

In short, our message to bank leadership teams is that the Central Bank expects high standards in high places and those standards to be embedded in all aspects of the business. This is key to developing the consumer-focused culture to which all firms should aspire.

Derville Rowland is director-general, financial conduct, at the Central Bank of IrelandTV presenter Ciara Doherty announced her first pregnancy live on Ireland AM this morning.

The mum-to-be said she was thrilled to be expecting as she hosted the popular morning show.

Pic by Brian McEvoy

This will be Dohertys first child with TV3 producer husband Richard Stern.

Back in April TV3 confirmed Ciara as the new Ireland AM co-host, after taking over from Sinead Desmond.

Pic by Brian McEvoy

The Donegal mum-to-be has worked with TV3 since 2010 before joining the Ireland AM team full-time since 2015.

Congrats to the happy couple.Update 2.50pm: A US court has dismissed all felony counts against Conor McGregor in respect of an incident before a UFC event in April.

(MMA) star Conor McGregor has pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in exchange for community service to resolve charges stemming from a back-stage melee at a New York arena.

McGregor will also be evaluated for an anger management programme in addition to his five days of community service.

The 30-year-old Irish MMA fighter was joined today in a Brooklyn court by his 25-year-old friend and co-defendant Cian Cowley, who got three days of community service and an anger management course.

Video showed what appeared to be McGregor hurling an object at a bus full of fighters after a news conference for the UFC 223 event at Brooklyns Barclays Center in April.

Two fighters hurt by broken glass were unable to compete.

McGregor has paid to fix the damaged bus.

Breaking: Conor McGregor to do 5 days of community service and undergo an anger management programme. @rtenews pic.twitter.com/9XzrGrVvxa  Brian O'Donovan (@BrianOD_News) July 26, 2018

Earlier: Conor McGregor due back before US court today

Conor McGregor is due back before a US court today.

The Dubliner was charged with assault and criminal mischief, after an incident before a UFC event in April.

The charges relate to an attack on a bus before UFC 223 on April 5, during which two fighters were injured.

After the incident, Conor McGregor handed himself into police, was charged and then released on bail.

Last month he attended a brief court hearing in New York during which the court was told a plea was being negotiated.

After that hearing, he spoke outside the court where he expressed regret for his actions.

- Digital Desk and PADART services have been disrupted in Dublin tonight after a "tragic incident" at Portmarnock.

DART services are terminating & originating at Clongriffin due to a tragic incident at Portmarnock. Dublin Bus are honouring Rail tickets. Update to follow

Irish Rail said that they were dealing with a "distressing situation" and that support staff would be attending passengers at Portmarnock station as soon as possible.

It said that services are suspended between Howth Junction and Malahide and that Northern Commuter trains are operating between Malahide and Drogheda only.

Bus transfers have been arranged between Connelly Station and Drogheda for the 8.50 Connolly to Belfast train.

Dublin Bus is accepting rail tickets for travel to and from affected areas including Clongriffin, Portmarnock, Malahide, Donabate, Rush, Lusk, Skerries, and Balbriggan.

Dublin Bus accepting rail tickets for travel to/from affected areas incl Clongriffin, Portmarnock, Malahide, Donabate, Rush, Lusk, Skerries, Balbriggan.



20.50 Connolly to Belfast: bus transfers Connolly to Drogheda being arranged  Iarnrod Eireann #StaySafe (@IrishRail) July 26, 2018

Digital DeskAn elderly couple have been rescued from a sinking vessel in Lough Derg.

In response to a Mayday alert, Lough Derg RNLI launched shortly after 2pm to assist people reported to be in the water after their 28-foot cruiser started taking on water and sinking.

The boat was located in Cloondevaun Bay, at the northeastern shore of Lough Derg aground on rocks, and with both of its passengers back on board.

Given the weather and the condition of the cruiser, the couple was taken onto the lifeboat and away from immediate danger.

They were wearing lifejackets and were found to be in good health.

The RNLI is advising anyone who gets into difficulties to stay with their boat and only get into the water as a last resort.

Digital DeskInvestigations are continuing into two shootings in the Ballymun area of Dublin yesterday.

The first happened at Shangan Green just after 4pm and a man in his 30s received non-life threatening leg injuries.

Then at around 5pm, shots were fired at a house in the Belclare View area.

Nobody was injured but two people were seen leaving the scene on a motorbike.

Anyone who saw either of the incidents is being asked to contact Gardai.

Dublin North West TD Noel Rock has condemned the shootings.

He said yesterday: I was alarmed to learn of two shootings in Ballymun today in broad daylight.

This is all too regular an occurrence and I have written again this evening to the local Superintendent and the Garda Commissioner requesting the urgent deployment of resources to this area.

A shooting like this, in broad daylight, in residential areas like Shangan Green and Belclare View which is full of children, is something which would strike fear into the heart of any parent.

- Digital Desk and PAThe Government should be ashamed of the lack of help given to farmers during the recent drought situation.

That is according to the Irish Farmers Association which says low-cost loans promised to farmers in last year's budget have yet to be made available.Irish Water is considering whether to extend the nationwide hosepipe ban beyond July.

It is analysing the data from the first full week of pressure reductions in the Greater Dublin Area and working with local authorities to develop a plan.By Fiachra O Cionnaith, Political Correspondent, in Rome, Italy

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has warned Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary thousands of stranded passengers "who pay the wages" of directors and pilots could hit back at the airline if his pay talks stand-off continue to escalate.

Responding to revelations Mr O'Leary's company has told 100 pilots and 200 cabin crew their services "may not be required from October 28 onwards", Mr Varadkar said threats of job losses will ultimately damage the airline as much as the staff.

Speaking in Rome, Italy, on the final day of a week-long three-country tour of continental Europe to shore up support for Ireland's Brexit position, Mr Varadkar acknowledged any potential job cuts are a "commercial decision" for the company.

However, in a clear warning to Mr O'Leary and the Ryanair board, he added that continuing to threaten pilots and staff seeking better conditions could leave passengers out of pocket - risking a backlash against the firm.

"That's [the letters to pilots and cabin crew] a commercial decision, it's up to any business to say how many flights they want to run or how many staff to staff those planes, that is a commercial decision.

But I am very concerned with the escalation in the Ryanair dispute, particularly the impact it's going to have on holidaymakers and people who spent months saving up for their holidays and who are now perhaps not being able to take their holiday.

"I would really ask Ryanair and the unions to think about the people and the customers, the ones that ultimately pay the wages of the pilots and the cabin crew, and the ones who ultimately pay the dividends of the shareholders and keep the board in office," he said.

In the first significant Government involvement in the stand-off, Mr Varadkar urged both Ryanair and union representatives to "get around the table" and "come to an agreement to allow things to return to normal".

While not saying the Government will become involved, he said if this does not happen there is a genuine risk thousands of Irish customers could be left stranded abroad or unable to take planned holidays abroad.

The warning came after the Irish Examiner reported that Ryanair has put 300 members of staff - including 100 pilots and 200 cabin crew - on 90 days protective notice due to the fact the airline will reduce its winter plane numbers schedule from 30 to "at most" 24.

Forsa, which represents the 100 directly employed pilots who have been striking, responded by announcing a fourth day of stoppages for next Friday, August 3.

The union warned further strikes will follow later in the month unless the airlines management changes tack and negotiates in good faith on the issue of base transfers and related matters.

There has been almost a stoppage per week in the last three weeks and the rate of stoppages could be equal to that, if not exceed it, in August.

Ryanair said in response that the union has rejected its offer of a briefing on the planned cutbacks.

It said that the August 3 strike would only see 20 of its 290 Irish flights cancelled. In the previous three strikes, it has kept the cancellations to Ireland-UK flights to avoid too much disruption to holidaymakers.

The airline added: We have told Forsa that there will be no more meetings while they hold strikes.

If they wish to meet after next Fridays strike, then we will do here at our offices, but not if more strikes are called.By Sonya McLean

A jury in a rape trial has been discharged after a black juror asked the judge to be excused from the panel because he said he felt uncomfortable around his fellow jurors.

A note was handed up to the registrar on behalf of the juror on the third day of the trial before the Central Criminal Court after the complainant had finished her testimony in the trial.

The jury was excused, the note was considered and the juror in question was asked to return to court by himself to explain why he wished to be excused from the trial. He had indicated on the note that it was for personal reasons.

The man told Ms Justice Eileen Creedon that he didn't quite have the right words to express it but he felt that every day he was being slagged by the other jurors in terms of his clothes and the way he walked. He said he had tried to deal with it but it continued.

He agreed with a suggestion from Ms Justice Creedon that he felt uncomfortable serving on the panel. She agreed to excuse him.

The accused man, a Pakistan national, had pleaded not guilty to a charge of rape and sexual assault on a Dublin beach on October 29, 2015.

Brendan Grehan SC, defending, asked for some time to consider the case based on what the juror had said.

After a short break he told Ms Justice Creedon that he had taken instructions from his client and it was his application that it would be unsafe for the trial to proceed and that the jury should be discharged.

Roisin Lacey SC, prosecuting, said her instructions from the Director of Public Prosecution was not to oppose the application.

Ms Justice Creedon, brought in the remaining jurors, three women and eight men, and discharged them. She adjourned the trial to next Monday when a new trial date will be set.

Online dating site

Ms Lacey told the jury in her opening address that the woman had met the accused in 2015 through an online dating site. She was about 25 years old at the time. They met a few times and had consensual sex on a few occasions.

There was a period when there was little communication between them but he got in contact again in October that year and they met up.

Ms Lacey told they jury it would hear evidence that the night previous to the alleged rape, the accused had tried to undo the woman's bra when there had been consensual kissing but he stopped when she said no.

They met up again the following night and the woman told the jury that the accused undid her bra after she continually asked him not to.

I said no, every step of the way. When he opened it I said no. When he went to take the straps off I said no, the woman told the jury.

He just kept doing it. At one stage he said just enjoy it babe, she continued.

She said he then pulled down her jeans and raped her.

It just happened so quick. He didn't say anything. I remember the weight of him. My head being wedged against the door, a leg being pushed against the seats, the woman told the jury.

She afterwards the accused drove her back to her own car and on the way she text her friend the word emergency.

Her friend asked her if she was safe and she replied that she didn't know, cause when I looked out the window all I could see was the sea.

He asked me if I was annoyed with him. I told him you just don't force yourself on someone like that. He asked me if he could make it up to me, the woman told the jury.

She said got into her car and drove straight to her friend's home. She said at one point on the journey she realised that she had just driven through a red light. She said she later got texts from the accused asking her to please talk to him.

He knew I was upset. I didn't consent. I blatantly said 'no', 'no'. I got a text from him saying 'Don't ignore me please, the woman said.The lack of diversity planning at local level runs the risk of creating segregated communities and potential tension.

That is the warning from the Immigrant Council of Ireland today as it launches its new report, which found just three local authorities have in-date local integration strategies.By Ann O'Loughlin

The Supreme Court wants the Court of Justice of the EU to determine legal issues with potentially serious implications for the treatment of extradition requests from Germany and Lithuania.

The issues concern whether or not public prosecutors in Germany, and the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Lithuania, are "judicial authorities" within the meaning of Article 6.1 of the EC Framework Decision governing extradition arrangements between EU member states.

The Framework Decision provides that European Arrest Warrants (EAWs), issued by requesting states for the purpose of extradition to another EU state, must be issued by judicial authorities.

In two interim rulings this week, the five judge Supreme Court said, as a result of issues raised in separate appeals by two men against orders for their extradition to Lithuania and Germany, it is unclear whether the relevant prosecutors are judicial authorities.

The answer as to whether they are appears to be a question of interpretation of EU law, Ms Justice Mary Finlay Geohegan said when delivering the rulings.

The Supreme Court wanted the Court of Justice to decide a number of legal issues in that regard and, because of the potential consequences for many other EAW's from Germany and Lithuania for person in custody, that court may decide to apply its priority or expedited procedures, she said.

The references are expected to be formally sent next week.

One of the interim rulings was given in an appeal by Vytautas Dunauskis, described as a Lithuanian citizen living in Ireland, whose extradition to Gemany was sought under an EAW issued in May 2016 by the Public Prosecutor's Office at the Regional Court of Lubeck, Germany, for a 1995 offence described as "murder, grievous bodily injury".

Mr Dunauskis, who is on bail, objected to surrender on grounds including the Lubeck Public Prosecutor (LPP) is not a judicial authority within the meaning of Article 6.1 of the Framework Decision 2002 and, as a result, the Irish European Arrest Warrant Act 2003.

He relied on evidence from a qualified German lawyer that the LPP is not independent of the Minister for Justice and therefore not a judicial authority for the purposes of the Framework Decision.

The office of the LPP strongly disputed that claim and the Irish High Court and Court of Appeal both held the LPP is an issuing judicial authority.

In the interim ruling of Mr Dunauskis' appeal over those findings, Ms Justice Finlay Geoghegan said the Supreme Court is "uncertain" whether, on the evidence and information provided, the LPP meets either the test of independence or administers criminal justice in the sense required, under various CJEU decisions, to be considered a judicial authority.

The CJEU has said a judicial authority must be one independent of the executive, she noted.

The institutional structure of the Public Prosecutor's Office in Germany appears to be such the LPP is "institutionally subject ultimately, albeit indirectly, to a direction or instruction from the executive".

The second interim ruling was on an appeal by Thomas Lisauskas over an order for his surrender on foot of an EAW issued by the Prosecutor General's office in Lithuania concerning an armed robbery offence allegedly committed in 2012.

Mr Lisuaskas, who is also on bail, similarly argued the Prosecutor General is not a judicial authority.

Ms Justice Finlay Geoghegan, in also directing a reference in his case, said, while it remains clear that to be a judicial authority a public prosecutor must have a role in the administration of justice, the extent and nature of the rule that satisfies this test is "more uncertain".By Georgia Humphreys

It's been a tearful time for Catherine Tyldesley lately. Her character on Coronation Street, Eva Price, has faced a heartbreaking few months after her ex-boyfriend, Aidan Connor (played by Shayne Ward) took his own life.

And then theres the fact the Manchester-born actress, 34, is bidding farewell to the cobbles, with her final scenes due next week.

Theres zero point in me wearing mascara or fake tan at my leaving do because Ill be a streaky mess,

admits the chirpy mum-of-one, who joined the soap in 2011. Im gonna cry a lot.

She adds matter-of-factly:

Corrie has completely changed my life. I cant say Ive grown up on the show, but in a way I have  I met my husband while Ive been filming here and had my baby.

In true soap fashion, we can expect Evas exit scenes, which take place at the inquest into Aidans death, to be an intense watch.

We see her turn up to give evidence at the last minute, with her daughter Susie (who she had with Aidan) in tow, just as Aidans dad, Johnny, is beginning to give up hope he will be able to see his granddaughter one more time.

As the inquest ends, Evas sister, Toyah, begs her to stay in Weatherfield but it seems her mind is already made up, and she thinks its best for everyone if she goes.

With lots of emotional scenes involving her character recently, the response from fans has been huge  particularly following Aidans suicide storyline, with Tyldesley revealing she and Ward have been inundated with messages.

Obviously were actors so we refer them to people that can help. Some of them have been utterly heartbreaking.

"People right on the edge: I tried it last week type of thing  and This storyline has helped me and Im going speak to somebody. Its been mind-blowing, but fantastic. Not only have these storylines helped hundreds of people but theyve saved lives. I think thats phenomenal.

Its also made her think more about the mental health of people around her.

By the time you get to my age, generally people are all affected by suicide in some way, she notes.

We lost a work colleague not long ago. It was a very similar situation [as Aidans]  there were no signs. Often I think thats the case. He seemed so happy.

You never know how someone is struggling. I always try to make a point of talking to people. If someone seems a bit quiet: You alright?

The toll that acting out emotional scenes takes on the body is notable (another recent storyline saw Evas baby Susie kidnapped which was difficult for Tyldesley to film).

It is tiring, because obviously you have to go there to make it believable, she admits.

Your nervous system doesnt understand that youre only pretending [to cry]. Youve got to look after yourself and laugh as much as you can in between. Shayne [Ward] was always good for that.

But shes loved the material shes been given to work with lately. And, with her character having recently become a mum, shes also loved working with the babies who play her daughter, admitting its made her broody.

Theyre gorgeous  theyre twins, gushes the star, who married fitness expert Tom Pitfield in 2016. Theyre so chilled and very easy to work with. Tom is like: Stop holding babies!

Having more children (son Alfie was born in March 2015) isnt on the cards for the couple anytime soon.

What Tyldesley is planning post-Corrie is some travelling as a family, with a few countries on the to-do-list. The big one is Australia, hopefully next year, she says. Ive got a lot of family over there that havent met Alfie yet.

One thing about playing barmaid Eva that Tyldesley definitely wont miss, its her, erm, interesting style choices. Some of the outfits have been completely mental, she exclaims, her eyes wide-eyed as she shakes her head laughing.

Im looking forward to saving money on fake tan and nails and remembering what my skin tone looks like. I said to Tom, Im going to be a right minger now. Its all coming off!

Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on TV3 and ITVBy Michael Clifford

Sergeant Kevin Forde was awoken at 3.15am on July 6, 1985. The parish priest was knocking on his door.

Sergeant Forde lived in a premises adjoining Clara Garda Station.

Theres a priest dead in the Flynns bedroom at Kilcoursey House, said Fr James Deignan.

Fr Niall Molloy, who was beaten to death on July 6, 1985, aged 52, in Kilcoursey House, the home of his friends, Richard and Teresa Flynn.

It was scandalous and Fr Deignan wondered if it could be kept quiet. That was not possible, the sergeant told him.

Fr Niall Molloy had been dead for hours, when Sergeant Forde was alerted.

Over two hours earlier, at 1am, Fr Deignan had arrived at Kilcoursey House, an old country pile outside the Co Offaly town and home to Richard and Teresa Flynn, a wealthy couple who had various business and equine interests.

Fr Deignan had been asked by Richard Flynn to come to the house to deliver the last rites to someone. Fr Deignan was unaware that the person was a priest, and he didnt ask what had happened.

The bedroom  one of nine in the house  was in some disarray. Fr Molloy was on the floor, his face bruised.

There was a long trail of blood across the floor, the result of an attempt to drag Fr Molloy towards the bedroom door.

A pathologist would determine that Fr Molloy must have been hit in the face five or six times, possibly by a fist. He bled into the membrane on the brain, which caused swelling, killing him.

The medical evidence would be that he was alive for some time after receiving the blows, but not necessarily conscious.

Fr Deignan administered the last rites to his fellow priest. He didnt know whether Fr Molloy was dead or dying.

After doing his duty, he accompanied Richard Flynn downstairs.

They set about accessing medical help for the stricken Fr Molloy. This took some time. There was a lot of coming and going.

At 1.40am, Richard Flynns son, David, and his wife, Ann, arrived from their home in Tober, Co Offaly.

A doctor arrived at 2am. He confirmed the priest was dead. While the doctor was conducting his examination, Teresa Flynn was on the floor of the bedroom, in hysterics.

Two of her daughters were attending to her. The doctor gave her a sedative. At some point over the following hour, she was brought to hospital.

The first picture taken of Theresa Flynn after the death of Fr Niall Molloy shows her at the cash register in the coffee shop in Athlone, 1986. Pic: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Then, eventually, somebody decided it was time to call the police.

The delay in informing the gardai that somebody had died violently is an aspect of the Fr Molloy case that has haunted the deceased priests family over the last 33 years.

Another disturbing aspect was the subsequent garda investigation.

This led to Fr Molloys nephew, Henry McCourt, eventually lodging a complaint with GSOC. The result of that investigation was published this week.

GSOC pointed out that it was precluded by law from investigating the actions of the members of An Garda Siochana who were now retired.

However, the ombudsman commission did find that the retention of files was wholly inadequate.

What has disturbed the commission is the fact that, despite extensive searches by garda personnel, it would appear that many original documents, and all the exhibits, could not be found, which may have assisted us in our enquiries.

It is accepted that this is an old case, now in excess of some 30-plus years. However, the case involves death and has been an open investigation since 1985, and thus, regardless of the public profile of this case, the commission would expect that keeping all information and evidence safe and accountable would be a requirement, until the case is formally closed, GSOC reported.

There is a third, disturbing aspect. Richard Flynn was charged with the assault and manslaughter of Fr Molloy and stood trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, in 1986.

Before the case could go to a jury for decision, the presiding judge, Frank Roe, directed the jury to find the defendant not guilty, on the basis of evidence proffered.

Had the jury been allowed to deliberate and come to a decision, it is quite likely that the matter would have ended there.

Instead, his family were left without closure, and with the lingering sense that their 52-year-old uncles violent death has gone unanswered, constituting a miscarriage of justice.

Childhood

Niall Molloy came from a large family in Roscommon town. He had an interest in horses since childhood.

This persisted after he was ordained, in 1957, and through various postings that eventually led back to his native county, where he was a curate at the time of his death.

This hobby brought him into contact with Theresa Brennan, from Galway. After she married Richard Flynn, the priest and the couple formed a solid friendship, which included some joint ventures in the equine business.

Theresa Flynn and Fr Molloy had a joint bank account, for dealing in horses, and Fr Molloy took out an insurance policy in the year before his death, nominating Theresa Flynn as the beneficiary.

The priest was a regular visitor to Kilcoursey House and had his own bedroom there.

On the night of his death, Fr Molloy had attended the marriage of the Flynns daughter, Maureen, although he didnt officiate at the ceremony.

Later that evening, back at Kilcoursey House, he entered the Flynns bedroom, fully clothed.

According to Theresa Flynn, she awoke to find Fr Molloy sitting at the end of the bed.

Her husband gave a different account to a garda, later that night.

He said that Fr Molloy entered the room, there was an argument over who would go downstairs to get more drink, the priest and his wife ganged up on him, and he hit his wife once and Fr Molloy two or three times, in self-defence.

Father Niall Molloy's brother Billy. Pic: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie

A detective inspector asked Richard Flynn whether he had found his wife and Fr Molloy in a compromising position. No, no, nothing like that.

The investigation that followed had many shortcomings. The taking of statements was less than rigorous or timely.

The background to the relationship between the Flynns and the deceased man was not properly examined.

There was no medical evidence about Theresa Flynns treatment at Tullamore Hospital on the night in question. The analysis of blood splatters, crucial to a murder investigation, was cursory.

A report on the case by senior counsel, Dominic McGinn, in 2014, placed some emphasis on the last of these shortcomings.

This aspect of the investigation is particularly frustrating, because, subsequently, there was considerable conjecture about what may or may not have occurred at Kilcoursey House and a full and careful analysis of the pattern of blood splatters might have assisted in confirming or dismissing some of the suggested theories, the lawyer reported.

In the end, Richard Flynn was charged with the manslaughter and assault of Fr Molloy.

The trial commenced on June 12, 1986 and concluded the same day. Richard Flynn was represented by Paddy McEntee, SC, the leading defence counsel of his day.

McEntee didnt cross-examine the prosecution witnesses. The result was that the evidence was kept to a minimum, as there was little opportunity for witnesses to expand on the statements they made.

Then came the state pathologist, John Harbison. From him, McEntee extracted the nugget that Fr Molloys heart was not in the best shape possible.

He asked Harbison whether this could have contributed to the priests death.

Harbison couldnt categorically deny such an outcome. Despite that detail, it was Harbisons firm opinion that death had been due to the head injuries.

As a result of that exchange, McEntee applied to Judge Roe to direct the jury to acquit, on the basis that there was a possibility that the cause of death was a heart attack.

He also submitted that the evidence suggested self-defence on his clients part.

After considering the matter, Judge Roe duly called back the jury and directed them to acquit on both charges.

While there might have been a legal basis to do so on the manslaughter charge, it is unclear the exact basis for throwing out the assault charge.

In any event, that was it. The legal process was complete. Richard Flynn walked free.

This matter has never been fully resolved. The review by Dominic McGinn went into some detail.

The prosecution lawyer, Raymond Groarke, wrote a report for the DPP after the trial. In it, he conceded that, in relation to the manslaughter case, the application from McEntee was valid.

If I had been defending the case, I would have been most surprised and disappointed not to have obtained a direction (to acquit), having regard to the evidence on cross-examination.

However, Groarke had a different opinion on the fate of the assault charge. He reported that the count of assault should not have been withdrawn from the jury.

There was ample evidence for the jury to consider whether or not the defence of self-defence was valid. This is the case if there was no other evidence at all than that of the accuseds statement.

Had Richard Flynn been convicted on the assault charge, it is highly likely that, under the circumstances, anything but a considerable prison term would have led to public outrage.

A jury decision, one way or the other, would have also provided some degree of closure, ensuring that it had proceeded through the criminal justice system.

In the years to follow, it would emerge that Judge Roe moved in the same horsey set as the Flynns and Fr Molloy.

Six weeks after the trial, the inquest was held. The jury returned a verdict that Fr Molloy had died from head injuries.

In the years to follow, a number of incidents and developments added further to the mystery of the case.

Sometime in 1986, Niall Molloys brother, Billy, received an anonymous letter.

This purported to come from somebody who had witnessed a row between Niall and Richard Flynn at the Flynns daughters wedding, hours before the incident in the bedroom.

The letter stated that Fr Nially and Mr Flynn were fighting downstairs. Mrs Flynn got between them to stop them.

Fr Niall Molloy's brother Billy with his picture. Pic: RollingNews.ie

The letter went on to claim that the fight continued upstairs, afterwards, and that bottles had been broken in the course of it. Two possible witnesses were interviewed by the gardai, but nothing came of it.

There were disputes between the Flynns and Fr Molloys estate over property, including a horse and some paintings. In some minds, what emerged might have been probative evidence in the criminal trial, as to motive.

It also emerged that there had been a burglary at Fr Molloys home about six months before his death. The inference was that documents relating to his business interests might have been stolen.

A cold case review concluded that while there had been a burglary, the only evidence available suggested that a small amount of money was stolen.

Then, on the night of August 29, 1987, there was a burglary at the offices of the DPP in Dublins St Stephens Green.

Around 60 files, including that on Fr Molloys death, were taken, most of which were ultimately recovered in October 1991. The Molloy file didnt show up until a house was searched in January 1993.

One of the main suspects for the burglary was Martin Cahill, the criminal known as The General.

He would have plenty of interest in some files in the DPPs office, but ordinarily that on Fr Molloy would hardly be among them.

However, with the case unresolved and dogged by suspicion, significance was attached, in some quarters, to the theft of the file in question.

In 2010, a series of articles on the case in the Irish Independent led to a decision to give the case a thorough going over.

Prayers were said at the graveside of Fr Niall Molloy following an anniversary mass in Castlecoote in 2015. Fr Niall's nephew, Fr Billy Molloy, fourth from right, was the chief celebrant at the Mass. Pic: Ciara Maher Photography

The cold case review team of An Garda Siochana, including 10 detectives, reviewed the file, made additional inquiries, and conducted further interviews.

A report on that investigation was then compiled by the senior counsel, Domnic McGinn.

He produced a comprehensive report in 2014, ultimately suggesting that a full commission of investigation would not be warranted.

Certainly, there are extremely unusual, if not unique, features about this case. Many of these are quite disturbing and merited an in-depth analysis.

Unfortunately, it appears to me that the precise truth of the events of the 7th and 8th of July, 1985, cannot now be ascertained.

Through it all, the family have said that they want and deserve the truth. They have provided their own research, which continues to raise questions.

In 2015, they sought a commission of investigation from then justice minister, Frances Fitzgerald.

She came back to us after fourteen months to say she wasnt going to accede to our request, Henry McCourt told the Irish Examiner.

GSOC was looking at the case at the time (following a complaint by Mr McCourt). But, now, their investigation is at the end of the road and they cant take it any further, because they are constrained by law, in relation to retired members of the force.

"I would like to see somebody with the power to bring retired members of An Garda Siochana before them and to get their evidence, and that of other witnesses, on oath.

"A commission of investigation is the only thing that can make that happen. Weve gone through all the other avenues."

Whether the Government is disposed to such a request remains to be seen.

Theresa Flynn died in the 1990s. Richard Flynn died in 2017.Criminalising coercive control in the home will keep women alive but the law has yet to be implemented, says social change agency Safe Ireland.

Chief executive of Safe Ireland, Sharon OHalloran, said the groundbreaking new Domestic Violence Act represented a coming of age in Irelands understanding of domestic violence.

She said the creation of the criminal offence of coercive control in the act is transformative and would help change the culture in Ireland.

Coercive control is a pattern of acts of assaults, threats, humiliation, and intimidation or other psychological or emotional abuse. It is used to control and limit the freedom of an intimate partner or family member.

The commencement of the act is a matter for the Minister for Justice, Charlie Flanagan. He signs the regulations that dictate how the act should be applied in law. It is understood that regulations under the act dealing with the criminal elements will commence as soon as possible this year.

There is ongoing preparatory work that will need to be completed first, particularly with An Garda Siochana.

Also, the courts have to develop new forms and brief their staff about the new orders that can be made under the act.

At a seminar in Dublin yesterday, Ms OHalloran said, too often, domestic violence escaped the attention of the community because coercive control had not been taken seriously or had been minimised.

For too long we have been having too small a conversation about too big a problem. If you wait for a severe injury before you identify domestic violence, then you are going to miss 98% of cases, she said.

Coercive control forces everybody to focus not only on incidents of physical violence but on the cumulative patterns of abuse and the denial of human rights that are at the core of domestic violence, she said.

Safe Ireland urged the Government to introduce homicide reviews to increase understanding of how such fatalities can be prevented. Coercive control has been recognised as a serious offence in Britain since 2015 where research found it in 92% of domestic killings.

Former justice minister Frances Fitzgerald, who also spoke at the conference, said she remembered being told that, legally, they could not introduce coercive control as, constitutionally, more importance could not be placed on people over property. But through collaboration and problem-solving we did it, she said.

However, legislation is just one part of the puzzle, said Ms Fitzgerald, as 79% of women still do not report domestic violence.

Safe Ireland has launched Resolve, a dedicated legal information and advocacy service to support womens access to justice and the legal remedies soon to be open to them under the new act.

In Ireland, one in three women has experienced some form of psychological violence by a partner, a EU-wide study in 2014 showed. Yearly, in Ireland, over 10,000 women and 3,600 children seek safety from abusive men.

Case study: This is not about revenge... We simply want the sentence that has been given to be served

The mother of two young sons killed by their father says her quest to get sentencing changes is for her boys.

Kathleen Chadas sons, Eoghan and Ruairi, were killed by their father, Sanjeev Chada, in July 2013.

I am doing it for the boys. They had an incredible sense of fairness themselves when they were in school and playing sports, she said.

The boys, aged 10 and five, were found dead in the boot of a car near Westport, Co Mayo, following a single car crash.

Kathleen Chada

Their father who was driving the car survived the impact and was sentenced to two life sentences in 2014.

Kathleen is a member of the campaign group called SAVE  Sentencing and Victim Equality  that wants minimum sentences for homicide and serious crimes and changes to the parole system.

This is not about revenge or wanting tougher sentences. We simply want the sentence that has been given to be served, she said.

Kathleen said her husband could apply for parole in two years time. He received two sentences but they are running concurrently.

It is not about throwing away the key. It is about balance and it is about serving the sentence, she said.

If I knew that my husband was going to be in prison for 20 years, thats OK because I know I dont have to think about it for 20 years.

I dont have to be worried about bumping into him somewhere in the next 20 years. I would have that peace of mind.

It was also possible that she would be in a better place when he was released after serving his sentence.

Kathleen said she was hoping to divorce her husband in the next six months.

I really dont know how to refer to him. I sometimes say he is Eoin and Ruairis father. That feels wrong but he is. It becomes very complicated.

Kathleen said she felt incredibly lucky to have a strong family and good friends to help her cope.Too many countries continue to underfund this vital portion of their healthcare systems, writes Natalia Kanem.

The decision to start a family is one of the most important choices a person can make. It is also a fundamental human right; only individual adults should have the power to decide whether, when, or how often to conceive. And yet, for millions of people around the world, this right remains unrealised.

More than 200m women in developing countries who want to delay or avoid pregnancy are not using modern contraception.

Women who are poor, less educated, or live in rural areas can face significant economic, cultural, and institutional barriers to birth control, and often turn to dangerous forms of pregnancy prevention out of desperation.

If women had universal access to voluntary family-planning information and services, maternal deaths could be reduced by as much as three quarters and infant deaths by as much as a fifth.

Family planning does more than save lives; it also saves money. For every dollar invested in reproductive health services, $2.20 (1.88) is saved in pregnancy-related healthcare costs. Moreover, the longer a woman waits to have children, the longer she can participate in the paid labour force, thereby boosting the economic health and prosperity of poor communities.

Some governments have already recognised these benefits and are allocating funds accordingly. In Thailand, for example, the ministry of health has increased its family-planning budget on the grounds that the added spending now will reduce healthcare costs later.

The Thai authorities assessment is correct; when developing countries make investments that empower young people to start a family only when they are ready, birth rates fall and the share of the working-age population increases relative to the dependent population.

These so-called demographic dividends are forecast to be particularly high for countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, where roughly a third of the population is between the ages of 10 and 24.

Still, despite the many advantages associated with family-planning services, too many countries continue to underfund this vital portion of their healthcare systems.

The Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition, a global research and advocacy group, estimates that developing countries face a $793m funding gap for contraception supplies over the next three years. For poor women in particular, government-funded services are often the only option for safe and effective family-planning solutions. When public programmes are not available, the ability to plan for a family is weakened and the rate of unintended pregnancies increases.

Investment in human capital, when accompanied by sound economic policies and robust labour markets, produces significant gains for developing economies. Fully funding the family-planning needs of poor countries would lift millions out of poverty, improve rates of educational attainment, and help close the gender pay gap in the Global South.

For these and many other reasons, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is fully committed to supporting countries efforts to uphold the right of individuals  and especially women  to choose whether and when to have children.

By 2030, UNFPA aims to ensure that women everywhere can access family-planning services without fear of consequence or cost. But we cannot do this alone. Leaders in government, the private sector, and civil society must join us in working towards this ambitious goal.

Developed countries could solve the global family-planning funding shortfall for a mere 20 cents per person per year, a bargain given the projected returns for individuals, families, and economies. In addition to increased spending, new policies, laws, and the implementation of existing regulations will be needed to help protect women and to empower young couples.

Efforts to broaden access to family-planning services and care are not new. Fifty years ago, at the International

Conference on Human Rights held in Tehran, the global community declared that parents have a basic human right to determine freely and responsibly the number and the spacing of their children.

At the time, that idea was visionary; we now know that realising it is a condition of successful development. Natalia Kanem is a UN under-secretary-general and executive director of the UN Population Fund, UNFPA. project-syndicate.orgYoung people in disadvantaged areas are seen as troublemakers and so are repeatedly and pointlessly questioned and frisked by gardai. Its degrading, says Michael Clifford.

One youth was stopped 20 times in a month by the gardai. Each time, he had to assume the position, was frisked, told to empty his pockets, asked his name.

You might think that after a few times the gardai in the area would have known his name, but they continued to ask it, as if going through the motions, or maybe to get under his skin. He felt embarrassed, belittled.

Another was brought to the station after a stop-and-search routine. At the station, one of the gardai pulled back from the youth, and said: I dont want to catch anything off you.

A young girl in the same area related how she felt after repeatedly encountering gardai on the street: I felt so small, as if I wasnt even dirt under their feet.

These are the experiences of a group of young people in Rialto, in Dublins south inner city, which were related at a forum on policing on Wednesday evening last week in the city centre.

The experiences were collected for a project called Policing Dialogue, run by the Rialto Youth Project. Twenty six garda recruits sat down with the young people and read aloud their accounts.

One young person said this (the reading) was a fantasy of his, Fiona Whelan, an artist and organiser of the project, told the forum.

Another asked a garda do you ever say sorry, when its [a stop-and-search] in the wrong?

The forum was organised by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, on foot of a submission it has made to the Commission on the Future of Policing.

The commission is scheduled to report in September, in what is expected to be a blueprint for radical reform of the force.

Its work was deemed necessary because of the scandals that have impacted on the force in recent years, in particular the treatment of garda whistleblowers. But since it was announced, in February 2017, other scandals, such as the phantom breath tests and financial irregularities at Templemore, have emphasised the sense of crisis.

But other aspects of policing also need to be addressed. Human rights abuses are an occupational hazard for police forces all over the world. This manifests itself most prominently in the treatment of minorities, and quite often young people in areas of economic disadvantage.

As circumstances dictate that these areas are often where violent crime and drug crime fester, some police treat everybody as a potential suspect, rather than as a citizen. At best, this is lazy, at worst, a flagrant abuse of human rights.

The ICCL submission, entitled, Rights-Based Policing: How Do We Get There? puts forward the case for human rights to be at the heart of reform.

Much good work has been done, over many years, by those within and outside An Garda Siochana, to ensure human rights inform Irish policing. However, these efforts have not penetrated throughout the organisation and have not been effective in providing solutions to management and operational problems that continue to dog the organisation, ICCL director Liam Herrick states in the submission.

One element of human rights discussed on Wednesday last week concerned how a cavalier or indiscriminate approach to stop-and-search can impact on young people. Ms Whelan said that training is absent in this area.

The project in which she is involved sought and received engagement from the chief superintendent in the south inner city.

At one point, the Rialto Project travelled to Templemore to provide input into training.

However, shaved resources in the force drained enthusiasm for this kind of policing.

Solicitor Garth Noble has long experience in working with children who come into contact with the criminal justice and care systems.

They get why we need the police, but their experiences with An Garda Siochana are pretty negative. A number are able to identify individual gardai whom they had a positive experience with.

Stop-and-search is a particular problem, he said. Gardai require reasonable cause to do it, but that is often not referenced at all, he pointed out. Issues frequently arise about obstruction in these situations.

Theyre seen as troublemakers, he said of young people who are subjected to stop-and-search.

Often, the attitude is theyre out to do no good.

Mr Noble also pointed to the section of the Public Order Act which permits gardai to ask somebody to leave an area.

This provision is often invoked without reference to a reason for being asked to leave, which is required under the act. The gardai themselves say we dont need more laws, Mr Noble told the gathering. We need resources (they say). They all talk about lack of training in interacting with people.

The forum also heard from solicitor, David Joyce, about similar and even more pronounced issues that arise in the Travelling communitys interaction with the force.

In the grand scheme of policing, where armed gardai must respond to and investigate gun murders and major drug-related crime, problems about stop-and-search might seem trivial. Equally, within some communities, where a small minority resort to violent or serious crime, the gardai have a difficult and unenviable task.

Yet, abuse of human rights on any level is unacceptable. Just as important is the impact that these abuses have

on relations between gardai and the communities they serve.

At one point on Wednesday, lawyer Alyson Kilpatrick, who served as a human rights advisor to the Northern Ireland Policing board, asked how many gardai were in the room.

In an audience approaching around 100 people, a single hand went up. That belonged to Sergeant David McInerney, the highly regarded head of the forces Racial and Intercultural Unit.

But still, one officer at a gathering to discuss a vital element that requires addressing when the future for policing is laid out? Change cant come fast enough.Days before the last general election, the man who would be minister for climate action, Denis Naughten, told RTE Radios Late Debate that when he was out canvassing, no-one on the doorsteps was asking about climate change.

He wasnt saying it wasnt important or that action wasnt needed, but there was little in his contribution to suggest he was the person to inject a sense of urgency into the national response to the most pressing global issue of our time.

Two years on from his elevation to minister, there is still scant evidence that it has been similarly elevated in his mind from a challenge to the more appropriate category of crisis.

Of course, nobody wants a minister running around in circles, with his head in his hands, declaring were all going to die. But the truth is that with the increasing frequency of floods, freezes, storms, heatwaves and fires, people will die. And some already, tragically, have.

Admittedly, it can be tricky to find the right language to convey the message to best effect. Peddlers of panic are easily dismissed and merchants of doom dont get re-elected.

But the ministers tendency to present climate change in the gift box of investment is not working. His recent launch of the 500m Climate Action Fund brimmed with references to innovation, creativeness, endless opportunities, and solution-focused approaches. It almost seemed worth having the peril of climate change just to be part of all this excitement.

His response to yesterdays damning Climate ChangeAdvisory Council report focused on the 22bn pledged in the Ireland 2040 National Development Plan to turn the country into a low-carbon economy by 2050. Thats 22 thousand million, he enthused.

And, indeed, it is a lot of money. But the irony is that it is a post-recession investment in the economy that is now driving our carbon emissions sky-high, so talking investment and climate change in the same sentence again fails to deliver the message.

If he is struggling for the right words, he will find them in the advisory councils report, which opts for the likes of urgent, disturbing, and disappointing, and expresses all manner of concern  significant, great, very, and major.

Those words describe not just the risks and hazards associated with climate change [risk and hazard also populating the report] but the failure of the Government to fully grasp the need for a detailed plan of action to mitigate it.

The plan needs to do more than declare what we want to achieve and should encourage and empower innovative people to work towards it [encourage and empower are favourites of the minister]  it needs to set out very clearly those things we can no longer do if we want to get to grips with climate change. Negative, but necessary, words.

The report offers plenty more. The Irish economy is not on a pathway towards low-carbon transition, it says. In fact, it is completely off-course.

The minister may argue this is semantics and that actions speak louder than words. But words drive action.

And even if he is taking his cue from constituents who dont ask about climate change, he needs to take the lead and tell them anyway.He was responding to reports that Catholic hospitals could break the law and refuse to offer abortions in all circumstances under a code of ethics by the Irish Catholic Bishops.

It is the minister for healths clear view that health service providers have a statutory responsibility to comply with the provisions of health legislation, stated his department yesterday.

In a tweet, Mr Harris wrote: Conscientious objection is for individuals, not institutions.

Mr Harris established a group to examine how voluntary providers interact with the health service. It is due to report shortly.

Representatives from the Council for Healthcare of the Irish Bishops Conference provided a copy of their code of ethical standards for healthcare when they met the group earlier this month.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said religious bodies were entitled to produce their ethical guidelines, but stressed that the Medical Councils guidelines were the ones that should be followed in publicly funded hospitals.

Social Democrats co-leader Roisin Shortall said clear assurances were needed that all publicly funded hospitals, including those connected to religious orders, would provide all legal healthcare services, including abortion services.

Ms Shortall said Mr Varadkar had stated that provision would be made for individual doctors to opt out of offering abortions services on conscientious grounds, and to refer patients to another clinician.

However, there can be no ambiguity about the fact that such conscience clauses cannot apply to entire hospitals.

According to a report in The Times Ireland edition, guidelines by the Irish Catholic Bishops for the 20 main hospitals connected with religious orders include a ban on most assisted reproduction procedures and that the few procedures allowed would not be given to LGBT couples or unmarried women.

The code of ethical standards for healthcare also bans contraception, crisis pregnancy counselling with information on abortion, and counselling for families going through a fatal foetal abnormality diagnosis that lists termination as an option.

According to the newspaper, the document also questions the ethics of tests during pregnancy that might identify a fatal foetal abnormality and lead to the immoral act of abortion.

A number of publicly funded hospitals are under Catholic ownership or governance, including St Vincents and the Mater hospital in Dublin.

Ms Shortall said she wants Mr Harris to explain why there had been such a long delay in delivering on the commitment to ensure that the new national maternity hospital at St Vincents University Hospital campus in Dublin remained in full public ownership.

A spokesperson for St Vincents Healthcare Group said all procedures that are legal in Ireland are available in their hospitals and would be available in the new maternity hospital.

Patient care is delivered without religious, ethnic, or other distinction and any medical procedure which is in accordance with the laws of the land can be carried out in hospitals in the St Vincents Healthcare Group, said the spokesperson.

The Irish Catholic Bishops Conference did not respond when asked to comment on the reports.Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was in Venice yesterday with hopes the notoriously romantic Italian city could whisper some badly needed sweet nothings back into the EU and UKs increasingly deaf ears.

The Unesco world heritage site which is dominated by gondolas and the inspiration behind Casanovas Historie De Ma Vie and Vivaldis music has worked wonders on even the most doomed relationships for centuries.

However, like all great flings, some couples just arent meant to be, the EU and UK among them.

And with Brexit looming large, it was understandable yesterday that the nearby Bridge of Sighs  so named because it was convicts last sight before years of self- inflicted pain  and another Venetian classic, Prousts In Search of Lost Time, rather than the beautiful surrounds, where what hung pointedly in the air.

With 11 weeks before the October withdrawal agreement deadline crucial to Brexit and months before the March 2019 cliffhanger ending, the UKs departure plans remain in tatters.

And while Taoiseach Leo Varadkar tried his best to emphasise the positives on the latest stop in his four-day Brexit-focussed continental tour, there was no escaping the reality of the waters, and problems, lapping ever closer to the Venetian and Brexit shores.

With his best foot forward, Mr Varadkar sought yesterday morning to help all sides of the diplomatic divorce. British prime minister Theresa Mays decision to take control of the UKs talks team, he said, could add some badly needed common sense and consistency back to the British side of the table.

He said the Government, will put Brexit first and does not want to become embroiled in an internal general election before the March 2019 date is reached.

And the EU, he added in best pre-divorce negotiations voice, still wants to find a solution including a still hypothetical potential extension of that March 2019 date  that can work for everyone. Honest.

The message the latter-day Merchant of Venice tried to negotiate  that, like most warring couples who come to the city, the EU and UK love each other really and just want a resolution. Sounds good on paper.

However, while there was a slight change in tone, the reality is that the same problems remain, with hardline Brexiteers refusing to allow the UK to pay a 43bn EU debt likely to recall the Merchant of Venice was ultimately about a slick negotiator plotting to ensure he gets his pound of flesh.

Despite the international love for the city and its history, Venice is slowly sinking. And unless some clear practical steps are taken soon, a soft Brexit is not going to stand much of a better chance.The Court of Justice of the EU yesterday found that courts must refrain from executing a European arrest warrant if there was a real risk that an individual would not get a fair trial because of concerns about the independence of the judiciary in another EU state.

The Polish authorities have been seeking the extradition from Ireland of a suspected drug trafficker, Artur Celmer, aged 31, for a series of offences dating back to 2007.

Since his arrest in Ireland on May 5, 2017, Mr Celmer has fought being returned to Poland on foot of three separate European arrest warrants issued by the Polish courts.

Lawyers for Mr Celmer claim he runs a real risk of not receiving a fair trial as a result of recent reforms of the Polish system of justice.

The case was referred to the CJEU by High Court judge, Ms Justice Aileen Donnelly, after she expressed concern that immense legislative changes had called into question the rule of law and judicial independence in Poland.

Judge Aileen Donnelly, who referred the case to the CJEU.

The Polish government, which is led by PiS, a right-wing Christian democratic political party, has introduced reforms of the countrys judicial system which has resulted in greater political influence on the retirement and appointment of judges.

The European Commission begin infringement proceedings against Poland earlier this month after it was determined there was a clear risk of a serious breach by Poland of the rule of law.

In yesterdays ruling, the CJEU said refusing to execute a European arrest warrant was an exception to the mutual recognition of extradition proceedings by EU states. However, the Luxembourg-based court said it was justified if there was a real risk that the subject of an extradition request would suffer a breach of their fundamental right to a fair trial.

It said a court being asked to extradite a suspect had to carry out an objective, reliable, specific, and properly updated assessment to establish if there was a lack of independence in the judiciary of the country which had issued a European arrest warrant.

The CJEU said such a court must also assess the particular circumstances of each extradition request and the related offences.

It said recent actions by the European Commission were particularly relevant to the case.

Yesterdays ruling allows the High Court to make its own finding on whether to proceed with the requested extradition of Mr Celmer back to Poland.

The case is also regarded as having widespread implications for how all EU member states deal with extradition cases involving Poland.Figures for June, provided by the Department of Housing, show yet another record number of people homeless across the country, with 68% of those in Dublin.

The situation has worsened in the Mid-West, primarily around Limerick, and in the South-East, taking in Waterford.

The situation has deteriorated in the South-West, across Cork and Kerry.

Analysis of the homeless figures carried out by Cork Simon showed:

317 adults were in emergency accommodation in Cork, up 19.6% in 12 months and 47.4% over two years;

The total number of adults and children in emergency accommodation in the South-West is the highest recorded at 685, up 43% in 12 months and 108% in two years;

The number of people in hotel rooms and B&Bs outstrips the number of people in the shelter for the sixth consecutive month  up 109.4% in 12 months;

The number of women in emergency accommodation in the South-West is at its highest level, at 182  up 65% in 12 months;

257 children were in emergency accommodation in the South-West the highest ever recorded and up 56% in 12 months.

On an early morning visit from our Outreach team Pat' tells them his pain is caused by blisters on his feet from walking around all day & sleeping on the cold, concrete. People need rest  a bed, clean clothes, socks. Not walking around all day. We need housing & much more of it. pic.twitter.com/w4j0ebKWK1  Cork Simon Community (@Cork_Simon) June 28, 2018

Paul Sheehan, campaigns and communications manager in Cork Simon, said: Basically, we have got an emergency shelter that is stretched to the limit.

We did add 15 very basic beds to get us through winter 2017 and we have kept them open. We have more people who are long-term homeless. People are stuck in emergency accommodation and have no way out.

Mr Sheehan said that for six months in a row, the number of people in hotels and B&Bs in Cork had exceeded the number in emergency shelters  a reversal of the usual pattern in the city.

Everything is overstretched, he said. Everything is at capacity.

He referred to quarterly returns provided by local authorities to the department which showed that in 2017 in the South-West, for every one person who left emergency accommodation, two entered the system.

The 15 extra beds, which are mats on the floor, similar to the night cafe operated successfully by Merchants Quay in Dublin, are funded by the department until the end of October and are likely to continue beyond that as part of the next cold weather initiative.

While welcome, Mr Sheehan said there is a fear that it could become the norm.

Mary used to feel uncomfortable every time she walked into a shop - like people knew she was homeless. Her support worker, Teresa, says; It goes with the stigma around homelessness. Something we work hard at trying to break down. #BreakTheStigma #BelieveInPeople pic.twitter.com/8Uga2vbYzm  Cork Simon Community (@Cork_Simon) June 27, 2018

Even those in housing are stretched, he continued, pointing out that one third of those using Cork Simons nightly soup runs are in private rented accommodation.

All the money is going to keep the roof over your head, he said.

In recent days the Inner City Helping Homeless organisation in Dublin has raised the plight of older people entering emergency accommodation including hotels and B&Bs.

Cork Penny Dinners said more money needs to be spent on frontline services following a week in which four of its service users died.The Climate Change Advisory Council has produced its second annual review on Irelands efforts to battle climate change. It warned that the Government has not provided a pathway for the decarbonisation of the economy and society by 2050.

It advised that major new initiatives are required if Ireland is to meet its objectives on climate change.

Climate Minister Denis Naughten admitted the reports findings are deeply disappointing, and blamed the growing economy for countrys shortcomings.

Among its recommendations, the council advises that the excise tax on diesel should be raised to match that on petrol, and that the next budget should see an increase in the carbon tax in Ireland to 30 per tonne, rising to 80 per tonne by 2030.

Following on from last years annual review, Ireland is now in an even worse position, said council chair Professor John FitzGerald.

Irelands greenhouse gas emissions increased again in 2016, with the projections of emissions to 2035 showing that we are completely off course in addressing the challenge of climate change.

Instead of achieving the required 1m-tonne-per-annum reduction in carbon dioxide emissions consistent with the National Policy Position, Ireland is currently increasing emissions at a rate of 2m tonnes per year.

We need immediate and urgent action to put us back onto a pathway to achieve transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient, and sustainable economy and society.

Mr FitzGerald said there is an opportunity to address the countrys reliance on fossil fuels in our economy, and encourage innovation and change of behaviour in businesses and households towards greener and more efficient energy solutions.

While the council said Ireland is not on track to meet its 2020 or 2030 targets, Mr Naughten said the Government will do what it can to meet the latter goal.

I acknowledge and share the councils frustration with the lack of progress towards Irelands climate change targets for 2020. In this respect, the latest projections of greenhouse gas emissions, published by the EPA in May 2018, are deeply disappointing, he said.

The recent pace of economic growth, and the consequent increases in emissions from the agriculture and transport sectors in particular, have contributed significantly to these projections.

The projected shortfall to our targets is further exacerbated by both the constrained investment capacity over the past decade due to the economic crisis, and the extremely challenging nature of the target itself.

The Government is doing everything it can to ensure that we, at an absolute minimum, meet our 2030 target.

Stop Climate Chaos, a civil society coalition, described the councils report as disappointing but not surprising.

The continued support for peat burning, renewed vigour for offshore oil and gas exploration, and long delays in support for solar power and community participation in renewable energy generation point to an alarming policy incoherence and a knowing indecision on the part of Government, said Kate Ruddock, a spokesperson for the groups.

The Citizens Assembly put forward practical proposals on climate action to remedy this situation.

The people of Ireland do not want to be known as the climate laggards of Europe and the Government must immediately take proactive steps to change this disturbing status quo.Mr Varadkar said there is no legitimate reason to call a general election now other than to take advantage of opinion polls. He failed to rule out suggestions he is using Brexit to handcuff Fianna Fail into extending the confidence and supply deal.

Speaking in Venice, Italy, on the third of a four-day trip to continental Europe to shore up EU support for Irelands Brexit position, Mr Varadkar confirmed he does not favour holding an election either this year or in 2019.

He highlighted the threat of a hard Brexit, saying politicians must put the countrys needs first and that, as such, he and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin should agree to extend the confidence and supply deal for another two years.

It just makes sense to me that if you have an arrangement and that arrangement is due to expire within a few months, that it makes sense to renew that and remove the uncertainty that exists around the date of an election so that both the Government and the Oireachtas can focus on the issues that are actually important to people, said Mr Varadkar.

They are getting a good deal on Brexit, making sure that we secure jobs, keep the economy on track, and improve living standards, and to keep the focus on some of the very difficult problems we have in housing and healthcare.

That should be the focus of Government and opposition, not to second guess each other on whos going to call the election.

Pushed on whether he has effectively handcuffed Fianna Fail into extending the deal, due to Brexit, Mr Varadkar said: I dont know if thats the case or not.

The Taoiseach rejected Mr Martins claims that he is chancing the arm by openly suggesting there should be no general election until 2020.

I wasnt chancing my arm, it was a serious proposal and the proposal stands, said Mr Varadkar.

He said he will again meet with Mr Martin in September, before the Dail resumes, adding that I am sure we can take it from there.

Last week, it emerged that Mr Varadkar had suggested the 2020 general election date to Mr Martin at a private meeting of the two party leaders.

While a number of Fianna Fail TDs accused Mr Varadkar of leaking the potential date to reporters in a bid to box Fianna Fail into a corner, senior sources in Mr Martins party subsequently said a one-year extension may be more palatable.

Despite constant speculation of a snap general election in recent months, the reality is that such a move would be difficult due to the ongoing Brexit negotiations, which are due to end with Britains departure from the EU next March.

In addition to Brexit, a number of other issues mean any general election before March is highly unlikely. They include the Popes visit to Ireland, the budget, two referenda, and the presidential election race.

Separately, Mr Martin has come under pressure from a number of Fianna Fail TDs to not extend the confidence and supply deal which runs out in the weeks after the budget this year.

They include Fianna Fail TD and Oireachtas finance committee chairman John McGuinness, who urged Mr Martin to call an emergency national meeting to discuss the partys future amid slumping poll results.Siptu was responding to the news that a High Court action, taken by the four lecturers alleging gender discrimination in a competition for promotions in 2008 and 2009, has been resolved.

The settlement required the approval of the Department of Education and Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. It is understood to have been sanctioned by the university itself soon after Professor Ciaran O hOgartaigh became president in January.

Sylvie Lannegrand, Roisin Healy, Margaret Hodgins, and Adrienne Gorman had claimed they were treated less favourably on grounds of gender and/or family status in their applications for positions of senior lecturer in their respective departments.

Mr Justice Charles Meenan struck the cases out, on consent between the parties, after hearing from senior counsel Marguerite Bolger, for the women, that the matters had been fully resolved following previous adjournments to allow for mediation to take place.

In a statement issued before yesterday mornings mention of the case in the High Court, NUI Galway said details of the agreement were confidential and none of the parties wished to make any further comment.

It said an amicable agreement had been reached with each of the women and three had been promoted to senior lecturer.

Ms Gorman was promoted to senior lecturer last November, while a fifth female academic, who claimed gender discrimination in the same promotion round, reached an agreement last September after pursuing her case in the Labour Court, represented by the Irish Federation of University Teachers.

The gender discrimination issues came to public attention after a 2014 Equality Tribunal ruling in favour of Micheline Sheehy Skeffington highlighted flaws in the promotion process.

The statement issued by NUI Galway said the four women with whom it has now reached agreement look forward to continuing work there, and acknowledge the work of the university in addressing equality, diversity, and inclusivity for all staff.

The university for its part acknowledges the highly valued and dedicated contributions of these lecturers to their respective disciplines and the university community, it said.

Siptu industrial organiser Noel Maguire said the cases could have been resolved long ago if management did not refuse to acknowledge and tackle systemic discrimination at NUI Galway.

We are calling for the new university president Professor Ciaran O hOgartaigh to get involved to address this crisis and to assist in solving the problematic industrial relations climate at NUI Galway, he said.

Maggie Ronayne, the co-chair of Siptus academic section committee at NUI Galway, said its campaign has always stated that the cases were only the tip of the iceberg.

Discriminatory and unfair employment practices faced by women and men across all grades at the university is rife.

Ms Ronayne said the university has a serious problem with low-paid and precarious employment and most of those affected are women, including cleaners, researchers, teaching, and catering staff.The reports, by the Mental Health Commission and the Inspector of Mental Health Services, sharply criticised services around the country and highlighted concerns about access to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) and about unregulated supervision at 24-hour centres.

Senator Joan Freeman, who founded Pieta House, said the report findings were shocking, but not surprising.

The Mental Health Commission does not have the power that HIQA has to make changes within the HSE, she said.

The MHC have found, on numerous occasions, that child mental health services are in a state of chaos and, once again, the MHC have declared that there is an increase in children being admitted into adult psychiatric wards.

The director of Mental Health Reform, Shari McDaid, said extra resources were urgently needed in the sector.

The commissions damning report of mental health services clearly demonstrates the human impact resulting from the Governments continued failure to act on updating Irelands mental health law, or investing adequately in mental health services, so that they can be delivered in a safe way.

The HSE said measures had been taken to improve the service, including the national framework for recovery in mental health, launched last year. A spokesperson said: The HSEs area mental health teams have created implementation plans to address the recommendations made by the commission and are working towards improving the services provided to service users and their families.

Further initiatives were underway to address the bed shortage and waiting list within CAMHS, including the recruitment of 10 new posts for advance nurse practitioners (ANPs).

There are also an additional 20 beds planned for the new childrens hospital and an additional 10 forensic beds in the National Forensic Mental Health Service, the spokesperson added.Trinity College Dublin researcher Christopher Chevalliers work included a visit to the Vatican Secret Archives, as he sought out information on parishes and their income in the early 14th century.

This was in the decades after the English crown began settling Ireland as a colony.

During the same period, ever since the Crusades, local priests and bishops were required to submit a portion of their income to the Pope. That income depended in turn on local prosperity, making records of these returns a valuable source of information on Irish wealth.

While transcripts of records from the early 1300s may be found online, Christophers research also required several visits to archives in Armagh, Paris and the UKs National Archives to see original documents and establish important context.

Among the key findings of his work  part of his studies for a geography PhD at TCD  are data that show Gaelic Irish parishes were not uniformly impoverished after the 1315-1318 invasion of Ireland by Edward Bruce of Scotland.

Areas such as Thomond, which was ruled by the powerful O Briain dynasty, showed very high levels of wealth, suggesting a more complex Gaelic economy than often believed, Mr Chevallier said.

Nevertheless, even after the devastation of the Bruce invasion and the Great European Famine of 1315-1317, colonial areas were still generally outperforming independent Gaelic areas, he said.

The population trends revealed from his research highlight how colonial settlers located in areas with the best agricultural land, from Dublin down through Carlow and Kilkenny, and into areas that form part of Munsters Golden Vale.

The devastating impact of the Bruce invasion is also indicated in preliminary analysis that shows average depreciations of 68% in parish valuations in the diocese of Dublin as nearly half of parishes were too damaged to be revalued.

However, Ossory was not far behind, depreciated by 47%, followed by Cork (30%) and Emly (24%), while valuations fell by 10% in the diocese of Ross.

He may not get to see Pope Francis during his visit here next month as he works on completing his PhD, but Christopher is grateful for access to the pontifffs highly-restricted archive which features in the Dan Brown book and movie Angels and Demons.

He spent six months figuring out parish names and finding their co-ordinates, a difficult task given the old Irish involved and that placenames were recorded by English speakers.

This feat was all the more impressive given that Christopher is a native of New York, although he has some Irish roots through a great-grandmother who lived in Cork City in the early 20th century.A case against Sean Murphy, of Mylane Cross, Co Cork, was before Cork District Court yesterday. The matter had come before the court at least 10 times. Judge John King suggested the prospect of a prison sentence might concentrate Sean Murphys mind.

He adjourned the case until September 26 but made it peremptory against the defendant. A custodial sentence awaits him if no progress is made, said Judge King.

The matter had been raised before the High Court over the past 10 years. The judge inquired how much the legal fees in the case had cost the taxpayer. County Hall solicitor Lee Wah Pay advised they had run to 80,000.

Ms Wah Pay said the case was about the storing of waste without a licence. The property owner was directed to remove all waste from the site. It is still not remediated and new waste material was found on the site.

Fergus Appelbe, defending, said the defendants nephew had taken major steps to address the problems on the site, which he described as 90% better than it had been.

The case was before Cork District Court last March and Mr Appelbe conceded: I am afraid it has slipped back a bit again recently.

Judge King noted: Since March 2018, it appears no progress has been made.

Mr Appelbe conceded: I could not argue with that. He outlined particular challenges of the defendant and said Murphy was not the one who was cleaning up the site.

Does he want to go to Cork prison, asked the judge. After a brief adjournment Mr Appelbe said the defendants nephew would have the site cleaned up by September.Yesterday morning, the company said its board had approved a plan to cut its Dublin-based fleet from 30 to at most 24 for the winter season.

More than 100 pilots and 200 cabin crew were sent letters of 90 days protective notice telling them their services may not be required from October 28 onwards.

The airline said the reductions were driven by the growth of its Polish charter airline allied to a downturn in forward bookings and airfares in Ireland partly as a result of recent rolling strikes by Irish pilots, which has had a negative effect on [close-in] high-fare bookings and forward airfares as consumer confidence in the reliability of our Irish flight schedules has been disturbed.

The company said it was beginning consultations with staff on redundancy and, if necessary, the job losses would be determined by managements assessment of flight performance, productivity, attendances, and base transfer requests.

Forsa, which represents the 100 directly employed pilots who have been striking, responded by announcing a fourth day of stoppages on Friday, August 3.

It warned that further strikes will follow later in the month unless the airlines management changed tack and negotiated in good faith on the issue of base transfers and related matters.

There has been almost a stoppage per week in the last three weeks and the rate of stoppages could be equal to that, if not exceed it, in August.

In its response to that threat, the airline last night said the union had rejected its offer of a briefing on the planned cutbacks.

FORSA has rejected our offer to meet today to brief them on the planned aircraft (6) and job (300) cuts in Dublin from October: pic.twitter.com/IxEk83Lmm8  Ryanair (@Ryanair) July 25, 2018

It said that the August 3 strike would only see 20 of its 290 Irish flights cancelled. In the previous three strikes, it has kept the cancellations to Ireland-UK flights to avoid too much disruption to holidaymakers.

The airline added: We have told Forsa that there will be no more meetings while they hold strikes.

If they wish to meet after next Fridays strike, then we will do here at our offices, but not if more strikes are called.

Forsa described the companys moves as provocative, reckless and unnecessary and said it was only likely to increase the pilots resolve.

However, the company responded by saying: We cannot rule out the possibility of even more aircraft (and more jobs) being cut in Ireland if our Irish business suffers further damage as a result of Forsas reckless and unnecessary fourth strike.

The union said there was more than a week until its next action yet the company was unwilling to meet in that time.

It said by the date of next strike, there would have been more than a fortnight since the sides last met face to face on June 18. A spokesman said the union was reading the companys actions as confirmation it did not want to negotiate a solution.

The union also said what Ryanair was doing belied its recent statements that industrial action by the pilots has had no impact on the companys operations.

Forsa said that it is normal practice for airlines to reduce activity in the winter months.

In light of this  and of Ryanairs recent difficulty in recruiting and retaining enough pilots to fulfil its schedules  it remains unclear if todays provocative move heralds a significant change in normal practice, it said.

Sources have also questioned whether a reduction in the Dublin-based fleet would have an impact on the airlines slots at Dublin Airport which are considered to be like gold-dust.

The union has also claimed that the issues in dispute would have been resolved in negotiation long ago in other companies without the need for costly stoppages.Ms Phelan, the Limerick mother who has helped expose the cervical cancer controversy, has also revealed that the Scally inquiry will be published on September 1.

Both she and Mr Teap gave moving and critical speeches at the MacGill Summer School, highlighting the lack of accountability in the health and public services.

Ms Phelan, who has terminal cancer, was awarded 2.5m earlier this year after she received an incorrect smear test result.

Mr Teap lost his wife Irene one year ago today, after she died of cervical cancer.

The inquiry, being carried out by Dr Gabriel Scally, is likely to recommend a full commission of investigation into the scandal.

This will also examine why more than 200 women diagnosed with cervical cancer were not told their smear tests were incorrectly interpreted.

A separate review of up to 3,000 slides is expected to also conclude many more women were misdiagnosed.

But Ms Phelan and Mr Teap both believe there are efforts to delay these smear reviews.

Standing ovation for Vicky Phelan and Stephen Teap after powerful & moving speeches today #iestaff @MacGillSummerSc #MacGill18 via @Junomaco pic.twitter.com/MraRUJlV5R  Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) July 25, 2018

I do. Definitely. This is the level of political game-playing going on, Ms Phelan told reporters.

Both said the Government wanted to kick the can down the road.

Ms Phelan told the school that it was likely to emerge  if one looked at the numbers  that up to another 200 women were given incorrect results.

Ms Phelan said: Were adamant that it {review} has to be public. There is no system... like a committee of investigation is private.

Simon Harris [the Health Minister] is talking about introducing legislation for parts of that to be public. We will be pushing that.

On the same day as the Scally report, the two will also launch a support group for patients affected. Three years of funding from the Department of Health has been agreed for the group.

Mr Teap said: One of the things that happened when I went to the consultant and they told me the horrible news about the misread slides and all of that, I went home that night to my two kids, Irene gone, with absolutely no support there whatsoever.

Patients and families have had trouble contacting each other for support because of data protection rules and ministers have had to intervene, the two advocates also revealed.In her email to parents, she said the board of the school seemed to be making admission to the State-funded school a collateral benefit of parochial engagement.

She said this ran counter to the Church of Irelands mission to embrace diversity in the furtherance of the Church of Irelands core values of freedom of conscience, tolerance and inclusivity.

Plainly put, what that means is that parents felt they had to turn up at Church to get their kids into the school because admissions policy said priority would be given to accustomed members of the parish who had to be signed off on by the rector. It appears that some children of parishioners have already been prioritised over other children.

This is nothing new.

I am an accustomed member of the Church of Ireland but I didnt send my kids to the local C of I school when it was suggested I should make myself known to the former rector.

I was not only to go to church, I was to be seen to go.

Just a couple of years ago, a friend was refused a place for her child in another Protestant school in Co Wicklow on the grounds that her commitment to the womens prayer group was suspect.

Shed been getting out of bed on Sunday mornings and going to church especially to get her kid into this nearby school. Her article of faith was that her kid could walk to school on her own.

Lets remember for a moment that its the kids who go to school and yet it is the Sunday habits of their parents which are under scrutiny. This is absolutely bonkers.

The Government says its School Admissions Bill, which will be law next year, will disallow discrimination on the basis of church attendance and involvement. Overall, however, the bill merely adds a few nice balconies and useful fire escapes to the mad edifice we have built around school admissions in this country. In some ways, the renovations makes it slightly better and in others, slightly worse.

It is galling that Minister Richard Bruton has removed the so-called baptism barrier for entrance to over-subscribed Catholic schools so non-Catholics feel no pressure to have their children baptised while leaving it in place for the schools of minority faiths  the vast majority of them Church of Ireland.

I still cant believe that I have seen the people of Ireland take lying down the diktat that over-subscribed Catholic schools cant discriminate on the basis of a childs religion, but schools run by minority faiths can.

The act says that such schools can refuse to admit a child if it is proved that the refusal is essential to maintain the ethos of the school.

Well, you wouldnt want too many of those Catholic kids in your local C of I school, would you? They might destroy the ethos.

Quite what is the difference in ethos between Catholic and C of I kids is in todays Ireland is beyond me.

Would the C of I kids have more home-made chutney on their sandwiches? Would the Catholic kids say toilet instead of lavatory?

They are slightly different branches of the same Christian faith.

As for excluding a Muslim child, now thats different. Cant have a girl running around with a tea towel on her head, can you? Or a boy shouting Allahu akbar in the playground?

The Protestant Churches determination to keep a majority of Protestants in Protestant schools is based on an ancient instinct to preserve the tribe. It is increasingly out of step with contemporary Ireland and increasingly fake.

This was the unspoken truth behind the attempt of the board of management of St Patricks, Greystones, to prioritise accustomed members of the Church of Ireland congregation over the vast majority of baptised Protestants, some of whom probably couldnt say the Apostles Creed if you gave them a set of flash cards.

I have seen the kids of confirmed atheists who were baptised in South Africa, or the UK, or Australia, or Zambia or somewhere else because it was the done thing and have not been in church since, getting priority access to Irish Protestant schools.

Ive also known lapsed Catholics who fancied the tone of the local Church of Ireland school over the RC school and did a quickie C of I baptism purely to get their kids in.

You can argue that the strategies of such people make a case for schools to prioritise accustomed members in giving out places. But then you get whats worse: people turning up to church just to get their kids into school.

Who wants those people in their Church? I dont.

Had the education system been organised according to the famous letter by Edward Stanley in 1831, which allowed for multi-denominational schools with separate denominational religious instruction  much like todays Community National Schools  we would not be in this mess.

It was the Protestant churches who rebelled first, saying their communities would be over run with Catholics. That siege mentality has held ever since, with Protestant schools becoming, as congregations struggle, the churches biggest power base.

Siege mentality on the part of Protestants during the early years of this State was not surprising.

I hope, as we turn to commemorating the centenary of the War of Independence, the Civil War and the Treaty, we will once take an honest look at the sectarian murder of Protestants during this period, including the 13 Protestant men who were shot dead in Dunmanway and Ballygroman, Co Cork, in April 1922.

This massacre sparked a refugee crisis in Co Cork, part of the 33% reduction in the population of Protestants in the 26 counties between 1911 and 1926. The historian Peter Hart has called this exodus the only example of the mass displacement of a native ethnic group within the British Isles since the 17th century.

This is a history which has been disremembered by Irish Protestants, even within affected families, some of which I have contacted. There is too much to lose by remembering.

What there is, instead, is a determined clinging to the last few power bases, facilitated by a State which somewhere in its soul feels guilty about the historic treatment of some Protestants.

It also wants to avoid giving any ammunition to Northern Unionists. More than anything else, however, it thinks there are too few Protestants to bother annoying.

Discrimination on the basis of church attendance has been taken off the table, following Eileen Jacksons brave and principled stand. But we are still left with Protestant schools which will be more and more tribal by comparison with other schools and while thats not fair on anyone, its particularly unfair on Protestant children.News Armed Conflict Harming Efforts to Save Myanmars Tigers, Group Says

A wild tiger is seen in the upper Chindwin River area in 2016 in a photo captured by a camera trap placed by WCS. / Photo supplied by Wildlife Conservation Society-Myanmar

YANGON  Ending armed conflict is crucial to Myanmars efforts to save the tiger populations in its wildlife reserves, said a wildlife conservation NGO on Thursday, warning that the countrys tiger population continues to dwindle.

The tiger population of Myanmars wildlife sanctuaries is now less than 100, compared to around 150 in 2003, according to the Myanmar chapter of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Globally, the number of tigers has dropped to less than 4,000 from about 100,000 a century ago.

Myanmar hosts the worlds largest tiger reserve in the Hukawng Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, an area covering over 17,373 square kilometers. However, conservationists and researchers have been hampered in their efforts by armed conflict in the valley between the Myanmar military (or Tatmadaw) and the Kachin Independence Organization/Kachin Independence Army (KIO/KIA).

WCS Myanmar, World Wildlife Fund and Flora and Fauna International (FFI) are collaborating with the Forestry Department under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation to preserve wildlife through research projects in the Hukawng Valley, Htamanthi and Tannitharyi Range wildlife sanctuaries.

U Than Myint, the country directory of WCS Myanmar, told reporters on Thursday, If the fighting eased, we could strengthen our preservation efforts.

The fighting in the Hukawng Valley has forced villagers to flee for their lives and therefore They have not been able to devote themselves to preserving wildlife.

We hope for a decent peace in the region, so that they can stay in their homes and participate in preservation projects, as the villagers play a vital role in wildlife conservation, U Than Myint said.

He was speaking at a press conference arranged by WCS Myanmar in Yangon on Thursday, two days ahead of International Tiger Day on July 29. The organization aims to share information about its research activities in the upper Chindwin River region, in northwestern Myanmars Sagaing Region, and to promote awareness among the public of the importance of tiger conservation.

WCS Myanmar conducts research there using camera traps to document the tiger population and those of the species it preys on. It has placed more than 100 camera traps in 225 places to research tigers and their prey in the upper Chindwin area over the past three years.

Based on its research, the organization says, There is hope for success for tiger conservation in Myanmar. The group has documented the presence of numerous tiger cubs during its three years of research from December 2014 to December 2017, said U Hla Naing, who is in charge of research on the countrys northern forests for WCS Myanmar.

However, he said, challenges remain as Myanmar still faces problems with poaching, illegal wildlife trade, and illegal logging and mining in the protected areas.

Protecting tigers and other species means protecting our forests, wildlife and environment, he said. WCS Myanmar said concerns remain as the illegal wildlife trade continues to be fueled by demand in neighboring China. Thus, public awareness needs to be raised, he said.

WCS Myanmar has been providing awareness training to local residents of affected areas. Over 130 trainees have joined the program since 2016.

We provide the community with guardian training, so as to allow community participation, which is the key, added Ko Pyae Phyoe Kyaw, research assistant at WCS Myanmar.Asia Chinese Police Break Up $1.5B Pyramid Scheme, Snare 82 Suspects

The feet of an investor are pictured as he looks at a board showing stock prices at a brokerage office in Beijing, China, July 6, 2018. / Reuters

BEIJING  Chinese police have caught 82 suspects in a crackdown on an online pyramid scheme involving 10.2 billion yuan ($1.51 billion) and more than 220,000 investors, the official Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday.

Investors were drawn in from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia as well as the mainland, it said, adding that prosecutors had taken charge of 52 suspects accused of organizing and leading the pyramid scheme.

Police in Meishan City in the southwestern province of Sichuan said the suspects set up hundreds of shell companies and 28 fake industrial chains and lured investors with promises of high returns, it added.

Beijing periodically clamp down on what it deems to be illegal fundraising schemes, including online peer-to-peer lending platforms and pyramid schemes.

In January, a Chinese court sentenced two people to life in prison for fraud in a 15.6 billion yuan ($2.3 billion) pyramid scheme.

Pyramid schemes in China typically prey on vulnerable or poorly educated victims by luring them with the promise of well-paid jobs. Victims are told, often under duress, to recruit family and friends or borrow money from them.Asia Landslides, Floods Kill Five Children in Southeastern Bangladesh

A road is flooded after heavy rain in Coxs Bazar, Bangladesh, on Wednesday / Reuters

DHAKA/KUTUPALONG REFUGEE CAMP, Bangladesh  Heavy monsoon rains triggered landslides and flooding in southeastern Bangladesh on Wednesday, killing five children and forcing a thousand people to relocate, including in the Rohingya refugee camps.

The children were killed in landslides near Coxs Bazar and Ramu, said Kazi Abdur Rahman, a senior Bangladesh government official in the area. Three more people were injured and taken to hospital and a thousand were evacuated.

It was not immediately clear how many Rohingya refugees were relocated. Aid agencies have warned that the monsoon, which typically peaks in July, could threaten many thousands of people.

A number of families were moved due to flooding and minor landslides, said Abul Kalam, the Bangladesh government official in charge of the refugees. The rain shows no sign of stopping, but there has been no major catastrophe inside the camps, he said.

The UNHCR and IOM were also unable to immediately provide figures.

Nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled across the border from Myanmar since August, when the Myanmar military launched a violent crackdown in northern Rakhine State. The Rohingya say thousands were killed or raped and their homes were burned down. Myanmar denies this and says its security forces were conducting legitimate counter-insurgency operations.

In the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, the market near the Modhuchara bamboo bridge began flooding in the early hours of the morning, said a refugee who lives there.

We were awake when the flooding started, said Abul Hakim. We could not sleep well because of the fear of flooding.

I want to move from here. There is a high risk of flooding and drowning and a high risk of landslides, he said as his one-and-a-half-year-old grandson played in the water.

He said there were about 15 Rohingya families living in the area near the market and that it was the second time it had flooded. Floodwaters near Hakims bamboo and plastic shelter were shin deep.

At least three refugees have been killed in the monsoon since early May.

As of July 18, about 21,000 refugees had been relocated because their shelters were threatened by landslides, the UNHCR said.Burma 5 Sued in Mandalay Over Thwarted Cement Factory Protest

The Alpha cement factory is seen under construction in Pyigyidagun Township, Mandalay Region, on Wednesday. / Zarni Mann / The Irrawaddy

MANDALAY  Villagers in Mandalay Region say they were blocked by police from reaching the regional capital on Tuesday to protest the construction of a cement factory in their community and later informed that five of them were being sued.

Locals say the factory will be powered by coal and fear the damage it might do to the local environment and their livelihoods. They say the project has already blocked off some communal grazing land and that most locals want it stopped.

The Alpha cement factory, owned by Chinas Myint Investment Company, is under construction in Aung Thabyay village, Patheingyi Township, about 37 km north of Mandalay City.

Locals say the company conducted soil testing at the site in 2014 and bought the 242 hectares from residents after securing permission to build the factory and mine a nearby hill for raw material.

We sent several complaints to the government back then, and the project was halted. However, it resumed in 2015 despite our objections, said Ko Moe Lay, an Aung Thabyay resident.

According to locals, the company planned to extend a village road to lead to the factory two months ago, but villagers objected to that, too, for fear of losing land they owned along the route.

On Sunday, a 64-year-old farmer who refused orders from local authorities to stop fencing off her land, Daw Mya Mya, was arrested and detained at the township police station. Villagers soon gathered around the station to demand her release but failed to secure it.

The protesters submitted a request later the same day to stage another protest in Mandalay City on Monday. Though authorities approved the request, they were blocked on the way to Mandalay by police and turned back.

On Tuesday, police notified five villagers that they were being sued under Article 19 of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law and for disrupting road work. They showed reporters the notices.

We have no idea why we have been sued under those laws. We already had permission to stage the protest. But the police blocked us and we had a dispute, said Ma Yin Yin Aung, one of the sued villagers.

The mountain that the factory took is where our cattle used to go to graze. Since construction of the factory began, the natural streams have been blocked, too, she said

And we heard the factory will use coal power, which could affect the environment, too. And there are no big trees around our village anymore. The area will become like a desert soon if the factory is allowed to operate and dig up the mountains, she added.

Locals say they have sent more complaints to regional and national government offices in recent months.

Weve sent several complaints, but the government still doesnt listen to us. Instead, the police showed up and threatened us with the law. We just want mother Suu to know and hope she can stop this factory, said Ko Moe Lay, referring to State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Police could not be reached for comment. The regional governor and company representatives declined to speak with a reporter.Burma Court Bans Media from Taking Photos of Military Officers Wife

Theingi Su appears at Yangon South District Court for trial in July 2018. / Thazin Hlaing / The Irrawaddy

YANGON  A local court in Yangon has barred the press from taking pictures and video recordings of a military officers wife who is facing trial for allegedly torturing her maid to death.

According to the Yangon South District Court in Thanlyin Township, the military officer, whose identity is not yet known by the press, requested that the Myanmar Press Council restrict the media from taking pictures and videos of his wife Theingi Su inside the court compound.

The court banned reporters from taking pictures and videos of Theingi Su in its precinct at her fifth trial on Wednesday, although it had not issued these restrictions in the previous four trials.

U Moe Wai, an information officer of the court, told the press not to use photos of the defendant taken at previous trials as well.

The [request] letter dated July 4 was sent to us [by the military officer] by mail. It was not given to us in person, he told reporters.

U Moe Wai said that the ban has nothing to do with the military officers request, but declined to explain further.

He told reporters not to publish photos of her appearing at the court, including getting into or out of the prisoner transport vehicle.

Khin Thandar Oo, also known as Kayin Ma, 38, a mother of four children, was working at the quarters of a military officer of the Inn Daing armored battalion in Yangons Hlegu Township.

She died within an hour of being sent home to Oh Po village in Twante Township by Theingi Su on May 19, citing her ill health.

According to the post-mortem examination, the woman died of injuries to her intestines, and her death could have been averted if she had been hospitalized in time.

The press council does not have authority to ban reporters from taking pictures or videos, secretary of the council U Thiha Saw told The Irrawaddy.

The council doesnt have the authority to instruct journalists on what to do or not do, he said.

Civilian defendants dare not complain about photos. But the officer has complained, so he must have some backing, prosecution lawyer Daw San San Myint told The Irrawaddy.

The defense lawyer declined to answer The Irrawaddys question about the request. Theingu Su has covered her head as she came to and left the court in all of the previous trials.

According to the news media law, journalists have the right to freely criticize, point out or recommend operating procedures of the legislative, the executive and judiciary in conformity with the 2008 Constitution as well as investigate, publish, and broadcast information and related opinions to which every citizen is entitled in accordance with rules and regulations.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.News Military Lawmaker Threatens to Assault Journalists in Parliament

Maj-Gen. Tin Swe Win (in green uniform at right) attends Parliament with other military lawmakers on Wednesday. / Screen Shot

YANGON  A military appointed lawmaker swore at and threatened to assault journalists who were taking photographs and videotaping in the Parliament building in Naypyitaw on Wednesday, drawing condemnation from the media and demands for an explanation from the military.

Before the Union Parliament session began, Major-General Tin Swe Win threatened a photojournalist from the European Press Agency in front of the Parliament building, telling him not to take his photo or post anything about him online, adding that if the reporter did so the officer would punch him.

On the same day, after the session, he swore at a journalist from Mizzima Media, using obscene language. Video evidence of his outburst appeared in the media, along with reports on the militarys budget requests to the Union Parliament for the coming fiscal year.

Maj-Gen. Tin Swe Win has a masters degree in defense studies from the Defense Services Academy in Pyin Oo Lwin. He served on the auxiliary force in the Naypyitaw Command before taking an appointed seat in the Parliament, according to the Parliaments official record.

He has to be sensible. He should not talk that way in the Parliament, said U Sein Win,

training director at the Myanmar Journalism Institute.

U Sein Win told The Irrawaddy, This is not the front line [of the battlefield]. This is the Parliament. He must behave himself.

Under the National League for Democracy-led government, restrictions have been placed on the way media covers Parliament. However, the journalists threatened by the officer were acting within those rules, covering the Union Parliament session from within in the designated areas.

The media are doing their job. We arent breaking any rules. Media organizations should send a complaint letter to the military, said U Sein Win.

His manner shows he doesnt respect our job. It is unacceptable, he added.

In 2016, the Union Parliament Office released an 18-point set of guidelines for the media, restricting each organization to a maximum of five journalists to cover parliamentary affairs and interview lawmakers in the designated spaces. It prohibits filming and photography in certain buildings and areas without permission.

Under the previous government, journalists were also banned from an observation booth above the Union Parliament chamber and sessions of both the Upper and Lower houses. Parliament reporters were forced to watch the sessions on a TV screen in a corridor. Media members said that the restrictions came after journalists took photos and videos of lawmakers sleeping during sessions, and in one case of a military lawmaker voting on behalf of his absent neighbor.

Members of the press said the military lawmakers manner shows how hard it will be for the Tatmadaw to salvage its reputation among a press corps with which it already has deep-rooted tensions due to past incidents, despite military commander-in-chief Senior-General Min Aung Hlaings order to military personnel to have good relations with the media.

The military has treated the media in the same way for many years, communicating with journalists only when they need to get a point across, said U Nyan Hlaing Lynn, chief editor at Hintha Media.

A journalist at Mizzima, Ko Min Min, said he feels it was unacceptable that the military lawmaker could launch a verbal assault unprovoked, and said he was considering sending a letter to military lawmakers and the parliamentary rights committee.

There was speculation in the media yesterday that Wednesdays incident involving Maj-Gen. Tin Swe Win and reporters would lead to the reimposition of old restrictions. Most media members demanded an explanation from the military regarding his manner.

In his position, it is not suitable to mistreat others in the Parliament, not even the media. Military officials should investigate the case and explain why it happened, said U Myint Kyaw, a member of the Press Council.

U Myint Kyaw said, We have to wait and see how the Tatmadaw [Myanmars military] will respond.

Irrawaddy reporters Zue Zue and Htet Naing Zaw contributed to this report.Title: Dial-up with a broadband sticker on it



Time With Provider:

Package Name:

As soon as I signed up with these clowns my internet speeds were on the low side and suffering from constant outages. Sometimes outages for hours, a few times a week. At other times 1 or 2 minute outages repeating every 5, 10, 15 minutes or so for hours. On average not more than 2 days would go by without some form of sustained outage or multiple, rapid-fire outages.When it was working the speeds would frequently be worse than dial-up, page would take ages trying to load and then fail, even after multiple attempts. Between outages I would check my public IP address and ISP details and they would sometimes change. For a while it was in Paris and then eventually ended up in Russia in the latter stages(?).Contacted them more than once, each time in the middle of sustained outages (one time in the middle of a 20+ hour outage), and of course "everything looks fine" and the "switch your router on and off" spiel. Resorted to trying every combination of 3 different routers and rj cables, no difference. Eventually had BT change the master socket in the house, change the physical line outside the house, and ultimately change something at the exchange regarding where/how we were connected there. No difference. Call customer service during another 12-hour outage, "everthing looks fine to us"...Eventually cancelled the direct debit well outside of the contract. 3 or 4 months later these crooks somehow got my bank to reinstate the direct debit WITHOUT EITHER MY PERMISSION OR INFORMING ME OF IT HAPPENING, ie. against the direct debit agreement, and actually backdated it 4 months before I happened to notice it one day looking back through my statements.Needless to say the money was back in my account within 2 or 3 days and then a change of bank was in order. But the nerve of these folk.One of the strangest things was - checking the available services on the SamKnows availability checker, Origin was and still is listed as unavailable. They had had me on some bogus line and kept periodically bumping me off on to other crappy, dial-up-esque lines throughout the contract. Shysters.Australian media companies Nine Entertainment and Fairfax Media have agreed to a merger, to be implemented by Nine acquiring all Fairfax shares.

An announcement made to the Australian Stock Exchange on Thursday morning said Nine shareholders would own 51.1% of the combined entity and Fairfax shareholders the remaining 48.9%.

The combined company will be led by current Nine chief executive Hugh Marks. The merged entity will be called Nine and will have a value of $4.2 billion.

With a Nine/Fairfax merger, how would Fairfax cover a story where - to pluck a wildly improbable scenario from the sky - 60 Minutes was involved in a child kidnapping in Beirut?  Neil McMahon (@NeilMcMahon) 25 July 2018

Three current Fairfax directors will join the board of the combined business that will be chaired by Peter Costello, the Nine chairman, and include two more current Nine directors.

Lane, Jono and Nifty are already testing the furniture in the AFRs Canberra office, as news of the Nine-Fairfax merger spreads. #inyourchaircoorey pic.twitter.com/I9gUlAAysX  Chris Uhlmann (@CUhlmann) 25 July 2018

The ASX announcement said: "The combined business will include Nines free-to-air television network, a portfolio of high growth digital businesses, including Domain, Stan and 9Now, as well as Fairfaxs mastheads and radio interests through Macquarie Media.

The proposed transaction for Fairfax reflects the success of Fairfaxs transformation strategy which has created value for shareholders through targeted investment in high growth businesses, such as Domain and Stan, and prudent management of our media assets," Fairfax chief executive Greg Hywood said in a statement.

"The combination with Nine provides an exciting opportunity to continue to drive incremental value well into the future.

So after 150-plus years this is all we get: I would like to thank everyone for their contribution to Fairfax https://t.co/GHjXMRTX2f  Kate McClymont (@Kate_McClymont) 25 July 2018

Costello said in a statement: The combination of our businesses and our people best positions us to deliver new opportunities and innovations for our shareholders, staff and all Australians in the years ahead."

Unbelievably sad that the Fairfax name will depart the Australian media landscape.  Cameron Atfield (@CameronAtfield) 25 July 2018

Fairfax chairman Nick Falloon said: The Fairfax Board has carefully considered the Proposed Transaction and believes it represents compelling value for Fairfax shareholders.

"The merged company will be called Nine". I've spent most of my working life at Fairfax. I want to cry.  Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) 25 July 2018

"The structure of the proposed transaction provides an exciting opportunity for our shareholders to maintain their exposure to Fairfaxs growing businesses whilst also participating in the combination benefits with Nine.

The Australian Greens said media diversity in the country had taken a hit with the announcement of the Nine Fairfax merger.

This merger paints a sad reality of the media landscape in Australia. It is a dark day for public interest journalism, Greens media spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

In this era of little faith in politics, and the rise in fake news, we need greater diversity and stronger public interest journalism. It is greatly disappointing to see our media diversity continue to be watered down.

Nine now needs to be upfront with staff on whether their jobs will be safe under the new corporate banner.

Between this merger and the ongoing assault on the ABC and SBS, Australians will be very concerned about the quality of their news on television, online and in print.

Labor Shadow Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the proposed merger meant the media sector was about to get even more concentrated.

"Last year (Prime Minister) Malcolm Turnbull repealed the two out of three cross-media control rule which prevented any one media voice from becoming too dominant," she said. "Turnbull junked it with the help of Pauline Hanson and now therell be further media consolidation and further job losses in the media, potentially even in regional areas.

"Labor opposed the repeal of the two out of three rule in the Parliament because democracy suffers if you have too few media voices; workers suffer when mergers inevitably lead to job losses; and citizens, consumers and communities get less diversity, less coverage and less choice."

Rowland said that Turnbull's removal of the media diversity rule had come at a time when he was attacking the ABC and the SBS. "The Liberals cut the ABC and SBS after promising no cuts and have launched an ideological attack on public broadcasting with three bills before Parliament to meddle with the ABC and SBS Acts, a competitive neutrality inquiry and a further efficiency review - to say nothing of the barrage of complaints by the minister (for communications Mitch Fifield).

"What this proposed merger means is that public broadcasting has never been more important in Australia. We need quality news and journalism from a range of sources, which is why protecting the ABC and SBS from Liberal cuts is critical, and why Labor will always fight for public broadcasting."

The merger is expected to be concluded before the end of the year.A new technology incubator, The Studio, has been launched in Sydney in a move designed to cultivate start-up and scale-up businesses in the media, entertainment, communications, games, sound, design and creative industries.

Launched on Thursday by Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison, the incubator received a co-investment of $500,000 from the Australian Government to match industry contribution.

The New South Wales Government, one of four anchor tenants in the new start-up hub, also gave its support in the form of a rent subsidy.

The Studio founder and chief executive, Chantal Abouchar, said its strengths were its industry focus and collaborative approach.

When you combine industry collaboration with industry focus you create a powerful, globally competitive base for innovation," Abouchar said. "When you do the sums you realise a nation with a workforce of 11 million people must increasingly compete with hundreds of millions of people globally. So globally it's easy to understand how collaboration can unlock exciting potential.

Thats precisely why our model brings a critical mass of established industry players together with startups and scaleups. For example, we already have startups working on a peer-to-peer program with Animal Logic, and Dolby is now working with a startup on new content, while their own innovation team has just done an off-site program here with all our residents.

According to Abouchar, these examples also demonstrate how important it is that Australia's outlook for the workplace of the future must be global.

"Australias media industry has historic form globally and todays launch helps to ensure that tradition is set to continue.

"This is also proof that the type of support the Federal Government has provided makes so much sense and will help pave the way for the future."The treatment accorded to the news of Nine taking over Fairfax  yes, that is what it is  gives an indication of why the once great Fairfax newspapers have fallen into ruin.

The Australian and The Guardian  the latter the newspaper that has taken away a goodly portion of the Fairfax readership  accorded the news the weight it deserved. The News Corp publication had three yarns up by 11.30am and The Guardian accorded it live coverage.

Fairfax? The Age did not even bother to make the story the lead on its website. The Sydney Morning Herald did, but there was just that one, lone story sitting there. And both publications had the same story.

Looking forward to the new Nine/Fairfax lineup:



60 Minutes of private school gossip



Australia Property Ninja Warriors



Survivor Marrickville - where hard working white people battle against imaginary Chinese auction bidders  Possum Comitatus (@Pollytics) 25 July 2018

After more than 175 years, the name Fairfax will disappear from the Australian media scene by the end of the year, with the combined company being known as Nine.

(Disclosure: the writer worked for The Age for nearly 17 years from 1999 and was made redundant in May 2016).

Fairfax chief executive Greg Hywood had a last mealy-mouthed stab at making rotten apples sound like heavenly manna, saying that there would be "plenty of Fairfax Media DNA in the merged company and the board".

Yeah, sure. Are they going to have a skin graft from Hywood sitting on the board table?

For years, the Fairfax management has shown that it has no clue about running an online business. It has made lots of nice noises, but has had just one strategy: cutting costs in the form of senior journalists and sub-editors.

Tragedy of Nine/Fairfax is that the visionary Fairfax management won't be going to Nine ... guess that's the synergies in the deal https://t.co/xDbPgEB20C  Michael West (@MichaelWestBiz) 26 July 2018

No company would allow a person of Michelle Grattan's reputation to leave. Nor someone with the skills of Patrick Smithers, a man who is probably the best chief sub-editor I have ever encountered.

Lots of other talented staff, like the legendary cartoonist John Spooner, were made redundant. There are numerous others, too many to name.

In their place, came people who were prepared to work for less. That was the only consideration as the management kept healthy bonuses for itself and treated those who actually produced the papers like disposable nappies.

Another Hywood statement needs to be dissected: "Over the last eight years, Fairfax Media has gone from being at the mercy of the non-stop global media revolution to being best of its breed. And that is why Nine wants to merge their business with ours."

2019 programming unveiled.

Hey Hey It's Saturday's Age.

Merged At First Sight

Two And A Half Men And A Token Woman

Kate McClymont - Australian Ninja Warrior

Millionaire Hot Seat In A Maserati

Embarrassing Bodies Of Print Journalists#fairfax  Bernard Zuel (@BernardZuel) 25 July 2018

If Nine was the Desperately Seeking Susan in this marriage, then why has the Fairfax name been discontinued? That Hywood, even at the end of the story, is unable to speak the unvarnished truth tells one more about the fall of Fairfax than anything else.

Every year, journalists and sub-editors at Fairfax have been holding their breath around March-April, wondering when the news of the inevitable staff cuts would come. This time, the cuts will probably come later in the year, as the so-called "efficiencies" of the "merger" are effected.

That means quite a few staff will be shown the door again.

It will not be a loss for Hywood. He will have enough and more on which to retire in style.Peak "digital ecosystem" organisation AIIA has announced its chief executive Rob Fitzpatrick is moving on in November to pursue a new opportunity.

The Australian Information Industry Association said Fitzpatrick had tendered his resignation, effective from 23 November, for an opportunity with an "early-stage Australian tech start-up".

The resignation was formally accepted by AIIA chairman, John Paitaridis, who expressed his gratitude for Fitzpatricks service to the ICT sector and the associations members, since joining as chief executive in February 2016.

Paitaridis said: "Rob has served with integrity, passion and resolve for more than two and a half years to successfully further the objectives of the AIIA to represent and advocate for technology-led innovation in Australias digital ecosystem.

On behalf of the AIIA Board, members, partners, staff and volunteers, we thank him for his service and wish him all the best in the next chapter of his career.

The AIIA has never been more critical to Australias future. As technology transforms every aspect of our lives, the AIIAs mission is to work with industry and government to help shape policy and encourage investment and collaboration in Australia with a strategic focus including skills, innovation and digitalisation of the economy.

Fitzpatrick said: Im extremely proud of the AIIA and its achievements during my time as CEO.

Together with the Board and alongside my team, we put in place a multi-year strategic plan to bring the technology industry together, and drive a policy-focused agenda, build strong and positive relationships with corporate Australia and recognise and support true digital innovation through 25 years of AIIAs iAwards Program.

My passion to fuel Australias future social and economic prosperity through technology innovation has never been greater and I will continue to be a strong supporter of the AIIA. I am committed to a seamless transition phase over the next few months to ensure my successor and the AIIA have the greatest opportunity for continued success."

The AIIA Board notes having "commenced the search for a new CEO, and is committed to recruiting an experienced, high caliber leader to continue the important mission of the AIIA".In the run-up to the special general meeting to be held by auDA, the Australian domain administrator, on Friday, an analysis of the current membership by one member shows that just four domain name vendors control 70% of those on the rolls.

auDA member Josh Rowe, who compiled the statistics of the membership, told iTWire that it was quite easy to get the numbers after obtaining a membership list with full details.

Last week, another member, Jim Stewart, the chief executive of StewArt Media, had claimed that only 40% of the members were now from Australia, while 30% were based in the Philippines, 15% from Canada, 7% from the US, 4% from Ukraine, 2% from Singapore and the balance from a number of other countries.

To that auDA had responded by saying: ""It would appear that this is an attempt at some sort of racial profiling based on a persons name. It has no validity whatsoever."

Rowe said the list off which he worked contained email addresses and also physical addresses for each member. In most cases, it was their own office addresses, which showed how the membership was concentrated.

Tomorrow's SGM is being held to consider resolutions for the sacking of three auDA directors  chair Chris Leptos and Sandra Hook and Suzanne Ewart. Stewart has led the push for the SGM.

An additional resolution, to express lack of confidence in the chief executive Cameron Boardman, has been disallowed by the board.

Rowe said his analysis showed that 527 members (39.2%) were from Dreamscape Networks, 201 (15%) from the Arq Group (formerly known as Melbourne IT), 166 (12.4%) from Afilias (which runs the auDA namespace), and 38 (2.8%) from VentraIP.

Another 35 members, or 2.6%, appeared to be related to various auDA directors, he added.

In an email sent to a section of the membership, and obviously aimed at influencing their vote at the SGM, Rowe wrote: "Your single auDA vote will only count for 0.1% of all auDA members.

"These domain name sellers, and their employee memberships in auDA appear to have now captured approximately 70% of the auDA membership. This had the full endorsement of the auDA CEO, and board (except for Tim Connell). However, these new members are not eligible to vote at the Special General Meeting."

Rowe said he intended to report what he characterised as "shocking behaviour" to the authorities for potential cartel behaviour.

Contacted for comment, an auDA spokesperson told iTWire: "The auDA constitution states: 9.5 Qualifications for Demand Class Membership. 'Any Legal Person that does not qualify for Supply Class membership may apply to be a Demand Class Member.'

"Further, recommendations 10 and 11 of the Federal Government Review stated: 'That auDA reform its existing membership model by creating a single member class or a functional constituency model and that membership reform is non- discriminatory and supported with transparent membership guidelines.' and 'That auDA diversify its member base in the short-term a focus on extending membership to stakeholders that are under-represented'.

"auDA actively encourages new membership to achieve the reforms as outlined by the government and to make auDA a modern and representative organisation."Newer and newer faces, who became rich illegally under the previous regime due to certain corruption schemes, have been covered during the fight against corruption, being conducted by the new government of Armenia. The publication of the Support Center for Russian-Armenian Strategic and Public Initiatives says that due to tax evasion and various tricks aimed at looting the state budget and various international loans, many high-ranking officials, their closest associates and businessmen close to the imperious feeding trough have acquired fabulous revenues, which are often not commensurate with the scale of Armenia.

"Even in my harshest opposition speeches, I never would've thought that such situation in the country, when the level of robbery can be beyond our imagination, is possible. This is a reality that we should observe. Corruption has reached such a level that, as time goes by, more people are involved in this process, even those who applauded the revolution," Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told a press conference on July 20. He attached special importance to the government's efforts to return money that were plundered or underpaid to the state budget. According to the Prime Minister, as a result of the actions of law enforcement agencies, as of July 1, 20.6 billion drams or 42 million dollars have been recovered from unpaid taxes. "We must continue working in this direction," Pashinyan said.

Borrowed Life

It is not a secret for anyone in Armenia that, against the backdrop of the illegal enrichment of a small part of the society, representing primarily the highest echelons of the former authorities, the majority of the Armenian population have continued to live in poverty. This is primarily about the 10-year period of Serzh Sargsyan's rule. According to official data, about 300 thousand people left Armenia in search of better conditions during this period. In order to better understand the scale and philosophy of the robbers of Armenia, let us turn to the problem of public debt. Armenia's aggregate state debt is likely to hit $7 billion by the end of 2018, or about 60% of GDP. Meanwhile, according to the law, a state debt-to-GDP ratio of 60% is critical.Armenia's state debt amounted to more than $6.7 billion in the end of 2017. The country's external debt last year stood at about $5.5 billion, having increased by $689 million. Armenia's domestic debt has grown by $143 million to about $1.3 billion.

As the national debt approaching the ratio of 60% of GDP it cannot but cause concern. Fears are exacerbated by the fact that most of the loans were used by the former authorities not to develop programs, but to solve such social problems as the payment of pensions, benefits and salaries. It was a vicious scheme, developed and widely used by Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan. Armenia's former authorities for many years, instead of ensuring the rule of law, the development of the country, instead of taking serious steps to reduce the "shadow" economy, they further increased the country's debts, which fell heavily on the shoulders of ordinary citizens forced to pay for illegal enrichment of several dozen families.

Where are these millions from?

A prominent representative of this group of persons is one of Armenia's most corrupt former officials - Gagik Khachatryan. Over the past 15-16 years, he has served in a number of key positions: head of the customs service, head of the Committee of State Revenues, as well as head of the Ministry of Finance. Even according to the specialized Senior Officials Ethics Commission's data in 2015, Gagik Khachatryan was the richest minister. He declared 1 billion 214 million drams (about $2.5 million). Gagik Khachatryan's wife Laura Epremyan declared even more money - 1.5 billion drams ($3 million).

The Ethics Commission did not even try to find out where the Finance Minister and his wife got $5 million, if the salary was noted as the only source of income in the declaration. Maybe the committee thought that Gagik Khachatryan and his wife got these millions as the legacy? ..

Over the years, both Armenian and foreign media have repeatedly published information about Gagik Khachatryan's enormous wealth. Having repeatedly been at the center of high-profile corruption scandals, he never gave any intelligible answer to reports in the press, did not sue any media to defend his honor and dignity, or for libel. In turn (and this was a common practice during the reign of Kocharyan and Sargsyan), the law enforcement bodies showed no interest either in the publications or in the scandalous statements of some opposition deputies regarding Gagik Khachatryan's wealth, made due to certain corruption schemes.

According to the Armenian media, Khachatryan, using proxies, owned (owns) food importing companies "Apeyron" and "Megafud", "Mega Motors" LLC (Mitsubishi's official representative in Armenia), "Alliance" customs terminal, "Yukom" company (satellite television, fixed telephony, Internet), "Amasia" dairy plant, "Santa Fe" cafe, "Galaxy" bakery, Mega Sport chain store, "Chronograph" expensive watch store, "Alekseev" company supplying paper for cashier's checks. Companies controlled by Khachatryan are major importers of vodka and sweets. According to some media reports, still uncontested, all these companies, cafes and shops have evaded taxes for years, while Khachatryan used his official position and hurt interests of his competitors directly or indirectly. According to the head of the Anti-Corruption Center "Transparency International" Varuzhan Oktanyan, a few years ago the center appealed to a special commission on ethics in order to find out whether Gagik Khachatryan really owes "Yukom" and other organizations. The commission gave a very laconic answer: "Khachatryan's sons are engaged in business."

Speaking of Gagik Khachatryan's sons

Two years ago, the ex-finance minister and his sons - Gurgen and Artem - were at the center of a loud corruption scandal. The Association of Investigative Journalists NGO published information on its website Hetq.am that the sons of the minister purchased a sprawling private house in the affluent Los Angeles neighborhood of Westwood in 2010, paying $14.4 million for it and wanted to sell it for $35 million. As a result, the mansion was sold last spring for $18.8 million.

Neither the official himself nor his sons denied this fact. "The article does not contain exposure. My sons are adult and do their own business. Naturally, I know some details of their business activities, but I think that everyone should respect the privacy of other people and refrain from disclosing such information, even if they are his children," Gagik Khachatryan commented on the article. Of course, he did not explain how his sons managed to buy expensive real estate in the United States. Gurgen Khachatryan told Hetq that this deal is a part of his and his brother's economic activities, aimed only at making a profit. And now, the latest news: a criminal case was initiated against Artem Khachatryan, who lives in Paris with his family, on the grounds of inhuman treatment. His servants filed a suit against the Khachatryanov family. According to the Armenian media, the $1.6-1.7 million apartment belonging to Artem Khachatryan is located in one of the most expensive districts of Paris.

And still - where did Khachatryan's sons get these millions? In this family, absolutely everyone is engaged in business (naturally, using looted millions), however, like in most families of other Armenian oligarchs.

Gagik Khachatryan and Mozart

It's no secret that the geography of business activities of Armenian oligarchs has long outgrown the "home state". Metastases from their activity reached the Czech Republic, France, Great Britain, the US and other countries. Former Armenian officials and members of their families are owners of hotels, clinics, real estate and other property in these and other countries. Gagik Khachatryan is no exception.

According to a number of Armenian outlets, Gagik Khachatryan has actively invested in the US real estate market. However, one of his steps crossed all the possible lines and demonstrated the true "thinking" of one of the most ardent robbers of Armenia - Gagik Khachatryan.

The fact is that a few years ago Khachatryan bought a famous Mozart chocolate factory in Austria for 200 million euros, that is how he received his legendary nickname "Mozart Gago". The fact of acquiring a well-known factory was not denied by the Austrian Embassy in Armenia. It can be assumed that having bought this factory, which was founded in Salzburgas early as 1890, Khachatryan tried to join the world treasury of musical art in such a peculiar way ...

But seriously, everything this person's has achieved is a vivid and adequate reflection of the norms and rules of the previous regime, which was dividing the society into a "minority," which can do anything, and the "overwhelming majority," which was supposed to live with the outrage caused by the "minority."

Today, one does not have to doubt the objectivity and integrity of law enforcement agencies and the authorities as a whole. At the same time, it is too early to give assessments and, especially, to draw any conclusions regarding the anti-corruption struggle. And I would like to hope that the mayhem perpetrated by Gagik Khachatryan and similar oligarchs will not escape the attention of the competent authorities.Reddit Email 413 Shares

Toowoomba (The Conversation)  We now know that there is permanent liquid water on Mars, according to a paper published today in the journal Science.

This new finding comes from research using the Mars Express spacecraft that has been orbiting the red planet since December 25, 2003.

One of the suite of instruments carried by Mars Express is MARSIS (the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding), which allows researchers to use radar to study features beneath the planets surface.

Using observations spanning a period of four years, a team of researchers from Italy found evidence of a large lake of salty water, buried 1.5 kilometres beneath Mars southern polar cap. That lake is at least 20 kilometres across, and seems to be a permanent feature.

More than droplets

The reason people are excited about this discovery is because on Earth, everywhere you find liquid water, you find life. NASA has long espoused a philosophy of follow the water in its program of astrobiological research  trying to answer the question are we alone?

Over the past two decades, we have seen mission after mission travel to Mars. Some, like Mars Express, are orbiters, whereas others (such as the incredible Spirit and Opportunity) are rovers. A unifying theme across those missions has been their attempts to see whether Mars once had the right conditions for life to exist and thrive.

Through them we have found abundant evidence that Mars was once warm and wet. We also have evidence that liquid water can still be found on the surface of Mars, from time to time.

But until today, the evidence of modern water all pointed towards fleeting moments  droplets condensing on the Mars Phoenix lander; or evidence of brief outflows of salty water in Martian valleys.

Compared with todays discovery, those earlier findings are a drop in the ocean.

Mars has a lake

The latest observations reveal something remarkable: a salty lake buried deep beneath the ice, which seems to be a permanent feature rather than a transient phenomenon.

The comparison that springs to mind are the myriad lakes buried under the ice of Antarctica. So far more than 400 such lakes have been found beneath the surface of the frozen continent.

Perhaps the most famous is Lake Vostok  one of the worlds largest lakes, buried and hidden away. But the one to which I want to draw your attention is named Lake Whillans.

Lake Whillans is buried some 800 metres below the ice in West Antarctica. In 2013, a team of researchers succeeded in drilling down into the lake and recovering samples. What did they find? That it was teeming with microbial life.

In other words, the best Earth-based analogues for the newly discovered Martian lake are not just habitable, they are inhabited. Where theres water, theres life.

Is there life on Mars?

Finding this new lake, buried beneath Mars south pole, is another exciting step on our journey of discovery of the red planet. Could there be life there, beneath the ice?

The short answer is that we still dont know. But it seems like the ideal place to look. What we do know is:

Mars was once warm and wet, potentially with oceans, lakes, and rivers

On Earth, where you find water, you find life

The transition from warm, wet Mars to the cold and barren Mars we see today occurred over millions of years

Life adapts to changing environments, so long as that change is not too fast or dramatic.

So what do you get if you put all that together? Well, this is where things get speculative.

But lets imagine that in the far distant past, Mars had life. Perhaps the life originated there, or maybe it was delivered from Earth, hitching a ride on a meteorite.

Once life is established, it is amazingly hard to get rid of. Over millions of years, Mars cooled and its water became locked in permafrost. Its atmosphere thinned and it became the red planet we see today.

But maybe, just maybe, that life would have been able to follow the water  to move underground, where it might have found a niche, in a dark salty lake, buried beneath the ice of Mars southern polar cap.

Thats all well and good, but what next?

Thats all speculation, but it shows the kind of thought processes that have driven our ongoing exploration of Mars for the past couple of decades.

Now that we know for sure that there is a reservoir of liquid water just beneath the planets surface, astronomers around the globe will be thinking of ways to get down to that water to see whats there.

That is easier said than done. Landing on Mars is challenging at the best of times, and the great majority of missions to date have landed within about 30 latitude of Mars equator. The two exceptions are the Viking 2 and Phoenix landers, both of which landed in Mars northern lowlands.

In addition, landing on Mars southern hemisphere is harder still. The north is the lowlands and the atmosphere there is markedly thicker, and the surface smoother (as befits, potentially, the floor of an ancient ocean).

To the south, you have less atmosphere to slow your descent and a rougher surface to make your landing harder.

But, while tricky, it is not impossible. And now we have a huge motivation to try.

It would not surprise me if, within a decade, we see missions being designed to visit Mars south pole and drill down to this great lake, to see what lurks within.

Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Featured Photo: Mars south polar cap, as seen from Mars Global Surveyor. Buried beneath, we now know, is a lake of liquid water. NASA/JPL/MSSSReddit Email 181 Shares

Beirut (AFP)  A string of suicide blasts and raids claimed by the Islamic State group killed more than 220 people in southern Syria on Wednesday, in one of the jihadists deadliest ever assaults in the country.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attacks hit several areas of the largely government-held southern province of Sweida, where IS retains a presence in a northeastern desert region.

The bloodshed came almost a week into a Russia-backed regime campaign to oust IS fighters from a holdout in a neighbouring province of the countrys south.

IS claimed responsibility for the violence, saying soldiers of the caliphate attacked Syrian government positions and security outposts in Sweida city, then detonated explosive belts.

The Britain-based Observatory said four suicide bombers targeted Sweida city while others hit small villages to the north and east and shot residents in their homes.

At least 221 people were killed, including 127 civilians, the Observatory said.

The remaining 94 dead were pro-regime fighters, mostly residents who took up arms to defend their homes, it said.

The overwhelming majority of the dead were in (Sweidas) northern countryside, where the bodies of civilians executed inside their homes were found, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Sweida, whose residents are mostly from the Druze minority, has been relatively insulated from the war that has ravaged the rest of the country since 2011.

Its the bloodiest death toll in Sweida province since the start of the war and one of the deadliest ever IS attacks in Syria, the Observatory chief said.

He said regime forces eventually ousted IS from several villages its fighters had seized and put an end to the attacks.



AFP / AFP. Map of Syria locating Sweida.

Some residents who fled the attacks on their villages are returning and finding people dead in their homes, Abdel Rahman said.

At least 38 IS fighters were also killed, including the suicide attackers.

 Abandoned shoes 

State media confirmed the attacks had killed and wounded people in Sweida city and villages to the north and east but did not give a specific toll.

Todays crime shows that countries supporting terrorism are trying to breathe life back into the terrorist organisation to keep it as a card in their hand that they will use to achieve political gains, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as he received Russias envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev.

These attempts will only succeed in shedding more innocent blood, he added, in comments carried on his social media accounts.

Omar, a resident of Sweida city, told AFP explosions began rocking the city around 5:30 am local time (0230 GMT).

The blast was sudden and unexpected. Never in its history has Sweida seen such a tough day, he told AFP.

State news agency SANA published images from the city of the attacks aftermath, showing a victims remains sprawled on a staircase near a damaged wall.

Abandoned shoes lay in the middle of the road among fruit that had spilt out of cartons.

An eyewitness said Sweidas national hospital was packed.

He said he saw people bringing in a lot of wounded in their own private cars.. Others were coming to the hospital to ask if loved ones they had lost track of were there.

The UNs humanitarian coordinator in Syria Ali al-Zaatari condemned the terrorist bombing in Sweida city, saying all civilians should be protected.

Government ally Russia said the IS attacks confirm the need for energetic and coordinated efforts by the international community to eradicate this universal evil from Syrian territory.



AFP / DELIL SOULEIMAN. A member of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) removes an Islamic State group flag in the Syrian town of Tabqa, about 55 kilometres (35 miles) west of Raqa city, on April 30, 2017.

Pro-government forces ousted IS from urban centres in eastern Syria last year, but IS raids in recent months have killed dozens of regime and allied fighters.

The jihadists still hold some territory in Syrias south, including in Sweida and another isolated but larger patch in neighbouring Daraa province, to the west.

That pocket is held by Jaish Khaled bin al-Walid, a jihadist faction whose 1,000 fighters have pledged allegiance to IS.

After ousting mainstream rebels from most of the south, Assads troops backed by his Russian allies are now closing in on the IS pocket in Daraa.

SANA said the attacks on Sweida were an attempt to relieve pressure on IS remnants facing their inevitable end in the western Daraa countryside.

 Desert holdouts 

On Wednesday, Russia-backed regime forces pressed their heavy bombardment of IS territory in Daraa.

At least 41 civilians have been killed in air strikes on the jihadist holdout since July 19, while clashes have killed 49 regime fighters and 67 jihadists, says the Observatory.



AFP / JALAA MAREY. A picture taken on July 24, 2018 from the Tal Saki hill in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights shows smoke rising across the border in Syria during air strikes as regime forces pressed an offensive against Daraa province.

Last month, Assads forces launched a lightning assault that battered rebel areas in the south and brought most of Daraa province under his control.

They then moved on to Quneitra, the neighbouring province which borders the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.

On Tuesday, a Syrian military source accused Israel of firing at one of its warplanes as it carried out operations against jihadists in Quneitra.

Israels army on Tuesday said it had shot down a Syrian fighter jet that had infiltrated Israeli airspace, risking another escalation around the sensitive buffer zone.

The Damascus regime has long accused Israel of backing IS, which overran large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014 but has since lost most of that territory.

More than 350,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since Syrias war started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

Featured Photo: SANA/AFP / Handout. A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on July 25, 2018 shows a member of the Syrian security forces walking past a truck damaged in a suicide attack in the southern city of Sweida.Reddit Email 57 Shares

Melbourne (Informed Comment)  The Trump administration is raising the temperature on Iran, ostensibly to change its behaviour. But it is hard to avoid the impression that the US administration is pursuing regime change. In a speech delivered to Iranian Americans, the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed solidarity with the Iranian people and condemned the leadership of the Islamic Republic as a bunch of hypocritical thieves. He pointed approvingly to public protests across the country as evidence of the ruling regimes incompetence, falling short of a call for a revolution.

But he did make a public statement about the US commitment to expanding its Persian language broadcast into Iran to counter state censorship, in a strategy reminiscent of the US approach to the former Soviet Union, and subsequently the post-Soviet republics that went through Colour Revolutions in the first decade of the 21st Century. The outcome of that strategy in the post-Soviet space was the sidelining of the pro-Moscow elite and the ascendency of a pro-US leadership. Given the tone of Trump and Pompeo on Iran and the pointed commitment to making US media accessible in Iran, it is hard to avoid drawing a parallel with that historical experience. This is a regime change strategy on the cheap.

Coupled with the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal and the reimposition of US sanctions on Iran, this strategy shuts the gate to any prospects of renewed negotiations. The change of tenor from the Obama era makes it impossible for President Rouhani to continue advocating talks with the United States. Rouhani has been under immense pressure by his hard-line critics for giving up too much control over Irans nuclear program to secure a deal in 2015. With President Trumps decision to withdraw from the deal despite confirmation by the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran has been compliant with its agreed obligations, Rouhanis critics have doubled their attacks asking for his resignation.

Even the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who tries not to be drawn into factional fighting made a public statement to say the US turn-away from the deal was a defeat for Rouhani.

Rouhani has tried to defend his political fortunes by adopting a tough-line on the United States, while hoping to save the deal with assistance from the European Union, Russia and China. However, just as diplomatic overtures and deal-making signified foreign policy in Rouhanis first term, his second term in office is being defined by rapidly escalating tensions with the United States. Rouhani cannot afford to look weak in the face of US hostility and has employed a combative language in response to the Trump administration.

Rouhani mocked the United States for trying to drive a wedge between the Iranian people and the government and evoke a Persian warning of a fool who played with a lions tail. Rouhanis change of tone was also evident while on a trip to Europe a week earlier, when he warned the US not to try and block Iranian oil exports, otherwise no oil will flow through the Persian Gulf. This was widely seen as a threat to block the Strait of Hormuz, a bottle-neck for oil shipments from littoral states of the Persian Gulf. Subsequently, the Iranian Supreme Leader added more weight to that threat by endorsing the idea as an option for Iran.

Growing tension between Iran and the United States and the consequent resumption of sanctions is a nightmare for Rouhani, who came to office with the promise of bringing Iran out of isolation. He has tried to respond to the changed international climate by sounding more and more like his hard-line critics. But the reality is that he is now very vulnerable to a political challenge from those critics. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), with its immense economic muscle and direct line of report to the Supreme Leader (as the Head of State), has been publicly sceptical of Rouhanis diplomatic overtures and is now gleeful in his set-back. The IRGC welcomed President Trumps decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal and saw it as an opportunity to revert US-Iran relations back to the pattern of hostility that characterised it for most of the last decades.

The Trump administrations avowedly anti-Iran agenda and the pursuit of regime change has made President Rouhani a hostage to the hard-line faction and sabotaged his capacity to bring Iran out of isolation. There is little to block IRGC from pushing Rouhani aside, only the Supreme Leaders concern with setting a precedent, and claiming a more direct role in running the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Featured Photo: AFP/File / Nicholas Kamm, HO. A war of words has erupted between US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.Reddit Email 176 Shares

The pundits and politicians generally take it for granted that President Trump lacks a coherent foreign policy. They believe that he acts solely out of spite, caprice, and political opportunism  lashing out at U.S. allies like Germanys Angela Merkel and Englands Theresa May only to embrace authoritarian rulers like Russias Vladimir Putin and North Koreas Kim Jong-un. His instinctive rancor and impulsiveness seemed on full display during his recent trip to Europe, where he lambasted Merkel, undercut May, and then, in an extraordinary meeting with Putin, dismissed any concerns over Russian meddling in the 2016 American presidential election (before half-walking his own comments back).

Nobody knows when Trump is doing international diplomacy and when he is doing election campaigning in Montana, commented Danish defense minister Claus Hjort Frederiksen following the summit. It is difficult to decode what policy the American president is promoting. There is a complete unpredictability in this.

While that reaction may be typical, its a mistake to assume that Trump lacks a coherent foreign-policy blueprint. In fact, an examination of his campaign speeches and his actions since entering the Oval Office  including his appearance with Putin  reflect his adherence to a core strategic concept: the urge to establish a tripolar world order, one that was, curiously enough, first envisioned by Russian and Chinese leaders in 1997 and one that they have relentlessly pursued ever since.

Such a tripolar order  in which Russia, China, and the U.S. would each assume responsibility for maintaining stability within their own respective spheres of influence while cooperating to resolve disputes wherever those spheres overlap  breaks radically with the end-of-the-Cold-War paradigm. During those heady years, the United States was the dominant world power and lorded it over most of the rest of the planet with the aid of its loyal NATO allies.

For Russian and Chinese leaders, such a unipolar system was considered anathema. After all, it granted the United States a hegemonic role in world affairs while denying them what they considered their rightful place as Americas equals. Not surprisingly, destroying such a system and replacing it with a tripolar one has been their strategic objective since the late 1990s  and now an American president has zealouslyembraced that disruptive project as his own.

The Sino-Russian Master Plan

The joint Russian-Chinese project to undermine the unipolar world system was first set in motion when then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin conferred with then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin during a state visit toMoscow in April 1997. Restoring close relations with Russia while building a common front against U.S. global dominance was reportedly the purpose of Jiangs trip.

Some are pushing toward a world with one center, said Yeltsin at the time. We want the world to be multipolar, to have several focal points. These will form the basis for a new world order.

This outlook was inscribed in a Joint Declaration on a Multipolar World and the Establishment of a New International Order, signed by the two leaders on April 23, 1997. Although phrased in grandiose language (as its title suggests), the declaration remains worth reading as it contains most of the core principles on which Donald Trumps foreign policy now rests.

At its heart lay a condemnation of global hegemony  the drive by any single nation to dominate world affairs  along with a call for the establishment of a multipolar international order. It went on to espouse other key precepts that would now be considered Trumpian, including unqualified respect for state sovereignty, non-interference in the domestic affairs of other states (code for no discussion of their human rights abuses), and the pursuit of mutual economic advantage.

Yeltsin would resign as president in December 1999, while Jiang would complete his term in March 2003. Their successors, Vladimir Putin and Hu Jintao, would, however, continue to build on that 1997 foundational document, issuing their own blueprint for a tripolar world in 2005.

Following a Kremlin meeting that July, the two would sign an updated Joint Statement of the Peoples Republic of China and the Russian Federation Regarding the International Order of the 21st Century. It was even more emphatic in its commitment to a world in which the United States would be obliged to negotiate on equal terms with Moscow and Beijing, stating:

The international community should thoroughly renounce the mentality of confrontation and alignment, should not pursue the right to monopolize or dominate world affairs, and should not divide countries into a leading camp and a subordinate camp World affairs should be decided through dialogue and consultation on a multilateral and collective basis.

The principal aim of such a strategy was, and continues to be, to demolish a U.S.-dominated world order  especially one in which that dominance was ensured by American reliance on its European allies and NATO. The ability to mobilize not only its own power but also Europes gave Washington a particularly outsized role in international affairs. If such ties could be crippled or destroyed, its clout would obviously be diminished and soit might someday become just another regional heavyweight.

In those years, Putin was particularly vocal in calling for the dissolution of NATO and its replacement by a European-wide security system that would, of course, include his country. The divisions in Europe will continue until there is a single security area in Europe, he told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera in 2001. Just as the Warsaw Pact had been disbanded as the Cold War ended, he argued, so Western Europes Cold War-era alliance, NATO, should be replaced with a broader security structure.

Donald Trump Climbs on Board

There is no way to know whether Donald Trump was ever aware  no matter how indirectly  of such Sino-Russian goals or planning, but there can be no question that, in his own fashion and for his own reasons, he has absorbed their fundamental principles. As his recent assaults on NATO and his embrace of the Russian president suggest, he is visibly seeking to create the very tripolar world once envisioned by Boris Yeltsin and Jiang Zemin and zealously promoted by Vladimir Putin ever since he assumed office.

The proof that Trump sought such an international system can be found in his 2016 campaign speeches and interviews. While he repeatedly denounced China for its unfair trade practices and complained about Russias nuclear-weapons buildup, he never described those countries as mortal enemies. They were rivals or competitors with whose leaders he could communicate and, when advantageous, cooperate. On the other hand, he denounced NATO as a drain on Americas prosperity and its ability to maneuver successfully in the world. Indeed, he saw that alliance as eminently dispensable if its members were unwilling to support his idea of how to promote Americas best interests in a highly competitive world.

I am proposing a new foreign policy focused on advancing Americas core national interests, promoting regional stability, and producing an easing of tensions in the world, he declared in a September 2016 speech in Philadelphia. From that speech and other campaign statements, you can get a pretty good idea of his mindset.

First, make the United States  already the worlds most powerful nation  even stronger, especially militarily. Second, protect Americas borders. (Immigration security, he explained, is a vital part of our national security.) Third, in contrast to the version of globalism previously espoused by the American version of a liberal international order, this country was to pursue only its own interests, narrowly defined. Playing the role of global enforcer for allies, he argued, had impoverished the United States and must be ended. At some point, as he put it to New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and David Sanger in March 2016, we cannot be the policeman of the world.

As for NATO, he couldnt have been clearer: it had become irrelevant and its preservation should no longer be an American priority. Obsolete was the word he used with Haberman and Sanger. When NATO was formed many decades ago there was a different threat, [the Soviet Union,] which was much bigger [and] certainly much more powerful than even todays Russia. The real threat, he continued, is terrorism, and NATO had no useful role in combating that peril. I think, probably a new institution maybe would be better for that than using NATO, which was not meant for that.

All of this, of course, fit to a T what Vladimir Putin has long been calling for, not to speak of the grand scheme articulated by Yeltsin and Jiang in 1997. Indeed, during the second presidential debate, Trump went even further, saying, I think it would be great if we got along with Russia because we could fight ISIS together.

Though the focus at the moment is purely on President Trump and Russia, lets not forget China. While frequently lambasting the Chinese in the economic realm, he has nonetheless sought Beijings help in addressing the North Korean nuclear threat and other common perils. He speaks often by telephone with President Xi Jinping and insists that they enjoy an amicable relationship. Indeed, to the utter astonishment of many of his Republican allies, he even allowed the Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE to regain access to essential American technology and computer chips after paying a $1 billion fine, though the firm had been widely accused of violating U.S. sanctions on trade with Iran and North Korea. Such a move was, he claimed, reflective of his wish to negotiate a successful trade deal with China and my personal relationship with President Xi.

Trumps World Reflects That Sino-Russian Plan

Although theres no evidence that Donald Trump ever even knew about the Sino-Russian blueprint for establishing a tripolar global order, everything hes done as president has had the affect of facilitating that world-altering project. This was stunningly evident at the recent Trump-Putin meeting in Helsinki, where he repeatedly spoke of his desire to cooperate with Moscow in solving global problems.

The disagreements between our two countries are well known and President Putin and I discussed them at length today, he said at the press conference that followed their private conversation. But if were going to solve many of the problems facing our world, then were going to have to find ways to cooperate in pursuit of shared interests. He then went on to propose that officials of the national security councils of the two countries get together to discuss such matters  an extraordinary proposal given the historical mistrust between Washington and Moscow.

And despite the furor his warm embrace of Putin triggered in Washington, Trump doubled down on his strategic concept by inviting the Russian leader to the White House for another round of one-on-one talks this fall. According to White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, National Security Advisor John Bolton is already in preparatory talks with the Kremlin for such a meeting.

The big question in all this, of course, is: Why? Why would an American president seek to demolish a global order in which the United States was the dominant player and enjoyed the support of so many loyal and wealthy allies? Why would he want to replace it with one in which it would be but one of three regional heavyweights?

Undoubtedly, historians will debate this question for decades. The obvious answer, offered by so many pundits, is that he doesnt actually know what hes doing, that its all thoughtless and impulsive. But theres another possible answer: that he intuits in the Sino-Russian template a model that the United States could emulate to its benefit.

In the Trumpian mindset, this country had become weak and overextended because of its uncritical adherence to the governing precepts of the liberal international order, which called for the U.S. to assume the task of policing the world while granting its allies economic and trade advantages in return for their loyalty. Such an assessment, whether accurate or not, certainly jibes well with the narrative of victimization that so transfixed his core constituency in rustbelt areas of Middle America. It also suggests that an inherited burden could now be discarded, allowing for the emergence of a less-encumbered, stronger America  much as a stronger Russia has emerged in this century from the wreckage of the Soviet Union and a stronger China from the wreckage of Maoism. This reinvigorated country would still, of course, have to compete with those other two powers, but from a far stronger position, being able to devote all its resources to economic growth and self-protection without the obligation of defending half of the rest of the world.

Listen to Trumps speeches, read through his interviews, and youll find just this proposition lurking behind virtually everything he has to say on foreign policy and national security. You know there is going to be a point at which we just cant do this anymore, he told Haberman and Sanger in 2016, speaking of Americas commitments to allies. You know, when we did those deals, we were a rich country We were a rich country with a very strong military and tremendous capability in so many ways. Were not anymore.

The only acceptable response, he made clear, was to jettison such overseas commitments and focus instead on restoring the countrys self-defense capabilities through a massive buildup of its combat forces. (The fact that the United States already possesses far more capable weaponry than any of its rivals and outspends them by a significant margin when it comes to the acquisition of additional munitions doesnt seem to have any impact on Trumps calculations.)

This outlook would be embedded in his administrations National Security Strategy, released last December. The greatest threat to American security, it claimed, wasnt ISIS or al-Qaeda, but Russian and Chinese efforts to bolster their military power and extend their geopolitical reach. But given the administrations new approach to global affairs, it suggested, there was no reason to believe that the country was headed for an inevitable superpower conflagration. (Competition does not always mean hostility, nor does it inevitably lead to conflict. An America that successfully competes is the best way to prevent conflict.)

However ironic it might seem, this is, of course, the gist of the Sino-Russian tripolar model as embraced and embellished by Donald Trump. It envisions a world of constant military and economic contention among three regional power centers, generating crises of various sorts, but not outright war. It assumes that the leaders of those three centers will cooperate on matters affecting them all, such as terrorism, and negotiate as necessary to prevent minor skirmishes from erupting into major battles.

Will this system prove more stable and durable than the crumbling unipolar world order its replacing? Who knows? If Russia, China, and the United States were of approximately equal strength, it might indeed theoretically prevent one party from launching a full-scale conflict with another, lest the aggrieved country join the third power, overwhelming the aggressor.

Eerily enough, this reflects the future world as envisioned in George Orwells dystopian novel 1984  a world in which three great-power clusters, Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia, contend for global dominance, periodically forming new two-against-one alliances. However, as the United States currently possesses significantly greater military power than Russia and China combined, that equation doesnt really apply and so, despite the mammoth nuclear arsenals of all three countries, the possibility of a U.S.-initiated war cannot be ruled out. In a system of ever-competing super-states, the risk of crisis and confrontation will always be present, along with the potential for nuclear escalation.

One thing we can be reasonably sure of, however, regarding such a system is that smaller, weaker states, and minority peoples everywhere will be given even shorter shrift than at present when caught in any competitive jousting for influence among the three main competitors (and their proxies). This is the crucial lesson to be drawn from the grim fighting still ongoing in Syria and eastern Ukraine: you are only worth something as long as you do the bidding of your superpower patron. When your utility is exhausted  or youre unfortunate enough to be trapped in a zone of contention  your life is worth nothing. No lasting peace is attainable in such an environment and so, just as in Orwells 1984, war  or preparing for war  will be a perpetual condition of life.

Michael T. Klare, a TomDispatch regular, is the five-college professor emeritus of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College and a senior visiting fellow at the Arms Control Association. His most recent book is The Race for Whats Left. His next book, All Hell Breaking Loose: Climate Change, Global Chaos, and American National Security, will be published in 2019.

Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on Facebook. Check out the newest Dispatch Books, Beverly Gologorskys novel Every Body Has a Story and Tom Engelhardts A Nation Unmade by War, as well as Alfred McCoys In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of U.S. Global Power, John Dowers The Violent American Century: War and Terror Since World War II, and John Feffers dystopian novel Splinterlands.

Copyright 2018 Michael T. Klare

Featured Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry, Kremlin.ruCHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Coeur Mining, Inc. (Coeur or the Company) (NYSE: CDE) today reported second quarter 2018 financial results, which included revenue of $170.0 million, net income of $2.9 million, or $0.02 per share, and adjusted net income1 of $1.1 million, or $0.01 per share. Adjusted EBITDA1 increased 52% year-over-year to $48.4 million while companywide all-in-sustaining costs (AISC)1 per average spot equivalent ounce (AgEqOz)1 declined 6% year-over-year to $14.65 during the quarter, more than offsetting the impact of lower average realized silver and gold prices.

Cash flow from operating activities was $(1.3) million and free cash flow1 was $(42.5) million during the quarter, which were impacted by approximately $26 million of total investment to support the ongoing ramp-up of operating activities at the new high-grade Silvertip mine in British Columbia and approximately $31 million of Mexican cash income and mining tax payments that were made early in the second quarter.

 Led by our Palmarejo operation, we delivered strong financial and operating performance in the second quarter, which has resulted in an increase to our companywide full-year production guidance ranges and a reduction to our companywide full-year cost guidance ranges, said Mitchell J. Krebs, Coeurs President and Chief Executive Officer.

 As we enter the second half of 2018, we are well-positioned to continue delivering on our strategy of successfully discovering, developing and operating high-quality precious metals mines in safe jurisdictions. We anticipate Silvertip will achieve commercial production levels in the third quarter and begin to contribute high-margin production and cash flow. Our higher level of investment in near-mine exploration continues to generate excellent results with important new discoveries at Palmarejo and Kensington and successful resource identification and expansion at Silvertip and Rochester.

 Later this year, we expect to begin upgrading our crushing facility at Rochester to accommodate a high-pressure grinding roll (HPGR) unit in the first quarter of 2019, which is expected to unlock significant long-term value for our stockholders by significantly enhancing silver recoveries and by substantially reducing operating costs. Production and cash flow from our Wharf gold operation in South Dakota climbed sharply during the quarter and are expected to further strengthen throughout the remainder of the year, further reinforcing the merits of that acquisition. Finally, we expect mining from Kensingtons high-grade Jualin deposit to positively impact second half production and cost levels.

Highlights

Higher quarterly silver and gold production driven by strong performance at Palmarejo - Companywide silver equivalent 1 production increased 14% year-over-year to 8.8 million ounces. The increase was driven by Palmarejo, where silver equivalent 1 production climbed 40% year-over-year to 4.1 million ounces

- Companywide silver equivalent production increased 14% year-over-year to 8.8 million ounces. The increase was driven by Palmarejo, where silver equivalent production climbed 40% year-over-year to 4.1 million ounces Higher production and lower costs drove higher revenue, adjusted EBITDA 1 and adjusted EBITDA margin 1 - Quarterly revenue of $170.0 million increased 14% year-over-year. AISC per average spot AgEqOz 1 of $14.65 declined 6% compared to the second quarter of 2017. Adjusted EBITDA 1 increased 52% year-over-year to $48.4 million. Adjusted EBITDA margin 1 for the period improved to 28% compared to 21% during the same period in 2017

- Quarterly revenue of $170.0 million increased 14% year-over-year. AISC per average spot AgEqOz of $14.65 declined 6% compared to the second quarter of 2017. Adjusted EBITDA increased 52% year-over-year to $48.4 million. Adjusted EBITDA margin for the period improved to 28% compared to 21% during the same period in 2017 Operating activities ramping up at high-grade Silvertip silver-zinc-lead operation - Processing rates have averaged approximately 300 tonnes per day in July and are periodically exceeding 500 tonnes per day. During the quarter, the Company made capital expenditures of $19.0 million (including $4.7 million of capitalized drilling) in pre-commercial development and process facility commissioning, bringing first half capital expenditures to $37.7 million. Commercial production is expected to commence during the third quarter

- Processing rates have averaged approximately 300 tonnes per day in July and are periodically exceeding 500 tonnes per day. During the quarter, the Company made capital expenditures of $19.0 million (including $4.7 million of capitalized drilling) in pre-commercial development and process facility commissioning, bringing first half capital expenditures to $37.7 million. Commercial production is expected to commence during the third quarter Ongoing success from accelerated near-mine exploration investments - Second quarter exploration investment totaled $16.0 million ($6.4 million expensed and $9.6 million capitalized), with over 80% allocated to near-mine targets. Coeurs results-based exploration efforts are generating positive results and have led to new discoveries at Silvertip, Palmarejo, Kensington and Rochester

- Second quarter exploration investment totaled $16.0 million ($6.4 million expensed and $9.6 million capitalized), with over 80% allocated to near-mine targets. Coeurs results-based exploration efforts are generating positive results and have led to new discoveries at Silvertip, Palmarejo, Kensington and Rochester Enhancements to full-year 2018 guidance ranges - As published on July 9, 2018, full-year 2018 production guidance was increased from 36.0 - 39.4 million AgEqOz1 to 37.3 - 40.5 million AgEqOz1 due to the strong first half performance at Palmarejo. As a result, the Company has reduced both Palmarejos cost guidance and companywide AISC guidance for 2018. Full-year capital expenditure guidance has been increased primarily (i) to adjust for anticipated timing of Silvertip achieving commercial production and (ii) to reflect additional underground development investments at Palmarejo to access new ore sources. The Company has also increased full-year exploration expense guidance to incorporate additional planned investments in its near-mine exploration programs during the second half of 2018

Financial and Operating Highlights (Unaudited)

(Amounts in millions, except per share amounts, gold

ounces produced & sold, and per-ounce metrics) 2Q 2018 1Q 2018 4Q 2017 3Q 2017 2Q 2017 Revenue $ 170.0 $ 163.3 $ 214.6 $ 159.9 $ 149.5 Costs Applicable to Sales $ 108.2 $ 99.3 $ 122.0 $ 101.6 $ 102.2 General and Administrative Expenses $ 7.7 $ 8.8 $ 9.2 $ 7.3 $ 7.0 Net Income (Loss) $ 2.9 $ 0.7 $ 14.3 $ (11.7 ) $ (10.0 ) Net Income (Loss) Per Share $ 0.02 $ 0.00 $ 0.08 $ (0.06 ) $ (0.06 ) Adjusted Net Income (Loss)1 $ 1.1 $ 0.7 $ 14.1 $ (15.3 ) $ (1.3 ) Adjusted Net Income (Loss)1 Per Share $ 0.01 $ 0.00 $ 0.08 $ (0.09 ) $ (0.01 ) Weighted Average Shares Outstanding 187.5 187.6 187.0 179.3 179.2 EBITDA1 $ 42.1 $ 49.4 $ 69.6 $ 38.6 $ 23.4 Adjusted EBITDA1 $ 48.4 $ 49.5 $ 77.0 $ 40.2 $ 31.9 Cash Flow from Operating Activities $ (1.3 ) $ 15.5 $ 91.8 $ 37.3 $ 24.1 Capital Expenditures $ 41.2 $ 42.3 $ 47.1 $ 29.0 $ 37.1 Free Cash Flow1 $ (42.5 ) $ (26.8 ) $ 44.8 $ 8.3 $ (13.0 ) Cash, Equivalents & Short-Term Investments $ 123.5 $ 159.6 $ 192.0 $ 195.7 $ 201.0 Total Debt2 $ 419.7 $ 414.0 $ 411.3 $ 288.7 $ 284.6 Average Realized Price Per Ounce  Silver $ 16.48 $ 16.70 $ 16.57 $ 16.86 $ 16.95 Average Realized Price Per Ounce  Gold $ 1,241 $ 1,268 $ 1,224 $ 1,240 $ 1,206 Silver Ounces Produced 3.2 3.2 3.7 3.0 2.7 Gold Ounces Produced 94,052 85,383 118,756 93,293 82,819 Silver Equivalent Ounces Produced1 8.8 8.3 10.8 8.6 7.7 Silver Ounces Sold 3.2 3.2 3.8 2.9 2.7 Gold Ounces Sold 94,455 87,153 123,564 89,972 86,194 Silver Equivalent Ounces Sold1 8.9 8.4 11.1 8.3 7.9 Silver Equivalent Ounces Sold (Average Spot)1 10.7 10.1 13.2 9.7 9.0 Adjusted CAS per AgEqOz1 $ 9.44 $ 9.69 $ 9.43 $ 11.05 $ 12.02 Adjusted CAS per Average Spot AgEqOz1 $ 8.26 $ 8.48 $ 8.35 $ 9.90 $ 10.96 Adjusted CAS per AuEqOz1 $ 1,028 $ 955 $ 800 $ 843 $ 860 Adjusted AISC per AgEqOz1 $ 17.62 $ 17.20 $ 14.45 $ 17.35 $ 17.81 Adjusted AISC per Average Spot AgEqOz1 $ 14.65 $ 14.33 $ 12.26 $ 14.79 $ 15.58

Financial Results

Revenue for the second quarter was $170.0 million, 4% higher than the first quarter on increased metal sales, which offset slightly lower average realized silver and gold prices of $16.48 and $1,241 per ounce, respectively. Year-over-year, revenue increased 14%, also the result of higher metal sales that offset lower average realized prices. Silver sales contributed 31% of revenue during the second quarter and gold sales contributed 69%. The Companys U.S. operations accounted for approximately 58% of second quarter revenue, comparable to the first quarter.

Average realized gold prices during the second quarter were impacted by the sale of 9,834 gold ounces at a price of $800 per ounce pursuant to Palmarejos gold stream agreement.

Costs applicable to sales were $108.2 million for the quarter, 9% and 6% higher quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year, respectively, as a result of higher metal sales. General and administrative expenses were $7.7 million, 13% lower than the first quarter due to lower professional service costs and 10% higher year-over-year due primarily to higher employee-related expenses.

Quarterly interest expense, net of capitalized interest, was unchanged compared to the prior quarter. The increase compared to the second quarter of 2017 is due to the amounts drawn on the Companys $200 million revolving credit facility to partially fund the Silvertip acquisition.

Second quarter capital expenditures of $41.2 million were relatively unchanged quarter-over-quarter. The percentage attributable to sustaining capital expenditures, driven by the Companys Palmarejo and Kensington underground mining operations, increased from 46% in the first quarter to 57% in the second quarter. Capital expenditures at Silvertip accounted for an additional $19.0 million (including $4.7 million of capitalized exploration), or 46% of total companywide capital expenditures.

Operations

Highlights of second quarter 2018 results for each of the Companys operations are provided below.

Palmarejo, Mexico

(Dollars in millions, except per ounce amounts) 2Q 2018 1Q 2018 4Q 2017 3Q 2017 2Q 2017 Tons milled 344,073 359,893 389,524 413,086 335,428 Average silver grade (oz/t) 6.86 6.88 6.92 5.53 4.98 Average gold grade (oz/t) 0.11 0.10 0.10 0.08 0.08 Average recovery rate  Ag 87.5 % 81.4 % 87.0 % 83.6 % 87.3 % Average recovery rate  Au 89.9 % 80.4 % 92.0 % 83.1 % 91.1 % Silver ounces produced (000s) 2,066 2,013 2,346 1,908 1,457 Gold ounces produced 33,702 29,896 37,537 28,948 24,292 Silver equivalent ounces produced1 (000s) 4,088 3,807 4,600 3,644 2,914 Silver ounces sold (000s) 2,092 2,031 2,343 1,794 1,484 Gold ounces sold 31,207 30,888 38,953 26,554 25,191 Silver equivalent ounces sold1 (000s) 3,964 3,884 4,681 3,387 2,996 Silver equivalent ounces sold1 (average spot) (000s) 4,557 4,479 5,331 3,809 3,324 Metal sales $ 70.7 $ 70.0 $ 83.2 $ 60.7 $ 53.2 Costs applicable to sales $ 30.3 $ 31.1 $ 36.0 $ 33.3 $ 33.9 Adjusted CAS per AgEqOz1 $ 7.64 $ 8.01 $ 7.54 $ 9.76 $ 11.21 Adjusted CAS per average spot AgEqOz1 $ 6.64 $ 6.94 $ 6.64 $ 8.68 $ 10.11 Exploration expense $ 3.2 $ 4.0 $ 2.7 $ 4.5 $ 3.1 Cash flow from operating activities $ 1.3 $ 27.3 $ 52.1 $ 18.5 $ 18.8 Sustaining capital expenditures (excludes capital lease payments) $ 9.5 $ 9.3 $ 4.9 $ 6.5 $ 6.1 Development capital expenditures $  $  $ 2.1 $ (1.0 ) $ 5.1 Total capital expenditures $ 9.5 $ 9.3 $ 7.0 $ 5.5 $ 11.2 Free cash flow1 $ (8.2 ) $ 18.0 $ 45.1 $ 13.0 $ 7.6

Second quarter silver equivalent 1 production increased 7% quarter-over-quarter and 40% year-over-year to 4.1 million ounces due to the continued benefit of higher-than-projected grades at Independencia

production increased 7% quarter-over-quarter and 40% year-over-year to 4.1 million ounces due to the continued benefit of higher-than-projected grades at Independencia Silver and gold grades, consistent with the first quarter and 38% higher year-over-year, offset lower mining rates attributable to the ongoing installation of ground support. During the second half of the year, these underground improvements are expected to facilitate a return to steady-state mining rates while expected lower grade stopes are mined

Adjusted CAS of $6.64 per average spot AgEqOz 1 were 4% lower than the first quarter and 34% lower year-over-year and continued to track below initial full-year 2018 guidance of $9.25 - $9.75

were 4% lower than the first quarter and 34% lower year-over-year and continued to track below initial full-year 2018 guidance of $9.25 - $9.75 The new on-site absorption, desorption, and recovery ("ADR") plant began processing run-of-mine and carbon inventory, which was stockpiled in the first quarter. Second quarter average recovery rates normalized as this inventory was processed. Through mid-July, the ADR plant has generated estimated savings of over $4.1 million in reduced refinery and freight costs and carbon purchases, recovering its upfront investment in roughly two months

Exploration expense declined 20% quarter-over-quarter as focus shifted to development towards the La Nacion deposit, located between the Independencia and Guadalupe underground mines. The Company anticipates reaching the ore body in early 2019 with La Nacion contributing approximately 400 tons per day (tpd) of mill feed once production has ramped up

Negative free cash flow 1 of $8.2 million reflected the payment of $31 million in cash income and mining taxes in early April, of which $17 million related to 2017 earnings and $14 million were payments related to year-to-date earnings. Total cash income and mining tax payments in Mexico this year are expected to be $40 - $45 million

of $8.2 million reflected the payment of $31 million in cash income and mining taxes in early April, of which $17 million related to 2017 earnings and $14 million were payments related to year-to-date earnings. Total cash income and mining tax payments in Mexico this year are expected to be $40 - $45 million Approximately 32% of Palmarejo's gold sales in both the second quarter and first half of 2018 (or 9,834 and 19,739 ounces, respectively) were to Franco-Nevada at a price of $800 per ounce. The Company anticipates a similar percentage of Palmarejo's gold sales to be to Franco-Nevada in the second half of 2018

As published on July 9, 2018, the Company increased Palmarejos full-year production guidance to 7.5 - 7.9 million ounces of silver and 115,000 - 120,000 ounces of gold from 6.5 - 7.1 million ounces of silver and 110,000 - 115,000 ounces of gold. Cost guidance has been revised lower from CAS per AgEqOz1 of $9.25 - $9.75 to $8.00 - $8.50 on an average spot equivalent basis and from $10.50 - $11.00 to $9.00 - $9.50 on a 60:1 silver equivalent basis

Rochester, Nevada

(Dollars in millions, except per ounce amounts) 2Q 2018 1Q 2018 4Q 2017 3Q 2017 2Q 2017 Ore tons placed 4,083,028 4,351,131 4,171,451 4,262,011 4,493,100 Average silver grade (oz/t) 0.53 0.54 0.50 0.53 0.53 Average gold grade (oz/t) 0.004 0.003 0.003 0.004 0.003 Silver ounces produced (000s) 1,125 1,157 1,361 1,070 1,156 Gold ounces produced 12,273 11,487 18,995 10,955 10,745 Silver equivalent ounces produced1 (000s) 1,861 1,846 2,500 1,727 1,801 Silver ounces sold (000s) 1,097 1,119 1,457 1,050 1,135 Gold ounces sold 12,030 11,163 20,002 10,390 10,658 Silver equivalent ounces sold1 (000s) 1,819 1,789 2,658 1,674 1,774 Silver equivalent ounces sold1 (average spot) (000s) 2,048 2,004 2,969 1,839 1,913 Metal sales $ 33.7 $ 33.5 $ 49.7 $ 31.2 $ 32.8 Costs applicable to sales $ 24.5 $ 24.3 $ 34.0 $ 23.3 $ 24.2 Adjusted CAS per AgEqOz1 $ 13.36 $ 13.33 $ 12.77 $ 13.69 $ 13.54 Adjusted CAS per average spot AgEqOz1 $ 11.87 $ 11.89 $ 11.37 $ 12.46 $ 12.56 Exploration expense $ 0.2 $  $ 0.5 $ 0.5 $ 0.3 Cash flow from operating activities $ 6.0 $ 3.4 $ 26.1 $ 1.6 $ (1.1 ) Sustaining capital expenditures (excludes capital lease payments) $ 0.4 $ 0.5 $ 0.9 $ 0.5 $ 1.1 Development capital expenditures $ 0.3 $ 2.1 $ 5.9 $ 9.2 $ 12.7 Total capital expenditures $ 0.7 $ 2.6 $ 6.8 $ 9.7 $ 13.8 Free cash flow1 $ 5.3 $ 0.8 $ 19.3 $ (8.1 ) $ (14.9 )

Total tons placed decreased quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year due to fewer run-of-mine tons placed

Quarterly silver equivalent 1 production of 1.9 million ounces was slightly higher than the prior period and the second quarter of 2017. Higher production during the second half is expected to be driven by the ongoing ramp up of the Stage IV leach pad and continued placement of higher grade gold ore

production of 1.9 million ounces was slightly higher than the prior period and the second quarter of 2017. Higher production during the second half is expected to be driven by the ongoing ramp up of the Stage IV leach pad and continued placement of higher grade gold ore Second quarter adjusted CAS per average spot AgEqOz 1 of $11.87 was level with the prior quarter, 5% lower year-over-year and remained below the full-year 2018 guidance range of $12.00 - $12.50

of $11.87 was level with the prior quarter, 5% lower year-over-year and remained below the full-year 2018 guidance range of $12.00 - $12.50 Free cash flow 1 during the second quarter was $5.3 million, reflecting the normalization of leach pad and metal inventory as well as significantly lower capital expenditures of $0.3 million. This compares to capital expenditures of $2.1 million in the prior quarter and $13.8 million during the same period in 2017. Free cash flow 1 is expected to increase further in the second half of the year

during the second quarter was $5.3 million, reflecting the normalization of leach pad and metal inventory as well as significantly lower capital expenditures of $0.3 million. This compares to capital expenditures of $2.1 million in the prior quarter and $13.8 million during the same period in 2017. Free cash flow is expected to increase further in the second half of the year Rochesters adoption of HPGR technology remains on-schedule. The Company expects to begin crusher upgrades later this year, including the installation of an initial HPGR crusher unit early next year while it decommissions an existing, smaller crusher facility later this year. Silver recoveries are expected to improve beginning as early as the second quarter of 2019

The Company is maintaining Rochesters full-year 2018 production guidance of 4.2 - 4.7 million ounces of silver and 45,000 - 50,000 ounces of gold. The Company is also maintaining cost guidance of CAS per AgEqOz1 of $13.25 - $13.75 on a 60:1 silver equivalent basis and $12.00 - $12.50 on an average spot equivalent basis

Wharf, South Dakota

(Dollars in millions, except per ounce amounts) 2Q 2018 1Q 2018 4Q 2017 3Q 2017 2Q 2017 Ore tons placed 1,075,820 1,076,395 1,124,785 1,150,308 993,167 Average gold grade (oz/t) 0.023 0.022 0.029 0.029 0.024 Gold ounces produced 22,507 17,936 27,292 25,849 21,358 Silver ounces produced (000s) 13 12 16 15 13 Gold equivalent ounces produced1 22,729 18,133 27,560 26,096 21,568 Silver ounces sold (000s) 14 11 16 14 11 Gold ounces sold 23,053 17,339 28,975 23,855 21,314 Gold equivalent ounces sold1 23,282 17,522 29,256 24,085 21,495 Metal sales $ 29.8 $ 23.4 $ 37.3 $ 31.3 $ 27.0 Costs applicable to sales $ 19.3 $ 15.3 $ 19.9 $ 17.3 $ 15.8 Adjusted CAS per AuEqOz1 $ 824 $ 870 $ 682 $ 719 $ 737 Exploration expense $  $  $ 0.1 $ 0.2 $  Cash flow from operating activities $ 11.5 $ (1.4 ) $ 17.2 $ 15.0 $ 8.8 Sustaining capital expenditures (excludes capital lease payments) $ 1.2 $ 0.3 $ 1.6 $ 1.8 $ 1.5 Development capital expenditures $  $  $ 1.7 $ 1.3 $  Total capital expenditures $ 1.2 $ 0.3 $ 3.3 $ 3.1 $ 1.5 Free cash flow1 $ 10.3 $ (1.7 ) $ 13.9 $ 11.9 $ 7.3

As anticipated, quarterly gold production improved to 22,507 ounces, 25% higher quarter-over-quarter and 5% year-over-year, due to timing of leach pad recoveries. While average grade is expected to remain relatively unchanged throughout the second half of the year, sustained higher mining and crushing rates are expected to drive higher production levels

Higher production compared to the prior quarter drove a 5% reduction in adjusted CAS per AuEqOz 1 of $824, below the full-year 2018 guidance range of $850 - $900

of $824, below the full-year 2018 guidance range of $850 - $900 Wharf generated $10.3 million of free cash flow 1 during the second quarter. This was driven by higher production and the normalization of leach pad and metal inventory. Free cash flow 1 is expected to remain strong for the remainder of the year

during the second quarter. This was driven by higher production and the normalization of leach pad and metal inventory. Free cash flow is expected to remain strong for the remainder of the year The Company is maintaining Wharfs full-year production and cost guidance of 85,000 - 90,000 ounces of gold at CAS per AuEqOz1 of $850 - $900

Kensington, Alaska

(Dollars in millions, except per ounce amounts) 2Q 2018 1Q 2018 4Q 2017 3Q 2017 2Q 2017 Tons milled 168,751 158,706 167,631 172,038 163,163 Average gold grade (oz/t) 0.16 0.17 0.22 0.17 0.17 Average recovery rate 92.6 % 94.0 % 92.8 % 94.1 % 93.2 % Gold ounces produced 25,570 26,064 34,932 27,541 26,424 Gold ounces sold 28,165 27,763 35,634 29,173 29,031 Metal sales $ 35.7 $ 36.3 $ 44.3 $ 36.6 $ 35.6 Costs applicable to sales $ 34.2 $ 28.6 $ 32.0 $ 27.7 $ 28.0 Adjusted CAS per AuOz1 $ 1,195 $ 1,010 $ 896 $ 946 $ 952 Exploration expense $ 1.4 $ 1.6 $ 2.8 $ 3.0 $ 2.0 Cash flow from operating activities $ 3.2 $ 4.6 $ 16.8 $ 9.3 $ 7.0 Sustaining capital expenditures (excludes capital lease payments) $ 9.2 $ 8.5 $ 8.0 $ 6.5 $ 3.7 Development capital expenditures $ 1.5 $ 2.9 $ 4.0 $ 3.6 $ 4.9 Total capital expenditures $ 10.7 $ 11.4 $ 12.0 $ 10.1 $ 8.6 Free cash flow1 $ (7.5 ) $ (6.8 ) $ 4.8 $ (0.8 ) $ (1.6 )

Second quarter gold production of 25,570 ounces was consistent quarter-over-quarter as anticipated due to lower planned grades related to mine sequencing

Adjusted CAS per AuOz 1 of $1,195 was 18% and 26% higher quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year, respectively, due to lower production and higher diesel, consumables, dewatering and drilling costs. Higher grades and production levels in the second half of 2018 are expected to result in lower unit costs

of $1,195 was 18% and 26% higher quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year, respectively, due to lower production and higher diesel, consumables, dewatering and drilling costs. Higher grades and production levels in the second half of 2018 are expected to result in lower unit costs Total exploration investment during the quarter was $2.7 million, unchanged quarter-over-quarter, and included $1.4 million of expensed exploration and $1.3 million of capitalized exploration

Dewatering efforts at Jualin are expected to be completed in the third quarter and facilitate ramp up of production through year-end. As a result, production for the remainder of 2018 is expected to be weighted towards the latter part of the year

Negative free cash flow 1 of $7.5 million resulted from higher operating costs

of $7.5 million resulted from higher operating costs The Company is maintaining Kensingtons full-year production and cost guidance of 115,000 - 120,000 ounces of gold at CAS per AuOz1 of $900 - $950

Silvertip, British Columbia

Mining activities remain focused on underground rehabilitation and development while surface activities are focused on the planning, construction and commissioning of various process optimization projects and infrastructure upgrades

Processing rates continued to improve during the second quarter and, in July, rates have averaged approximately 300 tonnes per day and periodically exceeded 500 tonnes per day

Silvertips initial drilling program of over 40,000 meters (133,000 feet) was completed on-time and under-budget. The Company plans to publish a corresponding exploration update later this month. Drilling results are expected to be included in a NI 43-101 Technical Report anticipated to be filed later this year

The Company submitted a permit amendment application to operate at 1,000 metric tonnes per day earlier in the quarter and anticipates receiving approval around year-end

The Company is maintaining full-year 2018 production guidance of 1.5 - 2.0 million ounces of silver and 23.0 - 28.0 million pounds of both zinc and lead at CAS per AgEqOz1 and average spot AgEqOz1 of $15.00 - $15.50 and $12.00 - $12.50, respectively

Exploration

For the second consecutive quarter, Coeur sustained a higher level of near-mine exploration investment. Up to 18 drill rigs were active at Coeurs operations and exploration projects during the quarter, including seven at Palmarejo, two at Kensington and six at Silvertip. 84% of the Companys total quarterly exploration investment was allocated to near-mine opportunities and targets.

Expensed resource expansion drilling totaled $6.4 million during the quarter and was primarily focused on identifying and expanding resources at the Palmarejo and Kensington operations. Drilling activity was also completed at early-stage exploration projects in Nevada, U.S. and Sonora, Mexico.

Capitalized resource infill drilling totaled $9.6 million during the second quarter, nearly double the amount spent in the first quarter and three times the total spent in the second quarter of 2017. The majority of this increase was focused on opportunities at the new Silvertip mine.

The Company invested $6.2 million in resource definition drilling at Silvertip during the second quarter, which has generated better-than-expected results. The Company plans to publish an update on Silvertips exploration program in late July and anticipates filing a NI 43-101 Technical Report later this year summarizing the results. Given the success of this initial drilling program, the Company has commenced a $4.0 million second phase of drilling focusing on resource expansion targets.

At Rochester, infill drilling southwest of the pit in the Sunflower area has intercepted significant mineralization within an area previously modeled as inferred resource. Because of this areas proximity to the pit, anticipated higher grades and shallow mineralization, the Company considers Sunflower to be a potentially significant source of future production.

At Palmarejo, as many as four rigs continued targeting expansion of the Nacion and Zapata resources and definition of the recently-discovered Madero and Rampa veins (located immediately west of Guadalupe) and the Jacobo and Portales veins (located immediately east of Guadalupe). Limited drilling also commenced in the Independencia North area, targeting the Hidalgo and Reforma veins in the footwall of the main Independencia structure. It is anticipated the drilling will continue north targeting the new Barrera vein structure. Up to three rigs focused on capitalized, resource conversion drilling at Independencia and Guadalupe. Both expansion and conversion drilling levels are expected to continue at the current accelerated pace throughout the second half of the year.

At Kensington, drilling successfully targeted previously-known, high-grade structures that have the potential to become future sources of higher-grade ore. The Seward vein outcrops on surface approximately 1,900 feet above the Kensington Mine access ramp. Due to the promising mineralization on surface, drilling was completed at ramp level to test for down-dip continuity. So far, two holes have cut the mineralized structure, providing the Companys exploration team with a solid planar target for future drilling from surface. Drilling also tested the lower and upper portions of the Raven structure, where results are encouraging. Deeper zones were drilled within the Kensington Main deposit, referred to as Blocks M and L. While results are pending, these holes have been testing the lower limits of the deposit below sea level. A new drill campaign began in early July at the new Elmira Zone, located above Kensington Main. Historic drilling in the Elmira Zone predated NI 43-101 standards and, as a consequence, infill holes are necessary in order to be in a position to declare resources in the zone. Along with this new zone, the nearby Johnson Vein will be tested and potentially drilled later in the year.

2018 Production Outlook

On July 9, 2018, Coeurs production guidance was increased to reflect higher expected silver and gold production at Palmarejo due to higher-than-anticipated grades during the first half of the year.

Silver Gold Zinc Lead Silver Equivalent1 (K oz) (oz) (K lbs) (K lbs) (K oz) Palmarejo 7,500 - 7,900 115,000 - 120,000   14,400 - 15,100 Rochester 4,200 - 4,700 45,000 - 50,000   6,900 - 7,700 Kensington  115,000 - 120,000   6,900 - 7,200 Wharf  85,000 - 90,000   5,100 - 5,400 Silvertip 1,500 - 2,000  23,000 - 28,000 23,000 - 28,000 4,030 - 5,080 Total 13,200 - 14,600 360,000 - 380,000 23,000 - 28,000 23,000 - 28,000 37,330 - 40,480

2018 Cost Outlook

The Companys cost guidance has been reduced to account for strong first half cost performance at Palmarejo, timing of anticipated commercial production at Silvertip and accelerated investment in near-mine exploration. Unit cost guidance on a spot equivalent basis remains based on silver-to-gold, -zinc and -lead equivalence ratios of 75:1, 0.09:1 and 0.07:1, respectively.

Original Guidance (if changed) Current Guidance (dollars in millions, except per ounce amounts) 60:1 Spot 60:1 Spot CAS per AgEqOz1  Palmarejo $10.50 - $11.00 $9.25 -$9.75 $9.00 - $9.50 $8.00 - $8.50 CAS per AgEqOz1  Rochester $13.25 - $13.75 $12.00 - $12.50 CAS per AuOz1  Kensington $900 - $950 CAS per AuEqOz1  Wharf $850 - $900 CAS per AgEqOz1  Silvertip $15.00 - $15.50 $12.00 - $12.50 Capital Expenditures $120 - $140 $130 - $150 General and Administrative Expenses $32 - $34 Exploration Expense $20 - $25 $25 - $30 AISC per AgEqOz1 from continuing operations $17.50 - $18.00 $15.00 - $15.50 $17.25 - $17.75 $14.75 - $15.25

Financial Results and Conference Call

Coeur will host a conference call to discuss its second quarter 2018 financial results on July 26, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

Dial-In Numbers: (855) 560-2581 (U.S.) (855) 669-9657 (Canada) (412) 542-4166 (International) Conference ID: Coeur Mining

Hosting the call will be Mitchell J. Krebs, President and Chief Executive Officer of Coeur, who will be joined by Peter C. Mitchell, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Frank L. Hanagarne, Jr., Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Hans Rasmussen, Senior Vice President of Exploration, and other members of management. A replay of the call will be available through August 9, 2018.

Replay numbers: (877) 344-7529 (U.S.) (855) 669-9658 (Canada) (412) 317-0088 (International) Conference ID: 101 20 458

About Coeur

Coeur Mining, Inc. is a well-diversified, growing precious metals producer with five mines in North America. Coeur produces from its wholly-owned operations: the Palmarejo silver-gold complex in Mexico, the Silvertip silver-zinc-lead mine in British Columbia, the Rochester silver-gold mine in Nevada, the Kensington gold mine in Alaska, and the Wharf gold mine in South Dakota. In addition, the Company has interests in several precious metals exploration projects throughout North America.

Cautionary Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of securities legislation in the United States and Canada, including statements regarding Coeurs strategy of successfully discovering, developing and operating high-quality precious metals mines in safe jurisdictions, anticipated production, costs, expenses, cash flow, expectations regarding Silvertip, including but not limited to, the timing of achieving commercial production, receipt of permits and completion of a technical report, grades, exploration and development efforts, sales of gold under the Palmarejo gold stream agreement, the timing and impact of installation of HPGR units at Rochester, operations at Palmarejo, Rochester, Wharf and Kensington, expected free cash flow, grades, mining rates, crushing rates, recovery rates and taxes. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause Coeurs actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the risk that expectations regarding Silvertip including the timing of commercial production, obtaining necessary permits, and filing a technical report do not occur on a timely basis or at all, the risk that HPGR units will not be installed at Rochester on a timely basis or the anticipated benefits thereof will not be achieved, the risk that anticipated production, cost, expense, and free cash flow levels are not attained, the risks and hazards inherent in the mining business (including risks inherent in developing large-scale mining projects, environmental hazards, industrial accidents, weather or geologically related conditions), changes in the market prices of gold, silver, zinc and lead and a sustained lower price environment, the uncertainties inherent in Coeurs production, exploratory and developmental activities, including risks relating to permitting and regulatory delays, ground conditions, grade variability, any future labor disputes or work stoppages, the uncertainties inherent in the estimation of gold and silver reserves, changes that could result from Coeurs future acquisition of new mining properties or businesses, the loss of any third-party smelter to which Coeur markets its production, the effects of environmental and other governmental regulations, the risks inherent in the ownership or operation of or investment in mining properties or businesses in foreign countries, Coeurs ability to raise additional financing necessary to conduct its business, make payments or refinance its debt, as well as other uncertainties and risk factors set out in filings made from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Canadian securities regulators, including, without limitation, Coeurs most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Actual results, developments and timetables could vary significantly from the estimates presented. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Coeur disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additionally, Coeur undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third parties in respect of Coeur, its financial or operating results or its securities.

Christopher Pascoe, Coeurs Director, Technical Services and a qualified person under Canadian National Instrument 43-101, approved the scientific and technical information concerning Coeurs mineral projects in this news release. The PEA for the re-scoped mine plan at Rochester referred to in this news release is preliminary in nature and is based in part upon inferred mineral resources, and does not have as high a level of certainty as a plan based solely on proven and probable mineral reserves. Inferred mineral resources are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be considered for estimation of mineral reserves and there is no certainty that the results from the preliminary economic assessment will be realized. For a description of the key assumptions, parameters and methods used to estimate mineral reserves and resources, as well as data verification procedures and a general discussion of the extent to which the estimates may be affected by any known environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing or other relevant factors, Canadian investors should refer to the Technical Reports for each of Coeurs properties as filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Non-U.S. GAAP Measures

We supplement the reporting of our financial information determined under United States generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP) with certain non-U.S. GAAP financial measures, including EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted net income (loss), costs applicable to sales per silver equivalent ounce (or per gold equivalent ounce or per average spot silver equivalent ounce), adjusted costs applicable to sales per silver equivalent ounce (or per gold equivalent ounce or per average spot silver equivalent ounce), adjusted costs applicable to sales per silver ounce (or per gold ounce), all-in sustaining costs, and adjusted all-in sustaining costs. We believe that these adjusted measures provide meaningful information to assist management, investors and analysts in understanding our financial results and assessing our prospects for future performance. We believe these adjusted financial measures are important indicators of our recurring operations because they exclude items that may not be indicative of, or are unrelated to our core operating results, and provide a better baseline for analyzing trends in our underlying businesses. We believe EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted net income (loss), costs applicable to sales per silver equivalent ounce (or per gold equivalent ounce or per average spot silver equivalent ounce), adjusted costs applicable to sales per silver equivalent ounce (or per gold equivalent ounce or per average spot silver equivalent ounce), adjusted costs applicable to sales per silver ounce (or per gold ounce), all-in sustaining costs, and adjusted all-in sustaining costs are important measures in assessing the Companys overall financial performance. For additional explanation regarding our use of non-U.S. GAAP financial measures, please refer to our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017.

Notes

1. EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted net income (loss), costs applicable to sales per silver equivalent ounce (or per gold equivalent ounce or per average spot silver equivalent ounce), adjusted costs applicable to sales per silver equivalent ounce (or per gold equivalent ounce or per average spot silver equivalent ounce), adjusted costs applicable to sales per silver ounce (or per gold ounce), all-in sustaining costs, and adjusted all-in sustaining costs are non-GAAP measures. Please see tables in the Appendix for the reconciliation to U.S. GAAP. Free cash flow is defined as cash flow from operating activities less capital expenditures and gold production royalty payments. Please see table in Appendix for the calculation of consolidated free cash flow. Silver and gold equivalence assumes a 60:1 silver-to-gold ratio, except where noted as average spot prices. Please see the table below for average applicable spot prices and corresponding ratios. Silver and zinc equivalence assumes a 0.06:1 silver-to-zinc ratio. Silver and lead equivalence assumes a 0.05:1 silver-to-lead ratio.

2. Includes capital leases. Net of debt issuance costs and premium received.

3. On February 28, 2018, Coeur divested the San Bartolome mine through the sale of its 100%-owned Bolivian subsidiary. As a result, San Bartolome is excluded from consolidated operating statistics for all periods presented unless otherwise noted.TORONTO, July 25, 2018 /CNW/ - Detour Gold Corporation (TSX: DGC) ("Detour Gold" or the "Company") reports an initial independent mineral resource estimate for the Zone 58N gold deposit located six kilometres south of its 100% owned Detour Lake gold mine.

The mineral resource estimate is comprised of an Indicated resource of 2.87 million tonnes grading 5.80 g/t for 534,300 ounces of gold and an Inferred resource of 0.97 million tonnes grading 4.35 g/t for 136,100 ounces of gold.

Mineral Resources Tonnes (millions) Grade (g/t Au) Contained Gold Ounces Zone 58N Indicated 2.87 5.80 534,300 Inferred 0.97 4.35 136,100 Note: Numbers may not total due to rounding.

Michael Kenyon, Interim CEO, commented: "Detour Gold is in the fortunate position of having a large mineral reserve base of 16.0 million ounces supporting a mine life of 23 years. The strategy undertaken over the last few years in advancing Zone 58N is to leverage the infrastructure we have in this prospective gold camp by finding high grade satellite deposits within trucking distance to our mill. With this initial resource at Zone 58N, which remains open at depth, and other prospective targets we have identified in our exploration programs, we are beginning to demonstrate the benefits of this strategy, and look forward to further advancing Zone 58N and other future discoveries on our large 647 km2 land position."

The resource estimate for Zone 58N incorporates the assay results from 332 diamond drill holes totaling 109,700 metres. Drill spacing is approximately 25 x 25 metres in the upper 500 metres of the deposit and 40 x 40 metres below 500 metres. The mineral resource model only considers mineralized zones that are potentially mineable by underground extraction and contained within the modelled wireframes. The block model was prepared and constrained using 3D wireframes of geological domains that are associated with gold mineralization. Grade estimation was interpolated into blocks using a combination of Inverse Distance Cubed (ID3) and Nearest Neighbor (NN). The mineral resource was reported using a gold cut-off grade of 2.2 g/t and a minimum true thickness of 3 metres.

The gold mineralization within Zone 58N is hosted in a swarm of tonalitic dykes that intrude mafic volcanic rocks and are spatially controlled by the margin of a large intermediate intrusion. Gold mineralization is found in quartz-tourmaline-carbonate veins containing less than 5% sulphides. The east-west mineralized system extends along a strike length of 450 metres, from surface to a depth of 800 metres. It remains open for expansion at depth.

Metallurgical testing performed on a total of 31 composites has confirmed that Zone 58N mineralization is amendable for processing through the existing Detour Lake processing plant. All composites were tested for grinding, gravity separation and cyanide leaching of both gravity products (concentrate and tails). Based on these initial tests, gold recovery is estimated at 97.5% for the stated mineral resource grade.

To view Zone 58N figures, click on the following link: Click Here

Further details regarding Zone 58N mineral resource will be included in the Technical Report to be filed for the updated life of mine plan for the Detour Lake operation.

Next Steps

The Company is proceeding with a cost evaluation for an advanced underground exploration program. This program would include site access and surface infrastructure, and underground development (i.e. access to mineralized zones and platform for further exploration drilling). Subject to a positive evaluation, the Company would determine the appropriate timeline for the program.

Qualified Persons

The mineral resource estimate for Zone 58N was prepared under the supervision of Rejean Sirois, Eng., Vice President Geology and Resources for G Mining Services Inc., a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian Securities Administrators National Instrument 43-101 "Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects" ("NI 43-101").

The scientific and technical information contained in this news release was reviewed and approved by Rejean Sirois, Eng. and Drew Anwyll, P.Eng., Senior Vice President Technical Services for Detour Gold, a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.

Notes on Estimation Method



Reported in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") standards for mineral resources and reserves, adopted by CIM Council, as amended.

All HQ and NQ core assays obtained by analytical methods described in the March 2017 Technical Report under Section 11.3.3. Quality Assurance and quality control procedures included the systematic insertion of blanks, standards, and duplicates into the sample stream.

Technical Report under Section 11.3.3. Quality Assurance and quality control procedures included the systematic insertion of blanks, standards, and duplicates into the sample stream. Mineral resources reported at a cut-off grade of 2.2 g/t Au, using a gold price of US$1,300 per ounce and a US$/C$ exchange rate of 1.25 with an assumed mining dilution of 12%.

per ounce and a US$/C$ exchange rate of 1.25 with an assumed mining dilution of 12%. Mineralized domains were modeled using selections of mineralized intervals based on varying degrees of visual alteration (sulphide, sericite, and quartz veining) due to good correlation with the gold mineralization. Based on the nuggetty nature of the gold mineralization and limited strike length continuity, a grade-based approach to establish domains was not used.

Mineral resource encompasses 10 domains, each defined by its individual 3D wireframe with a minimum true thickness of 3.0 metres. Domains are subvertical, strike east-west, with the two largest domains plunging 85 degrees to the east.

High grade gold assays were capped at values ranging from 20 to 120 g/t Au depending on the domain.

Bulk density value of 2.7 t/m 3 .

. Interpolation completed using 2 metre composites. The block grade estimate used 1-pass nearest neighbor (NN) and 4-pass Inverse Distance Cubed (ID3) interpolation method.

Block model uses block sizes of 5 x 3 x 5 metres.

Mineral resources are not mineral reserves as they do not have demonstrated economic viability.

About Detour Gold

Detour Gold is an intermediate gold producer in Canada that holds a 100% interest in the Detour Lake mine, a long life large-scale open pit operation. Detour Gold's shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol DGC.

For further information, please contact:

Michael Kenyon, Interim CEO

Tel: (416) 304.0800

Laurie Gaborit, VP Investor Relations

Tel: (416) 304.0581

Detour Gold Corporation, Commerce Court West, 199 Bay Street, Suite 4100, P.O. Box 121, Toronto, Ontario M5L 1E2

Information Concerning Estimates of Mineral Reserves and Resources

These estimates have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Canadian securities laws, which differ from the requirements of United States' securities laws. The terms "mineral reserve", "proven mineral reserve and "probable mineral reserve" are Canadian mining terms as defined in accordance with NI 43-101 and the CIM Definition Standards. The CIM Definition Standards differ from the definitions in the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") Guide 7 ("SEC Guide 7") under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Under SEC Guide 7, a "final" or "bankable" feasibility study is required to report mineral reserves, the three-year historical average price is used in any mineral reserve or cash flow analysis to designate mineral reserves and the primary environmental analysis or report must be filed with the appropriate governmental authority. In addition, the terms "mineral resource", "measured mineral resource", "indicated mineral resource" and "inferred mineral resource" are defined in NI 43-101 and recognized by Canadian securities laws but are not defined terms under SEC Guide 7 or recognized under U.S. securities laws. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of mineral deposits in these categories will ever be upgraded to mineral reserves. "Inferred mineral resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an "inferred mineral resource" will ever by upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian securities laws, estimates of "inferred mineral resources" may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, except in rare cases. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource exists or is economically or legally mineable. Accordingly, these mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates and related information may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies subject to the reporting and disclosure requirements under the United States federal laws and the rules and regulations thereunder, including SEC Guide 7.

Mineral resources are not mineral reserves, and do not have demonstrated economic viability, but do have reasonable prospects for economic extraction. Measured and indicated mineral resources are sufficiently well defined to allow geological and grade continuity to be reasonably assumed and permit the application of technical and economic parameters in assessing the economic viability of the resource. Inferred mineral resources are estimated on limited information not sufficient to verify geological and grade continuity or to allow technical and economic parameters to be applied. Inferred mineral resources are too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them to enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. There is no certainty that mineral resources of any category can be upgraded to mineral reserves through continued exploration.

Detour Gold's mineral reserve and mineral resource figures are estimates and Detour Gold can provide no assurances that the indicated levels of gold will be produced or that Detour Gold will receive the gold price assumed in determining its mineral reserves. Such estimates are expressions of judgment based on knowledge, mining experience, analysis of drilling results and industry practices. Valid estimates made at a given time may significantly change when new information becomes available. While the Company believes that these mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates are well established and the best estimates of Detour Gold's management, by their nature mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates are imprecise and depend, to a certain extent, upon analysis of drilling results and statistical inferences which may ultimately prove unreliable. If the Company's mineral reserve or mineral reserve estimates are inaccurate or are reduced in the future, this could have an adverse impact on Detour Gold's future cash flows, earnings, results or operations and financial condition.

Cautionary Note regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements, as defined in applicable securities laws (collectively referred to herein as "forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements reflect current expectations or beliefs regarding future events or the Company's future performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "continues", "forecasts", "projects", "predicts", "intends", "anticipates", "targets" or "believes", or variations of, or the negatives of, such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "should", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements, including those herein are qualified by this cautionary statement. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release speak only as of the date of this news release or as of the date or dates specified in such statements.

Specifically, this press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the Company proceeding with a cost evaluation for an advanced underground exploration program and, subject to a positive evaluation, determining the appropriate timeline for the program. Inherent in forward-looking statements are risks, uncertainties and other factors beyond the Company's ability to predict or control. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, the results of the final revised life of mine plan, gold price volatility, changes in debt and equity markets, the uncertainties involved in interpreting geological data, increases in costs, environmental compliance and changes in environmental legislation and regulation, support of the Company's Aboriginal communities, interest rate and exchange rate fluctuations, general economic conditions and other risks involved in the gold exploration, development and production industry, as well as those risk factors listed in the section entitled "Description of Business - Risk Factors" in Detour Gold's 2017 Annual Information Form ("AIF") and in the continuous disclosure documents filed by Detour Gold on and available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect forward-looking statements. Actual results and developments and the results of the final revised life of mine plan are likely to differ, and may differ materially or materially and adversely, from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements, including those contained in this news release. Such statements are based on a number of assumptions which may prove to be incorrect, including, but not limited to, assumptions about the following: the availability of financing for exploration and development activities; operating and capital costs; results of operations; the Company's available cash resources; the Company's ability to attract and retain skilled staff; the mine development and production schedule and related costs; dilution control; sensitivity to metal prices and other sensitivities; the supply and demand for, and the level and volatility of the price of, gold; timing of the receipt of regulatory and governmental approvals for development projects and other operations; the timing and results of consultations with the Company's Aboriginal partners; the supply and availability of consumables and services; the exchange rates of the Canadian dollar to the U.S. dollar; energy and fuel costs; required capital investments; estimates of net present value and internal rate of returns; the accuracy of mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates, production estimates and capital and operating cost estimates and the assumptions on which such estimates are based; market competition; ongoing relations with employees and impacted communities and general business and economic conditions; and general business and economic conditions.

The Company undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information or future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. If the Company does update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that it will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.In the escalating trade dispute between Washington and Beijing, Central Asia stands to benefit. The vast region to Chinas west produces some favorite agricultural goods the country has long purchased from the United States. In many cases, moreover, transportation infrastructure is available thanks to Chinese President Xi Jinpings signature foreign policy undertaking, the trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative(BRI). As Eurasianet writes in the article Central Asia sees opportunity in US-China trade war, since January, U.S. President Donald Trump has been ramping up import duties on goods from China. After U.S. tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods officially took effect on July 5, China imposed equivalent retaliatory import duties on U.S. products ranging from soybeans to electric vehicles, hurting American exporters.

Meanwhile, Kazakhstans wheat exports to neighboring China were up nearly 50 percent in the year to March. Last month, the Ministry of Agriculture announced it would triple its supply of wheat to China by 2020 over 2016 levels. Its too early to say the U.S.-China tariff spat is causing trade with Central Asia to increase, but Chinese buyers seem happy to have alternatives.

We have just started buying wheat from Kazakhstan this year. Our first order was for several thousand tons. We will see about sales and profits. If they're good, we will increase imports for sure. It is related to the current trade war, one Chinese trader told CNBC this month.

Kazakhstan is also looking to increase exports of soybeans  formerly Americas largest agricultural export to China. Kazakhstan began sending soybeans to China in 2016, and shipped 8,400 tons there last fall. After China essentially stopped importing U.S. soybeans in May, it inked a deal with a supplier in Northern Kazakhstan to buy 100 tons. Thats a tiny fraction of the Chinese appetite  estimated around 100 million tons  but underlines a shift.

Kazakhstan has been a major beneficiary of BRI investments, many of which began even before Xi announced the BRI during a visit to Astana in 2013. A China-Kazakhstan logistics hub financed by the initiative has processed nearly 13,500 tons of Kazakhstani wheat since February.

Uzbekistan too stands to gain from the BRI, signing $20 billion worth of agreements with Beijing for new infrastructure projects last year.

In its response to Washington, Beijing has also applied non-tariff barriers to U.S. imports, slowing the processing of U.S. goods at customs, the South China Morning Post reported this month. One Chinese cherry importer told the paper that he had stopped buying American cherries and started sourcing the fruit from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan because customs clearance and quarantine inspection are much simpler and quicker at ports along the route of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative.VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 25, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wealth Minerals Ltd. (the Company or Wealth) - (TSX-V:WML) (OTCQB:WMLLF) (SSE:WMLCL) (Frankfurt:EJZN), announces delays in its Atacama Project (the Project) drilling program. The Company mobilized and transported a sonic drill rig to the Project area this week, at which time local community representatives expressed concerns to Wealths drilling crew about the Projects impact on the area. While legally within its rights to continue drilling, the Company has chosen a non-confrontational approach with local stakeholders. As a result, Wealth is undertaking additional consultation with local community representatives, government officials and with Wealths state-partner, Empresa Nacional de Mineria de Chile (National Mining Company of Chile) (ENAMI).

Wealths management anticipates that additional engagement with the local community, and continued dialogue at all levels of government, will address any remaining concerns and allow the Project to move forward. The Company believes that delaying drilling activities is the correct approach at this time and it intends to secure a social licence to operate before proceeding to develop the Project further.

Henk van Alphen, Wealths CEO, commented, Of course we are disappointed by the delay in our drilling program, but we need to involve all stakeholders in the process of developing the Atacama Project in order for it to be the long-term success we all expect. We felt that it was important to meet with the local communities and to delay the drill program until we can reach an agreement to proceed. This week we will meet with our State-owned partner, ENAMI, to update them on these developments. Given that our neighbors to the south in the Atacama Salar represent fully one third of global lithium production, the stakes are quite high in the Atacama Salar for Wealth and for Chile. Chile has the natural endowment to be the dominant global player in the lithium market, but we need to ensure that our development approach is in line with the high expectations of the local community.

About Wealth Minerals Ltd.

Wealth is a mineral resource company with interests in Canada, Mexico, Peru and Chile. The Companys main focus is the acquisition of lithium projects in South America. To date, the Company has positioned itself to develop the Aguas Calientes Norte and Quisquiro Salars in Chile (the Trinity Project), as well as to work alongside existing producers in the prolific Atacama Salar, in addition to the Laguna Verde lithium project acquisition. The Company has also positioned itself to play a role in asset consolidation in Chile with the Five Salars Project.

The Company is transitioning from an asset acquisition phase to developing its current high potential portfolio. Lithium market dynamics and a rapidly increasing metal price are the result of profound structural issues with the industry meeting anticipated future demand. Wealth is positioning itself to be a major beneficiary of this future mismatch of supply and demand. The Company also maintains and continues to evaluate a portfolio of precious and base metal exploration-stage projects.

For further details on the Company readers are referred to the Company's website (www.wealthminerals.com) and its Canadian regulatory filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of

WEALTH MINERALS LTD.

Hendrik van Alphen

Hendrik van Alphen

Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please contact:

Marla Ritchie

Phone: 604-331-0096 Ext. 3886 or 604-638-3886

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, forward-looking statements) within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities legislation, including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding the anticipated receipt of the necessary community approvals required for the commencement of drilling at the Project, the commencement of the drill program, the discovery and delineation of mineral deposits/resources/reserves on the Project and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions, including without limitation, that market fundamentals will result in sustained lithium demand and prices, the receipt of any necessary permits, licenses and regulatory and community approvals required for the exploration and development of the Companys Chilean lithium projects in a timely manner, the availability of financing on suitable terms for the development, construction and continued operation of the Company projects, and the Companys ability to comply with environmental, health and safety laws.

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, issues raised during the Companys due diligence on the Project, the results of meetings with local community representatives and government officials, operating and technical difficulties in connection with mineral exploration and development activities at the Project, actual results of exploration activities, including the drill program at the Project, the estimation or realization of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the timing and amount of estimated future production, the costs of production, capital expenditures, the costs and timing of the development of new deposits, requirements for additional capital, future prices of lithium and precious metals, changes in general economic conditions, changes in the financial markets and in the demand and market price for commodities, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry, delays in obtaining governmental approvals, permits or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities, changes in laws, regulations and policies affecting mining operations, title disputes, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required, including TSX Venture Exchange acceptance of any current or future property acquisitions or financings and other planned activities, the timing and possible outcome of any pending litigation, environmental issues and liabilities, and risks related to joint venture operations, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Companys latest interim Management Discussion and Analysis and filed with certain securities commissions in Canada. All of the Companys Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Companys mineral properties.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements in this news release or incorporated by reference herein, except as otherwise required by law.Toronto, Ontario (FSCwire) - Minfocus Exploration Corp. (TSX-V: MFX) (Minfocus or Company) is pleased to announce that further to its June 27th, 2018 and July 10th, 2018 news releases, and the recently announced proposed 7-for-1 consolidation of Minfocus common shares, Minfocus and Dr. Francis Manns, P.Geo. (ON) (Manns) have agreed to revised terms for the purchase from Manns of his 45% ownership interest (New Coral Interest) in the 80% interest in the Coral Zinc Project tenures that Minfocus does not hold. The revised terms are intended to bring the agreement into line with the pricing under the recently announced proposed Minfocus Private Placement which shall be closed subsequent to the Minfocus share consolidation.

Under the revised terms for the purchase of the New Coral Interest, Minfocus is to issue to Manns 7,180,000 post-consolidation common shares (Coral Shares) plus 7,180,000 share purchase warrants. Each share purchase warrant shall be exercisable for two years to purchase one post-consolidation common share of Minfocus at an exercise price of $0.07 per share. According to TSXV policy the deemed value of the Coral Shares is $0.055 per share for a total deemed value of $394,500. Under the new terms, Manns shall receive the Coral Shares post-consolidation and in tranches such that Manns shall not become a New Control Person, as defined under TSXV Policy, without the prior approval by a vote of disinterested Minfocus shareholders. Upon issuance of the first tranche of Coral Shares, Manns would become a new Insider of Minfocus. For a period of 6 months following their issuance, the Coral Shares shall be subject to an anti-dilution clause whereby, if Minfocus proposes to issue or sell any new securities (New Offering), Manns shall have the right to subscribe for and purchase the same securities being offered to others, on a pro-rata basis in proportion to the Manns percentage interest, on a non-diluted basis, in the issued and outstanding shares of Minfocus immediately prior to the New Offering and at the same price which such new securities are offered to others for issue or sale to other purchasers.

The New Coral Interest would represent an additional 36% beneficial ownership interest in the Coral Zinc project. Minfocus currently holds a direct 20% interest in the Coral Zinc Project tenures acquired separately under the 2015 Coral Option agreement (see Minfocus news release January 26, 2015 and August 29, 2017). The agreement to acquire the New Coral Interest from Manns is still subject to TSXV approval. Under the Coral Option agreement, upon completion of a further $550,000 in exploration expenditure before September 30, 2018 plus make a payment to the Vendors of $40,000 in cash or shares, Minfocus shall acquire a further direct 20% (cumulative 40%).

Minfocus Responds to Misleading Information from Greenbank Capital

GreenBank Capital Inc. (GB), a CSE-listed entity, has again issued a misleading news release regarding Minfocus that was issued on July 23, 2018 (GB News Release), which purports that the proposed acquisition by Minfocus of the New Coral from Manns is a scheme to issue common shares to an insider and affiliate which is somehow at the expense of Minfocus shareholders. Dr. Francis Manns, P.Geo. (ON), is the former Senior Manager of Compliance and Disclosure, Mining, for the TMX Group, and is not either an Insider or an Affiliate of Minfocus, in accordance with TSXV Policy, and is at arms-length to Minfocus with regards to the proposed acquisition of the New Coral Interest.

Contrary to the suggestions in GB News Release, the Minfocus acquisition of the New Coral Interest, approved unanimously by Minfocus' independent directors, is in their opinion a unique opportunity to acquire a further 36% beneficial interest in the Coral Zinc Project at a valuation that is superior to the cost of otherwise acquiring a further 20% interest for $590,000 in work commitments, cash and/or shares under the current Coral Option agreement.

On December 15th, 2017, GB presented a proposal for an RTO to Minfocus. After considerations by a Special Committee of independent directors formed by the Minfocus Board, and subsequent further discussion with GreenBank, the Board of Minfocus did not approve the proposed transaction which would have been highly dilutive to existing Minfocus shareholders. Shortly after the failed RTO proposal, Gerald Harper, the former President and CEO of Minfocus, was appointed CEO of a private entity, Ubique Minerals Ltd., in which GB held a 27% interest and which was recently part of a plan of arrangment application by GB. In February 2018, GB purchased 19.6% of Minfocus from Harper, paying for their interest in Minfocus with GB shares. According to the GB News Release, we are now told that GB and Harper intend to support each other and vote for the same slate of directors at the upcoming Minfocus AGM on September 7, 2018. To date, neither GB or Harper, have stated what they would propose differently from the directions that the current Board of Minfocus has clearly communicated to shareholders.

About Minfocus Exploration Corp.

Minfocus Exploration Corp. is a Canadian company currently advancing a portfolio of base-metal projects including three Mississippi-Valley-Type zinc projects in British Columbia and Newfoundland and a Platinum Group Element (PGE)enriched Ni-Cu-Pt-Pd project in N.W. Ontario. Minfocus has a successful management group with a record of multiple discoveries of deposits worldwide, including gold and uranium deposits in Mongolia and PGE-rich resources in Ontario, including the discovery of the first platinum-rich Ni-Cu-Pt-Pd deposit in the Midcontinent Rift, the Current Lake deposit (+700,000 oz. Pt-Eq).

For further information, please contact:

Kenneth B. de Graaf

President & Chief Executive Officer

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Qualified Person who has reviewed and approved the technical content contained in this release is Dr. Graham C. Wilson, P.Geo.(Ont), a director of Minfocus.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulatory Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

This press release includes certain forward-looking statements concerning the future performance of the Companys business and operations as well as managements objectives, strategies, beliefs and intentions. Forward-looking statements are often identifiable by the use of words such as may, will, might, would, plan, believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, scheduled, forecasts and similar expressions or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases. Forward-looking statements are based on the current opinions and expectations of management, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those currently anticipated by such statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, the possibility that future exploration results will not be consistent with the Companys expectations, fluctuating commodity prices, delays in commencing the Companys proposed drilling program, exploration costs varying significantly from estimates, the availability of financing, and other risks identified in the Companys documents filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities at Any forward-looking statement speaks only 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.NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION TO UNITED STATES

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lumina Gold Corp. (TSXV:LUM) (the Company or Lumina) is pleased to announce that it has closed the previously announced non-brokered private placement (please refer to the Companys July 13, 2018 press release). A total of 9,730,000 common shares (the Common Shares) were sold at a price of C$0.72 per Common Share for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately C$7 million (the Offering).

The net proceeds of the Offering will be used to fund working capital for the previously announced spin-out (the Spin-out) of Luminex Resources Corp. (Luminex) and for general corporate purposes. More details regarding the Spin-out can be found in Luminas July 9, 2018 press release titled Lumina Gold Announces Spin-Out Of Mineral Exploration Assets and Creation of Luminex Resources.

The Common Shares issued in the Offering will be subject to a statutory four month and a day hold period that will expire on November 27, 2018. In connection with the Offering, finders fees of 4% were paid on the proceeds from certain subscribers to Haywood Securities Inc., Trimark Trading and Raymond James Ltd.

The securities to be offered pursuant to the Offering have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act) or any U.S. state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration under the U.S. Securities Act and all applicable U.S. state securities laws or compliance with the requirements of exemptions therefrom. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About Lumina Gold

Lumina Gold Corp. (TSXV:LUM) is a Vancouver, Canada based precious and base metals exploration and development company focused on gold and copper projects in Ecuador. The Companys Cangrejos Gold-Copper project is located in El Oro Province, southwest Ecuador, and its Condor Gold-Copper project is located in Zamora-Chinchipe Province, southeast Ecuador. The Company also holds a large and highly prospective land package in Ecuador consisting of 135 thousand hectares. The Company has an experienced management team with a successful track record of advancing and monetizing exploration projects.

Further details are available on the Companys website at https://luminagold.com/.

LUMINA GOLD CORP. For further information contact: Signed: Marshall Koval Scott Hicks This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Marshall Koval, President & CEO, Director T: +1 604 646 1890

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 news release

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements and information herein, including all statements that are not historical facts, contain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements or information include but are not limited to statements or information with respect to the Companys intentions regarding the use of proceeds of the Offering. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements or information can be identified by the use of words such as will or variations of that word.

With respect to forward-looking statements and information contained herein, the Company has made numerous assumptions including among other things, assumptions about general business and economic conditions, the prices of gold and copper, anticipated costs and expenditures, and completion of the Spin-out. The foregoing list of assumptions is not exhaustive.

Although management of the Company believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements or information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that a forward-looking statement or information herein will prove to be accurate. Forward-looking statements and information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Companys actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. These factors include, but are not limited to: risks associated with the business of the Company; business and economic conditions in the mining industry generally; the supply and demand for labour and other project inputs; changes in commodity prices; changes in interest and currency exchange rates; risks relating to inaccurate geological and engineering assumptions (including with respect to the tonnage, grade and recoverability of reserves and resources); risks relating to unanticipated operational difficulties (including failure of equipment or processes to operate in accordance with specifications or expectations, cost escalation, unavailability of materials and equipment, government action or delays in the receipt of government approvals, industrial disturbances or other job action, and unanticipated events related to health, safety and environmental matters); risks relating to adverse weather conditions; political risk and social unrest; changes in general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets; and other risk factors as detailed from time to time in the Companys continuous disclosure documents filed with Canadian securities administrators. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCwire) - Belmont Resources Inc. (TSX.V: BEA; FSE: L3L1; DTC Eligible  CUSIP 080499403); (Belmont, or the Company).

Kibby Basin Drilling:

Belmont has engaged Harris Exploration Drilling and Associates Inc. (Harris Drilling), a California company, to mobilize equipment and to commence drilling on the Kibby property with an anticipated start date of July 28, 2018.

Harris Drilling has extensive experience drilling in the Clayton Valley lithium brines, in recovering core in unconsolidated lakebed sediments, and in lithium brine testing.

Robert Cuffney, Exploration Geologist, has selected the first holes based on the results from the Quantec MT geophysical survey completed in January. The proposed drill holes are designed to test a large strong MT conductor, which may represent aquifers containing lithium brines. Holes have been designed to intercept the MT anomaly starting at depths of 325 m (1065 ft.) and continuing to as much as 760 m (2500 ft.) with the objectives of determining the nature of the conductor, collecting sediment samples for lithium analyses, identifying aquifers, and sampling water and any brines encountered.

Harris Drilling will employ an RD 10 rotary drill to complete the holes. Drill samples will be collected continuously on 3 m (10 ft.) intervals and analyzed for lithium and associated elements. Water samples will be collected periodically as the hole progresses and will be analyzed for lithium, associated elements, and physical properties (conductivity, pH, TDS). Downhole geophysical logging will be performed by Southwest Exploration Services of Chandler, Arizona to identify permeable/aquifer zones and zones of conductivity. Aquifer water will be sampled using downhole packers to isolate the aquifer intervals.

Previous drilling by Belmont reached a depth of 457 m (1498 ft) in playa sediments outside of the MT anomaly.

NI 43-101 Disclosure

Robert (Bob) G. Cuffney, Certified Professional Geologist, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information in this news release.

About Belmont Resources Inc.

Belmont is an emerging resource company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties in Canada and Nevada, U.S.A.

For further information see our Website at: www.BelmontResources.com

-Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Nevadalithium/

-Twitter https://twitter.com/Belmont_Res

Belmont has recently optioned 31 mineral claims encompassing approx. 7 sq.km; located 24 km northwest of Saint John, New Brunswick  the Mid Corner/Johnson Croft  a Zinc, Cobalt prospect.

On March 30, 2016; the Company acquired sixteen placer (16) mining claims, representing 1036 hectares (2,560 acres) in Esmeralda County, Nevada, U.S.A. The Kibby Basin property is located 65 km north of Clayton Valley, Nevada-U.S.A. The Company believes the property to be highly prospective to host lithium. Subsequent ground geophysics & gravity surveys, surface sampling and a two hole- 2046 ft. diamond drill program have confirmed the presence of lithium on Kibby.

In June 2018; the Company has updated its land position staking, and now holds 126 x 20 acre additional placer mineral claims totaling approx. 1,020 hectares (2,520 acres), adjoining the Kibby 16, for a total Kibby Basin land position (the Property) to 2,056 hectares (5,080 acres).

In 50/50 ownership with International Montoro Resources Inc., Belmont has acquired and is exploring joint venture opportunities for its two significant uranium properties (Crackingstone  982 ha & Orbit Lake  11,109 ha) in the Uranium City District in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

James H. Place

James H. Place

CEO/President

Belmont Resources Inc.

#600  625 Howe Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6C 2T6

Ph: (604) 683-6648 Fax: (604) 683-1350

E-Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This Press Release may contain forward-looking statements that may involve a number of risks and uncertainties, based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of exploration and other risk factors beyond its control. Forward looking statements in this news release include statements about the possible raising of capital and exploration of our properties. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Companies forward-looking statements and expectations. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, that we may not be able to obtain regulatory approval; that we may not be able to raise funds required, that conditions to closing may not be fulfilled and we may not be able to organize and carry out an exploration program in 2016; and other risks associated with being a mineral exploration and development company. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and, except as required by applicable laws, the Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results differed from those projected in the forward-looking statements.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as the term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.Q2 2018 Highlights include:

Production of 10,485 ozs of gold and 128,634 lbs copper in Q2 2018

The average grade treated through the Process Plant for Q2 2018 was 20.40 g/t Au and 0.36% Cu

Reported updated resource for the Kora North deposit comprising a Measured Resource of 242,900 tonnes @ 13.9 g/t Au, 19 g/t Ag and 1.0% Cu; an Indicated Resource of 442,800 tonnes @ 11.8 g/t Au, 21 g/t Ag and 1.2% Cu and an Inferred Resources of 1,084,400 tonnes @ 13.6 g/t Au, 15 g/t Ag and 1.0% Cu.

Exploration drilling commenced on Yanabo/Yompossa porphyry target

No Lost Time Injuries (LTIs) recorded during Q2 2018 and none recorded for the entire 2017

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 25, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- K92 Mining Inc. (TSX-V:KNT) (OTCQX:KNTNF) (K92) is pleased to provide an update on operations during Q2 2018 (Q2) at its Kainantu Gold Mine in Papua New Guinea.

During Q2, K92 produced 10,485 ounces of gold, 128,634 pounds of copper and 1,671 ozs of silver or 10,800 AuEq ozs (based on a Gold price of US$1,300/oz; Silver US$16.5/oz; Copper US$2.90/lb).

Mining operations focused on Kora North, comprising cut and fill stope mining from the K2 vein over a 200-metre strike length and cut and fill stope mining on the K1 vein over a 250 metre strike length.

The blend of primarily K1 material with some and K2 material provided an average grade treated through the Process Plant for Q2 of 20.4 g/t Au and 0.36% Cu. Recoveries for the quarter averaged 93.5% for both gold and copper.

Grade control drilling from the third drill cuddy DDC3 located approximately 100 metres to the south of DDC2, commenced during the quarter, while exploration drilling continued from DDC2. A fourth drill cuddy, DDC4 was commenced during the quarter and it is anticipated that exploration drilling from this cuddy will commence early in Q3.

John Lewins, K92 Chief Executive Officer and Director, states, This quarter has seen our company build on the success of first quarter, increasing gold production by over 10%, with the company well on track to meet our guidance of 42,000 to 46,000 ozs AuEq for the year. During the quarter, we were also able to declare more than a fivefold increased Kora North resource to a Measured + Indicated resource of 685,700 tonnes at an AuEq grade of 14.5 g/t containing 320,500 ozs of AuEq, plus an Inferred resource of 1,084,000 tonnes at an AuEq grade of 15.2 g/t containing 571,000 ozs of AuEq. In addition, we have commenced our first surface exploration drilling program at the highly prospective Yanabo/Yompossa Porphyry target.

Further financial details regarding Q2 production will be available within the upcoming quarterly financial filing. Based on budget, K92 anticipates operations achieved positive cash flow in each month of the quarter.

Table 1 below provides a summary of the Kora North mineral resource.

Table 1 Kora North Mineral Resource  Effective Date June 25, 2018

Category Tonnes Gold Silver Copper AuEq g/t Ozs g/t Ozs % 000's lb g/t Ozs Measured 242,900 13.9 108,400 19 151,900 1.0 5,300 15.6 122,200 Indicated 442,800 11.8 168,100 21 298,100 1.2 11,900 13.9 198,300 Total M & I 685,700 12.5 276,500 20 450,000 1.1 17,200 14.5 320,500 Total Inferred 1,084,400 13.6 509,700 15 569,600 1.0 24,400 15.2 571,000

Gold Equivalent (Au Eq) g/t was calculated using the formula Au g/t + (Cu% x 1.53) + Ag g/t x 0.0127.

Gold price US$1,300/oz; Silver US$16.5/oz; Copper US$2.90/lb.

A top cut of 100 g/t was applied to the gold assays for the K1, K2 KL lodes.

Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues.

The Inferred Mineral Resource in this estimate has a lower level of confidence than that applied to an Indicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted to a Mineral Reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of the Inferred Mineral Resource could be upgraded to an Indicated Mineral Resource with continued exploration.

All material mined from within the resource envelope up to the effective date of the resource have been removed from the model.

Wireframes were constructed to constrain lode positions based on geological mapping and logging of workings and diamond core coupled with the use of face and drill core assay results using a nominal +1 g/t Au cut-off to define the lode boundary.

Equal length composites of 0.5m were extracted from the database for each lode. A top cut to gold grade was applied to K2, K1 and KL1 of 100g/t. The ordinary kriging modelling estimation method was then used with search radii of 35m and 130m for Au, Ag and Cu. At least 3 informing values with a maximum of 12 were used to estimate each model block.

The Resource was classified as measured if both drilling at 25m centres and workings were present, as indicated if only drilling or workings were presented and inferred for material 15m past the last drill hole or working.

K92 has filed and made available for download on the company's SEDAR profile a technical report titled, "Independent Technical Report, Mineral Resource Update and Preliminary Economic Assessment of Irumafimpa and Kora Gold Deposits, Kainantu Project, Papua New Guinea," with an effective date of March 2, 2017, that provides additional information on the geology of the deposits, drilling and sampling procedures, lab analysis, and quality assurance/quality control for the project, and additional details on resource estimates.

Kora remains open for expansion in every direction and strongly mineralized at the extent of all drilling. The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized. The technical report contains a full description of all underlying assumptions relating to the PEA. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. The resource estimate used within this PEA has not incorporated the updated mineral resource estimate. The results and conclusions of any updated PEA incorporating the revised mineral resource, if completed, will be materially different than those previously disclosed.

K92 Mine Geology Manager and Mine Exploration Manager, Mr Andrew Kohler, PGeo, a qualified person under the meaning of Canadian National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and is responsible for the technical content of this news release. Data verification by Mr. Kohler includes significant time onsite reviewing drill core, face sampling, underground workings and discussing work programs and results with geology and mining personnel.

On behalf of K92,

John Lewins

Chief Executive Officer and Director

For further information, please contact the Company at +1-604-687-7130.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release includes certain forward-looking statements under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Cash flow estimations for Q1 2018 are subject to change and subject to the finalization of financial statements. All statements that address future plans, activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur are forward-looking information, including statements regarding the realization of the preliminary economic analysis for the Project, expectations of future cash flows, the proposed plant expansion, potential expansion of resources and the generation of further drilling results which may or may not occur. Forward-looking statements and information contained herein are based on certain factors and assumptions regarding, among other things, the market price of the Companys securities, metal prices, exchange rates, taxation, the estimation, timing and amount of future exploration and development, capital and operating costs, the availability of financing, the receipt of regulatory approvals, environmental risks, title disputes, failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated, accidents, labour disputes, claims and limitations on insurance coverage and other risks of the mining industry, changes in national and local government regulation of mining operations, and regulations and other matters. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.TORONTO, July 26, 2018 /CNW/ - Sable Resources (TSX.V: SAE) (the "Company" or "Sable") is pleased to announce results from the first two drill holes targeting the Margarita Vein in its ongoing 12-hole drill program at the Margarita Project, Chihuahua State, Mexico. Both holes intersected the target with hole M-DDH-05 also intercepted a previously unknown structure at depth. Results confirm vein strike continuity for at least 500 meters to a depth of 50 meters from surface with weighted average grades ranging from 190g/t to 462g/t AgEq over thicknesses of 4.25 to 8.70 meters. True widths are estimated to be 90% of the intercept based on vein to core angle. Detailed drill results, location plan, sections and core photos are available from the Sable website.

This is the first time the Margarita project has been drilled and constitutes a new discovery for Sable.

Highlights

Hole M-DDH-04: 462g/t AgEq over 4.25m from 41.5m to 45.75m

Including 1.5m at 1073g/t AgEq from 42.7m to 44.2m

AgEq over from to Including at AgEq from to Hole M-DDH-05: 205g/t AgEq over 8.70m from 50.70m to 59.4m

Including 242g/t AgEq over 4.8m from 50.7m to 55.5m

And 268g/t AgEq over 0.7m from 58.7m to 59.4m

AgEq over from to Including AgEq over from to And AgEq over from to Hole M-DDH-05: 102.5g/t AgEq over 4.35m from 127.2m to 131.55m

Including 160g/t AgEq over 1.50m from 130.05m to 131.55m

Holes M-DDH-06 to 08 have been completed and are awaiting results. Similar vein textures have been intersected in these holes across similar widths down to a depth of 100m from surface. M-DDH-09 is currently underway.

"We are excited by the grades and widths returned by the first two holes ever drilled in the Margarita Vein", stated Ruben Padilla, VP Exploration of Sable Resources. "These results clearly demonstrate that we are at the right erosional level with good preservation of the best part of the veins starting right at surface and still open at depth. We will continue the systematic drill test along the 1.6 km of known extension of the Margarita vein and along the other three veins identified within the property limits."

Silver equivalent is calculated based on USD15.50per Oz for Silver, USD 0.95 per pound for Lead and USD1.20 per pound for Zinc.

ABOUT THE MARGARITA PROJECT

Acquired as part of Sable Resources Upper Level Epithermal Strategy, the Margarita Project is located in the Satevo Municipality in Chihuahua state, approximately 120km SW of the state capital of Chihuahua City, and 110km NNW of the historic Parral mining district. The Project lies on strike with Sunshine Silver Corp.'s Los Gatos Project, which hosts a Measured and Indicated 9.2 million tonnes resource containing 178 million ounces silver-equivalent (Sunshine Silver Mining and Refining website published NI 43-101 report titled "Feasibility Study of the Cerro Los Gatos Silver-Lead-Zinc Deposit Los Gatos Project" January 2017). Hosted in Eocene-Oligocene Volcanics, Margarita is defined by 4 veins; Margarita, El Caido, Juliana and Maria on 2 claims totally encompassed by Sunshine Silver.

Results Table

Hole ID From To Core Length Ag (g/t) Pb (ppm) Zn (ppm) AgEq (g/t) M-DDH-04 41.50 45.75 4.25 429.6* 1857* 6609* 462.01* Including 41.50 42.70 1.20 152 229 595 156.12 42.70 44.20 1.50 986 5050 16050 1073.33 44.20 45.75 1.55 106 27 2130 107.24 M-DDH-05 50.7 59.4 8.70 168.7* 1250* 5870* 205.16* Including 50.70 51.85 1.15 123 920 1680 135.79 and 51.85 53.45 1.6 194 490 1550 204.29 and 53.45 54.15 0.70 293 2710 4940 330.61 and 54.15 55.50 1.35 315 1365 2260 332.73 and 55.50 56.35 0.85 49.1 262 2060 61.14 and 56.35 57.37 1.00 87.1 372 5950 120.25 and 57.37 58.70 1.35 91.3 716 18650 193.32 and 58.70 59.40 0.70 191 5330 10004 268.61 M-DDH-05 127.2 131.5 4.35 30.0* 10596* 5656* 102.53* Including 127.2 128.4 1.20 17.9 3610 6530 67.74 and 128.4 130.0 1.65 17 5310 6790 75.36 and 130.0 131.5 1.50 48.1 22000 3710 160.26

* Weighted average composites. All other intervals are actual results.

Drill Hole OrientationsToronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 26, 2018) - RosCan Minerals Corporation (TSXV: ROS) ("Roscan" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed its previously announced private placement led by Clarus Securities Inc. (the "Agent") by issuing 32,932,132 units ("Units") at a price of $0.06 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $1,975,928 (the "Brokered Offering"). The Company issued a further 1,666,667 Units for aggregate gross proceeds $100,000 through non-brokered efforts (the "Non-Brokered Offering"). Together, the Brokered Offering and Non-Brokered Offering had aggregate gross proceeds of $2,075,928 through the issuance of 34,598,798 Units (together, the "Offering").

Each Unit is comprised of one common share ("Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant ("Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one additional Common Share at an exercise price of $0.12 for 24 months from the closing of the Offering. The Company reserves the right to accelerate the expiration of the Warrants, if at any time which is more than four months and one day following the closing date of the Offering, the trading price of the Common Shares of the Company on the TSX Venture Exchange is $0.24 or more for at least 20 consecutive trading days, in which case the Company may provide notice to Warrant holders to exercise their Warrants within 10 days following the date of such notice.

The Common Shares and Warrants issued pursuant to the Offering will be subject to a hold period of four months plus a day from the date of issuance and the resale rules of applicable securities legislation. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering for exploration and development of the Company's mineral properties and for general corporate and working capital purposes.

As consideration for the services provided by the Agent in connection with the Brokered Offering, the Agent received a fee of 1,584,295 compensation Units (the "Compensation Units") and 1,584,295 of non-transferable broker warrants (the "Broker Warrants"). Each Broker Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share at an exercise price of $0.06 for 24 months from the closing of the Offering.

The transactions constituted a related party transaction within the meaning of TSX Venture Exchange Policy 5.9 and Multilateral Instrument 61-101 ("MI 61-101") as certain insiders of the Company subscribed for an aggregate of 3,750,033 Units pursuant to the Offering. The Company is relying on the exemptions from the valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 contained in sections 5.5(b) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101, as the Company is not listed on a specified market and the fair market value of the participation in the Offering by insiders does not exceed 25% of the market capitalization of the Company, as determined in accordance with MI 61-101. The Company did not file a material change report in respect of the related party transaction at least 21 days before the closing of the second tranche of the Offering, which the Company deems reasonable in the circumstances in order to complete the Offering in an expeditious manner.

The Company may complete additional tranches of the Non-Brokered Offering.

ABOUT ROSCAN

RosCan Minerals Corporation is a Canadian gold exploration company focussed on West Africa. The Company has assembled a land position of 100%-owned permits in an area of large gold deposits for its Kandiole Project in west Mali. RosCan is also exploring the gold potential of the early exploration stage Dormaa Project in Ghana, in which RosCan can earn a 50% interest through an option agreement with Pelangio Exploration Inc.

For further information, please contact:

Greg Isenor

President and Chief Executive Officer

Tel: (902) 832-5555 or (416) 293-8437

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

THIS NEWS RELEASE IS INTENDED FOR DISTRIBUTION IN CANADA ONLY AND IS NOT AUTHORIZED FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.DENVER and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sandspring Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:SSP) (OTCQX:SSPXF) (the Company) is pleased to announce completion of the acquisition (the Transaction) of the rights to a 386-hectare land package located in the Segovia-Remedios mining district of Antioquia, Colombia (the Chicharron Project), which includes the historic silver-gold producing Guia Antigua Mine.

The Chicharron Project was previously held through an unincorporated joint venture arrangement between Industrias Argentum SAS, a Colombian company, and a Colombian branch office of a subsidiary of Gran Colombia Gold Corp. (TSX: GCM) (Gran Colombia). The Company has acquired control of one-hundred percent (100%) of the Chicharron Project in consideration for the issuance of 36,000,000 common shares, a cash payment of US$1,000,000, and the reimbursement of certain expenses. All securities issued in connection with the Transaction are subject to a four-month-and-one-day statutory hold period.

Board Nominations

In connection with completion of the Transaction, each of Gran Colombia and AAVN Consulting Corporation (AAVN Consulting) have received the right to nominate one director to the board of the Company. These rights are ongoing provided that Gran Colombia and AAVN Consulting maintain certain ownership interests in the Company. Gran Colombia has initially nominated Lombardo Paredes Arenas, and AAVN Consulting has nominated Federico Restrepo-Solano, both of whom have been appointed to the board of directors effective immediately.

Federico Restrepo-Solano is a Colombian business executive with more than 27 years of experience in the mining, oil and infrastructure industries. Currently he is a Partner and Corporate Director of Qvartz Capital Partners, a strategic advisory firm, and has served as Senior Vice-President of Corporate Affairs with Frontera Energy and its predecessor, Pacific Exploration and Production, President of Promotora del Puerto Integrado-Propuerto S.A., President of the National Federation of Coal Producers (Fenalcarbon), Corporate Affairs Manager for Coalcorp Mining Inc., and Special Advisor on Environmental and Port Affairs for the City of Santa Marta. Mr. Restrepo holds a degree in Social Communications Sciences from Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano in Bogota, and a Diploma in Corporate Finance from Universidad del Rosario.

Lombardo Paredes-Arenas serves as Chief Executive Officer of Gran Colombia, and brings over 20 years of corporate leadership and operations management experience in the resource sector in Latin America. Before becoming an independent consultant on energy and environmental project development, Mr. Paredes held several roles with within Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). He was responsible for regional planning of investments and social development for Eastern Venezuela, and was Managing Director and a Board Member of Maraven S.A. (an affiliate of PDVSA), with responsibility for the construction and commissioning of the Cardon Refinery Conversion Project in Venezuela, a US$2.6 billion project. He was also General Manager of its Production Operations Division, with 5,000 employees and oil production of 800,000 barrels per day. Mr. Paredes holds Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Master of Economic Analysis and Financial Economics degrees.

Private Placement

The Company also announces that it has completed an oversubscribed private placement of 41,000,000 units (each, a Unit) at a price Cdn$0.25 per Unit, for gross proceeds of Cdn$10,250,000. Each Unit consists of one common shares and one share purchase warrant entitling the holder to purchase one additional share at Cdn$0.40 for a period of sixty (60) months. The placement was oversubscribed by 5,000,000 Units following strong investor interest, and included a subscription from Gran Colombia for 16,000,000 Units.

All securities issued in connection with the private placement are subject to a four-month-and-one-day statutory hold period. In connection with completion of the placement, the Company paid cash commissions of Cdn$140,950 to certain eligible parties who introduced subscribers.

The Company intends to use the proceeds of the placement to develop and advance an exploration program for the Chicharron Project, to complete the final feasibility study for both the Toroparu Gold Project and the run-of-river hydroelectric project on the Kurupung River approximately 50 kilometres southwest of Toroparu, for local partner and land rental payments at Toroparu, and for general corporate and working capital purposes.

Richard Munson, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented, We are very pleased to have closed the acquisition of the Chicharron Project and are excited to begin our initial exploration work and simultaneously evaluate the opportunities for resuming mining activity at the Guia Antigua Mine. We are also moving immediately to seek the assistance of the Gran Colombia team in reviewing the development plans for Toroparu, our flagship property in Guyana. The experience of Serafino Iacono, Executive Co-Chairman of Gran Colombia, and his team in developing and operating the Choco Mine in the Guiana Shield will be invaluable to the Company.

The addition of Mr. Lombardo Paredes Arenas and Mr. Federico Restrepo-Solano to our Board will provide immediate guidance and expertise for our operations in Colombia. The addition of these gentlemen continues our practice of seeking assistance and guidance from experienced and successful businessmen in our countries of operation as Mr. Suresh Beharry, a Guyanese businessman, also continues on our Board of Directors.

We were also very pleased in these very challenging times for the commodities market to have the support shown by both our existing shareholders, led again by Mr. Frank Giustra, and new shareholders, including of course Gran Colombia, in providing the support to allow us to close the oversubscribed financing.

Serafino Iacono, Executive Co-Chairman of Gran Colombia, commented, We are pleased to have closed this investment in Sandspring. From our previous experience in the Guiana Shield and the work we have completed in our due diligence process, we see opportunity in their Toroparu Project and we look forward to assisting management in taking this project to the next level.

Early Warning

In connection with completion of the Transaction, Gran Colombia received 15,000,000 common shares of the Company in consideration for their interest in the Chicharron Project. Gran Colombia acquired a further 16,000,000 Units of the Company in connection with the private placement. Following completion of the Transaction and the private placement, Gran Colombia has control and direction over an aggregate of 31,000,000 common shares and 16,000,000 share purchase warrants. The common shares controlled by Gran Colombia represent approximately 14.78% of the outstanding common shares of the Company. Assuming exercise of just the warrants controlled by Gran Colombia, when combined with their existing ownership, they would have control and direction over 47,000,000 common shares representing approximately 20.83% of the then outstanding common shares of the Company.

Gran Colombia has acquired the securities of the Company for investment purposes and has no present intention to acquire further securities of the Company, although may in the future acquire or dispose of securities of the Company, through the market, privately or otherwise, as circumstances or market conditions warrant.

In connection with the private placement, Frank Giustra subscribed for and acquired 2,326,000 Units. However, as a result of the issuance of securities by the Company to complete the Transaction and the private placement, Mr. Giustras percentage ownership of the Companys common shares has decreased by 3.35%. Following completion of the Transaction and the private placement, Mr. Giustra has control and direction over an aggregate of 18,427,500 common shares, 400,000 incentive stock options and 10,276,000 share purchase warrants. The common shares controlled by Mr. Giustra represent approximately 8.79% of the outstanding common shares of the Company. Assuming the exercise of just the stock options and warrants controlled by Mr. Giustra, when combined with his existing ownership, he would have control and direction over 29,103,000 common shares representing approximately 13.21% of the then outstanding common shares of the Company.

All securities of the Company controlled by Mr. Giustra are held for investment purposes. In the future, Mr. Giustra and his affiliates, may acquire or dispose of securities of the Company through the market, privately or otherwise, as circumstances or market conditions may warrant.

Copies of the early warning reports filed by Gran Colombia and Mr. Giustra in connection with completion of the Transaction and the private placement are available under the Companys profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Sandspring Resources Ltd.

Richard A. Munson

Director and Chief Executive Officer

About Sandspring Resources Ltd.

Sandspring Resources Ltd. is a Canadian junior mining company currently moving toward a feasibility study for the multi-million-ounce Toroparu Project in Guyana, South America. A prefeasibility study completed in May 2013 (NI 43-101 Technical Report, Prefeasibility Study, Toroparu Gold Project, Upper Puruni River Area, Guyana, dated May 24, 2013 completed by SRK Consulting (U.S.), Inc., available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) outlined the design of an open-pit mine producing more than 200,000 ounces of gold annually over an initial 16-year mine life. Sandspring and Wheaton Precious Metals (formerly known as Silver Wheaton) entered into a gold and silver purchase agreement for the Toroparu Project. Additional information is available at www.sandspringresources.com or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Contact Sandspring Resources Ltd.

Richard A. Munson

Chief Executive Officer

Tel: +1 (303)-991-5683 or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking information and statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words potential, suggesting, indicating, will, plans and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information and/or statements. Forward-looking statements and/or information are based on a number of material factors, expectations and/or assumptions that Sandspring has used to develop such statements and/or information, but which may prove to be incorrect. Although Sandspring believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements and/or information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements since Sandspring can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such information and/or statements, including the assumptions made in respect thereof, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results and/or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information and/or statements including, without limitation: the speculative nature of mineral exploration and development; risks associated with the uncertainty of exploration results and estimates; results from drilling and exploration activities; Sandsprings future plans; the availability of financing and/or cash flow to fund current and future plans and expenditures; the impact of increasing competition; fluctuating commodity prices; the general stability of applicable economic and political environments; the general continuance of current industry conditions; uncertainty regarding the market price for gold, silver and copper; uncertainty of conducting operations under a foreign regime; uncertainty of obtaining all applicable regulatory approvals and related timing matters; Sandsprings dependence on management personnel; and/or certain other risks detailed from time-to-time in Sandsprings public disclosure documents. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake any obligations to publicly update and/or revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of additional information, future events and/or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.Malians go to the polls on July 29 in presidential elections. Many issues have been discussed in the candidates campaign meetings, including the peace agreement signed in 2015 which provides for a transitional justice process. The opposition is calling for revision of the accord, which it says is not inclusive enough.

Since the start of the campaign on July 4, the 24 candidates have been travelling around Bamako and the regional capitals explaining their policies to voters. The peace deal always comes up. Incumbent president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is promising to boost implementation of the accord, while the opposition criticizes not only its content but also the process that led to its signature.

The opposition African Solidarity for Democracy and Independence party (Sadi) led by Oumar Mariko is one of the fiercest critics of the accord, which it promises to revise if it is elected. We think it is not inclusive, says Allaye Bocoum, a member of Sadis national political bureau. It was not done by Malians. He says Sadi does not want to reject the accord entirely but to make it more national. There is no ethnic group in Mali that has not killed or been victimized, and we are proposing that people talk to each other in a constructive way, says Bocoum, who is urging dialogue for reconciliation.

The Union for the Republic and Democracy (URD) party of opposition leader Soumaila Cisse takes a similar line. The URD thinks that talking about transitional justice without revising the peace accord would be putting the cart before the horse. Today we have the Agreement, which is not inclusive either with regard to the process or its proposals for emerging from crisis, says Etienne Fakaba Sissoko, a spokesman for presidential candidate Soumaila Cisse. For us, the fundamental issue is not transitional justice but first dialogue between Malians. It is after that process that we will see if we need to apply reconciliation mechanisms like transitional justice or not.

The peace and reconciliation accord, whose implementation is stalling, was reached between the Malian government, the Coordination of rebel Azawad movements and the Platform, which groups movements close to the government. It was aimed mainly at restoring peace to the north of the country.

Our hand is being forced

Talking of transitional justice is rushing headlong, according to historian Iba NDiaye, a researcher at the Malian think tank CERM, where he is scrutinizing the candidates policy programmes. It is not appropriate to speak of transitional justice. Our hand is being forced on reconciliation, because the whole Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission process has not yet been properly worked out. He thinks the real problem is that the agreement holds the seeds of another war. The accord absolutely needs to be reviewed or revised, as the government is trying to do softly-softly, but unfortunately its approach is more a response to threats than real renegotiation with a public debate.

He thinks it is only after that step that measures can be put in place for reconciliation, transitional justice and stronger dialogue at community level to reach a durable solution.

This view is shared by Etienne Fakaba Sissoko, who thinks we really need to review the whole process, not only the issue of the Truth Commission but also the tools in place to move forward.

These elections are taking place in a security situation marked by recurrent, increasingly deadly terrorist attacks and intercommunal strife which has already left dozens of people dead in the centre of the country, epicentre of Jihadist attacks mainly by elements close to radical preacher Hamadoun Kouffa. Six years ago, this Islamist and his Ansardine group occupied northern Mali along with other armed terrorist groups (Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Movement for Uniqueness and Jihad in West Africa) and rebels. Numerous grave violations of human rights were committed during that occupation.A Cambodian who has devoted his life to documenting the killing of almost two million of his countrymen in the 1970s was named Thursday among the winners of this years Magsaysay Awards, widely regarded as Asias version of the Nobel prize.

Youk Chhang, 57, was given the award for his role as head for more than two decades of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, an institute that investigates atrocities committed under the Khmer Rouge.

The Khmer Rouge was a murderous, ultra-Maoist organisation that killed one quarter of Cambodias population from 1975 to 1979.

Youks organisation aims to help victims of the brutal regime come to terms with their ordeal while ensuring that future generations do not forget the events.

Youk, who experienced torture and saw the death of many family members at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, said he undertook the work for his mother, who also suffered extensively during the genocide.

I want her to be a free woman, not to carry all the tragedy in her heart and in her life, he was quoted as saying.

The Manila-based Ramon Magsaysay Award, named after a Filipino president killed in a plane crash, was established in 1957 to honour people and groups tackling development problems.

Two Indian nationals were separately honoured this year: Sonam Wangchuk, 51, who promotes alternative education systems in his home Himalayan region Ladakh; and Bharat Vatwani, 60, a psychiatrist who started a foundation to rescue people living on the streets with mental health problems.

Polio victim Vo Thi Hoang Yen, 52, was awarded for her work in assisting the disabled in Vietnam, while 56-year-old Maria De Lourdes Martins Cruz received an award for founding an institute to help the poor in her native East Timor, the organisers said.

Another awardee, Howard Dee, 87, was once head of a major Philippine drug company but gave up his career to help the poor including through peace efforts with local communist guerrillas and Muslim separatists.A scandal broke out around the forthcoming visit of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), Hasan Rouhani, to Tashkent. The Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Affairs refuted the report of the Uzbek media, which, referring to their Iranian counterparts, announced the talks between the leaders of the two countries for August. At the same time, the Office of Public Relations and Media of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan called this kind of publication irresponsible and incompetent, and one of the foreign ministry officials threatened journalists with reprisals by the prosecutor's office if such materials are published without agreement."

The Uzbek Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an official announcement that the exact timing of the upcoming Uzbek-Iranian meetings at the highest and other levels has not been determined at the moment, and the official representatives of Uzbekistan and Iran are working out their dates and agenda."

Ph.D. in Political Sciences, the member of the Scientific Council of the Institute for Central Asia and Afghanistan Studies Iran-East (Iran), Igor Pankratenko told Vestnik Kavkaza the following: "The words that the parties are currently working on the agenda are the key ones. During Hassan Ruhani's presidency, Iran's influence in Central Asia has dropped almost to zero, and in the case of Tajikistan, it has become even negative. Tehran claimed that the region is temporary unpromising, so the country did not pay attention to it. This turned out with a series of unpleasant surprises for the Iranian diplomacy."

According to the expert, Tehran certainly did not expect that in a short time President Shavkat Mirziyoyev would not only be able to return Tashkent to the big politics orbit, but also find the right words capable of convincing an international coalition led by the United States that Uzbekistan could become the key partner in the Afghan settlement. Trump was interested in a quite a realistic settlement program through the economic cooperation with both Kabul and the Taliban (an organization banned in the Russian Federation).

"As a result, Tashkent immediately entered the big league of key players in Afghanistan, and it is now necessary for Tehran not only to reckon with this but also to negotiate with the Uzbek side on a cooperation. The first attempt took place just a few days ago, during the meeting of Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, Ali Shamkhani, with the secretary of the Security Council under the President of Uzbekistan, Viktor Makhmudov. There was no specifics during the meeting as it still has to be worked out, hence the logical pause Tashkent takes with regard to Rouhanis visit, Pankratenko said.

For Iran, which suffers new US sanctions, it is important to reorient itself to the Asian and Central Asian markets, where Tehran had rather stable positions, which have recently been visibly shaken. Therefore, Rouhani's visit to Tashkent was prepared especially carefully. Both sides are interested in the cooperation. Since it is important for Tashkent to enter the markets of the Persian Gulf, it is clear that the cooperation cannot be achieved without Iran. Iran is becoming a key country in the development of transport corridors: Uzbekistan - Turkmenistan - Iran - Oman; China-Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran, as well as the Trans-Afghan Corridor. The Iranian side has previously stressed that it would make every effort to complete the construction of the Khaf-Herat railway, which will be the continuation of the Mazar-i-Sharif-Herat line and will significantly increase the volume of goods transported between the countries of the region due to the lower prices and delivery terms.

In addition, Tehran counts on simplifying the visa regime and developing banking cooperation. These issues were discussed at a recent meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) on trade-economic and scientific-technical cooperation between Uzbekistan and Iran, which was held in Tehran. At the same time, a business forum was held on the basis of which a package of the export contracts for the supply of textiles, legume, and dried fruit and vegetable products was signed.

Tehran counts on the fruitful negotiations in Tashkent. The economic delegation is thought to come along with Rouhani. The countries intend to increase the turnover in the upcoming years from $ 250 million up to $ 1 billion. Today, Uzbekistan supplies Iran with textile and agricultural products, and imports pistachios, tea, zinc and petrochemical products.

But as the source, who wished to remain anonymous, told Vestnik Kavkaza, the parties have not yet agreed due to Tehran's excessive ambitions. In particular, Turkmenistan makes claims that Iran has arrears for the gas supply. To address the issue, Hasan Rouhani visited Ashgabat twice this spring. The situation is complicated by the fact that Tehran simply does not recognize the existence of the debt, requests to recount everything and is convinced that it may be about some insignificant sums that it is ready to compensate with the supply of consumer goods. The position of Ashgabat is diametrically opposed. Turkmenistan counted for Iran $ 2 billion for the additional gas supplies, which were not carried out at a reduced price. Experts believe that the Iranian-Turkmen contradictions may play its role after the signing of the Concept on the Status of the Caspian Sea on August 12. The document will put an end to the long-term conflicts between the Caspian states around the largest reservoir and will open the way to the implementation of the large-scale energy projects connected with the pipeline transfer of hydrocarbons from one coast of the Caspian Sea to another. But at the same time, Iran, guided by the protocol on the procedure for assessing the environmental impact of projects, which will be signed simultaneously with the Convention, may block Ashgabats initiative on the construction of TAPI.

The relations with Tajikistan are severed. Formally, the main reason for the deterioration in the Tajik-Iranian relations was the participation of Muhiddin Kabiri, the leader of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), in the annual Islamic Unity conference in Tehran in December 2015, after the party's activities were banned in Tajikistan. However, some experts do not rule out that the IRPT is only an excuse since no other country in the world has supported Tajikistan on this issue. In fact, there is a financial reason for the tension. Tehran demanded Dushanbe to return of $ 2.7 billion, which the Iranian billionaire Babak Zanjani transferred to the accounts of Tajik banks from the sale of Iranian oil, bypassing the sanctions imposed on Iran. Zanjani is under arrest since December 31, 2013. He awaits execution of the sentence - the death penalty through hanging. He can be saved only if the money returned to Iran. However, Dushanbe is not in a hurry to return this money and accuses Iran of financing the high-profile murders of Tajik politicians, journalists, fomenting civil war in Tajikistan and involvement in a coup attempt in 2015. A final point in the relations between the two countries was put by the President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon. In May, during a meeting with the public, he called Iran an unfriendly country, saying that the IRPT members have been converted to Shi'ism. This was a reason for the support group of President Rahmon to picket the Iranian embassy in Dushanbe.

Against this background, Iran's relations with Kazakhstan are almost ideal. As President Nursultan Nazarbayev said, "Kazakhstan regards Iran as a close political and economic partner, the relations with which have always developed despite various difficulties."

"Kazakhstan and Iran have many points of contact, starting from a common position on the peaceful use of nuclear energy and ending with security in the Caspian region. As for the Caspian region, Kazakhstan and Iran are interested in maintaining the long-term stability in this region, and all possible disagreements between the Caspian states should be solved on the basis of consensus and diplomatic negotiations, the Director of the Risk Assessment Group, Dosym Satpayev told Vestnik Kavkaza.

The economic cooperation is conducted within the framework of three priority areas: transport infrastructure, energy cooperation and agriculture. For Kazakhstan, it is important to reach the Persian Gulf, first of all, within the framework of transport cooperation with Iran. The Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railway route (Uzen-Bereket-Gorgan) was launched in 2014.

In regard to Kyrgyzstan, despite the fact that the diplomatic relations were established 26 years ago, there are no special achievements. Kyrgyzstan delivers small quantities of lamb to Iran and imports the products of the chemical industry and agricultural machinery. However, Kyrgyzstan is of interest to Iran as a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, with which Iran signed an interim agreement on a free trade zone. After the document enters into force, the parties will be able to save on the customs import duties.The world has become so numb to the words of the President of the United States that it even dismisses threats of war as either a political distraction or a Trumpian negotiation tactic. As CNN writes in the article Trump's Iran tweet may trap US in another war, indeed, Donald Trump's threat to inflict on Iran "CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE" may very well have been an effort to divert attention from the Russia investigation. Others have dismissed the danger of the tweet since Trump did an about-face on North Korea, going from calling the North Korean dictator "rocket man" to a "very honorable" man. And, on Tuesday, Trump stated once again that he's "ready to make a deal" with Iran.

But there are five reasons why a pivot from threats to diplomacy with Iran will be much harder -- and why Trump's reckless threats may trap the United States in yet another war.

1. Saudi Arabia and Israel oppose diplomacy. Japan and South Korea advocated it.

The geopolitical circumstances around North Korea differ vastly from that of the Middle East. In the North Korean case, America's allies -- and even its Chinese competitor -- strongly opposed any military confrontation with Pyongyang and pushed for diplomacy. In fact, the pivot to diplomacy with North Korea had far more to do with the South Korean President's maneuvering in the background than Kim Jong Un fearing Trump's "fire and fury" or his sanctions.

In the Middle East, the situation is the opposite: American allies, such as Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have long opposed US-Iran diplomacy (with an impressive track record of sabotaging attempts at US-Iran dialogue). Mindful of their influence in Washington and the Trump administration's deference to them, any attempt by Trump to pivot to diplomacy with Iran will likely face a formidable challenge by these Middle Eastern powers. Moreover, there is no obvious "South Korea" in the Middle East today that can quietly do behind-the-scenes shuttle diplomacy to bring the United States and Iran together -- at least not one Trump would engage.

Former President Barack Obama needed a go-between to make diplomacy with Iran bear fruit. In that case, it was the country of Oman, which helped establish a secret diplomatic channel with Iran, paving the way for the historic nuclear deal of 2015. But Trump is unlikely to turn to Oman precisely because Obama did so.

2. Trump thinks pressure will force Iran to negotiate. He's wrong.

Trump has stated that verbal escalation and sanctions will force Iran to come to the table. The logic is based on a misread of what brought about the nuclear deal of 2015. The conventional Washington narrative reads that Obama crippled Iran's economy till the rulers of Tehran grudgingly agreed to negotiate. But the secret negotiations between the US and Iran in Oman reveals a very different picture.

While Obama's sanctions were truly crushing -- Iran's GDP contracted more than 35% between 2012 and 2015 -- Tehran did not lack leverage of its own. Its response to the sanctions was to double down on its nuclear program and move ever closer to a nuclear weapon. Just as sanctions put pressure on Tehran, more centrifuges put the squeeze on Washington. It wasn't until the Obama administration secretly made a major concession to Iran -- agreeing that Iran could continue to enrich uranium on its own soil -- that diplomacy started to bear fruit.

In other words, a policy solely centered on sanctions and pressure did not bring about the desired breakthrough in the talks. Ultimately, it was American flexibility that ended the standstill and elicited Iranian flexibility.

Two conclusions can be drawn from America's past diplomatic experience with Iran. First, pressure alone will not work. Second, Iran will meet pressure with pressure. And herein lies the danger of Trump's approach: Even if he does not intend to draw this to a conflict, he may quickly lose control over the situation once the Iranians decide to counter-escalate by, for instance, reactivating their nuclear program.

3. North Korea has a one-man dictator. Iran has politics.

North Korea is run by a one-man dictator with the political maneuverability to dramatically shift policy from testing nuclear weapons to sitting down with the man who hurled insults at him -- without facing any domestic political consequences. Iran, on the other hand, has a complex political system where power is dispersed and not controlled by any single person or institute. Even Iran's Supreme Leader -- the most powerful man in Iran -- cannot act alone without taking into consideration both public and elite opinion.

Iran's fractured politics and factional infighting renders any dramatic policy shift -- particularly involving diplomacy with the United States -- all the more difficult. President Hassan Rouhani is already paying a political price for having been so "naive" as to negotiate with the "untrustworthy" Americans. The political space needed to restart negotiations, particularly after Iran adhered to the previous deal and Trump pulled out of it, simply does not exist right now and Trump's rhetoric is not moving matters in the right direction.

4. Don't forget: Trump hates Obama.

As Ian Bremmer of the Eurasia Group has pointed out, Trump's antipathy toward Obama and his obsession with undoing Obama's policy legacies should not be underestimated. As a Trump official told the Atlantic, "There's the Obama Doctrine, and the 'F--- Obama' Doctrine," he explained. "We're the 'F--- Obama' Doctrine."

On Iran, that may not just translate into Trump killing the nuclear deal against the advice of his Secretary of Defense. It may also mean that Trump will pursue a nuclear deal with North Korea at almost any cost (a problem Obama left largely untouched) while rejecting a deal with Iran (the country Obama decided to negotiate with). More than striking a "better deal" with Iran, Trump may think that truly sticking it to Obama necessitates burying diplomacy with Iran altogether.

5. Trump advisers don't want a deal; they want regime collapse.

The members of Trump's inner circle have changed dramatically over the past few months. The so-called "adults in the room," who had a moderating effect on Trump, have largely been replaced with ideological hawks, such as National Security Adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. And uber-hawk Tom Cotton has emerged as one of the senators whose advice and viewpoints Trump pays close attention to. All three of these have a long track record of advocating confrontation with Iran. Bolton famously penned an op-ed in the New York Times at the height of the nuclear negotiations titled "To Stop an Iranian Bomb, Bomb Iran." As a congressman from the state of Kansas, Mike Pompeo quipped that bombing Iran would only take 2,000 fighter jet attacks, which he said "is not an insurmountable task for the coalition forces." Cotton, in turn, is the author of the unprecedented letter in the midst of the nuclear talks, telling the leaders of Iran not to trust the President of the United States.

Going forward, the moderate voices inside the Trump White House will essentially be absent, while new advisers will likely egg on Trump to escalate tensions further -- even though the Trump administration continues to claim that its goal is not regime change. All of this amounts to a sobering reality: Trump is embarking on a path of escalation without having the exit ramps he had with North Korea. The danger now is not to overestimate the risk of war, but to underestimate it.Despite the fact that Russia allow imports of tomatoes from all Turkish producers from May 1, removing restrictions, Turkish vegetables have not been able to win back their leading positions: in the first five months of this year Turkey supplied 22.9 thousand tons of tomatoes to Russia, ranking 6th among the EEU countries, according to the data of the Federal Customs Service of Russia, which was confirmed by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Azerbaijan became a leader in tomato export to Russia, beating Morocco and China, which respectively was ranked second and third, RNS reported. A total of 19,766 thousand tons of Azerbaijani tomatoes were delivered to Russia in the first quarter of this year.

It is not excluded that a cruel joke in the "tomato rating" was played by Rosselkhoznadzor's regular checks. Consumers explain the changed preferences by a better quality, noting that Azerbaijani products are more delicious than Turkish ones.

The director of the center for agrarian and food policy at RANEPA, Natalia Shagaida, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, recalled that Turkish tomatoes were exported to the Russian market all year round. "There were no restrictions, and there were even fears that they partially enter the territory of Russia through Azerbaijan. Moreover, business segment is determined by price in the first place, and second, by quality. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze prices," the expert explained.

Speaking about import substitution of foreign tomatoes by Russian ones, she stressed that if we take an annual period of time, then domestic tomatoes are already leading, because Russians eat them more often. "We have a lot of them, they are relatively tasty and cheap, but this applies only to seasonal tomatoes," Natalya Shagaida said.

A research fellow at the center for agrarian and food policy at RANEPA, Vasily Uzun, said that logistics is the main factor here. "There is an agreement with Azerbaijan, sales of Azerbaijani products have increased in all stores in recent years. It has probably played a role," he said.

The expert noted that Turkish producers will do their best to remove claims for their products, since the Russian market is very important for them.

Vasily Uzun also explained that it is still early to talk about radical changes. "The Turkish tomatoes are cheap, they are competitive from December to March, when they will be cheaper than Azerbaijani ones. But now they are more expensive than tomatoes from Russia or from the near abroad. The situation will change in winter," the expert said.

Speaking about Russian tomatoes, he pointed out that, according to the calculations of the center for agrarian and food policy at RANEPA, domestic producers are profitable in the warm season.Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and his colleagues will gather in Saint Petersburg to take part in Eurasian Intergovernmental Council's meeting.

The Russian government's press service said earlier that "on July 26 -27, a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council chaired by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will take place in St Petersburg, with the participation of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan."

"The meeting will focus on issues of digital development among the Eurasian Economic Union member states, interaction in energy and transport, industrial and customs cooperation, and improving the Eurasian Economic Unions regulatory and legal framework," the press service added.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wrote on his Facebook page that he will also attend a session of the EEU intergovernmental council.

According to the Armenian PM, after constitutional reforms in Armenia, the countrys prime minister is included in the supreme economic council of the Eurasian Economic Union, which holds its meetings at the level of country leaders.

"The legal regulation of the work of the unions intergovernmental council is not brought in tune with the constitutional changes implemented in Armenia, and in the event of my absence from the session, the council members will be not able to make decisions, and the council will be paralyzed," Pashinyan said.24 Shares Share

Ive written previously that financial independence is plan B. Plan A, of course, is life. Your work and time are precious, and life is too short to be wading through a morass of unhappiness only to get to some endpoint or goal. While I definitely believe in front-loading the sacrifice, the cost should not have to be misery. Physicians, in particular, tend to look at their job as a calling. As such, many continue to work long after they have reached financial independence. No matter what stage of your career, however, I believe that every doctor should have a plan B.

It pains me to write these words. For many of us in this profession, we couldnt see ourselves doing anything else. Unfortunately, this most stable of professions has become less and less trustworthy over the last few decades. I knew from the early stages of my career that there was inherent weakness in my so-called bulletproof profession.

Every doctor should have a plan B because there is a world of compliance and disruption coming our way.

Will we survive?

Whos the boss?

Im the government, and Im here to help!

Arguably one of the most feared phrases in the English language.

The government has its hooks in the American health care system, and there is no sign that there is going to be relief any time soon. Not only is Medicare the biggest payer, but also the government has taken on the monumental task of regulating and streamlining the whole kit and caboodle.

What this means to physicians:

greater restrictions on practice

less pay

more liability and audits

more push towards employment as opposed to private practice

The government holds physicians responsible for a large swath of what is going wrong with health care today. The job is not going to get any easier.

Elementary, my dear Watson

Have you ever heard of Watson? This computer, by IBM, has been used to analyze medical data. It is widely believed that systems, such as this, will be able to function at a much higher level than human doctors.

We physicians have a target on our back. Seen by the health care system as both a cost center and error-prone, the powers that be would love to have a computer program replace most of the cognitive-based physician specialities. They reason that electronic doctors will be cheaper, more accurate, and easier to access.

The future is here. Many businesses have been disrupted and eventually destroyed by advances in technology.

Are physicians next?

The replacements

There are many others taking aim at the target on the back of the modern-day physician. Given the cost of physician care, and the possibility of a provider shortage, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants are stepping up to take on the brunt of the burgeoning need.

Modern educational programs for nurse practitioners and physician assistants are no longer training these allied health practitioners to be assistants; they are training them to be replacements.

You can see the change in the educational classification. Nurse practitioner programs are now only being classified as doctorate programs.

Every doctor should have a plan B; their job is going to be given to someone with less training who will accept a lower salary.

The solution

So, all is not hopeless. Being a physician still ranks as both a secure and fulfilling profession. I would advise, however, that there are many ways to protect oneself. Every physician should have a plan B.

I developed mine in several different ways. First, I took advantage of a number of lazy side hustles in which I got paid by private companies for work product outside the patient-physician visit and unfunded by Medicare. Second, I developed a secure savings and investing plan that included uncorrelated assets like real estate. And third, I specialized in hospice and palliative care later in my career to carve out a niche that is unlikely to be taken over by allied health professionals.

DocG is a physician who blogs at DiverseFI.

Image credit: Shutterstock.comThis January will see the start of the centenary commemorations marking 100 years since the beginning of the Irish War of Independence (commencing 21 January 2019).

With this anniversary and the 2016 commemorations just passed - along with the centenary of the Civil War on the horizon - I thought now would be the opportune time to research and reassess County Kilkenny during this revolutionary era.

While researching the new publication, Kilkenny, In Times of Revolution, 1900-23, it was clear from the outset that there was an emotional rollercoaster of topics to be covered.

Revolution and war, by their nature, inevitably throws up a range of stories. On one side of the scale, there was the mundane and often humorous, but on the other hand, there was inevitably tragedy and heartbreak.

As historian Eunan OHalpin has noted, establishing an accurate figure for fatalities during the revolutionary period is a very crude index of the intensity of disruption experienced by people and communities. Nonetheless, it does at least highlight, to some degree, the suffering of the families that lost loved ones in Kilkenny.

Over the next three weeks, I will list those who died during the War of Independence, the Truce and the previously undocumented Civil War in Kilkenny or those with Kilkenny connections killed outside the county (including a brief synopsis of the circumstances of each incident).

At all times I have endeavoured to be as objective and as unbiased as possible, without favouritism as to which side (or none) a person was on.

What came as the biggest surprise was that more people died as a result of the 11month Civil War than during the two-and-half year War of Independence.

This week I will begin with the fatalities in the Kilkenny Brigade Area during the Irish War of Independence and Truce periods. This includes the deaths in the parish of Mullinahone, Co Tipperary, which was part of the very active 7th Kilkenny Irish Volunteer/IRA Battalion.

All available evidence suggests that 22 people were killed in the Kilkenny Brigade area as a direct result of War of Independence activities (it includes those who received their fatal wounds in Kilkenny but died elsewhere).

The fatalities include seven Irish Volunteer/IRA combatants, three RIC, two Black and Tans, one Auxiliary, one British military, four informers and four civilians.

It places Kilkenny in joint-20th position in the gloomy ranking of War of Independence deaths in Irelands 32 counties. All but two of the 22 deaths occurred in the violent final eight-month period of the War of Independence between December 1920 and July 1921.

Contradicting the national trend, the number of Irish Volunteer/IRA fatalities in Kilkenny was equal to the number of Crown Forces fatalities in the county (nationally, Crown Force fatalities were higher than IRA fatalities).

The average age at death, encompassing all 22 fatalities in Kilkenny, was 30.6 years. Also included are the two fatalities during the Truce period in Co Kilkenny (July 1921-June 1922).

Note: those Kilkenny natives who were killed outside the county are not included in this particular listing (as it only deals with those within).

Thus, Peter Freyne from Thomastown, who was killed by Crown Forces in Dublin in April 1921 is not included, neither is RIC Constable James Phelan, a native of Lisdowney, who was killed in an IRA ambush in Co Kerry. Similarly, three British military personnel - Frank Lord, George Frederick Heppenstall and Andrew Walsh - who were killed in an accidental explosion in Castlecomer colliery in August 1919 are not included.

Kilkenny, In Times of Revolution, 1900-1923 is published by Merrion Press on 13 August 2018. It includes more detailed accounts on all persons who died.

Fatalities within the Kilkenny Brigade area as a result of the War of Independence

Thomas Ryan (RIC) - died 09 Mar 1920 at Hugginstown following wounds sustained in an attack on Hugginstown RIC Barracks by IRA.



William Kenny (Graignamanagh) - died August 30, 1920, Ex-British soldier, he was executed by drowning by the 5th Battalion IRA for accompanying the military and helping guide them during raids in the local district.



Sgt. Thomas Walsh (RIC, from Ballyragget) - died 20 December, 1920 - Accidently shot dead by a soldier(s) from the Devonshire Regiment during a search of an area south of Callan following an IRA ambush at Ninemilehouse earlier in the day.



Margaret Ryan (Callan) - died December 23, 1920 - Died from abdominal bullet wounds suffered two days previously in Callan, following firing from a lorry of Auxiliaries as the funeral cortege of RIC Sergeant Thomas Walsh passed through the town. She was pregnant at the time of her death.



Michael Cassidy (Castlecomer) - died January 5, 1921 - Shot in his place of work by an outside IRA unit as he was found guilty of aiding Crown Forces in the area.



Thomas Hennessy (1st Batt IRA, Threecastles) - died February 21, 1921 - Shot dead by the military while attempting to disarm a soldier in Friary Street in Kilkenny City. The ambush was planned by Hennessys brother Tim.



Thomas Dollard (Kilkenny City) died February 21, 1921 - Shot by Crown Forces during the Friary Street ambush as they believed he was one of the ambushers as he ran from the scene of the fighting.



Michael Dermody (1st Batt IRA, Threecastles) died March 4, 1921 Shot by the military while attempting to disarm a soldier during the Friary Street Ambush. He remained unconscious after the incident, passing away two weeks later.



Ernest Riley (Black and Tan) - died March 12, 1921 Shot by the IRA at Garryricken House, west Kilkenny, during an escape by the 7th Battalion ASU who had been surrounded by Crown Forces in the place they were resting.



William Campbell (RIC, Leitrim) died 20 March, 1921 - Received fatal wounds in Mullinahone by members of the 7th Battalion ASU.



He was not the intended target but accidentally stumbled across the men at the rear of his house. Instead, another officer known as the Foxy Officer, was the assassination target.



Jackie Brett (IRA 7th Batt, Mullinahone) - died April 6, 1921 - Shot accidently by a teenager in whose house he was billeting in Castlejohn, near Windgap.

James Hoban (Mullinavat) died April 19, 1921 Shot by a Crown Force solider on Main Street, Mullinavat, dying later that evening in the Waterford City infirmary.



Thomas Phelan (Ballyragget) - died April 21, 1921 Shot dead by British soldiers near his home in Oldtown, Ballyragget, when he failed to halt.



Sean Quinn (IRA (7th Batt) & Flying Column Mullinahone) died May 13, 1921 Mortally wounded in Knocknagress, near Tullaroan, having been shot by Crown force soldiers while trying to escape from a military cordon.

Died in Kilkenny Military Barracks later that day.



Martin Dermody (Tullaroan) and Michael OKeeffe (Carrick on Suir) died May 16, 1921. Two ex-British soldiers, who had served during the Boer and First World War, were executed by the 7th Battalion Flying Column for informing the Crown Forces on the location of the IRA, leading to the deaths of Patrick Walsh and Sean Quinn.



Patrick Walsh IRA (8th Batt & Flying Column) - died May 18, 1921 - Mortally wounded in Knocknagress, near Tullaroan, on 13 May 1921 while trying to escape from the military.

He died in the military hospital in Fermoy, County Cork, during an operation to amputate his leg.



Leonard James French (Auxiliaries) died June 10, 1921 - Fatally shot while trying to avoid being captured by the 5th Battalion IRA when dressed in civilian clothes on a reconnaissance mission at The Rower.



Nicholas Mullins (IRA 5th Battalion, Flying Column, Thomastown) died June 18, 1921 Mortally wounded by a Black-and-Tan while trying to retreat from the failed ambush at Coolbawn, near Castlecomer.



Sean Hartley (IRA (1st Batt) & Flying Col. Glenmore) died June 18, 1921 Shot dead during an attempted ambush at Coolbawn, near Castlecomer, by the initial burst of machine gun fire by Crown Forces.



Albert Bradford (Black and Tan) died June 18, 1921 Shot by members of the 9th Battalion IRA during an ambush of a Black-and-Tan cycle patrol at Sinnotts Cross, Tubrid, Mooncoin.

Sgt. John William Reynolds (First Lincolnshire) died July 11, 1921.

Received bullet and bomb injuries while on patrol in the village of Mullinahone, Co Tipperary, on the evening of 10 July 1921 by members of the Mullinahone Company of the 7th Kilkenny Battalion.

Fatalities during the Truce

Major Cyrus Hunter Regnart (Auxiliaries) died July 20, 1921. Committed suicide by shooting himself at Woodstock House, Inistioge. He had only joined the Auxiliaries six weeks earlier having been demobilised from the British Army. His remains were returned to England.



Michael Byrne (IRA 5th Batt. The Rower) died December 10, 1921. Byrne was demonstrating how to use bombs at his home in Kiltown, The Rower, when one unexpectedly exploded. He died the following day in New Ross as a result of burns and a fractured thigh.A new well is to be drilled on the Bennettsbridge Water Supply Scheme to help provide a long-term benefit for areas supplied by the scheme.

Restrictions remain in place  between 10pm and 6am daily  on the scheme, which supplies Bennettsbridge, Kells, Dunnamaggin, Stoneyford, Knocktopher and Ballyhale.

The scheme has reduced daily consumption due to the repair of leaks and the conservation of water by consumers, senior council engineer Seamus Kavanagh told the Kilkenny People.

A new well is to be drilled starting Wednesday, which will have a long term benefit for the scheme. The drilling should be complete by Friday.

Yield analysis and testing of the water will then commence before the supply can be supplemented.

Irish Water and Kilkenny County Council have warned that despite small amounts of rainfall in Kilkenny in recent days, it has offered no improvement to water levels, which remain extremely low.

The other areas in Kilkenny that are now most at risk from the present drought conditions are Kilkenny City, Clogh-Castlecomer, and Inistioge.

We are closely monitoring the schemes and the weather forecast and will continue to do so, said Mr Kavanagh.

As well as monitoring outputs and water levels, we are concentrating on high demand areas to identify leaks and repair same.

A number of crews are working daily on leak repairs and water conservation.

Last week, Kilkenny County Council said that people in Kilkenny did appear to be heeding advice to conserve water. However, officials expressed concerns over the situation going forward, as water tables are traditionally at their lowest in late August/September.

READ MORE HERE: CITY AND 'COMER SCHEMES NOW FACE WATER RISK

There are currently 24,000 people on 22 water supply schemes across the country which are experiencing a restricted or intermittent water supply. This includes schemes in Clare, Cork, Donegal, Galway, Kerry, Kilkenny, Limerick and Offaly.

Several areas in Kilkenny are still in danger of water supply disruption despite weekend rain. https://t.co/6ytH2TO7hc  Kilkenny People (@KKPeopleNews) July 24, 2018

This number of people affected has doubled since restrictions were first introduced in a bid to protect the supply of water to these communities in the longer term. The schemes are reviewed on a daily basis and restrictions are only put on if necessary.

There are 20 schemes across the country, including in Kilkenny, currently having water tankered to reservoirs or water sources to minimise restrictions or potential restrictions, and protect the supply. Irish Water says over 90,000 people are benefiting from this measure.The success of Kilkenny County Council in promoting social integration in local communities brought the Immigration Council of Ireland to the council chamber today (Thursday) to launch it's new national report 'Keeping it Local.'

Minister of State John Paul Phelan, who has responsibility for Local Government and Electoral Reform, was in his home county to officially launch the report - and he called on members of migrant communities to register to vote and to consider standing as a candidate in next year's local elections.

He also said Ireland will have to do more to welcome people moving from their home countries, whether for political or economic reasons.

The event was attended by members of Kilkenny's migrant communities, including Syed Mustafizur Rahman of the Bengali Festival of Kilkenny and Imam Ibrahim Ndure from the Kilkenny Islamic Centre.

Minister Phelan said that while civil servants can only do so much ultimately it is the local communities who are the people with the potential for promoting better integration of cultural groups.

In the almost 20 years since he was first elected, to the County Council, the Minister said there have always been representatives of diverse local communities at events like the St Patrick's Day Parade, and this should be encouraged in the future.

This sentiment was echoed by members of the Immigrant Council of Ireland who said the key to integration is the simple and practical things - meeting and spending time with people from other communities.

Brian Killoran, CEO of the Immigration Council of Ireland, explained this report is based on their research with local authorities across Ireland to find out what has worked best in their integration strategies and what didn't work, and combined with this is research of best practice and the experience of the ICI.

He paid tribute to Kilkenny County Council whose strategy, he said, had stood out as stronger than many other local authorities.

Joe O'Brien, Integration Research Officer with the ICI, said this report aims to be useful to local authorities in its recommendations. He said he hopes this report will be a discussion document for future plans. "I hope this report will give food for thought, food for conversation but also food for action.

Small measures, like introducing an intercultural small grants scheme and facilitating community inclusion open days would go a long way towards embedding an intercultural identity within communities, celebrating diversity. Uniting communities in a common purpose and with a shared vision regarding diversity has the double positive of protecting against segregation and diminishing the risk of racial tensions, while also building a thriving, diverse society, Mr O'Brien said.

The Immigrant Council of Ireland is an independent organisation and leading voice in securing improved rights and protections which benefit Irish citizens, migrants and their families.

The ICI has called on local authorities to update their integration strategies after their work revealed only three counties have in-date local integration strategy - Carlow, Kildare and Dublin City.

Read more on the report in the Kilkenny People next week.2018 Israel archaeological excavation at biblical Gath (home of Goliath)

by John Stringer, Tell es-Safi, west of Jerusalem.

Area D2 is complete and has been cleaned and photographed as a whole. Here is a final image. Dr Jeff Chadwick the site supervisor is pictured and you can clearly see the northern side E structure that forms part of the Philistine reinforced Nixon Water Gate (more understood after excavation on 4 July) that they built over Canaanite earl structures. And below that, some extrapolation.

Shifting to Area M

As my colleagues and I in 82C-D finished ahead of schedule, I moved to another site, Area M, which was newly opened elsewhere on the Tell in 2018. This site was chosen as we detected anomalies using remote sensing in late 2017 and hoped to find evidence of oil press or brick kilning production. (Gath means il press so we thought perhaps it was a major activity of the city). The squares were laid out and first sods turned. Almost immediately we hit pay dirt fallen vessels laying only 5cm under the surface and where they had laid since 830BC. This was obviously the Hazael of Aram-Damascus destruction layer when he laid siege to Gath and completely destroyed it. I joined my colleague Olga Primakova from Russia who lives in Israel and is completing her PhD on a private collection of ancient artefacts otherwise unknown or published.

After only a few minutes in the square with Olga, I strike this, which at first I thought was a skull. Right size, right texture and fragility. Human remains are actually a pain, as they slow up an entire excavation in a square. But what a find if so!

But then this delicate bottom edging appears, and it is obviously a vessel of some description. Here is a series of pics as this pot emerges from the ground and Olga and I lower the floor of square M to uncover this beautiful vase.

Prof. Aren with the same pot (top left directly beneath the black bucket) and some others emerging around it. My speculation is that this is probably a storage room full of pots on shelves, as Area Y across the way has almost no pots, but unusual features that may be evidence of chalk working/plaster making and perhaps brick making. When the city was attacked, this room was set on fire and the shelves burned. The smallest pots would have been up high, and have fallen in onto of much larger vessels which I expect we will find below as we probe deeper. We might also find weaponry and perhaps Philistine victims of Hazael. We have excavated perhaps 1/2 metre already.

Below: The skull pot top right. Now note the longer elongated pot in foreground and its spot decoration. This is a type of Philistine pot we know from elsewhere (see below from a museum). Unfortunately the earlier examples were all cleaned, but this time speculating it may be something to do with making cheese we whisked this away to the lab for organic analysis. Perhaps well find remains of cheese or some other substance inside the holes. Susan in archaeo-biology maybe able to tell us what it was used for to make. It could be a smoker, or some sort of container to boil something in, that is dipped into a wider vessel of hot oil or water.

A general view of our Area M square.

Other archaeologists join us as Area D comes to a close, and now intact vessels are emerging from the ground.

Eitan joins us, and late in the dig finds this remarkable sculpted lizard crawling across the lid of a jar. I mentioned earlier that the Philistines were quirky when it came to art and liked animal and floral motifs. This is a really good example. On the last day of the dig this intact pot emerges. Aren Maeir reportsAs in the books, regarding Murphys Law in archaeology, today, as we finished final photographs and were about to cover over the areas, an intact jar was found in Area M. Due to the fact that it stuck out quite clearly from the balk, we had to quickly excavate it and remove it  along with a large amount of broken pottery from other vessels from its vicinity. 

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Stuff reports:

The Chief Ombudsman has found Auckland Councils delay in releasing a requested report was partly unlawful, and unreasonable. In a 22-page finding released on Wednesday, Peter Boshier asked the council to apologise for its handling over five months of a request by RNZ for a report looking at the future of the imported vehicle trade in the citys port.

So who was responsible for this flouting of the law?

The findings include that while the Mayor Phil Goff was not involved, his Principal Advisor took part in discussion over the reports release.

And I am sure he never ever talks to his Principal Advisor.

Boshier said the deficiencies found during the investigation were worrying, given it was now 30 years since the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act, governing local bodies handling of information requests, came into force. Auckland Council is the largest council in the country. It should set the standard for the other 77 local authorities in New Zealand.

It should.

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Several by-elections in Australia this weekend, and the major topic seems to be Labor MP Emma Husar.

Former staff (she went through 20 in two years) have alleged:

bullying

harrassment

verbal abuse including calling them f***wits and c**ts

having to walk her dog and pick up its poos

having to babysit her kids

one staffer lives with her and does household and nanny chores

she used government funded cars to meet with her divorce lawyer

spent parliamentary funds on toilet paper for her home

The defence of her by Bill Shorten has been terrible  basically that she is a solo mum so you need to be sympathetic.

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Dogs take refuge on a rooftop above flood waters from a dam failure in the Attapeu district of southeastern Laos, Tuesday, July 24, 2018. AP-Yonhap



By Oh Young-jin



Laotian Ambassador to Korea Khamsouay Keodalavo says the deadly dam accident in his country should be seen as a natural disaster and not one caused by human error.



"Earth on the dam had been washed away as the result of two months of intense rain," the ambassador told The Korea Times, Wednesday. "So collapse is not the right word for it."



He meant to stress that it was not a result of human incompetency.



"We don't want to punish SK or any of four members of the consortium (that were responsible for the dam's construction)," he said.



He said his opinion was the same as that of his prime minister, who said in a news conference that it was the worst disaster in Laotian history. He thanked the international community, including South Korea, for offering assistance.





Laotian Ambassador to Korea Khamsouay KeodalavoAnkara is unwilling to break up its strategic relationship with Tehran, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

"Severing ties with our strategic global partners, who are just like the US to us, goes against our understanding of sovereignty. Iran is both our neighbor and our strategic partner. There are so many developments based on mutual benefit," Yeni Safak cited Erdogan as saying.

The statement came a day after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu stressed that Ankara will not join the possible new US sanctions against Iran.

"We had a US delegation here and we [] explained to them that we believe that [such moves] are a mistake. We do not have to adhere to the sanctions imposed on a country by another country," Cavusoglu stressed.

In late June, he announced that Turkey does not have to act in compliance with "unilateral" US decisions on Iran, in a sign that Ankara would not halt trade with its immediate neighbor and major oil supplier.Georgias armed forces boast the first unit trained within their "most ambitious program, as officials and military commanders celebrated the graduation of the first battalion of the Georgia Defence Readiness Program.

Service members of the IV Mechanised Brigade, 43rd Battalion had the honour to lead the roster of units to undergo preparation of the joint Georgian-US program launched in May and projected to run through 2021.

Assessed by staff of the Georgia-based Combat Training Centre and around 30 observers from the United States armed forces, the battalions troops were subjected to a 13-week "intensive training in various aspects of command and combat elements.

A major part of their training was held on the grounds of the CTC at Vaziani Training Area on the outskirts of Tbilisi and involved drills in maneuvering, fire and reconnaissance elements, force protection, command and control as well as containment operations. To deal with objectives of the preparation the battalion was also equipped with "individual and collective armament of NATO standards.

Personnel of the unit was awarded at yesterdays graduation ceremony, where they were addressed by the Georgian Minister of Defence Levan Izoria, Agenda.ge reported.

The GDRP is a joint project of the Ministry of Defence of Georgia and the US Department of Defence and aims to improve combat readiness of Georgian service members for territorial defence of the country. Nine battalions are projected to undergo the program which includes manning, training and equipping the units over the next three years.A group of Azerbaijani military personnel, sent to Afghanistan in accordance with the plan and rotation for serving within NATO-led 'Resolute Support' mission in Afghanistan, returned to Baku, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said.

The peacekeeping contingent of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces has been serving in Afghanistan since Nov.20, 2002.Johannesburg, Jul 27 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi today held bilateral meetings with presidents of Argentina and Angola on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit and discussed ways to boost ties, including in areas of energy and agriculture.

Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted a photograph of Prime Minister Modi and Angolan President Joao Lourenco together at the start of the talks.

"Bilateral meetings continue for PM @narendramodi in Johannesburg! With the President of Angola Joao Lourenco. Discussed intensifying relations in trade and investment, agriculture & food processing, pharma, oil and natural gas. #IndiaatBRICS," Kumar said in the tweet.

India and Angola have traditionally enjoyed friendly ties. India supported the Angolan freedom struggle against the Portuguese colonial rule till it attained independence in 1975.

India has become the third-largest trading partner of Angola, sharing about 15 per cent of that country's external trade. Angola remained the second-largest source of crude oil for India, after Nigeria, in the Sub-Saharan Africa, according to information available on the MEA website.

There are estimated 4,000 people of Indian-origin in Angola holding passports of different nationalities.

The Prime Minister's Office tweeted that both leaders "discussed ways to enhance cooperation in trade, energy and other sectors."

In another tweet, the PMO said Modi held a separate bilateral meeting with Argentine President Mauricio Macri.

"Accelerating ties with Argentina. During their meeting, Presdent @mauriciomacri and PM @narendramodi talked about strengthening relations especially in the areas of agriculture, pharmaceuticals and investment (sic)," the PMO tweeted.

As president of the G20, Macri was invited to participate in the BRICS Summit.

The two leaders previously met on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Hangzhou, China, in September 2016. That time, Modi had thanked Macri for supporting India's membership bid at the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Modi arrived in Johannesburg on Wednesday to attend the two-day BRICS Summit. The theme of the summit this year is 'BRICS in Africa'.

BRICS is a grouping of emerging nations formed in 2009 and comprises five countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Representing over 4o per cent of the world's population, the block's growth rates surpass those of the developed countries of the G7.

(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, July 26: Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe is expected to visit India by the end of this year. Fenghe has accepted Indias invitation. Speaking at a monthly news briefing, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang hinted about Fenghes India visit. He said both countries were currently in communication about the defence ministers visit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping twice this year after the Doklam stand-off.

PM Modi also met Jinping during the ongoing 10th edition of BRICS summit in South Africa. In 2017, hundreds of troops from both sides were deployed in Doklam plateau. India came in support of its ally Bhutan and objected to Chinese construction in the region. Gaining control of the Doklam Plateau would have given China an undue advantage over India during a military conflict. The main aim of China was to keep a watch on Indias Chickens-Neck, the narrow strip connecting northeastern states to the rest of the country.

Meanwhile, The United States has claimed that China has resumed its activities in Doklam, while India is doing nothing in this regard. Alice G Wells, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia said,  I would assess that India is vigorously defending its northern borders and this is a subject of concern to India." Despite several rounds of engagement between China and Bhutan, the dispute between the two over Doklam has not been resolved.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 26, 2018 10:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).Jammu, July 26: Marking the 19th anniversary of Kargil war on Thursday, the nation remembered its brave heroes on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas. The Central Command of the Indian Army celebrated the Kargil Vijay Diwas through a series of functions. In his address at the Dras War Memorial in Jammu and Kashmir, Ranbir Singh, GOC, Northern Command said the India Army is fully prepared to take on any challenge along the actual line of Control and the Line of Control.

"On a number of occasions there have been reports that People's Liberation Army of China carried out transgressions in various areas along Actual Line of Control but such transgressions took place in areas where we've different perception of Actual Line of Control", Singh said.

#WATCH Live from J&K: 19th Kargil Vijay Diwas celebrations at Dras War Memorial https://t.co/DxDk2WZijK  ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2018

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the sacrifices of the Bravehearts, saying that the nation will never forget the fearlessness with which the soldiers gave a befitting and unforgettable reply to the intruders. On Kargil Vijay Diwas, I bow to every valiant soldier who fought for India till the very last breath. Their heroic sacrifices inspire us. India will never forget the fearlessness with which our courageous soldiers gave a befitting and unforgettable reply to the intruders, he tweeted.

Kargil Vijay Diwas is observed on July 26 every year to mark the successful conclusion of the war with Pakistan in the Kargil-Drass sector of Jammu and Kashmir in 1999. To recall, India emerged victorious in the Kargil conflict with Pakistan this day. The battle took place between India and Pakistan during May-July, 1999 and the conflict was triggered after Pakistani soldiers managed to occupy key positions on the Indian side of the Line of Control in Kargil sector. It had officially come to an end on July 26, 1999.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 26, 2018 12:15 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).Islamabad, July 26: Imran Khan, the chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party, is set to become the next Prime Minister of Pakistan. In his first address to the media as Pakistan's Prime Minister- Elect, Imran Khan spoke at length about Pakistan's foreign policy and its relations with the neigbouring countries. Notably, India was the last country that Imran spoke about. He started with China, Afghanistan, America and spoke about Pakistan's relations with Iran and Middle East, calling them "very important." Finally, while talking about India, Imran laid special emphasis on Kashmir and said that the Kashmir issue cannot be solved through the army.

Imran also said that trade relations between India and Pakistan must improve for better relations between India and Pakistan. The PTI leader said that initiative has to be taken by India as well for improving relations and called for peace between India and Pakistan for the betterment of the sub-continent.

Calling Mohammad Ali Jinnah as his leader, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) chief and Prime Ministerial hopeful Imran Khan, while addressing media, has said that his 22 years of political struggle has been successful and has thanked the people of Balochistan for their support.

Imran Khan, on his idea of Pakistan said that we are responsible for the entire society of Pakistan. Catch the entire speech of Imran Khan below:

Imran, thanking God, said that all the policies we frame, will be made with a focus on the weaker section of the society which includes labour and farmers. Imran claimed that 45 per cent of Pakistani children have stunted growth. He also spoke on the non-availability of dirty water in Pakistan and said that his party would work on improving the human development index factors in Pakistan.

Imran Khan pledged to reduce the taxes so that the people of Pakistan have more money with them. He also said that the Prime Minister's house is too big and it will be seen if it can be be turned into an educational institution. Imran praised China.

Imran emphasized on fiscal factor and wealth generation saying that, we have to provide and increase employment for the people of Pakistan. He pledged to strengthen the institutions of Pakistan, and small industries.

Talking on foreign policy of Pakistan, he said that "Our relations with our neighbours must improve. Our first neighbour is China, and it has uplifted 70 crore people from poverty. I will learn from them how to reduce poverty in China. China has also showed the way how to deal with China. The second country is Afghanistan. If there is peace in Afghanistan, there will be peace in Pakistan."

Talking on America, Imran said that there should be a balanced relation with America. He also mentioned Iran and Saudi Arabia, and said that the tensions in middle east have to be reduced. Talking on India, Imran said that "I have been disappointed because the Indian media potrayed me as a Bollywood villian." Imran said that the more trade between India and Pakistan, the better the relations between both the countries. Talking on Kashmir, Imran said that if "Indian government is ready to improve relations, we will co-operate. If India walks one steps, Pakistan will take two." Pakistan's PM-Elect Imran Khan added that the relations between India and Pakistan is important to maintain stability in the sub-continent. He ended his speech by thanking the people of Pakistan and promised to work for the masses of Pakistan.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 26, 2018 05:45 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).Kampala, July 25: Stating that India has deepened its partnership and engagement across the vast expanse of Africa, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday charted out 10 principles of his country's engagement with African nations.

"India is proud to be Africa's partner," Modi said while addressing the Ugandan Parliament, the first ever by an Indian Prime Minister. "And, Uganda is central to our commitment to the continent," he said.

He assured India's continued support to Uganda in the fields of agriculture and healthcare, education and training, infrastructure and energy, capacity building in government and training in defence.

"As with Uganda, we have deepened our partnership and engagement across the vast expanse of Africa," Modi stated. "In the past four years, our President, Vice President and I have collectively visited no less than 25 countries in Africa. Our Ministers have covered virtually all African nations."

The Prime Minister also said that as many as 32 heads of state or government from African countries visited India in the last four years. "India's engagement with Africa will continue to be guided by 10 principles," Modi stated in the presence of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in the House.

"One, Africa will be at the top of our priorities," he said. "We will continue to intensify and deepen our engagement with Africa. As we have shown, it will be sustained and regular."

Secondly, Modi said, India's development partnership will be guided by Africa's priorities and by relying on African talent and skills. "Three, we will keep our markets open and make it easier and more attractive to trade with India," he said.

"We will support our industry to invest in Africa." The fourth principle, the Prime Minister said will be to harness India's experience with the digital revolution to support Africa's development; improve delivery of public services; extend education and health; spread digital literacy; expand financial inclusion; and mainstream the marginalised.

"Five, Africa has 60 per cent of the world's arable land, but produces just 10 per cent of the global output," he said. "We will work with you to improve Africa's agriculture."

The sixth principle, Modi said, is the India-Africa partnership addressing the challenges of climate change. "We will work with Africa to ensure a just international climate order; to preserve our biodiversity; and, adopt clean and efficient energy sources," he said.

Seventh, he said, both sides will strengthen cooperation and mutual capabilities in combating terrorism and extremism; keeping cyberspace safe and secure; and, support the UN in advancing and keeping the peace.

"Eight, we will work with African nations to keep the oceans open and free for the benefit of all nations," Modi stated. "The world needs cooperation and not competition in the eastern shores of Africa and the eastern Indian Ocean," he said reflecting India's vision of a free and inclusive Indo Ocean region.

As the ninth principle, the Prime Minister called for both sides to work together "to ensure that Africa does not once again turn into a theatre of rival ambitions, but becomes a nursery for the aspirations of Africa's youth".

"Ten, just as India and Africa fought colonial rule together, we will work together for a just, representative and democratic global order that has a voice and a role for one-third of humanity that lives in Africa and India," he stated.

Modi also highlighted India's development partnership with Africa which currently includes implementation of 180 lines of credit worth about $11 billion in over 40 African countries.

"At the last India Africa Forum Summit, we had committed a concessional line of credit of $10 billion and $600 million in grant assistance," he said. He also mentioned the India-Africa trade figure which is now over $62 billion, 21 per cent more than the previous year.

Addressing the gathering ahead of Modi's speech, President Yoseveni said that with economic integration, Africa will become an economic powerhouse in the world.

He also described India as among the reliable partners of Africa. Earlier in the day, Modi participated in the India-Uganda Business Forum during which he said that India is willing to address the current trade imbalance with Uganda.

Modi arrived here on Tuesday from Rwanda on the second leg of his five-day, three-nation tour of Africa that will also take him to South Africa. This is the first Prime Ministerial visit from India to Uganda in over 20 years. For Modi, this is his second visit to this East African nation after his visit in 2007 as Gujarat Chief Minister.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 25, 2018 04:40 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has dismissed Irans central bank governor Valiollah Seif.

Valiollah Seif was replaced with Abdolnaser Hemmati, who headed the state insurance company, is a prelude to a broader reshuffle of the governments economic team.

Seif was criticised for poor management of the crisis. In recent months, the central bank has sold 60 tonnes of gold coins in local markets to stem the rise in the price of the precious metal, but the contentious decision has had little impact, the FT reported.Is China using the South China Sea Strategy in the areas of Doklam Plateau and the Batang-la tri-junction? (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

China has quietly resumed its activities in the Doklam area and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade it, a top U.S. official has said while comparing Beijing's actions in the Himalayan region with its manoeuvres in the disputed South China Sea.

"I would assess that India is vigorously defending its northern borders and this is a subject of concern to India," Alice G Wells, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing while responding to a question on China's increased road building activities along the Indian border.

"As (India) ahead to its own strategic stability, it certainly helps drive and is a factor in driving closer partnership that we enjoy with India," Wells said in response to a question from Congresswoman Ann Wagner.

India and China have clashed repeatedly over territories in the Himalayas. Most recently Chinese and Indian troops faced off on the disputed Doklam plateau between Bhutan and China after the Chinese People's Liberation Army began building roads through the area, Wagner said.

"Although both countries backed down, China has quietly resumed its activities in Doklam and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade itHow should our failure to respond to the militarisation of the South China Sea inform the international response to these Himalayan border disputes?" Wagner asked.

As the U.S. looks to the Indo-Pacific strategy put forward by the Trump administration, Wells said it has been taken in light of the 'South China Sea's Strategy', "How do we maintain the region to be open, to have maritime security, to not have militarisation that would imperil the 70 per cent of global trade?" she asked.

"We need to do that by giving authority to sovereign nations to have choices in how they develop, to have choices in their partnerships," Wells said.

Congressman Ted Yoho, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee on Asia and the Pacific, raised the issue of China's aggressive posture in South Asia. "What are your thoughts on what is the best way to counter China in that region?" Yoho asked.

U.S. should not be seeking to compete with China dollar for dollar, Wells responded, adding that instead of a state lending on terms that may not be to the benefit of countries or their citizens, the U.S. and its companies are providing USD 850 billion in foreign direct investment in the region, which is far more than what has been injected by China.

"We're trying to gather likeminded countries who can bring resources to the table, who can coordinate assistance and an effort so as to provide countries with meaningful alternatives," Wells said.

Meanwhile despite the Indian governments assurance, those keeping track of Chinas activities have repeatedly warned that China is still carrying out construction activity on Doklam. Brahma Chellaney recently tweeted, Chinas stealth war in the Himalayas: Isnt it extraordinary that China  having quietly gained control of much of the Doklam Plateau, which tiny Bhutan regards as its integral part  sends its vice foreign minister to Bhutan to exert pressure to let it open its embassy there? in reference to Vice Foreign Minister of Chinas visit to Bhutan earlier this month.

China's stealth wars in the Himalayas: Isn't it extraordinary that China  having quietly gained control of much of the Doklam Plateau, which tiny Bhutan regards as its integral part  sends its vice foreign minister to Bhutan to exert pressure to let it open its embassy there?  Brahma Chellaney (@Chellaney) July 24, 2018

Doklam, or Donglang in Chinese, is an area spread over less than a 100 sq km comprising a plateau and a valley at the trijunction between India, Bhutan and China. It is surrounded by the Chumbi Valley of Tibet, Bhutans Ha Valley and Sikkim.

Despite several rounds of engagement between China and Bhutan, the dispute between the two over Doklam has not been resolved. It flared up in 2017 when the Chinese were trying to construct a road in the area, and Indian troops, in aid of their Bhutanese counterparts, objected to it, resulting in the stand-off. Doklam is strategically located close to the Siliguri Corridor, which connects mainland India with its north-eastern region. The corridor, also called Chickens Neck, is a vulnerable point for India. (With Agency inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 26, 2018 04:36 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia's state oil company announced that it would suspend all shipments through the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb in the Red Sea after its tankers were attacked off the coast of Yemen. The halt will affect the flow of crude from the world's top oil exporter to markets in Europe and the United States.

"In the interest of the safety of ships and their crews and to avoid the risk of oil spill, Saudi Aramco has temporarily halted all oil shipments through Bab El-Mandeb with immediate effect. The company is carefully assessing the situation and will take further action as prudence demands," Aramco said in a statement.

Saudi Arabia's oil minister, Khalid Al-Falih, confirmed that two VLCCs operated by state-owned shipping company Bahri were attacked by Houthi rebels Wednesday morning in the Red Sea. One of the ships sustained minimal damage, according to Saudi Aramco. No injuries or pollution have been reported.

Earlier in the day, Houthi rebels had claimed responsibility for an attack on an unnamed Saudi tanker off the contested port of Hodeidah, Yemen.

Stopping crude shipments through the Bab el-Mandeb straitwhich connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Adenmarks another escalation in the war between an Arab military coalition and Houthi rebels for control of Yemen. Saudi Arabia is attempting to ramp up oil exports amid an effort to keep the world well-supplied with oil as the U.S. squeezes Irans oil exports.

Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been battling the Houthi rebels in a three-year war, lies beside the southern mouth of the Red Sea, one of the most important trade routes in the world for oil tankers. The tankers pass near Yemens shores while heading from the Middle East through the Suez Canal to Europe.

Wednesday's incidents were the latest in a long series of Houthi attacks on merchant and naval vessels off the coast of Yemen. In April, Houthi armed militias conducted a missile attack on the tanker Abqaiq, resulting slight damage to her bow. At the time, Minister al Falih said that the attack would not "affect economic activity or stall oil supplies."

The Houthi rebels are widely believed to be backed by Iran, Saudi Arabia's primary competitor for regional influence. Separately, Iran has also threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz - the strategic chokepoint at the mouth of the Persian Gulf - if the United States should reimpose sanctions on Iranian oil exports after the Trump Administration pulled out of the Iran Nuclear Deal earlier this year.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 26, 2018 04:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).Jul 26, 2018, 4:02am ET

Study says a third of Americans wouldn't buy a Chinese car

28 percent of participants would consider one.

Chinese auto-makers face several hurdles as they set their sights on the American market. They must build cars that comply with our regulations and satisfy our expectations for quality, reliability, and safety. They also need to overcome the "made in China" label's stigma and establish a reputation in our market. A recent survey suggests they still have a long way to go.

Autolist polled 1,565 American motorists to get insight on the perception of Chinese cars in the United States. 35 percent of respondents said they wouldn't consider buying a Chinese car regardless of how much it costs, what it looks like, or what it can do. 38 percent said they weren't sure, and 27 percent replied they'd consider buying one under certain conditions.

34 percent of motorists who currently own a Japanese or a South Korean car are open to the idea of buying a Chinese car. And, unsurprisingly, 42 percent of those who drive an American car were against the idea of buying from China. 37 percent of European car owners said no. The study revealed buyers remain concerned about safety and reliability. 23 percent of the participants who said they wouldn't buy a Chinese car chalked up their decision to perceived reliability issues. 21 percent cited safety concerns, and 15 percent noted the lack of an established, coast-to-coast dealer network.

40 percent of participants told Autolist they'd buy a Chinese car if it's priced right, meaning cheaper than a comparable model from a Japanese, American, or German brand. And, finally, 77 percent said they had never heard of major Chinese auto-makers like GAC, Geely, BYD, Chery, and SAIC. This suggests most motorists wouldn't know a Chinese car if they saw one.

There are already a handful of Chinese-made cars sold in the United States. Buick makes the Envision in China, Cadillac sources the plug-in hybrid variant of the CT6 from the Shanghai area, and Volvo's S90 comes from across the Pacific. The XC60 did, too, until Volvo began sourcing America-bound models from Sweden in response to tariffs imposed by the United States government.Jul 26, 2018, 8:29am ET

"Motor shows are dead," says Volkswagen boss

\"They are a product of the 1960s.\"

Volkswagen Group chairman Herbert Diess predicts a grim future for the auto show as we know it.

"Motor shows are dead. They are a product of the 1960s and they are not as relevant anymore. They're not delivering what we want and they're not delivering what car buyers want," Diess told Australian website Motoring.

Diess added the traditional auto show model -- where a car is unveiled for the media and displayed under spotlights for the duration of the event -- isn't appealing to attendees anymore. "People need to see more interaction with the product. They expect it. Those days of relying on tradition are gone. It's events like the Goodwood Festival of Speed that are showing us modern ways to show cars to people," he explained.

The entire Volkswagen Group recently confirmed plans to skip the biennial Paris auto show that will open its doors later this year. Jean-Claude Girot, the head of the company that organizes the event, told Reuters Volkswagen will return to the show in 2020. The brand hasn't confirmed its participation yet.

Other companies have come to the same conclusion. In May, Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) announced its Fiat, Jeep, and Alfa Romeo brands will skip the Paris show. Maserati will attend, surprisingly. Ford, Opel, Mazda, and Volvo will also sit out the event.

Note: Volkswagen Atlas Tanoak concept pictured. Photo by Ronan Glon.A woman was shot about 10:30 a.m. Thursday in the 1900 block of 17th Street SW in Allentown, city police confirmed at the scene.

She was rushed to an area hospital.

Officers had guns aimed at a house on the block near Catalina Avenue and the Emergency Response Team was arriving about 11:20 a.m., making it clear police were interested in someone inside.

ERT officers appeared to go into the home just after noon.

They came out about 35 minutes later and police Capt. Glenn Granitz said no one was in custody and the home and the nearby area was secure. No additional victims were found and there weren't any suspects on the scene, he said. He wouldn't say if anyone was found in the home.

Many of the police packed up and left after that, leaving an investigative team.

Streets were expected to open soon. More information could be provided later, he said.

The Lehigh County Coroner's Office was called to Lehigh Valley Hospital in Salisbury Township, but was not called to the home, a supervisor said. It wasn't immediately clear if the coroner's office was at the hospital on this case.

Mike Nester provided reporting from the scene.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.A 26-year-old Schuylkill County man who allegedly threatened President Donald Trump and Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli is believed to have stolen three guns on Wednesday from a home in Luzerne County, the FBI reports.

"The FBI and our law enforcement partners are asking residents of northeastern Pennsylvania to remain vigilant and report any sightings of Shawn Christy, who is still at large and considered armed and dangerous," according to a news release emailed Thursday morning from the Philadelphia Division.

Christy, of McAdoo, is wanted for failure to appear on aggravated assault charges in Schuylkill County and a probation violation in Northampton County, the Associated Press reported last month. He's accused of threatening the president as well as Morganelli and the police via social media.

"Keep it up Morganelli, I promise I'll put a bullet in your head as soon as I put one in the head of President Donald J. Trump," Christy is alleged to have posted.

He made the threats between June 3 and 12, a wanted poster says. He also promises "lethal force" will be used if any law enforcement tries to detain him on an outstanding warrant.

He was previously charged with making threats in Northampton County.

Christy's expletive-laden threats were caught on the recorded phone call March 13, 2017, from the Berkheimer tax office in Bangor, borough police said. The tax service had contacted him about a 2014 local return, police said.

As the employee spoke to Christy, he began cursing at her, police said. When the operator said she would not keep listening if he kept cursing, Christy allegedly said, "I'll put a bullet through your f-----g head b---h."

When the operator said she was ending the call, Christy reportedly said, "I'll blow your f-----g building up" before hanging up.

Christy, who was out since May 23, 2017, on 10 percent of $5,000 bail, didn't appear Oct. 30 in Northampton County Court to face two counts of terroristic threats and one count of bomb threats, records show.

A bench warrant was issued for his arrest and his bail forfeited, but he pleaded guilty April 20 of this year to one of terroristic threats counts and the other two charges were withdrawn, records show. He was sentenced to 12 months of probation and told to attend a manger management program, court papers say.

Christy is 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighs 165 pounds, has brown hair and green eyes, according to a wanted poster. While photos show him with a beard, he could be clean-shaven, the FBI said.

Anyone with information on Christy's location is asked to call the FBI at 610-433-6488 or 215-418-4000, or the U.S. Marshals Service at 1-877-926-8332.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.A 32-year-old Allentown man is being charged in the killing of a woman on Thursday, city police report.

Matthew Jensen was arrested about 2:30 p.m. at the Pohatcong Township Walmart and was being held at the township police station pending an expected charge of being a fugitive from justice. He will be confined in Warren County jail to await extradition to Lehigh County. He will face a single criminal homicide charge, city police said.

The silver Toyota Celica he was reportedly driving was found outside the Marshalls store at the nearby Pohatcong Plaza. That vehicle was later taken to the township police station. It wasn't immediately clear where and when the car would be searched.

Police labeled the killing domestic-related and said there is no further danger to the public. They did not say if the gun was found.

The name of the victim will be released by the Lehigh County Coroner's Office once her family is notified and proper identification is completed.

She died at 11:25 a.m. at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Salisbury Township after being found mortally wounded just before 10:30 a.m. outside 1905 17th St. SW, where Jensen lived, the coroner's office and police said. The woman died from a gunshot wound to the body, and her death was ruled a homicide, the coroner's office said.

The investigation is continuing.

Several out-of-town police officers were escorted about two hours after the arrest into the Pohatcong police station as they discussed with township police their short-term task ahead involving Jensen.

Township police didn't respond to several requests for information on the arrest.

City police were assisted by the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office, the Lehigh County Homicide Task Force, the coroner's office and Pohatcong police.

Greenwich Township, Phillipsburg, Washington Township (Warren County) and New Jersey State Police assisted at the arrest site.

Anyone with information related to the incident is asked to call city police at 610-437-7721.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.Laois Fianna Fail TD Sean Fleming says Minister Richard Brutons treatment of Carillon and Sammon sub-contractors is 'shameful'.

Deputy Fleming made the comments after receiving a parliamentary question reply from Minister Bruton in which he blamed Carillon and Sammon sub-contractors for their loss of payments. Portlaoise Parish schools were built by Sammon Contracting Ireland Limited.

Minister Bruton has said it is the sub-contractors own fault that they were owed so much money when Carillon and Sammon went bust.

Deputy Fleming said, Carillion and Sammon were involved in the construction of numerous schools throughout the country.

"Work on these schools was halted following the collapse of both Carillion and Sammon and many sub-contractors have not been paid for work they had carried out. These sub-contractors are now struggling for their very survival.

The reply I have received from the Minister is nothing short of shameful. He is now blaming the sub-contractors themselves for not getting the money that they were owed.

This is a disgraceful reply. Minister Bruton is essentially saying sub-contractors should have downed tools and withdrawn from the sites and entered into a dispute resolution process to get their money.

"Everybody knows that these type of legal procedures can go on forever and could jeopardise sub-contractors ever getting future work. This simply isnt how the real world operates.

"Minister Brutons comments are a low-blow and show contempt for the sub-contractors who are fighting for survival. As these were State funded projects, sub-contractors understandably had a high level of trust that they would be paid.

Minister Bruton would do well to remember that these schools would not have even been built to the stage they are currently at if the sub-contractors had walked off the sites at an earlier stage and followed the Ministers advice, concluded Deputy Fleming.

Minister Richard Bruton is a Fine Gael politician who has served as Minister for Education and Skills since May 2016.Irans Quds force chief Qassem Soleimani said that the Red Sea was not secure with the presence of American troops in the area, Irans Arabic-language Al Alam television reported.

"The Red Sea which was secure is no longer secure with the American presence ... (U.S. President Donald) Trump should know that we are nation of martyrdom and that we await him," Haaretz cited Soleimani as saying.

At the same time, Soleimani also warned Trump against war, saying it would "destroy all that you possess," Al Alam reported.

"You know that this war will destroy all that you possess. You will start this war but we will be the ones to impose its end. Therefore you have to be careful about insulting the Iranian people and the president of our Republic," Soleimani added.Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.

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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.Crews from Limerick Fire and Rescue service are attending the scene of a gorse fire which has been blazing for more than 10 hours.

Two units  from Newcastle West and Rathkeale stations  were deployed to after the alarm was raised shortly before midnight on Wednesday.

The gorse fire  the latest to occur in County Limerick  is located at Knockfierna Hill, near Ballingarry.

The crews remain at the scene and a helicopter is on its way to dampen down the area.

Its not known how the fire started and there are no reports of any injuries.

Chairman of the Knockfierna's heritage group - that aims to preserve and enhance the history of the hill and surrounding areas - Pat O'Donovan, complimented the fire service.

"We are disappointed that it has taken place, and it's disappointing for the walkers who use the hill," he said.

"But I must compliment the fire brigades - they kept it within one area and crucially stopped it from spreading too much.

"The Rambling House was in danger there but they kept it away from that and other facilities around. It's still quite smokey," he said.WHEN AINNA Fawcett-Henesy discovered she was considered one of the most influential nurses in the history of the United Kingdom, there was no ornate invitation or a decorated, trumpet fanfare.

Instead, she was in her kitchen on Summerville Avenue with her husband Clive, perusing a PDF document that highlighted 70 top nurses to celebrate the 70th birthday of the National Health Service.

I know her, I dont know her, she said, glancing through a history of faces. And then: Clive! Clive! Is that me?

It had been 20 years since the South Circular Road native had served the NHS, and she was now being recognised for her work as a chief nurse, policy advisor, political influencer, and adept negotiator throughout her many roles, namely the World Health Organisations regional officer for nursing and midwifery.

But her rise to the troposphere would not have happened if she had been offered a job at the Regional Hospital Limerick after finishing secondary school at Scoil Carmel. Truth be told, Ainna didnt quite make the cut when she wanted to be one of 14 trainee nurses in Dooradoyle back in 1965.

My father was disgusted, she says in her pristine kitchen, sitting next to a stack of framed honorary awards from various universities.

Back then, from a parents point of view, enrolling to be a nurse was as coveted as being a nun or a priest. Her father Sean Carey, married to Kathleen, ran a popular store in Ballinacurra.

She described this moment as a mixed blessing, knowing that her strict father would pull a few strings.

You cannot be a prophet in your own land is a biblical phrase that rings true for a lot of Limerick folk, who leave Shannonside to attain success elsewhere.

After all, St Munchin has us cursed, as the old legend says all Limerick natives are born unfortunate while strangers always prosper.

And so Ainnas father went to Coventry to visit uncle Jack, the citys alderman at the time, who linked in with a local matron to secure a springboard for her career.

When I got there, I was scared. I was petrified. It was moving to a totally different culture, where Irish people were not popular people. You had signs on windows: No Irish need apply, she says.

Thankfully there was a whole cohort of Irish nurses in Coventry, and she loved every second of working on the wards.

While she enjoyed her ward rounds, she fell in love with the idea of becoming a public health nurse after spending a day in the community with a nurse.

I was just fascinated how this woman [a public health nurse] could move into complex families and negotiate with them.

After completing her training to become a public health nurse at the Royal College of Nursing in London, Ainna then moved into the complex underbelly of a local community, exposed to a world of drugs, prostitution, child abuse and even murder.

When you stood out the door and you saw a guy, you knew he was a pimp. And when you go into the room, there would be one of our clients, sitting or in the bed, but that was the job. And if you had a special relationship, they didnt care; they just invited you in. Ah, its only Carey, let her in, shes no problem, and thats a trust thing, she recounts.

Child abuse became a phenomenon on the nurses radar in the 1960s. Nurses, she says, were frightened they would miss symptoms of abuse in children, especially in cases where the child was murdered.

I remember going around to one house and there was a little boy. And the mother said: That father beat his little arse black and blue last night, she recalls. When she visited the boy at school, she saw the bruising and the boy was taken away. The next thing I got these poison pen letters from them [parents]: You will die tonight.

She says she had to be subpoenaed a number of times to give evidence in trials where children were murdered by their parents.

That was tough and I found that quite hard. Could I have done anything to stop that child dying? You know you cant because you cant be there 24 hours a day.

These experiences helped to forge Ainnas ability as a skilled negotiator, and in 1980 she was appointed an advisor on primary healthcare at the Royal College of Nursing, where she excelled in working with governments to implement the right policies.

And on her last day in 1988, the Royal College implemented a game-changing policy she had proposedto set up the first ever training programme for nurse practitioners and nurse prescribing.

Ainna then took on the role of chief nurse and director of quality at Ealing Health Authority, serving 250,000 people. It was not long after this she was appointed director nursing and quality in the South-East Thames region, covering a massive population of 3.5 million.

In her role, she put together a talented, multi-racial team. One member of her team, Karlene Davis, would later become the first black director general of the Royal College of Midwives, honoured with an Order of the British Empire, and join Ainna on the top 70 list. And when Ainna messaged Dame Karlene Davis to congratulate her, she replied: But who do I have to thank for it?

In 1995, Ainna became the head of nursing and midwifery at the World Health Organisation, wielding an influence never seen before. During her 10-year tenure, she convened the first ever European ministerial on nursing and developed the first ever European strategy on nursing, to name just a few of her notable achievements.

On a daily basis, though based out of Copenhagen, Ainna was in an airplane to one of 52 countries, working with various ministries. But in 2005, a breast cancer diagnosis forced her into early retirement at age 58.

Both her parents died from cancer in their early 60s, she says.

It was the one thing I never wanted to get. I said, this cant be happening to me. I was so devastated by the cancer diagnosis that I didnt even notice that I had given up my job, a candid Ainna says, adding that her treatment went well and that she was very lucky.

There is a youthful chirp in Ainnas tone. She turned 72 very recently.

I am a young 72, she declares. We have no children, and that does make a difference.

What about pets? Dogs, cats?

No, I have a husband, she quips.

And after completing her Masters in Creative Writing at University of Limerick, under the tutelage of Dr Joseph OConnor, Ainna is now in the final stages of completing an exciting memoir.

Ainna says she was humbled by the accolade of being one of the most influential NHS nurses over its 70-year history. In fact, she is the only woman from the Republic of Ireland on the list of eminent names.

Little ol me from Limerick and I had been gone from there for 20 years, and there I am that I havent been forgotten. It is really humbling that you had that kind of impact.

Proud of her achievements, Ainna smiles: Wait until you read my memoir.THE LIMERICK city centre cafe that was forced to close its doors due to a fire is back in action, its owner has said.

Last Thursday, emergency services were dispatched to the scene at Cafe Rose and Bistro, Roches Street, at 12.25am.

Three units of Limerick Fire Service were at the scene until 1.05am.

According to a post by Limerick Fire Service on Facebook, bins had been set on fire which spread to the cafe.

Overhead apartments were affected by the fire, as positive pressure ventilation had to be applied to clear the smoke.

While there was no smoke or fire damage inside the restaurant, there was significant damage to the front window, shutters and signage. As a result, the restaurant has been forced to shut down until repairs are complete.

Cafe Rose and Bistro owner, Magdalena Dembicka, said she is delighted to be back up and running.

The sign is expected to be replaced soon, she added.TWO young men have received lengthy prison sentences for their role in an attempted robbery at a rural post office in Limerick.

Nigel Coleman, aged 21, who has an address at Vale Drive, Oola and Dean Phillips, aged 22, of Lenihan Avenue, Prospect, previously pleaded guilty to charges relating to the incident which happened in Pallasgreen on May 26, 2016.

Limerick Circuit Court was told a pensioner who was working as a locum was threatened by Coleman who brandished a large knife and demanded that he hand over cash from the till.

Garda Chris Cowan said Dean Phillips and another man waited in a Seat Inca van which was parked in the car park of the nearby Centra store.

Coleman, who was in the post office for less than a minute, left empty handed after the 66-year-old locum told him to go away in strong terms before retreating to a back room and pressing the panic button.

Judge Tom ODonnell was told while the local garda was on duty when the incident happened she was not at the garda station in the village.

Garda Cowan told Lily Buckley BL, instructed by State Solicitor Aidan Judge, the pensioner was in fear for some time afterwards but has made a good recovery since.

The culprits were identified on CCTV and can been seen on the footage scoping the area several times prior to the incident. An off-duty garda had also noted the registration of the Seat van as it had spiked an interest.

Imposing sentence this Wednesday he said the matter was very serious given that a weapon was produced and threats were made.

He said the defendants guilty pleas and cooperation were mitigating factors and he accepted the offences was more opportunistic than premeditated.

The judge also accepted that Coleman and Philips come from difficult backgrounds and have issues relating to drug use.

He sentenced each of them to five and-a-half years imprisonment suspending the final 18 months.

A bench warrant was issued for the arrest of a third man who had also admitted his role in the offence.

While the 27-year-old attended court on Wednesday morning, he was not present when the case was called at lunchtime.THE LUCKY Limerick EuroMillions winner, who recently spent a week in hospital, has said that he hopes to celebrate his 500,000 win with his family within the next week.

Shane Philip Maher was popping the champagne last week when his prize-winning quick pick numbers came up in the EuroMillions Plus draw, worth a whopping half a million.

But when the 48-year-old travelled to Dublin to collect his cheque, he fell ill with chronic pain in his knee at Busaras and immediately called an ambulance for treatment.

He was later admitted for treatment at South Tipperary General Hospital in Clonmel. He was discharged on Tuesday.

When asked when he hopes to pick up his 500,000, Mr Maher said from his hospital bed on Monday: Well, my first priority is health. I hope to be discharged on [Tuesday] and then get the necessary painkillers I need. And health is wealth, you know? People think money is important. This is only money, you know? Its a piece of paper.

This Wednesday, he said that he was hoping to claim the winning ticket in the company of his family.

The numbers on the EuroMillions draw were 2, 6, 15, 34, 44, with the two bonus numbers 4 and 5.

Meanwhile, the County Limerick winner of over 111,000 still has not made contact with the National Lottery.

A spokesperson confirmed to the Limerick Leader this Wednesday that there had been absolutely no word following the win of 111,271 in the Saturday, July 14 draw.

The winning ticket was bought at the Gala store on Sheares Street, Kilmallock.

The ticket matched five numbers plus the bonus in the Lotto draw. The winning numbers are: 5, 16, 37, 43, 44, 46 and Bonus number 7.

It is likely that either the ticket hasnt been checked or the winner is keeping their head down. Rumours have been swirling in the town of Kilmallock about the identity of the winner, with the talk that it is a local.

Its the first winning ticket to be sold by the current owners since they took over the store four years ago, they said.THE FUTURE of Ormston House in Limerick is in jeopardy as a US vulture fund, which owns the city centre site, is just two weeks from closing a deal with a potential buyer, the Limerick Leader can exclusively reveal.

New York firm Cerberus Capital Management, which was involved in the controversial 1.3bn purchase of Project Eagle loans, purchased the loan book from the National Asset Management Agency [Nama] last year, and the site was put on the open market in July 2017.

The sale includes 9 to 11 Patrick Street, two of which are occupied by the artistic space, and one is occupied by a retail unit.

The Leader first revealed that Ormston House was facing possible closure as a result of the site going on the open market.

There is clearly a need and a desire for us to remain open. While we appreciate that the council have other commitments, there is an urgency to safeguard Ormston House and to see this process through to a swift conclusion, Mary Conlon, Ormston Houses co-director said this week.

Limerick City and County Council had previously agreed a sale of 275,000 in late 2016 for units 9 and 10, but they disengaged from the deal when number 11 was later included. It is understood that Ormston House raised 150,000 through philanthropic sources and 125,000 was put forward by the council.

A council spokesperson told the Leader that it is still committed to Ormston House.

Metropolitan mayor, Cllr Daniel Butler, who is engaging with all parties in relation to Ormston House, said he was hugely disappointed with the outcome.

Mayor Butler said he was now making efforts to contact the buyers to see if they will consider a lease agreement or a possible sale.

I will continue to pursue this until all options are exhausted, he said.

Culture Minister Josepha Madigan has been contacted about the matter.

Mayor of Limerick City and County, Cllr James Collins has called on Minister for Culture, Heritage and Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan to intervene, and said the council will need the financial support of her department.

However, it is understood that her department does not have a budget for such capital investment.

Senator Maria Byrne has also contacted Minister Madigan seeking her assistance in the matter.

This morning I received this response from Minister @josephamadigan office in relation to the proposed sale of @OrmstonHouse. This issue is being taken seriously and I will look forward to engaging further with the Minister on this issue.#saveormstonhouse pic.twitter.com/uiolbzv0Wi  Senator Maria Byrne (@senatormbyrne) July 26, 2018

A spokesperson for the Minister said: A number of public representatives from Limerick have contacted the Minister about the facility. While the Minister has not been contacted by Limerick City and County Council on the matter, she is aware the Council has been in contact with the vendor.

Council CEO Conn Murray told councillors at a full council meeting on Monday that they were not interested in three blocks but stressed that they were still interested in 9 and 10.

After the Limerick Leader revealed that Ormston House was facing possible closure, there has since been an outpouring of support in a bid to help save the venue.

The Save Ormston House campaign has garnered widespread local, national and international support.

As chair of @OrmstonHouse board, Im heartened with public support to keep this unique space open and welcome @DanielButlerFG & @LimerickCouncil response to the issue today - it is the unique places that make a city and Limericks regeneration needs Ormston. #saveormstonhouse https://t.co/pJW2doINy0  mark mulqueen (@MarkMulqueen) July 23, 2018

Curator of the Winton Bell Gallery in Rhode Island, Ian Alden Russell tweeted that Ormston House is an important model internationally for how the arts sustains, creates and repairs our communities.

Ormston House has hosted 55 exhibitions and 287 events and has worked with 296 artists from 27 countries since its foundation in 2011.

Ms Conlon said Ormston has been "working quietly with the support of Limerick City and County Council and other stakeholders to secure long-term tenancy for several years, she said.

She said they are grateful for the extraordinary public response.

We have worked hard to support artists, local community groups, and many festivals in the city, and to promote Limerick as a destination for the arts. It is truly validating for the small volunteer team to know that people value what we do and want to see our future secured.

Ormston House are expected to make a final decision on their operations at a board meeting in the coming weeks, followed by a public meeting in early September to discuss their future. It is understood that the council, if unsuccessful in keeping Ormston on Patrick Street, will be urged to find an alternative location for the cultural centre by January.

This needs to be stopped immediately- where are the brave civic and political leaders? #saveormstonhouse #dontletstmunchinberight https://t.co/UkKJXvUhCd  JenniferMoranStritch (@stritchj) July 26, 2018

#OrmstonHouse has been a friend & supporter of @LimerickJazz for many yrs. Together we have hosted a number of #MusicForKids WS in the space. It would be impossible for @LimerickJazz to offer its programme of events w/o the support of venues like @OrmstonHouse#SaveOrmstonHouse pic.twitter.com/EnVvMvWTEZ  LimerickJazzFestival (@LimerickJazz) July 25, 2018

The better version of the world needs Ormston House @OrmstonHouse @LimerickCouncil #saveormstonhouse  MMM Packer (@mattpa_ker) July 23, 2018

Ormston House has be to saved! Its been home to two events Ive held. Its an amazing space and should be kept for artists! #saveormstonhouse https://t.co/tQgqn7WNDA  Olivia Chau (@olliechau) July 21, 2018

So gorgeous to see message and message tweeting in support of @OrmstonHouse - demonstrates so clearly what a valued and respected space and team they have! #SaveOrmstonHouse  Dr Kathleen Turner (@kturnersong) July 22, 2018

Noooooo!!!! @OrmstonHouse is a treasure in the heart of Limerick... dont make the same mistake as Dublin by disregarding the impact of art spaces on the city until its too late. #saveormstonhouse https://t.co/q3igfL0g2p  Lisa McLoughlin (@LisaMcLoughlin4) July 22, 2018THE new deal between US president Donald Trump and EU Commission President, Jean Claude Juncker could spell good news for the Shannon estuary.

The deal, announced on Wednesday, is aimed at averting a trade war and includes a commitment by the EU to import more liquid natural gas from the US.

While details of the deal remain scant, President Trump claimed that LNG would be big.

This makes the building of Shannon LNG terminal at Ballylongford now much more likely, MEP Sean Kelly said this Thursday.

Mr Kelly believes the new deal will lead to more LNG plants being built in Europe and he is optimistic this will include the Shannon LNG plant at Ballylongford/Tarbert.

There are projects planned already which are known as PCIs, projects of common interest, which would include LNG terminals. That means if we are going to take in more LNG from the US, then we must complete PCIs and one of those is Shannon LNG.

Mr. Kelly recently secured the designation of Ballylongford deepwater site as a Project of Common Interest. That means the European Commission will back its construction with grants and financing.

This new development between Jean Claude Juncker and Donald Trump would make Shannon LNG a more attractive proposition for investors also, Mr Kelly said.

I would be quite optimistic, he added. It is part of the European strategy to ensure we have energy security and on that Ireland is one of the most vulnerable. We have only one pipeline coming into us from Scotland and once the Corrib field runs dry in about 15 years, we would be very vulnerable.

The Shannon LNG plant would also provide an additional safeguard for Ireland in the event of a hard Brexit or if Britain decided to keep all its gas for its own needs, Mr Kelly said.

Currently, he added, the company is in discussion with Shannon Properties to renew its lease on the site at Ballylongford.Jul 26, 2018, 6 AM

This postmark from Reno, Nev., features a soldier from World War I and is dated either July 28 or July 29.

By Molly Goad

A pictorial postmark sponsored by the Nevada Stamp Study Society commemorates the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.

Dated July 28 or July 29, the postmark is the show cancel for the 2018 Greater Reno Stamp and Cover Show.

The United States Postal Services new World War I Turning the Tide forever stamp, also marking the historic anniversary, was issued July 27, the day before the shows start.

The Postal Service has described the stamp as a tribute to the sacrifice of American soldiers and millions of supporters on the home front as the nation entered World War I and helped turn the tide of war in favor of the Allies.

To obtain the postmark, address your request to:

RENO STAMP + COVER SHOW Station, Postmaster, 2000 Vassar St., Reno, NV 89510-9998, July 28-29.

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Follow us on TwitterParliamentary diplomacy, including with the participation of the Russian side, can play a significant role in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky said, answering the question of Vestnik Kavkaza.

"Although the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement is an extremely delicate process, which is rather for the Foreign Ministry and prepared negotiators, however, in order to prevent excessive emotions that can cause negative feedback in any negotiations, the role of parliamentarians can also be significant," he stressed.

"Therefore, we must pay increased attention to the issue of the South Caucasus as a region at all venues, in all possible structures. We will invariably advocate it," the deputy assured.

Slutsky recalled that the dossier on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the State Duma is maintained by the Committee on CIS Affairs, led by him for many years. "Naturally, this situation in no way leaves us indifferent. Of course, it is good that the OSCE Minsk Group is working in this direction, but it is necessary, including for Russia, to play its sponsorship role in normalizing the situation more actively, at least to avoid a military confrontation and losses. Dmitry Medvedev was engage in it, when he was Russia's president, he brought the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia together," the chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs said.

"Today the situation is so electrified that the military confrontation can grow into a more active phase. But I am sure that both sides of the conflict will have the common sense not to aggravate the situation," he added.

The deputy drew attention to the need to strengthen the international community's attention to the South Caucasus to resolve the issues on the South Caucasus and, first of all, on Nagorno-Karabakh, in a forced manner. "We know the 2009 Madrid Principles, according to which, the Agdam, Fizuli and the three districts along the Aras river - Zangelan, Kubatly and Jebrail should be returned to Azerbaijan through the corridor Lachin, the width of which is determined by the range of small arms. Armenia keeps Kalbajar. But the situation has hanged in nine years. We need a new base for negotiations on Karabakh. And we should work on it," Leonid Slutsky said.May 1, 2021, 2 PM

Spain issued a stamp featuring the province of Leon April 2, part of its 12 Months 12 Stamps series. The cathedral shown on the stamp, however, was not the Leon Cathedral.

To make amends for showing the wrong cathedral on the Leon stamp, Spain issued this souvenir sheet May 25.

By Denise McCarty

Spains Correos issued a souvenir sheet in May to correct the design of a stamp issued a month earlier.

Both the stamp and the souvenir sheet are part of the 12 Months 12 Stamps series that highlights a different province each month, in this case the province of Leon.

The nondenominated domestic-rate Leon stamp released April 2 shows various items from food to architecture to landscapes associated with the province inside the letters L and E. However, missing from the stamp design was the Leon Cathedral, which was inscribed on UNESCOs World Heritage List in 2011.

According to the English-language website of the newspaper Sur (www.surinenglish.com), the stamp shows another cathedral instead: The head of Correos has apologised after an eagle-eyed member of the public spotted that a new stamp celebrating the heritage of Leon, including its cathedral, had used an image of the cathedral in Burgos, some 180 kilometres away.

The brief report continued: Conscious of the rivalry between Spanish provincial capitals, Javier Cuesta said that it was the first mistake in the 700 commemorative stamps he had overseen and promised to issue another one to make amends.

Correos made its amends in the form of a souvenir sheet issued May 25 featuring a photograph of the Leon Cathedral with an image of the original Leon stamp on top of it. The single stamp in that souvenir sheet depicts the cathedrals rose window. The stamp and the pointed glass windows are perforated.

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Spains 12 Months 12 Stamps series began Jan. 2, 2017.

For more information about recent Spanish stamps, contact its philatelic department by email or visit the website.The meeting of political directors representing the Normandy Quartet states (Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France) has started in Berlin.

Russia is represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin at the meeting.

The meeting is expected to focus on the Minsk Agreements and ways to advance their implementation.

The meeting is taking place amid growing contacts on Ukraine. In particular, the need to faithfully implement the Minsk Agreements was emphasized at the Russian-US summit held in the Finnish capital of Helsinki earlier in the month. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov made an unexpected visit to Germany earlier this week. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Ukrainian conflict was discussed at their meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, TASS recalls.

A ministerial meeting of the Normandy Quartet was held in Berlin on June 12. The parties discussed the main aspects of resolving the situation in Donbass and instructed political directors to continue considering a number of issues, including the parameters of the United Nations possible mission to Donbass.Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was pleasantly surprised by Russian President Vladimir Putins straightforwardness and earnestness, as he himself said in an interview with the Ekho Moskvy radio station.

"Well, I imagined him to be a more difficult person so I was pleasantly surprised to find him very straightforward and earnest," The Armenian leader said. "What do I like about our relations? The fact that we discuss things frankly and earnestly, so I said after my recent visit to Moscow that relations between Armenia and Russia should not have any dark corners," Pashinyan added.

"That does not mean that we will always agree on everything. It only means that we will be earnest with each other. I think that it is the best of friendships when two countries and two people look each other in the eye and talk to each other frankly, sincerely and honestly," TASS cited the Armenian prime minister as saying.Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in South Africa. The presidential plane landed in the countrys main airport, named after South African politician and former President of the African National Congress Oliver Tambo, which is located not far from the city of Johannesburg.

On July 26-27, Putin will take part in the events of the 10th BRICS summit, scheduled to take place in Johannesburgs Sandton Convention Center. Today, BRICS leaders will also participate in private and expanded meetings and sign documents.

On the same day, the Russian head of state is scheduled to hold talks with the summits host, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, as well as bilateral meetings with the leaders of Argentina, Angola, Turkey, Zambia, China and India, TASS reported.

On Friday, two sessions will take place, which will involve leaders of non-BRICS countries, invited to the summit.Popular genetics-testing company 23andMe is partnering with drug giant GlaxoSmithKline to use people's DNA to develop medical treatments, the company announced in a blog post yesterday (July 25).

During the four-year collaboration, the London-based GlaxoSmithKline will use 23andMe's genetic database to zero in on possible targets and treatments for human disease.

"The goal of the collaboration is to gather insights and discover novel drug targets driving disease progression and develop therapies," GlaxoSmithKline said in yesterday's statement, where it also reported it was investing $300 million in 23andMe. [How Do DNA Ancestry Tests Really Work?]

It's not yet clear which conditions will be investigated during the collaboration, but one example showed how the collaboration might work: the two companies' previous collaboration on the gene LRRK2, which is linked to some cases of Parkinson's disease, Forbes reported.

Only about 10,000 of the 1 million Americans with Parkinson's disease have the disease because of LRRK2. So, GlaxoSmithKline has to test about 100 Parkinson's patients to find just one potential candidate. However, 23andMe has already provided 250 Parkinson's patients who have agreed to be re-contacted for GlaxoSmithKline's clinical trials, which may help the pharmaceutical company develop the drug much faster, Forbes reported.

However, not everybody is on board with 23andMe's new partnership. If a person's DNA is used in research, that person should be compensated, said Peter Pitts, president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest.

"Are they going to offer rebates to people who opt in, so their customers arent paying for the privilege of 23andMe working with a for-profit company in a for-profit research project?" Pitts said to NBC.

In addition, even though 23andMe gets the consent of its customers to use their genetic data, it's unlikley that most people are aware of this.

"The problem with a lot of these privacy policies and Terms of Service is that no one really reads them," Tiffany C. Li, a privacy expert and resident fellow at Yale Law Schools Information Society Project, told Tom's Guide, a Live Science sister site. "You are paying to help the company make money with your data."

The new collaboration isn't the first time 23andMe's vast pool of genetic data has been mined by scientists. The San Francisco startup has already published more than 100 scientific papers based on its customers' data, according to yesterday's blog post, by Anne Wojcicki, 23andMe's co-founder and chief executive. In 2015, the company launched 23andMe Therapeutics, which focuses on developing "novel treatments and cures based on genetic insights from the consented 23andMe community," Wojcicki wrote.

23andMe has more than 5 million customers worldwide who have had their DNA analyzed for ancestral data. People who would like to close their 23andMe accounts can go here, but the company notes that "any research involving your data that has already been performed or published prior to our receipt of your request will not be reversed, undone, or withdrawn."

However, once a 23andMe account is closed, any spit samples that a person initially gave consent to be stored "will be discarded," the company said.

Original article on Live Science.In this photo provided by the Center for Whale Research, a baby orca is being pushed by her mother after being born off the Canadian coast near Victoria, British Columbia, on July 24, 2018.

In a heartbreaking scene, researchers watched a dead, newborn orca get pushed around the water's surface by its mother only a half-hour after the baby whale was seen alive in Puget Sound Tuesday (July 24). The calf was the first orca born to this declining population in three years, The Olympian reported.

Researchers are unsure what caused the orca calf to die so soon after it was born, but they know this particular group of large marine mammals have been struggling for decades. Their population has declined from 98 individuals in 1995 to just 75 now, The Olympian reported.

This group of orcas (Orcinus orca), also called the southern resident killer whales, visits Puget Sound every year from spring to fall, and was listed as endangered in 2006, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Scientists cite multiple reasons for the population's decline, but they think it's primarily because of the diminishing stock of these orca's main food source: Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). [Image Gallery: Russia's Beautiful Killer Whales]

The orca mom was seen still pushing her dead calf around 24 hours later. (Image credit: Ken Balcomb/Center for Whale Research)

Research published last summer in the journal PLOS One found that nearly 70 percent of southern resident killer whale pregnancies failed between 2008 and 2014 and that about a third of those failed late in the gestation period or immediately after birth. The scientists attributed the failed pregnancies primarily to the low availability of Chinook salmon. But they also suspected that the deaths could have been caused by pollutants that the nutritionally deprived mothers might have been passing on to their calves.

"On average, we expect a few calves born each year," Brad Hanson, a wildlife biologist with the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, told The Olympian. "The fact that we haven't seen any [calves born] in several years and then to have reproductive failure is further evidence that we have a severe problem with the reproductive viability in the population."

Earlier this year, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee formed a statewide task force dedicated to coming up with recommendations for saving this population of orcas. Their report is due out later this year, The Olympian reported.

Original article on Live Science.Seven years ago, a group of researchers detected something strange above Antarctica's skies.

Large, mysterious ripples were propagating across Earth's atmosphere. These so-called "inertia-gravity" waves are oscillations of air formed by the force of Earth's gravity and rotation.

These waves aren't uncommon and occur frequently in various parts of Earth's atmosphere, but they typically disappear in a matter of hours. Yet the waves above Antarctica were surprisingly persistent  they appeared in every observation taken since researchers first detected the waves years ago. [Infographic: Earth's Atmosphere Top to Bottom]

What caused these persistent gravity waves to keep popping up in the mesosphere for up to 10 hours at a time, however, remained a mystery for years. (The mesosphere is the portion of Earth's atmosphere between 30 and 50 miles [50 and 80 kilometers] above the planet's surface.) Now, the same team that detected the waves has proposed two plausible explanations in a pair of studies, with the latest study published yesterday (July 25) in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

One possibility, they said, is that the large, persistent waves  which span up to 1,900 miles (3,000 kilometers) of the mesosphere  actually stem from smaller waves in the atmospheric layer below it, known as the stratosphere. (The stratosphere extends up to 30 miles above Earth's surface.)

According to this theory, winds that flow down mountains in Antarctica feed these lower-level gravity waves. In turn, the waves grow and move higher up in the atmosphere. Once the waves reach the boundary between the stratosphere and the mesosphere, they break just like an ocean wave on the shore, and generate bigger waves, the researchers explained.

(Gravity waves are not to be confused with gravitational waves. The latter are ripples in space-time that emerge from Einstein's theory of relativity and have nothing to do with air movements in the atmosphere.)

Another possibility, the researchers said, involves the swirling polar vortex, a low-pressure zone that rotates clockwise and takes over Antarctica's winter skies. These speedy, rotating winds can either alter lower-level gravity waves as they move upward, or churn out these waves themselves, said lead author Xinzhao Chu, a professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Their research uses a combination of modeling and observations from lidar, a laser-based measurement technique. Lidar can determine the temperature and density across various parts of the atmosphere, revealing the perturbations caused by these waves. The researchers can also calculate the energy and momentum carried by gravity waves.

Gravity waves affect global atmospheric circulation, which, in turn, affects atmospheric temperatures and the movement of chemicals, Chu told Live Science.

But most climate models haven't properly accounted for the energy carried by these waves, she said. For example, the simulated temperatures in the atmospheric boundary between the stratosphere and the mesosphere above Antarctica are way colder than the observations show, she said. This area, called the stratopause, is important for understanding humanity's effects on the ozone. Without correct temperature simulations, you "cannot predict the ozone trend well," she said.

"We think the new understanding about these waves, especially secondary wave generation, may help to improve the models," Chu said.

But these are still theories, and there are others out there. A 2016 paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics proposed that vibrations of the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica caused by ocean waves could explain the mysterious atmospheric ripples. Chu said she can't rule out this possibility, either.

Originally published on Live Science.Russia send the humanitarian aid to eastern Ukraine this morning from Rostov region, the Russian Emergencies Ministry said.

The Emergencies Ministry's vehicles have already crossed the Russian-Ukrainian border, AiF-Rostov reports.

The 79th batch of humanitarian cargo includes medicines and medical equipment. It was jointly collected by the ministry, federal executive bodies, executive authorities of constituent entities and public organizations.

Russia has sent over 74,000 tons of humanitarian aid to Donetsk and Lugansk (Donbas) since August 2014.I watched Hannah Gadsby's one-hour Netflix special, "Nanette," in a slight defensive crouch. I admitted this to myself only weeks later, after watching it again. I had been moved the first time around, and sensed how original "Nanette" was in the world of stand-up. But my head resisted it.

A second viewing made me realize not just how slyly funny, but how artful, heartfelt and just it is. Gadsby's performance begins with wisecracks, then turns into a damning indictment, a devastating confession and a powerful plea (laced with exuberant profanity) to our common humanity. All this is delivered, amazingly, via some sustained reflections on art.

"You won't hear too many extended sets about art history in a comedy show," says Gadsby, in the middle of a righteous takedown of Picasso. And she's right.

Why, then, my initial resistance? It wasn't just, I hope, because I am a straight white man - a subcategory of human to whom Gadsby has a lot of pertinent things to say. It was also because I am an art critic, one who, in the course of more than two decades, has written a lot - and I mean a lot - about male artists. Male artists who painted lots of naked women. Male artists who achieved fame and power in a male-dominated world. Male artists whose success allowed them to get away with behaving abominably.

Gadsby is scorching on all this. It's a shame, she says, in high ironic mode, that art history is such "an elitist sport" because it taught her so much about the world. Thanks to art history, she says, "I understand this world and my place in it. I don't have one."

Ouch.

Art history also taught Gadsby - who is lesbian but identifies more, she says, "as tired ... just tired" - that there are two types of women: virgins and whores. Art galleries, she quips, are full of evidence that "women have existed for a very long time. Longer than clothes."

"High art?" she concludes. "I'm going to call it, guys: Bulls---. High art, my arse. The history of western art is just the history of men painting women like they're flesh vases for their d--- flowers."

Ouch again.

By this point in "Nanette," we have learned that Gadsby studied art history at university, and that she has some interesting thoughts on Vincent Van Gogh. These last open a window onto "Nanette's" fundamental theme: the preciousness of mental well-being; the importance of caring for one another.

Gadsby recounts how, after giving a performance in which she mentioned that she took antidepressants, a man came up to her, saying: "You shouldn't take medication because you're an artist. It's important that you feel. If Vincent Van Gogh had taken medication, we wouldn't have had the sunflowers."

Gadsby absolutely rips into this idea. And I cheered when she did.

She tells us that Van Gogh was, in fact, being treated with medication, and that this medication - a derivative of the foxglove - has a little-known side effect: it can intensify the user's perception of the color yellow. So it's possible, says Gadsby, that "we have the sunflowers precisely because Van Gogh medicated."

Van Gogh is, of course, the patron saint of all those who romanticize a link between mental illness and creativity. Their thinking is not only erroneous (serious mental illness is more often incapacitating and not at all conducive to high level creativity), it's pernicious, because it discourages desperate people from seeking relief. Gadsby's retort is a great way to puncture the myth.

Of course, she is a comedian, not an academic. So it sounds like quibbling to point out that the theory remains highly speculative.

But there's a wider set of questions she wants us to think about: What would art history look like if it represented the visions of women as fully as it represents the visions of men? How would a just representation in art of the visions of all of humanity - not just straight white men - change our ideas about who we are, and our individual and communal potential?

These are the same questions society is asking about other fields of cultural endeavor, from film and literature to music and comedy; from the media and medicine to business and politics. Why does Gadsby focus on art history?

We get close to an answer - and a more interestingly conflicted position - when she turns to Picasso and cubism. At the outset, she damns Picasso for his well-known misogyny ("I hate him," she spits, and you believe her) and in particular for his affair with Marie-Therese Walter, who was 17 when they met. (He was 45).

Gadsby herself was sexually assaulted when she was 17, one of several traumas she suffered at the hands of men. Who can blame her, then, for mocking the idea that we must all bow down before Picasso just because he (with Georges Braque) invented cubism? What's so great, finally, about cubism?

It's a mistake, Gadsby argues, to insist that we should keep art and the lives of the flawed people who make it separate. Doing so simply plays into the hands of the powerful men who elevate their own reputations above the lives of the less powerful - usually young women.

Yet it's not long before Gadsby circles around to the other side of the issue and - like a whole new type of comedian; a cubist comedian! - looks at it from an entirely different angle.

"Cubism is important," she says. "It was a real game changer." By opening up multiple perspectives, Picasso, she says, "freed us from the slavery of having to reproduce a believable three-dimensional reality on a two-dimensional surface." If we think about this innovation in terms of power, isn't there something profoundly liberating about it?

Gadsby doesn't, mind you, let Picasso off the hook. He may have painted images with multiple perspectives, but none of those perspectives, she says, was a woman's. (Admittedly, it's hard to see how they could have been). He "just put a kaleidoscope filter" on his penis. (A wonderful piece of art criticism.)

But still, believes Gadsby, "Picasso was right": "we could paint a better world if we learned how to see it from ... as many perspectives as we possibly could."

Gadsby has a lot to say about art, some of it great, some glib. But she has even more to say about comedy itself. She claims that comedy has been bad for her. Telling self-deprecating jokes, she explains, wasn't allowing her to tell her story properly.

The mechanics of comedy - setup, punchline, repeat - meant that Gadsby's most formative experiences - discovering and coming to terms with her sexuality; being molested as a child, assaulted as a teenager and raped in her early 20s - were frozen at their trauma points; sealed off in jokes. Through repetition, the joke version of her experiences had fused with her memories of what actually happened. And yet the joke versions were not sophisticated enough to help her undo the damage done to her in reality.

This is incredible stuff to be hearing in a stand-up routine! But that's precisely what makes "Nanette" so original.

Having grown dissatisfied with the mechanics of conventional stand-up (create tension, provide release), Gadsby converted some deep thinking about both comedy and art into something entirely new. Something which just happened to capture the imaginations of millions of people.

Which is wonderful - because isn't it also the way breakthroughs happen in art?

We value artistic breakthroughs in themselves, but also because we know that they don't come easily. That difficulty is part of what leads our interest on.

The cubism of Picasso and Braque; Matisse's experiments with color; Frida Kahlo's and Cindy Sherman's radical self-portraiture, Louise Bourgeois' harrowing sculptures - these breakthroughs may not have come out of mental illness (which - Gadsby is right - is usually debilitating). But they most certainly did come out of psychic pressure. In many cases, extreme psychic pressure.

You can hear that pressure, I think, in the slight quaver in Gadsby's voice; in her deliberately wide-eyed stare, suggesting repeated alarm behind her forced smile; and in the faux-friendly, I'm-OK-with-it voice that follows hard upon every explosion of passion.

Picasso, for his part, was feeling extreme pressure when he painted "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon," the breakthrough that led to cubism. He was more tormented than at any other point in his life - in part, you could argue, by his confusion about sex, his misogyny: "If you hate what you desire," says Gadsby, "you know what that is? F---ing tense." (It's a great insight, and she is, quite rightly, unyielding: "Sort your s--- out," she advises all men.)

The point is, breakthroughs in art, and perhaps also in comedy, come when the pre-existing forms are broken. Although Gadsby doesn't address this, it may be that it is hard to feel the extremes of pressure experienced by truly innovative creators and remain, at the same time, a consistently kind, community-minded, compassionate human being.

If we like those innovations, if we care about art, this - awkward as it is - bears thinking about.

What makes "Nanette" so remarkable is not only that Gadsby, under pressure, breaks the pre-existing forms, dismantling our expectations of what a stand-up comedian does. It's that, in the process, she addresses huge questions: trauma, creativity, kindness, representation, resilience, love. And she does so with tremendous courage.The Turkish parliament ratified an anti-terror law yesterday regarding Turkey's fight against terrorism after the end of state of emergency in the country.

The law was backed by lawmakers of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). It received 284 Yes votes, 95 No votes and one lawmaker abstained during the voting process in the 600-seat strong parliament.

The anti-terror law empowers governors and security forces with certain powers that they exercised under the state of emergency for three more years.

The law also authorizes the government to dismiss personnel of Turkish Armed Forces, police and gendarmerie departments, and public servants and workers if they are found linked to a terror organization, Anadolu Agency reported.

The law will be forwarded to the country's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his formal approval and later it will be published in the official gazette.Rebekah Rodriguez /Laredo Morning Times

The Boys and Girls Club of Laredo's newest program, a music clubhouse called the BGC Music Studio, is off to a rousing start at the Lamar Bruni Vergara Clubs on Los Presidentes Avenue in south Laredo.

Boys and Girls Clubs board member Joe Arciniega, a longtime Laredo music and drama advocate, reported to Boys and Girls Club board members at a recent quarterly board meeting. Arciniega said, "The summer pilot program has been launched and the kids ages 6 to 12 are loving it. The children are learning to read and play basic music. It's all tied to pop music."Columbia High School sophomores Rishita Nagothi and Praaghya Meyyan and Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School juniors Emma Nuzzi and Kristen Alsdorf attended the annual Reality Check Youth Summit at Cazenovia College in Central New York. During leadership workshops and teambuilding exercises with 150 other youth from around the state they made plans for raising awareness in their own communities about the impact tobacco marketing has on youth.

Columbia High School sophomores Rishita Nagothi and Praaghya Meyyan and, at left, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake juniors Emma Nuzzi and Kristen Alsdorf at the Reality Check Youth Summit at Cazenovia College. During workshops and teambuilding exercises with 150 peers, they made plans for raising awareness in their own communities about the impact tobacco marketing has on youths.The story of two families' pain and suffering over the loss of a loved one was front and center Wednesday throughout the punishment phase in the trial of a woman who killed a man while driving intoxicated.

Jurors in the 49th District Court sentenced Laura Sanchez-Saldana to serve eight years in prison and pay a $5,000 fine. They deliberated for almost four hours before handing down their sentence at about 10 p.m.

On Tuesday, the day opening arguments were set to begin in her trial, Sanchez-Saldana pleaded guilty to intoxication manslaughter in connection with the death of 43-year-old Samuel Pedraza, a father of five.

Sanchez-Saldana, 44, rear-ended Pedraza's pickup truck on Texas Highway 359 at about 4:30 a.m. Aug. 28, 2015. She was on her way home after drinking with several friends after hours at the bar Old No. 2, 313 W. Village Blvd., according to testimony. Her blood-alcohol content was 0.16, twice the legal limit.

READ MORE: LPD: Man accused of intoxication manslaughter released from hospital, charged

Pedraza's widow and children testified Tuesday about what a loving and caring husband, father and grandfather he was.

On Wednesday, Sanchez-Saldana's mother, two brothers, son and daughter took the stand as character witnesses. They all talked about who she was before the crash happened, describing her as a hard-working single mother who always provided for her family and was kind to everyone.

Her family expressed their pain and condolences to Pedraza's family. But they also talked about their own grief. They said Sanchez-Saldana suffered immense pain after an unexpected event changed her life. Her youngest daughter, 16-year-old Lesley Sanchez, was stabbed to death almost exactly a year ago at the walking trails near the Haynes Recreation Center.

In his closing statement Wednesday afternoon, defense attorney Freddy B. Ruiz said his client had taken responsibility for her actions by pleading guilty, and that she could be rehabilitated through probation and not by spending 20 years in prison, the maximum punishment she faced.

"Good people sometimes do bad things," he said. "Our lives cannot be measured by one six-hour moment. That doesn't define who we are. It doesn't define the essence of a person."

Acknowledging the pain and the hurt of both families due to Pedraza's death, Ruiz said it was not an intentional crime, but rather an unfortunate accident.

Sanchez-Saldana did not flee the scene, Ruiz added.

He said this was a "one-in-a-million" case with unique circumstances.

"I can't stop and close the void in everybody's heart," Ruiz told the jury. "I can't stop that. There's a sinkhole in everybody's heart. All I can do is build a bridge around it. The way you build that is by giving her probation."

A probationary sentence would start the healing process for both families, Ruiz said as he asked the jury to make something good come out of a bad situation. He added that out of all the witnesses, none of them said she would not be a good candidate for probation.

Pedraza's family testified that they wanted justice for their father but that they would accept any punishment the jury assessed, Ruiz said.

MORE ON LMTOnline.com: Suspect charged with assault on a peace officer

On the other hand, Webb County District Attorney Isidro "Chilo" Alaniz told the jury that prosecutors had presented overwhelming evidence to support their request for prison time.

"It's shocking to me that defense counsel would come up here and minimize the actions of their client," Alaniz said in his closing argument.

He said if Sanchez-Saldana was sentenced to probation, it would send the wrong message to the community about drunk driving.

Alaniz said Pedraza's family would never get to hug him or see him again and his hopes and dreams would never be realized.

"Mr. Pedraza's life matters," Alaniz said. "Twenty years is not enough."

The slaying of Sanchez-Saldana's daughter was not the case before them and should not be taken into consideration when determining her sentence, Alaniz told jurors. He said the District Attorney's Office would prosecute her killer and seek justice for her with the same zealousness and aggressiveness as with Pedraza.

Alaniz said Sanchez-Saldana's remorse would not bring him back to his family and loved ones and that she should be held accountable for her actions that night.

READ: Woman sought for theft at local Wal-Mart store

"Sorry doesn't fix it," Alaniz concluded.

Cindy Liendo, Laredo ISD school board member and Democratic candidate for Webb County commissioner, was one of Sanchez-Saldana's friends who was drinking with her the night before the crash.

Alaniz told jurors Tuesday that because of Sanchez-Saldana's "privileged friends," they were allowed to continue drinking at the bar after 2 a.m.

Upon hearing that Sanchez-Saldana had been involved in a vehicle crash, Liendo instructed her friend to delete any social media posts or pictures from that evening, according to testimony.

Liendo told LMT on Wednesday that she could not comment on the case until it had concluded.Dutch doctors were trying to answer a simple question about a popular drug: Could the active ingredient in Viagra be used to help a particular group of at-risk babies often born tiny and premature with slim chances of survival?

The study had already been conducted in New Zealand and Australia, according to Amsterdam Universitair Medische Centra (University Medical Center), which headed the latest trial. The Dutch component involved some 183 pregnant women who suffered from fetal growth restriction, in which an underdeveloped placenta can't deliver enough oxygen or nutrients to a gestating baby.

Sildenafil, a generic version of the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, was given to 93 pregnant women; another 90 received an inert placebo. Doctors across 11 hospitals planned to study the mothers and their children through 2020.

Then the babies started dying.

After they were born, 11 of the babies whose mothers had received sildenafil developed a form of high blood pressure in the lungs that killed them, the researchers said. Six babies in that group also suffered the complication but survived.

In the placebo group, three developed the disorder, but all of them survived.

"The chance of a disease of the blood vessels of the lungs appears to be greater and the chance of death after birth seems to have increased," Amsterdam UMC said in a release.

And there were "no positive effects for the children on other outcomes," the researchers concluded. "All adverse effects occurred after birth. . . . Based on these findings, the study stopped immediately."

Doctors conceded they had more questions than answers: What about the drug had caused the babies to die? Why were there no similar problems for babies in the previous studies?

In a statement, Pfizer, the maker of Viagra, expressed its "sympathy for the trial participants and their families" but said the company had nothing to do with the trial.

"Pfizer was not involved in any aspect of this trial, and neither funded nor provided product for the trial," the statement said. "In addition, the Principle Investigators at the Amsterdam University Medical Centre have confirmed a non-Pfizer manufactured generic version of sildenafil was used but that no clinical trial participants were administered Viagra, Pfizer sildenafil or any other Pfizer medicine."

The company asserted that "the safety and efficacy of Viagra has been well documented in clinical studies."

Researchers said their principle goal now is to find out what happened.

Doctors intend to "extensively" analyze all the data they've collected so far, and "the development of the children will be closely monitored."

"This finding in the Dutch study is unexpected," Zarko Alfirevic, a professor at the University of Liverpool and one of the authors cited in a similar United Kingdom study, told the BBC. "We need to be careful at this point to find out more. It needs a thorough investigation because the complications were not seen in the two other, similar trials that have already been done in the U.K. and Australia and New Zealand."

Intrauterine growth restriction occurs when some problem or abnormality prevents a fetus' cells from growing or makes cells decrease in size, according to Stanford Children's Health.

More than a dozen things can cause intrauterine growth restriction, including maternal diseases like diabetes or high blood pressure, chromosomal abnormalities in the baby or several types of infection.

Affected babies can be stillborn or have long-term growth problems that last well into childhood.

There is no known cure.Few homeless people drift into Dolan Springs, Arizona, because there's not much of a town to drift into. Little more than a gas station, a Family Dollar and a grocery store, it's a splash of half-civilization in the middle of the desert, where 36 percent of residents live below the poverty line. So when Patience Matthieu, a thin brunette of 31 years, saw a new homeless person in March, asking for food, she stopped and watched him. He looked just like her cousin, if that cousin had some teeth knocked out. What was he doing all the way out here?

Matthieu could tell something wasn't right with him. He said he wanted to tend lawns, but this was a desert town. He said he was living in a tunnel, but where? So she decided to help. She brought him clothing, got him some canned food, and offered to split her earnings made from selling a few odds and ends at a swap meet. As he grew to trust her, she asked him how she could contact him, and, hesitatingly, he gave her his full name. She went home and, curious, punched it into Google: Christopher Aaron Moreland.

The results introduced Matthieu to the pained digital world of families searching for relatives, many of whom are severely mentally ill. In one more facet of life upturned by technological change, families are increasingly adopting the digital tools of 2018 to find vanished loved ones, in addition to the missing posters and federal registries of the past. They're creating Facebook pages proclaiming their relative is missing, then sharing it. They're crowdsourcing information. They're trying to make posts go viral and sometimes succeeding.

The search ultimately led Matthieu to a group called Missing & Homeless, a Facebook community that, in three years, has gone from a few hundred followers to nearly 43,000, helping to reconnect around 45 families. The results of those reunions have been mixed. Some have been joyous - hugs and tears and an end of homelessness. Others have been wrenching. Families sometimes learn their loved ones want to stay on the streets, and, worse, their homeless relatives may not even recognize them.

Matthieu clicked on Moreland's page, shared by Missing & Homeless, and stared at the words. "Christopher, my heart is broken without you," it said at the top. "Please call me & let me know you are alive. Love, mom."

It listed a phone number.

Matthieu didn't know what to expect, but she had to try. She was a mother, too. She dialed the number, and more than 240 miles away, inside a big house in a nice suburb outside of Phoenix, a woman who hadn't seen her son in seven years picked up.

"I have found your son," Matthieu said.

On the other end, Matthieu could hear the mother wailing.

- - -

Elise Cash and her husband got in the car immediately. It was a nearly four-hour drive to her son, and they had to hurry. Cash was inconsolable. Her husband kept telling her, "You're going to make yourself sick." But she couldn't help it. Seven years, she thought. Seven years since she'd seen her son. Seven years of wondering whether he was dead. Seven years of trying and failing to move on with her life.

She had two sons. One was the academic, who went on to achieve not one but two master's degrees. The other was Chris, who wanted to work with his hands. In her eyes, he'd been born with it all: confidence, looks, creativity. By age 20, he was in a union, making good money, blazing intricate designs into panes of glass for customers.

But that was before she came to understand the truth of schizophrenia. Everything was fine until, suddenly, it wasn't. That moment came when he was 23. He had become suspicious of everyone. He thought his boss at the shop was trying to set him up for grand theft auto, and his neighbors - decent, kind people - were spying on him with surveillance cameras. He thought Cash was an enemy, and voices were telling him she had to die.

They drove through a desolate landscape of brush and sand, and she looked at herself in the mirror. Seven years had taken a toll on her. But what about him? What of him would be left?

The last time she saw him, he was 33, and they'd been out to dinner. "Date night," she called those Wednesday evenings. By then, it'd been 10 years since his diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. He'd had periods when he'd stitched together a life, working jobs, taking his Risperdal, a medication for psychosis, living on his own.

But all that was unraveling. He'd just scratched a large "X" into the bed frame above where her husband slept and had withdrawn into himself. The day after dinner, he called her "radio woman," telling her that if anyone came to the house, he'd kill them and put them in a dumpster. Frantic, she asked the police to do a wellness check at his apartment. But when they got there, it was empty. Inside were three months' worth of Risperdal, untouched.

That began her next life. She tried filing a missing persons report: nothing. She searched for him on the Internet: nothing. She called homeless shelters: nothing. "It was every day, searching," she said. "Not knowing if he'd been picked up or if he was dead, not knowing from the time you get up until the time you go to bed. It's such a hole ripped out of your heart and your soul."

Five years later, she saw an unusual group on Facebook called Missing & Homeless, which featured an image of a homeless woman in a winter hat sitting on the street. It was early 2016, and the page had only a few hundred likes. But it was posting about the homeless, and people seemed to be responding. Could this be an answer? So she called the page's administrator, and within a few days, a new post materialized on the page. It showed a picture of her son, full cheeks and black hair. It asked for help.

"All it takes is ONE PERSON to recognize Chris somewhere," it said.

- - -

The last time Robin Wells Burton, the creator of Missing & Homeless, and the person who wrote that post, saw her mother was on Christmas in 1994. For as long as she could remember, Burton had known her mother as someone who would simply disappear for months at a time, then return and resume her life. So when her mother vanished this time, no one thought much of it at first. Only as years went by, and she never returned, and after learning her mother had schizophrenia, did Burton file a missing persons report in 2005.

She hired a private investigator, and snapshots of her mother started to come in, from thousands of miles away from her home in suburban St. Louis. Her Social Security number had been used at a homeless shelter in Santa Monica, California. Then the Los Angeles Times published a story in 2013 about a homeless count, and there her mother had been in the lead photo. It said her name was Diane Muldanado, but Burton knew her mother liked to give fake names. So in early 2015, after the fliers and calls to homeless shelters failed, Burton drove to California to search herself.

For nearly a month, she scoured Los Angeles, but her mother wasn't anywhere, and she ultimately drove home, furious. "I was very angry at God," she said. "I couldn't find her, and it's been that way for 20 years."

When she got home to St. Louis, she thought there had to be a better way to search for the missing. She'd learned there's a significant overlap between homelessness and mental illness and that many of the homeless are missing and have relatives searching for them. So she started Missing & Homeless, featuring that Los Angeles Times photo of her mother, as a new way for people to search for their loved ones. Within a month, someone had been found. And soon after that, three more were found in a single week.

"It just gets shared and shared and shared until someone says, 'I know this person,' or 'I've seen that person,' " Burton said.

That was how Don Papageorgas, 22, speaking on the condition that his first name be withheld, found his homeless father, who died days after their meeting. "I went to see him [again] and realized he had died the day before," he said. "That was when it was the most emotional."

And that, too, was how C.L. Hayes was found. "I was heavy on drugs," said Hayes, who had been missing and homeless for 25 years. "And I'm with my family now. . . . And it feels good, man, it feels real good."

Burton wishes she could feel like that. But no matter how many posts she's published about the homeless and missing, her mother has never resurfaced. It's only been the loved ones of others. People like Chris Moreland. People who may not know that they're lost.

- - -

Matthieu told her to meet at the Flying J in Kingman, Arizona. That was where she'd find her son. And now Cash was pulling up, scared. She felt determined to bring him home, but what if he was still psychotic? Matthieu came up to her car and for a moment watched Cash shaking in her seat. "I'll go in with you," Matthieu said, and the two women, who until that moment had never met but now felt bonded, held on to each other as they walked into the truck stop.

Cash's eyes scanned the room, settling on a man in the back. He had the right build: broad shoulders, tall, full frame. But as she got closer, she felt her chest tighten. That wasn't her son. It couldn't be. His skin was leathered and cracked. His stubble had gray in it. They're wrong, she thought. It's not him. Then she got even closer to him and looked into his eyes, still tan, still gentle, and "I knew it was my boy."

"Chris, have you been doing some traveling?" she remembers softly saying to her son, now 40. "It's your mom."

He looked at her, but there was no flash of recognition.

"You're not my mom," he said.

"Are you ready to come home?" she asked, reaching out to touch him.

"Back away," Matthieu recalls him saying, showing a personality she hadn't seen before. "If you touch me again, I will call the police."

By now, Cash had lost her composure and was begging him, asking him to come home, but all he did was look accusingly at Matthieu and her husband - as if they had betrayed him - and walk out of the truck stop, where he hid behind a shed.

Cash didn't know what to do. She felt powerless. She couldn't help him. She had found him, finally, but nothing more. Not knowing what else to do, and thinking her presence had done nothing except make everything worse, she eventually got back into her car and drove the four hours home.

She and Matthieu kept in close contact, and soon, through her, Cash was sending her son clothing and food and books about airplanes, because he'd always loved them. This went on for months, and Matthieu helped him find some work, sending pictures and frequent progress updates to Cash. Every now and then Matthieu and her husband would tell him about his mother. That really was her, they'd tell him, then show him the pictures of himself online that said he was missing. But it never seemed to sink in.

Then one day, he was gone again. He'd hopped on a truck heading for Tempe, Arizona, where he was arrested on a 2011 felony charge of marijuana possession. In May, Maricopa County Superior Court decided to hold him for a psychological evaluation, which he is still undergoing.

When Cash found out, she felt only relief. For the first time in a long time, she knew where he was.

And she also thought about how close Tempe was to her house. Only a 30-minute drive away. Was he finally coming back to her, when he was arrested? She didn't know. But she wanted to hope.The number of fentanyl-related deaths in Maryland reached an all-time high in 2017 and is on track to continue increasing in 2018, officials said,part of a nationwide overdose epidemic being driven by the powerful synthetic drug.

Maryland fatalities caused by fentanyl jumped 42 percent from 2016 to 2017 - from 1,119 to 1,594 - even as deaths related to heroin use declined, according to data released by the Maryland Department of Health on Thursday.

Health Secretary Robert Neall called the rising numbers "staggering," noting that in the first three months of 2018 alone, there were 500 fentanyl-related deaths in the state.

Nationwide, federal and state law enforcement officials have begun aggressively prosecuting crimes involving fentanyl, which is often mixed into other drugs to increase their potency. The synthetic drug is about 50 times stronger than heroin.

Gov. Larry Hogan, R, who lost a cousin to a heroin overdose, declared a state of emergency regarding opioid addiction in 2017 and issued a standing order that allowed the overdose-reversal drug naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, to be dispensed from licensed pharmacies without a prescription.

Since he took office, the state has spent more than $500 million to address substance abuse disorders, said Hogan spokeswoman Amelia Chasse.

This week, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that Maryland is one of six states that will receive a grant to provide re-employment services to residents impacted by opioid use. Chasse said the governor "has consistently pushed for more federal funding" to address the epidemic and has been "incredibly proactive in bringing attention to this crisis."

The only time Hogan has testified before Congress, she noted, was to ask the federal government to step up its funding to address the epidemic and increase enforcement actions to prevent fentanyl from entering the country.

The number of heroin-related Maryland deaths dropped 11 percent from 2017 to 2016, from 1,212 to 1,078, and was down 19 percent, from 291 to 236, during the first three months of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. The number of prescription opioid-related deaths decreased slightly, from 418 in 2016 to 413 in 2017.

But the number of cocaine-related deaths spiked 49 percent, jumping from 464 to 691, driven by an increase of fentanyl mixed with cocaine, officials said.

There were 229 cocaine-related deaths from January through March 2018, up from 135 during the same period last year.

Nearly two-thirds of the cocaine-related deaths involved fentanyl, according to the Department of Health.

Democratic gubernatorial Ben Jealous criticized Hogan's handling of the opioid epidemic this week, saying Tuesday that the state was late in releasing its 2017 data. The health department published its 2016 report in early June of last year.

"Maryland has been behind the ball in combating the opioid epidemic . . . it's time for the governor to become personally involved in making sure we start treating this crisis like the public health emergency it is," Jealous said in a statement.

He has proposed increasing state funding for Naloxone, establishing more 24-hour crisis centers, working with counties that want to establish needle-exchange programs and expanding treatment available in correctional facilities, among other things.

Chasse said the delay was because the data released for 2017 was more comprehensive than in 2016, including breakdowns by region and age. She dismissed Jealous's statements about the timing of the data release as a political attack.

"It's frankly despicable for anyone to use a national health crisis to score partisan political points," she said.

The data for the first quarter of 2018 was released slightly earlier this year than data for the same period in 2017.Kelli Mulhollen Dumas said she thought the small, red bumps on her son's skin were bites from chiggers or mosquitoes.

Her son, Michael, had just returned from Florida, and she knew he had spent a lot of time outdoors. But within days, she said, the 17-year-old had several more spots - then "his whole backside" was covered. Ultimately, Dumas said, areas on her son's feet, legs and buttocks were covered in a red, itchy rash - the telltale sign of certain type of hookworm, a parasite that can infect both animals and humans.

Dumas said the doctor confirmed that it was cutaneous larva migrans, a skin condition caused by larvae from animal hookworms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"I can't stress enough how traumatic it is for a teenage boy - and his mother - to know that there are worms living in his body," Dumas said Wednesday in an interview The Washington Post.

Dumas, from Memphis, said she believes that her son contracted the parasite in mid-June on a beach in South Florida.

Hookworm is spread through the feces of animals or humans who have the parasite, and people can contract it by simply walking barefoot on sand or soil that has been contaminated, according to the CDC.

Michael had been buried up to his neck in sand.

The state and county health departments in Florida did not respond to requests for comment on potential contamination.

Dumas said the doctor gave Michael an antibiotic and an anti-parasitic but the medication "wasn't working fast enough," so she made an emergency appointment with a dermatologist earlier this month.

Dumas said the dermatologist used cryotherapy, a treatment in which liquid nitrogen is commonly used to "freeze" lesions off the skin. But during treatment, the teen's mother said that her son urged the doctor to stop, saying he felt as though he could "feel it running from the liquid nitrogen."

"It's disgusting," she said . "It's beyond disgusting."

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There are two main types of hookworm - human hookworms and animal, or zoonotic, hookworms. But Bobbi Pritt, director of the Clinical Parasitology Laboratory in Mayo Clinic's Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, said both kinds can be transmitted to people, and it happens in a similar way - animals or humans infected with the parasite defecate into sand or soil and, because their feces carry the parasite's eggs, the ground then becomes contaminated. Once in the ground, Pritt said, the eggs hatch into larvae, or immature hookworms, and when people come into contact with them, they can penetrate the skin.

The results vary based on the type of hookworm.

Hookworm is an intestinal parasite, so when human hookworms penetrate a person's skin, they migrate into the bloodstream and take up residence in the gut.

However, animal hookworms cannot adapt to the human body, so the larvae usually never make it into the person's intestines, Pritt said. Instead, Pritt said, the larvae, which are microscopic, roam around in the person's skin - causing those red, squiggly marks - trying, but unable, to mature or to reproduce. Pritt said that eventually the larvae die.

That itchy and sometimes painful rash is called cutaneous larva migrans - the same one that Michael's mother said he was diagnosed with - and it's caused by the animal form of hookworms.

Susan Montgomery, epidemiology team lead of the Parasitic Diseases Branch of the CDC's Center for Global Health, said that animal hookworm infections in humans are typically treated with medications, such as an anti-parasitic. But even without treatment, Montgomery said, the parasite will die within several weeks. She said people do not usually report feeling larvae move in the skin.

Dumas said her son's ordeal " has been a nightmare."

The mother said that her son has also developed a staph infection from the hookworms. He is on medications to treat not only the parasite but also the staph, a bacterial infection that, when not promptly and properly treated, can become life-threatening, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Last week, Dumas posted a prayer request - and a warning to other parents - on Facebook:

"Urgent prayer request!! Michael went to Miami June 20 for a mission trip. He was buried in the sand for fun and it has become our nightmare. Four of our people contracted a parasitic infection, hookworms, from the Pompano Beach. Michael has the worst case, by far. He has taken Clindamyacin, Ivermectin, a steroid dose pack, and Albenza which cost $1356 for 6 pills (yes that is with insurance and yes I had to pay it!). But you can get them for $0.30 per pill in Honduras. Thank you, FDA. We have been to the pediatrician 4 times, to a dermatologist and have a follow up appointment today. He is in pain and this is AWFUL. Never be buried in sand or allow your children to be either! I am only showing a few pictures because it is so disturbing. Please, please pray for him to heal. Also feel free to SHARE THIS POST AND WARN OTHERS. The Health Department in Pompano Beach said "Everyone knows to wear shoes on the beach because you can get parasites." I assured them everyone does NOT KNOW THAT!!"

Although some people may not experience symptoms with hookworms, the most common symptoms are itchy skin and rashes, according to the CDC. People with more severe infections may also have abdominal pain, diarrhea, a decreased appetite and weight loss, among other things.

To avoid potential infection, the CDC recommends "not to walk barefoot in areas where hookworm is common and where there may be human fecal contamination of the soil" or to ingest the soil. Montgomery, with the CDC, said that people should wear shoes on the beach and then sit on a towel. She said it's also important for pet owners to have their dogs and cats regularly dewormed.

Dumas told The Post on Wednesday she wants others to be aware of hookworms because "I don't want anyone else to go through what my son has been through."

"I'll never walk on the beach again without shoes," she said.

---

Video Embed Code

Video: Michael Dumas, 17, got hookworms when his friends buried him in the sand at a Florida beach on June 20.(Allie Caren/The Washington Post)

Embed code:Escalating global trade war could cut world GDP growth to 2.8% from 3.2% (by 0.4%), according to Fitch Ratings 2018 Global Economic Outlook baseline forecast.

According to the agency, the U.S., Canada and Mexico would be most affected by escalating trade tensions. Looking at the most vulnerable countries, Fitch sees GDP growth 0.7% below baseline forecast in 2019 for the U.S. and Canada, and 1.5% in Mexico, with GDP staying significantly below its baseline in 2020, Bloomberg reported.

Russia's economy may also be affected by trade wars, GDP growth of which may decline by 0.6% in 2018, and by 0.7% - in 2020.

Fitch said China would be less severely affected, with GDP growth about 0.3% below the baseline forecast, which however is not reflected in the market. Fitch also predicted that China would only be affected directly by U.S. protectionist measures.

EU countries may also almost not feel the consequences of trade conflicts: GDP growth of the EU may decline by 0.1% in 2019, and even increase by 0.1 in 2020.

Separately, even countries not directly involved in the trade war would see their GDP falling below baseline, with net commodity exporters would be more severely hit, while some net commodity importers would benefit from lower hard commodity prices.

In early June, Washington imposed 25% duties on imported steel and 10% on aluminum from Canada, Mexico and EU. These countries announced retaliatory measures against US tariffs. On June 22, the European Union started charging import duties of 25% on 2.8 billion euros worth of U.S. goods, including steel and aluminum products, farm produce such as sweetcorn and peanuts, bourbon, jeans and motor-bikes.

Chairman of the State Duma's Financial Market Committee, Anatoly Aksakov, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, explained that trade wars, involving higher duties on imported goods, will lead to a reduction in the supply of these goods to relevant markets, as the demand for more expensive goods, as well as the production, therefore, such decisions can indeed affect global GDP growth .

In addition, according to the expert, trade wars have already manifested themselves politically. "There is a tension between European countries and the US. Despite all the rhetoric about the unity of the West, we see that there are tensions between politicians. There is a certain tension between China and the US as well. It's not for nothing that trade wars is one of the key topics at the BRICS summit," he said.

Anatoly Aksakov complained that, despite the successful import substitution practice in Russia, it has received less attention recently. "We have a direction which we have to develop more seriously - in order to enter Western markets, for example, European ones, it is necessary to overcome serious non-tariff barriers. There are very strict technical conditions. In order to enter the Russian market, imported goods are offered very simple conditions. As a result they receive an opportunity to create problems for our producers, pushing them out of our market. To protect the domestic market it is necessary to introduce technical requirements, for example," the chairman of the State Duma's Financial Market Committee concluded.

The Chairman of the Board of the National Currency Association (NCA), Dmitry Piskulov, also warned that the escalation of trade wars into the world stage could cause a decline in global GDP. "According to the classical trade theory, countries with lower costs manufacture cheaper goods. They exchange goods with other countries that have lower costs in their turn. David Ricardo, on the example of England and Portugal, producing wool and wine, proved that countries are not able to produce everything themselves, if they trade, they receive a greater profit, because instead of increased costs, they have a higher consumption of those goods that they could not produce at home," he said.

"It means that world trade is indeed important. Therefore, fears of rating agencies are not groundless: if the existing friction develops into large-scale trade wars, it threatens to reduce global GDP, since countries will not be able to sell their products abroad. And if other countries try to produce it themselves, their costs will rise, and economic growth-rate will decline," the expert said.

According to Dmitry Piskulov, the drop in global GDP primarily threatens the growth of unemployment. The decline in global GDP, he said, will also lead to significant political consequences. "During trade wars countries start to regard each other as adversaries, that is, first, they try to receive more favorable economic tariffs or zero tariffs, and second, thy to impose protective tariffs on their products. Politically, it leads to a deterioration of relations," the chairman of the Board of the National Currency Association concluded.Harry S. Truman didn't start out as a champion of African Americans. In fact, his dramatic transformation from segregationist to civil rights advocate was nothing short of astonishing.

Truman's evolution - from a farm boy raised by Confederate sympathizers to U.S. president, who on July 26, 1948, signed the order to desegregate the armed forces - can be mapped through his letters and memoirs.

"I think one man is just as good as another so long as he's honest and decent and not a n-- or a Chinaman," Truman wrote in a June 22, 1911, love letter to his future wife, Bess Wallace. "Uncle Will says that the Lord made a white man from dust, a n-- from mud, and then threw what was left and it came down a Chinaman. He does hate Chinese and Japs. So do I. It is race prejudice I guess. But I am strongly of the opinion that negroes ought to be in Africa, yellow men in Asia, and white men in Europe and America."

When Truman was a U.S. Senator, he wrote a letter to his daughter, Margaret, on April 7, 1937, describing a dinner at the White House with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and referring to the black waitstaff with a derogatory name.

"They gave a real good meal at the taxpayers['] expense - tomato soup, fillet of flounder, roast turkey, string beans, pineapple salad, chocolate ice cream and cake, candy and little cafe noir afterwards," Truman wrote. "All these things were in courses, deftly placed and removed by an army of coons. I suggested to Mrs. [Sherman] Minton that these negroes were evidently the top of the black social set in Washington."

Two years later, in an Aug. 4, 1939, letter to his wife, Truman wrote from Washington: "Well this is n-- picnic day. But they don't have 'em like they did in days past. I remember once going to Washington Park with our washwoman to a Fourth of August celebration. I'll never forget it. Had chicken and catfish fried in corn meal and was it good!"

Born on May 8, 1884, nearly 20 years after the end of the Civil War, Truman grew up in a segregated town in the once pro-slavery Missouri. His grandparents on both sides were slave owners. His mother, Martha Ellen Young, hated President Abraham Lincoln, telling her son upon a visit to the White House many years later that she'd rather sleep on the floor than stay in the Lincoln Bedroom.

"Truman never completely rose above that heritage," Raymond Geselbracht, editor of the book, "The Civil Rights Legacy of Harry S. Truman," said during a 2010 speech.

"Despite this, he became the president of the United States who for the first time since the Reconstruction Period immediately following the Civil War committed the government of the United States to the realization of civil rights for African Americans," Geselbracht said.

When Truman signed Executive Order 9981 on July 26, 1948, he declared "there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin." That same day, he also signed an executive order to desegregate the federal workforce.

Truman would become "the first American President to proclaim the equality of blacks," according to the Truman Library and Museum in Independence, Missouri.

The orders show just how quickly Truman evolved on race issues, against a wave of political resistance from members of Congress from the South. His transformation would come as a result of political pressure from black voters - who had voted Republican until Roosevelt - and civil rights activists urging the president to address the rise in violence against black people.

The timing has particular significance.

"He does this in the Summer of 1948, just weeks before launching his reelection campaign," said Kurt Graham, director of the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. "Anybody today would lie low and ride it, get through the election and then do what they wanted to do. But Truman did the right thing even if it would cost him."

Truman, who never graduated from college, was an advocate for the underdog. "He knew what it was like to come from nowhere," Graham said.

When Truman became president in April 1945 after Roosevelt's death, Southern members of Congress were delighted, believing they had a president sympathetic to segregationists.

"On the funeral train carrying FDR's body, the Democratic senator from South Carolina Burnet Maybank assured a Southern friend, 'Everything's going to be all right - the new President knows how to handle the n--s,'" William E. Leuchtenburg wrote in "The Conversion of Harry Truman," for American Heritage magazine.

But Truman would soon defy the Southerners in his party.

Truman received a letter at the White House on July 18, 1946, from R.R. Wright, a black military officer, detailing an attack on Isaac Woodard, a black World War II veteran who was pulled off a bus in Batesburg, South Carolina, and beaten and blinded by the police chief months earlier.

Truman was particularly disturbed by the attack. "He referred to it often in public and private when justifying his support for civil rights," Kari Frederickson wrote in the book, "The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South, 1932-1968." Truman "had a special feeling for soldiers, and from that point on Truman took a different tack."

In 1948, Ernest Roberts, one of Truman's friends in Kansas City, wrote him a letter begging him to stop pushing an equal rights bill for black people.

Truman wrote a stern and brief reply on Aug. 18, 1948, "The main difficulty with the South is they are living eighty years behind the times and the sooner they come out of it the better it will be for the country and themselves. I am not asking for social equality, because no such thing exists, but I am asking for equality of opportunity for all human beings and, as long as I stay here, I am going to continue that fight."

Truman referred to a list of lynchings, including an attack on July 25, 1946, when two black veterans and their wives were pulled from a car near Monroe, Ga., and executed by a white mob.

"When the mob gangs can take four people out and shoot them in the back, and everybody in the country is acquainted with who did the shooting and nothing is done about it, that country is in pretty bad fix from a law enforcement standpoint.

"When a Mayor and City Marshal can take a negro Sergeant off a bus in South Carolina, beat him up and put out one of his eyes, and nothing is done about it by the State authorities, something is radically wrong with the system."

On Sept. 19, 1946, Truman met with the National Emergency Committee against Mob Violence, composed of civil rights, labor and religious leaders. During the meeting, NAACP Executive Secretary Walter White, who had gone undercover in the South to investigate lynchings, read a list of lynchings that had occurred across the country.

"My God!" Truman exclaimed. "I had no idea it was as terrible as that! We've got to do something."

A day later, Truman wrote to Attorney General Tom Clark about the attack.

Three months later, on Dec. 5, 1946, Truman issued an executive order he called "Freedom From Fear," which created the President's Committee on Civil Rights, tasked with analyzing the state of civil rights in the country, investigating mob violence and proposing legislation to protect civil rights.

Truman later wrote in "Memoirs by Harry S. Truman: Volume Two: Years of Trial and Hope" that he decided to appoint the civil rights committee "because of the repeated anti-minority incidents immediately after the war in which homes were invaded, property was destroyed, and a number of innocent lives were taken."

Several months later, Truman became the first U.S. president to address the NAACP. He knew his family wouldn't approve, but he wrote to his sister, Mary Jane Truman, that he believed in civil rights and would not be swayed.

"I've got to make a speech to the Society [sic] for the Advancement of Colored People tomorrow," Truman wrote. "Mamma won't like what I say because I wind up by quoting old Abe. But I believe what I say and I'm hopeful we may implement it."

On June 29, 1947, Truman stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and addressed the NAACP. A crowd of more than 3,000 gathered along the Reflecting Pool.

"As Americans," Truman said, "we believe that every man should be free to live his life as he wishes. He should be limited only by his responsibility to his fellow countrymen. If this freedom is to be more than a dream, each man must be guaranteed equality of opportunity. The only limit to an American's achievement should be his ability, his industry and his character."

Truman emphasized in the speech: "When I say all Americans, I mean all Americans."

When he sat down after the speech, according to the Geselbracht's book, Truman "showed absolutely no signs of fear of the impending firestorm that was certain to come quickly his way. White told the president he thought it was an excellent speech, and Truman assured him, "I said what I did because I mean every word of it - and I am going to prove that I do mean it.""I wanted to make sure, unlike most politicians, that what I said was correct. . . . When I make a statement, I like to be correct. I want the facts. . . . Before I make a statement, I need the facts." - President Donald Trump, Aug. 15, 2017

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At the Fact Checker, we have vetted many statements by President Trump - and maintain a running list of every false and misleading claim he has made since he took the oath of office. The president's factual errors on trade and tax policy are relatively easy to fact-check, as the data undercutting his claims can be easily obtained.

But there have been a number of instances in which the president or his surrogates have flatly denied something - only to have that denial contradicted weeks or months later by new documents or statements. Often, by then the media coverage has moved on to a new controversy.

The release of the tape recording between Trump and his former fixer, Michael Cohen, is only the most recent example of this dynamic. Here's a sampling of White House denials that eventually unraveled after new information was disclosed. Strikingly, these examples often involve situations that might place the president in legal jeopardy.

There are, of course, many other instances - such as denials that Trump considered firing special prosecutor Robert Mueller or why Trump fired FBI Director James Comey - but we kept this list to cases in which either the administration admitted or official records showed the initial denial was false.

--Trump knew nothing about Daniels, McDougal or payoffs

When the Wall Street Journal first reported just before the 2016 election that the company that owns the National Enquirer agreed to pay $150,000 to a former Playboy centerfold model for her story of an affair a decade ago with Trump - but did not publish it - Trump's spokeswoman Hope Hicks was quick to dismiss it. "We have no knowledge of any of this," she told the WSJ, adding that Karen McDougal's claim of an affair with Mr. Trump was "totally untrue."

Hicks's statements to the media were often dictated directly by Trump.

But that denial of knowing anything about the transaction was rendered false by the release July 24 by Cohen's attorney of a recording of a conversation two months before the election between Trump and Cohen, secretly made by Cohen.

"Um," Cohen says, "I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend, David," which is potentially a reference to David Pecker, president of American Media Inc., which owns the National Enquirer. Cohen mentions that he had "spoken to Allen Weisselberg [of the Trump Organization] about how to set the whole thing up" and Trump asks, "So, what do we got to pay for this? One-fifty?"

In other words, not only was Trump aware of the payment by AMI, he even knew the figure.

Similarly, when Trump in April was asked whether he knew about a $130,000 payment to pornographic film star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence, arranged by Cohen, the president denied any knowledge of it. (The WSJ also broke that story, which included this Cohen statement about whether Trump had an affair with Daniels: "President Trump once again vehemently denies any such occurrence.")

"No. No. What else?" Trump said in response to questions about the Daniels payment, saying that he did not know about it when it was made and that he did not know where Cohen got the money. "Well, you'll have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael is my attorney. And you'll have to ask Michael Cohen. . . . No, I don't know. No."

Cohen had also claimed he acted on his own. "In a private transaction in 2016, I used my own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford," Cohen said in February. "Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly."

But then in May, Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani admitted that Trump had reimbursed Cohen for the payout to Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.

"The payment was made to resolve a personal and false allegation in order to protect the president's family," Giuliani said. In a July interview, Giuliani sidestepped questions about whether Trump knew of the payment when it was made. "Even if he had, that would not necessarily be anything. . . . That's something you settle because you don't want your family to be embarrassed."

In other words, the initial denials were "fake news" - and the original reporting was correct.

--Trump had no role in Trump Jr.'s statement on Russia meeting

When the New York Times reported in July 2017 that the president son's had tried to obtain damaging information on Hillary Clinton from Russia during the campaign, the president's lawyer, Jay Sekulow, insisted that the president was unaware of the meeting and had no role in drafting his son's initial statement to the media.

That initial statement was misleading - falsely claiming that Trump's son and a Russian lawyer had "primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children" and that the subject of the meeting was "not a campaign issue at the time." Under pressure, Trump's son released a fuller, more accurate description, including emails.

"Let's focus on what the president was aware of: nothing," Sekulow told CNN. "I wasn't involved in the statement drafting at all nor was the president. I'm assuming that was between Mr. Donald Trump Jr. and his lawyers. I'm sure his lawyer was involved, that's how you do it. To put this on the president, I think, is absolutely incorrect."

The Times had reported that Trump "signed off" on the statement but Sekulow insisted: "Well, they're incorrect."

But then two weeks later, the White House story evolved, after The Washington Post reported that Trump had dictated the misleading statement. "The president weighed in as any father would, based on the limited information that he had," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said about Trump's involvement in the statement.

But even that was wrong.

In January, Trump's lawyers admitted in a memo to special counsel Mueller that Trump himself had dictated the statement issued by his son, a disclosure apparently forced because of documents obtained by Mueller's office: "You have received all of the notes, communications and testimony indicating that the President dictated a short but accurate response to the New York Times article on behalf of his son, Donald Trump, Jr."

So again, the initial reporting was correct, despite all of the denials.

--Michael Flynn did not discuss sanctions with the Russians

Before Trump took office, The Post's David Ignatius reported on Jan. 12, 2017, that incoming national security adviser Michael T. Flynn had spoken to the Russian ambassador around the time the Obama administration imposed sanctions on Russia for interfering in the 2016 presidential campaign. The Russian government's response was muted, and Ignatius asked: "What did Flynn say, and did it undercut the U.S. sanctions?"

The next day, incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer, in a conference call with reporters, denied that sanctions were discussed. Other Trump administration officials made similar claims.

But then on Feb. 9, The Post reported that Flynn had discussed sanctions in the phone calls. Flynn initially denied that he had discussed sanctions in an interview with The Post, but then amended his comment. He "indicated that while he had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn't be certain that the topic never came up." Flynn was fired within days.

Trump then denied at a news conference that he had directed Flynn to discuss sanctions with the Russian ambassador and denied that other officials had been involved as well. "I saw a couple of the people that were supposedly involved with all of this, they know nothing, anything about it. They never received a phone call from Russia. It's all fake news. It's all fake news," he said.

But when Flynn pleaded guilty to misleading the FBI in December, the criminal information made it clear that other Trump transition team members were involved in the discussion about what to tell the Russians about the sanctions. The document described how Flynn discussed with another official what to say on the call, noting that Trump officials did not want Russia to escalate the situation, and that he then reported back to senior members of the transition team about the positive response from Russia.

In other words, the president's denial that other officials were involved was false.

--Trump did not give classified information to Russia

After The Post reported that Trump had revealed highly classified information to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador in a White House meeting in May 2017, the then-national security adviser issued a statement saying, "The story that came out tonight as reported is false."

But the next morning, Trump tweeted that he had an "absolute right" to disclose such information to the Russians.

Trump tweeted "As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining. . ..

". . .to terrorism and airline flight safety. Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism."

Then, after NBC News reported that Israel was the source of the intelligence, Trump appeared to confirm that as well during a visit to Israel: "Folks, folks, just so you understand, just so you understand, I never mentioned the word or the name Israel during that conversation" with the Russians, he told reporters.

Before Trump's comment, officials had never confirmed on the record that the source was Israel.ISTANBUL - The powerful commander of Iran's special forces warned the United States on Thursday to halt threats of military action against Tehran, raising the stakes in an already fiery exchange between U.S. and Iranian leaders this week.

The combative message from Gen. Qasem Soleimani, chief of the Revolutionary Guard's elite Quds force, also suggested that Iran's leadership is willing to stoke tensions with the Trump administration as part of Tehran's efforts to project wider regional influence.

Soleimani said President Donald Trump would regret waging a war that would "destroy all that he owns."

"You may begin the war, but it us who will end it," Soleimani said in a speech in the central city of Hamedan, Iran's Tasnim News Agency reported.

He also said that the Red Sea, a critical waterway linking the Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean basin, was "no longer secure" with U.S. military assets stationed in the area.

Iran has often denounced the U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf, including the Navy's 5th Fleet headquarters in Bahrain. But Soleimani's reference to the Red Sea reflects an expanded regional reach for what Iran considers within its military sphere.

Soleimani - a shadowy commander who has waged proxy wars in Iraq and Syria, including against U.S. troops - stopped short of issuing any concrete threats against U.S. forces.

But his remarks came just one day after Saudi Arabia announced it was suspending oil shipments in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea, because of what authorities said was a missile attack on two Saudi oil tankers by Iranian-allied rebels in Yemen.

The war in Yemen has been a theater for spiking tensions between Iran and the United States. The Trump administration and its ally Saudi Arabia have accused Iran of providing weapons, including ballistic missiles, and other support to the Houthis, a rebel group that seized control of Yemen's capital four years ago.

But the hostile words from one of Iran's most influential generals suggest heightened tensions and come amid a particularly sharp escalation in rhetoric on both sides.

This week, Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani traded barbs that culminated in Trump firing off a tweet in all capital letters threatening Iran with "CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE."

The Iranian commander "knows he has a range of indirect options to needle U.S. interests across the region," Tobias Schneider, a Middle East analyst at the Berlin-based Global Public Policy Institute, wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

Soleimani's options, he said, include threatening U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, stepping up missile attacks on Saudi cities, and disrupting regional shipping lanes.

Iranian military officials have suggested recently that they could block the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for a third of the world's oil shipments, should U.S. sanctions prevent Iran from exporting its own oil.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have also previously threatened to block the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in retaliation for Saudi-led military offensives. And on Wednesday, the Houthis claimed the attack on the Saudi oil tankers in the strait, but said the movement had targeted a Saudi warship called the Dammam, according to an article on the website of the Houthi-run Al Masirah news channel.

One of the ships "sustained minimal damage," a statement from Aramco, the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, said.

The Saudi energy ministry said Thursday that the country was temporarily halting the shipments "until the situation becomes clearer" and maritime transit "is safe," according to a statement from the Saudi-led military coalition operating in Yemen.RAQAH, Yemen - The ground where the wedding tent once stood was covered with children's slippers, broken musical instruments, pieces of festive clothing and other detritus of destroyed lives. Teeth, still attached to the jawbone, lay near some tattered decorations.

"There is even some flesh left," said Elan Yahya, the bride's father, pointing at blackened shards hanging from a tree branch.

An airstrike hit the wedding in this remote mountain village on April 23, killing 22 civilians including eight children, and injuring dozens, according to interviews with 17 villagers in late May. More than three years into Yemen's civil war, over 16,000 civilians have been killed and injured, the vast majority by airstrikes, the U.N. human rights office estimates, adding that the figures are likely to be far higher. The deaths are continuing unabated, with as many as hundreds of casualties per month, despite assurances by a U.S.-backed regional coalition to better protect civilians amid mounting criticism within the United States and the international community.

That coalition, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, is backing Yemen's exiled government in its conflict against rebels known as the Houthis, who dominate the capital and the north. The United States is playing an essential role in the war, supporting the coalition with intelligence, refueling, technical assistance, and billions of dollars in bombs and other weaponry.

The coalition is the only actor in the conflict that uses war planes, mostly American- and British-made fighter jets. The airstrikes have struck hospitals, schools, markets, motels, migrant boats, gas stations, even funeral gatherings, raising questions about the coalition's ability to abide by humanitarian laws that calls for civilians to be safeguarded.

A month after the airstrike in Raqah, the destruction on the ground remained eerily preserved. The lives of the survivors, however, had been forever altered.

"We lost our minds that day," said Amna Yahya, the groom's mother. "I still can't comprehend what happened. Why us?"

The growing civilian casualties across Yemen have led to widespread denouncement of the U.S. role and calls in Congress to halt or regulate American weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, a close U.S. ally in the Middle East. Despite the concern, President Donald Trump announced $110 billion in new arms sales last year to the kingdom, weapons that most analysts expect will be used in Yemen.

In the hours following the airstrike in Raqah, local media published photos, provided by the Houthis, showing the bomb was a GBU-12 Paveway II precision-guided bomb, manufactured by Raytheon, the Massachusetts-based defense contractor, according to Bellingcat, an investigative website. The Washington Post could not independently verify whether the bomb was used in the attack.

But visits to other bombed sites by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch confirm that American-made munitions, including banned cluster bombs and Paveway bombs, have been used in attacks that have killed and injured civilians. The Post saw remnants of U.S.-made bombs in the capital, Sanaa, and in the southwestern city of Taiz.

After the Senate narrowly approved a $510 million first installment of precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia last June, the kingdom said it would launch a training program to reduce accidental targeting of civilians. But in the year since that announcement, civilian deaths were 7 percent more than the year prior, U.N. data shows. In April alone, there were 236 civilians killed and 238 injured - the deadliest month this year so far.

A U.N. report last month found 1,316 Yemeni children were killed or injured last year, and that more than half of the casualties resulted from airstrikes.

A Saudi government official disputed the U.N. figures and said the coalition is "implementing the highest standard measures to prevent civilian casualties," including "continuous training" of its staff and efforts to improve rules of engagement. The attack on Raqah was still under internal investigation, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity.

Human rights activists welcome such efforts but say the coalition's probing of the aftermath of airstrikes remains hollow. "There is no genuine follow-up on their international human rights obligations and their commitment to respecting humanitarian laws," said Rasha Mohamed, Yemen researcher for Amnesty International.

Raytheon spokesman Michael Doble said the company does not comment "on the military actions of our allies or customers." Its sales of munitions to Saudi Arabia, he said, were reviewed and approved by Congress, the Pentagon and the State Department, and so "reflect the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States government and are in compliance with U.S. law."

In a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in March, Gen. Joseph Votel, the head of the Pentagon's Central Command, said the U.S. military does not track coalition missions using U.S.-refueled warplanes and cannot determine whether the aircraft or U.S. munitions were involved in airstrikes that have killed civilians.

Raqah is in a rugged region in the northern Yemeni province of Hajjah. The sprawling village of about 700 residents is about a three-hour drive from the provincial capital, a place so remote that to reach it requires crossing dry river beds and driving up goat paths.

The civil war that emerged from the political chaos that followed the 2011 Arab Spring revolts hardly touched the villagers, mostly farmers and herders. Many supported former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was ousted in 2012. But even after the Houthis swept into Sanaa and pushed out the internationally recognized government, the conflict never came to their area, villagers said.

They said they would often see and hear war planes and unmanned drones fly above their huts, but they never felt threatened. They had nothing to do, they said, with the Shiite Houthis or Iran, which is backing the rebels. The Sunni Muslim coalition entered the war to prevent Tehran from gaining a regional foothold through Yemen.

"There are no Houthis here," said Yahya Ahmed, a villager whose nephew was killed in the airstrike. "Did you see any checkpoints in our area?"

Across northern Yemen, rebel checkpoints are ubiquitous. But in and around Raqah, there were none. Nor were there were any visible signs of military activity. Villagers said there were no military bases in the area and none of their men were fighting with the rebels.

The only time they had seen rebels in recent memory was the morning after the airstrike, when some Houthis officials arrived to assess the damage.

"We refused to join the Houthis," said Mohammed Yahya, the groom's uncle. "One side says, 'God is Great.' The other side says, 'God is Great.' We don't know who is right."

The wedding of Yahya Jaffer and his bride, Fatma, began auspiciously enough. They were both 20 years old, both from the al-Musabi tribe. Like their parents and grandparents, they were marrying within their community. They are cousins.

The families had spent much of their savings on the wedding. A large white tent was erected in front of their home. More than 150 guests drank soft drinks and water and feasted on lamb and other delicacies. A group of local folkloric dancers and musicians entertained, according to the recollections of villagers present at the event.

Many villagers said they heard two planes circling above their homes throughout that day, as well as just before the attack.

"An hour later, one of them hit us," Amna Yahya said.

It was shortly after 10 p.m. By then, most parents and the elderly had left the wedding. The youth clapped to the rhythm of drums and lutes. Some sang, others chanted, as the dancers skipped and leaped in celebration. Then, a thunderous sound.

"I saw a flash of red, and I lost consciousness," Jaffer recalled. "When I woke up, I heard people screaming in pain. People had lost arms and legs. There was blood everywhere."

Those who could searched through the rubble for survivors, pulling them to safety. Others struggled to find the dead: Most were coated by ash or torn into pieces.

The only way Aitan Suwaed said he recognized his 17-year-old son, Hamdi, was "from his clothes, the parts that weren't burnt."

The 22 fatalities included 12 of the dancers, four musicians and six villagers, including one who played the lute. Most of the children killed were in the dance troupe.

The dancers all belonged to the Muhamasheen, Yemen's most marginalized ethnic group. Performing at weddings was among the few jobs they could find.

For 10 of them, only pieces of their bodies were found, so they are buried in two mass graves. "It's all my family," said Ahmed Rifaei, 37, a dancer who survived.

The living, too, are in bad shape.

Some of Raqah's residents have lost their hearing. Children have lost limbs, while others carry shrapnel from the missile inside their bodies. The nearest hospital is in the provincial capital, and most villagers cannot afford the three-hour journey.

Yahya Ahmed not only lost his nephew. His wife, Noora, was four months pregnant. When she heard the bombing, she started screaming uncontrollably. The next morning, she had a miscarriage, he said.

Other women and children in the village report having nightmares where they relive the bombing. One woman was in such shock that she feared leaving her bed. Whenever she needed to go to the bathroom, her relatives carried her. Other villagers said they now sleep outside their houses at night out of concern their homes would be targeted by airstrikes.

"What happened to us, happened to everyone in the village," said Amna Yahya. "Everyone is full of fear."

Many are also filled with anger, not just at the Saudi-led coalition, but at the United States. "If it wasn't for the American aircraft, Saudi Arabia would never strike Yemen," said Mohammed Yahya, the groom's uncle. "America gives them weapons, and the Saudis hit us."

Some villagers have fled to other areas rather than risk being targeted by another airstrike. But the vast majority don't have that option, including the bride and groom. With their family house destroyed, Jaffer and Allam live in their animal shed, next to cows and goats, their abode reeking of hay and animal urine. They are married in principle but not legally: They can no longer afford to pay for their wedding certificate. So it hasn't been signed by the local marriage official.

On a chair in the shed is the white traditional Yemeni robe that Jaffer wore at his wedding. It is now bloodstained. He has no intention of cleaning it.

"I will keep this to always remember what happened," he said.

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Video: The Post visited Raqah, a remote village in northern Yemen, around a month after it was hit by an airstrike on April 22. The missiles that landed on a wedding party left residents wondering, "Why us?"(Sudarsan Raghavan,Lorenzo Tugnoli,Joyce Lee/The Washington Post)

Embed code:Charges flew at the County Courthouse on Wednesday after a planned presentation to a war veteran and to Criminal Court Clerk Vince Dean got moved outside the County Commission chambers.

A group led by Rep. (and Register of Deeds candidate) Marc Gravitt arrived at the courthouse with a number of family members to honor USS Indianapolis survivor "Kayo" Erwin and Mr. Dean.

Rep. Gravitt said a section of Ringgold Road was named in honor of Kayo Erwin, who died last month. He also said the Exit 1 Interchange at East Ridge was being named in honor of Vince Dean, former East Ridge mayor and state representative. He was outfitted with signs that will be erected in their honor.

However, Rep. Gravitt said he was told just before the start of the commission meeting that the presentations would not be allowed because he had not gone through Chairman Randy Fairbanks.

There was a heated exchange at the dais between Rep. Gravitt and several commission members, including Tim Boyd of East Ridge, shortly before the start of the meeting.

The Gravitt group finally went outside and had the ceremony there on the fourth floor.

Rep. Gravitt said, "I am deeply appalled that these families got drug into this and that this got turned into a political stunt."

He said Mr. Dean had served the community for 50 years and had helped obtain the land where Bass Pro Shop and other businesses have located. He said he helped make the interchange improvement possible.

He said Kayo Erwin survived in shark-infested waters for days and was an American hero.

Vice Chairman Sabrena Smedley said she spotted Esther Helton, who is running for the vacated Gravitt House seat, with Rep. Gravitt, and she told him she was going to call Ms. Helton's GOP opponent, Jonathan Mason, to come to the meeting. Mr. Mason showed up a short time later. Commissioner Smedley said she wound up not calling Mr. Mason, but he was alerted by a text from Commissioner Boyd.

She called the appearance by the Gravitt group "a last-minute stunt to get media attention for Esther Helton. They're playing politics."

Commissioner Smedley said, "This was all about East Ridge, and any ceremony should have been held out there. I don't know why Esther Helton was the only one from East Ridge up here."

Chairman Fairbanks said he had no idea the group was coming until he was notified just before the start of the meeting. He said, "We have a procedure that we go by on delegations and it involves notifying the commission office ahead and having it checked out by them and the commission chairman. Bottom line, this is the way we treat everyone.

"Otherwise, anybody could just walk in here at the last minute and we couldn't control the meeting."

He added, "It was so unfair that this veteran and his family ever got brought into this."

Rep. Gravitt said he had checked with County Mayor Jim Coppinger a couple of weeks earlier, telling him the group was coming. He said that morning "I apologized to Chairman Fairbanks five times for not going through him," but was still told he could not speak.

He said all five members of the East Ridge City Council as well as the city manager were invited, but only Ms. Helton chose to attend or was available.

Rep. Gravitt said Mr. Dean is going in for a medical procedure and would not be available for some time afterward. He said this was the best time for the Erwin family to be present.

Mr. Dean called the commission members "small-minded" for not letting the presentation go forward. He said part of the reason was an ongoing feud he has had with Commissioner Boyd.

Commissioner Boyd said, "The East Ridge group needed to go through proper protocol to get on the agenda, especially during a very contested campaign season. Gravitt nor Dean ever contacted any commissioner or the chairman about this matter to ask if they could make a presentation. Dean and Gravitt have many years of service as public officials, and they should know better. Shame on both Gravitt and Dean for taking a noble occasion and politicizing it for a candidate running scared and needing a photo op with Mayor Coppinger.

"It should also be noted that it is obvious the County Commissioner representing the district where the section of the dedicated road is located was never contacted. This in itself is very disrespectful of both Gravitt and Dean."

Commissioner Greg Beck said all members of the commission agreed that the group had not followed protocol and should not be allowed to speak.

County Mayor Coppinger went outside with the group and stayed for the short ceremony. He also spoke to the families involved.

Rev. Mitch McClure, a former commissioner, said, "The Erwin Family is part of the congregation we serve in Middle Valley. I had been asked to attend the Agenda Session in support of a presentation honoring Louis H. Erwin, Sr., a survivor of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. After learning of this presentation, I contacted my County Commissioner Greg Martin to see if I could offer the prayer and was told another minister had already been confirmed and would be praying. Commissioner Martin conveyed this information to me and no expectation existed. I know the protocol for public prayers. I served on the Board of Commissioners when we were sued and help construct the new guidelines. This should resolve the matter about me praying. Done and finished.

"In relation to the confusion about adding an item to the Board of Commissioners Agenda, it has been a long standing procedure for these items to be done well in advance of the session. Apparently this was not accomplished. Again, the matter could not be discussed. A protocol exists for a purpose: order. The lack of order results in chaos. Done and finished.







"As to politics in this situation, it is an election cycle. What more do we need to say?





"I hope this covers any thoughts that I was offended in any way. I had no expectation of praying because the proper procedure had been followed."Texas Department of Public Safety Sex Offender Registry

A high-risk sex offender remains wanted after failing to report to a Houston halfway house, according to a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Jerry Don Seib, 53, violated terms of his parole by failing to report to the halfway house off of U.S. 90 in northeast Houston.Forgive me.

Those were the first words Sandra Elizabeth Sanchez told her daughter when they reunited after being separated for more than a month.

Forgive me because I didnt know what was coming, she told her daughter. I didnt want you to suffer. That wasnt my intention.

Sanchez still gripped the wrinkled, tear-stained napkin immigration officials had given her just before she reunited with her 15-year-old daughter Thursday morning at Catholic Charities of San Antonio.

They arrived in the wee hours of the morning on the day of the court-mandated deadline for reunifying all families that had been separated under President Donald Trumps zero-tolerance policy.

Related: RAICES launches hotline to help reunite immigrant families

As of Tuesday evening, 61 percent, or 1,012, of eligible parents had been reunited with their children in the past few weeks. That left the government about 48 hours to reunite the remaining 39 percent.

Of the 382 parents represented by the Texas Civil Rights Project, 73 have been reunited and released and 26 reunited but held in family detention facilities as of Thursday. At least six parents had been deported without their children, and 202 have left ICE custody but the groups lawyers dont know of their whereabouts.

As of Wednesday night, Catholic Charities of San Antonio had helped a total of 53 recently reunified families, with a handful more arriving overnight.

In McAllen, more than 450 families had been reunited by Wednesday night, with more than 50 family members arriving at San Pedro Cathedral overnight.

Neither location had been given a heads up of how many immigrants to expect Thursday, which both said was unusual. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials had been notifying them each morning of how many families to expect that day since the reunification process had begun.

The Texas nonprofits dont know how many families will walk through their doors today.

Democratic lawmakers were hopeful, but skeptical, that the reunifications of the 2,551 separated children would occur on time. The government was two days late in meeting the previous deadline of July 10, which was for children under 5 years old. And that was after deeming that only about half of the identified 103 separated children were eligible for reunification.

San Antonio was selected as one of four reunification hubs, with the others being McAllen, El Paso and Phoenix.

Related: Catholic Charities kicks into high gear for immigrant families

Many families arriving in San Antonio were reunited in vans just outside the Pearsall detention center.

Sanchez said she and her had come to the United States, following the steps of her son and another daughter, in order to escape from the violence and bad people in her home country of Honduras.

She crossed the border June 18, just three days after her daughters 15th birthday. She said they had bought a little birthday pastelito for her during their journey through Mexico.

They were separated immediately after they were apprehended in Eagle Pass, about 140 miles southwest of San Antonio, she said.

The mother and daughter were unable to communicate during that time, she said. Her 15-year-old, Christhel Nohelia Barahona Sanchez, was at Casa Presidente in Brownsville. Sanchez was transferred from Val Verde Detention Facility to one or two other detention centers before arriving at the South Texas Detention Center in Pearsall, about 55 miles away from San Antonio..

I suffered so much, Sanchez said, tears streaming down her face. I just kept waiting for the day to see my daughter again.

Sanchez and her daughter dont have a lawyer, and she said she hadnt had her credible fear interview, one of the first steps in the process to seeking political asylum in the United States.

Now theyre headed to Washington, where her older daughter and three grandchildren live.

Im so happy, Sanchez said. Now that I have her.

Silvia Foster-Frau is a staff writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | sfosterfrau@express-news.net | Twitter: @SilviaElenaFFU.S. operation of the International Space Station would extend to 2030 under a proposal introduced Thursday by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas who has called the Trump administration's plan to end federal funding for the station by 2025 "foolish."

The measure, called the Space Frontier Act, would continue "our leadership in space by maximizing our utilization and operation of the International Space Station," said Cruz, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness, in a Thursday statement.

U.S. Sens. Bill Nelson, a Democrat from Florida, and Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, are bill co-sponsors.

SAVING THE CORAL REEFS: Researchers race against the clock to restore vital ecosystems in this HoustonChronicle.com report

Federal funding for the 20-year-old space station currently is scheduled to end after 2024, but Congress can extend that date, and has in the past. President Donald Trump's $19.9 billion budget for NASA in the coming year, however, would eliminate federal funding for the space station by the end of 2024, transitioning operations to commercial entities.

His budget still must be approved by Congress, but Congressional leaders, including Cruz, have questioned this suggestion, calling the idea "foolish" and the date "arbitrary."

They fear that commercial companies will not be able to step up to fill the government's funding role. Just in fiscal year 2017, NASA spent $1.45 billion on the space station  and that does not count costs to transport astronauts and supplies there.

"We cannot afford to allow funding for the space station to crater in 2025," Markey said at a June Congressional hearing. "What we need is a nuanced transition plan for the next great space age that reflects the commercial market and the space community. That's not what this administration put forward."

NASA officials already have said that the space station can safely remain operational until at least 2028.

The space station acts as a science laboratory in the stars, allowing researchers to study myriad problems in a zero-gravity environment. Already, these studies are showing promise for solving problems, such as muscle atrophy, on Earth.

CHASING ORION: NASAs Orion spacecraft test module for moon launch system passes flight simulations

Cynthia Bouthot, with the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, said in June that companies already are getting nervous about the mere suggestion that federal funding may end. The Florida-based center manages the space station's lab.

"We already have anecdotal evidence from companies that once they heard the 2025 date, they really started pulling back and questioning," she said.

The full bill text can be found here.

"This bill is a great step forward in providing certainty and a firmer launchpad for our commercial space industry," Markey said in a statement Thursday. "This industry is booming, and our legislation will help it achieve new heights and protect small businesses and the scientific research that benefits all Americans through innovation and discovery."

Alex Stuckey covers NASA and the environment for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her at alex.stuckey@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey.South San ISD is changing for the better.

As an active observer who has been critical of past leadership decisions, I see evidence of a brighter future. But we have much further to go for our students, teachers and community; thats why Ill be voting yes in the schools tax election on Aug. 14.

My decision would not have been the same in 2014.

Four superintendents in three years and school board infighting forced me to ask the state to step in that year. I was tired of running into South San graduates who told me the negative headlines overshadowed the work of our amazing students, teachers, principals, cafeteria workers, bus drivers and the many others committed to our districts success.

They wanted to believe positive change was coming.

After getting involved more than four years ago, I can see it.

Today, six of the seven 2014 board members are no longer there. One superintendent has served the district for the past four years. This year, the Texas Education Agency removed the mandated monitor after necessary administrative and board changes were made.

Currently, South San has no campuses rated as improvement required. It has the highest percentage of campuses receiving academic distinctions from the TEA among all San Antonio-area school districts. Students can now graduate with a high school diploma and up to 60 hours of free college credit in collaboration with Palo Alto College.

As a former South San student, I know the transformative power of an education, but I also know the challenges our students face when they fall through the cracks of an underfunded public education system.

Since the state of Texas cut its share of funding for public schools over the past 10 years, the district continues to struggle to pay teachers competitive wages and increase the quality of programs to better support our students. South San is not unique; all Bexar County school districts have asked their community to support a tax election. Unfortunately, without new state leaders  who control education funding  no one is coming to save our schools.

Its up to local communities; its up to us.

The South San reputation is improving, but that alone won't support our schools. A 13 cent increase would generate about $6.4 million, and homeowners older than 65 would not be affected.

South San would use the revenue to retain talented teachers, who are often attracted to wealthier school districts with more pay, and help avoid the heartbreak of closing schools due to budget shortfalls and declining enrollment.

Without the increase, our students may lose access to mental health counselors and social workers.

In spite of the constant challenges faced by students outside the classroom, I have seen our teachers help students overcome setbacks and adversities with grit and resilience. Lets not ask our teachers and schools to continue the fight with one hand tied behind their back.

Early voting begins Monday at South San High School. A vote in favor of the school districts tax election is an investment in the lives of our students and teachers. We need to support our schools with more than just our good intentions.

Rey Saldana represents San Antonio City Council District 4.It was a historic occasion in Lanesboro on two fronts at the weekend when a brand new national initiative was launched there by the Minister for Communications, Climate Change & the Environment Denis Naughten TD.

The initiative saw free WiFi launched in the Shannonside town and is the first of its kind to be rolled out in Ireland.

VEI Ltd announced the successful installation of WiFi on Saturday where a large crowd gathered for the event.

It was a great experience and privilege to work with the local council and Cllr Mark Casey on this initiative and it is something we are looking forward to rolling out in other towns across the country, Colm Redmond, Business Development Executive, VEI Ltd told those gathered, before pointing out that while other companies had endeavoured to install town WiFi, nothing would compare to the service VEI would provide.

What we have done is installed a complete free WiFi and interactive digital signage; this is huge.

The only other place to have this kind of facility is New York.

Meanwhile, Cllr Mark Casey added, VEI are a huge company and Lanesboro is now the first town in Ireland to have this to call upon.

This is absolutely huge for tourism, for information, for young people and for everyone who enters the town; it's a game-changer for Lanesboro and my plan is to roll it out in Ballymahon.

The local area representative in Lanesboro went on to encourage users to upload pictures, write reviews and generally comment across all Social Media options including Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram about their time spent in Lanesboro and their experience of the wonderful amenities there.

Cathaoirleach Cllr Luie McEntire then said this latest initiative indicated the progressive and forward-thinking town that Lanesboro is.

You have embraced technology, he said, before pointing to the fact that the free town WiFi would also assist in addressing the so-called digital divide.

You are creating opportunities for those who might not otherwise be able to have internet access at home; it is also promoting and supporting tourism as free WiFi services in an area is seen as a vital link for tourism.

We in Longford Co Council are striving to have a central and connected digital Longford and are committed to providing all our citizens with equal access to the opportunities of a digital world.

Visitors, the local community and tourists can also download the TownApp  www.townapp.ie - available on Andriod/iOS - which also promotes local businesses including restaurants, accommodation, bars, hair salons, butchers, newsagents, supermarket, etc.Sports & Recreation, Local News, Business & Finance

By Long Island News & PR Published: July 26 2018

DEC and AG Submit Comments and Call on U.S. Commerce Secretary to Support New York's Petition for Equitable Distribution of Fluke.

Albany, NY - July 26, 2018 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood today submitted comments to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and demanded that the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, and Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council repeal and replace the unfair state-by-state allocation of the annual commercial quota for summer flounder, also known as fluke. The need for equitable distribution of fluke is critically important to New York's fishing industry and the state's overall ocean economy.

"New York's commercial fishing industry has been constrained by unfair federal regulations, limiting the amount of fish commercial fishermen and women can catch and damaging our state's economy," Governor Cuomo said. "It's far past time for these inequities to be addressed, and our petition is clear: New York must be put on equitable footing with other East Coast states in order for this valuable industry to reach its full potential."

"Relying on decades-old data to allocate states' fluke quota is unfair and unreasonable, and causes direct harm to New York's commercial fishing industry," said Attorney General Underwood. "Federal law requires the share of the commercial summer flounder fishery to be determined by the best available science. We will pursue all available legal options if the federal government does not address these inequities."

In March, Governor Cuomo and the Attorney General jointly filed a petition with the federal government demanding that New York's commercial fluke allocation be increased because the current allocations are unfair to New York, not based on current data, and violate the Magnuson-Stevens Act. In response, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service published notice of New York's petition in the Federal Register on July 10, 2018 and invited public comment until July 25, 2018.

Today, Governor Cuomo directed DEC and AG Underwood to submit a letter to the federal agencies in support of the state's petition, and to point out and clarify that none of the commercial allocation options currently being considered by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council will provide New York with a fair allocation for summer flounder. Despite strong objections from New York's representatives, the Council voted to proceed with a draft amendment that does not include options that are fair to New York fishermen and women, and is therefore not compliant with the Magnuson-Stevens Act.

If the federal government does not make the change to a more equitable distribution of quotas, the state will pursue all available legal options to obtain an equitable share of the fishery.

"Through the Governor's leadership, we are fighting hard for our important commercial fishing families and we will not stop until we secure a decision making system that is based in science and does not put New York at a competitive disadvantage," said DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos. "While the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council continues to ignore our call, we urge the federal government to act quickly on this petition and ensure an equitable quota system for all states."

Currently, commercial fishing quotas are based on data collected during the 1980s and allow for more landings in southern ports. While New York is allowed just 7.65 percent of the total coast wide commercial landings quota for summer flounder, North Carolina and Virginia receive nearly 50 percent and New Jersey and Rhode Island get 17 percent and 16 percent, respectively.Local News, Crime

By Chris Boyle Published: July 26 2018

Reports: Majority of those arrested had been previously removed from the United States and returned illegally.

Long Island, NY - July 26, 2018 - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that multiple arrests have been made over the course of a recent 5-day Enforcement and Removal Operation (ERO) conducted throughout Long Island and New York City. The ERO, which concluded on July 20, resulted in 65 arrests for violations of United States immigration laws, according to reports.

Of the 65 arrests that were made, ICE officials say, 64 of them were individuals that had been previously detained and deported from the country, only to return illegally; in addition, 29 had active detainers - an ICE request that local law enforcement detain an individual for an additional period after their release date - after having been released from the custody of law enforcement, and several possessed records of felony arrests for sexual offences, weapons possession, and assault, as well as numerous misdemeanor charges.

Thomas R. Decker, field office director for ICEs ERO New York operation, said that the officers under his watch are dedicated to enforcing immigration law in this country and keeping the populace safe, despite mounting criticism from some corners over the alleged heavy-handed tactics that ICE employs; reports, Decker noted, that often portray his officers in an unfair light.

In this operation 64 of the 65 arrested had already been removed from this country, and the majority have either criminal convictions or pending criminal charges, he said. The fact is that ICE in New York continues to enforce immigration laws as they have always done, targeting criminal aliens and removing them from our streets. The rhetoric is copious, blurring the lines of fact versus fiction. But despite all the criticism, our officers continue to work daily with professionalism and integrity, enforcing the law as set forth by Congress.

Among the arrests made during the recent ERO conducted in Long Island and NYC include:

A 41 year-old Mexican national who had already been deported six times previously, and at the time of his arrest had been released by the NYPD with an active retainer. The individual had previous convictions for crimes including criminal mischief, DWI, identity theft, resisting arrest, larceny, and illegal reentry after removal.

A 48 year-old Jamaican national with a criminal record including cocaine and weapons possession, who had re-entered the country illegally after being deported.

A 31 year-old Mexican national wanted in his country of origin for fraud and free at the time of his arrest by ICE agents after released by the NYPD with an active retainer.

A 42 year-old Jamaican national with a criminal record that includes convictions for possession of marijuana with intent to sell and menacing; he was previously released by the NYPD with an active retainer.

A 56 year-old Colombian national with convictions for cocaine trafficking; he was previously released by the NYPD with an active retainer.

A 31 year-old Salvadoran national who had been previously deported and returned to U.S. illegally, with convictions for forcible touching and petit larceny.

A 49 year-old Jamaican national who had been previously deported and returned to U.S. illegally, with convictions for identity theft and passport fraud.

A 35 year-old Salvadoran national who had been previously deported and returned to U.S. illegally, with an active detainer after having been twice released by the NYPD. The subject has several convictions for sexual abuse.

Among the 65 arrests made as part of the ERO, several were apprehended in both Suffolk and Nassau Counties, officials say. Six of the 65 arrested are being prosecuted criminally in U.S District Court, with an additional three being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorneys Office. 48 of those arrested have prior criminal records or charges currently pending, and 29 were previously released from local law enforcement on an active detainer, authorities say.

Due to the threat that some of these individuals pose to the community, ICE officials said, their agents have little recourse but to conduct operations in neighborhoods and places of work, targeting known illegal immigrants and possible felons; this parth is taken for the sake of immediacy, as opposed to focusing on options that are safer for ICE agents, such as apprehending subjects who are already currently incarcerated. Unfortunately, these tactics, while necessary for public safety, may nonetheless occasionally result in some collateral arrests of non-criminal elements, ICE said; an unfortunate side-effect of enforcement efforts that some politicians and community members decry, as when immigrant Pablo Villavicencio Calderon was recently detained by ICE agents while working as a pizza delivery man and held in custody for over 50 days before being released to his family.Local News, Crime

By Long Island News & PR Published: July 26 2018

Peash Rahman, 24, lead police on a high-speed chase that ended on the front lawn of a Wantagh residence, cops say.

Wantagh, NY - July 26, 2018 - On Wednesday, 25 July, at approximately 1:45 PM, a Trooper was stationary on the On Wednesday, 25 July, at approximately 1:45 PM, a Trooper was stationary on the Southern State Parkway on the ramp to RT-110. While stationary with the LPRs activated, the Trooper received a Hit Notification on a black 2017 Nissan Altima, NY REG- HUY9111. The hit was for unregistered/revoked registration for no insurance on file.

The Trooper followed the vehicle and activated the emergency lights to make a traffic stop near exit 29 on the Southern State Parkway. The operator moved to the right lane and exited to State Route 135 northbound exit ramp and pulled onto the shoulder. As the Trooper approached the vehicle, the operator fled from the scene.

The Trooper returned to his vehicle and advised SP Farmingdale Communications of a pursuit. The vehicle continued to travel north on State Route 135 and exited at State Route 107 and continued southbound. The operator then entered the Southern State Parkway heading westbound and continued to exit 28N (Wantagh Avenue). The operator then made a right turn onto Hunt Lane and another right onto Michele Lane in Wantagh , Nassau County.

At the end of the cul-de-sac on Michele Lane, the operator continued to evade the Trooper and drove onto the lawn of a residence on Michele Court which caused damage to the vinyl fence, lawn and shrubs. The Trooper attempted to block the Nissan in and while exiting the Troop Car, the operator placed the Nissan in reverse striking the drivers side door, which caused the Trooper to get pinned between the drivers side door and the frame. At this time, another Trooper arrived on scene and while attempting to place the operator into custody he started to resist and after a brief struggle the operator was placed under arrest.

The operator who was identified as Peash Rahman, who is 24 years old from Jamaica, NY and he was transported to SP East Meadow for processing and was transported to the Nassau County Detention awaiting morning arraignment.

Both Troopers were injured and one was treated on scene the other Trooper was taken to Nassau University Medical Center for further treatment and was released.

While impounding the vehicle a large sum of cash and six large plastic bags containing approximately 6.13 pounds of marijuana.

Rahman was charged with the following:

Assault 2nd on a Police Officer- 2 counts

Reckless Endangerment 2nd

Criminal Possession of Marijuana 2nd

Criminal Mischief 2nd- 3 counts

Criminal Mischief 3rd

Unlawful Fleeing 3rd

Reckless Driving

AUO 1stLocal News, Community, Charity & Cause, Health & Wellness, Politics

By Long Island News & PR Published: July 26 2018

Zeldin: "I am deeply concerned about the Liver Fluke parasite that has infected so many of our nations veterans."

Long Island, NY - July 26, 2018 - Today, Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1) was joined by Representatives Peter King (R, NY-2), Tom Suozzi (D, NY-3) and Kathleen Rice (D, NY-4) in introducing the Vietnam Veterans Liver Fluke Cancer Study Act, which requires the Department of Veterans Affairs, in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control, to conduct a study to determine the prevalence of liver fluke amongst the veteran population and the link between a veterans service record and affliction, paving the way for veterans to claim a service connected disability under their Veterans Affairs benefits.

Congressman Zeldin said after introducing the bill, I am deeply concerned about the Liver Fluke parasite that has infected so many of our nations veterans, especially our brave service members who were deployed to Southeastern and Eastern Asia. Preliminary reports appear to have indicated these veterans are carrying the dormant parasite Platyhelminthes, commonly known as liver fluke, which in several instances has led to the contraction of very serious, life threatening health conditions such as bile duct cancer and liver disease. Our nations veterans have earned nothing less than the highest quality care, and it is our responsibility as a nation to develop a plan, secure funding to test all veterans whose service exposed them to liver fluke, and if necessary, provide appropriate care, and do so as soon as possible. Thats why today, I was proud to introduce legislation on behalf of these very veterans, legislation that requires a long-overdue study of this disease and paves the way for infected veterans to receive the treatment they have earned.

Congressman King said, We owe it to the men and women who put themselves in harms way to ensure they have the support and access to the very best in health care, treatment and outreach. I am proud to work with Rep. Zeldin on this legislation requiring the VA to study and ensure that any of our veterans who may have been exposed to liver fluke are not at risk of having or developing bile duct cancer. This is simply too important and the number of incidents warrant immediate attention.

Congressman Suozzi said, This study is long overdue. Potential exposure to liver fluke is causing anxiety among our veterans that is unnecessarily compounded by unknowns. A study is a step towards finding firm answers to alleviate that anxiety.5-year-old Zachary got the best birthday surprise after his plan actually worked.

Unbeknownst to his mum, Zachary from Auckland dialled 111 on his parents phone with the innocent request of inviting the police to his birthday party. He rang a couple of times, but never quite got the message across which prompted a concerned 111 call reciever to call the number back, of which she got Zachary's mum.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. That was my nearly five-year-old son, he was just telling me that he wanted to invite police to his police-themed fifth birthday party. I didn't realise he was going to phone through!" said his mum.

The pair laughed about it and the call-taker said "I don't know if we'll be able to make but it but I'll put it in."

And best part is, the police were able to make it. Surprising Zachary and his friends with the full monty. The day was captured on film by the NZ Police and showed the kids climbing on police cars, playing with handcuffs, waving at the Eagle helicopter circling above, and Zachary blowing out the candle on his police-themed cake.

Tino pai NZ Police - so awesome to see!Visual artistry is an important aspect of the Japanese culinary tradition, which believes food must be pleasing to the eye as well as to the palate.

Sumo Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar, which opened recently across from Sears in Holyoke Mall, seems to subscribe to that guiding principle, since visual impact is a prime consideration in most everything the kitchen produces.

Certainly the restaurant itself is designed to impress patrons with its dark-toned, high style decor. From sushi bar to the teppan grill-equipped dining area, the space has a luxurious feel.

The menu at Sumo is a typical compendium of sushi bar and Japanese kitchen-style offerings.

Nigiri (raw fish and rice) choices range from Bean Curd ($3.25) to Tuna ($5.25), while traditional rolls include the likes of a Philly Roll ($5.50) and a Rainbow Roll ($9.95).

During a noon hour visit we enjoyed a Sushi & Sashimi Lunch (&13.95), a handsomely crafted sushi bar sampler. Served on a faux slate plaque, the four pieces of sushi were neatly fanned out, while the five slices of sashimi also included had been tucked into a small wood box. A California roll completed the presentation.

Nothing but praise for all the items presented; the sushi rice had just the right sticky texture and the fish, good clean flavor. We did observe, however, that the size and scale of the nigiri and the California roll pieces was somewhat smaller than we typically encounter.

In addition to sushi starters such as Tuna Tartar ($10) and interesting sounding Nijia Poppers (they're deep-fried jalapenos stuffed with spicy tuna and cream cheese -- $9), Sumo offers a selection of "from the kitchen" appetizers. Those include Shrimp Shumai ($3.95), Gyoza ($4.95), and Crispy Duck ($10) with cucumber.

From that assortment we selected Yakitori ($4.95). Pleasingly arranged on a bed of shredded lettuce, the skewered pieces of chicken thigh were interspersed with red and green pepper chunks and sauced with a mild teriyaki glaze. Tasty enough, but the chicken pieces themselves proved to be a little chewy.

One clever appetizer effort was a Fresh Sashimi Pizza ($12), an Italian concept executed with Japanese ingredients. Based on a "crust" of sushi rice that had been baked into a browned and crispy wafer, the pizza was topped with sheets of nori (dried seaweed), spread with mashed avocado, and finally layered with thin slices of sashimi (we opted for tuna). A drizzle of spicy mayonnaise and a finishing garnish of fresh sprouts completed what we found to be a remarkably tasty (and definitely interesting) starter.

A "kitchen" entree of Beef Teriyaki ($17.95) was, like everything else we enjoyed at Sumo, skillfully executed. The two steaks that constituted the order were cooked as requested; served on a bed of thin-sliced onions and bell peppers, they were glazed with teriyaki sauce and finished with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

Steamed broccoli and a simple egg-and-soy fried rice rounded out the presentation.

Most entrees at Sumo come with a choice of salad or soup.

The miso soup we were served had a rich, mellow character, while the simple iceberg lettuce salad was finished with a creamy ginger dressing to which we took an immediate liking.

Fully licensed, Sumo offers the sort of beverage selection typical of Japanese restaurant - cocktails, about a dozen wine selections, beer, and sake.

Dessert options are also a predictable lot, including choices such as Strawberry Cheese Cake ($4), Moochi Ice Cream ($3) and Ice Cream Tempura.

Though we didn't elect to sample any of Sumo's hibachi entrees, we did observe that they're prepared with all the requisite knife-handling and shrimp-flipping tomfoolery. The list of options available is extensive, ranging from a Hibachi Vegetable ($14.95) presentation to Hibachi Swordfish ($20.95) and Filet Mignon ($23.95).

We were pleased to find Sumo Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar consistently equipped to deliver enjoyable dining experiences inspired by the food ways of the Far East.



Name: Sumo Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar

Address: Holyoke Mall (Lower Level), Holyoke

Telephone: (413) 322-9887

Website: sumoholyokemall.com

Hours: 11 a.m. - 9 p.m. Sunday; 11 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. - 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Entree prices: $12.95 - $28.95

Credit cards: American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa

Handicapped access: Accessible, with rest rooms equipped for wheelchair use

Reservations: Accepted





Squash freedom of the press. Appoint family members, friends and supporters to positions of influence. Consolidate power in the executive and propose policies that hurt those on fixed incomes and illicit wide protests that result in death and injury on all sides and lead to further protests.

President Daniel Ortega's Nicaragua is another example of a democracy that has slipped into authoritarian rule.

The legacy of the 72-year-old former Marxist guerrilla fighter is perhaps the complex outcome of a country whose political currents have been greatly influenced through history by outside parties including the U.S. and whose desire for complete lock on power flows from that history.

His end chapter recalls in some ways his beginnings.

It recalls a time four decades ago when Nicaragua was under the authoritarian rule of another family and uprisings there and elsewhere in Central America pushed for reforms over land ownership, workers' rights and representative government.

It was also a time when some clergy and religious working in some of those countries in the aftermath of Vatican II reforms stood with the impoverished, and in some cases like that of Archbishop Oscar Romero, gave their lives.

The Church's liberation theologians supported the Sandinista revolution in 1979 to overthrow the U.S. backed Somoza dictatorship to help the impoverished and Ortega's rise to power in 1984.

Ortega and the Sandinistas lost their control of the government in elections in 1990 - something applauded by the United States which had long back his opponents - and he was not returned to power until 2006.

Ortega's political and economic vision - helped for a long time by reselling imported Venezuelan oil - has becoming increasingly less democratic and more hostile to demonstrators and to the Church where some clergy have again stepped forward to speak out against the violence in Central America's poorest country.

It is not a case of religious liberty under assault in a war of culture but a Church trying to serve as mediator - originally at the request of Ortega - in a war many perceived as between the government and many of the people who have given him four terms - along with his own constitutional changes and amid charges of election fraud - as president.

On Sunday, Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes Solorzano, president of the Nicaraguan Bishops' Conference and of the Commission for National Dialogue in Nicaragua, said the Church is under attack despite its efforts to continue to seek common ground through the National Dialogue Process.

Ortega has rejected a proposal by the conference and others to hold early elections in March 2019 instead of 2021 as a way of de-escalating the protests to his authoritarian rule and originally sparked in part by his now withdrawn reforms to social security which would have resulted in less benefits for recipients.

Protests mounted in response to government attacks on the protesters and there has been violence against paramilitary forces as well.

More than 300 people seeking democratic reforms and the resignation of Ortega and his wife - Vice President Rosario Murillo - have been killed by paramilitary supporters since the start of protests in April and some 2,000 injured or detained.

Two students were killed July 14 during a siege by paramilitary forces on a church in Managua where some 100 protesters had taken sanctuary.

The Church has sought to mediate talks between Ortega and union and other leaders and it has had its churches and clergy come under attack.

There are now calls for Ortega and his wife to step down - something he refuses to consider on the grounds he was democratically elected and he is not without support. He basically controls all branches of government thanks to political alliances.

Ortega has accused the Church of plotting a coup in its request that he hold early election and has said the Trump administration and U.S. Congress are behind the protests.

At least one priest, who has gone into hiding, has called for outside intervention to help stop the violence against protesters that he calls genocide.

Whether that will happen or violence between Ortega's paramilitary forces and protesters and clergy will intensify - and possibly involve the army - remains to be seen.

Several clergy have used social media to report on attacks on protesters and churches.

Bishop Silvio Jose Baez, auxiliary bishop of Managua, is reported to have recently tweeted: "The Catholic Church of Nicaragua will remain at the side of the people, because Jesus has always been at the side of those who suffer."

A bill - H.Res. 981: Condemning the violence, persecution, intimidation, and murders committed by the Government of Nicaragua against its citizens - has been introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives.A man in his 20s was shot and killed in Dorchester Wednesday night, Boston police said.

Police were called to 138 Norfolk Street at about 11 p.m. for a report of two people who had been shot. When officers arrived one man, in his mid-20s, was dead, police said.

A second victim, a teenager, was taken to a local hospital for treatment. His injuries are not considered life-threatening, police said.

This is the city's 31st homicide this year.

Police continue to investigate the incident.US Attorney General Jeff Sessions came to the defense of Rod Rosenstein, as some Republican House lawmakers pushed for impeaching the deputy attorney general.

Eleven conservative lawmakers in the House introduced articles of impeachment against Rosenstein, saying the Department of Justice is keeping from them documents on the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails and the ongoing investigation into Russia interference in US politics.

The department has provided more than 800,000 documents, according to the Associated Press.

"My deputy Rod Rosenstein is highly capable, I have the highest confidence in him," Sessions said at a Thursday morning event in Boston.

Sessions stepped aside from any involvement in the Russia investigation, leaving Rosenstein to oversee special counsel Robert Mueller's efforts. The move infuriated President Donald Trump, who has often taken to Twitter to mock and belittle Sessions.

At the press conference on immigration arrests in Boston, Sessions noted Rosenstein went to Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and graduated from Harvard Law School. Rosenstein earned an economics degree at Wharton and was editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Sessions said Congress should focus on closing "loopholes" in US immigration laws.

"Common sense legislation can make a big difference, that's where I'd like to see them focus their time," Sessions said.

Material from Associated Press was used in this report.The chairman of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission said he was delighted to hear what Attorney General Jeff Sessions had to say about marijuana legalization during a swing through Boston.

Appearing a press conference on an unrelated topic, Sessions answered a reporter's question about marijuana, noting that the substance remains illegal under federal law.

"Personally, my view is that the American republic will not be better if there are marijuana sales on every street corner, but states have a right to set their own laws and will do so, and we will follow the federal law," Sessions said.

After a meeting of the Cannabis Control Commission, the agency created under the 2016 marijuana legalization law approved by Massachusetts voters, chairman Steve Hoffman said an agency staffer told him about Sessions' comments.

"If that's what he said, boy, I think that's pretty interesting and good," Hoffman said. "I was both surprised and pleased, if I have an accurate reading of what he said."

Hoffman said he was hopeful that Sessions' comments might calm banks that have been reluctant to do business with many cannabis companies because marijuana is still illegal at the federal level.

"I'm not going to forecast how individual banks are going to think about the risks and rewards of entering this business," he said. "But if I was a bank that would certainly cause me to reassess the risks and rewards in a positive way."

Hoffman then quipped, "I'm still hurt he didn't come to visit me."US Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a fervent opponent of marijuana legalization, on Thursday reiterated that the federal pot prohibition exists but noted states have the right to pass their own laws.

Massachusetts voters almost two years ago voted to broadly legalize marijuana for recreational use for adults 21 and over, though the specific timeline for the opening of retail pot shops, expected sometime this year, remains unclear.

Home-growing and gifting of certain amounts of marijuana have been legal at the state level since December 2016.

A reporter asked Sessions about the federal stance amid legalization in Massachusetts.

Sessions, appearing in Boston for a press conference on arrests of people charged with benefit and federal document fraud, said the US Department of Justice will continue to enforce federal law on marijuana.

"Personally, my view is that the American republic will not be better if there are marijuana sales on every street corner, but states have a right to set their own laws and will do so, and we will follow the federal law," he said.

After the press conference, a Department of Justice spokesperson said the comments did not represent a shift for Sessions.

In January, Sessions announced that he was rescinding Obama-era rules that largely left states alone on marijuana legalization issues.

But as Massachusetts regulators sifted through marijuana business applications, US Attorney Andrew Lelling, a top federal prosecutor who reports to Sessions, issued a statement that regulators interpreted as the Obama-era rules continuing to be in effect.

Lelling said in the statement his office will continue to prioritize prosecutions to stop the opioid epidemic. Three marijuana-related areas that will be on his office's agenda include overproduction that could lead to illegal sales in other states, pushes of the drug to people under the age of 21, and the involvement of gangs like MS-13 in the drug trade.

The chairman of the Cannabis Control Commission said earlier this month Lelling's comments were similar to the Obama-era rules.

"I think it's good," Steve Hoffman, the chairman, told reporters. "I think it's helpful to have clarity, I think it's good to hear that his concerns are things we're already concerned about and addressing in our regulations, so I thought it was all good news."

This post was updated with a comment from the Department of Justice.Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the country's chief law enforcement officer, said maybe he should've made note of due process when he briefly joined in a chant of "lock her up."

On Tuesday, Sessions repeated the words and chuckled when appearing in front of a group of high school students who started the chant during an event in Washington, D.C.

The chant refers to former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who ran against President Donald Trump in 2016, and frequently occurred at Trump rallies. The campaign also offered for purchase a t-shirt featuring a white pantsuit with black horizontal prison stripes.

Clinton at the time was under investigation by the FBI for her use of a private email server.

Appearing in Boston on Thursday, Sessions was asked about the comment in front of high school students.

Sessions said the students were an "enthusiastic" group who "spontaneously" broke into the "lock her up" chant.

"I perhaps should've taken a moment to advise them of the fact that...you're presumed innocent until cases are made," Sessions said with a smile.

"It was a great event to be with those kids and that would be my answer to you," he added.

Material from Associated Press was used in this report.Boston police are asking members of the public who may have taken any photos or videos in the area of a pedestrian crash that killed a child and injured a second child to assist with the investigation.

Around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, police responded to a crash in South Boston at the intersection of L Street and East Sixth Street and found that two children were struck by a vehicle and seriously injured.

One of the children, a 3-year-old boy, was pronounced dead. The other child, a 4-year-old girl, remains hospitalized on Thursday, police said.

Boston police ask that anyone who was in the area at the time of the crash to assist with the investigation.

Specifically, detectives want to obtain any photos or cell phone video taken before, during or after the crash, police said.

Anyone with photos or videos is asked to send them to Sergeant Detective Thomas Barrett at thomas.barrett@pd.boston.gov.

The crash remains under investigation.CHICOPEE -- Business owners hoping to sell recreational marijuana in the city may apply for permission until Aug. 23 through a process the city planning director expects could lead to a shop being open in about four months.

"The regulations we have developed are relatively restrictive but flexible enough to ensure that these types of facilities can comfortably locate within the city,'' Planning Director Lee M. Pouliot said after the city purchasing department issued requests for proposals for retail marijuana businesses Thursday.

Based on state guidelines set up since Massachusetts voters approved a 2016 ballot question making the sale of marijuana for recreational purposes legal, the city may have up to four licensed retail stores for this purpose.

Earlier this month, the City Council approved zoning related to marijuana shops and an ordinance with language governing the details for such businesses.

Any proposals submitted will be opened at 11 a.m. on Aug. 23.

Pouliot said the retail marijuana proposals will then be evaluated by a committee that will be appointed by that time by Mayor Richard J. Kos.

"The appointed committee will go over them and evaluate them based on the criteria in the request for proposals. The exact language is in the request for proposals,'' Pouliot said. "The descriptions are very specific.''

Proposals for the four licenses must include a complete business model, including confirmed sources of financing and projections of revenue and expenses spanning at least five years, a site plan for the business and a proposed host community agreement.

Each retail marijuana shop will need a host agreement with the city, a special permit and approval from the state Cannabis Control Commission, which was established to oversee the legalized sale of marijuana.

The purchasing department also issued a request for proposals for medical marijuana treatment facilities with the same Aug. 23 deadline for submissions.

Chicopee Adult Use Marijuana Ordinance by The Republican/MassLive.com on ScribdHOLYOKE - Incoming freshmen and returning students will experience a new academic model at Holyoke's two high schools in the coming academic year.

The schools will be renamed Holyoke High School North Campus and Holyoke High School Dean Campus. The schools will operate as yoked schools or under the Purple Knight banner, said Stephen Mahoney, the new system's executive principal.

Mahoney, who previously was principal of the Springfield Renaissance School, will split time between both Holyoke High campuses and will be assisted by an executive team. He said keeping the Dean name honors the technical school's namesake, William J. Dean, and traditions.

"One of the big pieces of the high school redesign is we're trying to improve our ability to help students make connections between, 'What am I learning here and now?' and 'What do I need to do to be a successful human being when I graduate from high school?'" Mahoney said.

He wants success in high school to continue in college, a chosen vocation, the workplace or life.

For the last few years, Dean Tech stopped admitting freshmen. Mahoney said that will change in the fall, with 110 freshmen now on a waiting list.

"Dean is going to host the same vocational training programs that it has hosted for its long history," he said.

The school will offer nine shops, with freshmen given the opportunity to explore each shop before they decide on a vocational path.

The North Campus will have freshman academies, or a Linked Learning-Career Pathway model. The new model will help ninth-graders make the transition from middle to high school.

"It's a big transition in terms of attitude, disposition and academic responsibility," Mahoney said.

He expects 310 incoming freshmen at the North Campus. His team met with most of the incoming freshmen at both schools. The schools also will hold open houses or information sessions in August.

The four academies for sophomores on North Campus will be medical and life sciences; technology, engineering and design (TED); performing and media arts; and community and global studies.

"As we grow this design, in their junior and seniors years they'll be able to dive a little deeper into those pathways," Mahoney said.

For example, a student in the community and global studies program might garner interests in criminal justice or ethnic and restorative justice.

The shops on the Dean Campus will be organized under medical and life sciences and TED. Computer programming and web design would fall under TED.

Mahoney hopes the new model will answer the question students have asked from time immemorial: "When am I ever going to use this?"

"It's a question that has hounded every teacher. People are looking forward to it. This has the possibility of our giving a compelling answer to that," he said.

The schools organized freshman and sophomore teams who will work closely with students during the transition.

"When people are taking on a challenge by choice, it's a far better measure of people's buy-in as (opposed) to, 'I'm assigning you to this and you better do a good job,'" he said.

The school redesign was a year-and-a-half process. The Linked Learning model, created by ConnectEd, of Oakland, California, is used by school districts in Massachusetts and across the nation.

According to Mahoney, Linked Learning data show increased graduation rates, a decline in students needing remedial courses before college, and increases in student and teacher satisfaction.

Mahoney said the district will continue to grow the dual-enrollment program, whereby juniors and seniors can take college courses at Holyoke Community College or Westfield State University.

The schools plan to institute pilot internship programs for juniors and seniors. "That's a key part of our redesign moving forward," Mahoney said. The internships give students real-world experience, a way to prove themselves before they enter college or the workplace.

Mahoney will hold an "open conversation" with the community at 4:30 p.m. Aug. 7 on the Dean Campus. Both campuses will hold open houses for students and parents Aug. 23 from 2-4 p.m.A previous version of this story named an incorrect for the hearing, which is set for Aug. 7.

EASTHAMPTON -- A marijuana dispensary called "Liberty" is planned for the former Hairy's Pet Supply building, and the Planning Board has scheduled an Aug. 7 public hearing.

Holistic Industries, Inc. needs a special permit to open a medical marijuana dispensary at the 155 Northampton St. site. The store would sell cannabis products grown and processed in Monson.

The 4,250 square-foot building would be renovated, parking would be added, and the Fur's-a-Flyin' groomer and doggie day care, now located in the back portion of the buiding, would apparently be displaced, according to a site plan.

"We will spare no expense to design, build and maintain an attractive storefront with an open, welcoming environment for our patients and caregivers," the special permit application reads.

While Holistic Industries plans to start with a medical dispensary, CEO Josh Genderson in May described plans to enter the recreational market when such a license becomes available from the state's Cannabis Control Commission.

Michael Kupferman, described as founder of the Humboldt Farmers Collective in California, is listed as chief cultivation officer. Gunderson's group has marijuana facilities in Washington, D.C. and Maryland.

The Easthampton property is owned by Peter and AnnMary Boruchowski of Hendrick Street. It is zoned for highway business. Planning Director Jeffrey Bagg has posted the group's special permit application and proposed site plan to the city's website.

If you go:



What: Special Permit hearing for 'Liberty' marijuana dispensary

When: Aug. 7, 2018, 6 p.m.

Where: 50 Payson Ave. municipal buildingSPRINGFIELD -- A man accused of misleading police about an unsolved homicide had charges dropped following a trial this week.

Authorities investigating the fatal shooting of Yonaides Pichardo in 2016 charged Dewayne Alexander Ross with two counts of misleading police.

On Wednesday, Hampden Superior Court Judge Constance M. Sweeney, after the end of evidence in Ross' trial, ruled there was not enough evidence to give the case to the jury for deliberation.

Pichardo, 28, was found shot to death inside a car on Sycamore Street in Springfield on Oct. 11, 2016. No one has been arrested in connection with the killing.

Police interviewed Ross, 30, twice. In the first interview he said he knew nothing about the shooting.

In the second interview, Ross asked for a lawyer after police showed him a video. The video, secretly recorded by a civilian, showed Ross saying that a person, whom he identified only with a nickname, told him he did the shooting.

Sweeney said there was no evidence Ross knew who the shooter was and was withholding that information from police.

Sweeney went through the elements of the crime of misleading police with Assistant District Attorney Eduardo O. Velazquez and defense lawyer Richard J. Rubin. She said there was not enough evidence presented at trial to meet all the elements necessary under the law.

The judge went to the jury room and explained what happened to the jurors, who were then dismissed.

When Ross was arraigned in December 2016, bail was set at $25,000 cash. His bail was reduced to $5,000 on Nov. 22, 2017. He has been free on bail since then awaiting trial.Massachusetts utilities have wrapped up contract negotiations to buy large amounts of Canadian hydropower, which would be carried over a yet-to-be-built Maine transmission line.

Electric companies affiliated with Eversource, Unitil and National Grid last week agreed on terms to buy 9,450,000 megawatt-hours annually from Hydro-Quebec using Central Maine Power's New England Clean Energy Connect power line.

The wholesale power would be procured at a levelized price of 5.9 cents per kilowatt hour, touted as a "highly cost-effective source of clean energy generation for Massachusetts customers" that could cut retail bills by 2 to 4 percent and reduce the region's reliance on natural gas to produce electricity.

The power purchase agreements were submitted to the Department of Public Utilities and recommended by the Department of Energy Resources.

It's a final step in a process initiated in 2016 when Gov. Charlie Baker signed legislation requiring utilities to buy clean power from new sources to fight climate change and diversify the state's energy portfolio.

The law launched two competitions -- one for offshore wind, and another for a potential mix of solar, wind, hydro, and storage. Hydro-Quebec ended up in the catbird seat, winning approval to provide all the energy in the latter procurement.

As for the transmission piece, the Maine project was initially a runner-up in the Massachusetts Clean Energy RFP. It was chosen by the Baker administration after Northern Pass Transmission, an Eversource project which would bisect New Hampshire, failed to gain approval in that state.

The 145-mile, $950 million New England Clean Energy Connect is now being reviewed by Maine regulators.

After the Massachusetts procurement was announced, opposition emerged from environmentalists in the Pine Tree State who oppose a plan by Central Maine Power to cross the remote Kennebec River Gorge.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the Land Use Planning Commission, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies will be the ultimate decision-makers on whether the project is permitted and how it crosses the Kennebec River, according to the project website.

Northern Pass, the Bay State's first choice for clean energy transmission, faced years of opposition in New Hampshire before that state's site evaluation committee rejected the project in February.

AVANGRID, Central Maine Power's parent, said construction can begin in 2019 for a 2022 completion date. Northern Pass had claimed it could go online in 2020, which was initially attractive to Massachusetts officials eager to meet climate change mandates.

The Maine transmission line is planned from Canada to Lewiston, where it will connect to the New England electric grid.

Massachusetts procured offshore wind commitments separately. The state earlier this year chose Vineyard Wind to build turbines 34 miles off the coast of Cape Cod and provide 800 megawatts of new clean energy capacity to the grid.

A previous version of this story said the contracts were submitted to the DOER. They were in fact submitted to the DPU.

Mary Serreze can be reached at mserreze@gmail.comSPRINGFIELD -- Sheila and Stephen Byrne believe the best way to honor their son is by helping other young musicians follow their dreams.

The Longmeadow couple lost their 21-year-old son Sean Byrne last year after he was killed in car accident in Vermont.

"Sean was raised in a fairly typical, conservative, New England town, where you played a sport and worried about your test scores and getting into the best college. This was not Sean. It sounds cliche but, he was an artist. This life of conforming was not for him," his parents wrote in an letter to donors asking for help with their latest project, a mobile sound studio.

Sean Byrne was a music producer and rapper, and after he died his parents created the Sean Byrne Foundation. The goal of the foundation was to create a space where kids of all income levels could collaborate on projects, including writing, recording, mixing and learning about new technology, the couple said.

The Byrnes recently purchased an Airstream trailer that is being retrofitted with state-of-the-art recording and mixing equipment.

There will be a fundraiser held Saturday to help fund the project. The event will be at the Bing Arts Center, 716 Sumner Ave., Springfield, from 7-11 p.m and will include performances by local bands, a raffle, drinks and food. Organizers are requesting a $25 donation at the door.Massachusetts regulators approved three additional marijuana retail licenses in Northampton, Brookline and Amesbury.

The Cannabis Control Commission signed off on a slew of retail, cultivation and product manufacturing licenses for two entities that already run medical marijuana dispensaries: Alternative Therapies Group, Inc. and New England Treatment Access.

The licenses are provisional and final licenses will come after inspections conducted by commission staff make sure the facilities meet state and local regulations.

Alternative Therapies Group, which in 2015 opened the state's first medical marijuana dispensary in Salem, is seeking to operate a retail pot shop in Amesbury.

New England Treatment Access is looking to operate retail pot shops in Northampton and Brookline, where the company has medical marijuana dispensaries.

The commission in June gave provisional approval to Cultivate, a company that operates a medical marijuana dispensary and is seeking to operate a retail pot shop in Leicester.

Steve Hoffman, the chairman of the Cannabis Control Commission, said the new agency now has momentum as more licenses are coming up for votes.

"What I'm seeing is an acceleration of one meeting to the next meeting in terms of the number we have," Hoffman said.

On Thursday, the commission did not have any approvals for testing lab licenses on the agenda. Marijuana products must be tested before getting sold.

"In a perfect world I'd like to see everything up and running right now," Hoffman said after Thursday's meeting.

"Obviously it's an issue but I'm not concerned, I think we'll get there," he added.

This post was updated with comments from Cannabis Control Commission chairman Steve Hoffman.By Eric P. Lesser, Senator for the First Hampden & Hampshire District

Ten years ago, Massachusetts took a risk.

With a 10-year, $1 billion initiative proposed by then-Gov. Deval Patrick, we chose to breathe life into a budding biotech and life sciences sector with the bold hope that funding new research would transform our state's economy.

That investment has paid off.

Students at Chicopee Comprehensive High School, Putnam Vocational Technical Academy, Springfield High School of Science and Technology -- and 146 other middle and high schools in the state -- have brand-new Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) equipment in their classrooms because of that investment.

The TechSpring Initiative at Baystate Health has received millions of dollars to develop and pilot cutting-edge innovations in healthcare.

Our scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and physicians are the envy of the world. In 2007, only seven top pharmaceutical companies had offices in Massachusetts. Today, 18 of the top 20 have a presence in Massachusetts.

But that 10-year down payment ran out this year, which is why the Massachusetts House and Senate came together to recommit our state to advancing education, workforce development and early-stage company growth in the life sciences.

On May 31, we approved a major new five-year investment -- nearly $500 million -- in authorizations, including a new biotechnology and precision manufacturing research and training facility at UMass-Amherst. The bill was shepherded by Rep. Joseph Wagner in the House and myself in the Senate, as the chairs of the Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, and signed by Gov. Charlie Baker -- proof of the bipartisan support this initiative enjoys.

Because Western Mass. had a seat at the table, we made sure that a primary goal of this reinvestment was to pull the growth of this industry outside Kendall Square in Cambridge. The bill specifically includes $12 million in grants to community colleges and vocational technical schools to increase regional employment opportunities.

It is critical that we maintain this investment and expand its benefits across the state. Leadership in the life sciences is not our birthright as a state. It is the result of sound public policy that has nurtured our workforce and research ecosystem.

While we are the national leader in life sciences, we now have more competition than ever before.

California has a $3 billion bond program to promote stem cell research while North Carolina annually appropriates $14 million to the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. Meanwhile, New York began its own $1.1 billion life sciences fund last year.

Imagine the lost potential if we allow the next vaccine breakthrough, the next big discovery, the next life-saving drug, to be developed elsewhere.

We also face an unprecedented cutback in scientific research by the Trump Administration. In 2016, Massachusetts received $2.5 billion in federal funding for life science research, including grants from the National Institutes for Health. Now that this budget is seeing dramatic cuts, our state government must make up the difference.

That difference supports more than 63,000 jobs in life sciences companies and nearly 27,000 jobs in the medical technology sector.

That difference gives a student at Putnam or Chicopee Comp. the opportunity to experiment in the classroom, participate in hands-on learning, and even take a summer research course at UMass-Amherst.

Thanks to the Internship Challenge Program, that student could apply to a paid internship at one of several local companies, including Court Square Group, Inc. in Springfield or FloDesign Sonics in Wilbraham.

This is the secret to our state's success in the life sciences sector: government, research institutions and innovative startups are working together to make Massachusetts the national leader in inventing the future.

Our investments in the life sciences allow us to keep that coveted title.

Senator Eric P. Lesser is Chair of the Joint Committee on Economic Development & Emerging Technologies, Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Financial Services. He represents the First Hampden & Hampshire District in Western Massachusetts.On Wednesday, 31 governors signed a letter urging the U.S. Senate to confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, was not among them.

Asked why, Baker spokeswoman Lizzy Guyton said in a statement, "Governor Baker supports full access to women's health care and family planning services and expects the Senate to conduct a thoughtful and thorough hearing process to vet Judge Kavanaugh's record and his judicial philosophy."

The Associated Press reported that just four Republican governors did not sign the letter, although the Chicago Sun-Times later reported that Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner will add his name. That leaves Baker, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Vermont Gov. Phil Scott as the only holdouts.

Kavanaugh's pick has worried some supporters of abortion rights, who are concerned that a more conservative court could overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case legalizing abortion nationwide.

Baker, who supports abortion rights, is facing re-election in a Democratic-leaning state. He has frequently disagreed with the policies of President Donald Trump, who is generally unpopular in Massachusetts.

The governors, in their letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, urged the Senate to quickly confirm Kavanaugh "based on his track record of upholding the Constitution and his distinguished credentials that eminently qualify him to serve on the nation's highest court."

"As his record shows, he will interpret the Constitution as written, informed by history, tradition, and precedent," the governors wrote. "Judge Kavanaugh will adjudicate legal disputes with impartiality, preserving the Constitution of the United States and the rule of law."

Massachusetts U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, both Democrats, have both said they will vote against Kavanaugh's confirmation.BOSTON -- Gov. Charlie Baker on Thursday signed a $41.7 billion fiscal 2019 state budget into law, vetoing nearly $50 million in spending.

"Today, the commonwealth is more fiscally sound than it's been in over a decade," Baker said.

Baker vetoed nearly 300 earmarks. He sent back 19 outside policy sections to the Legislature with proposed amendments.

Lawmakers passed a pilot program that would have discounted vehicle tolls off-peak, potentially leading to some form of traffic congestion pricing. Baker turned that into a commission to study congestion.

Baker also said he would not approve lifting a welfare "family cap" unless lawmakers adopt his own proposal that would limit some children's eligibility for welfare.

Overall, the budget represents growth of 3.2 percent over estimated spending in fiscal 2018. It includes large increases in spending on education, local aid, the Department of Children and Families, mental health services and substance abuse services.

There are no new fees or taxes.

The earned income tax credit will be increased from 23 percent to 30 percent of the federal tax credit. This will help an estimated 450,000 low and middle income working families by making them eligible for state tax credits of around $2,000 a year, up from around $1,500 today.

A tax credit for dairy farmers will also increase.

MassHealth spending, always a major driver of the budget, will grow by 2.9 percent.

The rainy day fund is projected to reach its highest level since 2007 by the end of the year, with $2.15 billion.

Several of Baker's vetoes affect MassHealth. He cut $1 million that was earmarked for Baystate Health in connection with a Medicaid waiver. He cut $11.8 million for supplemental MassHealth payments to Children's Hospital and Shriner's Hospitals for Children in Boston and Springfield. Baker said the rates are set through an existing process, and there is no need for additional money.

Among the other spending that Baker vetoed:

$2.5 million for community-based re-entry programs for prisoners.

$2 million for the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

$1.3 million to incentivize towns to regionalize services.

$3.9 million in parks and recreation earmarks.

$6.8 million in earmarks for economic development projects.

$3.1 million for local public safety project earmarks.

$1.2 million for the state police.

$3.9 million for earmarks related to fire department projects.

The Legislature has until July 31 to override Baker's spending vetoes.

Lawmakers have less power when it comes to the policy sections that Baker returned as amendments. Lawmakers can vote on those amendments as separate bills, and the governor will have 10 days to sign or veto them.

Because lawmakers delivered the budget so late, they are finishing formal sessions in less than 10 days. That means if the Legislature decides to vote for their own policy rather than Baker's amendment, the governor can veto the bill, and the Legislature will no longer be in session to override his veto.

One major policy change that Baker rejected was an attempt to eliminate the "cap on kids," a cap that does not allow a family to get higher welfare benefits for a child born when the family was already on welfare.

"Eliminating the 'family cap' without other accompanying changes could have the perverse effect of reducing incentives for TAFDC recipients to get back to work, and cause existing inequities in the TAFDC program to persist and expand," Baker wrote, using an acronym for the Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children welfare program.

Baker wrote in his amendment letter that he is willing to lift the cap - but only if the Legislature adopts his proposal regarding eligibility for welfare payments. Baker wants to count a parent's Supplemental Security Income, which is given to low-income disabled adults, in determining their children's eligibility for welfare benefits. This would result in some children losing benefits. Lawmakers already rejected that proposal twice in previous years.

On congestion pricing, Baker said putting a pilot program in place before studying what will actually improve congestion "puts the cart before the horse."

Baker wrote in his amendment letter, "While I support the idea of reducing congestion on our roads, this section proposes a program that is too narrow and unlikely to have the desired effect of alleviating congestion. It would be better to evaluate all of the potential solutions to this problem and then pursue the solutions that are most likely to achieve the best results."

Chris Dempsey, director of Transportation for Massachusetts, urged lawmakers to reject Baker's amendment. "The longer we wait to test innovative ideas, the longer Massachusetts will be stuck in place," Dempsey said in a statement. "A study of statewide congestion issues is necessary -- but not sufficient"

The Legislature had also tried to increase the amount of time a government retiree who is collecting a pension can work as a consultant for state government from 960 hours to 1,200 hours.

Baker wrote in his amendment letter that the proposed policy "moves the Commonwealth and its municipalities closer to a place where employees continue to work near full-time while collecting a pension." Baker indicated that he would support an increase to 975 hours, essentially a half-time job, with exceptions if someone is needed to fill a critical shortage related to public safety.

Baker did not sign a legislative attempt to cap rental increases for the boat houses and yacht clubs that rent from the state, arguing that the cap should be higher than what lawmakers proposed.BOSTON -- Gov. Charlie Baker will sign the fiscal 2019 state budget on Thursday afternoon.

Under state law, Baker has until Saturday to review the budget. But he has said he is making an effort to get it done early to give lawmakers more time to consider his amendments and vetoes before the legislative session ends next Tuesday.

The $41.88 billion state budget passed by the Legislature would increase spending by 4.2 percent over what was initially budgeted and 1.9 percent over what was actually spent in fiscal 2018.

The fiscal year already started July 1.

Baker has line item veto authority. It would take a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to override his vetoes. Baker can also send outside policy sections back to the Legislature with amendments, and lawmakers would then vote on those as if they were new bills.

House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, has said lawmakers could begin considering overrides as early as Friday and continue throughout the weekend.Political action committees formed to promote health care, the insurance industry and tax issues were among the top donors to contribute to U.S. Rep. Richard Neal's re-election bid this spring, new campaign finance data has revealed.

Neal, the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee which oversees such policy areas on Capitol Hill, raised $505,000 for his 2018 campaign between April and the end of June -- about 70 percent of which came from "other committee contributions," or PACs, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

Of the $354,440 Neal's campaign reportedly collected from committees during the fundraising quarter, about half of those contributions came from groups in health care and pharmaceuticals; insurance and tax industries.

Amedisys, Inc., a Louisiana-based political action committee that promotes health services, HMOs and home care services, led in individual committee contributions to Neal's campaign with $10,000 -- split over two $5,000 donations: one for the primary and one for the general election -- reported on the final day of the fundraising period.

The National Association of Enrolled Agents PAC, which advocates for tax specialists and tax return services, also contributed $10,000 to the congressman's re-election effort this spring, reporting two $5,000 contributions -- one for the primary and one for the general election -- on May 9, according to FEC filings.

Various insurance industry PACs also gave Neal's campaign the maximum $5,000 limit allowed under campaign finance rules, including: America's Health Insurance Plans PAC; Insured Retirement Institute PAC; and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company PAC.

AFLAC Incorporated PAC, Blue Shield of California, Cigna Corporation, Guardian Life Insurance Company of America PAC, Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, Inc. PAC and others, meanwhile, contributed $2,500 a piece to Neal's campaign. The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors PAC gave the congressman $3,000.

According to The Center for Responsive Politics, the insurance industry -- including individuals and PACs -- has spent nearly $280,000 on Neal's re-election this cycle, followed by the pharmaceutical/health products sector, which has contributed just under $200,000 to the congressman's campaign.

Health professionals, meanwhile, had given Neal's 2018 bid nearly $166,000 as of the end of June, the nonpartisan, nonprofit group found.

Health care, insurance and tax policy PACs were not the only groups who contributed to Neal's campaign this spring.

Those representing railroad and transportation, energy, financial services and other groups also donated to Neal's re-election bid, according to campaign finance data.

Neal further raised $147,000 from individuals during between April and the end of June, including six donations of $2,700 -- the maximum contribution allowed per election, FEC noted.

Four of those donations -- two for the primary and two for the general election -- came from Sean Parker and Alexandra Parker, who head the California-based Parker Foundation, which focuses on life sciences, global public health and civic engagement.

Neal campaign spokesman Peter Panos said the congressman has received support from across the 1st Congressional District and is "committed to running a people-powered, grassroots campaign."

"Congressman Neal is proud to lead the charge for fairer taxes and universal healthcare, defending Social Security and Medicare, combating the opioid epidemic and income inequality and fighting inhumane immigration policies," he said in a statement.

While Neal's campaign raked in both PAC and individual contributions during the three-month fundraising period, his Democratic opponent, Tahirah Amatul-Wadud, did not report any campaign contributions from committees.

The Springfield attorney, who will face off against Neal in the 1st Congressional District's Democratic primary on Sept. 4, raised a total of $37,338 during the spring quarter -- all but $50 of which came from individual donors.BOSTON -- In 1906, a Russian Jewish teenager who had been protesting the czar's policies saw his friend hanged in the village square for opposing the czar. The boy, Joseph Goldstein, fled the country and came to the United States.

Goldstein's granddaughter, Karen Spilka, told the story on the floor of the Massachusetts Senate on Thursday as she was installed as Senate president.

"Like any typical American family, things weren't always easy, and life was sometimes hard, but because America had a generous immigration policy, my family's story didn't end in tragedy in a small Russian village," Spilka said. "And my story - the story of a social worker who became an improbable legislator, let alone Senate president - was able to be written."

Amid pomp and circumstance, surrounded by the governor, attorney general, cabinet secretaries, legislators, family and friends, Spilka delivered a personal speech, revealing her own family's challenges and the ways in which they shaped her policy.

Outgoing Senate President Harriette Chandler, D-Worcester, wrote in her resignation letter that it was her pleasure to be part of a "historic" transition, handing the presidency from one woman to another for the first time. Spilka will be the third female Senate president, and the third Jewish president.

Spilka said her father, a World War II veteran, suffered from undiagnosed mental illness. "As a teenager, I could see how much he was struggling, and I often wondered what his life - and mine - would have been like if he had received the services he needed," Spilka said.

Spilka said she spent 26 years as the legal guardian of her sister, who had Down Syndrome. "'I got my paycheck!' was her rallying cry each week, which taught me that giving people the opportunity to participate in our economy - as well as the tools to succeed - benefits us all," Spilka said.

Spilka drew upon the story of Ella, a non-gender binary constituent who inspired Spilka to push for a bill allowing someone to mark their gender as "X" on state identification.

Spilka said she herself was inspired to run for state office after seeing inequities in the education funding formula while serving on the Ashland school board.

"It can be easy to think of what we do in government as separate from our day-to-day lives, but nothing could be further from the truth," Spilka said. "Here in the Massachusetts State House, the choices we make, big and small, help to shape the stories that will be told for years to come."

Attending the ceremony were Gov. Charlie Baker, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, House Speaker Robert DeLeo, Attorney General Maura Healey, former Senate President Therese Murray, who was the first woman to hold the Senate presidency, former Senate President Robert Travaglini, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Chief Justice Ralph Gants.

The Senate first voted along party lines to select Spilka over Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester. Tarr then moved that the vote be unanimous in favor of Spilka.

"Washington has a lot to learn from Massachusetts," Spilka quipped.

Spilka is taking the helm of the Senate after a turbulent year in which former President Stan Rosenberg, D-Amherst, resigned amid a scandal involving his husband's alleged sexual misconduct. Sen. Harriette Chandler, D-Worcester, took over the role temporarily. Spilka takes office with just days left until the legislative session ends on Tuesday.

Spilka acknowledged the Rosenberg scandal only briefly, pledging to create "a welcoming, inclusive, collaborative and safer place" and "to uphold and maintain the integrity of the Senate - for the public and for each and every Senator, staff member, advocate and intern that passes through our doors."

Professionally, Spilka is a labor and employment attorney, mediator and arbitrator who was first elected to the state House in 2001 and the Senate in 2004.

In the Legislature, she has focused on issues involving children, people with disabilities and technology. Rosenberg appointed her in 2015 to lead the powerful budget-writing Ways and Means Committee.

As president, Spilka pledged to "do the hard work of decision-making and policymaking - of listening and deciding when to compromise and when to stand firm."

She stressed Massachusetts' role as a national leader in areas like public education, health care and gay marriage.

"By working together, by building on the strengths we bring from each region, and by tackling our challenges head on, we will continue to be a leading light in our nation," Spilka said.

In nominating Spilka for the presidency, Sen. Michael Rush, D-Boston, described Spilka as "visionary, intelligent, tough, willing to tackle difficult issues and willing to work with anyone who has a good idea, no matter ideology or political party."

Correction: This story was updated to note that Spilka is the third Jewish president.Karen Spilka had only three years of experience in the state House of Representatives when her district's senator stepped down. But Spilka lived in Ashland, not Framingham, which dominates the district.

"I still remember her telling me how a few of the influential political leaders in the area told her it was not her time to run for the seat," recalled Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, then a state representative. "I knew Karen well enough to know that's exactly the wrong thing to say. With her, that would spur her on and motivate her like nothing else. It did."

Spilka won the Senate seat in 2004 and ascended the ranks of leadership.

On Thursday, it will indisputably be Spilka's time: she'll be voted in as the 95th president of the Massachusetts Senate.

Spilka will take the helm after a year of turmoil.

Former Senate President Stan Rosenberg, D-Amherst, resigned from the presidency amid a scandal involving his husband's alleged sexual misconduct. Senate President Harriette Chandler, D-Worcester, took over temporarily. In March, Spilka announced she had the votes to win the position. Spilka and Chandler agreed Spilka would take over in the final days of the legislative session, which ends July 31.

"It's a lot of change, but with a lot of change comes great opportunity," Spilka said in an interview. "I believe that it's really important to establish a Senate and a Statehouse that is warm and welcoming and tolerant, where people with differences in opinions are not only looked for but celebrated."

Spilka, 65, originally from Yonkers, N.Y., moved to Massachusetts after getting her bachelor's degree in social work from Cornell University. She waitressed until she found a job counseling kids at a school in Boston.

She applied to Northeastern University School of Law intending to go into juvenile justice, but after an internship became interested in labor and employment law. She spent a decade as an attorney, then started doing arbitration and mediation.

When she moved to Ashland around 1985 with her husband Joel Loitherstein, they got involved in town government as a way to meet people. Spilka joined the personnel board and Loitherstein, an environmental engineer, the conservation commission. Spilka got more active in town affairs and ran for school committee in the late 1990s.

Spilka's first experience with state politics came when she began to research education funding. She felt Ashland and other MetroWest towns were not getting their fair share of state money. She formed a coalition and developed a coordinated lobbying effort to change the state's education funding formula.

When her state representative resigned in 2001, "I immediately thought, wow, I could make better change from within the Statehouse than without," Spilka said. "I declared that day I was running for state representative."

She won.

Spilka said her advocacy for children stems from her belief that children "are our future."

"We can't foresee what each one of us has to deal with as we go through life, but we can help provide the tools to our kids so that they can deal with trauma better," Spilka said. "We can help develop the emotional aspect, the whole child, to help raise healthier adults in the commonwealth ... so when they have kids, their families will also be more resilient and able to weather whatever life throws their way."

When she joined the Senate in 2005, Spilka was appointed to lead the new Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities. A year later, she helped shepherd some of those education funding reforms into law.

Spilka has also been active on issues related to technology and has led the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies. She joined Senate leadership under former Senate President Therese Murray and became majority whip. She rose to Ways and Means Committee chairwoman under Rosenberg. The position is often a launching pad for the top job in the House and Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, called Spilka "a strong leader who understands the power and the value of consensus." "It is always a challenge in the Senate to try to weave together all the hopes and the aspirations and the perspectives of the members, and I think she is well positioned to be able to do that," Tarr said.

Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, who briefly ran against Spilka for the Senate presidency, said Spilka's experience as a mediator and attorney "is a very good and useful skill in navigating the politics both externally, but also competing interests and demands within the caucus."

Lesser said Spilka has "a real north star and a real internal compass," in a set of values that guides her politics. He pointed to Spilka's work increasing a clothing allowance for children on welfare. "That wasn't something that was going to end up on the front page of the newspaper, but it was very important in that it was going to help people who didn't have a voice in the political system," Lesser said.

Spilka considers one of her major accomplishments to be a 2012 overhaul of the system that required at-risk youth who were dealing with serious problems to go through the courts to get help. The reform created family resource centers where children could get services, such as counseling or treatment for substance abuse.

Lisa Hewitt, general counsel at the Committee for Public Counsel Services, worked with Spilka on that bill and other issues. Hewitt said Spilka always "comes to the table prepared, and she spends a lot of time becoming familiar with the subject matter."

Hewitt said Spilka's background in law and mediation helps her understand issues and build coalitions. "I think that she has the personality and the intelligence to have people coalesce and to get to yes," Hewitt said.

Arline Isaacson, co-chair of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, has known Spilka since 2001. Isaacson said Spilka was not just a supporter, but a leader on gay rights since the earliest controversies over gay marriage. "Since her first days in the House, she's always been very strong and very committed to equality and civil rights, and she never shied away from advocating for us or for equality," Isaacson said.

"She has a strong progressive record, and it's enhanced by not only her life experiences and work experiences but by her intellect," Isaacson said. "She's smart."

In her district, Spilka worked to create a regional identity for the MetroWest area, helping create a regional transit authority and open a visitors' bureau. She said the issue of regional equity is one she wants to focus on as president.

"There are many similarities throughout the regions in Massachusetts, but there are unique differences, and I believe we need to continue to build on that," she said.

Spilka said transportation and housing are two topics she hears about often throughout the state. She said Massachusetts must improve its transportation system, including regional transit authorities, buses, commuter rail and roads. The state must also build more affordable and workforce housing, she said.

Spilka has also been pushing to update the education funding formula to give school districts more money.

Spilka pledges that she will take a "collaborative" approach to the presidency. She said she already has working relationships with House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, and Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, through her work as Ways and Means chairwoman.

Sen. Will Brownsberger, D-Belmont, called Spilka "a straight shooter."

"She's strong. She knows what she thinks, but she listens and she's the kind of person who pulls big issues together," Brownsberger said.

Sen. Michael Barrett, D-Lexington, had a rocky relationship with then-Senate President Billy Bulger in the 1980s and 1990s. When he returned to the Senate in 2013 after a long absence, Barrett said he worried what type of reception he would get.

"(Spilka) was the only member of the state Senate to walk up to me, extend her hand and offer her help as I reacclimated myself to a body that I had been in in the 1990s," Barrett recalled, describing her as the "friendliest" of his colleagues. "I genuinely appreciated it."

Therese Murray became the Senate's first female president in 2007. Spilka will be third female president, after Chandler.With excess money to spend at the end of the 2018 fiscal year, Gov. Charlie Baker wants to make a large investment in school safety. But some state representatives are pointing out that young people are more likely to die in gun violence outside of school than in school, and they want the money spent accordingly.

"It's great we're getting focus and attention on school safety because of what happened in Parkland," said Rep. Andy Vargas, D-Haverhill, referring to the Florida school shooting in February. "At the same time, there are neighborhoods and communities that have been experiencing gun violence on a weekly basis, and we need to ensure they're getting the same level of attention and funding."

Thanks to a strong economy and the federal tax overhaul, Massachusetts ended fiscal 2018 on June 30 with $1.1 billion more in tax revenue than anticipated.

While much of that money is going into the state's reserve fund, Baker has proposed spending around half of it, including a $150 million package for education, with $72 million earmarked to improve school safety.

Baker's spending proposal is in front of the Legislature, which is likely to propose its own spending priorities.

A letter circulated by Vargas and signed by 40 lawmakers calls for the creation of a $20 million Gun Violence Prevention Trust Fund, which would provide four years of grants to community-based organizations that address youth violence by using a public health approach, such as offering mental health services. The letter calls for the money to come from either the school safety allocation or from money that would otherwise go to the state's reserve fund.

"Investments in mental health counselors, marketing campaigns, and security technology in our schools are worthy and vital," the lawmakers wrote. "However, we believe that if we truly wish to address the gun violence epidemic, we have to acknowledge that schools cannot solve this problem alone and that, statistically, most kids that pull the trigger are not found in schools."

Between 2013 and 2016 in Massachusetts, there were 143 firearm homicides among people ages 0 to 24, but only 12 were of people under 18, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 80 percent of homicide victims under age 25 are black or Hispanic.

"These homicides are disproportionately concentrated among people in underserved communities of color and in demographics who are no longer a part of the K-12 school system," the lawmakers wrote.

The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a California-based organization started by former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, supports Vargas' request.

"The facts show that youth in Massachusetts and elsewhere are far more likely to be victimized by guns outside school walls," said Ari Freilich, staff attorney for the Giffords Law Center.

Freilich said Massachusetts has been a leader in promoting violence prevention programs, such as the Safe and Successful Youth Initiative, but those programs need a steady source of funding.

"Massachusetts has really been a test case that proved how effective community-based violence prevention can be," Freilich said. "What they never received in Massachusetts is the stable and really meaningful investment they need to reach even more youth."

Freilich said Baker's proposal to invest more money in school safety is similar to a dynamic he has seen in other states, where the Parkland shooting spurred major investments in school safety but not in preventing gun violence on the streets.

"We have been working hard to remind folks ... that most violence against youth happens outside school walls," Freilich said. "That when making these kinds of investments or finding money for youth safety, they should consider how youth spend their whole day and where they're victimized and how."With the 2018 election just months away, a majority of Massachusetts voters say they approve of the work their two U.S. senators are doing on Capitol Hill, according to a new poll.

A Morning Consult survey released Wednesday found that U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey remain popular with most of their constituents.

More than half, or 53 percent of voters, said they have favorable views of Warren, an oft-rumored 2020 presidential contender who is up for re-election his fall. By contrast, 36 percent said they disapprove of the Democrat's work in Washington.

Fifty-one percent of Massachusetts voters, meanwhile, said they approve of Markey, compared to 23 percent who expressed disapproval, the poll found.

The findings represent a slight drop from Morning Consult's April survey, in which 54 percent of voters said they approved of Warren compared to 35 percent who disapproved, while 52 percent said they approved of Markey compared to 24 percent who disapproved.

Although Warren and Markey fell behind U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, in terms of popularity -- who led the chamber with a 63 percent approval rating -- both were ranked among the top 25 most liked senators.

The survey, meanwhile, ranked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, as the least popular senator, with approval from only 30 percent of constituents.

Morning Consult noted that McConnell has been consistently ranked as the least popular member of the Senate, " finishing last in every edition of the 100-deep list since its inception in late 2015."

Morning Consult's Senator Approval Rankings are based on surveys with more than 331,000 registered American voters conducted from April 1 to June 30.BOSTON -- The Massachusetts Senate on Wednesday adopted an amendment that would let voters in particular regions agree to a new tax to fund specific transportation projects.

"We're in a crisis in this state," said Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, chairman of the Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, who has been pushing for the adoption of regional transportation ballot initiatives. "Nobody can get to work, our roads are falling apart, traffic is awful ... our existing infrastructure is in a massive state of disrepair. We're falling behind other states in terms of making investments in transportation."

The amendment was added to a major economic development bill. It will still need to be agreed on by the House then signed by Gov. Charlie Baker before it can become law.

Sen. Joseph Boncore, D-Winthrop, chairman of the Transportation Committee, said during debate that regional ballot initiatives "gives the voters the opportunity to come forward and say we need more revenue for projects, bike lanes, ferries."

"It allows municipalities and regions to decide," Boncore said, according to a State House News Service transcript.

Regional ballot initiatives would allow a city or town or a group of cities or towns to raise revenue through higher property taxes or sales taxes or another source. The revenue would have to be used for a specific transportation project. Approving a new tax would require a vote of the town's governing body and approval by town voters on the ballot. The ballot question would specify the size and duration of the tax and the specific projects it would be used for.

For example, Lesser said, towns along the Berkshire Flyer rail route could choose to fund improved service along the route.

The amendment passed 27-10.

Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, who opposed the amendment, said, "There just is no relent in the desire of some to try to find new ways to impose taxes in the commonwealth," according to the State House News Service.

The Senate approved the economic development bill unanimously Wednesday night. Lawmakers will now have to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the bills and hold a final vote before the legislative session ends on Tuesday.

The Senate version of the bill also includes provisions regulating non-compete agreements.

Sen. Jason Lewis, D-Winchester, chairman of the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development, said non-competes are increasingly being overused, with more employers using them to restrict even low-wage workers, such as those working in restaurants or hair salons.

Lewis said the reforms, which limit the scope and duration of non-competes and who they can apply to, "would make a substantial and meaningful difference to the lives of thousands, if not tens of thousands, of workers and their families in Massachusetts."

House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, said the House is open to considering non-compete reform as part of its discussions of the final bill.

The bill includes authorization to spend around $600 million on municipal projects, job training and other economic development programs.

It also several policy changes, including cracking down on "patent trolls" and establishing a sales tax holiday.BOSTON -- Surrounded by families of fallen police officers, Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday signed a bill adding a new $2 fee to car rentals in order to pay for municipal police training.

"I don't view this as a celebratory moment," Baker said. "I view it as a somber moment, in which I hope to those who have been so horribly affected by events of recent months, you take some solace in the fact that we listened, and we're going to pursue this aggressively."

Weymouth Police Capt. Joseph Comperchio, brother-in-law of Weymouth Sgt. Michael Chesna, who was shot with his own weapon after responding to a car crash last week, said passage of the bill "has been a long time coming."

Comperchio said he did not know if additional training would have made a difference in Chesna's case, but he said, "It certainly wouldn't hurt that we could get the additional training."

Weymouth Police K-9 Officer Edward Hancock said, "It means the world to have more training and more experience and ... to have the knowledge on the street for the police officers that we need in dealing with every different situation."

Sharon Tarentino, the mother of slain Auburn Police Officer Ronald Tarentino Jr., also attended the bill signing. Ronald Tarentino was shot in 2016 after a traffic stop.

"It means a lot to be a part of this," Sharon Tarentino said. "It's too bad this had to take place, but at least the ball is rolling now, and hopefully only good comes of any changes that might be made."

The new law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2019, will let the Municipal Police Training Committee collect up to $10 million a year from the new car rental fee. Any money raised above that would go into the state's general fund.

The Municipal Police Training Committee is responsible for training and setting training standards for local police, University of Massachusetts police and state environmental police. It would also be allowed to get money from other public and private sources.

Baker, a Republican, has said in the past that he would not raise fees. But he also supports law enforcement.

The governor had supported adding more money for municipal police training without creating a new dedicated funding source. But the Legislature decided to pay for the training fund with the new fee.

Baker said coming on the heels of recent police killings -- Chesna and Yarmouth Officer Sean Gannon were both killed in the line of duty this year -- law enforcement officials told him that getting more money for police training was a high priority.

Baker said Monday, "Within the context of a political process where we have a real urgency amongst our folks in law enforcement about this, I think our view is we should go ahead and accept the Legislature's version as they submitted it, even though I'd prefer not to raise fees."

Rep. David Linsky, D-Natick, a former prosecutor who led the efforts to pass the bill, said police officers today are called on to be social workers and youth workers, and they put their lives on the line every day. "They need the best training possible," Linsky said.U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Brookline, condemned House Republicans Thursday for introducing articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing the investigation into Russian election interference.

Kennedy said he was "stunned, saddened and so not surprised" to hear that U.S. Reps. Mark Meadows, R-North Carolina, Jim Jordan, R-Ohio and others have offered a resolution to remove Rosenstein from office.

Although the congressman argued that "the far right" has been wanting to oust the deputy AG for months, he questioned the resolution's timing.

"It's a stunning statement, I think, after what we saw last week from President (Donald) Trump in Helsinki -- the discussions with (Russian President) Vladimir Putin; the idea that we still, as a country, don't know what was said in that room; the indictments that we've seen from Russia intelligence officials -- the indictment of Maria Butina -- all of this," he told BuzzFeed News. "And then the response from Republicans is to impeach the guy overseeing the investigation? You've got to be kidding me."

"You've got to be kidding me." @RepJoeKennedy on House GOP introducing articles of impeachment against US Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein pic.twitter.com/yNcAQOtXar  AM2DM by BuzzFeed News (@AM2DM) July 26, 2018

Kennedy, who recently called for Trump's Helsinki summit translator to testify before Congress, further accused Republicans of preferring to "be blindly loyal to (the president) than stand up for the American public."

Kennedy was not the only member of Massachusetts' House delegation to speak out against the impeachment push.

U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Worcester, argued that "Republicans should be ashamed of themselves."

"History will remember that they were willing to completely undermine the rule of law just to score a few cheap political points," he tweeted Thursday.

Republicans should be ashamed of themselves. History will remember that they were willing to completely undermine the rule of law just to score a few cheap political points. https://t.co/g9dqNMbT7d  Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) July 26, 2018

Meadows announced Wednesday that he and other members of the conservative Freedom Caucus had filed a resolution to impeach Rosenstein -- a move which he said was needed as the Department of Justice "has continued to hide information from Congress and repeatedly obstructed oversight -- even defying multiple congressional subpoenas."

"Withholding documents, hiding text messages, ignoring deadlines, engaging in potential FISA abuse, defying congressional subpoenas: just to name a few examples," he tweeted. "Enough is enough. People need to be held accountable."

Over the last 10 months, we've caught the DOJ:



- Withholding documents

- Hiding text messages

- Ignoring deadlines

- Engaging in potential FISA abuse

- Defying Congressional subpoenas



Just to name a few examples.



Enough is enough. People need to be held accountable.  Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) July 25, 2018

The resolution includes five articles outlining why Rosenstein should be impeached. It has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

Meadows said Thursday that will table his effort to impeach Rosenstein after meeting with GOP leaders, The Hill reported.

"I hope we can avoid impeachment and hopefully avoid contempt and get the documents, but certainly both those things are on the table and remain on the table to have more of a contempt process," he reportedly said. "Both options remain there."Following severe storms Wednesday night, officials are investigating if a tornado touched down in Massachusetts.

The National Weather Service is sending a team to Central Massachusetts to survey storm damage.

The storm uprooted large trees, sent a tree branch flying into bedroom and blew the roof off another home in Upton.

National Weather Service investigators will be in the Central Massachusetts towns of Upton and Douglas Thursday morning and expect to have the survey complete by the afternoon.New medical devices and technologies are being unveiled on a daily basis, as readers of Medgadget know well. Medical professionals are provided so much newly discovered knowledge that they end up creating new devices to take advantage of that knowledge. The medical device industry has a problem keeping pace, so universities are trying to pull on the slack.

One recently launched initiative to help with that is MADE at The University of Iowa. This is an innovative program that we wanted to learn more about, particularly since many other institutions are considering their own similar approaches. We spoke with Jordan Kaufmann, Director of Startups at University of Iowa, who helped us get a better idea of what MADE is and how it came to be.

Medgadget: The University of Iowa has a well known and respected reputation in medical research and MADE seems to be a vehicle to harness that research. What issues led you to start MADE that didnt exist a decade ago?

Jordan Kaufmann: Iowa has a long tradition of innovative research leading to cutting edge technology. Our goal is to make sure that technology reaches the people it was designed to benefit. We saw two shortcomings that led to the creation of MADE: 1) Our medical faculty have reported that when they published an article that used a device manufactured in house several of their colleagues would email to ask where they could buy one. 2) We also noticed that there were a number of devices in the IP portfolio that were being manufactured at a high standard but were not being picked up through traditional licensing. We felt that both of these could be addressed through the creation of MADE in which we develop, manufacture, package and sell locally. In doing so, we are able to move product to market quicker than the traditional licensing route and also build up a customer base that would be beneficial to a licensee in the future. We are able to implement a program like MADE through the support and direction of UI President Bruce Harreld. He has been a strong advocate for innovation on campus and encourages faculty to bring their research out of the lab to help people and improve lives. We have also had strong support from department chairs who see this as a way to encourage the innovation from their clinical faculty.

Medgadget: These days clinicians often come up with their own ideas for medical products. What are some of the challenges of getting those ideas to the point of commercialization of real devices?

Kaufmann: There are three primary challenges clinicians face when developing their own devices into commercial products: 1) Resources (financial and engineering expertise) to build an initial prototype; 2) Convincing their colleagues and companies to support their devices; and 3) Having the devices manufactured to a level that can be used in clinical settings. This includes not only the manufacturing itself but also the cleaning and sterilization processes and incorporation into clinic. These process burdens can substantially derail efforts to conduct a clinical trial which is often critical to convince an external company to commercialize the technology.

Medgadget: How is MADE helping to go from idea to realization?

Kaufmann: Unlike traditional medical device companies, MADE is not concerned with making a substantial profit from the devices. This allows us the freedom to take a chance on more niche products. Our process is setup to encourage departments to fund and support early prototype development costs and to provide an initial check on the market need and product-market fit. If a department chair sees the device as a substantial improvement to merit allocation of development funds for the prototype, that is an initial market acceptance. Once we have a product on the market, the initial revenues that come in go to reimburse the departments for the development costs that they put into the product. This eases the burden on the department, and allows them to support the faculty in their endeavors. We also work very closely with our campus prototyping group, protoStudios to develop the initial prototypes. This reduces prototyping costs and expenses. MADE utilizes a student Quality team to conduct all of the quality procedures necessary to be compliant with the FDA and a student manufacturing team to scale the prototypes to manufacturing. This Fall we plan to bring on marketing students to serve as Product Managers. The students play a critical role in our commercialization and also develop true real-world experience. The devices are marketed and sold through our website, iowamade.org. By utilizing this process, we are able to mitigate the substantial challenges toward commercialization and also encourage an innovation ecosystem on campus.

Medgadget: What are the benefits of MADE for the clinicians and for the University? What about the patients?

Kaufmann: The benefits of MADE for clinicians are primarily that theyre able to bring their device to practice and improve patient care. MADE alleviates the frustration often experienced by clinicians when they see a way that they can improve patient care but dont know how to make it a reality. This aligns with benefits for the patients and the university. The University benefits through the development of an ecosystem that encourages innovative clinicians who are constantly trying to improve patient care and minimize costs. The patient benefits from having improved care that minimizes costs and adverse effects.

Medgadget: Can you give us examples of what youve been working on at MADE? Any new technologies you can reveal?

Kaufmann: MADE is currently focused on simple, low risk medical devices. There are currently 2 products [shown above] available through our website the Abrons Oral Airway and the Sindt Ophthalmic Spatula. The AOA articulates then locks in place for improved cross-sectional area for mask ventilation and improved glottic view during flexible scope exam. The device can be intubated through, disarticulated and removed without disturbing an endotracheal tube. The Sindt Spatula is used to uniformly exvert the eyelid during evaluation of the Meibomian glands or to express the glands.

We are working on additional sizes for our Abrons Oral Airway, a disposable Sindt Ophthalmic Spatula, surgical scissors, retractors, and a dental instrument.

Medgadget: Is there a medical focus area that youre hoping MADE can help to address?

Kaufmann: The current medical focus is on hand-held instruments that improve patient care.

How are you promoting MADE among the clinical staff? How does a person with an idea get started?

MADE is currently being promoted through the departments and also through the tech transfer office, UIRF. To get started, a person can reach out to MADE or to their licensing associate for more information. All of our devices are available for license to an external company so the starting point is to submit an invention disclosure to the UIRF (University of Iowa Research Foundation).

Medgadget: What is the path for someone with an idea to get it to move forward toward development?

Kaufmann: Faculty are able to bring ideas forward at any stage and we will work with them but we require the department to be involved in the prototyping stage as a check on product-market fit. Faculty are able to work with either internal or external groups to develop a prototype. After a prototype is developed, we evaluate it for fit with MADE and if it is accepted, our student team works with the faculty to implement quality procedures and on-board the device. Our manufacturing students scale the prototype for manufacturing then implement the manufacturing process. We require that devices are used clinically before they are listed with MADE. The clinical use occurs at different stages of the process depending on the type of device, the prototype and manufacturing techniques.

Link: MADE by UIGlobal Real Time Health Monitoring Devices Market  Regional Analysis

North America dominates the Global Real Time Health Monitoring Devices Market increasing diseases management for the growing geriatric population. Moreover, the presence of the developed economies like the U.S. and Canada provides the technological backgrounds for the market growth. Europe holds the second largest market. The need to reduce the healthcare costs and improve patient health management for the ageing population has led to the adoption of real time health monitoring devices in this region. The Asia Pacific region is expected to be the fastest growing region while the Middle East and Africa holds the least share of the global market.

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Global Real Time Health Monitoring Devices Market  Competitive Analysis

Characterized by the presence of several well-established and small players, the Global Real Time Health Monitoring Devices Market appears to be highly competitive and fragmented. International players are increasingly expanding their footprint in the developing economy, making it difficult for regional vendors to compete with them, especially in terms of features such as product differentiation, product portfolios, quality, and pricing. The market is witnessing intensified competition which is expected to get more intensified further during the forecast period. The intense competition prevalent in the market dictates the consolidation among marketers.

Well established players incorporate acquisition, collaboration, partnership, expansion, and product launch in order to gain competitive advantage in this market and to maintain their market position.

In July-2016, GE Healthcare acquired Biosafe Group, which supplied integrated cell bioprocessing systems for the cell therapy and regenerative medicine industry, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition of Biosafe expanded GE Healthcares end-to-end ecosystem of products, solutions, and services for its cell therapy customers and expanded GEs technology reach to a number of new cell and therapy types.

In October-2017, Qualcomm, along with Netgear, Ericsson, and Australian carrier Telstra, is announced launch of the first product to support gigabit LTE, a mobile hotspot. The hotspot makes use of a variety of technologies to hit those high speeds, including carrier aggregation. It runs on Telstras existing LTE networks.

In February-2017, Nokia re-launched the entire Withings portfolio of digital health devices under the Nokia brand, the company announced the same at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona.

In May-2016, Fitbit, Inc., the leader in the connected health and fitness market, acquired wearable payment assets of Coin, a Silicon Valley consumer electronics and financial technology company. The deal includes key personnel and intellectual property specific to Coins wearable payment platform. There were no plans to integrate Coins wearable payments technology into the 2016 Fitbit product roadmap, the acquisition accelerated Fitbits ability to develop an active NFC payment solution that could be embedded into future Fitbit devices, broadening its smart capabilities. The acquisition excluded smart payment products, such as Coin 2.0.

Global Real Time Health Monitoring Devices Market  Overview

The Global Real Time Health Monitoring Devices Market is expected to reach USD 67,982.2 million by 2022 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 14.29% during the forecast period 2016-2022.

Real Time Health Monitoring Devices provide real time analysis of the patients health parameters. Patients are sharing their healthcare information in real time with their caregivers through these devices for flexible health monitoring and management. Internet of medical things is vastly improving the healthcare conditions of patients. Tracking patient monitoring and drug management has become possible because of the usage of the above Internet of Things (IOT) medical devices in the healthcare sector. Increasing ageing population, surging healthcare expenses and an increase in the occurrence of chronic diseases is driving healthcare stakeholders to follow remote health management and patient monitoring seriously.

Global Real Time Health Monitoring Devices Market  Key Players

Some of the key players in this market are: GE Healthcare (U.K.), Qualcomm (U.S.), Jawbone Inc. (U.S.), Withings SA (France), Fitbit Inc. (U.S.), Garmin Ltd. (Switzerland) and others.

Global Real Time Health Monitoring Devices Market  Segments

Global Real Time Health Monitoring Devices Market has been segmented on the basis of type which comprises of wearable devices, home health medical devices. On the basis of end user the market is segmented into hospitals, clinics, ambulatory centers and homecare settings.

Major Table of Content

Chapter 1. Report Prologue

Chapter 2. Market Introduction

2.1 Definition

2.2 Scope of the Study

2.2.1 Research Objective

2.2.2 Assumptions

2.2.3 Limitations

Chapter 3. Research Methodology

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Primary Research

3.3 Secondary Research

3.4 Market Size Estimation

Chapter 4. Market Dynamics

Continued.

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Email: salesteam@marketresearchfuture.comby Sara Guaglione , July 26, 2018

Womens Health has unveiled its September issue, dedicated to its second annual Global Naked Issue. The Hearst-owned publication surveyed 18,000 readers around the world to understand how women perceive body image, acceptance and confidence.

This year, 14 of its 19 international editions participated in the special issue. It explores what it means to be naked  physically, mentally and emotionally.

We partnered with international editions to create a survey and ask women how they think about, feel about and talk about their bodies, Womens Health editor-in-chief Liz Plosser told Publishers Daily.

For example, one survey question asked readers how happy they are with their body. Those who said they were accepting of their body came primarily from Brazil, Latin America, Russia and Poland.

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Readers who gave a higher rating of happy-ish with their bodies were from the U.S., Germany, Japan, Middle East, Netherlands, Spain, Turkey and the UK.

Over 4,500 survey respondents in the Global Naked Issue were from the U.S.

Another survey question found readers would rather hear the compliment you look fit over other compliments, such as you look skinny.

For us [at Womens Health], we believe your body is so intimately intertwined with your health and wellness, Plosser said. Nakedness is such a metaphor for where you are in your life mentally and emotionally.

Womens Health revealed a print redesign with its July/August issue. The concept is to have an expanded focus on wellness, more inspirational than aspirational when it comes to health and fitness. Notably, the magazine introduced a new section called Mind, devoted to mental health.

The Global Naked Issue asked international editors to recall the first moment they formed opinions about body confidence, Plosser said.

Jenna Dewan, the actor, dancer and TV host formerly married to actor Channing Tatum, graces the cover of the issue. She poses nude  though in countries more sensitive to nudity, she dons a swimsuit in the cover shot.

Other models posing nude in the issue include influencer Chinae Alexander, Orange is the New Black actress Sascha Polanco, athlete Alex Silver-Fagan, model and Muay Thai fighter Mia Kang and Glow actress Sydelle Noel.

Plosser, who was previously senior vice president of content at Well+Good, became editor of Womens Healthin January.

Since she took the reins, new advertisers have appeared in the print issues, including Unilever Dove, Allergan Loloestrin, Diagio Ketel One, Kotex and Garnier. LOreals Maybelline returned to advertising in the magazine for the first time since 2012.

The Global Naked Issue hits newsstands August 8.by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, July 26, 2018

Dentsu has reached a deal to acquire Edinburgh, Scotland-based creative agency Whitespace. Terms werent disclosed.

Following the acquisition, Whitespace will remain a standalone agency within Dentsu Aegis Network North, contributing to the networks business efforts throughout the UK, according to the company.

The shop was founded in 1997 and is overseen by Iain Valentine and Phillip Lockwood-Holmes, managing partners.



The agency offers specialized services in brand strategy, digital production, content and integrated campaigns spanning mobile, augmented reality and virtual reality with a staff of 70.

Whitespace had revenues of about $5 million last year. On its website, the agency showcases work for clients like Sainsburys Bank, Highland Park water and tourism marketer Visit Scotland.by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, July 26, 2018

Google is expressing concerns to the Department of Commerce that the so-called "right to be forgotten" could spread from Europe to other areas of the world.

Judges on Europe's highest court created the controversial right four years ago, when they ruled that Google (and other search engines) can be forced to delete links to information about EU residents at their request, if their right to privacy outweighs the public interest in the information.

Google now says it's worried that the right to be forgotten could expand beyond the EU. "We have done our best to comply responsibly, but we disagreed with the ruling in Europe and would have concerns about this principle being exported to other jurisdictions," Google said in a recent filing with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

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The "right to be forgotten" doesn't exist in the United States, where free speech principles protect the right to publish accurate information. But judges in the EU may soon broaden the principle in a way that could restrict Americans' access to information.

Specifically, Europe's highest court is considering whether the right to be forgotten requires Google to scrub links in its search results worldwide -- including search results on the U.S. site Google.com -- or only links that appear in the search results pages created for European countries, like the French site Google.fr.

Regulators in France previously said that Google must remove material from all of its results pages. Google has appealed that ruling to the EU's highest court, arguing that regulators in one country shouldn't be able to determine what information Google can display in other parts of the world.

The company is now bringing its concerns to the NTIA. "We strongly oppose the idea of global removals based on a Right to be Forgotten," the company writes.

"Google is committed to the circulation of lawful information and strongly opposes the idea of one national Court or Authority having the power to decide what information is allowed to circulate and enjoyed by citizens throughout the world," the company adds. "A call for global removals is concerning because it is based on an approach that, if generally applied, would lead authorities of non-democratic governments to restrict freedom of expression and censor information around the world."by Ray Schultz , July 26, 2018

LifeLock, a firm that offers an identity protection service, has exposed millions of email addresses to possible phishing attacks, according to Krebs on Security.

The company had a vulnerability on its site that would have allowed bad actors to index email addresses and unsubscribe individuals, Krebs writes.

The firm has fixed the problem. But the issue suggests that whoever put it together lacked a basic understanding of web site authentication and security, Krebs writes.

Krebs says it was informed of the issue by Nathan Reese, a freelance security researcher and former LifeLock subscriber.

Symantec, which bought LifeLock in 2016 for $2.3 billion, responded to Krebs by saying that the issue has been fixed and was limited to potential exposure of email addresses on a marketing page, managed by a third party, intended to allow recipients to unsubscribe from marketing emails.

It also said that there was no vulnerability in the LifeLock portal, and that there was no suspicious activity.A new study, published in the journal Nature Communications, shows that our brains integrate smell with information about space and time to form episodic memories. The findings may lead to better Alzheimers sniff tests.

Share on Pinterest Smells can trigger strong bouts of nostalgia, and new research helps us understand why.

When the smell of Madeleines prompted Proust to write hundreds of pages worth of memories, little did he know that he was helping uncover a new area of neuroscientific study.

Decades later, researchers hypothesized that the exceptional ability that smells have to trigger memories  known as the Proust effect  is due to how close the olfactory processing system is to the memory hub in the brain.

Indeed, the amygdala, the almond-shaped brain structure that processes sensory information, and the hippocampus, the area responsible for storing episodic memories for later access, sit close together in the brain.

Episodic memories are autobiographical memories of specific past events. In Prousts case, the smell of Madeleines triggered memories about his aunts old grey house upon the street, [] and with the house the town, from morning to night and in all weathers, the square where I used to be sent before lunch, the streets along which I used to run errands, the country roads we took when it was fine.

Its no coincidence that Prousts memories were about space and time. New research shows that spatiotemporal information is integrated in a brain region known as the anterior olfactory nucleus (AON), which is implicated in Alzheimers disease.

Referring to smells and information about space and time, study co-author Afif Aqrabawi says, When these elements combine, a what-when-where memory is formed [] This is why, for example, you might have the ability to remember the smell of a lovers perfume (the what) when you reminisce about your first kiss (the when and where).

Aqrabawi is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Cell & Systems Biology at the University of Toronto in Canada. He conducted the study in collaboration with graduate supervisor Jun Chul Kim, a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto.We include products we think are useful for our readers. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission. Heres our process.

Back pain is a common problem that can interfere with a persons work and personal life. Fortunately, many home remedies exist to help relieve bothersome back pain. Lower back pain is a widespread problem, causing more global disability than any other condition. Up to 80 percent of adults will experience low back pain at least once in their lives. People can also experience pain in other areas of the back, including the middle and upper back. The back muscles and spine support much of the bodys weight. A person uses the muscles for everyday movements, including sitting, standing, and walking. Over-the-counter pain medications, such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen, may help relieve pain. For those who wish to try home remedies, some of the following treatments might help:

Exercise to get muscles moving Share on Pinterest Water exercises can help alleviate back pain. It can be challenging to get up and move when back pain strikes. However, a short walk, yoga, water exercise, or another low-impact activity can often help alleviate back pain. Exercise may loosen tense muscles and release endorphins, which are the brains natural painkillers. A person can also consider starting a daily exercise program, including strength training and stretching, to help keep muscles flexible and strong. Regular exercise may prevent future episodes of back pain that are due to tight muscles.

Use heat and cold Studies show that heat and cold are effective ways to get relief from back pain. Ice packs are most beneficial when a person uses them directly after an injury, such as a strain. Applying an ice pack wrapped in a towel directly to the back can reduce inflammation. Cold may also provide a numbing effect for sudden, intense back pain. A person can use cold packs designed for pain relief, or in a pinch, use a bag of ice or frozen vegetables covered with a cloth to protect the skin from frostbite. It is best not to apply ice for more than 20 minutes at a time. A heating pad can also relieve stiff or achy muscles. People should be sure to read and follow the instructions on any heating pad and test the temperature carefully to ensure it is not too hot. If a heating pad is unavailable, a person can use a hot water bottle or heat a cloth bag of uncooked rice in the microwave. People should take care not to burn the skin with ice or heat.

Stretch The following stretches may help relieve back pain. People should hold each stretch for 30 seconds or as long as it feels comfortable Touching the toes: In addition to stretching the hamstrings, bending forward to reach your toes will help loosen the muscles in the lower back. Cobra Pose: Lying on your stomach, with your hands face down beside the shoulders, gently lift your chest up so that the top of your head points toward the ceiling. Cat-Cow Pose: Beginning on your hands and knees, slowly alternate between arching your back toward the ceiling and dipping it toward the floor. Childs Pose: Sitting on the heels with your knees hip-width apart, lean forward to place your head on the floor, stretching your arms out in front of your head.

Apply a pain-relief cream A variety of pain-relief creams that can provide some relief from back pain are available in pharmacies and online. Creams that contain capsaicin, a compound found in hot peppers, may also help relieve pain. One study found capsaicin cream to be helpful in treating osteoarthritis pain. Pain-relief creams that contain menthol have a cooling effect that can temporarily dull back pain. One study suggests that applying menthol to the skin can desensitize pain receptors in the body. However, using too much menthol can cause a person to be more sensitive to pain.

Try Arnica Arnica is a homeopathic remedy that people can apply directly to the skin to treat muscle pain, swelling, bruising, and minor injuries. Many pharmacies sell Arnica creams and gels. It is also available online. While there is little scientific research to prove that Arnica is effective, it has a low risk of side effects and some people may find it helpful. One case report found that arnica helped relieve chronic osteoarthritis pain when combined with acupuncture and massage.

Switch shoes Wearing shoes that do not fit or that offer no support could cause muscle strains in the back, legs, and even neck. High heels, for example, can throw off the bodys alignment, leading to lower back pain. One study found a link between wearing high heels for long periods and having back pain. Wearing shoes that are very flat can also put added strain on the feet and back. If a person experiences recurrent back pain, they should consider switching to shoes that fit correctly and support the feet. A podiatrist or foot specialist can help a person find proper footwear if necessary.

Make workstation changes Improper posture due to slouching or straining at a desk may cause back pain and other muscle aches. Using ergonomics to modify a workstation can help reduce pain due to poor posture. A person should ensure their computer screen is at eye level and that their chair is at the correct height. Proper ergonomics at work may help reduce back pain and other injuries, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the United States. One study in Denmark found that people who worked in nursing homes or home care had less lower back pain after changes in ergonomics, combined with behavioral therapy and physical training. If a person does any lifting for their job, they should squat and use their legs  not their back  for support. It is best to ask for help or use trolleys when moving very heavy objects.

Get enough sleep Share on Pinterest A person sleeping on their side should place an extra pillow between their knees for additional support. Research shows that sleep disturbances could make pain worse. Lack of sleep can also affect how much pain a person can tolerate, according to another study. An uncomfortable mattress, pillows that are the wrong size, or simply not getting adequate sleep could trigger back pain. Most adults should be getting 79 hours of sleep a night, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) . Proper comfort and alignment of the back is essential for sleep quality and avoiding back pain in the morning. Makes sure the pillow is supportive enough to keep the back and neck in a straight line. People who sleep on their side should place an extra pillow between their knees. A person should speak to a doctor if lack of sleep continues to be a problem. Sleep disorders are often treatable. Getting enough rest may help relieve pain and can improve a persons overall health.

Manage or reduce stress Stress can trigger muscle tension and painful spasms, including in the back. If long-term stress or a traumatic event seems to have caused back pain, a person can try stress-relief techniques, such as: Mindfulness meditation. One study showed that mindfulness-based stress reduction improved back pain. Mindfulness involves being aware of what the body is doing and using meditation techniques to assist with the pain.

One study showed that mindfulness-based stress reduction improved back pain. Mindfulness involves being aware of what the body is doing and using meditation techniques to assist with the pain. Deep breathing. Taking deep breaths in and out for several minutes can calm the bodys stress response.

Taking deep breaths in and out for several minutes can calm the bodys stress response. Progressive muscle relaxation. This involves tensing and relaxing muscles in the body, focusing on one muscle group at a time. Lying on their back, a person can start with their feet and gradually move up to the shoulders.

This involves tensing and relaxing muscles in the body, focusing on one muscle group at a time. Lying on their back, a person can start with their feet and gradually move up to the shoulders. Guided imagery. This involves focusing on specific mental images to bring about a feeling of relaxation. One study found guided imagery and music helps with work-related chronic stress.

This involves focusing on specific mental images to bring about a feeling of relaxation. One study found guided imagery and music helps with work-related chronic stress. Yoga. Yoga focuses on particular poses and breathing and can help with relaxation, especially when practiced regularly. One review found yoga to be an effective stress management tool. Many smartphone apps are available to guide a person through relaxation techniques and meditation.The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-4) classifies shared psychotic disorder (folie a deux) as an atypical psychotic disorder. A diagnosis of an atypical psychosis is made when a patient shows symptoms that are clearly psychotic such as delusions (false beliefs), hallucinations (seeing and hearing things that dont exist), disorganized thinking, thought broadcasting (the belief that ones thoughts are broadcast from the head to the outside world) or other bizarre behaviors. However, these symptoms do not satisfy the level required by the DSM-5 to diagnose a specific psychotic disorder such as schizophrenia.

Shared psychosis disorder also referred to as folie a deux is a rare mental illness in which an otherwise normal and healthy person starts to believe the delusions (false beliefs) of a closely connected person such as spouse, sibling or friend who has a psychotic disorder like schizophrenia , for example.

The person who has the psychotic disorder is the primary or dominant partner and the other person is referred to as the secondary or passive partner.

The primary or dominant partner and the passive partner often have a strong emotional connect to one another but are otherwise not very social and may not have other friends or acquaintances other than each other.

The dominant partner has a strong influence or hold over the passive partner and gradually manages to impose their false beliefs on the passive partner very soon. The primary member, usually older, more intelligent and better educated with an assertive personality, controls the passive member who is usually docile and weak.

Most often, this disorder occurs within a nuclear family; more than 95% of the cases reported were from members of the same family. A third of reported cases were between two sisters and another third being between mother and child and husband and wife.

Although shared psychosis disorders typically involve two persons, it can involve three persons (folie a trois), four persons (folie a quatre) and in case it affected 12 members of the same family (folie a famille/ folie a douze). It can also happen in a group or cult where the cult leader has a psychotic disorder and imposes his false beliefs on his followers (folie a plusiers, or "the madness of many").

Famous Cases of Shared Psychosis Disorder

Some of the reported interesting cases of shared psychosis disorder or folie a deux are given below in order to give an idea of the bizarre and almost unbelievable things that can happen in this condition.

Shared psychosis involving an entire family

In 2016, a bizarre case involving a family of five from Melbourne, Australia made the news when all of them suddenly disappeared from their home leaving everything behind and travelled more than 1,600 km across the state of Victoria because one of the family members was convinced that someone was out to kill them. Over the next few days, each person was found in a separate location in a confused state with no proper explanation as to how they reached there.Following an investigation by the police, no evidence was found to support the familys claims of persecution and the symptoms of those involved resolved on their own once the family returned to their home.

Shared psychosis between an owner and her pet dog

Volume 149 of the American Journal of Psychiatry reports a case of folie a deux shared between an 83-year-old widow and her pet dog.

The woman had seriously believed that her upstairs neighbor was trying to make her flee her home.

She believed that he was harming her and her pet dog with violet rays, so she made the dog an air raid shelter under the kitchen table. Whenever the dog heard any noise from above, it would run and hide in its spot.

Whether this was a case of folie a deux or whether the dog was carrying out what its owner asked it to do remains unclear. However, whatever the dogs real motivation may have been, it was still participating in its owners delusion.

Shared Psychosis between husband and wife

Margaret and her husband Michael, both aged 34 years, were both found to be suffering from folie a deux when they were both were found to share similar delusions that people were out to harm or persecute them. They believed that some persons were entering their home, spreading dust and fluff and wearing down their shoes". Interestingly, both also had symptoms supporting a diagnosis of emotional contagion (see glossary), made separately in both of them.

Burari Deaths in India in June 2018

A family of eleven members from Burari, India committed suicide in June 2018 due to the shared delusion of one of the family members about mistakes committed and attaining salvation. One hypothesis put forward in this perplexing case is that shared psychosis disorder may have led to the deaths.

There is a complex combination of several factors involved, although the exact reasons are still not clear

Since many of these cases involve members of the same family, there is a strong suggestion that there might be a genetic component in the development of this disorder

in the development of this disorder The primary person has a diagnosable psychotic disorder

The passive partner may have a family history of psychiatric illness in a first degree relative other than the primary partner

in a first degree relative other than the primary partner The secondary partner may be suffering from a personality disorder that causes dependence or submission or he/she may be predisposed to mental illness

that causes dependence or submission or he/she may be predisposed to mental illness Social isolation (total or partial lack of contact with society) of the family or persons involved

(total or partial lack of contact with society) of the family or persons involved Inability to cope with stress

Other factors that can influence the development of shared psychosis disorder include the degree of closeness between the two persons, the duration of their relationship and the existence of dominant versus passive nature of the relationship

Presence of a dominant person with a psychotic disorder

Often the delusions are believable and seem possible in comparison to some of the bizarre delusions that some schizophrenia patients have. It is thus easy to impose these delusions on the weaker person

Firm and unshakeable belief by the passive partner in the dominant partners delusion

A family physician will take a detailed history and conduct a thorough physical examination. There are no specific tests to diagnose shared psychosis disorder and imaging tests such as CT or MRI of the brain may be advised to rule out any brain disease as the cause for the symptoms. If there is no cause found for the patients symptoms, a referral to a mental health professional or psychiatrist may then be made.

A clinical discussion with a mental health professional is necessary to diagnose shared psychotic disorder. The following criteria have to be satisfied to confirm the diagnosis of shared psychosis disorder

Development of un-shakeable or firm delusion (false belief) in an otherwise normal and healthy person, living in close association with someone who already has known psychotic disorder

The nature of the delusion is remarkably similar to the delusion in the primary person

The delusion seen in the secondary person cannot be explained since they do not have any underlying psychotic illness such as schizophrenia

Treatment of shared psychosis disorder focuses on the passive partner. Treatment methods include the following

Separation of the passive partner from the dominant partner

of the passive partner from the dominant partner Strong psychological and emotional support following the separation from the dominant partner to ease the distress. However, symptoms will ease once the passive person is removed from the unhealthy association

following the separation from the dominant partner to ease the distress. However, symptoms will ease once the passive person is removed from the unhealthy association Counseling and psychotherapy  This may aid in the promotion of healthy thinking, boosting ones confidence and reduction of symptoms

 This may aid in the promotion of healthy thinking, boosting ones confidence and reduction of symptoms Family therapy  This involves the family of the affected person and urges them to support and encourage the persons interests and development of social ties and be regular with medication

 This involves the family of the affected person and urges them to support and encourage the persons interests and development of social ties and be regular with medication Anti-psychotic medications  They may be used only if symptoms have not significantly improved following conservative treatment measures

For the primary partner, treatment usually involves antipsychotic medications and psychotherapy. If the primary partner is considered to be a physical threat to others, the person may be hospitalized until this is no longer the case.

In order to prevent relapse or recurrence of the condition, continued family therapy should also be considered to modify old and unhealthy family dynamics. Social and community support may also help since the family cannot continue to exist in isolation as previously as it did in the past.Early detection of life threatening heart disorders, stroke and other diseases is possible through the use of nuclear cardiology procedures performed within hospitals, outpatient centers and physicians offices. Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the United States. On average, one American dies every 39 seconds of cardiovascular disease  disorders of the heart and blood vessels.

There are many factors that contribute to an accurate diagnosis based on nuclear cardiology. The training and experience of the technologist performing the examination, the type of equipment used and the quality assessment metrics each facility is required to measure, all contribute to a positive patient outcome, said officials. IAC accreditation is a seal of approval and an indicator of consistent quality care and a dedication to continuous improvement.

Memorial Healthcare System located in Chattanooga has been granted a three-year term of accreditation by the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission in Nuclear Cardiology.

Accreditation by IAC indicates that Memorial Healthcare System has undergone an intensive application and review process and is found to be in compliance with the published standards, thus demonstrating a commitment to quality patient care in nuclear cardiology. Comprised of a detailed self-evaluation followed by a thorough review by a panel of medical experts, the IAC accreditation process enables both the critical operational and technical components of the applicant facility to be assessed, including representative case studies and their corresponding final reports, said officials.





By The Associated Press Jul. 25, 2018 | 05:02 AM | LOUISVILLE

Rival attorneys for Kentucky's governor and an abortion clinic have presented legal arguments to a federal appeals court reviewing the state's attempt to require women seeking an abortion to first have an ultrasound.

The law was struck down last year by a federal judge, and Republican Gov. Matt Bevin appealed to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel of the appeals court heard the arguments Wednesday in Cincinnati.

The law required doctors to perform an ultrasound and show and describe fetal images to a patient before performing an abortion.

Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, an attorney for Kentucky's last abortion clinic, says speech between doctors and patients should be "protected from state and government interference." She says the law violates doctors' First Amendment rights.

The state's lawyers say the message isn't ideological but instead is "truthful" and relevant to the abortion procedure.Eighty members of the Connecticut National Guard will be deployed to support of operations in Kuwait and Afghanistan.

Maj. Gen. Francis Evon, the Adjutant General and commanding officer of the Connecticut National Guard, said the 80 are part of 1109th Theater Aviation Sustainment Maintenance Group based in Groton.Journal Register Co.

HARTFORD  A Middletown man was sentenced Wednesday to 30 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for trafficking in narcotics, according to a press release.

Turon Davis, also known as Slim, 40, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and cocaine base, or crack. He has been detained since his arrest July 26, 2017, the release said.The explosive growth of Uber and Lyft has created a new traffic problem for major U.S. cities and ride-sharing options such as UberPool and Lyft Line are exacerbating the issue by appealing directly to customers who would otherwise have taken transit, walked, biked or not used a ride-hail service at all, according to a new study.

The report by Bruce Schaller, author of the influential study, "Unsustainable?", which found ride-hail services were making traffic congestion in New York City worse, constructs a detailed profile of the typical ride-hail user and issues a stark warning to cities: make efforts to counter the growth of ride-hail services, or surrender city streets to fleets of private cars, creating a more hostile environment for pedestrians and cyclists and ultimately make urban cores less desirable places to live.

Schaller concludes that where private ride options such as UberX and Lyft have failed on promises to cut down on personal driving and car ownership - both of which are trending up - pooled ride services have lured a different market that directly competes with subway and bus systems, while failing to achieve significantly better efficiency than their solo alternatives. The result: more driving overall.

Ride sharing has added 5.7 billion vehicle miles to nine major urban areas over six years, the report says, and the trend is "likely to intensify" as the popularity of the services surges. (The study notes that total ride-hailing trips in New York increased 72 percent from 2016 to 2017 and 47 percent in Seattle over that time. Revenue data from the D.C. Department of For-Hire Vehicles showed the ride-hailing industry's growth quadrupled in the District from late 2015 to 2017.)

The nine cities studied were New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Washington, Miami, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle.

Schaller found that while options such as UberX add 2.8 new vehicle miles for each mile of personal driving they eliminate, the inclusion of options such as UberPool and Lyft Line adds to traffic at only a marginally lower rate: 2.6 new miles for every mile of personal driving reduced.

The findings are based on published trip mileage data and the companies' own claims about the share of solo and pooled rides.

"Shared rides add to traffic because most users switch from non-auto modes," the report says. "In addition, there is added mileage between trips as drivers wait for the next dispatch and then drive to a pickup location. Finally, even in a shared ride, some of the trip involves just one passenger (e.g., between the first and second pickup)."

Schaller synthesizes data from surveys in eight cities and the state of California to conclude 60 percent of ride-hail users would have otherwise used transit, walked or biked, or stayed home were it not for the availability of services such as Uber and Lyft.

"It's people getting out of the bus and Metro getting into sedans," said Schaller, a former deputy commissioner for traffic and planning at the New York City Department of Transportation.

Lyft disputed Schaller's findings, pointing to its own sustainability efforts, its urban mobility focus and claims from passengers who report giving up their cars - though the locations where those reductions took place were not immediately clear.

"We strongly disagree with Schaller's claims regarding shared rides," Lyft spokeswoman Campbell Matthews said. "Since Lyft's founding, we've been focused on increasing car occupancy and eliminating the need for car ownership. That focus has paid off.

"Just last year, over 250,000 Lyft passengers gave up their personal cars because of the availability of ride share," Matthews said. "We are continuing to focus on our goals by redesigning the Lyft App to integrate with public transit and introducing bike and scooter sharing to the Lyft platform. We are committed to ensuring passengers have access to a spectrum of transportation options that serve our cities best."

Uber said in a statement that it supports several of the policies Schaller proposes, including the expansion of dedicated bus and bike lanes and congestion pricing. The company argued that contrary to Schaller's conclusions, Uber saved more than 315 million global vehicle miles in 2017 by shifting riders to its pool service.

Schaller never argued, however, that pool services were less efficient than solo rides. He concluded that at the rate the services are expanding - and with appeals to transit users - the effects of any such reductions are negligible and the growth is untenable.

Schaller's conclusions cast doubt on notions that ride-hail services will ultimately reduce private vehicle ownership and challenge arguments that they do not compete with mass transit. Based on a profile of the average ride-hail user, he concludes that the more services such as Uber Express Pool resemble transit, the more they will draw riders away from urban rail and bus systems, resulting in an increasing number of transit users turning to private cars to get around. But sedans don't have the capacity to match the modes they are pulling from, he says.

"When you look at the numbers, what you see is that what is more sharing for them is less sharing overall," Schaller said.

Observers have noted how Express Pool, for example, is modeled - well - like a bus.

In a typical commute, Express Pool riders might walk to a busy intersection where they are met by a car that shuttles them along a straight route to an often-popular destination. The vehicle makes as few turns as possible, sometimes picking up other passengers along the way; the cost of a ride can be as low as $3 or $4.

But problems such as "deadheading," where drivers roam city streets in empty cars waiting for a fare, markedly reduce the efficiency of these rides. And even if ride-hail services can expand the reach of shared mobility services and fill as many seats as possible, they will never be as efficient as rail or bus - ultimately resulting in more congestion and higher reliance on automobiles, the research says. As many researchers have noted, the problem could become particularly acute if the eventual rollout of self-driving vehicles eliminates the need for ride-hail services to hire drivers.

"Even with high levels of shared trips, funneling travelers from space-efficient modes such as public transit, biking and walking, to space-hogging sedans, SUVs and minivans is not a productive strategy to speed traffic," Schaller concludes. It "strains logic to expect that as [ride-hailing] shared trips become more like conventional transit trips, this service will attract more people from their personal auto than has been the case up until now. It seems far more credible that [ride-hailing companies] will continue to attract predominantly non-auto users."

In Washington, supporters of a new tax on ride-hail trips to help fund Metro argue that pooled rides should be exempt from the additional fee - or pay a lower rate - because they are carpooling. For some, Schaller's conclusions cast that argument in a new light.

"I think it's an interesting proposal, but then you have to again look at this study and wonder if ride sharing has enough of a net benefit such that pricing should be tiered," said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the pro-transit Coalition for Smarter Growth.

Schwartz pointed to another one of the report's conclusions. Lyft says that today, a third of its rides in major markets are shared. The company has outlined a goal to make half of its ride shared by 2022.

"Even if Lyft managed to meet its 50 percent shared ride goal, you still increase [vehicle miles traveled] by 120 percent," Schwartz said, citing the report's finding that 50 percent shared ride adoption would still add about 2.2 vehicle miles to roads, or a 120 percent increase in driving overall.

Schwartz called the conclusions "pretty sobering."

Schaller's analysis is "one of the first studies to really look at [Uber and Lyft's] impacts from across a national spectrum," said Adam Stocker, a staff researcher with the Transportation Sustainability Research Center, who is part of a team pursuing a study on the impacts of Uber and Lyft across three North American cities.

But individual cities face challenges in discerning how the findings apply to them, Stocker said, because of a dearth of available data from the companies themselves.

"The main limitation of it is that mainly due to the sample size, the city by city differences, some of that detail doesn't stand out because nine cities were put together," he said. "Due to data limitations . . . you can often miss a lot of the nuance in the usage or the impacts between cities themselves."

Part of his team's focus is to discern how the "mode replacement profile" differs between those who use the pooled options vs. solo riders. He wouldn't give away any of the findings but suggested that the portrait of a pool user aligns closely with those who use transit services.

"My overall sense from reading the entire report is this is the exact reason why we need more data transparency on this," Tomer said. "My hunch is . . . the immediate reactions from both Uber and Lyft . . . They're gonna suggest, well, 'This isn't what our data says.' And the reality is we don't know."

In rebutting Schaller's conclusions, Lyft pointed to studies from outside sources such as the traffic data firm INRIX and the University of California, Los Angeles, showing that overall congestion had decreased in the San Francisco Bay area in 2017, and most ride-hail users "report no change in their travel by other modes," respectively.

Asked if it had internal data that run counter to Schaller's findings, however, the company declined to provide specifics. Uber said the report was limited because it relied on data from 2017, though it did not provide related data to support its rebuttal.

Jon Orcutt, a spokesman for the New York-based advocacy organization Transit Center, said the blame does not fall on individual users for finding ride-hailing services attractive, but that the burden is on local governments and transit agencies to respond to their growth with policies such as congestion pricing, the prioritization of buses through features such as dedicated lanes, and a general push toward frequent, reliable and affordable transit. It's no coincidence, he says, that ride-hailing's explosive growth has taken place amid transit system collapses in several major cities.

"It's not that you say, 'Don't use these things' or 'You can't use these things,' or 'These things have to go away,' " Orcutt said. "That ship has sailed, right? So the question becomes how to manage them."Space enthusiasts who've been daydreaming about a trip to Mars for years could win money by illustrating how they think it might look.

The program, known as Project Mars, is a collaboration between NASA and the SciArt Exchange. And what they're seeking is simple: The best film or poster interpreting NASA's plans for a trip to Mars.

The film can be up to 5 minutes long and must "tell an inspiring story about a 9-month trek to the Red Planet." It will be judged by people in the film and graphic design industry, including Gareth Edwards, director of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," according to the project's website.

RELATED: What's on Mars? NASA's Mars Curiosity rover finds building blocks for life

The poster -- which can recruit astronauts for the mission, promote space tourism or depict the next generation of spacecraft -- will be selected by people in the film and graphic design industry, including Joshua Grossberg, creative director of McCann New York, according to the website.

Entries must be submitted by Friday, Aug. 31 and winners will be notified in October.

A grand prize of $10,000 will be awarded in the film category with three additional judge's prizes of $5,000, and eight prizes of up to $1,500 will be awarded in the poster category.

For more information and to submit an entry, go to Project Mars Competition.

Alex Stuckey covers NASA and the environment for the Houston Chronicle. You can reach her at alex.stuckey@chron.com or Twitter.com/alexdstuckey.Uber "vomit fraud" isn't new  the scam has been around for years  but rash of recent incidents in Miami have raised the alarm on social media.

Here's how the con works:

 An Uber driver drops off a passenger.

 The driver then stages a mess around the passenger's seat and takes photographs.

 The driver notifies the company that the passenger had an incident in the vehicle that required cleanup after the ride, such as spilled food or drink, or vomit, urine or other body fluids  and includes the photographs as proof.

 Uber thens sends a message to the rider, informing them that an adjustment has been made to the bill to reflect a cleanup fee that can range from $80 to $150, depending on the kind of fluid and quantity involved.

 The confused passenger tries to contact the company to dispute the additional charges. This can only be done through a "help" button on the app or through Uber's website.

 Uber then will usually respond with message to the effect that "the driver notified us that a mess requiring cleanup was left during your trip, which is why you were charged an additional $150." The photos that the driver took accompany the message.

According to the Miami Herald, even if you prevail in fighting a vomit charge, it still takes three or four emails back and forth with the company  enough to dissuade some people from bothering with the hassle.

MORE: Driver urinates into bottle with passenger in the car

The Herald reported four cases in which Uber customers said they had been victims of vomit fraud, including one who said he was scammed by two separate drivers on the same night.

Another, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Herald she knows other drivers in South Florida have done it and won the disputes with passengers.

"They've been doing it for a long time," she said. "Many people don't review their emails or credit card statements, so the drivers wind up pocketing the $80 or $150."

Uber told the Herald that the vast majority of cleanup fee reports are legitimate and says it investigates any claims it suspects are fraudulent. Police are often reluctant to get involved in what they consider to be a customer service matter best left to the company, passenger and driver to sort out, rather than a crime.

One Twitter user offered some advice for Uber customers worried about being taken for a ride: Snap pictures of the vehicle's interior when you get into the car and right before you exit.The former Remington Arms Factory in Bridgeport sits along Barnum Avenue, 13 interconnected buildings of red bricks and shattered glass, a constant reminder that the city is at a loss about what to do with the derelict remains of its manufacturing heyday. But for urban photographers Michael Tarca and Simon Young, abandoned facilities like the iconic ammunition factory, are a treasure trove, waiting to be explored.

You can still see some of the old circuit boards left behind, sitting in there 30 years after the fact, Tarca said. It was an important part of the economy of the city and now its just gone.

Tarca and Young have worked together in the food industry and both grew up in New Haven County. They share the same passion for researching little-known facts of Connecticuts history, venturing on day-long excursions to long-forgotten sites. In the past year, the two friends have visited and photographed dozens of places, including a former aerosol factory in Milford, a coal factory in Hartford, deserted Yale University buildings, and Holy Land U.S.A., a dilapidated religious-themed amusement park in Waterbury.

Modern building dont have the same flavor than these old places have, Simon said. But we dont try to do just the abandoned buildings. Thats kind of the catalyst to get out of the house and explore.

On their travels, Tarca and Simon are also on the lookout for remnants of old farm life. In Ridgefield, they found a forgotten dairy barn off the side of the road. On the ground, stacks of paperwork from 1987 detailed the volume of milk production. They think the barn was abandoned shortly after and left as it is.

The pair created two Instagram accounts (@simonc_young and @m_tarca) where they post photos of their most interesting finds. Their favorite place to photograph remains the Remington Factory. But with the nearby Barnum train station set to open by 2018, the future of the industrial site is uncertain. The city of Bridgeport recently announced that it may reuse the buildings and preserve its shot tower, which used to be the tallest building in Bridgeport.

This is a place where hundreds of people have worked, Simon said. Theyve spent their whole lives working there, and I dont want that to be forgotten.

But delving into abandoned buildings isnt for everybody. Tarca and Young warn would-be urban explorers to pay attention to their surroundings in seemingly desolate places. They also strongly advise against taking souvenirs.

Dont destroy anything; dont take anything, Tarca said. Just try to leave it as you saw it.North Korea has accepted two truckloads of wooden transfer caskets from the U.S. for the repatriation of the remains of about 50 U.S. troops missing from the 1950-53 Korean War, and the repatriation process could begin Friday, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

A representative of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency reportedly is in South Korea for the possible transfer, but there was no immediate confirmation from the DPAA.

"North Korea recently took two truckloads of wooden boxes to be used for the remains repatriation. It's expected to hand over the remains on July 27 as agreed upon," Yonhap said, citing a diplomatic source.

In the past, North Korea has chosen significant dates for major policy moves or statements. Friday marks the 65th anniversary of the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War.

U.S. Forces Korea earlier this month moved about 100 transfer caskets near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in anticipation of repatriations.

Last week, a U.S. military team led by Air Force Maj. Gen. Michael Minihan, chief of staff of the United Nations Command, held two days of talks on remains recovery with North Korean counterparts at the Panmunjom peace village on the DMZ.

The specifics of the remains recovery are unclear, but Yonhap said the plan is for a U.S. team from United Nations Command to fly to Kalma airport near Wonsan on North Korea's east coast to take custody of the remains.

The U.S. team would then fly to Osan Air Base south of Seoul for a dignified transfer ceremony to U.S. Forces Korea.

The remains would later be flown to DPAA forensic labs in Hawaii for identifications that retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Kelly McKeague, the DPAA director, has said could take years.

The DPAA has built up a DNA database from relatives for about 92 percent of those missing from the Korean War.

According to the DPAA, about 7,700 U.S. troops are still listed as missing from the war; about 5,300 of that total are believed to have fallen in North Korea.

Last month, while en route to Alaska, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis outlined the protocols for remains recoveries to reporters traveling with him.

"The United Nations Command in ROK, in the Republic of Korea, is prepared now to receive those remains," he said. "They have staged appropriate logistics materials, and we simply are standing by for whenever the diplomatic activities are done. And we're optimistic that it will begin because that was an agreement coming out of Singapore."

The return of remains would mark the first significant achievement for President Donald Trump to come out of his June 12 Singapore summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump has since erroneously stated that about 200 sets of remains had already been returned.

At the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention in Kansas City on Tuesday, he said, "I think the process is starting very soon, I hope.

"As you may know, we're also working to bring back the remains of your brothers in arms who gave their lives to Korea, and I hope that very soon these fallen warriors will begin coming home to lay at rest in American soil," Trump told the VFW.

Following his talks in North Korea earlier this month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the North Koreans had agreed to the return of about 200 sets of remains already in their possession. He said they also agreed to resume at an unspecified date joint recovery operations with U.S. forensic teams in North Korea.

At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing Wednesday, Pompeo said the North Koreans recently "reaffirmed their commitment to return remains that they have in their possession, as well as to begin to work on -- there's an agreement that had been in place previously about how we would conduct recovery operations inside of North Korea."

"And we will in relatively short order, if -- if the North fulfills those commitments, begin to put things back in place such that we can begin not only the return, the repatriation of existing remains, but the recovery of remains that have not yet been recovered," he said.

Pompeo noted that the recovery of remains is unrelated to the main U.S. goal of achieving the "denuclearization" of North Korea. "I get that," but for the families missing loved ones, "it's a big deal. And I'm very hopeful that the North Koreans will continue to move toward honoring the commitment that Chairman Kim made" on repatriations, he said.

High-level State and Defense Department officials, including Marine Brig. Gen. Roberta Shea, acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, were already in Seoul this week for the 14th Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD).

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.One of the U.S. Air Force's fifth-generation stealth fighters will head to Europe before summer's end to support the joint coalition on the continent, according to a top general.

"I would like to announce that we will be welcoming back U.S. fifth-generation assets into the European theater later this summer," Gen. Tod Wolters, commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe-Africa, told reporters during a conference call Wednesday.

"These assets will work with U.S. and allied forces that are already in Europe, including partner-nation fifth-generation assets to build on the integration from previous deployments," he said. "The integration of fifth-generation assets allows the coalition to maintain the air superiority advantage by complementing the capabilities of our powerful fourth-generation fleet."

Wolters declined to specify whether the deployment would involve the F-22 Raptor or the F-35A Lightning II but added, "These assets continue to be a game-changer in developing the right size and mix of capabilities to compete, deter and, if required, win."

Related content:

In August 2015, the Air Force deployed four F-22s to Europe for the first time as part of the European Reassurance Initiative, now renamed the European Deterrence Initiative. Months later, a dozen F-22s from Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, traveled across the continent, coming close to Russia's borders with a quick deployment to Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, Romania.

The service last May completed the F-35A's first deployment to Europe after several weeks of training and plans to permanently base a squadron of F-35s on the continent beginning in 2021.

"We've learned lessons from bringing the F-22 -- a fifth-gen capability -- over, so we are ready for the F-35  and we would like to get [F-35s] here for training and exercises," Lt. Col. Bradley Brandt, branch chief of operations and training for the command, told Military.com last year.

Wolters in 2017 said having either stealth jet in Europe helps prepare airmen in maintenance training and how best to field and deploy the sensor-heavy aircraft.

"Speed and information are 21st-century musts for conflict," he said, which needs to be fused for a "fighter-friendly format. Information at the speed of war is critical ... so we can outperform anyone who wants to fight us."

The news of fifth-generation aircraft heading to Europe comes on the heels of a new report that says fifth-gen fighters, specifically the F-22, are underutilized, and thus pilots and crews may not be appropriately prepared for future high-end conflicts.

-- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.The Navy and Marine Corps are on the cusp of changing the way they fight from the sea, and the future amphibious ship fleet must support warfighters' needs for decades to come, a two-star general said this week.

Marines and sailors will face off against cyber, space and underwater threats in future fights, and the amphibious ships they do it from must support next-generation equipment, said Maj. Gen. David Coffman, who serves the chief of naval operations as the director of expeditionary warfare.

"We need to be thinking about how to do warfighting from the sea out to 2070; we're on a 50-year plan," he told lawmakers and industry leaders in Washington, D.C.

Ships joining the fleet years from now likely can't look the same as they do today. Leaders will need to be forward-leaning, Coffman said, as they think about some of the capabilities that could be essential in hotly contested areas decades from now.

That means better networking speeds, medical capabilities and communications, he said. Eventually, autonomous technology -- including undersea vehicles, drones and other unmanned tools -- could take on some of the risky missions Marines face during amphibious assaults.

"Everything we're building should support both manned and unmanned systems," Coffman said. "... We can't go stale in terms of not evolving our capabilities."

Florida Republican Rep. John Rutherford, who serves on the House shipbuilding caucus, recently observed sailors and Marines training with their counterparts from two dozen countries during the massive Rim of the Pacific exercise.

"I believe even more strongly after that visit that we have to be prepared for any kind of fight," he said. That's especially true, he added, considering China's growing influence in the Pacific and North Africa.

The Navy's shipbuilding plan calls for a fleet of 38 amphibs. It's crucial the sea services meet that number at the same time they build other capabilities, like ship-to-shore connectors, said Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Virginia, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee's seapower and projection forces subcommittee.

"Marines can do almost anything," Wittman said. "But until they can walk on water -- and someday they might be able to do that -- we'd better be building them more ships."

Coffman, who's spent much of his career operating with Marine expeditionary units and Navy amphibious ready groups, has seen how everything from email to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter changed the fight. A CH-46 helicopter pilot by trade, he went on to lead the California-based 13th MEU through two deployments with the Boxer ARG.

Ultimately, he said, building the right kind of amphibious ship fleet is about giving sailors and Marines the tools they need to survive. If they're willing to put their lives on the line for the mission, he said, they deserve to have the tools they need to succeed.

"We're going to be graded on whether we give them enough," Coffman said.

-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ginaaharkins.Key

List of minerals for each chemical element

References

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Redden J. A., DeWitt E., (2002), Maps Showing Geology, Structure, and Geophysics of the Central Black Hills, South Dakota, United States Geological Survey, Department of the Interior.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

North America Plate Tectonic Plate

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.

Little Devils Tower is a prominent landmark in the Black Hills. It takes its name from the well-known Devils Tower in Wyoming having a similar shape. The composition of Little Devils Tower is Harney granite not the columnar basalt of its namesake. The trail head to Little Devils Tower originates just west of the Needles Eye on the Needles Highway.Little Devil's Tower is exactly one mile south by southwest of Black Elk Peak and is associated with the more well-known formation referred to as The Needles. It is clearly within the mapped exposures of the Harney Peak Granite. Little Devil's Tower is within the boundaries of Custer State Park and collecting is prohibited.How to use the mindat.org media viewer

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Summary of all keyboard shortcutsTerraX extends Ptarmigan Zone 400 meters northwest

TerraX Minerals Inc. (TSX-V: TXR; Frankfurt: TX0; OTC Pink: TRXXF  http://www.commodity-tv.net/c/search_adv/?v=298245) is pleased to announce further assay results from the Company?s ongoing summer field program on the Yellowknife City Gold project.

David Suda, President and CEO stated: ?The summer program continues to yield results that confirm the potential of the Yellowknife City Gold Project as a district scale camp. Surface results, magnetic imaging, and geochemistry data will provide a roadmap to future drilling on our most prospective targets. The Northbelt remains our core area of focus but we are systematically sampling 10km away on the Eastbelt with encouraging results?

Continued channel sampling and prospecting assay results come from the area immediately northwest of the past producing Ptarmigan Mine on Eastbelt. Detailed mapping and prospecting extends the Ptarmigan zone 400 meters northwest of previously reported channel sampling with a 19.00 g/t Au grab sample along the Ptarmigan trend. Channel sample results were cut from outcrop southeast of previously reported channels (24.75 g/t Au over 5.50 m including 44.82 g/t Au over 3.00 m reported on July 12, 2018) following the Ptarmigan vein trend and sampling across the gold mineralized structures. Assay results for gold range up to 124 g/t Au in a 0.70 m channel sample from Channel ECH18-039. Mineralized intervals for the sampled areas (ECH18-034, 038, 039 and ECH18-041) are indicated on the maps available here and include:

ECH18-034  4.76 g/t Au over 2.00 m

ECH18-038  60 g/t Au over 2.10 m

ECH18-039 ? 85 g/t Au over 1.80 m

ECH18-041  18.13 g/t Au over 3.10 m

Joseph Campbell, Executive Chairman of TerraX, stated: ?The high grade channels from the Ptarmigan area continue to impress, and the extension of the zone through prospecting 400 meters to the northwest greatly expands the target area for developing potential mineral resources.?

An additional grab sample was collected from a gossanous quartz vein 2.7 kilometers due west of the Ptarnigan Mine, and assayed 5.17 g/t Au. Further work is warranted in this area. More results from the Northbelt and Eastbelt properties are expected during the Company?s current summer program.

Assays reported today total 313 samples with gold grades ranging from nil to 124 g/t Au, and including 138 channel samples. Channel samples are considered representative of the zones that have been sampled. It should be noted that, due to their selective nature, assay results from grab samples may not be indicative of the overall grade and extent of mineralization on the subject area.

Sampling included insertion of certified standards and blanks into the stream of samples for chemical analysis. Samples were prepared at ALS Chemexs laboratory in Yellowknife and shipped to their Vancouver facility for gold analysis by fire assay and other elements by ICP analysis. ALS is a certified and accredited laboratory service.

The technical information contained in this news release has been approved by Joseph Campbell, Executive Chairman of TerraX, who is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About the Yellowknife City Gold Project

The Yellowknife City Gold (YCG) project encompasses 772 sq km of contiguous land immediately north, south and east of the City of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. Through a series of acquisitions, TerraX controls one of the six major high-grade gold camps in Canada. Being within 10 km of the City of Yellowknife, the YCG is close to vital infrastructure, including all-season roads, air transportation, service providers, hydro-electric power and skilled tradespeople.

The YCG lies on the prolific Yellowknife greenstone belt, covering 70 km of strike length along the main mineralized break in the Yellowknife gold district, including the southern and northern extensions of the shear system that hosted the high-grade Con and Giant gold mines. The project area contains multiple shears that are the recognized hosts for gold deposits in the Yellowknife gold district, with innumerable gold showings and recent high-grade drill results that serve to indicate the projects potential as a world-class gold district.

For more information on the YCG project, please visit our web site at www.terraxminerals.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains forward-looking information, which involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectation. Important factors  including the availability of funds, the results of financing efforts, the completion of due diligence and the results of exploration activities  that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Companys expectations are disclosed in the Companys documents filed from time to time on SEDAR (see www.sedar.com). Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The company disclaims any intention or obligation, except to the extent required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, events or otherwise.Scouts from at least a dozen teams watched Zack Wheelers start on Tuesday, SNY.tvs Andy Martino reports. Theres enough interest in Wheeler that the feeling is he should net a top 10 prospect and more for the Mets, and he could move any minute, as Martino puts it. Beyond the Yankees and Reds, who were already known to be looking at Wheeler, the list of interested parties also included such clubs as the Rangers, Mariners, and Red Sox. It isnt any surprise that contenders like Seattle and Boston are checking in, though the Sox may have already addressed their rotation need with their acquisition of Nathan Eovaldi earlier today. Texas is an interesting name, as the Rangers couldve been doing their due diligence or (since Wheeler is under control through 2019) considering making an early move to upgrade next years pitching staff, which will be a clear offseason need for the club.

Here are more rumblings from around baseball as were less than a week away from the trade deadlineYPSILANTI, MI - Benjamin Edmondson has submitted his resignation as superintendent of Ypsilanti Community Schools, and he's not sure what comes next.

After three years as superintendent, Edmondson is the longest-running leader of the young district, which formed in the 2013-14 school year from the consolidation of Willow Run and Ypsilanti public schools.

Edmondson submitted his resignation July 17, and it is effective 90 days later. He said he's not sure what his next step will be, but he felt like this was the right time to resign and leave YCS on a positive note.

"I'm not sure a superintendency is something I want to pursue at this time in my life," he said Thursday, July 26. "It's a great job and I did it. I do love it and it was the best job of my life, but I need a break."

The school board will have a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 30 at the YCS Administration Building, 1885 Packard Road, to discuss the leadership transition plan.

"The board recognizes that no one could have given life to a newly consolidated school district like Ben Edmondson did," said board President Sharon Irvine. "He brought a vibrancy and energy and created a momentum that I think will drive the district forward."

Edmondson was an Ann Arbor Public Schools principal, with a background in alternative education, before he was hired to lead Ypsilanti Community Schools going into the 2015-16 school year - his first superintendent position.

During his tenure, YCS opened Ypsilanti International Elementary School, a successful International Baccalaureate school; restructured high school and middle school programs; and saw its first-ever enrollment increase in the 2017-18 school year.

The district now enrolls 3,912 students.

Edmondson also pointed to Gov. Rick Snyder's recent visit to YCS, sending the robotics team to China and starting an annual car giveaway for a graduating senior as other points of pride.

YCS continues to struggle to raise student achievement, with 12 percent of third graders reading at grade level and 7.1 percent of high school students testing as college ready in the 2016-17 school year, according to the most recent state data.

The board rated Edmondson's job performance as "effective" on his last evaluation, and Irvine credited him with establishing numerous community partnerships that have provided the school district with more resources and support.

"There is significant community support that whoever the new leader is will be able to tap into," she said.

Whoever his successor may be, Edmondson advised him or her to maintain high expectations for students, to take risks while keeping student success as the top priority and to maintain a visible presence in the community.

"You're coming in with a ton of support. You're coming in with a unified community," Edmondson said. "When I came in, I came in with a divided community. ... The status quo for Ypsilanti has not been good, so you've got to attack the status quo. You can't sit there."

The biggest challenge for the next YCS superintendent will be managing budget issues, Irvine said. Despite the enrollment increase this year, YCS still ended the fiscal year with a $1.8 million spending deficit.

The preliminary budget passed for 2018-19 plans on another year of deficit spending that will leave YCS with $1.04 million in its reserves, or 1.9 percent of total revenue.

The state requires schools to have a fund balance of at least 5 percent.

YCS also is continuing to make $2 million payments each school year to pay off debt it inherited from the former Willow Run and Ypsilanti school districts.

"Budget has just been an ongoing challenge to anyone leading," Irvine said, adding that financial constraints make it difficult to offer teachers competitive salaries.

Following contentious negotiations, the district approved a new teachers contract in May that gave teachers a $1,000 "enrollment stability" payment, $750 raises, the promise of step increases in the school year ahead and an increase in the district's contributions to their health insurance.

School administrators will receive 2 percent raises for the 2018-19 school year, which matches the increase to Edmondson's base salary granted after the board re-opened negotiations on his contract in March 2017.

Edmondson's base salary in 2017 was $141,000, and his total compensation - including insurance and other benefits - was $216,474, according to the school district.

During the 2017-18 school year, Edmondson interviewed for superintendent jobs at Wayne-Westland Community Schools and Okemos Schools.

Dozens of community members urged the school board in the spring of 2017 to give Edmondson incentive to stay at YCS, and he credited a sixth grader for convincing him to withdraw from consideration for the Okemos job.BAY CITY, MI -- A 45-year-old Bay City man is charged with a life offense on allegations he molested a preteen girl.

The incident took place in a Hampton Township apartment when the girl, 11, was in Craig M. DeLong's care in June 2017.

An affidavit in the court file doesn't state how the girl came to be in DeLong's care or their connection.

A Michigan State Police detective sergeant later interviewed DeLong, who told him he had molested the girl, the affidavit states.

Authorities issued a warrant for DeLong on June 4, the day the affidavit was sworn. He was arraigned the following day in Bay County District Court on single counts of first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person younger than 13. First-degree involves penetration, while second-degree is limited to touching.

First-degree is also punishable by up to life in prison, with the girl's young age bringing a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years. Second-degree is a 15-year felony.

The arraigning judge set DeLong's bond at $50,000 cash-surety, which a bonding agency has since posted on his behalf. As conditions of his bond, DeLong is not to have contact with his alleged victim or anyone younger than 18.

Prosecutors have offered a plea deal to DeLong that if he pleads guilty or no contest to second- and third-degree criminal sexual conduct, they'll dismiss the first-degree count. As part of the plea agreement, DeLong would have to spend a minimum 10 years in prison.

DeLong is next due in court for a preliminary examination before District Judge Timothy J. Kelly at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 8.FLINT, MI -- The Virginia Tech University professor who led a group of students into Flint for water testing during the city's crisis has filed a lawsuit against a Flint woman and others who he claims attacked his reputation.

A lawsuit filed in Montgomery (Virginia) Circuit Court seeks $3 million in damages from Flint resident Melissa Mays, Washington, D.C.-based water advocate Paul Schwartz and Yanna Lambrinidou after they allegedly sent a "damaging defamatory and tortious" letter and email to the university.

Lambrinidou and Edwards are former colleagues at Virginia Tech and at one time collaborated on research grants, per the lawsuit.

Mays also previously worked alongside Edwards in Flint after he led a group of students into the city for independent testing.

The lawsuit contends Schwartz, Mays, and Lambrinidou founded the Campaign for Lead Free Water in 2016 and alleges each of the individuals "has made numerous statements expressing malice and resent toward the credit and accolades Edwards has received."

The trio allegedly "entered into an ongoing civil conspiracy to attack and damage Edwards' professional reputation" in 2016, according to the lawsuit, including making negative written and verbal false statements on Facebook, Twitter, TV and radio interviews, emails, and other mediums that "in fact harmed Edwards."

The lawsuit includes examples such as a May 2017 Facebook comment by Schwartz stating Edwards, in part, has "no knowledge of the social sciences, little connection to either of our communities, a disdain for people of color, low income folks" and "constructed a false narrative" in claiming to have unearthed the city's water crisis first.

"We will not negotiate in the face of terroristic legal threats and make no mistake, this lawsuit is intended to terrorize despite being dressed up in the language of litigation," said William Moran, attorney for Mays, Schwartz and Lambrinidou.

"Edwards knows that none of my clients have $3 million," he added. "Marc Edwards' case stands for the idea that might makes right, and that if you're poor the First Amendment does not protect you."

The lawsuit also claims Mays took improper water samples in 2016 using a Virginia Tech lead test kit "which she had manipulated, demonstrated dangerous levels of lead in her water."

"After she admitted to violating the test protocol in person to Edwards, and made a recorded public presentation also acknowledging her failure to collect a proper sample according to the written instructions provided by Virginia Tech, Edwards provided evidence of Mays' falsified results to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency," per the lawsuit.

A September 2017 tweet by Mays cited in the lawsuit states "The person [Edwards] being talked about betrayed my family. He promised he would fight for us and when he was co-opted by the State, he abandoned us."

But Moran said that testing was done by Scott Smith, who worked with the nonprofit group Water Defense, and the plumbers union.

"Mr. Edwards characterization of it is not only inaccurate but is a product of his pissing match with Scott Smith -- who since felt compelled to make a mea culpa within ten days of the filing of this lawsuit. You figure it out," Moran said.

Edwards called that a "completely false statement."

Smith also called it an inaccurate statement and pointed toward some potential confusion between testing he'd helped perform with the plumber's union and other testing that was taking place by Virginia Tech personnel.

Smith has come out in the past two weeks stating it's "extremely unlikely" that bathing in Flint water caused "significant adverse health effects," a claim he made throughout the water crisis.

"When I made statements about the possible dangers from inhaling lead in showers and Flint residents potentially having problems from low blood pressure from the phosphates added to water to assist the recovery, this was based on superficial input and research unrelated to drinking water provided to me from toxicologists/trained scientists," Smith wrote in blog post on Edwards' Flint Water Study website.

The lawsuit also points to a May 2018 letter sent to Virginia Tech president Timothy Sands and multiple scientific organizations requesting where Flint residents could file a complaint "against the behavior" of Edwards and claims the professor was"using his position as a scientist to misrepresent us and silence us."

But Edwards said he hasn't filed lawsuits against everyone who signed the letter.

"The lawsuit has nothing to do with anyone who has an honest difference of opinion with me, dislikes me, or who just signed the letter," he commented. "If the letter were true I would have signed it myself."FENTON TWP., MI - Two firefighters have filed a lawsuit against the township and its suspended fire chief over allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation.

The lawsuit was filed by Fenton Township firefighters Kristy Polidan and Kirk Stephens in Genesee Circuit Court on Wednesday, July 25, and alleges firefighters made sexual comments to Polidan and retaliated against Stephens when he attempted to support her.

Fenton Township Attorney Jack Belzer said he expected the township's insurance company would appoint an attorney to litigate the civil suit. He had no comment on the lawsuit's allegations.

MLive-The Flint Journal could not reach Fenton Township Fire Department Chief Ryan Volz for comment.

Both the township and Volz violated Polidan and Stephens' civil rights and caused loss of earnings, career opportunities, loss of reputation and others, the lawsuit alleges.

Polidan began working as a firefighter in Fenton Township in 2015 and the alleged sexual harassment was ongoing, according to her attorney Julie A. Gafkay.

"I think that the firefighters who are bringing this lawsuit are acting courageously and are trying to hold accountable the township and the chief for violations of their civil rights," Gafkay said. "They're trying to make things better by bringing this lawsuit."

The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of compensatory damages, lost wages and other relief.

Polidan claims firefighters were making sexual comments to her.

When Polidan complained about the alleged sexual harassment to Volz in hopes that he would put a stop to it, the lawsuit alleges Volz suggested she go under his desk and give him oral sex.

The alleged sexual harassment continued a few days later when Volz made a comment to Polidan "telling her she was going to have to go under his desk because he was having a stressful day," according to the lawsuit.

Polidan was offended by the comment and the ongoing allegations by other firefighters that she gave Volz oral sex, the lawsuit claims.

Two of the firefighters were subsequently suspended after Polidan complained to the captain at fire station 2, but nothing happened to Volz, according to the lawsuit.

Polidan was reprimanded by Volz, the lawsuit claims, and was told not to complain to officers at station 2.

The alleged harassment against Polidan continued, according to the lawsuit, and in January a firefighter asked her to send him a photo of her breasts and she refused.

Since nothing had been done about the situation, Polidan, Stephens and a few other firefighters complained to township officials, according to the lawsuit.

The group complained to Clerk Robert Krug and Deputy Clerk Thomas Broecker about the alleged sexual harassment and retaliation by Volz.

Stephens claims in the lawsuit he was retaliated against because he supported Polidan. The retaliation allegedly included not allowing Stephens to act as the officer in charge when Volz was absent, even though Stephens was the highest ranking officer, the lawsuit alleges.

Volz and another unnamed firefighter were placed on paid administrative leave on July 9. However, officials have not said why the pair are on leave.

A special meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, July 25, but was postponed until 5 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 2, Belzer said.DETROIT, MI -- A judge dismissed a lawsuit former City Attorney Stacy Erwin Oakes filed against the City of Flint and Mayor Karen Weaver Wednesday, July 25, in U.S. District Court in Detroit.

Erwin Oakes, a Saginaw County resident, made claims in a lawsuit filed April 2017 of violations of the state's Whistleblowers' Protection Act, allegations of retaliation for exercising her First Amendment Rights and violations of state public policy.

U.S. District Judge David M. Lawson's order dismissing the case states Oakes' actions were done as part of her job with the city, therefore preventing her from seeking relief with a lawsuit.

"Oakes's statements -- nine in all -- each were made is her capacity as the City's chief legal officer, undertaken in the course of performing the duties of her job," the order states.

"As such, they are not protected by the First Amendment, and cannot support a retaliation claim," per the order. "Nor can they support claims under state law."

A statement released Wednesday afternoon by Flint Mayor Karen Weaver reads "I have maintained from the beginning of these accusations, that the former Chief Legal Officer was terminated because of leadership concerns within the legal department."

Erwin Oakes' lawsuit claimed she "became aware and spoke out against perceived illegal and actual illegal acts" committed by Weaver and the city.

She also alleged she provided information to city and state officials, as well as the state-appointed Receivership Transition Advisory Board.

Erwin Oakes was fired after she communicated concerns about "decisions being made using political consideration and fraudulent activities to impose financial obligations on the city," according to the lawsuit.

One of the nine statements referenced in the order was Erwin Oakes voicing concern over the wording of a personal service contract for General Michael McDaniel, who previously managed lead pipe replacements efforts for the city, and a contract for now-former interim treasurer Al Mooney.

Erwin Oakes also took issue with Aoine Gilcreast, Weaver's current chief adviser and outreach development liaison who was a volunteer at the time, sitting in on water crisis discussions and testified about her concern that he "was acting on behalf of the City of Flint" by representing the mayor and asking questions at meetings but he'd not signed off on a confidentiality agreement despite city policy requiring all volunteers to sign such a document.

Council members voted in late February to approve a four-year contract that pays Gilreast $120,000 each year.

Erwin Oakes testifies that in December 2016 she informed Weaver, chief of staff Steve Branch, Gilcreast, and now-former chief financial officer David Sabuda that she would refuse to take directives from Gilcreast.

Other concerns included payment for a Flint attorney, contract for a Flint water plant consultant, a proposed deal by the city for $3 million in funding for a 36-inch pipeline to carry water from the Karegnondi Water Authority.

Erwin Oakes testified she later refused to execute an agreement loaning $3.5 million to the city by the state's Strategic fund to pay for the pipeline as Flint was in receivership at the time and had not been given a rating to accept debt.

She also contested a November 2016 contract for the Genesee County Sheriff's Office to operate the Flint City Lockup, telling Weaver she would not sign off on the contract due to the contract needing a resolution by council members and expressing concerns over the county setting aside only $50,000 as a self-insured reserve against claims by detainees in light of a $36 million verdict in a jail beating case.

Erwin Oakes was fired on Jan. 3, 2017, after being questioned by Weaver on why she'd closed the legal department for a day during the previous week on a non-city holiday.

A termination letter provided to Erwin Oakes by the mayor questioned her effectiveness as a manager and a lack of confidence in her leadership.

"Although the termination letter was terse, Mayor Weaver testified to a litany of performance-related reasons for her dissatisfaction with Oakes as the (Chief Legal Officer)," Lawson's order reads.

The reasons provided by Weaver noted complaints about Erwin Oakes' inability to get along with city staff, not keeping the mayor appraised of several legal matters, dressing unprofessionally, blocking now-former chief financial officer Jody Lundquist for sending her emails, delaying McDaniel's contract, and the appeal of certain orders in legal matters over switching to a new garbage hauling company.

"After recognizing that a different form of leadership was desperately needed in order for the City to have a well-run legal department, I decided to go in another direction," Weaver said. "I am glad that the courts made the right decision today, and we can all move forward."

Weaver added in her statement Wednesday afternoon on the case's dismissal that at "no point in time has this ever been a personal issue."HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, MI -- Hundreds of electric customers lost power after an assault suspect crashed an SUV in Holland Township while apparently trying to elude police.

The power went out about 3:50 p.m. Thursday, July 26 after power lines came down in the area of Riley Street and 136th Avenue.

Police were looking for a GMC Envoy after a report of a woman being stabbed in the neck by her husband.

Ottawa County sheriff's deputies located the Envoy but the driver fled west on Riley Street.

The vehicle went off the road near the Herrick library branch on Riley Street.

Police shut down Riley Street to investigate the incident.GRAND RAPIDS TOWNSHIP, MI -- Several people protesting a Kent County Jail contract with the nation's immigration authority showed up at the county board chairman's residence, planting signs in his yard and taping others to his house.

Kent County Sheriff Larry Stelma said about two dozen protesters came to Jim Saalfeld's house in Grand Rapids Township on Wednesday, July 25.

They staked signs in the yard that read "Jim Saalfeld is a Coward," "End the Contract," and "Stop stealing money, Stop stealing families."

The protesters were bold enough to attach a couple of placards to the house.

Neighbors called police and a handful of deputies showed up to keep the peace. There were no arrests.

The move was the latest effort by protesters to ratchet up attention on an issue they feel is harmful to immigrants.

Protesters last month shut down the Kent County Board of Commissioners meeting after demanding to be heard and unfurling an anti-contract banner in the middle of the board floor.

Stelma drove to Saalfeld's house Wednesday evening when he learned of the impromptu protest.

He described the protesters as "very respectful to the officers" and non-confrontational, but at the same time he disagreed with their tactics.

"It's certainly not respectful of a person's property rights," he said. "Trying to intimidate anyone just isn't the American way."

He estimated the protest, which included chants on Morningside Drive SE, lasted about 30 minutes.

Stelma acknowledged that taping a sign to someone's house could be considered trespassing, but it wasn't immediately clear who was responsible among the protesters.

The issue causing distress for protesters, particularly with a group called Movimiento Cosecha GR, is the Kent County Jail's contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customers Enforcement office. It was renewed in 2017.

The contract allows the county to charge ICE $85 for each day it holds a person with an ICE detainment request. Detainments may last up to three days.

It's not clear if Wednesday evening's protest had any connection to a joint statement issued by Stelma and Saalfeld on the county's contract with ICE -- one day ahead of a scheduled Thursday, July 26 board meeting that could draw more protesters.

In the statement, the leaders said that sheriff's deputies do not make arrests based on immigration status. When someone is lodged at the jail for a criminal act, state and federal laws require the sheriff's department to submit fingerprints to state and federal databases.

The FBI, the agency receiving prints, then is required to share that information with the Department of Homeland Security.

Of last year's 23,455 processed inmates at the Kent County Jail, only 185 were the subject of ICE detainments.OTTAWA COUNTY, MI -- A pair of Republican candidates for Michigan House will go head-to-head next month in a primary race to represent the state's 90th District.

Orlando J. Estrada, 33, and Bradley Slagh, 61, will be the two names on the primary ballot Aug. 7. They're running to represent residents in Holland, Hudsonville, Zeeland and Jamestown Township of Ottawa County for a two-year term.

The winner of the primary will run against Democratic candidate Christopher Banks in the November general election.

Rep. Daniela Garcia, R-Holland, has held the 90th District House seat since 2014. She is one of four Republican candidates vying for a spot in the District 30 Michigan Senate race.

Estrada is a distracted driving simulator educator. He graduated from Holland High School and studied business law and entrepreneurship at Davenport and Grand Valley State University, respectively.

The Holland native worked in the banking industry for three years before seven years educating students and military personnel in "various topics," according to his campaign website. He has also worked as a precinct delegate for the Republican party since 2010.

In 2016, Garcia beat Estrada in the 2016 Republican primary with almost 83 percent of the vote.

Slagh has spent the last 10 years as Ottawa County treasurer. Before that, he served as Zeeland Township supervisor for five years.

The Zeeland native pursued business administration and teaching at Hope College before entering the banking industry for 18 years. He also maintains a real estate license "for the knowledge and ongoing training it provides," according to his campaign website.

MLive Media Group has partnered with the League of Women Voters of Michigan to provide candidate information to voters. Estrada and Slagh each were asked to answer a handful of questions about their priorities and stances. Here are a few of their answers:

What are your top three state legislative priorities and how would you address them?

Slagh's top priorities focus on the state's economy, education and infrastructure.

He wants to seek "ways to continue to grow the economy for the state," work on "providing quality education for every student in the state" and seek "ways to provide high quality infrastructure without breaking the budget."

Estrada's primary focuses are improving the state's no-fault auto insurance, reforming education and reducing state income tax.

What measures do you support/propose to achieve improved educational outcomes and accessibility for Michigan students from early childhood through post-secondary education?

Estrada said he is in favor of teaching youth about "life skills" like credit scores, budgeting and how to file their taxes. He also supports educating students on the opportunities that come from choosing vocational school over a four-year degree program.

Slagh supports looking for ways to involve family, church and private/public partnerships in the education process. He's also in favor of investing more in teachers, and promoting "those good ideas that are working at raising students' levels of education and excitement."

Lastly, Slagh said he hopes to "find better ways (of) testing to determine student outcomes so that we are not simply educating for testing sake."

What policies do you support to increase jobs and help Michigan residents improve their economic positions?

Slagh envisions a state that's more business-friendly and has affordable housing to allow people to live where they work. That means to "eliminate or reduce unnecessary regulations," he said.

Estrada said he'd like to reduce or eliminate the state income tax and senior pension tax.

The candidates' full answers are available on the League of Women Voters' online voter guide.

State representatives may serve a maximum of three full terms. They must be at least 21 years of age and a registered voter in their district.GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Two Kent County Commissioners signed a mock agreement Thursday calling for an end to the county's jail contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The mock agreement, signed by commissioners Betsy Melton and Robert Womack, includes the threat of withholding county money from the Kent County Sheriff's Office until the contract is withdrawn.

Protesters brought the symbolic concord to the Kent County Board of Commissioners' Thursday, July 26, meeting. Again, the demonstrators briefly shut down the proceedings as they staged a sit-in. No one was arrested or detained.

After signing the agreement, Melton broke down in tears as she hugged a 10-year-old protester.

"You just don't take a kid away from their parents," she said. "(My brother) certainly didn't die in Vietnam so somebody could take kids away from their parents."

Womack, the first commissioner to sign, was the most vocal proponent of scrapping the contract. He said it degrades trust in the work county law enforcement is doing.

"Where is (the sheriff's office's) original mission statement that we will collaborate with an organization that's kidnapping children, that's going against human rights, that's going against the Geneva Convention," Womack said. "Where is that in the original mission statement and why aren't they held to the same level of scrutiny that we did with the land bank, because there's no money for us to get out of agreeing that these babies being ripped out is wrong."

The mock agreement presented to commissioners July 26.

The persistence of the protesters, who have vowed to continue coming to each full board meeting until the contract is pulled, appears to have persuaded county elected officials to, at very least, hold formal discussions over the ICE contract.

The call for more discussions came from commissioners Melton, Womack, Stan Stek, David Bulkowski and Matt Kallman. There are 19 county commissioners.

Though commissioners lack the direct control to end the contract, they can pressure Kent County Sheriff Larry Stelma to do so. Stelma signed the contract with ICE in 2012, and he renewed it in 2017.

Broadly, the contract formalizes the amount of payment the county receives for each day an inmate flagged for ICE detention is held. It allows ICE detainments for up to three days, rather than the standard two.

Protesters blindsided commissioners last month when about 100 of them commandeered board proceedings after interrupting a person's public comment on another issue.

When that meeting was called back to order, some commissioners discussed forming a committee to assess the jail contract or holding talks with Movimiento Cosecha GR leaders.

No such committee was formed, and the topic was not on Thursday's agenda. In a statement Wednesday, County Administrator Wayman Britt said representatives from his office have invited Movimiento Cosecha GR leaders to meet and talk over concerns.

Gema Lowe, a volunteer organizer with Movimiento Cosecha GR, declined to speculate on whether their latest efforts might finally prompt action from the board.

"What I'm confident about is we are going to keep coming back to end the contract," Lowe said.

Protesters argue the contract incentivizes the racial profiling of Latinos and profits from their detention. When ICE receives the prints of a person lodged in jail, they might request a detainment request on a suspected illegal immigrant. Deputies do not arrest people on illegal immigration charges, according to county administration.

In 2017, the Kent County Sheriff's Office kept 185 people jailed at the request of ICE, resulting in a revenue of $17,935, according to county spokesperson Lisa LaPlante. The jail's budget that year was $36 million.

The detainment requests are not mandatory, and numerous jails across the states have been denying them in recent years. However, LaPlante said jails must oblige them.

At least 20 people addressed the board Thursday during the public comment portion. The topics ranged from white privilege, abuses by ICE officers and the trauma and fear suffered by children with undocumented immigrant parents.

The board was presented with a mock check from ICE for $18,000.

The night before the meeting, protesters rallied at the home of Board of Commissioners Chairman Jim Saalfeld, planting signs in his yard and taping others to his house.A statewide social service agency is moving forward to redevelop the former St. Joseph Seminary on Grand Rapids' Southeast Side into a 52-unit affordable housing complex for seniors now that the project has received a $13.3 million state tax credit.

The Michigan State Housing Development Authority announced this week that it has awarded Samaritas, formerly known as Lutheran Social Services, a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit for the project. The tax credit carries a 10-year annual payment of $1.3 million.

Sam Beals, chief executive officer at Detroit-based Samaritas, said the tax-credit was needed to finance the project at 600 Burton Street SE, and that his agency would not likely have moved forward without it.

He said the project will help meet demand in the Southeast Side neighborhood for affordable housing, which he characterized as the "largest health and human service need in Michigan and throughout the whole country."

"Safe and secure housing is the primary social determinant of health," Beals said. "If a person doesn't have safe and secure housing, it's really tough to function."

Renovation on the property is expected to begin this fall, with construction expected to be wrapped up by fall 2019, he said. The project is expected to cost about $16 million.

Once completed, the building will house 52 one-bedroom apartments for seniors age 55 and older. Other amenities will include community rooms for group activities and events, a library, computer lab, exercise room and an outdoor courtyard.

The apartments are restricted for prospective tenants who meet income thresholds of 30 percent, 40 percent and 60 percent of the area median income for the Grand Rapids metropolitan statistical area. For example, 40 percent of the area's median income would be $19,600, while 60 percent would be $29,400, Beals said.

Eight of the building's 52 units will be set aside for Section 8 housing vouchers, a federal program to help very low-income families. Those vouchers are expected to be used for people with disabilities, Beals said.

St. Joseph Seminary, which takes up an entire block, was built in 1919 by the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids as a boarding school for boys who were headed for the priesthood.

The seminary was used to house Diocesan offices in the 1980s until 2007, when the offices were moved downtown and the building sold to Lighthouse Full Life Center Church.

Samaritas, which provides a variety of services, including foster care and adoption, and assistance for the homeless, refugees and persons with developmental disabilities, has been working on the project since at least January.

In addition to the seminary building, the property has a building that was most recently used by Grand Rapids Ellington Academy of Arts and Technology, a K-12 charter school that closed at the end of the 2016-17 school year. The school was founded in 2013 by pastor and gospel recording star Marvin Sapp.

Development plans for that building have not yet been finalized.

There's also a gymnasium behind the seminary building that Samaritas is working with Pinnacle Construction Group to renovate into office space, Beals said.

Pinnacle, which is expected to do the renovation work on the former seminary building, plans to pursue a housing development on 12 acres behind the seminary building and gymnasium, said Michael Garrett, the construction firm's president and CEO.

Details of that project have not yet been finalized.

Across the state, Samaritas operates 12 senior housing facilities, two facilities for families and one for persons with disabilities, Beals said. The social service agency also manages an affordable housing complex for seniors owned by First Community AME Church in Grand Rapids.HURON, OH -- The yacht belonging to Secretary of Education and Grand Rapids native Betsy DeVos was vandalized while docked in Ohio this week.

The Toledo Blade reports the $40 million yacht was docked at the Huron Boat Basin where vandals untied the yacht, allowing the 163-foot boat to drift away. Crew were eventually able to get control of the boat -- named Seaquest -- but have yet to determine who untied it.

Several larges scratches were made in the boat after it crashed into the dock, causing damages between $5,000 to $10,000.

As of Thursday morning, Seaquest was back up north near Harbor Springs, MI according to marinetraffic.com.

DeVos recently visited northwest Ohio as part of a tour of the Penta Career Center and a visit to the Lucas County Correctional Treatment program, according to The Blade.JACKSON, MI - A woman driving a Lincoln SUV crashed into the Tim Hortons/Cold Stone Creamery location in Jackson Thursday, temporarily closing the store.

Summit Township Fire Department was dispatched around 2:15 p.m. July 26, to the store at 1715 W. Michigan Ave.

The building's west side had some cracks in its bricks. The dining area and drive-thru were closed to customers.

Nobody was injured in the incident, acting Lt. Brian Terry said. He said the crash is under investigation and the building will be checked out by a building inspector.

A store employee said the building would probably be closed for 24 hours.JACKSON, MI - The Jackson County Prosecutor's Office has issued a warrant for a 40-year-old man wanted in connection with a shooting that wounded another man Sunday outside a Jackson lounge and a strip club.

Leandrew Martin is charged with six felony counts, including attempted murder, being a felon in possession of a firearm and other gun crimes, according to a statement released Thursday, July 26, by Jackson police.

He was yet to be located or arrested.

A 31-year-old man was hit in the foot before 1 a.m. July 22. A fight involving about 20 people had broken out behind The Avenues Gentleman's Club, 621 E. Michigan Ave., and neighboring Kingston's Lounge, 629 E. Michigan Ave., police said.

Surveillance footage of the incident, circulated on Facebook, shows a person firing several times into a crowd. People go running.

The video was captured by one of The Avenues' many cameras, said one of the owners, Kris Minix.

Minix wanted to make clear that the shooter and those fighting with the shooter had never, to his knowledge, been in The Avenues or Kingston's that night or morning.

"They just showed up and they were there to cause harm or whatever you want to call it," said Minix, who did not know the shooter.

He reviewed his footage, which gives him a view of Kingston's back door, and did not see them entering the neighboring lounge or inside his own establishment, he said.

Everything was turned over to the city police department, he said, and he is working to secure his bar.

His security employee is now to go outside about every 10 minutes to clear the parking lot of loiterers, a persistent problem, he said. He was checking into armed guards.

"I am not having this in my club," he said.

He plans, too, to establish a fence dividing the parking lots between The Avenues and Kingston's, he said. "I've spared no expense."

The fight was on Kingston's side, he said and the video shows.

Minix said he wants people to go to his place, have a good time and leave. No one should be hanging around in the parking lot but to have a cigarette, he said.

His staff was shaken. "They don't want to be involved in stuff like that," he said, and he wanted officials to "throw the book" at the shooter.

"That guy was there to do mass destruction."

Anyone with information on Martin's whereabouts is asked to call Detective Brett Stiles at 517-768-8722 or CrimeStoppers of Mid-Michigan at 855-840-7867.COMSTOCK TOWNSHIP, MI -- Hard cider, made from ingredients grown on site, is the latest addition to a family-run farm that aims to continue growing through innovation.

Doughnuts fried at the farm are another new addition; because, "What goes better with cider than doughnuts?" business owner Benjamin Martin asked.

Martin runs the farm business Soil Friends Farm & Market at 1701 N. 33rd Street near Galesburg with his longtime partner and significant other, Sarah Luetzow.

When they started the business four years ago, the pair had a vision to sell quality produce to people in the neighborhood, Martin said. Through hard work and often long hours, their business bloomed and has grown by about 50 percent annually for several years, he said.

Martin, who graduated from Western Michigan University in 2014 with a Food and Consumer Packaging degree, said he realized the business had to evolve to continue to see growth.

The farm's newest offering of hard cider is one of a few new initiatives going on there. The cider can be consumed on-site or taken home in growlers, howlers or jars.

While each cider variety includes apples sourced from Michigan farms, the flavors go beyond the typical cider flavors and include other ingredients grown at the Comstock Township farm.

On July 21, Martin said he had five flavors on tap. "Rhueberry" is made with rhubarb, blueberry and strawberry and "Strawcumber" from strawberries and cucumbers. A third flavor is strawberry cider with hops, and another is flavored with honey produced by bees also used to help pollinate the farm's produce. The fifth flavor: simply apples.

Welcome our newest on tap Rhuberry! Rhubarb blueberries and strawberries #farmstand #farmfresh #soilfriends #soilfriendscider #hardcider #craftcider Posted by Soil Friends Farm & Market on Monday, July 16, 2018

"We want to make small craft batches of ciders so when you come here there's different stuff," Martin said. "For our excitement and the customers', we're going to keep everyone on their toes."

A pint costs $6 and growler fills are $22. The ciders on tap in late July were 6.5 percent alcohol, Martin said.

A lifetime mug club, at a cost of $150, helps support the venture and offers discounts of $4 off growlers, $2 off howlers and $1 off pints of cider.

A peach and blueberry cider is up next, Martin said, as part of his plan to use seasonal produce.

Martin said farming is a passion, partly because of the way he can learn to refine and improve his processes year after year. Brewing cider is similar in that way, he said.

Martin began experimenting by brewing small batches. After about a year of making cider, once he was confident in the ciders he was making, he was ready this summer to put it on tap for customers.

The response has been great so far, he said, and has included encouraging comments from other brewers.

The idea is part of an effort to make the farm more of a family destination, Martin said. Besides offering fresh-grown produce, they also occasionally host gatherings and community events, and they have goats to feed and a play area for children.

The cider, Martin said, is one more reason for people visit the farm and have a little fun while they are there. Doughnuts, tortilla chips and farm-fresh salsa, along with a few games and picnic tables to sit at, give customers something to do while their kids play.

"Mom and dad can be entertained as well," Martin said.

Cider is another way to use produce that might otherwise be overlooked as "ugly," he said, when there's nothing wrong with the item apart from its appearance.

Martin said a Community Supported Agriculture program, which provides weekly batches of fresh produce to customers, has also helped the business grow.

They are now selling shares for jars of produce that they plan to process at the farm, he said.

Customers who pay $150 for 25 jars of farm produce, expecting to receive them in the future, are helping the company fund its new canning initiative, Martin said. Shares are still available for purchase, he said.

The shares will help install and plumb the produce processing equipment they recently purchased, he said, with further plans to capture the steam produced in the process to heat their greenhouses.

"One of those greenhouses is going to be our cider bar," he said.

That way, customers can stay warm during visits to the farm beyond the summer months.

"Sitting on the side of the road with onions and potatoes in the middle of winter, it's not enough for people to come," Martin said.

Soil Friends was named the Small Business Development Center's 2016 Best Small Business of the Year for the Southwest Michigan Region. Martin said that recognition motivates him to take their enterprise to the next level.

On the first-generation family farm, Martin said the couple's two children, 6-year-old son Wyatt and 4-year-old daughter Harper, are another big motivation to work hard and make the business successful. The children are both interested in the business and like to get involved, even offering their own ideas that Martin said will likely become a reality, or already are.

"My kids really are highly involved, watching the place and making suggestions," he said.

They get excited when other children come to visit, Martin said.

The farm sure wouldnt be as interesting of a journey without these two! Wyatts going on half decade of farming... Posted by Soil Friends Farm & Market on Saturday, July 21, 2018

His daughter wants to have a bakery, he said, and now they are offering doughnuts and other baked goods. His son wants to have a restaurant at the farm, Martin said, and plans are in motion for that too.

Soil Friends plans to offer food cooked at the farm featuring produce grown on site, hopefully this fall, for customers to enjoy along with their cider and other offerings.

The farm market at 1701 North 33rd Street is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays. Follow along with all the business' latest developments through its Facebook and Instagram accounts.SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN -- A 16-year-old incident from Republican 63rd House District candidate Matt Hall's past is being made public by a nonprofit before the August primary.

Campaign ads mailed this week to residents in the 63rd House District question whether Hall, 36, is stable enough to hold office. It quotes several lines from what appears to be police documents from a 2001 incident where Hall threatened a man through email.

The statements match documents included in a December 2001 investigation by police at Washington College and Western Michigan University.

The documents were obtained from WMU by MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette through the Freedom of Information Act, but the university redacted identifying information of the people involved.

Police records show two emails sent by then-student Matt Hall, now a Republican state House candidate, to a student at another college. (Source: Western Michigan University)

Hall confirmed he was disciplined by the WMU for breaking several sections of the student code of conduct when contacted by MLive Wednesday. He did not defend his past actions, which included saying he had a bullet for the Washington College student and "the south will rise again."

"I sent two nonsensical emails while I was drinking to another white male over a girl," Hall said. "It was wrong and I regret it. What I did is accepted responsibility, apologized and the matter was dropped."

Michigan for Traditional Values is a domestic nonprofit corporation formed by Reid Felsing on June 20, according to state records. The organization was organized to "restore the role of faith, family, and morality in Michigan communities," protect businesses from obstructions of free enterprise and inform citizens about transgressions on constitutional rights.

Searches of the Federal Elections Commission and Michigan Secretary of State campaign finance data on July 26 revealed no documents filed by Michigan for Traditional Values.

Hall said Michigan for Traditional Values is a "dark money group" running a smear campaign to distract voters. He is running against incumbent Dave Maturen in the Aug. 7 primary.

"It's obvious that these are corporate donors who want to protect the status quo in Lansing," Hall said.

Felsing is a Lansing lawyer who serves as the attorney for the social welfare organization. He declined to explain how Michigan for Traditional Values obtained the police documents.

Hall is a "carpetbagger" who moved to Emmet Township from Kalamazoo County to run for office, Felsing said. The organization did not endorse either Hall or Maturen in the race. Felsing said Hall demonstrated values that the organization does not want to see in its leaders.

"In today's age of random violence and school shootings, can we trust someone with Matt Hall's temperament?" the flyer states.

Maturen said he received the mailer on Wednesday. He doesn't plan to make it a campaign issue; Maturen said he's trying to stay positive and focus on his record.

"My campaign doesn't have any connection," Maturen said of the mailer. "I don't know who these people are."

According to the documents, an investigation began at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, after a student reported he received several threatening emails and messages. Washington College does not retain police records for more than seven years, a spokesperson said.

Names and email addresses were redacted from the documents released by WMU.

A message sent at 5:39 p.m. on Dec. 3, 2001, warns the Washington College student to stay away from another student. Another message sent 20 minutes later warns him not to attend an upcoming Christmas party.

Hall said his ex-girlfriend from high school was attending Washington College.

The messages were written in all caps. Hall said he was a 18-year-old freshman when they were sent.

"The south will rise again and we don't like your kind treating ladies like (name redacted) without dignity," Hall said in one of the emails. "We are going to impose our southern ways on you. I've got a shotgun rifle and I just put a bullet in it with your name on it."

The police report does not indicate whether the student receiving the emails was black. Hall said the student he sent the emails to was white.

"It's not racist," Hall said. "It was a nonsensical, drunken email. That's all it was. When I read it today, it doesn't make any sense."

The next day, the Washington College Office of Information Technologies traced the email to an IP address from Western Michigan University. On Dec. 6, 2001, WMU's Office of Information Technology traced the source of the emails to a computer port in a freshman dorm room.

WMU police identified Hall, who admitted to police he sent emails to the Maryland student because he thought that student had sent him threats via an instant messaging application.

The suspect told police that his girlfriend later explained the Maryland student was not to blame for the IMs.

The Maryland student decided not to pursue criminal charges, but the case was sent to the WMU Office of Student Judicial Affairs.

After a hearing, Hall admitted to violating four student codes for disruptive behavior, obscene or harassing communication, physical or verbal abuse and theft or other abuse of university computing resources. He was sanctioned by the university to a one-semester suspension.

On Jan. 30, 2002, Hall requested an appeal. WMU did not release the result of that appeal, citing federal law that allows universities to not disclose any document directly related to a student without the student's consent.

Hall said he did not serve a suspension, but was put on probation. He went on to graduate from WMU.

The Republican candidate said he has addressed this incident before, when running for youth chair of the Michigan GOP. Hall list his occupation as Michigan Republican Party State Committeeman, and he is a former West Michigan liaison for Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette's office.

"I find it suspicious that they're calling this out two weeks before the election," Hall said.

Voters in Michigan's 63rd House district will be faced with a choice between Hall and Maturen in the Aug. 7 Republican primary. Jennifer Aniano is running unopposed for the Democratic Party's nomination for the seat.

The 63rd district includes the eastern half of Kalamazoo County along with portions of southern and central Calhoun County, including the city of Marshall.

Hall said he is focused on opposing Maturen's "liberal voting record." Hall said Maturen's D rating with the NRA and his votes for higher taxes and against auto insurance reform are reasons to vote Maturen out of office.

Maturen scoffed at the claim he is a liberal. It's "sound-byte material" based on a 2016 Michigan Information & Research Service House scorecard of legislators, he said.

Supporting the auto insurance reform wouldn't have improved the lives of people in the 63rd District, Maturen said. He said he digs into complicated issues, defending a vote against reducing the state income tax due to concerns about where the state would make up lost revenue.

"I didn't run for office to play follow the leader," Maturen said. "Every once in a while, (a Republican-backed bill) doesn't make any sense for my constituents."

Maturen was first elected to the chamber in 2014 and serves as vice chair of the tax policy committee during the 2017 legislative session. He's also served on committees related to financial liability reform, natural resources, transportation and infrastructure.

Maturen ran unopposed in the 2016 primary, going on to beat Democrat Lynn Shiflea by taking 61 percent of the vote.

Republican Paul Foust suspended his campaign earlier this year and announced his support for Hall. Foust said having two pro-Trump Republicans in the same race would have split the conservative vote and allowed "a liberal like Dave Maturen" to be re-elected.

Citizens for Traditional Values, a political action committee that endorsed Hall in the 63rd District race, is not affiliated with Michigan for Traditional Values. A Citizens for Traditional Values spokesperson said residents are confusing the two organizations.WHITEHALL, MI - Chef Rusty Morningstar wants his Whitehall restaurant to be the first West Michigan lakeshore hotspot on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives."

The Food Network show starring Guy Fieri has been on the air since 2007. Several Michigan restaurants have been featured, including a slew of Lansing spots Fieri visited in 2017.

Morningstar's restaurant, Bone Ends, is a Tex-Mex BBQ joint that opened in January 2018. The brick-and-mortar spot, 604 Colby St., near downtown Whitehall is building off the success of his food truck and catering businesses of the same name.

On July 20, a post appeared on the Bone Ends Facebook page asking fans to nominate the restaurant for "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives."

"Chef Rusty has yet to fulfill one of his biggest dreams," the post reads. "He would love to get Bone Ends on 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives'!! If you are a fan of us, please follow this link and submit an email!! Let's see if we can put Whitehall on the Triple D map!!"

The post provides a link to the "Suggest a Triple D Hotspot" section of Fieri's website.

Morningstar's wife, Jamie Morningstar, is behind the post. He didn't know it was going up.

"It was something that we'd been talking about," Rusty Morningstar said. "She knew it was something I'd been working toward since we started the food truck."

The Bone Ends food truck has operated since June 2014, showing up at events throughout Muskegon County and West Michigan, and going as far as Ann Arbor and Charlevoix.

Rusty Morningstar follows Fieri's show. He's been to about 20 hotspots so far and has enjoyed most of them.

On the show, Fieri visits each restaurant, hangs out in the kitchen while the chef preps and cooks and then tries their most popular dishes.

If Bone Ends were selected, Rusty Morningstar would treat Fieri to his BBQ beer cheese poutine and spicy pig tacos.

The BBQ beer cheese poutine can also be found at Fifth Third Ballpark in Grand Rapids where it's a regular menu item. The Bone Ends creation won the park's Fan Food Vote in 2017.

The poutine features BBQ sauce, pulled pork, beer cheese sauce, green onions and jalapenos over fries. The spicy pig taco has pulled pork, green apples, caramelized red onions and apricot habanero sauce.

"We're not BBQ or a Mexican taco place," Rusty Morningstar said. "Everything is a little bit off-the-wall for West Michigan. It's more of a unique style."

The menu includes tacos, sandwiches, appetizers, salads and sides - all with a twist.

The "Triple D" hotspot submission page asks, "Why do you love it?"

"I hope they notice the quality of our food," Rusty Morningstar said of what he hopes his customers will say. "We make all our food from scratch, which is something that's harder to find nowadays in the franchise world we live in."

In addition, most products and ingredients come from within the state, he said.

"I would hope people have noticed all the effort we put into that," Rusty Morningstar said.

He expects that upwards of 50 people have submitted nominations so far.

Bone Ends is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday-Wednesday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday-Saturday.

"We've been steadily busy," Rusty Morningstar said of his six-month-old restaurant. "Catering has doubled if not more. Between catering, the food truck and the restaurant, we're running in three different directions every day."

Find Michigan restaurants featured on "Triple D" here. Nominate a restaurant at guyfieri.com.The house where Rosa Parks lived on S. Deacon Street in Detroit back in the late 1950s is up for auction Thursday, July 26 in New York City, and the minimum bid for the restored home starts at $1 million.

Parks lived in the home between 1957 and 1959, and two years removed from famously standing up to an Alabama law requiring black bus riders to give seats up to white passengers. The "mother of the civil rights movement" and her family moved to Detroit to escape the never-ending death threats and harassment.

As for the home itself, Parks' niece Rhea McCauley bought the house from the city of Detroit for $500 after it was abandoned and faced demolition, and then donated it to American artist Ryan Mendoza. The artist then transported the home to Berlin, Germany where he and a team of volunteers would spend six months rebuilding the small wood-frame home.

Once the home was rebuilt, Mendoza had a public showing in Berlin before transporting it back across the Atlantic to Rhode Island where it has recently been on display.

The home itself is for sale as part of Guernsey auction house's "African American Historic & Cultural Treasures" on Thursday and Friday in New York City. The Associated Press reports that Mendoza and the Parks family will split the proceeds from the sale.

Guernsey's estimates on its website that the house will sell for between $1 and $3 million.

When Mendoza was interviewed by MLive, he said that he had always hoped that "after the house is fully reconstructed in Europe, that it will go back to America, its dignity restored." Mendoza is known around Detroit for his "The White House" and "The Invitation" projects.

"From the viewpoint of art and design, the story of the house and its history since leaving Detroit is a demonstration of the new reach of preservation and the power of creative adaptive reuse," Rhode Island School of Design architecture department head Liliane Wong says in the item listing for the home.

"It raises important questions about what we as a people value and how much we are willing to put at stake to preserve those values."

In her lifetime, Parks was recognized with the nation's two highest possible honors in the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor. She worked in the office of U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit, for 23 years.

When Parks died in 2005 at the age of 92, she was the first woman in U.S. history to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol.As NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies enters its third decade of existence, the space agency shared an animation showcasing every asteroid it has come into contact with since 1998.

This animation includes every asteroid or comet in orbit that has entered our solar system within 121 million miles of the sun, and within 30 million miles of Earth's orbit around the sun. NASA says there are more than 18,000 known near-Earth objects, and that it is discovering them on a rate of about 40 each week.

In the video below, the space agency says the animation shows all known asteroids discovered in our solar system between Jan. 1, 1999 and Jan. 31 of this year. The blue-colored dots represent near-Earth asteroids, and the orange-colored dots represent asteroids between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter:

--

"For about 20 years, CNEOS (Center for Near-Earth Object Studies) has been NASA's central hub for accurately mapping the orbits of all the known NEOs, predicting their upcoming close approaches, reliably assessing their chances of impact to our planet, and delivering that information to both astronomers worldwide and the general public," the space agency reports in a news release.

"The first and most important step in assessing the impact risk of an asteroid or comet is to determine whether any given object's orbit will cross Earth's orbit -- and then how close it will actually get to our planet."

CNEOS (@NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies) maintains a database of all known asteroids which is constantly updated with new discoveries. A customizable table of close approaching asteroids is available at https://t.co/ocjetQuyyu  Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) May 15, 2018

Since the creation of the division formerly known as the Near-Earth Object Observations Program, the discover of asteroids and comets in our solar system has increased tenfold. The original goal of the division was to "detect and catalogue" as much as 90 percent of all near-Earth objects larger than one kilometer within its first 10 years of existence.

NASA says that while the original goal set by the U.S. Congress in 1998 "has been exceeded," a new congressional goal called for the group to discover at least 90 percent of near-Earth objects smaller than 450 feet by 2020.

"These smaller asteroids may not present a threat of global catastrophe if they impact Earth, but they could still cause massive regional devastation and loss of life, especially if they occur near a metropolitan area," the space agency says in the release.

"CNEOS continues to make improvements to its orbital analysis tools, image and graphic presentation capabilities, and updates of its websites to quickly and accurately provide the very latest information on NEOs to PDCO, the astronomical community and the public."

--

It's been a busy couple of decades in our office. Don't believe us? Watch the video! We're pleased to be entering our third decade of @NASA planetary defense, computing high-precision orbits for asteroids and comets and mapping their positions in the Solar System. pic.twitter.com/TJ2yfgDqU0  Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) July 24, 2018

--After a group published a study claiming to have discovered a large body of water on Mars, NASA issued a statement saying the findings were "extremely intriguing" and "definitely warrants further study."

The paper authored by the Italian Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding was published in the journal Science on Wednesday, July 25. It outlined the discovery of a "bright spot" about 1 mile beneath the surface of an ice cap in the planet's Planum Australe region.

NASA reports on Thursday that this bright spot was interpreted by the group as being liquid water, which is essential to life as we know it.

"The bright spot seen in the MARSIS data is an unusual feature and extremely intriguing," NASA chief scientist Jim Green says in the release. "It definitely warrants further study. Additional lines of evidence should be pursued to test the interpretation.

"We hope to use other instruments to study it further in the future."

Intriguing! @ESA's #MarsExpress may have found underground water near the south pole of #Mars. Data from my heat probe could follow up on this finding. Can't wait to land and get to work. https://t.co/HwiioCRQHQ pic.twitter.com/h7Mklp6mGl  NASA InSight (@NASAInSight) July 26, 2018

The U.S. space agency points out that one of these instruments to study this potential discovery is the InSight lander, which is expected to land on Mars on Nov. 26 of this year. Once on the surface of the Red Planet, the InSight will become the first since the Apollo missions to place a seismometer on the surface of another planet or moon.

InSight will aim to literally dig deeper into Mars than ever before. NASA says the mission's main goal will focus on improving its understanding of the formation, evolution and history of rocky planets including Earth.

"'Follow the Water' has been one of the major goals of NASA's Mars program," the space agency reports. "Water is currently driving NASA's exploration into the outer solar system, where ocean worlds -- like Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus -- hold the potential to support life."

"Even protoplanets like Ceres may explain how water is stored in rocky 'buckets' that transport water across the solar system."

As for the study published earlier this week researchers say they ruled out a "number of possible explanations" and conclude that "the existence of liquid water, either as a distinct water layer or as saturated sediments, as the only explanation."

The water was discovered using the ESA's Express spacecraft and its "Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere sounding" device. Those involved studied the water for three years, and spent the last two years taking a closer look at its findings to ensure it had detected water and not ice.

"Depending on the climate, the ice caps grow and shrink as a result of depositional and erosional events. This creates a unique stratigraphy within the ice caps, consisting of layers of equal age that scientists can analyze to derive information about past climate," the study reads.

"Changes in ice flow owing to water at the base can change the appearance of these englacial layers; this needs to be considered when reconstructing their age. Analyzing these englacial reflectors, taking the new findings of liquid water below the SPLD into account, can therefore help unravel the climate history of Mars."live bse live

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Vedanta Resources Chairman Anil Agarwal is planning to raise up to $1.1 billion from 3-4 foreign banks, including Standard Chartered Bank and Credit Suisse, according to a report by The Economic Times.

Agarwal will use the funds to buy outstanding stock of Vedanta Resources Plc from public shareholders on London Stock Exchange through privately-owned company Volcan Investments, three sources told the paper.

The loans, which may have 3-5 year maturities, would be priced after adding a spread of 100-125 basis points to the US dollar-based London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR).

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

"While Standard Chartered and Credit Suisse may extend about $800 million credit line, the company is also talking to a British bank and a large private sector bank independently to avail another credit line," a source was quoted as saying.

Agarwal has reportedly pledged shares of Volcan Investments in order to raise the funds he needs for the open market purchase.

Earlier this month, Vedanta Resources had announced that it plans to delist from the London Stock Exchange, 15 years after it had become the first Indian company to get listed on the exchange.

It had also said that the family trust would buy out the shareholders of Vedanta Resources, which will be valued at a little over $3 billion.

Explaining the reasons behind the move, the Group said that this was "another important step in simplifying the structure of the Vedanta Group by removing a duplicative stock exchange listing,".

It also said that the original rationale for Vedanta is now less compelling, given the increased maturity of the Indian capital markets, together with Vedanta's significant growth."Government bonds (G-Secs) rebounded following renewed demand from corporates and banks.

While, Interbank call money rates ruled steady as demand from borrowing banks match supplies.

The 7.17 percent government security maturing in 2028 surged to Rs 96.10 from Rs 95.9275, while, its yield eased to 7.76 percent from 7.79 percent.

The 6.68 percent government security maturing in 2031 went-up to Rs 89.60 from Rs 89.52, while, its yield softened to 7.97 percent from 7.98 percent.

The 6.84 percent government security maturing in 2022 rose to Rs 96.48 from Rs 96.41, while, its yield edged down to 7.80 percent from 7.82 percent.

The 7.59 percent government security maturing in 2026, the 7.37 percent government security maturing in 2023 and the 7.80 percent government security maturing in 2021 were also quoted higher to Rs 97.52, Rs 98.00 and Rs 100.31 respectively.

The overnight call money rates ruled steady at its previous level of 6.10 percent, It resumed higher at 6.40 percent and moved in a range of 6.40 percent and 6.00 percent. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF), purchased securities worth Rs 49.23 billion in 7-bids at the overnight repo opertion at a fixed rate of 6.25 percent as on today, while its sold securities worth Rs 104.45 billion in 40-bids at the overnight reverse repo auction at a fixed rate of 6.00 percent as on July 25.live bse live

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Bank of Baroda is expected to report a net loss of Rs 102.6 crore in the June quarter of FY19 due to a likely spike in bad loans and provisions, as per a Reuters poll.

As per a Motilal Oswal report, however, the bank could just post a 32 percent year-on-year (YoY) drop in net profit for Q1FY19 to Rs 138 crore.

The public sector bank had reported a net profit of Rs 203 crore in the same quarter last year.

The Reuters poll pegs jump in loan loss provisions of 29 percent to Rs 3,061 crore from Rs 2,368 crore in June quarter a year ago.

Loan growth and NPAs

We expect loan growth to pick up to about 16 percent year-on-year. Balance sheet recalibration will continue, led by a focus on granular retail loans. We expect drill-down in the international book to continue. We expect deposits to grow about 5 percent year-on-year and 2 percent over the previous quarter, the Motilal Oswal report said.

Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) as a percentage of total loans is estimated to worsen at 12.2 percent as at June end 2018 from 11.4 percent last year. Sequentially, it may dip from 12.3 percent as on March 2018.

Net NPAs are projected to rise to 5.9 percent, both YoY and sequentially from 5.2 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively.

Interest income and margins

The poll estimates net interest income (NII), the difference between interest earned and expended, to increase to Rs 4,201 crore in Q1FY19 as against Rs 3,405 crore in Q1FY18.

During the period, non-interest income or other income is projected to rise by 10 percent to Rs 1,399 crore from Rs 1,551 crore in the same quarter last year.

Motilal Oswal expects fee income to fall with non-interest income expected to decline 7 percent YoY.

We expect margins to improve to about 2.6 percent, as interest income reversals continue to moderate, the report said.

Key issues to watch for:

> Stress addition, mainly from the international book

> Guidance on loan growth, margins, and operating expensesU.S. Senators Lamar Alexander and Doug Jones (D-Ala.) Wednesday introduced the Automotive Jobs Act of 2018, a bipartisan bill to delay President Trumps recently proposed 25-percent tariff on imported cars, trucks, and auto parts. At the Presidents direction, the U.S. Commerce Department initiated a Section 232 investigation in May to determine whether imported automobiles, trucks, and parts are a threat to U.S. national security and to subsequently levy tariffs. The senators legislation requires the International Trade Commission to conduct a comprehensive study of the well-being, health, and vitality of the United States automotive industry before tariffs could be applied.

These tariffs are a tax on American consumers and theyre going to cost Alabama jobs, said Senator Jones. I share the Presidents goal to reinvigorate manufacturing and secure trade deals that benefit our country, but not at the expense of one of Alabamas biggest job creators. This bipartisan legislation will hold the Administration accountable by ensuring it has all of the facts about the positive impact American automakers have on their communities, regardless of where theyre headquartered. With that information in hand, the Administration could no longer make the ridiculous claim that this industry is somehow a national security threat.

This bill would delay the administrations proposed 25 percent tariff on automobiles and automotive parts imported into the United States until the President has a second opinion from the International Trade Commission about the effect those tariffs would have on the more than seven million jobs in the American automotive industry, said Senator Alexander. About 136,000 of those auto jobs are in Tennessee, one third of our states manufacturing jobs. The president has gotten the worlds attention with his tariffs, but what deserves more attention is his long term solution  zero tariffs, zero barriers, which is, as the president said at the G7 summit in June, the way it should be. Taking steps in the direction of reciprocityinsisting that other countries do for us what we do for themrather than a trade war, will be much better for the American worker.

Last month, the senators wrote a letter to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross urging him to reconsider the tariffs. This legislation addresses the key concerns the senators raised in their letter to Secretary Ross.

As part of the mandated study, the ITC will be required to assess, among other things:

The number of automobiles assembled in the United States that are exported each year and to which countries;

The percentage of component parts of automobiles assembled in the United States that are imported;

The number of component parts for automobiles that are not produced in the United States and would thus not be available to United States automotive producers if prohibitively high duties were imposed on imports of those parts; and,

The effect an increase in automotive manufacturing costs would have on jobs in the United States.

The ITC will be required to deliver the report to Congress and is to include policy recommendations based on the study. Under this legislation, these tariffs cannot be applied until the report is delivered.Canara Bank | Bank reported higher profit at Rs 444.1 crore in Q2FY21 against Rs 364.9 crore, net interest income jumped to Rs 6,296 crore from Rs 3,129 crore YoY.

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Public sector lender Canara Bank plans to raise Rs 7,000 crore in equity capital through rights issue or qualified institutional placement (QIP) in the current financial year, according to the banks chief.

"This year, the board has given an approval to raise Rs 7,000 crore and will take it up in the annual general meeting tomorrow (Thursday) for shareholder approval. We will raise it via rights issue or QIP mode, whichever is suitable," Rakesh Sharma, chief executive officer and managing director of Canara Bank, said in a post results call with investors.

This capital raising will also include ESOPs (employee stock option plans) if the government approves, he added.

Confident of the capital raising, he said, If we can improve our fundamentals then capital raising should not be a problem. As of now, Q1 and Q2 are likely to be good.

The government-owned bank reported a 12 percent rise in net profit at Rs 281 crore in Q1 FY19 (from Rs 252 crore in the year-ago quarter) backed by healthy jump in net interest income of 43 percent and reduction in non-performing assets (NPAs).

The fund-raising may further boost the capital strength of the lender. Even as the bank is adequately capitalised from the regulatory point of view but may require growth capital from the government, adds Sharma, who took charge of Canara Bank in September 2015 from a small private lender Lakshmi Vilas Bank.

Canara Banks capital adequacy ratio as on June-end improved to 13 percent (regulatory requirement of 10.875 percent) as against 12.61 percent a year ago.

Fighting NPAs

Canara Bank has also stepped up efforts to tackle large bad loans.

Speaking about monitoring large corporate loan accounts, Sharma said, We have large credit monitoring modules for all accounts above Rs 1 crore. If we find any irregularities or defaults, these will be regulated by the regional, head and circle offices.

He further said that for recovery, Starting July 1, we have introduced a stressed asset management wing for all assets over Rs 25 crore to give specialised attention by the general managers. This will ensure the stressed assets will be keenly monitored and accordingly tackled by experts in the bank.

"Sashakt" recovery

This, along with project Sashakt will also help in speedy recovery of bad loans.

Sharma exudes confidence to target reduction in NPAs to the tune of Rs 16,000-17,000 crore for the fiscal year ending March 2019 with Rs 10,000 crore coming from the insolvency accounts.

Under Sashakt, Canara Bank will be attempting to resolve 12 accounts worth about Rs 28,000 crore, of which Rs 13,000 crore have been admitted to various National Company Law Tribunals (NCLTs) as referred by the Reserve Bank of India as part of the first two lists.

Roughly Rs 12,000-13,000 crore will be remaining outside and our efforts will help in quicker resolution, Sharma said.

Canara Banks gross NPAs as on June-end 2018 stood at Rs 44,660 crore, almost 11.05 percent of total loans, while net NPAs were at Rs 26,693.5 crore which are 6.91 percent of total loans.

We plan to reduce this to 8-9 percent of gross NPAs and 5-5.9 percent of net NPAs by the year end, Sharma said adding that from here on, slippages of standard loans into NPAs will around Rs 2,000-2,500 crore each quarter.

Growth prospects

Assets worth Rs 4,250 crore have been identified, of which Rs 1,000 crore will be sold to asset reconstruction companies (ARCs), going forward.

To push loan growth further, Canara Banks chief has also established one more project called i-leads to generate more leads for increased retail and small and medium enterprise (SME) businesses.

Sharma aims an advances growth of 10-12 percent with healthy retail growth of 20 percent and SME growth of 10-12 percent despite some stress under Mudra loans for FY19.live bse live

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Dr Reddy's Laboratories Thursday posted near eight-fold jump in its first-quarter consolidated net profit to Rs 456 crore, helped by the low base of the previous year when sales were affected by the GST rollout and higher US and emerging market sales.

Revenue during the quarter grew 12 percent to Rs 3,721 crore compared to Rs 3,316 crore in the same quarter last year. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation for the quarter was Rs 807.1 crore, an increase of 140 percent YoY. EBITDA margin of 21.7 percent improved by 1160 basis points over last year.

A Reuters poll of analysts forecasted fourfold increase in net profit to Rs 302.8 crore in Q1FY19. It estimated revenue to rise 21.48 percent YoY to Rs 3,946.8 crore in Q1FY19.

"I am pleased with our first quarter results, aided by the launch of generic Suboxone, said GV Prasad, Chairman, CEO, and Co-chairman of Dr Reddys.

Our focus on operational efficiencies has helped in significantly improving our margin profile. looking ahead, while we may continue to experience price erosion in the North America Generics market, we will also continue to drive growth and cost efficiencies, at the same time, enhancing our quality management systems and building healthy portfolios across the markets we serve," Prasad added.

Global generics revenue, which contributed around 80 percent to total income, increased 12 percent to Rs 3063.6 crore YoY, and 10 percent on a sequential basis.

The North America business that constitutes about 43 percent of global generic sales grew 6 percent Rs 1,590.3 crore in Q1 on YoY basis driven by contribution from new products, primarily generic de-addiction drug Suboxone, and partly offset by competitive pressures on some of the key molecules.

As of June 30, 2018, cumulatively 112 generic filings are pending for approval with the USFDA. Of these 109 abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs), 61 are Para IVs out of which we believe 30 have 'First to File' status.

Emerging markets that contribute 18 percent of generic sales business declined 21 percent to Rs 664.3 crore in Q1. Revenues from Russia grew 9 percent to Rs 380 crore on account of new launches and volume traction in some of the key molecules.

Revenues from India grew 30 percent to Rs 607.4 crore in Q1FY19, helped by low-base last year. Europe sales declined 3 percent in Q1FY19 to Rs 200 crore on account of higher price erosion in some of its key products.

Pharmaceuticals services and active ingredients (PSAI) revenue during the quarter increased 16 percent to Rs 540.9 crore YoY. Proprietary products saw growth

R&D expenses in Q1 declined 4 percent to Rs 415.7 crore.

The results were announced after market hours.

Shares of Dr Reddy's rose 2.19 percent to close at Rs 2134.65 on BSE, the benchmark Sensex gained 0.34 percent to end 36,984.64 points.

"Top line grew 12.2% YoY to Rs 37.2bn, 1.6% above our estimates. US sales grew 7.3% sequentially at US$ 241mn (6% YoY). India business grew 30% YoY on the back of a favourable GST-hit base, but is flat sequentially and in line with our estimates. EM markets reported good growth of 16%YoY in Q1, higher than our estimates," said Amey Chalke, pharma analyst at HDFC Securties.

"We continue to have Neutal rating on the stock as we believe the pain in US business of DRRD is likely to continue for few more quarters with no visibility on Duvvada resolution," Chalke added.live bse live

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Country's largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel is going to announce its April-June quarter earnings on July 26. All brokerage houses expect the company to report losses for the quarter due to tariff cuts in January and interconnect usage charges (IUC) on international incoming calls.

The stock price has been corrected 33.5 percent in 2018 after showing a rally of 73.4 percent in the previous year.

Here are five key points to watch out for in the June quarter results:

Bottomline

Bharti Airtel is likely to report a loss in the range of Rs 100-450 crore for the quarter ended June 2018.

While maintaining Buy call on the stock, Motilal Oswal expects company to report net loss of Rs 110 crore while ICICI Securities sees loss at around Rs 309.1 crore and Kotak expects loss at around Rs 448 crore for the quarter.

Revenue

Revenue from operations could be around Rs 20,000 crore for the quarter ended June 2018.

"Full quarter impact of tariff cuts in Jan-18 and IUC rate cut on international incoming calls from 53p to 30p from February 1, 2018 to weigh on revenues. Incumbents prepaid Smartphone customers ARPU remain above the most competitive bundled plans. Their down trading continue to exert pressure on revenues of incumbents," HDFC Securities.

Kotak expects decline in revenue at around 9.4 percent YoY (up 1.3 percent QoQ) while HDFC Securities sees 10 percent degrowth (up 0.6 percent QoQ). ICICI Securities expects 9.5 percent decline in revenue (up 1.2 percent QoQ).

"We expect consolidated revenue to grow 2 percent QoQ (down 8 percent YoY) to Rs 20,120 crore as the decline in the India wireless business is expected to get arrested.

India wireless and Africa revenue

Motilal Oswal feels Bharti's India wireless revenue is likely to remain flat QoQ at Rs 10,370 crore, as the decline in ARPU (average revenue per user) would get offset by the synergies from Telenor. It expects India wireless ARPU to decline 4 percent QoQ to Rs 112.

Africa revenue is expected to grow 2 percent QoQ to Rs 5,090 crore, Motilal Oswal said. "India wireless margins are likely to contract 370bp to 24.7 percent, impacted by an increase in network cost and EBITDA loss contribution from Telenor. Africa margin is expected to see a marginal 20bp dip to 35 percent.

HDFC Securities said the India wireless business revenue is likely to decline 2 percent QoQ and EBITDA 10 percent on like-to-like basis. "ARPU may decline by 6 percent QoQ while strong volume momentum may sustain in both voice and data."

Reported numbers will include 1.5 months impact of Telenor consolidation.

For Africa, HDFC Securities expects around 1.5 percent QoQ constant currency growth and 50 bps QoQ dip in margin.

Kotak said downtrading to the most competitive bundled plans continues to hurt despite moderating pace. "For India wireless, we expect a 8 percent QoQ dip in ARPU (lower organic decline; Telenor India consolidation is ARPU-dilutive) to Rs 107 and a 8.5 percent QoQ and 39 percent YoY decline in EBITDA to Rs 2,690 crore."

For Africa wireless, Kotak said it is building in a constant currency topline growth of around 2 percent QoQ and a 100 bps sequential dip in EBITDA margin. Rupee depreciation is likely to aid reported numbers, it feels.

ICICI Securities said given the higher network operating costs and access charges (driven by bundled offer adoption) and muted topline, it expects around 340 bps sequential decline in India EBITDA margins at 32 percent. "Africa revenues are expected at Rs 5,196 crore, up 4.5 percent QoQ, also aided by a depreciating rupee. Africa margins are expected to be robust at 35 percent."

Operational Performance

Motilal Oswal expects consolidated EBITDA margin to contract 220bp QoQ to 33.1 percent.

On consolidate basis, we expect 10% revenue and 14.5% EBITDA decline YoY.

The consequent consolidated margins are seen at 34 percent, down 120 bps QoQ, mainly impacted by weak India margins, ICICI Securities said.

Other key things to watch out for

Key monitorables would be consolidated revenue, India wireless revenue, consolidated EBITDA margin and India wireless EBITDA margin, Motilal Oswal said.

HDFC Securities said key things to watch out for would be outlook on ARPU/revenue bottoming out and impact of Jios GigaFiber and Giga STB on Enterprise, Home broadband and DTH business.

Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd, which owns Jio, is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.live bse live

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Biopharmaceutical firm Biocon is likely to report a 44 percent rise in its net profit for the first quarter of FY19, primarily due to the low base of last year, when sales were affected by the implementation of GST.

The company's performance in the June quarter is also expected to augmented by the performance of its biologics, branded formulations and research services segments, housed under listed subsidiary Syngene.

In the first quarter of FY18, the company reported a net profit of Rs 81.3 crore.

Analysts polled by Reuters estimate that Biocon's net profit will rise to Rs 116.9 crore, and that its revenue for the quarter will increase 27.3 percent on year to Rs 1,180.9 crore.

The robust growth in the company's top line will likely lead to a healthy rise in its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA). Its EBITDA margin is seen remaining steady at 20-21 percent.

Revenue from the biologics segment is seen rising 50 percent year on year, primarily because of an addressing of shortages and growth in emerging markets.

The company's branded formulations segment is estimated to grow 20 percent, while the growth in Syngene's revenue is expected to be limited to 10-12 percent.

During the quarter under review, Biocon's biosimilar drug product facility in Bengaluru received approvals from both US and European drug regulators.

The company, and its partner Mylan, also got approvals for breast cancer drug Trastuzumab and Pegfilgrastim, and it is now planning to commercilise both drugs.

"Building Pegfilgrastim in our FY19 estimates; commercial execution now the key: Biocon-Mylan intends to launch Pegfilgrastim in the US in the next few weeks, ahead of our earlier estimated launch of late-2018," brokerage IIFL said in a research report.

"Market share ramp-up in biosimilars and complex generics is usually gradual, and executing the commercial strategy is now key for both companies. We had earlier assumed Pegfilgrastim contribution to Biocon only from FY20, which we now bring ahead to 2QFY19. We forecast Pegfilgrastim to contribute $35 million EBITDA to Biocon in FY19," it said.live bse live

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For yet another quarter, Hindustan oil exploration company (HOEC) exceeded our expectation and reported a stellar Q1 FY19. With multiple project in the monetisation phase, net profit increased eight fold year-on-year (YoY). Firm energy prices, rapidly ramping volumes and undemanding valuations make the stock an attractive pick.

Q1 FY19 performance

Revenue improved 51 percent sequentially on the back of robust increase in production volumes. Realisations were further supported by higher crude oil prices. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) margin saw a substantial improvement in line with the managements guidance. Decline in other income was on account of lower income from mutual funds after liquidation of a portion to fund ongoing expansion and operating expenses.

After the ramping up of production from the Dirok block and fast paced revenue acceleration in the last quarter, the company is now at the cusp for the second round of re-rating with the completion of drilling work at PY1 basin and tick up in production from this block in July.

The Dirok block is now the most important asset for the company with majority revenue flowing in through this basin. With the installation and commissioning of 12 inch pipeline from April, production increased by almost 60 percent.

The company achieved average production of 29 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) and 750 barrels of oil per day (bopd) in June, reaching 35 mmscfd of gas and 800 bopd of oil condensate. This level is close to HOECs target of 36 mmscfd and 1,000 bopd of oil condensate from the block. Given the upward momentum in crude prices and increasing demand, we expect gas prices to further improve in the next round of price revision. With a six monthly revision structure for HOECs contracts, we see gas realisations improving further.

The two well drilling project at the PY1 block in the Cauvery basin was complete last quarter and production started from mid-June, reaching 12 million standard cubic feet per day. HOEC has 100 percent stake in the block and production is expected to contribute significantly to incremental revenues. Moreover, total reserves in the basin are now believed to be much higher that initial projections, which would also work in favour of the company in the long term.The acquisition of Geopetrol in April gives HOEC 30 percent participating interest in the Kharsang block in Arunachal Pradesh. The block produced 800 barrels per day of crude during the quarter gone by and has started contributing towards group revenue, though consolidated numbers were not available.

The management is expediting expansion of this block with expectation of additional reserves. The blocks closeness to the Kharem (Arunachal Pradesh) field bodes well as it has already invested infrastructure which can be used in Kharsang. It also makes the company the largest private player in the northeast.

The field development plan for the B80 basin in Mumbai High was approved in December last year and block execution is on track. The management expects to commence production from the block from April 2020.Most of HOECs assets are now entering the production phase and are quickly being monetised. With rapid ramping up of production, revenue and profits should see strong traction. With production ramping up as per plan, the company is now focusing on steady and sustainable offtake of the produce.

HOEC has a debt free balance sheet and has funded both capex and Geopetrol Internationals acquisition through internal accruals. This leaves the company with scope for further expansion and leverage.

The stocks has run up 70 percent in the last 12 months and is currently 14 percent below its 52-week high. It is trading at a FY19e price-to-earnings of 16.5 times. The monetisation plan for discovered blocks has been moving as per plan. With production volumes ramping up, we see immense scope for re-rating in this growing business. HOEC is a growth stock. Investors with a penchant for investing in high growth businesses should look to add this on any weakness in the current market volatility.

Follow @Ruchiagrawal

For more research articles, visit our Moneycontrol Research pageCanara Bank | Bank reported higher profit at Rs 444.1 crore in Q2FY21 against Rs 364.9 crore, net interest income jumped to Rs 6,296 crore from Rs 3,129 crore YoY.

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Shares of Canara Bank added over 5 percent in the early trade on Thursday as company posted strong numbers for the first quarter ended June 2018.

The company has reported a 12 percent year-on-year (YoY) rise in net profit at Rs 281.49 crore in Q1FY19 against profit of Rs 252 crore in the year-ago period.

The Q1FY19 profit growth was helped by a healthy growth in net interest income (NII) and a decline in bad loans from the previous quarter.

In the previous quarter ending March 2018, Canara Bank had made a huge loss of Rs 4,860 crore on account of substantially higher provisions to cover bad loans.

During the quarter, NII -- the difference between interest earned on loans and that paid on deposits jumped 43 percent YoY to Rs 3,882.9 crore from Rs 2,713 crore in the June quarter last year.

The improvement in NIM of the bank to 2.52 percent, from 2.34 percent a year ago, has contributed significantly to the 43 percent growth in the net interest income during the year.

The stressed assets ratio is sequentially down to 12.1 percent from 12.7 percent and provision coverage ratio has improved to 60.69 percent from 54.52 percent.

Brokerage: Macquarie | Rating: Underperform | Target: Rs 200

The research house Macquarie has maintain underperform rating on Canara Bank with target of Rs 200 per share.

The company's net profit beats the estimates on lumpy recoveries in Q1.

The research house believes that making quarterly forecasts may be difficult in light of the lumpiness of resolutions. The company management expects SME stress to ease in Q2/Q3.

Brokerage: Kotak Securities | Rating: Add | Target: Rs 300

Kotak Securities has maintained add call on Canara Bank with target of Rs 300 per share.

The gross NPLs shows the final sign of reversals and possibility of further improvement. Also, gradual shift in focus from slippages to aid valuation expansion.

Kotak Securities expects stock price to show a positive momentum as these events unfold.

At 09:27 hrs Canara Bank was quoting at Rs 268.95, up Rs 10.05, or 3.88 percent on the BSE.

Posted by Rakesh Patillive bse live

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Shares of Cigarette-to-soap maker ITC gained nearly 2 percent intraday Thursday as company is going to announce its financial results for the quarter ended June 2018 on Thursday.

The company is likely to report a year-on-year rise of 8.96 percent in its net profit for the June quarter to Rs 2,790 crore, according to an average of 13 brokerages' estimates compiled by Reuters.

Also Read - ITC Preview: Q1 net profit seen rising 9% YoY, cigarette volumes down

The rise in the company's bottom line is expected to be driven by growth in the its non-cigarette businesses on the back of a favourable base, and improved realisation from cigarettes.

Underpinned by growth in the non-cigarette segment and hikes in the prices of cigarettes, the Kolkata-based company's net sales for the quarter are seen coming in at Rs 9,876 crore, 6 percent higher on year.

S. B. Mainak has resigned from the board of directors of the company with effect from July 24, 2018.

At 09:45 hrs ITC was quoting at Rs 289.70, up Rs 3.65, or 1.28 percent on the BSE.

Posted by Rakesh PatilMehul Choksi

Mehul Choski, one of the prime accused in the Rs 14,000 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud, reportedly took oath of Antiguan citizenship on January 15.

According to Mint, he was granted citizenship an entire fortnight before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed its first case against the alleged fraudster.

The report claimed that the Gitanjali gems promoter may have been aware of the CBIs intentions beforehand.

In November 2017, the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) of Antigua had written a letter to a local newspaper about Choksi being granted full citizenship. The CIU said it had provided citizenship after conducting a "robust internal investigation".

The report pointed out that Choksi was provided citizenship despite the CIUs rules mandating that a person would be ineligible for Antiguan citizenship if he is the subject of a criminal investigation, is a potential national security risk to Antigua and Barbuda or to any other country or is involved in any activity likely to cause disrepute to Antigua and Barbuda.

Currently, the Interpol is yet to issue a red corner notice (RCN) against Choksi, who is free to travel to 132 countries on his Antiguan passport, including the UK and the European Union.Hero MotoCorp (HMCL), the largest player in two-wheeler (2W) segment, reported a decent set of numbers in its Q1 FY19 result. While it posted strong volume and revenue growth, its operating margin witnessed a contraction due to rise in raw material prices. Operating leverage, however, arrested the fall in operating margin.

Strong leadership in two-wheeler segment, revival riding on rural growth, a slew of new launches, structural changes from an upcoming product rejig, focus on exports market and reasonable valuations make it a stock worth accumulating for long-term investors.

Quarterly snapshot

Volume continues to grow

In terms of quarterly performance, HMCL registered a year-on-year (YoY) volume growth of 13.6 percent, helped by improving rural sentiments. The management expects the momentum in sales to continue on the back of good monsoon, increase in minimum support price (MSP) lifting rural sentiments and governments focus towards rural areas.

On the back of good volumes, the company registered a growth of 10.4 percent (YoY) in net revenues from operations as the realization declined 2.9 percent due to Haridwar benefits expiry.

Operating performance impacted by higher RM

The company reported a contraction of 60.5 bps (YoY) in its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) margin in Q1 FY19. The contraction was due to significant rise in raw material prices. The company, however, arrested the fall in margin on the back of operating leverage leading to reduction in other operating expenses.

So what makes this stock a long-term bet?

Strong presence in two-wheeler motorcycle segment

HMCL is a formidable player in 100/110cc segment and maintains its leadership position on the back of its strong distribution network and brand recall. The management expects to continue to achieve volume growth in this segment which should be better than the industrys double-digit growth rate coming on the back of normal monsoon, market share gains and network reach.

Impact of competition  focusing on brand than discounting

Commenting on the competitions action on taking the price war to entry level segment, the HMCLs management mentioned that it will not be going for discounting to buy market share. In fact, the management indicated that the discounting has been going on for more than a year and despite that, the company has been able to expand its market share in the entry-level segment to 60 percent in FY18 from 55 percent in FY17. It believes in building a strong brand and would continue to focus on the same to continue to capture market.

Rejig in portfolio to include premium products

Recognizing the fact that the company is under-represented in the growing premium motorcycle segment, the management has started reworking its product strategy. The management has unveiled two 200cc motorcycles  XPulse and Xtreme 200R in auto expo 2018. The sales of these model would begin in FY19, ahead of festive season.

In 125 cc segment, the company has launched the new Passion PRO, Passion XPRO and Super Splendor to strengthen its leadership in 100-125cc motorcycle segments. Additionally, Hero has forayed into high growth 125cc scooter market by launching Maestro Edge 125 & Duet 125 at Auto Expo as it believes that the next leg of growth in scooter segment is expected to come from this segment.

Focus on Electric Vehicle (EV) is on

The company continues to strongly focus on electric vehicle and has made an investment of Rs201 crore to acquire 30 percent equity in Ather Energy, a start-up to build EV scooters. The management indicated that Ather will start retailing its smart electric scooter S340 soon.

Expansion plans are on track

The management has earmarked Rs2,500 crores, to be spent over two years, for capacity expansion, technology upgrade and digitization. The company has commenced the construction of its eighth manufacturing facility in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh and has started commercial production at its second manufacturing facility outside India, in Bangladesh.

Exports gaining momentum

HMCL is focusing on exports and plans to expand presence in fast growing markets of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. It commenced production at its second global manufacturing facility in Bangladesh in May 2017 and was able to garner retail level market share of around 30 percent. The plan is to expand to as many as 50 countries by 2020 from the current 35 countries. The management indicated that they see positive momentum in many countries, going forward.

Valuation at reasonable level

HMCL currently trades at 18.6 times FY19 and 15.4 times FY20 projected earnings. With an efficient execution and transformation strategy in place, the emerging macro tailwinds make HMCL an ideal candidate for accumulation for long-term investors.

Follow @NitinAgrawal65

For more research articles, visit our Moneycontrol Research pageThe capital market regulator has written a letter to the chief executive officers of asset management companies against 25 violations by the mutual fund industry.

The letter dated July 9 was also sent to the mutual fund lobby, Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).

Through this letter, SEBI has indicated the regulator is closely monitoring all the decisions and practices of the 42-player mutual fund industry.

The list of violations was prepared by SEBI after an inspection of mutual funds from April 2014 to March 2016.

This comes in the wake of recent violations by two top fund houses ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund and HDFC Mutual Fund. SEBI had pulled up HDFC Mutual Fund over a share-allotment to distributors ahead of its initial public offer while ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund for investments in the IPO of ICICI Securities.

Industry players said SEBI has become vigilant and strict action will be taken whoever violates the norms.

SEBI's letter to AMCs stated, "Members of AMFI may be advised to take corrective actions in respect of the observations listed. Further members may be advised to ensure strict compliance with the SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations 1996 and all the circulars issued by SEBI from time to time."

"Any repetition of the violations or non-compliance with provisions of aforesaid Regulations and Circulars would be viewed seriously," the letter stated.

SEBI has become cautious as the industry is growing at a fast pace in the last few years. As on June-end, the average assets under management of the mutual fund industry has crossed Rs 23 lakh crore.

Few violations observed by SEBI are listed below:

--Instances where trustee either trustee approval for dividend distribution was not obtained or the power of Trustees were delegated to the officials of AMC (Asset Management Company) to declare and fix the record date as well as decide the quantum of dividend under various schemes of the funds

--Non-compliance of guidelines with respect to parking of funds in short-term deposits by scheduled commercial banks by mutual fund schemes.

--Investors belonging to T-15 cities and locations outside India incorrectly categorized as belonging to B-15 cities leading to charging excess TER (total expense ratio to the scheme.

--NAV (net asset value) of schemes were not uploaded or uploaded with a delay on AMC website which deprived the investors of required information to make an informed investment decision.

The regulator has also highlighted other violations pertaining to non-compliance of KYC norms, instances of borrowing for purposes other than allowed under regulations.live bse live

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The Chandigarh bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has rejected a resolution plan offered for Jyoti Structures and has ordered liquidation of the companys assets, according to a report by the Business Standard.

A resolution professional (RP) would file applications for the insolvent engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companys liquidation.

Jyoti Structures owes around Rs 7,500 crore to lenders including State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank, Bank of India (BoI) and IDBI Bank, banks staring at a potential haircut of more than 80 percent, according to a report by The Hindu.

Jyoti Structures is the first company mentioned in the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)s first list of 12 defaulting companies released in June 2017, to be ordered to liquidation.

The company was admitted for insolvency proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) in July 2017. The resolution process continued beyond the stipulated 270-day deadline.

Yesterday, the Chandigarh bench of the NCLT also approved Liberty Houses resolution plan to acquire Amtek Auto.The Securities and Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has not taken up a single case in more than a fortnight, after its presiding officer JP Devadhar resigned on July 11.

This has resulted in the halting of hearings in over 400 appeals against orders issued by capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

In addition to these, there are other pending appeals against orders issued by the Insurance Regualtory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority of India (PFRDA).

Rules state a three-member panel is required to hear appeals and that the presence of a judicial member on the panel is a must for interim relief and admission of appeals. At present, the tribunal only has one member -- CKG Nair -- who cannot pass orders because he is not a member of the judiciary.

If the minimum number of members criteria cannot be met, there is a system in place wherein the tribunal can carry out temporary rulings, in case of urgent matters, and a new bench would then review those rulings.

This system was introduced following the retirement of SAT member Jog Singh in February.

The retirement of a member is known in advance, but is never backed up with a proper plan for succession, independent counsel Somasekhar Sundaresan was quoted as saying by Business Standard.

Industry experts also warned that there could be a further delay in appointments because of the fast-approaching 2019 Lok Sabha election.

Just to put things in perspective, the SAT heard more than 450 appeals in FY17, 180 of which were dismissed, and 7 of which were allowed.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet is the body that decides the appointment of a SAT member. The committee has representations from both the finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India and usually has the presiding officer as one of its members.

A SAT member is appointed on a 5-year contract or till the age of 62, whichever is earlier.Qualcomm

Qualcomm Inc, the world's biggest maker of chips for mobile phones, said on Wednesday it would drop its $44 billion bid for NXP Semiconductors after failing to secure regulatory approval from China against a backdrop of widening trade tensions.

Investors expressed relief at the end of the project that has dragged on since 2016, all while Qualcomm fended off a $117 billion takeover bid from Broadcom Inc, fought in court with Apple Inc, and faced billions of dollars in fines from antitrust regulators around the world over its licensing practices.

The San Diego chipmaker also delivered surprisingly strong third-quarter results and a rosy outlook for so-called 5G technology, the next generation of wireless data networks.

Those numbers, combined with a $30 billion share buyback plan that Qualcomm had promised to implement if the NXP deal fell through, sent its shares up almost 6 percent to $62.95 after the bell.

Qualcomm still faces challenges, including expectations that its chips will not be in the next round of Apple's iPhones and the need to find new markets beyond mobile phones without NXP's help. But it cited progress on one of two major patent royalty conflicts, thought to be with Chinese phone maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL], in the form of a $700 million interim agreement, $500 million of which was paid this quarter.

The collapse of what would have been the largest-ever merger of two chip companies may discourage other US firms hoping to buy into China's huge developing markets and companies, although technology deals seemed the main concern.

"We obviously got caught up in something that was above us," Qualcomm Chief Executive Steve Mollenkopf said in an interview after the announcement.

"We think moving on, reducing the amount of uncertainty in the business and increasing the focus is the right thing to do with the company."

Qualcomm needed approval from China, the last of nine global regulators to be consulted, because the country accounted for nearly two-thirds of its revenue last year.

Barring a last-minute reprieve, the chipmaker said in its results release it would make good on a pledge with NXP to call off the merger if it had not won Chinese regulatory approval by 23:59 Eastern US time on Wednesday.

Qualcomm forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $5.1 billion to $5.9 billion, and adjusted earnings of 75 to 85 cents per share. Analysts were expecting forecasts of $5.45 billion and 76 cents respectively, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

NXP Semiconductors shares fell almost 4 percent to $94.50.

TRUMP'S ROLE

Moves by the Trump administration have played an outsized role in Qualcomm's fate, and there had been expectations that the lifting of a ban on US chipmakers doing business with China's ZTE Corp would clear the way for the NXP deal. [nL3N1S25VS]

Dealmakers advising on mergers and acquisitions hoped the fallout would be limited to the technology sector in which China is racing for primacy against the United States.

United Technologies Corp chief Gregory Hayes said earlier this week that the industrial conglomerate was on track with regulatory approvals to close its $23 billion acquisition of US airplane-parts maker Rockwell Collins Inc , seeking to quell fears that China could delay its review.

No other major semiconductor deal is pending. Broadcom, whose $117 billion hostile bid for Qualcomm was blocked by the United States in March on national security grounds, says its $19 billion purchase of US software company CA Technologies does not require China's blessing.

For Qualcomm, the deal's demise means it will have to focus on expanding beyond making mobile chips.

Qualcomm predicted on Wednesday that Apple would drop the company's chips from its next-generation iPhones in favour of modems from Intel Corp , the latest sign of fallout from their acrimonious battle over pricing and licensing costs. Qualcomm's revenue projections had already assumed it would gain no new revenue from Apple.

Intel and Apple both declined to comment.

Qualcomm sold $3 billion of chips last year for non-phone use, up 75 percent from two years ago. It has a $5 billion "backlog" of chip sales to the automotive industry, in which NXP is also a dominant player, it said.Come 2030, around 40 per cent of India's population is likely to reside in cities, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said today. He said the pace at which the country is urbanising, and the demographic shifts taking place in the country, could not be predicted by even the "most visionary planner".

The minister was addressing 'National Traders Conclave' organised by Confederation Of All India Traders (CAIT) here.

"Estimates suggest, come 2030, 40 per cent of India's population, or 600 million Indian citizens will reside in cities," the minister said.

Talking about the country's economy, the Union minister said it is projected that by 2025, India's economy will breach the USD 5 trillion mark.

"And by the time we complete the post-2030 development agenda, India will rank as the third largest economy, with a GDP of over USD 10 trillion," he said.

He said the trading community has reassured policy makers that they are against encroachment of public land, and are willing to cooperate with the central government in cracking down on all illegal activities.

On sealing drive undertaken in Delhi by civic authorities, he informed that even as the government has amended the Delhi Master Plan-2021 to respond to the growing demand for urbanisation activities, which go against the rule of law, are being struck down.The commissioner for metro rail safety (CMRS) has given the approval for the commencement of passenger operations on the Durgabai Deshmukh South Campus-Lajpat Nagar section of Delhi Metros Pink Line subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions and stipulation, a DMRC statement said.

The exact date of opening of this corridor will be intimated after compliance of the same by DMRC, it said.

This 8.1-kilometre long section has six stations including two interchange stations at INA and Lajpat Nagar. After the opening of this section, the Majlis Park-Lajpat Nagar section will cover 29.6 kilometres.

The first stretch from Majlis Park to South Campus was opened in March this year.

The third stretch from Lajpat Nagar to Shiv Vihar is expected to be opened in two parts as there are land acquisition issues with Trilokpuri section, they said.

The entire 59 km stretch is likely to be thrown open to the public by end of the year, DMRC sources told Moneycontrol.

INA will the interchange station for the Yellow Line and Lajpat Nagar Station will be the interchange station for the Violet Line.

Next phase Lajpat Nagar to Shiv Vihar is expected to open in two parts due to land acquisition issues in the Trilokpuri section. The construction between the Mayur Vihar Pocket 1 and Trilokpuri stations has been held up due to land acquisition issues. The DMRC has been trying to rehabilitate more than 100 families in Trilokpuri area.

The Lajpat Nagar to Mayur Vihar stretch (15 km) is likely to be opened in the next two months. Trials are currently on, sources say.

The 59-km Pink Line is Delhi Metros longest corridor and runs from Majlis Park in the north to Shiv Vihar in north-east. The first corridor of the Pink Line, from Majlis Park to South Campus was opened on March 14, connecting north and south campuses of the Delhi University on the DMRC network for the first time.

After the opening of the Majlis Park to Lajpat Nagar section, the total length of DMRC's network will be 296 kilometers.Congress

The opposition to the appointment of a former Supreme Court judge who was part of a bench that had "diluted" a law on atrocities against SCs STs as National Green Tribunal chairman, today echoed in Parliament with the Congress saying it indicated the BJP-led government's support to his judgement.

The leader of Congress Mallikarjun Kharge and his party colleague K Suresh raised the issue in Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour, with the latter alleging that Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel was close to a right-wing outfit and had given the judgement under its pressure.

The government has "rewarded" him for this, Suresh claimed, as BJP's Anurag Thakur protested his comments.

Goel was one of the two apex court judges on a bench that introduced several safeguards in the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Dalit bodies and almost all major political parties have said the judgement has "diluted and weakened the law". The government appointed him as the NGT chairman immediately after he retired from the top court early this month.

Kharge said Goel's appointment indicated that the government supported his judgement.

Suresh said the development has sent out a wrong message and Dalits have been demanding his removal.

He also referred to the reported opposition to Goel's appointment by Dalit MPs of the ruling NDA and Union Minister and BJP ally Ram Vilas Paswan's letter to Home Minister Rajnath Singh against it.

Paswan, who was present in the House, appeared to be gesturing to speak but did not. He was seen speaking to Suresh later and also called union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, a Dalit member of the BJP, for some deliberations.

Kharge also raised the issue of the UGC's directive that different departments of a university be treated as separate units for implementing quota for different communities, instead of the entire educational institution.

It is causing a lot of harm to the SCs, STs and OBCs, he said, wondering, "Do you want to end reservation?".

Intervening in the matter, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said the government has already directed stoppage of implementation of this UGC decision and also filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court, as the directive was an outcome of a court's verdict.

He also underlined the NDA government's commitment to reservation, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often asserted that even a 'full stop' and 'coma' in the current quota rules would not be changed.A worker works at the construction site of a bridge being built over the Yamuna river for metro rail in New Delhi, India, March 8, 2016. India's congested cities are awarding new rail projects at a record rate, creating a boon for companies such as Siemens to Larsen & Toubro Ltd in a sector forecast to offer $5.8 billion worth of orders next year. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi - RTS9ROF

The National Green Tribunal today rapped the Delhi Jal Board over cleaning of the Yamuna river and said there has been no "meaningful progress" on the ground in the last three years.

The green panel noted that work on 14 sewage treatment plants (STPs) has not even begun. These were supposed to be completed by March 2017 as per the court's January 13, 2015, judgment.

The STPs would treat the effluents and ensure no pollutants enter the river.

"In spite of proceedings in the case in the last three years, there is no meaningful progress at the ground level. It does appear that the present in-charge may not be competent enough to handle the issue.

"Today, we are in a failure situation. We don't want useless and incompetent people, who have failed us, the people and the country," a bench, headed by National Green Tribunal (NGT) Chairperson A K Goel, said.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the situation, the tribunal directed the CEO of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to put in place a suitable officer who can ensure that work on the 14 STPs starts within a month and asked him to file an affidavit in this regard within two weeks.

The bench, also comprising Justice S P Wangdi and Expert Member Nagin Nanda, directed Haryana to file an affidavit on the steps taken to ensure that no untreated effluents flow into the Yamuna river.

The Phase-I of the clean Yamuna project aims to lower the pollution levels in the Najafgarh and Delhi Gate drains, while Phase-II deals with Shahdara, Barapullah and other drains.

The DJB informed the tribunal that with regard to Phase-II, 11 drains have been trapped and effluents were being treated.

It also said with regard to the remaining six, work for trapping of three drains will be completed by December 2020 and work for other two by December this year.

On the submission, the NGT said,"For the sixth drain, let a joint meeting be held in the office of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) along with the DJB on July 30."

"Land will be identified and ensured that work commences on or before December 1. We make it clear that no objection of any technical nature will be raised by DDA. Land has to be given by August 31," it said.

The hearing in the matter remained inconclusive and the bench said it would pass more orders tomorrow.

The tribunal had earlier directed the Delhi government and the DJB to submit a status report on the progress of the work in the first phase of cleaning the Yamuna.

It had then directed Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to file a complete report of the stretch of the Yamuna falling beyond the national capital.

The green panel had said pollution in the Yamuna was of serious concern as it was highly contaminated by industrial effluents and sewage.

It had also asked the Haryana and Himachal Pradesh pollution control boards to jointly conduct a study of the water quality and the flow of Yamuna at the point it enters Haryana, and submit the list of industries located in the catchment area.

The green panel had noted that almost 67 per cent of pollutants that enter the Yamuna would be treated by the two sewage treatment plants at Delhi Gate and Najafgarh under the first phase of the 'Maili se Nirmal Yamuna Revitalisation Project'.live bse live

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Here are the stocks that are in news today:

Results on Thursday: Bharti Airtel, Biocon, Dr Reddy's Labs, ITC, Maruti Suzuki, Yes Bank, CESC, Ajmera Realty, Alembic Pharmaceuticals, Bayer Cropscience, Bharat Financial Inclusion, Cholamandalam Investment, Colgate Palmolive, Container Corporation, Control Print, Essel Propack, Force Motors, HeidelbergCement, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, Jindal Stainless (Hisar), Lakshmi Vilas Bank, NIIT, Novartis, Orient Green Power, Petronet LNG, Quess Corp, SBI Life Insurance, Schaeffler, Shemaroo, Shriram Transport Finance, Star Cement, Tata Metaliks, Tata Power, Tata Coffee, Tinplate Company, City Union Bank.

Larsen & Toubro: Q1 profit jumps 36.1 percent to Rs 1,215 crore versus Rs 892.5 crore; revenue increases 18.8 percent to Rs 28,283 crore versus Rs 23,811 crore (YoY).

Hero MotoCorp: Q1 profit falls 0.5 percent to Rs 909.2 crore versus Rs 914 crore; revenue rises 10.4 percent to Rs 8,809.8 crore versus Rs 7,980.5 crore (YoY).

India Ratings withdraw the rating on CP facility as PC Jeweller has paid off the last tranche of CP liability

Bharti Infratel: Q1 profit rises to Rs 638 crore versus Rs 606 crore; revenue increases 0.3 percent to Rs 3,674 crore versus Rs 3,662 crore (QoQ).

Ambuja Cements: Q2 standalone profit rises 27.3 percent to Rs 499 crore versus Rs 329.3 crore; revenue increases 5.7 percent to Rs 3,016.9 crore versus Rs 2,854.5 crore (YoY).

Century Textile - NCLAT upheld the CCI order wrt penalty of Rs 274 crore

Canara Bank: Q1 profit rises 11.7 percent to Rs 281.5 crore versus Rs 251.6 crore; NII jumps 43.1 percent to Rs 3,882.9 crore versus Rs 2,713.2 crore (YoY); net NPA at 6.91 percent versus Vs 7.48 percent and gross NPA at 11.05 percent versus 11.84 percent (QoQ).

IRB Infrastructure: Q1 consolidated profit rises 5.2 percent to Rs 250.1 crore versus Rs 238 crore; revenue falls 15.4 percent to Rs 1,537.9 crore versus Rs 1,816.9 crore (YoY).

ICICI Bank clarified that bank has not received any communication from SFIO

Reliance Nippon Life: Q1 profit rises to Rs 112 crore versus Rs 109 crore; revenue increases to Rs 394 crore versus Rs 368 crore (YoY).

Shriram City Union Finance: Q1 profit increases to Rs 229.58 crore versus Rs 200.06 crore; revenue rises to Rs 1,401.65 crore versus Rs 1,227.43 crore (YoY).

Oriental Bank of Commerce entered into Inter-Creditor Agreement

Sanofi India: Q1 profit jumps to Rs 99.6 crore versus Rs 73.7 crore; revenue increases to Rs 683.6 crore versus Rs 600.6 crore (YoY).

KPIT Technologies: Q1 profit rises 2.6 percent at Rs 78.6 crore versus Rs 76.6 crore; revenue increases 4.9 percent to Rs 1,013.8 crore versus Rs 966.4 crore (QoQ).

Page Industries to consider Q1 results, declaration of 1st Interim Dividend on August 09

Gruh Finance: Q1 profit jumps 20 percent to Rs 115 crore versus Rs 95.8 crore; revenue rises 11.8 percent to Rs 452.2 crore versus Rs 404.4 crore (YoY).

JSW Steel: The company completed acquisition of 100 percent shares of Aferpi S.p.A and Piombino Logistics S.p.A and 69.27 percent of the shares of GSI Lucchini S.p.A.

Punjab National Bank: The bank invited expression of interest towards strategic sale' process initiated by itself and Quality Investment Holdings in relation to the respective shareholding in PNB Housing Finance.

Hindustan Copper: Board meeting of the company has been convened at short notice on July 26 to review the status of QIP.

Puravankara approved acquisition of Devas Global Services LLP

Sumeet Industries: Board has has fixed the record date as August 4 for determining the entitlement of members to receive Bonus Equity Shares of the Company in the ratio of 1:4.

Sanofi India: Board declared an interim dividend of Rs 18 per share for the financial year ending December 2018.

Dish TV: World Crest Advisors LLP along the PAC's has successfully completed the open offer process for acquisition of the equity shares of the company.

Sterling Tools: ICRA revised long term rating of the company to AA- from A+.

Confidence Petroleum: Board approved allotment of 1,50,00,000 equity shares of Rs 1 each at Rs 52 per share on preferential basis.

NCLT approves Liberty House bid for Amtek Auto

NTPC board to consider plan to raise Rs 12,000 crore via NCDs this weekCab aggregator Uber may be working on a plan to move to community-owned OpenStreetMap (OSM), which allows users to edit and update online maps of cities, according to a report by Business Standard.

The company has reportedly readied plans to contribute to the open source mapping application and will soon roll out the initiative in India. Developers think this is an indication of Uber wanting to move away from Google Maps.

"We have selected the Delhi-National Capital Region as the first city for this initiative. We do not plan to make any large-scale, machine-generated edits for this project," Suneel Kaw, Maps Product Manager, Uber, was quoted as saying.

The company has informed the community through a post on the developer forum for OSM that it will submit updates to correct issues such as road directionality and turn restrictions, which are not updated on these maps.

Open source maps latter seem to be cost-effective and in some cases, more reliable because of user inputs from around the world.

OSM is a crowdsourced online project that follows the same model as Wikipedia where anyone can create and update information based on his or her knowledge.

Because of their cost effectiveness, these maps are used by academics as well as flourishing start-ups who cannot afford to purchase enterprise-level mapping services like Google Maps for their products.

Uber will be making edits through a small team based in Palo Alto, California, which will be assisted by the Uber team in Delhi. The team will address three specific issues -- turn restriction, road directionality, and road geometry.

"The team will be using the available data sources in the JOSM  a free software desktop editing tool for OpenStreetMap geodata created in Java for its corrections and validations. We will share the profiles of our editors on Uber's OSM page soon. The edits will be made according to the organised editing best practices and India guidelines," Kaw was quoted as saying.

According to the report, Uber is already using these open source maps internally for deriving driving time and distance estimates to do a more accurate fare calculation and optimising driver and rider matches.

Since 2015, Uber has been acquiring small map-related start-ups such as Bing's mapping assets in a bid to develop its own mapping prowess. The company is also working on its autonomous car project, which will require high-quality street mapping to take off.live bse live

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US markets regulator Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has stepped up its investigation into alleged wrongdoings at the ICICI Bank, according to a report by Mint.

SEC officials spoke to top executives at the bank, including Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Rakesh Jha and General Manager (GM) Rajendra Khandelwal, twice in the last few months, the report says.

The US regulator asked for the banks accounting practices especially related to the loans given between 2010 and 2016. Many of the loans given during this period turned bad later.

According to the report, the probe gathered pace after a third whistleblower complaint to the SEC, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), alleging that the private lender had deliberately delayed provisioning of at least 31 loan accounts to inflate profit by at least $1.3 billion over a period of eight years.

On June 11, ICICI Bank had said that it had not received any "specific communication" from the SEC with regard to alleged lapses involving the lender's chief Chanda Kochhar and her family members.

The bank's response was sought by stock exchanges over a report that said that the matter of alleged lapses involving Kochhar had come under the scanner of the SEC.Young Achievers Matrimony

A front-page advertisement by Young Achievers Matrimony (YAM), calling for registrations for a matrimony meet on August 12, has invited some harsh reaction on social media with netizens slamming them with labels like 'sexist', 'elitist' and 'regressive'.



The grand National meet of young achievers Matrimony. Young achieves are Successful Entrepreneurs, IAS officers etc and Beautiful Girls pic.twitter.com/zcTpCAlYQX

 Veena Venugopal (@veenavenugopal) July 25, 2018

In what can also be termed as an exclusive swayamvar setting for the flamboyantly ultra-rich, The Grand National Young Achievers Matrimony Meet, as the advertisement said, only invites young achievers, who are successful entrepreneurs, eminent professionals (IAS/IPS, IRS, scientists, and so on).

A social media user wrote,"There's no way one thing can be sexist, casteist, elitist, and offensive to literally everyone all at the same time. Young Achievers Matrimony: Hold my beer."

If this was not enough, one specific requirement - "beautiful girl". in the ad drew the ire of the people all across the board.

The advertisement, given by a company, claiming themselves as being the best in the business of elite matchmaking, is weird on so many levels that the social media had a field day ripping into it.

A miffed Twitter user said, "So apparently, being "beautiful" classifies as a "young achiever". There is always a bias towards girls (in matrimony industry) - but explicitly mentioning it like this - WEIRD & STUPID."The central government is considering allowing its employees to go abroad on Leave Travel Concession (LTC), top officials said today.

A proposal in this regard has been finalised by the Personnel Ministry, which has asked for comments from other departments concerned such as Home, Tourism, Civil Aviation and Expenditure "at the earliest possible", they said.

The plan, which has been mooted by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), proposes to include five central Asian countries -- Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan -- under the LTC scheme, the officials said, citing a communique in this regard that has been accessed by PTI.

The move to allow central government employees to visit these countries is aimed at increasing India's footprint in the strategically important Central Asian region, they said.

Earlier in March, the government had said it has shelved a proposal to allow LTC to its employees to visit SAARC countries.

The LTC allows the grant of leave and ticket reimbursement to eligible central government employees.

"A proposal of LTC facility to government employees to SAARC countries with a purpose to enhance people to people contact and boost relations in the SAARC region was examined by the government and after thorough examination of all aspects involved, the proposal was found not feasible and decided not to take it forward," Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh had said then.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is a group of eight nations comprising Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe has accepted an invitation to visit India and plans to do so by the end of this year, China said on Thursday, as a rapprochement between the two giant neighbours gathers pace.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed in April to open a new chapter in ties, just months after a dispute over a stretch of their high-altitude Himalayan border rekindled fears of war.

Speaking at a regular monthly news briefing, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang said both countries were currently in communication about Wei's visit, but gave no other details.

Hundreds of troops from both sides were deployed in 2017 on the Doklam plateau, near the borders of India, its ally Bhutan, and China after India objected to Chinese construction of a road in the Himalayan area in their most serious standoff in years.

There is still deep mistrust between the neighbours over their festering border dispute, which triggered a brief war in 1962.

Ren added that Major General Liu Xiaowu, deputy commander of China's western military region, had also visited India from July 2-6, for meetings with his Indian counterparts.

During his trip, both countries reached broad consensus about improving front line risk management, the need to maintain peace and stability along the border and strengthening of exchanges between their two border forces, Ren said.Air India

In a series of tweets, 36-year-old Saumya Shetty recollected her horror experience on a Mumbai-bound Air India flight which left her with bed bug bites. Saumya and her three children were traveling business class from Newark to Mumbai last week.

As per a report in The Indian Express, the airline has mailed to her saying that she will be given a waiver (she will not be charged the penalty fee for cancelling tickets) but there was no mention of 'refund' or 'compensation' in the mail.

According to Saumya, despite repeated complaints about the beg bugs, the Air India staff didnt permit her to change seat and was allowed a seat change a short while before landing. In one of her tweets tagging the media, she said, Covered in painful bedbug bites all over my body thanks to the business class of #AirIndia is this what you charge for? I only got moved to another seat in the morning when we were landing, it was disgusting! Mind you I was traveling with 3 kids". Shetty was denied refund for her tickets.



What an #airindia #businessclass would do to you? AI still has to get in touch with me inspite if my repeated attempts to get in touch with them. @airindiain @NewYorkTimes11 @cnni pic.twitter.com/tDHfmhX0Vx

 Saumya Shetty (@saumshetty) July 20, 2018

Fellow passenger Pravin Tonsekar, tagging Aviation minister Suresh Prabhu, tweeted:"...just arrived from New York on Air India 144 business class with family. All our seats infested with bed bugs. Sir, have heard of bed bugs on trains but shocked to experience on our maharaja and that too business."

Responding to the allegations and promising to take necessary actions Air India tweeted, Air India is deeply concerned with a few reports of bugs causing inconvenience to its esteemed passengers. The issue has been viewed seriously, and every possible step is being taken to closely inspect and further strengthen our system at every level to ensure that such isolated incidents of passenger discomfiture do not affect our consistent performance.Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today reaffirmed India's commitment to multilateralism, international trade and rules-based world order as he participated in the BRICS Summit here. Modi, who arrived here yesterday on the last leg of his Africa tour, presented the country statement of India at the BRICS leaders' closed session.

"Celebrating a decade towards peace, harmony and shared development and prosperity! PM @narendramodi joins fellow #BRICS leaders at the group photo at Sandton International Convention Centre at the formal beginning of the Summit," Raveesh Kumar, the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, tweeted.

The prime minister reaffirmed India's commitment to multilateralism, international trade and rules-based world order, he said.

The grouping's leaders during the 10th edition of the BRICS Summit are expected to deliberate on global hot-spot issues, international peace and security, global governance and trade issues among others.

Modi is also expected to meet BRICS leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders.

BRICS is a grouping of five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as "BRIC", before the induction of South Africa in 2010.rajya sabha PTI1_4_2018_000050B rajya sabha

Citing misuse of financial data as a threat to national security, Rajya Sabha member and former RBI chief economist Narendra Jadhav has raised some pertinent questions regarding security of such data.

Paytm applying for a non-banking finance company (NBFC) licence from central bank, with Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba holding a controlling stake in it, seems to be at the core of this issue. Jadhav has also sent a letter to the Parliaments Standing Committee on finance, seeking an intervention to check on financial data security.

As per a report in The Times of India, Jadhav informed the daily publication that issue will be discussed in the Rajya Sabha soon. NBFCs, fully or majority-owned by foreign entities, have been at the center of this debate for some time now. Jadhav, using a calling attention motion, hinted towards the danger that Indias security is prone to, due to Chinese multinationals investing in countrys financial technology space, specifically referring to Alibaba, having a major stake in Paytm.

Explaining his thoughts further, Jadhav said, The Chinese authorities seek a direct role in influencing corporate decisions of firms like Alibaba. Alibaba has applied for a NBFC licence in India through Paytm where it has a majority stake. He said that using the NBFC route, the Chinese multinationals can tap into a large part of Indias domestic lending market with capital dumping and predatory pricing.

Jadhav further warned that if India allows Chinese multinationals to occupy a large space in the Indian financial services sector, they (Chinese) will gain access to private/financial data on millions of individuals and corporates, which may expose India to a critical geo-political risk, making the nation vulnerable to external influence.

Jadhav has requested the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the government to apply some prompt steps before it was too late. He has also asked to revisit the current foreign direct investment (FDI) rules that allow 100% foreign investment in NBFCs under the automatic route.Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was welcomed by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa after he arrived in the country to attend the BRICS Summit beginning tomorrow. Modi arrived here from Uganda's capital Kampala, the first bilateral tour by an Indian prime minister since 1997.

"PM Narendra Modi welcomed by the host of the evening South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on the eve of the 10th BRICS Summit beginning tomorrow," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet.

He will participate in the two-day BRICS Summit, whose theme this year is 'BRICS in Africa'.

Modi will attend the 10th edition of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, during which the grouping's leaders are expected to deliberate on global hot-spot issues, international peace and security, global governance and trade issues among others.

He is also expected to meet several leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Earlier, Modi had visited Rwanda for two days on the first leg of his visit.

BRICS is a grouping of five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as "BRIC", before the induction of South Africa in 2010.Congress President Rahul Gandhi recently said that his party would back any prime ministerial candidate who is not supported by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). However, his statement differs from the Congress Working Committee's (CWC) decision to project Gandhi as the prime ministerial (PM) candidate for the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

The CWC on Sunday authorised Gandhi to spearhead the party's election campaign and make decisions on alliances.

Although, the Congress prefers Gandhi as the PM candidate, his candidacy will depend on the number of seats the Congress wins in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, sources told News18.

Nonetheless, there are rumours in the Opposition camp that the PM candidate could be a woman, possibly Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati or Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee.

However, momentum for a non-BJP, non-Congress third front picked up pace a few months back when Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) approached regional leaders to discuss the 2019 election.

It now seems like the Congress could ally with regional parties, which could make the 2019 election a Narendra Modi vs everyone else battle.

What Mayawati has said about the a possible alliance?

The BSP chief has so far not made any concrete statement over forming an alliance with the Congress. Earlier this week, Mayawati said that her party would contest the election as a part of the coalition government only if it gets a respectable number of seats.

There is a likelihood that the BSP could form an alliance with rivals Samajwadi Party (SP) and Rashtriya Lok Dak (RLD).

Mamata Banerjee maintains silence

Banerjee has not reacted to media reports so far, which suggests that the Congress could back her as the Opposition's face for 2019. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader will visit Delhi next week to speak to possible allies about a federal front.

She has also called for a rally of Opposition leaders in January 2019, but it is not clear whether the Congress will be invited or not.

The TMC chief met Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief KCR earlier this year, setting the base for a federal front.

Other likely PM candidates

SP's Mulayam Singh Yadav, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar and JD(S) chief HD Deve Gowda cannot be ruled out as possible PM candidates for the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

Times of India reported that Deve Gowda could be the face of the Opposition in 2019 as he served as the prime minister for 11 months in 1996.

The Congress and JD(S) formed a coalition government in Karnataka two months back. Although the BJP emerged as the single largest party in the state assembly election, it failed to get a clear majority.

Also, NCP's Pawar could play a key role in uniting Opposition parties against Modi. In a recent interview with The Hindu, the NCP chief said the Opposition would likely choose a prime minister only after the Lok Sabha election results are declared.August 10, 2018 / 04:27 PM IST

Monsoon Session ends after passing 21 laws

The Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die today, as the Monsoon Session ended after passing 21 laws, including one to amend the SC/ST Act and another relating to the Fugitive Economic Offenders, reports PTI.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said the session has been the "more productive and safisfactory" compared to the previous Budget Session and last year's monsoon session.

The session, which began on July 18, also witnessed a discussion on a no confidence motion against the Government brought by Opposition. The motion was defeated later.

The House also greeted the people in advance on the occasion of the Independence Day.Union minister and chief of Rashtriya Lok Samata Party Upendra Kushwaha today created a flutter by saying that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should voluntarily "give up the bid" for a fourth term in office in 2020.

In an interview to a news channel here, Kushwaha said Kumar had served as chief minister for close to 15 years and the time had come for him to consider "giving somebody else a chance".

"It has been close to 15 years since Nitish Kumar was first blessed with the mandate to govern Bihar. It is a pretty long period for a leader to prove his mettle. I think he should now himself give up the bid for another term", Kushwaha said.

The RLSP chief was replying to a query about the likelihood of Kumar facing a tough time in the next state polls due to anti-incumbency.

Kushwaha, the Union minister of state for the HRD, said "I have known Kumar for long and as far as I have understood his personality, he would himself not run for another term".

"He (Kumar) could aim at a bigger political role for himself", he added cryptically.

Kushwaha's comment comes in the backdrop of a number of leaders from his party expressing the view that he would be a better chief ministerial candidate for the NDA in Bihar than Kumar.

A former close associate of Kumar, Kushwaha had floated his own party after resigning from JD(U) in 2013. He allied with the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha poll when Kumar was out of the NDA and his RLSP won three seats.

Although RLSP has two MLAs, none of its members got a ministerial berth after Kumar formed a government with the BJP last year after walking out of the Grand Alliance which comprised RJD and Congress, besides JD(U). The ruling NDA in Bihar now comprises the JD(U), the BJP, Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP and the RLSP.

The RLSP leaders have been pointing out that Kushwaha belongs to the Koeri caste, which is a much larger social group than the Kurmi community represented by Kumar.

Kushwaha had skipped the dinner meet hosted by BJP in Patna last month to celebrate the completion of four years in power by the Narendra Modi government. The other NDA allies were present at the meet.

The meeting happened to be the first such function held after the return of Kumar, who is also the JD(U) national president, to the BJP-led coalition a year earlier.

Meanwhile, RLSP national secretary and spokesman Madhaw Anand issued a press statement urging the chief minister to recommend a CBI inquiry into the alleged sexual exploitation of girls at a state-funded shelter home in Muzaffarpur district.

In his statement, Anand alleged that the Muzaffarpur scandal could turn out to be "larger than Nithari" if it was properly investigated.

He cited the statement of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh who had said in Parliament yesterday that the Centre would consider a CBI inquiry if a request to this effect was made by the state government.Rahul Gandhi asserted that the Congress along with other opposition parties will fight the BJP without hating it, but wondered whether he can expect the same from the rival party. Speaking at an event here, he said the atmosphere in India from his perspective was "coloured with a lot of hatred, anger and frustration".

"You can fight someone with all your might, but hate is a choice... I may disagree with Mr (L K) Advani, I may have a completely different conception of the country from that of Mr Advani.

"And I can fight Mr Advani on every single inch, but I don't need to hate him," Gandhi said at launch of journalist Karan Thapar's book 'Devil's Advocate -- The Untold Story'.

A host of leaders like former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former vice president Hamid Ansari, senior BJP leader and former deputy prime minister Advani, former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, and former Union minister Karan Singh among others were present at the event.

"Karan Singh ji has taught me a lot about our country, about our religion. There is one thing that our religion teaches us, is that you absolutely cannot get imprisoned by hatred," Gandhi said.

He said it has been his endeavour to keep hate out.

"I will take on Narendra Modi ji, all the Congress people sitting here, my friend on the left there Mr (CPI-M chief Sitaram) Yechury, we will all take on the BJP and they will fight us, but we don't need to hate them. I don't know if I can expect the same from them," Gandhi said.

He said that politicians tend to see the world as either "them or us".

"This is not my natural way, but as Advaniji or Manmohan Singhji will tell you that this is the design of our politics, it's confrontational and it's winner takes it all. But this is not how I am designed inside and I am sure this is not how many of you are designed inside," Gandhi said.

He also took a swipe at the BJP over his hugging Prime Minister Modi in Parliament, saying now the party's MPs take "two steps back" on seeing him fearing he may embrace them too.

Gandhi narrated an incident during his visit to Vietnam about 10 years ago to emphasise that one can fight someone with all might but does not need to hate.

He said he had hired a boatman to take him for a ride on the river Mekong during which the man told him that he had fought against the Americans during the Vietnam War.

The Congress president said the boatman showed him several injury marks on his body.

Gandhi said when he asked the boatman if he hated the Americans, he replied that he fought them but did not hate them.

Thapar, speaking after Gandhi, talked about many interesting interviews he conducted throughout his career, but singled out his 2007 interview with Modi that was ended by the then chief minister within two or three minutes after a few questions.

Asked why he goes to London every year during the time of New Year, Thapar said, "I am a great believer that you have to begin a year in a civilised country."

Later on, when asked what is the one question he would like to ask Advani, Thapar said he would ask whether he would where a suit with his name printed on the stripes.Curiosity rover Mars NASA

An Italian team has picked up signals of a 20 km-wide liquid body on Mars, which is hidden 1.5 kms under the planet's ice cap using ground penetration radar on an orbiting spacecraft.

According to a report by ABC News, planetary scientist at the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics and author of a research paper about the finding said that it is unknown whether the body of water is an artefact of past oceans or part of a bigger network of subterranean lakes.

He added that this discovery could also mean the presence of other water bodies elsewhere on Mars.

Despite Mars being a prime suspect in the search for extra-terrestrial life, the attempts of finding liquid water on Mars has seen many failures. In 1877, an Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli thought he saw channels crisscrossing Mars surface through his telescope.

This observation was wrongly deduced by the media at that time as they thought the intelligent life on the planet had excavated canals for water transportation throughout the planet.

After seeing what possibly could be dark streaks of salty water that flowed down the Martian dune during warm seasons, the planetary scientists were certainly delighted.

Geologists suggest that those rivers could just be the avalanches of dry sand. According to some renowned scientists, the surface of Mars isnt a good place to store water as the surface temperatures average around negative 55 degree Celsius. Gretchen Benedix, an astrogeologist at Curtin University said, If youre going to find it, its going to be underground.Apple iPhone 7 (Representative Image: Reuters)

George Davis, Financial Chief of popular telecommunication equipment company Qualcomm told the investors that his company feels Apple would "solely use their competitor's modems" in the next iPhones.

This could be seen as the practical impact of the companys royalty feud with Qualcomm. As Apple is very close to the launch of an iPhone by September, it could be said that Qualcomm has been crossed out for this time.

Summing up with the antitrust measures with the queue of lawsuits on both the sides, Apple and Qualcomm havent had good relations since October 2017.

According to a report by Engadget, it is speculated that in the near future, Apple will use Intel-only for a wireless chipset. In the recent years, Intel is the only company to have provided those chipsets to Apple. So it is logical to say that Intel would be the next stop for Apple after Qualcomm as a radical change to someone elses technology will not happen that soon.

There have been speculations that for 2020 mobile devices, Apple had turned down Intel's Bluetooth and WiFi parts. So it now becomes a matter of speculation if will Apple stick to Intel for its chipsets or not. It is clearly seen from this that Intels involvement is sure to be temporary, even though it does not prevent the use of Intel-made cellular modems.The Piaggio Vespa LX 125 has been launched in an all-black "Notte" variant. The latest version does not have any chrome bits sprinkled around its body. The engine, bodywork, rear view mirror housings and wheels are all finished in matte black.

Apart from the paint treatment, the Notte -- which means night in Italian -- there are no other changes to the vehicle. It features all characteristics of a standard Vespa 125, including a semi-digital instrument console and five spoke alloys with tubeless tyres.

Mechanically, the Notte gets the same 125 cc engine that produces 10.06 PS at 7,500 rpm and 10.6 Nm of peak torque at 6,000 rpm. Stopping duties are handled by drum brakes on both sides with no disc brake option.

However, the Vespa Notte 125 retails for a lower price. At Rs 70,285 (ex-showroom, Delhi), the Notte is priced Rs 4,000 lower than the standard variant. It is still expensive as compared to rivals, like the Honda Activa and Suzuki Access. Suzuki's latest Burgman Street 125 is about Rs 2,000 cheaper than the Notte.China has quietly resumed its activities in the Doklam area and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade it, a top US official has said while comparing Beijing's actions in the Himalayan region with its manovers in the disputed South China Sea.

China claims sovereignty over all of South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counter claims.

China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources and are also vital to global trade.

"I would assess that India is vigorously defending its northern borders and this is a subject of concern to India," Alice G Wells, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing while responding to a question on China's increased road building activities along the Indian border.

"As (India) ahead to its own strategic stability, it certainly helps drive and is a factor in driving closer partnership that we enjoy with India," Wells said in response to a question from Congresswoman Ann Wagner.

India and China have clashed repeatedly over territories in the Himalayas. Most recently Chinese and Indian troops faced off on the disputed Doklam plateau between Bhutan and China after the Chinese People's Liberation Army began building roads through the area, Wagner said.

"Although both countries back down, China has quietly resumed its activities in Doklam and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade it. China's activities in the Himalayas remind me of its south China Sea policies. How should our failure to respond to the militarisation of the South China Sea inform the international response to these Himalayan border disputes?" Wagner asked.

As the US looks to the Indo-Pacific strategy put forward by the Trump administration, Wells said it has been taken in light of the 'South China Sea's Strategy'.

"How do we maintain the region to be open, to have maritime security, to not have militarisation that would imperil the 70 percent of global trade?" she asked.

"We need to do that by giving authority to sovereign nations to have choices in how they develop, to have choices in their partnerships," Wells said.

Congressman Ted Yoho, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee on Asia and the Pacific, raised the issue of China's aggressive posture in South Asia.

"What are your thoughts on what is the best way to counter China in that region?" Yoho asked.

US should not be seeking to compete with China dollar for dollar, Wells responded, adding that instead of a state lending on terms that may not be to the benefit of countries or their citizens, the US and its companies are providing $850 billion in foreign direct investment in the region, which is far more than what has been injected by China.

"We're trying to gather likeminded countries who can bring resources to the table, who can coordinate assistance and an effort so as to provide countries with meaningful alternatives," Wells said.

Troops of India and China were locked in a 73-day-long standoff in Doklam from June 16 last year after the Indian side stopped the building of a road in the disputed tri-junction by the Chinese Army.

Bhutan and China have a dispute over Doklam. The face-off ended on August 28.A Fiat car logo is pictured at the European Motor Show in Brussels, Belgium, January 13, 2017. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir - RTX2YSRF

Fiat Chrysler's visionary boss Sergio Marchionne has died, after having driven the Italian auto giant to success for 14 years, holding company Exor announced.

"It is with the deepest sadness that EXOR has learned of the passing of Sergio Marchionne," the holding company, which is owned by the Agnelli family, said in a statement.

Its chief executive John Elkann said: "Unfortunately, what we feared has come to pass. Sergio Marchionne, man and friend, is gone." FCA had announced at the weekend that Marchionne, 66, was gravely ill in hospital in Zurich after suffering serious complications following surgery on his right shoulder last month.

The Italian-Canadian executive took the reins at Fiat in 2004. Marchionne is credited with revamping the company, Italy's premier private enterprise, from top to bottom.

In 2009, he merged Fiat with US automaker Chrysler, then hived off its industrial vehicles unit in 2011 to create CNH Industrial and successfully spun off the luxury brand Ferrari in January 2016.

In the statement from Exor, Elkann said: "I believe that the best way to honour his memory is to build on the legacy he left us, continuing to develop the human values of responsibility and openness of which he was the most ardent champion."

In an indication of the profound impact that Marchionne had in Italy, members of parliament held a minute of silence in his honour, followed by applause.

"Thank you for the work, the effort, the results. You spread Italian pride throughout the world", former Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni tweeted. Meanwhile Italy's deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said "Respect to a man who has done so much and could have done so much more." Marchionne, who brought Fiat back from the brink of bankruptcy, has been lauded by the Italian press since his serious condition was made known over the weekend.

FCA has scrambled to put new management in place to take over his legacy. Marchionne will be replaced as FCA boss by Briton Mike Manley, head of the iconic Jeep brand.

The new executive head of Ferrari will be Louis Carey Camilleri, CEO of tobacco giant Philip Morris. The cigarette-maker has sponsored Ferrari for four decades.

Suzanne Heywood will take over as the new boss of CNH Industrial, which specialises in agricultural and construction equipment, trucks and buses.

Marchionne had been planning to step down from FCA next year.

Some experts have cast doubt on the ability of Marchionne's successors to maintain the momentum he had built up over the years.

German auto expert Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer described Fiat Chrysler as "a weak company and now with Marchionne's departure, it has become even weaker." His successor at the helm of the sprawling FCA, Manley, "is no Marchionne," Dudenhoeffer said.

But others analysts were more optimistic.

"While the succession comes seven months sooner than we and the market anticipated, we nevertheless believe that the investment case for margin expansion and eventual strategic options remains intact," said analysts for Barclays bank.Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has asked Johnson & Johnson (J & J) to the share the composition of talcum powder in India. The parent company in US was ordered by Missouri Court to pay $ 4.7 billion as compensation to 22 women who complained that the asbestos fibre in the talcum powder caused them ovarian cancer.

The talcum powder is made of Talc, a clay mineral composed of hydrated magnesium silicate, which uses asbestos fibre (Main ingredient to resist heat).

CDSCO and Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration had previously inspected the J & J manufacturing unit in Mulund, Mumbai. The samples were analysed at Drug control laboratory, Maharashtra, as per a report in Mint.

"Some people may dust powder after a shower and never think much of it. But recent court cases have brought a spotlight on the possible link between womens regular use of talcum powder on their genitals and an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer. The lawyers in the US alleged the company knew its talc was contaminated with asbestos. We want to be sure that the product marketed in India is safe and thats why have written to them," a source on condition of anonymity told the paper.

The source further added: "While the powder was found to be safe then and no action was taken against the company, the recent cases have alerted the regulatory bodies once again."

However, J & J refuted the claim and said that their talc doesnt cause ovarian cancer or mesothelioma. Their spokesperson said: "All Johnson & Johnson products meet and even exceed global regulatory standards. The safety of cosmetic talc is based on a long history of safe use and decades of research and clinical evidence by independent researchers and scientific review boards across the world."Mourners gather around the body of Palestinian Hamas militant Mohammad Al-Areer who was killed in Israeli tank fire, during his funeral in Gaza. (Image: REUTERS)

Hamish the first polar bear bear cub to be born in the UK for 25 years cools down in the pond in his enclosure at The Highland Wildlife Park near Kingussie, Scotland. (Image: REUTERS)

A Russian armoured vehicle drives out of the water during a rehearsal for the Navy Day parade in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, Crimea. (Image: REUTERS)

Parents carry their children as they leave their home during the flood after the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy hydropower dam collapsed in Attapeu province, Laos. (Image: REUTERS)

A woman stands next to the t-shirts with images of Imran Khan, leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), at a market, a day after general election in Islamabad, Pakistan. (Image: REUTERS)

A youth stands on the wreckage of a wooden boat, during fishing with a slingshot, as smog covers North Jakarta, Indonesia. (Image: REUTERS)

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro holds a bank note of the new Venezuela's currency Bolivar Soberano (Sovereign Bolivar) as he speaks during a meeting with ministers at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela. (Image: REUTERS)

Demonstrators take part in a march for free abortion rights and to demand an end to sexism and gender violence in the education system, in Santiago, Chile. (Image: REUTERS)

Liverpool's Mo Salah scores a goal past Manchester City's Joe Hart in the International Champions Cup. (Image: REUTERS)July 27, 2018 / 06:19 PM IST

EU monitoring team says Pakistan election not a level playing field

A European Union monitoring team said on Friday that the campaign for Pakistan's general election this week featured a "lack of equality" that meant it was not a level playing field for all parties.

"Although there were several legal provisions aimed at ensuring a level playing field, we have concluded that there was a lack of equality and (of) opportunity," Michael Gahler, chief observer of the EU Election Observation Mission, told a news conference in its preliminary assessment of the poll. (Reuters)PepsiCo has secured an interim order from the Delhi High Court to remove all references to its Kurkure brand being made of plastic off the internet.



TROLOLOL! This has become my favourite Twitter conversation of the year. When brands just don't get it... pic.twitter.com/pmxXVwOVos

 Sahil Rizwan (@SahilRiz) March 3, 2015

According to Medianama , the order places the liability of blocking "defamatory" posts on social media outlets. According to the report, PepsiCo has gone ahead and invested over Rs 2 crore to dismiss the rumours, demanding damages worth Rs 2.1 crore from defendants apart from blocking the links.

If one types "Kurkure has plastic" on YouTube or Google, a plethora of results appear, which shows the curiosity of people insistent on knowing if the snack is really made of plastic or contains any synthetic material.

As reported by News18, Kurkure is a hot topic on multiple forums such as Quora, with users trying to decode the myth. A user on Quora actually wrote, "Kurkure does melt when you burn it, but again most of the salty snacks do the same. It burns because it contains carbohydrates. The plastic-like substance that you see in Kurkure is nothing but starch."

A Twitter user recently shared PepsiCo's defamation documents against social media sites including Twitter. One of his tweets has been used as "evidence" when the company filed the suit.



Someone from PepsiCo India is suing Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google, and YouTube regarding defamation of one of their products and a tweet from my old account is being used as part of the evidence...I don't even... pic.twitter.com/sxkWTUIPwG  Nikhil Jois (@nikhiljoisr) July 21, 2018





Wow PepsiCo has blocked tweets about KURKURE and PLASTIC according to this piece article about KURKURE and PLASTIC, wonder if other companies in KURKURE IS MADE OF PLASTIC type of situations would do the same https://t.co/L4EmGTmnrd Some users expressed outrage over the allegations of plastic in Kurkure and the legal turn of events that followed. July 26, 2018

Shehbaz Sharif, PML(N) leader, Pakistan

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president Shahbaz Sharif outrightly rejected the election results, alleging "blatant" rigging, soon after trends showed Imran Khan's party was inching towards the majority mark.

Sharif hinted his party would launch protests against the alleged rigging of polls.

He did not say who he believes could have rigged the polls, but allegations of manipulating the elections have been made against the country's influential military.

"Some five other parties including PPP have raised the rigging issue in polls. After consulting them, I will announce the future course of action. Pakistan has suffered today," he told journalists at a press conference.

"We will fight this injustice and use all options," he said, adding that there has been a "blatant violation" of the mandate.

According to Geo TV, Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf was leading on 110 seats followed by PML-N on 68.

Bilawal Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party was ahead on 37 seats and Independents on 23, trends showed.

"This is a horrible situation which I have never seen in my 30-year political career. These were the dirtiest polls in Pakistan's history. The results of several constituencies have been withheld where PML-N candidates were winning. We will not accept this justice," Sharif said.

PML-N senator Mushahid Hussain Syed too raised similar doubts on the election results.

"This is the first time in Pakistan's history that five political parties have called a foul play in the polls and termed them massively rigged," he said.

A party can form the government if it manages to clinch 172 seats out of the total 342.

A single party will need at least 137 of the 272 directly-elected seats to be able to form the government on its own.Karachi : FILE - In this July 22, 2018, file photo, Pakistani politician Imran Khan, chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, addresses an election rally in Karachi, Pakistan. Former cricket star Khan may be on the verge of victory in PakistanAos parliamentary elections. Over the years, he has parlayed his celebrity into a political career, picking up the support of the military and a conservative, religious base despite the gossip that swirls around him. AP/PTI(AP7_25_2018_000017B)

Tumultuous street celebrations erupted in Pakistan after trends showed that Imran Khan-led PTI was leading other political parties by a wide margin in the general election marred by violence and allegations of rigging.

According to latest trends, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was leading on 110 seats, followed by the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz of jailed leader Nawaz Sharif on 67.

Hundreds of PTI supporters came out on streets in several cities, including the country's capital Islamabad, dancing and celebrating with loud music. They had parked their vehicles on main roads and on the sideways, leading to massive traffic jams.

"We have got our Naya Pakistan," said Shahid Ali, one of the supporters, as he danced euphorically near the busy Faizabad interchange, which links Islamabad with the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

The Press Trust of India correspondent was caught for several hours in traffic when returning from the election coverage, as highly-charged workers of Khan's party raised victory slogans.

Similar midnight celebrations were being organised in many other parts of Pakistan.

But the euphoria among PTI workers appeared premature as the PML-N and Pakistan Peoples Party have rejected the election results. "Our polling agents were not given results and we will not accept it," said Khurshid Shah of PPP.

PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif also rejected the election outcome, alleging "blatant" rigging. He warned of protests.

Analysts predicted tumultuous weeks ahead for Pakistan as a strong opposition to the election results was building up.

PML-N was leading on 67 seats and PPP on 39. "They will make a lethal combination if they joined hands against Imran Khan," analyst Sohail Warriach said.

A party can form the government if it manages to clinch 172 seats out of the total 342. A single party will need at least 137 of the 272 directly-elected seats to be able to form the government on its own.US-based SpaceX and their French counterpart Arianespace launched rockets 15 minutes apart from each other on Wednesday.

According to a report in The Verge, SpaceX launched Falcon 9 at 7:30 am ET from the California coast while Arianespace launched Ariane 5 from its South American spaceport in French Guiana. Ariane 5 rocket carried four satellites into the orbit and SpaceX carried 10 satellites on Falcon 9.

Falcon 9 by SpaceX landed successfully on the drone-ship "Just Read the Instructions" in the Pacific Ocean. Initially, there was some uncertainty about the survival of the satellites, due to bad lighting on the boat. However, SpaceX later had a visual proof that the booster touched down successfully.

This launch by Arianespace is it's fourth in the year, as per a company statement. For SpaceX, it was their second of the week, after a launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida this Sunday.



Static fire test of Falcon 9 complete targeting July 25 launch of Iridium-7 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

 SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 21, 2018

They launched 10 additional Iridium satellites in this constellation, making it the seventh launch of the series, as per a company statement . Before the launch, SpaceX had also completed the rockets static fire test on July 20.

SpaceX had planned to catch the rocket's fairing with a giant net stretched across their recovery boat called Mr Steven, however, the boat was unable to catch the rocket nose.

The Iridium satellites will add to the 55 already in operation, as part of the NEXT network, which is focused on the internet of things (IoT).

SpaceX will continue its ambitious launch schedule with another Falcon 9 launch set for August 2.Australian Economic News Updates Enjoy a contrarian outlook on the Australian economy  and how movements beyond our borders could affect your stocks, retirement fund or the value of your home. Go here for more.

Daily Chinese Economy News Chinas economy has been a powerhouse in recent years. But times are a changing and China, for better or worse, is a subject of heated debate. Are there investment opportunities to be still had from China, and how will they affect your wealth at home? Find out here.

US Economy News The US economy is drowning under the weight of its public and private debt. But is it too soon to call the end of this financial, military and political empire? Only time will tell. Either way, you need to make sure your investments are on the right side of the trade.

Eurozone Economy The Eurozone is in a huge mess right now. Can it hold it together or will, one-by-one, member states leave the Euro and go at it on their own? More importantly, what consequences will this have for Australia and your investments? More on that here.

Global Economy News Dont just follow the news on the global economy  get an inside peek into whats happening in developed and emerging economies around the world  and what it could mean for your investments. Go here for more.Investigators with the RCMP began looking at Fortress in October 2016, after a complaint from lawyer David Franklin alleged that several clients had lost money in the developers projects.

Investors in the SkyCity project in Winnipeg were informed that the as is value of the land was $18 million in 2013 and $37.3 million in 2015  far above the 2013 RCMP estimate of $4.4 million - $11 million.

Meanwhile, syndicated mortgage investors in Barries Collier Centre were told that the land was valued at $21.9 million in 2012, but the RCMP found that the land was worth only about $7 million at the time.

Read more: Law firm takes security on Fortress Real mortgage for unpaid fees

As for the Crates Landing project in Keswick, investors were allegedly informed that the land for the development was valued at $22.6 million on an as-is basis in 2015. However, the RCMP stated that this estimate was based on an extraordinary assumption that the project was not only completed, but that a second phase of the development  which had not even received regulatory approval  was also built and completed.New Mexico's portion of the Permian Basin is increasing its role in the region's oil production growth.

The New Mexico Oil and Gas Association reports New Mexico's rig count has reached an all-time high of 103 rigs, matching highs the state saw in October and December 2014. Of the 103 rigs, 101 are in the state's portion of the Permian Basin in southeastern New Mexico and two are in the San Juan Basin of northwestern New Mexico. A year ago at this time, the state had a rig count of 57.

Lea County had the second highest rig count in the Permian Basin at 51 rigs, behind Reeves County Texas' 73 rigs and just ahead of Midland County's 50 rigs. Eddy County, New Mexico, followed Midland County with 48 rigs.

The association estimates that the current tally accounts for at least 5,000 jobs in the state.

"We're not where Texas is, but activity is at an all-time high in terms of production levels and rig count," Ryan Flynn, the association's executive director, said in a phone interview from his Santa Fe office.

He said that last year the state set a record in terms of production levels and is on track to break that record this year.

New Mexico's oil and gas industry is responsible for a third of the state's budget each year, Flynn said. Thanks to the industry's recovery, "The next governor, whoever he or she is, will inherit a significant revenue surplus, $600 million, attributable to the oil and gas industry."

Those funds pay for essential government services such as law enforcement and emergency responders, roads, highways and other infrastructure and public schools, he said. The surplus will allow the state to consider expanding programs to include early childhood development programs and programs for adults such as job training -- "things that will help diversify the economy."

New Mexico's oil and gas industry is the foundation of the economy, but Flynn said he hopes to see the state expand in other areas.

Flynn discounted the notion that the New Mexico portion of the Permian is overshadowed by Texas, which boasts the lion's share of drilling activity, production and the world spotlight.

"The Permian Basin is the epicenter of the industry, and New Mexico benefits from sharing part of that with Texas," he said. "I view Texas as first-class in all it does. We look at Texas as an example and trying to follow that example, from a regulatory standpoint and a production standpoint. Texas is the best and we want to be our best."

New Mexico now ranks third nationwide in the rig count, behind Texas and Oklahoma and is the nation's third largest oil producer behind Texas and North Dakota.

Mella McEwen is the Oil Editor and covers the latest business and energy news. You can read more from her here. |mmcewen@mrt.com|Thomas Wolfmueller wants to make a difference in the lives of students and teachers. It appears to be more than a mission. One could say it is a family tradition.

In announcing his candidacy for Midland ISDs District 5 seat, Wolfmueller told the Reporter-Telegram his father served on the school board in Kerrville. His grandfather also was a member of a school board.

(Serving on the school board) is good way to make a big difference, Wolfmueller told the Reporter-Telegram on Wednesday. You make impact on a lot of peoples lives.

District 5 covers an area of central to north Midland and includes Early College High School, Goddard Junior High, San Jacinto Junior High, Emerson Elementary and Santa Rita Elementary. Some prominent areas/developments include Midland College, Racquet Club, the heavy growth area east and west of State Highway 191, north of Loop 250 and Saddle Club and the Midland Polo Fields. Karen Nicholson was the previous representative of that district. She resigned her seat earlier this year.

Wolfmueller is the father of three children, who are MISD students. He said he is concerned that teachers arent getting the support they need, and he wants to be their voice. He wants to cut the red tape and give teachers the resources they need for teaching. Fixing the culture should take precedent over everything, he said, including facilities.

I want to focus on what we have now and do better by the educators, Wolfmueller said. We have to listen to their issues. The more we retain good teachers the better the school system will be.

Wolfmueller is a drilling engineer, who was working for RSP Permian and now works for Concho after the companies recent merger. He said professional honors include being named the Society of Petroleum Engineers Southwestern North American Drilling Engineer of the Year in 2016. Hes also an elder at Grace Lutheran Church.

Wolfmueller is concerned about the show of support from central administration to its teaching corps. He specifically mentioned seeing the high number of teachers and campus leaders who retired or resigned at the end of this past school year and having questions about the show of support central administration is giving those in the classroom.

I dont think the district is being transparent, but that works both ways, he said. If the public wants a voice, they need to show it also.

He said bullying is a major issue and expressed concerns that in some cases, the administration is not coming forward and admitting when they are wrong.

I support teachers with a bottom-up approach, Wolfmueller said.

Wolfmueller is the second person to file for the District 5 seat. John Trischitti III, director of Midland County Public Library, also has filed for the seat.Police arrested an Austin area mom on Saturday after she passed out in a truck with her 10-year-old son on a hot day.

Police said the child used his mother's phone to call 911 while locked in the car as temperatures outside reached 104 degrees, an arrest affidavit obtained by KXAN detailed.

While on the phone with police, the child could be heard asking his mom to roll down the window.

She replied "no" according to court documents.

Authorities arrived at the scene and arrested Adriane Grace Moss, 34, charging her with abandoning or endangering a child.

RELATED: Arrested parents blame death of 21-month-old son on demons, police say

As she was being interviewed by Austin Police Department, authorities said Moss ignored their questions, stumbled when moving and smelled like alcohol, the arrest affidavit detailed.

During the course of the investigation, Moss allegedly told her son "get out of my life."

The boy told police he had been inside the parked car for about an hour.

Moss has since been released from Travis County Jail after posting bond for $15,000.

Fernando Ramirez covers Texas news and politics. Read him on our breaking news site and on our subscriber site. | Fernando.ramirez@chron.com | @fernramirez93



Jacksonvilles oldest church has a new pastor.

Mel Nielsen was appointed pastor of Centenary United Methodist Church by Bishop Frank Beard this month.

When I first learned of the appointment, I realized that the size and scope of Centenarys ministries were going to be a wonderful challenge, Nielsen said.

Centenary is Nielsens fourth appointment as a Methodist pastor.

My previous appointments were all smaller, rural churches in Illinois, Nielsen said. All of those pastorates were at churches north of Bloomington or west of Kankakee. His most recent pastorate was at Bonfield/Grand Prairie Parish west of Kankakee.

I am a second career pastor, he said. My first career was newspaper publishing and commercial printing. I am in my 11th year as a licensed local pastor.

Nielsen said he is looking forward to the challenge of being pastor of Centenary, which has about 275 members.

This is a very active congregation, Nielsen said. They do a lot of community service work in Jacksonville.

Nielsen said there are other reasons his new assignment is attractive.

Outside of the church, my wife, Debbie, and I are excited to come to Jacksonville because it brings us closer to family and friends, he said.

Nielsens wife will soon begin working as a hospitalist at Passavant Area Hospital.

The call to ministry came over a two and a half year period when I felt like I couldnt do anything else but follow God, Nielsen said. I had no idea what it meant to be called by God. Thankfully, through my senior pastor, I was able to discern what God had in mind for me. My calling is to lead the least, last and lost to Jesus. Thats what Im commanded to do.

Nielsen succeeds the Rev. Jean Hembrough, who served as pastor of Centenary for eight years.

Greg Olson can be reached at 217-245-6121, ext. 1224, or on Twitter @JCNews_Greg.DOW  Jersey County law enforcement authorities are concerned a bogus cop might be pulling over drivers.

A woman told deputies she was driving on Illinois Route 109 near North Dow Road about 8:40 p.m. Tuesday when she saw flashing lights behind her.

The woman said the car was a white Crown Victoria with red and blue lights flashing from the interior.

She pulled over to the side of the road and waited. The fake police car pulled behind her but no one got out and the car sped away after several minutes.

Sheriff John Wimmersberg said he hopes someone has information that could help them find the vehicle.

Anyone with information can call Two Rivers Crime Stoppers 1-800-300-2590 or the Jersey County Sheriff at 618-498-6881.ROODHOUSE  The North Greene Bright Futures Family Program has filed an appeal with the Illinois State Board of Education after the program was declined funding this year.

The birth-3 program, run in conjunction with North Greene School District, has operated for more than 20 years but was denied funding this year because of one point on its grant application.

Kellie Heberling, the program coordinator, said the original grant requested $523,644, about $32,000 more than the program received last year.

We filed an appeal in June and we made an amendment asking for $451,750, Heberling said. One of the evaluators comments said our budget was too high.

The appeal could take up to 60 days. Heberling said, noting they havent received any updates.

The program initially received $205,150 last year but later received another $286,304 to expand the project, for a total of $491,454.

With the addition of $50 million to the states budget, Heberling said, it was surprising to be told that they didnt make the cut.

They poured all that money into us to expand the program, Heberling said. I dont understand why they would build us up and then take away our funding.

Emily Custer, a parent coordinator, said North Greenes program is the only one for about 30 miles.

The program offers parents various family and child-enrichment services, including in-home programs twice a month for children up to the age of 3, and coordinates transfers to other programs  including pre-kindergarten, Head Start or day care  at age 3.

The staff also offers developmental screenings and provides other information for parents.

We are the resource for our parents, Custer said. They come to us for anything.

The grants are for a five-year period, Custer said.

If we dont get this, we cant reapply until year six, she said.

Since the appeal, ISBE has announced an additional $20 million to fund programs but has not said which programs will be funded and to what level.

North Greene Superintendent Mark Scott said the program is expected to receive some funding, but it isnt sure how much.

We view the additional funding as a positive sign that this program can continue to serve families in the North Greene School District, but we also recognize that there are no guarantees here, Scott said. We know that when and if we get these funds, it wont be all of what is needed to fund the program.

State Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, who has been helping with the appeal, said he was dismayed to see a program that has been funded for several years be cut out to start new programs.

I want to ensure that programs that weve invested money into over the years are maintained, Davidsmeyer said. I think its a little short-sighted to go into an area, create new programs and forget about the ones that already exist, especially when we put additional money into expanding those programs in the last budget.

Without at least some of its funding, the program have to make cuts, Heberling said.

Well be back to where we were years ago, she said. The need is so much greater now.

Samantha McDaniel-Ogletree can be reached at 217-245-6121, ext. 1233, or on Twitter @JCNews_samantha.Southern Illinois congressman expects President Donald Trump to talk about more than just tariffs and steel jobs when he visits the Metro East.

Republican Congressman Mike Bost will be in Granite City with Trump today. Bost said he thinks the president will highlight the hundreds of new jobs created at the U.S. Steel plant in Granite City. Thats a given.

But Bost, who represents Granite City and the entirety of southern Illinois, said he also expects the president to talk to the people hurt by his recent tariff tit-for-tat.

We are trying to talk to [the president] about bi-lateral agreements, Bost said. Making sure those bi-lateral agreements are done as quickly as possible with Canada, with Mexico, with Japan, with other nations.

Bost said the overarching goal is to fix the trade relationship with China and to find a way to help farmers who have been hurt by the presidents tariffs.

I want to talk to him about making sure that he moves as quickly as possible to remedy the problems for the ag industry, Bost said. We understand what hes wanting to do with China. But its farmers being caught out here based on the markets.

Bost said Illinois farmers have already seen lower futures prices for their crops. He said farmers always feel the economic downtown first.

But it wont just be trade. Bost said if he can get some time with the president hell push for a solution for Cairos public housing problems and the need to invest in technical and vocation education so young people can get good-paying jobs in the trades.GRANITE CITY  President Donald Trump on Thursday trumpeted the renewed success of an Illinois steel mill, pushing back against criticism that his escalating trade disputes are hurting American workers and farmers.

The president pointed to the U.S. Steel plants reopening as a success story after he slapped tariffs on imported steel and aluminum last spring. On Wednesday, he and European leaders agreed to open talks to tear down trade barriers, a decision he called a breakthrough.Tricycles to be banned from using ...Nichols Fleet Equipment, a firm founded by David Nichols in 1991, is expanding into 11 acres at the Centre South Riverport.

The company is buying the property from the county at $55,000 per acre.

Mr. Nichols said the growth "has been phenomenal" for the firm - especially after two sons came on board.

The company, which builds service trucks, is landlocked at its three-acre site on E. 31st Street.British energy major BP is a huge Texas player now after agreeing to pay $10.5 billion for the shale assets of Australia's BHP Billiton.

The sale represents a major turnaround for BP as it seeks to grow again after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico. The deal includes all of BHP's acreage in West Texas' booming Permian Basin, South Texas' Eagle Ford shale and Louisiana's Haynesville shale.Petrobras, Brazil's state-control oil company, has agreed to settle a lawsuit alleging that the company for years flouted air pollution restrictions at its aging Pasadena refinery.

The settlement, subject to court approval, would require the company to pay more than $3.5 million in civil penalties as well as reduce emissions at the refinery with equipment upgrades and disaster preparedness measures. On top of that, the company has agreed to better respond to citizen complaints and pay additional penalties if future violations occur.

Environmental advocacy groups Environment Texas and the Sierra Club last spring filed the lawsuit in federal court, alleging that the company chronically violated its Texas air emissions permits.

"Today's settlement is yet another message to polluters," said Brian Zabcik, Clean Air Advocate at Environment Texas.

The company will pay $350,000 to the federal government as part of the roughly $3.5 million in civil penalties. The remainder will be paid to the Houston-Galveston Area Council to establish "vehicle emission reduction fund" to provide grants to local school districts and governments to convert their vehicle fleets to hybrid or electric models and build charging stations.

The proposed settlement is subject to a 45-day waiting period to allow for its review by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Philip Hilder, a Houston attorney representing the two groups, said the company has already begun to implement the proposed remedies.

RELATED: Petrobras puts Pasadena refinery up for sale

Petrobras earlier this year announced plans to sell the refinery as part of a plan to offload some $21 billion in assets following its involvement in a widespread corruption scandal that ensnared many Brazilian politicians and companies.

Hilder said the settlement terms will apply to the new owner in the event of a sale.

This story will be updated.Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. second-quarter profit rose almost 31 percent, exceeding analysts earnings projections as the San Antonio financial holding company reported rising loan demand.

The parent company of Frost Bank earned $109.3 million, or $1.68 a share, in the three months ended June 30, it announced Thursday. It had topped the $100 million mark in quarterly profit for the first time in its 150-year history in the quarter ended March 31.

Analysts polled by Bloomberg expected Cullen/Frost would report earnings of $1.63 a share.

Cullen/Frost posted earnings of $83.5 million, or $1.29 a share, in the second quarter of last year.

The company once again benefited from a strong Texas economy, Cullen/Frost Chairman and CEO Phil Green said. It is the largest banking company based in San Antonio and it operates in the states major cities.

Its not often youre able to report a 30-percent increase in earnings, Green said during a conference call with analysts. In general, our customers tell us theyre optimistic about their prospects for future growth and Frost is well-positioned to serve them with a competitive product mix and strong value proposition.

To read more about Cullen/Frosts earnings report, see Fridays Business section or click here for the full story on ExpressNews.com.

Patrick Danner covers courts, banking and insurance in San Antonio. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | pdanner@express-news.net | Twitter: @AlamoPDGet ready, San Antonio. A new grab-and-go bar concept is ready to put the stagger into your shopping mall swagger.

Tiny Cantina locations are slated to open this September at The Shops at La Cantera, North Star Mall and The Woodlands Mall in Houston. Owner Raul Correa said the new bars will serve margaritas, micheladas, wine, beer, aguas frescas and other beverages.Irish company, Jinga Life Ltd announces the release of their new App Jinga Life

A Jinga is anyone who manages or helps manage their familys health. The term Jinga takes its origin from the great African Queen of Angola who was a protector and guardian of her people in the 17th Century.

Lifes enough of a juggling act, especially when it comes to your familys health. Trying to manage visits to the GP, hospital or dentist, keeping track of appointments times, storing test results, keeping repeat prescriptions on hand  the paperwork quickly stacks up!

Jinga Life empowers the Jinga by allowing them to take control of and effectively manage their familys health information.

This situation may strike a chord with some families  sometimes just getting to a GP or hospital appointment on time can be a challenge in itself  but when you get there you realise you have left relevant paperwork at home or your doctor asks you about the results of that blood test your little one had 3 months ago and you know that piece of paper is firmly held in place on your fridge thanks to that glittery fridge magnet you received as a present from the Costa del Sol Jinga Life puts an end to organisational nightmares when it comes to your familys health and finding all the pieces of information from different sources  it does all that for you.

Helga Rohlfs, a busy Mum looking after her 2 year old, is the Jinga in her home. I used to keep all my familys health info in a shoebox, which was my way of keeping everything in one place. With Jinga Life, things have changed. The App lets me record my own and my familys health information, inputting any medical conditions and allergies we have. I can put appointment dates in the calendar and the App will send me reminders of whats coming up. I can upload treatment plans, repeat prescriptions and test results so they are at my fingertips 24 hours a day if I need to access them on my mobile. I can also share this information with my GP if I wish to. It gives me one less thing to worry about and peace of mind that I have that information available whenever and wherever I may need it.

The passion behind Jinga Life

Dr Johnny Walker, founder and Chairman of Jinga Life talks about his brainchild: My vision has always been to empower the Jinga in every home across the globe, now we have provided the tools they need to live a healthier and happier lifestyle for themselves and their families.

Dr. Walker is an Australian-trained qualified Interventional Radiologist and Nuclear Physician. Back in 1995, Johnny led a small team providing a mobile Ultrasound service, scanning pregnant Aboriginal women in remote communities in outback Australia.

With the boom of theinternet this modest practice rapidly evolved into Global Diagnostics, an international Teleradiology enterprise sending and diagnosing digital images from around the world. He moved the company to Ireland in 2007 growing it internationally. Following his successful exit from theorganisation, Dr. Walker was nominated as an International EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist in 2011 for his pioneering work with Global Diagnostics. Today, Dr. Johnny Walker continues to pursue his journey of disrupting healthcare for the better through Jinga Life.

Clare Harney, CEO of Jinga Life with more than 20 years experience across the Irish health system says We are delighted to release our platform for Jingas everywhere to truly empower their families in managing health and wellness.

Response to the platform and App to date has been phenomenal but this is just the beginning for Jinga Life, there are big plans for further benefits in the pipeline, so stay tuned!

To find out more and sign up to Jinga Life, please visit their website jinga.life where you can also download the new App.

For further information please contact Juliana Marfil at juliana@jinga.life/ 353 87 948 7115

Media Contact

Company Name: Jinga Life

Contact Person: Juliana Marfil

Email: Send Email

Phone: +353 87 948 7115

City: Dublin

Country: Ireland

Website: www.jinga.lifeThe staff at Aldos Ristorante Italiano, a Medical Center classic for Italian food since 1985, has been dropping hints to customers and callers that a relocation might be in the works.

That possibility gained traction after a recent state filing showing that Aldos plans to renovate space for a restaurant at the Dominion Ridge shopping center on the citys far North Side.Note: This is an abbreviated version of the full Taste Test review, with a star rating based on multiple visits. See the complete version on our subscriber website at ExpressNews.com.

Open your old yearbook. That hair, those clothes, those cheekbones. Man, you looked good in 1992.

So did Koi Kawa, I imagine, that year it opened along the Boardwalk on Broadway, back when it was one of the only sushi and Japanese grill games in town. But here we are at the reunion, and Koi Kawas looking rough.

READ ALSO: Ice cream, Italian ice, doughnuts all at The Original Ice Factory

Some of the food still holds up, but like an old friend youve reconnected with on Facebook, theyve changed. During none of my time here did the staff seem fully versed in sushi protocol, the particulars of its own menu or even basic service tenets. Some of the chaos got on the food, too.

A Rainbow Roll crawled with with sloppy cuts of salmon, whitefish, shrimp and Day-Glo tuna, all of them looking like theyd tripped over an ottoman and fell asleep there.

More Information Koi Kawa * 4051 Broadway, 210-805-8111, koikawasushi.com Quick bite: Riverside Japanese restaurant and sushi bar in business since 1992 at the Boardwalk on Broadway. Hit: Chirashi bowl, hamachi kama, ramen Miss: Service, Rainbow Roll, salmon teriyaki Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday; noon-10 p.m. Saturday; noon-9 p.m. Sunday. Price range: Appetizers, $3.50-$14; soups and salads, $2-$13; sushi and sashimi, $2-$12 for pieces, $13.50-$50 for platters; sushi rolls, $4-$14.50; entrees, $7-$20; desserts, $4-$5. Lunch: $8-$15.50. Alcohol: Wine, sake and beer **** Superior. Can compete nationally. *** Excellent. One of the best restaurants in the city. ** Very good. A standout restaurant of its kind. * Good. A restaurant that we recommend. (no stars) We cannot recommend this restaurant at this time. Express-News dining critics pay for all meals. See More Collapse

Like all of us, I suppose, Koi Kawa is living its new yearbook every day. We cant ever go back, but we can hope to get better.

To read the full review of Koi Kawa, please visit our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com.

msutter@express-news.net | Twitter: @fedmanwalkingBRISTOL  It wasnt as if Lower Sussex Little League of Delaware was ripping the ball off Fairfield. Its 13 hits included six that didnt leave the infield.

A bakers dozen little cuts ended the Connecticut champions summer Thursday afternoon at Breen Field, a 3-1 win for the team from Frankford, Del., at the Little League Softball Eastern Regional.

They put the stick on it, but they just made good contact and hit it where we werent, Fairfield manager Jim Andretta said.

When we did have some plays, we didnt make them. Thats a tight line. Once you start getting the bat on the ball, youve got to turn around and make some plays to get out of it. It just wasnt our day.

Lower Sussex comes back Friday morning at 9 to play Cranston (R.I.) National Budlong. The winner of that game meets Tunkhannock, Pa., at noon for the regional title and a trip to the World Series in Portland, Ore.

Fairfield finishes fourth.

I tip my cap to (Lower Sussex). Theyre a great team, Andretta said. All four teams left are great teams. We deserved to be here. We were slightly outmatched today, and we dont live to see another one here.

After threatening in the top of the first, Lower Sussex put up runs in each of the third, fourth and fifth innings.

A couple of infield singles got it done in the third with a stolen base and an error in between.

Laniya Lewis led off the fourth with a triple, the hardest-hit ball of the afternoon. Two bunts, on which Fairfield mightve had a play at first but worried about the speedy Lewis, loaded the bases. Fairfield turned a 1-2-3 double play to limit the damage, but Shaniya Lewis single brought another run home for Delaware.

Destiny Mitchell singled and scored on Laniya Lewis single in the fifth.

I looked up on the board in I think the fifth inning and said to myself, 10 hits and three runs, thats great on our part. Think if we had been making some of the plays that were a little tighter, Andretta said.

On top of those six infield hits, add in a looper over the pitchers circle that trickled into center field and a couple of ground balls up the middle.

And Fairfield did make some nice plays. There was that double play. Catcher Vinchenza Andretta nearly picked off a runner at third in the fifth inning, then did pick her off two pitches later. She caught two other runners stealing.

The top of the second started with Fairfield third baseman Katie Tournas making a nice pick on a short hop ticketed for left field. A batter later, shortstop Elena Ohe slid to her right to stop a grounder, then threw out Camryn Ehlers at first from the ground.

Ehlers got her revenge from the circle, though. She retired the last 11 Fairfield batters, beginning with a third-inning Chelsea Villar line drive that second baseman Kinsley Hall leaped to grab, doubling off Ohe at first.

That hit of Chelseas breaks through to the outfield, you know, were in this game, Jim Andretta said. But it didnt fall our way, and a lot of them fell their way.

mfornabaio@ctpost.com; @fornabaioctp

LOWER SUSSEX (Del.) 3, FAIRFIELD 1

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Batteries: LSCamryn Ehlers (W) and Lily Hoban; FAnna Gedacht (L) and Vinchenza Andretta.BRIDGEPORT  The two narcotics officers who were fired at early Wednesday morning might have been intentionally targeted, Police Chief Armando Perez said.

The officers were conducting an operation near Washington Park in an unmarked police vehicle around 1 a.m. when someone approached their car and opened fire, Perez said.

They observed an individual that appeared to have a gun come out of a car and walk toward their vehicle and start shooting, he said.

Perez said there were about 12 shots fired, but neither the officers or their vehicle were hit and neither returned fire. After firing the gun, Perez said, the suspect ran to a car that drove off.

Its possible that later Wednesday morning, state police stopped a car matching the description of the fleeing vehicle on the highway, Perez said. But he said that information was unconfirmed Wednesday evening.

As of now, Perez said, the department cant rule out the possibility that the shooter knew who he was shooting at.

We dont know if our guys were actually the target, or if this guy was shooting at somebody else, the chief said.

Though they were in an unmarked vehicle, the two officers were wearing their Tactical Narcotics Team uniforms, which are navy blue with yellow TNT lettering, Perez said.

Perhaps this guy noticed the officers, either by their clothing or their faces, and went after them, the chief said. Bad guys know who these guys are.

Perez said he was briefed on the service around 5 a.m. and that he thinks police are closing in on the shooter.

Policing is a dangerous business, Perez said. Theres a lot of people out there who dont like the police and theyre doing nefarious activities and theyre not afraid to use guns  even on the police.

Police ask anyone with any information can call 203-576-TIPS (8477), and say all calls are confidential.MIDDLETOWN  Liberty Bank volunteers recently helped give a face lift to two facilities that help individuals facing homelessness, addiction and poverty.

The workers contributed landscaping efforts at several residential programs of The Connection, based on Roscommon Drive. The volunteers worked at Connection House, a work release residential program for women in Middletown, and the Eddy Shelter, the only emergency homeless shelter for single adult men and women in Middlesex County, according to a press release.

The volunteers worked side by side with the program residents and, in the process, lifted spirits for those living at the program, according to The Connection.

Finding community volunteers to do beautification projects can be difficult, Dawn Parker, project manager and chairwoman of The Friends of The Connection, Middlesex County Community Board said in a prepared statement. Our residents were happy their neighbors cared enough to work with them, she added.

The group tackled weeding, raking, planting and overall cleanup, a days work, at each site, according to the release.

Connection House and the Eddy Shelter are only a few of the 43 programs The Connection operates statewide.

The volunteers were part of a month-long special effort  Liberty Lends a Hand  to connect employees with their local communities.

We never forget that we are first and foremost a community bank, Liberty Bank President and CEO Chandler J. Howard said in the statement. Putting our hands to work all year round is one more way we can help bring vitality to our Connecticut towns and cities, he said.

All across the banks market area, 157 employees pitched in at 18 nonprofits, contributing almost 900 hours of service.

At the same time, another 60 organizations benefitted from more than 13,000 items collected for donation at all 55 branches and main-office departments. These ranged from nonperishable food, pet supplies, toiletries, books, and cleaning supplies. One work group alone collected more than 3,000 diapers for donation, the release said.

Liberty Bank offers every employee four full paid days off for community service each year.Fulshear is a great city for gator-spotting. In fact, there are so many large lizards roaming around that the Fulshear Police Department has jokingly proposed making use of the beasts as an alternative to the city's K-9 program.

No word yet on what the dogs think of this.

"The acquisition and training of a certified K-9 can be quite extensive and expensive, the police department said in a July 22 Facebook post.

APRIL THROWBACK: Massive alligator stops U.S. 59 traffic in Cleveland

"However, the acquisition of alligators in Fulshear is quite easy, as they are fruitful and abundant."

Police said once they get past gators' biting issue, they can be trained for police tasks.

"This young fella has taken to radio communication quite nicely, which is something, quite frankly, the dogs have a problem with," the post reads, along with a photo of a small gator being held over a motorcycle by Sgt. Roger Thurman.

"Bonus: When gators are this small, they fit quite nicely within the saddlebags of the motorcycle, eliminating the need for an expensive K-9 cage."

WARNING: Alligator lunges at pet at Lake Houston park

On July 18, police captured and relocated a 7-foot gator hanging out in a residential driveway in Cross Creek Ranch. And in May, a 6-foot beast dubbed the "Flewellen Terror" was captured near Randolph Elementary School after it previously escaped down a storm drain.

Although these two are definitely too big to join motorcycle patrols, we see potential opportunities for neighborhood surveillance and search operations.

Dana Burke is a digital reporter at Chron.com. You can read more of her stories here and follow her on Twitter at @danapburke.WASHINGTON - Conservative lawmakers on Wednesday introduced a resolution calling for the impeachment of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, in a move that marks a dramatic escalation in the battle over the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The effort, spearheaded by Reps. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, also sets up a showdown with House Republican leaders, who have distanced themselves from calls to remove Rosenstein from office. But Meadows and Jordan stopped short of forcing an immediate vote on the measure, sparing Republican lawmakers for now from a potential dilemma.

"We're tired of the Justice Department giving us the finger and not giving us the information we're entitled to to do our constitutional duty," Jordan said Wednesday night in a Fox News Channel appearance alongside Meadows. "More importantly, the American people are sick of it. That's why we filed the resolution."

Meadows and Jordan are leaders of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, a bloc whose members have been among the most persistent critics of Rosenstein. All 11 lawmakers who filed the resolution are members of the caucus.

House Republicans have been ramping up their attacks on the deputy attorney general in recent weeks, accusing him of withholding documents and being insufficiently transparent in his handling of the probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller III.

Justice Department officials have said they have provided the vast majority of information sought in subpoenas from two key House committees - and are nearly done with providing all of the outstanding information requested in those subpoenas.

In an appearance on Fox Business Network Wednesday night, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said that while the next step remains uncertain as the House leaves town for its summer recess at the end of this week, "it was very important for those of us who believe that norms have been violated to step out and say Rod Rosenstein needs to be impeached."

"The mountain of evidence against Rod Rosenstein is very compelling when you look at the extent to which documents and witnesses have been withheld," said Gaetz, one of the lawmakers who introduced the resolution.

Democrats have argued that House Republicans' clashes with Rosenstein are little more than a pretext to weaken Mueller's efforts.

In a joint statement Wednesday night, the top Democrats on three House committees called the resolution a "direct attack" on the Mueller probe and warned Trump not to use it as a pretext to fire Rosenstein or Mueller.

"Any attempt to do so will be viewed by Congress and the American people as further proof of an effort to obstruct justice with severe consequences for Trump and his presidency," said Reps. Elijah Cummings, Md., Jerrold Nadler, N.Y.. and Adam Schiff, Calif.

Meadows and Jordan filed the resolution a little more than an hour after leaving a meeting with top Justice Department officials, including FBI General Counsel Dana Boente and Inspector General Michael Horowitz. Exiting the meeting, Meadows said there was "still great frustration" with the pace that subpoenaed documents had been produced to Congress.

But that was far from a unanimous opinion for the lawmakers who participated. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said he believed that the Justice Department officials were making progress toward complying with the subpoena and that impeaching Rosenstein would be a bad idea.

"I'm not a big fan of drama," Gowdy said. "Impeachment is a punishment, it's not a remedy. If you're looking for documents, then you want compliance, and you want whatever moves you toward compliance."

Meadows said in the Fox News interview that the conservatives could move "as soon as tomorrow" to force a vote and said discussions were underway about the timing. The House is set to leave Washington on Thursday for a five-week summer recess. "I think the American people are tired of talk," he said. "They want action, and it's up to Rod Rosenstein."

House Republican aides said that if a member tried to force a vote on the measure, leaders would likely move to send it to the House Judiciary Committee for further review, effectively bottling it up indefinitely. But that could still be an uncomfortable vote for many Republicans who are under pressure from conservatives groups - and the voters who follow them - to unseat the man who oversees the investigation Trump routinely denigrates as a "witch hunt."

Among those who would be under pressure are the GOP leaders looking to move up the ladder following House Speaker Paul Ryan's retirement, including Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., who have been wooing conservatives in anticipation of a succession battle.

For months, House Republicans have accused the Justice Department and FBI of stonewalling and foot-dragging in response to lawmakers' demands for documents about the 2016 probe of Hillary Clinton, the ongoing probe into Russian interference in the election, and the sources and methods used in the Russia investigation.

But the impeachment resolution offers other complaints as well, including that Rosenstein oversaw redactions of information that was not law enforcement sensitive, such as the $70,000 price tag of a conference table used by former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe.

The conservatives have been drafting versions of the impeachment document since April. But they have held off as Justice Department and FBI officials sparred with the Republican leaders of three House committees over sharing investigative documents pertaining to politically sensitive probes pertaining to Trump and Clinton.

The issue came to a head this month after a heated public hearing where Republicans lambasted FBI official Peter Strzok and a renewed tussle over documents. Last week, Meadows and Jordan asked Horowitz to investigate whether Rosenstein had threatened members of the House Intelligence Committee staff during a January meeting. Rosenstein denied making any such threats in a June congressional hearing where, in one exchange, he seemed to show up Jordan.

After Jordan asked if he had threatened to "subpoena their calls and emails," Rosenstein said, "No, sir, and there's no way to subpoena phone calls," drawing laughs in the hearing room.

A Justice Department official said Wednesday only one committee request has been formally denied, a demand to see the unredacted Justice Department memo detailing exactly which Trump associates are under investigation by special counsel Mueller and for which potential crimes. Officials declined that request because providing it could compromise ongoing investigations.

One of the key documents requested, a largely unredacted copy of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court warrant on former Trump adviser Carter Page, has been viewed by about 30 lawmakers. Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, has not viewed the document, but one of his staffers has, according to a Justice Department official.

A separate fight over details about a longtime FBI human source who aided the Russia probe was resolved when officials briefed a small group of congressional leaders, the official said.

The Justice Department has set aside two rooms at its headquarters for other lawmakers and their staffers to review secret documents - one room for documents about the Russia probe, and another room for documents relating to the probe of Clinton's use of a private email server, the official said.

At one point, FBI officials had to write new software code to search their systems for documents sought by the lawmakers, the official said.

Meadows's move is reminiscent of when, in July 2015, he filed a resolution to unseat John Boehner as speaker of the House. Meadows did not immediately force a vote but threatened to do so over the ensuing months until Boehner announced his retirement in late September.

Jordan and fellow conservative hard-liners also were behind a previous impeachment effort, against former IRS Commissioner John Koskinen in December 2016.

The accusations against Koskinen were much the same: "Stonewalling Congress, obstructing justice, and breaching the public trust," Jordan said at the time.

But most Republicans did not agree. After Jordan forced a vote on impeachment, House leaders moved to bottle it up in committee on a 342-72 vote, with 166 Republicans joining all 176 Democrats voting. The House Judiciary Committee did not act on the measure, and Koskinen remained in office until the following November.WASHINGTON - One year ago, with the flick of his thumb, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., foiled the Republican Party's quest to undo the Affordable Care Act and fulfill a seven-year promise to remake the health-care system.

Now, three months from the midterm elections, health care remains a gaping political vulnerability for the GOP. Although Republicans have been unable to produce an alternative to the law, they have succeed in undoing key provisions that critics say are leading to rising premiums for individual buyers of health insurance.

The Trump administration has acted unilaterally to undo aspects of the Obama-era law through executive powers, cutting insurer subsidy payments, slashing advertising and targeting the legislation in courts. The steps have pleased conservatives but have undermined an increasingly popular law that tens of millions of voters rely on.

Democrats consider health care - more than any other issue - their best chance to persuade swing voters in key races nationwide. The party's candidates and political committees are already on air with ads targeting Republicans who backed the "repeal and replace" effort, and they expect to spend tens of millions of dollars attacking the GOP on health care over the next 100 days.

"It's effective everywhere," said Charlie Kelly, executive director of the House Majority PAC. "This is an issue that's been Number One across the board in every election. I don't see that changing, and it's something we're going to be talking about from now until Election Day."

Recent polls have shown that health care is one of the top issues motivating voters, alongside jobs and the economy. A Washington Post-Schar School poll in July found that Democrats have a clear advantage among those voters who cite health care as their most important issue, and a Pew Foundation poll in June found that voters trust Democrats over Republicans on the issue by a 16-point margin.

Kelly's group just this week began running a new round of ads targeting Republican House incumbents for their support of the failed GOP health-care bill. The ads highlight an "age tax" - a provision that would have allowed insurers to charge older policyholders up to five times as much as younger ones, reversing an ACA regulation that allows no more than a 3 to 1 ratio.

Numerous Republican lawmakers and strategists interviewed this week conceded that GOP candidates are broadly vulnerable on the issue. Highlighting the concern, the House this week voted on several bills aimed at lowering health-care costs, including a measure that would expand untaxed health savings accounts and allow for the sale of cheaper, less comprehensive plans, as well as another bill that would repeal an ACA tax on medical devices.

But none of those bills are expected to pass the Senate before the election, and several Republicans have pivoted to a message that highlights not the GOP's own policies but what they perceive as a potential Democratic overreach: the increasing embrace of more aggressive federal intervention in health care, whether by allowing younger Americans to buy in to Medicare or moving to a single-payer system that would eliminate private insurance.

"It comes down to:Do you want a government-controlled health-care system or do you want to have choices and options?" asked Rep. Tom MacArthur, N.J., who helped craft the GOP bill that passed the House last year. "That's what I'm working on. My opponent wants a European-style government takeover. It's that simple."

Although few Republicans attack Medicare, the government-run program that covers 44 million seniors, the notion of expanding it has sparked pushback at the highest levels of the GOP.

"What do the Democrats want to do? . . . They want to get rid of private health insurance and have a government takeover of the health-care system. They've gone so far left," House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Wednesday on Fox News Channel.

The midterm campaigns will play out against a shifting health-care landscape, as a result of Republican moves that have largely served to discourage enrollment in the exchanges established under the law. That has prompted insurers to anticipate a disproportionately older and sicker population, leading them to raise premiums ahead of the Nov. 1 beginning of enrollment for next year's plans.

Nearly a year ago, federal health officials announced that they would slash spending for advertising and other outreach intended to encourage Americans to sign up for ACA health plans by 90 percent, while cutting aid to grass-roots groups helping consumers enroll by 40 percent. In October, the Trump administration ended subsidy payments to insurers, totaling about $7 billion last year, meant to offset discounts they are required to give lower-income customers for deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs.

Congress undid one of the ACA's pillars in December, when as part of the wider GOP tax bill it zeroed out the tax penalty for individuals who do not purchase insurance - eliminating a key mechanism forcing younger and healthier Americans into the exchanges. The administration also has been working to widen the availability of less expensive health plans that skirt the ACA's requirements that insurers offer a minimum level of benefits and cover preexisting conditions.

And in June, the Justice Department filed a brief in a federal lawsuit arguing for the first time that the ACA's requirement that insurers must cover enrollees with preexisting conditions - the most popular part of the law - should be discarded on constitutional grounds.

Late Tuesday, the administration backtracked on a recent move following an outcry from the health insurance industry. The reversal involves about $10 billion in "risk adjustment" payments meant to even out costs between insurers with customers who need expensive medical care and those with healthier customers.

Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, froze the payments on July 7, citing pending litigation, but reinstated them Tuesday.

Still, nearly 12 million Americans signed up for ACA plans in 2018, and more than three-quarters of them are receiving federal subsidies to afford them. That means that in any given congressional district, tens of thousands could see their health care under direct threat from the GOP policies - especially middle-class suburban voters whose incomes make them ineligible for subsidies and thus more sensitive to price increases.

Democratic candidates are now trying to capitalize in a spate of TV ads: Kim Schrier, a pediatrician running in a suburban Seattle district, promises to "stop Trump's attacks on our health care" and allow more Americans to access Medicare. Cort VanOstran, running in suburban St. Louis, is telling voters that when Republicans "tried to take health care away from millions, I couldn't sit back." And Antonio Delgado, running in New York's Hudson Valley, is highlighting Rep. John Faso's caught-on-video pledge to an ailing constituent not to take away coverage ahead of last year's ACA repeal vote.

Faso said in an interview that the bill would have done nothing to undermine coverage for people with preexisting conditions and that he was comfortable running on the "incremental" things" Republicans have done since, such as reauthorizing the Children's Health Insurance Program and pursuing a reinsurance program for high-cost patients. And he said he was happy to contrast his views with Delgado's support for a more aggressive federal role in health care.

"People on the left want the government to provide everything," Faso said. "I don't believe in that, and I don't subscribe to that."

Larry Levitt, a senior vice president at the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, said the political risks for Republicans are clear. "They have tried to unravel protections that people hold dear while not successfully coming up with a replacement plan of their own," he said.

Rep. Garland "Andy" Barr, R-Ky., one of the incumbents targeted this week by the House Majority PAC, said that he, too, is ready to focus on GOP support for community health centers, medical research funding and combating opioid abuse - and that he is confident that voters will not ignore the Democratic attacks.

"Look, I know what their narrative is. But guess what? I've tried to fix it. It came up short in the Senate," he said of the vote last July. "Let me tell you, the failures of the health-care system right now are the failures of Obamacare. That's my message."The US military conducted an airstrike Monday targeting Al-Shabaab in Somalia, a strike that took place after the terror group's fighters assaulted a base where a US soldier was killed last month.

"In coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia, US forces conducted an airstrike targeting al-Shabaab militants approximately 50 kilometers north of Kismayo, Somalia," Maj. Karl Wiest, a spokesman for US Africa Command, told CNN.

Wiest said the US was still assessing the results of the strike.

The last US airstrike in Somalia occurred on June 2.

The strike took place the same day that fighters of Al-Shabaab, an al Qaeda affiliate, attacked -- and, according to some accounts, briefly occupied -- a combat outpost that had been previously established by a combined force of some 800 Somali, Kenyan and US troops, including dozens of American military advisers.

Monday's strike targeted Al-Shabaab militants who were observed moving tactically and carrying a variety of weaponry in an area near the attack on the outpost, according to Africa Command.

The outpost is located in Jubaland, Somalia, about 350 kilometers southwest of the capital, Mogadishu.

While establishing the outpost last month, the US forces advising the mission came under attack from mortars and small arms fire and one US soldier, Sgt. Alexander Conrad, was killed. Several other US service members and one Kenyan soldier were wounded.

Following the June attack, a US military official told CNN there were no plans for Somali forces to leave the combat outpost and that they would maintain a presence there.

Wiest said no US forces were located at the forward operating base when it came under attack Monday.

There are currently about 500 US troops in Somalia who have been there since 2013 advising local forces battling Al-Shabaab. The US estimates that the terror group commands 4,000 to 6,000 active fighters, making it one of al Qaeda's largest affiliates.WASHINGTON - The House on Thursday overwhelmingly passed the final version of the annual defense authorization bill, giving its approval to a record-setting military budget and changes to policies on Russia and China that nonetheless avoids direct clashes with the Trump administration.

The 359 to 54 vote on the $716 billion measure, which the Senate is expected to take up in coming weeks, comes after one of the shortest negotiation processes for the behemoth defense bill in recent history - an indicator of how few politically controversial issues arose during the debate.

House and Senate lawmakers decided to avoid angering the Trump administration with a provision that would have effectively undone a deal the president recently struck to lift certain penalties against Chinese telecom giant ZTE, imposed because the firm sold products to Iran and North Korea.

Instead of reimposing sanctions on the company - a move that officials say would have put it out of business - lawmakers included a less heavy-handed restriction preventing the federal government from buying any products made by ZTE and Huawei, another Chinese telecom company that both Democrats and Republicans believe poses a national security risk.

Lawmakers also accommodated a request from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to give the administration the power to waive certain Russia-related sanctions to sell defense materials to countries that have been dependent on Russian systems, in an effort to better court those countries into closer defense alliances with the West.

Republicans in Congress argued that the change was necessary to better achieve the objectives of isolating Russia. But the timing prompted a sharp backlash from Democrats, who questioned why sanctions against Russia were being eased at all at a time when members from both sides of the aisle were clamoring for more stringent punitive measures against the Kremlin.

Bipartisan pairs of lawmakers have raised various proposals to stiffen sanctions against Russia following President Donald Trump's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which drew criticism from members of Congress. On Wednesday, both Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee laid into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for not being more forthcoming with the details of what exactly Trump agreed to during his meeting with Putin - or to allay their concerns that the White House was simply "making it up as they go" on foreign policy.

House Democratic leaders defended the changes to Russia and China policy in the bill as significant.

"This bill does step up to confront our adversaries in Russia and China," Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, said on the floor Thursday.

Among those measures are updated authorities for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, that some lawmakers have argued will be vital for blocking transactions with companies, including Chinese corporations, that pose national security risks to the country. The bill also includes a prohibition on China's participation in joint naval exercises in the Pacific rim.

Lawmakers also decided to include in the legislation a reaffirmation of the U.S.'s commitment to NATO and increasing the defense capabilities of European allies. The measure creates a new position on the National Security Council dedicated to countering Russian efforts to influence elections.

The measure includes money for 77 new Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, 13 new battle ships, and a 2.6 percent pay raise for all members of the armed forces. It limits the sale or transfer of F-35s to Turkey, until a report is completed assessing whether Turkey should be eliminated from participation in the F-35 program entirely.Photos courtesy of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland

Photos courtesy of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland

GREENBELT, Md. - A Maryland man who had an underground bunker full of machine guns, explosives and child pornography has been sentenced to more than 16 years in federal prison.

The sentencing Wednesday for Caleb Andrew Bailey, 31, of Waldorf, came more than two years after he was first arrested in a case that originally began as an investigation into a suspicious package he sent through the mail.

"I screwed up beyond words and I will never forgive myself," said Bailey, who ran as a delegate for Donald Trump before the Republican National Convention and ran for a seat in Maryland's 5th congressional District. "The damage I've done haunts me."

Bailey had attempted to ship hundreds of rounds of ammunition without a permit to a store in Wisconsin in February 2016, but the box broke open at a U.S. postal facility, according to court filings. Bailey called to ask about the undelivered package, leading the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to Bailey's home.

While executing a search warrant, investigators uncovered a cache of machine guns, unregistered short-barreled rifles and explosive devices. Authorities also found recording equipment and electronic devices containing more than 2,000 files depicting child pornography, including videos of teenage boys he recorded surreptitiously, according to his plea agreement.

During the search, authorities also found a 17-year-old described as a "minor victim" at the house. The teen had earlier taken a laptop, camera, and hard drive from inside the residence to hide near a footbridge in the woods at Bailey's instruction, court filings state.

Bailey had an admitted fascination with firearms and also collected them as a means of personal protection, according to testimony from his sentencing. Bailey kept the weapons locked up and did not intend to harm others, his attorney said.

The government said he also used the weapons as a way to maintain the interest of the teenage boys he wound up secretly recording.

While there is a constitutional right to own firearms, possessing machine guns is illegal "because of how destructive they are," Judge Paul Grimm said at sentencing in federal court in Greenbelt.

Much of Bailey's sentencing hearing focused on the child pornography charges. Bailey relied on hidden cameras to record teenage boys using the bathroom in his RV and at hotels where he would stay with the boys while they competed in ATV races, according to the government. Bailey produced more than 100 videos between 2014 and 2016, his plea agreement states.

Bailey and his attorney said he grew up in a conservative and religious community and he recorded the videos because he was ashamed of his attraction to other men and couldn't openly express his sexual preferences.

"I did not know how to deal with my attraction to the same sex," Bailey said.

Grimm said Bailey's possession of child pornography were "very serious crimes." The judge alluded to the lifetime of trauma victims suffer as they are notified every time images of them being violated when they were "small and defenseless" circulate and recirculate through the Internet and become part of a criminal case.

"What folks need to understand is that the victims of child pornography become victims often for the rest of their lives," Grimm said. "They write heart-wrenching letters of the trust that will never be restored."Just when you thought the culinary attractions at San Franciscos Outside Lands music festival couldnt get any more outrageous, the 2018 lineup has dropped.

This years festival, at Golden Gate Park from Aug. 10 to 12, will have musical acts like Janet Jackson, Janelle Monae, Bon Iver and the Weeknd, but its food and drink offerings come very close to matching the big stages acts in terms of star power. Eighty-three restaurants, 41 wineries and 30 breweries will be present at the outdoor festival, showcasing the best of what Northern California has to offer.WHISKEYTOWN, Calif - Campsites and swimming areas remain deserted near Whiskeytown after disappointed tourists were kept out

and fire fighters continued to battle the nearby Carr Fire.

"This is rough, it's sad," said Kylee Sloan of Redding.

The blaze just north of the park has been burning erratically for days bringing in smoke, ashes and poor visibility to the neighboring

areas.

"I mean it's normally so clear. Just looking out at the telescope there it was amazing. You can barely see anything," said Sloan.

Many drivers say the closure of State Route 299 was an unexpected surprise as they were traveling north, and they're now going to

have to take a much longer route.

"We have to go an extra five hours instead of three hours to go back to where we are going," said Wendy Navarro.

But for some, the fire didnt just affect their plans.

It brings back memories of harsher fires that blacked close to home.

"Obviously it's disturbing and brings back the memories I dont think i'll ever forget what can happen in respect to a fire. These fires are devastating," said Norman Nelson, from Old Shasta.

But despite cancelled plans, changes routes, and horrible memories, many say theyll do what they have to do to keep their spirits high and pray for all of those fighting the fire and residents waiting to go back home.

"Oh I dont know I just hope it clears up soon and shout out to our fighter fighters in that area. This is going to be cleared up soon hopefully," said Sloan.BAD AXE  A county resident this week presented the Huron County Board of Commissioners with photos of the Huron County Planning Commission chairman participating in an anti-wind demonstration.

One photo of Robert McLean showed him holding a sign that reads, Wind turbines make bad neighbors.

Bad Axe resident Paul Holz told the Tribune the photo was taken at a DTE Energy informational meeting at the Pasta House in Kinde a few years ago.

Holz told commissioners on Tuesday, (McLean) outright lied to you and us citizens during his interview when asked, Are you or have you ever been affiliated with any pro- or anti-wind organizations? His answer was a strong, Absolutely not.

According to recording from that interview, however, McLean had been asked whether he had ever been a member of any pro- or anti- wind organizations.

Im not a member of any group, and I havent been a member of any group. Im not an official member of anything with anybody. This is mudslinging and  people with sour grapes. Thats the way I view it, McLean told the Tribune on Wednesday.

Holz also told the board of commissioners McLean ignored the boards June 26 direction in his role as chair of the planning commission.

The day after the board unanimously passed a motion urging the planning commission to focus on a solar energy ordinance before changing the countys wind ordinance, McLean proceeded in conducting a wind ordinance committee meeting that evening.

McLean told the Tribune earlier that day that since he had received no official word on what the commissioners had done, he would carry on with the scheduled wind committee meeting.

Any employer would have fired Mr. McLean long ago for such actions, Holz told the board of commissioners on Tuesday.   Instead, you protect him  We deserve better appointed employees, and we deserve better elected commissioners.

Holz then presented the photos of McLean to board Chairman Sami Khoury.

After Holz spoke, Bloomfield Township resident Robert Gaffke came out in support of the planning commission.

I think you guys have appointed a very diverse and very good planning commission that is not conflicted or captured by energy companies, Gaffke said. I believe that these men and women on this planning commission  have the citizens of Huron Countys best interests at heart.

They are good people and I support their appointments, he concluded.

Commissioner John L. Bodis asked McLean during the 2017 interview whether he was a member of pro- or anti-wind groups.

After having seen the photo, Bodis told the Tribune Wednesday, I feel he was less than truthful.

During McLeans planning commission interview, Bodis also asked McLean if he could act impartially and above political considerations that could affect his decisions.

Yes, McLean answered. Im a strong-willed person. I dont cater to special interests, and Im able to debate with people 

At the bottom of the sign McLean was holding in the photo, iiccusa.org was printed. That stands for Interstate Informed Citizens Coalition, Inc.

According to that website, it is "a non-profit corporation dedicated to raising public awareness of the potential impacts from construction of industrial wind turbines."

McLean said although he has never been a member of such a group, he has been contacted by anti-wind groups and others for information and assistance.

One citizen helping another, thats what that is, Mclean said.

He noted that he has been both a citizen unhappy with public officials and a public official himself.

Ive been on both sides of the fence  Im very careful about anything I do or say  he said.

Regarding the photo, he added, What I was doing back then is irrelevant to my position now.

McLean denied that he is against wind development.

Im an intelligent person who has done his homework for many years, he said. I have a better understanding (of wind energy issues) than 95  99 percent of people in the state ...

He added that mudslinging comes with the territory of being a public official.WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's top diplomat faced withering questions from lawmakers Wednesday about the president's ability to steer American foreign policy and his lack of transparency, as the White House scrambled to present a tougher stance toward Russia.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee came as the White House postponed a second summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid criticism of Trump's conflicting statements on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

In an effort to reassure lawmakers, Pompeo said the president accepts the views of the intelligence community that Russia interfered in the election, and he declared that the United States would never recognize Putin's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

But Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, the top Republican on the panel, told Pompeo that lawmakers are "filled with serious doubts about this White House and its conduct of American foreign policy."

He challenged Pompeo to satisfy bipartisan concerns that the White House is "making it up as they go" and that Pompeo himself may not know what is happening.

"The administration tells us, 'Don't worry, be patient, there is a strategy here.' But from where we sit, it appears that in a 'ready, fire, aim' fashion, the White House is waking up every morning and making it up as they go," Corker said, complaining that senators have been unable to get straight answers to basic questions about what Trump may have said to Putin when the two leaders met in Helsinki last week.

Pompeo testily assured senators that Trump had relayed the contents of the meeting afterward.

Russia and concerns that Trump is too cozy with Putin dominated the three-hour session. The hearing was a symbolic step for Republicans who have frequently set aside long-held policy views about Russia, North Korea and other issues to suit Trump's unorthodox approach.

In a sign that the White House wanted to blunt criticism from the president's own party, the administration issued a declaration about its views on Crimea, including that Republican-approved sanctions will remain in place, hours before the questioning began. White House national security adviser John Bolton then issued a statement formally postponing the follow-up Putin summit until next year.

Corker, a frequent Trump foil who is not seeking reelection this year, said Trump appeared "submissive and deferential" in his interactions with Putin, adding that Trump is "antagonizing our friends and placating those who clearly wish us ill."

Corker's frustrations followed a week of walk-backs, reversals and clarifications from a Trump administration trying to account for the president's freewheeling comments about Russia and the 2016 election.

In recent days, Senate Republicans have made public remarks opposing a future meeting between Trump and Putin, which had been previewed by White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders last week.

Democrats in Congress, meanwhile, unleashed a torrent of criticism, going so far as calling Trump's news conference with Putin "treasonous" and placing a rare demand for the president's interpreter to testify before Congress about what the two presidents discussed.

On Wednesday, Pompeo said critics were unfairly characterizing Trump administration policy toward Russia as soft, and he ticked off a list of aggressive steps taken, including the expulsion of 60 Russian spies and diplomats, the sanctioning of Russian oligarchs and the provision of lethal weapons to Ukraine.

When confronted with specific questions about the summit, Pompeo repeatedly recited U.S. policy, prompting senators to accuse him of withholding details about the discussions.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., asked whether Trump talked to Putin about removing U.S. troops from Syria. Pompeo replied that "there's been no change to U.S. policy."

"That's not exactly the question," Shaheen said.

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., repeatedly asked whether Trump and Putin discussed sanctions related to Crimea. Pompeo did not answer the question directly but said it was U.S. policy not to lift sanctions imposed after Russia annexed Crimea.

"Presidents are entitled to have private meetings; I'm telling you what U.S. policy is here," Pompeo said.

"We don't know the truth of what transpired in those two hours," Menendez shot back.

In a later exchange, Pompeo accused Menendez, the panel's top Democrat, of playing political games.

Menendez shouted at Pompeo, a former tea party Republican congressman.

"If President Obama had done what President Trump did in Helsinki, I'd be peeling you off the Capitol ceiling, so please don't talk to me about politics," Menendez said.

The tension over what transpired in the meeting has been exacerbated by the fact that the Russian government has shared more details about it than the U.S. side has.

Last week, Russian Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev said Moscow had already sent formal proposals to Washington for joint efforts to fund the reconstruction of Syria and facilitate the return home of millions of Syrians who fled the war, following "agreements reached" by Trump and Putin.

The announcement surprised U.S. allies and lawmakers, as U.S. officials insisted that no agreements were made.

In the hearing, Pompeo acknowledged that Trump and Putin talked about finding a political resolution in Syria, dealing with displaced people and protecting Israeli security interests, but he insisted "there's been no change in U.S. policy with respect to our activities in Syria."

In Moscow, Russian officials have reacted with surprise to the bipartisan backlash to the Helsinki summit. Typically, the Kremlin would welcome a follow-up invitation from the United States for another presidential meeting, but Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said Tuesday that it might be better for the "dust to settle before having a businesslike discussion" between Trump and Putin given the current "atmosphere" in Washington.

The hearing also provided the first opportunity for lawmakers to ask Pompeo about Trump's meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore last month. Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., expressed concern that there is "no verifiable evidence that North Korea . . . is denuclearizing."

"I am afraid at this point that the Trump administration is being taken for a ride," he said.

"Fear not, senator," Pompeo responded.

The top diplomat, in keeping with Trump's public support of the negotiations, expressed confidence that the North Koreans understand the U.S. definition of denuclearization and have agreed to denuclearize.

Pompeo would not, however, detail whether the United States has obtained an inventory of North Korea's stockpile or say whether Kim's government continued to develop nuclear weapons for submarines or chemical and biological weapons. He acknowledged that Pyongyang is still producing fissile materials and that human rights abuses continue.

- - -

The Washington Post's Carol Morello and Karen DeYoung contributed to this report.The French Gulch Hotel has become somewhat of a home base for members in the community who chose not to evacuate when the Carr Fire broke out Monday afternoon.

Its been a part of the community of French Gulch since 1885.

So when the evacuation order went out for the Carr Fire, owner Eric Jue was determined stay behind and defend it.

And I think the only way its gone through this many fires without us losing it is because people stayed to fight it, Jue said. And I was prepared to do what I had to do to keep it cool and not let it go.

The fire knocked out power to the tiny town of about 350, which PG&E is working to restore.

But in the meantime, Jue has been running his generator non stop during the day to provide residents without air conditioning a place to cool off, charge their phones and get something to eat.

I have one of the hearts of the community, Jue said. So they rely on me a lot.

Lissa Carlson is one of those residents.

We've been able to cook meals, she said. We've had the air conditioning going, you know. I've gone and checked on other people's houses. And we just are here to do what we can. You know?

Carlson and her family have lived in French Gulch for generations, so the decision to stay was an easy one.

To me, it was more important to stay here and help to make sure our community stayed safe, Carlson said. You know, made sure everybody had information at all times. And it was an important thing to do.

But this isn't the first time fire has threatened this small but tight knit community.

Back in 2004, fire came dangerously close to the town.

But they got through that fire, and Jue says they'll get through this one too.

This community is a really good community of people, he said. When your back's against the wall, we come together really nicely. We help each other out a lot.

Evacuation orders remain in effect for French Gulch and surrounding areas.

Highway 299 will be closed at least until Thursday morning.

At that time, Caltrans will meet with firefighters and law enforcement to reassess if it's possible to reopen.A local furniture store outlet has been turning heads with its suggestive billboard at the intersection of Durham Drive and the Katy Freeway service road.

The Dump Furniture Outlet, which opens three days per week, advertises its operating hours with the sign that reads "We can please your wife three days a week. Can you?"Construction at the intersection of Olton Road and Quincy Street is nearing its end but there could be more projects in the future, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.

Heath Bozeman, Plainview area engineer for TxDOT, said the work was begun to install disability-friendly ramps and sidewalks for area pedestrians.

"We want to encourage pedestrian use and get stuff up to ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) standards," Bozeman said.

The work is part of a statewide TxDOT campaign to assess and make changes to revamp areas around regional communities that don't meet ADA standards.

"Sidewalks were not in style (in the 1970s and 1980s)," Bozeman said. Many of these areas that require upgrades were created in those decades, he said.

ADA now requires curb ramps at every pedestrian intersection so TxDOT is working to catch up.

Bozeman said TxDOT officials take note of what areas they think need attention every year.

The requirements are always being tweaked so there's almost always improvements to be made.

"We work them in sections," Bozeman said.

TxDOT has already completed work in other areas around town, he said noting some work near Highland Elementary.

There's still more construction in store, too, he said, though it may be a while before any new projects are started.

Bozeman said there are other projects scheduled in Hale Center and Littlefield.

Some areas meet the current ADA standards, he said, but it's going to take some time to get to every one that needs attention.

"We got out and identify the areas that have more heavy traffic," he said. "We get those areas first and just work through (the list.)."

Bozeman said the project at Olton and Quincy should be wrapped up by the end of August.San Antonio police arrested a Bexar County deputy early Thursday on a charge of drunken driving, according to the sheriffs office.

Officers arrested Deputy Libmar Rodriguez on the drunken driving charge around 1 a.m. in the 9400 block of Interstate 10 West, according to police.

Rodriguez, 35, was then booked into the Bexar County Jail on the Class B misdemeanor. He has since bonded out.

RELATED: 45 arrested on felony DWI charges in June in Bexar County, records show

Rodriguez is a detention deputy at the jail and has only been employed since September 2017, according to the sheriff's office. He has been placed on administrative leave pending investigations by the San Antonio Police Department and the Bexar County Sheriffs Offices Internal Affairs Unit.

Sheriff Javier Salazar said he and his command staff are talking to their deputies about drunken driving and off-duty conduct during roll calls, and the subject has also been incorporated into the academy and in-service training.

It is unfortunate that there are still personnel who fail to heed numerous warnings and continue to drive while intoxicated, Salazar said. This deputy will be held accountable criminally and administratively. We will continue to work with the Deputy Sheriffs Association on education and prevention efforts.

In 2018 alone, more than 10 deputies have been charged with crimes ranging from sexual assault to drunken driving.

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After two years of redesign, a San Marcos boat finally got its groove back on May 20.

The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State welcomed back Boat 1953, one of Spring Lake's glass-bottomed vessels, after being out of water for renovations, according to a university news release.A shooting that occurred as undercover officers were arresting a man Wednesday evening on the South Side is being investigated by police.

San Antonio Police Department spokesman officer Caros Ortiz said Repeat Offenders Program detectives had tracked a suspect to a gas station in the 8700 block of Somerset Road.

"(The officers) bailed out of their vehicles to make contact with that arrested person," Ortiz said.

RELATED: Mission vandals ordered to have no contact with each other

Ortiz said it is not clear exactly what occurred, but one of the detectives pulled out his service weapon and fired two shots at about 6:15 p.m.

The suspect that detectives arrested was not hit, police said.

"Anytime that happens we call the shooting team out," Ortiz said.

The team took several witnesses and detectives to be interviewed at the Public Safety Headquarters, police said.

Ortiz was unable to give out any more information.

The officer is being placed on administrative duty until he has been cleared of the shooting by the Bexar County District Attorney.

Police did not say how old the suspect is. Ortiz said that he could not say what warrant the man was wanted for because he had not yet been processed through the Bexar County Central Magistrate's Office.

jbeltran@express-news.net | Twitter: @JBfromSA















The recent spike in gun violence in the city of Toronto has got lawmakers and residents worried that things may soon spiral out of control. As Torontos council woman, Mary Fragedakis cried out after the recent shootings, We do have a gun problem. Why do people have guns, why do they need them? This is the city and in Canadian cities, you dont need guns. Mayor John Tory, in a speech to council after the shooting, similarly admitted that the rate of gun related deaths have doubled over the past year.



The most recent shooting took place on Monday night, where a man took a gun to the residents to the bewildered residents of Danforth Ave., aimlessly shooting at innocent passers-by. Killing a 10-year-old girl and an 18-year-old woman and injuring 13 more people.



The handgun problem in Canada has been said to come from the influx of illegal handguns from the US. Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders further informed the council that about half of the illegal guns police are now sourced right in the city, where people would buy them legally then resell them.



In the wake of these events, the city council on Tuesday July the 24th, took a vote of 41-4 in favor of the motion to forbid the sale of handgun ammunition within the city and to ask the federal government to ban the sale of handguns in Toronto.



In addition to these, the council has decided to adopt other strategies that would further rid the city of gun violence; some part of the new strategy would include investing in ShotSpotter, a technology that uses microphones to detect gunfire and automatically informs police and recruiting 100 new police officers to protect the city. Council also decided to implement stricter procedures as it involves previously mentally ill individuals acquiring a gun.



In response to Torontos request, Federal Safety Minister, Ralph Goodale says the government would consider the increasing calls for handgun ban, recalling that the issue was also recently brought up by those affected by the January Quebec mosque shooting. In his words, A number of groups and organizations made representations to that effect earlier this year. I said that we would be prepared to consider their arguments and we will do that. He however admitted that such change would involve extensive remodeling of the countrys criminal code.



As seen in the four dissenting Toronto council votes, not everyone is in total support of the councils recent moves to ban gun violence. Gun rights advocates have of course began to speak up on the issue, arguing that a ban of handguns would not do much to prevent similar cases of gun violence in the city. Furthermore, some councilors have raised concerns on issues on privacy and constitutional concerns that might come up while using Shotspotter.



It can be recalled that Canada initially revamped its gun laws after the country's worst mass shooting in 1989, when 14 women were killed by man, Marc Lepine who also killed himself. Since then it was made illegal to possess an unregistered firearm.



A family trying to sell a pair of shoes was robbed at gunpoint Sunday, according to San Antonio police.

On Wednesday, police arrested Damen Carrillo on suspicion of aggravated robbery.With two days of early voting remaining, about 6,700 Bexar County voters have cast ballots in the special election to fill the Texas Senate seat vacated in June by Carlos Uresti.

The countys 10 polling sites are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Election Day is July 31.

Eight candidates are on the Senate District 19 ballot are: Republicans Jesse Jay Alaniz, Peter Pete Flores and Carlos Antonio Raymond, Democrats Pete Gallego, Roland Gutierrez, Charlie Urbina Jones and Tomas Uresti, and Libertarian Tony Valdivia.

By 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, 3,432 people had voted in Bexar County , and the Elections Department received another 3,262 mail-in ballots, elections administrator Jacque Callanen said.

The totals account for 2.15 percent of the 311,009 Bexar County voters who are registered in the district, Callanen said. The district covers parts of the West, South and East Sides, then stretches across West Texas to 16 other counties.

Bexar County made up 62 percent of the vote in the 2016 November election and is expected to make up at least half the special election vote.

In Maverick County, 747 people voted early through Tuesday, with 114 of the votes coming from mail-in ballots. Voters in Medina County cast 664 in-person ballots through Tuesday; elections administrator Lupe Torres did not have mail-in totals available Wednesday.

According to the Val Verde County website, 616 people cast early ballots through Tuesday, while Atascosa County recorded 566 votes, 152 of which came through the mail.

That amounts to about 9,300 votes in the five districts with the highest turnout in 2016, minus mail-in totals in Medina and Val Verde.

Uresti, a Democrat, resigned from the Senate in June about four months after he was convicted of 11 felonies related to fraud and money laundering. The counts stemmed from Urestis role in a frac-sand company that turned out to be a Ponzi scheme.

Several days later, Uresti, who denied all the charges and is appealing the conviction, received a 12-year prison sentence.

Jasper Scherer is a staff writer in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | jscherer@express-news.net | Twitter: @jaspschererA Houston City Council committee will gather this morning to discuss the cost implications of a proposal that would grant firefighters the same pay as police officers of corresponding rank, a matter that could go before voters as early as November.

Houston firefighters, who circulated the parity petition last summer, say the very discussion is improper and toes the line of electioneering because the council has not yet decided when the petition will appear before the voters.

State law, they note, requires the council to place verified petitions on a ballot, and this petition was verified in May, after fire union leaders sued to force the city to count their signatures, and won.

Mayor Sylvester Turner, however, said he has scheduled the meeting because he feels council has a duty to understand the implications of the proposal in order to educate voters about it.

READ MORE: Rancor between firefighters, mayor flares anew over petition count

Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association President Marty Lancton, in a Tuesday letter to the mayor and council, urged them not to conflate their duty to place the item on the ballot with concerns about its budgetary impact.

We believe the upcoming BFA meeting is another cynical political stunt to attempt to deny Houston voters the right to successfully petition the city and vote on this issue, Lancton wrote.

Turner did little to change firefighters minds at Wednesdays regularly scheduled council meeting, arguing that the proposals $79 million projected annual cost  which he said equates to a 20 percent to 25 percent raise for firefighters -- is something we simply cannot afford. The proposal, he added, could lower the citys credit ratings or force layoffs and cuts in city services.

Id like to think that the members of this city council, when youre talking to your constituents and they ask you approximately how much this will cost, Id like to think youll want to have an answer, he said of the budget committee hearing.

Turner also cast the hearing as a chance for the firefighters to explain their proposal, though union leaders are under no legal obligation to do so.

READ MORE: Houston council's meeting maneuver on firefighter pay falls short

Councilman Michael Kubosh, who helped organize a rare special meeting last week when the mayor was on a trade mission to South America in an attempt to push the parity referendum, questioned Turner about the intent of the budget committee discussion.

Are you suggesting that perhaps we after learning that we cant afford it that we would then vote against it being on the ballot? Kubosh asked.

The purpose of the hearing is to vet everything, Turner replied. As council members, dont you want to know?

The mayor left the door open during Wednesdays discussion to suggestions that the item could go before voters in November 2019 rather than this fall, but acknowledged afterward he suspects the council will decide to hold the vote this year.The South San School District is attempting to pass a tax increase, the maximum allowable by law, on its residents.

The school district maintains that our neighboring school districts have approved their own increases. True. However, they were not closing schools at the same time. Closing schools and simultaneously asking to raise taxes simply does not make sense.

Recent, bitter memories still linger.

First, the South San district chose the path of least resistance and closed three schools this past year. When this first domino fell, other dominoes began to fall.

Second, parents removed their children from our schools rather than the children attending schools not in their neighborhood. With fewer students came a loss in state funding. Understandably, the school district is projecting a greater loss of students next year. School districts in San Antonio that also are facing loss in student enrollment have indicated, through their leadership, that closing schools will be a last resort.

Third, for the past three years, our more experienced master teachers have left the school district. Happy teachers do not leave.

In late August, the Texas Education Agency will release district and campus academic ratings. The exodus of these teachers will more than likely be realized at that time.

Fourth, other recent ill planning does not help the school district  such as the student bus transportation plan, which was chaotic and merciless, at best, after schools closed.

Parents of bilingual students are still not convinced that forcing their child to designated bilingual cluster schools is in their best educational interest. Not being able to attend their neighborhood school serves as a constant reminder of non-inclusiveness.

Nearly every taxpayer realizes that they pay the highest taxes to the school district.

Finally, when the school district closed West Campus High School for all the wrong reasons, the mistrust of the school district began. Any school is the heart of a community. Close that school and that community ceases to thrive.

The community should vote against this tax increase. Should the tax ratification election fail, the school district leadership must be compelled to consult with community leaders, whether they were for or against the TRE.

This consultation must include compromise, common ground and consensus. We are at a crossroads, and agreeing on a pathway forward will place our school district on the verge of greatness.

Connie Prado is on the South San Antonio Independent School Districts board of trustees.Some local taxpayers once again will be asked to bear the brunt of the Texas Legislatures failure to fix the states antiquated and underfunded public school finance system.

Taxpayers in the South San Antonio Independent School District, one of several low property wealth districts in our community, will go to the polls starting Monday to cast their ballot in a tax ratification election, commonly referred to as a TRE.

The school district wants to raise taxes to compensate for the decline in state funding due to loss of enrollment to charter schools.

The measure merits voter support.

It is regrettable that struggling school districts have to resort to tapping local taxpayers for this funding. However, the lack of political fortitude by state leaders to tackle this pressing issue and their shift of the burden to the folks back home leave school boards little choice.

Without the additional tax dollars generated by TREs, many school districts including a handful in Bexar County  would be unable to make ends meet.

Over the past couple of decades, local taxpayers have taken on a larger percentage of the cost of public education as the states portion has shrunk.

More than half of the more than 1,000 public school districts in the state have had to ask voters to tax themselves at a higher rate to ensure classroom needs are met.

That is not sustainable. State leaders need to stop dragging their feet on this issue and set it as a priority for the next legislative session.

The proposal before South San voters seeks to raise the schools maintenance and operation tax rate from $1.04 to $1.17 per $100 of assessed property value, bringing the total tax rate to $1.58.

If approved, the South San tax hike would generate $6.3 million. The tax increase would not affect taxes paid by property owners 65 and older.

The school district is already going through a belt-tightening measure to account for a $2.9 million revenue shortfall tied to declining enrollment.

Plans are to eliminate about 42 positions, including 22 teaching positions, police officers not assigned to a campus, administrators, and clerical and maintenance staff.

The district has identified an additional 32 jobs that would need to be eliminated if the proposed TRE is not approved.

It is disappointing to see an anti-TRE movement  which includes longtime school board member Connie Prado  working against the ballot proposal. Having a divided board on this matter does not bode well for the districts recruitment of a new superintendent.

The districts current superintendent, Abe Saveedra, has announced plans to retire at the end of his contract in 2019. The district has made great strides in the four years since he took over the troubled and often dysfunctional district.

Prado remains the only board member remaining from when Saveedra came on board. It is disappointing that while many things have changed, Prado remains persistent in playing obstructionist to the administrations efforts to move the district forward.

Voters need to look beyond her self-serving political motives on this one and support the TRE.

Early voting starts Monday and continues through Aug. 10. Election day is Aug. 14.Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, is currently a subject of multiple ongoing investigations involving possible bank fraud and campaign finance violations. But the executive and struggling taxi medallion magnate has also made headlines for a number of real estate transactions.

Cohen, who began working for Trump in 2006 as an executive in the Trump Organization, has amassed some big-time housing deals. Here's a quick dossier on his holdingscan you spot a theme?

111 Murray St. in Tribeca

111 Murray St. in Tribeca realtor.com

Recently, the 51-year-old purchased a 2,600-square-foot apartment in Tribeca for $6.7 million. The newly completed luxury skyscraper is known for its outrageous amenities, including a top-end fitness center, Turkish-style bath, lap pool, private dining room, blowout bar, and even concierge jet service.

In an unusual financing arrangement, Cohen was assisted by the developers, who agreed to a $3.5 million short-term mortgage. The Wall Street Journal notes that the developers are longtime friends of Trump.

Cohen's unit is on the 19th floor of the 64-floor tower, and has four bedrooms and 4.5 baths. Occupancy of the building is expected to begin this summer. If you'd like to cozy up to Cohen, available units on the market range in price from $4 million to $40 million.

Trump Park Avenue

Trump Park Avenue lobby trumpinternationalrealty.com

Cohen and his wife pledged their apartment in Trump Park Avenue as collateral to the bank, as potential liabilities (think large legal bills) pile up.

According to Bloomberg News, businesses owned by the Cohens owed nearly $13 million on loans initially extended in 2014. Those loans were secured against the once-valuable taxi medallions Cohen owns. (Those medallions have lost as much as 80% of their value with the advent of ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft cutting into the yellow-cab business.)

So, his apartment is now hocked against a large loan. The sprawling 10th-floor Manhattan abode combined three units and was valued at $9 million by the bank, Bloomberg notes. (Cohen disputed the numbers in the story.)

Trump World Tower

Trump World Tower realtor.com

Cohen sold a unit in Trump World Tower for $3.3 million in 2017. He purchased the place in 2001, when the building was just being finished, paying just under $1 million, the Real Deal reports. The 15th-floor apartment appeared to be an investment property, since in 2015 the place had been available for rent for $12,750 a month.

In June, family members joined the World Tower selling parade. Cohens in-laws, Fima and Ania Shusterman, put their three apartments in the midtown Manhattan tower (located near the United Nations) on the market for a total ask of $11.2 million. Records indicate the Shustermans own a total of four units in the building, on the 22nd, 42nd, 43rd, and 57th floors.

NYC building flips

In 2014, Cohen, then a top honcho in the Trump Organization, was himself a real estate investor with a "seemingly charmed touch," as the New York Times noted. He was involved in flipping whole buildings in all-cash deals, netting as much as $20 million in profit.

According to McClatchy DC, in one transaction, a buyer paid $10 million in cash for a small apartment building on New Yorks Lower East Side that Cohen had purchased just three years before for $2 million, even though the assessed value of the property hadn't drastically changed.

Three other transactions followed a similar pattern. The deals were masked by an LLC hiding the buyer's identity. (Cohen responded to the McClatchy story, stating: "The buyer of all four properties is a New York real estate family fund that has been around for almost a century. And yes, they are American.)

The post The Real Estate Maneuverings of Former Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.Marcia, Marcia, Marcia, what's going to happen to the iconic homestead?

It's a question worthy of a season-ending cliffhanger since the "Brady Bunch" house landed on the market last weekfor the first time in 45 years. The three-bedroom, three-bath house in Studio City, CA, used for exterior shots of the Brady home in the popular '70s TV sitcom is available for $1,885,000.

Even in the inflated Los Angeles housing market, that's a lot of dough for a 2,477-square-foot home built in 1959 and which hasn't been updated since the 1970s.

Which leads back to our initial question: Now that potential buyers have had a first look, will its sentimental value save the iconic TV home? Or will a developer snap up the property for its sizable 12,500-square-foot lot, raze the home, and build something new and modern in its place?

After talking with local experts, there's no consensus on the home's fate. But there's one thing everyone does agree on: The house will get multiple offers, regardless of the outcome.

Exterior of the "Brady Bunch" house realtor.com

Close-up of the front door realtor.com

The ultimate 'Brady Bunch' collectible?

Violet and George McCallister bought the home in 1973 for $61,000, and now their kids would like to sell it to a buyer who will appreciate the home's cultural significance.

"Were not going to accept the first big offer from a developer who wants to tear it down," listing agent Ernie Carswell told the Los Angeles Times. "Were going to wait a few days, in case there are others who want to purchase it as an investment to preserve it."

Are there any buyers who can pay $2 million for a collectible they can't put in a display case?

Living room realtor.com

"There are buyers like that out there," says Michelle Schwartz, founder and managing partner of The Agency's Sherman Oaks branch. "Tujunga Village (the Studio City area where the home is located) is a beautiful place to livethe market there is really heating up, ideal for families. And there is very little else available in that area right now."

Victoria Robinson, a memorabilia collector from Salt Lake City, has been thinking of buying a pied-a-terre in the area for years. The quiet neighborhood and convenient location are among the big selling points of the "Brady Bunch" home, she notes.

"I get the nostalgia," she says. "I think it would be awesome to live there. I would probably redo the interior, since nothing in the series was shot there anyway, but I'd leave the outside just as it is. I could stay there when I'm in town, and maybe rent it on Airbnb the rest of the time."

The current median listing price in the area is $552 a square foot; that figure rises to $761 for the "Brady Bunch" house. Despite her own enthusiasm for the property, Robinson believes the premium for the show's pedigree is too high, and doubts she could convince her partners it's a worthwhile investment.

1970s bedroom realtor.com

Will tourist traffic ruin sunshine days?

In addition to the high price, could hordes of selfie-stick-wielding fans keep buyers at bay? Schwartz doesn't think so.

"Because it's on a small, quiet street that backs up to the river, it doesn't get a lot of tourist traffic," she says. "And it's too far out of the way to be on a Hollywood homes tour."

We visited the neighborhood the day after the listing went up, and concede Schwartz has a point. Given the attention the home has received over the decades, you might have expected to see a police officer directing traffic, cars parking illegally, vendors selling T-shirts, and tourists milling aboutall factors currently bedeviling the San Francisco neighborhood of the "Full House" house.

But instead of a circus, we found a relatively sedate neighborhood. Over the course of a half-hour, we saw one SUV parked in front with a couple of businessmen standing nearby, who looked like they were discussing the listing. One woman got out of her minivan to take a photo with her smartphone, and another car cruised by slowly.

As an income property?

Schwartz believes the home holds massive potential as a vacation rental. Area homes are going for $500 a night on sites such as Airbnb, because they are close to Universal Studios, Warner Bros., and other tourist sites.

"An owner could easily get $1,000 per night for the 'Brady Bunch' house," she says. "Twenty nights at that rate and you've covered your property tax."

Dining area realtor.com

She could also see the home as a venue for small parties and photo/TV/film shoots. In Studio City, Schwartz believes there are no restrictions on vacation rental or production use. As long as a production company pulls a permit and limits its production to certain hours, the number of days it can shoot is unlimited.

For now.

"I can see a buyer making a lot of money for a short amount of time, using the house for vacation and party rentals and film production," says San Fernando Valley specialist Nathaniel Pitchon-Getzels of Berkshire Hathaway.

"But after a while, once the production trucks and equipment, the late-night partygoers, and the increased noise and traffic start bothering the neighbors, they'll probably come together and lobby the city to impose restrictions."

Time to change?

Pitchon-Getzels thinks the property is a great deal for a developer, because it's large and located in a very desirable neighborhood.

"Most people who buy a $2 million home will do a massive renovation or rebuild if it doesn't have any architectural significance," he says. The '70s weren't notable for architectural virtue, and the house itself is "obsolete," he adds.

"The 'Brady Bunch' house is a great choice for a collector, but there are only a handful of folks in the whole world who can spend $2 million on a home to add to their collection," he says. "You'll make far more money tearing it down or doing a massive renovation than anything else."

Backyard realtor.com

Gail Steinberg, a Coldwell Banker agent who lives nearby, agrees the home is ripe for an interior renovation, but she'd like to see the exterior preserved.

"I really hope whoever gets it will not tear it down," she says. We'll keep you posted.

The post Tourist Mecca or TeardownWhat's Going to Happen to the 'Brady Bunch' House? appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.First phase and segment opened to the public on May 5, 2018

SAN ANTONIO  The first segment of the much-anticipated San Pedro Creek Culture Park  a one-of- a-kind urban greenspace located on the western edge of downtown San Antonio  officially debuted to the public on Saturday, May 5, 2018. The world-class linear park is the result of a joint effort by Bexar County, the San Antonio River Authority and the City of San Antonio to transform San Pedro Creek into a restored natural creek habitat and greenspace. Combining purpose with beauty, San Pedro Creek Culture Park weaves public art and architectural design into historic preservation, flood control, water quality and ecosystem restoration.

Through the revitalization of San Pedro Creek, we are inviting people to connect with our communitys vibrant history and culture, said Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff. Bexar County was founded along the banks of San Pedro Creek and the San Pedro Creek Culture Park celebrates and expresses the culture, history and natural qualities of Bexar County through its beautiful design and artwork.

The first phase and segment of the San Pedro Creek Culture Park  stretching from the flood tunnel inlet at N. Santa Rosa Street near Fox Tech High School to Houston Street  was celebrated with a full day community event and evening illumination ceremony, which drew thousands to the paseos along the revitalized creek.

The San Antonio River Authority gets a tremendous amount of joy bringing these types of projects to fruition for the community, said San Antonio River Authority Board Chair Mike Lackey. Its been a challenging in terms of designing and constructing a linear park in the middle of downtown San Antonio but seeing the transformation of the Creek gives us the energy and excitement to continue working on these types of once-in- a-lifetime endeavors.

Exemplifying beauty with a purpose, the San Pedro Creek Culture Park serves as vital infrastructure for a growing downtown. By increasing the depth and width of the existing channel, the project removes 30 acres from the 100-year flood plain, safely conveying floodwaters within the San Pedro Creek banks. The project also improves water quality in a highly urbanized segment of the downtown watershed through the use of low-impact development features, including bioswales and storm water interceptors. In addition to creating a more functional waterway, the San Pedro Creek Culture Park returns the creek to a more natural state, benefitting the native flora and fauna.

Public art provides a beautiful backdrop to the restored creek, telling the story of our community

through contemporary art and cultural programming. The first segment of the Culture Park features four tile murals designed by prominent San Antonio artists  Adriana Garcia, Katie Pell, Alex Rubio and Joe Lopez  that commemorate the rich and interweaving cultures that define San Antonio and Bexar County. Additional artwork commissions include storytelling through historical text and poetry by John Phillip Santos, ceramic artwork representing the historical nature of the nearby street names by Diana Kersey and colorful tiles by Michael Menchaca inspired by the people, culture and history of San Antonio.

Bexar County has invested in many vital projects to improve the lives of our residents, but no other project has been more prominent and culturally meaningful than the creation of the San Pedro Creek Culture Park, said Bexar County Commissioner Paul Elizondo. The vision of the Bexar County Commissioners Court to create a space where local citizens and visitors could learn and appreciate the roots of local heritage and culture is being realized with the opening of this first segment.

Visitors can navigate the San Pedro Creek Culture Park with the help of a mobile app, which includes a variety of ways to learn about and interact with the creek. Available on Android and iOS, the app features a customizable 18-stop audio tour as well as extensive plant and animal lists for those who want to learn more about the native flora and fauna of the creek.

In total, the San Pedro Creek Culture Park encompasses a total of four phases, with three segments in the first phase. The second segment, which spans from Houston Street to Nueva Street is currently under construction. When the four phases are completed, the San Pedro Creek Culture Park will span 2.2 miles through downtown.

To learn more about the San Pedro Creek Culture Park, including planned programming along the Creek, visit SPCculturepark.com.

Editors Note: This content is made possible by The San Antonio River Authority. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com.San Antonio River AuthorityWhat Ive learned from the community, says Carrie Brown, Public Art Curator at the San Antonio River Authority, is that there is a real passion for being authentic, remembering our history, knowing it and showcasing it.

Carrie has been curating public art at the San Pedro Creek Culture Park over the past year in anticipation of the Grand Opening of the first segment on May 5th. The Culture Park is located on the western edge of downtown. The first segment stretches from the flood tunnel inlet at N. Santa Rosa Street near Fox Tech High School to Houston Street.

San Pedro Creek Culture Park

Carrie explains that the intent of the Culture Park is not just to improve flood control and water quality, but also to highlight the culture and history of San Antonio. To do this, local artists have contributed works in various media to bring these concepts into physical space. From Michael Menchacas tile patterns to Diana Kerseys ceramics, the art of San Pedro Creek Culture Park incorporates diverse perspectives to tell the story of San Antonio.

While it was possible to use interpretative panels to tell the story, Carrie says, it was also important to Bexar County that the story be told in a visual way. They wanted to have artists come to the table and interpret these stories, and to celebrate the creativity we have here in this community, she explains.

San Pedro Creek Culture Park

One of the tenets of this project is to connect the community back to the Creek, she continues, Its a place of great cultural and historical significance. I see the art program as part of that effort.

Carrie has been connecting communities with public art for fifteen years now. Her career began with an interest in photography. She always preferred being out of the spotlight, curating visuals behind the lens of a camera. After studying photography at Arizona State University, she got involved with the light rail project in Phoenix. It was there that she learned about the process of curating public art.

It was really exciting for me to help other artists realize their projects but also be part of civic life and the building of our civic space, she says. After working in Arizona, California, and Austin the opportunity at San Pedro Creek, which combined public art management with curation of events, was a perfect fit for her.

It was really exciting for me to help other artists realize their projects but also be part of civic life and the building of our civic space, she says. After working in Arizona, California, and Austin the opportunity at San Pedro Creek, which combined public art management with curation of events, was a perfect fit for her.

The openness of San Antonios arts community was impressed upon her almost immediately. Artists and arts organizations spent time with her not only immersing Carrie in San Antonios unique culture, but offering her their thoughts on the project. The arts communitys always really friendly, always willing to work together, always willing to share resources, she explains.

Now that the first segment is approaching completion, Carrie has begun planning for the future. Later this year, the first segment will host different events and temporary art activations to better tell the story of San Antonio and showcase the citys culture.

The Culture Park will also serve as a venue for community organizations to host special events that will greatly expand its scope. Carrie explains that through events and temporary activations, artists will not only celebrate the past, but look to the future. The story doesnt end here, she says, This is sort of the re-birth of the Creek, the unveiling of the stories that are there. And new stories will be written.

On May 5th, our citys 300th Anniversary, the San Pedro Creek Culture Park will open. It holds the memories, cultures, and dreams of three centuries of San Antonians and those of the indigenous peoples before the city was founded. It will be for future generations to decide what the next three hundred years mean for the Creek and for our city.

San Pedro Creek Culture Park

The San Pedro Creek Culture Park grand opening event on May 5th, 2018 is free and open to the public and will incorporate family-friendly fun lining the banks of the Creek from noon to 9 p.m., including food trucks, live music, children's activities and historical presentations. The finale of the historic event will be an evening Illumination Ceremony beginning at 7:30 p.m., presented by Bexar County. Learn more at spcculturepark.com

Editors Note: This content is made possible by The San Antonio River Authority. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of The San Antonio Express-News' or mySanAntonio.com's editorial staff. Learn more about our advertising products at www.hearstmediasanantonio.com.San Antonio River Authority

For nearly 12,000 years, the San Antonio River supported indigenous populations. However, it was when Spanish colonial settlers formally named the area Villa de Bejar on the 5th of May, 1718, that the City of San Antonio was born.

During this Tricentennial Year, it is vitally important to recognize and honor the significance of the San Antonio River and its tributaries, after all, it is why the Spanish, and the indigenous peoples before them, settled in this area. The San Antonio River Authoritys (SARA) Tricentennial celebrations will promote the rivers role in the regions history and the importance of protecting the river and its tributaries for the benefit of future generations. This is part of SARAs commitment to safe, clean and enjoyable creeks and rivers.TWO domestic workers were allegedly murdered in South Africa and their bodies were found in two separate rooms at a plot.

The two domestic workers  only identified as Alice Tapiwa Chikohora, 41, and another lady  went missing on July 16 this year and were found dead on Saturday morning last week in Randfontein, South Africa.

The murder case came to light after the wife of the alleged murderer made a report to the police.

Her husband was behaving strangely when asked the whereabouts of the two maids who used to provide household services to this white family.

H-Metro is in possession of the last audio Alice Tapiwa sent to one of her friends after becoming suspicious of the employers shenanigans on the day she was last seen.

The mother to Alice Tapiwa narrated events leading to the death of her daughter:

It is reported that on Monday last week the two were picked by a white man at a location where Zimbabweans mostly mill to market their services.

Whilst my daughter was at the white mans place she sent an audio to her other friend who had remained at the market telling her the white mans abnormal behaviour after they arrived at his place.

The audio was saying after they arrived at the white mans place in Randfontein, he removed his clothes which he was wearing and wore a pair of shorts and a gown.

Mai Mhuru said she was devastated and her daughter had left two children, a boy and a girl.

She added:

The white man sent my daughter away to clean cars outside the house while he was left in the company of the other girl.

After some minutes my daughter was then asked to go and buy milk at some shops which were far away and not the usual ones nearby according to the audio sent.

What surprised my daughter is the strange actions the white man was doing since she was the only one who was assigned to do chores outside the house whilst her friend remained inside the house, and this is what led her to send an audio to her friend who had remained at the market.

She said the twos corpses were found some days at the mans house after the wife of the alleged murderer reported to the police on suspicious actions of her husband.

Previously, the wife of the murderer was ordered not to open two rooms at their house and this made her suspect that something was wrong.

After reporting the matter, the police accompanied the woman to her house and forced open the two separate rooms and thats were the two bodies were discovered dead and were taken to mortuary, said Mai Mhuru.

Yesterday, relatives were waiting for postmortem in South Africa while the white mans whereabouts were still unknown with the police launching a manhunt for him.

 HMetro

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Related Zimbabwe Latest NewsDespite the latest survey suggesting a possible dead heat in next weeks crunch polls, any hopes of Zimbabwe stitching together another government of national unity (GNU) are dead in the water  with both President Emmerson Mnangagwa, and opposition leader Nelson Chamisa ruling out such an arrangement yesterday, the Daily News can report.

It is at the same time that the recent Mass Public Opinion Institute and Afrobarometer survey has indicated that Chamisa has clawed his way back into serious contention to become Zimbabwes next leader, after he cut Mnangagwas lead to a mere three percentage points  suggesting that the July 30 presidential plebiscite will likely be very tight.

Chamisa, who assumed the leadership of the MDC early this year from the partys late founding president, Morgan Tsvangirai  who succumbed to colon cancer in February  has cut Mnangagwas pre-poll ratings from 44 to 40 percent, which leaves him within striking distance of the Zanu PF strongman, at 37 percent.

The results of this survey also came as the youthful MDC Alliance presidential candidate has been packing venues for his campaign rallies to the rafters  even outside of the usual opposition strongholds in the urban areas  although Mnangagwa has also been attracting similarly huge crowds in former opposition territories.

According to the countrys Constitution, if Mnangagwa and Chamisa finish level, they will be required to go into a run-off, whose results will then decide the ultimate winner.

But before such a run-off can come into play, whoever commands 50 percent plus one vote in Mondays high-stakes elections will automatically assume the top political office in the country.

Zanu PF legal secretary and elections spokesperson, Paul Mangwana, told the Daily News yesterday that Zimbabwe was not in a state of crisis  meaning, in his view, that there was no chance of witnessing another GNU in the country as had happened a decade ago.

The Constitution of Zimbabwe does not provide for a GNU. If you go back to the GNU in 2009, it was formed because of a political contestation. Remember Tsvangirai did not participate in the run-off election alleging violence  and Sadc then intervened saying there should be a GNU.

Now we have a completely different situation. If any of the presidential candidates wins with one vote, then they can form the next government. All over the world, it is known that governments of national unity are weak and are transitional mechanisms.

That was the case in 2009  but this time around, we dont want a GNU because the people of Zimbabwe are united already and this time Zanu PF will win with no need for a run-off.

In this case, the winner will take all. We debated this (as political parties) and we all agreed that we will not have another GNU, Mangwana said.

MDC secretary-general Douglas Mwonzora also told the Daily News that they would not enter into an electoral pact with Zanu PF whatever the circumstances.

We are going to score an outright win. All the surveys show that we have gained significantly in the past weeks  where we were lagging behind by 11 percent, now it is only three percent.

What the law says is that if there is no winner, we can only go for a run-off where a winner will be decided. But there is no way we will lose to Zanu PF or form a coalition with them, Mwonzora said.

This comes as the election run-up has been characterised by multiple court challenges and protests against the national elections management body, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec)  which stands accused of frustrating the oppositions demands for conditions which would lead to a non-disputed poll outcome.

The ensuing political tension has triggered fears that Zimbabwe is once again headed for a disputed poll  with the MDC Alliance also insisting that it will announce the results of the keenly-anticipated plebiscite before the under-fire national elections management body does so.

Chamisa and the MDC Alliance have also twice held successful demonstrations against Zec, as they pressed for a raft of electoral reforms which include demands to witness the printing of ballot papers and being told how these would be transported.

Mangwana claimed yesterday that Chamisa and his allies wanted to create ideal conditions to contest the outcome of the presidential elections.

We are aware that they want to set conditions for disputing the elections, but we will not negotiate with anyone.

The MDC has refused to participate in by-elections since 2014 and they can do that now (boycott polls)  let them make their choice, he said.

In 2009, former President Robert Mugabe was forced into forming a GNU with Tsvangirai after the hotly-disputed 2008 polls.

In those polls, Tsvangirai beat Mugabe hands down. However, the results of the elections were withheld for six long weeks by stunned authorities  amid widespread allegations of ballot tampering and fraud, which were later revealed by former bigwigs of the ruling Zanu PF.

In the ensuing sham presidential run-off, which authorities claimed was needed to determine the winner, Zanu PF apparatchiks engaged in an orgy of violence in which hundreds of Tsvangirais supporters were killed, forcing the former prime minister in the inclusive government to withdraw from the discredited race altogether.

Mugabe went on to stand in an embarrassing and widely-condemned one-man race in which he declared himself the winner.

This years elections, which have generated a lot of interest among both ordinary people and ambitious politicians alike, will be the first since Zimbabwes independence from Britain in 1980 not to feature Mugabe  who resigned from office last November after Parliament had started damaging proceedings to impeach him.

The elections will also, for the first time in two decades, not include the popular Tsvangirai.

Mnangagwa, 75, is seeking a substantive term in the July 30 harmonised elections, in which he will face Chamisa and 21 other presidential aspirants.

And for the first time in post-independent Zimbabwe, there will also be female presidential candidates  four of them  taking on their male counterparts for the right to occupy the most powerful political office in the country after the plebiscite.

 DailyNews

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Related Zimbabwe Latest NewsA serving corps member has just been reported dead in Okpo Olamaboro local government area of Kogi state . It was said that the deceased was allegedly involved in an armed robbery attack in the state.

According to a Facebook user Stanislaus Yahaya Adejoh, he shared a picture of the deceased on social media. Adejoh disclosed that the corps member was shot dead in Okpo Olamaboro local government area of the state on Wednesday, July 25.

The police also revealed that the deceased and his gang members robbed an innocent citizen of his Highlander jeep and some money.

READ ALSO: Beautiful South African woman lives a positive life despite having HIV

Adejohs post reads: A serving corps member deployed to Jos Plateau state, Benue indigene shot dead in Okpo Olamaboro local government area of Kogi state, early this morning-25th July, 2018. According to police investigation, he was amongst the three armed robbery gang who robbed a Highlander Jeep and some money from a man whose identity is still unknown in Otukpo, Benue state. There came to lodge in a hotel at Okpo when the security personnel swing into action. Two escaped through GSS into the bush. Handsome & a graduate. What a painful exit to the deceased family.

See post below:

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Legit.ng earlier reported that a Nigerian woman on Wednesday, July 4, cried out on Twitter after she lost her sister. The woman identified simply as Chinny alleged that her sister who is a corps member was shot dead in Abuja where she was serving.

RIP!

Emanuella And Mark Angel: If All Men Disappeared, What Would You Do? - Street Gist | Legit.ng TV - on Legit.ng TV.

Source: LegitU.S. Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Wednesday delivered the following opening statement at a hearing featuring testimony from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on President Donald J. Trumps recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as the administrations ongoing dialogue with North Korea.

Secretary Pompeo, we are glad to have you here today. We are grateful for your service to our country. I have faith in your leadership, and I appreciate what you are doing to change the culture of the State Department in positive ways.

But I want to get straight to the point. You come before a group of senators today who are filled with serious doubts about this White House and its conduct of American foreign policy.

There are a number of reasons to be concerned, among them is the lack of information the administration has provided to members of this committee.

Its our hope that you will reduce our level of concern by providing us with clear answers that might help convince us that those at the White House know what they are doing and that  to be candid  you know what they are doing.

I cant say it more forcefully. We really need a clear understanding as to what is going on, what our president is agreeing to, and what our strategy is on a number of issues.

Last week, President Trump held a summit with Vladimir Putin, someone who has violated the most fundamental international norms through his efforts to annex Crimea, has interfered with elections, including our own, has supported the brutal Assad regime in Syria, has used chemical weapons to poison a former Russian agent and his daughter in the United Kingdom, has occupied portions of Georgia, continues to violate the INF Treaty, has reportedly hacked U.S. utilities, the list goes on and on, and you know the list.

In the face of these hostilities, in the summits aftermath, we saw an American president who appeared submissive and deferential.

Weve heard that some agreements were reached, but as of yet have little idea what those might be, even though the president has already extended an invitation to Putin to come to Washington to discuss the implementation of these undefined agreements.

The president also recently met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, one of the most ruthless leaders on the planet, who has continued to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles that could hit the United States, has executed his half-brother with poison in Malaysia and reportedly killed his uncle back home, has essentially murdered an American college student, and has enslaved millions of his own people.

"One in 10 North Koreans are living in slavery today, and one in five children are stunted due to malnutrition.

In the face of these realities, the president has called him very talented and that he loves his people.

Really?

At the recent NATO summit, the president not only pushed NATO member countries to dedicate more of their budgets to defense  a goal we all share  he went on to berate them, question the very premise of NATO, and in my opinion, used false information to turn public opinion in the United States against the alliance.

He even went so far as to cast doubt on the United States willingness to enforce Article 5 of the NATO treaty. We want to know if this is real or just another off-the-cuff statement.

And the confronting of our partners goes beyond traditional security and extends into the economic space as well.

I know you are aware of my strong feelings about the administrations abuse of its authorities in using Section 232 to implement tariffs in the name of national security.

So far, we have zero clarity from the administration as to what the endgame is on the Trump-Pence tariffs, which in reality are a massive tax increase on American consumers and businesses. And now, the administration appears ready to offer welfare to farmers, who would rather have trade than aid.

As you know, senators have gone to the White House in groups to discuss these actions, and not a single person that I am aware of has left those meetings with the sense that theres a coherent strategy driving these policies.

The administration tells us, Dont worry, be patient, there is a strategy here. But from where we sit, it appears that in a ready, fire, aim fashion, the White House is waking up every morning and making it up as they go.

This is the first in a series of hearings we will hold in coming weeks dealing with the troubling dynamic Ive described  one in which we are antagonizing our friends and placating those who clearly wish us ill.

This series will deal specifically with Russia as perhaps the most troubling example of this emerging reality.

I hope that in your position you will do all in your power to provide us with the answers we need today and as we move forward in our future hearings.

I look forward to your testimony, and I want thank you again for being with us and for the many outstanding people you are bringing onto the State Department to work with you.

With that, Ill turn to Senator Menendez.- The planned petroleum refinery in Mashi, Katsina state, would cost $2 billion

- The refinery is expected to be completed in 2021 and provide job opportunities for more than 2,500 Nigerians

- It would have the capacity to produce 150,000 barrels per day

A Nigerian investor, Alhaji Ibrahim Zakari, has said that the private sector-driven Niger Republic facilitated approved petroleum refinery in Mashi, Kastina state would cost $2 billion (N724,720,000,000.00).

The Nation reports that Zakari announced that his company, Blak Oil Energy Refinery, had mobilised substantial part of two billion dollars needed for the construction of the refinery.

Legit.ng gathers that the investor said that the funds were coming from United States, Canada, India and the Middle East.

According to him, the crude for the refinery would come from Niger Republic. He said after its completion, the project would provide job opportunities for more than 2,500 Nigerians.

When it's fully completed in 2021, the refinery would have the capacity to produce 150,000 barrels per day.

READ ALSO: President Buhari, your son has returned home - Senator Tejuoso makes U-turn to APC

Nigeria's minister of state for petroleum resources, Ibe Kachikwu, who signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the construction of the refinery with the Nigerien minister of energy, Foumakaye Gado, on Tuesday, July 24, said: However, presently, we have mentally structured our minds for a three-year period to finish the work on the refinery but that depends on what we find during the technical studies.

Its going to be in Katsina but there is a potential for an extension to Kaduna but bear in mind, this started first from a perspective of they (Niger) wanting to build a pipeline from Niger to Kaduna refinery.

We shut that down because the asset quality of the crude from Niger was not the same with our own and we would have had to take almost 90 per cent of our own crude to match their own 10 percent of crude so it just didnt make any sense. So at that point, we decided to do a refinery that is targeted at their crude."

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Nigeria and Niger was signed at the State House in Abuja.

President Muhammadu Buhari attended the signing ceremony of MOU of the Nigeria-Niger Hydrocarbon Pipeline and Refinery Projects in the State House on Tuesday, July 24.

What does Nigeria need right now? (Nigerian Street Interview) | on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit Nigeria- Some supporters of Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso have left his Kwankwasiyya group

- The supporters left the group after the senator decamped to PDP

Some supporters of Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, representing Kano Central, have left his Kwankwasiyya group, after the senator announced his defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The event reportedly happened at Ringim local government area of Jigawa state on Wednesday, July 25, evening as the angry supporters burnt their red caps and Kwankwaso's posters.

They were said to have reaffirmed their support for the ruling APC.

Supporters burning their Kwankwasiyya's caps. Photo source: Suanu's blog

READ ALSO: President Buhari meets APC senators (photo)

The red cap, worn by members of Kwankwasiyya group is a symbol of support for the senator.

Supporters burning their Kwankwasiyya's caps. Photo source: Suanu's blog

Recall that Kwankwaso joined thirteen other senators and 34 members of the House of Representatives to announce their defection from APC on Tuesday, July 24.

Supporters burning their Kwankwasiyya's caps. Photo source: Suanu's blog

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Meanwhile, not all the senator's supporters are against his defection. Legit.ng previously reported that some of his supporters took to the streets on Wednesday, July 25, to burn the symbol of their former party, the APC.

Hundreds of his openly burnt brooms, the symbol of the ruling party, APC, 24 hours after their principal joined the PDP.

Kwankwaso's Kwankwasiyya group is reputed to be one of the largest political movements in the country.

APC Official Tells Why His Party Could Be Voted Out in 2019 - on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit- Perekeme Kpodoh alleges that the civil servants in Bayelsa are facing serious challenges due to Governor Dickson's constant absence from the state

- Kpodoh further alleges that the Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa, is turning into a slum as the state lacks good governance

- He says politicians and civil society groups have started assessing projects executed by the Dickson government

A former security adviser to the government of Bayelsa, Perekeme Kpodoh, has urged Governor Seriake Dickson to reduce his alleged frequent trips outside the state as this was affecting the people.

Kpodoh, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), also claimed such trips are wasteful and affecting good governance in the state.

In a statement made available to Legit.ng, Kpodoh said rather than always travelling, the governor should partner with investors and politicians for positive impacts.

READ ALSO: President Buhari meets APC senators (photo)

He said: These frequent travels are without benefits. We can count how many days he has travelled. Many issues need attention in Bayelsa.

Everybody is complaining of Sylva and late Alameiseighas travelling pattern, but Governor Dickson has traveled more than both of them combined.

We want a governor that will focus on development and not hunkering around the country in the name of politics and shutting government businesses and accounting.

"If he is around, the issue of rising complaint among workers of the state civil service would have been looked into.

Workers are crying that their salary packages are being mutilated through illegal deductions. What is happening? Do Bayelsa workers not deserving of true wages?

The politician also noted that in line with a new data released by the Bureau of Public Service (BPS) on the number of state workforce and the recorded allocation of between N14 billion and N17 billion naira, Bayelsa should have done much in the area of practical development.

"Unlike the past administrations, the ongoing controversial reforms have saved money for the present administration but without proper utilisation.

What we are talking about is that if the monies are judiciously used, the state would have witnessed massive and proper development. Every Bayelsan would have benefitted.

"Bayelsa people have been patient with reforms and the figures released monthly as allocation. But they are not benefiting. If most projects are done through direct labour, with recruitment of indigent Bayelsans, contracts awarded with quick win projects, it would have solved issues of unemployment and rising insecurity, he said.

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He disclosed that said a coalition of politicians and civil activists were still collating facts and figures on the spending of state funds and projects embarked upon by the government.

Legit.ng earlier reported that Perekeme Kpodoh declared that it would be difficult for his party to repeat the Ekiti governorship election success in Bayelsa state.

Kpodoh, a former security adviser to the Bayelsa state government, said it was only wishful thinking for supporters of the APC in Bayelsa to claim that the victory of Kayode Fayemi would be repeated in Bayelsa in 2020.

Nigeria News: Will Senators, Lawmakers Defection from APC Change Power in 2019? | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng News- To combat the issue of smuggling, President Buhari and President Talon of Benin have agreed to set up a joint committee

- Both presidents will also work with the Niger Republic on the issue

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari and the President of Benin Republic, Patrice Talon, on Wednesday, July 25, agreed to set up a joint committee to combat smuggling.

Legit.ng gathered that President Buhari disclosed this via his Twitter handle on Thursday, July 26, as he revealed that smuggling poses a significant economic and security risk to Nigeria.

Niger Republic would also be consulted in the workings of the committee which is believed to be a transit point in the concentric circle of smuggling of commodities, particularly rice, into Nigeria.

He said he would be working with President Talon and also with Niger Republic on the issue. The president said smuggling has continued to pose significant economic and security risks to Nigeria and the government will do whatever needs to be done to tackle it.

READ ALSO: Dino Melaye has been kidnapped - Bruce confirms

Meanwhile President Buhari, in a statement by the special adviser on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, said: We have succeeded in cutting the importation of rice into the country by about 90%.

When I got into office in 2015, the first thing I did was to visit all our neighbours; Niger Republic, Chad, Cameroon, and Benin Republic. It made both economic and security sense, because if you are in good terms with your neighbours, you ultimately spend less on both physical and food security.

He pointed out that smuggled parboiled rice still finds its way into the country, thus vitiating the efforts of government, and discouraging farmers.

In a previous report by Legit.ng, President Muhammadu Buhari received the president of the republic of Namibia, H.E. Hage Gottfried Geingob at the State House.

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app

Geingob who arrived Nigeria for a one-day visit, met with Buhari in Abuja on Wednesday, July 4.

The Namibian leader, who is visiting Nigeria for the first time since Buhari took over power in May 2015, arrived at the Presidential Villa at 3.05 pm.

Nigerian youths reply to President Buhari over 'lazy' comment | Legit.ng TV

Source: LegitApplying to schools abroad can get frustrating, tedious and unjustifiably expensive. Its not surprising that many Nigerians drop off at planning stage for these reasons. Thats why leading financial institution, First City Monument Bank, as part of its Education Advisory Services, has put together a nationwide programme to guide Nigerians who wish to study abroad on how to prepare and get the necessary support.

The nationwide Study Abroad Exhibitions are being hosted by FCMB in partnership with MOD Services, as well as Colleges and Universities abroad. So far, exhibitions have held in 3 cities across Nigeria one each in Abuja, Port Harcourt and Kano.

This weekend, it will be the turn of Lagosians, as the FCMB Study Abroad Exhibition will hold at the Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos on Friday, July 27 and at Eko Hotel & Suites on Saturday, July 28, 2018 from 12noon each day.

For FREE registration to attend, click https://on.fcmb.com/Study-Abroad-Roadshow2

Commenting on FCMBs Education Advisory Services and Study Abroad Exhibitions, FCMB Executive Director, Retail Banking, Mr. Olu Akanmu said, at FCMB, we walk and work with our customers to fulfil their life aspirations, their families and their businesses, including the provision of the best education. The FCMB Education Advisory Services in partnership with MOD Services and international partners also cover school admission process, Visa processing, travel and examination Preparation. We recognise that knowledge of what to do and how to do it matters in securing good overseas education. FCMB will also be providing prompt school fees and living allowances remittance, loans to support school fees payment and international cards to support living overseas for Nigerian students.

Mr. Akanmu added that, "we have Lufthansa Airline, beside other partner airlines on board to offer students, discounted fares under this scheme. This also covers their guardians accompanying them. In addition, we have AXA Mansard coming on board to provide medical cover for the students to the tune of $60,000 a year".

So, if you are planning to travel abroad for education, be sure to attend the FCMB Study Abroad Exhibitions holding this weekend in Lagos State. For FREE registration, click https://on.fcmb.com/Study-Abroad-Roadshow2

Pictures from the Abuja, Port-Harcourt and Kano editions are shown below:

[Sponsored]

Source: Legit.ngOregon woman finds cougar in living room, says telepathy helped her get it out OregonLive

1 Hen, 76 Ducklings: Whats the Deal With This Picture? New York Times (Glenn F)

Business students more likely to have a brain parasite spread by cats New Scientist

Water on Mars! Really for Real This Time (Probably) The Planetary Society

Methane Deathtrap Threatens Democracy Counterpunch

The Challenge of Chronic Lyme New York Review of Books

IBM Watson Reportedly Recommended Cancer Treatments That Were Unsafe and Incorrect Gizmodo

China?

A huge win: New Zealand brings in paid domestic violence leave in world first Guardian (Shane)

EU court damns Polish legal system Politico

Brexit

Syraqistan

Pakistan election in disarray as incumbent rejects result Guardian

New Cold War

Pompeo spars with senators at testy hearing The Hill

Imperial Collapse Watch

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

Tariff Tantrum

Trump-Juncker meeting: US and EU strike deal to avoid trade war Independent (Kevin W) From Politicos European newsletter: Bottom line: To get what he wanted, Juncker promised Trump things that have already happened. Expect some noise from France (on agricultural products) and Germany (on gas), and perhaps some murmurings about the fact that Trump didnt unconditionally surrender, but chalk this one up as a Juncker victory. Europe to Become Massive Buyer of U.S. LNG, Trump Says Bloomberg

Trump Transition

Majority of Democrats Want Candidates to Be More Like Bernie Sanders, Poll Finds Newsweek

Bernie Sanders Introduces Bill to End Money Bail Intercept

Ocasio-Cortez campaign ad creators release powerful new video for another socialist candidate Mic.com (UserFriendy) See below:

A Hawaii for the many is possible, but we have to take it, together. On August 11, this movement can make history, but I need your help. Please Retweet this video, Donate, and sign up to knock on doors, send texts + https://t.co/dELbZgUFNP#Ing2018 pic.twitter.com/aGXwSj4m5f  Kaniela Ing (@KanielaIng) July 25, 2018

Time to break up Google and Facebook, says New York attorney general candidate Washington Post

2020 Democrats Band Together to Call for Puerto Rico Debt Cancellation Intercept (UserFriendly)

Fake News

If you thought fake news was a problem, wait for deepfakes Financial Times. FWIW, the Google engineer (a guy with heavy academic chops) who sat next to me on my flight back from Seattle was tasked to this issue at YouTube Erasing Flints Water Crisis: Or How to Lie With Statistics Counterpunch

Class Warfare

Antidote du jour. From crittermom:

This is a neighbors dog, named Twitter.

Somehow, the name Yoda always comes to my mind

And a bonus video:

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.Yves here. I am convinced that one of the reasons climate change isnt getting the media attention it warrants in the US is that the Northeast is one of the few areas to have gotten generally more moderate weather. In New York City, summers are on average less hot, with markedly fewer above 90 degree days, and winters milder than in the 1980s.

First, from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Global heat wave: an epic TV news fail:

This months scorching heat wave broke records around the world. The Algerian city of Ouargla, with a population of half a million, had a temperature of 124.3 degrees Fahrenheit on July 6, the hottest reliably measured temperature on record in Africa. In Ireland and Wales, the unusually hot weather revealed ancient structures normally hidden by grass or crops. In Chino, California, the mercury soared to 120 degrees. Another round of hazardous summer heat is expected this week, with record high temperatures possible in the southern United States. The prolonged heat wave has been a staple of television news for weeks. However, most of the coverage has been sorely lacking in context: Humans are warming the planet, and scientists have already linked some heat waves to climate change. A recent analysis published in the journal Nature Climate Change concludes that human-driven climate change, rather than natural variability, will be the leading cause of heat waves over the western United States and Great Lakes region as early as the 2020s and 2030s, respectively. Like the heat itself, much of the media coverage was stupefying. Major broadcast TV networks overwhelmingly failed to report on the links between climate change and extreme heat, according to a Media Matters survey. Over a two-week period from late June to early July, ABC, CBS, and NBC aired a combined 127 segments or weathercasts that discussed the heat wave, but only one segment, on CBS This Morning, mentioned climate change.

And now to Grist:

By Eric Holthaus, a meteorologist and staff writer for Grist, covering climate science, policy, and solutions. He has previously written for the Wall Street Journal, Slate, and a variety of other publications. Originally published at Grist

The worst ravages of climate change are on display around the world.

Wildfires have ripped through towns in Greece, floods have submerged parts of Laos, and heat waves have overwhelmed Japan. These are striking examples of climate change playing out in its deadliest forms, and theyre making the term natural disaster an outdated concept.

People in Greece were jumping into the Aegean to escape advancing wildfires, according to a report in the New York Times. More than 70 are confirmed dead so far, and some scenes are horrific.

Greece is going through an unspeakable tragedy, saidPrime Minister Alexis Tsipras, in a televised address to declare three days of national mourning.

This is already Greeces hottest year on record. Although the last few weeks have been mild and wet, its nearly certain that warm weather has played a role in drying out forests throughout Europe, where the number of fires this year is 43 percent above normal. Longer summers, more intense drought, and higher temperatures are all linked to greater fire risk.

Weve known enough about meteorology to link extreme events to their increased likelihood as they are happening for years now. Recent advances in extreme weather attributioncan often tell us exactly how much.

Ample evidence links worsening fires with human activity. Greece and much of the Mediterranean region is projected to turn into desert over the next several decades, and there are signs that this shift has already begun. As the regions native trees die off and urban areas expand into neglected forests, firefighting resources are becoming woefully overmatched. Regardless of ignition source  arson or lightning or human carelessness  massive wildfires will become more common as droughts intensify and heat waves get more common. Extreme winds, like those blamed for fanning the flames this week in Greece and during megafires in Portugal last year, can make an already dire situation uncontrollable.

Its the hottest month of one of the hottest years in the history of human civilization, and unusual wildfires are sprouting up all over the map. Sweden has called for emergency assistance from the rest of the European Union to help battle massive wildfires burning north of the Arctic Circle. Across the western United States, 50 major wildfires are burning in parts of 14 states, fueled by severe drought. The wildfires burning in Siberia earlier this month sent smoke plumes from across the Arctic all the way to New England, four thousand miles away. Last year, big wildfires burned in Greenland for the first time in recorded history.

And then there are the rains. In Laos, after days of downpours, a hydropower dam that was under construction collapsed on Tuesday. Hundreds of people have been reported missing. Higher global temperatures increase the evaporation rate, putting more water vapor in the atmosphere and making extreme downpours more common.

In recent weeks, high temperature records have been set on nearly every continent. On Monday, Japan had its hottest temperature in recorded history 106 degrees Fahrenheit  just days after one of the worst flooding disasters the country has ever seen.

Algeria has recorded the highest reliably measured temperature in Africa, 124 degrees Fahrenheit. In late June, the temperature never dropped below 108 degrees Fahrenheit in Oman  the highest overnight low temperature anywhere in the world.

Even in normally temperate places the air has been sweltering: Temperatures approaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit hit parts of Canada, overwhelming hospitals in Montreal where another heat wave is imminent this week.

According to calculations from climate scientist Gavin Schmidt, this year will likely be the worlds fourth warmest year on record globally, behind 2015, 2016, and 2017. With another El Nino on the way, next year could be even hotter.

All over the world, heatwaves are getting longer and more intense, the most well-documented and deadliest consequence of our failure to cut greenhouse gas emissions.MSD, Ireland, one of Irelands leading healthcare companies, has announced it is recruiting for its site in Ballydine, Co. Tipperary as it continues to expand its Irish footprint.

The company is on the lookout for ambitious individuals with a background in Science, Manufacturing, Quality and Engineering who want to help shape the future of healthcare in Ireland and around the world.

MSD, Ballydine has operated in Tipperary for over 40 years and exports to over 25 countries around the world with primary markets being Europe, USA and Japan.

The sites highly-skilled local workforce of 500 employees is now leading the way in the development of new medicines, including MSDs treatment for hepatitis C, which is being manufactured in Tipperary for patients around the world.

Commenting on the new jobs, Ger Carmody, Site Lead, MSD, Ballydine, said:

MSD, Ballydine is delighted to be creating a range of exciting job opportunities for individuals looking to make a difference and join us in striving to find solutions and treatments for some of the worlds most challenging healthcare needs.

With almost 70,000 employees operating in more than 140 countries, you will be joining one of the worlds largest pharmaceutical companies as we continue to impact tomorrow, today.

MSD, Ireland is one of the countrys leading healthcare companies, having first established here over 50 years ago.

MSD currently employs over 1,700 employees, across four sites in Ballydine, Co. Tipperary, Brinny, Co. Cork, Carlow and Dublin and, in addition, operate substantial Human Health and Animal Health businesses.

Early in 2018 the decision was made to base a new biotechnology facility  known as MSD Biotech, Dublin - in Ireland with the expected creation of up to 350 new jobs when manufacturing operations commence in 2021.

For more information interested candidates should visit www.msdballydinejobs.com.(Natural News) A three judge panel for the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court has ruled in favor of open carry firearms in all fifty states. Ninth Circuit Judge Diarmuid OScannlain wrote, We do not take lightly the problem of gun violence. But, for better or for worse, the Second Amendment does protect a right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense.

The ruling is a rebuttal to Hawaiis discriminatory statute, which only allows for a concealed or open carry permit, if an individual can convince the local police chief that urgency or need has been sufficiently indicated, whereas the individual is engaged in the protection of life and property.

The original case was against George Young, a Hawaiian native who simply sought to protect himself outside of his home. Young was twice denied a permit to carry a firearm outside his house. A discriminatory official repeatedly restricted George Youngs application, denying Young of the fundamental human right of self protection. A Hawaiian District Court ruled in favor of the official and proclaimed that the denial of a permit to carry did not infringe on Youngs Second Amendment rights.

Officers cannot receive preferential treatment over private citizens when it comes to self defense

Hawaii insists that open carry is only constitutional when the individual is in their own home. However, by requiring individuals to prove their need for personal protection with an authority figure, the statute favors law enforcement and discriminates against private individuals. This statute is similar to old laws that restricted African Americans from carrying firearms while giving preferential treatment to Caucasians.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit disagreed with the Hawaiian District Court. The Ninth U.S. Circuit has appellate jurisdiction over many Western states, including but not limited to: Hawaii, California, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska. The right to defend oneself is not a privilege; it is a fundamental right. The appellate ruling paves the way for open carry in all fifty states. The ruling still faces challenges because it can be appealed again for an en banc hearing with the Ninth Circuit. All judges on the Ninth Circuit may weigh in on the issue. After that, the case could be taken to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is obligated to uphold open carry due to the language of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

If the ruling stands, then no one will be required to seek a permit to carry a firearm in public. According to the Heller and McDonald case, the word bear in the second amendment implies an individuals right to carry a firearm openly in public for self defense. Open carry cannot be restricted to a specific group of law abiding citizens. A security guard or police officer cannot be favored over private individuals who have no felony record, who have an equal right to defend themselves. An authority figure cannot stand in the way of one mans need to protect himself outside of his home. As such, the Hawaiian statute amounts to a destruction of a core right, as affirmed by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court.

To stay informed on court rulings involving the fundamental right of self protection, visit SecondAmendment.News.



Sources include:

HalTurnerRadioShow.com

Breitbart.com

Assets.Documentscloud.org(Natural News) Three wastewater disposal sites in western Pennsylvania have been analyzed to contain as much as 650 times higher radioactive sediments than unaffected sites upstream. These numbers are made even more shocking considering that more than seven years have passed since Pennsylvanias government restricted the disposal of fracking wastewater into these sites. Authors of the new study conclude that regulations need to be updated and/or changed to further minimize how much of these radium-laden particles are discharged into streams.

In 2011, Pennsylvanias Department of Environmental Protection implemented strict restrictions on how much fracking fluids could be released into streams. These policies targeted central water treatment facilities that released high salinity effluents. Current regulations did not include the wastewater from conventional oil and gas operations in the area.

Strict though these regulations may be, the continued production of fracking wastewater from these gas operations has caused streams to be highly radioactive. The team collected stream sediments from disposal sites on Blacklick Creek in Josephine, Allegheny River in Franklin, and McKee Run in Creekside. These samples were collected annually from 2014 to 2017. Repeated analysis of the samples found that these sites contained excessively high levels of radium. In some cases, the radioactivity level was at such a number as would require it to be disposed only at federally designated radioactive waste disposal sites.

Nancy Lauer, the lead researcher, explained: Our analysis confirms that this accumulation of radioactivity is derived from the disposal of conventional oil and gas wastewater after 2011, when authorities limited the disposal of unconventional oil and gas wastewater.

The team concluded that while the restrictions have been beneficial to the environment, it is still not enough. They urge the local government to design stronger policies which would prevent further streams from becoming contaminated. (Related: Fracking wastewater found to contaminate lakes.)

Pennsylvanias crisis

The state has been having problems with fracking wastewater for some time. Another study published in 2015 found that oil and gas operations in Pennsylvania release wastewater with high levels of ammonium and iodide, two hazardous contaminants. The level of contamination was found to be just as high from conventional oil and gas wells.

These wastewaters were being discharged into various streams and rivers in Pennsylvania.

This discovery raises new concerns about the environmental and human health impacts of oil and gas wastewater in areas where it is discharged or leaked directly into the environment, said Avner Vengosh, professor of geochemistry and water quality at Duke Universitys Nicholas School of the Environment. Our data clearly show that the current brine treatment practice in Pennsylvania is not sufficient to remove these contaminants.

Unfortunately for state officials, more research has found that even treated wastewater may pollute the area for several years.

Pennsylvania was recorded to have released 1.7 billion gallons of wastewater from unconventional gas wells in 2015. Current estimates of how much wastewater is still being discharge remain unknown.

The dangers of fracking wastewater

There are no detailed analyses on the magnitude or extent of wastewater in the U.S. At best, we have guess-timates of which streams are contaminated. State laws remain patchy and even federal policies are not conclusive. Several studies on how much radium or other contaminants are present in our streams are conflicting.

David Brown, a public health toxicologist with the Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project warned in a 2014 paper that, when somebody calls us and says, is it safe to drink our water, the answer is I dont know.we are troubled by people drinking water that [could potentially have] radium-226 in it.

Sources include:

ScienceDaily.com 1

ScienceDaily.com 2

News.PSU.edu

NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov(Natural News) As we have been regularly reporting, the social media giants  YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Google  have been systematically banning or censoring conservative, pro-Trump content for months now.

The plan, so to speak, is to silence anyone who does not toe the Marxist-Left line, all in a bid to help increasingly Left-wing Democrats win back power in Washington and elsewhere. The Left cant compete idea-for-idea with the Right so it has to silence Right-leaning media and voices in order to win the debate.

In recent days, All News Pipeline reported that another popular pro-liberty site, SGT Report, had its YouTube channel terminated without any justification, thereby causing the site a substantial economic and operational disruption.

All News Pipeline noted that the takedown appears related to a viral video SGT Report posted titled, The Deep State Criminals Just Went ALL IN  THIS IS WAR. The video pointed out that Obama-era officials including former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, special counsel Robert Mueller, and former FBI Director James Comey are engaged in all-out war against POTUS Donald Trump and his presidency, as well as our constitutional republic and the American people.

Brennan, Clapper, et. al. became hysterical, along with their Left-wing establishment media allies, over the White Houses suggestion that the president was considering revoking their security clearances a day after Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. suggested it.

All News Pipeline reported further:

And with that video going viral for several days, helping to awaken even more Americans to the crimes of the corrupted faction of the deep state in America, we werent the least bit surprised to wake up Monday morning and find that not only that video but the entire SGT Report youtube channel with their 345,000+ subscribers and many viral videos has been completely taken down.

SGT Report now has a back-up channel but it has 300,000 fewer subscribers than the main channel YouTube just took down. The site also has a Brighteon.com channel. (Related: Online censorship is a WAR against human knowledge and sustainable civilization.)

Fascism reveals itself on the Left, not the Right

This is just the latest attempt to censor the American Right by the Left-wing Nazis who run the Silicon Valley tech giants  and it comes about a week after Google/YouTube, Facebook and Twitter were defended by Democrats during a congressional hearing aimed at uncovering improper censoring of conservatives. Some Democratic members even called for outright bans against Infowars and other sites they claim are pushing conspiracy theories (by those standards the Washington Post, CNN, The New York Times, USA Today and every other establishment media publication should also be shut down for pushing baseless conspiracies about POTUS Trump and Russian collusion).

In addition to curbing Right-leaning, Trump-supporting voices, the social media behemoths are also trying to starve smaller conservative and independent sites to death. Banning or censoring or down-rating content from conservative and independent media also reduces the amount of revenue those sites need to remain in business. And of course, the Left-wing establishment media is right on board with it.

As one reader responded to the linked New York Times article in the above paragraph noted, its fascist to use any method aimed at shutting down speech and expression, no matter how offensive you may personally find it. Choose your fascism, the reader noted because its the same no matter which side of the political fence its coming from.

Theres also something else that needs to be understood and argued frequently. The Left has ordained to itself the authority to decide who is and is not a racist/bigot/fascist/Nazi, evidence to the contrary be damned; where did that authority come from?

In other words, we should never allow the Left to define who Trump supporters and conservatives really are.

Meantime, it appears obvious that alternatives to these Left-wing social media sites  and revenue  are in order.



Read more about social media censorship at Censorship.news.

J.D. Heyes is also editor-in-chief of The National Sentinel.

Sources include:

AllNewsPipeline.com

NewsTarget.com

TheNationalSentinel.com(Natural News) The respiratory health of primary school children is at risk because of the air pollution from their travel to school and back home, according to a study. The study was carried out by a team of researchers from Hong Kong Community College who looked at the impact of daily travel air pollution to the respiratory health of primary school children.

In conducting the study, the research team involved a total of 850 primary school children aged 10 to 12 years from 12 randomly selected schools in Hong Kong. Each participant was tasked to record their daily traveling activities. In addition, they were given questionnaires regarding their indoor living conditions and respiratory health conditions.

The researchers also conducted a pulmonary function test on the study participants. They measured the air pollutants found in the routes to and from school of the children. The air pollutants found included particulate matters PM 10 and PM 2.5 , carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds. Then, they conducted a statistical analysis to determine if there was a significant difference between the participants health and various modes of transportation.

Results revealed that most children, about 54 percent, travel by foot to go to school, while around 28 percent of them travel by school bus. It was also found that more than 25 percent of the participants have smoking family members within the house, thus they are exposed to secondhand smoke. Moreover, about 3.2 percent of the participants have asthma.

The research team discovered that the PM 10 measured in school buses is about 20 percent higher compared to the content measured in other modes of transportation. In addition, traveling by school buses showed the largest value of all six air pollutants. These suggest that it has the worst air quality among all other modes of transportation. In contrast, the best air quality was found in railways, with low levels of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds.

The researchers conclude that the air quality of different modes of transportation and indoor living conditions are factors that affect the lung function of primary school children.

Students who travel by school buses have the worst pulmonary function because of the poor air quality in school buses. On the other hand, those who traveled by railways to school have the best lung function. This is because railways exhibited the best air quality among the other transportation modes.

School buses and air pollution

Although school buses are the safest transportation to and from school for over 25 million children in the U.S. according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), diesel exhaust from these buses adversely impact human health. Children are particularly at risk because they have a fast breathing rate and their lungs are not yet fully developed. Buses that are idle at schools can emit concentrated diesel exhaust emissions inside and outside schools, which can lead to lung damage when inhaled, and a likely cause of cancer.

The soot and gases emitted by diesel engines are also linked to acute eye, throat, and bronchial irritation, worsening of asthma and allergies, and possible disruption with lung development in children. Emissions of diesel do not only affect human health, but also environmental health as they contribute to ozone pollution, climate change, and acid rain. The EPA suggests to stop bus idling and replace old buses to reduce the emissions of diesel that pollute the air and harm human health.

If youd like to read more news stories or studies on pollution, visit Pollution.news.

Sources include:

Science.news

IOSRJournals.org[PDF]

EPA.gov 1

EPA.gov 2(Natural News) Three recent studies published in Obstetrics & Gynecology revealed an excessive number of opioid painkillers are being prescribed to women following a Cesarian-section delivery. This fuels the risk of drug misuse, the researchers said. According to recent statistics, C-sections are the most common inpatient surgery in the U.S., with as many as 1.3 million operations being performs annually. However, the researchers noted the scarcity of data indicating how much medicine these patients really need.

To carry out the first and the largest study of its kind, researchers at the Brigham and Womens Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston examined 720 C-section patients across six medical centers in the U.S. The research team found that 85 percent of patients filled an opioid prescription when the were discharged. The study revealed that women were prescribed about twice as many pills as they used, with each patient having 15 leftover doses on average. With the number of C-sections performed per year, this equated to about 20 million opioids that could be diverted or misused.

We know that leftover medications are fueling our current opioid epidemic. Quantifying the amount of medication that a woman needs to control her pain following cesarean delivery and finding ways to reduce unnecessary prescribing can reduce unused opioid pills that end up in medicine cabinets at home, corresponding author Brian Bateman told DailyMail.co.uk.

Details of the second and third studies

In the second study, a team of researchers from the Vanderbilt University in Tennessee examined 179 C-section patients, 165 of whom were prescribed an opioid. The doses ranged between eight to 84 pills. Nurse-midwives prescribed fewer drugs compared with physicians.

The study revealed that more than 75 percent of the patients had leftover pills. However, only seven women were found to throw away the excess pills. The researchers also found that a majority of women kept leftovers in an unlocked cabinet. (Related: Excessive opioid use increases risk of babies being addicted to the drug.)

We are the source of these excess opioids, and we need to do more to restrain that, but we really need to tailor that so the individual gets what they need. Our take-home point is we dont want one-size-fits-all prescribing, corresponding author Dr. Sarah Osmundson said in Consumer.HealthDay.com.

However, the third study revealed that meeting with a clinician and using a visual presentation to discuss pain expectations and potential opioid doses needed reduced post-operative drug use by 50 percent. The researchers also found that nine out of 10 participants reported being satisfied with the informative approach, with nearly as many participants saying the shared decision-making approach was helpful.

We need to be conscious of what the consequences of routine opioid prescribing are  not just for the patient but for anyone who might encounter her medicine cabinetThis is the path forward, I think. Its not saying everybody gets 90 Oxycontins or seven Oxycontins, its actually involving the patient in her own decision-making, Dr. Mishka Terplan added.

Read more articles on womens health at WomensHealth.news.

Sources include:

Consumer.HealthDay.com

DailyMail.co.uk(Natural News) Eat your bug-killing corn and your weed-killing soy and shut up. Thats the ultimate message coming from the Bayer/Monsanto shills at HuffPo (Huffington Post) and the Environmental Protection Agency, the latter of which should be renamed the Environmental Promotion of Poisonous Pesticides Agency (EPPPA). Any food that doesnt make you deathly sick the same day you eat it is considered generally recognized as safe by any scientist, journalist, or federal regulator on the trickle-down payroll that comes from the deep pockets of Ag-Tech biotechnology firms, also known as the Biotech Cartel.

Lets face it, anyone can call biotechnology cutting edge science and the advance of agricultural technology, but the truth is that humans should not be consuming food thats genetically engineered in a laboratory to destroy the digestive tracts of insects, to annihilate the reproductive capabilities of animals, and to contain weed-killing compounds that cause liver failure, kidney malfunction, and massive cancerous tumors in lab rats.

Thats all just common sense, and anyone questioning the safety of repetitively eating these agriculture toxins is not anti-science, but rather pro-science, because thats the basis of all science to begin with  to ask tough, important questions and then investigate to find answers.

Shilling for the Bio-Tech Cartel is nothing new, and the posers, hucksters and charlatans are becoming easier to identify

GMO-pushing quacks are a dime a dozen. For years, top investigative journalists at NaturalNews.com have spent countless hours uncovering the fraudsters and exposing the huckster media outlets that employ them, or that they run themselves.

The list is too long to publish, for it would be like mining bitcoins, but here are some of the most prevalent journo-terrorists and biotech buffoons (and their websites) that pop up regularly, spewing propaganda and the same-ole tired tales of how genetic engineering is the same as traditional crossbreeding, and how biotechnology farming generates better yields, and that GMOs will save a starving world thats certainly soon to burst into flames from global warming.

Top GMO propaganda posers, shills and huckster websites exposed

Huffington Post

Slate Magazine

Genetic Literacy Project

Washington Post

Jon Entine

Kevin Folta (exposed public scientist on Monsantos bonus roll)

David Gorski at the Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit

Keith Kloor

The CDC

The FDA

The EPA

The USDA

The AMA

Susan Komen Foundation

American Cancer Society

Facebook

YouTube, Amazon.com and WholeFoods

Associated Press

Forbes.com

Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

Council for Biotechnology Information

Grocery Manufacturers Association

Center for Consumer Freedom

Boston Globe

Ketchum, Inc.

Paul Thorson

GMO Answers

 and the list just goes on and on.

The Worlds top seed companies pay scientists and journalists to push their genetically mutated propaganda

So who owns most of the seeds, wants to own them all, and would love to genetically modify them all to contain bug killer and weed killer? The ETC group exposes the Gene Giants who want to eliminate farmers rights while convincing Americans that eating pesticides is totally safe and beneficial. A few of the big guns are Monsanto (now owned by Bayer), Dupont, Syngenta, BASF, and Land O Lakes. Bayer now owns more than a quarter of the worlds seeds. BASF is the worlds largest chemical corporation.

Think about this for a minute: The worlds largest chemical corporations control most of the worlds crop seeds, and what are the biggest contributors to cancer and dementia? Chemicals. It only makes sense  Dont eat cancer.

Be able to recognize the brain-washing language spewed by the hucksters and shills of the biotech cartel. They practice a catch-and-release type of logic, where they address your valid concerns about the dangers of eating GMOs, and then they appeal to your science logic and convince you that everything in moderation and youll be just fine. Well, you cant drink snake venom or eat mercury in moderation, now can you?

In conclusion, here are some quotes from a recent propaganda piece about the Dirty Dozen  the soft skin produce group that absorbs more pesticides than any other kind. Huffington Post shill Jill Neimark wants you to keep eating your pesticide-laden foods and shut up while she collects her paycheck from the biotech cartel.

The pesticide residues are such a tiny amount of risk compared to the huge amount of benefit we would all get if we ate the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables, says geneticist Anastasia Bodnar, policy director of Biology Fortified Inc., a nonprofit that fosters conversation about issues in food and agriculture.

Bodnar first demystified the Dirty Dozen in detail back in 2010. Plant pathologist Steve Savage agrees with her. Savage has analyzed the raw data numerous times, most recently in April. The data actually says you should have great confidence in your food, he concludes.

Read more about dangerous pesticides in American food at Pesticides.news, and make sure youre not falling for the genetically modified lies the hucksters perpetuate daily.



Sources for this article include:

GMwatch.org

ETCgroup.org

HuffingtonPost.com

TruthWiki.org

GMOSeralini.org

NaturalNews.com

Pesticides.News

BioScienceResource.org(Natural News) Promises of total independence from fossil fuel energy in the green-leaning Golden State are being broken, as grid operators throughout California are now having to ask customers to use as little energy as possible during peak hours in order to keep the electricity grid from completely collapsing.

Reports indicate that, due to a persistent heat dome thats settled over the southwestern United States in recent weeks, energy needs in California are quickly outpacing supply. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) warned back in May that California faces a significant risk of encountering operating conditions that could result in operating reserve shortfalls as a result.

On July 24, Californias power demand was expected to outstrip its available generating capacity by an astounding 5,000 megawatts (mW), according to the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), as more Californians than perhaps ever before are using their air conditioning units to try to survive the unbearable heat.

So why cant California produce enough energy to meet these demands? According to CAISO, reduced electricity imports and tight natural gas supplies are to blame, as is the high wildfire risk in many areas of the state. What CAISO isnt telling you is that California is also trying to eliminate the use of all fossil fuels for energy, relying only on wind and solar, which simply doesnt produce enough supply to meet demand.

In addition to lower hydro (water) conditions, California has retired about 789 mW worth of natural gas generation in recent years, which had been available during previous summers of high heat. This means that California has intentionally shut off energy sources that were needed to meet demand in order to reach its green energy targets.

Californians: Get used to suffering through bouts of no power thanks to the green focus of your politicians

Californians are already feeling the heat (no pun intended) as tens of thousands of them reportedly lost power back in early July when record-setting heat waves swept the state. Southern California, and the Los Angeles area in particular, saw plus-110 degree Fahrenheit temperatures, which is highly unusual for this part of the state.

While many Californians who live along the coast traditionally havent owned air conditioners, increasing temperatures in recent years has driven some of them to make the investment. This has placed increased strain on the energy grid  so much so that local utilities simply cant keep up with the need to keep things cool and comfortable during these periods of extreme heat.

CAISO continues to ask California customers to conserve electricity especially during the late afternoon and evening when air conditioners typically are at peak use. Customers can further help to prevent power interruptions by turning off all unnecessary lights, using major appliances before 5 p.m. and after 9 p.m., and setting air conditioners to 78 degrees or higher.

But this will likely only lead to moderate improvements, as Californias clean energy standards continue to force traditional energy production methods into retirement  methods like coal and nuclear power that, despite what the climate change fanatics might claim, are actually needed to keep the lights on.

As we previously reported, California is trying to convert its entire energy grid to wind, water, and sunlight by the year 2050. Part of this involves requiring that all new homes built throughout the state be outfit with solar panels, which can help to reduce the energy burden of a household by about 50 percent.

But is it enough to get California through crazy heat waves and other events that lead to high energy demand? If the latest news about rolling blackouts is any indication, then not so much.

For more news about green energy, visit GreenEnergy.news.

Sources for this article include:

DailyCaller.com

LATimes.com

NaturalNews.com(Natural News) In a study published in the journal Development and Psychopathology, researchers from University of California San Francisco (UCSF) discovered that pregnant mothers under considerable stress during their pregnancy may have babies with nervous disposition and weaker resilience to illness.

According to an entry on UCSF.edu, a pregnant mother under stress during her second trimester may affect the development of the babys nervous system, leading to subtle effects on the babys temperament, such as a diminished ability to regulate emotions, resulting in less smiling and difficulty in socializing and engaging with other kids.

The research team looked at the stress levels of 151 low-to-middle-income women who were between 12 and 24 weeks pregnant throughout their pregnancy and after delivery. The mothers reported the number of stressful life events they had experienced during pregnancy, such as illness, relationship problems, housing difficulties, and legal issues.

The team compared the reported stress levels of the participants with objective levels of stress in their six-month-old offspring. After a brief play session, the mothers were instructed to look at their babies faces without physical interaction with them for two minutes. The infants cardiac function was monitored during this time.

The babies whose mothers were under considerable stress during pregnancy were 22 percent more reactive to stress stimuli, and they also recovered less quickly, demonstrating weaker resilience.

High reactivity is indicative of a stronger decrease in parasympathetic nervous system activity in response to challenge, according to first author Nicole Bush, Ph.D., of the UCSF departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, and UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences.

This isnt automatically good or bad, but we know that being highly reactive places children at risk for a range of psychopathological problems, particularly anxiety and depression, as well as externalizing problems, such as disruptive behavior, especially if they experience adverse family and school environments.

However, some children with high reactivity to stress may still develop better-than-average social skills and behaviors, because greater reactivity can make them more sensitive to the benefits of positive relationships and experiences in their environments, added Bush.

In addition, the stress test showed that the babies whose mothers reported a high perceived stress in pregnancy and post-delivery have a higher temperamental surgency level by eight percent.

Surgency includes behaviors like laughing and smiling, as well as the willingness to engage with other people. These same babies born to the highly-stressed mothers were also found to have difficulty in self-regulation or managing emotions, such as soothing themselves in periods of high stress.

At this point, we dont know the lifelong impact of higher reactivity and lower surgency and self-regulation for these babies, Bush said. A lot will depend on other factors, such as families and communities. Providing healthy environments post-natally could buffer the negative impact of high reactivity and lower surgency and self-regulation.

Previous studies have revealed that a mothers psychological state can indeed have an effect on the development of the fetus inside the womb.

The study is further detailed on the UCSF website.

Reducing stress

For pregnant women, especially for first-time mothers, the whole journey of pregnancy can indeed be a stressful one. However, as the study above pointed out, your mental state can affect your baby as they grow. (Related: 10 Natural Stress Relief Tips & How to Create a Serene Space.)

Here are some simple ways on how you can reduce stress and ensure that your baby feels good all the time:

Eat well  Foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, sardines and trout are found to soothe depression.

 Foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, sardines and trout are found to soothe depression. Rest  Relaxing is good for your body and mind, as well as your babys. Taking the time to focus on your baby and its movements may help take your mind off stressful ideas.

 Relaxing is good for your body and mind, as well as your babys. Taking the time to focus on your baby and its movements may help take your mind off stressful ideas. Light exercise  Working out can improve your mood. Swimming and yoga are some recommended exercises for expectant mothers.

Read more ways to relieve stress at Mind.news.

Sources include:

UCSF.edu

ScienceDaily.comWater is vital for life.

But as our climate changes, the availability of water is also changing, leaving animals with limited or unreliable supplies of this critical resource.

However, a new Arizona State University study published in the Royal Society journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences shows for the first time that animals may be able to use their own muscles to get water when it's not available. Researchers from ASU and the Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chize in France teamed up on the project and the findings were published June 27.

"We know about the importance of fat reserves to fuel the energetic costs of reproduction. But what about water? Our study shows that during reproduction, muscle metabolism is linked to the water requirements of developing offspring. Fat is only about 10 percent water, whereas muscle is closer to 75 percent, so burning muscle will release extra water," said George Brusch IV, lead investigator for the project and doctoral student at Arizona State University. "From an evolutionary perspective, the concept of capital breeding -- or using stored resources to fuel reproduction -- is currently restricted to energetic needs. We propose that this should extend to a broader, multi-resource strategy that also includes water allocation."

The researchers looked into this concept by studying the effects of water deprivation on the reproductive efforts of female Children's pythons, a medium-sized snake that reproduces during the dry-season in Australia, where natural water sources are extremely limited. They found that muscles play an important role in providing water to the body when none is available.

"Female Children's pythons can change how they use internal resources based on limitations in the environment," said Brusch. "Understanding exactly how animals cope with resource restrictions will help scientists predict whether the animals might be impacted by future climate change, where, in many regions, rain is expected to be less reliable," said Brusch, a doctoral candidate in the School of Life Sciences biology PhD program.

During the study, the researchers paired pregnant Children's pythons with similarly sized non-reproductive females. During a three-week period when the snakes were pregnant, only half of the pairs had access to water. Reproductive females, both in the lab and the wild, don't eat during pregnancy and rely on internal reserves such as fat and muscle for their energy needs.

The scientists then measured the by-products of burning fat and muscle such as ketones and uric acid, as well as muscle size and impact on the snakes' eggs and clutch sizes. The animals without water burned more muscle than fat to meet their water requirements. In addition, the animals without water laid a similar number of eggs per clutch, but their eggs weighed less and the shells were thinner.

Brittany Kaminsky, an ASU student researcher on the team, just graduated from the School of Life Sciences with a Bachelor of Science degree in neurobiology, physiology and behavior. Kaminsky, who will attend U.C. Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in the fall, coordinated much of the project.

"I think what was most interesting about our results is that dehydration can play complex roles in reproduction, such that it affects other body systems. I feel, at the organism level, a single ailment can manifest in a variety of ways, and I think this is valuable information that I will carry with me into my veterinary career," said Kaminsky.

During the project, Kaminsky helped pair the females into the reproductive and non-reproductive groups by mass and snout-vent length. She also monitored the reproductive progress of the females by ultrasound and learned how to collect blood samples, process and store them.

"Few of my peers have had the opportunity to train a team of other undergraduates or learn some of the technical skills I developed throughout the course of the study, such as cardiocentesis and ultrasound," said Kaminsky. "Dr. Dale DeNardo and George were both there when I needed guidance, but they also gave me a lot of space to learn on my own and grow as a scientist. I couldn't have asked for better mentors."

Most animals need steady access to water in order to survive, especially during reproduction, and the authors suggest that using muscle as a water store may be a widespread phenomenon. "Our enhanced knowledge regarding the relationship between hydration and reproductive investment will also enable us to better understand global responses to water limitations and change the way scientists approach reproductive investment in ecological contexts, which, in the past, frequently ignore water and focus solely on energetic resources," said Brusch.The Oakland City Council capped a contentious, 11-hour meeting Tuesday night by unanimously voting in support of a proposed ballot measure that would protect thousands of tenants from no-cause evictions. The issue will now be decided by Oakland voters in November.

Dozens of tenants and housing advocates cheered as the vote was announced close to 2 a.m.. The measure, proposed by council members Dan Kalb and Noel Gallo, would extend just cause eviction protections to tenants living in owner-occupied duplexes and triplexes throughout the city.

I believe that the law were proposing makes sense for our city given the situation were in and given how many renters are at risk of being displaced, including in these small buildings, Kalb said. I know people are concerned how its going to impact them if they live in that building and they own it, and I get that, I just have to fall on the side of protecting as many renters as possible.

NBC Bay Area

Under current law, landlords can only evict Oakland tenants for specific reasons, such as failure to pay rent or violating sections of a lease. Tenants in duplexes and triplexes, however, are exempt from such protections if their landlord lives in the same building, according to Oaklands current Just Cause ordinance.

Supporters of the exemption argue it gives property owners who live in their own small building more control over the tenants they live in close proximity to. Additionally, some argue the exemption protects small property owners from lengthy legal battles when attempting to evict tenants for legitimate reasons.

Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney was the lone councilmember to express reservations about removing the just cause exemption, but she ultimately joined the rest of the council in supporting the reform effort. She worried the proposal would negatively impact long-time, working-class landlords, and said she preferred a more surgical solution to prevent real estate speculators from getting away with fraudulent evictions.

I am concerned that this medicine doesnt hit the disease thats afflicting us, she said.

While tenants can legally be evicted if their landlord wants to move into the unit, past NBC Bay Area investigations revealed a lack of oversight and widespread abuse in neighboring San Francisco, which allowed landlords to evict rent-controlled tenants purely to find new tenants willing to pay higher rent prices.

The Oakland City Council meeting lasted close to 11 hours and wrapped up just before 2am on Wednesday (July 25, 2018).

In Oakland, tempers flared as supporters and opponents lined up to address council members and debate the merits of the ballot measure in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Nearly 100 people signed up to comment on the proposal, but only 55 stayed long enough to actually have their voices heard.

Elise Ackerman, the owner of an Oakland duplex, asked the council not to scapegoat small, longtime property owners for the actions of unscrupulous new investors who abuse the system.

We are homeowners and we share our homes, Ackerman said. You call us landlords, but we are not landlords. We are something different.

Oakland resident Mara Randle exhorted the city council to strengthen tenant protections, especially in the face of Oaklands homelessness epidemic.

We have more homelessness in the street than I have ever seen, Randle said. And when Im looking at the homeless, they look like me. Theyre young. Were also facing elderly issues, too. What are you guys doing?

The debate now expands to Oakland voters. Landlords and renters across the city will have the opportunity to weigh in on the controversial proposal in the November election.

Before the proposed ballot measure made it to the full city council, landlords and tenants squared off during a committee meeting on Thursday, July 19.

During a recent Oakland City Council committee meeting, dozens of tenants and landlords sparred over a potential new housing law that would extend eviction protections to renters across the city (July 19, 2018).

______________________________________

Watch the entire series in this NBC Bay Area investigation:

 Part 1: SF Landlords May Have Wrongfully Evicted Hundreds of Tenants

 Part 2: SF Fails to Prosecute Landlords for Certain Wrongful Evictions

 Part 3: San Francisco Considers New Eviction Laws Following I-Unit Series

 Part 4: NBC Bay Area Investigation Leads to Government Hearing

 Part 5: SF Eviction Crackdown Passes After Investigative Unit Series

 Part 6: SF Mayor To Sign Law After NBC Bay Area Investigation

 Part 7: SF Mayor Inks New Law to Combat Wrongful Evictions

 Part 8: Lake of Oversight Puts Oakland Tenants at Risk of Eviction

 Part 9: Oakland Voters May Get Say on When Landlords Can Evict Renters

 Part 10: Expansion of Eviction Protections Heads to Ballot in Oakland

 Part 11: Oakland Couple Uses Hidden Camera to Fight Eviction

 Part 12: Landlords Frequently Ignore Oakland Eviction Laws

 Part 13: Oakland Housing Director Defends Department

 Part 14: Oakland Housing Chief "Fired," Says SourceThere's a scratch in Facebook's Teflon coating.

The social network's user base and revenue grew more slowly than expected in the second quarter as the company grappled with privacy issues, sending its stock tumbling after hours and into Thursday.

The company also warned that it expects revenue growth to decelerate in the next couple of quarters as it promotes new, and for now less profitable, products such as its Stories disappearing message feature. It is also allowing users to make "more choices" around data privacy amid public outcry and regulatory pressures.

The earnings covered the company's first full quarter since the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal erupted. But analysts attributed the user growth shortfall largely to European privacy rules that went into effect in May, not to the furor over the political consulting firm with ties to President Donald Trump, which improperly accessed the data of tens millions of Facebook users.

With an hour before trading began Thursday, shares had plunged more than 19 percent, plucking about $17 billion in net worth out of the pocket of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

In midday trading Thursday, the company's market value (the number of outstanding shares multiplied by the value of a single stock), fell by more than $122 billion.



That means that in one day, just the decline in Facebook's market value is roughly the entire market value of McDonald's or Nike, give or take a few billion. And it far exceeds the total market value of major U.S. multinational corporations such as General Electric, Eli Lilly or Caterpillar.

The company still has a total market value close to $511 billion, which exceeds the annual gross domestic product of countries like Poland, Belgium and Iran.

Facebook was downgraded by a number of industry analysts who were caught off guard by slowing growth in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Still, the results suggest that Facebook may have weathered the scandal without major harm to its business, even if its public image has taken a hit. While revenue fell short of Wall Street estimates, it did so by only about 1 percent; profits, meanwhile exceeded forecasts.

But Facebook continues to grapple with big existential questions, ranging from its users' privacy to tech addiction to how it deals with fake news and misinformation, hate speech and extremism on its service.

At times, it has seemed as though Facebook can't quite decide where its values really lie. For instance, it continues to straddle the line between policing what users say and remaining a neutral platform in an increasingly divided world, and between protecting privacy while collecting as much information on its users as possible.

Facebook had 2.23 billion monthly users as of June 30, up 11 percent from a year earlier. Analysts were expecting 2.25 billion, according to FactSet. User growth  both on a monthly and daily basis  was flat in the U.S. and the rest of North America, while it declined slightly in Europe.

Facebook has largely saturated in the U.S. and Western European markets, and is now looking to countries such as Brazil, India and Indonesia for new users. Revenue from these regions, however, is far below what Facebook rakes in from the U.S. and Europe.

The company earned $5.1 billion, or $1.74 per share, up 31 percent and above analysts' estimates of $1.71.

But revenue  up 42 percent to $13.23 billion was slightly below the $13.34 that Wall Street was expecting.

Facebook said the European privacy rules, called General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, did not have a big effect on the quarter's revenue, but also noted that they were only in effect for about a month before the quarter ended.

Over the long term, GDPR may end up favoring Facebook and other large companies that have the resources to adapt to new requirements. They could similarly disadvantage smaller, lesser known companies that don't have the resources to comply and which could face big fines if they don't.

One bright spot for Facebook has been Instagram, the photo-sharing app it bought for $1 billion in 2012. Instagram now has more than 1 billion users, and analysts expect it to be a model for how Facebook molds its other big app purchase, WhatsApp, into a lucrative business. So far, WhatsApp doesn't show ads, and its founders Jan Koum and Brian Acton left Facebook amid disagreements over advertising and other issues.The FBI joined a massive search for a 20-year-old woman who grew up in Oakland and went missing a week ago from the small Iowa town in which she now lives, law enforcement officials said.

AP/Ahn Young-joon, File

On July 18, Mollie Tibbetts, who lives in Brooklyn, Iowa, 60 miles east of Des Moines, apparently left a house in that small town where she was dogsitting to go on a late-night jog and hasn't been seen since. She did not show up at her job the next morning, according to the Poweshiek County Sheriff's Office.

Active searches are underway, according to Sandy Hartgers, a Poweshiek County Sheriff's Office dispatcher. She declined further comment Sunday.

On Tuesday, the FBI joined the search for Tibbetts, who is described as 5 feet, 2 inches tall with long brown hair and brown eyes.

Family members also are involved in the search and volunteers have been plastering the area with missing posters, according to KWWL, an NBC afiliate in eastern Iowa.

"We are looking, we are doing everything we can, and we will never stop. Never," Tibbetts' aunt, Kim Calderwood, told the television station.



Tibbetts is a student at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, about 50 miles east of Brooklyn. Sheriff's detectives have not said whether foul play is suspected, according to published reports.

In a statement, the Poweshiek County Sheriff's Office said several agencies in that area are cooperating to help find Tibbetts.DHL Global Forwarding and Ethiopian Airlines are to form a joint venture company to build the leading cargo logistics provider joint venture company in Africa.

DHL-Ethiopian Airlines Logistics Services will be based in Ethiopia but will conduct business on the entire African continent, said the two companies in a statement.

Ethiopian Airlines, with a majority stake in the joint venture, will provide regulatory and operational support as DHL Global Forwarding establishes air, ocean, and road freight connections between Ethiopias main trade hubs and the rest of the world.

In early July, an Ethiopian newspaper, citing Ethiopian Airlines Group chief executive Tewolde Gebremariam, said that Ethiopian would own 51% and Germany-headquartered DHL 49%.

Few details were outlined in the joint statement, but Ethiopian Cargo is an ambitious freighter operator, With six B777 and two B757 freighters serving 39 cargo destinations in Africa, the Middle East, Asia the Americas and Europe.

In January this year, Ethiopian announced that it is to lease two converted Boeing 737-800 freighters from lessor GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS).

Tim Scharwath, chief executive of DHL Global Forwarding, said: By bundling our global network expertise with Ethiopian Airlines profound knowledge of the regulatory and operational environment, we are opening up an important access to international trade for Africas fastest growing economy and at the same time strengthening our position in the African continent.

Pramod Bagalwadi, a DHL veteran with over two decades of experience in management roles within the logistics industry, has been appointed to lead the new organization.

This will be an additional portfolio for Bagalwadi, who currently leads the industrial projects team for DHL in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Amadou Diallo, chief executive of DHL Global Forwarding, Middle East and Africa, said: With its GDP growth, Africa is stepping into the spotlight as production hub. Recent moves to open up the economy will continue to boost Ethiopias position as the fastest-growing economy in Africa

Under Pramods leadership, the company will be able to provide a scalable and durable logistics infrastructure to safely handle the sensitive needs of its core industries.

GebreMariam said: Logistics is key to support Africas fast economic growth and industrialization drive. Ethiopian has, therefore, partnered with DHL who has a proven expertise and experience in the logistics sector, with a view to avail the right logistics solutions in terms of cost, time and quality.

We have had a longstanding and mutually rewarding partnership with DHL, and with this Joint venture we aim to make the country a logistics hub for Africa.

The joint venture is another step in an extended partnership between DHL Global Forwarding and Ethiopian Airlines since 2010.

DHL Global Forwarding has been supporting the maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) operations of Ethiopian Airlines commercial segment.

Read more freight forwarder and freighter operator news

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What to Know Prosecutors will review a decades-old murder investigation after an attorney said she detected similarities to Golden State Killer case

The Orange County District Attorney's office agreed to review the conviction of William Evins in the killing of a 28-year-old woman in 1979

Prosecutors cautioned it's too soon to tell where the review will lead

Prosecutors agreed Wednesday to review a decades-old murder investigation after an attorney said she detected similarities to attacks by a notorious California serial killer and not the man who was convicted in the case.

The Orange County District Attorney's office agreed to review the conviction of William Evins in the killing of a 28-year-old woman in 1979 as part of a longstanding program that looks into old cases upon request.

But the prosecutor's office cautioned it's too soon to tell where the review will lead, and they will have to look at the evidence to determine whether DNA testing is a possibility.

Attorney Annee Della Donna, who runs the pro bono Innocence Rights of Orange County, said she made the request after detecting apparent similarities in the now-deceased Evins' case with murders by the so-called Golden State Killer.

Authorities in Northern California arrested 72-year-old former police officer Joseph DeAngelo last April and said they believed he was the killer who had long proved elusive to authorities.

DeAngelo is charged with 12 killings throughout the state in the 1970s and 1980s, including one in Orange County in 1980.

As a teen, Della Donna said she was the victim of an abduction attempt and years later saw a sketch of the Golden State Killer suspect that she thought resembled her attacker.

She started looking into rape and murder cases that had occurred nearby and came across Evins' case, she said. She said she lived six blocks away from 28-year-old victim Joan Anderson and the way Anderson was killed bears similarities to cases involving the serial killer.

She also said Evins, who died in 2013, pleaded guilty after a jailhouse informant said he had confessed to the crime.

"We believe that this murder was another Golden State Killer case," she told reporters, adding that she had also contacted Sacramento County sheriff's officials and the FBI.

"It's too early to tell if there's similarities or not," said Susan Kang Schroeder, the prosecutor office's chief of staff. "We don't know."It looks like San Franciscos famous cable car bell ringing contest isnt happening this year, due to a boycott by workers after a cut in the services offered by California Cable Car.

Every late summer, the bell ringing contest lets operators show off their skills, but according to the union representing some operators who have decided not to participate, it might not happen this year.

"We will not be hosting the bell ringing contest this year," said Paul Rose, from SFMTA.

SFMTA says they recently stopped running service on the California line from midnight to 1:30 a.m. because there werent enough rides and it serves more commuters, something the cable car operators did not like.

"The cable car operators decided not to participate to let the city and county of San Francisco know that cable car service is being is being reduced," said Roger Marenco, president of the Transport Workers Union. "Its definitely less pay when there is a reduction in service but our main goal, function and principal is providing service," said Marenco.

The union says operators were able to gather signatures from those who ride it and that the contest would be coming up soon, but for now it looks like riders will just have to keep riding to hear the bells.

"Ive often seen the souvenir shops the cable car magnets, Ive bought a few for my friends I thought why not take a ride finally," said tourist Debbie Mitra.

For San Francisco residents, not having the bell ringing contest doesnt seem right and neither do the reasons why.

"I find it kind of disappointing but that the same time what does that have to do with cutting service?" said San Francisco resident Rufina Page.

For now, Rose said they will try to incorporate the contest with their September Muni Heritage event and the only way things might change is if the late night service is back on.The chief of the Homeland Security Department has told members of Congress that the government is "on track" to meet Thursday's court-ordered deadline of reuniting hundreds of migrant children with their families, lawmakers who met privately with her said.

Wednesday's assertion by Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was greeted with open disbelief and anger, according to many of the roughly 20 members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus  all Democrats  who attended. The private, hourlong meeting seemed to achieve little toward dousing lawmakers' criticism of how children taken from their parents are being handled.

Nielsen also told the group, "I am not a racist," according to two of the lawmakers. One of them, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., said she made the remark after he told her she worked for a "racist regime." Gutierrez said she cited her friendship with the first lady of Honduras and other Latina women.

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, tweeted that she told the lawmakers: "I am not a racist. Nobody believes families should be separated."

A spokeswoman for the Homeland Security Department was asked for comment and did not immediately provide one.

After the meeting, lawmakers said Nielsen provided no statistics to support her assertion that the deadline for reuniting families would be met.

"She said they believe they're on track" to meet the court deadline, said Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., one of several lawmakers who said she used that phrase to describe the status of reuniting separated families.

"That's impossible. And we all said this to her," said Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.

Gutierrez said he told Nielsen "she is committing crimes against humanity, that she is a child abuser" and that she is "an accomplice of Donald Trump's racist regime."

U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego set a Thursday deadline for reuniting children age 5 and older who have been held by the government since their families were caught entering the country without authorization.

As many as 2,551 children age 5 and up were separated from their families and 1,187 children have been reunified with parents, guardians or sponsors, the government has said. The exact number still separated is unclear. The government has been releasing hundreds of families to faith-based groups, which are caring for them.

The government has said 463 migrant parents may have been deported after being separated from their children, further complicating the reunification process. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said Nielsen suggested to the lawmakers Wednesday that those children were left behind in the U.S. at those parents' requests.

"We simply do not believe that's true," Menendez said.

A separate deadline that Sabraw had set for reuniting around 100 children younger than age 5 with their families passed two weeks ago. Just over half have rejoined their parents or guardians, according to the latest figures.

The separations caused a bipartisan, nationwide uproar against Trump's policy of "zero tolerance," in which the government prosecutes all migrants entering the U.S. illegally.

The government initially separated children from their detained parents or guardians. Under pressure, Trump abandoned the family separation policy, but hundreds of children remain apart from their parents in conditions that visitors have described as horrid.

Nielsen ignored reporters' questions when she left the meeting.

"Very productive. Very frank," she said.

The lawmakers said Nielsen also told them her agency is financing the costs of detaining families with a 1 percent across-the-board cut to its programs.

A Homeland Security spokeswoman said the added costs are due to increased numbers of people being caught entering the country, and the money is being used for additional beds and transportation expenses.

Separately, the Republican-dominated House Appropriations Committee approved $5 billion for building parts of Trump's proposed border wall with Mexico after rejecting a Democratic effort to redirect that money to other immigration programs.

Trump has requested the $5 billion for next year, but the Senate version of the bill financing the Homeland Security Department has just $1.6 billion. The final amount will need to be worked out later this year.President Donald Trump on Thursday ripped his favorite social media platform, criticizing Twitter for shadow banning Republicans, a vague accusation the commander-in-chief said was "discriminatory" and "illegal," NBC News reported.

Twitter 'SHADOW BANNING' prominent Republicans. Not good, Trump wrote on Twitter. We will look into this discriminatory and illegal practice at once! Many complaints.

Shadow banning is a term popular in conservative circles that refers to the idea that Twitter has quietly made the profiles and tweets of prominent conservative figures more difficult for users to see. Specifically, some people were not appearing in the autofill drop-down search function on the platform when users attempted to search for their profiles. Vice News reported on the issue this week.

A spokesperson for Twitter said the company did not have anything to share about Trumps tweet Thursday morning. However, the spokesperson did deny outright that the company engages in shadow banning, saying the company is working to fix the problem of people not appearing in the search box.What to Know Family members identified the 15-year-old Cambridge girl who died after hitting her head when she was shoved as Richelle Robinson.

Loved ones are holding a candlelight walk in her memory Wednesday evening.

Cambridge police are asking witnesses to may have seen something at the intersection of Cambridge and Warren streets to come forward.

A vigil was held Wednesday evening for the Massachusetts teen who died after hitting her head when she was pushed to the ground over the weekend as her family speaks out about her life.

Fifteen-year-old Cambridge resident Richelle Robinson dreamed of becoming a paramedic, loved to dance and enjoyed makeup and getting her nails done, her family told NBC10 Boston.

"She was a very smart young lady, and very responsible," family friend DerriniQue Coleman said. "She was loved by many."

Robinson was heading to an acquaintance's home Sunday evening when she was attacked. She was taken to a local hospital, where she died the following afternoon.

No arrests have been made, and Cambridge police are asking for witnesses who may have seen Robinson get shoved to the ground at the intersection of Warren and Cambridge streets around 6:30 p.m. Sunday to come forward.

The candlelight walk Robinson's memory started at 6 p.m. in Cambridge.A Maine teacher who allegedly had a sexual relationship with a student has been found not guilty of sexual assault.

Jill Lamontagne, who taught at Kennebunk High School, was on trial for 14 charges, including gross sexual assault and sexual abuse of a minor. According to the Press Herald, a jury found Lamontagne not guilty on all counts.

Lamontagne was accused of sexually assaulting a student who was 17 at the time. The jury deliberated for under two hours.

The alleged victim told jurors he was getting extra help from the health teacher because he was at risk of not graduating. He said their relationship started innocently.

"Things became more personal between us, I guess, and then escalated to sexual," he told the jury Tuesday.

He said Lamontagne, who was 29 at the time, requested the student's SnapChat name, texted and called him. He claims the two would kiss, hug, and eventually had oral sex in the classroom closet three times. He said he also went to Lamontagne's home on two occasions.

When the sexual encounters escalated, the alleged victim said Lamontagne told him they could not have intercourse until after he graduated.

"We would often discuss how much we loved each other," the 19-year-old alleged victim told jurors, adding that they planned to have a "real relationship" after he was done with school.

Toward the end of the school year, he said he was feeling distraught about his future and their relationship, and he attempted suicide.

Detectives who analyzed the alleged victim's cell phone testified that there were 86 phone calls and 94 text messages to and from Lamontagne's phone number during that same five-month period.

One text said "I can't stop thinking about you," according to Saco Police Detective Fred Williams. On the day the alleged victim attempted suicide, a text from Lamontagne's phone read "Will you call me and talk?" and another stated "Can't stop thinking about you."

Kennebunk Police Detective Steve Borst, who also examined the cell phone data, said Lamontagne's number sent a text to the alleged victim that contained a screenshot of a music player, playing the song "Who I Am With You" by Chris Young.

"Listen to the lyrics," the text read. Jurors listened to the song Tuesday, which contain lyrics such as "Who I am with you is who I really wanna be / You're so good to me ... You're the best part of who I am."

Caleb Shields, the alleged victim's best friend, also testified Tuesday. He was a student at Kennebunk High School, and said Lamontagne once called his cell phone number looking for the alleged victim.

"She wanted to know if he was with me, if he was alright, and if I would tell him that she loved him," Shields testified.

Lamontagne's lawyer has called the allegations against her "pure fantasy." He questioned the alleged victim's timeline of events and pointed out that he initially denied having a relationship with Lamontagne when school officials first investigated the rumor.

Lamontagne's lawyer said she was dedicated teacher, working her "dream job" and would not risk her career and reputation "to have [oral sex] with a 17-year-old at 7:30 in the morning in her classroom."

The alleged victim testified that he has retained an attorney to have the option of suing the school district and Lamontagne.A Swedish student activist tried to prevent the deportation of an Afghan asylum-seeker by purchasing a ticket for the flight removing him and then refusing to sit down, keeping the plane from taking off.

Elin Ersson live-streamed her protest to Facebook from inside the plane that was due to fly from Sweden's second city, Goteborg, to Istanbul and then on to Kabul on Monday.

Speaking in English she explained that the man was being deported to Afghanistan "where he will most likely get killed."

The video was widely shared on social media and had received some 3.7 million views by Thursday morning.

The man and Ersson were eventually both removed from the plane after a tense stand-off.

German channel Deutsche Welle said he was taken into custody and would still face deportation, while Ersson may face legal action.What to Know The election in Omena, Michigan, is a fundraiser costing $1 per vote

Candidates must be animals that live in Omena

Each newly-elected officer will serve a three-year term

Politics in a small northern Michigan village have gone to the cats and dogs and goats and even chickens.

Omena's newly elected mayor is a feline named Sweet Tart. Dogs Diablo Shapiro and Punkin Anderson Harder are vice mayor and second vice mayor.

An election committee named Harley the goat press secretary while Penny the chicken is special assistant for fowl affairs.

The seats are ceremonial. WPBN-TV reports that the election is a fundraiser costing $1 per vote and brought in more than $7,000 to the Omena Historical Society.

"Because of our internet reach and because of our publicity and because of the ability to receive votes from PayPal, it's really expanded the number of people that have participated," said Keith Disselkoen, president of the historical society.



Sweet Tart did not comment when a reporter asked what plans it has for Omena.



Candidates have to be animals and live in Omena, which has about 300 human residents and is north of Traverse City.

An inauguration and parade were held Saturday. The newly-elected officers will serve three-year terms.A Chicago restaurant has just been named one of the best new restaurants in America, according to a report.

Eater dubbed Pacific Standard Time, located in the city's River North neighborhood, one of the best establishments to open across the country in the last year.

In its ranking released Wednesday, the culinary publication named the top 18 restaurants in the U.S. where chefs "stand out" through hospitality, as well as ingenuity and individuality.

One of just two Midwest spots to snag a place on the list, Pacific Standard Time, located at 141 W. Erie St., made the cut thanks to chef Erling Wu-Bower's his "proven repertoire" merging with a "West Coast ethos."

Eater's national critic noted that the chef - of Nico Osteria fame - is "informed by a freethinking multiculturalism rather than an adherence to any one cuisine."

The publication called the Pacific Standard Time's two-course duck entree a "showstopper" and made special mention of pastry chef Natalie Saben's "feel-good desserts" to finish the meal.The man killed in a police-involved shooting in north suburban Lakemoor early Thursday was a suspect in a Pennsylvania murder, officials have confirmed.

36-year-old Kenneth E. Martell of Meadville, PA was parked in a very remote area, and an officer approached his vehicle to investigate, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office,

Martell then pulled two handguns on the officer, and after a struggle ensued, the officers opened fire and struck the man, police said.

The shooting took place at around 6 a.m. near the intersection of Four Seasons and Sullivan Lake Blvds.

Both officers were taken to local hospitals for evaluation after the incident. The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to the Lake County Sheriff's Office, Martell was wanted in connection with a homicide that took place in Crawford County in Pennsylvania earlier in the week.

According to Pennsylvania police, Martell is believed to have killed 82-year-old Theodore M. Garver either Monday night or Tuesday morning, and that Martell used a handgun to threaten three individuals and intimidate them into helping him dispose of the body.

Lake County officials are continuing to work with Pennsylvania law enforcement as the investigation into both crimes continues.

Check back for updates on this developing story.A federal judge is allowing Maryland and the District of Columbia to proceed with their lawsuit accusing President Donald Trump of unconstitutionally accepting gifts from foreign and state interests through his Washington hotel. The decision Wednesday clears the way for the plaintiffs to seek financial records from the president's company.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte rejected arguments from the Justice Department that earnings from business activities, including hotel room stays, do not qualify as unconstitutional gifts.

At issue is the Constitution's "emoluments" clause, which bans federal officials from accepting benefits from foreign or state governments without congressional approval. The plaintiffs argue Trump's hotel harms area businesses because of the president's ties.

Two other emoluments lawsuits are also moving through federal courts.

Trump administration lawyers have argued that earnings from such business activity, including hotel room stays, don't qualify as emoluments. They have argued that under Maryland and D.C.'s interpretation of an emolument, no federal official would even be able to own stock from a foreign company that provides profits or collects royalties.

Lawyers for Maryland and D.C. have maintained that no actual influence is necessary to establish an emoluments clause violation.

So far in Trump's presidency, his hotel, which is in a former post office just steps from the White House, has become a popular meeting place for groups tied to foreign governments, including Kuwait, Bahrain, Turkey, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.

The roof of a vacant building on Park Street in Hartford caved in Thursday afternoon, partially collapsing the building, and 64 residents of nearby properties have been displaced.

Crews responded to 769-777 Park St. around 12:32 p.m. after a neighbor who heard the collapse walked up to the nearby Engine Company 8 and reported it, according to Hartford Deputy Fire Chief James York.

Crews who arrived at the scene found that the third and fourth floors had collapsed and York said the citys license and inspection division thinks the building is in imminent state of collapse.

The building is almost 100 years old, according to city records. Officials said the city deemed it unsafe to live in after a fire in 2014, but it was not deemed structurally compromised.

Fire officials said that there was a fire in the building seven years ago and it hasn't been maintained.

Red tape now marks the collapse zone, which consists of buildings to the rear, right, the left and the front. The demolition company will be taking down two buildings. Hartford officials said the demolition will begin this afternoon and the city will pay for it out of the emergency demolition fund and bill the property owner.

Park Street will remain closed between Babcock and Putnam streets at least through the weekend.

After the building is demolished, the property will be fenced and the city will have an environmental assessment done, city officials.

Residents of around 22 apartments in seven buildings within the collapse zone were evacuated Thursday and are being housed temporarily at a hotel in the area.

We hope residents will be able to return to their homes on Monday, but that timeline will depend on the progress of the demolition. I want to thank the residents in the area for their patience and understanding. Our priority is keeping people safe while we take this building down, Hartford mayor Luke Bronin said in a statement.

It was the police with the fire department telling me Ive got five minutes to move and thats what I did, and now we dont know where we are going to stay, Elizabeth Rodriguez said.

The residents will not be able to return home for a few more days.

York said the fire department is working with the building owner and the special services division to help relocate them. Fire officials said a total of 64 people have been displaced.

Angelys Bonilla wasn't displaced by the collapse, but she lives nearby and was shaken by the news.

I have three pets. I have my nephews come over constantly, so it worries me. I can tell you I really wont sleep tonight," she said.

There were no reports of injuries.A Newington man and probationary Hartford firefighter is accused of brandishing a gun during a road rage incident in Wethersfield Wednesday.

Connecticut State Police said 21-year-old Kyle Cataldo waved a gun at another driver on Route 3 in Wethersfield. Cataldo told police he showed the gun to stop another driver from harassing him.

Cataldo was arrested and charged with first-degree threatening and breach of peace.

Hartford Fire Chief Reginald Freeman confirmed that Cataldo was a probationary firefighter with the city. He resigned following the incident.Filling up her car at the BJs Wholesale Club on the Tolland Turnpike was part of Alysia Dukes routine.

What wasnt routine was the way Duke says her car performed after one particular fill-up in June.

"It was bucking a little bit and if I pushed on the pedal, it didn't even sound like it was revving up," Duke said.

Duke said she was afraid the car would stall on the highway, so instead of driving to work, she headed straight for the dealership.

Duke assumed the problem was mechanical. But she says the dealership told her it was bad gas.

The dealership explained its testing process to NBC Connecticut Responds in an email.

We put 50% gas and 50% water in a clear container shook it and let it settle out, the email read.

After settling, the water was foggy, which the dealership says indicates poor quality fuel.

Service technicians removed the fuel pump and flushed the fuel. They then reinstalled the pump and put four gallons of new fuel in the tank. The dealership says the car ran without problem.

Duke went back to BJs with the results and says employees filed a claim on her behalf with the gas stations insurance, Sedgwick Claims Management.

Duke says a representative for Sedgwick contacted her, but stopped communicating after a few days. Then came the denial letter.

It said, The gas tanks at this Club are monitored by an electronic system that is in place to detect contaminants such as such as water and sediment. Our investigation states that on the date you purchased gasoline there was zero water present in the tanks.

Duke says she didnt fill up anywhere else.

She contacted NBC Connecticut Responds at a friends suggestion.

"I've seen it on the news before but I didn't even think anything of it for myself to be honest with you," Duke said.

Our consumer team sent Sedgwick a copy of Dukes invoice from the dealership, which explains their findings, along with a photo of the gas sample. Soon after, Duke says Sedgwick offered her a resolution of $306.43.

Duke says thats enough to cover her repair bill and a tank of gas, and says her car is running smoothly.

Im very happy with the result, she said.

A spokesperson for BJs said the company did not receive any other complaints about fuel quality at the Manchester location.It may be the end of July, but the City of New Haven is already searching for this years holiday tree.

I actually wonder where do they find such a huge tree, Tasheisha Ricketts-Kidd said.

Every year, the tree lighting on the historic New Haven Green helps Ricketts-Kidd and her family get in the holiday spirit.

Its a magical experience and we absolutely love and enjoy it, she said.

Still four months away, the search is on to find what will be the centerpiece of the holiday season in the Elm City.

It lets me know that my city is on the right track and theyre already gearing for this holiday season so it lets us know our tradition wont be broken, Ricketts-Kidd said.

The city is looking for preferably a Norway Spruce that is between 55 and 70 feet tall.

In the next four to six weeks, the Department of Parks, Recreation and Trees hopes to select the holiday tree so it will be ready to be tied up by the end of October.

Second step, will be contacting the crane company make sure we have enough clearance from power lines or any utilities so we can get the crane in there, said Bill Carone from the Department of Parks, Recreation and Trees.

It takes the citys tree crew about two weeks to tie up all the branches before the tree is cut, lifted, lowered on a flatbed and escorted to downtown.

So it might be 85 degrees today but we are looking for our holiday tree, Carone said.

The tree that is chosen will be removed from the property at no cost and the donors can take part in the tree lighting. If you have a tree that meets the qualifications, call Carone at 203-946-8002 or email with pictures to wcarone@newhavenct.gov.

On November 29, you can watch the New Haven Holiday Tree lighting live on NBC Connecticut, which is proud to be a media partner for the fourth year in a row.Time is running out for a New Haven woman facing deportation back to Bangladesh, but her family has not given up hope.

I was like, 'That's my mother, she's not a criminal. She didn't do anything, Samir Mahmud told NBC Connecticut.

The last few days have been difficult at the Mahmud home.

I'm a first-generation college student. She's not going to be there. I don't know how to feel, Samir said.

The 17-year-olds family is preparing for him to begin his freshman year at Quinnipiac University, but they might have to do it without his mother Salma, whos been ordered to leave the United States.

My dream is my son, Salma Reza Sikandar said.

An immigrant from Bangladesh, Salma overstayed her 1999 tourist visa, but eventually filed a hardship application to remain in the country because of her son, an American-born citizen. While awaiting a decision in her cases appeal, a few days ago, Immigration and Customs Enforcement told her to go.

This country is built on immigrants. We are not taking anything, we're giving. So they have to think about it, the good people, Salmas husband, Anwar Mahmud, said.

Anwar, a restaurant manager, said the close-knit family would struggle immensely in Salmas absence. He wonders why political directives from the nations capital are targeting families like his.

They're separating families not at the border. They're separating families in the mainland, Anwar said.

For now, the family is cherishing the time they have together, and preparing for Samirs next chapter. But for them, each family meal is bittersweet, as they wonder how many more they have left.

I wont know how to survive. My parents are my everything, Samir said.

Aug. 23 is the date the Mahmuds said ICE has ordered Salma to leave the country by.

NBC Connecticut spoke with State Rep. David Yaccarino, who says hes been in touch with ICE and is trying to find a way to keep Salma in the country.

We reached out to ICE and the attorney for the Mahmud family, but have yet to hear back.Jane Fonda said she's still confronted by Vietnam War veterans over her 1970s anti-war activism and welcomes the encounters.

Such moments provide an opportunity to talk, she said, which needs to be done with what Fonda called "an open mind and a soft heart."

The actress drew bitter criticism after being photographed atop an anti-aircraft gun during a controversial 1972 visit to North Vietnam. Meeting with TV critics Wednesday to discuss a new HBO documentary on her life, she expressed regret for that moment.

She said it was thoughtless to perch on the gun and called it "horrible" to think about the message her action sent to soldiers and their families, she said.

It was an earlier meeting with U.S. soldiers in Paris that sparked her activism, Fonda said. Her belief that America always fought on "the side of the angels" was shaken by what she heard and later read.

Her late father, the famed actor Henry Fonda, was a World War II veteran and Jane Fonda had served as "Miss Army Recruiter" in 1954.

She felt betrayed and lied to by America's leadership over the war and decided she would do everything possible to help stop it as part of a movement, Fonda said.

At age 80, Fonda looks back at her life in HBO's "Jane Fonda in Five Acts," from director-producer Susan Lacy and debuting this fall. Fonda continues to work, starring opposite Lily Tomlin on the Netflix series "Grace and Frankie" and working with Tomlin and Dolly Parton on a sequel to their hit 1980 movie "9 to 5."

The new take on women's mistreatment in the workplace will have to address how the situation is worse today in some regards, including treatment of contract workers, or she won't be in it, Fonda said.

On the bright side, Fonda said she expects to see sexual harassment decline "because guys are scared."Designed with the sole purpose of empowering women, a small boutique with a global impact has opened its first storefront location in Fort Worth.

"Tribe Alive," right off Magnolia Ave. just south of downtown, is on a mission to empower and employ women around the world. The company partners with female artisans in Guatemala, India, Haiti, Honduras and now across North Texas to employ at-risk women at living wages.

Carly Burson, founder of Tribe Alive, said they are now working with resettled refugee women in Fort Worth and a local non-profit that employs and empowers women transitioning out of prison.

We really exist to employ women in places where we don't have access to opportunity," said Burson. "We work in countries where women live really hard lives and where they don't have access to education; they don't have access to jobs. And we utilize fashion and our designs to provide a platform where we can employ women in places like that.

The mission is to give women an opportunity to work in safe environments, earn a dependable income and motivate them to determine their own future.



ONLINE: www.tribealive.com

When Claudia Souser talks about the "journey," she doesn't mean that day on Sept. 12, 2008, when her husband Doyle boarded Train 111 of the Metrolink commuter line in Los Angeles.

She is referring to what has happened since.

"You know, you never think, 'I'm going to be a widow," Souser said.

"I'm going to live my life alone and I'm going to raise my kids alone  It's certainly a journey we didn't think we would ever have," she said.

That's because Doyle died that September day, along with 24 others, when Train 111 barreled through the Chatsworth area of LA, where it slammed head-on into a freight train.

Along with the dead, 135 people were injured.

It was later determined that the train's engineer was texting on his cell phone and failed to stop at a signal.

Souser believes that if her husband's train had been equipped with a computerized safety system  the same system still absent on North Texas' Trinity Railway Express line  her husband would be alive today.

"there wouldn't have been a crash," she told NBC 5 Investigates in an interview at her home near Los Angeles.

As we reported last month, the TRE, which moves an estimated 8,000 passengers daily between Fort Worth and Dallas, is behind schedule to install the "positive train control" safety equipment, also known as PTC, which is now required by the Federal Railroad Administration.

In fact, it is so far behind, the line is in danger of breaking a deadline set by the FRA, which could then shut the Dallas/Fort Worth commuter line down, officials have said.

PTC is a computerized system that monitors train speeds, sends alerts of potential trouble, and can actually take over and stop a train when necessary.

Its purpose, experts say, is to save lives.

While other, much larger commuter lines in the country are well along in implementing PTC, the Trinity Railway Express had the equipment installed on only three of its 17 trains, and none of the required equipment was on its tracks, when NBC 5 Investigates first reported the story in June.

But in an interview, Reed Lanham, the TRE's vice president of technology, said he was not worried by the delay, and does not feel the absence of the safety equipment is placing passengers at greater risks.

"Well, um, I would not think so. Again, we have not on the TRE had an incident that" PTC computers could have prevented, Lanham said.

Fort Worth-based Trinity Metro, which runs the TRE, says it has struggled to find funding and contractors, and plans to ask the federal government for a two-year extension of the deadline.

But in Los Angeles, the positive train control system is already up and running on the city's much larger commuter railway  progress pushed along after the crash that killed Doyle Souser.

It was one of the deadliest train accidents in U.S. history.

Reeling from the accident, the city set out to install the positive train control apparatus, a massive, $200 million system that monitors 500 miles of track from a high-tech command center.

NBC 5 Investigates went to see.

"There was a great deal of skepticism and some just didn't like the idea of PTC because of the cost," said Art Leahy, chief executive officer of Metrolink. "But we were determined to do it because of the consequences of not having it," Leahy said.

Asked whether the computerized control system is making a difference, he said, "One-hundred percent. We haven't had any close calls with PTC in operation."

Knowing the loss caused by a bad train accident, Souser said she is surprised the safety system isn't already on track at the Trinity River Express, as well as at some other commuter lines across the country.

"It's the right thing to do, and it should be done..." she said, adding, "Why are you waiting?"

A Trinity Metro spokesperson told NBC 5 Investigates their CEO and board president were unavailable for comment.

They sent a statement saying "the TRE is committed to the safety of its patrons and operates today with a critical safety system in place. The TRE will continue to work toward full PTC implementation to enhance this safety system."

They hope to have PTC in place sometime next year.

Trinity Metro is also building a new billion-dollar rail line connecting Downtown Fort Worth to DFW Airport -- it's scheduled to open in January. But the agency said that new line won't have PTC fully implemented until the end of 2020.What to Know The cluster of cases in Liberia was identified after the woman's 15-year-old son was diagnosed with Ebola

The couple's 5-year-old son wasn't infected

Several weeks after giving birth to a baby in September 2015, the woman developed problems including fatigue and breathing difficulties

A Liberian woman who probably caught Ebola in 2014 may have infected three relatives a year after she first fell sick, doctors reported in a study published Monday.

There have been previous instances of men spreading Ebola to women via sexual transmission  the virus can survive in semen for more than a year  but the new case is the first time scientists have suggested that Ebola was spread from a woman after such a prolonged period.

The rare possibility of Ebola spreading long after infection highlights the importance of monitoring survivors, especially with the imminent end of the most recent flare-up of the disease in Congo.

That country's latest outbreak, announced in May, has so far recorded 38 confirmed cases, including 14 deaths. It is due to be declared contained on Wednesday, which will mark 42 days, or two incubation periods, since the last case was recorded.

"The Ebola virus hides in places where it can escape the antibodies from a body's immune system, so there is a need for vigilance," said Dr. David Heymann, a professor of infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who was not linked to the new research.

The unusual cluster of cases in Liberia was identified after the woman's 15-year-old son was diagnosed with Ebola in November 2015.

Scientists then tested the rest of his family: the woman, her husband and their three younger sons.

The 15-year-old died a few days later. The father and an 8-year-old boy were positive for Ebola, but both recovered.

The couple's 5-year-old son wasn't infected.

Doctors found Ebola antibodies in the mother, her breast milk and her 2-month-old baby, suggesting a previous infection and the possibility she passed on protection to her infant son through breastfeeding.

Researchers reported genetic similarities between the viruses taken from the father, the two boys and the strain circulating during the 2014-15 outbreak across Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, which ultimately killed more than 11,000 people in the biggest Ebola epidemic in history.

Scientists discovered the woman had cared for her brother in July 2014, who died after suffering Ebola-like symptoms but before being tested for the disease. The woman later experienced a similar illness, but never sought care.

Several weeks after giving birth to a baby in September 2015, the woman developed problems including fatigue and breathing difficulties. Doctors say that because pregnancy lowers the body's immune defenses, that may have allowed for the Ebola virus to re-emerge.

"The suspicious illness she had following delivery may have been a re-activation of Ebola, but we have no confirmatory tests," said Dr. Emily Kainne Dokubo, who led the Ebola response in Liberia for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the study's lead author.

Dokubo said it was possible the woman infected her husband and two older sons with Ebola when they took care of her  the disease is normally spread through contact with an infected patient's blood or other bodily fluids.

The case report was published online Monday in the journal Lancet.

"There isn't complete evidence to reconstruct what happened, but this is the most likely scenario," said Lorenzo Subissi, an epidemiologist at Sciensano, a Belgian research institute, who was not part of the study.

Dokubo said such cases of Ebola re-emergence are exceptional, with only two reported instances: a Scottish nurse who developed meningitis caused by Ebola hidden in her brain and an American physician who had lingering virus in his eye. In those two cases, the virus did not spread any further.

"We don't want there to be a sense of complacency with people thinking that just because the outbreak is over, there's nothing more to be done," Dokubo said. "There is a risk of viral persistence and people should seek care immediately so that we can pick up any suspicious cases right away and stop a larger outbreak."

___

The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.Adrian Breedlove, the driver accused of hitting and killing Dallas police officer Sr. Cpl. Earl Jamie Givens Saturday morning, remains behind bars, now with no bond.



Breedlove, 25, faces charges of intoxication manslaughter and unlawful carrying of a weapon in connection to the case.



Investigators said Breedlove was speeding and driving while intoxicated when he slammed into Givens, who was stopped and blocking traffic on his police motorcycle for a funeral procession when he was struck. According to prosecutors, Breedlove's blood-alcohol level was .19 at the time -- more than twice the legal limit.



Breedlove was released from jail early Sunday, but ordered back into custody Monday after a judge ruled that the terms of his bond were insufficient. Breedlove was to be fitted with an ankle monitor, instructed to install an interlock device in his vehicle, was prohibited from using alcohol or drugs and was ordered to adhere to a strict curfew.

Additionally, after telling police he was self-diagnosed with anxiety, depression and paranoia, Breedlove was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. The Dallas Morning News reports Breedlove was ordered into a jail crisis stabilization program for psychiatric evaluation, therapy and counseling, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the Dallas County District Attorney's Office filed a motion to increase Breedlove's bond to $100,000, $24,000 more than the $76,000 he already posted to go free.

Criminal District Court 6 Judge Jeanine Howard denied that motion, though on Wednesday she'd rule that Breedlove's bond was insufficient and that he should continue to be held and that no bond be allowed.

The Dallas Morning News reports he'll continue to be held through the psychiatric evaluations.



Dallas County Jail records show Breedlove remains in custody.

There's a big homecoming party planned Thursday morning at the Dallas Zoo for one 285 lb resident.

A Galapagos tortoise named "12" has spent the past 16 months undergoing treatment for a leg wound at the zoos A.H. Meadows Animal Health Care Facility.

Twelve will return to his habitat in ZooNorth with the zoos six other Galapagos tortoises at 9:30 a.m. Thursday. The Dallas Zoo staff is throwing a "Welcome Home" party for 12, complete with a banner and a cake.

NBC DFW featured 12 in a report back in spring 2017 during a visit to the veterinary facility.

At the time, Dr. Chris Bonar, Senior Director of Animal Services at the Dallas Zoo, was just beginning treatment of what had been reported as lameness of one of his rear legs.

He was dragging his back leg, said Shanna Fredlake, a reptile keeper at Dallas Zoo, in May. He literally was making almost like tire tracks. We could see he was dragging his whole body.

The giant tortoise made quite the entrance to the examination room  it took four members of the zoo staff to push 12 across the facility, along with the aid of a four-wheeled cart and 12s front legs helping to shuffle along.

Most of these guys are not easy to move if they dont want to move, Fredlake said about 12, who will likely grow to 600 lbs one day.

Dr. Bonar did an X-ray that day and determined that 12 had not broken any bones and had, instead, suffered a soft tissue injury.

But 12 has been in the hospital ever since.

Due to the location and the nature of the wound, and the slow healing rate for reptiles in general, 12s case proved to be challenging but Dallas Zoos animal care team gave him the expert care he needed to fully heal, a zoo spokesperson said in a statement.When Sandi Walker looks at her fields on Second Chance Farm in Granbury, she sees trouble.

"Anything green you see is weeds," Walker said. "There's nothing to eat."

Second Chance Farm is a nonprofit for neglected and abused animals. Walker said they had a fundraiser specifically to buy hay because North Texas is in a drought. Good quality hay is hard to find and it's expensive.

Walker said she tried to anticipate the hay price hike. She put down a $6,500 deposit to secure $17,000 worth of hay, or 190 bales, to get through winter.

Mike Richard, NBC 5 News

"When you're in a drought and it's a hay shortage, it's supply and demand," explained Walker.

The first 26 bales arrived two weeks ago, but Walker said they were brown and twiggy through and through. Walker said good quality hay should be green on the inside of the bale.

She said her animals, some of which are blind, won't eat the hay that was delivered.

"We don't need top quality hay like they feed race horses," explained Walker. "We need good quality hay that won't make them sick."

Now Walker is scrambling to find enough hay and the money to pay for it. "That's $6,500 out of our pocket that we worked hard to raise for these animals and it's gone," Walker said. "It's flat gone."

Mike Richard, NBC 5 News

Walker said she dipped into reserves to buy more than $1,000 of good quality hay, but that won't last two weeks. In total, she has found enough hay stock to last about two months. "I'm not gonna let 'em starve," Walker said.

As the price of hay continues to rise, Walker is hoping donors will help ... again.

Court documents show Texas parents accused of killing their 2-year-old this month blame "demons" and "evil."

Affidavits allege 24-year-old Stevie Williams and 20-year-old Dazrine Chagoya-Williams told police that something "other worldly" happened July 4 to their toddler, who was found dead with bruises in their Kyle home.

The Austin American-Statesman reports that the couple has been charged with capital murder of a person under 10. Court documents show they also face charges of injury to a child with serious bodily injury after their 8-month-old daughter was found with several injuries.

The charges are capital felonies punishable by the death penalty or life in prison.

Records show the parents were being held in the Hays County Jail on Tuesday, with bail set at $250,000 each.The watchdog charged with tracking government spending in Afghanistan says the United States has wasted $15.5 billion there over 11 years, NBC News reported.

The figure is its first estimate of the total amount of money wasted there, but they say that figure is likely "only a portion." In response to a request from three congressman in 2017, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) began tallying the waste and fraud in the U.S. effort to rebuild the country.

After 10 months of research, SIGAR sent a letter back to the congressmen that estimated the waste at $15.5 billion between SIGAR's inception in 2008 and Dec. 31, 2017, or 29 percent of the spending it audited.

In the letter, obtained by NBC, Special Inspector General John Sopko described the figure as "likely  only a portion of the total waste, fraud, abuse and failed efforts."Justin Nelson, the Houston attorney challenging Attorney General Ken Paxton in November, is asking for several debates with the incumbent.

Nelson posted this letter on Twitter Thursday.

We reached out to Paxtons campaign to see if he would debate. We received this statement from his campaign spokesman.

Attorney General Paxton will communicate directly with the voters about important issues and his phenomenal record of accomplishment the past four years. Under his leadership, Texas has prevailed in every high-profile case before the United States Supreme Court this term. From redistricting to the travel ban, compelled union dues to respect for life and religious liberties, Attorney General Paxton staunchly defended the rule of law and won. Now is not the time to turn over the attorney generals office to an unknown liberal democratic plaintiff trial lawyer who makes a living off destroying small businesses through abusive litigation, said Paxton Campaign spokesperson Matt Welch.

Nelson is hoping to unseat Paxton, who had a convincing win back in 2014. He won by 20 points.

A recent poll from the University of Texas and Texas Tribune, show him within a point of Paxton. Paxton has 32 percent, Nelson had 31.

But 26 percent had no opinion. But while Nelson appears to close the gap there, fund-raising is a different issue altogether. The Paxton campaign reports $7.2 million cash on hand.

Nelson has about $1.1 million in the bank, but half a million in outstanding debtA Chinese cyberespionage group called APT10 relentlessly attacks U.S. engineering, telecom and aerospace industries. Russian hackers last year compromised dozens of U.S. energy companies. Iranian hackers known as "Rocket Kitten" repeatedly target American defense companies in hopes of stealing information to boost Tehran's missile and space programs.

While Moscow's efforts to meddle in the 2016 U.S. presidential election are widely known, spy services from China, Russia and Iran, along with their proxy hackers, also are hard at work trying to steal trade secrets and proprietary information from the United States, according to a government report released Thursday. A classified version of the report was sent to Congress.

"Foreign economic and industrial espionage against the United States continues to represent a significant threat to America's prosperity, security and competitive advantage," the National Counterintelligence and Security Center said. "China, Russia and Iran stand out as three of the most capable and active cyber actors tied to economic espionage and the potential theft of U.S. trade secrets and proprietary information."

Cyberespionage is a relatively low-cost, high-yield way to access and acquire information from U.S. research institutions, universities and corporations, the report said. More vulnerabilities will emerge with the increase in cloud computing, artificial intelligence and the proliferation of vehicles, home appliances, medical devices and other items connected to the internet.

Cyberoperations are the preferred method for conducting economic espionage, the report said, but U.S. adversaries also acquire sensitive information by hiring sophisticated hackers, recruiting spies or gleaning material from foreign students studying at American universities.

Adversaries also are infiltrating computer networks of suppliers that serve large companies and then using that connection to worm their way up the chain into large corporate computer systems. Bill Evanina, the nation's top counterintelligence official and director of the center, told reporters at a briefing that business leaders need to investigate the security of computer systems used by companies that supply their air conditioning and heating, printers and copiers and the like.

"Our economic security is our national security," Evanina said "We cannot just get numb to our adversaries stealing our intellectual property."

The report listed two dozen technologies that have piqued the interest of foreign intelligence collectors. They include oil, gas and coal-bed methane gas energies; smart grids; solar and wind technologies; biopharmaceuticals and new vaccines and drugs; defensive marine systems and radar; hybrid and electric cars; pollution control; high-end computer numerically controlled machines, which are used to control factory tools and machines in manufacturing; space infrastructure and exploration technology; synthetic rubber; rare earth materials; quantum computing; and next generation broadband wireless communications networks.

Michael Moss, deputy director of the government's Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center, said incidents of economic espionage are growing rapidly. "The thing that continues to surprise me is how fast it continues to accelerate. It's getting faster and faster," he said.

China uses joint ventures to try to acquire technical know-how, the report said. It said Beijing seeks partnerships with U.S. government labs to learn about specific technology and information about running such facilities and uses front companies to hide the hand of the Chinese government and acquire technology under U.S. export controls.

The Trump administration has railed against China, imposed new tariffs and called for Beijing to end the theft of intellectual property from U.S. companies. The administration also wants China to curb policies that require American and other foreign businesses to hand over technology in exchange for access to the Chinese market.

"If this threat is not addressed, it could erode America's long-term competitive economic advantage," the report said.

Economic espionage conducted by hackers linked to Russia is mostly aimed at finding ways to inflict damage on the United States, disrupt services or benefit its economic interests, according to the report.

"In support of that goal, Russian intelligence services have conducted sophisticated and large-scale hacking operations to collect sensitive U.S. business and technology information," the report said. It also said that Russian "military modernization efforts also likely will be a motivating factor for Russia to steal U.S intellectual property."

Iranian's operations have typically targeted adversaries in the Middle East, such as Israel and Saudi Arabia. But it also tries to infiltrate U.S. networks to acquire technologies to bolster economic growth, modernize its military and increase exports.

"The loss of sensitive information and technologies not only presents a significant threat to U.S. national security," the report said. "It also enables Tehran to develop advanced technologies to boost domestic economic growth, modernize its military forces and increase its foreign sales."The Los Angeles Zoo announced today it has joined forces with a conservation organization to monitor and protect jaguars in Nicaragua.

The zoo is supporting Paso Pacifico in its jaguar conservation efforts by providing funding for 14 camera traps in the Paso del Istmo Biological Corridor on the western slope of Nicaragua with the ultimate goal of documenting the presence of jaguars.

"Jaguars have historically been an important species at the Los Angeles Zoo," said Beth Schaefer, general curator at the zoo. "They are the flagship species in our Rainforest of the Americas exhibit and play an important role in connecting Angelenos with wildlife in the Americas. The Los Angeles Zoo is proud to be a long-time supporter of Paso Pacifico's camera trap project, enabling them to gather critical data about this magnificent predator. It is conservation projects like this that gain the science needed to save wild animals and their habitats."

Jaguars once roamed in the wild from South America into parts of the United States, but are now "near threatened" and have almost been completely eliminated from the wild in the United States, according to the zoo.

"Before jaguars were picked up on camera a few years ago, it was widely believed that they no longer existed in the Paso del Istmo Corridor in Nicaragua,'' said Paso Pacifico Founder and Executive Director Sarah Otterstrom. "Now that there is clear, visual evidence that they still roam the local forests, we can work together to educate communities about the importance of protecting them.''

The zoo said that once proof of their existence has been established, Paso Pacifico then works with local communities to spread the word about the importance of protecting the animals. The biggest threat to jaguars' survival is from humans, according to the zoo, because farmers and ranchers in Nicaragua typically shoot jaguars on sight, as deaths of cattle and horses have often been attributed to jaguars. To combat this issue, Paso Pacifico has implemented a compensation program, offering to pay farmers in the event of a verified aguar attack on their livestock.

Deforestation has also damaged the natural habitat of jaguars, and Paso Pacific also organizes conservation and reforestation campaigns.What to Know The Ribbon fire started Thursday afternoon in the Pinyon Pines area of Riverside County

A brush fire that broke out near Pinyon Pines Thursday as hundreds of fire personnel were busy battling a 7,500-acre blaze to the north blackened about 200 acres.

The Ribbon Fire was reported at 10:12 a.m. near state Route 74 and Ribbonwood Drive, according to Tawny Cabral of the Riverside County Fire Department, who said it was burning "at a moderate rate of spread."

No injuries were immediately reported, nor was there any word on what sparked the blaze. Evacuation warnings were issued for Alpine Village, Pinyon Crest, Pinyon Pines and the Pinyon Flatts campground.

The fire, which was 5 percent contained as of 7:30 p.m., is separate from the 7,500-acre Cranston Fire, which has kept local firefighters busy since it began around noon Wednesday in the forest between Hemet and Mountain Center.

A Temecula man, Brandon N. McGlover, 32, was arrested shortly after it started on suspicion of five counts of arson to wildland. Around 3,200 residents have been evacuated from Idyllwild, Mountain Center and other surrounding communities due to the suspected arson-caused fire, which has destroyed five homes and was also 5 percent contained as of Thursday evening.Two South Florida residents accused of operating a nationwide prostitution ring through an escort website are facing money laundering charges, authorities announced Thursday.

Brandon Martin, 42, and Tameko Lindo, 38, of Parkland, are both charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of money laundering, according to a release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York.

Authorities said the pair ran Flawlessescorts.com, an online prostitution service that dates back to 2014 and arranged for escorts to travel throughout the United States.

"In just under four years, these defendants are alleged to have secured more than three thousand hotel bookings to use in the furtherance of their prostitution scheme," said Angel M. Melendez, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations.

According to a federal complaint, the website contains photos of the escorts, who are "often partially dressed or nude and often posed in sexually explicit positions." The website also displays each escort's schedule, including the city in which she is available, hourly rate, and a description of her that includes height, weight, bust and hip measurements.

Martin and Lindo required escorts to follow certain protocols when traveling on behalf of the website, including an expectation that each escort would see a minimum of seven clients per day, authorities said. They also had to travel with multiple outfits and lingerie, including "nurse outfits, school girl outfit" and a "large amount of adult [s]upplies," the complaint said.

The escorts had to deposit the money they earned in a number of personal and corporate bank accounts that were controlled by Martin and Lindo, officials said. The pair paid more than $180,000 to advertise for the website and pay expenses of individual escorts, authorities said.

"Members of HSI's El Dorado Task Force were able to follow the money, tracking the advertising funds, payments and movement of dollars to locate the perpetrators," U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said in a statement.

Martin and Lindo appeared in federal court in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday. Attorney information wasn't available.What to Know A man in Russia was indicted on charges he smuggled $65M of electronics from the US to Russia with the help of his son's NJ business: DA

Alexander Brazhnikov Sr., 72, of Moscow, is facing various charges, including conspiracy to commit money laundering

Brazhnikov Sr. is at large; His son, Alexander Brazhnikov Jr. plead guilty to his role in the scheme in 2016

A man in Russia was indicted Wednesday on charges he smuggled $65 million worth of electronics from the United States to Russia, with the help of his son's New Jersey business, authorities say.

A multi-agency federal investigation resulted in Alexander Brazhnikov Sr., 72, of Moscow, being charged by indictment with one count each of conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to smuggle goods from the United States and conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the US Attorneys Office of New Jersey announced.

According to officials, Brazhnikov Sr. is at large.

Court documents say that Brazhnikov Sr. was the owner, chief executive officer and principal operator of ABN Universal, a privately held Russian microelectronics import/export company in Moscow, while his son, Alexander Brazhnikov Jr., 39, of Mountainside, owned and operated four New Jersey-based microelectronics export companies in Carteret, Mountainside, Union, and Manalapan.

According to court documents, father and son participated in a sophisticated network that secretly acquired large quantities of electronic components from United States manufacturers and vendors and exported those parts to Russia on behalf of Russian business entities. According to officials, these business entities were authorized to supply those parts to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) and Russian entities involved in the design of nuclear warheads and other weapons.

The scheme allegedly consisted of Brazhnikov Sr., through his Moscow business, obtaining the initial requests for quotes for the U.S.-based electronics components from various Russian entities and, then, sending the requests directly to U.S.-based vendors electronically or to his son for implementation.

Prosecutors claim Brazhnikov Sr., Brazhnikov Jr., and others then used Brazhnikov Jr.s New Jersey export companies to purchase the electronic components from the U.S.-based distributors and re-package them for shipment to Moscow.

In order to obscure the extent of the networks procurement activities and avoid filing the necessary export forms, Brazhnikov Sr., Brazhnikov Jr., and others allegedly falsified the true recipients and value of the items they exported.

Prosecutors say that each shipment from the United States was sent to one of 12 false addresses or shell locations in Moscow established at Brazhnikov Sr.s direction, re-directed to a central warehouse he controlled and then shipped to the end-users in Russia, including the Russian defense contracting firms.

The funds for the alleged transactions were obtained from various Russian purchasers and initially deposited into one of Brazhnikov Sr.s primary accounts in Russia.

To further conceal the actual customers and the source of the funds, disbursements for purchases were then made through one or more foreign accounts held by shell corporations in the British Virgin Islands, Latvia, Marshall Islands, Panama, Ireland, England, United Arab Emirates, and Belize, and ultimately into one of Brazhnikov Jr.s U.S.-based accounts, according to the US Attorneys Office.

The money laundering conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine. The conspiracy to violate the IEEPA carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The charge of conspiracy to smuggle goods carries a potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Brazhnikov Jr. previously pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme and was sentenced June 30, 2016, to 70 months in prison.What to Know A man and a woman are both dead after gunshots rang out on a dead-end street on Long Island, police say

The woman was sitting in a car in West Babylon when she was gunned down, while the man was standing outside the vehicle when he was shot

The investigation is ongoing and police didn't elaborate on a description of any suspects

Two people are dead after a shooting on a dead-end street on Long Island, police say.

Suffolk County cops say they got a call around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday for a disturbance on Lakeway Drive in West Babylon. Officials say 21-year-old Olivia Digrigoli of West Islip and 22-year-old Anthony St. Hilaire of West Babylon died.

Digrigoli was sitting in a car when she was gunned down, while St. Hilaire was standing outside the vehicle when he was shot, according to authorities. St. Hilaire was rushed to an area hospital, where he died.

Video from the scene shows dozens of police officers and investigators combing the area for clues.

The investigation is ongoing and police didn't elaborate on a description of any suspects.What to Know A few hundred Puerto Ricans still haven't recovered electricity service since Hurricane Maria hit Sept. 20.

Companies such as Tesla are helping Puerto Ricans shift to solar energy as troubles persist with the power grid.

Renewables represent 4 percent of generation at Puerto Rico's power company, against a U.S. national average of 15 percent.

Ten months after Hurricane Maria, Adjuntas still loses power any time a heavy rain or wind pounds the rickety power lines feeding this town high in the central mountains of Puerto Rico.

That leaves its 20,000 people once again in the dark, without light, fresh water or air conditioning  except for a handful of homes and businesses glowing in the night thanks to solar energy.

The people of Adjuntas call those places "cucubanos," an indigenous Puerto Rican firefly. They're part of a small but growing movement to provide the U.S. territory with sustainable, renewable energy independent of the decrepit power grid.

A scattering of hardware stores, barbershops and corner stores across the island are embracing solar energy, trying to wean themselves off a state-owned power company that remains heavily dependent on imported petroleum. The numbers remain small  a few dozen or hundreds out of millions of power users  but power industry officials and environmentalists are closely watching this as a test of whether Puerto Rico can make a large-scale switch to renewable, off-grid energy.

Currently, renewables represent 4 percent of generation at Puerto Rico's power company, against a U.S. national average of 15 percent, so it likely will be years before solar could account for a significant share of Puerto Rico power.

Even so, "Puerto Rico can be an experimental workshop for solar and wind," Rep. Darren Soto, a Florida Democrat, said at a congressional hearing Wednesday.

While Adjuntas is dotted with solar-powered islands, a community of 12 homes in the mountain town of Las Piedras still lacks central power and is operating exclusively on solar energy provided by Tesla, the high-tech maker of electric cars and other power products. It installed 160 solar panels on a plot of land owned by resident Jose Santana.

Santana, an electronics technician, said he loves the smartphone app that lets him monitor the solar-charged Tesla batteries. He said the government should consider going solar and dumping the current "archaic" power grid.

"This can pull us out of the mess we're in," he said. "There's nothing wrong with having a vision of the future. It's time to start making changes."

As in Las Piedras, some solar users are relying on corporations and nonprofit groups to donate the expensive equipment. Others have become so exasperated with continuing outages that they are taking it upon themselves to install their own systems.

"I'm a musician. I have a salsa orchestra. I know nothing about electricity," said Felix Torres, who recently installed nine solar panels on the roof of his home, perched on a mountain in the eastern city of Caguas. "I was afraid of getting electrocuted and damaging equipment worth thousands of dollars. ... But we should not depend so much on the government. They already have their hands full."

Torres recently joined nearly two dozen other people at a three-day workshop to learn about the costs and lifespans of solar systems, the equipment required and precautions they need to consider. The clip-clop of horses interrupted their chatter as the sun set on hills where electricity returned several months ago.

Many at the workshop pulled out their power bills along with pens and notebooks as they made comparisons and shared their frustrations. Among them was Jose Barreto, who set up a makeshift solar system at his house in the mountain town of Guavate.

"It hasn't collapsed because God is merciful," he said, grumbling that his wife insists on washing and ironing at night, sucking up precious battery life. "I tell her, look, this is a lifestyle that runs on daytime hours."

A few hundred Puerto Ricans still haven't recovered electricity service since Hurricane Maria hit Sept. 20, and millions suffer periodic outages. Crews are trying to fortify the unstable grid in the middle of this year's hurricane season. When the remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl passed through in early July, up to 47,000 customers were left without lights, although most of the power was restored the same day.

In Las Piedras, Blanca Martinez, a retired school bus driver who is married to Santana, started to weep as she described the happiness of having a solar-powered home.

"It's sometimes hard to explain," she said. "When you're a person who is in need, who is suffering, this comes along and you have light without having to worry whether a wire fell."

Another corporation, German-based sonnen, helped donate and install at least 15 solar microgrids across the island to help power laundromats, schools, community centers and medical clinics.

Adam Gentner, the company's director of business development and Latin American expansion, said the aim is to create a resilient system that can operate regardless of weather conditions.

This week, Siemens published a report in which it envisions the construction of 10 mini-grids across Puerto Rico that would depend on renewable energy. Unlike microgrids, officials said, mini-grids are bigger and can use the current distribution infrastructure.

In Adjuntas, the nonprofit environmental group Casa Pueblo has installed solar systems at two hardware stores, a barber shop and several small stores that activists hope will serve as power oases where people can charge their phones and store medications during a storm if needed. In upcoming months, some 30 homes also will be fitted with the system.

Wilfredo Perez said he can now open his barbershop 11 hours a day, six days a week thanks to the new system.

"Since it was installed, it hasn't failed me," he said, adding that he hasn't had to switch over to the power company's system. "The electricity in Puerto Rico doesn't work."

Federal officials are growing more worried about the turmoil at Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority, which has seen five directors since Hurricane Maria. A U.S. House committee held a hearing Wednesday on the company's troubles.

Officials have stressed the need to depoliticize the company, create an independent regulator and resolve its $9 billion public debt as it prepares to privatize power generation and award concession for transmission and distribution.

None of this worries Arturo Massol, associate director of Casa Pueblo in Adjuntas.

"Let them do what they want over there," he said. "We're taking control of our energy destiny."The audio recording of President Donald Trump and his then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, captures the two men discussing hush money payments to a former Playboy model alleging an affair.

A look at the recording, including what it reveals and what it doesn't:

IT'S QUICK AND CASUAL  AND RELATED TO THE CAMPAIGN

Trump's lawyers say the three-minute recording was made surreptitiously by Cohen during what seems to be a casual, campaign-related conversation with Trump in September 2016, just two months away from the national election.

At the start of the audio, the president appears to be talking to someone other than Cohen whom he calls "hon" and references a "Charleston thing," concluding, "I'm proud of you."

Trump then turns his attention to Cohen, his longtime friend and attorney. The two discuss polling numbers and the impact of a supportive African-American pastor. Cohen tells Trump that The New York Times wants to unseal documents on his divorce from Ivana Trump ahead of the election (an effort that was ultimately unsuccessful, as Cohen predicts).

At one point during the Ivana discussion, Trump yells out, "Get me a Coke, please!"

This chatter is noteworthy because it shows Cohen advising Trump on campaign matters. And that could be of interest to investigators looking into whether Cohen violated election laws by orchestrating hush money payouts.

IT REFERS TO 'OUR FRIEND, DAVID'

Cohen then shifts the conversation. "Um," he says, "I need to open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend, David."

This is widely believed to refer to David Pecker, president of American Media Inc., which owns the National Enquirer. The company had just paid $150,000 to model Karen McDougal for the rights to her story about an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.

McDougal later sued, claiming that AMI paid for the story with the intention of burying it to protect Trump.

Cohen says he's already spoken with the Trump Organization's finance chief, Allen Weisselberg, on "how to set the whole thing up." (Trump's lawyers say the payments were never made.)

Weisselberg's involvement raises questions about whether Trump's private business tried to protect his campaign.

Such a secret payment could be regarded as an illegal campaign expenditure if the money is clearly meant to influence the outcome of the upcoming presidential election. But it would be a harder case to make if the payment was seen as merely designed to protect Trump, who is married, from embarrassment in his personal or private life.

IT SHOWS TRUMP KNEW

The tape doesn't prove McDougal's allegations of an affair, and at no point in the recording does Trump acknowledge whether he had a sexual relationship with her.

But Trump does respond to Cohen's suggestion of opening the shell company with a question: "What do we got to pay for this?"

That comment makes clear he is not learning for the first time of McDougal's allegations or the arrangement of payments. And it directly contradicts a statement made later by the campaign.

Just days ahead of the presidential election, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks told The Wall Street Journal on its reporting of the $150,000 payment to McDougal: "We have no knowledge of any of this."

CASH OR CHECK?

At one point, Cohen says of David, "I'll have to pay him something."

The audio is muffled but Trump can be heard saying something about "cash," and then something about paying by "check."

Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, insists Trump said, "Don't pay with cash."

This is only important in that it raises questions about whether Trump was trying to hide the potential payment with cash, which can be harder to track. But his intention isn't clear.

Also unclear is why the audio ends so abruptly. Trump on Wednesday suggested the tape was cut just as he was "presumably saying positive things," although there was no evidence of that.

IT RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT COHEN'S END GAME

The recording turned up after federal agents raided Cohen's office, home and hotel room this spring as part of an investigation into possible fraud and violation of election laws. Court filings say 12 audio recordings in all were passed on to federal prosecutors after lawyers dropped any claims of attorney-client privilege.

One question is why Cohen chose to make it public. Cohen's attorney, Lanny Davis, released the recording to CNN Tuesday night in what is seen as an open hostility between Trump and Cohen.

Asked if Cohen was still seeking a presidential pardon while under federal investigation, Davis responded simply, "No."

"This is about truth versus lying and ultimately Trump is going to be done in by the truth," Davis told ABC News.

Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.Shy children were given a meal and a plane or bus ticket to locations around the U.S. as nonprofit groups tried to smooth the way for kids reunited with their parents following their separations at the U.S. Mexico border.

The Trump administration said Thursday that more than 1,800 children 5 years and older had been reunited with parents or sponsors hours before the deadline. That included 1,442 children who were returned to parents who were in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, and another 378 who were released under a variety of other circumstances.

But about 700 more remain separated, including 431 whose parents were deported, officials say. Those reunions take more time, effort and paperwork as authorities fly children back to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

On Friday morning, Homeland Security officials said they had reunified all eligible parents with children  but noted many others were not eligible because they have been released from immigration custody, are in their home countries or chose not to be reunited.

Updated figures were not made public, but new data was expected to be released Friday at a court hearing in San Diego held by the judge overseeing the reunification process.

"The administration will continue to make every effort to reunify eligible adults with their children," a Homeland Security statement said.

Now the federal judge in San Diego who ordered the reunifications must decide how to address the hundreds of still-separated children whose parents have been deported, as well as how much time, if any, reunified parents should be allowed to file asylum claims.

Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union representing separated parents, said Thursday it was unclear how long it might take to find the parents returned to their homelands. "I think it's just going to be really hard detective work and hopefully we're going to find them," he said.

U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw will also consider the ACLU's request to give reunified parents at least a week to consider if they wish to seek asylum. The government opposes the waiting period, and Sabraw has put a hold on deporting reunified families while the issue is decided.

On a parallel legal front over treatment of immigrant children, U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles will be asked Friday to appoint a special monitor to oversee detention facilities.

Children described horrid conditions in a voluminous report filed this month over whether the Trump administration is meeting its obligations under a long-standing settlement governing how young immigrants should be treated in custody.

As the deadline neared, small groups of children were led in and out of Lutheran Social Services in Phoenix all day Thursday, sometimes holding hands with a worker from the center. Children and parents wore matching hospital-like identification bracelets and carried belongings in white plastic bags. The men sported shoes without laces that were taken away while in immigration detention.

Support worker Julisa Zaragoza said some kids were so afraid of losing their parents again they didn't want to go to the bathroom alone. "These families have been through a lot," she said.

The federal government was supposed to reunify more than 2,500 children who were separated from their parents under a new immigration policy designed to deter immigrants from coming here illegally, but the policy backfired amid global outrage over crying children taken from their parents.

President Donald Trump ended the practice of taking children from parents and Sabraw ordered the government to reunite all the families by the end of Thursday, nevertheless indicating some flexibility given the enormity of the effort.

Chris Meekins, the head of the office of the assistant secretary for preparedness and response for Health and Human Services, said the government would continue to reunify families with eligible parents throughout the evening.

In most cases the families are released and the parents typically get ankle-monitoring bracelets and court dates to appear before an immigration judge. Faith-based and other groups have provided meals, clothing, legal advice, plane and bus tickets and even new shoe laces.

A charitable organization called FWD.US, founded by technology leaders including Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Dropbox founder Drew Houston was paying for the airline tickets, the bus tickets and the lodging for all the families newly reunited in the Phoenix area to get them to relatives living all over the United States, said Connie Phillips of Lutheran Social Services. She said a phone company donated 500 mobile phones for the migrants, each with six months of free service.

There were scattered reunions in various locations Thursday, including about 15 in Phoenix, said Phillips. The main immigrant-assistance center in El Paso, Texas, has been receiving about 25 reunified families daily.

Some children who had not seen their parents in weeks or months seemed slow to accept that they would not be abandoned again.

Jose Dolores Munoz, 36, from El Salvador, was reunited with his 7-year-old daughter last Friday, nearly two months after they were separated, but he said his daughter cries when he leaves the house.

"She is afraid," Munoz said. "Yesterday I left her crying, she is telling me, 'You are not coming back.'"

Those who remain separated from their children include Lourdes de Leon of Guatemala. She surrendered to authorities at the border and was deported on June 7, while her 6-year-old son, Leo, remained in the U.S.

De Leon said Guatemalan consular officials told her signing a deportation order would be the easiest way to reunite with Leo.

"He is in a shelter in New York," de Leon said. "My baby already had his hearing with a judge who signed his deportation eight days ago. But I still do not know when they are going to return him to me."

At the Lutheran center, Phillips said the parents and kids have opened up as they go through an assessment process with workers. She said the outpouring of donations has been comforting.

"We have seen a lot of people come together over this, we're seeing the best of what Americans can be," she said.What to Know The airline plans to temporarily ground flights on the route, according to one report

One Twitter user posted a picture of multiple large bits on her arm

One-way adult ticket prices on the route exceed $1,000, according to Air India's website

Passengers flying from Newark Liberty International Airport to Mumbai on an Air India flight last week said in a series of tweets that the plane was infested with bed bugs, leaving the travelers with bites across their bodies.

Air India responded to customer complaints in a statement, and the airline plans to temporarily ground flights between Newark and Mumbai, according to The Independent.

Experienced experts have carried out extensive service on the aircraft from fumigation to overhaul of the upholstery/ seat covers/carpets etc to ensure that passengers keep enjoying their in-flight experience with us as always without any complaint of inconvenience, the airline said in a statement to NBC News.

New Zealand news outlet Stuff reported that a passenger surveyed the area around the seats after her daughter complained of a rash. The woman reportedly noticed a bed bug on her husbands seat before takeoff but dismissed it.

The passengers who tweeted about the incident said they were sitting in business class. One-way adult ticket prices on the route exceed $1,000, according to Air Indias website.

Pravin Tonsekar posted pictures of the bugs on Air India flight 144 on Twitter.

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Saumya Shetty posted an image of multiple large bites on her arm and wrote in a tweet AI still has to get in touch with me [sic] inspite if my repeated attempts to get in touch with them.

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Another Twitter user said his wife and three kids were sitting in business class and had bed bug bites all over their body after paying more than $10,000 for the flight tickets.

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"Air India is deeply concerned with a few reports of "bugs" causing inconvenience to its esteemed passengers, the airline said. The issue has been viewed seriously and every possible step is being taken to closely inspect and further strengthen our system at every level to ensure that such isolated incidents of passenger discomfiture do not affect our consistent performance.

Bed bugs arent known to spread diseases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but their bites can create swelling, itching and skin irritation.

What to Know The suspect in a series of sex assaults and robberies in West Philadelphia turned himself into police Thursday morning.

Robert Johnson is accused of robbing and sexually assaulting people in West Philly over the past couple months.

Surveillance video appears to show the suspect holding a gun before approaching two women who had stopped to pump gasoline.

The suspect in a series of armed sex assaults and robberies in West Philadelphia surrendered to detectives Thursday morning.

Robert Johnson, 51, is suspected in a string of sexual assaults and robberies in June and July, police said.

During the first incident on June 21, Johnson approached three people at a gas station on 48th Street and Girard Avenue in the early morning hours, police said. He allegedly pulled out a gun and forced the victims to drive to the Wawa store on 36th and Chestnut streets to get money from the ATM.

Philadelphia Police

The victims told the Wawa employees to call police. Johnson fled in their vehicle before officers arrived, however, investigators said. Police later found the vehicle on 42nd Street and Parkside Avenue but Johnson was gone, investigators said.



On June 30 at 4 a.m., Johnson was driving a Dodge Durango and stopped an Uber driver on the 1000 block of Belmont Avenue, police said. He then allegedly robbed the driver and two passengers at gunpoint. He also told the victims he was a police officer and was wearing a lanyard without a badge, investigators said.

His attacks then allegedly became sexually violent.

On July 17 at 5:45 a.m., Johnson approached a woman who was at a bus stop on Belmont and Parkside avenues at Fairmount Park, police said. He then allegedly pulled out a gun and forced the woman into a more secluded part of Fairmount Park where he sexually assaulted her and robbed her of her Beats headphones and iPhone.



Finally, on July 19 around 4:20 a.m., Johnson returned to the same gas station on 48th Street and Girard Avenue, police said. He allegedly approached a woman who was pumping gas and pushed a gun into her side. He then forced the woman into her car, where another woman was already inside, investigators said.

Johnson allegedly forced both women to drive to an unknown secluded area. He then forced both women to partially undress and then sexually assaulted them, investigators said. Johnson took about $420 in cash from the women before fleeing, police said.

Police released surveillance video Monday of the moments before they say Johnson sexually assaulted the two women at the gas station.



"The fact that he's out there with a gun and accosting different people and taking them to different locations is scary at this point," Philadelphia Police Lt. John Walker said.

He is also listed on Pennsylvania's Megan's Law website as a "sexually violent predator."

He will be transferred to the Special Victims Unit for processing, Ross said.

Police executed a search warrant at a home Johnson was currently staying at Wednesday night but did not find him. They did, however, recover a gun, police said.

Johnson turned himself in after being named as a wanted man.

No word yet if Johnson has an attorney who could comment on his behalf.What to Know Five more programs in Temple University's business school are accused of providing false data.

The alleged false data includes the number of new entrants providing GRE/GMAT scores and applicants' undergraduate GPAs.

The investigation on Temple's business school is ongoing.

At least five more programs in Temple University's business school provided false data to improve their ranking in a national report, the school's president said Wednesday.



Earlier this month, Moshe Porat, the dean of the Fox School of Business, was forced out after the university reported the business school knowingly submitted inaccurate data to U.S. News & World Report in order to improve the rankings of its Online MBA in the magazine's "Best Grad Schools" list.

Porat was replaced and the university hired a law firm to investigate the business schools data and processes.

On Wednesday, Temple University announced the investigation revealed five more programs in the Fox School of Business also provided false data.

Although the review is ongoing, we have concluded that misreporting similar to that involving the Online MBA also occurred with respect to the Executive MBA, Global MBA, Part-Time MBA, Master of Science in Human Resource Management and Master of Science in Digital Innovation in Marketing, Temple Universitys president Richard M. Englert wrote.

The false information included the number of new entrants providing GRE/GMAT scores, student indebtedness and applicants undergraduate GPAs, according to Englert.

As a result, we have reported to U.S. News that we cannot verify data related to these programs, and we are not participating in or submitting business school surveys at this time, Englert wrote.

Englert also said Temple University provided U.S. News a letter verifying the accuracy of the schools data submissions for the 2018 and 2019 "Best Colleges" rankings.

Pennsylvanias Attorney General Josh Shapiro is also investigating the allegations against the business school. Shapiro said earlier this month that he asked the Bureau of Consumer Protection to examine the case, including Temples business and marketing practices.

We are updating them as new information develops, Englert wrote. We continue to diligently pursue the review of rankings data and will share additional updates.

A New Hampshire man who allegedly robbed another man with a knife apparently decided to try to hide in the safest place he could think of after being chased by the victim and his friends: a police station.

Twenty-seven-year-old Victor Ramon Alvarado Vega of Manchester faces multiple charges, including robbery, two counts of falsifying physical evidence, attempted escape and resisting arrest.

Manchester police say officers noticed something happening in the police station's parking lot Tuesday afternoon, and when they went out to investigate, learned from a 19-year-old man who was bleeding from his temple that he was robbed at knifepoint at the Adam Curtis Skate Park on Maple Street.

The victim told officers that the robber hit him in the head with a knife's handle and then ran away after grabbing the victim's $60 phone charger, ultimately running into the Manchester Police Department station, according to officials.

The alleged robber, later identified as Alvarado Vega, was found after he left the public restroom in the police station's lobby. The stolen phone charge and knife allegedly were found inside the restroom.

Alvarado Vega was arrested without incident after the victim identified him as the suspect, according to police; however, he allegedly started to fight the officers and tried to run away after they removed his handcuffs in the secured booking area.

Police say Alvarado Vega fought with officers and bit a sergeant who tried to stop him, and that he was eventually stopped with a stun gun.

Alvarado Vega was due in court on Wednesday. It's unclear if he has an attorney.What to Know David Hans Arnston, a pilot from Alaska Airlines, flew from Portland, Oregon to Santa Ana while drunk in June 2014.

He failed a random drug and alcohol test at John Wayne Airport when two breathalyzer tests showed he had a blood alcohol content above .130.

Arnston later retired from Alaska Airlines and his pilot's license was revoked. Prosecutors said he had hidden an alcohol problem for years.

A former Alaska Airlines pilot was sentenced Wedhesday to a year in prison for flying a plane while under the influence of alcohol.

David Hans Arntson, 63, pleaded guilty in February. U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney sentenced Arntson to a year and one day behind bars.

Carney noted the defendant committed "a very dangerous offense," according to Thom Mrozek of the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Arntson flew twice on June 20, 2014, from San Diego International Airport to Portland and then from Portland to John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana.

When he touched down in Orange County, he was pulled aside for random drug and alcohol testing. His blood-alcohol level was 0.134 percent and 0.142 percent, according to two breathalyzer tests, Mrozek said.

The federal limit is 0.04 percent. Arntson later retired from the airline and his pilot's license was revoked.

In a motion prior to sentencing, prosecutors said that during his 20- year career the defendant struggled with alcoholism and concealed his problem, Mrozek said.

"Fortunately, he was finally caught, and the risk to passengers was stopped," U.S. Attorney Nicola T. Hanna said. "This case sends a message to everyone in the aviation industry that passenger safety is paramount, and we will aggressively investigate and prosecute any threat to that safety."

Arnston's attorney, Dyke Huish, previously said his client "has a long and distinguished career as a pilot and has flown thousands of flights without incident. And he has a perfect safety record, and as any good pilot who is responsible for the lives of people, he is willing to take responsibility and accept the consequences for his mistake."

A heat wave bringing blazing temperatures to San Diego County is expected to reach its peak Wednesday, sending temperatures up to 20 degrees above average before a cool down begins.

A National Weather Service excessive heat warning for most of the county will remain in effect until 8 p.m. Thursday when a high-pressure system that pushed temperatures into triple digits inland and in the deserts will begin to diminish.

After another exceptionally hot day today, it won't be quite as hot Thursday and Friday west of the mountains. Not so for the deserts where there won't be much change. It'll still be 115-120 both days. #cawx #SanDiegoWX pic.twitter.com/FlIEQPilLn  NWS San Diego (@NWSSanDiego) July 25, 2018

Low-temperature records were broken along the coast Tuesday, including in Oceanside, which was excluded from the current heat warning but was under a heat advisory.

The highest elevations in the mountains were also under a heat advisory through Thursday.

San Diego, Ramona, Campo, Vista and Chula Vista saw record-matching high temperatures Tuesday but no high-temperature records were broken in San Diego County.

That could change on Wednesday as temperatures soar.

"We're going to see these temperatures really climb and reach their peak on Wednesday," NBC 7s Weathercaster Llarisa Abreu said.

Campo has the potential to beat its current record set in 1943 by five degrees, according to the NWS. Ramona, Chula Vista, El Cajon and Alpine may also break current records.

The California ISO has asked the state's residents to conserve energy while the heat warning is in effect to avoid overtaxing the electricity grid.

The Flex Alert will be in effect from 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday.



The combination of extreme temperatures and low humidity has the potential to spark and fuel wildfires. The NWS said the region will experience elevated fire weather conditions through Friday, especially in the deserts and low mountains where winds will develop.

The heat can also create dangerous conditions for residents, the NWS warns.

Abreu reminds residents to drink lots of water, remember to not leave children or pets in cars, stay inside as much as possible and limit time outside as heat illnesses are likely during the warning period.

The county's official list of "Cool Zones" for 2018 include community centers, recreational centers, libraries, senior centers and museums.

To find one near you click here for a listing that includes times and addresses or click here to view an interactive map.



The heat wave prompted Cleveland National Forest official to shut down two popular hiking trails, Three Sisters and Cedar Creek falls, through Thursday to prevent heat-related injuries.

Residents attempting to escape the heat at San Diego County beaches may be met with high surf and strong rip currents.

Waves will average five to nine feet and the NWS warns conditions could be dangerous to swimmers. A high-surf advisory is in effect until 9 p.m.

The heat wave began to make its way into the region on Monday, bringing a wave of extreme temperatures to all areas of San Diego County except the coast and upper mountains.This article has been updated with new information.

The San Diegos City Auditors Office has released its review of the citys water billing procedures, five months after hundreds of water customers complained they were overcharged hundreds and in some cases thousands of dollars.

The report found errors made by 10 employees reading water meters led to more than 11,000 customer bills that were corrected in 2017 and that meter readers had learned ways to hide mistakes made out in the field.

After the audit was released, San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer called for reforms within the Public Utilities Department.

"[The Public Utilities Department] needs to be more transparent, with a customer service focus," Faulconer said at an afternoon news conference. "That's not happening now."

The audit reviewed 1.3 million water bills issued in 2017. Of those, the audit found 21,000 customers saw their bills water use double or more from their previous bills. Those findings are in line with a billing data analysis performed by NBC 7 Responds and media partner Voice of San Diego.

This does not mean that these customers were incorrectly billed, states the report. The increases could be a result of actual water consumption.

Meter misreads were not the only problem. The report criticized the Public Utilities Department for failing to supervise meter readers out in the field, including shortcuts that were used by meter readers to prevent error alerts from being sent to their supervisors.

In the field, if a meter reader enters a misread or if an entry is flagged, the handheld device they carry sends an alert to the department.

But the Auditors office found meter readers used codes meant for their supervisors to silence the alerts. By doing this, the report states employees prevented their supervisors from seeing the actual number of misreads on any given meter.

By not evaluating meter reader performance, PUD cannot sufficiently manage staff capacity and ensure accurate meter reads, the report said.

To read the audit report, click here.

In 2017, the report found 57,117 water meter reads were flagged for review and as a result, 21,478 water bills were corrected. Of those, 2,750 bills were corrected after customers had already received the bills, the rest were corrected prior to being sent out. More than half of those billing adjustments were caused by meter misreads. The audit does not state a reason for the remaining 46 percent of bills that were corrected.

The audit also discovered issues with the software used to input customer billings and data as well as poor training of employees on that software.

[W]e found that the Citys new infrastructure management system, IAM San Diego, is delaying the processing of work orders to repair or replace broken meters... the audit report states.

According to the report, the rollout of the IAM San Diego software, of which the city spent approximately $50 million on, was not well coordinated. In many cases, water department employees were forced to input repair data into the system manually.

[The Public Utilities Department] indicated that staff are still learning how to use the system creating the potential for errors, added the report.

Another major contributing factor to the high water meter bills is the frequency in which employees were estimating water use for bills. Estimates are used when meter readers are unable to access meters, whether that be because of obstacles, or if the meter is broken. However, the system issues alerts when more than three consecutive estimates are used on a single meter.

But the audit found that in many cases reports that meters were broken went unnoticed for more than a year, resulting in the need for additional estimates.

Furthermore, city auditors stated that supervisors at the water department gave meter readers mixed messages in regards to reporting broken meters.

[M]anagement advised meter readers to not enter trouble codes due to a backlog of duplicate service requests at the Meter Shop. the report states.

The report found that smart meters, or the city's $60 million dollar investment to switch to wireless meters, played a small part in the billing issues.

The audit said, ...three [smart] meter models caused a disproportionate amount of AMI network read errors.

Eduardo Luna, San Diego's City Auditor, told NBC 7 Responds those three smart meter models were residential-sized meters, manufactured by two companies, Badger and Hersey.

Luna added that PUD reported that the errors were due to programming issues, but that the Public Utilities Department would have more information on the problems.

Meters [that] read automatically over the AMI network accounted for a small number of reading adjustments, the report said.

The audit report does not address a glitch identified in more than 36,000 Hersey smart water meters currently installed. One of the citys smart meter vendors informed the Public Utilities Department about the glitch at a meeting in April 2016.

Previously, the glitch had not been publicly disclosed by the Public Utilities Department and the agency only confirmed information surrounding the glitch after NBC 7 Responds and Voice of San Diego questioned officials about the meeting.

Jerry McCormick, a spokesperson for the Public Utilities Department, said Mueller Systems, the vendor that manufactures Hersey Meters, classified the glitch as only a minor problem and that no corrective action was needed.

The registers mechanism [that] counts and displays cubic feet exhibited a glitch, McCormick said. Since the City bills in units of hundreds of cubic feet, it did not affect our reads or billing, according to the manufacturers representative.

However, the audit found that 4,500 of all smart meters that were installed last year were flagged for review immediately after installation.

The report revealed that three specific models of smart meter did have a disproportionate amount of meter reads but the report did not disclose the manufacturer of those meter models.

The City Auditor will present the report at a special meeting of the Audit Committee on Monday at 8 am. Luna will then present the report to the city councils Environment Committee on August 2.Editor's note (Tuesday, July 31, 6:38 p.m.): This story has been updated to reflect the Humane Rescue Alliance's statement that the animal is an alligator.

Animal rescuers on Wednesday seized a 5-foot alligator being kept in the basement of a Southeast D.C. home where they say they also found a dozen scared and neglected canines that appeared to have been used in dog fights.

The Humane Rescue Alliance received a tip Wednesday that there was an alligator-like animal in the 3500 block of Brothers Place SE, Alliance spokesman David Smith said. A video on Humane Rescue Alliance's Facebook page shows officers serving a search warrant and uncovering a 4-foot blue plastic container that housed the caiman.

The Humane Rescue Alliance said the home showed signs of dog fighting and unsanitary living conditions. A second search warrant was served Thursday and the rescue organization recovered six dogs and six puppies from the address. The dogs were scared and appeared neglected.

The 12 dogs were taken to veterinary care. The alligator, which had been kept at the home illegally, was transported to Humane Rescue Alliance's facility on New York Avenue on Wednesday.

Police originally described the animal as a 4-foot alligator on Twitter and posted two photos, with one of the photos showing the reptile resting in murky water inside the container. Smith said that the animal is a 5-foot caiman. The Humane Rescue Alliance later said it was indeed an alligator.

Caimans are nocturnal reptiles from Central and South America that belong to the same family as alligators.A mother has been sentenced to spend more than eight months in prison for leaving her children in a broken down minivan on the side of a highway in Montgomery County, Maryland, in 20-degree weather.

Sheri Marshall, of Silver Spring, and 10 of her children were in the van in December 2016 when she kicked out her 12-year-old son and made him walk along the Beltway because he couldn't fix the car's broken heat.

Marshall kept driving with the other nine children, ranging in age from 1 to 11, in the van. They stayed in the minivan for two days in freezing weather on the side of East West Highway, prosecutors said.

After the van ran out of gas, Marshall and the children went to sleep. When the kids woke up, their mom was gone, police said.

Prosecutors say the children got hungry and had to scrounge through the car to find enough change to buy food. They went to a nearby chicken restaurant where employees fed them and called police.

While that case was being tried, Marshall was arrested twice for driving under the influence, according to prosecutors. The arrests happened while she was pregnant with her 14th child, prosecutors said.

Marshall admitted in court on Thursday that she has a drinking problem and she is going through treatment in a halfway house.



Marshall's lawyer said hours after the baby was born, child protective services took him into its custody.

Marshall was sentenced to 11 months with 70 days suspended.Two dockless bike companies operating in D.C. announced they will leave the city, both citing trouble with city regulations.

Chinese company Mobike, which has orange-and-silver bikes, told News4 they will leave the District because city rules are too stringent.

Another Chinese company, Ofo, known for its yellow bikes, has cited similar trouble.

D.C. is being very much a unique case of having the wrong regulatory environment for us to hit those basic bike-share physics, said Chris Martin, Mobikes vice president of international expansion.

D.C. caps the number of dockless vehicles each company can put in the city at 400. Martin said that wasn't enough to keep bikes near users.

Mobike operates in over 200 markets globally, including Milan, which has a similar operating area to D.C., Martin said.

Milan lets the company put 8,000 bikes on its streets, Martin said.

When we have that density, we have that huge user adoption, the executive said.

Mobike declined to say how many people in D.C. were regular Mobike users.

The company has had bikes on the streets of D.C. since October. It was one of seven companies that participated in a city pilot that began last September.

Five companies operating dockless bikes and motorized scooters in the District remain as Ofo and Mobike exit the market. Jump and Spin operate only bikes. The companies Waybots and Bird have electric scooters. Limebike has both types of vehicles.

Some neighbors have seen the bikes, which sometimes get left in strange or obtrusive locations, as a nuisance. But others have seen them as a way to fill gaps where there is limited access to Capital Bikeshare docking stations.

In response to the news, the District Department of Transportation released a statement saying that Mayor Muriel Bowser is still focused on safe, reliable and affordable transportation.

"We appreciate the participation of all the companies and look forward to using the information collected during the demonstration project to arrive at long-term options for the use of dockless vehicles in the District," the statement said.

Mobike has started giving customers refunds. They said they began removing the bikes from D.C. streets and expect to have most removed by next week.The driver of a tractor-trailer that slammed into cars stopped at a traffic light, killing two people, was sentenced to 11 years in prison with seven years suspended.

James Edward Lee, 56, pleaded guilty to two counts of involuntary manslaughter and one count of reckless driving.

Lee was driving on Route 3 in Fredericksburg, Virginia, when he abruptly pulled into the right lane and plowed into cars stopped at the traffic light at Gateway Boulevard on Nov. 2, police said. The light had been red for about 15 seconds, and Lee did not apply the brakes until impact, according to the prosecution.

Six vehicles were involved in the crash.

Shari Laney, a 54-year-old mother of two from Spotsylvania died at the scene. Four other people were injured, including a passenger in Laney's car, who was the father of Laney's fiance and died three days later at a hospital.

According to the prosecution, Lee used a cellphone just prior to and possibly during the crash. There was no evidence he had a hands-free device.

A doctor cleared Lee to drive the commercial vehicle in April 2017 after an examination in which Lee failed to disclose his cardiovascular history, including a defibrillator implanted in December 2016, the prosecution said.

Lee also said that he had changed lanes to dodge a moped driven into his lane in front of him and that he was cussing at the driver of the moped, the prosecution said.President Donald Trump declared on Thursday the United States will impose sanctions on Turkey, a crucial NATO ally, in retaliation for the detention of an American pastor on terror and espionage charges.

Turkey's response was both harsh and dismissive, calling his words "unacceptable" and a "cheap threat."

Trump's promise of unspecified punishing action marks the latest deterioration in relations between Turkey and the U.S. as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's powers expand two years after a failed coup against his government.

Trump also has praised his counterpart, saying Erdogan's leadership is "getting very high marks."

The U.S has long depended on a key air base in Turkey's south, most recently to launch airstrikes against the Islamic State group.

Pastor Andrew Craig Brunson was first detained by Turkish authorities in the aftermath of the failed 2016 coup. On Wednesday, he was let out of jail after 1 1/2 years, transferred to house arrest because of "health problems," according to Turkey's official Anadolu news agency.

Trump said that was insufficient.

"He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

The announcement of sanctions  though no details of how or when  came as the State Department was holding a three-day event promoting religious freedom. Brunson's case has become a cause for conservative Christians who form an important part of Trump's political base.

Turkey responded that Brunson's detention falls within the jurisdiction of its independent judiciary. "Rule of law is for everyone; no exception," said Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, also via Twitter.

And an Erdogan spokesman warned the U.S. to "reconsider its approach and adopt a constructive position before inflicting further damage to its own interests and its alliance with Turkey."

Vice President Mike Pence announced the threat of action at the religious freedom conference, then Trump tweeted that his government "will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson."

Trump could impose certain sanctions unilaterally or try to act through Congress. Senators have previously taken steps toward blocking the sale of F-35 jets to Turkey, citing Brunson's detention as an instance of Erdogan's disregard for the rule of law.

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley declined Thursday to discuss the timing of a sanctions announcement or the decision-making process.

"The president was clear on Twitter today, as was the vice president, that they fully expect, the president expects and wants Pastor Brunson to be returned immediately to the United States and, if not, they can expect sanctions," Gidley said.

Brunson, 50, an evangelical Christian pastor originally from North Carolina, could face up to 35 years in prison if convicted of espionage and "committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member," references to outlawed Kurdish militants and the network of a U.S-based Muslim cleric blamed for the failed coup attempt.

Brunson denies the charges.

"Brunson is an innocent man, there is no credible evidence against him," Pence said in his remarks Thursday.

Trump said on Twitter last week that the pastor's detention was "a total disgrace." One of Brunson's attorneys is Jay Sekulow, who also represents Trump in the federal Trump-Russia investigation.

Ties between NATO ally Turkey and the United States have been strained by other issues.

Turkey recently finalized a deal to purchase Russia's long-range S-400 missile defense system, refusing to back down despite strong opposition from the U.S. and other NATO members.

The U.S. and Turkey have also clashed over American backing of Kurdish fighters in Syria who Ankara considers "terrorists."

At the conference, Pence highlighted cases of what he said were religious repression in Nicaragua, Iran, North Korea, China and Myanmar. He also condemned Islamic State group violence toward religious minorities and what he described as rising anti-Semitism in Europe.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also spoke. He announced additional aid for a region of Iraq previously held by the Islamic State group. Pompeo said the U.S. would provide $17 million for de-mining efforts in Nineveh, an area of Iraq historically home to many of the country's religious minorities.

Erdogan has previously linked Brunson's return to the U.S. to the extradition of cleric Fethullah Gulen, the man Turkey's government holds responsible for the failed 2016 coup.

Gulen, who denies orchestrating the coup attempt, lives in Pennsylvania. Turkish requests for his arrest and extradition have not been granted.

More than 77,000 people have been arrested across Turkey since the government declared a state of emergency in the failed coup's aftermath. The crackdown has targeted journalists, activists and opposition figures.

Brunson has lived in Turkey for 23 years and served as pastor of Izmir Resurrection Church, a small Protestant congregation.

During a recent hearing, Brunson he rejected charges against him.

"I believe in and support Turkey's territorial integrity," he told the court. "I forgive those who lie and bear false witness against me."

Brunson's case has been adjourned until Oct. 12.An American pastor who had been jailed in Turkey for more than 1  years on terror and espionage charges was released Wednesday and put under house arrest as his trial continues.

Andrew Craig Brunson, 50, an evangelical pastor originally from Black Mountain, North Carolina, was let out of jail to serve home detention because of "health problems," Turkey's official Anadolu news agency said.

Anadolu's report did not specify the nature of Brunson's health problems. He was arrested in December 2016 and had been in custody since then.

A court in western Izmir province said Brunson would be electronically monitored and barred from leaving his house. He also is prohibited from leaving Turkey, where he has lived for 23 years and served as pastor of Izmir Resurrection Church.

If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison for "committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member," references to outlawed Kurdish militants and the network of a U.S-based Muslim cleric blamed for a failed coup attempt. He could receive another 20 years if he is found guilty of espionage.

Brunson strongly denies the charges.

The case has strained ties between NATO allies Turkey and the United States. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomed the news of Branson's release from jail on Twitter, but called on Turkish authorities to drop the charges.

"We have seen no credible evidence," Pompeo wrote.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly demanded Brunson's release and said on Twitter last week that the pastor's detention was "a total disgrace."

"He has done nothing wrong, and his family needs him!" Trump tweeted.

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom Vice Chair Kristina Arriaga urged the Trump administration and Congress to "respond strongly and swiftly with targeted sanctions" if Turkey fails to give Brunson his freedom after having "deprived this innocent man of his due process rights and liberty."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has previously linked Brunson's return to the U.S. to the extradition of cleric Fethullah Gulen, the cleric Turkey's government holds responsible for the failed July 2016 military coup.

Gulen, who denies orchestrating the coup attempt, lives in Pennsylvania. Turkish requests for his arrest and extradition have not been granted.

U.S. senators have pushed to delay Turkey's acquisition of American-made F-35 fighter jets, citing Brunson's case and the Russian S-400 missile system Turkey has agreed to buy.

At the end of a recent hearing, the court inside a prison complex in the town of Aliaga in western Turkey rejected Brunson's lawyer's request that he be freed pending the outcome of the trial. The case was adjourned until Oct. 12.After days of soaking rain. the D.C. area is finally getting a break.

But the dry weather won't last long, Storm Team4 says.

Thursday will be mostly dry, with sunshine and temperatures in the upper 80s. Storm Team4 meteorologist Sheena Parveen says there's a small chance for a stray shower later in the day, but most of the area will stay dry.

Friday will also be dry for most of the day, but a line of storms may move through the area in the evening. There's a chance some of these storms may become severe.

Rainy weather has drenched the D.C. area every day this week. In some parts of the D.C. area, 10 to 12 inches of rain have fallen over the past seven days.

Wednesday's heavy and slow-moving rain turned some D.C. roads into rivers, sent water crashing through the ceiling of a Virginia restaurant and flooded multiple levels of a mall parking garage.

A flood warning is in effect for parts of Virginia and Maryland until 7:45 a.m. Thursday.

Numerous roads were closed Wednesday night because of flooding, and it's not known at this time which of those roadways will be open for the morning commute.

The National Weather Service said Sligo Creek in Silver Spring, Maryland, and Cranberry Branch near Westminster rose 4 to 7 feet in the span of just an hour. Flooding on Sligo Creek has been deadly in previous years, the NWS warned on Twitter. Rock Creek also surpassed its flood stage about 8:30 p.m.

With heavy rain battering the D.C. area, the phrase "Turn around, don't drown" bears repeating. But what if you find yourself in an area where you can't turn back. Here are some tips for driving safely in flood conditions.

Downpours soaked the region Tuesday morning, and a short-lived tornado damaged property at a high school in Fairfax County just ahead of the morning rush.

Monday night, a woman was killed after a tree fell onto her home, possibly due to soaked ground, authorities said.

Basements and ballparks are flooded in Frederick, where the Monocacy River crested above the flood stage Wednesday. Chris Gordon reports.

"Obviously with all the rain in the past couple of days, the roots of these trees have really loosened up," Fairfax County Battalion Chief Willie Bailey said.

The tree fell through the roof and onto the second floor, killing the woman. Her husband was nearby but survived.

A tree crashed into a home in Burke, Virginia, killing a woman inside. Fairfax County Fire and Rescue are working to stabilize the home before they can remove the tree and the woman's body. News4's Shomari Stone reports.

Storm Team4 says the weekend will be mostly dry, with a chance for an isolated shower Saturday and a chance for a few showers Sunday.

The rainy pattern is expected to return next week, and it could last for several days.What to Know The worker-led Milk with Dignity initiative through the group Migrant Justice is helping Ben & Jerry's improve working conditions.

Ben & Jerrys say 72 dairy farms in its Northeast supply chain have enrolled in the Milk with Dignity program since February.

The new program conducts audits on farms, offers education sessions, and manages a support hotline for farm workers.

A new push to improve labor conditions for several hundred migrant farm workers in Vermont now has advocates hoping the concept will expand to more farms around the Northeast and across the country.

The worker-led Milk with Dignity initiative through the group Migrant Justice sees the Vermont-based ice cream giant Ben & Jerrys paying a premium to farmers who agree to improve human rights conditions for their migrant laborers.

Many of the estimated 1,500 migrant laborers on Vermont dairy farms are in the U.S. without government permission but are widely regarded as playing a critical role in feeding consumers around the nation through their agricultural work.

Improvements to working conditions are designed to come from a variety of changes on the farm, including days off, higher wages, better housing, and stricter guidelines for workplace safety.

The program is already starting to see some tangible improvements in additional protections in those areas, said Tom Fritzsche of the Milk with Dignity Standards Council.

Ben & Jerrys said Wednesday that 72 dairy farms in its Northeast supply chain have enrolled in the Milk with Dignity program since February, representing all the companys dairy volume needs.

The new program also conducts audits on farms, offers education sessions, and manages a support hotline for farmworkers to give them a greater voice.

More than 300 farm workers and farmers have taken part in education sessions so far, organizers said.

Ben & Jerrys said the concept is in the company DNA because it often stands up for human rights causes.

Weve really been striving to help this program be more mainstreammaking it a lower hurdle for other companies to adopt will start to lift the fleet, said Cheryl Pinto of Ben & Jerrys. This was really, again, about lifting human rights for all.

While Ben & Jerrys has long embraced progressive causes, this new focus on migrant workers rights does come at a time of great uncertainty and unease over federal immigration policies.

The current political climate has, in some ways, opened a door for us, because we know immigrant workers do work in many industriesmany agriculture industries, including the dairy industry, Enrique Balcazar of Migrant Justice told necn through an interpreter. And the difficulties of the political situation have made it even more important to say that on every dairy farm, workers should be treated equally and everybody should have their human rights respected.

The advocates for migrant farm workers said after the early success with Ben & Jerrys, theyve heard from other nationally-known brands interested in possibly implementing the Milk with Dignity program in their supply chains.The owner of the company behind chalky, colorful confections such as Necco Wafers and Sweethearts has unexpectedly shut down operations at its Massachusetts plant and hasn't said if candy production will resume.

The Boston Globe reports Round Hill Investments LLC announced Tuesday it is selling Necco brands to another manufacturer and closing down its Revere plant.

"I mean, those Valentine's Day hearts are definitely a part of my childhood," said Alexis Werner of Salem who was surprised to hear of the closing. "That's pretty much the only candy I liked."



The company had recently purchased Necco for $17.3 million at a bankruptcy auction in May. The plant had been expected to stay open until November.

Round Hill did not identify Necco's new owner. The closure came as a shock to the close to 230 workers at the plant who say they were told to pick up their final paychecks Friday.

"I'm kind of worried about them. They all have families and everything to take care of so I hope they get a job quickly," said Theresa Lemay of Revere.



Necco, or New England Confectionery Co., is the country's oldest continuously operating candy company.

The also make Mary Jane and Squirrel Nut Zippers candy.

Revere Mayor Brian Arrigo issued a statement about the news, saying and part, "We received no word about the situation from any representative of the involved parties. Obviously, we would have preferred, at the very least, some fundamental notification."

NBC10 Boston reached out to the company for comment but so far have not heard back.Bigger venue for Word on the Wash weekend in Lynn Bigger venue for Word on the Wash weekend in Lynn

The annual free two-day Christian event, Word on the Wash, happening in September has moved to a bigger venue at Kings Lynn Academy with a programme of hope for the whole family.

The annual Word on the Wash event was launched in 2015 by Terrington St Clement church. The family event, which is run in partnership with Keswick Ministries and Scripture Union, has proved so popular that now three years later it has moved to a new venue, Kings Lynn Academy, with more parking and seating.



The event is a great opportunity for Christians in West Norfolk and beyond to come together in unity for faithful and relevant bible teaching, worship and encouragement. It is free of charge, with donations welcomed.



This year Word on the Wash will take place on the evening of Friday, September 14 to Saturday, September 15, 10am  6pm. There is programme for children and youth, which runs concurrent to all the main sessions, planned, organised and led by Scripture Union.



This year the theme is Living with Hope in a Changing World with Richard Underwood from the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches and Ray Evans from Grace Community Church in Bedford.



In addition to the main sessions afternoon seminars will focus on key issues for Christians in todays world including:

Living as a Christian in a Secular World

The Transgender Revolution

Reaching Young Families: The Unacceptable Gap in the Body of ChristOne of the early knocks on Googles cloud services is that it assumed a pure cloud play for every customer and had virtually nothing for supporting on-premises systems. While that might work for smaller businesses looking to shut down their data center and move to the cloud, those customers were in the minority.

At this week's Google Cloud Next '18 show, Google reversed course and acknowledged the on-premises market with the announcement of the Cloud Services Platform, an integrated suite of cloud services designed for organizations with workloads that are staying on premises.

"CIOs tell me they now realize they're going to be shutting down their data centers," Google Cloud CEO Diane Greene said in her Next keynote address. "And the other thing they say, looking at their workloads, there's just a tiny, tiny fraction that are in the cloud. That we must be very early."

The Cloud Services Platform puts on-prem and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) resources into a consistent development, management, and control paradigm, designed to make a consistent experience between the two. Oftentimes, cloud services operate differently from on-prem and require different skill sets.

Google Kubernetes Engine for on premises

One of the new services announced is Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) for on premises, making Google the first cloud provider to offer fully-managed Kubernetes on premise. Dubbed GKE On-Prem, customers get unified multi-cluster management for GCP and on-premise with centralized monitoring and identity and access management.

In addition to GKE On-Prem, the new Cloud Services Platform will include GKE Policy Management, which will let Kubernetes administrators create a single source for Kubernetes policies that are used on-prem and in the cloud.

As part of the keynote demo, Urs Holzle, senior vice president of technical infrastructure at Google, showed a demo of GKE On-Prem running on top of VMwares vSphere, and in the dashboard, GKE On-Prem appeared as both local services running on a rack of servers on stage and in an availability region in Google data centers.

This was no accident. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is partnered with VMware to help enterprises with VMware workloads migrate to AWS. So, Google was sending the message to VMware users that they have the only solution to run Kubernetes on prem and in their cloud.

There were other news announcements, as well, mostly based around the cloud rather than on-prem. For example, the company announced Cloud Build, a fully managed Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) platform. It has native Docker support, supports all the popular web development languages (e.g., Python and PHP), and comes with debugging tools.Order will "provide respite" for the local community

A man has been banned from drinking, plus shouting and swearing, in Newbury Town Centre.

Peter Kelly, of no fixed abode, was issued a Criminal Behaviour Order after being "extremely abusive" to others.

The 49-year-old was arrested in April for being drunk and disorderly in Newtown Road; shouting at people and running into the street.

Mr Kelly pleaded guilty to the offence at a hearing at Reading Magistrates Court on May 10. Upon conviction, Thames Valley Police applied for a CBO.

The application was heard at the same court on Tuesday, and the order was granted the same day.

The CBO, which is in place for three years, prohibits Mr Kelly from consuming alcohol or being in possession of an open container of alcohol in Newbury town centre.

He is also prevented from shouting, swearing or using threatening language to people, including police officers and police community support officers.

Breach of this order could result in a fine or imprisonment.

Anti-Social Behaviour Officer, PC Peter Duffy, said: "Thames Valley Police take reports of such anti-social behaviour very seriously and we will use a range of legislation to bring those responsible to justice.

"The Criminal Behaviour Order granted will provide respite for the local community in relation to Kelly's anti-social behaviour.

"When drunk in public he becomes extremely abusive and his aggressive behaviour has been directed at the general public as well as police officers and police community support officers.

"If Kelly breaches the order he will be arrested, and upon conviction, could be sentenced to up to five years imprisonment.

"Anyone affected by anti-social behaviour can report incidents on the Thames Valley Police website at www.thamesvalley.police.uk

"Alternatively you can call our 24-hour police enquiry centre on 101 and ask to speak to your local neighbourhood team."Blanketed in a sooty haze from the Ferguson Fire, Yosemite National Park is closing large sections of the park Wednesday, asking visitors to leave by noon.

Here's everything you need to know about what's open and what's closed.

Areas of the park

Closed: Yosemite Valley, Wawona, Mariposa and Merced Grove are closed starting July 25 at noon until at least July 29 due to fire operations.

Open: Hetch Hetchy and Tuolumne Meadows

Roads and entrances

Closed: The South Entrance, Highway 41 from Wawona to the tunnel entry to Yosemite Valley, will also be closed beginning Wednesday.

Glacier Point Road has been closed since July 20.

Highway 140 (El Portal Road) from Midpines to Big Oak Flat Road inside Yosemite has been closed since July 14.

Open: Big Oak Road from Big Oak Flat to Crane Flat (continuation Highway 120 from Manteca), including the Big Oak Flat entrance is open.

Tioga Road (continuation of Highway 120 through the park), including the Tioga Pass entrance, remains accessible.

Hetch Hetchy Road is open, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Call (209) 372-0200 for the most up-to-date information on roads.

Hotels and tent cabins

Closed: Majestic Yosemite Hotel (formerly the Ahwahnee Hotel), Yosemite Valley Lodge and Half Dome Village tent cabins.

You can receive a refund or change your reservation if it was cancelled. You can also request refunds for cancelled activities like a rafting trip.

Open: White Wolf Lodge, Tuolumne Meadows Lodge, High Sierra Camps and Tenaya Lodge in Fish Camp.

Campgrounds

Closed: all Yosemite Valley campgrounds (Upper Pines, Lower Pines, and North Pines), Bridalveil Creek closed (closed July 19 until further notice), Wawona (closed July 23 until further notice).

Recreation.gov, the website for making reservations in the park, will offer refunds for cancelled reservations by calling (888) 448-1474.

Open: Hodgdon Meadow, Crane Flat, and Tuolumne Meadows

Find updates on closures on the Yosemite National Park website and information on air quality on the San Joaquin Valley's air quality website.

ALSO, Tourism nightmare: Yosemite Valley closing as fire closes in, smoke at hazardous levels

Yosemite Valley will be closed until at least Sunday, along with a winding, mountainous, 20-mile (32-kilometer) stretch of California's State Route 41 that leads in, park spokesman Scott Gediman said.

At least a thousand campground and hotel bookings will be canceled  to say nothing of the impact on day visitors, park workers and small businesses along the highway, Gediman said. Rangers went to campsites one at a time to inform visitors of the closures. Hotels guests got phone calls and notes on their doors.

"This is the prime visitor season, so this wasn't an easy decision to make," Gediman said. "This was purely for safety's sake."

Officials were quick to point out that Yosemite wasn't under imminent danger from the Ferguson Fire. Authorities decided on the closure to allow crews to perform protective measures such as burning away brush along roadways without having to deal with traffic in the park that welcomes 4 million visitors annually.

The last time the 7.5-mile-long (12-kilometer-long) valley was closed because of fire was 1990, he said.

Over nearly two weeks, flames have churned through more than 57 square miles (148 square kilometers) of timber in steep terrain of the Sierra Nevada just west of the park. The fire was just 25 percent contained Tuesday.

Mandatory evacuations are in place in several communities while others have been told to get ready to leave if necessary.

More than 3,300 firefighters are working the fire, aided by 16 helicopters. One firefighter was killed July 14, and six others have been injured.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.SHERMAN  Looking out on the water as her boat drifted further into Candlewood Lake, Lake Authority Chairwoman Phyllis Schaer recalled how a few years ago the now nearly clear waters were overrun with invasive Eurasian milfoil.

It looked like you could walk across it, Schaer told a group of advocates and legislators gathered for a meeting on the boat recently.

It broke the surface all over the cove and was in dense mats. ... Now, this year, you see nothing.

The weeds, which have been controlled on Candlewood by sterile grass carp, were the first of many common challenges the group discussed during the morning outing, which was

set up by the Connecticut

Federation of Lakes to celebrate the states Lakes Awareness Week.

Representatives from four of the areas lakes  Ball Pond, Bantam Lake, Lake Lillinonah and Candlewood  joined in the meeting to share issues, solutions and ideas with one another and two of the states lawmakers, Sen. Craig Miner, R-Litchfield, and Rep. David Arconti Jr., D-Danbury.

The most popular topic of the day seemed to be how the local lake groups have dealt or are dealing with various invasive species, including milfoil, zebra mussels, fanwort and, perhaps the most relevant, blue-green algae.

Larry Marsicano, former Candlewood Lake Authority executive director, who now works as a lake consultant, said the algae blooms, which can be toxic, are the most common emerging problem. He told the group that research he and others are working on show that certain changes in the climate are giving the blooms an advantage over other species.

There are 3,200 named lakes (in Connecticut) and it is a pretty high percentage of them that are fighting this fight, said Marsicano, who is also a member of the CFL. This is a statewide issue, a national issue and a global issue we are dealing with.

Marsicano said solutions to controlling the blooms include different ways to manage the causes, such as high nutrient levels. This can include new technology for septic systems and advocating for low-impact development surrounding the lake, such as vegetative buffers so harmful run-off doesnt make its way into the water.

Another option is to use chemical treatments, such as copper sulfate, which the Bantam Lake Protective Association decided to apply, said president Connie Trolle, who is also president of the CFL.

Chemical and herbicide treatments also helped Bantam control milfoil and fanwort, Trolle said, but the group is looking for more long-term solutions.

For us, that was the alternative that we chose, Trolle said. Were treading water, as most lakes are, and were open to all alternatives.

Greg Petriccione, chairman of the Lillinonah Lake Authority, said some residents have gotten permits to use herbicides on the lake, but the authority is struggling to make sure they adequately publicize the treatment.

They did it and thats fine, but the issue is they need to follow the law (with postings), he said.

On Candlewood, former New Fairfield officials had proposed using herbicides to treat blue-green algae and milfoil, but ultimately abandoned the idea after residents advocating against it passed an ordinance to block the plan.

The carp, added to eat milfoil, have been successful in managing the weed in Candlewood and nearby Ball Pond, said Schaer and Ball Pond Advisory Committee member Gary Mummert.

The lake representatives also discussed with legislators whether state-level solutions could be possible for invasive species or other lake challenges.

Miner and Arconti told the group about a bill they are trying to pass, for the second year, that would provide funds through an existing Community Investment Account to combat invasive species.

There are no easy answers, Trolle said. But we at the Connecticut Federation of Lakes are trying to get a forum together so we can share some information and perhaps help eachother.

aquinn@newstimes.comNEW MILFORD  For years, the Loaves and Fishes Hospitality House provided not just meals to no-and-low income community members, but access to nurses, literacy training and other programs meant to empower them.

But time and space constraints in its location at the town-owned Richmond Citizen Center meant these services fell to the wayside.

Now, the organization hopes to again go beyond simply serving meals in a new building on Bridge Street. Construction is expected to begin in about a month on the new center, which will include showers and laundry facilities, as well as rooms for counseling.

There are few areas in town that provide this, said Lisa Martin, chief operating officer for Loaves and Fishes.

Its difficult for them to find some place to be human, to have human decency, she said. It will help them move beyond their current experience. It's hard to get a job interview if you haven't had a shower or clean clothes.

The facility will be called the Danny Straub Community Outreach Center, named after a late resident who owned the property the building will sit on.

It was conceived to be a place that showed people that their neighbors cared for them and cared about them, said the Rev. Jack Gilpin, chairman of the Board of Directors for Loaves and Fishes and the rector at St. Johns Episcopal Church.

The organization will also have rooms to bring in social service agencies, so guests do not need to travel to Danbury for these services, Martin said.

But Loaves and Fishes will continue to serve two meals a day  one hot meal and one bag lunch  to the homeless, unemployed and others in need. On average, 25 people come each day, with numbers being higher at the end of the month when people are low on money, Martin said.

People who are on the downside of the economy get marginalized psychologically and spiritually in so many ways, Gilpin said. This is a way of telling these people that they do matter. We are all humans in the same boat. It doesn't matter who are you what you do, where youre from, we care about you and value you just for being you.

One of the services Loaves and Fishes hopes to revive is the Give Back program, where clients complete maintenance and other work around the facility.

Its a privilege to be able to give back, Martin said. People who have never been able to do that dont get the sense of self-worth, self-esteem that giving back can give you.

When Loaves and Fishes previously ran the Give Back program, she said it had a significant effect on the clients. She said one group of seven spent three nights painting the dining room and became fast friends who looked out for each other. By the end of that month, five of the seven had jobs and three had found housing.

All of a sudden, they felt valuable, Martin said. Thats what makes a difference, not handing out a meal.

Since the 3,826-square-foot, two-story building was approved in the summer of 2015, supporters have raised $460,000 for the project. The first phase, which includes only the kitchen was originally estimated to cost $750,000, while the full building was estimated at $1.2 million, but the nonprofit is working to get more accurate numbers, Martin said.

Gilpin said Loaves and Fishes raised money at events like Village Fair Days and poetry readings at St. Johns, as well as the annual Give Local campaign, which benefits area organizations. Several grants, including from the Diebold Foundation also helped.

Martin said she was grateful for the people who have been donating to the project for years.

I want people to know were not giving up on this dream, she said. Its just taking a little longer than we thought.

Three New Milford residents, Sherri McAuliffe, Alma Roberson and Biddy Roger, founded Loaves and Fishes in 1984 and began serving meals out of St. Johns, before moving into the Richmond Citizen Center in 1990. But a few years ago, the town asked the soup kitchen to find another location because New Milford needed the space.

This kicked off a contentious approval process for the nonprofit to build a facility on Bridge Street.

But Gilpin said the physical building will establish to the organizations patrons that they are not forgotten.

Its a testament to these people, that they are cared for and that they are valued and that we are a community that ... is always going to be there for them, he said.The NMVNA was founded in 1918 by two women, Adaline Strong and Ina Beach, who were joined by the Rev. John Plumb, rector of St. Johns Episcopal Church in town.

In the early years of the organization, New Milford schools were staffed by NMVNA nurses, providing exams, vaccinations and more.Much has changed in the town of New Milford and around the world the past 100 years.

But one thing has remained the same locally: the commitment the New Milford VNA & Hospice has for the community and its people.

We have a great connection to the community, said Kerri Brinckerhoff, executive director/CEO of NMVNA.

To celebrate the nonprofit organizations 100th anniversary, it will hold a community celebration Aug. 3 from 4 to 10 p.m. on the Village Green.

Since its beginning in 1918, the NMVNA has served people of all ages. With each passing decade, more needs arose in the community and the NMVNA responded.

Today, the agency offers services in: care of the sick nursing, hospice and palliative care, rehabilitation therapies, elder care manager services, support groups, wellness programs, flu clinics, private pay home care (through VNA Home), Lifeline medical alert, and the Nurturing Families Program, which provides free foundational assistance to new parents in the Greater New Milford area.

This year, the hospice program and VNA Home celebrate their 30th and fifth anniversary, respectively.

I think theyre all angels, said Lila Pyle of New Milford, who has utilized NMVNA services for seven years, of the nurses, aides and other staff who help with her case.

We dont call upon people until we need them, she said. And (the VNA) is always there when I need them, and theyre all polite and caring.

Pyle said she appreciates how the NMVNA staff and services have complemented her needs.

I was always extremely independent and had a hard time asking for help, Pyle explained. But they dont make you feel like youre less than. They dont take any dignity away.

Theyre like family, she added.

The agency serves the towns of New Milford, Bridgewater, Kent, Roxbury, Sherman, Warren, Washington, Danbury, Brookfield, New Fairfield, Litchfield, Morris, Southbury, Bethlehem and Woodbury.

The staff is like a family, said Brinckerhoff, who became executive director/CEO six months ago, succeeding longtime executive director Andrea Wilson, after serving as hospice director for a year. The team is so dedicated, so supportive.

We all share the same goal, all looking forward to the second 100th year, she said.

The organization recently moved its finance office and Nurturing Families Program, which had been situated in the white house next to the NMVNA office, into additional space it purchased in the nearby building that already houses VNA Home.

Social work services will be incorporated into the space, too.

Brinckerhoff said the hope is to eventually own the whole building so it can further expand its services, perhaps even develop a community room where a variety of health classes, training programs and an area for outpatient physical therapy can be offered.

Were trying to incorporate newer ways to treat health, and to offer wellness to people of all ages, Brinckerhoff said.

To that end, the NMVNA is looking for more natural ways to treat our patients, too, she said, citing reflexology, meditation and other methods of healing.

As health care continually shifts, the NMVNA keeps up. The goal is to try to keep people at home as long as possible, she said.

David Cohen praised the NMVNA for the extraordinary care they provide his father, longtime New Milford resident Harry Cohen.

The level of service is far beyond anything my wife and I could have envisioned, he said.

He said the care and compassion (the NMVNA has provided) has allowed my father to age in a familiar, loving environment.

The VNA recently became a preferred provider with the Western Connecticut Health Network, meaning upon discharge from one of WCHNs hospitals, NMVNA is one of the agencies to which patients will be referred. The NMVNA is also a 4 Star Agency; and has been a Home Care Elite agency for 11 consecutive years.

For more information about NMVNA & Hospice or NMVNA Home, visit www.nmvna.org, or call the 68 Park Lane Road (Route 202) office at 860-354-2216.10 a.m.: Opening ceremony, featuring National Anthem by Phair Haldin, welcome by VFD co-chairs Laura Lewis and Scott Mulhare, crowning of king and queen, ribbon cutting by Mayor Pete Bass, and singing of God Bless America by The Childrens Center. On stage.

10 am.-5:30 p.m.: Registration for Childrens Fun Run at the Chamber of Commerce/Village Fair Days booth.The Sherman Volunteer Fire Department will hold its 54th annual ball Aug. 4 at the firehouse.

Tickets are $35 each and $40 at the door, and can be purchased at www.Shermanvfd.org.Good news for cat lovers! A latest study has found that a parasite infestation found in cat feces could make a person an entrepreneur. Cat feces commonly contain parasite Toxoplasma gondii and its infection can often go unnoticed in most individuals. A new study has found that people who have had T. gondii infection are around 1.4 times more likely to major in business studies compared to those who were not infected.

Cat using toilet, cat in litter box. Image Credit: Zoran Photographer / Shutterstock

People who attended entrepreneurship events and tested positive for T. gondii in addition were 1.8 times more likely to have started a company compared to the uninfected. The study appeared this week in the latest issue of the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Toxoplasma gondii in venous blood - toxoplasmosis. Image Credit: fotovapl / Shutterstock

T gondii infections commonly occur in humans when they consume contaminated food or water or undercooked meat. Infection or toxoplasmosis can also occur when humans come in contact with cat feces which are known to harbour these parasites. According to the Centre of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 60 million people in the United States and 2 billion people worldwide are infected with T. gondii and few of them show symptoms of the infection. Symptoms usually are flu-like with fever, swollen glands and muscle pain etc. Severe toxoplasmosis can damage eyes, vision and the brain. It is particularly dangerous for unborn babies of pregnant mothers.

University of Colorado researchers tested their hypothesis on university students and found that infection with the parasite had an influence on the participants entrepreneurial behaviour and risk taking tendencies. Students who tested positive were more likely to have a degree in business studies and those who were professionals were more likely to start their own business. Lead author Stefanie Johnson, who is an associate professor of management at the University of Colorado Boulder's Leeds School of Business explained that there is a positive coorelation between exposure to T. gondii and entrepreneurship behaviour. They also noted that in countries that had a higher prevalence of the parasite had more people who had lower fear of failure. Fear of failure is the major cause that discourages an individual from starting a business. Johnson said that their study found the link in terms of number of businesses as well as the participant intentions. What the study did not look at, she said, was the long term successes of these businesses. They noted that the rational fear of failure was found to be reduced to T. gondii infection. Till date this rational thinking has been an explanation for human behaviour, explain the authors. This is the first time that an infection is associated with reduction of this rational fear.

For this study the team recruited 1,495 undergraduate students in biology and business classes. They were tested for T. gondii antibodies and 22 percent tested positive for the infection that they may have had in the past. The team then analyzed the results of the test and compared it with the subject that the student majored in. Those who were majoring in business were then compared the students who were specializing in accounts, finance, management etc.

Results revealed that students who tested positive for T. gondii were 1.4 times more likely to be a business major compared to those who were not infected. Among those majoring in business studies, the T. gondii positive students were 1.7 times more likely to be on the tracks of entrepreneurship and management.

As a next part of the study the team collected saliva samples from 197 people attending entrepreneurship events. Each of these participants was asked if they had started their own business. Those who had tested positive for the parasite were found to be 1.8 times more likely to have started their own businesses.

The researchers then tried to explain this connected worldwide and compared nationally available data from 42 countries with entrepreneurial attitudes and activities among the infected. The positive correlation between the parasite infection and entrepreneurship held on a global level as well proving the researchers correct in their hypothesis. People with toxoplasmosis reported a lower fear of failure that discouraged them from starting out on their own, the team noted.

The researchers next want to see if the businesses started by those infected with the parasite are doomed to fail in future because of the lack of fear of failure and the actual reason behind the connection.A new study has found that people who feel dizzy when they stand up from lying down or sitting positions, are more at risk of developing dementia or stroke. The study was published in the latest issue of the journal Neurology.

Image Credit: Photographee.eu / Shutterstock

Feeling dizzy or light headed when getting up from a sitting or lying down position is due to a sudden fall in the blood pressure. This is known as orthostatic hypotension or postural hypotension. This mainly occurs when the blood pools in the lower extremities and the brain is temporarily deprived of oxygenated blood causing the light headedness. Common symptoms of orthostatic hypotension are feeling weak, confused, faint and mild nausea.

For this study the team of researchers recruited 11,709 people in the USA from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study and found that they had a greater risk of getting dementia or stroke. The dizziness itself is not a symptom of any disease however. The study conducted by the American Academy of Neurology followed participants for an average of 25 years and the average age of the participants was around 54 years. None of these participants had an earlier history of a heart disease or stroke at the initiation of the study.

Andreea Rawlings, lead author of the study of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, explained that orthostatic hypotension has been associated with heart disease earlier. This study explored the connection such type of hypotension has with brain disorders like stroke and dementia. She said this association could mean that patients developing orthostatic hypotension could be monitored closely for development of dementia and stroke in future. She added that more studies are needed to confirm the theory and also investigate preventive strategies.

Results from the study showed that among the 11,709 participants, 1,068 (9.1 percent) went on to develop dementia and 842 (7.1 percent) went on to have an ischemic stroke. Ischemic stroke occurs when the blood flow to particular part of the brain gets blocked depriving the region of oxygen. Among the 552 participants who had orthostatic hypotension at the start of the study 12.5 percent developed dementia and 15.2 percent developed ischemic stroke during follow up. Among the 10,527 participants who did not have orthostatic hypotension at the start of the study 6.8 percent had an ischemic stroke and 9 percent had dementia during the follow up.

Co-author Rebecca Gottesman, from Johns Hopkins explained that midlife orthostatic hypotention was never under the scanner before. Older people with orthostatic hypotension were focussed upon in connection with stroke, dementia and heart disease.

Dementia UK's chief executive and chief admiral nurse, Dr Hilda Hayo appreciated the study saying that it brings to notice that orthostatic hypotension can now be known as a potential risk factor for dementia in some individuals. Dr Shamim Quadir, research communications manager at the Stroke Association however said that orthostatic hypotension was only measured at the initiation of the study and this could be limitation of the study. Those developing orthostatic hypotension well into the study could also have been among those at high risk for dementia and stroke. He said more research would provide a deeper insight into this theory. He advised general population to get their blood pressure checked routinely.

This study was funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the NIH, and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Source: http://n.neurology.org/content/early/2018/07/25/WNL.0000000000006027With the country on course to enshrine the rights of transgender Americans, Wren Vetens introduced herself as a woman for the first time in January 2016, at the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society. After being raised as a boy and grappling with her gender identity for years, it felt liberating to be referred to as "she."

Vetens, who is now 24, began taking hormones to develop female characteristics that spring, as the Obama administration unveiled a landmark rule barring most health care providers from discriminating based on gender identity, under peril of losing federal funding.

That summer, as she prepared to start a Ph.D. program in physics at the University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin officials voted to allow transgender public employees  including graduate students who worked as teaching assistants  to obtain coverage for hormone therapies and surgery, in compliance with the Obama administration's anti-discrimination rule.

Vetens eyed the waitlist of a respected surgeon in California, hoping to have her gender confirmation surgery as soon as the summer of 2017.

Then, with the election of President Donald Trump, policy took a U-turn, changing the landscape for trans Americans. A new crew of socially conservative government officials peeled back those protections one by one, with legal challenges and non-enforcement. The Obama administration's rule shielding trans patients from discrimination is expected to be formally eliminated this summer.

"That is a potentially devastating outcome for trans people in particular but for all vulnerable communities," said Jocelyn Samuels, who helped write the rule as director of the Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights under President Barack Obama.

Against that new backdrop, Wisconsin officials decided they did not have to offer coverage for transition-related hormones and procedures after all.

In a matter of months, Vetens went from picking a surgery date to worrying she wouldn't be able to afford the surgery. Without the state insurance to cover her operation, she spent months running a financial maze of estimates, invoices, bills and demands for payment from a hospital and an insurer who didn't know how to price or cover a relatively new procedure.

"It feels like every single part of the system had a different nefarious role in this," Vetens said.

Growing Up Thinking 'Something Was Wrong'

Vetens describes the distress she had felt throughout her life as "philosophical, existential anxiety."

"It was initially the feeling that something was wrong," she said, "the feeling that the world wasn't real or I wasn't real or nothing was real."

Growing up in a suburb of Salt Lake City, Vetens was bright but struggled to focus in school, enduring bullying over her small stature. Sometimes she would lash out, at age 5 punching a classmate in the vagina who said Vetens couldn't play with the girls on the playground because she was a boy.

Like many children, she challenged gender norms, occasionally swapping swimsuits with a female friend, who also had blond hair and blue eyes, as they pretended to be each other. She knew almost nothing about what it meant to be trans, her first exposure coming when a grade-school classmate told her the pop star Michael Jackson was "a gay, transgender pedophile."

In school, she immersed herself in the dueling worlds of science and fantasy, playing Dungeons & Dragons with her friends during lunch and working in the lab of a Nobel Prize-winning geneticist during the summer. Longing to shed the legacy of a father with whom she didn't get along, she changed her surname to Vetens, a derivation of vetenskap, the Swedish word for science.

Vetens was at a gaming conference in 2013 when she first considered she might be transgender. Then 19, she gravitated to panel sessions that focused on being trans in the gaming community. "What does that say about my gender identity?" she wondered.

Overwhelmed, she put the thought out of her mind until National Coming Out Day that fall, when a friend came out as non-binary, a term describing those who do not identify as exclusively male or female. Me, too, Vetens thought. She posted on Facebook, asking to be referred to as "they."

The news came as a shock to Dr. Kimberly Moreland, her mother, who found out about the post from Vetens' sisters. She called Vetens and asked why she hadn't told her before sharing it on Facebook. "Mama, I didnt tell you because I knew youd be fine with it," Vetens replied. The two had always been close.

Moreland, an OB-GYN, said Vetens  the oldest of her three children  has "enlightened" her in many ways. Still, the adjustment was difficult. More than two years after Vetens came out, they got into a heated discussion over Moreland's occasional references to Vetens as "he." Being misgendered "felt like a punch in the gut," Vetens said.

The conversation turned to surgery when Moreland asked Vetens if it was something she wanted. Though she initially responded "no," she started researching.

"As soon as I saw a picture from a modern procedure, I thought, Oh my God, I'm having this," Vetens said.

Prepping For Surgery

Vetens had no trouble getting the therapist's recommendation letter required to start hormone therapy, while at Reed College in Portland, Ore. She wore a dress to her first appointment. The therapist "took a look at me and said 'Cool,'" she recalled.

Transgender individuals have a gender identity or expression that differs from the sex identified at birth. While often used interchangeably, "sex" refers to the physiological and biological traits of being male or female, while "gender" refers to more socially driven traits, such as behaviors and attributes. An individual's sense of their own gender is called gender identity; the way they communicate that to others is called gender expression.

"Gender dysphoria" is the diagnosis for those with "clinically significant distress" due to the difference between their gender and sex, according to the American Psychiatric Association.

Vetens fit the diagnosis, and the timing of her transition meshed with an expansion of societal thinking. In 2013, the year Vetens came out, the APA's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders clarified that "gender nonconformity is not in itself a mental disorder." Television shows like "Transparent" and "Orange Is the New Black" portrayed sympathetic trans characters. Former Olympian Bruce Jenner became Caitlyn.

The male-to-female surgery Vetens underwent, penile inversion vaginoplasty, is a painstaking procedure using the penile and scrotal tissue to create a vagina.

Dr. Madeline Deutsch, the medical director for transgender care at the University of California-San Francisco, said research shows hormone therapy and surgeries have been effective in improving quality of life, reducing depression and anxiety, and improving overall social functioning  results that are especially notable for a population at a startlingly heightened risk of suicide.

Federal Policy Upends Plans

When Vetens searched for a graduate program in string theory, a subfield of theoretical physics, she drew a line in the sand: The school had to be friendly to transgender students.

Madison seemed a welcoming place, a liberal island in a largely conservative state  but one that only narrowly tipped for Trump in the 2016 presidential election. The University of Wisconsin's campus there has an active LGBTQ center, and the UW Health System is building a program catering to trans patients.

"I just sort of expected they're going to be reasonable about this," Vetens said, "and I guess I learned a bit of a lesson about naivete."

Although Wisconsin had specifically excluded coverage for "gender reassignment or sexual transformation" for state employees, its 11-member Group Insurance Board voted unanimously in July 2016 to overturn the prohibition, citing the new federal anti-discrimination rule.

When she arrived on campus that fall, Vetens was told the state health insurance plan would cover her surgery once the new policy took effect on Jan. 1, 2017.

Then came the surprise victory of Trump, who had built a campaign on rejecting Obama's policies and embraced social conservatives like his running mate, Mike Pence. As a congressman and governor, Pence opposed protections for the LGBTQ community, including an Obama administration directive ordering schools to allow trans students to use the bathroom correlating to their gender identity.

With the national momentum shifting, Vetens was home for the holidays when she learned that she'd lost the coverage she'd counted on to pay for her operation: In a meeting almost entirely behind closed doors, the insurance board voted to reverse its earlier decision. The board had caved to pressure from Scott Walker, the state's Republican governor, and his justice department, which had called the anti-discrimination rule "unlawful" before joining other states in a lawsuit against the Obama administration.

The dramatic policy swings, from the unprecedented expansion of trans rights under Obama to the unpredictable reduction of trans rights under Trump, have left many feeling the whiplash.

Two other transgender women employed by the University of Wisconsin and covered by the state health insurance plan have sued the Group Insurance Board, the university's board of regents and others, alleging sex discrimination based on their inability to get coverage for their procedures. The case is scheduled to go to trial in October.

Health Care Hurdles

Determined to have her long-awaited surgery, Vetens and her mother set out to buy another policy that would cover it.

"What's striking about it is the urgency this family felt about getting this procedure done, even without having some big questions locked down," said Katie Keith, cofounder of Out2Enroll, an organization that helps the LGBTQ community obtain health insurance, adding: "If you don't get it now, how long do you have to wait, and what does that do to your mental state?"

Vetens researched the procedure's price tag, estimating it would cost $19,000 to $25,000. She then secured new insurance that would cover up to $25,000, became a patient of Dr. Katherine Gast, a surgeon newly recruited by the University of Wisconsin Hospital, and scheduled the procedure during her winter break in her second year. Her insurer, Consolidated Health Plans, preapproved her operation.

Then, about two months before her surgery, a hospital billing representative called: They had run the numbers and anticipated billing her insurer about $100,000. Vetens, who makes about $20,000 a year as a teaching assistant, could have been on the hook for as much as $75,000.

The phone call triggered months of turmoil as Vetens and Moreland fought to get the hospital and her insurer to negotiate a better price for a procedure that experts say costs $20,000-$30,000 without insurance. Both hospital and insurer blamed the wide divergence in estimates on the fact that they had little experience in billing for a penile inversion vaginoplasty and didn't know how much it should cost.

Paul Meyer, the chief operating officer for The Alliance  which negotiates prices with providers for Vetens' insurance plan  said it had never been billed for a penile inversion vaginoplasty, meaning it would not be able to offer patients like Vetens an "off-the-shelf" quote beforehand.

Meyer said there was no negotiated rate for that procedure. Instead, it would be priced based in part on which of about 1,000 general categories it was grouped into  likely a grouping known as "mental health disorder with O.R. procedure," he said. The price would further be determined by expenses like operating room supplies and other factors, such as how many days of hospitalization were required.

At one point, Gast, Vetens' surgeon, called Vetens and asked her to reconsider moving forward before figuring out how to pay for it, a plea Vetens described as "a slap in the face" from a critical ally who had lobbied the hospital and insurer on her behalf. It had been a difficult year, punctuated by the murder of one friend and the suicide of another, Vetens said. She was determined to have the procedure.

In frustration, a week before the scheduled surgery, Vetens and Moreland accepted a hospital offer to forgo using their insurance and pay $20,080 directly upfront as a package deal  even though the insurer said it would not reimburse Vetens for that kind of outlay.

"What's another $20,000 of debt for me being the person that I am?" Vetens said. "If that's the price that I have to pay to be myself, then so be it."

Vetens underwent a penile inversion vaginoplasty on Dec. 27, 2017, and is thrilled with the results. But mother and daughter  a physician and a physicist  remain stunned by the obstacles they faced, and worry about those who do not have the fortitude and resources to fight back.

Moreland penned an appeal to Consolidated Health Plans, writing: "We feel that this discrimination in billing/insurance coverage practices is specifically because [Vetens] is transgender." She pointed out that patients with no insurance would pay the same price they did and accused the insurer of treating Vetens differently than it would treat women seeking common procedures like hysterectomies.

Transgender people experience a lot of inequality in health care, Keith of Out2Enroll said. Preventive care can be hard to get, with trans women struggling to get coverage for routine prostate cancer screenings, for instance. And insurers have commonly used exclusions for transition-related treatments to justify not covering any medical care for trans patients.

Under the Obama-era rule forbidding discrimination based on gender, trans individuals who ran into trouble could file complaints to the Department of Health and Human Services, which could intercede. Now that option is off the table.

Said Vetens: "My case is unique in that I have enough privilege to still have a happy ending."

Bram Sable-Smith of Side Effects Public Media contributed reporting.

KHN's coverage of women's health care issues is supported in part by The David and Lucile Packard Foundation.United States Senator Lamar Alexander Wednesday said, while introducing bipartisan legislation to delay the administrations proposed 25 percent tariffs on imported automobiles and auto parts, that President Trumps no tariffs solution would be better for American workers and deserves more attention.

The president has gotten the worlds attention with his tariffs, but what deserves more attention is his long-term solution  zero tariffs, zero barriers, which is, as the president said at the G7 summit in June, the way it should be. Taking steps in the direction of reciprocityinsisting that other countries do for us what we do for themrather than a trade war, will be much better for the American worker, Senator Alexander said. In the meantime, the bill we are introducing today would delay the administrations proposed 25 percent tariff on automobiles and automotive parts imported into the United States until the President has a second opinion from the International Trade Commission about the effect those tariffs would have on the more than 7 million jobs in the American automotive industry. About 136,000 of those auto jobs are in Tennessee, one third of our states manufacturing jobs.

Senator Alexander made his remarks Wednesday on the Senate floor after introducing The Automotive Jobs Act with Senator Doug Jones of Alabama, which would freeze the Commerce Departments 232 investigation on imported automobiles and automotive parts until the International Trade Commission studies and reports on the impact on jobs in the American automotive industry.

Senator Alexander said, Piling tariffs on top of tariffs with no end in sight is a trade war and it will hurt American workers. But the basis of the presidents solution is reciprocitya word hes used many times, which means, when it comes to trade, other countries should do for us what we do for them. Taking steps in the direction of reciprocity, rather than a trade war, will be much better for the American worker.

Senator Alexander told the story of Broil-King, a manufacturer of gas grills with a plant in Dickson that employs 300 Tennesseans. Tariffs have raised the cost of the steel and aluminum Broil King uses to make grills, the company faces retaliatory tariffs on its grills sold in Canada and Europe, and also faces tariffs on certain parts it imports from China to make its grills.

This is what happens to one small companythat employs over 300 Tennesseans and buys its steel and aluminum from U.S. supplierswhen we begin piling tariffs on top of tariffs with no end in sight. Thats called a trade war, Senator Alexander said.

The senators legislation requires the International Trade Commission to conduct a comprehensive study of the well-being, health, and vitality of the United States automotive industry before tariffs could be applied. The ITC will be required to deliver the report to Congress and is to include policy recommendations based on the study. Under this legislation, these tariffs cannot be applied until the report is delivered.It doesn't often happen that army generals switch sides in the middle of a war, but when cancer's attack is underway, it may even cause a gene that acts as the body's master defender to change allegiance. As reported recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science have discovered that the betrayal of this gene can occur in more ways than previously appreciated.

All cells carry this gene, known as p53. This gene normally plays a central role in protecting the body against malignancy, orchestrating the cell's defenses against cancer and often killing a potentially cancerous cell if these fail. In about half of cancer patients, the p53 gene within the cancerous cells contains alterations - mutations - that can result in the production of a p53 protein that not only fails to suppress cancer, but can even launch cancer-promoting activities.

But besides the cancerous cells, a malignant tumor contains a variety of non-cancerous cells and connective tissue elements, commonly referred to as the tumor microenvironment. In the initial stages of cancer development, the microenvironment is hostile to the tumor. Prof. Moshe Oren of the Molecular Cell Biology Department and other scientists found in earlier studies that the p53 of the microenvironment cells contributes to this hostility, blocking the spread of the cancer. "This protective campaign probably often succeeds, otherwise people would get cancer much more frequently than they actually do," says Oren.

As the cancer progresses and becomes more malignant, the tumor microenvironment gradually changes. Scientists refer to this process as "education": The microenvironment is being co-opted by the progressing tumor into promoting, rather than restricting, the cancer.

Among the co-opted cells are the fibroblasts, which supply the tissue with structural "cement." Initially these help recruit immune cells against the cancer, but they now start releasing substances that encourage tumor growth, invasion and survival. At this stage, these cells are referred to as cancer-associated fibroblasts.

The new study, conducted in Oren's lab in collaboration with Weizmann Institute colleagues, shows that the microenvironment's "education" - a more appropriate term would probably be "brainwashing" - is directed in part at the fibroblasts' p53. As the cancer grows, the p53 in the fibroblasts switches sides. Although the p53 in the cancer-associated fibroblasts doesn't acquire mutations as it does in the cancer cells, it nevertheless becomes altered in a manner that causes it to switch from restricting to supporting the cancer.

In the study, led by postdoctoral fellow Dr. Sharath Chandra Arandkar, in collaboration with departmental colleague Prof. Benjamin Geiger, and with Prof. Yosef Yarden and Dr. Igor Ulitsky of the Biological Regulation Department, the researchers showed that eliminating the p53 protein from cancer-associated fibroblasts by silencing their p53 genes caused these cells to lose many of their tumor-supporting features and behave more like normal fibroblasts. In particular, the silencing of fibroblast p53 reduced the migration of adjacent cancer cells in a laboratory dish - a crucial change, considering that invasive migration facilitates the metastatic spread of cancer. Moreover, the silencing of p53 in cancer-associated fibroblasts greatly reduced the ability of these cells to promote tumor growth in mice.

Study authors included Weizmann's Drs. Noa Furth, Yair Elisha and Nishanth Belugali Nataraj, and, from Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch Institute of Clinical Pharmacology in Stuttgart, Germany: Prof. Walter Aulitzky and the late Dr. Heiko van der Kuip, to whose memory this publication was dedicated.

Finding ways to "re-educate" the renegade p53 in the tumor microenvironment - to reverse its behavior back to suppressing tumors - may pave the way to the development of novel therapies that will target the microenvironment rather than the cancer cells themselves. Indeed, strategies targeting the cancer microenvironment are being increasingly explored in recent years. The hope is that they might provide a new window of opportunity for launching effective therapy, because the microenvironment tends to evolve more slowly than the mutation-ridden tumor cells. Cancer and it's microenvironment: Time lapse movie of GFP-expressing immortalized NFshLacZ cells from patient 4731 (Yellow) and mCherry-expressing Calu1 cells (magenta). Cells were seeded in 12-well plates containing ibidi culture inserts. The next day, inserts were removed and cells were allowed to migrate. Images were captured every 15 min, for a total of 6 h

Source: https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/switching-sides-betrayal-anti-cancer-geneResults of the European multi-center study of Bladder EpiCheck urine test, supporting reduction of invasive procedures, were published in the European Urology Oncology journal

Nucleix Ltd., a leading cancer detection and screening company, announced today that the multi-center European study results with its Bladder EpiCheck urine test for the detection of bladder cancer recurrence, were published in the European Urology Oncology journal. The results demonstrate best-in-class performance of Bladder EpiCheck and support the reduction of follow-up invasive procedures.

Bladder EpiCheckTM, for non-invasive detection of bladder cancer recurrence

The multi-center, single-arm, prospective, double-blind clinical study was performed in five leading urology centers in Europe, on 440 patients who were recruited in their first year of follow-up. The study compared the results of Bladder EpiCheck to the current gold standard follow-up sequence (cystoscopy, cytology and pathology verification). Bladder EpiCheck demonstrated a clinically relevant and high negative predictive value (NPV), with NPV of 99.3% and sensitivity of 91.7% (both excluding patients with low-grade tumors) and specificity of 88%.

High NPV in high grade cancers is essential for the applicability of a urine test in clinical decision making. An NPV of 99.3% means that a patient with a negative Bladder EpiCheck result is free of high-grade cancer in 99.3% of the cases. Therefore, allowing us to avoid cystoscopies, which are unpleasant invasive procedures, commented Prof. Fred Witjes, Radboud UMC in Nijmegen, the Netherlands and the principal investigator of the study. Bladder cancer is a highly recurring disease and the most expensive cancer per a patients lifetime. Follow-up cystoscopies are required up to four times a year in the first years, reducing gradually to an annual cystoscopy for the lifetime of a patient. Bladder EpiCheck provides the best results in urine tests for bladder cancer follow-up, and it is an important tool that can help reduce those follow-up cystoscopies.

Bladder EpiCheck is a CE approved urine test for monitoring of bladder cancer that was clinically validated in several independent cohorts in leading hospitals and labs throughout Europe. Bladder EpiCheck has shown in clinical trials best performance of a non-invasive tool in detection of bladder cancer recurrence when compared to the invasive standard-of-care. The test is objective, operator independent and requires standard laboratory equipment. Bladder EpiCheck is based on Nucleixs proprietary molecular biomarker technology, which combines new biochemical assays and sophisticated algorithms. The technology is based on identification and analysis of subtle changes in DNA methylation patterns, a powerful tool for distinguishing between cancer and healthy cells and thus for detection of tumors in the body.

We are very pleased with the impressive results of our robust, multi-center, European Bladder EpiCheck trial, and with the publication of the data in the prestigious European Urology Oncology journal, providing scientific validation for our Bladder EpiCheck urine test and its underlying technology, stated Opher Shapira, Ph.D., CEO of Nucleix. Bladder EpiChecks market penetration looks promising as several leading hospitals and labs in Europe have already began using our kits. In parallel, we are now developing additional assays for the detection of other types of cancers, such as lung and liver cancer.Many advertisements, articles and reports make bold statements regarding sunless tanning products - sprays, ointments, creams, foams, or lotions that promise tan skin without the increased risk of skin cancer that goes along with outdoor sunbathing or indoor tanning. But, do people who use sunless tanning products actually avoid these "bad" behaviors? Few studies have investigated this topic and this led Matthew Mansh, MD, Resident in the Department of Dermatology, University of Minnesota Medical School and University of Minnesota Health, to question whether he should recommend sunless tanners to his patients.

In the study "Characteristics and Skin Cancer Risk Behaviors of Adult Sunless Tanners in the United States," published in JAMA Dermatology, Mansh and fellow University of Minnesota Medical School researchers sought to assess the demographic characteristics and skin cancer risk behaviors of adult sunless tanners in the United States. They wanted to find out if adults who used sunless tanning products were able to reduce risky behaviors such as indoor and outdoor tanning. They found little evidence they did.

More than 27,000 adults were part of this study - about 6.4% reported sunless tanning. Sunless tanning was most common among young, white, college-educated females and gay and bisexual men. Other factors associated with sunless tanning included living in the Western United States and having a family history of skin cancer.

"For the most part, adults who use sunless tanning products continue to engage in risky tanning behaviors," said Mansh. Adults who used sunless tanning products were were more likely to use indoor tanning beds and report a recent sunburn and were less likely to wear protective clothing or seek shade when outdoors. Among people who used indoor tanning beds - which are known to cause skin cancer - sunless tanning product users actually visited tanning salons more frequently than those who did not.

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. According to the American Academy of Dermatology Association, approximately one in five Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime.

In the general population, it appears that most people use sunless tanning products to supplement rather than replace risky tanning behaviors. Mansh said this observation concerns him from a public health standpoint.

"Most evidence supports that sunless tanning products are safe to use and do not cause skin cancer. However, these products can only be effective at reducing skin cancer rates if they are able to help people disengage in risky behaviors such as indoor tanning or outdoor sunbathing. Our study casts doubt on whether that assumption is true and suggests that sunless tanning products could inadvertently reinforce desires to achieve tanned skin," said Mansh.

Source: https://www.med.umn.edu/news-events/sunless-tanning-may-not-be-answer-preventing-skin-cancerA new study reveals that several drugs for treating hematological cancers are less effective than expected in inhibiting a special enzyme. Researchers have also identified new lead compounds that could potentially improve existing treatments and pave the way for new drugs against diabetes and obesity.

Almost all medical treatments are based on drugs that inhibit the activity of proteins in the body leaving them unable to contribute to the development of for example tumors, inflammatory diseases or metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity.

A number of drugs that target a group of proteins - the so-called HDAC enzymes - have attracted significant attention in recent years from researchers and drug developers, because they contribute to the development of resistance towards cancer treatments. New research has demonstrated that they also play a crucial role in a whole range of other diseases that are due to dysregulation of human genes.

An organic chemistry research team at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, has been investigating all the 11 HDAC enzymes expressed in human cells to develop specific molecules that can bind to the enzymes and block their activity in the body.

In a study just published by the esteemed scientific journal Cell Chemical Biology, the researchers carried out a wide range of tests using chemically designed molecules to reveal the activities of HDAC enzymes and provide insights into their function at the molecular level. To their great surprise, they made a number of new, undescribed discoveries related to the HDAC11 enzyme.

"We have found a handle that will enable the identification of new inhibitors and this could potentially play a vital role in the development of drugs to treat several diseases," says Prof. Christian Adam Olsen, Center for Biopharmaceuticals at the University of Copenhagen.

The study shows that HDAC11 can cleave unexpected modifications on the surface of proteins. Proteins consist of long chains of 20 different amino acids in different sequences produced by the ribosome. The surfaces of proteins are also subsequently chemically modified in cells. It turns out now that HDAC11 affects specific variants of these modifications. By constructing chemical molecules that can bind to and regulate HDAC11, researchers can inhibit disease-causing mechanisms and the body's production of damaged cells.

Poor efficacy of approved drugs

As part of the study, the researchers investigated a range of existing drugs for treating hematological cancers, including leukemia and lymphoma, and other well known HDAC inhibitors. Surprisingly, it turned out that several of the existing inhibitors were unable to block the newly-discovered enzymatic activity of HDAC11.

"This was the second major surprise in the study and suggests that the efficacy of HDAC-targeting drugs against the HDAC11 enzyme should be reassessed. For a long time, many HDAC inhibitors were believed to affect HDAC11 but we now have to question that. On the other hand, we have identified potent inhibitors from our compound library that we can use as the starting point for identifying new candidates with the potential for developing drugs," says Christian Adam Olsen.

Extensive drug target library

The study was based on extensive tests with the 11 human HDAC enzymes. Simultaneously with international research groups, the researchers developed chemically modified substrates for in vitro screening of enzymatic activity.

This has now resulted in an extensive library providing an overview of the enzymatic activities of HDACs against a variety of protein modifications in vitro. The researchers applied their discovery to develop the first efficient assay for determining the efficacy of drugs against HDAC11 in vitro, which may become important for the future development of drugs against a range of diseases such as diabetes, cancer, inflammatory disease, and autoimmune disease.

Source: https://healthsciences.ku.dk/news/2018/07/new-enzyme-discovery-may-help-improve-drugs-against-cancer-diabetes-and-obesity/It is an often case that one's health and life depend on as quick a disease is found. That is why today the ways of quick and effective revealing of a disease is one of the most important directions in medicine. At present one of the unique SUSU projects in this field is being carried out.

"Non-invasive diagnostics of different forms of health problems" is a project that will allow health professionals to discover traces of any disease without a blood test. Human hair will become the material for investigation.

"Everyone knows that the earlier a disease is found the more chances a doctor has for its successful curing. That is why a problem of seeking for the early markers of a disease appears," says Director of SUSU School of Medical Biology, Doctor of Biological Sciences, and Professor Vadim Tseilikman."Some way or other many procedures are connected with the blood tests what is a very uncomfortable process for a patient. Wherever it is possible medicine tries to carry out a non-invasive diagnostics that is to use other human biological fluids. Lately hair began to be used for these purposes. We want to point out the possibilities of using human hair for the early diagnostics of pathological states."

The analysis of hair has already found application in medicine, as underlines Vadim Eduardovich. So, German scientists use hair to determine the level of stress hormone  cortisol. A new approach is perspective not only for discovering mental diseases. Different biochemical values of hair and its biochemical characteristics (order of molecules in the structure of a hair, amino acids correlation, as well as length, thickness and color of a hair shaft) allow discovering traces of cancer diseases at early stages as well as heart and respiratory diseases.

The project is being carried out in cooperation with SUSU Institute of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. In the course of investigation a method of Raman scattering which is a profile of Department of Optoinformatics specialists will be used. A concentration of stress hormone in a hair is possible to determine by Raman spectrum. In order to understand the possibility of this a number of preliminary investigations should be undergone including analysis of Raman spectrum of different amino acids in different conditions. Students - Bachelors and Masters of Applied Mathematics and Physics direction take part in these investigations.

"What is the convenience of this type of diagnostics? First of all, it is the simplicity of biological material collection and the possibility of taking measurements as often as possible. As any health problem develops dynamically the frequency of measuring any parameter has a crucial significance," underlines Vadim Eduardovich. "A new approach showed its efficiency at early diagnostics of underlying risks for post-traumatic stress disorder syndrome. But nowadays we do not use even 0,000001 of all its possibilities and we cannot even guess what diseases can be diagnosed by such means."

At present it cannot be said for sure what health problems can be diagnosed, a number of scientific experiments are required. The results of hair investigation will be compared with the analysis of other biological fluids analysis after that all the possibilities of a new approach will be defined.Jul 26, 2018 21:41 (IST)

In his speech that was broadcast live via video link, PTI chief Imran Khan today declared victory and promised to make Pakistan's institutions stronger under which everyone will be held accountable.

"First, I will be subjected to accountability, then my ministers and so on. Today we are behind (other countries) because there is a separate system for those in power and a separate one for ordinary citizens," Khan said, as he promised to end the VIP culture and convert the existing PM House into an educational institution.

He also vowed to improve the governance and overcome the economic challenges faced by Pakistan.The fifth highest waterfalls in the World, Jog Falls is back to its splendid beauty this monsoon. Located in Karnataka, Jog Falls is also called Gerosoppa Falls or Joga Falls and is the second-highest plunge waterfall in India. (Image: DP Satish and Ashok Hegde)From Thanos to Venom, Marvel's list of best cosmic villains is a tough one to get onto. After all, space is a big place and in the Marvel Universe, its full of diabolical evil. From one-man armies such as the aforementioned Thanos and or the twisted Magus to devious races such as the Skrull, they are all so big a threat, the term supervillain seems insufficient.

With blockbuster films such as Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame bringing Marvels biggest cosmic badass Thanos to the big screen, and the Infinity Wars Prime arc carrying those themes to comics, were looking at the best Marvel cosmic villains of all time.

10. The Brood

(Image credit: Marvel)

Nasty. Theres no other way to put it  these parasitic aliens are arguably the creepiest of all Marvel villains, and thats something. Created by Dave Cockrum and Chris Claremont to originally be henchmen for another villain, they grew quickly to become their own unique kind of threat to the X-Men, as well as Iron Man, Ghost Rider, Ms. Marvel.

Marvels Brood evolved many of the characteristics of the xenomorphs from the Alien movie franchise, but theyve proven themselves even more sturdy with the power level of foes theyve faced in comics. Virtually every X-Men has been impregnated and transformed to a Brood at one point  even Wolverine  in some visuals that are both awesome and grotesque.

In terms of individuality, for the most part the Brood blend together. Its ironic that the most well-known individual Brood is Broo, who rebelled against his race and joined the X-Men. The next best thing is the Brood Queen  while not quite an individual person, is a ranking and similar to the queens of a nest of bees in terms of control. As a race and an empire they are among the universes biggest, even having a seat on the Galactic Council.

9. The Magus

(Image credit: Marvel)

Imagine the dark side of a messianic figure. Thats a pretty bleak picture  and thats the Magus. The Magus is the dark side of Adam Warlock  in some cases a splinter self, and in other cases merely an older Adam Warlock from the future who has gone corrupt. Either way you cut it, Magus at his worse eclipses in many ways Adam Warlock at his best.

Magus first appeared in Jim Starlins run on Strange Tales, guiding his younger self down the path that would lead to his dark transformation. Later, he gains ownership of the Infinity Gauntlet and mounts a one-man war against Warlock and other Earth heroes. The Magus also leads a religious empire named the Universal Church of Truth. That Church has been the thorn in side of many cosmic heroes, and was the central antagonist in The Thanos Imperative as part of the Cancerverse.

The severity of the Magus damage has always been limited by the intervention of Adam Warlock, but if and when that impediment is removed  or Magus gets the upper hand  worry be to those standing against him.

8. The Kree Empire

(Image credit: Marvel)

One of the many creations during Jack Kirby and Stan Lees run on Fantastic Four, the Kree Empire is one of the largest forces in the known galaxy  and have used it to their advantage. Organized as a militaristic dictatorship and most always run by a Kree super-mind called the Supreme Intelligence, the Kree Empire have brought war to Earth  and virtually every other part of the galaxy  for decades.

As a full-fledged empire, the Kree have a bevy of notable warriors in their fold. The original Captain Marvel was a member of the military, as is the iconic Ronan the Accusser. They also have numerous others like Korath the Pursuer and the super-group, Starforce.

The Kree Empire extends for nearly a thousand worlds, and was the inciting party in the centuries long Kree-Skull War which even drew Earth into the battle during 'Operation: Galactic Storm'.

7. The Celestials

(Image credit: Marvel)

Although their actions might sometimes be deemed to be un-malicious, the Celestials have done more than enough to be considered threats to humankind and, in general, life as we know it. Created by Jack Kirby in his 1976 series Eternals, in some ways they are the de facto chief life forms in the universe and were dubbed space gods by Kirby at the time.

For the Marvel Universe, theyre best known for their infrequent visits to Earth to judge the progress of the lifeforms here  each time deciding between killing all life, forcibly evolving some creators, or leaving everything untouched. They are responsible for the creation of the mutant gene in humans, as well as creating both the Eternals and the Deviants. During one of their visits, the combined forces of humans mythological gods attempted to prevent a judgment by the Celestials, and their battle ended in a stalemate.

At an average height of 2000 feet, the Celestials are an awesome sight in their rare appearances in Marvel comics. Their powers are seemingly limitless, with everything from moving planets to creating (and destroying) universes. That being said, theyve been killed once on a comics page but that doesnt diminish their threat at all.

In fact, the Final Host of Dark Celestials is the cosmic threat that led to the formation of the current Avengers line-up.

6. Venom

(Image credit: Marvel)

Think Venom is just another Earth-based Spider villain? Youre forgetting where it came from. The alien symbiote known to us as Venom was first seen in 1984s Secret Wars, latching onto Peter Parker when he was in need of a replacement costume. With Peter, he was eventually transported back to Earth and became Venom with a multitude of hosts  but hes cosmic, no doubt about it; and Marvel has been playing that up since introducing Venom's home planet a few years ago.

Eddie Brock, the main Venom, may be more of an anti-hero than a villain, but he's given rise to an entire wing of alien villains that now stretch back into the secret history of the Marvel Universe.

5. The Beyonder

(Image credit: Marvel)

Although his origins have been retconned multiple times, no matter how you tell it the Beyonder is a bad dude. Created to be the ultimate adversary for the combined forces of Marvels heroes in 1984s Secret Wars, the Beyonder has limitless powers and has only proven himself stoppable through complex logical tricks or by turning him against himself.

Possessing these massive powers (and a massively retro jheri curl), the Beyonder took Marvels heroes to the limit on four separate occasions: the two major event series Secret Wars and Secret Wars II, and also in the Secret Wars 3 arc of Fantastic Four and in a star-studded issue of the miniseries New Avengers: The Illuminati.

Later, a race called the Beyonders were some of the primary antagonists of 2016's Secret Wars. What happens when he shows up next? Its up to the Beyonder: he can make reality into anything he wants.

4. The Skrull Empire

(Image credit: Marvel)

When you tell Earth heroes theres an alien invasion coming, the first they think of is the Skrulls. From the earliest days of the Marvel age in 'Fantastic Four #2' all the way to the massive 2008 event Secret Invasion, the technologically advanced aliens from Skrullos have the uncanny ability to shape-shift to impersonate anyone, as well as the technology to allow some of its warriors  known as Super Skrulls and War Skrulls  to emulate superhuman abilities such as that of the Fantastic Four.

In the aforementioned Secret Invasion, the Skrulls embarked on a years-long covert plan to infiltrate the human race with sleeper Skull agents in positions of power  both in government and literal power: superheroes. Although they were ultimately turned back, they caused a sizeable rift in the superhero community which was taken advantage of by Norman Osborn when he took control of the U.S. governments authority on superheroes.

In the aftermath of Secret Invasion, the Skrull Empire has smaller numbers but still poses a sizeable threat. However, they were unlikely allies in Earths defense against the Builders in Infinity.

3. Galactus

(Image credit: Marvel)

When most comic fans think of cosmic bad guys, Galactus probably comes to mind. Hes not the first, hes not the last  but hes arguably the most memorable. Like many of the cosmic villains on this list, Galactus was created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee as a villain that was above the mortal ideas of good vs. evil, but rather was out to survive; and the only way he could live is by dining on planets.

Intended initially to be a one-time character, Galactus quickly became a major part of the Marvel U  in earth-shattering events of Fantastic Four, as well as in Thor and in the creation, management and rebellion by his one-time herald the Silver Surfer.

For some time, Galactus has been a Lifebringer, seeding new life in the universe. But in comic books, it's always just a matter of time before things swing back the other way.

2. The Phoenix Force

(Image credit: Marvel)

Passion can be a good thing and a bad thing. And in the Marvel universe, the ultimate embodiment of that is the sinister, near-limitless being known as the Phoenix Force. As the nexus for all psionic energy, its drawn to beings of great power to join with them  such as Jean Grey. But their passion can sometime take too firm a hold, twisting the desires of their host into deadly consequences.

The Phoenix Force is responsible for the death of numerous planets, as well as twisting heroes such as Grey, Cyclops, Namor and others to kill loved ones around them  from the likes of Professor X, to most of the Wakandan nation.

In terms of power level, think big: when its power is fully actualized, it can transverse time and space due to its ability to create black holes. As the nexus for psionic energy, it has the ability to use it in all its forms: telekinesis, telepathy, as well as other abilities. Most importantly however, seems to be its namesake: it rises like a phoenix after every apparent death, even from deathblows from the likes of the Beyonder.

The Phoenix last appeared during the resurrection of Jean Grey, with Grey seemingly banishing the Phoenix from her life forever.

1. Thanos

(Image credit: Marvel)

Thanos was never intended to be an A-class villain; originally introduced as a one-off villain for Iron Man, it took 18 years and near that many twists of fate for him to end up with the Infinity Gauntlet in in 1991. But once he did, he never went back.

Born on the Saturnian moon of Titan, Thanos became fascinated with death as a child  something which grew inside him to become a twisted, pining love for the near-mythical cosmic force of death. Through twisted schemes as seen in Infinity Gauntlet and on through to the just started Infinity Wars, his goal is simple: the subjugation of the entire universe under his thumb, all in a steady procession to death.

Although Thanos on his own isnt as powerful as most of his fellow villains on this list, he makes up for that in drive and deliberateness; gaining extra powers either as a consort to Death, as the possessor of the Infinity Gauntlet, or through other technological means. Thanos wasnt born with power; but he knows its out there, and hes one of the few with the diabolical drive to get it  and use it to cause death to everyone in the universe.

And of course, the Mad Titan is now a household name as the villain of the blockbuster film Avengers: Infinity War.CM Punk says more comics are in his future, and he already has a creator-owned offer on the table

The recently-returned wrestler talks about returning to comicsGeneva/Switzerland : Two United Nations human rights experts on Wednesday urged the government of Pakistan to repeal provisions in its electoral laws that they claim discriminate against the Ahmadi Muslim minority.

Although the Ahmadis consider themselves Muslims, an amendment to Pakistan's Constitution in 1974 declared them "non-Muslims", a provision that is included in the current Constitution.

"With national elections today, the current legal requirement for a separate electoral list for the Ahmadis, who have to declare themselves as non-Muslims in order to vote, is of particular concern," Efe quoted Ahmed Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, and Fernand de Varennes, Special Rapporteur on minority issues, as saying in a joint statement.

The civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Ahmadi minority have been progressively negated on account of differences with the majority community, Shaheed and de Varennes said.

"We are deeply concerned about increased acts of persecution of Ahmadis and about the discriminatory provisions against the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan's domestic law. These measures contribute to acts of violence against Ahmadis based only on religious differences," they added.

Both experts expressed concern about the legal requirement that prevents Ahmadis from obtaining national identification and travel documents, which is also a form of discrimination on the basis of their religion or belief, they say.

They called for the death penalty for blasphemy offences to be repealed, saying religious minorities in Pakistan were "disproportionately" charged, simply for practicing their faith.Vientiane : Rescuers are searching for survivors after an under-construction hydroelectric dam collapsed in Laos on Tuesday, leaving at least 19 people dead and over 3,000 still to be rescued, media reports said on Wednesday.

At least seven villages in the southern province of Attapeu were completely flooded after the collapse at the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower project on Monday evening.

Sanamxay district Governor Bounhome Phommasane said that nearly 3,000 had been rescued and more than 3,000 were still in need of rescue, with more people stuck on trees and roofs of buildings, Efe reported.

He said seven villages and dwellings that are home to over 6,000 people were under water and nearly half the affected people are yet to be rescued or accounted for.

South Korea announced it would send an emergency relief team to Laos.

"President Moon (Jae-in) instructed the government to come up with strong support measures, including the dispatch of an emergency relief team, to Laos," the Presidential office said in a statement.

South Korea's Korea Western Power (KOWEPO) and SK Engineering and Construction (SK E&C) were part of the consortium that had built the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower project in southern Laos, one of whose auxiliary dam collapsed on Tuesday flooding entire villages.

The chairman of SK E&C, Ahn Jae-hyun, and several top executives of the company, who have set up a crisis cabinet, are already in Laos to monitor the emergency operation, the company said at a press conference on Tuesday.

There were conflicting numbers of people missing in the remote area reported in the state media outlets of the secretive Communist one-party state.

The Lao weather service has forecast strong to moderate rainfall in the coming days accompanied by strong winds in the region, which could further aggravate the situation.

Laos Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith traveled to the area to oversee the rescue and victim assistance operations.

Thai company Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding (RATCH), which is part of the construction project, attributed the collapse to the continuous rainfall that led a large volume of water to enter the reservoir.

The collapsed dam is part of a national plan to make use of the Mekong River flowing through the country and make Laos a source of electricity for Southeast Asia.

The joint venture Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy Power Company won the $1.02 billion tender to build three 410 MW hydroelectric powerplants where the accident occurred.

The plan was for the plant to contribute to the national electric grid with an annual output of 1,860 GWh, upon its completion in 2019, according to RATCH.Manila : Two Indian nationals, Bharat Vatwani and Sonam Wangchuk, are among the six personalities named for this year's Ramon Magsaysay award.

The Ramon Magsaysay award, widely known as Asia's premier prize, is now in its 60th year of "honouring greatness of spirit and transformative leadership in selfless service to the peoples of Asia."

The other recipients of the annual honour include Cambodia's Youk Chhang, who has been honoured for "preserving historical memory for healing and justice"; Maria de Lourdes Martins Cruz from East Timor for "building a caring society brick by brick"; Howard Dee of the Philippines for "Championing the human face of peace, justice and economic growth"; Vietnam's Vo Thi Hoang Yen for "claiming opportunities for the differently abled".

In electing Vatwani, the board of trustees recognised "his tremendous courage and healing compassion in embracing India's mentally-afflicted destitute, and his steadfast and magnanimous dedication to the work of restoring and affirming the human dignity of even the most ostracized in our midst."

Since its inception, over 330 individuals and organisations have joined the distinguished community of Ramon Magsaysay Awardees.

Wangchuk, the inspiration behind the hugely popular bollywood movie "Three Idiots", has been recognised for "his uniquely systematic, collaborative and community-driven reform of learning systems in remote northern India, thus improving the life opportunities of Ladakhi youth, and his constructive engagement of all sectors in local society to harness science and culture creatively for economic progress, thus setting an example for minority peoples in the world".

The prestigious award is given to persons -- regardless of race, nationality, creed or gender -- who address issues of human development in Asia with courage and creativity, and in doing so have made contributions which have transformed their societies for the better.

The awards will be presented on August 31 at Main Theater, Cultural Center of the Philippines.Tehran : Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday said that resistance is the most powerful response to the US' anti-Iran policies.

"The Iranian nation has from the start stood up to the American rulers' intransigence, misconduct and breach of promises in all areas, and has chosen to follow the path of resistance," Xinhua quoted Rouhani as saying to Press TV.

He lashed out at the recent comments by the US officials against Iran as "baseless and unfounded", saying that their "hollow threats" do not even warrant a response.

On Sunday, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told a gathering of Iranian-American in California that "the level of corruption and wealth among Iranian leaders shows that Iran is run by something that resembles the mafia more than a government".

Following US President Donald Trump's decision to quit the historic Iran nuclear pact on May 8, the US vowed to re-impose sanctions lifted under the accord against Iran and inflict punishments on nations that have business links with the Islamic country.

The White House has announced that it would bring Iran's oil sales down to "zero".

Rouhani said Iran has undertaken legal international efforts to confront the US' misdeeds.

He said the proceedings have yielded their "first success" with the International Court of Justice telling the United States that it was not allowed to take any action that would influence the tribunal's potential rulings before "Iran's complaint is addressed".

"This is a warning to the United States by the world's most senior legal authority," he said.

"Today, an absolute majority of world states condemn or view US actions as wrong," said the President, describing it as proof that the Iranian nation's resistance has been fruitful.Kampala : Stating that India has deepened its partnership and engagement across the vast expanse of Africa, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday charted out 10 principles of his country's engagement with African nations.

"India is proud to be Africa's partner," Modi said while addressing the Ugandan Parliament, the first ever by an Indian Prime Minister.

"And, Uganda is central to our commitment to the continent," he said.

He assured India's continued support to Uganda in the fields of agriculture and healthcare, education and training, infrastructure and energy, capacity building in government and training in defence.

"As with Uganda, we have deepened our partnership and engagement across the vast expanse of Africa," Modi stated.

"In the past four years, our President, Vice President and I have collectively visited no less than 25 countries in Africa. Our Ministers have covered virtually all African nations."

The Prime Minister also said that as many as 32 heads of state or government from African countries visited India in the last four years.

"India's engagement with Africa will continue to be guided by 10 principles," Modi stated in the presence of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in the House .

"One, Africa will be at the top of our priorities," he said.

"We will continue to intensify and deepen our engagement with Africa. As we have shown, it will be sustained and regular."

Secondly, Modi said, India's development partnership will be guided by Africa's priorities and by relying on African talent and skills.

"Three, we will keep our markets open and make it easier and more attractive to trade with India," he said.

"We will support our industry to invest in Africa."

The fourth principle, the Prime Minister said will be to harness India's experience with digital revolution to support Africa's development; improve delivery of public services; extend education and health; spread digital literacy; expand financial inclusion; and mainstream the marginalised.

"Five, Africa has 60 per cent of the world's arable land, but produces just 10 per cent of the global output," he said.

"We will work with you to improve Africa's agriculture."

The sixth principle, Modi said, is the India-Africa partnership addressing the challenges of climate change.

"We will work with Africa to ensure a just international climate order; to preserve our biodiversity; and, adopt clean and efficient energy sources," he said.

Seventh, he said, both sides will strengthen cooperation and mutual capabilities in combating terrorism and extremism; keeping cyberspace safe and secure; and, supporting the UN in advancing and keeping peace.

"Eight, we will work with African nations to keep the oceans open and free for the benefit of all nations," Modi stated.

"The world needs cooperation and not competition in the eastern shores of Africa and the eastern Indian Ocean," he said reflecting India's vision of a free and inclusive Indo Ocean region.

As the ninth principle, the Prime Minister called for both sides to work together "to ensure that Africa does not once again turn into a theatre of rival ambitions, but becomes a nursery for the aspirations of Africa's youth".

"Ten, just as India and Africa fought colonial rule together, we will work together for a just, representative and democratic global order that has a voice and a role for one-third of humanity that lives in Africa and India," he stated.

Modi also highlighted India's development partnership with Africa which currently includes implementation of 180 lines of credit worth about $11 billion in over 40 African countries.

"At the last India Africa Forum Summit, we had committed a concessional line of credit of $10 billion and $600 million in grant assistance," he said.

He also mentioned India-Africa trade figure which is now over $62 billion, 21 per cent more than the previous year.

Addressing the gathering ahead of Modi's speech, President Yoseveni said that with economic integration, Africa will become an economic powerhouse in the world.

He also described India as among the reliable partners of Africa.

Earlier in the day, Modi participated in the India-Uganda Business Forum during which he said that India is willing to address the current trade imbalance with Uganda.

Modi arrived here on Tuesday from Rwanda on the second leg of his five-day, three-nation tour of Africa that will also take him to South Africa.

This is the first Prime Ministerial visit from India to Uganda in over 20 years.

For Modi, this is his second visit to this East African nation after his visit in 2007 as Gujarat Chief Minister.When the Pakistan women contestant started campaigning for elections, some Indians became busy with making sexist comparisons with leaders at home

New Delhi : Pakistan wrapped up its third consecutive civilian election on July 25. When media and analysts reports naming it the 'dirtiest' election in the country ever, it seems that some of the dirt has leached into social media platforms, as well.

The latest elections in Pakistan have witnessed an unparalleled participation from women. Led partially by Pakistans Election Commission, which earlier specified that every party contesting elections needed to have 5 per cent of women candidates, a record 171 women contested for the 272 general seats in the National Assembly.

Though the number is low, significantly considering the countrys history, comments on social media was not considerable. While natives were busy casting votes, some Indians found perfect opportunity to emit sexism on the social media sites.

Soon after some of the women contestant started campaigning for elections, some Indians became busy with making sexist comparisons with leaders at home in the micro blogging site

It is always seen that personal commentaries and comparisons meted out to women trying to do a job. However, the kind of commentary has never been made for their male counterparts.

While there is apparently no end to dislikes in the country and people involed in such commentary should note that the Indian women politicians though outwardly dismissing as unattractive as opposed to the Pakistani candidates are Chief Ministers in their respective states, handling social responsibilities smartly and effectively.

The respected women politicians Mayawati and Mamata Banerjee have led their own political parties to victory and are seasoned politicians with careers that span over two decades. Mayawati is the former CM of Uttar Pradesh and the chief of Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP), while Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee is the present CM of West Bengal.The death toll this week raises to 203 people, killed with a series of suicide attacks targeting election rallies throughout the Pakistan

Islamabad : Close to 29 people have been killed, including two policemen, in a bomb blast near a polling station in the Pakistani city of Quetta. Besides death, 40 others were reportedly wounded in the blast today on July 25, Waseem Baig, a spokesperson for Quetta Civil Hospital, told Al Jazeera.

The blast took place just hours after polls started in Pakistan for the country's parliamentary elections. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group claimed responsibility for the attack via its Amaq website.

Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder, reporting from the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, said officials declared it was carried out by a suicide bomber operating a motorcycle.

"The death toll is likely to go up ... [but] a number of the victims include would be voters," he said.

The atmosphere is tensed out there, Hyder added, but it is likely that voter turnout would be high with "people coming out in large numbers" throughout the capital.

The death toll this week raises to 203 people killed with a series of suicide attacks targeting election rallies throughout the country.

To recall, 154 people were killed on July 13 as a result of a political rally in the southwestern city of Mastung.

On security ground, at least 800,000 police and military forces have been deployed to some 85,000 polling stations throughout the country in order to ensure the vote proceeds peacefully.

More than 30 political parties and 12,570 candidates are challenging for the support of some 106 million registered voters, who will elect both the national and four provincial assemblies.Sorry!

This content is not available in your regionNo doubt, the past few years have been transformational for the cannabis industry. Weve seen tremendous innovation and growth happening at a pace nearly unimaginable just a few short years ago. And while weve come a long way, our industrys rapid progress underscores the vital need to remain steadfast in our efforts for reform.

We cant afford to forget that the war on marijuana is not over--even though it can certainly start to feel that way if you live in a state where cannabis is regulated for adult use. Its easy to forget that for all weve achieved, our progress is still fragile and incomplete. If we sit back and get complacent, we could wind up trapped in a perpetual industrial purgatory. Or worse, we could lose everything amid a belief that the genie cant be put back in the bottle.

Complacency on the political front will halt or even potentially kill our progress.

Related: 5 Routes the Cannabis Industry Could Take to Get Around Federal Banking Restrictions

The price of political apathy

My colleague Troy Dayton, a founding NCIA board member and CEO of the first cannabis investment and market research firm, The Arcview Group, recently shared an alarming observation about dwindling levels of industry contributions going toward local and national lobbying efforts. Back in 2013 when Arcview was in its infancy and only drawing a core group of 50 or so people to its private member forums, it was raising more money to support legalization than it does today, even though its conferences now draw upwards of 300 attendees.

Some industry operators may think the fight for reform doesnt need as much help as it once did, but thats just not the case.

To continue advancing the interests of the legitimate, responsible cannabis industry, business leaders must become politically active if theyre not alreadyand stay active. Despite the fact our industry supports billions of dollars in economic activity across the United States, this emerging sector is still treated unfairly under federal law and outright prohibited in many states. Its up to us to change that. And its not going to happen without unified efforts, continued hard work and adequate funding.

Its important to remember that our industry faces numerous uphill battles, both at the federal and local levels before we can stand on even ground with every other legitimate industry in this country.

Related: Senators Push Treasury Department to Loosen Marijuana Banking Restrictions

Bills to get behind

Thousands of cannabis industry leaders from across America will converge this month in Californiathe largest, adult-use cannabis market in the U.S. And while business development and growth are at the forefront for many successful entrepreneurs attending the fifth annual Cannabis Business Summit & Expo later this month, there's something critically important happening behind the scenes: We are lobbying Washington to secure the future of our industry.

NCIA is targeting a few key pieces of current federal legislation, which we pushed hard on Capitol Hill during our recent eighth annual Cannabis Industry Lobby Days.

The Marijuana Justice Act, drafted by Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, is a game-changing measure to remove cannabis from the 1970 Controlled Substances Act (CSA)which as you know currently lists cannabis as a Schedule I narcotic, along with cocaine, LSD and heroin. This would effectively decriminalize cannabis at the federal level and enable states to legalize and regulate without fear of violating federal law. The bill would also encourage all states to decriminalize cannabis by withholding federal funds from those that dont, and by creating a Treasury federal fund that could be used for reinvestment projects in low-income communities.

Were actively backing the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) Act as well. The bipartisan bill would exempt state-legal cannabis from the CSA and amend the federal definition of marijuana to exclude industrial hemp; President Donald Trump has said he would probably support the legislation. And while it wouldnt go as far as the Marijuana Justice Act, the STATES Act would effectively enable states to legalize and regulate cannabis without running afoul of federal law. It would also address our industrys financial disadvantages by enabling state-licensed cannabis businesses to access banking services and take normal business tax deductions.

NCIA is also throwing its support behind reform efforts across a number of states, including

New Jersey, Michigan, Utah, Missouri, and Virginia, which are all pushing ballot initiatives or legislation forward in 2018 to legalize cannabis for medical or adult use. Industry leaders who do business in these states, or who would like to, must step up and make their voices heard to get initiatives and bills passed.

Let's do this thing

The cannabis industry stands at a crossroads in 2018. Were closer than ever before to achieving lasting national and state-level policy reforms, and yet, we have everything to lose if we let the wind go from our sails. The future of this industry rests heavily on our own efforts. So we must keep pushing as hard as possible to reach our full potential, and always maintain this effort. Lets refocus our ambitions and reignite our collective energy toward the shared goal of bringing about sensible policies for our industry from coast to coast.

Related:

Cannabis Legalization Isn't a Sure Thing and the Industry Can't Afford to Stop Fighting

Seattle Is Taxing Amazon to Help Solve Its Homeless Problem: Bad Move.

Why It's Okay to Disagree With Your Colleagues



Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedPresident Donald Trump said he'll impose "large sanctions" on Turkey over the detention of an American pastor, plunging relations between the two NATO allies to a new low and extending a rout on Turkish financial markets.

Andrew Brunson, an evangelical minister detained on charges of involvement in a failed 2016 coup in Turkey, is "a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being," Trump said in a tweet Thursday. "He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!"

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu responded on Twitter, saying that no one can dictate to his country. "We will never tolerate threats from anyone," he said.

The episode is the latest in a series of crises between the longtime allies. The U.S. has slammed Turkey's plans to buy a missile defense system from Russia, an issue that has already raised the threat of American sanctions. The countries have also clashed over the war in Syria, where Turkey has increasingly acted in concert with Russia and Iran. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blames the U.S. for backing Kurdish militants in Syria, and harboring the alleged mastermind behind the coup attempt against his government.

The Turkish lira extended losses, leading declines among global currencies. It slumped 1.8 percent to 4.86 per dollar, close to a record low, at 8 p.m. in Istanbul.

Neither Trump nor the White House offered any immediate details about the measures that the U.S. may take, or how soon they may be imposed. Earlier Thursday, Vice President Mike Pence also blasted Turkey over the pastor's detention.

Erdogan's government arrested Brunson in 2016 and indicted him last year on charges of espionage and attempting to overthrow the state. On Wednesday, after a year-and-a-half in jail, he was released to house arrest.

But that move didn't assuage U.S. anger.

The escalation of the dispute by Trump and Pence on Thursday reflects frustration over the breakdown of a diplomatic deal that was supposed to have seen Brunson freed and deported back home, according to a person familiar with negotiations. The agreement broke down when Turkey increased its demands for a quid pro quo, calling for the abandonment of U.S. legal action against a Turkish bank blamed for helping evade Iran sanctions, the person said.

State-owned Turkiye Halk Bankasi is under criminal investigation in New York's southern district on the Iran charges. A senior executive at the lender was jailed by a U.S. court in May.

Halkbank is seen as a likely target of penalties as a result of the investigation.

Some analysts have raised the prospect that Trump or Congress will impose broader measures that could target business leaders close to Erdogan's government, along the lines of American sanctions against Russia.

Pence, who said he spoke to Brunson on Wednesday, described the pastor's move to house arrest as "a welcome first step" but "not good enough."

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo also said Wednesday that the move to house arrest was insufficient. "We have seen no credible evidence against Mr. Brunson," he said. Trump had said last week on Twitter that Turkey's failure to release Brunson was a "total disgrace."

The pastor's detention has come at a critical time in U.S.-Turkey relations. Erdogan has been infuriated by U.S. support for Kurdish rebels in Syria, who he views as linked to domestic terror groups. And his decision to purchase the Russian S-400 missile system has raised questions about Turkey's role in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The S-400 deal and other tensions have prompted U.S. Lawmakers to call for a halt in sales of F-35 military jets to Turkey, even though several key parts of the fighter are made in Turkey. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has opposed that effort. Turkey is demanding the U.S. extradite Fethullah Gulen, a cleric and former Erdogan ally living in Pennsylvania, who the Turkish president blames for engineering the 2016 coup attempt.

Trump and Erdogan, who last month won re-election in a vote that granted him broad new powers, were seen speaking at length during a gathering of NATO leaders in Brussels earlier this month.

- - -

Bloombrg's Nick Wadhams, Margaret Talev and Saleha Mohsin contributed.Home decor accessories come in all shapes and sizes, but the most popular item of all right now may surprise you: trays.

This finding was served up on a silver platter by Next Day Blinds, a custom-made blind and shade company, which examined which home decor items Americans searched for most on Google over the past year.

And, yep, trays topped the list.

Tripping over tray options

The popularity of these all-purpose platters could very well signal that people are seeking out more creative ways to get organized. Think about it: A tray gives you a stylish little place to corral items that would otherwise feel like clutter around your home.

"We think trays are the basic building blocks for order in the house," says Julie Carlson, founder and editor of design site Remodelista. She uses them everywhere: on the kitchen counter and in the bedroom, bathroom, and entryway.

The most popular decor items Next Day Blinds

In addition to making themselves useful in any room of a home, trays also run the gamut of interior decor styles, from Victorian to Mid-Century Modern, says Drew Henry of Design Dudes in San Antonio.

"You'll see them popping up on Instagram feeds, too, especially when they're used for breakfast in bed and as coffee tables on stools," he says.

Photo by Tilton Fenwick

Aside from assessing your home's aesthetic, how do you choose the best tray for your place?

Think about how it'll be used. A tray used in the kitchen to hold sink-side essentials like dish soap, a sponge, and a scrub brush should be easy to clean and waterproof, so opt for something made of acrylic or ceramic.

"For the living room, there are metal, wood, or enameled options, and a mirrored tray in the bar area looks great as it reflects bottles and glassware," says Henry.

Photo by Caroline Sharpnack - A Lucite tray will keep everything in order without clashing with your living room decor.

All about the walls

So what else made the list of America's most searched-for home products? Mostly they're items that can help dress up walls: mirrors, wall decor, wall art, wallpaper, frames, and prints all made the cut.

Each of these items can stand (er... hang?) alone, or you can curate them into a gallery wall. To maintain a sense of order, group the same types of frames, artwork, color theme, or subject matter, says Karen Gray-Plaisted of Design Solutions KGP. You can also choose one object as the center of your gallery.

"This focal point could be a large mirror, a clock, or the biggest picture you have," she says.

Once thought of as a tacky eyesore, wallpaper has actually come back into favor with homeowners and renters. Recent wallpaper trends we've seen include textured grass cloth (which works well in a great room or dining room) and oversize floral designs (try it in a guest bath or laundry room).

One innovation that's drawn people toward wallpaper is the removableor peel-and-stickvariety. A wall covering that you don't have to commit to (or lose your rental deposit for)? That's a beautiful thing.

Photo by AFT Construction

Accessories

Rounding out the list of top decor picks are three accessories that are a staple in any stylish home: bar carts, poufs, and rugs.

One of the most beloved pouf styles is the round, Moroccan-inspired type, usually made of leather. These things tend to cultivate a more bohemian vibe, but we've seen them incorporated into homes with other types of decormodern, preppy, industrialtoo. Poufs also come in a variety of shapes and textures: knitted, furry, square, and rectangular.

Photo by Tara Benet Design

People also seem to be coveting bar cartsthey've become a choice accessory for people who want to display their liquor collection in a chic way, but can be used for so much more.

Push one next to a sofa as a side table to hold coasters and remotes, use it to hold your vinyl collection, or position it in a bathroom for extra storage. We love the idea of scoring a vintage bar cart at a flea market or on eBay, but don't drive yourself crazy trying to find one. There are plenty of great options at a variety of price ranges from home decor companies online and in stores.

Photo by Holder Design Associates

The post America's Most Searched-For Home Decor Item Solves Clutter Fast appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com.VANCOUVER, July 26, 2018 /CNW/ - Bankers Cobalt Corp. (TSXV: BANC) (OTCQB: NDENF) (FSE: BC2) (the "Corporation" or "Bankers") is pleased to announce it has entered an option with a private Namibian partner to acquire a 70% interest in a prospective base metals, precious metals and industrial metals license located in the country of Namibia. Namibia is situated north of South Africa and south of Zambia. The option is for a period of two years with no defined expenditure requirements and may be extended or converted into a 70/30 corporate joint venture within the two-year option timeline.

Stephen Barley, Chairman and CEO stated: "Bankers' primary focus will remain on the exploration of our large property portfolio in the DRC. Based on key relationships, Bankers was presented with the opportunity to participate in a highly prospective substantial land package in Namibia and the potential was so compelling the Corporation determined to add this to the portfolio. This allows Bankers to provide diversification from the DRC with nominal cash consideration, no additional share or equity consideration and with no distraction from our primary DRC cobalt and copper focus."

Grant Dempsey, President and COO of Bankers, stated: "Namibia is a stable English speaking country with an independent judiciary and clearly defined mining laws. Namibia is underdeveloped from an exploration perspective. The unexplored Kamanjab project at 135 km in area, has the size and appropriate geology to possess a tremendous amount of upside potential regarding copper, cobalt and other metals. Bankers will utilize the considerable expertise of the existing DRC exploration team to evaluate the prospect avoiding any duplication of costs while continuing unabated with all planned activities in the DRC."

Kamanjab Project - Namibia

The 135 km Kamanjab license is situated in the North of Namibia, approximately 500 km north west of Windhoek the capital city of Namibia, and 90 km north of the village of Kamanjab. The geology of this area is underlain by basement rocks of the Epupa/Nosib Group and alluvium sediments. Mineralization is widespread and variable in style, occurring in discrete sedimentary horizons, such as the Dolostone Ore Formation, where the copper-cobalt is associated with disseminations and veinlets of sulphide minerals, orogenic copper and strata bound zinc-lead mineralization. Existing regional geological data sets from the Geological Survey of Namibia as well as the known mineral occurrences within the vicinity, indicate the property has a potential to host base metals, precious metals and industrial minerals deposits. The majority of the geology is dominated by Nosib/Epupa porphyritic gneiss that is known to host copper mineralization. The high resolution aero-magnetic data carried out in the area, shows moderate magnetic responses with two large magnetic anomalies in the western and eastern parts of the permit, indicating potential occurrence of magnetic bodies. There is visible copper staining in multiple out cropping's on the permit. (click here for picture of outcropping). Copper minerals hosted by the Epupa/Nosib formation and Sandstone, are malachite, blue azurite, light blue chrysocolla, cuprite, bornite, and chalcopyrite. Zinc minerals are whitish willemite, brown limonite, and brown goethite. Lead minerals are anglesite, and galena. Tennantite (Cu, Fe, Zn, Ag) is also present.

Qualified/competent person -- National Instrument 43-101 and JORC Code

The geological information in this announcement has been reviewed by Mr. Adam Anderson, Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG), a competent person (as defined in the JORC code, 2012 edition) and (being a recognized professional organization for the purposes of the Australian Securities Exchange listing rules). Mr. Anderson is also the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 who has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release.

Mr. Anderson is the DRC Exploration Manager for Bankers. He has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralization, the type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a competent person as defined in the JORC code and under National Instrument 43-101.

About Bankers

Bankers is a natural resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of cobalt and copper mineral properties in the DRC to world-class Canadian standards. As battery production for EV's surges, demand for cobalt will probably exceed supply for many years. According to a recent report by Transparency Market Research, global sales of lithium-ion batteries are expected to reach US$70B by 2024, for a compound growth rate of 11.6% over the years beginning in 2016. Bankers holds rights to 26 separate mineral concessions strategically located in the southern DRC Copperbelt and having a total area of more than 391 km. Bankers has the intention to acquire interests in additional concessions. All concessions were obtained as either new grants or through reputable DRC partners and have clean title with no government involvement, making Bankers one of the few, and perhaps only, junior public mining company in the DRC to have 26 concessions capable of being currently explored. Bankers has an experienced operations team operating in the southern CopperBelt of the DRC. Bankers believes it is the front runner in advancing cobalt and copper exploration by a junior mining company in the DRC.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF BANKERS COBALT CORP.

"Stephen Barley"

Chairman & CEO

Reader Advisory

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws including statements relating to the option regarding the Kamanjab license, the Kamanjab license, the outlook of the business of the Corporation, the Corporation's intention to acquire additional concession, the Corporation's ability to explore and develop the concessions including Kamanjab license, the results of any development and exploration, the ability of the Corporation to meet standards for verifiable supply chain custody, and the Corporation's status as a leader in the junior mining sector for cobalt and copper in the DRC. Although the Corporation believes considering the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate, that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them as the Corporation can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. The statements in this news release are made as of the date of this release. The Corporation undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third-parties in respect of the Corporation its securities, or its financial or operating results.

SOURCE Bankers Cobalt Corp.

For further information: Phone: +1-604-684-6730, Email: [email protected], Website: http://www.bankerscobalt.comLike inked art on a barista's forearm, high-end cafes are showing up everywhere. On both coasts and in the middle, over the past two decades Americans have embraced better brew, turning what was once a tiny niche into a mighty market. Nearly half the coffee consumed in the United States today comes from specialty beans ranked well above the commodity grade that once was standard. Don't believe me? Just take a tour of cafes near your office. Or walk down the aisle of your supermarket and check out what's for sale. In Northern Europe, Japan, Australia, the same story: Specialty coffee rules.

But in Italy? In the land that introduced generations to the transcendent possibilities of a perfectly executed espresso or cappuccino, specialty coffee is not a thing. Who needs change when you already have perfection?

Now an American entrepreneur - an American! - is trying to (politely) persuade Italians that their beloved cafe espresso needs an upgrade. Sounds preposterous? Not when you realize the American is Kent Bakke, the recently retired CEO and majority stockholder of La Marzocco International, the Italian company that helped spread the gospel of specialty coffee by selling gleaming handmade espresso machines around the world.

Based in Seattle and Florence, Italy, Bakke understands that many Italians and visitors cherish the memory of an espresso or cappuccino perfectly executed by a barista and consumed standing at the bar. "Espresso," he says, "is more than a beverage. It's an experience." He wants to perpetuate that memory and that experience. But first, he says, change must come. "What we are doing," he told me in Florence, "is trying to bring modernity to Italian coffee."

So who is this guy who thinks Leonardo needs a refresher course in painting? "Kent has spent decades as espresso's unofficial ambassador," says Peter Giuliano, chief research officer for the Specialty Coffee Association. "Back in the late '70s, when the specialty industry was just starting up, he introduced Americans to Italian coffee and the Italian coffee culture, the way Julia Child and Jacques Pepin introduced us to French cuisine." The coffee community "respects and loves him," Giuliano adds, and they believe his motives are pure.

Specialty coffee, in case you are confused, refers to high-quality beans with cupping scores of 80 or above for which roasters pay 25 percent or more above the commodities rate. The beans used to make espresso can be specialty grade or not; traditionally in Italy they are not. Technically, espresso isn't even a kind of coffee; it's a brewing technique developed more than 100 years ago for making coffee quickly (espresso means quick) and cheaply (more flavor is extracted from fewer beans). To make a traditional Italian cafe espresso, nearly boiling water (between 190 and 197 degrees F) is forced through seven grams of finely ground coffee, under 9 bars of pressure, for 25 to 30 seconds. The result: 2 1/2 viscous ounces of fragrant coffee topped with a layer of honey-colored foam called crema. From this small cup, a mighty cult has grown.

Bakke's passion for espresso helped drive the explosive rise of specialty coffee in America that began in the Pacific Northwest in the 1980s. He gave the industry a huge boost in 1984 when as a La Marzocco distributor, he figured out how to adapt his machines to accommodate Starbucks cups. That advance enabled Starbucks to make and sell Italian-style cafe lattes and other espresso drinks. Starbucks bought all its machines, some 3,000 of them, from Bakke, until 2003, when the company switched to automatic machines.

Espresso's Italian connection gave the specialty industry its stylistic edge: baristas jockeying sexy machines, drinks with names known only to insiders (ristretto, macchiato), cutting-edge design, latte art, cool T-shirts. But it was the culinary focus of the specialty industry, with its curiosity about terroir (the impact of place on flavor) and roast styles and its emphasis on experimentation, that gave espresso in the United States, northern Europe and elsewhere its forward momentum, far beyond Starbucks.

In Italy, there has been little forward momentum. Italians live by the old rules. Dinner is eaten at 8 p.m. Cappuccino is consumed before noon. A shot of espresso costs one euro. (Many believe the price is set by law, but La Marzocco marketing director Chris Salierno calls that an urban legend.) "When I started in this business, Italian coffee was it!" Bakke remembers. But as coffee prices worldwide went up, coffee quality in Italy went down, with some roasters adding more and more inferior-grade robusta beans that Bakke explains "are genetically different" from the superior arabica beans.

Of courses, Italian coffee is not a monolith. Illy, which has a huge worldwide presence, continues to roast 100 percent specialty-grade arabica coffee. Says SCA's Giuliano, "I object to the portrait of Italy as the country that has lost its [coffee] soul . . . There's still magic to be had," he says, recalling a recent a visit to the small Tuscan city of Lucca, where he happened upon a small cafe across from a school roasting its own Arabica, selling "utterly delicious espresso and cappuccinos."

Still, Bakke says, "There are important advances that Italy is missing out on."

Bakke is not a guy who pops off for the fun of it. He is an down-to-earth Pacific Northwesterner who wears a goofy red wool cap visiting espresso bars on a damp, wet day in Florence. Raised in Modesto, California, he graduated from a small evangelical college and then moved to Seattle. Like his father, he loved tinkering with machinery and preferred to work for himself. In 1974, a new college graduate, he discovered a "mysterious brass thing with a vertical boiler" in the kitchen of the Seattle sandwich joint he and two friends had just bought. At the time, Bakke recalls, "there were maybe eight espresso machines in Seattle." He became the go-to repairman.

Touring Europe in 1978 - and curious to learn more about espresso machines - Bakke showed up unannounced at the La Marzocco factory outside of Florence. Piero Bambi, son and nephew of La Marzocco's two founders, gave him a tour, proudly explaining the company's recent technical advance: two boilers per machine, one for steam and one for coffee, to ensure temperature stability. Bakke returned to Seattle with two machines. "It took me a year to sell one." Then Starbucks exploded, and soon the factory couldn't keep up with demand. More than a decade later, Bambi, needing cash and lacking an heir, allowed Bakke to open a La Marzocco factory in Seattle on the condition that Bakke buy the company. Bakke put together a group of investors who bought 90 percent of the company, and he was named CEO.

As for upgrading Italian espresso, Bakke plays a long game. "I sense stirrings," he says, seated at Ditta Artigianale, a specialty-style cafe featuring the sorts of coffee drinks available in Seattle; Copenhagen, Denmark; or Melbourne, Australia. Rather than blends, roaster/owner Francesco Sanapo, Bakke's friend and mentee, sells single-origin coffees from named farms at all three of his cafes. "Things are changing," Bakke says. Italian young people "are exposed to a whole new world of coffee when they travel, and they bring that knowledge home to Italy."

A few years ago, Sanapo was one such traveler. The son of a coffee bar owner so traditional he insisted his son sweep floors for 10 years before touching the espresso machine, Sanapo left home to learn the family business. After a year or two as a barista, he entered Italy's national barista competition and came in dead last. That's when he got serious about learning his craft. He won three Italian barista competitions, began competing internationally and traveled extensively, visiting coffee farms in Latin America and cafes and roasteries in the United States, learning, among other things, about the culinary possibilities of lighter roasts. Not everyone is thrilled with his international style of roasting. "One Italian roaster accused me of spitting on the plate where I eat," Sanapo says.

Sanapo believes Italians can be persuaded by the contents of the cup. Such was the case with a customer who visited his newly opened cafe in 2014 and was shocked to discover that Sanapo charged 1.5 euros for espresso. "'You are a Mafioso, a thief!' the customer screamed at me," Sanapo recalls. "Eight months later, I see this guy out the window. I go out outside and offer him a coffee for free." One thing led to another and now, "He loves my espresso and is my best customer."

Salierno, the marketing director, says other "great micro roasters" are popping up all over the country. "Espresso originated in Italy," he says. "Now it has been internationalized, and best practices are being brought back from outside. . . . We are on the eve of a huge change here. I'd put my money on it."

La Marzocco's leaders - new CEO Guido Bernardinelli, Bakke and Salierno - find it ironic that their company has experienced annual growth of 20 percent over the past decade, but not at home. It now produces 18,000 hand-welded espresso machines a year that are fetishized by baristas in 92 countries - including some who get tattoos featuring La Marzocco's lion logo. But in Italy, sales are flat.

At the same time, in September, the behemoth chain will open a giant roastery and several cafes in Milan.

"I think in Italy we are where we were in the States 10 years ago," says Bakke. "People don't get specialty yet, but they will."

In the meantime, Bakke, newly remarried and newly released from the daily grind of being CEO, has been thinking about burr grinders and single-origin espressos, wondering how to optimize their individual flavor profiles. He's been thinking about the biology and biochemistry of coffee; La Marzocco, at his behest, has just donated $750,000 to the University of California, Davis, to help fund coffee science research. As he has every day since 1974, he's been thinking about espresso.

- - -

Weissman is a freelance journalist who lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland. She is the author of three books, including "God in a Cup: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Coffee."NEW HAVEN  As the Board of Education continues to chip away at a looming $19 million deficit, Superintendent of Schools Carol Birks this week laid off 37 full-time educators.

The district faced a public relations disaster after the district sent out more than 1,100 notifications telling individuals who worked in the schools part-time that their employment had ended. Only about 700 of those people had worked in the district at all during the 2017-18 academic year, and Birks had not first explained the maneuver was intended essentially to create a blank slate before hiring back part-time staff as needed.

The news of 37 layoffs, however, is likely to stick. New Haven Federation of Teachers President David Cicarella said the union negotiated the number down from 135 in ongoing talks beginning in May. Almost half of the affected employees are guidance counselors, although the layoffs also touched library media specialists, physical education teachers and classroom teachers.

It was a tough day yesterday, Cicarella told the Register Thursday. Weve been working frantically to try to avoid this.

Cicarella said about 100 positions were saved by using certified employees to place them into vacancies. Administrative interns, for example, were put back into classrooms.

In total, 20 guidance counselor positions were eliminated, giving remaining counselors a larger caseload. Cicarella said two counselors were placed in classrooms as they have certification and one was placed somewhere else for another reason.

In the emailed statement, Birks said the estimated cost savings of school and building closures, program eliminations and layoffs amounted to a projected savings of $6.9 million.

According to the districts statement, counselors now each will have a caseload of about 250 students.

Priority was given to the high schools by using this recommended number to inform our thinking to ensure adequate staffing. Our K-8 schools have been assigned a (0.5) counselor, but all schools have been provided with a full-time school social worker to support students social emotional learning needs, the statement said.

Cicarella said Birks created a staffing model that would determine the correct number of positions for roles such as assistant principals and media specialists, based on the number of students in a building, although that plan was not shared at the negotiating table.

Birks did not return a request for comment.

In a letter to his members, Cicarella explained that nine teachers who were displaced from one high school and two alternative schools that were shuttered amidst Birks budget cuts and Wexler-Grant, a turnaround school, used bumping rights in their contracts, and the nine least-senior teachers were laid off.

The reality is no one is happy and everyone shares my anger and sadness. Whether it is a lay-off or being re-assigned due to a school closing or being asked to return to the classroom after serving faithfully in support roles, it doesnt assuage our anger and dismay, he wrote. Our teachers at Creed did nothing wrong. The school did not close because it was a bad school or had an underperforming staff.

Cicarella said the decisions were about money, not performance.

School board President Darnell Goldson, who spoke at a press conference after the 1,100 pink slips went to part-time staff, said Birks had stumbled, but the school board was aware of Birks decision this time.

She kept us updated and we felt very comfortable with the process, he said. Obviously we never want to see staff people let go, particularly counselors and librarians, but we do feel comfortable that the classrooms are again untouched and we felt super comfortable with the fact the union was supportive of the move they are making.

Goldson said a planned executive session at Mondays school board meeting  which did not happen because it fell short of Freedom of Information Act requirements  was supposed to be related to the layoffs, specifically figuring out which employees would transfer to what schools or be placed into classrooms.

Ill never feel comfortable (about finances) unless the state triples our budget, then well have all the resources we need, he said. The school system has historically not had the resources it needs. Kids are using textbooks that are 20 years old.

The same day the layoff notices were sent out, part-time staff members who received their pink slips weeks ago began receiving notices their terminations had been rescinded.

Eve Britton, a tutor for English learners at Creed High School  which fell victim to budget cuts this year  said she received her notice, but nobody has any idea whats even going to happen with tutoring programs. She said she does not currently have an assignment for next year. She said she is looking for other jobs, although she absolutely loved that job.

Another part-time employee, who requested anonymity in the hopes he can keep his job, said he also received the notice rescinding his termination Wednesday afternoon.

brian.zahn@hearstmediact.comWICHITA, Kan. - Before she flew to Kansas, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - the newest, youngest and most controversial thing to hit Democratic politics in who knows how long - wanted to make sure she wasn't going to do more harm than good.

"She called me," said James Thompson, a progressive congressional candidate backed by Ocasio- Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. "She asked me if I was worried at all about her coming out here."

Both of the Democratic Party's starring East Coast liberals wanted to come to this Midwest city and hold a joint rally for him. What, exactly, would there be for Thompson to worry about?

Well, there was Ocasio-Cortez's "abolish ICE" position, to name one thing, and the fact that she's a proud democratic socialist, to name another. This is Kansas after all, the land of Kris Kobach's anti-immigrant conspiracy theories, Sam Brownback's tax cuts and President Trump's 20-percentage-point victory over Hillary Clinton.

Thompson is an Army veteran and civil rights lawyer who used to tend bar and still looks like the kind of guy equally adept at lifting heavy boxes and throwing a rag over his shoulder to listen to what's burdening you.

He won't say whether he'd vote to impeach Trump. He doesn't believe the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency should be abolished. He claims a "libertarian streak," and yet ...

"It cracks me up," he said. "My opponents are always trying to paint me as some kind of socialist."

Last year, Thompson ran in the special election to replace Mike Pompeo, who had taken a job as Trump's director of the CIA. He lost but came closer than any Democrat had in 21 years to flipping a reliably Republican seat. Should he be afraid that taking the stage with Ocasio- Cortez and Sanders would give critics more ammunition to paint him as an extremist?

It's one of the top theories among Democrats that the way to win back majorities in Congress is to move toward the center, maybe peel off some moderates or at least not freak them out so much that they vote Republican in 2018. Thompson doesn't buy it.

He's working with the other prevailing theory on how a Democrat should run in 2018.

"They're going to call me a socialist anyway," he said he told Ocasio-Cortez. "You might as well come out so we can all have a good time."

---

Depending on whom you ask, Ocasio-Cortez is either going to save the Democratic Party or destroy it from the inside. She's the Pariah Messiah, loved and hated, feared and praised.

In late June, the 28-year-old from the Bronx beat Joseph Crowley from Queens, the fourth-highest-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives, and now stands to be the youngest woman elected to Congress. She had run as an outsider, unbeholden to "corporate interests," the type of candidate as likely as Sanders to use the term "oligarch."

She has endorsed primary opponents of sitting Democrats, discussed forming an extra-progressive "sub caucus" in the House, and won't say whether she'd vote for a Nancy Pelosi speakership.

The moves have earned her a fair share of tsk-tsking from her peers. Pelosi played down the importance of Ocasio-Cortez's victory, pointing out the low voter turnout. "Meteors fizz out," Rep. Alcee L. Hastings, a Democrat from Florida, told the Hill newspaper. Even her supporters had words of caution for her.

"I think you have to be bold," Rep. Ro Khanna, a progressive from California said in an interview. "That said, I do think to get anything done in politics requires building coalitions, building strong relationships. I think she should also focus on that."

Former Democratic senator turned independent Joe Lieberman penned an article in the Wall Street Journal urging voters to stay away from Ocasio-Cortez, and Republicans, sensing a boogeywoman in the making, can't get enough of her.

"She could help set up a really good contrast between the parties," said former Republican senator and tea-party favorite Jim DeMint. "It could be a good thing."

Of course, having the least-cool politician renounce her in the least-cool newspaper, and having Republicans harp on her for being too liberal is exactly what her supporters love about her. She's shaking up a sleepy party. Would people be up for it in Kansas?

---

Sheila Hardman, a school lunchlady celebrating her 56th birthday, woke up early, put on her "Nasty Woman" T-shirt and got to Wichita's convention center by 6:45 a.m. The doors were still locked.

"The guy inside opened the door for me so I could wait in here," she said. "He said, 'You don't look homeless.' "

Hardman had worried that if she didn't arrive early enough, she might not get a good spot inside the 5,000-capacity auditorium. Now she was starting to worry that perhaps she had overestimated the excitement level for Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders.

"In Kansas, you spend so much of your time surrounded by conservatives, it can be hard to know how many of us are out here," she said.

Soon she was joined by, in her words, a small clutch of "woke kids."

"My own grandmother told everyone at the dinner table that if there were any Democrats, they'd have to leave," Savana Sanders, 19, said, taking a seat on the floor. "I just sat there quietly eating my roast beef."

"I would have walked right out of there," said Joshua Moses, 26, peering up from a fantasy novel. "I would have literally taken the stance that if you can't be a morally good person, I can't associate with you."

"Yeah," said Sanders, "But you haven't had her roast beef."

The thought of spending a day surrounded by fellow progressives sounded even more delicious than grandma's cooking, like their own slice of heaven. But what if it sounded like hell to all their neighbors? What if the crowds didn't materialize?

For a while, the only other early bird was Ed Myers, a retired engineer who had no intention of getting in line or even seeing the show. He donned his "Make America Great Again" hat and "Socialism Sucks" shirt and held a sign encouraging people to head to Venezuela if they were so enamored with the ideology. "But don't forget to bring your own toilet paper," the sign said.

"It's just going to be a bunch of kids out here who want to screw up the country," Myers said about the rally.

He was wrong. As it got closer to the 1 p.m. start, the crowd came in droves. Vietnam veterans, ZZ Top look-alikes handing out anti-nuke literature, teachers in "I Heart Public School" shirts and grandmothers in "Brand New Congress" shirts.

"She's refreshing, she's exciting, and she's a total star," said Kandace Eaton, 58, clutching a handmade Ocasio-Cortez poster.

It's the summer of 2018, Republicans control the White House and Congress, and Wichita felt like a Democratic hotbed in the middle of a presidential election. Five thousand people showed up, many of them wearing "Hindsight is 2020" shirts featuring Sanders's face.

"And they said what we did in the Bronx, nobody would care about in Kansas," Ocasio-Cortez said when she came on stage to an earsplitting ovation.

Ocasio-Cortez left any talk of ICE or impeaching Trump back in the Bronx. Instead, she took the crowd back to 1861, when Kansas was admitted into the Union, having chosen to be a free state.

"Kansas was founded in a struggle over the conscience of this nation," she said. "It was in 1861 the people of Kansas decided we were going to be a free nation. That is the crucible and the soul of the state."

She had only just entered the spotlight, and already the crowd was in a frenzy.

"Kansas has delivered before, and it will deliver again," she said. "You are carrying the candle of hope for this country."

"You are, too!" a man shouted from the audience.

---

Ocasio-Cortez made the case that people in Kansas really are no different than working people in the Bronx, Vermont or anywhere else.

She was followed by Sanders, who hammered the point home, his face beet red, his voice hoarse, and his hands bouncing around in front of him like he was operating an invisible switchboard, each button eliciting louder and louder cheering from the crowd.

This was the Sanders message, the one he has been delivering forever, most recently in places the media likes to call "Trump country": Wherever there are working people struggling to get by, there's a desire for affordable health care, for free college, for a higher minimum wage.

"Bernie Sanders won the caucuses in Kansas, so that message might help in a primary," said the state's junior Republican senator, Jerry Moran. "But it's not going to turn the state blue."

Sanders knows that criticism is out there, and he doesn't care. Asked in an interview whether Ocasio-Cortez could be a liability for Democrats, Sanders swatted the question away with audible distaste.

"This is not my interest," he said. "This is just inside-the-Beltway media gossip."

And after the rally, Thompson couldn't agree more. He had hundreds of newly registered voters, he said. He had donations pouring in. His daughter finally got to meet one of her old heroes and one of her newest ones.

He didn't necessarily agree with everything Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders believe in, but he doesn't think voters care as much about each individual issue as much as they want someone on their team, someone who fights for them.

Yes, more people were taking to social media to call him a socialist, he said. But with 5,000 roaring fans still in his ears, Thompson said he had a message for the haters.

"They can just shut their pie hole," he said. "Because that was a good time."WATERBURY  The Rev. James Sullivan, pastor of Church of the Assumption in Ansonia, and other organizers of a Holy Land Mountaintop Mass hope the event will inspire a revitalization of faith and increased devotion to the Venerable Fr. Michael J. McGivney, according to a press release.

The Rev. McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus and was a Waterbury native.

Archbishop Leonard P. Blair will celebrate Mass on Saturday, Aug. 11, at 5:30 p.m. at the top of the Holy Land USA, an 18-acre, religion-themed park that used to draw about 40,000 visitors a year in the 1960s and 70s. Its more than 50-foot cross can still be seen from Route 8 and sometimes from miles away.

Several thousand people from across the state are expected to attend the Mass, the release said, and volunteers, Knights and area construction workers have been working daily to refurbish the park for the event. Roads have been repaved and the mountaintop has been cleared of brush. The entrance is being redesigned with a new gate, which organizers hope will be ready in time, the release said.

Aug. 11 was chosen because the Rev. McGivney was born on Aug. 12, 1852, and died on Aug. 14, 1890, at just 38 years old, according to the release. McGivney was raised in Waterbury, thought of the city as home, and had been buried there for 92 years until his body was moved to St. Mary Church in New Haven.

We think this will be a significant religious event for the city and the state, in the spirit of the new evangelization, said the Rev. Sullivan, who came up with the idea for the mountaintop Mass. It will be a celebration of [the] Holy Land and Father McGivneys life and legacy.

The gates at 90 Slocum St. will open at 2 p.m. Aug. 11. The rosary will begin at 4 p.m., followed by praise and worship by the Christian group, Hands and Feet. Mass will start at 5:30.

There is no public parking at the Holy Land, the release said, but free parking and shuttle service are available from St. Marys Hospital parking garage on South Elm Street, beginning at 2 p.m. Bus groups should email august11@holylandwaterbury.org for instructions. Worshippers are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and umbrellas and ponchos in case of rain. There will be food concessions at the park. For further information, visit HolyLandWaterbury.org.Posted on: July 26, 2018 12:10 PM

The Presiding Bishop of the US-based Episcopal Church, Michael Curry, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. The 65-year-old, who made headlines around the world with his sermon at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May, will have surgery next Tuesday (31 July) to remove the prostate gland. I am happy to say that the prognosis looks very good and quite positive, he said in an open letter.



After a variety of tests, consultations, and conversations with my wife and daughters, I decided on a surgical treatment course. . .  he said. I have spoken with several others who have gone through this, and who have offered both encouragement and helpful advice. I will be in the hospital for at least a day, then at home to recuperate.



Ive been told that four-to-six weeks is a reasonable time to anticipate. I plan to resume my duties in early September and I do not anticipate any significant changes in my commitments.



He continued: I am very blessed with a wonderful family, a first-rate medical team, a great staff, dear colleagues and friends, a calling to which I have given my life, and above all a good, great and loving God in whose hands we always remain. So, do say a prayer. And know that I look forward to being back at my post in September.



In December 2015, shortly after being installed as Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry was hospitalised after suffering a subdural haematoma while taking part in a service in Bruton Parish Church in Colonial Williamsburg, in the State of Virginia. He made a full recover and returned to ministry shortly afterwards.Posted on: July 26, 2018 1:01 PM

[Anglican Journal, by Joelle Kidd] Two Anglican churches in Toronto are offering space for prayer after a shooting in Toronto, Ontario on Sunday night (22 July), which left two dead and 13 others injured. The gunman, whose identity has not been released, was found dead in a nearby alley after an exchange of gunfire with police, according to the Globe and Mail. It is unclear if the shooter died by suicide.



The shooting began around 10 pm on Sunday 22 July, on Torontos busy Danforth Avenue, the citys Greektown. Witnesses describe a man dressed in all black shouting and shooting a handgun as he walked down the street.



In the morning on Monday 23 July, The Redeemer Toronto, announced on Twitter that the church would be open for prayer. If you need a quiet place to be in light of the shooting on the Danforth please know that you are welcome here, the post reads.

We are open for prayer. If you need a quiet place to be in light of the shooting on the Danforth please know that you are welcome here. #Greektown #prayer #jesus #peace pic.twitter.com/5sW4wvDQAL  The Redeemer, T.O. (@TheRedeemerTO) July 23, 2018

St Matthews Anglican Church Riverdale also opened for prayers beginning at 5 pm Monday night. In a Facebook post, Catherine Sider Hamilton, priest in charge at St Matthews, voiced prayers for the victims, in particular a young girl, aged eight or nine, who is reported to be in critical condition.



We think too of the young man who committed these acts of violence and pray for his soul, the post reads. Pray for our city, that we may remain open and hopeful; that we may be a place of peace.



Archbishop Colin Johnson, archbishop of the dioceses of Toronto and Moosonee and metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario, also responded with a statement of prayer and condolences to the victims of the attack.



It is not the first, and unfortunately it will not be the last, violence we have witnessed. But these individual acts do not and will not define us as citizens of this great city, Johnsons statement reads. We cannot succumb to feat and mistrust. We are resilient and peaceful, daring to work together to build a rich and diverse community where all can find a secure place to belong and contribute.



The statement also added that St Barnabus on the Danforth, which is located near the site of the shooting, was to open Monday for prayer and counsel. An interfaith vigil was organised for Tuesday, the statement adds.



Politicians including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford have responded to the attack with condolences to the victims and their families and words of thanks for the citys first responders.



Toronto Mayor John Tory has called the shooting an unspeakable act, telling city council that gun violence in any part of our city is horrible and completely unacceptable, according to the CBC. While our city will always be resilient in the face of such attacks, it does not mean such a terrible act committed against our residents is any less painful.



The attack follows a recent spate of shootings in the city, which prompted a $15 million [CAD, approximately 8.73 million GBP] gun violence reduction plan. It also comes on the heels of the April attack in Torontos North York district after a rental van, allegedly driven by Alek Minassian, plowed into pedestrians, killing 10 and injuring 16.BRIDGEPORT  Three years ago, Joe Ganim asked a court to reduce his alimony and child support payments to his ex-wife.

I understand he is not making much money, so whatever the guidelines are is fine, Ganims former spouse, Ellen Jennifer White, told a judge at that time.

What a difference getting re-elected mayor  and having wealthy parents  makes on ones personal finances.

Today Ganim earns six figures as Bridgeports chief executive, owns two condominiums  one purchased with his dads help. He bought a three-family home last November and recently lent his gubernatorial campaign $60,000.

Im far from a millionaire or trust (fund) baby,  said Ganim, who ran the city in the 1990s and returned to office in 2015.

It is true that Ganims personal bank account might not rival that of opponent Ned Lamont, the Greenwich millionaire, cable entrepreneur and the Democratic Partys endorsed candidate for governor. Ganim hopes to beat Lamont in an August primary.

Ganim has criticized Lamont as out-of-touch. He has mocked the eight bathrooms in Lamonts home, his prior membership in an exclusive Greenwich country club and, most recently, called for Lamont to make public his personal financial records.

But for Bridgeports mayor to show disdain for big money and the related trappings is a little ... well ... rich, given Ganims personal history and his Easton-based familys wealth, which has supported his dreams and cushioned his failures.

George Ganim Sr. is a successful attorney who, with his wife or other family, and under the Ganim name or limited liability corporations, owns multiple commercial and residential properties in Monroe, Easton, Bridgeport, Fairfield and Milford appraised at nearly $10.9 million, according to public real estate documents.

The Ganim family started with my grandfather coming to this country with no money (who became) a fruit peddler, Joe Ganim said. Its a matter, certainly, of living the American Dream to a certain extent.

Family blessings

First elected mayor in 1991, Ganim ran the city until 2003, when he was convicted of 16 counts of racketeering, extortion and bribery  crimes that allowed him a taste of a millionaires lifestyle: fancy meals, custom-made shirts, cases of fine wine, improvements to Ganims house and other luxuries.

As reported in 2001, Ganim received a $250,000 loan from his father to pay for his legal defense. Then, following the mayors conviction, the elder Ganim bought his sons Bridgeport home for $302,500 and quickly sold it for $605,000.

When Ganim was released from prison in 2010 after seven years, his parents provided lodging at the familys Easton property and work at the law office as a legal assistant. Ganim, himself a lawyer, lost his license because of his criminal conviction.

I do think he did a lot of good for Bridgeport and his reward was an indictment and conviction, which I still believe was a terrible miscarriage of justice, George Ganim, who did not return a request for comment for this story, said in 2010.

Jump ahead five years. In 2015, Ganim won an astonishing comeback after finally publicly admitting wrongdoing and apologizing.

According to real estate records, in June 2016 the returned mayor borrowed $67,500 from his father for a $75,000 condominium at 65 Ellsworth St.

Recently George and Josephine Ganim contributed the maximum $3,500 a piece to their sons gubernatorial bid, while a Political Action Committee run by the father pitched in $5,000.

Asked if the $60,000 Ganim has loaned himself during his quest for governor  $35,000 on March 30 and $25,000 on June 30  actually came from his parents, family or friends, the mayor said no.

Ganim said he was never blessed with millions like Lamont, who was born into wealth, but then earned even more after founding Lamont Digital Systems in 1984. The company provided satellite-delivered cable TV and video services on college campuses.

From Zero to 30

Lamont is sinking some of his fortune into his run for governor.

That Ganim can afford to spend $60,000 on his campaign is impressive, given where his finances stood when he reduced his alimony and child support payments to his ex-wife in February 2015  nine months before Bridgeport voters returned the fallen mayor to City Hall.

Their uncontested divorce was finalized the prior September. Ganim was to pay $4,000 a month in alimony and $2,230 a month in child support, based on state guidelines for a husband earning $200,000 annually and a wife making $49,400.

But by November 2014, Ganim, who had been working as a consultant, had wanted those amounts reduced. He told Hearst in 2015 that one of the companies that I did a substantial amount of work for was recently sold.

Now, however, happy days are here again. In 2017, Ganim was the 30th highest paid Bridgeport employee, earning $152,876 and recently benefiting from a raise that political hires received along with the supervisors union.

And after his re-election, Ganim was allowed to bridge his years of service. So, benefits-wise, he has worked for the city for a consecutive 14 and a half years, receives an annual longevity bonus and has more vacation days to cash in if they are left unused.

The mayor was recently paid $5,595 for about a week and a half of unused time off left over from last year.

Ganim also brought in an extra $1,500 co-teaching a part-time government course at the University of Bridgeport  a job he landed after pledging during 2015s mayoral race to develop a closer relationship between City Hall and the college.

Besides the Ellsworth Street condominium, Ganim since 2016 has also owned a $50,000 condominium at 80 Cartright Street and, last November, bought a $275,000 three-family home on Monroe Street. Records show he borrowed $40,000 for the Cartright property from the Bank of Greenwich and $297,020 for the Monroe Street house from Prime Lending Inc.

Im not ashamed. Im not proud. ... Ive certainly had some success, but its a whole different world (from Lamont), Ganim said.

Has that recent success been shared with his ex-wife? Nothing is reflected in their divorce records, and she could not be reached for comment.

Yes, Ganim said.Food Truck Friday in Seymour

SEYMOUR  Cados Egg Truck, which specializes in egg sandwiches made from clean and locally sourced ingredients, will be parked outside Project Purples office at 115 Main St. from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, kicking off Food Truck Fridays.

Proceeds from sales will help benefit the nonprofit Project Purple, established in 2011 to raise awareness of, support patients and families with and help fund research efforts for pancreatic cancer.

Shredding event in Seymour

SEYMOUR  Nonprofit Project Purple is bringing Shred-it, a shredder truck, to downtown Seymour Saturday to provide local residents and businesses with an opportunity to dispose of unwanted personal papers to benefit pancreatic cancer research and patient financial aid.

Boxes of paper to be shredded should be brought to 115 Main St. between 8 and 11 a.m. for a recommended $10 donation per box.

2 Bills Grill, a food truck from Fairfield, will be selling sandwiches at the event.

More details about this event can be found on Project Purples Facebook page. The nonprofit has a Facebook event page called Shred for a Cause. For more information, visit www.projectpurple.org.

Learn about child safety

DERBY  The Community Health Resource Center at Griffin Hospital, 130 Division St., will hold a free talk about child safety at 10:30 a.m. July 31.

Safe Kids Greater Naugatuck Valley Coalition Coordinator Cathi Kellett will present Keeping Your Kids Safe, a discussion about water safety, car seat safety and poison prevention.

This program is part of a series of free, educational forums sponsored by the Community Health Resource Center in an effort to help improve the health of the community.

To register or for more information, call Kerry or Deborah at 203-732-7399.

5K walk/run slated for drug awareness

SHELTON  Fight Against Drugs Everywhere will hold its fourth annual drug awareness 5k run/walk at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 30 at the Shelton Pavilion & Riverwalk.

All proceeds will benefit BHcares Alliance for Prevention and Wellness .

This years event will include a professionally-timed sunset 5k run/walk, live music and resource fair, and will conclude with a candlelight remembrance ceremony. Names will be read of loved ones lost to overdose. People can submit names at the event to be read aloud.

FADEs 5k run/walk is being held to raise awareness of the opioid epidemic and overdoses, acknowledge and support the grief felt by families and friends who have lost a loved one, provide hope to families who have a loved one struggling with substance abuse, and to provide local prevention and treatment resources.

Participants who register by Aug. 15 can run/walk in memory of a loved one. Register at https://bit.ly/FADE2018.

The Alliance for Prevention & Wellness, a program of BHcare, is the Regional Behavioral Health Action Organization for the DMHAS Region II service area. APWs mission is to foster positive mental health by preventing substance misuse and other health-risk behaviors, and by building resources that promote wellness. For more information, visit www.APW-CT.org

Book sale slated in Derby

DERBY  Friends of the Derby Neck Library will hold a book sale in the librarys Community Room Aug. 18-26, during regular library hours.

Hardcover books and paperbacks for all age groups, DVDs and music CDs will be for sale.

Library hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday, closed Friday, and 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The library is located at 307 Hawthorne Ave. For more information call 203-734-1492.

New York Times best-selling author coming to Derby

DERBY  The Derby Public Library will hold a special monthly lunchtime book discussion at 12:30 p.m. Aug. 29 that will include a Skype conversation with New York Times best-selling author Karen White.

Whites roots run deep in the South where many of her more than 20 novels are set. Her intricate plot lines and compelling characters charm and captivate readers with just the right mix of family drama, mystery, intrigue and romance.

White will be discussing her novel, Flight Patterns, a tale of a woman coming home to the family she left behind, and to the woman she always wanted to be, according to library news release.

Lunchtime Book Discussions are held the last Wednesday of the month and are free and open to the public. Multiple copies of the book will be available at the circulation desk.

No registration required. For information, contact the Reference Desk at 203-736-1482.

Compiled by Jean Falbo-SosonovichThe average take for a bank robbery is about $3,500.

Joel Robbins was doing better than that last year.

He got away with over $10,000 at three bank robberies, and $5,000 at another. And he racked up a gas station robbery and liquor store heists, too.

But the one that got him caught was a mess: He fled a TD Bank branch in Mahwah with $10,665, but his getaway driver fell out of their car when they tried to swap seats. When he finally got behind the wheel he hit a curb, blew a tire and crashed the car.

When cops surrounded him on Dec. 3, 2017, stolen cash was all over the car and sticking out of his pants, federal authorities say.

Officers also found a fake black handgun, and the sunglasses, bandana, knit cap and latex gloves that he was spotted wearing in the nearby branch he'd just held up on Route 17, according to courts documents.

Robbins, 47, admitted his crimes Wednesday in federal court in Newark, pleading guilty to robbing the four banks and two businesses, the U.S. Attorney's Office for New Jersey announced.

In addition to the Mahwah robbery, Robbins robbed a Chase Bank in Whippany, Hanover Township on June 6 of $15,000, a Santander Bank in Parsippany on July 20 of $16,538 and a Chase branch in Edgewater on Oct. 25 of $5,000.

He held up the Liquor Factory in Hopatcong on Oct. 15 and the Raceway gasoline station in Pinebrook, Montville Township on Nov. 26. The amount stolen in those crimes were not listed in federal court papers.

The bank robbery case against Robbins's alleged getaway driver, Wanda Soel, 52, of Hasbrouck Heights, is ongoing. She was arrested with him following the Dec. 3 Mahwah robbery.

Robbins' sentencing date was not listed Wednesday.

Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.Two people died and two others were injured Wednesday night in a crash involving a car and an SUV in Berlin, police said.

Berlin Police Sgt. T.J. Varano said the accident happened at 5 p.m. at the intersection of White Horse Pike and Ellis Avenue.

Varano said the two occupants of the car were pronounced dead at the scene. He said he could not release their names Wednesday night.

The two people inside an SUV were taken to the hospital and were in stable condition as of 8:15 p.m., police said.

Varano said the accident was under investigation by the Camden County Prosecutor's Office and that there were no other details he could share Wednesday.

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrisrsheldon Find NJ.com on Facebook.Authorities are investigating the death of a 34-year-old New Jersey man who may have drowned in a lake in Cape May County on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.

Victor Zenglin was lying on his back unconscious on the back of Lepores' Pit, a lake in the Cape Island Wildlife Management Area in Erma, Lower Township when emergency responders arrived just after 4 p.m.

Efforts to revive Zenglin, of the Villas section of Lower Township, were unsuccessful, the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Toxicology tests on Zenglin are still pending but his death is not considered suspicious, authorities said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office at 609-465-1135 or Lower Township Police Department at 609-886-1619.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.The measure of the authenticity of an ethnic restaurant often can be found in how far customers will travel to dine there.

Mikonos Restaurant in Ewing, which bills itself as having the "Best Greek food in Mercer County," has customers who come from as far away as Philadelphia and New York City.

"They say our food is more authentic than what they can get in New York," said Dmitri Stylianou, the restaurant's manager.

We haven't visited Greece, but we liked what we found at the casual, cheerfully decorated Mikonos.

A setting of blue checked tablecloths, bright blue chairs and photos of the Greek island of Mikonos is designed to remind customers of the sun and sky of the Mediterranean. The restaurant was opened six years ago by Paul Tapsas and Kostas Skordas, who decorated it to look like restaurants in their homeland.

We started our meal with bowls of lentil and avgolemono soup, $4, and a tzatziki appetizer, $7. Avgolemono is a traditional Greek soup made with chicken and rice with an egg and lemon sauce. The soup was smooth and flavorful with just the right touch of lemon. The lentil soup was hearty and filling with fresh herbs and a hint of white wine for flavor.

The tzatziki plate was the traditional Greek spread made from yogurt and chopped cucumbers with touches of dill and garlic. Served with warm pita slices for dipping, it was a nice start to the meal.

An entree of Liga Iga Apo Ola, $19, was a combination platter that features servings of moussaka (layered eggplant, potatoes and ground beef), pastichio (macaroni with ground beef), spanakopita (spinach pie) and dolmades (stuffed grape leaves). This hearty plate of food, which includes a pile of lemon potatoes, lets the diner experience a range of homestyle Greek cooking and decide which dish they like best for future visits.

A chicken souvlaki dinner platter, $15, was kebabs of charbroiled chicken served with a house salad, lemon potatoes and pita for stuffing came with the house mustard sauce, which is perfect with the tender chicken.

The favorite of the meal was tender flambeed shrimp, $27, which was marinated in ouzo and wine and served with tomatoes and feta over a choice of rice or pasta. This perfectly seasoned and prepared dish was one worth going back for.

For dessert we tried a square of baklava, $6, the quintessential Greek dessert with layers of flaky phyllo dough, walnuts and honey. We also sampled a serving of galagtobureko, $6, which is Greek custard wrapped in phyllo dough and finished with a honey glaze. Both were good but we like the sweet, crunchy baklava the best, a reminder of why this is the most popular of Greek desserts.

There are other options for Greek food in Mercer County, but Mikonos is a good choice for days when you have a craving for authentic foods from the sunny islands that are far away.



MIKONOS RESTAURANT

50 Scotch Road, Ewing

609-883-9333, mikonosrestaurant.biz

HOURS: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Thu., 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 4-9 p.m. Sun.

CREDIT CARDS: Most major.

FOOD: Good to very good homestyle Greek cuisine with flashes of excellence.

SERVICE: Pleasant.

AMBIANCE: Bright blue checkered tablecloths and photographs of the island of Mikonos give the restaurant the feel of Greece.

COST: Starters $4-$15, entrees $15-$19, burgers and sandwiches $10-$12, lunch entrees $12-$20.



Follow NJ.com on Twitter @njdotcom. Find NJ.com on Facebook.





JERSEY CITY  Four members of Jersey City's school board believe the board may have broken state law last month when it sacked eight officials, including the district's top attorney and personnel director, according to a letter the four sent to the state's education commissioner.

Board members Amy DeGise, Luis Felipe Fernandez, Vidya Gangadin and Matt Schapiro said in the July 11 letter that they believe the board may have not approved reappointing the eight officials for arbitrary and capricious reasons. The board members want the state to review the nine-member board's actions.

The four members are seen as allies of Schools Superintendent Marcia V. Lyles, who reacted in fury to the June 29 dismissals.

The board acted with little notice to the employees whose reappointments were not approved and with "no information" on the workers for board members to review prior to the vote, reads the letter to Education Commissioner Lamont Repollet.

"We are further concerned that the action, as well as those taken by the board prior and subsequent, may constitute administration of the district, and/or expose the board to legal liability," the letter says.

The board's action came during a Friday afternoon special meeting called to review the reappointments of 18 school employees. With some of the workers in the room, the board voted against eight of them. One of the officials stormed out afterward, another left the room in tears.

DeGise, Gangadin and Schapiro voted in favor of reappointing all 18 people. Fernandez was not present at that meeting.

One district source said the action was an effort to "incapacitate" Lyles, who has sparred with some of the five board members who did not sign the July 11 letter. Board of Education President Sudhan Thomas, who voted against reappointing most of the eight officials and later engaged in a loud argument with Lyles, said the district had been participating in a "scam" by not submitting the 18 officials' names to the board for an annual reappointment vote.

In a statement, Thomas said the district has a widespread problem of hiring people to fill jobs for which they are not qualified, or bypassing civil-services rules for favored applicants. Thomas cited a 2012 report of the district's personnel management that found "continuous hiring of provisional employees for civil-service positions without the appropriate certifications." That report was written before Lyles was hired as the district's chief administrator.

"There are issues of efficiency, finance, liability, recruitment, legality including civil service and also the lingering question as to how many folks are out there who have been potentially deprived of an opportunity to work in the JCBOE because of these actions that the board must face, take on fully and resolve, commit to address," Thomas said in an email to The Jersey Journal.

A state Department of Education spokeswoman said the letter is "under review."

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.Texas is attracting a lot of out-of-state visitors these days, and they're not all tourists, as religious leaders like Hoboken's Rabbi Robert Scheinberg are asking to inspect the immigrant children's detention centers.

While they are not permitted entry, as Scheinberg's group earlier this month found out, they, nonetheless, hope to amplify concerns about the treatment of children and the reunification of them with their families.

While some 2,800 children are still in detention centers all over the country, none has moved people's hearts as much as the camps in Texas. The largest one is in Dilley.

Scheinberg, of United Synagogue, went down July 8-10 as a guest of Rabbi Neil Blumofe of the Jewish community of Austin. A member of their delegation of 25 was a lawyer who was representing some asylum seekers in the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, which has room for 2,400 detainees.

"Family residential" is basically a euphemism for the detention of women and children, Scheinberg said.

Bishop James Tomayo of the Diocese of Laredo joined the group for Shaharit, or morning prayers. The group then went to a federal courthouse in Laredo and saw about 79 mostly men, but some women. Most appeared to be in their late teens or 20s and had come from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, Scheinberg said.

The court-appointed public defenders had less than two hours to meet with all the defendants to prepare for the proceedings -- translating to less than 2 minutes of individual time per defendant.

All the people they saw pleaded guilty to illegally crossing the border between June 26 and July 6 by walking, swimming or taking a boat, raft or inner tube across the river, Scheinberg said. The next step for them will be "removal proceedings," i.e., deportation.

"I was disturbed by this scene that seemed so different from what I would expect from the American judicial system," Scheinberg said. "The lawyers and law students in our group were especially appalled, with some saying that they felt they were witnessing due process violations.''

The group also met with the Laredo regional director of border patrol and immigration activists who included DACA recipients, journalists and clergy leaders.

"It was a productive and respectful discussion with lots of disagreement but also points of agreement," Scheinberg said.

All agreed, for example, that illegal drugs are pouring over the border and that extreme enforcement of immigration laws has deterred undocumented people from getting medical help and turning to law enforcement out of fear of detention.

Finding some common ground fulfilled one of his hopes for the trip: "to always to find some way to demonstrate how we are connected despite difference."

A side trip was a visit to the Baptist church in Sutherland Springs where 26 church members, including the pastor's 14-year-old daughter, were murdered during a church service in November. The church building has been converted into a memorial -- with 26 chairs set up in the locations where the victims had sat on that fateful day.

Church services are now held in an adjoining temporary building.

"I found the community remarkably friendly, and clearly they worked hard to cultivate an atmosphere of joy and gratitude even amidst the backdrop of sadness," Scheinberg said.

The rabbi remarked that the prevailing gun culture of the region makes it "a community that is quite distant from me religiously, politically and culturally."

But that made Scheinberg's trip more meaningful for him.

Besides, he said, "including dreams for the welfare of our children and communities" matters.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Rev. Alexander Santora is the pastor of Our Lady of Grace and St. Joseph, 400 Willow Ave., Hoboken, 07030, FAX: 201-659-5833; Email: padrealex@yahoo.com; Twitter: @padrehoboken.Children of unauthorized immigrants may be illegally denied access to public schools because of discriminatory enrollment policies in 11 New Jersey school districts and one charter school, new lawsuits allege.

The districts require all parents to provide identification such as a New Jersey driver's license or state ID -- documents that unauthorized immigrants won't have, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey said in the complaints.

In dong so, the districts violate a 1982 Supreme Court decision that forbids school districts from excluding children based on immigration status, the organization said.

"New Jersey's state constitution calls for free public education, and that applies to every single child - no exceptions," said ACLU-NJ staff attorney Elyla Huertas, who filed the lawsuits. "In a state where one in five residents is foreign-born, at a time when our president has made the exclusion of immigrants a key part of his policy agenda, it's more important than ever for every school district in New Jersey to meet its obligations."

The districts facing lawsuits include:

* Northern Valley Regional High School District (Bergen County)

* Bellmawr School District (Camden County)

* Sterling Regional High School District (Camden County)

* Winslow Township School District (Camden County)

* East Orange Community Charter School (Essex County)

* West New York School District (Hudson County)

* Sea Girt School District (Monmouth County)

* Harding Township School District (Morris County)

* Watchung Hills Regional High School District (Somerset County)

* Montague School District (Sussex County)

* Cranford School District (Union County)

* Allamuchy School District (Warren County)

Several of the districts said they could not yet comment on the lawsuits. Officials from the Watchung Hills, Sea Girt and Harding districts told NJ Advance Media they do not keep students out of their schools because of their immigration status.

The lawsuits are the latest in a series of complaints filed against New Jersey districts by the the ACLU-NJ. Thirteen cases in recent years have been resolved after the districts agreed to change their policies, according to the organization.

ACLU-NJ discovered a 2014 study that 136 school districts imposed illegal barriers to immigrant student enrollment and wrote letters asking them to comply with the law, the organization said. It issued repeated warnings that such restrictions violate students' rights, it said.

The latest round of suits is targeted at the districts with the most restrictive policies, the ACLU-NJ said.

Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.In this photo from 2012, two women at the St. Mary by-the-Sea enjoy the deserted beach at the foot of the retreat house. (Star-Ledger file photo)

By Mark Di Ionno | NJ Advance Media

Let's get right to the point. For many people, the best boardwalks in New Jersey are those with no one on them. Those that look like December in the middle of summer.

Those where the squawks of the gulls can be differentiated from the wails of tired children, and where the crash of the waves isn't drowned out by the screams from the thrill rides.

Those where the ship lights on the distant horizon arent obliterated by the neon, blinking, swirling, electric assaults of the cornea, retina and iris.

Those where the scent of salt air mist, rolling in from the sea, is not overpowered by sickening sweet smells of cotton candy.

The summer curmudgeon seeks quiet. For them, the beach should be a place of relaxation and restoration, not one of white-knuckle rides, shrieking children, loitering teenagers who should be working, and careening college kids who can't hold their liquor.

And so here is one summer curmudgeons list of the quietest beaches and boardwalks in New Jersey.

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Sister Mary Ann Mulzet looks at the waves breaking only 30 yards away from the St. Mary by-the-Sea before Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey in 2012. The hotel-sized retreat house, which opens to a secluded public beach, has survived 150 years of violent storms. (Star-Ledger file photo)

Cape May Point

Let the tourists invade Gingerbread Land to the East, filling the Victorian B&Bs and hotels to capacity. At the point, all is quiet. Paths through the dunes lead to underused beaches where the Atlantic meets the Delaware Bay. The most serene place at the Jersey Shore? Easily St. Mary by-the-Sea Retreat House, a prayer and contemplation center that has miraculously dodged hurricanes and noreasters for 150 years.

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There are more horseshoe crabs than people on the sand at Gandy's Beach in the Delaware Bay. (Star-Ledger file photo)

Gandy's Beach

Want to get away from it all? Really, all? Gandy's Beach and other Delaware Bay beachfronts like Fortescue, Moore's Beach and East Point, with its restored lighthouse, are more like wildlife refuges than tourist traps. The home of the horseshoe crab, the bay is home to nesting osprey and bald eagles.

Sparsely populated with houses on stilts or trailers, the residents dont look at you strange because theyre unfriendly. Its just that everybody knows everybody.

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The beaches at Island Beach State Park are generally less crowded than more popular shore towns like Belmar and Seaside Heights. (Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media)

Island Beach State Park

Former Gov. Chris Christie isnt the only one who enjoys the isolation of Island Beach. There are plenty of places to walk through the shrubbery of red, black and purple chokeberry, huckleberry and dangleberry and leave lonely footprints in the sand. One drawback. Poison ivy grows rampant.

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A woman has the beach all to herself at Island Beach State Park earlier this year. (Ed Murray | New Jersey Advance Media)

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The best quiet boardwalks in New Jersey are the ones with no commercial development like the south end of Seaside Park, Ocean Grove, Spring Lake and this stretch in Long Branch where Jacqueline Oved, of Deal, form left, Frieda Sitt, of Allenhurst, and a friend who declined to be identified warmed up for a run last year. (Russ DeSantis|For NJ Advance Media)

Seaside Park

Not far from the maddening crowd of the Seaside Heights boardwalk is a quiet stretch of planks at the south end of Seaside Park. While its true the north end of The Park has amusements contiguous with Seaside Heights, the boardwalk eventually curves behind the dunes, where the rustle of dune grass is music to the ears of someone trying to escape the carnival cacophony of Casino Pier.

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A row of the tents that makes up the eclectic and long-standing village of over 100 canvas tent-houses in Ocean Grove (Star-Ledger file photo)

Ocean Grove

Except for the weekly concerts at The Pavilion by the Ocean Grove Summer Band, the boardwalk of the Camp Meeting Association is party-free. It is a place where serenity and manners are valued. No f-bombs being dropped, no skateboards banging around, no trash from boardwalk junk food joints. It is a commercial-free zone, like many of the summer curmudgeons best boardwalks.

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Elizabeth Johnson plants flowers outside of her Ocean Grove tent. (Star-Ledger file photo)

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Read more from Mark Di Ionno

A field of dreams for the blind boys of summer

How the W

atchung Mountains won the Revolution | Di Ionno

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Read more on the Jersey Shore

All 18 boardwalks in New Jersey, ranked from worst to best

All 44 beaches in New Jersey, ranked worst to best

The 35 best boardwalk foods at the Jersey Shore, ranked

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Mark Di Ionno may be reached at mdiionno@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarkDiIonno. Find NJ.com on Facebook.Immigration officials have notified 75 New Jersey businesses that their hiring records will be audited to determine if they are employing unauthorized immigrants or violating other labor laws, federal officials said.

The New Jersey businesses targeted for inspections were among 2,738 flagged for audits last week during a four-day nationwide operation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency said.

"This is not a victimless crime," said Derek Benner, acting executive associate director for ICE's Homeland Security Investigations unit. "Unauthorized workers often use stolen identities of legal U.S. workers, which can significantly impact the identity theft victim's credit, medical records and other aspects of their everyday life."

In addition to handing out the audit notices, ICE arrested 32 people during the four-day operation, though none were in New Jersey, said Emilio Dabul, an ICE spokesman.

ICE did not identify the New Jersey businesses that were given notices or why they were targeted.

"As per privacy rules, those businesses cannot be identified," Dabul said.

The notices were handed out as the Trump administration has been stepping up enforcement of federal laws prohibiting companies and businesses from employing immigrants living in the country illegally.

In early January, immigration agents descended on more than 100 7-Eleven convenience stores around the nation, including several in New Jersey, to check the immigration status of employees.

At the time, ICE officials said the 7-Eleven operation was a "a harbinger of what's to come" for employers.

Later that month, ICE began a two-month operation that handed out 2,540 I-9 Notices of Inspection, known as NOIs, and made 61 arrests at businesses around the nation suspected of hiring unauthorized workers or violating other laws, federal officials said.

The notices handed out last week were the second part of that operation. The agency is trying to "create a culture of compliance" among employers, ICE officials said.

Officials at 7-Eleven's corporate headquarters did not immediately respond to questions about whether any of their franchises in New Jersey or elsewhere received audit notices in last week's ICE operation.

In addition to focusing on the employment of unauthorized immigrants, the audits might uncover worker exploitation, illegal wages, child labor and other illegal practices, federal officials said.

Businesses that receive audit notices must turn over their hiring records within three business days. If it is found they are employing unauthorized immigrants, the businesses could be fined or face possible criminal prosecution.

Workers living in the U.S. illegally could also be arrested and face deportation, ICE officials said. That includes workers who give false or stolen social security numbers or fake green cards when they apply for jobs.

Asplundh Tree Experts, headquartered near Philadelphia, faced the largest-ever financial penalty in an immigration case last year after top company officials were accused of turning a blind eye when lower level employees repeatedly hired unauthorized immigrants to trim trees and clear brush nationwide.

In that case, managers hired workers who allegedly presented bogus driver's licenses, stolen Social Security numbers and fake green cards.

The company was ordered to forfeit $80 million dollars and pay an additional $15 million dollars in civil fines, ICE officials said. The company accepted responsibility for the charges and apologized to customers.

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook.Amazon's facial recognition system falsely matched two New Jersey congressmen with criminal mugshots, according to a report Thursday from the American Civil Liberties Union that raised alarms over the technology.

Republicans Frank LoBiondo and Leonard Lance were among a bipartisan group of 28 members of congress incorrectly identified by company's "Rekognition" software, according to the ACLU, which found the errors disproportionately occurred with African-American and Latino lawmakers in the group's test of the product.

In the test, the ACLU said it used the tool to compare public pictures of lawmakers in the House and Senate with 25,000 publicly-accessible arrest photos.

The errors underscore the risks of law enforcement using facial recognition software, according to the ACLU. About 40 percent of Amazon's false returns in the test were people of color despite the fact that they account for 20 percent of Congress.

"If law enforcement is using Amazon Rekognition, it's not hard to imagine a police officer getting a 'match' indicating that a person has a previous concealed-weapon arrest, biasing the officer before an encounter even begins," the civil liberties group said in a statement.

For their part, LoBiondo and Lance have not commented in detail on the mistaken identities.

It's not a very flattering mug shot. (Of course it is false). Frank https://t.co/Kb7EHdSO2x  Frank LoBiondo (@FrankLoBiondoNJ) July 26, 2018

The congressman declined comment when reached by Slate. A spokesman for Lance could not be immediately reached.

Representatives for Amazon did not immediately return messages seeking comment. In a statement to the New York Times, a company spokeswoman pointed to the benefits of the facial match tool, including finding missing children and thwarting human trafficking.

"It is worth noting that in real world scenarios, Amazon Rekognition is almost exclusively used to help narrow the field and allow humans to expeditiously review and consider options using their judgment," Amazon Web Services spokeswoman Nina Lindsay said, according to the newspaper.

In a blog post last month, an Amazon official wrote "there has been no reported law enforcement abuse," of the company's Rekognition tool.

"There have always been and will always be risks with new technology capabilities. Each organization choosing to employ technology must act responsibly or risk legal penalties and public condemnation," said Matt Wood, general manager of artificial intelligence at Amazon Web Services.

"AWS takes its responsibilities seriously. But we believe it is the wrong approach to impose a ban on promising new technologies because they might be used by bad actors for nefarious purposes in the future," Wood said in the post.

The ACLU has argued Amazon is marketing the facial recognition system to law enforcement agencies, claiming it can identify a 100 faces in a single picture and be used to scan body camera footage.

"Congress must take these threats seriously, hit the brakes, and enact a moratorium on law enforcement use of face recognition," the ACLU said. "This technology shouldn't be used until the harms are fully considered and all necessary steps are taken to prevent them from harming vulnerable communities."

In New Jersey, state authorities used facial recognition scans to weed out fraudulent driver's licenses.

Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @noahyc. Find NJ.com on Facebook.A couple of years ago, I wrote in a caption to this photo that was a part of this gallery about how my friends and I would hold little naval battles in the stream behind the Dairy Queen in Vineland with the boat-shaped plastic dishes banana splits came in.

Some people expressed a level of disbelief; you actually did that, Greg? Of course we did.

MORE: Vintage photos around New Jersey

Frozen custard on a hot summer evening; a boat-shaped container holding the tasty treat; a convenient stream a few feet away that boats would float in; and a trash can to put them all in after the 'battle' was over.

If that doesn't define 'serendipitous,' nothing does.

Here's a gallery of vintage photos of summer eats and treats from around New Jersey and links to other galleries you'll enjoy.

Greg Hatala may be reached at greghatalagalleries@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregHatala. Find Greg Hatala on Facebook.By Bonnie Watson Coleman

This month marks the 10th anniversary of passage of a landmark civil rights law in New Jersey that aims to make sure that every town in the state steps up and allows affordable housing to be developed.

As majority leader of the General Assembly at the time, I was proud to work with advocates and lawmakers from across the state to strengthen our state's fair housing laws. A500 closed a loophole that had previously allowed suburban towns to foist their affordable housing obligations onto poorer communities.

This legislation helped address policies that have made New Jersey more segregated than places like Atlanta and Birmingham and have put our state at the vanguard of tackling discrimination and exclusion.

It's fitting then that Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly, D-Bergen, has chosen this week to hold hearings into the status of New Jersey's affordable housing crisis. Generations of exclusionary policies have made our state one of the most segregated by artificially driving up housing prices in suburban communities.

Yet despite significant challenges, the reforms we enacted a decade ago our now paying dividends, thanks to continued leadership from the Statehouse and a series of strong rulings from the New Jersey Supreme Court, which jumpstarted enforcement of our state's fair housing laws.

About 215 towns currently have fair housing plans in place, paving the way for the construction of tens of thousands of new homes for working families, seniors and people with disabilities. These agreements also expand opportunities for families of color to live in safe neighborhoods, close to good schools and jobs.

The achievements we're fighting for in New Jersey are even more important in a national context where President Trump and his administration are pushing hard to weaken key civil rights protections.

U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson is trying to cement segregationist policies at the federal level, blocking important reforms of the housing choice voucher program, popularly known as Section 8, and trying to raise rents for low-income families.

Carson has also backed away from the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule, a pioneering Obama era reform that required local governments to spend federal housing subsidies in ways that promote racial integration.

Far from moving families into the "self-sufficiency" that the secretary has promised, Carson is decimating HUD's mission and deepening poverty.

Research shows that integration isn't just an end unto itself.

Families that live in integrated communities have better health outcomes. They are more likely to be employed in jobs that pay better. And their children have access to higher-quality educational opportunities.

In New Jersey, we have led the nation in pursuing policies that expand opportunities for working families and families of color to move into desirable neighborhoods.

The New Jersey Constitution's Mount Laurel doctrine requires suburban towns to plan for fair housing opportunities that meet the needs of working families, seniors and people with disabilities.

Our state's fair housing laws have also helped slow the rise in home values for middle class families who don't qualify by addressing an ongoing housing shortage.

We need to take lessons from these and other examples at the local level as we fight back against an administration seeking to restrict opportunities for communities of color.

Yet we also have to be constantly on guard from attempts at the local level that would weaken our landmark civil rights laws.

Even as Wimberly prepares to hold hearings on the issue in the Housing and Urban Development Committee, a small group of lawmakers, led by Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick, R-Union, and Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi, R-Bergen, are pushing a package of bills that would eviscerate New Jersey's fair housing framework.

Taken together, these bills would halt the construction of additional affordable housing and provide cover to people that want to continue excluding families of color from our state.

We need to reject attempts to re-segregate New Jersey and build on a strong foundation that makes our state a model for a nation that is fighting against attacks on our civil rights.

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, a Democrat, represents New Jersey's 12th District.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.Spend any time in a hospital and you soon come to realize that nurses are the true heroes of the place, and not just because they bring you an extra pillow or deliver much-needed pain meds.

Nurses do more, much more. They stand guard against the risk of infections, dangerous falls and the probability of your being readmitted to the hospital once you go home.

But what if there aren't enough nurses on your floor to do the job properly?

What if the hospital you've landed up in is short-staffed, creating undue demands on the nurses on duty and creating unnecessary risks for the patients who so urgently need their practiced hands?

A bill introduced in the state Senate earlier this year aims to avert such a crisis by establishing a safe limit on the number of patients one nurse can care for in a hospital, ambulatory surgical facility, developmental center and psychiatric hospital.

The measure, sponsored by state Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-19th District), addresses the reality that hospitals all too frequently sacrifice patients' health for their own bottom lines.

The American Nurses Association sums up the dangers in a blog dedicated to political action and advocacy.

"Inadequate nurse staffing levels by experienced RNs are linked to higher rates of patient falls, infections, medication and even deaths," the professionals warn.

Substantial cuts in nursing budgets, together with an ever-increasing nursing shortage, mean fewer nurses are working longer hours taking care of sicker people.

This unhealthy situation feeds on itself, driving nurses to leave their jobs - and, ultimately, the profession they love.

Under the proposed measure, minimum nurse-to-patient ratios will vary according to the type of facility, ranging from one registered professional nurse for every five patients in a behavioral health or psychiatric or medical/surgical unit to one registered professional nurse for every patient under anesthesia in an operating room.

Ann Twomey, president of Health Professionals and Allied Employees, the largest union of registered nurses and healthcare professionals in the state, says if hospitals respected and valued their nurses, they would heed the voices of those nurses.

In an op-ed she wrote with two colleagues for NJSpotlight, Twomey noted that the direct link between safe patient care and safe staffing limits is clear.

Referring to a staffing law already in place in California, she said, "More than a decade of studies and almost 15 years in California make clear that having too few nurses increase patient complications ... (and) sends nurses from the bedside, into other jobs, or into retirement, something we cannot afford as our population ages."

The goal of optimal hospital staffing is within reach in New Jersey. Both our nurses and the patients whose lives are in their hands stand to benefit if Vitale's bill advances.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.Three heads are usually better than one, but the maxim might not apply for certifying how much revenue New Jersey has for its annual budget.

State Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, is itching to take that sole power from the governor, who, under the current constitution, is the last word about revenue -- along with his or her administration's tech and forecasting types.

Under a measure that could get through the Senate as early as today, Sweeney proposes replacing a governor's "I am the law" right to certify cash input. Instead, he'd have a troika of officials do it: the state treasurer (representing the administration), someone from the Office of Legislative Services (representing the Legislature) and a third member to be chosen by the OLS chief and the treasurer.

Some say that Sweeney's motivation is push-back against Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, who clashed with Sweeney over the numbers before the parties reached an 11th-hour 2018-2019 budget agreement. Murphy complained that lawmakers did not plan to raise taxes enough to cover spending increases that he, Sweeney, and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin all supported.

It's doubtful that Sweeney's proposal is based alone on retribution for this year's budget tug-of-war, since the Senate president got most of what he wanted.

Actually, Sweeney is a veteran of years of revenue clashes, notably during Republican Chris Christie's administration. They came to a head starting in 2012 when Christie dubbed OLS Chief David Rosen as "Dr. Kervorkian" as the OLS routinely batted down Christie's especially rosy revenue projections. Those were a key element in Christie's attempts to ratchet up spending without approving any broad-based tax increases.

Rosen is a budget expert backed up by good OLS staff, but he hasn't been infallible. That's one reason to say "Whoa!" to Sweeney's plan, which ultimately must win voter approval as a state constitutional amendment.

The proposal partly mirrors how New Jersey draws legislative and congressional district lines, which is superior to how most states do it. An impartial "tie-breaker" votes to adopt either a Democrat- or Republican-generated map, put forward by more partisan members of a redistricting panel. There's considerable pressure on each party to put forth a realistic map that is not so outlandishly tilted that the tie-breaker rejects it.

It's not as workable to use the same system for declaring, "Here's what you'll have in the bank next June 30." This has to start with real, actual money that came in the door, and end with informed predictions for the remainder of a budget year. It's not the same as moving a line so that Metuchen is in one district instead of another.

Now, 29 states use consensus for revenue projections, an idea widely seen as "good government" reform. But, given the New Jersey Legislature's collective proclivity to spend what it cannot guarantee it has, it's better to keep the ultimate authority invested in the governor -- one single person responsible for accurate calculations.

Don't discard Sweeney's plan entirely, since one element makes absolute sense. It calls on the certification board to anticipate revenue for "current and UPCOMING fiscal years." Multi-year budget forecasts -- if those figures have teeth -- could sharply curtail one-shot gimmicks. Such devices would be unmasked immediately, with a black-and-white admission that the same dollars won't be there one, two or three years later.

How about requiring the multi-year forecasts immediately, but holding off on using a zebra -- you know, a horse designed by a committee -- to choose those numbers?

Send a letter to the editor of South Jersey Times at sjletters@njadvancemedia.com

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.A proposal to add an "Are you a citizen?" question on the 2020 Census has drawn criticism and outrage since it was announce earlier this year, and immigration advocates are asking New Jerseyans to weigh in.

The Trump administration has proposed adding the question to get a better count of exactly who lives in each census tract. But opponents say the question could discourage immigrants living legally and illegally in the U.S. from participating in the 2020 Census.

It would lead to an undercount in New Jersey and cities. The population numbers help determine federal funding for schools, roads and other programs.

The U.S. Commerce Department has given the public until Aug. 7 to comment on the proposed citizenship question. The public can comment online or by mail.

The League of Women Voters of New Jersey, the American Civil Liberties Union and several other local immigration and civil rights groups have come together to push to keep the citizenship question off the census.

New Jersey is among multiple states that are suing the U.S. government to keep the citizenship question off the census.

The law says the answers to the U.S. Census can only be used to produce statistics and it is against the law to publish or disclose individual's answers. "Your personal information cannot be used against you by any government agency or court," according to the U.S. Census' privacy policy.

But there may still be a fear that revealing one's citizenship will lead to arrest or deportation.

However, U.S. Secretary Wilbur Ross said his department has found little evidence a citizenship question would discourage immigrants from participating in the census.

Do you think there should be a citizenship question on the U.S. Census?

Vote in our informal and unscientific poll and tell us why in the comments.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.A 29-year-old restaurant owner from Paterson was shot and killed in his vehicle while making a late-night food delivery just after midnight Thursday, Passaic County prosecutors said.

Rui Zhou and his wife, Xiaomei Liu, 29, were driving on the 400 block of East 34th street when Zhou was struck by gunfire. Zhou's Toyota Highlander then crashed into another vehicle a short distance away, prosecutors said.

When police arrived on the scene, they found Zhou unresponsive in the driver's seat, and Liu in the passenger's seat with no apparent serious injuries. Zhou was rushed to St. Joseph's University Medical Center and was pronounced dead just after 1 a.m.

Further investigation determined that Zhou and Liu were making their last food delivery from the restaurant they owned when Zhou was shot.

This shooting comes less than two weeks after another food delivery driver was shot and killed in Passaic. Dervy Almonte-Moore, a 27-year old pizza delivery driver from Elmwood Park was found dead in his car in the early morning hours of July 15 after being shot while out on delivery.

The Passaic County Prosecutor's office has not commented on the nature of the shooting, and is conducting an ongoing investigation into Zhou's death.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked contact the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office on its tips line at 1-877-370-PCPO or tips@passaiccountynj.org. They can also contact the Paterson Police Detective Bureau at 973-321-1120.

Paige Gross may be reached at pgross@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @By_paigegross.The state board that regulates New Jersey's utilities on Wednesday released its findings and recommendations to improve storm response following a months-long investigation of the prolonged power outages that accompanied three March snowstorms.

Gov. Phil Murphy ordered the examination in March, while 225,000 customers were still in the dark, decrying the "uneven preparedness and uneven response" to the winter storms.

"New Jersey had one of the worst winters on record, but my administration has taken the stance that the prolonged service interruptions were, in many cases, preventable," he said in a statement accompanying the report by the Board of Public Utilities.

The severe weather affected more than 1.2 million electric utility customers, including some who lost power for 11 days, and caused millions of dollars worth of property damage, according to the report released by the Board of Public Utilities.

"The unpredictable nature and severity of the March 2018 nor'easters, especially winter storm Riley, exposed weaknesses and created challenges for the (power companies) resulting in prolonged outages lasting up to 11 days for some customers," the report said.

The recommendations, which were accepted by the BPU, cover everything from making sure branches over power lines are trimmed to keeping contact with "critical care" customers who are more vulnerable to power outages.

Four companies service New Jersey, including JCP&L, PSEG, Orange & Rockland, and Atlantic City Electric.

The 30 "required actions" come on top of about 100 storm response requirements adopted after Hurricane Irene and Superstorm Sandy, according to the report.

Among the recommendations:

Create an intra-state mutual assistance agreement among all electric companies in New Jersey "that reflects a commitment to share internal company employees and contractors when out-of-state resources are likely to be unavailable."

Revisit vegetation management rules, including clarifying power companies' rights to tree trimming and removal in public right of ways

Conduct "post safety audits" of wooden utility poles.

Maintain contact with "critical care customers before, during, and after any outage event."

Collaborate with the National Weather Service to improve power companies' outage prediction modeling.

Refine those outage prediction models to account for variations in weather patterns across service territories and variations in tree canopies, soil conditions, topology, shoreline flooding and wind conditions, distribution infrastructure configuration and resiliency, and age and condition of power-line systems.

Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.New Jersey's attorney general on Thursday opened up on Twitter about facing discrimination as a Sikh public official after insults hurled by a pair of New Jersey radio hosts caused a firestorm.

Management at New Jersey 101.5-FM announced Thursday morning the station had suspended the hosts of the popular "Dennis & Judi Show" after a Wednesday broadcast in which they said they could not remember the attorney general's name, dubbing him "Turban Man."

"My name, for the record, is Gurbir Grewal," the AG wrote to the station in a Twitter post early Thursday. "I'm the 61st Attorney General of NJ. I'm a Sikh American. I have 3 daughters. And yesterday, I told them to turn off the radio."

The comments drew stern rebuke from Gov. Phil Murphy, who appointed Grewal in January, and a host of other elected officials.

In a series of Twitter posts, the attorney general said the comments underscored discrimination he's had to overcome as a Sikh public official.

"This is not the first indignity I've faced and it probably won't be the last," he wrote in one post. "Sometimes, I endure it alone. Yesterday, all of New Jersey heard it. It's time to end small-minded intolerance."

Grewal is a first-generation New Jersey resident, born to Indian immigrant parents in Jersey City and raised in Hudson and Bergen counties. He is the former Bergen County prosecutor and previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney.

He is a practicing Sikh and wears the turban headdress common in the religion. His name is pronounced similar to "Gur-beer Gray-wall."

Thank you to @GovMurphy, @NJSenatePres, @CoryBooker, @RaviBhalla & so many others for your support last night. Youve got my back  and the backs of all New Jerseyans.



Others have faced far worse. We rise above this. Now lets get back to business. pic.twitter.com/f2TqL4vzB5  Gurbir S. Grewal (@GurbirGrewalNJ) July 26, 2018

The attorney general shared clips of a speech he gave in May at the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies in which he recounted hateful comments hurled at him online targeting his race and religion.

"Scroll through any of the online comments about my work or my office or any news story. It can really be stomach-turning," he said. "I have been called a towelhead, a raghead, a terrorist. On the day I was nominated to become the 61st attorney general, one commenter asked where I had parked my elephant."

As attorney general, Grewal's duties range from overseeing major criminal investigations to representing state agencies in legal disputes, managing the State Police and a host of boards and divisions that oversee gaming, professional licensing and consumer affairs.

He declined an interview request on the controversy Thursday morning, saying through a spokesperson, "We are going back to the work of the state."

S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.President Donald Trump's plan to send $12 billion in emergency relief to American farmers who've been slammed by his administration's trade disputes with China and other countries has Gov. Phil Murphy scratching his head.

Why? Because it's roughly the same amount of money that could have been directed the New Jersey area's way for a new tunnel under the Hudson River.

The governor said Wednesday "it did not escape (his) attention" that $12 billion is "about what the federal government committed under the Obama administration" to help pay for the Gateway Tunnel to connect New Jersey with New York.

Trump, who seemed to signal his support for the program during a White House meeting last year, then threatened to shut down the federal government rather than fund the Gateway project.

Congress agreed, over Trump's objections, to include at least $540 million in various accounts that would be spent on Gateway.

"Believe me, we've noted the irony," Murphy, a Democrat, told reporters at a public event Wednesday.

Gateway consists of a new train tunnel under the Hudson River so that the existing tunnel can be closed to repair damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. The original agreement called for the states of New York and New Jersey to pay half the cost and the federal government to pay the other half. The project was estimated to cost $30 billion.

The allocation ran into trouble under the new presidential administration. Trump, a Republican, threatened to veto any legislation if Gateway funding was included.

One of Gateway's champions has been U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who has opposed Trump on most issues.

The final spending bill Trump signed into law included only a fraction of what was agreed upon among prior administrations.

"The new tunnel will get built -- that's not the question," Murphy said. "The question is will it be built because we've planned it and we did it the right way, or because we had a disaster and we had no other choice."

He said he remains optimistic the federal government will fund its share of the project, saying between 12 percent and 20 percent of the country's gross domestic product runs between Washington D.C. and Boston. That makes infrastructure connecting New York and New Jersey important, Murphy said.

On Monday, the Agriculture Department said it would tap an existing program to provide billions in direct payments to farmers and ranchers hurt by foreign retaliation to Trump's tariffs.

With congressional elections coming soon, the government action underscored Trump's concern about damage to U.S. farmers from his trade tariffs and the potential for losing House and Senate seats in the Midwest and elsewhere.

The administration said the program was just temporary and that they would not need congressional approval.

The program is expected to start taking affect around Labor Day. Officials said the direct payments could help producers of soybeans, which have been hit hard by retaliation to the Trump tariffs, along with sorghum, corn, wheat, cotton, dairy and farmers raising hogs.

The food purchased from farmers would include some types of fruits, nuts, rice, legumes, dairy products, beef and pork, officials said.

The Associated Press and NJ Advance Media staff writer Jonathan Salant contributed to this report.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.The Savants of Soul, Gainesvilles nine piece Motown soul band, will be playing in Chattanooga Aug. 9 at 9 p.m. at JJs Bohemia.

The evening will begin with the comedy stylings of Ashley Saturday, Ben Dalby, David Hannah, Lauren Harris-Childers, Scott Easton, and Elliott White. Then guests will prepare to dance the rest of the night away with a full set by the Savants of Soul.

Review for the Savants of Soul:

The Savants have been bringing the soul to Gainesville since their formation in 2011. They have released one full length album, one EP, and have a new single, Dead Man Running, coming later this fall. The band has performed at festivals like Red Gorilla, Suwannee Hulaween, and Destination Okeechobee. They have shared the stage with other greats like Charles Bradley, Benjamin Booker, and The Original Wailers.

More information about the show can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/events/252803771978416/





Some said it's a teachable moment, others called it offensive, and many more told their fellow New Jerseyans to lighten up and quit overreacting to offhand comments from a couple of radio hosts.

Reactions varied on New Jersey 101.5-FM's airwaves Thursday after the station suspended a pair of daytime radio hosts over what Gov. Phil Murphy -- and others -- called "abhorrent and xenophobic" remarks about the state's attorney general the previous day.

Gurbir Grewal, the nation's first Sikh attorney general, was referred to as "turban man" and "the guy with the turban" Wednesday during 101.5 FM's "The Dennis & Judi Show."

The hosts, Dennis Malloy and Judi Franco, were removed from the air indefinitely.

Reaction on the air Thursday morning was swift.

Jeff Edelstein, a fill-in host for the station and a columnist for the Trentonian, said on the air that in his newspaper job he has the benefit taking time to write columns.

"There are eyes on my stuff," Edelstein said. "I have time on my side. I can edit. (I can) go back."

But, he said, radio is different.

"No editing. The only filter that I have is my brain," Edelstein said.

"The point I'm making is that we are working here on a razor wire," he said. "Things come into your mind, sometimes they come out of your mouth. I can't speak for Dennis and Judi, ... is what came out of their mouth offensive? Yeah, it can be. I think it can be construed that way."

Radio host Steve Trevelise, who filled in for the suspended hosts' 10 a.m. time slot, defended his colleagues.

"I've known Dennis and Judi," Trevelise said. "There's not a racist bone in either of their bodies. It's just not part of their makeup. They're not wired that way."

Callers agreed.

"I am shocked. I am completely shocked," a caller identified as Nancy said. "When I listened and they mentioned the word turban, I mean, why is that a bad word? ... I am just shocked and I think it is absolutely insane that they are suspended over something like that."

Nancy added: "There's no way that they were intending it to be something offensive."

"I don't disagree with you," Edelstein said.

"I don't see where it's racist at all," said one caller.



"I think they shouldn't even apologize," said another.

"Crybabies," Cassie from Bridgewater said about people outraged over the comments.

"You need to be able to take it," she added. "If Dennis and Judi can't come back or won't come back then the crybabies get their way."

Marty, from Sayreville, said: "Everybody is blowing this way out of proportion. They're comics. ... It was just a joke. I am shocked and I can't wait for them to come back."

But not all agreed.

"It's a real teachable moment for everyone involved," said one caller.

Another, identified as Judy, pushed back at Edelstein.

"Would you be offended if someone said 'yarmulke head' about an Orthodox Jew who was attorney general?" Judy asked.

"It is offensive," she said. "I'm so glad they're off and I hope they never come back."

NJ Advance Media Staff Writer S.P. Sullivan contributed to this report.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.A package of school bus safety bills, proposed after the fatal crash of a Paramus school bus on Route 80 in May that claimed the lives of a student and a teacher, cleared a state Senate committee Thursday.

The bills cover a range of concerns, some raised by Paramus parents after the crash, including capping the age of drivers, requiring aides on buses and having students carry district issued identification cards on field trips and stricter medical and safety testing of drivers.

"Having safeguards in place is what's important," said State Senator Joseph Lagana, D-Bergen, who lives in Paramus. "Sadly, there is no perfect solution, I hope this will prevent this type of tragedy from happening again."

The bus was transporting 38 students and seven adults, including the driver, from East Brook Middle School for a field trip to Waterloo Village. A dump truck hit the bus on Route 80 in Mount Olive, ripping the body of the bus from the frame.

The bills, many introduced by Senate Transportation Committee Chair Patrick J. Diegnan, Jr. and Laguna had universal support from parents, educators and school bus industry officials who testified at Thursday's hearing.

One bill addresses bus driver qualifications. Hudy Muldrow Sr., 77, the bus driver in the Paramus, crash had multiple speeding violations and 14 license suspensions on his 43-year-record.

"The driver with 14 license suspensions shouldn't have been driving that bus," Laguna said.

School districts and bus companies would be required to notify the state Department of Education when a driver has had their license suspended or revoked under one bill.

Another bill requires annual medical and cognitive testing of bus drivers over age 70 and twice-a-year tests for drivers age 75 and up. Diegnan said that was a compromise to banning people age 70 and up from driving a bus.

"It's the thing that was the most concerning, we will have a fair evaluation," he said of the testing proposal.

Drivers would be required to retake the school bus endorsement knowledge test each time they apply to renew their commercial driver's license to keep their driver's school bus endorsement, under another bill.

Another bill requires bi-annual safety education for school bus drivers and aides, at the beginning of the school year, and during the second semester. The re-education would cover student management and discipline, crash and emergency procedures and emergency exit drills.

Other bills may have to clear different senate committees before being released to the full Senate for a vote.

Another bill that requires the state Education Department, Motor Vehicle Commission and other relevant departments, to study school bus passenger safety in various emergencies, should include the State Police, Laguna said. He suggested the State Police Highway Safety Unit take over the regulation of school bus drivers, Laguna said.

Future legislation could deal with disqualifying bad drivers and could look at lowering the number of motor vehicle points from 12 to 6 as the threshold where a school bus driver would have their license suspended, Laguna suggested.

Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.The Times-Picayune is marking the tricentennial of New Orleans with its ongoing 300 for 300 project, running through 2018 and highlighting 300 people who have made New Orleans New Orleans. Today: philanthropist Jacob S. Solis.

The icon: Jacob S. Solis.

The legacy: The year was 1828, and Jacob Solis just wanted some matzo. The problem was that after nearly a century of France's Code Noir -- which outlawed any other religion but Catholicism in its colonies -- New Orleans was what has been described as "a Jewish desert." Solis decided to do something about that. With the transfer of the Louisiana Territory to the United States in 1803, and Code Noir thus no longer the law of the land, Solis set about establishing Shaarai Chesed -- or Congregation Gates of Mercy -- on North Rampart Street. It had just 33 founding members, but it was a start. Not only was it the first chartered Jewish congregation in the city but the first outside the original 13 colonies, the sixth-oldest synagogue in the country and, most importantly, a launching pad for what is today a thriving Jewish community in New Orleans.

The quote: "Resolved: that in consequence of the death of our much lamented fellow member, Jacob S. Solis, and in consideration of his many virtues and the effectual service rendered to this institution in its formation, the officers wear crepe on their left arm for the space of thirty days from the date of this meeting." -- a resolution passed by Congregation Gates of Mercy upon the death of Jacob S. Solis in 1829

His full name was Jacob da Silva Solis, but he went by Jacob S. Solis.

Source: The Times-Picayune archives; Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life; staff research

Corrections: A previous version of this story inadvertently ran with a portrait of Louis Godchaux instead of Jacob Solis. It has since been corrected. Also, the text has been edited to reflect the fact that Solis first arrived in the city in 1827, not 1828, and to specify that Congregation Gates of Mercy was the first chartered Jewish congregation in the city.

More on 300 for 300:A 26-year-old man is accused of kidnapping after he took a child to get ice cream and candy Wednesday evening (July 25), according to court documents.

The boy's mother said her child was playing in the courtyard of his apartment complex in the 8500 block of Chef Menteur Highway around 6 p.m., when Miguel Joseph took her son away on Joseph's bike. The woman said she did not know Joseph and said she had not given anyone permission to take her child anywhere, according to the warrant for Joseph's arrest.

The woman said she learned her child was gone when his friends told her a man had taken him, the warrant states.

A short while later, NOPD officers found the child near the intersection of Hammond Street and Perrault Walk - about a mile away from the boy's home. According to the warrant, a large crowd was gathered in the area, surrounding the boy, who was crying and bleeding from his foot.

Joseph told officers he was taking the child for a bike ride to get ice cream and candy, and the boy's foot got caught in the bicycle spokes. According to the warrant, Joseph told officers he did not know the child or his parents, but was bringing the boy back to his school.

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When the mother arrived on scene, she told officers she wanted to press charges against Joseph, the warrant states.

The boy was taken to Children's Hospital to be treated for his foot injury, according to the warrant, and Joseph was arrested.

Joseph was booked into Orleans Justice Center jail Thursday morning on one charge each of aggravated kidnapping and negligent injuring, according to online court records. Joseph appeared in court later that morning, where Orleans Magistrate Judge Harry Cantrell set his bond for a total of $20,000 and appointed a public defender to his case, court records show.

Cantrell ordered Joseph to appear for a mental competency hearing next month, according to court records. The Orleans Public Defenders office did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday.

According to court records, Joseph has not previously faced criminal charges in Orleans Parish.Two men accused in a shootout in a Gentilly Rite-Aid parking lot on Easter that left one man dead and another injured were indicted on second-degree murder charges Thursday (July 26), according to the Orleans Parish District Attorney's office.

Garald Barnes, 29, and Christopher Patterson, 48, both face mandatory life-sentences if they are convicted of the murder of Alfred Johnson -- a 23-year-old father of two who was dating Patterson's daughter, according to NOPD. Barnes' is the woman's cousin, police said.

The gunfire broke out shortly after 5 p.m. inside a Rite Aid parking lot in the 3100 block of Gentilly Boulevard, according to New Orleans police. After being shot in the side, Johnson tried to flee in his car, but crashed on Elysian Fields Avenue, near the intersection of Caton Street.

He was pronounced dead at the hospital shortly after.

Investigators believe the shootout was sparked by a fight between Johnson and his girlfriend, according to NOPD. Patterson believed Johnson assaulted his daughter, police said, and set out with Barnes. Patterson's other nephew, a 24-year-old man, went with the two men and was injured in the gunfight, police said.

Johnson's girlfriend called the police moments after the shooting was shot, saying her father and two cousins were "riding around all day with guns," looking for Johnson, according to Barnes' warrant. They were mad, she said, because the couple got into a fight the day before and Johnson "put his hands on her," the warrant states.

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Earlier that day, her dad called Johnson's father, according to the warrant, and both men threatened each other.

Security cameras near the scene captured footage of the shooting, according to NOPD, and showed the three men and Johnson shooting at each other. It was not clear who fired first, but police said Johnson's bullets struck the 24-year-old victim more than once.

Barnes was arrested just over two weeks after the shooting, court records show, and was booked into Orleans Justice Center jail on one count of second-degree murder. Patterson was booked two days later, court records show, on a charge of principal to second-degree murder.

After being indicated by a grand jury, Patterson's charge was increased to second-degree murder and Orleans Criminal District Judge Robin Pittman raised his bond from $200,000 to $400,000, according to the DA's office. Barnes' bond will remain $400,000, the DA's office said.

As of Thursday, it was not known if the third man will face charges.Beau Provence Memory Care Assisted Living in Mandeville has pleaded guilty to a one-count violation of a state law that requires health care facilities and workers to report abuse of a patient within 24 hours of learning about it, North Shore District Attorney Warren Montgomery announced Wednesday (July 25).

The facility's guilty plea stems from the rape of a 78-year-old dementia patient who was living at the facility in August 2016, when she was raped by Jerry Kan, who was working there as a cook. Kan was found guilty Aug. 10 of last year and is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence. A St. Tammany Parish jury rejected Kan's claim that the sexual contact was consensual.

In September of 2016, Julie Henry, an associate director at the memory care facility, was booked with obstruction of justice and failure to report abuse of adults. Police accused of her of destroying evidence.

Under the plea agreement announced Wednesday, Henry is required to assist and participate in educational programs or seminars related to eldercare issues for the next two years, as requested by the District Attorney's Office. The charges against her have been suspended, pending the completion of the conditions of the agreement.

The plea agreement also requires the Mandeville memory care facility's parent company, Mandeville Shelter Care, to pay a $500 fine and make a $25,000 donation to the SALT (Seniors And Law Enforcement Together) Council, an advocacy organization that provides education and training about the safety of senior adults in St. Tammany Parish, according to a news release from Montgomery's office.

Ralph Oneal, chairman of the St. Tammany SALT Council, said he checked with national leaders of fellow organizations fighting elder abuse and none had heard of this type of plea agreement, which required the institution to take responsibility and contribute financially to elder abuse prevention training.

"This is a great precedent to demonstrate the responsibility, as well as the liability, of those institutions that care for our elderly," Oneal said.

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The $25,000 donation will enable SALT to expand its training opportunities, Oneal said. The group will consider adding a third day to its annual Elder Abuse Conference, which this year attracted participants from 24 states for two days in June. The funds also will make it possible for representatives of the organization to attend the Emergency Nurses Association conference in Pittsburgh in September, which the group previously could not afford.

"We're going to be able to reach 3,500 nurses who work in emergency rooms across the country," Oneal said. "That's a big deal."

Beau Provence issued a statement late Wednesday saying it has taken proactive measures to "safeguard against an incident like that one from ever happening again" and has worked to ensure that proper procedures are in place to immediately notify family members, the appropriate state agencies and law enforcement in the unlikely event of any future occurrences.

"We are pleased that the District Attorney's Office has elected not to pursue any obstruction of justice charges pending our education and training partnership with the SALT council," according to the statement.

Montgomery said his office has no tolerance for those who take advantage of the elderly.

"Our seniors are a very valuable and sometimes vulnerable part of our community," Montgomery said. "Whether individual or corporate, those who exploit senior citizens will be dealt with severely."The two New Orleans police officers arrested Tuesday (July 25) after fighting and injuring a civilian outside a Mid-City bar have been officially fired, police announced Wednesday afternoon (July 25).

John Galman, 26, and Spencer Sutton, 24, were each charged with simple battery after NOPD's public integrity bureau launched an internal investigation. The officers were off duty at the time of the fight early Tuesday outside the Mid-City Yacht Club. The injured man, who police said had "severe" injuries, has since been released from the hospital, NOPD said Tuesday evening.

Jorge Gomez, 38, who came forward to local media outlets as the injured man, said he was at the bar and wearing camouflage-print clothing when Galman and Sutton called him over and began harassing him about military service. Gomez told WVUE Fox 8 they called him a "fake American" when he said he had served in the military, and then beat him.

NOPD Superintendent Michael Harrison said investigators gathered "multiple video accounts and eyewitness statements" to determine that "our officers were the aggressors in this incident." The department began "termination proceedings" on Tuesday to fire the officers, who graduated from NOPD's training academy in December and were still on probationary status. The two officers were officially fired by Wednesday afternoon.

The investigation remains ongoing as the Greater New Orleans Civil Rights Task Force investigates potential civil rights violations.In the 14 years before authorities say Ray Farria Jr. shot and killed his wife, Dominique, friends and family said they knew the high school sweethearts as a loving, affectionate couple.

Married since 2006, they were raising four young children, according to Ray Farria's mother, Szerret Farria, 52, of New Orleans, with whom the family lived. The couple occasionally squabbled, as most will.

But Szerret Farria said she never saw any discord or violence that would have foreshadowed the couple's chaotic last moments together on Tuesday afternoon (July 24).

Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office investigators accused Ray Farria, 32, of clinging to the hood of the car Dominique Farria, 30, was driving for about a half-mile down Manhattan Boulevard before jumping off and firing a bullet that pierced the windshield and hit his wife of 12 years in the neck. The couple's children were also in the car, according to relatives.

Dominique Farria died shortly after she arrived at University Medical Center in New Orleans. Ray Farria was on suicide watch Wednesday evening, his mother said, jailed on charges of second-degree murder, obstruction of justice and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

"Those two were inseparable. That's why this hurts," Szerret Farria said. "I don't know why this happened."

Dominique Farria's aunt, Linda Garrus, 53, was also unaware of any major problems between the couple.

"Why would you take this woman away from her kids? Now, they don't have a mother or a father," Garrus said.

The shooting occurred about 2 p.m. near the entrance to Stonebridge subdivision on Lake Tahoe Drive in Harvey. Dominique Farria was driving northbound on Manhattan after leaving a relative's nearby home. The Sheriff's Office did not say whether there was an argument or some other incident before Ray Farria hopped onto the car hood.

Dominique Farria had apparently spent Monday night at her relative's Harvey home along with two of her children, according to Szerret Farria. Ray Farria left his mother's New Orleans home Tuesday afternoon to pick up Dominique Farria and return to the house, though she saw no indication of any problems.

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"He took longer than I thought, and that's when her mama called me and told me she was shot, that he shot her," Szerret Farria recalled.

A woman who answered the door at the Harvey home of Dominique Farria's relative Wednesday morning said it was not a good time for the family. The couple's three sons and one daughter, ages 11 to 1, are staying with Dominique Farria's mother.

"She's just trying to hold up and be there for her grandchildren," Garrus said of her sister.

The young siblings won't be alone. They have a great support system on both sides of the family, with grandparents, aunts and uncles, Garrus said.

Garrus described Dominique Farria as a devoted mother who was giving and loving. She was said her niece had an ever-cheerful, bubbly presence.

"Even in her worst moments, you wouldn't even know. She always had a smile on her face," Garrus said.

Ray and Dominique Farria began dating she was 16 and he was 18 at John F. Kennedy High School in New Orleans, Szerret Farria said. During their time together, she said she began to see Dominique Farria as more of a daughter than an in-law.

The couple married when Dominique Farria turned 18 and moved to Dallas following Hurricane Katrina. After some back and forth between the two states, the family returned to the New Orleans area and moved in with Szerret Farria, she said, because Ray Farria couldn't find work in Texas.

Szerret Farria hadn't spoken with Ray Farria as of Wednesday afternoon. She said she didn't recognize her son in the vacant face of the mugshot released by the Sheriff's Office.

"I don't understand," she said. "None of us understand."A man who said he was a friend of New Orleans murder victim Harold Martin told a jury Wednesday (July 25) he recognized Rolandus Campbell as one of the men he saw in the area of Prentiss Street on May 11, 2015, when the 30-year-old father of three was gunned down in the backyard of a Gentilly home.

Campbell, 22, is on trial this week for second-degree murder in Martin's death. He is facing several other charges, including criminal conspiracy to armed robbery and two counts each of attempted first-degree murder, armed robbery and discharging a firearm during a violent crime.

Prosecutors have added a criminal street gang enhancement to each of those charges, which would add additional time to Campbell's sentence if he's convicted.

Jonathan Evans, a 21-year-old Angola inmate who said he'd known Martin most of his life, pointed to Campbell in court Wednesday and identified him as the driver of a red Buick the men involved in his friend's slaying rode in at the time of the crime.

Evans said he was driving his cousin, Damian Crockem, home that evening in a stolen SUV. When he pulled up to the house, Evans said, Crockem got out of the back seat and took off running. (Crockem was killed in a double shooting in November 2017.)

That's when Evans said he noticed a red Buick on the opposite side of the neutral ground. Three men, all wearing black hoodies, got out, he said, and the driver had a long gun, possibly an AK-47.

Martin then got out of the SUV and headed to the backyard, Evans said.

Evans said he stayed in the SUV and ducked until the men ran past him. He heard gunshots a few seconds later, he said, then saw the three men run out from behind the house.

He drove away after then men ran past his SUV and got back in the Buick.

Evans is serving a 20-year sentence for an unrelated double homicide in June 2015. He provided police information about Martin's murder that August, after he was arrested in the double murder, and prosecutors in exchange downgraded Evans' charges to manslaughter.

Defense attorney Sarah Chervinsky questioned Evans' motives for talking to police, and asked why he was certain Campbell was involved in Martin's shooting.

Evans testified he didn't get a good look at the driver's face before the shooting, but made note of his build, skin tone and the clothes he was wearing. And the passenger, he said, wore a black hoodie and cutoff pants.

Hours after Martin was shot, Evans said he and a friend were driving around the area of Painters Street in Gentilly when he spotted two men wearing the same clothes as the suspected gunmen. Evans said he was going to shoot the man he identified as the driver - Campbell - but his friend stopped him.

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The street lights provided enough light for Evans to get a good look at Campbell's face, he said. He identified one of the passengers as Wesley Davis, who pleaded guilty earlier this month to manslaughter in Martin's death and was sentenced to 39 years in prison.

Before Martin was killed, Evans said he and Crockem went to Martin's sister's house on Painters, where they were going to sell her pills. Martin and his girlfriend were there as well, he said.

Crockem and Martin walked up the street at some point, he said, and minutes later he noticed Martin "skipping, trying to hurry up to get where I'm at." Crockem returned shortly after Martin, he said.

NOPD homicide detective Maggie McCourt said she interviewed Martin's sister and his girlfriend, who had similar recollections about what happened during that incident. Both women were scared, McCourt said, and told her they saw Campbell driving a red vehicle in the neighborhood around that time.

Defense attorney Nandi Campbell questioned why McCourt relied on statements from Martin's sister, his girlfriend and Evans - three people who spoke to each other before speaking to law enforcement - and did not follow up on a statement given by a woman who told a 911 operator she witnessed the shooting. McCourt said the woman described Martin and Crockem as suspects.

On the call, the woman said she was at the address where Crockem was being dropped off. She said through tears she heard nine gunshots and was hiding in the bathroom.

Nandi Campbell said the woman told detectives she saw Martin arguing with people in the SUV, then saw shots coming from the vehicle.

"As we sit here today three years later, do you know who shot Mr. Martin?" Campbell asked McCourt. She said no.

New Orleans police recovered the stolen SUV Evans was driving the morning after Martin was killed. McCourt said the SUV was riddled with bullets and had crashed into a fence on Hayne Boulevard in New Orleans East.

DNA swabs taken inside the SUV matched Evans, she said, and she interviewed him with another homicide detective in August 2015. At that time, McCourt said Evans was in jail on two murder charges.

Rolandus Campbell is accused in the same conspiracy as the group who robbed the Uptown restaurants Patois and Atchafalaya, and Monkey Hill and Purple Rain bars in August and September of 2015. Campbell was already in jail by the time those high-profile robberies occurred, but authorities said he participated in Martin's slaying and a home invasion with the group earlier in the year.

Prosecutors Alex Calenda and Irena Zajickova are expected to call a number of the men convicted in the armed robberies to testify throughout the trial.

Testimony is expected to resume Thursday.Delgado Community College will open a new campus in Avondale in August. The campus will house a number of Delgado training programs geared at preparing students for jobs in industries based on the Mississippi River and in Jefferson Parish west of the Huey P. Long Bridge.

The Delgado River City Site and Advanced Manufacturing and Technology Center will be located at the Churchill Technology & Business Park in Avondale, according to a news release. The $27.3 million site is next to the Jefferson Parish Economic Development Commission offices and the Patrick F. Taylor Science and Technology Academy at 709 Churchill Parkway.

The new campus was funded with "state, federal and private sources," according to the release. About $20 million was allocated to construction costs.

The 85,000-square-foot campus is expected to help equip residents with the type of technical skills needed to participate in the economic growth "transforming the Greater New Orleans region at a rapid pace," Delgado Community College Chancellor Joan Y. Davis said in a statement. That includes training in a range of industrial skills, including aluminum welding, industrial maintenance and pipefitting.

The campus will also offer safety training as well as courses in logistics, millwrighting, process instrumentation and control, and shielded metal arc welding. In addition, the campus will offer a Louisiana Transfer Degree program, which allows community and technical college students to more easily transfer to a four-year university in the state.

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Delgado aims to position the new campus as a "sustainable long-term solution to critical workforce shortages" in the region, according to the release.

The campus will open in time for the start of Delgado's fall semester, which begins Aug. 18. Delgado will hold a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new campus on Aug. 30 at 10 a.m.

The campus, which is approximately 20 minutes from downtown New Orleans, can be accessed via U.S. Highway 90 and Lapalco Boulevard.

. . . . . . .

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.Officials at Lafayette Academy Charter School have said students were never exposed to asbestos before, during or after renovations at the school's South Carrollton Avenue campus. However, state inspection documents indicate that students were in close proximity to the asbestos removal sites -- and "curious children" were even seen partially entering at least one "containment area" last year.

Documents from the state Department of Environmental Quality say Louisiana's Recovery School District hired the Kenner-based Tuna Construction company as a general contractor for work at the Lafayette Academy campus. On Feb. 28, 2017, Tuna discovered "a layer of asbestos flooring" on the third floor that was never tested.

The discovery of 200 cubic yards of asbestos in the roughly 70-year-old building spurred Tuna to hire the New Orleans-based V. Keeler & Associates to remove all the layers of the third floor, documents stated.

An LDEQ official inspecting the work on March 22, 2017, stated children were walking the halls between the two containment areas at the school. Students were also seen attending classes and roaming the halls outside of one containment area that was not secured, the report states.

Another student was also observed "poking his head into the containment area," the documents state. Other students were seen touching air monitoring equipment set up throughout the hallways, but none of the air monitoring staff was on site. In a photo displaying an opening in the containment area, inspectors wrote "multiple children were observed sticking their heads in the hole" to see what was happening inside the work area.

The inspector wrote about her concerns regarding the open containment area because "curious children had been sticking their heads inside" it. An "acting" on-site supervisor, who was later discovered to be an unaccredited worker with falsified paperwork, told the inspector his crew was "fine cleaning" the section at the moment and not doing asbestos removal. The supervisor showed the inspector "entire sections" of the floor had been removed, wrapped in plastic that was "full of holes," and stored in an empty classroom, the report states.

Emails from March 2017 from the state inspector to Tuna Construction advised the company to take "any and all precautions" to keep children out of the work area and away from air monitoring equipment. She stressed "this is not the responsibility of school staff." When state inspectors returned to campus March 27, 2017, Tuna representatives told them work would be completed at night for the remainder of the school year while students were attending classes.

Emails obtained by NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune Tuesday (July 24) show Mickey Landry, executive director of the Choice Foundation organization managing Lafayette Academy, explaining to school officials how the school operated during construction work in the 2016-17 school year. Landry told officials July 12 Lafayette had portable classrooms on their playground while parts of the building and its entries were cordoned off, including some restrooms.

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Landry said in the emails that some staff members expressed "considerable concern" about "what was in the air" that year. He said Choice Foundation and the RSD had meetings with faculty where they explained how air quality monitors placed in the building for weeks showed levels of quality that indicated no concerns for students and staff. Landry did not immediately respond to a voicemail message Wednesday.

The Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance states asbestos is perhaps best known for its role in causing mesothelioma, a rare and deadly cancer that can develop in linings of the lungs, abdomen, or heart.

The Orleans Parish School Board responded to the concerns regarding asbestos removals that occurred in the 2016-17 school year in a released statement Tuesday, stating the RSD "was, and still is," responsible for the building's renovations.

Asked for comment, the RSD said the work was conducted primarily during after-school hours or during the summer when no students were present. Numerous air quality tests conducted at the time confirmed the school was safe for students and staff while work was being completed during the 2016-2017 school year and before the start of the 2017-2018 school year, the RSD stated.

Asbestos removal work at the school resumed once students were dismissed for the summer in May, but was shut down due to more problems in asbestos handling at the campus. This time, the work was led by Baton Rouge-based Advanced Environmental Consulting, and inspectors noted problems like workers walking around campus without changing their clothes after they left the containment area, and asbestos material not being sufficiently dampened down.

The building remains closed as of Wednesday, and Landry told parents in a letter issued July 20 that they anticipate classes will resume Aug. 27 at different facilities. On Thursday morning, he stressed the school is working to determine whether school materials can be salvaged from the building or if they need to rush order anything. Students in grades pre-K through 4th will be attending classes at the Paul Dunbar building in Hollygrove while students in grades 5-8 will be attending classes at the old McDonogh 35 building on Kerlerec Street.

. . . . . . .

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.Just when you think summer in New Orleans couldn't get any hotter, it gets a lot hotter when the annual Southern Decadence festival and parade sets fire to the French Quarter on Labor Day weekend. Southern Decadence is billed as the biggest LGBT-oriented event in the South, drawing an estimated 200,000 or more participants who shower the city with millions of dollars during the late-summer doldrums.

The gathering, which takes place from Thursday (Aug. 30) to Monday (Sept. 3), includes two fantastic free events.

The Bourbon Street Extravaganza, an outdoor concert, takes place in the 700 block of (where else?) Bourbon Street at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday Sept. 1. This year's performers include Deborah "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here" Cox, "Dreamgirls" star Jennifer Holliday, and disco diva Jeanie Tracy. Get there early since the crowd is known to extend for blocks.

The Grand Marshals' Walking Parade, a costumed promenade through the French Quarter, takes place on Sunday (Sept. 2) starting at 2 p.m. near the corner of Decatur and Barracks Streets, ending near the intersection of Bourbon and Dumaine Streets around 4 p.m.. Expect marchers in over-the-top, sometimes revealing drag costumes and appearances by New Orleans famous dance groups. Last year more than 700 marchers and 50 groups registered for the colorful romp.

The Grand Marshals of this year's parade are Adikus Sulpizi and Frank Perez. The official colors of the 2018 procession are royal blue and canary yellow and the theme is "House of Bourbon - Unleash Your Beast."

Grand Marshal Perez said that the reference to the House of Bourbon ties in with the historical French royal family for whom Bourbon Street is named and thereby with New Orleans' tricentennial celebration. Releasing one's beast implies anything-goes liberty, he said. Perez said to expect to see everything from 18th-century colonial formalwear to animal costumes, and maybe combinations of both.

The parade begins its bar-hopping route on Barracks Street, turns left on Royal Street, right on St. Louis, right on N. Rampart Street, right on Toulouse Street, left on Burgundy Street, left on St. Peter Street, right on N. Rampart Street, right on St. Ann Street, and left on Bourbon Street.

In addition to the Bourbon Street Extravaganza concert and the Grand Marshals' Parade, innumerable smaller events take place in sites across the French Quarter, consult the southerndecadence.net and southerndecadence.com websites for all the details.

Southern Decadence got its start in 1972 as a casually costumed bar crawl, instituted by a handful of fun-loving roommates (a blend of LGBT people and others) as a distraction from the August heat. It has grown to become one of the city's great tourist attractions, sometimes called the "Gay Mardi Gras."

The big party recently suffered a setback with the 2017 deaths of Rip Naquin and Marsha Naquin-Delain, co-publishers of the LGBT-centric Ambush magazine, a major force behind the Decadence celebration. But TJ Acosta, who bought the publication in October 2017 said the change of ownership will have no effect on the celebration.

"There are no changes that I know of," Acosta said. "Decadence is kind of like Mardi Gras; it just happens."

Doug MacCash has the best job in the world, covering art, music, and culture in New Orleans. Contact him via email at dmaccash@nola.com. Follow him on Twitter at Doug MacCash and on Facebook at Douglas James MacCash. As always, please add your point of view to the comment stream.A Powerball ticket sold in Metairie is worth $50,000 in Wednesday night's drawing (July 25), according to the Louisiana Lottery Corp.

The ticket was sold at Quincy Express at 3120 Clearview Parkway (map). It matched four of the five numbers, plus the Powerball.

Here are Wednesday's winning numbers:

02-18-41-44-64, Powerball: 26, PowerPlay: 2X

The estimated jackpot is $149.6 million. The lump sum payment before taxes would be about $90 million. If there is no jackpot winner, the amount grows larger for the next drawing.

The last big payout occurred when a single winning ticket worth $150.4 million sold in Oregon won on June 21.

Powerball is held in 44 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

A $2 ticket gives you a one in 292.2 million chance at winning the jackpot.

The drawings are held at 10:59 p.m. Eastern Wednesdays and Saturdays. The deadline to buy tickets is 9:45 p.m.

--

The Advance National Desk contributed to this story.

Carlie Kollath Wells is a morning reporter at NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. Have an early-bird tip? Send it to her: cwells@nola.com or Twitter @carlie_kollath.Before the school bell rings for the beginning of class, a second-grade girl is already causing problems for her teachers and classmates. Fits of anger, aggression toward her peers and a lack of interest in school have become common for the small girl who came across the border 4 years earlier.

But it wasn't always like this, according to her pediatrician.

Less than a year earlier, the girl was excelling in school, Dr. Kim Mukerjee recalled in a recent interview describing the case. But the girl's performance in school changed when her father was deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

"She was terrified of becoming further separated from her family by going to school," Mukerjee said. "She had actually witnessed her father be pulled over and arrested by ICE officials."

Mukerjee, director of immigrant and refugee health at Tulane University School of Medicine's community pediatrics department, said cases like her patient's are common, with 80 percent or more of children entering her clinic with previous exposure to trauma. For many children grappling with complex immigration dynamics within their families, trauma, stress and anxiety can manifest through behavioral issues in school.

New Orleans has seen its share of the relatively new wave of Central American immigrants. According to data collected in the U.S. Census, Hondurans make up the largest immigrant group in the New Orleans metro area, with a population of 30,025 and counting. In the last three to five years, however, the influx of Honduran migrants has changed rapidly in appearance.

Rather than adults traveling to New Orleans in search of a new life, the city has seen a surge in unaccompanied minors crossing the border in search of their parents. In 2013, there were 21,351 reported cases of unaccompanied minors in New Orleans, nearly double the 11,411 cases the year prior, according to the TRAC Immigration project, a Syracuse University effort that tracks and analyzes immigration data.

"When the violence became just a huge issue in Central America, primarily in Honduras, five years ago, that's when we see kids fleeing Honduras, and other Central American countries, and then trying to locate their parents in the United States," Mukerjee said.

With violence, migration and, in some cases, forced separation, comes trauma. Cities with significant populations of Central American migrants like New Orleans are having to grapple with the demand for specialized mental health resources, especially in the pediatric sector.

"It ends up being this very complex, overlapping series of traumatic events that we work with," said Ryan Durand, a bilingual clinician at Children's Bureau of New Orleans, a child advocacy organization. "It's never just one single trauma that we get to work with. It's usually several."

Experts say they generally see this trauma occur across three primary points of time: violence experienced in the child's country of origin, any adverse experiences that occur along the journey, and the stress of resettlement in the United States.

In countries like Honduras and Guatemala, gang violence, the death of a family member and general instability related to hunger and poverty can grip the communities where children lived.

Coupled with the assault, abandonment and detainment they can face along the way, unaccompanied minors enter the U.S. carrying extreme emotional distress, according to experts like Ann Holleman, an English Language Learner Coordinator at New Orleans College Preparatory Academies. She likened the effects of trauma she has seen in migrant children to that encountered by Syrian refugees.

"People who just ran with the clothes on their back for their lives and got into flimsy rubber boats and tried to get across the Mediterranean without drowning," Holleman said. "The issues of trauma I see here are more similar to that. Really the kids are very much like refugees to me."

After a child crosses the border, the threat of deportation, stigmatization and general social or financial instability for their family often hangs over the child's head, and the risk of retraumatization is high, according to Mukerjee.

Mary Moran, executive director of the New Orleans-based advocacy group Our Voice Nuestra Voz, said many of the families her organization works with go through a period of "lock down," in which they are scared to engage with the community due to fear of deportation.

"These are things that now have to happen indoors or behind closed doors," Moran said. "Kids don't go to summer camp or families don't do extracurricular activities, even if it is accessible to them in a costly way, because people are afraid to be visible."

The threat of being deported or seeing their family members removed from the country places a strain on the child's nervous system, whether the child has crossed the border themselves or is a U.S.-born child in a mixed status family, according to Luis Zayas, a professor of psychiatry and social work at the University of Texas at Austin

"The brain secretes certain hormones and -- to help us -- during those periods of fight, or flight, or even freeze," Zayas said. "And specifically they will return to normal after the stress. But, in these kids, it's always on."

Complicated by language barriers, immigration status and layers of trauma accumulated across multiple countries, these children are burdened with what medical professionals call Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).

When children are exposed to an intense level of stress over long periods of time, it can result in changes to the brain's anatomy. The Center for Disease Control conducted a new study of ACEs in 2010 with data collected from 10 states and nearly 54,000 participants. The data revealed that ACEs can result in a number of issues, including substance abuse problems, depression, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, liver disease and general instability.

In the short term, trauma can remain unrecognized or unknown to parents, teachers and medical professionals, and can lead to behavioral problems in school. It can manifest in subtle ways, such as a general apathy toward school, Zayas said.

"Their grades might really drop," Zayas said. "There are students that are resilient and they can compartmentalize and do their schoolwork, but most children don't have that capacity."

Holleman said she's seen students show physical symptoms of PTSD. Stomach aches and migraines are common, among other somatic responses induced by stress.

"While schools want to emphasize academics, if people are extremely traumatized, they have trouble functioning," Holleman said. "We have many students who have trouble getting through the day."

When students exhibit these symptoms, they are commonly misread by teachers as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Mukerjee said that she regularly receives visits from students at the request of teachers who lack context about past trauma in the child's life.

Mukerjee described a 7-year-old boy who was having trouble concentrating and completing his schoolwork when he came to the clinic. After talking with the boy's mother, Mukerjee discovered the problem was rooted in trauma, not ADHD. Three years prior, when the boy still lived in Honduras, his father was murdered by gang members outside their house.

"The little child opened the door right after his father had been murdered," Mukerjee said. "He witnessed the body and has been ever since incredibly traumatized."

Non-profit agencies, city officials and mental health professionals alike are now having to find solutions to deal with both the specific needs of migrant children and the growing demand.

Berre Burch, director of the Project Loss and Survival Team at Children's Bureau, said even when the organization isn't running a waiting list for English-speaking therapists, they have a long one for their Spanish-speaking ones.

"I see what is happening at the border and I really worry about things as a community here, but also nationwide, about our capacity to really respond and respond effectively," Burch said.The six-month check-ins with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in New Orleans were nerve-racking but part of a routine Nancy Oliva-Baca had become used to since the process began in October 2014.

Oliva-Baca, who came to the U.S. in 2014 while fleeing violence in Honduras, was on what is called a temporary order of supervision. The order allows thousands of immigrants who enter the United States without legal documents to check in periodically with ICE so they can remain in the country. Under previous administrations, individuals with orders of supervision were not deemed a priority for deportation, either because they did not have criminal records or were not considered a flight-risk because they had family in the U.S.

That policy changed in 2017, and immigration officials expanded deportation priorities to include anyone unlawfully present in the United States, whether they had a criminal record or not.

Oliva-Baca was aware of the risk, but she still expected the check-in on Friday, June 29 to be like all the others.

She thought she would sign the document that showed ICE she had appeared, and then go home, as she had done every six months since she crossed the border with her son Christopher, who is now 18. Instead, she was taken to jail, and then a detention facility.

Oliva-Baca recently shared her story over the phone, calling from La Salle Detention Center in Jena, Louisiana, where she has been detained since the June 29 check-in.

Until she was detained, the only thing Oliva-Baca remembered being different about her meeting with ICE was that they asked her about her children's legal status for the first time.

Her daughter, Yoani, is 9 and a U.S. citizen. Christopher, she explained, qualified for asylum in March 2017 and the family was in the process of trying to apply for his green card when she was detained.

"They didn't explain to me why I was being arrested. They don't tell you where you are going. I was allowed to use my phone once to call my husband to tell him I was being detained," Oliva-Baca said.

Oliva-Baca first came to the United States 18 years ago and was deported five years later. She returned to the U.S. to work intermittently and left on her own accord to reunite with her family in Honduras. She was living in Honduras in 2014 and said she had no plans to return to the United States until her son started receiving death threats after refusing to join a gang.

"They tried to force him into it and hurt him, but he never joined them. I had no intention to come back, but we did it to save his life," she said.

Bryan Cox, a spokesperson for the New Orleans ICE field office confirmed that Oliva-Baca was taken into custody on June 29.

"Ms. Oliva-Baca was previously removed from the U.S. in October 2005 and she subsequently illegally re-entered the country, which is a felony act. ICE encountered her again in October 2014, and while subject to detention and removal, ICE exercised discretion and temporarily released Ms. Oliva-Baca from custody on an Order of Supervision based on the totality of the circumstances at the time," he added in a written statement.

Like many immigrants without legal status arrested in New Orleans, Oliva-Baca first was taken to St. Tammany Parish Jail and then LaSalle Detention Center, nearly five hours away from New Orleans.

Her children remain with their father. Oliva-Baca did not want to name him in this article because of his legal status.

Oliva-Baca said that at least at LaSalle she has been able to maintain phone contact with her family.

Shortly after her arrest, The New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice, sent out a petition signed by more than 1,200 people. It asked ICE to approve a stay of deportation and allow Oliva-Baca to remain with her family in the United States, continuing the check-in process with immigration officials.

Chloe Sigal, with the Congress of Day Laborers, a New Orleans-based advocacy group for immigrant rights, confirmed on Tuesday (July 24) that request had been denied. She is still in ICE custody and has not yet been notified when she will be sent back to Honduras.

"This is the most painful thing that has happened to me," Oliva-Baca said. "They have taken me from my children and they are being harmed by this."

Maria Clark writes about immigration, health, doctors, patients and health care in Louisiana for NOLA.com | The Times Picayune and NOLA Mundo. Reach her at mclark@nola.com or 504.258.5306. Or follow her on Twitter at @MariaPClark1 .The exercise is as old as the Republic, but the first thing you need to understand about redistricting is that hot-water cornbread is as ubiquitous in north Louisiana as etouffee is in the south, says Rick Gallot, the Ruston Democratic representatFor many at the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Heart & Soul Gala, heart disease is personal -- whether it be themselves, a family member or friends. On June 16, this gala filled the Empire Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans with supporters to raise funds to continue the mission against heart disease.

The party started in the ballroom's reception area, where cocktails were served while guests perused silent auction items. An ivy wall with a swirl of red roses greeted guests at the entrance, ready for party pics. There were separate sitting areas to gather for conversation. Inside the ballroom, there were floral arrangements of white lilies and hydrangeas accented with red roses on tables covered with white linens with red napkins. Wink Events was in charge of the party look.

A three-course dinner and music from Stormy the Band were part of the gala, as was a live auction, including items such as 18-kt. white gold and diamond earrings from Friend and Co. Fine Jewelers and a trip to Fiji with a three-night stay for two guests at Raiwasa Private Resort, including food and non-alcoholic beverages, private car and chauffeur, as well as resort activities.

A video produced by AHA/ASA was shown featuring the Open Your Heart co-chairs Arlene and Alan Philipson, who lost their son, Andy Philipson to heart disease. Mrs. Philpson, like her mother, was born with congenital heart defects that shows symptoms at a later age than birth or childhood; this also happened to Andy. For the Philpsons, the event was a way to get the message out about the importance of supporting the AHA/ASA.

Those in the audience watching were event co-chairs Vicky and Peter Sperling, board Chair Dr. Kathleen Kennedy, board President Molly Kimball and Brad Schlotterer, Heidi and Dr. Gerry Cvitanovich, Mary Lynn and Dr. William Lunn, Nina and Ken Friend, Elizabeth and Keith Crawford (Elizabeth was married to Andy Philpson when he passed away), Dr. Maya Irimpen, Jessica and Ray Brandt, Jennifer and Scott Walker, Macon Moore and Michelle Menough, Tina and John Zollinger, Jean and Mark Hatfield, Lynn and Drew Marsh, Machelle and John Payne, Paul Flower, Dara and Dale Smith, Dr. John Hamide, Marion Mathes, Drs. Leslie and Brad Gottsegen, Diedra Dias, Hollie and Kevin Erickson, Laurie and Claude Williams, Terry and Brad Weaver, Leann and Ted Moses, Drs. Ellen Schneider and Sam Alexander, Angela and Tom Patrias, Chelsea and Nicholas Adams, Kathy and Randy Opotowsky, and Miss International Kelsey Craft.

Click here to view the video about the Philipsons.

*******

To reach Sue Strachan, send an email to socialscene@nola.com or call 504.450.5904. Find her on Twitter and Instagram as @suestrachan504, with the hashtag #nolasocialscene. Visit her on Facebook. And, come back to NOLA.com/society for more New Orleans area event and party news and photos.Then it was the Senates turn to take a stab at the legislation. And it remained the Senates turn for months, as Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, stalled for time, trying to placate some male senators concerned about their potential financial exposure under the House bill, as The Wall Street Journal recently described it. (Wouldnt we all love to know the identities of those worried senators  and, more important, why theyre sweating the issue?)

After pressure mounted for Mr. McConnell to hold a vote, including from all of the chambers women members, the Senate finally rushed through a bill in late May. The Senate bill is inferior to the House version  with which it must now be reconciled  in several ways. In addition to muddying the definition of harassment, the Senate legislation would allow lawmakers accused of harassment to avoid full financial responsibility by requiring that they reimburse the Treasury only for compensatory damages, ra ther than also for other damages; its not clear why. Instead of providing accusers with legal counsel, the Senate bill would provide them with a confidential adviser  who would be barred from dispensing legal advice, and it would keep in place some of the unnecessary hoops accusers currently must jump through before they can sue.

In short, if the House bill is a root canal, then the Senate version is a filling  it would leave things better than they were before, but it would not go far enough toward addressing the rot at the core of the existing law. And if ever there were a time to excavate rot, it is now, while so many of the systems that have long protected harassers and abusers are being exposed and there is momentum for change.

Congress likely will fail to reconcile these bills before the House takes its August recess , but once lawmakers return, theyll have the chance to demonstrate their seriousness by making quick work of ending this stalemate  and keeping the House bills provisions intact. Anything short of an overhaul of Congresss sexual harassment policies would be a disappointment. If lawmakers cant even do right by their own, how can we expect them to do right by the nation as a whole  on this need or any other?

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTOpinion), and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter.BUSINESS DAY

Because of an editing error, an article on Wednesday about the shuttering of Ivanka Trumps namesake brand misstated the name of a watchdog organization. It is Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, not Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics.



The DealBook column on Wednesday about the Main Street Investors Coalition misstated the operations of ValueEdge Advisors. It is a corporate governance consulting firm, not a proxy advisory firm.

ARTS

An article on Tuesday about a New York Supreme Court order that a Persian bas-relief be returned to Iran misstated the city from which the artifact was stolen. The piece was stolen from Persepolis, not Tehran. (The theft was reported to officials in Tehran.)

THURSDAY STYLES

An article last Thursday about nontraditional summer parties misstated the status of a Texas bill to restrict transgender bathroom use. The bill was not passed.Lucy McBath said she was anxious as she sat outside a Caribbean restaurant in Sandy Springs, Ga., on Tuesday night, surrounded by her supporters as she waited to learn whether her nascent political career would continue.

By 11 p.m., Ms. McBath, 58, who became an anti-gun violence activist after her son was fatally shot in 2012, had her answer: She would become the Democratic nominee for the Sixth Congressional Districts seat after winning a runoff election against Kevin Abel, 53.

I couldnt believe it, Ms. McBath said in an interview on Wednesday. The first thing I said was, Thank you, Lord.

Ms. McBath, who received 53.7 percent of the vote against Mr. Abel, a businessman and first-time candidate, will now face Representative Karen Handel in the general election in November. This years midterm elections have a surge of progressive female candidates, and Ms. McBath will stand in stark contrast to Ms. Handel, 56, who has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association.WASHINGTON  A group of House Republicans escalated their feud with the deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, on Wednesday, introducing articles of impeachment in a long-shot bid to oust the official overseeing the special counsel inquiry into Russian election interference.

The move was seen as much as a political maneuver as an act of congressional oversight. The group of 11, led by Representatives Mark Meadows of North Carolina and Jim Jordan of Ohio, would need the support of a majority of the House and two-thirds of the Senate to convict Mr. Rosenstein. The resolution they filed does not require the entire House to vote before Congress adjourns for its summer recess on Friday.

But it could provide President Trump with more ammunition to attack Mr. Rosenstein, who has been in Mr. Trumps cross hairs since he appointed the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, to investigate Russias plot to manipulate the 2016 presidential election and whether any Trump associates were complicit.But an elegant dinner Tuesday night at Trump International Hotel featuring Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, Donald Trump Jr. and Turning Point USAs 24-year-old founder, Charlie Kirk, revealed that more than anything, this week is a chance for the teenagers to reject the stereotype that their generation is exclusively liberal and to finally be themselves, Make America Great Again hats and all.

You are the only real rebels left in this country, Mr. Trump said, to thunderous applause.

For some, the conference is an opportunity to swap stories about the struggle to express their conservative opinions at school. Jarrett Wiggonton, an 18-year-old from Virginia, said that at a recent pep rally, his and his friends Trump signs and paraphernalia were confiscated by teachers.

This is the first time Ive been with many young conservatives, because its a pretty unpopular opinion with people my age, he said, as a boy next to him tried to redo his bow tie using a huge mirror.

Students paid $15 to attend the conference, lodging included, after being selected through an application process. The dinner was an additional $50  all in all, a sweet deal to meet their political idols or other like-minded youths.

We all just met and were like best bros now! said Megan Scott, 17, of Marlborough, Mass., pulling Mr. Juersivich and Khaliq Rodriquez, a 16-year-old from New York, into a tight hug.After a 31-year-old man used a cargo truck to crush 86 people to death on the promenade in Nice, France, his distraught father rushed to tell reporters his son had once suffered a nervous breakdown.

When Omar Mateen used a Sig Sauer MCX semiautomatic rifle to gun down 49 people at an Orlando nightclub, relatives described him as bipolar.

And in Canada this week, after a 29-year-old man opened fire on a street full of cafes, hitting 15 people and killing two, his family issued a statement: Faisal Hussain, it said, had long struggled with mental illness.

The Islamic State offered another explanation: All three men, it claimed, were its soldiers.

Not long after Mr. Hussains family issued its statement, the Islamic States news agency put out a bulletin claiming the attacker had been inspired by the terrorist group  and reigniting a debate about whether an individual who is mentally ill can truly be said to act at the behest of a terrorist group. The Comedy-Destroying, Soul-Affirming Art of Hannah Gadsby: Another great take on the worlds favorite anti-comedy comedian.

______

And We Want to Know 

I usually end my newsletter with a recommendation, but we have some additional writers coming aboard soon, and I wanted to see what you all think of potential beats and themes.

A few ideas weve been kicking around:

Religion and Faith: Australia lacks the strict separation of church state found in the United States, creating interactions across the government (especially involving education) that seem to be rarely explored. Where are the tension points, and who are the people and places shaping how faiths of all kinds affect Australian life?

Oceans: Weve done a lot of in-depth ocean coverage already (the Great Australian Bight; assisted evolution and coral reefs) but is it worth expanding into other areas, from the business of the seas to more in-depth looks at the impact of climate change?

Aussie Values: What does it mean to achieve the Australian dream today and who is restricted from that dream? Is the country as egalitarian as it thinks, and if not, whats being overlooked as Australia has become one of the richest, most urbanized countries in the world?

If you have tips or ideas within any of these categories  or just a vote in support of one or the other  please let us know at nytaustralia@nytimes.com.

And feel free to send us your own ideas.

What are the kinds of stories or areas of coverage in Australia and the region that would make you or those you know read more of The New York Times and subscribe?Our guide to dance performances happening this weekend and in the week ahead.

A.I.M. AND MOVEMENT OF THE PEOPLE DANCE COMPANY at Rumsey Playfield (Aug. 1, 8 p.m.). As part of SummerStage, this shared program features Joya Powells Movement of the People Dance Company, which is committed to exploring historic and current injustices through dance, and Kyle Abrahams contemporary group. Mr. Abraham, who will make his choreographic debut at New York City Ballet in the fall, presents a varied program, including Strict Love, The Quiet Dance and Drive. The performance is preceded by a preshow discussion between Mr. Abraham and the dance writer Eva Yaa Asantewaa; admission to the talk requires an R.S.V.P. And on Tuesday at 11 a.m., also at Rumsey Playfield, Mr. Abraham hosts a special youth matinee.

212-360-1399, cityparksfoundation.org/summerstage

BOMBAZO DANCE CO. AND THE SABROSURA EFFECT at St. Marys Park (July 27, 8 p.m.). SummerStage teams up with the Bronx organization Pepatian to present two groups: Bombazo, the Bronx-based drum and dance group led by Milteri Tucker, specializes in traditional Afro-Puerto Rican bomba and Afro-Caribbean music and dance, while the Sabrosura Effect is a Latin-fusion dance company founded by Beatrice Capote and Miguel Aparicio that melds Cuban folkloric material with New York-style salsa and contemporary movement. A community workshop featuring Alvin Aileys Revelations will be held before the show at 7 p.m.

212-360-1399, cityparksfoundation.org/summerstage

JANIS CLAXTON DANCE at Lincoln Center Plaza (Aug. 1-5 at various times). In Pop-Up Duets (Fragments of Love), this Scotland-based choreographer presents a series that explores romantic interludes as part of Lincoln Center Out of Doors. At select times in Hearst Plaza and Josie Robertson Plaza, pairs of dancers will part from the crowd to converge in seemingly spontaneous duets that explore different facets of love. The dancers are Joanne Pirrie, Albert Garcia, Amy Hollinshead and Valerio Di Giovanni.

lcoutofdoors.orgThe Hitchcocks married in 1821, the same year Edward took up as a Congregationalist pastor in Conway, Mass. That summer, as a kind of honeymoon project, they set themselves the task to document every species of mushroom in the vicinity of their home. Orras second book, Fungi Selecti Picti (Selected Painted Mushrooms), featured 100 mycological specimens whose tops she painted with watery inks of gray, brown and amber and whose undersides she detailed with pen. I imagine Edward and Orra setting out after prayers to find some new mushroom, crouching in the Massachusetts moss, holding a fungus up to the clear light of day, he counting the gills while she sketched the shape of its cap. This was love in the time of science.

Edward was named professor at Amherst in 1826, teaching chemistry, natural history and geology and later becoming president of the university. For the next 36 years, Orra produced large-scale diagrams and illustrations for Edwards lessons, for which she received neither pay nor fame. Those that survive prove not only the breadth of her scientific knowledge, but also the creativity with which she expressed it.Billy McFarland, whose efforts at running the disastrous Fyre Festival led to wire fraud charges last year, pleaded guilty on Thursday to a new set of federal charges related to a fraudulent ticket-selling scam that authorities said he operated while out on bail in the first case.

The plea was entered in Federal District Court in Manhattan where investigators had charged Mr. McFarland, 26, with selling fictitious tickets to high-profile events like Burning Man, the Super Bowl and Coachella.

At least 30 people had spent $150,000 for the tickets from Mr. McFarlands company, NYC VIP Access, according to a statement from the United States Attorneys Office.

These customers later learned that the tickets didnt exist, and that this was just another fraud in McFarlands disturbing pattern of deception, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said in a statement.Except for Lohengrins. The grail knight is seen here as an electrician who provides the spark in a land that has lost its power. He lands in a neo-Romanesque transformer station; his swan is an abstract flash of white; his sword is a lightning bolt. Although dressed in blue, the color he is associated with is a charged orange, too bright to be true. And so these New Leipzig School artists, as they often do, pose the old, the new, the supernatural and the modern in productive, ambivalent, veiling tension.

This does not really sound like the work of Mr. Sharon.

He is the closest thing that American opera has to a genuine avant-gardist. His Hopscotch drove audiences around Los Angeles in limousines, to scenes on top of a building or in a parking lot. His Invisible Cities mingled commuters with performers and listeners at Union Station. His War of the Worlds set an alien landing in and around Walt Disney Concert Hall. He has produced John Adams, Peter Eotvos and even Wagner in Europe, but he has never directed at a major American opera house. Instead, he formed his own, collaborative company, the Industry, and has worked with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Cleveland Orchestra. All this, in a genuinely Wagnerian spirit, is an effort to find a 21st-century meaning for the idea of the Gesamtkunstwerk  the total work of art.

True to form, Mr. Sharons ideas seem to be different from those of Mr. Rauch and Ms. Loy: more political, reading Wagner closely and against the grain. This is a story, in the directors mind, not about Elsas tragic failure to keep her faith, but about Lohengrins unreasonable demands, about the hypocrisy of his  and, therefore, modernitys  inability to live up to his own vision for society.

And who will make that hypocrisy clear, challenge it, overcome it? The women.

Mr. Sharons Elsa, then, liberates herself from bondage: first from imprisonment, with Lohengrins help, then from the impossible marriage he imprisons her in. She is tied up, arms outstretched and crossed, when we first see her, about to be burned at the stake for her faith in her electrical hero; she crosses her arms again in her bridal procession; in her bridal chamber, she wants to read the Bible, but Lohengrin, that charismatic, handsome, political figure, wants sex, and hell tie her up to get it by force.A third suspect in the killing of the 20-year-old Florida rapper XXXTentacion was arrested on Wednesday morning in central Georgia, the United States Marshals said Thursday.

Robert Allen, 22, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was being held in Dodge County, Ga., according to sheriffs records there, after he was taken into custody by members of the Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force.

Deputy United States Marshal John Edgar said that the task force had been given information earlier in the week that Mr. Allen may have been staying with relatives at a home in Eastman, Ga. After conducting a lot of surveillance over the last couple days, he said, Marshals approached the home on Wednesday and arrested Mr. Allen without incident at about 11:45 a.m. Mr. Allen will likely be extradited to Broward County, Fla., within the next 10 days, Mr. Edgar said.

Mr. Allen, who had previously been named a person of interest in the case, was one of four men indicted on first-degree murder charges by a Broward County grand jury last week.There are books that enter your life before their time; you can acknowledge their beauty and excellence, and yet walk away unchanged. This was how I first read Elizabeth Hardwicks Sleepless Nights, after it was recommended in David Shields Reality Hunger, a thrilling manifesto that tries to make the case that our contemporary world is no longer well represented by realist fiction. While I loved Sleepless Nights on that first read  it is brilliant, brittle and strange, a book unlike any preconceived notion I had of what a novel could be  I moved on from it easily. Ive lived two thousand and some odd days since, read hundreds of other books and published three of my own, all in a bright, hot landscape of somewhat-realist fiction.

The middle of the night has become a lonely stretch of time, especially in the past few years, with vastly increased anxiety  over climate change and politics and what lies in wait in my little sons future. I normally salve insomnia with reading, but few new books have felt so revolutionary or so brave as to be able to rock my tired brain to attention. Only the great ones remain: George Eliots infinite wisdom in Middlemarch, Jane Austens gracious and low-stakes sublimity, Dantes The Inferno, which makes our world above seem downright kind. And strangely, of all the books I have reread to comfort myself, I have turned most often to Hardwicks Sleepless Nights, not without a little bitter tang of irony because of its title. The book didnt dovetail with my heart on the first reading, but the world has changed around me, and now I find myself hungering for its particularity, the steady voice of Elizabeth Hardwick a balm to my aching, vulnerable mind.

Elizabeth Hardwick grew up in Kentucky, a charming young woman with a dagger of a mind. She left for New York City after college and took up with the Partisan Review crowd, becoming best friends with Mary McCarthy and writing for The New York Review of Books from its inception. Sleepless Nights, her third novel, is unambiguously her chef doeuvre; it was published when she was 63, after a career of writing sharp, ingenious pieces of criticism and after her long marriage to (and divorce from, then reunification with) the poet Robert Lowell, whose profound psychological struggles and infidelities and plagiarism of Hardwicks letters in his books must surely have tested her strength. As a result, Sleepless Nights feels elemental, an eruption of everything that had been slowly building up over decades. Though there are books that are distant kin to it  Renata Adlers Speedboat, Maggie Nelsons Bluets  I have read nothing close enough to be called a sibling. This is rare; a feat of originality.

Sleepless Nights brings the profound gift of plotlessness, as it is organized more like a piece of music than like a traditional novel, with its long slow build of themes and lives; as such, you can open it to any chapter and start to read, just as you can play movements from a symphony out of order without damaging the experience of letting individual movements pour over you. You can put the novel down at 3 a.m. and toddle off to bed, then pick it up in a different place a week later, and be carried away by its voice and description and sheer astonishing linguistic power and flexibility.Michael Lewis has spent his career excavating subjects that seem, at first glance, almost aggressively boring: esoteric areas like sabermetrics, heuristics, mortgage-backed securities and credit-default swaps, algorithmic trading based on high-frequency financial data, sovereign debt. No matter how arcane the material, he invariably finds some fascinating narrative thread to suck readers in.

His latest work, about government bureaucracy, is no exception.

The Fifth Risk, which W.W. Norton will publish in October, paints a dire picture of the chaos and mismanagement in the departments of Energy, Agriculture and Commerce during the transition from President Barack Obama to President Trump. Within these seemingly dull, benign bureaucratic systems, Mr. Lewis encountered devoted public servants struggling with understaffed and neglected agencies while confronting potentially catastrophic risks. In the Department of Energy, which oversees international nuclear risk, understaffing means there might not be enough inspectors to track down black market uranium. Proposed cuts within the Department of Agriculture could dilute critical anti-poverty programs like school lunches and food stamps.

I was shocked by the richness of the material, Mr. Lewis said. Buried in the middle of this is a civics lesson, for myself as much as anyone else.

The book began last year as a series of dispatches for Vanity Fair, where Mr. Lewis was a contributing writer for a decade. (He has since left the magazine and shifted his longform journalism to Audible, the audiobook producer and retailer). Mr. Lewis went to Washington to report on how different departments were adapting under the Trump administration. His dreary-sounding assignment was to study the material that had been prepared for political appointees coming in to head the departments under the new administration. (Agriculture employees, for example, had prepared a 13-volume overview of its programs that spanned 2,300 pages). He found it riveting.Its almost August, which for some of us means theres only one more month to look awkward in flip-flops and a thick smear of sunblock while we lie on a hammock or a sandy towel, sweaty and heat-dazed and content, with an open box of ginger snaps and a pile of books at our side. Thrillers, probably. This week we recommend a bunch of good ones  from the latest Megan Abbott novel (Give Me Your Hand, about rival scientists with a long history) to a new take on Raymond Chandler and his classic detective Philip Marlowe (Only to Sleep, by Lawrence Osborne) to Flynn Berrys tale of a daughter seeking answers and vengeance after a murder close to home (A Double Life).

And because midsummer nights screams neednt be limited to fiction, weve thrown in the true-life story of Arthur Conan Doyles involvement in a turn-of-the-century murder case (as written by the former Times reporter Margalit Fox), along with Allie Rowbottoms surprisingly dark family memoir of life as a Jell-O descendant. Bonus for Megan Abbott fans, just to bring things full circle: As Abbott did in her 2014 book The Fever, Rowbottom also offers a take on the mysterious twitching girls of Le Roy, N.Y. You might pair those books, like white wine and fish (or vodka and Jell-O), and ease out of summer that way, uneasily.

Gregory Cowles

Senior Editor, Books

CANDY, by Terry Southern and Mason Hoffenberg. (Grove, $16.) This satire of Voltaires Candide and parody of smutty novels, first published (and banned) in France in 1958, is now available in a 60th anniversary edition. It follows the story of Candy Christian, a young woman of thrice-scrubbed innocence who possesses nuclear pheromonal impact and a heart too big to deprive men. Every sentence in Candy seems to have a little propeller on it, our critic Dwight Garner writes. This episodic novel still lives because its joints are loose. Its that rare book that smacks of a tight deadline only in good ways. There was no time to overthink it, to gum up the works.

JELL-O GIRLS: A Family History, by Allie Rowbottom. (Little, Brown, $28.) Rowbottom  a descendant of the Jell-O fortune  weaves together her family history and the story of the classic American dessert to produce a book that alternately surprises and mesmerizes. Despite its title, this isnt a bland tale that goes down easy; Jell-O Girls is dark and astringent, a cutting rebuke to its delicate, candy-colored namesake, our critic Jennifer Szalai writes. Its also the kind of project that could turn unwieldy and even unbearable in the wrong hands. But Rowbottom has the literary skills and the analytical cunning to pull it off. Like a novelist, she can imagine herself into the emotional lives of others, while connecting her story and theirs to a larger narrative of cultural upheaval.(Want to get this briefing by email? Heres the sign-up.)

Good morning.



Heres what you need to know:

A surprise deal on trade

 President Trump welcomed a new phase in the relationship between the United States and the European Union on Wednesday, after reaching an agreement to hold off on imposing further tariffs and to work toward dropping existing ones on steel and aluminum.

Mr. Trump made the announcement in the Rose Garden with the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. (Not in attendance: A CNN reporter who was barred for what the White House deemed inappropriate questions.)

The U.S. has already imposed billions of dollars in tariffs on European products for what the Trump administration has labeled unfair trade practices, raising costs for American companies and consumers.MUMBAI, India  Last year, the Trump administration blocked a Chinese company from buying an Ohio-based aluminum maker, Aleris, citing concerns about national security.

Will President Trump and his advisers feel differently about an Indian company purchasing Aleris instead?

On Thursday, one of Indias biggest industrial conglomerates, the Aditya Birla Group, announced that its aluminum and copper subsidiary had struck a deal to buy Aleris for $2.6 billion, including the assumption of existing debt.

The transaction would make the Birla subsidiary, called Hindalco, the second-largest aluminum producer in the world by volume, after China Hongqiao Group.Prepare to be excited about a blockbuster economic report on Friday morning  but not too excited.

Preliminary data from the Commerce Department is expected to show that United States gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of more than 4 percent in April through June. Some economists think growth may have topped 5 percent  a figure reached only once in the eight years of the Obama administration as the economy recovered from the recession.

While he said he didnt know the actual number, President Trump didnt wait to herald the rosy news. At an event in Iowa on Thursday, he said he was expecting a very strong result, noting predictions that ran to 5 percent or higher. It could be very close, he said. Could even happen.

Well take anything with a four in front, he added.

[Update: On Friday the government said that the economy grew at a 4.1 percent annual rate last quarter.]

Even a number starting with a four, though, will almost certainly be misleading. Several one-time factors  including a surge in exports tied, at least in part, to Mr. Trumps trade policies  probably combined to pump up growth in the second quarter. Those effects wont last, and economists expect growth to slow in the second half of the year. Pretty much no one outside the White House thinks a growth rate of 4 percent is sustainable in the long term.When President Trump met with Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, at the White House, the two said they were entering a new phase in their relationship. Crucial to that will be natural gas.

Demand for natural gas  a cleaner-burning fossil fuel than coal or oil  is rising worldwide, and the United States is a growing supplier of liquefied natural gas, or L.N.G. The European Union, meanwhile, wants to diversify its energy supply, which remains somewhat dependent on Russia, with which it has a difficult relationship.

Mr. Trump said on Wednesday that the 28-nation European Union would be a massive buyer of L.N.G., before adding, We have plenty of it.

Any such shift wont happen overnight, though.

Europe needs more gas

In simple terms: Europes consumption of natural gas is increasing, and its domestic production is falling. Its imports have risen rapidly in recent years, and will most likely increase further in the future.Ken Kurson is a confidant of Rudolph W. Giuliani. He is a onetime speechwriter for Donald J. Trump. And he is a close friend of Jared Kushner, Mr. Trumps son-in-law, who appointed Mr. Kurson to run his weekly newspaper, The New York Observer.

This spring, those relationships appeared to yield a prestigious offer from the Trump White House: a seat on the board of the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal body that doles out millions of dollars a year in grants to cultural institutions.

First, Mr. Kurson had to undergo a government background check. As part of that process, the Federal Bureau of Investigation learned about allegations that he had harassed a New York doctor in 2015, according to Mount Sinai Hospital, where the doctor worked.

In late spring, the F.B.I. interviewed Mount Sinai doctors and others about the alleged harassment, according to several people familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity to discuss a delicate situation. The female doctor had become so worried that Mount Sinai arranged for someone to accompany her to and from the hospital for at least a few days, two of the people said.Few international grapes do justice to a multitude of regions as well as riesling.

When planted in the right climate and soil, riesling has the wonderful capacity to reflect the characteristics of a particular place better than most grapes. At Wine School, we have examined rieslings from Germany, both dry and moderately sweet, and dry rieslings from Austria.

Now, lets look at dry American rieslings and see how they compare.

American is a more generalized view than I would prefer, but it is the best of several alternatives.

Ideally, we would focus tightly on a particular region: Finger Lakes rieslings, for example, or rieslings from the Old Mission Peninsula of Michigan. But such a narrow examination poses a fundamental problem: These wines are not distributed widely enough. I cant find three Michigan rieslings in New York  good ones, at least  while few Finger Lakes rieslings are available in, say, California.

One option might be to look at several mass-marketed American rieslings. But again, too few of these wines would bear up under close examination. So I have chosen good American rieslings from three different states (California, New York and Oregon) with the hope that readers will be able to find at least one of these, or good alternatives.On Feb. 12, 1946, Tech. Sgt. Isaac Woodard Jr. boarded a bus in Georgia to return home to his wife in South Carolina after completing service in New Guinea and the Philippines. During the ride, Woodard, who was black, asked the bus driver if he would have time to take a piss at the next stop. The driver, objecting to Woodards language, said, Boy, go on back and sit down and keep quiet and dont be talking out so loud. Fresh from serving his country in wartime, the soldier shot back: Goddamn it, talk to me like Im talking to you. Im a man just like you. An hour later during a scheduled stop in Batesburg, S.C., the incensed bus driver called over local law-enforcement officers, telling them that the soldiers foul mouth offended a white female passenger. The police confronted Woodard and dragged him out of sight of the other passengers to unleash a barrage of baton strikes and punches to the face that ruptured his eyeballs. Still in uniform, he was taken to jail and held overnight. The next morning, his eyesight now permanently gone, the police gave him a hot towel and some eye drops and left him at the nearest veterans hospital. Woodard survived war overseas only to be blinded by the war at home.

Civil rights leaders met with President Harry Truman seven months later to encourage him to end lynch-mob violence against black Americans. After hearing stories of a black veteran and his wife who were executed in a hail of bullets in Georgia, another mutilated with a meat cleaver and blowtorch in Louisiana and the violent blinding of Woodard, Trumans face fell pale. He rose from his chair and exclaimed: My God! I had no idea it was as terrible as that! Weve got to do something! The next day Truman informed his attorney general that policy was needed to prevent lynchings and, in December, Truman created the Presidents Committee on Civil Rights to look into racial violence and civil rights. A year later, the committee published its report proposing a number of reforms, including the abolishment of poll taxes, anti-lynching legislation and exempting members of the armed forces from segregation within the military and in society at-large. Though anti-lynching legislation died in Congress and the poll tax was deemed a constitutional issue, Truman could act on the desegregation of the armed forces on his own.

July 26 marks the 70th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9981, Trumans landmark directive to desegregate the United States military  and the signature achievement of his nascent civil rights program. He declared it was his administrations policy that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin. Truman took this action despite significant resistance from defense leadership. Kenneth Royall, then secretary of the Army, argued that the Army shouldnt be used as an instrument of social evolution. The Marine Corps commandant, Clifton Cates, complained that the problem of segregation is not the responsibility of the Armed Forces but is a problem of the nation, and that it was dangerous to use the military to change the nations racial politics. Overruling the Pentagon, Truman employed the military in a racial-desegregation social experiment in hopes of improving the American one. His use of executive powers signaled a commitment to a more inclusive version of the United States.July 26 marks the 70th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9981, President Harry Trumans directive to desegregate the United States military. To commemorate the milestone, Theodore Johnson compares Trumans strategic use of the military to make the country more inclusive to President Trumps politics that equate immigrations with national security and has stoked racial tensions on a national scale. Both approaches demonstrate that the military is an effective vehicle for pushing broader social policies and influencing the mood of the United States.Most criticism of the criminal justice system is directed at police strategies, like stop-and-frisk, which imply that a lot of people are up to no good, and at sentencing guidelines that result in mass incarceration, which suggest that society is better off with those questionably up-to-no-good people in prison.

In Misdemeanorland: Criminal Courts and Social Control in an Age of Broken Windows Policing (Princeton University Press), Issa Kohler-Hausmann, an associate professor of law and sociology at Yale University, explores another major cog of the system.

After a person is arrested as part of New York Citys famed Broken Windows enforcement, that person has to go somewhere, she writes. And where that person goes is misdemeanorland.

Ms. Kohler-Hausmann, who worked as a criminal defense lawyer in New York, peppers her book with surprising statistics and case histories drawn from her field work and interviews. She raises intriguing questions, both as a legal scholar and as a concerned citizen.We pulled into Japan when the peace treaty was signed, Admiral Duerk told The Orlando Sentinel in 1994, and we helped evacuate the P.O.W.s  a very moving experience.

In 1946 she was released from active service with the rank of lieutenant junior grade and returned to Ohio, working in several hospitals and earning a bachelors degree in ward management and teaching, medical and surgical nursing at what is now Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland in 1948.

That year she also joined the Naval Reserve, and in 1951, with the Korean War underway, she was recalled to active duty, serving as a nursing instructor at the Naval Hospital Corps School in Portsmouth. Later she had educational and management assignments overseas and in Philadelphia, San Diego and Washington, among other places.

In 1970, by then a captain, she was put in charge of the Navy Nurse Corps. At the same time that she was rising up the chain of command, the Navy was trying to make itself more attractive to women and to improve its opportunities for them. Seeking a woman to promote to the rank of rear admiral (a lower rank than a full admiral and the equivalent of an Army two-star general), it selected her from about two dozen candidates.

She quickly became the public face of what women could achieve in the Navy, a role she found daunting at first.

I did feel some pressure at the time, Admiral Duerk said in the 2016 interview, which was with the news service of Bowling Green State University, where she had received an honorary doctorate in 1973. Now I was not only supposed to know all about the nurse corps but also all about the U.S. Navy. It was a lot to take on because when you are the first women in any high-profile role everyone is watching you.This article is part of the Opinion Today newsletter. You can sign up here to receive the newsletter each weekday.

The first Michael Cohen-Donald Trump tape is a bit of a black box. Its not clear exactly what either one is saying or what they mean.

We now know that President Trump and his aides have repeatedly lied about the efforts to cover up an alleged affair he had with a former Playboy model. Almost everything else  including whether the tape creates new legal problems for Trump  is unknown at this point.

For anyone trying to follow this story, Id offer one overarching tip: You should put zero weight on the claims made by Trump and his team, including Rudy Giuliani. They have shown that theyre willing to lie whenever it suits their cause. Giulianis earlier description of the Cohen-Trump tape  from just six days ago  now appears laughably inaccurate.In keeping with this evolution, last weeks nation-state law says that, The right to exercise national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish people. Its proponents insist that such pronouncements neither amend nor undermine the 1948 Declarations commitments to equality because the legislation doesnt subordinate democratic rights to the protection of Jewish identity. This is a misleading claim: The nation-state law doesnt create any such hierarchy because it doesnt need to; other laws already do.

Notably, any person who expressly or by implication negates the existence of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state already is prohibited from running for Parliament, known as the Knesset. Defending Israeli democracy through such a law arguably is a legitimate way to guard against extremists who want to destroy the system from within, by abusing its own rules. But defending the states Jewishness in this manner runs roughshod over peoples equal right to democratic representation. It implies that Israels Jewish identity trumps its democratic character.

Last month, the Joint List, an alliance of mostly Arab-Israeli lawmakers, submitted to Parliament a bill called Basic Law: The State of All of Its Citizens that proposed redefining Israel from a Jewish state to a neutral republic. The Knesset didnt even vote on it, invoking a procedural rule to dismiss it outright as denying the countrys Jewishness.

As Ahmad Tibi, an Arab-Israeli member of the Knesset quipped back in 2009, This country is Jewish and democratic: Democratic toward Jews, and Jewish toward Arabs. The nation-state law has just made it more so.

In particular, the new law says that the state views the development of Jewish settlement as a national value and will act to encourage and promote its establishment and consolidation. In the context of Israels ongoing conflicts over demography and land, promoting Jewish settlement doesnt just mean favoring the interests of Jews; it also means undermining the interests of Arabs.

The cruel results of this strategy are well known from Israels settlement project in the West Bank, but similar measures have also been implemented inside Israel proper. In the 1980s, numerous Jewish villages were established in the north of the country as part of a heavily funded effort to Judaize the Galilee. (I grew up in one of them.) To set up these villages, the government confiscated the land of Arab Israelis and isolated their towns from one another. Their economic prospects waned; their national aspirations  such as for autonomy within Israel  were undermined. Last weeks law will give these old methods a fresh boost, including before the Supreme Court, where they have been challenged in the past.

Israels policy of promoting Jewish settlements has created de facto apartheid in the occupied territories of the West Bank. The nation-state law now formally endorses the use of similar apartheid methods within Israels recognized borders. What was long suspected has finally been made brutally clear: Israel cannot be both a Jewish state and a liberal democracy.In a 2016 paper, Declining Labor and Capital Shares, Simcha Barkai, a professor of finance at the London School of Business, found that the decline in labor share produced a big winner, the profit share, which rose from 2 percent of gross domestic product in 1984 to 16 percent in 2014. Barkai writes:

To offer a sense of magnitude, the combined shares of labor and capital decline 13.9 percentage points, which amounts to $1.2 trillion in 2014. Estimated profits in 2014 were approximately 15.7 percent, which is equal to $1.35 trillion or $17,000 for each of the approximately 80 million employees in the corporate nonfinancial sector.

In other words, shareholders and business owners amassed profits amounting to $1.35 trillion or $17,000 per employee as a result of the increase in profit share.

Barkai contends that market concentration is a major factor in the decline of labor share: Results show that the decline in the labor share is strongly associated with an increase in concentration.

Luigi Zingales, professor of entrepreneurship and finance at the University of Chicago, wrote that the sharp increase in profits reflects Warren Buffetts investment dictum: I look for economic castles protected by unbreachable moats   profits have risen because firms became better at creating product differentiation and erecting barriers to entry.

What does all this mean? I asked Daron Acemoglu, a professor of economics at M.I.T., and he emailed me back:

Both the decline in the labor share and stagnating median wages are a consequence of the fact that three things are happening: 1. Production is becoming more capital intensive (automation is part of it). 2. Some jobs are being offshored, so no more employment and wages in these jobs in the US, but companies doing the offshoring are still performing less labor-intensive parts of production and getting profits. 3. A general increase in profits.

Acemoglu notes that the third point should be considered separately because

without any change in production techniques and organization of production, the labor share may decline and wages may stagnate because firms that have greater market power (think Apple, think Google, think Microsoft) make a lot more (a lot a lot a lot more) profits.

Autor pointed out that the shift in the share of G.D.P. from labor to profits

affects inequality in that payments to capital and profits are much more unequally distributed than payment to wages. So if a larger fraction of G.D.P. is being paid to owners of capital and to claimants on profits (shareholders, owners of privately held corporations) and less in wages and salaries, this implies a rise in income inequality between typical households  which live on wage/salary income  and wealthier households that often have these other assets and instruments.

This bleak tale does not end here, as new pieces of evidence accumulate.

Dominique Guellec and Caroline Paunov, senior economists at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, argued in a 2017 paper, Digital Innovation and the Distribution of Income, that without government intervention, increased inequality is virtually inevitable:

The growing importance of digital innovation  new products and processes based on software code and data  has increased market rents, which benefit disproportionately the top income groups. In line with Schumpeters vision, digital innovation gives rise to winner-take-all market structures, characterized by higher market power and risk than was the case in the previous economy of tangible products.

Increased profits, in turn, accrue mainly to investors and top managers and less to the average workers, hence increasing income inequality.To the Editor:

Re The Truth About Trump Country, by Sarah Smarsh (Op-Ed, July 20):

Peoples use of the convenient Trump country label to describe the states that voted for the president not only lacks nuance, but is also a subliminal tool of differentiation and condescension that only exacerbates the growing urban and rural divide that plagues America. This term is wielded to write off these places as just aberrations from what supposedly smart and sane politics would yield.

It contributes to the sentiment on the left that these people in rural areas who voted for a perceived huckster and demagogue are a lost cause , that now that these people cast their lot with this man, it is beyond conceivable to engage with them, understand them and empathize with them.

This notion is pervasive, but for Democrats to take back the Midwest and make inroads in the South, it must be expunged.

Tyler Coady

Nashville

To the Editor:

Sarah Smarsh misses the mark in blaming the media for its alleged one-dimensional portrait of the working class. Elites are fully aware that people of color actually make up a good bit of the working class. That Trump supporters do not all rant about race or immigration does not absolve them of attaching themselves to a demagogue who does, to say nothing of the misogyny, disrespect for veterans and public servants, willful ignorance of world affairs and other disgraces.MEXICO CITY  More than 350 people, the majority of them students and protesters, have died since April in Nicaragua, where a broad social movement seeking the resignation of President Daniel Ortega was ignited by an aborted pension reform.

In a country of a little over six million inhabitants, the number of dead, jailed and missing is striking. Almost 40 years after Mr. Ortega and the Sandinista Front overthrew the corrupt and bloody Somoza dynasty that ruled Nicaragua for nearly half a century, students and activists are calling for the departure of what they consider an unforgivable historical repetition. Ortega y Somoza, son la misma cosa (Ortega and Somoza are the same thing) is their rallying cry.

Peasants, activists, the National Autonomous University, former and current opposition leaders have all come under attack; female protesters and even children have all become victims of Daniel Ortegas goon squads. The regime is rapidly becoming a dictatorship, something that the Latin American and international communities should do whatever they can to stop. No one wants another Venezuela in the region.

While the regional and international community was initially slow to react to the repression in Nicaragua, they have recently begun to take a more active role. The United Nations secretary general, Antonio Guterres, issued a statement condemning the violence last week; the Organization of American States approved a resolution condemning the repression and calling for timely, free and fair presidential elections. An ad hoc group of nations from Latin America, including Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, had denounced the carnage in Managua and in the iconic city of Masaya, which harbored the most heroic resistance against Somoza back in the 70s.I dont care if he lies or exaggerates in his tweets or breaks his vows to his wife, so long as he keeps his promises to me, Leah Rownan, a self-described social conservative from Henderson, Nev., told The Times, citing the economy and Mr. Trumps Supreme Court nominations as decisive for her vote. And he has.

Many of Mr. Trumps supporters also said they felt vindicated by the conclusions of Robert Muellers report on Russias interference in the 2016 election. While the former F.B.I. director painted a damning portrait of a campaign that was riddled with Kremlin sympathizers and a candidate whose real-estate ventures were beholden to Russian investors, no clear evidence of collusion between Mr. Trump and Moscow ever emerged and the president was never indicted.

It was always a red herring, just like Trump said, said Bernard Schwartz, a gun store owner from Houston, Tex. Democrats wasted a lot of ammo on that one.

Democrats also failed to capitalize on, and may have been damaged by, winning back control of the House of Representatives, but not the Senate, in the 2018 midterms. Mr. Trump proved effective, if characteristically vitriolic, in making a foil of the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi. Efforts to impeach the president mainly served to energize his base. Polling surveys suggested that wavering voters saw a Democratic Party more invested in humiliating the president than in helping them.

As is often the case in losing presidential campaigns, it did not take long for campaign aides to Senator Warren to offer damning appraisals of her performance as a candidate. Historical references abounded: The Childrens Crusade; Picketts Charge; the McGovern campaign of 1972. The common thread was that the campaigns moral fervor repeatedly got the better of its message focus.

Trump succeeded, lamented one moderate former Democratic lawmaker who asked to speak on background. He got my party to lose its marbles. The lawmaker cited calls by party activists to abolish the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency  calls the Warren campaign did not formally endorse but did little to refute  as emblematic of the partys broader problems.

What do Democrats stand for? he asked. Lawlessness or liberality? Policymaking or virtue signaling? Gender-neutral pronouns and bathrooms or good jobs and higher wages?

As is his way, Mr. Trump wasted little time rubbing salt into Democratic wounds. Democrats used to stand with the Working Man, he tweeted Wednesday morning. Now its the party of Abortion and Amnesty. All thats missing is Acid. Sad!

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTopinion), and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter.As an economist who shares President Trumps belief that we should be cutting taxes and shrinking government, I might be expected to be enthralled by his policies. But that is not the sentiment I and many other libertarians feel when it comes to his decision to impose tariffs on steel, aluminum and a host of other products made overseas, particularly in China.

On Wednesday, Mr. Trump and the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, said they had reached an agreement to step back from a trade war and to discuss ways to lower tariffs and other trade barriers, and possibly increase European imports of American soybeans. But the outcome of those talks is far from certain, and trade tensions between the United States and China remain very high.

What is driving the presidents apparent eagerness to impose tariffs is a simple and wrongheaded idea that plays to a large part of his base: A trade war will spur job growth in America. He is trying to use tariffs to give a leg up to American industries against countries that manufacture the same products that we do  whether steel, aluminum or cars  but more efficiently. And who could be against that if it creates more jobs?

In reality, however, creating jobs alone does not make for a strong economy. What we really want is to increase production. And to achieve that, we need to allocate labor as efficiently as possible. One way to do that is to ensure that if other countries can make certain goods more efficiently than we can, we trade with them for these items, rather than manufacture them ourselves. The result is cheaper goods, which is to our advantage.The Commerce Department recently asked for public comments on the Trump administrations proposed tariffs on automobiles and auto parts. When the deadline for submissions hit, more than 2,000 individuals, businesses and organizations had had their say. The vast majority were opposed to the tariffs. Following are edited excerpts from some of those comments.

The most direct impact of the proposed tariffs will be felt by foreign car companies.

Honda Motors

During the Great Recession of 2007-2009, Honda did not lay off any of its full-time permanent associates in the U.S., and we have continued to increase our employment numbers since then. If the concern is that imports are damaging the national economy, Section 232 [of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962] is not the right tool to address the problem. There is an arsenal of weapons in U.S. trade law that enable the government to address economic risk. Actions can be brought for dumping, countervailing duties, patent infringement and safeguard protections, to name a few.

Volkswagen

VWGoA [Volkswagen Group of America] does not see how continuing imports of automobiles and automotive parts at current levels could impair U.S. national security. This proposition  supported by no U.S. motor vehicle manufacturer  is implausible.

VWGoAs plant has created 12,400 full-time jobs in Tennessee and helped attract 17 supplier companies to the Chattanooga area. These supplier companies in turn have invested over $275 million in Tennessee and, in so doing, created an additional 1,100 jobs. VWGoAs manufacturing operations likewise have increased local and state tax revenues by $53.5 million annually.KNOXVILLE, Iowa  Today President Trump is visiting Dubuque, Iowa, where every year at harvest time, millions of tons of grain come via rail and truck to be loaded onto barges on the Mississippi River and shipped to Mexico, China and much of the rest of the world. Harvest puts coin into the hands of farmers, and they and their communities  indeed all of America  profit. Not this year.

The president is here to trumpet a $12 billion plan to aid American farmers. Why do they need aid? For Iowans, its because 33 percent of our economy is tied, directly or indirectly, to agriculture, and Mr. Trump recklessly opened trade wars that will hit Trump country  rural America  hardest and that have already brought an avalanche of losses. Indeed, the impact of his tariffs will probably be felt by family farms and the area for generations.

So perhaps visiting Dubuque is the least he could do.

The cost of being shut out of overseas markets for soybeans, beef, pork, chicken and more will be in the billions. Once those markets are gone, they will be difficult to recover. Commodity prices continue to drop, and good weather suggests an excellent crop is in the making, which will drive prices further down.

Brazil is ready to step in with increased soybean production, and China has already shifted its purchasing power there.Perhaps youve already noticed the dazzling red dot dancing in the night sky. Thats Mars, our planetary neighbor. And for the past few weeks it has been growing brighter as it slowly approached a state that astronomers call opposition, when it and the sun are on opposite sides of Earth. Its like were in between the two right now in a cosmic game of monkey in the middle.

This occurred on Friday. It is now being followed by Marss closest approach to Earth Monday into Tuesday, and everyone in the world can watch, weather permitting.

How often does Mars opposition occur?

Earth and Mars align with the sun in opposition about once every two years.

But truly jaw-dropping midnight views of Mars happen every 15 to 17 years. Thats when opposition occurs when Mars is at perihelion, or its closest position to the sun, according to Rich Zurek, project scientist for NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. This upcoming opposition will be one of those moments.Salvage Public: The Modern Board Short

We didnt have to look far to be inspired to have swimwear within our collections, says Joseph Serrao, who started his clothing brand, Salvage Public, in 2013 with his brother, Noah Serrao , and his friend Napali Souza in Honolulu. We live on an island, and most times, a nice pair of swim trunks is our daily attire, he says. As a testament to the designers laid-back Hawaiian sensibility, the brand offers board shorts  a classic surfers style of swimsuit  only in understated colorways and in trimmer, more tailored fits. One of our biggest inspirations is surf history here in Hawaii, Serrao says. Were recreating those original board shorts that were made of durable materials and made to last. Whats more, having the drawstring hidden within the waistband lends the trunks a clean silhouette. For Serrao, the option to have a more subdued trunk without any outlandish print or color is a matter of cultural immersion. It becomes the situation of the local versus the tourist, he says. To be local is to blend in and not stand out too much: Especially in Hawaii, you never want to appear like youre trying too hard. $118, salvagepublic.com

Image Credit... Courtesy of Ron Dorff

Ron Dorff: The Sporty Short

Spurred by a distaste for the loud colors and graphic logos often found in mens sportswear, the Swedish designer Claus Lindorff teamed up with his former advertising agency colleague , Jerome Touron, in 2012 to start the label Ron Dorff. Their unfussy line offers stripped-down essentials that a man might need before, during and after sports. We mix Swedish functionality with French style, Lindorff says, a reflection of his and Tourons backgrounds. Thus, any detail is there for a purpose and minimalism is the key word. When it comes to mens swimsuits, Ron Dorff avoids the sorts of bold patterns that have flooded the swimwear category over the last decade. You will never see prints with palm trees, pineapples or bananas on a Ron Dorff swimsuit, Lindorff proclaims. And, befitting a label inspired by sports, the swim trunks take design cues from vintage rugby shorts. Lindorff says theyre so light and comfortable that his customers have begun to wear them at the gym. That realization that prompted the brand to create a two-in-one trunk, made from quick-drying nylon and designed to be worn in and out of the water. From about $140 to $170, rondorff.comSAN FRANCISCO  The finger-pointing over the scuttled $44 billion transaction between the chip makers Qualcomm and NXP Semiconductors has begun.

Richard Clemmer, chief executive of NXP, had some harsh words on Thursday for officials in China over the deals collapse amid a trade war between Washington and Beijing. The acquisition was terminated after it failed to secure regulatory approval from Chinese authorities before a deadline set by the companies at midnight Eastern time on Wednesday.

In an interview on Thursday, Mr. Clemmer said Chinese authorities gave no explanation for withholding approval for the transaction. He said that there were no government requirements or regulations that the deal did not meet, adding that Qualcomm and NXP had both agreed to undisclosed concessions to address antitrust concerns raised by Chinese authorities.

For the issues they raised, remedies were provided and they agreed on those remedies, Mr. Clemmer said of Chinese officials. There was no clear explanation of why they wouldnt approve it.Delays in China that led Qualcomm to call off its acquisition of a rival microchip maker had nothing to do with escalating trade tensions with the United States, a spokesman for the Chinese Commerce Ministry said on Thursday.

Qualcomm and NXP Semiconductors first announced their $44 billion union nearly two years ago. Qualcomm is based in San Diego and NXP in the Netherlands, but both do significant business in China, which is why its antimonopoly authorities had say over whether the deal would go through.

But as frictions between the United States and China intensified this year, Beijings prolonged antitrust review came to be seen as a form of leverage over the negotiations. The Trump administration imposed tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods this month, and Beijing immediately retaliated with levies of its own.

Chinese regulators never formally rejected the deal, which had been approved by eight other jurisdictions, including the United States. But Beijing dragged its review out to more than 20 months.9) 1:30 p.m. TAMALES AND A TASTING

Anna and Vicente Serrano have a goal: You should feel better after you ate food than you did before, Anna said. At their Mexican-inspired Spanglish (in what was the asylums potato-peeling building), the salsas are made in-house, shredded cabbage is a star, and the beans and rice plate is vegan. The tamales ($3) are terrific. Eat them inside, on the patio, or take them to the tables outside the winery Left Foot Charley, where Bryan Ulbrich makes some of Michigans best wines (the roster includes pinot blanc, blaufrankisch and dry riesling). Left Foot Charley has relationships with 18 grape and apple growers (Mr. Ulbrich does ciders, too). Were looking for grapes that Michigan can add to the whole wine conversation instead of mimicking another region, he said.

10) 3 p.m. COFFEE BREAK AND A SHOW

There are few more enjoyable places to sit in Traverse City than in front of the large window at Blk Mrkt in the Warehouse District  that was by design. All of my favorite shops in the world have this indoor/outdoor aspect, said Chuck Korson, the owner. The house-roasted coffee is excellent; so are the baked goods by Hannah Lane  everything-style bialys with cream cheese, frosted hand pies with dates and cherries (Pop-Tarts perfected).

Then take in a movie at The State Theater  the first in Michigan to show a talking picture  which animates downtown. Since 2007, it has been the homebase for Mr. Moores festival. When he had the inspiration to restore it, the State had been closed for over a decade . Now its a year-round destination . The screen, the curtains, the seats  everything in there was made in Michigan, Mr. Moore said. (The festival also restored and operates the Bijou by the Bay, a jewel box in a former museum.) Having a great movie palace has really helped pick up the spirits of the area, Mr. Moore said, and has made people excited about going to the movies again.A lawyer for Brock Turner, whose six-month jail sentence for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman prompted outrage in 2016 and beyond, argued this week that the former Stanford swimmer shouldnt have been convicted of intending to commit rape because he merely sought outercourse.

The lawyer, Eric Multhaup, made that argument before a three-judge panel of Californias Sixth District Court of Appeal in San Jose on Tuesday. Mr. Turner is appealing his conviction on charges of sexual assault of an unconscious person, sexual assault of an intoxicated person and sexual assault with intent to commit rape.

The 22-year-old victim was attacked after a fraternity party in January 2015. Two witnesses said they found Mr. Turner, then 20, thrusting on top of her unconscious body by a dumpster near the fraternity house, her dress pulled above her waist. He told the police that he removed her underwear and penetrated her with his fingers, but never took his own pants off.

During Tuesdays court appearance and in a brief filed in May, Mr. Multhaup argued that the outercourse  defined as sexual activity other than vaginal sex  was all Mr. Turner sought.Good morning.

(Want to get California Today by email? Heres the sign-up.)

Millions of people from across the world visit Yosemite National Park each year for an opportunity to take in the sweeping vistas at one of Americas most treasured natural preserves. But hundreds of visitors were ordered to evacuate the park Wednesday as firefighters struggled to contain the encroaching 38,000-acre Ferguson Fire, which has roared for nearly two weeks and remains just 25 percent contained.

Dry conditions have made it difficult for firefighters to contain the flames.

The conditions are incredibly strenuous, and were seeing triple-digit temperatures in places, said Dan McKeague, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. Some sections are extremely remote. Access is limited because there arent a ton of existing roads.

Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at U.C.L.A., said that long-term drying caused by rising global temperatures has exacerbated the risk of wildfires in the western United States.

Over decades there has been a trend toward less moisture in the soil and forest, and that is affecting how dry the vegetation is becoming in summer, he said.Theyre completely cut off from the outside world, she said. And officials are saying theyre free.

In some cases, parents who recovered their children were dismayed by what they found. At the airport in McAllen, Tex., a migrant mother who identified herself only as Roxana, 23, was waiting to leave with her son Eduardo, 9, who had just been returned to her after being held in New York. But the boy had a black eye and a heavy cough.

They gave him back sick and beaten and traumatized, Roxana said.

Last-minute logistical planning to meet the deadline appeared to have led to some mistakes. Some children have been sent to the wrong facilities, according to a government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the reunification efforts.

On Tuesday, two siblings, 9 and 14, were abruptly flown from New York to be reunited with their mother in the Southwest  but the mother may have already been deported, according to the childrens lawyer, Priya Konings. On Wednesday, a case worker was in panic mode trying to resolve the situation.

The hours and days after reunification have come with their own challenges, which have largely been absorbed by aid groups tapped by the government to provide emergency shelter and food, as well as transport. While it is not typical for the government to support migrants once they are released from federal custody, the separation policy left many families far from the border, where a long-established network of shelters and volunteer organizations have traditionally provided support.

Danielle Bernard, a spokeswoman for Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, one of two organizations working with the government on family reunifications, said her group, too, was feeling the time crunch of the court order.

Ms. Bernard said that the organizations two offices coordinating efforts in Arizona and New Mexico were given only a few days to prepare to receive about 300 families each  or at least 1200 people in all.A heavily funded Democratic group will spend tens of millions of dollars to mobilize voters in the Republican-leaning states where control of the Senate is likely to be decided this November, stepping in to fill a void left by years of decay in Democratic infrastructure at the state and local level.

Senate Majority PAC, the principal super PAC supporting Democratic efforts to capture the chamber, intends to steer at least $20 million into the voter-mobilization campaign ahead of the midterm elections, officials with the group confirmed. The program, which follows a similar  successful  Democratic effort in Alabama last year, underscores the degree to which outside groups that can take massive donations have supplanted the traditional role of political parties.

The initiative by Senate Majority PAC  which will run through an affiliated nonprofit group, Majority Forward  will span more than a dozen states where Senate seats are at stake. But it is to focus on four states above all: Missouri and Indiana, where endangered Democrats are seeking re-election, and Arizona and Tennessee, where strong Democratic challengers are running for open seats currently held by Republicans.

Those four races are among the countrys most competitive. And for Democrats to take control of the Senate, they would likely have to win at least three of them, or perhaps all four, depending on the outcome of races in other states.Id like to begin by reading a statement from the president. Ive decided to revoke the security clearance of John Brennan, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency. At this point in my administration, any benefits that senior officials might glean from consultations with Mr. Brennan are now outweighed by the risks posed by his erratic conduct and behavior. President Trump has taken away John Brennans security clearance and says hes considering doing the same to other former national security officials. Thats even though two of the officials, including the former F.B.I. director James Comey, no longer have clearances. So why did he single out the group? One clue may be what theyve said about him. I think he has demonstrated time and time again that he lies to the American people, and that he is not fulfilling the responsibilities of the office of the presidency. The United States used to be the defender of our European allies and to push back against the Russians. The fact now that Mr. Trump is aligning himself with Mr. Putin is a concern. He is giving aid and comfort to the enemy, and it needs to stop. Oh, I have no confidence in a guy like Brennan. And I think hes a total lowlife. When the president tries to use the Department of Justice as kind of a private investigatory body, thats, uh, not good for the country. Our institutions are under assault internally. Internally from the president? Exactly. Are you questioning his fitness? Yes, I do. I have no confidence in Clapper. You know, Clapper wrote me a beautiful letter when I first went to office, and it was really nice. And then all of a sudden, hes gone haywire. He has a habit of telling lies. Sometimes big. Sometimes casual. And then insisting that the people around him repeat them and believe them. And that is  that stains any human. Is Donald Trump unfit to be president? Yes. I think hes morally unfit to be president. I think that James Comey was unfair to the people of this country. I think what he did was a disgrace. I think he goes down as the worst F.B.I. director in history, by far. Theres nobody close. And I think I did the country a tremendous favor by firing him.At the Granite City Works on Thursday, Donald J. Trump was the only thing bigger than U.S. Steel.

With his obligatory attacks on the news media, his leisurely digressions into his 2016 election victory, his professions of affection for strongmen like Kim Jong-un of North Korea, and the thumping classic-rock soundtrack, Mr. Trump could have been at one of his political rallies.

Still, the presidents trip to the Midwest on Thursday, which included a stop in Iowa, also cast a light on farmers, whose soybean exports dried up after China struck back over the tariffs. While praising President Xi Jinping as a friend and a great guy, he said China was punishing farmers so it could continue its longstanding practice of stealing technology from American companies.

We will not give China or any other country a veto on United States national security, Mr. Trump said. And we will not let anybody ruin our wonderful American farmers.

Pressure from farmers played a role in Mr. Trumps decision to call a truce in a trade war with the European Union this week. He hailed the agreement under which it agreed to buy more soybeans  as part of a package that could allow the Europeans to avoid tariffs on automobiles  and offered rare praise for a European leader, Jean-Claude Juncker of the European Commission.

But farmers are not the only ones suffering because of the tariffs. The Mid Continent Nail Corporation in Poplar Bluff, Mo., which ships in steel from Mexico, warns it is on the brink of extinction, after being forced to raise the price of its nails. It has lost half of its orders and has laid off 60 of its 500 workers.WASHINGTON  When President Trump called a truce with the European Union over trade, the general outlines of his plan sounded familiar. It echoed of earlier negotiations  the ones started under President Barack Obama and shelved by Mr. Trump last year.

Mr. Trump, in many ways, is taking credit for solving a crisis of his own making. After taking office, he criticized the deals of his predecessor and cut off trade talks with the European Union. He raised the stakes by imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum, prompting retaliatory measures by the European Union. Then he stoked the tensions by calling Europe a foe.

Now, Mr. Trump, in hashing out an agreement on Wednesday with president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, is declaring victory. He said the two sides would work to lower tariffs and other trade barriers. They would reduce bureaucratic roadblocks to industrial goods flowing across the Atlantic, while ending conflicting regulations for drugs and chemicals.

The United States was pursuing much the same under Mr. Obama through a deal called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. And the collapse of the deal still smarts for large segments of American and European business who had fervently hoped to create a trans-Atlantic version of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The European Union has repeatedly told the Trump administration that it would be happy to revive trade talks.WASHINGTON  For years, President Trump has used Twitter as his go-to public relations weapon, mounting a barrage of attacks on celebrities and then political rivals even after advisers warned he could be creating legal problems for himself.

Those concerns now turn out to be well founded. The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, is scrutinizing tweets and negative statements from the president about Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey, according to three people briefed on the matter.

Several of the remarks came as Mr. Trump was also privately pressuring the men  both key witnesses in the inquiry  about the investigation, and Mr. Mueller is examining whether the actions add up to attempts to obstruct the investigation by both intimidating witnesses and pressuring senior law enforcement officials to tamp down the inquiry.

Mr. Mueller wants to question the president about the tweets. His interest in them is the latest addition to a range of presidential actions he is investigating as a possible obstruction case: private interactions with Mr. Comey, Mr. Sessions and other senior administration officials about the Russia inquiry; misleading White House statements; public attacks; and possible pardon offers to potential witnesses.A federal judge in Oregon issued a ruling this week in favor of transgender students, saying that forcing them to use restrooms that correspond with the gender they were assigned at birth would violate civil rights law.

In a 56-page opinion released Tuesday, Judge Marco A. Hernandez of Federal District Court in Portland said that transgender students should be allowed to use bathrooms that match the gender they identify with. The ruling upheld the policy of a school district in Dallas, Ore., that allowed a male transgender student to use the boys restrooms, showers and locker rooms.

The judge dismissed claims by some students and parents saying that other male students experienced embarrassment, humiliation, anxiety, intimidation, fear, apprehension and stress produced by using the restroom with students of the opposite sex.

Judge Hernandez wrote in his opinion, Forcing transgender students to use facilities inconsistent with their gender identity would undoubtedly harm those students and prevent them from equally accessing educational opportunities and resources.Mr. Semegnew was in Addis Ababa on Thursday to give a news conference at a time of growing public unease over delays in the project and concerns about corruption and mismanagement, officials said. He died hours before he was scheduled to speak.

Standing atop the dam in May, Mr. Semegnew offered his usual optimistic assessment of the project, which he said was about two-thirds completed, and he played down the fears of downstream countries, notably Egypt.

The dam had turned Ethiopia into the power hub of the region, of the continent, he said, and it would be used only to generate electricity, and not for irrigation.

He declined to say why the projects completion date had been repeatedly delayed over the past year. I cannot comment to you on this, he said.

Those delays, and the dams generally opaque finances, have become matters of considerable speculation in Ethiopia in recent weeks. Some people who posted messages on social media sites suggested that Mr. Semegnew was killed because he was planning to name corrupt officials who were making money from the project or that Egypt had somehow played a role in his death.

None of the commentators offered evidence to support those conspiracy theories, but they did appear to reflect growing public disquiet about a project that is behind schedule, has consumed huge amounts of taxpayers money and has increased tensions with Egypt.

An upbeat visit to Cairo by Prime Minister Abiy last month improved that often-tense relationship. The visit was part of Mr. Abiys dizzying series of reforms, including peace overtures to rival Eritrea, since he came to power in April.Its only the beginning of Me Too in China, said Li Tingting, an activist for gender equality. The men-dominant structure is everywhere. The rape culture is still powerful.

Once a champion of gender equality, the Chinese government has greeted the #MeToo movement cautiously. Some officials are nervous about its foreign roots and see it as a force for disruption in a society that prizes stability.

The government has deployed censors to limit the movements spread. As the letters by the women appeared this week on social media, censors went into action, banning the English #MeToo hashtag on social media sites and deleting some letters.

Still, the accusations have prompted vigorous online debate within China, with some posted comments applauding the women for coming forward and others accusing them of seeking fame.

Several of the men denied the accusations.

In a statement on Wednesday, Mr. Zhang, the intellectual, acknowledged having sex with the woman who wrote the letter, but he described it as consensual. Several other women, including the writer Jiang Fangzhou, have since accused him of harassment.

Mr. Zhang, who has worked at China Newsweek and written for international publications, said in the statement it was common for colleagues in the media industry to hug and kiss after drinking together.

The wave of allegations this week extended beyond the media industry to the nonprofit sphere.

An advocate for hepatitis B patients, Lei Chuang, resigned on Monday from the charity he founded after a co-worker accused him of assaulting her after a hiking trip. Then, the environmentalist Feng Yongfeng resigned from his charity on Tuesday after being accused of harassing several women.Those files, an avalanche of millions of leaked confidential documents from a law firm in Panama, included several pieces of information that incriminated Pakistans prime minister at the time, Nawaz Sharif. Evidence began to build that Mr. Sharif had stolen millions of dollars from public coffers in Pakistan to buy expensive apartments in London, under the names of his children.

Mr. Khan capitalized on this and called for Mr. Sharif to resign. The Supreme Court removed Mr. Sharif from office, and just two weeks ago, right before the election, Mr. Sharif and his daughter were imprisoned.

Few would disagree that corruption is out of control in Pakistan. But many observers here saw something in Mr. Sharifs downfall that was more selective, possibly more sinister.

The widespread suspicion was that Pakistans powerful military and intelligence services had pressured the judiciary to take out Mr. Sharif, clearing a path for Mr. Khan to take over. Mr. Sharif had clashed with the army chiefs, even some of those he had chosen, many times. He was a thorn in their side.

Mr. Khan, on the other hand, was someone the military bosses seemed to think they could work with. Analysts said he shared their worldview, in which Pakistan would kowtow less to the United States and talk more with the Taliban and other extremist groups.

In the prelude to the election, the military seemed to push even harder for Mr. Khan. Human rights groups, academics and members of other political parties said security officers threatened politicians to defect to Mr. Khans side. Several did.

That does not mean that Mr. Khan was not genuinely popular. He was, especially among young men who lionized him as a sports hero. As elections loomed, a Khan wave swept Pakistan. His face was everywhere  on banners, lampposts and torn flags flying from the sputtering rickshaws that flit in and out of traffic. His supporters were the most energized and confident. His partys symbol: a cricket bat.ATTAPEU TOWN, Laos  The day before this weeks catastrophic dam failure in Laos, the companies building the dam knew that it was deteriorating, and one of them saw a potential trouble sign three days in advance. Yet many people living downstream received no warning of the deadly flood that was about to sweep away villages, farms, livestock and people.

The companies said they had warned Laotian officials of the danger, and some villages were evacuated, but the dams collapse killed at least 27 people  many more are still missing  and displaced at least 6,600 others in Laos. On Thursday, state media in Cambodia reported that as many as 25,000 more people in that country were being evacuated from the northern border province of Stung Treng, as the flood surge made its way south.

Now, as rescue workers scramble to find missing villagers and care for others in makeshift shelters, questions are mounting about the speed of the one-party states response, the quality of the companies work, and whether they could have done more to prevent the accident or alert people to the peril.WELLINGTON, New Zealand  New Zealand will grant victims of domestic violence paid leave from work, in a move that activists say will give people the time to move out and seek shelter for themselves and their children without losing their jobs.

Members of Parliament approved a bill allowing the change by a vote of 63 to 57 on Wednesday night, giving domestic abuse survivors, as well as those caring for young victims, 10 days off from work in addition to their regular paid vacations.

The measure, known as the domestic violence victims protection bill, will take effect next April, making New Zealand the second country in the world to pass such legislation, after the Philippines.

Jan Logie, a lawmaker for the left-leaning Green Party who proposed the bill in 2016, said gender-based violence had become entrenched in New Zealand and reaches into workplaces, with victims often turning up late or missing work altogether.MANILA  President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines has signed a landmark law aimed at giving expanded autonomy to Muslims in the south of the country, his spokesman said on Thursday, with the legislation expected to bring some measure of peace to a region choked by four decades of separatist violence.

The long-delayed law came four years after the government signed a peace deal with the separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which dropped its bid for full independence in return for the right to self-rule.

The front had fought a fierce uprising since 1978 that left about 120,000 people dead and pushed pockets of the deep south of the Philippines into a cycle of extreme poverty and violence.

The new legislation, called the Bangsamoro Organic Law, was supposed to have been passed early this week, but infighting among allies of Mr. Duterte in Congress delayed its passage. The presidents spokesman, Harry Roque, said on Thursday that the presidential palace had now received a copy of the law.BRUSSELS  When he arrived in the Oval Office for negotiations over their growing trade war, Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, brought a small gift for President Trump, a renowned admirer of military commanders. It was a photograph of the cemetery in Luxembourg where Gen. George S. Patton is buried.

Mr. Juncker, a wily, if often maligned, former prime minister of tiny Luxembourg, added an inscription, alluding to the shared sacrifice of Americans and Europeans during World War II. Dear Donald, it read. Let us remember our common history.

Mr. Juncker left the Oval Office on Wednesday with a deal  or at least a truce  that for the moment has defused the Trump administrations growing trade war with Brussels, while bringing relief across Europe, especially in Germany. Yet if Europes political and business leaders are cautiously optimistic that an economic crisis has been averted, they are also wary, given their history with Mr. Trump in the 18 months since he has taken office.

Even as Mr. Trump cast the meeting on Wednesday as a great success, and offered gratitude to Mr. Juncker, the question is whether the deal represents a meaningful improvement in the severely strained trans-Atlantic alliance, or is simply another example of the unpredictable approach of a president who has spent months mocking and undermining European leaders  even describing the European bloc as a foe.WASHINGTON  President Trump abruptly announced on Thursday that the United States would impose large sanctions on Turkey for detaining an American pastor accused of aiding a failed coup attempt there in 2016, escalating a bitter dispute among the two NATO allies.

Mr. Trumps declaration on Twitter appeared to be more of a muscular threat than an official statement of policy; the administration made no announcement of specific punitive measures against the Turkish government, and the White House declined to provide any details about the steps it was ready to take.

It came one day after Andrew Brunson, 50, an evangelical pastor who has been imprisoned in Turkey for 21 months, was moved from jail to house arrest because of health concerns.

Mr. Brunson is one of 20 Americans charged after the failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. His case has elevated tensions between the United States and Turkey even as Mr. Trump has sought warmer relations with Mr. Erdogan.LONDON  Three Jewish newspapers in Britain charged on Thursday that a government led by the countrys opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn, would be an existential threat to their community  a coordinated attack that deepened a long-running crisis over accusations of anti-Semitism within his Labour Party.

In a move they described as unprecedented, The Jewish Chronicle, The Jewish News and The Jewish Telegraph all published the same scathing commentary on their front pages, under the headline United We Stand. It protests Labours decision to drop a passage about Israel from an internationally accepted definition of anti-Semitism that the party incorporated in its official code of conduct.

The Labour Party rejected the claims and said in a statement that it posed no threat of any kind whatsoever to Jewish people, and was committed to tackling and eradicating anti-Semitism in all its forms.

Yet for months Mr. Corbyn has been unable to close down a damaging dispute over allegations that, under his leadership, the party has failed to tackle anti-Semitism within its ranks. That has alienated lawmakers, faith leaders and parts of a Jewish community in Britain that once saw Labour as a natural political home.GENEVA  Russian officials on Thursday pledged to prosecute anyone implicated in a prisoner-abuse scandal, but they failed to convince United Nations human rights experts that their promises signaled a change in official attitudes on torture.

Russias deputy justice minister, Mikhail Galperin, told the United Nations Committee Against Torture on Thursday that Russian authorities had arrested five prison guards who are suspected of torturing a prisoner in a penal colony northeast of Moscow in June 2017, and dismissed 17 officials.

The abuse was captured in a chilling 10-minute video filmed on a body camera and released online last week by Novaya Gazeta, an independent newspaper, showed uniformed guards holding down a naked, handcuffed prisoner, later identified as Yevgeny Makarov, while they ferociously beat his feet with truncheons and fists as he howled for them to stop.

Mr. Makarovs lawyer, Irina Biryukova, who released the video to the newspaper, subsequently fled the country with her family, saying she had received death threats.We are near you, where you cant even imagine, he said. We are ready. We are the man of this arena.

While the possibility of a war between Iran and the United States is considered extremely low, political analysts worry that escalating threats could lead to something more serious.

General Suleimanis words and actions are closely scrutinized because he is regarded as one of Irans most cunning and autonomous military figures, in charge of its intelligence gathering and covert military operations.

His fire-breathing retort to Trump is important and worrisome, said Cliff Kupchan, chairman of the Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy in Washington.

Suleimani is directly mocking the U.S. president, and he lambastes U.S. policy, Mr. Kupchan said. Suleimani is telling Trump to watch his words, reminding him that Iran has both power across the Middle East and potent capability for asymmetric warfare. Thats an implicit threat against U.S. assets in the Middle East.

A once-shadowy figure who now enjoys celebritylike status among the hard-line conservatives in Iran, General Suleimani leads the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force, a special forces unit responsible for Iranian operations outside Irans borders. Quds is the Persian word for Jerusalem.

The general is known to have the personal backing of Irans supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and is believed to be the chief strategist behind Irans military ventures and influence in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere in the region and beyond.BEIRUT, Lebanon  Seven years ago, Islam Dabbas, an engineering student, was thrown in prison for protesting against the Syrian government. His mother visited him twice, paying bribes to do so, but then the permissions stopped. She heard nothing of her sons fate ever since.

Until last week, when a relative filed for a government registration document and was shocked to see that it gave Mr. Dabbass date of death: Jan. 15, 2013.

The news of his death devastated us, and we wish we had known then, said his sister, Heba, who lives in exile in Egypt. Since his arrest, we have lived days of hope and days of despair as uncertainty consumed our minds.

In recent weeks, hundreds of Syrian families have suddenly learned that their missing relatives have been registered as dead by the government. Government officials have not commented publicly on the new information, said how many people it applied to, or explained how they died.A 90-second tour of 14 big cities

A 90-second tour of 14 big cities

An interactive map published by The New York Times allows you to explore the 2016 presidential election at the highest level of detail available: by voting precinct.

This map, although nearly two years old, continues to define American politics. The vast majority of people who voted for Donald J. Trump say they approve of his job performance today, while the vast majority of Hillary Clinton voters say they disapprove.

On the neighborhood level, many of us really do live in an electoral bubble, this map shows: More than one in five voters lived in a precinct where 80 percent of the two-party vote went to Mr. Trump or Mrs. Clinton. But the map also reveals surprising diversity.

(We've also created a tool that allows you to examine the data in a more personal way. Its here.)

Fine detail and big-picture context

The election results most readers are familiar with are county maps like the ones we produce at The Times on election night. But votes are cast at a much finer unit of geography  in precincts, which may contain thousands of voters but in some cases contain only a handful. Our previous election maps contained results for about 3,100 counties; here we show results for more than 168,000 voting precincts.

Heres the view of the New York area mapped both ways:

The precinct-level data was compiled by Ryne Rohla, a doctoral student at Washington State University, who obtained it from government websites and election officials. Because these results are not standardized within a state or sometimes even within a county, the vote totals do not perfectly match official tallies. About 3 percent of the votes cast for Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton are missing from this data. But those missing votes  many of which are provisional or absentee ballots  would probably not change the winner in many precincts. Even where the vote counts are perfect, the difficulty of matching the election results to the precinct map can lead to additional, if only occasional, errors.

The map we published also offers two bits of additional context to help you think about the 2016 vote.

First, we give you a measure of how the area around a precinct compares with other areas. That measure is based on the choices of the nearest 100,000 voters, as well as those within a 10-mile radius.

Second, we tell you how long it would take you to drive, without traffic, to the nearest precinct that voted for the other candidate of a major party. By these measures, for example, the area around the Times headquarters in Manhattan had a higher share of Clinton voters than 96 percent of the country, and the nearest Trump precinct, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is a 36-minute drive away.

We invite you to explore the map in detail. Weve identified some highlights below.

Voting enclaves: Educational, religious, ethnic

Even in counties that voted overwhelmingly for Mr. Trump or Mrs. Clinton, there are small pockets that went the other way. There are blue parts of even the reddest states, and vice versa.

In Kansas, where Mr. Trump won all but two of the states 105 counties, blue precincts dot the countryside, including in places like Liberal, Kan., one of several small towns across the Plains with significant Hispanic populations.

Young voters and voters with postgraduate degrees strongly preferred Mrs. Clinton in 2016, and its not surprising when these voters are packed into the confines of a college campus and its surroundings. Mr. Trump won Knox County, Ohio, by nearly 40 points. But one of its precincts contains the village of Gambier, home to Kenyon College. Voters there gave Mrs. Clinton more than 90 percent of the vote.

Colleges can contrast with their surroundings in the opposite way, too. Evangelical voters broke strongly for Mr. Trump, and so did several precincts containing Baptist and evangelical colleges, including in otherwise blue Dallas.

Historic markers: The past remains present

The nations fraught racial history still shapes election patterns today, particularly in the South.

You might imagine that the Deep South, one of the most reliably Republican regions of the country, is a homogeneous zone of Republican strength. Instead, its a patchwork of overwhelming Democratic and Republican precincts, sometimes right next to each other. Democratic strength isnt even confined to the cities, as it is in much of the rest of the country. It's an artifact of segregation in the most racially polarized part of the country.

The Democratic precincts across the region  a crescent that stretches through the lowland South to the Mississippi Delta  correspond to the Black Belt, a region originally named for its dark, fertile soil, not for the millions of slaves who worked the land or their descendants, many who still live and vote there more than 150 years later.

In 2016, white voters in the rural Deep South supported Mr. Trump with more than 90 percent of the vote. Black voters voted for Mrs. Clinton by an equally lopsided margin. If you look for a while, you can find adjacent precincts where Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump each won more than 95 percent.

Smaller-scale artifacts of history are also visible in the precinct map.

Consider Langston and Boley, Okla., formerly all-black towns founded in the Oklahoma Territories after the Civil War (Oklahoma became a state in 1907). These areas still have large African-American populations and voted overwhelmingly for Mrs. Clinton. The areas surrounding them are majority white, and strongly favored Mr. Trump.

Bright borders: Where votes trace city limits

Arbitrary municipal borders are very real dividing lines in politics. In many metro areas, voters need only cross a city line to find communities with totally different school systems, policy preferences and politics.

Such a political contrast at the border is particularly clear to the south and east of Baltimore. On the southern edge of the city, voters in parts of the Cherry Hill neighborhood of Baltimore voted 95 percent for Mrs. Clinton. Across the city line in Baltimore Highlands, on the other side of Patapsco Avenue, 69 percent of voters supported Mr. Trump.

The precincts just north of Detroit voted for Mrs. Clinton  but not by quite the overwhelming margins of those inside the city. Eight Mile Road, well known for dividing Detroit from the more prosperous suburbs, is instantly legible on this political map, too.

Some other places where a city or county boundary seems to jump off the map: Memphis, New Orleans, Milwaukee, Dallas.

Democratic bastions: Cities hues of blue

Mrs. Clinton won nearly 80 percent of the vote in the five boroughs, producing a net margin of about 1.7 million votes, but there are strong concentrations of Republican votes across the city. Neighborhoods like Borough Park, home to one of the largest Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish populations in the United States, were about as red as precincts in the rural white South. Mr. Trump won Staten Island, by 15 points (though not the part by the Staten Island Ferry terminal).

You can travel 75 miles down the Lake Michigan coast from the northern Chicago suburb of Waukegan to Gary, Ind., and on the entire way encounter only one small cluster that voted for Trump: the fancy North Shore suburb of Lake Forest. Its among the wealthiest suburbs in the region, and highly educated, too. About 80 percent of adults there have a college degree.

No county in America voted more strongly for Mrs. Clinton than the District of Columbia. Only 7 percent of Mr. Trumps current neighbors, in the precinct surrounding the White House, voted for him. And the president would have to travel about 20 miles in any direction from the White House, beyond the Beltway, to find a precinct that voted for him.

Most of Philadelphia is uniformly deep blue  so blue, in fact, that in 2012 it was the source of some (false) claims of voter fraud because many districts there produced not a single vote for Mitt Romney. The citys vote in 2016 was also one-sided, with several precincts in our data showing zero Trump votes.

There are no red suburbs surrounding San Francisco or in the East Bay. There is only blue  and water. Some of the blank patches on the map cover parks, quarries or airports. There are some Trump precincts near Berkeley and Richmond, but those are areas with very few voters. Its a lot easier to find precincts where Jill Stein took second: Just explore the area around Berkeley.The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, is scrutinizing some of President Trumps Twitter posts and public statements to determine whether he was trying to obstruct the Russia investigation. Mr. Trumps lawyers say he was simply trying to defend himself, but several of the remarks, directed at Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey, came around the time the president was also privately pressuring the men about the inquiry.News Story not available

This story has been published on: 2021-10-26. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.

This story is no longer available on our site.Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said Thursday that Dalton posted positive jobs numbers in June, despite an increase in the unemployment rate.

Dalton showed increases in the labor force, number of employed and jobs, and all indicators remain positive for the year for the two-county metropolitan statistical area.

During the month, the labor force grew faster than could be absorbed through hiring, causing the unemployment rate to rise. The commissioner remains confident about the overall job market.

The Georgia job market is very strong, said Commissioner Butler. An uptick in the unemployment rate is common this time of year due to an increase in high school and college graduates entering the workforce.

The labor force saw typical gains in June as students and recent graduates compete for summer employment. It grew by 836 to 62,585, a gain of 1,615 for the year.

As a result, the June unemployment rate increased to 4.8 percent, up .7 percent from the previous month but down from 5.5 percent one year ago.

Dalton gained 500 jobs for the month, its total growing to 68,500. This puts Dalton up 1,100 jobs for the year.

The number of employed also increased in June, gaining 380 employed residents. At 59,606 total employed residents, Dalton is up by 2,002 for the year.

Initial claims for unemployment fell by about 18 percent for the month and are down by about 36 percent from last year.

Employ Georgia, the GDOLs online job listing service at employgeorgia.com showed 410 active job postings in metro Dalton for June.

The MSA includes Murray and Whitfield counties.

Visit dol.georgia.gov to learn more about career opportunities, Employ Georgia and other GDOL services for job seekers and employers and to connect with us on social media.The hearing of the case in which David Jamwa Chandi, the former managing director of National Social Security Fund (NSSF) is challenging his 12-year sentence has flopped at the Supreme court due to lack of quorum.



Supreme court registrar Godfrey Anguandia Opifeni in his letter dated July 17 to the director of public prosecutions (DPP) and to Jamwa's lawyers notes that the cases which were supposed to be heard today will be fixed at a convenient date because the justices handling the matter are not around.



The team of five justices led by Chief Justice Bert Katureebe was absent. The other justices are Sarah Arach Amoko, Lillian Tibatemwa Ekirikubinza, Paul Mugamba and Augustine Nshimye.

David Jamwa Chandi, the former managing director of National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Jamwa through his lawyer went to the Supreme court in January 2018 challenging the Court of Appeal judgement that upheld his sentence of 12 years, which he was given by the Anti-Corruption court in 2011 for causing financial loss to government. Jamwa through his lawyer went to the Supreme court in January 2018 challenging the Court of Appeal judgement that upheld his sentence of 12 years, which he was given by the Anti-Corruption court in 2011 for causing financial loss to government.

In 2011, Jamwa was found guilty of causing Shs 2.7 billion financial loss to NSSF in February 2011 by the Anti-Corruption court."The national agreement that we have with OCLC means that New Zealand libraries can take advantage of the scale that OCLC offers with WorldCat, [and] we still have our local needs catered for.

Syndeo  allows Te Puna to host its national bibliographic infrastructure on OCLCs WorldShare  Platform with WorldCat  as its foundation. WorldCat makes the National Librarys rich collectionsincluding audio files, maps, digital collections, and primary source materialsvisible and usable not only across New Zealand, but also around the world. Our previous technology reflected an era where the metadata it managed largely related to the print era, Jenny said. With WorldShare and WorldCat, our capacity and ability to meet future challenges is undoubtedly stronger.

In an effort to make New Zealands cultural heritage available, the National Library of New Zealand manages Te Puna Services . Te Puna offers interlibrary loan, cataloging, and discovery tools to its member libraries92% of all libraries in New Zealand, which support a diverse range of communities. Te Puna offers a means for the entire population to borrow or access any item from any library in New Zealand that participates, explained Jenny McDonald, Manager, Collaborative Services. Te Puna is one of a few truly collaborative approaches in terms of libraries.

One of the most exciting aspects of including Te Puna collections on WorldCat through Syndeo is making Nga Upoko Tukutuku, Maori subject headings, available to the world. As Dale Cousens, Team Leader, Collection Development, explained, The really special thing about having them included on Te Puna is that it makes the cultural aspect of the materials able to be described. Nga Upoko Tukutuku are more than simple translations of existing subject headings; rather, they provide context and articulate the conceptual genealogy of the terms. Through WorldCat, not only can librarians worldwide rely on Nga Upoko Tukutuku to catalog Maori items, but also, as Dale said, access a template for the inclusion of indigenous knowledge in describing materials, so that hopefully other groups around the world will be able to follow the example of Nga Upoko Tukutuku and Te Puna.

Te Puna librarieswhich include university, public, government, law, and research librariesuse cloud-based WorldShare services, such as WorldShare Collection Manager and WorldCat Discovery, and WorldShare Interlibrary Loan to automate routine resource sharing tasks. Being hosted through the cloud, Jenny said, is like your IT capabilities have multiplied overnight. Suddenly, there are teams who are taking care of your upgrades. She added, Although we can take advantage of the scale that being in the WorldShare Platform can bring, it in no way compromises our independence and localized needs. New Zealand library users can still search, discover, and locate items specific to New Zealand, which is the primary mission of the National Library. WorldCat and Syndeo allow Te Puna to open their New Zealand collections to the rest of the world as well.A book of evidence has been served on a Portarlington man charged with trying to rob the local Polish shop with a knife.

At last weeks sitting of Portlaoise District Court, Kamil Cruk (25), Ballymorris Manor, Portarlington, was charged with robbery from the Polish shop on the Link Road, Portarlington, on February 20; and theft from Centra on February 19.

When the case first came before the court in February, Garda Adrian Corcoran gave evidence that he arrested the accused at Ballymorris Manor, Portarlington and the accused made no reply when charged.

He gave evidence that on February 20, it was alleged the accused entered the Polish shop on the Link Road, Portarlington, produced a knife at the female shop assistant and demanded money.

The assistant fled to the back of the shop and the man fled the scene.

At last weeks court, a book of evidence was served on the accused for the charge of robbery and the matter will now be sent forward to the circuit court.

There was no State objection to bail, but bail conditions are that the accused observe a curfew from 9pm to 8am; he provide the gardai with a mobile phone number; he stay out of the Polish shop and the Centra store in Portarlington; and he stay away from drugs and alcohol.

In separate matters, the accused was charged with theft from Tesco, and theft from Dealz, Portarlington, on February 20.

On the charges of theft from Dealz and Tesco, Sgt JJ Kirby told the court that the total value of goods stolen from both stores was 119.45 and the property was recovered.

The accused had 12 previous convictions.

Defence, Mr Declan Breen said it was quite clear that the accused has a serious drug problem.

He has appeared before the court on many occasions and has struggled very hard with his addiction.

Mr Breen said the accused has attended for drug counselling, but still needs assistance and help.

Addressing the court himself, the accused said he suffered with conditions including depression and bipolar disorder.

He said his father had been in hospital at the time he, the accused, had been robbing and stealing.

The matter was adjourned to October 25 for a probation report.Pictured: Dr. John McWilliams, professor of natural science, works with students in a class at OBU. OBU Photo by Heather Horner.

OBU Recognized as a 2018-19 College of Distinction July 26, 2018

Oklahoma Baptist University was recently named as a 2018-19 College of Distinction, a nationally prestigious designation for universities that demonstrate an innovative application of high impact educational practices.

Along with being named a national College of Distinction, Oklahoma College of Distinction and a Christian College of Distinction, OBU also received program-specific recognition as a Business College of Distinction, Education College of Distinction and Nursing College of Distinction.

Since 2000, the Colleges of Distinction website and guidebook have recognized and honored schools throughout the U.S. for their excellence in undergraduate-focused higher education. The member institutions of the Colleges of Distinction consortium distinguish themselves through their focus on the undergraduate experience by engaging students, hiring exceptional instructors, creating a vibrant community and preparing students for success outside of school.

Will Brantley, director of admissions at OBU, is humbled and gratified by the recognition.

Being recognized as a college of distinction is an honor for OBU, he said. This recognition is different than most college rankings because it represents the overall excellence of the student experience at OBU. This recognizes our efforts at engaging students in and out of the classroom to help them be successful in all areas of life.

OBU stands apart from many other colleges and universities because of our unique approach to focusing on a students academic, spiritual and social engagement. We want to see students grow in all areas of their life while at OBU. Being recognized as a College of Distinction should let prospective students know that we care about them and their growth while they attend OBU and that they arent just another student to us.

Tyson Schritter, chief operating officer for Colleges of Distinction, is thrilled to recognize OBU for its dedication to student success.

Oklahoma Baptist University has proven itself to be at the forefront of American higher education with a modern, student-centered approach to teaching, he said. With a unique learning environment, its programming engages students through its many programs and student opportunities.

The College of Distinctions field of study badges are true marks of honor in the world of higher education, representing programs that invest in student engagement within fields that demand innovative, critical thinking. This recognition acknowledges OBUs commitment to prepare its students to take on the post-graduate world through an education that reaches beyond the basics.

OBU continues to impress with exceptional commitment to student success, Schritter said. Its extensive liberal arts curriculum informs and enriches everything students do both in and out of the classroom. And with such an involved engagement of experiential high-impact practices, OBU continues to go the extra mile in professional education.Bengaluru: NCB seizes 155.5 grams of cocaine; Nigerian arrested

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Oneindia Staff

Bengaluru, July 26: On Wednesday, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Bengaluru seized 155.5 grams of cocaine which was being transported from Mumbai to the city. The NCB sleuths arrested one Nigerian national in this regard. The accused is said to be around 30 years old.

He was apprehended by the NCB sleuths while he was travelling in a bus from Mumbai to Bengaluru. The accused had concealed the drugs inside his bag, stated a press release by the NCB, Bengaluru. The value of the contraband is said to be around Rs 93 lakh in the international market.

"Based on examination, he was arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act," Sunil Kumar Sinha, zonal director, NCB, Bengaluru, told OneIndia.

According to the NCB officials, cocaine is a high-end drug and a stimulant which causes intense high that is immediately followed by intense depression and craving for more drugs.

The short-term effect of cocaine consumption causes anxiety, paranoia, contracted blood vessels and violent behaviour. The long-term effect includes permanent damage to heart, brain, liver, kidney, disorientation, psychosis and severe depression.

Under the law, drug trafficking is a punishable offence. A person dealing in drugs could be put behind the bars for up to 20 years and in certain cases he/she could invite death penalty too.

Over the years, Bengaluru has earned the dubious distinction of being the drug capital of south India. During the campaign for the Karnataka Assembly elections, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had blamed the then Congress government of turning the IT hub into the drug capital of the southern region.

"Failing to curb growing Drug Mafia in B'luru has been one of many failures of the Siddaramaiah govt. City is now infamously identified as drug capital of south India. Will Rahul at least address drug problem in Bengaluru? Or is it wrong of us to expect this from him?" the Karnataka BJP had tweeted in April.

Failing to curb growing Drug Mafia in B'luru has been one of many failures of the Siddaramaiah govt.



City is now infamously identified as drug capital of south India.



Will Rahul at least address drug problem in Bengaluru? Or is it wrong of us to expect this from him?  BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) April 8, 2018Can become CM in a minute, but not interested: Hema Malini

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

Lucknow, July 26: Politician-actor Hema Malini has said she can become the chief minister anytime but would rather be free to pursue other interests.

"If I want to, I can become that (chief minister) in a minute," the actor, who switched to politics more than a decade back, told reporters in Rajasthan's Banswara, according to news agency PTI.

But 69-year-old lawmaker from Uttar Pradesh made it clear that she wasn't "too keen" on the Chief Minister's job.

"I don't like to be tied up. My freedom of movement will end," Hema Malini said when asked if she would be open to becoming a chief minister if an opportunity came her way.

Hema Malini debuted in parliament in 2003 when she was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the Atal Behari Vajpayee government. She had had campaigned for BJP candidates in the past too but formally joined the party only in 2004.

She moved up the BJP's hierarchy in 2010 when she was made a general secretary. She returned to the Rajya Sabha in 2011 for a shorter tenure. She made the transition to electoral politics in 2014 when she defeated sitting lawmaker Jayant Chaudhary, son of Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh with a huge margin.

But Hema Malini conceded that she was still known for her on-screen performances rather than in politics. "I am known mainly because of my name in Bollywood, call it 'dream girl' or Hema Malini," said the Mathura lawmaker who has acted in more than 200 films and performed more than 1000 shows in India and abroad.

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 22:12 [IST]You have right to protest not right to block roads: SC to farmers

Can't remain oblivious to ban on entry of women into Sabarimala: SC

India

pti-PTI

New Delhi, July 26: The Supreme Court today said irrespective of the submissions that Lord Ayyappa of the Sabarimala temple has "celibate character", it cannot remain "oblivious" of the fact that the entry of women in the age group of 10-50 was barred on "physiological ground" of menstruation.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, however, termed as "impressive" the persuasive and vehement submissions of advocate Sai Deepak, appearing for People for Dharma and NGO Chetna that Lord Ayyapa being a "juristic person" has the right to preserve his "brahmacharya" (celibate) character under the Constitution.

"Your (lawyer) arguments are impressive, I must admit that," the CJI observed.

"But, the court can't be oblivious of the fact of the case that a class of women is disallowed due to physiological reasons (menstruation)," the bench, which also comprised justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, said.

The bench, which was hearing pleas of Indian Young Lawyers Association and others challenging the ban, asked whether the practice at Sabarimala of barring women of the age group of 10-50 years from entering the temple was an "essential and integral" practice of a religious denomination.

Justice Chandrachud intervened and said there was no need to even go into the "essentiality" test and "the core of issue is whether Constitution overrides all other aspects. If yes, then nobody can exclude a class of women from visiting temple".

"I go beyond the essentiality test. Essentiality aspect has taken charge of Article 25 (freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion) under the Constitution, but it should not be so. Because of the fact that something is essential to the religion it becomes inviolable," Justice Chandrachud said.

Due to this essentiality doctrine, judges including the Supreme Court judges are now assuming a "theological mantle" which we are not expected to do, he said.

"The test should be whether a practice subscribes to the Constitution irrespective of whether it is essential or not," Justice Chandrachud said.

At the outset, lawyer Deepak said Lord Ayyappa of the Sabarimala is a "juristic person" for the purposes of property ownership and taxes and hence, he equally has rights under Article 21 (protection of life and personal liberty), 25 (freedom to practice religion) and 26 (freedom to manage religious affair) of the Constitution.

The deity has the right to remain a 'Naishtika Brahmachari' (eternal celibate) and this was also part of the right to privacy of the deity, the lawyer said, adding that the will of the deity needed to be respected.

The women has been respecting the tradition for a long time now and and "This is not a case of temple versus women or men versus women".

The public nature of the temple, which not also funded by the State or its Consolidate Fund of India, did not dilute the separate denominational right of the temple and devotees of Lord Ayyappa, he said.

"Who constitute separate religious denomination," the bench asked. The devotees of Lord Ayyappa, the lawyer replied.

During the day-long hearing, the bench asked whether Article 14 (equality before law) and 15(1) (prohibition of discrimination) would apply in the Sabarimala case as these fundamental rights are enforceable against the State and its instrumentalities.

It further said that rule is part of State action.

The rule was not the state action and it was just a "codification" of customary religious practices and if the court decides to strike down the rules then it amounts to striking down the "custom itself", the lawyer said.

The issue of exclusion of women was not based on notion of purity and rather dependent on facts like celibate nature of the deity which has been preserved for years, he said.

The court and others should not be "superimposing" their social views on the temple which has stated its position "loud and clear".

"Tomorrow somebody can say that he would like to offer chicken as 'prasadam'," he said, adding that can such an offer be entertained and the rules of religion and the God cannot be changed.

Individual rights have to be respected and simultaneously, the right and the nature of the deity were also required to be protected.

The bench then said that there was a need to strike a balance between the individual right with the rights of the religious institutions of a particular denomination.

Radhhakrishnan says various kind of morality are in built in Article 25(1) of the Constitution. He says the word morality be prefixed with "public" i.E., public morality.

Senior advocate K Radhhakrishnan, appearing for the Pandalam royal family, referred to the concept of morality and and said that the constitutional morality cannot override the private morality in cases of religious practices.

"The silent majority has been doing 41 days of 'penance' and they are not being heard this court," he said, adding that the deity is celibate.

Another senior advocate V Giri, appearing for head priest of the temple, also stressed the fact of uniqueness of the deity and said that the celibate character of the deity cannot be challenged by those who wished to pray.

"The belief of the devotee has to be in sync with the belief of the deity and it cannot be the case that you challenge the nature of the deity and want to pray also," he said.

PTI'Chalo Ayodhya, Chalo Varanasi' -Shiv Sena puts up poster in Mumbai

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

Mumbai, July 26: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is scheduled to visit Ayodhya and PM Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency Varanasi and will address a rally. Thackeray's right-hand man Milind Narvekar has put up poster in Mumbai's Bandra area saying 'Chalo Ayodhya, Chalo Varanasi'.

Sanjay Raut, MP, confirmed Uddhav Thackeray's plans to visit, saying, "Uddhav ji said he'll visit Ayodhya, address rally and later visit Varanasi, he'll participate in Ganga Aarti and offer prayers at Kashi Vishwanath Temple. It's a small event. There's nothing more to it."

The poster has come up after Uddhav Thackeray attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government over recent mob lynchings, saying cows were safer than women in the country, in his interview to party mouthpiece Saamna. He also called the BJP's idea of Hindutva fake and said the government has failed to check cow vigilantism.

"In the name of saving the cow, if you are shifting focus to whether someone is eating beef or not, then it is a sham. This is not Hindutva," he said in an interview published in

Now, the Sena is taking forward the ongoing fued with BJP with such posters. Of late, the party has been taking digs at the BJP over the issue of Ram Mandir. As per Sena, "BJP has forgotten their promise of Ram Mandir after coming to power".

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 13:06 [IST]PM says notion that Army, police meant for men no longer exists, lauds rise in number of women cops

PM Modi launches Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission: What we know about the scheme, so far?

Chirag Paswan's letter to PM: Warns of Dalit protests on August 9

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

New Delhi, July 26: Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) MP Chirag Paswan wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding sacking of Justice AK Goyal as National Green Tribunal (NGT) Chairman. Justice Goyal was the judge who had ruled against SC/ST Act.

In his letter, Chirag Paswan, the son of Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, cautioned that protests by Dalit groups on August 9 could be more aggressive than April protests (Bhima Koregaon protests).

Ram Vilas Paswan on Monday said several Dalit MPs of the National Democratic Alliance have "expressed concern" over the appointment of Justice AK Goel as the National Green Tribunal's chairperson. Paswan said Goel's appointment has sent a "wrong message", because he was "the judge who ruled against" the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989, reported The Indian Express.

It may be recalled that Dalit groups had called for a Bharat Bandh on April 2 in protest against a recent Supreme Court order which, they claimed, had diluted some stringent provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Protesters had turned violent at several places, which resulted in death of at least 11 people and destruction of property across the country.

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 11:34 [IST]From firing at the Army, to activating a Delhi module, Rohingya Muslims are getting aggressive

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, July 26: There have been two very disturbing developments in the past two days, where the issue of Rohingya Muslims arre concerned. A patrol team of the Assam Rifles was fired upon recently and two Bangladeshis who were trying to activate a Rohingya module in Delhi were arrested.

In this backdrop, the home ministry has also said that the Rohingyas are illegal immigrants and need to be deported as per the law. The Intelligence Bureau has issued several warnings of Rohingyas being used by terror groups and the events in the recent past show signs of aggression.

Along the Indo-Myanmar border, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, an insurgent group of the Rohingya Muslims attacked a patrol team of the Assam Rifles recently. The firing took place in a bid to push the Army back, so that terror camps could be set up on the Indian side of the border.

In another development two Jamaat -ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh operatives who were arrested near Delhi had planned on carrying out a major strike in the National Capital. Sources told OneIndia that they were also trying to activate a module comprising Rohingya Muslims at Delhi.

IB sources say that there has been an aggressive approach in the recent times by the Rohingya Muslims. The ARSA has been trying to set up several modules within India with the help of the ISI in Pakistan. The Rohingyas have been told to target states in the North East as well as high profile locations such as Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

IB officials say that the terror infrastructure that the ARSA is trying to build in India is particularly disturbing in nature. They have sent in their handlers are identifying people residing in camps. The ISI has tasked members of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, JMB and the SIMI to undertake this operation. The JMB would work along with the ARSA in the bordering areas, where the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and SIMI would look to work within the country.

With the firing on the Army, a high state of alert has been declared. The intelligence warns of more such attacks in the future. The officer says that the signs of aggression are showing and if not curbed, it could prove to be dangerous.

In the Delhi case, investigations suggest that the duo had planned to carry out a big strike in Delhi. They were in the process of activating a module and even getting in touch with the Rohingya settled in Delhi. The Intelligence Bureau has warned several times that the Rohingyas are a cause for concern and handlers have been getting in touch with some of them to undertake terror activities.

Further it was also found that the duo were also raising funds for the attack. The JMB had tasked the duo to carry out a major operation. The police say that they are also checking to find if the duo were trying to recruit anyone in the Delhi area. The JMB, founded in 1998 by Shaikh Abdur Rahman, was banned in 2005 for setting off about 500 bombs simultaneously all around Bangladesh.

Recently the Supreme Court had asked the government to explain why it wanted to deport the Rohingyas. Junior Home Minister Kiren Rijiju said that they were illegal immigrants and needed to be deported as per the law. "I want to tell the international organisations whether the Rohingya are registered under the United Nations Human Rights Commission or not. They are illegal immigrants in India and as per law they stand to be deported," he also said.

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 17:20 [IST]Gauri Lankeshs killers prepared hit-list in Devnagri script

India

oi-Staff

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Bengaluru, July 26: The SIT probing journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh's murder has stumbled upon a diary with a 'hit-list' which has the name of film and theatre personality Girish Karnad's name on top, the police said on Wednesday.

Girish Karnad was among the most vocal critics of hardline Hindutva whose security was beefed up following the killing of Gauri Lankesh in September 2017.

Gauri Lankesh's name figures second among the intended targets in the diary which was recovered last month from the suspects arrested in connection with her killing.

"There is a list of targets prepared by a radical Hindu group. The names of Karnad and Lankesh have been mentioned at slot number 1 and 2. We are investigating further," a member of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) said.

The entries, he said, have been made in Devnagri script.

The names of politician-litterateur B T Lalitha Naik, pontiff Veerabhadra Channamalla Swamy of Nidumamidi Mutt and rationalist C S Dwarakanath also figure in the list. All of them are bitter critics of the Hindu right.

When reached for comments on the recovery of the diary and his name on the hit-list, Karnad, tersely said, "I have no interest in all this. Thanks."

The SIT has, meanwhile, arrested the 10th suspect in the Lankesh murder case. Rajesh D Bangera, 50, was arrested from Madikeri in Kodagu district on July 23. He was produced before a magistrate on Tuesday and remanded in SIT custody till August 6.

The police did not disclose the role of Bangera in Gauri Lankesh's killing but said he was in touch with arrested suspects Amol Kale and Amit Degwekar. Parashuram Waghmare, who is suspected to have pulled the trigger on Lankesh, is among those arrested.

Gauri Lankesh, who held strong anti-Hindutva views and voiced them freely, was shot dead at the entrance to her house in Bengaluru's Rajarajeshwari Nagar area on September 5, 2017, triggering a nationwide outrage.

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 7:56 [IST]Data of up to 87 million users shared with UK firm, reveals Facebook

Over 5.6 lakh Indians may have been hit by data leak, says Facebook

'It was my fault, I'm responsible and I'm sorry': Zuckerberg testimony to Congress

Govt orders CBI probe into Cambridge Analytica scandal

India

oi-Deepika

By Deepika

New Delhi, July 26: Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday said that Cambridge Analytica data breach case will be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Prasad said in Parliament that Cambridge Analytica has denied to the Indian government that data from Indians was breached, but that contradicted information received from Facebook.

Prasad said a notice also was sent to Facebook in March, and it promised to improve its internal processes regarding hacking of personal data. "They also promised to take various other steps to ensure that such things don't recur," he said.

Cambridge Analytica declared bankruptcy this year following allegations that it used personal information harvested from 87 million Facebook accounts to help Donald Trump win the 2016 presidential election.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology says Facebook's largest user base is in India. Digital law experts say Indian regulations provide particularly weak safeguards against data breaches.

The Bharatiya Janata Party had questioned links between the Congress and Cambridge Analytica, alleging that the opposition party was a client of the firm.

However, the Congress had vehemently denied the allegations.How to commute in times of steep hike in petrol, diesel prices? Ride bicycle like Tej Pratap Yadav

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Oneindia Staff

Patna, July 26: Former Bihar health minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tej Pratap Yadav is never out of news. He will find one or other way to remain politically relevant.

While his younger brother Tejashwi Prasad Yadav has taken over the reins of the RJD as the party patriarch and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has been awarded jail term for his role in various scams, Tej is hogging the limelight either for his upcoming Hindi film, "Rudra - The Avtar", or his marriage to Aishwarya Rai.

On Thursday, Tej attracted a lot of attention when he was seen riding a bicycle on the streets of Patna. When news agency ANI asked him why he was riding a bicycle, the eldest son of Lalu and Rabri said that petrol and diesel have become costlier.

"It is best to ride a bicycle now. It also helps to stay healthy," said the 29-year-old RJD MLA.

"Patna: RJD's Tej Pratap Yadav takes out a cycle yatra, says, "petrol and diesel have become costlier, it is best to ride a cycle now, it also helps to stay healthy." #Bihar," tweeted ANI.

Patna: RJD's Tej Pratap Yadav takes out a cycle yatra, says, "petrol and diesel have become costlier, it is best to ride a cycle now, it also helps to stay healthy." #Bihar pic.twitter.com/8f8oxjZMyb  ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2018

In the last few weeks, prices of petrol and diesel have touched the sky leaving commuters distressed. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has come under attack from opposition parties for failing to provide relief to the commoners.

In fact, many, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi, while taking a dig at the Narendra Modi government have promoted the idea of bicycle riding instead of travelling in cars and buses to avoid paying so much for commute.

On Wednesday, one litre of petrol was being sold in Delhi for Rs. 76.23, in Kolkata for Rs. 79.10, in Mumbai for Rs. 83.68, and in Chennai for Rs. 79.18.

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 11:28 [IST]HRD Ministry assessing whether or not to conduct pending class 12 CBSE exams

HRD to come up with announcement for students who are not in same district of board exam centre

Leave politics out of it says HRD minister on CBSE syllabus controversy

HRD Ministry: No proposal to set up university for minorities

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, July 26: There is no proposal under consideration of the HRD Ministry to set up a university for minorities, Parliament was informed on Thursday.

The information was shared by Minister of State for HRD Satya Pal Singh in response to a written question in the Rajya Sabha.

"There is no proposal under consideration in the Ministry of HRD for setting up University of Minorities," Singh said.

The HRD minister said that the Ministry of Minority Affairs has informed that a committee was constituted by the Maulana Azad Education Foundation to go into the modalities for the establishment of institutions in different parts of the country with a view to facilitate educational development of minorities.

"The committee in its report has recommended the establishment of five national institutes," he added.

PTI

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 19:50 [IST]Captain Batra was born in Himachal Pradesh

Born and brought up in Himachal Pradesh's Palampur, Vikarma Batra is the son of G.L Batra and Jai Kamal Batra. Captain Batra completed his schooling from D.A.V Public School, Palampur and Central School, Palampur. During his college days at D.A.V College Chandigarh, became a recipient of best N.C.C Cadet (Air Wing).

Joined India Army in 1996

In 1996, Captain Batra took the decision of joining the Indian Military Academy over the high paying Merchant navy. His first commissioning was as a Lieutenant of the 13 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles at Sopore in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Capturing Point 4875

Captain Vikarm Batra played a displayed exemplary leadership quality while capturing point 2875 during 'Operation Vijay'. Captain Batra was serving in 13 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles Unit. On 7 July 1999, with utter disregard to his personal safety leading from the front, he rallied his team in the face of heavy enemy fire. Captain Batra in a fierce hand to hand fight killed five enemy soldiers at point blank range. Inspired by his daredevil act, his troops fell upon the enemy with the vengeance, annihilated them and captured Point 4875. The officer, however, succumbed to his injuries.

Incompolete love story

Captin Batra fell in love with Dimple Cheema in Punjab University. They had plans to get married after Kargil battle. But, the dynamic man came back wrapped in tricolour as he told.

Relatives of martyrs paying floral tributes at the magnificent Drass war memorial at the base of famous Tololing featurein Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday. PTI PhotoKargil Vijay Diwas: Captain Saurabh Kalia's family to continue fighting for justice

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

New Delhi, July 26: Captain Saurabh Kalia and five other soldiers of the Indian Army were brutally tortured and killed by the Pakistani troops during the 1999 Kargil war. Pakistan Army's barbaric act came around a month before the main conflict began.

In gross violation of the Geneva Convention the Pakistani Army subjected Captain Kalia and his soldiers to horrendous torture during which the bravehearts' ear drums were pierced with hot iron rods, eyes punctured and genitals cut off.

Captain Kalia's family has been trying to get justice from the government, and to highlight the war crimes that were committed against their son and other Indian soldiers. NK Kalia, Saurabh's father has been following his son's case and wants the act to be declared a war crime by the UN, and the people responsible to be punished as per the rulings of the Geneva Convention

"Then Prime Minister, Defence Minister and External Affairs Minister had promised that the issue will be taken up with Pakistan and at international level but till now no concrete action has been taken," NK Kalia told ANI today.

"We had to move Supreme Court. We understand this is an issue between two nations, I am optimistic in nature and will continue the fight. This issue about the dignity and honour of our armed forces," he added.

The autopsy of the bodies had revealed that they were burned with cigarettes butts. Their limbs were also chopped off, teeth broken and skull fractured during the torture. Even their nose and lips were cut off.

Saurabh Kalia's father has approached various national and international organisations to put pressure on Pakistan to identify, book and punish the persons responsible for the crime of keeping his son in captivity for three weeks and torturing him.

The UPA during its tenure had maintained that it could not move the ICJ as Pakistan will not permit it. India feels that it was a bilateral issue and it has always maintained that there should be "non-interference" by ICJ in "bilateral or internal" matter.

The ill-fated patrol had moved down the Kaksar Langpa area in Kargil on May 14, 1999 and declared missing a day later. They were in captivity for almost 22 days till June 7, 1999. Finally their mutilated bodies were handed over to the Indian Army on June 9, 1999. The Indian side discovered that the soldiers had been brutally tortured and then killed.

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 10:32 [IST]Kargil Vijay Diwas: The rats are here, throw them out said the Indian Army

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, July 26: Kargil Vijay Diwas marks the valour of our Army. It was on this day, 19 years back, that India defeated Pakistan in the Kargil war. India lost over 500 soldiers in the war that went on for three months.

Incidentally this was the first war to be broadcast live as our brave soldiers fought on the icy peaks and treacherous slopes of Kargil. The Pakistani intruders had perched themselves comfortably on top. It needed a gritty operation known as Operation Vijay to take down the intruders and recapture, Tiger Hill.

The war was fought between May and July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir. It was in fact the local shepherds who first reported the intrusions by the Pakistanis on May 3. The Kargil Brigade told the commanding officers, ' some rats have come in, throw them out.'

Kargil Vijay Diwas - All you should know

The Indian government had hoped that it would be able to evict the intruders in 48 hours, but the operation went on for three months. The operation was hard because the intruders had the advantage of height and they were able to shoot with precision. It was a bit later on that the Army realised that these persons they were fighting were not intruders, but the Pakistani army who had set up bunkers.

Kargil conflict explained:

Kargil war was fought in 1999 between India and Pakistan in Kargil, Ladkah, intially Baltistan district, separated by the LOC after the first Kashmir war.

This was the first war after the war in 1971, which led to the formation of Bangladesh.

Atal Bihar Vajpayee was the Prime Minister at that time.

Operation Vijay was launched to clear the Kargil sector of infiltration by Pakistani soldiers and Kashmiri terrorists on the Indian side of the LoC The war was fought in May-July 1999 in Kargil and also along the LoC. Safed Sagar, the IAF's operation was a major one.

Air power at the height of 32,000 feet was used for the first time to identify Pakistan troops and infiltrators.

Operation Vijay was declared successful on July 26, 19 years back.

Vajpayee declared the operation as successful on July 14, but it was officially declared closed on July 26 1999.

India lost more than 500 of its men. Pakistan on the other hand lose 3,000 of their men including terrorists.

The Kargil war was a rare instance of a war being fought by two nuclear states.

Kargil was the toughest war due to a high-altitude warfare. Such wars are considered most dangerous due to rough terrain and natural habitat.

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 10:28 [IST]You have right to protest not right to block roads: SC to farmers

Malankara Orthodox Church rape case: SC stays arrest of 2 accused till August 6

India

oi-Chennabasaveshwar

By Chennabasaveshwar

New Delhi, July 26: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked to stay the arrest of two accused, Father Jaise K George and Father Sony Varghese, till August 6 in Malankara Orthodox Church rape case. Also, the apex court asked Kerala government to furnish a status report by August 6 in the case of rape and molestation against four priests.

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday granted conditional bail to Job Mathew, a Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church priest, who was arrested on July 12 from Kollam, in connection with a rape and molestation case. He had been arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a 34-year-old woman.

Justice V Rajavijaya Raghavan ordered Mathew to appear before the investigating officer twice a week, and warned him against influencing witnesses or tampering with the evidence, PTI reported. The court also directed the priest not to leave the country.

Mathew is the second accused in the case. Three weeks ago, the Kerala Police Crime Branch had booked four priests of the church on charges of rape and molestation.

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 16:36 [IST]No love for those who do not love cows: Bhupendrasinh Chudasama

Mob lynching: Rajasthan BJP chief claims Humayun, on his deathbed, told Babur to respect cows

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Oneindia Staff

Jaipur, July 26: While Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath stated that "unnecessary importance is being given to mob lynching", his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) colleague in Rajasthan Madan Lal Saini claimed that when Mughal emperor Humayun was on his deathbed, he told his father, Babur, to respect cows, brahmins and women in order to continue ruling India.

"When Humayun was dying, he called Babur and told him if you want to rule Hindustan, you must keep three things in mind--respect cows, brahmins and women," the Rajasthan BJP president told reporters in Jaipur.

The whole statement is factually incorrect as Babur, Humayun's father, died in 1531--almost 25 years before Humayun breathed his last in 1556.

Saini made the statement in regard to the latest mob lynching incident in Alwar, Rajasthan where Rakbar Khan, a Muslim man, was assaulted by a Hindu mob on suspicion of cow smuggling. Later Khan, who was seriously injured, died in the police custody.

While the whole nation is aghast by the rise in mob lynching cases, the BJP is in a state of denial. According to reports at least 68 people have died across the country due to mob lynching since 2015.

"We will provide protection to everyone, but it is the responsibility of every individual, every community and every religion to respect each other sentiments. Humans are important and cows are also important. Both have their own roles in nature. Everyone should be protected," the Uttar Pradesh CM was quoted as saying by ANI.

He also blamed the Opposition for giving "unnecessary importance" to instances of mob lynching in the country.

"Law and order is a matter of the state. Congress' intention to make mountain out of a molehill won't be successful," Adityanath said.

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 8:32 [IST]Despite highest disruptions since 2014, here's the list of bills passed in Parliament

New parliament building will be a monumental work of skill, speed, scale: Govt official

Monsoon Session ends, most productive for Lok Sabha since 2000

India

oi-Staff

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New Delhi, Aug 10: The Monsoon session of Parliament, which ended, was the "most productive" for Lok Sabha since 2000, a think tank has said. According to the data compiled by PRS Legislative Research, 20 bills were introduced during the session and 12 were passed.

The Lok Sabha, it said, worked for 110 per cent of the scheduled hours and the Rajya Sabha for 66 per cent. The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha spent 50 per cent and 48 per cent of their time on legislative business respectively, the data said. This, the PRS Legislative Research data said, is the highest by both Houses in the 16th Lok Sabha and second highest since 2004.

Fewer bills (26 per cent) were referred to parliamentary committees, as compared to the 15th Lok Sabha (71 per cent) and the 14th Lok Sabha (60 per cent). This Monsoon session also had one of the most productive Question Hours of the 16th Lok Sabha.

The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha functioned for 84 per cent and 68 per cent of their scheduled Question Hour time respectively, the data said. The highest number of 999 Private Member Bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha since 2000, the think tank said.

In the 16th Lok Sabha, the highest number of government Bills were introduced by the Ministry of Law and Justice and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. In the 15th Lok Sabha, the highest number of Bills were introduced by the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Law and Justice.

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said the session has been the "more productive and safisfactory" compared to the previous Budget Session and last year's monsoon session.

The session, which began on July 18, also witnessed a discussion on a no confidence motion against the Government brought by Opposition. The motion was defeated later.

The House also greeted the people in advance on the occasion of the Independence Day.

Here are the Highlights from the Monsoon Session:

Newest First Oldest First Monsoon Session of the Lok Sabha adjourned Sine Die. "Triple Talaq Bill will not be taken up today because no consensus could be built around it," says Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu. Some reports say that the Triple Talaq Bill could be tabled in the Winter Session. The government and opposition failed to reached a consensus on the issue of triple talaq. Senior ministers in the government including Union law minister and senior Congress leaders are discussing the matter to reach a meeting point. However consensus seems unlikely. Congress demands JPC into Rafale issue. After ruckus over the matter, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned. Uproar by Opposition in Rajya Sabha over Rafale Deal issue. Congress raises Rafale deal issue in Rajya Sabha. Sonia Gandhi takes part in the protest by Opposition in Parliament premises over Rafale Deal issue. "Our party's position is absolutely clear on this, I will not say anything on this further," former Congress president Sonia Gandhi tells media when asked about Triple Talaq Bill. Congress, CPI, RJD and AAP hold protest outside Parliament over Rafale deal issue, reports ANI. The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved amendments in the Triple Talaq Bill. Under the amendments cleared, a magistrate will have powers to grant bail. The woman can approach the magistrate to seek subsistence allowance for herself and her minor children, and can also seek custody of her minor children from the magistrate who will take a final call on the matter. Union Cabinet yesterday also approved inclusion of provisions that the complaint in such a case can only be filed by the victim (wife) or blood relations With the Union Goverment set to table the Triple Talaq Bill in the Rajya Sabha today, a BJP strategy meeting is curently underway in the Parliament. BJP President Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh , Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and other senior leaders are present at the meeting, reported ANI. Triple Talaq Bill to be tabled in Rajya Sabha today Lok Sabha adjourned till 11am tomorrow. Triple Talaq Bill to be tabled in Rajya Sabha tomorrow TDP MP demands Centre intervention in view of several kidney ailment cases in Uddanam Zero Hour begins Lok Sabha has passed the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill. Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) will rally across the country & expose Congress who ruled for 55 years but did nothing. It's a slap in the face of those who call NDA & Modi govt as anti-dalit, says Ram Vilas Paswan, Union Minister, on passage of SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Amendment Bill New talent would do better in upcoming games&championships. Manipur is known as sports powerhouse.I want to make it super sports powerhouse. Whatever Govt needs to do in this, I would be very happy to help:Mary Kom,Rajya Sabha MP,on passage of National Sports University Bill 2018 Lok Sabha extends functioning till 7 pm LS debates the Representation of the People (Amendment) Bill, 2017. The Bill seeks to amend the Representation of People Act, 1950 and the Representation of People Act, 1951 to allow for proxy voting for NRI voters and to make certain provisions of the Acts gender-neutral. Lok Sabha has passed The Integrated Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2018, The Union Territory Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2018, The Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Amendment Bill, 2018 and The Central Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2018. National Commission for Backward Classes (Repeal) Bill, 2017 has been passed by Lok Sabha. Meanwhile, The DNA Technology (Use And Application) Regulation Bill, 2018 has been introduced in the Lok Sabha. Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till 11.00 am tomorrow. Parliament has passed the National Sports University Bill 2018 as the Rajya Sabha has given its approval. The Rajya Sabha is currently discussing The Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2018. The Lok Sabha is discussing The Central Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2018. "We've proposed 3 changes. If any husband gives triple talaq instantaneously & breaks marriage then FIR shall only become cognizable when it is filed by victim or blood relation or relation by marriage," he said. Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party, or TDP, has given notice for a no trust motion against the NDA government in the Lok Sabha. The no-trust motion does not endanger the BJP-led government which has 273 members in the Lok Sabha, much more than the half-way mark. Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav said at the all-party meeting: We will not allow the House to function till an assurance is given by the government on the floor of the House on reservations to SCs and STs in higher education. With the Supreme Court coming down heavily on inaction by states in cases of cow vigilantism, a debate on an anti-lynching law is likely to take place. With parliament session starting from today, several key bills are likely to be passed, tabled or debated. Before the bills are tabled and discussed, the opposition is likely to rake up issues that might delay the session. Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu has urged both ruling and opposition parties to stop blame game over house disruptions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday sought cooperation of all political parties and asked them to ensure that it turns out to be a productive session. While the BJP has accused the Congress of Muslim appeasement and practising divisive politics, the Congress on its part has accused Modi of pursuing divisive agenda to win elections after his governance "failure". In Rajya Sabha, members will pay their Obituary References to the passing away of- Vishwasrao Ramrao Patil, Mohammed Amin, Ashok Mitra, Balkavi Bairagi, Kameshwar Paswan, Shantaram Naik, Surinder Kumar Singla and M.M. Jacob Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday hit out at the government through a pop quiz. In a veiled attack at the BJP-led central government, Gandhi said, "Pop Quiz  I bow to the most powerful in the line. A person's strength & power are all that are important to me. I use hatred & fear to maintain the hierarchy of power. I seek out the weakest & crush them. I rank all living beings based on their usefulness to me. Who am I? (sic)." Over eight opposition leaders have sent an unusual rejoinder to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's request to cooperation during parliament's monsoon session with a letter of their own. The opposition leaders wonder whether she had written to the government too, pointing that it was the ruling BJP-led coalition which disrupted parliament for 13 days during the budget session. The Shiv Sena was undecided on supporting the no-confidence motion that the TDP sought to move in Parliament against the BJP-led NDA government. Trinamool Congress gives Zero hour notice in Rajya Sabha over Mob Lynching issue. List of Issues Opposition Will Raise During Monsoon Session Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said opposition parties will demand grant of special status to Andhra Pradesh, apart from raising issues such as lynchings, atrocities against women and Dalits and dilution of a law meant for SCs. He said that attempts to abolish reservation policy and the falling value of the Rupee will be also be raised in the monsoon session. After TMC in Rajya Sabha, now RJD MP JP Yadav has also given an adjournment motion notice in Lok Sabha over cases of mob lynching. CPI MP D Raja has given adjournment motion notice in Rajya Sabha over cases of mob lynching and attack on Swami Agnivesh. With opposition all geared up to corner the Centre over host of issues including contentious mob lynching incident, what the Members of the Parliament should remember is that a total of 68 pending bills need to to be taken up the next 18 sessions. The Budget Session of Parliement was a toatl chaos during which the Lok Sabha worked for only 21 per cent of its scheduled time while the Rajya Sabha worked just 27 per cent. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor took to Twitter to express hope for a peaceful Monsoon Session, while taking a dig at the BJP and its allies. "It would be a disgrace if we saw a repeat of proxy disruption so the government can push its bills through in the din," he said in the tweet. Looking forward to a productive #MonsoonSession2018 with support from all political parties. #Parliament pic.twitter.com/fqu5AecGyD  Ananthkumar (@AnanthKumar_BJP) July 18, 2018 Ananth Kumar hopes for a productive session. TDP MP Kesineni Srinivas has already wrote to Lok Sabha Secretary-General to include a no-confidence motion in the list of business for the first day of the monsoon session of Parliament, which begins today. The government is unlikely to go for election to the post of Rajya Sabha's deputy chairman in Parliament's Monsoon Session beginning tomorrow and will push for a consensus candidate. The post has been lying vacant since June after the retirement of PJ Kurien, who was elected to the Upper House of Parliament on the Congress ticket from Kerala, and later became its deputy chairman in the UPA government. Meeting of Telugu Desam Party(TDP) MPs underway at YS Choudhary's residence in Delhi. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Home Minister Rajnath Singh arrive in Parliament. YSR Congress MPs protest at Gandhi statue in Parliament, demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh. Special category status for Andhra has been a long pending demand. It over this issues that the TDP severed ties with the BJP and walked out of the NDA. "We hope that MonsoonSession of Parliament functions smoothly, whatever issues any party has, it can raise on the floor of the house. Government is ready for discussion on all issues," says PM Modi before entering Parliament. PM Modi seeks cooperation of all political parties and asked them to ensure that the Monsoon Session turns out to be productive. The Budget Session of Parliament was a total chaos during which the Lok Sabha worked for only 21 per cent of its scheduled time while the Rajya Sabha worked just 27 per cent. "May the productivity of the forthcoming session and the rich levels of debate also become a source of inspiration for the various state assemblies," the PM says.

Important bills and ordinances listed for the Monsoon Session:

123rd Constitutional Amendment bill

Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Amendment) Bill

Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill

Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill or the triple talaq bill

Rights of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Second Amendment) Bill, 2017

Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill

National Medical Commission Bill, 2017.

Code of Wages Bill, the Factories (Amendment) Bill

Contract Labour Amendment Bill

Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill

Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill

Ordinances that would be replaced:

Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance

Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance

Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of HCs (Amendment) Ordinance

Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Ordinance

National Sports University Ordinance

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) OrdinanceMuzaffarpur Shelter Home case: Nitish Kumar orders to handover case to CBI

India

oi-Madhuri

Patna, July 26: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday ordered Chief Secretary, Principal Home Secretary and DGP to hand over the investigation of the case to Central Bureau of Investigation as the Opposition stepped up its attack on the ruling Janata Dal-United-BJP government in the state. The decision comes after uproar over the case that rocked the state Assembly this week.

Leader of Opposition and RJD lawmaker Tejashwi Yadav alleged that Brajesh Thakur, the patron of an NGO, which ran the shelter home, was associated with the Chief Minister's campaign team in Muzaffarpur during the last Lok Sabha elections.

Yadav also pressed for a High Court-monitored CBI probe into the alleged sexual exploitation of girls at the state-funded shelter home.

Girls of the government-funded shelter home Bihar's Muzaffarpur alleged that one of their fellow inmates was beaten to death and buried at the premises of the facility, and several were raped.

Also, the medical reports of 29 out of 34 inmates of a short stay home for minor girls in Muzaffarpur, which came under the lens following allegations of "mass sexual abuse", has suggested sexual exploitationTwo Congress leaders link KPCC president DK Shivakumar to scam in viral video: What's in the leaked clip?

Schools in Karnataka for Class 1-5 re-open: Here are the rules

Politics over farm loan waiver in Karnataka: CM Kumaraswamy welcomes BJPs padayatra

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Oneindia Staff

Bengaluru, July 26: The farm loan waiver in Karnataka remains a burning political issue. After Karnataka chief minister HD Kumarswamy announced a total of Rs 44,700 crore crop loan waiver for farmers, the main opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), began a padayatra (foot march) to demand complete farm loan waiver on Thursday.

The three-day protest march from Kumaraswamy's constituency, Ramanagara, to Bengaluru, the state capital, will cover a distance of 48 kms. Along with BJP leaders, around 3,000 farmers are a part of the padayatra.

When reporters asked Kumaraswamy about the padayatra of the BJP, he strangely welcomed it. But the CM asked the Opposition to appreciate him for announcing farm loan waiver.

"I welcome the BJP's padayatra. At least they are fighting in favour of the farmers. I have waived farmers' loans, they should appreciate me for it," Kumaraswamy was quoted as saying by ANI.

I welcome BJP's Padayatra, at least they are fighting in favour of the farmers. I am waving farmers loans, they should appreciate me for it: Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy pic.twitter.com/Ch44ILLWSD  ANI (@ANI) July 26, 2018

After the Rs 34,000 crore crop loan waiver for farmers in the state in the recent budget, the CM announced an additional Rs 10,700 crore loan waiver for farmers.

The BJP wants the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S))alliance government in the state to waive off all loans of the farmers including development loan.

The reports say the ruling regime is unlikely to meet the demand for a complete loan waiver for farmers.

The farmers in the state are struggling a lot as the last few years have been very difficult for them because of the drought leading to their crop destruction. The loss of crop has financially hit the farmers and many of them have committed suicide.

In fact, during the campaigning for the Karnataka Assembly elections, which took place in May, the JD(S) had promised a complete loan waiver for farmers.Ready for discussion with those demanding separate north Karnataka state: HDK

India

oi-PTI

Bengaluru, July 26: Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Thursdaysaid he was open for a discussion on the development of North Karnataka, a day after some outfits called for a bandh on August 2 to press their demand for statehood for the region.

The chief minister also invited those demanding a separate state for a meeting to discuss the issues concerning the region.

"Do they have any information about the developments in the last 60 to 70 years? Without getting any information with some personal interests they are doing all these things," Kumaraswamy told reporters here. He asked whether the discrimination has happened in the last two months.

"Do the people of north Karnataka feel let down after I assumed charge as chief minister and my government came to power? I'm ready to discuss it anywhere," Kumaraswamy said.

"Those wanting to divide the state, why they are asking for this?...I'm ready to call for a public hearing or invite the organisations to Suvarna Vidhana Soudha (in Belagavi) for a meeting. I openly request them to bring their problems to my notice," he said. A day-long bandh has been called by some outfits in 13 districts of north Karnataka on August 2 demanding statehood for the region, alleging discrimination by successive governments towards it.

Calling for the bandh, 'Uttara Karnataka Pratyeka Rajya Horata Samiti'(North Karnataka Separate Statehood Protest Committee) has alleged discrimination in allocation towards the region in the budget presented by Kumaraswamy on July 5 and also lesser representation in the cabinet.

Commenting on the demand for a separate north Karnataka state, deputy chief minister G Parameshwara said development of "Akhanda Karnataka" (united Karnataka) was the government's agenda.

"Whole of Karnataka is one, there is no second or third Karnataka. It is akhanda Karnataka....we don't have anything like- one part should develop and other part should not," he said.

Parameshwara also recalled efforts by successive Congress governments for the development of northern parts of the state, including getting special category status for the Hyderabad-Karnataka region.

PTI

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 20:12 [IST]RS chairman Venkaiah Naidu breaks down over oppn ruckus, equates it to 'sacrilege'

Om Birla says it pained him that Lok Sabha did not run smoothly during Monsoon session

RS passes Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, paves way for legislation on cheque bouncing

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

New Delhi, July 26: The Rajya Sabha today passed the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2017 which is aimed at reducing delays in resolution of cheque bouncing cases.

The bill has the provision of allowing a court trying an offence related to cheque bouncing, to direct the drawer to pay interim compensation to the complainant.

As per this provision, interim compensation not exceeding twenty percentage of the cheque amount can be ordered to be paid in cases where the accused does not plead guilty in a summary trial or summons case.

The interim compensation will, however, not exceed 20% of the amount of the cheque that was dishonoured.

The interim compensation is to be paid by the drawer of the dishonoured cheque in a summary trial or a summons case. It is applicable even if he pleads not guilty to the charge made in the complaint.

There are 16 lakh cheque bouncing cases that are lying in the subordinate courts and 35 thousand cases are in the higher judiciary.

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 18:41 [IST]Zakir Naik tried to cross over to Maldives but was not allowed

Stuck in a limbo: What is holding up Zakir Naiks extradition

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, July 26: The extradition of controversial Islamic preacher, Zakir Naik has hit yet another roadblock. Days after Malaysia said that it would not deport Naik, now it is learnt that the even the Interpol has failed to issue a Red Corner Notice against him.

Minister of State for Home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said in Rajya Sabha that a request for issuance of Red Corner Notice was sent to the Interpol on May 19, 2017.

Clarifications were sought by the international police organisation on August 10 last year and was provided on October 6 the same year. However, during the 102nd session of the Interpol Commission from December 24-27, 2017, the world body opined that the issuance of RCN for Naik's arrest, with a view to his extradition, was pre-mature, since the charge sheet had not been filed till the sending of the original request for RCN to the Interpol, Ahir said.

"A fresh warrant was issued by the Court against Zakir Naik...and a fresh request of Red Corner Notice was sent to the Interpol on January 3, 2018. No further communication has been received so far from the Interpol," he said in a written reply to a question.

The statement comes just a day after Zakir Naik's lawyer had said that India had not made a request for his extradition as yet.

The lawyer Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz posted a letter from the police confirming that no request to extradite Zakir Naik has been made by India as yet. He appended the July 13 letter from the Royal Malaysia Police's Legal Affairs Department on his Facebook page.

"For your information, this department has checked and found no such request made by the Indian government towards your client up to date," the statement read. "We urge you to check with the Attorney General's Chambers on this matter too."

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 5:09 [IST]The BJPs take on the Pakistan elections

India

oi-Staff

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New Delhi, July 26: India is watching the developments in Pakistan as Imran Khan is set to become the country's next Prime Minister. The elections are crucial especially in the wake of tensions along the Indo-Pak border and in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Pakistan must come out of the cold war mentality. We hope the new regime reciprocates, India's approach of sovereign equality, natural friendship and does not go by pre-conditions, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav said.

"India looks at every election in Pakistan with a lot of hope", and the new Pakistani government should "reciprocate this approach of our government". He wished the new elected Pakistani government to be a strong one, which is not subservient to "multiple power centres". Recalling former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Pakistan visit in 2015, Madhav said, "She spent half an hour with PM Nawaz Sharif and three hours with then Army chief of Pakistan".

"India as a democratic country would like to engage with the elected leadership in Pakistan, " Madhav also added.

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 10:59 [IST]The Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill explained

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, July 26: The Parliament on Wednesday passed a bill that seeks to prevent big economic offenders like Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi from fleeing the country and evading the legal process.

The Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018 was passed by the Rajya Sabha with a voice vote. The Lok Sabha had cleared the measure on July 19.

Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said instances of people running away and evading legal process was increasing, which needed to be stopped as the current laws do not allow dealing with the "severity of the problem".

"Criminal law does not allow us to impound their property," he added.

"This bill is an effective, expeditious and constitutional way to stop these offenders from running away. Legislative changes or a new law must be in place to confiscate assets of such absconders till they don't present themselves in front of the courts. We will also work out what has to be done with the confiscated assets," Goyal said.

While replying to the debate, he said there cannot be a situation where economic offenders run away from the country and also protect their properties.

Justifying the financial limit of Rs 100 crore for invoking the provision of this new law, Goyal said it was being done to catch the big offenders and not to clog the courts.

The Enforcement Directorate will be the investigative agency under the Act, he added.

Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill:

The Bill is primarily aimed at stopping economic offenders who leave the country to avoid legal process. Offences involving amounts of Rs 100 crore and above fall under the purview of this law. These offences are those defined under the Indian Penal Code, SEBI Act, Customs Act, Companies Act, Prevention of Corruption Act, Limited Liability Partnership Act, and the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

Definition of a fugitive economic offender:

Section 4 of the law, states that a 'fugitive economic offender' is "any individual against whom a warrant for arrest in relation to a scheduled offence has been issued by any court in India, who:

(i) leaves or has left India so as to avoid criminal prosecution; or

(ii) refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution."

How is a person declared an economic offender:

The Central government through a director appointed by it will have to file an application before a special court to declare a person as fugitive economic offender. Once the following conditions are fulfilled the director has the right to seize or attach the properties of the offender.

Under Clause (2) of Section 6, the application must contain the following:

(a) reason/s for the belief that an individual is a fugitive economic offender;

(b) any information available as to the whereabouts of the fugitive economic offender;

(c) a list of properties or the value of such properties believed to be the proceeds of crime, including any such property outside India for which confiscation is sought;

(d) a list of properties owned by the person in India for which confiscation is sought;

(e) a list of persons who may have an interest in any of the properties listed under sub-clauses (c) and (d)."

The process:

Once an application is moved, the court would issue notice to the person concerned. The accused would have to present himself before the court within six weeks of the notice being issued. In case he or she fails to be present, the court would declare the person a fugitive economic offender, following which the properties as listed would be confiscated.

Under Section 11, the person declared a fugitive economic offender loses the right to file a civil claim in court.

Confiscating properties:

The court would then appoint an administrator to oversee the confiscated property. The administrator would be responsible for disposing off the property, following which the amount would be used to satisfy a creditor's claim.BJP will win absolute majority in Goa Assembly polls and form govt again, says Amit Shah

This UP BJP MLA asks every Hindu couple to have 5 children to keep Hindutva intact

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Oneindia Staff

Lucknow, July 26: Call it bizarre or tragedy of our times, every day a member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has to say something so weird that we pray to become deaf than to tolerate such horrendous remarks by political leaders.

Uttar Pradesh BJP Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Surendra Singh notorious for making provocative and bizarre remarks has once again stoked controversy. Singh stated that every Hindu couple must have at least five children for Hindutva to remain intact.

Singh, in an interview to ANI, said this step is necessary to increase the population of Hindus in India.

"The population of Hindus must increase. It is the desire of every spiritual leader (mahant) that every Hindu couple should have five children to maintain India's strength and keep Hindutva intact (Hindu ki abadi badhani chahiye. Har mahant ki iccha hai kam-se-kam 5 bacche, Hindu jugal kam-se-kam 5 bacche paida kare to Bharatiya taakat bani rahegi, Hindustan mein Hindutva bana rahega: BJP MLA Surendra Singh)," Singh was quoted as saying by ANI.

Hindu ki abadi badhani chahiye. Har mahant ki iccha hai kam-se-kam 5 bacche, Hindu jugal kam-se-kam 5 bacche paida kare to Bharatiya taakat bani rahegi, Hindustan mein Hindutva bana rahega: BJP MLA Surendra Singh pic.twitter.com/rFOKY2BVFA  ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 25, 2018

In order to grab eyeballs, Singh has been regularly making controversial remarks. As the nation is witnessing alarming rise in rape incidents, the BJP MLA stated recently that even Hindu Lord Ram also can't stop rapes.

Earlier, Singh had said that prostitutes are better than government officials. He made the statement after he asked his supporters to give officials a "ghoosa" (punch) if they ask for "ghoos" (bribe).

Singh is the same BJP leader who had earlier called West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee "Surpanakha", the sister of demon king Ravana in Ramayana. He added that West Bengal could turn into Jammu and Kashmir from where Hindus had to migrate.

According to Singh, the country is witnessing rise in rape cases because of mobile phones. He also blamed parents for rising crimes against children as they let their wards "roam around freely".

Once while dismissing the report of a rape in Uttar Pradesh, Singh had said, "No one can rape a mother of three children."

Singh is not the only one who is making provocative, abusive and absurd statements from the BJP camp. Of late, every other day a BJP leader issue controversial statements--be it in the matter of mob lynching, beef eating, science, religion, women or minority communities.

In fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in order to rein in his erring lawmakers, had issued a warning a few months ago. Modi said, "We make mistakes and give masala to the media... as if we are great social scientists and experts to analyse issues..."

The PM warned lawmakers and said not to "talk out of turn...it hurts the party image."

But it seems no one in the BJP takes the PM seriously as the leaders of the saffron party continue to make provocative statements. The latest statement by Singh has been lambasted by activists, political observers and public in general.

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 7:49 [IST]Do you know what happens when there is 20% shortage of water in the body

Water storage in the countrys reservoirs surges

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Oneindia Staff

New Delhi, July 26: With monsoon rain sets in, water storage level in the week ending on July 26, 2018 was 113 per cent of the storage of corresponding period of last year and 116 per cent of storage of average of the last ten years.

The total storage capacity of 91 major reservoirs of the country is 161.993 BCM which is about 63 per cent of the total storage capacity of 257.812 BCM which is estimated to have been created in the country.

The water storage available in 91 major reservoirs for the week ending on July 26, 2018 was 63.333 BCM which is 41 per cent of total storage capacity of these reservoirs. This percentage was at 32 for the week ending on July 19, 2018.

States having better storage than last year for corresponding period included Odisha Tripura, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. States having lesser storage than last year for corresponding period are Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Northern states like Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan, there are six reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 18.01 BCM. The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 4.66 BCM which is 26 per cent of the total live storage capacity of these reservoirs.

The storage during the corresponding period of last year was 52 per cent and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 45 per cent of live storage capacity of these reservoirs.

In the southern region with states like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, there are 31 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 51.59 BCM. The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 29.79 BCM which is 58 per cent of total live storage capacity of these reservoirs.

The storage during corresponding period of last year was 25 per cent and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 35 per cent of live storage capacity of these reservoirs.

Thus, storage during current year is better than the corresponding period of last year and is also better than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period.

In states like Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Tripura, there are 15 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 18.83 BCM. The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 7.11 BCM which is 38 per cent of total live storage capacity of these reservoirs.

The storage during corresponding period of last year was 42 per cent and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 31 per cent of live storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, storage during current year is less than the corresponding period of last year but is better than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period.

There are 27 reservoirs in Gujarat and Maharashtra under CWC monitoring with total live storage capacity of 31.26 BCM. The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 10.20 BCM which is 33 per cent total live storage capacity of these reservoirs.

The storage during corresponding period of last year was 39 per cent and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 32 per cent of live storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, storage during current year is less than the storage of last year but is better than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period.

In states like of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, there are 12 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 42.30 BCM. The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 14.58 BCM which is 34 per cent of total live storage capacity of these reservoirs.

The storage during corresponding period of last year was 39 per cent and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 36 per of live storage capacity of these reservoirs.

Thus, storage during current year is less than the storage of last year and is also less than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period.

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 23:28 [IST]Businessman in Kolkata shot at after his car was stopped by 18 men

West Bengal Assembly passes resolution to change state's name to 'Bangla'

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Kolkata, July 26: The West Bengal Assembly on Thursday passed the bill to change the state's name from West Bengal to 'Bangla'. The resolution would now be sent to the Home Ministry for approval.

The Home Ministry had earlier sent back the state's plan to change the name to "Bengal" in English, "Bangla" in Bengali and "Bangal" in Hindi. The Home Ministry had reservations with the three different names.

After this, the state cabinet passed a resolution to change the name of the state to "Bangla" in all languages on September 8 last year.

If the Home Ministry gives a green signal, then West Bengal's name would officially be changed to 'Bangla'.With GDP size increasing, there may be need for more currency in system: RBI official

Why is cryptocurrency junk? Hear it from Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga

India

oi-Staff

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New Delhi, July 26: Calling cryptocurrency "junk", Mastercard President and CEO Ajay Banga has said an "anonymised" currency that can fluctuate "wildly" does not deserve to be considered as a medium of exchange.

The India-born head of the American multinational financial services corporation voiced concern that 95% of all illegal transactions on the dark web, including child prostitution, drugs, credit card and social security fraud, are paid for using cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrency is a digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank.

"I think cryptocurrency is junk....The idea of an anonymised currency produced by people who have to mine it, the value of which can fluctuate wildly - that to me is not the way that any medium of exchange deserves to be considered a medium of exchange," Banga said in New York.

He was responding to questions about cryptocurrency during the 'New India Lecture' organized earlier this week at the Indian Consulate under the aegis of Consul General Ambassador Sandeep Chakravorty.

The lecture series is organised by the Consulate in partnership with the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF).

Banga said crypto-currency is not a good medium of exchange as it does not have predictability and transparency.

Banga also referred to the indictment of 12 Russian intelligence officers in the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and for interring in the US elections, saying that the FBI had disclosed that the Russian agents handled the most delicate transactions using cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Banga said cryptocurrency was used in such dealings because it is "anonymous."

"Why civil society would like to put a snake in its backyard and think that somehow the snake will only bite my neighbour, I don't get it," he said.

On the escalation of trade wars between countries as they impose tariffs on goods in a tit-for-tat manner, Banga said "countries that have benefited over the years from the openness and transparency of nations that had opened up their markets for trade, need to also be willing to play by the rules, whether it is the obvious rules or the slightly less obvious, surreptitious rules.

"My worry about trade is not to do with the idea that the principles of global trade need to be renegotiated to create a more level-playing field on all sides of this environment for recipient and exporting countries but also that the way of getting to that agreement has to be more mature than what I feel currently is the pathway that is being followed," he said.

Banga stressed that in the current environment, it is time for people to have a debate about how open trade should be constructed.

He said globalisation worked by opening up trade but the "manner in which those trade rules have been decided and the manner in which some countries follow rules and others openly and flagrantly violate the rules, whether it been in intellectual property protection, duties, creating sneaky artificial barriers...needs to be addressed."

Banga also made a strong argument over the need for society to prefer electronic payments instead of using cash, emphasizing that cash and not credit cards are used to fund illicit activities such as drug distribution and terrorism.

"India is deeply impacted by terrorism as is this country. Do you really believe that the drugs that flow through from Afghanistan to Pakistan to India and corrupt the youth in Punjab today, that the drugs in America's campuses come in exchange for a credit card payment.

"They come in exchange for cash and yet society buys into the logic that cash is free and electronic payments are expensive. Society needs to wake up," Banga said.

He supported Prime Minister Narendra Modi's push towards digitisation and enabling a cashless society in India. "Cash is not free. That's with the Indian Prime Minister has said and the reason why he is saying this is that he gets it."

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 15:31 [IST]With a complete Taliban takeover, where does it leave the Islamic State in Afghanistan

Why ISKP would be ISIs preferred proxy to launch attacks in India

NIA arrests Madurai man for trying to establish Islamic State, Sharia law in India

With Islamic State in overdrive mode particularly in South India, NIA sounds a high alert

Madurai man who tried to establish Islamic Caliphate charged by NIA

Why Islamic State could spoil the Chinese party in Afghanistan

150 dead after Islamic State carries out deadly suicide blast in Syria

International

oi-Staff

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Beirut, July 26: A string of suicide blasts and raids claimed by the Islamic State group killed more than 150 people in southern Syria, in one of the jihadists' deadliest ever assaults in the country.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attacks hit several areas of the largely government-held southern province of Sweida, where IS retains a presence in a northeastern desert region.

They came almost a week into a deadly Russia-backed regime campaign to oust IS fighters from a holdout in a neighbouring province of the country's south.

IS claimed responsibility for the violence, saying "soldiers of the caliphate" attacked Syrian government positions and security outposts in Sweida city, then detonated their explosive belts.

The Britain-based Observatory said three suicide attackers set off booby-trapped belts in Sweida city, as other blasts hit villages to the north and east. A fourth suicide explosion hit the city later.

"IS fighters then stormed villages in the province's northeast and killed residents in their homes," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

The suicide blasts and raids killed 156 people including 62 civilians, the Observatory said.

The remaining 94 dead were pro-regime fighters, most of whom where residents who had picked up weapons to defend their villages, it said.

Sweida, whose residents are mostly from the Druze minority, have been relatively insulated from the war that has ravaged the rest of the country since 2011.

"It's the bloodiest death toll in Sweida province since the start of the war" in 2011 and one of the deadliest ever in Syria, Abdel Rahman said.

The violence also left 30 IS fighters dead, including the suicide attackers.

The jihadists captured at least three of the seven villages it targeted but clashes were ongoing today, the Observatory said.

State media confirmed the attacks had killed and wounded people in Sweida city and villages to the north and east, but did not give a specific toll.

SANA published images of the attack's aftermath in Sweida city, showing the remains of a victim sprawled on a staircase near a damaged wall.

Abandoned shoes lay in the middle of the road among fruit that had spilled out of cartons.

The UN's humanitarian coordinator in Syria Ali al-Zaatari condemned the "terrorist bombing in Sweida city today," saying all civilians should be protected.

And the Russian foreign ministry said the IS attacks "confirm the need for energetic and coordinated efforts by the international community to eradicate this universal evil from Syrian territory".

State television said the army was targeting IS in the province's east.

Despite pro-government forces ousting the group from urban centres in eastern Syria last year, surprise IS raids in recent months have killed dozens of regime and allied fighters.

The jihadists still hold some territory in Syria's south, including in Sweida and another isolated but larger patch in neighbouring Daraa province, to the west.

That pocket is held by Jaish Khaled bin al-Walid, a jihadist faction whose 1,000 fighters have pledged allegiance to IS.

After ousting non-jihadist rebels from most of the country's south, President Bashar al-Assad's troops and his Russian allies are now closing in on the IS pocket in Daraa province.

SANA said the IS attacks on neighbouring Sweida were an attempt to relieve pressure "on IS remnants facing their inevitable end in the western Daraa countryside".

Today, Russia-backed regime forces pressed their heavy bombardment of the IS-held pocket in Daraa.

At least 41 civilians have been killed in air strikes on the jihadist holdout since July 19, the monitor says.

Fierce clashes between the two sides have killed 49 regime fighters and 67 jihadists.

Syria's south is ostensibly protected from fighting by an internationally brokered ceasefire since last year, but violence has dramatically risen in recent weeks.

Last month, Assad launched a lightning assault that battered rebel areas in the south and brought most of Daraa province under his control.

He then moved onto Quneitra, the neighbouring province which borders the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.

Yesterday, a Syrian military source accused Israel of firing at one of its warplanes as it carried out operations against jihadists in Quneitra.

Israel's army earlier said it had shot down a Syrian fighter jet that had infiltrated Israeli airspace, risking another escalation around the sensitive buffer zone.

The Damascus regime has long accused Israel of backing IS and other anti-government factions.

IS overran large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014, but has since lost most of that territory.

More than 350,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since Syria's war started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 7:38 [IST]Sri Lanka bomber was in Australia for studies: PM

NIA digs deep into political connection of suspected suicide bomber from Kerala

Pulwama: The most audacious attack in recent times

Could not say no to Pulwama terrorists, they were armed and dangerous

Further breakthroughs in Pulwama attack case as NIA nabs two more

Afghanistan: 10 killed as suicide bomber targets NDS Forces in Kabul

International

oi-Madhuri

Kabul, July 26: A suicide bomber on Thursday targeted NDS forces in Bagh-e-Daoud area in PD5 of Kabul city killing at least 10 people.

The attack took place at about 5am local time after a suicide bomber targeted the NDS forces in Bagh-e-Daoud area in PD5 of Kabul city, a spokesman for Kabul police chief Hashmat Stanekzai confirmed.

The Taliban has claimed responsibly for the attack.

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 9:34 [IST]Vijay Mallya has applied for another route to stay in the UK, says lawyer

Banks score yet another victory in battle against Vijay Mallya

International

oi-Staff

By Oneindia Staff Writer

London, July 26: The UK's Court of Appeal has refused Vijay Mallya the permission to appeal against a High Court order in favour of 13 Indian banks to recover funds amounting to nearly 1.145 billion pounds, in another setback to the embattled liquor tycoon.

The 62-year-old businessman, who is separately undergoing an extradition trial in a UK court over fraud and money laundering charges by Indian authorities, had sought permission to appeal against the High Court order dated May 8.

In the ruling, Judge Andrew Henshaw had refused to overturn a worldwide order freezing Mallya's assets and also denied permission to appeal, which left Mallya with the only option of turning to the Court of Appeal.

Judge Henshaw's order marked the first recorded case of a judgment of the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in India being registered by the English High Court, setting a legal precedent.

The Court of Appeal judges looked into Mallya's application seeking permission to appeal and decided against it on Tuesday.

As a result of the High Court order, the Indian banks - State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Corporation bank, Federal Bank Ltd, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Mysore, UCO Bank, United Bank of India and JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Co Pvt Ltd - have the right to enforce the Indian judgment against Mallya's assets in England and Wales.

"In the event permission has been refused, then the decision of the judge is final and Mallya does not have any further recourse of appeal against his decision," said Kartik Mittal, Senior Solicitor at London-based Zaiwalla & Co LLP."The English judicial system does not give parties an unfettered right to appeal. The right to appeal is restricted. A party can only appeal a decision of the first instance Court if the first instance Court or the Appellate Court gives the party permission to appeal," he explained.

"A party is granted permission to appeal only in cases where the appeal appears to have a real prospect of success or there is some other compelling reason why the appeal should be heard. Therefore, in majority of the cases permission is refused," he added.

In a related High Court ruling on June 26, Justice Bryan had issued an enforcement order in favour of the banks, granting permission to the UK High Court Enforcement Officer to enter Mallya's properties in Hertfordshire, near London, where he is based.

While it is not an instruction to enter and that particular order can be appealed against, the banks have the option to use the order as one of the means to recover funds owed to them.

"The High Court Enforcement Officer, including any Enforcement Agent acting under his authority, may use reasonable force to enter the Property if necessary," it states.

Mallya has since said that he has handed over a full statement of his UK assets to the court and there was no question of use of force to enter his home Ladywalk in the village of Tewin in England.

The former Kingfisher Airlines boss had also issued a lengthy media statement last month, condemning the charges against him as politically motivated.

He then took to social media to clarify that he made the statement "after a long period of silence" because he had filed an application before the Karnataka High Court on June 22, setting out available assets of approximately Rs 13,900 crores.

"Media reports quote an ED [Enforcement Directorate] official stating that I am attempting a plea bargain. Would respectfully suggest that the official read the ED charge sheet first," Mallya had said in his last Twitter message on the issue on June 30.

"I would invite the ED to advance the same plea bargain theory in Court in front of whom I have placed my assets," he said.

Meanwhile, Mallya remains on bail since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April last year.

He will return for his extradition hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on July 31, when closing arguments are expected from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), acting on behalf of the Indian government, and Mallya's defence team.

A judgment is expected in the case at a later date, which will be arranged by Judge Emma Arbuthnot.

While the CPS claims it has successfully established a prima facie case of fraud against the businessman, Mallya's lawyers have sought to establish that the criminal charges against him are "without substance".

They have also challenged the case on human rights grounds, questioning the conditions at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, where the businessman is to be held post-extradition.

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 5:43 [IST]PM says notion that Army, police meant for men no longer exists, lauds rise in number of women cops

PM Modi to visit Italy, UK from Oct 29 to Nov 2 for G-20 summit, COP-26 conference

PM Modi launches Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission: What we know about the scheme, so far?

BRICS Summit: PM Modi meets Chinese President Xi for third time in 4 months

International

pti-PTI

Johannesburg, July 26: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today met Chinese President Xi Jinping here to discuss furthering the friendship between India and China.

PM Modi, who is in Johannesburg to attend the 10th BRICS Summit, met Xi for the third time in nearly four months.

The two leaders held a two-day informal summit in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late April and then they met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Qingdao, China in June.

"Furthering India-China friendship. PM @narendramodi and President Xi Jinping hold talks on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in South Africa," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted.

The two leaders are believed to have exchanged views on the international landscape, BRICS cooperation and other issues of mutual interest

PTICollapse of Kabul will go down as one of the greatest defeats in American history: Donald Trump

Thousands of terrorists might have been airlifted out of Kabul: Trump slams Biden

Never in history has withdrawal from war been handled so badly: Trump

Trump makes peace with EU; reaches deal to de-escalate trade war

International

oi-Shubham

By Shubham

Washington, July 26: US President Donald Trump and president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday, July 25, agreed to defuse the escalating trade tension between the trans-Atlantic allies.

The development was deemed positive with Germany calling the agreement as a "breakthrough" which "can avoid trade war", AFP reported. Germany was apprehensive with the US's threat to impose tariffs on automobiles that would hurt the European car-maker's industry.

Trump and Juncker spoke for over two hours at the White House and said they would work towards resolving the prevalent duties on steel and aluminium imposed by Washington, which led to a serious dispute between the US and its key allies, including the European Union.

Trump, whose 'America First' ideology has seen the US crossing swords with a number of economies, foes as well as friends, said in a statement that efforts were on to strengthen trade relationship to the benefits of citizens on both sides of the Atlantic.

He said they agreed to "launch a new phase" in their relationship and "to work towards zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods".

The EU, on the other hand, committed itself to buy US soybeans and natural gas.

Trump also praised on Twitter the "breakthrough" that was made unthinkably quicker. "Great to be back on track with the European Union. This was a big day for free and fair trade!" he said in his Twitter post.

Juncker, who sounded defiant ahead of the meeting, later said that he intended to make the deal the same day and it was done.

Trump recently said on the soil of Europe that EU is a "foe" to the US in terms of what they do to his country in trade.

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 11:41 [IST]Has Pakistan rejected Islamist parties, not entirely

International

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, July 26: Pakistan has given the mandate to Imran Khan and his party the PTI. However the more interesting part of the result is that Pakistan has rejected the hardline Islamist parties, which also includes the one backed by Hafiz Saeed, the prime accused in the Mumbai 26/11 attack.

The results that have been trickling in show that not a single candidate from the Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek floated by Saeed is either in the lead or even the second place. The party has around 50 candidates.

Another Islamist party, the Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan is trailing in one seat, but does not feature anywhere else.

While the rejection of Saeed is a good sign, there is a section of Pakistan which has however backed the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), which is led by turncoat politician and controversial cleric, Fazlur Rehman.

He has always been sympathetic towards the PTI, but as the results poured in, he too joined the PML-N and PPP in crying foul. He even decided to call for an all parties conference to discuss the results, which he termed as rigged.

Rehman has done several flip-flops in the past. With him realising that Khan is at a touching distance, he may just ended up supporting him if the need be. The MMA is a coalition of six right-religious political parties, headed by Rehman.

Observers say that he is most likely to back Imran Khan, in case the numbers are needed. Rehman has been known in the past to shift towards any party which is capable of forming the government. He was even criticised by Imran Khan for frequently changing sides. Khan had even joked that when a government goes out of power, it leaves behind the treasury and Fazlur Rehman.

The party is leading in nine seats, while the PTI in 119 seats. The PTI may fall below the majority mark of 137 seats and may require the support of the MMA.Indias role at BRICS summit to be very interesting, says South Africa daily

International

oi-Shubham

By Shubham

Johannesburg, July 26: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi prepares to accompany leaders of Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa to the podium of the 10th BRICS summit on Thursday, July 26, South African daily Times Live termed India's role at the summit to be "very interesting".

In a piece on what exactly the five participants will be looking for in the current BRICS summit, the daily said Prime Minister Modi, on one hand, will seek new deals for India; while on the other, he will have to balance out a "delicate geopolitical game" with powers like the US, Russia and China.

"Show excessive favour to one side and there is the potential for ramifications across the region," the business piece said.

While China will be using the platform to address the economic concerns - mostly from a position of strength, especially in the context of its growing trade tension with the US, which makes it imperative for Beijing to grow its economies ties with members within this club.

For South Africa and Brazil, the hunt will be more for economic relief as both countries are facing challenges on that front; while for Russia, it is more about the political than the economic. Just like China requires a platform to fight its economic rivalry with the West, Russia needs one to tackle the western offenses against it.

India, as a BRICS member, has a mixed purpose to serve

India is one of those members of the BRICS group which has rather a mixed purpose to serve. Neither it is in a position of economic strength or weakness or political vulnerability and has a lot to gain from this platform. Unlike China and Russia who do not have a smooth relationship with the US, India still has a decent rapport with the US despite the odd irritants and that makes it more a power which has to balance its foreign policy priorities between the East and the West for both 'give and take'. India has done well so far in handling the balancing task with PM Modi lending informal touches to New Delhi's bilateral relations with a number of big powers.

India's advantage lies in the fact that it is a fast-developing economy with a predominantly soft power. Its soft power helps India to make friends easily and quicker compared to countries that follow hard diplomacy. India though is economically trailing China by some distance, its global reputation is not too less because of its stable democracy and soft power diplomacy.

India has done well in cementing its ties with African countries even if China has done better and Modi's informal summits with the Chinese and Russian leaders earlier this year has made it evident that it hasn't allowed unilateral forces to dictate its foreign policy, with the perhaps Iran being the only exception.

For India, BRICS is a platform to put its geopolitical and geo-economic diplomacy to good use. Just like the membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has elevated India's significance in Eurasian security affairs, BRICS gives India the opportunity of becoming a key part of the effort to flag off a new international order dominated by the global South.

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 16:32 [IST]Pakistan elections 2018:Hell will break loose if Imran Khan turns out to be an armys Frankenstein'

International

oi-Shubham

By Shubham

Islamabad, July 26: Pakistan got a big opportunity to 2013 to undo its tainted political past and pave way for a real democratic transformation. Five years since the country saw its first uninterrupted transition of power from one civilian administration to another, the chances were squandered and after the 2018 general elections, apprehensions about the nuclear state declining into a state of instability and uncertainty as it often did in the past are high.

As the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insat (PTI) led by Imran Khan inched closer to a victory which his opponents found unconvincing, observers of Pakistani politics feared that the future might not hold good. The democratic awareness of the common Pakistanis might be better today compared to what it was decades back but the institutionalisation of democracy in the country remains a farce, to say the least.

PTI's victory will make anti-democratic forces elated

The PTI's imminent victory will make the anti-democratic forces in the country happy. For many see Imran Khan as a man to be closer to the army ranks and could turn out to be a puppet pulled by invisible strings. If that is the case, the men in uniform along with other quarters that look to undermine civilian rule in Pakistan, will be elated for both the major parties that have dominated Pakistan's politics over the decades - PML-N and PPP - are now out of the scene and they have to deal with an inexperienced leadership of a new party and a new leader.

But if Khan refuses to surrender, then it will be another ball-game

But what if Khan, a former sportsman with a charismatic leader and a mind of his own, refuses to toe the army's line after assuming power? If the PTI doesn't have its own government and has to depend on allies, Khan's authority will be weaker but if the strong personality in him still decides to do 'something original' by defying the power centres that are supposedly backing him, then more conflicts are imminent in Pakistan's domestic politics.

In either case, the civilian administration will be under an immense stress. The army in Pakistan, which was seen making direct interference into its politics many a time in the past and toppling elected leaders, has now desisted from a direct interference for that would put it under pressure on different fronts.

A direct military rule now would mean Pakistan's human rights records will be under international scrutiny; the direct responsibility of trying for an economic turnaround and also owing responsibility for Pakistan's struggling policy to contain terrorists (if there is any clean policy at all). After the 9/11 attacks, Pakistan's ties with the West have seen a change and Islamabad now finds it more complicated to find a balance in its policies towards the terrorists and the West.

A direct military rule might not also get moral approval from the Pakistani civil society and media today since they have become more assertive than in the past. It is no coincidence that the 2018 election saw a massive crackdown on the media and the civil society because the forces against democracy want to keep the political developments in the country as much hidden as possible.

The army hence doing it indirectly: by targeting strong civilian leaders like Nawaz Sharif who dared to take it on; allowing extremist elements to get into the mainstream via the electoral process, etc. The civilian authority is not touched physically directly but it is left with little authority and the society with less freedom of speech. This is a new role the Pakistani Army is carrying out - on the lines of countries like Turkey and Egypt - where their effects are felt more than their direct role.

Post 2018, Pakistan might be in for political fireworks. If Khan, being ridiculed as 'prime minister select', surrenders before the army meekly, then the country will slide back to a sorry state with the post of the prime minister being reduced to a caricature. But if he doesn't and proves himself to be an Indira Gandhi who was underestimated by her party leadership but came back strongly to eclipse it, then the instability will only multiply.

The recipe is set for an individual versus an institution.

The Pakistani democracy might have just left its best days back.Afghan territory must not be used to carry out terror attacks against other countries: BRICS Leaders

PM Narendra Modi in Johannesburg for 10th BRICS summit: What is BRICS?

International

oi-Shubham

By Shubham

Johannesburg, July 26: The leaders of Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa assembled in Johannesburg, South Africa, to attend the three-day summit of the BRICS (acronym comprising the member nations) - its tenth overall.

Together, the BRICS nations account for over 26 per cent of the world's land area; over 42 per cent of the global population; over 13 per cent of the World Bank voting power and nearly 15 per cent of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) quota shares. According to the IMF, BRICS countries generated 22.53% of the world's GDP in 2015

Now, when did BRICS start and what is its purpose?

The term 'BRIC' was coined by British economist Jim O'Neill way back in 2001n in his publication named 'Building Better Economic BRICs'. It initially had only four members and was joined by South Africa in 2010 to get the added 'S'. BRICS had its inception in the mid-2000s when the foreign ministers of the four BRIC countries met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, hence flagging off a series of high-level meetings.

The first summit of the BRIC countries took place in Yekaterinburg in Russian in 2009. At the end of the first summit, the BRIC nations sought the need of a new global currency, giving indication of the grouping's aim to create an alternative world economic order.

Since 2009, BRICS summits have taken place every year with South Africa attending it for the first time in 2011. All five nations have held the summit twice so far. India played host to the BRICS summit in 2012 (in New Delhi) and 2016 (Goa).

BRICS strives for alternatives

Though BRICS is yet to come up with an alternative world order, it has nevertheless made some feats towards the goal.

Like in 2014, BRICS formed the New Development Bank (headquartered in Shanghai) which is the first international development which has no presence of any member of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) group. In 2015, BRICS set up the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement which is considered to be a rival to the IMF. It is also trying to find ways to lead on issues like regional security, anti-terrorism and climate change.

Also, after the 2015 BRICS summit in Ufa, Russia, the member countries initiated talks for a new payment system which would be alternative to the prevailing SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) network for secure financial transations.

At the 2015 BRICS summit in Russia, ministers from BRICS nations, initiated consultations for a payment system that would be an alternative to the SWIFT system.

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 17:11 [IST]Afghan territory must not be used to carry out terror attacks against other countries: BRICS Leaders

PM Modi to speak at 10th BRICS summit in Johannesburg today

International

oi-Shubham

By Shubham

Johannesburg, July 26: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who reached South Africa on Wednesday (July 25) for the last leg of his three-nation tour of Africa which included Rwanda and Uganda, will address the 10th BRICS summit here on Thursday, July 26.

The theme for the current summit is 'BRICS in Africa - collaboration for inclusive growth and shared prosperity in the 4th industrial revolution' and it commemorates the birth centenary of iconic anti-Apartheid leader Nelson Mandela.

Besides Modi, the heads of the four other BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, China and host South Africa - will participate in the meeting. The leaders will discuss issues pertaining to global developments, international peace and security, trade, etc.

The three-day summit kicked off on Wednesday with the BRICS Business Summit Meet. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa gave the keynote address in which he said the BRICS nations saw the completion of a decade of their cooperation this year and they have made achievements like formation of a New Development Bank which helps with project funding.

Modi will also hold bilateral meetings with the leaders of other participating nations, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Modi held informal talks with both these leaders in their respective countries earlier this year to normalise relations in an age when the US's protectionist policies have left the international community worried.

This summit will also see a BRICS leaders' retreat where they will review the groupings' cooperation over the last decade and on the future prospects.

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 10:21 [IST]Tensions grow as US, allies deepen Indo-Pacific involvement to counter China

Biden says Xi is committed to Taiwan agreement

Xi says Taiwan Question will be resolved, brooks no external interference

Protectionism dealing blow to trade says Xi Jinping

International

oi-Staff

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Johannesburg, July 26: China's President Xi Jinping warned that growing protectionism was damaging trade and that the world had to choose "between cooperation and confrontation" as the threat of a US-led trade war looms.

"Unilateralism and protectionism are mounting, dealing a severe blow to multilateralism and the multilateral trading regime," Xi told the opening of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg.

"We are facing a choice between cooperation and confrontation.Tarek Fatah calls Imran Khan 'fair and lovely military pappu'

International

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Toronto, July 26: Tarek Fatah, a Canadian author of Pakistani origin, has questioned the "fairness" with which the elections were conducted in Pakistan and called Imran Khan, whose party PTI is set to emerge as the single largest party, as "fair and lovely military pappu".

Fatah is staunch critic of Pakistani politics and minces no words when it comes to Pakistan bashing. Fateh's opinions are criticised in Pakistan. He was, in fact, chased out of Pakistan for his outspokenness, views on the way the nation was being run and for questioning the basis on which the Islamic republic was formed. Fatah has now settled down in Canada and authored many books on the rise of Islamic Extremism and the threat it poses to the world.

Here comes a truckload of ballots in a PTI van under watchful eye of the Pakistan Army. Fair elections in Pakistan mean electing the Fair & Lovely military pappu, Taliban Khan @ImranKhanPTI pic.twitter.com/8HSSYqurAn  Tarek Fatah (@TarekFatah) July 26, 2018

India has been watching Pakistan elections with bated breath as Khan has very often in the recent past been accused of being a puppet of the Pakistan army. Imran Khan has denied these allegations, but history would show how close he is to the army in Pakistan. His affair with the Pakistan army has been a long-standing one and documented as well.

Observers in India had always maintained that it was clear from the start that Imran Khan would win the elections in Pakistan. The army had backed him to the hilt, all along.

['Bash Pakistan, hog limelight': Know why Tarek Fatah is loved in India]

Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf inched closer to becoming the single largest party in the country's general elections by leading on 119 seats in an early count of votes, amid charges of rigging by rival political parties. PTI was ahead in 119 of 272 contested National Assembly constituencies, while its main rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was way behind with 65 seats. The Pakistan People's Party was leading on 44 seats while others were ahead in 17 seats.

[Imran Khan: Coming of age and a well documented affair with the Pakistan army]

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said "this is a perfect result for the Pakistani military". Tharoor said that the Pakistan military would want to ensure that the new Prime Minister "doesn't get out of hands or doesn't get too independent".

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 12:17 [IST]Why is Imran known as Taliban Khan

International

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

New Delhi, July 26: Imran Khan is at a touching distance and is set to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan. A man who started off on a positive note, over the years has earned the nickname Taliban Khan.

Khan made a strategic shift in his approach over the years, by speaking the language of religious extremists and very often terrorists. He had come under severe criticism when he referred to Wali-ur-Rehman as 'pro peace,' after he was killed in 2013 in a drone strike. He had tweeted, "The drone attack that killed pro peace Waliurrehman led to r (sic) soldiers being killed/injured in revenge attacks! This is totally unacceptable."

Another time when he was criticised when he had suggested the opening of an office for the Taliban in Pakistan. If the US could open an office for the Afghan Taliban in Qatar, then why can't there be one in Pakistan, he had said.

In 2014, he had termed the killing of Taliban leader, Hakimullah Mehsud in a drone strike as deliberate. It was a deliberate targeting of the peace process, he had said then. He was further scrutinised after his party gave a donation of PKF 550 million to a madrasa of Sami-ul-Haq, who is known as the Father of the Taliban.Mumbai records zero COVID-19 deaths for first time since pandemic began

MHT CET 2021: For these questions, students to get full marks

2017 Ghatkopar Building collapse case: Bombay HC rejects bail plea of accused

Mumbai

oi-Madhuri

Mumbai, July 26: Bombay High Court on Thursday rejected bail applications of accused Sunil Shitap and interior designer Ranjeet Agale in connection with 2017 Ghatkopar building collapse incident.

The Court observed that 'serious complicity has been brought on record and thus they don't deserve to be released on bail'.

Shitap and interior designer Angale were arrested days after the collapse under the charges of culpable homicide.

Earlier, they tried for bail from Sessions Court in October 2017 but were denied. Later they approached the Bombay High Court, where some interveners opposed their bail pleas along with prosecution. Eight family members of the victims of this tragedy and two flat owners had intervened against the bail applications of Shitap and Angale.

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Story first published: Thursday, July 26, 2018, 15:15 [IST]Transfer balls: Martial leaves Manchester United (and stays)

Is Anthony Martial leaving Manchester United? The media dont know. Here are some scoops from the past few days: Jose Mourinho still believes he can be a star, says the The Sun (July 22); Fed-up Jose Mourinho is ready to let whingeing Anthony Martial leave Manchester United, says The Sun (July 23); Anthony Martial has put Chelsea on alert  because he plans to defy Manchester United and stay in England, says The Sun (July 25).

Todays Sun tells us Martial has left Manchester Uniteds pre-season tour to. Why? Hes left to join girlfriend Melanie Da Cruz ahead of imminent birth of son.

Martial property news follows the Suns scoop that Martial has dropped a huge hint that he is staying at Manchester United after cancelling a short-term lease on a luxury flat the city.

Martial had planned to move into one of the luxury Number One Deansgate apartments this summer. Him and his partner, who is due to give birth in the coming weeks, wanted to stay in the flat on a short-term lease for three months while his future was sorted out. But he has axed the move and will stay in his Cheshire mansion, as he expects to still be a United player next season.

We dont know why Martial was looking at renting a flat in Manchester. Maybe his in-laws are coming to stay and he didnt want them in the mansion? Was the mansion on sale? No. Is Jose Mourinho leaving United because he still lives in a hotel? No. Is Martial house hunting in London or Milan No. Does the Sun know what Martial plans to do? No.

Anorak

Posted: 26th, July 2018 | In: Back pages, manchester united, Sports Comment | TrackBack | Permalink(ANSA) - Rome, July 25 - Italy on Wednesday mourned Sergio Marchionne with the late FCA chief remembered as a tough, charismatic and visionary leader who saved Fiat and went on to forge a daring merger with Chrysler.

John Elkann, the president of the Agnelli-Elkann family holding company Exor, announced that the former FCA CEO had died at the age of 66.

"Unfortunately, what we feared has come to pass. Sergio Marchionne, man and friend, is gone," said Elkann. "I believe that the best way to honor his memory is to build on the legacy he left us, continuing to develop the human values of responsibility and openness of which he was the most ardent champion. "My family and I will be forever grateful for what he has done. "Our thoughts are with Manuela, and his sons Alessio and Tyler.

President Sergio Mattarella said: "His vision always tried to look beyond the horizon and imagine how innovation and quality might give greater force in the future course. "Marchionne paid witness with his leadership to all this, showing the world the abilities and creativity of the manufacturing realities of our country".

The head of State said "Marchionne wrote an important page in the history of Italian industry.

"In his responsibility as leader of Fiat he traversed years of very deep and radical transformations of markets, systems of production, financial strategies, and union relations.

"He ensured continuity and relaunch as far as building a new aggregation, to give life to a new and bigger reality to sustain competition.

"Marchionne never gave up fighting for his strategies, facing difficulties and conflicts, in order to overcome misunderstandings". Premier Giuseppe Conte praised his abilities and said "I express my condolences and those of all the government for the passing of Sergio Marchionne.

"My most heartfelt condolences to the family and all his loved ones". Interior Minister and Deputy Premier Matteo Salvini said "honour to a man who did a lot and could have still done a lot more. "A thought for the family of Sergio Marchionne and best wishes to those who will have the honour and the duty of taking his place", Salvini said, referring to new CEO Mike Manley, the former Jeep chief. Former centre-left premier Romano Prodi said "the news of the passing of Sergio Marchionne grieves me.

"His death deprives us of an interlocutor of great technical ability and refined political intelligence. I recall the immediate empathy that his lectures aroused in the students of Brown University and the attention he captured with his direct and involving approach.

"This was combined in him with rigour, a great spirit of will and an extraordinary capacity for work with which he faced the challenge, not an easy one, of car manufacturing". Former centre-left premier Paolo Gentiloni said "thanks for the work, the hard work, the results. And for Italian pride carried to the world".

Gentiloni's centre-left predecessor Matteo Renzi said "I feel disgust at those (leftists and radicals) who still today have insulted on social networks a man who was dying. "An affectionate hug for the family of Sergio Marchionne. May the earth be light upon him".

Former centre-right premier Silvio Berlusconi said he would have liked to see Marchionne lead Italy for his centre-right bloc.

"With Sergio Marchionne Italy loses not only the most brilliant of its managers but one of the symbolic figures of our country," said the Forza Italia leader.

"He represented the best Italy: the hard-working and concrete, serious and prepared, gifted with a vision and able to look to the future. "...I said once, without telling him beforehand, that I would have liked to see him lead our country. I still think that," Berlusconi said. The Wall Street Journal said Marchionne was a "star of the auto industry and his death ends an era for Detroit where he was one of the untouchable CEOs".

Opening its side with news of the FCA ex-chief's death, the WSJ said "he challenged the orthodoxy of the car industry, and he was ahead of his rivals in some of the most important trends of the car industry".

The business daily quoted Evercore ISI as calling him "one of the most successful and formidable CEOs of the auto industry".

Flags flew at half mast at FCA's Lingotto HQ in Turin while all FCA plants including Melfi and Pomigliano d'Arco observed a 10-minute silence for Marchionne's passing.

Local and Regional Government Welcome Gaming to Japan

Published July 26, 2018 by Lee R

Japans citizens will be protected, and tourism will be stimulated as the goals of new gaming regulation in Japan ushered in by new legislation.

Japan regulation is moving forward, providing an important partner for global iGaming and particularly the States from the lucrative pan-Pacific Asian region.

The New Bill

The news comes in the form of a new piece of legislation passed by the Japanese parliament last Friday outlining how the casino market would be managed.

The bill was offered on the heels of an earlier bill from late 2016 which initiated the process with a new law approving three Las Vegas-style casinos at an unspecified future date.

Big Market

Japan still remains a major economy on the global profile, and estimates have the Japanese gaming market worth up to $25 billion annually.

Strong US Interest

The U.S. casino industry is worth over $70 billion per year, with top American casino firms such as MGM Resorts and Las Vegas Sands reportedly prepared to enter the Japanese market.

The new regulation model movement law has been lauded by the American Gaming Association as a giant step toward strengthening its economy, attracting international travellers and implementing stringent gaming regulation that protects consumers and eliminates criminal activity."

Looking forward, the AGA further cited the resulting community benefits in Japan to include Integrated Resort IR related benefits that have already been seen in other major destinations around the globe, while asserting a commitment from American soil to support the achievement of social goals in Japan through iGaming by partner(ing) with the governments and people of Japan to build a world class gaming market.

Tourism Outreach

Japan is reportedly in search of solutions for increasing tourism, with the Wall Street journal reporting that Japan is seeking to grow its annual tourism industry to 60 million by the year 2030 which would double last years 30 million.

Protecting Citizens

To protect against addiction, the law calls for a roughly $50 entrance fee for Japanese residents, and a limit of 10 casino visits per four weeks, with foreign visitors exempt.

Taxation System

As far as taxation, Japanese casinos pay 30 percent of their gambling winnings to the government. In a further commitment to the IR approach, the government plans to impose a limit on percentage of gaming floors of any premises at no more than three percent.

The Bills Path

Backed by a rare Parliamentary alliance between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition and the opposition Japan Innovation Party, the bill was enacted after passage by the upper house, after earlier clearing the lower house.

Initial Implementation

The law will initially open three IRs, allowing for them to include international conference halls, exhibition facilities and hotels in addition to casinos.

Seven years after the location of the nation's first IR is designated, expansion will become possible through a review of the number of locations where IRs can be established.

Impact

The law will see controversy in allowing gaming in the country, but seems to have been effectively constructed to position for commensurate gains and community contributions through the alternative uses which IRs are mandated to include. With local governments already expressing interest in hosting IRs, there will be no shortage of new locations available as well.(ANSA) - Rome, July 26 - President Sergio Mattarella said Thursday that Italy must not be allowed to become like the Wild West after a girl of Roma ethnicity was wounded by a air-gun shot fired by a man from a Rome balcony. "I was struck by a news story," Mattarella told reporters at the so-called 'fan ceremony' before parliament's summer recess.

"Italy cannot resemble a Far West where someone buys a rifle and shoots a one-year-old girl, ruining her health and her future. This is barbarism and it must elicit indignation".

The opposition centre-left Democratic Party (PD) welcomed the head of State's comments and linked them to Interior Minister Matteo Salvini's proposal to bolster legitimate self defence rules for the victims of crime and make access to firearms easier.

"President Mattarella is right," said PD leader Maurizio Martina. "Italy cannot become the Far West. No to easy weapons".

(ANSA) - Rome, July 25 - Italy on Wednesday mourned Sergio Marchionne with the late FCA chief remembered as a tough, charismatic and visionary leader who saved Fiat and went on to forge a daring merger with Chrysler, turning the combined firm into the world's seventh-biggest carmaker.

John Elkann, the president of the Agnelli-Elkann family holding company Exor, announced that the former FCA CEO had died at the age of 66.

"Unfortunately, what we feared has come to pass. Sergio Marchionne, man and friend, is gone," said Elkann. "I believe that the best way to honor his memory is to build on the legacy he left us, continuing to develop the human values of responsibility and openness of which he was the most ardent champion. "My family and I will be forever grateful for what he has done. "Our thoughts are with Manuela, and his sons Alessio and Tyler.

New FCA CEO Mike Manley said Marchionne "was a special man", asking for a minute's silence on his debut with financial analysts in presenting FCA's disappointing second-quarter results, with profits 35% down.

"It is very sad and difficult time. Heartbreaking news. He was a unique man and we will miss him".

Manley said "I spent nine years speaking with Sergio every day and my heart is broken....The relationship between us was based on transparency, focusing on targets and, the most important thing of all, on respect".

President Sergio Mattarella said: "His vision always tried to look beyond the horizon and imagine how innovation and quality might give greater force in the future course. "Marchionne paid witness with his leadership to all this, showing the world the abilities and creativity of the manufacturing realities of our country".

The head of State said "Marchionne wrote an important page in the history of Italian industry.

"In his responsibility as leader of Fiat he traversed years of very deep and radical transformations of markets, systems of production, financial strategies, and union relations.

"He ensured continuity and relaunch as far as building a new aggregation, to give life to a new and bigger reality to sustain competition.

"Marchionne never gave up fighting for his strategies, facing difficulties and conflicts, in order to overcome misunderstandings". Premier Giuseppe Conte praised his abilities and said "I express my condolences and those of all the government for the passing of Sergio Marchionne.

"My most heartfelt condolences to the family and all his loved ones". Interior Minister and Deputy Premier Matteo Salvini said "honour to a man who did a lot and could have still done a lot more. "A thought for the family of Sergio Marchionne and best wishes to those who will have the honour and the duty of taking his place", Salvini said, referring to new CEO Manley, the former Jeep chief. Former centre-left premier Romano Prodi said "the news of the passing of Sergio Marchionne grieves me.

"His death deprives us of an interlocutor of great technical ability and refined political intelligence. I recall the immediate empathy that his lectures aroused in the students of Brown University and the attention he captured with his direct and involving approach.

"This was combined in him with rigour, a great spirit of will and an extraordinary capacity for work with which he faced the challenge, not an easy one, of car manufacturing". Former centre-left premier Paolo Gentiloni said "thanks for the work, the hard work, the results. And for Italian pride carried to the world".

Gentiloni's centre-left predecessor Matteo Renzi said "I feel disgust at those (leftists and radicals) who still today have insulted on social networks a man who was dying. "An affectionate hug for the family of Sergio Marchionne. May the earth be light upon him".

Former centre-right premier Silvio Berlusconi said he would have liked to see Marchionne lead Italy for his centre-right bloc.

"With Sergio Marchionne Italy loses not only the most brilliant of its managers but one of the symbolic figures of our country," said the Forza Italia leader.

"He represented the best Italy: the hard-working and concrete, serious and prepared, gifted with a vision and able to look to the future. "...I said once, without telling him beforehand, that I would have liked to see him lead our country. I still think that," Berlusconi said. The Wall Street Journal said Marchionne was a "star of the auto industry and his death ends an era for Detroit where he was one of the untouchable CEOs".

Opening its site with news of the FCA ex-chief's death, the WSJ said "he challenged the orthodoxy of the car industry, and he was ahead of his rivals in some of the most important trends of the car industry".

The business daily quoted Evercore ISI as calling him "one of the most successful and formidable CEOs of the auto industry".

Flags flew at half mast at FCA's Lingotto HQ in Turin while all FCA plants including Melfi and Pomigliano d'Arco observed a 10-minute silence for Marchionne's passing.

Juventus, part of the Agnelli group, on Wednesday called Marchionne "a giant".

Juve President Andrea Agnelli said: "Bon voyage, and may you continue to light up the way".

Juve will play its next match with black armbands.

Piero Ferrari, son of late motor racing legend Enzo, said Marchionne had reminded him of his father. "He recalled my father in many ways: also in the moments in which he was toughest he let emerge a great humanity behind that facade," Piero told ANSA.

"In my personal history with the firm I have lived many painful moments, and today another one has been added with this grave loss.

"Sergio had since taking the job (as Ferrari president) respect and recognition for Ferrai and its history".

Italy's biggest and most leftwing union CGIL said, however, that Marchionne maye have saved Fiat but did not save not union dialogue.

Marchionne, "to whom the esteem of the CGIL always went, has the indubitable merit of saving a dying form. A man of great intelligence and managerial ability, a tough negotiator, excellent organiser, he was not however able, nor did he want to, steer the firm towards dialogue and collaboration with an important part of Italian workers". CGIL added that there were now "many unknowns" about the future of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

"Today as many unknowns remain on the future of production and employment levels in Italy, FCA needs to adopt an industrial plan and face the still-unresolved issues that remain and re-present themselves not only to the new management but to the owners and public decision-makers," it said. The other two main unions, CISL and UIL, who reconciled themselves to his job cuts, joined in the praise of Marchionne.

Apple CEO Tim Cook called Marchionne "a visionary in the carmaking industry and a remarkable leader".

Former state Republican Party Chairman Robin Smith said on her Facebook page that she believes the voting record of House District 30 candidate Esther Helton may have been altered by someone using Photoshop.

She said the voting record of Ms. Helton as a Republican is the same or better than seven current GOP officeholders with "mixed" voting score sheets.

The voting record of Ms. Helton as supplied by the Election Commission office has her using a Democratic ballot in February 2008, August 2010 and March and August 2012.

She asked for a Republican or General ballot in all other elections starting in 1994 through the current election.

Jonathan Mason, who is also in the House 26 Republican race, hit the "wild accusation of election commission tampering".

Mr. Mason said, It is strange to me that Robin Smith who will be our Republican Partys nominee in District 26 for State House would question the integrity of the Hamilton County election commission. Yesterday, Smith claimed that her friend Esther Helton had only voted in one democratic primary and that the voter record had been altered. This could not be more false. Smith also claimed that she is not being paid by her friend Esther Helton, that could not be more false as to financial disclosure records.

"Holding the voting history of my opponent Esther Helton, who voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, it clearly shows that she has voted in four Democratic primaries from 2008-2012, including both Democratic Presidential primaries during that period. Is Robin Smith being paid to spread false information across our county? I ask that the Hamilton County Election Commission stand up for its integrity and make a statement about these false claims."

Ms. Helton said in a statement, "First, my heartfelt thanks to all who have been great supporters and the voters whove given me so much encouragement going door-to-door. Our team has knocked on over 3,000 doors learning of the concerns of our community in East Hamilton County.

"When I cast my first Republican ballot in 1994, I had no idea that I would be running for office one day. I, like most of you, have been a voter who is devoted to my family and providing for them through work. I do not have a straight Republican Party-line voting history. I am a Bona Fide Republican approved by both the Tennessee Republican Party and the Hamilton County Republican Party. There was a time my opponent or his campaign couldve have challenged this in April, but there was no challenge. I am a proud qualified Republican.

"My voting history has been attacked, but never challenged officially. Now, everythings a political stunt. Interestingly, many of the same people who applaud the positive campaign in the governors race are hurling falsehoods in this race.

"My Christian values as a pro-life mom have been attacked and cast in a lie despite being a 17-year-old mom who chose life and went to vocational school to work as a nurse to provide for my family. My opponent has claimed that I dont meet the criteria to be pro-life and that I had even refused to meet with a pro-life political action committee. Another lie.

"Ive been painted as one who voted to use eminent domain in a community growth plan in East Ridge. That, too, is a lie. As a council member in East Ridge, I voted the wishes of the citizens who presented a petition asking for a plan for redevelopment to rid our area of dilapidated properties that are used as drug dens and homes for crime. Through the process, we ended a boards work when it exceeded the specifications of the objectives. But, there was never a single vote about using eminent domain. Another lie.

"Finally, all the allegations about our team using negative campaigning in this race is yet another lie. Not one penny, not one second of our time has been devoted to anything negative. I have had to work hard as a non-politician to get to know people, learn how to speak publicly and raise money. I have barely had enough to run this race, much less having money to waste on negative ads.

"In my campaign, healthcare has been and is a priority. Its a difficult topic but one that, as a nurse for 36 years, I know has transformed from a relationship between a doctor and a patient to a transaction controlled by insurance companies. I have said from day one, this is going to be a very important issue to me. That fact has mobilized a lot of other groups to work on my behalf knowing that my vote will not be controlled by the insurance industry. I have not, however, ever participated in any of the negative campaigning.

"I have done my best. Our team has worked incredibly hard. I now respectfully ask for your vote.

"I am Esther Helton, and I do approve this message, because its true."

Ms. Smith, who is running for the open House District 26 seat, said on Facebook on Wednesday:



Four days of Early Voting remain with Election Day on Thursday, August 2nd and I'm going to take a a moment to make a few statements about dirty politics.

In Hamilton County, there've been two really dirty races. I am sad to say that I was a candidate in one and now a volunteer (no, I'm not being paid) in a second.

The Party of Lincoln has been the party to all - working to give all the right to vote, men, minorities & women. As a leader in the GOP, I've worked to bring new folks into the Party whose party has left them and to stand on conservative principle.

I'm honored to stand with and support my friend, Esther Helton, in her effort to serve as the House District 30 Representative. She really does possess a proven conservative voting record as a public official and a voter. Yet, you'd never know that if you only read the lies being pushed that question her Christian faith, her pro-life practices & her actual service as an elected official.

One thing I know: those who spend their campaign efforts in negative campaigning don't have experience to tout or a record that wins.

If you want the same old thing, there's a candidate for that. If you want to see public service and results that truly isn't focused on politics, Esther's the candidate I'd highly recommend.ROME - The non-governmental organisation Watch The Med tweeted through its Alarm Phone programme that a woman six months pregnant is at risk for a miscarriage aboard the Tunisian ship Sarost 5, which has been blocked for more than 10 days awaiting approval to dock.

Alarm Phone, an emergency telephone line for migrants in the Mediterranean, said the Tunisian Red Crescent conducted medical exams of the 40 migrants aboard the ship and determined the woman needs to be evacuated or disembarked immediately.

There are two pregnant woman aboard the ship, one six months pregnant and the other a few months.

The migrants left Libya on July 13 and were rescued by the Sarost 5, an offshore supply ship belonging to Tunisia's eponymous gas company, in the Maltese search and rescue area.

They were then brought into Tunisian waters, where the ship is still blocked, off the coast of the city of Zarzis.

The governments of Tunisia, Malta, and Italy have all thus far refused to grant authorization for the ship to dock in their respective ports.

On Tuesday, boats with food and medicine arrived for the migrants and crew aboard the ship.

Red Crescent doctors also boarded the ship to conduct medical exams and provide medicine.

According to the Tunisian Red Crescent, the rescued migrants are between the ages of 17 and 36 and come from Egypt, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Senegal, Guinea, the Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone.

40 migrants remain stranded off Tunisia coast Pregnant women require special attention, doctors say

(ANSAmed) - TUNIS, JULY 26 - 40 migrants including two pregnant women and an injured man who requires medical treatment remained stranded off the Tunisian coast on Thursday pending authorisation for their boat, a Tunisian supply vessel, to dock in the port of Zarsis, local sources have told ANSA.



The same sources say tension is growing among the 14 crew members on board the Sarost 5 amid the ongoing stalemate after France, Italy and Malta all refused permission for the boat to dock. On Wednesday the migrants received another visit from three doctors and two nurses working for the Tunisian Red Crescent, who supplied them with personal hygiene kits and anti-scabies treatment. Medenine regional Red Crescent director Mongi Slim said there is particular concern for the condition of the two pregnant women, who risk miscarriage. The medical organisation has renewed its criticism of the authorities for failing to authorise evacuation at least of the two women. "We have asked for permission to evacuate them, but the authorities have not replied," Slim said.



"The gynaecologists say they can do nothing other then examine the women, who require ultrasound scans and other tests," he added. The group of migrants includes nationals from Egypt, Mali, Ngeria, Bangladesh, cameroon, Senegal, Guinea, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone. (ANSAmed).



AMMMAN - Italian Archaeologist Guido Vannini, from the University of Florence has set up to help mediate cultures of the past and mediate between European culture and the southern region of the Mediterranean.

He is working on a project in the vicinity of the rock engraved southern city Petra, near a town of Shoback, with the famous Islamic Castle that witnessed ups and downs of Islamic powers as they descended into an endless state of cultural decline.

Vannini, who started leading the mission in Jordan's Medieval Petra from 1986, deals with archaeology of Crusader-Ayyubid settlement in Transjordan circa 12-13th centuries.

The study was able to show how mediaeval origins represent a significant part of Jordanian cultural roots, the archaeologist said, noting that the operational practices and objectives of the team actually cover an entire historical region of Jordan, he told the Jordan Times.

"The reconstruction of an unsuspected Crusader settlement system [the classic feudal 'incastellamento'] of the entire Petra Valley, focused on the pivotal castles of Wu'ayra and Al Habis, but not only," Vannini said, noting that in Shobak, researchers discovered structures of the princely palace of Crac de Montreal, established by Baldwin I (1098-1100), which was based on a monumental fortified settlement from the Romano-Byzantine Limes Arabicus.

"The 'discovery' of a new, unexpected, refined Islamic town, Shobak [who thus came to be part of the refounded Islamic empire by Saladin] rose to the rank of the regional capital in Ayyubid and early Mamluk age [between the end of 12th and of 14th centuries]," Vannini elaborated, adding "an authentic production structure that could be defined as 'industrial' [textiles, soap, sugar] was also discovered in the area outside the castle" he said.

"The mission's new goal is now to investigate the problem of the 'disappearance' of this rich, important city that flourished at least until the end of the 14th century," the Italian researcher underlined, voicing his interest to study and date forms and epoch of its radical crisis and Shobak's regression to a village, as it could represent a concrete case of the eclipse and the crisis of the late mediaeval Arab society, up to the Ottoman hegemony.

According to Vannini, archaeologists working in the Near East are a kind of cultural mediators between the cultures of the past and those of the present, and, at the same time, mediators between European culture and that of their host countries.

"We must recognise that Jordan occupies - in this perspective - an advanced position also due to its solid network of international academic collaborations and to the prestige of its institutions," Vannini was quoted as saying.BEIRUT - At least 246 people died in simultaneous attacks launched by Islamic State in the southern Syrian city of Sweida and surrounding villages on Wednesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday. The death toll includes at least 135 civilians and 111 rebels, the opposition NGO said. Official state media instead put the death toll at 216, with approximately 150 people injured.Currently: Long Looking to: Sell @ 31,865



As of 3/21/21 @ 8:22pm EST: 29,310



LAST WEEK: We suggested buying any dips down to 28,308 with stops below 28,308 and with a target of 31,865.



UPDATE: The Nikkei 225 Index has held raised support at 28,308 thus far and has started to move higher. We believe this rally will continue up to 31,865.

Buy any dips from current levels down to 29,037 with stops below 28,308 and with a target of 31,865.Italian archaeologist uncover secrets of Shoback fall Findings help shed light in important turning point of region

(ANSAmed) - AMMMAN, JULY 26 - Italian Archaeologist Guido Vannini, from the University of Florence has set up to help mediate cultures of the past and mediate between European culture and the southern region of the Mediterranean.



He is working on a project in the vicinity of the rock engraved southern city Petra, near a town of Shoback, with the famous Islamic Castle that witnessed ups and downs of Islamic powers as they descended into an endless state of cultural decline.



Vannini, who started leading the mission in Jordan's Medieval Petra from 1986, deals with archaeology of Crusader-Ayyubid settlement in Transjordan circa 12-13th centuries.



The study was able to show how mediaeval origins represent a significant part of Jordanian cultural roots, the archaeologist said, noting that the operational practices and objectives of the team actually cover an entire historical region of Jordan, he told the Jordan Times.



"The reconstruction of an unsuspected Crusader settlement system [the classic feudal 'incastellamento'] of the entire Petra Valley, focused on the pivotal castles of Wu'ayra and Al Habis, but not only," Vannini said, noting that in Shobak, researchers discovered structures of the princely palace of Crac de Montreal, established by Baldwin I (1098-1100), which was based on a monumental fortified settlement from the Romano-Byzantine Limes Arabicus.



"The 'discovery' of a new, unexpected, refined Islamic town, Shobak [who thus came to be part of the refounded Islamic empire by Saladin] rose to the rank of the regional capital in Ayyubid and early Mamluk age [between the end of 12th and of 14th centuries]," Vannini elaborated, adding "an authentic production structure that could be defined as 'industrial' [textiles, soap, sugar] was also discovered in the area outside the castle" he said.



"The mission's new goal is now to investigate the problem of the 'disappearance' of this rich, important city that flourished at least until the end of the 14th century," the Italian researcher underlined, voicing his interest to study and date forms and epoch of its radical crisis and Shobak's regression to a village, as it could represent a concrete case of the eclipse and the crisis of the late mediaeval Arab society, up to the Ottoman hegemony.



According to Vannini, archaeologists working in the Near East are a kind of cultural mediators between the cultures of the past and those of the present, and, at the same time, mediators between European culture and that of their host countries.



"We must recognise that Jordan occupies - in this perspective - an advanced position also due to its solid network of international academic collaborations and to the prestige of its institutions," Vannini was quoted as saying. (ANSAmed).



Currently: Long Looking to: Hold for 61,600



As of 3/21/21 @ 10:08pm EST: 56,590



LAST WEEK: We suggested buying BTCUSD from last weeks levels down to 47,352 with stops below 43,016 and with an upside target of 64,600.



UPDATE: Bitcoin is setting up to trade around within a range from 53,500 to 61,600 in the short-term.



Look to buy BTCUSD at 54,850 and sell it at 61,600 in the short-term. We would then look to re-buy it down at 53,500 and sell it at 64,000.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.

California has a judicial crisis. Its judges received and presently are receiving unlawful "supplemental judicial benefits" from counties and courts which are parties to cases before them. Its judiciary suffers from a disparity in compensation in which Superior Court judges in Los Angeles County [LA County] receive approximately $57,000.00 per year more in compensation due to payments from LA County than Superior Court judges in other counties where county payments are less or zero. Its successive Governors and Legislatures refused to act to remove these problems."

Californians should no longer live under these conditions when a simple solution is immediately available.

The solution is to remove the conflict created by the disparate court and county "supplemental judicial payments" to state Superior Court judges and create a single state uniform judicial compensation system pursuant to Article VI, Section 19 of the California Constitution by amending SBX2 11 through repealing and replacing Section 2, codified as Government Code Section 68220 to raise the base judicial compensation by $57,000.00 [the highest county paid "supplemental benefit"] for all Superior Court judges, Court of Appeal justices and Supreme Court justices effective July 1, 2018, repealing Section 3, codified as Government Code Section 68221 and repealing Section 4, codified as Government Code Section 68222.

The judicial crisis affected and currently affects: (1) child custody, juvenile and family law cases; (2) class action cases; (3) conservator and elder cases; (4) constitutional cases; (5) contract cases; (6) criminal cases; (7) death, estate, and probate cases; (8) eminent domain cases; (9) environmental cases; (10) personal injury cases; (11) property cases; (12) regulation cases; (13) tax cases; (14) traffic cases; (15) trust cases; and (16) zoning cases, amongst others.

The crisis began in the mid-late 1980s when Los Angeles County commenced paying "supplemental judicial benefits" from county funds to state Superior Court judges sitting on the State of California Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles in addition to the judges' state compensation. Although, LA County argued the payments would "attract and retain qualified people to serve as judges on LA Superior Court.", LA County did not disclose the salaries of the LA County Board of Supervisors were tied to the compensation of the state Superior Court judges for the County of Los Angeles under the LA County Charter Article II, Section 4.

The reality was by raising the compensation of the Los Angeles Superior Court judges through paying them "local judicial benefits", the LA County Board of Supervisors raised their own compensation by the same amount. Other counties and courts followed LA County. At present, the payments from the mid 1980s are approximately $500 million.

I initially exposed the payments as unlawful in appellate briefs and cases in 2001 -2002, with challenges of judges presiding over cases ensuing in cases from 2001 onwards. A full description of the payments, their effect, the judicial response to them and previous legislative attempts to remove them are found at http://campaignforjudicialintegrity.org/.

In 2008, these payments were held to violate California Constitution Article VI, Section 19 in Sturgeon v. LA County, 167 Cal.App.4th 630 (2008).

In 2009, in response to Sturgeon I at the judges urging, California enacted SBX 2 11, effective 5/21/2009.

Section 2 of SBX2 11, codified as Government Code Section 68220 formalized the disparity of judicial compensation among the judges of California's 58 counties into a state compensation problem. It gave the state Legislature's authorization to the counties to continue paying the "supplemental benefits" on the "same terms and conditions as were in effect on that date [July 1, 2008]", making such "state compensation".

Section 2 of SBX 2 11, codified as Government Code Section 68220 allowed the payments to continue to judges currently in office as of 7/1/2008, without immunity. The last term ended January, 2013.

Section 5 of SBX 2 11 gave the judges, who took the payments, and the governments and government employees, who gave the payments to the judges, retroactive immunity from California criminal prosecution, civil liability and disciplinary action.

California criminal codes violated by the payments were: (1) Penal Code Section 96.5 -- judge acting with knowledge of perverting and obstructing justice; (2) Penal Code Section 182 (a) (5) -- judges and the governments and government employee's conspiracy to pervert and obstruct justice, amongst others. Additionally, the judges were required to disqualify themselves from any case in which the county was a party, a witness or had an interest under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 170.1 (a) (6) (A) (3) and Code of Judicial Ethics, Canons 1, 2 A and 3E (1) and disclose the payments under Canon 3 E (2). Few, if any did. The payments also violated 18 U.S.C. Section 1346- the intangible right to honest services, as payments to a judge from a party are a bribe. There was no immunity from federal prosecution.

SBX2 11 resulted in a continuation of the unlawful payments under federal law, unlawful payments under state law if the payments differed from those of July 1, 2008 and a disparity in judicial compensation as now "prescribed" by the Legislature.

The 2009 California Judicial Council Report required by Section 6, of SBX2 11 showed approximately 90% of California's Superior Court then current sitting judges received these payments. An independent review of the official biographies of California's Court of Appeal and Supreme Court then, and current justices shows they received these payments when they were Superior Court judges.

After the enactment of Section 2, of SBX2 11, the California courts called upon the Legislature to resolve the crisis on two occasions: (1) in 2010 in Sturgeon v. County of Los Angeles, 191 Cal.App.4th344 (2010) [Sturgeon II];and (2) in 2015 in Sturgeon v. County of Los Angeles, 242 Cal.App.4th1437 (2015) [Sturgeon III]. The Legislature did not respond. The Campaign for Judicial Integrity proposed legislation in 2013; the Governor and Legislature did not respond.

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From Consortium News



MSNBC Rachel Maddow looks at new information on ties between the Trump campaign and Russia

(Image by YouTube, Channel: MSNBC) Details DMCA



Progressives should figure it out. Amplifying the anti-Russia din helps to drown out the left's core messages for economic fairness, equal rights, environmental protection, diplomacy and so much more. Echoing the racket of blaming Russia for the USA's severe shortages of democracy plays into the hands of Republicans and corporate Democrats eager to block progressive momentum.

When riding on the "Russiagate" bandwagon, progressives unwittingly aid political forces that are eager to sideline progressive messages. And with the midterm elections now scarcely 100 days away, the torrents of hyperbolic and hypocritical claims about Russia keep diverting attention from why it's so important to defeat Republicans.

As a practical matter, devoting massive amounts of time and resources to focusing on Russia has reduced capacities to effectively challenge the domestic forces that are assaulting democratic possibilities at home -- with such tactics as state voter ID laws, purging of voter rolls, and numerous barriers to suppress turnout by people of color.

Instead of keeping eyes on the prize, some of the Democratic base has been watching and trusting media outlets like MSNBC. An extreme Russia obsession at the network has left precious little airtime to expose and challenge the vast quantity of terrible domestic-policy measures being advanced by the Trump administration every day.

Likewise with the U.S. government's militarism. While some Democrats and Republicans in Congress have put forward legislation to end the active U.S. role in Saudi Arabia's mass-murderous war on Yemen, those efforts face a steeper uphill climb because of MSNBC.

This week, under the headline "It's Been Over a Year Since MSNBC Has Mentioned U.S. War in Yemen," journalist Adam Johnson reported for the media watchdog group FAIR about the collapse of journalistic decency at MSNBC, under the weight of the network's Russia Russia Russia obsession. Johnson's article asks a big-type question: "Why is the No. 1 outlet of alleged anti-Trump #resistance completely ignoring his most devastating war?"

The FAIR report says: "What seems most likely is MSNBC has found that attacking Russia from the right on matters of foreign policy is the most elegant way to preserve its 'progressive' image while still serving traditional centers of power -- namely, the Democratic Party establishment, corporate sponsors, and their own revolving door of ex-spook and military contractor-funded talking heads."

Russia Doesn't Concern Americans

Corporate media have been exerting enormous pressure on Democratic officeholders and candidates to follow a thin blue party line on Russia. Yet polling shows that few Americans see Russia as a threat to their well-being; they're far more concerned about such matters as healthcare, education, housing and overall economic security.

The gap between most Americans and media elites is clear in a nationwide poll taken after the Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki, which was fiercely condemned by the punditocracy. As The Hill newspaper reported this week under the headline "Most Americans Back Trump's Call for Follow-Up Summit With Putin," 54 percent of respondents favored plans for a second summit. "The survey also found that 61 percent of Americans say better relations with Russia are in the best interest of the United States."

Yet most Democratic Party leaders have very different priorities. After investing so much political capital in portraying Putin's government as an implacable enemy of the United States, top Democrats on Capitol Hill are hardly inclined to help thaw relations between the world's two nuclear superpowers.

It would be easy for news watchers to see that the Democratic Party is much more committed to a hard line against Russia than a hard line against the corporate forces imposing extreme economic inequality here at home.

National polling underscores just how out of whack and out of touch the party's top dogs are. Last month, the Gallup organization asked: "What do you think is the most important problem facing the country today?" The results were telling. "Situation with Russia" came in at below one-half of 1 percent.

The day after the Helsinki summit, The Washington Post reported: "Citing polls and focus groups that have put Trump and Russia far down the list of voter priorities, Democratic strategists have counseled candidates and party leaders for months to discuss 'kitchen table' issues. Now, after a remarkable 46-minute news conference on foreign soil where Trump stood side by side with a former KGB agent to praise his 'strong' denials of election interference and criticize the FBI, those strategists believe the ground may have shifted."

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From No More Fake News

There are now hundreds of supposed "facts" which prove Russia influenced the 2016 US election. I thought I'd go back to a few basics...

"The CIA says" is never a great way to start a sentence. But that's one basis of the charge that Russia "hacked" the US presidential election.

Members of Congress were secretly briefed by the CIA on "the Russian affair," and media, led by the Washington Post, ran with the story that Russia influenced the US election on the side of Trump.

Major media outlets are happy to cite the CIA as an authority -- conveniently ignoring the fact that people in the intelligence field are taught to lie. It's their stock in trade.

You might remember the Washington Post's role in defaming and destroying Gary Webb, who, in 1996, published a series of articles in the Mercury News about the CIA seeding black Los Angeles neighborhoods with crack cocaine. The Post basically asked the CIA whether the charge was true, and when the Agency denied it, the Post attacked Webb as a "fake news" reporter. The same Washington Post led the campaign to tie the Russian government to Hillary Clinton's defeat. And the Post, once again, used unproven statements from the CIA to back up their claim.

I could go on and on about the Post and its historic CIA ties. But now, right now, the owner of the Post is Jeff Bezos, who also owns Amazon. And Amazon has a $600 million contract to provide the CIA cloud computing services.

Boom.

Ordinarily, that would be called a fatal conflict of interest, whenever the Post opens up its yap about the CIA in any context.

However, mainstream news outlets, the very big ones, don't go around criticizing each other's ownerships; so the Bezos-CIA relationship is conveniently ignored.

An honest lead paragraph on Russia-CIA-Trump allegations in the Post, however, would start this way:

"Our paper is owned by Jeff Bezos, and Jeff is making $600 million to provide the CIA with computing services, so take everything below with a grain of salt the size of Langley."

Going one step further, Amazon and the CIA are both in the data-collecting business. What are the chances that Amazon, in the interest of "national security," has been sharing its massive customer data with the CIA and other US intelligence agencies?

This should lead to another conflict-of-interest statement from the Washington Post: "As you read any article in our paper, keep in mind that our owner may be data-mining you and passing the information to the CIA. Have a nice day."

Am I being too hard on Amazon? Do they have the basic guts to stand up to the intelligence community and resist its demands? Here is what author Norman Solomon had to say about that in 2014 (Huffington Post):

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This piece was reprinted by OpEdNews with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.

Most Canadians believe the dominant narrative from our controlled, monopoly media. But the dominant narrative is a lie. Russia is not the enemy. We are. We are the one's supporting al Qaeda and ISIS in Syria, not Russia.

Recently, for example, the Canadian government announced that it will welcome 50 White Helmets and their families into Canada. Here they will have a safe haven.1

The Canadian government and its agencies extol the imagined virtues of these "first responders".

Chrystia Freeland, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs, tweeted:

But we know, and it is well-documented, that the White Helmets are al-Qaeda auxiliaries.2 They stage false flags. They fight alongside their al-Qaeda/al-Nusra Front and affiliated terrorist brigades.

The White Helmets are part of a "smart power" complex3 that disguises terrorism and wars of conquest as "humanitarian". These terrorists are not independent. The West, including Canada4, supports them financially.



(Image by Mark Taliano) Details DMCA



Welcome Home! Canada's Trudeau Government Welcomes Confessed ISIS Terrorist back to Toronto

None of this international criminality will ever benefit Canadians, and all of it is to the detriment of humanity.

If Canadians knew the truth, they would not support policymakers who are making decisions in favour of terrorism and never-ending wars of aggression.

Canadians need to know the truth.

*

Mark Taliano is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG) and the author of Voices from Syria, Global Research Publishers, 2017.

Notes

1. Le Canada va accueillir des he'ros d' Al-Qaida avec un lifting. Le Tribunal de l'infaux

Crimes et de'lits des me'dias dominants. 22 July, 2018.( https://tribunaldelinfaux.com/2018/07/22/le-canada-va-accueillir-des-heros-d-al-qaida-avec-un-lifting/) Accessed 23 July, 2018.

2. Mark Taliano, "The White Helmets are "Black Helmets", They are Al Qaeda| And Canada Supports Them." Global Research. 2 April, 2018. (https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-white-helmets-are-black-helmets-they-are-al-qaeda/5634301) Accessed 7 July, 2018.

3. Mark Taliano, "The War on Syria: Driving Home the Truth and the Need to Act Now." Global Research. 12 July, 2018. (https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-war-on-syria-driving-home-the-truth-and-the-need-to-act-now/5647214) Accessed 23 July, 2018.

4. Ken Stone, "TRUDEAU GOVERNMENT ADMITS TERRORIST AUXILIARIES TO CANADA." 23 July, 2018. (https://www.facebook.com/notes/hamilton-coalition-to-stop-the-war/for-immediate-release-hamilton-monday-july-23-2018/2586684938024128/) Accessed 23 July, 2018.

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(This is a reprint from NewsBred).



India rushes forces to Assam

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Centre has rushed tens of thousands of paramilitary forces to Assam lest violence breaks out in the north-eastern state after the second draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC) is released on July 30.

The first draft had embraced 1.9 crores out of 3.9 crores as legal citizens of the state. The second draft could take care of a few lakhs more. But what's certain is that there would be many lakhs more who won't have the papers to meet the cut-off date of March 24, 1971.

A majority of them are persecuted Hindus fleeing Bangladesh : informed sources put it to over 11 million Hindus between 1964 and 2013. There is also no insignificant numbers of economically-motivated Muslim migrants over decades.

Most have moved directly across the vast 272 km border which Assam shares with Bangladesh . Some have come from West Bengal . Being termed illegal overnight could've serious law and order consequences though home minister Rajnath Singh has stressed "it's just a draft" and nobody is going into a "detention centre."

Census figures over the years show that Assam 's population exploded by 36 per cent between 1951-1961; and by 35% over the next decade. In 2011 Census, it's population was 31.2 million which was a 17.1% rise from 2001 figures. Most migrants are Bengali-speaking and Barak Valley is their stronghold. The Assamese-speaking population of the state are rooted in Brahmaputra Valley .

NRC is hardly a comfort to (a) an illegal Hindu migrant family who fears being sent back to Bangladesh where it fled religious persecution in the first place; or (b) Muslim migrants who in one stroke could find two of its generation stateless refugees; or (c) even indigenous Assamese who know NRC would make no difference to ground reality and that these illegal immigrants would multiply manifold if the Citizenship Bill 2016 is passed into an Act.

All things point to nothing materially changing for illegal migrants post release of second draft of NRC. One , India doesn't have an agreement with Bangladesh in place (our eastern neighbours don't even acknowledge influx of illegal migrants from its stable); Two, a porous border allows an extradited illegal migrant to return without hassle; Three, many lakhs of illegal immigrants are already spread all over the country, especially in metropolis such as Delhi , Bangalore and Mumbai. Who keeps tab on them?

It's worth remembering that the present exercise of NRC is at the behest of Supreme Court. The Centre has got nothing to do with it. BJP can't abandon illegal Hindu migrants--which would be a stick they would be beaten with-- nor antagonize local Assamese who have given vote in their favour in 2016 assembly elections.

This makes nobody happy. Certainly not people. But Congress is sure to fish in troubled waters which is largely a making of their own indifference, if not mischief. Congress has ruled Assam for decades and benefited immensely from the political umbrella it provided to illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. Despite then-PM Rajiv Gandhi signing the 1985 accord with leaders of the Assam movement, it remains an embarrassing fact for the party that only 2442 illegal immigrants were expelled from Assam between 1985-2012. Not to forget Trinamool Congress (TMC) and its head, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who is already stoking the fire in Assam from her den in order to appease illegal migrants in her own state who arguably are her vote bank.

Sooner than later though, illegal migrants must be taken off the election rolls; ways must be found to give refuge to millions of fleeing Hindus (and other Indic minority sects) from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh with full citizenship status (without worrying about Rohingyas or Human Right Activists--for Hindus have only India to turn to while Muslims and Christians have dozens of own doors to knock around the world); and illegal migrants legally committed not to indulge in political or religious subversive acts.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 Rutherford Institute

Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government, owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people." -- Theodore Roosevelt

There are those who would have you believe that President Trump is an unwitting victim of the Deep State.

And then there are those who insist that the Deep State is a figment of a conspiratorial mind.

Don't believe it.

The Deep State -- a.k.a. the police state, a.k.a. the military industrial complex, a.k.a. the surveillance state complex -- does indeed exist and Trump, far from being its sworn enemy, is its latest tool.

When in doubt, follow the money trail.

It always points the way.

Every successive president starting with Franklin D. Roosevelt has been bought -- lock, stock and barrel -- and made to dance to the tune of the Deep State.

Even Dwight D. Eisenhower, the retired five-star Army general-turned-president who warned against the disastrous rise of misplaced power by the military industrial complex was complicit in contributing to the build-up of the military's role in dictating national and international policy.

Enter Donald Trump, the candidate who swore to drain the swamp in Washington DC.

Instead of putting an end to the corruption, however, Trump has paved the way for lobbyists, corporations, the military industrial complex, and the rest of the Deep State (also referred to as "The 7th Floor Group") to feast on the carcass of the dying American republic.

Apart from tweets that are little more than sound and fury, Trump is not a man who is raging against the machine.

He is too much a part of the machine.

Indeed, as Reuters reports, "[President] Trump has gone further than any of his predecessors to act as a salesman for the U.S. defense industry."

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).Everybody was taken by surprise, admitted Guillaume Halleux, talking about the blockade of Qatar imposed on June 5 last year. It was a massive challenge, but undeniably it created opportunities for us.

The decision by Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE to close their airspaces to Qatari aircraft not only eliminated the airlines two largest cargo markets  Saudi Arabia and the UAE  but also its access to Bahraini airspace, which until then it had regularly flown through as its own airspace is so small.

For the first 30 days, Halleux explained, we operated 15 charters per day on top of our regular activity, purely for the food programme. At the same time, the passenger activity was redeployed, mainly to Beirut, Kuwait and Muscat, which became markets with a lot more capacity than before and allowed us to generate business opportunities.

Qatar Airways was already growing its cargo network and investing heavily in new products and additions to its fleet before the blockade was imposed, but the restrictions havent slowed its plans. It carried 1,153,825 tonnes in financial year 2017, over the 954,191 tonnes in 2016, and Halleux expects that trend to continue.

Business was amazing in 2017, he said excitedly. It was another record year for us with continuous growth. We received two 747s toward the end of the year, at the ideal moment of the market, so weve been very fortunate. We expect 2018 to be just as good.

It would be easy to suggest this growth is only thanks to the blockade, but it is also due to network development. Halleux said Qatar Airways is now one of the top five airlines that can truly negotiate and cooperate on a global level. Customers are increasingly looking at global approaches but not everybody can do it  Emirates, of course, Lufthansa, IAG, Air France-KLM group, and thats about it. And now us.

Along with the network is the fleet. The airline currently has 23 freighters: 13 777Fs, eight A330Fs and two 747-8Fs. It also has another eight A330Fs and two 777Fs on order. The first 777F will be delivered in July and the second in November, although Halleux refused to reveal where they would be deployed.

We wish we could get four or five more, because theres the demand for it, but were currently assessing our [entire] fleet strategy for the next five years. One must not underestimate the impact of belly capacity, because the passenger aircraft play a massive role in our capacity; about 50% is carried on them.

Despite the high proportion of freight being carried in passenger belly holds, Halleux says freighters will continue to be a vital part of the airline, but recognises they dont always work for some companies.

In a previous life, I worked at Air France KLM, which was de-investing from freighters. The reasoning was that since 90% of the commodities in the world travel in the belly, you dont need freighters. That reasoning works, but only for a country that has a natural market of export and import.

We import everything, and we export nothing. For us, freighters are feeders, the same way that British Airways would feed London Heathrow with trucks coming from Germany. Its the same model, just bigger.

Some of Qatars particularly strong cargo routes include Hong Kong, where it operates 23 freighter flights to per week, Chengdu, with between five and seven per week, and, most recently, Ho Chi Minh City, which has grown from two freighters per week 18 months ago to seven.

Fresh food remains a common vertical, as well as live animals, cars and heavy lift for the gas industry, but Qatars big success has been pharmaceuticals. Its new dedicated climate-control centre handles about 285,000 tonnes of the cargo type every year.

Weve become a market leader and we are extremely proud of it. Who would have thought, a few years back, that one of the leading hubs of pharmaceutical products would be in the middle of the desert in the Middle East?

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Cayetano Ripoll, the last victim of the Spanish Inquisition, killed for promoting Deism.

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Tomorrow, July 26, 2018, is the 142nd anniversary of the Christians killing their last victim through the Spanish Inquisition, the Deist Cayetano Ripoll.

Cayetano Ripoll was a Deist who taught other people about Deism. His work to get the word out about Deism made him guilty of heresy in the twisted minds of the Roman Catholic clergy and guilty of heresy according to the Bible. They arrested him and held him for two years. During their cruel and ungodly interrogations they failed miserably to get this heroic Deist to recant his beliefs and to turn his back on his gift from The Supreme Intelligence/God of innate reason and Deism. On July 26, 1826, they hanged Cayetano Ripoll.

Even though it is very historically significant that the last person murdered by the Spanish Inquisition was a Deist, very few people are aware of this fact. Also, very few people are aware that the religious violence of the Spanish Inquisition lasted into the 19th century.

Cayetano Ripoll died with a firm belief in The Supreme Intelligence/God and the knowledge that Christianity and the Bible were, and are, in reality, attacks against The Supreme Intelligence/God. This knowledge and rational belief in The Supreme Intelligence/God allowed Cayetano Ripoll to face death calmly and bravely. It is reported that "He died calmly on the gibbet after repeating the words, 'I die reconciled to God and to man.'"

This is one of the great benefits of Deism. The recognition that nobody knows what, if anything, happens to us after our body dies and that this is part of the Designer's design, gives Deists profound comfort and strength when facing death as Cayetano Ripoll made very clear.

Recently I had a conversation/text exchange with a Deist who has serious health problems. He shared with me how thankful and happy he is to have learned about Deism and stated, "I'm at peace. I'm not worried about where I'm going from here." This is profoundly beautiful! It is also dangerous to the clergy for their job security.

This realistic recognition promoted by Deism regarding death helps us to see that there is a very important benefit to not knowing. Not knowing regarding an afterlife allows us to have true unconditional love of The Supreme Intelligence/God. This is a wonderful quality of Deism! It is the foundation of Cayetano Ripoll's peace of mind while staring death in the face.

By taking action to let as many people as possible learn about Deism, we are honoring Cayetano Ripoll and his inspiring sacrifice for reason and Deism.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 Consortium News



John Brennan

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Libertarian senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, said on Monday that in a personal meeting with President Donald Trump, he urged the president to revoke the security clearances of a half dozen former Obama-era intelligence officials, including former CIA director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and former National Security Adviser Susan Rice. I couldn't agree more with Paul's position, not specifically regarding these three people, but for any former intelligence official. No former intelligence official should keep a security clearance, especially if he or she transitions to the media or to a corporate board.

The controversy specifically over Brennan's clearance has been bubbling along for more than a year. He has been one of Trump's most vocal and harshest critics. Last week he went so far as to accuse Trump of having committed " treason " during his meeting in Helsinki, Finland, with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Brennan said in a tweet, "Donald Trump's press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of 'high crimes and misdemeanors.' It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump's comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican patriots: Where are you???" The outburst was in response to Trump's unwillingness to accept the Intelligence Community position that Putin and the Russians interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

Other intelligence professionals weighed in negatively on Trump's Helsinki performance, including Republicans like former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and former CIA director Mike Hayden.

Why are these people saying anything at all? And why do they have active Top Secret security clearances if they have no governmental positions? The first question is easier to answer than the second. Before answering, though, I want to say that I don't think this issue is specific to Donald Trump. Former officials of every administration criticize those who have replaced them. That's the way Washington works. It's a way for those former officials to remain relevant. Donald Trump happens to be an easy target. His actions are so wildly unpredictable -- and frequently so disingenuous on the surface of things -- that he proves wrong the oft-quoted observation by the late Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser: "The genius of you Americans is that you never make clear-cut stupid moves. You only make complicated stupid moves, which make the rest of us wonder at the possibility that we might be missing something."

Cashing In

I've known John Brennan for 30 years. He was my boss in the CIA's Directorate of Intelligence decades ago. John was hard to get along with. His superiors generally didn't like him. He was once fired from a job at the CIA. He's not particularly bright. And then he found a patron in former CIA director George Tenet, who saved his career. Brennan has had his run. He succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. He's been CIA Director, deputy National Security Adviser, director of the Transnational Terrorism Information Center, and deputy Executive Director of the CIA. That's pretty heady stuff for a kid from Bergen, New Jersey.

He also has very low self-esteem from those early days at the CIA. Almost everybody else had more degrees, spoke more languages, and went to better schools. Until Tenet, Brennan never had a political rabbi and was stuck at the GS-15 (journeyman) level for years. Now, all these years later, he again doesn't have anyone to help his career. Barack Obama isn't president anymore. And Brennan desperately wants to be Secretary of Defense. He says it to anybody willing to listen. That is what's supposed to be his legacy, at least in his mind.

Besides legacy, Brennan and the others have cashed in on their government service. They've all become rich by sitting on corporate boards. Brennan is on the board of directors of a company called SecureAuth + CORE Security. He also serves on the board of The Analysis Corporation, which he helped found before joining the Obama Administration. Finally, and most importantly, Brennan is now the official talking head and "Intelligence Consultant" for NBC News and MSNBC.

To me, this is the point that is the most obviously wrong. How is it that former officials who now have no role in government are able to keep their active security clearances? This has abuse written all over it. First, these officials run the risk of exposing classified information in a television interview, either inadvertently or not. Second, and more cynically, what is to keep them from propagandizing the American people by simply spouting the CIA line or allowing the CIA to use them to put out disinformation? What's to keep them from propagandizing the American people by selectively leaking information known only to the intelligence agencies and Congress? Or to release information passed to them by the FBI?

No former intelligence officials should have a security clearance. There's no purpose for it other than propaganda and personal enrichment. And if Brennan or Hayden or Clapper or any other former intelligence official becomes an employee of a media company, he or she should not have a security clearance. Period. Donald Trump ought to act right now.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 The Nation

Every once in a while we still hear the bizarre claim that this is a good, or at least adventurous, time for journalism -- that this moment of chaos and change, of Trump tweets and investigations, is in some mysterious way healthy for the craft that is supposed to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

The optimism is appealing. But the theory is scorchingly false. Journalism is more necessary than ever at a time when the president of the United States treats media outlets as punching bags. Yet, in a country where even the billionaire-sustained Washington Post acknowledges that "Democracy Dies in Darkness," the necessary sense of urgency is sorely missing.

People who care about the future of journalism need to recognize that the clock is ticking rapidly toward midnight. The Post's slogan represents a vaguely poetic embrace of a truth that's as American as the freedom of the press protection in the Bill of Rights: independent, questioning, and challenging journalism is essential to self-governance.

Unfortunately, a line from Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" serves as a more genuinely poetic expression of the truth of journalism's current circumstance: "It's getting dark, too dark to see."

Some may point to the baseline functioning of the Post and The New York Times, or the busy chattering of the cable TV channels, and suggest that these are good times for journalists and journalism. But the journalism that matters most, journalism that tells the stories of where we live and who we are, and which might arm us to be the governors of our own cities and states (and the nation that extends from them), is dying.

We got a harsh reminder of this reality Monday, when Tronc, the ridiculous excuse for a media company that owns a number of the nation's larger metropolitan dailies, laid off half of the editorial staff of the once-magnificent and still exceptionally necessary New York Daily News.

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This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. Three Failing Experiments?

Mine, America's, and Humanity's

By Tom Engelhardt

There was a period in my later life when I used to say that, from the age of 20 to my late sixties, I was always 40 years old; I was, that is, an old young man and a young old one. Tell that to my legs now. Of course, there's nothing faintly strange in such a development. It's the most ordinary experience in life: to face your own failing self, those muscles that no longer work the way they used to, those brain cells jumping ship with abandon and taking with them so many memories, so much knowledge you'd rather keep aboard. If you're of a certain age -- I just turned 74 -- you know exactly what I mean.

And that, as they say, is life. In a sense, each of us might, sooner or later, be thought of as a kind of failed experiment that ends in the ultimate failure: death.

And in some ways, the same thing might be said of states and empires. Sooner or later, there comes a moment in the history of the experiment when those muscles start to falter, those brain cells begin jumping ship, and in some fashion, spectacular or not, it all comes tumbling down. And that, as they say (or should say), is history. Human history, at least.

In a sense, it may hardly be more out of the ordinary to face a failing experiment in what, earlier in this century, top officials in Washington called "nation building" than in our individual lives. In this case, the nation I'm thinking about, the one that seems in the process of being unbuilt, is my own. You know, the one that its leaders -- until Donald Trump hit the Oval Office -- were in the habit of eternally praising as the most exceptional, the most indispensable country on the planet, the global policeman, the last or sole superpower. Essentially, it. Who could forget that extravagant drumbeat of seemingly obligatory self-praise for what, admittedly, is still a country with wealth and financial clout beyond compare and more firepower than the next significant set of competitors combined?

Still, tell me you can't feel it? Tell me you couldn't sense it when those election results started coming in that November night in 2016? Tell me you can't sense it in the venomous version of gridlock that now grips Washington? Tell me it's not there in the feeling in this country that we are somehow besieged (no matter our specific politics), demobilized, and no longer have any real say in a political system of, by, and for the billionaires, in a Washington in which the fourth branch of government, the national security state, gets all the dough, all the tender loving care (except, at this moment, from our president), all the attention for keeping us "safe" from not much (and certainly not itself)? In the meantime, most Americans get ever less and have ever less say about what they're not getting. No wonder in the last election the country's despairing heartland gave a hearty orange finger to the Washington elite.

States of Failure

"Populist" is the term of the moment for the growing crew of Donald Trumps around the planet. It may mean "popular," but it doesn't mean "population"; it doesn't mean "We, the People." No matter what that band of Trumps might say, it's increasingly not "we" but "them," or in the case of Donald J. Trump in particular, "him."

No, the United States is not yet a failed or failing state, not by a long shot, not in the sense of countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Yemen that have been driven to near-collapse by America's twenty-first-century wars and accompanying events. And yet, doesn't it seem ever easier to think of this country as, in some sense at least, a failing (and flailing) experiment?

And don't just blame it on Donald Trump. That's the easy path to an explanation. Something had to go terribly wrong to produce such a president and his tweet-stormed version of America. That should seem self-evident enough, even to -- though they would mean it in a different way -- The Donald's much-discussed base. After all, if they hadn't felt that, for them, the American experiment was failing, why would they have voted for an obvious all-American con man? Why would they have sent into the White House someone whose Apprentice-like urge is to fire us all?

It's hard to look back on the last decades and not think that democracy has been sinking under the imperial waves. I first noticed the term "the imperial presidency" in the long-gone age of Richard Nixon, when his White House began to fill with uniformed flunkies and started to look like something out of an American fantasy of royalty. The actual power of that presidency, no matter who was in office, has been growing ever since. Whatever the Constitution might say, war, for instance, is now a presidential, not a congressional, prerogative (as is, to take a recent example, the imposition of tariffs on the products of allies on "national security" grounds).

As Chalmers Johnson used to point out, in the Cold War years the president gained his own private army. Johnson meant the CIA, but in this century you would have to add America's ever vaster, still expanding Special Operations forces (SOF), now regularly sent on missions of every sort around the globe. He's also gained his own private air force: the CIA's Hellfire-missile armed drones that he can dispatch across much of the planet to kill those he's personally deemed his country's enemies. In that way, in this century -- despite a ban on presidential assassinations, now long ignored -- the president has become an actual judge, jury, and executioner. The term I've used in the past has been assassin-in-chief.

All of this preceded President Trump. In fact, if presidential wars hadn't become the order of the day, I doubt his presidency would have been conceivable. Without the rise of the national security state to such a position of prominence; without much of government operations descending into a penumbra of secrecy on the grounds that "We, the People" needed to be "safe," not knowledgeable; without the pouring of taxpayer dollars into America's intelligence agencies and the U.S. military; without the creation of a war-time Washington engaged in conflicts without end; without the destabilization of significant parts of the planet; without the war on terror -- it should really be called the war for terror -- spreading terrorism; without the displacement of vast populations (including something close to half of Syria's by now) and the rise of the populist right on both sides of the Atlantic on the basis of the resulting anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim sentiments, it's hard to imagine him. In other words, before he ever descended that Trump Tower escalator into the presidential race in 2015, empire had, politically speaking, trumped democracy and a flawed but noble experiment that began in 1776 was failing.

Had that imperial power not been exercised in such a wholesale way in this century, Donald Trump would have been unimaginable. Had President George W. Bush and his cronies not decided to invade Iraq, The Donald probably would have been inconceivable as anything but the proprietor of a series of failed casinos in Atlantic City, the owner of what he loves to call "property" (adorned with those giant golden letters), and a TV reality host. And the American people would not today be his apprentices.

When that "very stable genius" (as he reminded us again recently) inherited such powers long in the making, he also inherited the power to use them in ways that would have been unavailable to the president of a country that had genuine "checks and balances," one in which the people knew what was going on and in some sense directed it. Consider it a sign of the times that he's the second president to lose the popular vote in this 18-year-old century -- the first, of course, being George W. "Hanging Chad" Bush. So perhaps it's only proper that President Trump has now nominated to the Supreme Court a judge who was once a Republican operative for the very legal team focused on stopping the recount of those contested Florida ballots in 2000 -- a recount the Supreme Court did indeed halt, throwing the election to Bush. Note that Brett Kavanaugh is also the perfect justice for America's new imperial age of decline, one who genuinely believes that the law should read: the president, while in office, is above it. Think of him as Caligula's future enabler.

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(Image by Photo of Joe Meadors by David Heap) Details DMCA



Joe Meadors is the US delegate on the 2018 Gaza Freedom Flotilla that is underway now. He was a survivor of the 1967 Israeli air and submarine attack on the USS Liberty ship that killed 34 and left 174 seriously injured.

He witnessed the Israeli military machine gunning life rafts from the USS Liberty. He is on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla ship, the fishing trawler Al Awda, and is about halfway between Sicily and Gaza.



(Image by Photo of Al Awda by Kit Kittredge) Details DMCA



Joe sent the following message from the Al Awda ship:

"I am standing bridge watches. I lucked out and got the 0800-1200 and 2000-2400 watches every day. Everyone who doesn't have a specific duty (medical, journalist) must stand a bridge watch.

"Unlimited visibility, steaming about seven knots -- this brings back memories of being on-board the USS Liberty off Gaza in 1967 when the Israelis attacked our ship killing 34 and seriously injuring 174 on our ship -- and the US government let them get away with it!

"Morale is very high with anticipation of reaching Gaza successfully.

"On this small fishing boat we have many of the luxuries denied the Palestinians in Gaza.

"We can go where we want when we want to.

"We have an abundance of fresh water.

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According to Donald Trump, the one allied victor of World War II not still occupying Germany has made Germany its slave. But according to the great anti-Trump Resistance in the United States, the nation that openly bragged about installing Boris Yeltsin as president of Russia (the same Yeltsin who subsequently installed Vladimir Putin) has been Pearl-Harbor-attacked by the same Putin via a computer or Facebook or a cable channel or a remote control device implanted in Trump's hair or something -- the details are fuzzy.

But both teams can agree on the important thing -- which has achieved a growing, bi-partisan, academic and popular consensus in the United States during the past four years. It is this: the second biggest threat to peace on earth and to the global rule of law (right behind either Trump or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, depending on your affiliation) is the 2014 vote by the people of Crimea to re-join Russia.

Ain't agreement agreeable? Someone's laughing, Lord, kumbaya, Oh Lord, kumbaya!

Now, the vote by the people of Crimea to re-join Russia has another, more common name: The Seizure of Crimea. This infamous seizure is hard to grasp. It involved a grand total of zero casualties. The vote itself has never been re-done. In fact, to my knowledge, not a single believer in the Seizure of Crimea has ever advocated for re-doing the vote. Coincidentally, polling has repeatedly found the people of Crimea to be happy with their vote.

I've not seen any written or oral statement from Russia threatening war or violence in Crimea. If the threat was implicit, there remains the problem of being unable to find Crimeans who say they felt threatened. (Although I have seen reports of discrimination against Tartars during the past 4 years.) If the vote was influenced by the implicit threat, there remains the problem that polls consistently get the same result.

Of course, a U.S.-backed coup had just occurred in Kiev, meaning that Crimea was voting to secede from a coup government. The United States had supported the secession of Kosovo from Serbia in the 1990s despite Serbian opposition. When Slovakia seceded from Czechoslovakia, the U.S. did not urge any opposition. The U.S. government supports the right of South Sudan to have seceded from Sudan, although violence and chaos reigned. U.S. politicians like Joe Biden and Jane Harman even proposed breaking Iraq up into pieces, as others have proposed for Syria.

But let's grant for the sake of argument that the Crimean vote was problematic, even horrendous, even criminal. There is no question that Russia had military forces in Crimea and sent in more, something I believe I can non-hypocritically oppose, since I'm not the U.S. government and I advocate for the abolition of the U.S. military. Even so, how does the "occupation" of Crimea rise to the level of greatest threat to peace on earth?

Compare it to a trillion dollars a year in U.S. military spending, new missiles in Romania and Poland, massive bombing of Iraq and Syria, the destruction of Iraq and Libya, the endless war on Afghanistan and Pakistan, the U.S.-Saudi devastation of Yemen and the creation of famine and disease epidemics, or the explicit threats to attack Iran, not to mention world-leading weapons dealing to dictatorships around the globe by the good old U.S. of A. I'm sure your average American would rather visit "liberated Mosul" than "annexed Crimea," but should we deal with facts or slogans?

Let's take one example of an occupation that the U.S. government is not demanding a swift end to: the U.S./NATO occupation of Afghanistan. Here's a letter that thousands of people have signed, addressed to Trump, and which you can sign too:

The U.S. war in Afghanistan is well into its 17th year. In 2014 President Obama declared it over, but it will remain a political, financial, security, legal, and moral problem unless you actually end it. The U.S. military now has approximately 8,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan , plus 6,000 other NATO troops, 1,000 mercenaries, and another 26,000 contractors (of whom about 8,000 are from the United States). That's 41,000 people engaged in a foreign occupation of a country 16 years after the accomplishment of their stated mission to overthrow the Taliban government. During each of the past 16 years, our government in Washington has informed us that success was imminent. During each of the past 16 years, Afghanistan has continued its descent into poverty, violence, environmental degradation, and instability. The withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops would send a signal to the world, and to the people of Afghanistan, that the time has come to try a different approach, something other than more troops and weaponry. The ambassador from the U.S.-brokered and funded Afghan Unity government has reportedly told you that maintaining U.S. involvement in Afghanistan is "as urgent as it was on Sept. 11, 2001." There's no reason to believe he won't tell you that for the next four years, even though John Kerry tells us "Afghanistan now has a well-trained armed force "meeting the challenge posed by the Taliban and other terrorists groups." But involvement need not take its current form. The United States is spending $4 million an hour on planes, drones, bombs, guns, and over-priced contractors in a country that needs food and agricultural equipment, much of which could be provided by U.S. businesses. Thus far, the United States has spent an outrageous $783 billion with virtually nothing to show for it except the death of thousands of U.S. soldiers , and the death, injury and displacement of millions of Afghans. The Afghanistan War has been and will continue to be, as long as it lasts, a steady source of scandalous stories of fraud and waste . Even as an investment in the U.S. economy this war has been a bust . But the war has had a substantial impact on our security: it has endangered us. Before Faisal Shahzad tried to blow up a car in Times Square, he had tried to join the war against the United States in Afghanistan. In numerous other incidents, terrorists targeting the United States have stated their motives as including revenge for the U.S. war in Afghanistan, along with other U.S. wars in the region. There is no reason to imagine this will change. In addition, Afghanistan is the one nation where the United States is engaged in major warfare with a country that is a member of the International Criminal Court. That body has now announced that it is investigating possible prosecutions for U.S. crimes in Afghanistan. Over the past 16 years, we have been treated to an almost routine repetition of scandals: hunting children from helicopters, blowing up hospitals with drones, urinating on corpses -- all fueling anti-U.S. propaganda, all brutalizing and shaming the United States.

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On the morning of July 15, 2016, a grey-haired man with glasses came out of the Ataturk airport in Istanbul. Catching a taxi, he went to the harbor. In about one hour and a half, the man reached the island of Buyukada. The name of the traveler was Henri Barkey, he came to a 15-16 July workshop on Middle East issues, and he had not that much time left. Entering his room in Buyukada Splendid Hotel, he got out his phone and wrote a message: "I'm on Buyukada. We must meet ASAP. Please tell me when you can come over. H." He sat on the bed nervously fiddling with his phone. At last, he received the answer: "Where and when would you like to meet? El."

I'm not sure that the events happened as depicted but just several hours after Henri Barkey's arrival in Turkey he met with Metropolitan of Bursa (and Dean of the Theological School located on the neighboring island of Heybeliada) Elpidophoros (Lambriniadis). After a short talk, Elpidophoros hastily departed to Istanbul.

Studying the details of Barkey's visit to Turkey on July 15, I found a person who witnessed the discussion between the former CIA agent and Elpidophoros. The source, who wanted to stay anonymous, claimed that Barkey and Elpidophoros talked for about five minutes in a cafe' in front of the hotel. Both were anxious. What was so important in their meeting?

Well, it's better first to understand who Henri Barkey is and why he is accused of setting up the coup attempt.

Henri Barkey was born in Istanbul, in a Jewish family from Izmir. Upon his graduation from university, he obtained the PhD in Political Science degree at the University Pennsylvania. From 1998 to 2000 he served as a member of the US State Department Policy Planning Staff and worked close with the State Secretary on the issues of Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Iraq and intelligence. He is a former visiting scholar in the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Former Director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

He taught at Princeton, Columbia, Pennsylvania and New York Universities.

Today Barkey is a Cohen Professor of International Relations at Lehigh University. He knows Turkish, English and French. His articles are published by such newspapers and magazines as the National Interest, Foreign Policy, Politico and the New York Times. Barkey has written several books and often appears on TV channels as a political expert. His wife, Elen Barkey, is a top CIA official.

Attention should be paid to Henri Barkey's ties with Fethellah Gulen's FETO organization. He's said to have close relations with FETO head and to be a common visitor at events at Gulenists' schools, mainly in the Middle East. One of his books was written in cooperation with Graham Fuller, a former top CIA official who was a reference for Gulen's Green Card.

In November 2017, the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office issued an arrest warrant for Henri Barkey over his involvement in the coup attempt. The investigation showed that those who gathered on Buyukada that night were coordinating the mutiny. Some of the participants were accused of having ties with FETO and were arrested.

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(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).InMode Aesthetic Solutions Launches A New Concept for Subdermal Adipose-Remodeling of the Face, EmbraceRF and Morpheus8

www.inmodemd.com

InMode Aesthetic Solutions, the leader in cutting edge aesthetic medicine and technology solutions introduces EmbraceRF, a new facial contouring solution that address a treatment gap in current modalities offered to patients. EmbraceRF targets the neck and face through a powerful combination of InModes proprietary technologies: FaceTite and Morpheus8.Not only does EmbraceRFs new protocol allow plastic surgeons to treat patients that are in the treatment gap category (i.e. not having bad enough skin for a facelift and not good enough skin elasticity for liposuction); but most importantly, introduces a whole new solution to the space. The concept of subdermal adipose-remodeling of the face.What is adipose-remodeling? The EmbraceRF FaceTite procedure generates heat to mold the fat of the face in strategic positions in order to augment the jaw line and rejuvenate the neck. The combination of fat being left strategically behind to contour the face and neck is further augmented by InModes newly approved FDA Subdermal Adipose Remodeling Device (SARD): the Morpheus8. The Morpheus8 is applied externally and is the first and only device to mold the fat subdermally in order to morph the aging facial features into a more youthful appearance.This new concept of facial rejuvenation is unique to EmbraceRF and can only be performed consistently and safely using the synergistic combination FaceTite and Morpheus8. By strategic fat remodeling of the face, a patient can retain the fullness necessary to maintain youthfulness and at the same time tighten skin in the neck and jowl for an optimal result.The EmbraceRF now provides physicians and patients with the possibility to achieve real permanent surgical results in a 45 minute procedure under local anesthesia in the office. With only a down time of 48 hours, or a long weekend, patients can return to their daily activities in short time. EmbraceRF is one more breakthrough minimally invasive procedure in the tradition of InModes benchmark radio-frequency technology. This is a new, one-time procedure, with minimal downtime, and permanent results.Top physicians Dr Bruce Katz, Dr. Spero Theodorou and Dr. Christopher Khorsandi will host a panel to unveil the new EmbraceRF procedure and share scientific advances and techniques at the 14th annual Vegas Cosmetic Surgery Conference. Physicians can visit InMode at booth #423 for more information.InMode has set the gold standard for the next generation of contouring devices with unparalleled efficiency resulting in higher revenue for physicians with less time spent in the operating room. As InMode continues to expand its reach across the United States and internationally, the company has developed a close network of world-renowned physicians who have adopted the new state-of-the-art aesthetic solution into their practices.About InMode: InModes technological advancements have become the new standard for aesthetic medicine, specifically in the radio-frequency aesthetic market. For more than three decades our R&D team was critical in developing state-of-the-art light, laser and radio-frequency devices, thereby launching and shaping the industry. Our technology continues that legacy in providing superior satisfaction for both the patient and the practice. Learn more about InMode technologies by visitingBehrman Communications270 Madison Ave. Suite 402New York, NY 10016Global Electric Water Heaters Market Rise to a Valuation of USD 31.36 billion with CAGR of 7.08% | AquaMax, A. O. Smith Corporation, Ariston Thermo (Racold), Bradford White Corporation, Bosch, Eemax

Electric Water Heaters Market

https://www.crystalmarketresearch.com/report/electric-water-heater-market

https://www.crystalmarketresearch.com/report-sample/SE10295

https://www.crystalmarketresearch.com/send-an-enquiry/SE10295

Competitive Insights:The key industry participants for the electric water heaters market are; AquaMax, A. O. Smith Corporation, Ariston Thermo (Racold), Bradford White Corporation, Bosch, Eemax, Rheem Manufacturing Company, General Electric, Zenith, and Havells.According to the Product type, the global market is split into; Storage and Non-Storage.By Application, the global market is classified as; Residential and Commercial.Access more information, Click on the below link @Industry Trend Analysis:The Global Electric Water Heaters Market was evaluated around USD 14.67 billion in the 2012 and is expected to reach approximately USD 31.36 billion by the end of 2022 while registering itself at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.08% over the forecast period.Electric water heaters are presently among the most preferred water heaters by consumers worldwide. Although the global electric water heater industry is actuating towards maturity, uninterrupted advancements on the part of producers are fueling the global electric water heater industry growth. Water heating involves commercial and residential hot water systems. Energy proficient technologies in water heating involve solar water heaters, condensing gas water heaters, combination space/water heaters, gas and electric tankless systems, and heat pump water heaters. Electric water heaters frequently surpass the energy consumption for household activities like lighting, refrigeration, and cooking. Generally, low earnings households choose coal, biofuel and other resources for heating water, but more well-to-do household utilize electricity. Hence, middle-income households are the top customers of electricity for heating water.The Global Electric Water Heaters Market is expected to demonstrate extensive growth with a lucrative compound annual growth rate over the forecast period of 2012 to 2022 owing to rising number of commercial projects and residential housing worldwide. Increasing tankless water heaters demand and augment in disposable earnings is expected to boost the growth of the global electric water heater market. Factors like improving environment sustainability, temperature control, and energy efficiency are predicted to speed up the global electric water heater market growth over the forecast period.Rising demand for domestic application like cleaning, cooking, and bathing and also from a commercial application such as hotels and hospitals may drive the growth of the electric water heaters market. Electricity fluctuation and shortages along with the popularity of substitute fuels like solar power and acceptance of hybrid products might act as a hindrance for the growth of the global electric water heater market. Also, changes in government regulations, volatile raw material prices, and rising electricity prices are some other challenges for the global electric water heater market during the approaching years.Book Your Sample Copy of the Report here @Table of Contents:1.Introduction2.Executive Summary3.Market Overview4.Electric Water Heaters Market, By Product4.1.Introduction4.2.Electric Water Heaters Market Assessment and Forecast, By Product, 2012-20224.3.Storage Electric Water Heaters4.4.Non-Storage Electric Water Heaters5.Electric Water Heaters Market, By Application5.1.Introduction5.2.The Electric Water Heaters Market Assessment and Forecast, By Application, 2012-20225.3.Residential5.4.CommercialTo be continued...Regional Outlook and Trend Analysis:Asia Pacific region is expected to be the major regional market during the projected period due to developing markets like India and China. The North American electric water heaters regional market is likely to experience growth mainly owing to rising demand for replacement. The correction to the National Energy Conservation Act during April 2015 and strict energy efficiency standards might hamper the growth of North American market.Key findings of the Electric Water Heaters Market:The global market is distinguished by strong competition owing to the existence of innovative technologies, quality, product design, performance, and reliability.Storage-based products mostly have applications in the region which have inadequate electricity supply, as they facilitate continuous hot water accessibility in such cases.Asia Pacific regional electric water heater industry will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 10.7% over forecast years. These products are favored more than gas heaters around the region, with stable demand over the commercial as well as residential application fields.Ask Questions to Expertise at @About Crystal Market Research:Crystal Market Research is a U.S. based market research and business intelligence company. Crystal offers one stop solution for market research, business intelligence, and consulting services to help clients make more informed decisions. It provides both syndicated as well as customized research studies for its customers spread across the globe. The company offers market intelligence reports across a broad range of industries including healthcare, chemicals & materials, technology, automotive, and energy.Contact Us:Judy304 South Jones Blvd, Suite 1896,Las Vegas NV 89107,United StatesToll Free: +1-888-213-4282Email: sales@crystalmarketresearch.comHighly Respected New York Criminal Defense Lawyer Featured in New York Daily News

New York, NY- July 21, 2018- The Harvey Weinstein case is a high-profile case taking place in New York right now. Mr. Weinstein is accused and facing multiple charges revolving around sexual assault and harassment. Many of his victims are high profile actresses and the media has been following the case closely.On July 2, 2018 the New York Daily News wrote an article about the case. The article had quotes from both the defense attorney and the district attorney. The article disclosed that Weinstein is being charged using a theory that he has committed similar acts.Esteemed New York attorney, Mark Cohen, was also quoted sharing his expertise and knowledge of the criminal justice system in the article. His remarks were regarding the theory being used to prosecute Mr. Weinstein, stating the prosecution could be using a course-of conduct theory. Here is his quote from the article:obviously, credibility comes from numbers. He goes on to state, Youre essentially going in front of a jury saying this guy, hes out there. Hes a serial offender. He does this to multiple victims and you have the statue drawn that way . The statute makes the argument for you.Mark Cohen has over 27 years of experience has a criminal defense attorney. He has earned his reputation by taking some of the most complicated cases. He uses a personal approach when defending his cases. Mark Cohen knows that each case is different, and he focuses on the details provided to him by his clients so that he can build the best possible defense. This has assisted him in the court room and in gaining insight on the inner working of the criminal justice system.Mark Cohen was quoted in the New York Daily News on a high-profile case because of his insight. The quote not only shows that Mark Cohen understands how the legal system works and the prosecution works, but also can share his knowledge in a way that his clients can understand.Clients and their families find themselves stressed when going through the complex process of defending themselves in criminal court. Mark Cohen makes sure that his clients can reach him and ensure they are up-to-date and understand what is going on in their cases. Mark Cohen is not just highly respected in the New York justice system, but in the US justice system as well. If you are facing the stress of having to defend a criminal case, contact Mark Cohen today.Mark I. Cohen, ESQ is a NYC Criminal Lawyer who is widely respected in New York State & US justice systems for his legal acumen, expertise & pursuit of justice.10 Vesey St Suite 1200 New York, NY 10007Now the Saudi Black Hawk fleet is set for dramatic expansion following the announcement of a $193.8 million firm-fixed-price foreign military sales contract for 17 UH-60Ms in January 2018.

Eight of the new UH-60Ms will go to the Saudi Arabian National Guard and nine to the Royal Saudi Land Forces Airborne Special Security Forces.

These will join the survivors of a single S-70A VIP helicopter, 12 S-70A-1 Desert Hawk utility helicopters, eight S-70A-1L medevac helicopters, eight ex-US Army UH-60As, transferred during Desert Storm, as well as about 24 UH-60Ls delivered between 2008 and 2014.

Most of these serve with the Royal Saudi Land Forces.

Between three and five S-70i International Black Hawks are assigned to the General Civil Defence Agency (GCDA)  the paramilitary wing of the Ministry of Interior. Delivered from August 2011, the S-70i helicopters augment some 16 S-92s in providing helicopter support to the kingdoms counter-terrorism forces.

A major 2010 arms deal with the US saw the kingdom being authorised to receive 84 new-build F-15SA strike fighters (and to upgrade 72 F-15S aircraft to the same standard), and the $25 billion package also included authorisation for the purchase of large numbers of helicopters (36 AH-64E Apaches, 36 AH-6i Little Birds, and 72 Sikorsky UH-60M Black Hawks), primarily for the newly established air element of the Saudi Arabian National Guard.

By mid-2017, the Saudi Arabian National Guard operated 12 AH-64E Longbow Apaches, 24 UH-60M Black Hawks and 12 AH-6is. By then, the number of S-70s planned had grown again, with 12 MH-60R Seahawk helicopters added for the Royal Saudi Naval Forces, and with a new plan for Lockheed Martin and Saudi Arabias Taqnia to co-produce up to 150 S-70 Black Hawk helicopters, with final assembly taking place in the kingdom.

Deliveries were scheduled to begin in October 2017 and to conclude by the end of June, 2022.

This programme appears to have been delayed and the recent order for 17 aircraft appears to be another interim purchase, adding to about 39 aircraft ordered since 2015.

High-Temperature Composite Resins Market is Likely to Reach US$ 168.3 Million in 2023

https://www.stratviewresearch.com/186/high-temperature-composite-resin-market.html

https://www.stratviewresearch.com/186/high-temperature-composite-resin-market.html

https://www.stratviewresearch.com/market/report/Advanced-Materials.html

https://www.stratviewresearch.com/186/high-temperature-composite-resin-market.html

Stratview Research announces the launch of a new research report on High-Temperature Composite Resins Market by Resin Type (BMI, Cyanate Ester, Polyimide, Thermoplastics, and Others), by End-Use Industry Type (Aerospace & Defense, Transportation, and Others), by Manufacturing Process Type (Prepreg Layup, RTM, and Others), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World), Trend, Forecast, Competitive Analysis, and Growth Opportunity: 2018-2023.This report, from Stratview Research, studies the high-temperature composite resins market over the trend period of 2012 to 2017 and forecast period of 2018 to 2023. The report provides detailed insights on the market dynamics to enable informed business decision making and growth strategy formulation based on the opportunities present in the market.The High-Temperature Composite Resins Market: HighlightsResins used for composite applications, that can withstand extreme heat and temperature environments, are considered as high-temperature composite resins. Aircraft engine is one of the biggest application areas of high-temperature composite resins as it is prone to extreme temperature and heat environments. High-temperature resins have a long history in the composites industry with usage in military and commercial aircraft engines. Nowadays, composite stakeholders are betting on these resin technologies in applications including airframe and other hot sections.As per Stratview Research, the global high-temperature composite resins market is projected to grow at a healthy rate over the next five years to reach US$ 168.3 million in 2023. Increasing penetration of composites in aerospace and automotive industries coupled with greater demand for high-temperature composites, increasing production rates of high-temperature composite rich F-35 aircraft, and superior performance benefits of high-temperature resins are the key factors proliferating the growth of the market.Based on the material type, BMI resin is likely to remain the most dominant high-temperature resin type in terms of volume over the next five years. It is preferably used in military aircraft engines as well as airframe applications, nacelles of business jet engines, tooling prepreg, and hot-air ducts. Whereas, Polyimide resin is likely to remain the largest resin type in terms of value during the forecast period. Polyimide composite parts can withstand continuous use up to 315C (600F) and intermittent use up to 480C (900F) and exhibit extremely high dimensional stability at elevated temperatures.In terms of end-use industry type, aerospace & defense is likely to remain the most dominant industry segment during the forecast period. Increasing production rate of high-temperature composite rich fighter aircraft F-35 (Joint Strike Fighter) is likely to give an impetus to the demand for high-temperature composites in the industry. Another key application area of high-temperature composite resin is tooling prepregs, where BMI resin is gaining traction.Register Here for a Free Sample on the ReportAs per the study, prepreg layup is expected to remain the most dominant process for manufacturing composite parts made using high-temperature resins. It is the most widely preferred process for manufacturing of critical parts in the aerospace & defense industry, where high-temperature resin systems are majorly used. Prepreg layup offers various advantages, such as consistent material properties, high fiber volume, flexibility in fiber orientation, low-void content, and easy to operate on complicated shapes.In terms of region, North America is projected to remain the largest market during the forecast period, driven by worlds leading aircraft OEMs, aeroengine manufacturers, tier players, and material suppliers. The USA is the growth engine of the regions market. Europe is projected to remain the second largest market for high-temperature composite resins during the forecast period. Dassault Aviation, BAE Systems, and Airbus Group are some of the key OEMs, which are driving the demand for high-temperature composite resins in the region.Key high-temperature composite resin manufacturers include Solvay S.A., TenCate Advanced Composites, Lonza Group, Hexcel Corporation, and Renegade Materials Corporation. Development of low-cost high-temperature composite resins with ease of manufacturing processes, reduced operational cost, and formation of strategic alliances are the key strategies adopted by the major players to gain a competitive edge in the market.Report FeaturesThis report provides market intelligence in the most comprehensive way. The report structure has been kept such that it offers maximum business value. It provides critical insights on the market dynamics and will enable strategic decision making for the existing market players as well as those willing to enter the market. The following are the key features of the report:Market structure: Overview, industry life cycle analysis, supply chain analysis.Market environment analysis: Growth drivers and constraints, Porters five forces analysis, SWOT analysis.Market trend and forecast analysis.Market segment trend and forecast.Competitive landscape and dynamics: Market share, product portfolio, product launches, etc.Attractive market segments and associated growth opportunities.Emerging trends.Strategic growth opportunities for the existing and new players.Key success factors.This report studies the high-temperature composite resins market and has segmented the market in four ways, keeping in mind the interest of all the stakeholders across the value chain. Following are the four ways in which the market is segmented:High-Temperature Composite Resins Market, By Resin TypeBMI Resin (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)Cyanate Ester Resin (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)Polyimide Resin (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)High-Temperature Thermoplastic Resins (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)Others (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)High-Temperature Composite Resins Market, By End-Use Industry TypeAerospace & Defense (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)Transportation (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)Others (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)High-Temperature Composite Resins Market, By Composite Manufacturing Process TypePrepreg Layup (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)RTM (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)Others (Regional Analysis: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and RoW)High-Temperature Composite Resins Market, By RegionNorth America (Country Analysis: The USA, Canada, and Mexico)Europe (Country Analysis: The UK, Germany, France, and Rest of Europe)Asia-Pacific (Country Analysis: China, Japan, India, and Rest of Asia-Pacific)Rest of the World (Country Analysis: The Middle East, Latin America, and Others)About Stratview ResearchStratview Research is a global market intelligence firm providing wide range of services including syndicated market reports, custom research and sourcing intelligence across industries, such as Advanced Materials, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & Mass Transportation, Consumer Goods, Construction & Equipment, Electronics and Semiconductors, Energy & Utility, Healthcare & Life Sciences, and Oil & Gas.We have a strong team of industry veterans and analysts with an extensive experience in executing custom research projects for mid-sized to Fortune 500 companies, in the areas of Market Assessment, Opportunity Screening, Competitive Intelligence, Due Diligence, Target Screening, Market Entry Strategy, Go to Market Strategy, and Voice of Customer studies.Stratview Research is a trusted brand globally, providing high quality research and strategic insights that help companies worldwide in effective decision making.2nd Floor, Crystal Tower, Telibandha, Raipur, Chhattisgarh 492001Stratview ResearchE-mail: sales@stratviewresearch.comDirect: +1-313-307-4176A Book on Food Projects & Agriculture Based Business Ideas for Startup launched by NIIR Project Consultancy Services

New Delhi, 26 July 2018, The book titled 55 Most Profitable Micro, Small, Medium Scale Food Processing (Processed Food) Projects and Agriculture Based Business Ideas for Startup released by NIIR Project Consultancy Services, provides a comprehensive information on Food Processing businesses.The book elucidates the structure of Indian processed food industry, its classification in various products (Soy Flour & Milk, Starch Derivatives, Saccharin, Tomato Paste, Edible Corn Oil, Malt, Instant Noodles, Garlic Oil and Powder, Cattle Feed, Banana Wafers, Biscuits, Bread, Candy, Chocolates, Potato Chips, Rice Flakes (Poha), Corn Flakes, Baby Cereal Food, Fruit Juice, Milk Powder, Paneer, Papad, Ghee, Extruded Food (Kurkure Type), Instant Tea, Jam & Jelly, Khakhra, Soft Drinks, Spices, Sweet Scented Supari, Cake & Pastry, Banana Chips, Papad, Besan, Pickles, Ice-Cream Cones, Honey, Flour Mill, Tutti-Fruitti, Confectionery, Noodles, Ice Candy, Namkeen, Vermicelli, Mango Pappad (Aam Papad), Chilli Powder, Popcorn, Supari Chips, Revadi and Gazak, Mava, Tomato Sauce and Ketchup, Ice Cream, Baking Powder, Moong Dal Bari, Packaged Drinking Water With Pet Bottles).The book provides an expansive Processed Food Projects and Agriculture Based Business Ideas for Startup. For an entrepreneur starting out, it makes good business sense to avoid ideas that require high capital investment in equipment, land, etc. Venturing into the manufacturing business requires dividing time and effort between making a business plan, creating the product, and selling. It is best to venture into product areas that require small to medium investment, which can be returned within a few years. If one wants to start off on his own, this book provides some manufacturing business ideas with small and medium investment.About NIIR Project Consultancy ServicesThe Publisher of the book NIIR PROJECT CONSULTANCY SERVICES (NPCS) is a reliable name in the industrial world for offering integrated technical consultancy services and market research reports. Its various services are: Pre-feasibility study, New Project Identification, Project Feasibility and Market Study, Identification of Profitable Industrial Project Opportunities, Preparation of Project Profiles / Pre-Investment and Pre-Feasibility Studies, Market Surveys / Studies, Preparation of Techno-Economic Feasibility Reports, Identification and Section of Plant /Process / Equipment, General Guidance, Technical and Commercial Counselling for setting up new industrial projects.Media Contact:Ajay Gupta8800733955info@niir.org106-E, Kamla Nagar, Delhi  110 007Terrain Awareness and Warning System Market - Extend growth opportunities 2025 | Honeywell International Inc.

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Terrain Awareness and Warning System Market: OverviewTerrain awareness and warning systems (TWAS) are used to prevent controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accidents. The technology provides an important layer of protection for aircraft navigation as it changes course as per the terrain and as per weather conditions.TAWS draws data from GPS pertaining to aircrafts position, speed, and direction as well data pertaining to aircrafts altitude and configuration. This information is used to compare data pertaining to Earths terrain and manmade hurdles.In the U.S., highly accurate GPS information is obtained as a combination of radar topography imagery captured by the U.S. space shuttle program, information from Department of Defense, and other data.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Terrain Awareness and Warning System Market: Key TrendsThe global TAWS market is primarily driven by the paradigm shift in transport sector leading to the increasing number of commercial flights. Furthermore, mandates for aircraft to be equipped with TAWS as laid out by stipulations of aviation regulation agencies is driving the growth of the TAWS market. The directives for use of hi-tech systems for aircraft protection are largely in place in developed countries such as the U.S., and the U.K. among several other countries.However, high deployment cost is limiting the adoption of this technology only by countries that have a strong technical base and large budgets for enhancing aircraft security system. Lack of skilled personnel and integrators for TWAS is also challenging the markets growth.Implementation of TAWS in private jets and cargo flights will extend growth opportunities to the TAWS market. The growth of international trade due to favorable business reforms in many countries worldwide is expected to benefit the markets growth.Request TOC of the Report @Terrain Awareness and Warning System Market: Market PotentialAcross the world, defense forces are vying for hi-technology systems to prevent CFIT accidents, which in turn, helps prevents loss of life and loss of property. In a breakthrough development, the Indian Air Force has announced about equipping its new convoy of six C-130J Hercules aircraft with TWAS, as per a solicitation by the U.S. Air Force.The U.S. Air Force, C-130J Division, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, and Wright Patterson AFB has been seeking to identify potential bodies that possess the expertise, experience, and capabilities needed to enter a contract for six C-130J aircraft for a terrain awareness warning system. The subscription will be for 40 months commencing from May 31, 2017, through August 31, 2020.Prior to this, the Indian Air Force had procured six C-130Js, of which one was lost in an accident in 2014 and another damaged in February this year.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @Terrain Awareness and Warning System Market: Regional OutlookNorth America is currently the leading market for terrain awareness and warning system and is expected to retain its position over the next few years mainly due to the factors favoring the adoption of TAWS. In North America, high government funding for hi-tech aircraft safety systems as per Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) mandates, strong technical base, and the presence of key players in the region are favoring the regional markets growth. The presence of top companies for TAWS such as Universal Avionics Systems Corporation, L3 Technologies Inc., and Honeywell International Inc. enables the latest technical developments for aircraft navigation to be first implemented in the region.Terrain Awareness and Warning System Market: Competitive LandscapeSome of the key companies operating in the global terrain awareness and warning system market are Honeywell International Inc., Aviation Communication & Surveillance Systems LLC, Avidyne Corporation, Rockwell Collins, Aspen Avionics Inc., Universal Avionics Systems Corporation, L3 Technologies Inc., Garmin Ltd., Sandel Avionics Inc., Mid-Continent Instrument Co. Inc., and Genesys Aerosystems.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Roof Tile Market is growing at a CAGR of 7.19% from 2017 to 2025

Roof Tile Market

https://www.progressivemarkets.com/industry-research/roof-tile-market

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The global roof tile market was valued at $17,897.46 million in 2016, and is projected to reach $32,943.34 million by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 7.19% from 2017 to 2025.Access Full Summary at :The ceramics roof tile segment is anticipated to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period. The report provides an overview of the global roof tile market, including the market size, market share analysis, key trends, market dynamics, forecast, Porters five forces analysis, key industry segments, and company profiles. The report includes exhaustive information of the industry for the period of 20172025 to track performance of competitors and make informed business decisions for growth and profitability. The report would benefit the market players, investors, shareholders, and new entrants in the industry by analyzing the market dynamics, finding opportunities, and offering data-backed inferences for tactical and strategic decision making.The report provides an executive summary of the global roof tile industry to help market players and new entrants understand the overall market scenario. Key findings of our study have been outlined in the report to assist market players determine investment options. The competitive landscape of the industry facilitates industry players to determine the level of competitiveness within the industry and take timely decisions to gain a competitive edge.Request Sample Report:The market landscape of the roof tile market is provided in terms of the growth drivers, restraints, and opportunities, Porters Five Forces analysis, and market share analysis.The rise and fall of the roof tile market are dependent on the drivers and restraints. Factors such as rapid urbanization, growing construction industry, and increased demand for efficient roof solutions drive the growth of the industry. Furthermore, the significant number of ongoing infrastructure development projects especially in fast growing economies is expected to propel the market growth.The report offers a detailed segmentation of the global roof tile market based on type, application and region. By type, the market is classified as clay roof tile, concrete roof tile, ceramics roof tile, fiber cement roof tile, and zinc A/L roof tile. The clay roof tile contributed to the 30.06% share of the total roof tile market in 2016; whereas, the ceramics roof tile is expected to grow at highest CAGR of 7.77% during the forecast period. Based on application, the market is segmented into residential, commercial, industrial, and infrastructure. Geographically, the market is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East, and Africa.The report elaborately discusses the key players providing solutions in the global roof tile market. An overview for each player is provided to help market players and investors gain deeper understanding of the competition prevailing in the industry. The financial strength of each player as along with their recent developments, are discussed in the study. The key market players profiled in the report Butterfly Ceramics, Fujian South Highway Machinery Co., Ltd., Golden Clay Industries Sdn. Bhd. (GCI), Hume Roofing Products Sdn Bhd. Kia Lim Berhad, Lama, Patra Refractory Company Limited, Supercool Creative Culture Sdn Bhd, Terreal, Thai Ceramic Roof Tile Co. Ltd., The Siam Cement Public Company Limited, and TPI Polene Public Company Limited.The company makes use of primary corporate research and secondary inputs from trusted sources to build its own reference base. It maintains consistency in quality as it keeps itself updated with changes in market dynamics and gauging its net effect on global business trends.Reach UsMr. Shriram Dighe4th Floor, Unit 12, Marisoft III,West Wing, Marigold IT Park,Kalyani Nagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411014,India: +91 20 66346040Toll Free: + 1-888-906-9222help@progressivemarkets.comThe Global Chemicals By End Use Market Was Valued At $10.7 Billion In 2017 According To TBRCs Latest Report

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The chemicals industry is one of the largest manufacturing industries in the world. It manufactures a variety of chemicals products by processing raw materials such as air, water, natural gas, oil, metals and minerals. While many of the products from the industry such as detergents, soaps and perfumes, are purchased directly by the consumer, 70% of chemicals manufactured are used by other industries including other branches of the chemicals industry itself, to make products.Order the report atThe market was valued at $10.7 billion in 2017, and is expected to be driven by the expanding manufacturing industry. Asia Pacific was the largest region in the chemicals manufacturing market in 2017, accounting for more than one-third of the market share. Western Europe was the second largest region accounting for 26% market share.The chemicals by end use market in the report is split into the following segments: ethyl alcohol and other basic organic chemical, petrochemicals, plastic material and resins, fertilizer, toiletries, general chemical product, soap and cleaning compounds, paints and coatings, other basic inorganic chemicals, pesticide and other agricultural chemicals, synthetic rubber and fibers, adhesives, synthetic dye and pigment, industrial gas, and printing inks.Download a sample of the report atChina was the biggest player in the chemicals by end use market in 2017.The top five competitors in the market are China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), BASF SE, Bayer AG, Dow Chemical, and LyondellBasell Industries. China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) was the largest player in the market. It is a Chinese oil & gas company based in Beijing. It is one of the major state-owned companies in China.About The Business Research Company.The Business Research Company is a Business Intelligence Company which excels in company, market and consumer research. It has offices in the UK, the US and India and a network of trained researchers in 15 countries globally.Contact Information.Europe: +44 207 1930 708Asia: +91 8897263534Americas: +1 315 623 029347 Anchorage Point,42 Cuba Street, Canary Wharf,London, England,E14 8NE.IoT in Retail Market 2017-2024: Intel Corporation Inc., Microsoft Corporation, IBM Corporation, Cisco Systems, SAP AG

Global Market Insights, Inc.

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Market Overview: -IoT in Retail market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 19% from 2017 to 2024. Rising demand for improving the purchase experience is anticipated to drive the IoT in retail market over the estimated timeframe. In order to bring in innovations in the stores, giving away offers on the basis of browsing history and buying behavior, retail stores across the globe are increasingly implementing IoT solutions. Growing usage of intelligent solutions coupled with the emerging trend of digitization in the sector contributes to the industry demand.Retailers are focusing on deploying such advanced technological solutions to gain insights into customers purchase behavior, delivering customized promotional offers fueling the IoT in retail market growth. To reduce operational costs and streamlining overall business operations, IoT is currently witnessing high adoption across the sector. Furthermore, increasing implementation of such solutions could be attributed to the cost reduction of RFID tags and sensors, which are used for inventory tracking, theft reduction and enhanced supply chain management resulting in streamlining business operations.Request for a sample of this research report @Top Key Players: -Companies operating in the IoT in retail market include SAP AG, IBM Corporation, Zebra Technologies, Intel Corporation, Cisco Systems and Microsoft Corporation. The industry is currently witnessing increasing entry of players with innovative solutions. Players are following strategies such as new product launches, merger & acquisitions to increase hold and expand into potential markets.Regional Segmentations: -Presence of developed infrastructure followed by the increasing investments by retailers on implementation of smart technologies is expected to drive the North America IoT in retail market growth. Factors such as organized retail industry across the region followed by the awareness related to benefits of using such solutions by various players further contributes to the industry demand.Partial Chapter of the Table of ContentChapter 3. Industry Insights3.1. Industry segmentation3.2. Industry landscape, 2013 - 20243.3. Industry ecosystem analysis3.3.1. Component suppliers3.3.2. Software providers3.3.3. Technology providers3.3.4. Service providers3.3.5. System integrators3.3.6. Vendor matrix3.3.7. Distribution channel analysis3.4. Technology & innovation landscape3.5. Regulatory landscape3.5.1. U.S.3.5.2. EU3.5.3. China3.6. Industry impact forces3.6.1. Growth drivers3.6.1.1. Increasing demand to enhance the customer experience in the U.S.3.6.1.2. Advanced infrastructure in the U.S. and Europe3.6.1.3. Technological advancements in the U.S.3.6.1.4. Declining cost of hardware components in China and India3.6.1.5. Emerging organized retail industry in India3.6.1.6. Increasing adoption of cloud platform in EU3.6.2. Industry pitfalls & challenges3.6.2.1. Data security & privacy concerns3.6.2.2. Lack of knowledge3.6.2.3. High implementation cost3.7. Growth potential analysis3.8. Porter's analysis3.9. Company market share analysis, 20163.9.1. Strategy dashboard3.10. PESTEL analysisBrowse Full Report @Factors including data privacy and security concerns might curb the IoT in retail market growth over the forecast timespan. Components in the IoT network are vulnerable to cyber-attacks such as DDoS, which is expected to limit the industry demand. Furthermore, lack of standards followed by rising expenses related to the implementation of IoT solutions pose a challenge to the industry players.Managed services segment in the IoT in retail market is anticipated to grow over the forecast timeline. The growth can be credited to the retailers increasingly focusing on reducing the IT related expenses, enabling the workforce to focus more on core activities generating more revenue. The managed service providers are assigned with the responsibility of maintaining the systems, provide security and protection against any type of cyber-attack threat. In additions, they provide services which include deployment, integration, support services as well as consultation to help the clients achieve desired business goals.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:Global Operation Business Process as a Service (BPaaS) Market Future Outlook to 2025: DXC Technology, Genpact, Fujitsu, IBM, Oracle

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report Global Operation Business Process as a Service (BPaaS) Market Size,Status and Forecast 2025 to its huge collection of research reports.In the past few years, the global market for Operation Business Process as a Service (BPaaS) has witness a number of changes. This study is an attempt to understand the impact of these changes on the Operation Business Process as a Service (BPaaS) market across the world.Business Processes as a Service (BPaaS) enables brokers that may act as a public orprivate organisation to offer cloud-based execution of those business processes to support start-ups, founders and SMEs.In the general sense, a business process is simply a task that must be completed to benefit business operations. Using the term (BPaaS) implies that the business process is being automated through a remote delivery model.Download Free exclusive Sample of this report:This report focuses on the global top players, coveredAccentureCognizantCapgeminiDXC TechnologyGenpactFujitsuIBMOracleSAPCiscoCA TechnologiesWiproInfosysTata Consultancy ServicesMarket segment by Type, the product can be split intoDigital Asset ManagementOrder Management as A ServiceSupply Chain ManagementIndustry OperationsBusiness Process AnalyticsMarket segment by Application, split intoEnterpriseSmall and Medium BusinessThe study objectives of this report are:To study and forecast the market size of Operation Business Process as a Service (BPaaS) 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.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @Key StakeholdersOperation Business Process as a Service (BPaaS) ManufacturersOperation Business Process as a Service (BPaaS) Distributors/Traders/WholesalersOperation Business Process as a Service (BPaaS) Subcomponent ManufacturersIndustry AssociationDownstream VendorsQYResearchReports.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Signal Jammer Market Outlook by Product Overview, Application and Regions 2026

Coherent Market Insights

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The signal jammer is a device used to protect devices from receiving signals from base station. According to Coherent Market Insights analysis, around 2991.4 thousand units of personal and commercial drones will be sold by the end of 2017 up from 2152.2 thousand units in 2016. signal jammer market. In addition to this, the increasing R&D investment by various government bodies across the globe will bolster the market growth over the forecast period. For example: the Battelle Memorial Institute in the U.S has developed signal jammers that are designed for the unmanned aerial vehicles, which is currently being used for training purposes by the U.S. government. Moreover, increasing global R&D investment in aerospace & defense sector also boost the market growth of signal jammer globally. According to Coherent Market Insights analysis, the global R&D expenditure in aerospace & defense sector was US$ 30.4 billion in 2016 up from US$ 29.8 billion in 2015.Download PDF of this Business Report @Signal Jammer Market report 2017-2026 focuses on the major drivers and restraints for the key players. These research report also provides granular analysis of the Market share, segmentation, revenue forecasts and geographic regions of the Market. This market research report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the Signal Jammer industry. The report enlists several important factors, starting from the basics to advanced Market intelligence which play a crucial part in strategizing.Key Vendors of Signal Jammer Market: Signal Jammer Market report analyses the Market potential for each geographical region based on the growth rate, macroeconomic parameters, consumer buying patterns, and Market demand and supply scenarios. BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Raytheon, HSS Development, Harris Corporation, Israel Aerospace Industries, Lockheed Martin, MCTECH TECHNOLOGY, NDR Resource International, Stratign, and WolvesFleet TechnologyRegions of Signal Jammer Market: Americas APAC EMEAIn the end, the report makes some important proposals for a new project of Signal Jammer Industry before evaluating its feasibility. Overall, the report provides an in-depth insight of global market covering all important parameters. Signal Jammer driver Signal Jammer challenge Signal Jammer trendKey questions answered in Signal Jammer Market report: What was the market size in 2017 and what will be the market by 2026? What is the Market status and development trend of keyword by types and applications? What is Cost and profit status of Signal Jammer Market? What are the market trends, opportunities and market risk? What are Market Effect Factors? What are the growth areas within the market space? How market sub categorized & which are the leading segments?Browse Complete Report @There are Multiple Chapter to display the Global Signal Jammer Market some of them As Follow:Chapter 1, Definition, Specifications, Classification, Applications of Signal Jammer Market Segment by Regions;Chapter 2, Manufacturing Cost Structure, Raw Material and Suppliers, Manufacturing Process, Industry Chain Structure;Chapter 3, Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Signal Jammer, Capacity and Commercial Production Date, Manufacturing Plants Distribution, R&D Status and Technology Source, Raw Materials Sources Analysis;Chapter 4, Overall Market Analysis, Capacity Analysis (Company Segment), Sales Analysis (Company Segment), Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment);Chapter 5 and 6, Regional Market Analysis that includes United States, China, Europe, Japan, Korea & Taiwan, Signal Jammer Segment Market Analysis (by Type);Chapter 7 and 8, The Signal Jammer Segment Market Analysis (by Application) Major Manufacturers AnalysisChapter 9, Market Trend Analysis, Regional Market Trend, Market Trend by Product Type Natural preservative, Chemical preservative, Market Trend by Application;Chapter 10, Regional Marketing Type Analysis, International Trade Type Analysis, Supply Chain Analysis;Chapter 11, The Consumers Analysis of Global Signal Jammer;Chapter 12, Signal Jammer Research Findings and Conclusion, Appendix, methodology and data source;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, Signal Jammer sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.Get Discount on this market study @Why this is useful Report to you: It provides a forward looking perspective on different factors driving or restraining Market growth It provides a six-year forecast assessed on the basis of how the Market is predicted to grow It helps in understanding the key product segments and their future It provides pin point analysis of changing competition dynamics and keeps you ahead of competitors It helps in making informed business decisions by having complete insights of Market and by making in-depth analysis of Market segmentAbout Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comChildren's and Infant Wear Market Key Driver, Application, Challenges and Opportunities By 2025

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This report studies the Children's and Infant Wear Market size (value and volume) by players, regions, product types and end industries, history data 2013-2017 and forecast data 2018-2025; This report also studies the global market competition landscape, market drivers and trends, opportunities and challenges, risks and entry barriers, sales channels, distributors and Porter's Five Forces Analysis.Children's and Infant Wear are Clothes for children and infant. The global Children's and Infant Wear market was xx million US$ in 2017 and is expected to xx million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of xx% between 2018 and 2025.Geographically, this report is segmented into several key regions, with sales, revenue, market share and growth Rate of Children's and Infant Wear in these regions, from 2013 to 2025, coveringNorth America (United States, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Turkey etc.)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam)South America (Brazil etc.)Middle East and Africa (Egypt and GCC Countries)Request Sample Copy of Report@The various contributors involved in the value chain of the product include manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, intermediaries, and customers. The key manufacturers in this market includeAmazon.com Inc.Bed Bath & Beyond Inc.Benetton Group SpACarter's Inc.Children's Place Retail Store Inc.Esprit Holdings Ltd.Gap Inc.Macy's Inc.Sears Holdings Corp.The Walt Disney Co.Wal-Mart Stores IncBy the product type, the market is primarily split intoNatural MaterialSynthetic MaterialBy the end users/application, this report covers the following segmentsBoysGirlsInfants & ToddlersAbout Us:QYResearch always pursuits high product quality with the belief that quality is the soul of business. Through years of effort and supports from huge number of customer supports, QYResearch consulting group has accumulated creative design methods on many high-quality markets investigation and research team with rich experience. Today, QYResearch has become the brand of quality assurance in consulting industry.Contact US:QY Research, INC.17890 Castleton,Suite 218,City of industry, CA  91748USA: +1 626 295 2442Email: enquiry@qyrsearch.comWeb:Data Center Liquid Cooling: Market 2018 Segmented by Manufacturers (Asetek, Rittal, Emerson Electric, Schneider Electric, IBM, Green Revolution Cooling, Midas Green Technologies, Allied Control) and Forecasts to 2025

Qy Research Groups

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Data Center Liquid Cooling Market Analysis to 2025 is a specialized and in-depth study of the Data Center Liquid Cooling industry with a focus on the global market trend. The report aims to provide an overview of global Data Center Liquid Cooling market with detailed market segmentation by product/application and geography. The global Data Center Liquid Cooling market is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Data Center Liquid Cooling players and offers key trends and opportunities in the market.Data Center Liquid Cooling Market Players: Asetek Rittal GmbH and Co. Kg Emerson Electric Schneider Electric IBM Corporation Green Revolution Cooling Midas Green Technologies Allied Control Green Data Center Horizon Computing SolutionsGet Sample Copy of This Report Now @Market segment by Type, the product can be split into Indirect Liquid Cooling Direct Liquid CoolingMarket segment by Application, split into Small and Medium-Sized Data Centers Enterprise Data Centers Large Data CentersMajor regions are as follows: United States Europe China Japan Southeast Asia IndiaThe report provides a detailed overview of the industry including both qualitative and quantitative information. It provides overview and forecast of the global Data Center Liquid Cooling market based on product and application. It also provides market size and forecast till 2025 for overall Data Center Liquid Cooling 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 Center Liquid Cooling 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 Center Liquid Cooling 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.Automotive RADAR Market 2018 by Top Key Players in 2022 -Continental Ag, Robert Bosch Gmbh, Delphi Automotive Plc ,Denso Corporation, Infineon Technologies Ag

Automotive RADAR

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ReportsWeb.com has announced the addition of the Global Automotive RADAR Market Size Status and Forecast 2022, The report classifies the global Automotive RADAR Market in a precise manner to offer detailed insights about the aspects responsible for augmenting as well as restraining market growth.In world Economic growth, the Automotive RADAR industry has also suffered a certain impact, but still maintained a relatively optimistic growth, the past four years, Automotive RADAR market size to maintain the average annual growth rate of 24.58% from 1500 million $ in 2014 to 2900 million $ in 2017, Publisher analysts believe that in the next few years, Automotive RADAR market size will be further expanded, we expect that by 2022, The market size of the Automotive RADAR will reach 8184 million $.This Report covers the manufacturers' data, including: shipment, price, revenue, gross profit, interview record, business distribution etc., these data help the consumer know about the competitors better. This report also covers all the regions and countries of the world, which shows a regional development status, including market size, volume and value, as well as price data.Besides, the report also covers segment data, including: type segment, industry segment, channel segment etc. cover different segment market size, both volume and value. Also cover different industries clients information, which is very important for the manufacturers. If you need more information, please contact PublisherRequest a Free sample copy:The Key Players mentioned in our report:Continental Ag, Robert Bosch Gmbh, Delphi Automotive Plc ,Denso Corporation, Infineon Technologies Ag, Nxp Semiconductors N.V., Valeo S.A., Analog Devices, Inc, Hella Kgaa Hueck & Co., Texas Instruments, Inc., Autoliv, Inc., Zf Friedrichshafen AgProduct Type SegmentationCommercial VehiclesEconomic Passenger VehicleLuxury Passenger VehicleMid-Price Passenger VehicleIndustry SegmentationRadar Based Adaptive Cruise Control (Acc) MarketRadar Based Autonomous Emergency Braking (Aeb) MarketRadar Based Blind Spot Detection (Bsd) MarketRadar Based Forward Collision Warning System MarketRadar Based Intelligent Park Assist MarketChannelDirect SalesDistributorRegions Covered:-North America-US-Canada-Mexico-Europe-Germany-France-Italy-UK-Spain-Rest of Europe-Asia Pacific-Japan-China-India-Australia-New Zealand-Rest of Asia Pacific-Rest of the World-Middle East-Brazil-Argentina-South Africa-EgyptElse place an Inquire before Purchase Global Automotive RADAR Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022:What our report offers:- Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments- Market share analysis of the top industry players- Strategic recommendations for the new entrants- Market forecasts for a minimum of 7 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets- 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 advancementsFundamentals of Table of Content:Chapter 1 About the Automotive RADAR Industry1.1 Industry Definition and Types1.2 Main Market Activities1.3 Similar Industries1.4 Industry at a GlanceChapter 2 World Market Competition LandscapeChapter 3 World Automotive RADAR Market shareChapter 4 Supply Chain AnalysisChapter 5 Company ProfilesChapter 6 Globalization & TradeChapter 7 Distributors and CustomersChapter 8 Import, Export, Consumption and Consumption Value by Major CountriesChapter 9 World Automotive RADAR Market Forecast through 2022Chapter 10 Key success factors and Market OverviewComplete report is available@About ReportsWeb:ReportsWeb.com is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers. We provide best in class customer service and our customer support team is always available to help you on your research queriesPune:505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028Global Silicon Carbide Ceramics : 2018 Market Strategy and Major Participants  IBIDEN, Kyocera, CoorsTek, Morgan, IPS Ceramics, ASUZAC

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report Global Silicon Carbide Ceramics Market Research Report 2018 to its huge collection of research reports.Silicon Carbide has properties remarkably similar to those of diamond it is one of the lightest, hardest, and strongest technical ceramic materials and has exceptional thermal conductivity, resistance to acids, and low thermal expansion. Silicon Carbide is an excellent material to use when physical wear is an important consideration because it exhibits good erosion and abrasive resistance, making it useful in a variety of applications such as spray nozzles, shot blast nozzles and cyclone components.Silicon Carbide has properties remarkably similar to those of diamond it is one of the lightest, hardest, and strongest technical ceramic materials and has exceptional thermal conductivity, resistance to acids, and low thermal expansion. Silicon Carbide is an excellent material to use when physical wear is an important consideration because it exhibits good erosion and abrasive resistance, making it useful in a variety of applications such as spray nozzles, shot blast nozzles and cyclone components.Click to get Sample PDF:The application of Silicon Carbide can be broadly classified as industrial use and defense use, to make detailed split, the market can be further divided in terms of function. Machinery Manufacturing, Metallurgical Industry, Chemical Engineering and Aerospace & Defense are its major applications.The global Silicon Carbide Ceramics market is valued at 620 million US$ in 2017 and will reach 640 million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of 0.4% during 2018-2025.The major manufacturers covered in this reportSaint Gobain3MCeramtecIBIDENKyoceraSchunk IngenieurkeramikCoorsTekMorganIPS CeramicsASUZACChair Man Advanced CeramicsOrtechFraunhofer IKTSTalentcom TechnologyWeifang HuameiJinhong New MaterialSSACC ChinaMingliang Fine CeramicsZhida Special CeramicsPengfei Abrasive Resistant MaterialOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoDirect Sintered Silicon CarbideReaction Bonded Silicon CarbideHot Pressing Silicon CarbideCVD Silicon CarbideOtherOn 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, includingMachinery ManufacturingMetallurgical IndustryChemical EngineeringAerospace & DefenseOtherThe study objectives of this report are:To analyze and study the global Silicon Carbide Ceramics capacity, production, value, consumption, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2025);Focuses on the key Silicon Carbide Ceramics 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.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @Key StakeholdersSilicon Carbide Ceramics ManufacturersSilicon Carbide Ceramics Distributors/Traders/WholesalersSilicon Carbide Ceramics Subcomponent ManufacturersIndustry AssociationDownstream VendorsQYResearchReports.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In Vitro Toxicity Testing Market Will Expand in The Coming Decade as Per Report

In Vitro Toxicity Testing Market

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Cosmetics and household products segment would be the most lucrative segment for investment in the in vitro toxicity testing market for the new as well as existing players. This is attributed to the increasing demand for safe cosmetics and household products.Global In Vitro Toxicity Testing(IVTT) Market was valued at $3,366 million in 2016, and is expected to reach $7,813 million by 2022, supported by a CAGR of 15.01% during the forecast period 2016 - 2022. In vitro is the process that helps examine harmful chemicals over the isolated part of the organism. It is used to identify hazardous chemical substances and helps detect the toxicity at early stages of the development of new products such as drugs, cosmetics, and food additives. The in vitro toxicity testing is mainly used for safety evaluation in drug development and also for ranking the chemicals according to their potency. The absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion (ADME), dose response, threshold response of drug can also be determined by the in vitro toxicity testing.The global in vitro toxicity testing market is expected to witness notable growth during the analysis period due to the increase in number of R&D procedures, which require in vitro testing, ban on animal testing, and increase in awareness about the environmental concerns. In addition, advancement in genetics and genetic screening approaches and emergence of new approaches of 3D cell culture can boost the in vitro toxicity testing market. The large size companies have focused on new product launch to meet the specific requirements of the researchers.Access Full Summary at :In Vitro Toxicity Testing Market Segment ReviewThe report analyzes the in vitro toxicity testing market into three segments, namely: type, end users, and geography. By type, the market is segmented into absorption, toxic substances, and dose. Based on end users, the market is categorized into cosmetic and household products, pharmaceutical industry, food industry, and chemical industry. Based on geography, the in vitro toxicity testing market is categorized into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.In Vitro Toxicity Testing Market Segment OverviewAt present, absorption segment has witnessed large-scale adoption of IVTT market. Toxic substances and dose screening are some of the other segments in the global IVTT market. These segments are anticipated to witness increase in market share due to increase in the demand for IVTT in pharmaceutical, chemicals, cosmetics, and household products. Moreover, stringent government regulations to reduce the cruelty while performing experiment on animals, increase global illicit drug abusers and enhanced efficiency of IVTT in diagnosis are some other driving factors of this market. However, decrease in adoption rate of IVTT and incapability of IVTT to detect toxicities due to autoimmunity and immunostimulation can hinder the market growth.The significant impacting factors include increase in demand for in vitro models as compared to in vivo models and screening of toxicity in early stages of drug development. Along with these factors, the market is influenced by the stringent government regulations towards the environment, increased global illicit drug abusers, enhanced efficiency of IVTT in cancer diagnosis, advancement in technologies of IVTT, and many others. However, each factor would have its definite impact on the market during the forecast period.Get Sample PDF Brochure at :The key players profiled in this report include Agilent Technologies, Inc., BioReliance, Inc., Alere, Inc., Charles River Laboratories International, Inc., General Electric Company, Covance, Inc., Catalent, Inc., Eurofins Scientific, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., and Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. There are other players in the in vitro toxicity testing market, which include Cyprotex plc, Accelrys, Inc., Molecular Toxicology Inc., MatTek Corporation, Xenometrix AG, and Quest Diagnostics Incorporation.Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions. AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.Shriram Dighe5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free: +1-800-792-5285UK: +44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: +852-301-84916India (Pune): +91-20-66346060Fax: +1855550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.comWeb:Amusement Park: Market 2018 Global Analysis By Top Key Players  Cedar Point, Knoebels, Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, Schlitterbahn Water Park, Universal's Islands of Adventure, Six Flags Magic Mountain

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Amusement Park Market Analysis to 2025 is a specialized and in-depth study of the Amusement Park industry with a focus on the global market trend. The report aims to provide an overview of global Amusement Park market with detailed market segmentation by product/application and geography. The global Amusement Park market is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Amusement Park players and offers key trends and opportunities in the market.Amusement Park Market Players: Cedar Point Knoebels Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom Schlitterbahn Water Park Universal's Islands of Adventure Six Flags Magic Mountain Kings Island Hersheypark Knotts Berry FarmGet Sample Copy of This Report Now @Market segment by Type, the product can be split into Water Amusement Park Non-water Amusement ParkMarket segment by Application, split into For Adult Only For Both Adult and ChildrenMajor regions are as follows: United States Europe China Japan Southeast Asia IndiaThe report provides a detailed overview of the industry including both qualitative and quantitative information. It provides overview and forecast of the global Amusement Park market based on product and application. It also provides market size and forecast till 2025 for overall Amusement Park 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 Amusement Park 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 Amusement Park 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.SAR Market Market Future Prospects 2025: Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Thales, MDA Information

SAR Market Market Forecast to 2025

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Global SAR Market Size, Status and Forecast 2025 is latest research study released by HTF MI evaluating the market, highlighting opportunities, risk side analysis, and leveraged with strategic and tactical decision-making support. The study provides information on market trends and development, drivers, capacities, technologies, and on the changing capital structure of the Global SAR Market.In 2017, the global SAR market size was million US$ and it is expected to reach million US$ by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of during 2018-2025.SAR Market Overview:If you are involved in the SAR 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 Geodesy & Remote Sensing, Space-based SAR & Airborne SAR 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.You can get free access to samples from the report here:SAR Market: Demand Analysis & Opportunity Outlook 2023Research study is to define market sizes of various segments & countries in previous years and to forecast the values to the next 5-8 years. The report is designed to comprise each qualitative and quantitative elements of the industry facts including: market share, market size (value and volume 2012-17, and forecast to 2023) with admire to each of the areas and countries concerned inside the examination. Furthermore, the report additionally caters the detailed statistics about the vital elements which includes drivers & restraining factors which will define the future growth of the market.Furthermore, the years considered for the study are as follows:Historical year  2013-2017Base year  2018Forecast period**  2018 to 2023 [** unless otherwise stated]Moreover, it will also include the opportunities available in micro markets for stakeholders to invest, detailed analysis of competitive landscape and product services of key players.The designated segments and sub-section of the market are explained below:The Study is segmented by following Product Type: Space-based SAR & Airborne SARMajor applications/end-users industry are as follows: Geodesy & Remote SensingSome of the key Manufacturers Involved in the Market are  Airbus Defence and Space, Israel Aerospace Industries, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Thales, MDA Information Systems, SSTL, Sandia National Laboratories & RaytheonFor each region, market size and end users are analyzed as well as segment markets by types, applications and companies. If opting for the Global version of SAR Market analysis is provided for major regions as follows: 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)Buy this research report @Key Answers Captured in Study areWhich geography would have better demand for product/services?What are the strategies adopted by big players in the regional market?Which country would see the steep rise in CAGR & year-on-year (Y-O-Y) growth?What is the current & expected market size in next five years?What is the market feasibility for long term investment?What opportunity the country would offer for existing and new players in the SAR market?What is risk involved for suppliers in the geography?What factors would drive the demand for the product/service in near future?What is the impact analysis of various factors in the Global SAR market growth?What are the recent trends in the regional market and how successful they are?Read Detailed Index of full Research Study at @There are 15 Chapters to display the Global SAR market.Chapter 1, About Executive Summary to describe Definition, Specifications and Classification of Global SAR market, Applications [Geodesy & Remote Sensing], Market Segment by Regions United States, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia & India;Chapter 2, 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[United States, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia & India ], 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 behaviour, Marketing Channels and demand & supply.Chapter 13 and 14, describe about the vendor landscape (classification and Market Positioning)Chapter 15, deals with Global SAR Market sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.Enquire for customization in Report @Thanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia or Oceania [Australia and New Zealand].About Author: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  08837Phone: +1 (206) 317 1218sales@htfmarketreport.comConnect with us atHybrid Inverters Market to Observe Strong Development by 2028

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Stringent governmental regulations and the go green factor are increasing the adoption of hybrid inverters. Hybrid inverters are multi-functional inverters that incorporate the function of the inverter, solar charger and battery charger to provide power supply. The compact size of the hybrid inverters with uninterruptible power supply is one of the major reasons of the increasing inclination towards hybrid inverters. Vendors offer hybrid inverters with user-friendly features such as LCD display, easy configuration, easily accessible operation buttons such as AC and solar charger, battery charging current and acceptable input voltage based on applications.The major features of hybrid inverters are generating pure sine waves, installed MPPT charging control, configurable input voltage range for different applications at home and offices, LCD interface configurable battery charging current, configurable AC and solar charging, highly compatible to main voltage and power, protection against short circuit, overload and over temperature, smart battery charger for optimized battery performance and to save energythe hybrid inverters come in power saving mode.The growing adoption of solar inverters is creating a huge demand for hybrid inverters. Hybrid inverters are the mix of grid-tied inverters and off-grid inverters. Generally, hybrid inverters are independent of the grid, but they synchronize with the grid in case of consumption of low solar energy. Hybrid inverters have huge adoption in rural areas due to the less availability of power supply. Hybrid inverter is a cost-effective and seamless solution compared to the other inverters. Most of the hybrid inverters can be installed without a battery. It provides an option to install battery in later circumstances. Several developments in hybrid inverters with reference to technology is the major factor expected to drive the growth of the global hybrid inverter market during the forecast period.Request Report Methodology@Hybrid Inverters Market: Drivers and ChallengesThe governmental initiatives to increase the adoption of hybrid inverters are expected to drive the growth of the global hybrid inverters market during the forecast period. The investment tax credit (ITC) or federal solar tax credit enables to deduct 30% of the cost of installation of solar energy system from federal taxes. This applies to both commercial and residential system. Similarly, Germany in 2011 initiated the Renewable Energy Sources Act to encourage the citizens to use renewable energy generation utilities. All these factors are expected to have a significant impact on the growth for global hybrid inverters market.The technical factors restraining the growth of the global hybrid inverters market are less design flexibility when compared to other battery and PV inverters, less efficiency than the solar inverters. However, manufacturers are focusing on the improvement of the performance of hybrid inverters and are expected to overcome these challenges during the forecast period.Hybrid Inverters Market: SegmentationSegmentation Based on the Type of Application:The hybrid inverter market is segmented based on the type of application i.e. commercial sector, residential sector, government sector and others.Hybrid Inverter Market: Recent DevelopmentsIn July 2018, Schneider Electric, a leading player in energy management and automation successfully patented the new smart charge technology, i.e., Conext SW inverter. It initiates automatic battery charging and monitors excess power flow.Visit For TOC@Key PlayersExamples of some of the key players in the hybrid inverters market are Schneider Electric, Advanced Energy, ABB, Growatt New Energy Technology, Delta Energy Systems, Redback Technologies, TABUCHI ELECTRIC, SOLAX POWER, Lavancha Renewable Energy, and SolarEdge Technologies, among others.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; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Fact.MR11140 Rockville PikeSuite 400Rockville, MD 20852United StatesEmail: sales@factmr.comWeb:Follow us in Linkedin:New Market Research Report of Global Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) Market Research Report 2018 : Applications Analysis and Key Players- Isofoton S.A., Solar Junction, Zytech Solar, Semprius Inc.

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) Market Research Report 2018" to its huge collection of research reports.This report studies the global Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) market status and forecast, categorizes the global Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) 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).Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) is a photovoltaic technology that generates electricity from sunlight. Contrary to conventional photovoltaic systems, it uses lenses and curved mirrors to focus sunlight onto small, but highly efficient, multi-junction (MJ) solar cells. In addition, CPV systems often use solar trackers and sometimes a cooling system to further increase their efficiency. Ongoing research and development is rapidly improving their competitiveness in the utility-scale segment and in areas of high insolation. This sort of solar technology can be thus used in smaller areas.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Owing to the cost of solar cells steadily are declining, Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) is facing great crisis. Because the industry is still in the leading stage of technology, a project need to raise a lot of money, what is more, industry gross margin is smaller. So, after 2013, there are large enterprises choose to close, exit, transfer business from Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV). However, these players still keeps a very positive wait-and-see attitude towards Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV).By comparing the IHS statistics CPV installation data, as well as interviews with the industry experts, we think that there will be a phase of outbreak of growth in Central America, Africa, India, Southeast Asia, etc. in the next few years.The global Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) market is valued at 640 million US$ in 2017 and will reach 1130 million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of 7.5% during 2018-2025.The major manufacturers covered in this reportArzon Solar (Amonix)Isofoton S.A.MagpowerSemprius Inc.SoitecSolar JunctionSilexSuncore PhotovoltaicSunpower CorporationZytech SolarSolFocusGeographically, 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 AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaView Complete TOC with tables & Figures @We can also provide the customized separate regional or country-level reports, for the following regions: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 intoLCPVHCPVOn 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, includingCommercialUtility-ScaleOthersBrowse Report @The study objectives of this report are:To analyze and study the global Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) capacity, production, value, consumption, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2025);Focuses on the key Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) 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 Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) 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 StakeholdersConcentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) ManufacturersConcentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) Distributors/Traders/WholesalersConcentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) 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 Concentrated Photovoltaic (CPV) market, by end-use.Detailed analysis and profiles of additional market players.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.For More Information Kindly Contact:ResearchMozMr. Nachiket Ghumare,Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA-Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn @Follow me on Blogger at:For More Information Kindly Contact:ResearchMozMr. Nachiket Ghumare,Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA-Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn @Follow me on Blogger at:Oil Field Equipment 2018 Market Key Players and Competitive Strategies: GE Oil and Gas, Weatherford International , Schlumberger , Superior Energy Services , Pioneer Energy Services Corp. , C&J Energy Services Ltd.

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Market Overview:-The oilfield service industry is completely dependent on upstream operations thus, in this scenario, it will be profited. Oilfield equipment are elementary equipment used for the development of successfully explored oilfields. These include a wide range of equipment that perform the functions starting from drilling to well completion. The main functions of oilfield equipment include drilling, data acquisition, well intervention, well logging, well completion, pressure maintenance, flow control, and others.Get Sample Report @Oilfield equipment market is expected to expand due to various factors that drive the market. The factors include, oil price recovery, increasing oil exploration and field development activities, rising number of mature oil wells. For instance, in April 2018, Carnarvon Petroleum Ltd., Perth, has announced its plans for redevelopment of Buffalo oil field in the Timor Sea. The field now lies completely within the jurisdiction of East Timor following the signing of the Maritime Boundary Treaty with Australia earlier this year.Industry Top Key Players:-The key players of global wireline services market are GE Oil and Gas (U.S.), Weatherford International (U.S.), Schlumberger (U.S.), Superior Energy Services (U.S.), Pioneer Energy Services Corp. (U.S.), C&J Energy Services Ltd. (U.S.), and National Oilwell Varco, Inc. (U.S.). Halliburton (U.S.), Basic Energy Services, Inc. (U.S.), Expro International Group Holding Ltd. (UK), Wireline Engineering Ltd. (UK), Oilserv (UAE), SGS (Switzerland), ABB Oil, and Gas and Petrochemical Business Unit (Switzerland) are among others.Market Segmentation:-Global oilfield equipment market is segmented on the basis of equipment, type and region. Based on equipment the market is further segmented into Drilling Equipment, Field Production Machinery, Pumps, Valves, Others. Amongst these segments, drilling equipment segments holds the largest share due to increased number of drilling projects across the globe. On the basis of type, market is classified as drilling (Drill Pipe, Drill Collars), Pressure & Flow control (BOP, Valves, Manifold). Drill Pipe segment accounts for the largest market share due to large drilling activities in offshore and onshore. Also, shale production, which requires drill pipes as an essential set of equipment, has witnessed growth.The global oilfield equipment market is expected to expand at 4.5% CAGR during the forecast period.Browse Complete Report @Major Points of 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 Estimation2.5 Forecast ModelCheck Discount @3 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 AnalysisContinued..........Global Oilfield Equipment Market Analysis:-Global oilfield equipment market is expected to observe phenomenal growth during the forecast period owing to increasing exploration and drilling activities and recovery of oil prices after price shock of 2014. North America region held the largest market share in oilfield equipment market. In North America region exploration activities and rock study activities for shale oil, oil sands, and carbonate rocks are rising. For instance the production from shale oil in 2017 was 4.67 million barrels, which contributed half of the total oil produce from U.S. Asia Pacific and Africa region are likely to lead to the growth of oilfield equipment market. Major growth is attributed to the discoveries in Gulf of Thailand, and South China Sea from Asia Pacific and Mediterranean Sea and Egypt desert from Africa.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comIndustrial Controls and Factory Automation Market - New Era of Smart Manufacturing Infrastructure

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The Global Industrial Controls and Factory Automation Market were estimated as USD 109.0 Billion in 2014 and is projected to witness a stable growth over the forecast period. Growing demand of automation for streamlining the processes through real time gathering and control in Chemical, Oil & gas, Water treatment, Automotive industries is projected to fuel the market growth.Extensive application of technology in manufacturing processes, need for supply chain and mass production for catering the growing population are few factors positively influencing the industry growth. Furthermore, growing government initiatives for adoption of industrial automation in various industries is anticipated to fuel the industry growth.Automation in the industry aids in monitoring the production, ensuring fast production, product quality, reducing waste, while minimizing the costs, standardizing the manufacturing processes. This also provides reliable and flexible solutions in manufacturing plants. The emerging application which includes electronic power distribution systems, heating ventilation air conditioning (HVAC), and human machine interface (HMI) is projected to further spur the market growth over the forecast period.Based on the product, the automation market is categorized into Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), Manufacturing Execution System (MES), Distributed Control System (DCS), Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), Drives, Relays and Sensors. The end users include Process industries and Discrete industries.Sample Brochure Enlightening the New Advancement and Future Prospects :The MES is anticipated to acquire the major share in the industry over the forecast period due to its association with tasks of production management in a comprehensive software system. The process industry is also projected to major share in end-user segment owing to the rising cost pressure on manufacturers for optimizing the production process.Although, lack of expertise for handling the control and factory automation and initial high capital investments for installation may impede the industry growth. However, introduction of cost-effective models for adopting industrial control and intuitive and user friendly model of automation system is anticipated to create growth opportunities.Europe and North America regions are estimated to attain the foremost share of the industry. Increasing focus towards the renewable energy in the European countries is projected to build the demand for the automation solutions over the forecast period. Furthermore, increasing demand for the building the smart factories in manufacturing based countries such as China and Germany has created an emerging environment for automating their existing manufacturing facilities.Asia Pacific region is also anticipated to emerge as a promising market owing to the increased industrialization and rising awareness for automation control with supportive government policies in various countries which include China, Japan, and India.Key players in the industry include ABB Ltd, Emerson Electric, General Electric Co., Honeywell International, Schneider Electric, Ametek Inc., and Siemens Ag. Other players include Yokogawa Electric Corporation, Bosch Automation, Mitsubishi Corporation, National Instrument Corporation, Omron Corporation and Rockwell Automation.Get more Information about this Report:The developers and vendors of ERP solutions are increasingly offering cloud-based solutions as automation solution for reduce the implementation cost and on-demand customization for meeting the specific requirements of various businesses.About Us-Xpodence Research is a U.S. based Market Research Company and offers the most extensive collection of progressive surveying syndicated and customized research reports of various categories for private and public industries across the globe.We offer the comprehensive market research solution for all the industries by performing the in-depth study of industry trends, verticals globally. We believe in building an eternal bond with our customers through providing them inclusive research study both customized and syndicated based on their specific requirements.The organizations in every industry such as Technology, Pharmaceuticals, Consumable Goods, Food & Beverage and others demands a market-based solutions for various significant decisions based on productivity and output globally. Our services are tailored specifically to our clients by proposing them the potential outcome, based on our in-depth analysis and insights for exploring the growth strategies through providing the best possible decision for quality production.Contact Us-Xpodence ResearchUSA Office244 , Madison AvenueNew York City, NY - 10016United StatesToll Free +1- 844-445-2861Email-sales@xpodenceresearch.comContact Lenses Market to Surge at an Attractive Growth with Foremost Players like Johnson & Johnson, Novartis AG, CooperVision, etc. - between 2018 and 2023

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Extensive Study of Contact Lenses Market Research Report is Included on MarketResearchFuture.com with Latest Advancement. Detail analysis on possible segments and sub segments of the Contact Lenses Market. Along with this regional analysis of the market which includes Europe and Middle East.The Global Contact Lenses Market is projected to witness a moderate CAGR of 5.70% during the forecast period of 2018 to 2023. Market estimations and valuations anticipate an evaluation of USD 11 Billion by the end of 2023 from USD 7.9 Billion in 2017. The increasing prevalence of visual problems and eye disorders, combined with product advancements and the development of associated technology are some of the prominent factors driving market growth.Avail Premium Sample copy atReport Overview:This MRFR market perspective sheds light on the recent developments in contact lenses market on a global scale. Based on the research findings a market outlook has been established highlighting the key historical market trends, current market scenario and a revenue forecast till 2023. The scope of the discussion covers types of contact lenses such as corrective lens, therapeutic lenses, and cosmetic & lifestyle oriented lens. Also, assessment of prominent materials (silicone hydrogel soft contact lens, methacrylate hydrogel soft contact lens, gas-permeable contact lens etc.) used for manufacturing contact lenses has been made as a part of overall market sizing. The discussion also includes contact lens designs that are currently popular and worth a mention such as spherical, toric, and multifocal among others.All the market segments and sub-segments are profiled under five major geographies North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East & Africa (MEA) with the respective country-level market projection.Contact Lenses Market  Top PlayersJohnson & JohnsonNovartis AGCooperVisionBAUSCH + LOMB, NEOVISIONCLEARLAB SGHoya CorporationSeedMeniconBesconAnd more.Detailed Regional Analysis:The regional analysis of the contact lens market consists of regions such as Americas, Middle East, Europe, Africa, APAC and rest of the world. The Americas controls the contact lenses market globally due to the growing population of contact lens wearer, the mounting occurrence of eye-related diseases, and growing adoption of cosmetic lens among the young population. The American contact lenses market is estimated to develop at a CAGR of 5.8 percent through the forecast period. Moreover, the rising cases of cataract and eye diseases owing to diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma have added to the markets progress in this region. The European region holds the next major market share due to the high acceptance of contact lenses and growing incidence of age-related eye diseases. This region is likely to develop at a CAGR of 6 percent throughout the forecast period. The Asia Pacific region is the most rapidly developing market for the contact lenses and is anticipated to register a CAGR of 6.2 percent all through the forecast period. The market growth is developing at a very speedy pace and has shown the appearance of many companies.Have Any Query, Ask to Expert atMajor TOC of Contact Lenses Market Research Report  Forecast to 2023:1 Report Prologue2 Executive Summary3 Market Introduction4 Research Methodology5 Market Dynamics6 Market Factor Analysis7 Global Contact Lenses Market, by Type8 Global Contact Lenses Market, by Material9 Global Contact Lenses Market, by Design10 Global Contact Lenses Market, by Region11 Competitive Landscape12 Company Profiles13 AppendixTop 5 Reasons to Get this Report: Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent development activities Market Strategic Business Influence Data Market Research Future recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations Market share analysis of the top industry players Market forecasts for a minimum of 5 years of all the mentioned segments, Trends and the regional markets With SWOT AnalysisAvail Stunning Discount atAbout 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Fire Protection System Market Outlook to 2025 - United Technologies, Honeywell International, Halma PLC, Minimax Viking GmBH, VFP Fire Systems, Hochiki, Genetex, Siemens AG, Johnson Controls and Robert Bosch

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An exclusive Fire Protection System 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 Fire Protection System 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 Fire Protection System market. Additionally, the report also highlights market entry strategies for various companies across the globe.Get Sample Copy of this Report atLeading Fire Protection System Market Players:1. Honeywell International, Inc.2. Johnson Controls, Inc.3. Robert Bosch GmBH4. Siemens AG5. United Technologies6. Hochiki Corporation7. Minimax Viking GmbH8. Gentex Corporation9. VFP Fire Systems, Inc.10. Halma PLC0020Worldwide Fire Protection System Market Analysis to 2025 is a specialized and in-depth study of the Fire Protection System industry with a focus on the global market trend. The report aims to provide an overview of global Fire Protection System market with detailed market segmentation by product/application and geography. The global Fire Protection System market is expected to witness high growth during the forecast period. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Fire Protection System players and offers key trends and opportunities in the market.The report provides a detailed overview of the industry including both qualitative and quantitative information. It provides overview and forecast of the global Fire Protection System market based on product and application. It also provides market size and forecast till 2025 for overall Fire Protection System 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 About this Report atAlso, key Fire Protection System 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 Fire Protection System 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 Fire Protection System 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.Get Complete Report With TOC and Company Profiles atContact Us:Call: +1-646-491-9876Email: sales@theinsightpartners.comAbout 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 ahnd Defense.533, 5th Floor, Amanora Chambers,Amanora Township, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028Instrument Transformer Market Eminent participants across the industry include Crompton Greaves, ITL, Amran Inc, ABB, Siemens, Weidmann, Meramec and General Electric

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Rising demand for electricity owing to rapid urbanization across the globe have instigated concerns pertaining to grid stability, which in turn will drive the instrument transformer market size. Ongoing urban migration adhered by rising infrastructural investments will further complement the deployment of effective monitoring and control T&D systems. Sustainable economic proliferation along with revamping lifestyles have led to an exponential rise in the peak load demand for energy. Hence, accruing energy demand across the globe subject to the ongoing economic and social reformation will appreciable augment the industry outlook.France instrument transformer industry size is set to exceed USD 100 million by 2024. Stringent regulatory reforms pertaining to emissions coupled with rapid technological transitions to sustain an energy efficient grid infrastructure will comprehensively thrust the business. Inclination towards clean energy adhered by rising investments across the renewable sector will further escalate the product penetration across the country. In 2017, the French government has led forward its plan to invest over USD 20 billion toward its energy transition plan. The framework lays grounds for a segregated investment mechanism catering towards energy efficiency, renewable integration and cleaner vehicle development.Request for Sample Copy of this research report @Oil immersed in 2016, accounted for over 50% of the instrument transformer market share. Effective insulation and di-electric strength when compared to its counterparts makes its adoption preferable. Applicability across high voltage applications coupled with economical cost structure will further escalate the product penetration. The technology since inception has witnessed sheer progression owing to its higher voltage output and operational flexibility with its prime application across utility and commercial electrical networks.Rising rural electrification demand across Asia Pacific & Africa supported by accruing investments by financial institutions including the World Bank, and Asian Development Bank (ADB) will foster the market size. Re-structuring of electrical grids across war affected nations including Iraq, Syria, and Sudan will further boost the industry growth. In addition, large scale grid integration of sustainable energy sources coupled with rapid expansion of T&D networks to sustain security of supply concerns will further proliferate the industry expansion. In 2017, the World Bank declared an investment worth USD 4 million towards expansion of an effective grid infrastructure across the Pacific Island.The U.S. instrument transformer market is projected to witness sustainable growth owing to rising demand for the upgradation of existing grid infrastructure along with rapid expansion of effective T&D networks. The transformer industry across the nation has witnessed significant upsurge on account of favorable regulatory reforms pertaining to energy efficiency and grid stability. Ongoing trends subject to the adoption of sustainable technologies along with briskly advancing monitoring & control technologies will further embellish the business outlook.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @Asia Pacific instrument transformer market is set to grow over 7% by 2024. The industry in the recent years has witnessed an appreciable escalation on grounds of favorable renewable integration reforms coupled with increasing rural electrification demand. Large scale migration across urban areas along with rapid expansion of utility based electricity networks to cater the rising energy demand will comprehensively thrust the business growth.Eminent players across the instrument transformer market include ABB, GE, Siemens, Crompton Greaves, Amran Inc, ITL, Weidmann, Raychem RPG, Meramec, ITEC, Schneider Electric, KONCAR, HEYI Electrical, EATON, Toshiba, TRENCH, BHEL, Mitsubishi, DENT Instruments, Mehru, Celme and Ruhstrat.Instrument transformer market research report includes in-depth coverage of the industry with estimates & forecast in terms of Volume & Revenue from 2013 to 2024, for the following segments:By ProductCurrentWoundClosedPotentialElectromagneticCapacitorBy WindingTwo-windingAuto-transformerBy InstallationOutdoorIndoorBy CoolingDry-typeSelf-airAir blastOil immersedSelf-cooledWater-cooledForced oilOthersBy InsulationGasOilSolidAirOthersAbout 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 researchContact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog:Explore Our Blog @Enhanced Oil Recovery 2018 Market Size Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress | Industry In-depth Study with Key Players, Trends and Forecast to 2023

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Market Overview:-Enhanced oil recovery methods refer to the method of recovering more oil from existing oil wells. The global oil industry is witnessing one of the major slowdowns in recent times as the oil prices dropped to historic low in 2015. One of the main reasons for the drop in prices was the reduced demand for oil in the U.S. and China due to shale oil boom. However, the ripple effect caused by the drop in oil prices severely affected the upstream industry as the majority of the operators had to scale down their production. This has led them to stop new production activities and depend on existing well for oil production for their operations. Besides, most of the oil wells around the world are already nearing their operational lifetime and oil production from these wells are constantly declining. To enhance the oil production from existing wells, oil field upstream operators are investing in enhanced oil recovery methods, which are expected to increase the oil production from existing wells.Industry Top Key Players:- FMC Technologies, Inc. Chevron Phillips Chemical Corporation Schlumberger Ltd. Praxair Technology, Inc. PJSC Lukoil Oil Company Royal Dutch Shell Plc Halliburton Corporation, Basf SE Baker Hughes Statoil ASA, BP Plc. Exxon MobilGet Sample Report @Scope of the Report:-This report provides an in-depth analysis of the global enhanced oil Recovery market, tracking two market segments across four geographic regions. The report studies key players, providing a five-year annual trend analysis that highlights market size, and share for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), Middle East, Africa 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 Enhanced Oil Recovery market by its technology type, application type, and by region.By Technology Type Thermalo Steam Injectiono In-Situ Combustiono Hot water Chemicalo Polymero Alkalineo Surfactanto Others Microbialo Cyclic Injectiono Microbial Floodingo Feeding Existing Bacteriao OthersBy Application Type Onshore OffshoreBy Regions North America Asia Pacific Middle East and Africa Europe Rest of the WorldMarket Segmentation:-On the basis of technology, the enhanced oil recovery market is segmented as thermal, chemical, microbial, and others. The thermal and chemical methods are more established procedures with several practical projects being already carried out. The chemical methods traditionally use polymer, alkaline, and surfactant methods to extract more oil from existing wells.Browse Complete Report @Market Research Analysis:-North America and Europe regions are expected to command a major market shareBy US EIA s, the U.S. is dominating the market for enhanced oil recovery processes. The country has several support legislatures and policies that support the use of enhanced oil recovery methods. Several oilfields in the Gulf of Mexico are rapidly reaching their operational lifetime and, thus, enhanced oil recovery methods are being implemented widely. Similarly, the European region is witnessing an increased implementation of oil recovery process due to rapidly maturing fields in the North Sea region. In the Middle East and Asia Pacific, onshore wells are undergoing an increased implementation of oil recovery processes. Developing countries, such as India, Indonesia, and Malaysia, are expected to contribute to the growth of the market in the coming years.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comNew Business Opportunities of Global Diagnostic Imaging Services Market 2017 - 2025 : Applications Analysis and Key Players- RadNet, Inc., Center for Diagnostic Imaging (CDI), MedQuest Associates

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Diagnostic Imaging Services Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2017 - 2025" to its huge collection of research reports.Imaging services have become a cornerstone in the diagnosis of various chronic conditions including cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Technological advancements to improve the quality of images and reduce the risk associated with using these equipment, especially X-ray based devices, and development of cost-effective imaging technologies have led to wider acceptance of diagnostic imaging procedures among healthcare providers.Availability of reimbursement for radiology procedures in major countries and regions such as the U.S., Western Europe, Japan, Australia, and China has been one of the major factors driving the market. For example, the National Health Service (NHS), U.K.s publicly funded national healthcare system, reimbursed around 40 million diagnostic imaging tests in 2016. Demand for diagnostic imaging services is expected to continue to rise at a significant rate due to the increase in aging population and growth in prevalence of chronic diseases. People aged 60 years and above are projected to account for 17% of the global population by 2030, up from 12% at present (Source: WHO). According to a study conducted by the National Institutes of Health, the utilization of imaging services among patients aged 65 years and above is at least twice as compared to that among younger people. As per the Lancet study on Global Burden of Disease, non-communicable diseases accounted for around 70% of global deaths in 2015. For example, the global cancer incidence is projected to rise from 14.1 million in 2012 to 24 million by 2024 (Source: World Cancer Research Fund International).To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Based on type of diagnostic imaging services, the global diagnostic imaging services market can be segmented into diagnostic radiology, ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nuclear imaging, and others. Diagnostic radiology and ultrasound segments constitute significant share of the market in terms of volume; however, the proportion of spending is higher on more expensive procedures such as CT and MRI. In Australia, CT and MRI held around 16% share of the total diagnostic imaging procedures in 2015; however, these two modalities accounted for around 40% of the total spending on diagnostic imaging services.In terms of geography, the global diagnostic imaging services market can be divided into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. In terms of value, North America accounts for the key share of the market, as diagnostic imaging services are estimated to constitute around 10% of the total healthcare spending of over more than US$ 3.2 Tn in the U.S. market at present. Asia Pacific holds prominent share of the market in terms of volume due to the higher prevalence of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and cardiovascular diseases in the region.Make An Enquiry @Based on end-user, the diagnostic imaging services market can be segregated into hospitals, clinics, diagnostic imaging centers, ambulatory surgery centers, and others. The distribution of the market in terms of end-user varies based on the presence of private diagnostic imaging centers in a country or region. For example, the outpatient imaging centers market in the U.S. is worth around US$ 17 Bn at present.Key private companies operating in the global diagnostic imaging services market include RadNet, Inc., Center for Diagnostic Imaging (CDI), MedQuest Associates, Inc., Concord Medical Services Holdings Limited, Sonic Healthcare, and Alliance Medical. Private diagnostic imaging practices are likely to continue to witness consolidation due to the decline in rate of reimbursements, increase in competition, and fragmented nature of the market.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.Browse Report @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 analysisThe 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)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.For More Information Kindly Contact:ResearchMozMr. Nachiket Ghumare,Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA-Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn @Follow me on Blogger at:China Surgical Guidewires Market to Witness Robust Expansion by 2025

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China plays an important role in global market, with market size of xx million USD in 2017 and will be xx million USD in 2025, with a CAGR of xx%.This report studies the Surgical Guidewires development status and future trend in China, focuses on top players in China, also splits Surgical Guidewires by type and by applications, to fully and deeply research and reveal the market general situation and future forecast.The major players in China market includeMedtronicBoston ScientificC.R. BardTerumo CorporationAbbott LaboratoriesB. BraunJohnson & JohnsonStryker CorporationOlympus CorporationAngiodynamicsCardinal HealthMerit Medical SystemsTeleflexCook GroupAsahi InteccGeographically, this report splits the China market into six regions,South ChinaEast ChinaSouthwest ChinaNortheast ChinaNorth ChinaCentral ChinaNorthwest ChinaOn the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume (K Units), revenue (Million USD), product price (USD/Unit), market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoNitinol GuidewiresStainless Steel GuidewiresHybrid GuidewiresOn the basis of the end users/application, this report coversHospitals, Diagnostic Centers & Surgical CentersAmbulatory Care CentersResearch Laboratories & Academic InstitutesIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the reort as you want.Request Sample Copy of Report@About Us:QYResearch always pursuits high product quality with the belief that quality is the soul of business. Through years of effort and supports from huge number of customer supports, QYResearch consulting group has accumulated creative design methods on many high-quality markets investigation and research team with rich experience. Today, QYResearch has become the brand of quality assurance in consulting industry.Contact USQY Research, INC.17890 Castleton,Suite 218,City of industry, CA  91748 ?USA: +1 626 295 2442Promising opportunities in Global Insurance Software Market with study of demographic trends, and the global and regional financial circumstances during the forecast period 2018-2023

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This insurance software allows insurance management, such as compliance submission, policy drafting, regulatory monitoring and reporting requirements, to a wide variety of product lines in a single, integrated technical system.Global Insurance Software Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of +5% during the forecast period 2018-2023. Increasing awareness of increasing threats and cyber-related issues among companies is expected to increase the demand for cyber insurance in the future. Cyber-insurance companies are developing a variety of products to address the needs of cyber-risk companies.Global Insurance Software Market Research Report analyses current market trends, development prospects, market profit and market scheme over the forecast period 2018-2023. The report examines important patterns and changing progression of purchaser request and how it is affecting the offers of the market. The experts of the study have gathered extensive research methodologies. The report offers an insight of the industry with definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure.Ask for PDF Sample Copy:Top Key Players included in this report:Accenture, Acturis, Automated Workflow Private Limited (AWPL), Buckhill, Computer Professionals Inc. (CPI), Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), Dell, Ebix, EIS Group, Guidewire Software, Hyland Software, Insly, Insurity, Lexmark International, MedinyX, Pegasystems, Sapiens International Corporation, SAS, Solartis, Transactor, VertaforeSegmentation by deployment model containsOn-premisesSaaS-basedThe Global Insurance Software Market research report evaluates the growth of this worldwide market over renowned geographic segments. The data collected in this report is gathered by the allowable industry specialists to predict the growth of each department. The research report tries to understand the revolutionary tactics taken by key players in the global market to provides product differentiation through Porters five forces analysis. For application segment, the report offers significant details pertaining to their market shares in revenue and volume, development rate, and current and predictable upcoming trends.This research estimates the new technologies and solutions involved in. The conclusions of this report include the global Insurance Software Market for commentary items that present the potential for investment in other areas of the market and the relevance of new activities that can be prioritized in the market. A rise in the variations of management solutions from both well-established and new entrants is depended upon to make new beneficial opportunities for the Global Insurance Software Market in the future.Avail 20% Discount and Customization On This Premium Report@The vital facts of segments of Global Insurance Software Market helps monitor upcoming productivity and make vibrant decisions for development. The business and financial summary of all company profile is included in the report.Table of Contents:Global Insurance Software Market Research Report 2018-2023Chapter 1: Global Insurance Software 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 Insurance Software Market ForecastFor more enquiry @About Company:We at IT Intelligence Markets conduct intensive market research and generate detailed reports about the products and services offered in the IT domain. Our team is devoted to providing custom reports that are taylor-made to suit the customers requirements. We make sure to keep our customers updated with the latest market dynamics as IT industry is undergoing sea change intrinsically & extrinsically by forces such as regulatory fluctuations, rapidly evolving consumer preferences, and newer technologies. Not only do our market research analysts scrutinize market requirements but also track competitors relentlessly for obtaining the most updated scenario of the market.Name: Vijay TannaCompany: IT Intelligence MarketsAddress: Survey No-9/4, Flat# 6, Panchshil Park, Ganpati Marg, Nigidi, Pune 411044Mail Id: sales@itintelligencemarkets.comContact No: +91 705-760-0700Electronic Access Control Systems Sales Market to Reach 39400 million US$ by the end of 2025

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A basic EAC system consists of a reader, a controller, and an electric lock. Electronic access control is a security solution that gives you detailed control over the physical security of your business. Electronic access control systems allow you to restrict access to your facility based on guidelines you define. Limitations can be set on who, where and when.The Electronic Access Control Systems industry has got a rapid development during the last few years, with the fast development of technology and research. The global total revenue of Electronic Access Control Systems is 14298.79 M USD in 2016. At the same time, as the development of the society and economy, more and more attention has been emphasis on importance of residential and commercial security, and more and more Electronic Access Control Systems has been used in big companies.In the past few years, as the main raw material price was relatively stable, with the addition of a sharp increase in production capacity, expected that the Electronic Access Control Systems raw material price will be stable in the short term. However, the improvement of energy, transportation costs, and employee wages, will play a significant role in promoting the cost of Electronic Access Control Systems.Request for sample copy of report:China is an important consumer of Electronic Access Control Systems; as the same time, the consumption of Electronic Access Control Systems in China grown gradually. But the backward technology and research limit the development of Electronic Access Control Systems. In the result, Electronic Access Control Systems in China was occupied by some foreign brands to some degree, such as Honeywell, ASSA Abloy, SIEMENS, TYCO, BOSCH Security, DDS.The global Electronic Access Control Systems market is valued at 16400 million US$ in 2017 and will reach 39400 million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of 11.6% during 2018-2025.This report studies the global Electronic Access Control Systems market status and forecast, categorizes the global Electronic Access Control Systems 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).The major players covered in this reportHoneywellASSA AbloySIEMENSTYCOBOSCH SecurityDDSADT LLCDormaKABA GroupSchneiderSupremaSouthcoSALTONortek ControlPanasonicMillenniumDigital Monitoring ProductsGallagherAllegionIntegratedGeographically, this report studies the key regions, focuses on product sales, value, market share and growth opportunity in these regions, coveringUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaRequest to get full report TOC:We can also provide the customized separate regional or country-level reports, for the following regions: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 intoCard-basedBiometricsOthersOn 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, includingHomeland SecurityCommercialIndustrialResidentialOthersThe study objectives of this report are:To analyze and study the global Electronic Access Control Systems 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 Electronic Access Control Systems 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 Electronic Access Control Systems 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 StakeholdersElectronic Access Control Systems ManufacturersElectronic Access Control Systems Distributors/Traders/WholesalersElectronic Access Control Systems 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 Electronic Access Control Systems market, by end-use.Detailed analysis and profiles of additional market players.MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports, supporting clients market intelligence needs with over 100,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market profiles in its repository. We also offer consulting support for custom market research needs.Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that our customers always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries. From Fortune 500 companies to SMEs, Marketresearchreports.biz has built a veritable reputation for fulfilling the most exacting market research needs.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.bizFemale Pelvic Implants Market Key Trends 2017-2025 : Acumed LLC, DePuy Synthes, Pfm Medical, Stryker, C.R. Bard, Coloplast, and Ethicon.

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Global Female Pelvic Implants Market: SnapshotFemale pelvic in plants is a procedure which is used for treating stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. In the markets today, there are three main types of implants which are used for this procedure. They are, vaginal mesh implants, vaginal Graft in plants, and vaginal sling. Among these, it is the vagina slings which is expected to show promising growth in the years to come. Vagina slings can be implanted in half an hour and is a minimally invasive surgical procedure that is witnessing high popularity. Another segment which is expected to see growth in the years to come is the vaginal graft segment.The female pelvic implants Market is anticipated to witness a sluggish growth on account of the growing number of complications in the implant procedures. Thousands of women have undergone traumatic complications due to vaginal mesh and had to undergo another surgery in order to remove mesh implants. Such negative responses of patients is the reason behind the sluggish growth of the global female pelvic implants market. However there is no legal ban on the use of female pelvic implants and this is expected to be a positive factor going in the forward direction for this market. Therefore surgeons as well as patients across the globe are still undergoing surgical mesh implant procedures as well as using other female pelvic implants. But, it is the responsibility of Manufacturers to submit safety data requirements for pre-market approval of surgical mesh implants.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Female Pelvic Implants Market: OverviewFemale pelvic implants are devices inserted inside a females vaginal area to treat some particular disorders such as stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. These vaginal disorders are typically prevalent in aged females, and disrupt the regular life of women to a great extent due to discomfort. The disorders can be treated by surgical processes and with or without prosthetic implants. The primary products utilized in the process of implantation of female pelvic implants are vaginal grafts, vaginal mesh implants, vaginal tapes and vaginal slings.On the basis of product, the global female pelvic implants market is segmented into non-absorbable synthetic, absorbable synthetic, biologic, and composite. Based on the end-use, the market is split into hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers.This report on the female pelvic implants market takes into consideration the different threats faced by the implants industry, along with the new opportunities that vendors may face. Trends that will positively impact the market are taken into consideration while writing this report. The global female pelvic implants market has been analyzed on the basis of product segment, by indication, end-user and finally on the basis of geography.Global Female Pelvic Implants Market: Key TrendsThe growing awareness towards following a value based healthcare model is expected to work towards augmenting the global female pelvic implants market. A number of regulatory bodies and governments are encouraging cost-containment in order to curtail healthcare costs and burden. This leads to an outcome-based pricing model, due to a large shift from volume to value-based systems. The resultant risk sharing and competitive tendering is expected to positively impact the trajectory of the global female pelvic implants market.Request TOC of the Report @Global Female Pelvic Implants Market: Market PotentialIn recent times, there have been a number of reports regarding the ill-effects of using female pelvic implants. There have been reports of health issues such as infection and erosion of the pelvic mesh used. Moreover, the there are numerous complications in the procedure of implant, rendering enterprises reluctant to jump into the market wholeheartedly. Manufacturers have till now been charged with roughly 650 lawsuits on account of painful injuries caused due to the implants.Recently, companies such as AMS, Promedon, Betatech, AMS and Aspide Medical have exited this market. However, companies that still prevail in the global female pelvic implants market are Ethicon, PFM Medical, Boston Scientific and Coloplast.Global Female Pelvic Implants Market: Regional OutlookOn the basis of geographical segmentation, the global female pelvic implants market has been segmented into five major regions of Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. The report illuminates the leading as well as the fastest growing region in the global female pelvic implants market along with justification for the regions position.Global Female Pelvic Implants Market: Competitive AnalysisProminent vendors in the global female pelvic implants market include Acumed LLC, DePuy Synthes, Pfm Medical, Stryker, C.R. Bard, Coloplast, and Ethicon.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @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Hot Swap Market | key players: Linear Technology, Analog Devices, Maxim Integrated

Hot Swap Market

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Latest research study from HTF MI with title Global Hot Swap 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 Hot Swap Forecast till 2023.If you are involved in the Hot Swap 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 Base Stations, Servers & Network Routers and Switches, Product Types such as [High Voltage Hot Swap, Low Voltage Hot Swap & PCI Hot Swap] 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 Hot Swap Sales Market Report 2018 @:Key Companies/players: Linear Technology, Analog Devices, Maxim Integrated, Microchip Technology, STMicroelectronics, Micrel, NXP, ON Semiconductor, Semtech, Rohm, IDT, Toshiba & Richtek.Application: Base Stations, Servers & Network Routers and Switches, Product Type: High Voltage Hot Swap, Low Voltage Hot Swap & PCI Hot Swap.The research covers the current & Future market size of the Global Hot Swap market and its growth rates based on 5 year history data. It also covers various types of segmentation such as by geography [United States, China, Europe, Japan, Southeast Asia & India]. 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 Hot Swap 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 Hot Swap 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 Hot Swap Sales Market Report 2018What will the market size be in 2023 and what will the growth rate beWhat are the key market trendsWhat is driving Global Hot Swap Market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in Hot Swap Market space?What are the key market trends impacting the growth of the Global Hot Swap Market ?What are the key outcomes of the five forces analysis of the Global Hot Swap Market?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in the Global Hot Swap 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 Hot Swap market.Chapter 1, to describe Definition, Specifications and Classification of Global Hot Swap, Applications of Hot Swap, 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, China, Europe, Japan, Southeast Asia & India, Hot Swap Segment Market Analysis (by Type);Chapter 7 and 8, to analyze the Hot Swap Segment Market Analysis (by Application [Base Stations, Servers & Network Routers and Switches]) Major Manufacturers Analysis;Chapter 9, Market Trend Analysis, Regional Market Trend, Market Trend by Product Type [High Voltage Hot Swap, Low Voltage Hot Swap & PCI Hot Swap], Market Trend by Application [Base Stations, Servers & Network Routers and Switches];Chapter 10, Regional Marketing Type Analysis, International Trade Type Analysis, Supply Chain Analysis;Chapter 11, to analyze the Consumers Analysis of Global Hot Swap by region, type and application ;Chapter 12, to describe Hot Swap Research Findings and Conclusion, Appendix, methodology and data source;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Hot Swap 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.Contact US :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.comConnect with us atResol Resins Market Key Players, Growth, Analysis, 2021

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The key ingredients used in the manufacture of resol resins are phenol and formaldehyde. Resols are a type of phenolic formaldehyde resins. Resol resins are thermosetting polymers which cure adequately without addition of any catalyst other than heat. They are mainly used for gluing and bonding building materials. They are widely used in applications such as molding compounds, wood working adhesives and insulation among others. Approximately, 700 kilotons of the total phenolic formaldehyde resins solids are used for these purposes and half of this volume is consumed in the U.S.Resol accounted about 50% of the global phenolic resins market in 2012. Furthermore, 5% of the phenolic resins are modified with other reactants such as cresols, octylphenol, butylphenol and resorcinol which are used in specialty areas.North America and Europe dominated the resol resin market in 2012.Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing regional market within the forecast period.On account of its suitable chemical and physical properties such as high heat resistance, good moldability and high tensile strength, they have found applications in niche segments such as off-shore oil drilling which require materials with high heat resistance. The resol resin market has exhibited a significant growth in the past and this trend is expected to grow within the forecast period.Request Sample Report @Increasing demand for wood working adhesives applications is expected to drive the demand for resol resins within the forecast period.Resol resins are helpful for plywood and furnishing applications as they form chemical bond with lignin component of wood.Additionally, the growing infrastructural and construction activities in emerging economies coupled with rising disposable income are expected to drive the demand for resol resins over the next few years.However,resol resins provide a poor adhesion to metals and are brittle in nature. These parameters may act as a restraint to the resol resin market in the near future. Moreover,resol resins are formaldehyde based resins.Formaldehyde is a chemical irritant and irritates eyes and throat and causes inflammation of the lungs.In 2011, the U.S Department of Health and Human Services listed formaldehyde as a carcinogenic material.Thus, the stringent regulations on phenol formaldehyde may curb the resol resin market in the near future. However,research and development on resol resins in order to improve their adhesion to metals may open avenues over the next few years.Wood adhesives are expected to have the largest share of the global market for resol resins.The emerging economies of Asia Pacific,South America and Central & Eastern Europe are expected to exhibit the largest growth in application segment. Molding compounds are anticipated to exhibit substantial growth in China as there are numerous molding operations being undertaken in this region.Global phenolic resins market which includes resol resins grew at an annual rate of less than 1% during 2007-2010. However, the demand declined during 2008-2009 on account of the weak global economy. This, in turnaffected the construction industry.However,the resol resins industry recovered in 2010 as the global economy improved thus reviving the construction industry.Request to View TOC @Key players in the resol resins market are BASF SE, Chang Chun Plastics Co.Ltd.,Georgia Pacific Chemicals LLC,Mitsui Chemicals Inc and Sumitomo Bakelite among others.ABOUT US:Persistence 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.Persistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:Set-Top Box (STB) Market Segments, Opportunity, Growth and Forecast By End-use Industry 2018-2023

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The Report published on UpMarketResearch.com about Set-top Boxes (STB) is spread across 112 pages and provides newest industry data, market future trends, allowing you to identify the products and end users driving Revenue growth and profitability. The industry report lists and studies the leading competitors, also provides the insights with strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the marketSet-top Boxes (STB) Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state which focuses on the major drivers and restraints for the key players. Set-top Boxes (STB) Industry research report provides granular analysis of the market share, segmentation, revenue forecasts and geographic regions of the market.Get FREE Exclusive PDF Sample Copy Of This Report @The report begins with the overview of the Set-top Boxes (STB) market and updates the users about the latest developments and future expectations. It presents a comparative detailed analysis of all the regional and major player segments, offering readers a better knowledge of areas in which they can place their existing resources and gauging the priority of a particular region in order to boost their standing in the global market.Gain Full Access of Set-top Boxes (STB) Market Report along with complete TOC @In this report, there is a healthy amount of coverage of the market economies such as the demand and supply, cost and profit of the Set-top Boxes (STB) Market. This holds key importance for users and hence this information is well supported with due statistics that are represented in easy to consume graphs, charts, and tables.The report compiles exhaustive information obtained via proven research methodologies and from trusted sources within the industries.The report segments the Global Set-top Boxes (STB) market as:Regional Segment Analysis (Regional Consumption Volume, Consumption Volume, Revenue and Growth Rate 2013-2023):North AmericaEuropeChinaJapansoutheast asiaindiaKey Reasons to Purchase:To gain insightful analyses of the market and have a comprehensive understanding of the Set-top Boxes (STB) and its commercial landscape.Assess the Set-top Boxes (STB) production processes, major issues, and solutions to mitigate the development risk.To understand the most affecting driving and restraining forces in the Set-top Boxes (STB) and its impact on the global market.Learn about the market strategies that are being adopted by your competitors and leading organizations.To understand the future outlook and prospects for Set-top Boxes (STB) MarketCustomization of the Report:Up Market Research provides free customization of reports as per your need. This report can be personalized to meet your requirements. Get in touch with our sales team, who will guarantee you to get a report that suits your necessities.About Up Market Research:Up Market Research () is a leading distributor of market research report with more than 800+ global clients. 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.Contact Info:Name: Alex MathewsEmail: Alex@upmarketresearch.comOrganization: UpMarketResearchAddress: 500 East E Street, Ontario, CA 91764, United StatesPhone: +1 347-377-7033Xanthan Gum Market Latest Innovations, Drivers and Industry Key Events 2021

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Xanthan gum is a microbial polysaccharide used as a thickener in several industries such as food and beverages, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical. It is also known by other names such as bacterial polysaccharide, and corn sugar gum. Xanthan gum is manufactured by fermenting corn sugar with a bacterium named Xanthomonas Campestris. After the consumption of food containing xanthan gum, it swells in the intestine and stimulates the digestive tract. Xanthan gum also slows the absorption of sugar in the digestive tract and functions like saliva to lubricate the mouth of people who have Sjogrens syndrome. Xanthan gums are also used in drilling activities in the oil and gas sector. Food and beverage is the key end-use industry for xanthan gum and the bakery and confectionary industry accounts for the largest demand.Request Sample Report @The growth of end user industries is the key driver for the global xanthan gums market. Rising disposable income is propelling the demand for food and cosmetics, which is consequently boosting the demand for xanthan gums. The consumption of convenience foods that contain xanthan gums has also increased significantly in the recent past. The increasing population and a growing economically-active population in Asia Pacific is further increasing demand for on-the-go foods. Increasing government investment in healthcare is also boosting pharmaceutical sales across the globe, which is driving the xanthan gums market.A mounting demand for gluten-free foods is also driving the xanthan gum market. Xanthan gum is used in the gluten-free baking process for several products such as cookies, cakes and pancakes, muffins and quick breads, breads, pizza dough, and salad dressings. Among these, xanthan gum is used in large quantities in the preparation of pizza dough. The nutritional characteristic of xanthan gum further increases its acceptability, as it contains carbohydrates and fiber. One of the greatest restraints for the xanthan gum market is the availability of guar gum as a substitute. However, guar gum is mostly used in ice cream and pastry fillings, whereas xanthan gum finds its largest use in the manufacturing of bakery products. Another restraint for the xanthan gum market is that it is not suitable for people with certain allergies.Request to View TOC @Asia Pacific dominated the global xanthan gum market in 2014 owing to increasing demand for bakery and confectionary products from countries such as China, India, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Europe also has a large share in the xanthan gum market thanks to its large bakery and confectionary industries. Key players in the global xanthan gum market include Danisco, Cargill, Pfizer Inc, Jungbunzlauer, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), CP Kelco, and Fufeng Group Company Ltd.ABOUT US:Persistence 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.Persistence Market Research305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA  Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb:Global Neuropathology Market 2018 Major Key Vendors - ARUP Laboratories, Therapath LLC, Abbott Laboratories, Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. Forecast upto 2023

Neuropathology Market

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Market Synopsis of the Global Neuropathology MarketNeuropathology pertains to the aliment of nerves reculting in pain and numbness of the limbs and it is gaining prominence in this market. The increasing incidence of musculoskeletal conditions and technological advancements in medical diagnostic devices are some factors responsible for the growth of the global neuropathology market.The work of the neuropathologists includes examining biopsy tissue from the brain and spinal cord to diagnose a disease. The biopsy is usually performed if a mass is detected by radiologic imaging. In case of autopsies, the foremost work of the neuropathologist is to help in the post-mortem diagnosis of various forms of neural conditions such as dementia and other, that may have affected the central nervous system.Get Sample Copy @The number of patients suffering from cerebrovascular disorders has increased rapidly and has reached an all-time high in the past few years. There has been a significant rise in the number of surgeries associated with the treatment of such disorders. As the neurosurgeries and spinal surgeries are very critical, continuous monitoring during the whole procedure proves to be beneficial as the information about the electrical signals in brain and the nerves can be obtained in real time.Biopsies primarily consist of the skin. The recently developed neuropathy test, the epidermal nerve fiber density testing (ENFD) in which the nerve fibers of the skin is analysed by performing a punch skin biopsy to identify small fiber neuropathies. This pathology test is becoming available in selected labs as well as a few universities; it replaces the traditional sural nerve biopsy test and is less invasive. It is used to identify painful small fiber neuropathies.According to the Labor Force Survey (LFS), about 553,000 cases were registered for all work-related musculoskeletal disorder out of the total of 1,243,000 cases. Many healthcare professionals have started using these diagnostics techniques, especially in tertiary care centers and specialty hospitals which may promote and increase the demand for Neuropathology.The Global market of Neuropathology is expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 6% during the forecast period 2017-2023.SegmentationThe Neuropathology is segmented on the basis of diagnosis test, application, and end-users.On the basis of diagnostic test, the market is segmented into the biopsy, body fluids, peripheral blood smears, tissue resections, and othersThe biopsy sub-segment is divided into Epidermal nerve fiber density testing (ENFD), Sural nerve biopsy test, bone-marrow biopsies, lymph-node biopsies and othersOn the basis of product, the application market is segmented into cerebral hypoxia and stroke, perinatal disorders, CNS infections, demyelinative diseases, brain tumors, neurodegenerative diseases, inherited metabolic disorders, peripheral neuropathy, and myopathologyOn the basis of end-user, the market is segmented into hospitals, clinics, research centers and others.Regional AnalysisThe Global Neuropathology Market consists of countries namely America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East.North America dominated the global neuropathology market owing to the increasing healthcare expenditure in North America since 2016. U.S. has some of the best hospitals in the world with state of the art infrastructure. Most of the hospitals and their neurology departments are well equipped with the equipment that is required for the working of the neuropathology techniques. Various organizations and private companies are engaged in the activities of spreading awareness about the benefits of the neuropathology test among common people through various educational and marketing ways. As a result, huge numbers of people are opting for the neuropathology tests as a point of care. The country has been developing number of academic courses to develop skilled personnel in the neuropathology field over the years. Hence the availability of the neuropathology specialists in North American countries is high.Europe is the second largest market for neuropathology market. For Europe, the neuropathology market including the brain tumors market is regarded as a strong competitive market. European countries are now making efforts in promoting the benefits of the intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring services. Patient friendly healthcare and insurance policies are making a positive impact on the people taking medical assistance.Asia Pacific is the fastest growing region over the forecast period. The healthcare spending in Asia increased due to an extension of state health care programs and the increasing affluence of the population. India, in specific, saw an expansion in spending due to a government resolution to enhance healthcare services.Key PlayersMany new companies have jumped into the market in order to make the most out of the opportunities. Companies are implementing the strategies of mergers and acquisitions with other players.Some of key the players in the Global Neuropathology Market are ARUP Laboratories, Therapath LLC, Abbott Laboratories, Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Sakura Finetek USA Inc., Danaher Corporation, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, Agilent Technologies Inc., and NeoGenomics Laboratories and others.Apply for Exclusive Discount @Table Of ContentChapter 1. Report PrologueChapter 2. Market Introduction2.1 Definition2.2 Scope Of The Study2.2.1 Research Objective2.2.2 Assumptions2.2.3 LimitationsChapter 3. Research Methodology3.1 Introduction3.2 Primary Research3.3 Secondary Research3.4 Market Size EstimationChapter 4. Market Dynamics4.1 Drivers4.2 Restrains4.3 Opportunities4.4 Challenges4.5 Macroeconomic Indicators4.6 Technology Trends & AssessmentChapter 5. 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 RivalrySend An Enquiry @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South Africa Extra Neutral Alcohol Market Expected to Reach $1,064 Million by 2023

South Africa Extra Neutral Alcohol Market

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South Africa Extra Neutral Alcohol Market by Territory: Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2017-2023," the South Africa Extra Neutral Alcohol market size was $711 million in 2017, and is expected to reach $ 1,064 million by 2023, registering a CAGR of 7.0% from 2017 to 2023. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) dominated the South Africa extra neutral alcohol market in 2017, accounting for approximately half of the total revenue.Access Full Summary at :Extra neutral alcohol (ENA), also known as absolute alcohol, is a food grade alcohol, which is colorless and has a neutral smell and taste. It is largely produced using grain and molasses as the raw materials. ENA plants are usually based on the principles of multi-pressure-cascading techniques, and the process control is done by digital distributed control system. Extra neutral alcohol is used in the production of potable alcohols. In addition, it finds a wide range of applications in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals industries. In the pharmaceutical industry, extra neutral alcohol is a prime carrier for a whole spectrum of medicines, and is therefore used for processing a wide range of drugs. In the flavors and fragrance industry, dilute ethanol is used to produce distilled vinegar, flavor extracts, and concentrates for soft drinks and food products.The growth of the extra neutral alcohol market is expected to be driven by increase in consumption of alcoholic beverages during the forecast period. Improved standard of living of consumers and increase in their disposable incomes are expected to boost the demand for premium alcohols, which in turn is anticipated to fuel the growth of the extra neutral alcohol market in future. Implementation of stringent regulations on alcohol use, owing to rise in alcohol abuse in South Africa is anticipated to hamper the growth of the extra neutral alcohol industry in this region. However, the development of first- or second-generation biofuels from ethanol is projected to create new opportunities for the market players.Government is imposing high taxes and stringent laws on the availability of alcohol, owing to increase in alcohol abuse, which is projected to hamper the growth of the market. Ethanol is highly corrosive and flammable in nature, and hence extra care needs to be taken during its transportation. Governments have mandated strict rules and regulations towards the transportation, which vary at the state level, thereby leading to additional tax challenges. In addition, the regulatory authorities of Africa have specified standards regarding the testing methods of ethanol used in food and other industries, resulting in high cost of production. All these factors are anticipated to hamper the growth of the market during the forecast period.Download Free Sample Copy:Key findings of the South Africa Extra Neutral Alcohol Market:In terms of value, the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.3% during the forecast period.COMESA is expected to dominate the market, registering highest CAGR of 6.3% in terms of value.Malawi is projected to show exponential growth in demand throughout 2023, growing at a CAGR of 8.7%, in terms of value.The key players operating in the extra neutral alcohol market include Illovo Sugar (Pty) Ltd., NCP Alcohols (Pty) Ltd., USA Distillers, Agro Chemical and Food Company Limited (ACFC), Sasol Solvents, Mumias Sugar Company, Tag Solvent Products (Pty) Ltd., Swift Chemicals (Pty) Ltd., Enterprise Ethanol, and Greenpoint Alcohols (Pty) Ltd. These players have adopted the strategy of having multiple manufacturing units across various countries, thus, leading to easy distribution of extra neutral alcohol.Enquiry and Purchase Report:Allied Market Research, a market research and advisory company of Allied Analytics LLP, provides business insights and market research reports to large as well as small & medium enterprises. The company assists its clients to strategize business policies and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.Allied Market Research provides one stop solution from the beginning of data collection to investment advice. The analysts at Allied Market Research dig out factors that help clients to understand the significance and impact of market dynamics. The company amplies clients insight on the factors, such as strategies, future estimations, growth or fall forecasting, opportunity analysis, and consumer surveys among others. As follows, the company offers consistent business intelligent support to aid the clients to turn into prominent business firm.Contact:Shriram Dighe5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free: +1-800-792-5285UK: +44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: +852-301-84916India (Pune): +91-20-66346060Fax: +1855550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.comWeb:Non-Invasive Blood Glucose Monitoring Devices Market 2018| Top Most Players | Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Integrity Applications, Inc., Abbott Laboratories

Non-Invasive Blood Glucose Monitoring Devices Market

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A research study titled, Non-Invasive Blood Glucose Monitoring Devices Market by technology, modality and end user- global industry analysis and forecast to 2023 published by crystal market research.Competitive Outlook-The leading players in the market are Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Integrity Applications, Inc., Abbott Laboratories and others. The major players in the market are profiled in detail in view of qualities, for example, company portfolio, business strategies, financial overview, recent developments, and share of the overall industry.Get sample copy of this report:Market Highlights-The Non-Invasive Blood Glucose Monitoring Devices Market is expected to witness considerable growth during the forecast period. Non-invasive blood glucose monitoring devices measures blood glucose levels in patients experiencing diabetes, without puncturing the skin, or causing agony or injury. The successive change in blood glucose levels in diabetic patients must be followed by the glucose monitoring devices. Glucose monitoring devices can be obtrusive or non-intrusive yet the Non-invasive blood glucose monitoring devices market is expanding because of the need of a financial, reduced and easy and accommodation for the patients to utilize. Non-invasive blood glucose monitoring devices glucose observing holds incredible guarantee for enhancing diabetes administration by giving better and torment free blood glucose estimation prompting development of Non-invasive blood glucose screen showcase in the gauge time frame.Drivers & RestrainsThe worldwide non-invasive blood glucose monitoring devices market is required to be helped by the expanding diabetes pervasiveness. As per World Health Organisation (WHO), in 2014, diabetes mellitus is an overall scourge ailment influencing 422 million individuals and seventh driving reason for death in US. The glucose grouping of diabetic patients varies fundamentally for the duration of the day which can prompt genuine results like kidney disappointment, strokes, heart assaults, hypertension, visual deficiency and unconsciousness. These request the mechanically propelled gadgets for visit checking of blood glucose levels.Browse Full Report with TOC@Regional Outlook -North America is expected to witness considerable growth over the forecast period. North America is relied upon to be overwhelming district as for non-invasive blood glucose monitoring devices market because of high predominance of ailment in geriatric population which is 25.2 % in US population according to American Diabetes Association of year 2015.What Our Report Offer:1) An extensive research study on the Global Non-Invasive Blood Glucose Monitoring Devices Market, and its entire ecosystem, describes the market trends, drivers, restraints and opportunities of the Non-Invasive Blood Glucose Monitoring Devices Market.2) We provide you the longest possible market segmentation based on type of products, procedures and geography and describe the market share region wise.3) The report gives a bird eyes view on the competitive landscape which includes mergers and acquisitions, collaborations, market strategies, and new product launches.ContinueMajor TOC of Non-Invasive Blood Glucose Monitoring Devices MarketPart 1. Introduction1.1. Report Description1.2. Research Methodology1.2.1. Secondary Research1.2.2. Primary ResearchPart 2. Executive Summary2.1. Key HighlightsPart 3. Market Overview3.1. Introduction3.1.1. Market Definition3.1.2. Market Segmentation3.2. Market Dynamics3.2.1. Drivers3.2.2. Restraints3.2.3. Opportunities3.2.3.1. Emerging Markets to Offer Lucrative Growth OpportunitiesPart 4. Non-Invasive Blood Glucose Monitoring Devices Market, By TechnologyPart 5. Non-Invasive Blood Glucose Monitoring Devices Market, By ModalityPart 6. Non-Invasive Blood Glucose Monitoring Devices Market, By RegionTo Avail Discount, Please click On the Link @Crystal Offers One Stop Solution For Market Research, Business Intelligence, And Consulting Services To Help Clients Make More Informed Decisions. It Provides Both Syndicated As Well As Customized Research Studies For Its Customers Spread Across The Globe. The Company Offers Market Intelligence Reports Across A Broad Range Of Industries Including Healthcare, Chemicals & Materials, Technology, Automotive, And Energy.Judy S,304 South Jones Blvd, Suite 1896,Las Vegas NV 89107,United StatesToll Free: +1-888-213-4282Email: Sales@Crystalmarketresearch.ComGlobal Polyimide Films Market to expand at a healthy CAGR of 7.50% over 2016 to 2024 | Players to Shift Focus towards Expanding Regional Reach

Polyimide Films

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Polyimide films are made from polyimide resins and are used widely as a substrate for manufacturing flexible printed circuits boards, pressure sensitive tapes for insulating wires and cables, and other applications such as barcode and labels. Polyimide films have advantageous property of heat and fire resistance, which make it a material of choice in the electrical and aerospace industry for insulating wires of motors and generators. Polyimide film is a preferred material for applications that require higher degree of dimension stability after exposure to high temperature.. . Get Sample Report_' 'Key application areas of Polyimide Films is in electronics industry for manufacturing flexible printed circuit boards. Flexible printed circuit boards is expected to hold a dominant share of polyimide films market. The polyimide films market in Asia Pacific is expected to expand significantly during the forecast period.This study analyzes, estimates, and forecasts the global polyimide films market in terms of volume (Tons) and revenue (US$ Mn) from 2015 to 2024. Market numbers given in the report describe the demand for global Polyimide Films, but not production or supply. The global polyimide films report also analyzes several driving and restraining factors and their impact on the market during the forecast period.Key Companies in the global polyimide films market. Market share of companies has been derived on the basis of production by manufacturers of polyimide films. Key market players profiled in the study include Kaneka Corporation, DuPont, SKCKOLONPI Co. Ltd, Anabond Limited, Taimide Tech Inc., I.S.T. Corporation, Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, UBE Industries Ltd, Toyobo Co. Ltd., DuPont, and SKCKOLON PI.The report segments the global Polyimide Films market as:- Polyimide Films Market  Application AnalysisFlexible PCBWires and Cables InsulationOthers (Barcode, Labels). . More Clear Details get Full Table of Contents_' '- Polyimide Films Market - Regional AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeGermanyFranceUKSpainContinue.....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Big Data in the Healthcare & Pharmaceutical Industry expected growth analysis at 12% CAGR forecast with 8 horizontal submarkets, 5 application areas, 37 use cases, 6 regions and 35 countries

Data in the Healthcare & Pharmaceutical Industry

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Big Data originally emerged as a term to describe datasets whose size is beyond the ability of traditional databases to capture, store, manage and analyze. However, the scope of the term has significantly expanded over the years. Big Data not only refers to the data itself but also a set of technologies that capture, store, manage and analyze large and variable collections of data, to solve complex problems.Get the sample report @Amid the proliferation of real-time and historical data from sources such as connected devices, web, social media, sensors, log files and transactional applications, Big Data is rapidly gaining traction from a diverse range of vertical sectors. The healthcare and pharmaceutical industry is no exception to this trend, where Big Data has found a host of applications ranging from drug discovery and precision medicine to clinical decision support and population health management.Big Data investments in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry will account for nearly $4.7 Billion in 2018 alone. Led by a plethora of business opportunities for healthcare providers, insurers, payers, government agencies, pharmaceutical companies and other stakeholders, these investments are further expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 12% over the next three years.The Big Data in the Healthcare & Pharmaceutical Industry: 2018  2030  Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts report presents an in-depth assessment of Big Data in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry including key market drivers, challenges, investment potential, application areas, use cases, future roadmap, value chain, case studies, vendor profiles and strategies. The report also presents market size forecasts for Big Data hardware, software and professional services investments from 2018 through to 2030. The forecasts are segmented for 8 horizontal submarkets, 5 application areas, 37 use cases, 6 regions and 35 countries.The report comes with an associated Excel datasheet suite covering quantitative data from all numeric forecasts presented in the report.""Topics CoveredThe report covers the following topics:- Big Data ecosystem- Market drivers and barriers- Enabling technologies, standardization and regulatory initiatives- Big Data analytics and implementation models- Business case, application areas and use cases in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry- Over 40 case studies of Big Data investments by healthcare providers, insurers, payers, pharmaceutical companies and other stakeholders- Future roadmap and value chain- Profiles and strategies of over 270 leading and emerging Big Data ecosystem players- Strategic recommendations for Big Data vendors, and healthcare and pharmaceutical industry stakeholders- Market analysis and forecasts from 2018 till 2030Enquire for customization in Report @Forecast SegmentationMarket forecasts are provided for each of the following submarkets and their subcategories:Hardware, Software & Professional Services- Hardware- Software- Professional ServicesHorizontal Submarkets- Storage & Compute Infrastructure- Networking Infrastructure- Hadoop & Infrastructure Software- SQL- NoSQL- Analytic Platforms & Applications- Cloud Platforms- Professional ServicesApplication Areas- Pharmaceutical & Medical Products- Core Healthcare Operations- Healthcare Support, Awareness & Disease Prevention- Health Insurance & Payer Services- Marketing, Sales & Other ApplicationsList of Companies Mentioned,1010data,AbbVie,Absolutdata,Accenture,ACR (American College of Radiology),Actian Corporation,Adaptive Insights,Adobe Systems,Advizor Solutions,AeroSpike,Aetna,AFS Technologies,Alation,Algorithmia,Alluxio,Alphabet,ALTEN,Alteryx,Ambient Clinical Analytics ,Ambulance Victoria,AMD (Advanced Micro Devices),Amino,Anaconda,Apixio,Arcadia Data,Arimo,ARM,ASF (Apache Software Foundation),ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials),AstraZeneca,Atomwise,AtScale,Attivio,Attunity,Australian Digital Health Agency,Automated Insights,AVORA,AWS (Amazon Web Services),Axiomatics,Ayasdi,BackOffice Associates,Bangkok Hospital Group,Basho Technologies,Bayer,BCG (Boston Consulting Group),Bedrock Data,BetterWorks,Big Panda,BigML,Birst,Bitam,Blue Medora,BlueData Software,BlueTalon,BMC Software,BMS (Bristol-Myers Squibb),BOARD International,Booz Allen Hamilton,Boxever,CACI International,CambridgeBuy this report @Country Markets- Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, UAE, UK, USAKey Questions AnsweredThe report provides answers to the following key questions:- How big is the Big Data opportunity in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry- How is the market evolving by segment and region- What will the market size be in 2021, and at what rate will it grow- What trends, challenges and barriers are influencing its growth- Who are the key Big Data software, hardware and services vendors, and what are their strategies- How much are healthcare providers, insurers, payers, pharmaceutical companies and other stakeholders investing in Big Data- What opportunities exist for Big Data analytics in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry- Which countries, application areas and use cases will see the highest percentage of Big Data investments in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industryKey FindingsThe report has the following key findings:- In 2018, Big Data vendors will pocket nearly $4.7 Billion from hardware, software and professional services revenues in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry. These investments are further expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 12% over the next three years, eventually accounting for more than $7 Billion by the end of 2021.- Big Data and advanced analytics are driving a paradigm shift in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry with multiple innovations ranging from precision medicine and digital therapeutics to the adoption of accountable and value-based care models.- Drug developers are making substantial investments in Big Data and artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery platforms to shorten the process of successfully discovering promising compounds. In addition, Big Data technologies are increasingly being utilized to streamline clinical trials, enabling biopharmaceutical companies to significantly lower costs and accelerate productive trials.- The growing adoption of Big Data technologies has also brought about an array of benefits for hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Based on feedback from healthcare providers worldwide, these include but are not limited to cost savings in the range of 20-30%, an increase in patient access to services by more than 35%, growth in revenue by up to 30%, a reduction in emergency room visits by 10%, a drop in patient wait times by 30-60%, improvements in outcomes by as much as 20%, a 10-50% decline in mortality rates for conditions such as heart failure, and a reduction in the occurrence of hospital acquired and surgical site infections by nearly 60%."About Author: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 :Craig Francis (PR & Marketing Manager)HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJNew Jersey USA  08837+1 (206) 317 1218sales@htfmarketreport.comConnect with us atShelf Stable Packaging Market 2028 | Industry Major Key Players Review: Printpack, DuPont, Sealed Air, PolyOne, Portland Pet Food Company, JHS Packaging, Bemis, Spartech

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Shelf stable packaging is mainly utilized in retail stores, supermarkets, convenience stores and the food industry to meet the consumer demand for shelf stable packaging commodities. It is used widely due to the convenience it offers in keeping items in a systematic manner. People residing in cold regions have figured out ways to freeze food for future use. Refrigerators and freezers have been keeping food safe and fresh ever since their invention a century ago. However, keeping perishable food safe without refrigeration or packing, drying and salting, is a modern invention. Convenience food and shelf stable packaging is a notion that has been widespread in the developed world since long, while its commencement into the broader market has been recent. The food items which can be stored on the shelf, at room temperature, are known as shelf stable. The packaging for these items is known as shelf stable packaging. It includes cups, roll-stock, trays, stand up pouch, lidding, etc.Request ToC of Report @The unprecedented expansion of the middle-class population and evolving lifestyle of the consumers as well as retailers, across the world, is mainly promoting the need for shelf stable packaging. The shelf stable packaging for display of pouches and trays works both as a shipper and shelf stable packaging. Widely accepted by both large and small retailers, the shelf stable packaging style is perfect for liquid and semi-solid products. However, all canned commodities are not shelf stable. Foods, such as seafood and canned ham, are not at all safe at room temperature. These are then labeled for refrigeration. These non-perishable products include country hams, jerky, bottled and canned foods, pasta, rice, sugar, flour, oils, spices and foods processed retort packages and other products that do not require refrigeration until after opening and hence, cannot be used in shelf stable packaging.Global Shelf Stable Packaging Market: Market DynamicsThe global shelf stable packaging market is anticipated to record a robust CAGR during the forecast period. With a massive base for modern trade channels and lighting fast lifestyle of consumers in North America, demand for the innovative and shelf stable packaging is on the rise. Leading manufacturers of the shelf stable packaging are concentrated in the developed as well as developing economies attributed to high investment prospects and enormous consumer base for shelf stable packaging.Food packaging plays an essential role in maintaining food quality throughout the distribution chain. Without packaging, the processing of food can become imperiled as it becomes contaminated when it comes in contact with chemical, physical, or biological contaminants. The increasing considerable discounts at grocery stores and club stores have triumphed as it is the prominent driver for the growth of shelf stable packaging market globally. The technological advancements have increased the shelf stable packaging possibilities for aseptic beverages, placing aseptic drinks on the cusp of what could display an upsurge in market dominance.The shelf stable packaging market is observing a surge due to the increasing awareness amongst consumers regarding the market along with the outstanding performance and appearance features induced in the products by the manufacturers. However, growing commodity rates, strengthening supply markets and ongoing business constraints are making it a challenge for consumer goods companies to sustain margins.Global Shelf Stable Packaging Market: SegmentationThe shelf stable packaging market is segmented on the basis of product type, end user, and region.The market is divided into seven regions: North America Latin America Europe CIS and Russia Japan Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) Middle East and Africa (MEA)Shelf stable packaging product type includes cups, trays & roll-stock, stand-up pouch, lidding, spouted and fitmented pouches and HPP pouches. The shelf stable packaging stand-up pouch segment accounts for the leading share in sales of shelf stable packaging market.Concerning end users of shelf stable packaging market can be classified into, food & beverages, cosmetics & personal care, pharmaceuticals and other end-use industries. Among these, food & beverages segment is anticipated to dominate global shelf stable packaging market throughout the forecast period.To Know More About Report Click @Global Shelf Stable Packaging Market: Regional OverviewThe regional demand for shelf stable packaging is anticipated to be high in the developed countries and medium in the developing countries but growing at a fast rate; however, North America has adopted Shelf Stable Packaging and therefore, the region is anticipated to show considerable growth in the forthcoming years. Developed economies of North America and Europe have a large number of shelf stable packaging manufacturers with high investment capabilities. North America being one of the largest regions for retail market, with the presence of multi-national brand outlets, will drive the growth of shelf stable packaging market.Global Shelf Stable Packaging market Key PlayersSome of the key players of the Shelf Stable Packaging market are: Printpack DuPont Sealed Air PolyOne APAK Portland Pet Food Company JHS Packaging Bemis Spartech Other Prominent PlayersAbout Fact.MRFact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized Retail & Consumer 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; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsFact.MR11140 Rockville PikeSuite 400Rockville, MD 20852United StatesEmail: sales@factmr.comHabitat for Humanity of Catoosa County, Boynton Lions Club of Ringgold and the Share America Foundation, Inc., will host the Chattanooga premiere of the Alan Autry's film "Victory by Submission" on Sept. 15, at 5 p.m. at Ringgold High School Auditorium, 29 Tiger Tr.

The film stars Autry, Brett Prieto, Rachel Hendrix, Lee Majors, Eric Roberts and Fred Williamson.

Randall Franks "Officer Randy Goode" from TV's "In the Heat of the Night" will host.

The event is a fundraiser for all three charitable organizations. Tickets are $10 and may be purchased in advance at Catoosa Habitat (Community Bank), 4914 Battlefield Pkwy.

For more information, visit events at www.CatoosaHabitat.org or call (706) 861-5858.Global Liquid Biopsy Market 2018 : Strategy of Leading Vendors - Biocept, Qiagen, Roche Diagnostics

Liquid Biopsy

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This report studies the global Liquid Biopsy market status and forecast, categorizes the global Liquid Biopsy market size (value & volume) by key players, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top players in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, and Middle East & Africa.. . Get Sample Report_' 'Increasing prevalence of cancer, increasing preference for noninvasive procedures, and availability of funding for liquid biopsy R&D are some of the key factors driving the growth of the market.The non-cancer application segment is expected to be the fastest-growing segmentin the market during the forecast period.The global Liquid Biopsy market is valued at xx million US$ in 2017 and will reach xx million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of xx% during 2018-2025.- The major manufacturers covered in this reportBioceptQiagenRoche DiagnosticsBio-Rad LaboratoriesMyriad GeneticsMenarini-Silicon BiosystemsTrovageneGuardant HealthMdxhealthGenomic Health- The study objectives of this report are:To analyze and study the global Liquid Biopsy sales, value, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2025).Focuses on the key Liquid Biopsy manufacturers, 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 market. . More Clear Details get Full Table of Contents_' '- Key StakeholdersLiquid Biopsy ManufacturersLiquid Biopsy Distributors/Traders/WholesalersLiquid Biopsy Subcomponent ManufacturersIndustry AssociationDownstream VendorsContinue.....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Medical Superabsorbent Polymers Market to Rear Excessive Growth During 2027

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On account of their ability to retain enormous amount of water or any aqueous solution, superabsorbent polymers have sought increased penetration in the medical industry. Absorbing high amounts of liquids and exudates, medical superabsorbent polymers prevent infections, and enable faster healing of injuries.Report overview @These polymers, in the form of non-woven and woven fabrics, are also being used for manufacturing various surgical and medical equipment such as surgical drapes, wound dressings, sponges, and medical gauzes.Fact.MRs recently published report renders valuable insights and accurate forecasts on the medical superabsorbent polymers market for the period of forecast, 2018 to 2028. Key parameters such as impact of current and future growth determinants & deterrents, expected developments & regulatory scenario, demand statistics, and raw material procurement & supply are elucidated and analyzed.Influence of these parameters on the medical superabsorbent polymers markets growth has been quantified for deriving a market growth rate estimate.Medical Superabsorbent polymers Market Taxonomy & Segmentation AnalysisThis report also offers a scrutinized study on the market for medical superabsorbent polymers in terms of a segmentation analysis. The market has been divided into five key segments, namely, product type, end-user, application, technology, and region. These segments have been analyzed in detail, engulfing market forecasts and estimates at a country and regional level.The segmentation analysis offered can be useful for the report readers in understanding probable opportunities and potential markets for the target product  medical superabsorbent polymers. A taxonomy table incorporated in the report illustrates all the market segments in a systematic manner as depicted below.Competitive Landscape Assessment on Medical superabsorbent polymers MarketIn its concluding chapter, the report quantifies revenues share of prominent companies in the medical superabsorbent polymers market, and offers an in-depth overview of the markets competitive scenario. A detailed description has been delivered on all the market players profiled in the report, which includes intelligence in terms of their company overview, key financials, product overview, past as well as latest developments.A SWOT analysis on each market player profiled has been incorporated in the report, along with information on their new product developments, and market expansion strategies such as collaborations and partnerships. The scope of the report is offer its readers with authentic information and insights on the medical superabsorbent polymers market, to enable them in making better future decisions for growth of the businesses.Request to sample report @Robust Research Methodology to Provide Authentic Market IntelligenceA tested & proven research approach is employed by analysts at Fact.MR for evaluating key industry dynamics and offering precise and authentic market intelligence. A blend of primary & secondary research has been implemented for offering estimates and forecasts on the medical superabsorbent polymers market.Secondary research forms initial phase of our research, wherein the analysts conduct extensive information mining by referring to up-to-date and verified data resources that include technical journals, regulatory and government published material, and independent studies, which forms the basis of the market estimates.All the market estimates and forecast offered are further verified via an exhaustive primary research, wherein interviews are conducted with leading market participants, and industry experts. These comprehensive primary interviews aid in validating the information procured and gain significant industry insights, estimations and key developments.Buy 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 UsXploreMR111 North Market Street, Suite 300San Jose, CA 95113, United StatesTel: +1-669-284-0108Email: sales@xploremr.comWebsite:Global Packaging Automation Solution Market | Top Players(Rockwell Automation, ABB, Mitsubishi Electric, Schneider Electric)  Forecast 2018-25

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An up-to-date research report has been disclosed by Market Research Hub highlighting the title Global Packaging Automation Solution Market Size ,Status and Forecast 2025 which provides an outlook for current market value as well as the expected growth of Packaging Automation Solution Market during 2018-2023. The report studies the casing heads market worldwide, especially in United States, Europe, Japan, China, and other regions (India, Southeast Asia, Central & South America, and Middle East & Africa) and other regions, with production, size, growth, revenue, consumption, import and export in these regions..Get Access to Free Sample Report@This report studies the global Packaging Automation Solution market size, industry status and forecast, competition landscape and growth opportunity. This research report categorizes the global Packaging Automation Solution market by companies, region, type and end-use industry.Packaging Automation Solution is defined as the system that uses packaging machine to achieve packaging process without human intervention. Packaging machines are machines that complete stages of the packaging process. Examples include filling machines, sealing machines, wrapping machines, strapping machines, labelling machines and coding machines Packaging machines have advantages such as reducing labor costs associated and increasing the efficiency of the packaging process through the use of automation.In 2017, the global Packaging Automation Solution 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% during 2018-2025.This report focuses on the global top players, coveredRockwell AutomationABBMitsubishi ElectricSchneider ElectricEmerson ElectricSwisslogSiemensAutomated Packaging SystemsKollmorgenBeumer GroupMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaMarket segment by Type, the product can be split intoAutomated PackagersPackaging RobotsAutomated Conveyors and Sortation SystemsMarket segment by Application, split intoFood and BeveragesHealthcareLogistics and WarehousingChemicalRetailSemiconductor and ElectronicsAerospace and DefenseAutomotiveView Full Report with TOC@Table of Contents1 Industry Overview of Packaging Automation Solution1.1 Packaging Automation Solution Market Overview1.1.1 Packaging Automation Solution Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Packaging Automation Solution Market Size and Analysis by Regions (2013-2018)1.2.1 United States1.2.2 Europe1.2.3 China1.2.4 Japan1.2.5 Southeast Asia1.2.6 India1.3 Packaging Automation Solution Market by Type1.3.1 Automated Packagers1.3.2 Packaging Robots1.3.3 Automated Conveyors and Sortation Systems1.4 Packaging Automation Solution Market by End Users/Application1.4.1 Food and Beverages1.4.2 Healthcare1.4.3 Logistics and Warehousing1.4.4 Chemical1.4.5 Retail1.4.6 Semiconductor and Electronics1.4.7 Aerospace and Defense1.4.8 Automotive2 Global Packaging Automation Solution Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Packaging Automation Solution 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 Rockwell Automation3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Packaging Automation Solution Revenue (Million USD) (2013-2018)3.2 ABB3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Packaging Automation Solution Revenue (Million USD) (2013-2018)Read More@@About Market Research HubMarket Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports of different sector like Software Industry Research Reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of industry 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Global Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring Market 2018 New Investment Projects Review by Leading Key Players  Fugro, Deep Excavation LLC, DST Consulting Engineers Inc., Eustis Engineering L.L.C., Geocomp,

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Geotechnical Instrumentation and Monitoring Market report offers an exhaustive valuation of the market. It does as such by means of inside and out perceptions, thankful market development by following past advancements, and breaking down the current circumstance and future estimates in view of dynamic and likely states. Each examination report helps as a vault of investigation and information for each side of the market, including yet not restricted to: Regional markets, types, applications, innovation improvements and the aggressive scene.Data Bridge Market Research provides new industry report "Global Geotechnical Instrumentation & Monitoring Market" accounted for USD 2.25 billion in 2016 growing at a CAGR of 11.4% during the forecast period of 2017 to 2024.Request for Free Sample Report @Complete report on Global Geotechnical Instrumentation & Monitoring Market Research Report 2017-2024 spread across 350 Pages, profiling Top companies and supports with tables and figuresMajor market drivers: Global Geotechnical Instrumentation & Monitoring Market Increasing rate of disastrous failure of the geotechnical structures Increasing awareness and superior benefits of GTIM Increasing infrastructural investment across various countries all over the world Rigid environmental regulations pertaining to the sustainability of structures Errors in readings lead to inaccurate results High cost involved in the installation and monitoringGlobal Geotechnical Instrumentation & Monitoring Market, By Geography; Offering (Hardware, Software, Services); Structure (Tunnels Bridges, Buildings Utilities, Dams); Technology (Wired Networking Technology, Wireless Technology); Application (Pore Water Pressure, Soil Stresses, Lateral Deformation, Vertical Deformation), End-Users (Building, Infrastructure, Energy, Power, Oil, Gas, Mining)  Industry Trends and Forecast to 2024Key Questions Answered in Global Geotechnical Instrumentation & Monitoring Market Report:-Our Report offers:- What will the market growth rate, Overview and Analysis by Type of Global Geotechnical Instrumentation & Monitoring Market in 2024? What are the key factors driving, Analysis by Applications and Countries Global Geotechnical Instrumentation & Monitoring Market? What are Dynamics, This Overview Includes Analysis of Scope, and price analysis of top Vendors Profiles of Global Geotechnical Instrumentation & Monitoring Market? Who are Opportunities, Risk and Driving Force of Global Geotechnical Instrumentation & Monitoring Market? Who are the opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in Global Geotechnical Instrumentation & Monitoring Market? Business Overview by Type, Applications, Gross Margin and Market Share What are the Global Geotechnical Instrumentation & Monitoring Market opportunities, market risk and market overview of the Market?Request for TOC:Top Key Players: Cowi A/S Deep Excavation LLC DST Consulting Engineers Inc. Eustis Engineering LLC. Fugro Geocomp Corporation Geokon Incorporated Geomotion Singapore Geosig Ltd James Fisher and Sons plc Keller Group plc Nova Metrix LLC RST Instruments Ltd. SISGEO S.R.L. Smart Structures Geotechnical Instrumentation Durham Geo Slope Indicator, Inc.For more Insightful information visit@Geotechnical Instrumentation & Monitoring Market Company Share Analysis:The Global Geotechnical Instrumentation & Monitoring Market Report include detailed vendor level analysis for market shares in 2016 for Global, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and South America specifically. Also impact and development analysis of key vendors is registered in the market and factored on the basis of Vendor Positioning Grid Analysis which measures the vendors strengths and opportunities against present market challenges, measure providers ability to identify or satisfy present market needs, map providers market vision to current and upcoming market dynamics among others. The report also measures technology life line curve and market time line to analyze and do more affective investments.Market Segmentations:Global Geotechnical Instrumentation & Monitoring Market is segmented on the basis of Structure, Networking Technology, Application End-Users Geography.Market Segmentations in Details:On the basis of Structure tunnels and bridges, buildings and utilities, dams, and other structures.On basis of Application, the geotechnical instrumentation & monitoring market is also segmented into pore water pressure, soil stresses, lateral deformation, and vertical deformation.On the basis of Networking Technology the global geotechnical instrumentation & monitoring market is further segmented into wired networking technology, and wireless technology.On the basis of End-user, the geotechnical instrumentation & monitoring market is further segmented into building and infrastructure, energy and power, oil and gas, mining, and others.On the basis of Geography, North America South America Europe Asia-Pacific Middle East & AfricaCustomize report of "Global Geotechnical Instrumentation & Monitoring Market" as per customers requirement also available.Speak to Author of the Report @Other ReportGlobal Fitness Equipment Market  Industry Trends and Forecast to 2024Global Fitness Equipment Market, By Type (Cardiovascular Training Equipment (Treadmills, Elliptical Trainers, Stationary Cycles, Rowing Machines, Stair Steppers, Others), Strength Training Equipment (Single Stations, Plate Loaded Equipment, Free Weights, Benches and Racks, Multistations, Accessories), Body Composition Analyzers (Bioimpedance Analyzer, Skinfold Caliper, Dual Emission X-Ray Absorptiometry (Dexa), Hydrostatic Weighing, Air Displacement Plethysmography), Fitness Monitoring Equipment), By End-User (Health Clubs, Gyms, Home Settings, Corporate Settings, Apartments, Hotels, Hospitals, Clinics), By Geography (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa, Rest of the World)  Industry Trends and Forecast to 2024.Report Access:About Data Bridge Market Research:Data Bridge Market Research set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavors to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Contact:Data Bridge Market ResearchTel: +1-888-387-2818Email: sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.comHealthcare eDiscovery Market 2023 Top Key Players are Commvault, Actiance, Inc., Barracuda Networks Inc., Global Relay Communications Inc., Google, IBM, Microsoft Corporation, Allscripts and More

Healthcare eDiscovery Market

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The study report worldwide Healthcare eDiscovery Market covers the market analysis for the regions - North America, Europe, Asia Pacific/ Southeast Asia and Row and country analysis of China, Japan, and India focusing on top manufacturers in world market and the market share they hold including their contribution to the market growthThe Global Healthcare eDiscovery Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 11.5%.Healthcare eDiscovery Market Key Players:Commvault (U.S.), Actiance, Inc. (U.S.), Barracuda Networks Inc. (U.S.), Global Relay Communications Inc. (U.S.), Google (U.S.), IBM (U.S.), Microsoft Corporation (U.S.), Allscripts (U.S.) and others.Get Sample Copy @Market Scenario:Many organizations in healthcare do not have the right information systems to address data storage and retrieval requirements cost-effectively. In the healthcare industry, organizations have to comply with numerous rules and regulations. Therefore, there is a need for an information governance solution with a purpose-built eDiscovery platform, for the management of healthcare data. Healthcare data is of two types namely, structured and unstructured. Structured data can be referred to as alphabets, numbers and can be easily processed and stored whereas unstructured data can be referred as emails, images, audios, and video files which constitutes a scattered data. Therefore, there is a need for the reliable healthcare data management system to maintain the security of information of the patients.The healthcare eDiscovery market is driven by increasing demand for an information system for the management of electronic health records, strict regulation of storage of clinical and patient data on a cloud-based platform, and increasing use of software for healthcare system for data management. Risks of managing healthcare data include the use of pirated software, data security issues and the threat of cyber-attacks, which retrains the growth of this market. The high cost of healthcare data management solutions and unawareness among the medical staff may restrain the market growth.Healthcare eDiscovery Industry Segments:The Global Healthcare eDiscovery Market is segmented on the basis of deployment, application, and end-user.On the basis of deployment, the market is segmented into the on-premise system and cloud system. On the basis of application, the market is segmented into application audit trail via metadata, communication, EHR-hosting, and other applications. On the basis of end-users, the market is segmented into healthcare IT companies, hospitals, clinics, pharmacy, and others.Get Quality Discount @Global Healthcare eDiscovery Market - Regional Analysis:Healthcare eDiscovery market is segmented into four regions consisting Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East & Africa. Americas is the largest market for healthcare eDiscovery. It comprises of two regions namely North America and South America. Increasing awareness regarding storage, maintenance, and recovery cost of medical image are the key driver of this market in America. North America comprise largest market share in this market. North American region has one of the best medical facilities of the World. Innovative software developed by software development companies for healthcare and technological advancement are responsible for growth of this market in North America. Awareness of healthcare professionals regarding the use of healthcare eDiscovery helpful in saving time and manual efforts while storing a retrieving data also drives this market North America. Other factors responsible for market growth include blooming growth of Healthcare IT. Huge population, increasing awareness about Patient Management and importance use of software for sharing clinical information between healthcare centres are driving the growth for the market in South America. Europe is the second largest market owing to increasing adoption of healthcare IT for management of medical records and improving healthcare system. Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing region for the healthcare e-discovery market. The growth of market is attributed to increasing need for the sophisticated healthcare facilities and increasing acceptance of healthcare IT. For instance countries such as India and China are the major contributor for the growth market. However, The Middle East and Africa has the lowest market for healthcare e-discovery because of limited development in healthcare sector.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 & AssessmentContinued!Reports 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, IndiaPhone: +1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comAroma Ingredients Market : Competitive Intelligence and Tracking Report

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Aroma chemical is a complex fusion of natural and/or synthetic ingredients that are added to various products in order to incorporate desired odor. These ingredients are widely used in consumer care and personal care products. Personal care industry is one of the major application industry for aroma ingredients market. The global aroma ingredients market has witnessed steady growth over the recent past owing to increasing demand for natural aroma ingredients. Soaps and detergent is estimated to account for a significant share in the global aroma ingredients market followed by cosmetics and toiletries applications. The global aroma ingredients market is expected to register a steady growth during forecast period.Global Aroma Ingredients Market: Drivers: Introduction of innovative and novel products especially in cosmetics, toiletries, and skin care and hair care products has driven the overall growth of the global aroma ingredients market. The increasing demand for natural ingredients coupled with change in consumer preferences are considered to be the important driver for global aroma ingredients market. Furthermore, significant technological advancements have also fuelled the growth of the market. Moreover, the increase in demand from the emerging and developing nations for natural fragrance due to health concerns related to synthetic chemicals is likely to act as an opportunity for the growth of the global aroma ingredients market.These factors are likely to drive the global aroma ingredients market during the forecast period. A key trend witnessed in global aroma chemicals market is that the key aroma chemical producers are responding to growing opportunities by expanding their global presence. One of the major factor that is likely to restrict growth in demand for natural aroma ingredients is high costs associated with switching from synthetic chemical to natural ingredients.Request For Report Sample:The global aroma ingredients market can be segmented on the basis of type, application and region. On the basis of type, the global aroma ingredients market can be segmented into: essential oils, aroma chemicals; Essential oils segment can further be sub-segmented into menthe arvensis, cedar wood, orange, eucalyptus, citronella and others (basil, clove, jamrosa, litsea cubica, sassafras, coriander, patchouli, camphor and lemon grass) Whereas, aroma chemicals segment can further be sub-segmented into turpenes, musk chemical, benzenoids and others (alicyclic, heterocyclic and aliphatic compounds). On the basis of application, the global aroma ingredients markets can be segmented into: cosmetic and toiletries, soap and detergents, fine fragrance, Others (household products, aroma therapy and pesticides).On the basis of regions, Europe is expected to be a promising revenue generating region for the global aroma ingredients market and is expected to grow at steady growth rate during forecast period. Latin America and Asia Pacific are anticipated to witness relatively faster growth both in terms of value and in terms of volume. Potential opportunities in Asia Pacific and Latin America due to availability of labor and low cost of raw materials are expected to drive growth in these regions over the forecast period. North America and Middle East & Africa are also expected to show positive growth in the near future.Request Report toc @Some of the key players identified in the global aroma ingredients market are as follows: BASF SE, Mane SA, International Flavors and Fragrances Inc., Givaudan SA, Fermenich International SA, Frutarom Industries Ltd., Symrise AG, Agilex Flavors and Fragrances, Inc., Hindustan Mint & Agro Products Pvt. Ltd.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.Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +13479183531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:Signal Relays (Up to 2 Amps) Market Outlook with Company Profiles  Omron, Panasonic, TE Connectivity, KEMET, Siemens, HONGFA, Shenyang Railway Signal Co., Ltd, Weidmuller and More

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Over the next five years, the research study projects that Signal Relays (Up to 2 Amps) will register a 7.0% CAGR in terms of revenue, reach US$ 870 million by 2023, from US$ 580 million in 2017.Currently, there are many producing companies in the world Signal Relays (Up to 2 Amps) industry. The main market players are Omron, Panasonic, TE Connectivity, KEMET, Siemens, HONGFA and so on. The production of Signal Relays (Up to 2 Amps) is about 113654 K Units in 2015.Request a sample copy of this research:Japan is the largest supplier of Signal Relays (Up to 2 Amps), with a production market share nearly 31.22% and sales market share nearly 6.76% in 2015. That is to say, there will be exports in Japan, while North America is the largest consumption region.The second place is China, with the production market share of 20.70% and the sales market share over 13.02%. North America is another important market of Signal Relays (Up to 2 Amps), enjoying 15.43% production market share and 31.78% sales market share.This report presents a comprehensive overview, market shares, and growth opportunities of Signal Relays (Up to 2 Amps) market by product type, application, key manufacturers and key regions.To calculate the market size, LP Information considers value and volume generated from the sales of the following segments. Segmentation by product type are DC Signal Relays and AC Signal Relays. Also, segmentation by application are Railway, Home Automation, Telecom Equipment and Others.Get a discount on this research report:The report also presents the market competition landscape and a corresponding detailed analysis of the major vendor/manufacturers in the market. The key manufacturers covered in this report are Omron, Panasonic, TE Connectivity, KEMET, Siemens, HONGFA, Shenyang Railway Signal Co., Ltd, Weidmuller, Fujitsu, Littelfuse, Coto Technology, Cynergy 3, Phoenix Contact, Standex-meder Electronics and ZHNQI.Related Report:Global Electromagnetic Relays Market Research Report 2018This report studies the global Electromagnetic Relays market status and forecast, categorizes the global Electromagnetic Relays market size (value & volume) by manufacturers, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top manufacturers in United States, Europe, China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan and other regions.The major manufacturers covered in this report such as Omron, Schneider Electric, Honeywell, Eaton, Siemens, TE Connectivity, Rockwell Automation, Panasonic, Fujitsu, HONGFA, Hengstler, Teledyne Relays, Xinling Electric, Crouzet, CHINT, NTE Electronics and Phoenix Contact.Read More:About Us:Research Beam is a high end and wide online market for market research reports that contain detailed and rational market research. Research Beam is a one stop report destination that offers clients well drafted and accurately analyzed report with insightful data.We 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Global Dispersing Agents Market 2018-2023 Industry Size, Share and Growth Analysis | BASF SE , Clariant AG , Cytec Industries Inc. , The Dow Chemical Company, Air Products & Chemicals Inc, Altana AG , Arkema Group

Global Dispersing Agents industry research, Global Dispersing Agents Market Size, Global Dispersing Agents Market Share, Global Di

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Global Dispersing Agents Global Industry Research Report evaluates the growth trends of the market through historical study and estimates future prospects based on comprehensive research. The report extensively provides the industry share, growth, trends and forecasts for the period 2018-2022. The market size in terms of revenue (USD MN) is calculated for the study period along with the details of the factors affecting the market growth (drivers and restraints)Get a Sample Copy of this Report @Dispersing Agents Market Key Players:Some of the prominent players operating in the global Global Dispersing agents market are BASF SE (Germany), Clariant AG (Switzerland), Cytec Industries Inc. (U.S.), The Dow Chemical Company (U.S.), Air Products & Chemicals Inc (U.S.), Altana AG (Germany), Arkema Group (France), Emerald Performance Materials Llc (U.S.), Meadwestvaco Corporation (U.S.), The Lubrizol Corporation (U.S.), Croda International Plc (U.K), and Gruppo Chimico Dalton Spa (Italy) among othersGlobal Dispersing Agents Market Synopsis:Dispersants are also known as Global Dispersing agents or plasticizers. They are non-surface active polymers used for the prevention of clumping and to help in separation of particles. These agents consist of surfactants, which act as chemical compounds and reduces surface tension, in turn, preventing the coagulation or settling of particles. Dispersants help in maintaining uniformity in mixtures, which makes them suitable for the use as additives in paints, medicines, and gasoline. Global Dispersing agents with weight 5000 to 30000g/mol are termed as high molecular dispersants whereas Global Dispersing agents with weight ranging from 1000 to 2000g/mol are known as low molecular dispersants.The growing demand from the end use industries is a major factor driving the growth of the global Global Dispersing agents market. Some of the key end-user industries using Global Dispersing agents are building and construction, paints & coatings, pulp & paper, oil & gas, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and detergents among others. The growing development of manufacturing units and industries in the developing regions are expected to boost the market during the forecast years. The global Global Dispersing agents market is expected to expand at an encouraging CAGR during the forecast years. However, the volatility in the cost of raw materials and lack of research and development activities in the industry is anticipated to be the major restraining factor for market growth.Geographical AnalysisThe report covers brief analysis of the major geographic regions namely Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.Intended Audience Global Dispersing agents market manufacturers Traders and Distributors of Global Dispersing agents market Production Process Industries Potential Investors Raw Material Suppliers Nationalized LaboratoryDispersing Agents Market Regional Analysis :The Global Dispersing agents market is segmented across five regions: Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, North America and the Middle East & Africa. Among these, Asia Pacific holds a major share of the market and is expected to show a considerable CAGR during the forecast period. The rapid growth of industries and urbanization is fuelling the growth of Global Dispersing agents in the developing countries of Asia Pacific. Moreover, the presence of most populated economies such as India and China has augmented the building & construction and automotive sector, which, in turn, is contributing to the market growth. China, Japan, and India are the key consumers of Global Dispersing agents in this region.Europe is the second largest market after the Asia Pacific. The presence of major manufacturers, such as BASF SE, Clariant AG, and Arkema Group among others, is fuelling market growth. Moreover, the growing production and sale of automobiles coupled with growing investment in the construction sector are also positively impacting the market growth. The major countries attributing to this growth are Germany, France, Italy, and the U.K.Segmental Analysis:The global Global Dispersing agents market is segmented into type and end-user industry. On the basis of the type, the market is segmented into suspension, solution, colloid, powder, and others. On the basis of the end-user industry, the global Global Dispersing agent market is further bifurcated into building & construction, paints & coatings, pulp & paper, detergent, oil & gas, agriculture industry, pharmaceuticals, and others.Browse Full report on Global Dispersing Agents Market spread across 137 pages, profiling 20 companies and supported with tables and figures available @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 FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comOpportunities for global automotive air conditioning market to reach $24.9 billion by 2021

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According to a new market report published by Lucintel, the future of the global automotive air conditioning market looks promising with opportunities in segments of passenger car and commercial vehicle. The global automotive air conditioning market is expected to reach an estimated $24.9 billion by 2021 and is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 5.2% from 2016 to 2021. The major drivers of growth for this market are increasing vehicle production rate, dynamic changes in the climatic conditions and pollution level, and higher requirement of customers for comfort while vehicle driving.In this market, automatic air conditioning system and manual/semi- automatic air conditioning system are the major segments of automotive air conditioning. On the basis of its comprehensive research, Lucintel forecasts that the automatic air conditioning system segment is expected to show above average growth during the forecast period of 2016 to 2021. Automatic air conditioning system segment is expected to be the largest segment due to the increasing demand of updated and high-tech comfort features in passenger cars.By vehicle type, passenger car segment is expected to be the largest segment. Passenger car is expected to show above average growth during the forecast period due to high production rate of the passenger car.Asia Pacific is expected to remain the largest market due to high growth in mid-size, luxury and light vehicle production, and increasing temperature within region.Europe and North America are expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period because of high growth in vehicle production and sales combined with growing demand of safety and comfort features in vehicles.For business expansions, the report suggests innovations and new product development, to produce high-quality thermal management solutions that address various regulatory requirements. The report further suggests the development of partnerships with customers to create win-win situations and the development of low-cost solutions for customers.Emerging trends, which have a direct impact on the dynamics of the industry, include smaller and lightweight air conditioning system and new features in the functioning of the air conditioning systems. Denso Corporation, Mahle Behr Gmbh & Co. KG, Valeo SA, Hanon System, and Calsonic Kansei Corporation are the major automotive air conditioning system suppliers in the global automotive air conditioning market.Lucintel, a leading global strategic consulting and market research firm, has analyzed growth opportunities in the global automotive air conditioning market by technology type, vehicle type, and region. Lucintel has compiled a comprehensive research report entitled Growth Opportunities in the Global Automotive Air Conditioning Market 2016-2021: Trends, Forecast, and Opportunity Analysis. The Lucintel report serves as a springboard for growth strategy, as it provides comprehensive data and analysis on trends, key drivers, and directions. The study includes a forecast for the growth opportunities in the global automotive air conditioning market by technology type, vehicle type, and region, as follows:Technology type (Volume (Million Units) and $ Million from 2010 to 2021) Automatic Manual/Semi-AutomaticVehicle type (Volume (Million Units) and $ Million from 2010 to 2021) Passenger Car Light Commercial VehicleRegion (Volume (Million Units) and $ Million from 2010 to 2021) North America Europe Asia Pacific Rest of the WorldThis 222-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 Mass Transportation, Transportation Market Report, Opportunity Screening and Analysis, 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 LLCLucintel, 8951 Cypress Waters Blvd., Suite 160, Dallas, TX 75019Ph: +1-972-636-5056 Fax: +1-877-883-5140marketing@lucintel.comChelating Agent Market 2018 Worldwide Top Brands Professional Survey | Dow Chemical Company , Huntsman Corporation , BASF SE , AkzoNobel NA , Kemira OYJ , ADM , Sigma-Aldrich Corporation

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Market Research Future Published a Half Cooked Research Global Chelating Agents Market Research Report - Forecast to 2022 - Market Analysis, Scope, Stake, Progress, Trends and Forecast up to 2022.Chelatiing Agent Market  Overview:Global chelating agents or chelates market demand is driven by increasing demand in various end -use industries. The end-use industries driving the global demand includes, pulp & paper, agrochemical, and home care & institutional cleaning chemicals industry. Among these industries, pulp & paper is the most prominent and accounts for prominent share in the overall consumption. Chelating agents are used for bleaching pulp to enhance the brightness of papers. Although printing papers demand is declining in some regions, increasing demand for tissues and container board is antcipated to boost the overall pulp & paper industry.Receive a Sample Copy @Industry/ Innovation/ Related NewsAug 2015: BASF SE, aglobal leader in chemical industry is investing in expansion of production capacity of its bio degradable chelating agent product, Trilon. The production capacity for chelating agents will be 170,000 metric tonnes. The product is a high performance alternative for phosphate based chelating agent used in cleaning industry. The market leader has significantly stimulated chelqating agents market. Markwet followers are antcipated to invest in such development, in order to gain significant share in the global market.Sept 2017: AkzoNobel, a leading global paints & coatings company partnered with Itaconix to develop bio based chelating agents. The companies are in application agreement to evaluate and develop innovative bio-based chelates for the home & industrial cleaning industry. This was another development by market leaders towards developing a sustainable product for cleaning industry and signifies the trend towards biodegradibillity in chelating agents market.Growing manufacturing & packaging industry across the globe is boosting the pulp & consumption across the globe. The global production of paper & paper board is growing at a CAGR of 2.2% year on year. Being prominent end-use industry of chelating agent, the global paper & paper board production is expected to drive the global chelating agents market.Global Prominent Key Players:AkzoNobel N.V., DowDuPont Inc., BASF SE, Archer Daniel Midland, Kemira Oyj, Cargilll Incorporated, Lanxess AG, and Tate & LyleChelating Agents Market - Competitive Analysis :Leading chemical companies are engaged in manufacturing of chelating chemicals. Owing to the stringent regulations on chelating agents., the leaders in the market are focusing on invention of new bio-based and efficient chelating agents for various end-use industries. however, the many manufacturers ion Europe are refraining from the production of toxic chelating agents that are facing ban in European Union and U.S. market.Study Objectives of Chelating Agent :To provide detailed analysis of the market structure along with forecast for the next 10 years of the various segments and sub-segments of the Chelating Agent Marketprovide insights about factors affecting the market growthTo Analyze the Chelating Agent Market based on various factors- price analysis, supply chain analysis, porters five force analysis etc.To provide historical and forecast revenue of the market segments and sub-segments with respect to four main geographies and their countries- North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (ROW)The report for Chelating Agent 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.Segmentation:Globally, the market for Chelating Agent is categorized into mainly three segments namely, by form, by end-users, and by application. The market segmented by form includes Aminopolycarboxylate, Phosphates & Phosphonates, and others. The market has been categorized on the basis of application into detergent, cleaning agent, plastic additives, ink, medicine, water treatment, fertilizer, and others. The market has also been segmented by end-users into healthcare, chemicals, water & wastewater, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and others.Complete Report Details @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.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.Fluoroscopy Equipment Market 2018-2025 With Global Product Analysis, Substitute Study and Dominating Players Like Siemens, Trisonics, Philips, Shimadzu Corp., Canon Medical Systems Corporation, Hitachi, Hologic

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Fluoroscopy Equipment Market Research Report 2018 presents a detailed analysis of industry size, share, growth, trends, demand and forecast 2025. The report also provide information regarding business opportunities, development trends, future roadmap and top manufacture history it will help you good decision making.Get Sample Copy of this Report atGlobal Fluoroscopy Equipment Market competition by top players include - Siemens AG, Trisonics, Koninklijke Philips N.V, shimadzu, Ziehm Imaging GmbH, Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation, Hitachi, Ltd, Carestream Health, US Inc, Hologic Inc, Lepu Medical Technology Co, Agfa-Gevaert Group, ADANI among others.Global Fluoroscopy Equipment Market is expected to reach USD 3.34 Billion by 2025, from USD 2.25 Billion in 2017 growing at a CAGR of 5.3% during the forecast period of 2018 to 2025. The upcoming market report contains data for historic years 2017, the base year of calculation is 2017 and the forecast period is 2018 to 2025.To Avail 10% Discount On This Report Mail Us on :-sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.comThe medical imaging devices which are basically known as the fluoroscopy devices are based on X-ray technology. It plays an immense role in cardiac catheterization, lumbar puncture, orthopedic surgeries, biopsy, the exact placement of interventional catheters into arteries and veins arbitration of radiology procedures. They are used flexibly to diagnose, to treat patients and also in operation theatres. Like others, even fluoroscopy bears some risks. In the study of human body parts, fluoroscopy and mobile C-arms are used resulting into live images, analogous to X-ray imaging. There is increasing demand of interventional radiology procedures as it is leading to faster growth of fluoroscopy and mobile C-arms market. Interventional radiology nurtures less damage to tissues resulting in less pain and faster recovery. The fast increase in the number of hospitals and diagnostic laboratories in the developing economies is one of the major factors enhancing the fluoroscopy and mobile C-arms market. According to the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence, the government hospitals have drastically increased from 4,571 in 2000 to 11,993 in 2011 in India. Hence, the increase in the number of hospitals automatically leads to an increase in demand for both the fluoroscopy equipment and mobile C-arms. Companies are focusing on various strategies such as expansion, new product development initiatives, and mergers & acquisitions. For instance, In August 2015, GE Healthcare entered into a 7-year collaborative agreement with Temple University Health System to expand radiology-based services. This initiative was also undertaken to address challenges pertaining to market competition, cost control, patient outcomes, a in medical imaging.On the basis of geography: North America South America Europe Asia-Pacific Middle East & AfricaSome of the major countries covered in this report are U.S., Canada, Germany, France, U.K., Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, China, India, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and, Brazil among others.To Inquire Regarding This Report at Based on product the market is segmented into fixed fluoroscopy equipment and C-Arms. Based on the application the market is segmented into diagnostic applications and surgical applications.Major Market Drivers and Restraints: Technological advancements of interventional fluoroscopic equipment Growing demand of multipurpose imaging systems Minimum invasive procedures. Use of fluoroscopy in pain management Increasing prevalence of chronic diseases Use of refurbished fluoroscopes Radiation exposure Stringent regulatory processReason to Buy- Save and reduce time carrying out entry-level research by identifying the growth, size, leading players and segments in the Global Fluoroscopy Equipment 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 Global Fluoroscopy Equipment 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.Browse Complete Report atNote: If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.About Us:Data Bridge Market Research set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavors to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Contact Us:Data Bridge Market ResearchTel: +1-888-387-2818Email: sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.comAutomotive Exhaust Pipes, Flanges, Clamps and Brackets Market Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024

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"The Latest Research Report Automotive Exhaust Pipes, Flanges, Clamps and Brackets Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"Automotive exhaust systems helps to exhaust gases out of the engine, clean up emissions that could be environmentally hazardous and reduce the noise generated by the high-velocity exhaust gases. The components of automotive exhaust systems comprise exhaust pipes, flanges, clamps and brackets among others. All these components work together with the connectors catalytic converters and exhaust manifold gaskets among other for the efficient functioning of the automotive exhaust systems.Exhaust pipes are engineered explicitly to transmit or carry various noxious and toxic gases away from the users of the machine. The exhaust gases are usually very hot, owing to which the exhaust pipes must be heat resistant and durable for not getting spoiled by the heat. These double walled exhaust pipes are manufactured using different metals such as zinc-plated heavy gauzed steel, stainless steel or aluminized steel. Exhaust flanges is a type of projecting rim that helps to tightly attach, fasten or join several exhaust pipes, using nuts and bolts. These exhaust flanges are generally made of iron, stainless steel, aluminum, carbon steel, hardened steel and alloy steel. Exhaust clamps are the components of the exhaust system that used for providing a steady connection between the engine components and various pipe sections. The clamps come in a diverse range of sizes and can accommodate different sizes of connections and pipes. Steel is most widely used for manufacturing these clamps. The exhaust brackets are a kind of fastener, generally made of steel that provides support to the different components of an automobiles exhaust system. The global market for automotive exhaust pipes, flanges, clamps and brackets is being strongly driven by the awareness of people regarding the environmental hazards caused by harmful exhaust gases. The government of various countries globally have introduced strict emission norms to keep the environment free from these toxic gases, owing to which the manufacturers are investing on the product of energy efficient exhaust systems. The global market is also being driven by increasing vehicle production fueled the healthy economic growth of the emerging countries in the regions of Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East and Africa.Get Sample Copy of this report @The global automotive exhaust pipes, flanges, clamps and brackets market can be segmented, by vehicle type into light commercial vehicles (LCV), heavy commercial vehicles (HCV) and passenger vehicles. On the basis of types of exhaust pipes the global market can be classified into H pipes, tail pipes, side pipes, single downpipe, down pipes and others. Based on the types of exhaust clamps and brackets, the global market can be segregated into band clamps, strap clamps, V-band clamps, U-bolt clamps, collar clamps and others. In addition, the market can be geographically divided broadly into five regions, namely: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, South America and Middle East and Africa. Asia Pacific is expected to emerge as the most lucrative market for automotive exhaust pipes, flanges, clamps and brackets during the forecast period, owing to its leading position in terms of vehicle production and automotive exhaust system manufacturing. In the recent years, China has been a leader in the automotive market and the original equipment manufacturers are persistently setting up their manufacturing firms in this country due to easy availability of cheap labor and favorable work conditions. Further, economic growth of the emerging economies in the APAC region such as Indonesia, Japan and South Korea are also expected to contribute to the growth of the global market positively.The major players in the global automotive exhaust pipes, flanges, clamps and brackets market include Mercury Products Corporation, Norma Group America, Ottawa Products Company, Inc., Morgantown Manufacturing Company, AP Exhaust Technologies, FIO Automotive Canada Corporation, Midwest Acoust-A-Fiber, Inc, MINILEIT, Inc., Benteler International AG and Clamps, Inc. among others.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.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 analysisThe 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)Have Any Query? Ask Our Expert @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 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Global Dry Construction Material Market 2018 : Growth Rate, Key Trends and Market Synopsis

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Dry Construction Material Market Research Report 2018" to its huge collection of research reports.This report studies the global Dry Construction Material market status and forecast, categorizes the global Dry Construction Material 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).Building material is any material which is used for construction purposes. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, rocks, sand, and wood, even twigs and leaves, have been used to construct buildings. Apart from naturally occurring materials, many man-made products are in use, some more and some less synthetic. The manufacture of building materials is an established industry in many countries and the use of these materials is typically segmented into specific specialty trades, such as carpentry, insulation, plumbing, and roofing work. They provide the make-up of habitats and structures including homes.The global average price of dry construction material is in the fluctuation trend, from 346 USD/MT in 2012 to 329 USD/MT in 2016. With the situation of global construction industry, prices will be in fluctuation trend in the following five years.Get Free Research Summary of the Report:The classification of dry construction material includes Metal, Gypsum Board, Wood and Other, and the proportion of Gypsum Board, in 2016 is about 60%, and the proportion is in decreasing trend from 2012 to 2016.Dry construction material is widely used in Wall, Ceiling, Flooring and Other. The most proportion of dry construction material is Wall.China is the largest supplier of dry construction material, with a production market share nearly 32% in 2016. Europe is the second largest supplier of dry construction material, enjoying production market share nearly 20% in 2016.China is the largest consumption place, with a consumption market share nearly 26% in 2016. Following China, Europe is the second largest consumption place with the consumption market share of 22%.Market competition is not intense. Knauf, Saint Gobain, BaoWu, ArcelorMittal, USG, CSR, Nippon, Etex, Boral, Arauco, etc. are the leaders of the industry, and they hold key technologies and market, with high-end customers; have been formed in the large market share in the industry.The global Dry Construction Material market is valued at 77600 million US$ in 2017 and will reach 113800 million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of 4.9% during 2018-2025.The major manufacturers covered in this reportKnaufSaint GobainBaoWuArcelorMittalUSGCSRNipponEtexBoralAraucoAWIKronospanBNBMGeographically, 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 AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaOther Regions (India, Southeast Asia, Central & South America and 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 intoMetalWoodGypsum BoardOtherView TOC (table of content), Figures and Tables of the Report:On 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, includingWallCeilingFlooringOtherThe study objectives of this report are:To analyze and study the global Dry Construction Material capacity, production, value, consumption, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2025);Focuses on the key Dry Construction Material 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 Dry Construction Material 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 StakeholdersDry Construction Material ManufacturersDry Construction Material Distributors/Traders/WholesalersDry Construction Material Subcomponent ManufacturersIndustry AssociationDownstream VendorsAbout Us: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.Contact Us:1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Current Trends in Global Digital Offset Printing Plate Market 2018 with Future Scope Analysis

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Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global Digital Offset Printing Plate Market Research Report 2018" to its huge collection of research reports.This report studies the global Digital Offset Printing Plate market status and forecast, categorizes the global Digital Offset Printing Plate 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 Digital Offset Printing Plate includes thermal CTP plate, UV-CTP plates and other plates, thermal CTP (Computer to Plate) are probably the most commonly used printing Plates worldwide.The global average price of Digital Offset Printing Plate is in the decreasing trend, from 3.59 USD/Sq.m. in 2013 to 3.19 USD/Sq.m. in 2017. With the situation of global economy, prices will be in decreasing trend in the following five years.The classification of Digital Offset Printing Plate includes Thermal CTP Plate, UV-CTP Plates and others, and the proportion of Thermal CTP Plate in 2017 is about 64%.Get Complimentary Research Summary of the Report:Digital Offset Printing Plate is widely used in Books, Magazines, Newspapers, Packaging and other field.Asia Pacific is the largest supplier of Digital Offset Printing Plate, with a production market share nearly 63% in 2017. Europe is the second largest supplier of Digital Offset Printing Plate, enjoying production market share nearly 15% in 2017.China is an important production base, with a production market share about 49.5% in 2017.Market competition is not intense. Fujifilm, AGFA, Kodak, Lucky Huaguang, Strong State, etc. are the leaders of the industry, and they hold key technologies and patents, with high-end customers; have been formed in the monopoly position in the industry.The global Digital Offset Printing Plate market is valued at 2110 million US$ in 2017 and will reach 3190 million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of 5.3% during 2018-2025.The major manufacturers covered in this reportFujifilmAGFAKodakLucky HuaguangStrong StateHuafengBocicaPresstekRonseinXingraphicsToray WaterlessMaxma Printing...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 AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaOther Regions (India, Southeast Asia, Central & South America and 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 intoThermal CTP PlateUV-CTP PlatesOthersOn 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, includingBooksMagazinesNewspapersPackagingOthersObtain Report Details @The study objectives of this report are:To analyze and study the global Digital Offset Printing Plate capacity, production, value, consumption, status (2013-2017) and forecast (2018-2025);Focuses on the key Digital Offset Printing Plate 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 Digital Offset Printing Plate 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 StakeholdersDigital Offset Printing Plate ManufacturersDigital Offset Printing Plate Distributors/Traders/WholesalersDigital Offset Printing Plate Subcomponent ManufacturersIndustry AssociationDownstream VendorsAbout Us: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.Contact Us:1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Rupture Disc Market Outlook with Company Profiles  BS&B, Fike, Halma, REMBE, Donadon SDD, CDC, Pentair, ZOOK and Dalian Ligong and More

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A rupture disc, also sometimes known as a bursting disc or disc diaphragm is a mechanical component that prevents potential damage due to over pressurization in pressure vessels, pipes, ducts and other vacuum equipment.Rupture disc is a mechanical component that prevents potential damage due to over pressurization in pressure vessels, pipes, ducts and other vacuum equipment. The types of rupture disc mainly include positive arch rupture disc, anti-arch rupture disc, flat type rupture disc and others type.Request a sample copy of this research report:Germany is the largest consumer of rupture disc in Europe. In 2015, the consumption of rupture disc is about 69 K pcs in Germany; its proportion of total Europe sales exceeds 20%.The next large consumer is France.Over the next five years, LPI(LP Information) projects that Rupture Disc will register a xx% CAGR in terms of revenue, reach US$ xx million by 2023, from US$ xx million in 2017.This report presents a comprehensive overview, market shares, and growth opportunities of Rupture Disc market by product type, application, key manufacturers and key regions.To calculate the market size, LP Information considers value and volume generated from the sales of the following segments. Segmentation by product type are Positive Arch Rupture Disc, Anti-arch Rupture Disc, Flat Type Rupture Disc and Others. Also, segmentation by application Oil&Gas, Chemical, Aerospace, Pharmaceutical and Others.Get a discount of this research report:The report also presents the market competition landscape and a corresponding detailed analysis of the major vendor/manufacturers in the market. The key manufacturers covered in this report such as BS&B, Fike, Halma, REMBE, Donadon SDD, CDC, Pentair, ZOOK and Dalian Ligong.Related Report:Global Brake Disc Market by Manufacturers, Regions, Type and Application, Forecast to 2023This report focuses on the Brake Disc in global market, especially in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa. This report categorizes the market based on manufacturers, regions, type and application.The worldwide market for Brake Disc is expected to grow at a CAGR of roughly 5.1% over the next five years, will reach 440 million US$ in 2023, from 330 million US$ in 2017, according to a new GIR (Global Info Research) study.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report covers Brembo, Aisin Seiki, Kiriu, Bocsh, ZF TRW, Continental, AC delco, TEXTAR, Winhere, Accuride Gunite, Remsa, Lpr Break and EBC Brakes.Read More:About Us:Research Beam is a high end and wide online market for market research reports that contain detailed and rational market research. Research Beam is a one stop report destination that offers clients well drafted and accurately analyzed report with insightful data.We 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Global Sulphite Ammonia Caramel Market 2018: Share, Trends, Analysis, Growth, Sales, Demand, Research, Survey and Industry Forecast to 2028

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The sulphite ammonia caramel is pale-yellow to a dark brown liquid prepared by the controlled heating of sugar in presence of ammonium sulphite. This is one of the most widely used coloring agents. In addition, it has very mild flavor and aroma which makes them suitable for the applications such as soft drink and other carbonated beverages, baked goods, coffee, chocolate syrup, pet foods, sauces, soups and others flavoring. Sulphite ammonia caramel is the most widely produced caramel color and is commonly found in colas. Sulphite ammonia caramel is also called as soft-drink caramel or beverage caramel due to its extensive use in the beverage industry. Sulphite ammonia caramel is added in food and beverage to make them more appealing to consumers, and allow the consumers to identify what taste to expect from a product. Sulphite ammonia caramel is proven to be safe, legally permitted, stable and effective in food and beverage applications.Request ToC of Report @Sulphite Ammonia Caramel Market: DynamicsSulphite ammonia caramel is the most versatile coloring agent in terms of application and therefore it is one of the most widely consumed coloring ingredients in the world. Color has always played a vital role in food selection and acceptance. The addition of sulphite ammonia caramel in food and beverage products make up for the color that may be lost during processing, provide the products sweet flavor and help reduce batch-to-batch color variation. Thus, the sulphite ammonia caramel market is expected to grow on the back of rising food and beverage industry. Many bakers use sulphite ammonia caramels as a nifty tool for designing visually appealing baked products, as it provides tannish yellow, reddish brown, and nearly black color to the products. This factor anticipates contributing to the global sulphite ammonia market. The extensive use of sulphite ammonia caramel in soft drink and alcoholic beverage is expected to drive the global sulphite ammonia caramel market. Its excellent properties such as water solubility, good stability in alcohol, tannin, and acid-rich environment continue to enlarge its applications in beverage industry contributing to the global sulphite ammonia caramel market. Powder form segment of sulphite ammonia caramel is anticipated to witness the highest sales during the forecast period. Its characteristics such as easy handling, longer shelf life, and performance in dry mixes make them suitable for a range of applications which ultimately fuels the global sulphite ammonia caramel market.The demand for the sulphite ammonia caramel is projected to be high in the North America region which accounts for the largest share in global sulphite ammonia caramel market. The demand in this region is high, particularly for beverage, bakery & confectionery applications. The Western European region holds a significant share of sulphite ammonia caramel market. Wafer sticks containing sulphite ammonia caramel are a common application of sulphite ammonia caramel found in Western Europe region. In APEJ, the demand for the sulphite ammonia caramel exceeds in sauces and seasoning than for beverage. The MEA is likely to witness significant positive growth of sulphite ammonia caramel market during the forecast period.Sulphite Ammonia Caramel Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players operating in the global sulphite ammonia caramel market are listed below: KF Specialty Ingredients Hawkins Watts Australia Nigay SAS Sethness Caramel Color D. Williamson & Co., Inc. Sensient Technologies Corporation Aarkay Food Products Ltd. Bakels Worldwide Metarom, a.s.To Know More About Report Click @Brief Approach to Research:Our analysis will follow a modeling-based approach and triangulation methodology to estimate data covered in this report. A detailed market understanding and assessment of the applications, types, forms, and end uses of the product segments covered in the study is followed by carrying out a demand-side approach to estimate the sales of target product segments, which is then cross-referenced with a supply-side assessment of value generated over a pre-defined period. The statistics and data are collected at a regional level, consolidated and synthesized at a global level to estimate the overall market size.Sulphite Ammonia Caramel Market Report Highlights:Some of the key data points covered in our report include: An overview of the sulphite ammonia caramel market including background and evolution Macroeconomic factors affecting the sulphite ammonia caramel market and its potential Market dynamics such as drivers, challenges, and trends in the sulphite ammonia caramel market Detailed value chain analysis of the sulphite ammonia caramel market The cost structure of the products and segments covered in the study of the sulphite ammonia caramel market In-depth pricing analysis, by key product segments, regions and by major market participants in the sulphite ammonia caramel market Analysis of supply and demand, such as top producing and consuming geographies, imports/exports, and overall trade scenario Analysis of the market structure, including a tier-wise categorization of key market participants in sulphite ammonia caramel market Competitive landscape of the market, including detailed profiles of the top players of sulphite ammonia caramel marketAbout Fact.MRFact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized Food & Beverages 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 UsFact.MR11140 Rockville PikeSuite 400Rockville, MD 20852United StatesEmail: sales@factmr.comGlobal Off-The-Road Tyre Market Research Report 2018 - Continental, Alliance Tire Group, BKT, Guizhou Tire, Linglong Tire

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"The Latest Research Report Global Off-The-Road Tyre Market Research Report 2018 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"The main objective of this report is to aid the user in understanding the market as a whole, its definitions, segmentation, market potential, influential trends, and the barriers that it is facing. Meticulous research and analysis were an important part of the report preparation. Those reading the report will be able to get a detailed understanding about the market. Industry experts have verified and checked the data and information that have been taken from credible sources like websites, annual reports of companies, journals, and other resources. In order give the facts and data a pictorial form, diagrams, graphs, pie charts, and other representations have been used. That augments the visual appeal of the report and makes understanding it much easier.This report studies the Off-The-Road Tyre market status and outlook of global and major regions, from angles of manufacturers, regions, product types and end industries; this report analyzes the top manufacturers in global and major regions, and splits the Off-The-Road Tyre market by product type and applications/end industries.The global Off-The-Road Tyre market is valued at 11893 million USD in 2017 and is expected to reach 14004 million USD by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of 2.76% between 2017 and 2022.Get Sample Copy of this report @The major players in global Off-The-Road Tyre market includeMichelinBridgestoneGoodyearTitanYokohama TireChina National Tyre & RubberContinentalAlliance Tire GroupBKTGuizhou TireLinglong TireApolloPirelliPrinx ChengshanDouble Coin HoldingsTriangleZhongce RubberFujian Haian RubberShandong Taishan TyreShandong YinbaoDoublestarJK TyreEurotireHawk International RubberTechking TiresGeographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Off-The-Road Tyre in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeAsia-PacificLatin AmericaMideast & AfricaOn the basis of product, the Off-The-Road Tyre market is primarily split intoRim Diameter ?29 inch29 inch?Rim Diameter?39 inch39 inch?Rim Diameter?49 inchRim Diameter ?49 inchOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report coversConstructionMiningPortAgriculturalOtherTable of Contents1 Off-The-Road Tyre Market Overview 11.1 Product Overview and Scope of Off-The-Road Tyre 11.2 Off-The-Road Tyre Segment by Types (Product Category) 11.3 Global Off-The-Road Tyre Segment by Applications 31.3.1 Global Off-The-Road Tyre Consumption (K Units) Comparison by Applications (2012-2017) 31.3.2 Construction 41.3.3 Mining 51.3.4 Port 61.3.5 Agricultural 71.4 Global Off-The-Road Tyre Market by Regions (2012-2022) 81.4.1 Global Off-The-Road Tyre Market Size and Growth Rate Comparison by Regions (2012-2022) 81.4.2 North America Off-The-Road Tyre Status and Prospect (2012-2022) 91.4.3 Europe Off-The-Road Tyre Status and Prospect (2012-2022) 101.4.4 Asia-Pacific Off-The-Road Tyre Status and Prospect (2012-2022) 111.4.5 Latin America Off-The-Road Tyre Status and Prospect (2012-2022) 121.4.6 Mideast & Africa Off-The-Road Tyre Status and Prospect (2012-2022) 131.5 Global Off-The-Road Tyre Market Size (2012-2022) 141.5.1 Global Off-The-Road Tyre Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022) 141.5.2 Global Off-The-Road Tyre Demand (K Units) Status and Outlook (2012-2022) 152 Global Off-The-Road Tyre Market Competition by Manufacturers 172.1 Global Off-The-Road Tyre Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015-2017) 172.2 Global Off-The-Road Tyre Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015-2017) 202.3 Global Off-The-Road Tyre Average Price and Gross Margin by Manufacturers (2015-2017) 23Request For TOC Report @3 Global Off-The-Road Tyre Demand by Regions (2012-2017) 283.1 Global Off-The-Road Tyre Demand (K Units) and Market Share by Regions (2012-2017) 283.2 Global Off-The-Road Tyre Revenue and Market Share by Regions (2012-2017) 303.3 Global Off-The-Road Tyre Demand, Revenue, and Price (2012-2017) 323.4 North America Off-The-Road Tyre Demand (2012-2017) 333.4.1 North America Off-The-Road Tyre Demand (K Units) and Growth Rate (2012-2017) 333.4.2 North America Off-The-Road Tyre Demand (K Units), Revenue (Million USD) and Price (USD/Unit) (2012-2017) 333.5 Europe Off-The-Road Tyre Demand (2012-2017) 343.5.1 Europe Off-The-Road Tyre Demand (K Units) and Growth Rate (2012-2017) 343.5.2 Europe Off-The-Road Tyre Demand (K Units), Revenue (Million USD) and Price (USD/Unit) (2012-2017) 353.6 Asia-Pacific Off-The-Road Tyre Demand (2012-2017) 363.6.1 Asia-Pacific Off-The-Road Tyre Demand (K Units) and Growth Rate (2012-2017) 363.6.2 Asia-Pacific Off-The-Road Tyre Demand (K Units), Revenue (Million USD) and Price (USD/Unit) (2012-2017) 363.7 Latin America Off-The-Road Tyre Demand (2012-2017) 373.7.1 Latin America Off-The-Road Tyre Demand (K Units) and Growth Rate (2012-2017) 373.7.2 Latin America Off-The-Road Tyre Demand (K Units), Revenue (Million USD) and Price (USD/Unit) (2012-2017) 383.8 Mideast & Africa Off-The-Road Tyre Demand (2012-2017) 393.8.1 Mideast & Africa Off-The-Road Tyre Demand (K Units) and Growth Rate (2012-2017) 393.8.2 Mideast & Africa Off-The-Road Tyre Demand (K Units), Revenue (Million USD) and Price (USD/Unit) (2012-2017) 404 Global Off-The-Road Tyre Production (K Units) by Regions (2012-2017) 414.1 Global Off-The-Road Tyre Production (K Units) by Regions (2012-2017) 414.2 North America Off-The-Road Tyre Production (2012-2017) 434.3 Europe Off-The-Road Tyre Production (2012-2017) 444.4 Asia (China Excluded) Off-The-Road Tyre Production (2012-2017) 454.5 China Off-The-Road Tyre Production (2012-2017) 465 Global Off-The-Road Tyre Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Types 475.1 Global Off-The-Road Tyre Sales and Market Share by Types (2012-2017) 475.2 Global Off-The-Road Tyre Revenue and Market Share by Types (2012-2017) 495.3 Global Off-The-Road Tyre Price by Type (2012-2017) 50About 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Research Report on China Automobile Tire Market Size, Share, Growth and Forecasts 2018-2022

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"The Latest Research Report Research Report on Automobile Tire Industry in China, 2018-2022 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"Demand for automobile tires can be classified into OEM demand from whole-vehicle manufacturing and replacement demand from automobile aftermarket. In developed countries, there is scarce potential for growth of new automobile sales due to the high market saturation. Therefore, the demand of aftermarket becomes the major driving force of the tire industry. CRI analyzes that the CAGR of global production volume of automobiles was approximately 3.1% between 2012 and 2016. During the same period, the CAGR of vehicle reserve volume was 3.9%. The global vehicle reserve volume was 1.33 billion in 2016 and it is expected to reach 1.59 billion in 2021.According to CRI, China's automobile industry has developed rapidly since the access to WTO. China has been the world's largest automobile manufacturer and distributor for 9 years from 2009 to 2017. In the meanwhile, China is as well the world's largest producer and exporter of automobile tires. It produced 6.1 million tires in total in 2016.CRI figures out two factors that drive automobile tire industry in China: domestic market and export demand. On the one hand, both production volume and reserve volume of automobiles continue to grow in China. In 2016, the production volume of automobiles approached 28.12 million, representing a CAGR of 9.9% from 2012 to 2016. In the same year, the automobile reserve volume exceeded 1.9 million, representing a CAGR of 15% from 2012 to 2016. These two figures were far higher than global average figures.Get Sample Copy of this report @On the other hand, the remarkable cost advantage of Chinese tires over international competitors is correlated with an upward trend of tire export from China. In 2016, the export volume of Chinese automobile tires was 3.31 million and the export value was USD 11.46 billion. Continuous increases in the export of Chinese tires have led to huge international trade barriers faced by Chinese tire export enterprises. However, the cost advantage of Chinese tires is favorable to maintain the export volume at a high level in a short time.CRI states that China has established an integrated tire industry chain. Except for natural rubber mainly relying on import, there are a large number of manufacturers of other raw materials of tires such as synthetic rubber, steel cord and carbon black in China. Chinese enterprises are also competitive in producing tire molds, manufacturing machines, etc. Some major global tire manufacturers have entered China and they perceive China as an important global production base. Nowadays in China, over half of the domestic tire market is dominated by foreign-invested enterprises. Moreover, these foreign-invested enterprises occupy most market shares of OEM for whole vehicles that are highly profitable.According to incomplete statistics by CRI, the number of Chinese tire manufacturers will have exceeded 500 by the end of 2017, with a YoY decrease in 2016. A majority of domestic tire manufacturers are characterized by small-scale enterprises that produce in a small volume, facing risks of closing down or being acquired. In order to avoid increasing domestic labor costs and trade barriers, some domestic tire manufacturers start to acquire tire enterprises or establish plants overseas. A survey by CRI demonstrates that enterprises such as Sailun Jinyu Co., Ltd., Linglong Group, Zhongce Rubber Co., Ltd. and Double Coin Holdings Ltd. have established tire plants in Thailand, Vietnam, etc.Although China has been the world's largest new automobile market since 2008, automobile reserves per capita remain low, with the automobile reserve volume being less than 200 per thousand persons and lower than the figure of 600-900 per thousand persons in developed courtiers. It is estimated that China's annual economic growth rate will remain over 6% from 2018 to 2022. The production and sales volume will present an annual growth rate at about 5%. Similarly, the automobile reserve volume will continue to climb, stimulating domestic demand for tires.At present, the tire industry in China is faced with increasing expenditure on environmental protection, overcapacity, increasing labor costs, etc. But the integrated upstream and downstream industry chain makes Chinese tire manufacturers superior to other competitors from India and other developing countries in Southeast Asia. CRI analyzes that during 2018 and 2022, the domestic demand and export of China's tire industry will continue to increase, driving the tire manufacturing industry to grow.Readers can obtain the following information or more through this report:Analysis on China Tire Industry ChainAnalysis on Supply and Demand of Tires in China, 2012-2017Analysis on Markets of Rubber, Carbon Black and Steel CordCompetition Status of China Tire IndustryAnalysis on Major Global and Chinese Tire ManufacturersImport and Export of China's TiresTrade Barriers against Tires Exported from ChinaDriving Forces and Market Opportunities in China Tire Industry, 2018-2022Risks and Challenges Faced by China Tire Industry, 2018-2022Forecast on Supply and Demand of China Tire Industry, 2018-2022Table of Content1 Relevant Concept of Automobile Tire Industry1.1 Definition and Classification of Automobile Tires1.1.1 Definition1.1.2 Classification1.2 Analysis on Automobile Tire Manufacturing Industry Chain in China1.3 Manufacturing Process of Automobile TiresRequest For TOC Report @2 Development Environment of Automobile Tire Industry in China, 2012-20172.1 Economic Environment2.1.1 Global Economy2.1.2 Chinese Economy2.1 Policy Environment2.2.1 Relevant Policies in Automobile Industry in China2.2.2 Relevant Policies in Tire Manufacturing Industry in China2.2 Development Status of Automobile Industry in China2.2.1 Production and Sales Status of Automobiles2.2.2 Vehicle Reserve Volume2.3 Development Status of Global Automobile Industry2.3.1 Production and Sales Status of Automobiles2.3.2 Vehicle Reserve Volume3 Development Status of Global Automobile Tire Industry, 2012-20173.1 Overview of Industry Development3.2 Market Overview4 Development Status of Automobile Tire Industry in China, 2012-20174.1 Development of Automobile Tire Industry in China4.2 Analysis on Automobile Tire Industry Chain in China4.2.1 Rubber4.2.2 Carbon Black4.2.3 Steel Cord4.3 Supply Status of Automobile Tires in China4.3.1 Analysis on Production Capacity of Automobile Tires in China4.3.2 Production Volume of Automobile Tires in China4.4 Demand Status of Automobile Tires in China4.4.1 Overall Demand4.4.2 Demand of OEM (Vehicle Manufacturing) for Tires4.4.3 Demand of Aftermarket for Tires4.5 Import and Export Status of Automobile Tires in China4.5.1 Import of Automobile Tires4.5.2 Export of Automobile Tires4.6 Overseas Layout of Chinese Automobile Tire ManufacturersAbout 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Metabolic Bio-marker Testing Market to Exceed Industry Expectation In Coming Years Growing at CAGR of 11% Forecast 2018-2023 [PDF]

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Global Metabolic Bio-marker Testing Overview:Metabolic biomarker testing is the process of identification and quantification of metabolites in a biological system. The steps involved in metabolic biomarker analysis are profiling, identification, quantification, and interpretation. Most healthcare professionals use diagnostic tests to clarify and support their clinical decision making.There is an increasing demand for personalized medicines in the European and Americas region, the important factors for the growth of the global metabolic biomarker testing market. Furthermore, the rising need for toxicology technologies, the increasing government research funding and initiatives, escalated R&D activities across various sectors are fueling the market growth worldwide.The recent technological advancement is the key strategy implemented by major players to expand their reach in the global market and fortify their product portfolio. For instance, in November 2016, Metabolon, Inc. launched its novel product the Meta IMD test for diagnosing any hereditary metabolic issues. Moreover, in May 2016, Agilent Technologies Inc. global launch of the Agilent 5110 ICP-OES, an atomic spectroscopy.Furthermore, the factors such as the rising demand for personalized medicine, increasing need for accurate diagnosis of diseases, increasing pharmaceutical and biotech R&D expenditure, huge investments by government & private players in the R&D are driving the market growth. Lack of awareness of metabolic biomarker and lack of skilled personnel to conduct these procedure are likely to restrain the market growth over the forecast period.The global metabolic biomarker testing market is expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 11% during the forecast period 2017-2023.Get Exclusive Sample Copy of Metabolic Biomarker Testing @Market Segmentation:The global metabolic biomarker testing market is segmented on the basis of techniques, indications, application, and end user.On the basis of the techniques, the global metabolic biomarker testing market is segmented into separation techniques, detection techniques. The separation techniques is categorized into liquid chromatography, gas chromatography, capillary chromatography. Moreover, the liquid chromatography segment is classified into high performance liquid chromatography, ultra performance liquid chromatography. Furthermore, detection techniques is divided into mass spectrometry, multivariate analysis, and spectroscopy. Under detection techniques, spectroscopy is further classified into nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopyOn the basis of the indication, the global metabolic biomarker testing market is segmented into cancer, cardiovascular disorders, neurological disorders, inborn errors of metabolism, and others.On the basis of the application, the global metabolic biomarker testing market is segmented into drug discovery or drug assessment, nutrigenomics, toxicology testing, personalized medicine, functional genomics, and othersOn the basis of the end user, the global metabolic biomarker testing market is segmented into pharma & biotech companies, diagnostic tool companies, healthcare it/big data companies, clinical laboratories, and others.Leading Player in Metabolic Biomarker Testing Market:Agilent Technologies, Inc. (U.S.), Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (U.S.), Bruker Corporation (U.S.), Danaher Corporation (U.S.), Waters Corporation (U.S.), Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (U.S.), Shimadzu Corporation (Japan), Biocrates Life Sciences AG (Austria), Human Metabolome Technologies Inc. (Japan), LECO Corporation (U.S.), and Metabolon Inc. (U.S.), and others.Regional Analysis:The Americas region is responsible for the largest market share of the global metabolic biomarker testing market owing to the rising incidence of genetic abnormalities, governmental support for the research and development, and presence of sophisticated infrastructure. Moreover, North America is anticipated to dominate the market over the forecast period. This growth can be imputed to the rising disposable income of the population and increasing demand for personalized medicine of global metabolic biomarker market for the next few years.The European market has boost the market growth owing to the rising awareness about nutritional products, increasing numbers of clinical trials, and rapid growth of data analysis software for metabolic biomarker are the factors to propel the growth of this market. The U.K contributed to huge market share followed by Germany and Italy owing to a huge patient population in Europe.Asia Pacific is witnessing the fastest growth in the global metabolic biomarker testing market due to the rising awareness about genetic disorder and advances in the medical fields are driving the market growth.The Middle East & Africa are expected to experience limited growth due to less demand for genetic testing. The Middle East is growing significantly as compared to the African metabolic biomarker testing market owing to a rise in the number of chronic disease cases, and novel genetic testing methods.Get Amazing Discount @Table of Content1. 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 Restraints4.3 Opportunities4.4 Challenges4.5 Macroeconomic Indicators4.6 Technology Trends & AssessmentNeed More Information Ask any Queries to Experts @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North America Cancer Diagnostics Market Analysis by Technology, Application with Top Key Players Analysis GE Healthcare, Siemens Healthineers, Becton Dickinson, Hologic, Thermo Fisher Scientific

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North America Cancer Diagnostics Market report describes the development of the industry by upstream & downstream, industry overall and development, key companies, as well as type segment & market application and so on, and makes a scientific prediction for the development industry prospects on the basis of analysis, finally, analyzes opportunities for investment in the industry at the end of the report.The major factors driving the growth of this market are the technological advancement in the field of early detection of cancer and high investment in cancer research by North America. These factors increase the demand for cancer diagnostic products.Ask for Free Sample Report Visit @North America cancer diagnostics is expected to reach USD 17.72 billion by 2024 from USD 7.59 billion in 2016, at a CAGR of 11.2% in the forecast period 2017 to 2024. The new market report contains data for historic years 2015, the base year of calculation is 2016 and the forecast period is 2017 to 2024.Customize Report of North America Cancer Diagnostics Market Also Available On Request (As per Requirement) Get 10% Discount on ReportReport Overview: On the basis of technology, North America cancer diagnostics market is segmented into 2 types,platform basedinstrument based.In 2017, the cancer diagnostics instrument based segment is expected to dominate the market with a share of 69.4%Cancer diagnostics platform based market is segmented intopolymerase chain reaction (PCR),in situ hybridization (ISH),immunohistochemistry (IHC),next generation sequencing (NGS),DNA microarrays,flow cytometry and others.Cancer diagnostics instrument based market is segmented intoimaging andbiopsy.Imaging is further segmented intomagnetic resonance imaging (MRI),computed tomography (CT),positron emission tomographycomputed tomography (PET-CT),mammography and ultrasound. On the basis of application, the market is segmented intolung cancer,breast cancer,colorectal cancer,melanoma and others.Request for TOC @TABLE OF CONTENTS1. INTRODUCTION1.1. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY1.2. MARKET DEFINITION1.3. OVERVIEW OF NORTH AMERICA CANCER DIAGNOSTICS MARKET1.4. CURRENCY AND PRICING1.5. LIMITATION1.6. MARKETS COVERED2. MARKET SEGMENTATION3. MARKET OVERVIEW3.1. DRIVERS3.2. RESTRAINTS3.3. OPPORTUNITIES3.4. CHALLENGES4. PREMIUM INSIGHTS5. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY6. NORTH AMERICA CANCER DIAGNOSTICS MARKET, BY TECHNOLOGY7. NORTH AMERICA CANCER DIAGNOSTICS MARKET, BY APPLICATION8. NORTH AMERICA CANCER DIAGNOSTICS MARKET, BY GEOGRAPHY9. NORTH AMERICA CANCER DIAGNOSTICS MARKET, COMPANY LANDSCAPE9.1. COMPANY SHARE ANALYSIS: NORTH AMERICA CANCER DIAGNOSTICS IMAGING MARKET10. COMPANY PROFILES11. RELATED REPORTSFor Detail TOC Visit @Note: If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.About Data Bridge Market Research:Data Bridge Market Research set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavors to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Contact:Data Bridge Market ResearchTel: +1-888-387-2818Email: sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.comCancer Diagnostics Market Expanding In NGS Industry By 2018 With Siemens Healthcare Following By Hologic, Inc, Becton, Dickinson and Company. Thermo Fisher and Many More

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healthcare market research Industry Forecasting cancer diagnostics market research methods By types of market, survey , cancer diagnostics Industrial Analysis, Market Research Analysis, Business Risk Analysis, growth strategy, market survey, market statistics, top market companies, research project, brand research, consumer marketing, advertising Study, consultant Contribution, Deep market research and companies in Globe to reliefs collaboration.The new cancer diagnostics market report contains data for historic years 2015, the base year of calculation is 2016 and the forecast period is 2017 to 2024. Global Cancer Diagnostics Market is expected to reach USD 40.10 billion by 2024 from USD 16.55 billion in 2016, at a CAGR of 11.7% in the forecast period 2017 to 2024.Global Cancer Diagnostics Market Analysis By Technology (ELISA, ELFA, PCR, NGS, Immunohistochemistry, Microarray, Imaging (MRI, CT, PET, Ultrasound, Mammography), Biopsy), By Application (Breast Cancer, Lung Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Melonoma) And By Geography (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Rest of the World) With Trends and Forecast to 2024Get Free Sample Research Report:Key Points:GE Healthcare is going to dominate the cancer diagnostics market, by imaging following with Siemens Healthcare GmbH along with others such as Hologic, Inc, Becton, Dickinson & Company. Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. is going to dominate the cancer diagnostics market, by platform based following with Illumina, Inc. along with others such as Roche Diagnostics, Abbott Laboratories, Inc. Qiagen. Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) market is growing with the highest CAGR. Globally biopsy is driving the market with highest market share. Magnetic Resonance Imaging(MRI) is dominating the cancer diagnostics imaging market.Market Segmentation:The global cancer diagnostics market is segmented on the basis of technology, application and geography. The global cancer diagnostics market is segmented into 2 types, namely platform based and instrument based. In 2017, the cancer diagnostics instrument based segment is expected to dominate the market with a share of 68.8% and is expected to continue this trend till 2024.Cancer diagnostics platform based market is segmented into Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), In Situ Hybridization (ISH), Immunohistochemistry (IHC), Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), DNA microarrays, flow cytometry and others. Cancer Diagnostics instrument based market is segmented into imaging and biopsy. Imaging is further segmented into Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Computed Tomography (CT), Positron Emission Tomography- Computed Tomography (PET-CT), mammography and ultrasound.On the basis of application, the market is segmented into lung cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, melanoma and others.Key Drivers:Some of the major factors driving the market for cancer diagnostics market are growing ageing population worldwide, government initiatives for funding and awareness about cancer. These factors increase the demand for cancer diagnostics products. Increasing prevalence of cancer, key players focusing are on strategic decisions and technological advancements are the major factors driving the growth of the cancer diagnostics market. Stringent regulations imposed by the international and local authorities and shortage of the skilled and trained professionals are the factors which may hinder the growth of this market. Many companies are increasingly focusing on Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and biopsy products in order to strengthen their product portfolios in the cancer diagnostics market. Increasing demand for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) will drive the market in future.Want Full Report? Enquire Here:TABLE OF CONTENTS1. INTRODUCTION1.1. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY1.2. MARKET DEFINITION1.3. OVERVIEW OF GLOBAL CANCER DIAGNOSTICS MARKET1.4. CURRENCY AND PRICING1.5. LIMITATION1.6. MARKETS COVERED2. MARKET SEGMENTATION2.1. MARKETS COVERED2.2. GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE2.3. YEARS CONSIDERED FOR THE STUDY2.4. CURRENCY AND PRICING2.5. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY2.6. PRIMARY INTERVIEWS WITH KEY OPINION LEADERS2.7. SECONDARY SOURCES2.8. ASSUMPTIONS3. MARKET OVERVIEW3.1. DRIVERS3.2. RESTRAINTS3.3. OPPORTUNITIES3.4. CHALLENGES4. PREMIUM INSIGHTS5. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY6. GLOBAL CANCER DIAGNOSTICS MARKET, BY TECHNOLOGY6.1. OVERVIEW6.2. PLATFORM BASED6.3. INSTRUMENT BASED7. GLOBAL CANCER DIAGNOSTICS MARKET, BY APPLICATION7.1. OVERVIEW7.2. LUNG CANCER7.3. BREAST CANCER7.4. COLORECTAL CANCER7.5. MELANOMA7.6. OTHERS8. GLOBAL CANCER DIAGNOSTICS MARKET, BY GEOGRAPHY8.1. OVERVIEW8.2. NORTH AMERICA CANCER DIAGNOSTICS MARKETFor TOC or Buy Full Report, Visit:About UsData Bridge set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with an unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavors to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Data Bridge adepts in creating satisfied clients who reckon upon our services and rely on our hard work with certitude. For Customization and Getting Discount on Report by emailing sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.com . We are content with our glorious 99.9 % client satisfying rate.Contact UsData Bridge Market ResearchToll Free: +1-888-387-2818Mail: sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.comGlobal Agrochemical Sales Market 2018 : Production, Capacity Utilization, Demand, Value Chain and Industry Growth

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Agrochemical Sales Market Report 2018" to its huge collection of research reports.This report studies the global Agrochemical market status and forecast, categorizes the global Agrochemical 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).Request Sample Copy of Report @Agrochemicals widely involve fertilizers, pesticides, hormones and plant growth regulators (PGR) that enable plant and soil protection, improve the yield, maintain and improve the growth process of plants.Shrinking arable land due to rapid industrialization and population explosion has resulted in increased use of agrochemicals, such as fertilizers and plant growth regulators, further triggering the market growth. The growing demand for crops as animal fodder and fiber in the textile industry has also provided the necessary boost to the agrochemicals industry.Fertilizers dominated the agrochemicals market in 2017. Nitrogenous and phosphate fertilizers were most widely used due to their easy availability and low prices. However, the new trend of organic farming, which involves complete elimination of chemical-based fertilizers, has increased the demand for biofertilizers.The demand for agrochemicals is expected to be the highest in Asia Pacific. The region is known for its agro-based countries such as India, Sri Lanka, and China, which are majorly dependent on agriculture and related industries for economic growth.The global Agrochemical market is valued at 223700 million US$ in 2017 and will reach 308400 million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of 4.1% during 2018-2025.The major players covered in this reportBayer Crop ScienceBASFAgriumCF Industries HoldingsPotash Corporation of SaskatchewanYara InternationalMonsanto CompanyE.I. Du Pont De Nemours & CompanyDow AgroSciences LLCSyngenta AG.Geographically, this report studies the key regions, focuses on product sales, value, market share and growth opportunity in these regions, coveringUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaWe can also provide the customized separate regional or country-level reports, for the following regions: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 intoFertilizersCrop Protection ChemicalsPlant Growth RegulatorsOthersGet Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @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, includingCereals & GrainsOilseeds & PulsesFruits & VegetablesOthersThe study objectives of this report are:To analyze and study the global Agrochemical 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 Agrochemical 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 Agrochemical 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 StakeholdersAgrochemical ManufacturersAgrochemical Distributors/Traders/WholesalersAgrochemical Subcomponent ManufacturersIndustry AssociationDownstream VendorsBrowse Detail Report @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: +1-518-621-2074For More Reports Visit @Intelligent PDU Market 2018 - Research on Top Industry Players: The Siemon Company, LEGRAND.COM, Cyber Switching Inc, P D U Expert UK Ltd, Raritan, Others

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The Global Intelligent PDU Market research report 2018-2025 added by Data Bridge Market Research into their research database. This Research Report gives Market growth, size, share, trends, opportunities and forecast. Global Intelligent PDU Market research report provides the newest industry data revenue and, allowing you to identify the market segmentation and end users driving factor which is influenced on the business.Global Intelligent PDU Market competition by top players include - Cyber Power Systems (US), Raritan (US), Schneider Electric (France), Vertiv (US), Eaton (Ireland), The Siemon Company (U.S.), LEGRAND.COM(France), TIM Infratech(India), CYBER SWITCHING(U.S.), PDU Experts (U.K. ), NETRACK(India), Elcom International(India), Geist(U.S.), powertekpdus(Spain)among others.Get Free Sample Copy of Report atGlobal Intelligent PDU Market is expected to reach USD 5.58 billion by 2025, from USD 1.25 billion in 2017, growing at a CAGR of 8.3% during the forecast period of 2018 to 2025. The upcoming market report contains data for historic year 2016, the base year of calculation is 2017 and the forecast period is 2018 to 2025.Based on geography, North America Europe Asia-Pacific South America Middle East and AfricaTo Avail 10% Discount On This Report Mail Us on :-sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.com Based on type, the global intelligent PDU market is segmented in metered, monitored, automatic transfer switch. Based on power phase, the global intelligent PDU market is segmented in single phase, three phases. Based on application, the global intelligent PDU market is segmented in datacentres, industrial power solutions and VoIP phone systems.To Inquire Regarding This Report atReason to Buy- Save and reduce time carrying out entry-level research by identifying the growth, size, leading players and segments in the Global Intelligent PDU 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 Global Intelligent PDU 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.Browse Complete Report atNote: If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.About Us:Data Bridge Market Research set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavors to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Contact Us:Data Bridge Market ResearchTel: +1-888-387-2818Email: sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.comGaN Power Device Latest Advancements & Market Outlook 2018 to 2025

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Gallium nitride (GaN) compound is a hard semiconductor material featuring a wide band gap (energy gap) of 3.4 electronvolts (eV) with high heat capacity and thermal conductivity. GaN finds significant applications in power devices used in electrical energy control systems and conversions including telecommunication, industrial, automotive, and high RF antennas and radar in aerospace and defense technologies are expected to provide opportunities for growth of the GaN market over the forecast period.Download PDF To explore detail study @High energy efficiency loss in power devices is primarily attributed to conduction losses due to high device resistance and switching transitions. GaN materials prevent such energy loss, as they are featured with high breakdown voltage and low conduction resistance, in turn enabling high-speed switching operations. GaN thus is used to ensure high efficiency of operations in electrical systems. Moreover, low conduction resistance of GaN, allows the material compound to sustain high energy application in compact sizes, enabling higher miniaturization of the circuits. These significant benefits of GaN over other alternatives such as silicon transistors that feature relatively larger chip area to enhance their conductivity, are expected to fuel the overall GaN power device market.Substantial growth of end-use verticals is expected to boost market growthAdvancements in technology related to GaN power devices are enhancing the computational power of all systems, in turn boosting market growth. For instance, in December 2017, Yuji Zhao, an electrical and computer expert from Arizona State University received a three year grant of US$ 750,000 from National Aeronautics and Space Administrations (NASA) Hot Operating Temperature Technology (HOTTech) program for the gallium nitride processor for applications in space. In January 2018, Corsair introduced Corsair AX1600i featuring off-the shelf efficiency, ripple suppression, noise levels, voltage regulation, and highly compact power supply unit. These two instances of technological developments are primarily based on the utilization of Gallium Nitride based materials. replacing Silicon transistors as prominently used material in the switching devices.Browse More About the Market Study @The recent past has witness high proliferation of electric vehicles and increasing adoption of electrical and electronic components in internal combustion engines for enhanced and convenient control among users. According to Coherent Market Insights, vehicle electrification technologies are expected to witness a CAGR of over 8.8% over the forecast period and be valued at over US$ 120 billion by 2025. Increasing adoption of autonomous vehicles is expected to increase the demand for efficient communication systems featuring high frequency bandwidth and robust operations. This in turn, is expected to fuel growth of the market for GaN power devices in the near future.High cost of systems featuring integration of gallium nitride components due to capital intensive nature of materials and manufacturing procedures is expected to hamper growth of the market. Moreover, GaAs components are widely used in small signal Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) and low noise amplifier (LNA). Application of gallium nitride semiconductor is projected to become mainstream component, though it will require considerable time owing to the cost factor and thus, is among the prominent growth challenges.Asia Pacific accounts for the largest population base and is also the largest market for key end-use industries, in turn, contributing to the largest consumer base of GaN power devices. According to Coherent Market Insights analysis, China and India contribute to around 35% of the global population base. Moreover, largest consumer base for automotive, consumer electronics, communication, and industrial manufacturing will provide the strongest growth prospects over the forecast period.Competitive BackgroundSome of the key players in the GaN power devices market are Cree Inc., Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) Corporation, Infineon Technologies, GaN Systems Inc., Macom, Microsemi Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Navitas Semiconductor, Qorvo, Inc., and Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation.Ask for Discount before Buying @:About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comPropylene Tetramer Market to Reflect a Holistic Expansion During 2017-2027

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Propylene Tetramer with CAS 6842-15-5 is an oligomer with a quaternary structure of four propylene units. Formed synthetically by the polymerization of propylene with phosphoric acidcatalyst, propylene tetramer is a colourless clear liquid with mild pleasant odour. Propylene tetramer is an important chemical critical for the production of various downstream chemicals. Propylene tetramer is employed as an intermediate for synthesis of a wide range of chemicals such as lube oil additives, polymerization agents, surfactants, agricultural chemicals, coatings as corrosion inhibitors due to its unsaturated double bond and high branching. Due to its versatile polymeric functionality, propylene tetramer is soluble in most organic diluters and solvents such as acetone, ethanol and ethyl ether. One of the important applications of propylene tetramers is for the manufacture of dodecyl phenol or dodecene, by the alkylation of phenol using propylene tetramer, which is primarily used as used in the production of additives for engine fuels and lubricant oils. Propylene tetramer is used for alkylation of benzene to make branched chain dodecylbenzene that is subsequently sulfonated to provide a non-biodegradable surfactant.Request For Report Sample@Global Propylene Tetramer Market: Drivers & RestraintsThe consumption and demand of propylene tetramer market is expected to grow with the increase in demand from end use industries. The recuperating oil and gas industry and thriving automobile production are expected to create significant demand for propylene tetramer owing to its extensive application in the manufacturing of lubricant additives. Likewise, increasing urbanization has led to an escalation in the demand for surfactants, which are a critical part of household chemicals such as detergents, this demand is expected to create significant opportunities for the global propylene market during the forecast period. The increasing production and consumption of fertilizers and other agricultural chemicals also contribute to the sustainable demand for propylene tetramer market. However, stringent environmental regulations regarding the utilization of non- biodegradable substances and presence of alternate chemical substitutes are expected to restrain the revenue sales of the market.Global Propylene Tetramer Market: SegmentationGlobal Propylene Tetramer Market can be segmented on the basis of application as:Oil and Fuel additivesFertilizer and herbicideSurfactants and detergentsPaint and CoatingsWater Treatment chemicalsOthersGlobal Propylene Tetramer Market: Regional OutlookIn the global propylene tetramer market, North America is a prominent consumer of propylene tetramer, which is due to the increased sales of tetramer due to its application in the lubrication and chemical surfactants and to large industrial sector. Followed by North America, Europe is also one of the major markets attributed to the high use of propylene tetramer in the lubricant industry. The demand of propylene tetramer market in North America and Europe is expected to be moderate for the forecast period owing to increasing significance of bio friendly chemicals and presence of stringent regulations restraining the production and consumption of non-bio degradable products and chemicals. However, the market dynamics is projected to shift towards Asia Pacific owing to relatively higher consumption and modest presence of environmental regulations. Consumption growth is forecasted to be most significant in Asia, followed by Middle East & Africa and South America. In Asia Pacific region, major industrial economies such as India, China and South Korea are expected to project higher growth in terms of both consumer and producer end. Middle East & Africa and Eastern Europe are estimated to participate significantly in the market dynamics of propylene tetramer owing to the escalating consumption in oil and gas sector.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC):Global Propylene Tetramer Market: Market ParticipantsExamples of some of the market participants in the global propylene tetramer market, Bayer AG E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Exxon Mobil Chemical, Shanghai Petrochemical, Dow Chemical Company, TPC Group,Chevron Oronite Company LLC, PJSC Nizhnekamskneftekhim and Qilu Petrochemical among others. The propylene tetramer market is highly fragmented and participants are focussing on both organic and inorganic expansions.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:Tuned Passive Harmonic Filters Market Effect, Growth Factors, Research and Projection

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Passive harmonic mitigation systems or devices are used for power factor correction and have several advantages such as low power losses, better system performances, and better power efficiency, in addition to low cost over active filters. However, owing to these aforementioned factors, passive filters have found extensive applications in almost every electric grid and distribution networks. These tuned passive harmonic filters have applications in various end-use industries including food, pulp & paper, refining, exploration, pharmaceuticals, large commercial spaces, electronic industries, and automotive, among others, and this is expected to present considerable growth prospects over the coming years.Download PDF To explore detail study @Increasing dependence on electric power source is expected to propel growth of the tuned passive harmonic filters marketAccording U.S. Energy Information Administrations International Energy Outlook 2016, global industrial consumption of electrical energy as a power source is expected to grow from 31.9 quadrillion British Thermal Units (Btu) in 2012 to 40.0 Btu in 2025. Moreover, OECD countries are expected to witness an annual average change of 0.7% and non-OECD countries of 1.6% in the duration of 20122040. Furthermore, increasing utilization of renewable energy sources for electricity generation is among the prominent trends gaining traction, in order to reduce environmental impacts, which is expected to fuel demand for tuned passive harmonic filters over the forecast period.Browse More About the Market Study @However, active harmonic filters (AHF) require relatively higher initial capital, and therefore are the last options for power quality correction solutions. This factor is expected to adversely affect growth of the market.Increasing demand for these filters to reduce harmonic distortions for enhancing supply efficiency and avoid system malfunctions is expected to drive growth of the marketPower systems have recurring distortions of current and voltage waveforms, owing to extensive usage of loads that produce currents with higher frequencies. Growing number of non-linear loads in conjunction with substantial surge in demand for electricity has led to introduction of large number of parameters that distort the voltage and can potentially cause malfunction, overheating, and breakdown of the systems utilized in power systems.Requirement to provide consistent supply and avoid potential damage to the end user and power systems is expected to lead to demand for these power factor correction systems and fuel growth of the tuned passive harmonic filters market. These equipment are featured with large sizes of MVAR ratings, maintenance free service, and are economically viable than synchronous condensers. It also offers many advantages for systems that require high starting power, voltage support, and protection in case of source. These features are expected to lead to high adoption of these systems over the forecast period.According to BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2017, Asia Pacific primary energy consumption in 2016 was over 42% of the global primary energy consumption in terms of million tons of oil equivalent. Moreover, the region is home to countries that include China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, and Indonesia that contribute to significant share in the global electricity being produced every year. These countries have some of the major energy intensive industrial activities, and a large population base contributing to high energy consumption. Owing to these factors, Asia Pacific passive tuned harmonic filters market is expected to witness highest growth over the forecast period.Competitive BackgroundSome of the key players in the global tuned passive harmonic filters market included Eaton Corp, ABB, Comsys AB, Schneider Electric, DELTAUS, Siemens, Crompton Greaves, Emerson Electric, Schaffner Holding, and MTE Corporation.Ask for Discount before Buying @:About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702Email: sales@coherentmarketinsights.comConstruction Chemicals Market : India Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast

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Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "India Market Study on Construction Chemicals: Initiatives such as Housing for All Expected to Boost Demand in the Residential Sector" to its huge collection of research reports.Recycle and reuse practices are impacting the sales of virgin materials, resulting into lesser dependency on volume-driven growth. New materials are showcasing potential for driving value-based growth, but chemical companies are still some time away from achieving voluminous production, while maintaining high quality at the same time. Barring few exceptions, a majority of players are still prioritizing short-term volume growth over long-term value growth. Pressure on improving bottom-line is influencing manufacturers to improve efficiency and reduce operational costs. The impact of value-driven growth may not be visible in the short-term, but long-term outlook remains in favor of a balanced approach between value and volume.Request Sample Copy of Report @Manufacturers are under increasing pressure to incorporate digital solutions in their offerings. Forward-thinking manufacturers are investing in technology to reduce human interference and streamline key operational aspects such as ordering and shipping. Resonating its influence over every industry, Internet of Things (IoT) has the potential to transform and disrupt the chemical sector. Connectivity through IoT devices is gaining traction, whereas product-level sensors on dispensing equipment and barrels are helping manufacturers track their consignments digitally. Through assessment of long-term benefits, chemical companies are capitalizing on digitization by adopting digital platforms & processes that eliminate human error in profit-associated operations.Manufacturers continue seeking low-priced feedstock in a bid to marginally reduce pre-production costs. Industry leaders are joining forces to replace fossil fuel-derived feedstock with bio-based alternatives. However, concerns related to producing affordable and sustainable feedstock at mass scale remains a challenge. Access to quality and affordable feedstock will continue to remain a focus area for manufacturers. Chemical manufacturing processes are running on limited energy, while volume of feedstock is getting stranded at ports as disapproval from import authorities keeps disrupting supply chains in sectors, such as oleochemicals and petrochemicals industries.Chemical manufacturers have promised support and adherence to governments & regional authorities that are committing towards green, sustainable initiatives. Development of bio-alternatives is gaining momentum. Research & academic institutes are teaming up with manufacturers to formulate sustainable substitutes for commonly-used chemical substrates. Many companies are keeping a close eye on advancements in green chemistry. Shift towards eco-friendly chemicals will gain momentum in the future on the back of government regulations and end-user preference. Rising costs of fossil fuels will also instrument the upsurge for sustainable chemicals manufacturing.Data CollectionPMR collects data from secondary sources including company annual reports, association publications, industry presentations, white papers, and company press releases apart from these we leverage over paid database subscriptions and industry magazines to collect market information and developments in exhaustive manner. After being done with desk research, detailed questionnaire and discussion guide is formulated to initiate primary research with key industry personnel; the discussion aims at collecting key insights, growth perspectives, prevalent market trends and quantitative insights including market size and competition developments. Both of these research approaches help us in arriving at base year numbers and market hypothesis.Data ValidationPMR validates the data using macro and micro economic factors. For instance, growth in electricity consumption, industry value added, other industry factors, economic performance, growth of top players and sector performance is closely studied to arrive at precise estimates and refine anomalies if any.Get Complete TOC With Tables and Figures @Data Analysis and ProjectionData analysis and projections were made based on proprietary research frameworks and statistical analysis, which was further validated from industry participants. These frameworks include Y-o-Y growth projections, macro-economic factor performance, market attractiveness analysis, key financial ratios, and others.For public companies we capture the data from company website, annual reports, investor presentations, paid databases. While for privately held companies, we try to gather information from the paid databases (like Factiva) and based on the information we gather from databases we estimate revenue for the companies. In addition, the team tries to establish primary contact with the companies in order to validate the assumptions or to gather quality inputs.Standard Report StructureExecutive SummaryMarket DefinitionMacro-economic analysisParent Market AnalysisMarket OverviewForecast FactorsSegmental Analysis and ForecastRegional AnalysisCompetition AnalysisTarget AudienceProduction CompaniesSuppliersChannel PartnersMarketing AuthoritiesSubject Matter ExpertsResearch InstitutionsFinancial InstitutionsMarket ConsultantsGovernment AuthoritiesMarket TaxonomyBy Product TypeWater Proofing ChemicalsBitumenPVCEPDMTPOPTFESiliconeProtective CoatingEpoxyPolyurethaneAcrylicAlkydPolyesterOthersConcrete AdmixturePlasticizerRetarderAcceleratorAir-EntrainerAdhesives & SealantsAsphalt AdditivesBy ApplicationBrowse Detail Report @InfrastructuresCommercial & IndustrialResidentialBy RegionNorthSouthEastWestReport MethodologyThis comprehensive research is based on an in-depth examination of the supply and demand structure in India for construction chemicals. The report includes region wise analysis depicting the market scenario of East, West, North and South India. The markets growth holds a great influence of governmental initiatives for Indias development. This report also highlights region wise ongoing projects and the future projects scheduled for the years ahead.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: +1-518-621-2074For More Reports Visit @Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Global Market 2018 - Research on Top Industry Players: Chargemaster, Schneider Electric, ChargePoint, Inc., AeroVironment, ABB Group, SemaConnect, EVgo, Engie, General Electric, Others

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Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Market report is a proficient and deep dive study on the Electric Vehicle Charging Stations current state also focuses on the major drivers, market strategies and impressive growth of the key players. Worldwide Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Industry also offers granular study of the dynamics, revenue, Electric Vehicle Charging Stations segmentation, share forecasts and allows you to take better business decision. The report serves vital statistics on the Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Market stature of the Electric Vehicle Charging Stations leading manufacturers and is a important source of guidance and advice for companies and individuals involved in the Electric Vehicle Charging Stations industry.Get Free Sample Copy of Report atGlobal Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Market competition by top players include - Engie, Siemens, Efacec, EVGO, Leviton, Alfen, Allego, Blink Charging, Semaconnect, Tgood, ABB Group, AeroVironment, Inc., Elektromotive Limited, ChargePoint, Inc., Schneider Electric SE, Chargemaster Plc, Eaton Corporation, Siemens AG, SemaConnect, Inc., ClipperCreek, Inc., Tesla Motors, Inc., Delphi Automotive LLP, General Electric, and Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc. among others.Global Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Market is expected to reach USD 49.74 billion by 2025, from USD 3.22 billion in 2017 growing at a CAGR of 40.80% during the forecast period of 2018 to 2025. The upcoming market report contains data for historic year 2016, the base year of calculation is 2017 and the forecast period is 2018 to 2025.Based on geography, North America Europe Asia-Pacific South America Middle East and AfricaSome of the major countries covered in this report are U.S., Canada, Germany, France, U.K., Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, China, India, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Brazil among others.To Avail 10% Discount On This Report Mail Us on :-sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.comReport Segmentation:Based on vehicle type: Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV)On the basis of charging station: AC Charging Station DC Charging StationOn the basis of installation type: Residential CommercialMarket Drivers and Restraints: Government funding, subsidies and incentives expected to drive the EV and EV charging stations market Growing demand for electric vehicles increases the adoption of EV charging stations Growing concern toward environmental pollution Heavy investment from automakers in EVs High price and small distance covered by EVs Lack of standardizationTo Inquire Regarding This Report atReason to Buy- Save and reduce time carrying out entry-level research by identifying the growth, size, leading players and segments in the Global Electric Vehicle Charging Stations 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 Global Electric Vehicle Charging Stations 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.Table Of Contents Available For This Market Request For TOC Here atNote: If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.About Us:Data Bridge Market Research set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavors to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Contact Us:Data Bridge Market ResearchTel: +1-888-387-2818Email: sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.comFrequency Converter Market 2018 Top Key Players: Piller Group GmbH (Germany), ABB Ltd (Switzerland), Power Systems & Controls Inc (USA), Danfoss (Denmark), Aplab Ltd. (India), General Electric Company (USA),I

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Market Overview:-A frequency converter is an electronic or electromechanical device that converts the frequency of alternating current according to the requirement of the appliance connected. It is used to manage the speed of a pump with frequency inverter. Furthermore, these converters can minimize the electrical and mechanical stress. A frequency converter plays an important role, in extending the durability of the motors, pumps and other equipment. The growing demand for frequency converters in developing countries and economical systems is driving the frequency converter market worldwide. Currently, the device is used in industries such as aerospace & defence and process industry. The demand for economical devices in industries to enhance performance is expected to create further opportunities for the market. Varying worldwide electrical standards of main electricity supply, international trading, and growing demand for energy-efficient frequency converters are the main driving factors of the market. As per the study conducted by MarketThe Frequency Converter Market is expected to grow with the CAGR of approximately 9% from 2018 to 2023.Industry Top Key Players:-The key players of Frequency Converter Market are Piller Group GmbH (Germany), ABB Ltd (Switzerland), Power Systems & Controls Inc (USA), Danfoss (Denmark), Aplab Ltd. (India), General Electric Company (USA), Sinepower (Portugal), Siemens (Germany) and Magnus Power Pvt. Ltd. (India).Get Sample Report For More Information @Frequency Converter Global Market - Competitive AnalysisFrequency converter market will continue to develop globally, as the market for electrical component is highly competitive and there is always a rising demand for subsequent electrical components. The prominent market players continuously strive for sustainable development of their product, so as to stay on top in the frequency converter market. Most of the major market share is hold by the tier 1 companies in the electrical component industry. New entrants are highly subjected to risk while competing in a well matured market, whereas it will be less competitive for the new entrants to enter into emerging economies.Industry News:-In December, 2017  ABB confirmed as the #1 in Distributed Control Systems globally. With around 20% market share across industries, ABB is the leader of digitally enabled control and automation, as confirmed by the Distributed Control Systems Global Market 2016-2021 report.In September, 2017  ABB to acquired GE Industrial Solutions. GE Industrial Solutions has deep customer relationships in more than 100 countries and an established installed base with strong roots in North America, ABBs biggest market.Frequency Converter Global Market  SegmentationThe scope of global frequency converter market is segmented into two major segments which are explained below:By Type Static RotaryBy End User Aerospace & Defence Power & Energy Process Industry Traction Oil & Gas Marine/OffshoreBrowse Full Report @Global Analysis:Static frequency converters are expected to grow at a high pace in developing economies of regions such as Asia-Pacific and Middle East & Africa. As these regions spend heavily on infrastructural developments such as, manufacturing & production facilities, ports, and airports, electrical equipment used here need specific current frequency to run efficiently. So the need for efficient and clean process is expected to drive the demand for frequency converters.Currently, Europe dominates the global frequency market due to extensive investments from countries such as Germany, France and United Kingdom into the development of the aerospace & defense, manufacturing, energy infrastructures and marine/offshore. The second largest market is North America.Intended Audience: Distributer & Supplier companies End Users Consultants and Investment bankers Government as well as Independent Regulatory Authorities.Product Analysis: Product matrix which gives a detailed comparison of the market for different recycled product types.Additional Information: Regulatory Landscape. Pricing Analysis. Macroeconomic Indicators.Check Discount @Geographic Analysis: Geographical analysis across 15 countries.Company Information: Profiling of 9 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 companiesAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Market Research Future+1 646 845 9312Email: sales@marketresearchfuture.comMammography Systems Market Key Information By Top Key Player Philips, GE healthcare, Canon, Amico JSC, Fujifilm Medical System, Konica Minolta

Mammography Systems Market, Global Mammography Systems Market Size, Mammography Systems Industry

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Mammography Systems Market Size, Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, China, India, Japan, Brazil, Mexico and etc,), Application Development status, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2018  2024.Increase in incidence rate of breast cancer throughout the world due to hormone replacement therapies, increased alcoholism, decreased child bearing and genetic factors will majorly assist in the growth of mammography systems market. High obesity prevalence rate coupled with rising geriatric population leading to age-related risks will also result to increase in breast cancer incidence. Mammography systems Market will exceed USD 3.2 billion by 2024; as per a new research report.Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report atIncreasing government funding activities to various organizations and foundations to offer breast diagnosis at affordable rates or free of cost for eligible women will augment the market growth.Technological advancements resulting into improved screening and diagnosis of invasive breast cancer, reduced radiation exposure as well as better outcomes will assist the market growth.Additionally, large percentage of population is becoming aware about the various breast screening systems available along with the benefits of early cancer diagnosis. This will act as a high impacting factor in adoption of mammography systems.High capital cost is involved in acquisition of mammography systems along with expensive screening charges for the patient population. Additionally, false-negative and false-positive results that can result in increased mortality rate due to undiagnosed breast cancer may impair the growth of mammography systems market.Full field digital mammography systems segment led the mammography systems market in 2017 and is expected to grow significantly over the forecast timeline. High replacement rates due to better diagnostic efficiency and relative cost involved will drive segmental growth.2D mammography technology segment renders largest market share, that is driven by greater detection sensitivity, also in dense breast tissues and accurate result generation. 2D mammography technology is used in combination with other technological systems too, that will assist in the segmental growth of 2D mammography systems.Request a sample of this premium report atHospital segment is estimated to foresee significant growth during the forecast period owing to a favorable reimbursement structure, rising hospital number coupled with a high incidence rate of breast cancer across developed and developing countries. Increase in disposable income of the people and a better healthcare infrastructure will further propel hospital segment growth in forthcoming years.U.S. mammography systems market will be impelled by a rising patient pool of breast cancer coupled with high awareness in the U.S. population about breast cancer. Greater adoption rates of newer technologies in U.S. will favor industry growth.Indian mammography systems market growth will show robust growth rate over the forecast timeline as a result of high percentage of female population suffering from breast cancer followed by rising awareness among the Indian population.Some of the key market players competing in global mammography systems market are Amico JSC, Canon, Carestream healthcare, Fujifilm Medical System, GE healthcare, Hologic, I.M.S., Konica Minolta, Korean C, Medical technologies, Planmed Oy, Philips, Siemens Healthineers. The competitors are using launch of novel products with technological advancements, acquisitions and mergers as the key strategies to foresee a lucrative growth in mammography systems market. For instance, in January 2017, Fujifilm Medical System launched digital breast tomosynthesis system, offering superior breast imaging that will expand the company?s product portfolio and thereby help in growth of company.Table of ContentsChapter 1 Methodology & ScopeChapter 2 Executive SummaryChapter 3 Mammography Systems Industry InsightsChapter 4. Mammography Systems Market, By ProductChapter 5. Mammography Systems Market, By TechnologyChapter 6. Mammography systems Market, By End-useChapter 7. Mammography Systems Market, By RegionChapter 8. Company ProfilesRelated Reports: -Global Mammography Systems Market Research Report 2018In this report, the global Mammography Systems 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.Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management.Market Study Report4 North Main Street,Selbyville, Delaware 19975USAPhone: 1-302-273-0910US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email:sales@marketstudyreport.comWebsite:Blog:Global Linear Motion Systems Market 2018-2026 Industry Size, Share and Growth Analysis | Schneider Electric Motion, PBC Linear, Nippon Bearing, Lintech, HepcoMotion, Tectra Automation

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Industry HighlightsGlobal Linear Motion Systems Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.2% during the forecast period. Rising revenue from the replacement activities, high demand for linear motion systems in automotive industry and rapid industrialization in emerging countries are some of the key factors fueling the market growth. However, lack of effective product differentiation is one of the major factors hampering the market growth.Linear motion systems consist of linear rail, rail tables, guides, and actuators, sliders, which help the manufacturing facility to continuously transfer products in a conveyor belt, or push it across for packaging. By application, Linear motion systems find significance across different applications in material handling such as palletizing, packaging, pick and place, sorting, and the transportation of goods. The deployment of linear motion systems in this application delivers agility and seamless processing, thereby reducing maintenance requirements.Get Sample Report @Market Top PlayersSome of the key players in the Linear Motion Systems market include Schneider Electric Motion, PBC Linear, Nippon Bearing, Lintech, HepcoMotion, Tectra Automation, Bishop-Wisecarver, THK, SKF, Thomson, Schneeberger, Rollon and Bosch Rexroth.What our report offers:- Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments- Market share analysis of the top industry players- Strategic recommendations for the new entrants- Market forecasts for a minimum of 9 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets- 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 advancementsAsk For Discount @Market SegmentsBy geography, Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a significant rate due to rise in industrialization in the emerging countries like China, India, Taiwan and South Korea. Further, the demand for linear motion systems is supported by the development in automation solutions and robotics in this region.Applications Covered: Robotics Machine Tools Material HandlingTypes Covered: Single-axis Linear Multi-axis LinearRegions Covered: North America US Canada Mexico Europe Germany UK Italy France Spain Rest of Europe Asia Pacific Japan ChinaEnquiry Before Buying @About UsWe at Market Prognosis believe in giving a crystal clear view of market dynamics for achieving success in todays complex and competitive marketplace through our quantitative & qualitative research methods.We help our clients identify the best market insights and analysis required for their business thus enabling them to take strategic and intelligent decision.We believe in delivering actionable insights for your business growth and success.ContactProgMark Pvt Ltd,Thane - 421501India.Contact- +1 973 241 5193Email- sales@marketprognosis.comStudent Information Systems (SIS) Market Is Thriving Worldwide | Campus Management, Eduware, Ellucian

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HTF MI recently introduced Global Student Information Systems (SIS) Market study with in-depth overview, describing about the Product / Industry Scope and elaborates market outlook and status to 2023. The market Study is segmented by key regions which is accelerating the marketization. At present, the market is developing its presence and some of the key players from the complete study are Campus Management, Eduware, Ellucian, ESchoolPLUS (FIS), Focus School Software, Foradian Technologies, Illuminate Education, Jenzabar, Oracle, Skyward & Unit4 etc.Request Sample of Global Student Information Systems (SIS) Market Size, Status and Forecast 2025 @:In 2017, the global Student Information Systems (SIS) market size was million US$ and it is expected to reach million US$ by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of during 2018-2025.This report studies the Global Student Information Systems (SIS) market size, industry status and forecast, competition landscape and growth opportunity. This research report categorizes the Global Student Information Systems (SIS) market by companies, region, type and end-use industry.Browse 100+ market data Tables and Figures spread through Pages and in-depth TOC on " Student Information Systems (SIS) Market by Type (Web-based Student Information System & Cloud-based Student Information System), by End-Users/Application (Higher Education & Primary Education), Organization Size, Industry, and Region - Forecast to 2023". Early buyers will receive 10% customization on comprehensive study.In order to get a deeper view of Market Size, competitive landscape is provided i.e. Revenue (Million USD) by Players (2013-2018), Revenue Market Share (%) by Players (2013-2018) and further a qualitative analysis is made towards market concentration rate, product/service differences, new entrants and the technological trends in future.Enquire for customization in Report @Competitive Analysis:The key players are highly focusing innovation in production technologies to improve efficiency and shelf life. The best long-term growth opportunities for this sector can be captured by ensuring ongoing process improvements and financial flexibility to invest in the optimal strategies. Company profile section of players such as Campus Management, Eduware, Ellucian, ESchoolPLUS (FIS), Focus School Software, Foradian Technologies, Illuminate Education, Jenzabar, Oracle, Skyward & Unit4 includes its basic information like legal name, website, headquarters, its market position, historical background and top 5 closest competitors by Market capitalization / revenue along with contact information. Each player/ manufacturer revenue figures, growth rate and gross profit margin is provided in easy to understand tabular format for past 5 years and a separate section on recent development like mergers, acquisition or any new product/service launch etc.Market Segments:The Global Student Information Systems (SIS) Market has been divided into type, application, and region.On The Basis Of Type: Web-based Student Information System & Cloud-based Student Information System.On The Basis Of Application: Higher Education & Primary EducationOn The Basis Of Region, this report is segmented into following key geographies, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), and market share, growth rate of Student Information Systems (SIS) in these regions, from 2013 to 2023 (forecast), covering North America (U.S. & Canada) {Market Revenue (USD Billion), Growth Analysis (%) and Opportunity Analysis} Latin America (Brazil, Mexico & Rest of Latin America) {Market Revenue (USD Billion), Growth Share (%) and Opportunity Analysis} Europe (The U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Sweden & RoE) {Market Revenue (USD Billion), Growth Share (%) and Opportunity Analysis} Asia-Pacific (China, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Rest of Asia) {Market Revenue (USD Billion), Growth Share (%) and Opportunity Analysis} Middle East & Africa (GCC, South Africa, North Africa, RoMEA) {Market Revenue (USD Billion), Growth Share (%) and Opportunity Analysis} Rest of World {Market Revenue (USD Billion), Growth Analysis (%) and Opportunity Analysis}Buy Single User License of Global Student Information Systems (SIS) Market Size, Status and Forecast 2025 @Have a look at some extracts from Table of ContentIntroduction about Global Student Information Systems (SIS)Global Student Information Systems (SIS) Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 2017Student Information Systems (SIS) Market by Application/End UsersGlobal Student Information Systems (SIS) Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Applications(2013-2023) table defined for each application/end-users like [Higher Education & Primary Education]Global Student Information Systems (SIS) Sales and Growth Rate (2013-2023)Student Information Systems (SIS) Competition by Players/Suppliers, Region, Type and ApplicationStudent Information Systems (SIS) (Volume, Value and Sales Price) table defined for each geographic region defined.Global Student Information Systems (SIS) Players/Suppliers Profiles and Sales DataAdditionally Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Competitors list is being provided for each listed manufacturersMarket Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2013-2018) table for each product type which include Web-based Student Information System & Cloud-based Student Information SystemStudent Information Systems (SIS) Manufacturing Cost AnalysisStudent Information Systems (SIS) Key Raw Materials AnalysisStudent Information Systems (SIS) Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers, Industrial Chain AnalysisMarket Forecast (2018-2023)........and more in complete table of ContentsBrowse for Full Report at:Thanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.About Author: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 :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.comConnect with us atBoPP Film Market Report By Products & Applications 2017 to 2024

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The report gives the clear picture of current BOPP Film Market scenario and the predicted future of the industry. The report focuses on the basis of market drivers, restraints, growth, trends and forecast for the period of 2017-2024. In addition, the report also maps the market performance by value chain analysis which will help in better product differentiation along with the analysis of each segment in terms of opportunity, market attractiveness index and growth rate.The major market drivers are increasing flexible packaging application across the globe, rising disposable income and changing lifestyle and advancing technologies and shifting preferences of consumer towards BOPP films. The market growth might be restricted due to growing environmental issues and crude oil and price volatility under the study period.View More About this Report @The report on global biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) Film market evaluates the growth trends of the industry through historical study and estimates future prospects based on comprehensive research. The report extensively provides the market share, growth, trends and forecasts for the period 2017-2024. The market size in terms of volume (KT) and revenue (USD MN) is calculated for the study period along with the details of the factors affecting the market growth (drivers and restraints).The report classifies the market into different segments based on product and application. These segments are studied in detail incorporating the market estimates and forecasts at regional and country level. The segment analysis is useful in understanding the growth areas and probable opportunities of the market. The comprehensive value chain analysis of the market will assist in attaining better product differentiation, along with detailed understanding of the core competency of each activity involved. The market attractiveness analysis provided in the report aptly measures the potential value of the market providing business strategists with the latest growth opportunities.Get FREE Sample Report Copy @The report also covers the complete competitive landscape of the worldwide market with company profiles of key players such as Ampacet Corporation, Cosmo Films, DuPont, Futamura, Innovia Films, Jiangsu Shukang Packing Material Co., Ltd, Jindal Poly Films Ltd, Kopa Films, Nan Ya Plastics Corporation, Taghleef Industries, Treofan, Vibac Group and Vitopel. Geographically, this market has been segmented into regions such as North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific and the Middle East & Africa. The study details country-level aspects based on each segment and gives estimates in terms of market size.Segmentations In The Report:1.By Product :- White/Opaque/Matt- Metallized- Transparent2.By Applications :- Pressure Sensitive Tapes- Biscuits/Bakery Products- Confectionery- Dried Foods- Tobacco- Pasta/Noodles- OthersBuy Now this Report @DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research reports provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains.Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed.3rd Floor,Fountain chambers,Nanabhai Lane,Fort, Mumbai - 1E-Mail: sales@decisiondatabases.comPhone: +91 99 28 237112Web:Smart Speaker Market Growing at a CAGR of 36.9% With Top players like Amazon, Apple, Sony, Bose Corporation, Panasonic, Alibaba.com, Xiaomi Technology, Lenovo

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Smart Speaker Market report offers an exhaustive valuation of the market. It does as such by means of inside and out perceptions, thankful market development by following past advancements, and breaking down the current circumstance and future estimates in view of dynamic and likely states. Each examination report helps as a vault of investigation and information for each side of the market, including yet not restricted to: Regional markets, types, applications, innovation improvements and the aggressive scene.The Global Smart Speaker Market is expected to reach USD 12.8 billion by 2025, from USD 2.1 billion in 2017 growing at a CAGR of 36.9 % during the forecast period of 2018 to 2025. The upcoming market report contains data for historic year2016, the base year of calculation is 2017 and the forecast period is 2018 to 2025.For In depth Information Get Free Sample Copy of this Report@Global Smart Speaker Market, By Intelligent Virtual Assistant (Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, Cortana), By Component (Hardware (Speaker Driver, Connectivity IC, Processor, Audio IC, Memory, Power IC, Microphone) and Software), By Application (Smart Home, Consumer, Smart Office), By Geography (North America, South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa) Industry Trends and Forecast to 2025Complete report on Global Smart Speaker Market Research Report 2018-2025 spread across 350 Pages, profiling Top companies and supports with tables and figuresMarket Definition: Global Smart Speaker MarketSmart speaker is defined as a smart audio playback and wireless device. It follows Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and other wireless protocol standards. Smart speaker controls home automation devices and control of common household tasks such as lighting, security monitoring, door lock, environmental control (thermostat), window shades, and more. It has various characteristics which include home assistance, voice control, music streaming music playback, compact size and many more. The benefits of using smart speakers are its good sound quality, flexible music listening, interaction with other devices and convenience to the user. It is mostly used in smart home, smart office and others. Example of smart speaker is Zettalys Avy is a bluetooth speaker with full Android capability.For instances, in 2018, Google Home and Home Mini has launched smart speakers in India whichsupports Google Play Music, YouTube, Netflix, Saavn and Gaana. It has dual band WiFi (2.4GHz/5GHz), Bluetooth (only on Home Mini), far field microphones and supports both Android and iOS devices.Furthermore, in 2018, Yandex launched $160 smart speakers for digital assistant Alice. It operates on mobile and desktop search, as well as on in-car navigation app. It used for music streaming, discounts on taxi rides and ad-free web TV.Key Questions Answered in Global Smart Speaker Market Report:-Our Report offers:- What will the market growth rate, Overview and Analysis by Type of Global Smart Speaker Market in 2025? What are the key factors driving, Analysis by Applications and Countries Global Smart Speaker Market? What are Dynamics, This Overview Includes Analysis of Scope, and price analysis of top Vendors Profiles of Global Smart Speaker Market? Who are Opportunities, Risk and Driving Force of Global Smart Speaker Market? Who are the opportunities and threats faced by the vendors in Global Smart Speaker Market? Business Overview by Type, Applications, Gross Margin and Market Share What are the Global Smart Speaker Market opportunities, market risk and market overview of the Market?Request for Detailed TOC:Top Key Players: Amazon.com Inc. Apple Inc. Sonos. Inc. Pioneer Alphabet Bose Corporation. SONY Onkyo Panasonic Alibaba.com Proserv. Pioneer Altec Lansing/AL Infinity, LLC. Lenovo. Xiaomi. SK TELECOM CO., LTD. among others.Key Reasons to Purchase: To gain insightful analyses of the market and have comprehensive understanding of the Global Smart Speaker Market and its commercial landscape. Assess the Smart Speaker production processes, major issues, and solutions to mitigate the development risk. To understand the most affecting driving and restraining forces in the Smart Speaker Market and its impact in the Global market. Learn about the market strategies that are being adopted by leading respective organizations. To understand the future outlook and prospects for Global Smart Speaker Market.Avail 10% Instant Discount on Purchase of This Report Mail @ sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.comKey Insights in the report: Historical and current market size and projection up to 2025 Market trends impacting the growth of the global Smart Speaker market Analyze and forecast the Smart Speaker market on the basis of applications and reactor type Trends of key regional and country-level markets for applications and reactor type Company profiling of key players which includes business operations, product and services, geographic presence, recent developments and key financial analysisMajor Market Drivers: Growing number of smart homes Rising disposable income Rapid proliferation of multifunctional devices Growing trend of personalization Issues related to connectivity range, compatibility, and power.Inquire Before Buying @Customize report of "Global Smart Speaker Market" as per customers requirement also available.Market Segmentations:Global Smart Speaker Market is segmented on the basis of Intelligent Virtual Assistant Component Application GeographyMarket Segmentations in Details:By Intelligent Virtual Assistant Alexa Google Assistant Siri CortanaBy Component Hardware SoftwareBy Application Smart Home Consumer Smart OfficeBy Geography, North America South America Europe Asia-Pacific Middle East & AfricaCompetitive Analysis: Global Smart Speaker MarketThe global smart speaker market is highly fragmented and the major players have used various strategies such as new product launches, expansions, agreements, joint ventures, partnerships, acquisitions, and others to increase their footprints in this market. The report includes market shares of smart speaker market for global, Europe, North America, Asia pacific and South America.Speak to Author of the report @Other ReportGlobal Innovation Management Market  Industry Trends and Forecast to 2024Global Innovation Management Market, By Geography; Type (Software, Services); Organization Size (Large Enterprises, Small & Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)); Deployment Model (On-premises, Cloud); Application (Product Research & Development Platforms, Marketing, Design, Idea Platforms, Collective Intelligence & Prediction Platforms, Human Resource & Freelancers Platforms); Vertical (Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, IT, Media & Communication Technology, Aerospace & Defense, Public Sector & Education, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, Retail & Consumer Goods, Automotive & Manufacturing, Transportation & Logistics)  Industry Trends and Forecast to 2024Report Access:About Data Bridge Market Research:Data Bridge Market Research set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavors to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Contact:Data Bridge Market ResearchTel: +1-888-387-2818Email: sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.comGlobal Organic Food and Beverages Market 2018 Top Companies are Aeon Co., Ltd. Tesco, Metro, Carrefour, Ahold, Rewe Group, Waitrose, Ltd., Kraft Foods, Inc., Hipp Gmbh & Co. Vertrieb Kg, General Mills, Inc.

Global Organic Food and Beverages Market- Industry Trends and Forecast to 2024

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Global Organic Food and Beverages Market latest research report offers a complete analysis of the Organic food and beverages industry influencing driving factors, impacting trends and demand, competitive landscape and factors restraining the growth of the market. Furthermore, our analysts aim at precisely forecasting the growth rate of the Organic food and beverages market using various market sizing methodologies such as bottom-up and top-down approaches to help our clients and other enterprises gain a better understanding of the current Organic food and beverages market scenario.The Global Organic Food and Beverages Market accounted to USD 110.3 billion in 2016 growing at a CAGR of 13.3% during the forecast period of 2017 to 2024. The upcoming market report contains data for historic years 2015, the base year of calculation is 2016 and the forecast period is 2017 to 2024.Get Exclusive Sample Copy @Major Market Competitors:Some of the major players operating in organic food and beverages market are :-Aeon Co., Ltd.Tesco,Metro ,Carrefour,Ahold,Rewe Group,Waitrose, Ltd.,Kraft Foods, Inc. ,Hipp Gmbh & Co. Vertrieb Kg ,General Mills, Inc.,Florida Crystals Corporation,Conagra Foods, Inc.,Clif Bar & Company,Alberts Organics, Inc.,Applegate Farms,Coleman Natural Foods Llc,Hain Celestial Group Inc.,Wm Morrisonsamong others.The organic food and beverages market is highly fragmented and is based on new product launches and clinical results of products. Hence the major players have used various strategies such as new product launches, clinical trials, market initiatives, high expense on research and development, agreements, joint ventures, partnerships, acquisitions, and others to increase their footprints in this market. The report includes market shares of organic food and beverages market for global, Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and South America.To Avail 10% Discount On This Report Mail Us on :-sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.comMajor Market Drivers and Restraints:Rising demand of organic baby foodMarketing campaigns to create awareness by key playersGrowth in the number of clean label productsStringent RegulationHigh cost of productsMarket Segmentation:By product type the market for organic food and beverages market is segmented into fruits & vegetables, dairy, RTD, baby food, meat & poultry products, frozen food, bakery, beverages, others. The beverages segment is sub-segmented into non-dairy beverages, tea & coffee, others.By distribution channel the organic food and beverages market is segmented into Store-based Retailer, Non-store Retailer. The store-based retailer segment is sub-segmented into grocery retailers, supermarkets/hypermarkets, convenience stores and others.On the basis of geography, organic food and beverages market report covers data points for 28 countries across multiple geographies such as North America & South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East & Africa.Some of the major countries covered in this report are:-U.S.,Canada,Germany,France,U.K.,Netherlands,Switzerland,Turkey,Russia,China,India,South Korea,Japan,Australia,Singapore,Saudi Arabia,South Africa,Brazil among others.In 2017, North America is expected to dominate the market.Inquire Regarding This Report @About Data Bridge Market Research:Data Bridge Market Research set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavors to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Contact:Data Bridge Market ResearchTel: +1-888-387-2818Email: sopan.gedam@databridgemarketresearch.comFabulous Opportunity To Earn Money In India On Renting Street Anyplace, Anytime!!!

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Easy money-making opportunity now launched in India! The hugely popular online marketplaceof the USA with twenty-thousand registered members is all set to launch its operations in India as. The portal has its online presence as a portal as well as the Renting Street App that give fabulous opportunity to all to register for free and start earning money without any commission.As a part of its new launch offer, all those that register will get an instant credit of Rs 100 to their account. Registered members that in turn share the joining referral URL with one of her/his contacts will get another you more credits,. Further, the first five thousand registrations in India will get a lifetime of Premium Membership loaded with privileges and benefits.The portal is an easy online marketplace where you can list and rent out or sell anything that you own. The site has specified categories that enable registered members to post the details of their items with appropriate descriptions for visitors to pick them up easily.Both the website and the app have been made keeping in mind the need for keeping operations simple. The site is sure to be an instant hit with both the internet savvy young crowd as well those that are less proficient. There are easy guidelines that explains the whole process of registration, free listing, the easy steps to it and the final transaction options.After the phenomenal success ofin the US, we thought of extending the same earning opportunities to our Indian counterparts. Now, people in India can choose to rent out their extra items and get a steady earning against it. There is also the opportunity to sell of all that you do not need at a good price and without paying any commission. Everyone in India now has the opportunity to earn money from what they own and without any investment, said the CEO of Renting Street Inc.It is an opportunity for simple people like students and housewives to rent out or even sell items that they do not use on a regular basis or are not likely to use further. It is the perfect opportunity to redeem the investment made in such items and make an earning. At the same time property owners, business people and service providing professionals too can highlight their products and skills online for maximum exposure and sale.The entire process is free of charge making the earning opportunity all the more exciting. The Apps are available in both Android and iOS versions for everyone to have the opportunity to earn anywhere and at any time.is an extension of the US operations ofowned and operated by Renting Street Inc. The company provides an online marketplace for everyone to list, rent out, sell and buy items. The specific categories of its site are clear listing places where those that wish to rent out or sell can do so and those looking to buy can also find them easily. Collaboration with clients and helping them earn money are the main aims of the company.Renting Street Private LimitedSalt Lake, Sector V, Kolkata - 700091Email: info@rentingstreet.inCall: 07686002737Press Contact: Rahul JhaElectric Grill Market growing at a CAGR of 9.0% through 2018 to 2028

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Future of the electric grill market is likely to rely on meat thermometers and grill tongs of Millennials, as consumers between the age-group 25 and 35 are more likely to purchase grills, says a recent Fact.MR study. Grill and relevant accessories are set to perceive a rapid demand growth, with consumer preferences shifting toward high-end, feature-intensive grills. With the trend toward cookouts gaining popularity among young adults worldwide, grill sales are likely to surge significantly, thereby influencing the market for electric grill.Electric grills sales will also be affected from introduction of new products that feature Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connectivity and offer remote monitoring. Fact.MRs study estimates nearly 1,730,000 units of electric grills to be sold worldwide by 2028-end. Growth of the barbecuing and grills industry has remained steady over the past few years, post-recovery from weak economic impact on account of housing market collapse. However, with renewed growth of the residential sector, demand for grills will surge underpinned by rising GHDI of consumers in developed and developing nations.Request Report Sample @Portable Electric Grills Emerge as a Key TrendConsumers nowadays seek portable options in all kinds of products and accessories and cooking appliances are no exception. Portable electric grills are increasingly sought by consumers during their family outings and picnics. Manufacturers such as Weber have therefore produced electric grills that are durable and portable, thereby meeting current consumer lifestyle demands. Moreover, portable electric grills integrated with advanced technology are being offered by brands at reasonable costs have further complemented their penetration in the market.Electric Grill Market: Indoor Applications Continue to Spearhead with Bulk Value ShareIndoor application of electric grills will continue to spearhead the market with over three-fifth value share. As electric grills depend on electricity as their source for heating grill plate, restrictions pertaining to apartment barbecuing, such as in gas and charcoal grills, are alleviated. Indoor use devoid of smoke issues is a key advantage of electric grills which has been driving their demand among consumers since their emergence. In a bid to leverage the indoor applications dominance, electric grill manufacturers are offering various modalities such as countertop designs for permanent kitchen placement.North Americas Dominance Prevails, as Barbecuing Becomes Integral Part of Consumers LifestyleA promising future has been envisaged for the barbecuing and grilling industry in North America by Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association (HPBA). HPBA states approximately 30% consumers to utilize grills or smokers, which in turn has led grilling to gain immense traction as year-round passion in the region. Passion for taste and flavor in foods is likely to demonstrate rising vigour in North America, implying positive prospects for barbecuing & grilling industry. Barbecuing has become more of an inherent part of consumers lifestyle in the region.Request Report Methodology @HPBA states that over one-third consumers in North America eye on purchasing new grill, with electric grills accounting for nearly 10% of the overall grill sales. Although holding a relatively lower share in the industry, electric grills are expected to witness increased demand in the near future in light of their indoor use convenience and energy-efficient attributes. This will significantly influence future growth of the electric grill market in North America.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; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Fact.MR11140 Rockville PikeSuite 400Rockville, MD 20852United StatesEmail: sales@factmr.comWeb:AWS Managed Services Market to Observe Strong Development of 13.7% CAGR by 2025 | Top Worldwide Key Players - Accenture, DXC Technology Company, 8K Miles Software Services, Capgemini SE, Cloudnexa, Cloudreach Market Highlights:



The Global AWS Managed Services Market is expected to reach USD 1,799.8 million by 2025 from USD 569.7 million in 2017 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 13.7% in the forecast period of 2018 to 2025. The upcoming market report contains data for historic year 2016, the base year of calculation is 2017 and the forecast period is 2018 to 2025.



AWS managed services is defined as an ongoing management of AWS infrastructure.It is a SLA-based service for routine infrastructure operation which includes IT management processes, patching and backups. It provides MSP partner program in cloud infrastructure and application migration. It is controlled by automation tooling system and it helps to implement proper operational process such as AWS expert and many more. It deals with various services related to cloud consultancy, cloud architecture, and cloud migration which include advisory services, cloud migration services and operation services.



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In 2018 AWS managed services was offered for the first time by Carmatec offered for standalone server configurations to complex multi-geographical deployment. It helps in simplifying and managing application with agility.



In 2016, Amazon Web Services (AWS) launched managed-services-as-a-service for cloud concern ITIL-ises. It helps in cloud migrants clamber.



Top Industry Players:



The renowned players in AWS managed services market are Accenture plc, DXC Technology Company, 8K Miles Software Services Ltd., Capgemini SE, Cloudnexa, Inc., Cloudreach, Logicworks, , Slalom LLC., Rackspace Inc., Smartronix Inc., Amazon, Reliam LLC, Microsoft Azure, Stratalux, Claranet Group, Capgemini, GS Lab, Cloudnexa, e-Zest, Onica and many more.



Competitive Analysis: Global AWS Managed Services Market



The global AWS managed services market is fragmented and the major players have used various strategies such as new product launches, expansions, agreements, joint ventures, partnerships, acquisitions, and others to increase their footprints in this market in order to sustain in long run. The report includes market shares of AWS managed services market for global, Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and South America. IN February 2018, United States DoD (Department of Defense) signed a USD 950 Million cloud agreement with AWS partner REAN Cloud LLC.



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Market Segments:



The market is based on service type and geographical segments.

 Based on service type, the market is segmented into advisory services, cloud migration services and operations services.

 Based on geography, the market report covers data points for 28 countries across multiple geographies such as North America, South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Middle East & Africa. Some of the major countries covered in this report are U.S., Canada, Germany, France, U.K., Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, China, India, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Brazil among others.

Market Drivers and Restraints:

 Increasing importance of AWS MSP status

 Rising number of AWS customers

 Increasing importance of AWS managed service provider (MSP) status

 Limited awareness among customers



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Permanent link to this press release: Copy Please set a link in the press area of your homepage to this press release on openPR. openPR disclaims liability for any content contained in this release.Customer Service Software Market: Trends, Opportunities and Forecasts (2017-2023) key players: TeamSupport, Freshdesk, Marketing 360, Desk.com, PhaseWare, Front, Cayzu

Customer Service Software

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Despite some noteworthy changes in Global Customer Service Software Market, there was a need to study development. Research into this market has proved convincing.The social media & Customer Service Software is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The social media is an apt platform through which the companies can better connect with their customers, create a better brand value, and also analyze the perception about their offerings among the customers. The peer-to-peer support community software helps in engaging, supporting, and managing the online customer community by identifying their issues and resolving them instantly.The skills that analysts use during their research are layered way of asking questions to provide superior and superior results using the statistics gathered. They worked very diligently with administrative agencies, trade clubs, news and magazine agencies, and other organizations involved with the Customer Service Software market. Both internal authentication services and Internet-based research are used to gain effective market research results.This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeTeamSupport, Freshdesk, Marketing 360, Desk.com, PhaseWare, Front, Cayzu, ConnectWise, Really Simple Systems, PlanPlus OnlineAvail up to 30% discount in this report:Market segment by Type, Customer Service Software can be split intoPCMobileCloudMarket segment by Application, Customer Service Software can be split intoSMEsLarge OrganizationOtherSample copy of this report:This study uses the principal and dependent sources to cover the Customer Service Software Market's status comprehensively. Industry, suppliers, contractors, traders, end users and market experts have been referred to certify research data. Other information includes trends, difficulties and experiments, market drivers, market experience, policy and industry expansion. This information has affected the growth of the Customer Service Software market. All of these elements are measured and examined in detail under reasonable assumptions.For more information, please visitSome of the famous players in the global Customer Service Software market are featured in the report for detailed case studies. The business and financial summary of these companies, along with key strategies adopted, are provided in this report.Global Customer Service Software Market Research ReportChapter 1 Global Customer Service Software Market OverviewChapter 2 Global Economic Impact on IndustryChapter 3 Global Customer Service Software 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 AnalysisResearch 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.(Research N Reports)10916, Gold Point Dr,Houston, TX, Pin  77064,+1-8886316977,Microscopy Devices Market Report Provides Sizes of Key Regional Markets Using Yardsticks of Processes, Segments, Products, End User and Technology

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The global microscopy devices market is growing significantly due to increasing research and innovation in the field of life sciences and nanotechnology. Massive unexplored market in microscopy industry of developing economies and introduction of niche applications area such as quantum dots, and miniature transistor chips are creating ample opportunities for the microscopy devices market to grow at a considerable rate in the coming years.Access Detailed Report Summary:Microscopes have facilitated researches to conduct exhaustive academic and exploratory research, in order to deliver potential innovations in the field of lifesciences, such as clinical/ pathology and cell biology. Nanotechnology and other accuracy manufacturing industries, such as medical devices and semiconductors manufacturing, increases the acceptance rate of the advanced microscopes, which further supports the growth of microscopy devices market considerably. Moreover, increasing number of semiconductor manufacturing establishments is also supporting the growth of the microscopy devices market.Request to Get the Sample Pages at:The microscopy devices market can be categorized on the basis of applications, as nanotechnology, semiconductor industry, material sciences, life sciences, and others. Lifescience industry dominates the global microscopy devices market; whereas, nanotechnology is the fastest growing application category of microscopy devices.Make Enquiry Before Buying the Report:Geographically, North America will be the leading global electron microscope and scanning probe microscopes market due to technologically advancement and increased research and development in nanotechnology and lifesciences in the region. In addition, the supporting infrastructure and affordability for electron microscope supports the growth of electron microscope in North America. Asia-Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing region in the global microscopy devices market in the coming years. The major reasons for the fastest growth of the market in the region are growing government initiatives and investment in the research and development. Moreover, the microscopy devices market is growing due to presence of various schools, universities and research institutions, which would translate to greater growth in the coming years, in the emerging countries such as India and China of Asia-Pacific region.Some of the companies operating in the microscopy devices market are FEI Company, Carl Zeiss AG, Bruker Corporation, Danish Micro Engineering A/S, Cameca SAS, Leica Microsystems, NT-MDT Company, JEOL Ltd., Hitachi High Technologies Corporation, Nikon Corporation, and Olympus Corporation.About P&S IntelligenceP&S Intelligence, a brand of P&S Market Research, is a provider of market research and consulting services catering to the market information needs of burgeoning industries across the world. Providing the plinth of market intelligence, P&S as an enterprising research and consulting company, believes in providing thorough landscape analyses on the ever-changing market scenario, to empower companies to make informed decisions and base their business strategies with astuteness.Contact:P&S Intelligence347, 5th Ave. #1402New York City, NY - 10016Toll-free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.comWeb:Electronic Access Control Systems Market Set to Grow at at a CAGR of 11.6% during 2018-2025

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A basic EAC system consists of a reader, a controller, and an electric lock. Electronic access control is a security solution that gives you detailed control over the physical security of your business. Electronic access control systems allow you to restrict access to your facility based on guidelines you define. Limitations can be set on who, where and when.The Electronic Access Control Systems industry has got a rapid development during the last few years, with the fast development of technology and research. The global total revenue of Electronic Access Control Systems is 14298.79 M USD in 2016. At the same time, as the development of the society and economy, more and more attention has been emphasis on importance of residential and commercial security, and more and more Electronic Access Control Systems has been used in big companies.In the past few years, as the main raw material price was relatively stable, with the addition of a sharp increase in production capacity, expected that the Electronic Access Control Systems raw material price will be stable in the short term. However, the improvement of energy, transportation costs, and employee wages, will play a significant role in promoting the cost of Electronic Access Control Systems.Get the sample copy of report:China is an important consumer of Electronic Access Control Systems; as the same time, the consumption of Electronic Access Control Systems in China grown gradually. But the backward technology and research limit the development of Electronic Access Control Systems. In the result, Electronic Access Control Systems in China was occupied by some foreign brands to some degree, such as Honeywell, ASSA Abloy, SIEMENS, TYCO, BOSCH Security, DDS.This report studies the global Electronic Access Control Systems market status and forecast, categorizes the global Electronic Access Control Systems 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).The global Electronic Access Control Systems market is valued at 16400 million US$ in 2017 and will reach 39400 million US$ by the end of 2025, growing at a CAGR of 11.6% during 2018-2025.The major players covered in this reportHoneywellASSA AbloySIEMENSTYCOBOSCH SecurityDDSADT LLCDormaKABA GroupSchneiderSupremaSouthcoSALTONortek ControlPanasonicMillenniumDigital Monitoring ProductsGallagherAllegionIntegratedRequest to get full report TOC:Geographically, this report studies the key regions, focuses on product sales, value, market share and growth opportunity in these regions, coveringUnited StatesEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaWe can also provide the customized separate regional or country-level reports, for the following regions: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 intoCard-basedBiometricsOthersOn 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, includingHomeland SecurityCommercialIndustrialResidentialOthersThe study objectives of this report are:To analyze and study the global Electronic Access Control Systems 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 Electronic Access Control Systems 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 Electronic Access Control Systems 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 StakeholdersElectronic Access Control Systems ManufacturersElectronic Access Control Systems Distributors/Traders/WholesalersElectronic Access Control Systems 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 Electronic Access Control Systems market, by end-use.Detailed analysis and profiles of additional market players.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Military Antenna Market Key technologies explained by Alaris Antennas, Rami, Antenna Products, Comrod, Terma, MTI Wireless Edge, Shakespeare Electronic

Military Antenna Market, Military Antenna Market Study, Military Antenna Market Size, Military Antenna Market Segmentation, Milita

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The Military Antenna Market Report gives a clear picture of the current situation of the market which covers global industry analysis, size, share, growth, trends, key statistics and forecast Till 2023. The report on global Military Antenna Market evaluates the growth trends of the industry through historical study and estimates future prospects based on comprehensive research.The prime objective of Military Antenna Market report is to help the user understand the market in terms of its definition, segmentation, market potential, influential trends, and the challenges that the market is facing. Deep researches and analysis were done during the preparation of the report.Description: An antenna is any device that converts electronic signals to electromagnetic waves (and vice versa) effectively with minimum loss of signals.Request a sample of this premium report at: @This report focuses on the top Manufacturers and players in global market are given bellow:-Harris, Cobham, Alaris Antennas, Rami, Antenna Products, Comrod, Terma, MTI Wireless Edge, Shakespeare Electronic, Hascall-Denke, Rohde & SchwarzAnd MoreMarket Segment by Type, coversGroundMarineAirborneMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoCommunicationSurveillanceSATCOMElectronic WarfareNavigationMilitary Antenna market report provides regional analysis & forecast (2018-2023) including following regions: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)Some key points of Military Antenna Market research report: -Who Are Military Antenna Market Key Manufacturers? Along with this survey you also get their Product Information (Type, Application and Specification).-What Overview Military Antenna Market Says? This Overview Includes Diligent Analysis of Scope, Types, Application, Sales by region, manufacturers, types and applications.-What Is Military Antenna Market Competition considering Manufacturers, Types and Application? Based on Thorough Research of Key Factors-What is Military Antenna Market forecast (2018-2023) Considering Sales, Revenue for Regions, Types and Applications?The next part also sheds light on the gap between supply and consumption. Apart from the mentioned information, growth rate of Military Antenna market in 2023 is also explained. Additionally, type wise and application wise consumption tables and figures of Military Antenna market are also given.Request a discount on standard prices of this premium report at:@There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Military Antenna (HCN) market.Chapter 1, to describe Military Antenna (HCN) Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Military Antenna (HCN), with sales, revenue, and price of Military Antenna (HCN), in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the global market by regions, with sales, revenue and market share of Military Antenna (HCN), for each region, from 2013 to 2018;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2013 to 2018;Chapter 12, Military Antenna (HCN) market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2018 to 2023;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Military Antenna (HCN) sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceMore ReportsGlobal Industrial Boilers Market Report Shows Opportunities to 2023Global Industrial Boilers Market Size, Status and Segmentation added to its database. The report provides key statistics on the current state of the industry and other analytical data to understand the market.Click Here to More Read:More Report At:About Us:Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management.Market Study ReportThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: 1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email:sales@marketstudyreport.comWebsite:News:More Report at:Majchrzak touts experience in race for town supervisor Councilman Eugene Majchrzak is a familiar face to town residents. Hes been a member of the town board for 12 years and has spent more than 20 years in town...

School background critical to Tepleskys supervisor run Daniel Teplesky loves to talk about his school background. Hes quick to tell supporters and voters about his time as a school superintendent from 2004-2014 and how it helped to...

Town Democrats, Republicans gather for meet the candidates night For the first time during the 2021 election season, all of the candidates for town races were in the same place at the same time for a meet the candidates...BEND  Central Oregon Community College has cut funding for its long-running student newspaper, citing lack of interest from readers and potential student staff members.

Most young people don't read newspapers and the idea of writing for the student newspaper is no longer popular, college spokesman Ron Paradis told The Bulletin for an article published Wednesday.

A survey conducted in 2014 found that more than half of the school's students didn't know the newspaper existed and only 7 percent read it consistently.

Former adviser Michael Van Meter said The Broadside seemed reluctant to cover hard news and refused to report on the sentencing of Edwin Lara, a former COCC security officer who pleaded guilty to murdering 23-year-old Kaylee Sawyer in 2016.

Katya Agatucci, The Broadside's final editor-in-chief, said that during the spring 2017 term, she was the only active reporter for the paper.

The school paid a part-time adviser $50,000 annually with benefits, while $35,000 a year from student fees went toward operations, Paradis said.

A task force recommended to the administration that The Broadside adviser's salary should go toward an adjunct faculty member who would teach journalism classes. Anyone writing for the paper would need to enroll in a one-credit journalism lab, and any editor would have to be enrolled in or have completed a three-credit journalism class, the panel suggested.

The administration rejected the recommendation last week, and the timing irritated Van Meter.

"Given it was midsummer, very few students on campus, few faculty on campus, it was easier to shut it down," he said. "I think it's unfortunate that it wasn't done more openly during the school year."

The paper's staff had shrunk to 10 students from 20 writers. It was founded in 1953.

The Broadside began aggressively recruiting new writers through social media, Agatucci said, which temporarily increased staff numbers until many quit because they felt overloaded with classes and didn't have time to write. She feels the school could have done a better job communicating about the issue, she said.

"With something really important, like seeing whether The Broadside is going to be around during the next term, it's important to us, and we didn't get a whole lot of answers, or communication," she said.

Some former writers at The Broadside found their passion for journalism working there.

Scott Greenstone, who covers homelessness at The Seattle Times, said he likely would not have pursued a career in journalism were it not for his time at The Broadside.

"This is an awful time to be doing this," said Greenstone, who was also The Broadside's editor-in-chief.

Defunding the newspaper "is absolutely wrong no matter where you stand," he added.

The community college offers two-year associate degrees and enrolls about 16,500 students on its Bend campus.

-- The Associated Press with information from The Bend BulletinBy Marcia Zug, University of South Carolina

(THE CONVERSATION) President Donald Trump signed an executive order June 20 purporting to end immigrant family separations at U.S. border with Mexico. Four days later, the departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services announced a plan to reunite approximately 2,000 children who were taken from their parents at the border between April and the time the executive order was signed.

Immigration advocates have noted many shortcomings with the executive order. They also emphasize the logistical difficulties parents are experiencing as they try to locate and contact their children.

Sadly, I believe these hurdles are only the tip of the iceberg. One thing few people currently realize - despite reassuring words from the administration - is many of these families will most likely never be reunited.

I've been writing about the impact of the U.S. government's immigration policies on undocumented families for years. The policies the Trump administration is enforcing, especially after the new executive order, are for the most part similar to those first enacted under President Obama. In 2014, during a surge in illegal border crossings, the Obama administration attempted to detain hundreds of families indefinitely - until the practice was legally challenged and stopped. This is essentially the same policy the Trump administration has adopted under the executive order.

Even before the 2014 surge, the Obama administration increased efforts to detain and deport undocumented immigrants within the U.S., resulting in numerous family separations. It is reasonable to expect that the eventual outcomes of today's separations will mirror these earlier ones.

The role of state family law

The biggest issue is how family law views detained undocumented parents. When immigrant children are separated from their parents, they enter two different legal tracks. The parents will likely remain in detention centers until their cases are heard by immigration judges. Most will face immediate deportation.

The HHS plan states parents will be reunited with their children before deportations, but this seems highly unlikely. Hundreds of these children have already been sent to state foster care facilities across the country where they have become wards of the state. Their care and custody decisions will be handled first by state welfare agencies and then by a state court. Reunification becomes less likely as the length of separation increases.

Immigrant parents have the same legal right to the care and custody of their children as American citizens. Without a finding of unfitness, immigrant parents should be granted reunification with their children. However, history shows courts frequently use a parent's immigration status as a proxy for fitness. State court reunification decisions are also highly influenced by the parents' residency in a violent country and the child's opportunity for adoption in the United States.

State courts and welfare agencies have frequently concluded that a parent's undocumented status and their willingness to cross the border illegally was proof enough of parental unfitness that could justify the termination of parental rights.

For example, in In re Angelica L., a case from 2009, a Nebraska juvenile court determined an undocumented mother was unfit based on the fact that she "either A) embarked on an unauthorized trip to the United States with a newborn premature infant or B) gave birth to a premature infant in the United States" after entering the country illegally. Without deciding between the two, the court held that either scenario demonstrated "that [the mother] did not provide the basic level of prenatal and postnatal care."

In addition, courts have often demonstrated little sympathy for the fact that detention and deportation can make a parent's efforts for reunification extremely difficult. For example, in Perez-Velasquez v. Culpeper County Department of Social Services, another case from 2009, the trial court declared the undocumented father unfit because he had, "without good cause, failed to maintain continuing contact with and to provide or substantially plan for the future of the [children] for a period of six months after the child's placement in foster care.."

The father challenged this decision. He argued his failure to maintain contact with his children was due to his incarceration and deportation, and was therefore not willful. However, the court found this explanation irrelevant. According to the court, it was the "father's own actions" - meaning his decision to cross the border illegally - that "led to this situation." In addition, the court was further horrified by the father's reunification plan, which was to return to the United States illegally and then take the children back with him.

For deported parents seeking reunification with their children, the prohibition on re-entry can be a major hurdle. It means parents cannot enter the U.S. to contest the termination of their parental rights. If parents do attempt re-entry after deportation they risk arrest, which further hampers their efforts to be reunited with their kids. Moreover, courts have repeatedly confirmed that an undocumented immigrant's motivations for illegal reentry are irrelevant.

Deported parents are rarely able to return to the U.S. to seek reunification, and this has allowed courts to treat deportation as abandonment.

A final issue that may affect undocumented immigrant parents' ability to reunite concerns the efforts of third parties to gain custody of the removed children. The longer the children remain in foster care, the more likely it is that attachments will grow. Many of these families will seek to adopt these children. In the past, courts, faced with the prospect of returning children to foreign countries filled with dangers versus allowing them to stay in America with an adoptive family, have often chosen the latter. They decide that to go home under such conditions is not in the children's best interest and this in turn justifies terminating their biological parents parental rights.

It's not clear whether today's separated families will have the same difficulties regaining custody previous immigrant families faced, but it appears likely. In fact, given the current anti-immigrant sentiment, I believe the hurdles these immigrants parents may encounter will be significantly greater.

-- Marcia Zug, University of South Carolina

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)By Veronica Vargas Stidvent

Last Thursday Ryan Bounds' nomination to the 9th Circuit of Court of Appeals was withdrawn. The main issue raised was the nominee's stance against multicultural divisions at Stanford University in the 1990s. In tarring Bounds as a racist, Oregon's senators - and others - showed just how wrong they can be.

On college campuses in the 1990s, debate raged about the use of affirmative action and how best to create inclusive, accessible campuses for all. Lines were often drawn between those who believed in "color-blindness" as the best way to get past racial and ethnic divisions and those who championed multicultural or race-conscious methods to achieve diversity. Although multiculturalism eventually won the day, this was a legitimate debate among well-intentioned people trying to achieve the same goals.

As a right-of-center Latina student, I heard the epithet "coconut" more than a few times. In his college writings, Bounds lamented the use of such terms to disparage students of color who did not think according to preconceived notions. He also criticized pigeonholing minority students and separating students by race or ethnicity. I recall visiting the Stanford campus as a prospective freshman and feeling uncomfortable being assigned to "Casa Zapata," the "theme house" for Hispanic students. Later, as a prospective law student, I was once again disappointed when the university offered to pay for me to visit -- as long as I visited during minority student weekend. So I understood when Bounds apologized for his rhetoric, but not for his argument that universities should strive for inclusion rather than separation of students by color.

Taken in context, Mr. Bounds' college writings were appropriate for the time period and his age. My former classmate David Lat has written about the dangers -- including the chilling effect on students -- of considering a nominee's writings from their college years. Bounds' writings advanced an ongoing debate in the style of a student writer aiming to invite challenge from the opposing side. (Indeed, my own nomination was almost derailed by a college op-ed mocking a speech by President Clinton.)

As lawyers, we learn that an inflammatory style so often used in opinion pieces is not the most persuasive or effective in court. A more accurate measure of Bounds would be a review of his professional record.

I have known Bounds for more than 20 years. Like most of our exuberant classmates, we learned from each other, and our ideas have matured with age and experience. In his personal and professional life, Bounds has worked to extend opportunities to students and lawyers from underrepresented communities. He is a serious lawyer and a person with genuine intellectual curiosity. He is by no means a racist. In a time when there is so much to decry, it is a tragedy for the Senate to choose instead to wrongly label this man.

In the aftermath of his failed nomination, my phone lit up with texts from Bounds' shocked friends. The irony was not lost on me as a Jewish Democrat, a gay Asian, a Hispanic woman, and a black Republican wondered what to do next. Our friendship and deep concern overrode any differences one might note among us. It exemplified the very ideal Ryan Bounds had espoused.

Veronica Vargas Stidvent served as assistant secretary for policy at the U.S. Department of Labor. She is the principal of Stidvent Partners based in Austin, Texas.By Greg Sargent

Two of the biggest stories in Washington right now -- President Donald Trump's battle with lawyer Michael Cohen, and a federal judge's decision to let a lawsuit alleging ongoing violations of the Emoluments Clause proceed -- are both converging towards one end point. Both demonstrate the degree to which Trump places his personal interests before those of the American people, and both may shed light on that wretched reality in much more detail in coming days than Trump ever bargained for.

Thursday morning, multiple news reports tell us that Trump's allies view future disclosures from Cohen -- who released audio showing Trump was aware of a hush-money scheme to quiet an alleged mistress before the election -- as a serious threat to his presidency. Meanwhile, the judge's ruling this week means the court battle over whether Trump is violating the Constitution with his business profits shifts into a new phase that could bring more revelations.

In that ruling, a federal judge denied Trump's motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought by the attorneys general of Maryland and Washington, D.C., which alleges that Trump, whose businesses are regularly patronized by foreign officials, is violating the Constitution's ban on officials accepting emoluments from foreign governments (and state governments). The court rejected Trump's effort to define "emoluments" very narrowly, and instead accepted the plaintiffs' argument that they constitute "profit," "gain," or "advantage," i.e., the sort of profits that go to Trump's businesses. This means the case now moves forward to determine whether Trump reaped such profit, gain, or advantage from foreign governments.

In an interview with me, Noah Bookbinder, the executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which is involved in the lawsuit, laid out the next steps: D.C. and Maryland will now seek discovery access to the financial records of Trump's businesses -- in particular, the hotel he owns in D.C. "We're going to seek records to show what benefits and payments the president got, and that's going to include extensive business and financial records," Bookbinder said.

It's possible Trump could block the discovery process, through an unusual appeal or other means. But if he fails, Bookbinder says, the discovery process could "prove that the president has been receiving payments," demonstrating this in a new level of detail documenting "foreign officials staying at the Trump hotel," which could in turn show that "the president is violating the Constitution."

The goal is to get the court to flatly declare that in accepting these payments, Trump is violating the Constitution, and even better, for the court to order Trump to stop. For instance, Trump might have to divest from his businesses (which he has refused to do), or his hotel might have to stop accepting forms of business that constitute the violation, among other possibilities. The case would probably go to the Supreme Court, and it's possible the plaintiffs could lose or only gain a partial victory, in which the courts declare that Trump is violating the Constitution without ordering an end to it. Another possibility, of course, is that Trump defies a court order to stop, which would precipitate a crisis.

But whatever happens, along the way, we may well learn much more about the scope and nature of the payments themselves. This will boost pressure on congressional Republicans to exercise real oversight (which may only happen if Democrats take back the House). Barring that, the public will learn a good deal more about Trump's questionable profiteering - and about the congressional GOP's abdication in the face of it.

This case goes directly to the core of Trump's blending of private and public interest at the expense of the country. It is of course completely possible for Trump to continue to profit this way without letting it influence his decision-making. But importantly, this week's ruling explicitly confirmed that the goal of the Constitution's ban on emoluments is to remove any possibility that this might happen. The framers "made it simple," the ruling states. "Ban the offerings altogether."

--Trump's interests always come first

The crucial point here is that Trump should not be receiving these payments - and should have divested in his businesses at the outset - to remove any doubt for the American people that in his official decision-making capacity, he is acting in their interests at all times, and not in his own. But Trump does not see any institutional obligation of any kind to reassure the people - all the people - in this regard. Instead he has placed his personal interests first - a form of corruption in its own right. This lawsuit may end up shedding new light on just how much this has lavished on his personal bottom line.

This is the through line to Trump's battle with Cohen. At a minimum, this week's released audio demonstrated that Trump knew during the election that his lawyer was making a hush-money payoff to an alleged mistress that functioned as a campaign-related expenditure, while not publicly disclosing it as such. Whether or not that is a crime, the Trump campaign falsely claimed "no knowledge of any of this" at the time, misleading the press and the public, thus putting Trump's seamy personal interests first. And this is only the beginning of what Cohen-related revelations may reveal, when it comes to Trump's prioritizing of his own interests over those of the rest of the country.

TRUMP TEAM WORRIES ABOUT MICHAEL COHEN: After Cohen released the audio of the phone call with Trump, The Post reports that Trump's allies are worried about more to come:

"Within Trump's political orbit, the uncertainty about what other damaging information Cohen may possess - and if he plans to weaponize it against the president, as now seems possible if not likely - has allies worried. 'The general feeling inside and outside the building is that if there was anything, this would be the guy who would know it and now give it up,' said the operative close to the White House."

Intriguingly, The Post reports, both Trump and Cohen privately are angry at each other for what they see as betrayal. No honor among thieves . . .

COHEN HAS LOTS OF TAPES. PROSECUTORS HAVE THEM: Another key nugget from The Post story:

"The government has seized more than 100 recordings that Cohen made of his conversations with people discussing matters that could relate to Trump and his businesses and with Trump himself talking, according to two people familiar with the recordings. Cohen appeared to make some recordings with an iPhone - without telling anyone he was taping them."

There may be only one tape that features Trump speaking at any length, The Post reports, but there's no telling what Cohen said about Trump in the other ones.

ANGRY COHEN SEEN AS 'GREATEST THREAT' TO TRUMP: The Associated Press reports on their rapidly deteriorating relationship:

"Cohen . . . is viewed by many in Trump's orbit as the greatest threat to the former businessman's presidency. . . . Cohen . . . now feels increasingly isolated and burned by the attacks against him by Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and by the president's efforts to play down his former fixer's role."

Nothing gets a self-respecting fixer more worked up than downplaying his fixer prowess. Sad!

A TRUCE IN TRADE WAR, OR JUST A LULL? Trump and the European Union have backed away from a destructive trade war and have pledged to negotiate to lower tariffs, but the New York Times points out:

"It was hard to say, given Mr. Trump's bluster and unpredictable negotiating style, if the agreement was a genuine truce or merely a lull in a conflict that could flare up again. Twice, Mr. Trump's aides have negotiated potential deals with China, only to have him reject them and impose further tariffs."

The problem: It's never clear what Trump will need to declare victory, because he often rails at mistreatment of America that isn't real. If he starts feeling like a loser again, all bets are off.

DRIVE TO IMPEACH ROSENSTEIN PUTS GOP IN TOUGH SPOT: House conservatives allied with Trump have introduced impeachment articles against deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein. But The Post reports:

"House Republican aides said that if a member tried to force a vote on the measure, leaders probably would move to send it to the House Judiciary Committee for further review, effectively bottling it up indefinitely. But that could still be an uncomfortable vote for many Republicans who are under pressure from conservative groups - and the voters who follow them - to unseat the man who oversees the investigation Trump routinely denigrates as a 'witch hunt.'"

So GOP leaders don't want a full vote on this to happen. Let's see if they strongly defend the integrity of the investigation and forcefully denounce this bad faith nonsense for what it is.

-- Greg Sargent writes The Plum Line blog, a reported opinion blog with a liberal slant -- what you might call "opinionated reporting" from the left. @theplumlinegs

(c) 2018, The Washington PostBy Michael Blake, University of Washington

(THE CONVERSATION) The past few weeks have seen widespread outrage over the Trump administration's now-defunct policy of separating migrant families at the border. Four members of the president's Homeland Security advisory council have resigned in protest, citing the "morally repugnant" practice.

Similar conflicts about policing the borders have erupted throughout much of the world. In Europe, the coalition government of Chancellor Angela Merkel barely survived a controversy over how to deal with the continued stream of refugees seeking asylum in Germany.

How people respond to these controversies depends upon what it is that they think the border is set up to protect.

Borders protect from 'outsiders'

In recent years, philosophers have provided several distinct visions on what the borders are protecting.

One prominent justification for securing the border begins with the thought that each state has its own distinctivenational character, and that the state's borders protect it from being overwhelmed by outsiders. The country is not just a state, then, but a cultural or ethnic nation - and, some people might believe, it ought to ensure that migration does not disturb that composition.

President Trump's criticism of European immigration begins with this idea. He has stated quite categorically that the wave of immigration to Europe would permanently change its culture and that was a "shame."

From my perspective as a political philosopher, whose work focuses on the political morality of migration, this view assumes that the "real" community in a country can be identified with one particular culture or ethnicity. In doing so, it implicitly announces that all those who are not members of that majority are less important to the state.

This view echoes the ideas of racial and religious superiority that have caused immense harm throughout history. Fascism as an ideology began with the thought that only certain European residents were the true inheritors of Europe's history. The rest were considered interlopers, who were reducing the grandeur of European civilization.

The ownership of the state

Another justification for the border begins with a notion of property rights. Scholar Ryan Pevnick has argued that the state and its institutions are rightly owned by those who have worked to build and sustain those institutions. They can thus refuse to share their institutions with outsiders - in the same way that I can refuse to share my house with those who have no property rights to enter that house.

There are difficulties here, too. Many people present within a given country may have done very little to actually build that society and its institutions. This does not, however, imply that they are not entitled to the rights associated with citizenship.

But, as importantly, there are many people outside the country who have done a great deal to protect and to preserve that country. During the Iraq War, for example, some Iraqis became translators for the United States Army, at enormous personal risk.

If this view is to be coherent, then these individuals would have a right to cross that border. Indeed, this fact was belatedly recognized by the Trump administration. In February 2017, an exception was made to the travel ban for Iraqi translatorswho had worked on behalf of the United States.

Preserving democracy

A final justification for the border reflects the importance of democracy. Widespread migration, it is believed, could undermine social trust and solidarity - both of which are preconditions for democratic self-government.

Migrants from countries without a tradition of democracy, based on this argument, might have neither knowledge of democratic norms nor a moral commitment to the preservation of democracy. Concerns such as these led Belgium to recently introduce a requirement that all potential immigrants coming from outside Europe must sign a "newcomer's statement" indicating adherence to "European values" - including gender equality and gay rights.

The thought that some outsiders are unlikely to be good democratic citizens, though, has a long and unpleasant history. The United States once barred Chinese nationals from citizenship on similar grounds. American politicians argued that the Chinese civilization was incompatible with any form of government other than "an imperial despotism."

If democracy is this important, those who value it may have some obligation to use migration policy to help people live under democratic rules. President Ronald Reagan, for example, argued that the borders of the United States should beopen to those fleeing Soviet oppression. The freedom of United States, he stated in his farewell address, did not belong to the country alone.

Rather, as Reagan said, the U.S. ought to see herself as the custodian of the freedom of outsiders as well - a suggestion that is increasingly important, as the American debate about borders continues.

-- Michael Blake, University of Washington

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)Two Oregon State Police troopers who fired the fatal shots at refuge occupation spokesman Robert "LaVoy" Finicum in 2016 weren't interviewed by investigators until five days later.

Travis Hampton, then a state police major in charge of agency operations, exchanged multiple text messages with one of the two troopers before his interview, including one as Hampton met with investigators. The same trooper also left his rifle in a truck overnight at the scene.

FBI agents at the shooting site didn't write any reports about their roles at the roadblock that day.

Details of a chaotic confrontation and its aftermath came out in the first day of testimony in the trial of indicted FBI agent W. Joseph Astarita, accused of lying when he denied he fired two shots at Finicum's truck. One shot hit the roof of the truck and the other missed. Moments later, the troopers shot and killed Finicum.

Prosecutors called Greg Bretzing, the FBI special agent in charge at the time and since retired; Hampton, who is now state police superintendent; and Scott Ward, a supervisory FBI special agent who was the highest-ranking FBI agent on U.S. 395 when the shooting occurred Jan. 26, 2016.

Bretzing said he approved the "Malheur Wildlife Refuge Militia Operation Vehicle Interdiction Plan,'' to intercept the occupation leaders as they drove off the refuge that day. They were part of an armed group who took over the refuge headquarters three weeks earlier.

He watched the arrests unfold on a live feed from the FBI's aerial video in the command post on the second floor of the middle school in downtown Burns. Bretzing wanted the feed recorded and replied "absolutely," he said, when someone asked: "Are you sure you want to do that?"

The group from the refuge was divided into two carloads - some in Finicum's white pickup and the others in a copper-colored Jeep. Bretzing watched Finicum pull away from the police stop on the highway, speed off toward a roadblock further north and then swerve into a snowbank.

He and Hampton each testified that they thought Finicum's truck had struck an FBI agent.

"I thought we had an officer killed,'' Hampton said.

The first information Bretzing got from the scene was that both state police and the FBI had fired shots. Within five minutes or so, he said, that was corrected. "Strike that, OSP shooters only,'' he said he learned.

Bretzing said Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson, in the days after Finicum's shooting death, asked him to make sure everybody reported their shots. Nelson led a team of Oregon investigators who investigated the fatal shooting of Finicum.

The next month, Bretzing said he got a call from Oregon's U.S. attorney, saying the Deschutes County sheriff's investigators wanted to show him something that concerned them.

Within a day, Bretzing went to the Sheriff's Office in Bend and watched the FBI's infrared aerial video show FBI Hostage Rescue Team agents walking around the scene.

"It appears they were looking for something,'' Bretzing testified, noting he saw the lights from their rifles shining on the ground. They were moving around, kicking in the snow.

As a past leader of the FBI's Shooting Incident Review Team, Bretzing said what he was watching didn't follow FBI protocol, which is "leave a scene as intact as possible'' and take photos of an officer-involved shooting scene before touching any potential evidence.

Ward, the supervisory FBI agent, had watched the initial stop of the refuge leaders from a vehicle behind the state police and FBI agents who approached the Jeep and Finicum's truck. He was supposed to handle any media or militia inquiries at the scene and was getting updates from the roadblock further north on a radio.

But he was frustrated by the poor radio communication, so he asked another FBI agent to go check who fired shots and who was hit.

He said he went to the shooting scene two times, noticed a lot of foot traffic and no crime scene tape or crime scene log that kept track of who was coming or going. He testified that Hostage Rescue Team agents typically do checks to account for anything they might have dropped after a shooting, such as a radio, flashlight, spare magazine or pieces of a flash-bang grenade.

Asked if he had picked up anything, "I removed nothing,'' Ward testified.

Hampton was grilled by defense lawyer David Angeli on the text messages he exchanged with a state police SWAT officer identified only as "Officer 1,'' who had fired fatal shots at Finicum.

In one exchange the night of the shooting, Hampton wrote to "Officer 1'' that he would approach the investigation as if he were personally in the officer's shoes.

"You told him that?'' Angeli asked.

"Yes,'' Hampton said.

On redirect, prosecutor Gary Sussman asked Hampton what he meant by the text message.

Hampton said "Officer 1" had "grave concerns'' that he, his wife and children would face harm because of his role in the shooting - he fired two of the three fatal shots at Finicum. Hampton said he told the officer that he'd be equally concerned if the roles had been reversed and would approach it the same way.

Sussman asked Hampton if he was suggesting that he'd intercede in the investigation. "Absolutely not,'' Hampton said.

Angeli continued to question Hampton about other text messages.

At 10:15 a.m. the day after the shooting, Hampton texted "Officer 1": "I have some info if free for a call,'' according to Angeli, who was reading the message. Ninety minutes later, Hampton sent another text to the officer: "Have update when free.''

On Jan. 28, 2016 at 11:02 a.m., Hampton sent a text message to "Officer 1," saying he was meeting with Deschutes County sheriff's office investigators at that moment and lining up the FBI aerial video so the officer could view it before his interview, Angeli noted.

"I had given him consistent updates,'' Hampton said, adding later that he wasn't providing updates on the shooting inquiry but on the status of the refuge occupation and arrests.

"I don't recall setting up any FBI video not for public consumption,'' he said.

The video had already been shared with the media two days after the shooting . It was all over the Internet, the prosecutor noted.

Under questioning from Sussman, Hampton said it's fairly typical to work through a union representative or legal counsel to make sure an officer is available for an interview.

"Officer 1" and "Officer 2," the other trooper who shot Finicum, sat down with sheriff's investigators on Jan. 31, 2016.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonianPolice in California are seeking blood samples from biological relatives of six children dead or presumed killed when their adopted mother drove them and her wife off a cliff in March.

Investigators are trying to find relatives of Hannah Hart, 16, and Devonte Hart, 15, to determine if any traces of their DNA is on skeletal remains of a human foot, pants and a shoe found in May a mile from the Northern California coast crash, said Lt. Shannon Barney, a Mendocino County Sheriff's Office spokesman. Investigators are also trying to see if the state of Texas, where the two children were born, has samples of their blood that may have been taken at birth.

Testing on the human remains thus far hasn't yielded results, Barney said.

Hannah and Devonte Hart are the only ones of the family of eight still unaccounted for since the crash. Hannah and Devonte came from two separate birth families.

The wreckage was discovered March 26 off Highway 1 near Westport, California. The family had traveled to California from their home in Woodland, Washington. They previously lived in West Linn.

Authorities believe Jennifer Hart was drunk when she drove the family SUV off the cliff. Evidence showed wife Sarah Hart and some of the children who died in the crash were apparently drugged.

The children who died have been identified as Markis Hart, 19; Jeremiah Hart, 14; Abigail Hart, 14; and Sierra Hart, 12.

Records show several adults reported concerns that the children were being neglected or abused while the family was living in Minnesota, Oregon and Washington. Sarah Hart was convicted of misdemeanor domestic assault in 2011 from injuries inflicted on Abigail while in Minnesota.

Child welfare officials in all three states couldn't substantiate any other complaints against the adopted parents. The latest came in Washington, where authorities were conducting a welfare check on the children hours before the California crash was discovered, after receiving complaints they weren't being fed.

The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office asks relatives to contact them at 707-463-4421.

 Everton Bailey Jr.The Marion County Fire Defense Board issued a county-wide burn ban effective Tuesday until weather conditions minimize danger.

Ban restrictions include:

All campfires, warming fires, cooking fires and the use of charcoal briquettes are prohibited. Contact your local fire agency for special situations.

Campers are permitted to use portable cooking stoves with liquefied or bottled fuels only that can be turned off with a valve.

Backyard burning (yard debris, etc.)

Agricultural burning, regulated through Department of Agriculture, contact your local fire agency for special situations.

Land clearing or slash burning.

Recreational fires, including:

According to a news release, those "in violation of these requirements during the burn ban may be held liable for the cost of putting out a fire and for any property damage resulting from an illegal fire." Most current burning information can be found at 877-982-0011.

Clackamas Fire District #1 officials Wednesday issued a total outdoor burn ban for areas within the fire district while moving the fire danger level to "extreme." The district will likely stay in the total ban until the end of fire season. The ban was issued because of high temperatures, dry conditions and lack of rainfall, and it includes all outdoor fires. Burn information can be found at 503-632-0211.

Separately, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department on Wednesday lifted the campfire and open flame ban in parks along the coast. The ban is still in effect for ocean beaches and state park property managed by the department.

--Hannah Boufford

hboufford@oregonian.com / @hannahbouffordThe Lane County Department of Health and Human Services has lost more than 700 patient and client files, according to a Wednesday news release.

During a search in June, staff members were unable to locate 49 boxes containing information on Community Health Centers of Lane County patients and Lane County Developmental Disabilities clients. The files included medical histories and other personal information such as addresses and social security numbers.

"This has shed a light on our practices and a need to update our policies and procedures on data storage," said Jason Davis, public information officer for Lane County Health and Human Services.

There's no evidence to suggest the information was stolen, but the health agency said it is required to notify the public given the uncertainty surrounding the disappearance.

Davis said the records are usually stored in a secure room in their respective clinics, and the missing batch was seemingly lost during the Charnelton Community Clinic renovation last fall.

The files were moved to a county document storage facility, where it's likely they were placed on a pallet, mislabeled and accidentally destroyed, Davis said. This is the first time the agency has had a document destruction incident, but it is already planning a new storage method.

Everything has been stored in-house until now, which is HIPAA compliant and more financially sustainable, Davis said. HIPPA, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, is meant to safeguard medical data. However, the agency will move all files to a third-party facility specializing in data storage.

Davis said Health and Human services wanted to be transparent throughout the process because the affected patients are some of the most vulnerable in the department. They should not have to worry about stolen information in addition to their medical issues.

"Our patient trust and patient privacy is the number one priority for us," Davis said.

Anyone who might have been affected by the incident can call Lane County officials toll-free at 1-833-404-0027 to report unusual activity related to their identity or finances, the release said. They should also call the appropriate authorities.

To help patients monitor financial activity, the agency is offering to reimburse them for as much as six months of credit-monitoring services.

Patients can visit www.annualcreditreport.com or contact Experian, TransUnion or Equifax.

--Lydia GerikeRepublican gubernatorial candidate Knute Buehler says he plans to vote for an initiative this fall that would repeal Oregon's 30-year-old sanctuary state law.

"We need to have coordination and collaboration between local law enforcement and federal law enforcement," Buehler told conservative talk radio show host Lars Larson on Monday. "People who are here and committing crimes, there needs to be that kind of coordination and communication [with federal immigration authorities]. It is common sense."

Buehler's support for Initiative Petition 22, first reported by Oregon Public Broadcasting, is notable because he has made a point of taking a moderate stance on other hot-button issues including abortion rights and renewable energy, while hewing to traditional Republican positions on issues such as taxes.

Buehler is running against the Democratic incumbent, Gov. Kate Brown.

Brown supports Oregon's sanctuary law. In 2017, she doubled down on it by issuing an executive order barring employees at all state agencies from helping the federal government find or apprehend immigrants without legal status.

Brown also signed a law passed last year by Democratic lawmakers, House Bill 3464, which expanded the sanctuary law. It passed without a single Republican vote and forbids courts, schools and other governments in the state from sharing residents' addresses or workplace locations with federal immigration authorities unless legally required to do so.

Oregon's 1987 sanctuary law prohibits state and local law enforcement from using public resources to arrest people whose only violation of the law is being in the country illegally, which is a civil offense rather than a crime. Testimony on the bill showed it was intended to prevent law enforcement from using immigration regulations to harass or profile people based on their race, The Oregonian/OregonLive has reported.

Over the years, Oregon law enforcement agencies have taken different approaches to implementing the law. Multnomah County follows the strictest interpretation, which factored into the Sheriff's Office releasing Mexican immigrant Sergio Martinez from jail without notifying federal authorities. Martinez, who had a criminal record spanning three states and a history of entering the country illegally, subsequently assaulted two women for which he was sentenced to 35 years in prison. The case drew national attention to Oregon's sanctuary law.

The anti-sanctuary state initiative, which qualified for the ballot earlier this month, was spearheaded by three Republican legislators, Rep. Mike Nearman of Independence, Rep. Sal Esquivel of Medford and Rep. Greg Barreto of Cove. Two organizations that helped get the initiative on the ballot, Oregonians for Immigration Reform and the Federation for American Immigration Reform, are listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as anti-immigrant hate groups.

Buehler did say if Oregon repeals its sanctuary law, the state needs "to preserve the fact that when people are victims, that they feel safe coming to talk to law enforcement."

The state also needs to prevent racial profiling by law enforcement, Buehler said. "I think we've done that over the last several years in the Legislature."

Buehler was among the lawmakers who voted in 2015 to pass House Bill 2002, which required law enforcement agencies to adopt policies prohibiting profiling. In 2017, he voted against House Bill 2355, which ultimately became law and requires law enforcement agencies to report data on officer-initiated traffic and pedestrian stops.

Hillary Borrud

503-294-4034; @hborrudUPDATED 4:20 P.M.: The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office said it hopes the investigation into Deputy Dwight Richey "helps the victim begin the healing process."

...

A Multnomah County sheriffs deputy has been indicted on allegations that he sexually abused an acquaintance in a private home.

Dwight David Richey, 48, faces nine felony and misdemeanor charges including second-degree sexual abuse, third-degree sexual abuse and harassment for allegedly kissing the woman and forcing her to have sexual intercourse.

The alleged attack happened on May 11, 2017, according to the grand jury indictment issued Wednesday.

Richey was placed on paid leave on July 11, 2017 and had remained on paid leave until Wednesday. Given the indictment, the sheriff's office has stopped paying Richey, said sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Brandon White.

The sheriff's office issued the following statement Thursday:

"Allegations of misconduct are serious matters for public safety agencies. The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) holds our uniformed members to a higher standard because of the inherent responsibility bestowed upon them.

"First and foremost, the Sheriff's Office appreciates how difficult it was for the victim in this incident to come forward and report these allegations. We understand the significant emotional and physical pain that comes with abuse and victimization, and we hope this investigation helps the victim begin the healing process."

Richey is a longtime sheriffs deputy. In recent years, Richey had been assigned in a rotation to the Multnomah County jail system and the Multnomah County Courthouse, where he transferred inmates to and from courtrooms.

The Washington County Sheriffs Office handled the investigation. That's standard practice to avoid any conflicts of interest.

Investigators cast a wide net -- interviewing many who know Richey personally or professionally, including a Multnomah County Circuit judge, court staff and other sheriffs employees.

Washington County Sheriff's Detective Robert Rookhuyzen told The Oregonian/OregonLive last year that Richey also was being investigated for "on-duty improprieties." But this week's criminal charges reflect no allegations of sexual misconduct at the courthouse.

The investigation took more than a year because of witness availability, said Kristina Edmunson, a spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Justice. A prosecutor from the Department of Justice will handle the case.

Richey was booked into the Washington County Jail Thursday afternoon, in lieu of $30,000 bail. As of early evening, he remained in jail and hadn't posted the necessary 10 percent of bail in order to be released.

-- Aimee GreenA Portland deliveryman nicknamed "The Porch Pirate" by police, pleaded no contest Wednesday to theft and other charges, accused of stealing packages along his route during the height of the holiday season.



Maksym Bonarov was convicted of felony computer crimes, theft and recklessly endangering another person. He faces a sentence of three years of probation and 16 months in prison. Bonarov stole more than 100 packages from December 2017 to January 2018, the prosecutor's office said.



"He's been extremely remorseful," said Kevin Demer, an assistant Multnomah County district attorney.



The 29-year-old was a driver for a national online delivery service. He would deliver packages for his company and pick up others from porches on his route.

Then Bonarov would sell the items inside the packages online, Demer said.

The prosecutor's office would not comment on which delivery service Bonarov worked for.

Bonarov allowed police to recover the packages from his home and view the app he used to resell the packages, Demer said.A state board on Thursday voted 14-to-4 to revoke former Portland Police Chief Larry O'Dea's police certification for 10 years for dishonesty.

City investigations found that O'Dea misled investigators about his 2016 off-duty shooting of a friend and failed to immediately act on an employee's complaint of a hostile work environment.

In April, the state Board of Public Safety Standards and Training had refused to accept an earlier recommendation from its police policy committee to leave O'Dea's certification alone. The board sent it back to the committee for further review.

On May 17, the committee reversed course, voting to recommend that O'Dea lose his certification for 10 years for dishonesty. The committee also recommended a three-year suspension of O'Dea's certification for gross misconduct.

The proposed revocation initially was on the board's consent agenda , but John Teague, Keizer police chief and vice chair of the police policy committee, asked that O'Dea's case be removed from the agenda for discussion.

"I asked for this case to be pulled because it's heavily nuanced,'' Teague told the board.

He criticized Portland's investigations of O'Dea. Teague complained that the Portland investigative reports were "heavily redacted'' and called their conclusions "obtuse based on impressions,'' not clear information.

He urged a vote against O'Dea's revocation, suggesting a "momentary lack of moral judgment'' doesn't provide a "window to the soul'' that there's a lack of moral judgment.

There was little discussion. The board chair, Marion County Sheriff Jason Myers, urged the committee's recommendation be accepted, saying it was the right one, and a vote followed.

Portland's current police Chief Danielle Outlaw, participating in the meeting by phone, originally voted against revoking O'Dea's certification but changed her vote later in the session. She said afterward that the agenda item was unclear and she "chimed in at the end and was able to ensure my vote reflected me being in favor of upholding the revocation."

In a prepared statement, the board explained its vote, citing the findings of its police committee that "O'Dea's conduct impacts his ability to be employed as a public safety professional because it violates the Code of Ethics, sworn and affirmed by him, to safeguard lives and property; to protect all persons against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation and the peaceful against violence or disorder.''

The board said the committee found O'Dea's conduct "particularly egregious because as a police officer he attempted to conceal his behavior and provided misleading information. O'Dea's demonstrated gross misconduct and dishonesty render him ineffective to serve as a public safety officer.''

O'Dea retired in June 2016 while he was under criminal investigation for shooting Robert Dempsey with his .22-caliber rifle during a camping trip in Harney County two months earlier.

O'Dea and his friends were on lawn chairs, shooting at ground squirrels. A hollow-point bullet from O'Dea's rifle hit Dempsey in the lower back and fragmented. Dempsey was released from the hospital the next day, the bullet still in his body.

The day of the shooting, O'Dea told a Harney County deputy that he thought Dempsey had shot himself. A subsequent administrative investigation by Portland's Independent Review office found that O'Dea delayed reporting the shooting and then lied to investigators about the shooting while he was still chief.

A separate investigation by city human resources officials found that O'Dea failed to follow reporting requirements when an administrative assistant in his office came to him with allegations that the Police Bureau's diversity manager, Elle Weatheroy, had made racist remarks to her. Investigators found that O'Dea lied about what he knew when they interviewed him.

A grand jury indicted O'Dea on a negligent wounding charge in the shooting, but a Harney County judge agreed to a civil compromise and dismissed the charge.

O'Dea's attorney Derek Ashton said in May he was disturbed by the police policy committee's reversal. At that time, he said, "Some members seemed to focus on facts that supported their preconceived conclusion. The result appears manipulated. Going forward, persons should be hesitant to place much faith in this system.''

On Thursday, Ashton said he hadn't yet received notice of the board's vote.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonianWASHINGTON - President Donald Trump's top diplomat faced withering questions from lawmakers Wednesday about the president's ability to steer American foreign policy and his lack of transparency, as the White House scrambled to present a tougher stance toward Russia.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee came as the White House postponed a second summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid criticism of Trump's conflicting statements on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

In an effort to reassure lawmakers, Pompeo said the president accepts the views of the intelligence community that Russia interfered in the election, and he declared that the United States would never recognize Putin's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

But Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, the top Republican on the panel, told Pompeo that lawmakers are "filled with serious doubts about this White House and its conduct of American foreign policy."

He challenged Pompeo to satisfy bipartisan concerns that the White House is "making it up as they go" and that Pompeo himself may not know what is happening.

"The administration tells us, 'Don't worry, be patient, there is a strategy here.' But from where we sit, it appears that in a 'ready, fire, aim' fashion, the White House is waking up every morning and making it up as they go," Corker said, complaining that senators have been unable to get straight answers to basic questions about what Trump may have said to Putin when the two leaders met in Helsinki last week.

Pompeo testily assured senators that Trump had relayed the contents of the meeting afterward.

Russia and concerns that Trump is too cozy with Putin dominated the three-hour session. The hearing was a symbolic step for Republicans who have frequently set aside long-held policy views about Russia, North Korea and other issues to suit Trump's unorthodox approach.

In a sign that the White House wanted to blunt criticism from the president's own party, the administration issued a declaration about its views on Crimea, including that Republican-approved sanctions will remain in place, hours before the questioning began. White House national security adviser John Bolton then issued a statement formally postponing the follow-up Putin summit until next year.

Corker, a frequent Trump foil who is not seeking reelection this year, said Trump appeared "submissive and deferential" in his interactions with Putin, adding that Trump is "antagonizing our friends and placating those who clearly wish us ill."

Corker's frustrations followed a week of walk-backs, reversals and clarifications from a Trump administration trying to account for the president's freewheeling comments about Russia and the 2016 election.

In recent days, Senate Republicans have made public remarks opposing a future meeting between Trump and Putin, which had been previewed by White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders last week.

Democrats in Congress, meanwhile, unleashed a torrent of criticism, going so far as calling Trump's news conference with Putin "treasonous" and placing a rare demand for the president's interpreter to testify before Congress about what the two presidents discussed.

On Wednesday, Pompeo said critics were unfairly characterizing Trump administration policy toward Russia as soft, and he ticked off a list of aggressive steps taken, including the expulsion of 60 Russian spies and diplomats, the sanctioning of Russian oligarchs and the provision of lethal weapons to Ukraine.

When confronted with specific questions about the summit, Pompeo repeatedly recited U.S. policy, prompting senators to accuse him of withholding details about the discussions.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., asked whether Trump talked to Putin about removing U.S. troops from Syria. Pompeo replied that "there's been no change to U.S. policy."

"That's not exactly the question," Shaheen said.

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., repeatedly asked whether Trump and Putin discussed sanctions related to Crimea. Pompeo did not answer the question directly but said it was U.S. policy not to lift sanctions imposed after Russia annexed Crimea.

The U.S. does not, and will not, recognize Russias purported annexation of #Crimea. We stand together with allies & partners in our commitment to Ukraine and its territorial integrity, and have formalized our non-recognition policy in todays Crimea Declaration. pic.twitter.com/4sZnVyCOkB  Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) July 26, 2018

"Presidents are entitled to have private meetings; I'm telling you what U.S. policy is here," Pompeo said.

"We don't know the truth of what transpired in those two hours," Menendez shot back.

In a later exchange, Pompeo accused Menendez, the panel's top Democrat, of playing political games.

Menendez shouted at Pompeo, a former tea party Republican congressman.

"If President Obama had done what President Trump did in Helsinki, I'd be peeling you off the Capitol ceiling, so please don't talk to me about politics," Menendez said.

The tension over what transpired in the meeting has been exacerbated by the fact that the Russian government has shared more details about it than the U.S. side has.

Last week, Russian Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev said Moscow had already sent formal proposals to Washington for joint efforts to fund the reconstruction of Syria and facilitate the return home of millions of Syrians who fled the war, following "agreements reached" by Trump and Putin.

The announcement surprised U.S. allies and lawmakers, as U.S. officials insisted that no agreements were made.

In the hearing, Pompeo acknowledged that Trump and Putin talked about finding a political resolution in Syria, dealing with displaced people and protecting Israeli security interests, but he insisted "there's been no change in U.S. policy with respect to our activities in Syria."

In Moscow, Russian officials have reacted with surprise to the bipartisan backlash to the Helsinki summit. Typically, the Kremlin would welcome a follow-up invitation from the United States for another presidential meeting, but Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said Tuesday that it might be better for the "dust to settle before having a businesslike discussion" between Trump and Putin given the current "atmosphere" in Washington.

The hearing also provided the first opportunity for lawmakers to ask Pompeo about Trump's meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore last month. Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., expressed concern that there is "no verifiable evidence that North Korea . . . is denuclearizing."

"I am afraid at this point that the Trump administration is being taken for a ride," he said.

"Fear not, senator," Pompeo responded.

The top diplomat, in keeping with Trump's public support of the negotiations, expressed confidence that the North Koreans understand the U.S. definition of denuclearization and have agreed to denuclearize.

Pompeo would not, however, detail whether the United States has obtained an inventory of North Korea's stockpile or say whether Kim's government continued to develop nuclear weapons for submarines or chemical and biological weapons. He acknowledged that Pyongyang is still producing fissile materials and that human rights abuses continue.

(c) 2018, The Washington Post. John Hudson, Anne Gearan and Karoun Demirjian wrote this story.SEATTLE -- For two days she has grieved, carrying her dead calf on her head, unwilling to let it go.

J35, a member of the critically endangered southern resident family of orcas, gave birth to her calf Tuesday only to watch it die within half an hour.

All day, and through the night, she carried the calf. She was seen still carrying the calf on Wednesday by Ken Balcomb, founder and principal investigator of the Center for Whale Research.

"It is unbelievably sad," said Brad Hanson, wildlife biologist with the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, who has witnessed other mother orcas do the same thing with calves that did not survive.

Robin Baird, research biologist with the Cascadia Research Collective in Olympia, in 2010 watched L72, another of the southern residents, carry her dead newborn in 2010.

"It reflects the very strong bonds these animals have, and as a parent, you can only imagine what kinds of emotional stress these animals must be under, having these events happen," Baird said.

"You could see the calf had not been dead very long, the umbilical cord was visible. When we were watching, all the rest of the whales were separated by a distance, and they were just moving very slowly. She would drop the calf every once in a while, and go back and retrieve it."

J35 is doing the same thing, carrying her calf by balancing it on her rostrum, just over her nose. She dives to pick it back up every time it slides off.

Scientists have documented grieving behavior in other animals with close social bonds in small, tightly knit groups, observed carrying newborns that did not survive.

Seven species in seven geographic regions covering three oceans have been documented carrying the body of their deceased young, including Risso's dolphin in the Indian Ocean; the Indo-Pacific bottle-nosed dolphin and the spinner dolphin in the Red Sea; and pilot whales in the North Atlantic.

In one instance, a researcher attached a rope to the carcass of a bottlenose dolphin and towed it to shore and buried it -- with the mother following, touching the carcass until she could no longer follow into water too shallow to swim in. There she remained, watching.

Some carried their young in their mouths, some on their backs.

Deborah Giles, research scientist for University of Washington Center for Conservation Biology and research director for the nonprofit Wild Orca, also watched L72 carry her dead calf, following her at a distance in her research boat until the light faded and it was too dark to see.

"Same thing, it was hours and hours," she said of that whale. "But I have never heard of this," she said of J35. "More than 24 hours.

"It is horrible. This is an animal that is a sentient being. It understands the social bonds that it has with the rest of its family members. She carried the calf in her womb from 17 to 18 months, she is bonded to it and she doesn't want to let it go. It is that simple. She is grieving."

The news of the grieving mother came even as researchers are also tracking a 4-year-old in the endangered orca clan that is emaciated. Hanson photographed J50 on Saturday and documented the classic "peanut head" -- a misshapen head due to loss of body fat. Her survival is in doubt.

The southern residents face at least three known challenges to their survival as a species: toxins, vessel traffic and lack of adequate food, particularly chinook salmon. When they are hungry, it makes their other problems worse, research has shown.

Gov. Jay Inslee has appointed a task force on orca whale recovery.

Jaime Smith, spokeswoman for Inslee, said the task force is looking at a range of solutions, both short and long term.

"The loss of this calf is a sobering reminder of what's at stake," Smith said. "And it's why we've convened partners who we believe can and will be best able to identify what we need to do in the upcoming weeks, months and years to save these animals."

For researchers who work closely with the southern residents, their continued decline is painfully apparent.

"I am on the water collecting poop from animals that are not getting enough to eat," Giles said. " I don't know if people understand the magnitude of what we are talking about here. We don't have five years to wait, we really don't."

She said other members of the whale's family knew J35 was pregnant, because of their echolocation ability, which they use to find food.

"So they must be grieving, too."

--Lynda V. Mapes/The Seattle TimesJohn Oliver, taking on such pressing issues as the future whereabouts of Russell Crowe's jockstrap at the "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" panel during the HBO Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour at The Beverly Hilton hotel. (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)I did three things on a recent rainy Saturday morning, and you need to know all about it. Two of those three things I didn't care for, and that would be getting up before noon on a Saturday morning, and then staying up all day as well. Normally those two ideas would spell out a terrible plan for me, but there was a third thing that saved the day: a wonderful breakfast of French toast that just happened to be covered with baklava, pistachios and walnuts, and drizzled with honey.

Let that sit for a hot minute. Don't worry, I'll wait right here for you. Back already? Good, and yes, I said something about French toast covered in the sticky goodness that is baklava, the crunch of pistachios and walnuts, and the mellow sweetness of honey. My friends, don't walk but run to the Uptown Grill, located at 3 East Main Street on Bay City's east side.

The eatery seems to be a newer choice on the Tri-Cities menu scene, but after my recent visit I hope they stay for a nice, long time.

Now back to Uptown Grill's baklava French toast. Some people might call this wonderful dish a concoction, because it consists of what might not be considered normal items on the ingredients list. But I call it alchemy because this dish is nothing short of magical. Whoever came up with this thing sure put their thinking cap on, which was probably hard to do because I would guess they were already wearing a chef's hat. But I'm not here to talk about fashion, so let's get on with it.

This dish checks off all the right boxes on the foodie questionnaire we have come to expect when enjoying a meal: great flavor thanks to quality ingredients and some love from the kitchen staff, a good mix of textures and a great portion size. Add all that up and you get a great dining experience with prices that are more than fair.

The baklava French toast is a meal that can be whatever you want it to be. I took the plunge for breakfast, which seems where it belongs, but I could see ordering this as a dessert as well, splitting with a friend or other foodie after your entrees. I like this plan for my next visit as it will allow me to sample something else from Uptown Grill's awesome looking menu.

I would almost consider myself a guy who knows a lot about what good French toast should be. I am very proud, or really, really embarrassed about the amount of French toast I have consumed in my adult life. I'm not really sure what to do with that information, but I know that the baklava French toast from the Uptown Grill is the best example of French toast I have had in some time. Life changing? You bet.

But wait, there's more. Let's talk about the other things on that menu. Uptown Grill is a breakfast and lunch operation, and for the most important meal of the day they offer eight different kinds of pancakes, more than 10 different omelet choices, and many, many breakfast sides.

For lunch you are looking at all kinds of sandwiches and several choices of salads. When you read through some of the descriptions on the menu, you can see how someone took a standard dish and moved it to the next level. Take their "El Cubano" for instance, Uptown Grill's spin on the pulled pork sandwich, boosted with a bit of sliced ham, provolone cheese and spicy brown mustard on ciabatta. If that sandwich doesn't ruffle your feathers, how about the "Waffle Cristo," built on a firm foundation of waffles dipped in French toast batter and loaded with ham, smoked turkey, Swiss cheese with Melba sauce. Wow.

If you are getting the idea that the Uptown Grill does things a bit differently, then you get a gold star. I look forward to trying many more items from that wonderful menu, and after my first try I have high hopes for more yummy visits.

The restaurant itself is a nice place, very clean with a modern feel. The staff is very friendly, and your food gets to your table fast. Very fair prices and phenomenal food make the trip to downtown Bay City a mission that you need to undertake, soon. Trust me on this one.

So if you wake up way too early on a rainy Saturday morning, kick off the covers and stay awake for the rest of the day. A solid meal from the Uptown Grill will make all the missed sleep worth the effort, and you will be well-fueled for the rest of the day. Hey, did you know you can get all kinds of stuff done on a Saturday if you just get out of bed? I learn something new every day, and now I learned about a new place to eat. Check them out at www.uptowngrillbaycity.com/home

See you at the table.

Matthew Woods writes about his favorite lunch finds. His column, Out to Lunch, will appear here on a regular basis. You can write him at seeyouatthetable@gmail.comRising Tide, a state program aimed to maximize economic growth, increase economic prosperity, create more jobs and help resolve other challenges is moving forth in Beaverton and Gladwin cities, where an estimated 31 percent of people live in poverty.

Leaders from both cities met with staff from Gov. Rick Snyder's office last month to discuss paths to sustainable economic development through the self-identified goals. Beaverton and Gladwin city leaders include city staff, pastors, school officials, youth and business representatives. Beaverton leaders met for their second time Friday. Gladwin City leaders are expected to meet later this month.

"This is a one-time shot for the community," said Beaverton City Manager Heath Kaplan at a round-table meeting. "This is a springboard to help the city move forward."

Beaverton leaders addressed the lack of single-family housing and senior housing along with strengthening education programs and encouraging more businesses to help enhance job growth. They also cited lack of space in the industrial park; a non-existent disaster command center; lack of funding to relocate city hall; and a lack of activities for youth and young adults, who make up an estimated 41 percent of the population in Beaverton.

Gladwin Mayor Dee Jungman said Gladwin city leaders would like to further explore boosting the living wage, with 60 percent of the community living on limited income; senior transportation; retaining youth once they graduate; and bringing in more businesses. City leaders also noted the things the city is doing well, such as the Gladwin Zettel Memorial Airport, the Gladwin Community Arena, the theater and Riverwalk Place, which draw in people from the county and neighboring counties.

One item both cities are focused on is daycare. One Beaverton resident said she must drive 120 miles a day to take her four children to daycare in Midland. She said the two round-trips before and after work can be daunting.

Both Kaplan and Jungman see the need for childcare facilities and hope to work on developing that with the help of the Rising Tide program.

Beaverton leaders are also focused on updating their outdated master plan. The plan was created in 1989, amended in 1993 and has not had attention since.

"That's a major tool we are going to need in our tool box," Kaplan said.

Gladwin amended its master plan a few years ago.

"We can collaborate with communities to help develop the tools to advance a strong economic vision and create new career opportunities for residents," Snyder said in a press release.

Snyder boasts the program will help economically challenged communities to be better positioned for redevelopment.

Rising Tide is sponsored by the Michigan Department of Talent and Economic Development and provides selected communities with tools to design and build solid planning, zoning and economic development foundation.

According to Beaverton and Gladwin city leaders, whose cities were recently chosen for round two of the program, the initiative will help them attract new businesses and help existing employers prosper. The cities chosen for the program are done so considering unemployment, poverty and labor participation rates.

Through the next nine months to a year, city leaders will work closely with the TED team to create an action strategy in hopes of producing thriving communities. The TED team, along with a consortium of consultants, support the implementation phase by offering capacity supplementation, program advice, and expertise from a team of consultants selected for their successful experience with Michigan redevelopment projects. The implementation approach centered on building capacity within the Rising Tide communities.

"I just hope that we can make Beaverton into a place where young people want to stay and contribute," said Kennedy Shea, who sits on the local panel. "I want everyone to have pride in the town and trust that it will fulfill all their needs. I think the program is going to be a great thing for our community and I'm excited to see how we prioritize all the potential improvements."A home being built as part of a collaboration between Midland County Habitat for Humanity and the Greater Michigan Construction Academy will travel along Saginaw Road from Midland to Coleman on Tuesday.

The first phase of construction began on the Habitat home last September.

"The Greater Michigan Construction Academy could not be more proud of its partnership with Midland County Habitat for Humanity," said Stephanie Davis, vice president, GMCA. "Having completed the second house here on site, our students have even more they can add to their resume. We are always looking for hands on projects for our students and I don't believe there is any better way then helping families right here in our community that need us. We are already looking forward to the next build."

"Our partnership with GMCA provided their students a hands-on opportunity to learn the trade of residential construction," said Jennifer Chappel, CEO of Midland County Habitat for Humanity. "We are honored and thankful for this partnership and are looking forward to future builds with GMCA. Our mission at Habitat for Humanity is ... 'bringing people together to build homes, communities and hope.' The partnership with GMCA is a prime example of our mission in action."

At 8 a.m. Tuesday, July 31, working with Laracey House Movers and the Midland County Sheriff's Office, the house will be moved down North Saginaw Road from Midland to its permanent location at 302 E. Webster in Coleman, where it will be set onto its foundation.

Volunteers will complete the final phase of building to get it ready for the new homeowners to move in. Projects will include installing insulation, siding, cutting out and installing windows and doors, and building a garage. People who are interested in volunteering can contact Lauri Ireland, Habitat impact coordinator, at 989-496-0900 ext. 24 or ireland@midlandhabitat.org to make arrangements.

The home is tentatively scheduled to be completed this fall.From my meetings with patients, families, health care professionals, and community leaders, I know there is an urgent need to fight the opioid crisis that has touched the lives of people across mid and northern Michigan. I have held roundtables on the opioid crisis, meeting extensively with residents across the district to receive their feedback on how to fight the epidemic.

On July 11, I made sure those voices were heard in our nation's capital with my work on the House Appropriations Committee, passing funding that will help our communities fight the opioid crisis.

The legislation includes $1 billion for state grants that will allow states and local governments to determine the best way to address the epidemic in their communities. Michigan received $16 million from this program in April and will receive more, if the funding passes the Senate, and signed into law by the president.

This is just one the actions taken in the House of Representatives in the last six weeks.

In fact, you may not have heard about this news, but the House passed multiple bills that will make a difference for those on the frontlines of fighting opioid addiction in our rural communities and across the country.

These bills take on the opioid crisis from all angles, through prevention, treatment, and community safety.

First, the ACE Research Act, which lets the National Institutes of Health do research into urgently needed non-addictive pain medications.

Second, is Jessie's Law, named after a Michigan resident who was tragically prescribed opioids even after she told the hospital she was recovering from opioid addiction. This legislation will help ensure medical professionals have access to a consenting patient's complete health history when making treatment decisions.

Third, we need to do more to protect seniors and remove unused opioids from places where they could be abused. The Safe Disposal of Unused Medication Act will reduce substance abuse in nursing homes by allowing hospice employees to safely dispose of medications on site after the death of a patient.

Finally, I voted for the Support for Patients and Communities Act, which prevents addiction by requiring state Medicaid programs to have safety procedures in place for opioid refills and the monitoring of opioid prescriptions. The legislation also takes on the growing problem of fentanyl by providing grants to state and local agencies so they can establish labs to detect the drug and other synthetic opioids.

The legislation I voted will prevent opioid abuse and make our communities safer. It is patient-centered and will empower health professionals with the tools they need to help at-risk patients. I hope the Senate will take up this legislation soon.

John Moolenaar is a Republican candidate for the Michigan 4th congressional district of the U.S. House of Representatives. He is unopposed in the Aug. 7 primary election. The Democratic primary candidates are Jerry Hilliard and Zigmond Kozicki.President Trumps fixer, Michael Cohen, has officially gone rogue. His lawyer, Lanny Davis, told Axios that Cohen has turned and that he is no longer the previous Michael Cohen that you knew  taking a bullet for Donald Trump, saying anything to defend him, being a good soldier. ... That is over. Now, The Washington Post has even more detail about Michael Cohens heel turn against Trump. Per WaPo:

In the nearly four months since FBI agents raided his office, home and hotel room, Cohen has felt wounded and abandoned by Trump, waiting for calls or even a signal of support that never came. Cohen got frustrated when Trump started talking about him in the past tense, panicked last month when he thought the president no longer cared about his plight, and became furious when Trump lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani contradicted some of his accounts, according to his associates.

In Cohens gravest hour, as one associate described it, Trump was leaving him out in the wilderness.

The result is open warfare between attorney and former client. Cohen has chosen to morph from Trumps pugnacious defender to a truth-teller without regard for any possible political or legal ramifications for the president, according to Lanny Davis, one of Cohens attorneys.

Lanny Davis said that Cohen had to hit the reset button, as he became the latest Trump employee to realize that loyalty is a one-way-street with our president. The problem for Trump is that Cohen isnt some contractor that he can sue into silence. Cohen handled Trumps dirty laundry, and he made tapes while doing it. Per WaPo:

The government has seized more than 100 recordings that Cohen made of his conversations with people discussing matters that could relate to Trump and his businesses and with Trump himself talking, according to two people familiar with the recordings. Cohen appeared to make some recordings with an iPhone  without telling anyone he was taping them.

Cohens lawyer already gave one tape to CNN, where it sounds like Trump is ordering Cohen to pay with cash when the topic of a hush payment to former mistress Karen McDougal arose. Given that Trump only processes reality through a media lens, we can assume that this leak was a deliberate message sent to Trump. Its one thing to go on TV and talk about how you could hurt Trump, but its another thing to send evidence to a TV station that does indeed hurt Trump. That sets the tone for what is to come, and if Lanny Davis bluster is any indication, there is plenty more on its way.

The 100 tapes are not all of Trump, according to two sources that WaPo spoke to. A significant portion are conversations that Cohen had with reporters about Trump, but the president does appear in snippets on several of the recordings. One operative close to the White House told the Post that the general feeling inside and outside the building is that if there was anything, [Cohen] would be the guy who would know it and now give it up.

We have a criminal president. Trump Taj Mahal was slapped with what was at the time, the largest fine a casino has ever received for anti-money laundering violations. His business ventures are littered with relationships with shady characters, and he even said as much when he told Chris Matthews that Ive known some tough cookies over the years. Ive known the people that make the politicians you and I deal with every day look like little babies. Now, the man overseeing a significant portion of Trumps shadiness is speaking out. This is not a war that Trump has the ability to win. His only hope is to muddy the waters enough where the damaging releases by Cohen are obscured by whataboutism.

By all accounts, Michael Cohen feels like a jilted lover. He pitched himself as a Ray Donovan-esque fixer who operated in the shadows on behalf of a man he expressed unabashed loyalty towards. However, as soon as Cohen found himself in need of both legal and financial help, he quickly learned that loyalty does not go both ways in Trumplandia. Everything exists to serve Trumps ego, and Cohen cannot help Trump, he can only hurt him. Unfortunately for POTUShitforbrains, he would rather keep his reputation as the cheapest rich man in existence than part with some cash to rid himself of a serious problem. Now that problem is fighting back, and it has plenty of audio ammo to keep this story in the news for a long time. This is just getting started, folks.

Jacob Weindling is a staff writer for Paste politics. Follow him on Twitter at @Jakeweindling.Pop and protest have always been fraternal twins. In the 40s and 50s, Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger made music filtered through social conscience, using their particular brand of folk music as populist proverbs. For them, it served as a means of speaking out against injustice and indignity, despite being confronted by the objections of authority and banishment from the mainstream media. Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Phil Ochs, and even the Smothers Brothers in sometimes subtle and subversive ways, carried the banner forward in the 60s, singing songs that rallied against the Vietnam War and in support of civil rights.

In more recent times, Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen and U2 have taken to the soapbox to address and advocate for specific issues in an attempt to shift a certain mindset. Not surprisingly then, with the darkness thats settled over the world overall, and the despair and disenfranchisement affecting the U.S. in particular, an increasing number of musicians are also feeling the need to speak out. The aim and intent is to address the politics and policies that have resulted in todays ever-widening divide.

On his new album, Children of Paradise, Willie Nile adds his voice to the chorus of those alienated individuals, offering songs that speak specifically to the immigration imbroglio, the environmental crisis and the widening pall of intolerance thats substituted discord for discourse, adding to the division thats taken so many people to opposite extremes.

Im a true believer that music can change the world, whatever form it takes, Nile insists. In my case, its rock n roll. Music can lift our hearts. Music can you pick you up. I write all the time and it knocks the chip off my shoulder. I just refuse to let these fuckers kill my buzz. I just refuse.

Then again, Nile has always made it a point to pursue his muse with passion, purpose and perseverance. At age 70, hes still the rebellious rocker he was when he relocated to Greenwich Village in the early 70s and first began hanging at such habitual haunts as CBGBs and Kennys Castaways, the counterculture clubs that launched the punk movement by nurturing bands like Blondie, the Ramones, Television and the Talking Heads. Nile took a different stance, writing angst-imbued, anthemic songs that brought quick comparisons to Dylan and Springsteen in particular, making him a rock n roll Everyman capable of stirring the senses and arousing the masses all at the same time.

Signed by Clive Davis to Arista Records, Nile released his eponymous debut in 1980. Unfortunately, due to protracted legal hassles, his progress stalled with the release of his sophomore set, Golden Down, the following year. The squabbles kept him off the road and out of the studio for an extended period of time. In 1988, he signed to Columbia Records and recorded his third album, Places I Have Never Been, featuring an array of all star cameos from Richard Thompson, Roger McGuinn, Louden Wainwright III, the Hooters and the Roches. Unfortunately, the title proved somewhat prophetic. A record company shake-up delayed the album another two years and by the time it was released in 1991, his career had suffered though yet another setback.

Fortunately, over the past decade or so, Nile has managed to return to fighting form, courtesy of a series of albums2011s double header The Innocent Ones and Streets of New York, American Ride in 2013 and World War Willie in 2016that have reaped him the recognition thats been so long overdue. Yet despite the belated kudos, he retains his insurgent stance, refusing to knuckle under to any powers that be.

Ive spent a lot of time in the record business with its ups and downs, Nile insists. There are always going to be ups and downs. Thats how life is, but its never gotten the best of me. I still love music, I still love being alive, I still feel that passion, and I refuse to let these people kill my buzz. Well all be gone at some point down the road, but while were here, whatever we can do, however small that may be, if we can help lift each other up, then by all means, Im all for it.

Indeed, Niles new album echoes that sentiment. With its cascading choruses, rousing refrains and cover photos of some of the homeless people that inhabit his neighborhood, Children of Paradise serves as his own call to arms. The seeds of revolution are planted in my heart/ I water them with human tears every day we are apart, he sings on Seeds of Revolution, the tugging heartfelt track that opens the album.

Dont, the third song in, is even more pointed.

Dont let the fuckers kill your buzz/ Dont let the fuckers turn you into suckers.

Several of the other offerings follow suit; Earth Blues, I Defy, Gettin Ugly Out There and the title track all find Nile railing against despair, degradation and those that would deny others opportunity to pursue their own dreams and desires.

I didnt set out to write topical songs, Nile insists. I just write songs as they come to me. But with the dark climate, the heaviness, the negativity, the division in the country nowI made this record as a pick me up for me. Music always lifts my spirits, and this is a record about passion and energy. Its got all the stuff that I love about rock n roll. Its heartfelt, pissed off, on fire and out of its mind all at the same time. Thats also where the country is, where the world is.

Despite the setbacks, Nile seems fuelled by eternal optimism, a belief in the redemptive power of rock and the motivation it can inspire.

People of good will can come together, and I wanted to put out something positive, Nile says. I get pissed off sometimes, but at the end of the day, I wanted it to be an uplifting albumme speaking up for humanity.

Nile isnt the only one whos found cause to speak up recently. Amos Lee refers to his upcoming album My New Moon as a dedicationan offering, an altar of sorts to those who have shared their sorrows with me. It finds Lee addressing a myriad of issues in personal and poignant termsthe Parkland High School shootings, a child struggling with cancer, the loss of a loved one and the search for survival that goes on even when the odds seem impossible.

Guitarist Marc Ribot treads some similarly tumultuous turf on his new album, the pointedly titled Songs of Resistance 1942  2018. A collection of jazz-infused protest tunes, it features the added voices of Tom Waits, Syd Straw, Tift Merritt, Sam Amidon and Steve Earle, the latter no slouch himself when it comes to speaking out. Although Ribot mines his material from archival sources, titles such as Aint Gonna Let Them Turn Us Around, Knock That Statue Down and The Militant Ecologist speak to todays more militant mindset, one that also allows a few direct knocks against Donald Trump, the agitator-in-chief himself.

Still, Nile and these other artists in arms aside, protest music isnt always about volume and veracity. For the better part of their 30-plus-year career, the Indigo Girls have supported specific causesequal rights for gay and transgender people, gun control, the environment and freedom of expressionin more subtle ways, sans the more obvious political posturing.

Its sort of organic the way it happens, the Indigos Emily Salier says. Weve been able to kind of sweep in on the work that was done before us. Honestly, we feel part of the movement. I need role models, I need people that inspire me and see me in a way that I cant really see myself. When people are able to come out and say were grateful that we literally saved their life in one way or another, Im grateful that we can be the carriers of that, whatever that is. I know what that means. Its a pretty awesome thing to be a part of, but I dont think we have the responsibility to do this or that. Theres no pressure to carry the banner. Were just trying to be true to ourselves and be open to helping people and thats it.

For his part however, Nile is considerably more forthright. Im looking to celebrate compassion and humanity, Nile says of his own efforts. Thats what this record is about. Im railing against the destruction to the planet with mans hand in that, but Im also celebrating love.

Saliers says shes a pragmatist. Ive tried to find a balance in my own life between being completely devastated by the hatred and the disassociation, she adds, It can be overwhelming. But weve come to the realization that we can only do the work we can do. There are always people who will feel different than I do, and I accept that reality, but Im always going to work the best way I know for the sake of people and social movements. Im going to vote that way and be an activist that way. I have learned to be patient and do everything thats in my control. And whats not in my control, Ill let go of.

Nile argues that despite its often times rebellious rhetoric, Children of Paradise is simply his attempt to celebrate compassion and humanity. Obviously this is not paradise for a lot of people, he argues. Its downright hell. Im looking to elevate and to recognize and to salute them. Life is tough. Some of the fat cats have it easy and they dont really appreciate that other people dont have it so easy, and if I can spread some joy, that becomes meaningful to me. And if it means something to somebody else, even better.

Whether or not his message gets through isnt the point, Nile maintains. Im already satisfied. Theres a lot of bullshit in the world and Im a bullshit denier. I believe that music can be redemption. All it takes is one guitar. Im looking for peace of mind and love and redemption and Im trying to spread that around as best I can. It can be a challenge, but Im not running for office. Im just playing rock n roll with all my heart. So Im not going to sit back. If I see something to write about, I will.OVPN is a relatively small VPN service that takes privacy very seriously. Its on the expensive side at $84 per year, and the country choice is also limited to 14, with less than 100 servers in the network. The good news is the speeds are much better than they were, it now supports U.S. Netflix streaming, and multi-hop is free for six-month and annual subscribers.

OVPN in brief:

P2P allowed: Yes Business location: Stockholm, Sweden Number of servers: 56 Number of country locations: 7 Cost: $84 per year VPN protocol: OpenVPN Data encryption: AES-256-GCM Data authentication: SHA1 HMAC Handshake encryption: TLSv1.2

One of the big questions many people have about a VPN service is just how well they can trust a companys no-logging claim. OVPN tries to allay that concern as much as possible by running its own small network of servers in seven countries.

On top of that, the company doesnt allow its hardware to hold internal or external hard drives, USB sticks, or CD-ROM drives. That, of course, begs the question where it stores the operating system and server configuration. The company tells me that it runs the operating system and all system configuration files on RAM. If youre interested to learn about how this works check out OVPNs blog post on the topic.

Note: This review is part of our best VPNs roundup. Go there for details about competing products and how we tested them.

Services and features

OVPNs Windows desktop app is very basic. At the top are four categories: Connections, Statistics, Support, and Account. The primary places that users will be looking at most days are Connections and Account.

IDG OVPN with an active connection.

Connections is where you see all your options for connecting to the VPN. By default, OVPN connects to the fastest server based on your location. If you need a specific country, such as the U.S., you can let OVPN determine the best server for you within that location. Finally, you can drill down and personally select one of OVPNs 56 servers. The automated approach based on speed is quite common for a VPN service, but its nice to see a company spell it out for the user. Once youve chosen your connection options, click Connect and OVPN takes care of the rest.

The Account section would be more accurately called Settings since this is where the desktop app houses all its various options to tweak. By default, OVPN turns on its kill switch that shuts down all internet activity when the VPN connection drops. Also on by default is IPv6 support, launching the desktop app at boot, and various notification options.

One thing to note is that when you hit the minimize button, OVPN disappears to the system tray. If youd rather it stayed on the taskbar you can do that at Account > Client > Minimize to system tray.

IDG OVPNs various options for Windows 10.

Moving on to Statistics, this section shows two bandwidth graphs of your activity over the last 60 minutes and the last 24 hours. The Support section, meanwhile, is a simple email contact form where you can send up a flare for help. Note that there is a check box at the bottom of the email form to send logs that are saved on your PC at AppData > Roaming > OVPN > logs. You can also view the logs by going to Account > Show logs.

In addition to the desktop app, there are also browser extensions. Most VPN extensions are just for using the VPNs servers as a proxy. OVPNs extension, by contrast, doesnt offer a proxy. Instead, it blocks ads, potential webRTC leaks, and it will not allow your browser to connect to certain sites unless youre connected to the VPN. This last feature is entirely optional and only works if you specify that certain sites should only be reachable over the VPN.

Performance

To test OVPN we couldnt do our usual test across five far-reaching locations that include stops in Asia and Australia. OVPN only covers seven countries in North America and Europe (U.S.A., Canada, U.K., Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, and Norway). So for this test, we looked at speeds in the U.S.A., Canada, Germany, the U.K., and Sweden.

Overall, OVPN did not fare well. In out first round of testing it failed to reach double-digit Mbps speeds in every single country we tested. Overall, OVPN was able to maintain less than 12 percent of the base speed using an average of the five aforementioned locations tested.

Thats one of the worst speed results weve seenthough notably OVPNs upload speeds were outstanding with over 60 percent of the base speed maintained.

To see if this was truly representative, we tried changing the connection from UDP to TCPa one-click setting in Account. When we did that, the scores went up to a 21 percent overall average, which is better, but still pretty low compared to what else you can find out there.

Privacy, anonymity, and trust

IDG OVPNs Statistics view.

When you sign up for OVPN the form asks for a username, password, and email address. The email, however, is entirely optional, making this a good choice for those looking for anonymity. On top of that, OVPN accepts cash just like its fellow Sweden-based VPN (and our favorite service), Mullvad.

To use cash, you sign up for an account, and then send OVPN an envelope with the cash and a note with the one-time code you see on the payments page. Once the company receives it, the credit is added to your account. Now obviously theres a risk to sending cash in the mail, but for those looking for anonymity the risk might be worth it.

Beyond cash, OVPN accepts PayPal, credit card, and Bitcoin via Coinbase. If you pay via Bitcoin, OVPN says you can expect to wait 30-40 minutes before the transaction will be authorized and your account credited.

OVPN is run by OVPN Integritet AB. The company doesnt provide a street address, but its mailing address is Box 388, 114 79 Stockholm. The companys founder is David Wibergh.

As for the privacy policy, the company has a no-logs policy and the servers are configured so that all write permissions are suspended. That means that logs cannot be created on the server itselfunless someone flips on those permissions. As mentioned earlier, OVPNs servers also dont have storage media to keep any logs long term even if they were being created.

Conclusion

I wish I could give OVPN a better recommendation, I really do. The company gets so many things right: it takes no-logging very seriously, you can pay with cash, and you dont have to supply an email address. But that performance result is troubling. Now, we should note that your experience may vary, but with performance this low in our tests we simply cant give OVPN a big thumbs up at this time.

Well be keeping an eye on OVPN, however, and if the speeds improve well be sure to revisit this review.

Editors note: Because online services are often iterative, gaining new features and performance improvements over time, this review is subject to change in order to accurately reflect the current state of the service. Any changes to text or our final review verdict will be noted at the top of this article.There's nothing like a rising Susquehanna River to set nerves on edge and force those who live, work, or own businesses nearby to begin making preparations in case it spills over its banks.

That's how many of them spent Wednesday as the river's level rose above 12 feet on its way to topping 18 feet early Friday morning as forecasted by the National Weather Service.

The oval-encircled 18-foot marking on this pier of the Market Street Bridge indicates about where the Susquehanna River is forecasted to crest early Friday morning.

On City Island, the folks at Riverside Marina were busy hauling as many pontoon boats to a higher point on an island as they could. The rest would have to be tied to trees.

Meanwhile, city workers were gathering up barricades to prevent them from getting washed away if floodwaters reached that point on the island.

Pam Kammerer, who along with her husband Jared owns Signs by Tomorrow Harrisburg West, a visual graphics business along the river in Wormleysburg, said they rented a U-Haul truck and trailer in case they need to move their large equipment out of the river's reach.

"We're watching it closely," she said. "We have our plans in place and hoping we don't have to use them."

But with the river expected to crest a few feet below the 22.5 feet, which is when they were told the space their business occupies would be flooded, they weren't too worried. However, Susquehanna Outfitters, a canoe and kayak rental business which occupies the lower level of that building, had already cleared out its gear, Kammerer said.

Nearby, planters and other items that once sat on the lower deck at Dockside Willies were perched on higher ground next to the restaurant, which caught fire on Monday evening. Owner Don Carter said once the river rises to 14 feet, that deck starts taking on water.

Despite that being a massive undertaking of moving all the planters and other furnishings, that seemed to be the least of Carter's concerns on Wednesday as he spent the afternoon pouring out all the beer and liquor inside the fire-damaged restaurant and readying the adjacent Rock Bass Grill to reopen on Thursday.

"I keep looking up at the sky and saying, 'is that all you got,'" Carter said.

Flooding at Duke's, his other riverside restaurant in Wormleysburg, as well as Rock Bass Grill wasn't a concern for him. The river has to reach a depth of 25 feet before those restaurants get flooded, he said. When the Susquehanna gets that high, he isn't the only one with problems.

"The whole area has trouble when we hit that," he said.

Across the river in Harrisburg, Shipoke resident Maritza Robert was busy moving items she stored in her basement to the first floor of her home that offers a great vantage point to watch the debris and large trees floating downstream.

"I am getting prepared," she said, as her estranged husband John Lamb tested out the two sump pumps that were recently purchased in case they were needed to remove any water that makes its way into the basement.

Robert moved to that house two years ago and was told by a neighbor when the river reaches 19 feet that's when floodwaters become a problem.

"The firefighters came last night and gave us a letter from the city that says 17 feet is flooding stage so we're getting ready," she said. Even though the river was once forecasted to crest above 19 feet and later in the day, it dropped to about 18 feet, Robert didn't know whether to believe the latest forecast because "it's still raining."

Less worried was longtime Shipoke resident Mary Martindale who lives in an elevated house that fronts the river.

She wasn't doing any preparations because after having experienced several floods over her 30-plus years of living in that neighborhood, she knows that 18 feet would not cause her any water damage. However, she said it will be quite a welcome to the neighborhood for the influx of new people who moved into other parts of Shipoke recently.

Another longtime Shipoke resident who declined to give her name said she lived through four floods and knows that the river cresting at around 18 feet is not going to be a problem for her. Any higher, though, would cause her to begin debating whether to start moving belongings to a higher floor in her elevated home, she said.

"It's more of an inconvenience than anything," she said.

The rising river attracted many onlookers to its banks on both sides of the river as well as the Walnut Street Bridge on Wednesday. Passersby snapped pictures or took long gazes of the fast-moving water and the wildlife around it.

David Dender, who moved to Wormleysburg not too long ago from Northern Virginia, was checking out the activity on City Island as he walked across the Walnut Street Bridge getting some exercise.

"I've been very interested in what the preparations I see the public workers doing to try to protect their properties here on the island," he said. "I love the river very much. I love water. So it's always interesting when something spectacular is happening."As he endeavors to expose predatory priests, Pennsylvania's top law enforcement official has appealed for help from the highest Catholic church authority: the pope.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro on Wednesday sent Pope Francis a letter expressing his concerns that church officials are stalling the release of an 18-month-long grand jury investigation report into clergy sex abuse in six of the state's eight dioceses.

Shapiro had intended to release the findings to the public in late June, but a last minute stay order from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has halted the release for now. The court is considering the petitions of some two dozen individuals named - but not charged in the report who argue that the report, as written, violates their constitutional rights.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro has appealed to Pope Francis in the ongoing effort to release a grand jury report into clergy sex abuse. The pope is shown here arriving for a Mass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2015, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Shapiro on Thursday issued a statement on his letter sent yesterday to Francis, in which he wrote:

"Yesterday, I wrote to Pope Francis regarding the Office of Attorney General's comprehensive investigation into sexual abuse of children within the Catholic Church and its cover up by church leaders."

"I have appreciated the Pope's public remarks and expressions of sorrow and remorse to victims of this abuse. He has stated that clergy and bishops will be held accountable when they fail to protect children, and I admire that step."

"It is my sincere hope Pope Francis encourages other church leaders to heed his words and abandon their destructive efforts to silence survivors."

The pope, who has sole authority over bishops, has been more outspoken than predecessors on the worldwide clergy sex abuse scandal, which has roiled the 1.2 billion strong church for decades. The Argentinian pontiff has met with victims of abuse, including during his visit to Philadelphia in 2015. He most recently invited victims of abuse in Chile to meet with him.

Still, amid an outcry from survivors of abuse, Francis has had to do damage control in his handling of the spiraling clergy sex abuse scandal in Chile. He has accepted the resignation of several of that country's bishops amid offers from all the bishops to resign.

The grand jury investigation led by Shapiro's office is widely expected to implicate bishops and former bishops and other high-ranking clergy accountable for failing to protect children from predatory priests.

Some victims who testified before the 40th Statewide Grand Jury have suggested that Shapiro appeal to the pope.

The report remains under seal by the state Supreme Court, which is considering arguments of the several dozen petitioners, among them clergy, asking that the report be revised with redactions or potentially blocked.

This story has been updated to clarify the way the pope has handled the clergy sex abuse scandal.

2018 07 25 Letter for His Holiness Pope Francis by PennLive on ScribdWILLIAMSPORT -- "If you say 'one Mississippi,' it's over," Constable Clark Steele said.

But in that moment, it seemed a lot longer.

From out of nowhere, Steele said, Donald Meyer Jr. raised an AR-15 and aimed it at him. Steele said he doesn't remember drawing his gun from his holster, but he remembers seeing it as it moved in his hand across his chest. He doesn't remember hearing the shot, but he recalls the jolt of it in his grip.

Donald Meyer Jr.

"Why did you have to fire?" Perry County District Attorney Andrew Bender asked him in court today.

"To preserve my life," Steele replied.

"You thought you were going to be killed?"

"I knew I was going to be killed."

Steele took the witness stand this afternoon in Meyer's trial. Meyer Jr. 60, of Duncannon is facing charges, which include criminal homicide, in connection with the shooting death of his 12-year-old daughter, Ciara Meyer.

Prosecutors say when Steele was evicting Meyer from his Penn Township apartment on Jan. 11, 2016, Meyer pointed a rifle at Steele, prompting the constable to pull his own gun and shoot Meyer.

The bullet went through Meyer's arm and hit Ciara in the chest, killing her.

Meyer's attorney, Jerry Philpott, however, is arguing that his client was fearful of home invasions and only answered the door with a weapon to protect himself.

Ciara Meyer.

A jury was selected Tuesday in Lycoming County - where the trial had been moved from Perry County - and trial began Wednesday morning.

Steele said he made two other trips to Meyer's apartment on Rebecca Drive to serve notices related to the eviction. Both times, Meyer complained about the apartment complex, but he was polite with the constable.

The day of the eviction, though, things changed.

Steele said he stood to the side of the door, as he was trained to do, and knocked with this clipboard. There was no answer, but he saw the blinds part. He motioned for Meyer to come forward.

Meyer first opened the door just enough to stick his head out. When Steele told him today was the day for the eviction, Meyer told him, "Well, I'm not going to let that happen" and went back inside.

"My hairs went up. Something was wrong," Steele said.

He said Meyer opened the door again. Steele said he didn't see anything in Meyer's hands, at first, but he saw Ciara standing next to him.

And in an instant, Steele saw the rifle coming up. He recognized the barrel right away.

"What did the muzzle look like?" Bender asked him.

"Like a cannon," he said. "He had me. He was going to kill me. He had me dead."

Steele said he remembered turning away. He doesn't remember drawing his weapon, but he saw it in his hand.

"I saw his outline. I pulled the trigger," he said.

Meyer slammed the door, shouting that he had been shot.

Steele retreated from the apartment towards his car, amazed he was able to escape injury. It wasn't until later, as he was shaking from the cold or the fear or both, that Penn Township Police Chief Richard Pickle told him that Ciara had been shot and died. Neither of them realized in that moment following the chaos that the fatal round had been fired by Steele.

Sherry Meyer, Donald Meyer's wife, took the stand and filled in a few of the details of what happened in the moments after the shooting.

She was asleep on the couch when she heard the commotion.

"I woke up to him saying 'you're not coming into my house,'" she said. "I heard Ciara saying, 'no, Daddy, no.'"

That's when she heard the gunshot. She sat up and saw her daughter rush into the room and collapse on the floor. Ciara was curled in the fetal position, her mother said, "like she was crying." Except she wasn't moving.

"I said, 'Ciara, wake up,'" she said.

She next saw her husband collapse on the floor, saying "They shot me," and telling her, "If you know what's good for you, you'll put the gun away."

And she returned the AR-15 to the gun safe in the master bedroom, she said.

That safe was shown in crime-scene photos, along with several other firearms found in the apartment. They include a handgun, a bolt-action rifle, a revolver in the nightstand and a "go-bag" in the kitchen, filled with eight AR-15 magazines.

Though the defense had no cross-examination questions for Sherry Meyer, they did try to raise some doubts about the constable's past use of firearms.

While Steele said, prior to that day, he never discharged his firearm while on duty, co-counsel Barbara Wevodau asked him about a time when he shot some dogs.

Steele explained these were large, aggressive pit bulls that were attacking his cousin's smaller dog. That night, years before he became a constable, he heard gunshots coming from his cousin's nearby house and called to see if he needed help.

His cousin had already shot one of the attacking dogs. As Steele scooped up the smaller dog belonging to his cousin, he said the other pit bull came charging at him and he shot it.

Steele said he was never charged in that incident.

Meyer, who was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair, grumbled a few times through the day's court proceedings. It was loud enough to be heard through the courtroom, but his words could not be discerned.

He is charged with homicide, aggravated assault, illegally possessing a firearm, involuntary manslaughter, simple assault, making terroristic threats and reckless endangerment.

Meyer faces separate charges in Dauphin County, where he is accused of fraudulently obtaining firearms.The Nation Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for Lancaster, Scuylkill, Lebanon and eastern York counties, ending at 10:30 p.m.

As of 6:22 p.m., the doppler radar is showing that up to two inches of rain are possible in some locations during that time. This is in addition to going flooding problems.

Areas at risk include Lancaster, York, Lebanon, Pottsville, Ephrata, Elizabethtown, Columbia, Lititz, Millersville, Willow Street, Mount Joy, Palmyra, Tamaqua, Red Lion, Schuylkill Haven, New Holland, Shenandoah, Spry, Manheim and Annville.

Persistent rain and storms have caused major flooding across central Pennsylvania for the last several days.

For more traffic information, follow live traffic updates, accident reports and road closures below from PennDOT, Total Traffic Network and other Twitter sources.

Get a look at conditions on local roads -- via PennDOT traffic cameras -- anytime here on PennLive. For Pennsylvania Turnpike updates and possible travel delays visit the Turnpike website here.

Tweet us at @pennlive with any incidents you see on your commute or send a submission to submissions@pennlive.com.SUNBURY - A forensic psychologist used by the defense for one of the Craigslist killers will assess the mental health of a Shamokin man accused of fatally shooting a woman and then engaging in a more than five-hour standoff with police in February.

Northumberland County Judge Charles H. Saylor Tuesday granted a defense motion to hire Dr. Clarence Watson of Bala Cynwyd to assess Jose Colon who is facing the death penalty if convicted.

Watson was retained to assess Miranda Barbour, one of the Craiglist killers, after she and her husband Elytte were charged with the 2013 murder of Troy LaFerrera.

Court-appointed defense attorney James L. Best claimed an assessment of Colon is needed because of bizarre statements he made after his arrest including that he wanted the death penalty, and a history of mental illness, drug addiction and being committed to mental health facilities in his native New York.

Saylor approved an expenditure of up to $10,000, but Best noted Watson's fee in the Barbour case was upward of $50,000.

The Barbours pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and each is serving a life prison term.

They were dubbed the Craigslist killers because Amanda Barbour arranged a meeting with LaFerrera through that social media site.

Colon, 42, is charged with killing Kasandra Ortiz, 23, at Rock and Spurzheim streets in Shamokin on Feb. 26.

He is accused of punching Ortiz when she came out from her nearby apartment, dragging her behind a large trash container and shooting her.

Shamokin Officer Raymond J. Siko II testified at the preliminary hearing during an interview Colon began crying and admitted he shot Ortiz.

There also was testimony Ortiz had "burned" Colon in a drug deal and she was spreading rumors he had bed bugs.

Colon is charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person, possession of an instrument of crime and a convicted felon not to possess a firearm.

READ MORE: Convicted Sunbury Craigslist killers headed to divorce court

He also is charged in the same case with terroristic threats and simple assault for allegedly punching a female friend of Ortiz and chasing her down a street with a shotgun pointed at her.

Charges from the standoff are attempted murder and assault on a law enforcement officer, person not to possess a firearm, terroristic threats and recklessly endangering another person.

Shots were fired that struck a police cruiser and an armored vehicle during the standoff the following the fatal shooting.

Colon is jailed without bail on the homicide charge.The National Constitution Center announced Thursday it will award its 30th annual Liberty Medal to President George W. Bush and former first lady Mrs. Laura Bush for their commitment to veterans.

The Liberty Medal will be awarded to President and Mrs. Bush at 5 p.m. on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, in Philadelphia.

The Liberty Medal, established in 1988 and hosted by the National Constitution Center since 2006, recognizes individuals who strive to secure the blessings of liberty to people around the globe, a press release says.

Recent recipients include U.S. Senator John McCain, U.S. Representative John Lewis, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, and Malala Yousafzai. With this honor, a prize of $100,000 is awarded.

President and Mrs. Bush will donate their prize money to "A Charge to Keep," the campaign to endow the work of the George W. Bush Institute and its Military Service Initiative.

"Our democracy depends upon the embrace of high ideals and civic responsibility, and there's no finer example of citizenship than our veterans," the former president is quoted as saying. He adds, "Laura and I are honored to dedicate this award from the National Constitution Center to the men and women who have defended and upheld the rights and freedoms enshrined in our Constitution."

George W. Bush served as 43rd president of the United States and Laura Bush served as first lady from 2001-09. They are founders of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Texas, which is home to the George W. Bush Institute, a nonpartisan public policy and leadership development center focusing on solving today's most pressing challenges.

The Military Service Initiative within the Bush Institute honors the service and sacrifice of all post-9/11 veterans by ensuring they and their families make successful transitions to civilian life, specifically in addressing the challenges of employment and overcoming the invisible wounds of war. Core programs of the Military Service Initiative include an employment partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce called the Veteran Employment Transition Roadmap, and the Warrior Wellness Alliance, which connects peer-to-peer veteran networks with best-in-class health care providers.

Mrs. Bush's work is especially focused on caregivers of post 9/11 veterans. In 2017, President Bush also painted and penned Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief's Tribute to America's Warriors, which helped dispel the stigma of the invisible wounds of war and tell the human stories of those who courageously volunteer for our country.

A limited number of complimentary tickets to the Liberty Medal Ceremony will be available to members of the National Constitution Center and to the general public. More details will become available in August. For further information, click on this link.Harrisburg School District officials vigorously defended a high school grading policy implemented last year that supporters say is intended to keep struggling or disinterested students engaged and striving.

The policy creates a floor marking period score of 50 percent for students who have earned an 'F.'

That way, supporters say, once those students realize that they are in danger of failing the class for the year, they have a "fighting chance" of working their way back to a passing score for the year, or 60 percent.

"It's really important for students to know that they still have a fighting chance in class," said the district's chief academic officer, Jaimie Foster.

"That can make all the difference in the world when a student is trying to decide" whether they want to try to graduate on schedule with their friends or even whether to stay in school at all.

"We want our children to have hope," Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney added. "We don't want them to just give up because they feel like it's a goal they can't reach.... We want them to have that incentive, that drive, to continue to achieve."

Wednesday's press conference followed recent news reports about alleged investigations into adherence with the grading policy, which was implemented for the 2017-18 school year.

District spokeswoman Kirsten Keys told the Harrisburg-based community magazine TheBurg earlier this month officials "are looking into an expressed concern to ensure that the policy and procedure were applied with fidelity."

But officials, including the embattled Knight-Burney, refused to take questions about that investigation Wednesday night.

It sounds jarring, the concept of giving kids a "free 50," and some critics argue this is just the latest way to boost graduation rates in a district that has suffered from sub-par student achievement for years.

Harrisburg certainly wants to boost its district-wide 55.8 percent, four-year graduation rate, especially as Pennsylvania moves to a new school assessment system that will show whether a specific school is hitting benchmarks on a variety of different indicators.

"I don't agree with it, and I think it's a disservice to our children," said Kia Hansard, a former city school board member who now leads a grassroots group called Concerned About The Children of Harrisburg, or CATCH.

"If we're preparing our children for real life, that's not how life works," Hansard said, arguing the district needs to step up with the supports that are necessary to help struggling kids turn things around.

"If we are in the business of educating our children, let's do it the right way," she said.

But Foster said what some have disparagingly called the "free 50" is an accepted tool in urban settings - a claim that could not be independently corroborated for this report.

It does make sense, she said, for districts serving populations where many students have to cope with the day-in, day-out traumas of neighborhood violence, homelessness or a parent who is in jail.

"If I give you 17 percent (for a marking period)... you're coming back to me," Foster said. "And you're going to come back to me probably already ready to fail again, because I haven't given you anything to say that, yes, here's a small window of hope where you might be able to actually perform well...

"Our goal at the end of the day is not to give handouts to children. Our goal is to give you, if we have to, a leg up," Foster continued.

"Because we're talking equity at the end of the day. And equity, in an urban school district, is not necessarily that everyone is all on the same ground. It's to ensure that everyone has the same opportunities."A man found with more than 15,000 bags of heroin in his trunk while driving through Dauphin County will spend more than 15 years in prison.

Alshaqah Tariq Powell, 45, of North Carolina, was stopped Nov. 3, 2015 on I-81 in Dauphin County. Police found more than 15,000 bags of heroin with a street value of between $40,000 and $120,000, said U.S. Attorney David Freed.

Powell was charged with possession with intent to distribute heroin, and he will be on five years of supervised release after prison. He was sentenced in Middle District Court in Harrisburg Thursday.

State police and the Drug Enforcement Agency conducted the investigation. The case was brought as part of the initiative to combat heroin and also Project Safe Neighborhoods.City officials are asking the public to stay away from City Island through the weekend after flooding from the Susquehanna hit Wednesday evening.

Fire Chief Brian Enterline is asking the public to stay off the island until at least Monday, while the city assesses the situation.

The Susquehanna River officially went above its flood stage of 17 feet around 8 a.m. Thursday morning. It is expected to crest at 17.5 feet around 8 p.m. Thursday night.

The Harrisburg Senators posted to social media Thursday evening that they would still be playing a game Saturday night and a double header on Sunday.

Baseball is being played this Saturday. https://t.co/X5pEBYCUdK  Harrisburg Senators (@HbgSenators) July 26, 2018

Several days of intense rain and storms came to central Pennsylvania beginning Saturday causing the Susquehanna and other area waterways to swell and in some cases, flood.

Swatara Creek had major flooding in Harpers Tavern and Hershey, while Yellow Breeches Creek near Camp Hill and Conodoguinet Creek near Hogestown entered into the moderate flooding zone Thursday.

Areas affected by the flooding of Swatara Creek and others that first flooded days ago are seeing significant damage, but with the Susquehanna River only cresting Thursday night it is unclear how much damage will be done.

More rain is predicted Friday, and it is unclear how that will effect the flooded areas.

You can see live weather updates via the National Weather Service and other Twitter sources below.

Tweet us at @pennlive with photos of inclement weather at your place, incidents you see on your commute or send a submission to submissions@pennlive.com.The American Red Cross has closed two shelters for flood victims in central Pennsylvania.

The shelter located at Hershey High School closed at 11 a.m. Thursday, according to a news release.

The shelter assisted two residents on Wednesday.

Another shelter, located at Donegal Intermediate School in Lancaster County, will close at noon. That shelter also assisted two residents on Wednesday.

Red Cross staff and volunteers will continue to support those impacted by the floods.

The weekend is shaping up to be a dry one, but rain is expected to return into next week. Numerous roads throughout the region were closed as a result of flooding.

The National Weather Service reported that enough rain fell across a 100-by-158 mile section of the state to fill 3.3 million Olympic-sized swimming pools.Despite torrents of criticism from Democrats, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey on Thursday said he's convinced that President Donald Trump's Supreme Court pick believes that no one - not even the president - is above the law.

"He was very adamant and spoke very eloquently - that absolutely no one is above the law and that includes the president," Toomey, R-Pa. said of his Thursday morning meeting with federal appellate Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

Toomey's comments came during a midday press call with home state political reporters, where he has pronounced himself a firm yes vote to confirm Kavanaugh to the high court seat being vacated by retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Senate Democrats have used Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election as grounds for attack against Kavanaugh, who sits on the federal appeals court for the Washington D.C. circuit.

As The Hill reports, Democrats have argued that Kavanaugh should be blocked because "if confirmed, he may have to decide whether the president can be criminally indicted, or if Trump has the power to pardon himself in Mueller's probe into potential collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign in 2016."

Kavanaugh's conflicting public comments about U.S. v. Nixon, a watershed case that led to the eventual downfall of President Richard Nixon, have also been called into question.

During a panel discussion in 1999, Kavanaugh appeared to indicate that the case had been wrongly decided. In other public remarks, he defended the 1974 precedent, The Washington Post reported.

Toomey said Kavanaugh told him "multiple times" that the Nixon case "was one of the Supreme Court's greatest decisions because it was a difficult and necessary decision. The justices knew it would have very profound implications for the presidency."

The Pennsylvania Republican described a wide-ranging discussion with Kavanaugh, that was equally notable for what it left out.

Women's and reproductive rights groups have mobilized against Kavanaugh's nomination, fearing he could be a decisive vote to either overturn or whittle away at Roe v. Wade, the 1973 high court decision that provided a legal right to abortion.

Toomey said Thursday that his conversation with Kavanaugh didn't touch on the explosive social issue.

"We did not specifically speak on Roe," Toomey said. "My personal view is that Roe was wrongly decided. My public record is clear. I don't have a litmus test for judges. His or her job is not to think what the optimal policy is. That's up to Congress. I'm confident that Judge Kavanaugh will take a very serious look at precedent in any matter where there is a precedent."

Reproductive rights advocates are not as convinced. During his 2006 confirmation hearing to the federal appellate bench, Kavanagh said that "if confirmed to the D.C. Circuit, I would follow Roe v. Wade faithfully and fully."

That's because federal appellate judges are largely bound by Supreme Court precedent. Critics point to Kavanaugh's strongly worded opinion in an abortion case involving a teenaged undocumented immigrant as evidence of his hostility to Roe and abortion rights.

Toomey also said he did not discuss some of the Fourth Amendment concerns about government surveillance raised by U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. Paul is undecided on Kavanaugh's nomination.

As The Washington Times reports, Kavanaugh in 2015 "wrote a concurring opinion to an appeals court ruling upholding the constitutionality of the National Security Agency's program of warrantless phone records collection. The program allowed the government to track information about whom a person in the U.S. calls but not the content of the calls. The judge wrote that the 'critical national security need outweighs the impact on privacy.'"

"I'm comfortable," Toomey said. "Sen. Paul will have to make his own decision on that."

In comments to reporters, Toomey said Kavanaugh has the "character, intellect and experience to be a great Supreme Court justice." Kavanaugh also "understands the role of a judge is to apply the law and to do so neutrally," Toomey said.

Toomey predicted Thursday that some Democrats could drop their opposition to Kavanaugh's nomination and vote to confirm him. If that happens, those votes would likely come from senators in states that Trump carried in 2016, who are facing difficult re-election races.

Democrat Bob Casey, Pennsylvania's senior United States senator, said Monday that he remains a firm "no" vote on confirmation.By Kalena Bruce

President Donald Trump is considering expanding tariffs to apply to $500 billion worth of Chinese imports. This move would double the level of tariffs that Trump recently imposed on Chinese goods. It would apply to nearly all of China's exports to the United States.

Kalena Bruce (Washington Post photo)

To mitigate tariff damage to U.S. farmers, who are already facing rising input costs and reduced export markets, the Trump administration announced Tuesday that it would extend them $12 billion in aid.

I am a farmer and a Trump supporter. I agree that China needs to be punished for stealing patented U.S. technology. But opening a new front in this trade war, while trying to reduce the blowback on farmers with a Great Depression-era transfer program, is not the right approach. It is the economic equivalent of treating a hangnail by cutting off your finger.

As Trump's aid package tacitly admits, tariffs hit farmers especially hard. With farmers already facing economic head winds, including oversupply and drought, I predict that even with this aid, expanded tariffs would be the breaking point that puts some farmers out of business entirely.

As the history of the Great Depression demonstrates, such federal and bureaucratic farm-support programs rarely compensate for the full burden of a trade war, while usually ushering in unintended consequences that distort the farm economy.

Farmers use a lot of steel, which Trump subjected to a 25 percent tariff in March. Combines, grain bins, fencing and cattle gating, which we are constantly upgrading and replacing, have become significantly more expensive as steel prices have jumped markedly because of the tariffs. This has taken a painful bite out of our already-slim profit margins.

Yet the most significant consequence of tariffs for farmers has been the inevitable tariff retaliation from trading partners, which reduces our export opportunities. For instance, China has targeted soybeans and hogs with steep retaliatory tariffs. These farm products are popular in China and fixtures on Midwest farms.

More than one-third of U.S. soybeans, the second-biggest crop in the nation, goes to China - about $12.4 billion worth. Since May, soybean prices have dipped about $2 per bushel to about $8.50 as export markets have dried up. For every dollar lower a bushel, farmers lose about 10 percent of their revenue.

Meanwhile, pork exports to China are down nearly 20 percent this year. China is an especially valuable market for pork farmers because it purchases the lower-value portions of the hogs, such as the tongue and ears, that are difficult to sell elsewhere. As a result of the limited export markets, meat is piling up in U.S. cold-storage warehouses. Since May, prices of lean hog futures have fallen by 14 percent.

Many of Trump's farmer supporters like me are holding out hope that these tariffs are part of a grand strategy to reduce trade barriers for U.S. exporters. But with each passing day, and each new tariff, we get more nervous.

Surely there is a less destructive way to hold China accountable for its intellectual property offenses without limiting U.S. export opportunities. This is where we could use a president who "makes great deals."

Congress should rally behind potential legislation by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) that would give lawmakers more say in U.S. tariff policy, in line with the U.S. Constitution.

This will give elected representatives from American manufacturing and farming communities an opportunity to make their voices heard and deliver the message that farmers want trade, not aid.

It should be one of the few pieces of legislation in this politicized environment that garner bipartisan support. Such legislation would also return tariff power to Congress, whose enumerated powers under the Constitution include the "Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises."

Until then, Trump must listen to his manufacturing and farming constituents who put him in office and pursue trade agreements that help us increase our gross and net earnings without corporate welfare.

That starts with shelving plans to open a new front in the trade war with China.

Kalena Bruce, a fifth generation rancher living in Stockton, Mo., operates a commercial ranch. She wrote this piece for The Washington Post, where it first appeared.In his campaign ads, Republican governor candidate Scott Wagner likes to brag about his skills as a businessman and his ability to stretch a buck. And he's vowed to bring that same kind of financial acumen to state government if voters elect him in November.

But Wagner owes Pennsylvanians more than just asking them to take his word for it.

One of the surest ways voters can ascertain Wagner's ability to manage a $32 billion state government is to open his tax returns to public inspection - something he has, unfortunately, declined to do so far.

If Wagner can adequately manage his own finances - something his tax returns would make clear by showing that he's paid his taxes on time - then perhaps voters could rest easier with him at the helm.

But that's not what he's doing. And he should.

Let's be clear: There's nothing in state law that requires candidates to release their tax returns. But for the last two decades, gubernatorial candidates of both parties, recognizing the importance of the gesture, have made their returns public.

In 2014, for instance, then Republican Gov. Tom Corbett made something of a competitive sport out of his releasing his returns. He challenged then Democratic candidate Tom Wolf to match his transparency.

And, yes, public officials are required to file documents with the Pennsylvania Ethics Commission detailing direct and indirect sources of income as well as any gifts or travel they have accepted in the prior year.

In general, these "statements of financial interest" are regarded as woefully inadequate because they are overbroad and don't provide much in the way of fine-grain information.

Both Wolf and Wagner filed their respective financial disclosure forms with the agency in May. But candidates seeking the state's highest office owe voters the fullest measure of transparency.

Wolf, who has admittedly had his own transparency issues during his four years in the top spot, is honoring this long-standing tradition.

He's released his returns from 2010-16, and will make his 2017 return public this fall, after asking for, and receiving, a filing extension from the Internal Revenue Service, his campaign said.

That's the right move.

Wagner, who's styled himself in the mode of President Donald Trump, is following the president's lead in declining to release his returns.

Unlike Trump, who's used the flimsy excuse of an audit, Wagner hasn't said why he's refusing to release these important financial documents.

But as the head of a trash-hauling firm, in an industry that's regulated by state government, releasing those documents could detail any potential conflicts-of-interests for a future Wagner administration.

As we've seen with Trump's myriad conflicts, Pennsylvanians deserve to be armed with that information before they go into the voting booth, not after.

Wagner, who's pitched himself as a plain-talking man of the people should respect those he'd aspire to represent and err on the side of more transparency.

Not less.By Max Boot

President Donald Trump's mantra is "no collusion," something he says as if sheer, mind-numbing repetition can make it true.

Max Boot (Washington Post photo)

The president is faithfully echoed by the likes of House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who insists "there's no evidence of collusion." In reality, while there is not yet proof of collusion (that's special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's job), there is copious evidence of it - and that evidence grows more damning by the day.

In Helsinki, Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted he wanted Trump to win - something Trump continues to deny to this day.

Putin was more than a well-wisher from afar: His intelligence services ran an extensive operation designed to help Trump, including social media propaganda and hacks of Democratic emails. As I argued earlier, there is strong reason to believe that Trump wouldn't be president without Russian help.

While this was going on, the Moscow Project of the Center for American Progress reports, there were 82 known "contacts between the Trump team and Russia-linked operatives." "None of these contacts were ever reported to the proper authorities," according to the project. Team Trump tried to conceal all of them.

The most infamous of these discussions was the June 9, 2016, meeting at Trump Tower between the Trump campaign high command and Kremlin emissaries promising dirt on Hillary Clinton as part of the Kremlin's "support for Mr. Trump." "If it's what you say, I love it," Donald Trump Jr. gushed.

When this was revealed last summer, President Trump personally orchestrated an attempted coverup by claiming the meeting was about adoptions. This was shortly after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey to stop the investigation of "this Russia thing," as he put it in an interview with NBC Nightly News - showing just how much he fears this inquiry.

Trump has good cause to be afraid. On March 28, Mueller revealed in a court filing that Trump's deputy campaign manager, Rick Gates, was in touch in 2016 with Konstantin Kilimnik, a business associate with "ties to Russian intelligence." Campaign manager Paul Manafort, who has a long history of representing Russian interests and was running the campaign for no pay, also reportedly met with Kilimnik in 2016. Manafort was also in contact with the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska (whom he owed at least $10 million), offering him "private briefings" that would no doubt have been instantly conveyed to Putin.

Mueller's recent indictment of 12 Russian military intelligence officers who ransacked Democratic Party servers notes that the Russians first tried to hack into Clinton's email on July 27, 2016, hours after Trump asked them to do just that ("Russia, if you're listening"). The indictment also notes that a "person who was in regular contact with senior members of the presidential campaign" - widely identified as Trump confidant Roger Stone - was in communication with the Russian military hackers who used the online pseudonym Guccifer 2.0. (Stone denies any knowledge that Guccifer 2.0 was a front for Russian intelligence.)

Both Stone and Donald Trump Jr. were also in contact with WikiLeaks, the Russians' conduit for releasing stolen emails. Surely it is no coincidence that Stone predicted on Aug. 21, 2016 - nearly seven weeks before Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's stolen emails were released - that "it will soon [be] the Podesta's time in the barrel."

Finally, as Washington Post columnist Anne Applebaum noted, the indictment also reveals that the Russians stole not just emails but also the data analytics Democrats used to run their campaign. This happened in September 2016. A few weeks later, the Trump campaign shifted its "datadriven" strategy to focus on the states that would provide the margin of victory, raising the question of whether it benefitted from stolen Democratic data.

Yet more indications of possible collusion emerged from this weekend's release of the FBI's 412-page application to wiretap former Trump foreign-policy adviser Carter Page as a suspected Russian agent.

The application, approved by four Republican judges, notes that "the FBI believes that the Russian Government's efforts are being coordinated with Page and perhaps other individuals associated with Candidate #1's [Trump's] campaign."

It also says that Putin aide Igor Diveykin "had met secretly with Page and that their agenda for the meeting included Diveykin raising a dossier or 'kompromat' that the Kremlin possessed on Candidate #2 [Clinton] and the possibility of it being released to Candidate #1's campaign." (Page admits to being an "informal adviser" to the Kremlin but denies serving as a Russian agent. He also denies meeting Diveykin but admits to meeting deputy prime minister Arkady Dvorkovich.)

And if all this evidence weren't enough, there is the collusion hiding in plain sight - most recently in Helsinki where Trump refused to criticize Putin and insisted on meeting with him alone for two hours. Why doesn't Trump want his own aides to be in the room when he talks with Putin? What does he have to hide?

Former director of national intelligence James Clapper, among others, suspects that Putin has "something" on Trump - perhaps evidence of financial wrongdoing. But, by now, any such "kompromat" could well include the help that Russia provided in 2016. Trump certainly gives the impression that he knows how much he owes Russia and how important it is to repay that debt lest Putin release the evidence that might bring him down. And the Putin Republicans give the impression that they couldn't care less if the president plotted to win power with help from a hostile foreign power.

Max Boot, a Washington Post columnist, is the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick senior fellow for national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a global affairs analyst for CNN. He is the author of the forthcoming "The Corrosion of Conservatism: Why I Left the Right." His work appears frequently on PennLive Opinion.The chief operating officer at the state's student financial aid agency has been promoted to serve as interim president and CEO while a national search is underway to identify a permanent successor to James Preston who is retiring from the post at close of business on Friday.

James Steeley, 40, of Lewisberry, joined the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency in November 2015 as its chief financial officer.

He was named the chief operating officer in February when Preston announced his retirement plans to ensure stability during the leadership transition. In that position, Steeley was paid a $295,000 salary. Whether that remains his salary in his new position could not be verified on Thursday, said Keith New, PHEAA spokesman.

Prior to joining PHEAA, Steeley held various executive-level positions at Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. and the Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union and served as a senior manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

In his new role, Steeley, a certified public accountant and Elizabethtown College alumnus, will run the 3,300-employee agency that is a loan servicer for the federal student loan program as well as administrator of the state grant program and other state-funded student financial aid programs.

"Jim Steeley has a very strong banking and finance background," said Rep. Mike Peifer, R-Wayne County, who is PHEAA's board chairman. "He has shown his willingness to understand the organizational operations at PHEAA. We elevated him because we thought he had some really good business ideas on creating some revenues off our balance sheet and deserves to be promoted to the interim position."

The agency's executive committee met last week to vote to promote Steeley to fill that post.

Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency's President and CEO James Preston's last day in that position is Friday. He is retiring after 15 years with the agency.

Preston, 67, leaves the agency, ending an 11-year run as the sixth CEO in its 55-year history. He came to work at PHEAA in 2003 as executive vice president of client relations and loan operations, bringing with him 25 years' experience of working in investment banking.

"After 15 years with the agency, it's become the right time to step aside so I can focus on family and personal goals," Preston said in an emailed statement on Thursday. "I am proud to have worked so closely with our employees, board members, and stakeholders to meet the changing needs of Pennsylvania students, while operating in such a challenging marketplace."

He added that he leaves PHEAA well-positioned to meet future challenges in support of its public service mission to the commonwealth. Part of that public service mission for the past decade or so has been using a portion of its earnings to supplement state funding for the state grant program that provides financial awards to college students that do not need to be repaid.

This year, it is directing $100 million of its earnings to that grant program to replace a cut in state funding and an expected increase in the number of grant recipients. Otherwise, the agency would have had to cut the size of the $4,123 maximum grant by $705.

PHEAA's board honored Preston for his service and leadership through one of the most turbulent chapters in the agency's history at its meeting last month. The resolution recognizing his work for the agency follows:

Resolution recognizing James Preston's leadership of PHEAA by PennLive on ScribdBoo in the Sault: Haunted ship to take over historic museum

This weekend a historic museum in Sault Ste. Marie will be turned into a Halloween haunt guaranteed to frighten all of those who dare enter.Ride the Whistler Bike Park!

In Puebla we get to finally put our MTB tires on for a little session on the top of the local DH trail:



Baja California was an amazing part of our trip. This is a desert. The roads are straight for so long, so turns becomes an event.

There is nothing to make stops or breaks for very long distance, so you had better get enough water and food supply with you. Every opportunity to get some shadow are welcome.



Most of the bike travellers go from North to South. It's because of the wind. We didn't know that, but it makes sense.



In Oregon, landscapes get more forest. And trails gets sicker too. We are approaching Canada. A very nice session in Black Rocks!



Next stops are Squamish & Whistler, if you are a rider from there, don't hesitate to send us a message!

We are two French brothers, Pierre, 21-year-old, and Thibaut, 34-year-old. Like a lot of MTBikers, we had a dream:In December 2016, we decided it was time to make the dream coming true. Going to "the mecca" of MTB, deserve a pilgrimage. That why we decided to start our trip from Cancun, Mexico.The plan was to travel those 9000 km and do freeriding on the way with the same bikes. We couldn't use DH/Freedide bikes, too heavy to travel with. So we decided to choose some big enduro bikes, who allowed us to travel and are strong enough to support big jumps. Pierre bought a 2017 Radon Swoop 170, 27.5", and Thibaut kept his unbreakable Nicholai ION 16 2013, 26".We arrived in Cancun the 17th of October. For two months, we travelled through a very flat part of Mexico, and we didn't find any place to ride. Still, we passed through amazing landscapes and discovered the very rich Maya culture.To travel, we use some road tires, and change them when we reach a spot to ride. To make this trip a bit more crazy, we are carrying a trailer with us, and after two months of travel, in Oaxaca, we finally find a workshop to built our foldable ramp: 2m70 long, adjustable from 40 cm to 70cm height, strong enough to support us sending it at full speed!The idea is that we could be able to jump everywhere on the way!Arriving in Mexico City, we get to meet Alberto, a local rider, who showed us the best spot around: Amecameca. Thanks to him, we get to send this huge drop, probably one of the biggest of our life, very impressive but very safe, because very well done. A good warm up to send it big in Whistler!!We were then invited to a little village, Almaya, where a group of rider have some very nice trails. The guys were so nice, we of course made friends and 3 of them decided to follow us for a weekArriving in Puerto Escondido, we get to meet an American couple, from Montana, travelling by their big sailing boat. They offered us to join them on the boat for 5 days, amazing trip!After 3 days, we reached a little creek, with a nice mountain at side. The occasion is too nice, let's change the tires, put the bikes on the dinghy, and make some lines on the mountain!!Tijuana gets a bad reputation. A lot of people told us to be careful, or even to avoid passing by. That's when you don't know anybody there. We get to meet the local riders, and spend an amazing weekend of riding and camping on the trails! For us, Tijuana ROCKS!In San Diego, hosted by a brewer, we get to visit some of the nicest breweries in the town. We didn't know that beers were a local speciality. Welcome to California! We get to have some fun riding on mission trails!In Santa Cruz, we met Tony, the boss of Cyclepath outfitters. He showed us the best trails around and lent us his top of the line Santa Cruz bikes.This trip is not only about MTB. In San Francisco, we rented a car to hike three days in Yosemite Park. It was definitely worth it!The youngest readers probably don't know about "Bullit", and it's a very famous car pursuit in the stiffest streets of San Francisco. Finally, a nice opportunity to use our ramp!Passing through the Avenue of the Giant, by bike, is an unforgettable experience. The tallest trees in the world!The 3rd of July, waiting in a park of Eugene in the afternoon, a guy passing by asked us:"-Why are you travelling with these kind of bikes?-We are looking for big jumps on our way!-Ok. I go to my secret spot with big jumps tonight. Join me, we'll camp there are have a session tomorrow!"So we did.Fourth of July, riding with a "American flag full suit"! Happy Independence Day America!!We are actually in Bellingham. Here we get to meet crazy guys, showing us the best lines. And the speed to hit that big jump... Definitely getting ready for Whistler!!625 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

This is how the Republican Russia cover-up circle works. Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) works with Fox News to attack Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) while Donald Trump tweets about it as he watches.

Trump tweeted:

Little Adam Schiff, who is desperate to run for higher office, is one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington, right up there with Comey, Warner, Brennan and Clapper! Adam leaves closed committee hearings to illegally leak confidential information. Must be stopped!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 5, 2018

An hour later, Nunes and Fox News picked up the narrative:

Video of Nunes attacking Schiff on Fox and Friends:

Devin Nunes with a lie-riddled attack on Democrats on Fox News. pic.twitter.com/SmUw6qRwun  Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) February 5, 2018

Nunes said, Mr. Schiff knows he is spreading false narrative there. But that is not new for him. He is spread false narrative the entire time. So the Democrats are well aware that I did not leak information. Nunes also accused Democrats of over 100 leaks, Look there is no question they want me gone but whatever they accuse you of doing, is what theyre doing. So we know that there has been almost 100 leaks that we believe have come from the Democrats in the house intelligence committee.

The collusion to undermine the Russia investigation is centered in the White House

The example above shows how the collusion works. A false message gets pushed by Trump or the White House, which is then used or laundered by Nunes via abuse of his power in Congress, then spun back to Fox News for the Republican masses. The attack on Rep. Schiff was bogus and fact-free, but the purpose of is to discredit the investigators, not to get to the truth.

The White House and Nunes, who was a member of the Trump campaign and transition, are working together, and now they have turned their attention toward Adam Schiff. Rep. Schiff is relentless in his pursuit of the facts surrounding the Russia investigation, and the attack on Schiff is an effort to undermine the credibility of the Democratic memo before it sees the light of day.

Collusion is still happening, but it is now an effort by Republicans and their media to bury the facts about the Trump/Russia scandal.680 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Twitter is on fire this morning after President Donald Trump sent out a tweet at 5:25 a.m. saying he has the absolute right to pardon himself. He said his position is supported by numerous legal scholars, but none of them can be found, and if they do exist they are keeping quiet.

The president is also continuing to carry on his crusade against Bob Mueller and the angry Democrats who he believe have a conspiracy to meddle in the 2018 midterm elections.

As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong? In the meantime, the never ending Witch Hunt, led by 13 very Angry and Conflicted Democrats (& others) continues into the mid-terms!

As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong? In the meantime, the never ending Witch Hunt, led by 13 very Angry and Conflicted Democrats (& others) continues into the mid-terms!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2018

This is not the first time and probably wont be the last time that Trump has tweeted outrageous things, but his assertion that he can self pardon takes the deranged discussion to an entirely new level.

Over the weekend Trump attorney and media spokesman Rudy Giuliani was all over the airwaves proclaiming that the president has legal authority to pardon himself  until he later backed down and changed his mind.

This mornings assertion by the president made many knowledgeable people want to start tearing their hair out in frustration and outrage. Instead, they posted their replies to Trump on Twitter.

Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski, for example, posted a photo of the nine Supreme Court Justices and wrote:

Donald Trump believes he is above the law, beyond the reach of indictment and empowered with the absolute right to subvert investigations and pardon himself. He is legally wrong on all counts. Dont believe me? Then go ahead. Make their day.

Donald Trump believes he is above the law, beyond the reach of indictment and empowered with the absolute right to subvert investigations and pardon himself.

He is legally wrong on all counts. Dont believe me? Then go ahead. Make their day. pic.twitter.com/3egX6l1xlz  Mika Brzezinski (@morningmika) June 4, 2018

Steven Dennis from Bloomberg posted an image and link showing Department of Justice rules clearly stating that a president CANNOT pardon himself:

Under the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case, the President cannot pardon himself. Aug. 5, 1974 DOJ opinion, 4 days before Richard Nixon resigned. Its right there on the DOJ website: https://www.justice.gov/file/20856/download 

"Under the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case, the President cannot pardon himself."

Aug. 5, 1974 DOJ opinion, 4 days before Richard Nixon resigned.

It's right there on the DOJ website: https://t.co/G9gIbHNsDl pic.twitter.com/67H9pFzYXJ  Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) June 4, 2018

Others correctly said that the internet was stunned by Trumps insance proclamation:

Holy f*ckballs: Internet stunned by Trumps insane boast that he can pardon himself for anything

https://twitter.com/supremebuddy/status/1003631637345628161

California Democratic congressional candidate Mike Levin got it right by saying:

Now the president says he has the absolute right to pardon himself. Republicans in Congress stay silent. No inquiry. No scrutiny. No thought of any kind. Not because they believe in Trumps judgment, but because they fear him. Thats not democracy. Thats authoritarianism.

Now the president says he has the absolute right to pardon himself. Republicans in Congress stay silent. No inquiry. No scrutiny. No thought of any kind. Not because they believe in Trumps judgment, but because they fear him. That's not democracy. That's authoritarianism.  Mike Levin (@MikeLevinCA) June 4, 2018

He is so right. Trump is trying take the United States further down the road of authoritarianism, and the Republicans in Congress who have the legal responsibility of oversight are completely abdicating this responsibility.

It is time for the Supreme Court, Robert Mueller, the Department of Justice and the entire U.S. law enforcement community to stand up to this petty despot in the White House. They must make clear that in the United States power belongs to the people, and that the president is NOT above the law.The Ringgold Playhouse will host four performances this weekend during the final weekend of its production of Neil Simon comedy Rumors.

The show, which is the companys third of the 2018 season, played to big, energetic crowds during its opening weekend, and hopes to offer even more laughs with its final performances, said officials.

The final four performances include shows Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and a special matinee performance Saturday at 2 p.m.

Its a very entertaining show, and were looking forward to big audiences coming out and having some laughs with us, said TRP Executive Director Adam Cook. We have a great cast and crew, and a brilliant director at the helm. Its been a great production so far."

Director Kimberly Tyner Jones says she knew she had something special on her hands early on in the rehearsal process. From the very beginning, I knew this cast, this show was going to be one long joyride of laughs and comicality, and a pleasure to direct, Ms. Jones said. Even before the first read-through the cast was already group texting back and forth about how excited they were to be working together...the puns and one liners soaring. They had not even read the script, or met face-to-face, yet. They were hilarious together.

Review for "Rumors":

The story, set in a classy New York apartment, follows 10 zany characters attending an anniversary party that goes off the rails.



Neil Simon's farce takes what would have been an everyday anniversary party and turns four couples, eight successful professionals, into eight panicked lunatics who run for cover, lie to their friends and when the cops arrive, turn on each other at a moments notice.

Ms. Jones says theres never been a dull moment during the rehearsal process, and that she and stage manager James Miller have enjoyed watching the actors make the story into their own.

Since the first read-through, the challenge has been to try and keep a straight face and not break into fits of laughter with all the high jinks going on, Ms. Jones said. This crew is fabulous. Get ready for an evening of side-splitting hilarity.

The cast includes TRP alums Dan Lyons, Ed Huckabee, Ayana Winchester, Bobby Daniels, Renee Lierow, Ronald King, Jodi Upton and Zack Jordan, as well as Kim Jenkins and Jo Schendel who are each making their debut with the company.

Remaining tickets are $10 general admission and $8 for seniors and students. Tickets can be purchased in person at Ringgold City Hall, over the phone at 706-935-3061, or online at cityofringgoldga.gov.





Investment in India is very easy for anyone because India is a policy-driven governance, says Modi.

India is willing to address the trade deficit with Uganda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said as he urged the business community of the two countries to fully exploit the favourable conditions for enhancing the bilateral trade. (Photo: ANI)

Kampala: India is willing to address the trade deficit with Uganda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said as he urged the business community of the two countries to fully exploit the favourable conditions for enhancing the bilateral trade.

Prime Minister Modi, who is on a two-day visit to Uganda, the first bilateral tour by an Indian prime minister since 1997, addressed the business community at the India-Uganda Business Forum organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who was also present at the meeting, exhorted the business community from both the countries to tap the opportunities available for enhancing trade and investment. Prime Minister Modi and President Museveni discussed the issue of trade imbalance between India and Uganda.

The two leaders noted the current level of bilateral trade and expressed the desire to enhance and diversify the trade basket including addressing the trade imbalance and to facilitate trade between the two countries.

Modi said that President Museveni is right in saying that there is a trade imbalance between India and Uganda. "I have come here to solve that (trade imbalance)," he said.

"India is willing to take steps to address the trade deficit between India and Uganda. We have to fully exploit the favourable conditions for doing business between India and Uganda," the prime minister said. India's exports to Uganda in 2016 stood at USD 524.02 million while India's imports from Uganda was just USD 68.22 million, according to the High Commission of India in Kampala.

"When I compare the economic relationship of India and Uganda, I find this a perfect win-win situation. But we are falling short and are unable to take advantage of this situation. If we strategise things precisely, I think we can go beyong that," Modi said.

Investment in India is very easy for anyone because India is a policy-driven governance where there is tax stability and predictable taxation, Modi said.

He said that India was ready to work with Uganda in the fields of capacity building, human resource development, skill development, innovation and also in adding value to the abundant natural resources available in the country. Modi also highlighted India's growth trajectory and the transformative changes taking place in the country.2.3k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

The ranking Democrats on the House Judiciary, Oversight, and Intelligence Committees issued a joint statement declaring that House Freedom Caucus effort to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has no chance of removing Rosenstein.

Ranking Members Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) of the House Judiciary Committee, Elijah Cummings (D-MD) of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Adam Schiff (D-CA) of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence said in a joint statement provided to PoliticusUSA:

This resolution to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein is a direct attack on the Special Counsels investigationfull stop. It is a panicked and dangerous attempt to undermine an ongoing criminal investigation to protect President Trump as the walls are closing in on him and his associates. It is certainly not, as its sponsors claim, a principled attempt to conduct oversight of the Department of Justice, because House Republicans have refused to conduct oversight of any aspect of the Trump Administration, except where the inquiry might distract from their failed agenda, undermine law enforcement, and serve the interests of President Trump.

It is fortunate that this resolution has no chance of actually forcing the removal of Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein, who stands as one of the few restraints against the overreaches of the President and his allies in Congress. To date, Special Counsel Mueller has obtained 30 indictments and five guilty pleas against a group that includes four Trump campaign officials and 26 Russian nationals. The President should not mistake this move by his congressional enablers as a pretext to take any action against Mr. Rosenstein or Mr. Mueller and his investigation. Any attempt to do so will be viewed by Congress and the American people as further proof of an effort to obstruct justice with severe consequences for Trump and his presidency.

The Rod Rosenstein Impeachment Resolution Is Dead On Arrival

This resolution has been expected from Trumps biggest defenders in the House for nearly two weeks. As I wrote when reports first surfaced that the Freedom Caucus was going to try this stunt, This move by the Freedom Caucus is by no means a slam dunk to pass. In fact, it is a certainty that a substantial number of House Republicans will not support any effort to impeach Rosenstein and open the door for Trump to close down the Mueller investigation.

There are already enough House Republicans on record who are willing to kill this resolution.

If House Republicans cant impeach Rod Rosenstein, why try?

The Freedom Caucus brought the resolution to give Trump political cover. Anyone who has looked at the news headlines for at least six seconds over the past week can see why Trumps House enablers made this desperate play now. Between the ongoing fallout from the Russia summit, Muellers investigation, and the Cohen tapes, Trump is sinking fast.

The resolution is an effort to rally the base, and change the subject. While the cult of Trump is already all in on impeaching Rosenstein, the resolution is going to fail and fail hard.

Trumps panic has spread throughout the Republican Party, and with the clock ticking toward the midterm, House Republicans are down their few last desperate cards to play before the blue wave arrives.

At the intersection of Republican fear and desperation is a resolution to impeach Rod Rosenstein.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.By Joseph Menn

WASHINGTON (Reuters)  Facebook officials on Tuesday said the company is using a range of techniques including artificial intelligence to counter Russian operatives or others who use deceptive tactics and false information to manipulate public opinion.

The officials told reporters in a telephone briefing they expected to find such efforts on the social network ahead of the U.S. mid-term elections in November, but declined to disclose whether they have already uncovered any such operations.

Facebook has faced fierce criticism over how it handles political propaganda and misinformation since the 2016 U.S. election, which U.S. intelligence agencies say was influenced by the Russian government, in part through social media.

The controversy has not abated despite Facebook initiatives including a new tool that shows all political advertising that is running on the network and new fact-checking efforts to inform users about obvious falsehoods.

But the company reiterated on Tuesday that it will not take down postings simply because they are false. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg last week drew fire for citing Holocaust denials as an example of false statements that would not be removed if they were sincerely voiced.

Tuesdays briefing, which included Nathaniel Gleicher, head of cybersecurity policy, and Tessa Lyons, manager of Facebooks core news feed, came just before the publication of an internal staff message from Facebooks outgoing chief security officer that was sharply critical of many company practices.

The note by Alex Stamos, written in March after he said he was going to leave the company, urged colleagues to heed feedback about creepy features, collect less data and deprioritize short-term growth and revenue to restore trust. He also urged the companys leaders to pick sides when there are clear moral or humanitarian issues.

Stamos posted the note on an internal Facebook site but Reuters confirmed its authenticity. It was first disclosed by Buzzfeed News.

Stamos said the company needed to be more open in how it manages content on its network, which has become a major medium for political activity in many countries around the world. Tuesdays media briefing was part of the companys efforts in that direction.

Lyons said the company was making progress in smoothing its process for fact-checkers assigned to label false information. Once an article is labeled false, users are warned before they share it and subsequent distribution drops 80 percent, Lyons said.

Posts from sites that often distribute false information are ranked lower in the calculations that determine what each user sees but are not entirely removed from view.

Gleicher said those seeking to deliberately promote misinformation often use fake accounts to amplify their content or run afoul of community standards, both of which are grounds for removing posts or entire pages.

He said the company would use a type of artificial intelligence known as machine learning as part of its efforts to root out abuses.

(Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Greg Mitchell, Jonathan Weber and Neil Fullick)453 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

WASHINGTON (Reuters)  North Korea is continuing to produce fissile material for nuclear bombs in spite of its pledge to denuclearize, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday.

Asked at a Senate committee hearing whether this was the case, Pompeo responded to Democratic Senator Ed Markey by saying: Yes, thats correct  Yes, they continue to produce fissile material.

Pompeo declined to respond when asked whether North Korea was continuing to pursue submarine-launched ballistic missiles or whether North Koreas nuclear program was advancing generally.

Pompeo said he would be happy to answer the latter question if necessary in a classified setting but suggested public statements on the issue would not help a complex negotiation with a difficult adversary.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Lesley Wroughton; editing by Jonathan Oatis and James Dalgleish)2.1k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Sec. of State Mike Pompeo was asked if he was told what Trump and Putin talked about in their private meeting, and the Secretary of State fell apart.

Video:

Transcript:

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) So Id like to ask you some questions to get to understand what actually happened. Has the president told you what he and president Putin discussed in their two-hour closed-door meeting in Helsinki?

Sec. Pompeo: The presidents have a prerogative to choose whos in meetings or not. Im confident youve had private meetings in your life as well.

Menendez: I just asked you a simple question.

Pompeo: I just 

Menendez: You cant eat up my seven minutes, Mr. Secretary. Did he tell you what happened in those two hours?

Pompeo: The predicate implied some notion there was something improper about having a one-on-one meeting.

Menendez: I didnt ask you a predicate, I asked you a simple question. Did he tell you what transpired in the meeting?

Pompeo: Ive had a number of conversations about what transpired in the meeting. I was also present when he and president Putin both gave us a sense of what they discussed in the meeting that followed immediately after. I also had the chance to speak with Sergey Lavrov twice about the Russian view. I think I have a pretty complete understanding of what took place.

Menendez: Did you speak to the translator who was at that meeting?

Pompeo: No, I havent.

Menendez: Have you seen any of her notes?

Pompeo: Senator, I have never been  Ive been in lots of meetings, had lots of note takers and lots of translators. I never relied on the work that they did and it does not need to be done here and wont be.

Menendez: Did the president discuss relaxing U.S. Sanctions on Russia?

Pompeo: Senator, the U.S. Policy with respect to sanctions remains completely unchanged.

Menendez: So the president did not  youre telling me  I asked a very specific question.

Pompeo: Yes and I gave you a very specific answer.

Menendez: Did he tell you that he discussed relaxing Russias sanctions or not?

Pompeo: The presidents are entitled to have private meetings. I came here today 

Menendez: You told me that you had a conversation with him in which he told you what transpired. I think the nation and all of us who are policymakers deserve to know so that we can fashion policy accordingly.

It was a very simple question. Does Pompeo know what Trump and Putin talked about in their private meeting? The fact that Pompeo couldnt or wouldnt answer speaks volumes about what this administration is trying to hide from the American people. Menendez asked the first question of the hearing, and the idea that Pompeo couldnt or wouldnt give a simple yes or no answer should set off alarm bells for the American people.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.2.5k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Things are so bad for Trump that he ran away from reporters asking questions after a White House event with the president of the European Commission.

Here is Trump fleeing as reporters shout questions:

Prior to fleeing, Trump desperately tried to change the subject to trade:

Someone is desperately trying to change the subject. pic.twitter.com/6eIuNEuTmf  PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) July 25, 2018

No one really believes that Trump has a trade deal with the European Commission. Todays deal announcement sounded a lot like Trumps deal with North Korea in that Trump hears what he wants to hear and then touts as a deal which is followed by whining when no one gives him credit for his imaginary deal.

Donald Trump has never met a camera that he doesnt like, so for Trump to turn tail and flee back to the White House, things are bad. Trump tried to change the subject, and he failed. The news is still dominated by his betrayal of his country to Putin and the tape that Michael Cohen released. We are watching a president sink into the abyss before our eyes.

Trump talks a big game about strength, but it came time to fight, he bowed to Putin and ran from questions.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.4k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

The American heartland  what pundits have repeatedly called Trump country  has turned on the president in a big way, according to a new poll.

In three states  Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota  Trumps approval ratings are in the cellar.

In Wisconsin and Michigan, two states Trump narrowly carried in 2016, just 36 percent of voters think hes doing a good job. Similarly, in Minnesota, just 38 percent approve of his job performance.

Without voters in the so-called Rust Belt, Trumps political fortunes will sink faster than the Titanic.

The whole party is going down with Trump

Worse for the Republicans is that its not just Trump whos seeing his numbers crumble in the all-important Midwest.

The party itself is sinking, too, likely because they have clung so tightly to Trump over the past year and a half, even as his presidency has been consumed by corruption, criminal investigations and incompetence.

More from NBC News:

Whats more, with Novembers midterm elections less than four months away, Democrats enjoy a lead in congressional preference from 8 points to 12 points in these three states. In Michigan, 45 percent of voters prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress, while 36 percent want a GOP-controlled Congress (D+9). In Minnesota, its 48 percent preferring the Democrats, to 36 percent backing the Republicans (D+12). And in Wisconsin, Democrats hold a 47 percent-to-39 percent lead in congressional preference (D+8).

Trumps Russia surrender was a turning point

The NBC News survey was conducted mostly after Donald Trump surrendered to Russian president Vladimir Putin at a July 16 press conference, signaling that it could prove to be a major political turning point.

Trumps weak performance in Helsinki wasnt just something blasted by political insiders and beltway pundits. The American people are paying attention, too, and they dont like what theyre seeing.

Midwestern voters who decided to give Trump a chance and those who stayed home in 2016 appear to be coming together as this presidents worst nightmare.

Neither group plans to make the same mistake again  and they intend to move toward a course correction by sending more Democrats to Washington this November.235 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters)  A U.S. judge said on Wednesday she may consider imposing a gag order on lawyers for accused Russian agent Maria Butina after prosecutors complained about statements by her lead attorney to the news media and expressed concern about turning over evidence to the defense.

U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan gave the prosecution until Aug. 8 to file a proposed protection order to prevent the public disclosure of evidence in the case. During a hearing, prosecutors accused defense lawyer Robert Driscoll of misrepresenting the case in television news interviews.

I certainly dont want to impose a gag order, Chutkan said at a hearing, but added that she would consider the step if Driscolls public statements about the case cross the line.

Im cautioning you, the judge told Driscoll.

Butina, 29, was arrested and indicted this month on charges that she conspired with a top Russian official and two American citizens to try to infiltrate a pro-gun rights group, believed to be the National Rifle Association, and to influence U.S. policy toward Russia. She has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutor Thomas Saunders said the government cannot give Butinas defense team free rein over more than 1.5 million files seized by the FBI as part of its investigation until her lawyers agree not to release it to the media.

Our concerns are about protecting the integrity of potential ongoing investigations, Saunders said, adding that it is not just about this matter, but also potential other cases.

Prosecutors said Driscolls statements on TV violated the courts rules prohibiting lawyers from opining on cases in ways that could hurt a persons right to a fair trial.

Chutkan said she and defense lawyers would review the prosecutions proposed protection order.

A magistrate judge last week ordered Butina jailed without bail pending trial after prosecutors presented evidence suggesting she had connections to Russian intelligence operatives and was being funded by Russian oligarchs.

Russia has labeled the case against Butina fabricated and called for her release.

The prosecution told Chutkan that Driscoll had refused to agree to several drafts of a proposed protective order. Driscoll said he is willing to agree not to share the information with the press, but had some additional concerns about the governments draft orders.

Driscoll called his television appearances an eye dropper in a tsunami of negative press coverage toward Butina, specifically complaining about prosecution accusations that she had offered sex in exchange for a job in a special-interest organization.

Driscoll also said he plans to challenge Butinas detention and possibly file a motion to dismiss the case.

The next hearing is scheduled for Sept. 10.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Will Dunham)1.8k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

With less than four months until Americans cast their ballots in the midterm elections, the blue wave appears to be gaining momentum  and its largely thanks to women voters.

According to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday, women plan to back Democratic candidates this fall by a massive 2-to-1 margin, 57  32 percent.

Because of Democratic strength with the female electorate, they now hold a 12-point advantage  51 to 39 percent overall  heading into the critical midterm elections.

Key findings from the survey:

Women voters: 57 to 32 percent Democratic advantage

Men voters: 46 to 44 percent Republican advantage

White voters: 46 to 45 percent Democratic advantage

African American voters: 78 to 16 percent Democratic advantage

Hispanic voters: 66 to 22 percent Democratic advantage

Even the demographic groups with whom Republicans appear competitive  male and white voters  arent really good news for them heading into the midterms. According to 2016 exit polls, Trump carried those two voting blocs by 11 points and 20 points, respectively.

The fact that its essentially a tie among Trumps target supporters, while Democrats maintain their strength with all other blocs, shows that Republicans are in major trouble heading toward November.

Trump is bringing down the GOP

The Trump presidency has been a raging dumpster fire since day one, but in recent weeks it has devolved into a blazing landfill.

His embarrassing meeting with our NATO allies, a pathetic surrender to Russia on the world stage and Tuesdays release of one of Michael Cohens secret Trump tapes has angered any American voter that isnt living in the Fox News bubble.

Women have never liked Donald Trump, whether its those in his personal life or the majority who voted against him in 2016. But Trumps conduct in the White House over the past year and a half has motivated them in a way weve likely never seen before.

When the blue wave rolls through Washington D.C. in November and takes out the many spineless GOP lawmakers who have let this corrupt president run wild, it is American women who will deserve the credit.1.4k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Donald Trump really has to screw up for Fox News to turn on him. We saw it happen earlier this month after Trumps press conference with Vladimir Putin. That was such a treasonous disaster that a number of hosts on Fox News hosts went on air to publicly condemn him for it.

And yesterday Trump and his team did something else that made Fox News again decide they could not support the president. As we reported:

CNNs Kaitlan Collins posed questions to Trump that were related to Michael Cohen and Russia. For asking these questions, Bill Shine and Sarah Huckabee Sanders banned her from the Trump event on trade with the president of the European Commission.

This led many reporters and news agencies to slam Trump for such disgraceful treatment of a reporter. White House Correspondents Association President Oliver Knox condemned the treatment of Collins. Jake Tapper from CNN called it absolutely disgraceful behavior. Other news outlets agreed, with Steven Portnoy of CBS News called it a stunning outrage.

Hallie Jackson of NBC News Retweeted Tapper and wrote:

If the White House banned a fellow reporter from an open-press event because of her shouted questions, lets be clear: it is inexcusable, unacceptable, and sets an extremely dangerous precedent.



We shout questions at the president regularly. Its called: doing our job.

If the White House banned a fellow reporter from an open-press event because of her shouted questions, let's be clear: it is inexcusable, unacceptable, and sets an extremely dangerous precedent. We shout questions at the president regularly. It's called: doing our job. https://t.co/rrZiiLMjkg  Hallie Jackson (@HallieJackson) July 25, 2018

All of this is not surprising. What is surprising is that Fox News joined the chorus of news organizations condemning Trump and his press team.

Fox News reporter Bret Baier has been very supportive of Trump but yesterdays events made Baier decide that hed had enough. First Baier tweeted:

As a member of the White House Press pool  Fox News stands firmly with CNN on this issue and the issue of access.

As a member of the White House Press pool- @FoxNews stands firmly with @CNN on this issue and the issue of access https://t.co/TFwfLQtP9h  Bret Baier (@BretBaier) July 25, 2018

Baier then went on the Fox News show Special Report Wednesday evening and read a statement, saying:

This decision to bar a member of the press is retaliatory in nature and not indicative of an open and free press. We demand better.

After catching flak from right-wing social media trolls Baier posted additional tweets further solidifying his support for CNN.

When President Obamas administration left us out of round robin interviews  CNN and @jaketapper spoke out for us. As a member of the WH press pool  on the news side  thats what is supposed to happen.

When President Obamas administration left us out of round robin interviews  CNN and @jaketapper spoke out for us. As a member of the WH press pool  on the news side  thats what is supposed to happen. https://t.co/cDci9VUxJP  Bret Baier (@BretBaier) July 26, 2018

Then, as the attacks on him got worse, he tweeted:

Sorry you feel that way. They are members of the WH press pool. Kaitlan was doing what pool reporters do. We stand for access for WH reporters-no matter what you think about their coverage. Again -no Reagan supporter loved Sam Donaldson-but he was there-always.

Sorry you feel that way. They are members of the WH press pool. Kaitlan was doing what pool reporters do. We stand for access for WH reporters-no matter what you think about their coverage. Again -no Reagan supporter loved Sam Donaldson-but he was there-always. https://t.co/X8Oa7IQT6z  Bret Baier (@BretBaier) July 26, 2018

Yesterday was a bad press day for Trump, as we also reported:

Things are so bad for Trump that he ran away from reporters asking questions after a White House event with the president of the European Commission.

Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro of Fox News will never turn on Donald Trump but that doesnt mean the entire organization supports everything the president does. Already twice this month Fox News has criticized the president very heavily for his outrageous behavior. This is a sure sign that Donald Trump is going over the edge.1.6k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III is now scrutinizing tweets and negative statements from the president about Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey, according to The New York Times.

Trump has long wielded Twitter as a weapon. Now the special counsel is investigating his tweets as part of a broad obstruction inquiry. https://t.co/TAOLfV5JL6  The New York Times (@nytimes) July 26, 2018

Several of the negative comments about the two men were made at the same time that Trump was also privately pressuring the men about the Russia investigation.

Since both Sessions and Comey are key witnesses in the special counsels probe, Mueller is now looking into whether or not Trumps actions, including his tweets, add up to attempts to illegally obstruct the investigation.

If Mueller and his team can prove that Trump was attempting to intimidate witnesses and/or pressure senior law enforcement officials to either stop or downplay the Russia probe they would be able to convict the president of at least one federal crime, and possibly more.

According to the Times report, Mueller has said that he wants to question Trump about some of his tweets that are the cause of great concern.

Muellers interest in Trumps tweets is new and is just the most recent type of presidential actions he is investigating as part of a likely case of criminal obstruction of justice.

Mueller has previously been investigating these Trump actions:

private interactions with Mr. Comey, Mr. Sessions and other senior administration officials about the Russia inquiry; misleading White House statements ; public attacks; and possible pardon offers to potential witnesses.

President Trumps lawyers have said in public that nothing the president has done has been obstruction of justice. Their argument is that most of the presidential acts being scrutinized, including Comeys firing, fall under Mr. Trumps authority as the head of the executive branch. They have also said that president does not need to to answer Muellers questions about obstruction.

Privately, however, Trumps lawyers are concerned that the special counsel will be able to tie together everything Trump has said and done, including the tweets, to build their criminal case against the president. They will try to prove that Trump put in place a comprehensive and ongoing plan to substantially interfere with the special counsel investigation by improperly influencing witnesses.

According to legal experts cited by the Times, prosecutors in obstruction of justice cases are successful when they use a larger, comprehensive pattern of the suspects behavior instead of just one thing that he did.

And these experts also say that Muellers investigators have told Trumps lawyers that they are investigating the presidents tweets under a relatively new and very wide-ranging obstruction-of-justice law that was enhanced after the Enron accounting scandal. This new law would make it easier to convict the president of a crime.

Based on the types of questions they want to ask the president, and the fact that they are scrutinizing his actions under a section of the United States Code titled Tampering With a Witness, Victim, or an Informant, it appears that Mueller wants to make a case against the president for witness tampering. And the legal experts say that it is possible that Trump would face criminal exposure in this type of investigation.

Trumps lead lawyer in the case, Rudy Giuliani, dismissed reports of Muellers interest in Trumps tweets as a desperate effort by him to harm the president.

If youre going to obstruct justice, you do it quietly and secretly, not in public, Giuliani said. However, the Times said the obstruction cases can be built on both private and public actions.

Donald Trump clearly loves Twitter even though his lawyers have advised him to stop posting on it. If Mueller uses Trumps tweets to make a case of criminal obstruction of justice against him, there is no doubt that he will have wished he listened to his lawyers advice.Love Sonia is directed by Tabrez Noorani and produced by Academy Award nominee, David Womark of Life of Pi fame.

Richa Chadha, who was last seen as the dynamic Paro in Sudhir Mishras political drama, Daas Dev, is gearing up for her upcoming film, Love Sonia, in which she is playing the role of a brothel owner. The film, and Indo-American venture, also stars Frieda Pinto, Anupam Kher, Manoj Bajpayee, Mrunal Thakur, Rajkumar Rao and Sai Tamhankar in pivotal roles.

For her character, Richa had to delve deep into the underbelly of prostitution and the sex trade. As her character is a part of the prostitution racket, the Fukrey actress had to understand the inner workings of this taboo profession. Richas research on the subject has been thorough in order to justify her role on screen. The actress read various first hand experience books like God in a Brothel, The White Umbrella and Girls Like Us which talk about sex trafficking survivors journeys and the experiences that have scarred them forever. She spoke to a few sex workers from Mumbais red light district with the help of an NGO and even spoke to some documentary filmmakers who have covered stories on the same.

Richa says, I was very intrigued by the subject Love Sonia deals with. To essay the role in Love Sonia, it took me a couple of weeks to actually understand not the nuances but the gravity of the topic.

Of course we all know how horrible human trafficking is and how grave a crisis it is today. But when you get a chance to know so much about a topic so closely I took that chance and spent a lot of time to research. I met NGO workers and even met with girls who have been rescued and their stories were extremely horrifying and yet inspiring to know that there is hope. Their stories really helped me to understand and to use that information for the role on screen, she added.

Love Sonia is directed by Tabrez Noorani and produced by Academy Award nominee, David Womark of Life of Pi fame.

MT23316 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

One of the most controversial members of Congress, Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) the House Intelligence Committee Chairman, said in an interview on Thursday that electronic voting systems were really dangerous and should not be used.

Nunes calls for ban on electronic voting systems

Nunes calls for ban on electronic voting systems https://t.co/0yQhQEZODz pic.twitter.com/HLiwqOBeY2  The Hill (@thehill) July 26, 2018

The one thing weve been warning about for many, many years on the House Intelligence Committee is about the electronic voting systems, Nunes told Hill.TV.

Those are really dangerous in my opinion, and should not be used. In California  at least in the counties that I represent  they do not use an electronic system, he added.

I think anybody that does that, and thats communicating over the web, its going to be a challenge. So you have to make sure that you limit that as much as possible, and we need a paper trail so that you can go back in case you have to do a manual recount, Nunes said.

In February, a DHS cybersecurity official said that Russia had successfully penetrated the voter rolls in a small number of states in 2016 and warned California and 21 other states that Russia attempted to breach their systems. Election security experts have said that paper ballots are more secure than electronic voting systems since they cannot be hacked.

President Trump has sent mixed signals on whether he believes the intelligence committees assessment that here has been widespread interference in U.S. elections. In an about-face on Tuesday he said via Twitter that he is very concerned that Russia will try help Democrats by interfering in the 2018 midterm elections.

Im very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election. Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats. They definitely dont want Trump!

Im very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election. Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats. They definitely dont want Trump!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2018

In the Hill.TV interview, Nunes also talked about Trumps announcement that he plans to revoke former intelligence officials security clearances.

Nunes said he agrees with the president that officials like former FBI Director James Comey and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper have acted extremely dishonest. But, he said, President Trump should not pull their security clearances.

Nunes also said his committee is probing whether various informants in Russia received payments before there was an authorized investigation.

Concerning the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, the chairman said he believes they were more damning to the intelligence community than the information that has already been released.

Given that Devin Nunes is one of Donald Trumps biggest supporters in Congress, it is surprising that he has come out against electronic voting because he recognizes the dangers of election interference. The fact that he has taken this position is a good sign that even right-wing Trump supporters are in favor of elections free from foreign interference.585 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Pointing out that Rod Rosenstein is a Republican appointee, Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) blasted the Republicans for having no shame. The Democratic Leader said that attack on Rosenstein is an attack on the Mueller investigation and attempt by Rep. Jim Jordan to deflect from the scrutiny hes under in Ohio.

The attack on Rosenstein, of course, is an attack on the Mueller investigation. Rosenstein is a Republican appointee, Rosenstein was appointed by the president of the United States Just when you think you have seen it all, Republicans have no shame what they are making is a statement: President Trump is above the law.

Watch here via ABC:

Nancy Pelosi: "The attack on Rosenstein, of course, is an attack on the Mueller investigation." "What they're making is a statement: President Trump is above the law. Period. It's a sad thing." https://t.co/HcJVKzYK8J pic.twitter.com/VvFYuTmwbl  ABC News (@ABC) July 26, 2018

Kyle Griffin pointed out Leader Pelosis observation that she doesnt know their motivation but shes heard Jim Jordan is trying to deflect from his own scandal.

I dont know, but what Ive heard is Jim Jordan wants to take attention away from the scrutiny that he is under in Ohio, that could be a part of it, the Democratic Leader added.

Nancy Pelosi on the motivation to impeach Rosenstein: "I don't know, but what I've heard is Jim Jordan wants to take attention away from the scrutiny that he is under in Ohio, that could be a part of it." (via ABC) pic.twitter.com/qzIiTLIj3M  Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 26, 2018

The Republicans who brought forth the Rosenstein impeachment resolution deserve to be voted out of office. Not only is this unlikely to get a vote soon, but Rosenstein has done nothing to even come near constitutional impeachment standards.

What Republicans have done is lower the bar for impeachment, which is probably not a great idea given the many actual crimes for which their president is currently under investigation.

Leader Pelosi is right, Republicans are shameless. They dont even make an attempt to not appear hypocritical anymore. Theyre all-in on Trump, in spite of his possible and likely collusion with a hostile foreign power that is attacking our country right now. The threat to impeach their own presidents appointee is nothing less than attempted collusion to protect President Trump from the Mueller investigation.Two of Donald Trumps biggest media supporters, Breitbart and Fox News, both expressed criticism on Wednesday of the House Republicans who filed articles of impeachment against Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

Breitbart News editor Joel Pollak, a longtime ally and strong backer of Trump, said the move by the House Freedom Caucus leaders Reps. Mark Meadows (R-NC) and Jim Jordan (R-OH) may hurt the president. Pollak said the impeachment resolution against Rosenstein would not be successful, and also said it was unwise to consider in the first place.

Where are the high crimes and misdemeanors in the Rosenstein indictment? How does it not set a low bar for the political impeachment of Trump?

Where are the "high crimes and misdemeanors" in the Rosenstein indictment? How does it not set a low bar for the political impeachment of Trump?  Joel B. Pollak (@joelpollak) July 26, 2018

Pollak isnt the only Trump supporter to question the impeachment resolution against Rosenstein either.

Fox News legal analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano said the House action was embarrassing. He appeared on Fox & Friends on Thursday, saying:

The constitution says that theres a very very narrow basis for impeachment and thats intentional. If it were a broad basis people would be getting kicked out of office left and right. Treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors. When Bill Clinton was impeached, it was obstructing justice by lying under oath so it has to be something of that magnitude.

Improperly signing off on a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court warrant or staying in a position of conflict of interest could certainly be ethical violations but arent grounds for impeachment.

The Fox News legal analyst also said he believes the Department of Justice (DOJ) is going to cough up the documents that the House Republicans are seeking. As a result, he believes that impeachment was not necessary as well as wrong and baseless and embarrassing for everybody involved.

As we reported yesterday:

The ranking Democrats on the House Judiciary, Oversight, and Intelligence Committees issued a joint statement declaring that House Freedom Caucus effort to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has no chance of removing Rosenstein.

Because the impeachment resolution doesnt have a chance of succeeding it is now apparent that it is just a publicity stunt by the House Freedom Caucus. People like Jim Jordan always want to appear tough and in control, even when they are weak and powerless to do anything against the U.S. Department of Justice.

The fact that Jordan and Meadows have been attacked and put down by the likes of Breitbart and Fox News is a clear indication that they have gone off the rails and their actions are self defeating.3.4k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is using Trumps Twitter account as part of his investigation as the special counsel is examining the presidents tweets.

The New York Times reported:

The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, is scrutinizing tweets and negative statements from the president about Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey, according to three people briefed on the matter.

.

Mr. Mueller wants to question the president about the tweets. His interest in them is the latest addition to a range of presidential actions he is investigating as a possible obstruction case: private interactions with Mr. Comey, Mr. Sessions and other senior administration officials about the Russia inquiry; misleading White House statements; public attacks; and possible pardon offers to potential witnesses.

Trumps lawyers have warned him and done everything possible short of taking away his phone or changing his Twitter password and not telling him to get the president to stop tweeting. The people who are trying to keep Trump out of prison wanted to vet his tweets before he published them, but of course, the president rebelled, so it never happened. Eventually, the White House gave up on trying to stop Trump from tweeting, and the end result is that Robert Mueller is following Trumps Twitter account like breadcrumbs through a forest of crime.

It is going to be Trumps own words from the Lester Holt interview to Michael Cohen tapes, and his tweets that bring this president down. Interestingly, Mueller wants to talk to Trump about his habit of floating pardons on Twitter to Russia witnesses. Those pardon hints could be viewed as an effort to obstruct justice.

Because Trump wouldnt stop tweeting, Robert Mueller has a trail of the presidents own words that could lead straight to impeachment.

When the history of this period in American politics is written, entire books will be penned about how Trump impeached himself.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.An investigation continues into the fatal fire at a modular wood-and-tin house early Thursday morning in Harmon.

A man, who had been living in the house with two other people, was found dead after the fast-moving fire was extinguished, said Guam Fire Department spokesman Kevin Reilly. All angles will be looked into, including arson, he said.

Guam has seen at least four fires this month involving wood-and-tin houses. In September 2016, five minor children died in a wood-and-tin house in Yigo.

Thursday's fire gutted a house on Castro Street behind the Department of Public Works compound in the Harmon Industrial Park.

"The fire consumed the building very fast," he said.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request.

Reilly said dispatch received a call at about 5 a.m. reporting smoke in the area.

'Fully engulfed'

When firefighters arrived, they initially tried to make a forced entry into the home, "but it was fully engulfed," Reilly said.

Once the blaze was extinguished and firefighters entered the residence, they found the man's body, he said. Two other occupants of the house were unharmed.

The identity of the victim has not been released.On July 10 of this year, the White House issued an executive order giving agency heads the authority to select their own administrative law judges (ALJs).

The Washington Post editorial board expresses concern that, under this executive order, political appointees will pick like-minded ALJs to better serve their agendas.

The order threatens the independence and professionalism of those charged with overseeing thousands of administrative decisions a year, the Posts editors complain. They add that there is value in having a cohort of qualified, impartial arbitrators working on administrative disputes.

I agree, in theory. If ALJs truly were politically neutral, any order disturbed that happy status quo would be objectionable.

The problem is that ALJs often are not politically neutral. The Posts claim that that this used to be a proudly nonpartisan position rings hollow.

Having lived almost all of my life in the Washington, D.C. area, Ive known more than a few administrative law judges. Nearly all of them are/were liberal Democrats. Thats hardly surprising. The federal bureaucracy that produces ALJs is almost entirely liberal Democrat.

This doesnt automatically mean my acquaintances were biased when acting in their official capacity, and I trust some were not. However, during the first half of my legal career, I practiced from time to time before administrative law judges. In general, I did not find them to be models of impartiality. Instead, their liberalism tended to seep into their judging to at least some degree.

That was years ago. But its hard for me to imagine that while just about everything else was becoming more politicized, the ALJs became less so. Nor do the reports I get from practitioners suggest they did.

The Post is right to this extent  Trumps executive order might well affect the political and ideological composition of the corps of ALJs. But it wont shift it from neutral to conservative. Rather it will shift it from liberal towards conservative (and back again to liberal when Democrats are in control).

This is hardly ideal. However, its better than than the status quo under which ALJ positions tend to be the preserve of liberals.

Its also worth noting that federal district court judges are appointed by politicians  the U.S. President, often in consultation with members of Congress from the state in question. ALJs are the administrative equivalent of federal district court judges. If politicians appoint the latter, it shouldnt shock the conscience if the former are similarly appointed.

To be sure, Congress must confirm federal judges. No such constraint will exist for ALJs.

However, the confirmation of district court judges is nearly automatic (though this may change). And very rarely is a district court judge dinged for reasons of ideology (though this may change too).

Its telling that congressional leftists like Rep. Elijah Cummings are leading the charge against President Trumps executive order on ALJs. They want to block funding to implement the order.

Cummings and his fellow Dems arent doing this because they want politically neutral ALJs. They are doing this because they know the ALJs are, in the main, liberals.

The left long ago marched through this institution. It doesnt want to be dislodged.In a stunning display of judicial activism, one with far-reaching implications, a federal appeals court has ruled that the Alabama law Minimum Wage and Right-to-Work Act, which mandates a uniform minimum wage of $7.25 per hour throughout Alabama, may be unconstitutional. Finding that the Act, which toppled a Birmingham ordinance setting the minimum wage at $10.10 per hour, has a disparate impact on black workers, the court allowed a claim that the Act violates the Fourteen Amendment to proceed. The case is Lewis v. Governor of Alabama.

I dont doubt that the Alabama law has a disparate impact on black workers in Birmingham. The record showed that the Minimum Wage Act denied 37 percent of Birminghams black wage earners a big pay hike, compared to only 27 percent of white wage earners.

But all kinds of laws, especially laws that entail standards, have a disparate impact on blacks. Most criminal laws do, because blacks violate them at higher rates than whites. So do laws banning preferential admission based on race.

Fortunately, the Supreme Court has ruled out Fourteenth Amendment claims based solely on disparate impact. It is only intentional discrimination by the state that the Constitution bans.

In the Birmingham minimum wage case, the Eleventh Circuit panel  consisting of two left-wing court of appeals judges and a George H.W. Bush appointed district court judge who approved one of the Carter Page FISA warrants  paid lip service to the requirement that more than disparate impact is required to establish a Fourteenth Amendment violation. But to find more, it descended into blatant speculation, second-guessing of the state legislature, racial stereotyping, and circular reasoning.

Before examining the more cited by the court, lets consider two fallacies the court indulged in at the outset.

First, minimum wage laws are economic regulation. Sound economic reasons support not setting the minimum too high. In the absence of countervailing steps by affected businesses, a high minimum wage increases labor costs. Accordingly, it often leads to countervailing steps such as hiring fewer workers or eliminating part-time employees. A high minimum wage may force some firms out of business.

In some cities, probably including Birmingham, these hidden effects will fall more heavily on blacks than on whites. Thus, just as the black plaintiffs in Lewis challenged the state minimum wage law on racial grounds, other black plaintiffs  e.g., fired part-time workers  might be able to mount such a challenge to the Birmingham ordinance

What did the court say about the economic effects of raising or lowering the minimum wage? Nothing. It refused to consider them. This is not the place to debate the Minimum Wage Acts long term macroeconomic merits, Judge Charles Wilson sniffed.

Why not? To prevail in this suit, plaintiffs will have to show that it was race, not economic considerations, that motivated the Alabama legislature to pass the Minimum Wage Act. Thus, it is wrong, in assessing whether plaintiffs have a case worthy of being tried, to rule out all consideration of the economic rationale for passing an economic regulation.

Second, though the court went looking for more than just disparate impact, it relied heavily on that impact in inferring discrimination. Note, however, that while the adverse effect of the Alabama law falls disproportionately on blacks, it also harms a great many whites. No ones wage (white or black) is raised by the Minimum Wage Act, but 27 percent of white wage earners in Birmingham would lose a hefty chunk of their earnings as a result of it.

Thus, the disparate impact of the Act on blacks is, at best, very weak evidence that its enactment was racially motivate. Is it at all realistic to suppose that a modern Alabama legislature might be so racist as to slash the wages of many thousands of white workers just so it can slash the earnings of many thousands of black workers? Only strong evidence  either direct or powerfully circumstantial  that the legislature was racially motivated when it passed this economic legislation should suffice to make this case fit for trial.

With that in mind, lets look at the evidence of supposed racial motivation relied on by the court. It is astonishingly weak.

First, the court cited the circumstances of the laws passage:

The Act was introduced by a white representative from Alabamas least diverse area, with the help of fifty-two other white sponsors, and was objected to by all black members of the House and Senate. And it was accelerated through the legislative process in sixteen days with little or no opportunity for public comment or debate.

This is no rational basis for inferring racial motivation. Rather, it is a pernicious judicial intrusion into the legislative process. Indeed, accusing legislators of racial basis based on their race and/or the race of their constituents isnt just the judicial equivalent of an ad hominen argument, it is racist.

The author of the courts opinion, Judge Wilson, is African-American. By his reasoning, we should suspect that his opinion is influenced by his race. I dont infer this  leftist identity-politics is probably the main culprit. But citing the race of the Acts sponsors and opponents invites inferring racism anytime a public official, black or white, acts on a matter implicating race.

Citing the unified opposition of black legislators to the Minimum Wage Act is wrong for additional reasons. Black legislators can be expected to oppose any bill that has a disproportionate short-term impact on their constituents (most of whom, typically, are black). Thus, citing unified black opposition adds nothing to the evidence that the Act disproportionately affects blacks; it just underscores that fact. As we have seen, such evidence is legally insufficient to establish a Fourteenth Amendment violation.

In addition, the Lewis court has started down the road to giving African-American legislative caucuses a veto over legislation that implicates race. By standing united against such legislation, black legislators can now provide evidence for courts to use in striking down such legislation as unconstitutional. Thats profoundly anti-democratic.

So is the courts willingness to infer wrongful motivation from the fact that the Act passed in 16 days. Theres no reason why sound economic legislation should take any longer to enact. In any event, it shouldnt be the courts job to judge how much time is necessary properly to consider a particular bill.

The courts next reason for suspecting racial motivation is Alabamas deep and troubled history of racial discrimination that has consistently impeded the efforts of its black citizens to achieve social and economic equality. The court cites the historical origins of [Alabamas] 1901 Constitution, plus a bunch of cases that are than three decades old.

The court fails to cite any modern instance of discriminatory legislation passed in Alabama. Its reliance on old history to support an inference of discrimination regarding contemporary economic legislation  similar to that adopted by 22 other states  is a sure indicator of the courts desperation to keep this case alive for ideological reasons.

The court also gives its stamp of approval for the use of old history as a card to be played whenever blacks are unhappy with a piece of legislation. Its reminiscent of the reliance on racist voting laws and practices from more than 50 years ago to strike down voting rules enacted in an entirely different environment. Recognizing that our country, including the Deep South, has changed, the Supreme Court has finally rejected this approach.

Judge Wilson concludes by informing us that Today, racism is no longer pledged from the portico of the

capitol; it hides, abashed, cloaked beneath ostensibly neutral laws and legitimate bases, steering

government power toward no less invidious ends. Again, this rationale can be used to allege racism, and explain the absence of supporting evidence, any time blacks are unhappy with a legislative (or other) outcome.

Judge Wilsons argument does support looking at circumstantial evidence when considering whether intentional discrimination has occurred. But the analysis cant be one-sided, excluding such facts as the obvious economic justification for an act and the fact that it harms a great many whites.

Nor should the analysis rely on a presumption, based on old history or current racial identity, that legislators are racially biased. Racial bias is what must be demonstrated. It cannot be assumed, not even at the summary judgment stage.

Finally, courts should minimize their intrusion into the work of legislators elected by the people. For example, they have no business opining on how long it should take to pass a bill.

Lewis v. Governor of Alabama sets the stage for widespread attacks on neutral, sensible legislation that conflicts with the imperatives of identity-politics and/or income redistribution, among other left-wing hobby horses. I hope the case will be reviewed by the full Eleventh Circuit. Even if the panels ruling is sustained, en banc review should generate dissent[s] and make this case a strong candidate for the Supreme Court to consider.I wouldnt have thought my opinion of the New York Times could get any lower, but it just did. NTK Network reports that the Times, as well as the Associated Press, has requested emails sent or received by Ashley Kavanaugh in her capacity as town manager of Chevy Chase, Maryland:

The New York Times and Associated Press both filed requests under the Maryland Public Information Act (PIA) seeking e-mails that Ashley Kavanaugh, the wife of President Trumps Supreme Court nominee, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, sent as town manager of The Village of Chevy Chase Section 5, according to documents obtained by America Rising Squared (AR2) and shared exclusively with the NTK Network. The two news organizations took different approaches to obtain the e-mails. According to the documents, the AP made a sweeping request for all emails sent or received by Ashley Kavanaughs Village of Chevy Chase email address. By contrast, The New York Times is currently requesting that The Village of Chevy Chase Section 5 hand over any emails to or from Ms. Kavanaugh that contain any of the keywords or terms listed below.

Here is the email from Steve Eder of the Times. The paper says: Steve Eder is an investigative reporter for The Times, where he writes about the federal government under President Trump, as well as his personal businesses. I have no idea why two items appear to be blacked out:







The Timess request obviously tracks left-wing concerns and talking points, e.g. regarding the dreaded Federalist Society and Leonard Leo. Not to mention guns, gays and abortion.

They wont find anything, of course. But this is what I want to know: When Stephen Breyer, Ruth Ginsburg, Sonia Sotamayor and Elena Kagan were appointed to the Court, did the Times, or the Associated Press, try to investigate documents sent or received by their family members?Ive been looking for a highlight reel of Secretary Pompeos appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday. I thought it was a highlight reel from beginning to end when Pompeo was speaking. C-SSPAN has posted video of the entire three-hour hearing here.

The clip below features Pompeo responding to New Mexico Senator Tom Udalls question regarding interest in President Trumps tax return following the Trump-Putin Helskinki meeting. You know, theyre might be something reflective of his compromising relationship with Russia in there. Dont tune out the video before the last few seconds.

Sec. of State Pompeo schools Dem. Senator on Trumps tough Russia policyhttps://t.co/TgGGWvomcu pic.twitter.com/R38uWAG2Sg  RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 25, 2018

Udall was proud of his performance. He announced to his followers on Twitter: Im questioning Secretary Pompeo in the Foreign Relations Committee. Last week, @POTUS shunned our allies, stood next to Putin and refused to defend the integrity of American democracy. Millions of Americans want to know why. I want to know why this guy is a United States Senator.PR-Inside.com: 2018-07-26 08:03:01





Bank of Aland Plc

Stock exchange release

July 26, 2018, 9.00 a.m.



Standard & Poors raises outlook of Bank of Aland Plc











# 136 Words



Standard & Poors Global Ratings is revising its outlook on the Bank of Aland Plc (Alandsbanken Abp) to positive from stable. The outlook is being revised based on a high probability of stronger capitalisation and profitability.Standard & Poors Global Ratings is affirming its 'BBB/A-2' long- and short-term issuer credit ratings.For further information, please contact:Peter Wiklof, Managing Director and Chief Executive, Bank of Aland Plc, tel +358 40 5127505Vijay Mallya, who is separately undergoing extradition trial in UK court, had sought permission to appeal against HC order dated May 8.

Vijay Mallya remains on bail since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April last year. (Photo: File)

London/New Delhi: The UK's Court of Appeal has refused Vijay Mallya the permission to appeal against a High Court order in favour of 13 Indian banks to recover funds amounting to nearly 1.145 billion pounds, in another setback to the embattled liquor tycoon.

The 62-year-old businessman, who is separately undergoing an extradition trial in a UK court over fraud and money laundering charges by the Indian authorities, had sought permission to appeal against the High Court order dated May 8.

In the ruling, Judge Andrew Henshaw had refused to overturn a worldwide order freezing Mallya's assets and also denied permission to appeal, which left Mallya with the only option of turning to the Court of Appeal.

Judge Henshaw's order marked the first recorded case of a judgement of the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in India being registered by the English High Court, setting a legal precedent.

The Court of Appeal judges looked into Mallya's application seeking permission to appeal and decided against it on Tuesday.

As a result of the High Court order, the Indian banks - State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Corporation Bank, Federal Bank Ltd, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Mysore, UCO Bank, United Bank of India and JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Co Pvt Ltd - have the right to enforce the Indian judgment against Mallya's assets in England and Wales.

"In the event, permission has been refused, then the decision of the judge is final and Mallya does not have any further recourse of appeal against his decision," said Kartik Mittal, Senior Solicitor at London-based Zaiwalla & Co LLP.

"The English judicial system does not give parties an unfettered right to appeal. The right to appeal is restricted. A party can only appeal a decision of the first instance Court if the first instance Court or the Appellate Court gives the party permission to appeal," he explained.

"A party is granted permission to appeal only in cases where the appeal appears to have a real prospect of success or there is some other compelling reason why the appeal should be heard. Therefore, in a majority of the cases permission is refused," he added.

In a related High Court ruling on June 26, Justice Bryan had issued an enforcement order in favour of the banks, granting permission to the UK High Court Enforcement Officer to enter Mallya's properties in Hertfordshire, near London, where he is based. While it is not an instruction to enter and that particular order can be appealed against, the banks have the option to use the order as one of the means to recover funds owed to them.

"The High Court Enforcement Officer, including any Enforcement Agent acting under his authority, may use reasonable force to enter the Property if necessary," it states. Mallya has since said that he has handed over a full statement of his UK assets to the court and there was no question of the use of force to enter his home Ladywalk in the village of Tewin in England.

The former Kingfisher Airlines boss had also issued a lengthy media statement last month, condemning the charges against him as politically motivated. He then took to social media to clarify that he made the statement "after a long period of silence" because he had filed an application before the Karnataka High Court on June 22, setting out available assets of approximately Rs 13,900 crores.

"Media reports quote an ED [Enforcement Directorate] official stating that I am attempting a plea bargain. Would respectfully suggest that the official read the ED charge sheet first," Mallya had said in his last Twitter message on the issue on June 30.

"I would invite the ED to advance the same plea bargain theory in Court in front of whom I have placed my assets," he said.

Meanwhile, Mallya remains on bail since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April last year. He will return for his extradition hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on July 31, when closing arguments are expected from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), acting on behalf of the Indian government, and Mallya's defence team.

A judgment is expected in the case at a later date, which will be arranged by Judge Emma Arbuthnot.

While the CPS claims it has successfully established a prima facie case of fraud against the businessman, Mallya's lawyers have sought to establish that the criminal charges against him are "without substance".

They have also challenged the case on human rights grounds, questioning the conditions at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, where the businessman is to be held post-extradition.The research report on Citric Acid Market is segmented by Product Type, by End-use Industry and by Region - Global Industry Insights, Trends, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 2018  2025

Citric Acid Market

PR-Inside.com: 2018-07-26 13:16:47

Press Information

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Contact Us:





Mr. Shah





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# 634 Words

Contact Us:Mr. ShahCoherent Market Insights1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154Tel: +1-206-701-6702CEO+1-206-701-6702

Citric acid is a weak organic acid predominantly used in food, beverages, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and chemical applications. Citric acid is a natural preservative, chelating agent, flavoring agent, and acidulant. Naturally citrus acid occurs in citrus fruits such as grapes, oranges, and lemons. Industrial production of citric acid is carried out by fermentation of A. Niger. Citric acid is among the most widely used food additive worldwide and is approved as Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) by the U.S. Food and Drugs Administration.Food and beverages segment held a market share of around 73% in the global citric acid market. Carbonated soft drinks accounted for major share in food and beverage segment. The pharmaceutical industry utilizes citric acid as an excipient due to its anti-oxidant properties. Citric acid also being a chelating agent is used in detergents and soaps. It is used in home care materials and is also utilized for regeneration of ion exchange materials in water softeners.Download PDF Brochure @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-pdf/1984 Market DynamicsIncreasing adoption of citric acid by food industry has contributed to its market growth. The food industry utilizes citric acid for fermenting, catalyzing, preserving, and flavoring. The use of citric acid in food & beverages increases the shelf life of products by creating an acidic environment, which is non-conducive for microorganism survival.Utilization of lactic acid as a substitute for citric acid is expected to hinder growth of the citric acid market. Lactic acid is also used as a food preservative, curing agent, and flavoring agent. Moreover, concerns regarding using Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) sources for sucrose and glucose, which is used in the citric acid manufacturing process may restrain growth of the citric acid market.Market OutlookEurope held the dominant position in for citric acid market in 2017. The region is expected to account for around 28% of the global citric acid demand. This is largely due to the thriving food & beverage industry in the region. According to European Union statistics, the food industry in European Union was valued at US$ 1.08 trillion in 2014. The region also had a trade surplus of around US$ 35 billion due to the food & beverages industryAsia Pacific is projected to be the fastest growing region in citric acid market due to the fast growing food & beverages industry in the region. According to Indian Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), Indias was the sixth largest food & beverage industry in the world. China was the largest producer of citric acid in 2016, and it is projected to maintain its dominance in terms of production over the forecast period. According to UN Comtrade statistics, China held a share of around 48% in world exports of citric acid. India, Japan, and European Union were among the major importers of citric acid from China. Players based in China are focused on geographic expansion. Anhui BBCA Biochemical Co., Ltd in 2014, commissioned a 60,000 ton/year plant in Hungary. The plant will serve the food processing industries in Central and Western Europe.Get More Information @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/citric-acid-market-1984 Key Market PlayersMarket players have responded to the steadily increasing market demand for citric acid by capacity expansions. Jungbunzlauer Suisse AG in 2018, announced the plans for a new citric acid manufacturing facility in Austria. Companies in China, which is projected to be among the fastest growing countries in the citric acid market have announced expansion to existing capacities. For instance, RZBC Group Co. Ltd. completed its capacity expansion in 2014. The total capacity of the company reached 250,000 mt/year, equivalent to 23% of the total capacity for citric acid in China.Major players operating in the global citric acid market include Tate & Lyle plc, Jungbunzlauer Suisse AG, Cargill Inc., Archer Daniel Midlands Company, Anhui BBCA Biochemical Co. Ltd., Gadot Biochemical Industries Ltd., Huangshi Xinghua Biochemical Co.Ltd ., and RZBC Group Co., Ltd.PR-Inside.com: 2018-07-26 14:03:01

TORONTO, July 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just Energy Group, Inc. (TSX:JE) (NYSE:JE), a leading retail energy provider specializing in electricity and natural gas commodities, energy efficiency solutions, and renewable energy options, today announced that it will release operating results for first quarter fiscal 2019 after market close on August 8th, 2018. The Company will host a conference call and live webcast to review the fiscal first quarter results beginning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on August 9th, 2018 followed by a question and answer period. Chief Executive Officer Patrick McCullough, and Chief Financial Officer Jim Brown will participate on the call.

Just Energy Conference Call and Webcast

Thursday, August 9 th , 2018

, 2018 10:00 a.m. EDT

Those who wish to participate in the conference call may do so by dialing 1-877-300-9306 and ask to be joined into the Just Energy call. The call will also be webcast live over the internet at the following link:

https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/1731/26565

An audio tape rebroadcast will be available starting one hour after the conference and will be available until August 16th, 2018. To access the rebroadcast please dial 1-877-344-7529 and use replay access code 10122264. The webcast will also be archived on the JE investor relations website for one year.

About Just Energy Group Inc.

Established in 1997, Just Energy is a leading consumer company specializing in electricity and natural gas commodities, energy efficiency solutions, and renewable energy options. With offices located across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland and Japan, Just Energy serves approximately 1.6 million residential and commercial customers providing homes and businesses with a broad range of energy solutions that deliver comfort, convenience and control. Just Energy Group Inc. is the parent company of Amigo Energy, EdgePower, Green Star Energy, Hudson Energy, Interactive Energy Group, Tara Energy and terrapass. Visit justenergygroup.com to learn more. Also, find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated. These risks include, but are not limited to general economic and market conditions, levels of customer natural gas and electricity consumption, rates of customer additions and renewals, rates of customer attrition, fluctuations in natural gas and electricity prices, changes in regulatory regimes, results of litigation and decisions by regulatory authorities, competition and dependence on certain suppliers. Additional information on these and other factors that could affect Just Energy's operations, financial results or dividend levels are included in Just Energy's annual information form and other reports on file with Canadian securities regulatory authorities which can be accessed through the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com, on the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov or through Just Energy's website at www.justenergygroup.com.

Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange nor the New York Stock Exchange has approved nor disapproved of the information contained herein.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:



Jim Brown

Chief Financial Officer

Phone: (713) 544-8191

jbrown@justenergy.com

or

Michael Cummings

Investor Relations

Phone: (617) 461-1101

michael.cummings@alpha-ir.com

This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.

The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: JUST ENERGY GROUP INC. via Globenewswire

Rapid approval of biosimilars for oncology is expected to be a major driving factor for growth of the oncology biosimilars market over the forecast period

Oncology Biosimilars Market

PR-Inside.com: 2018-07-26 11:13:10

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# 476 Words

1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154CEO+1 02067016702

Biosimilar is a biological product that resembles a reference product and is not difference from the already approved reference product. These are relatively cheaper than branded or approved products. Several biologics for oncology have already lost their patents, and some are in its period of expiry. As more products are expected to lose patents, biosimilar is expected to gain popularity. Leading generic players such as Mylan N.V., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, Allergan Plc, Sandoz (a Novartis International AGs division) are expected to capitalize on these patent expiries and may establish themselves as dominating players in oncology biosimilars market.Click To Continue Reading on Oncology Biosimilars MarketThere was about a decade gap in approval of first biosimilars in two key markets, Europe and the U.S. First biosimilar was approved in 2006 in Europe, however, in the U.S. first product was approved in 2015. But since approving the first biosimilar, the FDA has approved five products in 2017. Out of these five biosimilars, two were approved for oncology. First, oncology biosimilar Mvasi (bevacizumab-awwb) received approval in September 2017, and second one, Ogivri (trastuzumab) was approved in December 2017. In Europe, both of the products have been approved, and Mvasi received approval from European Commission in January 2018.Moreover, there are number of biosimilar application pending in the U.S. and Europe. For Herceptin (trastuzumab) alone, there are around four application pending in the FDA. These four application are from Amgen and Allergan, Celltrion and Teva, Pfizer, and Samsung Bioepis. Recent approval of products, and potential approval in next few years is expected to boost the market growth over the forecast period.On the basis of region, oncology biosimilars market by Coherent Market Insights is segmented into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa. North America is expected to be the dominant market over the forecast period. U.S. FDA approved first biosimilar in 2015, almost a decade later than first biosimilar approval in Europe. However, since 2015, the number of approved products has increased rapidly. This is expected to be factor for growth of the market in North America. Moreover, currently there are number of products in pipeline, which may receive approval from the FDA over the forecast period. For instance, Pfizer Inc.  a U.S.-based company  has three biosimilar products (i.e. PF-05280014, PF-05280586 and PF-06439535) for oncology in Phase 3.Request Sample Copy of this Business Report @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/1305 Key Vendors:Amgen Inc., Allergan, Plc, Mylan N.V., Samsung Bioepis Co., Ltd., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Pfizer Inc., Celltrion Healthcare, Novartis International AG, Biogen Idec, Inc., and Biocon Limited.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.Plant-based vaccines are derived from antigens produced in genetically modified plants that can be extracted and purified by conventional methods.

Plant-based Vaccines Market

PR-Inside.com: 2018-07-26 10:27:46

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# 637 Words

1001 4th Ave,#3200Seattle, WA 98154CEO2067016702

Plant-based vaccines are derived from antigens produced in genetically modified plants that can be extracted and purified by conventional methods. These vaccines can either be consumed or applied to mucosal surfaces. Plants that are commonly used in production of vaccines are tobacco, potato, tomato, corn, and rice. Currently, there are several transgenic plants used in development of four different types of vaccines namely: viral vaccines, parasite vaccines, and bacterial vaccines. Plant-based vaccines can be extensively manufactured at a very cheap cost. Currently, no plant-based vaccine has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as these vaccines are classified under the genetically modified crop category. However, there are several plant-based vaccines in clinical trials, which are expected to receive approval from FDA during the forecast period.Request Sample Copy Of This Report: https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/insight/request-sample/2004 Plant-Based Vaccines Market DriversIncreasing number of research and development activities by key players in the market and robust pipeline of plant-based vaccines is expected to be a major factor driving the global plant-based vaccines market growth during the forecast period. For instance, in 2017, Medicago Inc.a Canada-based biopharmaceutical company that focuses on development of plant-based vaccinesinitiated phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate efficacy of its seasonal quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIV) candidate. The trial comprises around 10,000 subjects in the following countries: the U.S., Canada, Germany, the U.K., the Philippines, Finland, and Thailand. QIV was developed using a new virus-like particle (VLP) technology, which is an alternative to egg-based and cell-based production systems.Furthermore, in 2017, researchers from the Arizona State University (ASU), in the U.S., developed the first plant-based Zika vaccine. According to the university, the newly developed plant-based Zika vaccine is safer, potent, and its production cost is much cheaper. Such robust pipeline of plant-based vaccines is expected to be a major factor in growth of the global plant-based vaccines market during the forecast period.Moreover, various government initiatives for development of plant-based vaccines are also expected to fuel the plant-based vaccines market growth during the forecast period. For instance, in 2015, Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) granted a contract to Medicago Inc. for development of two plant-based vaccines for Sudan strain of Ebola virus.Request TOC of the Report @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/ongoing-insight/toc/2004 Plant-Based Vaccines Market Regional AnalysisNorth America is expected to be dominant in the global plant vaccines market over the forecast period. This is owing to high prevalence of infectious disease such as Ebola and Influenza in the region. For instance, according to a study by Influenza Research Center, 2014, influenza is responsible for substantial morbidity and mortality, with an average of over 100,000 hospitalizations and around 20,000 deaths, annually in the U.S.Asia Pacific plant-based vaccines market is expected to show significant growth during the forecast period, owing to increasing number of collaborations and acquisitions between key players in the region. For instance, in 2013, Japan-based pharmaceutical companyMitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporationacquired Medicago Inc., a Canada-based biopharmaceutical company, focused on development of new plant-based vaccines.Plant-Based Vaccines Market Key PlayersKey players operating in the global plant-based vaccines market include Medicago Inc., Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation, iBio, Inc., Fraunhofer Center for Molecular Biotechnology (CMB), Protalix BioTherapeutics, and others.Click To Continue Reading On Plant-Based Vaccines MarketPlant-Based Vaccines Market Taxonomy:The global plant based vaccines market is segmented on the basis of vaccine type, application, and region By Vaccine Type- Bacterial Vaccines, Viral Vaccines, Parasite Vaccines, Others,. By Application- Influenza, Zika Virus, Ebola Virus, Others,. By Geography- North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa,.About Coherent Market Insights:Coherent Market Insights is a prominent market research and consulting firm offering action-ready syndicated research reports, custom market analysis, consulting services, and competitive analysis through various recommendations related to emerging market trends, technologies, and potential absolute dollar opportunity.The Board of 9mobile on Thursday announced the extension of the timeline for closure of the acquisition process of the company.

A statement by Boye Olusanya, the Chief Executive Officer of the company, said the timeline extension was considered necessary to enable parties involved in the sale process to finalise the requisite transaction documentation to facilitate a smooth closure and transition to the new investor.

The Board of 9mobile is pleased with the progress made thus far and expects the acquisition process to be completed as soon as possible, the statement said. Further updates in this regard will be provided in due course.

The processes involved in the acquisition of the troubled company by interested bidders have been marred by controversy since 2017.

Earlier in March, Teleology Holdings Limited, the preferred bidder for Nigerias fourth largest telecom firm, 9mobile, made a non-refundable deposit of $50 million to the Trustee for the Nigerian bank syndicate currently running the company.

The regulatory body, Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), had also assured that it would only approve the sale of the company to a bidder with technical competence.Irans Quds force chief, Qassem Soleimani, warned U.S. President Donald Trump against war on Thursday, saying it would destroy all that you possess, the website of Irans Arabic language Al Alam TV reported.

You know that this war will destroy all that you possess. You will start this war but we will be the ones to impose its end.

Therefore you have to be careful about insulting the Iranian people and the president of our Republic, Mr Soleimani said in a speech, as reported by Al Alam in Arabic.

You know our power in the region and our capabilities in asymmetric war. We will act and we will work, he said.

NAN reports that on Monday, Mr Trump warned Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that he will face dire consequences for threatening the United States.

Mr Trump tweeted about the dangers to Iran of making hostile threats after Rouhani said Sunday American must understand well that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace and war with Iran is the mother of all wars.

Trump responded with a tweet that warned: NEVER EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER

CONSEQUENCES THE LIKE OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE.

Trump earlier this year pulled the United States out of the international deal meant to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon and ordered increased American sanctions.

Rouhani had warned Trump Sunday to stop playing with the lions tail and threatening Iran, or else you will regret it.

(Reuters/NAN)Police said six Somali soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb explosion near Somalis southern town of Wanlaweyn on Wednesday evening.

A police officer who did not want to be named told Xinhua on Thursday that the forces were on their way to Baledogle Airport in Lower Shabelle region in Southern Somalia.

The soldiers died after their convoy was hit by landmine explosion while en route to Baledogle Airport, the officer said.

Balidogle airport is located about 110 km northwest of Mogadishu where U.S. marines offer specialized training to Somali National Army (SNA).

Residents said the landmine explosion targeted a military vehicle carrying Somali soldiers, who were escorting a convoy of food and other logistical supplies to Balidogle airport.

Muna Mohamed, a resident, told Xinhua the blast shook the nearby areas, noting they learned soldiers were targeted.

We heard a heavy explosion and the shockwaves could be felt from a distance. Government forces were targeted in the attack, Mohamed.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the terror group al-Shabab fighters have conducted similar attacks in the past.

The latest attack came a few hours after another roadside blast injured four senior military officials in Elasha Biyaha village, located on the outskirts of the capital Mogadishu.

The attacks took place despite increased joint military operations by SNA and the allied forces in the areas Mogadishu and its environs.

The allied forces are also carrying out operations in Kismayo port city which was one of the strongholds of al-Shabab that served as its main revenue source before the insurgents were forced out by Kenyan forces in 2012.

(Xinhua/NAN)Nigerias Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami, has told the police that there was no evidence that linked Senate President Bukola Saraki and Kwara State Governor Abdulfattah Ahmed to the armed robbery attack that left 31 persons dead in Offa, Kwara State, in April, PREMIUM TIMES can now confirm.

Mr Malami advised in a June 22 letter to the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, that the police would need to ramp up their investigation and also painstakingly explore all critical areas before identifying the Senate President as a suspect in the carnage, much less filing charges against him.

Yusuf Abdulwahab, Mr Ahmeds chief of staff who was amongst state officials arrested for allegedly conspiring with the prime suspects, was also cleared, with the prosecutor saying no evidence is credible enough to sustain any charge based on any offence known to law against him.

The attorney-generals office said only six prime suspects should be charged to court for armed robbery and murder which could draw capital punishment upon conviction. Olalekan Alabi, a personal assistant to Mr Ahmed, was also recommended for trial, but only on lesser charges of illegal possession of arms.

Mr Saraki hinted at the existence of the letter on Monday night as part of a fierce response to Mr Idris latest summon to him. The Senate President said the invitation, which he was asked to honour by 8:00 a.m. today, was unnecessary because the Director of Public Prosecutions had already informed the police that there were no sufficient bases to keep dragging him into the armed robbery investigation.

I am aware that following a request made by the Police on June 13, 2018 to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) of the Federation had written a legal advice dated June 22, 2018, in which he stated on page 5, paragraph (f) that For the Senate President and the Kwara State Governor, this office is unable to establish from the evidence in the interim report a nexus between the alleged office and the suspects, Mr Saraki said in the Monday night statement.

At least five banks were raided and substantial amount of cash carted away when armed robbers stormed the polytechnic town on April 5. The police initially said 17 people were killed in the attack, including nine police officers, but continued to revise the figure upwards, apparently as some of those receiving treatments for critical wounds were passing on.

photos of suspects involved in the Offa Robbery. photos of suspects involved in the Offa Robbery. photos of suspects involved in the Offa Robbery. photos of suspects involved in the Offa Robbery.

Keep Digging

PREMIUM TIMES obtained a copy of the letter on Tuesday, which was signed for Mr Malami by DPP Mohammed Umar and confirmed exactly what Mr Saraki disclosed.

Mr Umar examined the crime and the suspects the police lined up in their first information report submitted to the attorney-generals office for prosecution, and came up with legal and technical suggestions about how to properly build a case that would not be discarded at a glance when the potential criminal trial gets underway.

For the Senate President and the Kwara State Governor, this office is unable to establish from the evidence in the interim report a nexus between the alleged offence and the suspects, the prosecutor said.

Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami PHOTO: Daily Trust

At least 12 suspects were arrested at multiple locations within the first week of the attack. Six weeks later, the police said they had taken two more suspects into custody, including the alleged mastermind Michael Adikwu, after a composite CCTV picture of the suspects was circulated by the police.

The police identified a picture one of the robbery suspects took with Mr Saraki at his daughters wedding last year as a key evidence that linked the Senate President to both the suspects and the crime.The police also said one of the vehicles used by the suspects had a dummy number plate with Mr Sarakis name inscribed on it.

Also, some officials of Kwara State government were also arrested and one of the vehicles allegedly used in the robbery was found in the home of a commissioner. All the state officials denied allegations, and some were later released without charges.

Mr Saraki was initially invited for questioning in early June, but this approach was later abandoned by the police who asked him to turn in a written response to the allegations instead. The police had been largely mum about the matter, until the sudden invitation that was circulated.

In his statement Monday, Mr Saraki said he denied all allegations of involvement in the planning or execution of the robbery in his June 7 statement to the police. .

The Senate President said the police were a key actor in an elaborate, federal government-backed scheme aimed at railroading him into remaining at the ruling All Progressives Congress.

This plot aimed at compelling me and my associates to stay in a party where members are criminalised without just cause, where injustice is perpetrated at the highest level and where there is no respect for constitutionalism is an exercise in futility and it will fail, Mr Saraki said.

DPP Letter to IGP

The scenes that played out throughout Tuesday largely confirmed Mr Sarakis fears that the police were being used to executive a devious political gambit, PREMIUM TIMES found.

The Senate President had recently been freed of false and anticipatory assets declaration charges after a lengthy trial that lasted nearly three years..He insisted throughout his trial that the charges were politically-motivated and would not stand.

DPP Letter to IGP

The first indication that the robbery investigation might have been politicised emerged when the Kwara State judiciary demanded that the suspects who were arrested and taken to Abuja over the case should be returned to the state. The institution said the state chief prosecutor had already concluded preliminary findings and had notified the court of a criminal proceeding into the case before the police abruptly seized the suspects.

DPP Letter to IGP

While the suspects were being transferred to Abuja, Mr Saraki fired a preemptive short, alleging that the police wanted to use the suspects to implicate him. After spending days in police custody, the suspects allegedly confessed that Mr Saraki was their sponsor.

Mr Ahmed, whom the Senate President said tipped him off about the police ploy, also strongly denied all allegations he sponsored the suspects.

DPP Letter to IGP

Authorities in Kwara contradicted the alleged confession, saying all the suspects wrote statements following their arrest in Ilorin and none of them mentioned Mr Saraki, much less incriminating him.

For the police to avoid a similar outcome with the latest allegations, they would need to work harder, the attorney-generals office warned.

The three-pronged blanks that the police must sufficiently fill before bringing charges against Messrs Saraki and Ahmed include whether the planning and the execution of the robbery attack were carried out at their instance, knowledge or approval; whether the weapons used for the robbery attack were supplied by either of the top politicians; and any other areas that may assist in establishing that they were aiding and abetting criminal activities.

DPP Letter to IGP

The prosecutor also said the police would need to conduct deeper investigation before any charges could be brought against Mr Abdulwahab.

Police spokesperson Jimoh Moshood did not return PREMIUM TIMES requests for comments between Tuesday and Wednesday. Mr Umar declined comments about whether the police have updated their findings since receiving his letter in June.

Fine-tuning Grey Areas

The attorney-generals office used the larger parts of the letter to rubbish some of the facts submitted by the police and went on to offer tips on how to build a water-tight case against even the prime suspects.

The six suspects recommended for trial were: Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye, Adeola Ibrahim, Salawudeen Azeez, Niyi Ogundiran and Mr Adikwu. The prosecutor said they should be charged with the offences of criminal conspiracy, armed robbery and culpable homicide punishable with death.

The confession the suspects allegedly provided to the police could be used to build up evidence against them in court, the prosecutor said. He also suggested that items stolen by the robbers from the affected banks and other places would further aid in investigation, adding that ballistic tests and forensic examination should be conducted.

But in a damning rebuke of the manner with which the police handled the investigation, the prosecutor said the particulars of the crime submitted against the suspects were contradictory.

The weapons used in the attack were different from those allegedly carted away from the police armory, Mr Etsu said for instance.

In another case, Michael Adikwus voluntary statement was not attached to the file and should not be so, the prosecutor said.

Curiously, the prosecutor said the police should ensure that the suspects are available to face trial. This appears a subtle acknowledgement of the raging controversy around some of the suspects, especially Mr Adikwu who was alleged to have been killed in custody.

Mr Adikwu was reportedly dismissed as a police corporal following his arrest in 2012 on alleged criminal offences. He was charged to court in Kwara State for compromising police operations and releasing armed robbery suspects. He reportedly escaped from prisons in 2015 and joined armed robbery gangs.

It was not immediately clear whether he was found guilty and convicted by the court or whether he escaped from prison while still in remand as his trial was underway. PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately confirm whether he has a lawyer.

The police fiercely rejected claims that Mr Adikwu had been killed in custody to hush details that could expose potential anti-Saraki conspiracy within the police, but declined repeated demands to parade him once again for Nigerians to know he is still alive.Despite failing to act on PREMIUM TIMES revelation that his Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, forged her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) exemption certificate, President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday said all wrongdoers, no matter their status, must face the wrath of the law.

A PREMIUM TIMES investigation revealed that Mrs Adeosun did not only skip the year-long national youth service scheme, which is compulsory for all Nigerians who graduate from universities or equivalent institutions at less than 30 years of age, but also presented a forged exemption certificate.

In addition to being a requirement for government and private sector jobs in Nigeria, the enabling law prescribes punishment for anyone who absconds from the scheme or forges its certificates.

Eligible Nigerians who skipped the service are liable to be sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and/or N2,000 fine, according to Section 13 of the NYSC law.

Section 13 (3) of the law also prescribes three-year jail term or option of N5,000 fine for anyone who contravenes provision of the law as Mrs Adeosun has obviously done.

Shockingly, Mr Buhari, who rose to power on the promise to rid the country of corruption has failed to act on the allegation or made any public statement about it despite calls from Nigerians, civil society organisations and the media for him to remove Mrs Adeosun and make her face the law.

But on Tuesday, after an early morning security siege at the houses of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu was linked to a ploy by the presidents loyalists to remove both men as presiding officers of the Senate, Mr Buhari said attempts by security agencies to enforce the law in cases that involves Very Important Persons should not be interpreted as political victimisation.

Kemi Adeosun Fake NYSC exemption certificate

Though the police claimed it did not authorise the siege on the house of Mr Saraki, it had however, invited the Senate President on Monday night to appear for further questioning in relation to the April 5 bank robbery in Offa, Kwara State that left 31 people killed.

Mr Saraki had previously submitted a written statement to the police after the police claimed suspects in the robbery accused him of being their sponsor.

Mr Saraki has consistently denied he has anything to do with the robbers while insisting he was being framed for political reasons.

In a statement signed by his senior special assistant on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, President Buhari said the law of the country is not only made for the poor but also for VIP. Mr Buhari said it is bizarre that when people of high status are called upon to answer to the law, it is often viewed from the prism of partisanship.

Though the president did not name Mr Saraki nor Mr Ekweremadu, who was invited by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) for an alleged fraud and money laundering investigation, in the statement, it was clear he was making reference to their claims that they are being victimised for being politically opposed to the president.

Former Senate President, Bukola Saraki

He said the duties of law enforcement agencies is enshrined in the constitution and no one, including himself, is allowed to interfere with the discharge of their duties.

This country cannot achieve development in peace when important cases are viewed through a political prism and the law is considered as being applicable to some, and not applicable to others.

The workings of law enforcement agencies are set out in the constitution and the laws of the country. If they worked at the discretion of past presidents, who decided who to question and who to detain, Nigerians should get used to the fact that this President is different. President Buhari does not and will not influence or interfere with cases.

The constitution clearly directs law enforcement agencies to promptly report and investigate any actual or potential infringement of the law and also initiate proceedings against all those involved. This President is not the one who directs them on what to do.

President Buhari does not stand in the way of law enforcement either. Under our constitution, he has no powers to stop the investigation of anyone or institution. When they are set to investigate anything and anyone, the best friend of the law is the one who lets them do their work.

The Presidents constant refrain is that he will not tolerate any form of illegality including corruption and the law enforcement agencies have been given complete freedom to identify and bring all culprits to justice. His instructions to them are very clear: Anyone with a case to answer or found guilty should not be spared, the statement read.

But while Mr Buhari makes such lofty argument about the primacy of the rule of law, 19 days after his finance minister was exposed of being in possession of a fake NYSC certificate, he has allowed her to continue to work as one of the leading ministers in his cabinet instead of allowing the law take its course.PM Modi on the last leg of his Africa tour, presented the country statement of India at the BRICS leaders' closed session.

New Delhi/ Johannesburg: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reaffirmed India's commitment to multilateralism, international trade and rules-based world order as he participated in the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg.

Modi, who arrived here on Wednesday on the last leg of his Africa tour, presented the country statement of India at the BRICS leaders' closed session.

"Celebrating a decade towards peace, harmony and shared development and prosperity! PM @narendramodi joins fellow #BRICS leaders at the group photo at Sandton International Convention Centre at the formal beginning of the Summit," Raveesh Kumar, the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, tweeted.

Celebrating a decade towards peace, harmony and shared development and prosperity! PM @narendramodi joins fellow #BRICS leaders at the group photo at Sandton International Convention Centre at the formal beginning of the Summit. #IndiaatBRICS pic.twitter.com/zYv8JyHULQ  Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) July 26, 2018

The prime minister reaffirmed India's commitment to multilateralism, international trade and rules-based world order, he said.

The grouping's leaders during the 10th edition of the BRICS Summit are expected to deliberate on global hot-spot issues, international peace and security, global governance and trade issues among others.

Modi is also expected to meet BRICS leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders. BRICS is a grouping of five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as "BRIC", before the induction of South Africa in 2010.Dino Melaye has been allegedly abducted by unknown gunmen, his colleague Ben Murray-Bruce said on Thursday.

Mr Murray-Bruce, one of the key allies of Mr Melaye at the Senate, disclosed this on Twitter a few minutes ago, citing the senators brother.

I have just been informed by Moses Melaye, @dino_melayes brother, that Dino has been abducted by unknown persons in a Toyota Sienna that blocked their car and overpowered them on their way to Kogi to answer to Dinos court case. Lets be on the watch out. Will keep you updated.  Ben Murray-Bruce (@benmurraybruce) July 26, 2018

PREMIUM TIMES is yet to confirm the kidnap and is working to get independent updates on it.

Mr Melaye was among the 14 senators who defected from the All Progressives Congress on Tuesday.

The controversial senator is facing separate charges for allegedly aiding criminals and attempted suicide.

The Kogi police commissioner, Ali Janga, told PREMIUM TIMES he invited Mr Melaye to report at his office by 10:00 a.m. today.

The police chief said Mr Melaye had not arrived, but strongly denied knowledge of his whereabouts.

I did not send officers to attack him, please call Gwagwalada police to confirm if they have reports, Mr Janga said.

Mr Melayes associates told PREMIUM TIMES the senator was feared kidnapped on his way to Lokoja, but could not ascertain the specific section of the Abuja-Lokoja highway where the incident might have occurred.

Mr Jangas suggestion that Gwagwalada police should be contacted indicated that Mr Melaye might have run into the encounter while still within the Federal Capital Territory.

The FCT and Kogi State share a border after Abaji, which is about 170 kilometers south of downtown Abuja.

Mr Melaye was reportedly arraigned for attempted suicide in Lokoja yesterday. It was unclear whether he received Mr Jangas invitation to appear at 10 a.m. while he was still in Lokoja for the court appearance or after he had returned to his base in Abuja.

Dino Melayes lawyer Mike Ozhekome told a Kogi court on Thursday that his client was attacked on Wednesday; and he had not heard from him since.

Mr Ozekhome, represented by Yemi Mohammed, told the court that he had on good authority that Melaye was attacked in Gwagwalada on his way to Lokoja.

I learnt that he was attacked yesterday (Wednesday) in Gwagwalada on his way to Lokoja to attend his trial and up till now, I have not been able to reach him, I dont know where he is at the moment, he said.

Gideon Ayodele, a spokesperson for Mr Melaye, said the senators brother, Moses Melaye, reported the matter at Gwagwalada Divisional Headquarters shortly after the incident happened Thursday morning.

Mr Ayodele also said there were indications since Wednesday night that unknown persons were trailing Mr Melaye, and they were busy trying to ascertain the identity and motive of the individuals.

Mr Melayes number has been switched off since his whereabouts became a mystery earlier today.

FCT police spokesperson, Anjuguri Manzah, told PREMIUM TIMES at 4:00 p.m. he had not been briefed when told that the family of Mr Melaye said the matter was reported at Gwagwalada since morning.

I do not have any report to that effect, Mr Manzah said. The official earlier promised to make immediate findings and revert when PREMIUM TIMES first called him four hours ago about the feared kidnap of Mr Melaye.

More details laterThe Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has indicated that he would not report to the police as directed in a letter by the Inspector General, Ibrahim Idris.

Mr Saraki gave the indication in a response to the police chief dated July 24.

PREMIUM TIMES reported the summons by the police for the senator to appear on Tuesday morning at 8:00a.m.

There was, however, a siege by security operatives including police officers on Mr Sarakis convoy on Tuesday morning as well as on the home of Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu.

PREMIUM TIMES reported how the siege was to prevent both presiding officers from reaching the Senate; and allow for their replacement by senators loyal to President Muhammadu Buhari.

Mr Saraki eventually manoeuvred his way to the Senate where he presided over the defection of 14 senators from Nigerias ruling APC.

Due to the siege at his home, Mr Ekweremadu could not attend that days Senate sitting.

The Nigerian police later on Tuesday frowned at Mr Sarakis failure to appear as directed and threatened to make him face the consequence if he does not.

PREMIUM TIMES has now obtained Mr Sarakis response to the police letter of Monday. The response was clearly written after the TuesdaysSenate sitting.

In it, the Senate president said he was aware President Muhammadu Buhari had directed the police to obtain written statement from Mr Saraki or send personnel to question him if he is needed for questioning. .

You will recall that Mr. President had earlier directed as a courtesy to this office, that in the event of any request for further information from me, you should either send your personnel to my office or obtain a written response from me, he told the police chief.

I request you therefore, to please assign your personnel who need information on this matter, to meet me in my office, immediately after plenary today, or tomorrow or any other day at your convenience, he wrote in the letter.

Mr Saraki also expressed concern about his safety following Tuesdays siege by security

Read the full letter below:

RE: LETTER OF INVITATION

I wish to acknowledge your letter, ref CR: 3000/IGPSEC/ABJ/VOL.,131/707, dated 23rd of July 2018.

For the record, I should mention that received your letter at8:30pm on Monday 23rd July, inviting me for the next day at 8am. The two lawyers whose advice I needed were in Calabar and Lagos and had to travel to Abuja today.

As you are aware, the Deputy President of the Senate was unable to leave his residence this morning to preside over the senate having being prevented from doing so by security agents. If he had been able to preside over the senate, I would have honoured your invitation. The absence of both presiding officers would have voided the sitting of the senate. This would have been damaging to National interest, particularly in the light of very important legislative matters that needed to be addressed in view of the imminent recess of the National Assembly. These included consideration of the Electoral Bill, which was incidentally passed today.

You will recall that Mr. President had earlier directed as a courtesy to this office, that in the event of any request for further information from me, you should either send your personnel to my office or obtain a written response from me.

I need to place on record as well, that following the incident of being harassed and threatened at my residence by the police early this morning, I am deeply concerned over my physical security.

I request you therefore, to please assign your personnel who need information on this matter, to meet me in my office, immediately after plenary today, ortomorrow or any other day at your convenience.

Thank you.

Mr Saraki was initially invited for questioning in early June after some of the Offa robbery suspects allegedly confessed to being sponsored by him. But this approach was later abandoned by the police who asked him to turn in a written response to the allegations instead. The Senate President consequently sent a written response to the allegations. The police had been largely mum about the matter, until the Monday invitation.

In his initial response on Monday, Mr Saraki denied all allegations of involvement in the planning or execution of the Offa robbery in April which caused the death of over a score people.

He alleged that the police were involved in an elaborate, federal government-backed scheme aimed at railroading him into remaining at the ruling All Progressives Congress.

Although the police believe they have enough evidence to nail Mr Saraki for his alleged role in the crimes in Offa, the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, however disagreed. In a letter to the police, Mr Malamis office said it reviewed the evidence of the police and found there was no evidence that linked Mr Saraki with the crime suspects.

The police have not reacted publicly since Tuesday that Mr Saraki sent his latest letter.

See attached letter here:A new report on Thursday found that violence involving armed herdsmen was six times more deadly than Boko Haram in the first half of this year. The report then recommended urgent steps that the Nigerian government must take to stem further attacks.

The International Crisis Group (ICG) estimated 1,300 deaths linked to the farmer-herder violence within the first half of this year, adding that the dimensions of the attack have aggravated in recent months.

What were once spontaneous attacks have become premeditated scorched-earth campaigns in which marauders often take villages by surprise at night, the non-profit think-tank said. Now claiming about six times more civilian lives than the Boko Haram insurgency, the conflict poses a grave threat to the countrys stability and unity, and it could affect the 2019 general elections.

The report recommended that President Muhammadu Buharis approach to solving the crisis is acceptable but largely insufficient.

The governments immediate priorities should be to deploy more security units to vulnerable areas; prosecute perpetrators of violence; disarm ethnic militias and local vigilantes; and begin executing long-term plans for comprehensive livestock sector reform, it said.

The report also found that the anti-open grazing statutes recently enacted by state governments in Benue and Taraba States also contributed to the escalation in latest attacks.

The Benue State government should freeze enforcement of its law banning open grazing, review that laws provisions and encourage a phased transition to ranching, the ICG said.

Two spokespersons for Governor Samuel Ortom could not be reached for comments Thursday afternoon. But Mr Ortom has long argued that the grazing law in Benue was aimed at curbing the activities of potentially deadly herders and not to infringe on the rights of northern residents in the state.

Mr Ortom also argued that claims that the killings escalated as a result of the grazing law, which Inspector-General Ibrahim Idris and Defence Minister Mansur Dan-Ali have also made, were dishonest and dangerous.

The governor said scores of people were being killed in regular attacks since 2010, saying the law has nothing to do with the criminal intents of the attackers.

The agriculture minister, Audu Ogbeh, who is also from Benue, has also said the killing were not caused by the grazing laws.

Benue Governor, Samuel Ortom President Muhammadu Buhari

In Plateau State, where Governor Samuel Lalong has been far more lenient towards herders, frequent attacks are still being recorded. Last month, over 200 people were feared killing in a weekend-long assault on villages in the state, a development that gripped the nation.

On the runaway armed banditry that is currently ravaging Zamfara, Sokoto, Kaduna and other northern states, the ICG blamed governments failure to either punish perpetrators of previous violence or respond to distress calls, consequently emboldening the attackers.

Presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu did not return requests for comments.The newly established national carrier, Nigeria Air Limited, will be financed through a mix of government budgetary provision, private equity debt arrangement and finance syndication from a consortium of regional and international banks, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.

The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), the government agency handling the process towards the airlines establishment, disclosed in an explainer sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday that the government will not fund the project alone.

Since the unveiling of the logo of the proposed national carrier by the Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, a fortnight ago, the project has come under serious criticisms, with many Nigerians describing it as a wasteful venture.

At the unveiling exercise, Mr Sirika said the new airline, will have a national carrier status and be jointly owned with the private sector, but managed fully by the private sector and run on a purely commercial business basis.

A former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, dismissed the initiative is a wrong headed priority that must fail for Nigerias sake.

The former Vice President of the World Bank said if she were President Muhammadu Buhari and her Aviation Minister sent a Memo asking for her approval to set up a National Airline with initial capital of $300 million, she will not hesitate to sack him.

Several other Nigerians, including the former Managing Director of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Chike Obi, and Lagos lawyer and senior Advocate of Nigeri, Femi Falana, during the recent 25th anniversary celebrations of the have also criticised the project.

According to Mr Obi, it was baffling that 5 per cent of a start-up airline would cost $300million, whereas Air France/KLM paid $286 million for 31 per cent of Virgin Atlantic recently.

For Mr Falana, Nigerians must not allow government to waste public funds on a project that is bound to fail.

Rather, Mr Falana said the government should convert the public funds invested in acquiring the toxic debts of Arik and Aero airlines into equity, and consolidate both airlines under a Nigerian private management.

Although an Abuja-based Economist and CEO, Global Analytics Consulting Limited, Tope Fasua, urged caution in criticising the initiative, he said the project would however not be such a fantastic idea at this point.

But, during the recent 25th anniversary celebrations of the African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK) and the launch of the proposed Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) in Abuja, president of the bank, Benedict Oramah, said syndication of a loan to finance a Nigerian national carrier was its priority agenda in 2019.

Mr Oramah said this was he Banks attempt to promote intra-Africa trade and movement through an airline that operates from Nigeria to other parts of Africa.

Other development finance institutions that have also indicated interest in funding the initiative include the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the the Islamic Development Bank (ISDB).

Funding details

Of about $300 million funding estimate for the entire airline start-up operations in 2018, the ICRC said the federal government will provide $55 million upfront grant/viability gap funding.

Out of the amount, $8 million would take care of acquisition of offices for the official take-off of operations, cash flow requirements, payment of commitment fees for aircraft to be leased for initial operations and deposit for new aircraft.

The airlines financial model shows about $100 million would be required for 2019 operations and $145 million for 2020, with the remaining financing to be determined by equity contributions expected from the strategic equity partners.

To be modeled after the Nigeria LNG joint venture structure, the ICRC said at start-up government would own majority equity in Nigeria Air Limited, with management to be concessioned to the strategic equity investor.

After one year of operations, government would be expected to divest her equity by issuing an initial public offer (IPO) approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission for Nigerians acquire shares in the airline.

Government will retain only 5% equity (after the IPO), while the rest of 95% equity will be owned by the strategic equity investor and the general public, the commission said.

To enable the airline benefit from the bilateral air services agreements (BASA) and other such agreements requiring local beneficial ownership as a condition, the law expects Nigerians to own majority stake in the company.

To become fully operational as a public-private partnership (PPP), the company is expected to develop through three stages, namely development, procurement and implementation.

The development stage was recently concluded with the approval of the outline business case and the issuance of a certificate of compliance by the ICRC.

During the procurement stage, requests for qualification (RFQ) and proposal (RFP) would be issued to pre-qualify and select PPP partner, after which information memorandum and RFP bidding process would be published.

It is only after the PPP procurement process that the strategic equity investor will be known. At that point, Nigeria Air Ltd will become a public company subject to SEC, NSE and relevant CAMA rules for public companies, the Commission said.

To ensure its viability, the ICRC said the Federal Ministry of Transportation would facilitate a Bill to be sponsored in the National Assembly for an Act making it mandatory for public officials to use the airline for their official trips.

The Act will demand that any official travelling on a ticket bought with public funds must travel on a Nigerian carrier, unless the route is not served by a Nigerian carrier, the commission said.A former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has promised to support any presidential candidate he believes would transform Nigeria for good.

Mr Obasanjo made this known on Thursday while playing host to a presidential aspirant, Kabiru Turaki, at the his residence located inside the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

The former president said lack of qualitative leadership was one of the major challenges confronting Nigeria. He, therefore, called for concerted efforts from the political class towards providing the country with a better leadership.

Let me say that what is happening here today or what youre making to happen with your delegation particularly gladdens my heart, he said of Mr Turaki who came to seek his support.

You are firming up and stabilising our democracy. Democracy is not a destination but a journey and there is no nation that can claim to have reached the final destination.

We have said a lot of things that we have identified about what we need to put right as a country. What do we lack? Why are we not where we should be?

We are so divided today the way we have not been before. People are deprived socially and economically. But you know I have never lost hope. The reasons are many but one of them is what we are having here today.

Mr Obasanjo, who has pledged to work against the re-election of incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari, said Nigeria has been blessed by God with men and women of calibre, who can stand their onions anywhere in the world.

Why are we underperforming? Simple, leadership. What you are saying in simple language is that we are not short of leadership that can perform and that leadership should be given an opportunity.

A nation can be destroyed not necessarily by people who are doing bad things but people who keep quiet when bad things are being done. They are worse enemy of the nation as much as those who are doing bad things.

For me, Ill continue not to rest until we get this country to where God wants this country to be. There is no permanent arrangement for the indivisibility of Nigeria. I share your concern but I believe that no one can do it alone. And for me, anybody who will lead Nigeria to the Promised Land, will have my support.

We are in a position to do better than we are doing but in a situation of the world today, where whatever is happening can be seen instantly, we have to create a good image to the world. But some of the things we do advertently or inadvertently are not creating that good image.

Mr Turaki, a former minister of special duties and intergovernmental affairs, while speaking with journalists after the meeting, said he came, alongside his team, to pay respect to Mr Obasanjo and intimate him of his presidential ambition in 2019.

Kabiru Turaki,

He said the indivisibility of the country remains non-negotiable and accused the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) of incompetence to resolve some of Nigerias many challenges.

The meeting has been a very fruitful one. We have discussed openly, honestly and frankly about the current situation in this country and like always, Baba was of tremendous guidance to us. Baba has spoken in his vintage way of speaking passionately about the situation in Nigeria.

We believe that our indivisibility as a one and united nation is given and it is non-negotiable. We feel that our unity is also non-negotiable. But within the parameters of living together and staying together as the plural and multiethnic complex country that God has brought together, we must learnt to understand and respect each others feelings.

We must work towards ensuring that the government does perform the minimum obligation that citizens of every country expect, which is the protection of the lives and properties of Nigerians.

And that is why we feel that not being able to do so; the APC-led federal government has now placed Nigerians in a very sorry situation. There is insecurity everywhere; there is lack of unity; there is despondency; there is hunger, there is poverty and we feel that we will of assistance.

Mr Turaki, who is seeking the ticket of the PDP, Nigerias largest opposition party, said he and his team will rise up to the situation and seek the support and mandate of our party to effect positive change that will affect the lives of Nigerians positively.

And we have consulted with President Obasanjo and he has given us words of advice as always and we feel now that with this discussion we had with him, our knowledge of the intricacies involved has been so deepened and widened.

We have been placed in a better situation now to address fully these problems that are bedeviling the Nigerian state.

And when we get the ticket of our party and win the election in February 16 next year, we would be able to bring back Nigeria on the path of prosperity again. It can be done, it has been done and we will do it again by the special grace of God.The police on Thursday said they are investigating the purported kidnap of a senator, Dino Melaye.

The police also contradicted a claim which Mr Melayes spokesperson made to PREMIUM TIMES, saying they did not receive any complaint that the senator was abducted.

Police spokesperson Jimoh Moshood said in a Thursday night statement that the Force Headquarters only read of the news of Mr Melaye in the media, but has no unique details about the development.

The Nigeria Police Force have not received any complaint or report in any of its Police Stations or Divisions throughout the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) or any other State of the Federation of the kidnap of Senator Dino Melaye from any of his family member, friend, associate or staff to indicate that the Senator has been kidnapped.

The attention of the police was drawn to the report of the purported kidnap of Senator Dino Melaye in some sections of the media, Mr Moshood, an acting deputy police commissioner, said.

The spokesperson, however, said investigation would be conducted into the matter, urging anyone with actionable information to pass such to authorities.

The police have commenced investigation into the purported kidnap of Senator Dino Melaye, and wish (sic) to implore any of his family members, relatives or friends who witnessed the kidnap or have information about the purported kidnap of the senator to report the incident at the nearest police station to assist the police in the investigation, Mr Moshood said.

The statement contradicted what Gideon Ayodele, a spokesperson for Mr Melaye, told PREMIUM TIMES earlier today. The aide said the police in Gwagwalada, a suburb of Abuja, were informed about the alleged kidnap on Thursday morning.

Mr Ayodele did not immediately return PREMIUM TIMES requests for comments about the polices claims.

Mr Melaye was reportedly kidnapped while on his way to Lokoja to appear before a court in his ongoing criminal trial. Kogi police commissioner, Ali Janga, also confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES that he invited Mr Melaye for questioning at 10:00 a.m. Thursday, but added that he had not seen the lawmaker hours after the scheduled time.

The appointment might have a lot to do with the recent violent encounter between Mr Melayes convoy and police officers at a checkpoint. Some of the senators security guards were said to have shot a police officer after a brawl at a checkpoint outside Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, last week.

The police said Mr Melaye, who was on a constituency-wide tour to commission projects at the time of the incident, must turn himself in to prevent being arrested for the offences of his aides. It was unclear whether he had met the police since the incident.

News that Mr Melaye was kidnapped has received mixed reactions from Nigerians, with some finding it difficult to believe and insinuating that he was only trying to prevent going to Lokoja. The senators associates, however, said he has no reason to be complicit in his own abduction.

While it is true that Mr Melaye tried to avoid being forcibly taken to Lokoja some months ago, fearing threats to his life, that chapter has since closed after he was eventually arraigned in court and granted bail, an aide to the senator said, pleading anonymity as he was not cleared for media relations.

We do not think that someone who already has his bail intact and has been appearing in court would suddenly not want to appear again, the aide aide. It is completely illogical.

However, a parliamentary source close to Mr Melaye told PREMIUM TIMES the senator had been freed by his abductors. The source,like the first, asked not to be named; thus raising more questions about the alleged abduction.

On Wednesday, Mr Melaye was in court where he had been answering charges of attempted suicide in Apo, Abuja.

He was, however, absent in court in Lokoja on Thursday where he is being tried for alleged possession of arms.

His lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, told the Kogi court on Thursday that his client was attacked on Wednesday; and he had not heard from him since.

Mr Ozekhome, represented by Yemi Mohammed, told the court that he had on good authority that Melaye was attacked in Gwagwalada on his way to Lokoja.

I learnt that he was attacked yesterday (Wednesday) in Gwagwalada on his way to Lokoja to attend his trial and up till now, I have not been able to reach him, I dont know where he is at the moment, he said.Gunmen believed to be members of the extremist Boko Haram sect on Thursday night attacked Jakana, a town located about 50km from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

The attack was still on at about 9:20 p.m. Thursday.

Jakana, an agrarian community, is situated along the Maiduguri-Kano highway. It has never fallen to Boko Haram despite repeated attacks by the terror group.

The Maiduguri-Kano highway is considered one of the safest routes in Borno in the past four years.

A police source in Jakana informed PREMIUM TIMES that the attackers were armed with heavy arms and ammunition and have sustained their shooting for over an hour.

As I am talking to you now we have to retreat to Kolori village ahead of Jakana because the gunmen came in from the direction of Benishek, said the source who asked not to be named as he was not authorised to speak to journalists.

He added that the gunmen first attacked the military camp on the western flank of the town before advancing towards the town.

We cant say the level of damage or casualty for now because even as I talk to you now the shooting is still on, he said.

A top security personnel in Maiduguri informed PREMIUM TIMES that although the police and the State Security Service may not have detailed information on the ongoing attack, it was not surprising.

I can say that we expect this kind of attack to happen, following the recent attacks on military and carting away of arms cache and heavy equipment, he said.

Details later.The national chairman of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Olu Falae, has urged Nigerians to embrace attitudinal change as a step towards restructuring and putting Nigeria on the path to greatness.

Mr Falae spoke at an event, which he chaired at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife on Wednesday.

For any restructuring to take place, we need mental restructuring and attitudinal restructuring, he said.

Speaking further, he made a case for the decentralisation of powers from the federal government in favour of the sub-national units. He theorised that the concentration of powers at the centre is a cause of corruption in Nigeria.

Physical restructuring will not solve all our problems but can reduce it, he said. Over concentration of all resources in the federal level has been one of the problems.

There is a need for devolution and decentralisation of powers; breaking the power into smaller units will help us (as a nation) in achieving restructuring.

He also canvassed a change from presidentialism to a parliamentary system, practised in the country between 1960-1966. He expressed preference for a single legislative house as opposed to the current bicameral legislature.

What we need is parliamentary system of government and unicameralism should be embraced. The parliamentary system of government is collegiate, cheaper to run and better, he said

Also speaking at the event, Rotimi Fasakin, an OAU alumnus, shared his views on the restructuring debate, stating that it does mean a call for secession.

Restructuring doesnt mean secession as some people think it isRestructuring has to do with reorganising of somethings which are not going well, Mr Fasakin, a former spokesperson for President Muhammadu Buharis campaign before he emerged president, stated.

He further said, in achieving restructuring in Nigeria, we the people need to be patient because that has been our problem  we always want things to be done overnight and quickly.

In an address at the beginning of the year, President Muhammadu Buhari countered pro-restructuring campaigners.

When all the aggregates of nationwide opinions are considered, my firm view is that our problems are more to do with process than structure, said Mr Buhari..The House of Representatives has asked the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to reinstate the suspended board of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC).

This was stated on Wednesday by the Chairman, House Committee on Power, Dan Asuquo, who said he was issuing a 48-hour ultimatum, during the investigative public hearing on the Need to save Ibadan DISCO Plc.

Mr Asuquo urged the regulatory agency to desist from any act that could send wrong signal to investors.

He called on all parties involved to put public interest above their individual interest, cautioning against the utilisation of public fund to prosecute cases.

The Ibadan DISCO Board was suspended by NERC for the delay in the payment of $185.6 million facility given to Integrated Energy Distribution & Marketing Company (IEDC), obtained from consortium of six banks that financed the acquisition of Ibadan DISCO facility and Yola DISCO respectively.

According to the document made available to the House, the facility was given to IEDC, parent company and holder of 60 per cent equity of Ibadan DISCO between May 2015 and May 2016.

The lawmakers said they observed that the IEDMs request for the N6 billion inter-company loan was on the expectation of receiving the Yola refund within five days of approval since the claim had already been approved by President Muhammadu and same had been communicated to IEDM via a letter dated May 21, 2015 from the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

The BPE, holder of 40 per cent of IBEDC equity on behalf of federal government, had written a letter to NERC requesting the commission to give the bureau two weeks to resolve the matter amicably.

The commission had on the June, 19 issued an order No. NERC/181/2018 suspending the executive and non-executive members of IBEDC.

Mr Asuquo called on the electricity agency to maintain status quo as directed by an Abuja Federal High Court in a suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/665/18.

He added that the House is exercising its statutory power to initiate investigation into activities of any institution established by the Act of Parliament.

Responding to the lawmakers, James Momoh, NERC chairman and Olufunke Dinneh, General Manager (Legal) argued that the commission is constrained by the ruling of the Federal High Court to maintain status quo, adding that presentation by the commission before the Committee will be prejudicial.

He added that the parties were also told to desist from any action that would meddle with the litigation.

The lawmakers reiterated the commitment of the House towards playing the role of troubleshooter in the electricity supply industry and continually work to put out fires that could threaten the growth of the industry.

One thing that is very clear to industry stakeholders is that Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) is now at the point where successor companies (or DISCOs) are anxiously looking to raise further capital to rehabilitate their acquired assets and to invest for the future.

Also to be noted is that the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) are looking to consolidate their positions in the new post-reform market.

The committee chairman added that there can be no doubt that a complicated market such as the NESI calls for all-inclusive stakeholder engagement.

He said this will include a robust regulatory engagement that will not only be inviting to investors but will discourage disinvestment of any kind.Choksi had taken citizenship of Antigua in November 2017, and oath of allegiance on January 15, according to local newspaper Antigua Observer.

New Delhi: The CBI has approached authorities in Antigua for details on the whereabouts of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, allegedly involved in the USD 2 billion scam in Punjab National Bank (PNB) and who has taken citizenship of the Caribbean country.

The CBI in its communication sent to the Antiguan authorities last evening cited diffusion notice issued by the Interpol against the fugitive businessman, who is Nirav Modis uncle and his alleged partner in crime, and sought details of his movement, landing and his present location, sources said.

If the CBI gets confirmation from Antigua about the presence of Choksi there, it can request the government of that country to extradite him without waiting for the issuance of Red Corner Notice by the Interpol, sources said. The agency had come to know from the External Affairs Ministry which had sent a communication from the Indian mission in the US suggesting that Choksi had travelled out of the US on an Antiguan passport, sources said.

Choksi had taken citizenship of Antigua in November 2017, and oath of allegiance on January 15, according to local newspaper Antigua Observer. Holders of the Antigua and Barbuda passport enjoy visa free travel to approximately 132 countries, including the UK and the countries of the Schengen area, the website of Citizenship by Investment unit of Antigua and Barbuda says.A senator has called for the resignation of Senate President Bukola Saraki and House Speaker Yakubu Dogara from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Abu Ibrahim (APC, Katsina South), chairman of the Senate Committee on Police Affairs, on Wednesday asked the duo to resign from the party following the mass defection of some APC lawmakers to other parties.

Two days ago, 14 senators dumped the APC with majority joining the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Thirty-six members of the House of Representatives decamped from the APC as well.

Mr Ibrahim, thereafter, threatened to meet with the APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole and other stakeholders to immediately have them (Messrs Saraki and Dogara) sacked should they refuse to resign.

He also accused the presiding officers of planning to commence the impeachment process of President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, saying Messrs Saraki and Dogara could no longer be trusted in the fold of APC members.

I know that those who take Saraki like god will go. This is because wherever Saraki goes they will go. But the mistake they have made is to realise that politics is local.

Nobody will say Isa Misau and Suleiman Nazif (two Bauchi State senators) were voted because of Saraki. They were voted because of Buhari. They will lose their seats. Saraki will not save them. They cant even go to their constituencies.

Saraki and Dogara should resign today or the APC should send them away. They are no longer APC members. The only reason why Saraki and Dogara have not left the APC is that they know that if they leave they will lose their seats.

But we will force them to leave. Left to me, I will recommend to APC to expel them. They are no longer needed in the party. We will be cured of cancer if they leave. Me as Abu Ibrahim, I am asking Saraki and Dogara to leave APC today, he said.

When contacted, a spokesperson to Mr Saraki, Yusuf Olaniyonu, told PREMIUM TIMES that by his professional ethics and the office he occupies, he does not respond to senators out of respect for them because they are colleagues to his boss.

He, however, referred this reporter to a statement by Rafiu Ibrahim (PDP, Kwara North) in response to Mr Abu Ibrahims claims.

A senator has already responded. Rafiu Ibrahim. I have his authority to relay the message to others. He said Abu Ibrahim saw that the coup they plotted against democracy on Monday night to Tuesday morning did not succeed, so they thought they could wish it.

He said if they plotted to remove the Senate president and it did not happen, they thought by saying or wishing it, it will happen.

Rafiu Ibrahim, who confirmed Mr Olaniyonus statement via telephone, told PREMIUM TIMES that they (the APC caucus of the senate) had planned to impeach Mr Saraki on Tuesday.

You can see that what they planned on Tuesday was stopped by the benevolence of Almighty Allah. They were the ones planning to impeach the Senate President, thats why the police laid siege on both residences of the senate president and the deputy senate president on the same day. And then in the Senate, we had an unusual early appearances of people that call themselves pro-Buhari including Abu Ibrahim, Abdullahi Adamu, Omo-Agege and others.

But they cant call them (Saraki and Dogara) to resign, they can only try. They said they have majority, they can use all what they have to get the number to get them impeached then lets see how it goes, he said.

He further expressed disappointment at the governments failure to fulfill the promises it made.

All the promises we made together, we noticed were not being actualised. In fact not being pursued. Whenever you try to advice or try to correct what is not being done right, they tag you as anti-Buhari.

Now that they have failed, they can continue to talk about impeaching the president. We are not interested in that. We are not going to attempt that, I can assure you. We are going to be at the other side in the upcoming election.

Mr Ibrahim added that Mr Saraki has been an exemplary leader who has had many achievements.

Hes my mentor and leader and Im proud to be associated with him and we will not lose our seats. We will always win elections. People voted us for us and not for Buhari, he said.

A spokesperson for Mr Dogara asked to be given time to respond to Mr Abu Ibrahims remarks. He did not get back or return calls made to his phone about two hours later.The House of Representatives has launched an investigation into the debts allegedly owed indigenous firms by International Oil Companies (IOCs).

The lawmakers are also probing alleged non-remittance of some statutory funds by the IOCs to the Nigerian government.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, and chief executive officers of all oil companies operating in the country are expected to appear before the ad-hoc committee.

Daniel Reyenieju (PDP, Delta), chairman of the committee, gave an update on its workings at the National Assembly on Thursday.

He expressed concerns over the failure of relevant regulatory agencies to take necessary actions toward recovering the debts from the IOCs.

The ad-hoc committee is to investigate the operations of the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contractors Act (PSC) as it concerns the NNPC and IOCs, towards determining the reasons for the alleged loss of $21 billion; enquire why appropriate steps were not taken, promptly and over an inordinately long period, to remedy the situation which led to the loss and possibly recover the revenue lost.

Accordingly, the House requires the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources to provide it with details of financial transactions between the NPC and IOCs during the period.

Review the PSC, the Joint Operating Agreement and other relevant agreements, with a view to regularising all the anomalies that might have led to the loss of revenue. Investigate the huge debts being owed local companies and indigenous contractors by international oil and gas companies with a view to ensuring that such debts are recovered and paid promptly.



The House of Representatives had on July 19 mandated the ad-hoc committee to investigate the processes of marginal oil fields acquisition; the financial proceeds from successful bids, remittance and non-remittance of revenues by the licensed operators into the Federation Account.

The committee is also saddled with the responsibility of investigating the operations of licensed marginal fields operators; and the strategic alliance agreements between IOCs, investors and Nigerian Petroleum Development Company in the operations of divested oil and gas interest and marginal fields.

The committee beckoned on all IOCs, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to furnish the House with records and all related documents in respect of the processes that transpired in the acquisition of marginal oil fields and the financial proceeds from the bids; details of operations of licensed marginal fields operators, the status of the strategic alliance with investors and local companies being owed, to furnish the committee with details of their respective transactions or contracts.

While speaking on regulatory agencies who failed to respond to previous invitations, Mr. Reyenieju threatened that the committee will be left with no option than to uphold the petitions before it if they fail to submit relevant documents on or before August 17.

According to him, the ad-hoc committees move was aimed at reaching their consciousness and to let them know that the National Assembly as an arm of government, carries out checks and balances on government agencies and governmental affairs.Google on Thursday announced it would launch a network of free Wi-Fi hotspots in 200 locations and five cities across Nigeria by the end of 2019.

The development comes as part of efforts to increase its presence in Africas most populous nation in places like markets, transport hubs, shopping malls, universities and more.

According to the Country Director, Google Nigeria, Juliet Chiazor, in a post on the companys website, she described the development as a means to help more people in Nigeria and across Africa.

Today, at our second Google for Nigeria event, we announced more products and programs to help more people in Nigeria and across Africa benefit from the opportunities the web has to offer, she said.

Google Station will be rolling out in 200 locations in five cities across Nigeria by the end of 2019, bringing Wi-Fi to millions of people. Sites will include markets, transport hubs, shopping malls, universities and more.

Most Nigerians who access the internet do so through their mobile phones or using mobile phone networks.

In Q4 2017, active GSM internet subscriptions In Nigeria stood at 98,391,456, representing a 5.82 per cent growth from the previous quarters 92,975,682 active subscribers, according to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Internet subscriptions were on an increasing trend throughout the year 2017, recording a 7.1 per cent growth in subscriptions between December 2016 and December 2017.

Lagos State recorded the highest active GSM internet subscriptions within the country, with 13,631,562 representing 13.81 per cent of all active internet subscriptions.A Senior Magistrate Court in Kogi has adjourned the trial of a senator, Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West Senatorial District, and two others in the case illegal possession of firearms and arms dealing, until August 9.

Senior Magistrate Sulyman Abdullah adjourned the case at Thursdays adjourned sitting for commencement of trial as the prosecution could not open its case due to absence of its lead counsel, Alex Izinyon.

Theophilus Oteme, the Officer in Charge of legal department of Kogi command of the Nigeria Police, told the court that the lead prosecuting counsel, Mr Izinyon had an emergency call on Wednesday that made it impossible for him to appear in court on Thursday.

Mr Oteme therefore applied for an adjournment until September 23 for the commencement of trial in view of the absence of the lead prosecutor more so that one of the defendants (Melaye) was not in court.

However, the lead counsel to Mr Melaye, Mike Ozekhome, represented by Yemi Mohammed, told the court that he had on good authority that Melaye was attacked in Gwagwalada on his way to Lokoja.

I learnt that he was attacked yesterday (Wednesday) in Gwagwalada on his way to Lokoja to attend his trial and up till now, I have not been able to reach him, I dont know where he is at the moment, he said.

In his ruling, Mr Abdullah turned down the application by the prosecution for a long adjournment to September 23.

He said that the Kogi State Administration of Criminal Justice Law did not allow for an adjournment beyond two weeks in a criminal case.

The Senior Magistrate, therefore, adjourned the case until August 9 and ordered that the bail earlier granted to Melaye continued.

Mr Abdullah, however, ruled that the other two accused persons, Nuhu Salihu, known as small and Kabiru Seidu also known as Osama, standing trial on a seven-count charge bordering on illegal possession of firearms and arms dealing, should continue with their remand in police custody.

(NAN)The Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang, has said lawmakers who defected from the All Progressives Party (APC) on Tuesday were angry at some governors and party leaders and not Mr Buhari.

He said the lawmakers said their grievances and consequent actions are not directed against President Buhari nor his re-election bid, but domestic actors in their constituency political fields such as the Governors, State party leaders or frustration over zoning or indeed calculations for a return ticket or platform for 2019 elections.

Fiveteen senators left the APC in a mass defection, while thirty-six members of the House of Representatives also dumped the party on the same day. Majority of them joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Shortly after plenary on Tuesday, the Senate Leader, Ahmad Lawan, had boasted that the APC still had majority in both chambers of the National Assembly.

The APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomole, also said he was not bothered by the mass defection but in a volte face urged the defectors to return to the party for their good and the good of the party.

Barely 24 hours after the mass defection, about 39 APC lawmkers met with President Buhari to assure him of their loyalty and also informed him that the APC still has clear majority in both chambers of the National Assembly, Mr Lawan told journalists after the meeting.

Mr Lawan had said the remaining senators were working with the leadership of APC to ensure that those who defected return.

Addressing journalists at the National Assembly, Mr Enang said other aggrieved members of the APC have not defected.

He said in all the grievances expressed to him, none was attributed or directed at President Buhari.

In fact, in my interaction pre and post expression of intent to defect, all the dramatis personae the distinguished Senators and hon members expressed their solidarity and support for Mr President and expressed categorically that their grievances and consequent actions are not directed against President Buhari nor his re-election bid, but domestic actors in their constituency political fields such as the Governors, State party leaders or frustration over zoning or indeed calculations for a return ticket or platform for 2019 elections.

Indeed, a great number of them have indicated that even if they pursue their bid on a different political platform, they will still campaign for President Buhari for 2019 on the APC platform, he said.

While stating that the APC is today one united strong party, he explained that the detection by lawmakers are group notice to switch camps. He assured the remaining members of the party of utmost respect from the executive.

It is inchoate and leaves windows, doors and rooms for further consultation for resolution because our party minds and cares for all members in or out of office. And like the Holy Bible enjoins, if you lose one sheep out of 100, preserve 99 and go and search for the one lost.

The Executive will keep treating the legislators with respect due their person and offices and keep working with them as legislators for the Federal Republic of Nigeria who make laws for the Executive to execute irrespective of their individual political decisions, while leaving all options open for conciliation, he added.

He wished lawmakers a restful vacation. He however announced that the Executive will be consulting with the Legislature over matters pending such as 2018 virement proposals, approval of borrowings to fund the 2018 Appropriation, approval of the pending 2018 budget of 64 Government owned Corporations laid by Mr Buhari along with the 2018 budget, including request for approval of appointments which pendency has affected the fulfillment of the purposes meant.The parish priest of St. Michael Catholic Church, Obajana, Kogi State, Leo Michael, a reverend father, has been kidnapped by unknown gunmen.

The Diocesan Chancellor, Lokoja Catholic Diocese, Peter Adinoyi, a reverend father, confirmed the kidnap to newsmen in Lokoja, the state capital on Thursday.

He said the priest was returning to Obajana from Okene when he was kidnapped on a spot at Irepeni village, Okene -Lokoja road.

According to him, the matter has been promptly reported at the Irepeni Police State.

He added that the army and the Directorate of the State Security (DSS), were also aware of the development.

However, Mr Adinoyi said the kidnappers on July 25 called some members of the church to demand a N50 million ransom for the release of their priest.

He said the kidnappers later reduced the ransom to N20 million and further reduced it to eight million.

Mr Adinoyi said the kidnappers gave the church up till 1:p.m. of July 26 to pay the ransom and threatened to relocate the priest should the church fail to meet the deadline.

He said the church was unable to meet the deadline for the payment of the ransom demanded, calling on the security agents to assist in rescuing the cleric from his abductors.

Mr Adinoyi also decried the incessant kidnapping of the less privileged in the state, describing the situation as unfortunate.

The spokesperson of the state police command, William Aya, a deputy superintendent of police, said he was not aware of the incident and promised to find out and call back.

However, he failed to call back as at the time of this report.

(NAN)A faction of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State has condemned the rejection of Muiz Banire as the head of the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) by senators representing the state.

A statement signed by Fouad Oki, the partys factional chairman in the state, Wednesday said Mr Banires appointment ought to have elicited excitement and a sense of pride but, instead, was met by a scurrilous objection by the senators.

Mr Banire, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, had been nominated by President Muhammadu Buhari, last week, as chairman of the Governing Board of AMCON.

But the nomination was rejected by the three APC senators from Lagos State  Olamilekan Solomon (Lagos West), Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central), and Gbenga Ashafa (Lagos East).

According to the lawmakers, their constituents had written a petition rejecting Mr Banires nomination.

On Wednesday, Mr Banire, a former national legal adviser of the party, said he would not join issues with the senators out of respect for the office they occupy, adding that his nomination was not a quota appointment.

According to the statement by the factional APC chairman, the rejection of Mr Banires nomination was the handiwork of Bola Tinubu, a national leader of the party.

Mr Tinubus continued meddlesomeness in the affairs of the party is very worrisome and should be checked by all men of good conscience, Mr Oki said.

We can unequivocally say that only one thing will come out of his shenanigans this time, it is failure.

We have it on authority that all the efforts to thwart the confirmation (of Mr Banire) was orchestrated by Mr Bola Tinubu including directives on late Monday, 23rd July 2018, which was conveyed by Senator Solomon Olamilekan (aka Yayi) to his colleagues in a desperate attempt to sway the Senate President and other senators into his unholy attempts.

Mr Tinubus actions was clearly a manifestation of an act of self-interest and personal pursuit of power, wealth and influence at the expense of the Lagos people, to the detriment of indigenes in particular.

And this indeed, is injurious to the party; we can only hope that APC will not pay dearly for this at the polls in the coming elections.

Mr Banire, a two-time commissioner in Lagos State, had been a champion of internal democracy in the state chapter of the APC, putting him at loggerheads with Mr Tinubu.

Last year, scores of protesting members of the APC marched to Governor Akinwunmi Ambodes office demanding Mr Banires expulsion from the party.

The state chapter of the party also suspended Mr Banire, then national legal adviser of the party, a decision that was promptly overruled by the partys national body.

Mr Oki said Mr Tinubus alledged determination to play god on matters of federal nominations and appointments into key positions had gone too far.

He called on President Buhari and other well-meaning members of the party to wade into the matter before it gets too late.

You will recall his similar battle to scuttle the federal appointments of Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, (SAN), and several other individuals from Lagos State. Must he be the sole determiner of the aspiration and destiny of every party member?

When contacted, Mr Tinubus spokesperson, Tunde Rahman, declined to comment on Mr Okis accusations against his principal.

Why dont you call the senators to find out if they were influenced, Mr Rahman told PREMIUM TIMES Wednesday night.

Phone calls to Tunde Balogun, the chairman of the Lagos State APC, did not go through.

But the immediate past state chairman, Henry Ajomale, told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr Oki had no right to take a position on behalf of the party because hes neither the party or an officer of the party.

He has been removed as the vice chairman of the party, hes just an ordinary member now, he added.

When reminded that Mr Okis statement was written on a Lagos State APC official letterhead, Mr Ajomale said: Thats exactly the impunity we are talking about. Ive not seen his statement, when we have a reasonable evidence, we can discipline him because he cannot continue to parade himself as an officer of the party.Civic organisations have asked the National Assembly to conclude legislative activities on the new federal audit service commission bill and send it to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent.

The groups, Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative (PLSI), BudgIT Foundation and Connected Development (CODE) said this during a press conference on Tuesday in Abuja.

The groups said they were opposed to the existing audit law, known as The Audit Ordinance Act of 1956, as well as The Public Account Committee Act, CAP P35, LFN 2004, both of which have rendered the office of the Auditor-General for the Federation ineffective and less efficient.

According to the statement by the groups, the Nigerian Senate on March 1, passed for concurrence the Federal Audit Service Commission Bill 2018. They noted that the House of Representatives had earlier passed this bill on April 19.

The Executive Director of PLSI, Olusegun Elemo, said there is no update on the bill though it is currently with the lawmakers.

It is important to note that it took the Senate more than 600 days to concur with the bill and even with concurrence, it took more than another 100 days to harmonise this bill.

Similarly, Hamzat Lawal, the executive director of Connected Development (CODE), said the nation is lagging behind because it still uses the same framework that guides its auditing as far back as 1956.

As a country and as a people we cannot continue spending without auditing our spending and moving forward; it is important for the leadership of the National Assembly knowing that elections and campaigns seasons will start any moment from now.

He said if the audit bill is not passed in 2018, this will be the 9th National Assembly that had not processed this bill.

Mr Lawal said Nigerias democracy will be under attack if the bill is not passed by the National Assembly.

I believe that if this bill is passed into law, we would have effective auditing administration in Nigeria but most importantly the general public would have access to this auditing information and then we can use it to hold our government accountable as tax payers, Mr Lawal said.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported how the bill will empower the Auditor-General to carry out audits of all revenues accruing to the federation, expenditures of the federation from all sources, donations, grants and loans accruable to ministries, departments and agencies or other public entities.

The bill, after harmonisation by the two legislative arms and assent by the President will establish the Federal Audit Services Commission and the office of Auditor-General of the Federation with provision for additional powers and functions.

The bill, for many, is very essential for preventing the misuse of public funds and also to help the fight against corruption.The U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Nigeria, David Young, has urged the Nigerian government not to allow perpetrators of deadly violence in many states get away with their crimes.

He called for a crackdown on deadly attacks that have led to over a thousand deaths in various northern states.

Most of the attacks are linked to herdsmen  farmers clashes.

Mr Young suggested ways the Nigerian government could end the ongoing killings in Zamara, Kaduna and Plateau states.

My Young, while addressing journalists in Kaduna on Wednesday, described the killings as tragic and very complex to deal with.

He explained that part of the solution to the problem would be for the government to arrest those behind the killings.

Mr Young, who said he visited the three states affected by the herders-farmers crisis, also said it was very important for justice to take place to stem the tide.

As Nigeria deals with its issues of insecurity and violence, I know it is a major concern, that I heard about from people here in Kaduna as well as Zamfara and Plateau, about the issue of loss of lives and how tragic that is. Its important to emphasise that for us (U.S.) and our people, all lives are sacred and we mourn the passing and tragedy that happened.

I learnt that in Kaduna and Zamfara during my trip that all communities are touched by this violence between farmers and herders. All are touched by this violence and again its a tragic loss that we mourn and we stand in solidarity with people who lost loved ones, he said.

I learnt that there are very complex causes for the criminality that we see across different states. I met with many people in Abuja as well and around the country and our team at the Embassy looked at these issues, talked to folks all across Nigeria.

With great concern, I realised that it is very complex and there is no particular simple solution that is easily available, he added.

He said those indicted as being responsible for the violence should be arrested.

Obviously the critical importance is cracking down on the criminality and having effective and efficient law enforcement agencies that really focus on issues of impunity. It is very important that criminals and others are not able to get away with this kind of impunity and violence, he said.

He also said the government should create opportunities for the youth so as to divert their attenttion from criminality.

We are partnering with Nigerian leaders in some of these areas and in terms of improving education and health, economic opportunities, agriculture and other sectors. Its critically important that people have opportunities and hope to envisage a better future so that young people do not go into criminality.

Another important message is that its important to have individuals acting as peace makers and working to promote dialogue across communities, ethnic groups and religions.

I heard lot of inspirational stories during my visit to here (Kaduna), Zamfara and Plateau about people who are working individually and leading other communities to work as peace makers to prevent the cycles of violence and reprisals and counter reprisals that lead to such bloody deaths and destruction. United States contributes over $1 billion each year to work with our Nigerians partners to create a better future for Nigerians.It is suspected Cambridge Analytica may have been involved in illegally obtaining data of Indians which could be misused: Law minister.

The social network has promised to introduce reforms to its policies. Facebook was not immediately available for comment. (Photo: File/AP)

New Delhi: The government has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe political consultancy Cambridge Analytica's misuse of Facebook user data, law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told parliament on Thursday.

"It is suspected that Cambridge Analytica may have been involved in illegally obtaining data of Indians which could be misused," Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

Facebook has faced increased scrutiny in the United States and the European Union over how Cambridge Analytica obtained the personal data of 87 million Facebook users. The consultancy allegedly used the data to support US President Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign.

The social network has promised to introduce reforms to its policies. Facebook was not immediately available for comment.

Earlier this month, Britain's information regulator slapped Facebook with a small but symbolic fine for breaches of data protection law in connection with the Cambridge Analytica data theft.

The telecom regulator has said that the existing framework for protection of personal data by companies and service providers is insufficient and recommended stricter rules to tackle data breaches following the scandal.

Facebook reported disappointing second-quarter results on Wednesday, saying its profit margins would plummet for several years due to the costs of improving privacy safeguards in the wake of the scandals.The Yobe State Government on Thursday awarded a N1.760 billion contract to United Aviation Services for the supply and installation of communication gadgets at the Damaturu International Cargo Airport under construction.

The Commissioner for Works in the state, Lawan Shettima, who signed the contract on behalf of the state government, said the project was approved by the State Executive Council on the recommendations of the state Bureau for Public Procurement.

He said the equipment would be supplied and installed within five months.

The commissioner said government would mobilise the contractors with 30 per cent of the contract sum.

He advised the contractors to adhere to the specifications of the contractual agreement for government to have value for its money.

Mr Shettima said government had engaged consultants to ensure that the equipment were supplied and installed as specified in the contractual agreement.

Abubakar Babadada, a representative of United Aviation Services, assured the state government that the equipment were produced by a reputable company with long years of experience.

He said the equipment were fully on ground and ready for shipment into the country.

I want to assure the state government that our company will supply and install the communication, navigation and meteorological equipment and all other accessories within the contractual period, he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state government had last year awarded an N11.3 billion contract for the construction of the cargo airport in Damaturu.

The commissioner said the contract, which covers construction of runway and other structures, was awarded in September 2017 and had reached 50 per cent completion stage.

It is expected to be fully completed in the next seven months.

(NAN)The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) says it will investigate all genuine cases of sharp practices at Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in the country.

The Executive Secretary of the commission, Tony Ojukwu, disclosed this on Thursday in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, at a two-day interface with the government agencies with protection mandate in the state.

Mr Ojukwu assured that the commission would act on any genuine report on short changing IDPs in the distribution of food and other relief items.

However, he said the commission would rely on genuine information from the humanitarian actors to address such complaints.

The executive secretary commended the police for their response to allegations on short changing the IDPs as they sanction perpetrators.

We will stop at nothing to ensure that violators of children and gender rights in IDP camps do not elude sanctions.

Those who short change IDPs in the distribution of food and medical items must not go unpunished.

If some persons cheat on IDPs and we look the other way, we dont know the next people that will become IDPs.

I must commend the Nigerian Police for ensuring they respond fast on allegations of violation of IDPs rights, they do achieve this by constituting an investigation panel that could uncover perpetrators of such acts,Mr Ojukwu said.

He said the interface with humanitarian actors was to enable the commission create a platform where other actors in humanitarian activities share information of mutual interest.

He said the platform would also create an opportunity for the protection actors to discuss ways forward in dealing with protection and humanitarian issues as relate to the protection action groups.

Besides, he said the meeting would enable protection actors to identify potentials and areas of future collaborations that would improve on the system and communities.

Mr Ojukwu suggested the introduction of social media platform that could enable stakeholders to interact and share ideas without necessary meeting physically.

He commended the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for the robust partnership.

He said the collaboration between the NHRC and UNHCR has impacted positively in the sensitisation of human rights of citizens in Nigeria.

He urged other development partners to emulate the UNHCR to reach out to humanitarian protection project areas to be able to see things for themselves.

Mr Ojukwu commended all the MDAs and NGOs involved in the humanitarian industry for their contributions to human protection and monitoring.

Ahmed Teejan-Cole, the Resident Officer of UNHCR in Yola, said the interface was to enable partners attain their goals.

Mr Teejan-Cole said the interaction would enable proficient citizens protection and other humanitarian services in affected communities.

He commended the Adamawa State Government for its hospitality and accommodation of IDPs from other states.

The forum drew representatives from the Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency, Adamawa Ministries of Health, Agriculture, Education and Women Affairs.

Other MDAs in attendance were the Department of State Services, Nigerian Police Force, Nigerian Immigration Service and several NGOs in the humanitarian service sector.

(NAN)The Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, has hinted that he could leave Nigerias ruling party, APC.

Mr Ahmed is expected to leave the party alongside his predecessor and current Senate President, Bukola Saraki.

Both men are being investigated by the police for their alleged links to criminals who executed the fatal Offa robbery in April in the state. Both men have said they are being targeted by the police and the federal government based on political reasons.

Mr Saraki on Tuesday presided over the Senate where 14 senators defected from the APC. He was not among the defectors, but is expected to join soon.

Mr Ahmeds hint at leaving the APC was provided in a press released by the state government sent to PREMIUM TIMES.

Read the full statement below.

Following calls from various stakeholders in Kwara State, the state governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, has hinted that he might be quitting the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The governor insisted that the party has not met the expectations of the people of Kwara State.

Governor Ahmed made this known on Thursday at State Banquet Hall, Ilorin while reacting to the requests of various stakeholders in Kwara Central Senatorial District, prevailing on him and the Senate President, Bukola Saraki to immediately dump the APC.

The governor recalled how key stakeholders in the ruling APC in the state built the party in 2014 alongside other notable Nigerians with high expectations but were disappointed about the failure of the government at national level to address insecurity, economy and unemployment challenges confronting the nation.

According to the governor, We formed APC together in 2014 with the hope to meet the needs and aspirations of the people in critical areas of our national life.

He said the leadership of the APC had failed to intervene on critical issues affecting the party and its members, pointing out that injustice within the party is unbearable.

Governor Ahmed who thanked the people of the state for their support assured the stakeholders that he would consider their pleas and make public the new platform that would meet the aspirations of the people of the state.

He also promised that the administration would continue to run an all-inclusive process that would take care of all interests.

Various stakeholders who spoke at the Town Hall meeting called on the Governor take the state to another political party where their welfare would be guaranteed and expectations would be met.

In his remarks, the State President of Kwara State Artisans Group, Saad Alawaye, who commended Mr Ahmed for his numerous empowerment programmes to the informal sector promised continuous support in moving the state forward.

The State Chairman, Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Joshua Adekanye, who spoke on behalf of all the 16 local government chairmen, their vice chairmen and 193 councillors, expressed readiness to dump the All Progressives Congress in the interest of the people.

On their parts, the Youth leader, Mohammad Ali Baba, and the Women Leader, Rahmat Oganija, thanked the governor for his support to the youth and womenfolk in the state.

They however said they were not comfortable to remain in the APC, citing injustices against the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and called for immediate defection to a better and safer political party.

The meeting has in attendance artisans group, market men and women, motorcycle riders, youth groups among others.The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the FCT has said that over 260,000 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) are yet to be collected . About 16,931 of the cards are for Gwagwalada Area Council.

Yahaya Bello, The Resident Electoral Commissioner in-charge of FCT, made the fact known in Abuja on Thursday during a sensitisation meeting in Gwagwalada.

He said that the uncollected number of PVCs was worrisome and added that the commission would not extend the closing date of August 17 for voter registration.

Mr Bello charged the chairman of the council, Adamu Mustapha-Danze, and all political party executives in the area to refocus on sensitisation rather than focusing only on campaigning.

He said the electorate ought to know and understand the importance and use of the cards before the 2019 general elections.

If you dont sensitise the people properly on the need to collect their cards, who will vote for you and how will you win?

Politicians are the beneficiaries of the PVCs and not INEC; you should be more worried and concerned over the increasing number of uncollected PVCs than us.

It is your duty as stakeholders to urge the electorate on the collection of the cards, he said.

The commissioner said while the distribution of cards would continue until one week to the general elections, voter registration would be suspended from Aug. 17 until after the 2019 general elections.

He explained that the suspension of the exercise was to enable the commission to produce more cards for the elections.

Mr Bello assured those who registered before the suspension that they would get their cards before the general elections.

He added that anyone who reached the eligible age for voting after August 17 would not be registered until after the elections in 2019.

Anyone who will turn 18 years after August 17 will not be registered to vote, he said.

Mr Bello commended the residents of the council for their positive response to the on-going voter registration and urged them to show the same spirit and come out en-masse to vote during the general elections.

Once you are registered and issued a PVC, we assure you that your votes on election day will be counted and your votes will count.

If 100 persons are registered and only two persons vote, only two votes will be counted.

We urge all religious leaders, traditional heads and political representatives to preach peace and violence-free elections to the people.

We cannot over-emphasise the importance of a peaceful and violence- free election.

When you conduct yourselves in a peaceful manner as stakeholders, the people will emulate your good conduct and this attitude will simplify the work of the security agents too, he said.

Mr Bello reiterated that the commission would include weekends and public holidays from August 1 to fast track the registration process.

Earlier, Mustapha-Danze the Chairman of the council, expressed appreciation to the commission for the visit to the council.

Mr Mustapha-Danze said that the effort was timely and expressed optimism that it would increase the level of preparedness of the people toward the upcoming general elections.

He also appealed to religious heads to preach the good message of peace to their followers at their various places of worship.

I appeal to our clerics in churches, our chief imams in mosques to sensitise their faithful.

Registration is not enough. Collection of PVCs and voting is not enough also if there is no peace.

We need peace in order for our votes to be counted and to count.

Come 2019 we want to see residents in the council come out en-masse to participate in the process in a peaceful manner,  he said.

He lauded the effort made by INEC to include weekends and public holidays for registration in order to fast track the process before the closing date.

Mr Mustapha-Danze also gave an assurance that the council would ensure that the number of uncollected PVCs in the area was reduced.

Heads of departments in the council and FCT INEC, political party executives, religious and traditional leaders, security agents, market women and youths attended the event.

(NAN)The Kaduna State Deputy Governor, Barnabas Bantex, on Thursday declared his ambition to vie for the states South Senatorial seat.

The official, who made the declaration in front of journalists, said he would still retain his position as deputy governor for now.

According to him, his quest to deliver quality representation to his people and attract maximum dividends of democracy made him declare.

Mr Bantex said the decision to vie was a difficult one owing to the uncommon goodwill and brotherly relationship he currently enjoys with his principal (governor Nasir El-rufai).

I have decided to offer myself as the APC candidate for the Kaduna South Senatorial District in the forthcoming 2019 election. I will continue to serve as Deputy Governor of Kaduna State while pursuing this aspiration.

Our personal and official relationship has given me every confidence in the firm and enduring goodwill of Malam Nasir El-Rufai towards every part of the state. As deputy governor, I have had several opportunities to witness this commitment to equity.

I regret that some of the elected representation from my zone have not matched this broad-mindedness and constructive approach, in the interest of our people in Zone 3.

I have therefore come to the conclusion that it is worth leaving the office of Deputy Governor to put these issues on the ballot, encourage more mature and sober political discourse in the area, he said.

This has been a very difficult decision for me in view of the uncommon goodwill and brotherly relationship that I currently enjoy with Malam Nasir El-Rufai who has elevated the relationship between Governor and Deputy Governor to a level of mutual respect, engagement and involvement that is unparalleled in our democracy,  he added.

I am convinced that it is time for our people to firmly reject the poorest senatorial representation Zone 3 has had since 1999, he also said.

Mr Bantex, who once served as a Member of the House of Representatives on the platform of the Action Congress said the governor was understandably reluctant when he first told him about his ambition.

But I repeatedly pressed him to let me take this step. Nasir El-Rufai eventually conceded after briefing and securing the consent of the President on my desire to pursue this aspiration. This is the challenge that I am offering myself to lead, with the blessing of Almighty God, he explained.

READ THE DEPUTY GOVERNORS FULL STATEMENT BELOW:

I am running for the Senate to promote Politics as bridge-buildingThe Ekiti State Police Command on Thursday said it deployed its personnel to the state House of Assembly to prevent a breach of public peace.

There was a heavy security presence at the assembly complex on Thursday morning, fueling speculations of renewed crisis among the lawmakers who are currently on recess.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Caleb Ikechukwu, an assistant superintendent of police, told journalists in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, that the deployment was based on information the command received.

He insisted that the command was only being proactive in the course of maintaining law and order.

Anytime you see the deployment of policemen, it is to ensure the safety and the security of that place and the people there.

There is no need for people to be curious about the deployment of security men in the quest to ensure the security of life and property, except for those who have some form of crime to hide

Anytime you see us doing deployment, it is for a reason; it is to ensure the safety of that place at a given time.

That means there must be information which we are working on, and what that shows is how proactive the Nigeria Police Force of today is, he said.

(NAN)There is tension in Ekiti State as armed police officers have taken over the environs of the Ekiti State House of Assembly complex.

The police said on Thursday that they were only providing security for lawmakers and staff members of the assembly.

But the Speaker of the Assembly, Kolawole Oluwawole, has alleged that the move was borne out of the plan to seize the authority of the legislature to create mischief and destabilise the state.

The Assembly had shortly after the July 14 governorship election adjourned sitting until October, after condemning the outcome of the election.

However, three of the house members, who are of the All Progressives Congress, rejected the adjournment and called on the security agencies to provide them with security as they were prepared to continue their legislative duties.

Mr Oluwawole claimed in a statement on Thursday that the police invaded the assembly complex late Wednesday night on the orders of the Commissioner of Police, Bello Ahmed.

According to the speaker, the police commissioner had claimed that he received a letter from the Clerk of the House, Tola Esan, purportedly seeking security deployment in the premises of the House.

He said Mr Esan had written to the commissioner of police, dissociating himself from any letter and describing such letter as forged.

He said the clerk of the house also spoke with journalists on camera, stating categorically that he did not write any letter to the police seeking deployment of security officials and that the Assembly is on recess till October 8.

The question we now wish to ask the commissioner of police is; who wrote the purported letter and where did he get it from? queried Mr Oluwawole.

Also, we wish to ask the commissioner of police the motives behind his hurried deployment of armed policemen to the House of Assembly complex without seeking clarification from the speaker.

Again, after speaking with the clerk on phone and he told the CP expressly that no such letter was authored by him, why are the policemen still laying siege on the House of Assembly?

Mr Oluwawole further noted that the House of Assembly is constitutionally backed to go on recess as seen in the National Assembly and other advanced democracies of the world, adding that no official function of the house could take place while on recess.

As at today, the House of Assembly is on recess till October 8, 2018. Information at our disposal is to the effect that the Policemen are laying siege on the House of Assembly to provide cover for some

miscreants today to perpetrate evil and create chaos in the House of Assembly thus threatening our democracy and putting the lives of our innocent staff into danger, he alleged.

We are also aware of the sinister plot to break into the assembly complex before daybreak with the intention of making away with the mace.

We therefore call the attention of well-meaning Nigerians to the fresh coup being plotted by some anti-democratic agents in the APC in collaboration with the Police in Ekiti State.

As the Speaker of the House, herein the constitutional head of the institution, there is no threat in the House to warrant any deployment of policemen and the commissioner of police should therefore withdraw the illegal deployment of policemen to the premises of the house as such is unsolicited, unwarranted dangerous and ultra vires.

Staff of the House of Assembly have also been directed to stay at home until further notice in view of the need to prevent injuries and loss of lives as the armed policemen can as usual be overzealous.

But the Ekiti State Police Command has justified the deployment of armed police officers in the premises of Ekiti State House of Assembly, saying it did so to guarantee safety of the lawmakers and staff of the House.

The Police Public Relations Officer of the command, Caleb Ikechukwu, said in Ado Ekiti on Thursday, said there was nothing wrong with the deployment.

Anytime you see the deployment of policemen, it is to ensure the safety and the security of that place and the people there, he said.

According to Mr Ikechukwu, there was no need for people to be curious about the deployment of security officials whose duty was to secure lives and property.

Anytime you see us doing deployment, its for a reason; it is to ensure safety of that place at a given time, he noted.

That means there must be information which we are working with. And that shows how proactive the Nigeria Police Force is.

When asked to speak on the alleged letter written to seek the deployment, Mr Okechukwu said: Are you now meddling into our internal affairs? Anybody that disclosed that information is disclosing a secret information and that person should be arrested and prosecuted.An Osun State High Court in Osogbo has rejected the prayers seeking to restrain the Peoples Democratic Party from presenting the name of its governorship candidate for the Osun governorship election, Ademola Adeleke, to the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The applicants, Rasheed Olabayo and Oluwaseun Idowu, had in a suit asked the court to stop PDP from presenting Mr Adeleke to INEC as candidate of the party for the September 22nd 2018.

In the ex-parte application, the applicants claimed that Mr Adeleke did not possess a secondary school certificate as required by Section 177 (d) of the 1999 constitution and that he was not fit to contest the election.

Mr Adelekes ordeal began after he was named winner of the PDP governorship primary election last Saturday.

The presiding judge, David Oladimeji, on Thursday, said he could not grant the prayer without first allowing Mr Adeleke, a serving senator, representing Osun West, to have the opportunity to respond to the application.

The judge said granting such prayer might subject the court to embarrassment if the senator presented his certificate eventually. Mr Oladimeji adjourned the matter till August 1, 2018.

Mr Adelekes lawyer, Taofeeq Olayiwola, said the application was unfounded and frivolous.

Senator Adeleke has a certificate. He is a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Is it possible that a senator will not have secondary school certificate. He has it. That application is frivolous and unfounded. That is why the court dismissed it.

Meanwhile, the senators name was on Wednesday submitted to the INEC as the candidate of the party. However, on Thursday, there was a strong rejection from some aspirants who contested against him at the primaries.

In a press statement in Osogbo on Thursday, seven of the PDP aspirants urged the National Working Committee of the party to review the choice of Mr Adeleke as the partys governorship candidate. They alleged that he was not validly elected by the majority of the delegates at the primaries.

The statement was jointly signed by the aspirants, namely, former senators, Olasunkanmi Akinlabi and Felix Ogunwale; Adejare Bello; runner up at the primary election, Akin Ogunbiyi; Ayoade Adewopo; Adeolu Durotoye; and Jide Adeniji.

They faulted the conduct of the election by the five-member committee headed by the Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, saying it left much to be desired.

Contrary to the promise made by the new leadership of our party, the reign of impunity appears to have continued unabated with the way and manner the primary election in Osun State was conducted, the statement said.

The exercise was regrettably marred by gross violations of the Electoral Guidelines issued by the National Working Committee as well as outright manipulation of the results of the election in favour of Senator Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke in a manner suggesting that he was the favoured candidate of some powerful individuals in the top echelon of the PDP.

We make bold to say that Senator Adeleke did not in fact score the highest number of votes in that primary election having polled a total number of 1569 as against his major opponent, Dr Akin Ogunbiyi whose actual votes at the point of sorting was 1690.

These figures were indeed confirmed by security agents, media men and some of the electoral officers who watched keenly as the ballot papers were being sorted at the end of voting.

Apart from the very shameful incidence of votes pilfering which happened during a brief period of an orchestrated power black-out, 42 valid votes cast for Dr Akin Ogunbiyi were counted as invalid by the electoral officials in spite of the persistent protests of his agents.

Such a brazen disregard for best global practices in electoral processes is certainly unexpected of a party desirous of dislodging a party in government through a free and fair election.

The aspirants also frowned at the alleged neglect and refusal of the National Working Committee of the PDP which serves as the appeal committee to address the matters raised against the election of Mr Adeleke.

While we had expected that the party would be mindful of the need to protect the sanctity of the electoral process and dispassionately consider the issues arising from the conduct of the primaries, it was most unfortunate to read in the media that the name of Senator Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke has been submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission as the PDP candidate for the Osun State Governorship election, the aspirants lamented.

Senator Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke was not the choice of majority of delegates at the Primary election held on Saturday 21st July, 2018 and so could not have been validly nominated by the Party, the statement further stressed.

The said Senator Adeleke is the least qualified of the 11 aspirants who obtained forms to contest for the primaries of the PDP in our dear State.

Fielding Senator Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke as our governorship candidate will put the chances of our great party at risk in view of the several legal and moral issues which will arise before and during the electioneering campaign.

The candidacy of Senator Adeleke will further divide rather than unite the PDP in Osun State in view of the fact that a great number of party members will not feel secured working for him because of the very controversial circumstances of his nomination.

The PDP may not be able to secure the support of critical stakeholders in the state with Senator Adelekes candidacy because of his not too impressive public conduct as a senator of the Federal Republic.

In view of the foregoing therefore, we the under listed aspirants call on the National Leadership of our Party to rescind its decision on the nomination of Senator Ademola Adeleke as our candidate for the September 22nd Governorship election.

We call on the National Working Committee of the PDP to reconsider its stand on the Appeal filed by Dr Akin Ogunbiyi who was the actual winner of the Primary election held on the 21st of July with a view to redeeming the hope of our party and that of the good people of Osun State.

We are making this call as leaders and major stakeholders in the party who are desirous of salvaging the Osun State PDP and rekindling the hope of thousands of our members in all local governments.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.



US congresswoman Ann Wagner has compared China's actions in Doklam to its operations in disputed South China Sea.

Most recently Chinese and Indian troops faced off on the disputed Doklam plateau between Bhutan and China after the Chinese People's Liberation Army began building roads through the area. (Photo: Representational/PTI)

New Delhi/Washington: China has quietly resumed its activities in the Doklam area and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade it, a top US official has said while comparing Beijing's actions in the Himalayan region with its manoeuvres in the disputed South China Sea.

China claims sovereignty over all of South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims.

China is engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Beijing has built up and militarised many of the islands and reefs it controls in the region. Both areas are stated to be rich in minerals, oil and other natural resources and are also vital to global trade.

"I would assess that India is vigorously defending its northern borders and this is a subject of concern to India," Alice G Wells, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing while responding to a question on China's increased road building activities along the Indian border.

"As (India) ahead to its own strategic stability, it certainly helps drive and is a factor in driving closer partnership that we enjoy with India," Wells said in response to a question from Congresswoman Ann Wagner.

India and China have clashed repeatedly over territories in the Himalayas. Most recently Chinese and Indian troops faced off on the disputed Doklam plateau between Bhutan and China after the Chinese People's Liberation Army began building roads through the area, Wagner said.

"Although both countries back down, China has quietly resumed its activities in Doklam and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade it. China's activities in the Himalayas remind me of its south China Sea policies. How should our failure to respond to the militarisation of the South China Sea inform the international response to these Himalayan border disputes?" Wagner asked.

As the US looks to the Indo-Pacific strategy put forward by the Trump administration, Wells said it has been taken in light of the 'South China Sea's Strategy'. "How do we maintain the region to be open, to have maritime security, to not have militarisation that would imperil the 70 per cent of global trade?" she asked.

"We need to do that by giving authority to sovereign nations to have choices in how they develop, to have choices in their partnerships," Wells said.

Congressman Ted Yoho, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee on Asia and the Pacific, raised the issue of China's aggressive posture in South Asia. "What are your thoughts on what is the best way to counter China in that region?" Yoho asked.

US should not be seeking to compete with China dollar for dollar, Wells responded, adding that instead of a state lending on terms that may not be to the benefit of countries or their citizens, the US and its companies are providing USD 850 billion in foreign direct investment in the region, which is far more than what has been injected by China.

"We're trying to gather likeminded countries who can bring resources to the table, who can coordinate assistance and an effort so as to provide countries with meaningful alternatives," Wells said.

Troops of India and China were locked in a 73-day-long standoff in Doklam from June 16 last year after the Indian side stopped the building of a road in the disputed tri-junction by the Chinese Army.

Bhutan and China have a dispute over Doklam. The face-off ended on August 28.FLINT, Mich., July 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Pack Your Back, STATE Bags and 11-year-old local activist, 'Little Miss Flint' Mari Copeny have joined forces to distribute more than 10,000 backpacks filled with school supplies timed to the start of the 2018/2019 school year.

Select schools throughout Flint, Michigan will distribute a STATE backpack, filled with supplies for success, to each student on the first day of school. "The only way a student can succeed in the classroom is by having the proper tools and resources needed to do so," said Galen Miller, Executive Director of Pack Your Back. "We are excited to assist more than 10,000 students in getting those tools."

Students who do not attend these select schools can still receive a backpack and supplies from a School Supply Distribution on Aug. 31 at the Mott Community College Event Center starting at 4 p.m. Backpacks will be handed out on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Pack Your Back and Little Miss Flint have facilitated programming that has already impacted over 3,500 people throughout Flint in 2018 including distribution of water, bicycles and school supplies, among other items.

STATE Bags donates tens of thousands of backpacks to children with immediate needs each year.

"We're thrilled to dedicate our entire back to school giving efforts to the kids of Flint this year," says STATE Co-Founder, Scot Tatelman. "This community has been overlooked far too long, and we are looking forward to gearing up its students while shedding light on the continual struggles and resiliency of its residents. We couldn't be more honored to team up with Little Miss Flint and Pack Your Back as they both perfectly embody what Flint represents."

To donate to efforts in Flint, Michigan, please visit http://bit.ly/2mFga3z.

For a list of schools directly receiving support, please visit www.packyourback.org.

Media Contact:

Galen Miller

Phone: 989.245.4994

Email: [email protected]

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Related Video

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SOURCE Pack Your BackBryan has over 15 years of experience leading marketing and communications efforts for community banks. He served most recently as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications at WashingtonFirst Bank in Reston, Virginia, that was recently acquired by Sandy Spring Bank. Prior to community banking, Bryan worked at United Airlines where his last position was Senior Staff-Service Quality Champion at their World Headquarters in Chicago, IL.

"Having Bryan join the BCT team is thrilling," said Alice Frazier, BCT President and CEO. "His success and experience helping community banks grow their brands will help BCT share our unique story with existing and new markets in a fresh and authentic way."

Bryan stated, "The opportunity to help BCT tell their story of 147 years of genuine community banking is a wonderful opportunity. Their bankers are authentic, others-first people and a great fit for me. I'm excited to serve such an impressive organization."

Bryan is actively involved in the community where he serves on the Board of Directors for The Loudoun Community Breakfast, the Redskins Charitable Foundation's Welcome Home Luncheon, and the Inova Health Foundation's Honors Gala. He formerly served on the Board of FCA of Loudoun County. Bryan and his wife Helen live in Loudoun County and attend Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg. They have two adult children who live out of state.

About BCT

BCT - Bank of Charles Town, also known as The Community's Bank, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Potomac Bancshares, Inc. BCT is a locally owned community bank with eight convenient offices serving Loudoun County, Virginia, the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, and Washington County, Maryland. For more information, visit our website at www.mybct.com.

SOURCE BCT - Bank of Charles TownThe day marks the victory of Indian forces over Pakistan in the hills of Kargil and the success of India's Operation Vijay in 1999.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, along with Army chief General Bipin Rawat and Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba, pays tribute at Amar Jawan Jyoti on Kargil Vijay Diwas, in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the three Service chiefs -- Army chief General Bipin Rawat, Naval chief Admiral Sunil Lanba and Air chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa -- laid wreaths and paid rich tributes to the martyrs on the 19th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas at the Amar Jawan Jyoti in New Delhi on Thursday.

"We salute all the brave hearts who proudly protect the nation," the defence minister said.

The day marks the victory of Indian forces over Pakistan in the hills of Kargil and the success of India's Operation Vijay in 1999.

The Kargil Vijay Diwas is celebrated every year for three days till 26th July to commemorate India's emphatic victory against Pakistan.

The three-day celebrations began on Tuesday at the Drass War Memorial in Kargil town in Jammu and Kashmir. On the first day, tributes were paid to the war heroes by laying a wreath at the memorial.

On Wednesday, war veterans and serving heroes shared their experiences at a function. There was also a briefing on Operation Vijay battles held.

Army soldiers pay gun salute at Shaheed-e-Kargil memorial as part of Kargil Vijay Diwas celebrations, in Patna on Thursday. (Photo: PTI)

"On Kargil Vijay Diwas, every Indian acknowledges the efforts and gallantry of our Armed Forces. We salute the ultimate sacrifice of the martyrs of Kargil, and record our everlasting debt to their families," President Kovind said.

Prime Minister Modi said a grateful nation pays homage to all those who served the nation during Operation Vijay and remembered former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee for the leadership provided by him during the operation.

"Our brave soldiers ensured that India remains protected and gave a befitting answer to those who tried to vitiate the atmosphere of peace. India will always remember with pride, the outstanding political leadership provided by Atal Ji during Operation Vijay. He led from the front, supported our armed forces and clearly articulated India's stand at the world stage," he said on Twitter.

Vice President Naidu said he saluted the valour, courage and sacrifice of the brave jawans that resulted in a "spectacular victory for our country in the Kargil War in 1999"."As hacker attacks increase, the safety of crypto trading has become the biggest concern for users. A responsible exchange must ensure the highest level of security," said Bitrue CEO Curis Wang. "Bitrue has made transaction safety the core element of its products, as more than 90% of user assets in its system are stored in cold wallets and critical messages are located in distributed storage systems with multiple clusters. The exchange has even created an internal risk control model with four certification levels, a multi-layer trading infrastructure, an independent trading domain and real-time monitoring capabilities."

Its network security protection system has passed a number of simulated hacker attacks and penetration tests. Meanwhile, Bitrue is adopting the security services of McAfee, a leader in computer security software, and has been certified by NSFOCUS, a pioneer in cyber security, as the exchange tries to provide a stable and reassuring crypto trading environment.

While the market is now full of knockoffs like scammy tokens, cryptocurrency pyramid schemes and copycat coins, Wang believes that instead of just thinking about how to make money from listing fees, exchanges should strictly review ICO applicants to help users identify good currencies from bad ones. "Bitrue is committed to list only legitimate and promising tokens on our platform, Wang emphasized, "with our professional process and team for currency selection, Bitrue is able to screen candidates and build a healthy environment for trading."

Bitrue is more than just an exchange for cryptocurrencies -- it's actually a "community. While most exchanges are centralized and profit-oriented, Bitrue is open and transparent. At Bitrue, everybody is a shareholder and co-manager of the exchange," said Wang. He added that cryptocurrency trading is an emerging market and only the participation of more people can make it more stable and diversified. It invites all users to participate in its management by delegating all economic and voting rights concerning currency listing.

The newly-launched Bitrue is already able to present some of the best cryptocurrencies to users around the world. The first partners include Wanchain, whose ICO sold out in less than ten minutes. Moreover, the exchange has also listed XRP as its base currency so XRP holders can purchase other high-quality cryptocurrencies with ease and at lower fees. To celebrate the inclusion of XRP, Bitrue will be offering a special bonus for XRP traders next week.

For more information and campaign details, please visit www.bitrue.com. The Bitrue mobile app is now available on Google Play for download.

About Bitrue

Bitrue is a forward-thinking cryptocurrency exchange platform dedicated to providing the most trustworthy digital asset management services in a simple, efficient and secure manner. Launched in 2018, Bitrue is a Singapore-based company with a vision in providing both novice and advanced traders a simple, yet highly secured and efficient environment to manage digital assets in a better way. The company was built by a good mix of digital finance experts, cyber security specialists and blockchain developers, who share the same passion of redefining crypto trading experiences. Bitrue has offices in the U.S. and Asia Pacific.

For more information, please contact:

Patricia Lu

+886-963-260-185

SOURCE Bitrue

Related Links

http://www.bitrue.com

WASHINGTON, July 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Strategic Management Institute (GSMI), a nationwide leader in executive summits, trade shows, and industry research, announces a follow-up event to their popular 2018 event, Blockchain West Summit. Blockchain Health is a three-day summit on August 14-16, 2018 at the Wink Hotel in Washington, DC, that showcases the latest blockchain innovations for healthcare providers, payers, pharmaceuticals, and life sciences.

Blockchain Health Audience

Industry leaders will deliver cutting edge information on the future of healthcare. Speakers include Brian Behlendorf, Executive Director or Hyperledger Project (founded by the Linux Foundation), Simon Lin, Research CIO, Nationwide Children's Hospital, David Hanekom, CEO, Arizona Care Network, John Bass, Founder & CEO, Hashed Health, and Debbie Bucci, Office of Standards and Interoperability, Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, US Dept of Health and Human Services. View the full line-up of 35+ healthcare blockchain experts and updated agenda here.

With three tracks dedicated to a deep dive examination of current use cases, blockchain implementation and blockchain in health, attendees are sure to find valuable and actionable knowledge, tools and make connections with those who really matter in the industry. The full event brochure can be found here.

Referencing Blockchain Health's sister event, Blockchain West, Navroop Sahdev of MIT, describes the event:

"Blockchain West is definitely one of the high quality blockchain conferences out there. While many blockchain conferences are focused on ICO pitches and marketing, Blockchain West is anchored on subject matter content and expert discussions. Pretty much everyone I talked to was impressed with the organization."

Discussion include the latest blockchain solutions and case studies in:

Payments

Regulation/Legal

Pharma Research & Clinical Trials

Pharma Supply Chain

Identity

Patient Engagement

Population Health

Fraud Prevention

And much more



Prior to the General Summit, workshops are available on August 14 for hands-on training. These classes offer limited seating to ensure one-on-one training in "Blockchain 101 for Healthcare, with the Blockchain Design Sprint" led by Moses Ma, Partner at Future Lab Consulting, or "Designing and Building a Healthcare Proof of Concept" led by Ed Bukstel, CEO of Clinical Blockchain.

Blockchain Health is sponsored by organizations paving the way in blockchain implementation. Solve.Care utilizes blockchain technology to reduce the enormous global clinical and IT system costs associated with our current healthcare system. This revolutionary platform, along with its vast components, is available to all parties involved and creates far-reaching and timeless benefits. Digipharm aims to utilize innovative blockchain technology to overcome barriers to innovative pricing, evidence generation and bypass infrastructural limitations to drive value improvement, incentivize innovation and expedite the transformation to personalized healthcare.

Blockchain Health Summit is part of GSMI's Business of Blockchain educational event series and will be followed by Blockchain East Summit in New York City on Oct 8-10. More information can be found at www.blockchainhealthcaresummit.com and www.businessofblockchain.com.

For speaking opportunities, please contact Michael Earley ([email protected] / 619.755.6458)

For exhibition or sponsorship enquiries, please contact Kelly Hara ([email protected] / 619.377.8475)

For press passes or media partnership opportunities, please contact Kathryn Quant ([email protected] / (916) 750-5331)

www.blockchainhealthcaresummit.com

SOURCE Global Strategic Management Institute (GSMI)NEW YORK, July 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Extreme Reach, the cloud technology platform for TV and video ad workflow and Talent and Rights management, today announced that broadcasting and advertising industry veteran Bunker Sessions has joined the company as VP of Sell-Side Solutions. With over 25 years of experience driving innovation for broadcasters, cable companies and the advertising industry, Sessions is spearheading the development and deployment of Extreme Reach's new sell-side solutions, addressing the creative sourcing needs of programmers and publishers in the increasingly-complex omnichannel media ecosystem.

Sessions, who has been consulting with Extreme Reach since January, brings to the company a significant track record of success across business management, technology development and market strategy implementation. Most recently, he served as Senior Director of Business Development at Comcast, where he played a critical role in the creation of the company's ad asset management solutions.

In his new position at Extreme Reach, Sessions is responsible for developing sell-side creative sourcing solutions, working closely with programmers and publishers to maximize their ability to swiftly launch multi-platform campaigns in order to monetize content while ensuring their audiences have seamless viewing experiences across every platform.

"Bunker is a natural fit at Extreme Reach with his strong relationships and deep understanding of the specific challenges programmers and publishers face in this multi-platform, multi-screen world with regard to getting the myriad creative assets they need to launch campaigns,"said Tim Conley, CEO of Extreme Reach. "For over a decade we've worked closely with the thousands of TV outlets throughout North America, ensuring they receive ads in pristine, broadcast-ready quality. Now we have an opportunity to solve a host of messy workflow problems on IP-based platforms for these same networks, cable operators and local stations with Bunker leading the charge."



"Technology has made advertising so much more exciting, offering new opportunities to reach consumers at the right moment and on the right device. What it hasn't done is make doing so easier. That's what I intend on achieving for our partners on the sell-side of the advertising equation," said Sessions. "Programmers need a streamlined workflow to source and serve ads across VOD, OTT and all platforms on which they must monetize their content and no company is better suited to do that than Extreme Reach."

About Extreme Reach

Extreme Reach offers the only enterprise technology designed distinctly to bring together the TV and video ad workflow and all aspects of Talent & Rights management in a single, easy-to-use cloud platform. One platform and one process make brand advertising easier, and analytics more insightful, with the assurance of rights compliance wherever ads play. Founded in 2008, Extreme Reach proudly serves the world's biggest brands, agencies, post-production houses, all media destinations, and the talent community, altogether simplifying the process for every team that touches an ad campaign from start to finish. Headquartered in Needham, MA, Extreme Reach has offices in 19 cities worldwide.

Press Contact:

Michelle O'Rourke

Clarity PR for Extreme Reach

[email protected]

646.207.6187

SOURCE Extreme ReachPETALUMA, Calif., July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The past two decades have seen a huge shift from manual labor and hard labor skills to recruiters seeking candidates with soft skills. Perhaps the rise in technology and the continuous creation of jobs that never before existed, which analysts cannot even predict, is the partial cause for this trend. Regardless of the reasons, it is clear that soft skills are necessary when conducting business in the 21st century. Brandon Frere, CEO and serial entrepreneur, thinks business leaders should look at the data for themselves to determine if social and analytical skills are important to their hiring department or their own professional development.

"I have a degree in engineering, which is definitely not considered a soft skill major, especially considering I took classes in calculus and physics," says Frere. "However, I did learn to think critically and how to have a strong work ethic, which are considered soft skills. What I didn't learn in college was my people skills; I filled in the gaps while I was on the job throughout my career."

The major distinction between soft and hard skills is that the latter are more easily quantifiable. A person who is designing a website or using spreadsheets for finance will need specific, trainable skills to accomplish those tasks. On the other hand, soft skills are more intuitive and harder to measure. Leaders who don't spend time brushing up on their active listening or conflict resolution aptitude may have a more difficult time managing teams. Encouraging these skills in workers is also very important.

"If everyone on a team can code, but no one knows how to ask for help or give assistance, how will you get anything done effectively and efficiently?" asked Frere. "If you are constantly explaining yourself, or taking the defensive, or being overtly offensive, no one is going to want to work with you, as a boss or colleague."

Part of the struggle of learning these skills is becoming more flexible and adaptable. Active listening, for example, involves several different elements in order to be successful. The first step is to clear the mind and focus on the speaker's words and body language. Instead of thinking of a response to sound smart, active listeners can give the speaker nonverbal cues to show they are listening. These include making eye contact and giving positive body language, such as sitting forward or nodding. They can show more or less enthusiasm depending on the speaker. If it makes them uncomfortable to make too much eye contact, for example, they can mirror the speaker's body language and maintain good posture. When it is the listener's turn to speak, they could paraphrase the speaker's key points in the response.

"You don't need to know it all from the get-go to succeed," added Frere. "But if you are looking to expand your knowledge on hard skills, I recommend taking classes on coding, computer programming and CRM management software, like Salesforce. If you have those skills down, look at where your communication or teamwork could improve. Growing as an entrepreneur is an endless process, which I find equally exciting."

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

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Skills Word Board

Inspiring/Bigstock.com

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Related Links

Frere Enterprises

SOURCE Frere Enterprises

Related Links

https://frereenterprises.com

CHICAGO, July 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Cision Ltd. (NYSE: CISN), a leading global provider of software and services to public relations and marketing communications professionals, will release its second quarter 2018 financial results on Wednesday, August 8th, shortly after the market close.

In conjunction with the earnings release, investors will have the opportunity to listen to Cision senior management review its second quarter results of fiscal year 2018 via conference call on Wednesday, August 8th at 5:00 pm EDT. To hear the live event, visit the Cision investor website at http://investors.cision.com, or dial 1-877-443-4809 (participant dial in toll free) or 1-412-317-5235 (participant dial in International). For those accessing the call via Cision's investor website, we suggest logging in at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the live event. For those dialing in, participants should ask to be joined into the Cision Ltd. earnings call. A replay of the earnings webcast will be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the live event on August 8th. To access the webcast recording / conference replay, visit http://investors.cision.com or you can dial 1-877-344-7529 (US), 1-412-317-0088 (International), or 1-855-669-9658 (Canada). The replay access code for the earnings call is 10122757. The replay will be available through August 22, 2018.

About Cision

Cision Ltd. (NYSE: CISN) is a leading global provider of earned media software and services to public relations and marketing communications professionals. Cision's software allows users to identify key influencers, craft and distribute strategic content, and measure meaningful impact. Cision has over 4,000 employees with offices in 15 countries throughout the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. For more information about its award-winning products and services, including the Cision Communications Cloud, visit www.cision.com and follow Cision on Twitter @Cision.

Investor Contact:

Jack Pearlstein

Chief Financial Officer

[email protected]

Media Contact:

Nick Bell

Vice President, Marketing Communications and Content

[email protected]

SOURCE Cision

Related Links

http://www.cision.com

VANCOUVER, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - CRH Medical Corporation (the "Company") (TSX: CRH) (NYSE MKT: CRHM), announces that it has completed an accretive transaction whereby the Company has acquired a 51% interest in a gastroenterology ("GI") anesthesia practice in Washington State ("Lake Washington").

Lake Washington is CRH's first Monitored Anesthesia Care ("MAC") program to be completed. The MAC program was announced on March 15, 2017 with Puget Sound Gastroenterology ("PSG"). CRH developed PSG's MAC program and retained an option to acquire a 51% interest in the new anesthesia practice, Lake Washington.

Lake Washington provides anesthesia services to four GI ambulatory surgical centers and is CRH's first acquisition in the state of Washington. The transaction was financed through a combination of CRH's credit facility and cash on hand.

Lake Washington Transaction Highlights:

Estimated annual revenue of US$5.2M

EBITDA and cash flow accretive

Edward Wright, CEO of CRH, commented on the transaction, "Last year, we signed an agreement with Puget Sound Gastroenterology to develop a MAC program to adopt deep sedation as the standard of care at their practice. Today, we are pleased to exercise our option to acquire a majority ownership in the anesthesia practice and expand our footprint to the state of Washington. We look forward to further leveraging the strength of our GI relationships to grow our business through our MAC programs and anesthesia acquisitions."

About CRH Medical Corporation:

CRH Medical Corporation is a North American company focused on providing gastroenterologists throughout the United States with innovative services and products for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. In 2014, CRH became a full-service gastroenterology anesthesia company that provides anesthesia services for patients undergoing endoscopic procedures in ambulatory surgical centers. To date, CRH has completed 18 anesthesia acquisitions. CRH now serves 43 ambulatory surgical centers in ten states and performs approximately 290,000 procedures annually. In addition, CRH owns the CRH O'Regan System, a single-use, disposable, hemorrhoid banding technology that is safe and highly effective in treating all grades of hemorrhoids. CRH distributes the O'Regan System, treatment protocols, operational and marketing expertise as a complete, turnkey package directly to gastroenterology practices, creating meaningful relationships with the gastroenterologists it serves. CRH's O'Regan System is currently used in all 48 lower US states.

SOURCE CRH Medical Corporation

Related Links

www.crhmedcorp.com

Dashlane 6 introduces a revolutionary Identity Dashboard, which provides a complete picture of a person's online security and clear actionable steps to improve it. The Identity Dashboard integrates dynamic new features like Dark Web Monitoring, credit score monitoring, identity restoration support, and Identity Theft Insurance to put people in complete control of their digital identities.

"Managing digital identity has become too complex for almost everyone," says Emmanuel Schalit, CEO of Dashlane. "Massive breaches and data abuseslike the ones at Facebook, Equifax, and Exactisaffect us all, and while protecting accounts with unique and complex passwords is a critical step, it is no longer enough. People must be able to easily manage and monitor all aspects of their digital footprint, whether it's monitoring credit reports for fraudulent activity or personal information for sale on the dark web. That's why we created Dashlane 6to solve that very problem."

For more information on Dashlane 6, visit: https://blog.dashlane.com/introducing-dashlane-6/

For b-roll: visit: https://goo.gl/tZQpon

Prevent

Enhanced password management : Dashlane's Password Health section provides customers with a comprehensive, real-time analysis of how secure their passwords really are. It helps them understand which accounts need the most attention and includes tools to easily strengthen passwords.



: Dashlane's Password Health section provides customers with a comprehensive, real-time analysis of how secure their passwords really are. It helps them understand which accounts need the most attention and includes tools to easily strengthen passwords. Secure file storage : With 1 GB of storage across devices, Premium and Premium Plus customers can encrypt and store their most sensitive files to access them anywhere.



: With 1 GB of storage across devices, Premium and Premium Plus customers can encrypt and store their most sensitive files to access them anywhere. Secure sharing: Customers can give their friends, family, and coworkers the ability to use their account credentials without ever revealing their passwords to them.



Customers can give their friends, family, and coworkers the ability to use their account credentials without ever revealing their passwords to them. VPN for WiFi protection: Premium and Premium Plus customers can now secure their internet connection wherever they are with Dashlane's VPN, which encrypts online activity on unsecure connections to keep personal information safe and private. Customers can operate the VPN on an unlimited number of devices with unlimited data use.

Monitor

Identity Dashboard: The new Identity Dashboard is the central hub for digital identity and account security. Its convenient, at-a-glance design lets customers intuitively understand what to improve and how to take action fast.



The new Identity Dashboard is the central hub for digital identity and account security. Its convenient, at-a-glance design lets customers intuitively understand what to improve and how to take action fast. Dark Web Monitoring with personalized security alerts : Premium and Premium Plus customers can monitor up to five email accounts and receive detailed security alerts if any personal information is found on the dark web. This powerful service scans more than 32 billion records attached to hacks and data breaches.



: Premium and Premium Plus customers can monitor up to five email accounts and receive detailed security alerts if any personal information is found on the dark web. This powerful service scans more than 32 billion records attached to hacks and data breaches. Credit monitoring and alerts powered by TransUnion: Premium Plus customers can view their credit score and summary through specialized tools that provide full insight into their credit. Customers receive email alerts when there are critical changes to their credit.

Restore

Expanded Password Changer : In case of a compromised password, customers can use the expanded Password Changer to update and secure impacted passwords on over 500 sites in just one click.



: In case of a compromised password, customers can use the expanded Password Changer to update and secure impacted passwords on over 500 sites in just one click. Identity restoration support : Dashlane now offers Premium Plus customers dedicated, U.S.-based phone support if identity theft occurs. Provided by TransUnion, an industry leader in credit solutions, this service assists in all stages of identity recovery.



: Dashlane now offers Premium Plus customers dedicated, U.S.-based phone support if identity theft occurs. Provided by TransUnion, an industry leader in credit solutions, this service assists in all stages of identity recovery. Identity Theft Insurance: Premium Plus users can claim up to $1 million in damages if they experience losses related to identity theft.

Dashlane 6 has three plan options: Free, for secure password management on a single device; Premium, for unlimited password storage across every device and a suite of digital security features such as Dark Web Monitoring and VPN; and Premium Plus, for added protection with credit monitoring, identity restoration support, and up to $1 million in Identity Theft Insurance. A free trial of Dashlane Premium, as well as plan and pricing details, is available on Dashlane.com.

About Dashlane

Dashlane simplifies and secures your digital identityall your personal information that lives online. Across all platforms and devices, the intuitive Dashlane app automatically fills and stores passwords, personal data, and payment details to help you manage, monitor, and protect your digital identity. Available in 11 languages and trusted by 10+ million people in 180 countries (and growing), it's the complete, global solution for living safely and seamlessly onlineat home, at work, and everywhere in between.

With offices in New York City and Paris, Dashlane has raised $54 million in venture funding to create a safe and effortless solution for all citizens of the digital world. Learn more at dashlane.com.

SOURCE Dashlane

Related Links

http://www.dashlane.com

The recently released comedy-drama "Dying to Survive" has caused quite a stir across China. In the movie, a peddler of Indian god oils accidentally becomes the exclusive agent for a generic version of a costly drug used to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). The story unfolds with the law and humanity inextricably woven together. The hero of the movie is called "a god of drugs" by CML patients, but in reality, in the face of disease, nobody has the power of a god. While a good-hearted person does deserve respect, it is effective governance that truly holds the key to people's health.

As a matter of fact, thanks to the government's efforts, the cost of the imported drug mentioned in the movie is now covered by health insurance in 19 provincial regions. In addition, earlier this year, China decided to remove tariffs on imported drugs, accelerate domestic approvals of drugs recently approved in overseas markets, improve the monitoring of drugs prone to short supply, and increase storage to better guarantee drug supplies. All of these measures are aimed at the same goal  to make the health of the people the top priority.

Responding to heated public debate about the movie, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has called for the government to move faster to reduce the price and ensure the supply of anti-cancer drugs.

When it comes to providing affordable healthcare services, in addition to selling medicines at lower prices, more attention must be given to the essential role of the health insurance system. China has made notable progress over the past 10 years. Previously, only 30 percent of the country's population was covered by insurance plans, forcing many people, particularly in rural areas, to stay home and suffer the pain caused by illnesses because they couldn't afford the cost of medical care. Now, however, more than 1.3 billion people enjoy basic insurance coverage.

China's health insurance system, which now covers almost the entire population of the country, has been applauded in some media reports as the "largest social welfare plan in the history of mankind." China is a developing country, and with the largest population in the world, it hasn't finished fighting its battle against poverty. The Chinese government needs the courage to launch even more reform plans. As it is well-known, such reforms will alter the existing interests' distribution pattern. It is easy to fail if the focus is put on debating how to balance the interests and satisfy every single demand. Luckily, China has underlined the most underdeveloped group in this process, delivering a stronger sense of security, of gain, and of happiness to the Chinese people.

China Mosaic

http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm

Effective governance holds key to ensuring people's health

http://www.china.org.cn/video/2018-07/26/content_57827152.htm

About China.org.cn

Founded in 2000, China Internet Information Center (China.org.cn/China.com.cn) is a key state news website under the auspices of the State Council Information Office, and is managed by China International Publishing Group. We provide round-the-clock news service in ten languages. With users from more than 200 countries and regions, we have become China's leading multi-lingual news outlet introducing the country to the outside world.

We are one of the country's authoritative outlets for government press releases and are authorized to cover various major events. "Live Webcast" is our online webcasting service to present State Council Information Office press conferences in both Chinese and English languages. We are reputed for timely and accurate delivery of news and information, and wide interactions with audiences. In addition, we are authorized to publish and live broadcast major events and press conferences of ministries, local government agencies and institutions as well as enterprises.

In the era of mobile internet, we endeavor to create an array of products for mobile devices headed by the multilingual WAP platform and the mobile APP. We also use Chinese and international social media to publish information for different user groups.

In the future, CIIC will continue to offer authoritative information about China, tell China's stories, voice China's opinions, and introduce a vivid, panoramic and multicultural China to the world through multi-language, multi-media and multi-platforms.

SOURCE China.org.cn

Related Links

http://China.org.cn

NEW YORK, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Engagement Labs (TSXV: EL) (OTCQB: ELBSF), an industry-leading data and analytics firm that focuses on the entire social ecosystem and its impact on business, today released its TotalSocial ranking of the top automotive brands in the U.S. based on social influence.

The analysis is unique in that it combines offline and online consumer conversations and is based on Engagement Labs' proprietary TotalSocial data and analytics, which continuously measures the most important drivers of brand performance in both face-to-face (offline) and social media (online) conversations. The brands in the top ten have earned the highest TotalSocial scores in the category for the last six months, compared to the Company's previous ranking in October 2017.

Top 10 TotalSocial Automotive Brands Rank Change 1. Lamborghini +3 2. Toyota +1 3. BMW +4 4. Audi +1 5. Subaru +8 6. Ferrari -5 7. Mercedes-Benz -1 8. Lexus No change 9. Jeep +5 10. Tesla Motors -8 Source: Engagement Labs TotalSocial Top 10 Automotive Brands

6 months ending May 2018 compared to 6 months ending August

2017.

Luxury automotive brand Lamborghini rose to the top spot in the ranking, from its previous position at number four, due to an increase in online sentiment and offline influencedemonstrating that consumers are talking more positively about the brand via social media, while a more influential group of consumers are spreading the word about the brand in face-to-face conversations. In December 2017, the brand announced its new SUV that is set to hit the market this summer, marking the first time Lamborghini has included an SUV in its product line in more than 20 years.

BMW, another brand which saw an increase in online sentiment and influence, bumped up to third place in the top ten from its previous ranking as number seven. The company recently engaged its most influential consumers through the launch of its subscription service, "Access by BMW," a pilot program which offers its members access to a diverse fleet of BMW vehicles in exchange for a monthly subscription fee.

The biggest improvement among the top ten came from Subaru, which moved up the ranks by eight spots all the way to fifth place due to a spike in both online and offline sentiment. Customers of Subaru are known to be fiercely loyal to the brand, and its popular "Share the Love" campaign, which is in its tenth year, includes a donation to a charity of the customer's choice when they purchase a Subaru.

"What's most striking about the TotalSocial automotive rankings is that Toyota is the only true mass-market brand that made it into the top tenwhich is missing the big American automakers such as Ford, Chevrolet, and Chrysler," said Ed Keller, CEO of Engagement Labs. "The brands that moved up in the rankings generally have a story to tell, and without a story it's hard for a brand to make its way into consumer conversations, even when you have a ton of customers as the mass-market brands do."

While many brands saw an increase and were lifted higher in the ranking, others didn't fare as well. For example, Ferrari fell from first place in the ranking down to sixth place. The luxury automaker dropped due to a large decline in the number of influential consumers talking about the brand via social media and face-to-face conversations, as measured by Engagement Labs' online and offline influence scores. Meanwhile, Honda, which recently reported trouble with sales of its 2018 Accord, fell out of the top ten ranking completely due to a decline in online and offline influence, placing it at number 15.

In addition, Tesla dropped from its number two spot from the previous ranking down to number ten. Tesla's decline in the top ten can be attributed primarily to a decrease in online sentiment. The brand failed to generate positive conversations in light of its recent controversies surrounding production issues with its Model 3 as well as another death linked to the company's autopilot system.

To learn more about Engagement Labs and how to increase your brand's word of mouth in real life and online, reach out at: [email protected].

About Engagement Labs

Engagement Labs (TSXV: EL) (OTCQB: ELBSF) is an industry-leading data and analytics firm that provides social intelligence for Fortune 500 brands and companies. The Company's TotalSocial platform focuses on the entire social ecosystem by combining powerful online (social media) and offline (word of mouth) data with predictive analytics. Engagement Labs has a proprietary ten-year database of unique brand, industry and competitive intelligence, matched with its cutting-edge predictive analytics that use machine learning and artificial intelligence to reveal the social metrics that increase marketing ROI and top line revenue for its diverse group of clients.

To learn more visit www.engagementlabs.com / www.totalsocial.com.

About TotalSocial

TotalSocial is a premier data and analytics platform that provides brands with unique insights, improved marketing ROI and strategies to grow revenue. Fueled by actionable online and offline data, TotalSocial is the only platform that encompasses and listens to the entire social ecosystem. TotalSocial offers unique, proprietary data about brands, its industry and competitors. With cutting-edge diagnostics, patent-pending predictive analytics and machine learning, TotalSocial identifies business opportunities and provides recommendations and a roadmap to grow revenue and achieve business and marketing goals.

For media inquiries please contact:

Kate Tumino / Amrita Singh

KCSA Strategic Communications

[email protected] / [email protected]

212-896-1252 / 212-896-1207

SOURCE Engagement Labs

Related Links

engagementlabs.com

NSUI chief claimed that ever since BJP has come to power in Goa, it has tried to impose right-wing ideology in minds of people.

NSUI chief Ahraz Mulla said that the student body will meet Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar over the issue.

Panaji: The National Student's Union of India (NSUI) has claimed that a photograph of former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru has been replaced by that of pro-Hindutva activist and freedom fighter, Vinayak Savarkar, in Class 10 social science textbooks in Goa.

The chief of NSUI, the student wing of the Congress Party, claimed that ever since the BJP has come to power in Goa, it has tried to impose a right-wing ideology in the minds of people.

"The BJP has been trying to put Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideology in our minds, ever since they've come to power in Goa," NSUI chief Ahraz Mulla told news agency ANI.

Mulla said that the student body will meet Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar over the issue.

"Tomorrow, they'll (BJP) remove the photo of Mahatma Gandhi and question us what the Congress has done in 60 years. We'll meet Goa CM (Parrikar), but if he also follows RSS ideology and doesn't put Jawaharlal Nehru's photograph back, we will take to the streets and protest," he said.

The Class 10 textbook titled "India and the Contemporary World II - Democratic Politics" contained a photograph of Nehru, which has been replaced with a coloured photo of Savarkar.NEW YORK, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York ("FHLBNY") today released its unaudited financial highlights for the quarter ended June 30, 2018.

"Through the first half of 2018, the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York has successfully continued our mission of providing liquidity to our members and supporting the economic, housing and community developments needs of the communities we serve," said Jose R. Gonzalez, president and CEO of the FHLBNY. "Our strong performance through the first six months of the year continues to position us as a stable and reliable partner for our members."

Highlights from the second quarter of 2018 include:

Net income for the quarter was $155.2 million , an increase of $24.3 million , or 18.6 percent, from net income of $130.9 million for the second quarter of 2017. This increase in net income was driven primarily by an increase in advances income. Return on average equity ("ROE") for the quarter was 8.05 percent (annualized), compared to ROE of 6.99 percent for the second quarter of 2017.

, an increase of , or 18.6 percent, from net income of for the second quarter of 2017. This increase in net income was driven primarily by an increase in advances income. Return on average equity ("ROE") for the quarter was 8.05 percent (annualized), compared to ROE of 6.99 percent for the second quarter of 2017. As of June 30, 2018 , total assets were $156.6 billion , a decrease of $2.3 billion , or 1.4 percent, from total assets of $158.9 billion at December 31 , 2017. This decrease in total assets was driven primarily by lower advances balances during the period. As of June 30, 2018 , advances were $110.8 billion , a decrease of $11.6 billion , or 9.5 percent, from $122.4 billion at December 31 , 2017. This decrease was partly offset by increases in securities purchased under agreements to sell, federal funds sold and trading securities for a total of $8.9 billion .

, total assets were , a decrease of , or 1.4 percent, from total assets of at , 2017. This decrease in total assets was driven primarily by lower advances balances during the period. As of , advances were , a decrease of , or 9.5 percent, from at , 2017. This decrease was partly offset by increases in securities purchased under agreements to sell, federal funds sold and trading securities for a total of . As of June 30, 2018 , total capital was $7.9 billion , a decrease of $318.0 million from total capital of $8.2 billion at December 31 , 2017. The FHLBNY's retained earnings increased by $79.1 million to $1.6 billion as of June 30, 2018 , of which $1.1 billion were unrestricted retained earnings and $535.5 million were restricted retained earnings. At June 30, 2018 , the FHLBNY met its regulatory capital ratios and liquidity requirements.

, total capital was , a decrease of from total capital of at , 2017. The FHLBNY's retained earnings increased by to as of , of which were unrestricted retained earnings and were restricted retained earnings. At , the FHLBNY met its regulatory capital ratios and liquidity requirements. The FHLBNY allocated $17.3 million from its second quarter 2018 earnings for its Affordable Housing Program.

The FHLBNY currently expects to file its Form 10-Q for the second quarter of 2018 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on or before August 10, 2018.

Federal Home Loan Bank of New York

The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York is a Congressionally chartered, wholesale Bank. It is part of the Federal Home Loan Bank System, a national wholesale banking network of 11 regional, stockholder-owned banks. As of June 30, 2018, the FHLB of New York serves 326 financial institutions in New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Federal Home Loan Banks support the efforts of local members to help provide financing for America's homebuyers.

Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

This report may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based upon our current expectations and speak only as of the date hereof. These statements may use forward-looking terms, such as "projected," "expects," "may," or their negatives or other variations on these terms. The Bank cautions that, by their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk or uncertainty and that actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements or could affect the extent to which a particular objective, projection, estimate, or prediction is realized. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, regulatory and accounting rule adjustments or requirements, changes in interest rates, changes in projected business volumes, changes in prepayment speeds on mortgage assets, the cost of our funding, changes in our membership profile, the withdrawal of one or more large members, competitive pressures, shifts in demand for our products, and general economic conditions. We undertake no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason.

CONTACT: Eric Amig

(212) 441-6807

Brian Finnegan

(212) 441-6877

SOURCE Federal Home Loan Bank of New York

Related Links

http://www.fhlbny.com

TSX-V: NDR

VANCOUVER, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - New Dimension Resources Ltd. (TSXV: NDR) (the "Company" or "New Dimension") is pleased to announce that the Phase I diamond drill program targeting high-grade silver(-gold) mineralization at the Los Cisnes Project (Figure 1) has now been completed. This represents the first drill program to be undertaken by New Dimension since the acquisition of the Santa Cruz Portfolio of 3 advanced-stage gold-silver projects from Sandstorm Gold Ltd (TSX: SSL,NYSE: SAND) in May, 2018.

Highlights

 A total of 16 diamond drill holes for 1,564m were completed at the Los Cisnes Project, which is located 75km southwest of Yamana Gold Inc's high-grade Cerro Moro gold-silver mine.  Assays support both down-dip and along-strike extensions to the high-grade silver mineralization reported by a previous operator (Mariana Resources Ltd, or "Mariana")  Two step-back holes (LCsD-14 and LCsD-18) were drilled to Mariana's scout drill hole LCsD-09, with its reported intercept of 2.9m @ 755 g/t Ag from 32.1m downhole (including 0.9m @ 1,400 g/t Ag1) (Figures 2 & 3). Both New Dimension drill holes successfully intersected down-dip extensions to the high-grade silver mineralization in LCsD-09:



LCsD-14: 4.4m @ 566 g/t Ag from 100.3m downhole



(60m step-back) Including 1m @ 740 g/t Ag from 102.0 m downhole and 0.8m @ 1,653 g/t





Ag from 103m downhole



LCsD-18: 4.4m @ 123 g/t Ag from 47.6m downhole



(15m step-back) Including 0.8m @ 276 g/t Ag from 49.2m downhole  Two step-out holes to LCsD-09 (LCsD-20 and LCsD-15), designed to test for lateral extensions to the previously reported interval of 2.9m @ 755 g/t Ag1, also returned high-grade silver intercepts:



LCsD-20: 2.0m @ 381 g/t Ag from 39.0m downhole



(39m West) Including 0.8m @ 528 g/t Ag from 39.0 m downhole



LCsD-15: (33m E) 1.8m @ 182 g/t Ag from 59.7m downhole

Eric Roth, New Dimension's CEO, commented today: "I am delighted to be reporting the first assays from our Phase I Santa Cruz Diamond Drill Program. These initial results have confirmed extensions to the known high-grade silver mineralization at our Los Cisnes Project, especially in the vicinity of the scout drill hole LCsD-09 completed by Mariana in 2015. Results from our step-back hole LCsD-14 - a 60m down-dip extension of the LCsD-09 mineralization - are particularly significant, as it includes a very high-grade interval assaying 0.8m @ 1,653 g/t Ag. No drilling has been completed beneath this level, so potential still exists for extending this high-grade silver mineralization to >60m vertically below surface."

Link to figures:

https://newdimensionresources.com/site/assets/news/2018_07_Los_Cisnes_Figures.pdf

A brief video demonstrating the 3D geometry of the Brio vein/breccia system and the 2018 drill results is also available at https://vimeo.com/adnet/review/281316337/c2f782cb22

Los Cisnes Project Overview and 2018 Drill Results

High-grade silver(-gold) values were identified at Los Cisnes from previous channel sampling and scout diamond drilling on the Brio vein/breccia system. Brio is a quartz-sulfide(-Fe-oxide) vein/breccia system which strikes ENE, can be traced on surface for approximately 2.3km, and is up to 3m wide. In 2015, 8 scout diamond drill holes for 723m were completed along the Brio structure, with the best intercept being 2.9m @ 755 g/t Ag from 32.1m downhole in LCsD-091.

Summaries of the assay results received and technical data for the 2018 Los Cisnes drill holes are given in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. Mineralized intercepts at Brio are defined by quartz-Fe-oxide(-pyrite-acanthite or Ag 2 S)-style mineralization in a subvertical vein/vein breccia system (Figure 4). A potential N-S cross structure to the main Brio structure (and identified from ground magnetic data) in the LCsD-9 area will also now be reviewed in further detail as this may also represent a significant new target for further exploration at Los Cisnes. Host rocks to the Los Cisnes mineralization are dominated by an upper sequence of welded ignimbrites and a lower sequence of dominantly lithic ignimbrites.

Table 1. Summary of assay results for Los Cisnes 2018 drilling

Drill Hole From (m) To (m) Intercept

(m) True

Width

(m)* Ag g/t Au g/t Comments LCsD-14 100.3 104.7 4.4 4.1 566 0.31 Step-back

to LCsD-09 Including 102.0 103.0 1.0 0.9 740 0.98 Including 103.0 103.8 0.8 0.7 1,653 0.20 LCsD-15 59.7 61.5 1.8 1.6 182 0.24 Step-out E

to LCsD-09 and 73.0 75.0 2.0 1.8 75 0.02 LCsD-16 NSR









Step-out E LCsD-17 67.5 71.4 3.9 3.5 12 0.01 Brio LCsD-18 47.6 52.0 4.4 4.2 123 0.04 Step back

to LCsD-09 Including 49.2 50.0 0.8 0.7 276 0.08 LCsD-19 55.5 56.5 1.0 0.9 56 0.09 Brio LCsD-20 39.0 41.0 2.0 1.8 381 0.12 Step-out W to LCsD-

09 Including 39.0 39.8 0.8 0.7 528 0.23 LCsD-21 20.7 21.0 0.3 0.27 58 0.91 Brio and 84.0 88.0 4.0 3.6 28 0.03 LCsD-22 NSR









Brio LCsD-23 62.0 66.0 4.0 3.6 23 0.02 Brio LCsD-24 22.0 26.0 4.0 3.6 33 0.05 Brio LCsD-25 NSR









Brio LCsD-26 111.0 114.5 3.5 3.1 51 0.03 Brio LCsD-27 NSR









Brio LCsD-28 NSR









Brio LCsD-29 34.0 37.0 3.0 2.7 10 0.04 Brio NSR = Ag values < 15 g/t, Au values < 0.02 g/t, *Estimated true width

Quality Control and Assurance

Mineralized intervals presented in Table 1 are drill intersection widths and may not represent true widths of mineralization. Drill core obtained from the diamond drill program is HQ-sized. All drill core was photographed and quick logged prior to sampling. Standard sampling protocol involved the halving of all drill core and sampling over intervals determined by geology (and generally not exceeding 1m in clearly mineralized sections), with one half of the core being placed in a sealed sample bag and dispatched to the analytical laboratory for analysis. Samples were dispatched to Alex Stewart's sample preparation facility in Puerto San Julian, with pulps subsequently being sent to the Alex Stewart's analytical lab in Mendoza. All samples have been analysed for gold using a 50g Fire Assay with AAS finish (Analysis AU4-50), in addition to a 39 element ICP-AES analysis of an aqua regia digest (Analysis ICP-AR-39). Standards and blanks were inserted in to the analytical sequence on the basis of one standard plus one blank for every 25 samples.

Los Cisnes 2018 Drill Holes  Technical Data

Technical data relating to the 2018 drilling at the Los Cisnes Project are given in Table 2.

Table 2. Summary of technical data for the Los Cisnes 2018 Drill Program

Hole ID Easting Northing Elevation

(m) Azimuth Dip (degrees) Depth (m) Assays LCsD-14 642,540 4,622,149 16 190 -70 108.0 Received LCsD-15 642,574 4,622,149 16 190 -65 100.5 Received LCsD-16 642,583 4,622,198 16 190 -65 206.0 Received LCsD-17 642,618 4,622,154 16 190 -65 78.0 Received LCsD-18 642,540 4,622,145 16 190 -50 71.0 Received LCsD-19 642,665 4,622,156 19 190 -50 68.0 Received LCsD-20 642,499 4,622,123 16 190 -50 75.0 Received LCsD-21 642,466 4,622,147 16 190 -45 100.0 Received LCsD-22 642,416 4,622,186 14 190 -50 98.0 Received LCsD-23 642,725 4,622,183 23 190 -45 131.0 Received LCsD-24 642,935 4,622,255 26 190 -50 95.0 Received LCsD-25 642,770 4,622,180 22 180 -50 80.0 Received LCsD-26 643,410 4,622,420 20 180 -45 125.0 Received LCsD-27 643,540 4,622,355 15 180 -45 47.0 Received LCsD-28 643,254 4,622,351 24 180 -50 86.0 Received LCsD-29 642,885 4,622,271 24 180 -50 95.0 Received

Las Calandrias Drill Update

Drilling has also been completed at the Las Calandrias Project, where a total of 25 drill holes for 3,708m were completed. The 2018 drill program at Las Calandrias focused on extending known high-grade gold mineralization in the Calandria Norte resource area, in addition to extending high-grade gold mineralization in the sub-parallel Morena vein/breccia system. Core logging and sampling of the 25 Las Calandrias drill holes are well advanced, with first assays expected to become available during August, 2018.

Ontario-based consulting group AGP Mining Consultants Inc. has also been engaged to prepare an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Las Calandrias Project. This MRE will incorporate assay data from both historical and current drilling at Las Calandrias, and is currently scheduled for release in mid-September, 2018.

Health, Safety, and Environmental (HSE)

No HSE incidents have been reported during the current drill program.

Sierra Blanca and Regional Prospects

Drill target generation activities at the Sierra Blanca Project will continue in parallel with the current drill program at Las Calandrias and Los Cisnes. However, the drill testing of high grade targets at Sierra Blanca is not expected to occur before Q4, 2018, at the earliest. Reconnaissance activities on the Company's Regional Prospects are also anticipated to restart after the termination of the Patagonian winter.

1 A potential investor should not place undue reliance on these historical results when making an investment decision, nor should they be used as the sole criterion for making investment decisions. There is no assurance that the Company can reproduce such results, or that the historical results described therein will be realized.

2 The formula for AuEq70 = Au assay in g/t + (silver assay in g/t divided by 70), and assuming 100% metallurgical recovery.

On Behalf of the Board of New Dimension Resources Ltd.

"Eric Roth"

___________________________

Eric Roth, Ph.D., FAusIMM

President & CEO

About New Dimension Resources

New Dimension is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of quality mineral resource properties throughout the Americas, with a focus on precious metals. The Company's current focus is on the discovery through drilling of new high-grade gold-silver resources at its 100%-owned Las Calandrias, Los Cisnes and Sierra Blanca projects, all located in the highly prospective Deseado Massif of Santa Cruz Province, southern Argentina. The Company also holds an option on the Savant Lake gold project in Ontario, together with an active JV interest (with Yamana Gold) in the Domain gold project in Manitoba.

Qualified Persons and Disclosure Statement

The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements set out in NI 43-101, and approved by Eric Roth, the Company's President & CEO, a director and a Qualified Person under NI 43-101.

Cautionary Notes and Forward-looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Such statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the future results of operations, performance and achievements of New Dimension, including the timing, completion of and results from the drill programs described in this release. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurances that such expectations will prove to be correct. All such forward-looking information is based on certain assumptions and analyses made by New Dimension in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors management believes are appropriate in the circumstances. This information, however, is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from this forward-looking information include those described under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in New Dimension s most recently filed MD&A. New Dimension does not intend, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or revise the forward-looking information contained in this news release, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release does not constitute an offer to purchase securities. The securities to be offered in the Private Placement have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the benefit or account of, a U.S. person, except pursuant to an available exemption from such registration requirements.

SOURCE New Dimension Resources Ltd.

Related Links

www.newdimensionresources.com

The event will kick-off early in the morning with a massive power washing of all the main street concrete sidewalks and brick pavers. While downtown dries, the community will attempt to set the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title with a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS adjudicator on hand to verify the attempt.

That afternoon, PLANT PORTSMOUTH volunteers will paint light poles, street signs, street curbs and will line the roads that are set be repaved. To preserve their accomplishment, volunteers will reinforce and seal the brick. Finally, volunteers will cap the event by planting US flags from each downtown light pole to remind Portsmouth citizens that it was once considered an All-American City, and it will be again!

"In one day, the image of our downtown will change immediately so we can start believing in ourselves again. Our downtown currently feels like it looks. Weeds, corrosion, and desolation," says event chairperson and local attorney, Jeremy Burnside. "It looks like the despair that the national media has been reporting about us."

Portsmouth, Ohio has been in the national spotlight for over a decade due to the devastating effects from the rise and fall of its "pill mills." In the early 2000s, these self-proclaimed pain management clinics funneled several million pills annually into this town of approximately 20,000 citizens. Once the government shut them down, the pills fell on the black market, allowing heroin and deadlier drugs to take over. Portsmouth's significance in the national opioid epidemic spotlight has been featured in books, national television exposes and several articles in national media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Chicago Tribune.

"Our hope is that an epic one-day downtown transformation and setting a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title will encourage outsiders, including businesses, to plant Portsmouth as a destination for business relocation, tourism, and raising a family. For those of us who live and work here, we aim to plant Portsmouth pride back in our hearts so that it grows."

In just three weeks, PLANT PORTSMOUTH has raised over $50,000 from business sponsors. These sponsors have agreed to provide a team of workers for the block they agreed to revitalize. The event organizers forecast raising nearly $100,000 toward the efforts and plan to donate any remaining proceeds to a town ambassador program, to preserve the work and hope that the event envisions.

Additional information can be found at plantportsmouth.com.

SOURCE Friends of PortsmouthHOUSTON, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Gastar Exploration Inc. (NYSE American: GST) ("Gastar") announced today that it will release its second quarter 2018 results on Thursday, August 9, 2018 after the market closes. In conjunction with the release, Gastar has scheduled a conference call for 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time (8:00 a.m. Central Time) on Friday, August 10, 2018. Investors may participate in the call either by phone or audio webcast.

By Phone: Dial 1-412-902-0030 at least 10 minutes before the call. A telephone replay will be available through August 24th by dialing 1-201-612-7415 and using the conference ID: 13682045.



By Webcast: Visit the Investor Relations page of Gastar's website at www.gastar.com under "Events & Presentations." Please log on a few minutes in advance to register and download any necessary software. A replay will be available shortly after the call.

For more information, please contact Donna Washburn at Dennard Lascar Investor Relations at 713-529-6600 or e-mail at [email protected].

About Gastar Exploration

Gastar Exploration Inc. is a pure play Mid-Continent independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of oil, condensate, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Gastar's principal business activities include the identification, acquisition, and subsequent exploration and development of oil and natural gas properties with an emphasis on unconventional reserves, such as shale resource plays. Gastar holds a concentrated acreage position in the normally pressured oil window of the STACK Play, an area of central Oklahoma that is home to multiple oil and natural gas-rich reservoirs including the Meramec and Osage limestone formations, the Oswego limestone, the Woodford shale and Hunton limestone formations. For more information, visit Gastar's website at www.gastar.com.

Contacts:

Gastar Exploration Inc.

Michael A. Gerlich, Chief Financial Officer

713-739-1800 / [email protected]

Investor Relations Counsel:

Lisa Elliott / [email protected]

Dennard Lascar Investor Relations: 713-529-6600

SOURCE Gastar Exploration Inc.

Related Links

http://www.gastar.com

ATLANTA, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Georgia Power is continuing to grow renewable energy in Georgia through the Renewable Energy Development Initiative (REDI), originally approved by the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) in 2016. The company is now accepting bids for new solar distributed generation (DG) projects through a Request for Proposal (RFP) for more than 100 megawatts (MW) as part of the REDI.

"We are committed to developing cost-effective renewable resources through a competitive bidding process that continues to evolve and improve based on our experience," said Wilson Mallard, director of Renewable Development for Georgia Power. "Renewable energy is thriving in Georgia and we are excited to begin receiving, reviewing and selecting new projects that provide the most value to our customers."

Georgia Power is soliciting eligible projects that will range from 1-kilowatt (kW) installations up to 3-MW solar farms. Interested parties are invited to review terms of the RFP and submit projects here by noon on August 15.

The company also encourages customers who do not participate in the REDI program to consider optional programs such as Georgia Power Community Solar and Simple Solar. Community Solar gives residential customers who subscribe the opportunity to earn a bill credit based on actual solar energy production at Georgia Power's Community Solar facilities. The Simple Solar program is a solar renewable energy credit (REC) purchase program available to all customers that allows participants to claim solar benefits for either 50 percent or 100 percent of their energy usage.

Through programs and projects developed in coordination with the Georgia PSC, Georgia Power is committed to maintaining a diverse generation portfolio while providing all customers with renewable energy options. With 970 MW* of solar capacity currently online, the company continues to have the largest voluntary renewable portfolio in the nation. Through continued development of REDI, as well as other solar projects and programs, Georgia Power expects to add up to 1,600 MW* of additional renewable capacity by the end of 2021.

To learn more about Georgia Power's various solar programs, as well as solar tools and resources for customers, visit www.GeorgiaPower.com/Solar.

* REC Disclaimer: Georgia Power purchases only the null energy output from some renewable generating facilities that have contracted to sell that energy to Georgia Power. Ownership of the associated RECs is specified in each respective power purchase agreement. The party that owns the RECs retains the right to use them.

About Georgia Power

Georgia Power is the largest electric subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), America's premier energy company. Value, Reliability, Customer Service and Stewardship are the cornerstones of the Company's promise to 2.5 million customers in all but four of Georgia's 159 counties. Committed to delivering clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy at rates below the national average, Georgia Power maintains a diverse, innovative generation mix that includes nuclear, coal and natural gas, as well as renewables such as solar, hydroelectric and wind. Georgia Power focuses on delivering world-class service to its customers every day and the Company is consistently recognized by J.D. Power and Associates as an industry leader in customer satisfaction. For more information, visit www.GeorgiaPower.com and connect with the Company on Facebook (Facebook.com/GeorgiaPower), Twitter (Twitter.com/GeorgiaPower) and Instagram (Instagram.com/ga_power).

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information contained in this release is forward-looking information based on current expectations and plans that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking information includes, among other things, statements concerning expected renewable growth. Georgia Power cautions that there are certain factors that can cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information that has been provided. The reader is cautioned not to put undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is not a guarantee of future performance and is subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the control of Georgia Power; accordingly, there can be no assurance that such suggested results will be realized. The following factors, in addition to those discussed in Georgia Power's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, and subsequent securities filings, could cause actual results to differ materially from management expectations as suggested by such forward-looking information: the ability to control costs and avoid cost overruns during the development and construction of generating facilities, to construct facilities in accordance with the requirements of permits and licenses, to satisfy any environmental performance standards and the requirements of tax credits and other incentives, and to integrate facilities into the Southern Company system upon completion of construction; and potential business strategies, including acquisitions or dispositions of assets or businesses, which cannot be assured to be completed or beneficial to Georgia Power. Georgia Power expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking information.

SOURCE Georgia Power

Related Links

http://www.georgiapower.com

ALBANY, New York, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research titled "Glass Tableware Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 2018 - 2026," the global glass tableware market is expected to reach US$ 10.5 Bn by 2026, expanding at a CAGR of 2.9% from 2018 to 2026. Asia Pacific held the highest market share in the glass tableware market in 2017.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/664869/Transparency_Market_Research_Logo.jpg )



Glass tableware comprises cutlery and cookware made of glass and are used for serving food while dining, and is a part of table setting. Glass tableware is becoming an integral part of both commercial and household kitchens since the last few years. The emergence of middle class population is driving the revenue growth of the glass tableware market at the global level. The change in purchasing power and rising standard of living of the growing middle-class population is playing a pivotal role in shaping the demand for glass tableware products.

Request a Brochure for Research Insights at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=763

Increase in disposable income in emerging countries and growing middle class population presents large opportunities in the glass tableware market. This is because the young generation with high income prefers to buy luxury casual products rather than traditional products. Rise in the middle class population with better income opportunities will increase per capita income globally, with higher spending on casual house-ware products such as glass tableware products. Plastic tableware products will be replaced by glass tableware products in the long term due to increase in health awareness among the educated middle class and rise in emphasis on usage of environment friendly, recyclable, and biodegradable products.

Increase in the number of online and offline sales channels have made distribution easier for manufacturers. The well-organized retail industry helps manufacturers to reduce their efforts required to distribute goods and sell products at competitive prices. Moreover, it helps manufacturers to advertise their products under one roof, thereby reducing their advertising and marketing costs.

Request a PDF Sample at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=763

Increase in demand for glass tableware products can be mainly attributed to the rise in standard of living of consumers, especially in the developing countries. Demand for a better lifestyle has stimulated the demand for glass tableware products. Further, market players are focused on penetrating the developing countries for their business expansion owing to the rising standard of living of people in these countries, which depicts business potential.

The glass tableware industry needs to maintain high temperatures at their production units. When gas pressure or voltage is low, the desired level of temperature reduces and it takes a long time to get back to its original position. Low temperature affects the quality and color of glass and increases the cost of production. Quality can be improved greatly by having a controlled temperature. Correct temperature provides optimum surface finish and dimensional stability through improved physical properties.

Request for Customization Report at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=CR&rep_id=763

The glass tableware market is growing and demand for glass tableware products is gradually changing from formal to casual. This shift in consumer behavior has induced glass tableware manufacturers to engage in research and development activities to introduce new products. Technological advancements will allow manufacturers to reduce cosmetic and functional flaws. Hence, technological innovation is expected to present significant opportunities in the glass tableware market.

By product, the beverageware segment which includes tea pots, coffee/tea jugs, pitchers, and coffee brewers is expected to have the highest CAGR of 3.1% from 2018 to 2026. Rise in the consumption of alcohol in the U.S. backed by higher spending rates is resulting in the growth of the beverageware market. Coffee jugs held the largest market share in the beverageware segment compared to tea pots and is expected to remain the same over the forecast period. This is due to the high consumption of coffee in the U.S. Tableware segment which includes glass, cups, and mugs is expected to have a CAGR of 2.9% over the forecast timeframe.

Download Report TOC for in-depth analysis at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/report-toc/763

Asia Pacific accounted for 33.42% of the global glass tableware market in 2014 and is anticipated to continue its dominance over the forecast timeline. Europe has the largest middle class population in the world, followed by Asia Pacific and North America. The middle class population in Asia Pacific is expected to rise due to economic development in this region. The consumption rate of glass tableware products is higher in EMEA and Asia Pacific as compared to other regions.

The glass tableware industry is fragmented across the world. Companies are developing innovative products to retain their market share. Some of the industry participants of the global glass tableware market are Libbey Inc., ARC International S.A., Anchor Hocking LLC, Sisecam Group, Bormioli Rocco SpA, Wuerttembergische Metallwarenfabrik AG, Lenox Corporation, World Kitchen LLC, LaOpala R.G. Ltd. Borosil Glass Works Ltd., Kavalier Glass A.S., and Termisil Huta Szkla Wolomin S.A.

Request for Discount on this Report at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=D&rep_id=763

Market Segmentation

Global Glass Tableware Market, by Product

Beverageware Tea Pots Coffee/ Tea Jugs Pitchers Coffee Brewers

Tableware Glass Cups Mugs

Baby Bottles

Others Cookpots Roasters Casseroles Bakeware Bowl Food Warmer Measuring Jugs



Global Glass Tableware Market, by Geography

North America

U.S.

Europe

UK

Germany

France

Benelux

Italy

CIS

Rest of CIS

Russia

NORDIC

Asia Pacific

China

India

Japan

Middle East & Africa

& UAE

Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa

Latin America

Brazil

Popular Research Reports by TMR:

Baby Bottles Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2018 - 2026;

https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/baby-bottles-market.html

Bakeware Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2017 - 2025; https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/bakeware-market.html

About Us

Transparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. Our 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.

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Transparency Market Research

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SOURCE Transparency Market ResearchTORONTO, July 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Georgian Bay Great Lakes Foundation (GBGLF) issues an alert and calls for Ohio and US EPA to begin Grass Carp eradication measures immediately.

GBGLF Chair, Mary Muter, returned on June 22 from the annual conference of International Association of Great Lakes Researchers (IAGLR) with disturbing news: The Invasion has started! Grass Carp is reproducing in two Ohio rivers that flow into Lake Erie, and 10 individuals have now moved upstream into Lake Huron. These fish are very hard to catch because they elude traditional fishing nets. If 10 have been found in Lake Huron, there are likely more present. The largest Grass Carp caught in Lake Erie was 130 cm (51.2 in.), weighed 32.7 kg. (72 lbs.) Their voracious feeding can rapidly wipe out all the plants in a wetland, leaving nothing to nourish or protect native fish species.

A 2017 binational, peer-reviewed risk assessment completed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the U.S. Geological Survey determined that a Grass Carp invasion into Lake Huron would likely occur within 10 years but stated: "If the rate of arrival increases, the onset and magnitude of risk will increase."

Only one year later, they are in Lake Huron in unknown numbers!

In 2015 a researcher found 8 eggs in the Sandusky River. In 2017 Ohio found there were 7,800 eggs. There is now only a narrow window of opportunity for eradication.

At the IAGLR conference it was clearly stated: "It will take fewer Grass Carp [than the other three types of invasive Asian Carp] to have a substantial impact on Great Lakes ecology". However, Ohio's plan is to continue to catch these very large fish, insert tracking devices, release them live, and then study their movements in order to devise possible "management techniques" to "control" the population rather than eradicate it. With both Ohio and Michigan not planning to eradicate the Grass Carp, this wetlands destroyer is on the verge of becoming established in the Great Lakes. To stop this invasion, it is urgent to implement every possible eradication method now!

Dr. Nicholas Mandrak, Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, recently stated: "These tagging operations confirm what we already suspected, and do not change the basic need to eradicate these harmful invasive fish. They have an obligation to the entire Great Lakes community to begin effective eradication immediately."

Canada is spending up to $20 Million over five years to prevent Grass Carp from establishing in the Canadian Great Lakes waters. It is unacceptable that American agencies are putting the future of our Great Lakes ecosystems at risk by conducting "research projects" in areas already invaded by Grass Carp. They have an obligation to begin immediately a broad range of eradication methods.

Lake Erie commercial fishers are being paid $75 for each Grass Carp that they catch in their nets and last year turned in 116 to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The Grass Carp that they catch in their deep, open-water nets are "by-catch", for these fish seldom frequent deeper waters. There must be much higher numbers along the shorelines, where there are wetlands. Commercial fishers know well that Grass Carp will ultimately destroy the essential wetland spawning and nursery habitats for the native fish they are catching and selling  walleye/pickerel and whitefish.

Tim Purdy, a Canadian Lake Huron commercial fishing operator, caught a metre-long Grass Carp last week in Lake Huron about a mile north of the Bluewater Bridge. A couple of years ago, Tim made a presentation to a Standing Committee in Ottawa indicating that his family's fishery company has been operating since 1900 and he was hoping to be able to pass it on to his children. He expressed his concern that, if these Grass Carp get established, there will be nothing to pass on.

Compelling research by Professor Pat Chow-Fraser of McMaster University has already pointed out that Georgian Bay contains the highest quality, most diverse and extensive wetlands found anywhere in the Great Lakes. "We don't want our wetlands destroyed by these very large invasive fish. Our native fish and other species that need wetlands for spawning, nursery and feeding habitat will be decimated", said Mary Muter, Chair of Georgian Bay Great Lakes Foundation.

An assessment carried out in 2017 found up to 1.2 million acres of wetlands including submerged aquatic plants in the five Great Lakes. Each acre of wetland provides $1,500 annually in ecological services. If all the Great Lakes are invaded by Grass Carp, the cost of the loss of these ecological services could mount to $16.5 Billion per year. Can we afford to let this happen?

What can be done?

We are asking Ohio and Michigan to rethink their study/management strategies and instead implement eradication methods immediately to target and remove all Grass Carp possible, and to employ barriers to prevent successful spawning and egg hatching.

Georgian Bay Great Lakes Foundation



Known for sound scientific research and solutions supporting water levels, water quality, wetlands, the fishery and aquatic invasive species control.

CONTACTS:

Mary Muter, Chair, Georgian Bay Great Lakes Foundation (GBGLF), 416 407 5800, 705 375 2045, [email protected] www.georgianbaygreatlakesfoundation.com

Roy Schatz, Vice Chair, GBGLF, for French language interviews, 416 606 2524

Dr. Nicholas Mandrak: Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, [email protected], 416 208 2248

For more information:

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/csas-sccs/Publications/ResDocs-DocRech/2016/2016_117-eng.html

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/csas-sccs/Publications/ResDocs-DocRech/2016/2016_118-eng.html

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/csas-sccs/Publications/Pro-Cr/2016/2016_052-eng.html

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/csas-sccs/Publications/ResDocs-DocRech/2016/2016_101-eng.html

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/csas-sccs/Publications/ResDocs-DocRech/2016/2016_114-eng.html

http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/csas-sccs/Publications/SAR-AS/2016/2016_057-eng.html

SOURCE Georgian Bay Great Lakes Foundation

Related Links

https://www.georgianbaygreatlakesfoundation.com/

LOS ANGELES, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Grindr announced it will be hosting its first-ever HIV Data Privacy Summit in Los Angeles. The summit, which is slated for late October 2018, will convene HIV/AIDS policy experts and LGBTQ+ community leaders to provide feedback on the recent changes made to Grindr's privacy policy and to develop a set of guiding principles that could be adopted industry-wide to ensure protection and transparency for social app users who self-disclose sexual health information.

"The LGBTQ+ community continues to see the incredible positive outcomes that occur when people are able to share their HIV status," said Jack Harrison-Quintana, vice president of social impact and executive director of Grindr for Equality. "By inviting feedback on our own policy changes and initiating a larger dialogue on privacy needs for self-disclosed sexual health information, we can help ensure users have a safe and secure platform to openly share their status and have conversations online, which we know leads to higher testing rates and further reduces the stigma still attached to HIV status."

Currently, Grindr has confirmed participation interest from several prominent organizations, including AIDS United, the National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC), the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, The New York City Anti-Violence Project and Building Healthy Online Communities (BHOC). Grindr is also in discussion with other leading HIV/AIDS organizations to determine interest and availability for participation.

"It takes courage to disclose one's HIV status publicly. For some, the stigma and fear of violence can keep them from disclosing," said Robert Lopez, manager of data analytics and evaluation at New York City Anti-Violence Project. "The New York City Anti-Violence Project is thrilled to take part in Grindr's HIV Data Privacy Summit to help create measures to ensure every user feels they can safely self-disclose. As more users feel comfortable and safe in disclosing, it will create a culture that destigmatizes HIV. Visibility is a crucial part to ending the epidemic."

The full list of participants, official date and agenda, all of which is being determined in collaboration with participating organizations, will be announced in the weeks leading up to the October 2018 summit.

To request additional information as it becomes available on Grindr's HIV Data Privacy Summit, please contact [email protected].

About Grindr for Equality

Grindr for Equality (G4E) is a program within Grindr focused on the ever-evolving mission to promote justice, health, safety, and more for LGBTQ+ individuals around the globe. G4E works with health, digital rights and LGBTQ+/human rights organizations as well as local community leaders and queer activists to find ways of using the Grindr app, technology and platform to mobilize, inform, protect and empower Grindr users.

G4E has played an important role in a number of LGBTQ+ related causes including helping to advance the cause for legalized same sex marriage in the US and Australia; making Grindr safer for users in places where it's not safe to be out such as the Middle East/North Africa region; and more recently led the initiative to make Grindr more trans inclusive. Jack Harrison-Quintana, Director of Grindr For Equality, is one of Fast Company's 2016 Top 100 Most Creative People in Business and one of Foreign Policy Magazine's 2016 Top Global Thinkers.

About Grindr

With 3.8 million daily active users in every country in the world, Grindr is the largest LGBTQ+ mobile social network. Since its launch in 2009, Grindr has grown to become a fundamental part of users' daily lives globally. The company continues to expand their ecosystem to enable all users to connect to the world around them. Through INTO, a digital content platform for and by the LGBTQ+ community, various events, and experiential opportunities, Grindr is helping users engage across the spectrum.

Headquartered in West Hollywood, California, Grindr is a Certified Transgender-Inclusive Business that encompasses a diverse and passionate family of makers, innovators, leaders, and most importantly, doers. Grindr employees are fueled by an endless curiosity, an ability to embrace change, a respectful and collaborative work environment, and a knack for crossing every finish line. Grindr is proud to have been recognized by Fast Company as one of the ten "Most Innovative Social Media Companies in 2016" and by Forbes as a "model for corporate social responsibility." Grindr is available on the App Store and Google Play.

SOURCE Grindr

Related Links

http://www.grindr.com

"Performance-based has become a buzzword in marketing that has lost its meaning as most companies overpromise on the level of insight they're able to provide with their data or tactics," said Amit Shah, CMO at 1-800-Flowers. "With New Engen, we're able to continuously test, refine and optimize based on thousands of combinations of variables to hyper target our message to the right customers."

Additional clients include industry leaders in health and beauty, retail and ecommerce, finance and B2B. New Engen recently hit high-growth trajectory milestones, doubling its roster of customers in less than a year and increasing its managed ad spend 10X. Rolled out in beta in 2016, the Seattle-based company is rapidly growing with a new office in New York, in addition to offices in San Francisco, Dallas, and Charlotte, and 650 percent employee growth YOY, with 125 employees currently.

"We arm marketers and growth managers with the technology to build and execute campaigns, while testing at a much quicker pace across all digital channels than anyone else in the market. By integrating our proprietary software with experienced marketers and data scientists, we help solve some of the most complex digital marketing challenges," said Dave Atchison, CEO and co-founder of New Engen. "Our technology provides actionable and truly data-driven insights that today's marketers need to run the most cost-effective campaigns."

Amid a number of issues facing the industry, New Engen is growing in the market during a pivotal moment for digital advertising. It's never been more important to ensure a company's message is getting to the right person at the right time. Today, the industry typically focuses on one or two major channels, but that means missing a huge opportunity to capture the attention of the right audience and find new customers. New Engen works with marketing teams so they engage beyond the individual channel level and maximize all emerging or growth platforms cost efficiently. California lawmakers, responding to another recent issue plaguing the industry, passed a data-privacy bill giving consumers the right to prohibit the sale of personal data to third parties and to opt out of sharing their data. New Engen's platform drives digital marketing success without using any third-party data.

Atchison continued, "Marketers and data junkies take a huge risk by assuming that someone else has figured out their audience, instead of executing on great fundamental marketing day-in and day-out, over and over again, relentlessly. Effective performance marketing is all about the fundamentals and involves constantly iterating and analyzing the data to learn what resonates most and what actions to take next."

The founding team - Atchison, Justin Hayashi, and Jean-Guy Speton - leveraged deep expertise in performance-based marketing from zulily to build a solution that scaled through AI. The company has worked across the 12 platforms it currently services, including Facebook, Google (including Shopping and Display), Instagram, YouTube, Bing, Snap and Amazon, to ensure different channels complement - not compete with - one another to optimize each brand's digital budget. New Engen is a Google Premier, Bing Select and Shopify Plus partner.

To learn more about New Engen go to https://www.newengen.com/.

About New Engen

New Engen is a cloud-based, cross-channel performance marketing technology company, arming marketers with the best in data-driven technology and in-house expertise to scale customer acquisition. New Engen's all-in-one platform offers marketers the best tools at every stage of a campaign, from creative concept, to production, bidding, and 24/7 testing and optimization. No longer limiting marketers at the individual channel level, New Engen works across digital platforms including Facebook, Google, Instagram, YouTube, Bing, Snap, Display, and Amazon, to ensure different channels complement - not compete with - one another to optimize each brand's digital budget. New Engen is based in Seattle with offices in New York, San Francisco, Dallas and Charlotte. Learn more at: https://www.newengen.com/.

Video - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/723028/New_Engen_Intro_Vid.mp4

SOURCE New Engen, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.newengen.com

Four Gen-Z students have been awarded the Your Big Year scholarship due to their passion to make an impact in society, authentic presentation and curiosity to learn. The goal of this journey is to give our next wave of leaders the travel experience of a lifetime and spark their desire to make a difference in the future.

Your Big Year takes the winning students on a tour of the U.S. to learn first-hand about our nation's history and our current challenges, from the civil rights movement in Alabama, and the immigration struggles in Texas, to Nashville's influential music legends. Our students, "the travel squad," will spend time with the melting pot of cultures across the country and meet with people from of all walks of life to learn what inspired where they are today.

"We are living in such a divisive time in the U.S. right now, and we need our young leaders to understand their own country and how diverse and beautiful it is," stated Marti Grimminck, the Founder & CEO of International Connector. "If they are to make a difference in the future, our young leaders today need to experience and see for themselves the day-to-day challenges of others as they discover what their big year can be."

The Your Big Year travel squad brings a diversity of experience from their varied backgrounds in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Ohio, and Nepal. Their unique journey will be documented through social posts, chats and tweets, and in a series of short-content webisodes captured by a 20-year-old budding filmmaker from Ithaca College, Andrew Hallenberg.

According to research by Your Big Year's partner Student Youth Travel Association, travel develops vital soft skills for young leaders including empathy, cultural tolerance, emotional intelligence, self-expression, independence and self-esteem, among others. Often overlooked by many young Americans in their early career paths, travel can open new avenues for developing essential skills and discovering interests. With the partners of Your Big Year, we also provide young leaders with tips and tricks to travel within their means, including ways to find jobs to fund the adventure.

Many of the previous Your Big Year Champions have since been propelled onto the global stage and have been awarded elite prizes, scholarships, investment, and most importantly, all have become active global citizens. "Your Big Year was a magical moment for me. It really demonstrated to me how youth from around the world are not given enough access to opportunities to further develop their knowledge and skills, so as to improve their country and the world," stated Your Big Year Champion, Karyssa Zavala from Texas.

Raised by a farmer and a teacher, Karyssa has become a role model in the Latino community. Her passion is to raise health and safety standards for thousands of agricultural workers in the US, Haiti, and Latin America. Her specific area of interest is in international agricultural development involves protecting the human rights of smallholder farmers, particularly women. "That experience [of Your Big Year] and all the people I had the fortune of meeting, is honestly what pushes me to continue on this path."

International Connector is joined by a premier set of partners including: HotelTonight, Virgin Hotels, World Nomads, Student Youth Travel Association, SYTA Youth Foundation, and Smaller Earth. We are supported by Skift, Contiki, GoAbroad, Greenheart Travel, Explore St. Louis, Nashville Music City, Huntsville, In Birmingham, Tulsa, National Parks Conservation Association, HI USA, Lonely Planet, Fly My Group, Flight Sugar, Women's Campaign International, and many local partners in each location.

For more information, follow the adventure on yourbigyear.com, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter @YourBigYear and Facebook

About Your Big Year

Your Big Year is created and produced by International Connector, a San Francisco based innovation and experiential marketing agency specializing in next generation engagement. As a social enterprise, we ignite youth from any and every background to discover their capacity and build their capabilities. Your Big Year has previously run globally with over 100,000 participants across 190 countries and has launched many talented youth onto the global stage.

SOURCE Your Big Year

Related Links

http://yourbigyear.com

The West Bengal chief minister has been trying to stitch together a federal front of regional parties to take on the BJP in the next general election.

New Delhi: A day after Congress indicated that it was open to leaders from other parties be the Prime Ministerial candidate to take on the BJP in 2019, the Trinamul Congress on Wednesday said 2018-19 is the year of think federal and asserted that Mamata Banerjee was one of the most senior leaders in this matrix.

Trinamul Congress national spokesperson Derek OBrien told the media that West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee emerging as one of the front runners for the Prime Ministers post is nothing new.

Highly-placed Congress sources had on Tuesday indicated that the Party was ready to support any candidate, even Ms Banerjee or BSP chief Mayawati, as the Prime Ministerial candidate if the BJP-RSS could be stopped. This 2018-2019. This is the year of think federal. But these things would be decided later. The reality is that everyone is focused on electing a people-centric government and removing the BJP. So, one of the most senior leader in this matrix is Mamata Banerjee, Mr OBrien said.

He continued that Ms Banerjee was not only accepted by the people of West Bengal but also the entire country for her 40 years of political struggle, including as Member of Parliament and the chief minister of the state. The TMC Rajya Sabha MP said the focus of a united Opposition was on spreading the message that the BJP had failed its people and would bring its tally to between 100 and 150 seats.

The West Bengal chief minister has been trying to stitch together a federal front of regional parties to take on the BJP in the next general election. But many in the Opposition have remained sceptical about her efforts.

Ms Banerjee is slated to visit Delhi for three days next week beginning July 31 to personally invite Opposition leaders to the federal front rally she plans to hold in January in Kolkata, according to party sources.

During her previous visits to Delhi, she met the leaders of regional and opposition parties as part of her efforts to cobble up support for the federal front.OKLAHOMA CITY, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- iThemes, a leader in WordPress plugins announced that it will begin to offer iThemes Hosting, a complete WordPress hosting solution which will include BackupBuddy, iThemes Security Pro and iThemes Sync, all in one package.

"For the last 10 years, as we've built WordPress themes, plugins and services, one thing has always been missing hosting. We've sought to build relationships with all of the popular and good (while they are still good) WordPress hosts out there but, frankly, it's been a giant struggle and frustration for us (and likely our customers, too)," said Cory Miller, General Manager of iThemes. "In January, iThemes was acquired by Liquid Web, one of the premier managed hosting companies, and with it, the opportunity to create a complete WordPress hosting service with all of the products and support iThemes customers have come to love and trust," said Miller.

iThemes Hosting will offer three types of hosting plans - Business, Professional and a Starter plan. The Starter plan is priced at $15 a month which will include one free migration with BackupBuddy, iThemes Sync Pro, and a free and automatic SSL certificate. iThemes Hosting includes a smarter, more helpful hosting control panel and site management all in one allowing customers to manage their sites faster and more productively.

"iThemes Hosting is a perfect option for customers that don't make their money online, but make their money because they are online. It is for customers that need to have a low-cost option, but still require large capacity plans with tons of traffic and quality support," said Chris Lema, VP of Products and Innovation at Liquid Web.

For a limited time, iThemes is offering their Business Plan (reg. $25/month) at an introductory price of $15/month. The Business plan includes iThemes Sync Pro, BackupBuddy, and iThemes Security Pro. To learn more about iThemes Hosting and the introductory pricing visit https://ithemes.com/wordpress-hosting.

About iThemes

iThemes, a Liquid Web company, is a leader in WordPress plugins that include BackupBuddy, iThemes Security Pro, multiple site management iThemes Sync and iThemes Sales Accelerator. iThemes was founded by Cory Miller in 2008 and has since grown it into a full enterprise providing professional WordPress plugins, tools and training resources designed for freelancers, marketers, bloggers and entrepreneurs. In 2011 and 2013, iThemes was recognized among the top 20 fastest-growing private companies in Oklahoma City, a designation given to the top companies demonstrating positive growth. In January, 2018, iThemes was acquired by Liquid Web functioning as an independent unit within Liquid Web. Liquid Web is part of the Madison Dearborn Partners family of companies. For more information, please visit http://www.liquidweb.com/, or read our blog. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to stay up to date with all Liquid Web events.

Contact: Mayra Pena, [email protected]

SOURCE iThemes

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JINJIANG, China, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2020 Gymnasiade will be hosted in Southeast China's Jinjiang City. For this event, the Executive Committee of Gymnasiade 2020 is now soliciting theme songs and mascots from all over the world with total cash prizes of nearly one million RMB.

Theme song and mascot submissions will be accepted until mid-August, 2018. The winning mascot designer and song writer will each take home 200,000 RMB (before tax). Other prize-winning works will be awarded with cash prizes ranging from 5,000 to 100,000 RMB (before tax).

All of the works received will be reviewed by a judging panel and public judges in three stages: initial evaluation, online voting, and final evaluation. The winning works will be presented to the public in a future press conference.

The Office of the Executive Committee of 2020 Gymnasiade hopes that the theme song and mascot submissions will embrace the slogan proposed by Jinjiang in their bid to host 2020 Gymnasiade -- "A Gathering for Advancement, Better Us, Better Future". Winning submissions should also reflect Gymnasiade's concept of "creating a lifelong beneficial experience for high school students".

The Gymnasiade - School Summer Games is an international multi-sport event that brings together more than 3,000 young athletes from schools all around the world. Jinjiang, in Southeastern China's Fujian Province, won the bid to host Gymnasiade 2020 in a secret ballot held by the ISF executive committee members on October 15th, becoming the second Chinese city to host the popular event after Shanghai in 1998.

For further information, please visit: http://www.ijjnews.com/zt/jxwztg/index.shtml

SOURCE The Executive Committee of 2020 GymnasiadeSouth Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-Yon, Tanzanian Home Affairs Minister Alphaxard Lugola and other officials from the two countries visited the main data center for Tanzania's countrywide registration system on July 22. The data center is located in Kibaha in eastern Tanzania.

The recently launched registration system is a significant step in KT's endeavor to expand its cooperation throughout Africa. KT is currently working on various projects to improve the ICT infrastructure in the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, including high-speed communications networks in Gabon and Botswana and a public security network in Angola.

In May, the Korean telecom leader completed the construction of Africa's first nationwide LTE network in Rwanda and also won a project to establish a surveillance system that will help prevent illegal fishing in the West African countries Sierra Leone and Liberia.

"Our latest projects in Rwanda and Tanzania will encourage other Korean enterprises to explore promising African markets," said Yun Kyoung-Lim, head of KT's future convergence and global businesses. "KT will continue to introduce Korea's outstanding ICT technologies to the African continent through more scheduled projects."

The new IT-based public administration system in Tanzania includes the digital national identification data center in Kibaha, a backup center, 13 regional resident registration offices, a fingerprint identification and management system, a network control system and a resident registration website.

KT formed a consortium with Samsung C&T Corp. to undertake the 52.6 billion won (US$47 million) project, which was commissioned by Tanzania's National Identification Authority. The project began in April 2015 and included the participation of 15 Korean small- and medium-sized companies. KT remains responsible for the system's repair and maintenance until June 2020.

KT expects that the digital registration system will help boost the economic and social development of the East African country. Tanzania has a population of some 56 million people and a 6 to 7 percent annual economic growth exceeding that of its neighbors.

Tanzania is a mountainous and densely forested country sprawling over a vast territory in the African Great Lakes region, which presented many challenges to the construction of a nationwide digital public administration system. While physical national registration offices were as far as 1,100 kilometers (684 miles) away from one another, they are now connected on the new digital system.

There were particular difficulties constructing buildings and laying optical fiber cables in the northwestern region of Mwanza, also known as the City of Rocks. KT's vast experience in building and operating data centers throughout different countries helped overcome the acutely challenging obstacles in Mwanza.

The Tanzanian government is expected to soon implement the new digital system for national identification. The nation hopes to use the system to improve public services in education, hygiene and healthcare. The government also expects to use the system to alleviate some of the country's social problems by targeting certain crimes and tax evasion.

MEDIA CONTACTS

For inquiries, please contact our Foreign Media Relations Team at [email protected]

ABOUT KT CORP. (KRX: 030200;NYSE: KT)

KT Corporation, Korea's largest telecommunications service provider reestablished in 1981 under the Telecommunications Business Act, is leading the era of innovations in the world's most connected country. The company leads the 4th industrial revolution with high speed wire/wireless network and innovative ICT technology. After installing 4.5 million fixed lines for 20 million users in just 12 years, KT was the first telecom provider to introduce 5G broad-scale trial service in 2018. It is another step in KT's continuous efforts to deliver essential products and services as it seeks to be the No.1 ICT Company and People's Company.

For more information, please visit our English website at https://corp.kt.com/eng

SOURCE KT Corp.

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NEW YORK, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Lancium Technologies Corp, a distributed computing and data center technology company, today announced an equity investment and debt financing from SBI Holdings Inc. of Japan. Funds will be used to accelerate the development of Lancium's rampable data center solution. SBI also intends to expand its cryptocurrency mining footprint at Lancium data centers.

Lancium's unique data center directly utilizes intermittent energy generated from wind farms to enhance returns for wind asset owners and unlock access to the lowest cost power on earth. This unique "win-win" solution supports the development of new renewable energy resources, while providing an exceptionally cost effective and carbon negative power source for distributed, interruptible computing.

Michael McNamara, Lancium's co-founder and CEO, commented, "We are thrilled to welcome SBI as a major shareholder and customer. Our data centers will provide SBI with an exceptionally inexpensive and totally green solution that provides them the computing power they need. They share our desire to develop new markets for intermittent renewable resources, and provide sustainable, carbon-free energy solutions to our data center customers. We are excited about the opportunity to bring a new, high growth load to the renewable energy industry."

SBI Holdings CEO, Yoshitaka Kitao, added, "The Lancium solution is a strategic investment for the SBI Group and will enable us to expand our crypto-currency mining business built on low-cost green energy. This is a win for all stakeholders as well as for Mother Earth."

About Lancium Technologies Corp

Lancium is a new technology company using distributed parallel computing to enable the growth of renewable energy. Lancium builds and operates data centers that bring incremental demand directly to the power source. This computing provides a unique solution to over-generation problems caused by the intermittency of solar and wind power.

Lancium's proprietary solution connects directly to renewable installations and is designed to quickly adjust electricity consumption. Lancium's computing is carbon negative and incredibly cost effective.

About SBI

The SBI Group was established in 1999 as a pioneer of Internet-based financial services in Japan. Since then, the SBI Group has formed the world's first Internet-based financial conglomerate, providing financial services in a broad range of fields including securities, banking and insurance. In addition, the SBI Group provides Asset Management Business, with a prime focus on investment in venture companies - an activity undertaken since before the Group's founding. In this sphere, the SBI Group has made focused investments in the IT and biotechnology sectors, which are the 21st century growth industries. Currently, the development of new technologies is accelerating within the FinTech, IoT, AI, Big Data and related fields, thus attracting global attention. The SBI Group is proactively investing in venture companies within these fields.

www.sbigroup.co.jp/english/

SOURCE Lancium Technologies CorpROHNERT PARK, Calif., July 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- It's hard to not want more money when it seems like all the enjoyable stuff in life comes with some sort of price tag. If everything has a price tag, more money should mean a potentially higher quality of life, right? But depending on how that money had come across, it may mean long-term problems for the future. Ameritech Financial, a document preparation service company, warns borrowers  potential or current  to think critically on their financial situation and potentially consult a financial professional before making a big decision like spending all available money on a credit card or taking out the maximum amount of student loan funding available.

When applying for a credit card, and then getting approved for a high amount, it can be tempting to spend little bits of that amount here and there, but spending like that can pile up. Or if an emergency happens where the credit card is necessary at the time, it may lead to trouble later on due to difficulty in repayment. Similarly, when offered large amounts of student loans, it can be tempting to take as much as possible. Not having to worry about covering anything financially during college sounds to many like a sweet deal. But not every borrower is fully aware of the concept that that loan money has to be repaid entirely, often with large amounts of interest. "Some people say that when they signed for the student loans, they weren't aware they would have to repay them if they didn't graduate with a degree," said Tom Knickerbocker, executive vice president of Ameritech Financial.

Dealing with finances often takes much consideration and planning to get the best outcome possible for an individual. Due to unforeseen circumstances however, even with some of the most careful planning, a borrower's financial situation may become more than that individual was prepared to handle. Ameritech Financial works with federal student loan borrowers to help them apply for income-driven repayment programs that can potentially lower their monthly payments. "In some cases, a credit card is necessary, because having the credit record from that may help with future endeavors such as applying for a home loan. For some individuals, student loans will be necessary. But borrowers shouldn't be punished for needing student loans and then having difficulty repaying them when our society tells people that to be successful, they will need to have some sort of college degree," said Knickerbocker.

About Ameritech Financial

Ameritech Financial is a private company located in Rohnert Park, California. Ameritech Financial has already helped thousands of consumers with financial analysis and student loan document preparation to apply for federal student loan repayment programs offered through the Department of Education.

Each Ameritech Financial telephone representative has received the Certified Student Loan Professional certification through the International Association of Professional Debt Arbitrators (IAPDA).

Ameritech Financial prides itself on its exceptional Customer Service.

Ameritech Financial Newsroom

Contact

To learn more about Ameritech Financial, please contact:

Ameritech Financial

5789 State Farm Drive #265

Rohnert Park, CA 94928

1-800-792-8621

[email protected]

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SOURCE Ameritech Financial

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ARLINGTON, Va., July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- New research from Eagle Hill Consulting finds that the majority of working age Bostonians believe that integrity is on the decline in corporate America. Some 53 percent of respondents say that integrity has gotten worse among companies during the past five years. Some 71 percent say that integrity is falling across the nation.

In a new poll, Eagle Hill found that the integrity decline starts at the top. Only 13 percent of Bostonians say that corporate executives have the most integrity in the workplace, while 49 percent say that their colleagues have the most integrity.

"This integrity implosion means that corporate leaders must go deep and assess their company culture and values. Actions that leaders can take to course correct are to conduct culture audits, hire only those workers who are aligned with your culture, and hold leaders at all levels accountable for setting the culture example. Done right, culture provides a significant competitive advantage in hitting business financial goals and attracting the best talent in Boston's tight labor market," says Melissa Jezior, Eagle Hill's president and chief executive officer.

Without a foundation of integrity, a company is at risk. Integrity is the cornerstone of how employees make decisions, act and react in ordinary and extraordinary circumstances. When a company's integrity is in question, the negative impacts on earnings, customer retention and employee morale can be devastating.

"Culture and values should be the heart and soul of a company. When leaders and employees understand, embrace and live those values every minute at work, the result will be an organization that consistently delivers on its mission and goals," Jezior said.

The findings are contained in a new Eagle Hill polling analysis, The Corporate Integrity Implosion: Boston, available here.

The polling also revealed that:

The corporate integrity implosion is part of a larger phenomenon. Some 71 percent of Bostonians say that integrity is falling across the nation, while 77 percent say integrity is on the decline among government institutions.

Boston workers have substantially more faith in the integrity of their colleagues and boss than corporate executives. Nearly half (49 percent) say their colleagues have the most integrity, just behind their boss (38 percent). Faith in executive leadership lags far behind at 13 percent.

The overwhelming majority of Bostonians believe corporations and executive leadership might do something unethical. Some 90 percent say that corporations might do something unethical while nearly 75 percent say executive leadership might do something ethically questionable.

Nearly half of Bostonians say they have witnessed unethical behavior at work, but few report it. Nearly half (44 percent) of those polled say they have seen someone do something unethical at work. Yet, only 21 percent have reported unethical behavior at their workplace. Some 33 percent say they don't report the behavior because they fear how it might impact them personally.

The Eagle Hill Corporate Boston Culture survey was conducted by Ipsos in April 2018, and it included 563 interviews across the Boston metro-area adult working population. The survey polled respondents on issues of culture, specifically integrity, respect, trust and unethical behavior in the workplace. The results were weighted to reflect US demographic factors including age, income and gender.

Eagle Hill Consulting LLC is a woman-owned business that provides management consulting services in the areas of business strategy, organizational transformation, human capital transformation, process improvement, program management and change management. Eagle Hill works with a range of public, private and non-profit organizations across the country with offices in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and in Seattle, WA. More information is available at www.eaglehillconsulting.com.

SOURCE Eagle Hill Consulting

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BOSTON, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate released a national poll designed to measure Americans' knowledge of the U.S. Senate, opinions about how elected leaders can make Congress work better, prioritization of critical issues, and level of engagement in civic life. The Institute partnered with leading Republican and Democratic polling firms to conduct a bipartisan poll with results that demonstrate a disconnect between voters and the U.S. senators who represent them.

The survey found that satisfaction with the United States Senate is low, and negative attitudes about the Senate are expressed across the political spectrum. Overall, only 28% of voters say that they are satisfied with the U.S. Senate and 72% are dissatisfied.

A majority of voters are also aligned in the issues they want their U.S. senators to prioritize, and are clear that they want their senators to be more responsive to the people they represent and to engage in compromise. Three in five voters say that the most important constitutional responsibilities of the U.S. Senate are considering and voting on legislation along with the House (63%) and overseeing the actions of the executive branch of the federal government along with the House (61%). A majority of voters (58%) prefer that a senator act as a check and balance on the president rather than supporting the president, regardless of who the president is.

Half (48%) want a senator who is willing to make compromises to get things done, compared with just one-fifth (18%) who prefer a senator who will not compromise on his or her principles. Yet fully 84% of all voters say that most senators are unwilling to make compromises in order to get things done. When presented with a series of qualities that people want in a U.S. senator, the most important quality selected by voters is someone who is in touch and listens to the people (57%). However, three-quarters (76%) of voters say that most senators are out of touch with the people of their states.

At the same time, the findings show that many of these voters are not aware of the basic facts about the U.S. Senate that empower individuals to participate in our democracy, including knowing who their senators are, and whether there is a senate election in their state in November 2018. A majority of voters do not know that senators serve a six-year term (54%), 47% are not aware of both of their senators, and 39% don't know that there are two senators per state. Only 3 in 5 voters can correctly answer whether there is a Senate race in their state in the 2018 midterm elections.

But despite dissatisfaction with Congress and gaps in voter knowledge of basic Senate facts, 52% of voters say they are extremely motivated to vote in the November elections, and one in five (22%) voters have engaged in three or more activities in the past year that are forms of civic engagement.

"These findings show that leaders and voters alike have work to do in building a more responsive and inclusive democracy," said Mary K. Grant, Ph.D., president of the Kennedy Institute. "Civic education at every age level and in every community is essential; this data serves as a resource in informing how we can engage more Americans in the political process. This is at the heart of the important work we do every day at the Kennedy Institute."

The Kennedy Institute survey was conducted online among 1,041 registered voters nationwide from June 5 to 13, 2018 by Hart Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies. View the complete findings as well as accompanying infographics here.

The Institute has conducted two previous polls on civic engagement. The 2016 poll results can be found here and the 2017 results here.

About the Edward M. Kennedy Institute

The Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate is a nonprofit organization in Boston envisioned by the late Senator Ted Kennedy; it is dedicated to educating the public about the important role of the Senate in government, encouraging civic participation, and invigorating civil discourse. Through digital exhibits, interactive educational offerings, and topical programs, the Institute engages students and visitors in a conversation about the critical role each person plays in our democracy and in our society. Learn more via emkinstitute.org.

MEDIA CONTACT

Natalie Boyle

[email protected]

857.271.3344

SOURCE Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate

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ORLANDO, Fla., July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation (NYSE: VAC) (the "company" or "MVW") today reported certain preliminary estimated second quarter financial results in connection with certain financing transactions related to the previously announced combination of MVW with ILG, Inc. ("ILG") and provided updated guidance for the full year 2018 below.

Preliminary Estimated Second Quarter 2018 Results:

Total company vacation ownership contract sales were $233 million , an increase of $18 million , or 8 percent, compared to the prior year period.

, an increase of , or 8 percent, compared to the prior year period. The company estimates that the 2017 hurricanes negatively impacted contract sales in the 2018 second quarter by more than $3 million . Excluding that impact, the company estimates that total company contract sales would have grown 10 percent compared to the prior year period.

. Excluding that impact, the company estimates that total company contract sales would have grown 10 percent compared to the prior year period. North America VPG totaled $3,672 , a 3 percent increase from the second quarter of 2017. North America tours increased 5 percent year-over-year.

, a 3 percent increase from the second quarter of 2017. tours increased 5 percent year-over-year. Net income is expected to be between $8 million and $13 million in the second quarter of 2018.

and in the second quarter of 2018. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $75 and $77 million , a decrease of between $6 to $8 million year-over-year.

and , a decrease of between to year-over-year. Excluding the impact of nearly $10 million of unfavorable revenue reportability year-over-year, Adjusted EBITDA increased $2 to $4 million compared to the prior year period.

of unfavorable revenue reportability year-over-year, Adjusted EBITDA increased to compared to the prior year period. Development margin was $40 million compared to $53 million in the second quarter of 2017. Development margin percentage was 19.0 percent compared to 25.6 percent in the prior year quarter.

compared to in the second quarter of 2017. Development margin percentage was 19.0 percent compared to 25.6 percent in the prior year quarter. Total company adjusted development margin percentage, which excludes the impact of revenue reportability and other charges, was 20.0 percent in the second quarter of 2018 compared to 23.2 percent in the second quarter of 2017.

See pages A-1 and A-2 of the Financial Schedules that follow for preliminary 2018 second quarter financial results.

Non-GAAP Financial Information

Certain financial measures included in this release are not calculated in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), including adjusted net income, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA, adjusted development margin, adjusted free cash flow, and adjusted fully diluted earnings per share. For descriptions of and a reconciliation of such measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, see pages A-1 through A-7 of the Financial Schedules that follow.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

On June 30, 2018, cash and cash equivalents totaled $547 million. Since the beginning of the year, real estate inventory balances decreased $38 million to $685 million, including $325 million of finished goods and $360 million of land and infrastructure. The company had $1.3 billion in debt outstanding, net of unamortized debt issuance costs, at the end of the second quarter, an increase of $237 million from year-end 2017, consisting primarily of $1.1 billion of debt related to our securitized notes receivable and $196 million of convertible notes.

During the second quarter of 2018, the company completed the securitization of $436 million of vacation ownership notes receivable at a blended borrowing rate of 3.52 percent and an advance rate of 97 percent. Approximately $327 million of the vacation ownership notes receivable were purchased on June 28, 2018 by the MVW Owner Trust 2018-1 (the "Trust"), and all or a portion of the remaining vacation ownership notes receivable may be purchased by the Trust prior to January 15, 2019. This transaction generated approximately $423 million of gross proceeds, of which $106 million will be held in restricted cash until the remaining vacation ownership notes receivable are purchased by the Trust. Approximately $10 million was used to pay transaction expenses and fund required reserves and the remainder will be used for general corporate purposes.

As of June 30, 2018, the company had approximately $248 million in available capacity under its revolving credit facility after taking into account outstanding letters of credit, and approximately $40 million of gross vacation ownership notes receivable eligible for securitization.

Outlook

Pages A-1 through A-7 of the Financial Schedules set forth a description and a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures set forth below to the following full year 2018 expected GAAP results:

Net income 1 $150 million to $161 million Fully diluted EPS 1 $5.45 to $5.85 Net cash provided by operating activities $95 million to $120 million



1 2018 expected GAAP results above do not reflect the impact of future spending associated with the planned acquisition of ILG, Inc.

The company is updating guidance as reflected in the chart below for the full year 2018.





Current Guidance

Previous Guidance Adjusted free cash flow

$200 million to $230 million

$185 million to $215 million

The company is reaffirming the following guidance for the full year 2018.

Adjusted net income $184 million to $195 million Adjusted fully diluted EPS $6.69 to $7.09 Adjusted EBITDA $310 million to $325 million Contract sales growth 7 percent to 12 percent

The unaudited preliminary estimates and statements set forth in this release have been prepared by, and are the responsibility of, the company's management and represent estimates and expectations based on the most current information available. While the company believes that the assumptions on which such information is based are reasonable, it cautions that it is very difficult to predict the impact of known factors and it is impossible for the company to anticipate all factors that could affect actual results. The company has not finalized its operational results or completed its quarter end closing for the second quarter. The actual results may differ materially from these preliminary estimates due to the completion of financial closing procedures, final adjustments and other developments that may arise between now and the time the second quarter financial results are finalized. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance upon these preliminary estimates. You should evaluate all forward-looking statements contained in this press release in the context of these risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations, are disclosed below under "Note on forward-looking statements." The company's independent registered public accounting firm, Ernst & Young LLP, has not audited, reviewed, compiled or performed any procedures with respect to the accompanying preliminary estimates and statements. Accordingly, Ernst & Young LLP does not express an opinion or any other form of assurance with respect to these preliminary estimates.

Second Quarter 2018 Earnings Conference Call

The company will report complete financial results for the second quarter 2018 before the market opens on August 2, 2018. A conference call is scheduled to follow at 10:00 a.m. ET to discuss the company's results. Participants may access the call by dialing (877) 407-8289 or (201) 689-8341 for international callers. A live webcast of the call will also be available in the Investor Relations section of the company's website at www.marriottvacationsworldwide.com .

About Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation is a leading global pure-play vacation ownership company, offering a diverse portfolio of quality products, programs and management expertise with over 65 resorts. Its brands include Marriott Vacation Club, The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club and Grand Residences by Marriott. Since entering the industry in 1984 as part of Marriott International, Inc., the company earned its position as a leader and innovator in vacation ownership products. The company preserves high standards of excellence in serving its customers, investors and associates while maintaining a long-term relationship with Marriott International. For more information, please visit www.marriottvacationsworldwide.com.

Note on forward-looking statements:

Information included or incorporated by reference in this communication, and information which may be contained in other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and press releases or other public statements, contains or may contain "forward-looking" statements, as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 or by the SEC in its rules, regulations and releases. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements of plans, objectives, expectations (financial or otherwise) or intentions.

Forward-looking statements are any statements other than statements of historical fact, including statements regarding the company and ILG's expectations, beliefs, hopes, intentions or strategies regarding the future. Among other things, these forward-looking statements may include statements regarding the proposed combination of the company and ILG; our beliefs relating to value creation as a result of a potential combination of the company and ILG; the expected timetable for completing the transactions; benefits and synergies of the transactions; future opportunities for the combined company; and any other statements regarding the company's and ILG's future beliefs, expectations, plans, intentions, financial condition or performance. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may," "will," "expects," "should," "believes," "plans," "anticipates," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," "continue," or other words of similar meaning.

Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in, or implied by, the forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to, general economic conditions, our financial and business prospects, our capital requirements, our financing prospects, our relationships with associates and labor unions, our ability to consummate potential acquisitions or dispositions, our relationships with the holders of licensed marks, and those additional factors disclosed as risks in other reports filed by us with the SEC, including those described in Part I of the company's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K as well as in ILG's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and in the preliminary joint proxy statement/prospectus included in the registration statement on Form S-4 filed by the company with the SEC on June 6, 2018, and any amendments thereto.

Other risks and uncertainties include the timing and likelihood of completion of the proposed transactions between the company and ILG; the possibility that the company's stockholders may not approve the issuance of the MVW shares to be issued in connection with the proposed transactions; the possibility that ILG's stockholders may not approve the proposed transactions; the possibility that the expected synergies and value creation from the proposed transactions will not be realized or will not be realized within the expected time period; the risk that the businesses of the company and ILG will not be integrated successfully; the potential impact of disruption from the proposed transactions making it more difficult to maintain business and operational relationships; the risk that unexpected costs will be incurred; the ability to retain key personnel; the availability of financing; the possibility that the proposed transactions do not close; as well as more specific risks and uncertainties. You should carefully consider these and other relevant factors, including those risk factors in this communication and other risks and uncertainties that affect the businesses of the company and ILG described in their respective filings with the SEC, when reviewing any forward-looking statement. These factors are noted for investors as permitted under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We caution readers that any such statements are based on currently available operational, financial and competitive information, and they should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect management's opinion only as of the date on which they were made. Except as required by law, we disclaim any obligation to review or update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances as they occur.

No Offer or Solicitation

This communication is for informational purposes only and is not intended to and does not constitute an offer to buy, nor a solicitation of an offer to sell, subscribe for or buy any securities or the solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction pursuant to or in connection with the proposed transactions or otherwise, nor shall there be any sale, issuance or transfer of securities in any jurisdiction in contravention of applicable law. No offer of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and otherwise in accordance with applicable law.

Important Information and Where to Find It

The proposed transactions involving the company and ILG will be submitted to the company's stockholders and ILG's stockholders for their consideration. In connection with the proposed transaction, on July 19, 2018, the company filed with the SEC an amendment to the registration statement on Form S-4 that included a joint proxy statement/prospectus for the stockholders of the company and ILG and was filed with the SEC on June 6, 2018. The registration statement was declared effective by the SEC on July 23, 2018. The company and ILG mailed the definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus to their respective stockholders on or about July 25, 2018 and each of the company and ILG intend to hold the special meeting of the stockholders of the company and ILG on August 28, 2018. This communication is not intended to be, and is not, a substitute for such filings or for any other document that the company or ILG may file with the SEC in connection with the proposed transaction. SECURITY HOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ ALL RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC, INCLUDING THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT ON FORM S-4 AND THE JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS, CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY, BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. The registration statement, the joint proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant materials and any other documents filed or furnished by the company or ILG with the SEC may be obtained free of charge at the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov. In addition, security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the registration statement and the joint proxy statement/prospectus from the company by going to its investor relations page on its corporate web site at www.marriottvacationsworldwide.com and from ILG by going to its investor relations page on its corporate web site at www.ilg.com.

Participants in the Solicitation

The company, ILG, their respective directors and certain of their respective executive officers and employees may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the proposed transaction. Information about the company's directors and executive officers is set forth in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, which was filed with the SEC on February 27, 2018 and in its definitive proxy statement filed with the SEC on April 3, 2018, and information about ILG's directors and executive officers is set forth in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, which was filed with the SEC on March 1, 2018, and in its definitive proxy statement filed with the SEC on May 7, 2018. These documents are available free of charge from the sources indicated above, and from the company by going to its investor relations page on its corporate web site at www.marriottvacationsworldwide.com and from ILG by going to its investor relations page on its corporate web site at www.ilg.com. Additional information regarding the interests of participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the proposed transactions is presented in the definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus included in the registration statement on Form S-4 filed by the company with the SEC, and may be included in other relevant materials that the company and ILG file with the SEC.

Financial Schedules Follow

MARRIOTT VACATIONS WORLDWIDE CORPORATION FINANCIAL SCHEDULES 2018 PRELIMINARY SECOND QUARTER FINANCIAL RESULTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2018 Preliminary Second Quarter Financial Results A-1 and A-2 Consolidated Contract Sales to Sale of Vacation Ownership Products and Adjusted Development Margin (Adjusted Sale of Vacation Ownership Products Net of Expenses) A-3 2018 Outlook - Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted Earnings Per Share - Diluted, and Adjusted EBITDA A- 4 2018 Outlook - Adjusted Free Cash Flow A-5 Non-GAAP Financial Measures A-6

A-1

MARRIOTT VACATIONS WORLDWIDE CORPORATION 2018 PRELIMINARY SECOND QUARTER FINANCIAL RESULTS (In millions)



Three Months Ended

Six Months Ended

Year

Ended

December

31, 2017

LTM

June 30, 2018

June 30,

2017

June 30, 2018

June 30,

2017



June 30, 2018

Low

High



Low

High





Low

High Total revenues $ 595



$ 595



$ 563



$ 1,166



$ 1,166



$ 1,091



$ 2,183



$ 2,258



$ 2,258

Net income 8



13



48



44



49



76



235



203



208

Adjusted EBITDA** 75



77



83



138



140



137



294



295



297

Contract sales 233



233



215



436



436



415



826



847



847

Cash and cash equivalents (as of period end) 547



547



85















409









Borrowing availability (as of period end) 248



248



148















245









Total gross debt (as of period end) 1,382



1,382



790















1,146















** Denotes non-GAAP financial measures. Please see pages A-6 and A-7 for additional information about our reasons for providing the alternative financial measures and limitations on their use.

The following table presents a reconciliation of MVW's preliminary estimate of net income, the most directly comparable GAAP measure, to its preliminary estimates of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA for the three, six and last twelve months ended June 30, 2018, a reconciliation of such measures for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017, and a reconciliation of such measures for the year ended December 31, 2017.



Three Months Ended

Six Months Ended

Year

Ended

December

31, 2017

LTM

June 30, 2018

June 30,

2017 1

June 30, 2018

June 30,

2017 1



June 30, 2018

Low

High



Low

High





Low

High Net income $ 8



$ 13



$ 48



$ 44



$ 49



$ 76



$ 235



$ 203



$ 208

Interest expense 5



5



2



9



9



3



10



16



16

Tax provision 8



5



23



19



16



39



5



(15)



(18)

Depreciation and amortization 5



5



5



11



11



10



21



22



22

EBITDA** 26



28



78



83



85



128



271



226



228

Non-cash share-based 6



6



5



10



10



8



16



18



18

Certain items 2 43



43







45



45



1



7



51



51

Adjusted EBITDA $ 75



$ 77



$ 83



$ 138



$ 140



$ 137



$ 294



$ 295



$ 297





** Denotes non-GAAP financial measures. Please see pages A-6 and A-7 for additional information about our reasons for providing the alternative financial measures and limitations on their use. 1 As a result of MVW's change in its financial reporting cycle to a calendar year-end and end-of-month quarterly reporting cycle, MVW's six months ended June 30, 2017 had 182 days while MVW's six months ended June 30, 2018 had 181 days. 2 Please see page A-6 for a description and itemization of certain items.

A-2

MARRIOTT VACATIONS WORLDWIDE CORPORATION 2018 PRELIMINARY SECOND QUARTER FINANCIAL RESULTS (In millions)

The following table presents a reconciliation of MVW's preliminary estimate of vacation ownership contract sales to its preliminary estimates of sale of vacation ownership products for the three, six and last twelve months ended June 30, 2018, a reconciliation of such measure for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017, and a reconciliation of such measure for the year ended December 31, 2017.



Three Months Ended

Six Months Ended

Year Ended

December 31,

2017

LTM

June 30, 2018

June 30, 2018

June 30, 2017

June 30, 2018

June 30, 2017



Contract sales (1) $ 233



$ 215



$ 436



$ 415



$ 826



$ 847

Less resales contract sales (7)



(5)



(15)



(11)



(23)



(27)

Contract sales, net of resales 226



210



421



404



803



820

Plus:





















Settlement revenue (2) 4



4



8



7



15



16

Resales revenue (2) 2



2



5



4



8



9

Revenue recognition adjustments:





















Reportability (3) (4)



10



(16)



(4)



20



8

Sales reserve (15)



(14)



(24)



(27)



(52)



(49)

Other (4) (8)



(10)



(14)



(18)



(37)



(33)

Sale of vacation ownership products $ 205



$ 202



$ 380



$ 366



$ 757



$ 771





(1) Contract sales consist of the total amount of vacation ownership product sales under contract signed during the period where MVW has received a down payment of at least ten percent of the contract price, reduced by actual rescissions during the period, inclusive of contracts associated with sales of vacation ownership products on behalf of third parties, which MVW refers to as "resales contract sales." In circumstances where a customer applies any or all of their existing ownership interests as part of the purchase price for additional interests, MVW includes only the incremental value purchased as contract sales. Contract sales differ from revenues from the sale of vacation ownership products that MVW reports in its income statements due to the requirements for revenue recognition described in Footnote No. 1, "Summary of Significant Accounting Policies," to MVW's audited consolidated financial statements included in the Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on June 5, 2018. MVW considers contract sales to be an important operating measure because it reflects the pace of sales in MVW's business. (2) Previously included in resort management and other services revenue prior to the adoption of Accounting Standards Update 2014-09  "Revenue from Contracts with Customers", as Amended ("new Revenue Standard"). (3) Timing difference between the date of the contract with the customer and when revenue is recognized as a result of the new Revenue Standard. (4) Adjustment for sales incentives that will not be recognized as sale of vacation ownership products revenue and other adjustments to Sale of vacation ownership products revenue.

A-3

MARRIOTT VACATIONS WORLDWIDE CORPORATION CONSOLIDATED CONTRACT SALES TO SALE OF VACATION OWNERSHIP PRODUCTS (In millions)



Three Months Ended

Six Months Ended

June 30, 2018

June 30, 2017

June 30, 2018

June 30, 2017 Contract sales $ 233



$ 215



$ 436



$ 415

Less resales contract sales (7)



(5)



(15)



(11)

Contract sales, net of resales 226



210



421



404

Plus:













Settlement revenue 1 4



4



8



7

Resales revenue 1 2



2



5



4

Revenue recognition adjustments:













Reportability (4)



10



(16)



(4)

Sales reserve (15)



(14)



(24)



(27)

Other 2 (8)



(10)



(14)



(18)

Sale of vacation ownership products $ 205



$ 202



$ 380



$ 366







1 Previously included in Resort management and other services revenue prior to the adoption of the new Revenue Standard. 2 Adjustment for sales incentives that will not be recognized as Sale of vacation ownership products revenue and other adjustments to Sale of vacation ownership products revenue.





MARRIOTT VACATIONS WORLDWIDE CORPORATION CONSOLIDATED ADJUSTED DEVELOPMENT MARGIN (ADJUSTED SALE OF VACATION OWNERSHIP PRODUCTS NET OF EXPENSES) (In millions)



Three Months Ended

Six Months Ended

June 30, 2018

June 30, 2017

June 30, 2018

June 30, 2017 Sale of vacation ownership products $ 205



$ 202



$ 380



$ 366

Less:













Cost of vacation ownership products 57



51



103



95

Marketing and sales 108



98



215



196

Development margin 40



53



62



75

Revenue recognition reportability adjustment 2



(8)



10



2

Adjusted development margin ** $ 42



$ 45



$ 72



$ 77

Development margin percentage 1 19.0%



25.6%



16.2%



20.3%

Adjusted development margin percentage 20.0%



23.2%



18.3%



20.9%





** Denotes non-GAAP financial measures. Please see pages A-6 and A-7 for additional information about our reasons for providing these alternative financial measures and limitations on their use. 1 Development margin percentage represents Development margin divided by Sale of vacation ownership products.

A-4

MARRIOTT VACATIONS WORLDWIDE CORPORATION 2018 ADJUSTED NET INCOME AND ADJUSTED EARNINGS PER SHARE - DILUTED OUTLOOK (In millions, except per share amounts)



Fiscal Year

2018 (low)

Fiscal Year

2018 (high) Net income 1 $ 150



$ 161

Adjustments to reconcile Net income to Adjusted net income





Certain items 2 45



45

Provision for income taxes on adjustments to net income (11)



(11)

Adjusted net income ** $ 184



$ 195

Earnings per share - Diluted 1, 3 $ 5.45



$ 5.85

Adjusted earnings per share - Diluted **, 3 $ 6.69



$ 7.09

Diluted shares 3 27.5



27.5





1 2018 expected GAAP results above do not reflect the impact of future spending associated with the planned acquisition of ILG, Inc. 2 Certain items adjustment includes $23 million of acquisition costs, $16 million of litigation settlements and $6 million of losses and other expense. 3 Earnings per share - Diluted, Adjusted earnings per share - Diluted, and Diluted shares outlook includes the impact of share repurchase activity only through July 24, 2018. ** Denotes non-GAAP financial measures. Please see pages A-6 and A-7 for additional information about our reasons for providing these alternative financial measures and limitations on their use.





MARRIOTT VACATIONS WORLDWIDE CORPORATION 2018 ADJUSTED EBITDA OUTLOOK (In millions)



Fiscal Year

2018 (low)

Fiscal Year

2018 (high) Net income $ 150



$ 161

Interest expense 1 17



17

Tax provision 53



57

Depreciation and amortization 26



26

EBITDA ** 246



261

Non-cash share-based compensation 19



19

Certain items 2 45



45

Adjusted EBITDA ** $ 310



$ 325





1 Interest expense excludes consumer financing interest expense. 2 Certain items adjustment includes $23 million of acquisition costs, $16 million of litigation settlements and $6 million of losses and other expense. ** Denotes non-GAAP financial measures. Please see pages A-6 and A-7 for additional information about our reasons for providing these alternative financial measures and limitations on their use.

A-5

MARRIOTT VACATIONS WORLDWIDE CORPORATION 2018 ADJUSTED FREE CASH FLOW OUTLOOK (In millions)



Fiscal Year 2018 (low)

Fiscal Year 2018 (high) Net cash provided by operating activities $ 95



$ 120

Capital expenditures for property and equipment (excluding inventory):





New sales centers 1 (3)



(5)

Other (27)



(32)

Borrowings from securitization transactions 423



423

Repayment of debt related to securitizations (305)



(295)

Free cash flow ** 183



211

Adjustments:





Net change in borrowings available from the securitization of eligible vacation ownership notes receivable through the warehouse credit facility 2 13



10

Inventory / other payments associated with capital efficient inventory arrangements (40)



(40)

Certain items 3 46



46

Change in restricted cash (2)



3

Adjusted free cash flow ** $ 200



$ 230





1 Represents the incremental investment in new sales centers. 2 Represents the net change in borrowings available from the securitization of eligible vacation ownership notes receivable through the warehouse credit facility between the 2017 and 2018 year ends. 3 Certain items adjustment includes $23 million of acquisition costs, $16 million of litigation settlements and $7 million of fraudulently induced electronic payment disbursements made to third parties. ** Denotes non-GAAP financial measures. Please see pages A-6 and A-7 for additional information about our reasons for providing these alternative financial measures and limitations on their use.

A-6

MARRIOTT VACATIONS WORLDWIDE CORPORATION

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

In our press release and schedules we report certain financial measures that are not prescribed by GAAP. We discuss our reasons for reporting these non-GAAP financial measures below, and the financial schedules included herein reconcile the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure to each non-GAAP financial measure that we report (identified by a double asterisk ("**") on the preceding pages). Although we evaluate and present these non-GAAP financial measures for the reasons described below, please be aware that these non-GAAP financial measures have limitations and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for revenues, net income, earnings per share or any other comparable operating measure prescribed by GAAP. In addition, these non-GAAP financial measures may be calculated and / or presented differently than measures with the same or similar names that are reported by other companies, and as a result, the non-GAAP financial measures we report may not be comparable to those reported by others.

Adjusted Net Income

We evaluate non-GAAP financial measures, including Adjusted Net Income, Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted Development Margin, that exclude certain items in the quarters and first halves ended June 30, 2018 and June 30, 2017, and the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, because these non-GAAP financial measures allow for period-over-period comparisons of our on-going core operations before the impact of these items. These non-GAAP financial measures also facilitate our comparison of results from our on-going core operations before these items with results from other vacation ownership companies.

Certain items for the 2018 second quarter consisted of $20 million of acquisition costs associated with the pending acquisition of ILG, $16 million of litigation settlement charges, including $11 million related to a project in San Francisco, $4 million related to a project in Lake Tahoe and $1 million related to projects in Europe, and $7 million of losses and other expenses associated with fraudulently induced electronic payment disbursements made to third parties. These exclusions increased EBITDA by $43 million.



Certain items for the 2017 second quarter were less than $1 million and was comprised of acquisition costs, litigation settlement expenses and losses and other expense. These exclusions did not have an impact on Adjusted EBITDA.

Certain items for the 2018 first half consisted of $23 million of acquisition costs, including $20 million of costs associated with the pending acquisition of ILG and $3 million of costs associated with the anticipated future capital efficient acquisition of an operating property in San Francisco, California, $16 million of litigation settlement charges, including $11 million related to a project in San Francisco, $4 million related to a project in Lake Tahoe and $1 million related to projects in Europe, and $7 million of losses and other expenses associated with fraudulently induced electronic payment disbursements made to third parties, partially offset by a $1 million favorable true up of previously recorded costs associated with Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria (the "2017 Hurricanes") (recorded in losses and other expense) and previously recorded litigation settlement expenses. These exclusions increased EBITDA by $45 million.

Certain items for the 2017 first half consisted of $1 million of acquisition costs, and less than $1 million of litigation settlement expenses and losses and other expense. These exclusions increased EBITDA by $1 million.

Certain items for fiscal year 2017 consisted of $9 million in net insurance proceeds related to the settlement of business interruption insurance claims arising from Hurricane Matthew, $7 million of variable compensation expense related to the impact of the 2017 Hurricanes, $4 million of litigation settlement expenses, $2 million of acquisition costs, a charge of $1 million associated with the estimated property damage insurance deductibles and impairment of property and equipment at several of MVW's resorts, primarily in Florida and the Caribbean, that were impacted by the 2017 Hurricanes, $1 million of variable compensation expense related to the impact of Hurricane Matthew and $1 million of miscellaneous losses and other expense. These exclusions increased EBITDA for 2017 by $7 million.

Adjusted Development Margin (Adjusted Sale of Vacation Ownership Products Net of Expenses)

We evaluate Adjusted Development Margin (Adjusted Sale of Vacation Ownership Products Net of Expenses) as an indicator of operating performance. Adjusted Development Margin adjusts Sale of vacation ownership products revenues for the impact of revenue reportability, includes corresponding adjustments to Cost of vacation ownership products expense and Marketing and sales expense associated with the change in revenues from the Sale of vacation ownership products, and may include adjustments for certain items as itemized in the discussion of Adjusted Net Income above. We evaluate Adjusted Development Margin because it allows for period-over-period comparisons of our on-going core operations before the impact of revenue reportability and certain items to our Development Margin.

MARRIOTT VACATIONS WORLDWIDE CORPORATION

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

Earnings Before Interest Expense, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization ("EBITDA") and Adjusted EBITDA

EBITDA is defined as earnings, or net income, before interest expense (excluding consumer financing interest expense), provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization. For purposes of our EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA calculations, we do not adjust for consumer financing interest expense because we consider it to be an operating expense of our business. We consider EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to be indicators of operating performance, which we use to measure our ability to service debt, fund capital expenditures and expand our business. We also use EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, as do analysts, lenders, investors and others, because these measures exclude certain items that can vary widely across different industries or among companies within the same industry. For example, interest expense can be dependent on a company's capital structure, debt levels and credit ratings. Accordingly, the impact of interest expense on earnings can vary significantly among companies. The tax positions of companies can also vary because of their differing abilities to take advantage of tax benefits and because of the tax policies of the jurisdictions in which they operate. As a result, effective tax rates and provision for income taxes can vary considerably among companies. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA also exclude depreciation and amortization because companies utilize productive assets of different ages and use different methods of both acquiring and depreciating productive assets. These differences can result in considerable variability in the relative costs of productive assets and the depreciation and amortization expense among companies. Adjusted EBITDA reflects additional adjustments for certain items, as itemized in the discussion of Adjusted Net Income above, and excludes non-cash share-based compensation expense to address considerable variability among companies in recording compensation expense because companies use share-based payment awards differently, both in the type and quantity of awards granted. Prior period presentation has been recast for consistency. We evaluate Adjusted EBITDA as an indicator of operating performance because it allows for period-over-period comparisons of our on-going core operations before the impact of the excluded items. Together, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA facilitate our comparison of results from our on-going core operations before the impact of these items with results from other vacation ownership companies.

Free Cash Flow and Adjusted Free Cash Flow

We evaluate Free Cash Flow and Adjusted Free Cash Flow as liquidity measures that provide useful information to management and investors about the amount of cash provided by operating activities after capital expenditures for property and equipment, changes in restricted cash, and the borrowing and repayment activity related to our securitizations, which cash can be used for strategic opportunities, including acquisitions and strengthening the balance sheet. Adjusted Free Cash Flow, which reflects additional adjustments to Free Cash Flow for the impact of organizational and separation related, litigation, and other cash charges, allows for period-over-period comparisons of the cash generated by our business before the impact of these items. Analysis of Free Cash Flow and Adjusted Free Cash Flow also facilitates management's comparison of our results with our competitors' results.

SOURCE Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation

Related Links

http://www.marriottvacationsworldwide.com

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Jan Morrison is an artist and reading enthusiast from Traverse City, Michigan who has created a unique at home business. Book Lover's Lark was created for those who love reading, art, and inspirational quotes. Jan's business offers unique gifts to book lovers and these gifts have drawn quite the attention from the local community. "I have combined my passion for art and education to create fun desk calendars, bookmarks, note cards, posters, and other related products. Each product is printed with feel good drawings and watercolor artwork featuring scenes ranging from reading on the beach to a cozy fireplace during the winter season."

Reading inspired poster for book lovers Jan Morrison of Book Lover's Lark creating slice a serenity.

For over 20 years as an art teacher, Jan enjoyed helping students find their own level of imagination through all forms of art. Jan wanted to continue having this great feeling of creation and imagination and decided to start making miniature desk calendars for friends and family. With so many smiling faces, these friends and family began spreading the word about Book Lover's Lark and the heartwarming gifts Jan was creating. This is when Jan's idea to create calendars turned into a full product line of unique book lover gifts that customers would keep coming back for. Jan's business was built upon providing others with tranquility and inspiration through reading and the creativity of artwork. There is something for all ages and gifts that anybody can enjoy.

If you are looking for unique, artist-created, and made in Michigan gifts for book lovers, please visit her website at https://bookloverslark.com

Media Contact:

Jan Morrison

[email protected]

(231) 620-4094

SOURCE Book Lover's Lark

Related Links

http://bookloverslark.com

TORONTO, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Multi-Health Systems Inc. (MHS) announced today that Hazel Wheldon has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of MHS, effective as of July 20, 2018. Founder and previous CEO of MHS, Dr. Steven Stein will continue as the Founder & Executive Chairman of MHS.

"MHS is excited to announce Hazel as the new CEO. Hazel has been an integral part of the leadership team for many years and it is a natural fit for her to lead us into the future," says Dr. Steven Stein, Founder and Executive Chairman. "We have been continually growing over the last 35 years, and I know Hazel will continue to push innovation and change to ensure the progress of the company and capitalize on the opportunities in front of us. Hazel can translate vision and strategy into execution, bringing teams together to drive results. Hazel is exactly the person we need as we enter this new chapter of MHS and I am confident it will be even more impactful and exciting than our last."

Wheldon joined MHS in 2003 as the VP of Publishing and quickly became an invaluable asset to the organization. Wheldon focused MHS' product development on high key value products in Talent, Clinical, Education and Public Safety. In 2014, Wheldon assumed the role of President and COO, working diligently to increase MHS' global presence. Leading the digital strategy, Wheldon tripled growth in both revenue and profit. In addition, Wheldon has revolutionized MHS' acquisition strategy, leading the company to diversify its partnerships, all while staying ahead of emerging trends and technologies.

"I am incredibly excited to assume this new role for the future of MHS. We have an amazing and talented team, who are continuing to innovate our products in new and diverse ways," says Wheldon. "As we move our organization forward, I am thrilled to lead the company through the final digital transition into a technology company focused on intelligent solutions for people analytics. As I assume the role of CEO I look forward to leading MHS through its next phase of innovation and growth."

MHS also announced today that Dr. Steven Stein, former CEO will continue at MHS as Founder & Executive Chairman. Stein has served as CEO of MHS since founding the organization in 1983 and will continue to work closely with Wheldon.

About Multi-Health Systems Inc. (MHS)

A leading technology company focused on innovative digital delivery of scientifically validated assessments and data analytics for more than 30 years, Multi-Health Systems Inc. (MHS) serves clients in corporate, clinical, educational, public safety, government, military, pharmaceutical, and research settings. With offices in North America and partners around the world, MHS is dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and communities through technology. MHS has developed leading products such as the Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i 2.0), the Conners suite of ADHD assessments, and the Level of Service suite of assessments.

MHS has been named one of Canada's Best Managed Companies since 2013 and Canada's 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures since 2016. For more information about MHS, please visit www.mhs.com.

SOURCE Multi-Health Systems Inc.

Related Links

http://www.mhs.com

BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee has been identified by Forbes as one of the nations top employers for women.

BlueCross was ranked 30th out of 300 companies and is the highest-ranked Tennessee-based organization as well as the second-highest ranked insurance company on the inaugural list. The ranking was compiled by Forbes in partnership with research firm Statista, following a survey of 40,000 employees at companies with a minimum of 1,000 employees in the U.S. The survey was focused on topics relevant to women in the workplace in order to shed light on their experiences.

This designation is the third Forbes ranking earned by the company this year. In early 2018, BlueCross was recognized by Forbes as one of the countrys top employers for diversity. The insurer also earned a place on the global business media companys list of Americas Best Places to Work.

As a company whose workforce is 73 percent female, we fully understand the importance of supporting a culture that positively impacts the working lives of women, said Karen Ward, senior vice president and chief human resources officer. Its exciting to see our ongoing commitment to diversity, inclusion and equity validated in this way.

To learn more about the rankings, visit Forbes online. Additional information about the BlueCross commitment to diversity and inclusion is available online.Terming the incident 'deplorable', the decision to hand over the case to CBI was taken to prevent rumour-mongering in the state.

Sexual exploitation of girls at a Muzaffarpur shelter home was uncovered more than a month ago during its audit by a Mumbai-based social science institute. (Photo: Youtube Screengrab)

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar recommended a CBI inquiry into the alleged sexual exploitation of girls at a state-funded shelter home in Muzaffarpur district on Thursday.

Terming the incident "deplorable", the decision to hand over the case to the CBI was taken to prevent rumour-mongering in the state, an official release said.

Medical examinations of 29 of the 42 shelter home inmates confirmed that they were sexually exploited, state Director General of Police K S Dwivedi had said.

"Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has directed the Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and Principal Secretary (Home) to immediately hand over the case to the CBI," it said.

"A deplorable incident has taken place in Muzaffarpur, where the police have been carrying out a diligent investigation. Although the government was committed to conducting an impartial probe, the decision for handing over the probe to the CBI has been taken to dispel the 'bhram ka vatavaran' (environment of rumours) that was being created," the release said.

Also Read: 29 of 42 girls in Bihar shelter home raped, but no girl missing, say cops

Opposition parties in the state, while demanding a CBI inquiry, had alleged that the state government was baulking at handing over the matter to the central agency as it wanted to "shield" some of the key accused who were said to be close to the ruling dispensation.NEW YORK, July 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Panhellenic Association of Table Olive Processors, Packers and Exporters (PEMETE), showcased their "Olive You, European Table Olives" campaign in North America, at the the largest food and beverage trade show in North America, the Summer Fancy Food Show 2018. The trade show took place in New York on June 30-July 2, 2018 with more than 2.600 exhibitors from 54 countries and 40.000 visitors.

OLIVE YOU CAMPAIGN

The professional association PEMETE, was founded in1970 and promotes the interests of table olive exporters. PEMETE showcased their "OLIVE YOU, European Table Olives" campaign in North America at the Fancy Food Show for the second time.

The "Olive You" campaign is a three-year promotional program co-funded by the European Union, that aims to increase the awareness and demand for European table olives to both professionals and consumers, as well as to help increase exports to the United States and Canada. The "OLIVE YOU, European Table Olives" campaign also aims to reach journalists, chefs, foodies, retailers and consumers of all ages, through promotional activities, marketing events, sampling, and publicity in order to familiarize the public with this natural and delicious food product.

A large number of importers, distributors, and food service industry professionals visited the "OLIVE YOU, European Table Olives" booths at the Summer Fancy Food Show, were introduced to the European table olive varieties and learned more about the olives superior quality and flavors. Visitors also had the opportunity to taste this healthy product. In addition, 112 visitors completed the campaign questionnaires that provide insight to the American consumer's current perception about table olives.

Chef George Katrantzos along with Sous Chef Hilda Terrera, prepared and served delicious recipes on the first two days of the trade show. Chef Katrantzos prepared 3 recipes daily, and approximately 1000 samples were offered to the attendees, while Chef Katrantzos explained the wonderful benefits of using European Olives in recipes.

New Greek Television covered the Olive You Exhibit at the Fancy Food Show 2018, taking various interviews and producing and airing two presentations.

News Story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ncb3djUDws&

Featured Community Event:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0q8ImfXOnk&

"'OLIVE YOU, European Table Olives' participation in the Summer Fancy Food Show 2018 was a major success," said the President of PEMETE, Mr. Nelos Georgoudis. "Our main goals were achieved, providing information to the participants as well as leading to B2B meetings and further expansion of B2B agreements."

The 46 member-companies of PEMETE represent more than 90 percent of Greece's exports of table olives to more than 100 countries. These companies export some outstanding and unique Greek table olive varieties, including Konservolia, a variety mostly grown in Central Greece, Chalkidiki, mostly found in Northern Greece, and Kalamata olives, which are mainly but not exclusively grown in the regions of Etoloakarnania and Laconia. Small quantities of Throuba and Megaritiki varieties are also included in their product range. The greatest advantage of Greek table olives is that the fruit ripens naturally on the trees. In other words, they are natural, with no chemical means used to make them black.

For more information, visit www.oliveyou-eu.eu

Related Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0q8ImfXOnk

SOURCE PEMETEMOSCOW, July 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

PhosAgro[*] acted as the general partner of the Summer School on Green Chemistry, which was organised by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC)[**] and held in Venice (Italy).

This initiative aims to provide support to young scientists working in the field of green chemistry. It creates a platform for promotion of innovative and technologically-advanced projects, discussion of topical issues, sharing best practices and experience, networking and establishing scientific cooperation, and creating a solid theoretical and practical base.

This year the school was attended by 80 young specialists and 20 world class teachers from forty different countries. The academic programme of the summer school focused on 17 UN sustainable development goals. Particular attention was paid to young scientists from developing countries and countries with emerging economies, particularly from Africa. 15 of the 30 young professionals who have been awarded with a scholarship to participate in the event are representatives of the African continent.

One of the main organisers of the Summer School and its current Chairman, Pietro Tundo, Professor of Green Chemistry at Universita Ca' Foscari Venezia, said: "I see this school as a platform for discussing the implementation of our scientific ideas in the field of green chemistry. It is important not only to discuss theoretical aspects, but also to develop roadmaps which could later help us achieve our main goal - save our planet for future generations."

During the Summer School opening ceremony PhosAgro Deputy CEO Siroj Loikov talked about the Company's activities oriented at supporting green initiatives, paying special attention to the Green Chemistry for Life grant programme for young specialists that is being supported by PhosAgro, UNESCO and IUPAC. He also invited all those interested to participate in the grant programme.

Andrey Guryev, a member of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO Affairs and the CEO of PhosAgro said: "We are very pleased that for the first time in the long history of UNESCO and the entire United Nations system an initiative of this kind is being implemented on an extrabudgetary basis and funded by the Russian company PhosAgro. This September, I would like to invite you to the fifth Green Chemistry for Life grant award ceremony that will take place in Bangkok. I would also like to turn to young scientists from all over the world who are not yet participating in the grant programme. I hope you will use this opportunity to make your dreams come true."

PhosAgro is one of the world leaders in the production of mineral fertilisers. Its fertilisers are exported to 100 countries worldwide and are distinguished by their high quality and low content of impurities and potentially harmful elements such as cadmium. The Company therefore pays significant attention to the responsible use of natural resources as well as food security and environmental conservation on local and global levels. As a result, the Company is currently implementing its own ecological and social agenda, which is devoted to reducing environmental footprint from its activities and to continuing environmental conservation in those regions, where PhosAgro operates.

Over the last 3 three years PhosAgro Group has spent over RUB 10.5 billion on various environmental projects. At its facilities the Company implemented ecology management systems as well as staff health and safety management systems. Further development of the Company's facilities through construction of new and modernisation of existing facilities using the best existing technologies remains one of the main priorities of PhosAgro's strategy. Modernisation and creation of highly technological facilities helps to decrease the Company's operating expenses and ecological footprint.

For further information please contact:



PJSC PhosAgro

Alexander Seleznev, Head of Investor Relations

[email protected]

+7-495-232-96-89 ex 21 87



Timur Belov, Press Officer

Anastacia Basos, Deputy Press Secretary

+7-495-232-9689





[*]PhosAgro (www.phosagro.ru ) is one of the world's leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers in terms of production volumes of phosphate-based fertilizers and high-grade phosphate rock with a P2O5 content of not less than 39% (according to IFA, Fertecon and CRU).

The Company is the largest phosphate-based fertilizer producer in Europe, the largest producer of high-grade phosphate rock worldwide, and one of the top-three MAP/DAP producers in the world (by production volumes, according to IFA). PhosAgro is also one of the leading producers of feed phosphates (MCP) in Europe, and the only producer in Russia (according to CRU and RAFP). PhosAgro is Russia's only producer of nepheline concentrate (according to RAFP).

PhosAgro's main products include phosphate rock, over 35 grades of fertilizers, feed phosphates, ammonia, and sodium tripolyphosphate, which are used by customers in 100 countries spanning all of the world's inhabited continents. The Company's priority markets outside of Russia and the CIS are Latin America, Europe and Asia.

PhosAgro's shares are traded on the Moscow Exchange, and global depositary receipts ("GDRs") for shares trade on the London Stock Exchange (under the ticker PHOR). Since 1 June 2016, the Company's GDRs have been included in the MSCI Russia and MSCI Emerging Markets indexes.



[**]IUPAC (www.iupac.org ) International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry is the world authority on chemical nomenclature and terminology. The news about the changes to the nomenclature and terminology of chemical elements introduced by the company are published in the Pure and Applied Chemistry magazine.

IUPAC was formed in 1919. Today, IUPAC is headed by a Russian scientist, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Natalia Tarasova (holds PhD in Chemistry).

SOURCE PhosAgroCALABASAS, Calif., July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Radian Memory Systems, Inc. releases the industry's first Open-Channel 2* compliant Flash SSD in a U.2 form factor with up to 12TB of Flash, and uniquely includes up to 12GB of byte addressable, PMR style User NV-RAM.

Targeting All-Flash Arrays, hyperconverged systems, and cloud storage, the RMS-350 SSD offers highly parallelized, deterministic I/O while minimizing tail latencies for data center workloads. This includes support for Cooperative Flash Management (CFM) based on Radian's Symphonic CFM technology or Radian's implementation of the new Open-Channel 2 interface.

Variations of software-defined, Open-Channel SSDs are gaining traction throughout hyperscale. With early versions deployed by Baidu and Alibaba in China, other variations, such as a future proposal by Microsoft Azure for their "Project Denali," are anticipated to be available within the next year.

Founded in 2010, Radian has pioneered what is known as Cooperative Flash Management (CFM) technology. "With the RMS-350, we're leveraging some of our innovative Cooperative Flash Management functionality to bring data center functionality into an SSD with an Open-Channel 2 compliant interface," said Radian's CEO, Mike Jadon. While this Radian functionality has been available in the company's Symphonic SSDs for several years, the RMS-350 represents the first SSD to include it and numerous other features in an SSD with an Open-Channel 2 compliant interface:

Software/Firmware

'Idealized Flash'

Geometry emulation abstracts NAND geometry and vendor-specific attributes

Maintains alignment to the physical memory array

Abstracts device's internal management of bad blocks

Presents 'Idealized Flash' to the host

ASL Configurator

Address Space Layout configurator presents hosts with contiguous logical

addressing (no gaps) for direct access by modern host software stacks

addressing (no gaps) for direct access by modern host software stacks Can subdivide NAND memory into iso-boxes that appear like independent block devices

that appear like independent block devices Optimizes opposing performance and efficiency tradeoffs unique to Flash memory

Cooperative and 'Decoupled' Wear Leveling

Controller generates wear related metrics and makes them accessible to the host

Different host-owned, memory controller-owned and shared cooperative modes to offload and simplify host controlled wear leveling

Enables vendor supported warranties

Cooperative and 'Decoupled' NAND Maintenance

Device handles low level NAND maintenance activities for data retention and to prevent disturbs

Performs these activities cooperatively under deterministic host scheduling to minimize unpredictable latency spikes

Hardware

Up to 12GB of PMR style, byte addressable NV-RAM with its up to 12TB of Flash

Dual port or single port with hot plug/surprise remove

Fault Tolerant design

U.2 form factor

Radian publicly released Symphonic, the first implementation of a CFM architecture, in 2015. Symphonic redistributes Flash management responsibilities between the host system interface and SSD. This redistribution is based upon space management, data placement, cleaning, and scheduling residing in the host, with media management residing in the device, and these processes being performed under cooperative host control.

As the winner of the Most Innovative Technology award at the 2015 Flash Memory Summit conference, Symphonic:

"enables the host to control and schedule processes such as garbage collection,

but offloads process execution and lower level media management to the SSD.

The firmware also transparently handles and abstracts various NAND properties

and programming requirements, including geometry and vendor-specific attributes.

This functionality enables Forward Compatibility to support different NAND devices.

Enables readily optimizing opposing performance and efficiency constraints unique to Flash memory

Preserves host data layout optimizations through to physical media" **

The RMS-350 utilizes this Radian technology, including the 'Idealized Flash', ASL Configurator, Cooperative and 'Decoupled' Wear Leveling, Cooperative and 'Decoupled' NAND Maintenance and other Radian features to deliver an SSD with data center functionality that retains software-defined, host data layout and deterministic host scheduling with an Open-Channel 2 compliant interface.

Also in 2015, the company released the RMS-250 which was the industry's first CFM Flash SSD and the first Flash SSD to include a type of user accessible Persistent Memory Region (PMR). This byte addressable, non-volatile user accessible NV-RAM could be memory mapped, or block addressable via standard NVMe commands, with unique functionality enabling hosts to control zero-copy transfers of data between the Flash and NV-RAM memory medias.

Now in 2018, the RMS-350 builds upon this same innovative architecture with high density eTLC Flash and support for Symphonic CFM and Radian's Open-Channel 2 implementation.

Hardware

The RMS-350 is available in Flash capacities of 3TB, 6TB, or 12TB, along with 4GB or 12GB of PMR style User NV-RAM. The NVMe PCIe Gen3 interface supports dual port 2x2 or single port x4 lane configurations. The drive's enterprise class TLC NAND (eTLC) is supported by a robust LDPC error correction engine.

The 4GB or 12GB of PMR style User NV-RAM provides functionality similar to an on-board NV-DIMM-N, but unlike a NV-DIMM, scales with Flash capacity as drives are added to a system, and does so without cabling to remote capacitor packs. This NV-RAM appears as an independent NVMe block device that can be accessed via NVMe, or memory mapped (mmap) as byte accessible (dword) memory for Programmed I/O (PIO).

The RMS-350 includes high availability features such as dual port, hot plug/surprise remove, fault tolerant memory management, and comprehensive diagnostic lifecycle capabilities to meet data center and enterprise OEM requirements.

RMS-350 evaluation units are available now to select customers and general availability is scheduled for fall 2018. Radian Memory Systems will be exhibiting at the Flash Memory Summit, August 7, 2018.

About Radian Memory Systems

Radian Memory Systems, Inc. develops technology and products that target system OEMs, cloud providers, and licensing to device manufacturers. Founded in 2010, thousands of the company's NVMe storage devices have been successfully deployed in data center applications by some of the industry's largest OEMs. To learn more about Radian Memory Systems contact the company at (U.S.) 818 222 4080, [email protected], or visit www.radianmemory.com.

* Open-Channel Specification Revision 2.0, January 29, 2018

**Symphonic Product Brochure and Data Sheet  Published/Copyright August 2015

All Registered symbols and Trade Marks are the property of their respective owners.

Copyright Radian Memory Systems, Inc., 2018

SOURCE Radian Memory Systems

Related Links

http://www.radianmemory.com

DUBLIN, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The "Railway Wiring Harness Market by Application (HVAC, Lighting, Traction System, Infotainment), Material, Train Type (Metro/Monorail, Light Rail, HRS), Component (Wire, Connector), Voltage (High, Low), Cable Type, and Region - Global Forecast to 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The railway wiring harness market is estimated to be USD 2.36 billion in 2018 and is projected to reach USD 4.21 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 8.61% from 2018 to 2025.



The key growth drivers for the market are the growing number of new railway projects and increasing demand for advanced applications and features in a train.



The high-speed rail/bullet train segment is estimated to be the fastest growing market for railway wiring harness. The increased focus on high-speed rail programs in the Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America and the increasing government investments in rail infrastructure and equipment would drive the market for railway wiring harness. The rapid growth of the high-speed train network can be attributed to the numerous benefits of the high-speed train technology, which includes freight transport. The increase in the adoption rate of high-speed trains has raised the demand for railway wiring harness across the globe.



According to the Union des Industries Ferroviaires Europennes (UNIFE), Asia Pacific has the second-largest rail network in the world. Countries such as China, Japan, India, and South Korea are supporting the growth of the railway industry, thus driving the growth of the railway wiring harness market.



The low voltage segment of the railway wiring harness market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The increasing number of comfort systems such as charger port, Wi-Fi devices, music system, and others has increased the demand for low voltage wiring. The Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing market for low voltage wiring because of the ongoing investments in upgrading the technology of the rolling stock.



The infotainment segment of the railway wiring harness market is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Infotainment systems are anticipated to show substantial growth in the coming years due to the increasing adoption of high-end electronics features by rail manufacturers. Therefore, the rising installation of high-end electronics and safety features in the metro, light rail, and high-speed rail/bullet train is the key factor fueling the growth of the market.



Europe is estimated to be the largest market for railway wiring harness. The rail industry in Europe is the largest for rail products, services, and high-tech rolling stock. The European railway industry is technologically advanced and is witnessing fast progress in upgrading its total infrastructure with connected technology.

Key Topics Covered:



1 Introduction



2 Research Methodology



3 Executive Summary



4 Premium Insights

4.1 Attractive Opportunities in the Railway Wiring Harness Market

4.2 Europe to Lead the Global Market in 2025

4.3 Market, By Application

4.4 Market, By Train Type

4.5 Market, By Material

4.6 Market, By Voltage

4.7 Market, By Cable Type



5 Market Overview

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Market Dynamics

5.2.1 Drivers

5.2.1.1 Increasing Railway Projects

5.2.1.2 Increased Safety and Service Systems

5.2.1.3 Rising Smart City Projects

5.2.2 Restraints

5.2.2.1 Environmental Challenge for Wiring Harness

5.2.3 Opportunities

5.2.3.1 Growing Trend of Driverless Trains

5.2.3.2 Need for Energy Efficient Wiring System

5.2.4 Challenges

5.2.4.1 Fluctuating Price of Copper

5.2.4.2 Durability Issues



6 Railway Wiring Harness Market, By Application

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Hvac Harness

6.3 Lighting Harness

6.4 Brake Harness

6.5 Traction System Harness

6.6 Engine Harness

6.7 Infotainment Harness

6.8 Others



7 Railway Wiring Harness Market, By Cable Type

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Power Cable

7.3 Transmission Cable

7.4 Jumper Cable

7.5 Others



8 Railway Wiring Harness Market, By Component

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Wire

8.3 Connector

8.4 Terminal

8.5 Others



9 Railway Wiring Harness Market, By Material

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Copper

9.3 Aluminum

9.4 Others



10 Railway Wiring Harness Market, By Voltage

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Low

10.3 Medium

10.4 High



11 Railway Wiring Harness Market, By Train Type

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Metro/Monorail

11.3 Light Rail

11.4 High-Speed Rail/Bullet Train



12 Railway Wiring Harness Market, By Region

12.1 Introduction

12.2 Asia Pacific

12.3 Europe

12.4 North America

12.5 Middle East & Africa (MEA)

12.6 The Rest of the World



13 Competitive Landscape

13.1 Overview

13.2 Railway Wiring Harness Market Ranking Analysis

13.3 Competitive Situation & Trends

13.4 Expansions

13.5 Mergers & Acquisitions

13.6 New Product Developments

13.7 Partnerships/Agreements/Collaborations/ Supply Contracts



14 Company Profiles

14.1 Furukawa

14.2 Leoni

14.3 Hitachi

14.4 Nexans

14.5 Prysmian

14.6 TE Connectivity

14.7 Samvardhana Motherson

14.8 General Cable

14.9 Taihan

14.10 NKT

14.11 Huber-Suhner

14.12 Ls Cables & Systems

14.13 Other Key Regional Companies

14.13.1 Asia Pacific

14.13.1.1 KEI Industries

14.13.1.2 CMI

14.13.1.3 Gaon Cable

14.13.1.4 Jiangnan Group

14.13.2 Europe

14.13.2.1 Helukabel

14.13.2.2 AQ Group

14.13.2.3 Tecnikabel

14.13.3 North America

14.13.3.1 IEWC

14.13.3.2 GPC

14.13.3.3 Deca Cables

14.13.3.4 Milrail

14.13.4 Rest of the World

14.13.4.1 UMMC

14.13.4.2 Alvern Cables



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/8crmzd/railway_wiring?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

DALLAS, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Heart Association (Association), the world's leading voluntary health organization dedicated to building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke, and Laerdal Medical (Laerdal), a major, global medical equipment and medical training products manufacturer based in Stavanger, Norway, are furthering their decades-long alliance to deliver a new standard of resuscitation quality and patient care centered on CPR competence. Attendees representing 30 of the nation's largest health care systems today joined the inaugural RQI 2020 Keynote and Healthcare Networking Conference in Dallas to better understand how this paradigm shift can prevent tens of thousands of preventable cardiac arrest deaths annually in U.S. hospitals.

Each year, more than 200,000 adult cardiac arrests occur in U.S. hospitals and less than 26 percent of adult patients survive. High-quality CPR is the primary component that influences survival from cardiac arrest, but there is considerable variation in monitoring, implementation and quality improvement. As a result, CPR quality varies widely between health care systems and locations. The overall odds of surviving a cardiac arrest in the U.S. can vary by as much as 42 percent between randomly selected hospitals.1

For decades, Basic Life Support training has been the CPR training standard for health care providers, requiring participants to renew their course completion card every two years. Studies show CPR skills can decay within three to six months following this training.

To meet this challenge, in 2015, the Association and Laerdal co-developed RQI, or Resuscitation Quality Improvement. RQI is a self-directed, simulation-based performance and quality improvement program for health care professionals that offers "low-dose, high-frequency" hands-on learning sessions that provide vital CPR skills practice in 10 minutes every 90 days. RQI 2020 offers a comprehensive, end-to-end quality improvement program that will deliver higher CPR quality at a lower cost to health care systems and professionals. RQI 2020 will make its market debut in January 2019.

"The American Heart Association believes that preventable death from sudden cardiac arrest in hospitals is a public health crisis," said Nancy Brown, American Heart Association CEO. "Our goal is to create a world where no one dies from cardiac arrest, and today, we are putting a bold stake in the ground to transform the standard of care for treating victims of preventable cardiac arrest. The power of partnerships at the intersection of science and technology, in collaboration with health care systems across the country, is the solution to save more lives and ultimately get to zero."

The Association and Laerdal made a commitment in February to save 50,000 additional lives from in-hospital cardiac arrest each year by 2025. This is based on RQI adoption in all U.S. hospitals. Currently, there are nearly 400 U.S. hospitals that have implemented the RQI program and more than 300,000 health care providers have improved CPR competency since the program's introduction.

"Technology has advanced to focus on health care provider competency, which can lead to transforming the quality and standard of care," said Tore Laerdal, chairman and CEO of Laerdal Medical. "The key to success is hospital adoption and implementation of this low-dose, high- frequency learning paradigm. Our vision, Getting to Zero, is to eliminate preventable and unexpected cardiac arrest deaths in health care. The time is now to disrupt the status quo by innovating for impact and we applaud those health care systems that have taken this significant step."

During a luncheon program, the Association and Laerdal recognized a small group of hospitals and health care systems for pioneering the adoption of innovative practices as part of the early implementation of RQI. Honorees included:

Seton Healthcare, Austin, Texas

Texas Health Resources, Dallas, Texas

The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio

Wexner Medical Center, University of Alabama-Birmingham Medical Center, Birmingham, Alabama

Medical Center, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York

Medical Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center , Dallas, Texas

Today's event exemplifies the Association and Laerdal's commitment as strategic partners to lead innovative change in health care. Furthering this resolve was the announcement of the formation of a new joint venture partnership, RQI Partners, LLC. The company positions both organizations to deliver innovative solutions that accelerate their lifesaving mission, blending the Association's leadership in science with Laerdal's expertise in technology and implementation to deliver impactful resuscitation quality improvement programs.

Conference attendees also pledged their shared commitment to propel the health care industry to get to zero cardiac arrest deaths by working together to eliminate preventable cardiac arrest deaths.

For more information about RQI, visit www.rqipartners.com, heart.org and laerdal.com. To listen to the live stream recording of the RQI 2020 Keynote, visit livestreamrqi2020.com.

About the American Heart Association

The American Heart Association is devoted to saving people from heart disease and stroke  the two leading causes of death in the world. We team with millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies and provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat these diseases. The Dallas-based association is the nation's oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. To learn more or to get involved, call 1-800-AHA-USA1, visit heart.org or call any of our offices around the country. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

About Laerdal Medical

Laerdal Medical, one of the world's leading providers of health care solutions, is dedicated to helping save lives with products and services for Simulation, Airway Management, Immobilization, Basic Life Support, Advanced Life Support, Patient Care, Self-Directed Learning and Medical Education. Laerdal is pleased to serve all health care providers and educators, from the lay rescuer to medical professionals. Laerdal operates sales and support offices in 23 countries worldwide, and with the head office located in Stavanger, Norway. For more information, visit www.laerdal.com or call 877-523-7325.

For Public Inquiries: 800-AHA-USA1 (242-8721)

heart.org and strokeassociation.org

Reference:

1) Merchant, R M et al. "Hospital Variation in Survival after In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest." Journal of the American Heart Association 3.1 (2014): e000400. Journal of the American Heart Association. Web.

SOURCE American Heart AssociationNEW YORK, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Rothschild Global Advisory today announced that Mike Ostow, Jonathan Herbst and Raj Dayalan will join its North American business as Managing Directors, further strengthening the firm's growing presence in the region. Mr. Ostow, based in New York, has been named Head of Financial Institutions, North America which he will further build out. Mr. Herbst, based in Chicago, will be Head of the North American Media and Telecommunications team. Mr. Dayalan joins the firm in Los Angeles.

Jimmy Neissa, Head of Rothschild & Co North America, stated, "We're pleased to have Mike, Jon and Raj as part of our team as we continue to grow our presence in North America. Their backgrounds and experience will provide our clients with significant expertise in the financial, telecom, media and technology sectors, and we are looking forward to leveraging their market presence to further meet the needs of our clients."

Mr. Ostow joins the firm from UBS, where he was Americas Co-Head of its Financial Institutions Group. He has been with UBS since 2010. Previously, he has held senior roles at Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley. Mr. Ostow has worked across all subsectors of the financial industry and has advised a wide variety of leading global insurance companies and sponsors. Mr. Ostow holds a BS from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Mr. Ostow stated, "I look forward to working with the Rothschild & Co team to utilize the firm's established global financial institutions advisory platform to build the business in North America."

Mr. Herbst joins Rothschild Global Advisory from UBS where he was a senior member of the Global Technology, Media and Telecommunications Group for more than 17 years. While at UBS, Mr. Herbst led the firm's telecom practice in the Americas and has advised on transactions across a wide range of industry subsectors, including telecom service providers, telecom infrastructure and tech-enabled telecom services. Mr. Herbst holds a BA from Bowdoin College and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Mr. Herbst stated, "Rothschild & Co's media and telecommunications advisory practice is well-respected, both in North America and around the world, and I am excited to now lead the group in this market while also working with Eric Hirschfield to expand Rothschild Global Advisory's presence in the Midwest region and further leverage the firm's global presence."

Mr. Dayalan joins Rothschild Global Advisory from Houlihan Lokey, where he was a senior member of the Technology, Media & Telecom Group, heading its Marketing Technology practice. Prior to Houlihan Lokey, Mr. Dayalan was an Executive Director at UBS, serving as Co-Head of Internet Investment Banking. At both Houlihan Lokey and UBS, he led transactions for leading technology, media and payments companies and related financial sponsors. Earlier in his career, Mr. Dayalan was a member of Deutsche Bank's Technology Group and Salomon Brothers' Media & Telecom practice. Mr. Dayalan holds a B.A. from the University of California, Irvine, and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Mr. Dayalan stated, "This is a great time to join Rothschild & Co as the firm has made a clear and concerted effort to build its advisory capabilities in the technology sector. Rothschild & Co has demonstrated that it is an important advisor for companies in this sector and I am eager to enhance the firm's technology offering in the US."

Over the past two years, Rothschild & Co has taken significant steps in strengthening and expanding its presence in North America. The firm recently hired Sumner Farren and Sara Coyle as Managing Directors in its Chicago office, focused on Industrials. Last year, Rothschild & Co announced that Chris Gaertner joined the firm as Global Head of Technology and to lead the firm's office in Silicon Valley. Rothschild & Co also added Walid Khiari as a Managing Director on the Technology team, Reza Vahabzadeh and Siddharth Hariharan as Managing Directors on the Consumer team, and Aashis Mehta and Timothy Hotchandani as Managing Directors on the Healthcare team, all in the past 18 months.

For further information:

Rothschild Global Advisory Brunswick Group Kim Nicholson Alex Yankus / Aziz Nayani Tel: +44 20 7280 5422 Tel: +1 212 333 3810 [email protected] [email protected]

About Rothschild Global Advisory

With a team of c.3 500 talented financial services specialists on the ground in over 40 countries across the world, our integrated global network of trusted professionals provide in-depth market intelligence and effective long-term solutions for our clients in Global Advisory, Private Wealth & Asset Management, and Merchant Banking. Rothschild & Co is family-controlled and independent and has been at the centre of the world's financial markets for over 200 years.

Rothschild Global Advisory, a division of the Rothschild & Co group, designs and executes strategic M&A and financing solutions. It combines the breadth of its advisory offering with a high volume of transactions to achieve a unique understanding and perspective into markets and participants worldwide.

Rothschild Global Advisory provides impartial, expert advice to large and mid-sized corporations, private equity, families and entrepreneurs, and governments through an unrivalled network of 1,000 industry and financing specialists in over 40 countries worldwide.

SOURCE Rothschild Global AdvisoryWALTHAM, Mass., July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston is pleased to become the first and only practice in Massachusetts to offer LASIK surgery powered by the new iDesign Advanced Wavescan System. FDA approved, the system generates a high-definition scan of the eye 25 times more precise than traditional methods used to measure and correct vision. It acts as the brain of the LASIK procedure, measuring and mapping irregularities of the eye that may impact vision, and then creates a personalized LASIK treatment plan based on the unique refractive "blueprint" of each person's eye.

"This new wavefront technology represents the most significant advancement in laser vision correction that we have seen in over a decade," said OCB Ophthalmologist Peter Rapoza, MD. "I am thrilled to see that our already exceptional visual outcomes are even more accurate than before. We have patients who were near sighted, who come back the day after surgery with 20/15 vision feeling they have never seen so well previously. We are now able to offer even better visual outcomes to a wider range of patients."

Dr. Rapoza began using the iDesign system in March and reports that the initial group of 69 eyes in 35 of his nearsighted patients who underwent LASIK with a goal of excellent distance vision achieved visual acuity without glasses on their first post-operative day of 20/15 in 43% of eyesa result that is considered better than perfect vision of 20/20. In that same group, 98.5% of eyes achieved visual acuity of 20/20 on the first post-op day and 20/25 or better in 100% of eyes. By the second week with 47 eyes in 24 patients examined, 70% had better than perfect visual acuity of 20/15 and 100% achieved 20/20 or better. With traditional laser vision correction procedures, more than 90 percent of people achieve somewhere between 20/20 and 20/40 vision.

In addition to providing more accuracy, the new LASIK technology procedure is available to people who may not have been candidates for LASIK in the past due to its FDA approval for a wider range of optical correction.

"We can detect details of the eye that we were never able to see before, and can now help people who were out of the scope of these advanced laser vision correction treatments, including people with higher degrees of astigmatism, nearsightedness and farsightedness, who may have previously been told they were not eligible," said Dr. Rapoza.

In laser vision correction procedures, such as Lasik (Laser Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis) or PRK (photorefractive keratectomy) a specialized laser, called an excimer laser, is used to reshape the cornea  the clear round dome at the front of the eye  to improve the way the eye focuses light rays onto the retina at the back of the eye. The laser is guided through exact measurements of your eyes that are taken with the new iDesign Wavefront guided systemwhich collects more data about the imperfections of the eye than ever before possible. The system uses waves of light to precisely map the anatomy of your eye, at 5 times more resolution than previous wavefront guided technology, capturing more than 1200 data points from each eye.

The technology behind the iDesign system was originally developed for high-powered NASA telescopes to view distant objects in space. The iDESIGN System is manufactured by Johnson & Johnson Vision.

About Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston

Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston is committed to providing exemplary, state-of-the-art and compassionate eye care while advancing ophthalmology through education, research and leadership. OCB was founded in Boston by three ophthalmologists in 1969 has grown into one of the largest and most respected ophthalmic practices in the United States. To learn more visit our website, www.eyeboston.com.

SOURCE Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston

Related Links

eyeboston.com

CHICAGO, July 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Chicago-based Skender announced the creation of 100 new jobs in the City of Chicago, made possible with the opening of the new Skender advanced manufacturing facility, and the hiring of Peter Murray as President, Skender Manufacturing. The new advanced manufacturing operations will be located at 3348 S. Pulaski, on Chicago's southwest side; approximately 100 new jobs will be created related to the production of modular buildings for multifamily, healthcare and commercial buildings. Production is scheduled to start as early as November 2018 for Skender Manufacturing's first project, a six-story, 110-unit, 80,000-square-foot West Loop multifamily building.

"With the launch of Skender Manufacturing, our vertical integration is fusing design, manufacturing and construction into a single process," says Mark Skender, Skender CEO. "Peter Murray's experience in the advanced manufacturing industry will bring our vision to life. By designing, manufacturing and constructing modular buildings and building components, we can centralize and stabilize labor, standardize the assembly process and eliminate weather-related delays. This process will increase efficiency, shorten schedules, ensure consistent high quality and reduce costsultimately making new buildings affordable, even in our current environment of rising costs for labor and materials."

New Chicago plant, 100 new advanced manufacturing jobs

To host the new operations, Skender recently signed a lease for 105,560 square feet at 3348 S. Pulaski, a multi-tenant industrial facility located on the southwest side of Chicago. Hiring is underway to fill 100 positions at the facility within 18 months, and manufacturing will launch as early as November 2018.

Skender has been delivering construction projects throughout Chicago and its suburbs for nearly six decades and the company continues its dedication to the city by anchoring its manufacturing facility in an industrial park just north of Interstate 55.

Skender hires Peter Murray as President, Skender Manufacturing

Peter Murray brings more than 20 years of advanced manufacturing, operations and commercial experience establishing and improving international organizations. Murray joins Skender from an operations consultant position with Cohero Health, a privately-held digital health company, and from the management consulting company he founded, Murray Consultants, LLC.

Prior to consulting, Murray was President and Chief Operating Officer for Guerdon Modular Buildings in Boise, Idaho, an off-site producer of modular construction projects. Before that, he spent 21 years with Welch Allyn, launching a successful greenfield production facility.

Murray's building component manufacturing experience from Guerdon, his startup leadership experience, and his proven ability to lead a major organization transformation within the highly-regulated manufacturing environment blend into the right combination of factors necessary to launch and lead Skender Manufacturing.

"I'm a huge believer in advanced manufacturing and I've seen its potential for the building industry," expresses Murray. "There's no reason we can't apply the principles of advanced product design to buildings. Skender Manufacturing will use technology to challenge industry norms and boundaries. Our Chicago factory will be a place where the status quo exists only to be destroyed."

Skender Manufacturing will begin first multifamily project

Skender expects to have prototype modules ready for viewing and demonstration in September. Already, the firm is taking orders and developing designs for a number of multifamily and healthcare projects, including a 110-unit, 80,000-square-foot, six-story building being developed in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood to satisfy the growing demand for workforce housing.

Modules for the West Loop building will roll off the assembly line as early as November 2018. Foundation and podium construction is expected to begin in early 2019. Assembly of the 110 modular units onto the one-story structural steel podium is expected to start by February 2019. Installation of the modules will take approximately eight weeks, with substantial completion of the entire building expected by July 2019 for a total project timeline of approximately seven months, approximately 30 to 40 percent faster than the traditional building process. Total project development costs are expected to be reduced by 10 to 20 percent.

About Skender

Skender is revolutionizing how the industry builds by unifying construction, design and advanced manufacturing to create a more efficient, streamlined processand a single source of truth. We bring together every stage of the journey for designing and constructing commercial, healthcare and multifamily properties. Our Lean, integrated and tech-infused business model focuses on optimizing and innovating, ensuring our clients and project partners walk away feeling energized about the design and construction process. With offices in Chicago and San Francisco, we offer expertise to local and global brands. For more information on Skender, visit www.skender.com.

Media Contacts: Todd Andrlik

Vice President, Marketing

Skender

1330 W. Fulton Street, Suite 200

Chicago, IL 60607

(312) 564-7857 (office) or (312) 218-6733 (mobile) | [email protected]





Carly Calkins

Marketing Manager

Skender

1330 W. Fulton Street, Suite 200

Chicago, IL 60607

(312) 384-9206 | [email protected]

SOURCE Skender

Related Links

http://www.skender.com

SALT LAKE CITY, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The State of Utah today announced that it is launching a statewide customer experience program focused on improving the experience of its citizens. The program, run on the Qualtrics XM Platform, will save the state money by doing more in-house research, consolidate all customer experience programs on a single platform, and help the state achieve its goal of 25% greater efficiency in government. Utah is the first state in the nation to adopt a statewide citizen experience program.

"We are excited to be partnering with the State of Utah on this incredible initiative. The team Utah has assembled is committed to providing great citizen experiences while also tackling major issues like the opioid epidemic that are impacting communities everywhere," said Ryan Smith, co-founder and CEO of Qualtrics. "Every state in the US needs a program like this. Not only will it allow states to handle the major issues they have to tackle, but it will also allow them to more effectively attract top talent and cutting-edge organizations to their states."

Utah, which has consistently been rated one of the best places to live, the best state for business, and the best managed state, is focused on continuing to improve and lead. The state will deploy a robust citizen experience feedback program to better understand the needs of its citizens, proactively develop experience programs, and act on real-time feedback. This program demonstrates the state's deep commitment to its constituents by ensuring that their voices are heard and feedback implemented.

"This statewide customer experience initiative is a true team effort on the part of the Utah legislature, executive branch and private sector as the state maintains its focus on making Utah the number one place people want to work and live," said Stuart Adams, Utah State Senator. "By putting constituents first and making a direct feedback channel for them, the state will be able to understand and act on citizen feedback and continue to lead in important ways."

About Qualtrics

Qualtrics is a single system of record for all experience data, also called X-data, allowing organizations to manage the four core experiences of businesscustomer, product, employee and brand experienceson one platform. Over 9,000 enterprises worldwide, including more than 75 percent of the Fortune 100 and 99 of the top 100 U.S. business schools, rely on Qualtrics. To learn more, and for a free account, please visit www.qualtrics.com.

Contact

Mike Maughan

385.203.4564

[email protected]

SOURCE Qualtrics

Related Links

http://www.qualtrics.com

The four priests were booked by the state crime branch for allegedly raping and molesting the woman devotee.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked for a status report from the Kerala government on the investigation being conducted in the case of alleged rape and molestation of a woman against four Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church priests by August 6.

Meanwhile, a bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and Ashok Bhushan extended the stay of arrest of two accused Father Jaise K. George and Father Sony Varghese till August 6. The two priests had sought anticipatory bail. On July 19 the proceedings were held in camera in the chamber of Justice Sikri and it was suggested that the order has been reserved. However, on Thursday, the bench listed the matter for further hearing and directed the Kerala government to file a status report.

On behalf of the two priests, it was submitted that it was consensual sex and there was no rape. But the Kerala police contended that it was rape and opposed grant of anticipatory bail when the probe has not been completed.

The four priests were booked by the state crime branch for allegedly raping and molesting the woman devotee.PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y., July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Systemax Inc. (NYSE: SYX) today announced that it will release financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2018 on Tuesday, July 31, 2018 after U.S. market hours.

Management will provide pre-recorded remarks on the Company's second quarter 2018 results and a status update on the recently received offer for the purchase of its France business at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on July 31st. To access the remarks please dial (412-717-9224) five minutes prior to the start time. The pre-recorded remarks will also be available via webcast on the Company's website at www.systemax.com in the investor relations section.

If you cannot listen to the call at its scheduled time, the webcast will be archived on www.systemax.com for approximately 90 days.

About Systemax Inc.

Systemax Inc. (www.systemax.com), through its operating subsidiaries, is a provider of industrial products in North America and technology products in France, going to market through a system of branded e-Commerce websites and relationship marketers. The primary brands are Global Industrial and Inmac Wstore.

Investor/Media Contact:

Mike Smargiassi

The Plunkett Group

212-739-6729

[email protected]

SOURCE Systemax Inc.

Related Links

http://www.systemax.com

NEW YORK, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Galien Foundation today announced the 2018 Annual Prix Galien USA Award nominees. Counted among the global health innovation industry's most prized honors, the Prix Galien Award recognizes outstanding biomedical and medical technology product achievement that improves the human condition.

To qualify, each candidate must be U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for marketing within the last five years and demonstrate tremendous potential to impact human health. Sales data are not considered by the nominating committee in their award nominee selection; only science and health impact.

"The 2018 nominees exemplify breakthroughs in treatment and care that, in many cases, give patients with disabling, debilitating, and deadly diseases hope for the first time," said Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellmann, chair of the Prix Galien USA Awards Committee and CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "Among these exciting discoveries are products that mobilize a patient's own immune system to fight cancer, and new drugs and devices that deliver more accurate diagnoses and make it easier for patients to complete their treatments. These achievements underpin the mission of the Galien Foundation to improve the human condition."

The Prix Galien USA 2018 nominees include products evaluated in the following categories: "Best Biotechnology Product"  13 nominees; "Best Pharmaceutical Agent"  20 nominees; and "Best Medical Technology"  10 nominees.

Best Biotechnology Product (Nominees)

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Strensiq Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Kanuma Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Praxbind Genentech & Roche Hemlibra Gilead Sciences Yescarta GlaxoSmithKline Shingrix Janssen Research & Development Tremfya Merck & Co., Inc. Zinplava Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation Kymriah Pfizer Trumemba Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. & Sanofi Dupixent Spark Therapeutics Luxturna Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Mepsevii

Best Pharmaceutical Agent (Nominees)

AbbVie Mavyret Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Rhopressa Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Ofev Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Jardiance Bristol Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Daklinza Celgene Idhifa Eli Lilly and Company Verzenio Endoceutics, Inc Intrarosa Janssen Biotech, Inc. Invega Trinza Janssen Research & Development, LLC Darzalex Melinta Therapeutics, Inc. VABOMERE Merck & Co., Inc. Steglatro Merck & Co., Inc. Prevymis Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America Radicava Neurocrine Biosciences Ingrezza Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation Rydapt Pfizer Inc. & Astellas Xtandi Portola Pharmaceuticals Bevyxxa TESARO, Inc Zejula Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. Austedo

Best Medical Technology (Nominees)

Abbott Diabetes Care FreeStyle Libre - Flash Glucose Monitoring System Boston Scientific Corporation AXIOS - Stent and Electrocautery Enhanced Delivery System Boston Scientific Corporation SpyGlass Boston Scientific Corporation Watchman Brainscope Company, Inc. BrainScope One Foundation Medicine, Inc. FoundationOneCDx Integra LifeSciences Corporation, Inc. Omnigraft Dermal Regeneration Matrix Koning Corporation, Inc KBCT 1000 Medtronic Implantable System for Remodulin Otsuka America Pharmaceutical Inc.

(OAPI), Otsuka Pharmaceutical

Development and Commercialization,

Inc. (OPDC) and Proteus Digital Health Abilify MyCite

"The nominees selected by our independent committee of distinguished researchers and academics exemplify a brighter future for all patients, worldwide," said Bruno Cohen, Chairman of the Galien Foundation. "Benchmark science is delivering results that will filter through the entire health enterprise, improving efficiency, enhancing quality, and delivering better outcomes in the real world clinical setting. It's both timely and proper that we gather on October 25th to celebrate the achievements of these researchers and innovators, whose work represents the next chapter of human progress in fighting disease."

The Prix Galien USA Committee is composed of twelve renowned leaders from the biomedical industry and academia, including four Nobel Laureates, responsible for evaluating nominees. Winners will be announced during the Prix Galien USA Awards Ceremony on October 25, 2018, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Registration to attend the 2018 Prix Galien USA Awards Ceremony can be accessed here.

Prix Galien Awards Committee 2018

Pr. Susan DESMOND-HELLMANN,

M.D., M.Ph. Chief Executive Officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA

Committee Chair

Pr. Richard AXEL,

M.D. Nobel Laureate, Co-director, the Kavli Institute for Brain Science, Columbia University Medical Center, New York

Pr. Michael S. BROWN,

M.D. Nobel Laureate, Professor of Molecular Genetics and Internal Medicine, UT, Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX

Pr. Laurie GLIMCHER,

M.D. Chief Executive Officer and President, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Pr. Joseph GOLDSTEIN,

M.D. Nobel Laureate, Professor of Molecular Genetics and Internal Medicine, UT, Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX

Pr. Robert S. LANGER,

M.D. David H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT

Pr. Cato T. LAURENCIN,

M.D., Ph.D. University Professor, University of Connecticut, CT

Pr. Paul A. MARKS,

M.D. Laboratory Head of Cell Biology Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New-York. President Emeritus, MSKCC

Pr. Michael ROSENBLATT,

M.D. Chief Medical Officer of Flagship Pioneering, Cambridge, MA

Pr. Bengt SAMUELSSON, M.D., Ph.D. Nobel Laureate, Former President of Karolinska Institute and Former Chairman of the Nobel Foundation

Pr. Marc TESSIER-LAVIGNE,

Ph.D. President, Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Pr. P. Roy VAGELOS,

M.D. Retired Chairman and CEO, Merck & Co., Inc. Chairman of the Board, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Committee Chairman (2012  2017)

About the Galien Foundation

The Galien Foundation fosters, recognizes, and rewards excellence in scientific innovation to improve the state of human health. Our vision is to be the catalyst for the development of the next generation of innovative treatments and technologies that will impact human health and save lives.

The Foundation oversees and directs activities in the USA for the Prix Galien, an international award that recognizes outstanding achievements in improving the human condition through the development of innovative therapies. The Prix Galien was created in France in 1970 in honor of Galen, the father of medical science and modern pharmacology. Worldwide, the Prix Galien is regarded as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in biopharmaceutical and medical technology research.

For more information, visit www.galienfoundation.org.

Galien Foundation Media Contact:

Giana Gregga

Finn Partners

312-329-3910

[email protected]

SOURCE The Galien Foundation

Related Links

http://www.galienfoundation.org

SAN JOSE, Calif., July 26, 2018 Automation Anywhere , the leader in Robotic Process Automation (RPA), announced today that Network Products Guide, the industry's leading technology research and advisory guide, has named IQ Bot  a gold winner in the Hot Technology category of the 2018 IT World Awards. Now in its thirteenth year, Network Products Guide awards are the world's premier information technology awards honoring achievement in every facet of the IT industry.

IQ Bot allows business users to create software bots that leverage AI and machine learning to extract unstructured data from documents, without the help of data scientists or programmers. By combining cognitive abilities with practical, rule-based robotic process automation capabilities, organizations can now quickly automate processes end-to-end and run them independently with minimal human intervention. Built-in computer vision accurately extracts unstructured data from documents for manual processes such as invoices, purchase orders, financial statements and more. With Automation Anywhere's Bot Store  the world's only online bot marketplace  IQ Bot also allows partners and developers to quickly add new pre-trained bots for specialized business processes.

"It is an honor to have IQ Bot named a gold winner by IT World Awards," said Abhijit Kakhandiki, Senior VP, Products and Engineering at Automation Anywhere. "Automation Anywhere is one of the first RPA providers to recognize the need for automating business processes that rely upon unstructured data and to leverage AI to provide a solution that learns from humans, becoming smarter over time. IQ Bot is accomplished at applying human logic to documents and extracting values in the same way a human would, but with instantaneous speed and unprecedented accuracy."

An annual awards program with participation from a broad spectrum of industries, the IT World Awards recognize the world's best in organizational performance, products and services, hot technologies, executives and management teams, successful deployments, product management and engineering, customer satisfaction, and public relations in every area of information technology. More than 80 judges from around the world participated and their average scores determined the 2018 award winners.

Interact with Automation Anywhere:

Visit our website: www.automationanywhere.com

Check out our monthly webinar series BotVisions: https://www.automationanywhere.com/company/webinars

Follow us on Twitter: @AutomationAnywh

Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/automation-anywhere

About Automation Anywhere

Automation Anywhere is the leader in Robotic Process Automation (RPA), the platform on which more organizations build world-class Intelligent Digital Workforces. Automation Anywhere's enterprise-grade platform uses software bots that work side by side with people to do much of the repetitive work in many industries. It combines sophisticated RPA, cognitive and embedded analytic technologies. Over 1,000 organizations use this AI-enabled solution to manage and scale business processes faster, with near-zero error rates, while dramatically reducing operational costs. Automation Anywhere provides automation technology to leading financial services, insurance, healthcare, technology, manufacturing, telecom and logistics companies globally. For additional information, visit www.automationanywhere.com .

About NPG's IT World Awards

As the industry's leading technology research and advisory publication, Network Products Guide plays a vital role in keeping decision makers and end-users informed of the choices they can make in all areas of information technology. The Annual IT World Awards is part of the SVUS Awards recognition program from Silicon Valley in the United States of America which also includes other programs such as CEO World Awards, Consumer World Awards, Customer Sales and Service World Awards, Golden Bridge Awards, Globee Awards, Info Security PG's Global Excellence Awards, Pillar World Awards, PR World Awards, and Women World Awards. To learn more, visit www.networkproductsguide.com

SOURCE Automation Anywhere

Related Links

http://www.automationanywhere.com

LONDON, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

BQT Technologies, LTD. has recently announced the upcoming closed-Beta release of the BQT Crypto Exchange - a peer-to-peer (P2P) social and interactive exchange with innovative hedge trade capabilities. This unique method embraces the spirit of decentralization and community, eliciting the founding principles of blockchain and crypto assets trading.

As many blockchain experts are trying to find additional ways to marry crypto with fiat, BQT team believes in reducing the dependency on fiat altogether. And many exchanges, including top ones on the leaderboard such as Binance already following such trend. Every crypto asset has its own unique value and can be used as a negotiating tool to acquire another crypto asset. BQT team thinks the demand for the traders to obtain more crypto assets can be fulfilled through a significant supply of various crypto asset holdings through social interactions and direct negotiations by savvy trader peers.

P2P exchanges have shown a significant growth in popularity, with the widely used Localbitcoins witnessing continual volume spikes across various markets. To leverage various crypto asset holdings, BQT has introduced the revolutionary Hedge Trade system. Unlike margins and futures trading, the BQT Hedge Trade system is a flexible method to acquire assets in short term through escrow of existing crypto holdings.

BQT has chosen to focus its attention on secure P2P Hedge exchange model - allowing savvy crypto traders to interact with each other directly.

"The market for P2P exchanges is growing rapidly and market of today's traders truly demands even more flexibility and much deeper social interaction. BQT Exchange provides innovative trading approach allowing traders to hedge their crypto assets holdings to acquire crypto assets of other traders. We believe ability to negotiate trades directly, while rating their trades delivers upmost trustful, lucrative and competitive trading experience."

- Edward W. Mandel, CEO

Secure, interactive and user-friendly interface enables traders to acquire crypto assets from other trader peers on a short-time basis providing escrow of their crypto assets as a security with certain period while still maintaining ownership of the escrow.

BQT is more than just an exchange; its aim is to build a community of traders and create a true culture of crypto traders that can learn from each other, rate their trades and share their experience.

BQT team is aimed to release Hedge Exchange globally but initially restricting access in United States and some other jurisdiction until proper compliance is met.

The BQT Token

BQT Technologies, LTD. is scheduled to launch its ICO in July. BQT Token (BQT) would be initially utilized for exchange fee transactions and token listing fees but in future platform releases BQT tokens could be used for educational tools and other products and services which could help the BQT community to become more savvy traders. BQT would be inviting its traders and blockchain enthusiasts to participate in its affiliate program.

Website: www.bqt.io

SOURCE BQT Technologies, LTDSANTA MONICA, Calif., July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Skell Inc., patent holder & manufacturer of the BUG-A-SALT insect eradication device, is proud to announce a new global distribution partnership with MACVAD of New Zealand.

Since BUG-A-SALT launched in 2012, due to a horrific problem with blood-sucking sand files, New Zealand has been the #1 market requesting to purchase BUG-A-SALT guns. Initially, Skell was not able to consider New Zealand due to a lack of inventory. More recently, distribution was held back due to a lack of a suitable strategic partner. Erika Schimik, President, Skell Inc., states, "The release of our product in New Zealand is long overdue, and we are proud to announce we have chosen to partner with a strong industry leader such as MACVAD. With over 30 years of experience in the retail sector, we feel Sharl Short and his marketing & customer service team at MACVAD will serve as a natural extension of our brand  reinforcing our strong commitment to customer service & quality control as we expand globally."

"From the moment I saw this amazing product, I realized MACVAD simply had to get this agency. I am grateful for Erika and Lorenzo of Skell Inc. to have given us this opportunity. My team and I will be working very hard to ensure we make this a huge success, 'Down Under'. We have already pre-booked trade fair booths, engineered social media campaigns, and the stock is on its way. Look out flies and other pesky insects. Your Kiwi days are numbered, one salt-shot at a time!" says Sharl Short, Director, MACVAD NZ LTD. Email us on [email protected] to ensure you get on our mailing list for the latest updates or ring us on 0800 622 823 (NZ calls only) and leave us your contact details.

About BUG-A-SALT & Skell Inc.

The BUG-A-SALT is a miniaturized shotgun, which uses ordinary table salt as a lethal, non-toxic projectile. The BUG-A-SALT has an accuracy range of within three feet, leaves bugs whole for easy cleanup, and is a surefire fun way to enjoy a disgusting task.

Skell Inc. is the brainchild of CEO, patent holder, and inventor Lorenzo Maggiore and serves as the holding company for BUG-A-SALT products and merchandise. Summer 2012, Lorenzo launched a video telling the story of his journey on crowd-funding website, Indiegogo.com. The video quickly went viral, resulting in the sale of over 20,000 units. As of 2018, BUG-A-SALT has sold over 1.5M insect eradication devices and continues to globally patent & trademark new products each year. BUG-A-SALT insect eradication videos have received over 45 million views online. In addition, Mr. Maggiore and his invention have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Yahoo! News, BUZZFEED, Huffington Post, Wired, and Reddit. For more information about our products, please visit us at www.bugasalt.com.

CONTACTS:

SKELL INC.

Patrick Flury

Marketing Director, BUG-A-SALT

2401 Lincoln Blvd. Upstairs #C

Santa Monica, CA 90405

Office: 310 392-3288

Email: [email protected]

MACVAD LTD

Sharl Short

Director, Urban Leisure, MACVAD

39 Rawene Rd, Birkenhead, Auckland, 0626, New Zealand

Ph 0800 622 823 (NZ calls only)

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Skell Inc.

Related Links

https://www.bugasalt.com

DALLAS, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorneys at Texas-based Deans & Lyons and Brian Branch of New Mexico are suing ZTE USA, the domestic subsidiary of the Chinese cell phone company ZTE Corp., on behalf of a New Mexico man who suffered life-altering burn injuries when his recently purchased ZTE ZMax Pro Blu phone caught fire while he slept.

The fire occurred after Jose Perez of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, plugged in the phone he had bought just weeks earlier, placing it beside his bed to charge. According to the lawsuit, the phone overheated and ignited while he slept. Mr. Perez sustained second- and third-degree burns that left him in critical condition. Still hospitalized nearly nine months later, Mr. Perez has had multiple surgeries and skin grafts, and is permanently disabled.

"We believe this phone was dangerous and the manufacturer knew it," said Deans & Lyons co-founder Michael Lyons, who represents Mr. Perez. "We can demonstrate that this phone did not meet recognized industry standards concerning its Chinese manufactured lithium ion battery and its charging system."

The suit alleges the ZTE phone uses a non-standard, terraced-cell design with non-compliant overhang between the electrodes, leaving it susceptible to overheating, exponentially increasing fire risks, according to the lawsuit.

"Cutting corners is an extension of ZTE's corporate conduct that includes misappropriation of U.S. intellectual property, lying to the U.S. Government, and, according to the Pentagon, threatening the security of the United States. We intend to hold them accountable for this tragedy," said Mr. Lyons.

The lawsuit, filed July 23, is Jose Antonio Perez v. ZTE (USA), Inc., MetroPCS Texas, LLC, and Ultimate Wireless CSR, LLC, Cause No. D-101-CV-2018-02167 in New Mexico's First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe County.

Deans & Lyons, LLP, has offices in Dallas and Houston and maintains a reputation as one of the state's premier trial boutique firms. Its lawyers routinely handle high-stakes litigation of all kinds, including matters involving personal injury, wrongful death, products liability, business disputes, professional liability, real estate, securities, and construction. To learn more, visit http://www.deanslyons.com.

Media Contact:

Rhonda Reddick

800-559-4534

[email protected]

SOURCE Deans & Lyons, LLP

Related Links

http://www.deanslyons.com

"Burns & McDonnell helped me transform my interest in STEM into a career path," says Olivia Haney, environmental scientist intern, Burns & McDonnell. "The time we spent with the STEM professionals at Burns & McDonnell and Science City helped me discover my interest in environmental science. Now, I've had the opportunity to work side by side with the STEM professionals who inspired me as a high schooler. It's been an awesome experience!"

Launched in 2011, the Burns & McDonnell Battle of the Brains is a K-12 STEM competition where students compete for a chance to win grant money and the opportunity to work with STEM professionals to build a $1 million exhibit at Science City.

Haney's Olathe North High School team won the inaugural competition producing the first Battle of the Brains exhibit at Science City, Science of Energy: Unplugged. She was also on the winning Olathe North team in 2014 that designed the water-focused exhibit, Every Last Drop.

"Having a student who participated in the Battle of the Brains program come to work as a STEM professional at Burns & McDonnell is the ultimate dream," says Julee Koncak, Burns & McDonnell Foundation director. "There are simply more STEM jobs than there are people to fill them. Our mission is to introduce kids to STEM and the many types of careers available within this industry. We show them how they can make an incredible impact on our world  touching everything from technology to infrastructure."

Koncak says Haney is one of 18,000 students who have participated in Battle of the Brains over the past seven years. Now, the Kansas State University senior, double-majoring in Chemistry and Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, is supporting future STEM leaders through her continued involvement with Battle of the Brains. Haney recently met with the current winners of the Battle of the Brains, students at Grandview's FOCUS program at the Center for Alternative Instructional Resources (CAIR). The fifth through seventh graders are working with STEM professionals now to bring their winning proposal about the brain to life at Science City. This will be the fifth Battle of the Brains exhibit set to open at Science City in early 2019. Haney hopes to be there once again to cheer on the newest Battle of the Brain class, that may include the next Burns & McDonnell employee.

To learn more about how to get involved with Burns & McDonnell Battle of the Brains, as well as additional facts about the program, click here.

For photos and support materials, please visit our MEDIA KIT.

About Burns & McDonnell

Burns & McDonnell is a family of companies made up of more than 6,000 engineers, architects, construction professionals, scientists, consultants and entrepreneurs with offices across the country and throughout the world. We strive to create amazing success for our clients and amazing careers for our employee-owners. Burns & McDonnell is 100 percent employee-owned and is proud to be on Fortune's 2018 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For. For more information, visit burnsmcd.com.

Contact: Kristi Widmar, Burns & McDonnell

816-448-7379

[email protected]

SOURCE Burns & McDonnell

Related Links

http://www.burnsmcd.com

WASHINGTON, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of CAQH CORE, a collaboration of more than 130 public and private entities across the healthcare industry, today released an open letter to the authors of the Consensus Statement on Improving the Prior Authorization Process , which include the American Hospital Association (AHA), America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), American Medical Association (AMA), American Pharmacists Association (APhA), Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) and Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). In the letter, the CAQH CORE Board endorses the statement and urges ongoing cooperation to reduce healthcare costs, ease administrative burdens and improve continuity of care and the patient experience.

"We are greatly appreciative of the consensus statement authors' commitment to this critical issue," said Robin J. Thomashauer, President of CAQH. "CAQH CORE participating organizations have spent considerable time developing ways to promote greater automation in the prior authorization process. We agree wholeheartedly with the consensus statement, and are eager to work together to make a difference."

The letter highlights specific areas where CAQH CORE and the organizations that authored the Consensus Statement have clear, shared goals such as improved transparency and communications, continuity of patient care and greater automation and efficiency. For example, Phase IV CAQH CORE Operating Rules set industry expectations for how prior authorization data is exchanged through requirements for response times, connectivity, acknowledgement of requests and real time and batch processing. When finalized, Phase V CAQH CORE Operating Rules will ensure electronic prior authorizations contain critical information needed by providers and health plans to reduce the need for manual follow-up.

Citing the 2017 CAQH Index, the CAQH CORE Board notes that prior authorization is clearly in need of support. Adoption of the standard prior authorization transaction (ASC X12N 278) by health plans and healthcare providers could result in savings of $6.84 per transaction, one of the most significant per-transaction opportunity areas. However, the proportion of prior authorization transactions conducted using that standard actually declined by more than 10 percentage points in comparison to the 2016 CAQH Index.

"CAQH CORE has made significant progress identifying and addressing some of the technical challenges associated with prior authorizations, but there is more to be done," said Susan L. Turney, MD, MS, FACMPE, FACP; CAQH CORE Board Chair and President and CEO of Marshfield Clinic Health System. "If we can work together to improve the prior authorization process, we can reduce unnecessary manual interventions, cut costs and, ultimately, improve the efficiency and overall quality of patient care."

Read the CAQH CORE open letter to the authors of the Consensus Statement on Improving the Prior Authorization Process.

About CAQH CORE

CAQH CORE is a nonprofit collaboration of over 130 public and private health plans, hospitals and health systems, vendors and other stakeholders across the industry. Through this collaboration, CAQH CORE helps stakeholders uniformly adopt electronic transactions and exchange data efficiently. Since 2005, CAQH CORE has developed and issued four phases of operating rules that support standards, accelerate interoperability and align fee-for-service administrative activities among providers, payers and consumers. In 2015, the CAQH CORE scope expanded to include exchange needs for value-based payment. www.caqhcore.org.

SOURCE CAQH

Related Links

http://www.caqhcore.org

KINGSEY FALLS, QC, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Cascades Inc. (TSX: CAS), a leader in the recovery and manufacture of green packaging and tissue products, announces the acquisition of the White Birch, Bear Island manufacturing facility in Virginia, for a cash consideration of US$34.2 million. The newsprint paper machine presently located on the site will be reconfigured to produce high quality recycled lightweight linerboard and medium for the North American market. During the period prior to the conversion, White Birch will temporarily operate the site as a newsprint mill, under a 27-month lease.

The new machine is expected to have an annual production capacity of 400,000 tons and construction costs on a per ton basis that are competitive with similar conversion projects. As presently contemplated, the conversion would require an estimated investment of between US$275 and US$300 million, with production expected to begin in 2021. Details of the project will be announced when plans are finalized and approved by the Board of Directors, which is expected in the course of 2019.

Commenting on the project, Mr. Mario Plourde, CEO of Cascades, stated: "This project is directly in line with the goals of our strategic plan which include, among other things, investing in our core sectors of packaging and tissue through modernization, and expanding our geographical footprint. In addition to the paper machine that is particularly well suited for conversion, the Bear Island site is strategically located for raw material sourcing and logistics. Based on the success of our Greenpac Mill, we expect this to be a highly competitive facility that will significantly contribute to the success of our containerboard operations by supporting our geographic expansion in the US market, in addition to generating solid returns for our shareholders."

Mr. Charles Malo, COO of Cascades Containerboard Packaging stated: "The Bear Island site has several advantages including access to an experienced workforce with expertise in paper making. Moreover, the site provides a platform for continued growth through downstream converting capacity. It will also allow us to better serve our customers and to expand our market share by increasing our capacity to provide clients with high quality recycled lightweight linerboard similar to what we produce at our Greenpac Mill.

From a consolidated standpoint, the Bear Island acquisition costs will fall within the previously announced capex envelope for 2018. With Cascades' continued focus on projects like Bear Island aimed at modernizing production facilities in our core sectors of packaging and tissue, it is expected that capital expenditures in 2019 will remain at a level similar to 2018, subject to Board approval.

The Company expects cash flow to remain solid over the coming years as business conditions in North America and in Europe are projected to remain healthy, and gradual improvements are expected in the Tissue segment in the medium term as market conditions begin improving and recent investments generate positive momentum. Cascades is committed to successfully executing this conversion plan while simultaneously maintaining a healthy balance sheet and a judicious focus on returning cash to our shareholders.

The company will hold a conference call on July 26, 2018, at 8:30 AM ET to discuss the project. The call can be accessed by phone or via the company's website:

Dial-in number: 1-888-231-8191 (N.A. toll free)

1-647-427-7450 (International) Replay: 1-855-859-2056 (access: 8672029)

Available until August 26, 2018 Webcast: www.cascades.com, "Investor" section

(live and archived)

Founded in 1964, Cascades produces, converts and markets packaging and tissue products that are composed mainly of recycled fibres. The Company employs 11,000 women and men, who work in close to 90 production units in North America and Europe. With its management philosophy, half a century of experience in recycling, and continuous efforts in research and development as driving forces, Cascades continues to deliver the innovative products that customers have come to rely on. Cascades' shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol CAS.

Website: www.cascades.com

Green by Nature blog: blog.cascades.com

Facebook: facebook.com/Cascades

Twitter: twitter.com/CascadesDD | twitter.com/CascadesSD | twitter.com/CascadesInvest

YouTube: youtube.com/Cascades

SOURCE Cascades Inc.

Related Links

http://www.cascades.com

BEIJING, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Global crop protection company ADAMA (SZSE: 000553), the combination between Adama Agricultural Solutions Ltd. ("Solutions") and Hubei Sanonda Co., Ltd. ("ListCo") (together, "ADAMA" or "the Combined Company"), announced that following the retirement of Mr. Ren Jianxin as Chairman of ChemChina, and the appointment of Mr. Ning Gaoning as its Chairman, Mr. Ning has been nominated to join ADAMA's board of directors (boards of both ListCo and Solutions), awaiting shareholders' approval.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/610129/ADAMA_Agricultural_Solutions_Logo.jpg )



Mr. Yang Xingqiang, President of ChemChina, continues in his role as Chairman of ADAMA, alongside ADAMA's other board members.

Chen Lichtenstein, ADAMA President and CEO, said, "We thank Mr. Ren for his trust, insight, support and friendship over the years since we became a member of the ChemChina group. We welcome Mr. Ning to our Board, and look forward to continuing our successful partnership under his leadership, working towards the realization of our strategic vision."

About Mr. Ning Gaoning

Mr. Ning Gaoning (Frank Ning), the new Chairman of ChemChina, concurrently serves as Chairman of Sinochem. Previously, Mr. Ning served as Chairman of food and grain group COFCO, and prior to that, led the China Resources Group.

Mr. Ning has been named in China's Influential Business Leaders by Fortune, and CCTV China Economic Person of the Year. He holds an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh.

About the Combined Company

The combined company, which will be named ADAMA, is comprised of Adama Agricultural Solutions Ltd. and Hubei Sanonda Ltd., and is one of the world's leading crop protection companies. We strive to Create Simplicity in Agriculture - offering farmers effective products and services that simplify their lives and help them grow. With one of the most comprehensive and diversified portfolios of differentiated, quality products, our 6,600 strong team reaches farmers in over 100 countries, providing them with solutions to control weeds, insects and disease, and improve their yields. For more information, visit us at http://www.adama.com and follow us on Twitter at @AdamaAgri .

Contact

Wayne Rudolph

Head of Investor Relations

Email: [email protected]

Yanlai Xu

China Investor Relations

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Adama Agricultural Solutions LtdUS Congress-woman Anne Wagner was quoted as remarking that China had quietly resumed its activities in Doklam.

Both India and Bhutan consider Doklam to be Bhutanese territory while China claims it as its own and calls it Donglang. (Photo: Twitter | ANI)

New Delhi: A controversy was triggered on Thursday after US Congresswoman Anne Wagner was quoted as remarking that China had quietly resumed its activities in Doklam and that neither India nor Bhutan had dissuaded it from doing so.

The controversy further snowballed after certain media reports from Washington attributed the remarks to a US official, prompting New Delhi to clarify that the remark had not been made by any US official. Ms Wagner had apparently made the controversial remark during a Congressional hearing and in a question to the US State Departments principal deputy assistant secretary for South and Central Asia, Alice G. Wells.

New Delhi also said the status quo continued to prevail at the site in Doklam  in Bhutanese territory from where the armies of India and China had withdrawn their troops last year, thus ending the more than two-month-long military face-off. Both India and Bhutan consider Doklam to be Bhutanese territory while China claims it as its own and calls it Donglang.

MsWagner had apparently remarked in a question, Although both countries back down, China has quietly resumed its activities in Doklam and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade it. Chinas activities in the Himalayas remind me of its South China Sea policies. How should our failure to respond to the militarisation of the South China Sea inform the international response to these Himalayan border disputes? The ministry of external affairs (MEA) on Thursday said, The press reports attributing remarks on Doklam to a US official are incorrect. The reference to Doklam was made in the form of a question posed to the senior State Department official Alice G. Wells.

Ms Wells, in her reply, made no reference to the situation in Doklam and said that India is vigorously defending its northern borders and this is a subject of concern to India. I would reiterate that since the disengagement of Indian and Chinese border personnel in the Doklam area on 28 August 2017, there have been no new developments at the face-off site and its vicinity. The status quo prevails in this area.

K04JACKSON, Mich., July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CMS Energy announced today reported net income of $139 million, or $0.49 per share, for the second quarter of 2018 compared to $92 million or $0.33 per share for the second quarter in 2017. The company reported net income of $380 million, or $1.35 per share, for the first half of 2018 compared to $291 million or $1.04 per share for the comparable period in 2017 largely due to more favorable weather and cost savings. The company's adjusted earnings per share for the first half of 2018 were $1.34 and $0.48 for the second quarter.

CMS Energy reaffirmed its guidance for 2018 adjusted earnings of $2.30 - $2.34 per share (*See below for important information about non-GAAP measures) or 6 to 8 percent annual adjusted earnings per share growth.

"Our company's efforts in the second quarter highlight our commitment to the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit," said Patti Poppe, CEO and President of CMS Energy and Consumers Energy.

CMS Energy noted several accomplishments in the second quarter:

Integrated Resource Plan. Consumers Energy filed its Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) with the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) which detailed the company's greater reliance on renewable energy and increased use of energy efficiency and customer demand management programs. The IRP outlines the path to reduce carbon emissions by more than 90 percent and eliminate the use of coal to generate electricity, while increasing renewable energy to more than 40 percent in alignment with CMS' recently announced Clean Energy breakthrough goal.

Consumers Energy filed its Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) with the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) which detailed the company's greater reliance on renewable energy and increased use of energy efficiency and customer demand management programs. The IRP outlines the path to reduce carbon emissions by more than 90 percent and eliminate the use of coal to generate electricity, while increasing renewable energy to more than 40 percent in alignment with CMS' recently announced Clean Energy breakthrough goal. Wind Projects. CMS Energy announced the addition of two new wind energy parks to its renewable portfolio; Gratiot Farms and Northwest Ohio Wind. The projects will produce 150 and 105 megawatts, respectively, of clean, renewable energy.

CMS Energy announced the addition of two new wind energy parks to its renewable portfolio; Gratiot Farms and Northwest Ohio Wind. The projects will produce 150 and 105 megawatts, respectively, of clean, renewable energy. Sustainability Loan . CMS Energy and its primary subsidiary, Consumers Energy (collectively "CMS"), announced the first syndicated sustainability-linked revolving credit facilities for a U.S. borrower.

. CMS Energy and its primary subsidiary, Consumers Energy (collectively "CMS"), announced the first syndicated sustainability-linked revolving credit facilities for a U.S. borrower. Most Trusted Brand by MSI . An independent national survey has named Consumers Energy as a "Most Trusted Brand;" ranking it as the top utility in the Midwest, according to business customers.

. An independent national survey has named Consumers Energy as a "Most Trusted Brand;" ranking it as the top utility in the Midwest, according to business customers. Federal Tax Changes . CMS Energy reiterated its commitment to customers by passing along the savings, in monthly bill reductions, due to federal tax reform changes.

CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS) is a Michigan-based company that has an electric and natural gas utility, Consumers Energy, as its primary business and also owns and operates independent power generation businesses.

CMS Energy will hold a webcast to discuss its 2018 second quarter results and provide a business and financial outlook on July 26 at 8:30 AM (EDT). To participate in the Webcast, go to CMS Energy's home page (www.cmsenergy.com) and select "Investor Meeting."

Important information for investors about non-GAAP measures and other disclosures.

*This news release contains non-Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (non-GAAP) measures, such as adjusted earnings. Adjustments could include items such as discontinued operations, asset sales, impairments, restructuring costs, regulatory items from prior years, or other items detailed in the attached summary financial statements. Management views adjusted earnings as a key measure of the company's present operating financial performance and uses adjusted earnings for external communications with analysts and investors. Internally, the company uses adjusted earnings to measure and assess performance. Because the company is not able to estimate the impact of specific line items, which have the potential to significantly impact, favorably or unfavorably, the company's reported earnings in future periods, the company is not providing reported earnings guidance nor is it providing a reconciliation for the comparable future period earnings. The adjusted earnings should be considered supplemental information to assist in understanding our business results, rather than as a substitute for the reported earnings.

This news release contains "forward-looking statements." The forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause CMS Energy's and Consumers Energy's results to differ materially. All forward-looking statements should be considered in the context of the risk and other factors detailed from time to time in CMS Energy's and Consumers Energy's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Investors and others should note that CMS Energy routinely posts important information on its website and considers the Investor Relations section, www.cmsenergy.com/investor-relations, a channel of distribution.

For more information on CMS Energy, please visit our website at www.cmsenergy.com. To sign up for email alert notifications, please visit the Investor Relations section of our website.

CMS ENERGY CORPORATION

Consolidated Statements of Income

(Unaudited)





In Millions, Except Per Share Amounts



Three Months Ended

Six Months Ended



6/30/18

6/30/17

6/30/18

6/30/17

























Operating revenue $ 1,492

$ 1,449

$ 3,445

$ 3,278

























Operating expenses

1,237



1,208



2,827



2,649

























Operating Income

255



241



618



629

























Other income

22



9



51



23

























Interest charges

112



110



223



217

























Income Before Income Taxes

165



140



446



435

























Income tax expense

25



47



65



143

























Net Income

140



93



381



292

























Income attributable to noncontrolling interests

1



1



1



1

























Net Income Available to Common Stockholders $ 139

$ 92

$ 380

$ 291



















































Basic Earnings Per Average Common Share $ 0.49

$ 0.33

$ 1.35

$ 1.04 Diluted Earnings Per Average Common Share

0.49



0.33



1.35



1.04

CMS ENERGY CORPORATION

Summarized Consolidated Balance Sheets

(Unaudited)





In Millions



As of



6/30/18

12/31/17 Assets













Current assets













Cash and cash equivalents

$ 477



$ 182 Restricted cash and cash equivalents



17





17 Other current assets



1,792





2,276 Total current assets



2,286





2,475 Non-current assets













Plant, property, and equipment



17,237





16,761 Other non-current assets



3,789





3,814 Total Assets

$ 23,312



$ 23,050

















Liabilities and Equity













Current liabilities (1)

$ 1,319



$ 1,511 Non-current liabilities (1)



6,715





6,574 Capitalization













Debt, capital leases, and financing obligation (excluding securitization debt) (2)













Debt, capital leases, and financing obligation (excluding non-recourse and securitization debt)



8,897





8,940 Non-recourse debt



1,382





1,245 Total debt, capital leases, and financing obligation (excluding securitization debt)



10,279





10,185 Noncontrolling interests



37





37 Common stockholders' equity



4,672





4,441 Total capitalization (excluding securitization debt)



14,988





14,663 Securitization debt (2)



290





302 Total Liabilities and Equity

$ 23,312



$ 23,050

















(1) Excludes debt, capital leases, and financing obligation.

















(2) Includes current and non-current portions.



































CMS ENERGY CORPORATION Summarized Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited)





















In Millions



Six Months Ended



6/30/18

6/30/17

















Beginning of Period Cash and Cash Equivalents, Including Restricted Amounts

$ 204



$ 257

















Net cash provided by operating activities



1,416





1,119 Net cash used in investing activities



(1,008)





(806) Cash flows from operating and investing activities



408





313 Net cash used by financing activities



(111)





(129)

















Total Cash Flows

$ 297



$ 184

















End of Period Cash and Cash Equivalents, Including Restricted Amounts

$ 501



$ 441

CMS ENERGY CORPORATION

Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income to Non-GAAP Adjusted Net Income

(Unaudited)





In Millions, Except Per Share Amounts



Three Months Ended

Six Months Ended



6/30/18

6/30/17

6/30/18

6/30/17

























Net Income Available to Common Stockholders $ 139

$ 92

$ 380

$ 291 Reconciling items:





















Discontinued operations loss

*



*



*



* Restructuring costs and other

1



1



1



2 Tax impact

(*)



(1)



(*)



(1) Gain on assets previously sold

(4)



-



(4)



- Tax impact

1



-



1



-

























Adjusted net income  non-GAAP $ 137

$ 92

$ 378

$ 292

























Average Common Shares Outstanding





















Basic

282.1



279.5



281.8



279.2 Diluted

282.6



280.3



282.4



280.1

























Basic Earnings Per Average Common Share





















Reported net income per share $ 0.49

$ 0.33

$ 1.35

$ 1.04 Reconciling items:





















Discontinued operations loss

*



*



*



* Restructuring costs and other

*



*



*



* Tax impact

(*)



(*)



(*)



(*) Gain on assets previously sold

(0.01)



-



(0.01)



- Tax impact

*



-



*



-

























Adjusted net income per share  non-GAAP $ 0.48

$ 0.33

$ 1.34

$ 1.04

























Diluted Earnings Per Average Common Share





















Reported net income per share $ 0.49

$ 0.33

$ 1.35

$ 1.04 Reconciling items:





















Discontinued operations loss

*



*



*



* Restructuring costs and other

*



*



*



* Tax impact

(*)



(*)



(*)



(*) Gain on assets previously sold

(0.01)



-



(0.01)



- Tax impact

*



-



*



-

























Adjusted net income per share  non-GAAP $ 0.48

$ 0.33

$ 1.34

$ 1.04

























* Less than $0.5 million or $0.01 per share.















































Management views adjusted (non-Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) earnings as a key measure of the Company's present operating financial performance and uses adjusted earnings for external communications with analysts and investors. Internally, the Company uses adjusted earnings to measure and assess performance. Adjustments could include items such as discontinued operations, asset sales, impairments, restructuring costs, regulatory items from prior years, or other items detailed in these summary financial statements. Adjusted earnings should be considered supplemental information to assist in understanding our business results, rather than as a substitute for reported earnings.

SOURCE CMS EnergyNandini Basuthakur, CEO Procurement Leaders, said, "The response from our network of 27,000 senior procurement executives to drive demographic, supplier and workplace diversity initiatives has been significant. Getting this right is critical for the future of Procurement. I am excited about the future opportunities and platform this new partnership will create for wider diversity and inclusion within the procurement function."

The ConnXus and Procurement Leaders partnership will deliver increased support to drive meaningful change in Procurement Leaders' community of 700+ member organizations. Throughout the year, ConnXus will present a series of webinars tailored around diversity and inclusion within procurement and the supplier base. ConnXus will also partner with Procurement Leaders events, sharing innovative approaches and highlighting diversity and inclusion as a leadership priority for CPOs. The pinnacle of the partnership is a newly created award at the prestigious 2019 World Procurement Awards; this ConnXus Diversity & Inclusion Award celebrates organizations who are actively engaging in diversity and inclusion as part of their wider talent development plans.

Daryl Hammett, COO & General Manager of ConnXus, believes this award is a great opportunity to celebrate organizations making strides in inclusive procurement. "We want to create awareness of sustainable supply chains achieved through inclusion," he said. "In addition to acknowledging the value and innovation these organizations obtain, we want to celebrate the impact they have on the local and global community."

In addition, ConnXus has fostered many diverse supplier initiatives through strategic sourcing solutions. Earlier this year, ConnXus launched Diverse Marketplace with procure-to-pay partner BuyerQuest. Diverse Marketplace, a B2B buying platform, creates a seamless storefront experience designed to allow buyers to source, compare and purchase commodities from diverse suppliers. Today's participating suppliers include those in packaging, printing, medical supplies, office supplies and marketing. ConnXus is seeking suppliers in various industries to participate, and encourages businesses to have up-to-date woman, minority, LGBT, veteran, or disability business certifications. Learn more and sign up through our Diverse Marketplace webpage.

Diverse Marketplace is a powerful tool that can be used in conjunction with ConnXus' upcoming myConnXion platform release. myConnXion empowers buyers and suppliers to connect at any time, from anywhere in the world. The innovative new platform addresses data inconsistencies, RFP complexities, conference costs, and lack of centralized business information. Buyers and suppliers can collaborate with an automated and intuitive strategic sourcing process, allowing them to spend more time and resources growing their business. Companies can visit the corporate website for the latest information about myConnXion, and all suppliers can sign-up to participate in our strategic sourcing events for free, on mySupplierNetwork.

About ConnXus

ConnXus supplier management solutions simplify the complexities of global supply chains and allow buyers to achieve their goals of responsible and sustainable sourcing. ConnXus is a CPUC-certified minority-owned business enterprise based in Mason, Ohio with local, regional and international capabilities. For additional information about ConnXus and our growing suite of supplier management solutions, visit our website. Companies can visit the corporate website for updates to the myConnXion release, and suppliers can sign up free on mySupplierNetwork.

About Procurement Leaders

Founded in 2004, Procurement Leaders is the world's most valued professional procurement network. A unique and vital destination that connects, inspires and accelerates our members to become more successful. Powered by a community of over 700 leading global corporations and 27,000 senior procurement, sourcing and supply chain executives, we accelerate our member's journey to superior performance, providing access to the in-depth insight, practical tools and expert guidance they need to transform procurement into a critical business driver. For more information about Procurement Leaders, visit www.procurementleaders.com.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/723204/ConnXus.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/723205/procurement_leaders.jpg



SOURCE ConnXusTSX: ELD NYSE: EGO

VANCOUVER, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Eldorado Gold Corporation, ("Eldorado" or "the Company") today reports the Company's financial and operational results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2018.

Highlights from the Quarter and Subsequent Period1

Gold production of 99,105 ounces , including 3,134 ounces of pre-commercial production from Lamaque

, including 3,134 ounces of pre-commercial production from Lamaque Full year production guidance increased to 330,000-340,000 ounces of gold from 290,000-330,000 ounces of gold due to expected higher production at Kisladag

from 290,000-330,000 ounces of gold due to expected higher production at Kisladag Key permitting milestones achieved, including confirmation that construction of a mill at Kisladag could proceed under the existing Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and receipt of the mining concession at Tocantinzinho

including confirmation that construction of a mill at Kisladag could proceed under the existing Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and receipt of the mining concession at Tocantinzinho Cash generated from operating activities was $36.7 million ; cash generated from operating activities before changes in non-cash working capital was $23.5 million

was cash generated from operating activities was The Company held $429.8 million in cash, cash equivalents and term deposits, and had $250.0 million in undrawn lines of credit at the end of the quarter

at the end of the quarter Gold revenues from continuing operations of $121.3 million on sales of 94,224 ounces of gold at an average realized gold price of $1,287 per ounce

of on sales of of gold at an Loss attributable to shareholders was $24.4 million ( $0.03 per share) primarily due to several significant non-cash charges that are further described in the review of quarterly results below

( per share) primarily due to several significant non-cash charges that are further described in the review of quarterly results below Adjusted net earnings of ($1.8) million ( $0.00 per share)

( per share) Cash operating costs averaged $587 per ounce, all-in sustaining cash costs averaged $934 per ounce

"This was an excellent quarter for us. Production was strong, driven by better-than-expected ounces from the heap leach pad at Kisladag," said George Burns, Eldorado's President and Chief Executive Officer. "We achieved lower costs at Olympias, reflecting mill and filter press optimizations. With production and costs continuing to trend positively, we have increased full-year guidance to 330,000-340,000 ounces of gold at $580-$630 per ounce. Development continues ahead of schedule at Lamaque and we are on track to complete the feasibility study for a mill at Kisladag in the third quarter of this year."

"Our cash position remains solid and in light of the positive performance in the first half of 2018, we continue to refine our views on capital and potential funding requirements to meet the medium to long-term needs of the organization and re-establish annual production of 600,000 ounces per year by 2021."

_______________________ 1 Throughout this press release we use cash operating cost per ounce, all-in sustaining cash cost per ounce, and cash flow from operating activities before changes in non-cash working capital as additional measures of Company performance. These are non-IFRS measures. Please see our MD&A for an explanation and discussion of these non-IFRS measures. All dollar amounts in US$, unless stated otherwise.

Summarized Quarterly Financial Results









3 months ended June 30, 6 months ended June 30,

2018 2017 2018 2017 Revenues 153.2 82.7 285.1 194.6 Gold revenues1 121.3 72.2 236.8 162.7 Gold sold (ounces) 94,224 57,206 180,811 131,274 Average realized gold price ($/ounce) 1,287 1,262 1,310 1,240 Cash operating costs  gold mines ($/ounce) 587 484 579 474 Total cash costs  gold mines ($/ounce) 610 502 604 492 All-in sustaining cash cost  gold mines ($/ounce) 934 846 887 826 Gross profit from gold mining operations 30.1 28.1 64.8 65.1 Cash flow from operating activities 2 23.5 16.9 61.5 45.1 Adjusted net earnings (1.8) 6.3 12.4 16.7 Net profit/(loss) 3, 4, 5 (24.4) 11.2 (15.7) 15.0 Earnings per share  basic ($/share) 3 (0.03) 0.02 (0.02) 0.02 Earnings per share  diluted ($/share) 3 (0.03) 0.02 (0.02) 0.02

(1) Including market to market price adjustments on provisional sales (2) Before changes in non-cash working capital (3) Attributable to shareholders of the Company (4) 2017 net profit is from continued operations (5) Including significant non-cash charges, as outlined below

Review of Quarterly Financial Results

Gold sales of 94,224 ounces during the quarter were significantly higher year over year mainly due to higher production and sales at Kisladag and Efemcukuru as well as the first year of commercial gold sales at Olympias. Metal sales revenues were $153.2 million compared to $82.7 million in the second quarter of 2017, driven by higher sales volumes along with higher average realized gold price of $1,287 per ounce compared with $1,262 per ounce for the second quarter of 2017.



Higher gold revenues were offset by higher production costs and depreciation, depletion and amortization ("DDA") expense resulting in gross profit from gold mining operations remaining relatively flat year over year. Production costs were $46.4 million higher, primarily driven by $26.5 million in non-cash charges related to the leach pad inventory draw-down at Kisladag. Additional quarterly non-cash charges are expected as the Kisladag leach pad inventory draw-down continues. DDA costs were $18.0 million higher due to the start-up of Olympias as well as an increase at Kisladag due to leach pad draw-down and lower reserves. General and administrative expenses increased $2.5 million year over year due to reorganization costs. Mine standby costs of $4.3 million were recorded in the second quarter of 2018 related to Kisladag, Vila Nova, Perama Hill and Skouries (2017: $1.3 million).



In the second quarter, the weakening Turkish and Brazilian currencies in relation to the US dollar had a negative impact on deferred income tax expenses. Total income tax expense for the quarter was $21.6 million, including a $19.1 million non-cash charge related to unrealized losses on deferred tax assets resulting from these adverse currency movements. Currency volatility will continue to affect our quarterly income tax expense.



As a result, loss attributable to shareholders of the Company for this quarter was $24.4 million, (or $0.03 per share), compared to a profit of $11.2 million, (or $0.02 per share) in the second quarter of 2017. Adjusted net earnings for the quarter were ($1.8) million (or $0.00 per share) as compared to adjusted net earnings of $6.3 million ($0.01 per share) for the second quarter of 2017 (see page 14 of Management's Discussion and Analysis for the quarter for a reconciliation of profit to adjusted earnings).



Cash flow from operating activities before changes in non-cash working capital was $23.5 million, an increase year over year from $16.9 million in the second quarter of 2017.

Review of Quarterly Operational Results

Gold production for the quarter was up 56% year on year (99,105 ounces versus 63,692 ounces in Q2 2017) due to the increase in production at Kisladag, Efemcukuru and Olympias. Kisladag saw increased production due to improved leach kinetics and placement of ore in early 2018 on an inter-lift liner, which shortened the time that gold bearing solution took to return to the ADR Plant.

Since start-up of the Kisladag operation in 2006 approximately 145 million tonnes of material has been placed on the leach pad, at an average grade of 1.01 g/t. Production from leach operation has totaled approximately 2.88 million ounces of gold and the remaining book inventory is 61,100 ounces of gold. This leaves approximately 1.77 million ounces of contained gold in the pad. Historically this gold has been deemed not recoverable based on past metallurgical test work. However, we have progressed efforts to profitably extract a small portion of this contained gold. Based on the results of those efforts to date, the Kisladag production guidance for 2018-2020 is being increased by 40,000-45,000 ounces.

The efforts to increase production beyond the leach pad inventory included contract sonic drilling of the pad, which began at the end of 2017. We have subsequently purchased a sonic drill and have commenced injecting cyanide into the sonic drill holes. We have also commenced re-grading and re-leaching of side slopes, which have shown promising early results. Additionally, recent metallurgical test work has indicated that gold recovery is increased in core samples that are over one year old, which suggests higher ultimate recovery on the pad could be possible assuming that solution chemistry can be maintained at a sustainable level. The Company will continue to study this over the remainder of the year and implement methods to extract additional gold from the leach pad, but there can be no assurance that these recovery alternatives will result in increased gold recovery from the pad beyond the Company's revised guidance.

Olympias production was higher than the second quarter of 2017 as the asset is now in commercial production. Operating costs for Olympias have decreased compared to the first quarter of 2018 due to continued optimization of the mill and tailings filter presses, which are now fully operational.

Consolidated operating costs in the quarter were higher year on year due to increased costs on a per ounce basis at Kisladag.

For further information on the Company's operating results please see the Management's Discussion and Analysis for the quarter available at www.eldoradogold.com.

Permitting and Development Updates

Work at Lamaque progressed well over the quarter with underground development slightly ahead of plan, at 2,100 metres. Tonnage and grade of material mined to-date from Triangle is as expected and results from toll milling are reconciling well with the ore reserve block model. Activities at the Sigma mill are also progressing on schedule and include refurbishment and replacement of tanks and refurbishment of the main mill motors.

During the quarter the Company received notice from the Turkish Ministry of Environment and urbanization ("MoE"), that the proposed mill construction at the Kisladag site is permissible under the existing Kisladag EIA, approved by the MoE in 2014. The feasibility study for a mill at Kisladag is expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year, with a final investment decision by Eldorado's Board of Directors expected shortly thereafter.

Also during the quarter, the Company received the mining concession for the Tocantinzinho project from the federal branch of the Brazilian Ministry of Mines. The project is currently undergoing a value engineering exercise to improve capital costs and the economics of the project. Eldorado's Board of Directors will assess next steps for the project after completion of this work.

Eldorado continues to engage the Greek government in discussions concerning the outstanding permits required to advance the Skouries project. However, the Company is unable to provide guidance as to when the permits may be issued. The Company is evaluating its legal options in this regard.

The Company remains committed to developing its Kassandra assets, including Skouries, in accordance with its contractual and other legal obligations, which Greek court rulings have consistently supported. Eldorado's compliance with its legal obligations was also confirmed by the recent positive arbitration decision in April 2018, which found that the Company was not in breach of the provisions of its Transfer Contract with the Greek State.

Skouries remains a compelling project, providing additional long-term growth, but requires collaborative government dialogue and a clear line of sight to free cash flow in order for us to allocate further capital for development.

2018 Revised Outlook

As a result of gold production in the second quarter exceeding internal plans, Eldorado is forecasting increased annual gold production, including pre-commercial ounces from Lamaque, of 330,000-340,000 ounces of gold, up from previous guidance of 290,000-330,000 ounces. The increase is primarily due to improved production forecast at Kisladag. Cash costs are expected to remain within the same range as previously guided: $580 - $630 per ounce.







Eldorado

Gold Revised Guidance Previous Guidance Production (oz) Cash Cost ($/oz) Production (oz) Cash Cost ($/oz) 2018 330,000  340,000 580  630 (unchanged) 290,000  330,000 580  630

The Company is increasing its 2018 guidance for Kisladag to 140,000-150,000 ounces at a cash cost of $700-$800 per ounce (including approximately $350 per ounce of non-cash costs). The Company is maintaining its production guidance for Kisladag for 2019 at 40,000-50,000 ounces, but revising the cash costs down to $900-$1,000 per ounce (including approximately $300 per ounce of non-cash costs). Kisladag production in 2020 is now forecast to be 20,000-25,000 ounces at a cash cost of $600-$700 per ounce.

Cash costs at Kisladag have increased in 2018 and are expected to decrease in 2019 due to a change in allocation of inventory costs. The ongoing heap leach costs incurred beginning June 1, 2018 are being expensed rather than added to the book inventory cost. This change better aligns ongoing processing costs with current production from the leach pad.

At Skouries an additional scope of work for ongoing asset protection is required following the storm damage that was experienced over the course of the first half of this year. This work is expected to be completed at an additional estimated cost of $8 million, which will increase the total 2018 capital expenditure forecast at Skouries to $28 million.

Corporate

Senior Management Changes:

Phil Yee will join the Company as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in September 2018 .

will join the Company as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in . Lisa Ower will join the Company as Vice President of Human Resources on August 8, 2018 .

Share Consolidation

Eldorado received shareholder approval at its 2018 Annual and Special Meeting held on June 21, 2018, to amend the Company's articles to allow for the implementation of a share consolidation with a ratio of 5-for-1. The Board will review the merits of a share consolidation during the course of the next five months, taking into consideration the best interests of the Company, its trading price and the requirements of the New York Stock Exchange.

Dividend

As previously announced, the Company suspended cash payment of its semi-annual dividend payment effective the first quarter of 2018.

Conference Call and Webcast with Slides

A conference call to discuss the details of the Company's 2018 Second Quarter Results will be held by senior management on July 27, 2018 at 8:30 AM PT (11:30 AM ET). The call will be webcast and will have an accompanying slide deck. The webcast and slides can be accessed at this link and from Eldorado's website. Eldorado encourages investors to pre-register in advance of the conference call.

Conference Call Details Replay (available until August 30, 2018)





Date: Friday, July 27, 2018 Toronto: 416 849 0833 Time: 8:30 am PT (11:30 am ET) Toll Free: 1 855 859 2056 Dial in: 647 427 7450 Pass code: 3773 417 Toll free: 1 888 231 8191



About Eldorado Gold

Eldorado is a gold and base metals producer with mining, development and exploration operations in Turkey, Greece, Romania, Serbia, Canada and Brazil. The Company has a highly skilled and dedicated workforce, safe and responsible operations, a portfolio of high-quality assets, and long-term partnerships with local communities. Eldorado's common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: ELD) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: EGO).

Cautionary Note about Forward-looking Statements and Information

Certain of the statements made and information provided in this press release are forward-looking statements or information within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. Often, these forward-looking statements and forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "continue", "projected", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or the negatives thereof or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved.

Forward-looking statements or information contained in this release include, but are not limited to, statements or information with respect to: our guidance and outlook, including expected production and recoveries of gold, projected all-in sustaining costs and cash operating costs, planned capital and exploration expenditures for 2018; our expectation as to our future financial and operating performance, including future cash flow, estimated all-in sustaining costs and cash operating costs, expected metallurgical recoveries, gold price outlook; and our strategy, plans and goals, including our proposed exploration, development, construction, permitting and operating plans and priorities, related timelines and schedules and proposed share consolidation.

Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information by their nature are based on assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information.

We have made certain assumptions about the forward-looking statements and information, including assumptions about the geopolitical, economic, permitting and legal climate that we operate in; the future price of gold and other commodities; exchange rates; anticipated costs and expenses; production, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical recoveries, the impact of acquisitions, dispositions, suspensions or delays on our business and the ability to achieve our goals. In particular, except where otherwise stated, we have assumed a continuation of existing business operations on substantially the same basis as exists at the time of this release.

Even though our management believes that the assumptions made and the expectations represented by such statements or information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statement or information will prove to be accurate. Many assumptions may be difficult to predict and are beyond our control.

Furthermore, should one or more of the risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements or information. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among others, the following: geopolitical and economic climate (global and local), risks related to mineral tenure and permits; gold and other commodity price volatility; recoveries of gold and other metals; results of test work; revised guidance; risks regarding potential and pending litigation and arbitration proceedings relating to the Company's, business, properties and operations; expected impact on reserves and the carrying value; the updating of the reserve and resource models and life of mine plans; mining operational and development risk; foreign country operational risks; risks of sovereign investment; regulatory risks and liabilities including, regulatory environment and restrictions, and environmental regulatory restrictions and liability; discrepancies between actual and estimated production, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical testing and recoveries; risks related to the impact of the sale of our Chinese assets and the acquisition and integration of Integra on the Company's operations; additional funding requirements; currency fluctuations; community and non-governmental organization actions; speculative nature of gold exploration; dilution; share price volatility; competition; loss of key employees; and defective title to mineral claims or properties, as well as those risk factors discussed in the sections titled "Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk factors in our business" in the Company's most recent Annual Information Form & Form 40-F. The reader is directed to carefully review the detailed risk discussion in our most recent Annual Information Form filed on SEDAR under our Company name, which discussion is incorporated by reference in this release, for a fuller understanding of the risks and uncertainties that affect the Company's business and operations.

Forward-looking statements and information is designed to help you understand management's current views of our near and longer term prospects, and it may not be appropriate for other purposes.

There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements or information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements or information contained herein. Except as required by law, we do not expect to update forward-looking statements and information continually as conditions change and you are referred to the full discussion of the Company's business contained in the Company's reports filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada and the U.S.

Financial Information and condensed statements contained herein or attached hereto may not be suitable for readers that are unfamiliar with the Company and is not a substitute for reading the Company's financial statements and related MD&A available on our website and on SEDAR under our Company name. The reader is directed to carefully review such document for a full understanding of the financial information summarized herein.

Except as otherwise noted, scientific and technical information contained in this press release was reviewed and approved by Paul Skayman, FAusIMM, Chief Operating Officer for Eldorado Gold Corporation, and a "qualified person" under NI 43-101.

Eldorado Gold Corporation

Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(Expressed in thousands of U.S. dollars)



Note June 30, 2018 December 31, 2017



$ $ ASSETS





Current assets







Cash and cash equivalents

423,170 479,501

Term deposits

6,626 5,508

Restricted cash

301 310

Marketable securities

3,720 5,010

Accounts receivable and other

83,742 78,344

Inventories

147,866 168,844



665,425 737,517 Restricted cash and other assets

19,542 22,902 Defined benefit pension plan

9,374 9,919 Property, plant and equipment

4,275,264 4,227,397 Goodwill 4 92,591 92,591



5,062,196 5,090,326 LIABILITIES & EQUITY





Current liabilities







Accounts payable and accrued liabilities

91,340 110,541

Current portion of asset retirement obligation

1,232 3,489



92,572 114,030 Debt 5 594,880 593,783 Other non-current liability

2,648 110 Defined benefit pension plan

11,909 13,599 Asset retirement obligations

97,072 96,195 Deferred income tax liabilities

556,135 549,127



1,355,216 1,366,844 Equity





Share capital

3,007,924 3,007,924 Treasury stock

(10,104) (11,056) Contributed surplus

2,617,108 2,616,593 Accumulated other comprehensive loss

(21,859) (21,350) Deficit

(1,964,242) (1,948,569) Total equity attributable to shareholders of the Company

3,628,827 3,643,542 Attributable to non-controlling interests

78,153 79,940



3,706,980 3,723,482



5,062,196 5,090,326

Please see the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements dated June 30, 2018 for notes to the accounts.

Eldorado Gold Corporation

Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Income Statements

(Expressed in thousands of U.S. dollars except per share amounts)





Three months ended

Six months ended



June 30,

June 30,















Note 2018 2017

2018 2017



$ $

$ $ Revenue













Metal sales 6 153,171 82,736

285,076 194,616













Cost of sales













Production costs

85,844 39,433

153,079 90,121

Depreciation and amortization

34,482 15,556

63,670 33,620



120,326 54,989

216,749 123,741 Gross profit

32,845 27,747

68,327 70,875













Exploration expenses

6,849 7,124

10,997 12,371 Mine standby costs

4,304 1,301

7,010 2,332 Other operating items

- 1,525

- 3,658 General and administrative expenses

14,006 11,498

22,231 23,112 Defined benefit pension plan expense

1,047 782

2,130 1,612 Share based payments 8 2,844 1,990

4,162 7,118 Write-down of assets

4,483 2,177

8,507 3,231 Foreign exchange loss (gain)

2,266 (749)

3,408 (661) Operating profit (loss)

(2,954) 2,099

9,882 18,102













Gain (loss) on disposal of assets

42 40

128 (267) Gain on derivatives and other investments

1,406 743

2,194 778 Other income

2,175 2,211

5,272 4,560 Asset retirement obligation accretion

(509) (523)

(1,019) (1,047) Interest and financing (costs) income

(2,691) 61

(6,255) (1,050)













Profit (loss) from continuing operations before income tax

(2,531) 4,631

10,202 21,076 Income tax expense (recovery)

21,579 (2,693)

28,663 8,083 Profit (loss) from continuing operations

(24,110) 7,324

(18,461) 12,993 Profit (loss) from discontinued operations

- 203

- (2,797) Profit (loss) for the period

(24,110) 7,527

(18,461) 10,196













Attributable to:











Shareholders of the Company

(24,391) 11,215

(15,673) 15,049 Non-controlling interests

281 (3,688)

(2,788) (4,853) Profit (loss) for the period

(24,110) 7,527

(18,461) 10,196













Profit (loss) attributable to shareholders of the Company











Continuing operations

(24,391) 11,012

(15,673) 17,846 Discontinued operations

- 203

- (2,797)



(24,391) 11,215

(15,673) 15,049













Weighted average number of shares outstanding (thousands)











Basic

793,307 716,824

793,082 716,713 Diluted

793,307 717,479

793,082 717,380













Profit (loss) per share attributable to shareholders











of the Company:











Basic profit (loss) per share

(0.03) 0.02

(0.02) 0.02 Diluted profit (loss) per share

(0.03) 0.02

(0.02) 0.02













Profit (loss) per share attributable to shareholders











of the Company - continuing operations:











Basic profit (loss) per share

(0.03) 0.02

(0.02) 0.02 Diluted profit (loss) per share

(0.03) 0.02

(0.02) 0.02

Please see the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements dated June 30, 2018 for notes to the accounts.

Eldorado Gold Corporation

Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income

(Expressed in thousands of U.S. dollars)





Three months ended

Six months ended



June 30,

June 30,

















2018 2017

2018 2017



$ $

$ $













Profit (loss) for the period

(24,110) 7,527

(18,461) 10,196 Other comprehensive income (loss):











Items that will not be reclassified to profit or loss:













Change in fair value of investments in equity securities

(420) (359)

(1,159) (71)

Actuarial losses on defined benefit pension plans

641 226

650 331



221 (133)

(509) 260 Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss:













Change in fair value of investments in equity securities

- 2,049

- 18,625

Income tax on change in fair value of investments in equity securities

- (451)

- (2,595)



- 1,598

- 16,030 Total other comprehensive income (loss) for the period

221 1,465

(509) 16,290 Total comprehensive income (loss) for the period

(23,889) 8,992

(18,970) 26,486













Attributable to:











Shareholders of the Company

(24,170) 12,680

(16,182) 31,339 Non-controlling interests

281 (3,688)

(2,788) (4,853)



(23,889) 8,992

(18,970) 26,486

Please see the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements dated June 30, 2018 for notes to the accounts.

Eldorado Gold Corporation

Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(Expressed in thousands of U.S. dollars)







Three months ended

Six months ended





June 30,

June 30,



















Note 2018 2017

2018 2017





$ $

$ $ Cash flows generated from (used in):













Operating activities













Profit (loss) for the period from continuing operations



(24,110) 7,324

(18,461) 12,993 Items not affecting cash:













Asset retirement obligation accretion



509 523

1,019 1,047 Depreciation and amortization



34,482 15,556

63,670 33,620 Unrealized foreign exchange loss (gain)



169 (304)

418 (378) Deferred income tax expense (recovery)



9,407 (9,847)

7,008 (12,559) (Gain) loss on disposal of assets



(42) (40)

(128) 267 Write-down of assets



4,483 2,177

8,507 3,231 Gain on derivatives and other investments



(1,406) (743)

(2,194) (778) Share based payments



2,844 1,990

4,162 7,118 Defined benefit pension plan expense



1,047 782

2,130 1,612





27,383 17,418

66,131 46,173 Property reclamation payments



(1,592) (496)

(2,399) (1,087) Severance payments



(2,250) -

(2,250) - Changes in non-cash working capital

10 13,163 (44,835)

(1,892) (22,226) Net cash provided (used) by operating activities of continuing operations

36,704 (27,913)

59,590 22,860 Net cash provided (used) by operating activities of discontinued operations

- 203

- (2,797)















Investing activities













Purchase of property, plant and equipment



(74,346) (75,047)

(141,332) (148,884) Proceeds from the sale of property, plant and equipment

7,751 82

7,812 83 Proceeds on pre-commercial production sales



3,509 1,092

16,891 1,092 Value added taxes related to mineral property expenditures, net



(1,412) (7,240)

4,802 16,345 Investment in term deposits



(1,102) (37,513)

(1,118) (263,479) Increase in restricted cash



(26) (9,720)

(868) (9,724) Net cash used by investing activities of continuing operations



(65,626) (128,346)

(113,813) (404,567)















Financing activities













Issuance of common shares for cash



- 32

- 586 Dividend paid to shareholders



- -

- (10,610) Purchase of treasury stock



(2,108) (3,252)

(2,108) (5,301) Net cash used by financing activities of continuing operations



(2,108) (3,220)

(2,108) (15,325)















Decrease in cash and cash equivalents



(31,030) (159,276)

(56,331) (399,829) Cash and cash equivalents - beginning of period



454,200 642,618

479,501 883,171 Cash and cash equivalents - end of period



423,170 483,342

423,170 483,342

Please see the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements dated June 30, 2018 for notes to the accounts.

Eldorado Gold Corporation

Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity

(Expressed in thousands of U.S. dollars)





Three months ended

Six months ended



June 30,

June 30,

















2018 2017

2018 2017



$ $

$ $ Share capital











Balance beginning of period

3,007,924 2,819,821

3,007,924 2,819,101

Shares issued upon exercise of share options, for cash

- 32

- 586

Transfer of contributed surplus on exercise of options

- 10

- 176 Balance end of period

3,007,924 2,819,863

3,007,924 2,819,863













Treasury stock











Balance beginning of period

(11,056) (8,000)

(11,056) (7,794)

Purchase of treasury stock

(2,108) (3,252)

(2,108) (5,301)

Shares redeemed upon exercise of restricted share units

3,060 196

3,060 2,039 Balance end of period

(10,104) (11,056)

(10,104) (11,056)













Contributed surplus











Balance beginning of period

2,618,323 2,609,055

2,616,593 2,606,567

Share based payments

1,845 2,811

3,575 7,308

Shares redeemed upon exercise of restricted share units

(3,060) (196)

(3,060) (2,039)

Transfer to share capital on exercise of options

- (10)

- (176) Balance end of period

2,617,108 2,611,660

2,617,108 2,611,660













Accumulated other comprehensive loss











Balance beginning of period

(22,080) 7,653

(21,350) (7,172)

Other comprehensive income (loss) for the period

221 1,465

(509) 16,290 Balance end of period

(21,859) 9,118

(21,859) 9,118













Deficit











Balance beginning of period

(1,939,851) (1,934,800)

(1,948,569) (1,928,024)

Dividends paid

- -

- (10,610)

Profit (loss) attributable to shareholders of the Company

(24,391) 11,215

(15,673) 15,049 Balance end of period

(1,964,242) (1,923,585)

(1,964,242) (1,923,585)













Total equity attributable to shareholders of the Company

3,628,827 3,506,000

3,628,827 3,506,000













Non-controlling interests











Balance beginning of period

77,872 87,621

79,940 88,786

Loss attributable to non-controlling interests

281 (3,688)

(2,788) (4,853)

Contributions fron non-controlling interest

- -

1,001 - Balance end of period

78,153 83,933

78,153 83,933













Total equity

3,706,980 3,589,933

3,706,980 3,589,933

Please see the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements dated June 30, 2018 for notes to the accounts.

SOURCE Eldorado Gold CorporationLONDON, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

55% of UK consumers are shopping more online this year compared to 2017; on average six times per month.

Only 13% of consumers said they have an exact product in mind 'every time' they shop online.

Almost two thirds (65%) of UK consumers like to browse or have a general look around a website 'a lot of the time' or 'every time.'

A third (33%) of UK consumers are looking to brands for inspiration or suggestions about the latest trends when shopping online.

New international research shows eCommerce's continued charge on the high street as over half of UK consumers (51%) admit they now prefer to shop online than in-store. 55% also said that they are shopping more online this year compared to 2017.

The regular consumer shops online on average six times per month, with 25-34-year olds the most active, shopping on a retailer's website eight times a month. The study also showed similarities between the sexes with 27% of men and 25% of women shopping online once a week. Londoners are the most active online shoppers in England, indulging in eCommerce retail therapy on average seven days per month.

The research by eCommerce search and navigation specialists EmpathyBroker also delves into the psychology of shoppers and the opportunity presented to brands to capitalise on consumers through their website experience. When asked separately how often the following statements applied to them when visiting a website, only 13% of consumers knew exactly what product they want to buy every time they visit an eCommerce website with 42% saying only some of the time.

Almost two thirds of shoppers (65%) like to have a browse or general look around every time or a lot of the time they shop, and online stores are also increasingly becoming a source for shopping inspiration. A third of all consumers (33%) look for brands to suggest product options or give tips about the latest trends every time or a lot of the time they visit a site. This may explain why 2 in 5 people (43%) said they were more likely to make an unexpected purchase online than in-store.

Angel Maldonado, Founder of eCommerce search and navigation experts EmpathyBroker, said: "As we see more and more consumers going online, and more frequently, this presents a great opportunity for eCommerce retailers but it also means more than ever they need to get the digital experience right.

"Creating more memorable online experiences not only generates sales, it creates emotion, brand connection and loyalty. It's no longer enough to offer great products or have the coolest store. It helps, yes, but in the end, it all comes back to emotions, to making people feel unique and special. Smart retailers are thinking more about people, relationships and creating memorable and joyful digital experiences."

The research also revealed that after the cost of the product (58%), free delivery and return options (57%), the search function (29%) was the third most important aspect for consumers when choosing to shop on one website over another.

61% of consumers use the search option every time or a lot of the time when shopping online, with the research also finding that the quality of a website's search function directly affects the number of sales. In fact, 63% of consumers said they are less likely to make a purchase if the site search isn't good and they can't find what they're looking for.

Maldonado added: "The search function is becoming increasingly important, and not just as a tool to find something specific but also as a means of inspiration. Moments of joy in digital are real. They can be achieved when we're pleasantly surprised by something that fulfils our goals, whether that's something we're actively looking for or not. The search box creates rich interactions, helping brands to engage with consumers, and deliver a more enjoyable and meaningful experience that leaves a lasting impression."

About the research

Consumer research conducted by Censuswide among 3,000 adults in the UK and Spain in June 2018.

Key statistic by UK region

Additional information

Images and infographics on request

About EmpathyBroker

EmpathyBroker was founded in 2012 to help eCommerce stores provide a more joyful search experience, pairing great technology, functionality and features with customer inspiration, emotions and empathy.

EmpathyBroker is the only provider to offer an end-to-end search and navigation solution from enhancing existing search platforms with our intuitive X interface; offering the best SaaS search and navigation technology; creating data visualizations to produce actionable ideas and improvements; and providing a bespoke and tailor-made service.

Today, some of the largest and most successful commerce stores in the world use EmpathyBroker including: Media Market, Mango, Interflora, Adolfo Dominguez, Pepe Jeans, Accessorize, AdoreMe, Fenwick and Soho House. For more information visit http://www.empathybroker.com

SOURCE EmpathyBrokerOver the past several years, transportation options around the Princeton campus have grown with bike sharing, mass transit, and carpooling options available. However, a key piece of transportation, on-demand vehicles, was still missing. Planners quickly realized that carsharing could improve problems of traffic congestion while also addressing transportation shortfalls. That's how the Enterprise CarShare program at Princeton was born.

Reducing Campus Congestion

The university recently began an effort to reduce the number of single-occupancy vehicles on campus. As of fall 2016, most undergraduate students were no longer allowed to park vehicles on campus during the academic year.

To encourage faculty and staff to leave their cars at home, Princeton's Transportation & Parking Services implemented the Revise Your Ride program last year. The program includes automatic enrollment in the Enterprise CarShare program along with other incentives. Graduate students and undergraduates are also eligible for the Enterprise CarShare program.

Almost 1,000 students, faculty, and staff are now using carsharing services to reach their destinations. The service provides a unique transportation option that contributes to the long-term sustainability goals of the university, which include a commitment to reduce commuter car numbers by 750 (15 percent) between now and 2020.

The Enterprise CarShare partnership with TPS has tripled in size since its inception and today provides 17 vehicles available for rent around-the-clock at nine locations across the 500-acre Princeton campus, including:

Dillon Gym

First Campus Center

Graduate College

Lakeside Apartments

Lawrence Apartments

Merwick-Stanworth Apartments

Olden House

Princeton Station

"CarShare is a huge piece of our programming and becoming more popular every year because fewer students are bringing cars to Princeton," said Kim Jackson, Director of Transportation and Parking Services at Princeton University. "It has enabled the university to commit to our sustainability objectives by reducing the number of vehicles coming on campus."

"We even have a CarShare pickup truck available now because graduate students who move a lot requested it and Enterprise delivered," added Jackson of Princeton. "I can't say enough good things about how Enterprise has worked with us to find transportation solutions throughout the years."

Drivers can rent vehicles through Enterprise CarShare by following four easy steps. And, with the Enterprise CarShare app for iPhone and Android users, U.S. members can make or modify reservations, extend rentals and choose pickup locations, all from their mobile device.

Sustainable Transportation Solutions

In the U.S., Enterprise CarShare serves over 125 university campuses and hundreds of business and government agencies in more than 35 states. Major cities served include Atlanta, Hoboken, Honolulu, Houston, Louisville, New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Tampa, all supported by the Enterprise Rent-A-Car network, which has more than 5,800 offices located within 15 miles of 90 percent of the U.S. population.

Enterprise CarShare is a cost-effective alternative to car ownership as well as an environmentally-friendly and hassle-free supplement to public transit. And, since it's backed by Enterprise's award-winning customer service, it delivers convenience and reliability to members in select markets across the country.

"CarShare is a smart way for us to help Princeton achieve its traffic reduction goals on campus while simultaneously offering a unique on-demand transportation option for students, staff, and faculty  when and where they need it," said Kyle Sabie, Corporate Rental Manager who oversees CarShare at Enterprise. "We value our longstanding partnership with Princeton and have evolved our program with them over the years to serve their needs."

Enterprise takes a sustainable approach to business while partnering with companies, agencies, and organizations like Princeton to help them meet their respective sustainability goals. In addition to CarShare, a variety of other sustainable transportation options are available under the Enterprise brand name, including Zimride by Enterprise and Enterprise Rideshare.

Enterprise recently joined a new carsharing pilot program announced by the New York City mayor's office, and became a fleet management partner of Voyage, a company aiming to develop autonomous automotive options for communities across North America.

Additional details about Enterprise CarShare are available by visiting www.enterprisecarshare.com, the Enterprise CarShare Facebook page, or by following @carshare on Twitter. As a member of the CarSharing Association, Enterprise CarShare offers fuel-efficient vehicles, delivering carsharing technology's speed and economy to organizations looking to enhance their fleet management operations along with their fiscal and social sustainability initiatives.

SOURCE Enterprise CarShare

Related Links

https://www.enterprisecarshare.com

FORT WORTH, Texas, July 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Nestle Skin Health, who recently received FDA approval of its dermal filler Restylane Lyft to restore age-related volume to the back of the hands, announced today results of the 'Face Your Hands' survey showing the majority (78 percent) of women ages 40 and older wish they could change the way their hands look.1* Additionally, 60 percent reported they have actually taken steps to hide their hands because they are self-conscious about the way their hands look, and nearly 2 in 3 (63 percent) women are interested in having a non-surgical cosmetic procedure or treatment to improve the appearance of their hands.1*

*The nationally representative survey was conducted by Wakefield Research among 1,000 U.S. women, ages 35+ between February 26 and March 5, 2018 using an e-mail invitation and an online survey. The data points in this release represent data collected among women ages 40+.

"Over time, the skin on the hands loses volume, which can result in a less youthful appearance,"2 stated Dr. Joel L. Cohen of Colorado, Board-Certified dermatologist and clinical trial investigator for Restylane Lyft for the hands. "I find that while many women spend time perfecting their facial beauty routine, they tend to forget about their hands. I am excited that there is now a hyaluronic acid-based treatment available to treat and help restore volume to the back of the hands, which is a problem area for many of my patients."2

While the survey found that women want to change the appearance of their hands, most (54 percent) believed there was nothing that could be done to prevent signs of aging on their hands.1* Among the other survey findings:

The majority (85 percent) have noticed signs of aging on their hands as they've grown older. 1*

Nearly 2 in 3 (65 percent) women think their hands make them look older than their age. 1*

Nearly 3 in 5 (56 percent) women have mistakenly thought someone was older than they were because of the way their hands looked. 1*

Half (50 percent) of women polled are likely to use a filter or photo editor to improve the look of their hands before posting a picture of their hands on social media.1*

"This survey reflects what I hear from many of my patients who feel that their aging hands do not match their youthful faces," said dermatologist Dr. Ava Shamban. "Most women don't realize that the appearance of prominent wrinkles, bones, bulging veins and visible tendons are signs of volume loss in the hands and contribute to an aged look. The recent FDA approval of Restylane Lyft for the hands expands its use beyond the face to help provide an overall youthful look for my patients."

Restylane Lyft is the first and only hyaluronic acid (HA) dermal filler FDA-approved for both helping to reverse the signs of volume loss in aging hands, as well smoothing facial wrinkles and folds.3,4 It is the first and only dermal filler with 3 FDA-approved treatment areas - the midface/cheek area, nasolabial folds, and now the back of the hands.3,4 It is also the first and only HA dermal filler to receive FDA approval for an area other than the face.3,4

"This new indication for Restylane Lyft is the latest example of how Nestle Skin Health is pushing the boundaries of innovative aesthetic solutions," said Alisa Lask, General Manager & Vice President, U.S. Aesthetic Business Unit of Nestle Skin Health. "Women are seeking treatments to reverse the signs of aging on their hands. We're extremely pleased to be able to offer a safe and effective treatment that can help complete an overall youthful appearance."

With over 30 million treatments worldwide and counting5, the Restylane family of HA dermal fillers is the broadest portfolio of dermal fillers in the U.S. The portfolio of products help to smooth facial wrinkles and folds, such as smile lines (Restylane-L, Restylane Refyne, Restylane Defyne and Restylane Lyft with Lidocaine), create fuller and more accentuated lips (Restylane Silk and Restylane-L), and add lift and volume to the cheeks and the back of the hands (Restylane Lyft with Lidocaine).

To learn more about the Restylane family of products, visit www.RestylaneUSA.com.

Nestle Skin Health's mission is to enhance quality of life by delivering science-based solutions for the health of skin, hair and nails. As one of the category's leading companies, Nestle Skin Health conducts ground-breaking product research to provide both the healthcare community and the consumer with an ongoing progression of innovative technologies and products to protect, serve and enhance skin health. For more information, please visit www.nestleskinhealth.com.

To earn exclusive rewards, bonuses and discounts on Nestle Skin Health's aesthetic treatments, join the ASPIRE Rewards program. To learn more about ASPIRE, visit www.aspirerewards.com.

Important Safety Information

The Restylane family of products includes Restylane, Restylane-L, Restylane Lyft with Lidocaine, Restylane Silk, Restylane Refyne, and Restylane Defyne.

APPROVED USES

Restylane and Restylane-L are for mid-to-deep injection into the facial tissue for the correction of moderate to severe facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds. Restylane and Restylane-L are also indicated for injection into the lips in patients over the age of 21.

Restylane Lyft with Lidocaine is for deep implantation into the facial tissue for the correction of moderate to severe facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds and for cheek augmentation and for the correction of age-related midface contour deficiencies in patients over the age of 21. Restylane Lyft with Lidocaine is also indicated for injection into the subcutaneous plane in the dorsal hand to correct volume deficit in patients over the age of 21.

Restylane Silk is for lip augmentation and for correction of perioral wrinkles in patients over the age of 21.

Restylane Refyne is for mid-to-deep injection into the facial tissue for the correction of moderate to severe facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds, in patients over the age of 21.

Restylane Defyne is for mid-to-deep injection into the facial tissue for the correction of moderate to severe deep facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds, in patients over the age of 21.

Are there any reasons why I should not use products within the Restylane family? (Contraindications)

To ensure a safe procedure, your doctor will talk to you about your medical history to determine if you are an appropriate candidate for treatment. You should not use products within the Restylane family if:

You have severe allergies with a history of severe reactions (anaphylaxis)

You are allergic to lidocaine or to any of the gram-positive bacterial proteins used to make hyaluronic acid

You are prone to bleeding or have been diagnosed with a bleeding disorder

Are there other precautions that I should discuss with my doctor?

Tell your doctor if you are breastfeeding, pregnant, or trying to become pregnant. The safety of these products for use during pregnancy, or in women who are breastfeeding, has not been studied

Restylane, Restylane-L, Restylane  Lyft with Lidocaine, Restylane Refyne and Restylane Defyne are intended to treat facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds. Restylane and Restylane-L are also intended for lip enhancement . Restylane  Lyft with Lidocaine is also intended for injection in the dorsal hand to correct volume loss. Treatments in other areas of the face or body have not been evaluated in clinical studies.

are intended to treat facial wrinkles and folds, such as nasolabial folds. and are also intended for lip enhancement is also intended for injection in the dorsal hand to correct volume loss. Treatments in other areas of the face or body have not been evaluated in clinical studies. The safety and effectiveness of Restylane  Silk for areas other than the lips and perioral area have not been evaluated in clinical studies.

for areas other than the lips and perioral area have not been evaluated in clinical studies. Tell your doctor if you have any history of scarring, particularly thick and stiff scars, or any pigmentation (skin color) disorders. These side effects can occur with hyaluronic acid fillers in general.

Tell your doctor if you are planning other laser treatments or a chemical peel, as there is a possible risk of inflammation at the treatment site if these procedures are performed after treatment

Patients who experience skin injury near the site of injection with these products may be at a higher risk for side effects

Tell your doctor if you are on any medications to decrease your body's immune response (immunosuppressive therapy). Using these medications may increase your risk of bruising or bleeding at the gel injection site.

Tell your doctor if you are using any "blood thinners" such as aspirin, warfarin, or any other medications that affect bleeding. Using these medications may increase your risk of bruising or bleeding at the gel injection site.

The use of these products on gel injection sites with skin sores, pimples, rashes, hives, cysts, or infections should be postponed until healing is complete. Use of product in these areas could delay healing or make your skin problems worse.

Tell your doctor if you have diseases, injuries, or disabilities of the hand.

What are the possible side effects?

The most commonly observed side effects are swelling, redness, pain, bruising, headache, tenderness, lump formation, itching at the injection site, and impaired hand function. These are typically mild in severity and typically resolve in less than 7 days in nasolabial folds and less than 14 days in lips. Serious but rare side effects include delayed onset infections, recurrence of herpetic eruptions, and superficial necrosis at the injection site.

One of the risks with using this product is unintentional injection into a blood vessel. The chances of this happening are very small, but if it does happen, the complications can be serious, and may be permanent. These complications, which have been reported for facial injections, can include vision abnormalities, blindness, stroke, temporary scabs, or permanent scarring of the skin.

As with all skin injection procedures, there is a risk of infection.

To report a side effect with any of the Restylane products, please call Galderma Laboratories, L.P at 1-855-425-8722.

The Restylane family of products is available only through a licensed practitioner. Complete Instructions for Use are available at www.RestylaneUSA.com.

1 Data on file. Restylane Survey Demographic Report (Wakefield Research), March 2018.

2 Fabi SG, Goldman MP. Hand rejuvenation: a review and our experience. Dermatol Surg. 2012 Jul;38(7 Pt 2):1112-27. doi: 10.1111/j.1524-4725.2011.02291.x.

3 Restylane Lyft. Instructions for Use. Fort Worth, TX. Galderma Laboratories, L.P., 2018

4 U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Dermal Fillers Approved by the Center for Devices and Radiological Health. https://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalProcedures/CosmeticDevices/WrinkleFillers/ucm227749.htm. Accessed May 15, 2018.

5 Data on file. MA-31037 document. Fort Worth, TX: Galderma Laboratories, L.P., 2016.

 2018 Galderma Laboratories, L.P.

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Nestle Skin Health

Related Links

http://www.nestleskinhealth.com

LONDON, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Watch collectors and dealers Henrik and Christine Ljunglof have launched a new portal for pre-owned and vintage wristwatches at arlingtonwatches.com

In an industry dominated by a few major players and numerous small second- and third generation family run brick-and-mortar shops, the shift to online and mobile has only just started. Particularly noticeable in the market for vintage and luxury watches, where tradition and heritage are leading values, is an inherent inertia which slows down the transition to new platforms.

Even so, the category is well suitable for mobile and there is room for new players with the right offering. Media channels host a thriving community of watch interested influencers and potential consumers. Arlington Watches will accelerate the switch to mobile by leading the development of this sales channel for the modern watch consumer.

After cultivating the hobby of horology for years, the married couple recently launched the website, blog and news channel to market their collection of vintage and pre-owned timepieces. Through their passion for watches, over the years they have developed the capability to effectively source, authenticate, service and sell pre-owned watches. All without much of the overhead costs that the existing watch dealers are burdened with. Through arlingtonwatches.com they offer a convenient and trusted platform to buy a pre-owned watch online.

Henrik Ljunglof explains, "The value of buying pre-owned luxury watches is unbeatable. But we do go through a lot of trouble sourcing the watches. You really need to do your homework and put effort into the buying process to find the right watches for the right prices. Arlington Watches provides a more efficient shopping experience for the modern watch enthusiast by doing the research for you - it is convenient, transparent, and secure."

Arlington Watches offers certified authentic pre-owned watches with worldwide delivery, free returns and one year warranty. To find out more, visit arlingtonwatches.com and follow @arlingtonwatches on Instagram.

Contact:

Henrik Ljunglof

[email protected]



SOURCE Arlington Watches"We are extremely grateful to Findlay Galleries for sharing this wonderful Friesz Fauve work with the Nassau County Museum of Art," said Charles Riley, museum director. "It is a stunning representation of an important movement in art history, and we are pleased to be able to share it as a valuable part of the show." Over 100 works, from Titian to Matisse, Rothko to Warhol, adorn the walls of the museum for the show, creating a history of color as a means of expression, and revealing the immense power color has to move and excite.

James Borynack, owner of Findlay Galleries, said: "Findlay Galleries has a long history of exhibiting Fauve works, and are honored to have the opportunity to be a part of this special exhibition. The work truly complements the rest of 'True Colors;' it is a perfect fit for the show."

La Ciotat-Paysage by Othon Friesz will be on view at the Nassau County Museum of Art as a part of the 'True Colors' show from July 20, 2018 to November 4, 2018.

Nassau County Museum of Art

Contact Rita Mack, [email protected], 516-484-9338

Findlay Galleries

Contact Fred Clark, [email protected], 212-421-5390

Or visit www.findlaygalleries.com or http://www.nassaumuseum.org/exhibitions.html

About Findlay Galleries

Findlay Galleries is an iconic 148-year old family art business founded in 1870. Specializing in Impressionism, European Modernism, l'Ecole de Rouen, L'Ecole de Paris, and 20th Century American Art, the gallery represents over 100 artists and artist estates.

Called Wally Findlay Galleries since 1965, the business was acquired in 1998 by James R. Borynack. A longtime Findlay executive, Borynack was committed to the relentless pursuit of veritable European period works and contemporary artists, as well as expanding the galleries' prestige and following. In 2016 Borynack also acquired the David Findlay Jr. Gallery and merged the two. Since then, the gallery has operated under its original name from 1870, Findlay Galleries, and has continued to offer a strong collection of both period works and contemporary art, both European and American.

SOURCE Findlay Galleries

Related Links

http://www.findlaygalleries.com

Fresno USD partnered with ForeFront Power after a rigorously competitive solicitation. In Fall 2017, School Project for Utility Rate Reduction (SPURR) and Fresno USD conducted a statewide request for proposal process to select the best solar and energy storage provider. The comprehensive procurement process through SPURR enabled the District to save considerable time, money, and resources in their procurement process.

"By partnering with ForeFront Power, we were able to procure solar and storage for each of our comprehensive high schools and the District's Service Center at no cost to taxpayers," said Karin Temple, Chief Operations Officer for Fresno USD. "ForeFront Power understood the District's desire for summer construction and accelerated the development of our projects to help minimize the impact to school activities."

ForeFront Power is the exclusive winner of SPURR's Renewable Energy Aggregated Procurement (REAP) Program for solar and energy storage. Since 2015, the SPURR REAP program has been used by 20 school districts and municipalities to procure more than 50 MW of clean solar power across more than 100 sites.

"SPURR helped Fresno USD foster a more competitive environment than we could have done locally in Fresno," said Jason Duke, Executive Director of Maintenance and Operations for Fresno USD. "Now other public agencies can piggy-back the process to save time and energy."

The SPURR REAP Program solves traditional sourcing issues through aggregated, competitive procurements, taking advantage of SPURR's large market presence, and resulting in pre-negotiated contracts, industry-leading pricing, and standardized terms for public agencies in California like Fresno USD. This program allows schools, colleges, and other agencies to benefit from clean energy sooner with less sourcing expense and effort, while leveraging a highly competitive procurement process.

"Our team is excited to construct even more projects in the greater Fresno area by partnering with Fresno USD," said Co-CEO, Paul Walker. "These projects are especially innovative because of the combination of solar and energy storage to provide even more savings."

ForeFront Power is using Stem's artificial intelligence-driven energy storage solutions to provide energy storage across the District. Stem's energy storage services provide real-time energy optimization to reduce costly demand charges, which can account for almost half of the District's utility bills. The intelligent use of energy from the storage units combined with on-site solar energy generation helps each high school maximize its clean energy generation and enhance on-site sustainability.

Fresno USD will also bring solar learning into the classroom with science and technology education from Schools Power, a leading national education organization that provides school districts with standards-based renewable energy curriculum packages. ForeFront Power and Schools Power announced their partnership in July of last year.

Construction of the solar canopy systems is underway at Bullard, Fresno, Roosevelt, and McLane High Schools with the remaining four sites (Edison, Hoover, and Sunnyside High Schools and Service Center) breaking ground in the coming weeks. These 8 solar projects are expected to offset the equivalent of 10,633 tons of carbon dioxide avoidance annually or 2,000 cars taken off the road for the first year of production.

For more information about ForeFront Power and solar energy for schools, visit k12.forefrontpower.com.

About ForeFront Power

The ForeFront Power team has more than a decade of renewable industry experience, serving business, public sector, and wholesale power customers around the world. Our team has developed over 800 MW of capacity across more than 1,000 projects, targeted on assisting public sector agencies and C&I firms to deliver the most impactful behind-the-meter, off-site, and wholesale solutions. ForeFront Power is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., Ltd., a global energy infrastructure and investment leader.

About Fresno USD

Fresno Unified School District serves more than 74,000 students, from preschool through grade 12, preparing career ready graduates through high-quality instruction, district programs and services, and resources.

About SPURR

SPURR is a Joint-Powers Authority duly formed and existing under the California Joint Exercise of Powers Act. SPURR was formed to seek reduction and control of utility rates on behalf of its members and other program participants. SPURR membership is open to all California public K-12 school districts, county offices of education, and community college districts. SPURR is governed by a Board of Directors who are management-level employees of member organizations. SPURR, with over 240 member organizations, aggregates purchasing power and expertise for thousands of public agency facilities across the state of California. SPURR programs include procurement of solar and energy storage, natural gas, electricity, LED lights and controls, utilities data management and conservation services, electricity demand response, and telecommunications and networking goods and services.

About Stem, Inc.

Stem creates innovative technology services that transform the way energy is distributed and consumed. AthenaTM by Stem is the first AI for energy storage and virtual power plants. It optimizes the timing of energy use and facilitates consumers' participation in energy markets, yielding economic and societal benefits while decarbonizing the grid. The company's mission is to build and operate the smartest and largest digitally-connected energy storage network for our customers. Headquartered in Millbrae, California, Stem is directly funded by a consortium of leading investors including Activate Capital, Angeleno Group, BNP Paribas, Constellation Technology Ventures, Iberdrola (Inversiones Financieras Perseo), GE Ventures, Magnesium Capital, Mithril Capital Management, Mitsui & Co. LTD., Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, RWE Supply & Trading, Temasek, and Total Energy Ventures. Visit www.stem.com for more information.

Forward Looking Statements

Matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, the words "anticipate", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ from those contemplated, expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained herein. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the expectations of the Company and are subject to various risks and uncertainties.

SOURCE ForeFront Power

Related Links

http://www.forefrontpower.com

The woman's husband was booked under various provisions of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, Panchkula DCP Meena told reporters.

In a complaint lodged with the Chandigarh Police at Manimajra police station on Thursday, the woman alleged she was held captive for four days where the accused took turns to rape her. (Representational image)

Chandigarh: In a twist to the alleged gangrape of a 22-year-old woman at a guest house in Morni in Panchkula district, the Haryana Police on Wednesday arrested her husband and booked him under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, officials said.

The woman's husband was booked under various provisions of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, Panchkula DCP Rajender Kumar Meena told reporters.

Meena said the accused was also booked under section 370 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which pertains to buying or disposing of any person as a slave.

Police investigations showed the two key accused, already arrested in the case, were running a sex racket, the official said.

"The SIT was investigating the case from all angles. During the in-depth probe, we came to know there were other angles to the case," Meena said.

Earlier, both the woman and her husband had claimed that there was no telephonic conversation between them between July 15 and 18, the period during which the woman had alleged she was raped by 40 men in a guest house at Morni, the DCP said.

"However, it has come to light during the investigation that they were in regular contact with each other on some other number," he said.

Police also found a conversation between Sunil alias Sunny, the prime suspect in the case, and the woman's husband.

"Some facts came to fore that his (accused husband's) history has been such (a reference to immoral trafficking)," Meena said.

He said the woman's husband was produced before a court in Panchkula on Wednesday, which remanded him to three days in police custody.

"We will try to explore other hidden aspects in the case," Meena said.

Asked whether the rape case will stand in the wake of the new developments, Meena replied, "investigation is on and as facts emerge, we will proceed further."

When asked if more persons could be involved, the DCP replied, "all angles are being investigated."

Earlier, ten people were arrested in the alleged gangrape case.

The woman had alleged she was raped for four consecutive days after being held captive at a guest house in Morni area.

In a complaint lodged with the Chandigarh Police at Manimajra police station on Thursday, the woman alleged she was held captive for four days where the accused took turns to rape her.

The woman's husband had earlier told reporters that she was promised a job at the guest house by a person known to them, adding she was drugged, raped and threatened against revealing the incident to anyone.

The Chandigarh Police had lodged an FIR at the Manimajra police station after the woman approached them with the complaint. She alleged the Haryana Police had failed to take cognizance of her complaint.

The Haryana Police had set up a Special Investigation Team under IPS officer Dr Anshu Singla, ASP, Panchkula, to probe the alleged gangrape incident.

Three police officials including a woman ASI were suspended for alleged negligence and mis-handling of the woman's complaint.Ford comes to the CEO role after a series of successful executive postings within the company. In December 2017, Ford was named Chief Operating Officer of Land O'Lakes Businesses, in which role she oversaw Land O'Lakes' WinField United, Purina Animal Nutrition and Dairy Foods business units. Prior to that, Ford was head of Land O'Lakes' Dairy Foods and Purina Animal Nutrition businesses, where she led record performance and growth, leveraging innovation through R&D to strengthen both brands. She also was instrumental in the acquisition of Vermont Creamery in early 2017.

Prior to joining Land O'Lakes in 2011, Ford had excelled in executive operations management and supply chain roles at International Flavors and Fragrances, Mobil Corporation, PepsiCo and Pepsi Bottling Company and Scholastic. Ford has more than 20 years' experience specifically in the areas of technology and R&D, as well, across these four companies.

Born in Sioux City, Iowa, Beth earned an MBA at Columbia University Business School and a BBA at Iowa State University. She remains involved in both universities, sitting on the Deming Center Board of Advisors for Columbia Business School and the Dean's Advisory Committee for the College of Business at Iowa State.

Ford also sits on the Board of Directors for the National Milk Producers Federation and non-profit boards, including Greater Twin Cities United Way in Minneapolis. She sits on the Boards of Directors of two publicly traded companies, including PACCAR, Inc.

Announcing her appointment, Board Chairman Pete Kappelman said, "At a time of unprecedented change in the agriculture and food industries, no person is better suited to lead us into the future than Beth Ford. Since joining our company in 2011, Beth has proven she's not afraid of hard work, and she sees every challenge as an opportunity to deliver more value for our cooperative. She's built a track record of success in a wide array of leadership roles across a decades-long career, and in her seven years at Land O'Lakes, she has earned the trust and respect of our members, employees and customers. We are thrilled to have someone of such strong qualifications and character to build on the legacy of growth that Land O'Lakes has established."

Commenting on her appointment, Ford said, "I'm humbled and honored to have the chance to serve this great organization. I am grateful to the Board of Directors for their trust in me and for the management team that built the strong foundation we currently enjoy. I look forward to continuing to work with the talented and dedicated leadership team, as well as our outstanding employees to deliver for our member-owners, customers and communities. There has never been a more exciting time to be in the agriculture and food industry. Together, our team will work to continue our growth trajectory, as we lead the way forward into the company's next 100 years."

Ford becomes the ninth CEO of Land O'Lakes, one of the nation's largest agricultural cooperatives, which was founded in 1921. Ford and her spouse, Jill Schurtz, have three teenage children and live in Minneapolis.

About Land O'Lakes, Inc.

Land O'Lakes, Inc., one of America's premier agribusiness and food companies, is a member-owned cooperative with industry-leading operations that span the spectrum from agricultural production to consumer foods. With 2017 annual sales of $14 billion, Land O'Lakes is one of the nation's largest cooperatives, ranking 216 on the Fortune 500. Building on a legacy of more than 97 years of operation, Land O'Lakes today operates some of the most respected brands in agribusiness and food production including LAND O LAKES Dairy Foods, Purina Animal Nutrition, WinField United and Land O'Lakes SUSTAINTM. The company does business in all 50 states and more than 60 countries. Land O'Lakes, Inc. corporate headquarters are located in Arden Hills, Minn.

SOURCE Land O'Lakes, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.landolakesinc.com

EMORY, Texas, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- When Rains County voters go to the polls for November's General Election, they will be using the most up-to-date election technology available in the United States. Commissioners recently decided to replace older technology, and County officials are confident that the Verity Voting system from longtime election partner Hart InterCivic is the right choice.

The new Verity Voting system from Hart InterCivic is compact, lightweight and easy for election workers to carry and set up.

"We have always had a great relationship with Hart, so I was excited to learn about Verity and see it in action at conferences and demos," said County Clerk Linda Wallace. "It's the newest and greatest system out there. Verity is everything I wanted."

Verity is a federally and state certified system designed and built in Texas. More than half of the voters in the State cast their ballots on Hart's voting systems, and Verity is a natural next step for those ready to modernize.

"Hart has partnered with Rains County since 2005, and we are very happy with their decision," said Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic, an Austin-based company with more than 100 years of experience providing election solutions. "The County has chosen well; Verity's technology provides a solid platform for many years of successful elections."

"The new system is user-friendly  our voters are ready for the touchscreen," Wallace said.

Wallace also appreciates Verity's compact, easy-to-transport design, which will streamline precinct setup on Election Day. "Plus, less handling makes it easier on the poll workers and simplifies our process from start to finish."

Wallace, who has been with the North Texas county since 2001, is also looking forward to the Hart hands-on training process. "Hart has a great training staff; they were amazing in 2006. It's exciting to know that the newer members of my staff will get that level of training on Verity."

Hart representatives are delivering Verity equipment to Rains County in late July, and Wallace is eager to transition to the new system with Hart's support.

"Hart customer service is the best I've ever seen. I've worked with other vendors for other county equipment, but Hart has them all beat. I call with a question, and they won't get off the phone until I have my answer. They can walk me through anything."

Rains County joins a growing number of Texas jurisdictions moving to Verity. Since the Texas Secretary of State certified the latest release of the system in late 2016, Hart has shipped more than 7,700 Verity devices across the State. Federally certified in 2015, the secure and efficient system is also in use in numerous counties throughout the U.S.

Braithwaite expects more announcements throughout 2018 as jurisdictions refresh their election technology across Texas and nationally.

Learn more about Verity in Texas: https://www.hartintercivic.com/texas/

About Hart InterCivic, Inc.

Austin-based Hart InterCivic is a full-service election solutions innovator, partnering with state and local governments to deliver secure, accurate and reliable elections. Working side-by-side with election professionals for more than 100 years, Hart is committed to helping advance democracy one election at a time. Hart's mission fuels its passionate customer focus and a continuous drive for technological innovation. The company's new Verity Voting system makes voting more straightforward, equitable and accessibleand makes managing elections more transparent, more efficient and easier. Only Hart offers a completely new, secure voting system with electronic, paper and hybrid options.

SOURCE Hart InterCivic, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.hartintercivic.com

SOUTHFIELD, Mich., July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Lear Corporation (NYSE: LEA), a leading global supplier of automotive seating and electrical systems, today reported record second quarter 2018 sales and earnings. Highlights include:

Record sales of $5.6 billion , up 9% from a year ago

, up 9% from a year ago Record net income of $331 million and record adjusted net income of $330 million , compared to $312 million and $305 million , respectively, in the prior year

and record adjusted net income of , compared to and , respectively, in the prior year Record core operating earnings of $471 million , up 7% from a year ago

, up 7% from a year ago Record earnings per share of $4.83 and record adjusted earnings per share of $4.95 , up 13% from a year ago

and record adjusted earnings per share of , up 13% from a year ago Hired John Absmeier as Chief Technology Officer

as Chief Technology Officer Full year 2018 financial outlook remains unchanged

"In the second quarter, we again delivered record sales and earnings while continuing to invest in product and process capabilities and launching a number of key programs," said Ray Scott, Lear's president and chief executive officer. "With industry-leading capabilities in Seating and E-Systems that are aligned with industry trends and the convergence of our two segments, we are well-positioned for future growth. The entire Lear team is focused on delivering operational excellence, strong cash flow and superior returns to our shareholders," Scott concluded.

Second Quarter Financial Results (in millions, except per share amounts)



2018

2017 Reported





Sales $5,580.8

$5,123.2 Net income $331.4

$311.9 Earnings per share $4.83

$4.49







Adjusted (1)





Core operating earnings $470.5

$438.9 Adjusted net income $330.2

$304.9 Adjusted earnings per share $4.95

$4.39

In the second quarter of 2018, sales were $5.6 billion, an increase of 9% year-over-year. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, sales were up 5%. This increase reflects the addition of new business in both product segments, the sales impact of obtaining control of certain affiliates and the impact of the acquisition of Grupo Antolin's seating business, partially offset by lower production volumes on key Lear platforms. Sales for our Seating and E-Systems segments were up 6% and 19%, respectively. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, sales for our Seating and E-Systems segments were up 2% and 13%, respectively.

Core operating earnings increased $32 million to $471 million, or 8.4% of sales, primarily reflecting the increase in sales. In the Seating segment, margins and adjusted margins were 8.1% and 8.3% of sales, respectively. In the E-Systems segment, margins and adjusted margins were 13.4% and 14.0% of sales, respectively.

Earnings per share were $4.83. Adjusted earnings per share were up 13% to $4.95 per share, reflecting improved operating earnings, a lower tax rate and a reduced share count.

Net cash provided by operating activities was $517 million, and free cash flow (1) was $348 million.

(1) For more information regarding our non-GAAP financial measures, see "Non-GAAP Financial Information" below.

Share Repurchase Program

During the second quarter of 2018, we repurchased approximately 718,000 shares of our common stock for a total of $140 million. As of the end of the second quarter, we had a remaining share repurchase authorization of $1.2 billion, which reflects approximately 10% of our total market capitalization at current market prices.

Since initiating the share repurchase program in early 2011, we have repurchased 45.6 million shares of our common stock for a total of $3.8 billion at an average price of $83.50 per share. This represents a reduction of approximately 43% of our shares outstanding at the time that we began the program.

John Absmeier Hired As Chief Technology Officer

On June 18, 2018, John Absmeier joined Lear as Chief Technology Officer. Most recently, John was Senior Vice President and General Manager of the ADAS/Autonomous business unit at Harman International and Vice President of Smart Machines at Samsung Electronics, where he led the acquisition of Harman by Samsung. John joined Samsung in 2015 from Delphi, where he held various senior level positions during a 19-year career including founder and Managing Director of Delphi Labs @ Silicon Valley and Autonomous Driving as well as Business Director for Electronic Controls and Electrification in Asia-Pacific for six years. He also held several roles of increasing responsibility at Delphi in the areas of hybrid and electric vehicles, fuel cells and telematics.

Full Year 2018 Financial Outlook

Lear's full year financial outlook is unchanged.

Sales in 2018 are expected to be in the range of $21.8 billion to $22.0 billion, and core operating earnings are expected to be in the range of $1,790 million to $1,810 million.

The Company's effective tax rate on an adjusted basis is expected to be approximately 22%, and adjusted net income is expected to be in the range of $1,250 million to $1,270 million.

Net cash provided by operating activities is estimated to be $1.9 billion, and free cash flow is expected to be more than $1.2 billion.

Pretax operational restructuring costs are estimated to be $70 million, capital expenditures are expected to be $660 million, and depreciation and amortization expense is estimated to be $500 million.

Lear's 2018 financial outlook is based on a global industry production assumption of 95.4 million vehicles, up 2% from 2017. On a regional basis, vehicle production is forecasted to be 17.2 million units in North America, up 1%, 23.3 million units in Europe and Africa, up 2%, and 26.9 million units in China, up 2%.

The financial outlook is also based on an average exchange rate of $1.20/Euro for the year, reflecting an exchange rate of $1.18/Euro for the second half of 2018.

Certain of the forward-looking financial measures above are provided on a non-GAAP basis. The Company does not provide a reconciliation of such forward-looking measures to the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("GAAP") because to do so would be potentially misleading and not practical given the difficulty of projecting event driven transactional and other non-core operating items in any future period. The magnitude of these items, however, may be significant.

Webcast Information

Lear will webcast a conference call to review the Company's second quarter 2018 financial results and related matters on July 26, 2018, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time, through the investor relations link at lear.com. In addition, the conference call can be accessed by dialing 1-800-789-4751 (domestic) or 1-973-200-3975 (international). The audio replay will be available two hours following the call until August 10, 2018, at 1-855-859-2056 (domestic) or 1-404-537-3406 (international) with a Conference I.D. of 58073013.

Non-GAAP Financial Information

In addition to the results reported in accordance with GAAP included throughout this press release, the Company has provided information regarding "pretax income before equity income, interest, other (income) expense, restructuring costs and other special items" (core operating earnings or adjusted segment earnings), "adjusted net income attributable to Lear" (adjusted net income), "adjusted diluted net income per share available to Lear common stockholders" (adjusted earnings per share), "tax expense excluding the impact of restructuring costs and other special items" and "free cash flow" (each, a non-GAAP financial measure). Other (income) expense includes, among other things, non-income related taxes, foreign exchange gains and losses, gains and losses related to certain derivative instruments and hedging activities, gains and losses on the disposal of fixed assets and the non-service cost components of net periodic benefit cost. Adjusted net income represents net income attributable to Lear adjusted for restructuring costs and other special items, including the tax effect thereon. Adjusted earnings per share represents diluted net income per share available to Lear common stockholders adjusted for the redeemable noncontrolling interest adjustment, restructuring costs and other special items, including the tax effect thereon. Free cash flow represents net cash provided by operating activities, less capital expenditures.

Management believes the non-GAAP financial measures used in this press release are useful to both management and investors in their analysis of the Company's financial position and results of operations. In particular, management believes that core operating earnings, adjusted net income, adjusted earnings per share and tax expense excluding the impact of restructuring costs and other special items are useful measures in assessing the Company's financial performance by excluding certain items that are not indicative of the Company's core operating performance or that may obscure trends useful in evaluating the Company's continuing operating activities. Management also believes that these measures are useful to both management and investors in their analysis of the Company's results of operations and provide improved comparability between fiscal periods. Management believes that free cash flow is useful to both management and investors in their analysis of the Company's ability to service and repay its debt. Further, management uses these non-GAAP financial measures for planning and forecasting future periods.

Core operating earnings, adjusted net income, adjusted earnings per share, tax expense excluding the impact of restructuring costs and other special items and free cash flow should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for net income attributable to Lear, diluted net income per share attributable to Lear, cash provided by operating activities or other income statement or cash flow statement data prepared in accordance with GAAP or as a measure of profitability or liquidity. In addition, the calculation of free cash flow does not reflect cash used to service debt and, therefore, does not reflect funds available for investment or other discretionary uses. Also, these non-GAAP financial measures, as determined and presented by the Company, may not be comparable to related or similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

For reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP, see the attached supplemental data pages which, together with this press release, have been posted on the Company's website through the investor relations link at lear.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding anticipated financial results and liquidity. The words "will," "may," "designed to," "outlook," "believes," "should," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "intends," "estimates," "forecasts" and similar expressions identify certain of these forward-looking statements. The Company also may provide forward-looking statements in oral statements or other written materials released to the public. All statements contained or incorporated in this press release or in any other public statements that address operating performance, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements are discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, and its other Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Future operating results will be based on various factors, including actual industry production volumes, commodity prices and the Company's success in implementing its operating strategy.

Information in this press release relies on assumptions in the Company's sales backlog. The Company's sales backlog reflects anticipated net sales from formally awarded new programs less lost and discontinued programs. The calculation of the sales backlog does not reflect customer price reductions on existing or newly awarded programs. The sales backlog may be impacted by various assumptions embedded in the calculation, including vehicle production levels on new programs, foreign exchange rates and the timing of major program launches.

The forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date hereof, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update, amend or clarify them to reflect events, new information or circumstances occurring after the date hereof.

About Lear

Lear Corporation was founded in Detroit in 1917 as American Metal Products. Today, Lear is one of the world's leading suppliers of automotive seating systems and electrical systems (E-Systems). Lear serves every major automaker in the world, and Lear content can be found on more than 400 vehicle nameplates. Lear's world-class products are designed, engineered and manufactured by a diverse team of approximately 165,000 employees located in 39 countries. Lear currently ranks #148 on the Fortune 500. Lear's headquarters are in Southfield, Michigan. Further information about Lear is available at lear.com or follow us on Twitter @LearCorporation. Lear is where passion drives possibilities.

Lear Corporation and Subsidiaries Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income









(Unaudited; in millions, except per share amounts)











































Three Months Ended



June 30,

July 1,



2018

2017









Net sales

$ 5,580.8

$ 5,123.2









Cost of sales

4,942.7

4,545.4 Selling, general and administrative expenses

156.8

157.2 Amortization of intangible assets

13.1

11.5 Interest expense

20.9

21.4 Other expense, net

3.7

5.8









Consolidated income before income taxes and







equity in net income of affiliates

443.6

381.9 Income taxes

97.7

73.3 Equity in net income of affiliates

(9.1)

(18.4)









Consolidated net income

355.0

327.0 Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests

23.6

15.1









Net income attributable to Lear

$ 331.4

$ 311.9



















Diluted net income per share available to Lear common stockholders

$ 4.83

$ 4.49









Weighted average number of diluted shares outstanding

66.7

69.4

Lear Corporation and Subsidiaries Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income









(Unaudited; in millions, except per share amounts)











































Six Months Ended



June 30,

July 1,



2018

2017









Net sales

$ 11,314.5

$ 10,121.7









Cost of sales

10,045.0

8,961.4 Selling, general and administrative expenses

312.2

312.9 Amortization of intangible assets

26.2

21.6 Interest expense

41.6

42.2 Other (income) expense, net

(1.9)

9.5









Consolidated income before income taxes and







equity in net income of affiliates

891.4

774.1 Income taxes

175.4

162.4 Equity in net income of affiliates

(13.2)

(33.8)









Consolidated net income

729.2

645.5 Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests

44.1

27.8









Net income attributable to Lear

$ 685.1

$ 617.7



















Diluted net income per share available to Lear common stockholders

$ 9.99

$ 8.84









Weighted average number of diluted shares outstanding

67.1

69.9

Lear Corporation and Subsidiaries Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets









(In millions)











































June 30,

December 31,



2018

2017



(Unaudited)

(Audited) ASSETS







Current:







Cash and cash equivalents

$ 1,327.9

$ 1,500.4 Accounts receivable

3,440.1

3,230.8 Inventories

1,248.8

1,205.7 Other

812.0

676.1



6,828.8

6,613.0 Long-Term:







PP&E, net

2,516.5

2,459.4 Goodwill

1,421.4

1,401.3 Other

1,515.7

1,472.2



5,453.6

5,332.9









Total Assets

$ 12,282.4

$ 11,945.9



















LIABILITIES AND EQUITY







Current:







Short-term borrowings

$ 2.7

$ - Accounts payable and drafts

3,268.8

3,167.2 Accrued liabilities

1,769.6

1,678.1 Current portion of long-term debt

9.0

9.0



5,050.1

4,854.3 Long-Term:







Long-term debt

1,948.2

1,951.5 Other

689.2

694.1



2,637.4

2,645.6









Redeemable noncontrolling interest

167.5

153.4









Equity

4,427.4

4,292.6









Total Liabilities and Equity

$ 12,282.4

$ 11,945.9

Lear Corporation and Subsidiaries

Supplemental Data















(Unaudited; in millions, except content per vehicle and per share amounts)



































Three Months Ended







June 30,

July 1,







2018

2017



Net Sales











North America

$ 1,983.8

$ 2,022.7



Europe and Africa

2,378.5

2,033.6



Asia

1,019.5

875.9



South America

199.0

191.0



Total

$ 5,580.8

$ 5,123.2

















Content per Vehicle1











North America

$ 457

$ 454



Europe and Africa

$ 386

$ 343

















Free Cash Flow2











Net cash provided by operating activities

$ 516.9

$ 566.4



Capital expenditures

(169.4)

(153.2)



Free cash flow

$ 347.5

$ 413.2

















Depreciation and Amortization

$ 121.8

$ 104.6

















Core Operating Earnings2











Net income attributable to Lear

$ 331.4

$ 311.9



Interest expense

20.9

21.4



Other expense, net

3.7

5.8



Income taxes

97.7

73.3



Equity in net income of affiliates

(9.1)

(18.4)



Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests

23.6

15.1



Pretax income before equity income, interest and











other expense

468.2

409.1



Restructuring costs and other special items -











Costs related to restructuring actions

13.4

23.7



Acquisition costs

-

1.1



Acquisition-related inventory fair value adjustment

-

2.6



Litigation

(16.8)

-



Other

5.7

2.4



Core operating earnings

$ 470.5

$ 438.9

















Adjusted Net Income Attributable to Lear2











Net income available to Lear common stockholders

$ 322.2

$ 311.9



Redeemable noncontrolling interest

9.2

-



Net income attributable to Lear

331.4

311.9



Restructuring costs and other special items -











Costs related to restructuring actions

13.4

23.4



Acquisition costs

-

1.1



Acquisition-related inventory fair value adjustment

-

2.6



Litigation

(17.4)

-



Other

5.5

1.2



Tax impact of special items and other net tax adjustments 3

(2.7)

(35.3)



Adjusted net income attributable to Lear

$ 330.2

$ 304.9

















Weighted average number of diluted shares outstanding

66.7

69.4

















Diluted net income per share available to Lear common stockholders

$ 4.83

$ 4.49

















Adjusted earnings per share

$ 4.95

$ 4.39





























1 Content per Vehicle for 2017 has been updated to reflect actual production levels.



















2 See "Non-GAAP Financial Information" included in this press release.















3 Represents the tax effect of restructuring costs and other special items, as well as several discrete tax items. The

identification of these tax items is judgmental in nature, and their calculation is based on various assumptions and

estimates.

Lear Corporation and Subsidiaries

Supplemental Data















(Unaudited; in millions, except content per vehicle and per share amounts)



































Six Months Ended







June 30,

July 1,







2018

2017



Net Sales











North America

$ 4,038.9

$ 4,011.9



Europe and Africa

4,821.7

3,949.0



Asia

2,063.6

1,799.2



South America

390.3

361.6



Total

$ 11,314.5

$ 10,121.7

















Content per Vehicle1











North America

$ 463

$ 447



Europe and Africa

$ 395

$ 330

















Free Cash Flow2











Net cash provided by operating activities

$ 753.7

$ 845.3



Capital expenditures

(332.2)

(274.0)



Free cash flow

$ 421.5

$ 571.3

















Depreciation and Amortization

$ 242.0

$ 201.5

















Diluted Shares Outstanding at end of Quarter3

66,273,754

68,829,689

















Core Operating Earnings2











Net income attributable to Lear

$ 685.1

$ 617.7



Interest expense

41.6

42.2



Other (income) expense, net

(1.9)

9.5



Income taxes

175.4

162.4



Equity in net income of affiliates

(13.2)

(33.8)



Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests

44.1

27.8



Pretax income before equity income, interest and











other (income) expense

931.1

825.8



Restructuring costs and other special items -











Costs related to restructuring actions

37.4

32.5



Acquisition costs

0.4

2.7



Acquisition-related inventory fair value adjustment

-

4.3



Litigation

(16.8)

-



Other

8.9

5.1



Core operating earnings

$ 961.0

$ 870.4

















Adjusted Net Income Attributable to Lear2











Net income available to Lear common stockholders

$ 670.5

$ 617.7



Redeemable noncontrolling interest

14.6

-



Net income attributable to Lear

685.1

617.7



Restructuring costs and other special items -











Costs related to restructuring actions

37.4

32.2



Acquisition costs

0.4

2.7



Acquisition-related inventory fair value adjustment

-

4.3



Litigation

(17.1)

-



Gain related to affiliate

(10.0)

-



Other

8.9

2.5



Tax impact of special items and other net tax adjustments 4

(30.0)

(54.4)



Adjusted net income attributable to Lear

$ 674.7

$ 605.0

















Weighted average number of diluted shares outstanding

67.1

69.9

















Diluted net income per share available to Lear common stockholders

$ 9.99

$ 8.84

















Adjusted earnings per share

$ 10.05

$ 8.66





























1 Content per Vehicle for 2017 has been updated to reflect actual production levels.



















2 See "Non-GAAP Financial Information" included in this press release.















3 Calculated using stock price at end of quarter.















4 Represents the tax effect of restructuring costs and other special items, as well as several discrete tax items. The

identification of these tax items is judgmental in nature, and their calculation is based on various assumptions and

estimates.

Lear Corporation and Subsidiaries Supplemental Data











(Unaudited; in millions, except margins)





























Three Months Ended





June 30,

July 1,





2018

2017

Adjusted Segment Earnings





















Seating









Net sales

$ 4,274.7

$ 4,025.1













Segment earnings

$ 348.3

$ 322.7

Costs related to restructuring actions

8.4

13.0

Acquisition costs

-

0.2

Acquisition-related inventory fair value adjustments

-

2.6

Litigation

(3.6)

-

Other

0.1

-

Adjusted segment earnings

$ 353.2

$ 338.5













Adjusted segment margins

8.3%

8.4%













E-Systems









Net sales

$ 1,306.1

$ 1,098.1













Segment earnings

$ 175.1

$ 156.3

Costs related to restructuring actions

4.5

6.1

Litigation

(1.1)

-

Other

3.9

1.2

Adjusted segment earnings

$ 182.4

$ 163.6













Adjusted segment margins

14.0%

14.9%





























Six Months Ended





June 30,

July 1,





2018

2017

Adjusted Segment Earnings





















Seating









Net sales

$ 8,604.6

$ 7,893.1













Segment earnings

$ 687.8

$ 643.0

Costs related to restructuring actions

27.6

19.7

Acquisition costs

-

0.2

Acquisition-related inventory fair value adjustments

-

4.3

Litigation

(3.6)

-

Other

(0.4)

-

Adjusted segment earnings

$ 711.4

$ 667.2













Adjusted segment margins

8.3%

8.5%













E-Systems









Net sales

$ 2,709.9

$ 2,228.6













Segment earnings

$ 365.9

$ 321.2

Costs related to restructuring actions

7.2

8.1

Litigation

(1.1)

-

Other

7.8

2.4

Adjusted segment earnings

$ 379.8

$ 331.7













Adjusted segment margins

14.0%

14.9%

SOURCE Lear Corporation

Related Links

http://www.lear.com

JACKSON, Miss., July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Magnolia Health, a leading provider of health care coverage that improves care across Mississippi, announced today that it will be hosting a city-wide health fair on Sept. 15 in conjunction with Mayor Lumumba's Task Force for a Healthier Jackson's Voices for Health Gospel Choir Competition.

Magnolia Health will be providing health education materials, EPSDT screenings for school-aged children, and checking member records for care gaps and answering health-related questions. The City of Jackson is partnering with hospitals and other agencies to provide additional health screenings including blood pressure, cholesterol and BMI for adults.

"Mississippi is far above the national average in its rate of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and other diseases that shorten lifespan and reduce the quality of life," said Becky Waterer, M.D., Vice President, Medical Affairs, MED-Pharmacy for Magnolia Health. "We are honored to be part of such a beneficial event to promote good health and showcase the great talent the community of Jackson has to offer."

"The Mayor's City-wide Health Fair is designed to attract people who don't ordinarily attend health events to get screenings and health education," said Timothy Quinn, MD, Chair of Mayor Lumumba's Medical Task Force for a Healthier Jackson.

Jackson-area gospel choirs interested in competing in the preliminary round must text their contact information to: 769-666-9021, no later than Friday, August 3. The pre-qualification round will be hosted by Anderson United Methodist Church in Jackson on Saturday, August 25, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. Six finalists will go on to compete in the final round on Saturday, September 15, at the Jackson Convention Center. The Grand Prize winner will named the Best Gospel Choir in Jackson and will receive a $2,000 prize.

About Magnolia Health

Magnolia Health is a long-term solution to help the state of Mississippi enhance care for Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) recipients, while most effectively managing taxpayer dollars. A physician-driven, Mississippi-based Coordinated Care Organization (CCO), Magnolia is backed by its parent company, Centene Corporation (Centene). Centene has more than 30 years of experience in Medicaid, CHIP and other government-funded programs such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and long-term care. For more information about Magnolia, visit www.magnoliahealthplan.com.

SOURCE Magnolia Health

Related Links

http://www.magnoliahealthplan.com

WASHINGTON, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On July 30, Hudson Institute will host a discussion on the Department of Defense's July 26 decision to officially move ahead with a single cloud provider for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI). Hudson's independent Task Force on Federal IT Procurement  comprised of leading technologists and policy experts  will assess the impact of this decision on the future of the cloud industry and the IT procurement landscape. They will also discuss emerging issues of best practice, security and innovation surrounding JEDI, and how to maximize performance, transparency, and taxpayer value in this new era of cloud computing.

Members of the press can RSVP to Hudson Institute Press Secretary, Carolyn Stewart, at [email protected] or (202) 974-6456.

What: "Requirements for a Successful Military Cloud: Best Practices, Innovation and Security" panel discussion

"Requirements for a Successful Military Cloud: Best Practices, Innovation and Security" panel discussion When: July 30, 2018 , 12:00pm to 1:30pm

, Where: Hudson Institute

Hudson Institute 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 400

Washington, D.C. 20004

20004 Why: On July 26 , the Department of Defense (DoD) released a final Request for Proposals that officially declared the Pentagon would award a single contract for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud computing initiative. However, a single award contract, as opposed to a multi-cloud solution, may limit DoD's future ability to innovate, secure, and extract maximum value from data.

On , the Department of Defense (DoD) released a final Request for Proposals that officially declared the Pentagon would award a single contract for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud computing initiative. However, a single award contract, as opposed to a multi-cloud solution, may limit DoD's future ability to innovate, secure, and extract maximum value from data. Who:

Roger Waldron , President, Coalition for Government Procurement

, President, Coalition for Government Procurement

William Schneider , Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute, former Chairman of the Defense Science Board (2001-09) and former Under Secretary of State for Security Assistance, Science and Technology (1982-6).

, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute, former Chairman of the Defense Science Board (2001-09) and former Under Secretary of State for Security Assistance, Science and Technology (1982-6).

Tod Lindberg , Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute

RSVP : https://www.hudson.org/events/1582-requirements-for-a-successful-military-cloud-best-practices-innovation-and-security72018

Hudson Institute is a research organization promoting American leadership and global engagement for a secure, free, and prosperous future. http://www.hudson.org

SOURCE Hudson Institute

Related Links

http://www.hudson.org

Latest European country to offer residency and citizenship to investors

MONTREAL, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - After years of consideration, Montenegro has finally decided to join the ever-expanding list of countries seeking to attract foreign direct investments through citizenship by investment programs, starting in October 2018 for a limited number of 2,000 applicants from non-EU countries.

According to the World Bank, Montenegro is one of the fastest growing economies in the Balkans and is quickly becoming a key destination for some of the most important industries around the world due to its strategic position. As a young state, it truly offers a unique potential for investors seeking mobility, safety, security, opportunity, and increased quality of life.

In 2015, Arton Capital held a seminar with round-table discussions for government officials on the multitude of benefits that citizenship by investment programs can bring to Montenegro. Present at the two-day event were also local business leaders and industry stakeholders.

With the simplicity and optimality of the Montenegro Citizenship by Investment Program (CIP), there has never been a better time to invest in Montenegro.

The investment requirements are as follows:

100,000 in the form of a Government Fund Donation, and

250,000 investment in approved real estate in an undeveloped region (north of the country), or

450,000 investment in approved real estate in a developed region (south of the country).

At a starting investment of 350,000, Montenegro's program will prove to be one of the most competitive in Europe.

What makes the program even more attractive is its application speed, which allows permanent residence status within 3 weeks- without undermining thorough due diligent processes. Citizenship is then granted within a period of 6 months as permanent residents.

The Montenegrin passport is currently ranked 37th in the world by The Passport Index, allowing citizens visa-free travel to 115 countries, and is expected to grow significantly following EU accession.

A NATO member, Montenegro is on the agenda for future enlargement of the European Union by 2025. It already uses the euro as its currency and is in the process of integrating EU legislation into national law.

Home to one of the world's most spectacular yachting harbours, Porto Montenegro, which was acquired by Investment Corporation of Dubai for over US$200M, the south has become one of the finest luxury destinations in the region, with luxury brands such as Regent and Aman Resorts.

With Montenegro's prominent natural beauty and sophistication, tourism in the north has also begun to play a vital role for the nation. From their famous Lake Skadar to the beauty of mountainous Kolasin, where Arton Capital has already brought major investors such as Sheraton and Westin, developing the vast potential in the northern region has become a priority.

"Investing in Montenegro is a great opportunity that has just got even more desirable," said Armand Arton, founder and president of Arton Capital. "We fell in love with the country, the breathtaking topography and the welcoming people. During the Global Citizen Forum hosted in Sveti Stefan last year, our guests were simply amazed," added Mr. Arton.

Following the launch of the CIP, one can only begin to imagine the succession of luxury developments that will unfold within Montenegro.

About Arton Capital

Arton Capital is a leading government advisory firm focused on attracting foreign direct investments to countries by designing and implementing investor programs for residency and citizenship. Working with over 10 countries around the world, Arton's global operations have helped attract over US $3.5 billion foreign direct investment. Arton empowers individuals and families to become Global Citizens by investing in second residence and citizenship through a bespoke service experience which simplifies complexity and is built on confidentiality and trust. Founder of the Global Citizen Forum and the Global Citizen Foundation, Arton Capital is a member of The Arton Group, whose mission centers around products and services tailored to the needs of Global Citizens.

SOURCE Arton Capital

Related Links

www.artoncapital.com

WASHINGTON, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine will make his first official visit to NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, on Tuesday, July 31, to meet with employees and tour the facility.

Media are invited to tour Langley's Advanced Structures and Materials laboratory with the administrator. There they'll see first-hand ongoing research, including the development of large space structures and new lightweight spacecraft that could be used for entry, descent and landing in support of NASA's efforts to return astronauts to the Moon and on to Mars.

Immediately following the tour there will be an additional 30-minute availability for interviews with the administrator.

Schedule:

Noon  12:15 p.m. EDT :

Media check-in at the NASA Langley Badge & Pass Office to receive access badging. 1 Langley Blvd., Hampton, Virginia , 23666



Official media credentials are required for access.

12:15  12:30: Travel to Building 1148. Park, set up.

12:45  1:25: Administrator arrives, begin tour.

1:25  1:55: Media interviews.

Media interested in attending are asked to confirm their attendance no later than 4 p.m. Monday, July 30 by contacting Rob Wyman at 757-864-6120, or [email protected].

Bridenstine was sworn in as NASA's 13th administrator on April 23. For more information, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/content/nasa-administrator-bridenstine

SOURCE NASA

Related Links

http://www.nasa.gov

VANCOUVER, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Nevsun Resources Ltd. (TSX:NSU) (NYSE AMERICAN:NSU) ("Nevsun" or "the Company") is pleased to report its financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018. Unless otherwise noted all financial results are in millions of US dollars.

Q2 2018 Highlights

Broke ground on the Timok Upper Zone exploration decline.

Announced initial Timok Lower Zone inferred mineral resource of 1.7 billion tonnes grading 0.86% copper and 0.18 grams per tonne gold (0.96% copper equivalent) for 31.5 billion pounds of copper and 9.6 million ounces of gold.

Announced Bisha open pit extension through 2022.

Achieved copper recoveries of 69.4% with implementation of the revised reagent scheme in June.

On track to meet full year 2018 guidance with quarterly production of 51.3 million pounds of zinc and 8.6 million pounds of copper.

C1 cash costs (2) also within guidance at $0.71 per payable pound of zinc sold on a by-product basis.

also within guidance at per payable pound of zinc sold on a by-product basis. Revenue adversely impacted by lower zinc prices in June, resulting in downward provisional pricing adjustments.

Unrestricted cash balance of $125.1 million at the end of the quarter, of which $110.8 million is attributable to Nevsun shareholders.

"We improved metallurgical performance at Bisha in the second quarter with the implementation of the new reagent scheme. Production volumes were down principally due to the processing of lower grade material, however we expect to revert to processing higher grade material through the balance of 2018. Most importantly, we were able to convert a portion of our extensive resources to reserves in a capital efficient, economically attractive mine life extension, which is expected to extend Bisha cashflows, reducing Timok funding requirements," said Peter Kukielski, Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Kukielski continued: "At Timok, the initial resource declaration for the Lower Zone confirmed the project as one of the largest copper porphyry discoveries in recent years and highlighted why we are so optimistic about the deposit's long-term prospects. At the Upper Zone, the ground-breaking ceremony for the exploration decline demonstrated strong support from the Serbian government and other important local stakeholders. In the third quarter, we will complete the trade off study on the ramp up scenario for the Timok Upper Zone. We also continue to engage with potential strategic partners who could both invest in Nevsun and potentially bring complementary technical or other capabilities required for successful execution of the project."

"Taken together, the solid progress and improvements this quarter at both of our key assets have increased the fundamental value of the Company, and set the stage for further value enhancement in the months ahead."

Timok Project Update

In Q2 2018, the Company announced an initial NI 43-101 compliant inferred resource for the Timok Lower Zone with 1.7 billion tonnes grading 0.86% copper and 0.18 grams per tonne gold (0.96% copper equivalent) for 31.5 billion pounds of copper and 9.6 million ounces of gold. The mineral resource model includes the data from the recently completed $20 million drill program and demonstrates the impressive copper grade, continuity and thickness of mineralization in the Lower Zone. A core relogging program is in progress to better define the geological constraints on this resource to be used in future economic studies. The Company expects to file a NI 43-101 Technical Report incorporating the initial resource statement for the Timok Lower Zone in Q3 2018.

Progress also continued at the Timok Upper Zone where a contract for construction of the exploration decline was awarded in the quarter and site preparation activities commenced in May 2018 in advance of construction of the portal and development of the exploration decline. Drilling also continued as part of a condemnation drill program aimed to ensure that no significant mineralization is present near proposed infrastructure. The Company has acquired 100% of the land required for development of the exploration decline and 64% of the required private land for construction of the Upper Zone project as at June 30, 2018.

A ramp-up scenario is being examined starting with initial production at 1.6 million tonnes per annum ramping up to 3.25 million tonnes per annum over a two-year period. An update on this study will be provided in the third quarter. Discussions with potential off takers and potential finance providers continue to be advanced in parallel with the feasibility study ("FS").

The 2018 regional drilling program commenced in June and is focused on searching for additional high grade Upper Zone-style mineralization. Exploration drilling resumed in the Eastern Target 2 area 500 metres east of the Upper Zone with three holes currently in progress. Strong Upper Zone style alteration with associated pyrite, enargite and minor covellite mineralization typical of the outer edge of the Upper Zone is being encountered. Recent work has highlighted another area immediately to the west of the Upper Zone with similar high potential.

Bisha Mine Update

The Bisha Mine maintained total quarterly material movement above five million tonnes for the third consecutive quarter. This sustained improvement in mine performance reflects the deployment of new heavy mining equipment ("HME"), and the implementation of a plan for in-pit waste dumping with favourable impacts on haulage distance. The mine is expected to continue to benefit from the in-pit waste dumping until the end of 2018. These benefits were offset by variances to the mine plan which resulted in tighter ore supply in the pit. Lower grade ore encountered outside of the reserve model on the western side of the open pit maintained the supply of primary ore to the process plant, but resulted in lower zinc feed grade in Q2 2018.

The decrease in ore milled in Q2 2018 resulted from reduced operating time for maintenance activities. This, together with reduced feed grades, resulted in zinc in concentrate produced decreasing in Q2 2018 from Q1 2018. The implementation of an alternate reagent scheme in mid-June continued to benefit copper-zinc selectivity and resulted in improved copper concentrate grade and copper recovery from Q1 2018.

2018 Outlook Update

Through the first half of 2018, the Company achieved three 2018 objectives for the Timok Project, with the completion of the pre-feasibility study, the commencement of the exploration decline and the declaration of an inferred resource on the Lower Zone. Through the second half of 2018, the Company will complete the initial study work on the Timok ramp up scenario and advance the FS, with expected completion in mid-2019. Land acquisition and permitting activities will continue to advance in parallel with a significant majority of the private land required for the Timok Project expected to be purchased in 2018.

The Company's previously published 2018 outlook production is 210 to 240 million pounds of zinc and 20 to 30 million pounds of copper. Zinc production in the first half of the year was 122.9 million pounds. The Company expects to revert to processing higher-grade material in the second half of 2018 and remains confident that it will achieve its 2018 zinc production guidance. Copper production in the first half of the year was 17.5 million pounds and it continues tracking toward the higher end of guidance.

C1 cash costs per payable pound of zinc sold on a by-product basis are expected to be $0.60 to $0.80 in 2018. C1 cash costs on a by-product basis were $0.65 in the first half of the year and the Company expects it to remain within the expected range in 2018.

Q2 2018 Financial Review













Q2 2018 Q1 2018 Q4 2017 Q2 2017

(Restated)(1) Revenue (millions) $ 76.4 $ 106.7 $ 80.6 $ 66.1 Impairment reversals (charges) (millions)

5.0

-

18.0

(69.7) Earnings from mine operations (millions)(1)

2.4

23.4

15.0

(64.9) Exploration expenses (millions)(1)

(1.6)

(8.2)

(10.2)

(15.2) Net income (loss) (millions)(1)

(9.3)

0.5

2.2

(84.2) Net loss attributable to Nevsun shareholders (millions)(1)

(9.4)

(4.5)

(3.8)

(57.9) Basic loss per share attributable to Nevsun shareholders(1) $ (0.03) $ (0.01) $ (0.01) $ (0.19)

















Unrestricted cash (millions) $ 125.1 $ 149.6 $ 124.6 $ 171.4 Working capital (millions)

170.4

187.6

162.3

172.1

















Zinc price realized, per payable pound sold(3) $ 1.14 $ 1.51 $ 1.54 $ 1.16 C1 cash cost per payable zinc pound sold, by-product basis(2)

0.71

0.58

1.13

0.68 C1 cash cost per payable zinc pound sold, co-product basis(2)

0.84

0.79

1.23

0.92

















Copper price realized, per payable pound sold $ 3.09 $ 3.01 $ 3.26 $ $2.65 C1 cash cost per payable copper pound sold, co-product basis(2)

1.39

1.56

2.01

1.59

(1) Effective December 31, 2017, the Company voluntarily elected to change its accounting policy with respect to exploration and evaluation expenditures, and as such, certain financial measures have been restated. Please refer to the Company's 2017 annual consolidated financial statements for the full accounting policy, and to the Company's Q2 2018 interim financial statements for disclosure surrounding the effect of the change as at and for the three and six months ended June 30, 2017. (2) C1 cash cost per pound is a non-GAAP measure. See page 23 of the Company's Q2 2018 MD&A for discussion of non-GAAP measures and page 6 of the Company's Q2 2018 MD&A, Cash Costs, for explanation of per-unit costs. (3) Zinc price realized per payable pound sold includes provisional pricing adjustments for shipments not yet settled, including shipments in previous quarters. In Q2 2018, zinc price realized per payable pound sold of $1.14 is inclusive of downward provisional pricing and other adjustments of $0.23 per payable pound sold  see page 26 of the Company's Q2 2018 MD&A for a reconciliation of realized metal prices.

Q2 2018 Operating Review

















Q2 2018 Q1 2018 Q4 2017 Q2 2017 Mining











Ore mined, tonnes(1)

582,000 640,000 362,000 654,000

Waste mined, tonnes

4,900,000 4,525,000 4,981,000 3,739,000

Strip ratio, using tonnes

8.4 7.1 13.8 5.7 Processing











Ore milled, tonnes

491,000 563,000 520,000 590,000

Zinc feed grade, %

6.1 7.1 6.9 5.3

Copper feed grade, %

1.1 1.2 1.2 0.8

Recovery, % of zinc

77.6 81.1 72.6 62.2

Recovery, % of copper(2)

69.4 61.5 27.4 51.6

Zinc concentrate grade, %

47.8 47.8 45.6 41.5

Copper concentrate grade, %(2)

21.5 20.9 18.7 17.4

Zinc in concentrate produced, millions of pounds

51.3 71.6 57.7 43.0

Zinc in concentrate produced, tonnes

23,300 32,500 26,100 19,500

Copper in concentrate produced, millions of pounds

8.6 8.9 3.6 5.7

Copper in concentrate produced, tonnes

3,900 4,100 1,600 2,600

Payable zinc in concentrate sold, millions of pounds

53.8 53.4 44.6 34.3

Payable zinc in concentrate sold, tonnes

24,400 24,200 20,200 15,400

Payable copper in concentrate sold, millions of pounds

4.3 7.8 3.6 7.7

Payable copper in concentrate sold, tonnes

2,000 3,500 1,600 3,500

(1) Ore tonnes mined for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 consisted of 582,000 and 1,222,000 tonnes of primary ore (Q2 2017  643,000 and 1,237,000 tonnes of primary ore and 11,000 and 68,000 tonnes of supergene ore). (2) This represents the copper recovery to copper concentrate from the copper flotation circuit only, and excludes copper recovered to zinc concentrates.

The Company's Interim Financial Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") are available on the Company website at www.nevsun.com, on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

Q2 2018 Results Conference Call and Webcast Details

The Company will hold a conference call and webcast on Friday, July 27, 2018, at 8AM Vancouver / 11AM Toronto, New York / 4PM London, to discuss the financial and operating results.

Conference Call:

Please call in at least five minutes prior to the conference call start time to ensure prompt access to the conference. Dial in details are as follows:

North America: 1 888-390-0546 / +1 416-764-8688 / +1 778-383-7413

UK: 0800 652 2435 (toll free)

Other International: +1 416-764-8688 / +1 778-383-7413

The conference call will be available for replay by phone until Friday, August 3, 2018, by calling 1 888-390-0541 / +1 416-764-8677 and entering passcode 439304 #.

Webcast:

A live audio webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company's website www.nevsun.com or by clicking here.

Qualified Persons Statement

Mr. Peter Manojlovic, PGeo, and Vice President Exploration of Nevsun Resources Ltd. is a Qualified Person under the terms of NI 43-101 and has reviewed the exploration and mineral resource and reserve statements of this press release and approved its dissemination.

Cautionary Notes to Investors  Resource Estimates

In accordance with applicable Canadian securities regulatory requirements, all mineral resource estimates of the Company disclosed or incorporated by reference in this news release have been prepared in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, classified in accordance with Canadian Institute of Mining Metallurgy and Petroleum's "CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves Definitions and Guidelines" (the "CIM Guidelines").

The Company uses the terms "mineral resources", and "inferred mineral resources". While those terms are recognized by Canadian securities regulatory authorities, they are not recognized by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and the SEC does not permit U.S. companies to disclose resources in their filings with the SEC.

Pursuant to the CIM Guidelines, mineral resources have a higher degree of uncertainty than mineral reserves as to their existence as well as their economic and legal feasibility. Inferred mineral resources, when compared with measured or indicated mineral resources, have the least certainty as to their existence, however, it is reasonable to expect that the majority of inferred mineral resources could be upgraded to indicated mineral resources with continued exploration. Pursuant to NI 43-101, inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of any economic analysis, including any feasibility study. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of a mineral resource exists, will ever be converted into a mineral reserve, or is or will ever be economically or legally mineable or recovered.

About Nevsun Resources Ltd.

Nevsun Resources Ltd. is the 100% owner of the high-grade copper-gold Timok Upper Zone and 60.4% owner of the Timok Lower Zone in Serbia. The Timok Lower Zone is a joint venture with Freeport-McMoRan Exploration Corporation ("Freeport") which currently owns 39.6% and upon completion of any feasibility study (on the Upper or Lower Zone), Nevsun Resources Ltd. will own 46% and Freeport will own 54%. Nevsun generates cash flow from its 60% owned copper-zinc Bisha Mine in Eritrea. Nevsun is well positioned with a strong debt-free balance sheet to grow shareholder value through advancing Timok to production.

Forward Looking Statements

The above contains forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward looking statements including statements with respect to the Company's Bisha Mine in Eritrea and its intentions for its Timok Upper Zone Project in Serbia (the "Timok Project"). The Company also cautions the reader that the PEA previously released in September 2017 and the PFS released in March 2018 on the Timok Project that support the technical feasibility or economic viability of the Timok Project, including the marketability of the concentrate, mining method, costs, processing, metal recoveries and any other technical aspects related to the Timok Project, are preliminary in nature and there is no certainty that the PEA or the PFS will be realized.

Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "hopes", "intends", "estimated", "potential", "possible" and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions or results "will", "may", "could" or "should" occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements are statements concerning the Company's current beliefs, plans, objectives and expectations about the future, including but not limited to statements and information made concerning: statements relating to the business, prospects and future activities of, and development plans related to the Company, exploration activities, the adequacy of financial resources, anticipated production, processing and recoveries of zinc and copper, mineral reserve and resource estimates, mining efficiencies and access to mineral reserves, goals, strategies, future growth, planned future acquisitions, anticipated C1 cash costs to produce zinc or copper, resolution of metallurgical challenges from variable ore materials to produce concentrate and the ability to increase processing and recovery rates of zinc and copper, achievement of and timing for achievement of any key milestones including, planned mineral movement at the Bisha Mine and other events or conditions that may occur in the future regarding the Company or its projects.

The actual achievements of the Company or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors. These risks, uncertainties and factors include general business, legal, economic, competitive, political, regulatory and social uncertainties; actual results of exploration activities and economic evaluations; fluctuations in currency exchange rates; changes in project parameters; changes in costs, including labour, infrastructure, operating and production costs; future prices of copper, gold, zinc, silver and other minerals; resource estimates and variations of mineral grade or recovery rates; metallurgical challenges on the variable ore materials being processed and if the significant improvements in recovery rates of zinc and copper will be maintained or that recoveries to initial design levels will be achieved; the ability to extend mine life beyond the current mine plans; operating or technical difficulties in connection with exploration; land acquisition; mining method, production profile and mine plan; other development or mining activities, including the failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; performance on ore production and waste movement and improvement in mining capability; delays in exploration, development and construction activities including commencement of the decline construction as planned; changes in government legislation and regulation; the ability to maintain and renew existing licenses and permits and the ability to obtain other required licences and permits in a timely manner or at all; the ability to obtain financing on acceptable terms and in a timely manner or at all; contests over title to properties; employee relations and shortages of skilled personnel and contractors; the speculative nature of, and the risks involved in, the exploration, development and mining business including, without limitation, other risks that are more fully described in the Company's Annual Information Form for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 (the "AIF") and the Company's management discussion and analysis for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 (the "MD&A"), which are incorporated herein by reference.

The Company's forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date the statements are made and the Company assumes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements in the future, except as required by law. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements.

Further information concerning risks and uncertainties associated with these forward-looking statements and our business can be found in our AIF and MD&A, which is available on the Company's website (www.nevsun.com), filed under our profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and on EDGAR (www.sec.gov) under cover of Form 40-F.

NEVSUN RESOURCES LTD.,

"Peter G.J. Kukielski"

Peter G.J. Kukielski

President & Chief Executive Officer

SOURCE Nevsun Resources Ltd.VANCOUVER, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ - Nevsun Resources Ltd. (TSX:NSU) (NYSE AMERICAN: NSU) ("Nevsun" or the "Company") today acknowledged that it has received an unsolicited offer (the "Offer") from Lundin Mining Corporation ("Lundin") to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Nevsun.

Nevsun shareholders are advised to take no action until the Board of Directors has made a formal recommendation to shareholders. The Offer will remain open for a minimum of 105 days, allowing Nevsun shareholders until November 9, 2018 to respond.

The Offer follows an announcement by Lundin on July 16, 2018 of its intention to make an offer for Nevsun. At that time, Nevsun indicated that Lundin's announcement ignored the fundamental value of Nevsun. Lundin has also ignored the recent improvements at the Bisha mine, the new ultra-large Timok Lower Zone resource and progress at the Timok Upper Zone project. These achievements have set the stage for further value enhancement, and attracted the attention of several strategic parties that have expressed an interest in participating in the Company's continued development.

Having now received a formal Offer, the special committee of independent Nevsun directors (the "Special Committee") will consider it with its advisors before making a recommendation to Nevsun's Board of Directors. Nevsun's Board will make a formal recommendation to shareholders via a Director's Circular within 15 days, in accordance with Canadian securities regulations.

Advisors

Counsel for Nevsun's Special Committee is Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. The Special Committee's independent financial advisor is Citi. Counsel for the Company is Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP. The Company's financial advisor is BMO Capital Markets. Laurel Hill Advisory Group is Nevsun's strategic advisor and information agent.

Forward Looking Statements

The above contains certain statements that are deemed forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "hopes", "intends", "estimated", "potential", "possible" and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions or results "will", "may", "could" or "should" occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements are statements concerning the Company's current beliefs, plans and expectations about the future, including but not limited to statements and information about the Lundin formal offer for all of the shares of Nevsun and the terms and conditions of an such offer, the business, prospects and future activities of, and developments related to the Company, goals, strategies, future growth and other events or conditions that may occur in the future, and are inherently uncertain. The actual achievements of the Company or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors, including, without limitation, the risks more fully described in the Company's Annual Information Form for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 (the "AIF") and the Company's management discussion and analysis for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 (the "MD&A"), which are incorporated herein by reference. The Company's forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date the statements are made and the Company assumes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements in the future, except as required by law. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements.

Further information concerning risks and uncertainties associated with these forward-looking statements and our business can be found in our AIF and MD&A, which are available on the Company's website (www.nevsun.com), filed under our profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and on EDGAR (www.sec.gov) under cover of Form 40-F.

About Nevsun Resources Ltd.

Nevsun Resources Ltd. is the 100% owner of the high-grade copper-gold Timok Upper Zone and 60.4% owner of the Timok Lower Zone in Serbia. The Timok Lower Zone is a partnership with Freeport-McMoRan Exploration Corporation ("Freeport"), which currently owns 39.6% and upon completion of any feasibility study, Nevsun Resources Ltd. will own 46% and Freeport will own 54%. Nevsun generates cash flow from its 60% owned copper-zinc Bisha Mine in Eritrea. Nevsun is well positioned with a strong debt-free balance sheet to grow shareholder value through advancing Timok to production.

NEVSUN RESOURCES LTD.

"Peter Kukielski"

Peter Kukielski

President & Chief Executive Officer

NSU 18-21.doc

SOURCE Nevsun Resources Ltd.As many as 30 officers each from neighbouring countries will be trained this year on various courses.

New Delhi: India and Bhutan are increasing cooperation in fighting economic and conventional crime to ensure checking cross border crime and apprehending fugitives.

According to sources a six-member delegation of Anti-Corruption Commission of Bhutan, which shares 699 km border with India along sensitive North East region, is on a visit to the CBI between July 23 to July 27. The delegation is headed by Aum Kinley Yangzom, Chairperson, ACC, Bhutan.

The visit is a part of exchange programme to enhance cooperation between the two countries in fighting economic and conventional crime and help in capacity building, sources in the CBI said. They further said the visit is also a part of the CBI to forge organisation-to-organisation ties with other international agencies to ensure better cooperation in checking cross border crime and apprehending fugitives.

"CBI's experience and competency in fighting corruption, organised crime and economic frauds can be of great value to our sister agencies in neighbouring countries. We are engaged with Bhutan in capacity building and experience sharing. I feel this co-operation will be mutually beneficial since fighting economic crimes today transcends traditional boundaries," CBI Director Alok Verma said.

The Bhutanese delegation will visit the offices of the Central Vigilance Commission, BPR and D and the CFSL for understanding aspects of corruption and crime investigation and the criminal information management system. The agency conducts tailor-made, country-specific courses for officers of several neighbouring countries. As many as 30 officers each from neighbouring countries will be trained this year on various courses.

K04BOSTON, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- College students consider buying course materials to be their top source of financial stress after tuition, and the lack of access and affordability of materials has a negative impact on their learning and performance, according to a new survey of 1,651 current and former college students. The survey was conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of Cengage. The largest US-based education and technology company serving the higher education market, Cengage provides course materials including textbooks, ebooks, homework and study guides to 11 million students.

The survey, Today's Learner: Student Views 2018, also shows that students routinely sacrifice basic needs, such as food and spending time with their family, to afford their course materials. Other key findings include:

Textbook Purchases Increase Student Stress: Eighty-five percent of current and former students say that their textbook and course material expenses are financially stressful, more so than meals and food (63 percent), healthcare (69 percent), housing (73 percent) and barely less stressful than tuition (88 percent).

Eighty-five percent of current and former students say that their textbook and course material expenses are financially stressful, more so than meals and food (63 percent), healthcare (69 percent), housing (73 percent) and barely less stressful than tuition (88 percent). Students Sacrifice Food for Textbooks: Nearly half of current and former college students (43 percent) say they've saved money by skipping meals to afford course materials.

Nearly half of current and former college students (43 percent) say they've saved money by skipping meals to afford course materials. Minority Students Are Disproportionally Impacted: Minority students are more likely to report taking fewer classes to save on textbook costs; African American students are also 35 percent more likely to save money for books by skipping a trip home.

Minority students are more likely to report taking fewer classes to save on textbook costs; African American students are also 35 percent more likely to save money for books by skipping a trip home. Coping with the Financial Burden: Almost seven in 10 students report having to get a job during the school year to pay for college textbooks; 43 percent have taken out a loan; and 31 percent have taken fewer classes to save on textbooks costs.

Almost seven in 10 students report having to get a job during the school year to pay for college textbooks; 43 percent have taken out a loan; and 31 percent have taken fewer classes to save on textbooks costs. Digital Access Drives Success: Digital is seen as a potential way to help with course materials, with 81 percent of students saying easily accessible digital course materials would have a positive impact on their grades. When it comes to digital access, cost and affordability remain key: 72 percent of students saying cost-effectiveness is very important when considering digital course materials.

"The survey's results should be a wake-up call for everybody involved in higher education. This is especially true for the publishing industry, including our own company, as we historically contributed to the problem of college affordability," said Michael Hansen, CEO, Cengage. "The data is clear: high textbook costs pose barriers to students' ability to succeed in college. Too many learners today are making painful tradeoffs between course materials and bare necessities like housing and meals. Our industry must embrace what students are telling us. That's why our company has developed a new subscription model that lowers costs."

ABOUT CENGAGE:

Cengage is the education and technology company built for learners. As the largest US-based provider of teaching and learning materials for higher ed, we offer valuable options at affordable price points. Our industry-leading initiatives include Cengage Unlimited, the first-of-its-kind all-access digital subscription service. We embrace innovation to create learning experiences that build confidence and momentum toward the future students want. Headquartered in Boston, Cengage also serves K-12, library and workforce training markets around the world. Visit us at www.cengage.com or find us on Facebook or Twitter.

ABOUT THE SURVEY METHODOLOGY:

Morning Consult, on behalf of Cengage, conducted a national survey from July 11-13, 2018 among a national sample of 1,651 current and former students, ages 18 to 30. The interviews were conducted online and the data were weighted to approximate a target. Results from the full survey have a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Media Contact:

Susan Aspey, Cengage

202-695-6012; [email protected]

Olivia Campbell, Edelman

212-819-4850; [email protected]

SOURCE Cengage

Related Links

http://www.cengage.com

ALBANY, New York, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Transparency Market Research (TMR) has published a new report titled, "Orthopedic Devices Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 2018-2026". According to the new report, the global orthopedic devices market was valued at US$ 46,900 Mn in 2017 and is projected to expand at a CAGR of over 3.0% from 2018 to 2026.

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Rise in the global geriatric population which is more susceptible to musculoskeletal disorders is likely to boost demand for orthopedic devices during the forecast period. North America and Europe are likely to dominate the global orthopedic devices market due to favorable reimbursement for orthopedic procedures and rise in focus of key players on the development of new devices in the market in these regions. Increase in geriatric population and rise in prevalence of osteoporosis in countries such as Japan and China are likely to boost the orthopedic devices market in Asia Pacific from 2018 to 2026.

Get PDF Brochure for Research Insights at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=1781

Product Recalls to Hamper Market

Incidences of product recalls due to device inefficiency or manufacturing errors affect the adoption rate among surgeons and patients, which in turn affects sales. The recalls and associated lawsuits have criticized orthopedic companies leading to loss of reliability in the minds of customers. For example, in December 2016, Greatbatch Medical, a subsidiary of Integer Holdings Corporation, recalled standard offset cup impactor device which is used for hip joint replacement. The device failed the sterility test which can lead to infection in patients during surgery.

Join Reconstruction to Lose Market Share

The report offers detailed segmentation of the global orthopedic devices market based on product and end-user. Based on product, the joint reconstruction segment is projected to dominate the global market due to presence of major players in the segment. However, the segment is expected to lose market share during the forecast period owing to stringent FDA regulations for product approvals and high investments. The spinal devices segment is anticipated to gain market share during the forecast period from 22.0% in 2017 to 25.0% by 2026 due to increase in the number of patients suffering from osteoporosis fracture every year.

Request a Custom Report at https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=CR&rep_id=1781

Hospitals and Orthopedic Clinics: Top End-users of Orthopedic Devices

In terms of end-user, the hospitals segment is projected to account for dominant share of the global orthopedic devices market during the forecast period. The segment is likely to expand at a CAGR of 3.0% from 2018 to 2026. However, the segment is expected to lose market share during the forecast period due to rise in hospitalization costs. The orthopedic clinics segment accounted for 28.0% share of the global orthopedic devices market in terms of value in 2017. The segment is anticipated to expand at a rapid pace during the forecast period. The segment is likely to gain market share to reach 29% by 2026. Shorter hospital stay, quality of procedures and care, availability of emergency minimal invasive surgeries, and advanced devices are likely to propel the segment during the forecast period.

Request A Sample Of Orthopedic Devices Market: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=1781

North America to Expand at Considerable Pace and Create High Incremental Opportunity

In terms of value, North America held a major share of the global market in 2017. This is due to high health care expenditure and rise in awareness about the advantages of different orthopedic devices in the U.S. Furthermore, presence of several players such as Stryker and Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. with significant investment in research & development of advanced devices is projected to propel the orthopedic devices market in North America from 2018 to 2026.

Rise in incidence of orthopedic diseases and improving economy in China, India, and other countries in Southeast Asia resulting in high per capita health care expenditure are anticipated to drive the orthopedic devices market in Asia Pacific. Moreover, according to the International Osteoporosis Foundation, in 2013, the rate of incidence of hip fractures among the people of Asia increased 4-fold to 5-fold. This is also likely to fuel the growth of the market in Asia Pacific. Economic growth in countries such as Brazil is increasing research & development activities and expenditure on treatment in Latin America. These factors are likely to propel the global orthopedic devices market in Latin America. The market in the region is expected to expand at a CAGR of 3.2% from 2018 to 2026.

Request For Discount On This Report: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=D&rep_id=1781

Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc., DePuy Synthes, and Stryker to Dominate Market

The report provides profiles of leading players operating in the global orthopedic devices market. These include Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc., DePuy Systhes, Stryker, Smith & Nephew, Medtronic Spinal, DJO Global, Arthrex, Inc., NuVasive, Inc., and Globus Medical. Expansion of product portfolio by developing new products or through acquisition and licensing agreements to develop products is a key strategy adopted by these players. For instance, in September 2016, Stryker entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Instratek, Inc., an U.S.-based orthopedic implants and endoscopic instrumentation manufacturer. This acquisition strengthened Stryker's presence in the forefoot and upper extremity business segment. Other key players are also adopting similar strategies.

Popular Research Reports by TMR:

Orthopedic Digit Implants Market:

https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/orthopedic-digit-implants-market.html

https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/orthopedic-digit-implants-market.html Orthopedic Implants Market:

https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/orthopedic-implants-market.html

About Us

Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The company's exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.

TMR's 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.



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SOURCE Transparency Market ResearchWASHINGTON, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- President Donald Trump tweeted this morning that the "United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian family man, and wonderful human being. He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!" Vice President Pence echoed the president in an address this morning before the State Department's first-ever "Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom."

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, who also serves on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, attended the Ministerial and offered the following comments:

"The time to release Pastor Brunson is now. With President Trump and Vice President Pence calling for 'large sanctions' on Turkey, we know the administration's patience is gone.

"The Trump administration has put a high priority on religious freedom and simply won't give up until Pastor Brunson is free.

"Turkey is a NATO ally but isn't acting like an ally as it tramples the values that reflect NATO's mission. Turkey must begin living up to its own constitution which guarantees the freedom of religion  including the freedom to share one's faith.

"Earlier this month, we gathered the names of thousands of people on a pledge to pray for Pastor Brunson. Those pledges have been delivered and Pastor Brunson is encouraged to know that the United States hasn't forgotten him. He won't be left behind," concluded Perkins.

SOURCE Family Research Council

Related Links

http://www.frc.org

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla., July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Midwife who truly supports the natural birth process has continued her homebirth practice in South Florida. Midwife Gelena started her homebirth practice 7 years ago and is just as passionate about natural birth and supporting women now as she was then. Peaceful Pregnancy Pathways is Midwife Gelena's private practice and she has attended over 600 births, many of which were VBAC's (Vaginal Birth after a Cesarean) being a VBAC herself.

Peaceful Pregnancy Pathways Your Homebirth Midwife

Midwife Gelena provides personalized prenatal care for moms with many visits being done in their home. She also makes sure all her families receive childbirth education and includes that in her package. Once you become a client you have access to Gelena any time day or night so you are always comfortable with how your pregnancy is going. The passion Gelena feels to make sure all moms get the empowering birth they deserve is evident through her nurturing, support, and birth outcomes.

The postpartum care is a big difference that Midwife Gelena prides herself on. "Midwives provide so much care after the birth, when the support is really needed, that it helps not only catch any postpartum problems, but can help with postpartum depression as well." This is why Gelena created the Coral Springs Breastfeeding Support group at her office. She wanted moms to feel normal and supported when baby arrived and the pressure was truly on. These support groups are open to all families, not just those who birthed with her.

P3 Birth also has many other support groups that meet up at her brand new birth center, Natural BirthWorks, that she co-owns with partner Sandra Lobaina.

Childbirth classes, postpartum herbal baths, belly binding, placenta encapsulation and so much more is offered and provided by Gelena.

For more information, email: [email protected] or call (954) 780 9033

www.p3birth.com

Facebook

Media Contact:

Gelena Hinkley

[email protected]

954-960-3213

https://www.facebook.com/Peaceful-Pregnancy-Pathways-P3-146381202069267/

SOURCE Peaceful Pregnancy PathwaysSAN FRANCISCO, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The global polyphenylene oxide (PPO) market size is projected to reach USD 2.27 billion by 2025, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc., expanding at a CAGR of 5.3% during the forecast period. Rising demand from end-user industries such as automotive and electronics & electrical.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/661327/Grand_View_Research_Logo.jpg )



Globally, surging demand for electronic products such as outlet boxes, smoke detectors, and lighting is poised to boost the growth of the PPO market. Improving living standards coupled with increasing per capita disposable income is estimated to positively impact the market over the forecast years. Burgeoning automotive manufacturing in Latin America and Asia Pacific is expected to stimulate the growth of the market.

Rising consumer awareness regarding new technologies in emerging economies is anticipated to fuel the demand for advanced electronic components. Increasing trade of electronic devices among countries is anticipated to unfold immense growth opportunities for market players.

Electronic components emerged as the leading application segment in the polyphenylene oxide market. Major products where electronic components are used are relay housings, pump housing/impellers, connectors, bobbins, circuit breakers, motor brush cards, coil encapsulation, fans and blowers, heat exchangers, thermostat housings, and large and small appliances.

Increasing PPO application in the electrical and electronics industry such as TV output transformer, air conditioning control boxes, deflection yoke and bobbins are slated to stoke the growth of the market. Asia Pacific is the leading regional market, with a global volume share estimated at over 50.0% in 2017. Favorable economic policies coupled with entry of global plastic manufacturers are supporting the growth of the market in Asia Pacific.

A well-established electrical & electronics manufacturing base in China, Taiwan, and South Korea coupled with a strong chemical manufacturing base in India is likely to trigger the adoption of polyphenylene oxide. China being the major market has witnessed tremendous growth in end-use industries.

Browse full research report with TOC on "Polyphenylene Oxide (PPO) Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Application (Electronic Components, Fluid Handling, Air Separation Membranes, Medical Instruments, Automotive), And Segment Forecasts, 2018 - 2025" at: https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/polyphenylene-oxide-ppo-market

Further Key Findings From the Report Suggest:

In terms of revenue, the automotive application is expected to rise at a CAGR of 4.1% from 2018 to 2025 owing to growing automotive production in emerging economies

The U.S. polyphenylene oxide market is anticipated to exceed 85 kilo tons by 2025, owing to presence of a large number of automotive companies and rapidly increasing shale gas operations

The PPO market is moderately concentrated owing to presence of both large as well as small players

Some of the key companies present in the market are BASF, SABIC, Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corp., Sumitomo Chemicals, Momentive Performance Materials, LyondellBasell, Polyplastics Co. Ltd., Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corp., and Solvay SA.

Browse related reports by Grand View Research:

Stearic Acid Market - The Global stearic acid market size was 5,516.2 kilo tons in 2013.



The Global stearic acid market size was 5,516.2 kilo tons in 2013. Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) Films And Laminates Market - The global liquid crystal polymer (LCP) films & laminates market size exceeded USD 100 million in 2015.



- The global liquid crystal polymer (LCP) films & laminates market size exceeded in 2015. Dimer Acid Market - The Global dimer acid market size was USD 1.31 billion in 2015. Rising demand for polyamide resins in coatings and adhesives industries is expected to be a key driving factor for industry growth over the forecast period.



The Global dimer acid market size was in 2015. Rising demand for polyamide resins in coatings and adhesives industries is expected to be a key driving factor for industry growth over the forecast period. Salicylic Acid Market - The global salicylic acid market size was estimated at 89.8 kilo tons in 2015. Growing demand for salicylic acid in manufacturing haircare and cosmetic skincare products owing to growing consumer awareness regarding its benefits



Grand View Research has segmented the global polyphenylene oxide market on the basis of application and region.

Polyphenylene Oxide Application Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) Air Separation Membranes Medical Instruments Domestic Appliances Automotive (Structural Parts) Electronic Components Fluid Handling

Polyphenylene Oxide Regional Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) North America U.S Canada Mexico Europe U.K. Germany France Asia Pacific China India Japan Korea Taiwan Central & South America Brazil Middle East & Africa Saudi Arabia



Explore the BI enabled intuitive market research database, The Grand Library, by Grand View Research, Inc.

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.

Contact:

Sherry James

Corporate Sales Specialist, USA

Grand View Research, Inc.

Phone: +1-415-349-0058

Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://www.grandviewresearch.com

SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc.MIAMI, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) has scheduled a conference call for 10:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, Thursday, August 2, 2018, to discuss the company's second quarter 2018 financial results. The call will be available on-line at the company's investor relations website, www.rclinvestor.com. To listen to the call by phone, please dial (877) 663-9606 in the US and Canada. International phone calls should be made to (706) 758-4628. There is no passcode or meeting number. A replay of the webcast will be available at the same site for a month following the call.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) is a global cruise vacation company that owns and operates three global brands: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises. We are a 50% joint venture owner of the German brand TUI Cruises, a 49% shareholder in the Spanish brand Pullmantur and a 36% shareholder in the Chinese brand SkySea Cruises. Together, these brands operate a combined total of 50 ships with an additional twelve on order as of June 30, 2018. They operate diverse itineraries around the world that call on approximately 540 destinations on all seven continents. Additional information can be found on www.royalcaribbean.com, www.celebritycruises.com, www.azamaraclubcruises.com, www.tuicruises.com, www.pullmantur.es, or www.rclinvestor.com.

SOURCE Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Related Links

http://www.royalcaribbean.com

FAIRFAX, Va., July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Sheehy Auto Stores has raised a record donation of $300,000 to benefit the American Heart Association as part of the company's annual Sheehy 8000, a community-wide effort that ran May 11  July 5, raising funds and awareness for the charity.

Sheehy Auto Stores raised $300,000 for the American Heart Association through this year's Sheehy 8000. Pictured here is JP Wiley, Senior Director of the AHA with Vince Sheehy, President of Sheehy Auto Stores

Throughout the 55-day campaign, the Sheehy Auto Stores dealerships collectively sold 8,029 new and used vehicles to achieve its sales goal. This was all while holding heart-healthy community events and other dealership activities for employees that included trivia games, CPR demonstrations, heart-healthy cooking and food demonstrations.

"Overall, we were very pleased by the response in each of our communities to our big sales push while fund-raising for a great cause," said Vince Sheehy, president of Sheehy Auto Stores. "We are very proud to support the American Heart Association and all they do to educate our community and help prevent the risks of heart disease and stroke."

Sheehy's support of the American Heart Association extends beyond the Sheehy 8000. For the past several years, the company has been a sponsor and active partner at the National Walking Day event held on the first Wednesday in April at Springfield Town Center, to promote walking and a heart-healthy lifestyle.

"We are so grateful for the commitment and generosity of the Sheehy team and customers in helping to build healthier communities throughout Sheehy's regions," said Roxana Hoveyda, Vice President of Marketing at the American Heart Association. "With more than a million dollars donated in five years through the Sheehy 8000, the impact on our mission has been considerable."

Last year's Sheehy 8000 campaign raised $285,000 for the charity. Throughout its 50-year history, Sheehy's fundraising efforts have raised more than $40 million for community and non-profit organizations.

The mission of the American Heart Association is to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.

Sheehy Auto Stores, Inc.

Sheehy Auto Stores is the 32nd largest dealer group in the country and serves customers in the Richmond, Baltimore, Annapolis and Washington, D.C. metropolitan areas. A family-owned business since it was founded as one Ford store in 1966 in Marlow Heights, Md., the company has grown to more than $1.5 billion in sales with more than 40,000 new and used vehicles sold each year. The company is recognized as a leader in customer satisfaction, retention and community involvement. For more information visit www.sheehy.com.

CONTACT:

Hillary Reynolds

(954) 815-1186

SOURCE Sheehy Auto Stores

Related Links

http://www.sheehy.com

SANTA MONICA, Calif., July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Som Sleep, the first and only company to offer an NSF Certified for Sport ready-to-drink sleep supplement, announces distribution partnership with United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI).

"We are thrilled that our smart science and high quality ingredients make Som Sleep a perfect fit for UNFI as they stay on the cutting edge of new ideas that drive the industry forward," says John Shegerian, the Co-founder and CEO of Som Sleep. "UNFI provides us with a significant footprint to further our mission of making a good night's sleep easily accessible to all."

UNFI strives to provide individuals with healthier food and beverage options. The company boasts an unmatched distribution network with over 100,000 products reaching natural product superstores, independent retailers, and conventional supermarket chains across the United States and Canada. UNFI embraces bold possibilities with the potential to shape the foodscape of tomorrow and lead to a healthier road ahead. To learn more about UNFI, visit www.unfi.com.

Som Sleep launched in January of this year, but can already be found on retail shelves nationwide. In addition to being available on Som's website and at Amazon, the product can also be found at GNC, Bristol Farms, Central Market, Down to Earth, Jayde's, Market Street, and Albertson's Market. You can find the store closest to you using the Som Sleep Store Locator. Som Sleep plans to expand into numerous additional distribution channels throughout 2018 and beyond.

Som Sleep is an NSF Certified for Sport ready-to-drink sleep supplement available in both Original and Zero Sugar. The drug-free, non-habit forming formula is consumed 30 minutes before bed for better sleep. Som is available in a 4-pack, 12-pack, and 24-pack for both one-time purchase as well as recurring delivery online at www.getsom.com and Amazon. It is also available at GNC, Bristol Farms, Central Market, Down to Earth, Jayde's, Market Street, and United Supermarkets. You can find the store closest to you using the Som Sleep Store Locator. Apply now to join the Som Sleep Affiliate Program, and find Som on social media @getsomsleep.

Contact: For media inquiries, contact Lily Allyn Gordon at [email protected].

SOURCE Som Friends, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.getsom.com

Southern Transitional Council (US) Ltd., has also been working on Capitol Hill, meeting with various Members of Congress and staff, to educate them regarding the situation in South Yemen. In addition, the leadership of STC (US) Ltd attended a diplomatic reception hosted by the Trans Atlantic Parliamentary Group, by which (70) attendees from the EU Parliament, various Ambassadors, Members of Congress were able to meet with them. These activities have significantly increased the notoriety of STC on Capitol Hill, and encouraged many lawmakers regarding their perception of a bright future for South Yemen.

STC (US) Ltd's activities on Capitol Hill and across the country are robust, and will continue to tirelessly advocate for the people of South Yemen to have the right to a representative government and peaceful future. The assaults by terrorists against the innocent people of Hodeidah must cease, and they will not succeed as they were pushed back from Aden, the recently Socotra as well. STC must have a seat at the table at the upcoming peace talks, and the global community must be engaged to work to truly resolve this situation by supporting the proponents of peace, freedom and democracy in South Yemen.

**FARA Disclosure Statement: This material is distributed by Grassroots Political Consulting LLC on behalf of STC. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.**

SOURCE Grassroots Political Consulting LLCSAN DIEGO, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Shareholder rights law firm Johnson Fistel, LLP has launched an investigation into whether the board members of SUPERVALU INC. ("SUPERVALU") (NYSE: SVU) breached their fiduciary duties in connection with the proposed sale of the Company to United Natural Foods, Inc. ("UNFI"). SUPERVALU operates as a grocery wholesaler and retailer in the United States and internationally.

On July 26, 2018, SUPERVALU announced that it had signed a definitive merger agreement with UNFI. Under the terms of the merger agreement, UNFI will acquire SUPERVALU for $32.50 per share in cash

The investigation concerns whether the SUPERVALU board failed to satisfy its duties to the Company shareholders, including whether the board adequately pursued alternatives to the acquisition and whether the board obtained the best price possible for SUPERVALU shares of common stock. Nationally recognized Johnson Fistel is investigating whether the proposed deal represents adequate consideration, especially given Wall Street analysts' projections for SUPERVALU's future earnings and revenue growth. Additionally, one Wall Street analyst has a $55.00 price target on the stock.

If you are a shareholder of SUPERVALU and believe the proposed buyout price is too low or you're interested in learning more about the investigation or your legal rights and remedies, please contact lead analyst Jim Baker ( [email protected] ) at 619-814-4471. If emailing, please include a phone number. Additionally, you can [click here to join this action].There is no cost or obligation to you.

About Johnson Fistel, LLP:

Johnson Fistel, LLP is a nationally recognized shareholder rights law firm with offices in California, New York and Georgia. The firm represents individual and institutional investors in shareholder derivative and securities class action lawsuits. For more information about the firm and its attorneys, please visit http://www.johnsonfistel.com . Attorney advertising. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Contact:

Johnson Fistel, LLP

Jim Baker, 619-814-4471

[email protected]

[Click here to join this action]

SOURCE Johnson Fistel, LLP

Related Links

http://www.johnsonfistel.com

Though traditionally called Benarasi paan, it is served and loved in most parts of India as well as South Asia and Southeast Asia as regular paan.

The first time I heard the word paan was in Amitabh Bacchanjis famous song, Khaike Paan Baneras Wala, while watching his film Don. It was only after this, that I learnt about this very delicious mouth freshener. Considered to be primarily a digestive dessert, it is served at weddings, restaurants and in many Indian homes at the end of a feast, is necessary addendum to a fantastic meal.

The true Paan connoisseur buys the betel leaf, applies slaked lime paste (chuna), adds in candied fruits, rose paste (gulkand), coconut and areca nuts (supari) and folds this concoction into a triangular shape (gilori) held together by a stick of clove, which must be tucked into a corner of your mouth  all in one go! All this requires skill and precision and unequal proportions of a single ingredient would cause it to lose flavor!

But paan dates back to over 2500 years, when queens in palaces, used it to make their lips attractive with its bold red color, while kings ate it before they went to bed, as a mouth freshener and more importantly, as an aphrodisiac.

Though traditionally called Benarasi paan, it is served and loved in most parts of India as well as South Asia and Southeast Asia as regular paan. Seeing the growing popularity of the initial two varieties of sweet (mitha) and plain (saadha) paan, the boring old flavors are now a thing of the past, making way for a burst of new and creative tastes, which would make even paan haters mouths salivate!

Chocolate Paan

Here are some of my favorite takes and newer spin offs of our plain ol paan:

Chocolate Paan

Who doesnt love chocolate? Now imagine biting into a rose and mint flavored paan topped off with oodles of your favorite grated chocolate. Many paanwallas have taken this a notch further and dip the leaf in cold chocolate giving the frozen chocolate flavored leaf, a wonderful crunch. A perfect combination of sweet, sizzling and crunchy. A definite hit amongst youngsters!

Fruit and Nut Paan:

Just like there is fruit and nut chocolate, there is fruit and nut paan. This paan filled with chunks of crunchy almond and cashews and is coated with chocolate and sprinkled nuts and served as a tasty delicacy. This paan is the perfect choice for anyone who loves the chocolate and nut combination.

Chuski Paan:

Chuski paan is the perfect paan for a hot summers day, when all one needs at the end of a heavy meal is something to cool the palate. Take a whole lot of ice, add in some flavored syrups like mint, orange, strawberry or kala khatta, and then put in all the regular paan ingredients, wrap it in a betel leaf and voila youve got yourself a chuski paan. The perfect recipe to cool off on a warm Indian summer day.

Fire Paan

Fire Paan:

This is a must try for the gastronomically adventurous! The seller makes a usual paan, and then lights it up! The cloves on top, are accountable for the fire. Once lit, you open your mouth, and he pops the flaming paan right in! As it enters you mouth, the mint cools the heat, leaving your mouth cool and fresh. This paan was invented in Rajkot, and was inspired by the flaming alcohol shot kids drink today.

Thai Paan

Thai Paan:

Now this sure is one unique paan! Usually paan is an after meal digestive, where as this one is a starter before the meal. Thai people love spice and their paan is a reflection of this. Served as a palate cleanser at eateries in Thailand, you would find it in many authentic Thai diners in India too. The leaf is filled with pieces of lemon, ginger, thai bird chilly, coconut and peanuts.

Fruit Flavoured Paan:

Imagine your paan with your favourite fruit flavor burst into it. There is

pineapple, strawberry or mango. A paste (chutney of the fruit) is added to the

regular ingredients, and then topped with a fruit flavoured powder. This is usually made of a powdered version of the dried preserve fruit. This paan is most enjoyed by children.

Then there are desserts that have been infused with paan flavor. These usually have an addition of mint and rose paste (gulkand) to give it the refreshing and cooling paan flavor. Some paan desserts include a paan kulfi, paan milkshake, paan ice cream, and my favorite the paan cupcake. These are chocolate cupcakes, with a frosting that has paan flavor. A mouth-watering desi fusion dessert.

A refreshing paan milkshake

Paan milkshake is a healthy and refreshing drink, the entire family will enjoy.

Ingredients

200 ml milk

2-3 tsp gulkand (in the absence of gulkand take some rose syrup, with a little sugar)

a handful of dryfruits (cashews, almond and pistachios: all unsalted)

2 betel leaves

2-3 pieces of cardamom

fennel seeds

Paan milkshake

Method

Wash the beetel leaves, and cut the stalk off In a blender, mix together all the ingredients

Blend together till the mixture is smooth. Keep in refrigerator for few hours and then served chilled

Date stuffed with paan is a healthy dessert

Ingredients

12 pieces of dates. Use the variety that are large and can be cut in the middle, like anbara or khudri

8-10 betel leaves

6 tsp gulkand

100-150 gm dark chocolate

Date stuffed with paan is a healthy dessert

Method

Gently cut the dates in the middle, leaving the ends still together.

Wash the betel leaves, remove the stalk and finely chop. Mix the leaves together with the gulkand, to make a thick paste.

Cut the chocolate into small pieces and mix with the gulkand and leaves. Stuff it into the dates. Store in the refrigerator. Serve chilled.

 The writer is a food and travel blogger.Early Warning Media Release

BRISBANE, Australia, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- This media release is being disseminated by Orocobre Limited (ASX: ORE, TSX: ORL) ("Orocobre" or "the Company"), a company incorporated under the laws of Australia at the head office address of Level 1, 349 Coronation Drive, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 4064, as required by National Instrument 62-103 - The Early Warning System and Related Take Over Bids and Insider Reporting Issues.

Orocobre entered into subscription agreements on July 26, 2018 with Advantage Lithium Corp. ("Advantage Lithium") (TSX Venture: AAL) (OTCQX: AVLIF), with head office at #1305  1090 W. Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC V6E 3V7, pursuant to which Orocobre agreed, subject to satisfaction of certain conditions, to subscribe for 15,064,956 common shares of Advantage Lithium at a price of $0.77 per common shares (for an aggregate subscription amount of $11,600,016.10).

Orocobre also entered into an agreement on July 26, 2018 with a third party whereby Orocobre has agreed to sell 8,571,450 common shares of Advantage Lithium to such third party at a price of $0.77 per common shares (for an aggregate sale price of $6,600,016.50). Closing of these transactions occurred on the date hereof.

Prior to the closing of the above transactions, Orocobre held 46,325,000 common shares of Advantage Lithium, and 2,550,000 common share purchase warrants of Advantage Lithium ("Warrants"), with each warrant entitling the holder to purchase an additional common share of Advantage Lithium, at a price of $1.00 per share, expiring March 28, 2019, such that Orocobre owned 32.7% of Advantage Lithium's outstanding common shares on a partially diluted basis. Upon and subject to completion of the transactions and Advantage Lithium's previously announced concurrent financing, it is expected that Orocobre will hold 52,843,506 common shares of Advantage Lithium and 2,550,000 Warrants, such that Orocobre will own 33.5% of Advantage Lithium's outstanding common shares on a partially diluted basis.

Orocobre is completing the above transactions for investment purposes. Orocobre may, from time to time, depending on market and other conditions, increase or decrease its beneficial ownership, control or direction over securities of Advantage Lithium through market transactions, private agreements or otherwise.

An early warning release in respect to the above transactions will be filed with the relevant Canadian securities regulatory authorities. Copies of such reports may be obtained from SEDAR at www.sedar.com or by contacting Andrew Barber, Orocobre Limited Investor Relations Manager via the contact details below.

For more information please contact:

Andrew Barber

Investor Relations Manager

Orocobre Limited

T: +61 7 3871 3985

M:+61 418 783 701

E: [email protected]

W: www.orocobre.com.au

This media release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking information contained in this release may include, but is not limited to, the completion of the transactions described herein. Such forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. The Company believes that the assumptions and expectations reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the timely receipt of required approvals and completion of agreements on reasonable terms and conditions. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all factors and assumptions which may have been used. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

About Orocobre Limited

Orocobre Limited (Orocobre) is a dynamic global lithium carbonate supplier and an established producer of boron. Orocobre is dual listed on the Australia and Toronto Stock Exchanges (ASX: ORE), (TSE: ORL). Orocobre's operations include its Olaroz Lithium Facility in Northern Argentina, Borax Argentina, an established Argentine boron minerals and refined chemicals producer and a 29% interest in Advantage Lithium.

For further information, please visit www.orocobre.com

SOURCE Orocobre Limited

Related Links

http://orocobre.com

Pamela Colman Smith: The Untold Story

STAMFORD, Connecticut, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- To mark the 140th anniversary of the birth of Pamela Colman Smith, the artist who designed the Rider-Waite Tarot deck, U.S. Games Systems, Stamford CT, has published Pamela Colman Smith: The Untold Story. This magnificent 440-page lavishly illustrated hardcover book celebrates the fascinating life and accomplishments of Smith. Known primarily for painting the beloved Rider-Waite Tarot deck, Smith was also a stage and costume designer, folklorist, poet, author, illustrator, suffragette, and publisher.

Born in London in 1878 to American parents, Smith spent her early years in Jamaica and New York. After studying at the Pratt Institute, she moved to London, travelling throughout Europe designing theater costumes for some of the most famous actors of the day. In 1907, she was the first non-photographic artist to be exhibited by Alfred Stieglitz at his Photo-Secession Gallery in New York, where she received rave reviews for her paintings based upon classical music.

This ambitious book brings together the work of four distinguished scholars who have devoted years of research to uncover the life and artistic accomplishments of Pamela Colman Smith. Stuart R. Kaplan provides a chronological visual survey of Pamela's art and publications. Elizabeth O'Connor presents a richly illustrated biography of Pamela's fascinating life. An essay by Melinda Boyd Parsons examines the events and people that influenced Smith's work. Tarot researcher Mary Greer explores Pamela's lasting legacy in the world of tarot and popular culture.

The exhaustively researched book includes over 400 images of Pamela's artwork from the private collection of Stuart R. Kaplan, with additional rare archival materials from several leading museums and libraries. The book includes an extensive bibliography and index. Pamela Colman Smith: The Untold Story is the most comprehensive collection of works by and about Pamela Colman Smith published to date.

Publishers Weekly declared "This swank illustrated biography commemorates the 140th anniversary of the birth of Pamela Colman Smith (18781951), a British-American artist best known as the illustrator of the Rider-Waite tarot deck. Beautiful reproductions of Smith's work in bold saturated colors fill nearly every page of the book and are accentuated by archival material including photos of her miniature theater performances and pages from her journals and sketchbooks. Together, the text and illustrations make for a stimulating entryway into the imaginative world of a nearly forgotten illustrator." (July 2018)

Kirkus Review described the book as "A lovingly compiled art book, full of wondrous images" and pointed out that "The Rider-Waite tarot illustrations get their proper due, of course, but the book also succeeds in revealing Smith as an artist of larger significance. The artwork itself is beautifully rendered throughout, with many full-page, full-color prints for readers to explore. Tarot devotees will find much to appreciate, but so will fans of more famous illustrators, such as Howard Pyle, Arthur Rackham, and Maxfield Parrish. This work will hopefully help raise Smith's profile as a true treasure of turn-of-the-century art." (July 2018)

For further information please contact:

Lynn Araujo

Director of Communications

U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Stamford, CT 06902

203 353 8400 X322

Related Links

http://www.usgamesinc.com



SOURCE U.S. Games Systems, Inc.WASHINGTON, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals (60P) announced today that the Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee (AMDAC) of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted to support Tafenoquine, an investigational drug for the prevention of malaria in adults, voting (11 for; 2 against) on its efficacy and (9 for; 4 against) for its safety.

Tafenoquine will be marketed under the brand name Arakoda.

"If approved, we feel Tafenoquine will provide a significant advancement in protecting individuals traveling to parts of the world where malaria is endemic," said Dr. Geoffrey Dow, CEO, 60P. "Arakoda could be an ideal option for people traveling for leisure, employees of non-governmental organizations, industrial and business workers, and military forces." Tafenoquine is a convenient once-a-week dosing option, which could help ensure compliance while on travel. Clinical trials indicate the product is effective against the two primary types of malaria (P. Vivax and P. Falciparum).

AMDAC provides the FDA with independent advice from outside experts on issues related to infectious diseases. The advisory committee provides recommendations for the FDA to consider about the safety and efficacy of a drug. The FDA, however, makes the final decisions.

In December, 60P submitted a new drug application (NDA) to the FDA for the use of Tafenoquine to prevent malaria in adults. A regulatory submission was also made to the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in September 2017.

About malaria

Malaria, a life-threatening disease transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito, caused an estimated 429,000 fatalities and 212 million clinical cases in 2015, according to the CDC. It poses a significant risk to millions of healthy individuals traveling in many parts of the world. Malaria cases among travelers returning to the U.S. have been trending upwards. 1

About tafenoquine

Tafenoquine is an 8-aminoquinoline chemically derived from Primaquine, with activity against all types of malaria. It was first synthesized by scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in 1978.

60P entered into a cooperative research and development agreement with the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity (USAMMDA) in 2014 to develop Tafenoquine as a weekly prophylactic drug for the prevention of malaria. Since malaria is the top infectious disease threat to U.S. Military service members overseas, the military maintains a robust anti-malarial drug development effort through internal research and commercial partnerships. The NDA submission is a culmination of over 30 years of research and development with the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, from the discovery of Tafenoquine at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research through the current collaboration between 60P and USAMMDA.

About the regulatory submission

The regulatory submission included efficacy and safety data on tafenoquine from animal studies and 21 clinical trials involving more than 3,100 participants who have taken tafenoquine.

About 60P

60P, founded in 2010, focuses on discovering, developing and distributing new medicines for treatment and prevention of tropical diseases, including malaria and dengue. 60P's mission is supported through in-kind funding from the United States Department of Defense. The company also collaborates with prominent research organizations in the U.S., Australia and Singapore. In addition, 60P has been funded by Knight Therapeutics Inc. (TSX:GUD), a Canadian specialty pharmaceutical company that obtained FDA approval for Impavido, a product for leishmaniasis, a tropical disease, and monetized a PRV. 60P is headquartered in Washington DC, with a subsidiary in Australia. Further information is available on the company's website, www.60degreespharma.com.

The statements contained herein may include prospects, statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management's current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results, performance or events may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements.

The statements expressed herein are those of 60P and do not necessarily represent those of the United States Department of Defense or Department of the Army.

1 Cullen KA, Mace KE, Arguin PM. Malaria Surveillance-United States, 2013 MMWR Surveillance Summary 2016:65 (No.SS-2);1-22 DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.SS6502a1

CONTACT:

Lois Kaufman, President

Integrated Marketing Services

[email protected]

609-683-9055 x203

SOURCE 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals

Related Links

http://www.60degreespharma.com

Born in London in 1878 to American parents, Smith spent her early years in Jamaica and New York. After studying at the Pratt Institute, she moved to London, travelling throughout Europe designing theater costumes for some of the most famous actors of the day. In 1907, she was the first non-photographic artist to be exhibited by Alfred Stieglitz at his Photo-Secession Gallery in New York, where she received rave reviews for her paintings based upon classical music.

This ambitious book brings together the work of four distinguished scholars who have devoted years of research to uncover the life and artistic accomplishments of Pamela Colman Smith. Stuart R. Kaplan provides a chronological visual survey of Pamela's art and publications. Elizabeth O'Connor presents a richly illustrated biography of Pamela's fascinating life. An essay by Melinda Boyd Parsons examines the events and people that influenced Smith's work. Tarot researcher Mary Greer explores Pamela's lasting legacy in the world of tarot and popular culture.

The exhaustively researched book includes over 400 images of Pamela's artwork from the private collection of Stuart R. Kaplan, with additional rare archival materials from several leading museums and libraries. The book includes an extensive bibliography and index. Pamela Colman Smith: The Untold Story is the most comprehensive collection of works by and about Pamela Colman Smith published to date.

Publishers Weekly declared "This swank illustrated biography commemorates the 140th anniversary of the birth of Pamela Colman Smith (18781951), a British-American artist best known as the illustrator of the Rider-Waite tarot deck. Beautiful reproductions of Smith's work in bold saturated colors fill nearly every page of the book and are accentuated by archival material including photos of her miniature theater performances and pages from her journals and sketchbooks. Together, the text and illustrations make for a stimulating entryway into the imaginative world of a nearly forgotten illustrator." (July 2018)

Kirkus Review described the book as "A lovingly compiled art book, full of wondrous images" and pointed out that "The Rider-Waite tarot illustrations get their proper due, of course, but the book also succeeds in revealing Smith as an artist of larger significance. The artwork itself is beautifully rendered throughout, with many full-page, full-color prints for readers to explore. Tarot devotees will find much to appreciate, but so will fans of more famous illustrators, such as Howard Pyle, Arthur Rackham, and Maxfield Parrish. This work will hopefully help raise Smith's profile as a true treasure of turn-of-the-century art." (July 2018)

For further information please contact:

Lynn Araujo

Director of Communications

U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Stamford, CT 06902

203 353 8400 X322

SOURCE U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.usgamesinc.com

BALTIMORE, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, one of the largest private foundations in the United States, is pleased to announce the selection of a new trustee, as well as the assignment of new leadership roles in its Hawaii office.

Gordon Berlin, Trustee Elect Giorgio Caldarone, Managing Director, Hawaii Real Estate

On November 30, 2018, Alvin Awaya, Trustee and Vice President/Chief Executive Officer of the Hawaii office, will conclude 44 years of service with the Foundation. Awaya's tenure included leadership and direction of the Hawaii office, which manages the Foundation's real estate holdings and grantmaking in the Hawaiian Islands. He worked for a national CPA firm before starting his career with Harry Weinberg in 1974 and has served in a dual role as both trustee and employee of the Foundation since 1990.

Looking to the future, the Weinberg Foundation's Board has unanimously selected Gordon Berlin to succeed Awaya as trustee. Berlin will begin his term on December 1, 2018. "The Foundation expresses its sincere gratitude to Alvin for his extraordinary accomplishments, as well as the legacy he leavesthe spirit and values of Aloha," said Board Chair Robert T. Kelly, Jr. "The Foundation will greatly benefit from Gordon's breadth and depth of experience, especially in the areas of tactical grantmaking and impact assessment. His voice will be a welcome addition to discussions ranging from investment management, finance and audit matters, to strategic grantmaking, grant evaluation, and community engagement."

In 2004, Berlin was appointed President of MDRC, a New York-based nonprofit, nonpartisan education and social policy research organization dedicated to learning the most effective ways of improving programs and policies that affect the poor. Before joining MDRC in 1990, he served as Executive Deputy Administrator for Management, Budget, and Policy at the $6-billion, 33,000-person New York City Human Resources Administration. Berlin worked for six years as a program officer and Deputy Director of the Ford Foundation's Urban Poverty program, where he gained a reputation as a creative and effective grantmaker and respected leader in the philanthropic community. Throughout his career, he has developed and managed programs to address problems of persistent poverty affecting vulnerable populations, including welfare dependency, homelessness, and unemployment. Berlin has worked to improve the nation's public and nonprofit workforce, education (from early childhood through college), and social welfare programs and systems. He and his wife Kathryn are both long-standing members of Temple Beth Emeth v'Orr Progressive Shaari Zedek in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.

"I am humbled to be entrusted with the responsibility of serving on The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation Board of Trustees," said Berlin. "I was born and raised in Baltimore and have lifelong ties to the Baltimore community. Now living and working in New York City, I am pleased to see the results of the Foundation's substantial investments in both communities. This is not a surprise," he added. "In my previous work with the Foundation, I have seen firsthand the Board and staff's dedication, passion, and commitment to fulfilling its mission to improve the life chances of those living on the margins of society, enhancing the quality of Jewish life, and building the social and physical capital of the communities in which it works. Serving as a trustee will provide a welcome opportunity to draw on my experiences in philanthropy, public service, and nonprofit leadership to advance the Foundation's objectives and give back to the communities I have been a part of."

Over the past decade, the Foundation has had the privilege of working with MDRC, and directly with Gordon Berlin, to complete several significant grant evaluations involving US education, workforce development, and housing. Berlin has also led the evaluation of programs for older adults and job training in Israel, administered by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).

"With Gordon on board, the Foundation will undoubtedly benefit from the depth of his knowledge regarding best practices for foundation operations," said President and CEO Rachel Garbow Monroe. "In particular, his grantmaking expertise will elevate and inform our work, which will include approximately $120 million in grants next year."

The Foundation has also appointed Corbett Kalama to succeed Alvin Awaya as leader of the Hawaii office. Kalama will be promoted to the position of Executive Vice President, Hawaii Office, effective December 1, 2018. Kalama was hired in 2013 as Vice President of Real Estate Investments and Community Affairs. His new role will include management of all Hawaii office operations, including the annual distribution of $12 million in grants in Hawaii. He will also serve as liaison to the Foundation's leadership and staff in Baltimore. In addition to his management responsibilities, Kalama will continue to be a visible and key public representative of the Foundation in the business, philanthropic, nonprofit, and government sectors of Hawaii.

The Foundation is also pleased to announce the hiring of Giorgio Caldarone as Managing Director, Hawaii Real Estate. In this newly created position, Caldarone will be responsible for overseeing the Foundation's real estate portfolio and will lead the management of more than 250 properties held by the Foundation in Hawaii. He will begin his role on September 4, 2018. Caldarone will work closely with the Foundation's Baltimore-based investment team as he formulates and executes a strategy to optimize returns and cash flow, with a particular focus on property operations, dispositions, redevelopment/repositioning, recapitalization (including ground leases and master leases), and joint-venture options.

Most recently, Caldarone served as Senior Director of Planning and Development, as well as Director of Real Estate Planning and Regional Asset Manager for Kamehameha Schools in Honolulu. He supervised a team of eight professionals responsible for planning and development activities for a $3.5 billion commercial real estate portfolio. Prior positions included consulting roles both as an independent consultant, as well as with KPMG Consulting, Inc. (currently BearingPoint, Inc.). He is a graduate of West Point and was direct commissioned into the United States Marine Corps where he served for six years. Caldarone received his MBA from the University of Hawaii.

The Weinberg Foundation operates as one organization with two offices: its headquarters location of Baltimore, Maryland (37 employees) and Honolulu, Hawaii (15 employees).

Effective December 1, 2018, the Foundation's trustees will be Robert T. Kelly, Jr., Board Chair; Donn Weinberg; Ambassador Fay Hartog-Levin (Ret.); Paula B. Pretlow; and Gordon Berlin. Rachel Garbow Monroe continues to serve as President and CEO.

About The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation

The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, one of the largest private charitable foundations in the United States, provides approximately $100 million in annual grants to nonprofits that provide direct services to low-income and vulnerable individuals and families, primarily in the United States and Israel. Grants are focused on meeting basic needs and enhancing an individual's ability to meet those needs with emphasis on older adults, the Jewish community, and the Foundation's priority communities of Maryland, Northeastern Pennsylvania, Hawaii, Chicago, New York City, San Francisco, rural communities in the United States, and the State of Israel. The trustees, some of whom also serve as executive officers of the Foundation, are Chair Robert T. Kelly, Jr., Donn Weinberg, Alvin Awaya, Fay Hartog-Levin, and Paula B. Pretlow. Rachel Garbow Monroe serves as the Weinberg Foundation's President and Chief Executive Officer. For more information, please visit www.hjweinbergfoundation.org.

SOURCE Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation

Related Links

http://www.hjweinbergfoundation.org

WUHAN, China, July 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd (YMTC), a new player in the NAND industry, will be joining Flash Memory Summit this year for the first time, delivering a much-anticipated keynote address to reveal its ground-breaking technology - Xtacking. YMTC is the first Chinese company to take part in the high-entry-barrier NAND flash memory industry with its new architecture for unprecedented performance, higher bit density, and faster time-to-market.

Simon Yang, YMTC CEO, will deliver a keynote address, Unleashing 3D NAND's Potential with an Innovative Architecture, on August 7th, from 3:00 p.m. at the Mission Ballroom in the Santa Clara Convention Center, where he will illustrate how the company's new technology can increase NAND I/O speed up to DRAM DDR4 while delivering industry-leading bit density, marking a quantum leap for the NAND market.

The Xtacking technology will enable the production of NAND that has unprecedented I/O speed and as a result, increase the performance of NAND solutions such as embedded UFS, client SSD, and enterprise SSD to a level that is unheard of. With help from customers, industry partners, and standard bodies, Xtacking will bring in a whole new chapter in high performance NAND solutions for smartphone, personal computing, data center, and enterprise applications.

The Xtacking technology enables parallel processing of the NAND array and periphery. This modular approach to 3D NAND development and manufacturing will shorten the time-to-market for new generation of 3D NAND and open the possibility for customized NAND flash products.

About Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd (YMTC):

Founded in 2016 with $24B funding, Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd. (YMTC) is a memory solutions company headquartered in Wuhan, China. YMTC designs, manufactures and sells memory products and solutions for a broad range of applications including mobile devices, computing, data centers and consumer electronics for customers around the world.

Leveraging its wholly-owned subsidiary XMC's existing 12-inch IC fab in Wuhan, its more than 10 years of memory and specialty IC R&D experience, and international partnerships, YMTC successfully designed and manufactured the first 32-layer 3D NAND flash chip in 2017. With over 3,000 employees and worldwide R&D centers, YMTC is committed to becoming a world leading memory solutions provider through technology innovations.

Additional Resources:

Schedule a meeting with Yangtze Memory Technologies at FMS, contact: [email protected]

Visit the conference website for program details: https://www.flashmemorysummit.com/

Visit the YMTC website at: www.ymtc.com

Media and Analyst Contact:

Maya Lustig

[email protected]

Phone: +972-54-6778100

SOURCE Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd (YMTC)

Related Links

http://www.ymtc.com/

Plan your day better with today's horoscope.

Image Source: Prokerala.com Daily Aries Horoscope

Aries Horoscope: You are feeling a bit blue today. Working non-stop has made you feel this way. Those in the creative field may feel dull and uninspired like having an artists block today. What you need is a bit of adventure. Do something exciting or engage your senses creatively to get that oomph, you lack. You will benefit from it a lot.

Image Source: Prokerala.com Daily Taurus Horoscope

Taurus Horoscope: Why would they do that, is a question that you have been asking yourself. You cant expect everyone to be good to you all the time. You need to roll with it or ignore it for the sake of your own sanity. Some major changes are in progress in your personal circles. It may seem like an inconvenience at first, but you will love it with time

Image Source: Prokerala.com Daily Gemini Horoscope

Gemini Horoscope: A particular someone has broken your trust and you feel betrayed. Though you want to give them the benefit of the doubt, you are torn and wonder if you will be betrayed again. Some bridges need to be burned to the ground. A random strangers act of kindness will help rekindle your belief in the goodness in people.

Image Source: Prokerala.com Daily Cancer Horoscope

Cancer Horoscope: Happiness is a choice. You must choose to be happy despite the negativity that is hurled at you by focusing on your blessings. Be mindful of the impact you have on the lives of those around you. This will give you a better appreciation of your inborn skills and talents. You need this feel-good, now more than ever.

Image Source: Prokerala.com Daily Leo Horoscope

Leo Horoscope: You need to make hay when the sun shines. There will be a lot of opportunities headed your way and you need to get hold of the right ones that will give you a positive upthrust. Be sure to not rain on anyones parade as you jump at the opportunities headed your way. Remember, you dont need to do such petty things to get your recognition.

Image Source: Prokerala.com Daily Virgo Horoscope

Virgo Horoscope: Slacking off has been on your mind for quite some time now. You have lost the will and the drive. You just want to escape from it all. Maybe it is time for the trip that you have been planning for so long. You need to let your hair down and make sure that you engage your creative senses today.

Image Source: Prokerala.com Daily Libra Horoscope

Libra Horoscope: Feeling a bit rusty today? You have been thinking about upskilling and now maybe the best time for it. Having access to remarkable minds and their experiences isnt enough. You need to pick their brains to get in-depth insights. Your excuses cannot get you anywhere, so make a genuine effort to better yourself today.

Image Source: Prokerala.com Daily Scorpio Horoscope

Scorpio Horoscope: You are a bit undecided and cant make your mind up on a few things. The options in front of you, all seem good to you. There are times you wish if someone could take the decision for you, like when you were a kid. Multi-tasking has never been your forte, so take time, do things slowly but properly.

Image Source: Prokerala.com Daily Sagittarius Horoscope

Sagittarius Horoscope: Breaking stereotypes, you have made a decision. This has put you in the light of criticism. Come what may, you have decided to stick with it, no matter what. Dont be afraid to keep trying until you get the dream ticket. Be wary of temper flares today. Keep your cool so that your fiery nature does not get the better of you.

Image Source: Prokerala.com Daily Capricorn Horoscope

Capricorn Horoscope: Your creativity has peaked and you are now looking at creative avenues to unleash it. Some of your inputs may not be appreciated. Take it in your stride when your "wonderful" idea is met with skepticism. Hate to burst your bubble but you need to listen to what others have to say. They do have some excellent points.

Image Source: Prokerala.com Daily Aquarius Horoscope

Aquarius Horoscope: Keeping a cool head is absolutely necessary for you today. Tempers may flare and you may feel like giving tit for tat. Your emotions have been all over the place the past few days. You need to really set aside some time every day to de-stress. Consider this as top-priority and dont feel guilty for catching up on some me-time.

Image Source: Prokerala.com Daily Pisces Horoscope

Pisces Horoscope: Dont beat yourself up about past failures. You need to understand that it is these experiences that have made you stronger. Communication is a bit of a challenge today. You cant seem to get along well with a lot of your peers. Your body language speaks volumes, so keep a close watch on how you carry yourself today.

Did we pique your curiosity about your future? Read your detailed Horoscope and Rashifal to know more,United Nations, July 26 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned Wednesday's suicide attack outside a polling station in Pakistan's Quetta that killed 31 people, said his spokesman.

Guterres extended his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and to the government and people of Pakistan, said Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman, in a statement on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The United Nations stands in solidarity with and supports the efforts of the government of Pakistan in the fight against terrorism, said the statement.

The election day attack outside a polling station in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province in the southwest, killed at least 31 people and injured about 40 others.Ankara, July 26 : Turkish parliament has ratified a new anti-terrorism law proposed by the ruling party, six days after the two-year-long state of emergency ended.

The law was backed by lawmakers of the ruling Justice and Development Party and Nationalist Movement Party, Xinhua news agency reported.

The new legislation, approved on Wednesday, empowers governors and security forces with certain powers that they could previously exercise under the state of emergency for another three years.

With the law, governors can prohibit individuals from leaving or entering a defined area for 15 days over security concerns, while suspects can be detained without charge for 48 hours or up to four days if there are multiple offences. This period can be extended on two occasions under special circumstances.

The law also authorizes the government to dismiss personnel of Turkish Armed Forces, police and gendarmerie departments, and public servants and workers if they are found linked to a terror organisation.

On July 18, the country's state of emergency rule came to an end since it was not renewed by the cabinet. The opposition Republican People's Party had criticized the new anti-terror legislation as a ploy to make "emergency rule permanent."

The law will be forwarded to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his formal approval and will be published later in the official gazette.Los Angeles, July 26 : US President Donald Trump's star on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles has been vandalised again, officials said.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) on Wednesday said Trump's star on Walk of Fame was vandalised with pickaxe by a man who turned himself in to Beverly Hills police later, Xinhua news agency reported.

The suspect was taken into custody by police.

The suspect removed the pickaxe from a guitar case and began swinging it at the star on Hollywood Boulevard, leaving chunks of concrete strewn across the sidewalk, the KFSN-TV reported.

The star of Trump was "totally demolished, not just vandalised," according to the Hollywood reporter.

Trump's star has been vandalised several times since the beginning of his presidential run and this is the second time the star was totally destroyed.

In October 2016, Los Angeles man James Otis, dressing as a construction worker, took a pickaxe to the star and destroyed it. Otis struck a plea deal with prosecutors in February 2017 that saw him avoid jail time in exchange for paying $4,400 to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the Hollywood Historic Trust.

Trump was honoured with the star in 2007 for his work producing the Miss Universe pageant and for his hit NBC reality television show The Apprentice.Home Secretary Sajid Javid decided to relax rules about circumstances in which medicinal cannabis can be given to patients.

Decision follows several high-profile cases, including those of young epilepsy sufferers whose conditions appeared to be helped by cannabis oil.

London: British doctors will legally be able to prescribe medicinal cannabis, the government announced Thursday following a review -- but insisted it was not a first step towards legalising recreational use.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid, the interior minister, decided to relax the rules about the circumstances in which medicinal cannabis can be given to patients.

It follows several high-profile cases, including those of young epilepsy sufferers whose conditions appeared to be helped by cannabis oil.

"Making medicinal cannabis available on prescription will benefit the lives of ill patients currently suffering in silence," Javid wrote on Twitter.

"There is nothing harder than seeing your loved ones in pain -- which is why I have taken this decision."

Javid commissioned a review on June 19.

An initial review by Sally Davies, the government's chief medical adviser, concluded there was evidence that medicinal cannabis had therapeutic benefits.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which conducted the second part of the review, last week said doctors should be able to prescribe medicinal cannabis provided products meet safety standards.

"Recent cases involving sick children made it clear to me that our position on cannabis-related medicinal products was not satisfactory," Javid said in a statement.

"That is why we launched a review and set up an expert panel to advise on licence applications in exceptional circumstances.

"Following advice from two sets of independent advisers, I have taken the decision to reschedule cannabis-derived medicinal products -- meaning they will be available on prescription.

"This will help patients with an exceptional clinical need, but is in no way a first step to the legalisation of cannabis for recreational use."Kabul, July 26 : At least four Afghan intelligence officers were killed in a suicide attack here in the city early on Thursday, police said.

The Taliban has claimed responsibly for the attack, Tolo News reported.

The National Directorate of Security (NDS) force members were killed in the attack that took place around 5 a.m. in the Bagh-e-Daoud area, a spokesman for Kabul police chief Hashmat Stanekzai said.

A probe has been launched.ATTAPEU (LAOS), July 24, 2018 Villagers are seen stranded on rooftop of a house after an under-construction dam collapsed in Attapeu, Laos, on July 24, 2018. At least two people are ... Image Source: IANS

: ATTAPEU (LAOS), July 24, 2018 Villagers are seen stranded on rooftop of a house after an under-construction dam collapsed in Attapeu, Laos, on July 24, 2018. At least two people are ... Image Source: IANS

Vientiane, July 26 : At least 26 people have been confirmed dead and over 100 remain missing after an underconstruction dam collapsed in Laos just days back, state-run Lao News Agency reported on Thursday.

Searches are ongoing for 130 missing people from several villages in the Attapeu province after the disaster struck on Monday, Laos Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith said in a televised speech late on Wednesday.

There were conflicting numbers of people missing in the remote areas reported in the state media outlets of the secretive Communist one-party state, Efe news said.

The Prime Minister called the collapse one of the biggest disasters in the country in decades.

Provincial Governor Bounhome Phommasane has avoided confirming the exact number of fatalities to local newspaper Vientiane Times.

"Those reports got information from sources who assumed the vulnerable missing people were dead. I cannot confirm if they are dead or still alive. We have not found them," said Phommasane.

Sisoulith said that more than 3,000 people who sought refuge on rooftops and trees have been rescued.

Help has started arriving from Japan, China, South Korea, Vietnam and Thailand in the form of rescue personnel, emergency supplies like tents and blankets, and medical staff, Lao News Agency reported.

The collapsed dam was part of the the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower project, that released five billion cubic meters of water late on Monday to the nearby areas causing severe floods in at least eight villages.San Francisco, July 26 : Facing global backlash over the massive Cambridge Analytica data scandal, Facebook stock nosedived 20 per cent -- wiping over $120 billion off the company's market value -- after its revenue and user growth in the second quarter of 2018 fell short of investor expectations.

The social media giant late on Wednesday reported 2.23 billion monthly active users (MAUs) -- an increase of 11 per cent (year-over-year) which was its slowest growth in more than two years.

Facebook reported revenue of $13.2 billion -- a gain of 42 per cent but missing analyst expectation of $13.3 billion. It ended the quarter with $42.3 billion in cash and equivalents.

The social media platform earned $5.1 billion, or $1.74 per share, for the second quarter.

"Our community and business continue to grow quickly. We are committed to investing to keep people safe and secure, and to keep building meaningful new ways to help people connect," said CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a statement.

The daily active users (DAUs) were 1.47 billion as of June 30, also an increase of 11 per cent year-over-year.

Analysts attributed the slow user growth to the European privacy law that went into effect on May 25.

Mobile advertising revenue represented approximately 91 per cent of advertising revenue for the second quarter of 2018 -- up from approximately 87 per cent of advertising revenue in the second quarter of 2017.

Facebook currently employs 30,275 people -- an increase of 47 per cent year-over-year.

"We expect revenue growth rates to continue to decelerate in the second half," said David Wehner, Chief Financial Officer.

In April, Facebook had warned investors that more users' data scandals in the future may adversely affect the social networking giant's reputation and brand image.

Appearing before the US Congress, Zuckerberg told the lawmakers that his own personal data was part of 87 million users' that was "improperly shared" with the British political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica.

After the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, Facebook suspended Boston-based data analytics company Crimson Hexagon over concerns that it harvested users' data.New Delhi, July 26 : Slamming both the Central and Uttar Pradesh government for the neglect of Taj Mahal, the Supreme Court on Thursday wondered what if Unesco was to drop the 17th century Mughal monument from its list of world heritage site.

"It is a world heritage site. What will happen if Unesco say that we withdraw the world heritage title," asked the bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta.

The court asked if the authorities concerned have filed the management plan for the protection and preservation of the heritage site.

"It is very very difficult to understand something that is happening. Something is said on affidavit, something is said orally and something otherwise. It is unacceptable," Justice Lokur said pointing the variations in what was being said in the affidavit and what was being submitted orally before the court.

Coupled with this, the court also wanted to know which was the authority responsible for the protection and preservation of Taj as it found that the three affidavits filed before it by the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department, the second by the Union Environment and Forest Ministry and third by some other authority.

As senior counsel A.D.N.Rao told the court that the Archaeological Survey of India was responsible for the Taj,the court expressed surprise that the it has been kept out of the consultation process for preparing the draft vision document for the protection and preservation of the Taj.

Ordering that a copy of the draft vision document be made available to the ASI and asking its to share it with INTACH, Agha Khan Foundation, ICOMS and other similar entities who have expertise in protecting and restoring the historic monuments, the court also directed the UP government to give a copy of the vision document to petitioner M.C.Mehta for his comments.

Sharing the court's concern on the possibility of Unesco dropping Taj from the list of world heritage sites, Attorney General K.K. Venugopal told the the court that the task involving the preservation and protection of Taj and other adjoining monuments including Agra Fort, Fathepur Sikri and Sikkendra is massive and has to be carried by way of short term, medium and long term plan.

He told the court that short term plan itself would take two years to complete.

At the outset of the hearing, Justice Lokur took exception to Uttar Pradesh government filing the draft vision document asking if the state government expected the Court to "correct it."

Told that the Taj Trapezium Authority was responsible for executing the larger plans fior the protection of heritage monument, Justice Lokur said had it been doing its job, things would not have come to such a pass.

"TTZ Authority is doing nothing. Zero. We would not have this problem if TTZA had been doing its work," he said.

The court directed it be told "categorically and unequivocally" who is responsible for the TTZ.

"Whether it is Union of India, then which Ministry, if it is Uttar Pradesh government, then which Ministry," said Justice Lokur, adding that "we are in a situation where left hand does not know what right is doing".Kottayam (Kerala) : Kottayam (Kerala) July 26 (IANS) Former nuns, who have quit the Catholic ministry, have given a clean chit to the Bishop, who has been accused of sexually abusing a Kerala nun, police said on Thursday.

According to the Kottayam Police probing the allegations, the few former nuns, who had worked under Franco Mulakkal, the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jalandhar (Punjab), have said that he is "not a trouble-maker".

The police team went to Bengaluru to take the statements from the former nuns.

The probe team has also sent a notice to a lady, presently based in north India to come forward, as she has complained against the nun who has levelled the allegation against Mulakkal.

These events have come as a huge relief for the bishop for the first time since the allegation was made.

The turnaround for the beleaguered bishop comes after former Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan on Tuesday wrote to state police chief Loknath Behra, demanding Mulakkal's arrest.

Achuthanandan had also handed over a detailed statement supporting evidences from the father of the nun who has suffered at the hands of Mulakkal.

This new development in the case has come after the police stepped up protection to the convent near Kottayam, which is home to the nun, who had alleged that she was sexually abused by Mulakkal.

Seven time legislator P.C. George also expressed doubts on the veracity of the allegations against the Bishop.

"What surprises me is as per statements she says that she was abused 13 times before and now she has complained. This is something baffling. Let us wait for the complete truth to unfold," said George, also a Catholic.

For Mulakkal, trouble started in June when the nun alleged that she was sexually abused by him several times between 2014 and 2016.

An FIR was registered against the bishop and a 114-page detailed statement was taken from the nun and other inmates of the convent at Kuruvalangadu. She alleged that the abuse took place at the convent.

Mulakkal maintains that he has done no wrong.Kochi, July 26 : A law student, suspected to be a key conspirator involved in the brutal murder of an SFI member in a Kerala college this month, was taken into custody on Thursday even as another suspect surrendered in a court and was sent to judicial custody, police said.

Campus Front of India State Secretary Mohammed Riffa, hailing from Kannur district and a law student, was arrested from Bengaluru in Karnataka by a special Kerala Police team.

Police said Riffa was the mastermind in the fatal stabbing of 19-year-old Abhimanyu during a clash between supporters of the Students Federation of India and the Campus Front of India on July 2 due to a dispute over pasting of posters at Maharajas College here.

Faziludeen, one of the suspects, surrendered in a court near here on Thursday and was remanded to judicial custody.

Prime suspect Mohammed Ali was arrested last week, following which police were looking for Riffa, who was on the run.

Both Abhimanyu and Ali, who is also Alappuzha District President of Campus Front of India, were students of Maharajas College.

Police had said that 15 persons were directly involved in the murder, of which eight have been arrested.New Delhi, July 26 : The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the Chief Secretary to hold a meeting with officials of various civic agencies and others to resolve the waterlogging problem in the national capital during monsoons.

A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar asked the officer to prepare a document on storm-water drainage management system and a composite plan to deal with flooding.

The Delhi government submitted documents on the existing drainage in Delhi to the court, following which it asked whether something can be done to increase its stormwater-carrying capacity.

The court has taken suo motu cognisance and initiated a public interest litigation on waterlogging in Delhi. The case will be heard next on August 17.

Taking into account news reports on waterlogging, the court said it was shocking that it was happening year after year, and asked why this was so.

On July 13, heavy rainfall in Delhi led to waterlogging of several arterial roads and created traffic chaos. It exposed the tall claims by civil agencies on monsoon preparedness.Panaji, July 26 : Goa Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar on Thursday told the Assembly that Goans can "handle" alcohol, but not tourists who drink "excessively and indulge in drugs."

"We do not want tourists who indulge in drugs and break bottles on the beach... They have to take care of our culture... If a Goan drinks and walks along the road, he will not stagger. He will walk quietly," Ajgaonkar told the Assembly during Question Hour on Thursday.

Ajgaonkar's comments come at a time when the state government is mulling a ban on public drinking and littering. Ajgaonkar said that both issues had become a menace, adding the state would like to deter "errant" tourists from coming to Goa.

Goa is one of the top destinations for beach and nightlife tourism in the country, attracting more than seven million tourists annually.New Delhi, July 26 : The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Thursday issued a notice to Delhi Police in the matter of death of three girls of a family here due to starvation.

Calling the incident "extremely shocking and tragic", DCW Chairperson Swati Jai Hind has asked police to provide details of the case by Friday.

"The Delhi Commission for Women has taken suo-moto cognizance of news reports regarding the death of three minor girls in Mandawali allegedly due to starvation.

"The commission has instituted an inquiry into the matter. In view of the same, please provide a factual report with complete details of circumstances that led to deaths, a status report in the case investigation, a copy of the post-mortem report and the details of the health status of parents," she said.

Three sisters -- aged two, four and eight -- were found dead in their house in east Delhi Mandawali here with autopsy reports suggesting that they died because of hunger.

Police said the three victims were found unconscious in their one-room house by their neighbours at around 1 p.m. on Tuesday in Mandawali area of east Delhi and were later declared brought dead at the Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Hospital.San Francisco, July 26 : In a big fallout of the escalating US-China trade tensions, San Diego-based chipmaker Qualcomm on Thursday officially terminated its $44 billion acquisition of Dutch tech firm NXP Semiconductors after the Chinese regulators let the final deadline pass and did not grant approval to the deal.

Paving the way for a $30 billion stock buyback, the company also announced to pay a termination fee of $2 billion to NXP Semiconductors that makes automotive, security and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions.

"Our core strategy of driving Qualcomm technologies into higher growth industries remains unchanged.

"We will continue to focus on our strong momentum in new growth industries with projected revenues of approximately $5 billion for fiscal year 2018 -- up greater than 70 per cent from fiscal year 2016," Steve Mollenkopf, CEO of Qualcomm, said in a statement on Thursday.

The two companies entered into one of the largest tech deals in October 2016 and the deadline to close the deal was extended several times as they waited for China to approve or deny the merger.

Eight of the nine countries where Qualcomm has businesses had approved the deal.

In an earlier statement on Wednesday, Mollenkopf said: "We intend to terminate our purchase agreement to acquire NXP when the agreement expires at the end of the day today, pending any new material developments".

With no answer from China's Ministry of Commerce as the deadline passed on Thursday morning, it was clear that the merger was officially dead.

Qualcomm, however, said it continues to achieve strong growth, accelerated by its expansion and momentum in the areas of IoT, automotive, RF Front End (RFFE), compute and networking.

"We believe our technology leadership and disciplined execution will drive significant value creation for our stockholders," Mollenkopf added in the fresh statement.

The news came as a setback for the experts.

"China delaying and finally not approving the QCOM-NXP acquisition is a big blow to Qualcomm's ambition to scale into automotive, IoT and security verticals," said Neil Shah, Research Director at Counterpoint Research.

"Further to that, the current trade war and previous stance by US on companies such as Huawei, ZTE and other rejected M&A activity (e.g. Micron) has just compounded the matter for Beijing to disapprove the M&A activity, Qualcomm being the casualty," Shah tweeted.

The US, however, lifted the ban on Chinese tech firm ZTE earlier this month after it deposited $400 million in an escrow account in the US.

In March, US President Donald Trump had blocked Singapore-based Broadcom's $117 billion proposed buyout of Qualcomm over national security grounds.

Meanwhile, Qualcomm reported a revenue of $5.6 billion for the third quarter, saying the revenue in the third quarter grew four per cent year-on-year. The net income was $1.2 billion.

"We reported results significantly above our prior expectations for our fiscal third quarter, driven by solid execution across the company, including very strong results in our licensing business," Mollenkopf said.

The company also announced that it does not expect to supply wireless chips for upcoming iPhones.

Qualcomm is a major supplier of 4G chips for smartphones.

"We believe Apple intends to solely use our competitor's modems rather than our modems in its next iPhone release," Qualcomm Financial Chief George Davis was quoted as saying in a CNET report.

Apple and Qualcomm have been fighting over patents since the beginning of 2017.

"Qualcomm didn't say which company will supply modems for the next iPhone, but it is believed to be Intel," the report added.

With iPhone 7 and 7 Plus launch in 2016, Apple began using Intel chips in some variants of iPhones.

However, some media reports said Apple has reportedly conveyed a message to Intel, saying it will not be using the chipmaker's 5G modems for 2020 iPhone models.Earhart did crash on deserted island, where her skeleton was found years later, claim researchers.

In the week after her plane vanished on July 2, 1937, there were 120 reports from around the world claiming to have picked up radio signals and distress calls from Earhart  57 of which were determined to be credible. (Photo: Pixabay)

It has been more than 80 years since the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean disappeared with her navigator somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.

Now, an exhaustive study has pieced together what could be the details of Amelia Earharts harrowing last days.

In the week after her plane vanished on July 2, 1937, there were 120 reports from around the world claiming to have picked up radio signals and distress calls from Earhart  57 of which were determined to be credible.

Now, an effort, led by Richard Gillespie, executive director of The International Group of Historic Aircraft Recovery, analysed these final transmissions, creating a haunting image of their increasingly desperate situation over the course of seven days.

The distress calls suggest Earhart and a severely injured Fred Noonan were stranded on a reef, at the mercy of the tides.

The comprehensive new study from TIGHARs Earhart Project picks apart each distress call received in the week after the pilots disappearance, revealing an hour-by-hour chronology of the events that transpired.

These heartbreaking messages were picked up around the world by naval stations actively participating in the search, and casual listeners in their homes.

Heres what they found:

On Friday July 2, hours after her disappearance became known, a station leading the search heard a voice thought to be hears. And, when asked to confirm with a series of dashes, three stations heard the response, and one caught the word Earhart.

Later that night in the second active period of signalling, a housewife from Amarillo, Texas heard Earhart say she was down on an uncharted island - small, uninhabited.

Transmission further said plane was part on land, part in water, and that the navigator Fred Noonan was seriously injured, and needed immediate medical attention.

During the same night, a woman from Ashland, Kentucky heard Earhart say the plane was down in ocean and on or near a little island.

The same frequency also revealed Earhart as saying, Our plane is about out of gas. Water all around. Very dark, before going on to mention a storm and winds blowing.

Almost all of signals considered to be credible can be traced back to Gardner Island, where Earhart and Noonan were likely marooned on a reef.

However, Gilespie explains in his research that transmitting from the spot presented a dilemma as radios relied on the aircrafts batteries, but battery power was needed to start the generator-equipped starboard engine to recharge the batteries.

If the lost fliers ran down the batteries sending distress calls they wouldnt be able to start the engine, he explained, adding, The only sensible thing to do was to only send radio calls when the engine was running and charging the batteries. But on the reef, the tide comes in and the tide goes out.

The signals could only be sent out when the water was below 26 inches, leaving the propeller tip clear.

As suspected, Gillespie found that the timing of the distress calls lines up with periods where water on the reef would have been low.

Most were sent at night, likely because darkness offered cooler temperatures after long days in the harsh island sun.

Each period of active transmission lasted roughly an hour, with a period of silence lasting about an hour and a half in between.

On Saturday July 3, during the sixth active period, a male voice was heard for the first time, suggesting Noonan, though injured, was still alive and functioning rationally.

The following day, a 16-year-old boy in Wyoming heard the pilot say the ship was on a reef. And, the station at Howland Island heard a both a mans voice and a womans, with the message tell husband alright.

On only one occasion did the crew send Morse code, as neither were skilled in the technique.

A poorly keyed message received by the US Navy Radio Facility in Wailupe, near Honolulu, on July 5 stated: 281 North Howland Call KHAQQ Beyond North Dont Hold With Us Much Longer Above Water Shut Off.

Among the most famous are the snippets heard by 15-year-old, Betty Klenck, in St. Petersburg, Florida, that same day.

The two could be heard calling for help and discussing the rising water with urgency.

According to Klenck, Noonan could also be heard yelling, and complaining about his head.

The transmission ended shortly after.

According to Gillespie, the last active period occurred on Wednesday July 7, from 12:25 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. The researchers estimates indicate the water level would have reached the cabin  and the transmitter  by 6 oclock the following morning.

In one of the final haunting messages, Thelma Lovelace of St Johns, New Brunswick heard: Can you read me? Can you read me? This is Amelia Earhart. This is Amelia Earhart. Please come in.

She went on to give the latitude and longitude, which Lovelace wrote down and later lost.

After Wednesday July 7, there were no more credible signals, leaving Earhart and Noonans final moments a mystery.

At some time between 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 7, and the morning of Friday, July 9, the Electra was washed over the reef into the ocean where it broke up and sank. When three US Navy search planes from the battleship USS Colorado flew over Gardner Island on the morning of Friday, July 9, no aircraft was seen.

A set of bones discovered on Gardner Island in 1940, now known as Nikumaroro, provided whats considered to be among the best evidence of the doomed pilots final resting place.

According to Richard Jantz, an expert on skeletal biology at the University of Tennessee who analysed the skeleton, the remains are '99% likely' to be hers.Bhopal, July 26 : After Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan allegedly dubbed him a "traitor", senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Thursday approached the police to get himself arrested. The police, however, refused to act in the absence of any complaint/case against him.

The Congress leader, a former Chief Minister, announced he would take legal action against Chouhan for calling a traitor.

As announced earlier, Digvijay Singh along with his supporters visited the TT Nagar police station but the police maintained there was no case against him.

"I had thought that they may have evidence against me for treachery/treason. But officials of the TT Nagar police station, which is near my residence, informed me that there was no case," the senior Congress leader told the media here.

"I have been told in writing that no case is registered against me. It means the Chief Minister has told a lie while occupying a constitutional post. I will approach a court of law and initiate legal action against Chouhan," Digvijay Singh said.

"The Chief Minister has called me a traitor. It means I am a threat to India's unity and integrity. The Chief Minister has taken oath under the Constitution and has to work accordingly. So, I thought I should approach police to court arrest," the former Chief Minister added.Islamabad, July 26 : A post-election crisis looms large over Pakistan as mainstream political parties, apart from the PTI which is celebrating its success in the general election, voiced grave concerns over "systematic manipulation in compilation and announcement of results" by the polling staff.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif rejected all results as he cited complaints of irregularities from across the country.

Sharif in a midnight presser pointed out that other political parties too had raised similar objections.

He said that official results of all constituencies in Lahore had been held up while results of far-flung town and cities in Punjab had been announced.

The Election Commission, he claimed, had stopped issuing "Form 45" to PML-N polling agents, adding that they had all been evicted from booths before the counting process was initiated.

Form 45 is known as the statement of the count, according to the poll body. It is supposed to show the number of valid votes for each contesting candidate and ballot papers excluded from the count.

"This clearly amounts to rigging. People's mandate has been defiled... This is intolerable. Election laws are being blatantly violated all over the country," Sharif said, adding that the situation had forced him to reject the outcome of the 2018 general elections.

The democratic process in the country has been pushed back by almost three decades, he said, adding that he had convened the meeting of the PML-N's Central Executive Committee to discuss the emerging situation.

"PML-N will get in touch with all political parties who faced similar treatment on the poll day in a bid to chalk out a common strategy."

Former Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb alleged that PML-N's polling agents were evicted from polling stations in areas where the party's candidates held a clear lead.

Leaders of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) also raised their voice against what they termed "forcible expulsion" of the patry's polling agents during the process of vote counting.

They also complained that their representatives had not been provided certified copies of "Form 45".

Soon afterwards, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) made same allegations. Veteran leader Raza Rabbani said that some elements were trying to make elections controversial through undemocratic means to create an atmosphere of political confrontation.

"(Resorting to) such tactics will have grave repercussions," he said, adding the poll body should take notice of such widespread complaints.

Party leader Sherry Rehman said that all but one mainstream national party was being pushed against the proverbial wall.

Meanwhile, Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, spokesperson for PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, alleged that Bilawal's chief polling agent in Lyari had gone "missing".

Even the conglomerate of religio-political parties, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), and Tehreek Labaik Pakistan (TLP) cried foul.

Chief of TLP Khadim Rizvi called the 2018 general election "the most rigged in the country's history". He said that his party was consulting within its ranks and would soon make a decision in this regard.

Similar allegations were repeated by MMA. Its leader Shamsur Rehman Swati said that the Election Commission had failed in conducting transparent elections. He said presiding officers were refusing to hand over certified results to polling agents of the alliance.Chennai, July 26 : Noted movie director Mani Ratnam visited Apollo Hospital here for a check-up, after complaining of chest pain, but is in fine condition, said a hospital official.

"He had come to the hospital for a check-up. His condition is fine. He has not been admitted," the hospital official told IANS.

Ratnam had complained of chest pain, the official added.Ghaziabad, July 26 : The police have busted a gang of counterfeit cement manufacturers and recovered some tools, a truck and bags of fake cement bearing names of big brands in Ghaziabad, the police said on Thursday.

Two persons have also been arrested from the fake cement manufacturing site, while two others managed to flee.

Police officer Pradeep Kumar Tripathi told IANS that early on Thursday, he got the information about fake cement being manufactured on a large-scale in the city.

Based on the tip-off, he and his team raided the godown in a field belonging to one Sukhbir in Bamheta locality of the city, and arrested two persons -- Jayanti Prasad and Akram -- from there, Tripathi said.

During interrogation, Jayanti Prasad -- a resident of Shankar Vihar under Kavi Nagar Police Station area the city -- confessed to his crime, while Akram hails from Bamheta only.

According to Jayanti, the factory is owned by Akram, who used to buy discarded and moisturized bags of cement from Delhi, Haryana and Ghaziabad markets, mix ash and repack thus produced "cement" to sell under big brands names, including ACC, JK Cement and others, depending on the availability of empty bags.

Then they would sell the counterfeit cement in the market. The buyers were happy to get the cement at lesser rates, Akram said.

Akram had taken the godown on rent from Sukhbir.

The police recovered a Tata 407, some tools used for making cement, and 198 bags of half-made and ready cement.Islamabad, July 26 : Pakistan on Thursday denounced what it called an uproar triggered by the Indian media over general elections in Pakistan and asked the neighbouring country to focus on its internal affairs.

Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said that elections are a part of the democratic process and the Indian media must focus on its internal matters.

He urged India to stop propagating "venomous propaganda" against Pakistan.

Faisal said that the position of any leading party must be accepted in the wake of the election results.

Several Indian media outlets had claimed that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan's victory could create serious problems for India in the region.

They had alleged that Khan exploited anti-Indian slogans to gain electoral ground for the PTI.Lucknow, July 26 : On the 19th anniversary of the day India defeated Pakistan to recapture the Kargil peaks, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday paid floral tributes to the martyrs of the Kargil war and remembered their sacrifices in the line of duty.

Adityanath, also met the family members of the soldiers of both the Kargil war and the Kakori episode and assured them that the government is with them always.

He also exhorted all municipal corporations of the state to ensure that one park is named after a martyr.

At a function to mark the victory in the Kargil war, he said that these bravehearts will be an inspiration to many generations to come and exhorted every Indian to be patriotic and prepared to serve the nation in whatever capacity one can.

"It was this day of July in 1999 that the brave soldiers of India chased the Pakistani aggressors out of the country and hoisted the victory flag" the chief minister added. The day, he added, was symbolic of the valour, bravery and courage of India and urged the young generation to redeem the pledge of safeguarding the motherland when required.

Addressing the event, deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma called for having the inspirational stories of these brave soldiers in the educational curriculum so that the patriotic fervour in the students is reinforced at a formative stage.Islamabad, July 26 : PTI chief Imran Khan, whose party is marching towards victory in the Pakistan parliamentary polls, on Thursday said he was ready to improve ties with India.

"If India is ready to resolve disputes, we are ready to take two steps.... blame game won't help us," he said in an address on TV as results came in.Manila, July 26 : Two Indian nationals, Bharat Vatwani and Sonam Wangchuk, are among the six personalities named for this year's Ramon Magsaysay award.

The Ramon Magsaysay award, widely known as Asia's premier prize, is now in its 60th year of "honouring greatness of spirit and transformative leadership in selfless service to the peoples of Asia."

The other recipients of the annual honour include Cambodia's Youk Chhang, who has been honoured for "preserving historical memory for healing and justice"; Maria de Lourdes Martins Cruz from East Timor for "building a caring society brick by brick"; Howard Dee of the Philippines for "Championing the human face of peace, justice and economic growth"; Vietnam's Vo Thi Hoang Yen for "claiming opportunities for the differently abled".

In electing Vatwani, the board of trustees recognised "his tremendous courage and healing compassion in embracing India's mentally-afflicted destitute, and his steadfast and magnanimous dedication to the work of restoring and affirming the human dignity of even the most ostracized in our midst."

Since its inception, over 330 individuals and organisations have joined the distinguished community of Ramon Magsaysay Awardees.

Wangchuk, the inspiration behind the hugely popular bollywood movie "Three Idiots", has been recognised for "his uniquely systematic, collaborative and community-driven reform of learning systems in remote northern India, thus improving the life opportunities of Ladakhi youth, and his constructive engagement of all sectors in local society to harness science and culture creatively for economic progress, thus setting an example for minority peoples in the world".

The prestigious award is given to persons -- regardless of race, nationality, creed or gender -- who address issues of human development in Asia with courage and creativity, and in doing so have made contributions which have transformed their societies for the better.

The awards will be presented on August 31 at Main Theater, Cultural Center of the Philippines.New Delhi : New Delhi July 26 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Thursday sought status report of police investigation in the case relating to the Malankara Orthodox Church priests facing charges of sexual abuse of a parishioner.

A bench of Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan asked police to file report on investigation within two weeks and posted the matter for hearing on August 6.

Two priests had moved the apex court seeking an anticipatory bail in the case.

Sony (Abraham) Varghese and Father Jaice K. George had approached the top court challenging the order of the Kerala High Court which had denied anticipatory bail to three priests, including them.

A woman, who regularly visited the Malankara Orthodox Church, has accused five priests of sexually abusing her for a decade.

Initially, it was only one priest who first exploited the woman. When she sought help from another priest, he too threatened her and shared her contact with a fellow priest and she was eventually victimised by five of them.

One priest, however, escaped action as the victim mentioned only four names.

The National Commission for Women is monitoring the case.New Delhi, July 26 : After an eventful stint as the Chief Economic Advisor, Arvind Subramanian on Thursday demitted office to return to academia in the US.

On his final day, he completed formalities and held an informal meeting with his colleagues at his North Block office before catching his flight to the US later at night.

Known as an academic with an eye for detail, Subramanian's economic surveys had rave reviews for their discussion on a number of issues including targeted government services, JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) trinity and his identification of twin balance-sheet problems in public sector banks facing huge non-performing assets.

However, there was wide speculation that he was not consulted on the disruptive demonetisation decision in November 2016, but he never commented on it.

Subramanian, who succeeded the high-profile Raghuram Rajan in the Finance Ministry in 2014, announced his resignation from the government on June 20 with plans to go back to the US for research and writing.

During the time of his resignation, he had described his tenure as CEA as "rewarding, fulfilling, exciting... not without controversy once in a while".

"It's been the best job I have ever had, and I am pretty sure this will be the best job I will ever have," Subramanian had said.

He had joined as the CEA on October 16, 2014 for a period of three years after which Jaitley had requested him to continue for some more time. Although his official contract was till May 2019, he cut short his extended tenure.

This is the third high-level exit from the government after the departure of Raghuram Rajan as RBI Governor and the sudden resignation by NITI Aayog Deputy Chairman Arvind Panagriya.The principal Opposition party has also given a breach of privilege notice against the PM and the defence minister.

New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi once again hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafael fighter jet deal. In a tongue and cheek tweet, Mr Gandhi said, Mr 56 does love someone after all. Must wear a suit. Must have a 45000cr debt. Must have a ten-day-old company. Must never have made an aircraft in his life. Rewards of upto $4 billion in off set contracts if you fulfill the said criteria. He also tagged a news report saying that the Indian company was incorporated just ten days before the Rafael deal.

Since last year, the Congress has been targeting the Modi government over the Rafael fighter jet deal. The party has alleged that the per piece price of the jet is much more than that which was negotiated by the UPA government. Mr Gandhi has challenged the government to make public the price of per piece price of the jet. Meanwhile the government has said that there is a secrecy pact between the governments of India and France hence the price cannot be revealed. This has been strongly refuted by the Congress. The principal Opposition party has also given a breach of privilege notice against the PM and the defence minister.New Delhi, July 26 : Days after three minor girls were found dead in their house due to starvation, authorities jumped into action on Thursday. While the DCW demanded a report from the Delhi Police and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia visited the bereaved family, police deployed teams to trace the "missing" father.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, East, Pankaj Kumar Singh said teams were deployed to trace the father, a casual labourer, who has been missing since Tuesday, the day of the incident.

Sisodia, who met the mother of the girls in east Delhi's Mandawali, said the Delhi government will take care of the woman, who is mentally challenged, and will ensure best possible treatment to her.

He also promised financial help of Rs 25,000, adding that when the father will return, more financial help will be provided.

"Death of three girls in the national capital due to whatever reason -- poverty or starvation -- is a matter of great concern for all of us," Sisodia said after meeting the mother.

"If the deaths happened due to poverty or if it happened due to starvation or any other disease, it is the failure of our system," he said.

Sisodia then asked the Planning Department to have all the data on education, health and other details of "people living in each and every lane of the city."

Meanwhile, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) called the incident "extremely shocking and tragic" and asked the Delhi Police to provide details of the case by Friday.

"The Commission has instituted an inquiry into the matter. In view of the same, please provide a factual report with complete details of circumstances that led to deaths, a status report in the case investigation, a copy of the post-mortem report and the details of the health status of parents," DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal Jai Hind said in the notice to the Delhi Police.

Congress' Delhi chief Ajay Maken, who also met the family, expressed his shock over "malnutrition deaths" in the national capital, which has the highest per capita income in the country.

"Despite being here for such a long time the family did not have a ration card. How could the elder daughter who went to school die of malnutrition and starvation despite midday meals being provided in the school?" he asked.

Slamming the Arvind Kejriwal government, he said: "Where was the Aam Aadmi canteen which was promised wherein the poor were supposed to get a meal for Rs 10?"

Maken said if people living in Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's constituency could meet such a fate, "imagine what would be the everyday challenges faced by people living in other areas".

The issue was also raised in the Lok Sabha with East Delhi MP Maheish Girri calling it a failure of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and demanded the removal of AAP-led Delhi government.

Girri also wrote to President Ram Nath Kovind requesting him to immediately dismiss the "incompetent and inefficient" Delhi government as it "has completely failed to discharge its responsibility".

Three sisters -- aged two, four and eight -- were discovered unconscious in their one-room house in Mandawali area on Tuesday. Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Hospital said the children were brought dead.

An autopsy at the LBS on Wednesday suggested that starvation "appears" to be the cause of their demise.

The Delhi government has ordered a magisterial probe into the deaths.Agartala, July 26 : The statue of Tripura's iconic communist leader Baidyanath Majumder was knocked down by miscreants in northern Tripura late on Wednesday night, the police said.

"We came to know that the statue of Baidyanath Majumder was demolished Thursday early morning. We are looking for the culprits. None has been arrested," Unakoti district police chief Lucky Chauhan told IANS over phone from district headquarters Kailashahar.

Former Education and Law Minister Tapan Chakraborty, a senior leader of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), blamed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists.

"We have complained to the police in writing. The police know the criminals. Yet they did nothing to save the statue of the most popular mass leader," Chakraborty said.

He said that the statue was installed in 2012 after the death of Majumder in June 2011. He was 88.

Majumder, who was elected to the state assembly five times between 1977 and 1998, was the member of the undivided Communist Party of India.

He began his political career in 1942 and was one of the founding members of the communist movement in Tripura. He was deputy chief minister of the state from 1993 to 1998.New Delhi, July 26 : Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday said the government has issued notice to WhatsApp as social media companies are accountable for the misuse of their platforms.

The government issued notice to WhatsApp as rumours in the social media application preceded most incidences of violence, Prasad said in the Rajya Sabha while participating in a discussion on the misuse of social media.

In response, WhatsApp has placed a limit to forwarding of messages to five and identified all forwarded messages as such, he said.

"Social media saying it is just a platform will not be acceptable. Just as a newspaper cannot say it's not their responsibility if a provocative news is published, same way, if people die or are instigated to kill due to fake news on social media, then it's their responsibility," he said.

The Minister said the government is congnizant that the social media is being used as a weapon against India's interests and to incite violence, adding that the government is committed to taking all required actions to deter this.

However, Prasad, who is also the Information Technology Minister, said it would not be wise to restrict the social media just because of a challenge, as the social media has empowered the common man by increasing his access to information and power to ask questions.

"Some people have problems with right-wing ideology and some people are averse to left wing's. If today our ideology gets such a huge stamp of approval then the followers would also be huge ... now whatever you call them -- warriors or activists," Prasad said.

He was replying to a query by Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D. Raja who wanted to know why the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called its social media workers at a recent meeting "warriors".

On Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Derek O'Brien's charge that Facebook deleted the page of Postcard News, as it is a right-wing portal and propagated fake news, Prasad said: "Postcard was removed by the Facebook but there is no evidence to suggest that it was propagating a particular ideology and that was the reason for removal."

Stating that the country saw 40 lynchings in 13 states in the last one year, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad questioned the government's intention to prevent such incidents.

"Although the government may be failing to catch many of the culprits behind fake news and social media, I want to ask the government what is it doing with those it has caught," Azad said.

The Congress leader went on to charge the government and its political leaders for actually encouraging those behind the lynchings by meeting them in jails, promising support for bail and felicitating them when they are out on bail.

"I feel embarrassed when a respected central Minister meets the accused in Nawada jail in Bihar and another Minister, who is educated abroad, garlands those accused of lynching when they are out on bail in Jharkhand. Another Parliamentarian promised all legal expenses.

"If the government drops these ministers, MPs and MLAs, and takes legal actions against them, all lynchings would stop in the country in four days," said Azad.New Delhi, July 26 : Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday apologised to Guna MP Jyotiraditya Scindia in the Lok Sabha after he said he wasn't invited to a highway inauguration function in his constituency in Madhya Pradesh and that his name was missing from the plaque.

As the Zero Hour started, Scindia said: "The local MPs should be invited for such programmes as per the protocol."

He said that he wanted to move a privilege motion against the Chief Minister (Shivraj Singh Chouhan).

In reply, the Minister for Road Transport and Highways apologised since the function was organised by the Ministry, and admitted that it should not have happened. He also said that he has inquired into the matter and found it to be true.

"I am aware of this and since I was present there (at the inauguration), I should be held responsible. The parliamentarian's name should have been there. I apologise on behalf of everybody and this will not happen again," said Gadkari.

A war of words ensued between Scindia, supported by Congress MP K.C. Venugopal, and BJP MPs Ganesh Singh (Satna, Madhya Pradesh) and Narendra Singh Tomar, who is the Rural Development Minister.

Congress leader Scindia was not satisfied with the reply and said that interests of the members of Parliament should be protected and action taken against those responsible for the mistake since it was a matter of breach of privilege of the lawmaker.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan intervened as Scindia did not relent. "Should I use a stick to give protection (sanrakshan lathh leke dun). I appreciate that Gadkariji showed greatness in tendering an apology but the conduct on the other side is not appreciable."

"This is not how one should behave (in the house)," said Mahajan.

Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said that MPs should not be treated in this manner.

Tomar said that the matter should not be politicised as the Minister had apologised.

"It is wrong not to invite the Congress MP, but during the UPA rule, BJP MPs were not invited to such events," said Tomar.

Kharge demanded that the Speaker issue instructions that the MPs should be invited for official functions.

"The government has already instructed that the MPs should be invited for all official programmes in their constituencies. But, wherever this is not happening, they should be invited."Johannesburg, July 26 : Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that India will work with other member states of the BRICS economic bloc to prepare for the Fourth Industrial Revolution while reiterating India's commitment to multilateralism, international trade and rule-based world order.

Addressing the plenary session of the 10th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit here, Modi said that everybody knows the importance of working together to fight the challenges thrown up by cyber security.

"Industry 4.0 will further increase these challenges and needs," he said.

"India will like to work with the BRICS on the issue of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We need to together prepare best practices and policies in this connection."

Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum Klaus Schwab is credited with coining the term Fourth Industrial Revolution for having written a book by the same name.

It is the fourth major industrial era since the initial Industrial Revolution of the 18th century and is characterised by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.

It is marked by emerging technology breakthroughs in a number of fields, including robotics, artificial intelligence, block chain, nanotechnology, quantum computing, biotechnology, the Internet of Things, 3D printing and autonomous vehicles.

"Keeping in mind the importance the changes in technology taking place these days and in the future have for BRICS nations as well as the whole world, I would like to suggest to our ministers discuss this issue in detail," Modi said.

"And if need be, take the help of experts as required."

According to Modi, the world that is being created by new industrial technology and digital interface offers opportunities as well as challenges.

"New systems and products will open new roads for economic development," he said.

"People and human values are of utmost importance in development and progress."

Stating that Industry 4.0 will make the world flatter, the Prime Minister said that many deprived classes will be able to make big leaps with the help of technology and development.

At the same time, he said it is difficult to say what effect this will have amid growing inequalities, a fast changing society and human values.

"In the Fourth Industrial Revolution, talent will become more important than money," Modi stated.

"The new face of employment will be high skilled but temporary jobs," he said.

He was of the view that digital platforms, automation and data flows will reduce the importance of geographical distances.

"When digital platforms, e-commerce and and marketplaces will get linked with such technologies, a new kind of industry and business leaders will surface," he said.

Stating that the type and opportunities for employment will be an important issue, Modi said that though traditional manufacturing will continue to be an important means of job creation, it will become extremely important for workers to enhance their skills.

He was of the view that school and university curricula must be prepared in such a way that the youth can prepare for the future and said that it must be ensured that the changes in technology find place in such curricula.

"In India, because of this, the National Skill Development Mission has been started," the Prime Minister said.

"The intention is to impart to our youth relevant technical and vocational skills," he said, adding that his government is trying to ensure that quality technical, vocational and higher education is available to all sections of the society.

Modi also said that technological innovations can help in better service delivery, increase in productivity levels and better management of labour issues.

"In today's times, technology has become the biggest disruptor," he said. "The effects of Industry 4.0 just cannot be imagined.

Speaking on the occasion, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, host of this year's Summit, said that technology should not be allowed to change society.

"The needs of society should shape technologies," Ramaphosa said.

He also said that the Fourth Industrial Revolution should not be allowed to be the preserve of a handful of nations.

Prior to the plenary session, Modi attended the leaders' closed session of the Summit and presented the country statement of India.

"Reaffirming our commitment to reformed multilateralism, international trade and rules-based world order," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted referring to the statement.New Delhi, July 26 : Communist Party of India-Marxist chief Sitaram Yechury has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, expressing concern over how the government's plan to replace the University Grants Commission (UGC) with a new body would adversely affect higher education in India, like an "external enemy" destroying a country.

Opposing the government's proposed Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Draft Bill, Yechury in the letter has asked Modi to hold wider consultations with all stakeholders rather than rushing the legislation to parliament.

"I am constrained to draw your attention to the draft legislation prepared by the Ministry of Human Resource Development for establishing the Higher Education Commission of India replacing the existing University Grants Commission which had been earlier established by the parliament of India.

"After carefully going through the provisions of the proposed bill we, from the Communist Party of India-Marxist, are compelled to come to the conclusion that if the bill is enacted in the present form and with the approach that its provisions suggest, it will have a major adverse impact on higher education in the country in general and public funded higher education in particular."

He said as it is often said it does not require an external enemy to destroy a country. "Destruction of its education system is more than adequate to ensure that outcome. I am afraid that the present draft bill needs to be withdrawn to avert that eventuality."

The CPI-M also released its note explaining why it was opposed to the move.

The NDA-II government, it alleged, has repeatedly targeted public-funded higher education and research in the last four years.

"Its hostility against the culture of democratic debates and rational social enquiry in premier universities by demonising and mobilising negative public opinion against sections of students and faculty, its authoritarian challenge to academic and intellectual autonomy, and its aggressive promotion of mythological beliefs and supremacist bias against scientific and historical facts constitute one dimension of this attack."

The CPI-M said the other and "more systematic way" in which the government tried to bring higher educational institutions "down on their knees is by continuously slashing budgetary allocations to the UGC" and asking public-funded institutions to generate a part of their costs through internal resources and loans.

The government, it said, has drastically reduced seats and fellowships for M.Phil. and Ph.D. research programmes and promoted short-term contractual employment of faculty and administrative staff instead of permanent recruitment.

The CPI-M said the government's educational reform is guided by twin concerns that threaten to destroy the foundations of higher education in independent India.

"These twin concerns are privatisation, and social exclusion. The twin agendas are strongly reflected in the draft bill" on the proposed legislation to be introduced in the monsoon session of parliament.

"The CPI-M will approach all secular, democratic parties, educationists, intellectuals, teaching fraternity, students and all other concerned individuals and organisations to build a broad resistance against this."New Delhi, July 26 : Chinese imports are hitting the Indian industry hard and causing unemployment with Indian government not doing enough to tackle the situation, a parliamentary panel has said in its hard-hitting report.

It also expressed concern at India's widening trade deficit with China.

"At a time when there is an urgent need to stimulate our manufacturing sector to at least 25 percent of country's GDP, Chinese imports have thrown a spanner in the wheel of India's economic progress per se and industrial manufacturing in particular," the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce has said in its 145th report that was tabled in Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

"The deluge of Chinese imports in the Indian market is wiping out many domestic industries and is a cause for serious concern. The Chinese import is so hard-hitting on Indian industry that many manufacturers have been forced to become traders," it added.

Some of the lacuna identified by the committee that the Indian authorities have not been able to tackle effectively are under invoicing of Chinese goods, dumping of cheap goods, entry of prohibited goods by misdeclaration and smuggling.

"China faces a major chunk of anti-dumping investigations which is a clear indication that Chinese goods are causing unfair trade disruption," the panel noted.

Dumping is when a country or companyAexportsAa product at a price that is lower than the price in the exporter's domestic market.

It found out that a number of industries that have been adversely affected by the import of Chinese goods are labour intensive. These industries have traditionally been large employment generators in India, such as textiles.

It observed that the closure of industry will also stress the banking sector which already is reeling under the burden of huge NPAs.

India's bilateral trade has increased from $38 billion in 2007-08 to around $89.6 billion in 2017-18.

In 2013-14, the Chinese import was approximately to the tune of about 11.6 per cent of all Indian imports. By 2017-18, it has increased to about 16.6 per cent.

"The trade deficit with China at $63 billion constitutes more than 40 per cent of India's total trade deficit. The Chinese goods itself constitute about one-sixth of all imports in terms of quantum in India," the report pointed out.

During the period 2007-08 to 2017-18, there has been an increase in India's exports to China by $2.5 billion; the imports, however, increased by $50 billion during this period.

"In addition to revenue and employment, low-quality Chinese imports also have an adverse impact on the environment. Poor quality toys, colours, firecrackers, statues of gods and goddesses, etc. from China, are health hazards in Indian household.

"The Committee is alarmed that Indian consumers get attracted to these products for their low price without regard to the safety hazards entailed with such products. There is an urgent need to devise a strategy in which the domestic MSME product, which is better in quality than the Chinese cheap products are given their due premium through the organized retail sector," it said.

The panel has advocated creating public awareness to discourage buying of sub-standard imported products and putting in place a strong quality control framework.

"The Committee finds it unfortunate that in the name of 'ease of doing business', we are more than willing to give market access to Chinese goods which is destroying our manufacturing while China is smartly protecting its industry from Indian competition. The Committee strongly recommends that BIS must also reciprocate in the same manner as the Chinese," the report said.New Delhi, July 26 : Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Thursday reported a 74 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit for the April-June quarter 2018-19 on a year-on-year basis.

Its net profit for the first quarter (Q1) of 2018-19 stood at Rs 97.3 crore, down from Rs 367.3 crore reported in the corresponding period of 2017-18, Bharti Airtel said in a statement.

The company reported a total revenue of Rs 20,080 crore for the period under review, nine per cent lower than 21,958.1 crore earned in the Q1 of FY18, it said.

Although its revenue from India and the South Asian region declined by 13.3 per cent to Rs 15,027.8 crore, the revenue from the Africa rose by around nine per cent to Rs 5,284.1 crore.

The company further said its total number of customers stands at 45.7 crore across 16 countries, up 21.2 per cent on a year-on-year basis, excluding divested units.

Commenting on the developments in the quarter ended June Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India and South Asia said: "The acquisition of Telenor's India unit was completed during the quarter, and I am delighted to welcome all the Telenor customers into the Airtel family. Industry pricing continues to remain untenable."

"However, led by our successful bundles, content partnerships and handset upgrade programs, our mobile data traffic surged 355 per cent on a YoY basis," Vittal added.

MD and CEO for the Africa region, Raghunath Mandava said: "With 4G services live across 9 countries and continuing up-gradation of capacities across the OPCOs (operating companies), we remain best placed to capture the ever growing data market. We have rolled out 1,000 broadband towers during the quarter."Panaji, July 26 : Months after Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's pre-election overtures to Karnataka BJP leader B.S. Yeddyurappa, expressing willingness to work out an amicable settlement to the Mhadei river water issue, Goa's Water Resources Minister Vinod Palienkar told the state assembly that no agreement or negotiation has taken place with the neighbouring state.

"The government of Goa has not agreed or has not negotiated with the state of Karnataka on sharing the water of Mhadei river," Palienkar said in a written reply tabled during the ongoing monsoon session of the Goa Legislative Assembly.

In the run-up to the recent Karnataka state assembly polls, Parrikar in a letter to Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s chief ministerial candidate had said: "Government of Goa is willing to consider the request to work out an amicable settlement strictly restricted to drinking water only to the drought-prone areas."

The comment had triggered a furore in Goa, with the opposition accusing Parrikar of selling out the interests of the state for political purposes, even as Parrikar had maintained that those who believed that Goa would not have to share the Mhadei river water with Karnataka, were living in "fool's paradise".

BJP national President Amit Shah, while campaigning in Karnataka, had also promised to divert the Mhadei river water to Karnataka six months after polls results were elected, if the BJP won the assembly election.

Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra are currently battling a dispute over the controversial Kalsa-Bhandura Dam project across the Mhadei river at a central tribunal.

Mhadei also known as the Mandovi river, is known as a lifeline in the northern parts of the State. It originates in Karnataka and meets the Arabian Sea in Panaji in Goa, while briefly flowing through the territory of Maharashtra. While 78 per cent of the basin of the Mhadei river lies in Goa, 42.79 per cent of the basin is located in Karnataka and a small portion comes under Maharashtra.

Karnataka also aims to build seven dams at various points along the river, including at Kalsa village, with an objective to divert the flow into what it claims is the water-starved Malaprabha basin in north Karnataka. The state has demanded that Goa allow the transfer of over seven TMC water to tide over its irrigation and drinking water needs.

Diversion of the water was one of key issues in the north Karnataka region during the recently concluded assembly election.

On Wednesday, the Goa government claimed that Karnataka had removed two out of the three blockades on water diversion conduits built illegally by the Karnataka government along the Mhadei river, and that the water is already being diverted from the Mhadei river to the Malaprabha river basin in the southern state.Mumbai, July 26 : Actress Janhvi Kapoor, who is overwhelmed with the success of her recently released debut film "Dhadak", feels that it is the stepping stone of her career to earn acceptance from the audience.

Interacting with media at the success meet of "Dhadak" along with producer Karan Johar, co-actor Ishaan Khatter and director Shashank Khaitan here on Thursday, Janvhi, asked whether success of aDhadak' has now removed star kid tag from her, said: "I hope so.. but I still think that I have long way to go. I don't think success of one film, even though it means the world to me, will change that perception.

"There are still lots more things that I need to do or I aspire to do to earn love, affection and acceptance from the audience but it's a stepping stone of my career."

With "Dhadak" opening well at the box-office but there were mixed reviews from critics, Janhvi said that she was happy with positive response for her performance in the film but she also cried secretly in her bathroom when few critics criticized her performance.

"It's the biggest thing for me that our film received so much of love and appreciation from the audience.

"I think the kind of topic we wanted to put across in this film that has been resonated with the audience. I know that I have long way to go so, all of this, I am going to use as a motivation and hope that I get to do more work."

"I will try to impress people in the future because this is what I love doing more than anything else so, I just want to keep at it. I think one thing that I have taken away with is you just need to keep working, improving and keep finding reason to stay positive," she added.

"Dhadak" has managed to mint a total of Rs 48.01 crore at the end of sixth day since its release and the film is expected to cross Rs 50 crore mark soon.Adult breastfeeding, also called erotic lactation or adult breastfeeding relationships is more common than one might have thought.

This doesn't just happen between married couples, but people also seek out others who are interested in the fetish. (Photo: Pixabay)

Breastfeeding, as we know it, is a completely natural thing and many mums embrace the process with open arms. So much so, that some women choose to breastfeed their children for a number of years.

However, it seems that husbands too are getting in on the action.

Adult breastfeeding  referred to as erotic lactation, adult nursing relations (ANR) or adult breastfeeding relationships (ABR)  is more common than you might have thought.

A man, who spoke to Metro said that his wife was pumping in bed to release pressure and her other breast had started leaking. She suggested that the man should try it and he drank both breasts dry while having sex.

The man described the incident as an incredibly erotic, sexy thing for him.

So much so, he did it again when his wife became pregnant for a second time.

This doesn't just happen between married couples, but people also seek out others who are interested in the fetish.

Another woman told Metro that she does it because she feels it is a bonding time for them.

Despite the fanbase, there are no health benefits for an adult to drink breastmilk.

And certain diseases can be passed on, so people should be wary of who theyre partnering with.

According to Dr Sarah Steele, of the Global Health and Policy Unit, Queen Mary University of London, no scientific study evidences that direct adult consumption of human milk for medicinal properties offers anything more than a placebo effect.London, July 26 : Despite long-term profit expectations, a higher brain activity may be cautioning people against buying stocks -- supposed to be a risky form of investment, suggest a study.

The findings shows that the cortical regions of the brain-- "anterior insular" --found in both hemispheres of the cerebral cortex -- is more active amongst people who do not trade stocks.

Both the left and right variants of this brain region is particularly active in people who are more reluctant to buy stocks.

"The anterior insular cortex acts like a stop sign and thus cautions against risky decisions," said Alexander Niklas Hausler, doctoral student at the University of Bonn in Germany.

However, in experienced stock traders, the activity of this region of the brain is lower.

"The attitude towards riskier or less risky decisions showed a stronger correlation to the actual behaviour than the reward outcomes," Hausler said.

For the study, detailed in the journal "Scientific Reports", the team examined a total of 157 male subjects aged 29 to 50 years.

In addition to already known economic factors such as income and education, the researchers found that risk optimism and tolerance in particular have a major influence on stock purchase decisions.

The study showed that the individuals with more risk optimism are firmly convinced that investing in stocks leads to high profits.

Both, factors also play an important role in the relationship between the "anterior insular" and the purchase of stocks in real life.

Here, they act as a mediator between brain activity and the real-life stock trading behaviour, the researchers said.New Delhi, July 26 : Global payments major Mastercard on Thursday said its cumulative investment in India for the period of 2014-19 would stand at Rs 6,500 crore or around $1 billion to promote digital transactions in the country.

Started in 2014, the local investment includes acquisition of new offices in Bengaluru and Gurugram and a Mastercard Innovation Lab and operations hub in Pune, said a Mastercard statement.

"Committed to a model based on local investment, Mastercard will have invested approximately Rs 6,500 crore ($1 billion) between 2014 and 2019 to promote digital transactions in India," it said.

As per the statement, Mastercard has grown its India workforce from 29 in 2013 to around 2,000 currently, which is 14 percent of the global Mastercard workforce, and the largest outside the United States.

Out of total Rs 6,500 crore, around 75 per cent has been invested so far.

Porush Singh, country corporate officer, India and Division President, South Asia, Mastercard, said: "We strongly support the government's push towards establishing India as a less-cash society and have continuously invested in this vision."

Porush added: "80-85 per cent of the fees in debit card transactions go to financial institutions and other processors located in India for their services and will stay entirely within the Indian economy. Only 15-20 per cent will come to Mastercard as compensation for our network services. It is just between 12 and 15 paise in an INR 100 transaction. We stand absolutely committed to India's future. We firmly believe that the success of the Indian economy is the success of Mastercard."Washington, July 26 : US President Donald Trump has said that he has reached a deal with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to work towards eliminating tariffs and barriers on trade, reducing tensions for now in a brewing trade war.

A pan-European Business Confederation on Thursday applauded the trade relations agreement.

The Confederation of European Business, also known as BusinessEurope, is a lobby organization based in Brussels, established in 34 European countries, advocating for Europe's business growth and competitiveness at both the continental and global level.

"Reason has prevailed. The agenda for talks between the EU and the US to de-escalate the current trade conflict is the right one," said BusinessEurope president Pierre Gataz.

On Wednesday, Trump said: "We are starting the negotiation right now, but we know where it is going and proclaiming 'a new phase' in US-EU trade relations."

While Juncker said that both Washington and Brussels will "hold off on other tariffs" while the talks are under way.

In a joint appearance before the press with Juncker, Trump said that the EU will begin importing soybeans from the US Midwest, as well as liquefied natural gas to "diversity" its energy sources, in addition to reducing some industrial tariffs.

The EC chief, meanwhile, hailed the trade agreement, which included reducing tariffs by both parties and easing the bilateral frictions that had arisen in recent months.

Juncker said that he had gone into his Oval Office meeting with Trump with both parties intending to reach an agreement.

He also said that the pact established the "resolution" of the US tariffs on European steel and aluminium that had sparked a trade brouhaha between Brussels and Washington, although neither Trump nor Juncker specified whether these would be immediately annulled.

Minutes later, at a conference at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Juncker said that the agreement emphasised the "special" nature of the alliance between the US and the EU going on to stress that trade between the two parties comprises half of all global commerce.

Juncker's visit to Washington aroused great expectations after the exchange of accusations and the imposition of tariffs by Trump on European steel and aluminium, to which Brussels had responded with identical measures on assorted US products, including motorcycles and jeans.

Trump has insisted in recent months on the need for the EU to agree to his demands to facilitate US access to the European market and has threatened to impose tariffs of up to 20 per cent on imports of European automobiles if the bloc did not make concessions to Washington.New Delhi, July 26 : The Anti-Trafficking Bill, passed in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, "will not facilitate or harass sex workers," Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi told the House.

In a reply to senior Congress lawmaker Shashi Tharoor, Maneka said: "There is no question of harassing themA the Bill focuses on the victim, a voluntary sex worker is not a victim."

The Bill seeks protection and rehabilitation of victims of human trafficking and prosecution of offenders.

Maneka said the House has received comments from two groups, one representing the victims and the other representing the sex workers.

"Tharoor represents the second group," the Minister said.

Debating on The Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018, Tharoor said: "Section 370 of the IPC is used extensively against sex workers in conjunction with Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1956 (ITPA) and there are numerous instances in which the police have threatened sex workers under this section, demanding bribes and even sex."

He said the Bill had no safeguards against the misuse.New Delhi, July 26 : The shocking starvation deaths of three minor girls may not be the first such incident in the national capital, which despite being the second wealthiest city in India, is battling food crisis and malnutrition of children, an activist said on Thursday.

While deaths due to hunger are not uncommon in India that ranks 100th out of 119 countries on the Global Hunger Index, social activist Anjali Bhardwaj said such fatalities in the capital may have gone unreported earlier.

"This has not happened for the first time. This time, it has come out very starkly," she told IANS.

"Starvation is very often difficult to prove. But it has clearly come out in the autopsy reports this time. Many a time, when children die due to malnutrition or starvation, it doesn't even get reported. They say they died of some disease."

Food insecurity and malnutrition amongst children in Delhi, she said, is "a huge issue".

"Many are falling ill, losing their life. They keep dying silently. There is no post-mortem conducted in many cases," she added.

Arvind Singh, Adviser to Matrisudha, a charitable trust that promotes curative care of malnourished children through community participation, on Thursday spent entire day at the house in Mandawali, where the three sisters -- aged two, four and eight -- were found in an unconscious state. They were later declared dead at a city hospital.

The family had shifted to this house two-three days before the girls died on Tuesday.

"They were living in very poor condition. Even though there was an Anganwadi centre, very close to this place, one doesn't know wheheter the three kids were enrolled there or not as they had shifted recently," Singh said.

He said such incidents have not been heard of in Delhi before probably because "for political establishments, it is unthinkable that someone died of starvation".

The mother of the three girls, according to police, is "not stable" and she could not look after the kids because of her mental illness.

Singh said that it was difficult for him to figure out the mental state of the mother, who, he said, "kept lying in one corner".

Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Pankaj Kumar Singh said that teams were deployed to trace the father, who has been missing since Tuesday morning.

Since 1975, the government has been running the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme to provide food, pre-school education and primary healthcare to children under six years of age and their mothers.

According to a performance audit of ICDS, conducted in 2012 by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD), total number of malnourished children studying in class one to four, exceeded the 40 per cent mark in 10 states/ union territories -- Andhra Pradesh - 49 per cent, Bihar - 82 per cent, Haryana - 43 per cent, Jharkhand - 40 per cent, Odisha - 50 per cent; Rajasthan - 43 per cent, Uttar Pradesh - 41 per cent, Delhi - 50 percent, Daman and Diu - 50 per cent and Lakshadweep by 40 per cent.

"My biggest concern is -- how many children below the age of six were included in the ICDS programme," said Singh.

"There have been programmes launched by the government, but whether these schemes are reaching the beneficiaries is questionable," said Singh.

He said from mid-day meal scheme to the Public Distribution System (PDS), a proper implementation and execution is lacking.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia attributed the death of the three sisters to "system failure", saying it is a matter of great concern for all.

While the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), calling it "an inhuman incident", blamed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government for doing "nothing on the complaint of fake ration cards", the Congress held both the state and Central governments responsible for the tragedy.

"The political parties, instead of blaming each other for the incident, should rather come up with a permanent solution to this problem," Delhi Food Banking Network Founder Kuldeep Nar said.New Delhi, July 26 : Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday apologised to Guna MP Jyotiraditya Scindia in the Lok Sabha after he said he was not invited to an official function in his constituency in Madhya Pradesh and that his name was missing from the plaque.

The foundation-laying ceremony of the Rs 3,900-crore Shivpuri-Devas four-lane project was held on July 23.

As the Zero Hour started, Scindia said: "The local MPs should be invited for such programmes as per the protocol. But if the rules would be flouted and local MPs are insulted, then I am moving a privilege motion."

He said he wanted to move a privilege motion against the Chief Minister (Shivraj Singh Chouhan).

In reply, the Minister for Road Transport and Highways apologised since the function was organised by his Ministry, and admitted that it should not have happened. He also said that he has inquired into the matter and found it to be true.

"I am aware of this and since I was present there (at the inauguration), I should be held responsible. The parliamentarian's name should have been there. This was a mistake. I apologise on behalf of everybody and this will not happen again," said Gadkari.

A war of words ensued between Scindia, supported by Congress MP K.C. Venugopal, and BJP MPs Ganesh Singh (Satna, Madhya Pradesh) and Narendra Singh Tomar, who is the Rural Development Minister.

Scindia was not satisfied with the reply and said that interests of the members of Parliament should be protected and action taken against those responsible for the mistake since it was a matter of breach of privilege of the lawmaker.

Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said that MPs should not be treated in this manner. Kharge demanded that the Speaker should give an instruction that the MPs should be invited for official functions.

Replying to him the Speaker said: "The government has already instructed that the MPs should be invited for official functions in their constituencies. But, wherever this is not happening, they should be invited."

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan had to intervene as Scindia was not ready to relent. "Do I have to apologise? If you don't allow me to speak, how will I give protection? Should I use a stick to provide protection?"

"I appreciate that Gadkariji showed greatness in tendering an apology but this should not be the conduct on the other side."

"This is not how one should conduct (in the house). This is not a good attitude," said Mahajan.

Tomar said that the matter should not be politicised as the Minister had apologised.

"It is wrong not to invite the Congress MP, but during the UPA rule, BJP MPs were not invited to such events. Which BJP MP was invited during UPA rule? when Gadkariji has apologised, this should be a closed chapter now," said Tomar.Panaji, July 26 : Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday appealed to the Congress high command, as well as to the opposition party leaders in Goa to back an amendment to a central act, which will help restart mining in Goa, which has been banned since February this year.

"We can go for a request provided everyone supports and the Congress in Delhi supports. After that I will go to Delhi and talk to the person concerned," the Chief Minister said while replying to a debate on the mining issue.

Parrikar said that the state government would request the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre to amend the Goa, Daman and Diu (Abolition of Concession and Declaration as Mining Leases) Act, 1987, passed by Parliament to bypass the Supreme Court's order and extend the validity of Goa's mining leases.

"It is the only lasting solution," Parrikar said.

The Chief Minister also said that both ruling and opposition parties should come together to amend the central legislation "in the interest of Goa and Goans".

The mining issue has been hanging fire in Goa every since the apex court banned extraction and transportation of iron ore from 88 mining leases from March while also directing the state to re-issue mining leases.

This is second time in less than a decade that all mining activity in the state has come to a standstill.

The 2012 ban was later lifted by the apex court in 2014, but the court was forced to impose fresh restrictions while slighting the state government for messing up with the lease renewal process.

Before Goa was liberated by the Indian armed forces in 1961, mining leases in the state were permanent concessions granted by the Portuguese colonists for exploration and exploitation.

Once India took over the new colony, the Central government via the Goa Daman and Diu (Abolition of Concession and Declaration as Mining Leases) act, 1987, converted the same concessions into mining leases under the Mines and Minerals Development Act, 1954, making them valid for a fixed tenure, which lapsed in 2007.

Though passed by the Parliament in 1987, in case of Goa, a late entrant into the Indian Union, the law was retrospectively brought into effect from 1961, the year Goa was liberated from Portuguese yoke.

The Supreme Court in its February 2018 order has now held that any mining activity carried out since 2007 was illegal.

In his speech in the state assembly on Thursday, Parrikar proposed an amendment to Section 2 of the Act, which is aimed at altering the retrospective date of conversion of concessions to leases from 1961 to 1987, the year when the law was actually passed in Parliament. The amendment, he said, would extend the validity of leases from 2007 to 2045.New Delhi, July 26 : NCP's youth wing Nationalist Youth Congress on Thursday held a rally here to protest against growing communal intolerance and rising unemployment in the country.

"Youth in the country is frustrated as they are not getting jobs. In addition, the BJP government has created atmosphere of communal hatred. So we are protesting against the government," said its President Dheeraj Sharma.

Similar protest rallies will be held across the country till December, he added.

NCP MP Tariq Anwar also attended the protest rally on Thursday.Kolkata, July 26 : The West Bengal Assembly on Thursday gave its approval to the Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill, 2018, which keeps the Chief Minister beyond its ambit with regard to allegations of corruption in matters concerned with public order.

According to the legislation, the Lokayukta can investigate allegations of corruption against the Chief Minister on 58 of the 59 subjects on the state list, but only after a nod by two-third members of the House present and voting.

Just before the Bill was passed, ruling Trinamool Congress legislator Tapas Roy moved the amendment - which was passed by the House - adding the clause about the Lokayukta needing the pre-approval of the House to start an investigation on corruption allegations against the chief minister.

The debate was heated, with the opposition resenting the two clauses - the Chief Minister being kept outside the purview of the Lokayukta on matters of public order and the pre-requisite for the Lokayukta to get the approval of two-third members of the House present and voting before starting a probe into allegations against the Chief Minister on other matters.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, however, claimed that she had given the people the right to question her credibility.

Alleged that the opposition and a section of the media were creating confusion by claiming that the Chief Minister has been kept entirely outside the purview of the Lokayukta bill, she said exclusion of the office of the Chief Minister on maters of public order only pertained to police recruitment, force deployment and any other emergency situation.

"Other subjects in the state list are within the ambit of the Lokayukta. I feel credentials are the biggest assets of a politician. Let the people of the state judge my credentials," she said.

The legislation claimed that the clauses related to excluding the Chief Minister were in line with the provisions under section 41 (1) (a) of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 passed by parliament. The particular section of the Central Act refers to excluding Prime Minister from the purview of investigation of Lokpal.

The Bill passed by the assembly on Thursday also includes a provision that approval of the state government would be needed for investigating a complaint against a public servant.

Leader of the Left Front legislature party Sujan Chakraborty alleged that the amendments have diluted the powers of the Lokayukta.

The Bill was later passed by voice vote.Kolkata, July 26 : Cigarette-to-FMCG major ITC Ltd on Thursday reported a 10.08 per cent increase in its net profit to Rs 2,818.68 crore in the quarter ended on June 30 as compared to Rs 2,560.50 crore in the year-ago period.

On a comparable basis, its gross revenue from sale of products and services was at Rs 10,722.22 crore in the quarter, down by about 22 per cent from Rs 13,722.21 crore in the corresponding period last year.

However, gross sales (net of rebates and discounts), on a comparable basis, grew by 13.5 per cent to Rs 18,171.66 crore for the quarter under review from Rs 16,010.66 crore in the corresponding period last year.

The company's overall expense during the quarter decreased by over 32 per cent to Rs 6,978.5 crore as compared to Rs 10,332.61 crore in the corresponding period last year and the excise duty paid also fell drastically to Rs 167.56 crore, from Rs 3,845.76 crore in the year-ago period.

However, the company mentioned excise duty during the quarter was not comparable with the previous period after the introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) as steep escalation in tax incidence continues to weigh on the segment.

The legal cigarette industry, already reeling under the cumulative impact of steep increase in taxation over the last five years and intense regulatory pressures, was further impacted by a sharp increase of 13 per cent in tax incidence on cigarettes (19 per cent increase for the king-size filter segment) under GST, a company statement said.

"Coupled with the increase in excise duty rates announced in the Union Budget 2017, this resulted in an incremental tax burden of over 20 per cent on the Cigarette business post implementation of GST," it said.

Revenue from cigarettes during the June quarter fell by almost 42 per cent to Rs 5,127.59 crore from Rs 8,774.16 crore in same period last year, according to the regulatory filing.

In the FMCG -others segment, which includes branded packaged foods businesses, apparel, personal care products, agarbattis and others, the revenue grew by 14.3 per cent during the quarter.

"This was led by staples, snacks and meals business in the branded packaged foods business, deodorants and liquids in the personal care products business, classmate notebooks and agarbattis offset by the ongoing restructuring of retail footprint and trade presence in the lifestyle retailing business," the statement said.

Agri-business posted revenue of Rs 3,151.27 crore in the quarter, up by 14.15 per cent from Rs 2,760.52 crore in the same period last year.

"The (agri) business leveraged market opportunities in oilseeds, rice, spices and coffee resulting in robust growth in revenue during the quarter. However, pressure on legal cigarette industry volumes, adverse quality and leaf cost escalation pertaining to Andhra 2017 crop, and lower export incentives weighed on segment results," the company said.

The business continues to step up initiatives in the area of value added agriculture to create new vectors of growth by leveraging its agri-commodity sourcing and processing expertise and distribution network of the company.

"These include the launch of packaged prawns, super safe spices, fresh fruits and vegetables and dehydrated onions under the ITC MasterChef and Farmland brands. Plans are afoot to rapidly scale up these interventions in the ensuing months," it said.

The hotels segment recorded healthy growth in revenue and profit driven by higher room rates, strong food & beverage sales and high operating leverage.

The company commissioned ITC Kohenur, a 271 room luxury property at Hyderabad, on June 1, 2018.

However, in terms of paperboards, paper and packaging business, the segment results registered growth driven by strategic investments in imported pulp substitution, process innovation leading to improved pulp yield, benefits of a cost-competitive fibre chain, product mix enrichment and higher realisation.

"While there was some improvement in the order book position during the quarter, segment revenue remained muted due to slow pick-up in demand in end user industries and unabsorbed capacity in the domestic industry," it said.

The company said capacity utilisation was also scaled up at at the Tribeni unit, while rebuilding of a paperboard machine at the Bhadrachalam unit is nearing completion and it is likely to be commissioned in the ensuing quarter, it added.

On Thursday, ITC's scrip rose 0.38 per cent to end the day at Rs 287.15 on the BSE. It announced the quarterly results after trading hours.A team of leaders from Girls Preparatory School attended the 2018 session of the American Legion Auxiliary Volunteer Girls State at the Lipscomb University campus in Nashville. Four rising GPS seniors and a number of alumnae served at the 72nd annual session.

From the GPS Class of 2019, Carmen Resnick, Charlotte Vance, Amal Ali, and Olivia Fannon were among the more than 500 high school students at the week-long leadership and citizenship training program. Amal Ali was chosen to represent Tennessee at nationals as a senator at Girls Nation in Washington, D.C., this week, where she was nominated as the presidential candidate for the Nationalists Party Ticket.

The nonpartisan leadership and citizenship training program, sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary, has been a proving ground for GPS students and their abilities, said officials. Ali joins a list of GPS students who have been elected to leadership positions and gone on to the national session. For seven of the past nine years, a GPS student has been chosen for a top Girls State honor including:

Nisha Boyington 11, Girls Nation Senator in 2010

Sarah Shaw 12, Girls State Governor in 2011

Emma McCallie 13, Girls Nation Senator in 2012

Emily You 14, Girls State Governor in 2013

Caroline West 16, Girls Nation Senator in 2015

Katie Brandao 17, Girls Nation Senator in 2016

Amal Ali 19, Girls Nation Senator in 2018

This year also marked the 30th year for Citizenship Director Jenise Gordon, GPS Head of Upper School, to volunteer at Girls State; Suzanne Smartt, former faculty and GPS Faculty Emeriti honoree, completed her 53rd year as a volunteer. Several GPS alumnae were also in attendance.

If you take into account all the counselors and staff, GPS folks make up about 10 percent of the team at Girls State, said Ms. Gordon. Those volunteering in addition to Ms. Gordon and Ms. Smartt included Caroline West 16, Rachel Raisin 16, Emily You 14, Mary Chandler Gwin 14, Pierson Brown 18, Kate Commander 04, Emma McCallie 13, Laura Laughlin 10, Delaney Swann 17, Meg Marshall 18, and Nisha Boyington 11.

Since 1937, Girls State has served as the American Legion Auxiliary's marquee program is one of the most respected experiential learning programs in the United States. According to the ALA Girls State website, the program epitomizes its mission to honor those who have brought our freedom through our enduring commitment to develop young women as future leaders grounded in patriotism and Americanism. Those attending become knowledgeable of the democratic process and how our republic form of government works at the state and national levels.



Approximately 16,000 young women participate in week-long ALA Girls State programs across the nation. Each American Legion Auxiliary Girls State program features a nonpartisan curriculum where students assume the roles of government leaders, campaigning in mock parties (often called Federalists and Nationalists) to become mayors and county and state officials of their ALA Girls State.



Sisodia says starvation deaths biggest failure of our system n Cong, BJP blame AAP govt for tragedy.

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led Delhi government came under severe criticism from Opposition parties over the death of three minor girls owing to starvation and malnutrition in Mandawali on Thursday.

While the Delhi BJP demanded dismissal of the AAP government over the deaths of the three girls, Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken blamed both the Centre and the city government for the complete failure of the system.

Meanwhile, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said the deaths due to poverty and illness were the biggest failure of our system. The city government has announced a compensation of `25,000 to the family of the deceased girls.

The political blame game that ensued after the incident exacerbated as Mr Sisodia launched an attack on the Centre and lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal for opposing the implementation of the AAP governments doorstep delivery of the ration scheme, which would have provided ration to the grieving family.

He added that he has asked the Directorate of Integrated Child Development Services to submit details of the officials responsible for keeping records of the people living in the area and fix accountability.

The deputy chief minister visited the SDM office in East Delhi on Thursday and met the girls mother, whose mental condition is not good.

He directed the planning department of the Delhi government to conduct a complete census of children in the national capital. Criticising the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), which comes under the ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD), Mr Sisodia said that it was formed to help children reeling from hunger and starvation.

The deputy chief minister said its a very shocking incident and the magisterial inquiry will bring the facts to the fore.

The BJP has also demanded that Delhi government should immediately order a survey in all the areas of national capital to find out if there are more families starving anywhere so that such tragic incidents do not happen again.

Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari and the Lok Sabha member from East Delhi, Maheish Girri, met the mother of the children and offered her interim relief. Mr Maken, along with former Delhi ministers Dr A.K. Walia and Arvinder Singh Lovely visited the family.

Mr Tiwari and Mr Girri demanded that there should be high level inquiry into the treatment of children in the Mohalla clinic, medicines given by the health attendant, and the reason why the attendant did not see whether the children had taken some food or not.

D13New Delhi, July 26 : Constitutional rights define and shape the life of citizens and societies and have to be construed and developed in such a manner that their real intent and existence percolates to the lowest rungs in the society, said Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.

Delivering the M.C. Setalvad Memorial Lecture, for the first and longest serving Attorney General of India, he said Constitutional rights' positive exposition and assertive and energetic appreciation constitute the "lifeblood of progressive societies".

"These rights would become a dead letter without their dynamic, vibrant and pragmatic interpretation. That is the raison d'etre for the Constitution and the constitutional rights. This also gives birth to an equally important role of the state to implement the constitutional rights effectively.

"The state action has to be concrete and not such that its effects leak into so many rivulets that they dissipate. Mere rhetoric and passivity by the state without reflection of serious commitment will only result in reducing the solemn duty of the state to that of a feigned act of affectation," Justice Misra said.

He said the judiciary has always remained alive to its solemn duty placed upon its shoulders by the Constitution, that is, to protect the constitutional rights of the citizens of the country.

Speaking on "Dynamic Ascendance of Constitutional Rights: A Progressive Approach", Misra stressed that it is a Constitution made for a progressive society and its working depends upon prevalent atmosphere and conditions.

Since the Constitution is itself a "dynamic and forward spirited document", then it would be fallacy to think that the constitutional rights guaranteed therein will remain static, he said.

"The constitutional rights also being dynamic, were on the ascendance in the past, are on the ascendance in the present and will always remain in the ascendance in the future, as well.

"Constitutional rights cannot and should not, for the sake of democracy, stop growing and this I say with a certain degree of confidence as perpetually expanding constitutional rights will only contribute towards strengthening of a constitutional democratic set up like ours," Justice Misra said.

He also said that gender equality has been an important issue before courts.

Justice Misra said in Madhya Pradesh women reservation for panchayat case, "argument is that women cannot administer and will depend on their husbands. This is preposterous. The case is before Supreme Court but I will not hear the matter".

"It's a judge's duty to see that the right you have created and recognised is also implemented," he said.

Acting Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Gita Mittal, who was also present at the gathering, said that public faith in judiciary should never be compromised.

"Strength and resilience of the judiciary lies in the confidence and faith of the people in it," she said at the memorial lecture organised by the Bar Association of India.Johannesburg, July 26 : Member states of the BRICS economic bloc on Thursday called for sustainable growth of global trade and expressed determination to work together to strengthen multilateralism.

"BRICS economies continue to support global economic expansion and outlook," said the Johannesburg Declaration issued following the 10th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit here.

"We advocate continued use of fiscal, monetary and structural policies in concert, to forge strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth," it stated.

In what can be seen as a stinging indictment of US President Donald Trump's protectionism measures by getting into tariff wars with other countries, the BRICS nations expressed concern over some macro-economic policies "adopted by some advanced countries".

"We express concern at the spill-over effects of macro-economic policy measures in some major advanced economies that may cause economic and financial volatility in emerging economies and impact their growth prospects adversely.

"We call on major advanced and emerging market economies to continue policy dialogue and coordination in the context of the G20, FSB (Financial Stability Board) and other fora to address these potential risks," said the statement.

While China is locked in a trade war with the US, which accuses Beijing of dodgy business practices, New Delhi last month decided to hike tariffs on 30 US products in retaliation to Trump's decision to slap more taxes on Indian steel and aluminum.

The BRICS nations stressed "the importance of a favourable external environment for sustained growth of global trade".

According to the 23-page Johannesburg Declaration, the five member-states reinforced their commitment to upholding multilateralism and to working together on the implementation of the UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals "as we foster a more representative, democratic, equitable, fair and just international political and economic order".

"We reiterate our determination to work together to strengthen multilateralism and the rule of law in international relations, and to promote a fair, just, equitable, democratic and representative international order," it said.

"We recommit our support for multilateralism and the central role of the United Nations in international affairs and uphold fair, just and equitable international order based on the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, respect for international law, promoting democracy and the rule of law in international relations, and to address common traditional and non-traditional security challenges," it stated.

In his interventions during the day's proceedings, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the challenges faced by multilaterilism and rules-based international order.

"The Prime Minister emphasised that the objective of preserving multilateralism and the multilateral world order is not to maintain the status quo.

"He reminded the leaders that BRICS came together 10 years ago for change and for reform of the world order," said T.S. Tirumurti, Secretary, Economic Relations, in the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, at a media briefing.

"Therefore, he said, what we need today is reformed multilateralism, not going back to the status quo of multilateralism."

As in past summits, the BRICS also condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations "wherever committed and whosoever", called for concerted efforts to counter it under the UN auspices on a firm international legal basis and expressed conviction that a comprehensive approach is necessary to ensure an effective fight against it.

"We recall the responsibility of all States to prevent financing of terrorist networks and terrorist actions from their territories," said the Declaration.

he BRICS nations also called for expeditious finalisation and adoption of the India-initiated Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) by the UN General Assembly.

According to Tirumurti, Modi also recalled the BRICS common understanding reached on countering terrorism adopted during the various past summits and referred to terrorism and extremism as the biggest threats.

Keeping with the event's theme of "BRICS in Africa: Collaboration for Inclusive Growth and Shared Prosperity in the 4th Industrial Revolution", the Declaration said that the Summit commended the establishment of the BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution (PartNIR).

In his address at the plenary session earlier in the day, Modi said that India wants to work with other BRICS nations to prepare for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

"The PartNIR aims at deepening BRICS cooperation in digitalisation, industrialisation, innovation, inclusiveness and investment, to maximise the opportunities and address the challenges arising from the Fourth Industrial Revolution," the Declaration said.

The Summit also acknowledged the importance of infrastructure development and connectivity in Africa and recognised "the strides made by the African Union to identify and address the continent's infrastructure challenges" to support "industrial development, job creation, skills development, food and nutrition security and poverty eradication and sustainable development".New Delhi, July 26 : The Congress on Thursday slammed the government over appointment of Justice A. K. Goel as National Green Tribunal Chairman after his retirement as a Supreme Court judge.

Raising the matter in the Lok Sabha, party member Suresh said the "entire Dalit community has expressed concern over the wrong message sent by the appointment."

Justice Goel had headed the Supreme Court bench which delivered the judgment forbidding immediate arrest under Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and Congress and some other parties have alleged that the judgement has "diluted" the Act.

Suresh said the Dalit community is demanding Justice Goel's immediate removal from the Chairmanship of NGT, adding SC/ST members in the ruling National Democratic Alliance had also expressed their concern and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan had written a letter to Home Minister Rajnath Singh in this connection.

He said Dalits in different parts of the country had protested against the judgment.

Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said the retired judge's appointment to NGT indicated that the government supported his judgment.

Justice Goel was earlier this month appointed theChairperson of the National Green Tribunal hours after he retired from the Supreme Court.

Congress members also raised the issue of a UGC circular which mentioned that the numbers of the reserved faculty posts across universities will be calculated department-wise and not on the aggregate vacant posts in a university, and said it will adversely affect the weaker sections.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said that vacancies were not being filed based on the circular and a Special Leave Petition had been filed in the Supreme Court.New Delhi, July 26 : An NGO has demanded a detailed enquiry into the starvation deaths of the three minor girls here to find if they were excluded from various social welfare programmes. It has also asked for setting up of community kitchens across Delhi.

"We demand that a detailed inquiry into the starvation deaths of the three minor girls aged two, four and eight must be undertaken. The inquiry committee must include independent experts and doctors," said the Delhi Rozi Roti Adhikar Abhiyan (DRRAA) on Thursday.

"The inquiry must also examine whether or not the family was covered by welfare programmes," said the Abhiyan which is carrying out its own fact finding. The issue of lack of food security and social security of the poor and marginalised in Delhi is undeniable, it said.

There is a need to strengthen the framework of food security and remove barriers that prevent people from accessing it. Making food security conditional upon peoples' ability to produce identity proof or Aadhaar is inhumane and a violation of the right to life, it said.

"There is an urgent need to establish community kitchens across Delhi which provide hot cooked food and the kitchens must not turn away any person desirous of food. Several states have put in place systems to provide hot cooked meals at very nominal costs or free of cost," it said.

The Abhiyan listed down several other measures like ending of quota system and universalisation of Public Distribution System and provision of pulses, oil and sugar to all ration cardholders and provision of eggs, fruits and milk for children everyday through mid-day meal scheme.

It also demanded the enquiry to examine whether or not the family was covered by food security and social welfare programs like PDS ration, Anganwadi centre (which was located 10 meters from the house), mid-day meal and whether the mentally ill mother received any treatment.

"If the family was left out of the purview of these programmes, the inquiry must examine the reasons for their exclusion. The inquiry must fix accountability and ensure that officials who were in any way responsible for the exclusion of the family from these programs are held responsible."Chhatarpur (Madhya Pradesh), July 26 : On his second day of "Jan Ashirwad Yatra" on Thursday, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan slipped from the stairs of a stage after addressing a rally in Chhatarpur and fell down.

The Chief Minister, however, did not receive any injury.

Chouhan reached Chhatarpur from Panna on Thursday. After addressing several rallies on the way, he reached Chandla constituency in Chhatarpur district. After finishing his speech there, as he was getting down from the dais, he slipped and fell on the stairs.

His security personnel and party workers rushed to his help.

Chhatarpur District Magistrate Ramesh Bhandari said that the Chief Minister by mistake skipped a step on the stairs, due to which he lost his balance and slipped.

Chief Minister Chouhan was in Chhatarpur district as part of his two-day Jan Ashirwad Yatra in Bundelkhand region of the state. On Wednesday, he visited Damoh and Panna districts.Mumbai, July 26 : Director-producer Karan Johar who is happy with the success of his recently-released film "Dhadak", on Thursday praised filmmaker Shashank Khaitan saying that this is the best film that he has directed till date.

Johar was interacting with media at success meet of "Dhadak" along with film's actors Ishaan Khatter, Janhvi Kapoor and director Khaitan.

Asked what was his reaction after watching "Dhadak", he said: "When Shashank told me that he wants to remake (Marathi film) 'Sairat', I was bit scared because that film has its own individuality. The kind of tone that filmmaker (Nagraj Manjule) has been able to hold is very difficult to capture but confidence of Shashank is very infectious so, when we decided to make the film, I know it had to be with new talent.

"When I saw end of 'Dhadak', it made me shake a little bit but when I again watched it, I felt Shashank has done an exceptional job in adapting the source material."

Praising Khaitan further, Johar added: "He has taken lot of sequences from the original one but he made a new film and characters for pan India audience. It his third film as a director but in all three films that Shashank made, I think 'Dhadak' is his best film directorially.

"There are certain scenes where he has tried to take extra pauses and also added energy from his side. He has been very graphic, intelligent, strategic & emotional. As a director myself, I feel this combination is very rare to achieve so, I am very proud of him."

Asked whether he was nervous when his production house decided to remake the Marathi film in Hindi, Johar said: "I wasn't nervous, I was petrified and I still am because I think every time, you touch piece of art and recreate or adapt it, there is always monumental fear but I never looked at it like that. I have always said that this film is not anywhere meant to be compared with 'Sairat'.

"It's fan boy's homage to original source material so, if making 'Dhadak' is wrong, then every fan in the world is also wrong who appreciate great piece of art. In fact, I see so many people going back to watch 'Sairat' after they have seen 'Dhadak' and that is an achievement of homage. You cannot ever compete with brilliance of that filmmaker because he conceived it, wrote it and executed it so, we are just big fan of that film."

"Dhadak" has managed to mint a total of RS. 48.01 crore at the end of 6th day since its release and is expected to cross Rs 50 crore mark soon.Johannesburg, July 27 : India and China reiterated their commitment to maintain peace and tranquility along their border by enhancing communications between their militaries during a meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the annual BRICS Summit here.

"Both leaders have reaffirmed once again their readiness to give their militaries the necessary directions to enhance communications between them and to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas," Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said at a media briefing here on Thursday evening.

Indian and Chinese troops were in a face-off position for over two months on the Doklam plateau at the India-Bhutan-China tri-junction last year.

The stand-off began in June when Indian troops stalled a road building by the Chinese Army in the area, citing the disputed status of the region and its close proximity to India's artery in the northeast.

New Delhi objected to Chinese road building in Doklam because of the disputed status and its proximity to the Siliguri Corridor which links India's northeast to the rest of the country.

The stand-off ended in August after both sides retreated from the point of the face-off.

Thursday's meeting was the third between Modi and Xi after their informal meeting in Wuhan, China, in April initiated by Xi, and on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Summit (SCO) last month.

During the Wuhan meet, both Modi and Xi pledged to keep the India-China border quiet and personally guide their respective armies to avert a Doklam-like military stand-off in future.

According to Gokhale, during the meeting in Johannesburg, both sides saw "forward movement in the sense of delegations going to have specific talks on imports by China".

He said that a delegation representing the Indian pharmaceutical industry will visit China on August 21-22.

Beijing had given approval to import of generic Indian cancer-treatment drugs earlier this year.

"In addition, a number of Indian mills in the non-Basmati rice sector have been cleared by a Chinese delegation on the grounds of phyosanitary and quarantine requirement," the Indian Foreign Secretary said.

Following the Modi-Xi meeting in Qingdao, the 2006 Protocol on phytosanitary requirements for exporting rice from India to China was amended to include the export of non-Basmati varieties of rice from India.

Gokhale described the bilateral meeting as "very productive".

"The two leaders will meet again on the margins of the G20 Summit in Argentina at the end of this year," he added.

Modi and Xi earlier in the day participated in the 10th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit here.Johannesburg, July 27 : India and South Africa signed three agreements, including in the areas of agriculture and space cooperation, following bilateral talks between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on the sidelines of the annual BRICS Summit here.

Addressing the media here on Thursday evening, Indian Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said that both leaders expressed satisfaction at the growth of bilateral trade.

India-South Africa trade stood at a little over $4.1 billion till the end of August last year.

"Among the areas the Prime Minister said the South African companies should be exploring in India are defence, food processing and health insurance," Gokhale said.

The two sides signed three agreements on cooperation in exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, setting up of Mahatma Gandhi-Nelson Mandela Centre of specialisation for artisan skills, and agricultural research and education.

This was Modi's first meeting with Ramaphosa after the latter assumed office in February this year.Radisson Hospitality AB has signed an agreement for a new Radisson Blu Hotel in Prague. The upper upscale branded hotel will complement our Park Inn Hotel Prague - a city that is consistently ranked as one of the top 10 destinations in the world.

The Radisson Blu Hotel, Prague is a rebranding of an...

[]A three bedroom house in Spalding, a northeastern suburb of Geraldton, Western Australia, has been offered by mortgagees for $89,000.

It has been listed by Debbie Brittain from Ray White.

It was previously sold in 2008 for $255,000.

It was listed for $260,000 for 540 days in 2015-2017 but failed to sell.

Positioned at 14 Robinson St, the house comes with three bedrooms, good size lounge room, and fully enclosed back verandah with direct access to lock up garage..

Set on an 809sqm block, other features of the house include paved patio and large backyard with plenty of room for a shed.

The home has returned to 1990's levels of value where it also previously sold for a small loss in 1997 for $85,000 after being sold for $86,000 in 1992.

It is close to schools and shops.

The suburb's median house price sits at $130,000, according to CoreLogic.Cong accuses CM of mishandling the Maratha quota stir.

Mumbai: Accusing chief minister Devendra Fadnavis of mishandling the Maratha quota agitation, the Congress on Thursday demanded that Mr Fadnavis should quit before his own party decides to show him the door.

Violence was witnessed at many places during Wednesdays shutdown called by Maratha outfits demanding reservations in government jobs and educational institutes. Speaking to the media, state Congress chief Ashok Chavan said the law and order situation in the state was bad because of poor decision-making of the chief minister.

When asked about Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Rauts claim that there was talk within the BJP that the state leadership should be changed, Mr Chavan said, Congress is not concerned about the BJPs internal issues. The fact is that law and order situation in the state is not good, and the state government and Mr Fadnavis are responsible for that. We want him to quit before being replaced, said Mr Chavan. Further, he denied the allegation that Mr Fadnavis was being targeted because he is a non-Maratha.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Congress has announced that it will stage a morcha against the Union government on Monday over the Rafale fighter aircraft deal with France. The party has raised the issue as part of its agenda ahead of the general elections next year. Mr Chavan alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cheated people by hiding facts about the deal. Recently, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had questioned the government over the cost of the deal.

Mr Chavan asked, Defense minister Nir-mala Sitharaman had claimed that government cant make the amount public, but it is false. France governments agreement with Iran and Kuwait are in public domain then why our government is not declaring the amount?

Congress government had finalised Rs 526 crore per plane and France was also to give us technology, which would have boosted the Indian manufacturing in defense sector, said Mr Chavan adding that, But Modi government raised the price from Rs 526 crore to rs 1,670 crore. Also, now France wont be giving the technology.Jack Walker, a veteran who put himself through school and worked in the public sector until his retirement, has completed his new book "The Journey is the Goal": a gripping account of the authors journey from living in poverty with little education, to having a successful and prosperous professional life.

According to Walker, (I) dropped out of high school in (my) sophomore year and took jobs from the oil fields of Wyoming to a fishing boat in California. Even though a high school drop-out, (I) achieved a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Colorado College on the GI bill. (I) served on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier during the Korean war. Following the war and graduation, along with (my) pregnant wife and three children (I) moved to Chicago where (I) became the only white officer in a predominately black labor union during the civil rights turbulence of the 60s. (I) did graduate research at Roosevelt University for the book: Roles of the Labor Leader. And later taught in the Universitys labor Education Division while attending night classes at Chicago Kent College of Law. The 70s were spent as a civil rights investigator for the Office for Civil Rights, U. S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. (I have) been homeless in the bitter Wyoming winter and (I have) lived on Chicagos north lake shore in a luxury apartment while driving a Jaguar. Ive been rich and Ive been poor-rich is better.

Published by New York City-based Page Publishing, Jack Walker's incredible account of his life, including how he was placed in a home for needy children during the war years, 19421945, tells a tale of perseverance.

The author left the home in 1946 at age 15 and journeyed the difficult teen years as a high school dropout taking jobs ranging from the work camps of the forest service to the oil fields of Wyoming and the fishing boats of California. His feelings, thoughts, and actions along the way are those of a boysome dumb, some silly, and some maybe even profound. He knew cruel and frozen homelessness and hunger firsthand, as well as the kindness of strangers.

The reader will meet the mentors who helped shape the authors life: the loving and caring grandmother, the hard-as-nails grandfather, the nineteen-year-old seductress, the pool shark instructor, the crap shooters, the ex-GIs, some tough guys, some delicate guys, some good girls, some bad girls, and some people dumb as a rock and some smart as a whip. They all contributed to who the author became.

Readers who wish to experience this intriguing work can purchase The Journey is the Goal" at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, Google Play or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708.

About Page Publishing:

Page Publishing is a traditional New York based full-service publishing house that handles all of the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create - not bogged down with complicated business issues like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, shipping, taxes and the like. Its roster of authors can leave behind these tedious, complex and time consuming issues, and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com.The International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals (iaedp) announces the First Call for Entry to participate in the 9th annual Imagine Me Beyond What You See body image mannequin art competition with submissions accepted beginning Monday, October 15, 2018. The final deadline for submission is December 15, 2018. The winner and finalists will be announced during the 2019 iaedp Symposium, which will be held on February 7-10, 2019 at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort in Palm Desert, California.

The mixed-medium works are judged on clarity of theme, creativity and originality, quality of composition and design and the overall impression and presentation of the artwork. The Imagine Me Beyond What You See Awards Ceremony also includes the Professionals Choice Award, which is selected through online and onsite attendee voting by 2019 Symposium attendees.

The iaedp team also is seeking Sponsors for the 2019 Imagine Me Beyond What You See to support the art competition and receive major media and marketing benefits. Contact Blanche Williams at blanche(at)iaedp(dot)com for details.

About the iaedp Foundation: Since 1985, the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals has provided education and training standards to an international and multidisciplinary group of various healthcare treatment providers and helping professions. MemberSHARE.iaedp.com is an iaedp business journal and online member resource to learn about noteworthy member achievements, continuing education webinars and U.S. and international chapter activity and events; for more information, visit MemberSHARE.

The iaedp Foundations Presidents Council, which provides organization support, includes: Center for Change; Center for Hope of the Sierras; Eating Recovery Center; Laureate Eating Disorders Program; McCallum Place Eating Disorder Centers; The Meadows Ranch; Rogers Behavioral Health; Rosewood Centers for Eating Disorders; Selah House; The Renfrew Center; Timberline Knolls; and Veritas Collaborative.

More information about all aspects iaedp and its 2019 Symposium can be found at iaedp.com.An Achievable Dream (AAD) has received a three-year, $600,000 Hampton Roads Community Foundation grant to help expand AAD into middle school in Virginia Beach.

This fall, the first class of AAD Virginia Beach students, who graduated from Seatack Elementary AAD Academy, now rising sixth-graders, will attend Lynnhaven Middle School where the AAD middle school program will be housed. Plans for a dedicated AAD middle and high school in Virginia Beach will continue to develop. AAD expanded to Virginia Beach in 2014 with kindergarten through second-grade students, adding a grade level per year. The program will continue to follow this expansion model until it serves students in grades K12.

The Hampton Roads Community Foundation has provided generous support to AAD at Seatack Elementary, and we are so grateful for their support and vote of confidence as our students progress to middle school, states Kathy Edwards, AAD president and CEO. Our partnership with HRCF not only provides financial resources, but valued professional development opportunities and advice.

Founded in Newport News in 1992, AAD is guided by the belief that all children can learn and succeed given the right tools and opportunity. The organization partners with the school district and local schools to level the playing field for students to prepare them for success in school, college, and career. Currently in Virginia Beach, AAD operates a fully accredited K5 program in partnership with Seatack Elementary School. The K12 AAD program in Newport News maintains a 100% on-time graduation rate, and of graduates, 90% attend college or trade school and 10% join the military or enter the workforce.

We are proud of our partnership with An Achievable Dream and what we have achieved together in Virginia Beach, says Dr. Aaron Spence, Virginia Beach City Public Schools superintendent. Our city succeeds when our students succeed. AAD has made a big impact on the lives of students and families and I am thrilled to see the program grow into middle school and beyond.

The core of AADs success is its unique Social, Academic, and Moral Education (SAME) curriculum that compliments the standard academic curriculum in partner schools. The SAME curriculum consists of six highly structured courses: Speaking Green (workforce communication), Etiquette, Peaceful Conflict Resolution, Ethics, Mindfulness and Meditation/Healthy Living, and Financial Know-How. At the middle and high school level, the SAME components are integrated into a comprehensive workforce-development program, What It Takes, designed to help students master the habits, traits, and behaviors they will need to succeed in employment. The focus on workforce communication, social skills, conflict resolution, and character continues, with emphasis on workforce ethics, personal responsibility, and professional behavior.

The success of a program like An Achievable Dream is a true community effort, states Dr. Lee Vreeland, AAD vice president of academics and COO. For over 25 years, our strong partnerships have allowed us to serve students in Newport News with remarkable success, and since expanding to Virginia Beach we have seen the same outpouring of support from the community. We are thrilled to work with our partners to implement a full K12 program in Virginia Beach. Vreeland will assume the role of CEO of An Achievable Dream in September of this year.

For more information about An Achievable Dream Virginia Beach, visit achievabledream.org.

About An Achievable Dream:

An Achievable Dream is a nationally recognized educational nonprofit dedicated to the belief that all children can learn and succeed. Operating schools in partnership with Newport News Public Schools, Virginia Beach City Public Schools, and Henrico County Public Schools, An Achievable Dream develops independent, productive citizens through a Social, Academic, and Moral Education (SAME).These changes align our organization's talents to our strategic priorities focused on culture, employee engagement and satisfaction, performance and most importantly service to our clients.

As part of its ongoing leadership succession planning, Andesa Services announces strategic changes to its executive leadership team.

Michelle Cramer has been named Director of Client Relationship Management/Chief Actuary, accountable for client management and retention. Michelle has been with Andesa since 2014. Her continued growth and added responsibilities will allow her to focus on the value Andesa brings to the market while leveraging her actuarial leadership talent across Andesa.

Laura Fell joined Andesa in 2017 and has been named Human Resources Officer. In her new role, she assumes full responsibility for all of Andesas human resources functions. Andesas employees are the driving force behind the companys success. Lauras experience, leadership and energy will be invaluable to attract, develop, support and engage the right talent now and into Andesas future.

Mark Wilkin, Andesas CFO since 2011, expands his role to include responsibilities in the area of sales, sales management, marketing and strategic partner development. Marks new title of CFO/Business Development Executive reflects these added accountabilities. Marks focus will help fortify Andesas continued success.

As they move toward retirement, Vince Collier, Executive Vice President and Linda Ellison (LE), Director of Client Management, have now transitioned most of their executive responsibilities. However, they will continue to contribute to the organization as Advisors to the Executive Team. This move allows Andesa to continue to take advantage of the wisdom and years of experience of these individuals. Vince and LE will continue to participate in company planning efforts. In addition, they will serve as mentors to various leaders throughout the organization and will augment the leadership team where needed.

These transitions honor the personal wishes of Vince and LE, long-time Andesa leaders, while recognizing the contribution of Michelle, Mark and Laura to Andesas success, commented Ron Scheese, President and CEO of Andesa Services. These changes align our organizations talents to our strategic priorities focused on culture, employee engagement and satisfaction, performance and most importantly, service to our clients.

Excellence in cosmetic and general dentistry

It is with great pleasure to announce the opening of Summerwood Family Dental practice.

Dr. Spaniel is a 1991 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She did her residency at the Portland VA Medical center and moved with her husband, Adam, to Burlington, Vermont to start a private practice. After 25 years practicing dentistry in Vermont, their 4 children are grown and off to college and beyond. Dr. Spaniel and her husband have returned home to Portland.

Dr. Spaniel had the privilege to develop a practice based on genuine trust. She has the experience and expertise to perform at the highest level of quality. Dr. Spaniel takes pride in being an active member of the American Association of Oral Systemic Health. The premise that our oral health is directly related to the health of our entire body. We cannot live our best life and be at optimal health if our mouth, teeth, gums and oral tissues are inflamed and unhealthy. Understanding the individual needs of each person, how their medical history impacts their life and oral health allows her to tailor each plan of care to best fit a patients lifestyle.

Dr. Spaniel is an active member of the American Dental Association. She serves on the board of The American Academy of Dental Practice, she is the International Healthcare director for the non-profit organization, Refugee Outreach and works in Applicant review for the Wells Foundation. Dr. Spaniel has been involved with the American Academy of Oral Systemic Health since its inception and employs these efforts in her daily work.

Dr. Julie Spaniel has committed, in her spare time, over 27 years of her dental practice in volunteer service in Honduras, Ghana, Nicaragua and Mexico. Get to know more about her passion for serving those in the poorest regions of the world. Through partnership and collaboration with many smaller non-profits and even working by herself, Dr. Spaniel remains committed to continue her work through her transition to Oregon.

We welcome new patients to our practice on Lower Boones Ferry Road in Tigard.

Give Summerwood Family Dental a call today!

Phone - 503-906-8600

Address 18035 SW Lower Boones Ferry Road Tigard OR, 97224I think its important for other business owners to invest in experiences like this, because you should always be learning  learning and networking from other people in our industry.-Robert Yegehiaian, SourceOne Payroll

Apex HCM, a leader in payroll and human capital management, proudly hosted their inaugural Selling Skills Summit (S3) last Thursday and Friday, the 19th and 20th of July, at the Renaissance Atlanta Gateway Hotel. Service Bureau partners from Alaska to Maine attended the event for sales training to help accelerate their business growth. Service Bureau partners using the Apex HCM platform turned out in higher than expected numbers, filling the conference to capacity.

Apex HCM designed S3 as a training forum to help customers more effectively sell payroll and HCM services, as well as offer additional education to better enhance their skills on demonstrating Apex HCM software to their prospective clients. Apex HCM is committed to providing our customers not only a personal level of support for our software but also a unique support experience in terms of helping them grow their business, said Robert Digby, CEO of Apex HCM. Digby continued the fact that 93% of attendees reported extreme satisfaction with the S3 event, makes me tremendously proud of the hard work from our employees, and the dedication of our customers to spend the time and travel to learn new skills and become even stronger payroll sales professionals.

Robert Yegehiaian, Owner of SourceOne Payroll, and one of the presenters at S3 commented about the importance of attending training events like S3, I think its important for other business owners to invest in experiences like this, because you should always be learning  learning and networking from other people in our industry. Marty Hamby, President at Apex HCM, presented a sales training session at S3 and reflected on the event, Our customers energy and passion to provide great payroll service was no surprise. But we also witnessed at S3 there was that same level of enthusiasm about learning new sales skills and strategies. Beyond the training, attendees reported the networking across the Apex HCM community, as a huge value to growing their business.

Given the strong customer feedback, Apex HCM immediately committed to S3 becoming an annual event. Next up on the Apex HCM event calendar, Apex holds the 10th anniversary of its annual users conference, aptly named Align 2018 on September 21-22, 2018. With live product demo trainings, industry knowledge sessions and courses on better selling Apex services, as well as a Friday Night Bash on Bourbon Street in New Orleans celebrating the Apex HCM 10 year anniversary, Align2018 is a conference not to be missed! To find out more information and to register, visit the website at https://apexhcm.com/events/

About Apex HCM:

Apex HCM is a market leader in licensing cloud-based payroll, benefits and HR technology. Over 300 payroll service firms nationally use Apexs technology as the core of their business foundation. Our highly customizable and comprehensive suite of products and services include payroll & tax, time & attendance, benefits enrollment, ACA, human resources, mobile apps, reports & analytics, employee onboarding, applicant tracking, and other business management tools normally reserved for large enterprises. Apex HCMs cutting-edge cloud-based software allows its customers to effectively compete feature-for-feature with larger established firms while dramatically improving their workforce productivity

For information contact:

For more information, please visit https://apexhcm.com or call 877-750-APEX (2739).Offence: Walking in Forgiveness, Freedom, and Favor: a guide to coping with the trespasses of others. Offence: Walking in Forgiveness, Freedom, and Favor is the creation of published author, Bennie R. Edison. Pastor Edison received his bachelor of arts degree in religion and sociology from Louisiana College in Pineville, Louisiana. His certification in ministry is from Rhema Correspondence Bible College in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He served on the board of trustees at Peabody High School. Pastor Edison has been married to Minister Sherry Edison for thirty-two graceful years. They have six kids and numerous grandkids. Pastor Edison and his wife, Minister Sherry Edison, are an anointed duo that God is using to make a change in the lives of people. As a dynamic ministry team, they are dedicated servants of God working together to make Comforter Community Church a place to find comfort for the soul. Pastor Bennie R. Edison has a tremendous passion for Gods Word and a love for Gods people. He has a contagious spirit of faith and generosity that flows through every facet of the ministry the Lord has charged him with. Having received his mandate from God, Pastor Edison obediently fulfills his calling as pastor of Comforter Community Church. Called to ministry on October 14, 1994, Pastor Edison began his ministry as an evangelist/teacher, sharing the gospel in cities across the State. In 1997, he was led by the Lord to start Great Deliverance Ministry, an outreach ministry that has recorded thousands coming to the Lord Jesus. In 2009, he was called to the pastorate of the Comforter Community Church, a beacon in Alexandria, Louisiana for over twenty years. Starting with less than fifteen members, Pastor Edison is seeing the fulfillment of Ephesians 3:20, [n]ow unto Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we can ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. His vision is uncompromisingly clear with one central principle: to build and develop a kingdom of empowered people for God.

After experiencing offense at the hands of pastors and people in the church, the Lord knew I had enough experience to write to the body of Christ on the topic of offense. --Bennie R. Edison

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Bennie R. Edisons new book encourages people to embrace forgiveness, freedom, and favor.

After enduring insult and injury, Bennie R. Edison was inspired by God to show others how to cope with the wrongs done against them and embrace true forgiveness. Offence: Walking in Forgiveness, Freedom, and Favor is an easy-read book for those who need help dealing with offence.

It offers Christians advice on how to identify true offence and the sources of offence before showing them how to begin the process of healing from the affects of offense. The believer will learn how to forgive those who have offended them. They will learn how to walk in the freedom that Jesus Christ obtained for them through his death, burial, and resurrection. They will understand how to walk in the favor of God on a daily basis.

View a synopsis of Offence: Walking in Forgiveness, Freedom, and Favor on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase Offence: Walking in Forgiveness, Freedom, and Favor at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Offence: Walking in Forgiveness, Freedom, and Favor, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.A Labyrinth Walk Of Life: a series of essays that make the case for Theofatalism. A Labyrinth Walk Of Life is the creation of published author, Lewis Tagliaferre, a retired researcher, writer, and publisher of magazine and technical journal articles in the fields of energy and electrical construction.

This is not the manmade god in holy books, but the prime mover in the universe  generator, operator, destroyer  GOD. God above Gods. Dont believe in God? Never fear; God makes atheists and agnostics, too. That is the message of this book. --Lewis Tagliaferre

The Scriptural evidence points to the will of God in every aspect of every life of every species on Earth. The Psalm 139:16, NLT states, You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book! From atoms to galaxies, nothing can happen outside the will of God. Theofatalism must, therefore, be valid.

A Labyrinth Walk Of Life is a collection of essays that make the case for Theofatalism from the perspective of psychology, politics, geology, sociology, economics, history, cosmology and more. Relying on Scripture and the analytical psychology of Swiss psychiatrist Carl G. Jung, A Labyrinth Walk Of Life explores contemporary issues of life before discussing the Jungian personality factors in aging.

View a synopsis of A Labyrinth Walk Of Life on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase A Labyrinth Walk Of Life at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about A Labyrinth Walk Of Life, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.These companies have risen substantially over the last year however, in many ways they still have great potential over the long term.

Bill Poulos, President and Co-Founder of Profits Run, Inc., announced five tech companies to watch in 2018. Even as the market moves sideways, Poulos shared that these five companies have positioned themselves to take advantage of a world thats becoming more and more dependent on the internet and cloud computing. On July 20, 2018, Poulos published the article 5 Tech Companies To Watch In 2018. In the article Poulos disclosed, These companies have risen substantially over the last year however, in many ways they still have great potential over the long term.

Poulos named PTC, Inc. (formally known as Parametric Technology Corporation) the first of the five tech companies to watch this year. Poulos shared that the main product offerings are ThingWorx, which is a platform to develop and deploy industrial Internet of Things (IoT) applications and augmented reality experiences, and KEPServerEX solution to provide communications connectivity for industrial automation environments to connect, manage, monitor, and control disparate devices and software application. The price of PTC, Inc. has double over the last year. Bill continued, saying that the market for the IoT is still wide open and has huge potential in the future.

Company number two analyzed by Poulos is Salesforce.com, Inc. Bill explains, The company offers Sales Cloud to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, and gain insight through analytics and relationship intelligence, as well as customer contact solutions to deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices. In addition to Sales Cloud, Bill shares the company also offers customer services solutions under the product Service Cloud to help clients with customer service and customer support solutions, including scheduling, trading and managing jobs in real-time. In addition to these products, they offer Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, and Community Cloud allowing companies a suite of products to better manage and analyze customer interactions. The price of Salesforce has grown over 50% in the last year. Bill believes that Salesforce.com, Inc. is a company to back and explains, selling to and retaining good customers is critical to both online and traditional business, making CRM applications more critical for the future.

Adobe Systems Incorporated landed in spot number three of Poulos list of five tech companies to watch this year. Bill reveals that Adobe is a worldwide provider of software solutions for individuals, small and medium sized business, and large enterprises to create, publish, promote, and monetize their digital content. The companys flagship product is named Creative Cloud, but Bill reveals their customers include content providers, web application developers, digital media professionals, marketing departments of all size, or just about any business or enterprise that does any publishing or online video. Bill stated that Adobe is a "worldwide leader in everything published online and the world in only becoming more dependent on high quality online publishing solutions.

The fourth company to watch is F5 Networks, Inc. Bill shares F5 Networks is a software infrastructure company that specializes in application delivery networking technology for the delivery of web applications, including the security, performance and availability serves, data storage management and other network and cloud resources. This includes products like web-based firewall security, network load balancing, and acceleration and global enterprise network management. Poulos continued, As the world becomes more dependent on large scale cloud-based networks, F5 Networks is well situated for growth.

The last company Poulos suggests people watch in 2018 is NetApp, Inc. Bill stated, NetApp, Inc. provides software solutions, hardware systems, and services to manage and share data on location, or on private or public network clouds worldwide. Offering Cloud data storage, and data management including, enterprise cloud data synchronization and data backup services. NetApp also provides software and hardware maintenance, education, and training services as well as enterprise support solutions. Bill reveals that NetApp is certainly a company to watch. He shares their stock price has doubled in the last year and as more and more networks and things are connected to internet cloud networks, NetApp is well positioned to take advantage of this growth into the future.

Bill Poulos co-founded Profits Run, Inc. He is President of the company. Poulos has been investing in the markets since the early to mid 70s. He has become a veteran investor and market analyzer. He is a retired automotive executive (General Motors), philanthropist, and published author. Poulos is in the midst of creating a site dedicated to showing the youth of America successful African American entrepreneurs, in hopes of giving kids great role models to inspire them to do great things with their lives. Bill has written multiple books, including Simple Options Trading For Beginners: How to trade options from A to Z explained in plain English and The 5 Most Dangerous Trends Threatening Your Portfolio. He earned his MBA, as a finance major, from the University of Michigan. Earlier in life, he received a bachelor's in engineering from GMI (General Motors Institute). Poulos and his wife live in Michigan. Together they have three children.

About Profits Run, Inc.

Profits Run, Inc. was established in 2001. The company's name originated from, "Cut your losses and let your profits run", a popular saying amongst traders. Profits Runs mission is to help educate folks on simpler ways to invest that utilize proper risk management methods. The company was founded by Bill Poulos and his son Gregory Poulos.Technicians in the Americas can resolve issues in the field faster with new web-based, problem-solving guides. These new troubleshooting guides are the latest addition, and give the technician just one more avenue to find answers to their service questions.

Boon Edam Inc., a global leader in security entrances and architectural revolving doors, is proud to announce the launch of new interactive troubleshooting guides for accelerating the diagnosis and problem-solving process for service technicians in the Americas. As part of the companys commitment to providing the best support for its service partners, any registered technician with internet access, working on a Boon Edam security entrance can now view and interact with the troubleshooting guides.

Boon Edam Inc. continues to be the market leader in pedestrian security entrance solutions, according to a recent IHS Markit report, and, because of strong revenue growth over the past five years, particularly with Fortune 100 companies, the rate of product installations nationwide has also increased. In response to an increase in technical service calls, Boon Edam continues to find new ways to bring current and just-in-time information to on-site field technicians. For example, a few months ago, the company released a new online chat feature to the website.

The new online troubleshooting guides work as an algorithm, where the technician begins troubleshooting by selecting a product and then a particular issue from a list of the most common field issues. He or she then answers a series of yes or no questions to drill down to the solution.

Were excited to be adding to the self-service tool bag weve been putting together for the service technician, says Kevin Thomasson, VP of Customer Experience, Boon Edam. Technicians have a number of items in their arsenal already  phone support, a chat function on the website, new instructional videos, and even a traveling training program they can attend. These new troubleshooting guides are the latest addition, and give the technician just one more avenue to find answers to their service questions.

The troubleshooting guides are currently available in English on three of Boon Edams most popular security products: the Circlelock mantrap portal, the Tourlock security revolving door and the Speedlane Lifeline optical turnstile series.

To obtain access to the troubleshooting guides, technicians should visit https://www.boonedam.us/troubleshoot and fill out the form.

For Further Information, Please Contact:

Tracie Thomas, Boon Edam Inc.

Vice President of Marketing

T 910 814 8239

E tracie.thomas@boonedam.com

For Media Queries, Please Contact:

Sara Chaput, LRG Marketing

Public Relations

T 845 358 1801

E schaput@lrgmarketing.com

About Royal Boon Edam:

With work environments becoming increasingly global and dynamic, the smart, safe entry has become the center of activity in and around many buildings. Royal Boon Edam is a global market leader in reliable entry solutions. Headquartered in the Netherlands, with 140 years of experience in engineering quality, we have gained extensive expertise in managing the transit of people through office buildings, airports, healthcare facilities, hotels and many other types of buildings. We are focused on providing an optimal, sustainable experience for our clients and their clients. By working together with you, our client, we help determine the exact requirements for the entry point in and around your building. Follow Boon Edam Inc. on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and our blog and read the latest news at http://www.boonedam.us/news.The police suspects that the murder took place allegedly over a girl whom the accused and the victim liked.

Mumbai: Three persons stabbed a 17-year-old boy to death after calling him outside his college in Bhandup around 9.20 am on Thursday. The accused requested the teenager, Sushilkumar Verma, to walk with them about 100 meters from the campus before stabbing him twice in the chest and assaulting him. They then fled. The police suspects that the murder took place allegedly over a girl whom the accused and the victim liked.

A murder case has been registered, and the Bhandup police arrested two persons, whose names have been withheld.

Verma, who was studying in Smt Ramkalidevi Sanman Singh Vidya Mandir & Junior College, was rushed to a public hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.

The police swung into action and, based on eyewitness accounts and other details about the suspects, identified a few persons.

We have detained two persons, said Srinivas Panhale, senior inspector of Bhandup police station.

All the parties involved are stated to be studying in the same college.

The preliminary probe in the case revealed that the murder took place over a girl and the gruesome murder was allegedly hatched to teach Verma a lesson.

The police is now recording the statement of his the deceaseds friends to ascertain what culminated in the recent past leading to the crime.

According to the police, the investigation into the murder is underway.

The police are checking CCTV footage from the college campus and surrpunding areas to ascertain what happened and to further their investigation in the murder case.CHN/CSC partnership provides support to cancer patients and their loved ones. While many matches begin with a shared diagnosis or similar treatments, we also help cancer patients and caregivers connect based on personality or lifestyle circumstances.

Facing cancer treatment and survivorship got a little easier for patients and caregivers in the Lehigh Valley, thanks to a partnership between Cancer Hope Network (CHN) and Cancer Support Community of Greater Lehigh Valley (CSCGLV). The groups recently hosted a joint Member Connections training. The Member Connections program began in 2015 and trains cancer survivors to provide support to others facing cancer.

The day began as volunteers shared their stories, discussing challenges like recurring or metastasizing cancers, working and caring for children through treatment or facing life with lymphedema. They talked about treatments  including acupuncture, immunotherapy, bone marrow transplants, robotic surgeries and participating in clinical trials.

Then, came the pet discussions  including tales of foster cats, a giant German shepherd and a grumpy cat named George.

Each Support Volunteer we train is unique  some are funny or quirky or have wildly interesting hobbies. Nearly all have faced a wide range of challenges in life  some cancer related, some not, said Cynthia Gutierrez-Bernstein, CHNs Director of Programs. While many matches begin with a shared diagnosis or similar treatments, we also help cancer patients and caregivers connect based on personality or lifestyle circumstances.

The survivor volunteers share practical advice and lessons theyve learned since their own diagnoses. My surgeon didnt have time to answer all of my questions, so I asked if there was a resident or medical student I could talk to, recalled Mary Ellen.

Linda, a breast cancer survivor who has been a Member Connections volunteer since 2015, encourages patients to visit hospitals and treatment centers theyre considering. See how you feel when you walk in, she advises. You have to be comfortable where you are. You wouldnt buy a house or an apartment without a visit.

Cancer Support Community is pleased to partner with CHN, said Jen Sinclair Program Director for CSCGLV. Our collaboration helps people move through their cancer experience with information, encouragement and confidence.

CSC is doing amazing work to help patients, survivors and caregivers in the Greater Lehigh Valley, Gutierrez-Bernstein continued. Together, we will ensure that no one faces cancer alone.

We are pleased to welcome the following volunteers to the CHN/CSC-GLV family:



Amanda  Breast (with recurrence to bone and organs), stage 4

Barbara  Uterine/Bladder

Cecelia  Uterine, stage 1B

Dianne  Melanoma, stage 3C

Hally  Breast, stage 2

Katy  Acute Myeloid Leukemia (recur, FLT3+, t(6:9) mutations)

Mary Ellen  Multiple cancers (basal, melanoma, breast cancer recurrence, thyroid), all stage 1

Rebecca  Breast, stage 0/1

Susanne  Breast, stage 4, Chloroma (leukemia)

About Cancer Hope Network

Cancer Hope Network provides free one-on-one emotional support to adult cancer patients and their caregivers. Each of our 400+ volunteers is at least one year post-treatment or successfully undergoing maintenance therapies. CHN Support Volunteers have faced more than 80 cancer types and speak 15 languages. They offer encouragement from diagnosis, through treatment and into survivorship.

ABOUT Cancer Support Community -Greater Lehigh Valley

The Cancer Support Communitys programs help people affected by cancer  survivors, caregivers, friends and family  regain control of their lives, reduce stress and isolation, and restore a sense of hope for a better quality of life regardless of the stage of the disease or the type of cancer.Russian Orthodox cathedral and Cultural Center in Paris. CREDIT: Ninara (CC) This valuable case study on Russian influence in France sheds light on Russia's soft power strategies to bolster allied political parties in established European democracies.

Launched in the summer of 2017, the year-long Carnegie Council research project "Russian soft power in France" explored Russian influence in French political parties and civil society institutions today. The research includes historical background on relations between France and Russia, which is essential to an understanding of the current situation. This valuable case study on France sheds light on Russia's soft power strategies to bolster allied political parties in established European democracies.

The participants were project leader and Carnegie Council Senior Fellow Marlene Laruelle, of The George Washington University; Nicolas Lebourg, of the University of Montpelier; and Jean-Yves Camus, of the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs, Paris (IRIS). Each researcher produced a paper in French (which was then translated into English) and the papers were presented at three separate events in Paris. In June 2018, Carnegie Council held a concluding event at its headquarters in New York, during which the researchers shared their findings and offered a captivated audience a window into Franco-Russian relations.

Project Resources

Russian Soft Power in France: Assessing Moscow's Cultural and Business Para-diplomacy

Marlene Laruelle

This fascinating and detailed account maps Russian soft power in France by looking at networks that are not directly state-produced: diaspora organizations, those linked to business, the major Orthodox foundations, the Russian Orthodox Church, and the think tanks and media realms. (In French and English)

The French Far Right in Russia's Orbit

Nicolas Lebourg

"Far-right groups in France are not restricted to the party of the Le Pen family. They are diverse, operate through networks, and are now well within Russia's force field. But this is not only the result of Vladimir Putin's charisma or Marine Le Pen's need for funds. The Russian question has drawn French nationalist activists into combat, both at the rhetorical levelover the promotion of competing geopolitical visionsand at the level of armed combat." (In French and English)

French Political Parties in Russia: The Politics of Power and Influence

Jean-Yves Camus

"In 2018, what relationship do French political parties have with the Russian Federation, its government, and its political parties, including but not limited to its most prominent party, United Russia?" asks Camus. Rather than accepting the conventional wisdom that financial relationships are the primary explanation and that Russia's main goal is to meddle in Frances internal affairs, Camus takes a different approach. (In French and English)

New York Event  Russian Soft Power in France, with Marlene Laruelle and Jean-Yves Camus

It's important to understand that Russia and France have had a centuries-long relationship which is mostly positive, say French scholars Marlene Laruelle and Jean-Yves Camus. Today there are layers of close economic and cultural ties, as well as common geopolitical interests, and the French extreme right and Russia share many of the same conservative values. Thus the remarkable strength of Russian influence in France is not surprising. (Audio, video and transcript. This event took place in English. There is a French translation of the transcript.)

For links to all these resources and additional articles written by the researchers that were published in other publications, go to the project webpage and scroll down to Program Resources: https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/programs/Russian-Soft-Power-in-France.

This project is supported in part by a grant from the Foundation Open Society Institute in cooperation with the OSIFE of the Open Society Foundations.

Founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1914, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs is an educational, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that produces lectures, publications, and multimedia materials on the ethical challenges of living in a globalized world. Go to http://www.carnegiecouncil.org.GovSense will take Ocala to the next level and were looking forward to making everyday tasks easier for both city employees and constituents.

GovSense, a leading cloud-based software solution provider for state and local government, announced that the City of Ocala, Floridas Growth Management Department has chosen the GovSense unified software solution to replace its current system.

The City of Ocala implemented a paperless ordinance that requires all constituents to submit plans and requests of all types electronically, including commercial and residential versions, and for the comprehensive start-to-finish process to be 100% digital. This mandate necessitated the citys need for an easy-to-use technology solution to digitally manage the entire submission, review, exception, approval and payment workflow, while also providing a user-friendly interface for constituents.

Gary McTall, GovSense co-founder, explained the importance of having a 360-degree view of the jurisdictions Growth Management Department. GovSense will empower City of Ocala employees and the citizens they serve with an end-to-end growth management solution. By providing the city with a single solution to manage revitalization services, economic development, financial management, business licensing, planning, permitting, inspections, and code enforcement, community leaders will gain accurate real-time visibility across all departments and economically navigate current and future improvements for constituents, he stated.

In addition, Ocalas Growth Management Department encourages sustainable growth while overseeing community development. Thanks to GovSenses partnership with Esri Geographic Information Systems (GIS) the city will now be able to make use of powerful mapping and analytics software to find the best way to deliver new infrastructure, share ideas with citizens and business owners and bring prosperity to the community.

GovSense is one of the most unique, powerful and adaptable permitting softwares on the market, said Tye Chighizola, Growth Management Director for the City of Ocala. GovSense will take Ocala to the next level and were looking forward to making everyday tasks easier for both city employees and constituents.

The City of Ocala recently started the GovSense software implementation process, for which they will receive ongoing support and training from GovSense experts.

About GovSense

GovSense built the first unified, true-cloud solution designed specifically for local government. GovSense empowers jurisdictions with flexible, easy-to-use software that enables collaboration in finance and accounting, budgeting, utility billing, fund and project management, economic development, asset management, GIS, inspections and enforcement, planning, and permitting and licensing. In addition, the companys implementation approach is driven by business processes, not technology. GovSense utilizes the agile implementation methodology that results in rapid time to value for all jurisdictions, regardless of what challenges specific departments face. The company delivers user-friendly software solutions tailored to jurisdictions requirements in weeks and months, not months and years.

For more information, visit http://www.govsense.com.With Theora Care, we have a proven remote monitoring solution for busy, time-challenged family caregivers to help increase their peace of mind about a family members status.

Clairvoyant Networks, LLC announced today that Caregiver.com, a leading online and print resource for caregivers and care teams, has awarded the companys Theora Connect and Theora Link remote monitoring technology for caregivers with its prestigious Caregiver Friendly Product Award for 2018.

Clairvoyant began product shipments last month to family and professional caregivers.

Caregiving is an honorable role, but we also know it can be emotionally and physically challenging, often resulting in detrimental effects on the caregivers well being, said Gary Barg, Editor in Chief of Todays Caregiver magazine. This award is designed to help family caregivers recognize and reward those organizations who will care for them in as committed a manner as they care for their loved ones.

The affordable Theora Connect wearable, coupled with the easy-to-use Theora Link Smartphone App for caregivers, provides a complete, pre-activated solution to enable care teams to stay connected with care recipients. Understanding that family and professional caregivers cannot be present 100 percent of the time, Theora Care is the first technology to use situational awareness  knowing how, when and where a care recipient may need attention. Situational awareness provides peace of mind for caregivers, and independence for those with Alzheimers, dementia, Autism, Parkinsons, and other conditions where additional oversight is needed. Theora Care solutions support a care recipients desire to live in their own home longer, pursuing their usual activities  including employment  but with the added security of their care partners knowing where they are and have direct communication via cellular and two-way audio.

Stephen Popovich, president and chief executive officer at Clairvoyant Networks, and a named Fellow of the Texas A&M University Center for Population Health and Aging (CPHA), expanded on the increasing requirement for remote monitoring technology for caregivers. With Theora Care, we have a proven solution for busy, time-challenged family caregivers to help increase their peace of mind about a family members status. Caregivers using the technology are finding that not only can they monitor a loved ones status remotely, but also feel more comfortable taking their family members to stores, restaurants - more social activities - knowing they can locate and contact them using the solution in the event they become separated.

About The Caregiver Friendly Awards

The Caregiver Friendly Awards are presented by Todays Caregiver magazine to celebrate outstanding books, media, products and services which have been designed with the best interest of the caregiver and his or her loved one in mind. Today's Caregiver magazine and caregiver.com, launched in 1995, are published by Caregiver Media Group, which also produces the Fearless Caregiver Conferences.

About Clairvoyant Networks, LLC

Clairvoyant Networks, LLC, has developed the Theora Care suite of IoT devices and SaaS applications to provide family and professional caregivers with better condition information, communications, and location services for care recipients. Our solutions deliver situational awareness not only for the caregiver, but also for the professionals, medical and care management that are involved in the loved ones care plan. Our customers range from family and professional caregivers to technology leaders, as well as our ongoing participation in research studies with government health organizations and academia. Clairvoyant Networks, LLC, has offices in Austin, TX, and Raleigh, NC. For further information and to see how we can help you, please reach us at http://www.theoracare.com, support@theoracare.com, or follow us on Twitter @Theora_Care, on Facebook at facebook.com/theoracare and on YouTube at youtube.com/theoracare.

Contact:

Melanie Guthrie

Clairvoyant Networks, LLC

512-751-8478

melanie.guthrie@clairvoyantnetworks.com

 2018 Clairvoyant Networks, LLC. Theora, Theora Care, Theora Connect, Quik Connect are all trademarks of Clairvoyant Networks, LLC. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.The Construction Advancement Institute (CAI) Scholarship Committee with some of the 2018 scholarship recipients.

As part of its mission to improve the building and construction industry sectors, the Construction Advancement Institute (CAI) recently awarded $45,000 in grants to nine regional undergraduate students who are enrolled in engineering, architecture, construction technology, construction management or other related programs this fall. CAI is the educational and advocacy organization aligned with the Building Contractors Association of Westchester and Mid-Hudson Inc. (BCA).

On Tuesday, July 10, the CAI Scholarship Committee held an awards luncheon near the organizations headquarters in Tarrytown N.Y. CAI Chairman Mark Fante of Darante Construction Ltd. in Elmsford, N.Y., presented nine $5,000 grants to students for use in the upcoming 2018-2019 academic year.

The money our industry raises and disburses for college scholarships is one of several annual charity efforts performed by members of organized labor and construction contracting companies for the lower Hudson Valley communities, said Fante. Our goal is to strengthen the ranks of engineers and technologists employed in the region, to help keep our local economies competitive and growing.

The following scholarship awardees were chosen from more than two dozen applicants and were judged by the CAI Scholarship Committee:



Nicola Altomare of Yonkers, N.Y., will be attending Rensselear Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., to pursue a degree in electrical engineering. He is the grandson of a member of the Bricklayers & Allied Craftworkers Local 1 New York.

Marina Braccio of New Canaan, C.T., attends New York University in New York City, pursuing a degree in real estate. She is the daughter of a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 137.

Paul Briggs of Shrub Oak, N.Y., attends Manhattan College in Riverdale, N.Y., pursuing a degree in civil engineering. He is the son of an associate of the BCA member company Sentrale Contracting Inc. in White Plains, N.Y.

Abigail C. Campbell of Geneseo, N.Y., attends Alfred State College of Technology in Alfred, N.Y., pursuing a degree in construction management. She is the daughter of an associate of the BCA member company LeChase Construction in Armonk, N.Y.

Justin Campbell of Geneseo, N.Y., attends Alfred State College of Technology in Alfred, N.Y., pursuing a degree in construction management. He is the son of an associate of the BCA member company LeChase Construction based in Armonk, N.Y.

Andrew J. Griffin of Yonkers, N.Y., attends New York State University at Buffalo, pursuing a degree in architecture. He is the son of an associate of the BCA member company Yonkers Contracting Company Inc.

David Ross of Port Jervis, N.Y., will be attending Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, C.T., to pursue a degree in computer science. He is the son of a member of the Carpenters Union Local 279.

Albert C. Rossi of Shrub Oak, N.Y., will be transferring from Westchester Community College in Valhalla, N.Y., to Manhattan College in Riverdale, N.Y., to continue to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering. He is the son of a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 137.

Joshua Wyant of Germantown, N.Y., attends Clarkson University in Potsdam, N.Y., pursuing a degree in civil engineering/construction management. He is the son of a member of the Carpenters Union Local 279.

The CAI College Scholarship Program offers $5,000 grants to incoming and currently enrolled undergraduate students. Scholarships are available for students of families employed at companies that are members of the BCA, as well as non-member independent contractors who contribute to qualifying industry advancement funds. Applications are also accepted from eligible students related to members of the following building construction union locals: Bricklayers Local 1, Carpenters Local 279, Laborers Local 235 and Operating Engineers Local 137.

Since inception, the CAI College Scholarship Program has awarded more than $225,000 to more than three dozen students throughout the Hudson Valley region and lower Fairfield County. By affiliation, the Construction Industry Council of Westchester & Hudson Valley Inc. (CIC) also offers college grants for the children of families employed at CIC member companies and affiliated labor unions.

For more information about the program, please contact Laurel Brunelle at 914-631-1033 or laurel@bcanys.org. Scholarship applications for the 2019-2020 school year will be available on http://www.caiwestchester.org next spring.

ABOUT THE CONSTRUCTION ADVANCEMENT INSTITUTE

The Construction Advancement Institute (CAl) was founded to promote activities that encourage, foster and stimulate the common interests of building contractors and subcontractors. The organization offers a variety of programs and activities that fulfill its mission to promote and improve the business and general welfare of building construction and other related industries. The CAI also serves as the bridge between the myriad of new technologies that are impacting the construction marketplace. In affiliation with the Building Contractors Association of Westchester and Mid-Hudson Inc. (BCA), the CAI aims to ensure the prosperity and growth of Westchester County and its surrounding areas.We have brought Rich onboard to build a business based on Curexs differentiated FX data and the unique pre- and post-trade data products we have developed over the past two years.

The Curex Group, an institutional foreign exchange execution services and data analytics company, announced today the appointment of Richard Daniels as Managing Director, Data Products and Sales.

Reporting directly to James Singleton, Curex Groups Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Daniels will be driving new business opportunities for Curexs unique streaming FX data set, live data analytics and associated trading tools.

Daniels brings more than two decades of capital markets experience primarily focused on electronic trading in the US, UK and European equities markets. Prior to joining Curex Group, he served as Vice President, Electronic Trading at Fidelity Investments. Before that, he was a Senior Analyst at TABB Group, LLC, and previously a Vice President at Intercontinental Exchange [NYSE Group] both in London, UK and New York.

"We have brought Rich onboard to build a business based on Curexs differentiated FX data and the unique pre- and post-trade data products we have developed over the past two years. Richs expertise, primarily in equities, gives us an informed perspective on the opportunities to capitalize on the institutional markets need to improve its FX market performance and evolve their analytical tools, said Singleton. "Richs successful track record and extensive experience in product management will help us expand our data business and contribute to our firms growth.

Daniels began his career at Putnam Investments, Inc. in Boston. From there, he joined Merrill Lynch in New York, as an Assistant Vice President, International Equity Trading. In addition, he has held additional roles as Director of Sales at IHS Markit and Principal Advisor at ViableMkts LLC.

Curex is a team of seasoned foreign exchange professionals with an unwavering drive to provide the buy-side with greater efficiency, access to high-quality data and intelligence to foster best execution, stated Daniels. I am truly excited to join Curex with the mandate to develop its data business and execute on a strategy that will take the firm to the next level.

About Curex Group

Curex Group Holdings, LLC is a foreign exchange focused execution services and data analytics provider. Our singular focus is to improve the FX experience for every buy side institution. Curex operates an FX ECN with robust no last look liquidity and complete transparency. Our unique market and trading analytics delivers meaningful intelligence to our customers. Our FTSE Curex FX Benchmarks provide real time measurements to assess trading results and provide valuation metrics. Our mission is to work in partnership with our clients to add unparalleled clarity to all their foreign exchange activities. Our process and approach deliver demonstrable best execution outcomes that are auditable and support our customers efforts to make better trading decisions. Curex is headquartered in New York City and independently owned and operated.Root Ventures Partners Root Ventures is one of the few funds that's willing to look under the hood and understand the tech you've built and why it matters.

By Engineers, for engineers; Root Ventures today announced it has closed its sophomore fund to propel a fresh wave of industry-shifting hardware and software into existence. The fund, oversubscribed and more than double the size of its last, will focus on leading and co-leading seed rounds for highly select teams of deeply technical founders -- seasoned engineers with mature domain expertise and a penchant for bold ideas.

General Partner Avidan Ross officially launched Root Ventures as a seed fund in 2015 with a Pi sized raise; $31,415,926.53 to the penny. Over the course of three years, Root has become a dauntless sounding board for experienced technical minds who are unafraid to go deep into the weeds of some of the most difficult problems facing consumers and big business today.

Ross states, Our fund was built by engineers, for engineers from the ground up. Since launch, weve guided more than 25 technical teams from concept to execution, supporting founders as an invisible employee every step of the way wherever they need it most. Technical strategy assistance, design review, manufacturing, recruiting -- whatever the challenge is, weve been in their shoes many times over, and were happy to share what we learned in the trenches.

Since launch, two additional partners have joined Root: rising venture star and industrial automation junkie Kane Hsieh and Apple and Square hardware veteran Chrissy Meyer. While Meyers decade of experience bringing hardware to life at scale brings insight on the consumer and manufacturing side, Hsieh delivers seasoned guidance to Roots B2B and automation companies.

At Root, being an investor goes so far beyond writing a check, says Root Partner Chrissy Meyer, We exist to help companies turn a sketch on a napkin into a shippable product. This often means reviewing manufacturing contracts, debugging failure modes, helping build out supply chains -- were willing to roll up our sleeves and be there through all the ups and downs.

Now, with their second fund, Root is jetting forward at the speed of sound (767.269 MPH to be exact), with its raise weighing in at $76,726,900 on the nose. The new fund aims to further Roots mission to help proven technical talent give old industries new brains with groundbreaking software and efficient hardware to match.

Rather than write lots of small checks, Root invests in an elite group of companies for which they believe they can offer actionable guidance. In the 6-8 companies that Root funds annually, its partners are seeking engineers who share their Trojan Horse approach to disruption, deeply embedding technology into industries that need it most. For Roots portfolio roster, oftentimes this means leveraging software and hardware to forecast market movement, efficiently automate antiquated processes, or elegantly augment existing technologies to nudge them into the future.

In addition to the sophomore fund, Root has opened a new space that reflects the self-made ambition of its companies. Rather than operate on an incubator or accelerator model, Roots offices exist as a space for the three partners to hack and entrepreneurs to drop in whenever they need to hammer out ideas or tough problems. At Root, office hours are an all-day affair, bearing the right equipment to get any technical mind racing: a custom-built wifi-powered coffee bar, a variety of digital fabrication hardware, and an Alexa-powered beer dispensing robot.

To date, Roots portfolio houses a mix of B2B and B2C companies. Companies on the Root roster range from robotics to computer vision to autonomous systems. Portfolio companies with successful exits include Cape (HPE), Preact (Spotify), Fusion360 - Formerly SeeControl (Autodesk), Walla.by Financial (Bankrate, Inc.).

Roots early investments reflect Founding Partner Avidan Ross storied background as a CTO and angel investor, always keeping his hands dirty building robots in his backyard. He even designed industrial robotics for a never-aired Food Network pilot in which he successfully seared his friends eyebrows off while making a perfect pizza in 45 seconds. Ross affinity for cooking robots eventually lead him to Creator, a robot that has garnered recent buzz for creating the perfect burger, sans humans.

Our burgers taste the way they do because of Avidan. We ran experiments smoking meat in his backyard. He introduced us to gastronomy techniques that most chefs don't know of, says Creator CEO Alex Vardakostas. Out of all of our investors, Avidan Ross is the only one to have his full name inscribed onto our robots as a tribute to those who made fundamental contributions. He stands alone. Not only because he was the first seed investor, but because he had the vision to see the food automation space heating up as it is today.

Needless to say, the Root partners have a history of taking unflinching risks on companies with the capacity to transform industries at their innermost core. If a founders idea fundamentally changes the way businesses and consumers interact with the physical world, Root wants to hear about it.

One such idea came from Anna-Katrina Shedletsky, an Apple product design veteran who garnered early support from Root when she decided to leave her post at Apple in 2015 to start Instrumental. Shedletsky shares:

Since the day of our very first introductory meeting, Root has been 100% in our corner. Avidan immediately understood our vision on the level that we did, and understood the types of technical hires that would complement our product design backgrounds. Despite the fact that Root has grown significantly since our first fundraise, I still feel like I can reach out at any point for one-on-one advice and receive completely authentic guidance and support."

Zach Supalla, CEO at IoT developer platform Particle, shares Shedletskys sentiment, stating:

Root Ventures is one of the few funds that's willing to look under the hood and understand the tech you've built and why it matters. As a result, Avidan was able to help me build a better product and a better company than I would have built on my own.

In the months and years ahead, Root looks forward to meeting more founders like Vardakostas, Shedletsky, and Supalla, helping companies break unprecedented technical ground that will impact the lives of millions.

ABOUT ROOT VENTURES

Root Ventures funds experienced engineers with bold ideas that push the edge of possible, bringing machine intelligence to the physical world. Root Ventures was created by engineers for engineers from the ground up, inviting their portfolio companies to leverage Roots veteran technical expertise everywhere from architecture review to BOM analysis. Founded by hardware industry leader Avidan Ross in 2015, the Root Ventures team of partners also includes industrial automation expert Kane Hsieh and consumer hardware veteran Chrissy Meyer.Nikki Lavergne and her STEAM students from Livingston Parish Public Schools have been awarded $500 to help add technology to their new STEAM bus. Our goal is to increase participation in in-school and afterschool STEAM and makerspace programs throughout the community and were so excited for this opportunity.  Nikki Lavergne, Makerspace Manager, Livingston Parish Public Schools.

What started as a tragedy for the students and teachers of Livingston Parish Public Schools is quickly turning into a triumphant recovery. Back in 2016, flood waters destroyed much of their schools Louisiana campus and they were forced to start over in a number of ways. After feeling tons of support from their community, however, the students of LPPS came together under the leadership of Makerspace Manager, Nikki Lavergne, to redesign their learning experiences and redesign their futures.

Fast forward a couple of years and Nikki has been named the third recipient of Eduporiums Educational Technology Grant. Awarded every month in an amount of $500, this grant program was created to help educators keep up with innovative teaching without feeling the burden of paying for the latest in educational technology. Nikkis proposal for technology to fill a remodeled school bus transformed into a traveling makerspace was selected by Eduporium earlier this week.

We are so very excited about this grant opportunity, Nikki said as she was informed of the news her application had been selected. We cant wait to get the bus completed and out in the community.

Nikki said she really felt the support of the community after the flood and wanted to use the creative spirit of her students to help create something everyone in the area could benefit from. As of now, they have plans to drive their mobile learning lab to multiple neighborhoods, campgrounds, preschools, libraries, and afterschool programs between August and December. They are scheduled to complete the bus shortly, but were in need of some innovative STEAM and MakerEd tools to fill it, which led Nikki to apply for Eduporiums grant.

Our goal is to increase participation in in-school and afterschool STEAM and makerspace programs throughout the community, she said. We want to have at least several thousand people rotate through our STEAM machine after six months with several hundred of those being at-risk students.

After reading her application, the Eduporium team had little difficulty deciding who they would award Julys grant money to. As part of her award, Nikki requested a few Wonder Workshop accessories, Sphero Mini and accessories, and some Edison Robots and accessories from the Eduporium store with the intention of putting them to good use come the fall.

We have gutted the bus and are in the process of having it retrofitted to operate like an RV, so it can run computers and other electronics, Nikki said.

Once the bus is complete, Nikki and her students will be driving it around and helping make STEAM activities accessible to economically disadvantaged students and minority populations. They will be hosting different community events throughout their parish and allowing all 45 schools they serve to use the bus.

Our bus has the purpose of lighting the fire of passion in students for science, technology, engineering, art, and math while also pulling in parents and increasing parental involvement, Nikki said.

The entire operation has been funded by community donations and grants so far. For more information on the Eduporium grant program and how to apply for their August award, click here or contact them by calling 1 (877) 252-0001 or emailing grant@eduporium.com.Encore Energy, Inc., through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Encore Operating Kentucky LLC, announced today that the Company is making potential plans to market and divest of certain production and lease assets in South Central Kentucky. Although we continue to operate our properties and drill select well location(s) in Warren County, our objective is increasingly becoming the development of larger and more capital intensive horizontal well projects in Eastern Kentucky, said Steve Stengell, Encores President and CEO. Our business model for South Central Kentucky has always included an exit plan, if the right deal can be made, added Stengell.

The Company and its horizontal Berea oil well program(s) in Eastern Kentucky have recently been exclusively featured in an Energy and Mining International magazine article, Proven Assets. This exclusive feature can be viewed at the following link:

http://www.emi-magazine.com/featured-content/exclusive-features/1484-encore-energy-inc-3

About the Company:

Encore Energy, Inc., through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Encore Operating Kentucky LLC, is one of, if not the most active operator, in South Central Kentucky, and is currently developing multiple horizontal oil well projects in Eastern Kentucky. The Company maintains a perfect compliance record across all state and federal regulatory bodies. Encore is a proud member of the Kentucky Oil and Gas Association, the IPAA, the Society of Petroleum Engineers, the NFIB and the Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce.

For more Information regarding Encore and its projects, please contact Joseph Hooper at (270) 842-1242, ext. 224.

Assumptions, Disclaimer and Cautionary Statement: The information herein may contain forward-looking statements, and actual results may vary. Words such as "estimate", "will," "intend," "continue," "target," "expect," "achieve," "strategy," "future," "may," "goal," or other comparable words or phrases or the negative of those words, and other words of similar meaning indicate forward-looking statements and important factors which could affect actual results. Forward-looking statements are made based upon Management's current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects upon Encore Energy, Inc. Oil and gas investments involve a high degree of risk, uncertainty and are only suitable for qualified Accredited (SEC Definition) investors who are sophisticated in making business decisions and can bear the financial loss of their entire investment, while delivering a turnkey profit to the Company for proving the prospect development, lease acquisition, drilling, completion, engineering and ongoing production operations. The Company does not provide tax advice and investors should seek the advice of their tax professional. Any tax and/or other information herein is provided for illustration purposes only and may include estimates that are uncertain and subject to change. It is impossible to accurately forecast profitability, production, reserves, income, expenses and timelines for any project. No assurances can be made as it relates to reserves, production, income, profit, prices, timelines and/or other estimates. Actual production and results are beyond the control of management. In the event that commercial production is achieved, it may take many years for the investor to recoup his or her investment. The Company's lease acreage position under is subject to change and includes acreage under lease, Farmout agreement, verbal agreement, renewals, expired terms and any other prospective acreage in which the Company has communicated and/or negotiated with the landowner the leasing of oil and gas rights, now or in the future, and the lease / mineral owner has leased or communicated their intent to lease there mineral lease rights to the Company. It is important for qualified investors to acknowledge the fact that the US government provides them with tax savings (100% IDC tax deduction) to mitigate or at least off-set some of the financial risk associated with domestic oil and gas investments. This is not an offer to sell or buy a security. An offer shall only be made pursuant to SEC Regulation D, Rule 506(c) by a private placement offering memorandum, and this is not a private placement offering memorandum.Once tax-evaded money or funds obtained through criminal means gets to havens abroad, there is little that the Indian government can do.

The official figures released by Switzerlands central bank, the Switzerland National Bank, does not include the money that Indians, NRIs or others might have in Swiss banks in the names of entities from different countries. (Photo: AP)

Every year pots of black money are transferred to foreign locations. At one time the major destination for such tax-evaded wealth used to be the Swiss banks, famous for laundering slush funds from across the world. Now the destination has mostly changed to newer and more manipulated tax havens in places like Panama, St. Kitts and other exotic locations.

A real indication of this is that Indian money transferred to Swiss banks has been declining since 2006, when it increased to reach a record Rs 23,000 crores. Since then, the money transferred by known Indian people or companies fell to Rs 4,300 crores in 2016 before rising to Rs 6,900 crores in 2017. The official figures released by Switzerlands central bank, the Switzerland National Bank, does not include the money that Indians, NRIs or others might have in Swiss banks in the names of entities from different countries. Even today, it is pretty simple to set up complex corporate structures where the beneficial owner is not known.

Though Indian money in Swiss has declined after a global crackdown against Swiss secrecy practices, it is likely to have shifted to financial hubs like Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and others. To have an idea of the kind of money transfers involved, we could make a rough guestimate of the black income generated and how much of this will be transferred abroad.

Eminent economist Arun Kumar, in his book The Black Economy in India, goes into the causes for the generation, the sectors where it is most likely to come from, and goes on to make a rough estimate of its effect on the economy and the extent to which it operates. Dr Kumar estimates that black income as a percentage of GDP increased from 15 per cent in 1980-81 to 40 per cent in 1995-96. The area of highest generation were imports and exports, and the tertiary sector (banks, retail, software, etc).

Even if we assume that the ratio of the black economy has not risen, since 1995 the GDP has gone up four times and 40 per cent of a $2.1 trillion economy is around $800 billion. If even 10 per cent of this is spirited off to foreign shores, it will mean something like $80 billion is laundered abroad. Some of this is brought back to be invested in the stock market or to be shown as foreign direct investment. Much of what remains in India is used to buy land or gold or be spent lavishly.

Seen in this context, what was deposited in Swiss banks was just around $1 billion. This was in all probability by people taking out the $200,000 they are allowed under Indian law, and who dont yet fully understand the intricacies of the international money transfer system. A large portion of the money would go through other locations like Dubai, Singapore or Hong Kong, or to places like Panama or the Channel Islands. This is not an insignificant route.

Once tax-evaded money or funds obtained through criminal means gets to havens abroad, there is little that the Indian government can do. Rudolf M. Elmer, a Swiss whistleblower, who has been fighting a long legal battle against the old traditions of Swiss banking secrecy, was interviewed by an Indian website and had some suggestions. The options available to the United States and India are not the same.

The Americans were able to sanction Switzerland due to their monopoly of the US dollar. As a Swiss bank, you must have an US dollar correspondent bank domiciled in the United States. If the US authorities do not allow you to use this US bank, the Swiss bank is like a dead fish in the water. So the Americans applied pressure in 2009, and the Swiss, they knew about it, he said,

On India, he says: Primarily, I believe, it is an issue of sanctions. India, for instance, could put pressure on Swiss industry or even the Swiss government. Not only on the banking industry but also on big companies. Pressure on Nestle, Roche, Novartis, etc, for example, by threatening not to allow their business in India any more if there is no reasonable cooperation on tax matters, and particularly by the Swiss financial industry. Politically, India can put pressure.

While Switzerland has lost its leading role as a haven for transferred money, India has similar options open on the other money havens, particularly Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai. It could have a strategy to apply pressure to each one of these locations. While the bank transfer channels might have an element of legality to them and would contribute a substantial sum to these economies, pressure from the government (if it is serious about it) will imply an ability to cause economic damage greater than the gains made by these economies from such banking transactions.

This is a radical step, and would imply considerable opinion in India on the need for it. This doesnt look likely in the present environment. In other money transfer havens such as Panama, the Channel Islands, Mauritius or the Bahamas, shadow banking plays an important part in their economies and is too powerful locally to control.

The lists of those holding money overseas floating around the Internet are often too incredible to be believed, and range from politicians now in the Opposition to leading businessmen. Yet, illegal money transfers to foreign banks can only properly be handled by reducing the generation of black money. This would imply a look at the way the economy is going, and the opportunities for bending the law that it offers.Guide to Intermittent Catheters If you need to use medical supplies as a part of your daily life it is important that you know what they are and how they work. You will want the intermittent catheter that works the best for your individual health needs.

For more information on catheters please read our full guide to urinary intermittent catheters on our Express Medical Supply blog.

Intermittent catheters are not all made the same. They don't come in a box marked one type fits all. The tips of the catheters vary and the materials they are made of vary as well. When you purchase intermittent catheters you will have to choose between different ones and that is easier if you know what the choices are before you buy your own catheters. There are several different styles of intermittent catheters and those styles do serve different purposes. If you need to use medical supplies as a part of your daily life it is important that you know what they are and how they work. You will want the intermittent catheter that works the best for your individual health needs.

What are the different kinds of intermittent urinary catheters?



Coude Catheter is a catheter that has a bent tip for ease of insertion around an enlarged prostate or other obstructions, the angle of the bend can vary.

Coude Olive Tip Catheter is a type of coude tip intermittent catheter that bends slightly as it tapers down to a tip with a small rounded ball on the end for insertion around an enlarged prostate or strictures, the ball on the end can feel more comfortable for you if using a standard coude catheter hasn't been able to maneuver around your prostate easily.

Coude Tiemann Catheter is a type of coude tip catheter with a longer thin tapered tip that is small and rounded at the end for ease of insertion around strictures and/or an enlarged prostate, this style can be great for when a regular coude tip isn't working well for you and you would like a more narrow tip to your catheter.

Straight Tip Catheter is an intermittent catheter that has a straight tip that does not have any bend to it, this is the standard straight catheter design that is used unless there is a problem with insertion. These standard catheters are less expensive when compared to any of the coude tip catheters.

What are catheters made of?

There are three main materials used to make urinary intermittent catheters, red rubber, silicone, and vinyl also known as PVC. These materials feel different when they are used. Some are firmer and others are more flexible.

Pliability and flexibility of intermittent catheter materials:

Softest = Red Rubber

Medium = Silicone

Firmest = PVC/Vinyl

There are exceptions to the above list, for instance if it is specifically labeled "soft silicone catheter" could be softer than one of the firmer red rubber varieties. For the most part though, this is a good place to start when it comes to understanding which Intermittent catheter is more pliable.

Silicone Catheters Feature:

Latex-free clear catheter, this is the best choice if you are allergic to latex.

Standard firmness as well as soft varieties are available.

Pre-lubricated hydrophilic or the less expensive non-lubricated variety.

Some companies like to incorporate polished eyelets for ease of use in their silicone catheters.

Red Rubber Catheters Feature:

Latex rubber and they are not suitable for anyone who is allergic or even sensitive to latex.

Generally red in color but they are also found in reddish brown and orange as well.

Red rubber catheters are not clear, they are opaque, which means you can't see through them.

The entire catheter is one piece of red rubber, the funnel is integrated and it is not color coded.

These catheter are soft, pliable, and flexible.

Eyelets are not polished but they are available with one eyelet, staggered eyelets, or the standard eyelet style.

PVC/Vinyl Catheters Feature:The ideal insured for FCICs Iowa Artisan General Liability Program is an entrepreneur with a small operation based in a craft or skilled business. This comprehensive and competitively priced program was designed to protect the assets if the artisan contractor. Past News Releases RSS First Chicago Insurance Company...

First Chicago Insurance Company...

First Chicago Insurance Company...

Since 1920, First Chicago Insurance Company (FCIC) has provided quality insurance products and great service to its policyholders, securing a reputation as a respected insurance provider of personal auto, commercial auto and general liability insurance products, began Mike Rosenstein, President, FCIC. Iowa is the perfect market to expand our business model by offering this new general liability program to our already established Midwest presence. FCICs new general liability program complements the existing Iowa Maverick auto program that is available through our strong network of independent insurance agencies.

The ideal insured for FCICs Iowa Artisan General Liability Program is an entrepreneur with a small operation based in a craft or skilled business such as carpentry, landscaping, plumbing, electrical, or HVAC to name a few. This comprehensive and competitively priced program was designed to protect the assets if the artisan contractor. The Iowa Artisan General Liability Program offers a wide variety of coverage options including:



Liability coverage with limits as low as 100,000 per person and 200,000 per occurrence and up to 1Million per person and 2 million per occurrence, for those that need higher limits.

Additional insureds, if requested, can be added at any time

Contractors Tool Floater available

Contractors Equipment Floater available also

With this excellent, yet affordable coverage, FCIC provides artisan contractors the piece of mind of knowing that they are covered if something goes wrong on the job, remarked Rosenstein.

About First Chicago Insurance Company

First Chicago Insurance Company (FCIC), whose roots trace back to 1920, provides auto insurance, both personal and commercial, workers compensation, and other niche insurance products such as Contents Plus Renters and Transportation Network Coverage. The company was initially started as a mutual insurance company by several local ice hauling entities in order to solve their issue of finding good insurance coverage. At the time, these companies were cutting ice blocks out of Lake Michigan for commercial delivery throughout the city of Chicago. Today, FCIC offers insurance via independent agencies and the internet throughout Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Louisiana and Pennsylvania. Headquartered in Bedford Park, FCIC is located at 6640 S. Cicero, Ave., Bedford Park, IL 60638. 888-262-8864 http://www.FirstChicagoInsurance.comTodays students are tomorrows policymakers and business leaders. Theyre fluent in technology, and we want to empower them to use their skills and expertise to tell powerful data stories that can truly inspire action.

A contest aimed at supporting the next generation of Sustainable Development Goal advocates has been launched by Google Cloud, the United Nations Foundation, the World Bank, and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data. Visualize 2030 is a global data storytelling contest offering five winners a $10K cash prize each, plus publication by Google Cloud and the announcement of their data story during the UN World Data Forum.

Launched today at the Google Cloud Next '18 conference in San Francisco, the Visualize 2030 contest focuses on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development  an ambitious agenda adopted by global leaders to achieve 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including ending extreme poverty, reducing inequality, addressing climate change, and others, by 2030.

Visualize 2030 is open to students at the college and graduate level, aged 18 and above, and aims to encourage budding data scientists, journalists, policymakers, and data artists to drive real-world impact through storytelling and design.

Todays students are tomorrows policymakers and business leaders. Theyre fluent in technology, and we want to empower them to use their skills and expertise to tell powerful data stories that can truly inspire action, said Kathy Calvin, President and Chief Executive Officer of the United Nations Foundation.

The contest challenges applicants to submit a data-driven story that reveals how at least two SDGs influence each other, and what actions might be taken to reach those goals by 2030. What are the shared challenges? What are the shared opportunities? Does one goal need to be met before the other can be? These are some of the questions students are encouraged to consider, and answer, in their submissions.

The UN Statistics Divisions Sustainable Development Indicators and the World Banks World Development Indicators are now available in Google Cloud Platform Public Datasets and analysis-ready within Google Data Studio, where applicants should build their submissions.

The contest, closing on 30 September 2018, will be judged by a panel of international experts. Five winners will be announced in October at the UN World Data Forum in Dubai.

For more information on the Visualize 2030 contest and how to participate, see cloud.google.com/visualize-2030.

Visualize 2030 Press Inquiries

Jennifer Oldfield, Director of Communications, Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data

joldfield(at)data4sdgs(dot)org

About Visualize 2030

Visualize 2030 is a data storytelling contest hosted by Google Cloud in collaboration with the United Nations Foundation, the World Bank, and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data. It is open to students aged 18+. Submissions must be built in Googles Data Studio, and received by 30 September 2018.

Learn more here: http://cloud.google.com/visualize-2030

About the United Nations Foundation

The United Nations Foundation builds public-private partnerships to address the worlds most pressing problems, and broadens support for the United Nations through advocacy and public outreach. Through innovative campaigns and initiatives, the Foundation connects people, ideas, and resources to help the UN solve global problems. The Foundation was created in 1998 as a U.S. public charity by entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner and now is supported by philanthropic, corporate, government, and individual donors.

Learn more at: http://www.unfoundation.org

About the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data

The Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data is a growing network of more than 300 organizations, including governments, businesses, and civil society organizations, working around the world to harness the data revolution for sustainable development. Since it was created in 2015, the Global Partnership has elevated data issues at a political level, launched a multi-million-dollar Collaborative Data Innovations for Sustainable Development funding initiative, and supported the advancement of country-led Data Roadmaps for Sustainable Development in: Colombia, Ghana, Kenya, Philippines, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Costa Rica.

http://www.data4sdgs.org

About the World Bank

The World Bank Group is one of the worlds largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. Its five institutions share a commitment to reducing poverty, increasing shared prosperity, and promoting sustainable development. The World Bank Development Data Group coordinates statistical and data work and maintains a number of macro, financial and sector databases. Working closely with the Banks regions and Global Practices, the group is guided by professional standards in the collection, compilation and dissemination of data to ensure that all data users can have confidence in the quality and integrity of the data produced.

http://www.worldbank.orgA house that is designed and built to the Passive House Standard provides exemplary comfort all year round.

The two storey plus walk out basement residence uses up to 90 per cent less energy for heating and cooling and up 65% on operational costs than a standard house. Triple pane windows, advanced wood construction, heat pump hot water system, high level of insulation, eco-friendly materials and an ultra efficient heat recovery ventilation system are a few of the extensive sustainable building features incorporated into the custom passive design.

A house that is designed and built to the Passive House Standard provides exemplary comfort all year round. While the standard is known for rigorous energy consumption benchmarks, it also has rigorous comfort benchmarks, says Alexander Maurer, principal at Marken Design + Consulting.

Key techniques applied include continuous insulation throughout, optimized solar gain and building orientation and an ultra-airtight construction, minimizing the need for an active heating and cooling system and maximizing the energy savings.

There is a growing population of passive projects in the Greater New York area with nine Passive House Institute certified buildings in New York State and four in New York City. There are twenty more projects underway, including several large-scale developments, which will create over 300,000 square feet of certified projects in the next few years. The majority of these projects are residential with an additional 28 projects that have been built incorporating passive house principles.

The Passive House Building Energy standard originated in Germany in the late 1980s and is fast becoming the world standard in green, sustainable building techniques. It is estimated there are over 60,000 passive house buildings around the world.

For more information on this project and our service, please contact info(at)markendc.com or visit us at http://www.markendc.com.

Marken Design + Consulting is a multidisciplinary, award-winning building design and project consulting firm dedicated to high performance building design & construction throughout North America. As one of the leading Passive House Design and Consulting professionals, Marken D+C actively promotes forward-thinking, holistic and environmentally responsible practices.

More info: http://www.markendc.comHexgears X-1 Mechanical Keyboard on the desk. Its the keyboard that Apple should be making  but better.

Hexgears, in collaboration with Kono Store, launched its Kickstarter campaign for the X-1 low profile keyboard. The X-1s multi-device Bluetooth connectivity, CNC machined aluminum case, and remarkably compact dimensions enable extreme mobility. Its features will transform the keyboard market as we know it.

Most gaming products are bulky and unprofessional in appearance. Professional peripherals, on the other hand, suffer from mediocre build quality. The X-1 bucks those trends by packing style and speed into one chassis. Its low profile mechanical switches provide benefits for gamers, typists, and everyone else who uses technology.

The X-1 went live on Kickstarter on July 24th, 2018 at an introductory price of $99 dollars. This pricing makes it the most competitive mechanical keyboard in the sub $100 market. Hexgears will make its name by selling top tier products at sane prices, unlike some other companies.

Its the keyboard that Apple should be making  but better.

Click here to check out the campaign.By 2030, 71 million Americans will be 65 or older. Combined with the growing number of seniors choosing to age in place, the home healthcare industry shows no signs of slowing down," said Larry Kraska, Interim HealthCare Inc. CEO and President.

Interim HealthCare Inc., a leading national franchisor of home care, hospice and healthcare staffing, is ranked No. 19 in Entrepreneur magazines 2018 Top Global Franchises list. This list recognizes the top 200 franchisors that seek franchisees outside of the U.S., based on data submitted for Entrepreneurs Franchise 500 ranking.

With more than 10,000 baby boomers turning 65 every day in the United States alone, a home care franchise presents a smart investment opportunity for entrepreneurs on both a national and global scale. According to the National Association for Homecare & Hospice, home health is the fastest-growing segment of the healthcare industry.

By 2030, 71 million Americans  about 20 percent of the population  will be 65 or older, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Combined with the growing number of seniors choosing to age in place and the demand for dependable, high-quality home care services, the home healthcare industry shows no signs of slowing down, said Larry Kraska, Interim HealthCare Inc. CEO and President. We are incredibly proud of this global recognition. This honor demonstrates the profound commitment our franchisees and caregivers across Caring Brands International, which includes Interim HealthCare in the U.S., UK-based Bluebird Care and Australia-based Just Better Care, have in providing the highest levels of care within their local communities.

Entrepreneurs 2018 Top Global Franchises were determined by adjusting the companys Franchise 500 formula to give extra weight to international size and growth. Other areas evaluated by the formula include costs and fees, franchisee support, brand strength, and financial strength and stability. Interim HealthCares position on the ranking shows that it offers an opportunity with worldwide appeal.

The companies on our Top Global Franchises list are overcoming logistical challenges and cultural differences to bring their products and servicesand their franchise opportunitiesto people all around the world, said Jason Feifer, editor in chief of Entrepreneur. Franchise companies listed are the ones finding intelligent and innovative ways to translate their brands to new audiences.

Interim HealthCare Inc. offers innovative programs for all franchisees through one of the most experienced franchise support teams in the industry steeped in the complex regulatory environment and components of building a franchise operation, such as marketing, sales, finance, training and human resources.

For more details about the companys franchisee opportunities, visit http://www.interimfranchising.com.

To review the full listing, visit http://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/topglobal. The list can also be seen in the July/August issue of Entrepreneur, available now on newsstands.

About Interim HealthCare Inc.

Interim HealthCare Inc., founded in 1966, is a leading national franchisor of home care, hospice and healthcare staffing. It is part of Caring Brands International which also includes UK-based Bluebird Care and Australia-based Just Better Care, both well-known franchise brands in their countries. With more than 530 franchise locations in seven countries Caring Brands International is a global health care leader.

Interim HealthCare in the United States is unique in combining the commitment of local ownership with the support of a national organization that develops innovative programs and quality standards that improve the delivery of service. Franchisees employ nurses, therapists, aides, companions and other healthcare professionals who provide 25 million hours of home care service to 190,000 people each year, meeting a variety of home health, senior care, hospice, palliative care, pediatric care and healthcare staffing needs. For more information or to locate an Interim HealthCare office, visit http://www.interimhealthcare.com.Animation has always been Jacques Mullers life passion. Since he was a small kid, he wanted to draw cartoon characters that he had seen on the screen. For him, the screen was no longer a flat surface but a window opening new worlds and other realities. He wanted to revisit and share his journey in the world of animation, the film projects he did as well as the individual characters he met along the way. This prompted Muller to write 40 Years of Animated Cartoons (published by Partridge Singapore). For more details about the book, please visit https://www.amazon.com/Years-Animated-Cartoons-Jacques-Muller/dp/1482880873/ref=sr_1_1

In this autobiography, Muller looks back at how he went from doodling on scrap pieces of paper to launching a career as a television animator, working mostly in France and Australia. His career took a new turn when he began working on movies, first in London and then in the United States. He would go on to work on blockbuster films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Rocky & Bullwinkle and Star Wars: Episode I, becoming the first Frenchman to work for Disney and one of the most respected animators in the world.

From television, movies, hand-drawn animation and video games to Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Lucasfilm, Electronic Arts and beyond, Muller hopes readers will be thrilled by the behind-the-scenes adventures including encounters with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Paul Grimault that he shares in 40 Years of Animated Cartoons.

An excerpt from the book:

I quickly became dissatisfied with my assistant status. I longed for something a little more creative as an animator on Roger Rabbit. So, for two months, the workload doubled: forty hours spent as an assistant and another forty hours on my animation test. This in the hope of getting a promotion. Don Hahn told me to stop; I was trying to make it a 30-second test. He showed the thing to Dick, and the following Monday in the morning, I had the extraordinary surprise to see the Master animator paying a visit to our wing (the assistants wing).He came up to me and said, in a commanding tone, Jacques, pick up your things and follow me; you are an animator! What a recognition! It was as if I heard Christ himself telling the crippled: Jacques, pick up your bags and walk; you are saved!

40 Years of Animated Cartoons

By Jacques Muller

Softcover | 8.5 x 11in | 388 pages | ISBN 9781482880878

E-Book | 388 pages | ISBN 9781482880885

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

After having practiced drawing through all his childhood and adolescence, Jacques Muller eventually had his first break into the animation industry in 1977 as a storyboard artist. Working for several years for the French TV channel TF1 and other studios in Paris, he got the opportunity to fly to Sydney, Australia in 1982 to work on a TV series. After five years, he entered the feature film arena for the big screen. Since, many major Hollywood studios employed him as a character animator on 16 different productions; it allowed him to make some great encounters with big names in the Hollywood animation industry. Until recently, he occupied the position of senior lecturer at SIDM (School of Interactive Digital Media) at Nanyang Polytechnic of Singapore; teaching students the arcane of classical animation.

Partridge Singapore, an imprint in partnership with Penguin Random House Singapore, aims to help writers in Singapore, Malaysia, and the rest of Southeast Asia become published authors. Partridge Singapore gives authors in the region direct access to a comprehensive range of expert publishing services that meet industry standards but are more accessible to the market. For more information or to publish a book, visit partridgepublishing.com/singapore or call 800 101 2657 (Singapore) or 1 800 81 7340 (Malaysia). For the latest, follow @PartridgeSG on Twitter.Jennifer Dixon, Chief Customer Officer at Sherpa CRM We see the CCO role as a champion for the customer, a natural fit for our Person-Centered culture. And theres no one better suited to lead this charge than Jennifer Dixon.

Jennifer Dixon has joined Sherpa CRM in the newly created Chief Customer Officer role. Sherpa President Alex Fisher says, We are excited to add a well-respected professional like Jennifer to the Sherpa Team. She has a unique understanding of our industry and will be instrumental in enhancing our ability to support our Sherpa customers through their journey to success.

Says David Smith, Sherpas CEO, Were changing the way the industry looks at a CRM. Sherpa is a powerful software tool, but its also designed to change sales behaviors. To better serve our clients and customers toward this change, creating the CCO position was crucial. We see the CCO role as a champion for the customer, a natural fit for our Person-Centered culture. And theres no one better suited to lead this charge than Jennifer Dixon.

A veteran of the Senior Housing industry, with over 10 years of experience, Dixon most recently served as Vice President of Sales for Benchmark Senior Living, based outside Boston, MA. For Benchmark, Dixon led a successful culture shift for the organization that resulted in the stabilization of under-performing properties, an increase in monthly move-ins and a decrease in sales team turnover.

Dixon is excited to bring together her sales consulting experience with her hands-on community-level management expertise. While being based outside of Boston, Dixon will travel to many of Sherpas client-customers for training and implementation of Sherpas CRM software and their Prospect-Centered Sales philosophy. I love this industry. My goal is to help guide investors, operators, leasing counselors, and ultimately prospective residents towards growth and success. Sherpa allows me the perfect opportunity to do just that.

About Sherpa CRM: Sherpa is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) company and is the only senior living sales management software designed and implemented by senior living sales experts. Founders David Smith and Alex Fisher are veteran influencers in the senior living sales industry and run Sherpa out of its home office in St. Louis, MO.Left to right: Giovanni Mantovani (CEO of Veronafiere); Stevie Kim (Managing Director of Vinitaly International); Attilio Scienza (newly-appointed Chief Scientist of the Vinitaly International Academy He is very passionate about Italian wine education, and more importantly, very humble and generous about sharing his knowledge. I look forward to working with Prof. Scienza to bring the Vinitaly International Academy project to the next level (Stevie Kim, Founder, Vinitaly International Academy)

Italian scholar Attilio Scienza is the recently appointed Chief Scientist of the Vinitaly International Academy (VIA). After a major restyling, VIA now offers a complete educational path on Italian wines. The new ecosystem also features new faculty: MW Sarah Heller and VIA Italian Wine Expert Henry Davar (See [press release). Furthermore, the main Italian associations in the industry will also take an active part in the VIA ecosystem as members of the Institutional Advisory Board. To live up to the reputation of such prestigious wine professionals and to continue spreading the gospel of Italian wine abroad, it was only natural for Vinitaly International to fill in the position of VIAs academic guarantor with one of the most well-regarded Italian wine scientists.

Attilio Scienza is one of the leading experts in viticultural sciences, agronomy, physiology, and vine genetics. He has been teaching viticultural sciences in the Department of Agriculture of the University of Milan since 1987. He is the author of over 350 academic publications in journals, text books, and monographs and is also widely published in Italian and English on cultural and historical topics related to viticulture and the vine. He was awarded the Premio Internazionale Morsiani (in 2006) and the OIV Award for viticulture (in 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012).

On the new appointment, Scienza commented: It is a challenge, one of the many challenges that should be taken in life. It is also a great honor to communicate the values of wine and of the Italian wine territories abroad. It is certainly a challenge because new stimuli and approaches are needed to communicate who we are and what we do. But it is also a great honor because, after all, developing our market on new markets means that we need to be persuasive in what we narrate.

The role of the Chief Scientist is to act as a conduit between the world of wine education in Italy and the one abroad; it will also be key to ensure highest educational standards are met. Scienzas stature in the the field of viticultural sciences and his decades-long teaching experience will ensure the programs academic integrity. Scienza will also interact with the VIA Faculty, by providing feedback and input in the program. Stevie Kim, Managing Director of Vinitaly International and Founder of VIA, speaks highly of Prof. Attilio Scienza and of the new ecosystem and program: I was profoundly struck by Prof. Scienzas deep and wide-ranging knowledge of winenot just the science behind it, but also the cultural and historical value of wine in Italy, and wine marketing of all things! He is truly a Renaissance man. He is also very passionate about Italian wine education, and more importantly, very humble and incredibly generous about sharing his knowledge. I look forward to working with Prof. Scienza to bring the Vinitaly International Academy project to the next level with the goal of making it the gold standard for Italian wine education.

In the new VIA ecosystem, a crucial role will also be played by the major Italian associations, that will become members of the Institutional Advisory Board: FederDOC (Confederazione Nazionale Consorzi Volontari per la tutela delle denominazioni dei vini italiani) or the association which looks after the certification of wine appellations in Italy; FEDERVINI, an industrial association including larger producers of wine, spirits, vinegar and other wine-related products; FIVI (Federazione Italiana Vignaioli Indipendenti), the independent wine producers association; and UIV (Unione Italiana Vini), a category-specific association of winery owners instituted in 1895 that combines all the various companies pertaining to the sector (individual wine growers, more structured wineries, wine cooperatives and industries).

The re-styled VIA Certification Course taught by Sarah Heller and Henry Davar will debut in Hong Kong from November 4th to 8th, prior to the Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair, where Vinitaly organises the Italian pavilion. Wine professionals interested in applying have time until August 15th and can find additional information and the application form at the following link.

About

The grand Vinitaly 2019 will be held from April 7th to the 10th. Every year, Vinitaly counts more than 4,000 exhibitors on a 100,000+ square meter area and 130,000 visitors from over 140 different countries with more than 30,000 top international buyers. The premier event to Vinitaly, OperaWine (https://www.vinitalyinternational.com/?page_id=646) Finest Italian Wines: 100 Great Producers, which will be held on the 6th of April, one day prior to Vinitaly will unite international wine professionals in the heart of Verona, offering them the unique opportunity to discover and taste the wines of the 100 Best Italian Producers, as selected by Wine Spectator. Since 1998 Vinitaly International travels to several countries such as Russia, China, USA and Hong Kong thanks to its strategic arm abroad, Vinitaly International. In February 2014 Vinitaly International launched an educational project, the Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) with the aim of divulging and broadcasting the excellence and diversity of Italian wine around the globe. VIA this year launched the seventh edition of its Certification Course and today counts 151 Italian Wine Ambassadors and 11 Italian Wine Experts.MVP Systems Software JAMS bridges the gaps between disparate jobs and enables organizations to create truly transformative business processes where JD Edwards is a critical component.

MVP Systems Software, Inc., a leading provider of JDE job scheduling software, announced today its participation in JD Edwards INFOCUS, in Denver, CO, August 20-22, 2018. Experts from MVP will be showcasing the latest release of JAMS, V7, at booth #111.

MVP will demonstrate the extensive job scheduling, job monitoring, and job management features in JAMS that enable JD Edwards customers to deploy powerful, cross-platform workflows across the enterprise. By leveraging JAMS for workload automation, JDE customers optimize business processes, lower costs associated with IT management, and improve compliance. JAMS supports JD Edwards jobs running natively on Windows, Linux, UNIX and AS/400.

Organizations that use JD Edwards often rely on a host of ancillary jobs to deliver data, set values, and provision resources, said Kevin Vliet, JAMS Project Manager. JAMS bridges the gaps between disparate jobs and enables organizations to create truly transformative business processes where JD Edwards is a critical component. JAMS ensures that mission critical processes execute reliably and efficiently, throughout their entire lifecycle.

The JAMS for JD Edwards integration provides:



A single, consolidated monitor for jobs running in JD Edwards and jobs running on other platforms

Workflow controls such as dependencies, triggers, if/then logic, and parallel processing

A visual workflow editor

API and PowerShell cmdlets

Robust job scheduling options

Support for multiple calendars

Learn more about automating JD Edwards jobs at:

http://www.jamsscheduler.com/application-adaptors/jd-edwards/

About JAMS

JAMS is the only job scheduling system built on a .NET framework and is the first enterprise job scheduling system that can be leveraged by both IT Operations Personnel and Application Developers. With its roots in Windows, JAMS also supports running processes across a variety of operating systems (UNIX, Linux, System i, OpenVMS, etc.) and applications (PeopleSoft, SAP, SQL, Oracle, Symitar, Ecometry, Banner, etc.) To learn more about JAMS, please visit http://www.JAMSScheduler.com or call 800-261-JAMS.

About MVP Systems Software, Inc.

For more than 20 years, MVP Systems Software, Inc. has provided leading-edge batch job scheduling and workload automation solutions to more than 1,000 customers. Customers include household names such as CVS Caremark, Sirius XM, Villanova University, Vizio, and Yum! Brands. MVPs solutions are available for all models of IT architecture, from physical servers to virtualized and hybrid environments. You can learn more about MVP Systems Software at http://www.jamsscheduler.com/company/about-mvp/

MVP Systems Software, Inc. and all other MVP Systems Software product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of MVP Systems Software, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks belong to their respective companies.  2018, MVP Systems Software, Inc. All rights reserved.The total eclipse will last 1 hour, 42 minutes and 57 seconds, though a partial eclipse precedes and follows.

The eclipse will be visible from Europe, Africa and the Middle East between sunset and midnight on July 27. (Photo: Pixabay)

A blood moon will appear in the night sky around much of the world on Friday night as the moon moves into the shadow of the earth for the longest lunar eclipse of the 21st Century.

The total eclipse will last 1 hour, 42 minutes and 57 seconds, though a partial eclipse precedes and follows, meaning the moon will spend a total of 3 hours and 54 minutes in the earths umbral shadow, according to NASA.

The eclipse will be visible from Europe, Africa and the Middle East between sunset and midnight on July 27 and then between midnight and sunrise on July 28 in much of Asia and Australia.

Its called a blood moon because the light from the sun goes through the earths atmosphere on its way to the moon and the earths atmosphere turns it red in the same way that when the sun goes down it goes red, Andrew Fabian, professor of astronomy at the University of Cambridge.

When the moon moves into the conical shaped shadow of the earth, it goes from being illuminated by the sun to being dark. Some light, though, will still reach the moon because it is bent by the earths atmosphere.

If you were standing on the moon in this eclipse, you would see the sun and then the earth would come in the way and blot out the sun, said Fabian. The rim of the earth would be glowing because the light is being scattered by the earths atmosphere.

The same day, Mars will be at its brightest as it travels close to earth, so observers may be able to see what looks like an orange-red star which is, in fact, the so-called red planet.

When asked if the eclipse might be an omen of some sort, Fabian, who said he will try to observe the eclipse, laughed: Absolutely not. Astrology is not something we follow.

The eclipse of the moon will not be visible from North America or most of the Pacific. The next lunar eclipse of such a length is due in 2123.

(Source)Mika Nash, Ed.D., joins American International College in Springfield, MA as Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. "I was drawn to AIC because its mission is one that resonates for me  initially built as an institution focused on providing educational opportunities to immigrants and then expanding the vision to a diverse student body  grounding that academic journey in liberal arts and a career-focused major."

Effective July 30, 2018, Mika Nash, Ed.D. will join American International College (AIC) as the executive vice president for academic affairs. Dr. Nash comes to AIC from Champlain College in Vermont where she served as the dean of Continuing Professional Studies.

Dr. Nash has more than 20 years of experience in the field of higher education with the majority of her career spent in senior leadership. In her most recent role, Nash was tasked with the development and administration of all academic and operational responsibilities associated with running the Continuing Professional Studies academic unit with management oversight for all curricula, academic programs, academic policies, articulation agreements, eLearning, faculty recruiting, training and development, and building student, family, and academic support services. A particular area of interest and scholarship for Nash continues to be technology innovation to expand the student experience and engagement in course content.

During her tenure with Champlain College, Nash oversaw enrollment growth from 900 active students to its current enrollment of 3,500 and doubled the portfolio of academic offerings from 30 to 65 programs. The division of Continuing Professional Studies at Champlain College serves undergraduate and graduate students in degree and certificate programs in business, accounting, information technology, and healthcare administration.

In addition to expanding academic programs and increasing enrollment while at the college, Nash sat on the provost council and was a voting member of the Curriculum Committee and Faculty Senate. Further, she served as a long-standing member of the Presidents Diversity Council for the institution, was a founding member of the Diversity and Inclusion Advocacy Committee, and was a graduate of and co-teacher for Intercultural University.

Says Nash, I was drawn to AIC because its mission is one that resonates for me  initially built as an institution focused on providing educational opportunities to immigrants and then expanding the vision to a diverse student body  grounding that academic journey in liberal arts and a career-focused major.

Prior to joining Champlain College in 2007, Dr. Nash served as the dean for the School of Hospitality and Restaurant Management at the New England Culinary Institute. Nash received her undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Vermont. Her doctorate is in higher educational leadership and policy studies.

We look forward to Dr. Nash becoming AICs next academic leader. This is a very exciting time, especially with the opening of the Colaccino Center for Health Sciences this fall, said President Vince Maniaci. Dr. Nashs previous experience and educational philosophy blends well with our commitment to provide access and opportunity for students in their pursuit of a degree while growing our programs to help graduates meet the demands of a rapidly changing world.

More information about AIC and its undergraduate and graduate program offerings can be found online at aic.edu.

Founded in 1885, American International College (AIC) is a private, co-educational, doctoral granting institution located in Springfield, Massachusetts comprising the School of Business, Arts & Sciences, the School of Education, and the School of Health Sciences. AIC supports and advances education, diversity, and opportunity for its students and the community.iPourIt's New Location, First Draft, Opens in Minneapolis Having the opportunity of starting First Draft in the North Loop is a big win for this concept, and were so excited to begin officially sharing it with others in Minneapolis and beyond.

iPourIt increases its lead in the market with the opening of its new location, First Draft Taproom & Kitchen, in the North Loop district in Minneapolis, Minn.

First Draft welcomed over 470 people for its soft opening July 13, 2018. Despite not having any marketing before the soft open, First Draft poured over 11,000 ounces within a five-hour duration. Attendees included friends and family who heard about the concept, and they were eager to be the first to experience the pour your own taproom.

The grand opening is set for Friday, July 27 at 11 a.m., through Sunday, July 29. The event will coincide with the North Loop Fest, a celebration of the North Loop district with music, food and beer. First Draft is excited to share their new concept with the North Loop neighborhood.

Minnesota natives, Andrew Valen and Joe Maselter, became interested in the pour your own concept after a chance visit to the First Draft location in Denver, Colo. With deep roots in Minnesota, Valen comes out of the pharmaceutical industry and Maselter is a renowned real estate agent in the area. The two Minnesotans have a fascination with the craft beer industry and the unique patron experience that iPourIt technology gives. Maselter and Valen are excited to introduce the unique pour your own taproom concept to the Minneapolis market.

iPourIt installed a 54 self-serve tap beer wall. First Draft will offer something for everyone with six wines, two nitro taps, and 48 craft beers. Seventy percent of the 48 craft beers will be local, and thirty percent will be unique craft beers from across the country. First Draft brings new craft beers for patrons to enjoy and appreciate.

This is not First Drafts first soiree in the self-serve market. First Draft has already proven success in another particularly adept craft beer market. The Minneapolis location will be First Drafts second unit using iPourIt self-serve technology, with Denver being the original location. Co-owners of First Draft Taproom & Kitchen in Denver, Colo. Kevin and Mark Slattery were early adopters of the iPourIt technology, being one of iPourIts first taproom partners.

The team also welcomed General Manager Ashley Hauf and Chef Jason Littlefield to bring a unique food element to the kitchen, such as his Minnesota Sushi, which is a pickle wrapped in herbed cream cheese, and prosciutto and then cut like sushi. The main featured menu items include Littlefields deviled eggs and a craft burger. Like the importance of craft beer rotation, the craft burger and deviled eggs will rotate with different toppings and flavors to satisfy the Minnesotan palate.

Searching for viable locations throughout the city, the First Draft partners looked for a high-density area with urban development and the appropriate demographics that the iPourIt technology serves. The new taproom will be in the North Loop district under Variant, a new luxury apartment complex. The North Loop district is the fastest-growing neighborhood in Minneapolis and includes Target Field, the Minneapolis Farmers Market, and Target Field Station Amphitheater. The largest age group is Millennials, 25-34 (37%), making it an ideal location for iPourIts technology.

Vice President of iPourIt, Darren Nicholson, says, We recognize how successful the First Draft concept is in Denver and their interest in participating in opportunities in other like markets. We are happy that this partnership is one that has benefitted all three of these businesses, as well as the North Loop district in Minneapolis.

Valen adds, Having the opportunity of starting First Draft in the North Loop is a big win for this concept, and were so excited to begin officially sharing it with others in Minneapolis and beyond.

iPourIt is excited to work with the First Draft team to create a new and unique concept in the North Loop district. Customers can expect a unique and fun experience with no lines, direct access to try any beer or wine of their choosing, and a neighborhood atmosphere with finely crafted food.

About iPourIt, Inc.

iPourIt, Inc. is North Americas leader in self-serve beverage dispense technology with over 117 locations installed and operating, 83.4 million ounces poured, and more than 3,200 taps installed. iPourIt partners with operators to provide an interactive, on-premise, self-service beer & wine experience promoting consumer choice and sampling. The technology has proven to increase revenue and drive profitability through higher space utilization and lower operating costs for clients while enhancing customer satisfaction. Learn more at http://www.ipouritinc.com.

About First Draft Taproom & Kitchen

First Draft Taproom & Kitchen is a unique tasting experience in the North Loop district in Minneapolis, MN. They offer a huge selection of craft beer, wine, cider, kombucha, coffee, and cocktails for customers to pour as much or as little and theyd like. Their selection of 54 pour your own taps are ever-rotating to bring a wide selection of craft and small-batch libations from across the country. Learn more at https://www.firstdraftmn.com/, and find the Grand Opening Facebook event at https://www.facebook.com/events/435050763568731/.Four licensed medical cannabis producers and one affiliated company have moved forward to create the New Mexico Cannabis Chamber of Commerce. The newly formed organization has registered and is applying for 501(c) 6 member association nonprofit status.

The New Mexico Cannabis Chamber will be focused on the industry side of cannabis. The chamber will act as a facilitator for the advancing the industry by bringing together entrepreneurs from the full spectrum of businesses that work within the industry.

New Mexico currently has more than 50,000 medical cannabis patients that are served by 35 Licensed Non Profit Producers (LNPPS) who operate across the state. Patients are very much at the center of the medical cannabis industry within New Mexico, but there are already multiple advocacy groups that represent their best interests in the legislature but none that represent the commerce and economic development side of the industry.

Vince Galbiati has been hired as the Executive Director of the New Mexico Cannabis Chamber. Galbiati has more than 20 years experience in corporate finance, economic development, public policy, and nonprofit association management. His most recent experience was serving as President and CEO for the Tomorrows Cure Today Foundation in Washington, DC, having participated in Right To Try legislation signed by President Donald Trump to allow patients better, more affordable access to new pharmaceuticals under development.

All of New Mexicos licensed medical cannabis producers have been invited to participate. The new organization is also accepting members that have companies that are doing business or want to do business in the cannabis industry. The organizations website, http://www.nmcannabischamber.org has more information about the organization.

We are hopeful that all producers and those working in our industry will see the benefit of working together to identify where we have consensus on issues and can speak with one voice, said Robert Munro, president of Seven Clover and President of the newly formed Board of Directors. The new Cannabis Chamber will give our industry an opportunity to educate and communicate with policymakers, regulators and the public about cannabis.

The Board of Directors represent four licensed medical cannabis producers and an affiliated company that makes edibles for licensed producers. Members of the Board of Directors are: Chair Robert Munro, Seven Clover; Vice President Rachael Speegle, The Verdes Foundation; Treasurer Alex Spray-Eich, Bhang Chocolates; Drew Dolan, Everest Apothecary; and, Indy White, PurLife Dispensary.

The membership of the organization will guide the work of the Chamber, said Munro. The New Mexico Cannabis Chamber of Commerce will help grow the cannabis industry, promote the industry for bringing jobs, revenue, and economic development to New Mexico, protect it from unnecessary or overly burdensome regulations, and allow the industry to speak with one voice on agreed upon issues.

The New Mexico Cannabis Chamber of Commerces mission is to advocate on behalf of our member companies in the legislative, regulatory, legal, and public policy arenas to promote growth and sustainability of the cannabis industry and support its members in a responsible manner. The Chamber promotes opportunity for cannabis businesses and entrepreneurs with a commitment to community, economic development, and access to safe, quality cannabis products. Visit the NM Cannabis Chamber at http://www.nmcannabischamber.org.Ross A. Clevens, MD, FACS, founder of Clevens Face and Body Specialists, is pleased to announce that Dr. Andrea Spellman has been selected as his Fellow in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Dr. Spellman was selected for this competitive yearlong opportunity during which she will expand her expertise in facial plastic surgery under the mentorship of Dr. Clevens. Trained at Yale, Harvard Medical School and the University of Michigan, Dr. Clevens has practiced in Melbourne for more than 20 years. Dr. Spellman is the fourth surgical fellow Dr. Clevens has hosted for advanced training at his practice, which has become a center for learning for new and seasoned facial plastic surgeons alike to develop their skills in surgery and practice management.

Dr. Spellman is Board Certified in Otolaryngology and Facial Plastic Surgery by the American Osteopathic Board of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery. With nearly a decade of experience as a physician, Dr. Spellman most recently practiced in South Florida where she specialized in general otolaryngology, head and neck surgery, and facial plastic surgery. Her advanced training includes a surgical internship and residency in Otolaryngology and Facial Plastic Surgery with Michigan State Universitys Beaumont Hospital, where she served as Chief Resident. She completed medical school at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Pennsylvania, where she was a member of the honorary service fraternity Sigma Sigma Phi. Prior to attending medical school, Dr. Spellman graduated Magna Cum Laude from the State University of New York at Fredonia with a Biology degree. Dr. Spellman has pursued numerous continuing education and research opportunities on topics of interest to her including reconstructive surgery, rhinoplasty and the role of collagen-stimulating soft tissue fillers for facial rejuvenation. Dr. Spellman donated her time and surgical skill as part of a medical mission trip throughout Guatemala that served 2500 patients.

Dr. Spellman is now available to meet with patients in consultation for cosmetic and reconstructive facial plastic surgery procedures. For more information or to schedule your confidential consultation with Dr. Spellman, contact Clevens Face and Body Specialists at (321) 727-3223 to speak with a patient care coordinator, or visit http://www.drclevens.com.

ABOUT CLEVENS FACE AND BODY SPECIALISTS

Clevens Face and Body Specialists is a plastic surgery group and medispa founded by Ross A. Clevens, MD, FACS. A graduate of Yale, Harvard and the University of Michigan, Dr. Clevens is Brevards double-board certified facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon. He has served patients in the Central Florida area and beyond for more than 20 years. His associate, Dr. Amy Simon, is a double fellowship trained, board certified plastic surgeon who specializes in breast and body procedures. She is widely known for bringing the SPAIR short-scar breast surgery technique to the Southeastern U.S. With offices in Melbourne and Merritt Island, Clevens Face and Body Specialists also offers Botox and fillers, permanent hair restoration, laser treatments, nonsurgical body contouring, laser hair removal, skin cancer care and medical-grade skin care. The practice helps patients look and feel their best by offering comprehensive care delivered by a team of specialists. Known for leading the way with innovation, community giving and excellence in patient care, Clevens Face and Body Specialists was named one of the nations top healthcare firms in the 2018 American Business Awards.We are thrilled to work alongside GenHERation to bring like-minded female leaders together to support lifelong learning opportunities and industry-specific training for millennial women.

NFP, a leading insurance broker and consultant that provides employee benefits, property & casualty (P&C), retirement and individual private client solutions, is proud to welcome high school and college women to its Austin office today as a host for GenHERation Discovery Days 2018.

Discovery Days are a series of immersive summer day trips that provide high school and college women with the opportunity to visit the most innovative companies across 10 cities in America. NFPs Austin office will serve as a point of inspiration and access for young women, opening its doors to attendees for an office tour, panel discussions, networking with key female and male leaders and team-building activities.

"GenHERation is excited to partner with NFP to highlight the variety of career opportunities available in the insurance industry, said founder and CEO of GenHERation Katlyn Grasso. Through our work with NFP, thousands of young women will have the ability to learn from NFP's female leaders and develop the skills needed to be successful professionals. During GenHERation Discovery Days 2018 Austin, our members will get to experience the NFP culture firsthand, specifically how NFP puts its people first in everything that they do."

NFP will also participate in Discovery Days Campus Connection tours in additional cities, in which NFP leaders visit local campuses to host panels and team-building activities. NFP continues to build on its relationship with GenHERation. In 2017, both organizations partnered to facilitate a project that encouraged applicants to develop a recruitment strategy for NFP that seeks to reach young women interested in working in the insurance industry. NFP selected the top submission, by Clayton Buckaloo, a student at the University of South Carolina; Clayton will receive three one-hour mentoring sessions with Lara Nichols, SVP of Procurement. The top 10 submissions were selected to receive additional interviews with NFP for consideration for their summer internship program.

NFPs leadership team is passionate about closing the gender career achievement gap, said EVP and Chief Human Resources Officer Kim Davis. We are thrilled to work alongside GenHERation to bring like-minded female leaders together to support lifelong learning opportunities and industry-specific training for millennial women.

"The opportunity to learn from our nations most inspirational women and partake in a mentoring session with Lara Nichols was an empowering experience. GenHERation has influenced the way I visualize my career going forward  to serve, just like these strong, purpose-driven women who are making a difference in their fields," said Buckaloo. Since participating in the Discovery Days program and winning the NFP contest, Buckaloo has gone on to accept an intern position with the Oprah Winfrey Network.

As an additional testament to NFPs commitment to womens professional advancement, NFP was recently named to Moguls Top 1000 Companies for Millennial Women in its 2018 list. As part of Moguls mission of empowering women to succeed in every way possible, their annual ranking is based on original research that examines workplaces and assesses them based on five criteria: Women's Initiatives, Women in Leadership, Workplace Policies, Workplace Culture, and Overall Diversity & Inclusion.

About NFP

At NFP Corp., our solutions and expertise are matched only by our personal commitment to each client's goals. Were a leading insurance broker and consultant that provides employee benefits, property & casualty, retirement and individual private client solutions through our licensed subsidiaries and affiliates.

NFP has more than 4,300 employees and global capabilities. Our expansive reach gives us access to highly rated insurers, vendors and financial institutions in the industry, while our locally based employees tailor each solution to meet our clients' needs. Weve become one of the largest insurance brokerage, consulting and wealth management firms by building enduring relationships with our clients and helping them realize their goals.

Recently NFP was named the 2nd largest retirement plan aggregator firm, as ranked by Investment News; the 5th largest U.S.-based privately owned broker, the 5th best place to work in insurance and the 6th largest benefits broker by global revenue by Business Insurance; the 9th largest property & casualty agency by total 2016 P&C revenue and the 9th largest commercial lines agency by total 2016 P&C and commercial lines revenue by Insurance Journal; the 10th largest employee benefits broker by Employee Benefit Adviser; the 11th largest broker of U.S. business by Business Insurance; and the 12th largest global insurance broker by Bests Review.

For more information, visit NFP.com.

CONTACT

Peppercomm for NFP

nfp(at)peppercomm.com

212-931-6171WPI professor David Medich stands next to the neutron generator he is developing for medical imaging. Were confident the most recent funding will allow us to make significant advancements and expose younger students to this important industry.-David Medich, associate professor of physics at WPI

In an effort to address an aging nuclear science and engineering workforce and bolster academic research, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has awarded Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) nearly $600,000 to support the universitys growing nuclear science and engineering (NSE) undergraduate and graduate programs.

One grant, totaling $399,999, will support a graduate fellowship program in which two WPI doctoral students will be focused on two research projects: one will develop new models for emergency response dealing with radioactive materials; the other will develop new techniques to obtain higher resolution medical images.

The second grant will go toward developing a highly talented and competent future workforce to support the nuclear power industry. The grant will provide $199,988 in scholarship support to 12 undergraduate students, primarily juniors and seniors.

The NRC awarded 51 grants in fiscal 2018 to 40 academic institutions in 25 states, totaling more than $15 million. WPI was just one of 16 universities nationwide to receive fellowship grant awards, and one of just 18 to receive scholarship grant awards.

Over the past ten years, this program has helped to achieve our goal of enhancing academic excellence, promoting knowledge transfer, and producing a future skilled workforce needed to accomplish nuclear safety, said Raymond Furstenau, director of Nuclear Regulatory Research for the NRC. We are very pleased that the NRC can positively impact individuals at WPI and other educational institutions with these grants.

In recent years, WPI students in the NSE program have gone on to work in a number of nuclear science and engineering fields, including positions as health physicists at Newport News (Va.) Shipbuilding and Boston Childrens Hospital, and various positions within the nuclear industry.

The new grants build on earlier funding to WPI from the NRC. In 2014, the agency awarded WPI four nuclear education grants totaling more than $1.1 million for scholarships, fellowships, curriculum development, and medical and health physics research within its NSE program.

David Medich, associate professor of physics and director of the program, said this round of funding will go a long way to furthering the programs offerings, particularly in the areas of health, physics, and medical physics. WPIs nuclear engineering program was discontinued more than a decade ago due to the decline in the domestic nuclear power industry. However, it was revitalized as the current NSE program in 2012 in response to renewed interest in nuclear energy as a greener alternative to electricity generated with fossil fuels. Additionally, the aging of the nuclear engineering workforce is creating more demand for graduates to work in various facets of the nuclear industry.

WPI has increasingly received attention from the NRC as a university that is working hard to both conduct important nuclear science research and prepare undergraduates and graduates for the nuclear science and engineering fields, said Medich, principal investigator for the grants. Were confident the most recent funding will allow us to make significant advancements and expose younger students to this important industry.

As part of the graduate fellowship program, Medich plans to develop ways to better manage radioactive materials in emergency situations. For example, in the event of the explosion of a radioactive dirty bomb, scientists would need to understand the scope of the exposure. WPI has been working with Sandia National Laboratories to develop new models that simulate how radioactive particles become re-suspended in the atmosphere. This NRC grant will allow us to take our data to further validate our model and replace the current state-of-the-art model, said Medich.

The other graduate program aims to work to improve medical imaging technologies. For example, he said, the gamma rays emitted by the radioisotopes used in current cardiac scans create low-resolution images that are difficult to read. With the NRC funding, Medich will continue to direct research on a novel type of functional medical imaging that uses neutrons. The technology has the potential to produce images with resolutions up to 100 times higher than what can be obtained with current medical imaging technology. Specifically, the grant will fund the further development of a five-foot tall, stainless steel neutron generator at WPI, one of the largest such devices at a university in the United States, Medich said.

Medich is also heartened by the funding for undergraduate programs, which will enable students interested in nuclear science and engineering to apply for scholarships. Prior to starting this scholarship, a candidate must sign an agreement to pursue at least six months of employment within the nuclear industry for each year or partial year of support.

The goal is to help them become very prominent in their fields and put them in a position to develop specific skills, he said.



Learn more about WPI professor David Medich at this link.

About Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Founded in 1865 in Worcester, Mass., WPI is one of the nations first engineering and technology universities. Its 14 academic departments offer more than 50 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science, engineering, technology, business, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts, leading to bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees. WPI's talented faculty work with students on interdisciplinary research that seeks solutions to important and socially relevant problems in fields as diverse as the life sciences and bioengineering, energy, information security, materials processing, and robotics. Students also have the opportunity to make a difference to communities and organizations around the world through the university's innovative Global Projects Program. There are more than 40 WPI project centers throughout the Americas, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Europe.

Contact:

Andy Baron, Associate Director of Public Relations

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Worcester, Massachusetts

508-831-5916, ajbaron@wpi.eduParchman Law Group is helping business owners resolve differences that could otherwise very seriously harm their companies.

Business partners, even very well-meaning ones, dont always agree, says founder Jon Parchman. Ones that wish to harm your business or take more than their fair share of it are out there too. This is why appellate court for business disputes exists. Business owners need a firm and fair voice to help them protect their interests.

Appellate court hears cases that have already gone though a civil trial. Sometimes the unsuccessful party feels the judge made a mistake, or the trial was not fair. In those cases, appealing the decision can sometimes be an option.

Parchman Law has helped clients with business dissolution, contract disputes, trade secret litigation and much more, says Parchman.

To learn more about how Parchman Law Group helps clients this and other disputes in appellate court, visit https://www.parchmanlaw.com/appeals. To learn about the firms other services, visit http://www.parchmanlaw.com/blog.

About Parchman Law Group

Parchman Law Group specializes in all aspects of family law, including: divorce, child custody, property and asset division, custody modification, and appeals. The firms managing partner has appeared on Dr. Phil, and the team well known across The Woodlands and Houston for its expert and diligent attention to each case.

Contact Details:

Parchman Law Group PLLC

300, 21 Waterway Ave

The Woodlands, Texas

77389

Parchman Law Group PLLC

1700 Post Oak Blvd, 2 Blvd. Place, Suite 600

Houston, Texas 77056

Phone: 713-518-1902

###Dr. Kroft My intention is to continue moving AJCP forward into the future to meet the needs of our authors, our readers, and our patients.

Steven H. Kroft, MD, MASCP, Past President of ASCP, has been selected as the new Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Clinical Pathology. He will take the helm as Michael L. Wilson, MD, FASCP, steps down after six years in that position.

Our selection committee for the new Editor-in-Chief (EIC) of the American Journal of Clinical Pathology faced a daunting task: filling the big shoes of departing EIC Mike Wilson and choosing between several outstanding candidates, said Henry M. Rinder, MD, FASCP, chair of the selection committee. We could not be more pleased that Steve Kroft has accepted the EIC position and its professional challenge. Under Steves strategic oversight, we are confident that the Journal will continue to advance its critical role in education and patient care.

On Monday, Dr. Kroft said he is honored to take the helm of AJCP, ASCPs flagship journal and the worlds oldest medical journal dedicated to the field of pathology and laboratory medicine.

AJCP has an illustrious history as the premier journal for practical research articles for our entire disciplineboth anatomic and clinical pathology, Dr. Kroft said. By taking on this role, I am well aware that I am following in the footsteps of giants in our profession. And while I intend to honor AJCPs rich traditions, I also recognize that we live in an era of immense change: how we practice, how we create knowledge, and how we consume information.

My intention is to continue moving AJCP forward into the future to meet the needs of our authors, our readers, and our patients, he continued. As the go-to journal for excellent, practical scientific articles in the field of pathology and laboratory medicine, AJCP will help advance the patient-centric and humanitarian priorities that are expressions of ASCPs mission and values.

As the 2013-2014 ASCP President, Dr. Kroft is familiar to many AJCP readers and ASCP members already. He received a bachelor of science in cognitive science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, followed by his medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago. Dr. Kroft completed his residency in anatomic and clinical pathology at Northwestern University, including a credentialing year in hematopathology, followed by a hematopathology fellowship at the University of Michigan.

After eight years on faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern, Dr. Kroft moved to the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2005, where he is currently professor of pathology, executive vice chair, and director of clinical pathology and hematopathology. He has served on the peer review board of AJCP since 2002 and previously served as associate editor of several journals, including ASCPs Lab Medicine, the International Journal of Laboratory Hematology, and Cytometry Part B (Clinical Cytometry).

Over the years, Dr. Kroft has served ASCP in a number of important roles in addition to his stint at Lab Medicine. These include serving as founding chair of the ASCP Commission on Continuing Profession Development (CCPD); chair of the ASCP Commission on Assessment; member of the ASCP Task Forces on Communication, Transition, Connectivity, and Governance (II); member of the ASCP Commission on Science, Technology, and Public Policy; chair of the ASCP National Pathology Quality Registry Steering Committee; member of the ASCP Effective Test Utilization Committee; member of the Critical Values Development Board; member of the Diagnostics and Technology Steering Committee, Partners for Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment in Africa; and past Board of Directors member and Executive Committee member of ASCP.

Dr. Krofts published research, education, executive experience, and capable work in the trenches for many diverse activities within ASCP position him well to serve as Editor of AJCP, said Joshua Weikersheimer, PhD, Director of ASCP Scientific Publications.

Media Contact:

Sue Montgomery

(312) 541-4754

Susan.montgomery@ascp.orgPatti Engineering, Inc., a leading control system integration company based in Auburn Hills, MI with offices in Texas and Indiana, today announced the details of the companys technical presentations at the 2018 Automating America Expos, which take place at 1:30 pm on July 31, 2018 at the Northern Indiana Event Center in Elkhart and at 1:30 pm on August 2, 2018 at the 502 East Event Centre in Carmel, Indiana.

Steve Palmgren, Patti Engineerings vice president of sales and marketing, will present a technical seminar entitled How MindSphere Can Revolutionize Your Facility at both the Elkhart and Carmel, Indiana Automating America expos. Palmgren will discuss how the Siemens MindSphere Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) platform can be used to deliver meaningful manufacturing data for production decision making.

Our MindSphere seminars have been very well attended this year, and we look forward to sharing our knowledge at both the Elkhart and Carmel Automating America expos, said Patti Engineerings CEO Sam Hoff. Steve Palmgren will be presenting, and will be on hand throughout both events to answer questions about the MindSphere technology and how it can be used to harness data from the Industrial Internet of Things.

The 2018 Automating America expos are sponsored by C&E Sales, Inc. The events allow manufacturing professionals to share ideas and learn about the latest technology by attending workshops and meeting with product specialists and supplier representatives.

To learn more and register, choose the Elkhart or Carmel location.

Patti Engineering has a proven track record of delivering successful results across a range of industries, and the company was named the first Siemens MindSphere Hybrid OT Partner. Customer satisfaction and project success earned the company Control Engineering Magazines 2013 System Integrator of the Year, and placement in the Control Engineering Magazines Hall of Fame. The company is a CSIA Certified control system integrator and a recognized partner to many automation technology companies.

About Patti Engineering, Inc.

Patti Engineering, Inc. is a CSIA Certified control systems integration company offering high-caliber engineering and software development services. Patti Engineerings technical expertise in electrical control and information systems provides turnkey control systems integration for design/build, upgrade/retrofit and asset/energy management projects. Industrial automation, production intelligence and shop floor IT solutions services include: project management, electrical engineering, hardware design, hardware procurement, software development, installation, calibration, start-up testing, verification, documentation, training and warranty support. Customer satisfaction and project success earned the company placement in the Control Engineering Magazines Hall of Fame. For more information, visit http://www.pattieng.com."Were thrilled to be part of the Plant Based World event and for attendees to learn about the exciting innovations in the field that could forever change the food system."

Plant Based World Conference & Expo (PBW) has announced six new members of its Advisory Council, launched a full website and announced registration pricing and information. This inaugural event will take place June 7-8, 2019 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City and is designed to bring the plant-based conversation to the mainstream by creating experiences for business, consumer and healthcare audiences. PBW intends to foster a healthier world by spreading knowledge about all aspects of a plant-based lifestyle. The event will feature an exhibit floor with leading vendors offering innovative plant-based foods, beverages, products, services and brands as well as an extensive educational conference broken into three tracks, keynote speakers and networking opportunities. For more information about the event, visit http://www.plantbasedworldexpo.com.

PBW is being developed for the health and wellness of the global community with guidance from an expert council of advisors within the plant-based industry and beyond. Since the introduction of the event, six new members from a variety of leading organizations who are committed to the plant-based movement have been added, including Eric Adams, Borough President of Brooklyn; Josh Balk, VP Farm Animal Protection, The Humane Society; Michele Simon, Executive Director, Plant Based Foods Association; Stephanie Redcross, Founder & Managing Director, Vegan Mainstream; Matthew de Gruyter, Co-Founder & CEO, Next Level Burger; and Lisa Feria, CEO, Stray Dog Capital. The new members join leaders from The Plantrician Project, Forks Over Knives, PlantPure Nation, Farm Sanctuary, One Green Planet, LiveKindly, HappyCow, Purple Carrot, Vegan Action, The Good Food Institute, Plantricious, 4Leaf, Vegan Bodybuilding and Fitness, VegInvest, and New Crop Capital to form the Advisory Council.

Michele Simon, Executive Director of the Plant Based Foods Association expressed, Working closely with the top plant-based food companies, I understand the challenges many of these businesses face, especially in the start-up phase. I am happy to support Plant Based Worlds effort to address these challenges by bringing together experts in the field to educate and inspire, and to showcase the exciting innovation of this fast-growing food sector.

The venture capital community will have a major presence at PBW, actively seeking out opportunities to get involved with plant-based businesses in all stages of development. Lisa Feria, CEO of Stray Dog Capital and Syndicate Leader of the GlassWall Syndicate investment group stated, I am very excited about the Plant Based World Conference and Expo. At Stray Dog Capital were always looking for exciting innovation, trends and partners. The PBW team has put together a compelling and diverse slate that would get any Venture Capital investor excited. Were looking forward to learning, growing and investing in some great companies.

The conference and expo will feature two full days of B2B education and networking opportunities. The second day, Saturday, June 8, will be open to the general public as well as trade and healthcare professionals. The conference will have sessions broken into Business, Community and Healthcare tracks.

Our partnership with the food service industry on shifting to plant-based meals creates healthier consumers, combats climate change, and saves money on ingredient and purchasing cost. It turns out that being better for the planet is also better for the bottom line. Were thrilled to be part of the Plant Based World event and for attendees to learn about the exciting innovations in the field that could forever change the food system, said Josh Balk, Vice President of Farm Animal Protection at the Humane Society of the United States.

Up to date information about Plant Based World Conference & Expo is available at http://www.plantbasedworldexpo.com and registration for the event will open in the coming months. Visit the website to request additional information and to learn when registration is open. PBW will be the first and only professional conference and tradeshow targeting businesses in the mainstream retail and food service space alongside healthcare professionals and community members who are interested in learning more about plant-based products and plant-based lifestyles. To learn more about exhibitor and sponsorship opportunities contact Michelle Bonina, Sales & Business Development Director at 203-416-1924 or Michelle(at)theplantbasedworld.com.

Plant Based World is produced by JD Events, dedicated to the creation of targeted and innovative industry-leading events that deliver results. The company brings together highly qualified buying audiences, education-rich content and high-level networking opportunities -- all geared toward increasing collaboration in the markets it serves. Visit http://www.jdevents.com for more information.The Department of Homeland Security issued an alert citing the study by security firms Digital Shadows and Onapsis.

At least a dozen companies and government agencies have been targeted and thousands more are exposed to data breaches by hackers exploiting old security flaws in management software, two cybersecurity firms said in a study published on Wednesday.

The Department of Homeland Security issued an alert citing the study by security firms Digital Shadows and Onapsis that highlights the risks posed to thousands of unpatched business systems from software makers Oracle and SAP.

These can enable hackers to steal corporate secrets, the researchers said.

Systems at two government agencies and at firms in the media, energy and finance sectors were hit after failing to install patches or take other security measures advised by Oracle or SAP, security firms Onapsis and Digital Shadows said in the newly published report.

The alarm was raised because firms store highly sensitive data  including financial results, manufacturing secrets and credit card numbers  in the vulnerable products, known as enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and in related applications for managing customers, employees and suppliers.

In an alert entitled Malicious cyber activity targeting ERP applications, the Homeland Securitys National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center highlighted signs of increasing hacker focus on ERP applications, citing the study.

An attacker can exploit these vulnerabilities to obtain access to sensitive information, said NCCIC, an arm of the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT).

Many of these issues date back a decade or more, but the new report shows rapidly rising interest by hacker activists, cybercriminals and government spy agencies in capitalising on these issues, Onapsis Chief Executive Mariano Nunez told Reuters.

These attackers are ready to exploit years-old risks that give them full access to SAP and Oracle systems without being detected, he said. The urgency level among chief security officers and CEOs should be far higher.

An SAP spokesman said that, in general, the company takes security issues seriously across its organisation.

Our recommendation to all of our customers is to implement SAP security patches as soon as they are available - typically on the second Tuesday of every month - to protect SAP infrastructure from attacks.

Oracle was not immediately available to comment.

Both companies release regular patches to known security bugs in their software. However, customers are often reluctant to make fixes out of fear doing so might disrupt their manufacturing, sales or finance activities.

Risks also arise from installation mistakes or growing moves to link traditionally back-office business systems to the cloud in order to reach mobile or online users.

The new alert follows a 2016 Homeland Security department warning to some SAP customers after Onapsis uncovered plans by Chinese hackers to exploit out-of-date software used by dozens of companies, Nunez said.

In their latest research, Onapsis and online monitoring firm Digital Shadows identified some 17,000 SAP and Oracle software installations exposed to the internet at more than 3,000 top companies, government agencies and universities.

(Source)Portfolium Wins State of Tennessee Department of Education Contract Our one-of-a-kind student success network will set Tennessee K-12 students and teachers up for learning and career success, said Adam Markowitz, CEO at Portfolium.

The Tennessee Department of Education has awarded the contract for its TEAM student growth portfolio, student Work-Based Learning, and educator micro-credential ePortfolio systems to Portfolium, Inc., the only Student Success Network.

Portfoliums TNPortfolio platform, which can accommodate up to 500,000 users, will allow Tennessee teachers to demonstrate the impact of classroom instruction on student growth through the TEAM student growth portfolio, allow students to demonstrate the value of the education theyre receiving through work-based learning, and allow educators to acquire and maintain micro-credentials earned through personalized professional learning. The TEAM Portfolio element of the platform will be available for teacher use starting August 24; other elements of the platform will be available for use during the 2019-20 school year.

1. TEAM student growth portfolios:

In supporting the TEAM student growth portfolios, Portfolium provides enhanced functionality that will automate several processes associated with their development. Educators can easily create a content or grade-level portfolio, quickly upload student work samples from a variety of cloud services, score these samples using intuitive online tools, and submit portfolios for peer review. The improved TNPortfolio platform will also allow schools to track student work samples longitudinally across multiple years.

2. Work-based learning portfolio system for students:

For students involved in work-based learning, Portfolium stimulates reflection as students align employability skills with evidence of skill acquisition attained during their internships, apprenticeships, job shadows, project-based learning, service learning, and practicum experiences. Skill alignment and reporting on those skills will support assessment of the efficacy of work-based learning (WBL) programs by each district, using the WBL Program Evaluation Framework.

As an additional benefit for Tennessee students seeking higher education or employment after graduation, Portfolium provides a free-for-life ePortfolio that serves as a comprehensive student learning record and clickable resume. As students apply to colleges or universities, their ePortfolio will display artifacts that demonstrate mastery of postsecondary and industry-related competencies and support their applications to higher-ed institutions. As students seek job opportunities, the ePortfolio connects them with employers based on evidence of learning aligned to marketable skills.

The highly recognizable social media platform icons and workflows in the platform ensure that students readily adopt Portfolium and seldom require any training. With Portfoliums robust suite of options for creating high-quality artifacts, students will start displaying evidence of their learning in a system that is free for life for them. They will carry Portfolium through their academic and professional careers, building clickable resumes, and connecting with employers. Teachers can assess student artifacts from WBL using the Portfolio Rubric and the Student Skills Assessment Rubric, and then provide feedback to students and request revisions of their artifacts.

3. Educator micro-credential platform:

As Tennessee expands competency-based learning validated by micro-credentials to all educators in the state, Portfolium will allow teachers to submit evidence of learning aligned with professional competencies. When criteria are met, the micro-credential is automatically awarded and displayed in the teachers ePortfolio. Micro-credentials can be added to the library at any time and organized into a stackable pathway. As multiple credentials are earned, the pathway is made visual to the educator and reportable to administrators.

We are thrilled to partner with the Tennessee Department of Education on their TEAM student growth portfolios, work-based learning, and micro-credentialing program for K-12 teachers and students, said Adam Markowitz, CEO at Portfolium. Our one-of-a-kind student success network will set Tennessee K-12 students and teachers up for learning and career success.

ABOUT PORTFOLIUM:

Portfolium is the worlds fastest growing student success network. 3,600+ academic institutions use Portfolium to manage and align competency assessment, student success, and career readiness programs. Portfoliums academic solutions plug students into an ecosystem of employers, mentors, educators, and peers around the world. Our 4M+ users are linked to internships, jobs, and lifelong learning opportunities via ePortfolios that showcase their proven competencies. To learn more about Portfoliums network for learners and solutions for educators, visit: https://portfolium.com.Reach Out and Read Colorado created an interactive storybook to start a conversation with mom & family about the importance of introducing baby to as many words as possible. The storybook centers on word count messaging as an easier, tangible measure with instant gratification. While encouraging mom to read paragraphs of the story aloud to her developing baby, it follows with active encouragement through statements like Way to go, you just read 140 words."

Reach Out and Read Colorado is encouraging expectant moms to read aloud to their babies in utero as a pathway to improving literacy through the New Parent Empowerment Initiative. This pilot project is the first known program of its kind to introduce the concept of reading to baby during the prenatal period. Currently, Reach Out and Read Colorado programs, and others like it, target women and families with infants six months and older.

Improving Literacy by Reading Aloud

Since 1997, Reach Out and Read Colorado has worked to give young children growing up in poverty a foundation for success in two ways: incorporating books into routine pediatric care and encouraging families to read aloud together.

Historically, we have provided health care providers with the opportunity to prescribe books to children at health check-ups from six months to five years of age. By building on the unique relationship between parents and health care providers, Reach Out and Read Colorado has helped families and communities encourage early literacy skills so that children enter school prepared for success. The books encourage reading and serve as reminders to parents about how babies explore the world (i.e., dont be alarmed when your baby puts the book in her mouth). With more than 1,800 health care providers participating in our program, 230,000 brand new, developmentally-appropriate books will be prescribed to Colorado families along with a prescription to read in 2018.

Empowering Expectant Mothers

Reach Out and Read Colorado recognizes that the prenatal period is a natural time of information gathering for expecting mothers. At first, targeting expectant mothers may seem out-of-scope with our mission of incorporating literacy into pediatric care. However, we also believe in finding innovative and thoughtful new ways to facilitate a pipeline for literacy learning. So, with the aim of creating a strong foundation for early literacy in mind, targeting patients during the prenatal period seemed to be a natural extension of the program.

During the development of our newest program, we identified a few potential drawbacks to waiting until after birth to introduce the concept of reading:



A new wave of programming was emphasizing reading aloud starting from infancy, yet books were not being provided to families by their health care providers until the age of six months. Will parents feel behind the curve if they havent been reading to baby?

Health check-ups in the first six months are typically packed with pressing information about the daily care of baby. Will the idea of reading to baby be diluted because of more immediate health and development concerns?

During the prenatal period, research has shown that any verbal communication with baby is important. By encouraging pregnant moms to talk, sing, and verbalize by reading street signs, menus, and more, moms can connect with baby during their everyday activities. By meeting parents where they are, rather than prescribing a one-size-fits-all model, Reach Out and Read Colorado hopes to help forge connections that can be built upon once baby is born.

Targeting the Prenatal Period

Because the prenatal period is a natural time of information gathering for expectant mothers, Reach Out and Read Colorado believes that this is an ideal time to target new parents, as they are beginning to form their parental identities. The question we examined became: Would introducing reading during the prenatal period help families form new habits and traditions before the overwhelming first few months of babys life?

Creation of A Story About Reading

Reach Out and Read Colorado created an interactive storybook entitled A Story About Reading to start a conversation with mom and family about the importance of introducing baby to as many words as possible during the first years of life. The storybook itself serves as a tool for pregnant women to guide reading, talking and singing to their baby in utero, with the hope of developing a habit of positive interaction that will continue during the childs early years. Using thoughtful language and illustrations, A Story About Reading aims to help expectant mothers feel confident, empowered, and well-prepared.

Using Metaphor to Explain Science

To demonstrate how a babys brain develops, A Story About Reading makes use of a well-known childs toy (building blocks). The block tower base is equated to the 100 billion nerve cells a baby is born with and the story conveys how its up to parents to connect those nerve cells through human interaction and learning.

Actionable Tips Help Mom Immediately Connect with Baby

Early literacy interventions typically use messaging that equates a parents reading recommendation to time (e.g., read for 20 minutes each day) or instance (e.g., read every day). A Story About Reading centers on word count messaging as an easier, tangible measure with instant gratification. For example, while encouraging mom to read paragraphs of the story aloud to her growing baby, it follows with active encouragement through statements like Way to go, you just read 140 words! The storybook also focuses on speaking to baby in utero using everyday experiences, such as reading aloud street signs and menus or singing songs like Im a Little Teapot. The text suggests singing this song once a day, every day for one year, while explaining to mom how this equates to exposing baby to 22,000 words.

Furthermore, the text aims to empower parents. Traditional early literacy messages instruct parents to read aloud to baby 20 minutes every day, but failure to accomplish this task may leave them feeling defeated. A Story About Reading refocuses mothers by using messaging that reminds them that being a mother can be hard, but youre enough and you are great.

Active Encouragement to Reduce Stress and Create a Plan

Often, patient education neglects to take patient experiences into account when offering advice. A Story About Reading encourages its reader by identifying common, daily experiences as methods of connecting with baby. It acknowledges that being pregnant is hard work, and encourages mom to practice self-care. While some suggestions are provided, such as deep breathing or calling a friend, the storybook invites mom to participate by writing down things she can do for herself during pregnancy and beyond. It also encourages mom to create a plan about when she will talk, read, and sing to baby  during pregnancy and after babys birth  using daily activities as triggers (bath time, bedtime, before doctors appointments, etc.). And, because so much of the research was centered on women seeking ways of not feeling alone in the parenting journey, the storybooks messaging also includes statements such as it takes a village and introduces ways new parents can connect with baby in group settings, such as story time at local libraries.

Expanding Distribution for Meaningful Interaction

Launched in April 2018, the New Parent Empowerment Initiative is currently being piloted by eight Front Range health care clinics and 22 Nurse-Family Partnership sites across Colorado. Sites were selected based on their commitment to the Reach Out and Read program model and their track record of results. A training module was provided to every person who will distribute the storybook.

The current pilot sites include: Children's Hospital Colorado's CAMP (Colorado Adolescent Maternity Program) Program, Rose Midwifery, Clinica Family Health  Pecos, Clinica Family Health  Westminster, Florence Crittenton High School School-Based Health Center, Denver Health Montbello Family Health Center, Salud Family Health Centers Fort Collins Blue Spruce, and Salud Family Health Centers Fort Collins West.

The traditional Reach Out and Read Colorado program is prescribed by health care providers. However, the flexibility of the New Parent Empowerment Initiative allows for a wider, more diverse distribution network. This corresponds with the literature, where many women indicated a preference for receiving prenatal information in group settings. The storybook is being distributed during individual appointments and in prenatal group care settings, by social workers, midwives, care managers, and health care providers.

Created in Collaboration

The prenatal population is a new audience for Reach Out and Read Colorado, so we worked with existing services to ensure our program wasnt duplicative. Our aim was to create a complimentary program that leveraged existing services to maximize impact and efficiency. Once this was determined, A Story About Reading went through an extensive review. Feedback was solicited from the Early Childhood Colorado Partnerships Shared Messaging Team, the Nurse-Family Partnership Nurse Advisory Council, local health care providers, prenatal experts, community partners, and parents.

Measuring Program Success

Reach Out and Read Colorado has contracted with an external consulting company to measure and evaluate the program using a blended methodology of quantitative and qualitative research. The aim is to receive results and impact data as well as improvement suggestions from both the expectant mothers and the storybook distributors.

Quantitative methodologies will include telephone interviews, online surveys, and/or mailed surveys with families who received the storybook intervention. Qualitative methods such as professional phone interviews with health care professionals aim to provide in-depth information regarding impact and suggestions for improvement.

A full report on pilot measurement and evaluation is expected to be released December 2018.RSIR Executive Team Members (from left): Stacia Smith, Dean Jones, Stacy Jones & Ryan Hodgson I feel so fortunate to work alongside this extraordinary team of professionals to lead the next evolution of RSI. I look forward with tremendous excitement about our trajectory." - Dean Jones, Owner & CEO, RSIR.

Owners of Realogics Sothebys International Realty (RSIR) announced today the recent appointment of a several executive management positions for the fast-growing global real estate brand. Stacy Jones, co-owner alongside Dean Jones, the firms Chief Executive Officer, was appointed to Chief People Officer. Stacia Smith was appointed to Chief Sales Officer and Designated Broker presiding over more than 220 brokers in five offices including downtown Seattle, Madison Park, Bainbridge Island, Kirkland and Issaquah. Executive Advisor Ryan Hodgson was appointed to Chief Operating Officer. Denise Seavitt was appointed to interim Branch Manager of the Eastside Gateway Branch in Kirkland alongside Vicki Jackson and Hilary Long as Eastside Assisting Brokers. Dave Janssens was appointed to Issaquah Branch Manager alongside Jason Gibbons as Issaquah Assisting Broker. The executive team also formally established a New Developments Division, independent of the resale operations, and appointed April Madsen as New Developments Director and Krista Dunn as New Developments Manager. A New Developments Preview Center is currently under construction at 2715 1st Avenue in downtown Seattle with a bounty of projects in the pipeline.

I feel so fortunate to work alongside this extraordinary team of professionals to lead the next evolution of RSIR, said Dean Jones. As we celebrate our eighth anniversary since engaging with the Sothebys International Realty network I look back on how far weve come with great pride and I look forward with tremendous excitement about our trajectory.

Jones points to a recent Trendgraphix report demonstrating RSIR is the fastest-growing firm for year-over-year production during the first half of 2018 when compared to the top ten largest brands. According to NWMLS data, RSIR has increased its sales volume by nearly 30% to more than $1.6 billion in sales for the trailing 12 months as of June 30th, 2018. The relatively modest number of brokers consistently garner the highest listing production on a per-broker basis when compared with their most immediate peer group. To better serve their growth, RSIR is currently under construction with branch office expansion in the corporate headquarters located in Belltown, in the new Seattle Flagship Branch and within its Eastside Gateway Branch in Kirkland. The firm also recently doubled the size of its Madison Park annex offices. RSIR leadership is more focused than ever on corporate culture and broker-centric support.

We will never lose sight of our roots  its all about our people and the company we keep, adds Stacy Jones. No app is going to replace the care or creativity that comes from a world-class marketing enterprise or truly global exposure for which our brand is synonymous. That said, we are always open to innovation and will soon announce new tools, an all-new website and dynamic retail environments  not just new places to work but new ways to work.

The Joneses confirmed the following appointments during a company-wide meeting held on July 18th:



Owner / Chief Executive Officer: Dean Jones

Owner / Chief People Officer: Stacy Jones

Chief Operating Officer: Ryan Hodgson

Chief Sales Officer: Stacia Smith

Corporate Controller: Diane Nelson

Vice President of Marketing: Andrea Savage

(Interim) Eastside Gateway Branch Manager (Kirkland): Denise Seavitt*

Eastside Gateway Branch Assisting Broker (Kirkland): Vicki Jackson

Eastside Assisting Broker (Kirkland): Hilary Long

Issaquah Branch Manager: Dave Janssens

Issaquah Assisting Broker: Jason Gibbons

Madison Park Branch Assistant Manager: John Madrid

Bainbridge Island Branch Manager: Carl Sussman

Bainbridge Island Branch Assistant Manager: Kristi Nelson

Bainbridge Island Office Manager: Marilyn Turner

Broker Care Director: Shelley Cribby

New Developments Director: April Madsen

New Developments Manager: Krista Dunn

*Seavitt is leading a committee of executives and brokers to identify the best candidate for the expanding Eastside operations.

In addition to the above listed appointments to the Executive, Management and New Developments Team, the Realogics Group of Companies employs more than twenty additional team members in marketing, social media, broker care, accounting and transaction management.

Its an honor to lead the brokerage as Chief Sales Officer and Designated Broker, said Stacia Smith. Im actively engaged in the Broker Care Division (including Transaction Coordination) to create enhanced efficiencies for our brokers. Im also adding a robust Training and Education Department to further their success.

The augmentations to management, new development and marketing divisions follow an 9-month research, branding and executive team evolution led by then consultant and Executive Advisor Ryan Hodgson, a business strategist and influencer that has helped program numerous Fortune 500 companies. Hodgson is recognized as the 20th most retweeted marketer in the world and a nationally award-winning content marketer.

I am just so impressed with this company and the palpable opportunity here, said Ryan Hodgson. I credit our owners for investing in their people, technology and resources to become an even better version of ourselves. Im excited to steward the business operations of this great company to deliver the best possible experience for our brokers and results for their clients.

In preparation for significant growth anticipated within the realm of project marketing, Hodgson led the separation of the New Developments Division for RSIR from the resale operations. He also identified several additional team members within the Marketing Department to offer brokers dedicated marketing support systems. Overall, the new RSIR organizational chart provides more divisional focus and scalability.

About Realogics Sothebys International Realty (http://www.RSIR.com) - Artfully uniting extraordinary homes with extraordinary lives, Realogics Sothebys International Realty is a leading global sales and marketing brokerage firm in the Pacific Northwest. Recognized by the Puget Sound Business Journal amongst the fastest-growing private companies in Washington State in recent years and ranked #8 in the top ten largest residential real estate brands, the boutique real estate firm of 220+ brokers service branches in downtown Seattle, Bainbridge Island, Kirkland, Issaquah and Madison Park. RSIR is a leading project marketing specialist currently representing more than $1 billion in new condominium developments planned throughout the Puget Sound region.

EDITORS NOTE: Executive team headshots, bios and additional market statistics are available upon request.secondtonaked.com - homepage screenshot Our job is to provide the tools conscious shoppers need, and help them make an impact at every purchase

Today, secondtoNAKED announces the launch of its ethical shopping platform dedicated to eco chic womens activewear and yoga wear. secondtoNAKED promotes creative brands and designers that are taking on the challenge of creating the path to sustainability and local manufacturing. It exclusively features activewear and apparel that is made from organic, alternative or recycled raw materials, and clothes that are made locally in the USA.

The platform works as a product aggregator and features a selection of products pulled from the inventory of multiple ecommerce partners.

It was created in an effort to promote brands and designers that manufacture locally and reduce the environmental footprint of the fashion industry, which is currently the second largest polluter on the planetright after oil. Its mission is to empower the eco-conscious consumer, promote avant-garde fashion design, sustainable manufacturing, and local shopping, and to raise awareness and encourage ethical shopping habits.

We are thrilled to be the first company to provide an online shopping experience for women that want activewear that is both creatively designed and contribute to conserving our planet, states Founder and CEO, Bastien Faure. secondtoNAKED aims to be an active part in shaping the way the industry creates, sources, and purchases apparel...with a heightened sense of what is good for the environment and for people.

In February 2018, secondtoNAKED graduated from the San Diego CONNECT Springboard Startup accelerator program. Currently, the platform is focusing its marketing efforts in the San Diego area, but also serves shoppers throughout the entire US. secondtoNAKED is also working on offering a unique online to offline shopping experience in order to support local boutiques, whenever a store option is better for the environment. Faure says, "We believe in promoting innovative, eco-friendly clothes and systems as a whole, and that is why we are also developing partnerships with small local retailers.

secondtoNAKED specializes in athleisure apparel, for active women who want to make a difference every time they shop. This site makes it simple for women to look great while doing good at the same time.

Our job is to provide the tools conscious shoppers need, and help them make an impact at every purchase, states Faure.

***

secondtoNAKED is the first online shopping platform to specialize in ethical and eco-friendly activewear for eco-conscious women. Learn more at https://secondtonaked.com/.

PRESS INQUIRIES: bastien@secondtonaked.comAdding Identity Lifecycle to IAM NE Profile exceeded all our expectations on how easy it could be to finally manage non-employees.

The collaboration provides customers deploying comprehensive cybersecurity programs, a way to enable business users to directly manage non-employees and third-party risk from vendor to identity. SecZetta products extend customer IGA programs to include an authoritative source for managing third-party non-employees, portals for collaborating with vendors and partners, and identity consolidation.

The process of managing non-employees is not trivial and requires a real understanding of the importance of managing identities and relationships before granting access, said Jason Hobart, SVP, SecZetta. SecureITsource is a leader in Identity and Access Management Professional Services and understands the importance of having an authoritative source that is flexible enough to support any number of scenarios.

By offering a variety of identity centric cybersecurity solutions, including the ability to manage third-party, non-employees, we can tailor identity governance programs that address any number of unique business challenges. This enables our customers to holistically realize the impact that identity has on their business, said Ken Stone, CEO of SecureITsource

The SecZetta Partner Program brings together SecZetta and third-party independent hardware, software and technology vendors to deliver integrated solutions to customers. The combination of SecZetta as a technology partner and SecureITsource as a leading provider of consulting and implementation services offers our customers cutting-edge cybersecurity and identity management solutions.

To learn more about SecZetta, please visit https://www.seczetta.com/products. For more information about SecureIT Source, please visit http://www.secureitsource.com.

About SecZetta

SecZetta is the leading provider of third party identity risk and lifecycle management software solutions. SecZettas' solutions are utilized by companies around the globe to manage third party identity risk: create, control and respond to third party identity requirements and processes, meet compliance and minimize data breaches. SecZetta products extend IGA programs to include identity life cycle capabilities: NE Profile, which manages identity risk and lifecycle processes for nonemployees; NE Access, enables collaboration with partners and vendors; and ID Proxy, which merges identity data from multiple sources to maintain master identities in a single authoritative source. To learn more please visit http://www.seczetta.com or visit us on Twitter @seczetta

About SecureITsource

SecureITsource is a professional services firm that is focused on Identity and Access Management and Privileged Access Management solutions. Our proprietary methodologies and approaches in Identity and Access Management and Privileged Access Management are developed under the premise of doing a few things but doing them better than anyone else. Our select list of IAM/PAM software partners are best-of-breed technologies and as specialists in our practice theaters, secureITsource has developed a Center of Excellence (secureITsourceLABS) that is a showcase for the solutions we resell and support. The secureITsource advantage is perspective and experience. Our management and consulting team come from a variety of industry backgrounds, including financial services, healthcare, government, manufacturing, consulting, and transportation. To learn more please visit http://www.secureitsource.com .Sharon Bloodworth Robots will clear out the sales culture in our industry where people are under-advised and oversold.

The Forbes Finance Council has called upon the expertise of its members to advise what the potential place of artificial intelligence is in the financial services sector. Sharon Bloodworth, CEO of White Oaks Wealth Advisors, Inc., has this to say, "I believe that robots will clear out the sales culture in our industry, where people are under-advised and oversold. The firms that remain will be advice-based and 100% client-centric. Today, many people think advisors are all alike. They will know the difference in the next 10 years. I constantly lecture new entrants into this industry that the future will look very different than the past."

The full article can be found here.Soltare "I am proud to deliver a safety product to the automotive industry.", said Warren Sheydwasser, President Soltare

Soltare Inc has developed, iHearTM , the first to market Emergency Vehicle Siren Detection System for passenger and fleet vehicles with the engineering support of ACAMP. This new technology leads the industry by supporting both present vehicle technologies and future intelligent autonomous systems.

Passenger and fleet vehicle collisions with ambulances, police and fire rescue results in billions of dollars of property damage, lost work hours, lawsuits and insurance claims, in addition to the cost of an emergency vehicle failing to reach its intended destination. Many of these tragedies result from drivers failing to hear emergency vehicle sirens. Even when sirens are heard, ascertaining direction of oncoming emergency vehicles is a serious driver distraction.

In Dec 2016, Soltare began the development of a system to fix this problem. Today Soltare is working with municipal and private fleet vehicles, along with vehicle OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers).

I am proud to deliver a safety product to the automotive industry. About ten years ago in my last company, an employee had a collision with an ambulance. He did not hear the ambulance as he entered the intersection, resulting in a serious collision. Since that time, I have wanted to solve this problem. This can finally be realized now that technology has caught up. So, I engaged ACAMP to support the development. said Warren Sheydwasser, Soltare President

Over the past few years of development and testing, ACAMP used simulation, design for manufacturing and best practices for the automotive industry to deliver this new technology. Patents have been filed on behalf of Soltare. says Ken Brizel, ACAMP CEO.

About Soltare

Soltare was incorporated in 2014 with a vision to improve vehicle safety by developing smart automotive sensor technology. Our first product is iHearTM, providing automatic detection and directional identification of approaching emergency vehicles. This technology advances current vehicle safety and is a precursor to standard equipment on future autonomous vehicles. For more information please visit soltare.com

About ACAMP

Founded in 2007, ACAMP is a unique industry-led product development centre that advanced technology entrepreneurs rely on, to transition their innovation from proof-of-concept to manufactured product, by providing access to multidisciplinary engineers, technology experts, specialized equipment, and industry acumen. ACAMP develops electronics hardware, integrating embedded systems which includes sensors, firmware, and control systems. From its offices in Edmonton and Calgary, ACAMP offers support to companies worldwide. For more information please visit acamp.ca

Media Contacts:

Rosy Amlani

CFO & VP, Business Development, ACAMP

c: 780-909-5664

e: ramlani@acamp.ca

Warren Sheydwasser

President, Soltare Inc

c: 780-405-9911

e: warren@soltare.comSpencer Thomas Group (STG) is celebrating their twentieth year in business. STG provides professional management consulting and senior project resources to companies domestically and worldwide.

Barbara Cassidy, President and Chief Operating Officer of STG says, 20 years ago, many of our clients were focused on the uncertainty of Y2K and the impact it would have. We've expanded from our ERP roots to include solutions for Human Capital Management (HCM) with a specialty in domestic and global payroll systems." Serving some of the world's most recognized companies in many diverse industries, Cassidy states, Weve been responsive to client needs and have worked with companies in over ninety countries spanning six continents."

STG is currently headquartered in a historic neighborhood in Portsmouth, NH, complete with a park across the street. The 100-year-old building underwent a complete renovation in 2017 and remains true to its historic architecture. Cassidy states, "We wanted to operate in the space with no outward disruption to the historic neighborhood. The interior is now optimized for modern communications, including multiple tech-based work areas so employees can work more productively. The non-traditional environment is proving beneficial for everyone."

STG's corporate structure provides direct access to company decision makers to foster growth and guidance. Team member Luke Paradis says, In addition to a great opportunity, one of the deciding factors in choosing STG was the convenient location. Living in Massachusetts, my reverse commute is so easy." Tate Hartmann, a 2015 UNH graduate says, I thought Id have to move to New York or commute to Boston for a rewarding career in sales..but now Ive got time to play co-ed softball during the week. Joining STG is the best post grad choice Ive made.

Reflecting on STGs twentieth anniversary, Cassidy says, Were a company that provides businesses effective solutions through management consulting and project resources worldwide. It's profoundly gratifying to be celebrating our twentieth anniversary - and doing it from the beautiful New Hampshire seacoast."

For more information email Info(at)spencer-thomas.com or visit http://www.spencer-thomas.comWhat we have found in Steve Zarrilli is a proven leader of ideas, organizations and people, and a passionate advocate for helping entrepreneurs grow concepts into companies.

The University City Science Center announced today that Stephen Zarrilli will assume the role of President & Chief Executive Officer effective October 1, 2018.

Mr. Zarrilli brings 35 years of experience from a variety of enterprises including public, private, venture-backed and non-profit both at the management and governance levels. With a proven record in strategy, organizational growth, business development, governance and finance, Mr. Zarrilli will establish and maintain a forward-looking vision that galvanizes the Science Centers role as a leader in life science and tech-based economic development in Greater Philadelphia. Mr. Zarrilli will be responsible for positioning the mission-driven non-profit as a point of convergence for academic and research institutions and as a hub of entrepreneurial activity, while strengthening the organizations programs and supporting the growth and expansion of the uCity Square development. Mr. Zarrilli has served as a member of the Science Centers Board of Directors since 2014.

What we have found in Steve Zarrilli is a proven leader of ideas, organizations and people, and a passionate advocate for helping entrepreneurs grow concepts into companies. He brings to the Science Center deep ties to Philadelphia, but also an expansive view of how technology, when nurtured and incubated, can thrive and be a catalyst for economic development, says Board Chairman Craig R. Carnaroli.

Mr. Zarrilli served most recently as the President & CEO of Safeguard Scientifics, a growth capital provider to technology and life science companies. Mr. Zarrilli was in the role for six years through June 30, 2018, and as Safeguards CFO from 2008 - 2012. Before joining Safeguard, Mr. Zarrilli was the Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Penn Valley Group, a management consulting firm focused on delivering strategy consulting services to early-stage businesses. Mr. Zarrilli also previously served as CFO of Fiberlink Corporation and as Chairman and CEO of Concellera Software, both venture capital-backed software enterprises. In 1994, Mr. Zarrilli joined US Interactive, Inc., a digital technology company as its fifth employee. He subsequently became its President & CEO in 1998 and led the company through its initial public offering in 1999. During his tenure at US Interactive, total staff grew to 800 across eight offices in the US, England and Germany.

I am very excited to have this opportunity to lead the Science Center during its next phase of growth and contribution to our regional innovation economy. I believe the Science Center is uniquely positioned to serve as an important catalyst for the continued development of science and technology commercialization opportunities both locally and nationally, says Mr. Zarrilli. The Science Center has such a rich history of supporting entrepreneurial development. I believe we can substantially leverage this history of success to further create new and scalable programming and support for our innovation community; and strengthen the Science Centers collaborative endeavors with our shareholders, partners and other community members.

Were thrilled to welcome Steve Zarrilli to the Science Center, says interim President & CEO, Curtis M. Hess. The depth and breadth of his experience coupled with his knowledge of the regions innovation ecosystem make him a natural fit to lead the Science Center as we embark on the expansion of uCity Square, welcome Cambridge Innovation Center to our community and prepare for our move into 3675 Market Street. Steve will be an asset in furthering the growth of the Science Center in scale and scope.

Mr. Zarrilli currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Trustees of La Salle University and as a Board Member of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania. Mr. Zarrilli holds a B.S. in Accounting from La Salle University.

The appointment of Zarrilli culminates a six-month national search from a diverse pool of approximately 100 candidates.

About the Science Center

Located in the heart of uCity Square, the Science Center is a mission-driven nonprofit organization that catalyzes and connects innovation to entrepreneurship and technology commercialization. For 50+ years, the Science Center has supported startups, research, and economic development in the life sciences, healthcare, physical sciences, and emerging technology sectors. As a result, graduate firms and current residents of the Science Centers incubator support one out of every 100 jobs in the Greater Philadelphia region and drive $13 billion in economic activity in the region annually. By providing resources and programming for any stage of a businesss lifecycle, the Science Center helps scientists, entrepreneurs and innovators take their concepts from idea to IPO  and beyond. For more information about the Science Center, go to http://www.sciencecenter.org.Rob Reynolds, Executive Director and cofounder of TEL Library We believe that every adult in the U.S. should have access to education opportunities that will help them launch real careers with livable wages.

TEL Library announces pilot partnerships with Oklahoma rehabilitation and diversion centers including OCARTA wellness hub, Pellow House mentoring program and Men's 1st Step Diversion Center to introduce its Career Foundations curriculum. Beginning in September, participants will spend 24 weeks developing the requisite communication, math, computing, and business skills for career development and professional success.

Career Foundations is a post-secondary curriculum designed specifically for rehabilitation and correctional centers. The program prepares adult learners with high school or equivalent education for middle-skills jobs and career development, and also provides clear pathways for ongoing postsecondary education.

According to TEL Library Executive Director, Rob Reynolds, Career Foundations is designed to give hope to the millions of adults in the U.S. who think a professional career and success are beyond their reach, particularly those in rehabilitation programs and correctional centers.

We believe that every adult in the U.S. should have access to education opportunities that will help them launch real careers with livable wages. This is a key pathway to hope for many in our society. One of the most underserved groups consists of the millions of adults in U.S. rehabilitation and correctional centers.

Reynolds points to research from Rand Corporation, which shows that correctional center inmates participating in education programs are 43 percent less likely to return to prison than those who do not. Education provides motivation and reward, Reynolds says, and also gives adults the understanding they need to make better life decisions.

Career Foundations is an education curriculum that prepares adults of all ages for middle-skill jobs and promotes continued professional growth after employment. The program offers turnkey preparation for professional and financial growth through middle-skill jobs, as well as opportunities for continued postsecondary education toward advanced certificates or Associates degrees in Health Science, Information Technology, or Business and Manufacturing.

The pilot program is offered for free to participating organizations and is designed as a partnership between TEL Library and participating organizations, each with a mission to improve the lives of young adults and adults through their respective programs. TEL Librarys goal is to supplement the important missions of our partner organizations by offering an education program that recognizes the specific needs of adult learners in correctional and rehabilitation centers, and that provides hope by expanding participants personal and professional horizons.

According to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, Fifty-three percent of the U.S. labor market in 2015 was comprised of middle-skills jobs, but only 43 percent of the countrys workers possessed the needed skills to fill them. The skills gap is set to widen as 63 percent of U.S. jobs in 2018 will require education between a high school diploma and bachelors degree, and these middle-skills jobs will comprise 48 percent of all job openings through 2024.

The Career Foundations curriculum is designed entirely with workplace situations and tasks in mind. In addition, this applied-learning framework is designed to give participants the academic, literacy, and skills foundations they need to:



Secure middle-skill jobs with higher earning potential and meaningful career advancement opportunities

Excel as employees in a wide range of roles, and advance with regards to responsibility and salary

Stand out for their communication and teamwork abilities

Demonstrate the problem-solving and leadership skills required to receive promotion;

Adapt quickly to new technologies and other changes in the workplace

Develop a lifelong learning mentality that leads them to pursue ongoing educational opportunities

To learn more about the Career Foundations program and the middle skills gap, download our white paper.

About TEL Library

TEL Library is a non-profit, public library dedicated to providing quality and affordable learning for all. It is an online curriculum library of college level, general education content available through a free reference collection, textbooks, courses, and program management services. For more information, please visit: http://www.tellibrary.org.Sony recently introduced its new sensor named as IMX586 which has the image capturing capacity of 48MP.

Cameras are undoubtedly the most important components of smartphones which influences the decisions of buyers. While several manufacturers are hustling to give their best shot in this arena, Sony seems to be lagging no behind. At least for its upcoming device the Sony Xperia XZ3 which is highly likely to come strapping the astonishing 48MP camera.

Going by the report published in a Japanese portal Sumahoinfo, the benchmark acquired of what is said to be the model H8416 will be featuring the staggering 48MP sensor (miswritten as 47MP, as told by Sumahoinfo). However, contrary to the ongoing tradition of a pair of cameras, the premium smartphone will be fitted with only a single camera, which sounds potent though.

The benchmark which has been acquired from GFXbench only reveals the model name which couldn't be precisely claimed of being the Xperia XZ3 as there are chances it might come with the Xperia XZ2 Premium-like dual camera setup. However, Sony just recently introduced its new sensor named as IMX586 which has the image capturing capacity of 48MP. This is supposed to come incorporated in smartphones by September.

Going all the indications, it is highly likely that the powerful sensor will make its way in the Sony Xperia XZ3 whose launch we can expect in the coming few months.

(Via)

Disclaimer: The above report is completely based on online rumours and leaks from the respective sources. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Deccan Chronicle and/or other staff and contributors to this site.The Houston-based chair of the Energy Litigation Practice at global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP, James R. Jim Leahy, was selected by Texas Lawyer for a Lifetime Achievement Award. Additionally, firm Shareholder Bina Palnitkar, a Dallas-based trial lawyer, was named to the publications On the Rise list.

Leahy and Palnitkar, along with fellow award winners, will be honored at a ceremony Sept. 19 at the Belo Mansion in Dallas. The Texas Lawyer Professional Excellence Honors program recognizes lawyers who have made their mark on the states legal profession. Honoree profiles will appear in the September issue of the magazine.

We congratulate Jim and Bina on these well-deserved honors and are tremendously proud of the impact they have made on the legal profession in Texas, said Mary-Olga Lovett and Demetrius McDaniel, Greenberg Traurigs co-regional operating shareholders for Texas, in a joint statement. These two outstanding attorneys are an integral part of our robust Texas practice and their selection for this recognition perfectly illustrates the strength that Greenberg Traurig brings to our clients. Jim is an extraordinary senior statesman who has numerous victories throughout his distinguished career and Bina is a dynamic up-and-coming shareholder who is poised to carry forward the Greenberg Traurig tradition of excellence.

Leahy has 47 years of experience in oil and gas litigation, including upstream and midstream matters, from production and drilling disputes to pipeline and regulatory issues. He also practices general civil litigation, including commercial and business disputes, trade secrets, lender liability, white-collar criminal defense and internal investigations, fraud, securities litigation, deceptive trade practice actions, and insurance matters in the oil and gas industry. He routinely represents Fortune 100 companies in bet-the-company disputes, and has litigated throughout the United States and in international arbitration, as well as before multiple state and federal regulatory agencies. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the American Board of Trial Advocates, and is ranked in Chambers USA in Texas General Commercial Litigation.

Palnitkars practice focuses on resolving complex business and intellectual property disputes through litigation, arbitration, and alternative dispute resolution. Palnitkar has experience handling breach of contract, trademark infringement litigation, anti-counterfeiting enforcement, international FCPA compliance matters, medical malpractice defense for health care entities, fraud, tortious interference, and theft of trade secrets. Bina is also a Texas Super Lawyer Rising Star.

About Greenberg Traurig, LLP  Texas: Greenberg Traurig has more than 125 attorneys in Texas, serving clients from offices in Austin, Dallas, and Houston.

About Greenberg Traurig, LLP: Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GT) has more than 2,000 attorneys in 38 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. GT has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, was named the largest firm in the U.S. by Law360 in 2017, and is among the Top 20 on the 2017 Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law.Thailands robotics and automation industry is anticipated to expand significantly in the coming years.

Thailands robotics and automation industry is anticipated to expand significantly in the coming years, and the Thailand Board of Investment is making a concerted effort to support robotics companies that establish operations in the country by making them eligible to benefit from the Kingdoms new Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) scheme.

Since starting to promote the EEC over 30 foreign firms in the robotics and automation systems sector have met with the Thai Government and expressed their intention to invest in the country. These have included many well-known companies such as Panasonic, Universal Robot, OTC Daihen, ABB Robotics, Kuka Robotics, Yaskawa Motoman, True Robotics, Okura Yusoki and Gerenga Service. Most of the firms are interested in entering Chon Buri and Rayong, two of the three EEC provinces. (The third is Chachoengsao.)

As the 12th largest vehicle producer in the world and the 1st largest in ASEAN, Thailand is often referred to as the Detroit of the East due to its automobile manufacturing output. This industry strength, coupled with the countrys strong offering in electronic and electrical appliance manufacturing, also make Thailand one of the foremost robotics and automation global powerhouses. Similarly, its standing as the medical hub of ASEAN allows it the potential to innovate the medical industry; and in food production, another Thai industry strength, possible innovation lies in the use of robots to help automate these functions and increase output. According to International Federation of Robotics, Thailand has the highest growth rate of industrial robots shipment in ASEAN, which is 19% averagely between 2018-2020, and expected to reach 5,000 units in 2020.

Opportunities in Thailands robotics and automation industry are fast growing. Having various strong industry sectors, all which either already utilize or will utilize automation and robotics, positions Thailand to lead innovation in this sector, said Mr. Chokedee Kaewsang, Deputy Secretary General, Thailand Board of Investment (BOI).

Thailands universities are also invested in creating a future workforce for the robotics and automation industry. King Monkut University of Technologys Institute of Field Robotics has undergraduate and graduate programs in robotics engineering. The university recently partnered with Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on a project that will anchor robotics research and innovation in kingdom. Other institutions such as Thailands Innovation Center for Robotics and Automation Systems (iCRAS), which opened in June, will help Thailand capture a significant share of a robotics market expected to grow at a rate of 15% per year in the near future. In total, 76 universities and 83 vocational schools in Thailand produce over 80,000 engineering graduates a year, creating a healthy talent pipeline for companies that choose to relocate or establish a presence in Thailand.

Also Thailand and Japan have entered into a joint agreement to form a consortium for the development of robotics specialists, with the aim of producing at least 1,400 people skilled in the field within three years. The consortium consists of the Industry Ministry, the Technology Promotion Association (Thailand-Japan), the Japan-Thailand Economic Cooperation Society, the Japan External Trade Organization (Jetro) Bangkok, and Japans Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The timeframe for this cooperation is between 2018 and 2021.

The Thailand Board of Investment offers robotics and automation companies several incentives to help them establish operations in the country. These include corporate income tax exemptions of up to 8 years for companies that manufacture automation equipment or robots with engineering design, as well as those with supporting activities such as microelectronics design, embedded software design, industrial software development to support manufacturing, and etc.

BOI is prepared to provide companies that come to Thailand with the support necessary to flourish, continued Deputy Secretary General Chokedee. Our talented workforce, excellent quality of life and strong incentives are a natural choice for any robotics companies looking to establish operations in the ASEAN region.

Many robotics and automation companies are already flourishing in Thailands favorable business climate. ABB Group, a global technology company, is increasing its automation business in Thailand, specifically in its food and beverage applications. This builds on ABBs existing Robot Applications Center, which was established in 2015 and hosts YuMi, the worlds first dual-arm robot. Similarly, Epson joined forces with the Thai-German Institute (TGI) in late 2017 to establish the Epson Robotics Innovation Center and train workers and entrepreneurs alike, as well as offer exhibitions and training in the robotics space.

About BOI

The Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) is the investment promotion agency for Thailand that facilitates foreign direct investment. BOIs services are free of charge and customized to help business succeed in Thailand. For more information, please visit http://www.boi.go.th and http://www.thinkasiainvestthailand.com.Mobile in Clinical Trials Now in its fifth year, the Mobile program brings together speakers from key contributors to the development of digital technology to connect and empower patients in clinical trials.

The Conference Forum has confirmed the agenda for the 5th Annual Mobile in Clinical Trials event, which will take place on September 24, 2018 at the Marriott Copley Place in Boston, MA.

Daniel Karlin, MD, Head of Experimental Medicine, Informatics, and Regulatory Strategy, Pfizer Innovative Research Lab, Pfizer, returns as program chair to lead the discussion on how and when to implement mobile/digital technology in clinical trials and the potential benefits to be gained.

Now in its fifth year, the Mobile program brings together speakers from key contributors to the development of digital technology to connect and empower patients in clinical trials, says Conference Producer, Jennifer Moran. Scheduled immediately before the 8th annual DPharm: Disruptive Innovations to Advance Clinical Trials conference and at the same venue, this full-day event provides an ideal opportunity to discover more about the value of using digital tools in drug development.

The morning features industry case studies from Bayer, Merck, Novartis, Eli Lilly, and Pfizer who will present learnings from their implementation of digital strategies. This includes: Bayer's perspective on the good the bad and the ugly of mobile health; Mercks latest progress report on the implementation of their AI and digital R&D strategy; how Novartis utilize the ResearchKit platform; Eli Lilly's recommendations for launching multiple devices in a trial; case study learnings from Philips; Pfizer's lessons learned from a regulatory interaction; and new technologies in live five-minute demonstrations.

The afternoon sessions cover a range of topics to equip the audience with strategies and innovative ideas to move the needle forward in an increasingly digital landscape. From an interactive group activity focused on data sharing to sessions on aligning the promise of technology with the patient voice and pre-competitive collaborations to accelerate the advancement of mobile/digital tools, these conversations provide a space for leaders of the industry to have open and honest discussions about the future of digital in clinical trials.

Mobile in Clinical Trials concludes with strategic thoughts for a roadmap to organizational and digital restructuring to scale mobile clinical trials and moving beyond the accelerometer, what's next for mobile clinical trials.

To find out more about Mobile in Clinical Trials, click here for full event details.

About the Conference Forum

The Conference Forum is a research firm that develops specialized events for professionals in the life science and healthcare industries. The company currently offers conferences for R&D leaders, clinical development professionals, biotech executives, VCs, drug delivery specialists, patient advocates and non-profit/government healthcare groups. The Conference Forums mission is to create the best content, facilitate the exchange ideas and provide quality networking to help move therapeutics to patients faster. Click here to learn more about The Conference Forum.There is no similar organization to the NAPCP within the Canadian B2B market offering needed end-user-based knowledge regarding the efficiencies provided within a complete Commercial Card and Payments solution set.

The NAPCP, a professional association serving the Commercial Card and Payments industry since 1999, will host a Commercial Card educational workshop on Tuesday, October 23 - Wednesday, October 24, 2018, at the Twenty Toronto Street Conferences and Events Center, in Toronto, Ontario.

"Commercial Card Program ManagementBeyond the Basics," is dedicated to enhancing the knowledge of Commercial Card professionals. A step beyond the basics, the agenda will focus on the administration and management of an established P-Card and/or Travel Card program and the related best practices. The workshop, attendees will participate in an interactive presentation, as well as open discussion around program challenges and successes. Attendees will have the opportunity to network and exchange ideas and will leave with the tools necessary to advance programs.

This comprehensive course is recommended for individuals who are familiar with the mechanics and benefits of Commercial Cards, but are seeking to broaden their understanding of P-Card and/or Travel Card program management; or are pursuing Certified Purchasing Card Professional (CPCP) certification and could benefit from a broad presentation on program management best practices.

Workshop agenda items include:



Essential elements of the Commercial Card infrastructure and how to evaluate for improvement opportunities, including commonly overlooked best practices

Key program metrics to help evaluate and benchmark a P-Card program

Possible actions to take as a result of Commercial Card report analysis

How to conduct a Commercial Card program risk analysis

Program controls that might have been overlooked

Auditing tips and why current auditing approach might allow some cardholders to go unnoticed

How to diversify training and communications for optimal effectiveness

Ways to raise organization awareness of the card program and encourage card usage

The course will be led by Heather Miller, CPCP, MBA, NAPCP Community Engagement Manager. Before joining the NAPCP in 2017, Heather managed the card program for the University of Phoenix, serving as a primary resource to over 4,000 cardholderscreating, managing, and auditing card and travel policies. As the NAPCP's Community Engagement Manager, Heather collaborates with other members and subscribers to create best practices for card programs within the U.S., Canada and EMEA region.

Other resources for the Canadian Commercial Card and Payments industry include a dedicated web portal on the NAPCP website. This portal connects the Canadian Commercial Card and Payment community directly to the resources that are most relevant and timely to the geography.

About the NAPCP

The NAPCP is a membership-based professional association committed to advancing Commercial Card and Payment professionals and industry practices worldwide. Serving a community of more than 20,000, the NAPCP is a respected voice in the industry and an impartial resource for members at all experience levels in the public and private sectors. The NAPCP provides unmatched opportunities for continuing education and peer networking through its conferences, Regional Forums, webinars, website, virtual demonstrations, newsletters and regular communication. The association sponsors research and publishes timely and relevant white papers, survey results and other documents. The NAPCP also offers a Certified Purchasing Card Professional (CPCP) credential.We are delighted to have Spiros join SparkLabs FinTech as a Venture Partner. His expertise in FinTech, AI and blockchain will be a tremendous fit with our Ping An Fin + Tech Accelerator powered by SparkLabs, stated William Chu, Managing Partner with SparkLabs FinTech.

SparkLabs Group (http://www.sparklabsgroup.com) has a new venture partner joining their ranks, Spiros Margaris, who has been an investor and advisor for over 25 years. He will be a Venture Partner with SparkLabs FinTech and working on their startup accelerator with Ping An Group, which is the Ping An Fin + Tech Accelerator powered by SparkLabs.

Spiros is a venture capitalist and founder of Margaris Ventures. He is the only person who reached The Triple Crown of influencer rankings by being ranked the global #1 FinTech, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Blockchain influencer by Onlaytica in 2018. He was also ranked the #2 InsurTech influencer by Onalytica.

We are delighted to have Spiros join SparkLabs FinTech as a Venture Partner. His expertise in FinTech, AI and blockchain will be a tremendous fit with our Ping An Fin + Tech Accelerator powered by SparkLabs. I am confident he will add immediate value to our cohort companies as a mentor, help raise awareness for this platform, and identify leading startups outside of China, stated William Chu, Managing Partner with SparkLabs FinTech.

Spiros will be joining William Chu (Managing Partner with SparkLabs FinTech), Jessica Jackley (Co-founder of Kiva and Partner with SparkLabs FinTech), Sameer Chishty (Chairman of Streeton Partners and Venture Partner with SparkLabs FinTech), and Brian Behlendorf (Executive Director of Hyperledger and Venture Partner with SparkLabs FinTech).

When my friend Bernard Moon, the Co-founder of SparkLabs Group, approached me to join SparkLabs FinTech, I didnt have to think twice before accepting such an amazing opportunity. SparkLabs global accelerator network, venture capital investments and distinguished group of advisors together create a uniquely ideal platform to help startups make a real difference on a global scale. I feel extremely privileged to become part of such an accomplished firm.

About SparkLabs Group

Founded in 2013, SparkLabs Group (http://www.sparklabsgroup.com) includes SparkLabs accelerator network, Asias premier startup accelerators; SparkLabs Global Ventures (http://www.sparklabsglobal.com), a leading seed stage fund; SparkLabs Ventures (http://www.sparklabsventures.com), a localized early-stage fund (Series A & B) in South Korea; SparkChain Capital (http://www.sparkchaincapital.com), an early stage blockchain focused fund; and SparkLabs Capital, a late stage investment vehicle.

SparkLabs accelerator network consists of SparkLabs Korea (Seoul), SparkLabs China (Beijing and launching Shanghai, Chengdu and Shenzhen), SparkLabs IoT & Smart Cities (Songdo, South Korea), SparkLabs Cultiv8 (AgTech, FoodTech & Sustainability in Orange, Australia), and SparkLabs Taipei.The United Nations Foundation announced the new Arthur H. Vandenberg Distinguished Fellowship with former U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) and former U.S. Congressman Ander Crenshaw (R-FL) as its inaugural Arthur H. Vandenberg Distinguished Fellows.

In these newly created roles, Senator Kirk and Congressman Crenshaw will advise on important foreign policy and national security challenges and deepen discussions about Americas relationship with the UN and other multilateral institutions.

We are honored to welcome Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Representative Ander Crenshaw (R-FL) to the UN Foundation as the first Arthur H. Vandenberg Distinguished Fellows. As long-term champions of foreign aid and funding for U.S. global leadership, Senator Kirk and Congressman Crenshaw will provide invaluable insights to the work of our organization, said Kathy Calvin, President and CEO of the UN Foundation.

U.S. leadership at the UN and in the world remains essential to solving global challenges and advancing U.S. interests and values. The two Distinguished Fellows will continue the legacy of late Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg who championed bipartisan support for the ratification of the United Nations Charter, the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, and NATO. Senator Vandenbergs legacy is clear: When America engages in the world, we are stronger, said Peter Yeo, Senior Vice President of the UN Foundation.

Senator Kirk served in the U.S. Senate from 2010 to 2016. Prior to his tenure in the Senate, Senator Kirk represented Illinoiss 10th Congressional District for 10 years in the House. While in the Senate, he served on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS), where he championed increases to the international affairs budget.

Congressman Crenshaw represented Florida's 4th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001 to 2017. During his tenure in the House, he served on the House Appropriations State, Foreign Operations Subcommittee, co-chaired the Malaria Caucus, and was viewed as a champion for robust foreign assistance. Congressman Crenshaw is presently Senior Counsel at the international law firm King and Spalding.

About the United Nations Foundation

The United Nations Foundation builds public-private partnerships to address the worlds most pressing problems, and broadens support for the United Nations through advocacy and public outreach. Through innovative campaigns and initiatives, the Foundation connects people, ideas, and resources to help the UN solve global problems. The Foundation was created in 1998 as a U.S. public charity by entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner and now is supported by philanthropic, corporate, government, and individual donors. Learn more at: http://www.unfoundation.org.Operation Homefront "The entire Victory Automotive Group team shares our unwavering commitment to meeting the needs of those who have done so much for all of us, said Brig. Gen. (ret.) John I. Pray Jr., president and CEO of Operation Homefront.

Victory Automotive Group announced the launch of a new initiative to support Americas military families: the Victory 12,000 challenge. Between July 1 and Labor Day weekend, Victory Automotive Group Owner Jeffrey Cappo has challenged the companys 41 dealerships nationwide to sell a total of 12,000 vehicles. In addition, Victory Automotive Group will donate $250,000 to Operation Homefront. Operation Homefront is the national nonprofit that builds strong, stable, and secure military families so that they can thrive in the communities theyve worked so hard to protect.

Victory Automotive Group is more than just a business in the community - we are part of the community. We care about the area we serve and the people in it, and there is no better way to give back to our community than to help the men and women who have done so much to protect us, stated the Cappo family.

Thanks to generous donors like Victory Automotive Group and its customers, Operation Homefront provides relief, resiliency and recurring family support programs and services throughout the year to assist military families. Operation Homefront has consistently earned high ratings from leading charity rating services, including Charity Navigator, which gave the organization its highest rating of four stars for 11 consecutive years for superior service and accountability. At Operation Homefront, 92 percent of expenditures go directly toward delivering programs and services to the military families who need it most.

We are thrilled to have been selected by Victory Automotive Group to be a beneficiary of their philanthropic efforts this year, said Brig. Gen. (ret.) John I. Pray Jr., president and CEO of Operation Homefront. Clearly, the entire Victory Automotive Group team shares our unwavering commitment to meeting the needs of those who have done so much for all of us and their support will allow us to help military families have the opportunity to thrive in the communities they have worked so hard to protect.

More information on the Victory 12,000 campaign is available at Victory dealerships in Alabama, California, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas

Victory Automotive Group: Founded in 1997, Victory Automotive Group has grown to 41 automotive dealerships in ten states representing twelve of the best automobile brands in the world. With an industry-leading maintenance and membership program, Car Doc, and unrivaled customer service, Victory Automotive Group continues to earn praise from its employees and customers. For more information, please visit VictoryAutomotiveGroup.com.

About Operation Homefront: Founded in 2002, Operation Homefront is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to build strong, stable, and secure military families so that they can thrive  not simply struggle to get by  in the communities they have worked so hard to protect. Recognized for superior performance by leading independent charity oversight groups, 92 percent of Operation Homefront expenditures go directly to programs that support tens of thousands of military families each year. Operation Homefront provides critical financial assistance, transitional and permanent housing and family support services to prevent short-term needs from turning into chronic, long-term struggles. Thanks to the generosity of our donors and the support from thousands of volunteers, Operation Homefront proudly serves Americas military families. For more information, visit OperationHomefront.org.This victory is great validation of our current strategy of changing the future of laundry and will lay the foundation for a successful partnership with Electrolux.

Washlava, a mobile technology startup modernizing shared laundry experiences, announced that its patent-pending technology won first place in the Electrolux Future of Laundry Challenge in China. Electrolux, a Swedish multinational appliance manufacturer headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, asked companies to submit their entries showing how they would redefine the use of consumer laundry machines in China based on the principles of the shared economy.

Washlava underwent four extensive phases of review including application, validation, mentoring and the grand finale. Washlavas submission included thoughtful consideration of the modern Chinese customer as the main target as well as their consumer behavior, market constraints and the competitive landscape. The final pitch was made on June 11 in Shanghai. Judges included top executives of Electrolux Asia Pacific, and representatives from China innovation and venture capital space.

We are very honored to have won the Electrolux Future of Laundry Challenge, says Todd Belveal, CEO and Founder of Washlava. This victory is great validation of our current strategy of changing the future of laundry and will lay the foundation for a successful partnership with Electrolux.

As a result of winning the Electrolux Future of Laundry Challenge, Washlava will receive a cash prize, an opportunity to enter into discussions for potential business collaboration with Electrolux in China, and other global partnership opportunities. In addition, Washlava will benefit from the companys industry expertise, global distribution and support footprint as well as gain valuable market insights.

We are pleased that Washlavas scalable mobile-first laundry platform and ideas resonated the best with Chinese millennials and the judges, making them the winners among 47 entries we received from all around the world, said Jaimohan Thampi, Head of Digital Transformation & IoT at Electrolux Asia Pacific.

About Washlava

Washlava is the laundry experience that lets customers reserve and pay for machines from their smartphones. Washlava intends to transform the self-service laundry industry through its patent-pending, smartphone-enabled technology platform and digital brand by creating a connected, convenient laundry experience for businesses and their customers. The company was founded by Todd Belveal, who previously co-founded the Austin-based, mobile-enabled car rental company, Silvercar (now owned by Audi). For more information, visit washlava.com.

About Electrolux

Electrolux shapes living for the better by reinventing taste, care and wellbeing experiences, making life more enjoyable and sustainable for millions of people. As a leading global appliance company, we place the consumer at the heart of everything we do. Through our brands, including Electrolux, AEG, Anova, Frigidaire, Westinghouse and Zanussi, we sell more than 60 million household and professional products in more than 150 markets every year. For more information go to http://www.electroluxgroup.com.

###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.Vijay Mallya will return for his extradition hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on July 31.

Mallya remains on bail since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April 2017. (Photo: File)

London: Vijay Mallya has lost his attempt to appeal against a UK High Court order in favour of 13 Indian banks to recover funds amounting to nearly 1.145 billion pounds, in another setback to the embattled liquor tycoon.

The UK's Court of Appeal refused the 62-year-old businessman, who is separately undergoing an extradition trial in a UK court over fraud and money laundering charges by the Indian authorities, the permission to appeal against the High Court order dated May 8.

In the ruling, Judge Andrew Henshaw had refused to overturn a worldwide order freezing Mallya's assets and also denied permission to appeal, which left Mallya with the only option of turning to the Court of Appeal.

Judge Henshaw's order marked the first recorded case of a judgment of the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in India being registered by the English High Court, setting a legal precedent.

The Court of Appeal judges looked into Mallya's application seeking permission to appeal and decided against it on Wednesday.

As a result of the High Court order, the Indian banks - State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Corporation bank, Federal Bank Ltd, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Mysore, UCO Bank, United Bank of India and JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Co Pvt Ltd - have the right to enforce the Indian judgment against Mallya's assets in England and Wales.

"In the event, permission has been refused, then the decision of the judge is final and Mallya does not have any further recourse of appeal against his decision," said Kartik Mittal, Senior Solicitor at London-based Zaiwalla & Co LLP.

"The English judicial system does not give parties an unfettered right to appeal. The right to appeal is restricted.

A party can only appeal a decision of the first instance Court if the first instance Court or the Appellate Court gives the party permission to appeal," he explained.

"A party is granted permission to appeal only in cases where the appeal appears to have a real prospect of success or there is some other compelling reason why the appeal should be heard.

Therefore, in majority of the cases permission is refused," he added.

In a related High Court ruling on June 26, Justice Bryan had issued an enforcement order in favour of the banks, granting permission to the UK High Court Enforcement Officer to enter Mallya's properties in Hertfordshire, near London, where he is based.

While it is not an instruction to enter and that particular order can be appealed against, the banks have the option to use the order as one of the means to recover funds owed to them.

"The High Court Enforcement Officer, including any Enforcement Agent acting under his authority, may use reasonable force to enter the Property if necessary," it states.

Mallya has since said that he has handed over a full statement of his UK assets to the court and there was no question of use of force to enter his home Ladywalk in the village of Tewin in England.

The former Kingfisher Airlines boss had also issued a lengthy media statement last month, condemning the charges against him as politically motivated.

He then took to social media to clarify that he made the statement "after a long period of silence" because he had filed an application before the Karnataka High Court on June 22, setting out available assets of approximately Rs 13,900 crores.

"Media reports quote an ED [Enforcement Directorate] official stating that I am attempting a plea bargain.Would respectfully suggest that the official read the ED charge sheet first," Mallya had said in his last Twitter message on the issue on June 30.

"I would invite the ED to advance the same plea bargain theory in Court in front of whom I have placed my assets," he said.

Meanwhile, Mallya remains on bail since his arrest on an extradition warrant in April last year.

He will return for his extradition hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on July 31, when closing arguments are expected from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), acting on behalf of the Indian government, and Mallya's defence team.

A judgment is expected in the case at a later date, which will be arranged by Judge Emma Arbuthnot.

While the CPS claims it has successfully established a prima facie case of fraud against the businessman, Mallya's lawyers have sought to establish that the criminal charges against him are "without substance".

They have also challenged the case on human rights grounds, questioning the conditions at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, where the businessman is to be held post-extradition.Premium online access is only available tosubscribers. If you have an active subscription and need to set up or change your password, please click here

New to PW? To set up immediate access, click here.

NOTE: If you had a previous PW subscription, click here to reactivate your immediate access. PW site license members have access to PWs subscriber-only website content. If working at an office location and you are not "logged in", simply close and relaunch your preferred browser. For off-site access, click here. To find out more about PWs site license subscription options, please email Mike Popalardo at: mike@nextstepsmarketing.com.The Jerusalem International Book Fair (JIBF) has rebranded as the Jerusalem International Book Forum. The name change comes along with other shifts at the event, which will be held May 12-15 next year.

One of the other changes will see the elimination of the use of a convention hall and convention center, which the fair has employed for 28 years. Moving forward the fair will use what show creators called a "forum format" in which panels, discussion groups, interviews, presentations and informal gatherings will be held at various locations throughout the city of Jerusalem.

The forums will be produced in collaboration with the International Writers Festival at Mishkenot Shaaninim, which will be held May 12-16, 2018. The intention is, representatives said in a statement, "a comprehensive and multi-faceted experience for attendees: professional events alongside literary events."

The Zev Birger Editorial Fellowship program will remain unchanged, and its next slate of 35 fellows will be chosen later this year. Also unchanged will be the official opening ceremony and the awarding of the Jerusalem Prize, honoring the works of authors whose work asserts "the freedom of the individual in society," by the Mayor of Jerusalem.

"Supported by the Mayor and the Municipality of Jerusalem, the Ministry of Culture, Israeli publishers, and by many loyal and committed friends and contributors, we are proud to announce a new JIBF," director Yoel Makov and production coordinator Sharon Katz, said in a joint statement. "The new JIBF will serve as both a workshop and a meeting ground for discussing challenges, exchanging ideas, and sharing insights and experience, and as a social gathering, recognizing that the bonds and connections between people are among our most valuable resources."After more than ten years of languishing in Kenyan corridors of justice, Ugandan and Rwandese businesses can finally rest easy and recoup some of losses they incurred during Kenyas post-election violence.

This is after the High Court in Nairobi ordered the government to pay 16 Ugandan and Rwandese firms Sh 6.3 billion for goods destroyed during the 2007-2008 post-election violence.

In a landmark ruling on Thursday, Justice Mbogholi Msagha observed that the Government had reached out to the affected traders to settle the case out of court in 2010 but later turned around to deny liability.

The plaintiffs in this suit feature prominently in that document which has not been denied by the defendants even during the hearing. There is evidence on record that an attempt was made to settle the claim out of court, the judge ruled.

The defendants cannot therefore at this stage run away from liability.

Judge Msagha observed that during the hearing, state lawyers admitted the claims laid by the firms but still asked the court to dismiss the suit.

The judge further added that the Attorney General had even wrote to the then permanent secretary in the office of the president notifying him that it was impossible for the government to escape liability since two commissions had already found that the Kenyan police had failed to protect businesses during the 2007 polls chaos.

In the suit where Chief Inspector General of Police and the Attorney general were named as respondent, the court heard that most of goods they were ferrying into the country were vandalized.

The police failed to provide security arrangements to protect the plaintiffs lives and property. As a result of violence, the plaintiffs lost trucks and goods by way of arson and theft, the firms claimed.

This mostly happened on the Nakuru-Eldoret-Malaba and Nakuru-Busia highways.

The case had been filed by Kampala City Traders Association, KATRACO Uganda, Intraspeed Logistics and Mugenga Holdings claiming that their 22 trucks which were on transit to Nairobi were destroyed in chaos.

In addition, Dooba Enterprises, Willex Uganda, SEBCO Uganda, KPI Limited, Bunyonyi Safaris, Seven Hills Impex, Uganda Agricultural Tools, Board City, Bidco Uganda and businessman Tom Mgenga, who owns Mugenga Holdings also laid claim against the Kenyan Government for each truck that was destroyed.

In the judgment, 15 firms will share Sh 4.7 billion while Mr. Mgenga who had filed a separate suit will get Sh 1.62 billion as compensation.Kenyas enviable position as the kingpin of the East African market is under threat.

For the first time, Ugandas exports have surpassed its imports from East Africas biggest economy.

According to trade data from Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), in the five months to May 2018, Kenya imported goods from Uganda worth Sh30.21 billion compared to exports of Sh26.08 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of Sh4.13 billion.

Marking the first-ever trade deficit that Kenya has recorded against Uganda, traditionally the largest buyer of Kenyan goods, since the central bank started making trade numbers public.

Poor weather as a result of a severe drought which ravaged parts of Kenya last year and which was further worsened by invasion of army worms which affected parts of Kenyas bread basket region responsible for producing the countrys staple crop, maize, saw Kenya turn to the pearl of Africa for increased maize imports than usual.

Data from Kenya Revenue Authority show that Uganda accounted for 70.36 per cent of the nearly 419,548 tonnes of kenyas maize imports, an equivalent of about 4.66 million 90-kg bags, in the five months to May.

And as a result, Kenyas import bill from Uganda jumped nearly three times in the review period from Sh11.99 billion in the same period last year.

Exports to Uganda has also been falling marginally in recent years partly due to import substitution as more factories spring up in Kampala, cutting off supplies from Nairobi.

Imports/exports trade deficits have traditionally been a feature of Kenyas foreign trade and not within the EAC market.

Since the inception of East Africa community in 1967, dissolved in 1977, and revived in 1999, Kenya has continued to dominate the EAC market until now.

As of December 2017, Kenyas intra-EAC trade accounted for 34.8 per cent while Uganda and Tanzania accounted for 28.3 per cent and 19.4 per cent respectively.

The same cannot, however, be said about Kenyas-China trade relations for instance.Outgoing United States (US) ambassador to Ghana, Robert P. Jackson, has disclosed that the two former Guantanamo Bay detainees in Ghana who have become known as Gitmo 2, have married in Ghana and given birth.

Both of them are married now; both of them have children now; both of them are well integrated into Ghana, he stated.

He has, therefore, urged Ghanaians not to worry anymore about the two former detainees being a threat to the peace and security of the country.

Mr Jackson made the disclosure in an interview with the media recently in Accra.

He said contrary to suspicions by a section of the public upon the arrival of the two Yemenis, Mahmud Umar Muhammad Bin Atef and Khalid Muhammad Salih Al-Dhuby in Ghana two-and-half-years ago, they have not attracted terrorists nor been a problem to the security of the country.

I dont believe Ghanaians should be concerned about their presence here in Ghana based on a track record that is now two and a half years long, he said, in response to a question as to whether or not the two should now be allowed to leave Ghana after spending the two years agreed upon by the erstwhile Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration and the US Government.Speculation began after MTN broadcasted the sale of its Cyprus unit for just over $305 million to Monaco Telecom.

The companys only presence in Europe was MTN Cyprus, and falls outside the groups core footprint of Africa and the Middle East, MTN said in the sale announcement.

CEO Rob Shuter is said to be reviewing MTNs portfolio and whether it really needs to be in 22 countries, according to a report by Bloomberg.

According to the report, West Africa seems to be next. Liberia, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau could be on the chopping block. Liberia and Guinea-Bissau had the lowest number of subscribers after Cyprus.

Earlier this year, MTN paid regulators in Benin $126 million to settle a licensing dispute. Then in Cameroon, it paid a $6.6 million penalty ahead of renewing its license there. In Ghana, MTN agreed to sell shares to local investors in exchange for a regulatory requirements for a new 4G license, reported by Bloomberg. And of course, the MTNs woes in Nigeria are well-documented.Some companies use vehicles, human beings and many other available spaces to create awareness about the services and products they offer.

However, one would hardly imagine that, of all the parts of the human body, a company would chose no other than the armpits to rent and use as advertising space.

A Japanese advertising company called Wakino Ad Company is currently looking for models who would agree to rent out their armpits for 10,000 yen ($89.99) per hour for the company to place advertisements.

Obviously, the company is adopting this as a cost cutting measure, but some people have raised misgivings about its effectiveness, because the armpits are private parts that are hardly shown to the public.

The only time peoples armpits are seen is when they either deliberately or inadvertently raise their arms, so it is unclear how regularly visible the advertisement will be.According to the report, the investment was illegal because government agencies are not required to make such investments unless with the express approval of the Minister of Finance.

It further said managements use of its resources in such a manner undermines the effort of government in providing prompt services for the successful implementation of the School Feeding Programme.

Responding to this claim, Chief Executive Officer for Dalex Finance and Leasing Company, Ken Thompson said that the money was invested at a commercial rate at the time and subsequently paid back.

He added that government agencies regularly to make such payments to financial institutions, using the money they have no immediate need for the money.

Institutions place money with us all the time, and the rates we give for the money that we receive is at the rate at the time. I presume the money they gave us was money they had received and did not have the immediate use for it.

These happened when the erstwhile Mahama administration was in power. The Ministry was then headed by Nana Oye Lithur.

Meanwhile, scores of caterers under the School Feeding Programme have protested a couple of times demanding their arrears.

The basic idea of the school feeding programme has been to provide pupils in primary public schools with one hot, nutritious meal every day.

Payment of the arrears has been seen to be filtering into the caterers with the government recently releasing GHc 10 million to them.According to the outgoing US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Porter Jackson, the exercise includes a training by Ghanaians of Americans at the Jungle Warfare Centre and we are very pleased that Ghana remains the only country in Africa that is training US forces.

Addressing journalists at the US Embassy in Accra on Tuesday July 24, Mr. Jackson said the training spoke to Ghanas partnership with the United States in the peace and security area.

He stated that the US will continue to provide equipment and training to Ghana due to the West African countrys active participation in international peacekeeping.

Of course Ghana remains an active participant in international peacekeeping and we continue to provide equipment and training for that but we really see this as an equal partnership and we are very excited about the capacity of both countries to contribute equally to that partnership, he added.by Wang Zhicheng

A 26-year-old young man from Inner Mongolia was arrested in connection with the blast. The would-be self-immolator is a woman in her 40s, possibly a petitioner. For the police, the bomb was fireworks, which injured the authors hands. The words "American Embassy" were blocked and censored on social media.

Beijing (AsiaNews)  A man set off a bomb a few metres from the US Embassy in the Chinese capital. This came shortly after a woman tried to set herself on fire with petrol but was dragged away by two plainclothes policemen. It is not known whether the two incidents are connected.

According to the US Embassy, the bomb exploded at 1 pm. The police identified the author as a certain, Jiang, a 26-years-old man from Inner Mongolia. It also said that the blast was caused by fireworks.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang called the event an isolated incident, noting that the police were handling it. At the same time, the words "American Embassy" were censored on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter.

According to eyewitnesses, the young man had two detonators in his hands. The small blast injured both hands.

The US Embassy is located next to the intersection of Tianze and Anjialou Roads, Chaoyang district, and is almost always crowded with people queuing to apply for a visa to the US.

The work at the embassy was suspended for a few hours, then resumed.

Earlier in the day, at about 11 am, a couple of hours before the bomb explosion, a woman in her 40s covered herself in petrol and tried to set herself on fire.

Self-immolation is often used by young Tibetans demanding the return of the Dalai Lama to Tibet and denouncing Chinese repression in the Himalayan region.

The woman was taken away by two policemen in plain clothes as another two rushed to the site with fire extinguishers.

Some witnesses said that the shabbily dressed woman held a sign in her hand with the Chinese characters for "grievance". It is commonplace for people to file complaints and present petitions to central government authorities.

Conversely, violent attacks are rare in the Chinese capital, given the tight surveillance network that envelops the city.

The worst such incident dates back to 2013 when someone drove a car into people, killing five, in the highly monitored Tiananmen Square. At the time, the Chinese police blamed Xinjiang Uyghur separatists for the attack.A statement from the Police Service said investigations are already underway to get to the bottom of the matter.

The statement, which was signed by the Director-General for Public Affairs, David Eklu, said the IGP has directed the Western Regional Police Commander to constitute a committee to spearhead the investigations.

The committee has been tasked to investigate the incident and bring out their report within the next two weeks.

DSP Dickson Obeng, has been accused of prescribing 36 lashes as a corrective measure for a 14-year-old class 6 pupil, Stanley Antwi of the St. James Anglican Primary at Akontombra.

The teenager was given such a punishment for fighting a colleague in school, his father, Enoch Tandoh, said.

Narrating further, Mr. Tandoh told Accra-based Citi FM: I was in my farm when my wife called to inform me that our children have returned from school, but Stanley is bleeding at his back, and so I should stop the farm work and help take him to the hospital.

So I rushed home to see my children only to see my son Stanley with severe marks of beatings on his back, his chest and parts of his stomach. When I asked Stanley what happened, he said the District Police Commander ASP Dickson Obeng, whose office is just behind their school, ordered his men to whip him for fighting with one of his classmates after school had closed.Fredrick Amanor Godzi was arraigned before Circuit Court 10 which is presided over by Judge Ameley Quaye. His charges were read to him.

The Circuit Court remanded him into police custody to reappear on August 9, 2018.

READ ALSO: 800 US soldiers in Ghana for jungle warfare training

A video went viral on social media showing a policeman assigned to the Savings and Loans physically abusing a woman who was carrying a baby at the headquarters of Midland Savings and Loans at Shiashe in Accra.

Lance Corporal Amanor brutishly assaulted the 36-year-old customer in the banking hall over a misunderstanding following her inability to withdraw GhC250.

Patience Osafo had refused to leave the banking hall after the company failed to allow her to withdraw GHC250 from her savings account. The staff asked the AK-47-wielding policeman to get her out and in the process, assaulted her.

The policeman was arrested by the Police on the orders of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), David Asante-Apeatu, for investigations and prosecution.

He has also been interdicted pending disciplinary action against him.

The company has issued an apology to the assaulted customer and the general public.And as part of protocol for his final funeral rites, the Accra Regional Police Command has announced that some roads around the Osu Cemetery and its environs will be closed temporarily.

The affected roads are the Osu Cemetery Traffic Light, on the Lokko Street and the Castle road, from the AU Circle to Osu Cemetery Traffic Light.

5 amazing throwback photos telling Amissah-Arthur's life storyREAD ALSO: No ambulance, we threw Amissah-Arthur in a pickup- Okyehene reveals

The road will remain closed from Thursday, 26 July to Friday, 27 July 2018, and unmarked vehicles will not be permitted to park or drive though those routes.Motorists from the Lokko Street towards the Castle road are advised to consider using the Ajumaku and Oxford Streets.

Likewise, traffic from the AU Circle towards the Castle road shall be diverted unto the Abdul Diouf and King Hassan roads.The late former Vice-President will be buried on Friday, 27 July at the Military Cemetery, Accra.

Amissah-Arthur died on June 29, 2018.

He reportedly collapsed at the Air Force Gym Friday morning and was rushed to the 37 Military Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Born on April 29, 1951, the economist, academic, and politician was the sixth Vice-President, in office from August 6, 2012, until January 7, 2017, under President John Mahama.He said employing competent will enhance the scheme to bring out the best from the employees.

He said 137, 000 applicants have so far been interviewed nationwide since the interview started about six weeks ago, noting that, the programme intended to fulfil the Presidents vision to create jobs for the unemployed graduates.

He said government had allocated financial and logistical resources to sustain the programme and expressed optimism that the programme would enable the beneficiaries to gain the requisite experiences that would help them to secure permanent jobs in the future, and contribute their quota towards national development.

President Akufo-Addo launched the NABCO policy in May in Kumasi and it is intended to alleviate the extreme unemployment among graduates in the country.With the United States threatening to impose punishing new tariffs on EU auto exports, Juncker said: "We are close partners, allies -- not enemies."

"We have to work together. We are representing half of world trade," the European leader said.

"I think we have to talk to one another and not at one another," Juncker said as he sat next to Trump in the Oval Office, thanking the US leader for "taking the initiative to invite us to the White House."

Trump repeated his call for "reciprocal" trade.

"Over the years the United States has been losing hundreds of billions of dollars with the European Union and we just wanted it to be a level playing field for farmers, manufacturers, for everybody," Trump said.

Before coming to Washington, Juncker had warned he was "not very optimistic" about the talks -- and vowed immediate retaliatory measures should Trump make good on a threat to slap new tariffs on autos and auto parts.

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, who is accompanying Juncker, said the EU is drawing up a list of $20 billion in US products to be targeted for retaliation if the trip fails.

Trump crowed Tuesday that his latest threat had brought Europe to the negotiating table and called on both sides to "drop all Tariffs, Barriers and Subsidies!"

Trump's confrontational trade actions, especially against US allies like Canada, Mexico and the EU, is drawing increasing criticism, and the administration acknowledged on Tuesday that American farmers are being hurt by the retaliatory measures."To ensure safety, CA876 flew back to Paris and landed safely," the airline had said on one of its social media accounts.

But France's state service for airport security later explained that the threat had turned out to be a false alarm resulting from a misunderstanding between the company and a passenger who arrived late for the flight at Charles de Gaulle airport.

"A passenger who was delayed due to an abandoned suitcase at Roissy (Charles de Gaulle) airport telephoned the company saying there had been a bomb at the terminal," the security service said.

"The person he talked to thought he said that there was a bomb on the plane."

A judiciary enquiry has been launched against the man -- an Australian according to a source close to the investigation -- and he had been detained.

"The plane touched down at Roissy at 1:55 pm (11:55 GMT). It had turned back after only 30 minutes in the air," the state service for airport security said.

All of the passengers of the Boeing 787 jet will now be put on a flight to Beijing at 9:00 pm instead, it added.The US leader himself, under fire over plans to invite Putin to the White House in the fall, opted to delay until 2019 -- pushing the talks back until Robert Mueller has completed his probe into Moscow's election interference, according to National Security Advisor John Bolton.

And Pompeo went on the offensive to stress steps Trump has taken to show resolve against the Kremlin, stepping into a white-hot spotlight during a grilling by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The top diplomat said he would back bipartisan efforts in Congress to slap new sanctions on Russia in response to their meddling in the 2016 US election, and as a deterrent against meddling this year or in 2020.

"I personally made clear to the Russians that there will be severe consequences for interference in our democratic processes," he said in his opening statement.

Pompeo reaffirmed as official policy that the United States "rejects Russia's attempted annexation of Crimea" -- an issue on which the US leader had appeared to waver.

And with the US president accused -- including by members of his own Republican party -- of casting doubt on the alliance's founding principle of mutual defense, Pompeo sought to smooth ruffled feathers.

"NATO will remain an indispensable pillar of American national security," he said. "We know weakness provokes our enemies, but strength and cohesion protect us."

On the North Korea front, Pompeo also struck a resolute tone, warning that Washington will not let nuclear negotiations "drag out to no end," amid criticism that Trump's June summit with Kim Jong Un has so far yielded few results.

"We are engaged in patient diplomacy, but we will not let this drag out to no end," Pompeo said.

'Submissive and deferential'

Lawmakers -- and America's allies around the world -- have been eager to learn the details of Trump's one-on-one July 16 meeting with Putin, including whether Trump made any secret promises to Putin or as-yet undisclosed verbal agreements.

Republicans and Democrats alike have described Trump's performance as a betrayal of US interests and too conciliatory towards the Russian leader.

The hearing quickly turned testy as lawmakers sought details on what exactly transpired in the Finnish capital.

"I don't think that's unfair to know," Senator Robert Menendez, the panel's top Democrat, told Pompeo. "Did he tell Putin that he'll release or ultimately relax sanctions?"

"Senator, what you need to conduct your role, your appropriate role, I will provide you today," a steely Pompeo shot back, without answering the question.

While Pompeo gave no hints of any secret promises or deals between the presidents, the US State Department has said three "modest proposals" emerged from the summit: a high-level business leaders' working group; a council of US and Russian political experts, diplomats and military officials; and discussions between the two presidents' national security staffs.

Republican Senator Bob Corker, the committee's chairman, issued a blistering critique of Trump's performance in Helsinki, saying the president appeared "submissive and deferential" standing next to Putin, and reprimanding the White House effort to throw a veil over the proceedings.

"We really need a clear understanding as to what is going on," Corker said.

With Moscow asserting that "agreements" had been reached between the leaders over Syria, the content of their two-hour conversation with no one else but their interpreters present has been the subject of conjecture.

"I gave up NOTHING," Trump wrote on Twitter on Monday.

Congress has been rattled by Trump's Helsinki showing, particularly when he appeared to accept Putin's denial that Russia interfered in the 2016 election -- dismissing US intelligence conclusions.

Congressional leaders in Trump's Republican Party have made clear that the Russian strongman is not welcome in the US Capitol.Life in Lamu County is set to become a little bit easier after the government announced it has released Sh130 million ($13 billion) for the renovation and restoration of four key jetties in the county which are currently structurally unsound.

Speaking in Lamu on Friday, Chief Structural Engineer in the Public Works Department, Hillary Nyaanga, said those to be renovated include Mokowe Customs Jetty, Lamu Terminal Jetty, Manda Airport Jetty, and Mtangawanda Jetty.

We want to give all the Lamu jetties a modern facelift. For the Mokowe Jetty, we will have to reconstruct it afresh. For the Lamu Terminal Jetty, we will have to change a section. At Manda Airport Jetty, we will repair the pontoon which is already in the water and also do protection work. Said Mr.Nyaanga.

In March this year, the government announced plans to reconstruct and renovate six jetties in Lamu county most of which face closure due to poor maintenance.

99 per cent of movement and transport by Lamu residents is also by sea.

Also read: 11 interesting places to visit in Lamu Archipelago that will blow you away

However, due to years of neglect and under funding, most jetties in Lamu are in a deplorable state.

Some lanes have collapsed, endangering travellers.

We have already received cash to undertake the first phase of renovation of four key jetties in Lamu, Mr Nyaanga said.

The official had earlier announced that Sh400 million will be spent on building Mokowe jetty.

A total of Sh80 million had been set aside for building the Mokowe Customs Jetty, and Sh25 million was allocated to the renovation of Lamu Terminal Jetty.

Sh20 million will go towards renovation of Manda Airport Jetty while another Sh5 million will be used to renovate the Mtangawanda Jetty.

Apart from the four jetties, others which also require urgent renovation include Kizuke Jetty and Jeti ya Ngombe.Safaricom has announced that it will increase the number of staff living with disabilities to five per cent by March 2021, up from the current 1.7 per cent, as part of its strategic business objectives.

The mobile service provider announced its commitment during the inaugural Global Disability Summit held in London, United Kingdom, where it joined civil society representatives, governments and other corporate organisations in calls for greater inclusivity of people living with disabilities within the private and public sectors.

As part of its Diversity and Inclusion programme introduced in 2016, Safaricom has so far employed 96 members of staff with various disabilities including visual and hearing impairments, paraplegics, and people living with albinism and dwarfism.

Our intentional focus on Diversity and Inclusion has seen us actively reach out to minorities such as people with disabilities in line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8 on Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG 10 on Reduced Inequalities, said Bob Collymore, CEO  Safaricom.

According to the World Health Organisation, an estimated 15 per cent of the worlds population is comprised of people with various disabilities, while Global Disability Rights Now estimates that people with disabilities account for 10 per cent of Kenyas population, which translates to about 4.44 million people.

People with disabilities across the world have poorer health outcomes, lower education achievements, less economic participation and higher rates of poverty compared to those without disabilities. This is attributed to barriers in accessing services, including health, education, employment, and transport as well as information.

For Safaricom, inclusivity goes beyond hiring people with disabilities to fill a quota. Its about giving them the same opportunities for career growth, leveling the playing field by catering to various needs such as access to our facilities, specialised medical insurance cover, transport to and from work, and running a robust Diversity and Inclusion programme where everybody feels respected, valued, and welcome in the workplace, said Mr. Collymore.

In December 2017, Safaricom showcased its commitment to greater inclusion by launching the M-PESA Interactive Voice Response (IVR) service. The service allows visually impaired customers to query their M-PESA balances without having to share their PIN numbers for assistance, thereby protecting customers personal information and dignity while using the money transfer and payments service.

We recognise that as a business, we must be reflective of the communities we serve. Part of that involves bringing down barriers to essential services by making sure that everybody can access these services, regardless of their disabilities, said Mr. Collymore.

The Global Disability Summit is co-hosted by the UK Government, International Disability Alliance and Government of Kenya, and brings together over 700 delegates from governments, donors, private sector organisations, charities and organisations of persons with disabilities. Its objective is to tackle the barriers that prevent people living with disabilities from reaching their full potential, and to develop strategic partnerships that will look at how to drive inclusive economic development for people with disabilities through core business rather than corporate social responsibility.

A key outcome of the Summit will be the creation of a three-year partnership between Safaricom, the Government of Kenya, the United Kingdoms Department for International Development, (DFID) and a select group of private sector players. This partnership will focus on the economic empowerment for people with disabilities by maximising their engagement as employees, service users and consumers, offering scope to build markets and stimulating sustainable and inclusive growth.East Africas biggest economy is far more dangerous than any other country in the region and sadly enough its the civilians you need to be more afraid of than the government.

This is because unlike anywhere else in the region, Kenyan civilians have more guns than the military and the police combined. On average, slightly over one gun is in the hands of every 100 civilians in Kenya.

According to Geneva-based Small Arms Survey, Kenyan civilians own 750,000 firearms as of 2018 up from 680,000 in 2016. Most of the guns are illegal and not registered by the licensing authorities.

Legal and illegal firearms in civilian hands range from improvised craft weapons like self-loading pistols to factory-made handguns, rifles and shotguns, the agency says, as reported by a local business daily.

Out of the 750,000 private firearms, only 8,136 are registered, representing a paltry one per cent, meaning that a majority of private guns (99 per cent) are held illegally.

At 750,000, Kenyas stack of private arms towers far above the 45,790 guns held by the military and 51,527 in the hands of the police, posing a real danger to the country's overall security.

Skewed distribution of firearms between Kenyas security agencies and civilians is now being seen as the biggest security challenge facing East Africas largest economy.

Cases of misuse of guns, majority of which have led to deaths, have been on the rise in recent years.

In February 2017, former nominated Senator Paul Njoroge sent chills down Kenyans spines after he was captured in the full glare of the media cameras cocking and firing his gun at Vivo Energys then managing director who later briefly become Nairobis deputy governor, Mr Polycarp Igathe.

Two months later, an 18-year-old Form Four student shot himself in the head using his fathers firearm.

Two months before, another student, Brian Kagwe, 22, shot himself dead using his fathers firearm, as his mother watched and begged him not to.

Countless cases of house helps, farm boys and guards stealing guns belonging to their employers are but too common.

Kenyans unchecked appetite for guns is a far cry to her neighbours whose governments have in recent years moved with speed to cut down the number of arms in civilian hands.

In the past two years, Tanzania has cut its stockpile of civilian guns by 123,000 while Uganda reduced hers by 69,000 to 331,000.

Ethiopias and Rwanda have also taken similar measures and currently privately owned guns in Ethiopia stand at 377,000 while only 66,000 guns are in private hands in the land of a thousand hills.

Compared to Kenya, Ugandas army also has a bigger firepower than civilians of 114,000 guns, or more than double Kenyas while the police have 54,000 guns.

Owning a gun without a firearm certificate is illegal in Kenya and attracts a jail term of not less than seven years, according to the Firearms Act but it seems that has not deterred Kenyans from owning guns.

In Kenya, civilian gun holders are licensed by the Firearms Licensing Board  which also registers local dealers and manufacturers.

Also read: These 10 African countries have the most powerful armed forces

Applicants are vetted before they are issued a firearm to reduce chances of misuse.

Civilians are barred from carrying a firearm in public places and restricted from owning firearms such as AK-47, G3, MP5 and those with sound silencers.

Philosophers can, however, argue that maybe Kenyans are not to blame and are just copying what their security organisations are doing, stocking up on guns and ammunitions.

Despite having the smallest headcount in the region, Kenyas military expenditure on salaries and operations remains the highest than its counterparts in the region.

With just 24,150 military personnel, Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) spending hit Sh97.2 billion ($963.5 million) last year having risen from $933 million a year earlier.

At $963.5 million, Nairobis military spending is more than the combined army budgets for neighbouring Ethiopia ($488 million or Sh49 billion) and Uganda ($445 million).

In Africa, Nigeria tops the list of private gun ownership with 6.1 million guns, followed by South Africa (5.3 million), according to the report.

The worlds gun capital, United States, has about 393.3 million guns in civilian hands, accounting for 45 per cent of the worlds total.Most of the victims were civilians. IS fighers also penetrated into private homes, killing residents. The south-west area of the country still has jihadist pockets. Hundreds of White Helmets fled a few days ago from the same area with the help of Israel.

Damascus (AsiaNews/Agencies)  Nearly 250 people died as a result of several coordinated attacks in Suweida, Southwest Syria, a government-controlled area. The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the attacks.

At least 135 civilians were killed in gun battles and suicide bombings. IS launched a series of suicide attacks in Suweida and in some neighbouring villages, south and east of the city, the Syrian Observatory Human Rights reported. IS fighters also penetrated into private homes, killing the residents.

IS and affiliated groups controlled the whole area until a year ago but was lost up to 98 per cent of the territory at the beginning of this year. Some pockets remain in the southern provinces of Suweida and Deraa as well as in parts of the countrys east.

Meanwhile, last Sunday, hundreds of White Helmets managed to escape with their families for the West through southern Syria with the help of Israel.

The White Helmets act as civil defence volunteers, helping civilians after bombings and shelling, but only in rebel-held areas.

Several observers suspect they were allied with the jihadists and acted as infiltrators used as spies by Western and Gulf countries.Apart from frequent strikes and cultism, sexual harassment has been the most prominent issues on our campuses and sadly, it is not looking like it will stop anytime soon.

Since January 2018, discussions about sexual harassment have been very loud thanks to recent sex for mark scandals.

Sadly, it seems punishment is not enough to stop these lecturers from sexually harassing the young ladies, who are in the institutions to chase their dreams.

Does anyone believe that despite the media reports and the disgrace that follows Professor Richard Akindele in Obafemi Awolowo University, another Nigerian lecturer would not sexually harass a student in the next 10 weeks?

No. No one thinks so because lecturers who are sexual predators are still everywhere. Students know them, their fellow lecturers know them, but no one is willing to expose except a few.

As infamous as Akindele-Monica saga is, predatory lecturers are expected to take a cue from the embarrassment Prof Akindele suffered and stop making unwanted sexual advances, but obviously, some of them have not learnt their lessons.

That is why after the sexual scandal in OAU, we have had two cases of sexual harassment in the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and Lagos State University (LASU)

While UNILAG is still investigating the sexual allegation Joy Nwana levied against Prof Olusegun Awonusi, a former Vice Chancellor of Tai Sholarin University of Education in Ogun State, LASU on the other hand has reportedly arrested Dr Odubunmi Sunkanifor inviting a female student to his office on a Saturday to rewrite a paper she failed only for him to bolt his office door and put off his clothes.

In 2001, the former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, who is now a lecturer at the National Open University (NOUN) described Nigerian University lecturers as unproductive pleasure seekers, who see the female students as sex objects for self-gratification.

There is a serious conspiracy of silence about sexual harassment in the Nigerian academic environment. A lot of responsible lecturers can identify the bad ones among them, but theyll rather look the other side than blow the whistle.

Also, many students have chosen to be quiet about sexual harassment because the university system seems to encourage it.

For instance, while I was having a conversation with some female students about unwanted sexual advances from lecturers, a teenage girl claimed she was sexually harassed in UNILAG when she was in 100 level. She said the case was not reported because she was afraid of retaliation.

Whatever makes a teenage girl arrive at that conclusion should give us a cause to worry about the sanity of the so-called lecturers and the safety of female students in Nigerian higher institutions.

However, we will rather blame the student for not reporting the case than criticize the universities for not putting a mechanism in place to make it easy for sexual harassment victims to come out.

ALSO READ: Sacked OAU lecturer explains why he demanded sex from student

The sad truth here is that, as long as predatory lecturers are not kicked out and the responsible ones maintain a shameful silence this horrible trend will keep raising its ugly head.

Until Nigerian universities make it easy for sexual harassment victims to come out and tell their stories without intimidation and victimization, no student will come out to openly accuse sexual molesters who parade themselves as lecturers.

And until the old horny lecturers are properly dealt with, our higher institutions will not be safe for female students.He talked about this during an interview with Pulse for his upcoming event "Spirituality, Creativity and Clarity."

According to the actor, who is popular for his roles in "Tinsel" and "The Meeting",he is always nervous about characterization, the kind of material, what it would make him do, and the commitment of other people involved in the project.

He also talked about his love for coming-of-age stories which he says he would probably get to tell as a director.

Read full interview below:

On the kind of roles that make him nervous

I get nervous everyday about characters because strange things are being written in Nollywood everyday. I don't know how other people see it, but I have never thought that Nollywood was an economic plan for me.

It's a privilege, and the way I entered as well was good because I was able to come in through a film like "The Meeting" that was quite an intense and personal story.

It's a story that has depth socially and it let me be the kind of actor that I wanted to be. I'm grateful for people like Mildred Okwo, who actually guided such a story.

That hasn't changed. Whether I am doing comedy, thriller or action, I am involved. So when I read a script, I want to be in it, so I am kind of nervous about the kind of material, about what it would make me do, about the commitment of other people involved.

Because sometimes you go in there feeling intense. I remember there was a time in 2003, it was Nse Ikpe-Etim and I,we were working on a particular material and both of us had ideas on how we could deepen it to make it better, and the director said to us, 'just act this thing, just act.'

It can be heartbreaking. Also, nervous because you want everybody else to have the same commitment that you have. So of course, I am nervous about characterization all the time, because I take it too personal. I'm just an intense person.

On roles he is yet to interpret as an actor

Some of them are already late, you know you have acting age range. I want to tell stories that bring light and authenticate stories of other people. I watched a film, "A Beautiful Mind" by Russel Crowe, It sort of let me see that sometimes you're at odd with your world. That story had layers and layers.

The story that I would have loved to be in is a story that is a coming-of-age story. I love coming-of-age stories because it challenges the makers to think deep because they have to tell it as truly as possible.

But, I have already come of age so perhaps, it's a little bit late now. So if I can't make it as an actor, I would probably make it as a director.

That's a story I would really love to tell because young people need to see some of these things; the nuances about life. They would still come to know it, eventually, but there's a restlessness they feel, there's an anxiety that nobody is addressing and helping to say that, 'Look, you're growing, you're going to be alright.'

I wish someone told me when I was 12, 14, 18, 22, 23, when I was feeling the weight of the world, that that wasn't the whole weight of the world and that I could be alright.

I wish I had someone who showed me that, and that's why I am attached to stories like that.

On particularly tough moment as an actor in Nollywood

They happen from time to time. Unfortunately, acting is not a place for hustling. The art, generally, isn't a place for hustlers.

But I understand it. Those are my sad moments. When I get into set and there's not enough time, commitment to craft something nice - and this happens almost every time - the material isn't mature, we haven't re-imagined the script, we haven't created the characters well, we are just there.

And I know that our audiences deserve more, but I also understand that, 'Hey, this is the reality.' People get two million, three million, five million, they want to make something [and] turn it over.

But art is not for things like that. I am hoping that changes, but that is always a very tough moment for me.

On upcoming projects

Right now, this year, I have only done about three films and there's a reason for that. These [Rise Platform and Book] obviously has occupied my time and energy.

I started finalizing this book since October last year. So I sort of took time out to write, edit and design.

I believe that there are many films that I have done before that are not yet out. I could roll out like 10 titles, but I will wait for the producers to release them.

One film I think people should watch out for is "Three Tramps and the Law".I made that last year, it was produced and directed by Yibo Koko.

Another film is .I did that with Rita Dominic [and] it's supposed to be released soon. They are really good films that I look forward to really really making noise about.

I am still going to be on set end of July and also end of August, into September.The tragedy was preceded by an argument over the deceased decision to cook yam porridge against the killer's preference for pasta.

Punch News confirmed this from a relations who confirmed that the pair have been at each other's throats prior to the murder.

An argument ensued over the choice and the mother went on with the preparation of the yam porridge for breakfast.

But shortly after that, pandemonium ensued and when we rushed to know what happened, the man had killed the mother in the kitchen," a Family member told Punch.

Neighbours reportedly alerted the police after learning about the incident - a saddening one for family members of the mum who was left in a pool of blood.

ALSO READ: Schoolgirl visits home to find out dad has been killed in herdsmen crisis

Landlord goes crazy and crushes skull of tenant's baby with pestle

In another case of domestic violence, a landlord has crushed the skull of a 4-year-old boy Joseph Akpan with a pestle when he went crazy on his tenants.

Sunday Omosule, the owner of the house located in Ota, Ogun State, has been arrested according to Punch News.

He reportedly chased his tenants with the grinding tool and caught up with the mother of the deceased who sustained an injury on her hand.

Omosule has been arrested by the state police while the mum visited a hospital for treatment.

The landlord was arrested following a distress call to the police at Onipanu division," confirms Abimbola Oyeyemi who is a spokesperson for the police.Olufunke Sule-Amzat of the Ikeja Magistrates Court gave the verdict after the pair pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy and unlawful possession.

A police prosecutor Benson Emuerhi confirmed to the court that the pair were arrested following an inspection by the cops.

Punch News gathered the brothers use the toy gun as well as other weapons to inspire fear.

They were apprehended by the policemen from the Alakara division during a stop-and-search operation.

They could not give a satisfactory explanation on the ownership of the toy gun and other weapons in their possession. The weapons are used to cause fear," Emuerhi told Punch.

ALSO READ: 2 youngsters try to hijack car with toy gun but were arrested

Mob descend on teenager who used toy gun for robbery

A mob in Edo State, Nigeria, have descended on a male teenager who reportedly used a toy gun to rob market women of their valuables.

The teenager, who referred to himself as 'Smallie' was captured in a video gone viral as the mob interrogated him concerning his activities and how long he has been engaging in the act.

The robbery suspect received a string of hits on his head as a male voice was heard questioning him in the presence of the crowd.

According to the teenager who was also seen holding on to the fake weapon, he resorted to stealing due to his inability to fend for himself.

He is believed to be a native of northern Nigeria, a Fulani precisely.

ALSO READ: Mob attacks woman over attempt to take child she abandoned at 4 months

The violent reaction of the angry mob towards the suspect is hardly surprising due to a number of attacks carried out by some Fulani herdsmen on innocent citizens.According to Punch News, the demonstration which began on Tuesday is expected to last for three days.

In the year 2015, the former judge Oloyede reportedly wrote a petition against incumbent governor Rauf Aregbesola addressing issues relating to non-payment of workers salaries and pension.

Punch News gathered that the rights activist was "recommended for a compulsory retirement by the National Judicial Council" after this but that has not stopped her.

Labourers deserve their wages and it is covetousness to spend what belongs to other people.

"It is a crime to spend pensions and gratuities of the people and deny them their rights.

"We are not beggars, we worked for the entitlements and the government saved this money for us while we were serving the state," Punch captures her in a comment.

ALSO READ: Delay in pension payment sends retiree to depression and stroke

Pensioners urged to get their PVC

Justice Folahanmi Oloyede who appeared unpleased by the development in Osun State has urged pensioners to get their Personal Voter's Card (PVC) in order to be able to vote.

She reckons that the primary role of the government involves service to the electorates but has this occurred?

Oloyede encouraged the pensioners to exercise their rights to vote in this comment:

Is there any pensioner that is not being owed in this state? Some are being paid half pensions and others are being owed.

The whole essence of government is for the welfare and security of the people.The global modest fashion market keeps growing each year and its reportedly worth billions of dollars. Modest fashion has shone a light that women of various background, ages, faith and sizes can bestylish and lovers of modern fashion.

Africa Fashion Week Nigeria has never been one to shy away from modest fashion designers and their ever growing numbers.

What inspired your fashion journey?

Habeebat : The gap in the Nigerian E-commerce space for products that are attractive, classy and still very modest for the Muslim community.What are the challenges you have encountered?Habeebat: The need to reach out to the Muslims and Non-Muslims in Nigeria using all available channels.

Tell us about the collection you intend to showcase on AFWN runwayHabeebat : Complete Arabian outfit for men, Office looks, Abayas, Arabian outfits, Evening and Outing wears for women.Mrs Buhari made the appeal on Thursday at a dinner marking the end of the third congress of the Association of African Neurosurgical Societies (CAANS) in Abuja.

She was represented by the wife of the Vice-President Mrs Dolapo Osinbajo.

She urged the neurosurgical societies to expedite action towards the establishment of additional centres across Nigeria, to tackle the emerging cases of children born with deformity.

She commended the association urged increased women participation in the profession.

When you think of neurosurgery, what comes to mind are the stories of the difficult hours that the practice requires.

 This not withstanding, women are increasingly choosing to practice the profession all over the continent because neurosurgeons play a major role in ensuring that children born with abnormalities receive special attention.

Mrs Buhari advised practitioners to partner with relevant stakeholders to ensure affordable treatment of children with abnormalities.

 I am passionate about the health of and well-being of our children and I know the crucial role that neurosurgeons play in addressing the needs of children born with abnormalities of the nervous system.

She, therefore, emphasised the need to assist in addressing the plight of families with neurosurgical patients.

On her part, a member of the global body of the association, Prof. Gail Rosseau, said diseases do not show any preference for colour of any ethnic group.

Rosseau said that the disease is a healthcare challenge that unites people to stand against it.The President made the remarks during the graduation of 182 Senior Course 40 at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College Jaji in Kaduna State.

Incidentally, our Tri-service training institutions, especially the Armed Forces Command and Staff College Jaji, have been playing critical roles in this regard.

These institutions as well as the single service training institutions must continue to be provided with the requisite support to enable them to discharge their obligations, he said.

Buhari said the Federal Government will continue to give priority to the training and welfare of officers and men of the Armed Forces.

This is not only because we salute their courage and sacrifice for the safety and stability of our country but because the Armed Forces of Nigeria have continued to be the bastion of our unity. 

He said over the years, the Armed Forces have provided appropriate response to the numerous security challenges facing our country.

Their response to Boko Haram insurgency, militancy, kidnapping, activities of separatists and armed militias amongst others have been very commendable.

According to him, the Armed Forces have also committed huge resources towards stability of the West African sub-region and world peace in general.

Our efforts in Liberia and Sierra Leone which stabilized the West African sub-region readily come to mind, more recently, our Armed Forces have also contributed to the peace in The Gambia, Mali and South Sudan.

Buhari said the significance and importance of joint training of members of the armed forces of friendly and allied countries cannot be over-emphasized, adding that the Senior Course 40 is not an exception.

The Course would have afforded you the chance to break barriers and build bridges of friendship amongst yourselves as individuals.

It would have also afforded you the rare opportunity of appreciating each others lifestyle, culture and doctrines.

This unique understanding and bond is expected to come handy in forging closer co-operation when occasions demand that you are deployed together in multinational operations.

As the world shrinks into a global village with advancement in technology, nations cannot afford but work closely with each other in pursuit of their national interests.

Even at the level of individuals or groups, the barriers have been broken. This has also brought in its wake an increase in international trade, commerce as well as security cooperation. 

He said the numerous security challenges facing the world today are trans-border in nature, involving actors in different sub-regions and regions.

 The West African sub-region and indeed the African continent are not immune to the negative impacts of globalization.

To effectively combat the prevalent security threats demands that African countries continue to work together at all levels including operational and tactical levels.

 I am sure you are aware of the collaboration of the armed forces of Nigeria, Cameroun, Niger Republic and Chad in a multinational operation to combat Boko Haram in the Lake Chad Basin region. 

He assured of his administrations effort to return the country on the path of peace and prosperity.

At the inception of this administration, I made three key promises to Nigerians. First is to address the various security challenges facing our country, second, to reposition our economy and third to fight the serious challenge of corruption which had eaten so deep into the very fabric that sustain our nation. 

He assured that the security challenges in the country would be effectively contained soon.

I am certain, with the consistent efforts of our security agencies, these challenges shall be considerably mitigated and minimised.

He called on the graduating officers to realize that the nation has made a lot of investment in their training, as such  the nation is expecting the best from you in terms of commitment to your duties and fatherland.

The highest standards of competence and professionalism is expected of you considering the level of training you have received through this course.The Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) at Chattanooga State Community College will hold commencement exercises at Abbas House, 5208 Hixson Pike, Hixson, on Friday, July 27, beginning at 10 a.m. The commencement address will be delivered by Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam.

Of the 588 graduates, 10 percent received TN Promise funding, while 37 percent received TN Reconnect funds during the 2017-18 academic year. TN Promise and TN Reconnect, created by Gov. Haslams Drive to 55 initiative, are both last-dollar scholarships for eligible students.

Chattanooga State TCAT students receive a high quality education as reflected in the 96 percent job placement rate, 70 percent completion rate, and 98 percent licensure pass rate.

For more information about Tennessee College of Applied Technology programs visit www.chattanoogastate.edu/tcat. Classes start Aug. 27.The Indian prime minister is set to attend the BRICS summit. He inked deals worth US$ 200 million with Rwanda and US$ 205 million with Uganda. For India, Africa offers huge strategic and economic opportunities.

New Delhi (AsiaNews/Agencies)  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Uganda and Rwanda ahead of the summit of BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), which starts today in South Africa.

In Uganda, the Indian leader said Africa will be at the top of our priorities. During his short stay, Modi signed a number of important trade agreements.

For analysts, by coming so soon after Chinese President Xi Jinpings visit to the continent, Modi is signalling Indias intention of challenging Chinas geopolitical and trading pre-eminence in Africa.

Before Uganda, Modi visited Rwanda. His next stop will be Johannesburg (South Africa) for the BRICS summit. Peace and international security, global governance and trade wars will be the main topics.

On Monday in Kigali, he signed a defence agreement with Rwanda. He also pledged US$ 100 million in lines of credit to develop industrial parks and US$ 100 for agricultural irrigation schemes. Finally, he donated 200 cows to eradicate poverty in villages.

In Uganda yesterday, the Indian leader announced that Indias intention of opening at least 18 embassies in African countries. He also announced loans worth US$ 205 million dollars to expand Ugandas electricity grid and boost commercial farming.

For India, Africa offers huge strategic and financial opportunities. At present, Indias economy is growing at 7.4 per cent in 2018.

"The visit of the Prime Minister to these three countries is a reflection of the intensity of our engagement with Africa and the priority we attach to our relations with African countries," said T. S. Tirumurti, secretary in charge of economic relations at India's Ministry of External Affairs. "As regards China, I don't think we see ourselves in a competition in Africa at all, he added.

Experts note that Indias interest in African is relatively recent. Bilateral trade between Africa and India stood at US billion for March 2016-17, with India mainly exporting raw materials as well as selling items such as automobiles.

By contrast, trade links between China and Africa stood at around US$ 220 billion in 2014 and are growing thanks to Chinas new silk road, the Belt and Road Initiative.

"Africa is important for various reasons, in terms of market resources, the (Indian) diaspora and maritime. Defence cooperation has not been intense, but we are trying to focus on that area, said Nivedita Ray, research fellow at the New Delhi-based Indian Council of World Affairs.

"The eastern part of Africa (for instance) is important for India's Indo-Pacific vision. It is part of an extremely important maritime neighbourhood and is critical to India's security," she added.The minister made the assertion at the ongoing Second Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Society of Emergency Care Practitioners (SEMPON) on Thursday in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the conference is, Emergency Medicine and Patient Safety: How Safe Are Our Emergency Departments?

The minister, who was represented by Prof Lanre Adeyemo, Deputy Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee (DCMAC), Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), said the policy would help coordinate and integrate EMS across Nigeria.

Other objectives of the policy include formulating, regulating and implementing guidelines to ensure prompt response to emergencies.

The justification for the policy is that there has been a rise in morbidity and mortality due to several disasters and emergencies.

Managing disasters is about proper coordination and we need to put a policy in place.

The roles and responsibilities of the actors in emergency services are clearly stipulated, from the federal level to the state and at the local government levels, he said.

Also, Dr Jide Idris, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health said that preparedness for emergencies was crucial and there was need to ensure that there was a ready plan to curb outbreaks.

He noted that emergency responses werent only needed for accidents but also for outbreaks of diseases.

Dr Olufemi Taiwo, who represented the Commissioner told NAN that the state had put structures in place to ensure prompt response to emergencies.

We have the unit that links with disease surveillance officials in case theres an outbreak.

Also we have the general hospitals that manage and transfer patients to the secondary facilities, if need be to the tertiary institutions.

We have the isolation ward at the Mainland General Hospital for the infectious diseases like Lassa Fever and Ebola.

Other measures include the ambulance services, with manpower to manage and transfer the emergency cases.

Idris called on communities to cooperate with government agencies by allowing them access to people affected by emergencies.

Also, Prof Abdelouahab Bellou, of Therapeutics and Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School, said medicine was susceptible to emergencies because of the tendency to hide errors.

Bellou said: If you blame people, they will not tell you when there are errors. Then you will not be able to analyse them to see how they can be avoided.

Suppress the urge to blame people, rather work with the system in place.

The professor urged medical practitioners to ensure that their facilities are above average,which could be achieved by ensuring personnel are well skilled.

Also, Dr Efunbo Dosekun, Vice Chairman, SEMPON told NAN that training of healthcare personnel was very important in ensuring adequate emergency response.

Dosekun said another way of reducing emergencies was promoting safety measures that prevent them.

We will continue to sensitise our doctors to go back and create a sustainable safety drive that will ensure that our hospitals are safer, she said.

Dr Bode Falase, a Cardiothoracic Surgeon at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) said there was need for more awareness on the challenges of emergency healthcare management.The ceremony was held at the Permanent NYSC Orientation Camp in Eziama Obaire, in Nkwerre Local Government Area on Thursday.

The governor was represented by Mr Ifeanyichukwu Onwueyiagba, the Commissioner for Strategy and Youth Development and Chairman, NYSC Board in Imo.

He said the time had come for the youth to make sacrifices and shun evil practices, such as cultism, kidnapping, thuggery, and be focused to take the mantle of leadership.

Okorocha believes in one Nigeria and is a lover of the youths.

I believe that for a greater tomorrow the youth must sacrifice for today. Time has come for the youth of Nigeria to take the mantle of leadership, he said.

The governor urged the corps members to understand that Nigeria was one indivisible and indissoluble entity and take their service year seriously.

He commended the corps members for making it through their various institutions, saying Imo was conducive and accommodating for them to take up the challenge of the service year.

The NYSC State Coordinator, Mr Sunday Aroni, noted that the orientation course was designed to acquaint the corps members with para-military skills, entrepreneurial training, values and contemporary issues.

He said that 1, 870 corps members, comprising 940 males and 926 females, were deployed to Imo in the batch.

He said the orientation was a good platform for the promotion of national unity, integration and the spirit of collective responsibility, discipline and perseverance among youths.

Aroni enjoined the corps members to submit themselves to the rules and regulations in the camp and adapt to the motto of the scheme, which is Service and Humility.

The primary assignment, community development service, winding up and passing out ceremony are other cardinal pogrammes of the service year.

We have made adequate arrangement to ensure that you participate in all the lined up activities, he said.

The coordinator commended Okorocha for his continued support to the scheme, especially the N10,000 cash award given to each of the immediate past corps members during their passing out.

He also thanked the governor for accommodating 200 corps members from Anambra, who could not serve in their state of deployment because of inadequate accommodation.Nine police officers and at least 24 others lost their lives when a group of around 30 armed robbers attacked Union Bank, Eco Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, First Bank, Zenith Bank and Ibolo Micro Finance Bank,as well as the Owode Police Station in Offa, Kwara State, on April 5, 2018.

The police force has invited Saraki for questioning after the the main gang leader involved in the Offa robbery named him as his gang's political sponsors.

In a letter, dated July 23, 2018, IGP Idris directed Saraki to report himself to the Intelligence Response Team office in Abuja on Tuesday, July 24. However, the senate president failed to show up, opting instead to preside over the day's session at the National Assembly complex.

In his reply, in a letter dated July 24, Saraki explained that he failed to show up because he was concerned about executing legislative duties at the National Assembly as security operatives had also prevented his deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, from leaving his house on Tuesday morning.

The Senate President further told the IGP that Tuesday's incident with the police has left him concerned for his physical safety, and requested that investigators be sent to his office instead to question him.

He said, "For the record, I should mention that I received your letter at 8:30 pm on Monday 23rd July, 2018, inviting me for the next day at 8am. The two lawyers whose advise I needed were in Calabar and Lagos and have to travel to Abuja today.

"As you are aware, the deputy president of the senate was unable to leave his residence this morning to preside over the senate having been prevented from doing so by security agents. If he had been able to preside over the senate, I would have honoured your invitation.

"The absence of both presiding officers would have voided the sitting of the senate. This would have been damaging to national interest, particularly in the light of very important legislative matters that needed to be be addressed in view of the imminent recess of the national assembly.

"These included consideration of the electoral bill which was incidentally passed today. You will recall that Mr President had earlier directed as a courtesy to this office that in the event of any request for further information from me, you should either send your personnel to my office or obtain a written response from me.

"I need to place on record as well, that following the incident of being harassed and threatened at my residence by the police early this morning, I'm deeply concerned over my physical security.

"I request you therefore, to please assign your personnel who need information on this matter to meet me in my office immediately plenary, today or tomorrow or at any other day at your convenience."

On Tuesday, Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Jimoh Moshood, had warned the senate president to report to the police force as soon as possible before it is compelled to use all the instruments of the law to ensure compliance.

While appearing on Channels Television on Wednesday, July 25, DCP Moshood also said the force has enough to charge the senate president to court with the amount of evidence available. He said the force will not hesitate to see to the prevalence of the rule of law.

ALSO READ: Read full story of why Police force wants to question Saraki over links to Offa robbery

Saraki's alleged links to Offa robbery

According to DCP Moshood, the main gang leaders involved in the robbery are Ayoade Akinnibosun (aka, AY), Ibikunle Ogunleye (aka Arrow), Adeola Abraham, Salawudeen Azeez, and Niyi Ogundiran, all indigenes of Oro, Irepodun local government area of Kwara.

During the course of investigations, the main gang leader, Akinnibosun, named Saraki and incumbent Kwara governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, as his gang's political sponsors.

He said, "I am the chairman of Liberation Youths Movement, Kwara South. My involvement with the senate president is we're his boys; we work for him at Kwara South. We're the ones that hold Kwara South for him. We've been working for him since he was Governor of Kwara.

"We mobilise and do political arrangement there (Kwara South). For example, where we can't win, we make dabaru (disruptive) arrangement there; we scatter elections if we don't win."

Akinnibosun further disclosed that a Lexus jeep GX-300, which was used during the robbery, was a gift from Saraki which he received through Ahmed's Chief of Staff, Yusuf Abdulwahab, who has also been arrested in connection to the robbery.

"The connections between me and the senate president is that he's the one that is arranging everything for us. For example, this car (a Lexus jeep GX-300) was given to me by His Excellency (Governor Ahmed) through the Chief of Staff of Kwara state as a gift from leader, Bukola Saraki. I participated in the Offa robbery. I took this Lexus car along to Offa," he said.

The vehicle was used in the robbery with a sticker plate number inscribed with "SARAKI" and registered to "Kwara, State of Harmony". Abdulwahab allegedly replaced the vehicle's number plate with a new one (registration number: Kwara, KMA 143 RM) and registered it in Akinnibosun's name to cover up its identity.

Governor Ahmed's personal assistant on politics, Alabi Olalekan, has also been arrested in connection with the robbery as he allegedly attempted to hide the vehicle in question. A revolver pistol and pump action gun were also allegedly recovered from his farm.

Akinnibosun told the police, and the media, that two of the guns used in the robbery were supplied to him by Abdulwahab, although he noted that he only supplied it for political thuggery and not the Offa robbery.

Akinnibosun has noted twice in public that his gang's alleged sponsors, Saraki and Ahmed, knew absolutely nothing about the robbery.

More 'evidence' pile up against Saraki

Days after the first parade of the suspects in Abuja, the police paraded the gang leaders again and disclosed that more evidence had been unearthed about Saraki's links to the criminal gang.

During the June 6 media briefing, DCP Moshood said two more suspects had implicated the senate president as a sponsor of political thuggery.

He disclosed that after the first media parade, Akinnibosun mentioned three other notorious political thugs who worked for Saraki in Kwara Central. The police proceeded to arrest two of the suspects, Kehinde Gobiri (aka, Captain) and Oba Shuaib Olododo (aka, Jawando), who allegedly both admitted to committing various crimes in Kwara Central senatorial district under the guise of political thuggery for the senate president. The third suspect, Alhaji Dona, remains at large.

The police further alleged that, since the first briefing, all five gang leaders had confessed to having a direct connection to Saraki and were at his daughter's recent wedding ceremony. He disclosed that they confessed to have been sponsored with firearms, money and operational vehicles by Saraki and Governor Ahmed.

DCP Moshood also claimed that Akinnibosun, Ogunleye and Abraham followed the senate president to the Olofa of Offa's palace when he paid a condolence visit to the town after the bank robbery.

He concluded that, due to the new pieces of evidence, Saraki was still under investigation in connection to the Offa bank robbery and that the ongoing investigation would be driven to a logical conclusion.Saraki told police investigators who visited his office on Thursday, July 26. 2018 that he has nothing to do with the infamous Offa Robbery.

In statement by Olu Onemola, Special Assistant on New Media to the President of the Senate, the investigators visited Saraki following his inability to honour the invitation by the police.

"Further to the invitation to the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, by the Police on July 23, 2018, and his written response to them on July 24, 2018 on why he could not see them that day  today at about 1:40pm, the Senate President met with a team of investigators on the Offa Robbery case in his office.

"Dr. Saraki, used the opportunity to reiterate the fact that he has nothing to do with either the robbery incident on April 5, 2018, or any other criminal activity," Onemola said.

Police block Saraki from honouring invitation

On Tuesday, July 24, 2018, policemen reportedly cordoned offthe Senate Presidents house, refusing his convoy from leaving.

Also, a joint team of Department of State Services (DSS) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) personnel laid siege on Ekweremadus home.

In the same vein, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris has ordered an investigation into the reported siege on the home of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu.In a report by TheCable, the Nigerian soldier and the terrorists are currently exchanging gunfire in Jakana, a village in Kaga local government area of Borno state.

According to the report, the crossfire occurred on Thursday, July 26, 2018.

Residents reportedly said that the insurgents stormed the village - a 10 kilometers distance from Maiduguri - around 6:30pm but met a stiff resistance from the Nigerian Army.

Grema Bashir, a witness, said the sect members came on motorcycles but were resisted by the Nigerian Army.

ALSO READ: Mama Boko Haram says Leah has not renounced Christianity

Nigerian Army wants synergy with media to defeat Boko Haram

The Nigerian Army has called for a synergy between the Army and the Media to achieve complete success in the war against insurgency.

Biu made the call on Wednesday, July 25, 2018, during a luncheon organised by the command for Defence Correspondents.The Deputy-Chairman of the party in the state, Alhaji Waliu Hassan made the call in a statement in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that the Chairman of the Apapa chapter of the party,Mr Adeniyi Aborishade was shot dead when hoodlums invaded a meeting of party in Eti-Osa on Saturday.

The Police had on Wednesday arraigned the Chairman of the party in the state,Mr Moshood Salvador and 10 other chieftains before a Yaba Magistrates Court in connection with the case.

They all pleaded not guilty to the two-count charge of unlawful killing and criminal conspiracy.

The chief magistrate,Mr Oyetade Komolafe, however, ordered that Salvador and others be remanded in prison and adjourned the case till August 27 to await advice from the state Directorate of Public Prosecution.

Hassan said while the party did not want to be seen as interfering with the work of police on the case, Salvador and others held were actually victims of the incident.

He said the executive members of the party were actually targets of the hoodlums who invaded the meeting where Aborishade was killed.

Hassan added Aborishades death was a loss to Salvador as Chairman and the party, saying holding him and others amounted to subjecting them to double-jeopardy.

We hereby demand that those behind the killing of Aborishade must be unmasked and made to face the full wrath of the law.

Hassan said the party would co-operate with the police to ensure justice was done in the case.

He said the incident was a dark episode in the activities of the party in the state especially as Salvador had been preaching peace.

We fervently hope that the Nigerian Police and other security agencies will speedily bring to justice not just the perpetrators but also the sponsors as well.

While we would not be seen as preventing the police from carrying out its responsibility of investigation and prosecution, we want to put it on record that our Chairman, Alhaji Moshood Salvador, and leaders currently in detention are victims of the violence unleashed at Eti-Osa.

As a result, holding them on criminal charges will amount to subjecting them to double-jeopardy, he said.

He expressed the partys condolences to the family of the deceased while praying for the peaceful repose of the life of the deceased.

Hassan, however, said the mourning period of the party should not be an opportunity for some to profit from the situation.

He warned against malicious and divisive actions and utterances by members on the partys current travails.

The Deputy Chairman called for unity among members, urging them not to identify with anything that could destabilise the party.He said such consolidation was critical following the recent defection of some of the partys members to opposition parties.

It is time to consolidate and make sure we stay in touch with our members and keep them close and continue to appreciate them,he said.

The lawmaker specifically asked the partys leadership to continue to fight for its members in the House of Representatives as some of them were first timers.

He added that to move the country forward, such members in the House should not be moved around, especially the first timers who had acquired experienced to become ranking members and had represented the party at the grassroot level.

They should be taken into serious consideration and I think they deserve a second term.

Because if they dont come back we are going to lose the first six months to one year training the freshers. How does that help the party or the country? 

He attributed the spate of defection of party members to lack of proper understanding of party ideology and called on the party leaders to develop and entrench its ideologies in members.

We have our party ideology but we must begin to develop that ideology to the point that it is entrenched in the hearts and minds of every progressive member of the party.

I believe it is the lack of the entrenchment of this ideology that allows people to cross from one party to another.

This is going to happen in four years time again if we dont develop this ideologyhe said.

Gbajabiamila added that while some of the partys Senators and House of Representatives members defected to opposition parties, Mr Olamide Oni, a new member from Ekiti State joined its fold in the house.

According to him, Oni defected from the Social Democratic party(SDP) to join the APC, which he believes will sell his interest better.

Mr Adams Oshiomhole, the APC National Chairman while responding, said the party had started the process of change and must sustain it.

We must deepen it and internalise it, so that at the end, we will have progress because progress is the outcome of change, he said.

He added that those who were not able to fit into the core values of the party could be changed out of the system.

The APC national chairman thanked the lawmakers for keeping faith with the partys leadership in moments of temptation such as this.

He stressed that to deepen democracy in the country and sustain multi party democracy, Nigerians must be able to distinguish between one party from the other.

We must work consciously to build a political party that is glued and bonded together on the basis of set of ideas.

We need everyone of us who is on this progressive party to internalise these core values of progressive politics.

It is contradictory for us to have in a progressive party with some people who are far right and even fascists, being in the same party with those on the far left or communists, he said.

He noted that if the party members were bonded by same ideology, it would be difficult for those who subscribed to these ideologies to defect on the basis of not gaining personal benefits.

I am excited that even in moments like this, we still have men and women of honour in the House of Representatives who recognise that there are values more important than dangling automatic ticket.

We must remain focused, and I am grateful that we still have men and women of honour who have refused to be tempted,he said.

He said that any legislator who had value and was at home with his people and not with the godfathers in their communities was an asset to the party.

Oshiomhole said the partys leadership would do everything possible to retain such Legislator.

He further added that the party leadership would continue to talk to aggrieved members with a view to reconciling with them.

I have continued to say that we will not pursue a policy that will produce winners and losers. I believe that we have intervened and have a situation that will produce winners.

We have tried to revisit our Constitution and activate all the clauses that will help us to maintain unity and harmony within the house.

I have said that for us to have peace and unity, we must fight for justice and fairness, because peace and unity is an outcome of justice and fairness.

If you do not address justice, we cannot preach peace because peace cannot be decreed, he said.

He added that under his leadership, decisions would not be imposed on members.In a statement, the state governor revealed that stakeholders in Kwara state have insisted that he should leave the party because it has fallen short of their aspirations.

According to the governor, "We formed APC together in 2014 with the hope to meet the needs and aspirations of the people in critical areas of our national life.

"Stakeholders are insisting that I quit the APC for falling short of their aspirations which include failure to address insecurity, economy and unemployment challenges as well as unbearable injustice within the party."

Here's the statement from the Kwara state government:

"Following calls from various stakeholders in Kwara State, the State Governor, Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed has hinted that he might be quitting the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). This follows stakeholders insistence at a meeting with the governor in Ilorin that he should leave the party because it has fallen short of their aspirations.

"The governor insisted that the party has not met the expectations of the people of Kwara State.

"Governor Ahmed made this known on Thursday at State Banquet Hall, Ilorin while reacting to the requests of various stakeholders in Kwara Central Senatorial District, prevailing on him and the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki to immediately dump the APC.

"The governor recalled how key stakeholders in the ruling APC in the state built the party in 2014 alongside other notable Nigerians with high expectations but were disappointed about the failure of the government at national level to address insecurity, economy and unemployment challenges confronting the nation.

ALSO READ:

"He said the leadership of the APC had failed to intervene on critical issues affecting the party and its members, pointing out that injustice within the party is unbearable.

"Gov Ahmed who thanked the people of the state for their support assured the stakeholders that he would consider their pleas and make public the new platform that would meet the aspirations of the people of the state.

"He also promised that the administration would continue to run an all inclusive process that would take care of all interests."

Remarks of leaders of unions in Kwara state

In his remarks, the State President of Kwara State Artisans Group, Alhaji Saad Alawaye commended Ahmed for his numerous empowerment programmes to the informal sector promised continuous support in moving the state forward.

The State Chairman, Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Joshua Adekanye, who spoke on behalf of all the 16 local government chairmen, their vice chairmen and 193 councillors expressed readiness to dump the All Progressives Congress in the interest of the people.

On their parts, the Youth leader, Alhaji Mohammad Ali Baba and the Women Leader, Hajia Rahmat Oganija thanked the governor for his support to the youth and womenfolk in the state.In a statement signed by the party's National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, on Thursday, July 26, 2018, the PDP warned the APC to stop its "nefarious plot" to impeach Fayose, with the help of the Nigeria Police Force, or attract dire consequences.

The warning comes hours after armed policemen allegedly invaded the Ekiti State House of Assembly complex on Wednesday, July 25, on the order of the Commissioner of Police, Bello Ahmed, who claimed he received a letter from the Clerk of the House, Tola Esan, purportedly seeking security deployment to the premises of the House.

The Clerk has written to the Commissioner to claim he never wrote such a letter, especially since the House is on recess till October 8.

The opposition party has alleged that the move is a plot to conduct the illegal impeachment of Governor Fayose who is approaching the end of his second term in October.

In PDP's Thursday statement, Ologbondiyan said the impeachment plot is a recipe for crisis in the peaceful state. He alleged that the plot is a desperate bid to rush into the Ekiti Government House to remove and tamper with documents and evidence confirming the rigging of the July 14 governorship election, ahead of the sitting of the election tribunal.

He said, "Having realized that there is no way their daylight robbery at the poll can stand in the court, the APC is now employing all desperate means to subvert the course of Justice.

"This explains why a detachment of the Police can be hurriedly deployed to besiege the Ekiti State Assembly Complex last night without a formal request by the Speaker, the Clerk or the Sergeant-at-Arms, who is the chief security officer of the complex.

"The PDP states that any resort to underhand measures to impeach Fayose, without the constitutionally required 2/3 of the members of the House, particularly at this time, when the lawmakers are currently on their annual recess, will surely be resisted by our members."

He further accused the APC of plotting crisis all over the country and resorting to the use of harassment, intimidation and brute force against the people and Nigeria's democratic institutions.

The PDP warned that the actions of the APC and the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government portend grave danger for the country.

The party also directed the APC to withdraw the armed security officers from the premises of the House of Assembly complex.

"Finally, the PDP urges the judiciary to be firm in standing by the truth on the Ekiti election and not be cowed or intimidated by the threats and pressure coming from the APC.

"Nigerians know the truth regarding the rigging of the Ekiti guber election by the APC and are now looking up to the judiciary for justice in the matter," the statement read.

Controversial Ekiti election

Dr Kayode Fayemi of the APC defeated the PDP candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, aka Eleka, in the July 14 gubernatorial election as he won 197,459 votes to his opponent's 178,121 votes.

Fayose has attacked Fayemi and Buhari over the conduct of the state's election which he alleged was marred by violence and illegal vote-buying.

Prof Olusola is challenging Fayemi's victory as was announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and is waiting to file a petition at the election tribunal."We should stay committed to multilateralism," China's President Xi Jinping said on the second day of the Johannesburg talks.

"The escalation of protectionism and unilateralism are directly affecting... emerging markets," he said in a statement in the day's opening session.

"Closer economic cooperation for shared prosperity is the original purpose and priority of BRICS."

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who held a controversial meeting with Trump last week, echoed the calls for closer ties among BRICS members and for stronger trade within group.

"BRICS has a unique place in the global economy -- this is the largest market in the world, the joint GDP is 42 percent of the global GDP and it keeps growing," Putin said.

"In 2017, the trade with our BRICS countries has grown 30 percent, and we are aiming at further developing this kind of partnership."

US targets China's trade surplus

Trump has said he is ready to impose tariffs on all $500 billion of Chinese imports, complaining that China's trade surplus with the US is due to unfair currency manipulation.

Trump has already slapped levies on goods from China worth tens of billions of dollars, as well as tariffs on steel and aluminium from the EU, Canada and Mexico.

"We are concerned by the rise in unilateral measures that are incompatible with World Trade Organisation rules, and we are worried about the impact," South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told the summit's opening session on Wednesday.

The BRICS group, comprising more than 40 percent of the global population, represents some of the biggest emerging economies, but it has struggled to find a unified voice.

Analysts say US trade policy could give the group renewed purpose.

In Washington, Trump and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker announced an apparent truce in their trade war after White House talks on Wednesday.

The US and the EU will "immediately resolve" their dispute over US steel and aluminum tariffs and subsequent EU counter-measures, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confirmed Thursday.

The punishing US metals tariffs had angered Washington's major trading partners including the EU and sparked retaliation against important American exports, spooking global stock markets.

Xi arrived in South Africa after visiting Senegal and Rwanda as part of a whistlestop tour to cement relations with African allies.By Thas Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas, Director - Networked Society Institute and Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Shutterstock/ra2studio

We live in a world of wireless communications, from the early days of radio to new digital television, Wi-Fi and the latest 4G (soon to be 5G) connected smart devices.

But there are limits to this wireless world. With the prediction of 12 billion mobile-connected devices by 2021 and a projected sevenfold increase in wireless traffic, the search is on for any new method of wireless connectivity.

One solution could be right before our very eyes, if only we could see it.





Read more:

The 5G network threatens to overcrowd the airwaves, putting weather radar at risk





Current wireless connections

All wireless applications  such as mobile communications, Wi-Fi, broadcasting, and sensing  rely on some form of electromagnetic radiation.

The difference between these applications is simply the frequency of the signal (the carrier frequency) used in the electromagnetic radiation.

For example, current mobile phones sold as 3G and 4G operate in the lower microwave frequency bands (850MHz, 1.8GHz, 2-2.5GHz). A wireless local area network such as Wi-Fi operates in the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, whereas digital terrestrial television operates at 600-620MHz.

The spectrum of electromagnetic radiation covers a very broad range of frequencies and some of these are selected for specific applications.

These frequency regions are highly contested and valuable resources for wireless applications.

Running out of spectrum

Our current spectrum use in the lower microwave region will soon be heavily congested, even exhausted. It would be difficult to squeeze any more spare spectrum for any wireless application.

To carry an information content on to one of these frequencies, the frequency bands need sufficient bandwidth  the amount of information that can be transmitted  to meet future requirements. At the lower end of the spectrum, there are insufficient bandwidths to meet speeds exceeding gigabits per second.

At the higher end of the spectrum, ionising radiation such as x-rays and gamma rays cannot be used because of safety issues.

Despite current 4G wireless standard promising more shared capacity (1Gb/s), the projected demand and traffic volume already pushes the existing infrastructure to its ultimate limit. The future promise of 5G communication only adds to the problem.

A major rethink of the current wireless technologies is needed to meet these challenging requirements.

Let there be light!

The wireless transmission of optical signals has emerged as a viable option. It offers advantages not possible with current wireless technologies.

Optical wireless promises greater speed, higher throughput, and potentially lower energy consumption. Leveraging on existing optical wired infrastructures (namely optical fibre cables and networks), optical wireless connectivity can provide a seamless high capacity to end-users.

An example would be using optical wireless connectivity inside buildings to complement fibre-to-the-home deployments.

Optical wireless networks would be immune to electromagnetic interference and so could be deployed in radio frequency (RF) sensitive environments. Youve probably seen those warning signs asking you not to use your mobile phone in hospitals, aircraft and other areas where equipment is sensitive to interference.

Optical wireless communications can be divided into visible light and infrared systems.

And let there be sight

A common issue with both is that devices need to be in the line of sight, as any physical obstruction can result in the loss of transmission. You may have experienced this issue when attempting to change a channel on TV if someone or something gets in the way of your remote.

Visible light communication (VLC) relies on LEDs that are also used for lighting. For example, by flashing LED lights located in the ceiling of a room at a rate much higher than can be discerned by the human eye, information can be conveyed to detectors around the room.

The major limitation of VLC is the limited bandwidth of commercially available white LED (~100 of MHz) that limits the transmission speeds.

Infrared communication systems have ample bandwidth with the potential of transmission tens of Gb/s per user. Despite the major advantage over VLC, the need for line-of-sight has seen this technology under-developed. Until now.

To overcome this we have demonstrated an infrared-based optical wireless communication link that can support a user on the move. By using a pair of access points with some spatial separation, any blockage of beams can be easily overcome as users hop from beam to beam freely.

Optical wireless systems can be built to make sure there is a secure wireless transmission. Using efficient wireless protocols its possible to transmit data without any delay and to allow users to move within a building while enjoying high speed wireless coverage.

Optical wireless in action

We will in future be using a range of devices, such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) devices, that all require superfast wireless connections.

For example, these new user interfaces are poised to make a big difference to the way museums and galleries will operate in the future. Currently, most of these platforms are linked via wired connections. But wireless interfaces will make them more easy to be used in applications.

The uptake of optical wireless as a viable communications technology can also drive further possibilities of using low-cost optical wireless transceivers to substitute expensive optical fibre rollout in rural and regional broadband contexts.

The integrated transceivers for infrared optical wireless communications are still under development and more effort is needed to speed up such integration efforts. But the researcher teams here and abroad are trying to make advances in the way such systems can be used in realistic scenarios.

Thas Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Nokia Australia, Google, nbn Co, Transurban, PARC(USA) and Digital Falcon. In addition, he leads an interdisciplinary research institute - Melbourne Networked Society Institute which has received funding from the Victorian State Government as well as Federal Government and a number of industry partners.

This research activity has been funded by the Australia Research Councils' Discovery Project DP170100268 - Optical Wireless Frontiers, in collaboration with Professor Kamal Alameh from the Edith Cowan University and Dr Ke Wang from the RMIT University.

Christina Lim receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

Elaine Wong receives funding from Australian Research Council.

Originally published in The Conversation.Last year, the district court in The Hague had ordered an in-depth probe into the deaths, after their families said they were executed at point-blank range when Dutch marines stormed the train to end a three-week standoff.

"The plaintiffs argued that Max Papilaja and Hansina Uktolseja were unnecessarily killed by the soldiers, when there was a real possibility to arrest them. The court rejects that," the tribunal said in a statement.

The nine separatist hostage-takers, including Uktolseja -- the only woman in the group -- were originally from the Molucca islands and fighting for independence from Indonesia.

They seized the train at the small hamlet of De Punt in northern Netherlands, and held 55 passengers hostage for three weeks, in a tense standoff with police. That ended on June 11, 1977 when the marines stormed the train.

During a violent exchange of gunfire when the train was riddled with bullets, six hostage-takers and two hostages were killed. Six other passengers were wounded.

The Dutch government has always maintained the operation to free the hostages was done according to the book and that the marines acted "with honest belief" in using deadly force in the heat of battle.

But the families of Papilaja and Uktolseja sued after seeing autopsy reports in 2013 which suggested the two were shot at point blank range. The families demanded the state admit guilt and pay damages amounting to around 55,000 euros ($59,000).

The court ruled on Wednesday that at the time of the shooting it was not clear if the two hostage-takers still posed a threat and had been disarmed.

"It was also not established if the bullet which killed Max Papilaja was fired by a soldier in the train," the court said in its final ruling.

Moluccans first arrived in The Netherlands in 1951 following Indonesia's independence in 1949, fearing reprisals after having fought on the side of the Dutch colonial army.

They planned to stay for only a few months before returning to an independent country, as part of negotiations at the time between the Dutch government and Indonesia.

Their wish however never materialised and some 12,500 Moluccans were left stranded in the Netherlands, crammed together in suburbs across the country.They were found after being put up for auction by the Kuchenmueller family in Germany, who eventually agreed to return them.

A member of that family was a university professor in Ecuador's largest city, Guayaquil, and had taken part in several archeological digs along the Pacific coast.

"He was German and when he returned to his country, he took the artifacts," Cesar Molinaro, secretary of Ecuador's committee combating the trafficking of cultural heritage property, told AFP.

Joaquin Moscoso, executive director of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage, said the recovery was a boost to the defense of Ecuador's "cultural rights and heritage assets."Mourners, including many other women from Srebrenica whose loved ones were killed in the 1995 massacre, attended prayers in front of a mosque in the eastern Bosnian town. Men later buried Mehmedovic in her nearby village of Suceska.

"She fought for innocent children never to be killed anywhere after the Srebrenica genocide," said local mufti Vahid Fazlovic.

Mehmedovic's two sons -- aged 18 and 21 at the time of the massacre, husband and a brother were killed in Srebrenica in July 1995 when Bosnian Serbs executed some 8,000 Muslim men and boys.

The massacre, considered the worst atrocity in Europe since the end of World War II, was deemed a genocide by international courts.

Shortly after the 1992-1995 inter-ethnic war in Bosnia that claimed 100,000 lives, Mehmedovic returned to the town and founded an association of Srebrenica mothers.

She led a fight to find the remains of victims scattered in dozens of mass graves after the atrocity and pushed to see the culprits punished.

Wartime political and military Bosnian Serb leaders, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic respectively, were later found guilty by a UN war crimes court, notably for the genocide in Srebrenica, and sentenced to harsh jail terms.

American actress Angelina Jolie, who met Mehmedovic in 2014 at the memorial centre in Srebrenica, saluted her as an "exceptional" woman in a tribute penned after her death.

"For 23 years she was a tireless seeker of truth and justice," Jolie wrote in an article published by CNN.

Fatima Smajlovic, 54, whose husband was also killed in the massacre, said she came to say farewell "to our sister and the mother of all of our children."Croatia's current government has come under criticism in recent years for failing to tackle lingering intolerance and celebrations of Ustasha slogans and ideology.

"There are some who prefer to repress their past and see it as a 'black hole' which requires no study or soul searching," Rivlin said in Hebrew in front of the memorial site, a towering concrete flower that looms over lush farmland.

"Croatia's ability to deal with the past and not to ignore it is a moral obligation which is a fundamental part of any just society," he said, according to an official translation.

It "will continue to be an important element of the friendship between Croatia and Israel," the Israeli leader added.

Rivlin, who arrived in Zagreb on Tuesday for a two-day visit, was accompanied by his Croatian counterpart Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic.

The two presidents visited the camp's museum and laid wreaths for the victims at the monument. Rivlin also recited a traditional Jewish prayer.

Grabar-Kitarovic also voiced deep sympathy for victims of the Ustasha regime.

"No political goal or regime can justify crimes committed in its name," she said, pledging to continue to take care of the "collective memory of the crimes committed here."

The number of people killed at Jasenovac, which lies 100 kilometres (60 miles) southeast of Zagreb, remains disputed.

It varies from tens of thousands to 700,000, according to Serbian figures.

The site remains a place of controversy.

The country's ethnic Serb and Jewish minorities have snubbed the official commemoration at the Jasenovac memorial for the past three years, accusing authorities of tolerating strains of pro-Nazi ideology in society.

They were particularly incensed by the placing of a plaque with an Ustasha slogan near the memorial in November 2016.

The plaque, laid by former paramilitaries, was removed from the camp's immediate vicinity nearly a year later -- only to be displayed at another location around 10 kilometres (six miles) away.

Relations between Croatia and Israel took a dip during the 1990s under president Franjo Tudjman, who led the country's breakaway from Yugoslavia.

Israel accused him of failing to make a strong denunciation of the Ustasha regime, who murdered an estimated 75 percent of the country's 40,000 Jews.The punishing US metals tariffs angered Washington's major trading partners including the EU and sparked retaliation against important American exports, spooking global stock markets.

Mnuchin made clear the primary source of the aggravation would be addressed "very quickly."

"The first issue that we'll begin negotiating is ... the issue on the steel and aluminum tariffs and retaliatory tariffs," Mnuchin said on CNBC.

Brussels had hit back at the US over the metals tariffs by imposing duties on more than $3 billion of US goods, including blue jeans, bourbon and motorcycles, as well as orange juice, rice and corn.

Mnuchin also confirmed that the US would not impose threatened auto tariffs -- which would hurt dominant German carmakers -- while negotiations are ongoing. That would head off the threat of another round of EU tariffs on $20 billion in US exports.

"Phase one will be to immediately resolve those issues so there will be no tariffs in either direction," Mnuchin said.

'Vindication' for Trump

The US declared a resounding victory for Trump and his confrontational stance, as Washington appears to have conceded little.

"If we hadn't had steel and aluminum tariffs, we never would have gotten to the point we are now," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told reporters. "This is a real vindication of the president's trade policy."

The United States and the EU account for about $1 trillion in transatlantic trade, and on Wednesday, the leaders agreed to "launch a new phase" in the relationship and "work together towards zero tariffs, zero non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies on non-auto industrial goods," Trump said.

Trump said the EU made a commitment to buy more US soybeans and natural gas, but a European official disputed that characterization.

The joint statement said Brussels and Washington would "work to reduce barriers and increase trade" in a range of products including soybeans, and that the EU "wants to import more liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States."

But an EU official said it will be up to the markets to decide whether to buy more US goods. "We are not going to turn into a Soviet style economy."

European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi called the tentative truce a "good sign, because in a sense it shows that there is a willingness to discuss trade issues in a multilateral framework again."

He warned, however, it was too soon to "assess the actual content."

Germany unsurprisingly hailed the decision, given that their world dominating auto industry was the first in line to be punished by Trump's protectionist offensive.

But French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire angrily demanded "clarifications" over the agreed measures.

NAFTA and autos

US stocks were mixed in late-morning trading Thursday, with the Dow solidly higher. Agricultural equipment makers Deere & Co. and Agco both advanced.

But even with good news on auto tariffs, car companies General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler all fell. All three companies slashed profit forecasts in part due to higher supply costs following US tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Ross said his department will continue its investigation into possible tariffs on imports of auto and auto parts and submit a report to Trump sometime next month.

However, it "may not be necessary" to impose the tariffs.

Meanwhile, in another sign of movement on trade relations, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the administration hopes to reach an agreement with Mexico and Canada next month on revising the North American Free Trade Agreement.

That is "not an unreasonable timeframe if everybody wants to get it done," he told a Senate committee, shortly before he was due to meet with a Mexican trade delegation.

Watching China currency movements

Trump also won a commitment from Juncker to work together to reform the World Trade Organization to address some of his complaints about China on theft of US technology, the behavior of state-owned enterprises, and overcapacity in steel.

The Republican president has long complained that the WTO has been unfair to the United States, despite the fact the US has won most of the disputes against China and others.

Mnuchin said there were no new developments on the dispute with China, which has been the target of most of Trump's trade policies.

"I've made perfectly clear that any time China is willing to seriously negotiate -- and we're talking about a commitment to reduce the bilateral trade deficit as well as to deal with technology issues -- we're available any time," he said."The United States reaffirms as policy its refusal to recognize the Kremlin's claims of sovereignty over territory seized by force in contravention of international law."

The declaration was released just one hour before Pompeo testifies to Congress about US-Russia ties following Trump's controversial closed-door summit with Putin, during which critics said he appeared pliant towards the Russia president.

Washington accused Putin of orchestrating a takeover of the Crimean peninsula in early 2014, when Russian military forces occupied government buildings.

Crimean authorities held a referendum that March, widely criticized by western powers, on whether Crimea should accede to Russia, and an accession treaty was signed March 18.

Ukraine and much of the international community condemned the move as a violation of international law.

Pompeo, calling on Russia to "end its occupation of Crimea," said Moscow had sought to "undermine a bedrock international principle" shared by democratic states, that no country can change the borders of another by force.New Zealanders are reminded that their actions have a direct effect on wastewater pipes and potential overflows.

New Zealand sewerage systems are plagued with fatberg build-up that clog up the pipes, which cost $1 million a year to remove.

A fatberg is precisely what it sounds like  a large, congealed mass of fat found in wastewater pipes. The hardened lumps are caused by hot fats or oils poured down the drain that then solidify in the sewerage system.

People are under the impression that because the fat flows, its going to be fine. But once the hot liquid hits the cold pipes they sit and form these hard lumps called fatbergs, said Roseline Klein, head of water at Watercare Services.

Nappies and wet wipes have also been found to cause fatbergs because of their inability to break down easily.

According to a BBC report, wet wipes were behind 93 per cent of blockages in UK sewers.

Ms Klein told RadioLIVE that about 4 percent of Aucklands sewers combine both stormwater and wastewater, which can overflow after heavy rain.

Watercare contractors revealed that fatbergs were responsible for a recent overflow of waste and toilet paper onto south Auckland properties after a heavy rain.

But completely blocked pipes could exacerbate overflow, rain or shine regardless.

A sinkhole opened up in Dannevirke in February 2017, after a mass of fat (and rats, who had been feeding on it) caused a sewer pipe to fail.

In September 2017, Waikato councils launched a campaign to educate people on pipe blockages after a 250-metre long, 130-tonne fatberg was discovered in a London pipe.

What can you do to help?

Watercare advises New Zealanders to allow fats and oils to cool before disposing them in the rubbish bin. Its also recommended to avoid flushing nappies and wet wipes down the toilet.

Listen to the full interview with Roseline Klein above.

The Long Lunch with Wendyl Nissen, 12pm - 3pm on RadioLIVE and streaming live to the rova app on Android and iPhone.

RadioLIVE.A man shot dead by police in an Auckland park wittingly or unwittingly contributed to his death, a coronial inquest has found.

Slovakian national David Cerven was shot and killed by police in Myers Park in Auckland on the evening of August 2, 2015, after telling police to meet him to talk about a robbery.

The 21-year-old died five months after he and partner Eva Vyrvova moved to New Zealand on one-year working visas.

On the afternoon of August 2, Mr Cerven became aware police had released his name on Facebook, saying they were looking to speak to him about an armed robbery.

He confessed to the robbery to Ms Vyrvova, his partner, and both agreed to visit friends to ask for their advice.

Mr Cerven left Ms Vyrvova, saying that hed go to police and turn himself in.

When the first two police officers arrived at the scene, they say Mr Cerven told them he had a gun. As more officers arrived he repeatedly refused to comply when told to take his hands out of his pockets and lie face down on the ground.

Two armed officers arrived at the scene, and told him: "Armed Police, get down on the ground". He then pulled his hands out of his pockets, bringing them together and pointing them in the direction of the officers.

All of the officers interpreted this as being that he had a gun that he was pointing at officers.

Coroner Katharine Greig said it's not clear whether at this point Mr Cerven had a self-destructive intent to provoke the police to use lethal force, or whether he thought they believed he had a gun (it was later discovered he did not have a gun).

"I am left in a state of uncertainty about his actions and intent, and accordingly am unable to conclude that his death was a suicide," she said.

Regardless of his intent, she found his actions - particularly after being challenged by armed police - "wittingly or unwittingly, contributed to his death".

Nicholas Taylor, an Auckland barrister and specialist in firearms lawyer, says eight rounds of ammunition were shot at Mr Cerven by attending officers, two minutes after they arrived at the park.

Mr Taylor told RadioLIVEs Wendyl Nissen that the whole process on the evening of the event was extremely rushed.

There was a lot of communication errors between police about exactly what was happening, even to the point of spelling his last name incorrectly by putting a T at the beginning instead of the C. So they didnt actually find the accurate records in the police system of what had actually occurred before, he said.

The police arrived at the scene and they hadnt had really good communication with their operations centre.

Two ammunition shots hit Mr Cerven; one hit him in the stomach, and one hit him in the side of the jaw and face, Mr Taylor told RadioLIVE.

It was a rapid succession of shots that occurred very quickly.

Myers Park, where the shooting occurred, is located in Aucklands central city and is surrounded by apartments, hotels and a school.

Mr Taylor says it a small area, right in the centre of Auckland, with buildings everywhere, and the shots fired by the firearms used could have injured, or even killed, a person up to 3kms away.

Police have acknowledged Coroner Greig's findings, which corroborate with Police and the IPCA's findings that the actions of Mr Cerven contributed to his death, and the officers' actions in shooting him were justified.

Listen to the full interview with Nicholas Taylor above.

The Long Lunch with Wendyl Nissen, 12pm - 3pm on RadioLIVE and streaming live to the rova app on Android and iPhone.

RadioLIVE.Researchers at the Italian Space Agency have published a new report detailing a body of water detected on Mars.

The body of water sits beneath the planets south polar ice cap, approximately 20km-wide.

Radar profiles collected between May 2012 and December 2015 show evidence of liquid water trapped below the ice of the South Polar Layered Deposits, the report says.

Professor Kathy Campbell, geologist and astrobiologist at Auckland Universitys School of Environment, says the findings, announced overnight New Zealand time, show Mars is another place to look for life in our solar system.

We knew there was lots of liquid water in the past, but [Mars] kind of died down a little bit, so now theyve got liquid water in the South Pole, under a bunch of ice, she told RadioLIVEs Mark Sainsbury.

So Mars isnt dead - its got liquid water on it.

Evidence of water on Mars is not new, however. There have long been available images of dried river and lake beds, but as the climate on the planet has since cooled to levels below Earth's polar climates the discovery of a stable, liquid body of water is significant.

This new report, published in the journal Science, reads: Anomalously bright subsurface reflections are evident within a well-defined, 20 kilometre wide zone which is surrounded by much less reflective areas.

Quantitative analysis of the radar signals shows that this bright feature has high relative dielectric permittivity matching that of water-bearing signals.

We interpret this feature as a stable body of liquid water on Mars.

Researchers were unable to conclude the depth of the lake, but estimate it to be a minimum of one metre.

But Prof Campbell says Mars isnt the only place we need to be looking for life in the solar system.

People want to go to Enceladus and Europa, these are moons of Saturn and Jupiter, they want to go and look at these jets of frozen water that are streaming out into space. There are a lot of crazy things going on in the solar system."

Listen to the full interview with Professor Kathy Campbell above.

Morning Talk with Mark Sainsbury, 9am - 12pm Weekdays and streaming live on 'rova' channel 9 - available on Android and iPhone.

RadioLIVE.Night talk - Mitch Harris opening comments, Thursday 26th July 2018.

Tonight: A goat had to be put down after being tasered 13 times by a police officer in Oamaru.

Video footage was released by police today after several investigations had been conducted into the incident, which happened in December 2016.

This included an independent investigation by the Ministry for Primary Industries under the Animal Welfare Act 1999.

The video shows what police describe as a 'feral goat' being tasered in a garage.

Are goats really that dangerous that they need to be tasered?

Also tonight: Motueka man Greg Rzesniowiecki has set up a petition asking the NZ Government to give WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange asylum in New Zealand.



Rzesniowiecki thinks Assange is right to fear extradition, and is calling on the New Zealand Government to provide him "with permanent political asylum in New Zealand, including a guarantee of safe passage from the United Kingdom to New Zealand".

Is this a good idea or a stupid idea? You can sign the petition here.

Night Talk with Mitch Harris, 8pm - 12am Monday-Thursday nights on RadioLIVE, and streaming live to the rova app on Android and iPhone.

RadioLIVE.Viacom is in talks to acquire AwesomenessTV, according to reports from US broadcast industry media trade sources.





Comcast recently took over 51% of AwesomenessTV by acquiring DreamWorks Animation, while Verizon and Hearst own the rest. Viacom will likely be able to take it over for a fraction of the youth-focused digital propertys 2016 valuation of $650 million, according to Deadline Hollywood Thats because Verizon has shifted focus away from content toward wireless and 5G, and the chief who bought into AwesomenessTV, Lowell McAdam, is set for retirement. For its part, Viacom sees a fit with existing brands like Nickelodeon and MTV. It has a history with the channel: late last year, it appointed Kelly Day as president of Viacom Digital Studios, a new division that focusses on the creation of digital content across the companys portfolio of networks and brands, mainly aimed at Millennials and younger viewers.The conference turned into megaphone for natural gas advocates to shout about the long-term viability of the energy source. At the event, BP CEO Bob Dudley said natural gas is a destination fuel, not just a transition fuel.

The Trump administration has recently begun echoing the same flawed sentiments, and the gas industry has been promoting American exports of natural gas as part of Trump's aggressive energy dominance agenda. Trump officials have been trying to convince countries like Morocco (a trip Pruitt spent $100,000 in taxpayer money on), South Africaand counties in Eastern Europe to buy up American liquified natural gas (LNG). Trump himself has discussed LNG exports with China.Hormuz: Could Iran Really Block This Critical Strait for the Oil Trade?

Iran's president has warned the US that he could close the Strait of Hormuz after Washington threatened to halt Iranian oil exports. But could Tehran really block the most critical choke point for global oil trade?China attracted $144 billion of foreign direct investment last year  a record total for the country. But the appeal of China as an investment destination is at risk. The cause for concern is neither escalating tariffs nor any high-profile external threat. The Chinese governmentby politicizing a non-controversial cross-border corporate mergeris tarnishing its own attractiveness for investment. And with the merger facing a July 25 deadline for completion, the worlds investors are watching to see if China can be trusted to act responsibly.

The backdrop to the issue is an October 2016 deal by San Diego-based Qualcomm to acquire a Dutch semiconductor company, NXP, for $43 billion. Because both companies are leaders in the semiconductor industry, and generate a significant share of their revenue from China, the government in Beijing has indicated that it must give the merger its seal of approval  something that eight jurisdictions have already done (including the United States). But theres been no signal from Beijing as to when (or whether) it will act. And with the companies having set a deadline of 11:59 p.m. on July 25 (eastern standard time) for completing the merger, the entire transaction could be scuttled if Beijing continues to drag its feet.

Given the U.S.-China tariff tussle, some in China may relish the opportunity to punish a leading U.S. company. But thats misguided thinking, as its China that will suffer the consequences if government interference causes the Qualcomm-NXP merger to collapse. Inaction (or outright opposition) will only reinforce concerns throughout the world about the countrys suitability as an investment destination, as it will suggest politicization of the regulatory process.

Continued obstruction could also lead to immediate blowback. Earlier this year, the Trump Administration announced it would block U.S. companies from selling to a Chinese telecom firm, ZTE, which has done business with North Korea and Iran  a clear violation of U.S. sanctions policy. President Trump said he would relax the prohibition, in response to a request from President Xi. And on July 6 the Trump Administration announced that U.S. companies would be able to resume selling to ZTE, subject to the company meeting a number of terms.

If China returns the favor by, in effect, stiffing a leading U.S. company, the response from Washington could be severe. Congressional critics could seek to have the Trump Administrations ZTE decision repealed, and other leading Chinese companies, such as Huawei, would be in the crosshairs. And the ongoing tit-for-tat tariff battle could be escalated.

Beijings delay is also damaging because its contrary to the spirit of a reform the government implemented just a few months ago. That reform merged three anti-trust agencies into one  the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR). SAMR was supposed to foster greater predictability and transparency in the review of companies merging or making acquisitions. The Qualcomm-NXP merger serves as SAMRs first major test  one that its currently failing. Continuing this arbitrary approach would send a powerful signal to current and potential foreign investors that perhaps they should direct their investments to countries offering more predictable  and more hospitable  climates.

Depressed investment would weaken Chinas economy at a moment when the countrys economic growth rate has been in a prolonged slowdown, relative to what was achieved over the previous two decades, and with demographic pressures threatening to drive down the growth rate even more. Foreign direct investment can be a powerful catalyst for opportunities the country needs. As Goldman Sachs has pointed out, The foreign capital, and the management expertise that so often comes with it, would promote innovation and entrepreneurship, which are critical to any economy's long-term success. Deploying private capital also helps foster healthy competition, making state-owned enterprises more efficient and better suited to compete in the global marketplace.

It's noteworthy that amid the surge in foreign direct investment to China, the annual U.S. flow has been mostly stagnant since 2005 (it rose in 2008 and plunged in 2009). The stagnation is troubling, given that the U.S. and China are the two largest economies in the world, and their economic relationship is the most important in the world. That relationship is already being challenged by trade tensions. Some elements of that standoff are, to be sure, beyond Beijings control. Yet China would have nobody to blame for the self-inflicted wounds that would be a byproduct of blocking the Qualcomm-NXP merger.

China has made great strides in recent years in promoting economic liberalization and transparency. As part of that progress, the eyes of investors throughout the world have been watching to see if China can establish a fair regulatory environment. Now, with tensions and uncertainty on the rise, China has an opportunity to confound its critics. Its an opportunity that shouldnt be missed.Snowden had come to believe that this invention was being misused  by the U.S. government, no less  and he endeavored to do something about it. Unlike most national security whistleblowers, Snowden didnt mask his identity. He had too much he wanted to say publicly to hide behind a cloak of anonymity. One of the things he said, after settling in exile in Moscow, was this: A child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all.

A History of Watchfulness

For the most part, Washingtons elected officials, national security types, and political commentators were in no mood for an academic debate about privacy vs. security, especially one moderated by a hacker on the lam. Publicly accused of treason, Snowden was formally charged with espionage. He was denounced as a double agent, a Russian stooge, and a grandiose narcissist who belongs in prison. A bipartisan report issued by the House Intelligence Committee -- before that committee devolved into a squabbling partisan circus over the 2016 Russia investigation -- described Snowden as a disgruntled traitor whose claims that he had acted to defend the right to privacy were self-serving and false.

Not yet running for president, but perhaps privately considering how as commander-in-chief hed deal with this issue, Donald Trump took to Twitter to call Snowden a coward and a spy who should be executed.

Among those who took a more nuanced view was the actual commander-in-chief at the time of the NSAs stunning security lapse. What did President Obama call the notorious cyber thief? He called him Mr. Snowden. Obama seems to have been among those who understood that this young man had quickly become a touchstone for one of the most profound challenges faced by democratic societies in our time: In 21st century warfare, how can the government protect its citizens without simultaneously trampling on their civil rights and eviscerating the very concept of privacy?

In a January 17, 2014 speech at the Justice Department -- the one in which he alluded to Mr. Snowden while discussing this dilemma -- Obama began by extolling the importance of espionage in American history.

At the dawn of our Republic, a small, secret surveillance committee born out of the Sons of Liberty was established in Boston, he said. The group's members included Paul Revere. At night, they would patrol the streets, reporting back any signs that the British were preparing raids against Americas early patriots. Throughout American history, intelligence has helped secure our country and our freedoms.

After World War II, the Cold War and the proliferation of nuclear weapons amplified the need for sustained intelligence gathering, which led President Truman to create the NSA. Its mission, as Obama explained, was to give us insights into the Soviet bloc and provide our leaders with information they needed to confront aggression and avert catastrophe.

In our time, the rise of a stateless enemy that operates under the cloak of religion in nearly every corner of the world, including our own country, has made this need all the greater -- and much thornier.

The Nothing to Hide Argument

Prior to Obamas presidency and Snowdens NSA caper, a spirited debate was already taking place in this country over the stunning loss of personal privacy ushered in by the digital age. Long before a special prosecutor was delving into Russian attempts to interfere with U.S. elections  and years before Donald Trump entered politics  the intellectual battle lines were forming. But the demarcations werent always clear-cut.

Over time, iconic Silicon Valley entities such as Sun Microsystems and Apple Computers decided to draw the line at helping the government snoop on private individuals -- even those accused of heinous crimes -- refusing to unlock encryption keys for the FBI. Meanwhile, software giants Google and Facebook were coming under intense scrutiny for collecting vast volumes of personal information about their customers. Chafing at the criticism, Google CEO Eric Schmidt articulated a blunt defense in a famous 2009 interview with Maria Bartiromo. If you have something that you dont want anyone to know, Schmidt said, maybe you shouldnt be doing that in the first place.

This became known in tech circles as the nothing to hide argument, and although the pushback was spirited, today the terrain of the debate has shifted. The ability to manipulate computers and covertly collect data is not merely another tool in a corporations business arsenal -- or even a weapon in the arsenal of a terrorist or unfriendly foreign government. Increasingly, cyber manipulation is more capacious than that. Its the so-called fifth domain of warfare.

Cyberwar is no longer a hypothetical. Cyberattacks emanating from Russia have become a threat to democratic elections ranging from Estonia to the United States. In the U.S., both major political parties were compromised by Russian hackers during the last presidential election. And though a special prosecutor has indicted 25 Russian nationals for their 2016 activities, no reputable cybersecurity expert believes the menace has been neutralized. Meanwhile, almost every major U.S. corporation has been penetrated electronically, with vast troves of personal information compromised.

So whats the answer? RealClearPolitics has been exploring various aspects of this crisis in articles, interviews, and podcasts for months. Several themes have emerged. The first is that cybersecurity is a growth industry  in the private as well as the public sector  and that, so far, neither one is keeping up with the bad guys. The embarrassing fact is that the government entrusted with protecting Americans from cyberattacks has itself been penetrated repeatedly, including in the most sensitive agencies and departments.

"Unfortunately, the security vs. privacy debate is largely over.  [P]rivacy died with the Information Age." Eric R. Sterner, national security expert

Meanwhile, Americans have proven willing to sacrifice privacy and security for convenience, and this is true of corporations as well as individuals. The countrys enemies are motivated and capable, while it citizens attention span is sporadic. Its clear there is neither a magic bullet, nor a simple public policy solution. There isnt even a national consensus on whether personal privacy is still worth fighting for. Some say its already a lost cause.

Unfortunately, the security vs. privacy debate is largely over.  [P]rivacy died with the Information Age, national security expert Eric R. Sterner wrote before Obama spoke on this topic at the Justice Department.

Information and communication technologies make life better, he added. They improved economic productivity, efficiency, and economic growth. More personally, information digitization created opportunities to grow, relate to others, and generally realize ones creative potential. Connected to the Internet, we create, post, and retrieve vast amounts of data, almost all of which is in the hands of third parties.

Sterner wasnt extolling this brave new world as much as acknowledging reality. But not everyone accepts this modern notion that while privacy might be a nice idea, public security is more essential. Tech journalist and software engineer Jon Evans begs to differ. In his view, the dichotomy between personal privacy and public security is a false choice promulgated by people who should know better.

In an essay for Tech Crunch written earlier this year, Evans made the case that the accumulation of massive amounts of personal data itself compromises Americans well-being. A lack of privacy, he asserted, has a chilling effect on dissidence and original thinking. Private spaces are the experimental petri dishes for societies, he wrote. If you know your every move can be watched, and your every communication can be monitored, so private spaces effectively dont exist, youre much less likely to experiment with anything edgy or controversial.

Evans also worries at how technology keeps getting better at manipulating consumer behavior. If you think online ads are bad now, he says, just wait until they are powered by artificial intelligence.

When accumulated private data can be used to manipulate public opinion on a massive scale, privacy is no longer a personal luxury, he wrote. When constant surveillance  systematically chills and dissuades people from experimenting with new ideas and expressing contentious thoughts, privacy is no longer a personal luxury.

Do such fears conflate qualms about rampant consumerism with the very real threat of cyberwar from those who want to destroy our very way of life? Perhaps. Yet its also worth noting that Paul Revere and the network of subversives exalted by Barack Obama were not working for the government. They were working to overthrow the existing order.

People who say they dont care about privacy because they have got nothing to hide have not thought too deeply about these issues -- thats how Edward Snowden put it. What they are really saying is I do not care about this right. When you say, I dont care about the right to privacy because I have nothing to hide, that is no different than saying, I dont care about freedom of speech because I have nothing to say -- or freedom of the press because I have nothing to write.,



We're sorry, this article is not currently availableContributed photo

WASHINGTON  Washington photographer Philip Duttons dramatic photos document The Chief Bigfoot Memorial Ride of 1990, a momentous event that helped commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Massacre at Wounded Knee Creek. His work will be on display at the Gunn Memorial Library Stairwell Gallery in Washington, Aug. 18-Sept. 29.

Dutton is a commercial and documentary photographer as well as a member of the International Cinematographers Guild. He is a graduate of The Gunnery and the University of California.NEW ORLEANS - For Nina Compton, who grew up in St. Lucia as the daughter of its prime minister, the idea was to graduate from her boarding school in England and then attend university there. She would study agriculture, because farming is big business back home. But, she said, after scouting some programs, she ultimately decided: "I didn't want to be mucking around with cows." She preferred the kitchen. Specifically, she preferred breakfast.

"In the Caribbean, we have a big breakfast," she recalled. "Our house was fun and festive in the morning. Dad was making fresh juices, and we would sit at the table and talk about our day, what we would do." Skipping college, she got a three-month tryout cooking at the Sandals Resort in St. Lucia before requesting a transfer to its flagship in Jamaica. The flavors she discovered there ignited her culinary path. "St. Lucia has French and British influences," Compton said. "Jamaica has Portuguese, African, Indian, Chinese." They also ate ackees and saltfish for breakfast. She tasted the combination of fruit and fish and fell in love.

"I went back to St. Lucia, where we have a huge ackee tree in our backyard, to find them all on the ground, and said, 'What are we doing?' Wasting these creamy, luscious bites. I never appreciated them because they're not in our culture. But now, when I go home, my mom cooks them with saltfish, and everyone comes. It's my feast. My homecoming."

There has been much to celebrate. After shooting "Top Chef" in New Orleans in 2013 - she lost to Nicholas Elmi but was voted Fan Favorite - she decided she liked New Orleans enough to stay. In 2015, with her husband, Larry Miller, she opened Compere Lapin, serving a personalized mash-up of Caribbean-accented New Orleans cooking that encompasses the French and Italian influences of her earlier career. In 2017, Food & Wine Magazine named her a Best New Chef, and this year she won the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the South. Last March, with Levi Raines, she opened her second restaurant here, Bywater American Bistro.

I met Compton there recently to talk about her success. At 39, she is naturally warm and free with hugs, yet her poise and focus on the task at hand announce a presence to be reckoned with. When she glides, silently, through the kitchen, the staff parts, like the Red Sea. Miller, a native of Atlanta, runs the dining room with expert charm, but no matter where he is, he seems always to keep a third eye trained on Compton, whom he clearly adores.

How she got here is quite a story. Her childhood in St. Lucia was a privileged one: riding horses, sailing, traveling to Europe. That she chose a life in the kitchen seems due to her maternal grandmother, Phyllis Clark, a white Englishwoman who was a nurse in Scotland during World War II when she met her future husband, a native St. Lucian. "She is a tough cookie," Compton said, and then shook her head. "Well, she was." Clark died in 2017, at 95. "There were no roads then, limited power. Having a stove was unheard of; they cooked over coal. But she kept her British ways, had afternoon tea every day. We lived in Soufriere, the most beautiful part of the island, which was framed by two mountains. She hated it. She would say, 'I felt I was trapped between them and couldn't leave.' I was the fourth of five children, and my parents traveled a lot, so my grandmother was the one keeping us in line."

Clark's insistence on the kitchen as the center of their home made its impression. "But I was young, I also wanted to travel," Compton said. "I wanted to experience more." That is when she spent two years in Jamaica. "Cooking there opened my eyes," she said. "I thought to give a dish taste I had to add butter or pork." A breakfast in Negril was a turning point. "It was at a roadside shack, and this Rastafarian with dreadlocks to his ankles offered me a coconut porridge. I said, 'That looks terrible.' But it was creamy and sweet with ginger, nutmeg, caramelized plantains. All vegan, and those flavors were so enticing."

She enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America, graduating in 2001. She then apprenticed for chef Daniel Boulud at Restaurant Daniel in New York. "I looked for the best when I left St. Lucia," she said. "I wanted that in my repertoire."

One day, she recalled, Thomas Keller came in for lunch. "Everyone started freaking out. There were cameras in the kitchen; we could see him. Daniel came in and asked, 'What did he order?' Lobster salad. I'm on garde manger, the cold food. He comes to my station and first throws my coffee cup into the trash. I am petrified. He's maybe 5-6, but his voice went right through you. He saw my mise en place and said, 'What is this?' The lobsters were thrown around and he took paper towels and wrapped each one nicely. 'You have respect for ingredients, they'll respect you back,' he said. Then he asked me, 'Can you select the nicest mussel?' I'm thinking for Thomas Keller, big is better, so I picked the biggest. 'No,' Daniel said, 'the medium one is sweeter and more tender.' He made that dish in a frenzy, the kitchen was on pins and needles. When he was done, he pointed to my station and said, 'This is how it should look. Every single time.' " She sighed. "But he could be angelic in the kitchen, too. When he cooked in his long white apron and pressed shirts, it was very thoughtful, the way he did it."

The experience left its mark. "I would wake up at 4 every morning anxious about making a mistake," she said.

She moved to Miami, where she stayed for 14 years, cooking first for the chef Norman Van Aken, whose sophisticated take on island ingredients such as conch and yucca inspired her. She then cooked at a private club in the Versace mansion, where she met Miller, and eventually landed at Scott Conant's Scarpetta. "He once asked me, 'Do you know the biggest mistake with Italian food? Too many ingredients. There should be very few, but they have to be the best, so there is no hiding.' I learned a lot of restraint cooking Italian. I started to appreciate ingredients, letting them shine."

When she and Miller opened Compere Lapin here, they encountered a labor shortage. "I had no team behind me," she recalled. "I thought, 'There are tons of restaurants, we'll be fine.' " Desperate, she called a chef friend in Miami who recommended Raines, who was 24. "He drove out that weekend," she said. "We never met; it was all on blind faith. I watched him cook, the way he thought about things. It was way beyond anything I'd seen." Eventually, Raines grew restless, and Compton and Miller opened Bywater to make him chef and a partner. Raines shares Compton's gift of turning disparate ingredients into something unexpectedly delicious. While she and I talked, he brought over tuna sushi dressed with Bloody Mary salsa. As, it turns out, it always should be.

"When I moved here, I was petrified," Compton said. "The city is so rooted in culinary history, but my food is a mix: Jamaica, New York, Miami, then New Orleans, where I can now leave my little footprint. When we opened Compere Lapin, I wanted to put goat on the menu. I could have just done it with curry and white rice, but I wanted to show more technique." She brined, braised and shredded the goat, cooked it in a cashew and coconut curry and served it with sweet potato gnocchi. "I wasn't sure it would sell," she said. "We bought one goat a week. We serve 300 pounds a week now."

We headed into the kitchen, and I realized that Compton, like Boulud, wore a pressed white shirt and long white apron (in her case, over skinny jeans and striped canvas flats). As she started on the ackee and saltfish, she filled the pan with onions, peppers and garlic, and the steam was fragrant. Has she thought about putting it on the menu? "I don't know if people would get it," she said, hesitantly. "I try to bring people into my world, but I also try not to push it too much. Maybe one day."

She filled a plate. The saltfish was firm, only slightly salty, like smoked whitefish. The ackee, which is in the same family as litchi, didn't taste as sweet as litchi. The canned version might be blander than the fresh, although it's also safer; if ackees are improperly harvested, Compton noted, they can make you sick. She had also made bakes, a traditional accompaniment that are essentially fried biscuits. Compton said you can make regular biscuits instead, or toast. I craved rice. I didn't want to waste a drop.

Miller appeared stoveside and inhaled. Doesn't he think this should be on the menu? He nodded. "It's everything," he said. "It's delicious, it's family, and it's her."

- - -

Witchel is a former staff writer for the New York Times Magazine and the author of "All Gone: A Memoir of My Mother's Dementia."

- - -

Ackee and Saltfish With Warm Bakes

6 to 8 servings

This dish represents a fairly simple and satisfying taste of home for folks from the Caribbean - including New Orleans chef Nina Compton, who loves the combination of fruit and fish for breakfast.

"Bakes" is a term used for the rolls of fried dough that often accompany this dish. They are surprisingly easy to do.

You'll need a thermometer for monitoring the temperature of the frying oil.

Canned ackee, a tropical fruit, is available online via Amazon.com.

MAKE AHEAD: The saltfish needs to be cooked and drained a total of 3 times, which will take a little more than an hour to complete; this can be done in advance. The dough for the bakes needs to rest twice, for a total of 45 minutes.

From Compton, of Compere Lapin in New Orleans.

Ingredients

For the ackee and saltfish

1 pound dried salt cod

2 tablespoons canola oil

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 each red and green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut into very thin strips (julienne)

1 Scotch bonnet or habanero pepper, seeded and minced (if you like it less spicy, use half)

2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves

Kosher salt

2 large tomatoes, cored and chopped (about 4 cups)

2 scallions (white and green parts), thinly sliced

Freshly ground black pepper

One 19-ounce can ackee, rinsed and drained (see headnote)

For the bakes

3 cups flour

2 tablespoons baking powder

Pinch kosher salt

1/4 cup sugar

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 cup water, or as needed

6 to 8 cups canola oil, for frying

Steps

For the ackee and saltfish: Place the dried cod in a large saucepan and cover by 2 inches with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium and cook for 20 minutes. Drain the fish, return it to saucepan and repeat the process two more times. Transfer the drained cod to a bowl, then use a fork to break it up into large chunks.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the garlic, onion, all the peppers, thyme and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cook for about 5 minutes, stirring, until soft. Add the tomatoes; cook for 3 or 4 minutes, then add the drained cod and scallions; cook for a minute or two to warm through.

Add the ackee, stirring gently so it and the fish remain in large pieces. Cook for 5 minutes to warm it through. Taste, and season with salt and pepper as needed. Turn off the heat; cover to keep warm.

For the bakes: Use a fork to whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Use the fork or your clean fingers hands to rub the butter into flour mixture to form a coarse meal.

Add enough of the water to make a firm dough but not stiff; the dough should be easy to roll. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let it sit for 30 minutes.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle, to a thickness of about 1/2-inch. Use a 3-inch biscuit cutter to create portions (using all the dough) or divide the dough into 3-ounce balls, then press them into little patties. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes in a warm place.

Just before serving, line a baking sheet with paper towels. Heat the oil in a pot or small roasting pan (that can handle stovetop cooking) to 325 degrees. Add the bakes without crowding the pan and fry for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Transfer to the baking sheet to drain.

Cut a little pocket in each bake, and fill with the ackee-saltfish mixture. Serve warm.

Ingredients are too variable for a meaningful analysis.TORRINGTON  Democrats Mary Glassman and Johana Hayes, competing for the party primary Aug. 14 for the congressional 5th District, will take part in a candidates debate Monday.

The congressional seat is being vacated by Democratic U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty.

Audrey Blondin, a member of the Connecticut Democrats State Central Commitee; fellow member Larry Sweeney of Morris; Litchfield Democratic Town Commitee chairwoman Jeannine Lupo; and others wanted to give northwest corner residents a chance to meet the contenders before the primary. They call themselves the Northwest Connecticut Democrats.

Were an informal group of local Democrats, activists, who wanted to do this, said Blondin, a Torrington attorney and Litchfield resident who has been involved in local and state politics for more than 40 years. It took us some time to settle on a date, but I think the timings just perfect for people who want to meet the candidates; just a few weeks before the primary.

Retired Judge Ann Dranginis will moderate the debate, and Lupo will provide social media participation including tweets, Blondin said. Shell be using Twitter and Facebook to communicate the debate to the (online) audience, she said.

In March, the Northwest Hills Democrats held a candidates forum with 5th District challengers. It was a success, and encouraged them to do more, Blondin said.

More than 300 people showed up, Blondin said. Anne was moderating and Jeannine was tweeting, she said. It was tremendously successful.

Having candidates meet the public this year is very important, she said.

Its such an important race this year, with the balance of Congress possibly hanging on this seat, that we thought it was important to have the forum, and now the debate, Blondin said.

According to her campaign website, www.jahanahayes.com, Hayes is the recipient of the 2016 National Teacher of the Year Award. She is a lifelong Connecticut resident and a former social studies teacher at John F. Kennedy High School in Waterbury. Hayes is serves as the talent and professional development Supervisor for Waterbury Public Schools, according to the site. She is a graduate of Southern Connecticut State University and earned her masters and advanced degrees from the University of Saint Joseph and University of Bridgeport. She lives in Wolcott with her husband and four children.

Glassman is a lifelong Connecticut resident who was born and raised in the 5th District, according to her campaign website, maryglassmanforcongress

.com. She grew up with her three brothers in New Britain, the daughter of Frances and Angelo Messina, and graduated at the top of her class from St. Thomas Aquinas High School. She earned a degree in journalism from the University of Connecticut. While working full-time as a reporter for The New Britain Herald, she put herself through UConn Law School at night, and after graduation clerked for the judges of the state Superior Court in Waterbury and throughout Hartford County, then went on to private practice, according to the site. In her first run for office, she became the first Democrat elected first selectman in Simsbury in 40 years.

She was first selectman from 1991-99 and then again from 2007-14.

She works for the Capitol Region Education Council helping cities and towns maximize resources to direct funds back to the classroom and students, according to her website. She is a trustee of the Connecticut Womens Hall of Fame and president of Simsbury Community Television. She and her husband have three adult children.

Blondin thanked Torrington City Hall officials for being so helpful. Theyve been terrific, she said. It was a challenge to find a mutually agreeable date, but now weve got one, so were looking forward to having another successful evening. Were hoping for a good crowd and a good debate, discussing the issues that are a concern for people.

The Democrats will have a meet and greet in advance of the debate, giving the public a chance to meet the candidates from 6 to 7 p.m., followed by the debate from 7 to 9 p.m. There is no admission charge.

This event is a chance for people to get to know the candidates and make an informed choice on primary day, Blondin said.

For information, contact Audrey Blondin at audbl@aol.com or 860-489-8997, or Larry Sweeney at lms58@georgetown.edu or 860-567-2014.LITCHFIELD  Last Saturday night the Litchfield Community Center celebrated its annual Summerfest. The theme, conceived by board member Ron Leal, was Happy Days  Back to the 50s.

The space outside the Center was transformed into a haven for rocknroll, replete with food stations offering everything from hamburgers and hot dogs from the D&D Diner served by Village owners Denise and Greg Raap; to lobster rolls at The Surf Shack from Tildens Seafood; sensational pizza from Bills Brick Oven Pizza. The Tiki Bar and the Starlight Bar offered libations of every kind, including a special drink concocted by Litchfield Distillery. Tables were set up under tents for communal dining outside on one of those perfect summer evenings.

Guests mingled, proudly displaying their poodle skirts, vintage jeans and varsity jackets from the 50s era. Even those who were not old enough to remember that period were resplendent in their attire. The parking lot echoed one from the era and featured a series of pristine vintage cars borrowed from various collectors. Truly a sight to behold.

The Community Center has carried on the Summerfest tradition for over ten years as a way to bring the whole community together, says Berta Andrulis Mette, the Centers director. Each year since its inception we have centered on a special theme. Weve done A Country Affair, Box Supper Social, County Seat, Celebrating Our Town, Cirque Extraordinaire, Litchfield to London, and Murder on the Orient Express.

Its become the highlight of Litchfields summer season, says Board president Hal Rossiter. Its a time when everyone, regardless of age, comes to celebrate summer, the Center, and the community itself.

The planning begins in January, Mette continues, we throw around ideas and settle on a theme. The major part of the creative process comes from board member Ron Leal, who has come up with the format for the past six years. Once the concept has been approved he takes over and creates a masterpiece.

Leal, a former fashion designer, equates planning Summerfest with putting on a fashion show, taking an idea, expanding it, fine-tuning it and creating a perfect venue.

The fabulous Fifties represented a coming of age for those baby boomers and a time of reflection for the men and women of the World War II Era, explains Leal. It was a time of commitment to the community and family. I wanted to represent that time and feeling in our own community. Even if you didnt live through it, that period is recognizable to everyone.

People love nostalgia and Happy Days gave guests the opportunity to dig into their closets for vintage outfits and relive those fabulous times. Some people were so transformed they were almost unrecognizable. Who would have known the vamp in the polka dot dress, thick black hair and oversized red-rimmed glasses was Andrulis Mette herself, having a great time fooling everyone. Its too bad there wasnt a contest for best costume/transformation, she would have won hands down.

Over 250 people of all ages attended, catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. Everyone mingled outside until it was time for the Sock Hop to begin. The main part of the Center was transformed into a dance floor as Eight to the Bar supplied music from the fabulous 50s era. Even those who preferred to sit and enjoy ice cream and creamy desserts from Brits Brand couldnt help but tap their feet in time with the music. The walls were decorated with replicas of high school flags from Litchfield schools that were created by Carol and Bill Jones, whose incredible banners also graced each of the food and drink stations.

They are amazing people, says Leal. Their work is impeccable and their commitment to the Center and to our town is unsurpassed.

A few years ago the Community Center did away with its silent auction and began selling raffle tickets for one major prize. This year the theme was Ill Take Manhattan.

The winner, Nina Tourtellotte, of Litchfield, was awarded limousine service to and from New York City; two nights in a $1,400 a night suite with terrace at the famed Four Seasons Hotel; dinner at Ralph Laurens Restaurant, brunch at La Goulue, and an additional dinner of choice; plus a $500 certificate for any Broadway show, with A New York Experience totaling $6,000.

But even though there was only one winner, everyone who attended came away with a good feeling  of community, camaraderie, nostalgia, and contentment.The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation that would allow Washington to impose sanctions on Cambodias Prime Minister Hun Sen and members of his inner circle for their role in undermining democracy in the country and committing human rights violations.



The Cambodia Democracy Act of 2018 was passed late on Wednesday eveningdays before a July 29 general election that has been widely derided as unfree and unfair amid an ongoing political crackdown in the countryand will next head to the Senate for approval.



Cambodias Supreme Court dissolved the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) in November over allegations it was involved in a plot to topple the government, stripping the partys officials of their posts and banning many lawmakers from politics for five years.



The dissolution of the CNRP and the arrest of its president, Kem Sokha, as well as a months-long crackdown on NGOs and the independent media, are measures widely seen as part of a bid by Hun Sen to ensure that his ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) stays in power in Cambodia following the election.



In remarks submitted ahead of Wednesdays vote, House Committee on Foreign Affairs chairman Ed Royce suggested that Cambodias upcoming election will not be legitimate in any way because Hun Sen and his thugs long ago decided the outcome, by marginalizing, beating and imprisoning members of the opposition.



Royce said that since Cambodias last general election in 2013, which he called deeply flawed, Cambodians peacefully opposing their government have faced intensifying attacks, as Hun Sens regime continues to crack down on those critical of his rule.



Over the last year, Hun Sen has dispatched any notions of democracy in Cambodia  and completely dismembered the political system in the country, Royce added, pointing to the prime ministers authoring of the ban on the CNRP and Kem Sokhas arrest.



The Cambodia Democracy Act specifically bars Cambodian officials deemed responsible for limiting democracy in the country from entering the U.S. and blocks any assets or property they possess.



While Royce acknowledged that U.S. President Donald Trump would have the final say in who should be designated for the sanctions, he suggested that Washington start by targeting Hun Sen, Minister of the Interior Sar Kheng, Minister of Defense Tea Banh, Minister for Economy Aun Pornmoniroth, Secretary of State of Ministry of Justice Koeut Rith, Minister of Public Works Sun Chanthol, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Prak Sokhonn, as well as the president of the Anti-Corruption Unit Om Yentieng.



He also called for sanctions against commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) Pol Saroeun; director-general of the National Police Neth Savoeun; deputy commanders-in-chief of the RCAF Kun Kim, Sao Sokha, and Hing Bunheang; and deputy chief of the National Police Choun Sovann.



Royce singled out three of Hun Sens relativeshis son Hun Manet, who is deputy chief of RCAF Joint General Staff; his son-in-law Sok Puthyvuth, CEO of the SOMA Group conglomerate; and his daughter Hun Mana, chair of Bayon Height Media System.



The people of Cambodia deserve far better than Hun Sens despotism, Royce said.



Political pluralism will soon reach Cambodia, and this legislation will not only help Cambodians attain that goal, but will also send a strong signal that Congress will not tolerate these human rights abuses.



The passage of the act marked a strong new response to Hun Sens political crackdown by the U.S., which along with the European Union has withdrawn aid for Cambodias election, citing actions limiting democracy. The U.S. and EU have stopped short, however, of ending preferential trade schemes for Cambodian exports from its lucrative garment industry.



Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan on Thursday slammed the legislation, which he said was aimed at attacking and defaming individuals that Cambodians regard as heroes for liberating Cambodia from the Khmer Rouge and rebuilding the country.



He called the act politically motivated, and suggested it would have little impact because Cambodia is an independent state.



Cambodias election is for voters to freely elect their representatives to protect their future and is not meant to serve U.S. interests, he added.



Major step



Washington-based rights group Global Witness welcomed passage of the act in a statement on Thursday, calling it a major step in holding those bent on destroying Cambodias democracy to account.



The anti-corruption watchdog group called on the U.S. Senate to follow suit in passing the act, and urged Washington to include on any sanctions list the members of Cambodias corrupt business elitewho have helped keep Prime Minister Hun Sen in power for 33 years through a corrupt system of patronage and state looting.



Global Witness campaigner Emma Burnett called Sundays election a sham and the logical conclusion of a decades-long power grab by the ruling elite.



She said that under Hun Sens rule, a small group of politicians, military chiefs and business tycoons have looted state assets to enrich themselves and consolidate their hold on power, at great cost to the Cambodian people.



The Cambodia Democracy Act is the first big move towards tackling the damage that has been done to Cambodian peoplebut the Senate must follow suit and hold to account all members of the elite that have driven this corruption and exploitation, Burnett said.



Global Witness statement came a week after the group launched a campaign to expose members of Cambodias business elite it said have profited hugely from the system of grand corruption instituted during Hun Sens reign, and would have a lot to lose from a change in government.



The group pointed to four tycoonssenators Mong Reththy, Ly Yong Phat and Lao Meng Khin, as well as Hun Sens former personal advisor Try Pheapas having particularly benefitted from Hun Sens more than three decades in power, and called for sanctions against them.



On Thursday, Global Witness reiterated its call to include the four, with Burnett saying that any international efforts to return freedoms and democracy to Cambodia must also take aim at those who bankroll [Hun Sens] regime.



Call to reject results



Also on Thursday, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement dismissing Cambodias fundamentally flawed national elections, which it said deny the Cambodian people their internationally protected right to choose their government.



The group said the countrys electoral process had been hindered by the arbitrary dissolution of the CNRP and harassment of key opposition members, as well as the crackdown on independent media, a lack of fair and equal access to the media, and repressive laws restricting speech, association, and assembly.



HRW also highlighted the lack of independence of the National Election Committee (NEC)the countrys top electoral bodyand campaigning by security forces for the CPP.



The Cambodian government over the past year has systematically cracked down on independent and opposition voices to ensure that the ruling party faces no obstacles to total political control, said Brad Adams, HRWs Asia director.



Dissolving the main opposition party and banning many of its senior members from politics means this election cannot possibly reflect the will of the Cambodian people.



Adams called on the international community to denounce the election as a cruel fraud against the Cambodian people, saying it was a mockery of democracy and little more than a preordained victory for the ruling party.



Now its up to the countries that committed so much to the 1991 Paris Peace Accords to help restore genuine democracy to Cambodia or accept the human rights consequences of an effectively one-party state, he said.



HRWs concerns were echoed in a statement from Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), which said the results of Sundays election are the foregone conclusion of a sham process that will pave the way for five more years of Hun Sens rule.



Hun Sens repression of any peaceful criticism, his obliteration of independent media, and the dissolution of the main opposition party have ensured that the election will not be credible, said FIDH secretary-general Debbie Stothard.



Cambodias election is a sham process that is designed to prolong Hun Sens authoritarian rule and will plunge the country into further misery and repression.



FIDH urged the international community to unequivocally reject the July 29 election results, demand the immediate reinstatement of the CNRP and the release of Kem Sokha and all other members and supporters, and call on the government to create conditions enabling the holding of a fresh election that complies with international standards.



Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.Authorities in the Chinese capital on Thursday detained a man who police said was slightly injured after setting off a small explosive device near the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.



"There was an explosion at approximately 1.00 p.m. today on the street outside the South East corner of the Embassy compound," the U.S. Embassy said in a statement on its website, as images showing billowing smoke from a Beijing street began to be shared via social and mainstream media.



"According to the Embassys Regional Security Officer, there was one individual who detonated a bomb. Other than the bomber, no other people were injured and there was no damage to embassy property," it said.



Police detained a 26-year-old man identified only by his surname, Jiang, in connection with the incident, official media reported.



"A man sustained a hand injury when he detonated a 'firecracker-like device' in Beijing's Chaoyang district on Thursday afternoon," China's international broadcaster CGTN reported, citing a police statement.



Jiang, who hails from China's northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region "set off the explosive device at the crossroads of Tianze Road and Anjialou Road," it said, adding that no other injuries were reported.



The device was detonated close to the U.S. Embassy visa office, which was evacuated shortly afterwards but has since resumed operations, it said.



Clampdown on news



Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the incident was an "individual public security case" that was promptly and properly dealt with by police.



"We heard an explosion, and then everyone started running ... because we didn't know what was happening," an eyewitness told reporters. "The whole area was cordoned off; some people were saying it was just a tire exploding, while others were saying it was a terrorist attack."



The authorities were quick to limit reporting and sharing of news relating to the incident, telling journalists to leave the area, and threatening one correspondent with the loss of her Chinese visa if she didn't comply.



A Beijing resident who gave only her surname Liu said that local residents would likely never know the full story about the incident.



"It's too fragmented, so we'll never get to piece it together, because there's too little to go on, and it's hard to analyze it when it's in fragments," she said. "But my conclusion is that this was a disgruntled citizen, because there are so many grievances that are never addressed in China."



She said some people with grievances against the government "will do anything in their power" to come into contact with foreign journalists and publicize their petitions against official wrongdoing.



"They want exposure; that's the sort of mentality they have," Liu said.



Call for attention



Rights activist Wu Tianli said the choice of location suggested that the main point of the explosion was to attract attention.



"Most government and [ruling Chinese Communist Party] buildings are guarded by police now, and there's basically no way to get close to any departments that are considered sensitive," Wu said. "If you want to try anything to make a fuss there, they will arrest you beforehand, and if you go somewhere else, it's not going to have much impact."



"The U.S. Embassy of course would have a huge impact in China."



Police also detained a woman after she shared video footage she shot of the immediate aftermath of the incident with journalists at the scene, according to Becky Davis, Beijing correspondent for Agence France-Presse, who posted video of the incident to Twitter.



"Have a taste of Chinese rule of law at Beijing US embassy explosion site!" Davis wrote. "A bystander ... kindly decided to share images and video - apparently passed to her by a friend - w a scrum of journalists via WeChat."



Davis' video showed a woman being bundled screaming into the back of a car by a man in a green shirt claiming to be a family member. "This is a family matter," he says, but the woman shouts: "I do not know that man. I didnt do anything! I was just a bystander!"



Police asked by Davis about the incident later told her to leave the area, adding, "I have control over your visa," Davis wrote.



Back to normal



Crowds were still queueing outside the embassy after the explosion and traffic was moving as normal in an area of northeastern Beijing that is home to numerous embassies including those of France, India, and Israel, Reuters reported.



The Global Times newspaper, which has close links to Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily, said police also took away a woman who sprayed herself with gasoline in a suspected self-immolation attempt outside the embassy at around 11 a.m. on Thursday.



It was unclear whether the two incidents were linked.



Beijing rights activist Hu Jia said petitioners are a common site in Beijing's diplomatic quarter, where they hope that "going foreign" will lend some weight to their complaints.



"We can't rule out that this was done by someone on the lowest rungs of the social ladder," Hu said. "It's very likely that [the blast] was an isolated incident, expressive of someone's total despair, in the hope of getting some attention."



Reported by Wen Yuqing for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Gao Feng for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.The writers' group PEN America has called on China to release ethnic Mongolian author Lhamjab A. Borjigin, who was detained by authorities on July 11 on charges of "separatism" and "sabotaging national unity."



"The charges are apparently related to Borjigins work as a historical researcher and writer specializing in testimonies of the Cultural Revolution," the group said in a statement on its website.



"Borjigin has rejected the charges pending against him, saying that he has only written the historical truth."



Borjigin, 74, is being held under house arrest pending prosecution in connection with his 2006 book, "Chinas Cultural Revolution," an account based on oral testimonies of survivors.



"PEN America calls upon the Chinese government to drop these intended charges and to release Borjigin from house arrest," Summer Lopez, Senior Director for Free Expression Programs, said in the statement.



Borjigin's house arrest comes as the U.S.-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC) called on the ruling Chinese Communist Party to end "human rights violations, systematic and institutionalized discrimination" against ethnic Mongolians within China's borders, as well as longstanding policies aimed at ending their traditional, nomadic way of life.



In a submission to the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), which is currently reviewing Beijing's record, SMHRIC called on the Chinese government to release all ethnic Mongolian prisoners of conscience, including members of herding communities who have been "arbitrarily arrested, detained, and imprisoned for defending their grazing land from illegal appropriation."



The group is calling for the immediate withdrawal of all "extractive industries, tourist companies and power plants that not only occupy and appropriate large tracts of Mongolian grazing lands, but also devastate the ecosystem, deplete the underground water and pollute the air and water."



It is also campaigning against the Chinese authorities "massive propaganda campaign to justify their destruction of nomadic civilization and ... the natural environment."



Chinese government policies, the group said, are "based on deep-seated discrimination that characterizes Mongolian pastoralism as 'backward, archaic, unscientific and uncivilized' way of life and advertises the Chinese way of life as 'advanced, civilized and scientific'."



The authorities should also prosecute "hate crimes and hate speech by Chinese individuals, private or public entities and government bodies against Mongolian language, customs, tradition, way of life and identity," it said.



Mining clash



Earlier this month, herders in Inner Mongolia's Jalaid banner clashed with hired personnel sent by a Chinese-owned company accused by local residents of polluting the local grasslands, according to ethnic Mongolian activist Xinna, whose husband Hada is a prominent prisoner of conscience and rights activist.



"There are pollution problems there, and the rights of the local people have been violated," she said in an interview on July 19. "They have opened up a mine and dammed the river."



"The local people rebelled, because they carried on excavating even though the mine had been banned," Xinna said.



Calls to local government offices in the Bayan Ulan Som, or village, rang unanswered on the same day.



Mongolian rights activist Xi Haiming, who now lives in Germany, said the Bayan Ulan Som clashes aren't an isolated incident in the region.



"This is a phenomenon that has occurred during the continuing plunder of mineral resources in recent years," Xi said.



"This mine was originally blocked due to complaints from local people, but now corrupt officials at lower levels of government are in cahoots with profiteers, and are using criminal gangs to seize the herders' grazing lands by force," he said.



Xi called on the international community to pay closer attention to the plight of ethnic Mongolians in China.



Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.Badges bearing the portraits of founding North Korean leader Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il, ordinarily distributed as gifts, are now being sold without official permission in markets across the country, North Korean sources say.



Purchase of the badges bearing the images of current leader Kim Jong Uns father and grandfather, objects considered sacred and beyond commercial value, is being treated as a very sensitive matter by authorities in the reclusive, Stalinist state, a source in North Hamgyong province, bordering China, told RFAs Korean Service on Wednesday.



Joint teams of the State Security Service and the police are cracking down on sales of the badges, but this is not easy to do, as they are being sold in secret, RFAs source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.



Local markets now offer the badges at 10,000 North Korean won per badge, the source said, adding that some vendors have more than 30 badges for sale.



The badges can also be bought with U.S. dollars, costing $15 per badge, he said.



The younger generation, including students, are the merchants main customers, he said. They do not usually put the badges on to wear as displays of loyalty, though. Instead, they use them as decorative accessories.



Authorities have declared that purchase and sale of the portrait badges is an act damaging the absolute authority of North Korean leaders, and have threatened strict punishment for those caught selling or buying them, he said.



However, the sale of the badges doesnt seem to have decreased, he said.



Seized by police



Also speaking to RFA, a resident of Nampo, a designated Special City on the coast of South Pyongan province, said that one vendor was recently arrested in a back alley of a market in the citys harbor area.



He had about 20 badges with him, and he was seized by police just as soon as the authorities warned against merchandizing the badges, the source said, also speaking on condition he not be named.



Authorities said that treating the badges as commodities will be considered a political violation, and that those caught doing it will be severely punished, so it seems like he wont be able to get away with it, he said.



North Korean leaders portrait badges have been bought and sold before, though, the source said.



So North Korean residents are confused, because the authorities are being sensitive and calling the badges purchase and sale a political violation, he said.



People are saying that the authorities should identify the high-ranking party officials who sneaked the badges out [for sale], and punish them instead.



Double-portrait pins



In a January 2015 report, sources in North Korea told RFA that ordinary North Koreans were illegally buying highly sought-after lapel pins bearing the images of both Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il and using them in lieu of cash to pay for accommodations, meals, and drinks.



Low-level administrators who work for North Koreas Workers Party and judiciary, university students, and members of the middle class who have money to buy the rare double-portrait pins were obtaining them illegally in local markets, the sources said.



The pins carrying the picture of the dynastic duo of Kims were among more than 10 kinds of badges with portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il that North Koreans are obliged to wear, with the type of pin reflecting social status, the sources said.



The double pins were given only to high-ranking executives and military leaders, but not to ordinary citizens who usually wear pins with a single portrait of Kim Il Sung.



Reported by Myungchul Lee for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Richard Finney.UPDATED at 10:20 A.M. EDT on 2018-07-27



A high-ranking Lao official suggested Thursday that a dam collapse earlier this week in Champassak province was the result of faulty construction and said the projects developer should be held accountable, as the death toll from flooding has reached 30, with more than 20 hospitalized for injuries.



On the night of July 23, water poured over a saddle dam at the Xe Pian Xe Namnoy hydropower project in Champassak, sweeping away homes and causing severe flooding in up to 12 villages downstream in Champassak and neighboring Attapeu province.



Despite early warnings of a possible breach due to heavy rainfall, many were left behind in their homes when Saddle Dam D collapsed, prompting questions about the evacuation process and what was known about the dams structural integrity before the disaster struck.



On Thursday, Minister of Energy and Mines Khammany Inthirath told RFAs Lao Service that the burst was caused by heavy rainfall and construction technique.



From July 21-23, there was heavy rainfall in the area and this caused water in the main reservoir to increase rapidly, Khammany said.



It overloaded Saddle Dam D, which has a dike constructed of soil and stone, and combined with the rainfall, it finally burst on July 23, he said.



The construction technique is one of the main causes of the collapse, because they built the dike  with soil and stones.



The U.S. $1.02 billion Xe Pian Xe Namnoy hydropower project involves Lao, Thai and South Korean partners and consists of two main dams and five subsidiary dams.



On Wednesday, the project's main partner, South Korea's SK Engineering & Construction, said in a statement that the firm had discovered fractures in the dam 24 hours before the collapse, and had immediately alerted the authorities and began evacuating villagers downstream.



Khammany told RFA that the saddle dam was 91 percent complete and should only have been filled with water incrementally, but said the heavy rainfall had inundated the structure.



We can rule out technical fraud, he said, adding that construction had proceeded according to international standards.



When asked whether the developers had prepared for increased water capacity during the annual rainy season, the minister said that they had, but the amount of rainfall had surpassed expectations.



Some years it rains little and others it rains a loteach storm is different in intensity, he said.



But I am fairly certain that the construction technique for the dam was poor, which led to a collapse during heavy rainfall.



Earlier on Thursday, Khammany told reporters that the construction company should take full responsibility for the incident.



I confirm that compensation will be given according to the concession agreement, he said.



Everything that happened is related to the dam construction, so the developer [Xe Pian Xe Namnoy Power Co. Ltd] must be held 100 percent accountable, he added, without providing further details.



Death toll rise



Khammanys assessment came as an official with the taskforce committee overseeing rescue operations in the region confirmed to RFA that the death toll from the collapse had risen to 30 on Thursday, with more than 20 people hospitalized with related injuries, as rain continued to blanket the area.



On Wednesday, Laos Prime Minister Thonglun Sisoulit said in a televised news conference that 26 people had been confirmed dead and 131 were missing, though officials had earlier suggested that hundreds were missing in the aftermath of the collapse.



The taskforce committee official, who spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday, said that the number of people living in villages along the Sekong River who may be impacted by the collapse could reach as many as 8,000.



More than 600 villagers remain stranded in floodwaters, as rescue teams have had difficulty accessing certain areas of the remote region, he said, adding that efforts will be further hampered by mud and debris left behind after the waters recede.



Vietnam has sent military and medical personnel to assist in rescue efforts, while Thailand has pledged around U.S. $150,000 in aid. Around a dozen Chinese rescue workers joined efforts on Thursday.



Cambodians affected



Along the Sekong River in downstream areas of Cambodias Stung Treng province, local authorities told RFAs Khmer Service that around 5,000 flood victims had been relocated to four safe communes in the region, and were being provided food and medical attention.



Provincial spokesman Men Kong said authorities were focusing on assisting victims and would later investigate whether to hold Lao authorities responsible for compensation related to inundation from the flooding, which he suggested could continue into next month.



Cambodias Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology said Thursday that the water level of the Sekong River is currently above 11 meters (36 feet) and is likely to reach 12 meters (39 feet) before it recedes. The rise of the river is expected to damage roads, housing, and other infrastructure in Stung Treng, it said.



A flood victim in Stung Treng named Le Chy told RFA he is concerned that the flooding will destroy hundreds of hectares (1 hectare = 2.3 acres) of farmland and plantations, and seriously impact area residents if it continues.



Dam-building spree



Laos and many other Asian countries are on a dam-building spree as they try to harness the power of the Mekong and other rivers.



While the Lao government sees power generation as a way to boost the countrys economy, the projects are still controversial for their environmental impact and financial arrangements.



According to International Rivers, an environmental advocacy group, the current Lao hydropower development plan includes 72 new large dams, 12 of which are under construction and nearly 25 are in advanced planning stages.



The Lao government says the dams will help pay for anti-poverty and other social welfare programs, but International Rivers asserts that much of the power generated by Laos is sold to neighboring countries and then resold to Laos at higher rates.



Reported by RFAs Lao Service and RFAs Khmer Service. Translated from Lao by Ounkeo Souksavanh and Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.



Correction: An earlier version of the story misidentified the location of the Xe Pian Xe Namnoy hydropower project. The affected dam is located in Champassak province, while the villages impacted by the flooding are located in Champassak and neighboring Attapeu province.Saudi Arabia announced it was temporarily halting all oil shipments through a strategic Red Sea shipping lane after an attack on two big oil tankers by Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels.

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said in a statement on July 25 that the Huthis attacked the two Saudi tankers carrying about two million barrels of oil each in the Red Sea, with one sustaining "minimal damage."

He said any oil spill caused by the missile strikes could have caused "catastrophic environmental damage."

"Saudi Arabia is temporarily halting all oil shipments through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait immediately until the situation becomes clearer and the maritime transit through Bab al-Mandeb is safe," he said.

The Huthis' Al Masirah TV said on Twitter that the missiles were aimed at warships and boats operated by the Saudi-led coalition which has been battling on the Yemen government's side against the Huthis in a three-year civil war.

Saudi Arabia accuses regional rival Iran of supplying the missiles used by the Huthis, something that Tehran and the Shi'ite rebel group both deny.

Yemen lies beside the southern mouth of the Red Sea, one of the most important trade routes in the world for oil tankers containing Middle Eastern exports.

One of the Saudi coalition's main justifications for intervening in Yemen's war in 2015 was to protect the shipping route. It has said it foiled previous attacks there in April and May.

The Bab al-Mandeb strait, where the Red Sea meets the Gulf of Aden, is only 20 kilometers wide, making ships easy targets there.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that 4.8 million barrels per day of crude oil and refined petroleum products were transported through the waterway in 2016 to Europe, the United States, and Asia.

Based on Reuters, dpa, and AFP

Armenian authorities have charged former President Robert Kocharian with "overthrowing the constitutional order" and are seeking his pretrial detention on charges related to a crackdown on antigovernment protesters in 2008.

The Special Investigative Service (SIS) on July 26 gave no details of a two-to three-hour interrogation of Kocharian at the organization's headquarters in Yerevan. The questioning was video-taped at Kocharians request after he arrived for questioning, the authorities said.

Reporters waiting outside the site did not see Kocharian but were told the 63-year-old former president had entered through a different door. They said he was later released pending a decision on pretrial detention.

Kocharian told Yerkir Media TV that the case against him was "a vendetta.

"I can't believe accusations of this type can be fabricated in such a manner in modern times," he added.

The case against Kocharian dates back to late February and early March 2008 in the wake of a disputed election to determine Kocharian's successor.

Kocharians hand-picked ally, Serzh Sarkisian, was declared the winner, angering the opposition and setting off 10 days of nonstop protests that led to a crackdown on March 1 in which 10 people, including two police officers, were killed.

'Difficult Path' With Sarkisian

Speaking about his ties to Sarkisians government, Kocharian noted that during the past 10 years that he expressed critical opinions about its policies, including pension reform, Turkish-Armenian relations, etc.



"Some have linked me with Serzh Sarkisian and continue to do so. We had traveled quite a difficult path together, but that link was nearly completely severed over years," Kocharian said. "During the past five years I met with Serzh Sarkisian only two times. I regret it, but this is the reality. We may have spoken on the phone two or three times a year, congratulating each other on our birthdays, etc. However, I cannot but appreciate his [Sarkisians] track record in [the conflict in the breakaway Nagorno-] Karabakh [region] and here in Armenia."

Kocharian added that he had arrived at the SIS in the belief that he was being considered a witness. After being told he was a suspect, he said he refused to answer questions.

Earlier this year, the Armenian Prosecutor-Generals Office said it had no grounds for instructing an investigation body to interrogate Kocharian in connection with the post-election violence.

That ruling came after Nikol Pashinian, then an opposition figure and leader of the Yelk alliance in parliament, asked prosecutors to subpoena Kocharian for questioning over his order to use lethal force to suppress the protests.

Pashinian, who in 2010 was tried and convicted as one of the protest organizers, argued on March 5 that, in particular, Kocharian should explain where he got information about gunshots allegedly fired at security forces by the demonstrators, which was a key reason cited by authorities in violently putting down the protests.

In a reply to a question from RFE/RL, the Prosecutor-Generals Office in March said Pashinian had no legal standing to demand Kocharian's testimony.

That all changed after Pashinian earlier this year led a series of massive, nonviolent street protests in the capital, eventually toppling Sarkisian from power and leading to Pashinians own election to the prime ministers role in what was hailed by many as a "velvet revolution."

After Pashinian, a longtime anticorruption campaigner, took office, he ordered the SIS to investigate the use of lethal force in the 2008 unrest and appointed Sasun Khachatrian to head the organization. Khachatrian stated he had the "political will" to pursue the matters related to the 2008 crackdown.

'Mockery Of The Law'

Kocharian has consistently defended his actions during the crackdown, saying it prevented an illegal seizing of power by the opposition led by another former president, Levon Ter-Petrosian.

Early this month, the SIS issued an arrest warrant for retired General Mikael Harutiunian, who served as defense minister during the 2008 unrest. It charged Harutiunian with "illegally" using the armed forces against the protesters, saying that it amounted to an "overthrow of constitutional order."

On July 9, a spokesman for Kocharian denounced the accusations leveled against the fugitive ex-general as a "mockery of the law."

Pashinian's administration has also brought cases against several close relatives of Sarkisian's family for a variety of alleged financial crimes, although Pashinian insisted that no particular family was being targeted.

Pashinian told RFE/RL's Armenian Service on July 6 that the cases against Sarkisan family members were being pursued on their legal merits and were not "political" in nature.Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has expressed concerns over death threats received by a well-known Belarusian journalist based in Poland.

In a statement on July 26, RSF said Natallya Radzina, had received death threats. The group called on the Polish authorities "to take whatever measures are necessary to protect her."

The statement said Radzina had released a message she received on July 22 that said: "Radzina, you slut, we're after you. Start shitting yourself, Nazi trash. You have just a few days left, fifth column bitch. We are already here. Look around you more often."

Radzina is the editor of Charter97, a news website that is critical of the authoritarian regime of Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

Radzina told RSF that she is confident the threats came from Belarus, where her website has been blocked since January but can still be accessed via a mirror site.

"These death threats against a journalist living in exile in an EU country must be taken very seriously," said Pauline Ades-Mevel, the head of RSF's EU-Balkans desk. "We ask the Polish authorities to condemn them publicly, to identify those responsible, and to do whatever is necessary to protect Natallya Radzina and her staff."

Radzina received political asylum in Lithuania in 2011 and has resided in Poland since 2012. Her site, which focuses on human rights and opposition causes, was named after Charter 97 -- a 1997 declaration calling for democracy in Belarus that was signed by journalists, opposition politicians, and rights activists.

The founder of the Charter 97 declaration, journalist Aleh Byabenin, was found hanged in his house near Minsk in September 2010.

Authorities ruled it a suicide, but Byabenin's colleagues have said there was no indication Byabenin was planning to commit suicide and that there were no messages or notes left behind.

Belarus-born journalist Pavel Sheremet, who was a spokesman for the organization behind Charter 97, was killed in a car bombing in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in July 2016.

Rights groups say Lukashenka, who was first elected in 1994, has systematically stifled dissenting voices and held onto power through elections and referendums deemed undemocratic by Western governments.



Poland is ranked 58th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index. Belarus is ranked 155th.The five BRICS nations have reaffirmed their support for an "open world economy" based on the principles of the World Trade Organization (WTO), as the countries' leaders look to avoid a looming global trade war.

The formal communique signed on July 26 at the 10th BRICS summit in the South African city of Johannesburg declared that "we recognize that the multilateral trading system is facing unprecedented challenges."

We underscore the importance of an open world economy," the document signed by the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa stated.

"We call on all WTO members to abide by WTO rules," it said.

The meeting of BRICS leaders, along with others outside the group -- including Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan -- came as the risk of a global trade war looms over markets in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to impose tariffs on imports from China, Europe, Russia, Canada, Mexico, and elsewhere over what he calls "unfair" trade practices.

The closing statement echoed those made in a speech earlier in the day by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who called for united efforts by global institutions such as the United Nations, the G7, and the WTO to fight unilateralism and protectionism.

"We must work together...to safeguard the rule-based multilateral trading regime; promote trade and investment, globalization, and facilitation; and reject protectionism outright," Xi said.

Trump has accused China of "vicious" and unfair trade practices. He has imposed tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese imports and threatened to increase the amount to $500 billion.

China has retaliated with tariffs on U.S. products, including soybeans and pork.

Positive Sign?

China, the European Union, India, and Russia have applied to the WTO to challenge the duties imposed by the United States on their countries' products. The Switzerland-based WTO was founded in 1995 and regulates international trade among participating countries.

The United States and the EU on July 25 appeared to step back from a potential trade war, agreeing to begin talks to tear down barriers and holding off on threats to impose new duties on cars.

The announcement was light on details, however, and many rounds of negotiations are expected between the Americans and Europeans before a settlement is reached.

At the BRICS summit, meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed closer cooperation between businesses in the BRICS nations and called for more trade within the bloc.

He also highlighted the cooperation of the nations in the bloc on matters outside of economics.

"The BRICS countries fight the most serious challenges and threats to peace and stability together. They cooperate in combating terrorism, extremism, illegal drug trafficking, and transborder crime," he said.

'Concerted Efforts'

The summit declaration stated that "we deplore the continued terrorist attacks, including in some BRICS countries. We condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations wherever committed and by whomsoever."

It called for "concerted efforts" under "UN auspices" to counter terrorism and urged nations to prevent the financing of terrorist networks on their territory, without specifying any countries.

The BRICS leaders also called on all parties to "fully comply" with their obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal signed by Iran with six world powers.

The United States has withdrawn from the pact, which provided Tehran with some relief from sanctions in return for curbs on Iran's nuclear program. Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China, which also signed, have vowed to remain a part of the deal.

The BRICS represent more than 40 percent of the world's population.

The 2019 summit is scheduled for Brazil, and the 12th gathering is tentatively scheduled for Chelyabinsk in Russia in 2020.

With reporting by AP, dpa, AFP, Reuters, and InterfaxSeveral people were killed in a suicide bomb attack on a convoy in Kabul early on July 26.

According to preliminary reports, a car bomber attacked a convoy of the Afghan national intelligence agency.

There were conflicting reports of the number of casualties or whether the victims were civilians or Afghan security personnel.

Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai was quoted by Reuters as saying that four people were killed and five wounded.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it had caused "dozens" of casualties among the security forces.

Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, and AFPALMATY -- A court in Kazakhstan opened preliminary hearings in the case against former Almaty Mayor Viktor Khrapunov and his wife, Leila Kharpunova, on July 26.

The two, who are living in Switzerland, have been charged in absentia with fraud, creating and running an organized-crime group, money laundering, abuse of office, and embezzlement.

Ten individuals who worked under Khrapunov's supervision while he was mayor between 1997 and 2004 have also been charged. They have been ordered not to leave Almaty and were present at the hearing.

After serving as Almaty mayor, Khrapunov was appointed governor of the East Kazakhstan region. He was sacked from that post in 2007 and served for a short time as emergency situations minister.

Khrapunov and his family moved to Switzerland in 2007 in the wake of a scandal surrounding land parcels that he allegedly distributed illegally during his tenure as mayor.

Khrapunov has rejected the charges against him and his wife, saying they are politically motivated.

Khrapunov's stepson, Ilyas Khrapunov, is married to a daughter of fugitive Kazakh tycoon Mukhtar Ablyazov, a critic of longtime President Nursultan Nazarbaev. Ablyazov has been living in self-imposed exile in Europe since 2009.

Ablyazov was tried in absentia in Almaty in June 2017 and sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges of organizing and leading a criminal group, abuse of office, embezzlement, and financial mismanagement.

Ablyazov also has maintained his innocence, calling his trial politically motivated.Political activist and human rights defender Adem Demaci, a revered figure in Kosovo who was sometimes called "the Balkans' Mandela," has died at 82.

The news was announced by deputy parliament speaker Xhavit Haliti, who interrupted the July 26 parliamentary session to report Demaci's death: "our great teacher, the man who spent 28 years of his life in Serb prisons."

Lawmakers held a minute of silence in memory of Demaci.

Pristina hospital chief Bujar Gashi said Demaci died of natural causes.

Kosovar President Hashim Thaci declared three days of mourning and said the late dissident's funeral would be with "the highest state honors."

Demaci was first known as a writer, especially for his novel, "The Snakes of Blood," which appeared in 1958 and explored blood vendettas in Kosovo and Albania.

He was arrested three times and spent 28 years in jail for resisting then-Yugoslavia's communist regime.

He was a human rights activist and headed the political wing of ethnic Albanian paramilitary fighters in the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) during the 1998-1999 war with Belgrade.

He remained in Kosovo's capital, Pristina, during the entire Kosovo war. Demaci was critical of Ibrahim Rugova and other Kosovar leaders who fled Kosovo during the conflict.

The war ended in the spring of 1999 after NATO launched a bombing campaign against Yugoslavia to stop a bloody Serb crackdown against Kosovar Albanian separatists.It appears the people of Turkmenistan are headed for another hungry winter, the third such winter in as many years. And like the two previous years, it seems this time the government is not even prepared to admit there is a problem.

The harvest is gathered. But so far there is no word as to whether croplands yielded the 1.6 million tons of grain the government targeted for this year, although that seems unlikely.

The Alternative Turkmenistan News (ATN) website reported on the government's ominous silence on July 22, noting: "The grain harvest in Turkmenistan has finished.... However, there were no reports about successful collection of the state grain target of 1.6 million tons."

The grain production goal in Turkmenistan has been 1.6 million tons since 2011, when President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov claimed (we'll get to Turkmen official claims below) the country hit that figure, allowing Turkmenistan to export "for the first time in its history" 150,000 tons of wheat and 50,000 tons of flour.

ATN reported that the grain harvest for 2015 was 1.4 million tons and in 2017 it was only about 1 million tons. Turkmenistan's government reported the grain harvest was 1.6 million tons in 2016 and just over 1 million tons in 2017.

Drought, Torrential Rain, And A Freak Windstorm

This year, the weather reportedly damaged Turkmenistan's crops. Early spring was unusually dry; then torrential rains hit the country in mid-May, flooding many areas of the country, followed at the end of May by a freak windstorm that carried salt from the dried-up Aral Sea and deposited it on fields in Turkmenistan's northern Dashoguz and eastern Lebap provinces.

By mid-June, some farmers in the northern Dashoguz Province were complaining to RFE/RL's Turkmen Service, known locally as Azatlyk, that the state had not sent the necessary fertilizer or machinery to fields and predicted a poor harvest.

Most of Turkmenistan's people have been coping with flour shortages since autumn 2016. Flour and baked bread is currently rationed, and oftentimes citizens wait in long lines outside state stores and, once inside, need to show identification to purchase their allotment.

ATN noted that government officials are currently on holiday and, "Once their holiday is over, the government will analyze the results of the harvest."

What the government eventually says should be interesting. Failure to meet targets invites an unpleasant response from President Berdymukhammedov.

Last year officials were predicting as late as June 27 that the country would product 1.6 million tons. When it was discovered that production was nearly 40 percent short of that figure, Berdymukhammedov severely criticized many officials, from village and district heads to ministers and the head of the newly-built Garlyk fertilizer plant.

Beatings Reported

Reporting the true figures for this year could cost many officials their jobs and these officials will be aware of this. Azatlyk reported on July 12 that regional heads in the Dashoguz Province were beating leaders of collective farms that failed to meet grain quotas.

If Turkmenistan announces it has met, or nearly met, the target figure, there will be many questions.

Any figures the Turkmen government has provided in the past about virtually any sector of its economy are suspect, and grain production is a prime example.

Berdymukhammedov's predecessor, Turkmenistan's first president, Saparmurat Niyazov, set the target figure for grain production at 1.2 million tons in 1992. For most of the 1990s the country never even came close to meeting that goal (the harvest for 1996 was some 488,000 tons). Niyazov reprimanded and fired officials for failing to meet grain quotas, just as Berdymukhammedov has been doing.

But in March 1998, as planting was starting, Niyazov told a meeting of the government that if quotas for grain and cotton went unmet, those responsible "at all levels" would be held accountable and could face criminal charges.

That year Turkmenistan met its target of 1.2 million tons, and parliament and the cabinet honored Niyazov by bestowing the "Altyn Oi (Golden Moon)" award upon him (it was Niyazov's third such award and he was the only person ever to receive it). It heralded the era of dubious grain production reports as the country harvested 1.4 million tons in 1999, 1.7 tons in 2000 (which was a drought year), 2 million tons in 2001, 2.3 million in 2002, and by 2006, the last year Niyazov was alive, the country reported the grain harvest was 3.5 million tons.

Of course, in 2006 Turkmenistan's State Institute for Statistics also claimed the country's population was 6.786 million, though the population even today is believed to be about 5 million people.

It would seem pointless for any official to deny this year's harvest is a disaster. The truth will become clear for Turkmenistan's people soon enough.

Toymyrat Bugaev and other members of RFE/RL's Turkmen Service contributed to this report.

The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL.

A top Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander in Iran says his forces are ready to confront U.S. forces should President Donald Trump act on his warning that Tehran will suffer consequences if it threatens the United States.

Mr. Trump, how dare you threaten us? Qassem Soleimani, who leads the IRGCs elite foreign operations Quds force, was quoted as saying on July 26.

"We are near you, where you can't even imagine.... Come. You will start the war, but it is us who will end it,  Soleimani said in a speech in the central city of Hamedan.

He made the remarks in response to a July 22 all-capital-letters post on Twitter by Trump in which Trump warned Iran not to "threaten the United States again or you will suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before."

Trump's tweet came following comments by Irans President Hassan Rohani who said: "America should know peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars."

Soleimani called Trump a "gambler" and said his language belongs in "nightclubs."

"Were ready to stand against you," Soleimani, who has been blacklisted by Washington, added.

Rohani said on July 25 that Trumps "empty" threats did not deserve an answer.

Iran's governmental IRNA news agency reported that, after Rohani mentioned "baseless comments" by "some U.S. leaders," he told a cabinet meeting "there is no need for us to respond to any nonsensical comment and answer back to them."

Soleimani said hes responding to Trump "as a soldier."

"Dont threaten to kill us; were thirsty for martyrdom," he was quoted as saying by the hard-line IRGC affiliated Fars news agency.

Following his Twitter warning, Trump suggested on July 24 that hes ready to talk to, saying, "We're ready to make a real deal."

In May, Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and announced that the United States is moving to reimpose tough sanctions.

U.S. officials have been telling countries to cut all imports of Iranian oil from November.

Iran has warned of equal countermeasures, with Rohani suggesting that the country could block Persian Gulf oil exports if its own exports are halted.

"The Red Sea, which was secure, is no longer secure today with the presence of American forces," Soleimani said.

With reporting by Reuters,AP, Tasnim, and FarsA senior Romanian government official said on July 26 that he did not intend to offend Jews when he compared the incineration of pigs with swine fever to the Auschwitz Nazi concentration camp.

In a statement, Agriculture Minister Petre Daea, said that he had respect for "all members of the Jewish community," and his remarks were only meant to highlight difficulties faced by pig farmers who have to incinerate infected livestock.

Romania has reported 400 separate outbreaks of African swine fever in the Danube Delta and near the border with Hungary.

Daea had told a television station earlier this week that the cremation of thousands of sick pigs was "very hard work, it's like Auschwitz."

Two main opposition parties -- the Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union (USR) -- have strongly criticized Daea's statement and called for his resignation.

Israel's Embassy to Bucharest on July 26 voiced "dismay and disappointment" over the remarks.

The death of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust "should never be forgotten, trivialized or minimalized," the embassy said in a statement.

Romania's Antidiscrimination Council said it would summon Daea to explain the comments.

Romania's center-left government has recently been embroiled in controversy over frequent gaffes or comments made by senior officials.

On an official visit to Montenegro on July 25, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila told her Montenegrin counterpart Dusko Markovic that she was "happy to be in Pristina, in a first visit by a Romanian PM to Montenegro."

Pristina is the capital of Kosovo, a Balkan state whose independence EU and NATO member Romania does not officially recognize.

With reporting by AP



Ahead of the December 2011 parliamentary elections in Russia that triggered street protests over alleged fraud, veteran opposition politician Vladimir Milov says he was contacted by a then obscure group asking to speak at an antigovernment rally he was planning.

The group had formed earlier that year under the name Right To Bear Arms and was lobbying for an end to the country's ban on pistols and revolvers.

"It was a mystery, basically, where they came from. But initially, you know, we were not really too suspicious because they were like many different small groups appearing here and there," Milov, a longtime advocate for greater gun rights, told RFE/RL.

The collaboration did not go as planned, according to Milov. He says the Right To Bear Arms representative ignored the requirement that speakers at the rally denounce Russian President Vladimir Putin's government, instead focusing exclusively on the gun issue.

"They said, 'No, no, no, we're not about politics. We're only about gun rights. So essentially our response was: 'What in the hell are you doing with us here?'" Milov said.

In the years that followed, the group's leader, Maria Butina, would proceed to build connections with one of the most powerful political lobbies in the United States -- the National Rifle Association (NRA), which has deep ties to the Republican Party of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Her foray into American politics, however, ultimately led to her arrest in Washington this month on charges of illegally acting as a Russian agent on U.S. soil.

Butina's motives, movements, and connections have become a subject of intense scrutiny and debate, and have resulted in a diplomatic standoff with Moscow.

But her sudden emergence seven years ago -- at the age of 22 -- as a well-connected gun-rights activist also caught many off guard in Russia, where the gun issue has long been on the political fringe.

"No one took her seriously at first," Vyacheslav Vaneyev, the most recent deputy head of Right To Bear Arms, told RFE/RL.

But after she came to Moscow from the Siberian city of Barnaul in 2011, Vaneyev said, Butina "truly did unite almost all [Russian] gun organizations."

'Big Money Is Behind Them'

For more than a decade before Butina founded Right To Bear Arms, Russia's gun-rights activists toiled away in relative obscurity to loosen the country's gun statutes.

"Before [Butina's group] there were two organizations working in this area, but their activities were on a very small scale, and they existed on paltry fees from their members," Andrei Vasilevsky, who headed the now-defunct Russian advocacy group Civilian Weapons Union, told RFE/RL.

Russia's constitution, unlike its U.S. counterpart, does not guarantee people's right to "keep and bear arms," and gun laws in Russia are considerably more restrictive than in the United States.

In Russia, it is legal to own smooth-bore, long-barreled shotguns, as well as self-defense weapons such as stun guns and gas pistols, as long as one has a license. But handguns and assault rifles are banned for the broader public.

Officials have long resisted any significant liberalization of gun laws in Russia, where opinion polls have shown a largely dim view of making firearms more accessible to the public.

"I am deeply convinced that the free flow of firearms will bring a great harm and represents a great danger for us," President Vladimir Putin, then Russia's prime minister, said in 2011.

Advocates for liberalized gun laws across the political spectrum, meanwhile, argue that greater access to firearms -- most notably handguns -- are essential for personal safety.

Butina's group quickly made a splash, drawing support from a handful of federal lawmakers and other public figures for its rather quixotic bid to allow Russians to arm themselves with handguns.

"We were the first who sought to bring this issue to the broader public," Muslim Sheikhov, who helped found Right To Bear Arms, told RFE/RL in a telephone interview.

Right To Bear Arms began staging street rallies, organizing roundtables involving officials, and reaching out to a range of political forces.

Milov, head of the liberal Democratic Choice Party, said he was struck at first by how "well technically equipped" Butina's group appeared to be and the quality of the merchandise at their rallies.

"There was a clear idea from the beginning that somebody is behind them, big money is behind them," he said.

Butina's associates had long assumed that Right To Bear Arms was being funded mainly thanks largely to member fees and the sale of several furniture stores she owned in her Siberian hometown of Barnaul.

But following Butina's indictment this month, The Washington Post confirmed that Russian billionaire Konstantin Nikolayev, who has had dealings with Kremlin-connected tycoons, had supported the group.

Three current or previous senior members of Right To Bear Arms told RFE/RL that they had never heard of Nikolayev's involvement.

"I don't even know who that is," Igor Shmelyov, the last head of Right To Bear Arms, told RFE/RL in a Facebook message this week.

Vasilevsky, the gun-rights activist whose group cited the emergence of Right To Bear Arms as part of the reason his organization closed in 2013, told RFE/RL this week that he had heard as early as 2011 that Nikolayev was interested in financing efforts to liberalize gun laws.

"I know only that he planned to support the promotion of these ideas in some form," Vasilevsky told RFE/RL, adding that he had never been told directly -- or seen concrete evidence -- that Nikolayev funded Right To Bear Arms.

A spokesperson for Nikolayev said in a statement that the businessman "has had no contact with Ms. Butina or her organization since 2014."

"He briefly provided some funding to the organization from 2012 to 2014 specifically to support their efforts in Russia to raise public awareness around certain domestic issues," the statement said.

The Guardian reported on July 26 that Nikolayev's wife is an accomplished sport shooter and has business ties to the gun industry in Russia.

'Things Started To Decline'

Whatever the sources of financing for Right To Bear Arms, gun-rights activists became optimistic about the prospects of reforms to gun laws after her ties to Aleksandr Torshin, a Russian senator at the time the group was founded, emerged.

"At that point people became very enthusiastic," Vaneyev told RFE/RL.

Torshin, who in July 2012 announced a plan to introduce legislation that would broaden access to handguns, matches the description of the Russian official who U.S. prosecutors allege was directing Butina's efforts in the United States to influence U.S. policy on Russia.

"There was talk that, yes, they might be ready to allow pistols and revolvers," Vaneyev said.

By mid-2014, according to Butina, Right To Bear Arms had "several thousand members" in around 70 Russian regions.

Torshin's planned legislation, however, never went anywhere, and a bill by the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party that would allow certain types of handguns was shot down in a first reading by Russia's lower house of parliament in 2013.

While Right To Bear Arms continued to push its agenda in the ensuing years, it began to recede from public view after Butina stepped down as its head in January 2015 to pursue graduate studies, including at American University in Washington.

"The Right To Bear Arms movement tried to become an analogue to the NRA in America, but the number of members and the level of political activity was not at all the same," Sheikhov said.

He called Butina the "battery that ignited everyone" and that "things started to decline" after she left.

"Maybe it could have been otherwise if Maria had been more active," Sheikhov said, adding that other prominent gun-rights activists lacked Butina's charisma and popularity.

'Society Is Not Ready For This'

Vaneyev said that while the group has moved away from staging street rallies, it still advocates reforms to Russia's gun laws. In recent years, however, he says "authorities have stopped discussing this issue with civil society."

Senior Russian officials appear to be maintaining their resistance to relaxing gun laws.

"We are opponents of the spread of guns. Our society is not ready for this, neither economically nor psychologically," Viktor Zolotov, a longtime Putin confidant who serves as the head of Russia's National Guard, which is responsible for registering and licensing firearms, said in October.

Sergei Melikov, first deputy head of the National Guard, said in March 2017 that there are more than 4.5 million registered gun owners -- or around 6.5 percent of the population -- in Russia who altogether have around 7.3 million firearms.

"The general perception is that Russians should never be allowed to own guns because they will simply shoot each other," said Milov, the opposition politician who has called for legalizing handguns.

Milov says he increasingly believes Right To Bear Arms was initially created to infiltrate Russian opposition groups and, later, the NRA.

"I don't think that these people ever had any illusion that the gun issue could be promoted to the top of Russian politics," he said.

Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, who backs legalizing handguns, offered support for Butina's 2014 bid to join the Public Chamber, a government consultative body. Ilya Ponomaryov, who was the lone Russian lawmaker to vote against Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, spoke at the Right To Bear Arms' annual conference in 2013.

Vaneyev called the suggestion that the group was a Kremlin project "complete stupidity."

A court liquidated Right To Bear Arms in March due to bureaucratic carelessness after Butina's departure, Vaneyev said. The group failed to file several years of accounting paperwork to authorities, he said, adding that he is working on restoring the group's legal status.

"If we were a Kremlin project, they certainly wouldn't have closed us," Vaneyev said, adding that the group reached out to a range of different political parties and movements. "We would have a certain amount of financing."

Kristina Potupchik, a prominent former pro-Kremlin youth activist, also recently dismissed suggestions that Butina was backed by the government, citing allegedly leaked 2014 text messages appearing to show a Kremlin official discussing plans to generate negative press about Butina.

Vaneyev and others in Russia's gun-rights community have called the charges against Butina, who has pleaded not guilty, absurd.

Right To Bear Arms currently has more than 40,000 subscribers to its account on the Russian social-networking site VKontakte, though its official website is no longer active.



The web address that previously featured Butina's personal website now advertises pornography.

Asked about the current level of optimism in the gun-rights community about potential reforms compared to seven years ago, when Right To Bear Arms was founded, Vaneyev said: "There's considerably less."

A court in Russia has ordered pretrial detention for a sixth prison guard accused of involvement in the severe beating of an inmate in the Yaroslavl region.

The Zavolzhye District Court in Yaroslavl, northeast of Moscow, on July 26 remanded Dmitry Solovyov, a junior inspector at Corrections Colony No. 1, to pretrial detention for two months.

On July 25, the court ordered two months of pretrial detention for five other prison guards from the same prison and extended the detention of a seventh suspect, deputy warden Ivan Kalashnikov, by an additional 72 hours pending a ruling on whether he will also be remanded for trial.

The officers were detained after a video showing the beating of an inmate identified as Yevgeny Makarov was published by the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta and circulated widely on the Internet last week.

The video, which the Public Verdict rights organization said was shot at the penitentiary last year, showed Makarov lying on a desk without pants while two people in uniform hold his hands behind his back. At least 10 other uniformed men repeatedly strike his legs and heels with rubber truncheons and fists, while he cries out and begs them to stop.

The Investigative Committee said on July 23 that all the officers in the video had been identified and a probe had been launched into what it called "a crime."

A lawyer who gave Novaya Gazeta the video has fled the country while seeking protection from state law enforcement authorities.

On July 25, the Investigative Committee said that a prison guard, who was not identified, in the western Bryansk region had been charged with murdering an unidentified inmate and abuse of power.

The guard "bound [the inmate's] face with a cloth, as a result of which the latter died of asphyxiation," the committee said in a statement. It said the incident occurred on July 22.

Also on July 25, a lawyer of with the nongovernmental Zona Prava rights group, Sergei Loktev, said an investigation had been launched into complaints from two students the western city of Voronezh who alleged that local police tortured them to compel them to confess to stealing a mobile phone in May.

According to Loktev, two police officers handcuffed the university students, Sergei Troyansky and Maksim Grebenyuk, and stepped on their cuffed hands to inflict pain.

Loktev said the police also placed plastic bags with ammonia in them over the teenagers' heads.

The young men refused to confess and filed a lawsuit against the two police officers.

Police in Voronezh said on July 26 that an internal investigation had been launched into the allegations.

On July 25, United Nations human rights experts urged Russian authorities to prosecute alleged widespread cases of torture in Russian prisons and labor camps, including beatings, electric shocks, and suffocation.

With reporting by Mediazona, Interfax, and TASS

U.S. President Donald Trump says Washington is ready to impose "large sanctions" on Turkey unless authorities there allow a U.S. pastor being detained on house arrest to go free.

"The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man, and wonderful human being," Trump wrote in a tweet.

"He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!" he added.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu issued a Twitter statement shortly afterward saying that "no one dictates [to] Turkey."

"We will never tolerate threats from anybody. Rule of law is for everyone; no exception," he wrote.

Trump's comments come an hour after Vice President Mike Pence issued a similar threat, warning of "significant sanctions" against Ankara.



"To President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan and the Turkish government, I have a message on behalf of the president of the United States of America: Release Pastor Andrew Brunson now or be prepared to face the consequences, Pence said, speaking at a State Department event in Washington to advance religious freedom.

Brunson, who has worked in Turkey for more than 20 years, was jailed in 2016 and was indicted a year later on terrorism and espionage charges, accused of aiding groups Ankara alleges were behind a failed military coup in 2016.

Brunson was held in custody until July 25, when he was transferred to house arrest.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the move to house arrest was "not enough" and that he should be allowed to leave Turkey.

Based on reporting by dpa, Reuters, and AFP

UN human rights experts are urging Russian authorities to prosecute alleged widespread cases of torture in Russian prisons and labor camps, including beatings, electric shocks, and suffocation.

The chairman of the United Nations Committee Against Torture, Jens Modvig, said at a hearing on Russia's record in Geneva on July 25 that Russia has "one of the highest rates" of prisoner death from torture among countries belonging to the Council of Europe, with about 4,000 deaths recorded each year in a prison population of about 600,000.

"Torture is practiced widely," Modvig said, yet "there is no rule ensuring that punishment for torture corresponds to the seriousness of the crime."

Russian authorities detained six prison guards on July 23, a few days after a video circulated by the Novaya Gazeta newspaper showed at least 10 guards torturing and beating an inmate.

Modvig said the video raised questions about safety in the justice system, noting that "the recording dates to June 2017" and "shows a prisoner identified as Yevgeny Makarov being held down on a table and being beaten repeatedly on his legs and soles of his feet."

Modvig asked a Russian delegation at the hearing to identify who was conducting the investigation and when it would be completed and what authorities are doing to ensure the safety of Makarov's lawyer, who has fled the country.

The Russian delegation is expected to provide the committee with detailed answers on July 26.

Felice Gaer, an American member of the committee, sought guarantees that those responsible for Makarov's beating at a prison in the city of Yaroslavl northeast of Moscow would be brought to justice.

"How do we know that they will be properly prosecuted for torture when in other cases, such as with Sergei Magnitsky, the cases end in prosecution only of lower-level officials, or the prosecution is drawn out so that the statute of limitations expires, or persons are subjected solely to administrative or disciplinary fines?" Gaer asked.

The case of Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who died in custody in 2009 after alleged beatings and denial of medical care, was "exemplary of nonaction" in the Russian prison system, she said.

Russian Deputy Justice Minister Mikhail Galperin told the committee that strict rules govern the use of force in prisons.

"Each case where a detainee is harmed, or if they in particular die as a result of physical force, special measures, or use of firearms, the prosecutor is informed within one day with supporting documentation," he said.

But Galperin gave no details of any officials prosecuted for torture at the start of the committee's two-day examination of Russia's record.

With reporting by AP and ReutersU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reaffirmed during his testimony before a Senate committee on July 25 a formal U.S. policy rejecting Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. Pompeo said there will be "no relief" for Moscow from sanctions imposed by the United States after the attempted annexation "until Russia returns control of the Crimean Peninsula to Ukraine."Mexicos Cemex interested in converting states sargasso into energy

Cancun, Q.R.  Mexican company Cemex, says they are interested in exploring possible usage options for the sargasso that continues to arrive along the Yucatan coast.

The Mexican multinational building materials company Cemex has made contact with Quintana Roo authorities, said Alfredo Arellano Guillermo, state Secretariat of Environment.

Alfredo Arellano Guillermo, state Secretariat of Environment

For nearly six months, sargasso quality tests have been done in terms of chemicals and combustion to possibly create some investment with Cemex. One of the lines of research is the heat energy for the production of electricity, but still its an early stage, he said.

He added that the production of energy and the use of organic fertilizers can be supplanted or supplemented with organic waste produced from homes, hotels and businesses.

Already some companies are using the algae in an artisanal way to feed pigs, others for the extraction of the sodium ginarto and to elaborate cosmetics, apparently there is interest in controlling cholesterol, he said.

He confirmed that Fukuoka, Japan has also expressed interest in creating a partnership with Quintana Roo to exchange experiences and investments in various areas of sargasso and its possible use as organic fertilizer.

Some 80,000 cubic meters of sargasso have already been collected in seven municipalities of Quintana Roo, Cancun, Puerto Morelos, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Isla Mujeres, Cozumel and Mahahual.A RESIDENT who reported car number plates being changed in Eastwood was angry when police failed to turn up.

He called 999 on Saturday evening after seeing the alleged incident on Jennings Close shortly after 6.30pm.

The resident said: There was no sign of the police. What if that car had gone on to knock down and kill a kid? Its an absolute disgrace.

A spokeswoman for South Yorkshire Police said the incident was downgraded because the vehicle had left three minutes after the 999 call was made.

A further call was made to police the following day to say the vehicle was back on the street.

But the spokeswoman said police had been tied up with a major incident at Tesco, where a man was taken to safety after a mental health crisis.

Anyone with information about the alleged plate-swapping can call 101 quoting incident 842 of July 21.Jon Stonehouse

THE children's director replacing Ian Thomas will receive less than his 147,000 wage  but only by 1.4 per cent.

A 145,000 remuneration package for his successor, Jon Stonehouse, was agreed by councillors on Wednesday.

Opposition member Cllr Adam Carter voted against the salary. The Liberal Democrat said: "While noting the history and difficulties this council has had in maintaining childrens services, I dont think the public will support a remuneration package of this magnitude.

While I appreciate the sentiment that we want the best for Rotherham, which is what our children deserve, the prime minister doesnt even earn that.

The post had been advertised at 147,000 but the reduced rate had later been agreed with Mr Stonehouse, who will move from the same post at York.

Council leader Cllr Chris Read said: This amount of money allows us to appoint someone with a proven track record of running childrens services successfully. From that point of view, this is money well spent.

He added: The challenge is to put a price on the cost of the senior manager responsible for keeping children safe.

If anyone in the country knows the cost of not having the right people and not keeping children safe, it is the public of Rotherham.

Mr Thomas, who joined in 2015 after the CSE scandal, left earlier this year to become chief executive at Lewisham in London.(iol.co.za) - De Beers, the worlds biggest diamond producer, could encounter a spanner in the works to their ambitious plans that could see them manufacturing its own diamonds in a laboratory. The producer announced earlier this year that it would start selling synthetic diamond gemstones for the first time in its 130-year history. However, labour unions have called on the company to engage workers first before embarking on any project that might result in job losses.Lucapas Lulo boosts Q2 output

26 july 2018 News

Sociedade Mineira Do Lulo (SML), which is 40 percent owned and operated by Lucapa Diamond, produced 5,058 carats of diamonds in the second quarter of the year, an increase of 20 percent from 4,203 carats produced, a year earlier.

The mine, according to Lucapa, also continued to regularly produce large and premium-value diamonds during the period under consideration, with the number of Special diamonds recovered growing 7 percent to 61, bringing to 118 the total number of specials produced in the first half of 2018.

It said the total weight of specials produced during the quarter jumped 18 percent to 1,412 carats, which saw the first half total rising 22 percent to 2,838 carats.

Meanwhile, SML earned $5 million from 3,413 carats of diamonds sold during the quarter at an average price of $1,479 per carat.

The companys first half sales reached $15.9 million at $1,642 per carat.



Mathew Nyaungwa, Rough&Polished



Israels polished diamond exports dip

26 july 2018 News

Polished-diamond exports out of Israel declined 6% in the first half of the year, according to data the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, says a report in diamonds.net.The drop is the nations fourth consecutive first-half decline in polished exports.

Export volume slipped 5%, with the average price down 1%. The country also received a lower total value of rough during the half year than the same period in 2017.

Israel exports significantly more goods overseas in the first six months than it does in the second, as retailers restock their inventories in the early months of the year after the holidays.



Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished



De Beers said its underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) eased 9 percent to $712 million in the first half of 2018 compared to $786 million, a year earlier, due to higher costs.

The groups cost of production jumped 6 percent to $67 per carat driven by the impact of unfavourable exchange rate movements and waste mining costs.

De Beers total revenue was $3.2 billion from last years 3.1 billion, while rough diamond sales were maintained at $2.9 billion.

The average realised rough diamond price increased by 4 percent to $162 per carat compared with last years $156 per carat due to a 1.6 percent increase in the average rough price index and an improvement in the sales mix.

Meanwhile, De Beers said the outlook for 2018 global consumer demand remained positive in most of the main diamond consuming countries, based on world economic prospects, positive consumer sentiment and continued investment in marketing.



Mathew Nyaungwa, Rough&Polished



A large amount of smoke was generated. The blast was heard blocks away in the city. The mans hand was injured in the explosion and he was sent to hospital. His life is not in danger. No other person was injured. The incident did not damage any embassy property. The police immediately evacuated the area and cordoned the embassy, in the capitals Chaoyang district, was immediately cordoned off by authorities following the incident.Visa service at the embassy was temporarily affected but it soon resumed.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Thursday that the incident is an isolated one. A US embassy spokesperson issued a statement confirming there was no damage to embassy. The police immediately responded to the incident, it added. Police in Beijing said they were investigating the explosion on Thursday. ficials did not provide a suspected motive. Attacks on sites in the Chinese capital are rare. After the initial reports, news of the incident was very quickly censored on Chinese social media. Within hours almost all mention of the explosion had been wiped clean from WeChat and Weibo, leaving only the official police statements. The US Embassy in Beijing, which opened in 2008, is one of the most secure in the world.[NEW DELHI] A study carried out by the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Bangalore, suggests that banana plants can be made resistant to hot climatic conditions by subjecting the seedlings to mild heat stress.



Because banana  the fourth most cultivated crop in the world  is susceptible to hot weather, its production is expected to be adversely affected by global warming.



But the results of the IIHR study, published this month (July) in Nature Scientific Reports, show that seedlings can be genetically primed to make the plant productive in hot and drought-prone areas.

Induction or acclimatisation to stress is well evolved in plants. Due to different stressful situations, such as droughts and heat waves, plants have evolved acclimatisation processes which are triggered by initial mild stress Kundapura V. Ravishankar, Indian Institute of Horticultural Research

Kundapura V. Ravishankar, principal scientist at the IIHR and an author of the study, tells SciDev.Net that he and his team identified genetic pathways and groups of genes for the gene priming process that conferred acquired thermotolerance to the Grand Naine, a cultivar of the well-known Cavendish bananas.



The study involved exposing one group of the cultivar to induction stress, by which plants were gradually acclimatised at 3042 degrees Celsius over a duration of two hours and 30 minutes. This group withstood exposure to high temperature stress of 55 degrees Celsius lasting two hours.



Plants in a second group, which were directly exposed to the same high temperature stress of 55 degrees Celsius for two hours without acclimatisation, showed poor recovery, with only 20 per cent of them surviving.



Ravishankar is hopeful that induction or priming of seedlings by exposure to mild heat stress will give adaptive advantage to other crops. Induction or acclimatisation to stress is well evolved in plants. Due to different stressful situations, such as droughts and heat waves, plants have evolved acclimatisation processes which are triggered by initial mild stress.

Udaya Kumar, professor at the department of crop physiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore , describes thermotolerance as a universal phenomenon known for the last 20 years. If a plant is first subjected to moderately high temperatures, it subsequently withstands higher temperatures better, he explains.What is new in the study, Kumar says, is that the gene responses for survival are specific. Here, the genetic pathways that have been upregulated in banana are elucidated. A few particular pathways may get activated or upregulated, which impart tolerance at higher stress levels, Kumar explains to SciDev.Net. Global warming involves temperatures higher by just 23 degrees. Here, the temperatures are much higher than cell survival temperatures.Kumar believes acquired thermotolerance can be used to identify genotypes capable of surviving severe stress and the mechanisms involved can be studied. In future, we may pick and choose the genes involved in the process and even manipulate them.This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets Asia & Pacific desk.Kenyan smallholders in 42 counties are grappling with tackling the fall armyworm threat, writes Gilbert Nakweya.

The onset of the long rain season (March-June) in Kenya usually brings hope, especially to rural smallholder farmers who prepare their lands for planting crops such as maize, beans and vegetables.

But for Rosemary Alusa, a 46-year-old small-scale maize farmer from Kakamega County in Kenya, these rains now worry her.

Her fear was how to deal with a strange worm that attacked her maize field last year and caused her over 40 per cent loss. Two months after planting, I noticed the worms in parts of my maize field, confirming my fear, Alusa tells SciDev.Net.

She purchased several pesticides from nearby agrovets in her quest to fight the worm. These chemicals could work but after a few days become ineffective, Alusa says.

Since fall armyworm was reported in Kenya during the long farming season in March last year, maize farmers such as Alusa have been grappling with the fight against the crop- devastating worm and the country is still working on adopting and registering effective pesticides to help control the pest.

The pest has spread to many parts of maize growing areas as the crop is the main host of the pest. The Government of Kenya estimates that over 50 per cent losses in maize yields could be realised this year as a result of the rapid spread of the pest, says David Mwangi, the head of plant protection services at Kenyas Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries.

Counting losses

Farmers are already counting losses since last year as the pest spreads rapidly across their maize fields.

Alusa says the losses she incurred last year forced her to transfer two of her eight children from a private primary school- where high quality education is offered  to a public school where the number of pupils overwhelm teachers and facilities available as learning is free.

This is a new pest that spreads rapidly, making it a challenge to manage. Wycliffe Ngoda, Vihiga County, Kenya

Maize is our main food and commercial crop, she notes, adding that she lost about US$400, which could have helped her pay school fees for her children and purchase other basic needs such as clothes.

In April this year, during a media visit to farmers in western Kenya funded by CropLife International with support from the Agrochemicals Association of Kenya (AAK), the Kenya-based African Agricultural Technology Foundation, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CYMMIT), Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI, the parent organisation of SciDev.Net)and others, many smallholders narrated how the pest is wreaking havoc on their farms.

This is a new pest that spreads rapidly, making it a challenge to manage, says Wycliffe Ngoda, a 60-year-old smallholder in Vihiga County.

Ngoda, who has six children, said that he first detected the pest last year and realised it was not the stem borer as he had thought because it could resist chemicals.

According to Boddupalli Prasana, the director of CYMMITs global maize program, the pest which is present in 40 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa could cause maize yield losses of about 8.3 to 20.6 million metric tonnes a year in Eastern and Southern Africa. The value of these losses, he adds, is estimated at between US$2.48 billion and US$6.19 billion a year.

My neighbours also started complaining of the pest, explains Ngoda, adding that they resorted to using ash solutions and detergents as purchasing the chemicals was becoming costly. My projects of constructing rental houses have stalled as my main income is from maize.

As a result of the reduction in yields last year, the price of a kilogram of maize rose from US$ 0.3 to US$ 1.2, which cannot be afforded by majority of the rural poor.

Maize is the staple food crop here and without which people suffer, laments Beverlyn Erusa, a 42-year-old smallholder from Vihiga County.

Costly, ineffective pesticides

Erusa asks for more education of smallholder farmers as the pest had threatened food security in the area. Even the use of the pesticides to tackle the pest appears not to be adequately resolving the problem.

Peter Machanja, a smallholder farmer from Kakamega County, tells SciDev.Net, We are desperate because some of the pesticides we buy from agrovets are not working and the pest is becoming resistant to the pesticides.

Although the chemicals keep away the pests, Machanja says that smallholders have the challenge of getting the correct dosage, with large quantities burning the maize crop.

According to scientists from the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation, the CYMMIT and the CABI, fall armyworm is emerging as a big threat to food security in Africa.

Prasana says that the invasive pest could feed on over 80 crops including rice, sorghum, and cotton. He explains that fall armyworm is an invasive species with roots from the Americas and spreads rapidly due to high multiplication rate and can fly over 500 kilometres.

Patrick Amuyunzu, the chairperson of the board members responsible for managing the AAK, identifies challenges with using pesticides to help smallholders tackle the menace.

One of the biggest challenges we have is that agrovets are mainly interested in selling and not advising farmers on how to use the pesticides. Patrick Amuyunzu, Agrochemicals Association of Kenya

One of the biggest challenges we have is that agrovets are mainly interested in selling and not advising farmers on how to use the pesticides, even considering the side effects it could have on their health, Amuyunzu says.

Some of these chemicals may be hazardous and ineffective, adds Emmanuel Okogbenin, director of technical operations from the AATF, Kenya.

Amuyunzu tells SciDev.Net that there is a need for educating smallholders on how to identify the pest and effectively use chemicals to help manage it.

This is a deadly pest that attacks maize at all stages right from germination, adds Margaret Mulaa, a senior research scientist at CABI. Mulaa adds that smallholders need to be sensitised to plant early and practice crop rotation as this could help control the pest.

According to Peter Opiyo, chief executive officer of the Kenyas Pest Control Products Board, the board has recommended pesticides used in South Africa to be adopted, adding that 42 counties had reported fall armyworm in Kenya.

Opiyo says that the board has issued 37 efficacy trial permits on pesticides from South Africa. We shall fast-track the registration process because this is an important staple crop that fosters food security in Kenya, notes Opiyo.

He also says that 92 fall armyworm specialist extension officers and 1,300 field extension workers have been trained to be engaged by farmers to help in spraying maize fields at a low cost to help minimise some of the health concerns arising.

Lack of coordination

Johnstone Imbira, Kakamega Countys director of agriculture, says that another key challenge to controlling fall armyworm is the lack of coordination between the national and county governments in terms of intervention.

This, he says, gives the pest ample time to multiply and spread. Using chemicals, he adds, is not the best solution but is one of the quickest interventions that could help farmers restore their crops.

Imbira urges smallholders to increase surveillance and monitoring of their maize fields in order to help control the pest by raising alarm early.

Okogbenin tells SciDev.Net that that the adoption of genetically engineered (Bt) maize could help control fall armyworm as it has proved to be resistant to the pest.

According to Sylveter Oikeh, the project manager, Water Efficient Maize for Africa, African countries need political goodwill to get smallholders to adopt Bt maize, citing South Africa.

But David Mwangi, the head of plant protection services at Kenyas Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and Fisheries, says that unlike last year when many smallholders were unaware of the pest, leading to its rapid spread and infestation of 50,000 hectares of maize fields in the country, many farmers are now increasingly becoming aware of the pest.

He adds that the Kenyan government has established a technical team to work on integrated pest management approach that is biologically sustainable and environmentally friendly.



This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.Scientists have discovered that some treatments for cancer and sickle cell disease can destroy the germ cells that go on to develop into sperm in the testes of young boys. In some pre-pubescent boys, the treatment for sickle cell disease results in complete destruction of all their germ cells, which are called spermatogonia.

The study, which is published in Human Reproduction, is the first to describe the effects of these treatments on spermatogonial quantity, although boys who have undergone chemotherapy or radiotherapy are known to be at risk of reduced fertility in adulthood.

As a result of their findings, the researchers say that if doctors plan to remove and freeze testicular tissue for fertility preservation, this should be performed before boys undergo a type of chemotherapy that uses high doses of drugs called 'alkylating agents'. This would give the boys some hope of restoring their fertility when they become adults. Before puberty, boys are usually unable to produce sperm samples that can be frozen and preserved for a time when they might want to start a family. Transplantation of testicular tissue back into the patients after treatment is a possible way of restoring fertility, but, at present, ways to generate sperm from preserved immature testicular tissue are experimental and there have been no pregnancies so far. It may also depend on having sufficient quantities of successfully preserved healthy spermatogonia.

Led by Dr Jan-Bernd Stukenborg, associate professor at the Karolinska Institutet and University Hospital (Stockholm, Sweden), a group of international researchers analysed testicular tissue taken for fertility preservation between 2014 and 2017 from 32 boys with an average age of six, living in Sweden, Finland and Iceland, who were facing treatments that carried a high risk of infertility: testicular irradiation, chemotherapy or radiotherapy as a preparation for a bone marrow transplant because they had cancer or blood disorders such as sickle cell disease, thalassaemia major or Fanconi anemia. Sickle cell disease is the major reason for bone marrow transplantation in children who do not have cancer. Twenty boys had the tissue taken after initial chemotherapy and 12 had it taken before starting any treatment. In addition, they looked at 14 healthy testicular tissue samples stored in the biobank at the Karolinska hospital.

They counted the number of germ cells found in a cross-section of little tubes in the testes where spermatogonia are created, called seminiferous tubules. "We could compare the number of spermatogonia with those found in the healthy boys as a way to estimate the effect of medical treatment or the disease itself on the future fertility of a patient," explained Dr Stukenborg.

"We found that the numbers of germ cells present in the cross-sections of the seminiferous tubules were significantly depleted and close to zero in patients treated with alkylating agents. The germ cell pool in five boys with sickle cell disease were totally depleted and very low in another; all six had received hydroxyurea. This was not seen in patients who had not started treatment, or were treated with non-alkylating agents, or in the biobank tissues."

Alkylating agents are used in some chemotherapies, killing cancer cells by damaging their DNA. Hydroxyurea is a chemotherapy agent that is often used to treat the effects of blood disorders such as sickle cell disease, where it improves the function of red blood cells. It reduces the symptoms of the sickle cell disease but is not a cure. Bone marrow transplants offer the best chance of a cure or long-term remission. However, before a transplant, the patient's own bone marrow has to be destroyed and the immune system suppressed by radiation or chemotherapy so that the body does not reject the transplant from another person.

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Co-author, Dr Cecilia Petersen, a senior consultant in paediatric oncology at the Karolinska Institutet, said: "Our findings of a dramatic decrease in germ cell numbers in boys treated with alkylating agents and in sickle cell disease patients treated with hydroxyurea, suggest that storing frozen testicular tissue from these boys should be performed before these treatments are initiated. This needs to be communicated to physicians, as well as patients and their parents or carers.

"However, until sperm that are able to fertilise eggs are produced from stored testicular tissue, we cannot confirm that germ cell quantity might determine the success of transplantation of the tissue in adulthood. Further research on this is needed to establish a realistic fertility preservation technique."

The authors point out that for some boys the disease itself may have already affected the number of spermatogonia before any treatment has even begun, and so for them preserving testicular tissue may not be a viable option. Co-author, Professor Kirsi Jahnukainen, a senior consultant in paediatric oncology at the Children's Hospital, University of Helsinki, Helsinki University Central Hospital (Helsinki, Finland), said: "Among patients who had not been treated previously with chemotherapy, there were several boys with a low number of germ cells for their age. This suggests that some non-malignant diseases that require bone marrow transplants may affect the fertility of young boys even before exposure to therapy that is toxic for the testes."

The researchers say that it is possible for germ cells to recover to normal levels after treatment that is highly toxic to the testes, but that high doses of alkylating agents and radiotherapy to the testicles, including total body irradiation, is strongly associated with permanent or long-term infertility.

Prof Jahnukainen added: "The first group of boys who received bone marrow transplants are now reaching their thirties. Recent data suggest they may have a high chance of their sperm production recovering, even if they received high dose alkylating therapies, so long as they had no testicular irradiation."

A limitation of the study was that the samples of normal tissue from the biobank had no detailed information regarding previous medical treatments and testicular volumes for these patients.A cutting-edge laboratory technique that turns human stem cells into brain-like tissue now recapitulates human brain development more accurately than ever, according to a new study from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The study, published in Nature Methods, demonstrates how to grow brain "organoids" -- self-organizing mini spheres that now contain all the major cell types found in the human cerebral cortex -- in laboratory dishes.

Since its debut, so-called organoid technology has revolutionized researchers' ability to generate and study human tissue in the laboratory. But when it comes to the brain, the models were not entirely complete. This new study provides a missing link.

"We have taken the organoid system and added the third major cell type in the central nervous system -- oligodendrocytes -- and now have a more accurate representation of cellular interactions that occur during human brain development," said Paul Tesar, PhD, the Dr. Donald and Ruth Weber Goodman Professor of Innovative Therapeutics and associate professor of genetics and genome sciences at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

Oligodendrocytes are critical for a healthy brain. They make myelin, a fatty substance that wraps and supports nerve cell connections, much like insulation around an electric cord. Without myelin, nerve cells cannot communicate effectively and can deteriorate. Many neurological diseases result from myelin defects, including multiple sclerosis and rare pediatric genetic disorders.

"This is a powerful platform to understand human development and neurological disease," said Tesar. "Using stem cell technology we can generate nearly unlimited quantities of human brain-like tissue in the lab. Our method creates a 'mini-cortex,' containing neurons, astrocytes, and now oligodendrocytes producing myelin. This is a major step toward unlocking stages of human brain development that previously were inaccessible."

Tesar and colleagues also demonstrated how their improved organoid system can be used to test myelin-enhancing medications. "These organoids provide a way to predict the safety and efficacy of new myelin therapeutics on human brain-like tissue in the laboratory prior to clinical testing in humans," said Mayur Madhavan, PhD, co-first author on the study. The team treated organoids with drugs previously identified to enhance myelin production in mice. For the first time, the researchers used the model to test drugs that enhance the generation of human oligodendrocytes and myelin.

The research team also generated organoids from patients with Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease, a rare but fatal genetic myelin disorder. "Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease has been a complicated disorder to study due to the many different mutations that can cause it and the inaccessibility of patient brain tissue," said Zachary Nevin, PhD, co-first author on the study, "but these new organoids allow us to directly study brain-like tissue from many patients simultaneously and test potential therapies." Organoids generated from patients with three different Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease mutations each demonstrated unique characteristics that could be targeted for drug treatment. The findings validate the set-up as a versatile platform to observe and dissect human myelin disease and test individualized therapeutics.

"Our method enables generation of human brain tissue in the laboratory from any patient," said Tesar. "More broadly, it can accurately recapitulate how the human nervous system is built and identify what goes wrong in certain neurological conditions."

Joining the Tesar laboratory in the study were Robert H. Miller, PhD, and colleagues from the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and Valentina Fossati, PhD, and colleagues from The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute.

This research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease Foundation, New York Stem Cell Foundation, Connor B. Judge Foundation, and National Stem Cell Foundation. Philanthropic support was generously provided by the Peterson, Fakhouri, Long, Goodman, Geller, Galbut/Heil, and Weidenthal families.Despite long-term profit expectations, many people shy away from investing their money in supposedly riskier forms of investment. Why? Together with colleagues from the USA and Switzerland, scientists at the University of Bonn have now developed a model that makes real-life stock buying behavior comprehensible for the first time. The researchers combined socioeconomic, psychological and neuroscientific data in an innovative way. It was found that the cortical regions of the "anterior insular" are more active among people who do not trade stocks. In experienced stock traders, the activity of this region of the brain was lower. The results will now be presented in the journal Scientific Reports.

The scientists examined a total of 157 male subjects aged 29 to 50 years. "In this age group, we can assume that all participants have gained at least some experience with financial investments and that their decisions are more realistic," explains first author Alexander Niklas Hausler, doctoral student at the Center for Economics and Neuroscience (CENs) at the University of Bonn. By limiting the study to male participants, gender-specific effects were excluded.

The participants first answered questionnaires on their economic situation (do you have debts?), their investment behavior (do you yourself trade stocks?) and their willingness to take risks (how risk taking are you with respect to financial investments?). They then underwent a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scan whilst repeatedly answering the question: Should I buy a safe bond or perhaps make twice as much profit with a stock? After the decision was made by pressing a button, the stock outcome was displayed and the final sum of the experiment was later paid out to the participants. To allow for an adequate statistical evaluation of the results, each choice was repeated by the participants a total of 96 times.

The experiment showed that one brain structure in particular played an important role: The "anterior insular," which is found in both hemispheres of the cerebral cortex. Both the left and right variants of this brain region were particularly active when a more risk-averse test subject pressed the button to buy stocks. "The anterior insular cortex acts like a stop sign and thus cautions against risky decisions," reports Hausler. However, the structure was significantly less active in subjects who had already bought stocks at some point in their lives than in subjects who generally shy away from financial risks.

Reward outcomes have little impact

By contrast, there was only little difference between stock buyers and conventional investors, when their stock trading resulted in substantial profits. "The attitude towards riskier or less risky decisions showed a stronger correlation to the actual behavior than the reward outcomes," reports Hausler. Two factors are of essential importance for this attitude: risk optimism and risk tolerance. Individuals with more risk optimism are firmly convinced that investing in stocks leads to high profits. Anyone who enjoys the thrill of risky decisions has a high risk tolerance. Both factors also play an important role in the relationship between the "anterior insular" and the purchase of stocks in real life. Here, they act as a mediator between brain activity and the real-life stock trading behavior.

The models calculated by the scientists showed that, in addition to already known economic factors such as income and education, risk optimism and risk tolerance in particular have a major influence on stock purchase decisions. "The exciting thing about our study is that it combines laboratory experiments with behavior in real life," says Prof. Dr. Bernd Weber, head of the Center for Economics and Neuroscience at the University of Bonn and senior author of the study. "We are able to demonstrate that the collection of psychological and neuroscientific data helps us to better understand everyday behavior."

Prof. Dr. Camelia M. Kuhnen from the Kenan-Flagler Business School of the University of North Carolina (USA) also contributed to the publication. Alexander Niklas Hausler spent two months with the scientist in Chapel Hill to analyze the data. Dr. Sarah Rudorf, who now works at the University of Bern (Switzerland), was significantly involved in the development of the study and the data collection at the University of Bonn. The study was funded by the Frankfurt Institute for Risk Management and Regulation (FIRM).Forests in tropical regions could soon become a source of greenhouse gases, contributing to global warming rather than helping to counteract it, according to research.

Loss of trees to agriculture or livestock in tropical regions and the impact of climate change is limiting the forests' ability to absorb carbon dioxide, a study shows.

This could make it impossible to meet the main goal in the Paris Agreement of 2015, which seeks to limit the global temperature rise to 2C compared with pre-industrial levels.

Researchers estimate that tropical forests currently take in as much carbon from the atmosphere through growth as they generate through deforestation -- the loss of forest to commercial activities -- and degradation -- the removal of trees for timber or fuel.

Tropical forests are at risk of becoming a major source of emissions in coming decades as climate change accelerates and deforestation continues, driven by agriculture, animal grazing and mining in South America, Asia and Africa.

Loss of forest to deforestation and degradation, mainly in tropical regions, accounts for about one-fifth of recent human-made greenhouse gas emissions, scientists say. Currently, an equivalent amount of CO 2 is absorbed by the remaining forests. This is aided by increased levels of carbon in the atmosphere, which makes it easier for trees to grow.

If deforestation and degradation were to stop and forests allowed to recover, they would once again help to absorb significant greenhouse gas emissions, researchers add.

It is hard to predict the fate of tropical forests under current conditions, scientists say. Climate change will cause higher temperatures and droughts, killing more trees, but at the same time higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will aid tree growth.

Predicting the outcome could be helped by more field experiments and by countries sharing their data, to take advantage of observations from forthcoming satellites.

The study, published in Nature, was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council and the UK Space Agency.

Dr Ed Mitchard of the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, who led the study, said: "Predicting how tropical forests will affect climate is a complex challenge -- we do not know how climate will affect forests, nor if countries will meet their commitments to safeguard them. Worryingly, research indicates that forests could soon stop counteracting warming, and instead become a major source of greenhouse gas."It's the way we end up with a fresh cup of coffee from a clump of beans. It's how ocean oil rigs extract petroleum from dense rock formations beneath the seafloor. It even helps explain how forest fires spread.

A theory known as "percolation" is now helping microbiologists at the University of California San Diego explain how communities of bacteria can effectively relay signals across long distances. Once regarded as a simple cluster of microorganisms, communities of bacteria -- also called "biofilms" -- have been found to utilize ion channels for electrochemical communication that helps the community thrive and survive threats, such as chemical attacks from antibiotics.

The findings, led by Joseph Larkin and senior author Gurol Suel of UC San Diego, are published July 25 in the journal Cell Systems.

Biofilm communities inhabit locations all around us, from soil to drain pipes to the surface of our teeth. Cells at the edge of these communities tend to grow more robustly than their interior counterparts because they have access to more nutrients. To keep this edge growth in check and ensure the entire community is fit and balanced, the "hungry" members of the biofilm interior send electrochemical signals to members at the exterior. These signals halt consumption at the edge, allowing nutrients to pass through to the interior cells to avoid starvation.

"This keeps the interior fed well enough and if a chemical attack comes and takes out some of the exterior cells, then the protected interior is able to continue and the whole population can survive," said Larkin, a UC San Diego Biological Sciences postdoctoral scholar. "It is essential that the electrochemical signal be consistently transmitted all the way to the biofilm edge because that is the place where the growth must be stopped for the community to reap the most benefit from signaling."

In approaching their new study, the researchers sought to explain how bacterial communities are able to propagate these electrochemical communication signals. Unlike neurons that have designated structures to relay electrochemical signals known as axons, bacterial communities lack such sophisticated structures. This provoked the question of how bacteria could relay signals so effectively over long distances within the community.

After sifting through vast amounts of bacterial data, the UC San Diego researchers began collaborating with Purdue University's Andrew Mugler and Xiaoling Zhai, who proposed the idea that percolation theory could explain how bacterial communities may be propagating signals from cell to cell.

Percolation theory has been around since the 1950s and has helped physicists describe how signals are transmitted across a medium or network of diverse components. In a coffee maker, hot water percolates through individual coffee grounds into a carafe. In the oil industry, drillers maximize their yield by extracting petroleum from percolated sands, where the bedrock is porous enough to allow oil to flow over a large area.

In a community of bacteria, signals pass from cell to cell in a connected path over a distance of hundreds of cells. Using fluorescence microscopes, the researchers were able to track individual cells that were "firing" (transmitting a signal). The scientists found that the fraction of firing cells and their distribution in space precisely matched theoretical predictions of the onset of percolation. In other words, the bacterial community had a fraction of firing cells that was precisely at the tipping point between having no connectivity and full connectivity among cells, also known as a critical phase transition point.

"We're all familiar with how we make coffee through percolation and it's an interesting twist that bacteria appear to use the same concept to accomplish the very complicated task of efficiently relaying an electrochemical signal over very long distances from cell to cell," said Suel.

"It's interesting that these bacteria, which are so-called simple, single-cell organisms, are using a fairly sophisticated strategy to solve this community-level problem," said Larkin. "It's sophisticated enough that we humans are using it to extract oil, for example."A global biodiversity collapse is imminent unless we take urgent, concerted action to reverse species loss in the tropics, according to a major scientific study in the journal Nature.

In their paper 'The future of hyperdiverse tropical ecosystems' an international team has warned that a failure to act quickly and decisively will greatly increase the risk of unprecedented and irrevocable species loss in the most diverse parts of the planet.

The study is the first high-level report on the state of all four of the worlds most diverse tropical ecosystems -- tropical forests, savannas, lakes and rivers, and coral reefs.

The authors found that although the tropics cover just 40% of the planet, they are home to more than three-quarters of all species including almost all shallow-water corals and more than 90% of the world's bird species. Most of these species are found nowhere else, and millions more are as yet unknown to science.

"At the current rate of species description -- about 20,000 new species per year -- it can be estimated that at least 300 years will be necessary to catalogue biodiversity," said Dr. Benoit Guenard, Assistant Professor of the University of Hong Kong and an author of the study.

And across tropical ecosystems, many species face the 'double jeopardy' of being harmed by both local human pressures -- such as overfishing or selective logging -- and droughts or heatwaves linked to climate change.

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Dr Alexander Lees, from Manchester Metropolitan University explained that while over-harvesting of wildlife was responsible for the annual loss of millions of highly trafficked animals such as pangolins, it also affected many other less-well known species.

He said: "Even many small songbirds are at risk of imminent global extinction due to their capture for the pet trade in South East Asia. The rainforests where they live are increasingly falling silent."

The declining health of tropical ecosystems also threatens the well-being of millions of people across the planet.

Lead author Professor Jos Barlow from Lancaster University said: "Although they cover just 0.1% of the ocean surface, coral reefs provide fish resources and coastal protection for up to 200 million people. And between them, humid tropical forests and savannas store 40% of the carbon in the terrestrial biosphere and support rainfall in some of the world's most important agricultural regions.

Whilst the conclusions are bleak, the study also outlined the actions that are needed to turn the health of these vital ecosystems around.

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The researchers have called for a step-change in efforts to support sustainable development and effective conservation interventions to preserve and restore the tropical habitats that have been the home and last refuge to the overwhelming majority of Earth's biodiversity for millions of years.

Professor Barlow said: "The fate of the tropics will be largely determined by what happens elsewhere in the planet. While most of us are familiar with the impact of climate change on the polar regions, it is also having devastating consequences across the tropics -- and without urgent action could undermine local conservation interventions."

Dr Christina Hicks from Lancaster University said, as a powerful economic driver of change, the role of developed countries was also felt deeply in the tropics.

She said: "Conservation strategies must address the underlying drivers of environmental change whilst avoiding exacerbating deeply rooted inequalities. Environmental aid has remained static in recent years, and remains a drop in the ocean compared to the income generated by resource extraction."

Dr. Toby Gardner, Senior Research Fellow at the Stockholm Environment Institute highlighted the importance of innovation.

He said: "The past decades have seen a boom in proposals, innovations and insights about the science, governance and management of tropical ecosystems from remote sensing and big data to new legal frameworks for business. The clock is ticking for these proposals and insights to be properly tested."

Dr Joice Ferreira, a researcher in the team from the Brazilian governments agricultural research institution Embrapa, emphasized that a big part of the solution needs to be in strengthening the capacity of research institutions in the tropics.

She said: "Despite some notable exceptions the vast majority of biodiversity-related data and research is concentrated in wealthy, non-tropical countries."

"An international approach to science is vital to help avoid the loss of tropical biodiversity."

Professor Barlow said: "Fifty years ago biologists expected to be the first to find a species, now they hope not to be the last."

The Review is part of a special package of articles in an Insight on the tropics in this week's Nature.Nobody knows exactly what happens at the eye of the storm.

But biologists at Washington University in St. Louis have published a first-of-its-kind look at the physical characteristics of lizards that seem to make the difference between life and death in a hurricane, as reported in the July 25 issue of the journal Nature.

Hint: long, strong back legs do not help like you think they might.

The hyperactive 2017 hurricane season was one of the worst ever experienced in the Atlantic Ocean region. Damage from totals for the hurricane season topped $282 billion -- the costliest on record. Hurricane Harvey hit in mid-August 2017, followed just a few weeks later by Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria in September. Each of these storms had winds in excess of 125 mph, with Irma up to 170 mph.

For humans, the devastation to homes and businesses was extreme. For tropical anole lizards living on the more remote cays of Turks and Caicos, there was only the ones who survived -- and the ones who didn't.

And that's where the researchers came in, using data serendipitously collected just before the storms hit, and again weeks afterward, to demonstrate for the first time the effects of hurricane-induced natural selection.

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"Hurricanes are in the news, and it seems that they're becoming more destructive," said Jonathan Losos, the William H. Danforth Distinguished Professor at Washington University and professor of biology in Arts & Sciences. "Something like this has never been documented before because it's so difficult. The timing had to be just right."

Last eyes on the lizards

Colin Donihue is a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University who is conducting research with Losos, who was previously at Harvard. Last September, Donihue was just wrapping up his measurements of endemic Turks and Caicos anole, Anolis scriptus, as a baseline for a long-term invasive species eradication project when Hurricane Irma started to brew.

The sky was still bright blue, but the weather forecasters were getting anxious. As Donihue quickly gathered his stuff and headed for the airport, his local cab driver was more skeptical: This storm would blow over, he told Donihue, just like others had done in the past.

Four days later, Hurricane Irma made landfall on Sept. 8, 2017. Donihue read the news of its devastation from his apartment in Boston. He realized his lizard data might have value outside of its original intent.

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Donihue had the last eyes on the population before an unthinkable natural disaster. Now, it was time to determine if the storms had been a "selective event" -- an event with the power to change the course of life not just for the lizards that had weathered them, but potentially for the generations that followed.

So Donihue started making calls. The Turks and Caicos government was in recovery mode; clean water, electricity and shelter were priorities, and basic phone and Internet services were still not available across the islands. But Donihue had made good connections during his recent trip, and one government scientist in particular was sympathetic to his pleas. A new set of biological permits was granted, and Donihue and study co-author Anthony Herrel of the Paris Museum were back on a plane.

Before and after the storm

Back on the experimental islands, it was a mess. Trees were down and tree-limbs strewn about, making it difficult to walk in some places. But there were signs of life.

"Heading back to Pine Cay, we weren't sure what we'd find, but when we got to the field and saw a few lizards running around, we were eager to get catching and start measuring," said Donihue, who holds a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded fellowship that will bring him to Washington University in the winter of 2019.

"We walked exactly the same transects we had the last time," Donihue said. "There were definitely fewer lizards. We had to work harder to catch our sample size."

The team spent two days collecting just shy of 100 lizards on two separate islands, then measured their forelimbs, hindlimbs and core body lengths, and took pictures of their toe pads.

The vital statistics of the survivors could be compared with the measurements of the general lizard population that had been collected before the storm.

"The prediction was that if we saw any changes, they would be changes in the features that help lizards hold on -- they would be related to clinging ability," Donihue said. "For example, the sticky toe pads on their fingers and toes, maybe they would be larger."

Comparing lizards collected before and after the storm, the researchers found that the survivor populations on both islands had larger toe pads on both their forelimbs and hindlimbs.

The survivors had proportionately longer fore legs than the initial/pre-hurricane population, while the long bones in between their hips and knees on their back legs (their femurs) were shorter. The survivor population had smaller bodies, too. The observations were statistically significant and consistent at both island sites.

Natural selection favors certain characteristics

Hurricanes bring death and destruction to those in their paths. There are well-documented recent examples of hurricanes killing off large numbers of individuals from many species as diverse as plants, sea sponges, insects, birds and monkeys.

"With regard to evolution, the question is whether hurricanes cause selective mortality: do individuals with certain traits survive better than individuals with different traits? The alternative possibility -- that devastation is so massive that mortality is indiscriminate, not favoring some individuals over others -- is certainly possible," Losos said.

The results of this study -- that the island populations of lizards both changed significantly, and in the same way from before the hurricanes to after -- suggest that natural selection favored individuals with certain characteristics.

Of course, as the authors point out, there are other possibilities.

"Perhaps the hurricane blew in lizards with bigger toepads and shorter hindlegs from another island. Or perhaps the act of clinging to the branches in high winds actually caused their forelegs to get longer," Losos said. "We can't rule these possibilities out because this study was the result of serendipity, rather than specifically being designed to test the effect of hurricanes.

"Still, hurricane-induced natural selection seems like the best explanation for these findings," Losos said.

Behavioral piece is still unknown

The missing piece of the story is still a behavioral one. Researchers don't know what lizards actually do in the middle of a hurricane. Do they abandon their typical tree perches and go to the ground? Or do they try to seek cover in notches or crevices within the trees? Or do they just hang on?

A pilot study exploring wind threshold provides some insight into this aspect of the lizard decision-making process.

When the researchers exposed lizards from the survivor population to hurricane-force winds, the lizards almost uniformly swiveled around their perches to the side opposite from the wind source -- and just held on tight. As wind speeds increased, they lost hold with their hindlimbs first, and were left hanging by their forelimbs.

It appears that lizards are built to cling, but because of their stance on the perch, their big hindlimbs make them vulnerable to getting pushed off by high winds. This could explain the pattern that survivor lizards have longer forelimbs and shorter hindlimbs after a hurricane, the researchers speculate.

A future with bigger, and more frequent storms

Understanding how storms select for species survival is an important area of future study, worthy of a dedicated study design.

"We know that hurricanes are getting more frequent, and we know that they're getting more strong," Donihue said. "So, setting up a network of sites that are actually set up to investigate the question of how hurricanes are changing the evolutionary trajectory of species I think could be really useful."Public prayers may be allowed at a city council or state legislative session because of a centuries-old tradition but they cant be conducted at school board meetings, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday in a case from Southern California.

The main reason, the court said, is that youngsters attend the meetings  to receive awards, put on talent shows or simply observe proceedings of a school board that includes a student representative  and, under the Constitution, cannot be subjected to government-sponsored religious observances. The same reasoning led the U.S. Supreme Court to prohibit public schools from holding prayers during class sessions or graduation ceremonies.

The Constitutions ban on an official establishment of religion, grounded in experiences of persecution, affirms the fundamental truth that no matter what an individuals religious beliefs, he has a valued place in the political community, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said in a 3-0 ruling.

The court upheld a federal judges February 2016 order to the Chino Valley Unified School District in San Bernardino County to halt the prayers and Bible readings that the school board had been conducting at its meetings since 2010.

School boards in some districts have been holding public prayers because of a misinterpretation of the Supreme Court decision in 2014 upholding the session-opening prayers by a town council in New York state, said attorney Andrew Seidel of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which filed the Chino Valley suit. He said his organization was looking into similar activities in the Los Angeles suburb of Bellflower and two school districts in Arizona, which is also part of the nine-state Ninth Circuit.

The court properly found that the machineries of state cannot be used to impose religion on other peoples children, Seidel said.

Robert Tyler, a lawyer for the school board, said he expects the board to seek review by the U.S. Supreme Court. He said the board is similar to the town council in the courts 2014 prayer ruling  both are deliberative bodies that manage a government agencys business affairs, and children attend City Council meetings as well as school board sessions, he said.

Attorney Steven Fitschen, who filed arguments on behalf of the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation supporting the school board, said the appeals court and others that have issued similar rulings were violating the real intent of the nations founders. That was illustrated, he said, by the Northwest Ordinance, passed by Congress in 1787 to govern new U.S. territories in the Great Lakes region.

One of its provisions stated, religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and means of education shall forever be encouraged. That means religious observances have a place in schools as well as school boards, Fitschen contended, despite the Supreme Courts 1962 ban on school prayer.

The appeals court said the Chino Valley board opened its public sessions with a prayer, led usually by a clergy member but occasionally by a school board member or someone in the audience.

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.

Nearly all the clergy have been Christian, the court said, and three of the five board members have also participated  one, Andrew Cruz, said at a February 2014 meeting that the boards one goal is under God, Jesus Christ. Cruz and other board members also read Bible verses to the audience during the period set aside for comments by the board, the court said.

Unlike the prayers at legislative sessions that the Supreme Court has allowed, this is not the sort of solemnizing and unifying prayer, directed at lawmakers themselves and conducted before an audience of mature adults free from coercive pressures to participate, the appeals court said.

Instead, these prayers typically take place before groups of schoolchildren whose attendance is not truly voluntary and whose relationship to school district officials, including the board, is not one of full parity.

The ruling was issued by a panel of Ninth Circuit judges that included M. Margaret McKeown, Kim Wardlaw and Wiley Daniel, a federal judge from Colorado temporarily assigned to the appeals court.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@BobEgelkoEmployers in California must pay their workers for tasks theyre regularly required to perform for a few minutes before or after their regular work hours, the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday, rejecting a federal standard that allows employers to withhold the additional pay.

A 1946 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, written into law by Congress in 1961, said federal law did not entitle employees to be paid for working a few seconds or minutes beyond their scheduled hours. The high court invoked the realities of the industrial world, including the difficulties of keeping payroll records for such brief periods.

But states can set their own standards, and the California court said the de minimis federal rule  based on the Latin term for trivial  has never been adopted by California lawmakers or labor regulators. The court said employees may not be entitled to compensation for every minute they work off the clock, but regular daily assignments, even brief ones, must be paid for.

California labor law contemplates that employees will be paid for all work performed, Justice Goodwin Liu said in the 7-0 ruling.

The case involved a class-action lawsuit against Starbucks by a shift supervisor in Los Angeles who was required, after clocking out each day, to send daily sales data to corporate headquarters, and then to set the stores alarm, lock the door and walk co-workers to their cars. The supervisor, Douglas Troester, spent four to 10 minutes on those tasks each day, a total of 12 hours and 50 minutes during 17 months of employment, worth $102.67 at the then-minimum wage of $8 an hour.

That is enough to pay a utility bill, buy a week of groceries, or cover a month of bus fares, Liu said. What Starbucks calls de minimis is not de minimis at all to many ordinary people who work for hourly wages.

Stanley Saltzman, a lawyer for Troester, said the ruling lets employers know that they cant require their workers to regularly perform minutes per day of unpaid labor. He said the ruling would apply statewide to thousands of present and past Starbucks employees, and many thousands of others in California who have been denied pay in similar circumstances.

The court said Starbucks changed its practices after the suit was filed and now pays employees for regularly required tasks outside of normal work hours. But the coffee company and major business groups argued in court filings that the justices should adopt the federal rule and spare employers from record-keeping that often cost more than the small sums of pay at issue.

Starbucks said it is disappointed by the ruling.

But John Skousen, a Southern California attorney who represents employers and was not involved in Thursdays case, said the ruling should not cause any hardships, particularly with technological developments since the 1946 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Put the time clock at the end of the building, or have an iPad method of capturing time for each employee, Skousen said. Its a doable thing for employers. ... You cant automatically cut off (work that must be compensated) when you know that its occurring and you can easily capture the time.

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.

Liu, in the court ruling, said workers shouldnt have to pay for difficulties in record-keeping.

It isnt clear why, when it is difficult to keep track of time worked, the employee alone should bear the burden of that difficulty, Liu said. He also said class-action suits, which allow individuals to join small claims in a single case, illustrate how sums that normally would not be worth the time of a single plaintiff or the court can be aggregated to vindicate an important public policy.

The case is Troester vs. Starbucks, S234969.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@BobEgelkoRufus Boykin balled up a brown napkin in his hand and swiped at the tears on his face. The pom on top of the commemorative Super Bowl 50 knit hat he wore bobbed as he dabbed at his eyes.

We were sitting in a conference room at the Henry Robinson Center, a transitional housing building on 16th Street in downtown Oakland, and Boykin was talking to me about his trek from homelessness to moving through one of Oaklands safe haven sites to now staying in temporary housing.

Its been an emotional journey.

Wearing a dark gray Alameda County Juvenile Hall sweatshirt, he walked into the room holding two coffee cups  one with coffee and the other with oatmeal. He barely touched either.

Its been seven months since Oakland opened its first site  20 sheds on an empty lot on Sixth Street between Castro and Brush streets  in December. The goal was to move people off the street and into a shed where social workers could help them get what they needed to be self-sufficient: health screenings, jobs, long-term housing.

Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle

I wonder if the shed strategy is helping people like Boykin, 70, a senior citizen who should be enjoying retirement instead of looking for a place to live.

Since opening, the Castro Community Cabins, as the city calls them, have served 59 people, six of whom have moved to shared permanent housing. Eight people, including Boykin, have transitioned to the Henry Robinson Center. Fifteen people now have jobs they didnt have before the shed program began, according to Justin Berton, spokesman for Mayor Libby Schaaf.

At the Northgate Avenue shed site, which opened in May, 41 people have been served. Two people are now in permanent housing, and one person found a job.

Bay Area Community Services operates Oaklands shed sites and the Henry Robinson Center.

Boykin, who is black, was raised in East Oakland by his grandmother. He says he has eight children, though hes not in touch with them. Hes been to prison. Hes been addicted to drugs and admits he still uses sometimes.

The only reason I ever used drugs is to help me get through what Im going through, he said. I probably dont need all the baggage I have in my mind.

The shed sites dont allow people to bring inside many of the items theyve collected on the streets. That delayed Boykin from moving in, because he refused to discard the mattress hed slept on in tents.

The firmness of it was good for my back, he said. After some negotiating, he was allowed to bring his mattress into the shed site.

He got a new mattress when he moved into the Henry Robinson Center. Now he does yoga two days a week across 16th Street at Left Coast Power Yoga to soothe his aching back.

Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle

I would like to do it some part of every day, he said. Theres meditation involved. It has good properties for everyone. Its an American pastime, isnt it? You can calm down enough to be able to think.

Anyone whos lived on the streets for more than a few days will tell you that theres little time to be calm, because youre too busy thinking about finding the next dollar, the next meal, the next place to use the bathroom and, often, the next fix.

Its like a full-time job.

I interviewed Boykin one morning last week. He said hes friends with Schaaf, who is known to go to homeless camps to hand out food and talk to residents. Schaaf is up for re-election this year, and her opponents will surely criticize her for the citys growing homeless problem.

The mayors probably a good mayor, but she aint never been hungry, Boykin said. As far as I can see, shes a nice lady.

Sometimes Boykin answered my questions with eye-bulging indignation, like when talking about hygiene in homeless camps.

Ten years to get a bathroom out there! he shouted, referring to portable toilets placed at the Castro Street encampment. What do they expect?

Other times he answered serenely, like when we discussed displacement spurred by the Bay Areas housing crisis.

Most people out here, just like you, are just one step away from where Im at, he said.

Sometimes he couldnt stop tears from flowing. The first time he cried was when I asked what he needed most.

Love, he said between sobs. That would be a great place to start.

And sometimes he offered comic relief, like when I asked him about the job hes held the longest.

Living, he responded.

OK, what was the second longest?

Staying alive, he said with a smirk that made me crack up.

Well played, Rufus. Your third longest job?

Im at that right now, he 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.

The task, finding affordable housing in Oakland, might be the hardest challenge hes ever faced. Howard Thurmond, a Bay Area Community Services housing coordinator, has been trying to find a permanent home for Boykin since March.

Thurmond has submitted applications for Boykin, and theyve been to look at five apartments. Boykin would like to stay in Oakland, preferably in downtown, where he says his people are. Hes been homeless for more than two decades, living near Castro Street.

Most of the people out here know me, he said. This is my neighborhood.

Its probably impossible for him to stick around, because, according to Rent Cafe, a real estate tracking website, the average rent for all residential rentals in downtown Oakland is a whopping $2,698.

Boykin receives about $900 per month in Social Security income, money he told me he didnt start collecting until he moved into Henry Robinson in the spring. And he wants to live alone, but many Bay Area Community Services clients share rooms when they get apartments.

Some people are turned off on that idea, because coming from the sheds or coming from being homeless, they only had themselves to contend with, said Thurmond, who is trying to find housing for about 20 people. Having to contend with another personality is difficult.

Right now, Boykin is happy with his room at Henry Robinson.

I can lock my door, he said, jiggling the keys attached to a cord hanging from his neck. I dont have to let nobody in my room if I dont want to.

He agreed to show me his room, which is on the third floor. But he told Thurmond, who was with us, to wait in the hallway.

Hes a private individual, Thurmond told me later. Thats just him.

Thurmond, like other Bay Area Community Services social workers Ive met, understands that to solve homelessness, each homeless person needs to be treated as an individual. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.

That means going door to door  or, in the case of people living on the streets, tent flap to tent flap. However slow the progress, the citys plan is helping Boykin, even if just for a while.

In his room, Boykin proudly pointed to the succulent he has on the windowsill. He also showed me the three-wheel stroller that he uses when he scavenges for recyclables and other street finds.

I need it all, he said of the stuff he collects, because I dont have anything.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Otis R. Taylor Jr. appears Mondays and Thursdays. Email: otaylor@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @otisrtaylorjrThe walk from the bus stop to Dewey Academy, a continuation high school on Second Avenue in East Oakland, can often be treacherous for female students.

When she went to school, 18-year-old Nia Wilson  like her black, Latina and Asian classmates  had to make her way through a gantlet of threats: solicitations as if they were prostitutes by men with wads of cash; offers from pimps trying to recruit them to strut in skimpy clothing on International Boulevard; and thieves trying to steal their phones or money.

Thats why Marrika Lopes, one of Wilsons teachers at Dewey, spent class time talking to her students about protecting themselves.

As a young lady growing up in Oakland, I know what its like, said Lopes, who taught an expanded-learning class titled Wise Youthful Leading Women.

The point of her class wasnt textbook learning. Rather, it was providing the girls with a safe space to talk about how they felt about the world  and how they felt the world saw them.

When Lopes realized that it was her former student who was brutally stabbed by a random stranger on the MacArthur BART Station platform Sunday, she broke down in tears.

Lopes described Wilson as an infectious personality.

You knew when she was in the room. You knew when she was around, Lopes said. To me, she just represented life  a young girl growing up in Oakland and doing her best to get through.

Certainly, Wilsons slaying has many BART passengers thinking about their safety, and Im one of them. But for many women of color Ive spoken to who work with girls, Wilsons horrific death has prompted a larger discussion about the safety of black women and girls in public spaces.

Thats because too many young girls of color who grow up in Oakland know the dangers of simply walking down the street or standing at the bus station.

Now they have to worry about standing on a BART platform.

This is one reason hundreds of people marched through Oaklands streets after a vigil shouting Wilsons name  because Oakland cant overlook the daily obstacles women like Wilson must navigate and endure.

Lopes told her students she understood what they faced.

I know what youre battling against, trying to keep yourself safe, always having to look over your shoulder, said Lopes, 32, who was raised in East Oakland and grew up riding public transportation to school.

Wilsons death reminded Brooklyn Williams, a youth development professional in Alameda County, of what it felt like for her to walk around as a young woman on San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley. She recalled that during her freshman year of high school she and her best friend started wearing baggy clothing and hoodies to walk from their apartment complex to the corner store.

They wanted to look like boys to escape advances from men.

You learn how to navigate as best you can, she said. No one told us that specific strategy. We kind of intuitively figured it out.

Williams continued: From a youth development standpoint, our girls need so much, and we do the best that we can as a community to make them feel protected, to make them feel valued, to offer these counter-narratives so that they can also see the value in themselves.

Girls Inc. of Alameda County  a nonprofit organization that prepares girls from neglected neighborhoods to navigate gender, economic and racial barriers  encourages girls to be smart and bold and not to shrink from challenges.

And always to be aware of their surroundings.

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.

Her murder brings light to how unsafe our girls are, Odette Rushing, a 24-year-old program leader at Girls Inc., told me. I am Nia Wilson. Any other young girl is Nia Wilson. That couldve happened to any of us.

Julayne Virgil, the Girls Inc. CEO, said Wilsons death puts fear into other young girls.

To me it was an example of what were up against, the devaluing of girls, she said. This is the physical manifestation of their devaluing.

Black people, whenever they are not in black spaces, are hyper-visible because of the marker of skin color, according to Nikki Jones, an associate professor in the African American Studies department at UC Berkeley. In other words, blackness can draw attention for reasons beyond a black persons control.

If they have particular kinds of class markers, that might make them stand out as to what others think to be a certain kind of black woman that fits with these kinds of stereotypes that circulate about black women as always open, always available, hyper-sexual, Jones said. So just being in public space can, for some people, trigger that set of stereotypes, and makes the behaviors and actions of black people in public space more suspect and come under closer scrutiny than others.

We dont yet know why Wilsons killer singled her and her sister out of a crowd. The assumption by many is that it was a racially motivated attack, though city leaders and investigators have said the motivation is unknown.

For many like Williams, the attack is connected to the deeper issue of the vulnerability of black girls, who she said begin thinking about their safety before theyre teenagers. Now, Williams said, youth educators like herself have one more story to warn these girls about.

At the end of the day, I would like to see that her death is not something that just becomes a news cycle, Williams said. I would like to see this as a movement to reclaim the protection of our girls.

You have to try and make meaning and to use it for something good. Thats part of our survival. Thats how we keep going.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Otis R. Taylor Jr. appears Mondays and Thursdays. Email: otaylor@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @otisrtaylorjrCalifornia stands to gain little from a $12 billion federal aid package for U.S. farmers facing new tariffs, according to state agriculture groups.

The three-pronged program, set to begin in the fall, includes direct financial support for farmers, government purchases of excess crops for food banks and other programs, and more marketing funds.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said producers of soybeans, sorghum, corn, wheat, cotton, dairy and hogs would qualify for direct aid. That appears to largely benefit Midwestern states, said Richard Waycott, CEO of the Almond Board of California, which has 7,000 growers as members.

The direct aid leaves out producers of Californias main agricultural exports, including almonds, pistachios and oranges. Those farmers stand to lose the most if trade tensions escalate with China and other countries.

I think its fair to say California wont participate much, Waycott said. It really doesnt have much in here for specialty crops, which include nuts and fruits, which account for much of the states exports.

If the funding does focus on grains, it is likely that we in California wont get as much as we were expecting, said Sara Neagu-Reed, federal legislative associate at the California Farm Bureau Federation.

Trade groups said opportunities for selling crops to the government will also be limited.

Its a little bit disappointing, the buying program that theyre talking about, said Joel Nelson, president of California Citrus Mutual, a nonprofit trade association that represents 2,500 growers.

Historically, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has purchased lower quality products at lower price, he said. Nobody in our business participates in that program.

There needs to be more engagement with the industry, rather than just blindsiding us, Nelson said.

The sale of almonds to the government will also be limited, Waycott said. Almonds cost $2.50 to $3.50 per pound, while peanuts cost under $1 per pound, which would make them more attractive as the government seeks to purchase the greatest amount of product, he said.

In 2016, China was the third-largest market for California agricultural exports, behind the European Union and Canada, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture. China accounted for $2 billion of the states total agricultural exports of $20 billion. On July 6, China enacted tariffs of up to 51 percent on major California agricultural exports.

Wine Country could feel a pinch, with demand for high-end wine rising among Chinas middle class. U.S. wine exports to China rose 15.3 percent in January through May compared with the prior year, according to the Wine Institute in San Francisco. China imposed a 35 percent tariff on wine in July.

More Information A bumper crop of tariffs The state's most valuable export crops face higher tariffs as trade tensions rise. China placed higher tariffs on nuts, fruits and dairy products in July in retaliation for sanctions the U.S. imposed on Chinese goods. State's top agriculture exports to China, 2016 (1) Pistachios: $530.5 million (45 percent Chinese tariff as of July 6) (2) Almonds: $518.1 million (50 percent tariff) (3) Wine: $161 million (35 percent tariff) (4) Oranges: $133 million (51 percent tariff) (5) Dairy: $126.3 million (40 percent tariff) (6) Grapes: $86.5 million (53 percent tariff) (7) Walnuts: $78 million (65 percent tariff) (8) Raisins: $29.2 million (50 percent tariff) Total agricultural exports: $2 billion Source: California Department of Food and Agriculture See More Collapse

Separately, President Trump and European Union officials said on Wednesday that they were in discussions for a zero tariff deal.

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The Port of Oakland, Northern Californias major trade hub with China, said the impact of tariffs, as well as the $12 billion in aid, remains unclear. It is projecting 2 percent growth in imports during the busy August to October season this year.

The Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday that more details would be released by Labor Day. Neagu-Reed and Waycott both expect the majority of the $12 billion in aid to fund direct payments.

It really is a band-aid, said Neagu-Reed. Our growers would prefer trade over aid.

California exports around 70 percent of its almond production and accounts for around 80 percent of the worlds supply. The U.S. Department of Agriculture expects a record high 2.45 billion pounds of California almonds harvested this year, 8 percent higher than last year.

Waycott said the impact of tariffs on prices and export volume should be clearer by September when this years harvest gets under way.

The trade dispute with China has the potential of moving from a problem to becoming a crisis, Nelson said. He said the only recent comparable challenge was a 2015 West Coast port strike that he said cost the state citrus industry over $600 million in exports.

Roland Li is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: roland.li@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rolandlisfSHANGHAI  For Facebook, success in China was brief. Very brief.

For several hours, a Chinese government database showed that Facebook had gained approval to open a subsidiary in the eastern province of Zhejiang. Facebook said it would use the company to set up an innovation hub there.

Then the registration disappeared, and references to the subsidiary were partially censored in Chinese media.

Now the approval has been withdrawn, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak on the record and declined to be named.

While the about-face does not definitively end Facebooks chances of establishing the company, it makes success very unlikely, the person said. The decision to take down the approval, the person added, came after a disagreement between officials in Zhejiang and the national internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, which was angry that it had not been consulted more closely.

A Facebook spokeswoman declined to comment. The Cyberspace Administration of China, the Zhejiang provincial government and the municipal government in Hangzhou, Zhejiangs provincial capital, did not respond to requests for comment.

The strange incident underscores how much of a challenge it has become for the globe-spanning social network to get into China  even just to open an innovation center.

Its main platform has been blocked in China for almost a decade. Its other services, such as Instagram, were once popular in China but have since also fallen behind the governments filters. While Facebook had hoped to dip a toe in the market and work with Chinese developers, its very presence appears to have become a large, and incendiary, political question here.

Google, which has also long seen its services blocked in China, has recently made progress there, opening an artificial-intelligence center and releasing a game in the market. In June, Google said it would invest $550 million in the Chinese e-commerce company JD.com. Other U.S. tech companies, like LinkedIn, have maintained a presence by censoring content at Beijings request.

The kerfuffle also illustrates how complicated Chinas bureaucracy can be. Foreign companies seeking to expand here must navigate a vast and decentralized government in which provinces, cities and ministries all vie for influence and power. While one part of the government may be happy to support a foreign company like Facebook, that could ruffle feathers elsewhere. Facebook seems to have fallen victim to such a scenario.

The government turnaround is only the latest incident in the long, strange history of relations between the worlds largest social network and its largest internet market.

Over the years, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has tried myriad ways to court China. He asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to suggest a Chinese name for his child during a state visit, held a Mandarin-language question-and-answer session with students that was widely shared, and even posted photos from a smog-filled jog through Tiananmen Square.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Facebook has experimented with a censorship tool and ran a photo-sharing application in China, called Colorful Balloons, without putting its name to the service. Colorful Balloons was eventually taken down and also did not seem to have any official approval from the Cyberspace Administration.

For Facebook, angering officials at Chinas internet regulator could make progress particularly difficult, especially as new personnel have just taken over managing the relationship with the Chinese government.

At the end of last year, Facebooks former head of government relations, Wang-Li Moser, left the company. Moser, who had been brought in from Intel to help Facebook court Chinas leadership, had become a sign of the companys ambitions, although she struggled to make headway.

Stepping in to replace her has been Zhang Jingmei, who created the company that ran the anonymous Colorful Balloons app, and William Shuai, who was once a low-level Chinese official. Both were listed on the board of the newly created, and quickly disappeared, subsidiary in Zhejiang.

Paul Mozur is a New York Times writer.It didnt look like foul play when authorities first discovered Raynard Hydes lifeless body last week in Santa Claras Central Park.

The 54-year-olds nose was bloodied as he lay motionless near the duck pond, officials said Wednesday, but it wasnt until an autopsy concluded that Hydes cause of death was a homicide that police arrested one of his co-workers.A San Francisco coffee company has joined the outcry over the services Salesforce provides to U.S. Customs and Border Protection by turning down a $40,000 contract to serve drinks at Dreamforce, Salesforces annual user conference.

Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters gets opportunities to brew thousands of cups of coffee at massive conferences only a few times a year. So when George P. Johnson Experience Marketing, which contracts with Salesforce to provide catering services for Dreamforce, reached out to Wrecking Ball owners Nick Cho and Trish Rothgeb, the two said they eagerly entered into discussion.

For us as a coffee roaster, I can say that $40,000 would pay for our raw coffee supply for about two months, Cho wrote in an email.

Dreamforce takes place Sept. 25-28 this year. Last year, according to Salesforce figures, 161,000 people registered for the San Francisco conference. The proposed contract was to provide free coffee to attendees, and Wrecking Ball was assured that lines regularly stretched into the hundreds of people. Cho and Rothgeb said the two companies talked about the previous subcontractors fee of $36,000 and agreed on a cap of $40,000.

As the Wrecking Ball co-CEOs finalized their proposal, news broke on July 19 that the nonprofit Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services was rejecting a $250,000 donation from Salesforce, which is headquartered in San Francisco, because of its relationship with the customs agency. CBP has been responsible for enforcing the Trump administrations policy of separating the children of asylum-seekers from their parents, which the administration has since rescinded.

Salesforce announced in March that it had contracted with CBP to help with the agencys recruiting and drive efficiencies around how U.S. border activities are managed.

Thousands of Salesforce customers have since signed petitions asking Salesforce to cancel its contract with CBP. In late June, more than 650 employees also sent an open letter to CEO Marc Benioff demanding the same, according to Bloomberg. Some protested outside their workplace several weeks later.

Benioff has defended the contract, tweeting this month, Salesforce always will be true to our core values. We dont work with CBP regarding separation of families. A Salesforce spokeswoman referred The Chronicle to Benioffs statement.

Cho said that the couple has felt a personal connection to the U.S. governments actions: He immigrated to the United States as a toddler, and Rothgebs father was born in the Philippines.

Are we going to, as a lot of people do, turn a blind eye and say the world is dirty, nobodys perfect, or is this a situation where we reject a $40,000 opportunity and make a statement? Cho said.

The two have a small cafe on Union Street but a large social media presence, often taking the coffee industry to task around discrimination and racist or sexist imagery. They regularly travel around the world for trainings and competitions.

Because we do occupy a thought-leader position, theres more attention on what we do, and therefore theres a burden of leadership, Cho said.

Business is going to have to be the resistance we want to see, Rothgeb said. Thats the truth. You cant get anything done unless business is going to take a stand.

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The two submitted a bid Wednesday to serve coffee at Dreamforce if Salesforce withdraws from the CBP contract  but otherwise they said they were canceling the contract. A paragraph included a request for George P. Johnson Marketing to forward on to Salesforce: We respectfully ask that Salesforce discontinue providing tools for CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the two wrote. We are requesting this discontinuation as a precondition of our agreement to provide coffee services at Dreamforce 2018.

Benioff wrote in his tweet this month that Salesforce does not have an agreement with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.

George P. Johnson Marketing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Forty thousand dollars may be small change for Salesforce, but for Wrecking Ball, its not money easily turned down.

Its a pretty big deal and its scary and it feels right, Cho said.

Jonathan Kauffman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jkauffman@sfchronicle.com Twitter @jonkauffmanIn a state with a partisan split thats broad and growing wider, environmental issues provide a surprising bridge between Democrats and Republicans, a new poll by the Public Policy Institute of California indicates.

Proposition 3, an $8.9 billion bond on the November ballot for a range of water projects, has support from 58 percent of Californias likely voters, with 25 percent opposed and 17 percent undecided, the poll indicates. But while 72 percent of Democrats surveyed back the bond measure, whats striking is that Republicans, despite a well-documented aversion to new spending, also support the spending, 43 percent to 38 percent.

On a variety of California environmental issues, a solid percentage of Republicans show theyre willing to break with President Trump and his environmental policies on subjects like water policy and global warming, said Mark Baldassare, the institutes CEO and president as well as director of the poll.

Many Republicans want stronger environmental protection and believe in climate change, he said. Theyre concerned about air pollution and auto emissions.

That doesnt mean California Republicans are lining up to join the Sierra Club. While 82 percent of Democrats and 66 percent of independents surveyed were opposed to allowing more oil drilling off the California coast, 54 percent of GOP adults were in favor of it.

But while the poll found that 80 percent of California Republican were happy with the job Trump is doing as president, that fell to 67 percent when they were asked about his performance on environmental issues.

Californians have a unique perspective on historic environmental issues, such as smog and drought, Baldassare said. It wasnt that long ago that a Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was talking about the danger of climate change.

More than 40 percent of Republicans  and 67 percent of California adults overall  support a law calling on the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, the poll indicates. Republicans are split down the middle on a measure requiring 100 percent of the states electricity to come from renewable sources by 2045.

And while the Trump administration is poised to block Californias long-held ability to set stricter auto emission standards than the federal governments, 34 percent of Republicans stand with the state.

While thats far less than the 74 percent of Democrats and 62 percent of independents pushing for the higher standards, its at least a point of contact between the often-warring partisans.

The states strong environmental lean also gets plenty of support from black and Latino residents, the poll found.

Among Latinos, 64 percent see global warming as a very serious threat to Californias economy and its future. Thats a view held by 56 percent of all California adults, including 60 percent of African Americans and 50 percent of whites.

Asked whether air pollution is a big problem, 37 percent of both Latinos and blacks agree, compared with 22 percent of whites. The overall total among California adults is 29 percent. Latinos also are far more likely than whites to be inclined to vote for the water bond, 76 percent to 53 percent.

Environmental concerns are very strong in the African American and Latino communities, which could stem from national stories about water pollution and other dangers in heavily minority communities like Flint, Mich., Baldassare said. Thats one of the most important takeaways from this poll.

The survey shows just how deeply environmental concerns are ingrained in Californians, regardless of party or ethnicity, he said.

The environment is a very personal thing in California, Baldassare said. Air pollution, drought, water quality and wildfires are not Republican versus Democrat issues.

The poll was taken July 8-17 and is based on a telephone survey of 1,711 California adults, including 1,020 likely voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points for all adults and plus or minus 4.3 percentage points for likely voters.

John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfwildermuthSergio Marchionne, the executive who pulled two ailing carmakers from the brink of collapse and led the improbable transformation of Fiat Chrysler into an automotive giant, died Wednesday in Zurich. He was 66.

John Elkann, chairman and chief executive of Exor, the holding company controlled by the Agnelli family, which founded Fiat in 1899, announced the death in a statement.

Marchionne had been incapacitated about three weeks ago by sudden complications of shoulder surgery, which he had undergone in Zurich. He was reportedly later put on life support. After Fiat Chrysler announced that he would be unable to return to work, the company hastily appointed a successor last weekend.

Unfortunately, what we feared has come to pass, Elkann said Wednesday. Sergio Marchionne, man and friend, is gone.

Marchionne took over Fiat, in Turin, Italy, in 2004 and spearheaded the acquisition of Chrysler in 2009. On both occasions, the businesses were near low ebbs and few gave him any chance of success. But he defied those gloomy predictions. Today, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Ferrari, which was spun off during Marchionnes tenure, are worth nearly 10 times as much as they were when he took over.

An Italian-born Canadian, Marchionne had a reputation as a chain-smoking workaholic, one who forged his career as a tax consultant before moving on to a metals-trading firm and a trade services company.

His legacy was defined, however, by his work in the automotive industry. When he was hired by the Agnelli family to run the company, it was faltering and they charged him with reversing its long decline.

Soon after becoming chief executive, he took advantage of an existing deal between General Motors and Fiat to attempt to force GM to buy the Italian carmaker.

But his decision to drive a hard bargain for Chrysler in 2009 may be the one that defined his career.

As the Treasury Department in Washington hastened to prevent the collapse of much of the U.S. auto industry in the wake of the financial crisis, Marchionne stepped forward with an audacious offer. Fiat would take control of Chrysler, the sickest of Detroits Big Three automakers, and provide cars and technology to revive it.

There was a catch, however: The government would have to hand Chrysler over to Fiat free of charge.

It was the beginning of one of the most remarkable rescues in the auto industry. Today Fiat Chrysler, while still facing challenges, is solidly profitable.

Neal E. Boudette and Elisabetta Povoledo are New York Times writers.Working in a wasteland Sent to work on a Superfund site, they were told they were safe. But the S.F. cops stationed at the old Hunters Point shipyard had good reason to doubt.

Working in a wasteland Sent to work on a Superfund site, they were told they were safe. But the S.F. cops stationed at the old Hunters Point shipyard had good reason to doubt.

Fourteen years before the lump appeared on his neck, Nelson Lums San Francisco police unit was transferred to a new office in an unexpected location: the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard.

The shipyard is a federal Superfund waste site. By definition, its one of the most contaminated places in the country, tainted by radioactivity, heavy metals and other pollution. But in 1996, the toxic land offered what few places in San Francisco could: lots of space for a low price.

That year, the city decided to lease a large, empty building owned by the Navy for below-market rates. Known only as Building 606, it became the new headquarters for some specialized police units, including the SWAT team, the bomb squad, the Honda Unit, the K-9 Unit and the crime lab. Before long, more than 100 officers and civilians were clocking in at the shipyard every day.

It was safe, according to the city and the Navy. They told the people in Building 606 that any nearby contaminants were minimal, too scant to cause harm.

The building is clean, absolutely, and the area around it is clean, a Navy representative promised in a March 1997 news story.

But at times, the cops felt unsure. Lum took Police Academy recruits on training runs around the shipyard, and more than once he was stunned when they passed Navy contractors outfitted in HazMat gear: goggles, respirators, disposable Tyvek uniforms.

Im in my shorts, and here are these guys walking around in space suits, Lum recalled. Whats wrong with this picture?

Lum, 70, spent thousands of hours at the shipyard over eight years. He worked there every day for about a year, then returned regularly as a sergeant to lead SWAT exercises and academy trainings. He retired in 2005 and didnt think much more about it.

In 2011, his wife noticed the lump on his neck. A biopsy confirmed it was malignant. Lum had thyroid cancer.

He asked his doctors if there might be a link to his time at the shipyard. They said they had no way of knowing.

Now cancer-free after two surgeries and two courses of radiation, Lum has been thinking about the shipyard again in recent months, alarmed by a scandal that has rocked the Navys billion-dollar effort to remove toxic material from the site.

The cleanup is a sprawling drama with a large cast. The Navy owns the land and hires contractors to test it and haul away contaminants. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other regulators oversee the work. But somewhere along the line things went awry. Half a dozen former radiation workers have accused the main cleanup contractor, Tetra Tech, of violating safety standards to save money and make the site appear clean when it wasnt. Two former Tetra Tech supervisors were sentenced to federal prison this year after admitting they falsified records and swapped soil samples. And the Navy and EPA say they have found wider patterns of likely fraud or manipulation in many radioactivity measurements across the site.

Tetra Tech has stood by its work and contested the whistle-blowers allegations, saying that claims made against Tetra Tech EC by a handful of former subcontractors and employees are false. Yet now the Navy is preparing to retest much of the shipyard.

We pretty much believed that the city would not put us in danger, Lum said. But lately, after hearing about problems with the cleanup, I mean, it makes you wonder.

Lum is among hundreds of cops and civilians who worked at 606 over the years, and one of many trying to figure out if they were put at risk. The city still leases the building; about 40 police employees work there today.

In early May, another retired SFPD officer contacted The Chronicle, asking whether reporters had heard of Building 606. Since then, Chronicle reporters have interviewed 30 former police officers who worked there and have examined hundreds of documents related to 606 and its surroundings, including leases, emails between public officials and decades-old Navy files.

Those records show the shipyard posed threats to city employees from the beginning. According to city and Navy reports, Building 606s tap water and ventilation system were initially contaminated, and toxic gases were released near the building on multiple occasions. The Navy later discovered radioactive materials next door to Building 606 and in surrounding areas, raising the possibility of wider problems. But the Navy waited years to probe further  and when an investigation was finally performed, it was done by Tetra Tech, whose work is now in question.

Retired officers told The Chronicle that potential hazards werent clearly explained.

We called it the Land of the Lost because they left us out there, said Paul Swiatko, 68, a retired officer who was stationed at 606 with the Honda Unit, cops who rode dirt bikes. We were kept in the dark.

The Navy and SFPD sent statements in response to questions for this story, emphasizing that the building is safe.

Based on a review of all available site related information, the Navy remains confident that Building 606 is safe for occupancy, wrote Derek Robinson, the Navys environmental coordinator for the shipyard. A police spokesman said concerns and potential issues about 606 over the last two decades have been documented by commanders and promptly addressed. He said the San Francisco Department of Public Health has consistently assured SFPD that Building 606 is safe for the men and women who work there.

The health department is the lead city agency monitoring the shipyard cleanup. In response to questions about Building 606, a spokeswoman wrote, It is very important that the past and current occupants of Building 606 know that they were and are safe, and that there is no evidence of exposure to health hazards related to the Shipyard cleanup in that building. Because there is no exposure, there is no risk.

An EPA spokeswoman said in an email that the lease restricted cops to safe areas, and added that the building was designed to protect workers from any contaminants that might lay beneath. EPA believes the workers in Building 606 are protected from potential radiological and volatile organic compound contamination, she said.

This, in essence, has been the official story for decades, told in certainties and absolutes. The shipyard has been portrayed as a known quantity and its cleanup as a tidy process, controlled by restrictions noted on paper, fences in the field, and oversight by multiple regulators.

The reality is more complex, as the saga of Building 606 demonstrates. It goes beyond cops and dirt, helping explain why San Franciscos most important redevelopment project since the 1906 earthquake has consumed a quarter century and a billion dollars and still isnt done. Records show that officials shortened environmental reviews as part of a scramble to open the shipyard to commerce. The Navy distorted the history and potential risks of the Building 606 site. And the city signed on. The ones with the least power, and least information, were the hundreds of people who worked there. And for them, the shipyard was a place of chaos, danger and mystery.

Fallout

On July 25, 1946, off Bikini Atoll, a set of small islands in the Pacific Ocean, the U.S. military performed one of the most dramatic atomic tests of the 20th century, known as Shot Baker. A large bomb was detonated underwater. The ocean heaved. In a giant and unprecedented spectacle, as one military account later described it, a million tons of water spurted up in a great white column a mile high, spreading into an incandescent dome of toxic moisture.

At the dawn of the Cold War, the military wanted to know how ships and people would be damaged by the deadly and long-lasting radioactive poisons spread by nuclear explosions. So they brought nearly 100 target ships to Bikini, some loaded with live pigs and sheep, and set off two atomic bombs at close range, the second of which was Baker.

The results startled U.S. officials. They had expected some contamination but not the near-total poisoning they observed among the assembled cruisers, battleships and aircraft carriers. Shot Baker soaked the ships, turning them into radioactive stoves that would have burned all living things aboard with invisible and painless but deadly radiation, officials wrote in a secret cable to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington.

The Navy tried to decontaminate the ships at Bikini, sending in crews of sailors to scrub the decks with soap and brushes. It didnt work. Their clothes became radioactive. The pigs started to keel over and die.

The military ordered the most heavily contaminated ships to proceed to Hunters Point, where a group of Navy scientists and civilians had been studying radiation. The U.S. government hoped these experts might know how to handle the radioactive death armada it had created.

Eighteen target ships and 61 support ships made the voyage to San Francisco. When they arrived, the scientists examined them, dragging the nuclear fallout into the shipyard.

First known as the RADLAB, then the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory, or NRDL, the Navys research group was centered in the southern end of the shipyard. The 500-acre shipyard is shaped a bit like a human left hand. The original NRDL buildings stood in the depression of the palm  the same area where, decades later, hundreds of elite San Francisco police officers would be stationed.

Among these buildings were hot chemistry and biology labs, kennels for animals given lethal doses of radiation, and storage vaults for radioactive elements used in the experiments. The Navy also stashed drums of radioactive waste in temporary shacks in the area.

In the decades to come, one of the buildings in particular would shape the police presence at the shipyard: Building 503, originally a kitchen and mess hall. After the A-bomb tests, Navy leaders realized that a special facility was needed to wash the contaminated clothing of sailors at Hunters Point. An urgent request for funds was made, and a laundry was installed inside 503  a Radioactive Laundry.

The 1940s and 50s were a more lenient era , safetywise. Navy records describe the shipyards first radiological safety section as a small band of junior officers with equipment consisting of one coffee pot and six Geiger counters, only two of which worked. To illuminate the dials of instruments and base signage, the Navy used glowing paint made of radium-226, a powerful radiation emitter that decays into radon gas. Spills of radioactive materials were not uncommon. At the Radioactive Laundry, each wash cycle could flush more than 100 gallons of wastewater through the pipes and drains, potentially leaking into the soil.

The work left behind unknown quantities of what the Navy calls radionuclides of concern, everything from the radium in the dials to the components of atomic fallout and science experiments, including cesium-137, which emits harmful beta and gamma rays, and strontium-90, which mimics calcium and damages bone marrow , potentially leading to cancer.

Navy Radiological Defense Laboratory at at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard October 25, 1955 Envelope says Rear Admiral Frederick Furth and Rear Admiral Albert Mumma and Dr. P. C. Tompkins Navy Radiological Defense Laboratory at at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard October 25, 1955 Envelope says Rear Admiral Frederick Furth and Rear Admiral Albert Mumma and Dr. P. C. Tompkins Photo: Bob Campbell / The Chronicle 1955 Photo: Bob Campbell / The Chronicle 1955 Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close Amid a toxic landscape, SF found a home for its elite cops 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

The NRDL closed in 1969, but radioactivity remained, in the drain lines and the soil, and the Navy mostly just left it there, razing former rad-lab structures and creating some new buildings atop the old soil.

This was the case with Building 606, the future police office. Originally intended to support a historic battleship, it was a roomy steel rectangle, with 54,000 square feet of warehouse space on the first floor and another 36,000 square feet of offices. The Navy built it in 1989 directly above the former site of the Radioactive Laundry. Its parking lot to the south grazed the soil footprints of two former radiation laboratories.

Despite the history of the property, the Navy didnt check the soil for likely contaminants such as radium-226, cesium-137 and strontium-90. Instead, it decided on a strategy of prevention. It scooped off the top 5 feet of soil from the old laundry site and set it to the side, using the void as a crawl space beneath a portion of the new building. The crawl space was ventilated and covered with a concrete slab . Such barriers may diminish radiation and other hazards , but dont necessarily eliminate them.

As soon as it was completed, 606 was no longer needed. The battleship wasnt coming to San Francisco, after all. The building sat vacant until 1991, when it was briefly pressed into service as a military post office during Operation Desert Storm. Then it emptied again until 1994, when a film company subleased it temporarily as a soundstage for the childrens movie James and the Giant Peach.

The film crew entered, the stop-motion models were shot, the peach ascended into a cartoon-blue sky, and again 606 was abandoned, another shell in a ghost town.

The city of San Francisco saw an opportunity.

Good to go

A list of vacant shipyard buildings started to circulate through San Francisco city offices in 1994.

For city officials, especially soon-to-be-mayor Willie Brown, the list was like a treasure map. They had dreamed of developing the shipyard, of transforming the desolate, windblown acres into houses, businesses and new streams of tax revenue.

It would help grow the city and the surrounding neighborhood, Bayview-Hunters Point, a historically black community with high rates of poverty, asthma and other health problems. Residents had long been concerned about the toxic acres next door.

The investment opportunity here represents something thats unique in America, Brown would later say at the groundbreaking ceremony for the first housing development on shipyard land. There is no other piece of soil as potentially lucrative and profitable for the public sector and private sector.

Brown is a principal at an investment fund that raises money for the sites master developer, Lennar/FivePoint; a former Brown adviser who worked on shipyard leases, Kofi Bonner, is FivePoints co-chief operating officer.

In the beginning, no one knew how much the shipyard would cost to clean up, or how long it would take, but everyone was in a hurry to get started. The city wanted to develop the land. The Navy wanted to be rid of it. And Brown, who took over the mayors office in 1996, wanted a legacy.

To the city, leasing some of the shipyards empty buildings seemed like a logical first step, and it had a perfect tenant in mind: the Police Department. At the time, its Tactical Division was spread across four city locations, decreasing its effectiveness. The city priced the monthly rents for buildings of similar size: $275,052 for a warehouse next to Candlestick Park, $138,000 for space on Harbor Bay Island in Alameda. In contrast, Building 606 would cost a mere $18,000.

On Feb. 13, 1996, Brown appeared at Building 606 with Navy officials, announcing the deal: The citys development agency would lease 606 and two additional buildings at Hunters Point, subleasing 606 to the Police Department. Brown hailed it as a first step in bringing life back to the shipyard.

The sooner the Navy gets out of town, the better, Brown joked.

On Wednesday, Brown, who writes a column for The Chronicle, said police leadership pushed for the site and he supported the idea: My capable police chiefs at the time recommended using that site, and I approved it. We were working with the information we had at the time.

Brown said he couldnt recall specifics behind the move to the shipyard. But city documents from 1996 suggest he played an active role and was a driving force behind it. A city development specialist referred to the Mayors desire to place the Field Operations Bureau of the Police Department in Building 606, and a police captain said he thought the Mayor wanted the SFPD out there long term.

When Brown and others pitched the 606 deal to the public, the focus was on the promise of economic development, not the health and environmental challenges of running a busy office at a Superfund site. In documents required by federal law, however, the Navy and EPA had been taking an inventory of toxic material.

At Superfund sites authorities set cleanup goals, acceptable levels of different contaminants based on the cancer risk posed to humans living or working on the site. In the early 1990s, the Navy found substances in the soil around Building 606 at elevated levels requiring cleanup, including heavy metals like lead that can cause brain damage and industrial chemicals like benzene. To the west lay two toxic areas: a waste dump 800 feet away, containing about 2,750 radioactive radium dials, according to one city estimate, and a landfill farther north that was full of hazardous chemicals from a ship-repair company.

As early as 1993, the Navy also knew there were serious problems with lead and copper in the drinking water supplied to shipyard buildings. The water was corrosive to pipes, leaching lead into the water at unsafe levels.

Although the Navy listed some known hazards in lease documents for Building 606, the leasing process was built for speed. The original term of the lease was short, limited to a year and a half. The Navy concluded that a temporary police presence would cause no significant impact to human safety or the environment, which cleared the way for an abbreviated review of the site.

The Navy offered the building as is and included a few restrictions: The city had to put a fence around 606 and couldnt dig in the soil without Navy approval. Although contaminants may be present immediately outside and nearby Building 606, they are not accessible if proper precautions are followed, the Navy wrote.

The sites extensive radioactive history was summarized in a few brisk and misleading paragraphs. No radiological hazards are expected.

The Navy didnt mention that a Radioactive Laundry had operated on the land where Building 606 sits. The Navy gave the former structure a more innocuous name, Ships Subsistence and Laundry, and wrote that it had no history of the storage or use of hazardous materials.

As for the lead and copper in drinking water, the Navy didnt mention that either, although the sublease to the Police Department did point out the moral dangers of doing business with Northern Ireland or Myanmar, as required by city code.

The EPA signed off on the paperwork, the Board of Supervisors approved the lease, and the city prepared to move in  over the objections of the Police Officers Association. The city health department promised to monitor the cops well-being. An industrial hygienist would be assigned to Building 606 to keep the police informed about any risks posed by the evolving cleanup.

Hazardous waste sites can contain many unknowns, city health official Vickie Wells wrote in a letter to a police captain.

To reassure the police, the SFPD held a big meeting in January 1997. The Navy and Mayor Browns office sent representatives. The Navy told cops their area was clean.

I was worried because I knew they did nuclear testing, said Alexandria Brunner-Jones, a K-9 officer at Building 606 from 1997 to 2010. They said, No, weve done all the soil samples, its clean, youre good to go.

At one point, according to several officers who were there, an officer asked the mayors aide: If your kids were to attend school at that Superfund site in the shipyard, would you be OK with it?

After a long pause, the aide replied, Well, I cant answer that question.

You just did, the cop said.

Blue canaries

From the main gate of the shipyard, its a mile to Building 606. Start at the top of the hill, on a 75-acre chunk of land known as Parcel A, where a private developer now sells million-dollar homes, and drive downhill into a grim plain of mostly derelict buildings that stretches to the bay.

Crows, wind, dirt, broken windows. Keep going south, toward the water, and one building stands out, an intact two-story structure with light-gray siding and four palm trees flanking the entrance: Building 606.

We trusted that it was a safe area, said Eddie St. Andre, 80, a retired SWAT officer. That the city wouldnt even allow us to go out there if it was a hazard.

The cops didnt know it when they moved in, but the building had been sitting dormant for six years, and the Navy hadnt cleaned it. When the ventilation system was turned on, years of accumulated dust and other debris went coursing through the building.

The tap water tasted funny, too. Occupants complained of a greasy texture, an oily smell. The Police Department brought in bottled water, at a cost of $450 a month.

Cops started getting sick. A physician with UC San Francisco examined eight officers and documented dry coughs, eye irritation, rashes and headaches, as well as dizziness, light headedness, tiredness, weakness, or irritability. Mark Madsen, a former member of the Tactical Division who worked at 606 for 12 years, said he developed a rash across his stomach and groin. His doctor, stumped, gave him a topical cream for psoriasis.

At the time, a few officers tipped off reporters, hoping the city would rethink the move, but police commanders said it was too late to reverse course. Asked for comment, one Navy official suggested in a March 1997 article that the cops were lazy.

I know the building is safe, said Domenic Zigant, regional base-conversion manager for the Navy. It appears the police officers dont want the longer commute.

In a July 1997 letter, four months after Zigants promise of safety, the Navy finally informed the city about high levels of lead and copper in the shipyards drinking water  a fact the Navy had known since 1993. The city fired back, Why the delay in notification? and asked if the Navy had told other shipyard tenants about the long term lead problem.

By that point, the city hygienist stationed at 606 was flagging a wide range of possible hazards, including the buildings tap water. Edward Ochi tracked the results of multiple tests in memos to health department leaders. In a June 1997 test of 606s drinking water, petroleum compounds were found in every water sample; two months later, one sample tested positive for lead at 17 times the safe level, Ochi reported. The water also contained trihalomethanes, chemicals that can cause heart and liver problems. Two years later, city officials were still struggling to fix the water, according to a 1999 email by the health departments Vickie Wells. She wrote that it was the citys problem to solve; the Navy wasnt likely to be much help, given the minimal amount of rent being paid.

The hygienist Ochi also warned his bosses about extremely poor communication from the Navy, saying he and the police at 606 rarely knew where Navy contractors were going to be working. He shared an astonishing story: In fall 1997, Navy contractors working at the toxic landfill accidentally punched holes in buried cylinders of chlorine gas  a deadly substance that can dissolve lung tissue when inhaled. The incident happened the equivalent of a few city blocks away from 606, but the Navy didnt tell the people in the building, who only heard about it later from a representative with a state water agency. Subsequent updates, Ochi said, came from a nearby sandwich shop.

Failure to immediately and (adequately) address concerns regarding site hazards, both real and perceived will result in illnesses and human suffering, losses in productivity, and ongoing morale problems, Ochi warned.

Asked about the memos, a health department spokeswoman said the city had acted on Ochis recommendations and took steps to improve communication with the Navy. She described the issues found at 606 as typical of dormant buildings. The hygienists monitored the air and water on a regular basis and repeatedly concluded the building was safe. Later tests of the water found no problems, according to a 1999 memo by the hygienist at the time, who believed the issues had been resolved by flushing the pipes. A Police Department spokesman said this month that bottled water is still supplied to 606 as a courtesy.

Cops had more to worry about than the building itself. They had to navigate the muddy roads of the shipyard to get to work in the morning, to leave for patrols in the city, and to go home at night. On regular training days, they might be stuck at the shipyard for 16 hours at a time, roaming far beyond Building 606.

K-9 officers ran their dogs in the fields, teaching them to sniff out bombs and drugs. The bomb squad fired explosives into dirt targets, and the SWAT team practiced searches in empty buildings containing asbestos and lead paint, stirring up dust that dulled their shoes. They shared the roads with trucks hauling tainted soil out of the shipyard, 80 to 100 truckloads per day during heavy periods, totaling tens of thousands of tons.

The city hygienists sometimes taped memos to the wall telling the police not to enter certain areas of the site. But cops questioned the hygienists ability to protect them. There was a lot of turnover in the role; in the first 10 years, six different hygienists served at 606 and the position was vacant for about five months in 1999 after Ochi left.

Police commanders also sometimes defied restrictions put in place by the hygienists or the Navy, according to former Muni Transit and Honda Unit Officer Bob Johnston. During a training program in 1999, Johnston said, he and other police were told to do crowd-control exercises in abandoned buildings near 606. Commanders had no permission to be in there, Johnston said. They told us to keep quiet about it. Asked about the incident, a police spokesman said the department has no knowledge of such an exercise near 606.

Stuck in the shipyards information vacuum, the cops were forced to interpret the strange things they saw, heard and smelled. And from time to time, they got hints that all wasnt right.

One day, a cops shoe melted. Hed gone for a run in a fairly new pair of running shoes and stowed them in his locker. By the next day, one of the shoes had just absolutely disintegrated, said Robert Malliaras, 59, who spent 12 years at the shipyard with SWAT and the Honda Unit.

On another occasion, a Department of Public Works employee refused to mow the overgrown weeds next to 606. He goes, No, its contaminated, Im not touching it, recalled Richard Lee, a former SWAT officer at 606 who later became the vehicle fleet manager.

The K-9 dogs started getting sick. At least two previously healthy German shepherds died of cancer after training at the shipyard. One had been trained by Brunner-Jones, including her favorite dog, a sable-colored German shepherd named Crocker. He was 9 when he ran into a glass door at top speed, injuring his spleen. A veterinarian found it full of tumors.

But perhaps the most troubling omen was a fire. Three and a half years after police moved onto the shipyard, smoke began to rise near the waterline. The August 2000 fire smoldered for a month, spewing smoke that was sometimes gray, sometimes multicolored with flares of green or blue. The smoke wafted toward the cops. But they couldnt get a clear answer about what might be burning, they said.

We were like, What the hell? recalled Oscar Carcelen, 59, a Muni transit officer who worked at 606 for seven years. Then we started figuring it out. This is all chemicals from shit they buried for years and years.

It was the landfill 2,000 feet to the northwest, one of the most tainted parcels at the shipyard. The Navy didnt notify the EPA of the fire until weeks later, according to news reports at the time. The cops said they tried frantically to get information from commanders and were told to avoid going outside when smoke was blowing toward the building.

The Navy was slow to test the gases in the plume that rose from the landfill, waiting three weeks to start collecting daily air samples. After the fire was out and contractors covered the landfill with a cap, the Navy reported it had found nine contaminants in air at the landfill, including arsenic and chloroform. A federal health agency concluded the fire could have caused short-term adverse health effects but no long-term damage.

The cops wanted out.

That year, the chief of police called the health department, saying that cops at 606 were concerned about hazardous radiation exposure, a health department leader reported to a colleague in an email. The health official thought the city should share more information. The police need reassuring, she wrote. I think what has happened is that our folks know whats going on, and that there is no risk involved, so have just dismissed the cops fears rather than providing the data, reassurance and guidance that the top command staff are looking for.

The police who worked in 606 said nothing changed. Two years later, in a meeting of city agencies, one participant described the police employees of 606 as paranoid, according to handwritten notes of the meeting.

The 606 cops felt like lab rats, canaries in a coal mine. Were the first ones in, Carcelen said. Were the blue canaries.

Grim jokes began to circulate:

At the shipyard, you dont need to use your headlights, because at night, you glow.

Twenty years from now, our balls are going to be green.

According to Madsen, The city still said, Hey, you guys are still safe there. We wouldnt put you out there if it wasnt safe.

Assume the worst

Decked out in a white hard hat, safety glasses and steel-toed safety boots, Bert Bowers walked slowly through the dusty fields near Building 606, holding a radiation scanner low to the ground.

It was 2002, and Bowers had just been hired to measure radioactivity at the shipyard. Bowers previously had spent decades as a rad tech and supervisor at nuclear plants, teaching the mantra of his profession: Assume the worst until you prove otherwise.

Its not rocket science, Bowers said recently. Its just the industry standard.

The Navy had ordered a survey of the neighborhood around 606  the birthplace of the rad labs  and it wasnt long before Bowers located trouble spots that caused his device to emit a loud whine that rose in pitch.

It was screaming hot, Bowers recalled  rad-tech parlance for a very high reading. He estimated that one of those areas was no more than 35 or 50 yards from Building 606. Bowers later joined Tetra Tech as its chief radiological safety officer and was fired, he said, for pointing out that the company was ignoring safety principles. Tetra Tech has said Bowers claims are false.

Around the same time Bowers found the hot readings with his scanner, more than 300 soil samples from this part of the shipyard, and an area a bit farther west, were tested for radioactivity. Within the top layer of soil, cesium-137 contamination was moderately extensive, according to a Navy report, while radium-226 was widespread. One sample from next to 606  south of the parking lot, where the Navy radiation labs used to be  showed an amount of radium-226 nearly three times higher than the cleanup goal.

The Navy and the EPA declared in 2004 that areas near Building 606 were radiologically impacted, which meant contamination was likely and more investigation needed to be done.

The shipyard had always been a place of mysteries, but with these new findings, the uncertainties were multiplying.

Instead of slowing down, though, the city turned 606 into a destination, former officers said. A helipad was built next door, drawing new traffic to the shipyard, and the city added audiovisual features to a large classroom in 606, offering training courses to cops in the city and beyond. The moves opened the shipyard to more people at a time when the cleanup was about to enter its most intense phase.

People were out cleaning with white suits and wearing masks, and we never had any of that, said Madsen. We just kept working out here. Working, running, training, showering, eating.

By 2005, the Navy was worried about the safety of its shipyard tenants, moving to end their leases before contractors started digging up and testing every sewer and storm line for contamination.

Our main concern was safety, Doug Gilkey, the Navys base closure manager, said in an August 2005 Chronicle article. These lines go under the roads. They go under buildings. When we start digging them up, were going to have trenches all over the base. Because of the safety, we needed to terminate those leases.

But city officials, confronted again with the possible dangers of the shipyard  this time by its owner  still didnt want to vacate Building 606.

The city asked to keep the lease. The Navy relented. The cops remained.

Conditions worsened, officers said. Eighteen-wheelers rattled the roads, carrying the concrete chunks of razed buildings and loads of contaminated soil and sand. To control the dust, contractors sprayed water on the same roads the cops were using, swamping their cars and motorcycles with mud.

It was filthy, said Sharon Ferrigno, who worked at Building 606 for four years as a lieutenant in the citys Homeland Security Unit. Our cars were just caked on with that junk.

The mud was in places where we worked out, places where we ate, places where we changed, said Madsen. We were there on a daily basis, up to 16, 18 hours a day sometimes, unprotected.

They never covered those trucks, Malliaras said. When the wind would blow, and it blew a lot, it would just blow that dirt everywhere.

Officers werent worried just about themselves; they felt guilty about taking pieces of the shipyard home to their families, their partners and kids, on their clothes and even in the fur of their K-9 dogs. Some of these guys, not me, but they slept with their dogs, said Gene Kalinin, 59, a retired K-9 officer. The dogs werent pets, but they lived with these guys. Some brought them in their houses.

Paul Swiatko was frustrated enough to write a memo to a captain in 2007. The Honda Unit officers, exposed on their dirt bikes, were getting swamped by unhealthy dust and sloppy slick mud, he wrote. The captain agreed that the situation was unacceptable, replying in a letter, We should have been out of here well before this construction project ever began. Swiatko said he never heard more after that.

The city did make a concession, acknowledging in a memo that there was an inordinate amount of dust and agreeing to pay $10,805.64 for 636 vouchers at the Tower Car Wash on Mission Street. Each employee at 606 got two free car washes per month.

The next year, 2009, most of the officers finally left the shipyard. The SFPD relocated the Tactical Division to a building in Potrero Hill, which was more central and allowed for quicker responses to emergencies.

But the city held onto the lease and has kept the crime lab in Building 606, along with 40 employees, even as the central question at 606 remains unanswered: Whats in the soil?

When the Tactical Division moved out in 2009, a comprehensive probe of the area had never been performed. In 2011 and 2012, a cleanup contractor finally tested a new set of soil samples  and partly because the contractor was Tetra Tech, the results produced more questions than answers.

Tetra Tech concluded that two areas south of the parking lot were clear of dangerous radioactivity. The company also checked the soil that had been excavated from beneath the building years earlier. Tetra Tech found elevated levels of cesium-137 in a few samples of that soil and disposed of it as low-level radioactive waste. But the Navy said last year that many of Tetra Techs measurements in this area cant be trusted and need to be retaken.

As for the soil directly beneath 606  soil that is still there  it was left alone. Authorities had said it needed to be checked for radioactivity. The area beneath Building 606 will require a radiological survey, and remediation if necessary, the Navy wrote in 2008. Based on available records, it doesnt appear this survey has ever been performed.

Today, government agencies are wrestling with large questions about the future of the shipyard  questions about retesting, about politics, about restoring public trust. Meanwhile, the city officials in charge of 606 have been facing more mundane challenges, at an aging building they were asked to leave long ago.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have another sewer line leak, a city engineer wrote on March 23, 2016.

The sewage system at 606 had broken down, resulting in periodic floods of liquid waste that threatened to shut down the crime lab. The emergency spawned emails between the city and Navy. These issues at Bldg 606 are getting to be numerous and ridiculous, one Navy staffer complained. Another Navy official pointed out that the city really should have left 606 a decade earlier.

If you recall at that time, the Navy wanted to cease all leasing, the Navy official wrote.

To fix the problem, an underground sewer vault was needed, and a pit had to be dug to hold the vault. But because this was Building 606, the question arose: Did the excavated soil need to be scanned for radioactivity? The Navy and city said no, as long as the pit was at least 5 feet away from an area that the Navy will eventually be retesting.

Scanning it will involve extra contracts & will take extra time & money & will delay the project, the health departments point person on the shipyard, Amy Brownell, emailed a Navy official in November. And since it can be avoided, lets take the easy path.

People still in the building remain nervous about radiation, according to recent emails provided by the health and police departments. On May 7, a crime lab staffer emailed the current city hygienist at 606, saying that employees were concerned about radiation in and around the building and asking if the hygienist could perform a radiation test. The hygienist didnt think so: We have some old Geiger counters that have not been calibrated for a few years, he replied. Beyond that we do not have radiation detection equipment.

That same week, something happened at 606 that echoed the warnings of communication problems from two decades prior: One of our employees was stopped and tested for radiation while walking in an area surrounding the building today, a crime lab employee emailed the hygienist. Apparently the employee had unknowingly entered a restricted area the Navy had designated for retesting. The hygienist fired off an email to his bosses, asking for information: Can you please look into this as soon as possible and let me know what is occurring out there.

A reunion

Theres a guy in Idaho who keeps track of dead and dying San Francisco cops, a retired SFPD officer named Rene LaPrevotte. When a police officer dies, he sends an email blast to about a thousand people, paying tribute. We call him the Grim Reaper, said Katherine Portoni, a former SFPD dispatcher. Actually, hes awesome.

Portonis husband, John, was the subject of a LaPrevotte email. John worked at Building 606 with the Tactical Division. Portoni used to visit him for lunch. I was like, Wow, what are they doing out here? she recalled. It was just a dingy place. John was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, in 2011 and died 13 months later.

Lately, LaPrevotte has used his email list to connect cops who worked at Building 606, and Madsen and others are doing the same, trying to assemble a picture of their health as a group and to better understand the risks they faced. There are officers who have already survived cancer or blood diseases: Nelson Lum; Sharon Ferrigno, who was diagnosed with melanoma in 2009 and had it surgically removed; Philip Brown, a former dirt-bike cop, who suffers from an autoimmune disease that destroys red blood cells.

They dont know if the shipyard is to blame. No scientific study of 606 workers has been done, and there is no evidence suggesting cancer rates among this group are higher than normal.

We realize that it would be tough to prove, Madsen said. The nature of the job is were out in the middle of a lot of things. And so wed always tell each other, Well, what if we came down with something? How are we going to prove that we got it from here? And guys would just throw up their hands.

On a weekday in May, six of the former shipyard officers who spoke to The Chronicle returned to Hunters Point to have a photo taken.

It was a gray, chilly day. They met at the main gate of the shipyard, where the master developer has already built 300 homes, and colorful banners line construction fences: A proud heritage, a new beginning. The back gate offers easier access to 606, so the officers carpooled there, cresting over the hill and descending into the shipyard. A guard waved them through the gate.

The citys current plan is to use 606 for two more years. A new home is being built for the SFPD crime lab and Traffic Division, and when it is complete, in 2020, the Police Department will vacate 606. For now, the lease is active, and the SFPD pays $12,325 per month in rent.

Most of the retired cops hadnt been back to the shipyard in years, and some hadnt seen each other for a while. Standing in front of 606, telling stories, joking around a bit, they started to open up. Behind them, people inside the building could be seen going about their workday.

Im worried now, said Mel Bautista, a retired Honda Unit officer who spent 12 years at the shipyard. I want to live for a while.

Across the street to the west, crows circled above a tall pile of dirt next to an empty building. Im concerned, Swiatko said, before a gust of wind rippled his jacket. He laughed and shrugged. But what can be done?

Former dirt-bike cop Richard Tong, 66, clasped his hands behind his back.

I think that the city could be a lot more honest with us, he said in a careful, quiet voice. If there is contamination out here, let us know about it. Get us out of here, OK? ... I always thought the city took care of their people who took care of their people. Were taking care of the people out in the public. Why arent they taking care of us?

Aside from the new houses back at the main gate, little about the shipyard seemed to have changed, the cops said. The dirt and empty buildings, the fields, 606 itself.

After the picture-taking was done, the former cops got into their cars and drove away, passing a sign on the shipyards back gate: The Navy is no longer inspecting or maintaining this property at the levels of an operational naval base. Safety hazards may be present.BEIRUT  The jihadists of the Islamic State launched a series of coordinated attacks in government-held areas of southern Syria on Wednesday, killing dozens of people.

The attacks, which included suicide bombings at a vegetable market and a public square in a provincial capital, along with raids on nearby villages, showed that the Islamic State could still inflict great damage in Syria, despite having lost most of the territory it once controlled.

The high death toll undermines the Syrian governments narrative that the seven-year war is heading toward its conclusion, with the leadership working to restore stability. About half of the dead were pro-government fighters, a conflict monitor said.

The attacks hit the city of Sweida, the capital of the province of the same name, along Syrias border with Jordan. Most of the areas residents are members of the Druze sect, and the area has largely been spared the violence that has torn apart other areas of Syria during the war.

Four suicide bombers entered the city Wednesday morning, Syrian state television said. One, on a motorcycle, struck a vegetable market. Another detonated his explosives in a public square. Two others blew themselves up while being approached by security forces, the broadcaster said.

It aired images of scattered vegetables and damaged cars in the street, where work crews were cleaning the area.

Syrian state media put the death toll in the bombings at 38, blaming the Islamic State for the attacks.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group in Britain that opposes the Syrian government, said that Islamic State militants had also attacked a number of villages near the city, clashing with government forces. It put the death toll for the bombings and clashes at 56 people, including 28 pro-government fighters and 16 militants.

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 war in Syria began in 2011 with an uprising against President Bashar Assad that turned into an armed rebellion. The chaos provided an opening for jihadist groups, particularly the Islamic State, which expanded rapidly in 2014 to create a caliphate that spanned large parts of Syria and Iraq.

The Syrian government, backed by Russia and Iran, has since regained control of most of the countrys center and its most highly populated areas, although parts of the north and east remain out of its hands.

Ben Hubbard is a New York Times writer.There are good and bad Spike Lee movies, and on any given year you dont know what youre going to get. But the important thing, the thing that counts, is that Spike Lee is occasionally a great filmmaker. Hes been great, not just once or twice, but at least three times, and he has made two or three other films that come very close.

Its too soon to tell how BlacKkKlansman will be remembered, as either great or near-great, but its definitely among his best. So you have something to look forward to. In the meantime, here are five Spike Lee films that have stood the test of time.

Do the Right Thing (1989): Lees first masterpiece, this was the story of a black neighborhood on the hottest day of the summer, a slice of life that also underscored the tensions between the black residents and white business owners. The movie provided Danny Aiello with the best role of his career, as the owner of a pizzeria, and was a nice showcase for the late, lamented comedian Robin Harris. Every so often you get a movie in which a young filmmaker seems to be telling you everything he has ever learned and felt in his first 30 years  not just trying to tell you, but succeeding. This is that kind of movie.

Malcolm X (1992): Lees second masterpiece was this riveting 202-minute biopic about the life of civil rights leader Malcolm X, featuring Denzel Washington in one of his signature roles. Its a succession of dramatic and intense scenes, an irresistible movie that, if you stumble on to it on television, you can lose half your day. Just one little problem: Ive watched the Russian roulette scene at least half a dozen times, and I dont see how he could have palmed the bullet.

Summer of Sam (1999): Lee takes the real-life drama of the Son of Sam murder case  in which a lunatic was going around shooting young people having sex in parked cars  and uses that to create a portrait of New York City in 1977. Disco, the punk scene, the crime, the dirt, the sense of a city going bankrupt  its all there, plus the real-life mood at the time. As someone who lived in New York when this was all happening, I can tell you, Summer of Sam is the ultimate portrait of New York in the late 1970s.

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.

25th Hour (2002): Spike Lees third masterpiece is, in my opinion, the best American film made in this century  the first great 21st century movie about a 21st century subject. Right before filming this story about a drug dealers last day of freedom (before going off to do hard time), the 9/11 attacks took place. Wisely, Lee decided to incorporate the 9/11 aftermath into the structure and texture of the film, and so he captures the malaise, the grief and confusion of that period  not just in New York, but in the country as a whole. Its a remarkable film.

Inside Man (2006): This is a heist film with no ambition behind it but to be the best heist film possible, and the result was one of that years best movies. Clive Owen played an enigmatic bank robber, in a story that was never quite what you expected and always more interesting than you imagined.

Mick LaSalle is The San Francisco Chronicles film critic. Email: mlasalle@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MickLaSalleThe United States exports one out of every three apples it grows. California, Washington, New York, Pennsylvania and Michigan together produce 90 percent of the apples grown in America. Although we apple growers come from various places, we share one common concern: going out of business.

While having to close the farm gates for good is always in the back of growers minds, as profit margins are razor thin and our livelihoods depend on the grace of Mother Nature, it has never been more of a reality than now due to the retaliatory tariffs being imposed on apple exports by Mexico, India and China.

Thousands of jobs in rural America are at risk, not just in growing and picking the crop but also in equipment, fuel and fertilizer sales, and in packing and transportation.

Saying that trade is critical to the apple industry is an understatement. Apple exports are also important to the U.S. economy and jobs. Because of our thriving export markets, the apple industry annually generates about $15 billion in economic activity, provides more than 71,000 jobs and contributes nearly $1 billion toward a positive trade balance.

Importantly, rural economies in states like Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, California, Washington and Virginia rely on a healthy agriculture sector, of which apple exports play a big role.

Mexico, India and China are the U.S. apples Nos. 1, 2 and 6 export markets, and theyre all at risk because of a trade dispute we didnt start  and certainly dont want.

It took the apple industry years to penetrate these markets. It has since been a long and expensive process to develop them into viable and valuable trading partners. Maintaining and continuing to build these hard-won markets is critical to the health of the entire U.S. apple industry.

Unfortunately, in retaliation to U.S.-imposed tariffs, Mexico has slapped a 20 percent tariff on apple imports from the United States. The trade dispute also further complicates renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, under which apples have been a big winner. Prior to NAFTA, Mexico imposed a 20 percent tariff on U.S. apples, which was eliminated under NAFTA. With duty-free access, Mexico became our largest export market: Annual apple exports to Mexico quadrupled to $215 million. Now it looks like we may be headed right back to where we started 24 years ago before NAFTA.

The impact of Mexico, on top of India, on top of China, is a triple whammy.

India has been a thriving growth market for U.S. apples, so much so that this year the country moved up to second place for apple exports. In the first nine months of 2017, apple growers more than doubled their 2016 sales to India. But 25 percent retaliatory tariffs on our apples by the country (bringing total Indian tariffs on U.S. apples to 75 percent) that will go into effect Aug. 4 puts the market at great risk.

And earlier this month, China unleashed additional retaliatory tariffs on U.S. apples, bringing the total up to 50 percent.

The tariffs by China are of significant concern, as its an emerging market and one that apple growers view as having significant growth potential. We only achieved full access to the Chinese market in 2015. In that short time, exports have grown to 2.5 million boxes per year. Weve been competing, and winning.

Growers understand Econ 101 very well, and unless these trade issues get resolved quickly, the apples that were destined for export will overhang the market and depress prices. That will impact growers coast to coast, hurting everyones bottom lines, eventually trickling down to rural economies. Relationships with Mexico, India, China and other valuable trading partners, like Canada (our No. 3 market), need to be repaired as quickly as possible to minimize the damage to agriculture and rural communities.

Jeff Colombini of Lodi Farming in Stockton and Mike Wade of Columbia Fruit Packers in Wenatchee, Wash., are apple growers who sit on the U.S. Apple Association Board of Directors. They are joined in this commentary by board members Mark Boyer, of Ridgetop Orchards, Fishertown, Pa.; Kaari Stannard, of Fish Creek Orchards/New York Apple Sales, Glenmont, N.Y.; and Chris Alpers of RedPath Orchards & Alpers Farm, Lake Leelanau, Mich.In the mission to make each park your own, you could have hiked the Sonoma Ridge Trail on Friday and seen only one other person in six hours.

The full 10.5-mile route passes a small lake, groves of cathedral redwoods, rises up the flank of Sonoma Mountain and then pops out on top for views that extend 60 miles across the valley and to Mount Diablo.

And you can make it your own.

Sonoma Mountain and the Sonoma Ridge Trail are located at Jack London State Historic Park near Glen Ellen. The park and its historic structures from Londons estate hit the front page last fall when it eluded fire damage from the Sonoma wildfires. The memory of Jack London is so beloved in the region that volunteers with the Valley of the Moon Natural History Association operate the park.

Valley of the Moon is what Jack London called Sonoma Valley. Within short range of the park entrance and parking, short walks provide a tour of the grounds. Destinations include the House of Happy Walls Museum (now being renovated, scheduled to reopen this fall), the Distillery, Londons Cottage, the ruins of the Wolf House (burned in 1913), the ruins of the Winery (damaged in the 1906 earthquake) and other nearby sites such as the Pig Palace and a 0.75-mile walk to a small lake that London built (that is now a pond).

The park spans 1,400 acres and has about 10 miles of hiking trails and ranch roads, and then connects to another 10 miles. One newer route leads up to Sonoma Ridge and out of the park and connects to the adjoining North Sonoma Mountain Regional Park, opened in 2015.

The vicinity of the main grounds provides a tour to the historic structures and sites, picnic areas, restrooms and drinking fountains. It seems 99 percent of the visitors stay within this bubble. All you have to do is hike on a trail, ride on a fire road, and you can break that bubble.

Make it your own

When you drive into the park, you will arrive at a T intersection. To your left is the lower parking lot for short access to the museum (closed until fall), the Wolf House ruins and Jack Londons gravesite. To your right is the upper parking lot with nearby picnic sites and the trailhead for the Lake Trail. This is your launch point.

The Lake Trail is routed out 0.75 of a mile to a pond, or London Lake, which London created with a small dam. At London Lake, to the left of the Bath House and a picnic site, a spur trail connects a short distance to the Mountain Trail. This leads 0.8 of a mile, with two cutbacks, up to a junction with the Sonoma Ridge Loop Trail. The junction is well signed with a post marker.

For the big-time view, turn up Sonoma Ridge. To reach the summit, the route climbs from roughly 650 to 2,400 feet. The good news is that it is shaded much of the way. Eventually, you make the ridge and the view emerges. My pal, Michael Pechner, the Bay Areas weather wizard, pulled out his camera for the photos.

More Information If you want to go Where: Jack London State Historic Park Location: Glen Ellen, Sonoma County Cost: $10 parking, $5 for walk-in or ride-in. While museum is renovated, the fee for access to cottage is waived; $4 when museum reopens in fall. Mountain bikes: Bikes are permitted on ranch roads; not allowed on some trails, signed at trailheads. Beyond London Lake, rides are challenging. Watch out for horseback riders, and on downhill runs, keep your speed under control and be ready for feet-on-the-ground stop. No bikes at Wolf House ruins. Dogs: Mixed rules confuse many dog owners, and in most cases for this park, it is better to leave your dog at home. No dogs are permitted on backcountry trails, which is often violated (on Friday, for instance, there was one unleashed dog with its owner on the trail). Leashed dogs are permitted at historic sites, including trail to Wolf House Ruins. Owners must clean up pet waste. No dogs inside buildings. Horses: Trailer parking available in Upper Parking Lot. Volunteers ask that horse owners clean up waste, but in the field, I haven't seen this happen. Guided fitness walk: Aug. 4, 9 a.m., two routes available: one easy to London Lake Loop; one moderate, London Lake to Deer Camp, 6 miles. Contact: Deborah Large at dlarge@jacklondonpark.com. Visitor Center: Visitor Center moved to Jack London Cottage during museum renovation, open 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily, free. Contact: Jack London State Historic Park, c/o Valley of the Moon Natural History Association, 707- 938-5216, http://jacklondonpark.com or www.parks.ca.gov. How to get there GPS: 2400 London Ranch Road, Glen Ellen From San Francisco: From the Golden Gate Bridge, drive north on U.S. 101 for 19 miles to Exit 460A for Highway 37 (signed for Napa/Vallejo). Take that exit for 0.4 of a mile onto Highway 37 and then continue 7.2 miles (get in left lane) to the lighted intersection for Highway 121. Turn left on Highway 121 and drive 6.6 miles and continue ahead on Highway 116W for 1.6 miles to Arnold Drive. Bear right on Arnold and drive 5 miles to a traffic circle, and continue straight to stay on Arnold and drive 3.3 miles to London Ranch Road. Turn left and drive 1 mile to the park. Distances: 8 miles from downtown Sonoma, 33 miles from San Rafael, 45 miles from Golden Gate Bridge, 50 miles from Berkeley, 50 miles from Concord, 60 miles from Pacifica. - Tom Stienstra See More Collapse

The Sonoma Valley plunges below, and beyond is the Napa Valley, the Napa-Sonoma Marsh and across the North Bay. Most days, you get a clear view of the twin-peaked Mount Diablo above Walnut Creek.

When you take it in, imagine the traffic down there on Highways 12 and 29. You then claim the reality of how this hike is symbolic of so many things in the Bay Area. Break out of the bubble and you can make this place our own.

Shorter, longer

The combined routes for the full trek up Sonoma Ridge can range 8 to 10.5 miles. Many routes, spurs and cross-links, a combination of roads and trails, provide a network of options. A dedicated section of the Bay Area Ridge Trail runs through the park.

For shorter trips, for instance, the first long-distance view available across the valley to Mount Diablo is about 1.5 miles, one-way. Beyond London Lake, take the Old Fallen Bridge Trail to Marys Clearing. Thats the lookout.

For redwoods, make the easy walk to London Lake, then take the spur to Upper Lake Trail, and then continue to Graham Creek and into cathedral groves.

Even better, a 14-foot diameter redwood called the Grandmother Tree is located about a 20-minute hike out of London Lake. From London Lake, turn left on the Vineyard Trail and walk 0.7 of a mile. Just past the junction with the Orchard Trail, a spur on the left leads a short distance to a picnic site and the giant redwood. Well-mapped, 1.5 miles one-way, and easily extended into a loop with other trails available. Feels like Muir Woods without the people, Pechner said.

Tom Stienstra is The San Francisco Chronicles outdoor writer. His Outdoor Report can be heard at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 12:35 p.m. Saturdays on KCBS (740 and 106.9). Email: tstienstra@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @StienstraTomDemocratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom has a commanding lead in his bid to become Californias next governor, and Republican John Cox is going to be hard-pressed to round up additional supporters, according to a poll released Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California.

Newsom, the former mayor of San Francisco, has a 55 percent to 31 percent lead over Cox. But in even worse news for the San Diego-area businessman, only 9 percent of likely voters remain undecided, even though there are more than three months before the Nov. 6 election.

The numbers are looking pretty fixed, said Mark Baldassare, the institutes president and CEO as well as the polls director. Newsom has a substantial lead, and Democratic support has really coalesced around him.

Newsom is running stronger than termed-out Gov. Jerry Brown was four years ago in his re-election campaign against Republican banker Neel Kashkari, Baldassare said. In July 2014, a similar survey found Brown with a 52 percent to 33 percent margin, with 11 percent of likely voters undecided.

Brown was re-elected with 60 percent of the vote.

In the U.S. Senate race, the numbers show Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein moving into landslide territory in her re-election bid against fellow Democrat Kevin de Leon, a Los Angeles state senator.

Among likely voters, Feinstein holds an almost 2-to-1 lead, 46 percent to 24 percent. Those numbers are deceptive, however, since 20 percent of the voters  and 47 percent of Republicans  said they dont intend to vote in the Democrats-only Senate match-up this fall.

A lot of Republicans say they just dont care, Baldassare said. Senate races are about who controls the Senate, so its hard for a Republican to say, Ill vote for my favorite Democrat, when they dont have a favorite Democrat.

With those likely nonvoters removed from the poll, Feinstein leads de Leon, 58 percent to 30 percent.

De Leon, who until the primary had never run for office outside Los Angeles, is far less known than Feinstein, a former San Francisco mayor who has been in the Senate since 1992.

That lack of visibility shows in the poll. Republicans prefer de Leon over Feinstein, 25 percent to 22 percent, which suggests those GOP voters may not know that de Leon is arguing that Feinstein is too conservative to represent an increasingly progressive California.

De Leon might not be wrong about the states changing political complexion. Only 29 percent of California adults approve of the job President Trump is doing, well below the 43 percent approval a July Gallup tracking poll found among adults nationwide.

In the same vein, 55 percent of Californias likely voters want the states governor and senators to push back against the Trump administration, as de Leon has called for, while 39 percent prefer to work with the Trump administration, as Feinstein has at times suggested.

Its a partisan split, with 81 percent of Democrats backing opposition and 84 percent of Republicans favoring accommodation. Among independent voters, its a 51 percent to 40 percent split in favor of opposing Trump.

Its largely a matter of party, Baldassare said. The Democrats, and the independents, too, arent interested in compromise.

The poll was taken July 8-17 and is based on a telephone survey of 1,711 California adults, including 1,020 likely voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.4 percentage points for all adults and plus or minus 4.3 percentage points for likely voters.

John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfwildermuthA season of pantsuits and a return to long sleeves on the red carpet might just be fashions pendulum responding to the naked dress seen on celebrities including Beyonce and Kim Kardashian. An all-flats photo shoot in Vogue might be a nod to Millennial sneakerheads.

And female designers taking the reins at design houses named for the men who founded them  Alexander McQueen, Christian Dior and Givenchy  might just be a coincidence.

But considered in concert, one could argue that these trends indicate a more significant shift: pushback against years of prescriptive impracticality. With the hyper-awareness of equal rights spurred by a conservative administration comes an extreme attention to what we say in words and clothes. While wearing a pair of flats on the red carpet might not be an intentional power play, it is nonetheless a symbol of a womans self-determination.

Has fashion, at long last, gone feminist?

Because feminist fashion lacks a precise definition or signature silhouette  are a modest midi skirt or a utilitarian jumpsuit feminist fashion statements? What about Diors We should all be feminists T-shirt?  its often easier to describe what feminist fashion is not.

Paul Thompson / Getty Images

Certainly the idea of empowering fashion is not new  witness the suffragettes at the turn of the 20th century, women wearing pants during World War II or the myth of the bra-burners in the 60s. In the 1970s, Jil Sanders androgyny and severity were seen as radical, and more recently, designers including Rei Kawakubo, Consuelo Castiglioni (formerly of Marni), Miuccia Prada and Phoebe Philo are frequently cited as favorites of women for their ability to design clothes women love to wear.

Pierre Verdy / AFP / Getty Images

Modesty has been a major theme on red carpets and runways since 2017, which saw the launch of modest fashion site the Modist, based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. But feminism does not require dressing modestly. Muslim women are often credited with popularizing fashionable modest apparel, but trend forecaster Iza Dezon has labeled modest dressing a sign of a broader pluri-empowerment, meaning that empowerment resides in defining how one wants to dress.

Geox / AP

Bay Area arts publicist Florie Hutchinson, who is following up her successful campaign to add a ballet flat emoji with a petition for a one-piece bathing suit, says that feminist fashion must ultimately accentuate a certain comfort in ones own skin. She added that it is refreshing to see design talent increasingly recognize a womans multifaceted persona.

But blocking the male gaze or eschewing stereotypically sexy or revealing styles is also not necessarily a feminist fashion goal. Burlesque star Dita von Teese has said, for example, that she is not dressing for men but rather embracing womanhood.

Feminist fashion does not mean dressing in menswear or assigning a gender to a silhouette. For Diors fall 2018 campaign, Maria Grazia Chiuri offered pantsuits on women with short hair and little obvious makeup, demonstrating the breadth of womens options. Fashion is an area in which, today more than ever, masculine and feminine codes carry equal weight in the definition of our individuality, Chiuri said on Instagram.

Feminist fashion also does not mean being intentionally, ironically ugly. Even Man Repeller founder Leandra Medine, who built a business based on the concept of fashion that appeals primarily to women, eschews the garish sneaker trend. Perhaps sneakers  present an opportunity to take back and stomp all over yores conventions of femininity. Could they, somehow, level the political playing field that is a womans body? she wrote in June. But no matter how it is sliced, how hard I try, there is a blatant reality that remains: I not only cant understand this trend, I think I hate it.

Functional clothing  often a key tenet of what is labeled feminist fashion  is not merely a trend, says Eleanor Turner, who is the co-founder and chief creative officer of workwear brand Argent, a favorite of Hillary Clinton and Gloria Steinem.

The shift was born out of a need for practical pieces that actually work for women, but it has morphed into a new apparel category that is here to stay, Turner says. Women have been calling for functionality for years but have largely been ignored by fashion. Now that more women are part of emerging and established brands, we are seeing an increase in functional, practical clothing that not only looks good but delivers something more.

Thats not to say that female designers must adhere to a cult of practicality, or that feminist fashion lacks imagination. Feminist fashion has always been around, but recently weve seen more designers use their platform to take a stance, says Emma McIlroy, who is chief executive officer of Wildfang, a favorite among self-described tomboys. The brands I Really Care Do U jacket raised more than $200,000 for the nonprofit RAICES, which provides legal services to immigrants.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Our political landscape has led many designers to reconsider how they design, why they design and who their audience is, says Bay Area personal stylist Mary Gonsalves Kinney. I cant imagine a progressive, creative woman today not feeling threatened in every possible way, politically.

But feminist fashion doesnt have to be deliberate or political.

To me, feminist fashion is women wearing whatever they want. Its an act of not being constrained by societal standards of whats feminine, professional or ladylike, says entrepreneur and activist Meena Harris, whose Phenomenal Woman Action Campaign sells apparel whose sales go toward organizations including Girls Who Code and Planned Parenthood.

But many argue that labeling anything as feminist fashion is a misstep.

I think its counter-productive to think that feminist fashion needs to be put in one sort of lane, says prominent Hollywood stylist Karla Welch. Feminist fashion is the freedom for any woman to wear exactly what she wants.

Thus, the only agreed-upon answer is that feminist fashion is the right to choose.

Perhaps its lack of definition is a sign of progress. After all, if the goal of feminism is to make itself obsolete, then so too should the concept of feminist fashion.

Maghan McDowell is a San Francisco freelance writer. Email: style@sfchronicle.com.BEIRUT  White Helmets volunteers trapped in southern Syria after the government seized areas they operated in said Wednesday they live in fear of being caught in the dragnet of the government, which considers them one of its staunchest enemies, and are desperately seeking a way out.

Hundreds of the volunteer rescue workers  who have toiled in conflict-ravaged opposition areas for years  have failed to make it out of southern Syria in a complex international evacuation.

The evacuation of more than 400 White Helmets was executed under the cover of darkness across the tightly sealed frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights last weekend as a government offensive unfolded.

In the quickly changing battlefield, the volunteers were unable to access roads to the frontier in time for the first-of-its-kind evacuation that involved international coordination between six countries  Israel, the U.S., Britain, Germany, Jordan and Canada.

Advancing government forces and an affiliate of the Islamic State expanding in the region quickly seized territory as the armed opposition crumbled or surrendered in the face of a month-long government offensive.

The government and its allies have waged a concerted campaign against the volunteers for years, accusing them of being agents of foreign powers, and of being terrorists for working in rebel-controlled areas.

The group, which had more than 3,000 volunteers in opposition-held areas, has saved thousands of lives since 2013 and documented government attacks on civilians and other infrastructure. Its volunteers were repeatedly targeted, and more than 250 were killed on duty.

The evacuation over the weekend through the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to Jordan has made things worse, said a volunteer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

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.

Israel and Syria are formally at war. Collaborating with Israel is considered grand treason.

Sarah El Deeb is an Associated Press writer.Miguel Montil, a 25-year-old Oakland native, said that if there was one thing he'd want newcomers to the city to know, it's this:

"It's something unique," he said. "I've been in other places in the world and I've never seen somewhere so diverse as Oakland is. You can meet Puerto Ricans, Polynesians, Dominicans, Central and South Americans, Polish people and more all in the course of a day. That's very positive."

Oakland was recently ranked as the second-most diverse city in America, behind Vallejo, by the ranking and review site Niche.

It's not the first time that The Town has earned such a distinction, either. It was ranked as the third-most diversity city in the country by WalletHub in 2016 and was named the most diverse city in the world by Priceonomics in 2014.

"It's the city I grew up in. It's a city that I love," said Patty France, a writer who was raised and lives in Oakland.

"One of the things that I love is that there are so many different kinds of people. We were black, Latino, Asian and working class, and were comfortable living here. That's changing."

According to data from the U.S. Census, Oakland's population has risen by 8.8 percent since 2010; California's Department of Finance reported earlier this year that the city's population has reached 428,827 people, which is an all-time high. At the same time, the city's racial and socio-economic demographics are, as France said, changing.

Since the turn of the century, Oakland's black population has declined by 26 percent, according to census data, while the number of white, Asian and Latino residents in Oakland has risen. And from 1999-2017, the median household income in Oakland has risen by 44 percent.

With that in mind, SFGATE asked Oakland natives  some whose families have been in The Town for over a century  what they want newcomers to know about their city.

Shamezo Lumukanda, who grew up in West Oakland, said that he understands people move to Oakland from all over the world in search of opportunity, but he wants newcomers to know that there is already community in Oakland to learn about and tap into.

"We all came here for upward mobility," he said. "No people moved to the Bay Area without seeking a better opportunity for themselves and their families."

Bijou McDaniel, a friend of Lumukanda's who grew up in East Oakland, said many people don't understand much of Oakland's history outside of the fact that it's place where the Black Panther Party was founded.

"This was damn near the black mecca for a while, and people don't know that," she said. She also said that newcomers should know about the diversity of dining options in Oakland.

"We have the best taco trucks," she said. "We also have the best variety of cuisines because there's so many different people here. You can eat Cambodian food, Salvadoran food, Ethiopian food.... I think that's another thing that people don't realize when they come here.

"Yes, there's San Francisco and there are Michelin-star restaurants here, but there are also hole-in-the-walls ... where you can get amazing food that's still affordable."

But that's not all that Native Oaklanders want you newcomers to know about their city. Click through the slideshow above to see what other wisdom they have to impart to Oakland newbies.The Carr Fire raged out of control near Redding, Calif., overnight with the sky turning a bright glowing red.

It was an otherworldly scene again on Thursday when people in the area woke to flakes of ash falling from the sky.

"Wow, I thought the ash yesterday was bad," wrote Twitter user @Jenerator72 on the social media site. "It's snowing ash this morning."

"Ash falling in like snow in Redding," echoed @RobElvington. "Dime size."

Kasey Arnold sent SFGATE several images of the ash fall and shared, "This is my first summer here in California. We relocated from Dallas, Texas, to California last October. I never seen ashes on a car before. Missing Texas."

ALSO: Yosemite choked in wildfire smoke: What's open and what's closed

The Carr Fire burning off Highway 299 in Whiskeytown Recreation Area has devoured more than 10,000 acres since it started July 23 when a motorhome tire blew out; it is 10 percent containment.

The California wildfire gained acreage overnight and set the sky over Whiskeytown Lake aglow (see photos in the gallery above).

The town of French Gulf was evacuated Monday and mandatory evacuations were added Thursday including for the communities of Old Shasta and Keswick (see all evacuations).

At 6:10 a.m. Thursday, the California Highway Patrol in Redding tweeted the blaze had jumped into Old Shasta. "If you like in West Redding start packing and be prepared. This fire is out of control!"

Cal Fire reports at least two homes and at least 40 boats on Whiskeytown Lake have been devoured by the flames but officials were still evaluating the situation Thursday morning.A huge wildfire burning near Redding turned fatal Thursday when a dozer operator was killed fighting the blaze, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reported.

The blaze has scorched nearly 30,000 acres and is forcing evacuations, Cal Fire reported Thursday night.

Dozens of homes have been burned, firefighters and civilians have been injured, and the Carr Fire reached Redding, the Associated Press reported.

The Carr Fire started Monday afternoon and posed many of the same challenges that firefighters have faced this fire season  dry conditions and steep terrain with limited access for dozers to construct containment lines.

It reached 28,763 acres and was 6 percent contained as of Thursday evening.

Cal Fire had no further information on when or where the dozer operator was killed.

Dry weather is expected in Redding for the rest of the week. More than 1,700 fire personnel were battling the blaze. Included in the battle were 110 fire engines, 51 fire crews, 10 helicopters, 22 dozers and 34 water tenders.

Meanwhile, a dangerous fire ripping through terrain near Yosemite National Park the past two weeks continued to keep the summertime destination closed while another 924 acres burned Thursday, pushing the total acreage to 44,223, officials said.

The Ferguson Fire is one of nearly a dozen active wildfires in the state right now, and for the second time this summer Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency on Thursday in Shasta and Riverside counties.

The relentless blaze near Yosemite has been stoked by warm, dry weather, and firefighters are having difficulty accessing the rough terrain due to the very hot conditions, the forest service said.

The superintendent of Yosemite National Park issued stage 1 fire restrictions for the area, which includes: no building or using a campfire and cooking fire; no portable stoves using pressurized gas, liquid fuel or propane; and no smoking below 6,000-feet except within a vehicle.

The restrictions came after visitors were ordered to leave some of Yosemite National Parks most popular areas  Yosemite Valley, Wawona and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias, on the parks southern end  by noon Wednesday.

Park officials decided to close those parts of the park through Sunday because of the unhealthy plumes of smoke. The fire was about 2 miles west from the park, officials said.

Mandatory evacuations were in place for Anderson Valley, Cedar Lodge/Indian Flat Campground, El Portal Trailer Court, Foresta, Lushmeadows Community, Old El Portal, Old Yosemite Road, Ponderosa Basin Community, Rancheria Flat, Savages Trading Post, Sweetwater Ridge, Yosemite View Lodge and Yosemite West.

People were also ordered to evacuate from East Westfall Road to Chowchilla Mountain Road, Incline Road from Foresta Bridge to the last Bureau of Land Management campground, Tip Top Road from Triangle Road to Gunther Road, and Triangle Road from Darrah Road in the Lushmeadows area to Highway 49 South.

Evacuation centers were open at Mariposa Elementary School in Mariposa, and Mountain Christian Center in Oakhurst. The center at New Life Christian Church in Marisposa was at capacity, officials said.

So far, one firefighter has died and seven others have been injured.

One nonresidential structure has been destroyed in the blaze, and 5,236 other structures are being threatened.

There are 3,686 firefighters and officials working to combat the blaze, as well as 261 engines, 55 water tenders, 16 helicopters, 93 crews, and 79 dozers.

The Cranston Fire in Riverside County has burned 7,500 acres in San Bernardino National Forest and was 3 percent contained Thursday night. So far, 2,174 homes have been evacuated.Seven U.S. Coast Guard C-130s aircraft will be transferred to Cal Fire's aerial firefighting fleet as part of the National Defense Authorization Act under a bipartisan agreement brokered by Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

The transfer would make the state agency the largest dedicated firefighting agency in the world with its own fleet of C-130s.American Airlines will introduce a big change in the rules for domestic Basic Economy fares in September -- one that could shift the balance in what major airlines will let you carry on board when you travel on their cheapest fares.

Basic Economy fares are the lowest prices available at American, United and Delta, but they come with significant restrictions. Airlines introduced these fares two years ago, which were immediately derided by frequent travelers as a ploy for airlines to raise regular economy class fares. About the only time it makes sense to buy one is if you are on a short flight with little or no luggage.

American's current rules for domestic Basic Economy tickets (and for flights to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean) allow purchasers to bring nothing more than one personal item on board  i.e., one that fits beneath the seat, like a pack, briefcase or purse. The fare does not include a carry-on bag that goes in the overhead bin or a checked bag, unless the passenger pays a fee.

The rules do allow one carry-on and one personal item for Basic Economy customers who are AAdvantage elite members or holders of American credit cards.

But American said that effective September 5, domestic Basic Economy fares will permit one personal item and one carry-on bag for all purchasers. That brings the policy into line with Delta's domestic Basic Economy fare rules, and also with the policy for international Basic Economy fares. A checked bag will still incur a fee, however.

Once American implements the new policy, that will leave United as the only one of the Big Three U.S. carriers that limits domestic Basic Economy travelers to just one personal item. (United does make an exception for domestic Basic Economy travelers who are MileagePlus Premier members, a primary cardmember of a qualifying MileagePlus credit card or a Star Alliance Gold member. Those customers can bring a full-size carry-on bag aboard for no fee.)

Given the state of competition in the airline industry, United will be under considerable pressure to bring its Basic Economy carry-on policy into line with Delta's and American's. For now, though, a spokesperson told us, "We are always reviewing our fare offerings to give customers options that best fit their needs. In addition to providing customers more fare choices, Basic Economy enables a smoother boarding process, more overhead bin space and fewer customers having to check their bags at the gate. These benefits contribute to our overall operational success including over the last 18 months when United flights departed on time more often than any other U.S. airline." Hmm. Let's see how long that lasts...

American

There's one potential drawback to the new policy at American and the existing one at Delta, however: Basic Economy ticket purchasers are the last to board the aircraft. Since so many flights are going out full or nearly full these days, those travelers might have a hard time finding overhead bin space to stow their carry-ons at the last minute and might end up having to surrender them for checking in the baggage hold.

Alaska Airlines is expected to become the fourth carrier to jump on the Basic Economy bandwagon sometime this fall with a new Saver fare category. Alaska's Saver fares will also allow one personal item and one full-sized carry-on bag. Unlike competitors' Basic Economy products, Alaska's new fare will reportedly let purchasers select a seat in advance for no fee  although it will have to be in the back of the plane, and Saver ticket holders will still board last.

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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.Almost two years after its acquisition of Starwood Hotels, Marriott International has set August 18 as the date when it will finally combine its three existing frequent guest programs  Marriott Rewards, Ritz-Carlton Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest -- into one. On that date, you'll be able to book awards on a new platform at new redemption levels- with some increases and decreases.

"For the first time since Marriott's acquisition of Starwood Hotels and Resorts in 2016, the programs will operate under one set of unified benefits and one currency spanning the entire loyalty portfolio of 29 brands and more than 6,500 participating hotels in 127 countries," a spokesperson said.

The company said the loyalty programs have a combined membership of a whopping 110 million worldwide. (By comparison, Hilton Honors has about 70 million members.)

Marriott is warning members that starting August 18, its loyalty websites and apps might occasionally be unavailable as the programs are brought together onto a single platform. "This means during this planned system transition there will be times when no one can make a booking, and times when we will only be accepting credit card bookings. As a result of those particular instances, members will not be able to book a redemption stay or have their member number attached to their reservation," the spokesperson said.

When SPG members do log into their accounts, they'll see a pop-up with their new 9-digit account number for the combined program. (SPG numbers will no longer work.) Passwords won't change unless the account holder changes it. The company said some existing Marriott Rewards members might also get new account numbers and will be notified by email or telephone.

SPG points convert to Marriott Rewards at a 1:3 ratio.

On August 18, the company will launch a new SPG app with the same functionality as the Marriott Rewards app, including Mobile Requests. SPG points in newly unified or transferred accounts will be multiplied by three to convert them to Marriott Rewards point equivalence in the new account currency.

The company has also rolled out a new combined awards chart that shows both the current and new point requirements for award stays at individual hotels. "Between now and August 18, members should maximize their redemption power by checking out the previously published Free Night Award Chart and deciding if they want to redeem before or after the new rates take effect," the spokesperson said.

The three loyalty program names will still remain in place for now, but the company is expected to introduce a new identity and name for the unified program early next year. Marriott estimates that under the new unified program, members will earn points faster than before  about 20 percent more points per dollar spent.

Under the new terms, the standard earning rate will be 10 points per dollar spent at all the company's Starwood, Ritz-Carlton and Marriott brands except for Residence Inns, TownePlace Suites and Element, which will earn five points per dollar. Points will be earned not just on room bills but also on in-hotel purchases. The company will also revise and standardize the number of nights required to achieve elite status levels. A few months ago, we ran a story about the details of Marriott's plans for the combined loyalty program. You can read it here.

Here's what points & miles bloggers are saying about this big move:

Gary Leff at View from the Wing blog: "The new program creates winners and losers, mostly taking elements of the Starwood elite program and bringing them over while increasing the requirements for top status given Marriott's much bigger footprint."

Ben Schlappig at One Mile at a Time: "This is a huge undertaking for Marriott, and it's likely to take hours for that to happen, assuming everything goes as planned. At that point it will be a free for all to take advantage of some of the best redemption values we've ever seen with the program."

What do you think? Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

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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.Blindspotting: One of the best films of the year so far, this story, about friends coping with an Oakland in transition, was written by its two stars, Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal. Directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada, the film is a seamless mix of extreme humor and tense drama, an inspired work of intuition and artistry. Rated R. 95 minutes.

 Mick LaSalle

The Cakemaker: This Israeli-German co-production is an impressive debut from director Ofir Raul Graizer. When a German bakers male lover is killed, he travels to Jerusalem and gets a job with the lovers wife, without telling her who he is. The story could have been melodramatic or sentimental, but in Graizers hands it is genuinely affecting. Not rated. 113 minutes. In German, Hebrew and English with English subtitles.

 Walter Addiego

Eighth Grade: Bo Burnhams film about the struggles of an unpopular eighth-grade girl is one of the more thoughtful and valiant feature film directorial debuts in recent memory. Elsie Fisher is terrific in the lead role, adding compassion to a difficult part. Burnham takes viewers back to a place they would rather not go, and finds goodness, without sacrificing a bit of accuracy. Rated R. 93 minutes.

 Peter Hartlaub

Sorry to Bother You: Written and directed by Boots Riley, this story about a successful telemarketer who becomes privy to the diabolical plans that big business and science have for the working classes is innovative and fresh, with lots of penetrating observations about modern life and modern anxiety. Not every scene works, but this movie is a welcome original. Rated R. 105 minutes.

 Mick LaSalleMcQueen, a kinky catwalk of a movie, is a savagely beautiful tribute that the late, irreverent fashion designer Alexander McQueen would surely have appreciated.

Documentarians Ian Bonhote and Peter Ettedgui have an embarrassment of riches to tell the story of a working-class British boy who set the fashion world ablaze in the 1990s and 2000s: footage of McQueens outlandishly dark fashion shows; intimate interviews with those close to the designer; and, not to be underestimated, the filmmakers own flair for the diabolical.

The latter is on display with a visually dazzling skull  still a symbol of McQueens brand today  that alternately squirts blood, decomposes before our eyes or emits items that include jewels, butterflies and fabrics. The macabre graphic device might seem over the top, and in bad taste, given that McQueen committed suicide in 2010, but instead, the skull interludes tailor the film into a cohesive, if morbid, whole.

And they seem appropriate for a designer whose shows included Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims and The Highland Rape. Whatever one thinks of the political appropriateness of these runway spectacles  McQueen insisted that he was indicting misogyny, not advocating it  there is no denying that the catwalk presentations are exhilarating theater. The score by legendary composer Michael Nyman only enhances the effect.

McQueen comes off as a provocative, hardworking, disciplined artist, but not as a diva  hardly the typical fashion icon. This was an unpretentious guy who seemed like he would be more at home in the local pub than in the fancy design center. And its charming that his mother and family showed up at all his events  sometimes with refreshments for the models. There are times when parts of McQueens love life  and other personal sorrows  feel glossed over, but in the grand scheme of things, this is a fascinating portrait of an artist.

One major point in the films favor is how well McQueens creations still hold up: They look like museum pieces, worthy of an exhibition (which did happen in New York and London). We dont have to be fashion mavens to admire the craftsmanship  or to enjoy this film.

David Lewis is a Bay Area freelance writer.Growing up in Glasgow, Kelly Macdonald discovered a knack for putting together jigsaw puzzles. With no instruction, she figured out to begin working at the edges and keep filling in. Her favorite puzzle depicted a Paddington Bear relaxing by the river. She would fit the pieces together then bust the cuddly creature into smithereens and repeat the procedure.

The 42-year-old actress hadnt thought of her childhood hobby until offered the lead character, Agnes, in the movie Puzzle. She is a traditional wife and mother around Macdonalds age whose nascent talent for constructing puzzles frees her from her confined life.

To Macdonald, Agnes herself is a puzzle. She is very quiet and brave in trying to find out who she is and what she wants from her life. It is a very reasonable thing to do at any age. You root for Agnes in her very quiet rebellion, Macdonald said.

Jigsaw puzzles were an added enticement to take the part. Besides the ones Agnes rushes to complete with her partner (played by Irrfan Kahn from The Lunchbox) to prepare for an upcoming world jigsaw tournament, there also were puzzles scattered around the movie set. The cast and crew would work on them between takes. I am a very happy puzzler, Macdonald said.

Director Marc Turtletaub recalled being taken by his stars performance in the 2005 television movie The Girl in the Cafe, for which Macdonald won an Emmy. Then, through the years came No Country for Old Men and Boardwalk Empire. As I began to connect the dots, I realized what an incredibly talented actress she was, completely inhabiting these diverse roles.

Part of what makes her so special is her absolute lack of needing to draw attention to herself. Yet we are naturally drawn to her because she is so interesting to watch. That humility is both who she is as a person and partly a Scottish thing. Theres an expression in Scotland, Kelly told me, Dont get above yourself. She doesnt.

While in high school, Macdonald thought about acting and would record herself reading excerpts from her textbooks. But she had no idea how to go about becoming an actor. So after graduating, she worked as a barmaid and a waitress.

One day she saw an ad for an open casting session for Trainspotting and as a lark decided to try out. She figured it would be good practice should she decide to audition for drama school.

With no formal training  to this day she has yet to take an acting lesson  Macdonald was cast as the sexy teen in Trainspotting who seduces Ewan McGregor. That was more than 20 years ago, and shes been acting since, bouncing back and forth between movies, including a stint on Harry Potter, and television long before TV became fashionable for A-list actors.

More Information Puzzle (R) opens Friday, Aug. 3 in Bay Area theaters. See More Collapse

During her early career when she was unattached and had time to tackle back-to-back acting jobs, the parts were scarce to the extent that she considered returning to waitressing. But now as a single mother of 5- and 10-year-old sons (from her marriage to musician Dougie Payne), she regularly turns down roles to be with her boys. She moved back to Glasgow a few years ago after living in New York and London.

I dont get out and about much in Glasgow. I am a homebody, she said.

Macdonald has two juicy roles coming up. On TV, she will play Princess Margaret in Urban Myths: Mick & Margaret about the princess relationship with Mick Jagger. Rumors have surfaced for decades about the nature of the attraction between Margaret and the bad boy of rock n roll, who often were seen in each others company.

We do show them in a romantic relationship, said Macdonald who plays opposite the model and actor Jamie Campbell Bower as Jagger. When they were both young and beautiful, they had a bit of a sexual relationship in our show, and then they become life-long friends, and it is kind of lovely. She was very unhappy, and he used to write her letters to Meg, darling. I felt incredibly sorry for her. She never got her light. She wasnt the queen, but she wasnt normal, either.

Macdonald also will soon be seen as Mrs. Hudson in the movie Holmes & Watson, yet another retelling of the Holmes canon. Will Ferrell appears as the indomitable detective and John C. Reilly as his sidekick Watson.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle rarely describes Mrs. Hudson, Holmes steadfast housekeeper, leaving the filmmakers to be creative with her character.

I play Mrs. Hudson as a terrible housekeeper and a bit slutty. Really very slutty, Macdonald added with a laugh.

Ruthe Stein is The Chronicles senior movie writer.PEOSTA, Iowa  President Trump on Thursday trumpeted his trade deal with European allies, hailing it as a benefit to Iowa farmers who have been hurt by the fallout from his protectionist trade measures.

Trump said during a roundtable discussion at Northeast Iowa Community College that his White House meetings Wednesday with the European Union had helped the two sides avoid a trade dispute and would open up new markets for American agriculture.

We just opened up Europe for you farmers. Youre not going to be too angry with Trump, I can tell you, the president said at the workforce development event, where he was joined by two Iowa Republicans, Gov. Kim Reynolds and Rep. Rod Blum.

Trump and European Union Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker agreed to open talks to tear down trade barriers and address U.S. tariffs on steel imports. Trump also said the EU had agreed to buy more soybeans from American farmers, who have seen prices decline sharply since China imposed retaliatory tariffs.

Farmers and manufacturers have criticized tariffs imposed by Trump, warning that they will spur a global trade war and retaliatory tariffs from countries like China, Mexico and Canada that will damage their livelihoods and raise prices on consumers.

Iowa is among the nations leading producers of soybeans, and the Northeast Iowa event came on the heels of the Agriculture Departments announcement of $12 billion in temporary aid to help farmers deal with retaliatory tariffs from U.S. trading partners.

Trump was accompanied on his Midwest trip by Ivanka Trump, his daughter and senior adviser, who said the president planned to sign legislation next week to reauthorize a program that provides money for job training and related programs for students.

Congress last authorized the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act in 2006. Lawmakers passed the bill Wednesday.

Ivanka Trump said it would help 11 million students and workers across the country acquire the technical skills they need to thrive in an increasingly digital economy.

Trump met later Thursday with steelworkers in Granite City, Ill., where U.S. Steel recently announced it was firing up a furnace at Granite City Works that had been idled for more than two years. The company credited Trumps tariffs on imported steel and aluminum for helping it re-open the steel mill east of St. Louis.

Trumps tariffs have been criticized by business leaders and members of Congress who say they could hurt companies that use steel and aluminum in their manufacturing and raise prices for consumers.

Tariffs threaten more than $3.8 billion in Illinois exports, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and major companies including Caterpillar and Boeing already have been negatively affected.

Jill Colvin is an Associated Press writer.Pacific Film Archive

Casque dOr is one of the highlights of the Pacific Film Archives tribute to the great French director Jacques Becker, who is not a household name in America, but whose work is so gut-level and appealing that it speaks to everyone.

Becker started out as an assistant to director Jean Renoir, and his work has something of Renoirs expansive, humane vision. But his subject matter is different.As deputy director of the National Park Service, Michael Reynolds played a key role in developing a sweeping new vision for managing national parks. The new policy, enacted in the final weeks of the Obama administration, elevated the role that science played in decision-making and emphasized that parks should take precautionary steps to protect natural and historic treasures.

But eight months later, as the first acting director of the Park Service under President Donald Trump, Reynolds rescinded this policy, known as Directors Order 100. Newly released documents suggest that top Interior Department officials intervened, ordering Reynolds to rescind it.

A memo addressed to Reynolds states: Pursuant to direction from (Interior) Secretary (Ryan) Zinke, I hereby instruct you to rescind Directors Order #100.

Reynolds, now the superintendent of Yosemite National Park, did not respond to requests for an interview.

Felicia Fonseca/AP

The emails were among 170 pages of documents released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from the Union of Concerned Scientists, an activist group.

Some top officials in the National Park Service were dismayed that the policy was canceled in August of 2017, according to the emails. Chris Lehnertz, superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park, called it hard news for me to swallow, according to an email she wrote to Reynolds and others.

Jonathan Jarvis, who was President Barack Obamas Park Service director, said now that the order has been rescinded, national parks could become more welcoming to drones, jet skis and private companies that want to build luxurious accommodations.

Were back into the era when those kinds of things will be proposed, Jarvis said. Im sure were going to see some.

Jarvis, who signed Directors Order 100, said he thinks the Trump administration objected to the policy because it stressed that parks follow the precautionary principle, preventing actions or activities that plausibly threaten park resources and human heath, even when there is uncertainty. It also acknowledged the significant impact that climate change has on parks and directed them to incorporate climate change science in management decisions.

One memo to Reynolds said that Zinke will replace the order with his own strategy for the national parks, including potential changes to the Departments piorities and organization over the next 100 years.

The emails show that Daniel Jorjani, Interiors principal deputy solicitor, played a key role in reversing the order. Jorjani is a Trump appointee who was an attorney from 2010 to 2016 for foundations funded by the Koch brothers, fossil-fuel billionaires who support the spread of free-market principles throughout government. During the Bush administration, Jorjani was an Interior Department counselor and chief of staff.

In one June 13, 2017, email exchange heavily redacted by the Interior Department, a lawyer in the solicitors office said Jorjani or someone else may want to change the language, but  The next part of the email is blanked out. The next day, another lawyer asked Jorjani in an email: Do you want us to hold this pending your review or should we start moving it through to get it signed?

On June 19, Jorjani emailed another lawyer, asking her to strengthen the language on the rescission memo. Later the same day, Jorjani emailed Reynolds and another top Park Service official asking: Do you have a preferred date for withdrawing DO-100? Later that day, Jorjani sent the rescission memo to the Park Service.

Jarvis, who worked with Jorjani during the Bush administration, wasnt surprised that Jorjani directed the withdrawal of the order.

This fits well with Jorjanis worldview  the private sector can do better anything than government, Jarvis said. During the Bush administration, Jorjani pushed to transfer various activities in the national parks to the private sector, Jarvis said.

The rescinded policy was developed in response to the 2012 Revisiting Leopold report from the science committee of the Park Services advisory board. The scientists urged the Park Service to update the vision of national parks to reflect the many changes underway in parks due to climate change and other factors. (In January, most members of that board quit in protest after Zinke hadnt met with them even once.)

The Trump administration has repeatedly downplayed climate science and eliminated efforts by previous administrations to address climate change. The National Park Service pressured a scientist to remove every reference to the human role in causing climate change from a scientific report projecting the risk to parks from sea level rise and storm surge.

Tony Knowles, the last chairman of the Park Services advisory board, said the Trump administration is veering far from the principles outlined in Directors Order 100.

For example, in May, the Trump administration proposed canceling rules that ban certain types of hunting in much of Alaskas large national preserves. These rules, developed in 2015 through an extensive scientific and public process, prohibit using artificial light to kill black bear sows and their cubs at their dens, using bait to lure black bears to their deaths and shooting swimming caribou from a motorboat.

If the order was still in place, it would be very difficult to justify doing away with these regulations, said Knowles, a former governor of Alaska.

The trove of documents also provides insight into the Interior Departments public relations strategy. Officials drafted news releases to explain the rescission of the policy but the day the withdrawal became effective, Park Service spokesman Jeremy Barnum told top Park Service officials that Interiors communications team had decided there would be no press release. Reynolds emailed the press official asking: If no press Im curious how we are now to notify folks. No response to his question was included in the released documents. Barnum declined to comment.

--

This story was originally published by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit news organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Learn more at revealnews.org and subscribe to the Reveal podcast, produced with PRX, at revealnews.org/podcast.SANTA CRUZ (BCN)



A 16-year-old boy was arrested following a shooting that injured a woman in Santa Cruz on Wednesday afternoon, police said.



Officers responded at about 1:30 p.m. to the report of a shooting at the intersection of River and Fern streets.



Investigators determined there was an argument between people in two vehicles and a shot was fired from one vehicle into the other, striking a woman in the passenger seat, according to police.



The woman in the passenger seat and the man driving the car went to a hospital and the woman was treated for injuries that are not considered life-threatening, police said.



The suspect vehicle was described as a blue Toyota Prius and a police sergeant found it and pulled it over. A witness eventually identified the people inside as being involved in the shooting, police said.



The 16-year-old boy was arrested and booked into juvenile hall on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, discharging a firearm at a moving vehicle and being a minor in possession of a firearm, according to police. His name is not being released because he is a minor.



Jourdon Ware, a passenger in the suspect vehicle, was arrested for an outstanding warrant unrelated to the shooting, police said.



Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Santa Cruz police investigations section at (831) 420-5820.





Copyright  2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.OAKLAND (BCN)



An ex-felon was convicted today of first-degree murder for the fatal shooting of a Berkeley activist during a fight in West Oakland last December.



Jurors deliberated for less than one full day before reaching their verdict against Melvin Andrew Allen Jr., 36, for shooting 30-year-old Dominique Johnson in the vicinity of West Grand Avenue and Brush Street at about 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 23.



Allen faces a term of 50 years to life in state prison when he's sentenced by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Gloria Rhynes on Aug. 22.



Allen and Johnson got into a fight at 23rd and Brush streets at about 10:25 p.m. on Dec. 23, according to Oakland police.



A short time later, the two men got into a second confrontation about a block away at West Grand Avenue and Brush Street and Allen pulled out a handgun and shot Johnson in the chest, police said.



Allen fled the scene and Johnson died at a hospital a short time later, according to police



Allen was arrested by patrol officers in the 600 block of 23rd Street at about 1 p.m. on March 5, more than two months after the shooting, following a short foot pursuit, police said.



Alameda County prosecutor Mark Bennett told jurors in his closing argument on Tuesday that there was enough evidence to convict Allen of murder for Johnson's death.



But Allen's lawyer David Bryden said there wasn't enough evidence to prove that Allen was the person who shot Johnson and suggested that someone else might have shot Johnson.



However, Bennett said, "There's not a shred of evidence that anyone other than Mr. Allen did this killing."



Bennett also said the defense didn't produce any alibi evidence that would have shown that Allen was somewhere else at the time of the shooting.



Allen is an ex-felon who was prohibited from possessing a firearm because he was convicted of possession for sale of cocaine and cocaine base in Alameda County in September 2015, according to police.



Johnson's family set up a GoFundMe website to raise money to support his 7-year-old daughter and his two brothers but so far it has only raised $3,727 of its $8,500 goal.



The website at https://www.gofundme.com/rest-in-power-dom-comrade-father describes Johnson as "a loved one, an amazing father and revolutionary comrade."



The site says, "His daughter and family will remember him as a deeply loving, playful father. His comrades will remember how hard he threw down in the name of black liberation."



The website says Johnson's family has experienced great loss in recent years, "namely the loss of Dom's mother in 2016 while he was serving time in the name of black resistance."





Copyright  2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)



One man died and another was left with life-threatening injuries after a shooting late Wednesday night in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood, police said.



The incident was reported around 11:45 p.m. near the corner of Hyde Street and Golden Gate Avenue.



The first victim died after receiving a gunshot wound to the chest. He's been identified as 36-year-old Javis Jones of Oakland, according to the city's medical examiner's office.



The second victim, a 50-year-old man, was taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the torso, police said.



Police did not release a description of the suspect.



Further information was not immediately available.





Copyright  2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.SAN LEANDRO (BCN)



A 22-year-old Grass Valley man has been arrested for allegedly engaging in illegal sideshow activity at the San Leandro Marina on Tuesday evening, police said.



Officers responded to Mulford Point at the San Leandro Marina at 5 p.m. on Tuesday after receiving reports of vehicles being involved in sideshow activity, such as driving recklessly and doing donuts in the parking lot, but by the time they arrived the illegal activities had already stopped, according to police.



The officers remained in the area to try to prevent more sideshow activity and at 6:45 p.m., while they were parked in the lot in identifiable police vehicles, they saw a white 1988 BMW 325i begin to spin donuts in the middle of the parking lot, police said.



This filled the air with smoke from the BMW's burning rear tires and a bystander, also associated with the vehicle, was in the vicinity video-recording the reckless driving, according to police.



Officers immediately stopped the BMW and arrested the driver, who police identified as Andrew Robles-Lara, on suspicion of driving recklessly and endangering others in the area, police said.



Officers also impounded Robles-Lara's BMW pursuant to California law, which allows the vehicle to be impounded for up to 30 days because it was used in the crime of reckless driving, according to police.



Robles-Lara was booked into the San Leandro City Jail but was later released with a notice to appear in court on August 24, police said.



Reckless driving is a classified as a misdemeanor and people who are convicted of the crime may be fined, imprisoned or both.





Copyright  2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.ANTIOCH (BCN)



A 31-year-old man is set for arraignment today on a murder charge related to a fight that killed a 55-year-old man last weekend in Antioch, according to the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office.



Ryan McGovern is accused of killing Mark Cancryn, who was found on the ground in the 3700 block of Sunset Lane around 12:15 a.m. Saturday.



Cancryn was taken by medical helicopter to a hospital but succumbed to his injuries, Antioch police said.



McGovern was detained at the scene and was charged Wednesday with murder along with two special allegations, one of which is a prior serious felony conviction, prosecutors said.



He is set for arraignment in Contra Costa County Superior Court in Pittsburg at 1:30 p.m. today, according to the district attorney's office.





Copyright  2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.San Mateo County sheriff's deputies apprehended a U.S. Army soldier Tuesday after the man was reported absent without leave, or AWOL, that morning, army officials said.



The soldier was in a Combat Support Training Exercise at Fort Hunter Liggett when at 10 a.m. he was reported AWOL. Army officials don't know when he left but he left the facility in a Humvee without authorization.



Before he was located, army officials said they were concerned about his welfare and were working with local officials to locate him.



The soldier was turned in to military custody after the sheriff's office found him at about 7 p.m., according to army officials.



The army is currently investigating the incident.









Copyright  2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.Several road closures are still in effect this morning as firefighters continue to battle the Marsh Fire in unincorporated Contra Costa County southeast of Clayton.



The fire has burned about 250 acres as of this morning, and is about 60 percent contained, said Cal Fire Capt. Amy Head. One firefighter was treated Wednesday night for minor injuries; one home and three outbuildings have been destroyed, and 100 more structures remain threatened this morning.



Marsh Creek Road remains closed to all vehicles at the intersections at Morgan Territory Road, Gill Drive and Clayton Road, according to Head. Residents along Marsh Creek Road between Morgan Territory Road and Gill Drive are still under mandatory evacuation orders this morning.



Marsh Creek Road between Deer Valley Road and Gill Drive is open only to residents of that area who can show identification.



Evacuation centers at the Clayton Library at 6125 Clayton Road and at the Brentwood Community Center at 35 Oak St. will remain open today and possibly overnight, Head said.



Approximately 100 firefighters, most of them from Cal Fire and the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District, are working this morning to put out the blaze, which was first reported at 2:41 p.m. Wednesday.



The fire appears to have started near Marsh Creek and Morgan Territory Roads. Head said the exact place and cause of origin are still under investigation this morning.



Power to approximately 550 PG&E customers in and near the fire area remains out this morning, and is expected to be restored to all customers by 3:30 p.m. today.







Law enforcement agencies and first responders are holding an active shooter training exercise today at Piner High School in Santa Rosa.



The exercise, scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., is designed to prepare local law enforcement agencies, fire agencies and school officials how to respond together to an active shooter incident using the latest tactics and equipment, the Santa Rosa Police Department said.



Participants include the Santa Rosa police and fire departments, American Medical Response, the Santa Rosa Junior College District Police Department, California Highway Patrol and Santa Rosa City Schools District.



Piner High School is off limits to anyone not participating in the exercise, and the perimeter of the school will be cordoned off by yellow tape and signs.



Nearby residents may hear screaming, simulated gunfire and explosions and see law enforcement and emergency vehicles.







A 39-year-old man was arrested after driving a stolen backhoe around the streets of Concord on Wednesday afternoon, police said.



Shortly after 2 p.m., officers responded to multiple reports of citizens regarding a tractor-like vehicle being driven recklessly on various streets.



A police sergeant located the vehicle, which was determined to be a backhoe, as a man drove it recklessly and did not stop when the sergeant tried to make contact with him.



Officers followed the backhoe through the city for about 20 minutes, closing various roads out of a concern for safety, according to police.



The man ended up on Willow Pass Road heading toward state Highway 4 and as he approached the highway, the on- and off-ramps to Willow Pass Road were closed along with the road itself, police said.



The driver, a Richmond resident whose name was not immediately released, eventually stopped the backhoe near the entrance to eastbound Highway 4 and was taken into custody on suspicion of auto theft, evading police and obstructing arrest, according to police.



Investigators determined that the backhoe was an unreported stolen piece of equipment and officers returned it to the rental company it belonged to.







A 66-year-old man was robbed at gunpoint while walking to work in Piedmont early Wednesday morning, according to police.



The robbery occurred around 5:45 a.m. as the victim was walking on Trestle Glen Road toward Cavanaugh Court.



He walked past three suspects who were sitting on a small brick wall of a residence. After the victim passed the group, one of the three ran up and pointed a black handgun at him, police said.



The victim handed over his wallet and work bag and the three suspects then fled on Trestle Glen Road toward Valant Place. The trio were all described as Hispanic men in their early to mid 20s who wore all dark clothing, according to police.



The suspect with the gun was described as being about 5 feet 8 inches tall with a thin build and a thin face. He had black straight hair that may have covered his ears, was clean shaven, and the gun was a dark mid-sized semi-automatic handgun, police said.



Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Detective Jeff Spranza at (510) 420-3013 or jspranza@piedmont.ca.gov or Detective Robert Coffey at (510) 420-3015 or rcoffey@piedmont.ca.gov.







A 22-year-old Grass Valley man has been arrested for allegedly engaging in illegal sideshow activity at the San Leandro Marina on Tuesday evening, police said.



Officers responded to Mulford Point at the San Leandro Marina at 5 p.m. on Tuesday after receiving reports of vehicles being involved in sideshow activity, such as driving recklessly and doing donuts in the parking lot, but by the time they arrived the illegal activities had already stopped, according to police.



The officers remained in the area to try to prevent more sideshow activity and at 6:45 p.m., while they were parked in the lot in identifiable police vehicles, they saw a white 1988 BMW 325i begin to spin donuts in the middle of the parking lot, police said.



This filled the air with smoke from the BMW's burning rear tires and a bystander, also associated with the vehicle, was in the vicinity video-recording the reckless driving, according to police.



Officers immediately stopped the BMW and arrested the driver, who police identified as Andrew Robles-Lara, on suspicion of driving recklessly and endangering others in the area, police said.



Officers also impounded Robles-Lara's BMW pursuant to California law, which allows the vehicle to be impounded for up to 30 days because it was used in the crime of reckless driving, according to police.



Robles-Lara was booked into the San Leandro City Jail but was later released with a notice to appear in court on August 24, police said.



Reckless driving is a classified as a misdemeanor and people who are convicted of the crime may be fined, imprisoned or both.







A vehicle stop last week by the California Highway Patrol in Napa County led to the arrest of an Oakland man for possessing child pornography and sexual exploitation of a child.



CHP officers stopped the vehicle for speeding on state Highway 29 around 2 a.m. July 19. They determined the driver, Kenyatta Usara Norwood, 43, of Oakland, was on parole and the vehicle he was driving was stolen, the CHP said.



Officers also discovered "further criminal activity" and contacted the Golden Gate Division's Investigative Services Unit that is a member of the Napa Special Investigations Bureau.



Investigators responded to the traffic stop and found digital media depicting child pornography and possible child molestation.



The subsequent investigation that spanned multiple Bay Area counties led to the location and rescue within the next 24 hours of two children ages five and 17 who were depicted in the pornographic acts, the CHP said.



Norwood was booked under no bail in the Napa County Jail for possession of child pornography, sexual exploitation of a child, and unlawful taking or driving of a vehicle.



Investigators are still gathering evidence for additional charges of production of child pornography and exploitation of a child, and forced oral copulation of a child.



The Napa County District Attorney's Office, Alameda County Office of Children and Family Services and Hayward Police Department are also investigating.



Norwood was arraigned Monday in Napa County Superior Court and is scheduled to enter a plea Aug. 1.









Copyright  2018 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.A massive underground lake has been detected for the first time on Mars, raising hopes that more water -- and maybe even life -- exists there, international astronomers said Wednesday.

Located under a layer of Martian ice, the lake is about 12 miles (20 kilometers) wide, said the report in the US journal Science.

It is the largest body of liquid water ever found on the Red Planet.

This December 09, 2013, NASA photo is a mosaic of images from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover and shows a series of sedimentary deposits in the Glenelg area of Gale Crater.A massive underground lake has been detected for the first time on Mars, marking the largest body of liquid water ever found on the Red Planet, scientists said on July 25, 2018. [Photo: AFP/NASA]

"Water is there. We have no more doubt," co-author Enrico Flamini, the Italian space agency's Mars Express mission manager, told a press conference.

Mars is now cold, barren and dry but it used to be warm and wet. It was home to plenty of liquid water and lakes at least 3.6 billion years ago.

Scientists are eager to find signs of contemporary water, because such discoveries are key to unlocking the mystery of whether life ever formed on Mars in its ancient past, and whether it might persist today.

"This is a stunning result that suggests water on Mars is not a temporary trickle like previous discoveries but a persistent body of water that provides the conditions for life for extended periods of time," said Alan Duffy, an associate professor at Swinburne University in Australia, who was not involved in the study.

Being able to access water sources could also help humans survive on a future crewed mission to Earth's neighboring planet, with NASA aiming to send explorers in the 2030s.

This particular lake, however, would be neither swimmable nor drinkable, and it lies almost a mile deep (1.6 kilometers) beneath the icy surface in a harsh and frigid environment.

Whether microbial forms of life could lie within is a matter of debate.

Some experts are skeptical of the possibility since the lake is so cold and briny, mixed with a heavy dose of dissolved Martian salts and minerals.

The temperature is likely below the freezing point of pure water, but the lake can remain liquid due to the presence of magnesium, calcium and sodium.

"This is a discovery of extraordinary significance, and is bound to heighten speculation about the presence of living organisms on the Red Planet," said Fred Watson of the Australian Astronomical Observatory.

"Caution needs to be exercised, however, as the concentration of salts needed to keep the water liquid could be fatal for any microbial life similar to Earth's," added Watson, who was not involved in the research.

The discovery was made using a radar instrument on board the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter, which launched in 2003.

The tool is called the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding (MARSIS), and was designed to find subsurface water by sending radar pulses that penetrate the surface and ice caps.

MARSIS "then measures how the radio waves propagate and reflect back to the spacecraft," said the study.

These reflections "provide scientists with information about what lies beneath the surface."

A team of researchers led by Roberto Orosei of the National Institute for Astrophysics in Bologna, Italy, surveyed a region called Planum Australe, located in the southern ice cap of Mars, from May 2012 until December 2015.

This NASA handout illustration obtained December 8, 2014 depicts a lake of water partially filling Mars' Gale Crater, receiving runoff from snow melting on the crater's northern rim. Evidence of ancient streams, deltas and lakes that NASA's Curiosity Mars rover mission has found in the patterns of sedimentary deposits in Gale Crater suggests the crater held a lake such as this more than three billion years ago, filling and drying in multiple cycles over tens of millions of years.[Photo: AFP/NASA]

A total of 29 sets of radar samplings showed a "very sharp change in its associated radar signal," allowing scientists to map the outlines of the lake.

"The radar profile of this area is similar to that of lakes of liquid water found beneath the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets on Earth, suggesting that there is a subglacial lake at this location on Mars," said the report.

Researchers said they are not sure how far down it goes, but that it may be around three feet (one meter) deep.

"This is the first body of water it has detected, so it is very exciting," David Stillman, a senior research scientist in the Department of Space Studies at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, told AFP in an email.

However, Stillman, who was not involved in the research, said another spacecraft, or other instruments, need to be able to confirm the discovery.

He noted that a higher-frequency radar instrument made by the Italian space agency SHARAD, on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter launched in 2005, has been unable to detect subsurface water.

"It is strange that SHARAD cannot confirm this discovery. In fact, SHARAD cannot penetrate through the ice here and no one understands why it can't," Stillman said.

"This suggests that something strange is going on here. Thus, I'm skeptical about this discovery."

But researchers are excited about the potential for future finds, because if liquid water could be found at Mars's south pole, it might be elsewhere too.

"There's nothing special about this location other than the MARSIS radar on the Mars Express spacecraft is most sensitive to that region," said Duffy.

"There are likely similar water deposits below the ground all across Mars."

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield said on Twitter that the discovery gets to one of the fundamental questions about existence.

"On Earth, where there's water, there's life. Could be we're not alone."



2018 Int'l AIDS Conference: Ending HIV, the Dutch Way

Amsterdam, Netherlands - We are all very familiar with the phrase 'Going Dutch' (meaning each person of a group pays one's own expenses in an outing), but are we also aware of dealing with HIV/AIDS the Dutch way?

Perhaps very few of us know that "Amsterdam, which is currently hosting the 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018) from 23-27th July 2018 - the largest conference for any global health issue in the world - became the first city in the world to overshoot the 90:90:90 target, set by UNAIDS (joint United Nations program on HIV/AIDS), with a continuum progress of 94:90:94," said Alphonsus Stoelinga, Netherlands Ambassador to India, in an exclusive interview given to CNS (Citizen News Service) on the eve of the 2018 International AIDS Conference.

Stoelinga shared with pride (and rightly so) that Netherlands has indeed been on the forefront of the global fight against HIV/AIDS for quite some time now.

"We are actively contributing to UNAIDS' 90:90:90 target for 2020 that is also intertwined with the global promise of ending AIDS through the adoption of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. As per UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS)' Country Progress Report 2016, the Netherlands' estimated continuum progress in as far back as December 2014 was 88:94:92, with 88% HIV-infected people diagnosed and linked to care; 94% with initiated combination antiretroviral therapy (ART), and 92% of all people receiving ART with suppressed viral load," said the Ambassador.

MULTI-SECTORAL APPROACHES AND INNOVATIONS ARE A MUST





Any efforts directed towards ending AIDS cannot function without multi-level cooperation and innovation. Presently, in the absence of functional vaccines or cures against HIV infection, the need for countries to join hands and innovate - both at the local and global levels - becomes more important than ever.

"I am very proud to share that the Kingdom of the Netherlands has consistently and diligently been working at both these levels. The Dutch HIV/AIDS policy focuses on 3 core principles: (i) Prevention (ii) Linkage between prevention and care and (iii) Ensuring low threshold access to testing and treatment," informed Stoelinga.

DEALING WITH HIV THE DUTCH WAY

Netherlands Ambassador to India Stoelinga claimed that the Dutch were the first nation in the world to spearhead large scale needle exchange programs to combat the spread of HIV among injecting drug users (IDUs). "The first information campaign targeting the Dutch population began in 1987 and it was initiated by the government. HIV testing through public health institutions is free-of-charge. Outreach programs are perpetually being set up for specific risk populations being tested. Free HIV testing, on World AIDS Day (December 1) and during the AIDS Conference 2018, are also being offered. All pregnant women in the Netherlands are tested free of cost for HIV. For most other people, HIV testing is covered by health insurance. Those who are more likely to have STIs and/or HIV (the high risk populations) for various reasons can get tested for free at an STI Outpatients' Clinic of the Public Health Service," Stoelinga said.

The again, in Netherlands, HIV testing is also available through the internet and the pharmacy. This allows one to test ones blood or saliva for HIV antibodies at home. The young population is given particular attention - by way of sexual education at schools, mother/child care (in the form of food supplements), prevention of teenage pregnancy, ensuring that young people can be tested for HIV, and those living with HIV have access to the care they need.





"Our efforts cover the full spectrum. We have a close-knit system of physicians, nurses, social workers working together to keep all people living with HIV in a continuum of care. Additionally, keeping up with the reach and power of social media, communicating about HIV/AIDS is also a part of our efforts", the Ambassador said.

GLOBAL COLLABORATION

Netherlands collaborates and shares technical assistance and knowledge with other countries at the global level. At the same time, it also learns from partner countries that have their own set of challenges and solutions. Partnerships are key, working together across sectors and national boundaries is deeply embedded in the country's traditions.

Stoelinga gave one the example of one such initiative - the HIV-Cohort between India, Netherlands and Sweden. Launched during Prime Minister Mark Rutte's visit to India in May this year, the program is aimed at tapping into complementary, diverse research strengths and expertise across the three countries to strengthen the development of better tools to understand and address the epidemic of HIV/AIDS, informed Stoelinga.

Sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) are closely related to the goal of ending AIDS. For the Dutch government, the diagnosis, treatment and subsequently, ending AIDS is also closely linked to two of its international policy priorities - SRHR and women empowerment. "We focus on linking SRHR with HIV/AIDS to ensure people have the knowledge and the means to prevent HIV. Linking HIV/AIDS initiatives with SRHR also create an enabling environment in which individuals are free to take decisions to protect themselves," he added.

Stoelinga emphasized that Netherlands government's priority is to find a functional or real cure for HIV infection. Various research programs, such as the one at Erasmus Medical College, have been set up to reach this goal. While this is still at a research stage and not clinical practice, he reiterated that the Netherlands will continue to strive for a functional cure against HIV/AIDS.

Stoelinga firmly believes that HIV/AIDS issues also form a vital branch for UN's Sustainable Development Goal 3 (Good health and well-being) and Goal 5 (Gender equality). "Netherlands has been consistently performing well under the SDG 3. Our country is in full compliance with the international health regulations, and for seven years in a row it has topped the European Health Consumer Index."How Much Will It Cost to Furnish My Vallarta Home?

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - If you are reading this article chances are that you are purchasing, or already own, a place in paradise and would like to know what you are in for as far as cost to furnish and decorate your home in Vallarta.

Have a new home? Tired of your furniture? Or just need a fresh new look? Whatever the reason, when you start your interior design project, that inevitable question drifts into your head like a rain cloud: How much is this going to cost me?

Budgeting is tricky business. If you are just starting the design process, we hope this article will help give you a better idea of how to calculate a budget. A project budget is the bottom line figure on what you will need to spend on decoration and furnishing of your new Vallarta residence.





"Probably one of the most valuable things Umberto brought to our project was a solid budget that provided us with accurate information as to where we were money-wise throughout the project. We ended up exactly where we wanted to be both in design and budget," a recent client commented.

Here are two methods for a quick estimate of how much you should budget. These methods are only guidelines intended to give you an initial idea of what you need to budget for your project.

 Percentage based on cost of unit:

10% to 20% of property cost common depending on your style and taste is the norm. The equation changes on a high-end property. The percentage becomes lower with a high end or large property as you are beyond purchasing basics and you may want to look at a per room cost.

 Budget based on a per room cost:

You can figure on average $5,000 per principle room (excluding kitchen, bath, laundry) as an average cost. This is a good way of assessing cost on a large property. Some rooms will cost more than $5,000 per room and some less, but it is a good overall average cost per room.

Creating a Real Budget

You should establish your needs first and then determine a budget. Both of the above methods provide a "guesstimate" of costs. To get closer to a real budget, all items need to be detailed on an excel sheet and then reviewed carefully. Keep in mind that detailing the budget is just as important as detailing the design aspects.

How will you use the property as well as style and materials? Before looking at costs, determine purpose or use of your property as well as style and materials. These details will help determine the true bottom line.

How is the property going to be used? Is the property going to serve as a full-time residence? A vacation home? A vacation / short term rental? Or an investment income property / long term rental? Use may increase or decrease the amount you want to spend.

Style and materials: Both style and materials will influence your budget. Whether your style is modern, classic, traditional, retro, or contemporary, selection of style and materials will vary the cost. Also keep in mind when budgeting that Puerto Vallarta has specific climate related needs as far as materials and furnishings.





Hiring an exoerienced interior designer is a good option if furnishing and decorating your Puerto Vallarta home seems overwhelming to you. Interior designers are pros, trained to furnish a home just the way you want it. And a local designer will have local sources to achieve a great result as well as help keep your project on budget. A great design on budget!

You may want to consult with more than one designer and let them know exactly what you want. Make sure they understand your style and budget and then choose the best qualified designer for you. As for me, my goal with every project is to reflect my client's style and budget goals, and I'd be happy to offer you a free consultation.A truck overturned on Interstate 80 in Oakland, spilling more than 40,000 sunflower seeds and blocking the first lane of the West Grand Ave. onramp.

California Highway Patrol tweeted a photo of the spill shortly after noon Thursday. The deluge of seeds  of the organic variety, CHP specified  covered the Downtown Oakland onramp.It's become the oft-spouted wisdom of sagacious travelers that the best day to scan airline sites for the cheapest fare is Tuesday. However, recent research from airfare price forecasting site Hopper suggests that advice may only slightly useful.

Actually, those bargain Tuesday tickets only emerge at exactly midnight (ET), and savings only apply to 1.6 percent of U.S. domestic flights, according to Bloomberg. And even on those flights, as the site notes, travelers will only save 6 percent more than if they had booked at the ticket at its standard price.

But here's the rub: According to most experts, there's no universal best day to purchase airline tickets. As Patrick Surry, a data scientist for Hopper, told Bloomberg, "the system is adapting in real time," so flight seekers just need to do the legwork and be vigilant to land the best rates.

That being said, Hopper researchers did make some interesting discoveries in comparing flight costs across the board. Looking at international flights sold every day of the week, it turned out that almost a quarter of the cheapest prices posted for routes were up for sale at an average of $30 cheaper than usual on Thursday  more than any other day of the week.

RELATED: Flight delays in Europe are surging this year

Those savings are also possible, to some extent, for domestic flights. The average discount is only about $12 for such routes on that day, but for cash-strapped tickets seekers, that might be worth it.

To other travel site editors, Tuesday is still a good bet for finding inexpensive tickets. According to AirfareWatchdog editor Tracy Stewart, major carriers like JetBlue and Southwest do still launch sales in the late hours Monday night, so that cheap tickets are indeed available on Tuesdays. A separate study by FareCompare backs that claim, stating that one of the best times to buy domestic tickets is on that day at noon (PT).

RELATED: The world's only billion-dollar airline route

Though experts disagree on most things booking-related, there are a couple travel tips about which most agree. For one, the absolute worst days for booking tickets are probably Friday and Saturday.

Most importantly, though, they warn prospective travelers not to procrastinate; don't sleep on buying up those seats  last-minute fare drops are simply not a thing.

Alyssa Pereira is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at apereira@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @alyspereira.

MAKARU ISLAND, Solomon Islands  The first island David Tebaubau moved to 14 years ago has already disappeared, drowned by heaving currents and rising seas.

It used to be right there, he told me, pointing east to what simply looked like more ocean. We thought everything was going to be OK, but its getting very hard.

The spit of earth he currently occupies here in this remote stretch of the South Pacific is half the size it was when he arrived five years ago. At mid-tide, its 24 steps across at its widest point, and 58 steps long (by my own walking count).

At high tide its even smaller, a teardrop of sand and coral with just enough room for his family and a few tons of the seaweed they grow offshore.

Its that seaweed that keeps them here. The shallows near his island  and two others nearby that have also been settled by farming families  are perfect for a wiry breed thats exported across Asia. And Tebaubau, 50, a former mechanic with the calm voice and long beard of a sage, is especially adept at its cultivation.

His earnings have already sent his children to private school on a larger island. To the neighboring seaweed farmers, he is not just a recluse. He is The Seaweed King.

At least for as long as he has a kingdom.

All three of the sandy islands here are being swept away by powerful currents and a rising ocean caused by climate change. Precarious and precious, life here is lovely, tropical and calm, but also akin to living in a bathtub with warm water pouring in and no drain to let it out. Ever.

Its what you see in many parts of the Solomon Islands, a struggling, stunning country of around 900 islands and 570,000 people.

Scientists call it a global hot spot. The surrounding seas have risen about 7 to 10 millimeters per year since 1993, roughly three times todays global average  and what scientists expect across much of the Pacific by the second half of this century.

Confronting such extremes, residents of many small villages on various islands have picked up and moved. Others, especially here on the three islands surrounded by lush seaweed, are doing everything they can to stay.

They call us crazy for staying, but we just survive, ourselves, said Andrew Nakuau, 55, a farmer and community leader on Beniamina, where about 60 people live crammed together on an island no more than a few hundred yards wide.

Damien Cave is a New York Times writer.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs' Percent for Art program, in partnership with the New York City Economic Development Corporation, put out an open call Thursday for artists to design a permanent installation at the historic Port Richmond branch of the New York Public Library.

"Staten Island is home to a diverse and vibrant cultural community, with artists and cultural organizations bringing extraordinary energy to all corners of the borough," said NYC Cultural Affairs Commissioner Tom Finkelpearl. "We're excited to reflect that energy in this historic library building. Libraries are centers of learning, creativity, and social connection, so it's fitting that as part of this restoration project, we give local artists an opportunity to create something that connects with the people who use the space every day."

Artists can answer the Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) through Aug. 10 at midnight. The working budget is $80,000.

"Staten Island has a vibrant art community, and there's no better place than the North Shore right now to see that," said Borough President James Oddo. "We're excited to see where this Open Call leads. Local artists -- specifically those who are familiar with the Port Richmond neighborhood and its fascinating history -- are encouraged to submit a proposal for this permanent installation. Let the conceptualization begin."

Staten Island Arts Deputy Director Gena Mimozo praised RFEI as an "amazing opportunity for artists to not only be a part of the building design process but to have their work be appreciated outside of the traditional museum or gallery setting. ... It is an opportunity to enrich a building and community in their own backyard and for years to come."

ABOUT THE LIBRARY: The Port Richmond library open at 75 Bennett St. in 1905 as one of the "Carnegie libraries" constructed with funds donated by Andrew Carnegie in 1901.

With more than 70,000 visits last year, the branch works closely with local organizations and offers a robust suite of services to provide patrons in the community with access to after-school programs, English Literacy classes, and technology workshops. The library's holdings include large young adult and Spanish language collections. Port Richmond also houses a small collection of materials on the history of the borough.

"The Port Richmond Library serves a diverse and vibrant community that appreciates its history, heritage and culture," said Christopher Platt, Chief Branch Library Officer at NYPL. "Working with Percent for Art is an extraordinary opportunity to support the talent of local Staten Island artists and honor both the neighborhood and our library."

NYCEDC's capital program will be implementing the construction of this renovation, addressing aging infrastructure, the need for flexible 21st century spaces, and the integration of technology, all with the benefit of an improved patron experience and enhanced accessibility of this branch. The Port Richmond library renovation is currently under design by CannonDesigns, with a target for construction to begin in 2019.

"New York City's public libraries are some of its most valuable assets. The renovated library, with the introduction of new public artwork highlighting the rich history of Staten Island, will build on investments we're seeing across the borough," said NYCEDC President and CEO James Patchett. "NYCEDC is proud to be leading the construction efforts for renovations to the Port Richmond Library and four other Carnegie libraries throughout the city."

HOW TO APPLY: The full request for qualifications is available HERE. The City, in partnership with a committee of outside arts and design professionals, will select the artist finalists to proceed in the competition. Phase Two is a Request for Proposals in which finalists will submit a conceptual design for review by the committee. One artist will be selected to complete a design for installation at the library.

ABOUT PERCENT FOR ART: Since 1982, New York City's Percent for Art law has required that one percent of the budget for

eligible City-funded construction projects be spent on public artwork. Managed by the City's Department of Cultural Affairs, the Percent for Art program has commissioned hundreds of site-specific projects in a variety of media--painting, new technologies, lighting, mosaic, glass, textiles, sculpture, and works that are integrated into infrastructure and architecture--by artists whose sensibilities reflect the diversity of New York City. Learn more at www.NYC.gov/percent.Schools chancellor visits middle school students for bike safety program 15 Gallery: Schools chancellor visits middle school students for bike safety program

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza and Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Polly Trottenberg on Thursday announced that a bike safety program, originally launched in select Staten Island schools, will be expanded for the upcoming 2018-2019 school year.

The Bike Safety Education Program was launched on Staten Island during the 2017-2018 school year at 13 middle schools. It will be expanded to all 15 Staten Island middle schools for the new academic year, and eight schools in the four other boroughs.

"We know that, not only on Staten Island, but in every borough across the city of New York, children are riding to school, children are using bikes over the weekends and during the week. So it's important that they have knowledge on how to bike safely," said Carranza, who can be seen riding a bike with students in the video above.

The announcement was made at Rocco Laurie Intermediate School (I.S. 72) in New Springville, one of the first schools to enact the program, which takes place during the regular school day during physical education classes.

Once expanded, it will serve about 6,000 middle school students total.

"Our students and families have fully embraced this program, as our school has become a community of bike-riders," said Peter Macellari, principal of I.S. 72. "More students own bicycles and are riding to school and riding for fun. They enjoy the freedom that comes with providing their own transportation."

The goal of the program is to increase safe bike ridership among students.

Bike New York -- a non-profit that works to increase ridership and empower youth to lead healthy, productive lives -- provides curriculum, teacher-training and on-site support for the initial implementation.

Throughout the course of six 45-minute bike sessions, students learn various skills, including: how to select and fit a bicycle and helmet; how to smoothly start and stop; how to shift gears, and use hand signals. Students who don't know how to ride a bicycle receive additional support.

"The Bike Safety Education Program has been a positive program for the students on Staten Island, so I am happy to see it expanding to the rest of New York City," said Borough President James Oddo. "Bike safety is an essential lesson that needs to be taught. I hope the program encourages kids to get outside and be active, but also reminds them of the importance of putting their safety first."

Schools have access to one of three fleets of 50 bicycles, storage containers for the bikes and helmets.

It is funded through the Safe Streets Fund/Mayor's Fund and a grant from the Safe Routes to School program and is in partnership with the Department of Education, the DOT and Bike New York.

SCHOOL SPEED CAMERAS

The chancellor also called upon the state Senate to return to Albany to keep the school speed cameras running -- after the program expired Wednesday.

"This is a matter of life and death," Carranza said. "We know that the speed safety cameras in school zones make a difference."

City officials joined Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday to rally for the program in front of PS 78 in Stapleton, where a child was struck by a taxi.

The renewed legislation would have extended the five-year program until 2022 and allowed the city to install speed cameras in an additional 150 school zones.

FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.(Courtesy of DOT)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The city is planning significant changes for the Clove Road-Howard Avenue intersection in hopes of reducing congestion and collisions at the crowded crossway.

New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Polly Trottenberg joined Borough President James Oddo Thursday morning to announce a major lane reconfiguration that will be implemented in the coming weeks, as well as a developing capital project to increase vehicle capacity along Clove Road.

"This is an issue I have been working with DOT to find a solution for since 2014, so I'm pleased to see these changes implemented," said Oddo.

The roadway will be realigned to create two through lanes in both directions. However, left turns from Clove Road onto Howard Avenue or Tioga Street will be eliminated.

The S66 bus will continue to make the left turn from Clove Road onto Howard Avenue and signs stating "No turns except buses" will be installed at the intersection, according to the DOT.

Click on the graphic above to get a detailed look at the planned changes.

"We know that left turns are far more dangerous than right turns, and so changes that can eliminate those turns, keep traffic moving and not inconvenience a very large number of drivers are a win-win for everybody," said Trottenberg.

DOT data showed that 12 non-fatal injuries had occurred at the intersection over the past five years and fewer than 100 drivers per day were making the left turns that will be eliminated.

As currently constructed, the single through lane traveling northbound on Clove Road, toward Victory Boulevard, often backs up all the way to Narrows Road North with morning, midday and evening rush hour traffic.

"For years I have advocated for a solution that would allow two through lanes on Clove Road to alleviate the extreme traffic that backs up on to the service road every afternoon," said Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore).

In addition to the short-term realignment, DOT is examining the feasibility of widening Clove Road and constructing a dedicated right turn lane with land acquired from Wagner College.

"With Lorraine Grillo now heading up the New York City Department of Design and Construction, I am confident, along with Commissioner Trottenberg and the leadership of Wagner College, we can begin genuine discussions on a capital project that would provide even more assistance to motorists and pedestrians using this corridor," said Oddo.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The grand opening of a $28-million community health care center in Clifton is a milestone for Staten Island, filling a void for public health care on the borough's North Shore.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, First Lady Chirlane McCray and Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Dr. Herminia Palacio attended Thursday's ribbon cutting ceremony along with North Shore Councilwoman Debi Rose.

The NYC Health and Hospitals/Gotham Health Vanderbilt clinic, located at 165 Vanderbilt Ave., is the first full-service clinic on Staten Island and is expected to serve 15,000 patients and have 40,000 visits per year.

"Healthcare is one of the best ways to look at the prism of inequality," said de Blasio. "And Staten Island has very particular needs."

"This new center will help Staten Island's North Shore residents receive the treatment they deserve for their most pressing issues," he said.

Claudette Duff, community board 1 member, said the board has been advocating for a clinic for years and is ecstatic to see it open.

"There's nowhere else to go around here except the emergency room," Duff said.

The clinic has many advanced pieces of equipment, including a state-of-the-art 3D mammography suite, putting the clinic in the top 20 percent across the city when looking at technology.

"This is a symbol of the resurgence of Health and Hospitals; today is a good day for New York City," de Blasio said.

In addition to primary care, obstetrics, podiatry, and pediatrics, the clinic will also offer mental health and substance misuse services.

According to McCray, a staff nurse with the ability to prescribe buprenorphine - one of the options for medical assisted treatment (MAT) for addiction -- will begin this fall, as well as a full-time physician who can prescribe the life-saving medication.

"People who are struggling need the easiest access to care and that is not a train or a ferry ride away. This program will save lives," McCray said.

The health center is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesdays.

Dr. Mitchel Katz, president and CEO of NYC Health and Hospitals, said it will begin taking walk-in appointments and will be open seven days a week by the end of 2018.

Rose, who aided in securing $8 million in city council funding, said the center is personal for her.

"We've been begging for a facility on Staten Island for a long time. We were denied for a public hospital but the need never went away," Rose said.

Said Palacio: "This is for the community, of the community. This will serve not just with compassion but with passion."

The mayor and his staff are on Staten Island this week as part of de Blasio's City Hall in Your Borough program, working out of Borough HallSTATEN ISLAND -- The mayor made at least two solid vows to Staten Islanders during his first town hall of the year in the borough: The city will not get involved with turning two hotels proposed for Port Richmond Avenue into homeless shelters and would try to help the embattled New York Wheel.

More than a hundred Staten Islanders and city commissioners packed into the Curtis High School gym Wednesday night so that Mayor Bill de Blasio could hear their questions and concerns from around the borough.

But he came back to the district, which has asked for years for new recreation options, without a decision.

He said the city had not yet determined where it plans to put the new indoor pool the city recently funded, only saying it is still eyeing "a variety of options," and still looking at several different sites.

In recent days, Port Richmond residents remained fiercely opposed to the development of two hotels proposed for the neighborhood.

The main concern within the community is that the hotels will not generate legitimate business and instead being turned into de facto homeless shelters

"I am going to be as straight forward as I can be. We are building shelters ... not hotels," the mayor said.

"Whoever's doing it that's his business, that has nothing to do with us. I announced 90 new shelters around the city ... so that hotel is a private thing, we are not involved, we will not be involved," he continued.

HELPING THE NEW YORK WHEEL

The mayor also said City Hall would get involved to help see a resolution for the embattled New York Wheel.

In May, the Wheel was given 120 days to get the project to build a 630-foot-high observation wheel on the St. George waterfront back on track after it was derailed in May 2017. That's when its former contractor walked off the job and was subsequently fired.

But 50 days have passed since the New York Wheel got the green light to hire a new contractor, and word on the project's progress remains mum.

"I'm willing to see the city push everyone toward resolution," he said. "I want to make sure that city resources are protected ... we can try and aggressively get everyone back on the same page."

"The outlets I think are going to work out fine ... but the Wheel we've got to figure out a solution," the mayor continued.

Staten Islanders were able to ask the mayor about everything from what the city could do more to help address the opioid epidemic, to fixing dangerous conditions at New York Housing Authority playgrounds on Staten Island, and how to make teens feel safer on the streets of the North Shore.

"Am I allowed to be this closely monitored? Asked a Curtis High Kiara Brown, who said on several occasions she has been followed and questioned by police on her walk from school to the St. George Ferry terminal.

"We have seen unprecedented growth in the opioid crisis ... what other initiatives can be done?" asked Sunny Jain.

SOME QUESTIONS GO UNANSWERED

But other questions were harder for the mayor to find solutions for.

The mother of Eric Garner, Gwen Carr, asked if he would hold all of the officers accountable who were involved in the death of her son and move the disciplinary process along faster.

Days after the four-year anniversary of Eric Garner's death, the NYPD said it would immediately begin the disciplinary process against two officers in the case.

The case is expected to begin as early as this week, sources said.

"It's unacceptable that the administration is only planning to discipline [Daniel] Pantaleo and Kizzy Adonis when there was at least a dozen officers who was involved of the killing of my son that day...next year is unacceptable, we need action now," Carr said.

The mayor praised Carr for her advocacy but said he would need to let the disciplinary process run its course.

"The fact is that in any departmental proceeding ... it's a professional proceeding it has nothing to do with the law enforcement process ... we still don't have a clear answer from the Justice Department, the only thing we know is the Justice Department has said the NYPD can go ahead with its own disciplinary process," the mayor said.

But mayor's response was not enough for Carr, she pressed the mayor to ask another question but was prevented from doing so by he and Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore).

A distraught woman in tears plead with the mayor to help her and her family who she said are being sued hundreds of thousands of dollars and is slipping into bankruptcy.

She said her question had to do with renting out her home on Airbnb, but the mayor quickly prevented her from speaking as she broke down in tears ushering his staff to follow up with her.

FOLLOW SYDNEY KASHIWAGI ON TWITTER.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Staten Island woman has been charged in connection with the 2017 death of her 5-year-old son.

Phyllis Reinoso, 31, of 68 Jules Drive in Graniteville, faces charges of manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment, acting in a manner injurious to a child and failure to exercise control of a minor, according to an NYPD spokesperson.

Police responded Jan. 22, 2017, to a report of an unconscious and unresponsive child inside 145-15 109th Ave. in Jamaica, Queens, police said.

The child was identified as Michael Guzman, who lived in the home with Reinoso, his father Michael Guzman, 34, and five siblings, according to a New York Post report.

The boy had no visible signs of trauma at the time of his death, however, the city's medical examiner later ruled the child died of acute phenobarbital intoxication, according to authorities.

Phenobarbitol is used to control seizures and has been used in suicide attempts.

The death was ruled a homicide in December, at which point police sought the public's assistance in locating Reinoso. She was arrested Wednesday in Alabama, police said.

The Administration for Child Services reportedly had 13 open cases against the family between October 2008 and January 2016.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Staten Island resident was among dozens of people arrested during a recent immigration sweep across the city, officials announced Wednesday.

The 56-year-old Colombian native was previously removed from the United States before coming back and settling in the borough, authorities said.

The individual was released from NYPD custody on an active detainer, and has a cocaine trafficking conviction, authorities said.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did not immediately return a request for more information about the Staten Island arrest.

Operation Cross Check netted 65 arrests in Long Island and New York City during a five-day span ending July 20.

The individuals had criminal backgrounds ranging from drug trafficking, sexual abuse, assault, identity theft, and drugs and weapons possession, officials said.

"In this operation 64 of the 65 arrested had already been removed from this country, and the majority have either criminal convictions or pending criminal charges," said Thomas R. Decker, field office director for Enforcement and Removal Operations in New York, in a statement.

This is the latest immigration crackdown to hit the borough in the past few months.

In April, ICE arrested a man inside state Supreme Court in St. George. The defendant's misdemeanor assault case was dismissed before officers arrested him in the hallway near the first-floor courtrooms.

Prior to the courthouse incident, ICE arrested several Staten Island residents in a citywide sweep that netted 225 individuals.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.

-- A 30-year-old Stapleton man was indicted Thursday on

over several months this year.

Both of Sergio Paz-Guzman's victims were under age 11, the indictment said.

Paz-Guzman pleaded not guilty through a Spanish interpreter at his arraignment in state Supreme Court, St. George.

According to the indictment, Paz-Guzman subjected one girl to sexual contact between Jan. 1 and June 1. He abused the other victim between April 6 and June 1, said the indictment.

He forcibly touched each victim's private parts and performed a sex act on one girl, the indictment alleges.

The defendant knew both victims, said a law enforcement source.

Paz-Guzman, who resides on the 100 block of Canal Street, was arrested June 14.

He is charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse, forcible touching and endangering a child's welfare.

He's also accused of single felony counts of criminal sexual act, formerly classified as sodomy, and course of sexual conduct against a child.

The latter charge accuses Paz-Guzman of subjecting a child under 11 to sexual conduct two or more times.

At the arraignment, prosecutors offered the defendant a sentence of three years in prison and five years' post-release supervision in exchange for a felony plea of second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child.

Paz-Guzman would also have to register as a sexual offender.

He declined that offer and was ordered to return to court on Sept. 11.

The defendant is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Defense lawyer Kevin McKernan said he might make a bail application on the next court date.

Assistant District Attorney Rhiannon LaTour is prosecuting the case.Australian Securities and Investments Commission chairman James Shipton has warned Australias trillion-dollar superannuation sector that it has a trust deficit, is exploiting members and has lost sight of the fact that it's the custodian of other peoples money.

Mr Shiptons criticism of the superannuation sector comes ahead of the fifth round of hearings for the banking royal commission that will focus on superannuation.

James Shipton has been ASIC chairman for four months. Credit:James Alcock

To be blunt, there has been too much focus in many parts of the superannuation sector on exploiting opportunities to make money from Australians instead of focussing on the responsibilities that come from being the custodians of other peoples money, Mr Shipton said.

This must change.One is a former journalist who has presided over the most difficult operating period in Fairfax Media's history, while the other is a lawyer-turned-media executive regarded as one of the industry's smartest operators.

And if Nine's takeover of Fairfax Media goes ahead - creating a $4 billion integrated media giant across television, online, print, digital and real estate listings - only one of them will keep their job.

That will be Hugh Marks, the digitally-savvy "content man" who gets around town in a rugged four-wheel-drive and is described as a single-minded, but fair and inclusive, leader who does not suffer fools.

Fairfax Media chief executive Greg Hywood said on Thursday that the deal was "the right thing to do" and that he was pleased with how far the business had come after teetering close to oblivion.In 1995, two of the most powerful media barons in the country, Rupert Murdoch and Kerry Packer, sat in Murdochs offices in London and plotted how they would divide up the spoils of the Fairfax empire.

As Colleen Ryan writes in her powerful history of the company, Fairfax: the Rise and Fall, the deal didnt happen; it was scuppered when it ran into headwinds from Paul Keating, though the latter had no love for Fairfax either.

Outside The Sydney Morning Herald office in 1900. Credit:Charles Kerry

It was not the first time the famous metropolitan Fairfax mastheads would be in play, and it would be far from the last. Yet they have survived these and many other battles, buoyed by the strong links they have forged with their communities and readers, the role they have in holding the powerful to account, and the vital part they've played in underpinning informed public discourse in this country.

And so it has been, almost from the beginning. The Sydney Morning Herald, the oldest masthead in the group, stretches back to 1841, when the founder of the family dynasty, John Fairfax, acquired co-ownership of the then Sydney Herald with his business partner, Charles Kemp for the princely sum of 10,000.Macquarie Group's first female chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake has dismissed suggestions there are problems with the investment banks culture, saying shes never faced discrimination because of her gender or ethnicity.

Ms Wikramanayake, 56, will take over from current CEO Nicholas Moore later this year.

She becomes one of just 14 female CEOs in the ASX200, and the only female CEO among Australia's 20 biggest companies by market value.

Macquarie Group's incoming CEO Shemara Wikramanayake. Credit:Dean Lewins

"I'm in a lot of minority groups," she told Fairfax Media when asked during a media conference what she would do to help lift representation of women in corporate Australia.For a man who has made two fortunes on the free market, Dick Smith is a terrible capitalist.

Announcing on Thursday morning that he was closing Dick Smith Foods because he could not viably compete on price with Aldi, Smith wept when he conceded he had been unable to save Australian jobs with the brand.

I couldnt. I couldnt. It was beyond me, he said.

Australian entrepreneur and philanthropist, Dick Smith. Credit:James Brickwood

Smith said he had been defeated by a system of extreme capitalism and lamented that when producers like him were forced out of the local market Australians would be left with cheaper food, less variety, more obesity and, eventually, entrenched high unemployment.Westpac chief executive Brian Hartzer says Australia needs to play a greater role in the Pacific as China's economic power grows and the United States turns away from the region.

Chinas development has been a fantastic thing and lifted millions out of poverty, but that said, its important that [Australia] continue to stand up for what we believe in and recognise ways to remain engaged with countries in the Pacific region, Mr Hartzer said.

Westpac chief executive Brian Hartzer. Credit:AAP

While Mr Hartzer shied away from discussing US politics, he told the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia event in Sydney on Thursday that people only had to watch the Late Shows Stephen Colberts monologues to understand America's situation, theyre on Youtube and pretty much say it all".

As US politics cycles back towards isolationism, theres an emerging power struggle around who gets to write and enforce the global rules, Mr Hartzer said.Rachel speaks with a quiet determination, describing running a gauntlet of doctors and specialists, being bounced around the Western Australian health service. "There were just random things going on that nobody could explain," she says. "Then there seemed to be a lot of little things that nobody could explain. Then two years ago I got really sick. Three weeks out of the month I'd have cellulitis." Cellulitis, an infection of the skin and tissues beneath, is excruciating. Rachel can put on up to 20kg of fluid during one attack. In August last year she was eventually told she had a brain tumor.

I need a voice, I need my story to be told. To help other families as well, to make sure this never happens to anyone again. Just to be left in the system, devoured by it. It's not OK. Rachel "It was a Friday afternoon, she'd spent a few days in hospital, done some MRIs but she was mainly in there for the cellulitis," Andrew said. The family celebrate Rachel's 39th birthday last week. Credit:Fighting for Rachel "They came and said we will send you home. Just before walking out, he said 'you've got this thing in your brain. There's nothing to worry about, it's not going to grow'." But it has. And the symptoms have been getting worse.

Rachel celebrated her 39th birthday last week with a dinner her friends organised that she really didnt feel well enough to attend but struggled through. Rachel and her husband have told her story over and over again, mostly to a conga line of doctors whom she sought help from. She was told the tumour was inoperable. Finally she told her story to one neurosurgeon who said he would do something. The famous Dr Charlie Teo, based in Sydney, whose reputation as a cowboy operator the couple is well aware of. Dr Teo is known for taking risks other surgeons are not prepared to take, and after the couple flew east for a consultation, he determined Rachel was a good candidate for brain surgery. "He will go where nobody else will go," Rachel said.

The couple know the risks. "He's done 80 of these, he's told us. They have come out with symptoms gone, or minimal residue," Andrew says. Loading The cost of the operation, then care in ICU and follow up is about $100,000. "I could die, we have to sign a waiver to say that's OK, basically. I'm shit scared, to be honest," Rachel says.

"And I do go between 'do I do it, do I not?' because I'm scared. Then I think of the kids. Do they deserve to have a mother? I'm only 39 years old. "It's just all unfair." A letter from Dr Teo's office to Rachel's GP says she would be a reasonable candidate for surgery given her symptoms and radiographic findings  a 9mm lesion. "While our patients who are offered surgery tend to do quite well, we would certainly never guarantee that her symptoms would abate after surgery and she would need to know that going in as well as the risks of new neurologic deficit or problems including even death," the letter says. Dr Teo told the couple that people with Rachel's condition he had operated on had a better quality of life afterwards. But there were no guarantees.

"I've got to try," Rachel says. "I want it out." The tumour in Rachel's brain. Credit:Fighting for Rachel

MUMS MOBILISED Neighbourhood mums noticed Rachel was getting more unwell, and started asking Rachel's children what was going on. They started a fundraising campaign Fighting for Rachel. But it's been tough. "It's been hell, we have done some really nice fundraising events, but the amount coming out of them is minimal," Rachel says. "To date, today we are sitting at $5000 altogether. That's it."

To donate, click here While the federal government is looking into what can be done about the issue of extravagant out-of-pocket medical costs, with the chief medical officer at the helm of an investigative committee, the couple find it difficult to reconcile the fact that $100,000 may restore her life but the Australian government cannot help. Rachel Hayden was told the tumour was inoperable. Credit:Fighting for Rachel "It's just devastating," Rachel says. "There are people like the paedophile in Bali recently. Australian taxpayers spent $500,000 through Legal Aid to save him. But they can't spend $100,000 to save a mum of five.

"My kids have got to watch their mum die." Life was marvellous Rachel remembers back to the years before her illness struck. The couple had built a new home, had savings in their account, were very happy.

"We were going marvellously, and then it all just suddenly changed," Rachel says. "And then the system let us down." She was put on unemployment rather than disability, and was forced to job-seek while very ill. It's plain to see how much Andrew loves his wife, and the depth of his despair at witnessing her decline. He tears up talking about the situation the family faces. "I look at photos and just cry," Rachel said. "You just can't believe how much someone can change, and think can I get back to looking like that, and feeling like that if I could just get this thing out of my brain that's making all my life hell."

The family's five children are suffering too. One son was bullied at school about his mother's illness, so much so the couple decided to homeschool him. "Go tell your mum to die," Rachel says he was told by one bully. Dr Teo has been critcised for peddling hope when hope comes with big risks. But Rachel says the decision about whether to undergo brain surgery should be hers.Only 5 per cent of fathers suffer PND but the condition can be devastating. Credit:Stocksy

Rob* never imagined that becoming a father would plunge him into despair and almost destroy his marriage.

Rob suffered from the little known condition of male postnatal depression, which is thought to affect 5 per cent of new fathers.

Looking back, he can see that his depression was first triggered when his wife, Jane* nearly died during the birth of their first child in 2013. Their plans for a home birth went badly wrong, and, as a result, Jane suffered severe physical trauma. Rob watched her being sewn up at the hospital and was distressed to see her being roughly handled. She then collapsed with an internal blood clot.

The medics basically pushed me out of the way. And no one was talking to me, he says.In reality, that dubious honour continues to be held by family violence, where incidents of violence occur at roughly seven times the rate of those enacted against emergency service workers.

Violence directed at emergency service workers (particularly that fueled by alcohol and drug use) is real, but it still doesnt come close to representing the most significant harm experienced in our community.

The rhetoric that some kind of crime wave is sweeping Victoria is a popular one, despite being unsupported by statistics. Racist fearmongering about African gangs has seen an increase in attacks against members of the African community, with new reports suggesting the sanctioned bigotry has also contributed to an increase in suicide rates for members of that group.

Next week, the Victorian governments upper house is expected to vote on proposed changes to mandatory sentencing laws . If passed, the laws will introduce new minimum mandatory sentences for anyone who attacks an emergency service worker regardless of their condition at the time of the attack or consideration of extenuating life circumstances. The government moved to introduce the hardline, regressive stance earlier this year after two women avoided jail time following an attack on ambulance paramedic, Paul Judd.

But I guess this proves far less popular a rallying tactic for conservatives than the isolation of migrants and other disenfranchised groups. Mandatory sentencing laws designed to appease reactionaries (and in turn court their support for the ALP in an election year) will do little to address the root causes of violence or act as a deterrent to the perpetration of it while definitively causing further harm to those victimised by family violence.

But surely the promise of immediate prison sentences would reassure such people! you might be thinking. In fact, the opposite is true. The dynamics of family violence are complex and varied. Not everyone victimised by family violence seeks penal retribution for their attackers. Often, what they want is help and support to make the abuse stop.

Heres just one example of how laws like this will backfire. In 2017, it was reported that a quarter of all perpetrators of family violence under the age of 19 were boys bashing their mothers. Its a horrifying statistic and one that demonstrates the need for critical examination of gender dynamics, rage in young men and the potential for inherited knowledge of abusive patterns.

Loading

But with mandatory sentencing laws in place, women victimised in this way will be understandably disinclined to report abuse or call for help because of the very real fear that their sons will be given a mandatory custodial sentence and carted off to jail. Instead, women will choose to endure this abuse out of the belief they are protecting their sons and in turn not seek the support they need to try and actually help them. The findings of the Royal Commission into Family Violence comprehensively cover circumstances like this and numerous others, and theyre being wilfully ignored in favour of a hardline stance that will do nothing to substantially change outcomes other than the number of people fighting for space in Victorias prison system.Dorothy Mulquineys agonising search for answers could be a little closer to ending, as police probe new leads into the disappearance of her teenage daughter Megan in 1984.

The police got in touch with me about two weeks ago and said they needed to see me about something. To me that was a godsend, she said.

Dorothy Mulquiney, who is still desperate to know the facts of her daughter's disappearance. Credit:Steven Trask

I just pray that we can find out what happened to Megan.

On Thursday morning ACT Policing revealed they were investigating new avenues related to Megans disappearance from Woden Plaza on July 28, 1984. She was 17 at the time.Spiro Stavis was mired in debt with a failed business and a family to support before he landed a plum $250,000-a-year job as the former Canterbury council's planning boss.

Mr Stavis had struggled to meet his mortgage repayments and owed "a considerable amount of money" after his company, SPD Planning, went bust about six years ago, a corruption inquiry heard.

Spiro Stavis leaves the ICAC hearing on Thursday. Credit:Wolter Peeters

"You were in a serious financial situation, weren't you?" counsel assisting the ICAC, David Buchanan SC, asked him on Thursday.

"Correct," Mr Stavis replied.Matthew James Williams, who police allege is responsible for an attack on two people in Jindabyne on July 5.

The British ski instructor accused of sexually assaulting a woman and knocking a man unconscious in Jindabyne will remain behind bars until the case returns to court in October.

Matthew James Williams is charged with aggravated sexual assault, causing grievous bodily harm with intent, two counts of occasioning actual bodily harm, and possession of a prohibited drug.

The 28-year-old, who was working at Perisher before his arrest, is accused of attacking a 22-year-old woman and 25-year-old man on Kosciuszko Road, Jindabyne, in the early hours of July 5.

Police, who have described the incident as horrendous, allege that Mr Williams punched the man until he was unconscious, then sexually assaulted the woman, before again assaulting the man when he woke and tried to help the woman.The investigation into the fatal shooting of Bankstown man George Nassiff on Sunday has led police to issue an arrest warrant for a Liverpool man.

Liverpool City Police Detective acting Superintendent Paul Albury said on Thursday that investigators believe that Marko Krivosic, 27, fired the shot that killed Mr Nassiff.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Marko Krivosic man over the shooting death of George Nassiff at Warwick Farm earlier this week. Credit:

Images have been released of who we allege to be Marko Krivosic wearing a balaclava, armed with a pistol a short time before the murder took place inside the unit, acting Superintendent Albury said.

Its a disgusting escalation of violence, shooting an unarmed man in the back, its an abhorrent crime and our focus is on bringing him before the courts.A soon-to-be mother is in hospital and a 14-year-old boy in custody, after a violent home invasion in which the pregnant woman was stabbed in the chest and stomach in Sydneys north on Thursday night.

Neighbours have described the screams of Pie-Jiun Cheah, a 33-year-old physiotherapist, after the bloody attack in her Mount Colah home, shortly before 9pm.

Pei-Jiun Cheah (right) - the victim of a home invasion and stabbing attack in Mount Colah overnight. Credit:Facebook

"She just knocked on our door and said 'I've been attacked help me, help me'," neighbour Mark Bolger told reporters on Friday.

"We could see blood but not her actual wound. She was just totally distressed as we tried to ask her questions to get more information but she was so stressed she just couldn't speak about many other things."An empty government building in inner Brisbane will be used for counter-terrorism training exercises.

Explosive exercises have already been completed by Queensland Police at a secret location.

Footage released by the Queensland Police Service on Thursday showed the explosion of buses.

The yellow and white buses, which have similarities to decommissioned Brisbane City Council buses, are shown bursting into flames.Save the dates and book now:

JHB - Ster Kinekor Sandton City - 29 August at 8am for 8.30am

Presented by Ann Nurock in association with:

Direct Marketing category juror: Neo Segola, chief creative officer, FCB

Media category juror: Wayne Bishop, Managing Director, PHD

Event MC: Jeremy Maggs, journalist, radio host and television presenter

Alternatively email rsvp@bizcommunity.com for more information.





Cape Town - Ster-Kinekor V&A Cinema Nouveau - 31 August at 8.30am for 9am

Presented by Ann Nurock in association with:

Ryan McManus, Chief Creative Officer, VML South Africa

Matt Ross, Founder and CCO, King James Digital

Alternatively email rsvp@bizcommunity.com for more information.

Join us for the annual cinema breakfast sessions, where top trends and insights curated and presented by Ann Nurock, from her vantage point on the ground at Cannes, will be revealed. The sessions, which will mine the best of this year's global award-winning campaigns and trends, will be of key relevance to creatives, business, marketers and anyone with a vested interest in current creative best practices.Mixing up last year's format, Nurock will be joined on the podium by South African judges in both Cape Town and Johannesburg venues, who will also contribute their thought leadership, anecdotes and experiences from Cannes Lion 2018.R250-00 per head, 15% discount for bookings of 5 or moreA former CEO of Grey South Africa and President/CEO of Grey Canada, Ann Nurock is now the Africa Partner of Relationship Audits and Management, a global consultancy specialising in the measurement, risk mitigation and optimisation of B2B relationships. She also conducts talks and workshops on trends in advertising, marketing and communications. Contact details: moc.stiduapihsnoitaler@kcorun.nna | Twitter @AnnnurockFirebrand political commentator and media personality George Negus is set to spark up a panel of speakers at Australias premier journalism festival in Brisbane, and reveal more about the book that changed his life.

The self-confessed political animal and 60 Minutes veteran will bring a touch of gold as a panellist at the Walkley Foundations Storyology festival, which opens tomorrow night at the Palace Barracks.

Politicians are the most unacceptable people to be accusing journalists of bias, 60 Minutes veteran George Negus says. Credit:File photo

Speakers at the festival have received growing media attention over the years and many of the agenda-setting debates reach far beyond the walls of the venue.

Negus revealed the book hed chosen from his short-list of 50 was The Aristos by English writer John Fowles  a choice that kept him up all night.A 42-year-old man is in a serious condition with a "significant" head injury after a crash in Logan Reserve on Thursday morning.

The Parkinson man, riding a motorcycle, collided with a van at the intersection of Chambers Flat Road and School Road just after 5am.

The motorbike and van collided early Thursday morning Credit:7 News Brisbane/Twitter

Queensland Ambulance Service senior operations supervisor Lisa Dibley said paramedics intubated the man at the scene before he was rushed to hospital with high-acuity paramedics assisting.

Queensland Police said the motorcycle was travelling south on Chambers Flat Road when the crash happened at the intersection.Two men have been charged with people smuggling and immigration offences after being intercepted by Australian Border Force officers upon landing in Brisbane last weekend.

Yongping Wei, a 42-year-old Chinese national, and Ching-Chuan Lin, a 52-year-old Taiwanese national, were flagged by an ABF Airline Liason Officer as they left Indonesia.

The pair were intercepted at Brisbane Airport on Sunday, held in immigration detention and later arrested and charged by the Australian Federal Police.

The Taiwanese man was charged with bringing non-citizens into Australia. The Chinese man was charged with possessing, making or providing false foreign travel documents.

Both men were remanded in custody and due to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday.General practice clinics could be pushed to open longer and offer video appointments to better meet the needs of younger and time-poor Australians who struggle to see their doctor within traditional office hours.

The new president of the Australian Medical Association in Victoria, Julian Rait, is concerned that not enough people under 30 are seeing their general practitioners and are missing out on being treated for sexually transmitted infections and mental health problems.

Student James Hearnes finds it hard to get to his GP during business hours. Credit:Joe Armao

Young people aged 15 to 24 have the lowest rate of GP attendances in Australia, averaging four visits per year compared with almost 12 per year for those aged 65 or over.

Associate Professor Rait, an ophthalmologist, said family doctors should consider becoming more user friendly with online bookings, after-hours appointments and shorter wait times to see doctors.Bell Street level crossing, near the Coburg Station. Credit:Eddie Jim

Rail tracks on the Upfield line in Melbourne's north could be elevated over Moreland Road and Bell Street, or lowered beneath the Coburg arterial roads in an open trench, under fresh draft plans to get rid of boom gates holding up the traffic.

In the lead up to the 2014 election, the Andrews Government promised to remove 50 dangerous and congested level crossings by 2022.

The government has since committed to removing an extra two level crossings, and preliminary designs for Bell Street Coburg and Moreland Road, on the Brunswick/Coburg border, reveal that a total of 53 crossings could be removed, with boom gates to go at either Munro Street or O'Hea Street in Coburg.A Perth photographer who was a convicted member of the Evil 8 has completed his sentence and will be subject to a post sentence supervision order.

Benjamin Simon Clarke was sentenced to three years in prison in 2016 after he became involved with a father and his daughter on Craigslist.

Clarke was an amateur photographer at the time of his arrest.

Clarke was 47-years-old and living in Bedfordale when he negotiated to photograph the mans daughter both clothed and unclothed, and bought her outfits from a sex shop for her to pose in.

Clarke then distributed the photographs to others online and by a USB, and at one point indecently assaulted the girl by masturbating over her as she lay on a bed.Police have captured the last of the inmates who escaped from Greenough Regional Prison on Tuesday.

Greenough prison escapee Bradley Silvester. Credit:WA Police

Bradley Silvester, 35, was among 10 prisoners who escaped from the prison near Geraldton in WA's Mid West on Tuesday afternoon.

He was captured hiding in bushes in the suburb of Glenfield, just north of Geraldton on Thursday morning.

Seven News reporter Kate Smithers was on the scene as Silvester was captured.The ACT's integrity watchdog will be able to authorise sting operations, surveillance and fake identities as part of its investigations into corruption.

An exposure draft of legislation to establish the independent integrity commission will be tabled when the ACT's parliament resumes after winter break next Tuesday.

Under the Barr government's preferred model, the commissioner will have to power to investigate all public officials - including politicians and police - but will be subject to oversight from an inspector.

The commission will be forward-looking, with limited scope to examine retrospective actions back to the time of self-government.

It also relies on a narrower definition of corruption than the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption, which allows potential breaches of codes of conducts to be investigated.The Labor party's national executive committee will appoint a solicitor to oversee an investigation into the smear campaign against one of the party's preselection candidates.

The decision replaces the original plan to have the distribution of flyers and documents making allegations against Kel Watt investigated by a panel of three former MLAs and MPs. The investigator is yet to be appointed.

A new document making allegations against Kel Watt has surfaced.

The smear campaign against Mr Watt stepped up a notch this week, after a flyer making personal allegations against the greyhound lobbyist was sent to female party members last week. Documents continuing the allegations against Mr Watt were sent to female ACT members of parliament on Tuesday, and toLabor's main leadership alternative, Anthony Albanese, has guaranteed voters and his Labor colleagues that he will not mount a challenge to Bill Shorten even if the opposition loses ground at this weekend's "super Saturday" byelections.

With speculation growing that a rare reversal in the opposition-held seats of Longman (Queensland) or Braddon (Tasmania) would destabilise Mr Shorten's leadership, the Labor figure regarded as the most likely replacement provided an unqualified guarantee he would not seek to capitalise on the leader's misfortune.

Opposition infrastructure spokesman Anthony Albanese, flanked by Susan Lamb, the Labor candidate for Longman, on Thursday. Credit:Robert Shakespeare

Campaigning in the ultra-marginal seat of Longman with Labor's Susan Lamb, the man the government taunts as "the people's choice" due to his popularity among Labor faithful, was asked if he could offer "a 100 per cent guarantee" that he would not challenge.

"Absolutely," came his immediate response.The Lewis Group appointed The Jupiter Drawing Room Cape Town at the end of 2017 to launch its new direct-to-consumer homeware brand called Inspire. The new brand launched on 1 June 2018.

Image supplied.

The Lewis team saw a gap in the homeware market where consumers did not have many options. They wanted to create more than just a typical retail brand, but a brand that also connects with their audience and creates value for them through content, services and a wide range of products.

Is this inspirational?

Jupiter CTs executive creative director, Lucas van Vuuren, says:Jupiter worked in collaboration with the client and its partners to develop the branding, design the catalogue, write content and produce the launch TVC.We judged all our work with strict criteria: Is this inspirational? Does the work touch our audience emotionally? As a new brand in the market, INspire has to work much harder to stand out. The approach had to be different, the catalogue is more than just a product and price listing, it provides inspiration for our audience to add a personal touch to their homes. The launch TV ad isnt just about what the brand offers, it needs to communicate the brands reason for being, says Van Vuuren.The launch TVC acknowledges mothers of South Africa who are seldom recognised. In the commercial, INspire tells a story of sacrifice, inspiration and optimism. It shows two sisters who want to thank their mother for her support and sacrifice, by planning a surprise for her - a makeover for her bedroom using INspires products.Three directors of a Great Barrier Reef charity entrusted with almost half a billion dollars in public money have refused to give evidence to a Senate inquiry scrutinising the controversial deal, raising the prospect they will be forced to appear.

Confidential Senate committee documents seen by Fairfax Media show that despite being offered five dates at which to attend the inquiry, the directors of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation say they are unavailable for questioning, variously citing overseas travel commitments, medical appointments, board meetings and other unspecified engagements.

The inquiry was launched following the Turnbull governments decision to grant the small, business-focused charity $443 million to help rescue the reef. The foundation has previously said it would fully co-operate with the probe.

The contentious Great Barrier Reef Foundation grant is to be spent on projects such as water quality improvements.

The Senate committee had specifically requested their attendance. The trio comprises the organisations chair John Schubert and board members Grant King and Paul Greenfield. Mr King is president of the Business Council of Australia and Dr Greenfield chairs the foundations scientific committee.One reason Tanya took nine years to go to police with allegations of rape and assault against her former partner was that he had threatened her so many times against doing anything.

I know all the politicians, I know all the police, I know all the judges, he told her.

That is why Tanya did not report straight away that he had repeatedly assaulted her, shoved her down a staircase, crushed her hand in a door and raped her in a shower.

Ex-One Nation adviser Sean Black was sentenced to five years in jail for rape and two counts of assault. Credit:AAP

You are told over and over that you are worthless and nobody cares, nobody will even notice youre missing, and eventually you believe it, she told the ABC last week, after what must have been an incredibly difficult decision to give up her legal right to anonymity.NSW federal Labor MP Emma Husar should quit Parliament, according to senior Labor figures who say it "would be in her best interest" to step down from her western Sydney seat.

"Either way, this does not end well for her," a senior Labor source told the Herald.

Ms Husar is under investigation over allegations she bullied her staff and forced them to carry out domestic chores for her including babysitting, cleaning and picking up after her dog.

Senior Labor figures are urging Emma Husar to resign. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The Herald has also revealed Ms Husar made excessive use of the luxury taxpayer-funded Comcar service in her home town, against protocol.Queensland's crime watchdog did not question maverick Labor MP Jo-Ann Miller about an LNP complaint relating to alleged corruption in the Ipswich City Council.

During estimates hearing on Thursday morning, manager of opposition business Jarrod Bleijie said he wrote to the Crime and Corruption Commission in May after overhearing a conversation between Bundamba MP Jo-Ann Miller and Local Government Minister Stirling Hinchliffe about corruption concerns relating to the council.

A composite image combining photographs of the two cufflinks worn by State MP for Kawana, Jarrod Bleijie. Credit:AAP/Dan Peled

"During the conversation the member for Bundamba said on multiple occasions that over a number of years complaints had been put not only to the Premier but also to the administrative committee of the Labor Party," Mr Bleijie said.

The CCC wrote back in July to say the matters raised, if proved, would amount to corrupt conduct, but Mr Bleijie had not provided sufficient evidence.Applications to build a huge natural gas terminal in the environmentally sensitive waters of Western Port Bay and import gas to Victoria will be submitted to the Andrews government for approval within days.

It is hoped an injection of overseas gas will ease pressure on the market in Australia's eastern states, which have been reeling from high prices and face predicted future shortfalls of supply even though Australia has become the world's second-biggest natural gas exporter.

Energy giant AGL proposes to build a 290-metres long, 49-metres wide storage ship at Point Crib, south-east of Melbourne, which would be connected to a 60-kilometre gas pipeline running through farmland to Pakenham.

AGL has commissioned APA, a separate company, to build and operate the pipeline.

But an environment group fears that AGL is seeking to avoid full scrutiny of its plan so it can get the project approved quicker.New York: Twitter shares fell on Friday after US President Donald Trump accused the company - in a tweet, no less - of limiting the visibility of prominent Republicans in a practice that he said he would look into.

On his preferred mode of communication, he vowed: "We will look into this discriminatory and illegal practice at once!"

The tweet came after a story in Vice magazine said prominent Republicans, such as Republican Party chair Ronna McDaniel and the spokesman for Donald Trump jnr, were not showing up in one aspect of Twitter's search function.

"Shadow banning" is a term used to describe accounts not appearing in the auto-populated, drop-down search box that pops up when people search for names or phrases on Twitter.Point one: Ive never studied French. Point two: I love the typical sound of French loudspeakers; great high end, beautiful balance and accuracy, lots of body.

Loving French loudspeakers and not speaking French has introduced a degree of embarrassment into my life. I have always called Focal loudspeakers, from France, by their English pronunciation, as in focal length. This has caused various PR people, importers, salespeople and French speakers to smile patronisingly and say Its actually pronounced focahle. A tsk-tsk usually precedes this.

And now here I am, listening to some French loudspeakers which wear a badge that says "Triangle", and I suspect I am about to make a boofhead of myself again. In an attempt to head the posse from the Academie francaise off at the pass I seek the help of an ex-girlfriend who now teaches French, as I deeply suspect the French have their own particular way of pronouncing triangle as well. Could it be tree-onglay? I ask her both phonetically and hopefully.

The Triangle Esprit Comete EZ makes your music exciting and new.

She smiles patronisingly. Le tree-ong, she replies both phonetically and triumphantly. She continues: Haut parleur is French for loudspeaker; a masculine noun. That is, le haut parleur. Its one of those words that does not permit one to elide the e in le.New York: The US federal government was rushing on Thursday to reunite the last 1634 migrant families separated at the Southwest border who have been deemed "eligible" for reunification, in the final hours of a court-ordered scramble to reverse a contentious immigration policy that drew international condemnation.

Carla, a migrant mother from El Salvador, talks with other parents at the Annunciation House,, in El Paso, Texas. Thirty-two parents separated from their children are staying at the home as they wait to be reunited with their children. Credit:AP

While the government appeared to be on track to meet Thursday's deadline, its work to address the effects of family separation is far from over. The parents who were deemed eligible for reunification represent only about a third of all those who were separated from their children after crossing the border, a practice that began last summer and escalated in May.

At least 917 other parents were not cleared to recover their children this week because they failed criminal background or parental verification checks. About 460 others appeared to have been deported without their children, and the government has yet to find them.

Their futures, along with those of about 37 children whose parents have not yet been identified, remain uncertain.PHILIPSBURG:--- Ms. Karina Dijkhuis Walls of the Public Prosecutors office and Janice Sint Jago of the Corrections Institute in Aruba recently visited the Mental Health Foundation on the July 25th to discuss forensic patients policy for the Dutch Caribbean . Ms. Walls is part of an inter-country task force that will prepare a business case for the further decision-making by the Ministers of Justice (and Security) of the Netherlands, Curacao, St. Maarten and Aruba on the realization of a fully-fledged forensic care facility for the accommodation and treatment of prisoners with severe psychological and psychiatric (mental health) problems. This specifically concerns (former) adult prisoners who require forensic (clinical) care (youth is excluded from the investigation).

Ms. Walls stated, An interview with the Mental Health Foundation is of great importance for the research, especially because the task force focuses not only on mentally ill detainees, but also on former mentally ill prisoners, who are still in need of psychiatric care.

In the business case, the current situation (in particular the bottlenecks) and the desired situation in the countries Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten will be described. The task force needs input from the field for identifying the current bottlenecks, as well as for describing the desired situation. After all, it is important that the end product is widely supported. The ultimate aim is for the business case to be delivered in October/November, so that it can be presented to the Ministers during the JVO of January 2019.

Mental Health Foundation Interim Director Ms. Eileen Healy welcomed Ms. Walls and the opportunity for the foundation as MHF continuously strives to provide the best psychiatric care on St. Maarten.TerraX identifies two new gold zones on Northbelt property and channel samples 5.50 m @ 24.75 g/t Au at Ptarmigan on Eastbelt

Posted by Publisher Internet

TerraX Minerals Inc. (TSX-V: TXR; Frankfurt: TX0; OTC Pink: TRXXF  http://www.commodity-tv.net/c/search_adv/?v=298245) is pleased to announce assay results from the Company?s summer field program now underway on the Yellowknife City Gold project.

The first set of assay results come from sampling done on two new zones called Gull Lake and Rater Lake that have been identified on our Northbelt property. These new targets are in the same mafic volcanic geology that also hosted the Giant and Con mines. The highlight assays are 43.7 g/t Au, 28.0 g/t Au, and 19.05 g/t Au on the Gull Lake Zone with several additional assays in the 1 to 5 g/t Au range on both zones. These gold zones are interpreted as being the continuation of the Giant Mine gold structure, warranting immediate further work along these structural trends. ?A map showing the location of these samples is available here.

The second set of assay results come from channel sampling done around the past producing Ptarmigan Mine on Eastbelt, an asset that TerraX acquired in early 2018 (see news release of January 12, 2018). These channels were cut from outcrop along the Ptarmigan vein trends and sampled across the gold mineralized structures. Assay results for gold range up to 226 g/t Au and 126 g/t Ag in 0.50 m channel samples from Channel ECH18-037. ?Intervals for the 3 sampled areas (ECH18-035 to ECH18-037) are indicated on the map available here and include:

ECH18-037  24.75 g/t Au over 5.50 m (including 82 g/t Au over 3.00 m)

ECH18-036  39 g/t Au over 7.50 m (including 10.44 g/t Au over 2.50 m)

ECH18-035  25 g/t Au over 2.00 m

Joseph Campbell, Executive Chairman of TerraX, stated: ?These initial sample results from our summer program on both our Northbelt and Eastbelt properties were taken from easily accessible areas.? The Ptarmigan sampling is literally beside a paved road illustrating the excellent infrastructure of the land package for both exploration and eventual development. Further, the newly identified gold zones at Gull Lake and Rater Lake are proximal to the Crestaurum road. These veins look to be a continuation of prolific mineralized zones mined in the past at the high grade Giant Mine immediately to the south. The channels from the Ptarmigan area have grades very much in line with its historical high grade production and our initial work at both these areas confirms continuity within these large mineralizing systems. We are continuing to work in these areas and additional results are pending.?

Channel assays reported today from the Ptarmigan area total 194 samples with gold grades ranging from nil to 226 g/t Au. Channel samples are considered representative of the zones that have been sampled.

Assay values from grab sampling at Gull and Rater Lakes range from nil to a high of 43.7 g/t Au.? Sampling included insertion of certified standards and blanks into the stream of samples for chemical analysis. Samples were prepared at ALS Chemex\-\-s laboratory in Yellowknife and shipped to their Vancouver facility for gold analysis by fire assay and other elements by ICP analysis. ALS is a certified and accredited laboratory service.? It should be noted that, due to their selective nature, assay results from grab samples may not be indicative of the overall grade and extent of mineralization on the subject area.

The technical information contained in this news release has been approved by Joseph Campbell, Executive Chairman of TerraX, who is a Qualified Person as defined in \National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About the Yellowknife City Gold Project

The Yellowknife City Gold (\YCG\) project encompasses 772 sq km of contiguous land immediately north, south and east of the City of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. Through a series of acquisitions, TerraX controls one of the six major high-grade gold camps in Canada. Being within 10 km of the City of Yellowknife, the YCG is close to vital infrastructure, including all-season roads, air transportation, service providers, hydro-electric power and skilled tradespeople.

The YCG lies on the prolific Yellowknife greenstone belt, covering 70 km of strike length along the main mineralized break in the Yellowknife gold district, including the southern and northern extensions of the shear system that hosted the high-grade Con and Giant gold mines. The project area contains multiple shears that are the recognized hosts for gold deposits in the Yellowknife gold district, with innumerable gold showings and recent high-grade drill results that serve to indicate the project\-\-s potential as a world-class gold district.?

For more information on the YCG project, please visit our web site at www.terraxminerals.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

\DAVID SUDA\

David Suda

President and CEO

For more information, please contact:

Samuel Vella

Manager of Corporate Communications

Phone: 604-689-1749

Toll-Free: 1-855-737-2684

svella@terraxminerals.com

In Europe:

Swiss Resource Capital AG ? Jochen Staiger

info@resource-capital.ch  www.resource-capital.ch

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 contains forward-looking information, which involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectation. Important factors  including the availability of funds, the results of financing efforts, the completion of due diligence and the results of exploration activities  that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company\-\-s expectations are disclosed in the Company\-\-s documents filed from time to time on SEDAR (see www.sedar.com). Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The company disclaims any intention or obligation, except to the extent required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, events or otherwise.Manila (CNN Philippines Life)  This weekend, celebrate the virtue of patience in the creative field, join a conversation on marine conservation, learn about federalism-related topics that arouse public reactions, catch screenings of restored and remastered classics by Ishmael Bernal, enjoy artists interpretations of their dreams in print, and volunteer to cook for and engage in talks with NutriAsia workers.

Call Him Ishmael: Bernal Restored

This Sunday, Cinema Centenario is holding a full day of screenings of digitally restored and remastered Ishmael Bernal classics. Movie-goers can catch Himala at 1 p.m., Ikaw ay Akin at 6:30 p.m., and Pagdating sa Dulo at 9 p.m.

Pro Bernal, Anti Bio, the anti-biography by Bernal, started by Jorge Arago and finished by Angela Stuart-Santiago, will also be on sale during the event.

Cinema Centenario is located at 95 Maginhawa St., Quezon City. For more information, visit the Facebook event page.

Inspire Everyday 2018

This Saturday, the Ayala Museum opens its doors to museum-goers for a day centered on patience  how it fits into the creative process and how it helps creatives grow. The whole day event is part of the museums Inspire Everyday campaign. Guests can expect booths and talks by guest speakers throughout the day.

Talk schedules are as follows: Director-writer Samantha Lee and actress-designer Meryll Soriano at 11:30 a.m., mural artist and calligrapher Anina Rubio and actor/musician/teacher Pepe Herrera at 1:30 p.m., and sculptor and architect Ramon Orlina and Manila Symphony Orchestra director Jeffrey Solares at 4:30 p.m.

Admission is free to all galleries, as well as the current changing exhibitions Hidden Cinema: 100 Years of Philippine Cinema, Bamboo Road, and HISTORIA: Stories of Art.

Inspire Everyday 2018 is happening from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Ayala Museum, Makati Ave. cor. Dela Rosa St., Makati City. For more information, visit the Facebook event page.

Voice for the Ocean: A Conversation on Conservation

On Sunday, join Reef Check Philippines as they culminate #PlasticFreeJuly with a conversation on how we can do our part to save our oceans. The event will serve drinks, mount zero-waste product pop-up stores, and screen the award-winning documentary, A Plastic Ocean.

A recommended donation/entrance fee of 250 gets you a complimentary beer and a chance to win raffle prizes.

The event will be held at Pura Vida Manila, Don Pedro St., Makati City. For more information and registration details, visit the Facebook event page.

Collective Emotions About Philippine Federalism

What federalism-related topics evoke collective emotions?

The Institute of Philippine Culture at the Ateneo de Manila University presents its findings on the topics that arouse public reactions in relation to Philippine federalism based on datasets obtained from 9071 Facebook comments and 259 opinion columns, and using data extraction procedures involving running standard web scraping scripts, natural language pre-processing, and other social computing procedures.

The event will be held on Friday, July 27 at Room CTC101 at the PLDT-CTC Building, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City. For more information, visit the Facebook event page.

Sorta Like A Dream - A Print Festival

Share your most interesting dreams in print at Guava Sketches Sorta Like A Dream Print Festival. The event launches a month-long exhibit curated by Michael Salientes. Sixteen artists from various creative fields  from architects, fashion designers, sculptors, and photographers  are invited to the event share their dreams in print.

The event is happening on Saturday, July 28, at 3 p.m. There will also be an intimate origami workshop (seven slots only) with Non Iwamoto. Message the event on Facebook Messenger to score one of the few remaining slots left.

Guava Sketches is located at G/F Greenbelt 3, Makati City. For more information, visit the Facebook event page.

Luto! Laban! Para sa Nagkakaisang Manggagawa ng NutriAsia

Mounted by SAKA or Sama-samang Artista para sa Kilusang Agraryo in solidarity with the workers of NutriAsia, Luto! Laban! is a gathering wherein volunteers  especially those in creative fields  are invited to cook for, eat with, and engage in dialogue with NutriAsia workers to gain a better understanding of their struggle.

The gathering will be held on July 28 at the protesters encampment at the NutriAsia Marilao Plant, Lias St., Marilao, Bulacan. For registration details and further information, visit the Facebook event page.#StartupStory sponsored by

#StartupStory: Power Lab goes back to basics

Consumer specialist and media veteran Megan Power has launched Power Lab, a new strategic communications agency that's going back to basics.

Megan Power, former award-winning investigative journalist, editor and columnist.

Power Lab offers its clients brand reputation, crisis readiness, PR and media relations focused on customer experience with particular emphasis on customer journey auditing. It is also able to assist with CEO positioning and profile building, media spokesperson training as well as guidance on navigating social media effectively.



Clients have included Discovery, FlySafair, MultiChoice, Business Leadership South Africa, Wimpy, Debonairs, Steers, Mugg & Bean and the KidsRights Foundation.



Former award-winning investigative journalist, editor and columnist Megan Power is at the helm and brings 30 years of media experience and skill to the role. At the Sunday Times investigative unit for several years, Power broke numerous front-page stories including the explosive arms deal, the banned chemical dye, Sudan Red, in food on supermarket shelves and the drug trafficking wife of SAs former spy chief.



Sunday Times: How the SABC lied to us

More than just a label

Here, she talks us through the agencys commitment to 'No spin. No bull. No fluff.' and what sets the agency apart from the rest...



How did the idea for the business come about? How did the idea for the business come about? Power Lab offers its clients brand reputation, crisis readiness, PR and media relations focused on customer experience with particular emphasis on customer journey auditing. It is also able to assist with CEO positioning and profile building, media spokesperson training as well as guidance on navigating social media effectively.Clients have included Discovery, FlySafair, MultiChoice, Business Leadership South Africa, Wimpy, Debonairs, Steers, Mugg & Bean and the KidsRights Foundation.Former award-winning investigative journalist, editor and columnist Megan Power is at the helm and brings 30 years of media experience and skill to the role. At the Sunday Times investigative unit for several years, Power broke numerous front-page stories including the explosive arms deal, the banned chemical dye, Sudan Red, in food on supermarket shelves and the drug trafficking wife of SAs former spy chief.Here, she talks us through the agencys commitment to 'No spin. No bull. No fluff.' and what sets the agency apart from the rest...

Elaborate on the agency's tagline: 'No spin. No bull. No fluff.' Elaborate on the agency's tagline: 'No spin. No bull. No fluff.'

Consumers today are no-nonsense, with much higher expectations; they see right through insincerity. Good communication has to be authentic, decisive and honest.

What is Power Lab's competitive advantage? What is Power Lab's competitive advantage?

Customer experience (CX) and journey mapping seem to be buzzwords thrown around a lot these days but when you interrogate it, businesses usually arent living up to their brand promises or offering the user-friendly experience they claim to.

What obstacles did you have to overcome to launch? What obstacles did you have to overcome to launch?

What are some of your short and long-term goals for the agency? What are some of your short and long-term goals for the agency?

What's next on the agenda? What's next on the agenda?

Juanita Pienaar's articles About Juanita Pienaar Juanita is the editor of the marketing & media portal on the Bizcommunity website. She is also a contributing writer.

Juanita is the editor of the marketing & media portal on the Bizcommunity website. She is also a contributing writer.

Power Lab is a strategic communications agency offering a full range of communications support with a focus on customer experience. It offers customer journey audits, brand reputation, crisis readiness and management, PR and media relations.After leaving The Power Report (the weekly consumer column I wrote for the Sunday Times) at the end of 2016, I began consulting on brand reputation and was approached to test an established customer journey for a large company. It was a great project  revealing numerous consumer challenges  and led to the company implementing key changes following my findings.Other audits followed, with a client pointing out the gap I was filling. This planted the seed for an agency. When my brother, Kevin Power (founder and MD of digital agency Conversation Lab) offered to partner with me, Power Lab was born.After nearly 30 years working in SA newsrooms, including many years as an investigative journalist, news editor and the last six as a consumer columnist, I dont do spin. And the clients we like to work with dont do it either.Six years of working exclusively with (usually irate) SA consumers to resolve their issues with big business has given me unique insight into what consumers want and need when engaging with brands.Our audits are done strictly from a consumers viewpoint, evaluating every touchpoint on the way, with emphasis on effort required, personalisation and peace of mind across all channels.We identify the gaps, pain points and weaknesses in a journey, and then suggest how to fix them.Its often the smallest, simplest changes that can have the most significant impact on customer loyalty and retention. Consumer research suggests that by 2020 customer experience will be more important than product or price as a brand differentiator.We go to the heart of a business in a very tangible way, doing practical, on-the-ground work nimbly and efficiently. Its what big corporates  more used to large, expensive legacy consultancies  are wanting and needing right now in a market that changes at pace.A big advantage is having Conversation Lab as a strategic partner; it makes us a one-stop shop for clients wanting digital offerings alongside strategic communications and customer journey work, and it offers great collaboration for Power Lab, being able to lean on and learn from a bunch of talented, creative people.The first real obstacle was fear of the unknown. I had to have the confidence to make the decision to build something. Its always easier to stay in your comfort zone; small-scale consultancy work definitely felt safer. But once decided, launching ended up being the easiest part.Growing a viable agency, differentiating from others, and bringing in new business is where the real challenge lies.Short-term: to create more awareness of Power Lab and to grow new business.Long term: I want to see the agency develop and mature, bring in and train new talent and become an agency valued for its distinctive customer experience and communications work.Right now, were preparing to start an exciting customer journey audit for a great new client; doing content creation work for another; and strategic communication and media engagement for a third; and in between, weve got a pitch or two to prepare for!For more information, go to Power-Lab.co.zaFor years, Horry and Georgetown counties have been recognizing a border that doesnt follow state statute.It turns out, exoplanets can be as sweet as a trip to the state fair: Two worlds discovered by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope have about the same density as a package of cotton candy. The two planets, which orbit a young star only about 500 million years old, are newborn worlds nearly as wide as gas giants, though they weigh in at less than 10 times the mass of Earth.

Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, researchers made follow-up observations of the two "delicious" worlds, known as Kepler-51b and Kepler-51d. They found that the bloated atmospheres of the worlds most likely contained a haze stretching high above their surface. The worlds' expanded atmospheres placed them in a rare class of exoplanets, the super-puffs.

"These are the lowest-density exoplanets to date," Jessica Roberts said last month. She presented the preliminary results during the 232nd semiannual meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Denver. A graduate student at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Roberts helped sleuth out an Earth-like comparison for the planets. She found an unusual analogue for the super-puffs  a sweet treat. [The Most Intriguing Alien Planet Discoveries of 2017]

"I want you to picture giant planets made of cotton candy," she said.

"Really fluffy Titans"

In 2011, Kepler spotted a low-density world orbiting the young star Kepler 51; later studies confirmed the planet had two siblings. All three planets have a bulging atmosphere, and the initial observations suggested their low densities.

The super-puffs caught the attention of Roberts' doctoral adviser at Boulder, Zachory Berta-Thompson, who suspected that the bloated atmospheres would be easier to study than the more settled atmospheres around other worlds. Along with several colleagues, the scientists used Hubble to probe the chemistry of the atmospheres of 51b and 51d as the pair passed twice between their star and Earth. The third world, 51c, only clipped the edge of the system's sun, keeping its atmosphere hidden, and so was not part of the new study.

The researchers found that both planets produced a signal suggesting tiny particles called aerosols dominated the atmospheres. These aerosols could be created by massive cloud banks, or they could be the sign of a planet-encircling haze.

"Our best guess is that we're not dealing with some type of cloud condensation," Roberts said. "What we're likely dealing with is some type of photochemical haze that we just don't know what it's made of."

In the solar system, Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is the only one to be dominated by a haze layer made of hydrocarbons, most likely methane and ethane. The massive moon may provide insight into the super-puffs, which could bear an extended version of the haze.

"We might be looking at some really fluffy Titans," Roberts said. [Twilight Haze Shines Over Saturn's Big Moon Titan in Gorgeous Cassini Photo]

Cotton-candy planets

Calculating the density of a planet requires a return to high school physics. The density of an object is its mass divided by its volume; the volume is determined by its radius. Hubble's precise measurements helped the researchers to better constrain the mass of the exoplanets. To find their radius  and thus their volume  scientists compare the size of the planet to its star. By revisiting what was known about the star, Roberts and her colleagues were able to determine a more precise radius.

Kepler-51b has a mass about twice that of Earth and a radius about seven times larger, and it orbits its star every 45 days. With its 130-day orbit, Kepler-51d is a bit larger, about 7.5 times as massive as Earth with a radius nearly ten times that of our planet. The third sibling, Kepler-51c, takes 85 days to travel around the star and has about four times the radius of Earth.

By combining the updated mass with the revised radius, the researchers could calculate that the densities of the planets ranged from 0.03 grams to 0.06 grams per cubic centimeter. That's a tenth as dense as Saturn, the solar system's least dense planet, and one that would float in water if you could find a bathtub big enough.

Figuring out what that would mean in real-world terms would take a bit more work, but Roberts was determined.

Her first thought was of marshmallows. She melted a batch in the microwave but found the white treats were still too dense.

"That was just a horrible mess," she told Space.com.

For her cotton-candy deductions, she headed to a grocery store and bought containers of cotton candy. The freshly spun material wasn't dense enough, but she hoped the prepackaged tubs might work. She measured the volume of the container and weighed the material to calculate its density, which was a close match for the super-puffs.

"I bought so many of these tubs, the [cashier] was like, you must be a cotton candy fan," Roberts said.

"I was like, it's for science."

Graduate student Jessica Roberts holds a tub of cotton candy to illustrate the density of two exoplanets, Kepler-51b and -51d. Roberts dyed her hair "cotton-candy colors" for her presentation to fellow researchers last month at the American Astronomical Society summer conference. (Image credit: Nola Taylor Redd/Space.com)

Young planets

Why are these worlds so dense? Roberts thinks that their youth may play a key role. Planets form as dust and rocks collide to build a world. When the rocky core is massive enough, its gravity pulls in lighter gas to create an atmosphere.

According to models, the three super-puffs formed outside the snow line of their system, the invisible boundary around central stars where gas is cold enough to condense into ice. The planets then migrated inward, reaching their current orbits. As they moved closer to the warm star, their ice melted and created a gaseous atmosphere that begins to bulge.

While planets start off warm from the collisions that formed them, they cool down over time, causing a contraction of material. At the same time, stellar winds strip off some of their atmosphere. According to Roberts, models suggest that in the next 5 billion years, when it's a bit older than Earth is today, 51b will look more like a typical Neptune planet. Because it's farther away from the star, she said that "51d will likely be a bit of an oddball, because it's not having as much of its atmosphere stripped."

"In a few billion years, we'll see these planets smaller than they are now," Roberts said.

If you could stand on one of the super-puffs (assuming it has a rocky surface), the pressure of the atmosphere would probably be crushingly high, Roberts said. You'd be better off floating around higher in the atmosphere where pressure would be lower, she added.

Early in its lifetime, Earth probably boasted its own bloated atmosphere, she said, though it probably lost it very quickly.

The scientists plan to submit their research for publication later this summer.

Now we just need the sweet worlds to sport cotton-candy colors, such as blue, pink, purple or green!

Follow Nola Taylor Redd at @NolaTRedd, Facebook or Google+. Follow us at @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.Where does Earth's atmosphere end and space begin? According to a new study, it might be just 50 miles above Earth  right about where the blue turns to black in this photo.

Did you feel that? Does it suddenly feel a little bit stuffier in here to you? Does it feel like, I don't know outer space just got 12 miles (20 kilometers) closer?

Nothing actually moved, of course (unless you count the constant and increasing expansion of the universe). But according to a new study published online this week, it might be high time Earthlings shifted our mental and mathematical ideas about where, exactly, Earth's atmosphere ends and outer space begins. [Earth from Above: 101 Stunning Images from Orbit]

If astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell's calculations are correct, the cosmic boundary where the laws of airspace suddenly give way to the laws of orbital space might be a lot closer than we think  a full 12 miles closer than previous estimates suggest.

"The argument about where the atmosphere ends and space begins predates the launch of the first Sputnik," McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, wrotein his new paper, which will appear in the October issue of the journal Acta Astronautica. "The most widely accepted boundary is the so-called Karman Line, nowadays usually set to be 100 km (62 miles) altitude."

Here's the problem: According to McDowell, that Karman line that many scientists accept today is based on decades of misinterpreted information that doesn't actually take real orbital data into account. Luckily, data is McDowell's business (and his pleasure  in his free time he keeps meticulous records of every rocket launch on Earth) and he knew just where to look to find an evidence-based answer to the question, "Where does space begin?"

A photo taken aboard the International Space Station captures the divisions of Earth's atmospheric layers. The mesosphere is the upper band of blue; at the top of this band (about 50 miles above Earth) orbit is possible. (Image credit: Ron Garan/NASA)

Where satellites fall

In his new study, McDowell pored over data describing the orbital paths of some 43,000 satellites, which he collected from the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which monitors aerospace in the United States and Canada. Most of these satellites were negligible to McDowell's study  they orbited far higher than the proposed Karman line, and were well within the grasp of orbital space.

About 50 of these satellites, however, stood out. While re-entering the atmosphere at the end of their missions, each of these satellites successfully completed at least two full rotations around the Earth at altitudes below 62 miles (100 km). The Soviet Elektron-4 satellite, for example, circled the planet 10 times at around 52 miles (85 km) before tumbling into the atmosphere and burning up in 1997.

It seemed clear from these cases that the physics of space still held sway well below the Karman line. When McDowell used a mathematical model to find the exact point at which various satellites finally broke loose of their orbits and made a fiery return to the atmosphere, he found that this could occur anywhere between 41 to 55 miles (66 and 88 km). Usually though, when a craft dipped below the 50-mile (80 km) mark, there was no hope of escape.

Space: It's closer than you think. (Image credit: Mike Fossum/NASA)

Astronaut wings

For this reason, McDowell chose 50 miles as the true lower edge of space. The number fit neatly with several other cultural and atmospheric factors, as well. For example, McDowell wrote, in the 1950s, US Air Force pilots were awarded a special set of "astronaut wings" for flying their planes above 50 miles, this being considered the outermost edge of the atmosphere.

Atmospherically, the choice fits, too: The mesopause  the coldest belt of Earth's atmosphere  stretches roughly between 52 and 62 miles above the planet's surface. Here, the atmosphere's chemical composition begins to change drastically and charged particles become more abundant. (In other words, things look a lot spacier.) It's clear that, below the lower edge of the mesopause, Earth's atmophere becomes a stronger force for airborn objects to reckon with, McDowell wrote. [Infographic: Earth's Atmosphere from Top to Bottom]

"It is noteworthy that meteors (traveling much more quickly) usually disintegrate in the 70 -100 km (43 miles to 62 miles) altitude range, adding to the evidence that this is the region where the atmosphere becomes important," McDowell wrote.

So, what does it mean if the boundary between Earth and space is 20 percent lower than is generally accepted? It won't change the way rockets are launched or any other physical interactions with space, McDowell wrote, but it could raise some important political and territorial issues.

The airspace above a given country is generally considered part of that country; outer space, on the other hand, is for everyone. If space is defined as beginning at 62 miles and the U.S. flies an unauthorized satellite at 52 miles over China, for example, that could be (justifiably) construed as an act of military aggression.

For this reason, the U.S. has frequently opposed setting any universal space boundaries. That means that McDowell's proposed 50-mile line probably won't become a legal, universally accepted border anytime soon. Still, if the daily drudge of life on Earth starts to get you down, look up  and take heart that you may be a little bit closer to the heavens than you were last week.

Originally published on Live Science.For the first time ever, researchers have watched a star race past the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way, verifying that its motion showed the effects of general relativity, as predicted by Albert Einstein.

The stars of the Milky Way orbit a gargantuan black hole called Sagittarius A*, which is generally quiet as viewed from Earth, except for ripping apart the occasional object that ventures too close. The black hole's mass is 4 million times that of the sun, and it exhibits our galaxy's strongest gravitational field, making it  and a small group of stars orbiting it at high speed  a perfect proving ground for the extreme effects predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity.

For 26 years, researchers have been observing the center of the Milky Way using instruments from the European Southern Observatory (ESO). "The galactic center was our laboratory to test gravity," Odele Straub, an astrophysicist at the Paris Observatory and co-author of the new study, said at an ESO news conference July 26. [Einstein's Theory of Relativity Explained (Infographic)]

A simulation showing the orbits of stars extremely close to the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way's core. The star S2, which orbits every 16 years, passed very close to the black hole in May 2018, letting astronomers examine the extreme effects of relativity. (Image credit: ESO/L. Calcada/spaceengine.org)

Astronomers have used new infrared observations from the GRAVITY, SINFONI and NACO instruments on ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile to follow a star, known as S2, which is part of a group of fast-moving stars orbiting the supermassive black hole, located 26,000 light-years from Earth.

In May 2018, these astronomers witnessed S2 pass very close to this black hole. At the time, S2 was moving extremely fast  15.5 million mph (25 million km/h). By comparing position and velocity measurements taken by GRAVITY and SINFONI and previous measurements taken of S2, the team found that the warped light from the star was consistent with predictions based on general relativity's description of how gravity bends space-time.

The measurements of S2 clearly show an effect known as redshift, ESO officials said in a statement.

An artist's impression of the star S2 passing closely by the supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way. By studying this star, astronomers have successfully tested Einstein's theory of general relativity. (Image credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser)

"Redshift tells us how gravity affects photons as they travel through the universe," Andrea Mia Ghez, an astronomer and professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles who was not involved in this research, told Space.com.

The supermassive black hole's gravitational field stretched the light leaving S2, and the change in the wavelength of light from S2 aligns with what is predicted by Einstein's theory, according to the statement.

The new measurements and results don't agree with what would be predicted by the simpler, Newtonian theory of gravity, the researchers said at the news conference. Frank Eisenhauer, senior staff scientist at the Max Plank Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics and principal investigator for GRAVITY and the SINFONI spectrograph, showed a vivid graph highlighting that divergence at the ESO news conference  reading "Einstein 1:0 Newton"  eliciting cheers from the audience.

This is the first time such a deviation from the Newtonian theory of gravity has been observed in a star around a supermassive black hole, the researchers said in the statement, although it was the second time they observed S2 around the black hole; they've been tracking the system for more than two decades. Last time it passed by, 16 years ago, the measurements' resolution wasn't good enough to pick up relativity's effects.

One of hundreds of images collected with the NACO instrument of ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile over two decades, following the motions of stars orbiting very close to the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way's center. (Image credit: ESO/MPE)

As human beings on Earth, we fall, we drop things and we don't float off of the planet into space; from an everyday perspective, we understand gravity quite well. However, of the different laws of physics, "gravity is the least tested, although [it's] the one we understand from a human existence the best," Ghez said. This new research helps to solidify our understanding of gravity on a larger scale.

"Getting this law right is super important," Ghez said. Even if you don't have it right, or you work with an incorrect understanding of gravity  even on a small scale  those mistakes may have accumulated on a larger scale, she added.

This work shows how gravity acts near a supermassive black hole, thus improving scientists' understanding of the force and its effects, the researchers said. "Here in the solar system, we can only test the laws of physics now and under certain circumstances,"Francoise Delplancke, head of the system engineering department at ESO and co-author of the new study, said in the statement. "So it's very important in astronomy to also check that those laws are still valid where the gravitational fields are very much stronger."

Astronomers will continue to observe and study S2 and hope to soon show general relativity's effect on a small rotation of the star's orbit as it travels away from the supermassive black hole, the researchers said.

The results of the new research were published online today (July 26) in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Email Chelsea Gohd at cgohd@space.com or follow her @chelsea_gohd. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.The total lunar eclipse today (July 27) won't be visible for people across North America, and bad weather could threaten even the geographically lucky  but in the digital age, no avid skywatcher is ever shut out.

Astronomy lovers from across the eclipse zone will be livestreaming their views, so if you are not able to catch the event live, you'll have plenty of options, and we'll pick one to share at Space.com.

Slooh will turn its online telescope to the lunar eclipse for a massive 6-hour moon-fest, with coverage starting at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) and ending at 7:30 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT). The webcast will include a team of experts discussing the science and stories behind lunar eclipses in general and this long one specifically. You can watch the eclipse live on Space.com, courtesy of the Slooh online observatory. (Visit Slooh.com to find out how to explore space on your own.) [Here's How Friday's Superlong Lunar Eclipse Works]

The Virtual Telescope Project will also be broadcasting its view of the eclipse  and Mars in opposition  from the Palatine Hill of Rome. This livestream will appeal to history lovers, with the ancient Arch of Constantine and the Colosseum dominating the skyline. The broadcast will start at 2:30 p.m. EDT (1830 GMT).

If you prefer England to Italy, the Royal Museums Greenwich, site of the Royal Observatory, will be just your cup of tea. The observatory will be broadcasting the view from the Annie Maunder Astrographic Telescope on Facebook, beginning at 3:45 p.m. EDT (1945 GMT). Astronomers will discuss eclipses, telescope techniques and other skywatching topics. [Blood Moon 2018: Longest Total Lunar Eclipse of Century Occurs July 27]

The Bareket Observatory in Israel will livestream the view from its telescope, with the broadcast beginning at 2:30 p.m. EDT (1830 GMT). Time and Date will also be streaming the eclipse beginning at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) from an unspecified location.

For an eclipse livestream in Spanish, tune in to Sky Live TV, which will be broadcasting from Namibia with astronomers from the Canary Islands. The livestream will begin at 2:20 p.m. EDT (1820 GMT).

Don't want to hop between livestreams for the best view? The Weather Channel will be pulling footage from a range of sites to share on its app for U.S. viewers. The broadcast will start at 4 p.m. EDT (2000 GMT) and last about an hour.

Whichever broadcast you choose, happy lunar eclipse viewing!

Email Meghan Bartels at mbartels@space.com or follow her @meghanbartels. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.Virgin Galactic's newest space plane took to the skies again today (July 26) for its third rocket-powered test flight, reaching higher in the atmosphere than the company had previously.

The VSS Unity is a SpaceShipTwo vehicle designed to carry six commercial passengers and two pilots into space, where they will experience 5 minutes of weightlessness before gliding back down to Earth.

"It was a thrill from start to finish," the craft's chief pilot, Dave Mackay, said in a statement about today's flight. "Unity's rocket motor performed magnificently again, and Sooch [co-pilot Mike Masucci] pulled off a smooth landing. This was a new altitude record for both of us in the cockpit, not to mention our mannequin in the back, and the views of Earth from the black sky were magnificent." [Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity Spaceliner in Pictures]

Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft (also known as VMS Eve) took off at approximately 11:45 a.m. EDT (1545 GMT), according to a tweet from the company, and raised the space plane to an altitude of 46,500 feet (14,000 meters) before releasing it to fly on its own.

Virgin Galactic's suborbital space plane, the VSS Unity, completed its 14th test flight on July 26, 2018. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic/ Twitter

"There she goes! #VMSEve & #VSSUnity have taken to the skies," Virgin Galactic tweeted. About an hour later, VSS Unity had separated from VMS Eve and was soaring toward space, the company tweeted. After separating, the VSS Unity fired its engines for 42 seconds, shifted to a nearly vertical angle and accelerated to 2.47 times the speed of sound.

After gliding back down to Earth, the space plane touched down safely at Mojave Air and Space Port in California shortly before 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT).

See more

This was the first time the space plane had reached a region of Earth's atmosphere called the mesosphere, Virgin Galactic representatives said.

"The planned 42-second rocket burn took pilots and [the] spaceship through the Stratosphere and, at an apogee of 170,800 ft [52,000 m], into the Mesosphere for the first time," Virgin Galactic representatives said in the statement. "This region, often referred to by scientists as the 'Ignorosphere,' is an under-studied atmospheric layer because it is above the range of balloon flight, and in the future is an area we can help the research community explore further."

Today's flight marked the third powered flight for VSS Unity in less than four months, and it was the 14th flight overall. Since its first test flight on Sept. 8, 2016, the VSS Unity has completed seven "captive-carry" flights  in which it remains attached to the VMS Eve  and seven unpowered glide test flights.

VSS Unity completed its first powered test flight on April 5 of this year, followed by a second powered flight on May 29. All three powered flights have been piloted, but without passengers on board.

As with previous flights, today's test flight was designed in part to gather additional data about conditions in the cabin during flight, according to the company's statement. Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson said the company could launch space tourists aboard the VSS Unity by the end of 2018, and tickets are already on sale for $250,000 apiece.

Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.This friday, Mars will reach opposition. The Red Planet will roughly align with the Earth and the sun in the sky. You can watch the incredible astronomical event live or online.

Mars will be at its closest and brightest to Earth in 15 years over the next few days, and you can share in the excitement by watching online or at local star-viewing parties.

The Red Planet will reach perihelic opposition tomorrow (July 27) at 1:07 a.m. EDT (0507 GMT). According to Sky & Telescope, Mars will be directly opposite from the sun as seen from Earth, and will be at its brightest. It also will be visible in the sky all night, from sunset to sunrise.

Then Mars will reach its closest point to Earth on Tuesday (July 31), when the surfaces of the two planets are only 35.7 million miles (57.5 million kilometers) apart, according to the article. If you head outside, you can see Mars in southern Capricornus. The planet will remain bright for several weeks, and you can also view the planets Saturn, Jupiter and Venus in a "long arc across the sky from east to west" shortly after sunset, the magazine said. [How to Use Mobile Apps to Watch Mars' Closest Approach Since 2003]

But if it's rainy in your neighborhood or you can't get to a dark spot, you can always catch the Mars opposition online. Viewers can tune in to a short webcast on Slooh today ( July 26) at 10 p.m. EDT (0200 GMT) to gaze at Mars and hear from Paige Godfrey, a physicist who performs public outreach and who also has studied exoplanets and brown dwarfs (failed stars). The webcast is available on Slooh's website for members, and will also stream here on Space.com, courtesy of Slooh.

"For the past few weeks, Mars has been brighter than Jupiter, which is normally the second-brightest planet in the night sky after Venus. Mars is about two times brighter than Jupiter this month, and will remain so until early September," Slooh representatives said in a statement.

The Griffith Observatory just outside Los Angeles will also host a livestream of Mars' closest approach on its website, in conjunction with an event on-site. The webcast will run from Tuesday (July 31) from 1 a.m. EDT (10 p.m. on July 30 PDT or 0500 on July 30 GMT) until 4:30 a.m. EDT (Tuesday 2 a.m. PDT or 1000 GMT).

There are also plenty of viewing parties across the globe at local planetariums or science museums, so be sure to check your community calendar to see if there is one in your community. Here is a sampling, with all times listed below in the event's local time; the views of Mars, of course, are weather permitting.

As mentioned, Griffith will have a public viewing party from 10 p.m. PDT Monday (July 30) to 2 a.m. PDT Tuesday (July 31). The grounds will be open, but the building will be closed; telescopes will be on the lawn for free public viewing. There will also be food carts.

Residents near Sarasota, Florida, can go to a Mars viewing party at Robinson Preserve, 10299 Ninth Ave. NW., Bradenton, on Friday (July 27) from 10 p.m. to midnight. The event is hosted by the Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources Department, and will feature telescopes near the Mosaic Center for Nature, Exploration and Technology.

The Hallstrom Planetarium in Fort Pierce, Florida, has several nights of Mars viewing between July 23 and July 31, with telescopes available from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The State University of New York at Oswego plans a public Mars viewing party from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. nightly between July 24 and July 31, at Rice Creek Field Station. You can also look at Jupiter and Saturn through the provided telescopes.

Editor's note: If you snap an amazing photo of Mars and would like to share it with Space.com Space.com for a story or photo gallery, send comments and images to spacephotos@space.com.

Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.One of the most important companies in the controversial phosphate business in Western Sahara is ending its involvement. Innophos Holding's exit might lead to the US totally terminating its decade-long imports from the occupied territory.



Published: 23.07 - 2018



"As part of Innophos commitment to overall social responsibility and good corporate stewardship, Innophos will no longer indirectly participate in a raw material supply chain which sources phosphate rock from the Western Sahara region in Africa, an area from which the Company has not directly purchased raw materials for more than three years", Innophos Holdings wrote in a press release on 2 July 2018.



The decision could lead to another massive blow to Moroccan government, in that phosphate rock that it illegally exports from Western Sahara to North America will come to a complete stop.



In its report P for Plunder 2016, published in April 2017, Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) for the first time reported that Innophos most likely is the main client of the only importing factory in the United States of phosphate rock originating from Western Sahara. WSRW drew the conclusion by referring to a pipeline that had been constructed between the factories of the importer PotashCorp (now renamed to Nutrien) in Louisiana and the purchaser Innophos. The pipeline transports phosphate derivatives from the first to the latter.



Shortly after, in its 2016 annual report, Innophos for the first time confirmed that the information was correct:



"We are also subject to risks stemming from local social and political conditions in those jurisdictions where the phosphate rock that supports our operations is sourced. The phosphate rock that it utilized by PCS to supply MGA to our Geismar, Louisiana facility is subject to those social and political conditions in Western Sahara, where PCS sources the phosphate rock, which territory has had a long history of social and political upheaval. If PCS is unable to source phosphate rock or sufficient amounts of phosphate rock, our MGA supply would be disrupted and our ability to manufacture our products could be materially adversely affected", Innophos wrote last year.



The fact that Innophos is ending its purchases of such rock will have large consequences for the involvement of the one importing into the US: Nutrien. A likely scenario is that Nutrien will end its imports to the US altogether, even though a decision has not yet been announced. Nutrien has twice this year hinted that something like that might happen, in continuation of its decision to also stop importing Western Sahara rock into Canadian from late 2018.



During an investor conference on 25 January 2018, the President and CEO of Nutrien, Mr. Chuck Magro stated that a decision regarding its imports to the US (to the legacy company PotashCorp) will be announced "certainly by the middle of the year".



This promise was repeated by Nutrien in a statement to Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) on 15 June. The new statement says that the decision will be made "before the fall".



The full statement from Nutrien to BHRRC, by the Nutrien representative Richard D. Downey, reads: "Nutrien is a new company as of January this year and the recent merger has created opportunities, particularly for the phosphate business. One of these opportunities is, we will see a significant reduction in our need for offshore imports of phosphate rock. We announced we will be (sic) convert our Redwater phosphate facility to an Ammonium Sulphate facility and will increase production at our existing underutilized facilities in the U.S. which have their own integrated rock supply. As a result, the large majority of our phosphate rock imports from OCP will be eliminated later this year. There is still a small amount of phosphate rock that is required for the Geismer, GA facility. A decision on the need to import rock for this facility is expected after a review of our end product customer needs which is expected to be complete before the fall this year."



The claim that the imports to Geismar is "small" echoes the comment made by Nutrien's President and CEO, Mr. Chuck Magro, on 25 January 2018. Mr. Magro had stated the volume of the Geismar imports to constitute "a little bit". However, that is not correct. The imports into the Nutrien (ex-PotashCorp) plant in Geismar has been massive. From WSRW's daily monitoring of ship traffic, it has been established that the Geismar imports have constituted 2,04 million tonnes from 2012 to 2017, at a value of 250 million USD. All of the proceeds have been ending up in the treasury of the Moroccan government, occupying Western Sahara. The people of Western Sahara have been systematically protesting the trade. The details of each shipment can be found in the WSRW reports P for Plunder for the years 2012-2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017.



A number of international investors have blacklisted Nutrien and its customer Innophos for taking part in the dirty trade, while several of the importers are realising the legal risk involved, following landmark judgements in the Court of Justice of the EU, and the arrest of a phosphate transporting vessel in South Africa in 2017.



"We congratulate Innophos in its important decision to halt the sourcing of conflict minerals in Western Sahara. The people of Western Sahara now anticipates the decision of Nutrien with keen interest. Considering that Nutrien now sees its main or only client in US end, we expect Nutrien to no longer be involved in any sourcing of phosphate rock from Western Sahara from the end of 2018. If the Geismar plant stops its purchases, it would mean that the decades-long imports into the US will have come to a complete stop. This is fantastic news for the Saharawi people", WSRW coordinator Sara Eyckmans said.



Western Sahara Resource Watch sent its latest letters to Nutrien on 21 February 2018 and on 28 May 2018 and to Innophos on 3 March 2017 and 1 March 2018. None of these four letters was responded to.



A Mexican subsidiary of US registered Innophos Holdings was previously an important and long-term direct importer of Western Sahara phosphate rock. But since 2015, WSRW has not observed any shipments to Innophos' plant in Coatzalcoalcos, Mexico.



The phosphate mine in Western Sahara has been Morocco's most important source of income since the occupation began, but importers are now shying away. From 2019, New Zealand farmers will be the only clients of the dirty rock, after over a dozen countries have ended the trade, besides a Moroccan owned importing company in India. (SPS)



062/SPS

http://wsrw.org/a105x4231Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media

STAMFORD  Eversource crews had to restore power to an area of North Stamford after a car collided with a utility pole on Wednesday.

The crash likely happened around 6 p.m.If a service is provided by a company rather than government, this does not automatically mean a market is at work. The point is fairly obvious but has passed many in South Africa by.

Shutterstock

No real choice

Pro-market moves

Making markets work

Private provision of services is moving into the spotlight in South Africa as the government looks to make the health system more accessible to the poor. One aspect is the Health Market Inquiry , established by the Competition Commission and chaired by former Chief Justice Sandile Ngcobo. It recently released a provisional report recommending more regulation of private healthcare. It has invited comment on its ideas.It is absolutely inevitable that whatever proposals it comes up with will be attacked as an assault on the free market in health care. This will ignore the reality  that there is no market in healthcare in South Africa, at least not one which works in the way in which markets are meant to work.To get an obvious point out of the way first, markets work only for people who have enough money to take part. So it is true that a healthcare market in South Africa would exclude many people who cannot afford private care. But that is not the only problem with the private healthcare system  another is that even those who are able to join medical schemes do not get the benefits markets are meant to offer.For markets to work as they are meant to, consumers must be able to make informed choices: they must have both a real right to choose and enough information to make that choice. But information and choice operate weakly in private healthcare and not at all in the private health insurance offered by medical aids.This places the South African debate about healthcare in perspective. The Competition Commission and the health ministry are not trying to abolish the market, they are trying to make it work. The accurate debate is about whether they are doing it in the best possible way.It might be true that people who can afford private medical care can choose their general practitioner. But that is where it ends. If patients need specialised care or hospital treatment, they dont choose the specialist or the place where they will be treated.And so they have no way of ensuring that they get the best possible care. While popular wisdom in the suburbs often assumes that all private doctors and hospitals are good, inevitably some are a great deal better than others and some are no good at all. But consumers do not make an informed choice on where to go and who to go to, although this is a far more important decision than buying a kettle.Informed choice of a medical aid scheme is just about non-existent. Most people belong to the scheme their employer chooses. If they are lucky enough to have a choice in theory, they do not have one in practice. Medical aids do not publicise what they do and the language they often use most people cant understand and so there is no way to shop around in ways which would make an informed choice possible.The situation is quite the same when people have joined schemes. Information on what is allowed and what is not may be understandable to doctors and pharmacists, but not to scheme members.The supposed solution is the medical aid broker , who is meant to help consumers to choose and to deal with the scheme after they join. But the brokers are paid by the schemes and so it is no surprise that they are there to look after the scheme, not the consumer.Brokers direct people to the schemes they are working for, not those which will best meet the needs of the consumer. Anyone who has a problem with a medical aids decision will soon find that the broker is a public relations officer, not a consumer representative. Their job is to justify the schemes decision, not to question it.Given all this, the Health Market Inquirys proposal that healthcare providers and funders should be regulated is a pro-market move  it seeks to make informed choice more of a factor than it is now. There is room for debate on whether it is going about it in the best way. But to claim that it is an attack on markets ignores the way in which private healthcare operates.Similarly, an amendment to the Medical Aid Schemes Bill which would abolish brokers is currently up for discussion. It, too, is not an attack on the market. Its likely effect would be to force brokers into the customer relations departments of the medical schemes, improving market information by ensuring that consumers know that they are dealing with people who work for the schemes, not for them.Again, to oppose this measure is not to defend the market  it is the opposite. To argue against it is to say that a market in which people know who they are dealing with and can make informed choices is not a good idea.The tendency to assume that private provision means that there is a market even when there is not is not restricted to health care. For years, it was assumed in the mainstream that the market was delivering satellite television when there was only one supplier . Moving from services to goods, many beer drinkers no doubt toast the market as they choose between a range of labels produced by one company.More generally, concentration in the formal economy means that most goods are produced by subsidiaries of a handful of companies  and sold in stores owned by only two or three firms. While competition between a couple of firms is technically a market, it is hardly one which offers strong benefits to consumers.This has two implications for South Africas economic debate. The first is that not all proposals for regulating private economic activity are an attack on the market. A key feature of the countrys economy is that it is dominated by very few players and so markets often do not work as they should. A stronger government role could mean stronger, not weaker, markets.The second is that, in these circumstances, the claim that markets must be left alone very often means that there is a need to leave existing private providers alone. This hides the reality that, in current circumstances, the challenge is not to protect private providers but to ensure that they really are subjected to the rules by which markets are meant to force them to play.This article was originally published on The Conversation . Read the original articleNORWALK  It was an 18-hour bus trip for Yessenia de la Cruz Martinez from Perus capital city, Lima, to the impoverished mountain region in the countrys north where her mother was born and grew up.

Martinez last made the journey in April, riding the bus up narrow Andean passes to the city of Cajamarca, where, until the age of 10, her mother and her mothers 10 siblings were raised.

It was really hard for my grandparents to support them because all they do in the mountains for money is farming. My mom and her sister had to move to Lima when they were 10 years old, all alone, without their parents, to look for a better life, said Martinez, who lives in Norwalk.

Martinezs mother had gotten lucky. She found work and people who were willing to house her and send her to school. But many others in Perus northern regions are not as fortunate. That knowledge weighed on Martinez and her siblings, who came to Connecticut when they were still young and attended Greenwich public schools before going on to American colleges. They wanted to help in some way.

In 2015, Martinez and her sister, Yessica Zucca, created the Norwalk-based nonprofit Ready for School Inc., which works to provide supplies, uniforms and tuition to underprivileged children in rural Peru, where a member of the nonprofit travels each year to deliver the goods. Martinezs trip this spring was her second on behalf of the nonprofit.

The project is to give back to kids. Once a year we get all the collections, all the things were able to buy with donations, and we give to four schools a year. We donate school uniforms, jackets, shoes, school supplies," Martinez said. Its wonderful, it has brought a lot of people together. The people there are so gracious and the kids are so ready to learn.

We want to push education because thats there only way out of poverty, she added.

Money to fund Ready for Schools work is raised primarily at the organizations annual Peruvian Festival, held at Martinezs house, 148 West Rocks Road. This year the Saturday event, open from 2 to 8 p.m., coincides with Peruvian Independence Day  July 28.

On Thursday, Martinez and Zucca sat outside the Community Room of St. Johns Episcopal Church in Stamford. Inside, the Taller de Marinera Portal Norteno dance school, which will perform at 6 p.m. at the festival, was practicing a traditional Peruvian-style dance under the direction of husband and wife duo, Luis Trejo and Miriam Reyes.

The school meets twice a week at St. Johns and offers classes in four different ability levels ranging from age 3 to adult in a style known as Marinera Nortena.

There are three styles of Marinera in Peru, Trejo said. Theres the Limena, which is known for its slow pace, Serrana, which is typically performed in the mountainous northern regions of Peru, and Nortena, which is considered the National Dance of Peru.

The Marinera Nortena is a courtship dance, in which the women wear brightly colored skirts and bare feet, and the men wear handkerchiefs, brimmed hats and dress shoes.

Other styles of the Marinera exist elsewhere in South America, all coming from the same source, the Zamacueca, Trejo said, an ancient colonial Peruvian dance with mixed roots in African, Spanish and Andean rhythms.

The food of Peru, too, which will be served by a variety of vendors on Saturday, comes from varied sources.

Groups of African, French, Chinese, Japanese and Italian immigrants have all greatly influenced Peruvian cuisine, which is diverse to begin with because of the countrys stark geography. Large coastal, jungle and mountainous regions each have their own styles of cooking. Vendors at the festival will be serving some of Perus most beloved dishes.

Anticucho is grilled, skewered meat seasoned with dry red pepper and served with corn, potatoes and a hot pepper sauce. Papa a la huancaina is a dish from the central Peruvian city Huancayo made of potatoes, hot yellow pepper, milk, cheese and bread, served with slices of eggs and Peruvian olives. Picarones are a donut-like dessert made of flour, butternut squash, sweet potato, anise, yeast and sugar.

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Its better than a donut. Its soft. Its very light, Zucca said.

Ceviche and tamales, perhaps Perus two most famous culinary exports, will also be available.

Martinezs and Zuccas uncle, Fernando Cuya, is a one-time store owner in Lima whose tamales earned him a reputation around the city. Last weekend, he arrived in Connecticut to prepare for the festival, and by Wednesday had already begun the tamale-making process.

It takes a long time. Usually, you start the day before. Typically, they boil the corn and then they have to grind the corn, Zucca said. Once the corn shell is ready, chicken or pork is wrapped inside with egg and olives, and the tamale is steamed for more than eight hours.

Peruvian beer, Cusquena, rum, pisco, and soda, Inca Kola, will also be served. Traditional Peruvian games, like the coin toss game sapo, and another guessing game, in which observers bet on the movements of a guinea pig set loose in a ring, will be played.

For Martinez and Zucca, the festival is both a way of giving back to the country that raised them and of reminding their children of the culture of Peru.

Our kids grew up here, go to the school system here, and they tend to forget all of that. So this is a reminder of our culture and dances. Its a great lesson for them, Martinez said.

justin.papp@scni.com; @justinjpapp1; 203-842-2586S ir Philip Greens Arcadia Group is looking to pocket 9.6 million from Retail Acquisitions, the company previously owned by former bankrupt Dominic Chappell, the Standard can reveal.

Retail Acquisitions, the firm with which Chappell bought now-defunct BHS for 1 in 2015, went into liquidation in May last year after a High Court battle with BHS administrator Duff & Phelps.D&P first called for Retail Acquisitions to be wound up in September 2016.

Greens Arcadia  which owns a string of fashion brands including Topshop  is claiming 9.6 million as a creditor, and the Pension Protection Fund hopes to get 9.5 million, documents show. Retail Acquisitions faces a total claim of 25.6 million, including other creditors.

When BHS collapsed, about a year after Retail Acquisitions bought the chain, it left 11,000 jobless and had a pension deficit of 571 million. Green has since agreed to put 363 million cash into the BHS pension schemes.

The liquidators study into Retail Acquisitions is ongoing with a number of transactions still requiring further investigation. This is despite it having no assets. Chappell said last year that the winding-up application was an attempt by Green to take funds available to other BHS creditors." London is immeasurably better for having a mayor. So writes the architect Richard Rogers in his latest book A Place for All People, looking back on decades of change in our city. No matter what your politics, its hard to argue with him  unless maybe youre the mayor of Paris or somewhere else vying with the British capital for investment and talent.

Youve only got to look at schemes such as congestion charging and cheap bike hire, or major projects such as Crossrail , which are all improving life here in different ways. As Rogers puts it: None of these could have happened without a mayor to support them.

Quite right too. Having a mayor means more scope for local innovation when it comes to policy-making, more political accountability and more public scrutiny over where and how money is being spent in the local area.

But heres the thing. Compared with mayors around the world, the Mayor of London actually has relatively little power to get things done because central government makes most of the big decisions that affect our city.

Rohan Silva

Why? Because Britain is still a massively centralised country, which is unhealthy in all kinds of ways. A recent European Commission report on local decision-making ranked the UK fourth from bottom of 28 EU countries  only Cyprus, Malta and the Republic of Ireland have less powerful local governments.

It didnt used to be like this. According to Professor Tony Travers at the London School of Economics, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries leaders in Britains cities were responsible for virtually all domestic government.

Its true that things are slowly changing in our country, and last year saw the creation of powerful new metro mayors (a rubbish name, but there you go) in places such as Manchester, the West Midlands and Liverpool.

That was a positive step forward. But, bizarrely, these new mayors have way more policy levers than the Mayor of London  which is one of those odd British constitutional anomalies that needs to be dealt with  and fast.

So what new powers should London be given? First and foremost, our city needs to be able to make more of its own decisions on tax and spending.

The Mayor of London has control over only around seven per cent of taxes collected in the capital  which pales in comparison with New York, where the mayor gets to keep 50 per cent of all tax receipts, or Tokyo, where its more like 70 per cent.

If youre not in charge of the purse strings youre not really in charge  and the scope for local innovation and new solutions to policy challenges is severely limited.

As the American urbanist Jane Jacobs wisely said in a speech in the mid-Eighties: Theres a connection between the fact that as much as 90 per cent of a citys public income can arrive in the form of grants from national governments, and the fact that cities have been losing inventiveness at overcoming serious public problems.

Ever since the role of Mayor of London was created in 2000 there have been calls for more tax and spending powers to be devolved. Boris Johnson once described London as a political giant but a fiscal infant, and demanded more autonomy for the city.

In 2013, the London Finance Commission report set out a detailed plan for the capital to take control of a wide range of powers, from property taxes such as stamp duty to council tax and business rates. Sadly, those proposals went nowhere.

"Giving cities more autonomy could boost productivity by five per cent, and economic growth by 79 billion a year"

Since becoming Mayor in 2016 Sadiq Khan has gone even further, calling for control over things such as vehicle excise duty to tackle air pollution as well as greater powers to borrow money to fund major infrastructure projects.

The argument for this kind of devolution is overwhelming. And as the City Growth Commission of the Royal Society of the Arts concluded (I was a member), its not just a London issue: giving our cities more autonomy on tax and spending could boost productivity by five per cent and help increase economic growth by as much as 79 billion a year.

Fiscal autonomy might be top of the list of things that would improve governance in our city but its not the only area where much greater devolution is needed.

Its the same with issues such as welfare and health  which have massive budgets, as well as huge opportunities for more local innovation and targeted action to deal with regional issues.

The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, actually has more control over these policy areas than the Mayor of London does  and its time our city was allowed to catch up and given the firepower to develop innovative solutions to some of the challenges we face.

Without getting too nerdy about the logistics, the good news is that its now easy for ministers to give London the autonomy it needs. The Cities and Local Government Devolution Act, which was passed in 2016, means powers can easily be devolved to London (or any other city), so theres really no excuse for prevarication or delay.

As Khan said recently, more powers for London will make our city better  and help the UK as a whole: When London succeeds, the rest of the country succeeds too.D o you remember the smell of rain? Ha! Only kidding  rain is a figment of your fevered imagination, silly. You may think youre able to recall the gentle caress of a cool drop on bare skin but I must inform you that this is, in fact, a mirage caused by the preposterously named yet satisfyingly alliterative Mediterranean Melt; the only puddles youre coming close to for the foreseeable future are caused by the streams of sweat cascading down the sodden spine of your fellow Central line commuter. Happy summer, folks.

To state the literally blazing obvious: its really, really hot  and weve all had enough, thanks very much.

It was fun for a while, wasnt it? There was a brief window of pure sun-dappled ecstasy when we frolicked in parks and drank rose like it was water but then  like being halfway through a Calippo and discovering it has sprung a leak and dripped a saccharine mess all over a new white sundress  the horrifying, sticky reality of this hellish meteorological situation set in.

An endless succession of days when the thermometer rockets to blistering heights is fine when experienced from the Arctic safety of an enthusiastically air-conditioned office, where outside temperatures exist only in the abstract, as a series of quaint numerical concepts to be screenshotted and marvelled at in WhatsApp survival groups, cold-pressed latte in hand. I am more than happy to revel in heat from a suitable distance  that distance apparently being the height from lofty window to shimmering streets below.

The problem is nocturnal. Because while the journey to and from work has been fairly gruesome, that is nothing compared to the torture of being trapped in a bedroom that has become a furnace, watching the clock sluggishly tick down to dawn and desperately longing for the merest whisper of a breeze. In the wee hours, I lost my chill.

Along with the rest of the city I havent slept in weeks, and now find myself unable to think about anything other than the furious sun beating down onto my parched emotional state. Everything is dead, including my social life. What has elevated this temporary insomnia into a full-blown crisis is the tech that means I can track impending pain in forensic, granular detail. Its become an obsession.

Thanks to a highly sophisticated  yet utterly useless  fan in my house, I can monitor the rising inferno situation from my desk, mentally steeling myself for the torrid night to come. Yesterday it topped 35 degrees by lunch, and I almost checked into a hotel. In Iceland. I track the forecast in Barcelona, Brussels and Bahrain  dreaming of a night of rest anywhere thats even a degree cooler than Brixton.

"Yesterday my bedroom topped 35 degrees before lunch, and I almost checked into a hotel. In Iceland"

I use not one but three apps, which offer addictively different hour-by-hour breakdowns  theres enough similarity for me to be assured that their terrifying predictions are more or less accurate, but enough discrepancy that each update gives a thrilling rush of deep anxiety.

But perhaps the worst thing about living inside the flame emoji is that, as a city, we are stuck in a conversational cul-de-sac from which it appears there may well be no escape before winter: the heatwave has addled brains, melted minds and destroyed our ability to talk about anything other than the weather. How embarrassingly British.

Gwyneths $250m post-truth empire

Gwyneth Paltrow / Getty Images

Before there was wellness, there was Gwyneth Paltrow and a steam-cleaned vagina. Now she of conscious uncoupling, sex-dust fame has been given the full New York Times treatment  and its more bonkers and fabulous than even my wildest imaginings could have hoped.

In Taffy Brodesser-Akners sublimely revealing profile we learn that Paltrow has nicknamed her 12-year-old son Lover (she is called GP), that she once yodelled VAGINA VAGINA VAGINA in a room full of Harvard students, and that she has built her lifestyle brand Goop into a $250 million empire by playing fast and loose with the truth.

A partnership deal with Conde Nast broke down when the publisher insisted that any joint magazine adhere to its editorial standards, which include rigorous fact-checking. Paltrow refused, but couldnt see the problem. Were never making statements, she claims. Try telling that to the women whove scalded their bottoms.

*Even Hannah Gadsby admits her plan to quit comedy has backfired. Instead, her farewell set, an hour of stand-up quietly released on Netflix , has become the hit of the summer. Now Nanette is being hailed as a new genre-defining work. I watched it on Saturday night and am still reeling.South African's National Business Awards 2018

Infrastructure Development and Maintenance

Transport & Logistics

Public Service

Resources

Construction and Engineering

Tourism, Travel and Leisure

Business Solutions and Support

Finance  Asset Management, Insurance, Banking

Health and Pharmaceutical Education

Skills Development and Training

Sustainability/Green Business of the Year

Customer focus

Innovation

Fast Growth/New Business of the Year

Digital Business of the Year

Business Leader of the Year

Entrepreneur of the Year

Young Executive of the Year (<40 Years)

National Business of the Year

Employer of the Year

Lifetime Achiever

The annual National Business Awards have opened their doors for nominations and are looking for organiations to join the community of top performers in the South African economy.The landmark 16th National Business Awards will be a top-tier networking opportunity for business seekers, with over 500 government leaders and captains of industry in attendance.The awards encompass 10 sectors:The categories include:This years ceremony will be held on 15 November at Emperors Palace.For information on how you and your organisation can participate in the Oscars of Business Awards contact Sibulelo Tshanyela: az.oc.ocpot@aleynahst.olelubisY esterday, a friend turned to a group of us and asked: So whens the next protest? Trump has come and gone and weve packed away our coloured paints and cardboard sheets, disappointed there isnt another public outcry in the diary.

When the sun is shining, protests are an excellent day out: theyre free, theyre social, and theyre a great opportunity to show off your wit with a punning poster. But crucially protests are cool, with a photo at one guaranteed to double your likes on social media, especially if you use a pithy hashtag and stand near some clever merch.

But has this defeated the point? Have protests become too cool to carry any real weight, as millennials look for any excuse to don a pussy hat or photograph a raised finger to an effigy. We imagine ourselves in line with suffragettes and civil-rights campaigners, but while they were risking something by going against the grain, today youre an outlier if you miss a march.

Its easy to raise an eyebrow to the slogan-shouting, face-painted young people, but to do so is to miss the point. The very fact that protests have become cool is something we should celebrate. Of all the crazy, damaging, ridiculous things that have been deemed hip in the past (smoking, drugs, eating Tide pods!) its amazing that having a political opinion and shouting about it is something young people respect.

My generation often feel overlooked when it comes to politics, but in a protest you can feel your voice being heard and the group being noticed  and if a clever caption or matching costume means more people get involved in their future, then Im all for it.

My feminist duty to watch Doctor Who

Last week, Comic-Con gave us the new Dr Who trailer featuring Jodie Whittaker as the first woman to take the lead role. On the one hand, gender shouldnt matter (especially when it comes to an alien Time Lord with two hearts). On the other hand, Im incredibly excited and think its my feminist duty to tune in.

That the protagonist has extraterrestrial ovaries shouldnt be important enough to draw me back to the show, but for every woman watching it for comradeship there are two boycotting sexists claiming she wont know how to work her sonic screwdriver or renaming it Nurse Who Im just trying to even the score.

Why Jameela Jamil is my feminist icon

No matter where I look, I cant seem to avoid the Lolita-like posters of hot girls sucking lollipops telling me about the teas, sweets or shakes that will make me skinny.

Along with plastic surgery and appetite suppressants, all this has been advertised during the Love Island breaks using the Barbie-esque bodies to tell girls theyre not good enough.

Jameela Jamil / Getty Images

The products are all over Instagram, on Tube trains and even between more size-accepting shows such as This is Us.

While some celebrities such as Kim Kardashian use their platform to praise suppressants, others are speaking out against them.

One loud voice is Jameela Jamil, who is slamming the way young women are being targeted by companies. These slimming options either help you starve yourself or give you the squits, neither of which is something we should be encouraging people to do, especially young girls. Instead we should be helping them to be happy and healthy. As Jameela said on her instagram: Be More. Dont Eat Less.

Chinas cashless society is the future

When a shop makes me enter my debit or credit card and PIN for a pack of gum, I feel like Ive lost a week of my life. Contactless is the new normal, and stores that havent adapted seem to be stuck in the Dark Ages.

But on a recent trip to China I saw the country has taken it one step further, with everything bought through your mobile phone.

When I produced my debit card in a shop in Shanghai, I was ogled as if I were handing over two oxen and a sheep.While most of us are avoiding stepping outside in this heatwave, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex braved the hot weather on Thursday afternoon for a day out at the polo.

The newlyweds made a surprise appearance at the Setebale Polo Cup, a charity event which helps to raise money for Prince Harry's charity, Sentebale, which supports children in Lesotho and Botswana.

Botswana holds a special place in the couple's heartMeghan's engagement ring even features a stone from the countryso it was hardly surprisingly that Meghan wanted to join her husband to support the cause.

Giving us all heatwave style inspiration, Meghan wore a casual, yet still elegant dark blue dress, which seemed to have a denim-esque finish and flattering matching waist belt.

The Duchess of Sussex arrives for the Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup / PA

Sticking to her usual rotation of designers, the dress was by Carolina Herrera, who the duchess first wore at the Trooping of the Colour back in June.

The summer frock, from the US designer's latest Resort 2019 collection, was perfectly paired with blue topaz earring by Birks and nude pumps by Aquazzura.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrive for the Sentebale ISPS Handa Polo Cup / PA

The 36-year-old also accessorised with a trendy clutch bag, made out of rattan - a popular material for SS18.

The fan rattan clutch, now 44 / J Crew

The bag, from high street favourite J Crew, helped balance out her expensive designer outfit. Having retailed for 88, the cool clutch has just entered the summer sale, now up for grabs for just 44. So, you may want to hurry if you want to get it before it's gone.

And, Meghan wouldn't be the first in the family to champion the handbag.

Pippa Matthews with the J Crew bag at Wimbledon 2018 / AFP/Getty Images

Pippa Middleton was spotted with the bag just a few weeks ago when she attended day four of Wimbledon.F rom platform boots to crop tops, sportswear to little black Gucci dresses, the Spice Girls set many memorable fashion trends in the Nineties.

Now fans can take a trip down memory lane at an exhibition of more than 300 of the bands most famous outfits.

The Evening Standard was given an early look at the SpiceUp London show, which opens on Saturday at the Business Design Centre in Islington.

The four-week display features pieces worn by the group from 1996, when their debut single Wannabe was released, to their most recent performance at the London 2012 Olympic closing ceremony.

Geri Halliwells Union Jack shoes will star, as well as platforms, trainers and boots worn by Mel B, Mel C and Emma Bunton. There is an outfit worn by Scary Spice during a 1997 Pepsi commercial, and a dress emblazoned with the groups slogan Girl Power, worn by Ginger Spice.

A black slip dress that Victoria Beckham had made by a tailor for only 20 when the band had just started out will be on display. At the height of the bands fame designers such as Julien Macdonald, Paul Smith and Roberto Cavalli created clothes for them.

Other designer pieces include a red corset dress with Union Jack detailing by Suzanne Neville that Halliwell commissioned for the closing ceremony performance. The mini dress was embellished with 24-carat-gold filigree and crystals by jewellery brand Halo & Co.

A Spice Girls exhibition has opened in London

Die-hard fans will enjoy looking at 7,000 pieces of merchandise, including dolls, CDs and T-shirts, and the 1997 Spice World movie will be screened three times a day, as well as some of their most famous live performances.

A series of events to celebrate Girl Power are taking place to complement the exhibition.

Following the launch party on Saturday at the O2 Academy in Islington, the venue will host Londons first and only showing of Wannabe: The Spice Girls Show  a concert celebrating the career of the band  on Monday. For the duration of the exhibition, SpiceUp London has teamed up with the Big Bus Company to offer a two-hour tour from Tower Bridge to Dover Street, highlighting areas of interest for fans.

Curator Alan Smith-Allison, 37, who is from Pinner, first showed his collection in a private display in Cyprus in 2016. The London exhibition also includes pieces loaned from collectors around the world.

Spice Girls - In pictures 1 /48 Spice Girls - In pictures Spice Girls at Wembley in 2019 Andrew Timms Best looks Sporty, Baby, Scary, Ginger and Posh sing as The Spice Girls PA The Spice Girls reunite for tour rehearsals Spice Girls Instagram Spice Up Your Life The Spice Girls officially launch Channel Five at Marble Arch in 1997 Rex Viva Forever The Spice Girls - Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton and Victoria Beckham AT 'Viva Forever!' Spice Girls musical launch in 2012 The Spice Girls reunite for the first time since 2012 Victoria Beckham/Instagram Prince Harry meets The Spice Girls PA Reuniting Victoria Beckham, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton and Melanie Brown pose for a photocall at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich ahead of their news conference on June 28, 2007 in London Getty Images Doppelgangers The Spice Girls with their wax doubles at The Rock Circus In The West End, London in 1999 Jeremy Selwyn Book launch The Spice Girls launch their book 'Forever Spice' PA Summer ball The Spice Girls at Capital Radio Summer Jam, Clapham Common in 1996 Rex Patriotic Geri Halliwell at The Brit Awards in 1997 wearing her famous Union Jack dress Rex Features Movie stars Spice Girls 'Spice World' Los Angeles Premiere in 1998 Rex Going for gold The Spice Girls performing at The 2012 London Olympic Games, Closing Ceremony Rex Charitable Spice Girls pose for Comic Relief Red Nose Day Launch in 1997 Alex Lentati Iconic Auction of outfits owned by Geri Halliwell. Her Spice Girls memorabilia auctioned at Sotheby's. All proceed's for The Sargent Cancer Care For Children in 1998 David Crump/Daily Mail Onset The girls filming Spice Girls: Spice World Spice Productions Undercover Ginger and Baby Spice star in Spice Girls: Spice World Spice Productions On tour British pop band, The Spice Girls, perform the first concert of the UK leg of their world tour at the O2 Arena, 15 December 2007 Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images Flying high The Spice Girls pose after naming a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 plane "Spice One" in their honor at Los Angeles International Airport, 12 December 2007 AFP/Getty Images Jet setters The Spice Girls unveiling the new name, Spice One, of a Virgin Atlantic Jet at the Flight Path Museum at Los Angeles Airport PA Model looks The Spice Girls, Emma Burton, Melanie Chisholm, Melanie Brown, Geri Halliwell and Victoria Beckham (L to R) perform during the Victoria's Secret fashion show at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California, 15 November 2007 AFP/Getty Images West End debut Melanie Chisholm, Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell and Melanie Brown attend the press night of 'Viva Forever', a musical based on the music of The Spice Girls at Piccadilly Theatre on December 11, 2012 in London Stuart Wilson/Getty Images Selfie stick The Spice Girls: Victoria Bekcham, Melanie Chisholm, Emman Bunton, Melanie Brown and Geri Halliwell Stage stars Spice Girls - Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton and Victoria Beckham during 'Viva Forever!' musical press night at The Piccadilly Theatre, London, Britain MTV Europe Music Awards Spice Girls at the Globe Arena in Stockholm. PA Throwback The Spice Girls: Melanie Chisholm (Sporty Spice), Emma Bunton (Baby Spice) Victoria Adams (Posh Spice) Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice) and Melanie Brown (Scary Spice) Girl power The Spice Girls in Spice World (1997) London calling Geri Halliwell of the Spice Girls performs during the first date of their 17-date residency, part of their reunion world tour Getty Images Raising money The Spice Girls raise money for Children in Need First reunion The Spice Girls reunited in 2007 Jeremy Selwyn Fashionable flare The Spice Girls at 12th Annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, Kodak Theatre, Los Angeles in 2007 Spice and Vinegar Gary Lineker with the Spice Girls promote Walkers Crisps with limited edition Spice Girls range Mini me's The Spice Girls Dolls hit the market in 1997 Rex Risque Victoria Beckham (Adams) and Geri Halliwell perform with The Spice Girls in Dublin in 1999 Rex One down British pop band The Spice Girls. Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham), Sporty Spice (Melanie Chisholm), Baby Spice (Emma Bunton) and Scary Spice (Melanie Brown) Virgin Records BRIT Awards The Spice Girls perform at The Brit Awards in 2000 and win an award for thier outstanding contribution to British music Back stage snaps The Spice Girls take a twitter snap at Olympic Games London 2012 Closing Ceremony. Charming the royals Geri Halliwell of the Spice Girls greets Prince Charles at the Prince's Trust Charity Concert Gala at the Manchester Opera House Rex The Spice Girls meet Prince Charles Prince of Wales with the Spice Girls at the Royal Gala celebrating the Princes Trust 21st Anniversary PA The Spice Girls World Tour Melanie Chisholm, Victoria Beckham, Geri Halliwell, Melanie Brown perform The Spice Girls World Tour in 2008 Rex The Spice Girls at The MTV Europe Awards The Spice Girls at The MTV Europe Awards in Sweden IN 2000 Rex Award winners The Spice Girls at The Brit Awards in 1998 Rex Collecting gongs The Spice Girls at The Brit Awards in 1997 Rex With her majesty Queen Elizabeth II meeting Emma Bunton, Victoria Adams, Mel C, Geri Halliwell, Mel B of The Spice Girls at The Royal Variety Performance in 1997 Rex Film debut The Spice Girls take center stage in their feature film debut, the Columbia Pictures Presentation of 'Spice World' in 1997 Getty Images Meeting Mandela Spice Girls Mel B and Geri Halliwell meet Nelson Mandela in 1997 as part of the British Royal tour in 1997 Rex Pepsi promotions The Spice Girls promote Pepsi in 1997 Rex

He said: We have over 300 pieces of some of their most iconic outfits from stage, music videos, the Brit Awards. We also have a number of events, so there really is a lot to see.

I am just so looking forward to it all going out on show. There is no point having all this stuff in boxes.

He added that he hoped the collection would engage a new generation of Spice Girls fans who are on their school holidays.S o here's a story from Kensington (where we live) to The Business Design Centre in Angel, the home of a brand new Spice Girls exhibition.

Re-rewind back to the glory days of the 90s and chances are you lived, breathed and dreamt everything Ginger, Sporty, Posh, Baby and Scary Spice.

If you did, you may be interested to know that a fab new exhibition that goes by the name of SpiceUP is opening this weekend. Featuring more than 350 Spice Girls costumes and countless memorabilia, the at times questionable fashion and pop culture spectacle celebrates the extreme highs and lows of the Pepsi generation.

Because we love a bit of tat (and trust us, there's quite a lot of it), we went to see it ahead of everyone else to get a sneeky peak of everything on show.

In the video above, fans can see everything from Geri's iconic Union Jack boots to naff Christmas gear, crisp packets, Pepsi sponsorships, dolls and even an entire Spice-Girls-themed bedroom!

Oh, and get this - you'll even be able to take a spin on the bus from the Spice World movie whilst you're there too. Life goals complete.

The special one-time exhibition is the brainchild of extreme Spice Girls Scottish merch collector Alan Smith-Allison and is a repeat of a similar expo that took place in Cyprus last year.

And did we mention it only costs a tenner to get in? Bargain.

Spice Girls - In pictures 1 /48 Spice Girls - In pictures Spice Girls at Wembley in 2019 Andrew Timms Best looks Sporty, Baby, Scary, Ginger and Posh sing as The Spice Girls PA The Spice Girls reunite for tour rehearsals Spice Girls Instagram Spice Up Your Life The Spice Girls officially launch Channel Five at Marble Arch in 1997 Rex Viva Forever The Spice Girls - Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton and Victoria Beckham AT 'Viva Forever!' Spice Girls musical launch in 2012 The Spice Girls reunite for the first time since 2012 Victoria Beckham/Instagram Prince Harry meets The Spice Girls PA Reuniting Victoria Beckham, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton and Melanie Brown pose for a photocall at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich ahead of their news conference on June 28, 2007 in London Getty Images Doppelgangers The Spice Girls with their wax doubles at The Rock Circus In The West End, London in 1999 Jeremy Selwyn Book launch The Spice Girls launch their book 'Forever Spice' PA Summer ball The Spice Girls at Capital Radio Summer Jam, Clapham Common in 1996 Rex Patriotic Geri Halliwell at The Brit Awards in 1997 wearing her famous Union Jack dress Rex Features Movie stars Spice Girls 'Spice World' Los Angeles Premiere in 1998 Rex Going for gold The Spice Girls performing at The 2012 London Olympic Games, Closing Ceremony Rex Charitable Spice Girls pose for Comic Relief Red Nose Day Launch in 1997 Alex Lentati Iconic Auction of outfits owned by Geri Halliwell. Her Spice Girls memorabilia auctioned at Sotheby's. All proceed's for The Sargent Cancer Care For Children in 1998 David Crump/Daily Mail Onset The girls filming Spice Girls: Spice World Spice Productions Undercover Ginger and Baby Spice star in Spice Girls: Spice World Spice Productions On tour British pop band, The Spice Girls, perform the first concert of the UK leg of their world tour at the O2 Arena, 15 December 2007 Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images Flying high The Spice Girls pose after naming a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 plane "Spice One" in their honor at Los Angeles International Airport, 12 December 2007 AFP/Getty Images Jet setters The Spice Girls unveiling the new name, Spice One, of a Virgin Atlantic Jet at the Flight Path Museum at Los Angeles Airport PA Model looks The Spice Girls, Emma Burton, Melanie Chisholm, Melanie Brown, Geri Halliwell and Victoria Beckham (L to R) perform during the Victoria's Secret fashion show at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California, 15 November 2007 AFP/Getty Images West End debut Melanie Chisholm, Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell and Melanie Brown attend the press night of 'Viva Forever', a musical based on the music of The Spice Girls at Piccadilly Theatre on December 11, 2012 in London Stuart Wilson/Getty Images Selfie stick The Spice Girls: Victoria Bekcham, Melanie Chisholm, Emman Bunton, Melanie Brown and Geri Halliwell Stage stars Spice Girls - Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell, Emma Bunton and Victoria Beckham during 'Viva Forever!' musical press night at The Piccadilly Theatre, London, Britain MTV Europe Music Awards Spice Girls at the Globe Arena in Stockholm. PA Throwback The Spice Girls: Melanie Chisholm (Sporty Spice), Emma Bunton (Baby Spice) Victoria Adams (Posh Spice) Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice) and Melanie Brown (Scary Spice) Girl power The Spice Girls in Spice World (1997) London calling Geri Halliwell of the Spice Girls performs during the first date of their 17-date residency, part of their reunion world tour Getty Images Raising money The Spice Girls raise money for Children in Need First reunion The Spice Girls reunited in 2007 Jeremy Selwyn Fashionable flare The Spice Girls at 12th Annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, Kodak Theatre, Los Angeles in 2007 Spice and Vinegar Gary Lineker with the Spice Girls promote Walkers Crisps with limited edition Spice Girls range Mini me's The Spice Girls Dolls hit the market in 1997 Rex Risque Victoria Beckham (Adams) and Geri Halliwell perform with The Spice Girls in Dublin in 1999 Rex One down British pop band The Spice Girls. Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham), Sporty Spice (Melanie Chisholm), Baby Spice (Emma Bunton) and Scary Spice (Melanie Brown) Virgin Records BRIT Awards The Spice Girls perform at The Brit Awards in 2000 and win an award for thier outstanding contribution to British music Back stage snaps The Spice Girls take a twitter snap at Olympic Games London 2012 Closing Ceremony. Charming the royals Geri Halliwell of the Spice Girls greets Prince Charles at the Prince's Trust Charity Concert Gala at the Manchester Opera House Rex The Spice Girls meet Prince Charles Prince of Wales with the Spice Girls at the Royal Gala celebrating the Princes Trust 21st Anniversary PA The Spice Girls World Tour Melanie Chisholm, Victoria Beckham, Geri Halliwell, Melanie Brown perform The Spice Girls World Tour in 2008 Rex The Spice Girls at The MTV Europe Awards The Spice Girls at The MTV Europe Awards in Sweden IN 2000 Rex Award winners The Spice Girls at The Brit Awards in 1998 Rex Collecting gongs The Spice Girls at The Brit Awards in 1997 Rex With her majesty Queen Elizabeth II meeting Emma Bunton, Victoria Adams, Mel C, Geri Halliwell, Mel B of The Spice Girls at The Royal Variety Performance in 1997 Rex Film debut The Spice Girls take center stage in their feature film debut, the Columbia Pictures Presentation of 'Spice World' in 1997 Getty Images Meeting Mandela Spice Girls Mel B and Geri Halliwell meet Nelson Mandela in 1997 as part of the British Royal tour in 1997 Rex Pepsi promotions The Spice Girls promote Pepsi in 1997 RexBestival

Bestival relocated from the Isle of Wight to Dorset last year, and organisers are looking to see in the second year at the new festival site in style. There's a promising line up already confirmed, with M.I.A, Jorja Smith, London Grammar, Grace Jones, Plan B and Chaka Khan all perform in 2018. Bestival is known for being one of the most colourful experiences of the summer calendar, and if you like dressing up and letting your hair down, theres no better festival in the country. August 2 - 5. Dorset

Getty ImagesB eautifully bonkers, eclectic and soul-warming; Port Eliot has fast become a highlight of the British festival calendar.

The unique character and charm of this place resinates with everyone who find themselves here and expect to be flooded with feelings of childhood innocence and adventure.

The Cornwall location is quite something, set around a stunning historic home, which is open to everyone for tea. Plunge into in the lake on one of the hottest weekends of the year and wander around the serene grounds in the sunshine  prepare for a scorcher, it's going to be 31 degrees.

There's midnight trapezing, star-studded bed time stories, wild swimming with mermaids and survival in the woods with a surprise Hollywood star. Port Eliot clearly doesn't take itself too seriously.

Activities are endless, look out for Lily Cole screening her short film on the refugee crisis in Greece, Daphne Guinness discussing the relationship between fashion and music and don't miss Jack Stein (Rick Stein's son) demonstrating real cooking in the Big Kitchen.

There's music and madness to float every boat. If you're a fan of BBC 6 music then head to the Caught By The River stage, expect a mix of cosmic disco, folk, and rock n roll down by the estuary. Be sure to catch British Indie favourite Baxter Dury play there on the Thursday.

Music Festivals in 2018: The best UK events to book tickets for now 1 /10 Music Festivals in 2018: The best UK events to book tickets for now Latitude As well as boasting one of the most eclectic lineups of the year (The Killers, Alt J and Solange, The Vaccines, Rag N Bone Man, Mogwai and John Hopkins all perform in 2018), Latitude also boasts a diverse arts lineup. Fans can expect strong comedy, theatre, poetry and literature and street food offerings across the weekend in and amongst the bands. Its the UKs biggest boutique festival and one of the best of the entire year. July 12 - 15. Suffolk Reading & Leeds Attending Reading festival and its naughty little brother Leeds has become something of a right of passage for young music fans across the country, and 2018 promises to be no different. Theyre two of the biggest, booziest and most bonkers festival experiences to bad in the UK this year. The lineup sees Kendrick Lamar, Kings of Leon and Fall Out Boy top the bill at the twin events this year and there's always plenty to discover across the festivals nine stages too. August 24 - 26. Reading & Leeds PA Archive/PA Images Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight festival is one of the most established events on the UK summer circuit, with an illustrious history to boot. Three huge events took place on the Isle of Wight between 1968 and 1970 before the festival was revived in 2002. A huge selection of acts are taking part in 2018, with Chase & Status, Nile Rodgers & Chic, Manic Street Preachers, Depeche Mode, The Killers, Kasabian, Van Morrison and Liam Gallagher all performing over the weekend. June 21 - 24. Isle of Wight Isle of Wight festival Bestival Bestival relocated from the Isle of Wight to Dorset last year, and organisers are looking to see in the second year at the new festival site in style. There's a promising line up already confirmed, with M.I.A, Jorja Smith, London Grammar, Grace Jones, Plan B and Chaka Khan all perform in 2018. Bestival is known for being one of the most colourful experiences of the summer calendar, and if you like dressing up and letting your hair down, theres no better festival in the country. August 2 - 5. Dorset Getty Images Download UK metal institution Download takes place at Derby's Donington Park this summer, with Guns n' Roses, Avenged Sevenfold and Ozzy Osbourne set to headline. The festival has entertained UK metal fans ever since launching back in 2003 and all the early signs are suggesting this year will be the biggest celebration yet. June 8 - 10. Leicestershire Creamfields The ever-popular Creamfields is the UKs biggest dance music festival, celebrating house, drum & bass and techno over August bank holiday weekend. The festival will welcome 40,000 people a day to its site in Daresbury, Cheshire this year, with legendary DJ Carl Cox set to headline. He follows the likes of deadmau5, The Chainsmokers Tiesto, Martin Garrix, Hardwell, Armin van Buuren and Eric Prydz who performed in 2017. August 23 - 26. Cheshire Green Man Festival The Green Man Festival site, nestled in amongst the beautiful Brecon Beacons, is one of the most picturesque anywhere in the UK and the setting for one of the best artisan festivals of the year. Its a boutique festival experience on a big scale, with arts events, strong comedy lineups and fantastic food on offer over the weekend. Fleet Foxes, the War On Drugs and Grizzly Bear have all been confirmed for the 2018 event. August 16 - 19. Brecon Beacons End of the Road Festival End of the Road is a gem of a festival tucked away in South Wiltshere. Discerning music lovers are drawn to the boutique event every year to see a diverse lineup of critically acclaimed and hotly-tipped artists. This year Vampire Weekend, St Vincent and Feist will headline the festival, while the likes of Yo La Tengo, Ezra Furman, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, John Cale and Fat White Family also perform. August 31 - September 3. South Wiltshere End of the Road festival TRNSMT Arctic Monkeys mark their only confirmed UK date of 2018 with a performance at Glasgows TRNSMT, four years after their last headline slot at Reading & Leeds festival. Liam Gallagher, Stereophonics, Courteeners and Interpol also perform at this, one of the UKs biggest musical events of the summer. June 29 - 30. Glasgow TRNSMT Festival No. 6 Franz Ferdinand and Friendly Fires headline this diverse and multifaceted event, which all takes place in a stunning Portmeirion setting. Jessie Ware, Everything Everything, The Charlatans, Django Django, Ride and Anna Calvi also perform, but the family-friendly festival also celebrates arts, theatre and comedy across the course of the weekend. September 6 - 9. Portmeirion Festival No.6

Look out for the the big red and blue tent name The Park. Here find the biggest names and the very best in stand-up comedy, conversations, performance poetry and live music. Gaz Coombes from Supergrass will perform here on the Saturday night.

One of my favourite spots is The Church which happens to be the oldest church in Cornwall. Chris Difford songwriter for 70s/80s legends The Squeeze will perform on the Sunday followed by The London African Gospel Choir. What a glorious medley!

There are many options for late night music, keep an eye out for the club hidden behind a hedge. I'll say no more but you'll be there until the wee hours, Port Eliot is one of the few festivals which keeps the music pumping well into the night. My kind of festival!

The food options are limitless. A visit to The Oyster Shack goes without saying. Try Claw for fresh crab rolls, Fleetwood Mac for Mac and Cheese and head to Woody's Pizza for crispy light neapolitan joy with toppings such as Foraged Wild Garlic Pesto with Crispy Kale and Courgette, delicious!

The essentials

When? July 26-29, 2018

Where? St Germans, Cornwall

Whos headlining? Gaz Coombes, Baxter Dury

Where should we stay? If you're splashing out go for an air stream otherwise the Yurtel is ideal for luxurious glamping or try the Tangerine Fields if you're on a budget for pre pitches tents.W hen Kehinde Wiley arrives in Mayfairs white-walled, black-floored Stephen Fried-man Gallery direct from a New York flight, plus an extra two hours on the runway, he is, despite the days broiling heat, the least ruffled traveller I have ever encountered.

His jacket is uncrumpled, his shirt, unbuttoned low enough to expose a smooth expanse of chest, is still starched. A couple of shots of espresso and the portraitist of presidents and music moguls is fully present in London.

The National Portrait Gallerys much hyped Michael Jackson: On the Wall exhibition  Wileys 10ft painting is the first large-scale image you encounter on entering  is his ostensible reason for being in the capital today. But this is to be a flying visit, because Wiley is an extremely busy, in-demand man.

In February, his portrait of Barack Obama went on permanent display in Washingtons Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, making him the first African-American official portraitist of an American president. Collected by institutions and the likes of Elton John, Spike Lee, Alicia Keys and Venus Williams, Wiley, 41, is variously described as the most successful black American artist since Basquiat and, with canvases selling for six figures plus, possibly the richest.

Kehinde Wiley and Spike Lee with the artists portrait of Lee / Getty Images for GREY GOOSE

In April, he was selected as one of Times 100, the magazines annual survey of key global influencers. How did that feel? Arbitrary I suppose, he says, though smiling winningly. According to whom? Well, LL Cool J, at least, who wrote how Wiley was transforming the way African-Americans are seen To put it simply, he does dope s***.

It was when he was in his 20s that Brooklyn-based Wiley first began to attract attention for his portraits of young black American men wearing contemporary clothes but posed in heroic attitudes styled from classical old master paintings. He approached his earliest sitters on the street. Back in his studio, they would flip through the Yale graduates art history volumes and together choose an image to reproduce. Soon hip-hop artists such as Grandmaster Flash and The Notorious B I G were being painted by Wiley. Later, on the television show Empire, a Wiley portrait became a marker for success.

Artist Kehinde Wiley and recording artist/ actress Janelle Monae / Getty Images for Atlantic Record

Michael Jackson got in touch after seeing the Los Angeles-raised artists 2005 Jacques-Louis David-inspired portrait, Napoleon Leading the Army over the Alps, in the Brooklyn Museum. He was doing a now famous Ebony magazine cover shoot there. He saw my painting and said to his team, Who is that guy? We need to meet him. Someone on his team knew who I was. But when I got the call I didnt believe it. He was just so untouchably out there. Why would he be trying to contact little ol me in my grimy Brooklyn studio? Finally, a mutual friend said, Please pick up the phone for Michael Jackson, you idiot

Kehinde Wiley with A$AP Rocky / Getty Images for GQ

Did Wiley ignore Jacksons initial calls because he felt ambivalent about Jackson as a public figure? I think it was just that there was something entirely justifiable in not believing he was trying to reach me. I dont think anyone will ever again be as famous as Michael Jackson, because the media culture will never be the same. Ive been around a lot of famous people, but Ive never been around someone who makes people lose consciousness, like literally pass out when he walks in the room. Thats called a blast zone.

These days Wiley, who has studios in Brooklyn, Beijing and the Senegal capital Dakar, where he spends an increasing amount of time, gets bored by doing commissioned works. There are very few exceptions, he adds. You know, Barack Obama is a singularity. I did not just get the job. You have to audition for something like that. This was 2016. He was still the President. I had to go into the Oval Office  no pressure or anything  and try to calmly explain what I would do differently from any other artist. Apparently, I said something right because it all worked out.

You can see why presidents and music moguls, men of staggering ego, might entrust themselves to Wiley. With his mellifluous voice, considered responses and easy smile, he has a skill for putting a person at ease. Perhaps Obama also warmed to Wileys backstory. His mother, a single parent to six, sounds remarkable. Raised in a Texan sharecropping community, she came to Los Angeles as a funded student at UCLA. There she met his father, a scholarship student from Nigeria, who left before the birth of Wiley and his twin brother. I remember very early the struggle, recalls Wiley of his South Central childhood. We were always trying to raise money. Wed do things like sell old clothes in front of the house. Nonetheless, his mother put herself through graduate school, continually encouraging her children to raise their own bars.

She was just a busybody, he recalls, laughing. There were so many amazing programmes we were signed up for. Some were appropriate, some werent. Me and my twin brother were in an all-Jewish summer camp in the Hollywood Hills, horseback riding, churning butter, then wed go off and do art.

It was an improbable childhood because youd think that you would know something about my biography, given where I was born. The streets were literally on fire during the LA riots. There was the OJ Simpson trial. But I had this hyper-educated mother with books on every shelf who was continually trying to expose us to other aspects of the world.

with Barack Obama at the unveiling of his portrait / AFP/Getty Images

Musically, he grew up alongside West Coast hip-hop. Yes, and the codifying of what it means to be a black heterosexual man in popular culture, says Wiley, who is gay and currently single. All of these toxic and fixed notions of what masculinity is were in many ways born from the streets of Los Angeles and New York during that time. Those culture wars gave rise to a type of sensibility that I later began to critique in my work. I happen to be in this black case that feels a lot more complicated than the simplistic two-dimensional thing that Im being served up.

His portrait of a tieless Obama surrounded by plants from Hawaii, Chicago, Kenya and Indonesia feels less heroic than much of Wileys work. He wanted to be clear that humility has to be a part of this. There was a sense of play about the grandiosity of the endeavour. Thats why the body language involves him leaning into the viewer. Wiley works from photographs, but had six hours with Obama (Which feels an extraordinary length of time). After the portraits unveiling he received death threats. It had nothing to do with the painting. It had nothing to do with me. It had more to do with the culture wars.

The current political scene in the US makes time spent in Senegal, where he is building an art foundation, a welcome escape. I enjoy getting out of America at the moment, because literally every time I put on National Public Radio, its a constant barrage of what Donald Trump has done this time.

Kehinde Wiley and Chelsea Clinton / Patrick McMullan via Getty Image

Migration has been a theme of recent projects. While in London, where he is staying at the Mondrian, he hopes to get to Greenwichs National Maritime Museum, which in April acquired his painting, Ship of Fools. A portrait of modern migrants, inspired by a Hieronymus Bosch work, it is his first piece to be bought by a national UK collection. It is also the first painting by a known black artist to join the NMMs collection.

And the fashion obsessive  one of his favourite past projects was An Economy of Grace, a 2012 collaboration with Riccardo Tisci  hopes there will be some time for shopping on Savile Row and fine dining. Then, after Paris, New York and the Catskills, he is off to Tahiti and a Gauguin intervention.

Already Wiley has had more success than he once dared dream of. I approached the idea of a career in art with a flip sense of irony. I thought Id come to New York, get a career in a kitchen and be a chef to support my art habit. In fact he went straight from Yale to a residency at the Studio Museum in Harlem. Has he ever had to work in a kitchen? No, now I just have fabulous dinner parties.

Michael Jackson: On the Wall is at the National Portrait Gallery until 21 Oct (npg.org.uk)T his weekend, Muslims around the world will celebrate Eid al-Fitr.

The festival marks the end of Ramadan, an annual period when Muslims fast to help deepen spiritual devotion and commemorate the work of the prophet Mohammed.

It is not to be confused with Eid al-Adha, which comes at the end of the Hajj pilgrimage period.

Eid al-Fitr is normally celebrated communally with prayers and gatherings. This isn't possible in 2020 due to coronavirus lockdown rules that ban gatherings of more than two people outside a single household.

Here's everything you need to know about Eid al-Fitr and how it is celebrated.

People celebrating Eid in Iraq in 2019 (Reuters)

When is Eid al-Fitr?

Eid-al-Fitr falls on either Saturday, May 23 or Sunday ,May 24 this year - depending on when the full moon is sighted.

The exact dates change each year, as the Islamic calendar is based on the lunar cycle.

The celebrations mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, which began on April 23 this year.

Worshippers in Turkey in 2019 (AP)

What does Eid al-Fitr celebrate?

Muslims thank Allah on Eid al-Fitr for giving them the strength to keep to their daytime fast throughout Ramadan. They may also ask for forgiveness if they broke their fast during the month.

The festival is also held to give thanks to Allah for giving Muslims the Koran, the religion's holy text. The Koran provides Muslims with guidelines for living a holy life.

Women buy traditional bangles in preparation for the upcoming Eid al-Fitr celebrations, in Lahore, Pakistan in 2019 (AP)

How is it different from Eid al-Adha?

Eid al-Adha, also known as The Festival of Sacrifice, marks the end of the Hajj pilgrimage, and is considered the holier of the two Eids.

Eid al-Adha marks the end of the Hajj pilgrimage (one of the five pillars of Islam) and will fall at the start of August this year.

The festival remembers the story of Ibrahim's sacrifice when Allah appeared to him in a dream and asked him to sacrifice his son Isma'il as an act of obedience to God.

People celebrating Eid in Birmingham in 2018 (REUTERS)

How are Muslims celebrating Eid al-Fitr in coronavirus lockdown?

Eid al-Fitr is normally celebrated in mosques, and then in gatherings and parties with friends and family.

Neither of these are possible this year, with places of worship closed and gatherings of more than two people banned under coronavirus lockdown rules.

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has advised Muslims to celebrate Eid al-Fitr at home with members of their household, and speak with others via video cal

MCB General Secretary Harun Khan said: Muslims have shown great resolve throughout Ramadan and this pandemic, adapting to a different way of life and making the best out of the month by attending virtual iftars with friends and family, and live streaming religious services to their homes.

Eid celebrations in Birmingham in 2018 (REUTERS)

Whilst Eid away from the mosques and from our loved ones is unprecedented and will be a source of great sadness in communities across the country, Muslim communities will adapt and find the best way to still celebrate this holy day whilst aligning to the latest guidance. Some will pray Eid prayers in families within their households, and virtual gatherings can be arranged to still connect with loved ones.A teenager died early today after being dumped in the street with stab wounds by a scooter rider who sped away from the scene.

The 18-year-old victim lay bleeding in the road after being pushed from the bike and abandoned in Denmark Road, Camberwell last night.

Neighbours rushed to the aid of the teenager at 6.55pm and gave him first aid until paramedics arrived. He was rushed to hospital but died at 12.22am this morning.

A shocking video taken by a passer-by shows the scooter rider leaving his companion slumped in the street before driving away.

The moped rider drives off after dumping his dying companion in the street

One witness said: The boy was hanging off the back of the scooter and the guy on front was screaming hold on, hold on.

I said to my sister that guy looks very ill. He was all slumped over, hanging off. They were going quite slowly and both had helmets on.

Onlookers rushed to help the stab victim, circled, as his companion drove off

He fell off further up the road and loads of people ran out to try and help. Its so scary to hear that he died.

Abu Kamara, residents chairman of the Crawford estate, said: His friend stopped the moped and just pushed him off. He shouted help him, help him, hes been stabbed to people standing on the street and rode off.

Bystanders rush to help as the moped rider dumps his stabbed companion on the tarmac

I cant believe it he just left him in the middle of the road. He obviously didnt want to get involved with police and panicked.

Neighbours rushed to the aid of the teenager and gave him first aid until paramedics arrived

He added: Everyone shouted Why are you leaving him? Chase him!

They ran after him but he got away. He was a coward if that kid had got to hospital he could have been saved.

The boy was stabbed twice in his side. There was a lot of blood.

He said people came out of their homes and started doing CPR on him. The police were magnificent. Its not a boy from around here. Ive seen a lot of young boys asking who he was, worried it was their friend.

Police believe the scooter rider may have been heading to nearby Kings College Hospital to get help before the victim lost consciousness on the back of the bike.

Detective Chief Inspector Simon Harding, who is leading the murder inquiry, said: This is a tragic incident which has resulted in yet another young person being fatally stabbed in London.

We are appealing for anyone with information to come forward, we need to trace the moped and also the person who brought the victim to the scene, its important we establish where the victim initially received his injuries.

Anyone who saw the moped make off from the scene we equally need to hear from them.

The teenagers family has been informed and there have been no arrests. He is the 16th teenager to be stabbed to death so far this year.

The scene is around half a mile from the address where Katrina Makunova, 17, from Lewisham, died after suffering stab injuries at an address in Brisbane Street on July 12. A 21-year-old man has been charged with her murder.

The death comes as Londons murder rate has slowed in recent weeks compared to a surge in killings in the spring.

However, there are still daily incidents of stabbings and shootings in the capital, often linked to gangs.

Last night two young men in their early 20s suffered minor stab wounds in separate attacks in Harrow Road, Maida Hill.

In another incident a 19-year-old man was shot near Highbury Fields in Islington.

Police were called at 10.20pm to reports of a fight and gunshots in Highbury Crescent. They found a man suffering gunshot injuries in Corsica Street.A young woman can be heard screaming "oh my god, you're driving go fast" as she filmed part of a speedboat crash that killed her just minutes before she plunged into the freezing Thames.

Charlotte Brown, 24, had spent the December evening having dinner and drinks with web designer Jack Shepherd after the pair met on dating website OkCupid.

Moments before the crash on December 8 2015, Miss Brown had filmed the boat speeding past Westminster on her iPhone.

The footage was today released by police hunting for Shepherd who is on the run despite being found guilty over Brown's death.

Crash: The chilling footage was shot from Miss Brown's phone moments before the fatal crash / Met Police

Despite the phone being submerged in water, experts were able to dry it out and retrieve the tragic footage which provides a snapshot into Miss Browns final moments.

It shows the boat accelerating down the dark river, past landmarks including Big Ben and Chelsea Bridge.

Tragic: Charlotte Brown drowned on a speedboat date / PA

At point she is heard exclaiming that they were driving so fast and saying oh my god.

The pair had gone for a boat ride down the river after having a 150 dinner at The Shard, where they drank two bottles of wine between them.

Guilty: Jack Shepherd is on the run from police / Met Police

They then consumed champagne together on Shepherds houseboat in Hammersmith before going for a speedboat ride to Westminster.

The court heard that Shepherd, who frequently entertained dates in this way, had been driving the 14ft Fletcher Arrowflyte GTO at twice the speed limit.

An image of Jack Shepherd's speedboat released by police / PA

On the return journey, Shepherd handed over the controls to business development consultant Ms Brown who followed suit and went "full throttle".

Shortly after the footage was captured, the speeding boat hit a submerged log and tipped over near Wandsworth Bridge, sending both occupants into the water.

Police interview with man who encouraged date to drive defective speedboat

Shepherd, 30, originally from Exeter, was rescued after being found clinging to the hull of the boat.

Ms Brown, from Essex, was pulled from the water unconscious and unresponsive. Paramedics battled in vain to save her as she was already in cardiac arrest and suffering from hypothermia and she was later pronounced dead at St Georges Hospital.

Shepherd has denied manslaughter by gross negligence but was found guilty in his absence at the Old Bailey.Veteran marketer Sharon Keith shared on the topic 'Our world: a small global village' four basic principles in explaining how to build global brands at the local level and examples to demonstrate these at the Association for Communication and Advertising's Apex 2018 'Next Level of Thinking Masterclass' last week.

Sharon Keith

1. Build a brand vision and a mission that inspires (and translates in) local markets

2. Put a global brand operating system in place to drive consistency: visuals; narrative

I know this sounds counterproductive because on the one hand youve got this vision and this mission and its all very higher purpose stuff, but on the other hand youve got a system and rules and constraints.

Global brand operating system in place: Visuals  Heineken

Heineken is particularly disciplined about how the brand is treated. It just doesnt show up in any kind of hand-fisted, amateurish way. It always looks absolutely beautiful, and the amount of money they spend on that photography and designing their visual inventory pays off because everybody uses it. Whether the brand is showing up in Vietnam or Mexico, this is what it looks like:



(c) fabio bergamasco - 123RF.com





Heineken is particularly disciplined about how the brand is treated. It just doesnt show up in any kind of hand-fisted, amateurish way. It always looks absolutely beautiful, and the amount of money they spend on that photography and designing their visual inventory pays off because everybody uses it. Whether the brand is showing up in Vietnam or Mexico, this is what it looks like: Global brand operating system in place: Narrative  Dove





When youre building a global brand, you are going to make mistakes, but I think the narrative on Dove has been absolutely consistent, and there has been a system to keep that narrative consistent around the world.



Dove apologises for 'racist' whitewashing ad, social media won't accept

While the brand has made the occasional misstep, it generally gets its narrative right, and in so doing, theyve transformed the way women feel about themselves and about what constitutes beauty. I think that has made it a much more valuable brand, as theyve allowed everybody around the world to build the brand in their own way.

3. Translate your global narrative locally (collaborate for localised consumer insight)

Dont just use Netflix and things from somewhere else. Go and immerse yourself in the deeply local things that people know and care about, because that is where youll find the greatest insights.

4. Use your common sense (dont assume anything)

Whats interesting is that, according to the latest Interbrand Rankings , the top 10 global brands at the moment constitute 42% of the total value of the brands surveyed and seven of which are tech-based. If you look at those brands, theres absolutely no way that they could become global brands if they werent relevant, credible and interesting to people at an extremely local level.There is very little that can be taken from some sort of mythical global head office, and just plug and play What weve got to do is start integrating and using some of those tricks of the trade. So, how do you build global brands at a local level?Here, what marketers need to do if they want to be successful...Weve all come across marketing campaigns that have been quite misguided and flung into South Africa, and you can just see and marvel that the people havent spent the time trying to translate and express that global vision and mission at the local level.Jonnie Walker, for example, stumbled upon an insight that people all around the world seek to progress in their lives. They want to do better than the previous generation. They want their children to have a better life, and they want to be able to mark that personal progress.By acting on this insight, the brand went from being just another status whiskey to celebrating and marking those steps along the way on everybodys journey. This is something that resonates everywhere in the world, but the amount of work that goes into translating that in SA, in Uganda, in Kenya, in wherever, is the important piece Instantly, people get it. There isnt even much copy there. Just keep walking, and thats what inspires people.But these are absolutely necessary. Consistency is not only important for the visual identity but also in terms of the brands story, what the brand stands for and how it differentiates itself.Although Keith recently left the Coca-Cola Company (where her role was marketing director for the Southern & East African Business Unit), she thought it relevant to mention that the brand has a portal called Dmex, which is a repository of absolutely everything related to the brand, from the colours to the copy, to the creative ideas to the digital marketing assets, to everything, she explained. This is not only available to the people within the Coca-Cola company, but also to all of its partner agencies, suppliers and bottling companies that work with Coca-Cola so that you dont end up getting a sort of pinky-red Coca-Cola umbrella or an orangey-red Coca-Cola tablecloth.This may sound petty or pedantic to some, but what this means is that everyone involved ends up treating the brand and its assets with the reference and consistency that shows up everywhere in the world. Coca-Cola isnt the only multinational using this kind of tool.The keyword here is collaboration.For a while, Pampers used this motif of the stork supplying pampers. They put it all over their packaging and their advertising and they were mystified when the brand just did not succeed. After discovering the local insight that Japan doesnt know the story of the stork delivering babies, the brand changed its packaging, as well as the story and the narrative in Japan. This has transformed the brands performance in Japan, so sometimes its the interpretation of the narrative thats really important to making the difference.The Coca-Cola celebrating Ramadan campaign is about translating the global narrative locally. Coca-Cola is a very inclusive brand. Its a brand that speaks to connecting people, that speaks to happiness, and this was the recent Coca-Cola ad that was produced for RamadanThis wasnt made in Atlanta. This wasnt developed by some global brand manager. This was developed in Dubai for Dubai and was used in a number of different countries around the world because it represented an idea and an ideal that the brand stands for.The Coca-Cola Coke Fanta campaign recently won Gold at Cannes, and this was entirely conceived and developed locally in Brazil for a uniquely Brazilian insight. I think whats important here is that the global team trusted the local team to take a very brave stance on a local insight that was very real in Brazil.This demonstrates how to take a global brand and an intensely local insight to find the sweet spot. Its work like this that changes peoples attitudes and behaviour and thats what keeps a global brand alive.We often get tangled up in the latest academic journal articles and technical terms. Were human beings: we respond like human beings; were not machines; and understanding that response is what makes for great marketing and allows for big creative ideas.Here she used the H&M example. Weve all been there, and seen these mistakes, and I dont believe that they were just bad marketers, I just think that they probably didnt think enough about who they were aiming this work at and how are they were going to respond.First and foremost, lets really get to the heart of who our consumers are and what they care about.A teenager died early today after being found stabbed in south London in another outbreak of violence in the capital.

Detectives believe the victim was attacked elsewhere and was being taken to seek medical help at the nearby Kings College Hospital.

One witness saw a moped being ridden by two men, with the passenger slung over the riders back.

She told the Standard: The boy was hanging off the back of the scooter and the guy on front was screaming hold on, hold on.

I said to my sister that guy looks very ill. He was all slumped over, hanging off. They were going quite slowly and both had helmets on.

He fell off further up the road and loads of people ran out to try and help. Its so scary to hear that he died its happening more and more. I feel terrible for the kids family.

Passers-by rushed to give him first aid at 6.55pm last night before paramedics arrived. He was taken to hospital but died at 12.22am this morning.

His family have been informed and there have been no arrests.

He is the 16th teenager to be stabbed to death so far this year.

The scene is around half a mile from the address where Katrina Makunova, 17, from Lewisham, died after suffering stab injuries at an address in Brisbane Street on July 12. A 21-year-old man has been charged with her murder.A reckless speedboat owner who killed a young woman on their first date during a drunken midnight jaunt along the River Thames is facing jail today.

Jack Shepherd, 30, was desperate to impress 24-year-old Charlotte Brown when he suggested they go  champagne in hand  for a spin on his boat to see the Houses of Parliament.

Despite having shared two bottles of wine over dinner at The Shard, Shepherd sped along the river at full throttle before letting Ms Brown, a complete novice, take the wheel.

Web designer Shepherd had flouted a string of safety measures, including wearing life jackets, and was tossed into the water along with his date when the speedboat crashed into a semi-submerged log.

While he managed to cling to the hull of the upturned boat and was plucked from the icy river, Ms Brown did not survive the crash and was found dead in the water.

Crash: the speedboat being recovered from the Thames / Evening Standard / eyevine

Shepherd soon admitted to police its all my fault and confessed he had not even asked Ms Brown if she could swim before taking to the water.

At the Old Bailey today, a jury found Shepherd guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence by a majority of 11-1, at the end of a three-week trial.

Ms Brown's family gasped and broke down in tears in the court as the jury returned its verdict after deliberating for more than 25 hours.

Guilty: Jack Shepherd is facing jail over the death of Charlotte Brown / PA

It can now be revealed that Shepherd has gone into hiding, having failed to turn up for his trial, and is also on the run from police over a separate criminal allegation made against him.

His legal team revealed on the eve of trial that they have no idea where Shepherd is, or even if he is still in the country, but that he had said he was not coming to court.

However, in a bizarre twist it emerged that Shepherd had already instructed his lawyers on his defence and was following the criminal proceedings from afar, receiving notes on what had unfolded in court.

"He has absconded, he was on conditional bail, and he chose not to attend", said Judge Richard Marks QC today.

Guilty: Jack Shepherd is on the run from police / Met Police

Shepherd will be sentenced tomorrow, to give him a chance to attend the hearing.

The trial heard how Shepherd had a well-trodden seduction routine, taking women he met online out to dinner at The Shard and whizzing them along the Thames to see the iconic landmarks including Parliament.

One of his former dates, Amy Warner, told jurors she had to tell Shepherd to slow down during a ride on the boat, and they were stopped by the marine police for a warning on the vessels high speeds.

She added that Shepherd had got drunk during their date, prompting her to leave and she opted not to see him again when he got in touch later.

An image of Jack Shepherd's speedboat released by police / PA

Shepherd met Ms Brown through dating app OK Cupid, arranging to go for dinner at The Oblix restaurant on December 8, 2015 before returning to his houseboat which was moored in Hammersmith.

The fatal crash happened on a stretch of the river near to Wandsworth Bridge, shortly after Ms Brown had taken the wheel.

Shepherd told police afterwards he himself had been hanging on due to the speed of the boat, neither of them were wearing lifejackets, and he had not attached the kill cord which would cut the engine in the event of a crash .

Mobile footage of date driving defective speedboat

The court also heard how the 1980s Fletcher Arrowflyte speedboat, which Shepherd had bought online, had a number of defects including poor steering and a partially opaque windscreen.

"Neither of us were wearing life jackets although there were two in between the seats", he told officers afterwards.

"She wouldn't have known they were there and I didn't point them out.

"I didn't even ask if she could swim."

He added: "We just went down the river exceeding the speed limit but in my mind not unsafely, or so it seemed at the time."

Shepherd was found guilty of manslaughter in his absence, having entered a not guilty plea at an earlier court hearing.

Prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee QC admitted barristers and the judge had been forced to dance on a pinhead when discussing the issue of where Shepherd was, as the dock stood empty throughout the trial.

Jurors were not told that he had failed to turn up for his trial or that he was now on the run from police, only that there should not speculate on his whereabouts.

Judge Marks said he has already issued a warrant for Shepherd's arrest, and will sentence him in absence if he does not turn up tomorrow.

Delivering the guilty verdict, jurors took the unusual step of calling for stricter rules governing river safety and warned that if nothing was done, there could be another tragedy.

In a note to the judge, the jury wrote: We are concerned that the current lack of licensing, and enforcement of regulations regarding private boat ownership on the Thames, and lack of clarity regarding safety matters greatly increases the risk of further incidents.

We hope that the result of this case will lead to a high-level review of such matters going forward.S cotland Yard could save 30 million and put an extra 545 officers on the streets if it adopts cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology.

A report says the Met is falling behind other forces in the UK and abroad in the use of AI to tackle crimes ranging from burglary to terrorism.

The force should adopt the example of New York police, who use a system to link individual officers and smartphones with live feeds from 8,000 CCTV cameras across the city.

Conservative London Assembly member Steve OConnell, chairman of the police and crime committee, urges the Mayor to slash the budget of his own police oversight body to pay for the technology. His report says AI technology has the potential to free up officers to focus on other duties at a time when police numbers in London are falling.

Scotland Yard could save cash by bringing in AI systems (Kirsty OConnor/PA) / Kirsty O'Connor/PA

The software allows police to analyse huge volumes of data and can cross-reference information from different databases and surveillance systems. Uses could include analysing data to spot patterns in burglaries to identify potential suspects, or preventing the collapse of high-profile rape trials though the analysis of emails or messages. The study highlights one case where it took the Met 630 hours to analyse the content of three complainants mobile phones and Facebook accounts. Police on patrol could use an app to access analytical software involving individuals or vehicles, the report says.

Mr OConnell points out that Avon and Somerset police have used an off-the-shelf AI platform which has multiple functions, including directing officers to crime hotspots.

He says one option could be to launch a pilot scheme in central London for 1,803 officers at a cost of 324,54

Savings could be made by trimming the budget of the Mayors Office for Policing and Crime, which he reveals has risen from 47.6 million in 2016/17 to 58.1 million in the last 12 months.

The report comes amid controversy over the Mets use of facial recognition technology in London. The force has piloted the system at Notting Hill Carnival, at the Cenotaph on Memorial Sunday and at Westfield shopping centre in Stratford.

However, the Met is facing a legal challenge from Big Brother Watch, which argues that the use of facial recognition breaches the Human Rights Act. Scotland Yard says the technology will help keep London safe.

Mr OConnell said: All the evidence shows that investing in AI would help the Met solve crimes more quickly, drive up police performance and help officers cope with ever-increasing amounts of digital evidence.

London needs more cops on the streets and the efficiency savings which would come from investing in AI could be used to employ hundreds of new officers. Since he was elected two years ago, the Mayor has splurged over 10 million on his own police and crime team at City Hall. Its time for him to cut this waste and spend the money on technology which would help keep Londoners safe.

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: Sadiq inherited a terrible digital legacy from the previous mayor but has overseen significant improvements in the face of these huge cuts.T he EU's chief negotiator has blown a hole in Theresa May's Brexit plan by declaring he cannot and will not accept her proposal on customs.

Michel Barnier rejected a "facilitated customs arrangement" under which tariffs charged at the border would be passed on to either the British or EU authorities depending on the destination of imported goods.

This was a key element of Mrs May's Chequers white paper published two weeks ago.

Mr Barnier appeared alongside new Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab at a press conference on Thursday following their second round of talks in Brussels.

Dominic Raab recently replaced David Davis as Brexit Secretary / EPA

He said: "The EU cannot and the EU will not delegate the application of its customs policy and rules and VAT and excises duty collection to a non-member who would not be subject to the EU's governance structures."

Any customs arrangement or union "must respect this principle", he added.

Anti-Brexit campaigners seized on the comments as proof Mrs May's exit strategy is "dead" and described the press conference as a "drive-by".

Mr Raab signalled that he is looking for compromise from Brussels in response to Mrs May's white paper, noting that the EU was able to take an "innovative" approach "when the political will has been there".

Mr Barnier flatly rejecting a key element of Mrs May's proposals / REUTERS

He added: "With ambition and pragmatism and energy on all sides, we can get there in October."

But Mr Barnier was defiant, bluntly rebuffing Mr Raab's suggestion that the UK might tear up its promise to pay a 39 billion "divorce bill" unless it got a good deal on future trade.

He told him that, while the commitment to a financial settlement made by Mrs May in December was not yet in its final legal form, the 27 remaining EU members and European Parliament regard it as "agreed for good".

He also made clear that Brussels still has reservations about Mrs May's proposed "backstop" arrangement for the Irish border, which would see the whole UK matching EU trade tariffs for a period if a trade deal is not reached by 2021.

Tony Blair: Brexit could lead UK down 'dark path'

"We have no objection in principle to this but we have doubts that it can be done without putting at risk the integrity of our customs union or commercial policy or regulatory policy," said Mr Barnier.

The Chequers agreement has been studied "carefully" and there are some areas of "common ground", he said.

"There are other points on which we have a problem because they contradict, they clash with, the European Council guidelines," Mr Barnier added.

"They contradict my clear negotiating guidelines. Indivisibility of the four freedoms, the integrity of the single market, these are key points.

"This is our main asset. We are not going to negotiate on that. The United Kingdom has known that from the outset."

Labour former Cabinet minister Ben Bradshaw, a supporter of the People's Vote campaign for a fresh referendum, said: "The white paper is dead. It has expired. It has ceased to be. It has gone to join the choir invisible."

Labour MP Virendra Sharma, who supports the anti-Brexit Best for Britain group, added: "This is the press conference equivalent of a drive-by."

Liberal Democrat Christine Jardine said the prime minister's white paper was "struggling to survive" .W estminster council could be ordered to repay the 8 million of public funds wasted on plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street, Mayor Sadiq Khans aides have warned.

Transport for London chiefs are angry at the way the Tory-run council blocked the part-pedestrianisation of the UKs main shopping street last month.

TfL and Westminster had worked together on a scheme that would have closed Oxford Street to traffic between Orchard Street  the western end of Selfridges  and Oxford Circus.

The aim was to improve the traffic and pedestrian-clogged environment in advance of the opening of Crossrail on December 9, which is due to deliver thousands more visitors.

Sadiq Khan's plan to make Oxford Street traffic-free halted by council

Val Shawcross, Mr Khans former deputy mayor for transport, said the failure to remove buses and taxis from Oxford Street would worsen its poor safety record. She said the decision undermined the Mayors Vision Zero policy of eliminating road deaths and serious injuries in London by 2041.

Ms Shawcross told the TfL board: Its a very shocking decision. Its a blow to the global image of London and the retail sector. Its a very poor safety area for pedestrians now. Mr Khan is expected to hold crisis talks with Westminster leader Nickie Aiken next month.

Sadiq Khan's aides have hit out at the block / PA

The councils decision came on the day that House of Fraser revealed it was closing its flagship Oxford Street store. TfL commissioner Mike Brown said it was unprecedented for a major retailer to desert the area, bringing into sharp relief the need for radical improvements. TfL said if a safety scheme to be proposed by the council to tackle the impact of Crossrail was not up to scratch, moves would be made to recover the 8 million. TfL has also refused to fund the councils 400,000 safety study.

Westminster believes wider improvements are needed between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road, and north and south of Oxford Street.J eremy Corbyn was today slammed by the country's three most prominent Jewish newspapers in a joint editorial warning a Labour Government would pose an "existential threat to Jewish life in this country".

Under the headline "United We Stand", the Jewish Chronicle, Jewish Telegraph and Jewish News attacked Labour's refusal to adopt in full the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism, and its wider record on the issue since Mr Corbyn became leader.

They urged Labour MPs to back a motion to be debated by the parliamentary party in September to accept the IHRA definition in full, including its list of examples of anti-Semitic behaviour.

Stephen Pollard, editor of the Jewish Chronicle, told Sky News that the front pages - on papers that normally have an "intense rivalry" - were prompted by "Labour's anti-Semitism crisis".

Labour insisted Mr Corbyn and the party are "fully committed to the support, defence and celebration of the Jewish community and its organisations".

The editorial declared: "Today, Britains three leading Jewish newspapers  Jewish News, Jewish Chronicle and Jewish Telegraph  take the unprecedented step of speaking as one by publishing the same front page.

"We do so because of the existential threat to Jewish life in this country that would be posed by a Jeremy Corbyn-led government."

The papers said that until recently the party was "the natural home for our community", but that Labour had "seen its values and integrity eroded by Corbynite contempt for Jews and Israel".

"The stain and shame of anti-Semitism has coursed through Her Majestys Opposition since Jeremy Corbyn became leader in 2015," they wrote.

Jewish leaders say Corbyn has failed to act against Labour anti-Semitism

The editorial added that Labour had "diluted" the internationally-recognised IHRA definition with the effect that "political anti-Semitism targeting Israel" is regarded as acceptable unless racist intent can be proved.

They alleged the changes were made in order to avoid the need to expel hundreds or even thousands of party members.

"With the Government in Brexit disarray, there is a clear and present danger that a man with a default blindness to the Jewish community's fears, a man who has a problem seeing that hateful rhetoric aimed at Israel can easily step into anti-Semitism, could be our next prime minister," stated the editorial.

Speaking on Sky News, Mr Pollard said: "We all decided straight away that this was something that we had to do in terms of the interest of the Jewish community and the Labour party."

The newspapers came together to show the Jewish community "we are united", he said, and "more importantly saying to the Labour party that the Jewish community is united against what you are not doing".

"When it comes down to actions Jeremy Corbyn is doing nothing," Mr Pollard said.

A Labour Party spokesman said: "Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party are fully committed to the support, defence and celebration of the Jewish community and its organisations.

"The next Labour government poses no threat of any kind whatsoever to Jewish people.

Protest organised by the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism outside the head office of the British opposition Labour Party in central London on April 8, 2018. / AFP/Getty Images

"The security and wellbeing of Jewish people is a priority for our party and in government we will always ensure schools, synagogues and institutions are properly protected.

"We understand the strong concerns raised in the Jewish community and are seeking to engage with communal organisations to build trust and confidence in our party. We know there is a huge amount of work to do."

Mr Corbyn has asked Labour's new general secretary Jennie Formby to make it her top priority to strengthen disciplinary procedures on anti-Semitism, said the spokesman.

"Labour's code of conduct on anti-Semitism adopts the IHRA definition and expands on and contextualises its examples to produce robust, legally-sound guidelines that a political party can apply to disciplinary cases," he said.

"We have concerns about one half of one of the IHRA's 11 examples, which could be used to deny Palestinians, including Palestinian citizens of Israel and their supporters, their rights and freedoms to describe the discrimination and injustices they face in the language they deem appropriate."

Labour peer Melvyn Bragg accused Jeremy Corbyn of "feebleness" in tackling anti-Semitism within the party.

In a letter to The Times, Lord Bragg said he does not believe Mr Corbyn is a racist, but said he has failed to tackle anti-Semitism in the party effectively.

"The virus of anti-Semitism is growing in the UK and Corbyn is in a strong position to stamp it out without any equivocation," said the former South Bank Show presenter.

"Jeremy Corbyn's feebleness on this matter is a disgrace to the Labour Party and shames its traditional creed of tolerance, as well as grossly insulting some of our fellow citizens."M ary Ellis, one of the last surviving female Second World War pilots, has died at the age of 101.

Mrs Ellis flew more than 400 Spitfires during the war, delivering the machines to the frontline.

She died at her home in the Isle of Wight on Tuesday. Mrs Ellis had only attended the Mayfair premiere of the Spitfire film two weeks ago.

Mary Ellis pictured at the premiere of Spitfire at the Curzon Mayfair on July 9 / Ian West/PA

She was also invited to 10, Downing Street in May for a reception recognising the Army and Navys contribution in the formation of the RAF.

Nick Bunting, secretary general of the Royal Air Forces Association, said: We were saddened to hear of the death of Mary Ellis. She was an incredible lady who didnt let the comments of her male colleagues deter her from flying, which she loved. Our thoughts are with her family at this sad time.

Presenter Dan Snow paid a heartfelt tribute to Mrs Ellis on Twitter, posting this morning: Last week I took my kids to meet her. My boy clasped a model plane. She asked what it was.

Spitfire' he whispered. She leaned down and shared a few private thoughts about the aircraft.

Sir Stephen Hillier, chief of the air staff at the RAF, said she was an inspiration to generations.

And Red Arrow pilot Mike Ling tweeted: More awful news. RIP Mary Ellis. A legend of the Air Transport Auxiliary.H e is the MasterChef finalist who was celebrated for his imaginative dishes such as a coconut swan on a sea of blue custard.

Now Nawamin Pinpathomrat, a doctor and Oxford PhD student, has told how life has been crazy since the latest series of the BBC show ended in April.

The 27-year-old, from Thailand, said: MasterChef... wow. It is very, very crazy since then. I was telling the producers [during the show] This wont change my life the whole time. I am a doctor so had a good job. I could never have imagined people will be coming up to me wanting selfies.

If I do [medical] talks now I have to ban people from asking questions during them about MasterChef. About what John [Torode] and Greg [Wallace] are like and the show. I am like, Okay I will answer afterwards but now I am teaching you this. 

Pinpathomrat, who lost in the final to bank manager Kenny Tutt, 35, wants to continue cooking alongside being a medic. It is hard, but I am very optimistic, he said.

He will be taking part in the Jam Shed Supper Club at the Southbank Centre with five other MasterChef finalists: Steve Kielty, David Crichton, Alex Jorge, George Kallias and Emma Spitzer. They will take turns to host a series of nights from Tuesday to September 8.T he UK was sweltering today with 'hellhole' conditions on trains and the Eurotunnel in chaos on the hottest day of the year so far.

A temperature of 34.4C was recorded at Heathrow airport and Charlwood in Surrey has reached 33.9C, the Met Office said. They predict it will get even hotter tomorrow with the possibility of record-breaking heat of 37C.

It came as Eurotunnel passengers were sprayed with water as they were forced to wait for hours on the tarmac for delayed trains in Folkestone.

Passengers told of their anger at waiting for hours in searing heat as trains were delayed due to the scorching temperatures.

Eurotunnel passengers were sprayed with water from a hose to keep cool in the heat / Richard Rhodes

Supermarket shelves were also being cleared of chilled goods. Shoppers were confronted with freezer cabinets emptied of ice at a branch of Tesco in Waltham Abbey.

Strike action and overcrowding on the transport network today also piled misery on Londoners.

Cooling off: Eurotunnel passengers are doused with a hose / Helen Newman

Rail passengers suffered hellhole conditions as more than 500 trains were cancelled in a walkout on South Western Railway.

Supermarket freezers emptied of ice at a branch of Tesco in Waltham Abbey / Paul Wood @PaulWood1961

In addition, Greater Anglia has cancelled 25 services, including evening rush-hour trains, over fears of buckling tracks.

Drenched: commuter Brian Donovan soaked in sweat / Jeremy Selwyn

At 8am one passenger on a packed service to Waterloo via Clapham Junction shouted: Its blinking hot, Im frying.

Temperatures of 37.6C were recorded last night on a Southeastern train from Victoria that had no air conditioning. Passenger Martin Langdon said: Im not sure you transport livestock in these temperatures.

'Hellhole' conditions: Commuters at Clapham Junction today / Jeremy Selwyn

The Evening Standard recorded 36.1C on the Central line as passengers complained of unbearable conditions during the evening rush hour last night.

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Air humidity on the Tube peaked at 57 per cent, with travellers comparing the stifling heat to a sauna. Federica Bison, 24, who was on the train at Queensway, said: When I first got on it felt like I could barely breathe.

Luca Azzani, 30, who works in finance recruitment, was at Lancaster Gate station at 4.34pm when humidity was 48 per cent. He said: Its like the Sahara down here.

Passengers on South Western this morning expressed their anger at the industrial action, which will result in another seven days of strikes until the end of next month.

Heat haze: trains at Clapham Junction / Jeremy Selwyn

Some commuters brandished fans, while others doused themselves with water. Anita Springer, 38, a human resources worker, said: Its appalling. We pay a lot of money for our tickets and are squashed on like sardines. I didnt sleep last night because of the heat and then its a hellhole train first thing.

Student Joe Gaspero, 19, said: I have lived in Colombia. I thought that was bad but this is just crazy hot.

Commuters cram onto a packed train / Jeremy Selwyn

Emma Pyke, 42, who took a slow train to Waterloo from Teddington as her usual route was axed by the strike, said: The heaters that run along the bottom of the carriages had been left on and the temperature was crazy. Having heaters on during the hottest day of the year so far is just irresponsible.

Andy Mellors, managing director of South Western, said only about 250 of its 1,000 guards had turned up to work.

Greater Anglia has cancelled 25 services, including rush-hour trains from Liverpool Street, and 140 other services have been delayed or curtailed after speed restrictions were imposed due to the heat or earlier train faults.

Greater Anglia said Network Rail had asked it to run trains slower to reduce the risk of tracks buckling, forcing them to make the cancellations.

A report from MPs stressed that the death toll from soaring temperatures was likely to be greater in the capital as it turns into an urban heat island. The most vulnerable may be elderly people living at home, often alone, or in nursing and residential homes, MPs warned.

The Commons environmental audit committee said that in a heatwave in 2003 the number of excess deaths in London was 40 per cent higher than normal. Its chairwoman Mary Creagh said: London is on the frontline of the heatwave. Londoners need to take precautions and stay cool and hydrated in these extreme temperatures ... and look out in particular for elderly neighbours who live on their own who may be struggling to keep cool.

The Mayors pollution alert was sparked by the combination of toxic air, extreme high temperatures, emissions from the Continent and a lack of cloud cover.

Mr Khan said: This is the second time in six months that we have had to use the high alert system and shows just why air pollution is a public health crisis. The Met Office said there was a chance that the temperatures would beat the 38.5C recorded in August 2003 in Faversham, Kent.

Visits to the NHS Choices website for advice on heat exhaustion and heatstroke have more than quadrupled to 230,611 visits.

A Level 3 heat health watch alert covering a large part of England has been issued by the Met Office and Public Health England, warning people to stay out of the sun and keep their home as cool as possible.

Labour called on the Government to produce an NHS summer action plan to keep patients safe in the extreme heat. It comes as blood supplies have dropped, with some donors saying they are too dehydrated.

Wendy Preston, head of nursing practice at the Royal College of Nursing, said: Our members have reported people vomiting and passing out, and it is clear the UKs healthcare infrastructure is simply not designed to deal with increasingly hot summers.

Tooting Bec Lido said it was operating a one-in-one-out policy yesterday morning after reaching capacity, and a two-hour queue formed at the Park Road Pools lido in Crouch End.

There were reports of fans selling out across the capital and Superdrug reported a 112 per cent increase in sunscreen sales compared with last year.

London Fire Brigade said careless and reckless people were causing record numbers of grass fires  43 compared with seven last year.A flash flood has struck an Athens suburb just days after the devastating wildfire ripped through parts of Greece killed at least 80 people.

The Greek capital's fire department today received 140 calls for help to pump water from flooded homes and businesses.

No injuries have been reported, but dozens of cars were damaged as torrential rain hit.

Fire crews headed to a car park in the suburb of Maroussi to see if there were any people trapped in cars that were submerged in a muddy lake.

Floods damaged cars in the Greek capital / EPA

Authorities urged drivers to avoid the area and shut down a side road off the main highway leading north out of Athens.

Bulgaria had yesterday warned neighbours Greece and Turkey that they could face flooding after heavy rain

Fire crews received 140 reports of flash flooding / Reuters

The floods came as fire crews battled wildfires to the north-east of Athens, which killed at least 80 people including an Irish honeymooner

Brian O'Callaghan-Westropp was confirmed dead by his family on Wednesday after becoming separated from his new bride Zoe during the fire.

Greece forest fires - In pictures 1 /40 Greece forest fires - In pictures In this aerial view taken from a drone, showing the devastation caused by Greece wildfires, in the village of Mati, east of Athens AP In this aerial view taken from a drone, showing the devastation caused by Greece wildfires, in the village of Mati, east of Athens AP In this aerial view taken from a drone, showing the devastation caused by Greece wildfires, in the village of Mati, east of Athens AP In this aerial view taken from a drone, showing the devastation caused by Greece wildfires, in the village of Mati, east of Athens AP A firefighter wears a flame resistant uniform as wildfire burns in the town of Rafina, near Athens, Greece Reuters People taking refuge from fires along the beach in Argyris Akti, Nea Makri, Greece People taking refuge from fires along the beach in Argyris Akti, Nea Makri, Greece People taking refuge from fires along the beach in Argyris Akti, Nea Makri, Greece People stock up on supplies at a shop in the village of Nea Makri near Athens AP People sort supplies for residents rescued from the wildfire in the village of Nea Makri near Athen AP Damaged beach facilities at Kineta near Athens Rex Features A pall of smoke turns large parts of the sky orange over the ancient Acropolis hill, Rex Features A woman reacts as she tries to find her dog, following a wildfire at the village of Mati, near Athens, Reuters People sort supplies for residents rescued from the wildfire in the village of Nea Makri near Athen AP Burned cars remain after a fire in Argyra Akti, Mati, close to Nea Makri, in Attica, Greece EPA People bring supplies for residents rescued from the wildfire in the village of Nea Makri near Athens AP Memders of Red Cross give fist-aid to residents after a fire in Argyra Akti, Mati, close to Nea Makri, in Attica, Greece, EPA A firefighter tries to extinguish hotspots during a wildfire in Kineta, near Athens AFP/Getty Images Firefighters and soldiers fall back as a wildfire burns near Athens Reuters A house is threatened by a huge blaze during a wildfire in Kineta, near Athens AFP/Getty Images A firefighter sprays water on the fire in the town of Mati, east of Athens AP A helicopter tries to extinguish flames from the fire in Penteli, north suburb of Athens, Greece EPA Cars are blocked at the closed National Road during a forest fire in Greece AFP/Getty Images Rescuers wait at the area where bodies were found following a wildfire at the village of Mati, near Athens, Greece REUTERS Burnt cars are still in the driveways of destroyed house in Kineta village, west of Athens AP People watch a wildfire raging in the town of Rafina, near Athens, Greece Reuters Firefighters try to extinguish flames during a forest fire in Neo Voutsa, a northeast suburb of Athens, Greece EPA Flames rise as a wildfire burns in the town of Rafina, near Athens AFP/Getty Images A house burns during a wildfire in Kineta, near Athens AFP/Getty Images A firefighter reacts as a house burns during a wildfire in Kineta, near Athens AFP/Getty Images Rescuers and volunteers help local people evacuate the village of Mati during a wildfire near Athens AFP/Getty Images Firefighters inspect a burned compound in Mati, east of Athens AP A man passes burned cars in Mati, east of Athens AP Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras speaks to the media during his visit to the fire brigade's operational centre in Athens, Greece EPA A wildfire rages in the town of Rafina, near Athens, Greec Reuters A house burns following a wildfire at Neos Voutzas, near Athens, Reuters A fireman sprays water outside a burnt house at Kineta village, west of Athens AP

Some 180 people were injured in the blaze.Authorities in Ethiopia should investigate an attack on a news crew from the state-owned Dire Dawa Mass Media Agency that led to the death of the crew's driver, Suleiman Mahamed, and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, left, and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki celebrate the reopening of the Embassy of Eritrea in Addis Ababa on July 16. An Ethiopian news crew was attacked and their driver killed while traveling to the capital to cover the visit. Credit: AFP/Michael Tewelde.

Tension

The news crew was attacked in Meiso, in Oromia State, on July 13, while travelling to the capital, Addis Ababa, to cover a visit by Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, according to an article by the privately owned paper The Reporter. The crew's driver was beaten again in a separate attack, after leaving a police station where the crew was taken after the first assault, according to reports. Suleiman was left in a coma and died in hospital on July 19, from head and rib injuries sustained in the attacks,according to The Reporter "The gains that Ethiopia has made in recent months, improving the media freedom environment under the leadership of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, will vanish if journalists are violently attacked with impunity," said CPJ Africa program coordinator Angela Quintal inDurban. "It is the duty of the government to ensure that the attack on the Dire Dawa Mass Media Agency crew is rigorously and credibly investigated. Those who killed media worker Suleiman Mahamed must face justice in court."The media crew included producer Amero Tesfaye, cameraman Amin Sherif, broadcast reporters Biftu Yusuf and Muse Omer, and driver Suleiman, according to The Reporter and journalists who are familiar with the case and who spoke with CPJ on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.When the news crew, who are based in Dire Dawa, reached Meiso, a group of people stopped their car, started to question them, accused them of being spies, and then hit them with sticks and their fists, according to reports and the journalists with whom CPJ spoke. The crew identified themselves as journalists, showed their identification papers, and explained the reason for their travel, according to The Reporter and the journalists with whom CPJ spoke.The assault came during a period of tension in the region, in the wake of a recent clash between local communities in Meiso, which is part of a longer history of conflict in the Oromia and Somali regions of Ethiopia, Deressa Terese, the deputy head of the state communication bureau in Oromia, told CPJ. The journalists with whom CPJ spoke said that they believe the attackers associated the news crew with the Somali region. Suleiman was of Somali ethnicity, the journalists told CPJ.Following the initial assault, the attackers took the journalists to a local police station, according to Deressa and the journalists with whom CPJ spoke. Suleiman later left the station without the journalists and was found badly beaten in the city, they said. Deressa said he believes the same group who attacked the crew earlier was likely responsible.Deressa and one other person with whom CPJ spoke said the attackers took the crew to the police because they wanted authorities to investigate whether they were spies. The other people with whom CPJ spoke said some of the attackers took the crew to the police for their own protection. CPJ was unable to verify why the crew was taken to the police.Deressa said that the police in Meiso were investigating the attack. An article in The Reporter on July 21 said that investigations were yet to commence. CPJ's calls and a text message sent to Dire Dawa city mayor, Ibrahim Usman, went unanswered.T housands of people have been forced to flee their homes as huge wildfires ravaged parts of California.

The so-called Carr Fire ballooned to three times its size in 24-hours, destroying 20,000 acres of woodland around 150 miles of Sacremento.

Crews contained just 10 percent of it, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.

The blaze is one of about 75 major wildfires burning in the United States in an unusually active fire season that has already scorched about 3.98 million acres, mostly in western states.

Huge fires have ripped through parts of California / AP

That is above the 10-year average for the same period of 3.54 million acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

California Fire spokesman Scott McLean warned in a phone interview that the Carr Fire was heading toward Redding, a city of about 90,000 people.

Huge flames ripped through the San Jacinto mountains / AP

"If you live in West Redding start packing and be prepared!" the California Highway Patrol said on Twitter. "This fire is out of control!"

The western fires were being supercharged by extreme temperatures above 37C, erratic winds and low humidity, factors that were expected to remain on Thursday.

An air tanker battles to extinguish a fire in the Darrah region, California / AP

Further south, the Cranston Fire, believed to have been started by arson, had charred 4,700 acres around 90 miles east of Los Angeles in the San Jacinto Mountains.

That blaze had forced 3,200 people to evacuate in resort communities including Idyllwild, Mountain Centre and Lake Hemet as it destroyed five structures and threatened 2,100 homes, the agency said.

Smoke billows over Redding, California / AP

A suspect was arrested on Wednesday and accused of starting multiple fires including the Cranston Fire, fire officials said in a statement.

A third major blaze, the almost two-week-old, 43,300-acre Ferguson Fire, forced much of Yosemite National Park to close on Wednesday, as it poured thick smoke into the valley in the Sierra Nevada Mountains some 170 miles east of San Francisco.U S President Donald Trump has postponed a second summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin amid reports of a "lack of enthusiasm" from the Kremlin.

The White House said that President Donald Trump had opted against trying to arrange another meeting with Putin this autumn.

Putin already had sent signals that he wasn't interested in coming to Washington.

National security adviser John Bolton cited special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election as the reason for the delay.

US President Donald Trump has asked to invite Vladimir Putin to Washington / AP

He said: "The President believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the Russia witch hunt is over, so we've agreed that it will be after the first of the year," Mr Bolton said in a statement.

While the statement signalled optimism that the Mueller probe would be completed by the end of this year, no timetable has been given for when it will be wrapped up and it could stretch into 2019.

On Tuesday, Putins foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov said that there were no preparations underway for a meeting in Washington and that there were other options that our leaders could consider

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin adjust their earpieces during a joint press conference following their summit / EPA

The White House said last week that Trump had directed Mr Bolton to invite Putin to visit Washington in the fall, moving quickly for a follow-up meeting amid the backlash over Trump's performance at a news conference with Putin following their Helsinki summit.

Trump meets Putin: The world wants to see us get along

Many members of congress had already expressed that Putin would not be welcome on Capitol Hill.

In his testimony, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo faced often-contentious questioning from senators demanding information about what Trump discussed with Putin while they were alone for nearly two hours with only translators present.

The US President Donald Trump has postponed a second summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin / Reuters

Mr Pompeo struggled to answer, insisting the president is entitled to have private meetings but stressing that he had a full understanding of the discussion. Heated questions were also posed about North Korea, NATO and Iran.

"It's not for me to disclose the content of those conversations," Mr Pompeo said in response to one such barrage of questions.

The committee chairman, Senator Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who set a contentious tone for the hearing by telling Mr Pompeo that senators "are filled with serious doubts about this White House and its conduct of American foreign policy," later said those doubts are due to Trump's frequent contradictory statements on the Russia probe and assaults on allies.

"It's the president that causes people to have concerns," Senator Corker said.

Mr Pompeo replied by saying that some of Trump's comments "actually achieve important policy outcomes," but the administration should be judged by its actions rather than the president's words.

He also pushed back on allegations the Trump administration has been weak or subservient to Russia over Ukraine or its meddling in the election.

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin meet in Helsinki, Finland 1 /9 Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin meet in Helsinki, Finland US President Donald Trump meets with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland Reuters The pair shake hands Reuters Reuters Reuters AFP/Getty Images Reuters Reuters Sky News AFP/Getty Images

He noted that the administration had just days ago provided the Ukraine government with an additional $200 million in military equipment and maintained that the administration was serious about combatting Russian interference in the US and Western democracies. He said he agreed that additional sanctions could be "constructive" to that end.

Mr Pompeo said he had personally told top Russian officials that there will be "severe consequences" for any interference in US elections or the American democratic process. He said that Trump, despite his denigration of the Mueller probe, accepts that there was Russian interference in the 2016 election and fully understands the threat posed by Moscow.F acebook will not be able to serve free food at its new office set to open in Mountain View, California, this autumn.

Subsidised meals are an infamous perk on the Silicon Valley campuses of Facebook, LinkedIn and Google.

Employees have access to an array of restaurants featuring pizza ovens, sushi counters and freshly baked goods.

But Facebook staff moving into an office in a complex called The Village at San Antonio Center, Mountain View, will not enjoy the privilege of free campus cafeterias.

A 2014 agreement between the social network and city officials included a condition of approval that limited the extent to which the tech giant could provide free meals to its employees.

Facebook can only subsidise meals bought by staff from public-serving restaurants in the Center, a council spokeswoman said.

The San Francisco Chronicle this week reported that Facebook cannot subsidise employee meals by more than 50 per cent.

It came in response to outcry from local restaurants that said Google, which has offices in the city, was affecting local businesses by providing free meals.

The offices are part of the Village at San Antonio Centre project, which passed the ban on fully subsidised meals in 2014 in effort to promote nearby retailers,

We wanted to make sure businesses that were there were successful, the councillor John McAlister told the Chronicle.

A similar proposal is being put forward in San Francisco, with city legislators moving to ban on-site workplace cafeterias in a bit to promote and support local restaurants.

If approved, the measure would change city planning laws to ban workplace cafeterias in any new developments.

It means the proposals would not affect existing tech giants in the city, such as Uber and Twitter, but would prohibit them from offering free meals in a new office space.

Facebook, which is facing an international backlash for its handling of fake news privacy, has reported its slowest growth in more than two years.

It sent shares tumbling down after the social media networks revenue and user growth fell short of investor expectations.T he last six members of a Japanese doomsday cult behind the deadly sarin gas attack on Tokyo subways have been executed.

The six, who had remained on death row, were hanged for a series of crimes in the 1990s, including the sarin gas attack that killed 13 people.

Thirteen members of the group had received death sentences. The first seven, including cult leader Shoko Asahara, were hanged about three weeks ago.

Amnesty International described it as an "unprecedented execution spree".

The cult, which envisioned overthrowing the government, amassed an arsenal of chemical, biological and conventional weapons in anticipation of an apocalyptic showdown. Its name Aum Shinrikyo means Supreme Truth.

The groups most notorious crime was the subway attack in 1995 that injured 6,000 people and caused panic during the morning commute. The attack woke up a relatively safe country to the risk of urban terrorism.

Justice Minister Yoko Kamikawa said the six executed today had collaborated with Asahara and other cult members systematically to conduct an unprecedentedly heinous crime that should never be repeated.A n LA judge has ordered the man accused of stealing Frances McDormand's best actress Oscar trophy to stand trial for theft.

Superior Court Judge Mark Hanasono said Wednesday that there was sufficient evidence for Terry Bryant to stand trial.

The ruling came after a hearing in which a worker with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences testified about taking the Oscar away from Bryant as he tried to leave the ceremony's official after-party.

"God is on my side," Bryant was heard saying in court after the ruling.

Accused: Terry Bryant appears during a hearing in Los Angeles / AP

McDormand won the award for best actress in "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" and lost the statuette after having it engraved at the ceremony's Governors Ball.

Cesario Tio, a film academy worker who was escorting a photographer taking pictures at the ball, said he heard on a walkie-talkie that McDormand's Oscar was missing.

He said he later saw a man, who he identified in court as Bryant, walk out of the ball holding a statuette and yelling "We did it! We did it."

Bryant told Mr Tio he had won the statuette for best producer on "Get Out," which Tio said he immediately knew wasn't an award.

Frances McDormand's rousing feminist Oscar acceptance speech

He then said he was holding it for a friend, Mr Tio testified. He said Bryant followed him back into the Governors Ball, where Tio handed the statuette off to security and he didn't see Bryant again.

Bryant, 47, and his attorney declined comment after the hearing.

His attorney, Daniel Brookman, argued in court that Bryant didn't try to hide that he had McDormand's Oscar, and the charge should be dismissed.A series of co-ordinated deadly blasts in Syria have killed more than 200 people in attacks that included a number of suicide bombings.

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the violence on government and security centres in the southern city of Sweida on Wednesday.

The suicide bomb blasts inside the provincial capital were apparently timed to coincide with attacks on villages in the eastern countryside, creating mayhem across the province.

They triggered deadly clashes between pro-government fighters and residents who picked up weapons to defend their hometowns.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said three suicide attackers set off booby-trapped belts in Sweida city, as other blasts hit villages to the north and east.

A fourth suicide explosion hit the city later.

The attacks included a suicide bombing at a busy vegetable market.

Sultan Bou Ammar, a resident of the village of Shbiki, said: "They kidnapped more than 40 people, all of them women or children."

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said at least 183 people were killed. At least 45 IS militants were killed in the fighting, according to reports.

The province's health directorate later recorded that 204 civilians were killed and 180 wounded, according to local official Hassan Omar.C harles Bronson has announced he is divorcing wife Paula Williamson over her drink and drug problem, sharing the statement through his estranged wife on Loose Women.

Williamson appeared on the show to discuss her split from Bronson, declared Britains most notorious prisoner in Britain.

She revealed that divorce was going ahead after pictures of her holiday with other men appeared.

A statement from Bronson read out on the show said: "Paula has disrespected me, my mum and most of all herself. I can't accept that kind of behaviour from someone supposed to be my wife.

Bronson: Williamson wed the prisoner in November last year / PA

"She also has a drink and prescription drug problem, which makes her do crazy things, and I can't be involved with somebody like that.

"I absolutely abhor alcohol and drugs, she needs to get help. I miss her but she needs to sort herself out or she will be dead in two years."

Speaking on the show, Williamson broke down as she spoke about the images, hailing them as harmless.

Charles Bronson's girlfriend explains their romance

She also told how she intended to get help with prescription medication alcohol.

Williamson said: I have got an alcohol problem, I've got a drug problem, a prescription drug problem. I've had it for years. I know I have.

Britain's most violent prisoner Charles Bronson says art keeps him sane 1 /2 Britain's most violent prisoner Charles Bronson says art keeps him sane bronsan.jpg Art: Charles Bronson (Picture: Robin Bell/Rex Features) AN12377027qwe.jpg Exhibition: a piece by Charles Bronson, created during his long years behind bars

Every single messed up thing I've done for a long long time is through alcohol and it needs to stop. It needs to stop and he's made me realise that.

She added that she had been left humiliated during her time with Bronson after defending him in front of the media despite him offending again and again.

Bronson first struck up his relationship with Williamson in 2013 when they began writing to each-other.T housands of Love Island fans could lose access to ITV2 days before the grand final due to a dispute between Virgin Media and ITV.

Four million paying customers are at risk of losing the ITV slate of channels as the dispute between the companies threatens to reach a new level, according to The Guardian.

While the future of flagship channel ITV is unclear, it is thought that channels like ITV2, 3 and 4  which house sporting coverage  could be pulled from the guide as early as this weekend.

And with the talk of the summer set to conclude on Monday with a live final, thousands of fans may be forced to skip out on watching Caroline Flack crown the winners of Love Island 2018.

Loved up: Virgin Media customers could see Love Island's golden couple missing from screen / ITV

Four sources have confirmed to the publication that an ultimatum letter has been sent to Virgin Media by ITV outlining the potential next steps.

The dispute was put on the backburner for some months while Carolyn McCall took the reins at the network.

But it is thought that Virgin Medias decision to axe the entire UKTV portfolio from their service last weekend has provided ITV an opportunity to apply pressure.

Love Island 2018: Series 4 - In pictures 1 /40 Love Island 2018: Series 4 - In pictures The islanders gather for the final dumping of the series ITV The final four couples learn to salsa Kaz and Josh Dani and Jack talk to Danny Dyer The islanders gather for the final toast ITV Dr Alex and Alexandra talk about their relationship as they cradle their 'baby' ITV Newborns: The baby challenge put the couples to the test ITV Megan asks Dani and Ellie whether she should ask Wes out Passion: Megan Barton Hanson and Wes Nelson are getting closer ITV Dani and Ellie go for afternoon drinks ITV Josh talks to Kaz ITV Caroline Flack arrives with some big news ITV The original islanders are about to get a shock ITV Here come the new girls... ITV ...and the new boys ITV Georgia kisses Sam during the Snog, Marry, Pie game. ITV Laura vs Wes ITV Wes kissing Megan during Snog, Marry, Pie ITV Megan and Eyal chat ITV The recoupling looms... ITV Eyal and Megan kiss. ITV Sam ruffles some feathers ITV The Islanders get to know Sam ITV Georgia and Josh ITV Laura and Wes ITV Ellie and Zara arrive ITV Wes admits he could chat to other girls ITV Eyal and Alex bicker over Megan ITV Jack and Dani take a walk ITV Dani and Jack give things another go ITV After the turbulence of the last recoupling, chill time awaits for the Islanders as a text arrives informing them that they will spend their morning in a couplesO yoga class. ITV Adam and Rosie get close ITV The original girls look on from the balcony ITV Dani Dyer uses a hairdryer on her eyelashes ITV Having spent a number of days trying to find a way forward with Hayley, Eyal is beginning to lose faith ITV The girls discuss developments in the vill ITV The Islanders party ITV The Boys chat ITV Wes, Adam, Alex and Niall chat ITV The Boys chat ITV

The two media companies have been at loggerheads for some time now but it is understood that talks broke down on Saturday, leading to Virgin Medias decision.

A spokesperson for Virgin told The Guardian: "All ITV channels remain live on Virgin TV and we have no intention of removing them."

ITV declined to comment when contacted.

Love Island's Jack and Dani make up in 'adorable' reunion clip

During the 95-minute show on Monday, the loved-up couples will hope to come top of the public vote and be crowned as the winning couple, scooping the cash prize.

However, the top boy and girl will then face one more test of their relationship with the option to split or steal the prize pot.M ichelle Keegan has shared a behind-the-scenes look at BBC drama Our Girl after the season finale left fans emotional.

The 31-year-old, who plays army medic Georgie Lane on the show, posted a string of pictures of the cast on Instagram to mark the occasion.

One image shows Keegan posing for a silly snap with army gear on her head, while another shows her laughing hysterically while sat on co-star Ben Aldridges lap.

An additional photo shows Keegan having her makeup touched up under an umbrella.

Numerous other snaps show the English actress laughing alongside her fellow cast members.

She captioned the photographs: "What a journey, what an experience, what an amazing bunch of people.

"Thank you for the memories guys. Thank you to everybody who has tuned in over the weeks, your support has been everything !! @bbcone now for the FINALE !!"

Fans flocked to the comments to show their support for the show with many hailing the show amazing.

One wrote: Amazing ending! Impressed @michkeegan great series, loved them all.

Michelle Keegan does CPR on stomach in clip from BBC's Our Girl

Another commented: Amazing last episode - please say there will be another series.

A third posted: Addicted.. Watch it on catch up and I can honestly say as a person who doesn't watch a single thing on tv... I love this.. X xx Cannot wait for the next series... (sic).

The snaps comes after BBC aired the last episode in the series on Tuesday night.

Speaking to the Standard about a possible fourth series she said: Nothings been confirmed but there is talk of it and there are ideas floating around for another series.O range Is The New Black fans will finally get their next fix when the new series lands on Netflix on Friday.

After what feels like forever of waiting, season six is finally here and will be released in one go on the streaming service.

Just in time for the weekend. Summer? What summer? Get to a laptop!

But what happens in series six? And what time can I start watching? Heres everything you need to know

Alone: Taylor Schilling as Piper Chapman / JoJo Whilden / Netflix

What time will Orange Is the New Black arrive on Netflix?

All 13 episodes will be released worldwide on Friday morning at 3am Eastern Time. So, if you dont speak timezone, thats 8am Friday morning in the UK.

If youre on Central Time, its 2am and if you live on Pacific Time, theres your midnight plans sorted.

Adjusting: Crazy Eyes soon learns what the different colours in max mean / JoJo Whilden / Netflix

What happened in season five?

Season five saw the inmates caught up in full-scale riots in the wake of season fours shock death of Poussey Washington. All episodes took place over three days, ending with some of the characters being loaded onto a bus.

She's back: Red - played by Kate Mulgrew - thinks long and hard / JoJo Whilden / Netflix

What can we expect from season six?

We now know that, as speculated, the bus drops inmates including Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), Crazy Eyes (Uzo Aduba) and Red (Kate Mulgrew) off at maximum security. So its goodbye Litchfield and hello new surroundings.

In an interview with the Standard, Schilling explained that the new series will be somewhat of a departure from what fans will be used to, with everyone suddenly in very new surroundings and that it is a very different take .

The actress added: Everyone is off-centre and trying to deal with much more aggressive and dark circumstances than they have in the past.

Is there a trailer?

Yep. The two-minute clip shows the inmates arriving at their new home, with Crazy Eyes the first to suggest that its going to be a hard adjustment process for the characters.

And it seems like the incidents and riots last season arent far from memory, with the inmates worried theyll be singled out for what happened.

But matriarch Red refuses to go down without another fight, rallying the others: We have iron wills and f****** nothing to lose.

Fans were initially frightened by the lack of Alex Vause  played by Laura Prepon  in the trailer but were later reassured that she will appear in the series.

When can I watch?South African pop musician Bobby van Jaarsveld will add local flair to the theme song of the new CG-animated children's movie. The theme song shares the message that everyone should be open to exploration; to traversing the globe, seeking out adventures, engaging with new and different people, and making new friends along the way.Van Jaarsveld will attend the premiere of the movie at Ster Kinekor Sandton in Johannesburg, where the new South African version of thetheme song will officially be released. Fans will afterwards be able to download the song for free from his official website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CNN, Turkish Airlines to produce Quest's World of Wonder

CNN International Commercial (CNNIC) and Turkish Airlines have entered a sponsorship partnership to produce Quest's World of Wonder. Presented by Richard Quest, the 30-minute show produced by CNN Vision will showcase the airline as a leading global player flying to more countries and international destinations than any other airline.



Quest will visit a different destination every episode, exploring what drives a city and the people who live in it. Turkish Airlines has exclusive advertising on a dedicated online destination within CNN Travel for the show and additional content about the cities that Quest explores. In addition, a Turkish Airlines brand campaign will run across various CNN TV and digital platforms later this year.The security situation in the Black Sea region, with focus on allied initiatives carried out as part of the measures aimed at strengthening the defense and deterrence posture, was a major subject Secretary of State for defence policy Mircea Dusa and Chief of Romania's General Staff Gen. Nicolae Ciuca approached with Commander of the NATO Special Operations Headquarters, Rear Admiral Colin Kilrain, during the latter's visit this Thursday to the premises of the National Ministry of Defense, the Ministry said in a release

Another subject discussed during the meeting was the establishment of a corps-level Land Component Command based in Romania, a subject that has been on the agenda of the recent NATO Summit in Brussels.

In this context, Dusa emphasized the need to ensure consistency in the planning and implementation of the allied response in crisis or conflict situations, and highlighted the way Romania fulfills the undertaken commitments, including by the allocation of 2 percent of GDP for defense spending. He also voiced particular appreciation for the contribution of the US, through the Strategic Partnership, and of the NATO Command to the development of the Romanian special operations forces, materialized through rendering operational of the Special Operations Forces Command and the inauguration on June 1, 2018 of the Special Operations Force Warfare School in Targu-Mures, the release states.The sides agreed on the importance of the special operations forces in the current security context and their contribution to the allied effort towards ensuring security and stability, and voiced appreciation for the excellent relations of cooperation between the Romanian special operation forces and the US peer structures, as well as with the NATO Special Operations Headquarters, particularly in conflict areas.The visit to Romania of the Commander of the NATO Special Operations Headquarters was occasioned by the graduation ceremony of the first class of the "Joint course of certified SOF operator" organized at the Special Operations Force Warfare School.Romania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) says that the Embassy of Romania continues to carefully monitor the developments in the aftermath of the wildfires in Greece, and according to data from the local authorities, no Romanian citizens have been reported among the wildfire victims injured or going missing according to agerpres.

According to a MAE press statement released on Wednesday, the Romanian Embassy in Athens keeps constant contact with the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and is ready to provide consular assistance, if requested.

At the same time, the Romanian Embassy in Athens has issued travel papers to a group of seven people with dual citizenship, including the Romanian one, as their identity documents were destroyed in the area affected by the fire."They did not need medical assistance and they left the area safe," according to MAE.The embassy has taken steps, including with the local community of Romanians in the areas affected by the wildfires, to check if there are people in need of support.MAE recommends that the Romanian citizens avoid the area affected by the wildfires of the last days and has also sent a travel advisory to Romanian citizens who are in, transiting through or want to travel to Greece.The affected Romanian citizens may request consular assistance by calling the telephone numbers of the Embassy of Romania in Greece: +30 210 6728879, +30 210 6744544; the calls will be forwarded to the Centre for Contact and Support of Romanian Citizens Abroad (CCSCRS) and taken over by call centre operators around the clock; they can also call the emergency number of the diplomatic mission: +30 697 8996222.Romania welcomes the statement by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that reaffirms the policy of non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Thursday.

The quoted source shows that Romania firmly supports the territorial integrity of Ukraine and reiterates its strong attachment to international law.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday that the United States would not recognize the annexation of Crimea by Russia, the DPA informs.In agreement with allies, partners and the international community, the United States rejects Russia's attempt to annex Crimea and is committed to continuing its policy until Ukraine's territorial integrity is restored, the Washington diplomat said. He added that Russia must "stop the occupation of Crimea" and that Moscow's actions have led to isolation from the international community.The Start-Up Nation 2018 Programme will kick off this autumn, after the majority of last year's edition will have have received the money, so that the administrative process not be burdened, the Minister for Business Environment, Trade and Entrepreneurship, Radu Stefan Oprea, told a press conference on Thursday.

"Today, there are more than 6,500 beneficiaries having access to financing, those who applied for funds through the partner banks and those who have direct access to financing. I want to tell the winners of the Start-Up Nation 2017 very clearly that the money is waiting for them in the accounts of the regional agencies and bank units and to ask them to come as quick as possible, so that their dream becomes reality. Start-Up Nation is meant to revive the entrepreneurial spirit in Romania," said Oprea.

Oprea showed that he discussed about the sale/cession of the financing rights with the representatives of Romania's National Council of Small and Medium-sized Private Enterprises (CNIPMMR), to whom he explained that to forbid beneficiaries to cede the social parts of the winning projects goes against the "Business Angel" law, which aims precisely at drawing in new shareholders with enhanced financial powers.The 2017 edition of the Start-Up National had 8,444 winners. A newly established company can receive up to 200,000 lei in non-reimbursable funds under this programme.Two months ago, Oprea told AGERPRES that this year the total budget for the programme accounts for 2 billion lei, which is enough to create 10,000 new companies.Fighting in northern Afghanistan between the Taliban and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) or Daesh has greatly escalated recently. ISIS militants have spread their activities beyond their original base in the eastern province of Nangarhar in an attempt to expand their foothold in the country, as the Taliban seek to stop them. This was not an unexpected turn of events. In truth, its only natural for ISIS to move somewhere else after being defeated in Syria and Iraq.

While public attention around the world has been riveted on the events in Syria, ISIS in Afghanistan has grown stronger as defectors from other militant groups, particularly the Pakistani Taliban, have come to join its ranks.

The two rival groups are also separately fighting the government troops. The Afghan security forces are having a hard time. This month, US State Secretary Mike Pompeo went to Afghanistan on a surprise visit to encourage peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban. He said the US was willing to take part in the negotiation process.

All in all, there are about 12,000 ISIS militants fighting in Afghanistan, many of them coming from Central Asia. Roughly 1,500 ISIS fighters are operating in Jowzjan province. This force is not big enough to drive out the Afghan security forces or pose a threat to neighboring states, such as Turkmenistan for instance, but was anyone talking about ISIS in that region even just a couple of years ago? Nor is the Taliban a friend of Turkmenistan. Both movements pose a threat, but ISISs strategy is focused on fanning out across borders.

The disruption of the Turkmenistan  China gas pipeline, with a yield of 55 billion cubic meters per year, will be a heavy blow to the economies of those states. Unlike Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, which are members of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Turkmenistan will have to fend for itself if attacked.

The CSTO is a group with some teeth that can offer real protection and fend off security threats. It has a 17,000-member collective rapid-reaction force and a specialized peacekeeping brigade. The peacekeeping unit is trained to operate under the auspices of the UN. The Combat Brotherhood-2017 military exercise deployed 12,000 personnel, 1,500 pieces of equipment, and 90 aircraft from all the members: Russia; Belarus; Armenia; Kazakhstan; Kyrgyzstan; and Tajikistan. This massive training event is held regularly in order to keep those forces in a constant state of combat readiness. Last year the CSTO adopted a new security strategy that will be effective until 2025 and which includes an expanded list of threats to be addressed.

The CSTO is ready to deploy its forces at the Tajik-Afghan border if necessary. Command-and-control entities are being prepared for combat operations. Tajikistan is secure to its CSTO membership. Moreover, the CSTO can cooperate with the powerful Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). An idea to merge the two organizations has been floating around since 2014. Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan are members of both the CSTO and the SCO. Both organizations have signed a document on the priorities of their cooperation.

The Turkmen Army boasts only 18,500 troops (3,000 in the air force and 500 in the navy). It also has a 12,000-strong border-guard force. Personnel training is a problem. The border is poorly protected and drug trafficking is almost unhindered. Drugs travel onward to Kazakhstan and Russia. As Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted, the NATO military contingent in Afghanistan is doing nothing to halt drug production and trafficking.

Turkmenistan is also threatened by the religious extremism that is spreading throughout the country. A large number of Turkmen in regions of Afghanistan, who are traditionally strong supporters of the Taliban, have switched their allegiance to ISIS in the last year. Inter-tribal feuds dont make the country any stronger.

The situation is precarious, but Turkmen officials deny there is any problem along the border with Afghanistan, rejecting any offers of assistance from friendly neighboring states that are affected by the flow of drugs and the potential threat.

Uzbekistan is less exposed to invasion because the Afghan border is short enough to be well protected. Any militants would have to enter via Tajikistan, where Russia has a military presence. But the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan pledged its allegiance to ISIS in 2014. Roughly 1,500 Uzbeks have joined the groups ranks to fight in Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere. They can always come home.

The spread of jihadist ideology could undermine the country from within. Tashkent withdrew from the CSTO in 2012. It has been a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) since 2001. Both groups handle security issues but, unlike the CSTO, the SCO has no rapid-reaction force to lend a helping hand in a crisis. Last year Uzbekistan held its first joint military exercise with Russia in 12 years.

The jihadists are a shared menace. In 2017, Russian special services uncovered 56 sleeper cells, detained 1,018 militants, eliminated 78 terrorists, and banned 17,500 people suspected of having ties to terrorist organizations from entering the country. Uyghur terrorists are also fighting in the ranks of ISIS and pose a threat to China. According to Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Alexander Bortnikov, "The bandits are most actively moving [from Syria and Iraq] to the territory of Afghanistan, where Daesh positions have already been established, and from there they are able to infiltrate Central Asia, Iran, China, and India. Using their foothold in Afghanistan, the terrorists are also attempting to carry out attacks against Russia."

The potential spillover of extremists from northern Afghanistan into the states of Central Asia is a shared problem that must be tackled jointly. The threat can be effectively countered within the framework of the CSTO and SCO.The United States and Israel have been threatening Iran for something like twenty years, using the pretext that it was developing a nuclear weapon initially, but also more recently declaring that Tehran has become a threat to the entire Middle East. Both contentions are essentially lies, concocted by an Israel and Saudi Arabia that would prefer to have Iran removed as a possible impediment to their own ambitions. And they would like the United States to do the removing.

Iran is the hottest of all hot spots in the American view, but the tendency of the White House to threaten first before engaging in negotiations has meant that most nations have come to see the United States as the greatest threat to peace worldwide. In a recent interview, Russian President Vladimir Putin observed how the U.S. believes it can intervene militarily anywhere in the world because it is spreading democracy, a justification that no one believes in any event as the results of recent crusades in Afghanistan, Syria and Libya have been less that encouraging. Putin commented that Washington should treat all other nations with respect and it will then get respect  and cooperation  in return.

The track record of the Trump White House is not encouraging. It has twice launched barrages of cruise missiles against targets in Syria based on fabricated or incomplete intelligence suggesting that the government in Damascus had used chemical weapons against its own people. It also uniquely added juvenile humiliation to the American diplomatic arsenal, with Trump describing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as a rocket man before going off into a rhapsody about how the nuclear arsenal button accessible to Trump was bigger and more powerful than that available to Pyongyang.

In light of past developments, one might think that it could not possibly get any worse, but it just has. Trump went after the low hanging fruit offered by Iran with a tweet that was both idiotic and embarrassing. Iran has undeniably been the enemy of choice for the White House since May, when Trump made the decision to withdraw from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that created an intrusive inspection regime to monitor Irans compliance in nuclear non-proliferation. The move was applauded by the powerful Israel Lobby and by the governments of Saudi Arabia and Israel, both of which have their own agendas for the Middle East and would prefer to see an independent Iran bombed into submission by Washington. The rest of the world deplored the decision.

In the latest incident, Trump was tweeting in response to comments made Sunday by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who had told a meeting of Iranian diplomats that war between America and Iran would be a misfortune for everyone, saying Mr. Trump, dont play with the lions tail, this would only lead to regret. America should know that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars.

Trump responded explosively with a tweet all in capital letters, presumably to express his rage in visual terms, NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!

President Trumps warning that he would annihilate Iran missed the point that Rouhani was offering peace and urging that both sides work to avoid war. The Administration has already announced that it will reinstate existing sanctions on Iran and will be adding some onerous new ones as well. After November 4th, Washington will sanction any country that buys oil from Iran, markedly increasing the misery level for the Iranian people with the objective of either making their government surrender or rising up in rebellion against it.

Enough already. The immediate knee-jerk resort to threats of using overwhelming conventional military power or even nuclear weapons to resolve international disagreements is being played far too often by a president whose understanding of the world clearly has a manic-aggressive quality derived from a life spent selling and buying real estate in New York City. And the idiotic tweeting as well is beneath the dignity of the office Trump holds, the hallmark of an insecure school bully seeking attention. Donald Trump was elected at least in part to keep America out of wars, not to start several new ones, and it is past time that he stop the posturing and remember that.Jon Basil UTLEY

Sifting through the cacophony of commentary from the Trump-Putin meeting in Helsinki, here are four key points missed, ignored or glossed over by the Washington establishment and mainstream news coverageand they require a good airing.

They are:

1) Its clear now that Europeans will increase their contributions to NATO. But Big Media totally ignored the trillion dollar gorilla in room: Why does anyone have to spend so much on NATO in the first place?

Are we planning a ground attack on Russia because we really think the former Soviet Empire will invade Poland or the Baltic nations? Are we planning for a land war in Europe to intervene in the Ukraine? What for is the money? The Trump administration and Big Media, for all their noise, mainly argue that more spending is good. There is no debate about the reasons why. Meanwhile Russia is cutting its military spending.

Washington is so dominated by our military-industrial-congressional complex that spending money is a major intent. Remember when Washington first insisted that putting up an anti-missile system in Poland and Romania was supposed to protect Europe from an Iranian attack? Of course, it was really directed against Russia. Washington was so eager to spend the money that it didnt even ask the Europeans to pay the cost even though it was supposedly for their defense. As of 2016 Washington had spent $800 million on the site in Romania. Now it appears that Poland and Romania will pay billions to the Raytheon Corporation for the shield to comply with their commitment to increase military spending to 2 percent of gross national product.

2) There was no focus on the real, growing threat of nuclear war, intentional or accidental. No one, including journalists at the joint press conference, spoke about the collapsing missile treaties (the only one who reportedly seemed keen to discuss it was ejected beforehand). Scott Ritter details these alarming risks here on TAC.

The U.S. is now funding new cruise missiles with nukes which allow for a surprise attack on Russia with only a few minutes of warning, unlike the ICBMs which launch gives a half an hour or more. This was the reason Russia opposed the anti-missile system in Eastern Europe, because they could have little warning if cruise missiles were fired from the new bases. Americans may think that we dont start wars, but the Russians dont. The old shill argument that democracies dont start wars is belied by American attacks on Serbia, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen.

3) For all the Democratic and Big Media attacks on Trump for supposedly caving in to Putin, he gave Putin nothing. His administration is still maintaining an increasingly stringent economic attack on Russian trade and banking, announcing (just days after his meeting) $200 million of new aid to Ukraines military and threatening Europeans with sanctions if they go ahead with a new Baltic pipeline to import Russian natural gas. Consequently, some analysts believe that Putin has given up on wanting better relations with the U.S. and instead is just trying to weaken and discredit Americas overwhelming power in the world. In a similar vein Rand Paul writes how we never think about other nations interests.

4) The release of intelligence agency findings about Russians intervention in the last election just a day before the conference precisely shows the strength of the Deep State in dominating American foreign policy. An article by Bruce Fein in TAC argues we should Forget Trump: The Military-Industrial Complex is Still Running the Show With Russia, showing how Washington wants to keep Russia as an enemy because its good for business.

Furthermore, releasing the accusations and indictments via a press already out for Trumps blood is explained away by pointing out that the special prosecutor has separate authority to that of the president. But the timing, a day before the Helsinki meeting, obviously shows intent to cause disarray and to prevent meaningful dialogue with Russia. Its interesting to note that TAC has been criticizing the Deep State since at least 2015.

The casualness with which much of Washington regards conflict and starting wars is only comparable to the thoughtlessness of Europeans when they started World War I. Like now, that war followed nearly a century of relative peace and prosperity. Both sides thought a war would be easy and over quickly and were engulfed in it because of minor incidents instigated by their small nation allies. It was started with a single assassination in Serbia. The situation is similar now. America is hostage to the actions of a host of tiny countries possibly starting a war. Think of our NATO obligations and promises to Taiwan and Israel.

America has become inured to the risks of escalation and Congress has ceded its war powers to the president. The authority of war power was one of the most important tenets of our Constitution, designed to prevent our rulers from irresponsibly launching conflicts like the European kings. Witness now how casually Trump talks about starting a war with Iran, with no thought of possible consequences, including blowing up oil facilities in the Persian Gulf, oil and gas vital for the world economy.

For most Americans, war means sitting in front of their TVs watching the bombs fall on small nations unable to resist or respond to our power. We kill thousands of them in easy battles and then worry if a single American soldier is harmed. We dont viscerally understand the full threat of modern weapons because theyve never been used against us. This is not unlike World War I, for which the countries engaged were wholly unprepared for a protracted siege war against the lethality of new modern artillery and chemical weapons. All had assumed the war would be over in weeks. I wrote about these issues after visiting the battlefields of the Crimean war. (See Lessons in Empire)

And so we continue careening towards more conflicts which can always lead to unintended consequences, ever closer to nuclear war. Meanwhile efforts for a dialogue with Russia are thwarted by our internal politics and dysfunction in Washington.

theamericanconservative.comIn Russia, there is increasing popular opposition to the growing number of mercenary organizations, especially those working directly for the government. Such activity is illegal and efforts to legalize this sort of thing continue to have problems getting through a largely pro-government parliament. The problem is that there are already some illegal armed groups in the Caucasus that are pro-government and tolerated. And now the Cossacks are being revived, but not yet as armed groups with any degree of independence. Then there are the PMCs (Private Military Companies) that not only exist in Russia but work for the government. Actually, PMCs existed in Russia, in one form or another, since the 1990s. There were largely security firms (personal and facility protection) but many of them attracted paratrooper and Spetsnaz (commando) veterans who were sometimes equipped with infantry weapons, especially for assignments outside Russia.

In addition to the security firms inside Russian, there were other Russian firms that largely operated outside Russia providing legal semi-military services. These activities included providing Russian made transport helicopters, with crews and maintainers, for projects (economic, peacekeeping or smuggling) in remote areas. The flood of Cold War surplus weapons coming out of East Europe and Russia in the 1990s had to be delivered and there were plenty of Cold War surplus An-12 (similar to the U.S. C-130) and An-26 (and two engine version of the An-12) transports available to move the weapons (including over 20 million AK-47 assault rifles and nearly as many machine-guns, pistols RPG rocket launchers and other portable stuff like mortars). Heavier stuff (tanks, artillery, disassembled aircraft) moved by ship, often from Ukrainian ports because Ukraine became independent in 1991 and inherited enormous quantities of Soviet-era weapons because Ukraine was where a lot of this stuff was built (and the factories now belonged to newly independent Ukraine) and even more of it was stored there in anticipation of a war with NATO. Soviet war plans called for waves of mechanized infantry and tank divisions, most of them manned by reservists, picking up their equipment in Ukraine and heading west. That never happened and in the 1990s Ukraine found itself with a lot of fairly modern weapons that it didnt need.

Ukraine did need cash and legal, illegal and semi-legal ways were found to sell those weapons. There was also a lot of money to be made in delivering the weapons to remote parts of the world. There was also a need for instructors or, in an emergency, operators of more complex systems (like artillery, electronics, jet fighters or helicopters). The Soviet-era armed forces of Russia and East Europe largely demobilized in the 1990s leaving a lot of unemployed troops who had skills weapons exporters could use. The trainers, operators and maintainers could make good money if they were willing to serve in dangerous parts of the world. It was understood that these foreign experts were former military and that they arrive armed for self-defense. In most cases, the weapons were never used and when they were it was usually for self-defense. But sprinkled among all those support personnel were a growing number of former paratroopers and Spetsnaz who were hired to fight. Many of these highly trained combat troops found legal or illegal work back home as bodyguards, security specialists or assassins. With the end of the 1990s, most of the cheap and illegal weapons were gone and there were a lot of men with experience moving them and operating in foreign countries as para-military specialists. After 2000 the Russian government had become more efficient and many of the key elected or appointed officials were former KGB and Spetsnaz officers, including Vladimir Putin.

By 2014 Putin found himself with a lot of friends and associates who were very familiar with para-military and mercenary operations. One of these Putin cronies, former Spetsnaz officer Dmytro Utkin had helped revive the Soviet era disinformation (influencing foreign media) operations. Utkin realized that the Internet was the best way to create and spread disinformation and organized the Internet Research Agency and was cited as influencing the 2016 American elections. Russians had been doing this since the 1920s but thanks to the Internet the Russians could do a lot more damage at less cost than in the past.

Utkin also took the lead in forming legal Russian PMCs. His first one, the Wagner Group, got around Russian laws against this sort of thing by registering the company in Argentina and only taking assignments from the Russian government. There were already other Russian PMCs but these were technically (and actually in most cases) security firms that provided trained, armed and legal personnel to guard facilities and key people in Russia and abroad. Some of these security firms did illegal work and the KGB veterans were familiar with this because during the communist period some criminal gangs survived by doing special tasks for the KGB. Utkin suggested the use of such PMCs for special tasks his boss had in mind for Ukraine. Thus it was Utkin who supplied the unidentified armed men in unmarked uniforms who showed up in Crimea as part of a carefully planned and executed operation to transfer Crimea to from Ukraine to Russia. The PMCs were less successful in grabbing another valuable area, a portion of eastern Ukraine known as the Donbas (Donets River Basin industrial region). That takeover operation stalled and the KGB and PMCs are still trying to make it work. T

The PMCs, particularly Utkin's Wagner Group showed up in Syria by late 2015 and after that in other parts of the world. Details of what was going on with these Russian PMCs was successfully kept out of the mass media, in part because Utkin was also quite adept at disinformation and media manipulation in general. But by 2016 details began to get out, usually through the Internet, an information tool that is not easily tamed.

By late 2017 Ukrainian military intelligence analysts presented convincing evidence that a Russian military contractor (that they identified as Wagner) had become, in effect, president Putins private army in Syria, Ukraine and elsewhere. Ukrainians identified Russian Special Operations colonel Dmytro Utkin as the organizer of Wagner. The name Wagner was originally the radio call sign for Utkin. The Ukrainians already had a lot of experience with the Wagner firm, which was, and still is, used for a variety of special tasks in rebel-controlled areas of Donbas.

Wagner is believed to have several thousand highly skilled (and highly paid) personnel on the payroll. Ukraine and foreign analysts documented that the Wagner firm was a major Russian military contractor providing most of the PMC personnel in Ukraine and Syria. What little was publically known about Wagner was collected from Internet posts (usually in social media) about the death of Wagner employees in Ukraine or Syria. There is so much data like that freely available that it is possible to get a good idea about the size and activities of Warner and other military contractors Russia uses.

By early 2018 Russian officials were scrambling to conceal the impact of a major defeat of Wagner Group combat troops when they tried to attack an American base in eastern Syria (Deir Ezzor province). Russia admitted that the dozens of foreign troops were killed in eastern Syria during a February 7th battle were no Russian military personnel were present but there were armed Russians there working for Russia. Many of the dead were Russian and the rest were from nations that used to be part of the Soviet Union. The officials admitted that the many wounded Russian military contractors were being treated in Russian military medical facilities in Syria. Russia never revealed the official number about Wagner Group casualties in that battle and as many of 200 Wagner Group personnel may have died. Those who work for Wagner Group sign a non-disclosure agreement which stipulates that if their next of kin provide any details of Wagner Group operations they will not receive the death benefits (up to $80,000) Wagner Group operatives receive if killed.

Initially, Russia would admit that only five Russians were killed. But it turned out all the Russian casualties were military contractors from the Wagner Group, the largest military contractor in Russia. While most of the PMS personnel handled security for Russian facilities, in the case of the Deir Ezzor attack, Wagner had formed one of their special combat units normally used to go after ISIL or other difficult foes on the ground. Working for Wagner was not a military secret in Russia and death benefits (up to $80,000 depending on rank and job) are paid promptly and in most cases the body is quietly returned to the family. Friends and family of the Wagner casualties will at least mention the loss on the Internet and after a while, an accurate estimate of contractor casualties could be maintained. Private posts via the Internet or other communications with family tend to become public after a while.

Russian military personnel in Syria are paid nearly as well as the Wagner personnel and receive bonuses in addition to their regular pay. But deaths among Russian military personnel in Syria, even though all of them are volunteers, is a much bigger deal back in Russia than the death of a Russian mercenary. This became obvious when opinion polls were conducted and the average Russian saw the much higher pay of the PMC men as fair compensation for the risk of getting killed, rather than dying in the defense of Mother Russia (which is what members of the armed forces do, even volunteers, for lower pay). This attitude could be confirmed by a perusal of the Russian language social network discussions.

The social network chatter drives Russian security officials nuts because even with non-disclosure agreements, you cant keep chatter about what PMCs do a secret. Foreign intelligence services already knew how to use this OSINT (open source intelligence) to form an accurate assessment of how Russia was using PMC forces and estimating how many men were hired and deployed by the Wagner Group. The Internet also provided, for those willing to dig, info on the growing number of similar PMCs the Russian government was hiring for overseas efforts that could not be defined as defending Mother Russia, at least not in the traditional sense.

As of the end of 2017, it was estimated that Russia had about 5,000 military and contractor personnel in Syria and admitted to 45 Russians killed in Syria since mid-2015. The actual number was believed to be 30-80 percent higher because of the growing use of Russian military contractors, who are not, for record keeping purposes, members of the Russian military. Because of the disastrous February encounter with the Kurds (SDF) and Americans in eastern Syria the Russian death toll has gone way up, at least for the contractors. As many as 200 died in the February debacle. The Syrian war effort, despite the low number of Russian casualties, was not popular with most Russians who saw Assad and most other Middle Eastern governments (especially former Soviet allies) as losers. More Russian casualties mean lots more unrest back home so the PMCs were increasingly used for situations where Russian troops, usually Spetsnaz commandos or other highly trained volunteers could do the job. It wasnt that the PMC men were more effective, often they were not, but the PMC men were more expendable, at least when it came to media and political backlash in Russia.

In early 2018 the Ukrainian government released the results of their investigation into the Russian use of PNCs, especially the Wagner Group. Ukraine had captured a number of Wagner Group contractors operating in eastern Ukraine and some had been forthcoming with details of how Wagner operates. For example, Russia transported a number of Wagner Group men to Syria via the Russian missile cruiser Varyag. This is a large ship (11,000 tons) with a crew of 480. The Russian navy has been short of sailors and many ships go to sea short 10-20 percent of their crew. So it made sense that the government could fill some of those empty berths with Wagner men which Russia wanted to keep quiet about. Many more Wagner men were flown to Syria via a Syrian airline that operated a flight to Rostov-on-Don, an out of the way city where it is easier to hide things.

In mid-2018 it became public that a second Russian PMC had shown up in Syria. This one, called Patriot, was apparently more elite (highly paid Russian combat vets for dangerous missions) than the existing Wagner Group. Although these companies are still illegal according to Russian law moves are being made to change the law. These contractors have been showing up in Africa, providing security for Russian commercial operations. Contractors are still doing a lot of the base security work in Syria. But Patriot group appears to be supplying elite combat units for special missions that will avoid the February 2018 debacle in which many Wagner mercs were killed. Patriot PMC personnel are apparently more careful and methodical and seen as able to avoid getting ambushed like the Wagner personnel were.

It was now widely accepted that to make their Syria intervention work, Russia had quietly resorted widespread use of PMCs. By the end of 2017, there were at least 1,200 PMC personnel in Syria. It turned out that not all of these were from Wagner and that the Russian government had allowed more PMCs to organize and compete for the Russian government (and Russian firms operating overseas) contracts. In Syria about half these PMC personnel were believed to have been part of organized combat units that were reliable enough to be used in place of scarce army special operations troops.

By monitoring Russian language social media activity (which anyone can do) it was noted how many recent military veterans were working for several of these PMCs. These fellows would often post pictures from Syria and Ukraine. Casualties were suffered in both places although the duties of the contractors were different. In Syria, the security contractors mainly guarded Russian bases but were also used in combat when they provided security for Russian artillery units supporting Syrian Army troops. In a few cases, the contractors were sent in to assist Syrian troops who got themselves in trouble. Russia described these men as special operations troops because outside Russia the security contractors often wear Russian military uniforms. But social media revealed that many of these dead Russians in Syria were actually contractors. In Ukraine, at least one PMC was used as enforcers to punish troublesome pro-Russian Ukrainian rebels. Often this just meant arranging an accidental death for a disobedient rebel leader but in a few cases, a larger number of rebels had to disappear. The Russian supported rebels came to call these contractors cleaners and were justifiably terrorized and impressed. Cuban troops were also reported in Syria, brought in to help train and assist Syrian troops. Some of the Cubans are believed to be special operations (commando) forces. Cuba, Russia and Syria deny the presence of Cuban troops in Syria. More PMCs are being seen in Africa, South America and any place Russian firms have operations that local security forces cannot adequately protect. In these situations, PMCs are strictly high-end (and very expensive) site or personnel security.TICKERS: HL

Source: Streetwise Reports (7/26/18)

A CIBC report reviewed the deal and the assets.



In a July 24 research note, CIBC analyst Cosmos Chiu reported that Hecla Mining Co.'s (HL:NYSE) acquisition of Klondex Mines closed the previous day. CIBC resumed coverage on the company with a Neutral rating and $4.25 per share price target, down from $4.75 per share, as "acquisitions with a share component can take some time to digest and for the acquirer's share price to recover." Hecla shares are currently trading at around $3.34.

However, CIBC views the transaction as being favorable for Hecla. Chiu discussed its positive implications and Hecla's plans for its new assets. Hecla paid a 1.2x price:net asset value multiple for Klondex. The deal immediately added $0.10 per share to the company's cash flow, or boosted cash flow per share by greater than 20%.

What the precious metals miner acquired in Klondex were "assets with high upside potential in Nevada," the high-grade Fire Creek mine, the Hollister mine, and the Midas mill and mine. They "fit well into Hecla's core competency of high-grade narrow vein mining," noted Chiu. Through a spinout, Hecla disposed of Klondex's "problematic" True North mine in Manitoba. True North had not had a positive free cash flow quarter since Klondex had acquired it in 2016 whereas the Nevada assets had generated about $20 million in free cash flow in Q1/18.

The acquisition "adds profitable gold production ounces" to Hecla's portfolio. By 2019, from the Klondex Nevada assets alone, CIBC estimates a production increase to 185,000 ounces (185 Koz) from 174 Koz. It forecasts the combined Hecla to generate about 600 Koz of gold equivalent annually after a full year of production. "This makes Hecla one of the more substantial players within the intermediate precious metals producer universe and could be a positive factor in generating investor interest in the company," Chiu pointed out.

At Fire Creek, Hecla aims to grow the current resource and reserve, which are currently sufficient for a mine life through at least 2023. "We expect Hecla will be able to convert resources into reserves, while also achieving success at the regional targets including Zeus," Chiu indicated.

At Hollister, Hecla will continue improving ore recovery at Midas via additional leach tanks and carbon screens. The latter alone has already taken recoveries to greater than 80%, just under the 8590% goal.

The Hatter Graben target at Hollister, which offers potential exploration upside, could be "a game changer," added Chiu. Mineralization there remains open in all directions.

Chiu concluded that "in Nevada, Hecla can leverage its operational expertise in underground mining and is in a position to increase the high-grade reserve/resource at Fire Creek while continuing to improve the recoveries at Hollister."

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Disclosures from CIBC, Hecla Mining Co., July 24, 2018

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Equity research analysts employed by CIBC World Markets Corp./Inc. are compensated from revenues generated by various CIBC World Markets Corp./Inc. businesses, including the CIBC World Markets Investment Banking Department. Research analysts do not receive compensation based upon revenues from specific investment banking transactions. CIBC World Markets Corp./Inc. generally prohibits any research analyst and any member of his or her household from executing trades in the securities of a company that such research analyst covers. Additionally, CIBC World Markets Corp./Inc. generally prohibits any research analyst from serving as an officer, director or advisory board member of a company that such analyst covers.

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Important Disclosure Footnotes for Hecla Mining Company (HL)

 Hecla Mining Company is a client for which a CIBC World Markets company has performed investment banking services in the past 12 months.

 CIBC World Markets Inc. has received compensation for investment banking services from Hecla Mining Company in the past 12 months.

 CIBC World Markets Inc. expects to receive or intends to seek compensation for investment banking services from Hecla Mining Company in the next 3 months.Manila (CNN Philippines Life)  Has the internet destroyed our capacity to persevere?

It may have been instrumental, but the constant barrage of noise, clutter, and distraction isnt helping at all.

A study in 2015 found that people are becoming more impatient and that there are even limits to how long a person will wait for, say, a page to load (10 seconds), or a drink at a bar (five minutes).

Things happening at hyperspeed has shrunk our patience, and when things get delayed  the latest video of your favorite K-pop group, your cake at the coffee shop, the dress for your sisters debut  the irritation escalates so fast that we dont even realize weve been trained to hardly even be patient anymore.

But there are things that wed endure to test our patience  the next Infinity War movie, the new Ariana Grande album, for instance  so there might still be hope for this generation raised by the internet. Patience is still a virtue that we all need in order to progress and move forward from where we are now.

This years Inspire Every Day, Ayala Museums free museum day event, takes the concept of patience at its center, and has invited six panelists from different creative fields to discuss what patience has taught them and how it has enabled them to succeed.

During the event, which starts at 9 a.m., visitors can also visit the permanent collection of Ayala Museum and its current exhibits such as Hidden Cinema: 100 Years of Philippine Cinema, Bamboo Road, and HISTORIA: Stories of Art.

The talks will start at 11:30 a.m., with writer and director Samantha Lee in conversation with actress and designer Meryll Soriano. At 1:30 p.m., mural artist and calligrapher Anina Rubio will talk with actor, musician, and teacher Pepe Herrera. Finally, at 4:30 p.m., sculptor and architect Ramon Orlina will be talking with Manila Symphony Orchestra director Jeffrey Solares.

Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra CENTEX Dancers will also perform in the galleries in between the talks.

This will be CNN Philippine Lifes third year of co-presenting the event with the Ayala Museum.

To know what youve missed in the last two years and to know more about the event, visit the following links:

9 ways your passion can transform your life

10 Inspiring life hacks from BJ Pascual and Jerrold Tarog

For registration details, visit the Ayala Museum website.Surfcasters can enjoy one last fish on the lower Kaituna River this weekend, before road access to Te Tumu Cut closes for six months.

Ford Road access to Te Tumu Cut and Maketu Spit will be closed from August 1 until December 20, to enable construction work that will restore 600,000 cubic metres of freshwater flows into Te Awa o Ngatoroirangi Maketu Estuary on every tidal cycle.

We know the area is popular with fishers and were really sorry for the inconvenience, says Bay of Plenty Regional Council Kaituna Catchments Manager Pim de Monchy. But this project will benefit them in the long run with improved facilities, estuary health, and kaimoana (fish and shellfish) habitat.

Ford Road is scheduled to re-open in time for Christmas fishing, but the Ford Road boat ramp will remain closed until construction work is completed in June 2020.

White-baiting in Fords Cut will also be affected until June 2020, due to restricted water flow and stop bank access throughout the construction period.

Bell Road boat ramp will remain open throughout the construction period.

Pim says that existing levels of boat access through Te Tumu Cut, also known as the Kaituna Cut, will be maintained once the project is complete.

He says flood protection levels will also remain the same for properties in the Kaituna Catchment Scheme and Maketu township.

Overview of Kaituna re-diversion project works.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council is funding and delivering the $16m Kaituna River re-diversion project that was first called for by the community in 1979.

Construction work started in June this year. The project includes creation of an 800m long new channel to carry fresh water from the river, through a new enlarged diversion control structure and down a widened Fords Cut, into the estuary.

Existing stop banks will be shifted and upgraded. Project details are available at www.boprc.govt.nz/kaitunarediversion.

A quarterly community meeting is being held at 5.30pm on Wednesday August 1 to give locals an update on project progress and plans, and the opportunity to ask questions.

All are welcome to attend at Tukotahi marae, 83 Ford Road.The chief of army, Peter Kelly, is "bitterly disappointed" about allegations of sexual misconduct at Waiouru Military Camp, saying he "failed" the new recruits' parents.

Seven instructors are being investigated over seven incidents dating back to May last year, ranging from inappropriate relationships to sexual harassment and bullying at The Army Depot, a unit in the army responsible for training new recruits.

Major General Kelly told Morning Report two members of the leadership team were also replaced after he "lost confidence" in them - a strong message, he says, as it's a first in his 34 years in the service.

"I'm bitterly disappointed. The New Zealand Defence Force, New Zealand Army, and that particular unit have worked incredibly hard over the last five years since 2012 to address some of the culture issues around these particular events and they have come a long way.

"And really what has occurred over the last few months is that a small group of instructors, seven in total, have really let the whole of 6500 members of the New Zealand Army down."

Mums and dads trusted the army with their young children, he says.

"That's a massive responsibility and we have to be able to live up to it. In this case we have failed."

Major General Kelly says the allegations were brought to his attention on June 27 and the investigation was launched two days later.

In one case, a male recruit came forward and said he had been subjected to bullying, harassment and sexual assault.

Major General Kelly says the man is still in the army, and is being given support.

He says all the allegations are serious and similar cases have ended up in court or court martial in the past.

He also encourages other people to also come forward.

Change takes time

Karina Andrews, was a key influence in setting up of Operation Respect, which the Defence Force launched in March 2016 to reduce sexual misconduct within its ranks.

Karina says in an ideal world, sexual misconduct wouldn't be happening in the Defence Force, but that's not the reality.

"The type of changes they are trying to make are going to take time to make. You've got to weed out a whole old culture to being a very new normal."

"They are now pointing the finger at the people who are in control. If they did not know what was going on, they should have known what was going on and now they are going to be held accountable."

She says that wouldn't have happened five or 10 years ago.Tauranga has had the opportunity to experience a taste of Sikhism from their own backyard.

Turbans in Tauranga is an event which was hosted at the Strand waterfront on Saturday and gave residents a chance to meet Sikhs living within the community.

Residents were also able to try on a turban and fully immerse themselves within the culture.

Oropi residents Gary Behrend and Michael Cull were some of many who attended the event, which has been arranged by a Sikh youth organisation called Sikhs in the Bay.

The weather may have been gloomy, but the warmth and generosity of the Sikh community certainly carried the day, says Gary.

He says the day was a great chance to increase cultural understanding, awareness surrounding diversity and to celebrate equality.

What a joyous occasion and celebration being treated to an opportunity to try wearing a Sikh turban, and indeed experience many more of the cultural aspects of Sikhism and its cuisine too.

It was a celebration of the equality that underscores all - acknowledging humanity may wear colours as magnificently technicolour as the rich array of turbans there were to choose from.

Photo: Gary Behrend.

Gary thanks the Sikh community.

We certainly came away from the occasion, feeling so enriched from the enjoyment, peace and learning, which is actually what Sikh means  to learn.

Here's hoping next year, many more folk will seize the opportunity to try on a turban, and transcend some new knowledge of who our fellow New Zealanders are.

Photo: Gary Behrend.

Photos: Nikki South.The defence for the man accused of murdering his partner and hiding her body in a lake says her death was a spontaneous, unscripted event.

Cory Jefferies, 46 is on trial in the High Court in Hamilton, accused of murdering 42-year-old Kim Richmond.

Her body was discovered in Lake Arapuni in June 2017, 10 months after she disappeared.

Mr Jefferies had admitted her manslaughter, but denies murder Ms Richmond.

Defence lawyer Thomas Sutcliffe today described Ms Richmond's death as a spontaneous, unscripted event, with terrible consequences that no one saw coming.

In his closing address before the jury today, defence lawyer Thomas Sutcliffe described Ms Richmond's death as a spontaneous, unscripted event, with terrible consequences that no one saw coming.

Claims by two witnesses that Jefferies had threatened to kill Ms Richmond on more than one occasion were not threats even if their claims were true, said Mr Sutcliffe, as there were emotional outbursts or expressions of frustration over the failure of their relationship.

Mr Sutcliffe said Mr Jefferies' actions after she died - when he pretended she has driven off and left him - were not evil, but more of a cover up to protect his family and their three children in particular.

He said Jefferies' ruse was not well thought-out and while it was effective for some time, it still came unstuck.

Mr Sutcliffe said self-preservation by Mr Jefferies and trying to maintain a terrible lie did not reflect an intent to murder.

He told the jury that the Crown's case was seriously wanting and the evidence did not prove murderous intent beyond reasonable doubt.

Justice Fitzgerald will sum up the trial on tomorrow morning before the jury of seven women and five men retire to reach a verdict.Click the image above to watch the video

In today's forecast we are expecting sunny spells but a few afternoon showers. Also westerlies.

It's a three-clothing layer day today with a high of 15 and an overnight low of 8 degrees. Humidity is 85 per cent.

Low tide is at 12.30pm and high tide is at 6.50pm. There's a sea swell of .2m with a sea temperature of 15 degrees. Sunset tonight is at 5.20pm.

If you're going fishing the next best fish bite time is between 11am and 12.30pm.

In NZ history on this day in 1953 an armistice ended fighting in the Korean War. After lengthy negotiations, representatives of North Korea and the United Nations signed an armistice on the ceasefire line between North and South Korea.

In 1963 pioneer aviator George Bolt died. George was an outstanding figure in the development of commercial aviation in this country. Among his many achievements were taking New Zealand's first aerial photographs in 1912 and delivering its first official airmail in 1919.

In world history on this day in 1909 Orville Wright set a world record for staying aloft in an airplaneone hour, 12 minutes and 40 seconds. In 1921 Canadians Sir Frederick Banting and Charles Best isolated insulin at the University of Toronto.

In 2002 the largest air show disaster in history occurred when a Sukhoi Su-27 fighter crashed during an air show at Lviv, Ukraine, killing 85 and injuring more than 100 others.

Today is the birthday of Scottish writer Thomas Campbell. Born in 1777, he once said "To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die."

This mornings video was filmed at Fantail Drive Reserve in Maungatapu.

To get involved in some of the many activities happening around the Bay, please check out our What's on page.

Have a great day!Jameisha Stanford. Provided photo by family

Syracuse, NY -- An Onondaga County Court Judge today said that he would sentence a young driver to 3 to 9 years in prison if he pleaded guilty to a fatal hit-and-run that killed a 2-year-old girl.

Felix Santos, now 18, would not have his record sealed in the May 27 crash that killed Jameisha Stanford as she played with her family in front of a house, Judge Matthew Doran said in court.

Santos, who later posted a confession and apology on his Facebook page, went to North Carolina after the crash, where he was arrested by authorities.

The judge's offer today is lower than the 4 to 12 years that prosecutor Chris Bednarski wanted for a second-degree manslaughter plea.

But it's far more than the 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison, plus a sealed record, that defense lawyer William Sullivan had been pushing for.

Doran acknowledged that a probation department investigation recommended youthful offender status, which would seal Santos's record and cap his sentence at 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison.

But the judge wasn't willing to do that. Doran noted that he was required to keep an open mind about youthful offender status if Santos was convicted after a trial. If there was a plea, however, the judge would not offer youthful offender, he said.

Santos was driving more than 20 mph over the speed limit down Shonnard Street, when he illegally tried to pass a car and ended up hitting Jameisha on the sidewalk as she played with chalk near her brother and father, who were also struck, authorities have said.

Santos then abandoned the car and disappeared, authorities said.

The judge noted that most of the court battle to this point has been determining an appropriate punishment if Santos pleaded guilty. Was he to go to trial, a jury would decide whether he was guilty or not.

But Doran noted, if found guilty by a jury, Santos could face anything from youthful offender status up to a maximum punishment of 5 to 15 years as an adult in prison.

If Santos is going to take a plea, he's got to do it soon, the judge indicated. Santos is due back to court in early August. He remains jailed.LIVERPOOL, N.Y. -- A Liverpool tire store owner has been accused of failing to pay New York State more than $57,000 in sales tax, according to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.

Joseph Pastella, 65, of Salina, was charged with multiple felonies, including second-degree grand larceny, 14 counts of third-degree criminal tax fraud and four counts of fourth-degree criminal tax fraud.

Pastella is the owner of Liverpool Tire Inc., 312 Oswego St.

He is accused of underreporting sales made at his business between March 2013 and August 2017. Pastella failed to remit to the state at least $57,356 in sales tax as required by law, according to the state.

Pastella pleaded not guilty in Liverpool Village Court and was released on his own recognizance. Pastella is due back in court on Aug. 28.

If convicted, Pastella could face up to 15 years in prison.Bronx, NY -- A New York City judge who refused his bosses' order to transfer to a new court was stripped of his duties, his staff, his chambers and even his parking spot, according to media reports.

That essentially means state Supreme Court Justice Armando Montano, of the Bronx, gets his $208,000 salary to do nothing, the New York Post reported.

Montano is 69 and a year from mandatory judicial retirement. He'd need a state waiver to continue serving as judge.

But he openly defied his bosses this month when he refused a transfer from felony criminal court to integrated domestic violence court. Montano expressed a wish to continue handling complex criminal cases and felt the switch to divorces, custody battles and abuse cases was a demotion.

He was voted in to be a criminal judge, his lawyer argued.

The judge of five years said he felt the switch was a "disguised punishment," according to a letter obtained by the New York Law Journal.

The day of the letter, the state's chief administrative judge stripped Montano of his staff, his chambers, his duties and his parking space.

State court officials have cited a 1982 case of another judge that fought a six-month battle to stay on criminal court after being transferred to civil court. The state's Commission on Judicial Conduct ruled that the judge in that case "disgraced himself and compromised the judiciary," according to the Law Journal.

Judges across the state have bosses of their own. In Onondaga County, judicial assignments are made by Fifth Judicial District Chief Administrative Judge James Tormey.EAST BLOOMFIELD, NY -- It's a four-year-old brewery that quickly blossomed in the hip New York City borough of Brooklyn. Its tasting room is a destination for beer fans across the Northeast and beyond.

It specializes in hazy, hoppy New England-style IPAs. It has been ranked at or near the top in several lists of America's best breweries.

So why is Other Half Brewing Co. spending almost $2 million to buy and rebrand a small brewery in the Finger Lakes, one that shut down last year after just three years in business?

"We've sensed a real craving for our beers Upstate, especially from Syracuse to Rochester and Buffalo," said Andrew Burman, one of three partners in Other Half. "So this is really an opportunity for us to make more of our beer available to more of our fans."

In the past few months, Other Half has offered limited amounts of its IPAs in special "can releases" at Now & Later tap room and shop in Syracuse, the Tap & Mallett pub in Rochester and the Thin Man Brewery in Buffalo.

Those beers were not sold through normal distribution channels -- the folks at Other Half hauled the beers up themselves.

And Upstate beer fans lined up for hours for a chance to snag some. (One aspect to New England IPAs is they have a relatively short shelf life. meaning fans are always seeking what they call "freshies.")

That convinced Burman and his partners, Matt Monahan and Sam Richardson, to poke around for an Upstate location.

"Our motive is get fresh beers into people's hands as fast as possible," Burman said.

When the Nedloh Brewing Co. announced it was closing last fall, "it created a perfect opportunity," Burman said. Nedloh abruptly closed in October, shuttering its 8,000-square foot brewery on four acres just west of Canadaigua at the corner of Routes 5 and 20 and Whalen Road in East Bloomfield.

The former Nedloh Brewing Co. in East Bloomfield, N.Y.,which has been sold to Other Half Brewing Co. of Brooklyn.

The location appeals to Other Half's owners for reasons beyond its central position on the Syracuse-Rochester-Buffalo axis.

It's in the Finger Lakes, a region becoming better known nationally for its wineries, breweries, artisan food producers and farm-to-table dining.

"We definitely are working on how we can fit into what's happening in the Finger Lakes," Burman said. "That's exciting for us."

The new brewery, tentatively called OtherHalfRoc for its proximity to Rochester, will have a farm brewing license, allowing it to receive benefits for using New York grown ingredients.

While the new Other Half will make beers that have been associated with the Brooklyn operation, like the hoppy IPAs and its Berliner Weisse, it will also put more effort into sours, barrel-aged brews and "farmhouse" beers like saisons.

"I think you'll see beers that are going to be identified with that brewery," Burman said. "There will be beers that differentiate themselves in that location."

Of course, another reason to expand in Upstate New York is the lower cost of real estate, he said.

Other Half is reconfiguring the space at the Nedloh brewery, and will likely upgrade the equipment and brewing capacity. The partners paid $660,000 for the Upstate site, and will invest $1.8 million in it. The state is providing $400,000 in income tax credits. The Other Half partners are also upgrading the brewhouse in Brooklyn.

The Other Half partners have no immediate plans to sign on with a third-party distributor. They want to make the Finger Lakes site a destination for tourists and beer travelers from across New York, and possibly even nearby parts of Canada, where interest in hazy New England IPAs has also been on the increase.

"We want to see our customers when they come and visit us," Burman said.

That may set it apart from another hot New York City brewery that recently announced an Upstate move: SingleCut Beersmiths of Queens is buying the large Shmaltz Brewing Co. location in Clifton Park, north of Albany. (Shmaltz will continue as a brand, brewed elsewhere). That brewery will allow SingleCut to produce siginifcantly more volume for distribution.

Jason Purdy, owner of the Now & Later shop in Syracuse where Other Half's beers have been such a hit, thinks the new brewery will be a success.

"Look at their track record," Purdy said. "They're smart guys that have been successful at everything they do and the way they do it. Everything they've done has been really well planned out."

The Other Half success "has a lot to do with the style, the New England IPAs, which they are among the best at, in my opinion," Purdy said. But, he said, they've proven they can make other great beers, too.

"The hype is there for Other Half," Purdy said, "and the hype is justified."

Don Cazentre writes about craft beer, wine, spirits and beverages for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Opioid overdose drug deaths declined 28 percent in Onondaga County in the first quarter of 2018, providing further evidence the opioid epidemic is easing.

Twenty-one people died of overdoses involving heroin, fentanyl and other opioid drugs such as prescription painkillers during the first three months of the year, according to the Onondaga County Health Department.

There were 29 opioid deaths during the same three-month period of 2017.

After climbing for five consecutive years, opioid deaths in Onondaga County dropped 36 percent in 2017.

Opioid deaths statewide, excluding New York City, fell 11 percent in 2017, according to preliminary data from the state Health Department. There were 1,819 opioid deaths statewide in 2017, down from 2,036 deaths in 2016.

The county Health Department said opioid deaths are declining here because the community is working to halt the epidemic by educating doctors about prescribing practices, expanding addiction treatment and making sure the overdose-reversing drug naloxone is widely available.

Doctors are writing far fewer opioid painkiller prescriptions.

Opioid prescriptions per 1,000 Excellus BlueCross BlueShield members in the Syracuse area fell 33 percent between 2013 and 2017, according to a recent report by the insurer. Nationally the total number of opioid prescriptions filled by BlueCross BlueShield members fell 29 percent during the same time period.

The insurer's report also shows 6.2 of every 1,000 members in the Syracuse area were diagnosed in 2017 with opioid use disorder, or opioid addiction. That's higher than the national average rate of 5.9.

Contact James T. Mulder anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-470-2245SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- City lawmakers will vote next week to let a bike-sharing company set up shop in Syracuse and to extend a series of city bike paths to the North Side.

City Hall picked Gotcha Bike to launch a bike-share program that lets people rent bikes for everyday riding.

In his State of the City address in January, Mayor Ben Walsh announced he would bring bike-sharing to Syracuse. His administration has made good on that and is now seeking approval from the city council.

If approved, Gotcha will set up docking stations full of bikes throughout the city. Those bikes can be rented to travel the city and returned to any station.

The network of bikes is expected to be in place by late summer or early fall, according to Neil Burke, transportation planner for the city.

Gotcha typically charges people by the hour to use the bikes. In other cities their fees are small and brief rides are sometimes free. People can also buy monthly or annual memberships.

The city will get a portion of Gotcha's fees, though it hasn't been decided how much. It won't cost the city any money.

The number and location of docking stations is still being worked out, Burke told lawmakers Wednesday.

Gotcha is based in Charleston, South Carolina, and primarily caters to colleges and universities. It operates at Binghamton University and in Burlington, Vermont, among other places.

The company uses smart bikes that let you rent using a smartphone app. The bikes are typically built to withstand punishment. In Burlington, Gotcha bikes have Kevlar seats, belts instead of chains and puncture-resistant tires, according to the local transportation authority.

Gotcha also provides three-wheeled bikes for people with disabilities and will operate year-round.

In addition to the forthcoming bike-share project, Syracuse continues expanding its network of bike paths.

The city wants to use a $350,000 state grant to build bike paths along Lodi Street and some connecting streets. The path will connect the North Side to the Connective Corridor. It will also link up with a planned expansion of the Empire State Trail.

The city will chip in $70,000 for that project.

The city council will vote on the Gotcha agreement and the bike path grant on Monday.Paul Penzone is the sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona.

By Paul Penzone | Special To The Washington Post



I am not fearful of firearms. I believe the Second Amendment was written with purpose and with sensitivity to generational circumstances. But what I am extremely concerned about is who has access to firearms and the devastation firearms are capable of in the wrong hands.

Imagine a world in which anyone -- including terrorists, convicted felons and domestic abusers -- has immediate access to untraceable guns. Now imagine that many of these guns are made entirely of plastic or other materials not recognized by traditional metal detectors.

This unmanageable scenario may soon become a reality. In fact, as soon as Aug. 1, anyone with an Internet connection and a 3D printer -- readily available in stores and online -- will be able to make an untraceable handgun, rifle or assault weapon with just a few clicks. This is because the State Department has decided to allow a private company to post gun blueprints online for anyone to access. This is a reckless and dangerous action that will enable the uncontrolled distribution of downloadable, do-it-yourself firearms.

As sheriff of the fourth-largest and fastest-growing county in the nation, I know first-hand the threat such weapons pose to society. But it doesn't require my 25 years of experience in law enforcement to know how dangerous firearms in the wrong hands can be. Downloadable guns undermine our federal and state gun-violence prevention laws, which help prevent people who pose a danger to themselves or others from accessing firearms. These laws are effective when law enforcement can conduct background checks and identify firearms through legally required serial numbers leading to a first point of purchase.

The ability to circumvent lawful and reasonable processes for purchase will undermine the work of all law enforcement. Our ability to trace guns recovered at crime scenes is a critical step in catching criminals and getting killers off our streets. Untraceable firearms will ultimately cripple investigations and provoke further violence by criminals.

Until recently, the State Department shared these concerns about the threat of downloadable, untraceable guns. For years, the agency had been fighting back a lawsuit from an online, open-source company that was forced by the department to pull down downloadable gun blueprints. That's because the department considered the online posting of the technology a violation of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations.

But the State Department reversed course a few months ago, unjustifiably and irresponsibly settling with the company and giving them a license to publish. And now, the company has scheduled to make its gun blueprints available online yet again on Aug. 1.

On that date, drug cartels, arms traffickers and terrorists will be able to increase their revenue and the volume of weaponry at the expense of our safety through an untraceable and unlimited method of firearms manufacturing and distribution. Ultimately, it is uncontrolled, irresponsible and unconscionable.

The State Department can stop this from happening by standing by its original decision to prevent digital, downloadable gun files from being posted online. This is absolutely a clear and present danger to public safety.



After collapse, Syracuse rail bridges need independent inspections (Editorial)WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday he does not support an effort by a group of 11 conservative lawmakers to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, the official who oversees the special counsel's Trump-Russia investigation.

At a news conference, Ryan said Rosenstein's back-and-forth with congressional Republicans over document requests doesn't rise to the level of "high crimes and misdemeanors" that could warrant impeachment under the Constitution.

"I don't think we should be cavalier with this process or with this term," Ryan said. He also said he is encouraged by progress on the document production.

Ryan made the comments a day after the group of House Republicans sharply escalated their months-long clash with the Justice Department by filing articles of impeachment against Rosenstein.

Their move late Wednesday came after months of criticism aimed at the department -- and the Russia investigation in particular -- from President Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress. Trump has fumed about Mueller's probe and has repeatedly called it a "witch hunt," a refrain echoed by some of the lawmakers. The impeachment effort is led by North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, who talks to Trump frequently and often defends him to colleagues.

Meadows said Thursday morning that he would not try to force an immediate vote on the impeachment resolution, even though he could use procedural maneuvers to do so. The House leaves Thursday afternoon for a five-week recess.

It is unclear whether there would be enough support in the party to pass his resolution if a vote were held. In addition to Ryan, Republican leaders have not signed on to the effort and are unlikely to back it.

Still, some leaders could use the resolution as leverage.

"It's very clear that DOJ has to provide the information because the House of Representatives has the responsibility and accountability to oversee," said Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Meadows, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan and the other Republicans who introduced the resolution have criticized Rosenstein and Justice Department officials as not being responsive enough as House committees have requested documents related to the beginning of the Russia investigation and a closed investigation into Democrat Hillary Clinton's emails.

The five articles would charge Rosenstein with "high crimes and misdemeanors" for failing to produce information to the committees, though the department has provided lawmakers with more than 800,000 documents, and of signing off on what some Republicans say was improper surveillance of a Trump adviser.

The resolution also goes directly after Rosenstein for his role in the ongoing Mueller investigation, criticizing him for refusing to produce a memo that outlines the scope of that investigation and questioning whether the investigation was started on legitimate grounds. Mueller is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether Trump's campaign was in any way involved.

It is highly unusual, if not unprecedented, for lawmakers to demand documents that are part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

Rosenstein, along with FBI Director Christopher Wray, faced dozens of angry Republicans at a House hearing last month. The lawmakers alleged bias at the FBI and suggested the department has conspired against Trump -- but many could draw the line at impeachment.

"Impeachment is a punishment, it's not a remedy," House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Trey Gowdy said. "If you are looking for documents, then you want compliance, and you want whatever moves you toward compliance."

Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., head of the conservative Republican Study Committee, said it is "obvious" leadership does not support the effort.

"They feel like the timing on this is probably not the best," Walker said.

The impeachment resolution came about two hours after GOP lawmakers met with Justice Department officials about the documents. Meadows said after that meeting that there was still "frustration" with how the department has handled the oversight requests.

Republican leaders, however, have said in recent weeks that they are satisfied with the Justice Department's progress. Gowdy said after the meeting that he was pleased with the department's efforts.

Meadows heads the conservative Freedom Caucus and has sparred with Ryan on issues such as immigration and federal spending. His open threat of triggering a vote on impeachment -- which he can do if he follows a certain set of procedural rules -- could help him win concessions on other contentious issues before the House.

A spokeswoman for the Justice Department said she had no comment on the articles of impeachment. Rosenstein has overseen the Russia investigation since last year, when Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the probe following reports of his meeting with the Russian ambassador.

Democrats have criticized the Republican efforts to pressure the Justice Department, saying they are attempts to undermine Mueller's investigation.

In a joint statement, the top Democrats on the House Judiciary, Oversight and Government Reform and intelligence committees called the move a "panicked and dangerous attempt to undermine an ongoing criminal investigation in an effort to protect President Trump as the walls are closing in around him and his associates."

So far, the special counsel has charged 32 people and three companies. That includes four Trump campaign advisers and 12 Russian intelligence officers.

Democratic Reps. Jerrold Nadler of New York, Elijah Cummings of Maryland and Adam Schiff of California said Rosenstein "stands as one of the few restraints against the overreaches of the president and his allies in Congress."

In addition to Meadows and Jordan, the Republican lawmakers who sponsored the impeachment articles are: Reps. Jody Hice of Georgia, Jeff Duncan of South Carolina, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Bill Posey of Florida and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Former top governor's aide Joseph Percoco won't be sentenced until after Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Democratic Primary.

This is the fourth time sentencing has been delayed for Percoco, Cuomo's former campaign manager and deputy executive secretary. No reason was given by the judge in her order delaying the hearing.

Percoco, who was found guilty of three charges involving a bribery conspiracy by a jury in March was due back in federal court for sentencing Aug. 10. U.S. District Court Judge Valerie Caproni today pushed back his sentence to Sept. 20.

That's one week after the Democratic Primary. Percoco's conviction has been a hot topic in the gubernatorial race this year.

Cuomo's Democratic Primary challenger and actor Cynthia Nixon has frequently criticized the governor, saying he is responsible for the corruption in the state's economic development projects that were the subject of the trial. Republican and independent opponents in the race have also seized on Percoco's conviction. Cuomo has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

Percoco's sentence was originally scheduled for June 6. According to court filings, the sentencing was adjourned once at the request of his lawyers due to scheduling conflicts.

The judge adjourned the sentencing to July 20, then to Aug. 10.

Other than agreeing to the first adjournment due to the scheduling issue, Caproni has not stated reasons for the delays. Lawyers have not recently filed any requests for an adjournment.

Lawyers for Percoco and the U.S. Attorney's Office have already filed paperwork for sentencing. That includes memorandums arguing how much prison time Percoco should see as well as more than 75 letters of support for Percoco.

The defense is pushing for two years in prison, while prosecutors have urged Judge Caproni to "send a strong message" with a sentence that exceeds five years of prison.

Read our continuing coverage of the corruption trials

Public Affairs Reporter Julie McMahon covers courts, government and other issues affecting taxpayers. She can be reached anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-412-1992The Lenovo Smart Display gives Google Assistant a face and, well, its kind of beautiful. As promised at CES and then again at Google I/O, Lenovo is finally rolling out the first Google Assistant device with a display, delivering a fresh new spin on the smart home speaker.

While Amazon has been selling its Echo Show for more than a year (and the smaller Echo Spot for about half as long), Google has taken its time with building its visual Assistant. Weve seen glimpses of it on our phones, cars, and TVs (using Chromecast for the last), but Google Assistant on the Lenovo Smart Display isnt just a cobbling together of Assistants existing screen appearances. Its an entirely new interface that adds a deep new dimension to Assistant, at once showing the limitation of voice and opening up Googles AI to far more possibilities.

Due to a shipping snafu, Ive only spent a few hours with the Lenovo Smart Display, but Im comfortable in saying its my favorite assistant device, Google or otherwise. Like the Echo Show, it might be too big for some spaces, and itll certainly take some creative finagling to hide its power cord, but Lenovo has built a rare first-generation product that might actually be better than its No. 1 competitor right out of the gate.

A design thats good all over

The first thing youll notice about the Lenovo Smart Display is its funky design. While it looks fairly pedestrian from the front, with a visible speaker grille alongside the display, the backside of the device is far more interesting. Its a bit like a geometric sculpture and unlike anything Ive seen before in a smart speaker. Its equal parts functional and far-out, allowing the Smart Display to sit at an appropriate viewing angle without tumbling over, but also adding a cool, slimming aesthetic that I cant help but wish extended to the front.

Michael Simon/IDG The back of the Smart Display is almost cooler than the front.

The Smart Display comes in two sizes, 8 inches and 10 inches, both of which are bigger than the 7-inch Echo Show. But even with a larger screen, the Smart Display looks much more elegant than the somewhat clunky Echo Show. Thats mainly due to its orientation. Where Amazon built its speaker with the grille below the screen, Lenovos has a natural horizontal aesthetic. While the stand can technically be positioned in either portrait or landscape orientation, without an accelerometer, the screen doesnt rotate when turned, so youll be keeping it on its side, where it feels most compact.

The 8-inch display is HD quality (1280 x 800) while the 10-inch model is Full HD (1920 x 1200), so visible pixels could be an issue with the smaller device. I only tested the 10-inch Smart Display, and its 1920 x 1200 resolution might be reason enough to spring for the larger model (which costs $50 more). While your interactions with the screen will likely to be less than a minute at a time, you can use also the display as a smart picture frame while its not otherwise in use, showing a rotating set of your Google Photos pictures or curated artwork. It looks great and youll no doubt be looking at those extra pixels more often than you may think.

Michael Simon/IDG The Smart Display has a funky design that give it a playful appearance from every angle.

Elsewhere, the Smart Display has the appropriate privacy options, with a camera shut-off switch and a mute button for its 2 x 2 dual array microphones. The 8-inch model has a 10-watt amplifier powering a 1.74-inch full-range driver, and the 10-inch model uses the same amp to drive 2.0-inch full-range driver. Each speaker also has what Lenovo describes as a pair of passive tweeters. The speaker sounds surprisingly robust and moderately bassy, though the Smart Display is no match for the Google Home Max or even a Google Home paired with a good outboard speaker. And the microphones were mostly able to pick up my commands from across the room even with the music at full blast (though admittedly I had to speak quite a bit louder than I normally would). In normal situations, the Smart Display understood my "Hey Google" prompt as well as my Home.

Brains and beauty

The screen on the Smart Display doesnt just look great, it also makes Google Assistant far more useful. While most of the things it can dofetch answers, check the weather, set alarms, play music, and so onoverlap with Googles audio-only smart speakers, the visual element truly changes the way you use it and underscores how useful Google Assistant has become.

Michael Simon/IDG With Google Assistant and the Lenovo Smart Display, youll never need to consult a cookbook again.

For example, ask it to get a recipe and youll be able to see various options, scroll through to find one that looks best, and see step-by-step instructions as you cook. Or when you check on one of your smart lights, youll be able to see how bright it as and adjust the intensity and color by touching the screen rather than guessing at a percentage. The biggest benefit for most users will likely be YouTube videosespecially with the Echo Shows on-again-off-again relationship with the service (its currently off again)but the whole Assistant experience is greatly improved. There are things it can do here that simply cant be done on other devices, such as making calls using Google Duo. But even for the common things Ive already been using Google Assistant for, the Smart Display offers a greatly enhancedand frankly more pleasurableexperience.

Michael Simon/IDG Google Assistant doesnt just answer your questions on the Smart Displayit helps you discover more information on the topic.

With the visual element, Assistant doesnt need to speak so much to give you a full set of information. Ask what an allosaurus is, for example,, and itll speak a quick definition aloud, letting the screen offer up the bulk of the information. You can see a picture and some extra facts, along with a series of related terms for deeper exploring. I could see my 6-year-old son using it for hours to learn about space or dinosaurs, without fear of veering off course into a less-educational topic.

As good as Assistant on the Lenovo Smart Display is, however, it also highlights its shortcomings. Like Google Assistant in other places, you'll need to know exactly what you want to watch or listen to before searching, but the lack of a music or YouTube app to browse is more noticeable here. These arent Google Assistant-only limitations, of course, but theyre accentuated on the screen, where weve been trained to tap and swipe to find what we want.

Michael Simon/IDG Even something mundane as asking about the weather is better on the Lenovo Smart Display.

That being said, I dont think Google needs to build apps for what will soon be a whole line of smart displays from LG, JBL, and others. Rather, the results simply need to be more robust. As it stands, the UI is extremely intuitive and elegant, and too many apps and taps would surely muddy up the experience. Still, there is room for improvement: Once the Smart Display knows Im searching for a video, Id prefer that it offered a set of YouTube results, not unlike the ones it returns when I ask a question, complete with buttons for related content to help me discover new videos. As it stands, it only serves up a couple dozen videos, with no option to dig deeper. Case in point: I'm not interested in a full Chrome browser on the Smart Display, since Assistant is great at predicting where I would go next after asking a question.

But thats something that can be tweaked down the road. Googles first crack at an Assistant UI is admirable and elegant, and it sets a new standard for how an AI assistant should operate on a screen. It feels like a complete thought, and the first Google Assistant device that isnt merely an extension of the smartphone.

Should you buy a Lenovo Smart Display?

If you want a smart speaker with a screen, the decision is a whole lot tougher than it was yesterday. Unless youre fiercely loyal to Amazons Alexa ecosystem, in which case youve stopped reading this review long ago, the Lenovo Smart Display has a better screen, more attractive design, a louder speaker, and a richer user interface than the Echo Show. Its also cheaper: $200 for the 8-inch model and $250 for the 10-inch one, versus $230 for the 7-inch Echo Show.

The Amazon Echo Show doesnt just have a competitor. Theres a new leader in smart displays, and for the first time, the AI behind it isnt Alexa.Features:

Skype to Skype IMs, video and voice calls are free* over 3G or WiFi.

Make low-cost calls and SMS to mobiles or landlines from your Android smartphone or tablet.

Send pictures, videos and files to any of your contacts.

Enjoy high-quality sound when you call anyone else on Skype.

Talk face to face or show what youre seeing with front and rear-facing cameras.

Talk to your Windows Live Messenger friends on Skype. Sign into Skype with your Microsoft account and have your Messenger, Hotmail and Outlook contacts in one place.

*Operator data charges may apply. We recommend using an unlimited data plan or WiFi connection.

Due to Android restrictions, devices running Android 2.2 will only be able to use the rear-facing camera. Devices with Android 2.3 or higher will be able to use both front and rear-facing cameras.

What's New:

Easier deletion of multiple contacts

Added support for Android Auto

Bug fixes and stability improvements

General performance and reliability improvements.

Keep track of special Skype moments and your most important conversations

Manage conversations  Long tap on a contact or chat in the Recents tab to bring up a new toolbar to delete, mark as read, or mute notifications.

Save video messages  When you record or receive a memorable video message that you want to keep, just tap on it to save it to your phones photo gallery.

Enhanced search  Search for conversation content, in addition to contacts and group names.

Easier and more ways to shareBottom line: For most companies, generating $13.23 billion in quarterly revenuea 42 percent YoY increasewould be cause for celebration, but Facebook isnt like most companies. The social network missed analysts' expectations of $13.36 billion in revenue, while Q2 2018 marked its slowest ever user growth rate. All of which saw the firms share price fall 24 percent in after-hours trading.

Despite so many people already being on Facebook, daily and monthly users were up 11 percent year-over-year. However, it saw monthly user growth of just 1.54 percent in Q2, down from 3.14 percent during the previous quarter, with monthly active users now at 2.23 billion. Daily active users, meanwhile, grew by just 1.44 percent, compared to 3.42 percent last quarter.

In Europe, Facebooks number of monthly users fell for the first time, from 377 million to 376 millionthought to be a result of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The US and Canadas figures were unchanged at 241 million. The company did manage to squeeze more money out of each person, with the all-important Average Revenue per User (ARPU) increasing to $5.97.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebooks profitability will be affected as it looks to invest more in security and privacy. Company CFO, David Wehner, added that Our total revenue growth rates will continue to decelerate in the second half of 2018, and we expect our revenue growth rates to decline by high single-digit percentages from prior quarters sequentially in both Q3 and Q4.

Facebook tried to soften the blow by announcing a new metric. It said that 2.5 billion people use at least one of the companys family of appsFacebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, or Messengereach month.

Despite missing targets, it appears that scandals such as Cambridge Analytica havent severely affected Facebooks ability to make money, nor has it caused a mass exodus22 million extra people used the site each day compared to the previous quarter. But the slowdown in growth has spooked investors.Bottom line: Google is playing the role of service provider to bring in new customers through any means necessary. Offering free Wi-Fi to developing countries is the price of entry to collect ad revenue from millions of users new to having regular internet access.

As part of Google's efforts to bring more consumers to its services, the search giant has partnered with Nigerian fiber cable provider 21st Century to deliver Wi-Fi to the public. Dubbed Google Station, the internet service will be available in six different areas of the commercial capital Lagos, which includes an airport. Nigeria's Vice President Yemi Osinbajo recently met with Google CEO Sundar Pichai to discuss the planned projects.

Throughout Nigeria, less than 30 percent of the population has regular access to the internet. Despite being a large producer of oil, the revenue generated from exports has not been used to improve infrastructure enough. Internet access can even be a challenge for oil companies operating in the country. For those that do theoretically have access, internet services can be far too expensive to even be considered by many residents.

By the end of 2019, Google and local partners plan to deploy internet service to more than 200 public spaces spanning five cities. Although some may see this gesture as a move of goodwill, it is also a fairly sound investment for Google. Being the dominant service provider and implementing ads on captive portal login pages will allow for new revenue generation.

Google has shared that it will be splitting ad revenue with its local partners but has not disclosed profit splitting details. Nigeria is about to be the fifth country to make use of Google Station Wi-Fi following Thailand, Mexico, Indonesia, and India.Why it matters: Russian hackers were able to clone virtual machines located on a DNC cloud server. Google's Shielded VMs would prevent such an attack by only allowing VMs to run if they match a cryptographically set baseline. Such security measures also makes Google a lot more competitive with the likes of Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure.

Google is unveiling a new feature of the Google Cloud Platform that looks to protect virtual machines (VMs) from rootkit installations or any kind of persistent malware. This new feature is called "Shielded VMs" and rolling out in beta now.

The way it works is that a cryptographically protected baseline is created of the original VM image. The encryption keys are stored using a combination of Secure Boot and vTPM (Trusted Platform Module). These ensure that the VM only runs software that's been verified and compares new instances of the VM to previous baselines to ensure the VM hasn't been tampered with. This also prevents "snap-shot" attacks that try to duplicate VMs in order to steal the data.

Chris Vickery, the director of cyber risk research at security firm Upguard, spoke with Ars Technica about the how human errors and misconfiguration can leave systems vulnerable:

"A more common situation would be that someone left AWS credentials in a Github repo that was exposed to the public and forgot to limit the permissions on the credentials in the first place." Once an attacker gains those credentials, they could snapshot the virtual machines "and then migrate the snapshots over to an account owned by [the attacker] for pilfering".

Apparently, Russian hackers were able to penetrate the DNC cloud servers by gaining access to a virtual machine by spear phishing administrative credentials to the VM and saving snapshots to clone elsewhere. From there, they could extract the analytics data from the virtual machine.

In addition to Shielded VMs, Google is also rolling out a feature called Binary Authorization which protects the integrity of the container environment itself. This forces signature verification of images before they're deployed. This is combined with Google's container registry vulnerability scanning that adds more security validation before environments are deployed.The world of Harry Potter teaches children a lot of things, and thanks to startup Kano, that will now include coding to allow kids to make their own wands.

The Harry Potter Kano Coding Kit may not enable the spells found in the books, but it will teach children a different kind of magic that they will hopefully nurture as they grow older.

The Harry Potter Kano Coding Kit: Here's What It Offers

Kano revealed the Harry Potter Kano Coding Kit, a system that looks to combine the magical franchise with coding education for children.

The Harry Potter kit by Kano comes with a build-it-yourself magic wand that features electronic sensors, namely a gyroscope, magnetometer, and accelerometer, to grant it magical powers. The wand itself is easy to assemble, with just a small computer needing to be inserted into its base.

The wand interacts with coding content on tablets powered by iOS or Android and computers running Windows and Mac. Kids will be able to create codes associated with wand movements, such as making owls appear by lifting the wand and ringing a bell by twisting it.

Switching out magic words for lines of code with the Harry Potter Kano Coding Kit will not be as complicated as the original Kano Computer Kit. This should make it more accessible as a tool to teach younger kids how to code.

What's The Point Of Coding Kits For Kids?

Similar to other programmable electronic toys, the Harry Potter Kano Coding Kit looks to teach the basic concepts of coding for children. The Harry Potter-themed app offers a graphical interface where magical spells are represented as virtual blocks of code that can be combined and edited to complete a variety of challenges.

Children are not limited to the 70 challenges included in the kit's app, though. It also features a sandbox mode where kids will be able to apply what they learned to create spells of their own. They will then be able to upload their projects to Kano World, where young coders are allowed to share their work, as well as download them to try out new programs.

The Harry Potter Kano Coding Kit makes learning JavaScript simple and fun for children so that they will pick up a skill that will be very useful as the world moves further into a digital age.

Preorders are now open for the Harry Potter Kano Coding Kit, which is being sold at $99.99 each. Wannabe wizards will not have to wait long to start learning how to create magic spells, as the kit will start shipping on Oct. 1.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.A newly described species of dinosaur discovered in China has challenged theories about the evolution of some of the largest creatures that ever walked on land.

In a study published in the Nature Communications, researchers reported of a new Chinese species of sauropod that raises questions on theories about the history of the long-necked dinosaurs.

Amazing Dragon Of Lingwu

The discovery of the creature named Lingwulong shenqi, which means the "amazing dragon of Lingwu," suggests that sauropods emerged about 15 million years earlier than previously believed.

Xing Xu, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, and colleagues excavated the fossils in several quarries on the slope of a hill near Ciyaopu in the city of Lingwu. A local farmer named Ma Yun found several fragmented fossils on the hillside and sent these to local officials, which prompted an investigation. Paleontologists eventually excavated bones from at least eight Lingwulong individuals.

Neosauropod

The anatomical traits of Lingwulong suggest it is the earliest known advanced member of the sauropod family, and different from the primitive sauropods that first emerged tens of millions of years earlier.

The newly-found dinosaur was a neosauropod, a group of long-necked herbivores that include the Brontosaurus and Diplodocus.

Rewriting The History Of Sauropods

Research earlier suggested that the neosauropod thrived in the late Jurassic period between 163 million and 145 million years ago but researchers estimate the Lingwulong shenqi fossils were 174 million years old. This suggests that the neosauropods were roaming Pangea much earlier in the Middle Jurassic period.

"This type of dinosaur is from the Middle Jurassic and at that age it is unexpected, as for this lineage of sauropods we only have fossils from later deposits," said Xu. "That means a whole group of different sauropod lineages must have appeared on the planet earlier than we thought."

The fossils also provided evidence that these long-necked dinosaurs were in East Asia much earlier than previously thought when Pangea was still a large landmass.

"This discovery has major implications for calibrating the timing of neosauropod diversification, provides the first insight into a previously hidden aspect of their evolutionary history, and questions East Asia's hypothesized status as an isolated island continent during the Jurassic," Xing Xu and colleagues wrote in their study.

The researchers that the Lingwulong is also the first ever neosauropod from Asia. Scientists thought for a long time that these species did not get into Asia during the Jurassic period.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.All the dust on Mars can potentially create a 39-feet-thick layer around the Red Planet, and researchers have discovered where it is coming from.

A team of experts at Johns Hopkins University has found that all the dust that is swirling around the planet in a global dust storm that is expected to last until autumn on Earth's northern hemisphere comes from a single geological formation.

The Medusae Fossae Formation, an easily eroded volcanic deposit that extends more than 3,000 miles along the Martian equator is responsible for all the dust swirling around the planet right now.

Volcanic Deposit Responsible For Martian Dust

In a new paper published in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers report that the dust on the surface of Mars is a chemical match to that found on Medusae Fossae.

The formation, which sits in the highland-lowland boundary near the Tharsis and Elysium volcanic areas, was once one-half the size of the United States. However, the Martian winds blowing through the surface of the planet have eroded the Medusae Fossae to around 20 percent. Even then, the formation is still the largest volcanic deposit known to man in the solar system.

Kevin Lewis, assistant professor of Earth and planetary science at JHU and study co-author, says that if it were not for Medusae Fossae, Mars would not be so dusty. Lewis adds that the formation has been continuously eroding for 4 billion years and, essentially, polluting the planet.

Mars is currently experiencing a planet-wide dust storm that has been raging since June. The dust storm has darkened the skies over NASA's Curiosity rover, while Opportunity has gone into hibernation until the dust storm subsides, to keep the fine powdery dust particles from infiltrating instruments and solar panels needed to provide power.

How Does Dust Form On Mars?

On Earth, dust forms when wind, water, ice, volcanoes, meteor impacts, and other forces of nature erode soft rock formations.

However, it is unlikely that streams of water and glaciers have created enormous amounts of dust on Mars. Experts are also ruling out meteor impacts, even though craters are common on the Red Planet. That is because the particles created during impact are far larger and sharper than the floury grains of Martian dust.

"How does Mars make so much dust, because none of these processes are active on Mars?" says Lujendra Ojha, lead author and postdoctoral researcher at JHU.

Although these factors may have played a role, the researchers believe the Medusae Fossae is the biggest culprit of them all.

Chemical Makeup Of Martian Dust

Ojha's team looked into the chemical makeup of the dust on Mars. Data collected from the spacecraft exploring the planet report the same thing: Martian dust is rich in sulfur and chlorine and has a particular sulfur-to-chlorine ratio.

After gathering data from NASA's Odyssey orbiter, which has been circling Mars since 2001, the researchers were able to identify a part of Medusae Fossae that is rich in sulfur and chlorine.

Looking at the yardangs, or the sharp, irregularly-shaped ridges of compacts and lying on the formation, the researchers were able to calculate how much sand has been lost from Medusae Fossae.

According to their calculations, dust on Mars could be as thick as 6.5 feet up to 39 feet.

The abundance of dust particles also contributes largely to the Martian climate. Dust in the atmosphere absorbs solar radiation, which yields higher temperatures in the upper atmosphere while maintaining lower temperatures on the ground.

The contrast in temperature creates more powerful winds that lift up more dust from the surface, creating a never-ending feedback loop that has puzzled scientists to date.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite found in cat feces may give people the courage needed to start their own business, as it appears to influence risk-taking and entrepreneurial behavior.

T. Gondii Parasite And Entrepreneurship

Findings of a new study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B on Wednesday, July 25, found that people infected with the mind-controlling parasite are more likely to pursue a major in business and to have started their own business compared with non-infected people.

Study researcher Stefanie Johnson, from the University of Colorado, and colleagues said that the parasite could be reducing people's fear of failure. T. gondii is known to make mice unafraid of cats.

For their study, Johnson and colleagues tested the presence of T. gondii antibodies in nearly 1,500 undergraduate students attending biology and business classes.

The results revealed that the students who tested positive for T. gondii were 1.4 times more likely to be a business major compared with those who were not infected. Of business major students, those who tested positive were also found to be 1.7 times more likely to focus on management and entrepreneurship.

The researchers also collected saliva samples from nearly 200 people who attended entrepreneurship events. They found that those who tested positive for the parasite were 1.8 times more likely to have started their own company.

Johnson and colleagues likewise attempted to test for connections between the parasite and entrepreneurship on the global level.

They analyzed the rate of infection in 42 countries relative to national surveys of entrepreneurial activities and attitudes. They found a positive correlation between presence of toxoplasmosis in the population and the rate of people engaged in business activities or have intention to launch their own business.

"While correlational, these results highlight the linkage between parasitic infection and complex human behaviours, including those relevant to business, entrepreneurship and economic productivity," the researchers wrote in their study.

Dangers Of Toxoplasmosis

Despite the seemingly positive effect of the parasite on people's entrepreneurial behavior, Toxoplasma infection can be dangerous. The parasite, for instance, can cause miscarriage and birth defects, which is why pregnant women need to stay away from cat feces.

In a 2015 study, researchers discovered that the parasite can cause mental illnesses in humans such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. A 2016 study also found a link between exposure to the parasite and uncontrollable bouts of anger. Researchers found that Toxoplasma infection is linked to altered brain chemistry that can lead to a disorder known as Intermittent Explosive Disorder.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Apple's relationship with Qualcomm is coming to a bitter end. On a recent earnings call, Qualcomm CFO George Davis confirmed that the Cupertino brand intends to drop its modems from future iPhones.

Apple will instead rely on other companies for the component going forward. While Qualcomm didn't mention Intel, it's the only other supplier of that component for Apple's smartphones.

"We believe Apple intends to solely use our competitor's modems rather than our modems in its next iPhone release," said Davis, as CNET reports. "We will continue to provide modems for Apple legacy devices."

Apple Is Ready To Drop Qualcomm

If true, it's not surprising. Earlier this July, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple will be ditching Qualcomm as the sole supplier of cellular modems following its legal fallout with the chipmaker.

Apple began using both Intel and Qualcomm modems ever since 4G networks rolled out, but the latter company has long been aggressive in claiming that its components are faster. Just recently, it showed off test speeds for the forthcoming Snapdragon 845 chip, claiming its products are superior to Intel's.

How Qualcomm Makes Money

Most of Qualcomm's profits come from licensing smartphone radios and chips to other companies, and Apple is one of its biggest customers. However, the two companies have been battling it out in court over royalty payments since 2017. Apple initially sued Qualcomm for allegedly overcharging to use its LTE modems, whereupon Qualcomm counter-sued, saying Apple actually owned it more money in royalties and that it infringed on some of its patents and shared proprietary information with rival Intel.

Qualcomm has also been attempting to get iPhone sales banned in the United States, but to no avail.

What Happens When 5G Rolls Around?

The relationship between both companies has now turned into nothing but ashes, which could significantly impact Apple once Qualcomm's 5G modems ship later this year. Intel, on the other hand, has said it won't have 5G chips until 2019. There's a chance Apple will try to cozy up to Qualcomm once it feels a little bit behind on the 5G bandwagon, although that seems highly unlikely since their formal business relationship appears to be beyond repair at this point.

Apple is also said to be exploring other components from Qualcomm it can drop, such as Bluetooth chips and Wi-Fi modems. Generally, though, Apple wants to be as independent as possible going forward. Heck, it's even rumored to be developing a proprietary chip for MacBooks.

Do you think it's wise for Apple to be dropping Qualcomm, especially in the impending arrival of true 5G? As always, if you have anything to share, feel free to sound them off in the comments section below!

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Can you catch a falling star and put it in your pocket? Chinese scientists believe this is not impossible, as they plan to capture an asteroid and bring it down to Earth.

A group of astrophysicists has proposed an ambitious plan to take over a small near-Earth asteroid and transport it to Earth.

It may sound like it came straight from a science fiction novel, but the scientists believe taking an entire asteroid could provide an ample source of minerals of industrial and economic importance.

It could also improve current research into the origins of the solar system as well as the beginnings of water and life on Earth, while reducing the threat posed by near-Earth objects.

China Plans To Catch An Asteroid

"Unlike missions to bring samples back, we aim to bring back a whole asteroid weighing several hundred tonnes, which could turn asteroids with a potential threat to Earth into usable resources," says Li Mingtao, researcher at the National Space Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Li and his team advanced the idea at a contest for future technologies held in Shenzhen, south of Guangdong Province in China.

How To Catch A Falling Star

How does one capture an asteroid, even one that is smaller than the rest? The team proposes to design a spacecraft that can wield an enormous bag that can be used to carry the asteroid as it pushes it toward Earth.

As the asteroid nears the planet, the spacecraft activates a heat shield that will reduce the asteroid's velocity. This will prevent it from burning up as it penetrates the atmosphere of the Earth.

The spacecraft will then be directed toward an area with no human settlements where it is safe to land.

Huang Wei, chief engineer at an institute at the China Academy of Space Technology of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, believes the idea can bring in new developments in space exploration.

Challenges Of Capturing An Asteroid

The plan is, of course, not without potential challenges. The first one would be finding an actual asteroid to catch. Most small asteroids are very difficult to detect unless they come very, very close to Earth.

To address this issue, Li is collaborating with space engineers at the Qian Xuesen Laboratory of Space Technology to develop a constellation of satellites with the specific objective of finding and analyzing near-Earth objects with a diameter of 32 feet.

The team also acknowledged that they need to design a heat shield that can significantly reduce the speed of the asteroid from 7.7 miles per second to 459 feet per second.

They Plan To Bring It Back By 2034

Li and his team are currently eyeing a small asteroid around 62 million miles away. It is a little over 20 feet in diameter and likely weighs several hundred tonnes.

Before a plan to capture this object can be launched, the researchers need to know what its components are. Asteroids are rich sources of minerals, such as gold, platinum, copper, iron, and nickel.

The team hopes to launch their plan into space by 2029 and bring a small asteroid down to Earth by 2034.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Amelia Earhart's last calls for help were heard by several people around the globe, an analysis of distress calls made following her disappearance reveals.

The newest findings strengthen the theory that Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan died stranded on a small uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean.

It runs counter to the statement made by the U.S. Navy that the two died when Earhart's Lockheed Electra fell into the ocean and sank to the bottom of the sea.

Distress Calls Sent By Earhart

More than 80 years after Earhart set out on the summer of 1937 to become the first woman to circumnavigate the globe, researchers analyzing a collection of radio distress signals have found that the pilot was sending haunting pleas for help for five days after her plane disappeared from radars.

In a paper published by researchers at The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, experts say they found 57 credible radio signals out of 120 gathered from government and private radio operators.

The signals carried several messages believed to have been made by Earhart and, at times, Noonan. Ric Gillespie, director of TIGHAR, says Earhart may have been injured but Noonan was worse off.

The messages provide resounding proof for TIGHAR's theory that Earhart was stranded on Gardner Island, now Nikumaroro, a then-uninhabited island 2,600 miles off the coast of New Zealand.

They also paint a chilling picture of Earhart's last days marooned on an island, venturing out into the land for shelter during the day and going back into the plane when the tide was low to send distress calls.

"These active versus silent periods and the fact that the message changes on July 5 and starts being worried about water and then is consistently worried about water after that  there's a story there," Gillespie tells The Washington Post.

Messages Heard Around The World

When Earhart's Electra disappeared on July 2, 1937, naval authorities requested the public to listen to 3105 and 6210 kilohertz, the frequencies Earhart was using on the plane.

However, there was a problem. Earhart's radio could only send messages to within a few hundred miles, which means those who were on her frequency only heard a carrier wave but no message.

So how were military personnel and casual listeners at home able to pick up messages sent by her? Gillespie explains that the pilot's transmitter sent out high harmonic frequencies. These wavelengths bounce off the Earth's ionosphere and can travel over great distances.

The downside, however, is that there is no guarantee that they can send clear messages. Those who heard Earhart's distress calls just so happened to turn on the radio at the right time.

What Happened To Amelia Earhart?

The analysis creates the most detailed chronology of events that happened after Earhart's plane crashed.

On July 2, just hours after the crash, professional operators heading the search heard a voice they thought was Earhart's. When they asked her to respond with dashes to confirm her identity, the response was picked up by three stations, one of which heard the word "Earhart."

On the second call made on the night of the same day, a housewife from Amarillo, Texas, heard that they were "down on an uncharted island  small, uninhabited." She also heard that Noonan was injured and needed medical help right away.

Another woman from Ashland, Kentucky, also heard that they were "down in ocean" and "on or near a little island" on the same night. She also heard mentions of a storm, blowing winds, and that the plane was running out of gas. "Will have to get out of here. We can't stay here long" was what she heard.

On July 3, operators heard a male voice, suggesting that Noonan was rational. The next day, a boy from Wyoming heard that ship was on a reef. A station on Howland Island in the Pacific heard a woman's voice saying "tell husband all right," also on July 4.

On July 5, a U.S. Navy station in Hawaii received the Morse Code "281 North Howland Call KHAQQ Beyond North Don't Hold With Us Much Longer Above Water Shut Off."

On the same day, a girl from St. Petersburg, Florida, heard Earhart and Noonan calling for help. Noonan had clearly become irrational, as he was heard yelling and complaining about his head. Earhart was heard saying that the plane was starting to slip off the reef.

The last messages were sent in the wee hours of July 7, 1937. A listener from St. Johns, New Brunswick, heard the following: "Can you read me? Can you read me? This is Amelia Earhart. This is Amelia Earhart. Please come in."

Earhart mentioned her coordinates, but the listener later lost them. The pilot also said that Noonan was badly hurt and they could not hold on much longer. Almost all of the messages were traced to Gardner Island.

By six o'clock the following morning, the researchers believe the water had infiltrated the cabin. On July 9, U.S. Navy planes scoured the area above Gardner Island but found no signs of a plane crash. Gillespie says the plane sank to the seabed sometime between the last distress call on July 7 and July 9.

In 1940, skeletons were unearthed on Gardner Island, providing perhaps the most solid piece of evidence that Earhart died a castaway. Richard Jantz, an expert in skeletal biology at the University of Tennessee, analyzed one of the skeletons and believes it is Earhart's.

Photo: Nationaal Archief | Flickr

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Google, after claiming that none of its employees have been victimized by a phishing attack since early 2017 after they started using physical security keys, will soon start selling its own version of the cybersecurity device.

Phishing attacks attempt to trick users into giving up sensitive information such as log-in credentials. The upcoming Titan Security Key will look to provide users with a nearly unbreakable wall against such attacks, similar to the protection that Google employees have received.

Physical Security Keys Protect Google Employees From Phishing

No Google employee has fallen prey to phishing attacks since early 2017, when the company started to require them to use physical security keys. The devices, which may be purchased for as cheap as $20, offer an alternative approach to two-factor authentication.

Two-factor authentication protects users from phishing attacks by requiring two sets of information to log in to an account. While a hacker may be able to steal a user's password, the second code, usually sent to the user's smartphone, is harder to acquire. It is possible to intercept the codes sent through SMS, though, so physical security keys are the more secure version. The devices need to be plugged in to the computer where users are logging in to their account.

According to Google, none of its more than 85,000 workers have seen their information compromised by a phishing attack in more than a year. The company apparently loves physical security keys so much that it will soon start selling its own.

Google Titan Security Key Coming Soon

The Titan Security Key, Google's version of the physical security key, will be available in two models, namely as a USB stick and as a Bluetooth device. Google will start selling the device through its online store over the next few months, with price tags of $50 for a bundle featuring both USB and Bluetooth models or about $20 to $25 each.

"We're very sure of the quality of the security," said Google product manager for identity and security Christiaan Brand." We're very sure of how we store secrets and how hard it would be for an attacker to come in and blow the security up."

The Google Titan Security Key will be an alternative to Yubico's products, which Google employees have been using. However, in a blog post, Yubico CEO Stina Ehrensvard criticized Google's decision to launch a Bluetooth model for the Titan Security Key.

Ehrensvard said that Yubico will welcome all competitors in the security key industry but noted that it has decided not to launch a Bluetooth product because it does not meet the company's security standards.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Although California has received an "all-clear" from government agencies looking into Russian attempts to hack into voting data for states across the nation, safe today doesn't mean safe tomorrow, a leading computer security expert warned.



"The bottom line is, be nervous," said Matt Bishop, a UC Davis computer science professor who specializes in computer security.



California has been pushing hard to make its voting systems more secure and more efficient since Florida's famous "hanging chad" election of 2000. That was the presidential election in which the final result was delayed for more than a month while partisans for Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore battled in courts and county election offices over how  or even whether  thousands of contested ballots in Florida should be counted.



That was the biggest election controversy of modern times  until Russia's interference with the 2016 presidential campaign.



In September 2017, the Department of Homeland Security warned election officials in California and 20 other states that Russian hackers had tried to break into their voting systems during the campaign.



Earlier this month, Robert Mueller, the special counsel leading a probe into the Russian interference, indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers and said they had hacked into one state's registration database. The defendants "stole information related to approximately 500,000 voters, including names, addresses, partial Social Security numbers, dates of birth and driver's license numbers," according to the indictment.



"There is no evidence of a breach of California's election systems in 2016," Secretary of State Alex Padilla said in an email Monday. "Mueller's indictment, however, is a stark reminder that cyberthreats to our elections are very real  and they won't be going away."



There's no evidence that Russian tampering altered any votes in 2016. Doing so would be difficult because of security measures that are standard in California and most of the nation.



San Francisco's system is typical, said John Arntz, the city's elections chief. There's an "air gap" in the electronic voting machines and the equipment that tallies the votes, he said.



Those machines "are never connected to the Internet," Arntz said. "The way the system is set up, if someone physically hacked into one voting machine, they couldn't affect the other machines, because they're not connected. And even then, they'd have to just about destroy the machine to hack in."



California has another safeguard, which Arntz called "the ultimate fail-safe": Since 2006, all touch-screen voting systems in the state have had to provide a paper receipt that confirms the electronic totals.



About a dozen states allow electronic voting without requiring a paper trail audit.



That requirement "has been one of the most talked about election cybersecurity reforms at the national level," Padilla said. "But California has required a voter-verified paper audit trail for every vote for over a decade."



While the prospect of outside groups changing individual ballots or flipping final vote totals are the flashiest election security issues, that's far from the only damage hackers can cause, said Bishop, the UC Davis computer science professor. He has been involved in officially sanctioned efforts to break into voting systems in California and other states.



For example, the one successful Russian hacking effort cited in Mueller's indictment is believed to have involved voter registration data in Illinois, officials in that state said. California and many other states allow residents to register to vote electronically, and those databases must be connected to the Internet, where hackers lurk.



"The leak of the voter registration data is bad," Bishop said. "But what's really bad is if you can get in there and change things."



Social Security and driver's license numbers are a potential treasure trove for identity thieves. But hackers looking to disrupt an election could change addresses, misspell names, flip party registrations or take dozens of other actions that could slow voting to a crawl.



"Who knows what they could do?" Bishop said. "Hackers could even scrub out the names of voters entirely, effectively disenfranchising them."



Concern about hacking is one of the most important reasons for the slow progress of efforts to move toward a system in which voters could cast their ballots over their smart phones, laptops or tablets via the Internet. Computer security experts like Bishop and David Dill of Stanford University argue that the potential problems far outweigh any benefits.



"Computers are very complicated things and there's no way with any reasonable amount of resources that you can guarantee that the software and hardware are bug-free and that they haven't been maliciously attacked," Dill, who also is a director of the nonprofit election security group VerifiedVoting.org, said in a 2016 article. "From that perspective, looking at a system that relies on the perfectibility of computers is a really bad idea."



State election systems aren't the only concern. With only a handful of companies providing the bulk of the country's voting machines and software, hacker attacks on those vendors could endanger systems used across the country, Bishop said.



Last week, for example, Election Systems and Software, one of the nation's largest manufacturers of voting machines, revealed that for a time in the 2000s, it sold election management systems equipped with remote access software that allowed its technicians to connect to the machines via the Internet.



But if the technicians can get in electronically, so can hackers.



Since 2016, California has been working to strengthen its voting information system in advance of this year's elections, Padilla said.



"We conducted an agencywide security audit, replaced obsolete devices, enhanced security of our servers and upgraded firewalls and applied security patches," he said. "We have also strengthened agency procedures related to security, including increased 24/7 monitoring and alert capabilities and implementing additional security tools to detect and prevent malware and viruses."



The state also must certify any voting system before it can be sold in California, which means intensive testing and even "red team" security testing, with experts trying to hack in, Padilla said. San Francisco is among the counties looking to replace outdated machines.



The most important security measure, however, could be California's growing shift from electronic voting to vote-by-mail, where every vote is cast on an old-school paper ballot.



In the June primary, more than two-thirds of the votes were cast on mail ballots. That number will only grow as more counties sign on to a state program that calls for providing every voter with a mail ballot, which eliminates any concerns about the security of the electronic voting machines used at polling places.



But even if every possible measure is taken to protect the state's elections, there are no guarantees, Bishop admitted. If there's corruption or incompetence, all bets are off.



"There is no such thing as absolute security," he said.



(c)2018 The San Francisco Chronicle. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.







The Biden administration, the U.S. embassy in Nicaragua, and the Organization of American States have launched a campaign to delegitimize the electoral process. | Read MoreThe wounds of Charity Hospital's closure 13 years ago were still fresh, and frustration and skepticism over what many described as a secretive planning process were common themes at a meeting Wednesday night aimed at creating a master plan for the neighborhood surrounding the shuttered building.

The meeting  the first of two aimed at gathering input into plans for a proposed "Spirit of Charity Innovation District" to revitalize the rundown area  offered the dozens who attended a chance to air complaints about problems facing the whole city, including a lack of affordable housing, inequitable economic development and barriers to transportation.

But the session also served to highlight criticism of the process to pick a private firm to redevelop Charity itself, as well as distrust that whatever plan for it is eventually adopted will do anything to alleviate those citywide ills.

Charity was "a place designated to serve the most vulnerable communities, and that needs to be the place where this process is starting from," housing advocate Rebecca Levy said.

Two parallel processes are moving forward. The LSU Real Estate and Facilities Foundation, which the state chose to oversee this attempt at redeveloping Charity, is nearing the home stretch of picking a firm to put the giant building back into use.

The LSU Real Estate and Facilities Foundation has selected three developers  the same groups that were picked in an earlier attempt to redevelop Charity  as finalists and asked them to submit proposals by Aug. 20. Those will be evaluated by a committee made up of state Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne and officials from LSU, its foundations and medical schools.

On Thursday, the foundation released portions of the submissions from the three firms that landed them on the finalist list. Three other firms also applied, though their names and submissions were not released.

The documents released are essentially resumes for the development firms. They only hint in general terms at what their final proposals will look like, offering no details about what mix of uses might eventually fill the former hospital building.

At the same time, the Greater New Orleans Foundation is leading the master planning process for the district around Charity.

The second process was supposed to be the focus of Wednesday night's meeting, but many of those present wanted to talk about the other one.

"We hope the (second) process gives the (chosen) developer a clear sense of how passionate the people of New Orleans and the region are about Charity Hospital, so as they're thinking about plans they continue to have" its original mission in mind, said Greater New Orleans Foundation President and CEO Andy Kopplin, who is leading the neighborhood planning effort.

Though representatives of the potential developers and LSU were at the meeting, Kopplin emphasized that the session was not initially intended to touch on the future of Charity itself.

"We dont have authority over anything," he said. "We dont own the building. Were not the city. Were not the state. Were not LSU."

However, organizers decided to designate one of several round tables specifically for people who wanted to share concerns about what will happen to the storied building.

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"Folks are really feeling it's difficult to plan a district around an asset as big as Charity Hospital without knowing what it's going to be used for," said Janet Hays, a longtime critic of the planning process for Charity.

Speaking for the group focused on the building, Hays ticked off a list of concerns: that the public has been left out of the decision-making process, that the building and district may end up as luxury housing, and that "what's happening is a done deal."

"We want to make sure the public benefits (to developers) dont outweigh the benefits to the public," she said.

Hays' group proposed using Charity for providing services to the homeless and as a mental health center, an idea she pushed the last time state officials were considering how to redevelop the site.

Others, including Levy, criticized the idea of any for-profit development at Charity.

Ultimately, the aim of the effort being led by Kopplin is twofold: to create a master plan for the mainly rundown blocks surrounding the former hospital and to serve as a vehicle for tax-increment financing that could redirect tax revenues back into the district, for the redevelopment of Charity or other purposes.

Both the master plan and the financing mechanism would identify needs  such as affordable housing, transportation and jobs  and earmark portions of the district's revenue stream for specific purposes, Kopplin said.

Charity was closed after its basement flooded during Hurricane Katrina. Rather than reopen the building, state officials decided to build a new hospital  University Medical Center  on the other side of South Claiborne Avenue.

Several proposals to redevelop the 1 million-square-foot building have been made since then, including a suggestion to move City Hall and Civil District Court into the building, but none has come to fruition.

A second meeting on the proposed "innovation district" will be held on Aug. 10, and organizers said they would likely have more detailed information then. In the meantime, they'll meet with leaders of businesses and institutions in the area to discuss what should be in the plan.

A two-day meeting about the issue of homelessness in the area has also been planned for September.

In addition, canvassers have been sent out around the downtown area to survey people and get their thoughts, and a storefront on Elk Place has been set up for those who want to walk in and offer their views.Under its five chief executives since its origins as a three-man Sydney outpost of the UK investment bank Hill Samuel in 1969, the distinguishing characteristic of Macquarie Group has been its ability to rapidly adapt and change with evolving circumstances.

Maintaining the unique dynamism of the Macquarie Model is a formidable challenge for its next chief executive, Shemara Wikramanayake.

Shemara Wikramanayakes division has been the best performing of Macquarie's business. Credit:Louis Douvis

But then Wikramanayake is a formidable woman, or at least her achievements are. Like her predecessors, shes a quiet, modest and low-profile  but high-achieving  executive.

One of the first things outgoing CEO Nicholas Moore did when he was appointed to that post a decade ago was to create a funds management group within Macquarie. To head that group he chose Wikramanayake, then the New York-based head of Macquaries North American infrastructure and private equity funds business.Carla D'Addesi was holidaying on the Amalfi Coast when she heard that her favourite clothing line would be closing.

The mother of three,who has more than a dozen pieces by Ivanka Trump in her closet, immediately thought: It's time to start shopping.

"As soon as we get back, I'm going to go out and get a few more pieces," said D'Addesi, 46, a conservative political commentator who says she likes the brand for both political and fashion reasons. "That is, if everything isn't already sold out."

Ivanka Trump has announced she will close her fashion label to focus on her political work. Credit:AP

It was already difficult to find Ivanka Trump fashion because the brand has lost several retailers in recent years. Now shoppers say they'll have to search even harder. Ivanka Trump announced on Tuesday that she is abruptly shutting down her 11-year-old brand to focus on her work in Washington.A shonky car dealer who traded without a licence and withheld more than a million dollars from his customers will spend up to three years in jail.

Mathew David Hale, the director of Gasoline Machine  trading as Gasoline Motor Co  had pleaded guilty to 12 counts of fraud, three counts of larceny and one count of trading without a motor vehicle trader's licence. He was sentenced in the Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday and was given a 20-month non-parole period.

His prosecution was the culmination of a two-year joint investigation between NSW Police and NSW Fair Trading, Minister for Better Regulation Matt Kean said in a statement.

In 2016, Fair Trading issued a public warning about Hale "after a huge number of complaints were received about his dodgy dealings", Mr Kean said.One staffer was so drunk they ''had to be looked after by another member of staff and then taken home by taxi'', according to an event report also obtained under Freedom of Information laws.

The museum has denied allegations made in NSW Parliament by Mr Borsak that several prominent museum staff were discovered ''intoxicated, drinking Moet & Chandon in the presence of a white powder''.

But it is the government's need to push on with the $1.1 billion capital works project and manage construction and redevelopment on three sites in Ultimo, Parramatta and Castle Hill, that is likely to have played a major factor in Thursday's announcement.

President of the MAAS Trust, Prof Barney Glover, paid tribute to Ms Merrillees for her outstanding leadership and her curatorial skills. ''Making this decision now allows us the time to find the best candidate who can manage this major new cultural infrastructure project through to implementation,'' he said.

Ms Merrillees has championed fashion and design at the museum, and was successful in securing the donation of Akira Isogawa's design collection. She was director of curatorial, collections and exhibitions at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences before her appointment as overall museum director.Tim Wardle wants you to know as little as possible about his twisty new documentary.

"The hardest thing about publicity is that it's a weird paradox: I need to promote the film, but the more cold people go in, the better," Wardle says of Three Identical Strangers, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January and comes to the Melbourne International Film Festival next week. "It's really hard to sell this film without giving away too much."

L-R: Eddy Galland, David Kellman and Bobby Shafran learned at age 19 that they had been separated at birth. Credit:AP

That more people don't already know the bizarre true story behind Strangers is surprising in itself. The documentary follows Robert Shafran who, in 1980 at age 19, went to his first day at college where he was repeatedly mistaken for another student, Eddy Galland. He contacted Galland, only to find that both were adopted, shared the same July birthday, and were actually identical twins.

From there, the saga only gets crazier. After reading a newspaper article about the brothers and seeing their striking resemblance to himself, David Kellman reached out to Galland's mother to say that he might be their triplet. Indeed, he was adopted from the same Louise Wise Adoption Agency in New York. A media circus ensued.Hugo Weaving isn't the star of Patrick Melrose (BBC First, Mondays 9.30pm), but as the charming and viciously cruel father of the titular character he looms over everything that happens across its five episodes.

Based on the novels of Edward St Aubyn, the series is every bit as dark and funny and disturbing as the books. In fact, it is faithful to its source in all but one respect: the first two episodes reverse the order of the first two books.

The reason for that is clear. In Bad News (episode one, book two), Patrick (Benedict Cumberbatch) flies to New York to view the body of his deceased father. His visit becomes a blackly hilarious series of encounters with alcohol, heroin, Qaaludes and knife-wielding street hustlers, all of it fuelled by rage at himself and at the old man whose ashes he flies home with.

In Never Mind (episode two, book one) Cumberbatch barely appears other than in a couple of fleeting flash-forwards. Not the best way into a series that he stamps as his own with a brilliant performance that ranges from pitiable to despicable to heroic, with a whole bunch of stops in between.From helping to affect national change through the marriage equality vote to giving a hand up to some of the community's most vulnerable - domestic violence survivors - the Snow family of Canberra has been there and has been rewarded for their efforts.

The Snow Foundation and the Tom Snow and Brooke Horne Family Trust were both honoured with awards at the 2018 Australian Philanthropy Awards presented at the Sydney Opera House on Thursday night.

Miner Andrew Forrest and his wife Nicole received the nights top honour, the Philanthropy Leader of the Year Award.

"Accidential activists'': Canberra husbands Brooke Horne and Tom Snow dedicated three years of their lives to the marriage equality campaign Credit:Janie Barrett

Canberra couple Tom Snow and Brooke Horne won the the Award for Best Large Grant for their seed funding of what became the Equality Campaign and contributed to almost 62 per cent of Australians voting last November to legalise same-sex marriage. Their initial contribution led to nearly $20 million being raised by cash and in-kind donations for the "yes'' campaign. Most of the more than 10,000 cash donations were from the grassroots, ordinary men and women who wanted all citizens treated equally in the marriage debate, Mr Snow said.A former Sydney restaurateur has been jailed for at least nine years for ordering the 1990 murder of his wife who was repeatedly stabbed in their family home.

Mark Caleo, now 55, was found guilty in April of soliciting the murder of Rita Caleo, 39, who was stabbed 23 times at a Double Bay townhouse in August 1990.

Former Kings Cross bouncer Alani Afu, 51, was found guilty of carrying out the murder. He was paid at least $10,000 and allowed to keep the jewellery from the home, taken in an attempt to make the crime look like a robbery gone wrong.

Mark Caleo will spend at least nine years behind bars. Credit:AAP

In the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday, Justice Robert Allan Hulme jailed Caleo for 12 years with a non-parole period of nine years, while Afu was sentenced to 20 years behind bars with a non-parole period of 15 years.Early-morning construction work has prompted hundreds of residents to call for Brisbanes construction hours times to be reviewed.

Woolloongabba resident Leah Govorko launched a petition, to be submitted to Brisbane City Council, which argued the construction start time of 6.30am was too early and needed to be pushed back to a later time.

In Brisbane construction work can be done from 6.30am to 6.30pm Monday to Saturday. Credit:Michelle Smith

Construction noise can be extreme: blasting of horns, dropping of materials from cranes and from scaffolds, concrete cutting, all creating massive noise levels or sometimes vibrating levels, Ms Govorko said as part of her petition submission.

The high and continuous noise levels generated by construction works can affect sleep, concentration, and mental and physical health among residents and workers.Fake online doctors are believed to be targeting international students after 18 students were expelled from the University of Melbourne this year for trying to use a false medical certificate.

The university's student union believes students are often legitimately ill, but struggle to get an appointment or afford medical fees.

They ask for help on online forums including Reddit, Yeeyi, Baidu and WeChat and are then targeted by people pretending to be doctors.

The families of international students often make significant financial sacrifices to send them overseas. Credit:Simon Schluter

The number of students requesting legal help from the University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU) after being busted with forged documents jumped from eight cases in 2014 to 21 in the first half of 2018.A 45-year-old man has been arrested for an alleged indecent assault against a teenage girl at a Perth cinema.

Police will allege the man sat next to one of two teenage girls attending a cinema in Midland, and as the movie started he allegedly indecently assaulted her.

He was charged with aggravated dealing with a child over 13 and under 16 years, and is due to appear before Midland Magistrates Court next month.

Police said the man spoke to several other girls as he left the cinema, and officers want to contact anyone he approached.

Anyone with any information relating to this incident is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report online at www.crimestopperswa.com.The damage bill for Greenough Regional Prison could be in the millions following this weeks riot, according to WA Premier Mark McGowan.

WA Police have since released images of the damage done to the prison during the incident, which saw 10 inmates escape the facility during the chaos on Tuesday evening.

The entrance to the prison.

Mr McGowan said the damage the inmates caused would likely cost the state millions, and was due to appalling behaviour.

There was smoke damage, there was graffiti, there were fences knocked over - there was an extraordinary level of damage caused by the prisoners there.The former Northern Territory chief minister who was instrumental in legalising voluntary euthanasia has warned it could take years to lift restrictions on the territories if the latest push to repeal Andrews Bill falls over.

Marshall Perron has also urged the ACT's parliament to adjourn while the Senate debates restoring the territory's right to make laws on assisted dying next month, and head across to Parliament House to shake some trees.

Former Northern Territory Chief Minister Marshall Perron. Credit:Brendan Esposito

Speaking at an ACT parliamentary hearing on end-of-life choices on Thursday, the former Country Liberal party politician said the elephant in the room was the Euthanasia Laws Act 1997, which nullified his voluntary assisted dying scheme and knocked on the head an attempt by the ACT's parliament to introduce one too.

The private member's bill from Senator David Leyonhjelm is the latest in a series of attempts over the last decade to give the ACT and Northern Territory back the power to legalise euthanasia.Not since Paul Keating has Australia produced a political leader capable of the same breadth of fiery partisan invective, leavened by exhaustive precise policy arguments, which gives way to genuinely poignant oratory of emotional depth and poetic cadence comparable to Bevan in his pomp.

A weary electorate decided that, despite his epic defiance of Hitler, Churchill was not the man to lead them into the "broad sunlit uplands" that he had promised as the fruits of victory. In May 1945 Bevan memorably lampooned the government: This land is made mainly of coal and surrounded by fish. Only an organisational genius could produce a shortage of coal and fish at the same time.

Bevan was instrumental in the establishment of the National Health Service, which, despite its manifold bureaucratic problems, has provided accessible healthcare to millions of Britons and been fundamental to the social safety net promised by Clement Attlee, who replaced Winston Churchill in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War.

The British Labour firebrand Aneurin (Nye) Bevan was a compelling and witty orator. He possessed an acerbic wit and passion derived from his background in the humble coal-mining heartland of Wales. He was a democratic socialist of the old school, who loathed the privilege represented by the Tory party.

To paraphrase Bevan, it would require peculiar genius for Bill Shorten to forfeit two Labor seats to an unpopular, divided and divisive government this Saturday. Oppositions simply do not lose byelections to governments, especially one as riven by deep personality and policy divisions as this one. Should Labor lose Longman in Queensland, alone, it will have serious ramifications for the party. A loss there, coupled with defeat in Braddon, would almost certainly be the harbinger of defeat at the next general election and sound the death knell of Shortens leadership.

When I speculated in January, that I thought Malcolm Turnbull had Bill Shortens measure, I was roundly ridiculed. While Labor may yet retain both Longman and Braddon, it is clear that the political momentum has shifted away from Labor. Shortens personal standing in the polls renders him almost unelectable. And that is a term that I rarely employ, as in major elections where government has changed hands, the incumbent prime minister has often retained personal ascendancy over their opponent. It is the mystique of incumbency.

But the deficit facing Shorten is enormous and growing. It also seems to be deflating his partys numbers as well. Labor still leads the government in all reputable polls, though, by a margin that would probably evaporate as voters confront the stark choice of Shorten as prime minister, as the election looms. This prediction gives me no joy. I actually commend Shorten and his shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, for confronting the growing inequality in Australia, which is a long-term threat to the viability of our political system.

Bill Shorten and Chris Bowen have confronted inequality in Australia. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Australias democracy and harmony have been built on social mobility and universal service provision. The age of disruption characterised by automation and the relocation of manual jobs to developing nations is emasculating swathes of manual and semi-skilled workers. Our democratic compact has been underpinned by an implicit expectation of rising living standards over the long term despite occasional recessions and aspirations of bequeathing higher hopes to the next generation. Rather than embarking on the low road of racially coding messages and pitting taxpayers against tax recipients, Labor are tackling the roots of job insecurity and the massive power imbalance between labour and capital that marginalises the many while enriching the few.New Zealand gang Mongrel Mob will be outlawed in Queensland, Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath has told estimates hearings.

Ms D'Ath said the gang would be declared an identified organisation, with the declaration to be approved by Governor in Council on Thursday.

The Mongrel Mob has had an increasing presence in Queensland.

She said the gang was described as one of the most fearsome in the world.

"The police commissioner has advised there is evidence of Mongrel Mob activity in Queensland and we are acting to prevent it from establishing a foothold in the state," Ms D'Ath said.Thousands of inmates have tested positive to drugs in Queensland's prisons over the past year, with urine tests detecting drugs such as amphetamines, cocaine, methadone, marijuana and ecstasy.

Thousands of positive drug tests were recorded in the past year in prisons.

The results were detailed in an answer to a question on notice tabled during Queensland estimates hearings.

The prescription drug buprenorphine, taken as a replacement in the treatment of heroin and methadone dependence, was the most popular behind bars, with more than 1000 positive tests in the past year.

Corrective Services Minister Mark Ryan said targeted drug testing was conducted based on intelligence or obvious physical symptoms, with prisoners who previously returned a positive result increasingly targeted.The head of the government agency responsible for managing the financial affairs of vulnerable Victorians has been sacked for allegedly misusing public funds.

An investigation has substantiated multiple conflict of interest allegations against State Trustees chief executive Craig Dent.

The board of State Trustees will now refer the allegations against Mr Dent to the Independent Broad-Based Anti-Corruption Commission, the states corruption watchdog.

Craig Dent has denied any wrongdoing and says he will challenge his dismissal.

McDonald Murholme principal lawyer Andrew Jewell said his client denied the allegations and would challenge his dismissal.Ankara: A powerful commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards has told Donald Trump to address any threats against Tehran directly to him, and mocked the US President for using the language of "night clubs and gambling halls".

The comments by Major-General Qassem Soleimani, who heads the Quds Force of the Guards, were the latest salvo in a war of words between the two countries.

"As a soldier, it is my duty to respond to your threats ... If you want to use the language of threat ... talk to me, not to the President [Hassan Rouhani]. It is not in our President's dignity to respond to you," Soleimani was quoted as saying by Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Soleimani's message was in essence a warning to the United States to stop threatening Iran with war or risk exposing itself to an Iranian response.London: Mary Ellis, a pioneering aviator and one of Britain's last surviving World War II female pilots, who overcame public disapproval to fly hundreds of Spitfires and heavy bombers to the front lines, died Wednesday at her home on the Isle of Wight. She was 101.

Her death was confirmed by the Royal Air Force.

RAF Veteran World War II pilot Mary Ellis posing with a Spitfire at Biggin Hill Airfield, England. Credit:AP

Ellis was one of the last two living members of the Air Transport Auxiliary, or ATA, which has since disbanded. She alone ferried 400 Spitfires and 76 other kinds of aircraft to airfields during the war.

She joined the ATA in 1941, a year after Britain allowed women to fly military aircraft, but they were still prohibited from involvement in combat missions.Another Trump Win? President Eases Car Tariff Threat as U.S., EU Launch Talks to Quell Trade Tensions

LEARN MORE: Trump, EU envoy reach trade agreement to stave off car tariffs

Washington DC July 26, 2018; The AIADA newsletter reported that in what the EU chief called a "major concession," U.S. President Donald Trump agreed on Wednesday to refrain from imposing car tariffs while the two sides launch negotiations to cut other trade barriers, easing the threat of a transatlantic trade war, reports Automotive News.

After a meeting at the White House, Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the talks would also seek to "resolve" U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum and Europe's retaliatory duties - marking a step back from Trump's signature import protections for American metals producers.

Europe has agreed to increase purchases of U.S. liquefied natural gas and lower trade barriers to American soybeans, aiding U.S. farmers and the energy sector, Trump said. AIADA responded to the news with optimism. "AIADA is pleased to see positive discussions between President Trump and the EU surrounding our trade differences," said AIADA President and CEO Cody Lusk. "As I've said in the past, no one wins a trade war.

While the President did not address the ongoing auto 232 investigation, AIADA's dealer members are optimistic that today's agreement will lead to progress in resolving auto trade differences, and continue to promote the principles of trade that have made the American auto industry so successful."President Donald J. Trump is Protecting Americas Farmers Against Unfair and Retaliatory Trade Practices





Our farmers deserve a government that serves their interest and empowers them to do the hard work that they love to do so much.

PROTECTING OUR FARMERS: In response to unjustified tariffs placed on U.S. agricultural products, President Donald J. Trump is providing American farmers with needed relief.

The President is taking action on trade policy to open markets so that American farmers can compete globally.

President Trump has authorized the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to authorize up to $12 billion in aid to the American agricultural heartland under The Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act. Programs include: Marketing Facilitation Program: Will provide assistance to soybean, sorghum, corn, wheat, cotton, dairy, and hog producers. Food Purchase and Distribution Program: Will authorize the purchase of surplus affected commodities such as fruits, nuts, rice, legumes, beef, pork and milk for distribution to food banks and other nutrition programs. Market Promotion Program: Will develop new export markets in conjunction with the private sector on behalf of agricultural producers.

Aid to American farmers will provide relief from unfair retaliations until free, fair, and reciprocal trade deal can be reached with our trading partners.

President Trump understands that farmers want markets, not checks. Thats why his Administration is taking action to lower barriers around the world for American agriculture. This includes plans to expand market opportunities for agriculture and expand the role for U.S. farmers using in-kind foreign aid.



ATTACKS ON AMERICAN AGRICULTURE: Americas farmers have been unfairly targeted by our trade partners, retaliating against President Trumps efforts to secure fair and reciprocal trade.

United States trading partners have weaponized agricultural exports, rather than working to negotiate mutually beneficial and fair trade deals.

China placed a 25% tariff on some American agricultural products and has manipulated the international soybean market, artificially lowering prices.

Mexico placed 20% to 25% tariffs on some American agricultural products, including pork.

Canada imposed retaliatory tariffs on American agricultural products. Canada already imposes an outrageous 275% on all dairy imports above their quota.

The European Union imposed new retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, including agriculture.

STRENGTHENING AMERICAS HEARTLAND: President Trump and his Administration have already taken steps to support and expand markets for Americas farmers.Betsy DeVos at a Cabinet meeting. Photo: Olivier Douliery/Getty Images

Someone set Secretary of Education Betsy DeVoss 163-foot yacht adrift in northern Ohio on Sunday morning. The $40 million vessel was untied sometime Sunday morning, causing The Seaquest to hit another dock.

The collision caused roughly $5,000 to $10,000 in damages from large scratches and scrapes, according to the Toledo Blade. None of the crew aboard the ship were injured, according to reports, and police are reviewing security footage of the ship to find out who untied the yacht from its dock.

Theres no indication as to motive for the vandalism yet, but Secretary DeVos has certainly not endeared herself to the American public during her tenure. She was sued for rolling back campus sexual-assault protections in January, and was accused of not listening to survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting in March. Her stance on public schools is also unclear, which is worrying considering her job title.

The Seaquest is one of ten yachts that the DeVos family owns. Considering the fact the secretary of Education and her husband have a net worth of $5.1 billion, $5,000 in damage to one yacht in a fleet of several doesnt feel too detrimental.

Only time will tell how the rest of the Trump administration, whove already been shunned from restaurants, will react when they find out their large, expensive boats may not be safe either.31 Governors Call on Senate to Confirm Kavanaugh

Thirty-one governors sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on July 25 calling for the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

We make this request based on his track record of upholding the Constitution and his distinguished credentials that eminently qualify him to serve on the nations highest court, the letter states.

President Donald Trump nominated Kavanaugh to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. Before the nomination, Kavanaugh was a judge for the District of Columbia Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals.

In addition his service on the court of appeals, Kavanaugh taught law at Harvard and Yale universities for more than a decade. The White House previously shared a letter from 80 of his students.

As his record shows, he will interpret the Constitution as written, informed by history, tradition, and precedent, the letter from the governors states. Judge Kavanaugh will adjudicate legal disputes with impartiality, preserving the Constitution of the United States and the rule of law.

Republicans hold a slim majority in the Senate and plan to vote on the confirmation before the midterm election in November. Democrats are seizing on Kavanaughs giant paper trail in a bid to delay the confirmation.

In the run-up to the vote, Kavanaugh is meeting with senators on Capitol Hill. Kavanaugh had five individual meetings scheduled with Republican senators on July 25. Democrats are refusing to meet the judge until an agreement is reached with the White House to produce records related to his tenure there during the George W. Bush administration.

Kavanaugh was Kennedys law clerk on the Supreme Court.

Thirty years ago, President Ronald Reagan nominated Justice Anthony Kennedy, a man who devoted his career to securing the liberty of our nation, to the Supreme Court of the United States, the letter from the governors states. It seems right and fitting for one of Justice Kennedys own law clerks to follow in his footsteps and continue our nations great tradition of the rule of law.40 International Airlines Change Websites to Comply With Chinas Tightening Grip on Taiwan

Some airlines have changed the way they refer to Taiwan, due to a request that amounts to a threat from Chinas communist regime.

The regime sent a notice to airlines doing business in the country, including U.S. operators like Delta and American Airlines, to update websites and materials in the way they reference Taiwan. Chinese authorities now require them to make sure listings of Taiwan do not indicate it as a separate entity from China.

United Airlines, Delta, and American Airlines have all changed how Taiwan is presented to visitors on their websites. Travelers looking to select Taiwan as their destination will not see a country name, just a city and airport name.

The letter from the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued a deadline of July 25. The U.S. airlines waited hours before the deadline before changing their websites, Reuters reported. Some carriers outside of the United States have gone further to meet the demands of the letter, theyve directly indicated Taiwan as a place within China, AP reported.

The White House took a strong stance in objection to Chinas demands on airlines. A White House statement mentions the notice Chinas air authority sent on April 25 to 36 airlines not based in China but doing business there.

This is Orwellian nonsense and part of a growing trend by the Chinese Communist Party to impose its political views on American citizens and private companies, reads the statement. Chinas internal Internet repression is world-famous. Chinas efforts to export its censorship and political correctness to Americans and the rest of the free world will be resisted.

Airlines that dont make the change face trouble operating in China and threats to their business dealings in the country. Chinese authorities said the changes made by the three major U.S. airlines mentioned above, plus Hawaiian Airlines, had not completely satisfied the demands in the notice, but did not say what was missing, according to the Reuters report.

We have another example of nonsovereign entities contorting themselves to satisfy Chinese pressure, Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the US-Taiwan Business Council, told The New York Times. That bodes ill for the future, frankly, in respect of the hoops that everyone is jumping through to try to satisfy Chinas goals and objectives here.

That is a fact which cannot be easily erased by simply removing the name of Taiwan from the internet. The people of Taiwan will not bow to pressure, said Taiwans presidential spokesman, Alex Huang, via The New York Times.

From NTD.tvThe south tower of New York's World Trade Center (L) begins to collapse after a terrorist attack on the buildings on Sept. 11, 2001. (Gulnara Samoilova/AP)

9/11 Victims Remains Identified Nearly 17 Years Later Using DNA Testing

The remains of a 26-year-old securities analyst who worked at the World Trade Center on 9/11 have been identified nearly 17 years after the attacks.

The Office of Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York on Wednesday identified the victim as Scott Michael Johnson, who was an employee at the investment banking company Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, working on the 89th floor of the World Trade Center south tower, reported the NJ Advance Media.

Family members remembered Johnson as an adventurous traveler who went to Cuba and was planning a sojourn to South Africa when he died.

Mother Ann Johnson told the The New York Times that she received a call recently alerting her and her husband to the identification.

Having said that, its also made me cry and when I told our daughter, we sat there and both cried, she said. You get pulled right back into it and it also means theres a finality. Somehow I always thought he would just walk up and say, Here I am. I had amnesia.

Remains of Montclair native killed on 9/11 identified nearly 17 years after WTC attacks https://t.co/dtxI3DeReY pic.twitter.com/z5Zh9cCVVw  NJ.com (@njdotcom) July 25, 2018

His friends reported at his memorial service on the incredible love and support that he gave to them that in a sense went even beyond our understanding of him, Tom Johnson added about his son. He was one of the kindest people that anyone around him had ever known. The pain of losing someone like that was tremendous.

Johnson is the 1,642nd victim to be positively identified from the terror attacks in which 2,753 people were killed by hijackers who crashed airplanes into the trade centers twin towers on Sept. 11, 2001.

The medical examiner said he was identified through improved DNA re-testing of remains originally recovered in 2001. Its the first new identification made since last August.

In 2001, we made a commitment to the families of victims that we would do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, to identify their loved ones, said Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Barbara Sampson in a statement obtained by ABC.

This identification is the result of the tireless dedication of our staff to this ongoing mission.

DNA technology methods have led to 89 percent of the victim identifications, officials said.

So far, about 40 percent of those who died have yet to have any remains identified.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

From NTD.tvLabour Leader Jeremy Corbyn makes his first campaign speech of the 2017 general election at Assembly Hall in Westminster in London, on April 20, 2017. (Jack Taylor/Getty Images)

British Jewish Newspapers Unite to Warn of Labour Party Antisemitism Threat

The three most prominent Jewish newspapers in the UK have warned that a government led by British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn would pose an existential threat to Jewish life.

The joint editorial published on the front page of The Jewish Chronicle, Jewish Telegraph, and Jewish News declares, United we stand.

The papers said that until recently, the Labour Party was a natural home for the Jewish community, but now Labour has seen its values and integrity eroded by Corbynite contempt for Jews and Israel.

This is the single most astonishing front page weve run at @JewishChron in my decade here. It is totally without precedent. Our paper has been published since 1841. @JewishNewsUK and @JewishTelegraph are our rivals  in name, in business, and on stories pic.twitter.com/peRUPRnqIX  Marcus Dysch (@MarcusDysch) July 25, 2018

A Labour spokesman said the party recognized the concerns raised by the Jewish community but acknowledged there was a huge amount of work to do to build trust and confidence.

The next Labour government poses no threat of any kind whatsoever to Jewish people, the spokesman said. The security and wellbeing of Jewish people is a priority for our party and in government we will always ensure schools, synagogues, and institutions are properly protected.

The three papers say that Labour should adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism.

Last week, Labours National Executive Committee adopted a watered-down definition of anti-Semitism that the Jewish Leadership Council said would anger many Jewish people in the UK. It was also criticized by some of its own lawmakers.

The newspapers wrote, Under its adapted guidelines, a Labour Party member is free to claim Israels existence is a racist endeavor and compare Israeli policies to those of Nazi Germany, unless intentwhatever that meanscan be proved.

It comes as British Labour politician Margaret Hodge reportedly called Corbyn an antisemitic racist in the House of Commons. Writing in The Guardian, Hodge criticized the arrogance displayed by the Labour leadership and attacked the party for not adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliances definition of antisemitism.

Labour has been wrestling with accusations that it has been tolerant of antisemitism among some of its members, and in April, leaders of Britains 270,000 Jews organized a protest accusing Corbyn of failing to address their concerns.

The disarray over Brexit in Theresa Mays government has aided Labour, with the party taking the lead in some opinion polls.

The editorial added, With the government in Brexit disarray, there is a clear and present danger that a man with a default blindness to the Jewish communitys fears, a man who has a problem seeing that hateful rhetoric aimed at Israel can easily step into antisemitism, could be our next prime minister.

The three newspapers stance gained support from some politicians within the Labour Party.

Ian Dudley, a member of Parliament, wrote in a tweet that every member of the Labour Party should be ashamed.

Another member of Parliament, Anna Turley, wrote on Twitter: Unprecedented and very upsetting. And fairly easy to begin resolving. Starting with the NEC [National Executive Committee] accepting the IHRA definition.

Corbyn has previously apologized for what he called pockets of antisemitism in the party and promised to stamp them out.

Reuters contributed to this report

Watch Next:

Brexit Negotiations Explained

The referendum vote left the nation dividedElderly Chinese people serve themselves lunch at a nursing home in Sha County, Fujian Province, China, on March 17, 2016. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

China Urges Growth of Health Care, Education Sectors to Drive Economy, While Citizens Struggle to Afford Them

As the U.S.China trade war has left Chinas financial markets in trouble amid an already slowing economy, China recently announced a plan to boost economic growth.

In a July 16 article, Economic Information Daily, a newspaper run by Chinese state media Xinhua, reasoned that because of explosive growth in inelastic demand for senior care, education, and health care, these fields should be further commercialized and exposed to market forces. People would spend more money in these areas, thus boosting the overall economy, the article claimed.

Senior care, education, and health care  will hopefully become the three wagons that drive our countrys domestic demand, it read.

But for ordinary Chinese citizens, senior care, education, and health care are precisely the three areas that place the heaviest financial burden on their households, referred to colloquially as the three great mountains.

Chinese netizens criticized the articles tone-deaf suggestion of turning what are basic services provided by social welfare programs in most countries into for-profit businesses.

Meanwhile, the public criticism has highlighted the domestic crises Chinese society faces.

Senior Care

Chinas population is quickly aging. According to official statistics, the number of people aged over 60 reached 241 million at the end of 2017representing 17.3 percent of the entire population. Furthermore, 40 million elderly are disabled or have some form of dementia.

It is commonplace among nursing homes that people fail to find even one empty bed, the article by Economic Information Daily admitted. The conflict created by the explosion of demand and the shortage of supply is sharply escalating.

Chinas senior care system is overburdened. But instead of offering solutions, the article urges people to exploit the high demand to make profits, calling senior care the next lucrative mine [for making money] after the real estate market.

Education

In the area of education, the article cited the growth of off-campus cram schools as a sign that the education market could be further developed.

There are currently more than 220,000 cram schools in China, attended by about 137 million studentsaround 70 percent of all school-aged children, according to the state-run ChinaNews.com.

Cram school fees could cost tens and hundreds of thousands of yuan (thousands to tens of thousands of dollars) each school semesteran amount too expensive for many families.

According to the article by Economic Information Daily, the annual amount an urban household spends on education has grown an average of about 20 percent yearly in recent years.

But many students have to attend cram school in order to get a chance to excel in an incredibly competitive education system. Previous Chinese media reports described school teachers who would refuse to teach topics thoroughly in class, in order to pressure students into attending after-school cram sessions.

Health Care

In July, the Chinese box-office hit Dying to Survive propelled public discussion about a problem many middle-class families face: being unable to afford expensive drugs has become a desperate reality for people with serious illnesses.

China has a national insurance system, but citizens are often wary about taking domestic drugs that are covered by insurance due to their poor quality. Foreign drugs are expensive because many have high import tariffs.

Meanwhile, treatment for serious illnesses is often not covered by insurance.

According to a 2015 survey by the central governments State Council, among more than 70 million farmers in China who were identified as being in poverty, about 42 percent said they became poor due to economic burdens caused by sickness.

The authorities want to grow the health sector nonetheless. In its outline of the countrys 2030 health plan, the State Council proposed growing the private health service industry to a scale of 16 trillion yuan (about $2.4 trillion), nearly tripling the scale of 5.6 trillion yuan (about $830 billion) in 2016.

The article explaining the authorities eagerness to market vital needs as profitable businesses sparked outrage among netizens.

Education, medical treatment, and senior care are rights and welfare citizens deserve to enjoy, netizen ah xing ff commented on the Economic Information Daily article. Does it [the government] even let people survive? The netizen expressed a sentiment that many others did: If demand keeps growing as the article suggests, prices could go up even further.FILE PHOTO: A researcher plants a semiconductor on an interface board which is placed under a microscope during a research work to design and develop a semiconductor product at Tsinghua Unigroup research centre in Beijing, China, February 29, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

Chinese Chipmaker Tsinghua Unigroup to Buy French Chipmaker Linxens for $2.6 Billion

HONG KONGChinas top state chip manufacturer Tsinghua Unigroup has signed a deal to acquire French smart chip components maker Linxens for about 2.2 billion euros ($2.6 billion), five people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The deal, which the sources said was signed over a month ago but has not yet been announced publicly, will be a key test of European regulators stance on Chinese investment in the region, which has grown in recent months amid Chinas worsening trade relations with the United States.

Tsinghuas acquisition of Linxens from Luxembourg-based private-equity group CVC is still pending regulatory clearance, three of the sources told Reuters, adding that regulators in France, Germany, and the companys union need to approve the deal.

The authorities are not expected to object, the sources said, on condition of anonymity as the information is confidential.

Tsinghua and Linxens did not respond to requests for comment.

According to three sources, Tsinghua has already locked in a deal with four banks for a 1.5 billion euros ($1.75 billion) bridge loan to fund the transaction. Credit Suisse, a main lender in the loan, also advised the seller, the people said.

Credit Suisse declined to comment.

Before the Linxens deal, Tsinghua Unigroup accumulated a stake in Germanys Dialog Semiconductor, buying into share price weakness as the Anglo-German chipmaker faced uncertainty over its business relationship with Apple, its largest customer, towards the end of last year.

The stake, held via two wholly owned subsidiaries, reached 9 percent in December, according to company filings, making the Chinese investor the single largest shareholder in Dialog. Tsinghua did not respond to requests for comment at the time.

Failure to get local regulatory approval has previously scuttled Tsinghuas offshore investment plans, such as share purchases totaling $2.6 billion from three Taiwanese chipmakersPowertech Technology, ChipMOS Technologies, and Siliconware Precision Industriesthat fell through in 2016 and 2017.

That followed a 2015 debacle when an informal $23 billion approach for U.S. chipmaker giant Micron was rejected by the Idaho-based company amid national security concerns.

Recently, the United States has strengthened scrutiny of Chinese investments amid concerns that they could lead to theft of critical U.S. technology. The U.S. Congress is set to pass a bill that would strengthen an inter-government agencys ability to scrutinize foreign purchases of American assets.

So far this year, China has spent $45.5 billion on European assets, more than double year-ago levels, while its investments in the United States has dropped 75 percent to $1.9 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Linxens, which does not have a U.S. presence according to its website, makes connectors crucial for communication between smart cards and electronic readers.

By Kane Wu and Prakash Chakravarti.Convicted Sex Offender Who Abused Young Girl Arrested by ICE

Federal immigration officials arrested an illegal alien who is a registered sex offender in North Carolina on July 24, one month after Orange County officials released him from custody without informing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Udiel Aguilar-Castellanos, a Mexican national, was arrested in the town of Carrboro, said ICE in a statement on July 25. Aguilar-Castellanos agreed to plead guilty to two counts of sexual battery on June 27, for sexually abusing a pre-teen girl and had to register as a sex offender as part of a plea deal to avoid prison. He was released by Orange County officials that same day.

ICE criticized Orange County officials for their refusal to honor an ICE detainer and instead released him from local custody in June without any notification to ICE, the statement read.

Reports indicated that he was previously convicted of driving while intoxicated in 2014, but he avoided being deported from the United States for three years. A federal judge gave the order for his removal in 2015.

The incident allowed a convicted sex offender to pose a public safety threat to North Carolina residents for nearly a month until his capture by ICE, said officials.

Nearly 90 percent of all foreign nationals taken into ICE custody this year were targeted following their criminal arrest. Despite efforts by certain groups to misrepresent this reality, the fact is ICE continues to focus its enforcement efforts toward criminals and public safety threats, ICE Atlanta Field Office Director Sean Gallagher said in a statement.

When law enforcement agencies fail to honor immigration detainers and release serious criminal offenders onto the streets it undermines ICEs ability to protect public safety.

ICE added that more than two-thirds of those arrested in 2018 by the agency were convicted criminals.

In April, Chapel Hill Police Chief Chris Blue and Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminge criticized ICE for its operations across the United States.

We are deeply disturbed by the heightened fear and disruption to families that these raids have caused, a statement from the town said at the time. We want to be clear that the Chapel Hill Police Department did not and will not participate in these actions.FBI Director James Comey testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on May 3, 2017. (JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

Commentary: Did the FBI Spy on Trump?

Commentary

Declassified surveillance documents released this week reveal that the FBI misled the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) in obtaining a warrant to spy on Trump campaign volunteer Carter Page.

Central to the FBIs case in its FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) warrant application was information provided by former British spy Christopher Steele.

Described as Source #1 in the documents, the FBI vouched for his credibility:

The FBI believes Source #1s reporting herein to be credible, the FBI wrote in the application.

The FBI, however, withheld from the FISC that Steele was being paid tens of thousands of dollars by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC)through law-firm Perkins Coie and opposition research firm Fusion GPSto produce disinformation on the Trump campaign.

In other words, the FISC approved a spy warrant on a member of a political campaign, based on politicized information from the candidates opponent.

Steeles information, which has become publicly known as the Steele dossier, relies almost exclusively on Kremlin-linked sources, and none of the controversial claims have been verified.

The FISA warrant was approved in October 2016 and allowed the FBI to spy on Page as well as other members of the Trump campaign.

FISA warrants are issued in 90-day installments. Besides the original approval, the warrant received three subsequent renewals, well into Trumps first year in office.

The third extension was signed off on by Trumps own deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein.

Who did the FBI spy on in the Trump campaign, or Trump administration, using the FISA warrant?

This is a question that deserves serious attention.

While the FISA warrant, a counter-intelligence tool, was applied and approved for spying on Page, it would have allowed the FBI to spy on hundreds of other people under the so-called two-hop rule.

Under the two-hop rule, law enforcement is allowed to surveil the communications of those within two degrees of separation.

This means that if Page was in contact with just one member of the Trump campaign, that person could be spied on as well, as well as all other campaign members he or she was in contact with.

This would likely include Trump himself as well as his family members.

The New York Times admitted as much in a Jan. 19, 2017, article in which it said that American law enforcement and intelligence agencies are examining intercepted communications and financial transactions as part of a broad investigation into possible links between Russian officials and associates of president-elect Donald J. Trump.

The FISA warrant would have also allowed for retro-active spying using electronic data collected by the NSA under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The FBI has access to the raw data the NSA collects.

This includes all internet communications, telephone communications, and financial records, as well as, potentially, the use of wiretaps or listening devices.

Further underscoring the importance of knowing what the scope of the FBIs spying was, is the blatant bias of some of the FBI officials investigating Trump.

The Department of Justice inspector general, in a report earlier this month, showed how the people working on the Trump Investigation, notably FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page, showed a strong bias against Trump and in favor of Clinton.

In one message, Strzok told Page that they would stop Trump from becoming president.

Given this bias, as well as willingness by the top FBI and DOJ officials, including then-FBI Director James Comey and then-Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe, it has to be asked what happened with the information the FBI obtained through its spying.

Was it used to leak to the media? Was it spread within the Obama administration and used for political purposes against Trump? Was it provided to any members of the Clinton campaign or DNC?

We know that the FBI has been plagued by unauthorized leaks. McCabe is currently under criminal investigation for making unauthorized leaks to the media and then lying about it.

Comey admitted to having leaked memos to The New York Times through an intermediary. The memos were later shown to have been classified Secret and Confidential. This information, in turn, has been weaponized by media outlets against Trump and his administration.

If the FBI indeed mishandled the surveillance it conducted on the Trump campaign, it would amount to the biggest political scandal in modern history.

If there was spying on Trump once he became president, it would amount to an unprecedented matter of national security.Explosion Reported Outside the US Embassy in Beijing

BEIJINGA bomb exploded outside the U.S. embassy in Beijing on Thursday, wounding the lone assailant, the embassy said in a statement, but police described the weapon merely as a firework device.

The statement read: There was an explosion at approximately 1pm today on the street outside the South East corner of the Embassy compound. According to the Embassys Regional Security Officer, there was one individual who detonated a bomb. Other than the bomber, no other people were injured and there was no damage to embassy property. The local police responded.

Update from the Embassy on the July 26 Incident

There was an explosion at approximately 1pm today on the street outside the South East corner of the Embassy compound. According to the Embassys Regional Security Officer, there was one individual who detonated a bomb. pic.twitter.com/luGv57OwlA   US MissionCN (@USA_China_Talk) July 26, 2018

The explosion happened in a public space off the southeast corner of the embassy compound, the embassy said. Beijing police said the suspect, a 26-year-old man from the city of Tongliao in Chinas Inner Mongolia region, had injured his hand. Local authorities have identified the man only be his surname Jiang but are yet to provide a motive.

Witnesses told Reuters that they heard an explosion near the embassy and felt tremors.

A police SUV appeared to have been damaged, with its back windshield missing, and was cordoned off by police before being removed, a Reuters witness said.

Crowds were still queueing outside the embassy after the explosion and traffic was moving as normal in an area of northeastern Beijing that is home to numerous embassies including those of France, India, and Israel.

Postings on social media showed pictures of smoke close to where people line up outside the compound for visa appointments. Some video clips and images were later removed.

Staff members at the Indian and South Korean embassies said they were unaware of any unusual incident and were working as normal.

People were still seen standing in queues for visa nearby the site, as police directed traffic.

A Reuters witness saw Chinese police examining a vehicle outside the embassy and social media showed pictures of smoke close to where people line up outside the compound for visa appointments.

Staff at the Indian and South Korean embassies near the U.S. compound said they were unaware of any unusual incident and were working as normal.

According to Radio Free Asia, a different account was reported. Eyewitness accounts say that someone had a homemade explosive device and intended to throw the bomb over the embassys fence. The bomb exploded near the person, injuring a number of people and damaging a police car, the report added.

An earlier report in the Global Times, a newspaper run by the ruling Chinese Communist Partys Peoples Daily, said that police had removed a woman who had sprayed herself with gasoline in a suspected self-immolation attempt. It is not clear whether the two incidents are related.

Chinese media says incident was a self immolation attempt by a woman. Police claim to have detained the woman and allege she sprayed gasoline on herself outside the US embassy in Beijing.@IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/7Yo5az5ZZo  zeeshan shaikh (@zeeshansahafi) July 26, 2018

By Se Young Lee and Tom Daly

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Falun Gong Practitioners Are Being Killed for Organs in China

Before the year 2000, organ transplantation in China was a relatively niche medical treatment.High School Student Suspended Over Border Wall Shirt Wins $25,000 and Apology

A high school student in Oregon has won a $25,000 settlement after suing administrators over a T-shirt he wore to school.

Administrators at Liberty High School told senior Addison Barnes, 18, that he had to cover up a shirt he was wearing that said Donald J. Trump Border Wall Construction Co. The shirt also featured a quote by President Donald Trump from 2016: The wall just got 10 feet taller.

Barnes refused to cover up the shirt, so administrators suspended him.

Following the suspension, the senior sued the school, Principal Greg Timmons, and the Hillsboro School District, alleging that his First Amendment rights were violated.

Barnes lawyer announced on Tuesday that they reached a settlement with the district that awards Barnes $25,000.

The settlement also includes a letter of apology to Barnes written by Timmons. The settlement follows a May 29 ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon that the student couldnt be banned from wearing the shirt.

I brought this case to stand up for myself and other students who might be afraid to express their right-of-center views, Barnes said in a statement, reported the Washington Examiner. Everyone knows that if a student wears an anti-Trump shirt to school, the teachers wont think twice about it. But when I wore a pro-Trump shirt, I got suspended. Thats not right.

Addison Barnes should be commended for his courage. The message on his shirt wasnt the point of this case. We brought the case to police the thought police. The First Amendment does not allow what is going on in too many schools today, added Oregon House Minority Leader Mike McLane, one of Barnes lawyers.

Student suspended for Trump border wall shirt to get $25K and formal apology https://t.co/Ax8L8HgLCB pic.twitter.com/YYS9PKZB6R  FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) July 25, 2018

The school district wouldnt make the apology Timmons wrote public but told KUOW: The brief letter apologizes for the initial suspension charged to Mr. Barnes for leaving campus and any upset that may have caused, and wishes him well in the future.

The district, though, said it reached a settle primarily due to the cost and disruption of the litigation, not because Barnes was right, claiming the punishment might have been upheld in a higher court.

Liberty High School administration could reasonably forecast that Mr. Barnes shirt might cause other students to feel unsafe and could potentially lead to walkouts, altercations or other disruptive actions, the district said.

However, Barnes lawyers noted that the high school allowed teachers to post signs supporting so-called sanctuary policies and, by attempting to censor Barnes, they tried to stop one side of the immigration debate, reported the Oregonian.

The T-shirt is core protected speech, and walking down the streets of Hillsboro, no state officialpetty or grandwould be able to do much about that T-shirt legitimately under the Constitution, U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman said in his decision, finding that the district could not justify its censorship.

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Texas Sheriff Talks About Why Sanctuaries Dont Help Public SafetyIn Being an Upright Leader, Dont Micromanage or Be Overly Judgmental

The principles of good leadership apply at all levels of social hierarchy, whether it relates to running a country, operating a business, keeping a household in order, or maintaining a positive marriage. Among the key issues is how leaders treat and regard the people theyre responsible for.

Theres a story in the Hagakure, one of the core Japanese texts of Bushido, written by Yamamoto Tsunetomo in 1716, which describes a discussion on itemizing payments to find possible misuse of funds. In the story, a man counters the concept by stating, This is not as advantageous as you think.

The man cites a saying from the Confucian text, Kung Tzu Chia Yu, which states Fish avoid streams with clear water; a man too judicious amasses no followers.

He then elaborates on the concept, stating, Fish are able to survive and thrive by hiding under weeds and in the shadows of objects in the water. Not paying heed to the odd shortcoming enables the lower class to live with peace of mind. This is also pertinent to issues of conduct.

The ideas of not micromanaging, not making sweeping programs that punish both the guilty and innocent, and also not being overly judgmental when it comes to minor flaws; these are all key elements of good leadership.

A good leader is attentive to the hardships and needs of those under him, and also understands that nobody is perfecthe is strict with himself, but lenient with others.

Many of todays totalitarian systems of government invert this principle, including with fascism, communism, and socialism. They preach instead that the people should conform to the leader absolutely. A leader should be strict with his subordinates yet lenient with himself.

Under communism, in particular, Vladimir Lenin preached the idea of partisanship, where no middle ground was tolerated on any issue. Under Karl Marxs concept of dialectical materialism, the middle ground was eliminated from every social issue.

Communism preaches that any minor deviance from its goals or ideals should be treated with the harshest response.

In the same way, many of todays movements rooted in communist ideology demand absolute tolerance of all forms of moral decadence but call for zero tolerance of any opposing views.

Theyve eliminated the value of tolerance, ironically under the banner of toleranceand in doing so, theyve also destroyed one of the foundations of social harmony.

With communism, this destruction of social harmony is intentional. It believes social struggle will help society evolve, and so attempts to sharpen antagonisms between people at all levels of society. And by using its tool of agitation propaganda, it intentionally stirs up hatred and anger in its followers, so they can be used like a club wielded by party leaders.

The principle of not being overly harsh or tolerant of the odd shortcoming also closely aligns with harmony in our social relationships, friendships, and family ties.

In a household, if a father is too harsh or nit-picking, his children will dislike him; just as they would a father who sets no standards or boundaries.

In a marriage, if a man gives no space to his wife, and hovers over her every move, shell come to resent himjust as she would if he went to the other extreme and ignored her completely.

Through this, mistrust could breed reason to mistrust; and being overly critical could cause a person to cement their flaws. According to the principles of Taiji (ying-yang), where there is a void, it will be filled; and where there is a push, there is a pull.

In ancient China, government typically didnt stretch below the county level, with the county magistrate. Below that, families and fraternal organizations were largely given the freedom to administer their own affairs, and government would assist society in being self-sufficient.

According to Tai Kungs Six Secret Teachings, an ancient Chinese book on governance and military affairs, a leader who excels at administering a state governs the people as parents govern their beloved children or as an older brother acts towards his beloved younger brother.

It states that a sage leader focuses on making people tranquil, while a worthy leader focuses on helping people achieve good and upright lives. A stupid person, meanwhile, is incapable of becoming upright, and so instead focuses on struggling with others. In this same light, it states that When the ruler labors, punishments become numerous. When punishments are numerous, the people are troubled  No one, of whatever position, can be settled in this life, and generations on end have no rest.

To bring tranquil lives to people, the book states that Heaven has its constant forms, and similarly that the people have their normal lives. Through helping people become self-sufficient, in accord with the natural form of a persons normal life, much is possible. If you share life with All under Heaven, then All under Heaven will be tranquil.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.A nurse prepares a vaccination shot against rabies at the Disease Control and Prevention Center in Huaibei in easern China's Anhui Province on July 24, 2018. (AFP/Getty Images)

In China, Vaccine Scandal Escalates as Mainland Chinese Turn to Hong Kong and Taiwan for Inoculation

A recent drug safety scandal involving substandard vaccines in China has escalated after more than a week of public outrage, drawing rare public condemnation from Chinas top officials.

Since July 17, Chinese pharmaceutical company Changsheng Bio-Technology and its subsidiary Changchun Changsheng came under fire for producing substandard vaccines and failing to recall their products in time. The former shipped out more than 250,000 doses of a faulty DTap vaccine to eastern Chinas Shandong Province, while the latter forged data related to manufacturing its Vero-cell rabies vaccine.

The DTap vaccine, which is administered in a series of four injections for young children from 3 months old to 18 months old, is a combination vaccine to provide children immunity against diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has since called the scandal vile in nature and shocking, according to a July 23 report by the Chinese regimes mouthpiece China Daily, and demanded a thorough investigation to ensure those responsible face the full force of the law.

The intense public reaction has forced officials to respond, when they typically skirt away from any bad news relating to China.

On July 22, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said the scandal had crossed a moral line, and asked the State Council to immediately send out investigation teams, according to China Daily.

On July 24, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the Chinese Communist Partys anti-corruption watchdog, announced that it was investigating Changsheng Bio-Technology for suspected corruption, according to Reuters, while the companys chairwoman, Gao Junfang, and 14 other employees were detained by police in Xinqu District in Changchun City, Jilin Provincewhere the company is headquartered, according to Radio Free Asia (RFA).

Scandal Escalation

The vaccine scandal has since escalated as another Chinese pharmaceutical company was found to have produced substandard DTap vaccine.

On July 23, the center for disease control and prevention in Hebei Province in northern China announced that substandard TDap vaccines manufactured by Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, a subsidiary run by the state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group, were administered on 143,941 children in Shijiazhuang, Langfang, and Dingzhou cities in Hebei, according to state-run Chinese media The Paper.

Similar to the case with Changsheng Bio-Technologywhereby the company quietly recalled the problematic doses last November, but by then, it was too late to stop more than 215,000 children from being inoculated with the vaccinethe Wuhan Institute did too little too late.

Wuhan Institutes substandard TDap vaccines were uncovered by the China Food and Drug Administration on October 30, 2017, according to a report by the state-run Hebei Daily. An immediate recall and suspension of use were enforced, but by then, of the 210,000 doses sent to the three cities in Hebei, 189,775 doses had already been used.

The number of children affected (143,941), and the doses used (189,775) were not publicly announced until now.

Meanwhile, in the municipality of Chongqing in southwestern China, the citys disease and control prevention center announced on July 24 that it had received 190,520 doses of Wuhan Institutes substandard TDap vaccine in 2017, according to Chinese news site China News. These vaccines had been inoculated on 142,343 children before local authorities were alerted of the problem and issued a recall in November 2017.

It is unclear whether Wuhan Institutes substandard doses have affected other regions of China.

Hong Kong and Taiwan

Many parents, worried that their children may become a victim of faulty vaccines, are now planning to travel to Hong Kong and Taiwan instead for safe vaccines.

In Shenzhen, a city in southern China that borders Hong Kong, many local residents speaking to Hong Kong media Oriental Daily expressed that they were ready to accept the higher costs to have their children inoculated in Hong Kong.

Mr. Fan, a Shenzhen resident, recalled that his three-year-old son fell ill and was sent to the hospital for treatment after being inoculated with a TDap vaccine at a local health community center a few years ago, according to a July 24 Oriental Daily report. Fan explained even though he does not know if the TDap vaccine that made his son sick was manufactured by Changsheng or Wuhan Institute, he is not taking chances and has reached out to other parents who have taken their children to Hong Kong for inoculation.

I will not hesitate to spend more money, said Fan.

Another local parent, Ms. Li, said she had planned on taking her child to Hong Kong to receive vaccination, but she could not afford the high cost, about 1,000 HKD (about $127) per shot. Li added that she could only pray that the vaccines in Shenzhen do not have any problems.

On Hupu, a Chinese online discussion forum, some netizens have recently shared advice that getting children vaccinated while on a vacation is fairly easy, since the Taiwanese government provides a medical visa for mainland Chinese and foreign travelers, according to Hong Kong media Apple Daily.

Chang Chih-lung, a gynecology and obstetrics doctor at Taiwans MacKay Memorial Hospital, said that he has witnessed a trend starting a few years ago, when many mainland Chinese would come to Taiwan to be inoculated with the HPV vaccineto boost ones immunity against a virus that can cause cervical cancer in women, and genital warts in both men and women, in an interview with Taiwans Central News Agency (CNA).

Foreign-manufactured vaccines usually get faster approval by drug regulators in Taiwan, compared to mainland China, explained Chang. To provide an example, Chang said that Gardasil 4, a HPV vaccine made by U.S. pharmaceutical company Merck, was approved by Taiwanese regulators in 2007, but mainland Chinese regulators did not approve the same vaccine until 2016.

Another reason mainland Chinese are increasingly traveling to Taiwan to get inoculations, Chang added, is that there are many faculty vaccines in China.

Human Rights Lawyers

The vaccine scandal has caught the attention of human rights activists. Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), called on Chinese leaders to take action to ensure vaccine safety in China, in an article published on HRWs website on July 23.

Richardson suggested that China could start by releasing incarcerated lawyers, including Tang Jingling and Yu Wensheng, who have represented victims of faulty vaccines in court. Tang is currently serving a five-year sentence on charges of inciting subversion, for his representing a group of parents whose children were left permanently disabled after inoculated with problematic vaccines.

The behaviors of Chinese authorities harassing, detaining and prosecuting families of vaccine victims should also be stopped, said Richardson, citing the case of vaccine victim Wang Nuoyi.

Wangs grandmother, Zhang Dae, was sentenced to two years imprisonment in June 2018 for causing social disturbance, when she petitioned Henan provincial authorities about her grandsons case.

Finally, Richardson called for greater press freedom in China. She pointed out that in 2010, Wang Keqin, an investigative journalist for the state-affiliated China Economic Times, was removed after he authored an article implicating health officials in the mishandling of vaccines that led to the deaths of four children in northern Chinas Shanxi Province.

Currently, Chinas online censorship is still in full swing. Online posts commenting about the vaccine scandals are continually being deleted, according to Free Weibo, a website that tracks censorship on Chinas social media.Remains of a suicide bomb are seen in Sweida, Syria July 25, 2018. (Sana/Handout via Reuters)

ISIS Kills 215 in Southwest Syria, in Deadliest Attack for Years

BEIRUTISIS terrorists killed more than 200 people in a coordinated assault on a government-held area of southwestern Syria on Wednesday, local officials and a war monitor said, in the groups deadliest attack in the country for years.

Jihadist fighters stormed several villages and staged suicide blasts in the provincial capital Sweida, near one of the few remote pockets still held by ISIS after it was driven from most of its territory last year.

The head of the Sweida provincial health authority told the pro-Damascus Sham FM that 215 people were killed and 180 injured in the attack, as well as 75 ISIS members.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said the attackers had killed more than 200 people including many civilians. ISIS said in an earlier statement that it had killed more than 100 people in the attacks.

The jihadists launched simultaneous attacks on several villages northeast of Sweida city, where they clashed with government forces, state media and the Observatory said.

In the city itself, at least two attackers blew themselves up, one near a marketplace and the second in another district, state television said. State news agency SANA said two other militants were killed before they could detonate their bombs.

The Observatory said jihadists seized hostages from the villages they had attacked.

Photographs distributed on social media, which Reuters could not independently verify but which the Observatory said were genuine, purported to show the bodies of ISIS terrorists hanged from street signs by angry residents.

Sweida Governor Amer al-Eshi said authorities also arrested another attacker. The city of Sweida is secure and calm now, he told state-run Ikhbariyah TV.

ISIS lost nearly all the territory it once held in Syria last year in separate offensives by the Russian-backed army and a U.S.-backed militia alliance.

Since then, President Bashar al-Assad has gone on to crush the last remaining rebel enclaves near the cities of Damascus and Homs and swept rebels from the southwest.

After losing its strongholds in eastern Syria last year, ISIS launched insurgency operations from pockets of territory in desert areas.

The Observatory said government forces had forced the jihadists from all the villages they had stormed from their pocket northeast of the city.

Government troops and allied forces hold all of Sweida province except for that enclave.

The air force pounded militant hideouts northeast of the city after soldiers thwarted an attempt by ISIS to infiltrate Douma, Tima and al-Matouna villages, state media said.

With the help of Russian air power, the Syrian army has been hitting ISIS in a separate pocket further west, near the frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The Yarmouk Basin in southwest Syria remains in jihadist hands, after an army offensive defeated rebel factions in other parts of the southwest. The operation has focused on Deraa and Quneitra provinces.

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We are withdrawing from the UN Human Rights Council, an organization that is not worthy of its name.Brock Turner in a Sept. 2016 file photo, registering as a sex offender in Ohio, where he now lives after moving from California. (Greene County Sheriff's Office)

Lawyer for Former Stanford University Swimmer Convicted of Attempted Rape Makes Outercourse Argument

An attorney for former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner claimed his client practiced sexual outercourse during an appeal following Turners conviction of attempted rape.

Turners appellate attorney said that Turner never intended to rape the woman, arguing he was instead engaged in sexual outercourse, a version of safe sex.

The attorney made the case, arguing the jury made unreasonable inferences leading to the conviction, in front of a three-justice panel on Tuesday in an appeals court in California, reported Dayton Daily News.

The record lacks sufficient evidence to support the three convictions in this case, attorney Erick Multhaup argued, saying the sexual outercourse argument referred to his client having his clothes on when he was caught on top of the victim.

He said that because Turner was fully clothed and his private parts werent exposed, the prosecutions case fell short of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Turner intended to rape the woman, reported ABC.

I absolutely dont understand what you are talking about, responded Justice Franklin D. Elia, adding that the law requires the jury verdict to be honored.

Brock Turner, Stanford student convicted of rape, practiced sexual outercourse, attorney says https://t.co/I8OS7n6IVC pic.twitter.com/LzXDWPhtHE  Dayton Daily News (@daytondailynews) July 26, 2018

Intent is rarely proved by direct evidence, Elia added, reported The Mercury News, noting that its typically based on circumstantial evidence. You cant surgically remove things and look at them separately.

Turner, 22, was found guilty in March 2016 of assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated or unconscious person as well as penetration of an intoxicated person and penetration of an unconscious person. The crimes took place outside a Stanford fraternity in January 2015.

Turner served three months in jail despite facing up to 14 years in prison. Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Turner. He was recalled from the bench in June, reported USA Today. The sentencing also led to Governor Jerry Brown signing a bill that mandates tougher penalties for the crimes that Turner committed.

The appeal is Turners attempt for a new trial, which could lead to him not being designated a Tier III sex offender for life. California law required Turner to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life because of the convictions.

Deputy Attorney General Alisha Carlile also appeared in front of the panel, arguing that the conviction should stand.

The panel is expected to rule on the appeal within 90 days.

From NTD.tvAerial view of the area after a wildfire, in Mati, Greece July 24, 2018 in this picture obtained from social media. (Flygreecedrone/via Reuters)

Greeks Seek Answers as Fire Toll Mounts

MATI, GreeceSorrow became tinged with anger in Greece on July 26 as rescuers searched scorched land and the coastline for survivors, three days after a wildfire destroyed a small town outside Athens and killed at least 83 people.

Desperate relatives appeared on television to plead for information on those missing, while other residents of Mati asked why authorities had been unable to prevent so many of their neighbors from getting trapped by a wall of flame in streets with no exit route.

With the toll from Greeces deadliest wildfire in decades expected to rise further, about 300 firemen and volunteers combed the area for dozens still missing.

One woman was looking for her brother, who had been returning from work when the flames took hold. My father was the last person to talk to him on Monday evening, Katerina Hamilothori told Skai TV. We have had no news at all.

The cause of the fire is still unclear, and being investigated by an Athens prosecutor who is also reviewing the way it was handled.

Local officials said high and unpredictable winds would have rendered even the best-executed evacuation plan futile, though firefighters told Reuters that some water hydrants in the area were empty.

One theory being examined is that the blaze was started deliberately in three locations at the same time.

Identifying the Dead

Outside the coroners service in Athens, the mood was grim as relatives of victims arrived to submit information and blood samples which could assist identifications.

This is a difficult process, more difficult than other mass disasters we have dealt with, said coroner Nikolaos Kalogrias, adding that the bodies of most of the victims were completely charred.

About 500 homes were destroyed, and the fire brigade said there were closed-up homes that had not yet been checked.

The left-led government announced a long list of relief measures including a one-off 10,000 euro payment and a job in the public sector for victims spouses and near relatives. But for many, that was not enough to ease the pain.

A drop in the ocean, read the front page of newspaper Ta Nea.

The fire broke out on Monday at 4:57 p.m. and spread rapidly through Mati, which lies fewer than 30 km (17 miles) east of Athens and was popular with local tourists.

Firefighters described a rapid change in the direction of the wind, which also picked up speed, and some suggested the thick covering of pine trees and a mood of panic was a deadly combination that would have been hard to combat.

The main factor was the wind, its speed and its direction. It should have been looked at earlier, said World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Greece director Dimitris Karavellas.

These people should have been ordered out of this area.  This is the only thing that could have saved them.

Rescue teams combed through the area and the sea trying to locate anything which could offer clarity on the missing.

We took our cars and went down to the sea and got into the sea to escape, but there were people who did not make it, said Mati resident Agni Gantona.

We got into the water and stayed there for about five hours until the boats came to pick us up. We were at the beach with about 250, 300 people.

One of the victims was Brian OCallaghan-Westrop, Irelands ambassador to Athens, Orla OHanrahan told Irelands RTE. The broadcaster said he was on his honeymoon.

He and his wife, Zoe, who survived, were married last week.

By Renee Maltezou and Alkis KonstantinidisMan Claims He Was Bitten by Brown Recluse on Plane, Says Lawsuit

A Mississippi man who said that he was bitten by a brown recluse spider while on an American Airlines plane in 2016 has filed a lawsuit against the airline.

He claimed that a flight attendant on the flight downplayed the venomous spider as a mosquito, prompting the suit, according to the Mississippi Clarion-Ledger. Brown recluse spider bites can lead to infections, necrosis, and permanent scars.

Marcus Fleming, of Natchez, was a passenger on Flight 3978 on Sept. 6, 2016, when he was bitten before taking off, the lawsuit says. The suit was transferred to a federal court in Jackson, Mississippi, from the Rankin County Circuit Court on Monday, the Clarion-Ledger reported

After he was bitten, he alerted the flight attendant that something had bitten him but she responded that it was probably a mosquito, according to his lawsuit. After landing Mr. Fleming noticed that the pain in his hand became extremely painful and his thumb changed colors.

According to Fleming, a doctor told him that he would need surgery or he would lose his thumb.

American Airlines is a commercial airline and owed a duty to the public, including Fleming, to exercise due care on its flights to ensure the area in which their passengers sat were safe, the lawsuit said.

The plaintiff is now seeking $500,000 in damages, according to the suit. It also named Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport as a defendant.

The brown recluse is found in the Midwest and the southern United States.

The brown recluse belongs to a group of spiders commonly known as violin spiders or fiddlebacks. The characteristic fiddle-shaped pattern is located on the top of the leg attachment region (cephalothorax). Because they are secluded and withdrawn, as their name implies, the brown recluse avoids open spaces, according to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration agency. Brown recluse spiders are dangerous and they can bite and inject toxic venom.

Theyre golden brown and often have a dark violin/fiddle shape on the leg attachment region. The brown recluse has six eyes instead of eight eyes like most spiders, the agency says. The recluses eyes are arranged in pairs on either side.

The bite can cause a systemic reaction within 24 to 36 hours characterized by restlessness, fever, chills, nausea, weakness and joint pain, the agency adds. Tissue at the site of the bite and the surrounding area dies and eventually sheds.Media, FBI, Politicians Tied to Same Disinformation in Russia Collusion Claims

News Analysis

Declassified surveillance documents released this week revealed that the FBI relied on politicized information to obtain a FISA warrant to spy on Trump presidential campaign volunteer Carter Page.

The FBI left the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which approved the application, in the dark about the fact that the information was paid for by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

The source of the information, identified as Source #1 in the documents, was former British spy Christopher Steele.

According to an investigation by the House intelligence committee, Steele had been paid an estimated $160,000 by the Clinton campaign and the DNC through law firm Perkins Coie and opposition research firm Fusion GPS.

The information became publicly known as the Steele dossier and consists of a series of uncorroborated and salacious claims mostly from Kremlin-linked sources.

Law professor Ronald Rychlak, a leading expert on Russian disinformation operations, told The Epoch Times last year that the Trump dossier had all the hallmarks of a classic Russian disinformation campaign.

Nevertheless, the FBI was able to secure a spy warrant based on the Steele dossier, which was commissioned in April 2016.

The same dossier was also a driving force behind the media narrative that then-candidate Donald Trump colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election.

During the election campaign, Steele and Fusion GPS representatives gave secret briefings to prominent media organizations, court documents in the United Kingdom reveal.

In the documents, which are part of a defamation suit against Steele, his counsel writes that he was directed by Fusion GPS to provide briefings to media organizations on multiple occasions. Among the media mentioned specifically are CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Yahoo News, and Mother Jones.

While most media were initially reluctant to report on the claims, given the fact that they couldnt be verified, Yahoo News chief investigative correspondent Michael Isikoff reported on it in September 2016.

Isikoffs report was in turn used by the FBI as additional evidence in its FISA application to spy on Page, without disclosing that it was the same information from the same source.

CNN eventually found a way to report on the dossier in early January 2017, when it was provided information by then-director of national intelligence James Clapper.

The investigation of the House intelligence committee revealed that Clapper had lied to Congress about his contact with CNN.

It states that after first denying having made contact, Clapper admitted that he spoke with CNNs Jake Tapper a day before the network ran a controversial article saying that President Barack Obama and then-president-elect Trump had been briefed on the contents of the dossier.

The leaked information of the briefing provided the news hook that CNNand, by extension, other news organizationsneeded to report on the unverified information contained in the Steele dossier they had sat on for months.

Buzzfeed News went as far as publishing the entire dossier online, which in turn allowed the public to see the shoddiness of the claims.

Nevertheless, wild accusations such as the so-called Trump pee tape contained in the dossier have now been widely spread.

As recent as this month, well over a year into Trumps presidency, reporters again brought up the unsubstantiated claims during a high-profile press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. An Associated Press reporter asked Putin, Does the Russian government have any compromising material on President Trump or his family?

Besides the FBI and the media, the same disinformation was also spread among politicians.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) acknowledged in a statement last year that he had obtained a copy of the Steele dossier, through an associate of his, David Kramer, after which he gave it to then-FBI Director James Comey.

Information contained in the dossier was also provided by then-CIA Director John Brennan to the so-called gang of eight in Congress. Following the briefing from Brennan, then-Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid wrote a public letter to Comey accusing Trump of colluding with the Russian government and calling on Comey to investigate this and make the investigation public. Media then reported on Reids accusations.

To this day, most of what we hear from politicians and media organizations when it comes to the alleged collusion between Trump and the Russian government can be traced back to the same sourcethe unverified Steele dossier.

Given the fact that media themselves were part of the cycle that laundered and promoted the information contained in the dossierintentionally or unintentionallyit has become very difficult for them to step back and report accurately on the findings that came out in the recently declassified FISA warrant.

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Comedian Gives Rundown of Events That Led Up to Release of FISA Abuse Memo

Chris Chappell gained a huge YouTube following with a channel dedicated to exposing the truth about China. His foray into American politics is already proving to be a success. His channel, America Uncovered, can be found here.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.Police outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building in Portland, Oregon. (Bryant King via Storyful)

Nonwhite Federal Officers Say Anti-ICE Protesters Spewed Racist Insults

Federal officers assigned to police the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building in Portland, which has been targeted by protesters calling for the abolishment of the agency, said they were subjected to racist insults from the protestors.

Multiple non-white officers said that they endured racially charged insults and taunting, according to emails obtained by The Oregonian.

The insults came during a demonstration that has continued since June 17 outside the ICE building.

One black officer told an administrator that protesters began yelling racial slurs at him, including the N-word.

Protesters told the officer that he was a blood traitor and an Uncle Tom.

These racial slurs have been directed at me throughout the entire length of the deployment, the officer wrote.

Another officer, a female of Hispanic and Native American descent, said that protesters told her that she is a weak female and a traitor. Protesters also used derogatory terms for Hispanic people.

I was berated for so long I cant even remember everything that was told to me, the officer wrote in an email.

Another officer, who was not identified further, said that he and other federal agents were insulted and harassed almost continually by the protesters, who told the officers they were murderers, rapists, and Nazis.

They have yelled continuously that they hope we die, they hope our families die, the officer wrote.

City officials allowed the protesters to camp out and form a ramshackle area near the ICE office, but police officers on July 25 finally began clearing the sprawling camp early Wednesday morning, days after the protesters were told they had to leave, reported KATU.

Most protesters had left after the notice but the remaining ones had erected barricades and faced off against the police, but to no avail.

The move came several weeks after federal officers removed the protesters from federal property on June 28; the group moved to city streets and sidewalks near the building after that.Pence and Pompeo Say Religious Liberty Top US Priority

WASHINGTONReligious freedom is fundamental to the United States and good for the whole world, according to remarks delivered by Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the final day of a State Department-sponsored summit.

Those nations that reject religious freedom breed radicalism and resentment in their citizens, Pence said July 26 at the State Departments Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom. They sow the seeds of violence within their bordersviolence that often spills over into their neighbors and across the world.

He said that 83 percent of the worlds population lives in nations where religious freedom is either threatened or even banned.

Pence heralded Americas history of honoring religious freedom. The American Founders enshrined religious freedom as the first freedom in the Constitution of the United States. America has always and will always lead the world by our example, he said.

The right to believe or not believe is the most fundamental of freedoms. When religious liberty is denied or destroyed, we know that other freedomsfreedom of speech, of press, assembly, and even democratic institutions themselvesare imperiled.

He said religious freedom is a top priority of this administration.

Related Coverage The First Ever Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom Inspires Hope

The three-day ministerial was the first of its kind and will become an annual event, Pompeo said at the event conclusion on July 26.

He said more than 80 foreign delegations and religious leaders from around the world joined the ministerial. The religious leaders work closely with civil-society groups, who are often on the frontlines of reporting and responding to cases of religious intolerance and persecution, Pompeo said.

Since the earliest days of his presidency, President Trump has directed his administration to advance and defend the rights of religious freedom at home and abroad, because religious freedom is a universal God-given right to which all people are entitled. It is also an essential building block for all free societies, he said.

Pompeo said survivors of religious persecution shared their stories at the ministerial, driving home why this work is so important and why religious freedom meant so much to them.

He said the Trump administration is committed to advancing religious freedom and named several initiatives it is spearheading.

Action Plans

The main outcomes of the ministerial were the Potomac Declaration and the Potomac Plan of Action.

The declaration, Pompeo said, is a formal affirmation that the United States takes religious freedom seriously, that we will work with others around the world to help those under attack for their beliefs, and that we expect leaders around the world to make it their priority as well.

The plan of action provides concrete ways that the international community and governments can do more to protect religious freedom and to protect vulnerable religious communities in their own countries.

Read More A Call in Washington to Hear the Voices of the Oppressed

The State Department has created a new International Religious Freedom Fund, which is a joint fund with other nations, to support the work of religious-freedom defenders and assist victims of persecution.

The department also created an International Visitor Leadership Program, a 10-day project that will bring those working on the front lines of religious freedom to the United States. The program will focus on promoting religious pluralism and protecting the rights of religious minorities.

The government also is preparing to launch a Genocide Recovery and Persecution Response initiative, which will assist communities recovering from atrocities.

While focused first on our ongoing response to the genocide committed by ISIS in Iraq, our hope is that this program will assist victims in many different places, Pompeo said.

Pompeo praised the ministerial as truly unbelievable, adding that there is truly eternal significance in the work that we have done.

Countries of Concern

The State Department also released several statements regarding countries of concern, including Burma, China, and Iran where religious intolerance or persecution is continuous.

We are deeply concerned about the significant restrictions on religious freedom in China and call on the Chinese government to respect the human rights of all individuals, the China statement said. Many members of religious minority groups in Chinaincluding Uighurs, Hui, and Kazakh Muslims; Tibetan Buddhists; Catholics; Protestants; and Falun Gongface severe repression and discrimination because of their beliefs.

Read More Accounts of Persecution Told at US Ministerial

We strongly urge the Chinese government to protect the religious freedom of all individuals and to respect the human rights of all members of religious groups, in accordance to Chinas international commitments to respect freedom of religion.

Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Samuel Brownback summed up the enthusiasm for the ministerial, saying, I really think were at a moment where the Iron Curtain prohibiting religious freedom is coming down, and youre going to see a burst of freedom, of religious freedom, around the world taking place.An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent detains a convicted criminal alien in Los Angeles, Calif., on Oct. 14, 2015. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Portland Officials Announce Plan to Clean up Disgusting Occupy ICE Camp, Calling It a Biohazard

Officials in Portland have announced a plan to clean up the disgusting camp left behind by anti-ICE protesters.

The group against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as Occupy ICE, were forced to leave the encampment on Wednesday, several weeks after setting it up.

The group was initially camping out on federal land adjacent to the actual ICE building but were cleared off that land about a week after settling in.

Occupy ICE then moved to city land, and set up an encampment on city streets and sidewalks. In total, they were camped out for five weeks.

The camp they left behind was so poorly maintained that Portland Police Bureau officers cordoned it off, referring to it as a biohazard, reported KPTV.

It was pretty disgusting that thats how they were living back there, said Frank Savage, who lives across the street from the encampment. Getting tired of waking up to the bullhorn and the sounds and the cussing.

The scope of the clean-up efforts has led to intense planning by city officials, who said that private contractors will do some of the work while some Multnomah County inmates will help, receiving work credit and financial incentives.

The costs of the clean-up will be split between TriMet and the city, which are both part of a consortium that owns the land.

A TriMet official told KPTV that there isnt a way to charge the protest group for the costs of the cleanup. I just dont think there is a mechanism to reimburse for the cost, the official said.

Heres a closer look at some of the things left behind at what was the #occupyicepdx camp. More info on @fox12oregon pic.twitter.com/bNIdWMEHLt  Marja Martinez (@MarjaKPTV) July 26, 2018

Video footage showed walls of pallets and other materials surrounding the encampment, which protesters erected in an effort to keep police officers and others out, as well as dirty clothing and lots of cardboard, which was used extensively as flooring.

Officers moved slowly through the camp around 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday, with about 45 officers in riot gear clearing the remaining protesters out, reported KGW.

City officials had notified the group they needed to vacate on Monday but some of the protesters ignored the notification.

Police spokesman Sgt. Chris Burley said officers moved slowly and methodically through the camp and noted that no one was arrested or injured.

Theres fire hazards in there. Theres bio-medical hazards in there, and because of those sorts of complaints we knew we had to get ahead of it before it spiraled out of control, said Portland Police chief Danielle Outlaw.

Camp cleanup well underway by the ICE facility in Southwest Portland. There is plenty more to do. @KGWNews pic.twitter.com/WbztQvYF41  Tim Gordon (@TimGordonPDX) July 25, 2018

It was also revealed this week that the protesters spewed racist insults at federal officers who were patrolling the ICE building, calling one black officer the N-word.

The office told an administrator that protesters yelled racial slurs at him, calling him a blood traitor and an Uncle Tom.

Another officer, a female of Hispanic and Native American descent, said that protesters told her that she is a weak female and a traitor. Protesters also used derogatory terms for Hispanic people.

I was berated for so long I cant even remember everything that was told to me, the officer wrote in an email.

From NTD.tvSaudi Oil Tankers Attacked in Red Sea, Oil Exports Halted

The Saudi government said it has suspended oil shipments through the Red Sea after Yemen-based, Iran-aligned Houthi rebels attacked Saudi oil tankers.

Two very large crude carriers, which can each carry 2 million barrels of oil, operated by the Saudi National Shipping Company were attacked by terrorist Houthi militia this morning in the Red Sea. One of the ships sustained minimal damage, according to a statement posted by Saudi Aramco on Wednesday. No injuries nor oil spill have been reported.

In the interest of the safety of ships and their crews and to avoid the risk of oil spill, Saudi Aramco has temporarily halted all oil shipments through Bab El-Mandeb with immediate effect. The company is carefully assessing the situation and will take further action as prudence demands, it said.

The Houthis, who have previously threatened to block the strait, said on Thursday that they had the naval capability to hit Saudi ports and other Red Sea targets. Iran has threatened to block another strategic shipping route, the Strait of Hormuz.

Saudi Arabia and arch-rival Iran have been embroiled in a three-year year proxy war in Yemen. Iran backs the Shia Houthi rebel faction.

Saudi Arabia is temporarily halting all oil shipments through Bab al-Mandeb strait immediately until the situation becomes clearer and the maritime transit through Bab al-Mandeb is safe, Saudi Arabias Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said in a statement.

Apple, iPhone, and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Kuwait said that it is also considering halting all oil shipments through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

Other countries condemned the attacks.

The cowardly attack constitutes a flagrant violation of all international laws and norms and poses a serious threat to the freedom of international trade and maritime navigation in Bab Al-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea, Bahrains Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. Whilst reiterating its full solidarity with the sisterly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and supporting the measures it takes to preserve its resources and deter attempts to harm its security, the Kingdom of Bahrain emphasizes the need for immediate global action to put an end to such dangerous acts, it added.

It was not clear if a Saudi-led military coalition would take additional security measures or impose further restrictions on imports to Yemen, which is struggling with the worlds most urgent humanitarian crisis.

A senior oil source said Saudi Arabia had already beefed up oil security and that all crude vessels in the area are accompanied by security ships.

Reuters contributed to this report.Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) (L) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) at a hearing focusing on Chinas use of economic coercion as statecraft, in Washington on July 24, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/Epoch Times)

Senate Hearing: Its High Time to Stop Chinas Economic Coercion

Amidst an accelerating trade war with China, a Senate hearing was held on July 24 to examine the economic coercion employed by the Chinese Communist Party and what the United States should do to fight back.

In remarks opening The China Challenge: Economic Coercion as Statecraft, Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy, explained the background for the hearing: According to the national security strategy for decades, U.S. policy was rooted in the belief that support for Chinas rise and for its integration into the post-war international order would liberalize China. Contrary to our hopes, China expanded its power at the expense of the sovereignty of others.

Gardner said the purpose of the hearing is to identify the tools the United States has at its disposal to counter the disturbing developments posed by Chinas less than peaceful rise.

The concern about the Chinese regime was bipartisan. Ranking member Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) pointed out a growing Chinese willingness to bend and break longstanding rules. He declared, This must stop.

According to Markey, rules that the United States put in place across the globe in the wake of devastating world wars have created a level playing field for all.

Unfortunately, the Chinese government is undertaking coercive activities across the board: economically, militarily and politically that threaten to alter this playing field, Markey said.

Gardner recalled that when he visited China and met with some American businesses in 2015, these businesses were still saying, just give China a little bit more time to see if the reforms will work.

According to Dan Blumenthal, Director of Asian Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, one of the two witnesses at the hearing, the era of reform and opening up was over 10 years ago. Now, state banks, state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and their associated links with Party officials are what drive the Chinese economy.

Ely Ratner, Vice President and Director of Studies of the Center for a New American Security, the other witness at the hearing, proposed bold, innovative and bipartisan initiatives to blunt Chinas economic coercion.

Some of the recommendations proposed at the hearing included the following:

* Limits on student visas for the children of the Party elite;

* Bans on market access in accord with European actors on the worst-offending SOEs (for example, those that consistently engage in forced technology transfers);

* Targeted information campaigns within China in Chinese that advertise the corrupt patronage networks that exist between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and key SOEs;

* Global armadas that convoy Chinese fisherman and oil exploration vessels to areas where they are lawfully allowed to conduct their economic activities;

* Enhancing cyber-cooperation and economic ties with Taiwan, including the quick signing of a Bilateral Investment Treaty;

* A comprehensive National Economic Security Strategy;

* Enhancing American competitiveness by continuing to support increases in funding for basic research, formulating strategic immigration and visa policies, and investing in education, among other priorities;

* Reconstituting a 21st-century version of the U.S. Information Agency (The USIA acted to inform foreign publics in line with U.S. interests);

* Providing resources and directing the Defense Department to develop the means to circumvent Chinas Great Firewall and make it easier for Chinese citizens to access the global internet.

Frank Tian Xie, a professor in business at the University of South Carolina Aiken, thinks that it is high time for the Senate to hold such a hearing, as the world is waking up and has realized that the CCP is a threat to everything, from regional peace, to the worlds economic and trade order, including the WTO, as well as to democracy, human rights, freedom, etc. 

Xie also believes that the Trump administrations trade war with China will weaken the financial position of the CCP and bring effective changes to Chinese society.Actress Allison Mack leaves the U.S. Eastern District Court after a bail hearing related to sex-trafficking charges filed against her, on May 4, 2018. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images)

Trial Date for High-Profile NXIVM Sex-Trafficking Case Pushed Back

NEW YORKJustice is finally being served, and it cant be bought, Toni Natalie, an ex-girlfriend of Keith Raniere, remarked outside the U.S. district court where the leader of the NXIVM secret society faced a hearing on July 25.

Raniere sat just feet away from Seagram billionaire heiress Clare Bronfman and former Smallville actress Allison Mack, as their respective attorneys sat among them, at a status hearing on July 25.

Also present was Nancy Salzman, the president of NXIVM, who sat further away from her old colleagues because there was not enough room for her and her attorney at the table. Not present were Salzmans daughter Lauren and the societys bookkeeper, Kathy Russell, who both stayed behind bars for not meeting the conditions of their recent bail attempt.

The members of the society were arraigned at the U.S. Eastern District Court in Brooklyn, on sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges stemming from a superseding indictment filed against them on July 24.

All defendants pleaded not guilty to all counts mentioned in the indictment.

New York-based NXIVM masqueraded as a self-help company that ran executive success programs and other self-help curricula. In wake of the recent allegations, the company announced the suspension of all operations until further notice.

Just before the hearings 2 p.m. start time, Bronfman, who wore a white long-sleeve with slacks, was the first to enter the court. She could be seen chatting with her attorneys with a composed expression on her face.

Bronfman was the groups largest financial backer, contributing at least $150 million, according to Frank Parlato, a whistleblower who first broke the story about the societys schemes.

At another point before the hearing, Mack, dressed in a denim jacket, faced Bronfman and whispered to her, as an attorney sat between them. Mack appeared nonchalant throughout the hearing and stared at the ceiling multiple times with a blank look on her face.

As Raniere, who was arrested in March this year, entered the courtroom, he appeared to smile at both Mack and Bronfman.

Judge Nicholas Garaufis pushed the date for jury selection from October this year to Jan. 7, 2019, after government prosecutors argued that they will need time to go through a growing trove of documents, as evidence continues to trickle in. Garaufis added that the date could be pushed back even further.

Lead prosecutor Moira Penza said they are working as quickly as they can in providing the discovery files, adding that they have received around 60 electronic devices alone. Prosecutors also said in court that they planned to examine Ranieres email account.

NXIVM recruited members on the condition they gave up personal, often embarrassing, information about themselves, including compromising images or videos, as collateral. Once inside, members were regularly required to provide additional collateral to ensure they kept secret the societys activities and inner workings.

U.S. Attorney Richard P. Donoghue said in a statement, As alleged in the superseding indictment, for over a decade, Keith Raniere was the leader of a racketeering conspiracy in which he and members of his inner circle committed a broad range of serious crimes from identity theft and obstruction of justice to sex trafficking, all to promote and protect Raniere and Nxivm.

Outside the court after the hearing, Ranieres lawyer Mark Agnifilo, called the accusations against him groundless propositions.

They are crazy, they are wrong. Thousands have taken these courses, he said. Its not a sex-slave cult. These are adult choices people make.

The judge has repeatedly blocked Raniere from posting bail.President Donald Trump speaks during a listening session on domestic and international human trafficking in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington on Feb. 23, 2017. (Oliver Douliery/Pool-Getty Images)

US to Provide Jamaica With $4.5 Million in Battle Against Human Trafficking

The Trump administration reiterated its commitment on July 25, in providing assistance to Jamaica in the battle against human trafficking, a hidden epidemic thats continuing to grow across the globe.

Speaking at a conference, Mark Seibel, deputy chief of mission of the U.S. Embassy in Jamaica, said that the U.S. government intends to provide $4.5 million in aid to Jamaica.

I am proud to say that our partnership against trafficking in persons is strong and growing, Seibel said at the National Task Force Against Trafficking In Persons (NATFATIP) conference on July 25.

The monetary assistance comes from the Child Protection Compact Partnership made between both countries at the end of May. The joint partnership is one of the latest efforts by the U.S. government to clamp down on human trafficking and will be completed over a four-year plan.

Civil groups or international organizations that collaborate with Jamaicas National Taskforce will receive foreign assistance aimed at improving policies and practices to hold perpetrators of child trafficking criminally accountable, among a list of other prevention strategies. The funding will not be provided directly to Jamaicas government.

Jamaica remained on the tier 2 watch list, according to the U.S. State Departments annual Trafficking In Persons (TIP) report released on June 28. Countries on the tier 2 watch list do not meet the minimum standards for the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) but are making significant efforts to be in compliance with the standards.

The report notes that although Jamaicas government did not meet the minimum standards, it demonstrated increased efforts since the previous report.

At the conference, Seibel said a range of U.S government departments will help provide sponsored training programs, public sensitization campaigns and guest speakers to address trafficking from the perspective of prevention, protection, and prosecution.

Jamaica identified a total of 13 confirmed trafficking victims during the reporting period of the latest U.S. trafficking report. Of that group, 12 were exploited for labor trafficking and one was exploited for sex trafficking. In comparison, the country only identified eight confirmed victims in 2016.

Also speaking at the July 25 conference, Jamaicas Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Carol Palmer, and the Chair of NAFTATIP said that No country is spared; no border is safe, citing the Global Slavery Index report released in July that found 40 million people in the world are trafficking victims.

There is a need for robust monitoring and evaluation tools, which are scientifically applied to countries as a fair and objective means of assessing the work and progress in the anti-trafficking effort, she said.

According to the Global Slavery Index, almost 3 out of 1000 people in Jamaica are living in modern slavery.

Palmer also said that global statistics indicate that human trafficking trade generated profits of approximately $150 billion per year.

Echoing her sentiments at the two-day event was Jamaicas National Security Minister, Horace Chang, who called for a collective national response to stem the tide of trafficking through the collaborative efforts of the government and NGOs.

Chang continued by saying that human trafficking presents a threat to the countrys safety and security and often involves major organized crime networks that exploit victims for financial gain.

The clandestine nature of this crime demands that every single Jamaican assume responsibility to join the fight to stop traffickers in their tracks. It is impractical to think that a Government-alone response will be effective, he said.

The minister also called on the media to play a bigger role in exposing and condemning the illegal activity.

In April, the largest human-trafficking portal in the United States, Backpage.com, was shut down by the FBI. It came shortly after President Donald Trump signed into law a bill that stopped the shielding of website operators from state criminal charges or civil liability if they facilitate sex ads or prostitution.

Trump has put tackling human trafficking at the forefront of his presidency. He signed an executive order in February 2017 directing the government to identify, interdict, disrupt, and dismantle the transnational criminal organizations that engage in human trafficking.The headquarters of the Sinclair Broadcast Group in Hunt Valley, Md., on April 3, 2018. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Trump Calls Out Double Standard as Conservative-Friendly News Operator Is Denied Expansion

President Donald Trump criticized the decision of a government regulator to block the expansion of a television station operator who has supported conservative voices.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ordered on July 18 that a merger of Sinclair Broadcast Group with Tribune Media needs to be reviewed by an administrative judgea process that usually poses a high risk of scuttling a deal.

So sad and unfair that the FCC wouldnt approve the Sinclair Broadcast merger with Tribune, Trump commented in a July 24 tweet. This would have been a great and much needed Conservative voice for and of the People. Liberal Fake News NBC and Comcast gets approved, much bigger, but not Sinclair. Disgraceful!

Sinclair operates 192 television stations across the country and a merger with Tribune, which operates 42 stations, would make it cover nearly 72 percent of the population. Under FCC rules, TV operators have to limit their coverage to 39 to 78 percent of the population, depending on what frequencies they broadcast. They also cant own two stations ranked among the top four in an area. Thats why Sinclair has to divest some stations for the merger to go through.

The FCC was concerned about some of these divestments since they would transfer the stations to companies that have close ties with Sinclair, which raises significant questions as to whether those proposed divestitures were in fact sham transactions, the order reads.

Sinclair argued that the FCC has approved similar arrangements in the past. For years, TV operators have used the method of selling the broadcasting license to a closely tied company while still de facto controlling the programming and advertising of the station.

Rather than killing the deal, the FCC ordered a hearing before an administrative judge. But such referrals have typically meant a de facto merger death sentence, FCC Commissioner Michael ORielly said in a statement appended to the order.

ORielly supported the order after the commission approved his proposal to have the judge promptly announce a complete schedule for the proceedings, including a date for completion.

I realize that many merger applicants will be unable to withstand the market pressures to end transactions long before any such timelines are established or exhausted, ORielly said.

Most of Sinclairs stations are primarily affiliated with one of the big four networks: ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox.

Sinclairs executive chairman, David Smith, has denied the company pushes a political slant. An April paper by Emory University researchers showed Sinclairs channels lean more right than others on national topics, but have a lower density of a political slant.

Smith has donated tens of thousands to campaigns of both parties, though, more to Republicans.

Sinclair distributes must-run segments to its stations, which include two-minute conservative commentaries several times a week by former Trump communications staffer Boris Epshteyn.

My segments are very clearly marked as commentary. The same cannot be said for cable and broadcast news hosts, who inject their opinions and bias into news coverage all the time, without drawing any lines between them, Epshteyn said in one of the segments.

The NBC and Comcast merger mentioned by Trump was approved by the FCC in 2011 and allowed the telecom giant to control a major chunk of American national news, including NBC News, CNBC, MCNBC, and Telemundo. The same year, then-FCC Commissioner Meredith Baker, an Obama-appointed Republican, left the commission for a lobbying job at Comcast. Comcast stated the job offer was extended only after the merger was complete.

NBC reaches about 90 percent of the population through its affiliates, about 20 of which are owned or operated by Sinclair.

Comcast chief executive Brian Roberts gave hundreds of thousands of dollars mostly to Democrat campaigns, while his vice president and top lobbyist, David Cohen, helped raise over $6 million for Barack Obamas 2009 presidential bid, The Hill reported.

Local TV stations have had a tough time adapting to the changing media landscape that pits them against cable and internet content providers. Theyve managed to save costs by merging and sharing content and resources, but many smaller players have eventually sold their operations to large operators such as Sinclair.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, appointed to the FCC by Obama and to chairmanship by Trump, have been relaxing regulations on local TV stations, allowing more mergers and leaner operations.

With the commissions recent liberalization of the local ownership rules, local stations now have the opportunity to begin to achieve, through consolidation, some of the same economies of scale and scope in local markets long enjoyed by the networks nationwide, TV affiliates of the big four said, TVNewsCheck reported.

Watch Next:

Viral Walk Away Videos Highlight Growing Movement of Democrats Leaving the Party

I reject a system which allows an ambitious, misinformed and dogmatic mob to suppress free speech, create false narratives, and apathetically steamroll over the truth.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 26)  Malacanang on Thursday dismissed speculations President Rodrigo Duterte had a hand in the controversial change of leadership at the House of Representatives.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte did not make calls for former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to be elected House Speaker.

"I challenge any congressman to publicly say that the President called them to vote for a particular candidate because the President did not do that," said in a Palace press briefing.

Three congressmen earlier told CNN Philippines that they received calls from Davao Mayor and presidential daughter Sara Duterte-Carpio, asking for their support in ousting Pantaleon Alvarez and electing Arroyo as the new House Speaker.

This is a claim Duterte-Carpio has neither confirmed nor denied. On Wednesday, she only congratulated Arroyo for her victory, calling her a "strong leader."

Arroyo unseated Alvarez after more than 200 lawmakers voted for a change in leadership on Monday, the same day the President delivered his State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Roque stressed that the President "did not interfere, this was purely a decision of the members of the House of Representatives."

READ: Lawmakers: No elections, zero budget threats, row with Sara Duterte-Carpio prompted Alvarez ouster

Senators: Duterte behind Arroyo election

Roque was responding to detained Senator Leila de Lima's earlier statement blaming Duterte for Arroyo's return to power. Arroyo walked free after four years in hospital detention as the Supreme Court acquitted her in her plunder case in July 2016, shortly after Duterte assumed office.

"Bringing back the corrupt and the plunderers is Duterte's biggest achievement in this year's SONA (State of the Nation Address)," De Lima said in a statement Wednesday.

Roque took a swipe at De Lima, a staunch Duterte critic who has been detained on drug charges. "It must be difficult staring at the four walls of her prison cell so I will let her be."

In a separate media forum, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon doubted the President's lack of participation in Arroyo's takeover.

"Walang maniniwala na magkakaroon ng pagbabago ng liderato kung walang basbas ng Pangulo," Drilon said.

[Translation: "No one will believe there would be a change in leadership without the President's blessing."]

Sara's alleged hand

Rep. Tom Villarin earlier said some of his colleagues received calls from Duterte-Carpio Monday morning, asking them to oust Alvarez and replace him with Arroyo.

Among those whom he named were ABONO Party List Rep. Conrado Estrella and Zamboanga del Norte Rep. Seth Fredrick Jalosjos.

Drilon said a lot of congressmen assumed that when Duterte-Carpio speaks, she speaks with the authority and clearance of the President.

This claim was backed by Ako Bicol Party-list Representative Rodel Batocabe, who said party-list congressmen supported Arroyo's bid for the House speakership, thinking it had the President's blessing.

"Pag ayaw ng presidente ginagawa ng anak, sasabihan nya... We do think so na may basbas ng pangulo although walang direct na sinabi, we just read between the lines," Batocabe said.

Arroyo, close Duterte ally

Malacanang on Thursday congratulated Arroyo for her election and thanked Alvarez for his work.

Roque praised Arroyo as a "capable leader," saying she has all the credentials needed for an effective House Speaker since she served as President for almost a decade.

He added that the Pampanga representative is a "very close ally" of President Duterte and that they are particularly pleased with her plan to prioritize the change in the constitution to allow for a shift to a federal form of government.

"The president has publicly recognized that it was congresswoman Arroyo responsible for his victory in the last elections in the province of Pampanga so they're very close allies," he said.President Donald Trump boards Air Force One headed for events in Illinois, Missouri and Iowa at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on July 26, 2018. (Chris Kleponis-Pool/Getty Images)

Trump: US Will Impose Sanctions on Turkey Over Detention of American Pastor

President Donald Trump said that the United States will impose sanctions on Turkey over its protracted detainment of an American pastor.

The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being. He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately! Trump wrote on Twitter on July 26.

The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being. He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2018

Shortly before Trumps announcement, Vice President Mike Pence threatened to impose sanctions on Turkey if the country continues to detain Brunson, an American pastor from North Carolina who is at the epicenter of tensions between Washington and Ankara.

Speaking at a three-day ministerial on religious freedom, Pence said the United States will impose significant sanctions on Turkey if Brunson is not freed.

Turkeys minister of foreign affairs, Mevlut Cavusoglu, indicated on Twitter that Ankara will not give in to Washingtons threat.

Noone dictates Turkey, Cavusoglu wrote. We will never tolerate threats from anybody. Rule of law is for everyone; no exception.

The spokesman for Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement that Brunsons detention falls within the jurisdiction of (Turkeys) independent judiciary. The spokesman called on the United States to reconsider its approach and adopt a constructive position before inflicting further damage to its own interests and its alliance with Turkey.

The United States and Turkey are both members of NATO.

Brunson was moved from jail to house arrest on July 26 due to health problems, according to Turkeys official news agency. The 50-year-old spent a year and a half in jail awaiting the conclusion of his trial.

Trump had previously called Brunsons detention a total disgrace and issued repeated calls for the pastors release.

Brunson is an innocent man, there is no credible evidence against him, Pence said.

American officials had been under the impression that a deal was in place to free Brunson, a source in the United States familiar with the developments said. When Brunson was not released, Pence spoke with Trump and the two agreed harsh new policy measures were needed to force the issue.

In April, a bipartisan group of 66 senators sent a letter (pdf) to Erdogan calling for Brunsons release.

In June, the U.S. Senate passed a bill prohibiting Turkey from buying F-35 fighter jets because of Brunsons imprisonment and Turkeys purchase of Russias S-400 air defense system.

And in July, a group of senators introduced legislation to restrict loans from financial institutions to Turkey until it stops detaining American citizens.

The continued detention of Pastor Andrew Brunson, other American citizens, and embassy staff is both inhumane and unwarranted and is causing tremendous pain to their families and loved ones. Turkish officials can end this now by releasing the detained Americans, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), one of the bills sponsors, said in a statement.

The United States and Turkey are NATO allies, and we should be working together like allies. But the unjustified imprisonment of American citizens cannot stand, so it is imperative that Congress take action to demand their freedom, which is precisely what this bill will do.

Turkey accuses Brunson of aiding a failed coup attempt, committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member, and espionage. He faces 35 years in prison if convicted. Brunson denies the charges.

Erdogan previously asked the United States to extradite his political rival, Fethullah Gulen, in exchange for Brunsons release. Turkey accuses Gulen of orchestrating a 2016 military coup. Gulen denies the charges.

Gulen is a Muslim cleric living in Pennsylvania. The United States has not granted Turkeys extradition requests.

Brunsons trial is one of several legal cases that have raised tensions between Washington and Ankara. A U.S. judge sentenced a Turkish bank executive in May to 32 months in prison for helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions, while two locally employed U.S. consulate staff in Turkey have been detained.

The NATO allies are also at odds over U.S. policy in Syria, where Washingtons ally in the fight against Islamic State is a Kurdish militia Turkey says is an extension of the PKK, which has waged a three-decade insurgency in southeast Turkey.

A Turkish court declined an offer from Brunsons lawyer at a recent hearing to release the pastor pending the conclusion of the trial.

Brunson was pastor of the Izmir Resurrection Church, serving a small Protestant congregation in Turkeys third-largest city, south of the Aegean town of Aliaga, where he is now on trial.

His lawyer, Ismail Cem Halavurt, said on July 18 the prosecution has added the testimonies of two new anonymous witnesses to the case and that the court will hold its next hearing on Oct. 12 to hear them and view new evidence.

Brunson lived in Turkey for more than two decades before his detention.

My service that I have spent my life on, has now turned upside down. I was never ashamed to be a server of Jesus but these claims are shameful and disgusting, Brunson told the court in the town of Aliaga.

Reuters contributed to this report.U.S. President Donald Trump is greeted by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on the first day of the G7 Summit in La Malbaie, Quebec, Canada, June 8, 2018. Canada should welcome the U.S. offers for trade liberalization rather than double down on protectionism. (Geoff Robins/ AFP/Getty Images)

Trumps Demands Are for Canadas Own Good

Canada, like the US, hasn't perfected free trade, but the nations could do so together

The  great white hope wants to liberate the Great White North, and he may be just the man who can make it happen.

No tariffs, no barriers  and no subsidies, President Donald Trump recently outlined with regard to Canada and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Thats the way it should be.

Many observers wrongly confuse Trumps retaliatory tariffs with his objective , which is the elimination of all trade duties. His trade sanctions against Canada, although blunt and costly instruments, are conducted regrettably and in response to barriers and manipulation across the border.

Thus far, the Liberal Party government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, rather than engaging in introspection, has perpetuated this confusion with misleading rhetoric. While purporting to carry the banner of free trade, which is laughable , Trudeau has upped the stakes and imposed additional tariffs of his own.

Doubling down on trade mercantilism and protectionism in a tit for tat with Trump is the worst action Canada can take. As explained by Marco Navarro-Genie, president of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies in Nova Scotia, Canada cannot win from retaliation, and a push for unfettered trade should begin at home .

Navarro-Genie points out that a whopping 75 percent of Canadas exports go to the United States, with the European Union a distant second at 8 percent. Given that 16 percent of U.S. exports go to Canadaand 14 percent to Mexicothe neighbor to the north has far more to lose and can hardly afford to sustain a trade war.

Elephant in the Room

The United States has her share of trade shortcomings that merit attention, but the elephant in the room is Canadas self-defeating array of trade barriers that Trump wants to do away withnot to mention the barriers to trade between Canadian provinces.

Try to do something as simple as bringing your automobile when you move to Canada. You will get a taste for the punitive taxes and useless bureaucracy that stand in your way.

This is where Trump is doing Canada a favor, by identifying her many barriers to economic dynamism. Trumps first priority in trade negotiations, for example, is to dismantle Canadas  supply management  of dairy, a racket that hides behind outrageous tariffs : 298 percent on butter, 270 percent on milk, and 245 percent on cheese.

A recent op-ed in the Chronicle Herald of Halifax, for example, laid waste to the touted benefits of agricultural supply management. The bottom line from James Moir, a businessman in Atlantic Canada, is that these various cartels, which extend to poultry, cost consumers dearly. The Soviet-style economic regime also blocks aspiring Canadian farmers from getting into the industry.

No one in Canada can even get into these farming businesses unless [he buys] an existing quota firstfrom one of these farmers! In other words, you have to buy a piece of the fixed pie from the cartel, and the cost per animal quota ranges from $19,200 in Ontario and Quebec to $32,600 in British Columbia.

The Fraser Institute has recently documented in detail how liberalization of supply management could benefit both farmers and consumers . The authors of the report offer Australia as a successful case study, and they explain that phasing out the program would remove pricey middlemen and enable greater experimentation and innovation.

Trumps stance against supply management fits with his broader demands, which overwhelmingly favor free trade. Those that are ambiguous or lean against free trade are few and far between. He has even gone so far as to support the World Trade Organization as an arbiter between the nations ( PDF, p.6 ).

A no-brainer and win-win, for example, is the elimination of barriers to U.S. investment in all sectors of the Canadian economy. Capital investment is a pivotal ingredient in a nations development, and while most nations are crying out for investment, Canada keeps her closest trading partner at arms length in many sectors.

Further, Trump has rightly identified the use of regulation to stop U.S. goods entering Canada, a strategy that often flies under the radar. He seeks regulatory cooperation to reduce these barriers, which include everything from French-language mandates for almost all packaging to quarantine measures, which delay items that hinge upon swift delivery.

The challenge on the Canadian side is the notorious special interests , their own version of the swamp, akin to the American Farm Bureau Federation . Just the sniff of a change in the air regarding supply management, for example, led Trudeaus chief rival, Andrew Scheer of the Conservative Party, to release a statement describing any letup as totally unacceptable.

The Canadian equivalent of a RINO , Scheer beat classical-liberal Maxime Bernier for the Conservative Party leadership in 2017 on account of dairy-lobby fake Conservatives, as explained by Terence Corcoran of the National Post. Berniers outspoken opposition to supply management has even seen him lose his position in Scheers shadow cabinet.

Cronyism on the Conservative Party side, however, offers an opportunity for Trudeau, to forge a positive relationship with Trump and conduct overdue reforms in Canada. He can take the high road, cease with the costly trade war, and promote free trade, the oft-forgotten purpose of NAFTA. Trudeau could see Trump and raise his offer by meeting his demands and stipulating where the United States could better accommodate trade from Canadas perspective.

Fergus Hodgson is the founder and executive editor of Latin American intelligence publication Antigua Report. He is also the roving editor of Gold Newsletter, and the managing editor of the American Institute for Economic Research.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.Activist Oksana Shachko of the Ukrainian women's movement Femen protesting against anti-women's politic near the official Femen Center that opened in Paris, on Sep. 18, 2012. (KenzoTribouillard/AFP/Getty Images)

Ukrainian Feminist Movement Founder Found Dead in Apartment

The co-founder of Femen, a Ukrainian feminist movement, was found dead in her apartment in Montrouge, Paris with a note next to her body on Monday.

Oksana Shachkos death was announced on the official Femen website on July 24 and said that an official report on the death is expected from the police.

Initial reports say the death was a suicide.

Shachko, 31, was a devout Orthodox Christian as a young girl. Her parents put her in iconography school at age eight where she would learn to paint religious icons. When she was 12, she wanted to live in the church, paint icons, and spend the rest of her life praying. Shachko aspired to be a nun until her mum cried and asked her to stay, she revealed in an interview with Crash.

A post shared by Oxanashachko (@oksanashachko) on May 24, 2018 at 6:26am PDT

At the age of 14, Shachko came upon a philosophical club that consisted of 15 to 20-year-olds. The members were Marxist. After a few years, she became an atheist and became linked to a group of young communists who tried to create a political party of young communists. Since the collapse of the USSR, many Ukrainians remain opposed to communism, particularly those who had experienced Marxist communal life behind the Iron Curtain and the totalitarian rule of Stalin. But as a new generation of Ukrainians seduced by Marxist ideals, Shachko and her friends would show their respect to communism by cleaning statues of Lenin.

The party of young communists would come to a halt after the leader of the Communist Party in the Ukraine shut them down out of fear of the types of activities they were holding. After leaving the communist party, Shachko encountered Anna Hustol and Alexandra Shevechenko and together, they founded the Femen movement.

In 2013, France accepted Shachko and some of the original Femen members as political refugees due to alleged retaliation upon them in Hanover when Femen held a radical protest against Vladimir Putin. Shachko said that protesting led to their being beaten on the streets and kidnapped in Ukraine by Russian secret services and their special police.

Upon arriving in France, they tried to continue with their activism.

But Shachko didnt remain an active member in Femen for long. Shachko, Hutsol and Shevchenko quit the Femen movement in 2014 in France after what Shachko described as losers joined the movement.

Shachko criticised that the new members were women who had nothing better to do with their lives and were involved just to be photographed, she told Crash.

In regards to Shachkos death, spokeswoman for the Nanterre Commune prosecutor, Emmanuelle Lepissier, said on July 25 that the cause of death will be confirmed after an autopsy has been completed.

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Communism has caused the deaths of more than 100 million people over the last century through famine, political killings, and genocide.American Airlines aircraft are parked at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, U.S., on August 8, 2016. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)

US Airlines Change Taiwan Reference on Websites Amid Pressure from China

SHANGHAIForty of 44 international airlines have amended their website references to Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, Chinas civil aviation regulator said on July 26.

Among them were four American airlines: American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and Hawaiian Airlines, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

China has demanded that foreign firms, and airlines in particular, not refer to self-ruled Taiwan as a non-Chinese territory on their websites, a demand the White House slammed in May as Orwellian nonsense.

Taiwan is a democratic nation with its own constitution, military, and legislature, but Beijing considers the island state a renegade province that will one day be united with the mainland, with military force if necessary.

Hong Kong is a former British colony which returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 with wide-ranging autonomy. Macau, a former Portuguese colony, was returned to China two years later.

The CAAC had been pushing airlines to make the change by a deadline of July 25, threatening penalties otherwise. The four U.S. airlines submitted rectification reports on July 25 and sought a two-week extension for website audits.

On July 26, the aviation regulator claimed that the U.S. airlines amendments were incomplete, but did not explain how.

All four U.S. airlines currently list only Taipeis (the capital city) airport code and name, but not Taiwan.

Amanda Mansour, spokeswoman for the American Institute in Taiwan, the U.S. de facto embassy, said that private enterprises in the United States had no business accepting orders from China, in an interview with Taiwans Central News Agency.

It is unclear how China might punish airlines that do not comply, but in December, the Chinese regime added a clause to rules governing foreign airlines saying regulators could change a companys permit if it did not meet the demand of public interest.

By Adam Jourdan, John Ruwitch, and Jamie Freed. Epoch Times staff member Frank Fang contributed to this report.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo testifies during a hearing before Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 25, 2018. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

US Calls on Russia to End Occupation of Crimea

The United States called on Russia to end the occupation of Crimea in a declaration issued by the Department of State on July 25.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told lawmakers shortly after the declaration was made public that the document serves to formalize Americas long-held position concerning Russias attempted annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.

The United States calls on Russia to respect the principles to which it has long claimed to adhere and to end its occupation of Crimea, the declaration states.

Through its actions, Russia has acted in a manner unworthy of a great nation and has chosen to isolate itself from the international community.

Sanctions against Russia will remain in place until Russia returns Crimea to Ukraine, Pompeo told lawmakers on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

Russias Foreign Ministry dismissed Pompeos comments.

We know the worth of such momentous declarations, ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on her Facebook account.

The United States issued the declaration nine days after President Donald Trumps meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. Trump said the relations between the two nations were at a low point before the meeting but have since improved.

Trump and Putin discussed Russias occupation of Crimea at the summit. Moscow contends that its annexation is legal since it was approved through a popular vote in a referendum. The United States has never recognized the legitimacy of the annexation.

Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014 and the war continues to this day. More than 8,000 people have been killed. The complex conflict sprung out of civil unrest following a decision by Ukraines pro-Russia president to renege on a promise to sign an agreement with the European Union in favor of closer ties with Russia.

Pompeo defended Trumps stance on Russia in a testimony before lawmakers of the foreign relations committee. The presidents domestic opponents, including Democrats and some Republicans on the committee, have seized on parts of Trumps comments in Helsinki to allege that he was soft on Russia.

In his opening statement, Pompeo confronted the criticism with a battery of actions Trump has taken to confront Russian aggression around the world.

The Trump administration has issued 213 sanctions against Russian entities and individuals, expelled 60 Russian spies, closed Russian consulates in San Francisco and Seattle, led or participated in 150 military exercises in Europe, spent $11 billion on the European defense initiative, sent defensive weapons to Ukraine and Georgia, and authorized $200 million in security cooperation funds to Ukraine, Pompeo said.

Hes taken a staggering number of actions to protect our interests, Pompeo said. None of this happened for the eight years that preceded President Trump

Trump has also criticized Germany for making a gas pipeline deal with Russia that would enable Moscow to cut Ukraine out of a lucrative transit contract. At the Helsinki summit, Putin said Russia is ready to extend Ukraines contract pending the resolution of a legal dispute.

The information Pompeo listed is public knowledge, but Trumps opponents have largely eschewed these facts in favor of a media narrative that the president allegedly colluded with Russia. The allegations have been the subject of investigations for nearly two years, yet have not yielded any evidence or indictments related to collusion.

Special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating the claims of collusion and Russias meddling in the 2016 election, indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers on July 13, days before Trumps meeting with Putin. The indictment alleges that the officers hacked into Democratic computer systems, stole emails and files, and disseminated the loot with the goal of interfering in the presidential election.

Putin made an offer to Trump to have Muellers team travel to Russia and question the officers in exchange for allowing Russian law enforcement to question American officials they suspect of wrongdoing. Trump declined the offer days after the meeting and expressed hope the officers would appear in court to stand trial.

Pompeo reiterated to lawmakers that Trump accepts the assessment that Russia attempted to interfere in the 2016 election. Pompeo said that he personally told his Russian counterparts in Helsinki that there will be consequences if Moscow attempts to meddle again. Russia denies the allegations.

Trumps opponents have attacked him for meeting with Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, citing Putins authoritarian streak and Kims human rights record. Trump has said that diplomacy and engagement are preferable to hostility and conflict. Pompeo told lawmakers that it is in everyones interest for the United States to not have a contentious relationship with Russia.

Trump said last week that he would invite Putin to the White House for a meeting in the fall. According to national security adviser John Bolton, the meeting has been pushed to next year, after Muellers probe is over.

The president believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the Russia witch hunt is over, so weve agreed that it will be after the first of the year, Bolton said in a statement.

In the days after the Helsinki summit, Russia publicized tests of its new weapons. Hollywood-style footage from the Russian Defence Ministry showed a Russian MiG-31 fighter jet taking off from an airfield carrying the new Kinjal hypersonic missile and then launching it while airborne. The video also showed the launch of a nuclear-powered missile and a missile with a maneuvering warhead that can allegedly travel around missile defense shields.

The United States and Russia hold 90 percent of the worlds nuclear weapons. Trump and Putin have spoken of the need to avoid an arms race, and Putin has spoken of the urgent need to work to extend the new START strategic arms reduction treaty.

Reuters contributed to this report.Manufacturing has already changed; now it is time for attitudes toward careers in the field to change.

That was one of the recurring themes of a Manufacturers Roundtable held this week at the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce office. About 30 people  including representatives from local manufacturers, Danbury Public Schools and local nonprofit organizations  attended the event.

Its a mind-set change thats coming, state Sen. Michael McLachlan, R-Danbury, said. There are people who are well-suited for a four-year degree and there are people who arent. People can do very well without a four-year degree.

McLachlan suggested that some scholarships should be directed toward students pursuing advanced manufacturing training instead of those going to four-year universities.

Terance Cunningham, director of Adult and Continuing Education in Danbury, said high school students need more options that allow them to get into careers quicker and become financially stable. He said he is a proponent of steering students into manufacturing.

I dont think people know what manufacturing is anymore, he said. They need to see it and have a hands-on experience. That exposure is critical.

Scott Farrell, assistant director of admissions at Naugatuck Valley Community College, suggested externships for teachers to familiarize themselves with todays manufacturing facilities. Many teachers go straight from college to the classroom and do not know how much the industry has changed.

Parents, too, need to change their perception of manufacturing, said Marcy McDonald of Memry, a Bethel-based medical equipment manufacturer. She said she invites parents of prospective employees to the job interviews. Parents need to see manufacturing jobs are not dirty or dangerous, but rather high-tech positions with growth potential.

Parents need to realize that manufacturing isnt the old manufacturing, she said.

McDonald is also frustrated by the mentality that all students must have a four-year degree in order to succeed. She said there arent enough entry-level workers coming out of high schools like Henry Abbott Tech in Danbury because the students are being pushed toward attending universities.

The mind-set shift cant come soon enough for many Connecticut-based manufacturers. Another recurring theme at the roundtable was a lack of skilled workers to fill job openings. State economists have also harped on the lack of skilled advanced manufacturing workers in the state.

We cant find enough people and our hiring needs are huge, said Peter Riffel of ASML, a Wilton-based nanotechnology company. One of the challenges we continue to have is finding talent. Our need is much greater than the supply.

Riffle said ASML had positions open in engineering, R&D, logistics and advanced manufacturing.

McDonald added: We always have jobs.

The sentiment was repeated several times. Its definitely a challenge to find people to fill the positions, said Gina Bendlin of Belimo, a Danbury-based manufacturer of HVAC components.

She said the company recently hired two people from Abbott Tech.

Joseph DeFeo, director of the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center at Naugatuck Valley Community College, moderated the discussion. He, too, stressed the need for training people for advanced manufacturing careers. The tech center at his school has a 100 percent placement rate, he said.

Manufacturing is hot throughout the state and country. There are probably more jobs than people to fill them. There are a lot of positions, but people need the right skills, he said. At least at this point, youre guaranteed a job coming from our program.

DeFeo said a legislative shift in 2012 started to turn around the fortunes of manufacturing in Connecticut. Recognizing that manufacturing companies were fleeing the state because of the lack of skilled workers and unfriendly business environment, lawmakers in Hartford started programs to train workers in advanced manufacturing. One of the measures taken was the creation of four advanced manufacturing training centers, including the one at NVCC.

The NVCC program expanded into Danbury in 2015 thanks to a $1.7 million federal grant, DeFeo said. The Danbury program, held at Abbott Tech, trains incumbent workers. The program recently received another boost from a $150,000 donation from Danbury-based industrial gas company Praxair.

Another program, College Connections, offers high school juniors and seniors training and experience in manufacturing. After graduation, students may attend a four-year college, continue training in advanced manufacturing or enter the workforce.

Were seeing incremental steps in legislation, McLachlan said. Its moving in the right direction.

The writer may be reached at cbosak@hearstmediact.com; 203-731-3338NORWALK  Absentee ballots are available at the Norwalk Town Clerks Office for voters who wish to cast ballots in primary elections Aug. 14 but wont be able to get their polling place that day.

Town Clerk Richard McQuaid anticipates between 250 and 300 Norwalk voters will avail themselves of the opportunity to vote by absentee ballot with perhaps more Democrats than Republicans choosing the option, given two local Democratic primary races.

I think well get more Democrat (absentee ballots) back, because I think theres a lot more interest in the probate race and Travis (Simms) in the 140th District, McQuaid said. But a primary in the heat of summer, a lot of people are doing a lot of things. Thats why were hoping that absentee people take interest in it and they follow whats going on.

McQuaid based his prediction of greater Democratic turnout on the race between Democrats Travis Simms and Colin Hosten, both vying for the right to represent the 140th District, and due to Democrats Doug Stern and Darnell Crosland battling it out to make it on the Novermber ballot for the Norwalk Wilton Probate District.

But registered Democrats and Republicans also will be able to cast ballots in a host of other primary elections Aug. 14, including for governor, lieutenant governor, state treasurer and attorney general. Five Republicans and two Democrats are running for governor.

Absentee ballots are for registered voters wishing to cast ballots but unable to be at their polling place on Election Day. Reasons include active service in the U.S. armed forces, not being in town on Election Day, an illness, ones religion forbids secular activity on Election Day, a physical disability, or work as a poll worker, according to the ballot application.

As of Tuesday, when the ballots became available, upward of 64 Norwalkers had requested applications for absentee ballots, according to McQuaid.

A lot of them were poll workers because this is a citywide election, so you need poll workers for 12 polling places, McQuaid said.

Applications for absentee ballots can be obtained at the Norwalk Town Clerks Office at City Hall, 125 East Ave., or downloaded at norwalkct.org/155/Town-Clerk. The applications are available in English or Spanish.

McQuaid advises voters to get the applications back to his office quickly in order to get their absentee ballots in time to participate in the Aug. 14 primaries.

They have to get the application back to us as soon as possible, and then we mail the ballot to the person, or they can come in and get it, McQuaid said. And everything has to be done the Monday (Aug. 13) before the election.

Connecticut has closed primary elections where voters must be registered with a political party to cast ballots in that partys primary. May 14 was the last day for voters to transfer from one party to another to vote in the August primaries. Unaffiliated voters may register themselves with a party up to the day before the primary and cast a ballot.

Sample ballots for the 2018 Democratic and Republican primary elections can be found on the Norwalk Registrar of Voters website.Contributed / Contributed Photo

WESTPORT  A Norwalk woman and Westport CVS employee stole prescription medications from the store, police said.

On June 25, officers were dispatched to CVS on report of an employee theft of prescription medication. Police learned Samantha Jordan, 39, stole prescriptions from the pharmacy over the course of three to four weeks, police said.I'm a dream hire for most technology companies. In an industry dominated by white, straight males, a lesbian with both black and Korean heritage checks a lot of boxes. And that's the problem. In response to the demand for more diverse hiring practices, technology firms have resorted to quotas that ultimately miss the point.

Related: 5 Ways You Can Create a More Inclusive Workplace Immediately -- and Why You Should

I'm confident that many technology companies genuinely want more diverse workplaces. But tokenism isn't the answer. Instead of treating diversity like a performance metric, tech firms need to find ways to make diversity and inclusion essential elements of corporate culture.

Tokenism dehumanizes the technology industry.

On a recent trip to Silicon Valley, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) noted that many of the biggest names in technology still fall short in maintaining racially diverse workplaces. Citing public reports, committee co-chair Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) chastised technology companies for failing to retain minority employees.

Lee makes a valid point. In addition to hiring challenges, tech companies frequently struggle to retain minority workers. In my experience, when you're sitting in the office and everyone else looks different than you, it feels like you're in high school again. You don't feel welcome at the table and you wonder if anyone understands or supports you. For employees like me, it can be difficult to remain in that kind of workplace for an extended period of time.

On the surface, quotas sound like a good solution because they increase the number of employees with underrepresented backgrounds in the workplace. But, on a fundamental level, focusing exclusively on hiring and retention numbers is counterproductive. When diversity and inclusion are reduced to data points, it strips the human element from the business. Rather than evangelizing a recruitment approach based on a balanced cultural understanding and the exposure of candidates to an inclusive and egalitarian workplace, execs and HR leaders find themselves glued to spreadsheets and diversity reports.

Related: Diverse Teams Drive Innovation in Ways Homogeneous Teams Just Can't

So far, the alternatives to quotas have been tactics like the "Rooney Rule" -- a practice Amazon uses to ensure the company interviews at least one woman or minority candidate for every position. Although well intended, the Rooney Rule (and similar practices) actually strengthens tokenism's foothold in the organization.

Most of the tech leaders I've talked with aren't intentionally tokenizing minority candidates. But, when the organization only features a handful of minority candidates, it's hard to avoid treating them like tokens. If we want a truly diverse and inclusive work environment in the technology industry, we need to move beyond tokenism and hiring metrics. We need to pursue a more effective -- and more human -- approach.

Tech can do better than tokenism. Here's how.

Tech has cultivated a reputation as one of the world's most progressive and forward-thinking industries. We still have a long way to go, but I'm hopeful that our industry can provide a model for other industries to follow in the area of diversity and inclusion.

To get there, we'll need to move beyond tokenism and get serious about weaving diversity into the fabric of our corporate cultures.

Focus less on numbers, more on culture and mission. Metrics measure results -- they don't create change. Currently, diversity and inclusion are notably absent from most technology companies' missions. That needs to end. When you bake diversity into your organization's mission and core values, it guides the company's vision and actions. As a result, customers and other stakeholders understand that diversity is an essential component of company culture.

Related: Want to Create a Trans-Inclusive company? Invest in These 2 Things.

Implement blind testing. Discrimination (conscious and subconscious) happens early in the hiring process because many of the things that isolate employees (e.g., race, gender, age) can be determined visually. Blind testing helps employers understand applicants' aptitude without the interference of visual cues. It also empowers candidates from underrepresented groups because it eliminates the nagging sense that they lack equal footing during the hiring process, especially if your organization is clearly struggling to maintain a diverse workplace.

Consider third-party resources. Third-party organizations offer a vital on-ramp to workplace diversity. They provide the perspective and expertise tech leaders need to holistically embrace diversity and inclusion as a core value in the workplace. From guiding the organization's philanthropy to assisting in hiring practices to teaching leaders that diversity helps grow the business, third parties provide enable your organization to see what diversity and inclusion really look like.

At the end of the day, businesses exist to serve people, and they reflect the values of the people they count on to succeed. The personification of your business must include people from a diverse range of backgrounds -- living, breathing human beings who are more than metrics or checked boxes.

By bringing everyone to the table and working to incorporate diversity and inclusion into the fabric of your company culture, you can take an important step toward abandoning tokenism and creating an industry we can all be proud of.

Related:

Most Tech Companies Are Going About Diversity All Wrong

Live These 5 Cultural Values to Scale Your Startup's Growth

Impact Of Ethnic Diversity And Multiculturalism In Corporate Culture



Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reservedThe day I watched three Netflix romantic comedies in a row, my cellphone offered its own film criticism. Whenever I typed "rom-com" in text messages, my phone auto-corrected it to rom-con. And sometimes rom-coma.

I see your point, Siri.

I know these films promote unrealistic ideas about love. I know that watching characters fall in love releases pleasure and bonding hormones, effectively tricking my brain into feeling as though I'm the one experiencing this meet-cute and falling-for-you montage.

But it's safer and more predictable than swiping on Tinder, and healthier than texting an ex. No matter what happens over those 105 minutes (they're always under two hours!), viewers know the tone will be light, the characters relatable and the ending upbeat.

It might be built on a con, but the rom-coma feels so good. And in the comfort of your own home and PJs, it's much easier and cheaper to slip into one than it was in the pre-streaming days.

Critics have long declared the romantic comedy dead, as studios have veered toward the raunch-com, a la "Bridesmaids" and "Trainwreck." But the genre hasn't disappeared. It has lived on in television shows such as "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" and "The Mindy Project." And this summer, the genre is thriving on Netflix, which is pumping out rom-coms faster than viewers can say "I'll have what she's having."

Netflix isn't making new classics that rival "When Harry Met Sally" or "Mean Girls," so much as rom-coms that hearken back to those that are second-tier but still re-watchable. (Think: "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.") But they're adding characters who are more diverse, ethnically and sexually, with plotlines that are more politically correct than in the John Hughes days of playing sexual harassment, homophobia and rape references for laughs.

Matt Brodlie, director of acquisitions at Netflix, says the streaming service could see that viewers were watching rom-coms multiple times on its platform. And because the main studios weren't making many new ones, Netflix saw an opportunity.

"We wanted to dive into this space that had been abandoned but was still a desire for people to see," Brodlie says.

Although Netflix won't give specific viewership numbers for its summer rom-coms, it says one in three viewers of "The Kissing Booth" have re-watched the romantic comedy about two best friends whose bond is tested when one falls for the other's older brother. That's 30 percent higher than the average re-watch rate on Netflix. Last month, Ted Sarandos, Netflix's chief content officer, told New York magazine the teen movie was "one of the most-watched movies in the country, and maybe in the world."

Watching a romantic comedy is "a nice escape," Brodlie says. So Netflix has looked specifically for scripts "that would scratch that same itch," he says.

We need that escape now, says Susan Johnson, director of "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" (which premieres Aug. 17 on Netflix), who notes that the "angsty" romantic comedies of the 1980s came out of simpler, less divisive times. "Now we want to see something that makes us happy and hopeful," she says.

Lauren Miller Rogen, writer and director of "Like Father" (out Aug. 3), notes that as the studio rom-com has changed - relying more on the physical comedy than genuine emotion - she's found them less relatable. "A lot of female characters haven't felt real or grounded; their emotional journeys haven't mirrored anything I could relate to," Miller Rogen says.

The beauty of a rom-com is that the characters can be relatable even if you're never been in their particular situation. I've been fortunate to have a father who's always been present and attentive, and yet I still found myself in tears over a tender conversation between Kristen Bell's character (a workaholic named Rachel) and her absentee father played by Kelsey Grammer.

The young adult rom-com is most remarkable for how much high school hasn't changed in 20 years, despite the fact that humiliation and peer pressure now exist on social media and in person. No matter how much you've matured, it's easy to access the memories of being an insecure teenager and the feeling that the flimsy alliances of high school matter so much when you're in the thick of it.

Like the high school rom- and raunch-coms I grew up on - "10 Things I Hate About You," "American Pie" and others - this summer's Netflix titles still revolve around parties, the fickleness of popularity and elaborate schemes to get your crush to like you. Every Netflix rom-com set in high school features a trio of popular girls who still have the power to make a protagonist feel small (and aren't quite as brilliantly drawn as Tina Fey's "Mean Girls" originals).

But the films no longer feature the same strand of straight, white, rich teenager over and over again. The boys are more sensitive and sexuality more fluid. "Alex Strangelove" opens with a high school-to-animal-kingdom analogy that's ripped from "Mean Girls," but unlike the usual virgin-trying-to-get-laid plot, the protagonist ends up coming out to his girlfriend.

"To All the Boys I've Loved Before" and "Sierra Burgess Is a Loser" hinge on fake-dating schemes that resemble 1999's "10 Things I Hate About You." But the fact that "To All the Boys" follows an Asian-American family is a big step forward. "I've never seen an Asian-American girl be the lead of a teen movie," says Jenny Han, author of the book that preceded the movie. The film's director, Susan Johnson, finds today's teen rom-com to be more inclusive than those of her youth. Her film "isn't really about them being Asian-American, which makes it even more universal," Johnson says. "Everyone can dive into a world they can recognize."

Netflix rom-coms sometimes call out the aspects of classics that feel out of touch today. For example, in "The Kissing Booth," the bad boy Noah (Jacob Elordi) gets into a fight with a guy who grabs Elle's (Joey King) butt. When Noah says that maybe her skirt was asking for it, Elle snaps back: "Seriously? You wanna go down that road?" No, Noah doesn't. And neither do we.

Similarly, in "To All the Boys," Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo) wonders why Lara Jean loves "Sixteen Candles." "Isn't this character Long Dong Duk kind of racist?" he asks. First off: It's Long Duk Dong, and "not kind of," Lara Jean clarifies, but "extremely racist." Her little sister chimes in that they like the movie because, hello, Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling) is hot. "To me that scene is about things that we have enjoyed in the past and have a soft spot for, but can be deeply problematic," Han says.

If Netflix's high school rom-com is about finding love while figuring out who you are by escaping the tyranny of what others think, the adult versions center on finding love while reconnecting with that true self - by escaping the tyranny of work. Finding professional success has always figured heavily in the rom-com, yet it's an especially relevant plot point for the Netflix binger who might not have time to get to a movie theater, but can squeeze in a rom-com on their commute home or on the couch late at night.

"Set It Up" and "Ibiza" both feature protagonists named Harper (Zoey Deutch and Gillian Jacobs, respectively) who have unfulfilling jobs, demanding bosses and nonexistent love lives. Until a love-focused caper sets them free. There's often a caper in a rom-com, frequently one orchestrated by the protagonists' best friends. But most rom-coms today aren't just about finding the main character a man. Claire Scanlon, director of "Set It Up," sees this as a key way to continue to modernize the genre.

"Never does (Harper) say: I need a boyfriend. She wants a kicka-- job," Scanlon says. "And until she gets the confidence and believes in herself and does the work, she doesn't deserve to get what she wants."

"Like Father" also features a protagonist who toils under the stranglehold of work. In the opening scene, Bell's character makes a work call right before stuffing her cellphone in her bouquet and walking down the aisle, where her boss is to officiate the wedding of his "star employee." She ends up not getting married and going on her honeymoon with her absentee father who showed up to the wedding. The movie isn't so much about her "finding a man" as it is about reconnecting with the first man in her life - and figuring out how to have a life outside of work.

Now there's a relatable problem that never gets solved in 105 minutes. So let's watch another rom-com while pondering how to find love, success and a life - and rejoice in the fact that the genre hasn't died. It's just moved to a more intimate setting, which is perhaps where it belonged all along.The Riverbend area has been no stranger to U.S. Presidents, either while on the campaign trail or in office.

Beyond the well-known exploits of Abraham Lincoln and the two fleeting visits by Theodore Roosevelt in 1907 and 1910, Madison County residents may remember the notable moments in the slideshow above.7 hours ago

The Top 3 Materials Stocks to Buy in November

These Materials Stocks Can Protect Investors From Inflation Exploring areas of the market that dont get a lot of attention from the majority of investors can be a rewarding strategy, especially if you can pick up on a sector that is showing relative strength.

Read ArticleA Burnham-On-Sea teenager is selling hand-made gift boxes full of baby items and holding a series of fundraisers to support a cause close to her heart.

Maisie Creswick, a GCSE student, is raising money for The Lullaby Trust who try to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

I am passionate about babies and childcare and hope to go into a career of midwifery after university, she told Burnham-On-Sea.com.

Im holding a series of fundraising events this summer to raise funds and awareness about the charity.

Her beautifully decorated gift boxes are filled with high quality baby essentials for youngsters aged from 0-6 months.

Each gift box costs 30 and includes high-quality items including two dummy soothers, baby wash, wipes, a Muslin, socks or mittens, a selection of new quality clothes to include a T-shirt or vest plus bib and a sleep suit.

She has also hosted a 70s disco night, is doing a sponsored walk on August 17th from Axbridge to Winscombe, and is holding a bake sale in Cookson Close this Friday July 27th from 9am through the day.

To get more information about buying a baby gift box, contact her by email at maisieanncreswick51@gmail.comCAMEROUN :: Cameroon, 2018 Presidential: SDF Convenes NEC for July 28

As the race for the Presidential election scheduled for 7 October 2018 heats up, the various political parties have intensified preparations to device strategies to woo voters when the time comes.

It is the case with the main opposition party, the Social Democratic Front who will be meeting in Bamenda on 28 July 2018, for a meeting of the National Executive Committee, NEC.

According to a communique signed by the partys Secretary General, Jean Tsomelou, the meeting is enlarged to include Members of Parliament, mayors, shadow cabinet members and NAC members.

The agenda of the meeting has not been disclosed but sources within the SDF say the party will discuss on the strategy to adopt at the upcoming Presidential election.

The SDFs flag bearer Joshua Osih is one of the 28 candidates who have deposited their files at the elections management body, Elecam. He was accompanied by the partys Chairman Ni John Fru on Wednesday as he deposited his file at the Elecam Regional Office in Douala.

Elecam has until August 8 to publish the list of candidate retained for the Presidential elections. Candidates whose files would have been rejectted have a maximum of two days to appeal at the Constitutional Council.

In a twist of event, 20 of the 28 candidates said to have deposited their files to run for president last week decided to through their eight behind Paul Biya, the CPDM candidate in a move that has stunned many political observers.35 foreigners nabbed for visa offences

NATIONWIDE: Thirty-five foreigners have been arrested for visa offences and illegal entry during coordinated raids on 62 locations across the country earlier today (July 25).

crimepoliceimmigration

By Bangkok Post

Wednesday 25 July 2018, 06:28PM

Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn, deputy commissioner of the Tourist Police Bureau, talks to a group of foreign suspects caught during coordinated raids in the early hours of today (July 25). Photo: Tourist Police Bureau

Police teams from several units raided 62 targeted locations in Bangkok and other provinces, including three language schools and 11 secondary schools, said Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn, deputy commissioner of the Tourist Police Bureau.

Nine of the 35 suspects  six from India, one each from China, Cameroon and Germany  were charged with overstaying their visas.

Among the nine, German national Eugen Karl Mullerschon, 60, was caught in Trang for overstaying for 7,059 days. Cameroon national George Elvis Nkwi Nkwain, 34, was nabbed in Lopburi for overstaying his visa for 1,726 days, and one of the Indian nationals, Vinod Yadav, 26, was caught in Bangkok for overstaying his visa for 1,295 days, said Maj Gen Surachate.

Another 25 suspects from Laos (7), Myanmar (5), India (5), Cambodia (4), Syria (1), Egypt (1), Yemen (1), and Uganda (1) were charged with illegal entry. The remaining Indian suspect was charged with an undisclosed offence.

The string of raids today were the 18th of the on-going crackdown, dubbed X-Ray Outlaw Foreigner targeting foreign criminals entering the country under the guise of tourists to carry out crimes that affected national security and tourism image such as romance scams, credit card skimming gangs.

To date, a total of 1,757 suspects have been arrested and 4,009 targeted locations searched across the country, said the TPB deputy chief.

Read original story here.Indian tourist missing, swept out to sea from Phuket beach

PHUKET: A rescue team from the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command is searching off Phukets west coast for an Indian national who was swept out to sea at Karon Beach late yesterday afternoon (July 25).

tourismmarineSafetyweather

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Thursday 26 July 2018, 04:15PM

The Navy rescue team is still looking for 33-year-old Gaurav Mann, who was swept away from Karon Beach by a strong rip current late yesterday afternoon (July 25). Photo: Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command

The search is for 33-year-old Gaurav Mann, confirmed police.

According to a brief report by the Karon Police, officers were informed at 5:05pm that Mr Mann had been swept away from the beach by a strong rip current in front of the Nong Han Park.

Mr Mann was playing in the water with a friend, also an Indian national, at 4:30pm, police said.

The wind and waves were strong while they were playing, said the report.

After about 30 minutes, Mr Mann and his friend became caught in a strong rip current.

They had had entered the water at a section of beach marked with red no swimming flags as the surf in that area is too dangerous for swimmers.

A lifeguard was called to help, but could only recover Mr Manns friend before Mr Mann was swept away.

The search team, from the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command emergency rescue centre set up further south along the 3.4-kilometre long beach, are continuing to look for him, The Phuket News was told this afternoon (July 26).Laos PM says 131 missing from dam collapse as 26 bodies recovered

LAOS: The Laotian prime minister said yesterday (July 25) that 131 people are still missing two days after a dam collapse swamped several villages in the countrys south, killing at least 26 people.

accidentsconstructiondeathhealthweather

By AFP

Thursday 26 July 2018, 09:12AM

Several villages were submerged with hundreds of people feared missing. Photo: AFP / Handout

In a rare televised press conference by the leader of the secretive communist country, Thongloun Sisoulith gave the most specific figure so far for the number unaccounted for.

Earlier official reports spoke of hundreds missing in Attapeu province.

One hundred and thirty one people have been reported missing, he said, adding all of them were Lao nationals.

Survivors have questioned why they got little warning of the deluge, which inundated several villages across a vast area with several metres of flood water.

Two South Korean contractors said they had reported damage a day before parts of the Xe-Namnoy dam gave way Monday (July 23) and unleashed a wall of water.

Thai consular official Chana Miencharoen, at the scene of the relief effort said that by late yesterday afternoon 26 bodies had been recovered.

Seventeen others are injured and in hospital, he said, adding roof-level floodwater was hampering rescue efforts in a remote area of the poor and landlocked Southeast Asian country.

Information trickled slowly out of Laos as the publicity-shy country tried to get to grips with the disaster.

The Vientiane Times reported that 3,000 were in need of rescue as of yesterday afternoon, taking shelter in trees and on rooftops.

Footage on Laos television showed people huddled on roofs awaiting rescue as muddy water swirled menacingly just below them, with the army and local volunteers leading the rescue effort.

Questions began to emerge over the collapse, with some of the displaced saying they were warned to leave their homes only hours before disaster struck.

It happened quickly, we had little time to prepare ourselves, Joo Hinla, 68, from one of the worst-hit villages of Ban Hin Lath, said from a warehouse crammed with over 700 displaced people in a neighbouring province.

All of the houses in my village are under water. Four of my family are missing, we dont know about their fate yet.

Hundreds of other displaced people, including women, children and the elderly, sat on the floor nearby surrounded by plastic bags crammed with meagre belongings.

Laos, poor but blessed with abundant natural resources, aims to become the Battery of Asia allowing dozens of foreign-funded dam projects across its network of rivers.

But fears over the environmental impact of the projects, which export most of their electricity to neighbouring Thailand and China, go virtually unvoiced inside the tightly controlled country.

Villagers across the country have been moved, some several times, to make way for dams whose benefits are mainly enjoyed outside of the country, campaigners say.

Once complete, around 90% of the electricity generated by the Xe-Namnoy dam was destined for Thailand.

The remote flooded area is only accessible by helicopter and flat-bottomed boats, with roads badly damaged or completely washed away.

South Korea was sending a relief team to the area, President Moon Jae-ins spokesman said yesterday in Seoul.

Our government must actively take part in on-site relief efforts without delay as our companies were involved in the construction of the dam, Moon was quoted as saying.

Two South Korean companies involved in the $1.2 billion (B40.120bn) project said damage was reported a day before the dam collapsed following heavy monsoon rain.

SK Engineering & Construction said it discovered that the upper part of the structure had washed away at around 9pm last Sunday (July 22).

We immediately alerted the authorities and began evacuating villagers downstream, it said in a statement.

Repair work was hampered by rain which had damaged roads, it said. Early on Monday water was discharged from the Xe-Namnoy dam  one of the two main dams in the project  to try to relieve pressure on the auxiliary structure.

The government was warned about further damage to the dam at around noon, prompting an official evacuation order for villagers downstream, and the structure collapsed a few hours later, it said.

Dam operator Korea Western Power Co. said one of the auxiliary dams  Saddle D  broke under heavy rain.

But according to a timeline the firm provided in a report to a South Korean lawmaker and obtained by AFP, it said 11 centimetres of subsidence was found at the centre of the dam as early as last Friday (July 20).

Emergency repair equipment could not be used as the subsidence worsened.

It remains unclear what caused the dam to subside in some places and develop cracks, a Korea Western Power spokesman said.

The 410 megawatt capacity plant was supposed to start commercial operations by 2019.Phuket Police on alert for suspects in Ranong slaying

PHUKET: Phuket Police are on alert for two men wanted for shooting a man point blank in the head in outside a nightclub in Ranong Province last Sunday night (July 22).

crimemurderhomicidepolice

By The Phuket News

Thursday 26 July 2018, 06:13PM

In CCTV video footage, Theprit is arguing with Kriangsak, then Phoomporn is seen walking up to Theprit and shooting him once point blank in the head. Photo: Post Today

Col Akanit Danpitaksarn, a Deputy Commander of the Phuket Provincial Police, confirmed to The Phuket News this afternoon that all police on the island have been alerted to be on the lookout for the two men.

The suspects were named as Phoomporn Chartpranom, 48, and Kriangsak Pianchai, 35.

The men are wanted for shooting dead Theprit Sae-aong, 35, in front of Zeed Pub in Ranong Town.

In CCTV video footage, Theprit is arguing with Kriangsak, then Phoomporn is seen walking up to Theprit and shooting him once point blank in the head.

The weapon used for the killing was confirmed as a 9mm handgun.

We are looking for these guys. All police have been alerted, and Phang Nga Police have also already been informed in case these men attempt to come to Phuket, Col Akanit said.

For us, we are keeping a special eye out at Phuket International Airport as we believe they might attempt to board a flight from here.

Also, we are investigating their connections in Phuket, including friends or any other associates they might have here, he added.Phuket still plagued by surf danger as tourists lives threatened

PHUKET: MaAnn Samran, Chief of the Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organisation (OrBorTor) today provided no defence for the inaction of lifeguards while a tourist was being overwhelmed by dangerous surf at Surin Beach on Monday (July 23), leaving the tourist to be rescued by a local surfer and a hero French tourist.

tourismmarineSafetyweather

By The Phuket News

Thursday 26 July 2018, 01:35PM

The Lebanese tourist was spared serious harm due to the rescue by local surfer Alik Reyes Narag and a Frenchman lifeguard hero. Photo: Pavida Anantarasmi

The Lebanese tourist was spared serious harm due to the rescue by local surfer Alik Reyes Narag and a Frenchman lifeguard hero. Photo: Pavida Anantarasmi

Lifeguards at Nai Harn rescued at least 18 people from the surf on Tuesday, while a local surfer and a hero Frenchman rescued a Lebanese tourist at Surin on Monday while lifeguards there refused to enter the water. Photos: Phuket Naiharn Surf Lifesaving Club

Instead, four days after the incident, Mr MaAnn this morning (July 26) confirmed he was aware of the incident, and offered, We are still investigating what happened, why the lifeguards did not help.

Mr MaAnn said that the man rescued was a 22-year-old Lebanese tourist staying at a nearby hotel.

He sneaked away from his family to swim at Surin Beach. The surf was too strong and he could not help himself, but he was provided help and was brought back to shore.

The ambulance staff gave him first aid. His symptoms were not serious. He had just choked on some water, he had not lost consciousness, Mr MaAnn added.

THE RESCUE

The local surfer who rescued the Lebanese tourist was Alik Reyes Narag, a local surfer at Surin Beach who has lived in Phuket for nine years  and who credits his rescue ability to carry out the rescue to training he received at an event organised by the International Surf Lifesaving Association (ISLA) at Surin Beach last year.

Mr Narag passed the course and is now an accredited Ocean Lifeguard to international standard.

Mr Narag also modestly credited the rescue to the help of a Frenchman who he called a hero.

The Frenchman, on holiday in Phuket, said he was a trained lifeguard in his home country, Mr Narag added.

Mr Narag and the Frenchman rescued the tourist while lifeguards stayed on the beach, refusing to enter the water to save the struggling tourist.

I noticed that in that situation the lifeguards did not respond efficiently. No lifeguard got in the water immediately to rescue the victim. I saw them, They didnt know what to do, Mr Narag told The Phuket News.

One of them grabbed a surfboard but was afraid to enter the water, then he yelled at me and pointed at the guy struggling, fighting the rip current. The other one was holding his phone, watching, he added.

I quickly started to paddle over to the victim, but it was good there also was a guy from France, who said he works as a lifeguard in his country, who swam over and supported the victim with his arm around him to lift his head out of the water.

That guy is a hero, Mr Narag said.

I came up and slid my board over for the victim to grab it and Frenchman swam away because we were heading towards the rocks.

That was another bad thing Nobody even threw us a line or anything that we could pull. We were heading towards the rocks before our feet could reach the bottom. My board slammed on a rock. I thought my fins or board would break. Luckily one quite strong swell came over and pushed us towards the shore, he explained.

PROTECTION

While tourists are exposed to life-threatening danger at Surin Beach, the lifeguards themselves are being provided a level of protection more than anyone else involved in surf rescues.

No one at Cherng Talay OrBorTor was willing to comment or even give out contact info for the anyone responsible for lifeguards at Surin Beach.

Instead, they insisted that The Phuket News must speak with Chief MaAnn  and him alone.

To that, Mr MaAnn defended the lifeguards. Our lifeguards are good to do their job. People just blame lifeguards  some people lose the profit about this, he said, casting an allegation he was not willing to explain whilst detracting from the issue that the lifeguards at Surin were not even willing to enter the water to attempt to save a tourists life.

We will have to check (about the incident) and will let you know, he promised.

The failure of lifeguards at Surin Beach to be able or willing to carry out surf rescues has been apparent for months now, notes Daren Jenner of the ISLA, a point clearly supported by repeated reports by regular visitors at Surin Beach.

That same point was even supported by Dr Nutpol Sirisawang, who as Managing Director of LP Laikhum Co Ltd headed the company most recently appointed to provide lifeguards at Surin, Bang Tao, Nai Thon and Mai Khao beaches.

Dr Nutpol in May openly called local authorities out on not providing the budget to provide the rescue equipment needed by lifeguards to carry out rescues. (See story here.)

At last report LP Laikhums contract ended on May 31, throwing into doubt exactly who are serving as lifeguards at Surin Beach. Unofficial reports say that depending who is on watch, the current lifeguards are either former qualified lifeguards or untrained well-wisher volunteers hoping to provide some level of protection at the beach.

Meanwhile, the standard practice at Surin is to have red no swimming flags posted along the entire beach to deter swimmers from entering the water.

Since June 1 of this year, a safe swimming area has not been marked by the red and yellow flags at Surin Beach. This overuse of red flags will work up to a certain point, Mr Jenner noted on Monday, stressing the point that sooner or later tourists just ignore the warnings. (See story here.)

Apparently more red flags were delivered to the lifeguards just four days ago.

DANGER CONTINUES

Meanwhile, the dangerous surf continues to pound Phukets west coast today (July 26), following lifeguards at Nai Harn Beach rescuing at least 18 people  10 Russians, four Chinese and four Thais  from dangerous surf.

More rescues continued yesterday, with the Phuket Naiharn Surf Lifesaving Club posting online the sublime comment, Everyday normal.

Mr Jenner today (July 26) warned that waves were predicted to build even more over next few days.

The ISLA recommends that Phukets exposed west coast beaches be closed to swimmers. However, sheltered areas of Kata, Kamala, Patong and BangTao may have slightly better conditions, and lifeguards may set up designated swimming areas, designated by a pairs of red-and-yellow flags, he advised.

However, he also stressed fro safety, Just because a beach is not marked with red flags, does NOT mean it is safe to enter the water. Swimmers should strictly adhere to all posted signs and warnings by lifeguards.

If a safe swimming area is not designated by red-and-yellow flags on any Phuket beach, or lifeguards are not visible, entering the water is not recommended, he said.

Mr Jenner also warned, We are also at the peak of danger due to the tides. Large tidal swings over the next few days will add to the danger, on the outgoing tide, the existing rips increase in speed and strength.

Notice the rescues and near-misses we have had were almost all during the outgoing tide.

Over the next few days, tide going out roughly between 10am and 5pm, peak beach visitor hours.

Of note, since the Phuket lifeguard fiasco began last year with the Phuket Lifeguard Service (PLS), which had provided lifeguards on Phukets beaches for more than 10 years, refusing to submit an offer for the government contract to do so because of the poor budget provided, Phuket has been without a single government authority or local organisation to compile, coordinate or report comprehensively on lifeguard protection services and rescues throughout the province.Six Chinese held in Chiang Mai online gambling bust

CHIANG MAI: Six Chinese nationals were arrested for using Thailand as a base for an online gambling racket during a raid on two luxury houses in the San Sai district of Chiang Mai.

crimeChinesepoliticsimmigration

By Bangkok Post

Thursday 26 July 2018, 02:30PM

Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn, deputy chief of the Tourist Police Bureau, examines iPads being used by one of the six Chinese suspects (seated) to receive bets online, during the raids on the two large, rented houses in Chiang Mai yesterday (July 25). Photo: Tourist Police Bureau

The raids followed a tip-off from Chinese authorities.

A combined force from Provincial Police Region 5, the Tourist Police Bureau (TPB) and immigration searched the two houses at The Regent 1 housing estate in tambon San Sai Noi yesterday (July 25).

Three Chinese nationals, two women and one man, were detained at the first house after an online gambling setup was found there, Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn, deputy chief of the TPB, told a media briefing.

Seized items included two desktop computers, two notebook computers, two iPads, four mobile phones and a 225-page account book with betting details.

The suspects  Ms Li Yujia, 29; Ms Yang Siyu, 32, and Mr Cai Di, 34  were found accepting bets online when police entered a room on the second floor of the house.

The police team then raided a nearby house and arrested three more Chinese nationals and seized more evidence of online gambling.

The trio were identified as Mr Zhang Hao, 24, Mr He Pengcheng, 27 and Mr Zhao Wantong, 19.

Seized from the house were a desktop computer, five iPads, seven mobile phones, one set of documents, and an internet service router.

All suspects were charged with colluding in operating an online gambling service and persuading people, directly or indirectly, to place bets.

Two Thais who leased the houses to the Chinese were also detained.

The couple, Thitirat Phumprapayong and Chattida Yorsanon, were charged with sheltering foreign nationals without notifying immigration officials  a TM30 violation.

The raid came after Chinese police sought assistance from the Royal Thai Police Office technology crime suppression centre in arresting a group of Chinese nationals using Thailand as a base for an online gambling operation, Maj Gen Surachate said.

Investigators found out the Chinese had rented two houses in Chiang Mai and their activities certainly raised suspicions. They mostly stayed indoors, only occasionally sending someone out to buy food supplies. The investigators later confirmed they were running a gambling operation from the two houses, Maj Gen Surachate said.

Their punters mostly placed bets on online Chinese gambling card games. More than 2.5 million yuan, about B10mn, was found to be circulating through their system.

Read original story here.Thailand honours HM The King with Rama 10 Stamps

PHUKET: The Thailand Post (THP) yesterday announced that it will start issuing Rama 10 stamps on Saturday in honour of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun.

culture

By The Phuket News

Thursday 26 July 2018, 03:13PM

The stamps are being issued for HM The Kings 66th Birthday. Photo: Thailand Post

Yesterday (July 25) in Bangkok, Samorn Terdtampibul, of the management board of Thailand Post Co Ltd, announced that the state enterprise will start releasing stamps for HM The Kings 66th Birthday which falls on Saturday (July 28).

There will be three different stamps which will feature different images of HM The King.

The stamps feature images of HM The King in Royal Military Uniform. The background of the stamps will be a golden Thai pattern with the title 66-year-old Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, Ms Samorn said.

This stamps will be sold at B10 each and First Day covers will be sold at B20.

Ms Samorn also pointed out that another stamp titled The First Image of the Kings Reign which will feature an image of HM The King dressed in ancient royal attire.

These will be available at 12 price levels; one baht, two baht, three baht, five baht, six baht, seven baht, nine baht, B10, B12 , B15, B50, and B100.

In addition, souvenir stamp sheets will also be available B250 and First Day covers will be available at B265, Ms Samorn added.

All stamps will be available at post offices nationwide from Saturday onward.

According to his biography, King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun held a Bachelors degree in Liberal Arts from University of New South Wales.

In 1982 he completed a second bachelors degree in law with second-class honours at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University.

For more information please contact the THP Contact Centre through 1545 or visit www.thailandpost.co.th| BY Ricki Green |

Tourism marketing agency, Gate 7, has successfully retained the Visit California account in the Australian and New Zealand market.

The renewed contract will see the agency deliver an integrated marketing program to keep the vibrant destination top of mind for Australian and New Zealander travellers.

Says Jo Palmer, managing director, Gate 7: Gate 7 has enjoyed an 11 year working relationship with Visit California and has seen visitation to the state grow extensively in that time. Our goal is to leverage Californias strong awareness in the market to drive conversion for both new and repeat travellers, encouraging Australians and Kiwis to Dream Big in California again and again.

Were excited to roll out an integrated strategy that showcases the abundance of Californias unique traveller experiences and targets both mass and niche audiences alike.

Gate 7 has evolved its service offerings which now include social media management and advertising, consumer partnerships and content development, to supplement the teams expertise in traditional travel trade marketing and public relations.

A number of staff appointments have been announced to cater to the agencys expansion and evolution of service offerings. This includes three newly-created roles  general manager, director of events and director of public relations and content  in addition to a fresh Visit California key account team.

Tristan Freedman has been appointed general manager following a ten year tenure at the agency in a number of senior roles.

Lisa Dunn, previously director of operations, has been named director of events to cater to the increasing demand for destination specific events and in-market visits from both existing and new clients.EDMONTONA Grand Prairie vice principal is facing charges after three female students reported being touched inappropriately near the end of the school year.

According to Grande Prairie RCMP, the three students made the report on June 1.

Raymond Sylvester, 55, of Grande Prairie, Alta., was arrested on June 27 and is now facing charges of sexual assault.

Sylvester has since been released from custody and is expected to appear in court in Grande Prairie on Aug. 22.

Read more about:MIAMIThe third of four suspects in the shooting death of an emerging South Florida rap star XXXTentacion has been arrested in rural Georgia.

The U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested Robert Allen, 22, of Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday. He was booked into jail in Dodge County, Ga., and is being held on a warrant from Broward County, Fla.

Allen and three other men are accused of killing XXXTentacion (ex-ex-ex-ten-ta-see-YAWN) in June. The 20-year-old rap star, whose real name was Jahseh Onfroy, was fatally shot as he left a motorcycle dealership. Officials said a struggle ensued when two masked gunmen approached the rappers sports car and XXXTentacion was shot multiple times. The gunmen fled with a Louis Vitton bag containing $50,000.

Last week, a grand jury indicted Allen along with three others  Dedrick Williams, 22; Michael Boatwright, 22 and Trayvon Newsome, 20  with first-degree murder and armed robbery charges. Williams and Boatwright are in custody while Newsome remains at large.

Deputy U.S. Marshal John Edgar tells the Miami Herald they received information that Allen was possibly staying with his sister in Eastman, Ga. Officers did surveillance on the sisters house and she was co-operative when the officers came looking for Allen, Edgar told the Herald.

An attorney for Allen isnt listed on jail records.Ever go somewhere to visit, and just fall in love with the place? So much that you end up buying a place there?

The property that hooks you is a big riverfront retreat geared to a laid-back lifestyle of fishing, boating and hosting large get-togethers. But then divorce comes along, you buy a house close to your ex and children and, well, somethings gotta go.

Welcome to Ben Afflecks world. And meet Dicky Mopper.

Hes the agent Affleck enlisted to sell the 87-acre estate on Hampton Island  described by Mopper as one of the most gorgeous coastal islands  near Savannah, Ga.

The property includes three residential buildings that offer a combination of rustic and elegant living spaces, according to Mopper of Engel & Volkers luxury real estate firm.

But its the main mansion, called Big House, thats the real jewel of the triumvirate for its authentic recreation of Greek revival architecture and Southern plantation style, he notes.

Affleck purchased the estate 15 years ago after becoming enthralled by the area when he made the rom-com Forces of Nature with Sandra Bullock in 1999.

He lived in Savannah during the filming and absolutely loved the city and low country of Georgia, says Mopper, himself a devotee of the region for more than 30 years.

The Academy Award winner, says Mopper, spent a great deal of time over the years at the secluded hideaway, which stretches 550 metres along the North Newport River, about 50 kilometres from Savannah.

But while he knows that Affleck built an enormous library of novels and leather-bound books, had a gym and kept a boat at the homestead, details about the Hollywood stars personal life there are scant.

Affleck and actress Jennifer Garner, who have three children together, began divorce proceedings in 2016 after 11 years of marriage.

Theres no shortage of superlatives about the sanctuary itself, designed almost 20 years ago by Jim Strickland, known for his traditional southern architecture.

Magnificent, remarkable and spectacular flow frequently from Moppers mouth as he describes the place.

You get a real feeling of grandeur as you pull into the driveway to be greeted by one of the most elegant buildings, he says.

Fronted by 25-foot Doric columns, the two-storey white mansion invites visitors up a wide staircase onto a large veranda. Inside, oversized rooms are accented by crystal chandeliers, crown mouldings and floor-to-ceiling windows that raise up so you can walk outside.

My favourite place in the entire house is the kitchen/den, which is a wide open space with a huge fireplace, Mopper says.

The house is historically accurate in architectural details and materials, from the mortise locks and 15-foot ceilings to the reclaimed heart-of-pine flooring and woodwork, for which southern Georgia was famous in the antebellum era, he says.

The views of the river are unbelievable, Mopper adds.

Along a brick path is the single-storey Summer House, with exposed beams, full kitchen, indoor and outdoor fireplaces, and all the amenities needed for oyster roasts, shrimp boils and fish fries, according to the realtor.

A reproduction of writer Ernest Hemingways 38-foot fishing boat Pilar is permanently moored at the dock.

On the other side of Big House is Oyster House. With 10,000 square feet of living space and multiple bedrooms filled with bunk beds salvaged from marine vessels, the two-storey camp-style guest house can accommodate large groups overnight. A wraparound interior balcony and pine beams complement the open-concept floor plan.

The estate also boasts ocean access from the deep-water dock, according to Mopper. All the better for privacy seekers.

The numbers

Price: $8.9 million (U.S.)

Size: 6,600 square feet (main house)

Bedrooms: 3

Bathrooms: 4.5So the Ivanka Trump brand is over: kaput, shutting down, soon to be no more. Really?

Do not be silly. The Ivanka Trump brand is alive and well and working in the West Wing as a special adviser to President Donald Trump. It is the Ivanka Trump fashion line that is closing, as announced Tuesday by the first daughter. The one was only ever a shadow expression of the other  or rather, a homage of sorts to what she liked to wear. Which was exactly the problem.

The company was based on the premise that there was a group of women who would want to buy, with hard dollars and cents, the image Ivanka Trump herself was selling to the world. The one she disseminated so relentlessly via guest appearances on her fathers television show and stories in Vogue and books and on her own Instagram page: Herself as the glassy blond embodiment of the woman who had it all  a big job, family, a perfect blow out, time to exercise. The promise for sale was that you could try this image on with the ease of slipping on a power sheath dress.

It is the promise of every celebrity- or personality-driven fashion line. It is why Uniqlo was willing to pay so much for Roger Federer to become a brand ambassador; why Coach wanted to team up with Selena Gomez. Why so many actors and athletes now see their next career step as clothing, and why so many are willing to back them in that move. It is not about esthetic vision or achievement. Certainly, Trumps clothing and accessories, polished and derivative as they were, were not changing anyones ideas about the ways fabric related to the body or the possibilities of form.

The brand equity and value lies with the fame and myth of the personal brand, not the fashion brand. There is a reason, after all, Trump did not name her line Gilded Futures, or some other such vague, kitschy title. And there is a lesson in the last year and a half of this line for anyone who is tempted to conflate life and a shell-pink car coat.

L'Etat, as Louis XIV said, cest moi. The brand was her. The idea that she could dissociate herself from that sales pitch by stepping back from the company when she went to Washington was always patently silly.

She may have put it in a trust, may have recused herself from day-to-day decisions, may have stopped wearing the products and being a walking, if unannounced, advertisement for her own business (albeit after getting in trouble for seeming to do exactly that).

She may even have changed her style once she started meeting with world leaders  notice that? How all the skirts have dropped below the knee, and the tight, power-boss silhouettes have given way to softer, more 1950s lines, complete with bows and ruffles?  and may have often worn other brands, such as Oscar de la Renta, Michael Kors and Carolina Herrera. The Ivanka Trump company might even have taken her image off its website. But her name was still on the label, and in every mention of the line.

If anything, the ubiquity of this administration and its frenetic news cycle, the omnipresence of the name Trump, made her association with the line ever more intense. If a company lives and profits by perception, so does it die. At one point it was probably seen as a potential business boon that Ivanka Trumps profile was about to go global. Instead, the sins of the one became the sins of the other.

And thus did some of the Trump opposition turn their efforts toward lobbying department stores to drop the Ivanka Trump brand. And when Nordstrom did (upsetting the president, who then used his bully pulpit to strike back) and Marshalls did and, most recently, Hudsons Bay in Canada did, they said it was because the brand was not selling well. It became impossible to know how much that was true, or how much it might also have to do with, say, in HBCs case, Donald Trump attacking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after the G-7 meeting in Quebec, and offending a whole host of loyal customers.

And thus, when China granted the Ivanka Trump company a host of trademarks, questions were raised about currying favour with the administration. So when Ivanka Trump was cast as the champion of women  someone who would whisper in her fathers ear in their support  the women laboring in the factories in India and China that supplied her brand were weaponized against her. When she was trotted out to discuss the presidents drive to bring manufacturing home, the fact that her company manufactured overseas became part of the debate.

So the fashion dream, at least for now, comes to an end. But so, once upon a time, did the fine jewelry dream (remember that?). The brand survived that snafu, and so it will this one, because the person is the real product. The question is what shape she will take next?

Read more about:VANCOUVERPerry Bellegarde has reclaimed his seat as national chief for the Assembly of First Nations, in an election that also saw his challengers accuse the federal government of interference.

Bellegarde won 328 of the 522 votes in a second ballot, giving him just over the 60 per cent needed to be elected as leader for a second term.

Bellegarde, who is from the Little Black Bear First Nation in Treaty 4 territory in Saskatchewan, has said his close relationship with the federal government has secured billions of dollars in new funding for Indigenous issues over the last three budgets. He has been criticized by other candidates for being too cosy with Ottawa.

Following his election, he said the assemblys strong voice has meant positive change for Indigenous communities.

First Nations leaders are bringing about policy and legislative change, and starting to see investments in education, in water, in housing, in health care, and commitments to really do something vital to our survival as Indigenous peoples by bringing about the Indigenous Languages Revitalization Act. So (the federal government is) responding to our agenda that were putting in front of them, Bellegarde said.

Sheila North of Manitoba won 125 votes, Miles Richardson of B.C. won 59 votes and Russ Diabo of Quebec won 10 votes.

Read more:

First Nations candidates claim election interference by federal government

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Katherine Whitecloud of Manitoba was eliminated in the first round of voting for having the fewest number of votes.

The vote in Vancouver sparked some controversy, as all four of Bellegardes challengers claimed election interference by the federal government because Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett was at the convention during the vote.

Our four candidates are standing together to make sure at least the integrity of our decision(-making) political process is protected and honoured amongst our people. We do not condone the interference of the federal government, and anyone who does should be accountable to this assembly, Richardson said.

North said Bennetts presence represented a disgusting display of interference and a direct attack by the Liberal government on the assembly, while Diabo called for the minister to be sanctioned.

This is what were talking about, running our own affairs. We dont need the federal government to interfere in our elections, she said.

Both North and Richardson said they accepted the election results in their concession speeches, while Diabo said there would be consequences  a statement that was met with boos from the audience.

Bennetts office issued a statement saying the minister was invited by Chief Marlene Poitras of Alberta to listen to her regional concerns, and at no point was the election for national chief discussed.

In no way did the minister interfere in the electoral process for national chief. This is a decision for First Nations to make without outside interference, the statement said.

Bellegarde said he considered it the right of the Alberta caucus to invite the cabinet minister.

Theyve got regional issues and national issues of concern they wanted to raise directly to the minister and thats their right, thats their call, he said.

Bellegarde said he will use his next term to continue working with federal and provincial governments to improve quality of life for Indigenous peoples, including closing the gap in youth suicide rates, which are five to seven times the national average, and putting resources toward the 40,000 First Nations children who are in foster care.

This gap is not good for us and its not good for Canada. So once we start closing this gap its good for our people but ultimately its good for the country as a whole, he said.OTTAWAThe Ontario government has formally requested $200 million from the federal government to cover costs associated with asylum seekers from the United States.

Lisa MacLeod, Ontarios minister for children, community and social services, sent a letter Thursday demanding financial compensation and expressing concern over the federal governments efforts in managing the issue of illegal border crossing.

In the letter, MacLeod, who is also responsible for immigration, said that for over a year Ontario has been straining to support border crossers and that the Liberal governments approach is now testing the patience and generosity of Ontarians.

The letter to Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says federal support has been inadequate to meet the current and future needs posed by this crisis.

MacLeod asked Duclos to consider the letter a formal request for direct and full compensation for the costs associated with the support Ontario and its municipalities are providing.

Speaking to reporters at the Ontario legislature, MacLeod said the costs are growing and its time the federal government made Ontario whole financially.

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She had warned Ottawa earlier this week, while appearing before a House of Commons immigration committee, that the request would come.

MacLeod says the $200-million figure breaks down as follows: $74 million for shelter costs for the City of Toronto, $12 million for shelter costs for the City of Ottawa, $90 million for social assistance costs her ministry is footing, $20 million for education and $3 million for the Red Cross, which has also helped with temporary housing.

So far the federal government has offered $50 million to provinces, including $36 million for Quebec, $3 million for Manitoba and $11 million for Ontario.

Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen and Bill Blair, the minister responsible for border security, were copied on the letter from MacLeod.

Hussens office said in a statement that it had received the request.

Mathieu Genest, a spokesman for Hussen, added the government stands ready to work with Ontario, saying that following Canadian laws and respecting international obligations as they relate to asylum seekers is not an option, its a requirement.

It is disappointing that the Ontario government has decided to view this as a choice, and is playing politics on this issue by spreading disinformation about a vulnerable group of people.

Hussens office also said efforts are underway to contract hotels to provide immediate, short-term lodging to the approximately 540 people currently housed in college dorms.

Hotel rooms will be booked until the end of September and many families will then move out and find more permanent housing as they await the hearing of their claims, Genest said.

Senior government officials during a briefing Thursday that the Immigration Department will be responsible for locating, booking and paying for the hotel rooms.

Genest said the plan is to put a triage system in place that will help manage the flow of asylum seekers to different municipalities.

A City of Toronto official said the number of asylum claimants in the Humber College and Centennial College residences changes daily. The residences can house up to 800 people  the number MacLeod frequently cites.

In Ontarios Peel region, which encompasses Brampton, Caledon and Mississauga, 31 rooms in hotels and motels have been committed to house refugee families and individuals. Currently there are 26 families, or 77 individuals, in hotels.

Peel has offered to help these families find permanent housing and connect them with settlement agencies.

Read more about:HALIFAXNova Scotia is defending its unique cannabis retail scheme that will sell weed in existing liquor stores amid criticisms the arrangement poses a public-health risk.

A Halifax psychology professor issued a news release criticizing the model, which the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation says is unique in the world.

Marijuana is to be sold under the same roof as alcohol, although the two retail areas will be kept separate.

Simon Sherry of Dalhousie University said Wednesday other jurisdictions have kept them separate because its just not a good idea.

But Justice Minister Mark Furey said Thursday the NSLC has a track record with regulated products, and is following a federal marijuana panels advice on protective measures including staff training and no cross-promotion.

Twelve cannabis stores will open inside NSLC locations on Oct. 17.

We have full confidence in the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporations ability to retail a regulated product, said Furey. Cannabis is co-located but it is very separate from the alcohol elements.

Furey said the government will re-examine its retail model after a year, but he expects no changes.

I think the next 12 months  is going to be an important period in the evaluation and assessment in the model weve advanced, Furey told reporters Thursday.

In his news release, Sherry pinpointed three problems with co-sales: Some cannabis users are trying to avoid liquor stores because they have a problem with alcohol; they may encourage non-users to try cannabis products; and they may encourage harmful co-consumption.

There are good reasons why other jurisdictions have decided against co-location. Its just not a good idea, he said.

Sherry said Nova Scotia already has the greatest percentage of cannabis users and cannabis use disorders, as well as grams smoked per person.

Read more about:The city of Toronto will review how it defines affordable housing in its next term after a debate on Mayor John Torys signature housing program, which has been criticized by housing advocates.

A successful motion from Councillor Josh Matlow at a council meeting this week asked the new city manager to review what the city considers affordable housing under its official plan.

The definition of affordability according to our official plan doesnt actually reflect the reality of affordability for many Torontonians, said Matlow, who chairs the citys tenant issues committee. More and more people in our city dont consider market rent affordable.

The vote came as council approved 606 new rental units secured through the Open Door program, which offers land, tax and other incentives to developers in order to secure certain rents over several years. In 2017, when 1,224 rental units were approved, those incentives totalled at least $128 million.

The city currently defines affordable housing as anything at or below average market rent. That average market rent comes from an annual survey by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, which looks at all occupied units. In 2018, the average market rent for a one-bedroom was $1,202 a month and $1,426 for a two-bedroom unit. The Open Door program secures a rent level for a period of time, typically ranging from 25 to 50 years.

Because the CMHC survey scans units that have been off the market for several years rather than the current asking price, setting rents at average market rent provides a modest discount. For example, in September 2017, the city reported that average market rent for a one-bedroom unit was $1,137, compared to the average asking rent, which was $1,614, meaning the difference in rent for a one-bedroom affordable unit in 2017 was $477. The different was $911 for a two-bedroom unit.

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The city has also secured rents below average market rent, in some cases with the help of housing subsidies provided through programs paid for by the other levels of government. In 2017, 47 per cent of units were approved at 90 to 100 per cent average market rent; a third were secured between 80 and 90 per cent average market rent; and just 20 per cent of all the units were secured at a more affordable 40 and 60 per cent of average market rent.

Housing advocates have said the standard of using average market rent still remains out of reach for many, as rents continue to rise.

The city has reported that incomes of more than $50,000 would be needed to afford a unit at 100 per cent average market rent, using the long-standing principle that an individual or household should spend no more than 30 per cent of their income on housing.

More than a third of Toronto households earn less than $50,000 annually before tax, according on a sample taken from the most recent census data from Statistics Canada. And more than a third of all homeowners and renters are spending more than 30 per cent of their annual income on shelter.

Council also agreed to have the city manager conduct a value-for-money analysis of the 606 rental units approved in 2018 under the Open Door program.

I just want to make sure that if we are going to be spending money, if were going to be using tax dollars, land, etcetera, that were actually making a difference, Matlow said.

Tory said he was more than happy to see a value-for-money analysis conducted and reiterated his support for reconsidering what the city defines as affordable.

I think this is a significant step forward and it does prove that when we get the co-operation and collaboration of the private sector, the non-profit sector and the city government then we can actually do better than what we were doing, he said of the Open Door program. He noted, however, that its still nowhere near good enough.Amid a summer of gun violence, a Scarborough gang prevention program is closing its doors because its federal funding has run out.

The program, called Taking Action To Achieve Growth Success, or TAAGS, which was operated by the Agincourt Community Services Association, ends Aug. 31.

During its five-year run, TAAGS provided intensive counselling and help with education, housing and employment for 380 youth. Barnes says about 285 of the youth they counselled were criminally involved in some way, as in probation or charged, when they entered the program. Our data shows that more than 25 per cent, when they leave, have had no police involvement.

When you talk about the numbers, its not like 380 people went to a workshop, or 300 or so people went to a training program, says Joanne Barnes, who co-ordinates the program as manager of anti-violence programs for ACSA. That is 380 some odd young people that actively, intentionally engaged in making positive changes for their life, she added.

We were able to see that through, says Barnes. And its been a great privilege of access to be able to do that work.

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TAAGS is the latest anti-gang program in the city to close, a victim of a federal system of funding, through the National Crime Prevention Strategy, which provides money for a period.

City staff have argued for years that higher levels of government should provide long-term, consistent funding for gang-intervention programs.

The NCPS provides funds for five years, then evaluates the program. This is designed to determine which are the best strategies to help high-risk youth.

But that means established programs are cut off mid-stream, while another program for at-risk youth, perhaps even in another area of the city, is given government funding to get off the ground.

Provincial funding is typically granted for shorter periods of time, such as one to three years.

If you look at any issue  drug use or mental health  we dont invest in all of the preventative measures, the ability to provide support exactly when and where its needed, until someone goes into full-fledged crisis and then youre looking at hospitalization or incarceration, which is even more costly, says Chris Brillinger, executive director of the citys Social Development, Finance and Administration Division.

Were talking about the population of youth who are actively gang-involved, says Brillinger. First of all, the skill set required by workers is significant for obvious reasons. But there needs to be very specific, tailored wraparound programming if were going to provide a truly viable option to those kids who actually make the decision to be something else, he says.

In their lives, that decision might happen at 3:43 in the morning and they cant wait until 9:30 or a week Tuesday, when someone is available to see them.

Our system is not designed, not resourced, to respond to those individuals.

The federal public safety ministry, which is responsible for NCPS, didnt respond to questions emailed to it by the Star.

Another program in Scarborough called Redemption Reintegration Services, that was studied by an academic and had great success helping young people reintegrate into society after they were incarcerated, closed a few years ago because its funding through the provinces Youth Challenge Fund ended.

In 2008, the city ran its own anti-gang Prevention Intervention Program in partnership with JVS Toronto, a non-profit community-based organization. PIT operated in three high-risk neighbourhoods  Jane-Finch, Weston and Mount Dennis and Jamestown  but ended after five years in 2012, because it, too, was funded by the NCPS.

Thats when TAAGS began. Its a program based on the voluntary participation of vulnerable youth, and offers them three to five hours of one-on-one counselling for eight months with youth workers.

Now, the Agincourt association is getting a new proposal together for the next round of funding from the NCPS, based on what they have learned from TAAGS, and from an earlier program for kids aged 12 to 17, funded by NCPS, who exhibited anti-social behaviour or who had criminal involvement.

The deadline is July 31 and this time they will ask for funding not only for youth but for their families. Barnes says that children as young as 14 were coming to TAAGS, and workers found they couldnt really help the youth without getting involved with the family as well. She says many parents also need therapeutic support.

If they dont get funding, Barnes and seven youth workers will be looking for new jobs.

What shed like to see is sustainability.

When the work stops, then the learning stops, the knowledge stops, says Barnes. Even if our next application is successful, those programs wouldnt be implemented until possibly next spring. So weve lost time, she says. Its the continuity of things. Thats also what we lose. Its the ability to adapt and to grow.As Toronto police investigate the motivation for Sundays fatal shooting on Danforth Ave., the provinces police watchdog is continuing its examination of the final moments of the gunmans life.

But its not clear when the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) will conclude its probe into the death of Faisal Hussain, the gunman who killed 10-year-old Julianna Kozis and 18-year-old Reese Fallon, and injured more than a dozen others.

Hussain, 29, died from a gunshot wound moments after spraying bullets down the busy Greektown street. He then exchanged gunfire with two Toronto police officers near an alleyway on Bowden St. before fleeing towards the Danforth, where he was found dead.

A post mortem examination was performed on Tuesday, and a source close to his family said Hussain was buried Wednesday.

The SIU is a provincial agency with a mandate to investigate all interactions with police that result in serious injury, death or allegations of sexual assault. It has not said who fired the fatal shot, but police sources have told the Star that Hussain shot himself.

SIU spokesperson Jasbir Dhillon said she doesnt know when more information will be released. Asked whether the probe will be fast-tracked due to high public interest in the case, she said its not possible to predict how the long the investigation will take.

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The length of an investigation is dependent on how long it takes to locate witnesses and interview them, the time it takes to collect all evidence and the time it takes for the SIU to obtain reports from external agencies, Dhillon said in an email.

While investigators attempt to complete investigations as expeditiously as possible, the priority is to conduct a thorough investigation.

The duration of SIU investigations has been the subject of complaint by police officers and the public, a criticism noted by Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Michael Tulloch in his recent review of civilian police oversight.

Saying that long delays benefit nobody, Tulloch wrote in his report that hed anecdotally heard that the SIU would often take 12 to 16 months to close a file, even for simple investigations.

The SIU has said that, year over year, its cases become more complex and labour-intensive.

In response to Tullochs recommendations, the previous Liberal provincial government wrote legislation stating the SIU director should aim to conclude investigations within 120 days, or four months. If that timeline could not be met, the watchdog would be required to provide public statements on the status of the probe every 60 days.

But one day before the legislation was set to come into effect, the Progressive Conservative provincial government postponed its implementation. The government has said it will now review the legislation.

According to the SIUs 2017 annual report, which was released last week, investigations were completed, on average, within 167 days.

That closure rate is up from the 2016s average of 111 days, and 2015s of 108, although the unit also closed more cases in 2017 (367) than in the other years (296 in 2016, and 255 in 2015).

Wendy Gillis is a Toronto-based reporter covering crime and policing. Reach her by email at wgillis@thestar.ca or follow her on Twitter: @wendygillis

Read more about:Peel Regional Police say they seized more than $300,000 worth of illegal drugs and arrested three men after the police executed search warrants in Brampton and Caledon.

Police say they found 1,136.5 grams of fentanyl, 186.8 grams of crack cocaine, 28 grams of cocaine and 25 pills of OxyContin after a lengthy investigation.

The total street value of the drugs is $308,105, according to police.

Arrested and charged with a total of 17 drug related offenses are: Akram Ibrahim, 28, and Christopher Singh, 20, both of Brampton, and Graham Fraser, 29, of Fergus.

Read more about:Toronto police have identified the man who was shot and killed in broad daylight while driving in the Humber Summit area in Etobicoke on Wednesday.

Police responded to multiple reports of a shooting around 11 a.m. at Islington Ave. and Milady Rd. When they arrived on scene they found a man in the drivers seat of a dark-coloured Dodge Journey suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead a few minutes later, police said.

Kevin Boakye, 24, from Toronto was identified as the victim by police on Thursday. Police said he is originally from Ghana and was a father of two.

Boakye was the only person in the vehicle at the time, homicide Det.-Sgt. Gary Giroux said in a news conference Thursday afternoon.

Police believe the attack was targeted. I think they were looking for him. Or else they received some information that he was in a certain place at a certain time, Giroux said.

Boakye was known to police, but did not have any known gang affiliations, police said.

Minutes before Boakye was fatally shot, Giroux said Boakye was sitting at a red traffic light on Duncanwoods Dr., one intersection north of where Boakye would be found by police, waiting to turn left onto Islington Ave. to go south.

A vehicle driving west along Duncanwoods Dr. pulled up to the passenger side of Boakyes car and the driver fired numerous shots, Giroux said.

The shooters vehicle is described as a newer model, silver or grey Hyundai Elantra and was last seen racing north on Islington Ave.

Boakye, injured, accelerated through the red light and drove south on Islington Ave., police said.

The deceased drove 300 feet on the boulevard knocking down and uprooting trees and metal sign posts, Giroux said, adding the victim then drove diagonally across all four lanes of Islington Ave., mounted the east sidewalk and drove through a chain-link fence and some bushes of a residential home.

There were no other injuries reported.

Boakye is the citys 59th homicide of the year.

The homicide unit is appealing to any witnesses to come forward and contact police at 416-808-3100 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477). Specifically, the individual who was in the car directly behind Boakye while waiting for the red light at Duncanwoods Dr. and Islington Ave, police say.In a precedent-setting decision, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario has ruled that an employer cannot discriminate against job candidates who do not have Canadian permanent residence status or citizenship but are legally able to work here.

The decision follows a complaint from Muhammad Taimoor Haseeb, a former international student at McGill University who was offered a position as an engineer in Sarnia by Imperial Oil in 2014. The offer was later rescinded after the company learned Haseeb did not have permanent status in Canada  though he was eligible for a three-year postgraduate work permit to stay in the country.

The case is believed to be the first employment-related complaint in Canada related to citizenship and could have far-reaching implications for employers who turn down applicants based on residency status.

The decision could also have an impact on job-seekers with temporary status in securing employment as postgraduate work experience has become an increasingly important stepping stone for permanent residency in Canada.

We are very pleased with the tribunal decision. This is what we had hoped for as an outcome, said Chantal Tie, Haseebs lawyer from the Human Rights Legal Support Centre.

For other employers, it is now clear that it is contrary to the Human Rights Code to exclude non-citizens who have the legal ability to work in Canada. They now must be considered for all positions.

Haseeb came to Canada from Pakistan in 2009 for his undergraduate studies in mechanical engineering and received top marks when he graduated in December 2014. That fall, he applied to Imperial Oil and was invited to two rounds of interviews. He was ranked first among all candidates and a job offer arrived Dec. 2, 2014 for the $86,700 entry-level position, but it was cancelled by Imperial Oil a month later.

Although Haseeb was not upfront about his lack of permanent status in Canada during the recruitment process, tribunal adjudicator Yola Grant said Imperial Oils policy of asking job applicants about their citizenship and immigration status violated the law. Grant ordered the two sides to try to reach a settlement.

IOs (Imperial Oils) requirement amounted to a direct breach of the code when it distinguished among job candidates who were eligible to work in Canada on the basis of citizenship and created categories of eligible and ineligible for progressing through (its) screening process, Grant wrote in a 59-page interim decision this week.

Haseeb, who is now a management consultant and has been a permanent resident since June 2017, has asked for personal damages of $25,000, as well as lost wages plus interest and an order against the company to stop asking job applicants for entry-level engineering positions if they can work permanently in Canada.

Im very satisfied with the decision and I hope it can give the same opportunities to those who can legally work in Canada, said the 27-year-old Haseeb, who was later hired for a job in St. Johns, Nfld., before recently being reassigned to Kitchener.

We have left everything behind to be part of this country. I hope this will open the door for everyone willing to work hard and contribute to Canada, Haseeb said of fellow immigrant jobseekers.

Imperial Oil said it respectfully disagreed with the tribunals ruling particularly with respect to the relevance of the untruthful responses and information Haseeb provided during the recruitment process.

Imperial is committed to conducting business with the highest level of business ethics and integrity, we practice it as a company and expect it from our current and future employees, spokesperson Lisa Schmidt said in an email Wednesday.

It is not our practice to hire individuals who lie or deliberately provide misleading or erroneous information, which the applicant conceded he did, during the pre-employment process ... We will review the decision in detail as we consider our options in response to the decision.

In an interview, Tie, Haseebs lawyer, said the tribunal had weighed the nature of her clients misleading statement but characterized it as a ruse to get past the screening stages.

The only way Mr. Haseeb could get Imperial Oil to fairly assess his qualifications was for him to pretend he had permanent status, said Tie. If he had not checked the wrong box, he would have been screened out before the interview stage.

Over 13 days of hearings spanning eight months, Imperial Oil argued Haseeb should not be granted standing because he was not legally allowed to work in Canada between the time he applied for the position and when the job offer was rescinded  an argument refuted by an immigration expert witness and the tribunal.

Imperial Oil said the permanent residence status was a bona fide requirement and no waiver had ever been provided for a candidate for the entry-level position of project engineer because new graduates did not have any highly sought-after skills and there was a large pool of qualified new graduates with permanent status to choose from. The company said it would risk losing its investment of time and money in training someone who cant stay in the country permanently.

The company conceded that on an exceptional basis only it hired a few experienced engineers for hard-to-fill positions, or who possess a unique/strong skill set who did not meet the permanent residence eligibility requirement  a fact the tribunal said indicated the purported requirement is not bona fide and could be waived at its discretion.A teacher with 20 years experience and special training in outdoor recreation has been charged with criminal negligence causing death in the drowning of a teenager on a school trip to Algonquin Park last year.

Jeremiah Perry slipped under the water while swimming in a lake with his classmates from C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute in the back country of Algonquin Park in July 2017. The 15-year-olds disappearance prompted a day of frantic rescue efforts and the evacuation of his classmates from the park. Perrys body was found the next day.

In August, members of the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch began a criminal investigation into the teens death. The investigation involved more than 100 interviews, one search warrant and four production orders, OPP Const. Catherine Yarmel said.

Nicholas Mills, 54, of Caledon will appear in Finch Ave. W. court on Sept. 11.

Mills is a teacher at C.W. Jefferys in North York, Yarmel confirmed, as well as the schools co-ordinator of the REACH program for youth.

He was also the team leader assigned to Perry and responsible for the itinerary and supervision of the excursion.

Mills, who did not respond to requests for comment by deadline, has been a teacher in the province since 1998, according to the Ontario College of Teachers website, and is in good standing.

Ryan Bird, spokesperson for the Toronto District School Board, said Mills has been on home assignment since Perrys death last year and will remain there until the end of the investigation.

He told the Star its definitely a possible outcome that Mills could be fired if hes found guilty.

Now that charges have been laid, the TDSB will resume its internal investigation, which was suspended last August when OPP took over, Bird said. He could not comment on whether the investigation had found any wrongdoing on Mills part so far.

Now that the charge has been laid we can resume our investigation to determine just that, he said.

Though its investigation is not complete, Bird said the board has nevertheless still strengthened the checks and balances to make sure something like this can never happen again.

School officials had said in August that Perry was among 15 students out of 32 on the trip who failed a required swim test. Two of the students didnt take the test at all.

In a report released by the TDSB in May, safety measures for future excursions were explained in detail. Going forward any student who has failed his or her swim test wont be allowed to participate in any activities involving water.

If students pass the first swim test, they will also need to pass a second test at the location of the trip in open water. It will be supervised by lifeguards and teachers. If students fail the second test, they are also banned from participating in any water-related activities during the excursion.

If both tests are successfully completed, the students will be allowed to swim and take part in activities on the water, but must wear a life-jacket at all times. The results of these tests will be given to the student, their parents or guardians and the principal.

Labour law expert Maurice Mazerolle, speaking generally, said the key question when it comes to cases of liability is figuring out if fault lies with one individual, an institution, or both.

That means figuring out what role a person or institution played in making sure that checks and balances a) were there, and b) were working.

If a problem is with the system that would place liability on a school board, said Mazerolle, who is the director of the centre for Labour-Management Relations at the Ryersons Ted Rogers School of Management.

But if someone doesnt follow approved protocol or theres something egregious, then it would cast a different light on it.

Read more:

Questions swirl as community mourns teens drowning

Body of missing Toronto teen found in Algonquin Park

Mills earned a bachelor of education at the University of Torontos Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) in 1998 and graduated from Lakehead University with a bachelor of outdoor recreation in 1992, according to the Ontario College of Teachers website.

According to public records, he declared bankruptcy in 2016, declaring $253,503 in liabilities and $13,803 in assets; and went through a messy divorce in 2008.

His Facebook page is full of photos of pine trees and lakes, and a profile on the website of the Sendokan Dojo, a Mississauga martial arts school he co-founded, describes him as an avid outdoorsman who in his spare time enjoys extensive camping trips and time with his family.

According to the martial arts schools webpage, Mills is a 6th degree black belt whos been active in martial arts for 30 years, and co-founded the school in 1998 after training under top Aikido instructors in Japan.

A glowing endorsement on his LinkedIn page from a former student describes him as a motivational educator who taught her about leadership and provided influence and guidance.

Perry attended C.W. Jeffreys starting in October 2016, after immigrating to Canada from Guyana. A science teacher, speaking to the Star after Perrys death, described the teen as a polite and loving boy with an indomitable spirit to learn.

Perrys father, Joshua Anderson, said he was relieved to hear of the charge laid on Thursday, adding that awaiting the results of the investigation this past year has been painful for his family.

This last year has felt like an eternity for my family and I, but we understand that it takes time to fully investigate a tragedy like this, Anderson said in a statement through his lawyer.

We are relieved that the investigation has resulted in criminal charges being laid against the teacher who organized and lead Jeremiahs trip. We believe these charges are warranted under the circumstances, the statement continued.

Although nothing that happens now can bring back Jeremiah or take away the pain of losing him, we hope that having the case proceed through the criminal justice system will be one important step in ensuring that a tragedy like this never happens again on a school trip.

With files from Toronto Star LibraryEducation Minister Lisa Thompson is still not clarifying whether students will be taught about issues like gender and same-sex relationships this fall when the Progressive Conservatives revert to the 1998 sex-ed curriculum.

Thompson returned to Queens Park on Thursday after a week of ducking the media on the governments decision to scrap the updated 2015 syllabus in favour of the 20-year-old version.

While the minister tried to avoid reporters by leaving question period early, she was intercepted at an elevator by CityNews photojournalist Jamie Tumelty.

Asked by Tumelty what syllabus teachers would be using this fall, Thompson said, In September, teachers will be using the 2014 curriculum.

When it was pointed out that there is no 2014 curriculum because teachers taught the same syllabus from 1998 until 2014, she replied, Teachers are going to be familiar with the curriculum theyre using because they utilized it in 2014.

What we are going to be doing is asking teachers to use the 2014 curriculum as we embark on the most comprehensive consultation this province has ever seen when it comes to education. We made a campaign promise to respect parents and we are going to be doing that.

Read more:

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Unlike the 239-page curriculum introduced in 2015, the 42-page older version does not discuss same-sex relationships, consent, gender, or cyber safety.

Thats in part because it was introduced before same-sex marriage was legal and prior to the invention of social media or the introduction of Google.

It also predates the enshrined protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.

Premier Doug Ford dumped the 2015 curriculum as a sop to the social conservatives who supported him in the March Tory leadership.

These opponents of same-sex relationships, gender theory, and abortion rights felt the syllabus introduced when Liberal Kathleen Wynne was premier is not age appropriate.

The old version will be taught as the Ford government embarks upon a province-wide consultation on a modernized curriculum.

In the Legislature earlier, NDP MPP Marit Stiles (Davenport) demanded to know why are we going backwards?

Stiles implored Thompson to stand up for all the students and young people she is responsible for and ensure that the 2015 curriculum remain in place, moving us forward, not backward.

It is the youth and the children and the students who are calling on you not to revert back to the 1998 curriculum. Dragging the curriculum back to the 1998 version and starting the consultation in September completely fails the kids who are going to be in classrooms this fall, just a few weeks from now, she said.

This government is leaving students vulnerable to online bullying and is leaving kids without the language or tools to talk about consent and what a healthy or unhealthy relationship is.

Robert Benzie is the Star's Queen's Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

Read more about:Health Minister Christine Elliott is under fire for cutting $335 million from planned mental health funding in Ontario this year.

With the defeat of the previous Liberal government on June 7, Premier Doug Fords Progressive Conservatives have cancelled former premier Kathleen Wynnes promised $2.1 billion in additional mental health services over four years.

Instead, the Tories are adding $1.9 billion over the next 10 years, which matches federal funding for mental health.

But that means a planned $525-million annual injection in new funding has been reduced to $190 million.

Why is the premier cutting new funding for mental health by $330 million a year? NDP Leader Andrea Horwath asked in the legislature Thursday.

Addictions and Mental Health Ontario says $2.4 billion in new funding is needed over the next four years, Horwath said. But instead of delivering, the premier is dragging Ontario backwards. The premier has cut $2.1 billion over four years and replaced it with $1.9 billion over 10 years.

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Now even the premier can do that math.

Elliott defended the change.

We are adding to funding for mental health. We are committing $3.8 billion over 10 years, $1.9 billion from the provincial government to match the $1.9 billion coming from the federal government, the minister said.

The Liberal government, in the past, made a lot of promises during the election campaign, but we know how solid those promises are and we know how accurate they are, she said.

I would suggest that the leader of the official oppositions math is about as bad as the previous Liberal governments math.

However, the first instalment of the $2.1 billion Liberal plan had started to flow because it was approved in former finance minister Charles Sousas March budget, which was passed into law before the election campaign began in May.

Horwath said the Toriess cuts are disgraceful at a time when the demand for mental health services has never been greater.

Today, there are over 12,000 children waiting over 18 months to get the mental health care supports that they need ... and there are 13,000 people in Toronto alone waiting five years for the supportive housing that they need, the NDP leader said.

The premiers cut of $330 million annually is not going to end the crisis that we continue to have in mental health care in this province.

Robert Benzie is the Stars Queens Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

Read more about:SYDNEYThe acting prime minister of New Zealand accused Australia this week of copying his countrys 116-year-old flag and demanded that Australians come up with a new design.

We had a flag that weve had for a long time, copied by Australia, Winston Peters, who is filling in for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern while she takes maternity leave, told TVNZ, a state-owned network. And they should actually change their flag and honour the fact that we got there first.

Relations between the two neighbours have been strained recently over an Australian policy to deport New Zealanders convicted of crimes back to their home country. Could this latest spat over the flag result in a major international incident? Almost certainly not. But, here is what it is all about.

Did New Zealand really have the design first?

Yes! Sort of!

New Zealand adopted its flag  featuring a blue background, Union Jack and stars representing the Southern Cross constellation  in 1902. Australia did not formally adopt its flag until 1954, although a version was flown as early as 1901.

Though similar, the countries flags are not identical.

New Zealands features four five-pointed, red stars to represent the Southern Cross.

On the Australian flag, the four stars are white and each has seven points. Six of the stars points represent Australias six states. The seventh point represents the territories (although some conspiracy theorists suggest it represents the lost state of New Zealand).

An additional fifth star, with only five points, completes the constellation.

Why are the flags so similar?

When Capt. James Cook landed in Australia and (against orders of the Crown) declared the land a British colony, Australia and New Zealand shared a flag based on the blue ensign  a flag used by the British Navy.

Before 1901, New Zealand was considered a colony of Australia, and its name even appeared on the Australian Constitution. Throughout the 1890s, discussions were held between the colonies to federate and form a Commonwealth of Australia.

Fiji and New Zealand were initially a part of those discussions but decided not to join.

Has the flag been an issue before?

New Zealand tried to clear things up once and for all by holding a referendum on a redesigned flag in 2016. Peters opposed the alternative designs and argued then that if any country needed a new flag, it was Australia.

Ultimately, New Zealand residents voted to stick with the current flag.

Do other countries have a similar problem?

Chad and Romania, Indonesia and Monaco, Ireland and Ivory Coast, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. There are plenty of other countries with similar flags.

Why is New Zealand so angry?

As if it were not enough that people already confuse the New Zealand flag with Australias, Kiwis are tired of being invisible, or at least overlooked as a nation.

There are Tumblr and Reddit pages dedicated to maps of the world that are missing New Zealand.

A citizen was even detained in Kazakhstan in 2016 after customs officials refused to believe New Zealand was a real country (insisting that her passport was fake and that New Zealand was, in fact, a state of Australia).NEW YORKThe promoter of a fraudulent music festival that cost investors $26 million could face more than a decade in prison after admitting Thursday that he duped some of the same victims into buying tickets he never possessed to everything from the Grammy Awards to a Cleveland Cavaliers game and a dinner with LeBron James.

The plea from Billy McFarland brought a speedy end to his prosecution for a set of new crimes that ensure hell spend more time in prison than if he had only been convicted of crimes related to the 2017 Fyre Festival on the Bahamian island of Great Exuma.

For that, McFarland, 26, earned tabloid headlines after he fraudulently enlisted 80 investors to pour $26 million into a music festival that was promoted as an ultra-luxurious event.

Billed as the cultural experience of the decade, it was touted on social media by Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski and other models and celebrities, but the reality was far from it.

Customers hoping to see Blink-182 and the hip-hop act Migos arrived to learn music acts were cancelled. Their luxury accommodations and gourmet food consisted of leaky white tents and cheese sandwiches. Customers lashed out on social media with the hashtag #fyrefraud.

A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles called the festival nothing more than a get-rich-quick scam. It said the festivals inadequate food, water, shelter and medical care left attendees stranded on a remote island in a dangerous and panicked situation.

After pleading guilty in March to charges related to the festival, McFarland was arrested again last month on charges that he sold bogus tickets to fashion, music and sporting events to unsuspecting customers, some of whom were drawn from investors in the Fyre Festival.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a statement that McFarlands latest plea shows his disturbing pattern of deception.

McFarland admitted in court that he intended to defraud customers who bought tickets that didnt exist to the 2018 Met Gala, Burning Man 2018, Coachella 2018, the 2018 Grammy Awards, Super Bowl LII and a Cleveland Cavaliers game that would include a team dinner with LeBron James.

He also admitted to writing a bad check and lying to the FBI.

I know this is wrong and I know I broke the law, he said. I sold the tickets with intention to defraud.

Prosecutors say he defrauded 15 victims since late last year of more than $100,000 while he was living lavishly with month-long stays in luxury hotels and excursions to expensive restaurants.

Sentencing is set for Sept. 17. A plea agreement encompassing all of his crimes calls for a sentence of between 11 and 14 years in prison.

Read more about:Should history be rewritten when celebrated figures behaved in a manner opposite to the reason for which they are revered?

Dr. Frederick Tisdall, a physician, co-inventor of Pablum, and director of the Nutritional Research Laboratories at the Toronto Hospital for Sick Kids, is celebrated on its website for his contribution to pediatric nutrition. How does this deferential biography of a nutritionist compare with what was discovered about his unethical, immoral, and arguably criminal experiments he conducted on malnourished Indigenous communities from 1942 until his death in 1949?

In late May, students in the Introduction to Research class at George Brown College studied research ethics  their importance when conducting research studies, and how all academic research in Canada must follow the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans or TCPS2.

They also studied egregious cases when ethics  and humanity  went missing. To illustrate why there is a specific section on the TCPS2 website dealing with Research Involving Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, we discussed the explosive research findings by food historian, Dr. Ian Mosby in 2013.

Mosby uncovered nutrition experiments from 1942-1952 that spread from involuntary test subjects on reserves in northern Manitoba and James Bay to vulnerable children warehoused in six residential schools across Canada. Indigenous children were deliberately starved, milk rations were halved, essential vitamins and dental services were withheld. The government-run experiment spanned the entire country and involved at least 1,300 Indigenous people, most of them children.

Tisdall was the lead researcher for the secretive nutritional experiments conducted in the northern communities. Dozens of media outlets interviewed Mosby in 2013 and Canadians learned about one of the worst breaches of medical ethics in Canadian history.

Imagine my students surprise when they took my lecture a step further and googled Tisdall. They found the glowing Sick Kids webpage dedicated to the role he played in nutrition science. No mention is made of his well-known experiments on an unsuspecting and beleaguered population.

A followup article by three physicians in the journal Pediatrics & Child Health in 2014 further argued Mosbys assertion that Tisdall should have known his actions were unconscionable in 1942, and definitely by 1947 with the publication of the Nuremberg Code that covers medical research.

The code resulted from the Nuremberg trial for 23 defendants  20 of them physicians  who had used prisoners from Nazi concentration camps for medical experimentation.

The article, Canadas shameful history of nutrition research on residential schoolchildren: The need for strong medical ethics in Aboriginal health research, compared the research on the Indigenous community to the medical atrocities performed in the name of science, by the Nazi physicians put on trial.

With the consent of my students, I emailed a letter to Sick Kids stating the students concerns and asked why the webpage did not reflect the five-year-old research by Mosby. A reply by Janice Nicholson, Director of Communications & Digital Media, stated that the hospital was aware of Mosbys research:

While we have been aware of this history since the outset of recent efforts, our delay in communicating about it has been due to our commitment to not only acknowledge truths, but to also ensure acknowledgments are accompanied by tangible actions on the path of reconciliation. We are confident that our ongoing work will alleviate the concerns voiced by your students.

While the class agreed that words are meaningless without actions, they were confused about the time frame. Why not take down the webpage until Sick Kids figured out the path of reconciliation?

Or add a paragraph acknowledging the suffering Tisdall foisted on a vulnerable population and state their intention going forward as a research hospital is to promote healing and then enumerate what that means?

In the meantime, the webpage still stands as a testimony to Tisdalls great achievements but none of his failures to humanity.A city council debate on gun violence  coming just days after the deadly shooting on Danforth Ave.  was certain to be an emotional, high-stakes affair.

And it was, with Toronto councillors pushing for the gamut of possibilities from increased policing and electronic surveillance to gun control and programs for at-risk youth.

Some councillors raised big-thinking, long-term solutions but many did not.

Years ago, when the city was similarly seized of this issue, Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti wanted the army to drop in to combat gun violence and a curfew on children as a deterrent to crime. This time, he dropped the call for the army and upped the ante on his curfew idea musing that children could be taken away from their parents for violating it.

No doubt councillors were wondering when someone could take him away.

But what was particularly depressing about Tuesdays debate is that it seemed nothing had been learned from all the previous ones. And there have been many political debates and calls for action following terrible tragedies in this city.

It happened in 2005, after a spike in gang-related shootings highlighted by the death of 15-year-old Jane Creba, caught in crossfire while shopping; and in 2007, when Jordan Manners was fatally shot in his high school; and in 2012, after the deadly public shootings in the Eaton Centre and on Danzig St.

The violence in 2005 brought us TAVIS, a controversial strategy that deployed more police to particular neighbourhoods until it was dropped last year. This time council opted for stepped-up policing, more CCTV cameras and ShotSpotter, a controversial listening technology that few councillors had even heard of before it was rushed through a Police Services Board meeting a week ago.

Theres no evidence that flooding selected neighbourhoods with police and electronic surveillance is any kind of long-term solution to gun violence and the social and economic issues that lead to it, and plenty of evidence that its not.

And yet, the plan council approved Tuesday would see more than $7 million spent in 2018 on more policing and surveillance and just $1 million on community initiatives, including programs for at-risk youth in priority neighbourhoods.

Setting aside, for the moment, that councils $44-million, five-year plan relies entirely on federal and provincial funding that hasnt been approved, theyve made their priority painfully clear: stepped-up enforcement. And thats proof that they havent learned anything.

To be fair, provincial and federal governments are no better.

In 2008, the provincially commissioned report on the roots of youth violence warned that Ontario must address this in a collaborative and sustained manner or more people will be killed, communities will become increasingly isolated and disadvantaged, an ever-accelerating downward cycle will ensue for far too many.

But many of the recommendations by Roy McMurtry and Alvin Curling were never acted on, and the funding that was made available for youth initiatives then, and at other times, was short-term. That means good, community-based programs that can make a real difference simply disappear until the next big tragedy comes along and money is, yet again, found for new programs.

Thats not learning from tragedy. Nor is refusing to act on guns.

According to Toronto police, half the guns now used for criminal activity were purchased legally in Canada. Thats a big jump from just a quarter in 2012  before the Harper government loosened gun controls.

To reduce the supply of guns that fall in to the wrong hands, or as is increasingly happening, being sold for profit, councillors called for a handgun ban in the city. But to be effective it cant be limited to Toronto  it must be Canada-wide.

Unfortunately, the best Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale could muster on this was to say hed be prepared to consider the argument for handguns bans.

Thats not good enough.

Its long past time governments, at all levels, started implementing  and sticking with  the strategies that will have a lasting impact and reduce gun violence, not simply react to it.

Read more about:Fairland proposal divides Kensington, July 23

One of Torontos most interesting public art installations in years, the soon-to-open Fairland Funhouse in Kensington Market, was beset last week by backlash from local NIMBYs whove discovered a 622-person liquor licence application for Liquor Donuts, the business that is to follow the temporary art maze pop-up.

Online comments were outraged, implying that they had no idea the art maze portion was intended to be temporary, and likened it to a Trojan horse. (Disclosure: I am friends with a few of the 50+ artists installing art at the Funhouse.)

This is astounding, because on July 4 the Stars Raju Mudhar clearly said Liquor Donuts will have a temporary space in Fairland during this pop-up. It will take over the entire space once this pop-up art experience is completed.

An establishments capacity is not unilaterally determined by the AGCO; the fire department determines how many people can safely evacuate a space in case of an emergency. Clearly, those complaining know nothing about capacity applications: you aim high and you get a reasonable number.

There is no shadiness here; no Trojan horse. If this vocal minority of residents of the market get their way and torpedo Liquor Donuts, it will be at their peril; instead of art installations, vinyl pressing and twee confections, theyll get something far more sterile in its place.VANCOUVERA group representing construction workers and businesses has filed an injunction to B.C. Supreme Court in an effort to halt the provinces referendum on proportional representation.

The referendum, which asks British Columbians to vote on what type of electoral system they would like in their province, is scheduled to happen this fall via mail-in ballot.

The current referendum regulations, including the Nov. 30 deadline and the $2,000 restriction on campaign spending, make the process unfair, said Chris Gardner, president of the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA).

Were a little frustrated, he said.

The group originally filed its petition to the B.C. Supreme Court on June 28, challenging the legality of the referendum on the basis that it is inconsistent with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Read more:

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ICBA is arguing that the referendum question is not clear enough and that rules around campaign financing restrict freedom of debate on the issue. One of the electoral options (rural-urban proportional representation) effectively creates two different electoral systems, which violates the Charter, Gardner added.

The B.C. government asked for more time to respond, which the courts granted.

In response, ICBA filed an injunction Tuesday afternoon, calling on the courts to suspend the referendum until a judge rules on the groups petition.

You should also be giving British Columbians more time to consider the very important question put toward us, said Gardner.

In response to the injunction, BC NDP MLA Rob Flemming said the injunction was an attempt from the No side to prevent the referendum from happening at all.

I think people will see this ploy for what it is  an attempt to stop voters from having their say  and its not going to work, he said in an emailed statement.

He added that referendum legislation was passed last year and that Elections BC had reviewed the referendum question.

Gardner confirmed the ICBAs position is that the current electoral system, first-past-the-post, is the best one. The organization is arguing the referendum is, in fact, unnecessary, he said.

The three proportional representation models presented in the referendum are: Dual Member Proportional (DMP), Mixed Member Proportional (MMP), and Rural-Urban Proportional (RUP).

The BC NDP promised in its 2017 election campaign to hold a province-wide vote on replacing the provinces first-past-the-post election system.

The province already held two referenda in the 2000s on adopting an alternative system aimed at trying to make results reflect the percentage of support a party got, while still keeping local MLAs. Both failed because they didnt reach the 60 per cent threshold set by the then-BC Liberal government.

The NDPs referendum, which is scheduled to take place Oct. 22 to Nov. 30, will require a simple majority of votes.

With files from David P. Ball

Read more about:Spare a thought for hospital patients whose smoking habit makes them outlaws and litterbugs, through no fault of their own.

Smoking is a disgusting habit  particularly for non-puffers. But few people in the thrall of tobacco are easily able to give it up, even those with serious health issues.

Expecting them to quit because theyre confined to a hospital is not only unrealistic but seems cruel, especially when a smoke may be one of the few comforts left in life.

But as of Jan. 1, the province has deemed that the grounds of hospitals and psychiatric facilities must be completely smoke free, knowing full well that the rule will force patients to run afoul of it.

The provision in the Smoke-Free Ontario Act was unknown to us until we got a note from Heather OMeara, who walks her dog near the Bridgepoint Active Healthcare hospital, saying the area around it is littered with cigarette butts.

Staff, patients and visitors who smoke tend to congregate at the edges of the property, and they often drop butts (as well as vaping cartridges) on the ground because there are no receptacles for them, she said.

Obviously this is unsightly, but my dog has a bad habit of occasionally scarfing cigarette butts off the ground before I can stop her. These are toxic and can make dogs sick.

OMeara said she spoke to a Bridgepoint administrator, but was told the city advised the hospital that they were not to install receptacles because they didnt want smokers to be encouraged or enabled.

We need to deal with the world as it is, and not as we wish it would be.

We went there and saw a few people smoking on the sidewalk across the street from the hospital, along the edge of parkland that has butt receptacles.

Meanwhile, five patients, of whom four were in wheelchairs, were smoking near the portico at the main entrance, well within the hospital grounds and right below a sign declaring Bridgepoint a smoke-free facility.

They said its the only place they can get away with it, since most of the security guards understand they arent about to quit and leave them alone.

But one security guard makes it his business to harass them, said a female patient, adding that when he does, I tell him to f--- off.

STATUS: Sally Szuster, a spokesperson for the Sinai Health System, which includes Bridgepoint, said the new provision in the Smoke-Free Ontario Act prevents the hospital from providing a smoking area for patients or visitors. Its a legislative decision, said Szuster. We recognize the issue and the difficulty, but it is the law. We dont smoke, but it seems like it punishes people who are already in a bad situation (Bridgepoint is a rehabilitation and complex care facility) and need the comfort of their habit. Let us know if you think the rule is fair, or if patients deserve a break.Wednesday, July 25, 2018 at 11:37PM

Review: Apple iPhone X

It isnt a secret that Apple and Qualcomm are locked in a long-term legal dispute and now that seems to have affected who will be supplying the chips for this years iPhones. George Davis, Qualcomms financial chief, announced at an earnings call with industry analysts that, We believe Apple intends to solely use our competitors modems rather than our modems in its next iPhone release. But according to Cristiano Amon, Qualcomms head for its chip division, this doesnt mean Qualcomm and Apple are done doing business together. Qualcomm believes it can still supply chips for Apple in the future.

Apple has been using both Intel and Qualcomm modems for different iPhone models over the years. And if Apple intends to use Intel this time around, expect the devices to have slower speeds. Different online testimonies have already said theyve experienced stronger signal and LTE speeds on the iPhone models that use Qualcomms modems. A couple of days ago, Qualcomm and Ooklas Speedtest.com released results showed that Qualcomm-powered Android devices were faster than Apple devices that used Intels modems (53 percent faster on T-Mobile and 40 percent faster on AT&T).

Source: GSMArenaLike most artists, Michael J. Mayosky is used to working on pretty sedentary canvases.

After all, buildings tend not to move much and hes gained a solid reputation as a muralist during the past 20-plus years.

Given the opportunity, though, Mayosky likes to put his own spin on a canvas  literally.

All artists who draw turn their canvas around to reach certain angles, Mayosky said. I designed an easel so I could reach all the angles more easily.

While the idea of a spinning easel may have been rooted in practicality, the easel lends itself well to both Mayoskys style and todays visual world. A quick YouTube search turns up several videos in which Mayosky is using his spinning easel to create a painting on canvas. Paired with time-lapse videography, the result is equal parts art and magic.

Visitors to downtown Jacksonville on Saturday will have a chance to watch Mayosky work his magic up close.

In town at the invitation of Prairieland United Way in connection with its Colors United 5K color run/walk, Mayosky will set up shop around 9 a.m. Saturday on the northeast corner of the square and paint until the end of Jacksonville Main Streets Craft Brew Fest and Midwest Makers and Artisan Market at 5 p.m.

The painting Mayosky creates that morning will be auctioned off live around 2:30 p.m., during a break between bands performing during the market. A second painting is expected to be auctioned off via silent auction.

With these kinds of events, Im painting vigorously for several hours, Mayosky said. The auction is the deadline. It forces you to decide. I could continually change my mind on something  theres always the ideal.

Mayosky likes to listen to music as he paints and take his inspiration from his surroundings.

With his invitation tied to the color run, his early ideas for what he will paint lean that direction.

Probably expressionism, something abstract, he said of the style hes considering using. The human form  it is a color run. Im already envisioning something with lots of color.

What actually comes from his brushes Saturday, though, may surprise even him. His style is more like styles  plural.

I never went to art school, and I think that was to my advantage, he said. Most artists (find) a style (in art school).

He never did.

Now, along with painting on the vastly different formats of smaller canvases and larger buildings, his paintings also range from realistic to abstract and just about every style in between.

One mural he painted of Abraham Lincoln as a commission for the city of Springfield has the feel of pointillism, except instead of tiny dots of color, Mayosky uses assorted small squares. In the case of that particular Lincoln mural, each square represents a casualty of the Civil War.

Other murals he has painted in the region include some at Penny Lane Gifts in Springfield  his first mural was painted there in 1995  at Knights Action Park in Springfield and at Leos Pizza in Jacksonville.

Mayosky, who now travels the country painting murals for for the likes of the Meijer grocery chain and Starbucks, along with his performance art at various events and for causes such as United Way, didnt intend to be a painter.

A Kansas City, Missouri, native whose mother now lives near Roodhouse, Mayosky was heading for New York with intentions of becoming a movie director, he said.

My car broke down in Jacksonville, he said. I walked to Springfield, to Penny Lane. The universe pays you off in weird ways. Thats how I ended up getting the Penny Lane mural. And here I am, covered in paint today.



Prairieland United Ways Colors United 5K color run/walk will start at 8 a.m. on the downtown Jacksonville square. Registration begins at 7 a.m. and costs $35 the day of the event. The live auction of Michael J. Mayoskys painting will be around 2:30 p.m. A silent auction of a second painting also is anticipated. Proceeds benefit Prairieland United Way.

Angela Bauer can be reached at 217-408-2057.ALTON  Aldermen moved the permit process along Wednesday for three businesses, including the new U-Haul Moving and Storage Center that opened in May in the former Kmart building.

That business has been operating on a limited basis, compared to its more extensive plans that require text amendments in Alton city code and special use permits.

Regarding that store in Seminary Plaza, with 84,180 square feet at 2811, 2831 and 2851 Homer Adams Parkway, the City Council unanimously approved a resolution adopting a text amendment allowing truck, utility trailer and recreational vehicle sharing (rental) as a special use in a C-2 (general commercial) district. Passenger car rentals already are allowed in a C-2 zoned district.

The second U-Haul-related vote was to approve resolutions, then ordinances, allowing a special use permit for that property allowing mini-warehouses, self-storage and truck and trailer sharing (truck, utility trailer and RV rental and leasing).

The permit will contain the following restrictions: additional storage units are to be located on the south part of the parking lot; display vehicles at the front of the lot by Homer Adams Parkway are not to be parked permanently, they are to be rotated periodically; and the operations must comply with federal, state and local laws.

U-Haul International Inc., is buying the 27.8-acre Seminary Plaza property in August  including the Schnucks Food and Pharmacy and Rent-A-Center locations.

The company plans to open a mini warehouse; a 700-unit self-serve, climatized indoor storage business; propane refill service; hitch bay with towing equipment and hitch installation; and retail showroom with bicycle racks and moving boxes in the structure.

The Kmart building dates to 1980; the store closed in March 2017.

More Information IN OTHER BUSINESS A considerable amount of time at the meeting involved Hopp Hollow subdivision resident John Schwegel complaining - and Corporation Counselor Jim Schrempf explaining the city's situation with costs of sewer separations, treatment plant and pension deficits - regarding sewer billing charges and procedures that went into effect at the beginning of 2018. Schwegel said the city needs to adjust its method of charging when customers use quantities of water for swimming pools and watering lawns, when the water is not going into the sewer system. Schrempf said if Illinois American Water purchases the sewer system and treatment plant at the beginning of 2019, it has capability of billing such sewer usage separately. If the sale does not go through, Alton will try to remedy the situation, Schrempf said. "We need to address it," Mayor Brant Walker said. Proceeds from the $53.8 million sale would go into the firemen's and police pension funds. Total accrued liability for the Firemen's Pension Fund is $75,005,577, with $55,005,846 of that as (owed) unfunded accrued liability, as of the last state report on April 1, 2017. The Police Pension Fund has total accrued liability of $81,816,474 and unfunded accrued liability of $58,754,908. See More Collapse

The second business-related resolution the Council approved adds two allowable uses for buildings in a C-5 zone (heavy commercial)  womens, childrens and infants clothing and accessories; and wholesale footwear.

John Coil, owner of East Bay Wholesale Inc. and Dr. Johns Inc. adult stores, bought the former Lenhardt Tool and Die properties at 3100 E. Broadway, 300 Hollywood Ave. and 575 Piasa St.

At July 10 Plan Commission meeting, Coil said he wants to use the Broadway property as a warehouse for East Bay Wholesale, shipping orders for womens, childrens and infants clothing, shoes and accessories. He said there would be no walk-in or other retail sales.

The remaining business resolutions the panel approved amend code to allow a sound recording studio with a special use permit in a C-2 district, with only motion picture and video production and distribution; sound recording; and post production services; and allowing a special permit for 1320 Milton Road (old Milton School) for a sound recording studio. Among the permit restrictions for Modert Bradley Clark IIIs future, The Old Mississippi Sound House are: no vibrations or noise audible outside or inside the rest of the building; no outdoor recording; no lighting from the use of the studio shall be visible outdoors.

Other ordinances aldermen approved establish eight handicapped parking spaces, two spaces with 15-minute limits and a no parking space in the 100 block of East Fourth Street between Alby and Easton streets; and amend city to allow parking on the west side of the 2500 block of Virden Street except for 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Aldermen also OKd resolutions they recommended in committee Monday, effecting permission for officials to:

 sign an agreement with ISP and its vendor, iTouch Biometrics of Schaumburg, Illinois, to provide live scan fingerprint service. The city is buying two scanners at total cost of $9,000.

 extend a promissory note and second mortgage agreement with John and Erin Frew for another 13 years at the same, 3 percent interest. The couple, owners of Frews Bridal and Formal Wear, 305 Piasa St., obtained the loan effective March 18, 2011, from a tax increment financing fund to buy their old building before they moved their store from Godfrey. Some $50,000 remains from the $70,000 principal.

 enter into an agreement with Athletes in Action to lease a city right-of-way adjacent to the business property, 4425 Industrial Drive; a temporary closure of Webster Street between Highland and Hampton avenues from 5 to 8 p.m. July 27 for a church event; Alton Road Runners Club to temporarily close the eastbound lane of McAdams Highway (Illinois Route 100) in the city for their annual race Nov. 24; a special event liquor license at Liberty Bank Alton Amphitheater for Givin It All for Guts 5K run on Oct. 13. The Bethalto-based non-profit organization raises money for research to cure Crohns Disease and colitis.

The panel also approved reappointment of Terry Bristow to the Civil Service Commission and suspended the rules to give permission for Fire Chief Bernie Sebold to accept a $227,273, Assistance to Firefighters Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a Department of Homeland Security agency. The money will be used for a mobile firefighter trainer in cooperation with Lewis and Clark Community College.

All of the votes were unanimous in favor except for the Athletes in Action resolution, for which Alderman Brian Campbell, 1st Ward, abstained from voting because of a conflict in interest.

Reach Linda N. Weller at 618-208-6450 or on Twitter @Linda_WellerEDWARDSVILLE  Felony charges filed recently by the Madison County States Attorneys Office include:

 Jonathan A. Stemm, 30, of the 800 block of Bee Tree Lane, East Alton, was charged July 23 with unlawful possession of a controlled substance, a Class 4 felony, after a July 21 incident in Alton where he was allegedly found in possession of less than 15 grams of heroin. Bail was set at $15,000.

 Kelly T. McClenahan, 37, of the 200 block of Burns Farm Boulevard, Edwardsville, was charged July 23 with offenses relating to a motor vehicle, a Class 2 felony, after Alton police found him in possession of a stolen 2008 Chevrolet Malibu. Bail was set at $50,000.

 Juan M. Farias, 32, of Caseyville, was charged July 25 with unlawful possession of weapons by a felon (second subsequent offense), a Class 2 felony, after Glen Carbon police allegedly found him in possession of a bludgeon. Farias had a prior 2011 conviction for unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon. Bail was set at $60,000.

 Mark E. Stoddard, 56, of Asheville, North Carolina, was charged July 25 with aggravated identity theft, a Class 2 felony. According to court documents, on Jan. 31 he allegedly used a senior citizens social security card to obtain approximately $6,700 in credit. Bail was set at $60,000.

 Dawn M. Kenshalo, 44, of the 100 block of East St. Louis Avenue, East Alton, was charged July 25 with obstructing justice, a Class 4 felony, after allegedly provided falsie identification to a Madison County Sheriffs Deputy on May 1, resulting in her sisters drivers license to be suspended. Bail was set at $15,000.GRANITE CITY, Ill. (AP)  President Donald Trump on Thursday trumpeted the renewed success of an Illinois steel mill, pushing back against criticism that his escalating trade disputes are hurting American workers and farmers.

The president pointed to the U.S. Steel plant's reopening as a success story after he slapped tariffs on imported steel and aluminum last spring. On Wednesday, he and European leaders agreed to open talks on trade, a decision he called a breakthrough.

"America never surrenders," Trump said in an address to workers at the company's steel coil warehouse in Granite City. "We don't wave the white flag."

Trump held events in Iowa and Illinois a day after reaching an accord with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at the White House to discuss tearing down trade barriers and address U.S. tariffs on steel imports. Trump also said the EU had agreed to buy more soybeans from American farmers, who have seen prices decline sharply since China imposed retaliatory tariffs.

Farmers and manufacturers have criticized tariffs imposed by Trump, warning that they will spur a global trade war and retaliatory tariffs from countries like China, Mexico and Canada that will damage their livelihoods and raise prices on consumers.

But Trump said he stepped forward to protect the U.S. steel industry with tariffs of 25 percent on imports for national security concerns and in solidarity with workers who had been hurt by what he called unfair trade agreements. In the past, Trump said Thursday, "Our steel towns became ghost towns," but after the U.S. engaged in "the worst trade deals ever made in history" under previous administration, he was now negotiating better terms.

Trump brought to the stage the company's CEO and workers, who spoke of the importance of the plant to their community.

Earlier, Trump said his talks with European allies would benefit Iowa farmers who have been hurt by the fallout from his protectionist trade measures.

"We just opened up Europe for you farmers. You're not going to be too angry with Trump, I can tell you," the president said at the workforce development event in Peosta, Iowa, where he was joined by two Iowa Republicans, Gov. Kim Reynolds and Rep. Rod Blum.

Farmers and manufacturers have expressed wariness over the Trump tariffs, warning that they will spur a global trade war and retaliatory tariffs from countries like China, Mexico and Canada that will damage their livelihoods and raise prices on consumers.

Business leaders and Republicans in Congress have said they could hurt companies reliant on steel and aluminum raw materials in their manufacturing and raise prices for consumers.

Iowa is among the nation's leading producers of soybeans, and the event at Northeast Iowa Community College came on the heels of the Agriculture Department's announcement of $12 billion in temporary aid to help farmers deal with retaliatory tariffs from U.S. trading partners.

Tariffs threaten more than $3.8 billion in Illinois exports, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and major companies including Caterpillar and Boeing already have been hurt.

But Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, briefing reporters on Air Force One, said more jobs have been created by the steel and aluminum tariffs than are being lost. He said the tariffs were instrumental in the EU talks.

"This is a real vindication that the president's trade policy is starting to work," Ross said.

On the outskirts of St. Louis, more than 2,000 workers laid off from Granite City Works were given layoff notices just before Thanksgiving 2015. U.S. Steel cited low oil prices  because the mill produces steel for oil refineries and the auto industry  as well as the availability of cheap, imported steel.

Granite City Works is now near its 2015 employment level of 2,100, with a second blast furnace to be operating by this fall. Jobs there mean dozens more at steel-processing plants throughout the city that bend, cut, coat or reshape the raw product, said James Amos, Granite City's economic development director.

Trump said, "After years of shutdowns and cutbacks, today the blast furnace here in Granite City is blazing bright, workers are back on the job and we are once again pouring new American steel into the spine of our country."

David Burritt, U.S. Steel's president and CEO, said the company was experiencing a "renaissance" and credited Trump's actions for the steel industry's revival. "The president has been in office really only a short time, but a lot has happened for our company because of the president," Burritt said.

Trump appeared eager to keep promoting more good economic news. The Commerce Department delivers its first estimate of second-quarter gross domestic product on Friday, and the president signaled the numbers would be in line with what economists have forecast: a sizzling growth rate of 4 percent or more.

"You're going to see on Friday what happens with GDP. Lot of predictions. Lot of predictions," Trump said in Iowa. "I told you before, some with a 5 in front of it ... we'll take anything with a 4 in front."

___

Associated Press writers Ken Thomas and Darlene Superville in Washington and Sara Burnett in Chicago contributed to this report.Uh-oh! It could be you, or it could be us, but there's no page here.It's a busy day for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Johannesburg on Thursday. Modi, who is in South Africa for the BRICS summit, has very important bilateral meetings scheduled with Russia's Vladimir Putin, China's Xi Jinping and Turkey's Recep Erdogan.

While bilateral meetings with these leaders would have been important at any time, the upcoming meetings assume greater significance in the present world order.

Russia has been blacklisted by the US under Donald Trump, which will make it difficult for third parties to do business with it from August 6, without incurring the wrath of US sanctions. Given that two-thirds of India's defence purchases are from Russia, and the fact that Russia happens to be India's oldest all-weather friend, there is definitely a lot that Modi and Putin will have to discuss on Thursday. Noises from Washington are confusing. While there is some talk of waivers for certain Russian arms sales, on the other hand, there are statements that say there will be no change in the US policy towards Russia.

With Jinping, too, the issues to discuss will be more than the time available for Modi and Jinping. China is still keen that India joins its ambitious Belt Road Initiative. Jinping will continue to woo India, despite the knowledge that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor through Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir is not something India can accept. The US trade war with China and the US decision to levy similar duties on imports from other countries, including India, is a common issue to discuss. The elections in Pakistan, of which China is an all-weather friend, will pop up, in all likelihood.

But the thrust of Modi's meeting with Jinping will be to further strengthen Sino-India ties, making them resistant to periodic differences, which are natural to pop up between two large countries with thousands of kilometres of shared border, most of it disputed.

Global security, the threat due to terrorism and better bilateral ties are expected to be the talking points during Modi's bilateral meet with Erdogan.

While Turkey is not a member of BRICS, host countries invite nations that are important to them to the summit, a tradition that has been established for some time now. Apart from Turkey, South Africa has also invited leaders of several African nations to the meet.Continuing the approach of some BJP leaders in Rajasthan to stress the importance of cow protection amid outrage over the lynching of cattle traders, the president of the saffron party's state unit cited Mughal history to make his point.

BJP Rajasthan president Madan Lal Saini claimed, When [Mughal emperor] Humayun was dying, he called [his father] Babur and told him if you want to rule Hindustan, you must keep three things in mindrespect cows, Brahmins and women.

Saini appeared to have shockingly mixed up the history of Babur, the first Mughal emperor, and Humayun. Babur died in 1531, nearly 25 years before Humayun died in 1556.

The anecdote about Mughal respect for cow protection, which Saini mixed up, was also cited, correctly, by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy in February.

Swamy had said, Cow eating was not prevalent during the Mughal period. In 1857, Bahadur Shah declared a ban on cow slaughter. There is anecdotal information that Babur had told his son Humayun that as cows were a sentimental issue, there should not be any slaughter.

Swamy alleged it was the British who overturned Mughal rules and made cow slaughter fashionable.

Saini's statement comes days after a Muslim man was fatally assaulted by a mob on suspicion of cow smuggling in Alwar. Despite the outrage over the incident, Rajasthan Labour Minister Jaswant Yadav on Tuesday argued the root cause of such incidents was cow smuggling and asked Muslims and the Mev community to "Stop consuming beef and keep away from cow smugglers to respect the Hindus."

(With ANI inputs)Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday night said there are "talks within the BJP" to replace Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in the backdrop of the ongoing Maratha quota stir, which turned violent with bandhs on successive days on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"[BJP president] Amit Shah and [Prime Minister] Narendra Modi will take the final decision on changing the leadership in the state. But there is talk within BJP of changing the chief minister," Raut told reporters in Mumbai.

Fadnavis, sworn in as Maharashtra's first BJP chief minister in October 2014, is under flak from Maratha quota protesters and the opposition parties who have accused the state government of dilly-dallying on the demands of the Maratha community.

The present situation in the state is "worrying" and the BJP-led government has been "unable to tackle" it, Raut said.

However, two senior BJP ministers rubbished Raut's claim, saying there was no talk within the BJP of replacing Fadnavis.

Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil said, "There is no reason to replace the chief minister. The chief minister is much more in favour of giving Marathas reservation than even I am."

Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said there is no talk within the BJP of replacing Fadnavis. All decisions in the party are taken collectively, he added.

Dismissing Raut's claim, BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said, "Both the government and chief minister are doing a fine job and are stable. There are no problems within the party. This is just rumour-mongering by the Sena."

Raut also said the Shiv Sena has been supporting the Maratha community's demand for reservation in government jobs and education from the very beginning.

"The BJP, too, had taken part in protests for the Marathas [for quota] when it was in opposition. Now, it's the BJP's responsibility to see how it [implementation of quota for Marathas] can be done," Raut said.

The government can't run away from the issue, saying the matter is sub judice, Raut said, referring to the BJP-led dispensation's argument that the issue of legality of a quota for the Marathas is pending before the Bombay High Court.

Shiv Sena, NCP MLAs quit

Shiv Sena MLA from Kannad constituency in Aurangabad, Harshvardhan Jadhav, resigned from the Assembly on Wednesday over the ongoing Maratha protests.

Jadhav sent his resignation via mail and left for Mumbai to hand over a physical copy to the speaker.

An NCP MLA, Bhausaheb Chikatgaonkar, from Vaijapur also quit from the Assembly to express his unhappiness over the Fadnavis government's inaction on the Maratha quota demand.Taking a potshot at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha said the former could have waited for the monsoon session to get over before he left for the three-nation tour. Shatrughan Sinha took to Twitter to criticise Modi's frequent foreign trips, silence on mob lynching and absence during a crucial monsoon session of Parliament.

"As usual, while Parliament is in session, you are on a 3 Nation African tour. Heavens wouldn't have fallen if you'd left after the session. You could have still visited some of the nations left on the globe," Sinha tweeted on Wednesday.

Dear Sir! As usual,while Parliament is in session, you are on a 3 Nation African tour. Heavens wouldn't have fallen if you'd left after the session. You could have still visited some of the nations left on the globe.Your visit to Rwanda is a first by an Indian PM Congrats!..1>2  Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) July 25, 2018 Now a handshake in Rwanda wud be within protocol(since your HUG is still making big news here). Interestingly you will be part of the program 'Girinka' (one cow per family) at the Genocide Memorial-a national social protection scheme personally started by Rwanda President...2>3  Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) July 25, 2018

Echoing the opposition, Sinha also requested Modi to shun his silence on the issue of mob lynching, adding that he could do speak against it from a foreign land, too. He also requested the prime minister to guide his party colleagues as the opposition has moved a privilege motion on Rafale deal against the government in Modi's absence.

Great & thoughtful initiative that you will gift 200 cows to a village in this event.This will truly further strengthen the warm, close & friendly relationship shared between the two great nations. But Sir! Back home, Opposition is in big news over lynching by Cow rakshaks & 3>4  Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) July 25, 2018 &killing of innocent people, alleging tht some of our people are hand & glove in these horrific deeds. Still,not a word from you,Sir! You can do it from a foreign land too.Also, humble request to direct us as a privilege motion on Rafale deal against Govt has been moved.Jai Hind!  Shatrughan Sinha (@ShatruganSinha) July 25, 2018

The outspoken MP from Patna Sahib constituency has often made headlines for chiding his party and its members. Shatrughan Sinha has not been in BJP's good books for his frequent comments against the central government and the BJP.

As recently as last week, Shatrughan Sinha took everyone by surprise when he justified Congress President Rahul Gandhi hugging Modi amid a session in Parliament. "What's the big fuss, hue & cry over a "Pyar ki Jhappi", an affectionate hug? Dynamic young leader of the youth & generation next, @RahulGandhi spontaneously gave a warm hug to our Hon'ble PM after his speech in Parliament. What a splendid gesture?...1>2 (sic)" he had tweeted even when Modi himself criticised Rahul Gandhi's actions.The adage that failures can teach many lessons seems quite...Chairman Cecil Pendergrass will convene an emergency meeting of the Lee Board of County Commissioners on Friday to declare a State of Local Emergency.

The declaration will allow Lee County to utilize the Florida Harmful Algal Bloom Management Grant Program to hire a vendor already under contract with the state to address areas with the highest concentration of blue-green algae.

The meeting will be held at 9:30 a.m. at 2201 Second Street, Fort Myers, the Administration East Building, 1st Floor Conference Room 118.

The meeting is open to the public.The Election Commission of Pakistan on Thursday rejected allegations of "blatant" rigging levelled by the incumbent PML-N of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif after trends showed Imran Khan's party was inching towards a majority, saying it did "our job right."

According to Geo TV, Imran's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf was leading on 112 seats followed by PML-N on 65, latest trends showed based on reporting of 42 per cent of polling stations. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's Pakistan Peoples Party was leading on 43 National Assembly seats.

In an unusual press conference at 4am local time, Chief Election Commissioner Muhammad Raza Khan congratulated the people of Pakistan for participating in the election process. He, however, acknowledged that the delay in announcement of election results had "caused some annoyance".

The short pace of counting has given currency to the allegations of manipulation of the election process. The results were expected by Thursday morning, but the CEC only announced what he called was the "first non-official, preliminary result".

The CEC stressed the delay was on account of a new systemresults transmission systemintroduced by it. "We were implementing it for the first time. Therefore, there was some delay," Dawn quoted him as saying.

Asked about the doubts and the allegations, he said, "We will prove ourselves that we did our job right."

The early-morning press conference came hours after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president Shehbaz Sharif in Lahore outrightly rejected the results, alleging "blatant" rigging of the election, even though the vote count was under way.

Shehbaz warned his party would launch protests against the alleged rigging. He did not say who he believes could have rigged the polls, but allegations of manipulating the elections have been made against the country's powerful military.

"Some five other parties, including PPP, have raised the rigging issue in polls. After consulting them, I will announce the future course of action. Pakistan has suffered today," Shehbaz told journalists at the press conference in Lahore.

"We will fight this injustice and use all options," Shehbaz said, adding that there has been a "blatant violation" of the mandate.

Zardari also tweeted on Wednesday night, saying he had not received official results from any constituency he was contesting, despite it being past midnight.

"My candidates [have been] complaining [that] polling agents have been thrown out of polling stations across the country. Inexcusable and outrageous."

At his midnight press conference, Shehbaz said that "these were the dirtiest polls in Pakistan's history."

"This is a horrible situation, which I have never seen in my 30-year political career ... The results of several constituencies have been withheld where PML-N candidates were winning. We will not accept this, Shehbaz declared.

PML-N senator Mushahid Hussain Syed too raised similar doubts on the election results.

"This is the first time in Pakistan's history that five political parties have called a foul play in the polls and termed them massively rigged," he said.

Shortly after the allegation were made, ECP secretary Babar Yaqoob said the result transmission service failed after results of 25,000 out of 85,000 polling stations were uploaded.

He too rejected any wrongdoing in the election and said "the issue of fraud can be discussed after ECP announces the results."

However, Imran's PTI claimed victory.

Sensing victory, hundreds of Imran's supporters came out on streets in jubilation. They parked their vehicles in the middle of roads, played loud music and danced through the streets in several cities, including the capital Islamabad.

"We have got our Naya Pakistan," Shahid Ali, an Imran supporters, said as he danced euphorically near the busy Faizabad interchange, which links Islamabad with the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

The wild celebrations led to traffic jams at many places.

The Press Trust of India correspondent was caught for several hours in traffic while returning from the election coverage as highly-charged activists supporting Imran raised victory slogans.

The victory claim and joy in Imran's camp appeared premature in the wake of rigging allegations.

"Our polling agents were not given results and we will not accept it," Khurshid Shah of PPP said.

Analysts predicted tumultuous weeks ahead for Pakistan as a strong opposition to the election results was building up.

"[PML-N and PPP] will make a lethal combination if they joined hands against Imran Khan," analyst Sohail Warriach said.

A party can form the government if it manages to clinch 172 seats out of the total 342 in the National Assembly. A single party will need at least 137 of the 272 directly-elected seats to be able to form the government on its own.

-PTIThe following companies are subsidiares of Molina Healthcare: Aetna & Humana - Medicare Advantage, Affinity Health Plan, AmericanWork Inc., Better Health Network, Camelot Care Centers Inc, Children's Behavioral Health Inc., Choices Group Inc., College Community Services, Dockside Services Inc, Family Preservation Services Inc., Family Preservation Services of Florida Inc., Family Preservation Services of North Carolina Inc., Family Preservation Services of Washington D.C. Inc., Family Preservation Services of West Virginia Inc., Florida NetPASS LLC, Hclb Inc., Magellan Complete Care, Maple Star Nevada Inc., Maple Star Oregon Inc., Mercy CarePlus, Molina Clinical Services LLC, Molina Healthcare Data Center Inc., Molina Healthcare of Arizona Inc., Molina Healthcare of California, Molina Healthcare of Florida Inc., Molina Healthcare of Georgia Inc., Molina Healthcare of Illinois Inc., Molina Healthcare of Iowa Inc., Molina Healthcare of Louisiana Inc., Molina Healthcare of Maryland Inc., Molina Healthcare of Michigan Inc., Molina Healthcare of Mississippi Inc., Molina Healthcare of Nevada Inc., Molina Healthcare of New Mexico Inc., Molina Healthcare of New York Inc., Molina Healthcare of North Carolina Inc., Molina Healthcare of Ohio Inc., Molina Healthcare of Oklahoma Inc., Molina Healthcare of Pennsylvania Inc., Molina Healthcare of Puerto Rico Inc., Molina Healthcare of South Carolina LLC, Molina Healthcare of Texas Inc., Molina Healthcare of Texas Insurance Company, Molina Healthcare of Utah Inc., Molina Healthcare of Virginia Inc., Molina Healthcare of Washington Inc., Molina Healthcare of Wisconsin Inc., Molina Holdings Corporation, Molina Hospital Management LLC, Molina Information Systems LLC dba Molina Medicaid Solutions, Molina Medical Management Inc., Molina Pathways LLC, Molina Pathways of Texas Inc., Molina Youth Academy, NextLevel Health Illinois, Pathways Community Corrections Inc., Pathways Community Services LLC, Pathways Community Support of Texas Inc., Pathways Health and Community Support LLC, Pathways Human Services LLC., Pathways of Arizona Inc., Pathways of Delaware Inc., Pathways of Idaho LLC, Pathways of Maine Inc., Pathways of Massachusetts LLC, Pathways of Oklahoma Inc., Pathways of Washington Inc., Providence Community Services, Providence Human Services, Raystown Developmental Services Inc., The Game of Work LLC, The RedCo Group Inc., Total Care Medicaid plan, Transitional Family Services Inc., Unisys -Health Information Management, and YourCare Health Plan.Pittsfield, Mass.

A present-day shipping container dominates the small stage. The metal box (designed by Junghyun Georgia Lee, who also did the costumes) is freighted with associations: manufacturing, commerce, international trade and tariffs, as well as the illegal human cargo such containers sometimes carry.

When spun around and opened, it reveals a Chinese interior  or, rather, a Western idea of what a Chinese room might have looked like 200 years ago, with furniture, artwork, vases, silks and more. Sitting facing the audience is a Chinese woman. She says:

What is happening is a performance. For my entire life is a performance. The words I am speaking are not my own. The clothes I am wearing are not my own. This room in which I am seated is intended to be representative of China, just as I am intended to be representative of The Chinese Lady: the first woman from the Orient ever to set foot in America, and yet this Room is unlike any room in China, and I am unlike any lady to ever live.

And this play is unlike any you've seen. It is "The Chinese Lady," by Lloyd Suh, and it is receiving an exceptionally engaging world premiere at Barrington Stage Company, which is producing it with the Manhattan-based Ma-Yi Theater Company, an ensemble dedicated to developing the work of Asian-American artists.

The woman of the title, and on the stage, is Afong Moy (Shannon Tyo), and the play is based on her real-life story. Brought to the United States in 1834, at age 14, by importers of Asian goods, she was put on display, along with "various Chinese curiosities," in a museum where, twice a day, six days a week, she "performed," which is to say she sat, ate, drank tea and walked on her tiny, 4-inch-long bound feet for a gawking audience. Sold by her family for what was to have been a two-year engagement, she ended up staying decades, becoming famous enough to warrant an introduction to President Andrew Jackson. She toured a country that, during her lifetime here, went from considering Asians as exotic but harmless to a group exploited to build the transcontinental railroad to, by the late 1870s, a people so feared that whole communities were killed en masse by vigilantes and the federal government banned the immigration of Chinese laborers from 1882 until 1943.

Suh explores Moy's story in an unusual, intellectually bracing way that explodes theater conventions. For most of the play she never leaves her box, often speaking directly to the audience  sometimes as if they're contemporaries from her own era, at others as if they're today's theater audience. Nearby throughout is Atung (Daniel K. Isaac), a Chinese man, some years older, who acts as her translator.

Atung "is irrelevant," they both say, though it is he who, midway through the play, elucidates one of the play's central themes. We are helped to understand people and occurrences that are distant from us, whether that distance is a result of time or culture or both, through our use of stories and symbols that, while perhaps not literally true, gain larger meaning if we believe they are.

Case in point: the Liberty Bell. Lore holds that the bell cracked when it was rung on July 4, 1776, to celebrate the first Independence Day. Though that isn't true, Moy says, "I support the telling of the story as it was told to me, for it is better and more beautiful than the truth."

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Atung adds, "Like cracks in a bell or a story of when it first rang, we embellish and interpret, perhaps not in pursuit of the literal truth but some other more intangible truth about ourselves and the nature of truth itself."

Poetic in its language, illuminating in its history, directed with a clear eye and strong conception by Ralph B. Pena and acted with abundant humor and even more compassion by Tyo and Isaac, "The Chinese Lady" is both an unusual choice for Barrington Stage and one exactly in keeping with the tradition of a company that likes to challenge itself, and its audience, with new work. From such challenges come many rewards.

sbarnes@timesunion.com  518-454-5489  blog.timesunion.com/tablehopping  @Tablehopping  facebook.com/SteveBarnesFoodCriticAlbany

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's office is in the process of auditing the state Public Service Commission's oversight of agreements that it makes with companies like Charter Communications to move forward with large transactions, such as Charter's $65 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable two years ago.

DiNapoli's press office said that the audit began last month and typically takes several months to complete.

"We are doing an audit of the Public Service Commission's enforcement of terms of agreements such as the one entered into when the Charter merger occurred," DiNapoli spokesman Mark Johnson said.

The audit was originally suggested by Assemblymember Didi Barrett, whose district includes an area of eastern Columbia County where Charter recently completed a $15 million expansion that was also part of the PSC deal to add high-speed internet and phone service to eight Columbia County towns from Chatham and New Lebanon down to Ancram.

PSC spokesman James Denn said the PSC has been working with the Comptroller's Office on the audit. The PSC approves a wide variety of mergers and other transactions in varied industries, and all of the documents used in the approval process are posted to its web site, along with public comments filed as part of its reviews. Various stakeholders such as consumer and business groups also participate in such cases.

"The PSC welcomes outside review of its rigorous and transparent merger approval process," Denn said. "We are cooperating with (DiNapoli's) staff on their review."

The terms of a deal that Charter made with the PSC to allow the merger to move foward  and whether or not Charter has violated the agreement  have led to a war of words between Charter officials and PSC Chairman John Rhodes, who recently accused Charter of "gaslighting" its customers over the controversy.

Charter has promised to extend its high-speed internet, cable TV and phone network to 145,000 addresses in the state that have inadequate internet service options available to them, many of them in rural areas of upstate.

The PSC claims that Charter failed to meet a December deadline to reach 36,000 new addresses, while Charter has said it had extended its reach to more than 42,000 locations by that time. The PSC subsequently said that thousands of those addresses don't count for various reasons.

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The PSC has accused Charter of false advertising by posting videos and running ads touting the 42,000 number that is now in dispute. The same dispute is what led Rhodes, the PSC chair, to accuse Charter of "gaslighting" its customers. The ads ran on Charter's cable TV service and on its web site and social media platforms.

Charter meanwhile has defended itself in the public eye while it tries to work with the PSC behind the scenes to find a solution. Since December, Charter says it has extended its network to more than 19,000 additional addresses.

"The fact is that Spectrum has built out our broadband network to more than 61,000 unserved or underserved homes since the merger," Charter spokesman Andrew Russell said. "We find it baffling that the PSC thinks that some New Yorkers count and others don't, given their belief that access to broadband is essential for economic development and social equity."

This week Charter is operating a pop-up store in the Columbia County town of Chatham to serve new customers who want to take advantage of its expanded network. The store is located at 90 Hudson Ave.From Steve Barnes' Table Hopping blog:

Our poll earlier this month on the area's best lobster rolls brought in 2,369 votes for the 14 places listed in the poll, plus a number more submitted in comments, emails and on social media.

The top three vote-getters, in order, were 99 Restaurant in Colonie, dp: An American Brasserie in Albany. Combined, they accounted for about 70 percent of the overall vote.

As a follow-up, we're going to hold a tasting of lobster rolls from the top three, with the addition of a roll from Market Bistro in Latham. While Market Bistro was not included in the formal poll, it received enough shout-outs in a variety of other ways to warrant inclusion. We'll have a story on the results in a future Food section of the newspaper.

Here's where you come in: We need a guest judge to taste the rolls alongside Sara Tracey, who supervisor the Times Union's food coverage, and me.

This is important: The tasting will be held at the Times Union office in Colonie on an afternoon next week, probably at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, depending on the guest judge's availability. If you won't be available at any of those times, please do not enter the contest to be chosen as guest judge. Obviously, you should not have allergies or aversions that would preclude you from tasting hot and cold lobster rolls.

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The winner will be chosen at random from comments posted below that answer the questions in the next paragraph. Comments that don't answer the questions will be deleted. One comment submitted per person. Multiple answers from same person/email address disqualifies all from that person. Contest closes at noon Friday (7/27).

Question: Why should you be chosen to be the guest judge for our lobster roll tasting? Make a compelling case. Although the winner will be chosen at random, I'd like at least some effort given to answers. If you submit a lame response like, "BECAUSE I LOVE LOBSTER!!!" or "I'm usually hungry at 3 p.m.," I won't approve your contest entry.

Post your entry in the Comments section of the Table Hopping blog."Mission: Impossible - Fallout" starts out strong and gets better and better. And then, just when you know it can't get any better than it already is, it gets even better than that, until everybody staggers out of the theater exhausted and exhilarated. It's what a summer movie used to be and should be. It's just terrific.

Before the credits are even flashed onto the screen, "Fallout" has already delivered more excitement, narrative interest and surprises than most action movies do in two hours. The thought crosses the mind: Where can it go from here? The answer is pretty much everywhere. It keeps on going and going, following one exciting sequence with another and then another.

There are two things to marvel at, aside from the fact that Tom Cruise is 56 and only now has begun to look like he might be in his 40s. The first is how these action sequences are devised. Most action movies deal in cliches, and their only innovation is to make the cliches bigger  bigger explosions, bigger car crashes, bigger chases  and it never really works. But "Fallout" consistently demonstrates an astonishing creative invention in these sequences. Writer-director Christopher McQuarrie ("Mission: Impossible  Rogue Nation") comes up with new ways of doing things, and new ways within those ways. Every time you think you've out-guessed him, you haven't.

The second marvel is yet more impressive, and that's that the effectiveness of the action has to do with more than thrills and titillation. In "Fallout," every leap, chase and tense moment is bound to the story and to the personal relationships within that story. Having Cruise at the center certainly helps  everybody likes Tom Cruise, including all the people who tell you they don't, and so there's a rooting interest. But this goes beyond Cruise. This is story construction, character creation and a directorial instinct for when to ease off the pedal and when to floor it.

The stakes are high  of course, they are. Ethan Hunt (Cruise) is given a choice assignment, to find three silver colored balls of plutonium, a little bigger than a bocce ball, that have been stolen from the Russians and are being sold on the black market. He teams up with his crew, Luther (Ving Rhames) and Benji (Simon Pegg) and goes to make the purchase, but ends up blowing the assignment. He screws up for some good reasons, but he screws up all the same, and the plutonium gets into the hands of a nihilistic terror group that thinks that the path to peace is through great suffering, or some nonsense like that.

The details are unimportant. All you need to know is that they're crazy and want to destroy the world.

So now Ethan has to find the terrorists, and also the people working with the terrorists, and he has to assume a false identity for a time, and hang out in Paris and London and somewhere in Asia ... He's doing all sorts of things, while people are coming at him from every direction, and while one of his own men, played by Henry Cavill, is plotting to discredit him. Yet as complicated as "Fallout" is, and as difficult as it would be to describe, with certainty, every turn of the story and what it means, the movie is always clear in terms of what's going on in the moment.

For example, there's a scene in Paris, in which Ethan and his group are trying to steal a heavily-guarded prisoner from the French police. But in order to do so, they have to double-cross the underworld characters they're working with and manage not to hurt a single Paris policeman. Every moment is specific and riveting. And that's not even the best sequence in the movie.

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One of the least appreciated things about Cruise is that the women in his movies are always interesting in their own right. Rebecca Ferguson is back as Ilsa, complicating everything by showing up on a motorcycle and shooting at people. Michelle Monaghan has less fun as Ethan's ex-wife, but Vanessa Kirby (Princess Margaret on Netflix's "The Crown") is full of insinuation and mischief as an international arms broker known as White Widow, smiling at Cruise like she's about to devour him.

One of the most appreciated things about Cruise is that so much of what he does on screen is real. He really does those leaps between buildings. He really does drive a motorcycle at high speeds. He really does fly a helicopter. Who knows what motivates this guy, but the results are tangible.

With "Mission: Impossible  Fallout," Cruise and McQuarrie have made the best film in the franchise's history and the most enjoyable and exciting action movies in several years.Albany

The words that follow aren't meant as criticism of Eric Hawkins, the man chosen by Mayor Kathy Sheehan to be Albany's police chief.

Hawkins, by all accounts, is well qualified for the job. He apparently has been a fine police chief in suburban Michigan, and, if he comes our way, I hope he duplicates his success in Albany, and I hope he enjoys it here.

But Albany already has a well qualified person leading the department. His name is Bob Sears, and he has been the acting chief since the departure of Brendan Cox 18 months ago.

Sears has been great at the job, and he has earned the chance to continue in it. The city, in fact, needs him in the role as it confronts this frightening spike in violence. More than ever, Albany needs a chief who knows and cares about the city.

Nobody knows it better than Sears. He grew up on Hurlbut Street, along Second Avenue. He has been with the department for 20 years. He has dedicated his life to making Albany safer. He knows every alley and corner.

"I love being an Albany cop," he said.

But there's a catch that kept Sears from becoming the permanent chief. He lives in Glenmont, 4 miles south of downtown Albany, and city rules mandate that department heads live in the city. Sears, who is married and has two children, is not willing to uproot his family.

I get the point of the residency requirement. I understand why people who live in Albany, or any city, want their leaders to show the special commitment that comes with living there. They want a police chief who is part of their community and understands city living.

All that is great. But there's is no requirement that any other member of the police department live in Albany, and I can see why officers charged with the difficult task of patrolling the city might want some distance from their jobs when the workday is done.

In this case, the end result of the residency rule is ironic: A man who has given his life to improving Albany did not get the job while a man who lives 563 miles away did.

Hawkins, a native of Pontiac, Mich., is the longtime chief in nearby Southfield, a sprawling suburb that, in many respects, has little in common with densely populated Albany. Built mostly in the 1960s, Southfield is a city of people who fled Detroit and its ills.

Does Hawkins, who lives in Southfield, understand city living? Will he appreciate Albany?

I would have asked him, but he denied an interview request.

More Information Contact columnist Chris Churchill at 518-454-5442 or email cchurchill@timesunion.com See More Collapse

Sears, 42, hasn't said all that much about the process, but comments he made last month as he announced his retirement hint at some bitterness. "When it got to be that working hard and doing a good job wasn't enough, then I know it's time for me to go," he said.

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Sears, to be clear, did not apply for the job. If he had, there might have been support on the Common Council for a waiver that would have allowed to him to keep living outside the city. (Cox was granted one.)

"I've made it very clear that I wanted him to apply," Sheehan told me Wednesday. "This is a choice that he made."

Sheehan added that while she supports the residency requirement, she didn't write the law and is required to abide by it.

Still, there is anger among some Albany officers over the selection of Hawkins amid continuing frustration with City Hall. Morale in the Albany Police Department was already low, and there is fear the choice may lead it to sink.

"I feel like we're saying, 'Not a single one of you was good enough to take over,'" said Dannielle Hille, a member of the Albany Policing Advisory Committee who lives in the Mansion Neighborhood. "Really, we don't have anybody who could do the job?"

Albany is proud of its shift toward community policing, and Sheehan has cited Hawkins' experience with it as a prime reason he was chosen. What community policing means, exactly, is a bit fuzzy; everybody seems to have a different definition.

But one thing is clear: It requires knowing the community.

Sears knows Albany in a way that Hawkins never will. Again, that isn't a knock against Hawkins. It's just a fact  and it's one that Common Council members, who can approve or reject the appointment, should consider as they weigh Sheehan's choice.

Members can ratify a well qualified applicant who might get lost trying to find Lark Street. Or they can voice support for Sears, who is more qualified because he has Albany in his heart and knows it like a native. It shouldn't be a difficult decision.

cchurchill@timesunion.com  518-454-5442  @chris_churchillSARATOGA SPRINGS  Wednesday night's rain-marred Wiz Khalifa and Rae Sremmurd show at SPAC was billed as a co-headlining affair, but it was really a one-act show. Wiz was the main draw, helping to pull in an audience of roughly 15,000, and received the longer set time. But Wiz showed himself to be a step behind the times in terms of quality songs, energy and the current hip-hop zeitgeist. Rae Sremmurd on the other hand, well, holy smokes.

The pairing of 23-year-old Swae Lee and his 25-year-old brother Slim Jxmmi was just electric from start-to-finish. Over the course of a set that ran slightly more than an hour, the duo worked with stage hard and whipped the crowd into a frenzy that far exceed the audience's emotional intensity during Wiz Khalifa, despite the latter having more and bigger hits.

Taking to a stage adorned with a cabana, palm tree and modified Brinks truck reading "Brxnks," Sremmurd opened with its first single, the 2014 jam "No Flex Zone." Within moments, Slim Jxmmi's t-shirt was in the crowd and Swae Lee unpeeled the top half of his bright red jumpsuit. From there, it was on. The two roamed the stage, running dancing, jumping and cajoling as smoke cannons went off and the fans went bonkers.

Rae Sremmurd's set drew heavily upon "Sr3mm," the 3-disc opus released this past May. "Sr3mm" consists of one group album, a Swae Lee solo joint and a Slim Jxmmi spot. By relying on this LP set, it allowed the brothers' abilities as both a duo and individuals to shine. The Jxmmi track "Brxnks Truck" showcased his exceptional skills as a traditionally rooted, rapid-fire MC. On the flip side, you had the Swae-led "Guatemala" that highlighted the ease at which he could alternate his delivery between rapping and singing. During each solo song, the other member of Rae Sremmurd would be on stage, assisting in choruses and hyping people up.

But then they'd share vocal duties equally, as they did on "Buckets," "Chanel" and "Powerglide" and it would be incendiary. The two were all over the place, working the crowd and nailing their respective bars. Once they finished their set, Slim Jxmmi and Swae Lee snapped pics with fans in the front rows and took some puffs on a few joints before heading back.

Rae Sremmurd is on the rise. "Sr3mm" hit the top 5 of the Bllboard album charts this year, the duo performed on "Good Morning America" last week and is slated to open on this fall's eagerly anticipated Childish Gambino-Vince Staples tour. All signs point to Rae Sremmurd becoming the next hip-hop act to become a household name.

Considering all this and the quality of Rae Sremmurd's performance meant it was going to be difficult for Wiz Khalifa to follow that up. And while he worked the crowd through hits like "Black and Yellow," "Work Hard Play Hard" and "We Dem Boyz," his 90-minute set felt like that of a man whose time has passed. Fans appreciated the songs in that warm, nostalgic way people react to a hit song at a Journey or Foreigner concert. Plus, he barely rapped through them, hitting some of the bars and then smiling and walking the stage during the choruses. Combined with the rote nature of his performance and the torrential downpour, a significant portion of the lawn left well before halfway through his set.

There were three openers for the show and all were, at best, unexceptional. An unannounced rapper opened with a pretty bad 15-minute set. This was followed by O.T. Genasis offering up a generic set of material reminiscent of early 2000s rap. Lil Skies was the biggest of the openers, and the only thing that stood out about him was the ovation he received for dedicating a song to the late, controversial XXXTentacion. I have many very specific thoughts about that, none positive, but the only relevant ones are that Lil Skies has bad taste in character and is a pedestrian MC.

Jim Shahen is a frequent contributor to the Times Union.

***

Concert Review

Wiz Khalifa and Rae Sremmurd

With Lil Skies, O.T. Genasis and an unannounced opener

When: 6:00 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Route 50, Saratoga Springs

Length: Wiz Khalifa, 90 minutes; Rae Sremmurd, 62 minutes; Lil Skies, 28 minutes, O.T. Genasis, 25 minutes; unannounced act, 15 minutes

Highlights: Sremmurd's "Brxnks Truck," "Buckets," "Guatemala" and "Powerglide"; Khalifa's "Black and Yellow"

The Crowd: Not quite sold out inside, pretty packed lawn until the rain became a downpour. Approximately 15,000 people, skewing under 30 and racially mixed.MILTON - The town lost Boyhaven.

Town Councilman Benny Zlotnick announced at Wednesday night's board meeting that the Twin Rivers Council of the Boy Scouts of America canceled its $1 million contract with Milton because it could no longer hold off on selling the 300-acre wooded camp.

"It's an unfortunate situation," Zlotnick said. "I'm disappointed in this result. I'm sorry I couldn't get it done."

Zlotnick blamed the past Supervisor Dan Lewza for missing at least two closing deadlines in 2017. He also blamed a handful of residents who misled others to believe taxes would increase. And he pointed a finger at the Ballston Journal for prompting the anonymous donor, who would have paid half the town's cost, to withdraw.

Larry Woolbright, the chair of the town's planning board who worked on the deal for more than a year, simply said "there was no political will" to make Boyhaven a passive park for the residents of Milton.

"The town is missing out on a tremendous opportunity," Woolbright said.

Now it looks like the nearly 100-year-old Boy Scout camp, with its lake and trails, could go to a private buyer. On Monday, Robert Moser of Prime Group Holdings said he would like to buy and preserve the land. However, he is uncertain if Boyhaven, situated between Route 29 and Middle Grove Road, will be a public or private park. He said it was too early to say.

Councilwoman Barbara Kerr said she is unhappy with the town didn't get it done.

"We let a lot of people down," Kerr said. "I plan to address this in the future."

Supervisor Scott Ostrander said that he worked hard to make the deal a reality.

"I did all I could do," he said. "I called the county, the Sheriff's Association, I tried to work out donors. I signed over $500,000. We believed it was a done deal."

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A year ago, the Boyhaven deal was essentially sealed. The town borrowed $500,000 for the property. The remainder was to be a $500,000 gift to the town from an anonymous donor. The state Department of Environmental Conservation offered to purchase back portions of the land, allowing the town to pay back its loan.

The only thing left was to close on the deal. But then the town started missing closing deadlines. It missed one in October and then December. It missed three more, one in February and two in May. Then its final deadline on July 6.

Zlotnick said he had promises from two more anonymous donors, who were both ready to close. But the Sheriff's Association needed more time in order to figure out its finances for its future use of Boyhaven. The town also offered the Twin River Council $20,000, non-refundable, to wait until then. But, Zlotnick said, the council's board said no.

"They said it's been long enough and it's time to move on," Zlotnick said. "I'm disappointed because I wanted this for the town, I wanted this for the people."ALBANY  In January 2016, Clare Bronfman sent an email to NXIVM co-founder Keith Raniere with the subject "Adverse Party Identifying Info." An attached spreadsheet she had created listed the names, phone numbers and email addresses of dozens of their perceived enemies.

The list, according to federal prosecutors, included journalists and an alleged victim of Raniere's secret slave-master sex club  a highly secretive group that triggered a federal law enforcement investigation of NXIVM last year after reports surfaced that women were being branded with Raniere's initials and coerced to have sex with him.

In a follow-up email last September, several months after the slave-master club began publicly unraveling, Bronfman sent Raniere another list. This one, prosecutors said, contained the individuals who had done "damage" to Raniere, their priority levels, and a catalog of the potential crimes that might be pursued to discredit those adversaries.

"Bronfman went to significant lengths to compile information and threaten litigation against those she considered to be an enemy or critic of Raniere," federal prosecutors wrote in a court filing this week.

The records were made public as part of a superseding indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court on Tuesday that charged Bronfman, Raniere and other top members of the cult-like organization with racketeering and criminal conspiracy. The underlying alleged crimes include money laundering, identity theft, forced labor, sex trafficking and wire fraud.

The court records for the first time unmask Bronfman's deep involvement in the alleged criminal activities of Raniere, including helping him attack his enemies through litigation, computer hacking and the filing of potentially falsified criminal charges.

Bronfman, an heiress of the Seagram Company fortune, once estimated at $2.6 billion, has given tens of millions of dollars to Raniere to help fuel his efforts to expand NXIVM's reach around the globe. Prosecutors, who have described the organization as a massive pyramid scheme, noted that Bronfman's devotion to Raniere was demonstrated when she once "loaned" him $65 million to invest in the commodities market, which he subsequently lost and never repaid.

The charges unsealed this week indicate Bronfman has been much more than a duped heiress who fell under the spell of Raniere. They describe her as a witting co-conspirator in crimes dating back nearly 15 years, and often carried out to destroy Raniere's enemies, including journalists who investigated his background or defectors who tried to break from NXIVM's ranks.

"Bronfman's efforts to target and silence critics of Raniere is particularly concerning in light of the broader pattern of harassment, coercion and abusive litigation that is described as one of the means and methods of the conspirators in the superseding indictment," assistant U.S. Attorney Moira Kim Penza wrote in a memo requesting high bond and home confinement for Bronfman and her co-defendants.

The superseding indictment expanded the pending criminal charges against Raniere, who was arrested in Mexico in March, and his alleged slave-master conspirator, television actress Allison Mack. In addition, it added Bronfman and three other defendants: NXIVM President and co-founder Nancy Salzman, her daughter Lauren Salzman, and longtime NXIVM bookkeeper Kathy Russell.

Raniere has remained in custody without bond since his arrest while the other defendants have all been ordered released on conditions that include home confinement, electronic monitoring and high bonds  Bronfman's bail has been set at $100 million. A federal judge on Wednesday set a trial date for January in Brooklyn.

Although NXIVM had offices across the country and overseas, the indictment indicates that most of the illegal conduct took place in New York's Northern District  the federal jurisdiction that encompasses the Capital Region, where NXIVM has been headquartered since the late 1990s and where Raniere has lived while cultivating his flock of followers.

It's also where multiple law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. attorney's office in Albany, the state attorney general's office and the Saratoga and Albany county district attorneys' offices, have for years declined to pursue criminal investigations of Raniere or his organization.

Indeed, three years ago, the law enforcement agencies took no action when allegations were filed in Albany County Court that Bronfman had implanted a "key logger" virus on the computer of her late father, Edgar M. Bronfman Sr., so officials with the NXIVM corporation could secretly monitor his emails.

The allegations were attributed to Kristen M. Keeffe, who was part of the inner circle that ran NXIVM before she defected from the organization  with the assistance of a State Police investigator  along with her young son.

The accusations against Bronfman were contained in a transcript of a telephone conversation that took place earlier that year between Keeffe and Barbara J. Bouchey, a former NXIVM executive board member who had faced computer trespassing charges that accused her and three others of illegally accessing NXIVM's website.

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The filing by Bouchey's attorney, in part, was intended to demonstrate for the judge presiding over the computer trespassing case that NXIVM's top officials, including Bronfman, were willing to engage in criminal activities. The charges against Bouchey and two others were dismissed not long after their attorneys raised separate questions about whether NXIVM had secretly moved its computer servers to Albany  after the alleged computer trespassing had taken place.

According to the defense attorneys, they believed the servers were moved to Albany to improperly establish jurisdiction there after Saratoga County prosecutors had declined to handle the computer-trespassing complaint. The case was assigned to a special prosecutor in Albany, Holly Trexler, who pursued the charges even as questions mounted about whether NXIVM officials had manipulated evidence or the State Police had been unduly pressured to file charges.

Other allegations were raised against Bronfman in the Albany County case including that beginning in 2007, she and her sister, Sara, had paid a Canadian investigative firm more than $1.8 million to sift the financial records of U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., and six federal judges who had or were presiding over litigation involving NXIVM.

The court records indicated the NXIVM officials also used the Canadian firm to try and obtain financial information on Edgar Bronfman and other officials with the Jewish World Congress, which Edgar Bronfman headed from 1981 to 2007.

The U.S. attorney's office in Albany conducted a review of the allegations but quickly closed the case. A person with knowledge of the matter said federal prosecutors here determined it was a questionable criminal case because accessing private banking records without authorization is a crime in the United State but not in Canada.

The earlier allegations that NXIVM officials would engage in computer tampering to monitor or attack an enemy are buttressed in the indictment unsealed this week. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, who launched their investigation of NXIVM last fall, have accused Raniere in 2008 of conspiracy to commit identity theft by "intercepting wire and electronic communications."

In another count accusing Raniere and Bronfman of identity theft, they are alleged to have illegally intercepted wire or electronic communications in 2006 and 2008. The indictment did not specify what they did, only describing the conduct as "unlawful" and the victim as "John Doe."

Bronfman also is accused of illegally inducing an illegal immigrant to enter the United States in March 2009 for her own financial gain. As part of that scheme, prosecutors said, Bronfman is accused of committing money laundering by transferring money to another country to aid in the immigration fraud.

In 2016, after the death of one of Raniere's girlfriends, Pamela Cafritz, Raniere allegedly continued to use her credit card as well as a bank account that held $8 million. Although Raniere had been designated as the administrator of her estate, prosecutors allege he had no right to use her credit card after her death. They said it may have been done to conceal his access to money, is potentially tax evasion, and that Bronfman assisted him.

"Bronfman sent Raniere regular emails documenting expenses charged to the woman's credit card," prosecutors wrote in a memo, characterizing the activity as identity theft. "The expenses charged to the woman's credit card after her death included payments to a chiropractor for Raniere's benefit, as well as thousands of dollars' worth of clothing and shoe purchases for the mother of Raniere's child."

Bronfman and her co-defendants, including Raniere, have all pleaded not guilty to the charges. Although she has been released from custody, Bronfman has been given until Friday to secure the $100 million bond that will be posted to ensure she does not try to flee.ALBANY  Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is taking heat for his questionable responses in a candidate questionnaire he filled out for an influential New York City Democratic club.

The Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City, which wound up endorsing the governor for re-election, had asked Senate, Assembly and statewide candidates whether they had or would endorse or financially support a member of the now-disbanded Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) or a candidate that had voted against LGBTQ interests.

Cuomo, a second-term Democrat, answered in the negative to both questions, but, as reporters flagged on Twitter, he had backed former IDC leader Jeff Klein in 2014, and has made clear his intention to support ex-IDC candidates in their respective primaries as part of the Senate Democratic reunification plan brokered in April.

The governor has also expressed support for Bronx Assemblyman Marc Crespo, a Democrat who in 2011 voted against same-sex marriage.

Cuomo's campaign maintains that the questions were ambiguously worded, asking for past and future positions, while the form only allowed "yes" or "no" answers through a drop-down menu. Still, other candidates, including former IDC members, chose to utilize the box under the drop-down feature to elaborate on their answers.

Abbey Collins, a spokeswoman for Cuomo's campaign, said that "no" was accurate in response to the forward-looking part of the question, because the IDC no longer exists.

"As we have said, the governor stands alongside Andrea Stewart-Cousins in supporting all members of the Senate Democratic Conference," Collins said in a statement. "If anyone threatens to defect from the Democratic Conference, he will be first in line to oppose them. The governor is a national leader for LGBTQ rights and his record of leadership making New York the first big state to pass marriage equality speaks for itself."

A Cuomo campaign official also noted Crespo's evolution on LGBT issues, pointing to the Stonewall Democrats backing of the Bronx assemblyman for re-election in 2016.

The club's president, Rod Townsend, agreed the question could have been framed differently.

"I copied and pasted it from an earlier questionnaire and I think that caused some problems for some people," Townsend said. "To be honest, we might need to rethink both of those questions in the future."

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The question also tripped up former IDC member Sen. Marisol Alcatara, of the Bronx, who wrote "no" when asked if she had ever supported IDC members. Other ex-IDC senators indicated that they had been members of the breakaway Democratic faction, while asserting their commitment to Democratic unity.

"There is no more IDC. I will continue to support all Democrats in the state Senate," Klein wrote.

Townsend said club members had the opportunity to interview each candidate, but Cuomo's past support of Klein and Crespo did not come up.

"Members of Stonewall Democratic Club recognize a leader that led the nation on marriage equality, continues to lead in the battle against HIV/AIDS, and uses the power of his office to smash the barriers of discrimination and fortify the opportunities for all LGBTQ New Yorkers," he said of the endorsement.

The club endorsed challengers to five out of six ex-IDC members based New York City. In Sen. Diane Savino's Staten Island district, the Stonewall Democrats made no endorsement.Joseph Felix Strevell, a former New York deputy secretary of state previously convicted of financial crimes and lying to federal authorities, now faces a judgment of more than $85,000.

A federal district court judge entered the judgment on July 6 against Strevell and his daughter Nicole Childrose after finding that Strevell fraudulently transferred more than $159,000 to Childrose to avoid paying $111,500 in restitution to the state.The sentencing of Joseph Percoco, a former top aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, has been postponed again - this time until a week after Cuomo faces challenger Cynthia Nixon in the Democratic Party primary.

U.S. District Court Judge Valerie Caproni agreed to push back Percoco's sentencing to Sept. 20. He was scheduled to be sentenced on corruption charges Aug. 10.TROY  It had been six months since Susan experienced what she describes as a rape that occurred during a fraternity party at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the fall of 2016, and the trauma hadn't faded. To the contrary, it was continuing to wear her down.

Despite her copious academic scholarships and her success on campus before the incident, she was in danger of flunking out.

"I was so depressed that I was missing classes. I would sleep until 2 or 3 in the afternoon and go to bed at 9 o'clock," said Susan. (It is not her real name; the Times Union does not generally reveal the identity of victims of sexual assault.)

Finally, her boyfriend convinced her to file a complaint with the school's Title IX office.

The school's handling of her allegations provides a troubling window into the issue of sexual assault on college campuses. Her account also comes to light after months of controversy at RPI over the school's attempts to rein in the Greek system  a strategy that Susan, despite her claim that she was assaulted during a party in one of the school's larger fraternities, sees as misguided.

Susan remains a stalwart supporter of Greek life at RPI, which she believes provides a needed social outlet for students straining under a heavy academic workload.

Yet the details of what happened that night remain seared in her memory. The tapestry over her attacker's bed and the lights strung around the room. The way she fled downstairs to the party after what she describes as a consensual encounter that turned into an attack. The long, panicked walk back to a friend's dorm for a shower, then sitting like a statue in a beanbag chair with a blanket draped over her. The pearl earring and lipstick that she never recovered.

And from after she filed her complaint: the nagging sense that fellow students were glaring at her, angered over what her charges might do to the fraternity.

Susan's story was recounted in interviews with the Times Union and contained in the transcript of a meeting she had with college officials after filing her complaint.

It started during a typical fraternity party in September 2016, which the 18-year-old freshman  a Midwesterner planning to study computer science  attended with what she termed a "platoon" of girlfriends, according to the transcript.

That night, she was designated as the group's "sober friend"  not for driving, since they were walking, but in case anyone became too drunk or suffered another problem.

While mingling in the fraternity's main party area, her assailant "grabbed my butt," she told RPI officials. Despite this behavior, she found him attractive and they went upstairs to his room.

They started kissing, getting "handsy" and engaging in other consensual activities, including oral sex.

But soon after, Susan said her attacker forced himself on her.

"He pulled me up and then flipped me on my back. ... And so he started to, started to have sex with me," she said, according to the transcript.

"At some point I kind of like pushed him off a little bit. It was like, I'm done, I'm done, I'm done. And I went down, like jumped out of his loft bed. And I kind of twisted my ankle a little bit. Grabbed my shoes, and that's when I ran out of his room and I ran down the stairs."

She was frantically looking for a friend of hers who was one of the fraternity's "pledges," or recently recruited members who had been downstairs during the attack. When she found him an explained what happened, he told her to calm down: "You're fine  you're just drunk," she remembered him telling her.

"And I'm like, 'I'm not,'" she told school officials.

"I was so sad," Susan continued. "And then I ended up sprinting out of the house, because the door was right there. And I just kind of just forgot about my friends at that point. And ran into the street."

"Then one of the other (frat) brothers I guess saw me from behind or saw me run out of the house. .... He grabbed me from behind and like pulled me out of the street. And when he picked me up ... he was like manhandling me just to get me out of the street. And I was kicking and I was screaming like, 'I won't say anything, put me down, nothing happened. I'm not drunk. Please just let me go. I'm not going to say anything. I'm not going to get your frat kicked off campus.'"

Soon after the incident, she says the subtle pressure started. She received Facebook messages from other fraternity members that ranged from "We just want to make sure you're OK. Try to keep it low-key," to "We want to vouch for him  like we don't think he's a bad kid."

More for you RPI eases Greek crackdown, will allow rush in October

The outreach caused her to second-guess herself.

"It's a very big stigma," she said during her interview with RPI officials. "I mean, it's very intimidating to come forward when all you have is people (saying), like, you don't want to be that girl, you don't want to be this. You probably won't win your case. Or, these cases drag on. ... You don't want to be that girl that shuts down a house."

Susan went to RPI's Title IX office and filed her complaint in March 2017. The low-level harassment continued, she said. She recalled seeing her attacker during a rush event at the Saratoga Race Course later that summer. Some of his friends gave her dirty looks, she said.

By September 2017  a year after the incident  her father convinced her to file a report with Troy police. It was something school officials had counseled her against, she told the Times Unions.

RPI spokeswoman Richie Hunter said that while she could not comment on an individual case, "Each student who makes a report to Rensselaer is informed that they have the right to report the incident to local law enforcement or New York state police."

Students making complaints are also assigned confidential advisers, which was the case here, said Susan.

Police took the complaint, but told Susan it would be a hard case to prosecute, especially given the time that had elapsed. Shortly after, though, she told police she didn't want to press charges.

In October 2017, Susan received a letter from RPI's interim vice president for student life, LeNorman Strong, telling her that her attacker had been found to have violated the school's student sexual misconduct policy. "The respondent has informed Rensselaer he agrees with the determination of the Institute," read part of the findings.

The letter provided no more detail on what specific actions  the alleged groping downstairs, or what had occurred in the bedroom  had violated the policy. Because he agreed with the finding, there was no formal hearing.

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He was suspended for the 2017-18 academic school year and barred from the campus for a year. The incident was also noted on his transcript. The accused student couldn't be reached for comment.

By the time of the determination, Susan had left RPI and was enrolled in another Capital Region school. She later decided to leave the region: Without the scholarships and aid she had arranged at RPI, continuing her education here wasn't affordable.

Because Susan is no longer enrolled, the school won't tell her if her alleged attacker is coming back in the fall. She's now back home in the Midwest, considering her other college options. She's looking at taking courses online to start.

Hunter said the school's policy aims "to ensure that our living and learning environments are free from all forms of harassment, discrimination, or retaliation for all of our faculty, staff, and students. The Institute takes any allegation of harassment, discrimination, or sexual misconduct seriously."

Others say Susan's case is emblematic of what they view as the poor handling of simple assaults and other problems at RPI.

"Whether it's sexual assault or depression, they just didn't have the support system," said Kevin Dai, a 2014 graduate who was RPI's grand marshal  akin to student body leader  during his junior year.

Dai is among the numerous alumni who have spoken out against the recent crackdown on fraternities as well as other developments at the school.

"At the end of the day, students don't feel comfortable reporting these issues, but it's the school's responsibility to create an atmosphere where they can report," he said.

RPI is in the midst of a sweeping review of Greek life at the school.

Citing a series of problems including alcohol and drug abuse as well as sexual misconduct, RPI President Shirley Ann Jackson in June announced a "stand-down" in which the school was going to halt recruiting or rush activities for the Greek houses, which is vital to organizations' getting new classes of students each year.

That prompted an outcry by students and alumni, which led the school to modify its stance.

For now, Greek recruiting is on hold until Oct. 18, more than a month later than the usual start at the end of August. Additionally, the school has established a special task force to assess Greek life.

Fraternities and sororities play a relatively large role in campus life at RPI, with more than 20 percent of students enrolled in a Greek organization. They also provide needed housing as well as social outlets for students. There are 29 fraternities and five sororities at the school, where male students outnumber female students more than two to one.

Overall, Susan's account painted a picture of a campus where students study like crazy  often without adequate sleep  during the week, and party vigorously on weekends: a work-hard, play-hard ethos fueled by alcohol.

The flip side, some say, is a culture of silence and peer pressure that can conspire to cover up genuine sexual assaults, hazing and other forms of abuse committed by students on students.

But Dai said his sense was that "it's individuals, but not organizations. ... They could be Greeks, they could be non-Greeks. The real problem is the school doesn't hold these individuals accountable."

Like Dai, Susan continues to support Greek life, but said people should know what really goes on.

"They should know that this is happening," she said. "Everybody realizes this is a problem, but you don't know how close to home it is."

rkarlin@timesunion.com 518 454 5758 @rkarlin@timesunion.comALBANY  In his signature red satin jacket and beret, Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa was hard to miss Thursday afternoon outside City Hall, where well-wishers welcomed the civilian patrol activist's presence in the city.

Mayor Kathy Sheehan was not among them. And neither was her chief of staff, Brian Shea.

They rejected Sliwa's request to meet and discuss his efforts to form a Guardian Angels chapter in Albany, which has experienced a rash of violence within the last two months.

Sliwa, 64, a conservative-minded radio talk show host in New York City who chairs the state's Reform Party, was undeterred. At 3 p.m., the salt-and-pepper-haired Sliwa  who once survived an alleged mob hit in a taxi  sauntered into City Hall and placed a call from his cell phone to the mayor's office.

"Is there someone from the mayor's office that can come out and see us?" Sliwa asked. Fellow Guardian Angel Nancy Sliwa, whom he recently wed, stood nearby. Reporters watched with cameras rolling.

Spurned, Sliwa gave a mayor's office employee his cell phone number and email to pass along.

"But there's nobody there presently that can see me?" Sliwa asked. After hearing the answer, Sliwa made it clear he did not blame the person on the phone. "Oh no, I understand. Please, please. It's putting pressure on you, I understand. Not a problem, not a problem. It's OK."

Sliwa, with a touch of sarcasm, added, "I'm sure they have very important business to do." He told the person there was no need to apologize. "It's not your fault. Thank you."

Sliwa asked a police officer if he could leave his business card. "Everybody seems to be very busy taking care of city business," Sliwa said. The officer took the card. Sliwa shook his hand. "I appreciate your kindness, Officer."

Earlier Thursday afternoon, Sheehan appeared in no mood to discuss Sliwa when asked about him outside Police Headquarters. Acting Police Chief Robert Sears had just ceremonially walked into his retirement amid fanfare.

"I'm going to talk about news. I'm going to talk about things that matter to the residents of the city," Sheehan said.

When pressed, the mayor gave a lengthy response but did not directly answer the question.

"We have community leaders who are doing amazing work, and those are the people that I'm meeting with and listening to because they're coming forward with great ideas and we're working together as a community," Sheehan said.

Asked if she would not comment on Sliwa, the mayor said, "I have no idea," then added, "No - I'm not going to comment on him."

Sliwa said he would have expected to Sheehan to appreciate his experience founding what he called "the grandfather of community policing."

"She is either ignorant to it or just doesn't want to accept the reality of it," said Sliwa. He said he has been coming to Albany since the 1980s, yet Sheehan treats him like an outsider. He noted the mayor chose a new chief  Eric Hawkins, police chief of Southfield, Mich., outside Detroit  not from the area.

"If I dropped him in the middle of the city with a map, (Hawkins) would get lost," Sliwa said. "There's a little hypocrisy in this. We are experts in community policing. If Albany is serious about getting a grip on its crime crisis, they should incorporate us into what the Albany Police Department is doing. Today, they've obviously said no to that. They've shut the door. But we'll continue to patrol."

Sliwa, a talk radio show host in New York City, said the Guardian Angels are now in 13 countries and 130 cities. He said for years, many mayors refused to entertain his efforts, a notable exception being New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

Sliwa formed the Guardian Angels in 1979. He was a night manager of a McDonald's in the Bronx. Sliwa and 12 volunteers rode subways to battle crime, at times by detaining gang members who, according to the Guardian Angels, had been mugging riders.

"The city was sliding into the abyss ... we were the crime capital of America," he said. "It was a long, arduous process."

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"Our methods of citizens arrest, physical interventions, visual patrols certainly work well," Sliwa said. "I myself have been victimized. I've been stabbed, beaten and shot with five hollow-point bullets."

Sliwa referred to the 1992 incident when he was shot after hailing a taxi outside his home in the East Village. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged mob scion John A. "Junior" Gotti with ordering the botched hit, saying it was revenge for Sliwa badmouthing the elder John Gotti on the radio. The Gambino crime family mobster went on trial four times; all four times ended in mistrials.

Sliwa came to Albany three weeks ago in response to the city's recent violence. Every Tuesday night, he explained, his New York City-based group will meet at the Greyhound bus station in downtown Albany with plans to patrol the South End and Arbor Hill.

"We're giving simulated training. We're giving them the physical training and then we're taking them out on patrol," he said. The plan, he said, is to have a new local chapter become trained to do it themselves.

He said he was told he needed to speak to Sheehan and city police. He said his wife spent the last three weeks arranging the meeting for Thursday with city police and the mayor. Two days ago, Sliwa said, Shea "got all bent out of shape. All of a sudden, he suddenly didn't like my opinions about policing in Albany. So he decided to cancel the meeting."

Sliwa said that was OK but his group still needed to meet with the police to set up a working relationship. He said a city police commander told him, "That will be impossible. City Hall has told us to have no communication with you.'"

While speaking to the Times Union outside City Hall, a woman on a bike stopped and thanked Sliwa for coming. Another woman and a man walked over and shook his hand separately.

"I really do appreciate you guys," one of them said.

Another woman told Sliwa a bullet went through a window in her Clinton Avenue home in early July. He gave her his card and contact information.

"I'm scared to even go upstairs in my house right now," she said.

"That's the reason we're here," Sliwa told her.

"I heard you all were coming. I was like, 'Thank God, somebody has got to clean these streets up,'" she said.

"That's what we do," Sliwa said. "Thank you for your support. Hope to see you out in the streets."Tipperary trail blazers Loughmore Cottage have been held up as pioneers in helping to combat rural isolation and decline at a Social Innovation workshop in Sumeg Hungary.

Loughmore Cottage co-founder Mary Fogarty was selected by Tipperary County Council to take part in the workshop as part of the EU Interreg Europe Rural SMEs Project, of which Tipperary County Council is a partner, which aims to improve policies on regional support systems for entrepreneurs through exchange of experiences and identification of best practices.

We are so proud of what we have achieved here in Loughmore. Little did we think when we started all those years ago that we would be helping to lead the way in revitalising communities across the country and now further afield, Mary Fogarty told the Tipperary Star, adding that they felt truly honoured that Tipperary County Council chose their project to take part in the showcase in Hungary.

During her presentation in front of fellow social innovators and local authority with representatives from Spain, Greece, Romania, Portugal and Slovenia, Ms Fogarty outlined the reasons for setting up the cottage, the obstacles and challenges faced by the co-operative and how integrating the local community at the core of the project has been central to its success.

While in Hungary Ms Fogarty and Ms Sheehan representing Tipperary County Council also visited some local rural enterprises including a lavender farm, a cheese making facility and cookery school which had been set up in rural communities to bring industry back into the declining towns and villages.

We met the most wonderful people during our visit and the exchange of ideas was incredible. Everyone we met seemed to have worked in a different sector before setting up their own rural business. The woman who set up the lavender farm worked as a dentist and the husband running the cookery school was the Mayor in the town. We got to see how these rural communities are fighting against a decline in employment and declining populations.

Pic: Loughmore Cottage's Mary Fogarty at a Lavender farm in Hungary

Loughmore Cottage opened its doors in August 2012 as a means to combat lost services in the village including the local shop and postal points services.

Since then the cottage has grown from strength to strength providing support and revenue to over 50 local food and craft suppliers, acting as a meeting place for several clubs, associations and crafting groups as well as providing a lifeline and welcoming place for many of those that live alone in rural areas. The cottage was named the 'Best Cafe/ teashop in Ireland' by the Irish Times in 2012.

As an added bonus for the Loughmore team, the cottage was recently heralded as one of the most important community led projects to emerge from Ireland in the last 10 years by Dr Senan Cooke who documented the value of the co-operative in the village in his new book The Enterprising Community which was launched in Kilkenny earlier this month.On June 15th last the big question in Rosegreen was Who dunnit in Dansies.

A big mystery surrounded who carried out a shocking murder in the local pub. Much to the relief of those who attended, the deceased didnt stay dead for too long as she made a shrieking return later in the night as a frightful ghost. Far more frightening on the night was probably the appearance of a Kilkenny Hurler, a glass wielding angry woman and a very inappropriately named doctor.

After the murder, the suspects were interviewed by two detectives who did what they could to draw out the story of who killed the sweet, innocent wife of a local businessman. As the story unravelled, those who attended were given opportunities to privately guess who might have been the culprit. Could it have been the local Garda, the very youthful priest or even the victims best friend. As the night drew on, the very quiet, but jealous Ms. Love was clearly identified as the murderer.

The reason behind this fun night was to obtain funds for the Irish Alzheimer Society Le Cairde Day Care Centre in Clonmel that caters to the needs of the people in South Tipperary. Currently there are almost 55,000 people living with dementia in Ireland. 4,000 of these people are under 64 and are classified as having younger onset dementia. It is estimated that the number of people living with dementia will rise to 154,157 by 2046 due to population ageing. Approximately 4,000 cases of dementia are identified in Ireland each year. There are approximately 50,000 family carers caring for someone with dementia. For each person diagnosed with dementia there at least three family members directly affected.

The Alzheimer Society of Ireland works across the country in the heart of local communities providing dementia specific services and supports.

They advocate for the rights and needs of all people living with dementia and their carers. Our vision is an Ireland where no one goes through dementia alone and where policies and services respond to the appropriate people and especially at the times they need support.

The services that are available in Tipperary are Home Care, Support Groups, and La Cairdre Day Care Centre Services which is located in Glenconnor in Clonmel. It is open five days per week from 10am to 4pm. This Day Care Centre has received the benefits of the Murder Mystery in Dansies which amounted to 3,580. If you would like further information on the services available, please contact 052 6176775.

The organising Committee would like to thank the very generous sponsors and everybody that supported or helped in any way to make this fundraiser a huge success. Congratulations to Marisa Costello who was the overall winner on the night in a thrilling tie-breaker. The first prize of a 2 night stay with evening meal in the Maldron Hotel, Portlaoise was generously donated by the General Manager, Darren Harding.Native American, Waylon Gary White Deer of the Choctaw First Nation, will lead this years Famine 1848 Walk in Ballingarry, Co Tipperary on Saturday, 28 July.

The Walk commemorates all those who suffered, died or emigrated during the Great Famine (1845-1850) and the 1848 Rising which took place in Ballingarry in the middle of the Famine as a response to it. The Walk is an annual act of witness, memory and remembrance of a time when the Irish people were at their lowest ebb, when a million people died and another million fled the country. The Walk also expresses solidarity with contemporary suffering caused by Famine throughout the world.

The Walk will begin at 3pm at the Young Ireland 1848 and National Flag monument in the village of The Commons and it covers a distance of about a mile and a half of gently ascending roadway to Famine Warhouse 1848, which was the scene of the Rising. The Walk usually takes about forty-five minutes.

Famine Warhouse 1848 is an OPW state national heritage site in Ballingarry which is open to visitors. The house is now a museum with a historical exhibition and audio-visual. It is in the hidden Ireland mid-way on the scenic driving route between the Rock of Cashel and Kilkenny city. Last September, it was the scene of the impressive National Famine Commemoration, led by An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. That televised event took place in the presence of forty-seven ambassadors who each laid wreaths on behalf of their own countries commemorating Irish famine victims. These wreaths were subsequently placed in graveyards in all the surrounding parishes in Tipperary and Kilkenny where famine dead undoubtedly lie.

This years Walk Leader Waylon Gary White Deer is a member of the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma in the United States. The Choctaws are the third largest First Nation native tribe in the United States. White Deer is a well known Choctaw writer and artist with a great interest in the Irish famine. He has been asked to lead the Walk in memory of a remarkable act of generosity during the Great Famine. The Choctaws were an oppressed race in the United States who themselves had been dispossessed of their homeland by the national authorities in Washington DC to make way for new settlers. Despite their own poverty, when the Choctaws heard about the Irish Famine, they held a collection among themselves and raised 170 dollars which they sent as famine relief to the poor and starving in Ireland. This notable act of humanity has been recalled in recent years and has resulted in good relations between the Irish state and the Choctaw nation, not least through the activities of Mr White Deer. An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar visited the Choctaws in Oklahoma in March of this year.

This Walk event which is organised by the Ballingarry 1848 Society has proven to be a great annual County Tipperary occasion attracting visitors from all over Ireland and international visitors. The Walk has been led by a wide variety of people from Archbishops, Ambassadors and Holocaust survivors to locals such as Anthony Ivors who raised the national flag daily at The Commons for over two decades, a task since taken over by John Webster, manager of the OPW site. Last year the Walk Leader was Archbishop Kieran OReilly of Cashel and Emly.

The Famine 1848 Walk, always takes place on the last Saturday in July, the day of the Famine Rising. Leaders of the Rising, William Smith OBrien, M.P. (who denounced the Famine in the House of Commons and tried to lead a bloodless revolution), Thomas Francis Meagher (who gave Ireland its national flag in 1848), Terence Bellew Mac Manus, and Patrick ODonohoe, were sentenced to death by hanging, drawing and quartering for High Treason in a State trial in Clonmel, Their death sentences were subsequently commuted to penal transportation to Van Diemens Land. Other participants such as James Stephens, John OMahony and Michael Doheny (who went on to found the IRB) escaped after the Rising to France and the United States of America.

The Walk takes place, rain or shine. Both are possible on the same afternoon, so walkers should bring a sun hat and an umbrella. Refreshments will be served as usual in the courtyard after the Walk Leaders speech. On Sunday, 29 July, there will be guided tours in the afternoon explaining what happened at Famine Warhouse1848. All are welcome on the Walk or at the house.Continental has taken over Czech machine tool manufacturer VUK. The acquisition is said to strengthen the tire makers presence in Otrokovice, Czech Republic, which is also the home to Continentals largest tire plant worldwide with 4,500 employees. Together with the new unit Conti will be driving forward the development and production of tire assembly machines to the latest standards.

With this acquisition of VUK, we are strengthening our production capabilities in terms of tire assembly machines and are therefore supporting our growth strategy Vision 2025. Together we are not only expanding our portfolio, but also gaining new expertise in machine construction and strengthening Otrokovice as a technology site, explained Bernhard Trilken, head of manufacturing and logistics  tires, Continental.

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At the Otrokovice plant, Conti produces not only car, truck and industrial tires but also tire molds for the Continental molds and machinery business unit (CMM), into which VUK will be integrated. CMM is Continentals internal developer and producer of tire assembly machines and tire molds.

We are looking forward to working with the around 90 new colleagues who will be supporting us from Otrokovice. For us at CMM and for the Otrokovice site, this merger is an important component in consolidating our competitiveness, stressed Didier Fuchs, head of Continental molds and machinery.

While the VUK employees primarily specialize in mechanical components and machine assembly, the CMM unit has a great deal of expertise in the area of mechanical, hardware and software engineering and managing large projects, and has a worldwide service network for the tire plants.

Alongside car, truck and industrial tires, the plants portfolio also includes tires with ContiSeal and ContiSilent technology as well as high-performance tires. In addition, the site incorporates a testing facility as well as tire design workshops.[July 25, 2018] Japan Blockchain Technology Market Outlook to 2023: Key Growth Factors & Threats and Key Player Profiles - ResearchAndMarkets.com

The "Japan Blockchain Technology Market (2018-2023)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. Japan is trying to become the world's Blockchain hub. Japan' SBI (Strategic Business Innovator Group) is creating a venture capital fund to invest in Blockchain technology. The fund is expected to reach USD 450 million by mid-2018. By industries, the Japan Blockchain market is divided into BFS (Banking Financial Service), Insurance, Supply Chain management, and healthcare. Banking and Financial Services holds the largest market share. Japan has developed digital customer IDs for the banking sector based on Blockchain technology. The three largest banks in Japan are the Bank of Tokyo- Mitsubishi (News - Alert) UFJ (MUFJ), Mizuho and the Smitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, and they use Blockchain technology to view each other's customer details upon approval. Ripple collaborated with 61 Japanese Banks and developed Blockchain Payment. Japan is also trying to apply Blockchain technology across various other domains. A major Japanese electricty company is collaborating with a start-up to test a peer to peer energy trading system.



After Cryptocurrencies gained recognition in Japan, the Japanese government disclosed various methods to evaluated Blockchain technology that would transform various industries. Key Growth Factors

Japan has adopted the Blockchain technology for financial transactions and decided to use it to verify government tenders.

Japanese brokerage companies are planning to launch a consortium to drive the adoption of Blockchain technology in the industry. The goal is to boost efficiency and provide better customer service.

Blockchain technology will be widely used in the P2P energy market in order to ensure customers can trade electricity among themselves and automatically receive payment, hence allowing them to reap profits from their excess power. Threats Japan has made very progressive use of Blockchain technology across various domains. However, the country needs to pay more attention to security,and policy making to make maximum utilization of the technology. Companies Featured Coinhive

JSECoin

Tidbit

Coinbase

BitPay Key Topics Covered Chapter 1: Executive Summary Chapter 2: Introduction Chapter 3: Japan Blockchain Technology Market Overview Chapter 4: Japan Blockchain Technology Market by Industries Chapter 5: Company Profiles Chapter 6: Start-up Company Overview Chapter 7: Conclusion For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/8rscb6/japan_blockchain?w=4 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180725005871/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 25, 2018] Corporates pilot to start testing new multi-bank payments tracking on SWIFT gpi

HONG KONG and SINGAPORE, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- SWIFT, along with a number of corporates and banks, today announces plans to start testing an enhanced multi-bank standard to further improve the cross-border payments experience for multi-banked corporates. This enhanced standard, designed and built in conjunction with 10 multinational corporates and 12 leading banks, streamlines the process for corporate treasurers by allowing them to initiate and track gpi payments to and from multiple banks in a single format and integrate gpi flows in ERP and Treasury Management Systems. The first-of-its kind, this cross-industry collaboration tailors SWIFT's global payments innovation (gpi) for multi-banked corporates, by introducing a common solution delivered in the same way by all gpi banks. This new standard will enable application providers and banks to give corporates better visibility and transparency, improving payments certainty, traceability, exception handling and allowing them to reconcile directly in their treasury operations. Pilot participants are to begin a test phase ahead of bringing this flow into production in the next few months. Corporates and banks participating in the pilot include Airbus, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BBVA, BNP Paribas, Booking.com, Borealis, Citi, Deutsche Bank, General Electric, IATA, Intesa Sanpaolo, J.P. Morgan, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Microsoft, National Australia Bank, Ping An Group, Roche, RTL Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Societe Generale, Standard Chartered Bank and UniCredit. Together with the pilot participants SWIFT has invited leading treasury application providers to integrate the gpi flows into their own systems in order to deliver a fully embedded gpi experience in corporate treasury systems. Lisa Wagner, Group Treasury Manager at Microsoft said, "The ability to access a greater level of payment information in a timely manner through SWIFT gpi will bring immediate benefits to our payments experience with greater transparency and responsiveness to our vendors. Providing multi-bank information all in one place and in the same format fits into our modern finance roadmap."

"We are very pleased to participate in the SWIFT gpi for Corporates pilot," says Martin Schlageter, Head of Treasury Operations at Roche. "There are many challenges to tackle with cross-border payments but SWIFT gpi, combined with the broader SWIFT for Corporates programme, will bring considerable benefits to improving the transparency and visibility of our cross-border payments."

The standard design has been developed through a series of SWIFT-led co-creation workshops with pilot banks and corporates. It supports FIN & ISO 20022 standards to allow corporates to access their payments status across SWIFT and bank proprietary channels.

"Corporates want a faster payments experienc, with real-time tracking and certainty of credit to end beneficiaries. They also value transparency and the predictability of payment information such as transaction fees and foreign exchanges rates that SWIFT gpi offers," says Stella Lim, Head of Corporate Sales, Asia Pacific at SWIFT. "This new capability will enable that experience for Corporates in a consistent, scaled fashion across multiple banks. It provides real-time information in the corporate treasury space, which the corporate customers are asking for."



Launched in early 2017, gpi already has over 180 banks signed up, and accounts for nearly 30% of SWIFT cross-border payment traffic. More than 100 billion USD in SWIFT gpi messages is sent every day, enabling payments to be credited to end beneficiaries within minutes -- many within seconds.

To date, 35 million gpi payments have been sent across 450 country corridors, in more than 100 currencies. In major corridors, such as USA-China, gpi already accounts for nearly 50% of payment traffic.



Press Contacts:

Jaime Lee

+852 2107 8860

jaime.lee@swift.com Notes to editors: About gpi The SWIFT global payments innovation (SWIFT gpi) is the largest change in cross-border payments over the last 30 years and is the new standard. SWIFT gpi dramatically improves the customer experience in cross-border payments by increasing their speed, transparency and end-to-end tracking. Hundreds of thousands of cross-border payments are today being sent using the new gpi standard, and payments are made quickly, typically within minutes, even seconds.

SWIFT gpi allows corporates to receive an enhanced payments service, with the following key features: Faster, same day use of funds within the time zone of the receiving gpi member

Transparency of fees

End-to-end payments tracking

Remittance information transferred unaltered As an initiative, SWIFT gpi engages the global banking industry and fintech communities to innovate in the area of cross-border payments while reducing their back-office costs. Since its launch in January 2017, gpi has dramatically improved the cross-border payments experience for corporates in over 450 country corridors. Key features of the gpi service include enhanced business rules and a secure tracking database in the cloud accessible via APIs. Thanks to SWIFT gpi, corporates can grow their international business, improve supplier relationships, and achieve greater treasury efficiencies. Overall, nearly 50% of SWIFT gpi payments are credited to end beneficiaries within 30 minutes, and almost 100% of payments within 24 hours. Those that take longer typically involve more complex foreign exchange conversions, compliance checks or regulatory authorisations. In addition to the more than 180 financial institutions that have adopted gpi, more than 55 payment market infrastructures are already exchanging gpi payments, enabling domestic exchange and tracking. Payment market infrastructures have a critical role to play in facilitating the end-to-end tracking of cross-border payments because as soon as international payments hit the destination country, they are typically cleared through local payment infrastructures. About SWIFT SWIFT is a global member owned cooperative and the world's leading provider of secure financial messaging services. We provide our community with a platform for messaging and standards for communicating, and we offer products and services to facilitate access and integration, identification, analysis and regulatory compliance. Our messaging platform, products and services connect more than 11,000 banking and securities organisations, market infrastructures and corporate customers in more than 200 countries and territories. While SWIFT does not hold funds or manage accounts on behalf of customers, we enable our global community of users to communicate securely, exchanging standardised financial messages in a reliable way, thereby supporting global and local financial flows, as well as trade and commerce all around the world. As their trusted provider, we relentlessly pursue operational excellence; we support our community in addressing cyber threats; and we continually seek ways to lower costs, reduce risks and eliminate operational inefficiencies. Our products and services support our community's access and integration, business intelligence, reference data and financial crime compliance needs. SWIFT also brings the financial community together -- at global, regional and local levels -- to shape market practice, define standards and debate issues of mutual interest or concern. SWIFT's strategic five year plan, SWIFT2020, challenges SWIFT to continue investing in the security, reliability and growth of its core messaging platform, while making additional investments in existing services and delivering new and innovative solutions. Headquartered in Belgium, SWIFT's international governance and oversight reinforces the neutral, global character of its cooperative structure. SWIFT's global office network ensures an active presence in all the major financial centres. For more information, visit www.swift.com or follow us on Twitter: @swiftcommunity and LinkedIn: SWIFT. Logo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20160127/8521600559Logo SOURCE S.W.I.F.T.SCRL

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 25, 2018] SANS Looks to Strengthen Singapore's Cyber Security Workforce with October Training Event

Hands-On Training Offers the Latest Techniques to Master Intrusion Detection, Incident Response, Advanced Forensics and Much More SINGAPORE, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- SANS Institute, the global leader in cyber security training and certification, has announced that registration has opened for its largest ever SANS October Singapore 2018 event. Taking place October 15-27, this event will feature sixteen courses for security professionals at every level. The courses will cover topics such as cyber defence, intrusion detection, ethical hacking, penetration testing, threat hunting, digital forensics, incident handling, and security management. "The increasing frequency and severity of cyber security attacks in Singapore has created an urgent need for information security professionals to strengthen their skills in areas like intrusion detection, incident response and malware analysis," said Suresh Mustapha, SANS Managing Director for the Asia Pacific region. "SANS October Singapore provides professionals on the front lines of cyber security the unique opportunity to train with some of the world's top practitioners. Course content is continually updated so students can stay ahead of cyber adversaries. For those working in cyber security, this is one training event you should not miss."



The event also features two cyber range NetWars tournaments which are free to SANS October Singapore students enrolled in any 5- or 6-day course. Available in week one (October 18-19), Cyber Defence NetWars is a defence challenge that will test a player's ability to secure systems and detect compromises. Available in week two (October 25-26), Core NetWars will challenge participants to prove their penetration testing skills in a multi-level capture-the-flag mission.

For additional information about SANS October Singapore 2018 including a complete list of courses, or to register, visit: www.sans.org/u/H1v About SANS Institute

The SANS Institute was established in 1989 as a cooperative research and education organization. SANS is the most trusted and, by far, the largest provider of cyber security training and certification to professionals at governments and commercial institutions world-wide. Renowned SANS instructors teach over 60 different courses at more than 200 live cyber security training events as well as online. GIAC, an affiliate of the SANS Institute, validates a practitioner's qualifications via over 30 hands-on, technical certifications in cyber security. The SANS Technology Institute, a regionally accredited independent subsidiary, offers master's degrees in cyber security. SANS offers a myriad of free resources to the InfoSec community including consensus projects, research reports, and newsletters; it also operates the Internet's early warning system--the Internet Storm Center. At the heart of SANS are the many security practitioners, representing varied global organizations from corporations to universities, working together to help the entire information security community. (https://www.sans.org) SOURCE SANS Institute

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 25, 2018] BNP Paribas Showcases Digital Innovation at Symphony Hackathon

HONG KONG, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- During the month of June 2018, over 125 software developers from across the financial services and fintech industries gathered in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo to compete in the Symphony Innovate Hackathon. Thirty-five teams split across these regions participated in a challenge to improve business processes for critical financial transactions and communications via Symphony's secure collaboration platform. Awards were given for Most Cutting-Edge Development and Most Impactful Automation Development in each city. Teams from BNP Paribas, a Symphony customer, won in all three locations, demonstrating the firm's dedication to evolving their digital strategy and use of secure collaboration to do so. "Symphony is a core pillar of BNP Paribas' digital transformation efforts. We are using Symphony's open and secure framework to create collaboration forums and improve efficiencies through automated workflows for key business processes. Symphony has helped enable key innovations, enforce the security of our communications and enhance our competitiveness," says Cyril Cottu, Global Head of Electronic Commerce and Digital, Global Markets, BNP Paribas. BNP Paribas currently uses the platform for internal communication, such as between sales and trading functions, and communication with customers. In addition, the company is beginning to build AI-driven bots and integrations and plans to expand its usage of Symphony's platform in the coming months. BNP Paribas currently has more than 6,000 users on the platform across its Global Markets, Asset Management and Securities Services divisions. Symphony offers resources to develop cstom applications to enrich, embed and extend its secure collaboration platform. Participating teams in the Symphony Innovate Hackathon developed new applications and integrations in areas like streamlining internal systems, automating steps within the trading cycle, and facilitating faster business processes using Symphony's APIs.



"We were thrilled to see the developments that came out of the Innovate Hackathon, and to have the support from companies like BNP Paribas to make Symphony the operating system for the financial services industry. Using our APIs, these developers have engineered new and interesting workflows that far extend the initial vision for the platform and we can't wait to see what comes next," said David Gurle, founder and CEO, Symphony. The Symphony Innovate Hackathon was hosted and arranged in cooperation with Credit Suisse in Singapore, Societe Generale in Hong Kong, and BNP Paribas in Tokyo.

Learn more about BNP Paribas' winning developments on the Symphony blog. About Symphony Symphony transforms the way users communicate effectively and securely with a single workflow application. Forging a new path in the industry, Symphony is designed to help individuals, teams and organizations of all sizes improve productivity, while meeting complex data security and regulatory compliance needs. Symphony was founded in October 2014 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, with offices in New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Stockholm, Sophia-Antipolis and London. For more information, visit www.symphony.com and connect with Symphony on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. About BNP Paribas in Asia Pacific (www.apac.bnpparibas.com) In Asia Pacific, BNP Paribas is one of the best-positioned international financial institutions with an uninterrupted presence since 1860. Currently with over 16,000 employees* and a presence in 14 markets, BNP Paribas provides corporates, institutional and private investors with product and service solutions tailored to their specific needs. It offers a wide range of financial services covering corporate & institutional banking, wealth management, asset management, insurance, as well as retail banking and consumer financing through strategic partnerships. Worldwide, BNP Paribas has a presence in 73 markets with more than 196,000 employees. It has key positions in its three main activities: Domestic Markets and International Financial Services (whose retail-banking networks and financial services are covered by Retail Banking & Services) and Corporate & Institutional Banking, which serves two client franchises: corporate clients and institutional investors. Asia Pacific is a key strategic region for BNP Paribas and it continues to develop its franchise in the region. * excluding partnerships Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20180725/2195662-1LOGO SOURCE Symphony

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Firstsource Solutions Unveils New Brand Positioning

MUMBAI, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Firstsource Solutions Limited (NSE: FSL) (BSE: 532809), a global provider of customised Business Process Management (BPM) services and a RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group Company, unveiled its new brand positioning. (Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/723216/Firstsource_Logo.jpg )

The tagline 'Stay Ahead', positions Firstsource as a forward-looking and client-centric Company that possesses capabilities and agility to navigate through challenging business scenarios. It plays to Firstsource's strength as a transformation partner to its stakeholders, empowering them to stay ahead of the curve through enhanced experiences. In essence, 'Stay Ahead', the new positioning holds within it the promise of progress and growth for all its stakeholders - clients, employees, shareholders and communities - alike. Speaking on the occasion, Sanjiv Goenka, Chairman of the RP-Sanjiv-Goenka Group and Firstsource Solutions, said: "I am very pleased with the progress Firstsource has made over the last few years. Through its suite of offerings, Firstsource renders sustainable value to its stakeholders enabling them to stay ahead of the curve. The new brand positioning 'Stay Ahead' is a reflection of its evolution from a pure play BPO player to a technology-driven BPM Company, riding the digital wave. I wish Firstsource the very best and hope to see it grow from strength to strength and emerge as a force to reckon with." Rajesh Subramaniam, Managing Director and CEO at Firstsource Solutions, said, "The brand refresh aims to position Firstsource as a robust, reliable, forward-thinking Company tat lives up to its word of being a 'Transformation Partner' to all its stakeholders."



He further added, "For our customers, we offer high-impact solutions that help them stay ahead of the curve. On the employee front, our high-performance culture encourages our people to do their best because we believe skilled, motivated and empowered people drive better business. When customers and people play their part, it yields better value for shareholders that enable them to repose their faith in the company with their hard earned money. In addition, as a responsible corporate citizen, we strive to engage with the communities around us to help them stay ahead of the challenges they face." The 'Stay Ahead' brand philosophy will be manifested through key stakeholders -

Clients - As a brand custodian of Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 companies, Firstsource focuses on devising broad based and pinpointed strategies as it deploys a unique combination of multiple technologies in the wide spectrum of Digital transformation to help clients stay ahead of the curve. The overarching goal is to improve the clients' customer journey and enhance the customer experience. Employees - The new brand positioning infuses the workplace culture with a renewed sense of a shared purpose. As emerging technologies are integrated into the workstreams, employees get an opportunity to re-skill and stay relevant to address future requirements. Shareholders - The Company believes in delivering superior value to its shareholders over a period of time and will deliver on the faith reposed by the shareholders in the company. Communities - As a responsible corporate citizen, the Company is committed to make a difference to the communities around it. Therefore, to enable them to stay ahead, it leads and supports several CSR initiatives on an on-going basis. For more information about Firstsource's new brand positioning, please visit the Firstsource website. About Firstsource: Firstsource Solutions Limited, a RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group company (NSE: FSL) (BSE: 532809) (Reuters: FISO.BO) (Bloomberg: FSOL@IN), is a leading provider of customised Business Process Management (BPM) services. Firstsource specializes in helping customers stay ahead of the curve through transformational solutions in order to reimagine business processes and deliver increased efficiency, deeper insights and superior outcomes. We are trusted custodians and long-term partners to 100+ leading brands with presence in the US, UK, Philippines and India. Our 'rightshore' delivery model offers solutions covering complete customer lifecycle across Healthcare, Telecommunications & Media and Banking, Financial Services & Insurance verticals. Our clientele includes Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 companies. For more information, please visit http://www.firstsource.com Media Contact :

Sarika Rath

saika.rath@firstsource.com

+91-9886378198

Head - Corporate Communications

Firstsource Solutions Limited





[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Chugai Enters into Comprehensive Partnership Agreement with Preferred Networks

Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (TOKYO:4519, Chugai) and Preferred Networks, Inc. (PFN) announced today that they have entered into a comprehensive partnership agreement aiming to create new values in innovative drugs and services. Under the corporate slogan, "INNOVATION BEYOND IMAGINATION," Chugai strives to contribute to global healthcare through innovation. As the rapid progress of Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) has greatly changed the society, unprecedented innovation possibilities have expanded also in life sciences with integration of these technologies and existing ones. Following this trend, we decided to build a comprehensive partnership with PFN, a global leading company of AI technology known for "Chainer," a deep learning framework, seeking to create new values by applying cutting-edge data analysis technologies, as well as expertise, technologies and data accumulated by Chugai. In this partnership, we will select projects to which the cutting-edge data analysis technologies offered by PFN are applicable from our business activities which places "Technology-driven drug discovery" as a core element, and pursue for results in several collaborative projects. In addition to projects which aim to solve existing challenges, the partnership is designed to accommodate more exploratory initiatives as well. With this framework, the potential of innovations will be broadly discussed so as to bring about new values including innovative drugs and solutions for various medical need. Furthermore, Chugai will make an investment of about 7 hundred million yen as a subscription of third-party allocation of shares of PFN along with the comprehensive partnership agreement. PFN promotes advanced initiatives in cooperation with leading companies and organizations of each industry, focusing on industrial utilization of the deep learning technology. This comprehensive partnership allows PFN to further broad activities in the bitechnology and healthcare area which is positioned as its priority area.



"We are very pleased to have concluded the comprehensive partnership agreement with PFN, a world-leading company in the development of deep learning frameworks and software," said Nobuya Ishii, Chugai's Department Manager of Science & Technology Intelligence Dept., Project & Lifecycle Management Unit. "PFN's advanced technologies allow us to take new approaches which are different from our conventional methods in R&D and value chain activities. I hope that we can yield fruitful results leading to innovative drugs and services as much as possible in all stages including drug discovery, development, and manufacturing." "I am very glad to have signed the comprehensive partnership agreement with Chugai, a leading company in creating innovative drugs. With expertise and performance Chugai have cultivated in pharmaceutical business and PFN's technologies together, we strive to create new drugs and services which are not seen yet," said Daisuke Okanohara, PFN's Representative Director & Executive Vice President.

About Chugai Chugai Pharmaceutical is one of Japan's leading research-based pharmaceutical companies with strengths in biotechnology products. Chugai, based in Tokyo, specializes in prescription pharmaceuticals and is listed on the 1st section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. As an important member of the Roche Group, Chugai is actively involved in R&D activities in Japan and abroad. Specifically, Chugai is working to develop innovative products which may satisfy the unmet medical needs, mainly focusing on the oncology area.

In Japan, Chugai's research facilities in Gotemba and Kamakura are collaborating to develop new pharmaceuticals and laboratories in Ukima are conducting research for technology development for industrial production. Overseas, Chugai Pharmabody Research based in Singapore is engaged in research focusing on the generation of novel antibody drugs by utilizing Chugai's proprietary innovative antibody engineering technologies. Chugai Pharma USA and Chugai Pharma Europe are engaged in clinical development activities in the United States and Europe.

The consolidated revenue in 2017 of Chugai totaled 534.2 billion yen and the operating income was 103.2 billion yen (IFRS Core basis).

Additional information is available on the internet at https://www.chugai-pharm.co.jp/english/. About Preferred Networks Inc. Founded in March 2014 with the aim of business utilization of deep learning technology focused on IoT, PFN advocates Edge Heavy Computing as a way to handle the enormous amount of data generated by devices in a distributed and collaborative manner at the edge of the network, driving innovation in various fields, with a focus on three business areas: transportation, manufacturing, and bio/healthcare. PFN develops and provides Chainer, an open source deep learning framework. PFN promotes advanced initiatives by collaborating with world leading organizations, such as Toyota Motor Corporation, Fanuc Corporation, National Cancer Center. (https://www.preferred-networks.jp/en) Company names, product names and trademarks used or mentioned in this release are protected by law. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180725006008/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] NTT Communications Subsidiary Netmagic Launches Two New Datacenters in India

NTT (News - Alert) Communications Corporation (NTT Com), the ICT solutions and international communications business within the NTT Group (TOKYO:9432), announced today that the Company launches two new high-density and hyperscale datacenters in Mumbai and Bangalore, through Netmagic, a subsidiary of NTT Com and one of the leading Managed Hosting and Multi-Cloud Hybrid IT solution providers. Mumbai's datacenter (Mumbai DC 6) will offer 7,900 m2 of server room area (equivalent to 2,750 racks), and Bangalore Datacenter (Bangalore DC 3) will offer 5,700 m2 of server room area (equivalent to 1,500 racks). These two facilities will expand NTT Com's datacenter capacity (server room) in India by 70 percent. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180725006015/en/ Extending the promise of world-class datacenter facilities to Indian customers, these are yet another "Nexcenter" branded datacenters in the country. The datacenters will deliver Netmagic's entire suite of services including Managed Colocation, Dedicated Hosting, Multi-Cloud, IT Infrastructure Monitoring & Management, Managed Security, Disaster Recovery and Managed App Hosting. These new datacenters in Mumbai and Bangalore are operational with some marquee anchored customers on-board already. "This occasion is of great pride for us, as these new datacenters in Mumbai and Bangalore reflect the added advantage of Netmagic's operational excellence in Managed Services. This gives these datacenters the capability of becoming the new benchmark for the industry in India," said Takanobu Maeda, Senior Vice President Global Business, Member of the Board, NTT Communications (News - Alert) Corporation. "These facilities are a part of our Nexcenter brand of Global datacenter services providing end-to-end ICT solutions combining datacenter/cloud, network and managed services, thereby, capitalizing on the trend of enterprises' migrating their on-premise systems to the cloud." "On the 20th anniversary of Netmagic, it gives me great pleasure to announce our two new datacenters in Mumbai and Bangalore, which will facilitate Indian and multi-national enterprises in experiencing our state-of-the-art facilities," said Sharad Sanghi, MD & CEO, Netmagic (An NTT Communications Company). "Given Mumbai's and Bangalore's business importance, Netmagic's Mumbai DC 6 and Bangalore DC 3 are poised to become the very heart of India's IT Infrastructure needs, offering the right platform for enterprises and start-ups alike, to grow, scale and innovate in order to take business to the next level." Enterprises are demanding increasingly complex and diversified ICT environments to digitally transform their businesses. In particular, companies require hybrid ICT environments that combine security and reliability for core tasks and flexibility and agility for artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT) and fintech technologies. India is Asia's third-largest market for datacenter services, following only Japan and China, and market growth is averaging high annualrates of 25% to 30%. Datacenters are using increasingly more data as large IT providers launch new cloud services for mobile internet, e-commerce, IoT and big data. NTT Com, which offers Netmagic datacenters in Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi (Noida) and Chennai, opened its India Bangalore 2 Data Center in 2014 and India Mumbai 5 Data Center (Mumbai DC5) in 2015.



Going forward, NTT Com will continue to strengthen its hybrid ICT solutions to support the digital transformations of customers in India. Features of Mumbai DC6 and Bangalore DC3

Mumbai DC6 is conveniently located just 15 minutes by car from Mumbai International Airport and is adjacent to NTT Com's India Mumbai DC5. It will deliver services mainly for multiple Indian and foreign firms engaged in Internet, media and financial services. Bangalore DC3, which is located in a datacenter-dedicated building in Whitefield in east Bangalore, will support companies engaged mainly in IT services and business process outsourcing (BPO) services for system development and operational management, both domestic and international. Top-level stability for electric power and connectivity

Both facilities meet the rigorous equipment and operations standards of NexcenterTM, NTT Com's datacenter service brand. Also, redundant electric power, cooling and telecommunication equipment and robust security equipment will enable top-level reliability and SLAs for customers operating in the Indian market. Although India's electric power supply is unstable and blackouts occur often, both datacenters will supply stable electric power 24/7, including UPS. Network and cloud-service solutions for business development

High-speed, large-capacity Network services will be offered under a National Long Distance license and a Virtual Network Operator - International Long Distance license that have been acquired by NTT Communications India Network Services. Solutions combining NTT Com's network and cloud services will enable customers to optimize their hybrid ICT environments. Secure, flexible operational services backed by international certifications

Services based on Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) guidelines for IT system operational management will ensure secure, flexible management. Remote-hand services will be provided by on-site technicians skilled in advanced operational system that has acquired international certifications such as ISO27001, ISO9001 and ISO20000-1, and also SAP and Cisco certifications. In addition, the datacenters will acquire certification under the PCI (News - Alert) DSS information security standard for branded credit cards. About NTT Communications Corporation NTT Communications solves the world's technology challenges by helping enterprises overcome complexity and risk in their ICT environments with managed IT infrastructure solutions. These solutions are backed by our worldwide infrastructure, including industry leading, global tier-1 public and private networks reaching over 190 countries/regions, and more than 400,000m2 of the world's most advanced datacenter facilities. Our global professional services teams provide consultation and architecture for the resiliency and security required for your business success, and our scale and global capabilities are unsurpassed. Combined with NTT Data, NTT Security, NTT DOCOMO and Dimension Data (News - Alert) , we are NTT Group. www.ntt.com | Twitter@NTT Com | Facebook@NTT Com | LinkedIn@NTT Com About Netmagic (An NTT Communications Company) Netmagic, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NTT Communications, is India's leading Managed Hosting and Multi-Cloud Hybrid IT solution provider with 9 carrier-neutral, state-of-the-art hyperscale and high-density datacenters, and serving more than 2000 enterprises globally. Headquartered in Mumbai, Netmagic also delivers Remote Infrastructure Management (RIM) services to various Enterprise customers globally including NTT Communication's customers across Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific region. The Company was the first in India to launch services - Cloud Computing, Managed Security, Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS) and Software-Defined Storage. NTT Communications and Netmagic have been ranked 3rd and 5th respectively in Asia among the top global datacenter operators by Cloudscene in their Q1 & Q2 Leaderboard reports. This effectively makes Netmagic #1 datacenter service provider in India. Netmagic has been recognized with 3 awards at the CIO Choice Award 2018 and Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert) India ICT Awards 2018. To learn more, visit us at: www.netmagicsolutions.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180725006015/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Epson Introduces Next Generation WorkForce Pro WF-M5000 Monochrome Printer Series with Replaceable Ink Pack System

LONG BEACH, Calif., July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Epson America, Inc., a leading provider of printing solutions, today announced the new WorkForce Pro WF-M5000 Printer Series. Powered by PrecisionCore, the WF-M5000 Series offers low-cost monochrome printing1 and delivers Performance Beyond Laser. With Epson's innovative Replaceable Ink Pack System, the WF-M5799 multifunction printer and the WF-M5299 printer is designed to minimize workflow interventions and lets users print up to 40,000 ISO pages (black) without changing the ink packs2 and up to 830 sheets total paper capacity3 with optional second paper tray. Designed for busy workgroups, the compact printers produce pro-quality documents at 24 ISO ppm (black) with a fast first page out. "Epson continues to develop printing solutions that offer business capabilities to help improve productivity, minimize intervention and reduce costs," said Alan Chen, product manager, Epson America, Inc. "By leveraging our unique Replaceable Ink Pack System technology in the new WF-M5000 Series printers, Epson allows busy workgroups to easily take control of their office printing environments." For seamless integration and administration in managed IT environments, the WF-M5000 Series also includes PCL5 and PostScript 3 support, plus compatibility with ISV and third-party software solutions such as Nuance Equitrac Office/Express, Nuance eCopy ShareScan, PaperCut, and nddPrint through Epson Open Platform. The printers come equipped with an intuitive user interface, advanced nozzle verification technology and a robust paper output tray, as previously introduced on the WorkForce Enterprise Series MFPs. They also provide security features and are enabled for remote printer data collection with MPS software solutions from PrintFleet, ECi (FMAudit) and others. The WF-M5000 Series prints from smartphones and tablets, featuring wired and wireless connectivity including files from the cloud7. Additional WF-M5000 Series Features









WF-M5799 WF-M5299 Functionality Wireless | Print | Copy | Scan | Fax | Ethernet | PCL5 | PostScript 3 Wireless | Print | Ethernet | PCL5 | PostScript 3 Open-Platform Ready PCL5 and PostScript 3 support; seamless integration with enterprise apps; ISV support Security Features PIN number certification for job release; user control access; printer and network settings via Web Config with printer's IP address; SSL/TLS security; IPsec Auto Features 50-page ADF/copy/scan/fax

MSRP $399.99 $209.99

Availability

The WorkForce Pro WF-M5000 Series is now available through authorized BusinessFirstSM resellers. For more information and availability, please visit www.epson.com. About Epson

Epson is a global technology leader dedicated to connecting people, things and information with its original efficient, compact and precision technologies. With a lineup that ranges from inkjet printers and digital printing systems to 3LCD projectors, watches and industrial robots, the company is focused on driving innovations and exceeding customer expectations in inkjet, visual communications, wearables and robotics. Led by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, the Epson Group comprises more than 76,000 employees in 87 companies around the world, and is proud of its contributions to the communities in which it operates and its ongoing efforts to reduce environmental impacts. Epson America, Inc., based in Long Beach, Calif., is Epson's regional headquarters for the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. To learn more about Epson, please visit: epson.com. You may also connect with Epson America on Facebook (facebook.com/Epson), Twitter (twitter.com/EpsonAmerica), YouTube (youtube.com/EpsonAmerica), and Instagram (instagram.com/EpsonAmerica). * The Epson WorkForce WF-M5000 Series uses only genuine Epson-brand ink packs. Other brands of ink supplies are not compatible and, even if described as compatible, may not function properly.  Black print speeds are measured in accordance with ISO/IEC 24734. Actual print times will vary based on factors including system configuration, software, and page complexity. For more information, visit www.epson.com/printspeed 1 Compared with best-selling, monochrome laser printers priced at $499 (USD) or less and 40 ppm or less per industry available data as of April 2018. Calculation based on continuous printing of ISO pages with highest-capacity individual cartridges or ink packs. Actual savings will vary based on print task and use conditions. 2 Replacement ink pack yields are based on the ISO/IEC 24711 standard using the ISO/IEC 19752 pattern in default mode printing continuously. Ink pack yields vary considerably for reasons including images printed, print settings, temperature, humidity, and frequency of use. Yields may be lower when printing infrequently. Ink is used for printing and printer maintenance. For print quality, part of the ink from the included ink packs is used for printer startup and a variable amount of ink remains in the ink pack after the "replace ink pack" signal. For details, see www.epson.com/inkinfo 3 With optional second paper tray. 4 Epson Print Admin only works with Epson business inkjet solutions that support Epson Open Platform technology 5 Not all media types are supported for PCL printing. 6 Wi-Fi CERTIFIED; level of performance subject to the range of the router being used. Wi-Fi Direct may require printer software. 7 Most features require an Internet connection to the printer, as well as an Internet- and/or email-enabled device. For a list of Epson Connect enabled printers and compatible devices and apps, visit www.epson.com/connect EPSON, PrecisionCore and WorkForce are registered trademarks, EPSON Exceed Your Vision is a registered logomark and Epson Connect are trademarks of Seiko Epson Corporation. Performance Beyond Laser is a trademark of Epson America, Inc. Wi-Fi Direct is a registered trademark and Wi-Fi CERTIFIED is a trademark of Wi-Fi Alliance. All other product and brand names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Epson disclaims any and all rights in these marks. Copyright 2018 Epson America, Inc. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/epson-introduces-next-generation-workforce-pro-wf-m5000-monochrome-printer-series-with-replaceable-ink-pack-system-300686861.html SOURCE Epson America, Inc.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] MonsterCloud Debuts Free Ransomware Removal Program for Law Enforcement Agencies

Zohar Pinhasi, CEO of MonsterCloud Cybersecurity, a company that specializes in cyberterrorism and ransomware recovery for an ever-expanding list of clients, has noticed a recent uptick in calls for help from law enforcement agencies around the country. It makes him very angry. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180726005264/en/ "Targeting the agencies who help people in need and save lives, and then compromising their ability to respond to emergencies is unconscionable," said Pinhasi. "Our message to these cyberterrorists is clear: law enforcement agencies across the USA have a strong ally - MonsterCloud. We're honored to provide free cyberterrorism consultation and ransomware recovery services for these local heroes." The MonsterCloud Cyberterrorism Crisis Response program is available to any qualified police or sheriff department that has fallen victim to a Cyberterrorism or a ransomware attack. This comprehensive program includes: 1. Data recovery. MonsterCloud first analyses the case to determine how to recover the locked files and servers. This process restores all systems to their original state, then cleans them of all malware and viruses. Then MonsterCloud secures them with its proven technology. 2. Identify the point of infection. To prevent a re-occurrence, MonsterCloud's cyberterrorism experts then figure out how the cyberterrorists gained access and infected the network. 3. Durable protection. Lastly, MonsterCloud installs software agents to scan for zero-day payloads and other ticking time bombs. These agents are pat of MonsterCloud's ongoing service to protect government agencies from future attacks.



Ransomware prevents law enforcement agencies from serving their communities Recently, Pinhasi and his team at MonsterCloud Cybersecurity have successfully disarmed ransomware and recovered essential computer systems for several sheriff's departments across the south. In all three cases, the ransomware had effectively disabled all computer systems: email, servers, websites, and files that held critical information.

"We're not usually the recipients of help. We usually get called to help others. But the day we got hit put us in desperate need of immediate assistance," said Ward Calhoun, chief deputy of Lauderdale County sheriff's department in Meridian, Mississippi. "The ransomware attack locked us out of more than 20 years' worth of data, including incident reports, jail files, and current case notes - everything we needed, day-to-day, to take care of the citizens of Lauderdale County - was in jeopardy. MonsterCloud responded quickly and had us back to full operational status within 48 hours." Watch these videos of other cyberterrorism cases that MonsterCloud has resolved for law-enforcement agencies. Has your law enforcement agency been targeted by cyberterrorists? Here's what you should do. First: shut down all your machines to prevent further infection on the network. Let MonsterCloud experts intervene to minimize further infection and damage to your network and data. MonsterCloud's ransomware response team is ready to help with our guaranteed ransomware recovery process. 24/7 availability. We know time is of the essence, so we're available any time to take a call or request.

We know time is of the essence, so we're available any time to take a call or request. Fast disinfection and ransomware recovery. We'll diagnose the extent of the virus and eradicate ransomware within a few hours, in most cases.

We'll diagnose the extent of the virus and eradicate ransomware within a few hours, in most cases. Expert file recovery. Every situation is unique. Our computer experts have seen every type of ransomware extortion scheme and are skilled at restoring locked files. Attempting this yourself can result in permanent data loss.

Every situation is unique. Our computer experts have seen every type of ransomware extortion scheme and are skilled at restoring locked files. Attempting this yourself can result in permanent data loss. Years of experience. We're arguably the best in the business. Our trusted experts resolve cases that others cannot handle, and work with businesses of all sizes - from small businesses to enterprises with hundreds of computers. We've worked with all known types of ransomware and know the DNA and fingerprints of every cyberterrorist organization. "When civilians get hacked and infected with ransomware, they call the police. When law enforcement agencies get hacked and infected with ransomware, they call MonsterCloud Cybersecurity," added Pinhasi. "The MonsterCloud Cyberterrorism Crisis Response program for law enforcement is our way of giving back to the community." About MonsterCloud MonsterCloud is the industry expert in fighting cyberterrorism and ransomware recovery. With years of front-line experience, MonsterCloud offers a comprehensive cybersecurity platform that provides companies with both the technology and, more importantly, expertise needed to defend themselves from hackers, data breaches, ransomware, and other external threats. MonsterCloud reduces reputational risk and affords companies peace of mind, knowing their businesses are constantly being monitored and protected by some of the world's top cybersecurity experts. For more information, visit https://monstercloud.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180726005264/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] AlsoEnergy Announces Merger with skytron energy, Completes Acquisition of Draker Corporation Assets

AlsoEnergy, a leader in renewable energy software solutions, and skytron energy, one of Europe's leading solar software and hardware companies, announced a merger that will create a global leader for renewable energy monitoring, controls, and asset management solutions. In addition, AlsoEnergy announced the acquisition of Draker Corporation, a pioneer in the solar monitoring industry. These two transactions position AlsoEnergy as the world's leading software and solutions provider. Together, the companies will combine their business operations to offer a global footprint with leading software, hardware, and control solutions for solar, wind, and storage assets. "The merger of AlsoEnergy and skytron enables us to provide our customers and the marketplace with the industry's most complete platform for the management of renewable energy assets," said Bob Schaefer, Chief Executive Officer of AlsoEnergy. "With skytron's proven utility-scale technologies and AlsoEnergy's strong commercial, industrial and utility presence, we can now offer our customers complete coverage for all types of assets." "We believe this transaction will provide what our customers have been asking for," said Francisco Baraona, Managing Director of skytron energy. "Our combined solutions create a global software platform across all asset classes that is supported by proven hardware and control technologies and delivered with consistent sales, support and service across ll geographies."



In addition, AlsoEnergy has acquired the assets of Draker Corporation, a pioneer in the solar monitoring industry in the United States. "This strategic investment strengthens our global portfolio of best-in-class PV and storage performance management services for the C&I and Utility Scale segments," continued Schaefer. "Together, AlsoEnergy, skytron and Draker look forward to continuing to deliver industry-leading products, sales, support, and services to our customers." About AlsoEnergy

AlsoEnergy provides technology solutions for solar PV projects and other energy systems, including DAS systems and power plant control solutions. With 6GW of power monitored at more than 20,000 sites worldwide, AlsoEnergy is ranked by Greentech Media as the #1 independent software vendor (ISV) for solar monitoring in the US commercial market for 4 straight years. Complete solution packages from AlsoEnergy pair hardware and professional services with AlsoEnergy's leading software platform PowerTrack. For more information, visit: www.alsoenergy.com About skytron energy skytron energy has been developing integrated monitoring, control and remote monitoring systems since 1977. As one of the leading suppliers in the photovoltaics industry specializing in commercial and utility-scale power plants, the company has installed monitoring solutions in more than 1500 plants around the globe. The company's core competencies include manufacturer-independent real-time plant condition monitoring, plug and play plant control, remote plant supervision, system migration of existing power plants and operation and maintenance. As a technology leader, skytron energy has received a number of prestigious awards, including the highly coveted Solar Industry Award for the skylog data logging system and the Intersolar Award for the PVGuard supervision platform. For more information, visit: https://www.skytron-energy.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180726005178/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] ROLI Launches its Songmaker Kit in India

BANGALORE, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- ROLI BLOCKS - MUSIC STUDIO JK Suresh, CEO of ICHIBAN, glad to announce the launch of ROLI UK Songmaker Kit in India ROLI's Songmaker Kit, a portable music studio for creating a track anywhere, after a hugely successful limited release in UK and worldwide, is now available in India in association with ICHIBAN at www.ichibanonline.in; also with many Music Retailers. (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/723234/Songmaker_Kit.jpg )

Songmaker Kit combines the Seaboard Block and Lightpad Block M, two cutting-edge controllers that have been hailed by professional reviewers as 'insanely expressive' and 'supremely powerful and arguably unique.' The tactile, touch-responsive surfaces of these blocks - both released within the past year - introduce a whole new way to shape sound and create songs. The Loop Block, which helps to record tracks and toggle between sounds, completes the kit. The Songmaker Kit comes with a software bundle. Each software tool integrates perfectly with the MIDI Polyphonic Expression (MPE) capabilities of ROLI BLOCKS controllers. Equator, ROLI's premium software synthesizer, is part of the package along with two digital audio workstations - Tracktion Waveform and Ableton Live Lite - and Strobe2 Player. Customized integration of hardware, software, and sounds make Songmaker Kit far more than the sum of its parts. The kit showcases ROLI BLOCKS, the modular music creation system that launched earlier. While it's possible to create dozens of kits with different Bloks, the Songmaker Kit's combination of Seaboard Block, Lightpad Block M, and Loop Block is a tried and tested configuration for next-level music-making. During its limited release, the kit met with huge demand and was sold out several times.



Songmaker Kit combines Seaboard Block (Right), Lightpad Block M (Lower Left), and Loop Block (Upper Left) in one integrated yet flexible instrument. Songmaker Kit comes with a snapcase that protects the kit when someone's on the move. It also Songmaker Kit comes with a package of software for desktop and mobile. It includes ROLI's software synthesizer Equator plus two digital audio workstations: Ableton Live Lite and Tracktion Waveform. Songmaker Kit is now available to purchase at retailers in India. Blocks is the instrument that grows along with the musician. It is ideal to start with one block, thereby connecting more together, and expanding the instrument along with their skills. The centerpieces of the system are the Lightpad Block and the Seaboard Block, two powerful music-making devices that feature soft, touch-responsive surfaces. Anyone can get started with the Lightpad Block and the ROLI PLAY app. Skilled musicians can start with several Blocks together and enjoy a huge suite of free music software. Flexible and approachable, BLOCKS has something for everyone.

About ROLI ROLI is creating the future of musical instruments, through revolutionary touch-responsive interfaces. The concept is to make every movement musical on the Seaboard GRAND, Seaboard RISE, Seaboard Block, Lightpad Block, NOISE app, ROLI PLAY app, and other hardware and software tools. Renowned artists love the Seaboard and BLOCKS, which are also opening up music to learners and extending the joy of music creation to everyone. About ICHIBAN The focus of Brand ICHIBAN is to launch unique and cutting edge Technology Products in India at affordable price. ICHIBAN products now available are Digital Thermometers, GSM Walky Others Branded, High Tech, Products now sold in India are Autonics, Testo, TMC, LCR, Plasel, Luxfer and many others. Manufacturing and marketing high tech, unique products under brand ICHIBAN, now introduces ROLI BLOCKS in India. Watch the new film Songmaker Kit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ejaz1Eq7c6M. Learn more about this product at www.ichiban.co.in; Order from www.ichibanonline.in or with retailers all over India, and start making any style of track anywhere. For queries, reach out to us;

Contact person:

Mr. Amitkumar

Product Head

Jayem Trade Pvt. Ltd.

Logitech park Plot # 7, Road # 10

EPIP, Whitefield

Bengaluru - 560066

India

Phone : +91-9035547007 More video links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur5XkaVG38g&feature=youtu.be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I1n492OC-I&feature=youtu.be Media Contact :

JK Suresh

sureshjk@jayemtrade.in

+91-9886150188

CEO, Jayem Trade Private Limited



[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] WIRED To Celebrate 25 Years With Four-Day Festival In San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- WIRED today unveiled plans for WIRED25, an anniversary celebration happening across San Francisco. This once-in-a-lifetime event, in October, will celebrate a quarter-century of radical changeand set the agenda for decades to come. WIRED25 will not only be a celebration of WIRED, but a landmark moment in tech history and an opportunity to commemorate the industry, the culture, and those who built it. "Since 1993, it has been WIRED's great privilege to cover, and participate in, the most important story on the planethow the digital revolution is upending every aspect of our lives," said editor in chief Nicholas Thompson. "This event is a great way to look back at everything that has changed, and to look ahead at what will change next." Timed to the launch of WIRED's 25th anniversary issue, the WIRED25 celebration will take place October 12-15 in San Francisco, the epicenter of the tech industry and the city of WIRED's birth. WIRED25 will celebrate the ideas, innovations, and icons that have formed the world we know todayand the people who will shape it for the next 25 years. The event will be divided into various tracks, including a day of insider tech industry tours, a weekend festival of cultural events, and an exclusive one-day technology and business summit. The WIRED25 WORK day will offer attendees the opportunity to go behind the scenes of some of the world's most innovative companies At the WIRED25 FESTIVAL, the spirit of innovation and creativity will be brought to life in a unique collection of eventsfrom mind-expanding performances to exciting pop-upsthroughout San Francisco. The four-day celebration will culminate with the WIRED25 SUMMIT, featuring exclusive keynotes and game-changing conversation with WIRED Icons who have shaped the past 25 years of technology and business. Confirmed speakers include:



Marc Benioff , Chairman & CEO, Salesforce

Chairman & CEO, Salesforce Jony Ive , Chief Design Officer, Apple

Chief Design Officer, Apple Fei-Fei Li , Director, Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab; Chief Scientist of AI and Machine Learning, Google Cloud

Director, Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab; Chief Scientist of AI and Machine Learning, Google Cloud Satya Nadella , CEO, Microsoft

CEO, Microsoft Jennifer Pahlka , Founder & Executive Director, Code for America

Founder & Executive Director, Code for America Sean Parker , Entrepreneur; Investor; Chairman & Founder, Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy

Entrepreneur; Investor; Chairman & Founder, for Cancer Immunotherapy Sundar Pichai , CEO, Google, Inc.

CEO, Google, Inc. Kevin Systrom , CEO & Cofounder, Instagram

CEO & Cofounder, Instagram Jill Tarter , author, "The 21st Century: The Century of Biology on Earth and Beyond"

author, "The 21st Century: The Century of Biology on Earth and Beyond" Anne Wojcicki , CEO & Cofounder, 23andMe

CEO & Cofounder, 23andMe Susan Wojcicki , CEO, YouTube Additional speakers will be announced at a later date. For more information on WIRED25, including event news, programming updates, and speaker announcements, visit WIRED.com/25 and follow @WIRED #WIRED25. For details on how to purchase tickets to WIRED25 go to WIRED.com/25.

WIRED25 is made possible with support from official sponsors: HP, Accenture, Intel, and Audi, along with digital experience agency Isobar. About WIRED:

WIRED is where tomorrow is realized. It is the essential source of information and ideas that make sense of a world in constant transformation. The WIRED conversation illuminates how technology is changing every aspect of our livesfrom culture to business, science to design. The breakthroughs and innovations that we uncover lead to new ways of thinking, new connections, and new industries. WIRED reaches more than 30 million people each month through WIRED.com, our digital edition, the magazine, social media and live events. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wired-to-celebrate-25-years-with-four-day-festival-in-san-francisco-300686848.html SOURCE WIRED

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Agari Research Reveals BOD 18-01 Continues to Compel Federal DMARC Adoption

Agari, the leading predictive AI solution to protect the cloud inbox from advanced phishing attacks, today announced the publication of its "July 2018 BOD 18-01 Progress Report," which reveals more than three-quarters (81 percent) of the 1,144 executive branch domains required to comply with the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 18-01 have deployed DMARC. Three months ahead of the October 16, 2018 deadline, more than half (52 percent) of the 1,144 executive branch domains required to comply with BOD 18-01 have implemented a "p=reject" policy, which prevents unauthorized email from being sent. "The progress made by the U.S. Federal Government is encouraging. I commend DHS for their leadership on this effort and look forward to seeing the final results in October," said Philip Reitinger, president and CEO of the Global Cyber Alliance. "The private sector should take note of this effort and follow suit." DHS announced BOD 18-01 on October 16, 2017, during a Global Cybersecurity Alliance (GCA) event in New York City. BOD 18-01 mandates that all federal domains implement DMARC, TLS and HTTPS to prevent domain name spoofing and to secure email communication. BOD 18-01 requiresfederal executive branch departments and agencies to implement DMARC at its highest setting (p=reject), by October 16, 2018.



Agari previously reported that 63 percent of executive branch federal agencies had deployed DMARC to meet the original 90-day deadline in January. As of January 16, 2018, only 18 percent of executive branch domains had implemented a "p=none" policy; as of July 15, 2018 more than half (52 percent) of executive branch domains had reached this milestone. However, 19 percent of executive branch domains still have no DMARC record and 26 percent have not progressed past the monitoring policy (p=none), leaving almost half of executive branch domains vulnerable to domain name spoofing. "BOD 18-01 has been an incredible initiative for the United States government since federal DMARC adoption now greatly outpaces private industry," said Patrick Peterson, founder and executive chairman, Agari. "However, almost half of executive branch domains are still unable to prevent unauthorized emails from being sent on their behalf, so there is still concern and uncertainty when it comes to authenticating the identity of email senders."

Download the updated report: "July 2018 BOD 18-01 Progress Report" About Agari Agari is the leading predictive AI solution to protect the cloud inbox from advanced email and phishing attacks. Winner of Best Email Security Solution by SC Magazine in 2018, the Agari Email Trust Platform prevents ransomware, ATO, phishing, BEC and other identity deception attacks, restoring trust to digital channels for businesses, governments, and consumers worldwide. Learn more at www.agari.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180726005189/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]ABBYY Releases Corporate Highlights for Q2 2018

For ABBYY, a global provider of content intelligent solutions and services, the second quarter of 2018 was packed full of new releases, events, and activities. With the growing demand for robotic process automation and digital transformation technologies, ABBYY continues to provide its partners and customers with top-of-the-line solutions improving their business outcomes. This digest contains a few highlights of Q2 2018.

Product News

ABBYY Launches Text Analytics for Contracts

On April 26, ABBYY launched Text Analytics for Contracts, a software SaaS (News - Alert) solution that automatically discovers insights from contracts and leases to speed up risk mitigation, obligation analysis, and content migration. Using the service, businesses can accelerate time-to-value and successfully implement their contract lifecycle management, robotic process automation, and digital transformation strategies. Learn more>>>>

ABBYY Introduces FineReader Engine 12

ABBYY released FineReader Engine 12, a new version of the software development kit that allows businesses to integrate text recognition, PDF conversion, and data capture functionalities into software applications running in the cloud, on premises or virtual machines. FineReader Engine 12 enables businesses to broaden the spectrum of software applications and services they offer using modern cloud platforms like Amazon AWS and Microsoft (News - Alert) Azure. Learn more>>>>

Now Free, TextGrabber for iOS Receives Real-Time Translation

In June, ABBYY launched TextGrabber for iOS with Real-Time Translation capabilities. The application now translates text in real time online and offline and is free to download with a premium subscription for a number of features. The revamped TextGrabber instantly captures text in 61 languages and translates it in real time to 104 languages online and 10 languages offline. Learn more>>>>

Partnership News

ABBYY Extends Partnership with Panasonic (News - Alert) USA

ABBYY inked a new deal allowing Panasonic to bundle its award-winning document conversion software, ABBYY FineReader 12 Sprint with Panasonic desktop document scanners. Both companies have been working together for many years with the goal of customer convenience at the core of their collaboration. The new agreement allows Panasonic customers to enjoy faster and better ways to work with Panasonic scanners using ABBYY's all-in-one FineReader technology. Learn more>>>>

ABBYY Announces Partnership with Lifeboat Distribution in Americas, Benelux

In February, ABBYY announced the partnership with Lifeboat Distribution, a value-added distributor, providing supply chain services and connecting software publishers with resellers around the globe. The company started distributing ABBYY FineReader and ABBYY Recognition Server in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In June, the partnership was extended to include the countries of the Benelux. Learn more>>>>

Industry Events

ABBYY Showcases Powerful AI for Documents at AI Summit London

This year, ABBYY was a proud sponsor of The AI Summit London, one of the world's biggest AI events for business. At the conference that brought together about 4,500 delegates, ABBYY Chief Innovation Officer Anthony Macciola delivered a keynote on content intelligence and how enterprises can leverage it to better understand their customers. Learn more>>>>







ABBYY Business Exchange Europe Highlights Transformative Potential of Content Intelligence

In June, 140 ABBYY partners and customers in Europe gathered in Madrid to learn about digital transformation and how content intelligence is creating new opportunities. The participants examined the factors driving large organizations to re-architect their business processes and adopt new digital transformation strategies. Special thanks to M-Files and UiPath for their contribution. Learn more>>>>

ABBYY Demonstrates How to Speed up Processes with AI at PegaWorld 2018

At PegaWorld 2018 in Las Vegas, ABBYY demonstrated how critical content and data are to driving decisions and accelerating processes within the Pega ecosystem. The event offered a tremendous opportunity to engage with leading financial services, insurance, healthcare, manufacturing, and transportation companies and to demonstrate how ABBYY's mobile, AI, and content intelligence services are driving competitive advantage and creating new revenue opportunities. Learn more>>>>

New Research Studies and Analyst Reports

Two-Thirds of UK Employees Want to Delegate Work to Robots

This quarter, ABBYY released the findings of the new research study commissioned in the UK. 1,200 British office workers voted on whether or not they would be comfortable outsourcing tasks to AI and which tasks that would be. The results are in: 63% of UK employees would like to delegate the tasks they hate to robots. Learn more>>>>

The new report by AIIM Industry Watch is available to download free of charge: "The State of Intelligent Information Management"

New White Papers

AIIM and ABBYY eBook "Information Privacy and Security. GDPR is Just the Tip of the Iceberg" by John Mancini and Andrew Pery

Aragon Research and ABBYY White Paper "Conquer GDPR by Leveraging Policy and Technology: Intelligent Content Analytics to the Rescue"

White Paper "ABBYY Text Analytics for Contracts. Connecting Business Documents to Business Value"

White Paper "Working More Productively with Legal Documents. ABBYY FineReader"

Trending on ABBYY Blog

Talking to Robots

Ever wondered how banks and other financial institutions can accelerate digital transformation by speaking the right language to robots? You can ask ABBYY's Carl Hillier or simply read his article on ABBYY Blog>>>>

Data, Data Everywhere, but Not Enough to Use

In the last 15 years, various companies have produced a huge amount of data; yet extracting business value from this data still poses the toughest challenge to businesses trying to be more efficient or just to compete in the marketplace. Learn more>>>>

The Sky's the Limit for Document Capture Software Vendors

A series of reports published in May not only forecast dizzying growth for document capture software market worldwide but also predict that, in the near future, the solution will be a must-have tool for businesses everywhere. Learn more>>>>

Upcoming Events

Intelligent Automation Week, Chicago, USA

July 30 - August 2, 2018

Join ABBYY at this year's Intelligent Automation Week in Chicago! Don't miss out on the gamut of intelligent automation technologies including cognitive, machine learning, AI, and more with 400+ executives across all industries. Click here for details>>>

ABBYY Technology Summit 2018, Las Vegas, USA

October 10-12, 2018

Join us this October for ABBYY's 6th Annual Technology Summit at the Cosmopolitan hotel in Las Vegas. You will take a deep dive into the impact RPA is having on intelligent capture, discussions about the market opportunities around content intelligence, and industry shifts related to intelligent capture. The event will feature keynotes by Toby Bell, a global technology executive, strategic consultant, analyst, and researcher, and Sarah Burnett, Research Vice President at Everest Group. You will also have the opportunity to meet the engineers behind our game-changing products and network with other power players and thought leaders. Register now>>>>

To stay on top of the latest content intelligent products, solutions, and resources from ABBYY, subscribe to receive the ABBYY Corporate News Digest by emailing gina@raypr.com.

About ABBYY

ABBYY is a global leader in content intelligence solutions and services. ABBYY offers a complete range of AI-based technologies and solutions transforming business documents and content into business value. By providing digital transformation solutions to financial services, insurance, transportation, healthcare and other industries, the company helps organizations achieve the next wave of growth by understanding customers and delivering responsive real-time intelligent systems. The flexibility of ABBYY AI solutions enables customers to utilize a diverse range of advanced technologies, platforms and solutions for classification, text analytics, data and entity extraction, and data validation via any communication channel and in any format. ABBYY technologies are used and licensed by some of the largest international enterprises and government organizations, as well as SMBs and individuals. The company maintains offices in Australia, Canada, Cyprus, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, UAE, the UK, Ukraine, and the United States. For more information, please visit www.abbyy.com/company.

ABBYY and the ABBYY Logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of ABBYY Software Ltd. Other product names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners and are hereby recognized.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180726005268/en/[July 26, 2018] Mastercard Reinforces its Commitment to Digital India With a Cumulative INR 6,500 Crore (US$ 1 Billion) Investment

NEW DELHI, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Investment significantly higher than the revenue earned Further drives India's efforts to grow digital transactions by being the most cost effective network Mastercard has been an active contributor to the Indian economy for over 36 years and has played a key role in providing technology, infrastructure and expertise to drive safe and secure electronic payments in India. It also remains committed to the Digital India agenda and the result is increased consumer choice, convenience and security at lower costs to merchants. Committed to a model based on local investment, Mastercard will have invested approximately INR 6,500 crore (US$ 1 billion) between 2014 and 2019 to promote digital transactions in India. Started in 2014, the local investment includes two major acquisitions, new offices in Bengaluru, Gurugram, a Mastercard Innovation Lab and operations hub in Pune. Most recently, it also opened a technology centre in Vadodara, housing engineers and data scientists focused on supporting the development of tools and software for mobile technology and cyber security. Since 2013, Mastercard has grown its India workforce from 29 to almost 2,000, which is 14 percent of the global Mastercard workforce, and the largest outside the United States. Beyond creating long-term job growth, this local investment model enables Mastercard to be the ost cost effective network which has helped advance India's drive to convert cash to digital transactions.



For debit card ATM withdrawals (70 percent of all debit transactions in India ), Mastercard is 75 percent cheaper than competition

), Mastercard is 75 percent cheaper than competition For debit card transactions below INR 200, a vitally important price point because of the prevalence of transit and small grocery purchases, Mastercard is at a much lower cost than competition Porush Singh, Country Corporate Officer, India and Division President, South Asia, Mastercard, said, "We strongly support the Government's push towards establishing India as a less-cash society and have continuously invested in this vision." Porush added, "80-85 percent of the fees in debit card transactions go to financial institutions and other processors located in India for their services and will stay entirely within the Indian economy. Only 15-20 percent will come to Mastercard as compensation for our network services. It is just between 12 and 15 paise in an INR 100 transaction. We stand absolutely committed to India's future. We firmly believe that the success of the Indian economy is the success of Mastercard."

About Mastercard Mastercard (NYSE: MA), http://www.mastercard.com , is a technology company in the global payments industry. Our global payments processing network connects consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. Mastercard products and solutions make everyday commerce activities - such as shopping, traveling, running a business and managing finances - easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone. Follow us on Twitter @mastercardindia, join the discussion on the Beyond the Transaction Blog and subscribe for the latest news on the Engagement Bureau. Media Contact :

Mastercard Communications Contact

Manasi Narasimhan

+91-7838881957

manasi.narasimhan@mastercard.com



Agency Communications Contact

Mayuri Dahiya

mayuri@avian-media.com

+91-8585925739



Ashish Kumar

ashish@avian-media.com

+91-8860548346

AvianWE





[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Former Minister of Finance says blockchain is a gateway to new economic development for Indonesia

SINGAPORE, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr Chatib Basri, one of Indonesia's most respected economists and the country's former Minister of Finance, has joined the blockchain for social impact project HARA in an advisory role. This is the first time a former minister has endorsed a blockchain start-up from Indonesia. HARA is the first blockchain project that aims to have a positive social impact in Indonesia. The start-up will use blockchain technology to power a decentralized data exchange that will address the issue of asymmetric information availability in the food and agriculture sector. This issue severely hampers businesses in the supply chain to be more efficient and effective, resulting in unnecessary losses. "The development of blockchain and digital technology will undoubtedly help us improve the economy by cutting transaction costs, simplifying long processes or red-tape, and making the process become faster," Dr Basri commented. Most of the problems in theagriculture and food sector are data related. Farmers in Indonesia have little to no access to agricultural data and market information that could increase their productivity and reduce their losses.



Indonesia's economy is currently ranked as the 16th largest in the world, with 33% of the workforce working in the food and agriculture sector. However, due to various growth impeding challenges, only 13.95% of the country's GDP comes from that sector, amounting to a total of USD $129.6 billion. The most fundamental problem the country consistently faces is the comparatively low productivity in growing rice, even though the production cost is the most expensive in all of Asia. For example, the rice production of farmers in Vietnam is 14.5% higher, while their production costs are significantly lower.

In addition to the problem of production inefficiency (producing less at a higher cost), Indonesian farmers also have to deal with a 20% post-harvest loss due to the low efficiency of the market distribution chain. HARA believes that data transparency can solve these problems and that data will become a new commodity in the agricultural sector. The company will help solve the problems by providing access to actionable data-driven insights that support the efforts to improve agricultural productivity and secure solid economic growth for all. "The HARA blockchain will help farmers in the Indonesian agriculture sector increase their productivity, cut the transaction costs and increase their income. I'm honoured to be part of this adventure as an advisor for HARA," Dr Basri stated. HARA is currently being piloted in several regions in Indonesia and has already shown an encouraging impact on farmers. In the latest phase of the project, around 3.000 farmers in 41 remote villages were reached. By 2020, HARA plans to attract 2 million Indonesian farmers by expanding the implementation area across the whole of Indonesia. Furthermore, preparations are being made to expand to other developing countries on the equator, and HARA has started negotiations with potential partners in Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Kenya, Uganda, Mexico, and Peru. About HARA HARA is a blockchain-based data exchange for the food sector that has been operating since 2015. The company provides farmers and other players in the agricultural sector with access to reliable data and transparent transactions. HARA is a product designed by Dattabot, a leading big data company in Indonesia. In a pilot project, HARA has already acquired usually hard-to-find food data, such as Know Your Customer (KYC), farmer, land, and weather data, in different provinces across Indonesia. This data is beneficial in assisting financial institution partners to disburse loans in a growing market. Furthermore, the incentive mechanisms ensuring continuous usage of the application in the ecosystem have also been proven to work. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20180726/2196805-1-a

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20180726/2196805-1-b SOURCE HARA Technology PTE LTD

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Washington Post And Chicago Tribune Forced To Issue Corrections For False Reporting Regarding FCC Decision On Sinclair Merger

BALTIMORE, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Sinclair announced today it sent letters to the Washington Post and Chicago Tribune requesting corrections and apologies for significant errors in their reporting on the FCC's decision involving the proposed merger between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tribune Media. Both media outlets omitted a key word from the FCC statement to drastically distort the reality of the finding and reported that Sinclair had been found to lack candor, when in fact the FCC had merely referred the matter to an Administrative Law Judge to determine whether or not there had been a lack of candor. Both publications also did not refer to public statements from Sinclair which expressly denied that any lack of candor had occurred. The Washington Post published an article Tuesday night that claimed: " FCC Chairman Ajit Pai  found that Sinclair and Tribune had exhibited a 'lack of candor'" By yesterday morning the Washigton Post had corrected the line to note the alleged "lack of candor" was only "potential."



The misleading Chicago Tribune headline and opening paragraph were also amended to correct for a similar error to now accurately reflect the that there has been no finding of a lack of candor. The Chicago Tribune also issued an update to the story which reads: "An earlier version of this story misstated the findings of the Federal Communications Commission's hearing designation order regarding Sinclair Broadcast Group's proposed acquisition of Tribune Media."

About Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI) Sinclair is one of the largest and most diversified television broadcasting companies in the country. Pro forma for the Tribune acquisition and related station divestitures, the Company will own, operate and/or provide services to 215 television stations in 102 markets. Sinclair is a leading local news provider in the country and operates the greatest number of award-winning news rooms in the industry and is dedicated to impactful journalism with a local focus. The Company has multiple national networks, live local sports production, as well as stations affiliated with all the major networks. Sinclair's content is delivered via multiple-platforms, including over-the-air, multi-channel video program distributors, and digital platforms. The Company regularly uses its website as a key source of Company information which can be accessed at www.sbgi.net. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/washington-post-and-chicago-tribune-forced-to-issue-corrections-for-false-reporting-regarding-fcc-decision-on-sinclair-merger-300686952.html SOURCE Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Identillect's Delivery Trust Selected by Sakalarios Blackwell & Schock, PLLC to Secure all Email Communications

IRVINE, Calif., July 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Identillect Technologies Corp. (the "Company" or "Identillect") (TSX-V:ID) (OTCQB:IDTLF) (Frankfurt:8ID), a trusted leading provider of email security for the legal sector, announced today Sakalarios Blackwell & Schock, PLLC has selected Delivery Trust to secure their email communications and to protect their clients information.

Sakalarios Blackwell & Schock, PLLC is the southern regions leading asbestos law firm, experienced in litigation and filing claims to fight for victims of all asbestos-related diseases, including mesothelioma. They practice in 7 states along with local co-counsel: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Michigan, Texas and Arkansas . According to the ABAs 2016 Legal Technology Survey more than 25% of firms surveyed defined they had previously experienced some type of data breach. A recent article, Hackers are aggressively targeting law firms data, therefore, law firms are being proactive and putting in place additional security measures to protect their clients. Solutions like Delivery Trust are being utilized to ensure client data is protected. Sara Schock, Managing Partner of Sakalarios Blackwell & Schock, PLLC said, Our lawyers are dedicated to focusing on the specifics of each clients case, we honor our mission of integrity, service and excellence. We continually take security measures to provide the best protection for our clients. The security of their digital communications is no different, therefore, we chose Delivery Trust to communicate securely with our clients as Identillect is well respected in the legal community. Identillect has focused on the legal community throughout the United States. Delivery Trust provides unique controls and is designed to cater directly to the exclusive requirements of the legal sector. Identillect works with law firms and State Bar Association across the United States to increase security measures as requirements intensify throughout this industry.



Identillect CEO Todd Sexton comments, We are pleased with the continued success of Identillects relationship with law firms across the United States. Sakalarios Blackwell & Schock is the most recent firm to create advanced security measures to ensure their clients have the ultimate protection. It is our privilege to serve Sakalarios Blackwell & Schock as they fight for the rights of their clients experiencing asbestos related diseases. We believe 2018 will continue to see expanded growth for Identillect within the legal sector. On Behalf of the Board of Directors of:

IDENTILLECT TECHNOLOGIES CORP. Todd Sexton

Chief Executive Officer

Tel: (949) 468-7878

Email: todd.sexton@identillect.com About Identillect Identillect Technologies is the leading provider of email encryption service Delivery Trust, empowering enterprises of all sizes to protect their business and their clients critical information against cyber security attacks. Delivery Trust is an award-winning, multi-platform plug-in, which gives users complete control of their emails, for one low price. One simple integration complies with all regulations and most importantly provides peace of mind. For more information, or your free trial, please visit www.identillect.com About Sakalarios Blackwell & Schock, PLLC The Southern Regions Leading Asbestos Law Firm for Over Three Decades. They have over three decades of experience in asbestos litigation and claims filing, the law firm of Sakalarios, Blackwell, and Schock, PLLC passionately fight for victims of all asbestos-related diseases, including mesothelioma. The law firm has handled thousands of asbestos cases, helping victims and their families navigate through their legal rights and explaining their options. They practice in 7 states along with local co-council: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Michigan, Texas and Arkansas. They have compassionate lawyers who are committed to holding accountable the asbestos product companies responsible for exposing workers to potentially deadly asbestos. For more information please visit https://www.asbestoslawoptions.com/ Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward-looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under the applicable laws.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Auto Dealer Demand for AI-powered Marketing Solutions Helps Outsell Drive Strong Bookings and Revenue Growth

MINNEAPOLIS, July 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Outsell, which offers the only AI-driven marketing automation platform for the automotive industry, announced today that auto dealers pressing need to improve and measure the impact of digital marketing programs helped it drive significant growth in new dealer group business, and expansions with existing customers.

Financially, Q2 was another solid quarter for Outsell, with bookings ahead of plan. Direct revenue growth for the first half of 2018 grew 43 percent over the same period last year, and the average deal size during the first half of 2018 was 36 percent higher than it was for 2017. Dealers are very receptive to our message of providing automated, individualized customer engagement, said Mike Wethington, Founder and CEO of Outsell. Dealers continue to tell us that while many vendors are talking about Artificial Intelligence, Outsell is the only one delivering, with marketing solutions that are grounded in AI yet easy to use. We are masking the complexity of AI to put the technology within reach for dealers. During Q2, Outsell also won six prestigious awards related to its work: Gold Stevie Award in the 16 th Annual American Business Awards in the category Marketing Campaign of the Year - Automotive Vehicles.

Annual American Business Awards in the category Marketing Campaign of the Year - Automotive Vehicles. Digiday Content Marketing Award in the category Most Original Email Campaign.

2018 Communicator Award Distinction in the categories Campaign-Business to Consumer for Integrated Campaign and Campaign-Promotional for Integrated Campaign.

Gold 2018 Summit Creative Awards in the category Integrated Consumer Campaign.

Interactive Media Best in Class Award from the Interactive Media Council in the Automobile category.

Web Marketing Associations 2018 Internet Advertising Competition Award for Outstanding Achievement in Internet Advertising in the category Best Automobile Integrated Advertising Campaign.



About Outsell

Outsell offers the first AI-driven marketing automation platform that empowers automotive dealerships and OEMs to create lasting customer relationships driving incremental sales and profits. Our proprietary technology harnesses massive amounts of data creating accurate and powerful consumer profiles that engage your customers and prospects exactly where they are in their individual lifecycles. Thats why Outsell is the trusted platform for over fifteen hundred dealers representing all major automotive brands. To learn more, visit www.Outsell.com or follow us at @Outsell. Media Contact

Gina Rezendes

Big Swing Communications

gina@big-swing.com

+1.617.640.9278



[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Sojern Data Shows Desktop Travel Search Remains Dominant

SAN FRANCISCO, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Sojern, travel's demand engine providing marketing and advertising solutions for the travel industry, today published its third Global Travel Insights report of 2018. The new report offers a quarterly look at travel trends from around the world. Sojern's data science team analyzes billions of travel intent signals annually to help 93 percent of the Fortune 500 travel brands better understand the booking behavior of travelers and how to reach them with marketing messages. "Even with mobile devices nearing global saturation, we continue to see that travel planning search volume remains desktop-heavy," said Jackie Lamping, vice president of marketing at Sojern. "While there's clear evidence that mobile is playing an increasing role in the dreaming and inspiration phases of trip planningmostly driven through social sharing on Facebook and Instagramtravelers still come back to their desktop in order to research options in more detail, compare prices, and ultimately arrive at a confident decision." Sojern data shows that only 28 percent of travel searches in the US came from mobile last quarter. Lamping explained, "Many consumers still feel that the price comparison shopping experience is better on desktopwhether that's due to faster wifi or website load times, access to more content, or the ability to open multiple browsing windows simultaneously." This new report provides insight into customer behavior from travel searches looking back at Q2 of 2018 and looking forward at Q3. Top findings looking back at Q2 include: Desktop Remains Top for Travel Search

Although mobile devices are abundant, Sojern's latest insights report indicates global consumers are still using desktop fo the majority of their searches while planning travel. In North America, 72 percent of travel searches happened on desktop during Q2. For Asia-Pacific, it was 67 percent and in Latin America it was 64 percent



Though desktop reigns supreme in much of the world, mobile search is "king" in two regions: Europe, and the Middle East and Africa; with 53 percent of European travel searches happening on mobile during Q2 and 52 percent in Middle East and Africa. Traveling Solo Tops the Charts for Q2, Couples Taking Trips Together This Fall

According to our travel intent research, 71 percent of Middle East and African travel searches were for solo trips during the months of April, May and June. Solo trips accounted for 69 percent of North American travel searches, 67 percent in Latin American, 63 percent in Asia Pacific, and 53 percent in Europe.

However, when we look at upcoming travel searches for July, August, and September, couple travel is on the rise. Our data shows an increase in couple travel primarily for North America and Latin America. Europeans, in particular, are searching for more couple trips when traveling regionally. Whereas, people in the Middle East and Africa are searching for group travel of three or more during July through September travel dates. Not Everyone is Searching for Last-Minute Travel

In the second quarter of 2018, 65 percent of travel searches for Asia Pacific started more than 30 days in advance of the departure date. Similarly, 63 percent of travel searches in Europe and 61 percent in Latin America started more than 30 days in advance of the departure date, while in the Middle East and Africa it was 43 percent. Asia Pacific travelers were the heaviest planners of all regions with 45 percent of travel searches starting more than 60 days out from the departure date. For a more detailed analysis of global travel insights, download the full report here. About Sojern

Sojern is travel's demand engine for thousands of brands in the hotel, air, cruise, transportation, and tourism industries. Specializing in traveler path-to-purchase data for more than a decade, Sojern delivers branding and performance solutions by combining search and booking intent signals with proprietary data science methods to analyze and activate the world's travelers in real-time. Recognized as a Deloitte Technology Top 500 Fastest Growing Company for 5 years in a row, Sojern is headquartered in San Francisco and has teams based in Berlin, Dubai, Dublin, Hong Kong, Istanbul, London, Mexico City, New York, Omaha, Paris, Singapore and Sydney. For more information, visit www.sojern.com. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sojern-data-shows-desktop-travel-search-remains-dominant-300686951.html SOURCE Sojern

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] AvidXchange CFO, Joel Wilhite, Wins Large Business Sector CFO of the Year Award from the Charlotte Business Journal

CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Joel Wilhite of AvidXchange, a leading provider of accounts payable and payment automation solutions for midsize companies, was named the CFO of the Year by the Charlotte Business Journal. Held at The Westin Charlotte, the program honors local professionals' exemplary performance as corporate fiscal stewards in the third-largest banking hub in the U.S. Joining AvidXchange at the beginning of 2017, Joel's leadership was instrumental in positioning AvidXchange for continued success in achieving its unicorn status. "I'm honored to be recognized by the Charlotte Business Journal as CFO of the Year," commented Joel. "When I first joined the company, AvidXchange was experiencing one of its fastest growing years ever, with more than 100 percent increase in transaction volume and the addition of more than 300 employees. Having the opportunity to grow with a scaling team has reaffirmed my belief that you're only as good as the people you surround ourself with," added Joel.



Before AvidXchange, Joel held 20 years of experience building and leading finance teams in the technology industry. Joel's diverse experience includes international senior financial leadership roles at private and public companies, including three IPOs. His background encompasses leading long-range financial planning and forecasting, operational accounting, annual budgeting, mergers and acquisitions, and building and developing talent. About AvidXchange

AvidXchange revolutionizes the way companies pay their bills. Serving more than 5,500 clients throughout North America, AvidXchange is an industry leader in automating invoice and payment processes for midmarket companies spanning multiple industries including Real Estate, Financial Services, Construction, Health and Human Resources, and Hospitality. AvidXchange has been recognized as the top software company in North Carolina by the North Carolina Technology Association, one of the 50 fastest-growing private companies in the Charlotte area for six consecutive years, ranked among Deloitte's Fast 500 this past year, and was recently named the top 100 technology companies in North America by Red Herring. In the midst of record growth, AvidXchange has remained true to its most valued competitive advantageits people. AvidXchange has been recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in Charlotte for eight consecutive years. For more information, contact us at 800.560.9305 or info@AvidXchange.com. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/avidxchange-cfo-joel-wilhite-wins-large-business-sector-cfo-of-the-year-award-from-the-charlotte-business-journal-300687117.html SOURCE AvidXchange

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Top Five Recent Developments in the Blockchain Market | Infiniti Research

Infiniti Research, a world-renowned market intelligence solutions provider, has announced the completion of their latest article on the top five recent developments in the blockchain market. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180726005513/en/ Latest Developments in the Blockchain Market: All You Need to Know (Graphic: Business Wire) Blockchain application can be stretched much beyond dealing with just bitcoin transactions to industries like logistics, fashion, and even humanitarian causes like offering global identity solutions for refugees. At present, there are lots of industries like healthcare, trade finance, cyber security, etc. that are using blockchain technology. Even though the blockchain market will witness promising growth, concerns such as security threats, cost, complexity in understanding, and many more are stopping industries from implementing this technology. "Blockchain technology has transformed to become one of the most revolutionary and advanced technological developments of the 21st era," says an industry expert from Infiniti. To know more about the scope of our engagement, request a proposal



Top recent developments in the blockchain market: Blockchain in human resource: HR and recruitment are two sides of the same coin, but recruitment takes a lot of time as well as resources of the HR department. This is one of the main reasons why companies select a third party or external recruiters today. But such methods clearly come with a heavy associated fee. Since most of the candidates' information obtained during the recruitment phase can be observed on the blockchain, there's a huge amount of procedures getting streamlined. Resumes will be a thing of the past, and certificates, grades, work history, and experience will be simply verified and visible to people with direct involvement. This development will include a new chapter to the growth of the blockchain market. To know more about our solutions , get in touch

HR and recruitment are two sides of the same coin, but recruitment takes a lot of time as well as resources of the HR department. This is one of the main reasons why companies select a third party or external recruiters today. But such methods clearly come with a heavy associated fee. Since most of the candidates' information obtained during the recruitment phase can be observed on the blockchain, there's a huge amount of procedures getting streamlined. Resumes will be a thing of the past, and certificates, grades, work history, and experience will be simply verified and visible to people with direct involvement. This development will include a new chapter to the growth of the blockchain market. , Blockchain market size expanding dynamically across Asia and the Middle East: Banks in countries like South Korea and Japan have put out their foot by testing a brand new type of blockchain technology which will allow them to attain same day transfer of money internationally. This would help decrease their costs by almost 30%. With such developments, the blockchain market is set to spread its wings across the Middle East and Asia. To know more about our solutions for the blockchain market , request a proposal

Banks in countries like South Korea and Japan have put out their foot by testing a brand new type of blockchain technology which will allow them to attain same day transfer of money internationally. This would help decrease their costs by almost 30%. With such developments, the blockchain market is set to spread its wings across the Middle East and Asia. , Blockchain adoption to be amplified by cybersecurity: Owing to an increase in the threat of ransomware outbreaks demanding money in the form of cybersecurity, cryptocurrency, and blockchain technology providers have to increase their focus on security. Organizations in the blockchain market are going to include blockchain cybersecurity tools soon, which may sound like a good thing of future but it will certainly be a revolutionary development in the blockchain market. There is a high need for a better and safer technology in which keys are not held by anyone and this can be evidently realized by the recent failure to identity data systems.

Owing to an increase in the threat of ransomware outbreaks demanding money in the form of cybersecurity, cryptocurrency, and blockchain technology providers have to increase their focus on security. Organizations in the blockchain market are going to include blockchain cybersecurity tools soon, which may sound like a good thing of future but it will certainly be a revolutionary development in the blockchain market. There is a high need for a better and safer technology in which keys are not held by anyone and this can be evidently realized by the recent failure to identity data systems. Get in touch, to know more about how we can help you boost business profits Infiniti Research is a global market intelligence company offering strategic insights to help look beyond market disruptions, study competitive activity, and develop intelligent business strategies. Listed below are the top five recent developments in the blockchain market.

View the complete list of the top five recent developments in the blockchain market: https://www.infinitiresearch.com/thoughts/five-latest-developments-blockchain-market About Infiniti Research Established in 2003, Infiniti Research is a leading market intelligence company providing smart solutions to address your business challenges. Infiniti Research studies markets in more than 100 countries to help analyze competitive activity, see beyond market disruptions, and develop intelligent business strategies. With 15+ years of experience and offices across three continents, Infiniti Research has been instrumental in providing a complete range of competitive intelligence, strategy, and research services for over 550 companies across the globe. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180726005513/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Regions Names John Owen as Chief Operating Officer

Regions Financial Corp. today announced that it has named John Owen its Chief Operating Officer. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180726005491/en/ John Owen, Chief Operating Officer (Photo: Business Wire) "John is an outstanding leader who has demonstrated an ability to build strong teams and highly effective products and businesses," said John Turner, Regions President and CEO. As Chief Operating Officer, Owen will oversee the Enterprise Operations, Information Technology, Data and Analytics, Corporate Real Estate and Procurement, Corporate Marketing, and Digital Banking Groups, while heading up Simplify and Grow, Regions' initiative to improve the customer experience and create more efficient and effective processes.



John Owen Biographical Information:

John Owen is Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Regions. Owen joined Regions in 2007 as head of Operations and Technology, where he served until 2009, when he was named head of the bank's Consumer Services Group. He also served two years as head of Business Lines, which included the Business Services, Consumer Services, Consumer Lending, and Wealth Management groups, before becoming head of the Regional Banking Group in 2014. He was named head of Enterprise Services and Consumer Banking in March 2018. Prior to joining Regions, Owen was chief executive officer of Assurant Specialty Property, a Fortune 500 company based in Atlanta. He joined Assurant in 1998 as senior vice president of Information Technology. Owen also was senior vice president of global systems development for Citicorp Credit Services, chief information officer of North American operations for Arrow Electronics (News - Alert) and senior vice president of technology for American Airlines. He began his career in information systems with McDonnell-Douglas. Owen holds a bachelor's degree in Aviation Management from Auburn University School of Engineering in Auburn, Ala. He is a graduate of Leadership Alabama, a member of the Financial Services Roundtable, and a former board member for the Consumer Bankers Association. He serves on the boards of directors for the Birmingham Business Alliance, Innovation Depot, and the United Way of Central Alabama, and the advisory board for the UAB Collat School of Business. About Regions Financial Corporation

Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF), with $125 billion in assets, is a member of the S&P 500 Index and is one of the nation's largest full-service providers of consumer and commercial banking, wealth management, mortgage, and insurance products and services. Regions serves customers across the South, Midwest and Texas, and through its subsidiary, Regions Bank, operates approximately 1,500 banking offices and 2,000 ATMs. Additional information about Regions and its full line of products and services can be found at www.regions.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180726005491/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Tuknik Government Services LLC awarded Contract to provide Program Management Office (PMO) services for the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians at the Department of Interior

CHANTILLY, Va., July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Tuknik Government Services, LLC (TGS), subsidiary of Koniag Inc.'s Government Services Sector and an SBA 8(a) certified small business and Indian Economic Enterprise, has been awarded a 3 year contract to support the Department of Interior Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians. TGS will provide Program Management Office(PMO) services in support of the transition to a new trust funds accounting system (TFAS) which is used by approximately 1100 DOI employees and 500,000 trust beneficiaries in Albuquerque, NM. The current TFAS system includes investment portfolio data management, cash management, and trust accounting services. It is critical that the transition be as seamless as possible to ensure the Trust Fund payments are distributed on time. The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Office of the Special Trustee (OST) for American Indians was created to improve the accountability and management of Indian funds held in trust by the Federal Government. As trustee, DOI has the primary fiduciary responsibility to manage both Tribal trust funds and Individual Indian Monies (IIM) accounts. "We are honored that the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians' (OST) has selected TGS for thi important business transformation initiative to reengineer processes and systems that support its mission to maintain over 500,000 accounts for more than 250 Tribal entities. "said Kevin Razzaghi, President of TGS, "the new system will support the fiduciary management, accounting processing, and technologies associated with the receipting, disbursing, and investing of Indian trust assets must support the American Indian Trust Fund Management Reform Act of 1994."



About Tuknik Government Services LLC

Tuknik Government Services, LLC(TGS) is a small disadvantaged Alaska Native Corporation and Indian Economic Enterprise qualified company and is a member of the Koniag Government Services sector. TGS provides information technology solutions and professional services to Government clients. For more information, please visit www.tuknikgs.com. About Koniag Government Services

Koniag Government Services provides oversight, management and shared services to the companies that comprise the Koniag Government Services sector, including Tuknik Government Services. Koniag Government Services (KGS) companies have supported Federal, State and Local customers for more than 20 years. Professional services include Application Development, Telecommunications, Enterprise Infrastructure Support, Cyber Security, Physical Security, Facilities Management, Cultural and Environmental Resources Support and Management Consulting Support. KGS supports clients in more than a dozen locations across the United State as well as in more than 30 worldwide sites. We have built a reputation for consistent performance and forging long term partnerships with our clients. For more information, please visit www.koniaggss.com.

Media Contact:

MaryAnn Hoadley

Koniag Government Services

703-488-9303

MHoadley@Koniag.com View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tuknik-government-services-llc-awarded-contract-to-provide-program-management-office-pmo-services-for-the-office-of-the-special-trustee-for-american-indians-at-the-department-of-interior-300687121.html SOURCE Tuknik Government Services, LLC

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] A.M. Best Affirms Credit Ratings of Youi NZ Pty Limited

A.M. Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B++ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of "bbb" of Youi NZ Pty Limited (Youi NZ) (New Zealand). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. The ratings reflect Youi NZ's balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as very strong, as well as its marginal operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. Youi NZ's balance sheet strength assessment is very strong, reflective of its low underwriting leverage, prudent reinsurance program and highly liquid investment portfolio. Given the volume of risks that Youi NZ currently writes and retains, the capital required to support the company's book of business is relatively modest. In addition, Youi NZ continues to invest its technical and shareholders' funds conservatively, with cash and term deposits making up the entire investment portfolio. Altogether, these factors contribute to the company's very strong balance sheet assessment. Consistent with Youi NZ's indicated marketing plan and strategy during its start-up phase, A.M. Best expects underwriting results to exhibit a pattern of comparatively high operating expense ratios. This is due mainly to the company having a small premium base from which to cover its operating expenses, resulting in negative underwriting results. Prospectively, as Youi NZ continues to mature, A.M. Best expects its operating results to turn positive and gradually improve over time. Youi NZ is a direct insurer focused on short-tail personal lines products in New Zealand, including car, home, motorcycle, trailer and watercraft insurance. All business is generated through a direct distribution model utiliing the internet combined with call center operations. Claims experience has shown a steady improvement, as the business continues to mature. Nevertheless, Youi NZ's current competitive market position and geographical concentration have constrained its business profile assessment.



The stable outlooks reflect A.M. Best's expectation that Youi NZ will continue to improve its operating and underwriting results, supported by stable claims ratios and an expense ratio that should decline over time. A material decline in Youi NZ's risk-adjusted capitalization, due to a failure to meet its projected underwriting performance, may trigger negative rating actions. Ratings are communicated to rated entities prior to publication. Unless stated otherwise, the ratings were not amended subsequent to that communication.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on A.M. Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see A.M. Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Understanding Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper media use of Best's Credit Ratings and A.M. Best press releases, please view Guide for Media - Proper Use of Best's Credit Ratings and A.M. Best Rating Action Press Releases. A.M. Best is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit www.ambest.com. Copyright  2018 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180726005540/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Prudential and Raytheon reach agreement on $923 million pension risk transfer

Raytheon (News - Alert) (NYSE: RTN) will reduce its pension obligations by $923 million by purchasing a group annuity contract from The Prudential Insurance Company of America, a subsidiary of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU). The agreement transfers the responsibility for paying certain pension benefits to approximately 13,000 U.S. retirees, as well as their beneficiaries, from Raytheon's previously discontinued operations. The decision to transfer a portion of Raytheon's pension obligations to Prudential highlights a growing trend among U.S. companies. Corporations that offer defined benefit pension plans are increasingly looking to move some of their obligations due to the increasing risks and costs of maintaining large plans. Peggy McDonald, the senior vice president who led negotiations for Prudential, said, "Prudential is proud to have been chosen to provide retirement security for this group of Raytheon's retirees and their beneficiaries. We are committed to providing them with a seamless transition." As a result of the transfer, Prudntial will be responsible for making continuing payments to the affected retirees and their beneficiaries, in accordance with the group annuity contract.



Scott Kaplan, Prudential's head of Pension Risk Transfer, said, "Prudential is a unique player in the pension risk transfer market, a market that it helped create. Our pension and actuarial expertise, along with our investment capabilities and deep financial resources, help our clients reduce pension risks while allowing them to focus on their core businesses." Since 1923, Prudential has offered pension solutions to companies and organizations. In 2017, Prudential made more than $11 billion in pension payments to more than 1.3 million retirees and their beneficiaries. Prudential is the global leader in pension risk transfer solutions.

About Prudential Financial, Inc. Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), a financial services leader with more than $1 trillion in assets under management as of March 31, 2018, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. For more information, please visit news.prudential.com. Prudential Retirement delivers retirement plan solutions for public, private, and nonprofit organizations. Services include defined contribution, defined benefit and non-qualified deferred compensation recordkeeping, administrative services, investment management, comprehensive employee education and communications, and trustee services, as well as a variety of products and strategies, including institutional investment and income products, pension risk transfer solutions and structured settlement services. With more than 85 years of retirement experience, Prudential Retirement helps meet the needs of 4.3 million participants and annuitants. Prudential Retirement has $427.6 billion in retirement account values as of March 31, 2018. Retirement products and services are provided by The Prudential Insurance Company of America (PICA), Newark, N.J., or its affiliates. 1004886-00001-00 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180726005048/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Leading Online MBA Program Founded by Jack Welch Launches Human Resources Leadership Concentration

The Jack Welch Management Institute (JWMI) launched a human resources leadership concentration for its top-ranked online MBA program aimed at developing professionals who can build leaders and careers within the workplace. Built on the principle that people are a company's most important asset, the new program combines leadership and business skills from the school's core MBA curriculum with essential talent management tools and aims to elevate the role and reputation of HR from a service department to a strategic driver of organizational success. "Human Resources is the most critical function within any organization. What could possibly be more important than who gets hired, developed, promoted, or moved out the door?" Jack Welch, renowned business leader and founder of JWMI, said. "Through our newest concentration, students will use our proven management practices to identify and retain great talent, build careers and help forge the kind of teams that change lives and companies." Welch was known throughout his career as a champion of the human resources function and brings his proven people management practices to this new MBA concentration. Students will gain specialized skills to develop talent and build their company's leadership pipeline, implement differentiation and incentives to retain top talent, align the competencies and behaviors of the workforce with the strategic goals of the organization, and position the HR role as a strategic partner to the C-suite. As part of the Experts of Practice lecture series, students will have the opportunity to learn from Jack Welch, Bill Conaty, former head of Human Resources at GE, and HR experts from today's leading organizations, such as Netflix, Delta Air Lines and the HR Policy Association, as well as executives from Starbucks, McDonald's, Home Depot and more. HR-specialty courses include "Recruit, Develop, Assess, Reward, Retain," "Strategic Partnering with the C-Suite," and "Lead Change by Putting People First." Since becoming part of Strayer University in 2012, JWMI has quickly grown, graduating over 1,200 working professionals. Designed to serve working professionals with a desire to galvanize their careers, Welch built JWMI to drive real results for his students, and sixty-eight percent of the school's MBA students receive a promotion or raise while enrolled.1 JWMI is ranked as a top online MBA program by The Princeton Review, Top MBA and CEO Magazine. JWMI currently enrolls a diverse population of more than 1,800 students, representing 47 states and 56 countries. The Jack Welch Management Institute is accepting applications. Applicants interested in learning more about this new MBA concentration should call 1-855-596-5964 to speak to an admissions officer. The human resources leadership concentration is currently not available in all states. To learn more about the Jack Welch Management Institute and the Human Resources Leadership concentration, visit http://www.jwmi.com or follow @JackWelchMBA on Twitter.







_____________________________ 1 This figure is based on results of 500 JWMI students surveyed during the final quarter of their program between March 2015 and March 2017.

About The Jack Welch Management Institute The core mission of the Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University is to transform the lives of students by providing them with the tools they need to become better leaders, build great teams, and help their organizations win. For more information, please visit http://www.jwmi.com. About Strayer University: Founded in 1892, Strayer University is an institution of higher learning for working adult students. It offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in business administration, accounting, information technology, education, health services administration, public administration, and criminal justice. Strayer University is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104 (267-284-5000, www.msche.org). The Commission is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. For more information, visit www.strayer.edu. ***MEDIA NOTE: To speak with Jack Welch, please contact Mona Amin (202) 557-4920, mona.amin@strayer.edu. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180726005171/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Show Me the Data: Siemens Healthineers Showcases the Role of Digitalization in Solving Lab Challenges at AACC 2018

At the 70th AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo taking place from July 31 to August 2, Siemens (News - Alert) Healthineers will showcase an array of digital offerings that turn data into actionable information to address a variety of clinical and operational challenges facing laboratories. Scalable IT solutions from Siemens Healthineers help lab managers identify and address workflow gaps and optimize their operations for increased savings. Digitalizing Healthcare for Smarter, More Efficient Testing The Siemens Healthineers Atellica Diagnostics IT portfolio helps labs digitalize healthcare with open, scalable solutions, advanced analytics, and business intelligence. The offerings help manage processes, data, inventory, connectivity, and clinical decision support. Siemens Healthineers will preview the soon-to-be-released Atellica Data Manager1 that delivers clinical details lab managers need to make informed decisions. Atellica Data Manager operationalizes data from patient samples and QC results to standardize testing, optimize QC performance, and maximize the potential of autoverification while reducing operator interventions, unwarranted variations and errors. Open and scalable, Atellica Data Manager is built on the powerful CentraLink solution currently in use by 1,500+ laboratories in more than 50 countries to help optimize clinical operations, increase testing volumes and improve turnaround times. Tarja Puolakanaho, a chemist at NordLab in Finland, participated in the beta testing and remarked, "CentraLink is the best middleware we've seen. Atellica Data Manager has all the same qualities as CentraLink and more  and with better usability." Siemens Healthineers will also display Atellica Inventory Manager, which provides automated, real-time control over reagents and consumables across multiple lab locations to reduce inventory costs, save time, and improve efficiencies. Pre-labeled radio frequency identification (RFID) tags simplify inventory check-in, check-out, and consumption tracking, and, when enabled, consumables can be ordered automatically through cloud-enabled software. In addition to offering laboratories centralized control and visibility, Atellica Process Manager now provides advanced analytics and business intelligence capabilities, enabling labs to gain real-time insight into hidden inefficiencies in their workflow. Out-of-the box and interactive reports enable lab managers to assess key metrics such as turnaround times, testing volumes, problem samples, and automation utilization. To address daily point-of-care challenges such as quality control, compliance and operator certification, POCcelerator Data Management System2 offers point-of-care coordinators vendor-neutral, open connectivity to more than 170 devices, giving coordinators visibility into results, quality controls, operators, reagents, and device data. The information is presented in a clear and structured format. Proactive error logs and a traffic-light system indicate potential problems that can be acknowledged with a single click. Turning Data into Insight with the Siemens Healthineers Digital Ecosystem Siemens Healthineers will demonstrate its investment in transforming healthcare through digital innovations with its Digital Ecosystem.3 The open and secured cloud environment combines data from lab and imaging devices, which can be leveraged by applications from Siemens Healthineers and other partner companies to provide solutions to the lab. Siemens Healthineers will showcase its first lab partner XIFIN4 and demonstrate how its Revenue Cycle Management solution helps to optimize the laboratory's financial performance, by identifying potential outreach and outpatient testing reimbursement gaps. Transforming Care Delivery by Delivering Expertise Complementing the company's digital offerings, Siemens Healthineers will feature its Laboratory As A Business (LAAB) Consulting Service designed to address clinical, operational and financial challenges of laboratories, and help position the lab as a decision maker and a powerful contributor to the objectives of value-based care in health systems. LAAB recommends or structures sustainable solutions that help achieve strategic business objectives by leveraging the capabilities of the lab and informatics offerings, expertise, and competencies from Siemens Healthineers. Visit our website to learn more about what Siemens Healthineers is showcasing at booth #2812.







1 Under development. Not Available for Sale. Future availability cannot be guaranteed. 2 POCcelerator Data Management System product availability may vary from country to country and is subject to varying regulatory requirements. 3 The Siemens Healthineers Digital Ecosystem is available for piloting customers in the U.S. only. If the services are not marketed in countries due to regulatory or other reasons, the service offering cannot be guaranteed. 4 Siemens Healthineers is neither the provider nor reseller nor legal manufacturer of the third party applications in Siemens Healthineers Store. Any claims made for third party applications and all warranty obligations are the sole responsibility of the legal manufacturer and not Siemens Healthineers. The third party applications mentioned may not be commercially available in all countries.

Siemens Healthineers enables healthcare providers worldwide to increase value by empowering them on their journey towards expanding precision medicine, transforming care delivery, improving patient experience and digitalizing healthcare. A leader in medical technology, Siemens Healthineers is constantly innovating its portfolio of products and services in its core areas of diagnostic and therapeutic imaging and in laboratory diagnostics and molecular medicine. Siemens Healthineers is also actively developing its digital health services and enterprise services. In fiscal 2017, which ended on September 30, 2017, Siemens Healthineers generated revenue of 13.8 billion and profit of 2.5 billion and has about 48,000 employees worldwide. Further information is available at www.siemens-healthineers.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180726005067/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] SMART Technologies Announces Leading Hardware and Software Lineup for China Market

Strategic agreements with value-added partners will help advance innovation and better outcomes in education and business



CALGARY, Alberta and BEIJING, July 26, 2018 /CNW/ -- SMART Technologies, the world leader in classroom technology, today announced a new product portfolio and strategic cooperative partnerships for the Chinese market. SMART products are used in more than 3 million classrooms around the world, and are already in 70 schools in China. The investment in the Chinese market will support SMART's vision to help students and teachers around the world achieve better learning outcomes. SMART Technologies is the Education Technology brand of the Foxconn Group. Since its acquisition by Foxconn in 2016, SMART has remained committed to its focus of delivering the highest quality education hardware and software. Foxconn has remained committed to SMART, helping to optimize the supply chain to efficiently distribute its solutions and support SMART's continued investment in software. "SMART carries our important mission to support the development of China's smart education industry," said Jacob Chen, Executive Vice President of Foxconn Group. "Foxconn believes that SMART's leadership in the global education market, with more than 30 years of innovation and rich experience in software and hardware development will actively promote the manufacture of future educational technologies in China and promote new concepts and practices." Greg Estell, CEO of SMART Technologies, is confident in the brand's entry into the Chinese market. "Over the years, SMART has worked to change the way knowlede is shared, transforming how people learn and work. We are very excited to bring the world's leading interactive solutions to China together with our partners."



Education market products released at this week's launch include the MX100 and 200 series interactive displays. The SMART Board MX100 offers great value and features all the essential tools educators need to bring the devices students love into any learning environment, including a digital whiteboard and web browser. The MX200 series adds SMART's exclusive iQ embedded computing capabilities, joining together a digital whiteboard, browser and wireless screen sharing. In the Business vertical, the SMART Board MX100 Pro and 7000 Pro series with SMART Meeting Pro software bring unlimited collaboration to the office. Meeting Pro collaboration software allows colleagues to create and capture ideas in the virtually unlimited unbound workspace and make notes over any available application to keep meetings organized, while the embedded computer on the 7000 Pro series adds one-touch access to SMART software applications and collaboration tools. It includes a whiteboard, web browser, and wireless screen sharing from any Android (Google Cast), iOS (AirPlay) and Windows (Miracast) device  without plugging in hardware or installing apps.

In addition to the introduction of the new product portfolio for the Chinese market, SMART is signing strategic cooperative agreements with value-added partners JD.Com, Bonio PaGamO, Beijing Daheng Technology, and Shenzhen Eternal Asia. The agreements cover both the education and business market segments. JD.Com, Chinese e-commerce giant, provides cloud services and technology enablement through JD Cloud, JD.Com's leading cloud computing technology and complete service platform. SMART Technologies' solutions portfolio when combined with the JD Cloud educational platform resources would reach deep into the Chinese education market and provide resource sharing and complementary advantages to both organizations in achieving the joint goal of creating a new type of "smart classroom."

Bonio PaGamO is an online education platform under the Foxconn Group based on gamification. Gamification is a method of imparting knowledge to students in the form of games. SMART intends to combine this platform with existing educational software to engage students and achieve improved academic outcomes.

As the distributor for SMART in the education channel, Beijing Daheng has long been committed to bringing SMART's vision and learning solutions to Chinese users, while also providing local market feedback to SMART, contributing to continuous improvement in product development. With the continued partnership of Beijing Daheng, SMART education solutions are made widely available to the Chinese market to help improve learning outcomes.

Shenzhen Eternal Asia has extensive experience in distribution network and supply chain management. The cooperation between the two organizations will focus on the theme of "new office space" to promote collaborative conference options for enterprise users. About SMART Technologies

SMART is a world leader in classroom technology, providing interactive solutions to help every student and teacher discover and develop the greatness within them. A consistent innovator for more than 25 years, SMART is the inventor of the SMART Board and the developer of SMART Notebook, the world's most popular collaborative learning software, and part of the SMART Learning Suite. With their full range of interconnected displays, software, and accessories, used in more than 3 million classrooms, SMART helps students and teachers around the world achieve better learning outcomes. To learn more, visit smarttech.com. SOURCE SMART Technologies

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Republica Promotes Melissa Richter Bartolini to Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer

Republica, one of America's leading and fastest-growing cross-cultural marketing and communications agencies, today announced the promotion of Melissa Richter Bartolini to senior vice president and chief strategy officer. Bartolini, who was most recently head of strategy, leads the agency's brand strategy, analytics, consumer science, and media planning and buying disciplines. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180726005588/en/ Melissa Richter Bartolini (Photo: Business Wire) "Melissa is a proven leader who has been instrumental in cementing Republica as a strategically-led creative agency," said Jorge A. Plasencia, co-founder, chairman, ad CEO of Republica. "We're thrilled to announce this promotion and welcome her to our executive committee," added Plasencia.



Before Republica, Bartolini was a director of account planning at Razorfish where she helped establish the account planning discipline and led the consumer and brand insight development for clients including AT&T (News - Alert) , JCPenney, Bridgestone Tires, Burt's Bees, and Carnival Cruise Lines. Prior to Razorfish, she was a senior brand planner for McCann Worldgroup where her clients included Coca-Cola, The Island of Aruba, Durex and Johnston & Murphy. At McCann, she was selected to work in the McCann Erickson Mexico City office to assist in re-establishing its brand planning department. While there, she drove strategic positioning for clients including MasterCard (News - Alert) , Nestle, Cadbury/Schweppes, and Chevrolet. Bartolini is a RIVA-certified focus group moderator and has extensive training from the Creative Problem Solving Institute, including facilitating the Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem Solving process. She holds a bachelor's degree from Davidson College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish.

About Republica Republica is one of America's leading and fastest-growing cross-cultural advertising and communications agencies. Based in Miami, Florida, Republica - through its "Rethink Relevant" strategic mantra - provides integrated business advisory services including strategy, research and analytics, consumer science, creative, digital, media planning and buying, social and experiential, to numerous blue-chip clients in the U.S. as well as markets around the world. Founded in 2006, Republica is a member of MAGNET, the world's leading network of independent agencies with partner offices in 100 cities across the globe. For more information, visit republica.net, and follow @RepublicaWorld on social media. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180726005588/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Police Foundation Launches New Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Public Safety

Ensuring the safety of the public is a core mission for all professional law enforcement agencies. In pursuit of this mission, law enforcement leverages many different types of tools, including new and emerging technologies. One of these latest technologies is the small-unmanned aircraft system (sUAS). The Police Foundation is launching a new Center for law enforcement agencies considering the use of small unmanned aircraft systems. As sUAS technology continues to advance and its use becomes increasingly widespread, the goal of the Police Foundation Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Public Safety is to help law enforcement navigate the equally important community policing aspects of adopting the technology, including community concerns related to privacy and civil rights, transparency and accountability, the development of policy and procedure, and operational safety. We conduct scientific research to examine the real-world challenges of policing and public safety, and work closely with policy staff in the translation of scientific findings and development of evidence-based recommendations for the field. The website is intended as a resource to help law enforcement agencies make an informed decision on whether to acquire sUAS, and if they do, how to develop policies and procedures that will help garner public support, avoid pitfalls, and build community trust. The website is also intended to provide insight for the public on the advantages of sUAS for public safety, and the many considerations that go into sUAS program implementation. While this type of technology has significant potential to improve operational efficiency as well as officer and community safety, there are understandable and legitimate concerns about privacy risks. To address these concerns and to improv sUAS programs, law enforcement agencies considering adopting sUAS technology are encouraged to follow the principles of community policing in their adoption and to engage their communities early on in the decision to implement a program.



"sUAS technologies provide law enforcement agencies with unique capabilities for rapid, safe, economical and effective responses to a wide variety of public safety tactical challenges," said Jim Bueermann, President of the Police Foundation and former Chief of Police in Redlands, California. "Harnessing these capabilities requires not only the skills to operate the technology, but the input and understanding of the community and a pledge to operate the technology in a transparent manner. Taking the time to engage the community, address concerns and gain input from the community is exactly what community policing is all about." The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, U.S. Department of Justice, supported the development of this website and numerous other resources including an infographic, Five Things You Need to Know about sUAS in Law Enforcement publication, and guidebook.

Established in 1970, the Police Foundation is a national, non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to improving policing through innovation and science. For 48 years, the Foundation has conducted research on all aspects of policing and is leading the way in promoting and sharing evidence-based practices and innovation among law enforcement. The Foundation is currently working with hundreds of police agencies nationwide, as well as internationally, providing research and translation, training, technical assistance, and modern technology implementation. The Foundation is a leader in officer safety and wellness, community policing, open-data, investigations, and law-enforcement technology. The Foundation's main goal is to improve the way police do their work and the delivery of police services, in order to benefit officers and the communities they serve, as well as reduce crime. For media-related questions and inquiries related to this website, the Center and the Police Foundation's sUAS work, please contact James Burch, Executive Vice President, at jburch@policefoundation.org or at 202-833-1460. For non-media questions and inquiries, please contact Maria Valdovinos, Senior Research Associate, at mvaldovinos@policefoundation.org. You may also visit the Police Foundation website at www.policefoundation.org for more information. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180726005595/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Logz.io Releases DevOps Pulse 2018 for SysAdmin Day, Revealing Most DevOps Departments Fall Short in Security

BOSTON and TEL AVIV, Israel, July 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Logz.io, the leader in AI-powered log analysis, releases the results of their annual DevOps Pulse survey in honor of SysAdmin Day 2018, a day dedicated to honoring the work of SysAdmins and DevOps professionals across the globe. This year, the survey emphasized security and compliance in light of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) enforcement and worldwide concerns over data privacy and the growing threat landscape. The results shed light on a significant gap between the emerging requirements facing DevOps professionals and the level of preparation. The DevOps Pulse was launched in 2016 to help the DevOps community understand various trends in DevOps methodology, tooling, and more. Each year the survey focuses on a specific issue relevant to the field. The DevOps Pulse 2018, which was launched on May 31, 2018, was open for over a month, closing on July 1, 2018. Over 1,000 DevOps Engineers, SysAdmins, Developers, and other IT professionals from across the globe participated. The questions pertained to the usage of specific DevOps related technologies and methodologies as well as challenges in security implementation for DevOps teams. Primary insights from the DevOps Pulse include: The tech industry is not ready for GDPR, leaving companies vulnerable to tremendous liabilities and risks: 39% openly admit they are not GDPR-ready or are still working on it.





39% openly admit they are not GDPR-ready or are still working on it. li>DevOps professionals are responsible for security operations in their organizations, yet they lack the tools and knowledge to handle it effectively: 54% of respondents shared their DevOps department handles security incidents, but 76% do not yet practice DevSecOps and 71% do not feel their team has adequate knowledge of DevSecOps best practices.







The tech industry does not recognize its own diversity problem: 78% of respondents believe their organizations are diverse and 90% believe there are equal opportunities for all genders, yet more than 94% of respondents are male.





78% of respondents believe their organizations are diverse and 90% believe there are equal opportunities for all genders, yet more than 94% of respondents are male. Kubernetes has taken over DevOps, with adoption growing tremendously over the past two years: In 2016, 72% of respondents did not use container orchestration tools. Today, more than 60% use container orchestration tools, with almost 40% using Kubernetes.







In 2016, 72% of respondents did not use container orchestration tools. Today, more than 60% use container orchestration tools, with almost 40% using Kubernetes. CI/CD strategy plays a crucial role in DevOps teams today: 91% are already in the process or thinking about implementing CI and 85% already in the process or thinking about implementing CD.





91% are already in the process or thinking about implementing CI and 85% already in the process or thinking about implementing CD. Serverless technology has grown tremendously in just one years time: Today, 42% of IT professionals use serverless technology, growing more than 12% in just a year. As GDPR was the most discussed topic over the last few years, we wanted to use this years DevOps Pulse to examine how DevOps teams are tackling security issues and identify trends and opportunities for improvement, says Logz.io CEO, Tomer Levy. The results showed us that although DevOps teams are by and large responsible for at least a portion of their organizations security operations, DevOps teams have yet to fully integrate security into their regimen. With 45 questions pertaining to DevOps trends and security, the DevOps Pulse 2018 is the most extensive report produced by Logz.io to date. Access the report here or contact lauren@logz.io for more information on the study. About Logz.io Logz.io is an intelligent log analytics platform that combines the popular ELK stack as a cloud service and sophisticated machine learning. Logz.io derives insights from machine data, user behavior and community knowledge in a scalable, production-ready platform that enables organizations to resolve issues faster and take operations to the next level. Lauren Sirt

lauren@logz.io

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Website Performance Assessment for a Media Industry Client Helped Enhance Search Engine Visibility | Quantzig

Quantzig, a pure-play analytics solutions provider, has announced the completion of their latest website performance assessment on the media industry. A leading media industry client wanted to assess the quality of their website and enhance search engine visibility. They also wanted to implement effective strategies that would help them enhance customer retention and loyalty. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180726005622/en/ Website performance assessment for a media industry client helped enhance search engine visibility (Graphic: Business Wire) According to the media industry experts at Quantzig, "Protecting both the content and integrity of consumers is now a powerful imperative for media companies. Companies in the media industry must prioritize and plan cybersecurity to protect the customer data and assets." Request a proposal to see how Quantzig's solutions can help you.



The operations of media companies have changed drastically over the past few years. Unprecedented amount of video is now created to suit different types of devices. This is one of the major factors fueling the growth of over the top (OTT) content providers. Furthermore, the advent of connected devices and social media has further increased the demand in the media industry. The website performance assessment helped the client to assess website performance and develop precise strategies for immediate implementation on the website. The client was also able to identify the weaknesses and strengths of their website and evaluate the ease of accessing their webpage.

To know more about the benefits of website performance assessment in the media industry, request a demo This website performance assessment provided benefits that helped the client to: Develop precise strategies to gain a competitive edge in the market

Improve the website's online marketing potential

To know more about the benefits of website performance assessment, get in touch This website performance assessment offered predictive insights on: Determining how users from different geographic locations would experience a website

Identifying website performance monitoring tools to further enhance the quality of the webpage

To gain relevant insights and understand the scope of our research, Request a proposal View the complete website performance assessment summary here: https://www.quantzig.com/content/social-media-analytic/media-company-website-performance About Quantzig Quantzig is a global analytics and advisory firm with offices in the US, UK, Canada, China, and India. For more than 15 years, we have assisted our clients across the globe with end-to-end data modeling capabilities to leverage analytics for prudent decision making. Today, our firm consists of 120+ clients, including 45 Fortune 500 companies. For more information on all of Quantzig's services and the solutions they have provided to Fortune 500 clients across all industries, please contact us. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180726005622/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] VIRTUAL HIGH SCHOOL, FLORIDA VIRTUAL SCHOOL AND D2L COMPLETE AMBITIOUS CURRICULUM PROJECT

FUSION 2018, Houston, TX, July 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Virtual High School (VHS), Florida Virtual School (FLVS) and D2L have completed an 18-month course development project to write, design, and develop 36 elementary courses from Kindergarten to Grade 5. The project  which produced 34,903 pages of content  is one of the largest, content-development projects to take place in such a short timeframe in North America. VHS joined with D2L to respond to a Request for Proposal (RFP) released by FLVS in 2016. FLVS released the RFP following a decision to build out its own elementary course content, rather than leasing content from another provider. With 20 years of experience in course design and development for VHSs own course offerings, D2L knew VHS was uniquely positioned to be successful. VHS responded to the RFP as a vendor for content development services and was ranked as the top vendor by FLVS after a rigorous review process. The announcement to award the entire project to VHS, in partnership with D2L, was posted by FLVS in August 2016. The completion of the Elementary Course Development Project is a major milestone for VHS, D2L, and FLVS. VHS and FLVS both built large teams to write, develop, and review course content in eight different subject areas (Math, Technology, Science, Physical Education, English, Spanish, Social Studies, and Art). D2L assisted in the creation of custom interactives and graphic assets for use in the courses. The final product of this project is a suite of engaging, interactive, and media-rich online courses to be used by FLVS in the United States and worldwide by any of its students. FLVS, VHS, and D2L are excited for the launch of the course suite for the 2018-2019 school year and for students to engage with the courses created over the past 18 months. QUICK FACTS: VHS is a private online high school based out of Bayfield, Ontario with 9000 enrollments expected this year and an expanding content development department

FLVS is a public online school based out of Orlando, Florida

For more information about FLVS, visit https://flvs.net/

For more information about Virtual High School, visit www.virtualhighschool.com ABOUT D2L

D2L believes learning is the foundation upon hich all progress and achievement rests. Working closely with organizations globally, D2L has transformed the way millions of people learn online and in the classroom. Learn more about D2L for schools, higher education and businesses at www.D2L.com .



ABOUT BRIGHTSPACE Brightspace is a cloud-based learning platform that makes online and blended learning easy, flexible and smart. Brightspace is a quantum leap beyond traditional Learning Management Systems (LMS)  it is easy to drag-and-drop content to create engaging courses, supports all mobile devices , has industry-leading up-time and is accessible for all learners . Plus, Brightspace enables the future of learning with a gaming engine, adaptive learning , video management , intelligent agents, templated interactives for course design, full support for outcomes or competency-based learning , and actionable learning analytics .

D2Ls Brightspace was recently named the #1 LMS in Higher Ed by Ovum Research and #1 in Adaptive Learning by eLearning Magazine. In addition, Aragon Research included D2L in its highly coveted Hot Vendors In Learning list . ABOUT VHS

Virtual High School is an online course development company based out of Bayfield, Ontario, Canada that specializes in custom course development work. VHS has developed over 125 online courses ranging from Kindergarten to Grade 12 , including its work with FLVS, and plans to expand its course development services in the future. VHS is also a fully online high school offering Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) credits to students worldwide. VHS was created when its founder saw a need for a different approach to education that would allow flexibility and a student-centered approach to learning . Today, VHSs model supports learners of all types, with students able to start any day of the year and complete courses at their own pace, on their own schedules. VHS is expecting 9000 enrollments in 2018 and has issued more than 50,000 OSSD credits since 2001. ABOUT FLVS

Florida Virtual School (FLVS) is a fully accredited, statewide public school district offering more than 150 courses to Kindergarten-12 students. Its certified teachers use a variety of personalized instructional programs to create individualized educational plans for every student. Since 1997, FLVS students have successfully completed more than 3.6 million semester enrollments. FLVS also provides its courseware and expertise to online and blended learning programs across the nation. Services include content licensing, FLVS Global School, District Virtual Schools, digital learning labs, and professional development. As a not-for-profit, FLVS reinvests revenue into the development of new educational technologies and the creation of the highest-quality courses, benefiting students in Florida and beyond. To learn more, visit www.flvs.net . FLVS PRESS CONTACT

Tania Clow

Manager, Communications

407-513-3627, tclow@flvs.net VHS PRESS CONTACT

Kim Loebach

Director of Operations, Virtual High School

866-679-9377 ext. 310

Kim.Loebach@VirtualHighSchool.com D2L PRESS CONTACT

Virginia Jamieson

Vice President of PR and AR, D2L Ltd.

650-279-8619

Virginia.Jamieson@D2L.com



Twitter: @D2L

 2017 D2L Corporation.

The D2L family of companies includes D2L Corporation, D2L Ltd, D2L Australia Pty Ltd, D2L Europe Ltd, D2L Asia Pte Ltd, and D2L Brasil Solucoes de Tecnologia para Educacao Ltda.

All D2L marks are trademarks of D2L Corporation. Please visit D2L.com/trademarks for a list of D2L marks.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Momentum Telecom's Cloud Voice Gets Spotlight at Independent Show

As the most experienced, successful and tenured provider attending, Momentum is eager to share tools for success with operators

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. , July 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Momentum Telecom plans to continue their leadership in shaping the cable landscape at The Independent Show by further evangelizing and demonstrating Momentums industry-best cloud voice, broadband management and support services. The show will be hosted by the National Cable Television Cooperative at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim California from July 29  August 1, 2018 and Momentums expertise will be on display at booth #455. Cloud voice is sending reverberations throughout the cable industry as an operation-changing offering. However, finding the right partner is paramount for achieving cloud voices true scalability, capability and success. For exactly this reason, more than 325 operators, including 18 of the top 50, have chosen to partner with Momentum. Time and time again, weve seen how operators have been able to use cloud voice as both a stabilizing force and a powerful catalyst for success, said Vice President of White Label Sales and Account Management Colin Scott. As the established leader in this space, were excited to show our technologys ability to enable operators to thrive. The roadmap to success with Momentums cloud voice is further simplified by the companys recent partnership with National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC), an information technology cooperative that develops, implements and supports enterprise software to more than 860 telecom service providers, electric cooperatives and public power utilities. NISCs industry leading technology solutions include customer care & billing, accounting, operations, automated mailroom services plus many other solution.



Our partnerships are crucial to providing our members superior service, says David Bonnett, NISC vice president of Product Management. With this collaboration, NISCs software solutions will integrate seamlessly with Momentums cloud-based solutions, offering NISC members enhanced broadband services and a one-stop-shop for billing, payment and service offerings. This partnership between two industry leaders is going to greatly increase the access to advanced technology and powerful tools that are needed to succeed in todays market. Additionally, the integrations that will come from these two companies are going to dramatically streamline business processes and put operators in prime position to grow and to thrive, said Momentum VP of White Label Tara Kelley

For more information about Momentum Telecom or to discuss partnership opportunities email sales@momentumtelecom.com or call 877-251-5554. About Momentum Telecom

Momentum Telecom is a premier provider of Business Voice, BBX Broadband Management and Unified Communications solutions. Momentums solutions offer smart, customizable cloud-based applications including voice, video and collaboration tools that enhance business productivity and efficiency for direct customers and more than 500 nationwide white label and channel partners. Momentum Telecom is committed to delivering best-in-class products backed by a geo-redundant network paired with industry-leading uptime and customer service. Headquartered in Birmingham, AL, Momentum Telecom has regional offices actively serving customers across the United States. To learn more visit momentumtelecom.com or connect with us on Facebook, Google Plus, Twitter, LinkedIn or visit our blog. At Momentum Telecom, our mission is to enable others to thrive by combining smarter technology with seasoned experts while delivering unmatched customer experience. About NISC

National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC) is an information technology cooperative that develops, implements and supports software and hardware solutions for our Members/Customers. We deliver advanced solutions, services and support to more than 860 independent telephone companies, electric cooperatives and other public power entities. NISC is an industry leader providing information technology solutions including billing, accounting, operations, automated mailroom services, third-party integration as well as many other solutions. With facilities in Mandan, N.D., Lake Saint Louis, Mo., Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Shawano, Wis., NISC and its subsidiaries employ more than 1,200 professionals between the four locations. Additional information about NISC can be found at www.NISC.coop. Media Contact Beth Hildreth

bhildreth@momentumtelecom.com

315-579-7112



[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Government of Canada provides research grants to reduce air emissions from rail transportation

WATERLOO, ON, July 26, 2018 /CNW/ - Clean growth is essential for Canada's transportation system  to meet our emission reduction targets, grow our economy, and build resilience to a changing climate. The Government of Canada is committed to protecting air quality and ensuring Canadians have healthy communities in which to live, work and raise their families. To achieve this, Transport Canada established the Clean Rail Academic Grant Program. The program provides funding to support academic research programs that are developing technologies and practices to reduce air emissions from the rail sector. The Honourable Bardish Chagger, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Member of Parliament for Waterloo, on behalf of the Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, today announced an investment of $25,000 for a University of Waterloo project called "Hydrogen hybrid locomotive and refueling design for Ontario." The project will study costs, benefits and new designs for clean rail technologies, including hybrid batteries and fuel cell technologies. She also announced an investment of $50,000 for the University of Ontario Institute of Technology to undertake two projects. The first project is called "Feasibility studies on novel combined gas turbine and fuel cell systems for clean rail applications." The project will evaluate the potential of new power-train technologies for rail applications, including fuel cell and gas turbine systems. The second project, called "Active levitation and propulsion system for hyperloop transpor", will investigate an electrified system to propel and levitate a hyperloop pod  eliminating any frictional losses and related emissions.



Quotes "I am pleased that we are taking concrete action to a cleaner, more innovative economy that reduces emissions and protects the environment. Our clean transportation efforts will achieve emission reductions, improve human health, and provide environmental benefits, while supporting clean growth and generating jobs for Canadians. We will all benefit by reducing rail emissions and by supporting research of new and emerging technologies."

The Honourable Marc Garneau

Minister of Transport "Canada is in the midst of an essential transition to a clean growth economy. Clean technologies are a key component of Canada's approach to promoting sustainable economic growth. Through projects like these, regions like Waterloo play a leading role in transforming Canada into a low-carbon economy, reducing rail emissions and generating jobs for Canadians. With these grants, our government is proud to support innovative research that will be shared with Canadians and the world." The Honourable Bardish Chagger

Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Member of Parliament for Waterloo Quick Facts The Clean Rail Academic Grant Program provides funding to support academic research programs that are developing new technologies and practices that reduce air emissions from the rail sector.

Under Round 5 of the Program, 10 research projects will receive a grant of up to $25,000 . Backgrounder Clean Rail Academic Grant Program (Round 5) Associated Link Clean Rail Academic Grant Program Transport Canada is online at www.tc.gc.ca. Subscribe to e-news or stay connected through RSS, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr to keep up to date on the latest from Transport Canada. This news release may be made available in alternative formats for persons living with visual disabilities. SOURCE Transport Canada

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Burns & McDonnell Reaches a Milestone Hiring its First Alumna from The Battle of the Brains K-12 STEM Competition

KANSAS CITY, Miss., July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Burns & McDonnell has hired its first alumna from the Burns & McDonnell Battle of the Brains, a K-12 competition promoting science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Olivia Haney is now interning at Burns & McDonnell as an environmental scientist. The Olathe North High School graduate was part of two grand prize-winning Battle of the Brains teams. "Burns & McDonnell helped me transform my interest in STEM into a career path," says Olivia Haney, environmental scientist intern, Burns & McDonnell. "The time we spent with the STEM professionals at Burns & McDonnell and Science City helped me discover my interest in environmental science. Now, I've had the opportunity to work side by side with the STEM professionals who inspired me as a high schooler. It's been an awesome experience!" Launched in 2011, the Burns & McDonnell Battle of the Brains is a K-12 STEM competition where students compete for a chance to win grant money and the opportunity to work with STEM professionals to build a $1 million exhibit at Science City. Haney's Olathe North High School team won the inaugural competition producing the first Battle of the Brains exhibit at Science City, Science of Energy: Unplugged. She was also on the winning Olathe North team in 2014 that designed the water-focused exhibit, Every Last Drop.



"Having a student who participated in the Battle of the Brains program come to work as a STEM professional at Burns & McDonnell is the ultimate dream," says Julee Koncak, Burns & McDonnell Foundation director. "There are simply more STEM jobs than there are people to fill them. Our mission is to introduce kids to STEM and the many types of careers available within this industry. We show them how they can make an incredible impact on our world  touching everything from technology to infrastructure." Koncak says Haney is one of 18,000 students who have participated in Battle of the Brains over the past seven years. Now, the Kansas State University senior, double-majoring in Chemistry and Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, is supporting future STEM leaders through her continued involvement with Battle of the Brains. Haney recently met with the current winners of the Battle of the Brains, students at Grandview's FOCUS program at the Center for Alternative Instructional Resources (CAIR). The fifth through seventh graders are working with STEM professionals now to bring their winning proposal about the brain to life at Science City. This will be the fifth Battle of the Brains exhibit set to open at Science City in early 2019. Haney hopes to be there once again to cheer on the newest Battle of the Brain class, that may include the next Burns & McDonnell employee.

To learn more about how to get involved with Burns & McDonnell Battle of the Brains, as well as additional facts about the program, click here. For photos and support materials, please visit our MEDIA KIT. About Burns & McDonnell Burns & McDonnell is a family of companies made up of more than 6,000 engineers, architects, construction professionals, scientists, consultants and entrepreneurs with offices across the country and throughout the world. We strive to create amazing success for our clients and amazing careers for our employee-owners. Burns & McDonnell is 100 percent employee-owned and is proud to be on Fortune's 2018 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For. For more information, visit burnsmcd.com. Contact: Kristi Widmar, Burns & McDonnell

816-448-7379

klwidmar@burnsmcd.com View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/burns--mcdonnell-reaches-a-milestone-hiring-its-first-alumna-from-the-battle-of-the-brains-k-12-stem-competition-300687315.html SOURCE Burns & McDonnell

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018]

NATIONAL PARK COLLEGE CHOOSES BRIGHTSPACE

FUSION 2018, Houston, TX, July 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- National Park College , the fourth largest community college inArkansas, has selected D2Ls Brightspace after an extensive search for a new learning management system (LMS) to serve its population of approximately 3400 credit students annually.

Brightspace was selected for several reasons:

Ease of Use: When faculty and students tested Brightspace, they found it easier to use, cleaner and more intuitive than other systems.

When faculty and students tested Brightspace, they found it easier to use, cleaner and more intuitive than other systems. Features: Brightspace offers more features than the competitors without the need to add features at an additional price.

Brightspace offers more than the competitors without the need to add features at an additional price. Importing Data: Brightspace allows the college to do a clean import of courses with little data cleanup.

Initially, we didnt want to make a change but the longer we used Brightspace the more we liked it, said Dr. Donna Kay, Director of Instructional Learning and Development. We want to provide the best possible learning experience for our students, so ease of use, flexibility and the powerful suite of tools that Brightspace makes available for our learners is absolutely key. They won us over, completely.

Over the next year, National Park College will train faculty on the new system. Faculty will use the time to fully immerse themselves in the student experience  which is a novel approach to implementing a new LMS devised by college leadership.

More information about National Park College can e found here .







ABOUT NATIONAL PARK COLLEGE

National Park College was established in 1973 and is located in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The College enrolls over 7,500 credit and non-credit students per year. NPC is a comprehensive two-year institution offering associate degrees and certificates as well as continuing education, community services and workforce training .

ABOUT BRIGHTSPACE

Brightspace is a cloud-based learning platform that makes online and blended learning easy, flexible and smart. Brightspace is a quantum leap beyond traditional Learning Management Systems (LMS)  it is easy to drag-and-drop content to create engaging courses, supports all mobile devices , has industry-leading up-time and is accessible for all learners . Plus, Brightspace enables the future of learning with a gaming engine, adaptive learning , video management , intelligent agents, templated interactives for course design, full support for outcomes or competency-based learning , and actionable learning analytics .

D2Ls Brightspace was recently named the #1 LMS in Higher Ed by Ovum Research and #1 in Adaptive Learning by eLearning Magazine. In addition, Aragon Research included D2L in its highly coveted Hot Vendors In Learning list .

ABOUT D2L

D2L believes learning is the foundation upon which all progress and achievement rests. Working closely with organizations globally, D2L has transformed the way millions of people learn online and in the classroom. Learn more about D2L for schools, higher education and businesses at www.D2L.com .

D2L PRESS CONTACT

Virginia Jamieson

Vice President of PR and AR, D2L Ltd.

650-279-8619

Virginia.Jamieson@D2L.com

Twitter: @D2L

 2018 D2L Corporation.

The D2L family of companies includes D2L Corporation, D2L Ltd, D2L Australia Pty Ltd, D2L Europe Ltd, D2L Asia Pte Ltd, and D2L Brasil Solucoes de Tecnologia para Educacao Ltda.

All D2L marks are trademarks of D2L Corporation. Please visit D2L.com/trademarks for a list of D2L marks.[July 26, 2018] Dynatrace Announces Software Intelligence Support for Google Cloud Platform

Software intelligence company, Dynatrace, today announced at Google (News - Alert) Cloud Next 2018, automated support for Google Cloud Platform (GCP) environments. With this announcement, operations teams can extend the scope of the Dynatrace platform to workloads in Google Cloud, eliminating manual and siloed monitoring of independent Kubernetes clusters, and enabling automatic AI-assisted answers to performance problems across GCP workloads. "Historically, due to the complexity of enterprise cloud environments, monitoring solutions for GCP have operated in siloes, focusing only on Kubernetes clusters or workloads independently. This has rendered organizations unable to understand how performance problems within one application or container may be impacting the performance of others. As a result, enterprises can easily overlook performance issues that put the software performance at risk," said Alois Reitbauer, VP, Chief Technology Strategist, Dynatrace. Dynatrace is one of the only solutions that provides out-of-the-box distributed tracing for Kubernetes and Google App Engine stacks as well as full-stack Kubernetes Container Optimized OS support. These capabilities enable deeper insights into all areas of GCP environments, in turn allowing businesses to quickly troubleshoot performance issues, optimize container workloads and more efficiently scale cloud operations. The new capabilities also provide anomaly detection and problem causation determination based on Dynatrace's AI engine, to augment the metrics that are natively provided in Google Cloud by Stackdriver. As a result, businesses can gain a holistic understanding of the health of their increasingly complex IT environment more easily. "GCP is becoming an integral part of enterprise cloud strategies, with adoption increasing 100 percent year-over-year. We're seeing this growth within our customer base, driven largely in part by the increase in Kubernetes and Cloud Native Computing Foundation projects," said Alois Reitbauer, VP, Chief Technology Strategist, Dynatrace. "But as businesses migrate to these platforms, they're faced with extremely complex, distributed environments that are challenging to monitor. We are unique in our ability to cater to both cloud-native stacks, and traditional hybrid cloud stacks, providing a single all-in-one platform with precise AI-assisted answers."



With this announcement Dynatrace extends its automated support to all major cloud environments, including GCP, Microsoft (News - Alert) Azure, AWS, Red Hat OpenShift, Pivotal Cloud Foundry and all other leading cloud and container technologies. To learn more, visit Dynatrace's booth (W1100) at Google Cloud Next 2018 in San Francisco from July 24th-26th, or visit https://www.dynatrace.com/technologies/cloud-and-microservices/google-cloud-platform-monitoring/.

About Dynatrace

Dynatrace is the leader in Software Intelligence, purpose built for the enterprise cloud. It's the only AI-assisted, full stack and completely automated intelligence platform that provides deep insight (answers, not data) into dynamic, web-scale, hybrid cloud ecosystems. That's why the world's leading brands, including 72 of the Fortune 100, trust Dynatrace to optimise enterprise cloud operations, release better software faster, and deliver perfect user experiences. Curious to see why we are the market leader? Visit https://www.dynatrace.com/trial/ for a free 15-day Dynatrace trial. To learn more about how Dynatrace can help your business, visit www.dynatrace.com, visit our blog and follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) @dynatrace. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180726005813/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Media Advisory: Hudson Institute to Host Discussion on Department of Defense Cloud Computing

WASHINGTON, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On July 30, Hudson Institute will host a discussion on the Department of Defense's July 26 decision to officially move ahead with a single cloud provider for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI). Hudson's independent Task Force on Federal IT Procurement  comprised of leading technologists and policy experts  will assess the impact of this decision on the future of the cloud industry and the IT procurement landscape. They will also discuss emerging issues of best practice, security and innovation surrounding JEDI, and how to maximize performance, transparency, and taxpayer value in this new era of cloud computing. Members of the press can RSVP to Hudson Institute Press Secretary, Carolyn Stewart, at cstewart@hudson.org or (202) 974-6456. What: "Requirements for a Successful Military Cloud: Best Practices, Innovatin and Security" panel discussion

"Requirements for a Successful Military Cloud: Best Practices, Innovatin and Security" panel discussion When: July 30, 2018 , 12:00pm to 1:30pm

, Where: Hudson Institute

Hudson Institute 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 400

Washington, D.C. 20004

20004 Why: On July 26 , the Department of Defense (DoD) released a final Request for Proposals that officially declared the Pentagon would award a single contract for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud computing initiative. However, a single award contract, as opposed to a multi-cloud solution, may limit DoD's future ability to innovate, secure, and extract maximum value from data.

On , the Department of Defense (DoD) released a final Request for Proposals that officially declared the Pentagon would award a single contract for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud computing initiative. However, a single award contract, as opposed to a multi-cloud solution, may limit DoD's future ability to innovate, secure, and extract maximum value from data. Who:

Roger Waldron , President, Coalition for Government Procurement

, President, Coalition for Government Procurement

William Schneider , Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute, former Chairman of the Defense Science Board (2001-09) and former Under Secretary of State for Security Assistance, Science and Technology (1982-6).

, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute, former Chairman of the Defense Science Board (2001-09) and former Under Secretary of State for Security Assistance, Science and Technology (1982-6).

Tod Lindberg , Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute



RSVP : https://www.hudson.org/events/1582-requirements-for-a-successful-military-cloud-best-practices-innovation-and-security72018 Hudson Institute is a research organization promoting American leadership and global engagement for a secure, free, and prosperous future. http://www.hudson.org

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/media-advisory-hudson-institute-to-host-discussion-on-department-of-defense-cloud-computing-300687444.html SOURCE Hudson Institute

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] City of Manassas Secures $13.75 Million Investment and 135 New Jobs

Governor Ralph Northam announced today that Aurora Flight Sciences, a pioneer in unmanned aircraft and autonomous flight, will invest more than $13.75 million in the City of Manassas (The City). Acquired by Boeing (News - Alert) (BA:NYSE) last year, the company will expand its City of Manassas headquarters to include a state-of-the-art robotics facility with a research and development lab, a light manufacturing unit, professional office space and a hangar. With more than 450 current employees, this expansion will create an additional 135 high-wage jobs in a community that has become a regional hub for industries in aerospace and defense. These new jobs will pay an average salary of more than $100k a year. The City of Manassas and Virginia faced fierce competition against Puerto Rico, Alabama, and West Virginia for the company's investment. This is the second major expansion for Aurora, a testament to the City's leading role in advanced manufacturing. With its small-town charm and big-city opportunities, the City of Manassas is attracting Virginia's top talent. It's a regional employment center in Northern Virginia with more than 20,000 people commuting into this City of 43,000 each day to work at jobs in financial services, health care, homeland security and defense contracting. It also has the 4th highest concentration of professional and technical jobs in the Comonwealth, a current unemployment rate of 2.3%, and the 16th highest per capita income in Virginia.



"In Virginia we're proud of our leading position in the aerospace industry, and that is only strengthened by companies like Aurora Flight Sciences that continue to grow and thrive in our Commonwealth," said Governor Northam. "More than 275 aerospace firms call the Commonwealth home, thanks to our world-class workforce, competitive business climate, and technology infrastructure. Virginia is proud to partner with Aurora in this next phase of growth, and we thank them for choosing to expand in Manassas." "Aurora is a vital part of the Manassas business community and exemplifies everything a locality wants from its corporate partners - steady growth, community engagement, and great jobs - helping make us a regional employment center with one of the highest percentages of high wage jobs in professional and technical services in Virginia, especially for companies engaged in the fields of aerospace and advanced manufacturing," said Mayor Harry J. Parrish II. "I am honored that Aurora has again chosen to expand its operations here."

About the City of Manassas Department of Economic Development The City of Manassas fosters economic development through collaborative partnerships, sustainable fiscal management and supportive City services. The Department of Economic Development is directly responsible for business attraction, retention, expansion and tourism initiatives in the City. As a resourceful and collaborative organization, we work in partnership with our key stakeholders to ensure that we have what businesses need; including a highly educated and technical workforce with access to major universities and first-class training providers. We take an active leadership role in all that we do, serving as a community builder, collaborator and agent of economic growth. For help with your business needs please visit: https://choosemanassas.org/ or call 703.257.8881. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180726005902/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Mettler-Toledo International Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2018 Results

COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Mettler-Toledo International Inc. (NYSE: MTD) today announced second quarter results for 2018. Provided below are the highlights: Reported sales increased 10% as compared with the prior year. In local currency, sales increased 7% in the quarter as currency benefited reported sales growth by 3%. Net earnings per diluted share as reported (EPS) were $4.31 , compared with $3.84 in the prior-year period. Adjusted EPS was $4.65 , an increase of 19% over the prior-year amount of $3.92 . Adjusted EPS is a non-GAAP measure, and we have included a reconciliation to EPS on the last page of the attached schedules. Second Quarter Results Olivier Filliol, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We had very good sales growth in the quarter against an excellent prior year. Our sales performance was broad-based with China being especially robust. We also achieved another quarter of strong EPS growth." GAAP Results

EPS in the quarter was $4.31, compared with the prior-year amount of $3.84. As compared with the prior year, total reported sales increased 10% to $722.0 million. By region, reported sales increased 4% in the Americas, 14% in Europe and 15% in Asia/Rest of World. Earnings before tax amounted to $143.6 million as compared to $126.8 million in the prior year. Non-GAAP Results

Adjusted EPS was $4.65, an increase of 19% over the prior-year amount of $3.92. As compared to the prior year, total sales in local currency increased 7% as currency benefited reported sales growth by 3%. By region, local currency sales increased 4% in the Americas, 7% in Europe and 9% in Asia/Rest of World. Adjusted operating income amounted to $169.3 million, a 15% increase from the prior-year amount of $147.4 million. Adjusted EPS and Adjusted operating income are non-GAAP measures. Reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures are provided in the attached schedules. Six Month Results GAAP Results

EPS in the first six months was $7.88, compared with the prior-year amount of $7.32. As compared with the prior-year period, total reported sales increased 11% to $1.383 billion. By region, reported sales increased 5% in the Americas, 13% in Europe and 16% in Asia/Rest of World. Earnings before tax amounted to $261.0 million as compared to $240.7 million in the prior year. Non-GAAP Results

Adjusted EPS was $8.38, an increase of 16% over the prior-year amount of $7.25. As compared to the prior-year period, total sales in local currency increased 6% as currency benefited reported sales growth by 5%. By region, local currency sales increased 5% in the Americas, 3% in Europe and 10% in Asia/Rest of World. Adjusted operating income amounted to $308.8 million, a 13% increase from the prior-year amount of $273.9 million. Adjusted EPS and Adjusted operating income are non-GAAP measures. Reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures are provided in the attached schedules. Outlook The Company said that, based on its assessment of market conditions today, management anticipates local currency sales growth in 2018 will be approximately 6%. This sales growth is expected to result in Adjusted EPS in the range of $20.10 to $20.25, which reflects growth of 14% to 15%. This guidance remains the same as previous guidance. Management anticipates that local currency sales growth in the third quarter 2018 will be approximately 6%, and Adjusted EPS is forecasted to be in the range of $4.97 to $5.02, an increase of 14% to 15%. While the Company has provided an outlook for local currency sales growth and Adjusted EPS, it has not provided an outlook for reported sales growth or EPS as it would require an estimate of currency exchange fluctuations and non-recurring items, which are not yet known. The Company noted in making its outlook that economic uncertainty remains in certain regions of the world and market conditions are subject to change. Conclusion Filliol concluded, "Demand remains solid in our markets and we continue to achieve favorable results from our growth initiatives. Our sales growth achievement in the first half of the year was especially impressive given the excellent growth in the prior-year period. Earnings growth was very good in the first half and, assuming market conditions do not deteriorate, we remain confident in our outlook for the remainder of the year. We believe we are well-positioned to continue to gain share and drive further earnings growth through new product launches, sales and marketing programs, sales investments, and margin and productivity initiatives." Other Matters The Company will host a conference call to discuss its quarterly results today (Thursday, July 26) at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. To hear a live webcast or replay of the call, visit the investor relations page on the Company's website at www.mt.com/investors. The presentation referenced in the conference call will be located on the website prior to the call. METTLER TOLEDO (NYSE: MTD) is a leading global supplier of precision instruments and services. We have strong leadership positions in all of our businesses and believe we hold global number-one market positions in most of them. We are recognized as an innovation leader and our solutions are critical in key R&D, quality control, and manufacturing processes for customers in a wide range of industries including life sciences, food, and chemicals. Our sales and service network is one of the most extensive in the industry. Our products are sold in more than 140 countries and we have a direct presence in approximately 40 countries. With proven growth strategies and a focus on execution, we have achieved a long-term track record of strong financial performance. For more information, please visit www.mt.com. Statements in this press release which are not historical facts constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our businesses' actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "intend," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or "continue" or the negative of those terms or other comparable terminology. For a discussion of these risks and uncertainties, please see the discussion on forward-looking statements in our current report on Form 10-K. All of the forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the factors discussed under the captions "Factors affecting our future operating results" and in the "Business" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" sections of our annual report on Form 10-K for the most recently completed fiscal year, which describe risks and factors that could cause results to differ materially from those projected in those forward-looking statements.







METTLER-TOLEDO INTERNATIONAL INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (amounts in thousands except share data) (unaudited)















































Three months ended













Three months ended















June 30, 2018

% of sales



June 30, 2017

% of sales









































Net sales



$721,996

(a)

100.0







$653,656





100.0



Cost of sales



309,371





42.8







278,044

(b)

42.5



Gross profit



412,625





57.2







375,612





57.5











































Research and development



35,315





4.9







32,582

(b)

5.0



Selling, general and administrative



208,024





28.8







195,624

(b)

29.9



Amortization



11,970





1.7







10,249





1.6



Interest expense



8,309





1.2







8,171





1.3



Restructuring charges



7,321





1.0







4,023





0.6



Other charges (income), net



(1,916)





(0.3)







(1,884)

(b)

(0.3)



Earnings before taxes



143,602





19.9







126,847





19.4











































Provision for taxes



32,134





4.5







25,267





3.9



Net earnings



$111,468





15.4







$101,580





15.5











































Basic earnings per common share:



































Net earnings



$4.41















$3.94











Weighted average number of common shares



25,299,414















25,751,374



















































Diluted earnings per common share:



































Net earnings



$4.31















$3.84











Weighted average number of common



25,867,383















26,439,529











and common equivalent shares











































































Note:



































(a) Local currency sales increased 7% as compared to the same period in 2017.



(b) In accordance with the new accounting rules that went into effect on January 1, 2018, the Company reclassified a net pension benefit of $1.1 million into other charges (income) from other income statement categories for the three months ended June 30, 2017 to be consistent with the 2018 presentation.









































RECONCILIATION OF EARNINGS BEFORE TAXES TO ADJUSTED OPERATING INCOME















































Three months ended













Three months ended















June 30, 2018

% of sales



June 30, 2017

% of sales









































Earnings before taxes



$143,602















$126,847











Amortization



11,970















10,249











Interest expense



8,309















8,171











Restructuring charges



7,321















4,023











Other charges (income), net



(1,916)















(1,884)

(b)







Adjusted operating income



$169,286

(c)

23.4







$147,406





22.6











































Note:



































(c) Adjusted operating income increased 15% as compared to the same period in 2017.













METTLER-TOLEDO INTERNATIONAL INC. CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (amounts in thousands except share data) (unaudited)















































Six months ended













Six months ended















June 30, 2018

% of sales



June 30, 2017

% of sales

































Net sales



$1,382,817

(a)

100.0







$1,248,223





100.0



Cost of sales



595,259





43.0







529,222 (b)

42.4



Gross profit



787,558





57.0







719,001





57.6











































Research and development



70,028





5.1







63,782 (b)

5.1



Selling, general and administrative



408,698





29.6







381,280 (b)

30.5



Amortization



23,705





1.7







20,294





1.6



Interest expense



16,668





1.2







15,912





1.3



Restructuring charges



11,734





0.8







5,455





0.4



Other charges (income), net



(4,316)





(0.3)







(8,417) (b)(c)

(0.6)



Earnings before taxes



261,041





18.9







240,695





19.3











































Provision for taxes



56,269





4.1







46,649





3.8



Net earnings



$204,772





14.8







$194,046





15.5











































Basic earnings per common share:



































Net earnings



$8.07















$7.51











Weighted average number of common shares



25,383,402















25,841,243



















































Diluted earnings per common share:



































Net earnings



$7.88















$7.32











Weighted average number of common



25,979,508















26,514,311











and common equivalent shares











































































Note:



































(a) Local currency sales increased 6% as compared to the same period in 2017.



(b) In accordance with the new accounting rules that went into effect on January 1, 2018, the Company reclassified a net pension benefit of $1.9 million into other charges (income) from other income statement categories for the six months ended June 30, 2017 to be consistent with the 2018 presentation.

(c) Other charges (income), net includes a one-time gain of $3.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017 relating to the sale of a facility in Switzerland in connection with our initiative to consolidate certain Swiss operations into a new facility.











































RECONCILIATION OF EARNINGS BEFORE TAXES TO ADJUSTED OPERATING INCOME















































Six months ended













Six months ended















June 30, 2018

% of sales



June 30, 2017

% of sales









































Earnings before taxes



$261,041















$240,695











Amortization



23,705















20,294











Interest expense



16,668















15,912











Restructuring charges



11,734















5,455











Other charges (income), net



(4,316)















(8,417) (b)(c)







Adjusted operating income



$308,832 (d)

22.3







$273,939





21.9











































Note:



































(d) Adjusted operating income increased 13% as compared to the same period in 2017.











METTLER-TOLEDO INTERNATIONAL INC. CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (amounts in thousands) (unaudited)











































June 30, 2018



December 31, 2017



















Cash and cash equivalents



$183,190







$148,687

Accounts receivable, net



486,203







528,615

Inventories



270,047







255,390

Other current assets and prepaid expenses



63,867







74,031

Total current assets



1,003,307







1,006,723





















Property, plant and equipment, net



678,706







668,271

Goodwill and other intangibles assets, net



756,265







766,556

Other non-current assets



119,938







108,255

Total assets



$2,558,216







$2,549,805





















Short-term borrowings and maturities of long-term debt



$52,052







$19,677

Trade accounts payable



170,865







167,627

Accrued and other current liabilities



465,900







502,369

Total current liabilities



688,817







689,673





















Long-term debt



1,020,420







960,170

Other non-current liabilities



316,545







352,682

Total liabilities



2,025,782







2,002,525





















Shareholders' equity



532,434







547,280

Total liabilities and shareholders' equity



$2,558,216







$2,549,805





















METTLER-TOLEDO INTERNATIONAL INC.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(amounts in thousands)

(unaudited)

























Three months ended

Six months ended





June 30,

June 30,





2018

2017

2018

2017





















Cash flow from operating activities:















Net earnings $111,468

$101,580

$204,772

$194,046

Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to















net cash provided by operating activities:















Depreciation 9,449

7,953

18,606

15,919

Amortization 11,970

10,249

23,705

20,294

Deferred tax benefit (3,693)

(2,264)

(10,109)

(3,840)

Other 3,951

4,211

7,036

4,629

Increase (decrease) in cash resulting from changes in















operating assets and liabilities 7,050

16,049

(27,251)

(25,671)

Net cash provided by operating activities 140,195

$137,778

$216,759

$205,377





















Cash flows from investing activities:















Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment 23

206

4,530

10,209

Purchase of property, plant and equipment (31,812)

(27,514)

(61,586)

(48,529)

Acquisitions -

(697)

(500)

(697)

Net hedging settlements on intercompany loans 3,738

(1,345)

7,042

(1,033)

Net cash used in investing activities (28,051)

(29,350)

(50,514)

(40,050)





















Cash flows from financing activities:















Proceeds from borrowings 266,668

200,189

603,180

672,921

Repayments of borrowings (171,410)

(205,281)

(502,524)

(615,162)

Proceeds from exercise of stock options 4,291

8,734

9,960

16,935

Repurchases of common stock (118,749)

(124,952)

(237,499)

(249,949)

Other financing activities (1,635)

(7,205)

(1,635)

(7,205)

Net cash used in financing activities (20,835)

(128,515)

(128,518)

(182,460)





















Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents (7,067)

1,528

(3,224)

4,793





















Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 84,242

(18,559)

34,503

(12,340)





















Cash and cash equivalents:















Beginning of period 98,948

164,893

$148,687

158,674

End of period $183,190

$146,334

$183,190

$146,334









































RECONCILIATION OF NET CASH PROVIDED BY OPERATING ACTIVITIES TO ADJUSTED FREE CASH FLOW





















Net cash provided by operating activities $140,195

$137,778

$216,759

$205,377

Payments in respect of restructuring activities 8,167

2,748

13,409

5,326

Transition tax payment 4,200

-

4,200

-

Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment 23

206

4,530

10,209

Purchase of property, plant and equipment (31,812)

(27,514)

(61,586)

(48,529)

Adjusted free cash flow $120,773

$113,218

$177,312

$172,383





















METTLER-TOLEDO INTERNATIONAL INC.

OTHER OPERATING STATISTICS





















































SALES GROWTH BY DESTINATION

(unaudited)



































Europe

Americas

Asia/RoW Total





























U.S. Dollar Sales Growth























Three Months Ended June 30, 2018



14%

4%

15%

10%





Six Months Ended June 30, 2018



13%

5%

16%

11%





























Local Currency Sales Growth























Three Months Ended June 30, 2018



7%

4%

9%

7%





Six Months Ended June 30, 2018



3%

5%

10%

6%



























































RECONCILIATION OF DILUTED EPS AS REPORTED TO ADJUSTED DILUTED EPS

(unaudited)































Three months ended Six months ended



June 30, June 30,



2018

2017

% Growth

2018

2017

% Growth

























EPS as reported, diluted $4.31

$3.84

12%

$7.88

$7.32

8%

























Restructuring charges, net of tax 0.22 (a) 0.12 (a)



0.35 (a) 0.16 (a)

Purchased intangible amortization, net of tax 0.10 (b) 0.06 (b)



0.19 (b) 0.11 (b)

Income tax expense 0.02 (c) (0.10) (c)



(0.04) (c) (0.24) (c)

Gain on facility sale -

-





-

(0.10) (d)



























Adjusted EPS, diluted $4.65

$3.92

19%

$8.38

$7.25

16%

























Notes:





















(a) Represents the EPS impact of restructuring charges of $7.3 million ($5.7 million after tax) and $4.0 million ($3.1 million after tax) for the three months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, and $11.7 million ($9.2 million after tax) and $5.5 million ($4.3 million after tax) for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Restructuring charges in 2018 primarily relates to employee and other costs associated with the consolidation of facilities. (b) Represents the EPS impact of purchased intangibles amortization, net of tax, of $2.5 million and $1.5 million for the three months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, and $5.0 million and $3.0 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively. (c) Represents the EPS impact of the difference between our reported tax rate during the three and six months ending June 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and our annual income tax rate of 22%, due to excess tax benefits associated with stock option exercises. (d) Represents the EPS impact of a one-time gain of $3.4 million ($2.7 million after tax) for the six months ended June 30, 2017 relating to the sale of a facility in Switzerland in connection with our initiative to consolidate certain Swiss operations into a new facility. View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mettler-toledo-international-inc-reports-second-quarter-2018-results-300687466.html SOURCE Mettler-Toledo International Inc.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] UQM Technologies to Hold Conference Call Thursday, August 2, 2018 at 10:30 A.M. Eastern Time

UQM Technologies, Inc. (NYSE American: UQM), a developer and manufacturer of power-dense, high-efficiency electric motors, generators and power electronic controllers, will hold a conference call with members of the investment community on Thursday, August 2, 2018, at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time. To participate in the call, dial 888-241-0326 approximately 10 minutes before the conference is scheduled to begin and provide conference ID "7578557" to access the call. International callers should dial 647-427-3411. The call will be webcast from the Investors section of the company's website at www.uqm.com/investors. Parties listening via the webcast will be in a "listen-only" mode. Please log onto UQM's website 10 minutes prior to the start of the webcast to register. Joseph R. Mitchell, UQM Technologies' President and Chief Executive Officer and David I. Rosenthal, the Comany's Chief Financial Officer, will be reviewing the Company's operating results for the quarter ended June 30, 2018.



The presentation will be webcast live and made available for replay on the company's website under the Investors section. To register, click here or visit www.uqm.com, click on the Investor tab and select "Earnings Webcast." A webcast audio replay will be available two hours following the live event and can be accessed and replayed at any time. About UQM Technologies, Inc.

UQM Technologies is a developer and manufacturer of power-dense, high-efficiency electric motors, generators, power electronic controllers and fuel cell compressors for the commercial truck, bus, automotive, marine, and industrial markets. A major emphasis for UQM is developing propulsion systems for electric, hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid electric and fuel cell electric vehicles. UQM is IATF 16949 and ISO 14001 certified and located in Longmont, Colorado. Please visit www.uqm.com for more information. Source (News - Alert) : UQM Technologies, Inc. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180726005928/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Bank of America Announces Full Redemption of Certain Outstanding Depositary Shares

Bank of America Corporation announced today that it has submitted redemption notices for all outstanding shares of its 6.204% Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series D (the Series D Preferred Stock) and the corresponding depositary shares representing fractional interests in the Series D Preferred Stock (the Series D Depositary Shares), and for all outstanding shares of its 6.375% Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series 3 (the Series 3 Preferred Stock), and the corresponding depositary shares representing fractional interests in the Series 3 Preferred Stock (the Series 3 Depositary Shares). The Series D Depositary Shares (NYSE: BAC PrD) (CUSIP No. 060505831), each representing a 1/1,000th interest in one share of the Series D Preferred Stock, and the Series 3 Depositary Shares (NYSE: BML PrI) (CUSIP No. 060505617), each representing a 1/1,200th interest in one share of the Series 3 Preferred Stock, will be redeemed simultaneously with the redemption of the Series D Preferred Stock or the Series 3 Preferred Stock, as the case may be, in each case at a redemption price of $25 per depositary share. All 7,588,595 Series D Depositary Shares outstanding will be redeemed on the dividend payment date on September 14, 2018 for an aggregate redemption price of $189,714,875, and all 26,127,328 Series 3 Depositary Shares outstanding will be redeemed on the dividend payment date on August 28, 2018 for an aggregate redemption price of $653,183,200. Declared dividends of $0.38775 per depositary share on the outstanding shares of Series D Depositary Shares for the full quarterly dividend period from and including June 14, 2018 to but excluding September 14, 2018 will be paid separately in the customary manner on September 14, 2018 to holders of record on August 31, 2018. Declared dividends of $0.3984375 per depositary share on the outstanding shares of Series 3 Depositary Shares for the full quarterly dividend period from and including May 28, 2018 to but excluding August 28, 2018 will be paid separately in the customary manner on August 28, 2018 to holders of record on August 15, 2018. Accordingly, the applicable redemption price of $25 per depositary share does not include any declared and unpaid dividends, and dividends on the redeemed depositary shares will cease to accrue on the applicable redemption date. The Series D Depositary Shares and the Series 3 Depositary Shares are held through DTC and will be redeemed in accordance with the procedures of DTC. Payment to DTC for the Series D Depositary Shares will be made by Computershare Inc. and Computershare Trust Company, N.A., collectively, as redemption agent, in accordance with the Deposit Agreement governing the Series D Depositary Shares. Payment to DTC for the Series 3 Depositary Shares will be made by The Bank of New York Mellon, as redemption agent, in accordance with the Deposit Agreement governing the Series 3 Depositary Shares. The addresses for the redemption agents are as follows:







Series D Depositary Shares: Series 3 Depositary Shares: Computershare Trust Company, N.A. Attn: Corporate Actions 250 Royall St. Canton, MA 02021 The Bank of New York Mellon Attn: Corporate Trust Operations 111 Sanders Creek Parkway East Syracuse, NY 13057

Bank of America has received all necessary approvals for these redemptions. Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world's leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 67 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 4,400 retail financial centers, approximately 16,100 ATMs, and award-winning digital banking with approximately 36 million active users, including 25 million mobile users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and more than 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Forward-looking statements

Certain information contained in this news release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are not guarantees of future results or performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions difficult to predict or beyond our control. You should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement and should consider the uncertainties and risks discussed in our 2017 Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect the impact of circumstances or events that arise after the date the forward-looking statement was made. For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements and other important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom. Click here to register for news email alerts. www.bankofamerica.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180726005815/en/

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]resource from: CEO Jiayuan Lin, Chairman XiaoJun Zhang, and CFO Yongyi Zhang (Bilin Lin / CapitalWatch - New York) CEO Jiayuan Lin, Chairman XiaoJun Zhang, and CFO Yongyi Zhang (Bilin Lin / CapitalWatch - New York)

Cango Inc. (NYSE: CANG), one of three Chinese tech firms to hit the markets today with an initial public offering, received a warm welcome on Wall Street as its shares rose 14 percent through the day.

(Source: NYSE Twitter)

Cango rang the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange, raising $44 million by selling 4 million American depositary shares. The pricing of the shares at $11 per ADS was the midpoint of the expected range.

The stock of the company closed at $12.52 per share on its Day One.

Cango closed at $12.52 per share, up nearly 14 percent, on its first trading day.

(Source: Thomson Reuters Eikon)



"It's a great moment for our company," said Michael (Yongyi) Zhang, the chief financial officer of Cango, in an interview with CapitalWatch.

Cango operates an online platform connecting businesses and consumers in the Chinese auto industry, including dealers of new and used cars, financing institutions, and car buyers.

The online car marketplace started small eight years ago and has since greatly increased its network, now covering the largest number of new car dealers in China, as reported by consultancy Oliver Wyman Consulting (Shanghai) Ltd. Last year, Cango facilitated the largest number of financial transactions among Chinese auto marketplaces, according to the report.

It has also attracted some giant Chinese players like Tencent Holdings Ltd., ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing, Warburg Pincus Financial Global Ltd., and Taikang Life Insurance.

Cango has also recently partnered with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world's largest bank by assets. Zhang said the collaboration would allow the platform to grow its network in China's tier-one cities and expand into the higher-end market.

Zhang said Cango's platform was unique in China. Rather than taking on all credit risk and lending its own capital, the company connects car buyers with partnering financial institutions. This allows Cango to grow faster than the lenders in China's auto industry, Zhang said. Jincheng Bank and Jiangnan Rural Commercial Bank, which have been financing the majority of Cango's loans, carries the loans on their own books.

In the first quarter of 2018, Cango has arranged financing on more than 97,000 car purchases with the amount of loans reaching $900 million, representing a 7 percent growth from the same time last year, according to the firm's prospectus.

In the first three months of 2018, Cango's revenue increased by 27.5 percent year-over-year to $39.7 million. Net income during the first quarter grew to $13.4 million, a 13 percent increase. For 2017, Cango reported its revenue grew 142 percent to $167.7 million. Earnings during the year surged 162 percent to $55.7 million.

The amount of the offering in New York was a reduction from the 12.5 million American depositary shares the company had anticipated to sell according to its amended prospectus filed July 16, and an even bigger drop from the $300 million the company reported in its initial prospectus of June 22.

Zhang said the proceeds of the stock sale would fund the further development of Cango's online platform, as well as the expansion of its businesses. Among its short-term plans, the company hopes to add an auto insurance service, but Zhang did not share any definite acquisition plans. He said the company would pursue greater penetration in the Chinese market before it considers looking overseas. Cango is also looking to expand its strategic cooperation with China's giants and online platforms.

When asked about cases of financial concern that U.S. stockholders have regarding some Chinese companies, Zhang said, "We use our real performance to prove that we are a company that is worthy of investors."

The words that would best describe his company are "solid" and "think big," he added.[July 26, 2018] Fresno Unified School District and ForeFront Power commence construction of 8.2 MW solar-plus-storage portfolio across 8 sites

FRESNO, Calif., July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- ForeFront Power and Fresno Unified School District ("Fresno USD") are thrilled to announce the groundbreaking of 8.2 megawatts (MW) of solar parking canopy systems across 8 District facilities. The portfolio of projects, which includes intelligent energy storage solutions provided by Stem Inc., is expected to save Fresno USD over $27 million over 20 years. Fresno USD partnered with ForeFront Power after a rigorously competitive solicitation. In Fall 2017, School Project for Utility Rate Reduction (SPURR) and Fresno USD conducted a statewide request for proposal process to select the best solar and energy storage provider. The comprehensive procurement process through SPURR enabled the District to save considerable time, money, and resources in their procurement process. "By partnering with ForeFront Power, we were able to procure solar and storage for each of our comprehensive high schools and the District's Service Center at no cost to taxpayers," said Karin Temple, Chief Operations Officer for Fresno USD. "ForeFront Power understood the District's desire for summer construction and accelerated the development of our projects to help minimize the impact to school activities." ForeFront Power is the exclusive winner of SPURR's Renewable Energy Aggregated Procurement (REAP) Program for solar and energy storage. Since 2015, the SPURR REAP program has been used by 20 school districts and municipalities to procure more than 50 MW of clean solar power across more than 100 sites. "SPURR helped Fresno USD foster a more competitive environment than we could have done locally in Fresno," said Jason Duke, Executive Director of Maintenance and Operations for Fresno USD. "Now other public agencies can piggy-back the process to save time and energy." The SPURR REAP Program solves traditional sourcing issues through aggregated, competitive procurements, taking advantage of SPURR's large market presence, and resulting in pre-negotiated contracts, industry-leading pricing, and standardized terms for public agencies in California like Fresno USD. This program allows schools, colleges, and other agencies to benefit from clean energy sooner with less sourcing expense and effort, while leveraging a highly competitive procurement process. "Our team is excited to construct even more projects in the greater Fresno area by partnering with Fresno USD," said Co-CEO, Paul Walker. "These projects are especially innovative because of the combination of solar and energy storage to provide even more avings."



ForeFront Power is using Stem's artificial intelligence-driven energy storage solutions to provide energy storage across the District. Stem's energy storage services provide real-time energy optimization to reduce costly demand charges, which can account for almost half of the District's utility bills. The intelligent use of energy from the storage units combined with on-site solar energy generation helps each high school maximize its clean energy generation and enhance on-site sustainability. Fresno USD will also bring solar learning into the classroom with science and technology education from Schools Power, a leading national education organization that provides school districts with standards-based renewable energy curriculum packages. ForeFront Power and Schools Power announced their partnership in July of last year.

Construction of the solar canopy systems is underway at Bullard, Fresno, Roosevelt, and McLane High Schools with the remaining four sites (Edison, Hoover, and Sunnyside High Schools and Service Center) breaking ground in the coming weeks. These 8 solar projects are expected to offset the equivalent of 10,633 tons of carbon dioxide avoidance annually or 2,000 cars taken off the road for the first year of production. For more information about ForeFront Power and solar energy for schools, visit k12.forefrontpower.com. About ForeFront Power The ForeFront Power team has more than a decade of renewable industry experience, serving business, public sector, and wholesale power customers around the world. Our team has developed over 800 MW of capacity across more than 1,000 projects, targeted on assisting public sector agencies and C&I firms to deliver the most impactful behind-the-meter, off-site, and wholesale solutions. ForeFront Power is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitsui & Co., Ltd., a global energy infrastructure and investment leader. About Fresno USD Fresno Unified School District serves more than 74,000 students, from preschool through grade 12, preparing career ready graduates through high-quality instruction, district programs and services, and resources. About SPURR SPURR is a Joint-Powers Authority duly formed and existing under the California Joint Exercise of Powers Act. SPURR was formed to seek reduction and control of utility rates on behalf of its members and other program participants. SPURR membership is open to all California public K-12 school districts, county offices of education, and community college districts. SPURR is governed by a Board of Directors who are management-level employees of member organizations. SPURR, with over 240 member organizations, aggregates purchasing power and expertise for thousands of public agency facilities across the state of California. SPURR programs include procurement of solar and energy storage, natural gas, electricity, LED lights and controls, utilities data management and conservation services, electricity demand response, and telecommunications and networking goods and services. About Stem, Inc. Stem creates innovative technology services that transform the way energy is distributed and consumed. AthenaTM by Stem is the first AI for energy storage and virtual power plants. It optimizes the timing of energy use and facilitates consumers' participation in energy markets, yielding economic and societal benefits while decarbonizing the grid. The company's mission is to build and operate the smartest and largest digitally-connected energy storage network for our customers. Headquartered in Millbrae, California, Stem is directly funded by a consortium of leading investors including Activate Capital, Angeleno Group, BNP Paribas, Constellation Technology Ventures, Iberdrola (Inversiones Financieras Perseo), GE Ventures, Magnesium Capital, Mithril Capital Management, Mitsui & Co. LTD., Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, RWE Supply & Trading, Temasek, and Total Energy Ventures. Visit www.stem.com for more information. Forward Looking Statements Matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, the words "anticipate", "estimate", "expect" and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ from those contemplated, expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained herein. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the expectations of the Company and are subject to various risks and uncertainties. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fresno-unified-school-district-and-forefront-power-commence-construction-of-8-2-mw-solar-plus-storage-portfolio-across-8-sites-300687492.html SOURCE ForeFront Power

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Genes in Space STEM Competition announces winning high school team

SAN FRANCISCO, July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Genes in Space named a team of Minnesota high school students the winners of this year's contest. David Li, 17, from Woodbury High School, Rebecca Li, 16, Michelle Sung, 16, and Aarthi Vijayakumar, 16, of Mounds View High School proposed an experiment to study how cells repair their DNA in space. Their winning experiment will be performed by astronauts aboard the International Space Station next year. This is the first time the judges selected a team experiment as the winner of the Genes in Space contest. By increasing our understanding of the effect of microgravity on the mechanisms of DNA repair, the team's project aims to protect astronauts from cosmic radiation. The experiment will utilize CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing plus DNA amplification and sequencing technology. It will be the first student-designed DNA sequencing project to be conducted aboard the ISS. The announcement completes the fourth annual Genes in Space contest which has given students in grades 7 through 12 the chance to dsign experiments to solve real-life space exploration challenges through DNA analysis. The competition was founded by miniPCR and Boeing. It is sponsored by Math for America, CASIS, and New England Biolabs. The contest has launched five sets of student experiments to the ISS, including a pair of experiments in April. Research derived from the contest has accomplished numerous milestones, including the first DNA amplification experiment ever conducted in space.



The students' winning experiment was announced today at the International Space Station Research and Development Conference in San Francisco. They were chosen from a competitive group of 559 applications from across the country. They were among five finalist teams who were invited to present their proposals before a prestigious panel of scientists, educators, and technologists at the conference. Li, Li, Sung and Vijayakumar were mentored by Woodbury High School teacher Kaarin Schumacher and MIT graduate student Kutay Deniz Atabay. The team along with their teacher and mentor will travel to NASA's Kennedy Space Center this spring to watch their experiment launch to space. For more information about the Genes in Space contest and all other awardees, visit: www.genesinspace.org.

Media contacts:

miniPCR: Emily Gleason, genesinspace@minipcr.com, 781-990-8727

Boeing: Steven Siceloff, steven.p.siceloff@boeing.com, 281-253-8089 View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/genes-in-space-stem-competition-announces-winning-high-school-team-300687291.html SOURCE Genes in Space

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018] Adaptive Insights Positioned as a Leader in Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud Financial Planning and Analysis Solutions

PALO ALTO, Calif., July 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Adaptive Insights, powering a new generation of business planning, announced today that Gartner, Inc. has positioned Adaptive Insights as a Leader in its 2018 Magic Quadrant for Cloud Financial Planning and Analysis Solutions1 for the second consecutive year. Vendors were evaluated for completeness of vision and ability to execute. The Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud Financial Planning and Analysis Solutions report states, "Digital business is placing demands on FP&A to expand beyond the traditional financial planning methods. Digital business initiatives, such as establishing digital sales channels or creating entirely new digital businesses, must be supported by more-collaborative, agile financial planning processes and performance reporting, so that feedback is received, analyzed and acted upon sooner." Over the past 12 months, Adaptive Insights has invested in its architecture to deliver the next generation of its powerful platform. As recently announced, the company believes it is ushering in a new generation of cloud planning with its patent-pending Elastic Hypercube Technology. Designed to deliver "no compromise" planning, reporting, and analytics, the architectural innovations add the intelligence for a new class of model calculation efficiency and scalability into the Adaptive Insights Business Planning Cloud. Together, these innovations mean virtually no limits on model size for any size customer. The company's Business Planning Cloud is now used by more than 3,800 organizations in over 50 countries, including notable brands such as American Family Insurance, Guardian Life, P.F. Chang's, an Steve Madden.



"We believe being named a Leader in cloud financial planning and analysis solutions again reflects continued market demand for an easy to use and powerful planning platform for use across the enterprise," said Tom Bogan, CEO, Adaptive Insights. "As a vendor positioned in the Leaders quadrant, we believe it's due to our high marks in customer satisfaction, strong execution, and vision. And, with our new Elastic Hypercube technology powering our Business Planning Cloud, we believe we continue to deliver that vision so customers can confidently plan without compromise." The company feels that its excellent customer satisfaction and user experience is confirmed by Adaptive Insights customers. They rated Adaptive Insights with a 4.7 out of 5 for the Cloud Strategic Corporate Performance Management Solutions market based on 107 ratings (source: Gartner Peer Insights, as of July 26, 2018). "Adaptive Insights is the future of finance," said one customer in the manufacturing industry. "The product is powerful and easy to use, and they make it easy to be a customer," said another customer in the education industry.

The 2018 Magic Quadrant for Cloud Financial Planning and Analysis Solutions evaluated 16 different software vendors. To be eligible for inclusion in this Magic Quadrant, vendors had to meet specific product capabilities, market presence, and vendor viability criteria. For a complimentary copy of the report, please visit the Analyst Reports page. For more information, please read the blog "When You Lead with Innovation, Magic Happens" or visit the Gartner Peer Insights reviews of Adaptive Insights. 1 Gartner, "Magic Quadrant for Cloud Financial Planning and Analysis Solutions," by Christopher Iervolino and John E. Van Decker, July 24, 2018. The 2017 version of the report was titled, "Magic Quadrant for Cloud Strategic Corporate Performance Management Solutions." Gartner Disclaimers

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. Gartner Peer Insights reviews constitute the subjective opinions of individual end-users based on their own experiences, and do not represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates. About Adaptive Insights

Adaptive Insights powers a new generation of business planning. We transform the planning process into a strategic advantage for more than 3,800 organizations around the world with powerful modeling that's easy for everybody who plans. Our Business Planning Cloud platform enables organizations of all sizes to adapt to changing business conditions with confidence and agility. Adaptive Insights is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA. To learn more, visit www.adaptiveinsights.com. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/adaptive-insights-positioned-as-a-leader-in-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-cloud-financial-planning-and-analysis-solutions-300687552.html SOURCE Adaptive Insights

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ][July 26, 2018]

Innovation and digital transformation in Government to be discussed at Canberra Summit

SYDNEY, July 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Governments around the world are being asked to provide greater digital services to citizens and improve their online experiences and interactions with government agencies.

However, a recent Senate enquiry* into Digital Transformation within the Australian Federal Government highlighted several key challenges that agencies are facing on their transformation journey. These include cyber security, privacy, user diversity, systems architecture, leadership and skilling.

These issues and more will be discussed at the GovInnovate Summit to be held on the 9-11 October at the National Convention Centre, Canberra. Hannover Fairs Australia, the organisers of CEBIT Australia, are hosting the Summit and Program Manager Edyta Bednorz highlighted this year's key speakers.

"We are delighted to welcome sme very prestigious presenters to this year's program, including Emma Stace who is the Director of Transformation at the UK Department of Education. She will share her personal reflections on ten years of leading digital service transformation projects.







"Another highlight will be Adrian Turner, the CEO of Data61, presenting on how Australia can grasp the $315bn opportunity that digital innovation is estimated to bring to our economy over the next decade.

There are over fifty presenters including Genevieve Bell, Distinguished Professor, Australian National University, Director, 3A Institute, and Senior Fellow, Intel; Mohan Aiyaswami, Chief Technology Officer, Department of Defence; Jerome Reid, Group Captain, Director Plan Jericho, Royal Australian Air Force and Anthony Murfett, Deputy Head, Australian Space Agency to name but a few."

The public sector only Summit will be held over three days with a mix of plenary sessions and streams that include deep-dives into digital transformation, artificial intelligence, service delivery and user experience, digital innovation and smart cities, data analytics and privacy and cyber risk.

The third day of the Summit will feature four workshops covering privacy, human-centred design, digital legislation and how to build high performing technical teams.

For a full program visit www.govinnovate.com.au.

PR Newswire is the Official News Release Distribution Partner of GovInnovate Summit.

*Senate enquiry: Digital delivery of government services - 27 June 2018

Issued by:

John Wilson, Hannover Fairs Australia

T: +61 2 9282 7525 | M: +61 405 751 012 | E: john.wilson@hannoverfairs.com.au

Logo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20180726/2196746-1LOGO

SOURCE Hannover Fairs AustraliaHome-DNA-test provider 23andMe will provide the genetic information of its 5 million customers to pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for a reported $300 million investment, alarming privacy advocates and bioethicists.

(Image credit: Connect World/Shutterstock)

"I hear regularly from customers that they want to be part of a solution that is improving health care," 23andMe CEO Anne Wojicki said in a blog post announcing the news yesterday (July 25). "By working with GSK, we believe we will accelerate the development of breakthroughs."

23andMe charges $99 for an "Ancestry" DNA test that gathers genealogical information, and $199 for a combined "Health and Ancestry" test that adds screening for genetically transmitted diseases. (Both are currently discounted by 30 percent on the 23andMe website.) Customers spit into a test tube and mail it to the company.

Wojcicki stressed that all customers involved had agreed to let their DNA be used for medical research when they signed up for the tests. But 23andMe would essentially be making $60 from each paying customer with the GSK deal.

"The problem with a lot of these privacy policies and Terms of Service is that no one really reads them," Tiffany C. Li, a privacy expert and resident fellow at Yale Law Schools Information Society Project, told Tom's Guide. "You are paying to help the company make money with your data."

MORE: I Took a DNA Test to Shape Up, But It Didn't Work Out

Li wasn't alone in bringing up the fact that 23andMe was making money from both ends of the equation.

"Are they going to offer rebates to people who opt in so their customers aren't paying for the privilege of 23andMe working with a for-profit company in a for-profit research project?" Peter Pitts, head of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, asked NBC News.

Li has been raising alarms over such tests for some time. She co-wrote an opinion piece in life-sciences news site STAT in May urging DNA-test customers to demand greater genetic privacy.

In April, she tweeted about the news that California police had arrested a suspect in a decades-old serial-killer case based on publicly available genetic data.

"When you give your DNA data to companies like Ancestry.com or 23andMe, you give up not only your own genetic privacy, but that of your entire family," Li said. (Neither company's tests were involved in the serial-killer case.)

But, Li said, we shouldn't be surprised that a DNA-testing firm's customer genetic data ends up in the hands of a pharmaceutical giant.

"The Big Pharma tie-in has happened before," Li told Tom's Guide, referring to the 2012 sale of DeCODE Genetics, which catalogued the DNA of almost half the population of Iceland, to drug maker Amgen.

Both NBC and Forbes reported that GSK will invest $300 million in 23andMe as part of the deal, which would likely be the largest single infusion of capital the company has received. The two will splits costs and profits related to any drugs that result from the partnership, which is slated to last four years.

23andMe was co-founded in 2006 by Wojcicki, who at the time was dating Google co-founder Sergey Brin. (They later married and divorced.) Google invested $3.9 million in 23andMe in 2007, alongside separate investments by Genentech and two venture-capital firms.

Google was started in the Wojcicki family garage in Palo Alto, California, in 1998. Wojcicki's sister Esther became Google's marketing manager the following year and now runs Google subsidiary YouTube.

Earnings on 23andMe are unavailable, as it's a privately held company, but it was valued at $1.5 billion in the fall of 2017, following the FDA's long-delayed approval of 23andMe's "Health and Ancestry" test.

Forbes reported that the data-sharing agreement came about through new GSK Chief Scientific Officer Hal Barron's professional relationships with Wojcicki and with 23andMe executive Richard Scheller, who used with work with Barron at Genentech.Activating two-factor authentication (2FA) on your e-mail, social media and financial accounts is a fantastic idea. By tying logins to one of your personal devices, you can foil most cybercriminals who want to compromise your identity. "Most," however, does not equal "all," and that distinction can be vital if you're a politician, business leader, reporter  or Google employee.

Google's upcoming Titan Key is a physical device that may be able to render 2FA security nearly impregnable. The trouble will be getting people to use one.

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Keys to success

CNET tried out the Titan Key in an extended hands-on, and if you're familiar with physical security keys, you're probably already familiar with the basic concept. Like Yubikey and similar devices (which Google already supports), the Titan Key is a physical USB or Bluetooth dongle. After logging into a Google account with your username and password, you have to either plug in the USB key or connect to the Bluetooth dongle. This is generally much more secure than a phone-based 2FA code, since there's no way for a malefactor to intercept a physical key short of theft.



MORE: How to Enable 2FA

The devices will cost about $50 together, or about $20 to $25 individually. They'll be out within the next few months, but Google has not nailed down a price or release date yet.

(Image credit: Google)

Other than that, the keys really seem to be as straightforward as Google describes them. The Titan Key has only one purpose: providing ironclad 2FA security without relying on a phone or tablet. After all, phones often have trouble receiving text messages in foreign countries, maintaining a battery charge for more than a day  or staying completely safe from cybercriminals.

On Twitter, security researcher Shane Huntley pointed out that 2FA codes sent to phones are eminently phishable, and he is by no means the only one. In his example, an attacker sets up a fake-but-convincing website, then directs a user to it. The user inputs his or her username and password. In response, the attacker attempts to log in to the real website, which sends an SMS code to the original user. The user inputs his or her code into the fake site, and that's the end of that. The attacker has now fully compromised an important account with some rudimentary HTML and careful timing.

Adoption challenges

Savvy users, of course, realize that the situation described above is extremely inefficient, and would not work as a large-scale phishing attack. However, Google isn't concerned about phone-based 2FA letting down everyday users; it's worried about savvy hackers trying to spear-phish politicians and other high-profile targets.

By using methods just like the one described, Google's internal security team was able to fool Google employees into giving up their credentials and 2FA codes. If Google employees can fall for a sufficiently sophisticated attack, what chance does the average congressman have?

However, convincing people to carry around yet another gadget constantly will most likely be an uphill struggle. Even now, Google can barely convince any of its users to use code-based 2FA. If fewer than 10 percent of Google account holders want to activate free 2FA on devices they already own, the chances of them purchasing $25 dongles are not promising. That's especially true when you consider that, without a dongle, you may not be able to access your account at all.

Imagine forgetting to stash your key in your backpack before you head into the office  or worse, before you leave for a week on a business trip. Like standard 2FA, there are backup protocols, but that's yet another layer of setup between the end-user and his or her data.

Still, if Google can't convince everyone to use the Titan Key, perhaps it can at least convince the right people to use it. If the Facebook hearings are anything to go by, the American government generally has a poor understanding of how the Internet works, as well as the reasonable precautions that it can take to keep its employees safe online.

Given the choice between carrying around a USB dongle and leaking vital American secrets to a spear-phisher at a server farm somewhere in Eastern Europe, many high-profile individuals will probably go for the former.



Qualcomm QCC5100 Bluetooth chip

Two academics from the Israel Institute of Technology, Lior Neumann and Eli Biham, have identified an encryption vulnerability in the Bluetooth firmware implementations of Apple, Broadcom, Intel, Qualcomm, and some Android smartphone makers.

Insecure Bluetooth Pairings

The encryption bug affects both the Secure Simple Pairing" and Bluetooth Low Energy "Secure Connections" pairing processes. The vulnerability lies in the fact that the firmware implementations of the above-mentioned companies dont properly validate the public keys of the two devices that are paired with each other.

According to CERT/CC, which recently issued an advisory on this flaw, the secure pairing process works as follows:

Bluetooth utilizes a device pairing mechanism based on elliptic-curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) key exchange to allow encrypted communication between devices. The ECDH key pair consists of a private and a public key, and the public keys are exchanged to produce a shared pairing key.

The devices must also agree on the elliptic curve parameters being used. Previous work on the "Invalid Curve Attack" showed that the ECDH parameters are not always validated before being used in computing the resulted shared key, which reduces attacker effort to obtain the private key of the device under attack if the implementation does not validate all of the parameters before computing the shared key."

CERT added that without the elliptic curve validation, someone could not only decrypt and intercept the users messages, but they could also inject malicious messages.

Bluetooth SIG Downplays the Vulnerability

According to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), which develops the Bluetooth standard, this bug isnt too dangerous because an attacker would need to be present when two devices start the pairing process and could only take advantage of a narrow time window. Furthermore, if one of the devices isnt vulnerable, then the attack will not be successful.

However, the group also said it will update the Bluetooth specification so that all parameters must be validated. This sounds like Bluetooth SIG could have required this validation of all those who implement its standard from the beginning, but for whatever reason didnt.

The good news is that most of the companies impacted by the bug have already issued patches. Apple, Broadcom, and Intel have released patches, but it will be up to users to update their Bluetooth drivers with the new patches in order to be protected against this bug. Some laptop makers that use Qualcomm's Bluetooth chips, such as Dell, have also started to issue driver updates that include the patch.Most companies don't make it easy to move data over to competitors' offerings. Unless you're willing to move things manually or completely abandon your existing data, you're discouraged from switching between services. Microsoft, Facebook, Google and Twitter want to change that with the Data Transfer Project announced today.

According to the project's website, the companies started working on it in 2017. They've shared their progress to GitHub and have published a whitepaper about their motivations and methodologies. Even today's announcement highlights the group's collaboration--Microsoft wants to buy GitHub, Google manages the repository and both Twitter and Facebook published blog posts.

Here's why Facebook's privacy and public policy director, Steve Satterfield, thinks the Data Transfer Project is necessary:

"Moving your data between any two services can be complicated because every service is built differently and uses different types of data that may require unique privacy controls and settings. For example, you might use an app where you share photos publicly, a social networking app where you share updates with friends and a fitness app for tracking your workouts. People increasingly want to be able to move their data among different kinds of services like these, but they expect that the companies that help them do that will also protect their data."

The Data Transfer Project is essentially digital alchemy. It gathers information via these companies' existing APIs, converts it to a common data format and then sends the result over to the destination service. (It'd be preferable for the services to use common data formats at the start, which would let people manage their data instead of just sharing it between services, but that would require changes to the services themselves.)

Microsoft, Facebook, Google and Twitter are looking for additional partners in the Data Transfer Project, including companies that want to devote entire teams to the project or individuals who can contribute on their own. The companies said the Data Transfer Project is "still in very active development," and because it's still in the early stages, their efforts to improve the project might accidentally break something as well.

The Data Transfer Project is clearly limited in scope. As ubiquitous as these companies' services are, they aren't the only ones people use, and it will still be hard to move between other companies' offerings. But hopefully watching some of the biggest companies in the industry work to improve data portability--and therefore consumer choice--will inspire other developers to offer the same freedom to their users.This month, Google revealed the extreme effectiveness of FIDO Universal 2nd Factor (U2F) security keys against phishing within the company. Google has now announced that it has built its own U2F security key, called the Titan Key, which promises secure and easy-to-use PC and mobile authentication for both enterprise cloud customers and consumers.

Googles U2F-Based Titan Key

The most known security key maker right now is Yubico, which is also one of the founding members of the FIDO Alliance. The FIDO Alliance is the same group that develops the U2F and WebAuthn standards for secure and easy-to-use, hardware-backed authentication tools.

Yubico has consistently released quality security keys with support for PCs, mobile phones and even servers, which is why its keys have become so popular. Google now plans to give Yubico a run for its money by launching the Titan Key.

On the dedicated page for its security key, Google claims Titan Key is something every security-conscious user should have and is an absolute must for IT professionals and other similar high-value targets.

Googles own developers wrote a custom firmware for the Titan Key to verify the integrity of the generated encryption keys at the hardware level. Googles security key uses the same FIDO U2F standard that everyone else, including Yubico, uses too. The security key works with services such as the companys G Suite, Cloud Identity and Cloud Platform, as well as other services, like GitHub, Dropbox and Facebook.

Although Google is only making the Titan Key available to its cloud customers for now, it will soon sell the security key in its Play Store so anyone can get one.

The Need For More Secure Authentication

These days, we seem to hear about a major data breach or leak exposing the data of millions or tens of millions of users every month or two, if not more often. Large companies almost seem defenseless against sophisticated attackers, although they are certainly not without blame either. The data breaches are usually enabled by companies continuing to use legacy and unpatched software, poor security practices that dont emphasize endpoint security strongly enough and social engineering or phishing.

According to Google, a common phishing attempt is to put up a fake website that pretends to be a Google service (such as Gmail) asking for a two-factor authentication code. Once the criminals get that code, and assuming theyve already gotten the victim's passwords, they can then attempt to recover credentials for work-related data too. Eventually, they can gain access to data hosted by certain cloud providers or enterprise companies hosting it on their own servers.

How U2F Keys Improve Authentication

U2F security keys have proven to be virtually invulnerable to phishing, which is why they're increasingly being adopted, even by federal U.S. federal agencies. They're not just highly resistant to phishing, but they're literally as easy to use as clicking one button next to your device when you're trying to log into a website.

The reason U2F keys make phishing so difficult is because the public encryption key that needs to be sent to the corresponding website when a user tries to authenticate with a U2F security key will simply not work with the fake website.The Kingston A1000 960GB NVMe SSD sells for $315 and makes your system fell less responsive than a nice SATA SSD like the Samsung 860 EVO. We like the HP EX920 1TB more at $349, and think you will, too.

Specifications & Features

The Phison PS5008-E8 SSD controller promised us low-cost and low-power devices that would speed the transition to NVMe. Early indicators backed that claim, but the market is different now than when companies first launched products with the controller. Kingston was a little late bringing the A1000 to market, and as a result, faces several challenges because mainstream NVMe SSDs like the Adata XPG SX8200 and HP EX920 have crashed the price points the A1000 was designed to fit in. The A1000 is a decent SSD, but the performance difference that comes with spending just a few dollars more is much larger than we imagined.

Capacities Rated

Phison designed the PS5008-E8 controller to deliver NVMe responsiveness while extending notebook battery life by using half the number of PCI Express lanes. The limited bandwidth caps throughput performance, but nearly doubling the throughput of SATA is good enough as long as the other selling points are achieved. It's not quite a utopia, but the promise is pretty good.

Like the fountain of youth, electric cars saving the world, and those pills said to do great things to your body, the hype never quite lived up to the reality. The PS5008-E8 gave us some extended battery life, but mostly when we compared the results to the previous-gen Phison controller. The controller has poor random performance so the responsiveness isn't as impressive as the 850 EVO, and the 64-layer TLC flash puts the sequential write performance in the same bracket as the EVO, or worse, of smaller SSDs.

Kingston brought the A1000 series to market in 240GB, 480GB, and 960GB capacities. The PCI Express 3.0 x2 configuration limits the available bandwidth through the interface but it also reduces engineering costs and enables the use of smaller, low-end processors that reduce manufacturing costs.

Specifications

Product A1000 240GB A1000 480GB A1000 960GB Pricing $86.96 $150.85 $314.99 Form Factor M.2 2280 S3 M.2 2280 S3 M.2 2280 S3 Interface / Protocol PCIe 3.0 x2 / NVMe 1.2 PCIe 3.0 x2 / NVMe 1.2 PCIe 3.0 x2 / NVMe 1.2 Controller Phison PS5008-E8 Phison PS5008-E8 Phison PS5008-E8 DRAM Nanya DDR3 Nanya DDR3 Nanya DDR3 NAND Toshiba 64-Layer TLC Toshiba 64-Layer TLC Toshiba 64-Layer TLC Sequential Read 1,500 MB/s 1,500 MB/s 1,500 MB/s Sequential Write 800 MB/s 900 MB/s 1,000 MB/s Random Read 100,000 IOPS 100,000 IOPS 100,000 IOPS Random Write 80,000 IOPS 90,000 IOPS 100,000 IOPS Encryption None None None Endurance 150 TBW 300 TBW 600 TBW Product Number SA1000M8/240G SA1000M8/480G SA1000M8/960G Warranty 5-Years Limited 5-Years Limited 5-Years Limited

All three capacities achieve 1,500 MB/s of sequential read throughput, but sequential write performance, which stretches up to 1,000 MB/s for the 960GB model, varies by capacity. All models deliver 100,000 read IOPS and a peak of 100,000 random write IOPS with the 960GB model, but as expected, random write performance also varies by capacity. Kingston measures write performance with bursty workloads that land in the SLC buffer, so extended workloads, like transferring a large movie to the drive, will suffer from lower performance when the data spills over to the TLC flash.

Features

The A1000's write performance is lower than we would expect from a two-lane PCI Express interface. The Phison PS5008-E8 uses older and less powerful BCH error correction technology and only comes with two processor cores, which likely factors into the reduced throughput.

The PCI Express 3.0 x2 interface can be an advantage, though. Desktop users rarely care about shaving off a few milliwatts of power consumption, but every watt counts in a notebook. Some notebooks turn off unused PCIe lanes and the PHYs to save power, so using only two PCIe lanes can be a huge benefit that extends notebook battery life. The previous-gen Phison NVMe controller, used in products like the Kingston KC1000, was a real problem. In our testing, the PS5007-E7 NVMe SSDs were some of the worst products available for notebook battery life.

Pricing, Warranty, And Endurance

You can purchase a 240GB A1000 SSD for less than $90. Pricing increases steadily with each jump up the capacity range.

Kingston A1000 240GB 480GB 960GB Endurance - TBW (Terabytes Written) 150 TBW 300 TBW 600 TBW

Kingston provides a generous five-year limited warranty that we often don't see with entry-level products. The warranty supports varying levels of endurance based on capacity.

Software

Kingston offers its SSD Manager software for many of its newer SSDs, but the software doesn't support the company's NVMe drives. Products like the KC1000 and new A1000 do not come with management support from Kingston at this time. Phison does offer a software package for companies to build management tools for both SATA and NVMe products. Kingston includes a key code and download instructions for Acronis software so you can clone your existing data to the A1000.

A Closer Look

Image 1 of 3 Image 2 of 3 Image 3 of 3

The A1000 comes in the M.2 2280 S3 (single-sided 3mm height) form factor. The design appears to be identical to the Phison E8 reference design. The A1000's we tested ship with a new firmware that we haven't tested with the controller before.



MORE: Best SSDs



MORE: How We Test HDDs And SSDs



MORE: All SSD ContentTesting Kansas City Scooter Patience

Unlike other cities, KC isn't asking Bird to fly the coop KANSAS CITY, Mo. - It's a new mode of transportation so popular it's becoming a verb. "Usually like me and my buddies will be like hey, wanna go bird?" Daniel Kabouni, who was perched on a Bird scooter near 11th and Main, said.

Bullets Fired In Broad Daylight

Man shot in Kansas City near 18th and Kansas streets | The Kansas City Star Crime news: A man suffered life-threatening wounds when he was shot near 18th and Kansas streets. Kansas City, MO, police said it appeared the man was shot while in his vehicle.

Prez Trump Chatter Continues

The Rant with Brad Stephens: Viewers react to President Trump's visit to Kansas City Some KCTV5 viewers were happy with President Donald Trump's address in Kansas City. Others were not.

KCMO Salary History Erased

Kansas City Council to vote on banning salary history questions on job applications KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City could become the first city government in the Midwest to ban salary history questions from city job applications Thursday. The salary history ban passed the Finance and Governance Committee unanimously Wednesday and will go before the whole City Council on Thursday for a vote.

More Deets On Medical Good Deeds

Kansas City doctors paying off medical debt for hundreds of people A group of Kansas City area doctors is reportedly paying off medical debt on behalf of hundreds of patients in Kansas and Missouri. The Midwest Direct Primary Care Alliance announced earlier this week that it donated about $11,000 to buy $1.47 million worth of medical debt for 784 patients in the two states, according to The Kansas City Star.

Tech To Thwart Meth Addicts

Olathe company creates technology to help deter copper thieves KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Department of Transportation said copper thieves are once again setting their eyes on light poles looking for a quick buck, but it's costing taxpayers a lot of money.

Kansas City Compare & Contrast

Arrowheadlines: Could Patrick Mahomes be better than Alex Smith right away? Change to Patrick Mahomes at QB the major story at Chiefs camp | ESPN But the Chiefs aren't viewing this as a developmental season for Mahomes, who played in just one game last year as a rookie. They're expecting him to play well and for the offense.

A quick recognition of how time flies when watching overrated art house movies in college . . .Closer to home but with just as much commitment, check some of the top Kansas City news links for right now . . .is the song of the day and this is thefor right now . . .IS PROTESTING PREZ TRUMP CAUSE FOR TERMINATION???

Right now lets consider work, play and political action in Kansas City.Double link goodness for this post . ..First and foremost,. . . Notice some of them are wearing masks and obscuring their face . . .Here's why:While this young lady seemingly left herself open to hardcore social media trolling, her comments weren't any more brash than what any late night comedian or Oscar winning actor has said.And so we ask . . .Think about the big picture here . . . Yeah, it feels great to fire people and it was the catchphrase of the current Prez back when he was a game show host. But firing workers over their politics probably doesn't qualify as effective management in any endeavor and will inevitably backfire on any employer.Nevertheless . . . And because we all could use a laugh regarding the managerial advice of the TKC blog community . . .You decide . . .VFW spokesperson: Organization disappointed with booing of media The VFW Convention is wrapping up Wednesday in Kansas City and President Trump's visit is still a topic of discussion.

More insight into journalism debate in the Heart of America . . .Kansas City Low Rent Check

Kansas City Health Department, HUD inspect Englewood Apartment complex Black mold, leaking water and collapsed ceilings are just some of the issues renters say they were forced to live in at the Englewood Apartments near Waukomis Drive and Englewood Road. On Wednesday, inspectors from the Kansas City Health Department and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development visited the complex.

Help Capture Perfect Village Gunman

$8,000 reward available after man shot several times in Prairie Village An $8,000 reward is available after a man was shot in Prairie Village, Kansas, last month while trying to stop a burglary. Crimestoppers said $3,000 was added to the reward fund. The shooting happened at 11:30 p.m. June 15 at a home near 75th Street and Belinder Avenue.

Local Gunfire Report Just Now

One person suffers life-threatening injuries in shooting near 18th and Kansas Avenue KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- One person has suffered life-threatening injuries Wednesday after a shooting in Kansas City. Officials say the shooting happened near 18th Street and Kansas Avenue. Details about what led up to the shooting were not immediately available. FOX4 will update this story as more information is confirmed.

High Praise Shoutout To KCPD

Gov. Parson praises injured KCPD officers for their courage Missouri Gov. Mike Parson commended the three Kansas City police officers who were shot and wounded in the line of duty on July 15. Parson met with Officers Mike Delaney, Matthew "Buck" Williams and Brent Cartwright, and he praised them for their laying their lives on the line.

Crime Crew Suspects Captured

Lenexa police say they've arrested 2 people they believe are part of 'Felony Lane Gang' LENEXA, Kan. -- Lenexa police announced Wednesday that they arrested two people they believe are a part of the "Felony Lane Gang." The police department announced the news on Twitter. According to the tweet from the department, an officer was on patrol when he noticed a burglary happening at a health club.

Kansas City Foodie Tech Winning

Happy Food gathers ingredients for software platform, meal-locating app Happy Food Co. has grown beyond distributing flavorful meal kits through small, standalone coolers at Kansas City-area Price Chopper and Hen House locations, said chef and co-founder Kiersten Firquain. The 2017 Startland Under the Radar startup has now developed a software platform - in partnership with retailers nationwide and 75 local vendors - to enable grocers across the country to assemble and sell their own meal kits.

Local Helping Hands Needed

Jackson County CASA in need of volunteers JACKSON COUNTY, Mo. - Nearly 2,800 children in Jackson County are in foster care, and according to Jackson County Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children, that number is growing. At the Jackson County CASA, there have already been 32 new cases involving 75 children appointed by the court in July.

is an English swimwear designer, television personality, actress and socialite best known for her role in the reality television series Made in Chelsea. And her hotness regularly makes international news like this:Closer to home here's local news that's nearly as captivating, but not quite:And this is thefor right now . . .Porsche has been going around the world, breaking lap records one after the other with the new 911 GT2 RS. This time, however, it sets a new record instead of breaking one. The virgin racetrack in Australia gets smoked by the 911 GT2 RS, and we are quite positive this record will stay for a long time.

About The Racetrack

The track is 7.7 kilometers (4.8 miles) long and has been built at a cost of $100 million.

Australia has no dearth of racetracks; be it the temporary ones, or the permanent circuits. This year, the land down under gets the worlds second largest racing circuit in the world, called Bend Motorsport Park. The track is 7.7 kilometers (4.8 miles) long and has been built at a cost of $100 million. It is situated in the town of Tailem Bend, an hours drive from Adelaide in South Australia, and is second only to the Nurburgring in Germany.

Who Set The Record?

This time, Luff set the record with a lap time of 3:24.079.

After shattering records at the Nordschleife, Porsche let its seasoned racer, Warren Luff, race the new 911 GT2 RS at the Bend Motorsport. Luff is a test driver for Motor magazine and has been racing for Porsche for quite some time. He finished second in the domestic Carrera Cup as well. This time, Luff set the record with a lap time of 3:24.079. Since this is the first record to be set, we are not very sure how fast this is, in relative terms.

About The Car

It gets a 3.8-liter, twin-turbocharged, six-cylinder that produces 690 horses and 550 pound-feet of torque.

The 911 GT2 has been around for 25 years now. The car is currently in its fourth generation and was unveiled at the 2017 Goodwood Festival of Speed. The GT2 RS is the fastest 911 ever built. It gets a 3.8-liter, twin-turbocharged, six-cylinder that produces 690 horses and 550 pound-feet of torque. It is mated to a 7-speed dual clutch transmission, or as Porsche calls it  the PDK. The car has a top speed of 210 mph and goes from standstill to 60 mph in 2.7 seconds! No wonder it breaks records with such ease. It has a production run limited to 1000 units and retails around $300,000 in the U.S.

Its Not A Legend, Its A Legend Killer!

The 911 GT2 RS has displayed its dominance in a lot of places already

The 911 GT2 RS has displayed its dominance in a lot of places already. In September 2017, the German speedster clocked 6:47.25, beating the 6:52.01 set by Lamborghini Huracan Performante. This made it the fastest street-legal production car ever to grace the Nurburgring. According to the record-keepers at FastestLaps.com, the Porsche 911 GT2 RS also holds the lap records at Hockenheim, Willow Springs, Magny-Cours, and Sachsenring, to name a few. Such an over-achieving child the 911 GT2 RS is. We are sure Porsche and Volkswagen are proud of it.

Our Take

The sheer display of power by the 911 GT2 RS is gaining a lot of goodwill for Porsche in the motorsport industry

The sheer display of power by the 911 GT2 RS is gaining a lot of goodwill for Porsche in the motorsport industry; not that it lacked any. Open the record books, and youll find its name etched into so many racetracks already. Is there any car that can stop this little beast from steamrolling the records? Tell us in the comments section.

References

Read our full review on the 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS.

Read more Porsche news.Ocean lovers will surely love the new star of a luxury resort in Maldives which lets its guests stay in an underwater room.

The villa will amaze its guests with the breathtaking biodiversity of the Indian Ocean, as they see tons of fishes when they look around the glass walls of their submerged room. It is set to open in Conrad Maldives Rangali Island resort in November. It costs $15 million to develop, the submerged haven is located 16.4 feet below the ocean's surface, and is surrounded by an amazing view.

According to its website, the building is called "Muraka," which means "coral" in Dhivehi, the language in Maldives. The spectacular villa has two floors that is connected by an elevator and a spiral staircase. It can also accommodate up to nine people.

What To Expect

The upper level is located above the water and spans a sprawling 5,921 square feet. It features a king-size bed, a bathroom with a bathtub facing the vibrant ocean, a twin-size bedroom, a third bathroom, quarter for the butlers, a kitchen, bar, and even a powder room.

There are also two decks on the Muraka. One has an infinity swimming pool to give its guests the best view of the sunrise and sunset. Underwater lies the beautiful 193-square foot suite, which has a living room, a king- size bedroom, and a bathroom.

Design And Function

The underwater paradise is designed by acclaimed Japanese architect Yuji Yamazaki. The minimalist interior of the villa is apparent in the ceilings made of reflective glass, lavish leather finishes, and a granite and marble detailing. The natural colors of the villa were also chosen purposely to complement the beautiful environment.

Installed and supplied by one of Japan's leading aquarium manufacturers, Nippura Co., the accommodation's acrylic dome is one of its highlights. The high-tech building also has an outer shell made up of two steel layers and concrete.

To keep it steady regardless of the water's condition, it is weighed down by 10 pieces of legs, each measuring a meter in diameter, that is concreted into steel piles. Furthermore, the materials that were used were tested for pressure before it was installed to make sure that it is secure enough to withstand the ocean's forces.

Project chief architect and designer Ahmed Saleem said that they were driven by their inspiration to bring a transformative and new approach to travelers all over the globe.

Although The Muraka is the first full residence which even has its own submarine suite, it is not the first hotel room to open underwater.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018You might want to rethink that dream house by the ocean.

Remember when I sat on a beach and decided not to buy a house (that I couldn't have afforded anyway)? It turns out my reasoning was pretty financially sound, at least according to the scientists working with the First Street Foundation.

As reported by The Charlotte Observer, these researchers used data on sea level rise from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Geological Survey, local governments, the National Weather Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and then correlated it with data from local governments on property values. They then used their findings to launch Flood IQan interactive tool which allows you to search individual communities and addresses across the Southeast United States (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia) and find out how much coastal flooded has impacted property prices, and how much it is projected to do so through 2033. Across the entire region, the team found a whopping $7.4 billion in losses already incurred since 2005,

North Topsail, for example, where I did my beachside soul searching last time (pictured above), is said to have lost $17,074,467 in property values since 2005 thanks to coastal flooding, and looks set to lose a further -$19,701,308 by 2033 if the projected 6.4 inches of sea level rise comes to fruition. (Luckily, NC lawmakers have banned sea level riseso we should be fine.)

Indeed, the Charlotte Observer story explicitly calls out North Topsail, which really is a lovely beach, and notes that the town of 800 or so residents is losing as much as five feet of beach a year to coastal erosion, and is likely to run out of money soon to keep dealing with the ongoing economic impacts.

This is, apparently, the first study of its kind to specifically show economic losses that have already occurred thanks to sea level riseand that may be a big deal. While nobody wants to lose money in the future, there's always a nagging feeling that maybe it'll turn out for the best. Showing that we've already started down this slippery slope, and that there's a long way left to fall, may help concentrate the mind and spur folks to actually act.

Of course, the sad part of the story is that there's little we can do to stop whatever sea level rise that's already baked in for decades, even centuries, to come. But we have to start somewhere.vinaymishra188@gmail.com

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 26

The Central government on Thursday approved the merger of Vodafone and Idea Cellular, creating the countrys largest mobile operator with 35 per cent market share.

The merged entity, which would have over 430 million subscribers, came after Idea Cellular and Vodafone India made a joint payment of Rs 7,268.78 crore to the Department of Telecom (DoT) for merging their respective telecom businesses. The payment was, however, made under protest. Bharti Airtel is currently the market leader with 344 million customers.

The two telecom operators would now approach Registrar of Companies (RoC) for stipulated filings of approvals, completing the last leg of formalities.

The DoT had given an initial clearance to the merger on July 9 with conditions that the merged entity will have to abide by the decisions of the telecom tribunal and other courts. These would stay even after the final clearance.

At the time of giving the initial clearance, the DoT asked the two operators to clear the dues that were pending towards them to get the final clearance.

Following this, Idea Cellular and Vodafone India, earlier this week, made a joint payment of Rs 7,268.78 crore under protest to the government. This included Rs 3,926.34 crore paid in cash and Rs 3,342.44 crore furnished as bank guarantees.

Kumar Mangalam Birla will be the non-executive Chairman and Balesh Sharma the new CEO of the merged entity, which will remain listed. Vodafone will have a 45.1 per cent stake in the combined entity, while Aditya Birla Group will have 26 per cent and Idea shareholders 28.9 per cent.

The Aditya Birla Group has the right to acquire up to a 9.5 per cent additional stake from Vodafone under an agreed mechanism with a view to equalising the shareholdings overtime.

Incidentally, the merger will help the two operators to jointly take on the might of Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Jio in the fiercely competitive domestic telecom market where there are now just three telecom operators.

The deal gave Vodafone India an implied enterprise value of around Rs 82,800 crore and Idea an enterprise value of Rs 72,200 crore. Vodafone Group CEO Vittorio Colao had said that the company expects the merger to close in August.

Birth of a behemotheditorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 26

Three students of Post Graduate Government College (PGGC), Sector 46, were seriously injured after two student parties clashed at the college on Thursday afternoon. While admissions are still on at colleges, parties have begun campaigning. An argument between members of the Student Organisation of India (SOI) and the National Students Union of India (NSUI) escalated.

At least 12 boys are said to have been involved in the clash near the college canteen of whom Ved Prakash, a BA-II student, Amandeep, a BA-I student, and Pradeep are reported to have been seriously injured.

The injured students were taken to the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32. Ved Prakash is still said to be in the hospital, while Pradeeps parents took him to a private hospital in Mohali.

However, till the filing of this report, the police had not registered an FIR. According to the police, they did not receive any complaint from any student nor from the college authorities. However, they have obtained the CCTV footage from the campus and will take action after identifying the accused.

College Principal JK Sehgal claimed that the attackers were outsiders and not students of the college.

The NSUI was pasting stickers and distributing these among freshers. SOI members were holding a meeting near the canteen area. As NSUI members approached the area, SOI members asked them not to come there, which led to the clash.

Chairs, bottles used as weapons

An argument ensued that escalated and at least 12 party members indulged in a physical fight. While students were empty-handed, they picked up whatever they could lay their hands on, including chairs and empty bottles. The CCTV footage obtained by the police even shows a boy picking up a bench and running behind another to attack him.gspannu7@gmail.com

Chandigarh, July 26

Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday took cognisance of the incident involving the alleged gang-rape of a 22-year-old married woman from Chandigarh at a guest house in Morni in Haryanas Panchkula district.

The Division Bench of Chief Justice Krishna Murari and Justice Arun Palli put the state of Haryana on notice while treating the matter as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL).

The court directed the Haryana Government to submit a status report in the alleged gang-rape case in ten days.

Haryanas Assistant Advocate General, Sharad Aggarwal, who was present in court, accepted the notice on behalf of the state.

The next date of hearing was fixed for August 13.

The woman had alleged that she was raped for four consecutive days after being held captive at a guest house in Morni area of Haryanas Panchkula district.

However, in a twist to the alleged gang-rape of the 22-year-old married woman from Chandigarh case, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Haryana Police had yesterday arrested her husband and booked him for immoral trafficking.

The womans husband was booked under various provisions of Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act as also under Section 370 IPC (buying or disposing of any person as a slave).

Police investigations had found that two key accused, already arrested in the alleged gang-rape case, were running a sex racket.

The accused husband was produced before a court in Panchkula yesterday, which remanded him to three days in police custody.

Earlier, ten people were arrested in the alleged gang-rape case.

In a complaint lodged with the Chandigarh Police at Manimajra police station on Thursday, the woman had alleged that she was held captive for four days where the accused numbering 40 took turns to rape her.

The womans husband, now under arrest, had earlier told reporters that she was promised a job at the guest house by a person known to them, adding she was drugged for four days, raped and threatened that the couple would be eliminated if she revealed the incident to anyone.

The Chandigarh Police had lodged an FIR in Manimajra police station after the woman approached them with the complaint.

She had alleged that Haryana Police had failed to take cognisance of her complaint initially when she approached the women police station in Panchkula.

The Panchkula Police had later set up a Special Investigation Team under IPS officer Dr Anshu Singla, who is currently posted as ASP, Panchkula, to probe the alleged gang-rape incident.  PTIShahzad Raza

Shahzad Raza

Islamabad-based journalist

The 2018 General Election results offer numerical defeat, yet political victory for the Pakistan People's Party (PPP). Wading through a comparatively tough electioneering, debutant Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has made it to the National Assembly, according to the unofficial results. His presence would fill, to some extent, the vacuum created in parliamentary politics with the demise of his mother.

As Chaucer's lusty bachelor, Bilawal follows the path of his mother and grandfather. Whether he would be able to attain what they did in their lifetime is a different debate altogether.

Bilawal is poised to lead the third largest party in the upcoming National Assembly. Though the chances of the PPP forming a weird coalition with the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) cannot be ruled out, the high possibility is that it would join the opposition benches along with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to form a strong opposition.

Bilawal ran the most impressive election campaign. He was composed, cool and decent. Unlike his bad-mouthing contemporaries, he managed to show the character he must have inherited from his late mother, Benazir Bhutto. It was a perfect start for someone who has a long career ahead.

The PTI has emerged the largest party, followed by the PML-N. The PPP secured the third position at the national level with more than 44 seats. In the last General Election, the party had shrunk to 31 seats. It also managed to bag the highest number of seats in the Sindh provincial assembly to form the provincial government again. Its performance in Punjab is better this time as compared to the 2013 General Election.

The People's Party took two tactical decisions in the final phase of the election campaign. First, it minimised the presence of its co-chairman Asif Zardari from public rallies, billboards and media advertisements. Secondly, it avoided delivering aggressive and provocative messages against the political rivals. The strategy might not have won the seats, but it certainly won hearts. Even the adversaries applauded Bilawal and found in him a future leader.

Bilawal is a curious case in Pakistani politics. He carries a glorious legacy as well as a heavy baggage. A scion of the Bhutto family, he tends to repeat the performance of his grandfather Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and his mother. Simultaneously, he needs to come out of the shadow of his father, Asif Zardari, who is notorious and disliked by most Pakistanis.

Just a few days before the elections, the PTI chairman hinted at forming a coalition with the People's Party, provided Asif Zardari is not part of the deal. Zardari is street-smart and understands the intricacies of the Pakistani politics better than any other politician. If it suits him and his party, he may even abandon the National Assembly seat that he just won.

Over the past five decades, the People's Party has gone through a lot. It underwent a massive transformation and, in recent years, degeneration. At one time, Lahore, the birthplace of the party, was its bastion. Now it cannot win a single seat from the city. Punjabis rejected the shenanigans of Zardari. In 1986, when Benazir Bhutto returned during the dictatorial regime of General Zia-ul Haq, Lahoris welcomed her the way they never had done before. They loved her, rather adored her.

Coming back to recent elections, the results are mired in controversies. The PML-N has rejected them altogether. The People's Party has expressed its strong reservations. It has accused the state institutions of harassing its polling agents to favour the PTI. Former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani has warned against dire consequences of changing the voters' opinion by force. The party has already objected to the highest number of deployment of army personnel inside and outside the polling stations.

A People's Party leader commented: "In 2008, when terrorism was rampant, only 70,000 army personnel had been deployed. Now when we have a much better peaceful situation across the country, the deployment of around 4,00,000 personnel is something not understandable, or, maybe, understandable."

Pakistan as a nation and a country is at the crossroads. The aftermath of the 2018 General Election could make or break the future. "These elections are the most controversial after 1977. I wonder how the PML-N and the People's Party would accept the results. There is a bumpy road ahead for the PTI if it forms the government," observed Murtaza Solangi, a senior Islamabad-based journalist.

Whosoever forms the government, the PPP has some big decisions to make. Apparently, Bilawal would prefer to join the opposition to learn the art of parliamentary politics. His association with the PTI at this juncture would not augur well for his future political career. He would try to reclaim his party's lost position in Punjab, in the next five years, and to win the 2023 elections.

In doing so, he has to capitalise on his true legacy and get out of the shadow of his father. He needs a new team, not the uncles who earned his party a very bad reputation and cost the nation a fortune.editorial@tribune.com

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 26

Ruling that the state machinery is least bothered about protecting ponds and shamilat deh (village common land) from encroachers, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has called for immediate end to the growing menace of its unauthorised and illegal possession.

The Bench asserted that ponds, water channels, reservoirs and common area would not be left for rural inhabitants and even animals as the ecological balance would be disturbed.

The ruling by Justice Mahesh Grover and Justice Mahabir Singh Sindhu came on a petition by Bhale Ram and another petitioner against Haryana, Director Panchayat and other respondents.

A gram panchayat had filed an application for ejecting the petitioners from 40 kanals of shamilat deh in Bhaiyapur village in Rohtak district on the ground that it was in illegal possession.

In July 1983, an order was passed, stating that the land was shamilat deh, the gram panchayat was the owner and the petitioners were in illegal possession.

The petitioners had offered to exchange their land in lieu of the property in dispute. They had also offered to pay the land price along with composition fees. The matter went through legal rigmarole before being placed before the Bench.

Referring to the revenue record, the Bench asserted that it was very disturbing as the land was a pond encroached upon and illegally occupied by the petitioners.

They were ordered to be ejected way back in 1983. The ejectment order attained finality up to the High Court in 1987. The petitioners were continuing to be in illegal possession on one pretext or the other.

Despite finality of the ejectment order, the gram panchayat had passed a resolution in 1987 in the petitioners favour on flimsy grounds. It was dealt with by the then Director Panchayat in a most casual manner and without application of mind.

The Bench added that village ponds were existing since time immemorial and had a significant impact on the lives of humans and animals.

A substantial number of petitions were being filed in the High Court, which showed that shamilat deh was a very soft target for greedy people in the rural areas. Most vulnerable, ponds were easily targeted by unscrupulous persons and levelled for agricultural purposes or houses.

The obvious reason was unwillingness to protect shamilat deh from encroachers as elected representatives of gram panchayats were either privy or mute spectators of such rampant violations.

Directing the petitioners to hand over the lands vacant possession to the gram panchayat within six months, the Bench added that matters were compromised by the gram panchayat on one pretext or the other and a decent burial was given to the ejectment proceedings in favour of the illegal occupants.monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Chandigarh, July 26

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today announced a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the family of Alwar lynching victim Rakbar alias Akbar Khan.

The chief minister announced the grant as Khan belonged to Kaul village near Ferozepur Jhirka of Nuh district in Haryana.

In addition to the financial assistance announced by the chief minister, Haryana Waqf Board Chairman Raheesha Khan has also announced an aid of Rs 3 lakh to his family, an official statement said here.

"Thus, a total of Rs 8 lakh would be provided as financial assistance by the government, the statement said, adding that Rakbar Khan is survived by his four daughters and three sons."

Khan, along with his friend Aslam, was taking cows to their villages in Haryana through a forest in the Ramgarh area of Alwar last week, when they were caught by a mob and assaulted.

Though Aslam had managed to flee, Rakbar succumbed to his injuries later. - PTIeditorial@tribune.com

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 26

A woman sarpanch from Kanganpur village of Sirsa faces removal from her post as the preliminary inquiry into her middle class pass certificate has found it to be bogus. Sirsa Deputy Commissioner Prabhjot Singh has suspended her.

The district authorities will now order a regular inquiry and if the degree is actually proved bogus, she will lose her job as education qualification is part of the eligibility criteria for elected members of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).

Preetpal Singh, District Development and Panchayat Officer (DDPO), said that after complaints that the middle class certificate of Sukhjinder Kaur, woman sarpanch of Kanganpur village, was bogus, the DC had ordered inquiry by the then SDM Rahul Hooda.

On Wednesday, the DC had called Kaur for providing her a personal hearing.

The DDPO said that during personal hearing, the woman sarpanch could not produce any evidence or documents that could prove that she had actually passed the middle-class examination.

After coming to power in October 2014, the BJP government had passed the Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2015, to make educational qualification and toilet at homes mandatory for the contestants.

The amendment provided that a general category candidate has to be at least class X pass and a Scheduled Caste candidate has to be at least class VIII pass to contest panchayat elections in Haryana.

However, in the case of a woman candidate belonging to the SC category contesting election for the post of panch, the minimum qualification was class V pass.

Further, the Bill made it mandatory for all candidates to have functional toilets at their residence which is an extension of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.gspannu7@gmail.com

Palampur (Himachal Pradesh), July 26

NK Kalia, father of Kargil martyr Captain Saurabh Kalia, has congratulated the soldiers on the occasion of the 19th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas.

First of all, I would like to pay my heartiest respect to all the soldiers. It is because of these brave soldiers that we are safe and sound in the country and enjoy almost everything. Had they not been there at the borders or elsewhere, our life would have been different all together. I would like to congratulate our soldiers for bringing home the victory in Kargil War despite all odds, NK Kalia told ANI.

Saurabh Kalia and his five other soldiers were killed and mutilated during the battle with the Pakistan army. NK Kalia has been seeking justice for his son from past 19 years.

NK Kalia moved to the Supreme Court in 2014 to fight for the dignity and honour of armed forces.' We had to move to the Supreme Court for this. We understand this is an issue between the two nations and unless External Affairs Ministry take up this issue with Pakistan or at the international level I am afraid any action impossible, said Kalia, whose son lost his life in Pakistani captivity.

NK Kalia was assured justice by both former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and his successor Narendra Modi, but nothing has happened in the issue so far.

I was promised by the then prime minister of India, defense minister and external affairs minister that this issue will be taken with Pakistan as well as at the international forum but all these years it never appeared that any concrete or solid action has been taken on the part of the Indian government, added Kalia.

Kalia further said that he is determined to fight for the same as long as he is alive.  ANI.ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Suhail A Shah

Anantnag, July 25

The security forces gunned down two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants in Anantnag on Wednesday in the first gunfight in the town in 14 years.

The slain militants were identified as Bilal Ahmad Dar (alias Binyamin Dar) of Khodweni in Kulgam district and Abid Hussain Bhat of Suzan village in Doda district of the Jammu region.

Dar had been among militant ranks for a year now, while Bhat joined the outfit on July 1. Bhat is considered to be the first youth from Doda district to have joined militancy in recent memory.

The gunfight started in the wee hours in Mehman Mohalla locality of Lal Chowk  the busiest business hub of Anantnag town.

The area was cordoned off and searches were conducted for several hours. They were holed up in a house, police sources said. The contact with militants was established at 4.30 am.

The militants were neutralised after about six hours. People were not allowed to venture out of their houses, but that could not prevent clashes in which a policeman was injured.

The body of the local militant was handed over to his family at Khodweni. Several rounds of funeral prayers were held and some militants also offered a gun salute.

First in town after 14 yrseditorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service & PTI

Jammu/Srinagar, July 26

The Army is capable of meeting any contingency or challenge along the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan or the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, a top commander said on Thursday.

He said the modernisation of the armed forces was going on in a big way and it had improved operational preparedness.

I can tell you that the Army is fully prepared to take on any challenge along the LAC and even along the LoC, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Northern Command, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh told reporters in Drass after paying tributes to the 1999 Kargil war heroes.

In the past 19 years, the modernisation of the armed forces was going on in a big way, he said.

We have been able to identify certain areas where we required additional focus  whether in the form of infrastructure development close to the LoC or on the LAC or improvement in night vision, surveillance and night fighting capabilities. Substantial improvement has taken place so far as ops preparedness is concerned, he said.

He downplayed incidents of transgression along the LAC by the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) of China saying these happened due to differing perception about the LAC.

On a large number of occasions, there are reports about PLAs transgressions in various areas along the LAC. But these have always taken place in areas where we have differing perception of the LAC. We do not have a delineated LAC. Similarly, when we speak to Chinese authorities, they also refer to us having transgressed into their territory on several occasions, he added.

On the situation in Kashmir, he said it was stable but fragile.

The situation in Kashmir is stable. However, it is fragile. The parameters of violence in 2018 are relatively better as compared to 2017 and earlier years. The stone-throwing activities are relatively less this year, he said.

Lt Gen Ranbir Singh said the situation deteriorates whenever Pakistan pushes in funds, weapons or militants.

Earlier, the GOC-in-C led a solemn wreath-laying ceremony at the Drass war memorial. Gallantry award winners, next of kin of the martyrs, Veer Naris, senior Army officers and civil dignitaries also paid tributes to the martyrs.

A defence spokesperson said the sombre mood at the ceremony brought home memories of the losses borne by the martyrs families.

Thanking everyone for participating in the event, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh said the commemoration was the Armys modest homage to the martyrs and a way of remembering the contribution of the units and formations in the conflict that gave India its finest victory in recent times.

Kashmir situation stable but fragile

The situation in Kashmir is stable. However, it is fragile. The parameters of violence in 2018 are relatively better as compared to 2017 and earlier years. The stone-throwing activities are relatively less this year.  Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, Northern Command Chiefeditorial@tribune.com

Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 26

After holding a series of meetings with Valley-based leaders, former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is going to start a similar exercise in Jammu from July 29 to keep the Peoples Democratic Partys flock together in the region.

Mehbooba will arrive in Jammu on July 29 and hold parleys with party workers and leaders during her two-day visit. She will also address a meeting of the partys card-holders on July 30 to celebrate PDPs foundation day.

Although none of the Jammu-based PDP leaders has challenged the party leadership, discontent is brewing among workers here against, what they allege, the discriminatory attitude of the party high command towards the region.

After the collapse of the PDP-BJP government on June 19, this will be Mehbooba's first visit to Jammu. Her visit to the winter capital is significant as most of the party leaders here have become inactive for the last one month.

After some PDP legislators in the Valley raised the banner of revolt against the party leaders, party president Mehbooba Mufti started holding interactions with workers and leaders to address their grievances. She has convened over half-a-dozen meetings with party leaders in the Kashmir valley.

A senior PDP leader told The Tribune that earlier it had been decided that Sartaj Madni would address the foundation day function in Jammu but now Mehbooba had decided to interact with Jammu-based workers and leaders to address their apprehensions and grievances.

After the death of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the incumbent party leadership has abandoned its Jammu unit, said the leader on the condition of anonymity.

He said that instead of pursuing inclusive politics like Mufti Sayeed, the present leadership had failed to incorporate the wishes and aspirations of the Jammu region in its programmes and policies. In the 2014 Assembly elections, the PDP had failed to open its account in eight of the 10 districts of the Jammu province but party candidates had performed well in a couple of Hindu-majority Assembly seats.

In the Nowshera Assembly segment of Rajouri district, PDP candidate Surinder Chowdhary, who was the runner-up in the elections, had secured 27,871 votes. In the RS Pura Assembly constituency of Jammu district, PDP candidate Bhushan Dogra had got over 10,000 votes.

Discontent brewingeditorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Anantnag/Srinagar, July 26

Five Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were injured and a militant was killed in a two separate incidents in Kashmir on Thursday.

Five CRPF men were injured in a grenade attack in south Kashmirs Anantnag district. Around 3.45 pm, militants tossed a grenade at a CRPF bunker at Goriwan, Bijbehara, resulting in injuries to five personnel.

All injured were taken to a hospital and their condition is stated to be stable, a police officer said.

Soon after the attack, the area was soon cordoned off and searches were carried out to try and nab the attackers. The attackers had, however, fled by then.

The Lashkar-e-Toiba claimed responsibility for the attack. Two members of the militant outfit were killed in a gunfight in Anantnag on Wednesday.

A complete shutdown was today observed in parts of Anantnag and the neighbouring Kulgam district of south Kashmir against the killing of the two LeT militants. There were reports of minor stone-throwing from Anantnag town, where the gunfight had taken place.

Meanwhile, an unidentified militant was killed during an encounter in the frontier district of Kupwara on Thursday.

Sources said joint teams of the police, Army, and the CRPF launched a cordon and search operation at Handwara after an input about militants. The gunfight broke out around 1 pm when militants opened fire on the forces.

In the operation, one militant was killed, the sources said. The forces recovered arms and ammunition from the gunfight site.

In Srinagar, the J&K Police carried out surprise checking along the Residency Road on Thursday.

Militants snatch 4 rifles from cops in Shopian

Anantnag: Militants on Thursday evening barged into the guard post of a politician in Shopian town and decamped with four service rifles of policemen. The incident, as per sources, took place in the Bonnabazar area of the town at 8.30 pm. The politician has been identified as former Congressman Muhammad Shafi Banday. A senior police officer said: The details of the incident are being ascertained. We have cordoned off the area. oc

20-kg IED defused in Tral

Srinagar: A major tragedy was averted on Thursday evening in Tral town of south Kashmir when security forces spotted a 20-kg IED. A senior police officer said the explosive was spotted at 6.15 pm along the Handoora-Tral road and was kept in a bucket. It was detected and defused well in time before it could cause any damage to security forces or people, the police officer said. He said investigation had been started into the incident. TNSamansharma@tribunemail.com

New Delhi, July 26

The Antigua government has indicated that it may consider "a legitimate request" from India to send back the uncle of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, who has taken citizenship there, according to a newspaper report in that country.

The Daily Observer today quoted a Cabinet press briefing issued by the Chief of Staff, Lionel "Max" Hurst, to state that Antigua and Barbuda government will make every effort "as per law" to honour a "legitimate" request from India.

The issue of Choksi, a fugitive from India involved in an alleged banking scam worth over $2 billion, getting citizenship in Antigua in November last year was discussed in a Cabinet meeting of Antigua and Barbuda government, the newspaper said.

A CBI request, India's nodal agency for Interpol matters, to issue a Red Corner Notice against Choksi is pending with the international police organisation and is likely to be granted soon.

The Cabinet underlined that they do not have extradition treaty with India and that Choksi has not been charged for any crime, it reported.

The paper also stated that the Cabinet noted that no request has been received by the Antigua and Barbuda government for any action against Choksi.

The Citizenship by Investment unit of Antigua faced criticism from the paper for allowing Choksi to get passport of Antigua in November last year. The unit had informed the paper that Choksi's request was allowed after "due diligence" and detailed background check from Interpol.

The CBI has denied that Interpol ever approached it regarding background checks on Choksi, who was facing inquiries from various agencies last year.

In an editorial, the paper said, "There is a perception that the CIU's due diligence is a farce and that CIP money trumps due diligence. This is a perception that cannot be allowed to linger because it will have damaging effects on our country's reputation. The government must produce all the documentary evidence of the due diligence process so that the citizens of this country can have confidence that there is integrity to the process."

It also noted that India is a friendly country, an "ally", and that it had helped Antigua in past on several occasions and it was a time to reciprocate.

"Beyond that, India is an ally. They have provided assistance to us in the past, and they have been tapped to provide assistance in the future. Most recently (as in April of this year), we sought their technical assistance in the areas of health and the management of public finance. Will we now turn our backs on them and give safe harbour to a fugitive from their justice system?," an editorial in the paper said.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate has moved to a special court in Mumbai seeking to declare Nirav Modi and his uncle Choksi 'fugitive economic offenders' which will enable them to seize their assets in India.

Nirav Modi and Choksi are being investigated by the ED and the CBI after it was detected that they allegedly cheated the Punjab National Bank of more than Rs 13,400 crore with purported involvement of a few of the lender's employees.

The scam, which reportedly began in 2011, was detected in January this year, after which PNB officials reported it to the probe agencies.

Choksi and Modi fled the country in January this year nearly a fortnight before the scam was detected.

Choksi's actions show that he had planned his escape and subsequent life in advance knowing that the scam would blow up after the retirement of PNB employee Gokulnath Shetty, who was allegedly helping him with renewal of letters of undertaking, sources said.

He escaped the country on January 4 on an Indian passport and took the oath of allegiance in Antigua on January 15, they said.

Next day, his firm approached the Brady House branch of the Punjab National Bank seeking renewal and issuance of letters of undertaking which were denied as the officer concerned sought cash guarantee for issuing these notes, a CBI FIR in this connection alleged.

The executives told the officer that they have been taking these letters over last several years without any demand of such guarantee, it said.

The officer could not find instructions for such LoUs in the bank's system which led to a detailed scrutiny. It is then that the alleged scam surfaced prompting the bank to approach the CBI with a complaint and an FIR was registered on January 31.

An LoU is a guarantee given by an issuing bank to Indian banks having branches abroad to grant short-term credit to an applicant.

Choksi allegedly swindled Rs 7,080.86 crore, making it possibly the biggest banking scam in the country, the FIR has alleged.

Choksi and his companies allegedly availed of credit from overseas branches of Indian banks using the fraudulent guarantees of the PNB given through LoUs and letters of credit issued to Brady House branch which were not repaid bringing the liability on the state run bank, the officials said.

A charge sheet filed in a special court in Mumbai after a three-and-a-month probe alleged that Shetty, a deputy manager in the PNB and arrested by the CBI, received Rs 1 crore from the companies of Choksi to issue LoUs to his companies, they said. - PTIvinaymishra188@gmail.com

Mumbai, July 26

The Congress will organise a morcha against the non-disclosure of Rafale jet purchase price by the BJP-led Central Government, in Mumbai on July 30.

The march would be part of similar protests the party planned to organise across the country, senior party leaders said on Thursday.

The morcha would start from Fashion Street and conclude at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai.

The Congress has been demanding that the government should disclose the purchase price of each Rafale jet during the ongoing session of Parliament.

Addressing a press conference here, Maharashtra Congress president Ashok Chavan said the incumbent NDA government was buying fighter jets from France at much higher price than the one negotiated by the erstwhile Congress-led UPA government.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said the government could not reveal the exact deal price due to a secrecy clause in the purchase deal.

Raising the issue aggressively, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had alleged no such clause existed, only to be contradicted by the French government.

The government cannot hide corruption under the guise of the secrecy clause. There is no transparency in the deal as it has been done without taking anybody into confidence. There is a lot of room for suspicion, Chavan said. He said the people should know the exact price at which the jets were being purchased. Secrecy is understandable for technical details and technology transfer, but not for the price of the aircraft, the former CM said.

He said the current price of the jets is 300 times higher than the one decided upon by the erstwhile government. In 2012, the UPA government had fixed the deal at Rs 526 crore. We were going to get 36 Rafale jets for Rs 18,940 crore.

However, the Modi government renegotiated the deal under which each fighter jet will cost Rs 1,670 crore. Moreover, India is not getting any technology transfer, he claimed.

Chavan said the Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL) was supposed to get the work order worth Rs 30,000 crore under the UPA deal unlike in the present case, where a private company formed 10 days before the deal was inked got the contract. Qatar and Egypt have also purchased Rafale jets for Rs 319.8 crore per aircraft, Chavan claimed. Mumbai Congress unit president Sanjay Nirupam alleged that the Rafale deal is a scam worth Rs 41,205 crore.  PTIgspannu7@gmail.com

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 26

Women devotees, who ran Ready to wait campaign to support the restriction on entry of women in the age group of 10 to 50 years in Sabarimala Temple in Kerala, on Thursday told the Supreme Court that Lord Ayyappas right to privacy as an eternal celibate must be respected.

A deity, having a distinct legal personality, was entitled to the rights under Articles 21, 25 and 26 of the Constitution.Lord Ayyappas right to maintain his eternal celibate status is covered under the right to privacy under Article 21, advocate J Sai Deepak told a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra on behalf of People4Dharma which represents the women devotees of Lord Ayyappa.

A nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court had in 2017 declared right to privacy a fundamental right under Article 21 (right to life and liberty).

Article 25 and Article 26 deal with right to religion and right of religious denominations, respectively.

Deepak contended the celibate nature of the deity was integral to the practice which should not be disturbed and whether a particular practice was essential to practise a faith was a question of trial that would require leading evidence for and against.

His arguments were contested by Justice DY Chandrachud who said a practice, even if essential, cannot violate constitutional principles.

Sometimes judges would be required to don the mantle of theologians in deciding issues relating to religion, Deepak responded giving the example of Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai.

In that case, the Bombay High Court had gone into Hadiths and other Islamic scriptures and recorded evidence to deliver its verdict.

He said it was for those challenging the age-old practice to adduce evidence.

He said Articles 25 and 26 represented a social contract between the nation state and religion as these provisions drew a line for the state.

The entry restriction on women between 10 and 50 years was not based on gender; Deepak said emphasising every exclusion didnt amount to discrimination.

Senior advocate V Giri  representing the Sabarimala Temple Tantri (Priest)  argued that everyone asserting right to religion basically said I believe in the deity.

If that is so, their belief must be in sync with the character of the deity which is an essential characteristic of the deity and therefore the religious denomination. The character of the deity cannot be wished away, Giri submitted.

The Bench also comprising justices RF Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra is seized of PILs against the age-old tradition of keeping women of 10-50 years out of the famous Sabarimala Ayyappa templeone of the holiest Hindu shrinessituated on a hilltop in Kerala.

The tradition is rooted in the belief that the deity is an eternal celibate (Naisthika Brahmachari). The petitioners have challenged Rule 3(b) of the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorization of Entry) Rules, 1965 which restricts entry women between the age of 10 and 50 into the shrine.

On Wednesday, Nair Service Society (NSS)  which represents the Nair community in Kerala  had contested the Supreme Courts observation that the restriction on entry of women of menstruating age into Sabarimala Temple was due to patriarchy and most women were conditioned to obey it.

Appearing for NSS, senior counsel K Parasaran had rejected the allegation that the restriction on entry of women between the age of 10 and 20 was misogynistic.

Women in Kerala are socially advanced, owing to their education, and most of them are not opposed to the practices followed in SabarimalaHindus in Kerala followed matrilineal practices, and hence it was baseless to contend that they are subjugated. Therefore, the issue should not be approached through notions of patriarchy or misogyny, Parasaran had said.rchopra@tribunemail.com

Jitendra K Shrivastava

Tribune News Service

Patna, July 26

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday recommended a CBI probe into the Muzaffarpur stay-home sex scandal.

The CM directed the DGP, Home Secretary and Chief Secretary to hand over the case in which 29 girl inmates were allegedly sexually assaulted.

The CBI inquiry was ordered even though DGP KS Dwivedi was satisfied with the police probe.

Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav had been demanding a High Court-monitored CBI probe into the sex scandal committed at the state government-funded stay-home where 44 girl inmates lived.

The Opposition had been regularly raising the issue in the monsoon session of the Assembly.vinaymishra188@gmail.com

Jaipur, July 26

Rajasthan BJP chief Madan Lal Saini has put his foot in the mouth, saying Humayun told Babur to respect cows if he wanted to rule India.

The senior party leader was caught on camera getting his history wrong, confusing the father with the son. I recall that when Humayun was on the deathbed, he called Babur and told him that he should respect cows, Brahmins and women if he wanted to rule Hindustan, Saini told reporters at the BJPs state headquarters.

Saini goofed up on the historical fact that Babur was Humayuns father, and not the other way round. Babur died in 1530, about 25 years before Humayuns death.

The reporters had sought Sainis comments on the recent lynching of Akbar Khan. Saini said even during the times of staunch Muslim rulers like Aurangzeb, there was a ban on cow slaughter.

Akbar who died in Alwar had a case of cow smuggling lodged against him. Whatever happened was unfortunate. We live in a democracy which is run by laws, so taking the law into ones hands is not acceptable, Saini said. Other Rajasthan BJP leaders have also criticised cow slaughter even while condemning the lynching. Rajasthan Labour Minister Jaswant Yadav had said Muslims should stop cow smuggling and respect the sentiments of the Hindus.  PTI

Three child-lifters rescued from mob

Three men, who were trying to help a boy cross a road, were rescued by police from an angry mob which suspected they were child-lifters, police said on Thursday. The incident happened in the Hanumanganj area in Bhopal on Wednesday evening and police managed to save Dhan Singh, Ram Swaroop Sen and Dashrath Ahirwar from 12-15 persons who were assaulting them, they said.vinaymishra188@gmail.com

Johannesburg, July 26

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday highlighted the importance of industrial technology, skill development and multilateral cooperation in creating a better world as he attended the BRICS Summit here.

Modi said the new industrial technology and digital interface that the world is building is an opportunity and also a challenge.

Modi, who arrived here on Wednesday to attend the summit, said technological innovations can help enhance service delivery, productivity levels. New systems and products will open new ways of economic progress, he said.

At the session with fellow BRICS leaders, I shared my thoughts on various global issues, the importance of technology, skill development and how effective multilateral cooperation creates a better world, Modi tweeted after his address.

He said India wants to work with BRICS nations on the fourth industrial revolution and called for sharing the best practices and policies in the area. The fourth industrial revolution is the fourth major industrial era since the initial Industrial Revolution of the 18th century. It is characterised by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital and biological spheres.

He said the fourth industrial revolution would have more importance than the capital. High skill but temporary work will be the new face of employment. There will be radical changes in industrial production, design, and manufacturing, Modi said.  PTI

Meets XI at Brics summit

Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss furthering the friendship between India and China. Furthering India-China friendship. PM @narendramodi and President Xi Jinping hold talks on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in South Africa, the PMO tweeted. They are believed to have exchanged views on BRICS cooperation and other issues of mutual interest.

US claims China active in Doklam; India says no

Washington: During a Congressional hearing, Congresswoman Ann Wagner claimed that China has quietly resumed its activities in the Doklam area and neither Bhutan nor India has sought to dissuade it, an assertion that was denied by New Delhi on Tuesday. Minister of State for External Affairs Ministry VK Singh told Rajya Sabha that there have been no new developments at the site of the face-off with China in Doklam and its vicinity, and status quo prevails in the area. PTIgspannu7@gmail.com

Johannesburg, July 26

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and the two leaders discussed ways to expand the bilateral ties in a number of sectors, including trade and investment, IT and defence.

Following the delegation-level talks between Modi and Ramaphosa, three MoUs were signed on cooperation in exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, setting up of Gandhi-Mandela Centre of specialisation for artisan skills and agricultural research and education.

Modi, who arrived here yesterday, met Ramaphosa on the sidelines of the two-day BRICS summit whose theme this year is BRICS in Africa.

Kicking off a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of BRICS! PM Narendra Modi meets the host South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet.

India and South Africa are celebrating 21 years of strategic partnership.

India and South Africa are proud inheritors of legacies of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, Kumar said.

PM Narendra Modi and President Cyril Ramaphosa discussed expansion of our relationship in trade and investment, agriculture and food processing, IT, defence and people-to-people contacts, he said.

BRICS is a grouping of five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as BRIC, before the induction of South Africa in 2010.

Indias relations with South Africa date back several centuries. India was at the forefront of the international community in its support to the anti-apartheid movement.

This year also marks 25 years since the resumption of Indias diplomatic relations with South Africa in 1993. This year also marks the 125th year of the Pietermaritzburg railway station incident involving Mahatma Gandhi.

The South African Indian-origin community numbers around 1.5 million and constitutes about 3 per cent of South Africas total population.  PTIvinaymishra188@gmail.com

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 26

The government has asked the Supreme Court collegium to reconsider its recommendation to appoint two lawyers as high court judges.

Confirming that the government has returned their files to the collegium, sources said it did not cite any reason for the same.

In 2016, the SC collegium had recommended names of Harnaresh Singh Gill and Mohammed Nizamuddin as judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the Calcutta High Court, respectively.

Recently too, the SC collegiums recommendation for the appointments of two lawyers, one of them a former SC judges son, as judges of the Allahabad High Court was returned for the second time by the government citing complaints against them. The two lawyers are Mohammad Mansoor and Basharat Ali Khan. Mansoor is the son of former Supreme Court judge late Saghir Ahmed.

The government had also returned the name of advocate Nazir Ahmed Beig for elevation as a J&K High Court judge. The names of three others - Wasim Sadiq Nargal, Sindhu Sharma and district judge Rashid Ali Dar - are being processed by the Law Ministry. There was no immediate word on why Beigs name was returned to the collegium.

Citing seniority and regional imbalance, the government had in April returned the file relating to the elevation of Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice KM Joseph. The collegium has recently reiterated its recommendation.vinaymishra188@gmail.com

Tribune News Service & PTI

New Delhi, July 26

A political slugfest broke out on Thursday over the starvation deaths of three minors, including a toddler, in the national capital, with the Union Government attacking the Arvind Kejriwal dispensation for the incident.

In the Lok Sabha, three BJP MPs  Ramesh Bidhuri, Parvesh Verma and Maheish Girri  came down heavily on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi for the deaths. Raising the issue during Zero Hour, they alleged a ration scam in Delhi was stopping subsidised grains from reaching the poor.

The area where the tragedy occurred fell in the constituency of Delhis Deputy CM, Bidhuri said attacking the AAP government. Deepender Hooda of the Congress said both the Centre and the Delhi government were to blame for the deaths, as they together ran the administration in Delhi. Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ram Vilas Paswan said the Centre had ordered an inquiry into the case.

Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the incident was a result of the biggest failure of system. He asked the Directorate of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) to submit details of officials who had the responsibility of keeping record of people living in the area and also fix their accountability.

The initial post-mortem report of the deceased children said the girls died due to "malnourishment/starvation and its complications.

GTB Hospital doctors, who conducted the second autopsy, said, It looked like a typical case of malnutrition, dishevelled, monkey-like face, no trace of fat in the bodies When the body was opened, stomach, bladder and rectum were all found empty. Medical Superintendent of LBS Hospital Dr Amita Saxena said they did not suspect any foul play (like poisoning) as there was no food in the stomach.

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has sought a report by Friday from the Delhi Police and the district administration.

Sisodia visited the SDM office in East Delhi where he met girls mother. He directed the Delhi Governments Planning Department to conduct a census on the status of children and people, including their living condition, education and chronic diseases they are suffering from. He said the Delhi Government had decided to provide Rs 25,000 to the family.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 26

Patiala MP Dr Dharamvira Gandhi has demanded an early discussion in Parliament on his Private Member Bill seeking legalisation of soft drugs in the country. Dr Gandhi has also sought an amendment to the NDPS Act, besides pushing for a debate on the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

He said the legislative branch of Parliament had cleared the Bill, but it was pending for discussion. He said he had recently met Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

Dr Gandhi has been arguing for a couple of years that soft drugs like poppy husk, opium and marijuana should be made legally available to control the drug mafia in the country.

He said most of the drugs were made illegal by the NDPS Act, 1985, which was enacted to meet the then UN conventions on drug policy. But 30 years down the line, where do we stand? The fact of the matter is that the Act has failed in achieving its professed goals, he said.

He said the war on drugs had led to the creation of a dangerous drug mafia, scores of human rights violations and loss of innumerable lives. As the common mans recreational substances were made unavailable, the newer, more potent, addictive and dangerous alternative drugs flooded the markets, he claimed.

He demanded that it was time to treat drug abuse and addiction as a health issue that it is, instead of treating it as a crime against society.

Dr Gandhis Argument

As the common mans recreational substances are made unavailable, the newer, more potent, addictive and dangerous alternative drugs have flooded the markets.

The proposalROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 25

Trouble for Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar Diocese seems to have amplified with voices being raised demanding his removal following an FIR alleging rape being lodged against him by a nun in Kerala last month.

On Wednesday, women activists requested the Vatican to advise Pope Francis to remove the Bishop from his post at least till the time the investigation was on. Leaders of various national women's organisations and human rights activists submitted a memorandum to Giambattista Diquattro, India Apostolic Nunciature (Vatican envoy), on the alleged sexual harassment of the nun.

Annie Raja, general secretary of the National Federation of Indian Women, said an impartial inquiry could be conducted only if the Bishop stepped down. The activists have already taken up the matter with the National Women Commission, which has assured all help to the aggrieved nun.

Earlier, the Joint Christian Council too had demanded the Bishops removal. Bishop Franco Mulakkal and other priests who have similar complaints against them should be immediately removed. The churches should take immediate action, the council had said.

A team led by Viakom DSP K Subhash was in Bengaluru last week interrogating two ex-nuns who served with the complainant when the offence allegedly took place (between 2014 and 2016).

The DSP said he would be meeting the Vatican representative in New Delhi next week to discuss the issue before coming to Jalandhar for the Bishops interrogation.

Kottayam police chief Hari Sankar said when his team would come to Jalandhar, a medical examination of the Bishop too would be conducted. We have collected a lot of evidence in the form of written complaints that the Sister had filed against the Bishop.

But we are now talking to the witnesses with whom she discussed her problem at the time when she says she was actually suffering. An audio clip submitted by the complainant last week regarding a telephonic conversation between Keralas Syro-Malabar Catholic Church head Cardinal George Alencherry and the nun, too, has been a big clue in the case, he added.

Meanwhile, Father Peter, spokesperson of Jalandhar Diocese, said the demand for the Bishops removal was another vicious move against him.

The Bishop will be fully cooperating with the Kerala police and is ready for all medical tests, he said.vinaymishra188@gmail.com

On the occasion of the visit of Sir Butler to Agra, citizens of the town urged the establishment of a University at Agra. They claimed that Agra was an important educational centre having already several colleges and high schools. Students went to that centre from all quarters, especially from Rajputana States. The historic importance of the city as well as its geographical position required that a University should be established there and Lord Hardinge had given distinct encouragement to this hope. In reply Sir Butler said he believed in the establishment of local and residential Universities wherever possible and it was also the declared policy of the Government of India, but whether the time had come for taking action in that line and whether funds were available were matters which required consideration.pardeepdhull@gmail.com

Washington, July 26

Pakistan watchers in the US on Thursday doubted the fairness of the General Election for which Imran Khans party received the armys backing while the PML-N and the PPP ran their campaigns under constraints.

The Trump administration said it was closely monitoring the situation in Pakistan but refused to declare the polls free and fair. The State Department too refused to confirm that. Its mission in Pakistan did not deploy election observers primarily because of security concerns.

We continue to monitor developments and have consistently emphasised our support for free, fair, transparent and accountable elections in Pakistan, as we do around the world, a State Department spokesperson told the Press Trust of India.

Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistan ambassador to the US, said that the result of the election was foretold.

PML-N and PPP were running under constraints and PTI was operating with complete freedom and establishment backing. Haqqani, who is with the Hudson Institute think-tank, said the result was unlikely to change anything in Pakistan, unless the military-led establishment decides to shutdown its jihad business and recognises it as the source of the countrys isolation and economic difficulties.

It is unlikely that a prime minister Imran Khan will act decisively against jihadis, given his sympathy for their cause but miracles can happen, Haqqani said.

The comments came as political parties in Pakistan, including the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, too raised allegations that the election was manipulated and rigged in PTI chief Khans favour.

At a midnight press conference when the vote count was underway, PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif said the election was a blatant violation of the mandate of the people. Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari too raised doubts over the slow pace of vote count and other procedural irregularities.

There are serious allegations of tampering and interference for virtually all parties except the PTI. So the Election Commission of Pakistan will have to respond  but it is unclear how, former state department official Alyssa Ayres, who is now with the Council on Foreign Relations, said.

In an early-morning press conference, the Election Commission rejected the charges, saying it did our job right. In the meantime, the prospect of an Imran Khan-led government will in my view introduce further rockiness into US-Pakistan ties. He is on the record saying things like America is destroying Pakistan and will likely seek to reduce Pakistan-US cooperation, already troubled to begin with. So count me concerned, Ayres said.

Imran Khan, Pakistan experts widely believe, has the backing of the Pakistani army.

Jeff M. Smith - from the Heritage Foundation - said it was important to acknowledge that a peaceful transition of power via a democratic election is still a rare commodity in Pakistan and thus would be a positive step forward. Though, even that has been put in doubt by some very troubling accounts of electoral tampering and manipulation, he said.

The bigger problem, by far, is that the results of the election carry only limited meaning so long as the Pakistani military remains the principal power broker and puppet master governing from behind the scenes, Smith said.

It ensures that regardless of who wins the election, there is unlikely to be any great deviation from the militarys policies and priorities in domestic and foreign affairs, he said.

Past history suggests those daring enough to try and chart a more independent course or assert some degree of civilian control over the military are quickly discarded and emasculated by Rawalpindi, which inevitably finds a new political host to co-opt, Smith said.

Khans position on the US is far more hawkish than former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, noted Moeed Yusuf, from US Institute of Peace. On India, even though Khan is likely to take a more balanced approach, he will certainly not be as forward leaning as Sharif, he said.

Appearing at the Atlantic Council, a US think-tank, Ikram ul Majeed Sehgal chairman of the Pathfinder Group said the Pakistani army always had a major say in elections.

This time it made it publicly known that it favored Khan in general elections, but did not interfere in the elections itself, he said in response to a question. PTIamansharma@tribunemail.com

Islamabad, July 26

Extremist and banned groups, including Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-backed Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek, have failed miserably in Pakistan's general elections despite their massive campaign.

Hundreds of individuals linked with hardline and banned groups were competing in the polls but so far, according to the unofficial results, none of them was seen as winning a seat in the national or provincial assemblies.

Only few could garner a respectable number of votes, including Maulana Muhammad Ahmad Ludhianvi whose name was removed from a banned list called Fourth Schedule ahead of election and allowed to contest, inviting international backlash.

Geo TV reported that Ludhianvi received more than 45,000 votes but was nowhere close to the victory.

Before the elections, concerns have been raised in the country over the participation of hardline Islamist groups in large numbers.

Mili Muslim League linked with Saeed fielded dozens of candidates from the Allah-o-Akbar Tehreek as it was denied recognition by the Election Commission of Pakistan. Saeed himself led the campaign by addressing several rallies but his candidates were not seen anywhere near victory.

Hafiz Talha Saeed, the son of Saeed, contested from NA-91 seat from Sargodha (about 200 km from Lahore), the home town of the Jamaat-ud Dawa leader. Saeed's son-in-law, Khalid Waleed, was a candidate in PP-167.

Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), a Sunni sectarian group, fielded more than 100 candidates but none of them came closer to victory, according to unofficial results so far.

Mutahida Majlis-e-Aml (MMA) was the biggest religious alliance of several leading parties was leading on only eight seats of national assembly despite massive campaign by its leader which included influential Maulana Fazlur Rehman. - PTIpardeepdhull@gmail.com

Ankara, July 26

A senior Iranian military commander said on Thursday Donald Trump should address any threats against Tehran directly to him and he mocked the US President as displaying the ethics of night clubs and gambling halls, the Iranian Young Journalists Club reported.

The comments by Major General Qassem Soleimani, who heads the Quds Force of Irans powerful Revolutionary Guards Corps, were the latest salvo in a war of words between the two countries which has reached a new level of bellicosity.

As a soldier, it is my duty to respond to Trumps threats.

If he wants to use the language of threat, he should talk to me, not to the president (Hassan Rouhani), Soleimani was quoted as saying in the central city of Hamedan.

Iran has dismissed a warning from Trump that Tehran risked dire consequences if it made threats against the United States.

On Monday, Trump said in a tweet responding to comments from Rouhani: Never, ever threaten the United States again or you will suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before. We are no longer a country that will stand for your demented words of violence & death. Be cautious!

Soleimani, who as Quds Force commander is in charge of the Revolutionary Guards overseas operations, responded: Trumps language is still the ethics of nightclubs and gambling halls.

He also said that the Red Sea was not secure while US troops were deployed in the area, Irans Arabic-language Al Alam television reported.

Trump should know that we are nation of martyrdom and that we await him, Soleimani was quoted as saying.

Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it was temporarily halting all oil shipments through the strategic Red Sea shipping lane of Bab al-Mandeb after an attack on two oil tankers by Yemens Iran-aligned Houthi movement.

Yemen, where a US-backed, Saudi-led coalition has been battling the Houthis for three years, lies beside the southern mouth of the Red Sea, one of the most important trade routes in the world for oil tankers. Reutersshalender@tribune.com

London: Mary Ellis, the last surviving woman pilot who flew the Spitfire in the World War II, has died, a week after the death of the youngest Spitfire pilot. The 101-year-old veteran, who was a member of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) and delivered Spitfires and bombers to the front line during the conflict, died at her home on the Isle of Wight in the UK on Tuesday. She flew 76 different types of plane through the war and had delivered more than 1,000 aircraft by its end. Roughly 400 of those were Spitfires, a media report said. She joined the ATA in 1941 after hearing an advertisement for women pilots on radio, the BBC reported. PTI

Would love to play James Bond, says Henry Cavill

Los Angeles: Actor Henry Cavill has expressed his interest in taking over the mantel of playing famed British spy James Bond from Daniel Craig. Craig is all set to hang his boots after his final outing as the famed British Secret Service agent in Bond 25. Cavill, who is currently awaiting the release of Mission: Impossible - Fallout, said he is up for job and would love to do it. I would love to do it of course. I think Bond would be a really fun role. Its British, its cool. I think that now that I have my Mission: Impossible badge we can do real stunts and really amp it up as well... the actor told Yahoo Movies. PTIpardeepdhull@gmail.com

Washington, July 26

There is no change in Americas sanctions policy with regard to Russia, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said as opposition lawmakers grilled him over the recent meeting between President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Finland.

Testifying before Senate Committee on Foreign Relations yesterday, Pompeo assured Senators that the US does not and will not recognise the Kremlins purported annexation of Crimea.

We stand together with allies, partners and the international community in our commitment to Ukraine and its territorial integrity. There will be no relief of Crimea-related sanctions until Russia returns control of the Crimean Peninsula to Ukraine. This Crimea declaration formalises United States policy of non-recognition, he said.

Responding to questions from angry lawmakers on the recent Trump-Putin meeting, Pompeo said there has been no change in sanctions policy with regard to Russia.

The US policy with respects to sanctions remains completely unchanged, he said during a heated exchange of words with the Democratic Senator, Robert Menendez, who is the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Pompeo said Trump was very clear with Putin about US positions. They are the US positions that are the Trump administrations positions and he spoke about them very firmly and clearly when he met with Vladimir Putin, he said.

Pompeo said from the outset the US administrations approach has been to steadily raise the cost of aggression until Putin chooses a less confrontational foreign policy while keeping the door open for dialogue in national interest.

Between our two nations, the US and Russia possess over 90 per cent of the worlds nuclear weapons. President Trump believes the two great nuclear powers should not have a contentious relationship. This is not just in our interests but in the interests of the whole world, he said.

He strongly believes that now is the time for direct communication, our relationship in order to make clear to President Putin that there is the possibility, however remote it might be, to reverse the negative course of our relationship. Otherwise, the administration will continue opposing tough actions against Russia in response to its malign activities, the top American diplomat said.

Defending Trump, Pompeo said in Helsinki, the US sought to explore whether Russia was interested in improving the relationship, but made clear that the ball is in Moscows court.

We defended Americas fundamental strategic interest in Syria and Ukraine. And I, personally, made clear to the Russians, there will be severe consequences for interference in our democratic processes, he said.

Trump is well aware of the challenges that Russia poses to the United States, and its partners and allies. Hes taken a staggering number of actions to protect our interests, he asserted.

As proof, he cited several examples, including 213 sanctions on Russian entities and individuals in the Trump administration, expel of 60 Russian spies from the US and the closure of Russian consulates in Seattle and San Francisco.

On US sanctions over North Korea, Pompeo said it will remain in place till the country eliminates its weapons of mass destruction.

Americas objective remains the final, fully verified de-nuclearisation of North Korea...Were engaged in patient diplomacy. But we will not let this drag out to no one...President Trump remains upbeat about the prospects for North Korean de-nuclearisation. Progress is happening. We need Chairman Kim Jong-un to follow through on his commitments that he made in Singapore, he said.

Until North Korea eliminates its weapons of mass destruction, US sanctions and those of the United Nations will remain in effect. Multiple UN Security Council resolutions require the country to eliminate all of its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, he told the lawmakers.

Those resolutions were passed unanimously and they remain binding. We absolutely need every single nation to maintain the enforcement of those sanctions to which every nation has committed. The path ahead is not easy, but our hopes for a safer world and a brighter future for North Korea endure, Pompeo said.

Responding to questions, Pompeo said he is very confident that the North Koreans understand the definition of denuclearisation, and a very broad one, that it goes from infrastructure of nuclear war heads, though chemical biological weapons systems.

Pompeo said the North Koreans continue to produce vessel material. However, he refused to go into any further detail.

We have made very clear that the entirety of the North Korean CBW programme is contained in the US understanding of denuclearisation and I am confident that the North Koreans understand clearly Americas definition and they have agreed to denuclearize, he asserted.

When asked by Senator Ed Markey whether the US have an inventory of North Koreas warheads, materials, facilities and other programs, Pompeo said, I cant answer that here, and added that human rights abuses continue in North Korea. PTIgspannu7@gmail.com

Beirut, July 26

Syrias Kurds are trying to forge ties with Damascus as they seek to protect gains made in seven years of war, wary of their unpredictable US ally and more ready than ever to negotiate with President Bashar al-Assad.

The main Kurdish groups have emerged among the few winners of the conflict in Syria, carving out autonomous rule over large parts of the north under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia.

They have mostly avoided conflict with Assad, at times even fighting common foesincluding rebels his forces are gradually crushing with help from Russia and Iran.

Talks between the Syrian Kurds and Damascus have now begun on a return of state employees and repairs to one of Syrias most important pieces of infrastructure: the Tabqa dam, the countrys largest, which the SDF took from Islamic State last year with US air power.

A top Kurdish official has also signalled the fighters could join any future offensive against rebels holding Idlib province bordering Turkey, and cooperate more widely against Turkey, which has sent forces into an arc of Syrias northwest.

A decision to stop calling their police force by its Kurdish name, Asayish, is another step that appears aimed at overhauling the regions image with an eye to its future.

Syrias Kurds, which the Baathist state systematically persecuted for years, say they do not seek independence, but they hope a political deal will safeguard their autonomy.

For the first time, Assad said in May he was opening doors for talks with the SDF, while also threatening force. A deal between them could settle the conflict in most of Syria.

But there is no sign of Damascus coming to the table yet, and analysts say Assad is in no rush as he has fast recovered ground and his position is growing stronger.

We have a conviction that channels must be open...the constitution, the political process, these will not be solved without the regime, said Ilham Ahmed, a senior Kurdish official in the SDFs political wing. The regime is not going anywhere. WHAT AMERICA WANTS

With the Kurdish YPG militia at its forefront, the SDF holds around a quarter of Syria, the biggest chunk outside state control. About 2,000 US forces are deployed in the region across the north and east, rich in oil, water and agricultural landimportant leverage for the Kurds.

The YPG joined forces with the United States more than three years ago, becoming its main Syrian partner in the fight against Islamic State. The alliance flew in the face of US ties with NATO member Turkey, which views the YPG as terrorists linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Washington has avoided making any political promises to the Kurds and opposes their autonomy ambitions. Conflicting US

statements over Syria have put them on guard, and they worry Washington may ultimately put its ties with Turkey first.

US President Donald Trump said in April he wanted to withdraw troops from Syria soon, while tempering that by expressing a desire to leave a strong and lasting footprint.

Other US officials have played down the odds of a withdrawal any time soon. The US military has at times used lethal force to defend SDF territory against pro-government forces.

Its not clear what they want, Ahmed told Reuters.

The SDF has become wary, especially after an American silence during a Turkish offensive on Syrias Kurdish Afrin region this year. We felt let down, she said.

Despite this, she said the deployment of US forces in nearby Manbij sent a strong message after Turkey threatened to march on the town.

Henri Barkey, an international relations professor at Lehigh University in the United States, said US policy has pushed Kurdish leaders towards Damascus.

If youre a Syrian Kurd, you have to think about the day Trump decides to withdraw, he said. You have a president who can change his mind and order policies that are completely contradictory.

Police force for everyone

Syrian Kurdish leaders have moved more cautiously than Kurds across the border in Iraq who voted for independence in a referendum last year. The vote, which Washington opposed, plunged them into crisis and regional isolation. Eventually, they were forced to backtrack.

Last year, the Kurdish-led authorities in north Syria embarked on elections to set up governing bodies based on the political ideas of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. But they have now indefinitely postponed the final stage of the election.

Analysts say friction with pro-Damascus Arab tribes poses a challenge to the Kurdish forces, and Assad may seek to benefit from the discord.

Pictures of Ocalan, revered by the YPG, were taken down last month in Qamishli, a city it controls on the border with Turkey.

A local municipal statement said this was to beautify and organise the streets.

Last week, the regions police changed its name and flag, a move which leading Kurdish politician Aldar Xelil said was out of consideration for Arab cities the SDF seized from Islamic State including Raqqa, which had been the jihadists Syrian capital.

This way the (police) force will be for everyone, he said.

Syrian state officials have highlighted Raqqa as a key target for liberation from foreign occupiers - a reference to American forces. An SDF-backed council now runs the city, much of which was destroyed by months of US air strikes.

Critics say US recovery aid has fallen short.

Fixing the hydroelectric Tabqa dam near Raqqa is a top priority. Without the governments help, restoring it would need major foreign aid, Ahmed said. Talks over collaborating on health and education could follow.

It could pave the way, play a positive role in growing trust for us to take it a step further, Ahmed said.  Reuters.Well for a train journey between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, I was ADVISED by the Uzbek embassy to get the visa for the day before, rather than the day of arrival, in case we crossed the border before midnight rather than after it, for some reason (e.g. train breakdown followed by taxi to border - who knows?). The Uzbek authorities were perfectly happy with a visa beginning the day before my arrival, and the same would certainly apply in Schengen, so I don't know why Turkey would be an exception. You have to have a valid visa at the time of your arrival, not specifically one that starts ON the date of arrival!

That said, if the train you are taking is Sofia - Istanbul (you don't actually say..), The Man in Seat 61 says it gets to the border at 03:10 hrs in summer (and apparently daylight saving time no longer applies in Turkey, so that would be the same in winter): - so that would be on the 3rd of whatever month this is (which you don't mention).

.

Edited: 3 years agoDear Melbourne Forum,

I'll be spending two weeks in Australia and need some suggestions for the last week of the trip spent in and around Melbourne. Dates are November 6 - 13.

We're an adult couple without kids.

We'll be arriving from Cairns on Tuesday morning and my plan is to pick up a car and drive to Yarra Glen and spend the following two nights visiting the wineries and restaurants and enjoying the scenery. Perhaps, we'd even like to do a balloon ride!

Since we have the car, I'm thinking of driving to the Great Ocean Road (assuming it will take 2 hours to Torquay) and spend the next two nights on the GOR to have two full days of driving and sightseeing.

We would return the car Saturday, early afternoon/late morning (assuming we get an early start) and spend Saturday, Sunday and Monday evenings in Melbourne City and leave Tuesday back to the US and home.

My questions are, for now, about planning.

1. Should we plan the three major points of interest in the order above, or, would it be more advantageous to spend Saturday and Sunday on the open road rather than in the city? Are wineries, for that matter, best on weekend, week day or does it not really matter?

2. Would it be best to start the GOR from the furthest point (ie: Port Capbell) or the closest (ie: Torquay)?

3. I would like to see Koalas and Penguins and assume I can see Penguins at various stops on the GOR. Is that correct? I'm avoiding Philip's Island because I hear that you view the penguins from bleachers, behind chain link fences under flood lights with piped in narrations in various languages amidst throngs of people. It sounds like it's not my cup of tea. I like to see animals in a more intimate and natural setting. If it's an unmissable event, someone please tell me so and I'll work it into the schedule. Otherwise, am I right in saying that we'd come across penguins on the GOR and where might one see Koalas in a natural setting, or, close to natural in the Melbourne area?

4. While visiting Yarra Glen, is it worth some time to take a peek at the Dandenong Ranges? We'll be visiting Daintree up north, so, I'm assuming that the rainforest may satisfy my appetite for that sort of adventure (also assuming that the Puffing Billy Railraod is more for families and children, but, again, please tell me if I'm wrong...)

5. Rather than entering the GOR from Yarra Glen, would it be fun or advisable to take the Sorrento Searoad Ferry and swing around from that area?

I'm open to many changes at the moment and any advice or tips for the itinerary I'm trying to create would be helpful and welcomed!

Thank you!

Steven-:- Message from Tripadvisor staff -:-

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We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.Either you get the Vietnam visa at the Embassy of Vietnam in Dhaka Bangladesh or prefer to take the visa on arrival at one of the three international airports in Vietnam, you would require a 'approval letter' from the Vietnam immigration department, which can be purchased through agents / travel companies in Vietnam. In order to get this approval letter usually (not always) you need to purchase a return ticket showing when you want to enter Vietnam and when you will exit Vietnam. Now exiting here do not necessarily mean that you have to return to Bangladesh, but that you are exiting Vietnam. Now, in most cases, the approval is arranged by that agent / travel company who will apply on behalf of you (they probably just show a demo ticket booking in your name). Once you have got the approval letter, there is usually no question of your return ticket to get the Vietnam visa. Now note this carefully. You have to cross 2 immigrations; one at the Dhaka international airport and other at the Vietnam airport. (These immigration officers at both of these airports work with a sad face and looks like they are always having a terrible day at work, unless you are lucky to meet one smily face). They want to know that, if you are travelling on a tourist visa, you will not overstay your visa and return to your source country, Bangladesh in this case. So how would you prove that if the officer at either of these immigration at the airport asks you 'when will you come back to Bangladesh' or 'when will you exit Vietnam'. you may wonder it is not their business but truly speaking, it is. Probably the only way you can prove that, is by showing your flight itinerary which shows the date and time of your flight back to Dhaka. Now back to the question, 'can you be denied entry to Vietnam without a return ticket?'. The short answer is 'yes', i have denied once at the Dhaka airport in July 2018 because i did not had a return ticket. ( my wife is Vietnamese and I have been going on and off to Vietnam since 2011 ).Kyoto to Kansai - what to do in between

Kyoto to Kansai - what to do in between

Hi,

On my last day in Japan I need to get from Kyoto to Kansai to catch a flight back to Australia.

My last night will be spent in Kyoto then I will have all day to get to Kansai, where my flight leaves at 8.40pm. (I will get to the airport by 6.00pm).

My question is what to do in Osaka before heading to the airport, where to go, where to eat, to see and taste a little bit of Osaka on my last day in Japan.

Eating some famous okonomiyaki and takoyaki might be obvious, but I really enjoy all sorts of food. Cheap and cheerful places are great, as long as the food is good.

I'd actually be happy just hanging out somewhere where I could eat, have coffee, maybe browse stores or even a good museum if good food is nearby.

I'd like somewhere easy to get to from Kyoto and then easy to get to Kansai afterwards.

I will have a suitcase and carry-on with me, so this might complicate things.

This will be happening next April, during sakura season if that makes a difference (I like to plan ahead).

Any suggestions or advice is appreciated.

Thanks.Weve just come back a 3 week from NY - rented a car for 2 weeks. The (Advantage) rental company at JFK told us that we need to take an EZ card for tolls at a cost of $25 dollars a day for the duration of the rental period to cover any automated toll barriers we went through.

The staff member told us that there was wasnt another way to pay the automated toil. This is not true and another ruse for hire companys to charge for an extra add on to already exhorbitant hire charges.

Toll charges are mostly $1, some a little more based on distance travelled.

You can register your hired car and credit card details on the Tolls by Mail website (cant access it in the UK) and the toll charges for the travel period is automatically collected from your account 10 days later.

I took a screen shoot of the Pay Toll Now Confirmation with confirmation number just in case the rental company queried anything. The small print in the rental contract says a $25 administration charge is levied on each unpaid toll!

We went through 2 automated toll barriers and was charge $2 - 1.50 in UK. Thats $373 less than what the hire company wanted us to pay.

I think it unethical for car rental companies to not provide this information. I cant think of any occasion when someone would include $25 of tolls a day every day for the duration of the rental period.- The student was found dead outside her hostel

- She went missing on Saturday, July 21 after a night out with her friends

- Several other friends have since recorded statements with the police

A JKUAT student who went missing for three days was found dead in an apparent murder, TUKO.co.ke has learnt.

Tabitha Kitaa Kiitis body was discovered on Tuesday, July 24 outside a hostel inside the school popularly known as Oasis.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens

Tabitha went missing on Saturday, July 21.

Source: Facebook

READ ALSO: Gavana wa Nandi amulikwa baada ya kutuma ujumbe wa kimapenzi kwa WhatsApp kimakosa

In a statement from the Jomo Kenyatta Students Association (JKUSA) President Ibrahim Boru Shalle, the late Tabitha went out on a rave on Saturday, July 21 with a couple of friends at a club along Thika road.

They then boarded a bus back to Juja early morning on Saturday , July 22 but upon reaching their destination, Tabitha had to be forced off the bus as she initially declined to alight.

Tabitha went for a bash on Friday and on her way back, it is said that she refused to alight from Kenyan Mpya bus and her friends left her there. That is the furthest investigations have gone, the statement read in part.

READ ALSO: 78-year-old grandma fixing car sound systems in Nairobi wows Kenyans

The friends who were with the deceased the day she went missing recorded statements at the Juja police station, with a close ally revealing they were left powerless when Tabitha allegedly ran back and boarded the bus which sped away.

READ ALSO: Strange disease sweeps through Ilchamus, Baringo county, claims 10 lives in a month

It remains a mystery what happened to the girl since police reports further indicate there were no visible injuries or blood on the deceased when she was found.

Tabitha's body was moved to the Kenyatta University mortuary as it awaits a post mortem.

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

How street Women In Kenya Deal With Periods | Tuko TV:

Source: Tuko- Education Cabinet Secretary said corporal punishment is against the students' rights

- The CS blamed poor leadership and fear of exams as the main cause of student unrest

- Members of Parliament proposed reintroduction of corporal punishment to give teachers control over students

Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed has opposed a proposal to re-introduce caning as a way of curbing indiscipline in schools saying it violates students rights.

Speaking during the lunch of the Board of Management (BOM) Training Manual at the Kenya Education Management Institute in Nairobi, the CS said there were other methods to curb indiscipline in schools.

Send News' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens

READ ALSO: Jamaa akiona cha mtema kuni baada ya kuoa dadake, wazee waingilia kati

Caning should not be re-introduced in schools to restore discipline - CS Amina Mohammed

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: War on corruption is not targeting communities but individuals - Raila Odinga

I dont support re-introduction of corporal punishment in schools. There are other frameworks which we can use in dealing with student unrest such as developing an elaborate framework that will engage the learners in getting to the bottom of the problem, said the CS as quoted by the Daily Nation on Wednesday, July 25.

The CS said the unrest of students in schools was attributed poor leadership from the Boards of Management (BOM) and the fear of the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams scheduled to start in October 2018.

Amina urged students to collaborate with the management, teachers and parents in addressing the problem of student unrest in schools.

"The BOM, teachers, students and parents should come together in solving the problems that students face before they opt to burn the school, said Amina.

READ ALSO: Safaricom employee arrested in connection with rampant SIM card swap, theft

On Tuesday, July 24, Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa said he was considering tabling a bill in Parliament to return corporal punishment as a way of addressing student unrest in schools.

Gem MP Elisha Odhiambo also said the Childrens Act enacted in 2001, which outlawed corporal punishment in Kenyan schools, needed to be repealed to give teachers better control over students.

The rising cases of students burning schools across the country have become a major issue of concern, prompting legislators and policy makers to come up with proposals to address the problem.

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

Tuko Reactions: Maasai React to Western Snacks | Tuko TV

Source: Tuko Newspaper- The DPP ordered arrest of Daniel Mwangi, Grace Gitonga, Kihiu Gaiko and John Daniel

- Also to be arrested are Jesse Wachira, Chen Yochanan Ofer and Albert Attias

- The named individuals were accused of among other things flouting procurement laws

- Related charges were filed against Busia governor who was arrested alongside several county officials

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji has ordered arrest and prosecution of former Nyandarua County governor and four county officials over KSh 50 million fraud.

The DPP also filed charges against M/L Tahal Consulting Engineers Limited, the company that was fraudulently and unlawfully awarded a tender and paid millions by the county officials.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens

READ ALSO: Jamaa akiona cha mtema kuni baada ya kuoa dadake, wazee waingilia kati

Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji on Wednesday, July 25, ordered arrest and prosecution of former Nyandarua County governor and four officials over KSh 50 million fraud.

Source: Twitter

READ ALSO: Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong' arrested

In a press statement seen by TUKO.co.ke on Thursday, July 26, Haji noted after reviewing files sent to his office on May 22, 2018, by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), he found sufficient evidence to warrant arrest and prosecution of ex-governor Daniel Waithaka Mwangi and county officials Grace Wanjiru Gitonga, Kihiu Gichinga Gaiko and John Ngigi Daniel.

"Upon my perusal and independent consideration of the evidence contained in the inquiry files, I am satisfied that there is sufficient evidence to charge the named persons as recommended by the EACC," the DPP said.

Former Nyandarua County governor Daniel Waithaka Mwangi was accused of abuse of office besides fluting procurement laws in award of KSh 50 billion project

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: List of banks under investigation for their role in the NYS scandal

Also to be charged are Jesse Mwangi Wachira, M/L Tahal Consulting Engineers Ltd Chen Yochanan Ofer and Albert Attias.

The suspects are facing charges ranging from abuse of office to willful failure to comply with the laws relating to public procurement, contrary to Section 45 (2) of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act, 2003.

READ ALSO: National Youth Service facing fresh probe over disappearance of KSh 10.5 billion

The EACC on December 4, 2014, received a report that county officials flouted procurement laws and regulations in awarding a contract to M/L Tahal Consulting Engineers Ltd, a company with international expertise on water and sewage projects.

A similar report was made to the EACC on May 15, 2016, prompting the anti-graft detectives to swing into action.

READ ALSO: This Are The Faces Behind 791 Million NYS Scandal

The EACC undertook investigations and established the named suspects unlawfully awarded a KSh 50 million tender to M/L Tahal Consulting Engineers Ltd for the county's Water Master Plan design and review of the Ol Kalou town sewerage system.

"It was established the county government did not have procurement plan or funds for the purposes of the said projects for the 2013/14 financial year. The relevant procurement laws under the Public Procurement and Disposal Act, 2005, were flouted in procuring the services of M/L Tahal Consulting Engineers Ltd," Haji noted.

Also, the detectives discovered M/L Tahal Consulting Engineers Ltd was incorporated on February 2, 2016, whereas the contract was entered into on 30 April 2014, which means the contractor was not a legal entity at the time of signing of the contract.

The unlawfully payments, Haji noted, were made in two installments, KSh 23.8 million on July 2, 2014, and KSh 26.5 million on September 4, 2015.

The charges facing the Nyandarua county officials are almost similar to those that were filed against Busia County governor Sospeter Ojamoong' who was on July 4 arrested alongside several county officials.

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.

Anne Ngirita at The Center of The NYS Scam Probe - On Tuko TV

Source: Tuko.co.ke- Beverly Akinyi had visited her boyfriend's house before she was brutally killed

- She met her boyfriend's step-brother at the house who is alleged to have raped her before killing her

- The assailant also stabbed her boyfriend when he arrived from work and found her dead

- The suspect had hid Beverly's body inside her boyfriend's car

A third year student from Kenyatta University has been brutally stabbed to death by her boyfriend's step-brother in Migoi Estate, Kisumu.

Beverly Akinyi, a Hospitality and Tourism student had visited her boyfriend's house just a few meters from her home on the night of Tuesday, July 25, before she met her death on the early morning hours of Wednesday, July 26.

Send 'NEWS' to 40227 to receive all the important breaking news as it happens.

READ ALSO: Jamaa akiona cha mtema kuni baada ya kuoa dadake, wazee waingilia kati

Akinyi's mother, Caren Atieno, said she was not aware of the night visit by her daughter since she knew she was in school. Photo: NTV

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Nairobi tycoon at centre of controversial KSh 3.1 billion land sold to government re-arrested

A distraught Akinyi's mother, Caren Atieno, said she was not aware of the night visit by her daughter who was stabbed in the stomach and head, since she knew she was in school.

I received a call from my aunt who is at Kericho telling me she received a phone call from a neighbour telling her sorry for what has happened but she did not know what had happened, so she was told my girl has been killed in a friend's house... I never wanted to accept it because I knew my girl was in school," said Caren Atieno.

Akinyi's boyfriend, Evans Otieno, is said to have been at his business in Kisumu town at the time Beverly visited his house but his step-brother was there and now considered the prime suspect in the incident.

READ ALSO: Baringo county mum dumps toddler by the roadside, elopes with boda boda rider

Ayomo is now being held at Kondele police station as more investigation are carried out.

Source: UGC

The suspect, 23-year-old Joseph Ayomo, also allegedly stabbed his 32-year-old step-brother, who was Akinyi's lover in the back and chest.

Otieno was rushed to Avenue Hospital for treatment where health officers at the facility said he was in a stable condition.

Ayomo is reported to have stayed at Otienos place for three weeks, as he looked for employment and is now being held at Kondele police station as more investigations are carried out.

READ ALSO: First co-principal to abandon NASA will be Ruto's serious challenger - Bonni Khalwale

According to Central OCPD, Joseph Kiptum, it was unclear why the suspect killed his brothers girlfriend before allegedly raping her.

He then moved her body into a Toyota Noah which belonged to Otieno.

Police towed the vehicle to Central police station while the womans body was moved to Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary.

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.

ALSO WATCH: Socialite Bridget Achieng wants to be Kenya's next president on Tuko / Tuco - Kenya

Source: Tuko.co.ke- The ex-governor and ex-county executive member were put under arrest shortly after turning up at the EACC offices

- DPP had ordered the arrest and charging of the county officials in a fraudulent KSh 50 million water and sewerage tender

- They will also be charged with engaging in a project without prior planning, contrary to procurement laws

Former Nyandarua Governor Governor Daniel Waithaka and ex-county executive member in charge of water Grace Wanjiru presented themselves at the Ethics and Anti-Corruption (EACC) offices in Nyeri county on Thursday, July 27, over graft allegations.

The two were put under arrest by anti-corruption police officers shortly after turning up at the EACC offices.

READ ALSO: Gavana Joho ammezea mate kipusa wa Safaricom hadharani na kuwasisimua wengi

Former Nyandarua Governor Governor Waithaka Mwangi and ex-county executive member in charge of water Grace Wanjiru when they presented themselves at the EACC offices in Nyeri. Photo: Capital FM.

Source: UGC

READ ALSO: Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong' arrested

"They are in Nyeri for confirmation of charges. Later it is likely they will be transferred to Integrity Centre Nairobi for processing before being charged in court with economic crimes," revealed an officer handling the matter.

The Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Noordin Haji on the evening of Wednesday, July 26, ordered arrest and charging of the county officials in a fraudulent KSh 50 million water and sewerage tender.

The DPP also recommended the arrest and prosecution of Chen Yochanan Ofer and Albert Attias, the directors of the owners of M/S Tahal Consulting Engineers Limited for fraudulently acquiring public property.

On December 4, 2014, the EACC received a report that officials from the county government of Nyandarua flouted procurement laws and regulations in awarding a contract to M/S Tahal Consulting Engineers Limited, a company with international expertise on water and sewerage projects, he pointed out.

Sleuths are still hunting down John Ngigi Daniel and Jesse Wachira Mwangi who are former officials of the county government.

They will also be charged with engaging in a project without prior planning, contrary to procurement laws.

Noordin who formerly served as the deputy director at the National Intelligence Service (NIS), has already handled major corruption cases in the few months he has been in office both in the national and county governments.

Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong' is also under probe fighting off graft claims.

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.

Anne Ngirita at The Center of The NYS Scam Probe - On Tuko TV

Source: Tuko.co.keComplex tests of ammunition and new weapons of Ukrainian production took place at Honcharivske proving ground in Chernihiv region.

Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov stated this after the tests were completed, the NSDCs press service reported on July 26.

According to him, under NSDCs decision, Ukraine launched the production of ammunition that had not been previously manufactured in the state.

An important phase of testing the scarcest 152-mm projectiles, as well as 60-mm mines for new Ukrainian mortars was completed, said Turchynov and added that two modifications of the new 60-mm and 82-mm mortars were also tested and safety performance during the fire with 120 mm mortars was checked.

In addition, Turchynov said that during the tests all ballistic characteristics were checked by a modern unique complex - a mobile radar system of trajectory measurements.

He noted that ammunition and artillery weapons tested were produced by both state and private enterprises, which allows improving quality and reduce costs within a transparent competition.

All the tests were completed with an excellent mark. Ukrainian weapons and ammunition showed compliance with the given characteristics and will be soon taken on armament by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which will considerably raise the firepower of our army, Turchynov summarized.

iyPrime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has said that the Energy and Coal Industry Ministry should improve its work with state mines and turn them into profitable enterprises.

He said this at a government meeting on Thursday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"An important issue is Ukrainian coal: the Energy Ministry must finally fulfill its task and make state mines profitable enterprises, instead of constantly plunging miners into poverty," Groysman stressed.

According to the Energy and Coal Industry Ministry, the total volume of coal production by coal-mining enterprises subordinated to the Energy Ministry decreased by 208.3 thousand tonnes (or 8.8%) over the first six months of 2018 compared to the same period last year.

iyThe International Monetary Fund (IMF) has given its backing to Ukraine's revised plans for an anti-corruption court, fulfilling one condition for unlocking the next $2 billion installment of aid to Kyiv, an IMF spokeswoman has told Reuters.

"The legislative framework for the High Anti-Corruption Court, once the recently adopted amendments are signed into law, will be consistent with the authorities' commitments under Ukraine's IMF-supported program," she said.

However, only agreements on an anti-corruption court will not unblock the IMF's next tranche.

"Discussions on other outstanding issues, including gas prices and the government budget, are ongoing," the spokeswoman said.

The IMF demands that Ukraine raise gas prices for households and reduce some budget expenditures, which Kyiv does not want to accept.

opUkrainian President Petro Poroshenko met with Slovenian Ambassador to Ukraine Natasa Prah on July 25 on the occasion of the completion of her diplomatic mission in Ukraine and noted the strengthening of partnership between the two countries in recent years, the presidential press service has reported.

"The head of state thanked the ambassador of Slovenia for the active support of Ukraine during the extraordinary challenges faced by our state in the matter of ensuring sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as deepening internal transformations," the statement reads.

It notes that Slovenia's clear and consistent position in the issue of counteracting the ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine and the important humanitarian and technical assistance of the Slovenian side was particularly noted at the meeting. A significant enhancement of partnership between the parties and the readiness of Ukraine and Slovenia to continue efforts to fully open up the potential of bilateral cooperation was emphasized.

"Relations between our countries have never been as close and warm as today. They are based on mutual understanding and mutual support," Prah said, thanking the president and his team for their support.

According to the report, the ambassador noted Ukraine's serious progress over the past four years on the path of democratic reforms and a significant acceleration of rapprochement with the EU.

As reported, Poroshenko said at a joint press conference with Slovenian President Borut Pahor in Kyiv in May that trade between Ukraine and Slovenia in 2017 grew by 31%.

opThe Ukrainian Foreign Ministry welcomes the United States' decisive actions in urging Russia to respect international law, the ministry's press service has reported.

"The Declaration confirms the consistency of U.S. policy concerning the respect of sovereignty and territorial integrity. As in the Welles Declaration of 1940, the United States of America consistently upholds the bedrock principle of international law, ex injuria jus non oritur," reads the statement.

The ministry also stressed that illegal acts cannot create rights for the perpetrator.

"We applaud the U.S. resolve in urging the Russian Federation to respect international law and restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine. We are also deeply grateful to the United States for its practical assistance in countering Russia's aggression against Ukraine," the ministry added.

Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement, titled "Crimea Declaration," stating that the United States does not recognize Russia's claims of sovereignty over occupied Crimea and accuses it of undermining international principles of peace and security.

opAssistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs A. Wess Mitchell has met with the Ukrainian presidents envoy for Crimean Tatar affairs, MP Mustafa Dzhemilev.

U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker reported this on Twitter.

A/S Mitchell discussed @SecPompeos Crimea non-recognition declaration with @MDzhemilev, who raised the horrible human rights conditions under Russian occupation and urged the international community to do more. #CrimeaIsUkraine pic.twitter.com/Gfc41RZrRJ  Kurt Volker (@SpecRepUkraine) 25  2018 .

According to him, Wess Mitchell and Mustafa Dzhemilev discussed the declaration proclaimed by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the non-recognition of Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea.

Volker added that Dzhemilev raised the issue of the horrible human rights conditions in the annexed Crimea and called on the international community to do more.

As reported, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on July 25 issued a statement, titled "Crimea Declaration," in which he said the U.S. does not recognize Russias illegal annexation of Crimea.

ishForeign Minister of Estonia Sven Mikser has made a statement in support of the declaration issued by the U.S. Secretary of State on the non-recognition of Russias illegal annexation of Crimea.

I welcome the declaration by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on not recognizing the illegal annexation and occupation of Crimea. Crimea is and will remain a part of Ukraine. The continuing leadership of the United States in this non-recognition policy is very important. The declaration reiterated once again that the United States and the international community would never accept the annexation of Crimea, Mikser said in a statement available to Ukrinform.

He also stressed that very important principles in international relations should remain, in particular, respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, and refraining from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity of any state.

iyThe Court also called on Russia to provide the filmmaker with appropriate treatment.

The European Court of Human Rights on Wednesday, July 25, decided on an interim measure in the case of imprisoned Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov, who has been on a hunger strike demanding the release from Russian penitentiary facilities of all Ukrainian political prisoners.

The Court "invited Mr Sentsov to end his hunger strike and to accept any life-saving treatment offered," according to a press release published on the ECHR website.

ECHR also called on Russia "to provide him with appropriate treatment in an institutionalised medical setting."

It is noted that under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, the Court may indicate to any State Party to the European Convention on Human Rights urgent interim measures.

According to the Courts well-established practice, they apply "only where there is an imminent risk of irreparable harm."

As UNIAN reported earlier, over 50 famous Ukrainians signed a letter to a wrongfully convicted filmmaker Oleh Senstov, asking him to stop his hunger strike.

UNIAN memo. Sentsov was detained by FSB operatives in Crimea in the spring of 2014. He was transferred to Russia, where he was tried on trumped-up charges of plotting terrorist attacks and arson of party offices on the peninsula.

The Russian court in August 2015 sentenced Sentsov to 20 years in prison.

He is being held in the colony located in a distant Arctic town of Labytnangi in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area, Russia.

On May 14, he declared an indefinite hunger strike demanding the release of all Ukrainian political prisoners.

On July 13, it became known that Sentsov's mother Liudmila Sentsova wrote a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a request to grant pardon to her son.The NGOs say torture is systemic, and a part of the policy Russia has imposed over the occupied territory.

Russia this year is presenting its 6th Periodic Report to the UN Committee against Torture, while Ukrainian human rights NGOs offered a devastating "alternative report" on Russias application of torture in the occupied Crimea.

The report covers the situation since Russias invasion and annexation. It paints a stark picture of Russias use of torture to intimidate their victims and extract "confessions," according to the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group.

The NGOs monitoring efforts have led them to conclude that torture is systemic, and a part of the policy Russia has imposed over the occupied territory.

Since Ukrainian NGOs were also monitoring the situation before annexation, they are in a particularly good position to assess just how radically things have deteriorated since the last report presented by Ukraine.

Read alsoRada Vice Speaker: Ukrainian hostages in Donbas tortured, sodomized

Their report includes many cases, especially in the first months after Russias invasion, where it was the so-called "self-defense" paramilitary groups, controlled by Russia, that committed crimes involving torture and inhuman treatment. Neither in these cases, nor in those where the FSB [Russian security service] and its subordinate structures were involved, has there ever been any adequate investigation. This includes the multiple cases of abduction and enforced disappearances, including that of solitary protester Reshat Ametov. The 39-year-old Crimean Tatar father of three was seized by paramilitaries near a local parliament on March 2, 2014, and savagely tortured to death. Despite video footage of the abduction, there has never been any real attempt to even formally identify the culprits, let alone hold them to account.

The NGOs stress that Russias policy of suppressing all opposition to the annexation move was launched immediately and contributed to the dramatic deterioration in the human rights situation reported by numerous international bodies and NGOs.

In November 2016, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court recognized Russias annexation and ongoing occupation of Crimea as an international armed conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Both in the 2016 and 2017 reports, the Office of the Prosecutor has listed alleged crimes believed to have been committed in Crimea, including harassment of Crimean Tatars; killing and abduction; ill-treatment in the context of detention or abduction; violations of the right to liberty and to a fair trial and forced conscription.

The Ukrainian NGOs have documented 106 cases of torture committed by members of the Russian law enforcement agencies and Russian-controlled paramilitary structures.

Read alsoICJ reminds Russia of need to comply with demands on Mejlis

Although torture is most often used to extract confessions or false testimony in politically motivated cases, the NGOs stress that essentially anybody can become a victim.

Ukraines Ombudsperson has only once between allowed to visit a few prisoners in Crimea and the International Committee of the Red Cross has also been denied access.Germany will continue to clearly emphasize this fact.

Germany's Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas says Russia's annexation of Crimea violates the norms of international law.

"The annexation was a violation of international law. We will continue to clearly emphasize this. We refuse to return to business as usual (with Russia), however long this may last," the German Foreign Ministry quoted Maas on Twitter.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the United States called on Russia to end its occupation of Ukraine's Crimea.

"The United States calls on Russia to respect the principles to which it has long claimed to adhere and to end its occupation of Crimea," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a press statement titled "Crimea Declaration" on July 25, 2018.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 26)  President Rodrigo Duterte said he could not understand why the United States pulled out from the Paris agreement which mandates member countries to curb the effects of climate change.

"I don't know why... I have to fathom the reason given the rationale of the withdrawal. Is it because it cannot work hand-in-hand with other nations, or is it because (Donald) Trump would like to do it alone?" Duterte said in the Asia-Pacific Healthy Islands Conference in Davao City Wednesday.

In June 2017, U.S. President Trump announced their country's pullout from the accord  the only country in the world to have done so  calling for "fair treatment" in the deal to cut carbon emissions. Trump had asked for re-brokering their country's carbon reduction commitments.

U.S. ranks as the second largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, according to the latest World Bank data.

Duterte said he has his doubts if the Philippines could tell the U.S. and other industrialized nations to stick to the deal.

"There has to be an enterprise in the approach: business-like, you honor your word," Duterte said. "You do not exceed the limits that we have set for ourselves. And the one thing that I said we cannot really control are those countries who are highly industrialized and powerful enough to impose their own will. That's the problem."

He then reiterated the effects of climate change that continues to impact not only certain vulnerable countries, but everyone.

"A one degree increase in the temperature would be disastrous. The resources of the oceans are getting to be constricted and very small. There's not enough fish really to feed and the biggest sources are really our oceans and our seas," he said.

Duterte signed the Paris agreement in March 2017. The agreement, signed by over 195 countries, seeks to pursue efforts to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5C above preindustrial levels.

Excessive climate change trips

But the President slammed the excessive trips of delegates who always go to climate change fora.

"Tell you what. To date, I have fired something like 16...three department secretaries, cabinet members, and 16 undersecretaries. Why? So much travel, there's a climate change (forum) in Africa, and they are there. There's a climate change (forum) in New Zealand, and they are there en masse. Now, there's a climate change (forum) in Tokyo, they are there. Every department sends somebody who does not even know the definition of a climate and how it changes," he said.

He then said he would insist on having only one representative from the Climate Change Commission to attend international fora. He added he might join this representative, if he would like to.

CNN Philippines' Senior Digital Producer Pia Garcia contributed to this report."I want to see Crimea under Ukraine flag," Ukraine's top diplomat says.

Ukraine has welcomed the Crimean Declaration issued by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo emphasizing U.S. non-recognition of Russias illegal attempt to annex the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, according to the MFA Ukraine press service.

"The Declaration confirms the consistency of U.S. policy concerning the respect of sovereignty and territorial integrity. As in the Welles Declaration of 1940, the United States of America consistently upholds the bedrock principle of international law, ex injuria jus non oritur. Illegal acts cannot create rights for the perpetrator," the comment says.

"We applaud the U.S. resolve in urging the Russian Federation to respect international law and restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine," the Ukrainian diplomats say, adding that they are "also deeply grateful to the United States for its practical assistance in countering Russias aggression against Ukraine."

Read alsoU.S. calls on Russia to end its occupation of Crimea

"Following the latest Crimea declaration we must double our efforts and make more pressure on Russia. "Baltic scenario", that lasted for half a century, is not an option. I want to see Crimea under Ukraine flag!" Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin wrote on Twitter.In general, a new Russian narrative is being pushed into Ukraine's agenda - "religious war and the genocide of Orthodox believers."

Following the fake news on Ukraine allegedly trying to "bribe Patriarch Bartholomew," spun by Russian propaganda and its collaborators in Ukraine, certain representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine decided to add fuel to the fire with yet another fake report.

On Wednesday, representative of the Moscow Patriarchate, Protopriest Nikolai Danylevych, said that Kyiv allegedly intended "to create during celebrations of the Baptism of Kievan Rus a picture of mass support" for the idea of autocephaly. According to Danylevych, "free shuttle buses are being provided, whole railway cars are being booked, and many people are coming [to Kyiv] who have no relation to the Church," according to Information Resistance, a Ukraine-based OSINT NGO.

Read alsoNo obstacles on Bartholomew's way to make fundamental decision on Ukraine church independence  expert

Developing his manipulative idea, Danylevich asserts that these attempts "will not help" Kyiv to influence the position of Patriarch Bartholomew, which is strange because they shouldn't  the Constantinople has been positively consistent on the Ukraine issue, thus apparently irritating Moscow.

In general, a new Russian narrative is being pushed into Ukraine's agenda - "religious war and the genocide of Orthodox believers."

Experts note that this is reminiscent of the events of 2014, when the slogan was "to protect Russian-speakers in Ukraine", and today it sounds like "protecting the Orthodox believers in Ukraine."

Read alsoConstantinople ahead of Russia in church diplomacy game

In this regard, a reasonable question arises: are the Russians launching the initiative only within a new round of information war or, as it was 2014, preparing public opinion for larger-scale provocations and more aggression against Ukraine under the guise of "saviors from the DPR-LPR"?

"In fact, no one wants to save those "Russian-speakers" anymore, most of whom Moscow left to the mercy of fate in Donbas. At the same time, voicing a new call, this time "To our God, our Orthodox faith and our Tsar" Moscow once again expects to recruit new 'useful idiots'," IR wrote.

As Donbas blogger Aleksandr Chernov recently reported, in the occupied part of Donetsk region, self-styled Russian-controlled "authorities" are actively collecting groups of locals to be sent to Kyiv to "support" opponents of Ukrainian Orthodox Church independence from Moscow. These people will participate in "events" organized by the so-called "UOC-MP" on the day of the Baptism of Kievan Rus.

According to information available, it is about deploying a nearly 200-strong group of men.

At the same time, participation is funded, at RUB 20,000 per person. It is noteworthy that the funds are taken from local business.

As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukrainian MP Vadym Novinksy, an ardent supporter of the Moscow Patriarchate from the entourage of disgraced ex-president Viktor Yanukovych, is also contributing to artificially raising the temperature of public tensions ahead of the Baptism celebrations.

In a recent interview with LB.ua he claimed he would personally defend the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra against supporters of Ukrainian church's independence, hinting at possible violence that the Russian propaganda claims will ensue if the Constantinople grants autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.UK remains "fully committed to upholding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders."

Following U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeos reiteration of the U.S. stance against Russias illegal annexation of Crimea, the UK Foreign Office issued a statement in support of this position.

"The UK echoes the United States firm statement of opposition to Russias illegal annexation of Crimea," Foreign Office spokesperson said Wednesday, July 25.

"The UK position is clear: we condemn Russias continued breach of international law," the statement reads, adding that "Crimea is Ukrainian territory."

UK remains "fully committed to upholding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders."

Read alsoRussian annexation of Crimea violates norms of international law: German FM

The Foreign Office "also remains deeply concerned by the human rights situation in Crimea, where we have seen the systematic persecution of minority groups and of those who voice their opposition to Russias illegal annexation of the territory" and calls again for Russia "to release all Ukrainian political prisoners held in Crimea and in Russia, and to allow unrestrained access for international human rights monitoring bodies to the peninsula."If no serious agreements have been reached on Ukraine between Russia and the United States, "it is quite obvious the military factor will also play its part" in Ukraine's campaigning period.

Ukrainian MP and leader of the Information Resistance OSINT group Dmytro Tymchuk says the escalation in Donbas is possible along with the unfolding of the election campaign in Ukraine.

The Kremlin intends to employ the military factor to promote pro-Russian candidates, Tymchuk believes, according to Apostrophe.

If no serious agreements have been reached on Ukraine between Russia and the United States, "it is quite obvious the military factor will play its part" in Ukraine's campaigning period.

Read alsoSupport for pro-Moscow candidates in upcoming elections Putin's "final stake"  Russian analyst

"That is, while promoting his candidates, Putin will draw public attention to Donbas events by escalating the conflict. This will be done to actualize the issue of the so-called peace. And we are well aware of the rethoric they will pursue - the one on the need for a peaceful dialogue and criticism of the 'war party,' i.e. the ruling coalition. Pro-Putin candidates will emphasize the conflict in Donbas and keep saying there is only one way out  to ensure that political forces promoting peace [with Russia] come to power," Tymchuk said.

As UNIAN reported, according to Tymchuk-led InformationResistance OSINT group, one of the biggest challenges for U.S. President Donald Trump is the question of the possible meddling of Russian intelligence in the midterm elections to the U.S. Congress, which will take place in November this year.

Amid Robert Mueller's ongoing Russia collusion probe, the Kremlin will once again provoke two opposing camps in the U.S. politics toward yet another round of conflict, aiming to undermine political stability from the inside and create an atmosphere of institutional mistrustBerlin will host the meeting today, July 26.

Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office to the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on settlement situation in eastern Ukraine Ambassador Martin Sajdik says that the possible deployment of UN peacekeeping forces in Donbas will be discussed at the meeting of Political Directors of the foreign ministries of the Normandy Four (Ukraine, Germany, France and Russia) in Berlin, on July 26.

"As you know, tomorrow (26.07.2018) Berlin will host Normandy Four meeting on the level of Political Directors. In the spirit of my previous statements, I would like to welcome the fact that the possible involvement of UN forces to resolve the conflict in the east of Ukraine will be the tomorrow's topic of discussion," Sajdik said, following the meeting of the TCG and its Working Groups in Minsk on July 25, 2018.

Sources in diplomatic circles have told UNIAN that Political Directors of the foreign ministries of the Normandy Four are expected to hold talks in Berlin, Germany, this week.

Read alsoUkraine Interior Minister outlines "red lines" in strategy for end of Donbas occupation

As UNIAN reported earlier, the Normandy Four foreign ministers met in Berlin, Germany, on June 11, 2018.

Following the meeting, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said the parties considered the prospects for holding a meeting at the level of leaders of four states in the near future. They also discussed the deployment of the UN peacekeeping mission in Donbas, as well as for the first time addressed the issue of the release of Ukrainian political prisoners, illegally detained in Russia.

In turn, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that at the Normandy Four meeting a dispute arose over the sequence of steps to implement the Minsk agreements.Russia had significantly changed its public rhetoric on Crimea.

Ukrainian political scientist Boris Tizenhausen says Kyiv no longer has to worry about Washington's unexpected decisions in favor of Russia, at the same time stressing that Russia is seeking ways to play its Crimea scenario in other regions of Ukraine.

"The United States has always had a clear position, both under Barack Obama and Donald Trump, and respected international law and territorial integrity. The Crimean Declaration answers the question of how the U.S. treats the annexation of Crimea and when they lift sanctions from Russia  when it returns Crimea and withdraws from the south-east of Ukraine," the expert said, commenting on the Crimean Declaration issued by the United States, Krym.Realii reports.

Read alsoNo "gifts to Russia at Ukraine's expense": Kurt Volker

He stressed Russia had significantly changed rhetoric on Crimea. "Previously they said the 'referendum' was lawful, the residents voted. Later, they said that the residents were in danger, and Russia came to save them. And now they are looking for historical analogies. Top officials and diplomats compare Crimea with Kosovo, where there was also a referendum, and with the Falkland Islands. That is, Russia is looking for all possible ways to legitimize the 'referendum' in Crimea and to test whether it is possible to do something similar in the south-east of Ukraine," Tizenhausen said.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the United States called on Russia to end its occupation of Ukraine's Crimea.

"The United States calls on Russia to respect the principles to which it has long claimed to adhere and to end its occupation of Crimea," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a press statement titled "Crimea Declaration" on July 25, 2018.Bondarchuk was arrested in London last year as part of his extradition inquiry, but he was released on bail.

Ex-head of Ukraine's Ukrspecexport arms trader Serhiy Bondarchuk, who is accused of corruption in Ukraine, has been granted political asylum in the United Kingdom under a court ruling.

"This 'hero' of Ukraine was afraid to appear before a Ukrainian court for his corruption-related crimes ... and asked for political asylum in Britain," Ukrainian Deputy Prosecutor General Yevhen Enin wrote on Facebook.

Read alsoPoroshenko appoints new CEO at Ukroboronprom

"It's a shame that a British court has granted him this refuge despite the efforts of Ukrainian and British prosecutors ... Fortunately, Bondarchuk's case is an unfortunate exception rather than a rule, as in the past two years the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) has reached out more than one ex-official from abroad  the number of "safe places" on the world map will continue to be declining in future!!!" he wrote.

UNIAN info. Bondarchuk was general director at Ukrspecexport from 2005 to 2010. The Prosecutor General's Office charges him with the seizure of Ukrspecexport's assets worth more than US$7 million. He was internationally wanted.

It became known in May 2016 that Bondarchuk was seeking political asylum in the United Kingdom. On March 15, 2017, according to Ukraine's PGO, Bondarchuk was arrested in London as part of the extradition procedure, but two days later he was released from custody after paying GBP 75,000 bail.For the purpose of personal enrichment and weakening the defense capacity of the unit, the detainee stole and sold online military equipment and other property provided by volunteers worth UAH 50,000.

A traitor in Ukraine Army ranks who leaked information to the Russian-controlled Donbas militants has been exposed.

"In mid-July, the SBU's Military Counterintelligence Service, with the assistance of the command of a military unit, exposed a soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who leaked information to the militants about the operations and positions of the Armed Forces in the area of the Joint Forces Operation, as well as stole and sold military equipment," the press center of Ukraine's Joint Forces Operation (JFO) said on Facebook.

Read alsoUkrainian Navy commanders flipped sides in first days of Crimea seizure  top Navy witness in Yanukovych case

It is noted that the 24-year-old contracted soldier, native of Zhytomyr region, hoping to receive a monetary reward through the social network, leaked to the militant of the so-called "DPR" information regarding the positions and military equipment of the Armed Forces in the JFO area, giving away GPS coordinates of their location.

Military counterintelligence also established the soldier, who is now taken into custody, planned to defect and had already received appropriate instructions.

In addition, for the purpose of personal enrichment and weakening the defense capacity of the unit, the detainee stole and sold online military equipment and other property provided by volunteers worth UAH 50,000.

Pre-trial investigation is under way.Slovakia's Foreign Ministry said it is monitoring the group's activities and is concerned about its presence in the country, but so far it appears the Night Wolves have not done anything illegal.

Russia's infamous biker gang the "Night Wolves," which has deep ties to President Vladimir Putin, is on another European tour  and this time it has set up a military-style camp inside an EU and NATO member state.

The club, occasionally nicknamed "Putin's Angels," has settled into an abandoned military camp in Slovakia, a Central Eastern European country that previously made up part of communist Czechoslovakia. The country was part of the Soviet-aligned Warsaw Pact, the Soviet Union's erstwhile answer to NATO. But both of Czechoslovakia's successor states, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, have since joined the EU and NATO, a predominantly Western military alliance, as reported by Newsweek.

The Night Wolves, which supports Moscow's anti-NATO agenda, now says it wants to open a permanent chapter in Slovakia. The group held an opening ceremony June 23 that was attended by an official from the country's Russian embassy.

Slovakia's Foreign Ministry said it is monitoring the group's activities and is concerned about its presence in the country, but so far it appears the Night Wolves have not done anything illegal. Nevertheless, some activists argue that the group has arrived to stir up trouble and stoke anti-EU and anti-NATO sentiment.

Read alsoActivist in Prague protest against arrival of pro-Putin Night Wolves bikers (video)

"I see the Night Wolves setting up a base in the broader context of Russian support for the extreme right and left in Europe. In this case, members of the paramilitaries that have been training there, calling themselves Slovak Recruits, had previously fought in East Ukraine on the Russian side," Daniel Kral, an expert on Central Europe, told Newsweek.

At least 200 public figures in the country signed a petition Tuesday urging the country's government to take action.

"At the time of the 50th anniversary of the August occupation of Czechoslovakia by armies of the Warsaw Pact, the Russian motorcycle gang Night Wolves, which has been on the U.S. sanctions list since 2014, is becoming active as part of a Russian hybrid war against the EU, NATO and Slovakia," the letter reads.

Photographs of the military compound, which the Night Wolves first occupied in late June, showed that the group had access to tanks and armored vehicles. The equipment belongs to the Slovak Defense Ministry but was rented to the Night Wolves by the head of the Slovak Military History Institute, who has since been suspended over the incident, according to local reports.

Read alsoSurveillance photos 'show Russian intelligence officers plotting Montenegro coup'  The Telegraph

"However, excessive moves, for example, targeting Night Wolves themselves, may cause a backlash of pro-Russian sentiment, likely to be echoed by prominent figures in govt and parliament," Kral said.

Jozef Hambalek, the head of the Slovak chapter of the Night Wolves, has close ties to the country's former interior minister, who is now a parliamentarian from Slovakia's ruling party Direction  Social Democracy (Smer). Over the past year, its euro-skeptic coalition partner the Slovak National Party has been pushing Smer closer to Russia, analysts say.

The Night Wolves are well known for promoting Russian nationalism and ideas of pan-Slavic brotherhood in countries around Eastern Europe, as well as espousing far-right ideologies and anti-gay sentiment. The group was also hit with U.S. sanctions for its involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists have been fighting Ukrainian government forces for the past four years.

In recent months, the group went on a tour of the Balkans. Bosnia's government banned the leader of the Night Wolves, a man called Aleksandr Zaldostanov, from entering the country, arguing that he poses a national security threat.

According to a recent report by think tank Foreign Policy Research Institute, a member of the Serbian chapter of the Night Wolves, Alkdandr Sindjelic, attempted to stage a coup in Montenegro in 2016 with the help of Russian military intelligence.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

European stock markets stabilised in opening trade on Wednesday, ahead of US-EU trade talks to resolve a festering dispute

London, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Jul, 2018 ) :European stock markets stabilised in opening trade on Wednesday, ahead of US-EU trade talks to resolve a festering dispute.

US President Donald Trump will meet later with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to address a simmering row between the two key economies.

In initial deals, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 0.1 percent at 7,702.66 points, compared with Tuesday's closing level.

In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX 30 was almost flat at 12,688.71 points and the Paris CAC 40 added 0.2 percent to 5,445.24.(@FahadShabbir)

DUBAI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 26th Jul, 2018) Dubai Design District, has announced the launch of Design for Good, a project seeking to connect the design community through creative collaborations that support and promote social change within the UAE.

Design for Good is based on three key pillars. The first pillar, Design for Placemaking, prioritises design solutions that encourage creativity and collaboration in public environments. The second pillar, Design for Sustainability, establishes that the design solutions presented should maximise long-term economic, social and environmental value. The third and final pillar, Design for Empowerment, reiterates that design solutions submitted should empower people and challenges perceptions.

Speaking about the cause, Mohammad Saeed Al-Shehhi, CEO of d3, said, "Design offers solutions to any problem and through the power of design we can ensure a positive impact on various communities. Collaboration has also proven to achieve greater creativity and improved solutions. Our decision at d3 to launch Design for Good is based on these fundamentals. We are confident such efforts will bring the local design community together to work towards the cause of supporting and encouraging social change.

"

Under the Design for Good programme, two projects will be rolled out in 2018. The first entitled The Mesh will include a collaboration between the Fatima bint Mohamed bin Zayed Initiative, FBMI, and Emirati designer Roudha Al Shamsi. d3 has commissioned Roudha to design three shading structures for the d3 community that will be produced by Afgani women through FBMI. The proceeds will be utilised for the education of the women to further develop and enhance their skillsets. The three structures will be displayed at Dubai Design Week in November 2018 and then permanently placed in Dubai Design District.

The second project is entitled Design 100, d3 is inviting designers from across the UAE to design a piece of furniture or a functional object. An expert jury will select the winning piece from which 100 pieces are to be produced by d3 in alliance with knowledge partner the American Hardwood Export Council and sold to the general public during Dubai Design Week. All proceeds from the sale will be allocated to Dubai Cares towards Syrian refugees.PORT LOUIS, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 26th Jul, 2018) Seetanah Lutchmeenaraidoo, Mauritius' Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, received a delegation from the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, MoFAIC.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed means of enhancing cooperation between the two countries across the commercial, developmental, cultural and tourism sectors, among others.

The UAE delegation included Dr. Rashid Al Afari, Charge d'Affaires at the UAE Embassy in Mozambique, and Mona Al-Meini, Deputy Director of Economic and Commercial Affairs at MoFAIC.

The visit included several meetings with senior officials from the Government of Mauritius, where means to advance ties in the civil aviation sector, as well as investment opportunities in ports and logistics were reviewed.

The delegation also met with Roubina Jadoo-Jaunbocus, Minister of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare. The parties discussed opportunities to promote women's empowerment and capacity building. Minister Jadoo-Jaunbocus praised the UAE's experience to promote gender equality and women's empowerment.Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Babar Yaqoob on Wednesday said that the ECP had not extended timing of polling, yet those present inside and outside the polling stations had been allowed to cast their votes.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Jul, 2018 ) :Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Babar Yaqoob on Wednesday said that the ECP had not extended timing of polling, yet those present inside and outside the polling stations had been allowed to cast their votes.

Talking to the media, Babar Yaqoob said, "The polling time has not been extended but those present inside and outside the polling stations will be facilitated to cast their votes." He said there were directions of the Chief Justice of Pakistan to allow the voters outside the polling station to exercise their right to vote.

He said necessary directions to that effect were issued to the provincial election commissioners and returning officers.

The Secretary Election commission expressed satisfaction over the arrangements made for the elections.

and congratulated the nation on the successful completion of polls.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

The eleventh general election was Wednesday held in Rawalpindi division amidst foolproof security arrangements ensuring conduct of polls in free, fair and transparent manner while over 14,841 police personnel were deployed on duty across the division.

RAWALPINDI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Jul, 2018 ) :The eleventh general election was Wednesday held in Rawalpindi division amidst foolproof security arrangements ensuring conduct of polls in free, fair and transparent manner while over 14,841 police personnel were deployed on duty across the division.

The overall polling process in the division remained peaceful as a few incidents of physical brawl and skirmishes besides exchanges of hot words at few places were reported.

This time the voters turn out as compared to the previous general election was considerably high as the youth including men and women showed enthusiasm to support their respective candidates as well as the political parties.

According to the experts the overall voter turnout is estimated to be around 50 % despite extreme humid weather conditions. Generally people were appreciative of the arrangements made by ECP to facilitate the voters at the polling stations. The people exercised their right to franchise electing 12 National Assembly and 27 Provincial Assembly members in the division.

Over 14,841 police personnel were deployed on duty across the Division of which 8,388 cops performed security duty in Rawalpindi district while 2,754 in Attock district. Similarly, 1,841 police officials were on security duty in Jhelum and nearly 2,141 in Chakwal district. Total registered voters of the division are 71,50,800 registered voters.

Chief Election Commissioner Justice (r) Sardar Muhammad Raza Khan also visited three polling stations set up in NA-62 to observe the polling process and expressed satisfaction over arrangements made to ensure free, fair and transparent election.

He visited Divisional Public school, Dhoke Kala Khan, Shamsabad, Pir Mehar Ali Shah-Arid Agricultural University Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR), Murree Road and Government Degree College for Women, Sixth Road, Satellite Town.

Strict monitoring of the polling stations especially inclusive of those falling in catagories "A" and "B" was carried out through Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras. Meanwhile, district monitoring officers were monitoring the steps taken for strict compliance of the code of conduct issued by ECP.

ECP had appointed 12 Returning Officers (ROs) and 24 Assistant Returning Officers (AROs) for 12 Constituencies of NA and 27 constituencies of PA of the Punjab in the Division. The ROs and AROs appointed for NA-55 to NA-67 including two constituencies of Attock, six of Rawalpindi, two of Chakwal and two constituencies of Jhelum. Similarly, five provincial assembly constituencies from PP-1 to PP-5 in Attock district, 15 constituencies of PP-6 to PP-20 in Rawalpindi district, four constituencies PP-21 to PP-24 in Chakwal district and three Jhelum constituencies from PP-25 to PP-27 were included.

The ECP had postponed the election in NA-60 due to conviction/disqualification of a candidate, Hanif Abbasi.

A sizable number of contingents of Law Enforcement Agencies inclusive of Army besides police and Reserve police were deployed in and around 5,328 polling stations in the four districts of Rawalpindi division including Rawalpindi, Attock, Jhelum and Chakwal.

The civil administration on the directive of caretaker Chief Minister Punjab Dr Hasan Askari clamped tight security arrangements for A, B and C categories polling stations (PSs) in Rawalpindi Division where 606 Polling Stations set up for election were declared highly sensitive (A) and 1036 sensitive (B) in the Division including Attock, Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Jhelum and Islamabad. The category "C" was for such polling stations which could be termed as "Normal". Polling started at 08:00 am continued up to 06:00 pm without any break.

Talking to APP, District Election Commissioner Rawalpindi-I, Malik Saleem Akhtar said, District Election Commission finalized best possible arrangements for the general election 2018.

According to the ECP sources, the basic facilities including electricity, drinking water, toilets for the polling staff and voters at all polling stations were ensured in Rawalpindi division. 6,200 polling booths including 3,200 for male and 3,000 for female voters were set up in Rawalpindi district.

Total 2,576 Polling Stations were set up in the district to facilitate the voters who casted their ballot to elect representation of their choice.

The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) had activated the result Transmission Service (RTS) to enable Returning Officers to send results to the ECP through the service.

NADRA teams visited the offices of Returning Officers to activate RTS and according to the ECP, the presiding and assistant presiding officers were given the software to use through smart phones. The presiding officers who did not have smart phones, the software linked to the smart phones of their respective subordinate staff which was being used to pass on the results of respective constituency after compilation.

The election commission had constituted a control room in every constituency of the district where one returning officer (RO) remained present all the time to monitor the elections and polling activities through cameras installed in the polling stations.

In the Rawalpindi District, 104 polling stations were declared as highly sensitive while 91 others were termed as sensitive. As many as 67 candidates were competing for six NA seats while 166 candidates were vying for the provincial assembly seats.

There were six heavyweight candidates in the run including former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, former premier Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, former interior minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan, former Federal minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Awami Muslim League (AML) Chairman Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and Raja Qamar ul islam.

According to City Police Officer (CPO) Abbas Ahsan, the police took all possible measures to maintain law and order on the polling day.

The CPO informed that the ban on display of weapons is being implemented in letter and spirit and no one is being allowed to violate the ban. He said that the polling stations in Rawalpindi were categorised as A, B and C for security purposes. As part of security arrangements, the CPO said that the district had been divided into sectors and sub-sectors. Meanwhile, polling stations were divided into sub-sectors of 20 police stations, with each sub-sector assigned two police personnel on a motorbike and a patrol van with six police personnel.

According to ECP sources, NA-59, Rawalpindi-III, was most sensitive constituency in Rawalpindi district having 31 highly sensitive and seven sensitive Polling Stations (PSs).

Meanwhile, the security plan for the polling stations falling under the administrative control of Islamabad capital territory was finalized by the Islamabad administration separately.

According to the administrative division by the ECP, Islamabad was part of the Rawalpindi region. Out of 786 polling stations of the federal capital, 26 were declared highly sensitive, 87 sensitive and 673 normal in the federal capital. 1,069 polling stations of Attock district include 301 highly sensitive, 532 sensitive while 236 were normal.

Rawalpindi district had 2,576 total polling stations including 145 highly sensitive, 99 sensitive and 2332 normal while Chakwal district had a total of 925 polling stations with 74 highly sensitive, 217 sensitive and 634 normal.

Similarly, Jhelum had 60 highly sensitive, 101 sensitive and 597 normal in total 758 polling stations of the district.

City Traffic Police (CTP) had also finalized a comprehensive traffic plan to regulate traffic on important roads of the city on the Election Day.

Enhanced number of traffic wardens were deployed in the city particularly congested areas of the town while traffic diversions were available at several points to facilitate the road users.

Punjab Emergency Service, Rescue-1122 Rawalpindi had also finalized emergency arrangements for Election Day while over 500 rescuers remained on high alert. The staff was deployed on special duties in district control room and emergency rescue stations with 46 fully equipped emergency ambulances, 45 motorbike ambulances, 17 fire vehicles, eight rescue and recovery vehicles, two specialized vehicles and three water bowsers.Ambassador of Japan Takashi Kurai Thursday called on caretaker Minister for Defence, Lt General (Retd) Naeem Khalid Lodhi, and felicitated on the successful conduct of general elections in the country.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Jul, 2018 ) :Ambassador of Japan Takashi Kurai Thursday called on caretaker Minister for Defence, Lt General (Retd) Naeem Khalid Lodhi, and felicitated on the successful conduct of general elections in the country.

In a meeting at Ministry of Defence, the Ambassador expressed support of Japan government for the new government in Pakistan and the people, said a press release issued here.

Takashi Kurai also acknowledged the enormous sacrifices made by Pakistan in war against terrorism.

The Defence Minister highlighted the historical close ties between Pakistan and Japan and appreciated Japanese support for prosperity and development in Pakistan over the years.

He expressed hope that Japan would help create economic activities in Pakistan through mutually beneficial participation in China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as well as considering investment in maritime, industrial manufacturing and agricultural sectors.

The caretaker Minister also commended the efforts of Japanese Government for regular holding of Pakistan-Japan Politico-Military and Military to Military Dialogues, adding that such interactions are a concrete expression of the desire of both the countries to enhance mutual defence collaboration.

He mentioned the potential to cooperate in the defence field and need to strengthen the existing level of defence collaboration.

The Japanese Ambassador assured of his government's continued support to Pakistan and exploring new avenues of mutual collaboration.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

The sweet selling business across the country including twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad has witnessed boom soon after the unofficial announcement of the general election's results with majority of the supporters placing orders for celebrating the victory.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Jul, 2018 ) :The sweet selling business across the country including twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad has witnessed boom soon after the unofficial announcement of the general election's results with majority of the supporters placing orders for celebrating the victory.

Distributing and exchanging sweets is the ritual followed by everyone irrespective of ages to celebrate any festival, success or joy.

Announcement of the election's results is a biggest occasion for the winning political parties as well as those who supported and distributing sweets is an essential way of expressing happiness.

The workers and supporters of political parties who got majority of seats according to the announcements made till the present have started celebrations in their areas by distributing sweets and cakes.

"We have received huge orders today following the election activity in the country which is an opportunity for us to earn handsome amount. Hopefully, we will receive increased orders for sweets and cakes during the whole week", Arshad Khan, a sweet seller in Rawalpindi said.

He said, although we have already stocked different sweets, particularly `Barfi' and `Gulab Jaman' prior to the election's results day but most of that was finished.

Hundreds of people and party workers usually visit the homes of winning candidates with sweets to maintain a cordial relation with them in future.

Muneeb Khattak, a party worker said, "I have placed order for sweets soon after announcements of unofficial results of elections getting an idea of my party position which will hopefully win with majority".

"I will visit the winning candidate of the party which I am supporting soon after the confirmation of results with sweets and celebrate the victory", he said.

Another sweet seller in Karachi Company said, "Normally the occasions of eid and other family festivals increase the sale of sweets but when it is elections, sale of sweets is multiplied due to weeks-long celebrations.""Many of the customers have placed the order of special cakes made of party flags and inscribed with party slogans which is time taking but gives more profit", he said.The State of Qatar strongly condemned and denounced Wednesday the bombing that took place near a polling station in Pakistan's Quetta and led to many casualties

Islamabad (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Jul, 2018 ) The State of Qatar strongly condemned and denounced Wednesday the bombing that took place near a polling station in Pakistan's Quetta and led to many casualties.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs renewed, in a statement released today, the State of Qatar's firm position in rejecting violence and terrorism regardless of its motives.

The statement also expressed the condolences of the State of Qatar to the families of the victims, the government, and people of Pakistan. It also wished the injured a speedy recovery.(@FahadShabbir)

Four militants of the Haqqani militant group were killed following an airstrike in Khost province, eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the Defense Ministry said Thursday.

KABUL, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Jul, 2018 ) :Four militants of the Haqqani militant group were killed following an airstrike in Khost province, eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, the Defense Ministry said Thursday.

"An Afghan Air Force aircraft targeted a group of Haqqani terrorist network in Spera district, Khost province, late Wednesday, killing four members of the network," the ministry said in a statement.

As a Taliban-linked group of militants, the Haqqani network is mostly operating in eastern provinces and capital Kabul and has been responsible for many high-profile attacks against security forces.

The network, which was designated as a terrorist group by the United States in 2012, has yet to respond to the report.(@FahadShabbir)

Belarus and Uzbekistan have plans to establish a joint venture to manufacture medical products, Deputy Director of the Pharmaceutical Industry Directorate

BORISOV, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Jul, 2018 ) :Belarus and Uzbekistan have plans to establish a joint venture to manufacture medical products, Deputy Director of the Pharmaceutical Industry Directorate ? Head for Economy and Marketing at the Healthcare Ministry of Belarus Viktor Shein told reporters on 25 July, BelTA has learned.

Talks on the joint venture are being conducted in Uzbekistan by top managers of the Belpharmprom Holding Company and Borisov Pharmaceutical Company?s affiliate Frebor that produces infusion and transfusion sets, blood transfusion sets, drainage systems and other products for dialysis. ?We want to relocate some of our capacities and set up a joint venture in Uzbekistan,? Viktor Shein said.

He noted that the same scheme will be used in other countries, for example, in Georgia and Tajikistan.

This is in keeping with modern trends: foreign partners are interested not only in direct supplies, but also in establishing joint ventures with Belarusians.

Representatives of the Belarusian pharmaceutical industry have recently attended an international expo in Tokyo. ?We have found partners from faraway countries who are interested in direct supplies of Belarusian products, establishment of joint ventures in the adjacent markets and the use of Belarusian pharmaceutical substances to produce drugs in their territories,? Viktor Shein said.

In 2017 Belarusian pharmaceutical companies shipped around $140m worth of products abroad. Belarus-made drugs are exported to over 30 countries worldwide.(@rukhshanmir)

Cambodian police were ordered on Wednesday to crack down on anyone causing "political chaos" during this weekend's general election that is set to extend Premier Hun Sen's 33-year rule.

Phnom Penh, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Jul, 2018 ) :Cambodian police were ordered on Wednesday to crack down on anyone causing "political chaos" during this weekend's general election that is set to extend Premier Hun Sen's 33-year rule.

Cambodians will vote on Sunday without a credible opposition party for the first time, after a court dissolved the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) late last year.

The dissolution was accompanied by a crackdown on party members, many of whom fled the country or are in jail. The CNRP has called for a boycott of the poll.

An estimated 80,000 security personnel, including police, military police and soldiers, will be deployed to keep the peace on election day.

But Phnom Penh police chief Chuon Sovann told an inspection parade of thousands of police to be prepared to act swiftly in case of any "obstruction" of the polls.

Police must be ready "to prevent terrorism acts and political chaos", he said, adding they must also act to "prevent the activities of the opposition and their allies inside and outside of the country who are trying to find a way to destroy election" or calling on people to protest.

Authorities have already accused some opposition members of calling for a "clean-finger" boycott campaign, referring to a refusal to dip fingers in ink used as a marker after voting.

Analysts say Hun Sen fears a low turnout that could further damage the credibility of the election.

Both the US and the EU have withdrawn funding for it but countries including China and Japan have offered support.

Rights activists said the deployment of large numbers of police and troops would intimidate voters.

"The presence of police forces in and around voting stations, particularly if armed, adds to the existing atmosphere of fear and intimidation which has been paving the way to the elections," Chak Sopheap, executive director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, told AFP.Addis Ababa, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Jul, 2018 ) :Riots have broken out in six Ethiopian prisons after parliament passed a law granting amnesty to dissidents, state media said on Wednesday.

Over the past two days, inmates attempted to escape by lighting fires in the prisons, state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate reported.

A separate fire at a prison in the northern city of Mekele killed two people, Fana said, but it was unclear if the blaze was connected to the rioting.

"It is against the constitution and will hamper the peace, unity, and togetherness spirit of the people," government spokesman Kassahun Gofe said of the unrest, according to Fana.

The violence came days after Ethiopia's parliament passed an amnesty for dissidents charged with crimes like treason and attacking the government.

Kassahun said the rioting was due to a lack of "understanding" about the amnesty law.

The prisons affected by rioting were in the northern Amhara Region, the capital Addis Ababa and the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region, Fana said.

The reprieve was part of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's reform agenda that has seen Ethiopia's one-party government make peace with various opposition groups.

Since coming to power in April thousands of prisoners, including high-profile opponents, have been released.

Abiy has also announced a slew of economic reforms and led a dizzying peace process with neighbouring Eritrea.

Earlier this month, state media reported that prison chiefs had been sacked for "failing to discharge their responsibilities and respect prisoners' human rights".

The announcement came as Human Rights Watch sounded the alarm over torture, rape and starvation at a notorious prison in the country's volatile Somali region.

The reforms represent a stark departure for the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) which, together with its allies, controls every seat in parliament.For decades, little did the principal of a kindergarten in Lithuania's capital realise that his office stood on top of a sacred part of Vilnius' 17th century Jewish temple, once famous across Europe.

Vilnius, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Jul, 2018 ) :For decades, little did the principal of a kindergarten in Lithuania's capital realise that his office stood on top of a sacred part of Vilnius' 17th century Jewish temple, once famous across Europe.

An international team of archaeologists on Thursday announced the discovery of the most revered part of the Great Synagogue of Vilnius, Lithuania's major Jewish shrine before it was destroyed by Nazi and Soviet regimes.

"We've found the bimah, the central prayer platform which was in Tuscan Baroque style. It was one of the central features of the synagogue," Jon Seligman from Israel's Antiquities Authority told AFP.

"It is really a very exciting development. When we talk about the presentation of the site to the public in the future, this will be one of the central features of the display," he added.

The green and brown, brick and mortar bimah -- a raised platform from which the Jewish holy book, the Torah, is read -- was unearthed just beneath the principal's office of a former school built in the 1950s by the Soviet regime.

The synagogue, dating from the 1630s, was the most important shrine for Lithuania's once vibrant Jewish community.

The city attracted Yiddish-speaking writers and scholars, earning it the title of "Jerusalem of the North".

Before the war, Jews accounted for around one-third of the city's then 60,000 residents, but most of them perished under Nazi Germany's 1941-1944 occupation.

The Nazis burned down the shrine and the remains were later demolished by the Soviet regime that built a kindergarten, later turned into the Primary school, on the property.

- Tears and prayers - "This isn't just an archaeological discovery," said Faina Kukliansky, the leader of Lithuania's tiny Jewish community of around 3,000 people out of a total population of 2.9 million.

"It helps to better understand Jewish life here but also the destructive ideologies of the Nazi and Soviet regimes," she added.

Simonas Gurevicius, who leads a separate Jewish association in Vilnius, said he cried when he prayed at the newly discovered site.

"Maybe I was the first one to pray here 77 years after the last prayers by Vilnius ghetto martyrs," he told AFP.

Work at the synagogue site by Lithuanian, Israeli and American archaeologists is paid for mostly by Lithuania's fund for Jewish communal property seized by Nazi Germany and then kept by the Soviet regime.

Vilnius authorities closed the school last year and plan to replace the building with a memorial that would display synagogue artefacts within the next five years.

"The school will be demolished within two years and we'll create a respectful site, displaying rich Jewish heritage by 2023 when Vilnius celebrates its 700th birthday," Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Simasius told AFP.Jesuit superior general, Fr. Arturo Sosa has announced that Rome Diocese has given the approval to open the process of Fr. Pedro Arrupes beatification.

By Robin Gomes

The Diocese of Rome has opened the process of the beatification and canonization of Father Pedro Arrupe, the 28th superior general of the Society of Jesus (SJ) or the Jesuits.

We have seriously begun the process for the beatification of Fr Pedro Arrupe, current Jesuit Superior General, Father Arturo Sosa announced at the meeting of the International Association of Jesuit Universities in Bilbao, Spain, on July 11.

Fr. Arturo Sosa said that Cardinal Angelo de Donatis, the Popes Vicar for the Diocese of Rome has given the approval to open the process of Fr. Arrupes beatification. The Jesuit general asked the attendees to pray for the cause and for the assistance of anyone who has useful information about the religious devotion to Fr. Arrupe.

18 years at the helm



Born on November 14, 1907, in Bilbao, Spain, Fr. Arrupe died on February 5, 1991, in Rome, Italy. He led the Jesuits from 1965 to 1983 bringing about a profound renewal in the congregation in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council.

He also served three consecutive terms as president of the Union of Religious Superiors General, from 1967-1982.

Holiness



The rules for beatification and canonization prescribe that the bishop of the diocese where the individual lived has to petition the Holy See to allow the process or the cause to begin. If there is no objection by the Roman dicasteries, in particular, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the permission is communicated to the initiating Bishop.

The process of documenting the life and virtues of a candidate cannot normally begin until 5 years after death to ensure the person has an enduring reputation for sanctity among the faithful.

Fr. Sosa described Fr. Arrupe as "a man of truth, rooted in Christ and dedicated to the mission, whose greatest miracle is the fact that we are here today". He was a "figure of great importance", "a person who has lived holiness in a profound and original way throughout his life: as a young man, as a Jesuit, as a novice master, as a provincial and as a general". Fr. Sosa explained that the opening of the cause of beatification takes into account not only Fr. Arrupes leadership of the Society of Jesus but his whole person, who has been able to identify himself with the Lord throughout his life.

Hiroshima first-hand

Fr. Arrupe entered the Society of Jesus in 1927 after studying medicine. With the banning of Jesuits in Spain in 1931, he went to study in Belgium, the Netherlands and the United States as part of his Jesuit formation.

Ordained a priest in 1936 he obtained a degree in medical ethics before being sent to Japan in 1938 to work as a missionary. He later was appointed the master of novices for the Jesuit novitiate in Japan and was living in Hiroshima when the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on Aug. 6, 1945.

With his medical background, the young priest converted the novitiate into a makeshift hospital for the wounded. A decade later, in 1958, he was named the first provincial for Japan, overseeing the Jesuit apostolate in the country.

New direction



Fr. Arrupe was elected Jesuit Superior General in 1965, just six months before the closing of the Second Vatican Council. Under his leadership, the Jesuit apostolate shifted its focus to more of social justice issues.

However, his changes were met with opposition not only by many fellow Jesuits but also popes and other Vatican and ecclesial figures.

It was Fr. Arrupe who appointed Jorge Bergoglio, the future Pope, the Jesuit provincial of Argentina in 1973, and both remained close. They together visited the Diocese of La Rioja to support Bishop Enrique Angel Angelelli Carletti, who was assassinated in 1976 during Argentina's Dirty War.

A tangible legacy of the new thrust that Fr. Arrupe gave the Society of Jesus is the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) which he founded in November 1980 in reaction to the tragedy of the Vietnamese boat refugees. Today, JRS run programmes in 51 countries.

Last days

Following a stroke on August 7, 1981, Fr. Arrupes ability to move and speak began diminishing, which forced him to step down as superior general. He died 10 years later at the age of 83 and is buried at the Church of Gesu in Rome.

Late Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach was elected his successor as the new superior general in September 1983.Nicaraguan Bishops write a letter to President Ortega and appeal to the international community to pay attention to what is happening there.

By Sr Bernadette Mary Reis, fsp

In view of another demonstration on Saturday, the Bishops sent a letter directly to President Ortega on Wednesday. Although the exact contents are unknown, the Bishops have been outspoken in their desire to mediate tension between anti-government groups and the government. The Bishops in Nicaragua are making it clear in other ways that they side with the people and ask the international community to pay attention to what is happening there.

Only love conquers hate

Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, Archbishop of Managua, celebrated Mass for the Feast of St James the Apostle in reparation for the profanation and desecration of the Church of St James the Apostle in Jinotepe which took place on July 10. The Cardinal invited the faithful not to respond violently to attacks. Rather, he explained, hate can only be conquered by love



Another statement, issued by Bishop Abelardo Mata of the diocese of Esteli, encouraged continued peaceful demonstrations, and prayer in response to the attacks. He also called for the end to the profanation of Churches by pro-government paramilitary forces.

Open persecution of the Church

Vatican News Patricia Ynestroza interviewed Bishop Carlos Aviles, Council for the Commission for National Dialogue in Nicaragua. He confirms that there is open persecution of the Church. He [President Ortega] has said that the Bishops are coup leaders and that anyone who supports the demonstrators are terrorists. So, we are all terrorists because we have opened our doors to the people who are running and fleeing, and who are wounded.



Bishop Aviles specifically stated several priests in Managua have received death threats, and at least two churches have been vandalized. Two churches were fired on yesterday in Jinotepe and Managua.

Bishop Aviles pointed out that although Ortega invokes the Constitution to remain in office until 2021, he came to power unconstitutionally, changed the Constitution by decree in order to run for re-election beyond a second term, and manipulated the elections that followed. The people are asking that he modify the law in order to step down from power just as he did to remain in power  thus anticipating elections allowing him to leave the country peacefully. And for that there are 350 people who have died, the Bishop said.

Church on the side of the people

With the suspension of dialogue, the bishops still hope that President Ortega will resume talks with them. Because the Church always opts for dialogue rather than violence the bishops issued a message asking all those in government and the police to let their consciences guide decisions and to remember that the commandment against killing comes first. The Church will always be on the side of the people, supporting them, helping them. We will help every person who approaches our churchesand offer them any type of assistance, Bishop Aviles said.



The Church will not keep silent

In view of the demonstrations planned for Saturday, Bishop Aviles said that the only way to avoid violence is if the government withdraws its forces. The people have the civil right to peaceful demonstration. Calling on the authorities not to repress or violate this basic right is something that the Church can do on behalf of the demonstrators.



The Bishop continued saying that only the government and those who are pro-government are allowed to speak. According to him, the judicial and electoral systems are on his side, as well as the police. There is no work, he continued, and health care and quality education which is not indoctrination are lacking.

Appeal to the international community

Bishop Aviles then appealed to the international community to pay attention to what is happening in Nicaragua in order to show solidarity. He hopes that it is clear that there is not a war between two armed groups going on. Instead, peaceful demonstrators are being violently repressed, and the perpetrators of the violence are not being brought to justice. In short, Bishop Aviles says,



We ask for solidarity on the part of the international community in putting pressure on the Nicaraguan government to do what is right for the democratization of the country.Father Jacques Hamel was slain before the altar of his parish church in northern France by two islamist militants on 26 July 2016. The cause of his Beatification has already been opened.

By Linda Bordoni

Fr. Jacques Hamel was murdered by extremist Islamic militants two years ago to this day in his parish in northern France while celebrating Holy Mass.

Pope Francis has held up his testimony of faith also as a reminder of all the other Christian martyrs whose blood is shed across todays world.

It was during Mass in the Casa Santa Marta, celebrated together with the Bishop of Rouen and father Jacques Hamels family, that Pope Francis described the slain French parish priest as a gentle, good man, who fostered brotherhood.

Father Hamel was brutally murdered by two militants affiliated to the so-called Islamic State while celebrating Holy Mass priest in his Church of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray in Rouen.

So today, 26 July, in memory of Fr. Hamel, his diocese has organized a series of events including a Republican ceremony for peace and fraternity in the presence also of the French Interior Minister, and a number of religious initiatives. These include the recitation of the Rosary, a silent procession and Mass celebrated by Archbishop Dominique Lebrun at the exact same time as Fr. Jacques murder.

Archbishop Lebrun was present during that Casa Santa Marta Mass when Pope Francis called Fr. Hamel one of the many Christian martyrs of the Church today. Men and women, he said, who are murdered, tortured, imprisoned, slaughtered because they refuse to renounce their faith and deny Jesus Christ.

They form a chain the Pope said, which reaches as far as Father Jacques whose cause of beatification was opened in April 2017 thanks to a papal dispensation cutting short the usual five year wait.Iraqi Cardinal Louis Sako appeals to the citizens of Iraq to help build a harmonious and beneficial relationship between all members of the country, in order to aid its rehabilitation.

By Francesca Merlo

Recently appointed Iraqi Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako issued an appeal in a heart-felt letter to the citizens of Iraq this week. In his letter he asks for help from the people in order to promote harmony, unity and partnership in their country.

Cardinal Sako is the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Babylon and Head of the Chaldean Catholic Church.

Over recent years Iraq has been consumed by cycles of warfare. The country is living through an ever growing refugee crisis along with omnipresent sectarianism - which has led to the rapid spread of the so-called Islamic State extremist movement (ISIS). ISIS have seized the majority of north western Iraq, along with bordering parts of Syria, and are constantly increasing their recruitment of young Muslims worldwide. Through the approval of a new constitution and by holding parliamentary and provincial elections there has been some progress made in replacing Iraqs constitution from the Saddam Hussein era. Iraqs government does however still remain weak, thus jeopardising its long-term stability.

The mission of an Iraqi Cardinal

Cardinal Sako begins his letter by stating how thankful he is to Pope Francis for nominating an Iraqi citizen to be a cardinal and to bear such a distinct mission.

He says that this mission is to serve his devastated country and everyone in it, no exceptions. He realises that being Cardinal means assuming responsibilities towards the Universal Church, giving him more ground to serve and join all those with good will to achieve the common goals that we are looking for.

Unifying the red of blood and the red of love

Cardinal Sako makes an interesting symbolic correlation between the red of the Cardinals dress and the current situation in Iraq. The red symbolizes martyrdom  the blood of so many martyrs that has been shed on this land This same red, to him, also symbolizes love, and he believes it should inflame the heart of the person who wears it, so that he offers his life for those who he loves unconditionally. In this case the heart is his and his unconditional love goes to the people of Iraq.

Hope of reconciliation

In his letter, Cardinal Sako urges Iraqi citizens to help promote harmony, to strengthen unity and partnership among themselves and to create an "environment based on love, justice, equality, freedom, dignity and peace. Knowing that we have no future without peace and living together. He states that religion and violence are incompatible and calls upon Christian, Muslim and other religious authorities to contribute to this building of reconciliation in order to defeat extremism and violence.

Message to politicians and protestors

Cardinal Sako advises Iraqi politicians to act upon equal citizenship and not on personal interest, to put an end to this acting war and to speed up the formation of a strong Government, capable of eradicating corruption and improving services.

His advice to protestors is to focus on their rights avoiding violence and its consequences, stating that it is the Governments responsibility to protect them and respond to them.

Cardinal Sako ends his letter saying he hopes that the positive signs they have seen will help overcome Iraqs worries and fears and remain proud of their country. He signs off with three words: Long live Iraq.A Kenyan Military Chaplain discusses the involvement of priests in military operations and their mission to offer guidance through faith and counselling.

By Francesca Merlo

As conflicts rage on throughout Africa, thousands of troops and their families are suffering the consequences of living through war, as well as the difficulties of being separated from their loved ones who are risking their lives in hope of achieving peace.

Fr Benjamin Maswili, Apostolic Administrator of the Military Ordinariate in Kenya, spoke to Fr Paul Samasumo, Head of Vatican News English for Africa Programme, about the role of priests and chaplains in conflict zones. He explains how the 23 chaplains involved help soldiers and their families overcome psychological trauma through counselling and religious support.

Fr Maswili acts as a priest to those who seek comfort with anything regarding faith, as well as playing the role of general counsellor for soldiers of any religion that may need help dealing with mental or physical traumas. He said there is a huge amount of importance placed on offering the families of soldiers the support that they need.

Listen to the full interview

Fr Maswili said his transition to the Military came after having been asked to join by the late Cardinal Otunga, stating that it was initially quite difficult but that one must learn to adjust in order to work efficiently.

He said a military chaplains job involves far more than simply celebrating Mass. Mass is hugely important, he said, since it is where the soldiers derive the strength to leave on their missions. But the chaplains before, during and after their missions, he pointed out.

Counselling for both troops and families





Before being sent off on their mission, the soldiers are counselled together. Their families are also offered counselling, in order to psychologically anticipate any potential tragedies and to help them understand and accept the work that the soldiers do.

The priests are also used as a communication device, he said, reporting news of the soldiers back to their families and vice-versa. This aids harmony and reassurance, as good news of ones familys well-being would help anyone settle psychologically.

The follow up from any traumas the soldiers may be suffering following a mission is over, with the soldiers being counselled before being sent back to their families, to aid re-integration.

23 chaplains guide soldiers of all religions





There are 23 chaplains and around 40 catechists assigned to the Kenyan Defense Forces. Fr Maswili tells Fr Samasumo that they are still looking for more Chaplains, relying on help from the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB).

Fr Maswili said his work and his counselling are inclusive. Should non-Catholic soldiers require guidance regarding their faith they must, understandably, refer to their own chaplain. However, when it comes to any other form of psychological guidance and counselling Fr Maswili is there to offer his services - regardless of the soldier's religious affiliation.

Priests and troops protect each other





When asked whether he ever fears for his life whilst on the field, Fr Maswili described his work as a sacrifice, talking about how the chaplains move with the soldiers, following them wherever they go. They are there to counsel them and to offer them sacraments: Holy Communion, Conversion, whatever the need may be the Chaplains must be available to provide this support.

Whether on the front-line or not, Maswili says that he feels protected by the soldiers, as non-combatants the Chaplains are automatically protected by the troops that accompany them.

Fr Maswili said there is an organized study for catechists and chaplains after seminary training, where priests go for further psychological studies. They leave these studies with a Masters in the subject and the necessary tools to handle any psychological counselling.

British electronic music heavy-hitters Gorgon City will bring their North American Escape City Tour to the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center on Saturday, November 3. The high-energy show will present the bands fist-pumping hits while also supporting their upcoming sophomore album, Escape.

Producer King Henry will serve as the shows dynamic opening act.

Originating from North London, England, Gorgon City is made up of electronic music producers Kye Foamo Gibbon and Matt RackNRuin Robson-Scott. The duo rose in popularity after the 2013 single Real, reaching #44 on UK Singles Chart and Ready For Your Love, reaching #4. They released their first studio album Sirens in 2014.

This year, Gorgon City returns with their sophomore album Escape featuring tracks Go Deep, Hear That and One Last Song. The project will showcase sonic diversity, ranging from more downtempo and relaxed summer anthems to club-ready productions, influenced by the duos gruff basslines and deep house-inspired chords. The album will also contain last summers hit Real Life, a Balearic-beat anthem created with DJ and producer Duke Dumont.

LA based, GRAMMY-nominated producer King Henry will open for Gorgon City with his infectious melodic productions. Focused on making his mark in the pop music world, King Henry has already received major music accomplishments including co-writing & co-producing on Major Lazers Cold Water, All Night by Beyonce, and Nothing Without You by The Weeknd.Amnesty International on Wednesday joined calls for the Cambodian government and participating political parties in the general election on Sunday to commit to respecting human rights during the election period and its aftermath.

The ruling Cambodian Peoples Party is expected to win the election comfortably having overseen the dissolution of the countrys main opposition, the Cambodia National Rescue Party, in November. The CNRP had won more than 40 percent of the popular vote in the previous general election in 2013 and in local elections in 2017. Some 19 other political parties are due to contest seats in the election on Sunday.

Clare Algar, Amnestys director of global operations, called on the government to amend or repeal a law governing conduct during protests, the Law on Peaceful Demonstration, to protect Cambodians freedom of assembly and to conform to international standards.

The government also threatened legal action against those who appeal, incite, or prevent citizens from voting following the banned oppositions calls for an election boycott, which the ruling party claims is incitement to obstruct an election, read the statement.

Furthermore, despite freedom of peaceful assembly being guaranteed by the Constitution, activists and human rights defenders participating in peaceful demonstration still often face intervention, arrests, and violence from the police and other extra-legal authorities, it says.

Amnesty is also calling for detailed legislation and a comprehensive code of conduct on the use of force by law enforcement personnel. Further, it urged the government to end the suppression of activism and to repeal or amend the Law on Associations and Non-governmental Organizations and Trade Union Law to conform to Cambodias international human rights and labor law commitments.

Sok Eysan, CPP spokesman, said the appeals made by Amnesty did not reflect the political reality in Cambodia.

By contrast, the government always cares about the promotion of human rights and democracy in Cambodia, enhancing the rights and freedom of the people, so they can fulfill their obligations in voting, he said.

Sam Inn, secretary general of the Grassroots Democracy Party, acknowledged the shrinking space for human rights and freedom of expression following the crackdown on civil society, independent media and the arbitrary detention of activists and campaigners.

We welcome all the concerns and what they [Amnesty International] have mentioned. The Grassroots Democratic Party is resisting to promote human rights and freedom of expression; particularly, the rights to participate in politics, he said.

Amnesty also called for the release of Cambodias political prisoners, including two former reporters with Radio Free Asia. However, Eysan, the CPP spokesman, said their release would encourage a culture of impunity in Cambodia, which under the CPP is regularly cited as one of the worlds most corrupt nations.

The important thing is that those who committed offenses must be held accountable before the law, he said.This year's summit of the BRICS nations  Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa  began Wednesday with an expression of concern about the trade war brewing between the United States and BRICS' wealthiest member, China.



BRICS admitted South Africa in 2010 as part of the bloc's aim of leveling the global playing field by representing non-traditional powers.



Leaders say that goal is now more important than ever, given the growth of protectionist trade policies and politics around the globe.



South African President Cyril Ramaphosa issued strong words of concern at the opening of the summit in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

"We are meeting here, ladies and gentlemen, at a time when the multilateral trading system is facing unprecedented challenges. We are concerned by the rise in unilateral measures that are incompatible with World Trade Organization rules and we are worried about the impact of these measures, especially as they impact developing countries and economies."

Ramaphosa said these developments "call for thorough discussion on the role of trade in growing and in promoting sustainable development, particularly inclusive growth."



To that end, he said, the bloc's development bank has, since its establishment in 2014, issued $5.1 billion in loans to foster development projects.

On the eve of the summit, Ramaphosa met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. China has been attempting to shore up its international relationships amid U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to impose tariffs on Chinese goods.



But as South African Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies pointed out in a business-oriented pre-summit meeting, even within BRICS, trade is not balanced. South Africa is the newest and smallest member of BRICS, he said, but invests more than it gets back.



"If we look at the investment relationship, I think we can see that there has been less progress," he said. "The figure that we have recorded, nearly $18 billion US dollars  17.8 billion  that was the inflow of BRICS investment into the South African economy between 2003 and 2017, but actually South Africa, between 2001 and 2016, invested $68 billion, a larger sum, in other BRICS countries."



With outside threats looming large, analyst Luanda Mpungose says things are changing. This year, she said, it's notable that BRICS has extended a hand beyond just South Africa.



"Something that's different about BRICS this year, specifically about South Africa as a host country, is that this initiative is not only about the BRICS member countries, the five countries," he sai. "But actually we've actually seen an outreach of neighborhood countries being invited. So this is taking along the Africa developmental agenda and bringing it Into the BRICS agenda, I mean countries like Rwanda,like Senegal, like Togo have been invited to come and attend."



The summit continues through Friday.Kem Monovithya, a Cambodian political activist, was visiting Switzerland in September when she got a phone call from her father. Kem Sokha, the leader of Cambodias main opposition party, told his daughter that government agents were raiding their familys home in Phnom Penh.

He told me: Theyre handcuffing me now, Kem Monovithya, 36, recalled in an interview with The Associated Press.

Months later, her father remains in prison, facing charges of treason, and she is in the United States.

She said she cant go home because she fears she, too, will be arrested as part of a government crackdown that has banned the political party her father led, shut down news outlets and scattered hundreds of Cambodian politicians, human rights activists, and journalists into exile in the U.S., Australia, Thailand and other countries.

Prime Minister Hun Sens ruling party, the Cambodian Peoples Party, has stepped up actions against media organizations and opposition politicians over the past two years as national elections  which are set for Sunday  have drawn closer.

Hun Sen, who had held power for three decades, vowed last year that hed be willing to eliminate 100 to 200 people to protect the nations security, suggesting his opponents prepare coffins.

Spokespeople for the ruling party and the government did not answer questions from the AP for this story.

In February, the government issued a 132-page book that asserted that real democracy is not being reversed ... On the contrary, only fake democracy is being uprooted.

The international watchdog group Human Rights Watch says the civil and political rights environment in Cambodia has markedly deteriorated since the start of 2017. The group says the regime has engaged in arbitrary arrests and other abuses and worked to portray peaceful dissent over corruption, land rights and other issues as attempts to overthrow the government.

Kem Monovithya and other exiled members of the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party are keeping the party alive from abroad. They are trying to convince the U.S., the European Union, and others to place an embargo on international travel by top Cambodian officials, but avoid a general economic embargo that would hurt average Cambodians.

They are also asking voters to boycott this months elections, using social media to urge Cambodians to embrace a clean finger campaign. In Cambodia, voters must dip their fingers in ink after casting their ballots.

The National Election Committee warned that anyone urging a boycott or otherwise interfering in the polls could face criminal charges.

Beyong Words

Kem Monovithya and other exiles have traveled around the U.S. and to Europe, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere to spread their message, talking with diplomats, lawmakers, media and Cambodians living abroad.

As they advocate for change from afar, Cambodias political exiles are also struggling with a sense of loss and dislocation.

I miss my family, my kids, said Sia Phearum, a Cambodian land rights activist who fled the country for the U.S. in late 2017, leaving behind his wife and three children, ages 5 to 11. The pain is beyond words.

Kem Monovithya told the AP that her exile is a test of my strength and endurance. I am almost homeless. She stays with friends and she isnt sure where shell be from week to week. I go where my advocacy takes me, she said.

A month after her fathers arrest, one of his deputy party leaders, Mu Sochua, was tipped off by two government officials that she was also going to be arrested. Mu Sochua, 64, said she wanted to stay, but her children convinced her that she should she leave the country and work from abroad for democracy in Cambodia.

In late May, Mu Sochua and Kem Monovithya traveled to Norway to attend the Oslo Freedom Forum, a gathering of human rights and democracy advocates.

In a speech at the forum, Mu Sochua urged the international community to impose sanctions on those who are engaging in the oppression in Cambodia.

The democracies of the world should not recognize a government from an illegitimate election, she said.

The U.S. has expressed grave concern about the Cambodian governments actions and questioned whether this months elections will be free and fair. In March, the Trump White House said it was withholding $8.3 million in funding for Cambodias government as part of an effort to ensure that American taxpayer funds are not being used to support anti-democratic behavior. The EU has threatened a trade embargo and Germany has restricted travel visas for Cambodian government officials.

Japan has continued to provide funding to help underwrite the general election. Exiled Cambodian opposition leaders have appealed to the Japanese government to withdraw the funding.

Cambodian authorities claim that opposition leaders, community activists, and journalists are working with the U.S. and other superpowers to bring down the government. Hun Sen and other government officials use the term color revolution to describe these efforts.

All armed forces are obliged to absolutely ensure that Cambodia is free from any color revolutions, Hun Sen wrote in a Facebook post in 2016. Such a revolution will harm peoples happiness and peace in Cambodia. Armed forces shall protect the legitimate government.

Authority of the State'

Despite the cooling of its relations with the U.S., the Cambodian government has cited Donald Trumps attacks on what he calls the fake news media as justification for tighter controls on journalism in Cambodia.

President Donald Trump thinks that the news reported by these organizations did not reflect the truth, which is the responsibility of the professional reporters, a Cambodian government spokesman said in a statement weeks after Trumps inauguration. This means that freedom of expression must respect the law and the authority of the state.

In September, the Cambodia Daily, an English language newspaper known for its aggressive reporting on corruption and abuses of power, announced it had been forced to close as the result of what it said were extra-legal threats and a sham tax bill from the government.

The papers final front page included the headline Descent Into Outright Dictatorship  and the news that Kem Monovithyas father, Kem Sokha, had been arrested and charged with conspiring with the U.S. to overthrow Hun Sens government. Hun Sen publicly called Kem Sokha a foreign puppet.

In May, the Phnom Penh Post, which was considered the last independent daily in Cambodia, was purchased by a businessman who is chief executive of a public relations firm that has worked for Hun Sens government. After the sale, several top journalists at the paper were fired or resigned.

The government has also closed about 20 radio channels and arrested two former reporters with U.S.-backed Radio Free Asia. The journalists, Uon Chhin and Yeang Southearin, were initially accused of running an unlicensed karaoke studio but were later charged with providing a foreign state with information which undermines national defense.

These troubles are the latest in a country that has endured genocide, civil war, and oppression over the past half-century. Nearly 2 million Cambodians died in the killing fields operated by the Khmer Rouge, the communist regime that controlled the country from 1975 to 1979. Hun Sen took power as Cambodias prime minister in 1985, but violence between competing factions continued until a peace accord was signed in Paris in 1991.

Over the past decade or more, citizen protests have proliferated over land rights, widespread logging in Cambodias forests and working conditions in the countrys garment factories. In response, the government has arrested dozens of protest leaders, convicting some in court proceedings that Human Right Watch said: failed to meet even the most rudimentary fair trial standards.

Sia Phearum, the land rights activist, said the powerful and the rich profit from development and land grabs while poor people get little compensation for their losses.

The government and the companies are doing business together, he said. When you hear of a place being developed, there will be tears and suffering.

Tigers and Snakes'

Some observers trace the regimes increased efforts to curb dissent to the killing of Kem Ley, a political commentator, and critic of the regime. He was gunned down in Phnom Penh in 2016  two days after he spoke on radio about a report by the watchdog group Global Witness examining the wealth that Hun Sens family has accumulated.

His death was widely seen as a politically motivated murder. Throngs of people took to the streets to join his funeral procession. Opposition politicians believe the turnout surprised the government.

Kem Leys widow, Bou Rachana, had never been involved in politics, but since her husbands murder, she has begun speaking out about her countrys political and social ills. She left Cambodia and was granted asylum in Australia earlier this year.

I could not live in a country full of tigers and snakes, she told AP.

Some exiles believe that the results of the countrys district elections in June 2017 further increased fears within the ruling party that it was in danger of losing its grip on power. The Cambodia National Rescue Party won nearly 44 percent of the seats, while the ruling party won less than 51 percent.

The government arrested Kem Monovithyas father three months later. Then in November, the countrys Supreme Court upheld the governments demand that Cambodia National Rescue Party be dissolved. The ruling banned more than 100 senior party officials from being involved in politics for five years.

Weve lost everything. We dont have the party anymore, Kem Monovithya said. Our country is in darkness.

She has spent most of her time in Washington, D.C. since her fathers arrest. She breaks down into tears, she said, whenever other emigres ask about him.

She got involved in politics as a teenager in 1993 during the countrys first national elections. She traveled the campaign trail with her dad, who won a seat in the legislature. She talked to voters one on one and distributed leaflets outlining his platform.

We all saw this as the beginning of many great things to come, she recalled. People believed in the process because it was administered by the UN.

Hun Sens political rivals won the vote, but he refused to give up power. He and his opponents agreed to a power-sharing arrangement, but Hun Sen wrested back full power in a military coup in 1997.

Kem Monovithya later worked for United Nations agencies and human rights groups in Cambodia and at the World Banks headquarters in Washington.

Her father was arrested by the government for the first time in 2006. At the time she was on a plane to the U.S. to drop her younger sister off at college. She led an effort that helped prompt the release of her father and other political prisoners.

That first time he was arrested, she said, he was allowed, visitors. Back then, she said, influence from the U.S. and other Western donors helped soften the governments stance against critics. Now, as China has increased its investment and influence, the Cambodian government is less concerned about international opinion, she said.

This time, she said, no one is allowed into the jail to see him. She worries because her father, 65, has health problems that could be worsened by incarceration.

She doesnt know when shell be able to see him or return to Cambodia. But she said she will find a way.

I have to go back home, and I will not give up the fight, she said. Its our country. We cannot allow a small group of people to kick us out of the country forever.Three high-ranking Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) commanders stationed along the countrys northwestern border switched their voter registration to the more tightly contested Siem Reap province ahead of the July 29 election, according to electoral data obtained by VOA Khmer.

The commanders, who lead Intervention Brigades 4, 5, and 6, were previously registered to vote near their respective headquarters in the sparsely populated province of Oddar Meanchey, which is dominated by the military and has only one parliamentary seat.

A VOA Khmer investigation in April found evidence of large-scale troop movements in late 2017 from the highly militarized provinces of Oddar Meanchey and Preah Vihear to Siem Reap so that soldiers could register in the latter province, where support for the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) has declined over the past few years.

Nearly 6,000 people from Oddar Meanchey and Preah Vihear registered to vote in Siem Reap for the first time in the 2018 election. Almost 90% of them were men, and many registered at newly-created polling stations. However, this is the first evidence that high-level military officials have also switched their registration for what may be political purposes.

Major General San Sea, the commander of Intervention Brigade 4, was registered in Oddar Meanchey, where he is based, in 2017. But by 2018 his voter registration had switched to Tram Sarsar commune of Siem Reap province, the commune with one of the largest increases in voters nationwide. Major General Sea is now registered to vote at a polling station with 73.6% men.

Major General Samrith Saret, the commander of Intervention Brigade 5, has moved his registration from near his brigades headquarters to Siem Reaps Chrouy Neang Nguon commune, to a polling station with 83.1% men that was newly created before 2018.

And Major General Chhum Kheng, the commander of Intervention Brigade 6, switched from his brigades headquarters to Kantuot commune in Siem Reap, to a newly-created polling station that is 74.4% men.

Asked why he had moved from Oddar Meanchey to Siem Reap, General Saret asked, Who told you that?

When told the information came from official National Election Committee records, he claimed that his brigade was actually based in Siem Reap and that the previous registration was the anomaly.

Ive been based in Sreysnam [district] for a long time already, but in the commune election, I went to vote in Oddar Meanchey province. It is easy to vote in Siem Reap.

He denied having switched registration at the behest of the ruling party.

However, an examination of a satellite map shows a large RCAF base in Beng commune, Oddar Meanchey, very close to the polling station in Pou Chas village where General Sareth was registered in 2017. There is no known base in Sreysnam district large enough for a brigade, which has thousands of soldiers.

General Kheng declined to comment on the matter. General Sea could not be reached for comment.

All three generals were added to the CPPs Central Committee during a party congress in February 2015 that saw a notable influx of members of the security forces onto the body.

Human Rights Watch said at the time that the congress marked a concerning increase in the partisan affiliation of military and police figures with significant command authority.

Major military figures connected to Prime Minister Hun Sen, including his sons Hun Manet and Hun Manith and the commander of his personal bodyguard unit, were also added to the committee that day.

Defense Minister Tea Banh, himself a high-ranking member of the CPP who sits on the partys powerful Standing Committee, is both a four-star army general with authority over troop movements and the CPPs electoral coordinator for Siem Reap province.

Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, told VOA Khmer that troop movements for electoral purposes were a predictable consequence of the increasing partisan identification of the military.

Shifting the registration of military voters to win communes where support for the CPP is flagging shows just how far Cambodia has fallen from the principle of political neutrality of the security forces that is enshrined in the law, he said.

Robertson added that moving soldiers and commanders into villages for the election also promoted fear among the general population.

Villagers seeing these military voters come into their constituency are fearful of publicly proclaiming support for other political parties, especially the banned CNRP, he said.The deputy prime minister of Armenias new elected government says officials in Yerevan are continuing the anti-corruption campaign launched after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan rode to power on a wave of mass demonstrations earlier this year.

In an exclusive interview with VOA, Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said Pashinyan's administration has spared nothing in their efforts to end decades of high-level graft and entrenched bribery, extortion, nepotism and fraud.

"When the revolution started, we put everything on the table  everything," Mirzoyan told VOA's Armenian Service. "We were ready, and we realized that if we fail, we at least will be imprisoned for years. But that didn't prevent us. We never doubted. We've never been afraid and never surrendered. And there is no power that can stop us."

Since assuming office in May 2018, Pashinyan, a former opposition lawmaker whose May 2018 rise to power was fueled by populist resentment over cronyism and poor governance under ex-president Serzh Sargsyan, ordered a series of raids and arrests that predominantly targeted members of the former ruling party.

Following one raid in late June, Gen. Manvel Grigoryan, a member of parliament from the former ruling party, was stripped of immunity. Lawmakers supported a prosecutor's motion to launch criminal proceedings against him.

Grigoryan, who fought in a war between Azerbaijan and Armenian-backed fighters over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the early 1990s, was arrested after the National Security Service released footage of the raid on his home, where large quantities of weapons, food and ammunition were confiscated.

Prosecutors also suspect Grigoryan, who is the head of Armenia's largest organization of war veterans, of misappropriating state goods and donations for the army, charges that he denies.

Although the majority of probes involve former ruling party officials, the anti-corruption campaign is not an act of political revenge, Mirzoyan said.

This is not our fault that the 99 percent of all discoveries deal with people from a certain political party," he said. "That is the party that has been in power. That is the party that refused to transfer the power. That is the party that used all levers to extend their personal power. There is no intent there, rather just statistics. We said that there will be no political vendetta, and we are confident in that.

Mirzoyan also addressed criticism of the new government, which consists mostly of people in their 30s, acknowledging that some may lack the depth of experience possessed by former administrations.

Yet, if we talk about real-life situations, the problem is that there were very experienced rogues, experienced corrupt officials," he said. "So, is it better to bring in inexperienced newcomers, who have good [moral] values and will do everything ... to implement these values? Or is it better to be a hostage of experienced rogues and corrupt officials? For me, the answer is obvious.

On the foreign policy front, Mirzoyan reiterated Yerevan's insistence that the new government will remain a strategic partner to Russia.

There is a stereotype that the democratic state must be pro-Western, while less progressive regimes are leaning towards the other centers [of power]," he said. "In my opinion, Armenian revolution  a democratic, nonviolent revolution  proves that that is merely a stereotype.

Yerevan does, however, wish to develop relations with the West, said Mirzoyan, adding that Pashinyan is planning to participate in the upcoming U.N. General Assembly, where he hopes to discuss expanded bilateral cooperation with U.S. leaders.

Despite recent opinion pieces in Russian state media portraying Pashinyan's overtures to Western nations as "unfaithful to Moscow," Mirzoyan insisted that democratic rule in Yerevan will persist, independent of its foreign ties.

We moved ... in the direction of democracy. And on our way to build that democratic society, we [did not] receive instruction from anyone.  Neither have we needed anyone's approval," he said, emphasizing that neither Western nor Russian partners are influencing the new government's policies.

Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, who also spoke with VOA on Tuesday, said the Pashinyan government still enjoys popular domestic support in the wake of recent anti-corruption probes.

This story originated in VOA's Armenian Service. VOA correspondent Arman Tarjimanyan contributed reporting from Washington. Karine Kocharyan contributed reporting from New York.Belgian doctors have euthanized three minors in the past two years, according to a report from the nation's chief euthanasia regulatory body released earlier this month.

The report, produced by Belgium's Federal Commission for Euthanasia Control and Evaluation, said these three minors were the first to be euthanized since the country's parliament voted to lift age restrictions on euthanasia in the country, the first such law in the world. Euthanasia for adults has been legal in Belgium since 2002.

"There is no age for suffering," said Professor Wim Distelmans, chairman of the euthanasia committee. "Fortunately, euthanasia among young people remains very exceptional. Even if it were only one, the law would have been very useful. "

The minors were 9, 11 and 17 years old, according to the report. Their conditions ranged from muscular dystrophy to brain tumors to cystic fibrosis. The conditions of all three were determined to be terminal, and euthanasia was approved unanimously by the committee.

The report, part of a series released by the committee every two years, examined all euthanasia cases within Belgium from January 2016 to December 2017. The report said 4,337 euthanizations were administered in Belgium during that time. The majority of euthanizations  2,781  were for cancer patients. The second leading cause was "poly-pathologies," ranging from dementia and heart disease to incontinence and hearing loss, with 710 euthanizations listing "poly-pathology" as its primary reason.

Euthanasia cases rising

Since euthanasia was first legalized in Belgium in 2002, the number of deaths from it have steadily increased every year. In 2016, the report found, the number of people who died via euthanasia was 2,028. In 2017, that number jumped to 2,309, nearly a 14 percent increase.

The Netherlands and Belgium are the only two countries in the world that permit the euthanasia of minors. The Netherlands, however, restricts euthanasia to minors above the age of 12.

The 2014 law stipulated that before euthanasia can be considered for a minor, he or she must be suffering from terminal illness, face "unbearable physical suffering" and repeatedly request to die.

"The law says adolescents cannot make important decisions on economic or emotional issues, but suddenly they've become able to decide that someone should make them die," said Andre-Joseph Leonard, head of the Catholic Church in Belgium, following the passage of the 2014 law.

In 2017, a doctor resigned from Belgium's euthanasia commission, alleging that the committee had euthanized a demented patient who had not formally requested to die.The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, is seeking access to Cameroon to verify what he says are alarming reports of horrific abuse by separatist and government forces in the country's English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions.

The U.N. human rights office said the situation in Cameroon's English-speaking communities has worsened considerably since protests against what the English-speakers see as structural discrimination started two years ago.



The Anglophones are demanding an end to what they allege is their economic and political marginalization by the country's Francophone majority.



The High Commissioner's spokeswoman, Ravina Shamdasani, told VOA what began as protests for greater access to jobs and linguistic equality has gotten out of hand. She said violence by both armed separatists and the government has spiraled out of control.



"The violent separatists, these armed groups are killing people, torching schools, carrying out kidnappings and extortion and all sorts of horrible human rights abuses to try to disrupt the situation," she said. "The government's role should be to protect people in such a horrible environment. Instead, the government is employing a heavy-handed response, which is not helping the situation. It is further causing human rights violations."



United Nations figures show more than 21,000 refugees have fled to neighboring countries, while some 160,000 people are internally displaced by the violence, with many reportedly hiding in forests.



An army spokesman has rejected charges of abuses by the security forces as "rumors."



Shamdasani said there is a lot of misinformation and propaganda on both sides. She added that the High Commissioner has asked that monitors be allowed to verify allegations of abuse against both security forces and armed separatists.



The government has rejected this request, she said. Consequently, she added that the U.N. human rights office will have to consider other options to keep tabs on the situation, including remote monitoring.Homes burned as a fast-moving wildfire forced an entire Southern California mountain town to evacuate Wednesday, while tourists emptied from the heart of Yosemite National Park so firefighters could battle a growing blaze nearby.

Authorities ordered residents to leave Idyllwild, home to about 12,000 people, and surrounding forest communities in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles. At least four homes burned as crews used aircraft to attack the flames that quickly burned nearly 5 square miles (12 square kilometers) of dry brush and timber in inaccessible terrain. No injuries were reported.

Officers detained a motorist for questioning after people called 911 to report a suspicious vehicle near the fires starting point in Riverside County, the California Highway Patrol said.

A man was arrested on suspicion of starting the fire, which burned five homes and prompted evacuation orders for the entire mountain town.

Brandon N. McGlover, 32, of Temecula was booked on suspicion of setting five fires, including a blaze threatening an estimated 600 homes in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles, state fire officials said.

As his neighbors tried to corral dogs and horses, William Blodgett fled when flames hopped a highway near his home in Idyllwild.

We were all peeling out of there as fast as we could, he told KNBC-TV. It was apocalyptic.

Northern California

The fire is one of several across California amid a statewide heat wave. To the north, in the San Francisco Bay Area, at least one home burned in a fast-moving blaze in Clayton, where houses are spread out around windy roads.

Yosemite Valley, the scenic heart of the national park, was closed at noon Wednesday during the height of tourist season as smoke cast a pall on the region from a fire in the Sierra Nevada. The closure was heartbreaking for travelers, many of whom mapped out their trips months in advance to hike and climb amid the spectacular views of cascading waterfalls and sheer rock faces.

We had one guest who planned a weeklong trip, said Tom Lambert, who owns a vacation rental property near Yosemite Valley. It was a father-daughter trip, for her high school graduation ... Now its done. Its sad. Another guest had to delay plans to climb Half Dome.

The closure has also been a financial blow to Lambert and other businesses that rely on the summer tourist traffic.

Most people left the valley Tuesday, when officials reluctantly announced the closure, park spokesman Scott Gediman said. The remaining campers packed up their gear Wednesday, joining the exodus that has been mostly orderly.

People have been very understanding, Gediman said.

This is the trip is our summer

Officials emphasized that Yosemite wasnt in imminent danger from the fire. Authorities decided on the shutdown to allow crews to perform protective measures such as burning away brush along roadways without having to deal with traffic in the park that welcomes 4 million visitors annually.

On Wednesday, an extended family from Los Angeles on their annual trip to Yosemite prepared to leave the Upper Pines campground.

Very disappointed, Lisa Salgado said. We look forward to this all year. This is the trip of our summer.

The group arrived Monday and had planned to stay through Saturday. Instead, they packed tents and other gear into vehicles, hoping they could find another campground elsewhere.

So, this is a new memory, said Miguel Martinez. Ive never been evacuated before.

Yosemite Valley will be closed until at least Sunday, along with a winding, mountainous, 20-mile (32-kilometer) stretch of Californias State Route 41 that leads into the area, Gediman said.

At least 1,000 campground and hotel bookings were canceled, to say nothing of the impact on day visitors, park workers and small businesses along the highway, Gediman said.

The last time the 7.5-mile-long (12-kilometer-long) valley was closed because of fire was 1990, he said.

Lambert and his wife, Theresa Ho, were briefly evacuated last week when smoke cast an unhealthy pall over the home where they live upstairs and rent the downstairs to tourists.

Basically June, July and August are the big revenue months, he said, estimating that about 100 nearby vacation properties would be forced to offer refunds. Were gonna lose half of July and half of August probably.

Yosemite Valley

Yosemite Valley is the centerpiece of the visitor experience, offering views of landmarks such as Half Dome, Bridal Veil Fall, El Capitan and Yosemite Falls. The glacial valley has been enveloped by a choking haze of smoke from the Ferguson Fire.

Over nearly two weeks, flames have churned through 60 square miles (155 square kilometers) of timber in steep terrain of the Sierra Nevada just west of the park. The fire was just 25 percent contained.

Mandatory evacuations are in place in several communities while other people have been told to get ready to leave if necessary.

More than 3,300 firefighters are working the fire, aided by 16 helicopters. One firefighter was killed July 14, and six others have been injured.

Gediman suggested valley visitors divert to Tuolumne Meadows, on Yosemites northern edge, or to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks to the south.

In the states far north, a 7-square-mile (18-square-kilometer) wildfire has forced the evacuation of French Gulch, a small Shasta County community that dates to the Gold Rush.Ethiopians in Washington are expected to turn out in large numbers Thursday to greet Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who is making his first U.S. visit after instituting a series of transformative reforms in his homeland.

Upon arriving in Washington, Ethiopias foreign minister, Workneh Gebeyehu, said the delegations trip was historic. This is the first-ever visit by [an] Ethiopian prime minister to visit diaspora Ethiopians  we are so excited, Workneh told a VOA Amharic reporter at Dulles International Airport.

Earlier this year, Ethiopia faced widespread unrest and violent protests against a government that appeared unresponsive and entrenched.

In less than four months in office, Abiy has led a dramatic turnaround. Sweeping reforms have quelled dissent, boosted civil liberties and begun to heal wounds from decades of ethnic tension and marginalization.

Abiy was elected by the ruling coalition's executive council after his predecessor, Hailemariam Desalegn, abruptly resigned. Since assuming office, Abiy has focused on improving human rights, reducing corruption, and introducing economic and political reforms that can potentially move Ethiopia toward a more democratic society.

Now, Abiy is connecting with Ethiopians in the U.S. to promote his reforms and encourage diasporans to return home and add to the changes unfolding.

Brain drain

For a country thats seen some of its most talented doctors, academics and engineers leave for better opportunities in Europe and the U.S., a return of diasporans could affect whether Ethiopias reforms stick.

NuNu Wako is a media spokesperson for the prime ministers visit to Washington, organized by the Ethiopian Embassy.

She told VOA that Abiys trip is designed to bridge the gap between the Ethiopian government and American diaspora communities in ways not seen in the past 27 years, since Ethiopias current government toppled the communist regime that preceded it.

In Washington, Abiy plans to meet with representatives from academia, banking, medicine and other industries with prominent Ethiopians. He hopes some will return home.

Its really important that these powerful brains are returned to Ethiopia and assist in the sustainable development of Ethiopia, Wako said.

Reformist leader

In his first 100 days in office, Abiy has introduced symbolic and substantive changes designed to reshape Ethiopia and the broader region.

He has closed prisons, released hundreds of political prisoners and admitted that the government has tortured its citizens.

He has also unblocked opposition media that was previously banned and taken steps to privatize key industries.

In June, Abiy said Ethiopia would honor the terms of an international ruling and cede land back to its neighbor Eritrea, leading to a historic peace deal weeks later and the end of nearly two decades of cold war between the countries.

Abiys push to open up Ethiopias political system reached a critical turning point earlier this week, Wako said, when he called for multiparty democracy.

Ethiopias politics are based on ethnic federalism. Its regions and accompanying political parties are largely defined along ethnic lines. Four parties make up the countrys ruling coalition, the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front, and they have a virtual monopoly on political power.

But Ethiopia has more than 80 ethnic groups, and the current system has led to the consolidation of power into the hands of a few.

Moving toward a multiparty system could lead to more inclusive politics that benefit all of society, Wako said.

I think that this is going to be a tangible, concrete step forward for Ethiopia that, peacefully, will bring everyone together and lead to the Ethiopia that we once knew about and our forefathers fought for.

Ethiopias reforms could lead to deeper ties to the U.S.

Michael Raynor, the U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia, spoke to VOAs Amharic Service and said the U.S. looks forward to expanding its long-standing relationship with Ethiopia in light of the extraordinary range of initiatives introduced by Abiy.

That could entail more development assistance, security partnerships and governance programs.

I think, with the reforms to the business climate that the prime minister and the government are planning, that will create wonderful opportunities for U.S. commercial engagement as well, Raynor said.

Unresolved challenges

Not everyone is enthusiastic about Abiys overseas trip.

Mesfin Woldemariam is a retired professor and the founder of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council. He told Ethiopian broadcaster LTV that Abiy should address pressing domestic concerns before looking outward.

While there is fire burning within the country from four different directions, the prime minister is going to a different country. I dont know what he is going to find or what he is looking for there, Mesfin said.

Engaging with the diaspora may not bring the benefits Abiy hopes to reap, he added, until the country becomes more stable over time.

The diaspora can come back with their own will, and we shouldnt placate them  especially when things havent firmed up within Ethiopia yet, Mesfin said.

Among the problems Abiy faces at home is the displacement of nearly 1 million people in the southern Gedeo and West Guji zones because of ethnic violence.

The humanitarian crisis has escalated since Abiy took office in April, and hundreds of thousands of people are in need of emergency aid.

Multicity visit

In the U.S., Ethiopians are the second-largest group of African immigrants, trailing only Nigerians.

In 2014, a quarter-million first- and second-generation Ethiopians lived in America, according to a report compiled by the Migration Policy Institute. Most Ethiopian immigrants arrived in the U.S. in the past two decades.

After meeting with prominent businesses, religious leaders and political groups in Washington, Abiy will visit diaspora communities in Minneapolis and Los Angeles.U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added to growing skepticism about North Koreas commitment to eliminate its nuclear weapons arsenal, while testifying at a Senate committee hearing on Wednesday.



In response to a question from Democratic Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Pompeo told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that North Korea is still producing fuel for nuclear bombs.



Yes, they continue to produce fissile material," Pompeo said.



The secretary of state declined to answer other questions about whether the North is continuing to develop other facets of its nuclear program, along with its submarine-based ballistic missiles capability, saying he did not want to reveal potentially classified information.



However, Pomeo cited the recent talks with North Korea as "verifiable evidence" of progress toward implementing the broad denuclearization agreement reached by U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Singapore Summit in June.

Sohae assessment



The Trump administration also praised North Korea for taking unilateral action to dismantle key facilities used to develop engines for ballistic missiles at its Sohae Satellite Launching Station, that was revealed in satellite images released this week. Trump has said Kim promised to close the facility during their Singapore meeting.



North Korea analysts with the Center for Strategic an International Studies in Washington say it is a significant symbolic gesture to shut down the Sohae site that was used to test liquid fuel missile engines, and launch so called satellites into space that were widely seen as a cover for testing long-range ballistic missiles.



But Sue Mi Terry, a CSIS Korea scholar and former CIA analyst, points out the Sohae site is seen as somewhat obsolete, as North Korea has advanced to develop solid based fuels that can be preloaded, and mobile launchers that make it more difficult to track their missile site locations.



You can make an argument that, yeah, this looks like a concession of sorts, but it is still a cosmetic concession. We are not really seeing active steps toward denuclearization, said Terry during a CSIS podcast on Wednesday.



Nuclear nonproliferation expert Jeffrey Lewis agrees that dismantling Sohae does not limit the Norths nuclear capability, or ability to strike the U.S. mainland with an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM.)



Removing the engine test stand doesnt mean North Korea has to stop producing ICBMs. It can continue producing ICBMs. It just cannot test them at that stand. It could still fire them and flight-test them off a launcher, if all of this collapses, said Lewis, who is the director of the East Asia nonproliferation program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey in California.



Also concerning for Victor Cha, the CSIS Korea Chair, is that North Korea has not allowed in inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) or other independent organizations to verify that the denuclearization measures being taken are complete and irreversible.



The news that we hear of the Sohae satellite launch test site being taken down is largely coming from overhead commercial satellite imagery. There is no inspector from the IAEA or anywhere else on the ground, said Cha, who is a former director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council (NSC) for President George W. Bush.



Cha sees the Kim governments actions in closing down Sohae as a good trust building measure in response to President Trumps decision to suspend joint military exercises with South Korea.

But nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang, he said, has not yet begun in earnest as North Korea has not even taken the initial step to declare the extent of its nuclear program.



The two sides remain sharply divided over U.S. demands for the North to completely dismantle its nuclear and ballistic missiles program before receiving any concessions, including the easing of tough U.N. sanctions that block 90 percent of the countrys trade.



North Korea wants a more phased-in approach with significant rewards, such as ending sanctions and beginning economic aid and investment, tied to incremental progress.



Pyongyang is also pushing for a peace declaration this year from the U.S. and South Korea that would lead to an official peace treaty replacing the armistice in place since the end of the Korean War in 1953. Critics say that such a declaration could be used to undermine the justification for the U.S. military presence in South Korea.



The Trump administration has criticized past U.S. presidents for providing North Korea concessions in exchange for denuclearization promises that were never kept.Social media giant Facebook, which has weathered storms about privacy and data protection, is now looking at cooler growth following a years-long breakneck pace.

Shares in Facebook plummeted 19 percent to close at $176.26 Thursday, wiping out $100 billion. It was believed to be the worst ever single-day evaporation of market value for any company.

The plunge came one day after the firm missed revenue forecasts for the second quarter and warned that growth would be far weaker than previously estimated.

Chief Financial Officer David Wehner warned Wednesday in an earnings call with analysts that revenue growth had already "decelerated" in the second quarter and would drop "by high single-digit percentages" in coming quarters.

At one point during the call, Facebook shares were trading down as much as 24 percent, an unprecedented drop for a large firm.

On the call, Jefferies & Co. analyst Brent Thill said that "many investors are having a hard time reconciling that deceleration. ... It just seems like the magnitude is beyond anything we've seen."

Facebook said the slowdown would come in part from a new approach to privacy and security, but also appeared to acknowledge the limits of growth in advertising, which accounts for virtually all its revenue.

Brian Sheehan, a Syracuse University professor of communication and advertising, said the weak forecast "made investors nervous about more basic long-term issues" with the huge social network, notably its diminished appeal to younger users.

"With or without privacy issues, investors are scared that Facebook's interactions, particularly with those under 25, are falling," Sheehan said.

For the second quarter, profit was up 31 percent at $5.1 billion; revenues rose 42 percent to $13.2 billion, only slightly below most forecasts.

User base still growing

Facebook reported its user base was still growing but not as fast as some expected. Monthly active users rose 11 percent to 2.23 billion  below most estimates of 2.25 billion.

Richard Windsor, a technology analyst who writes the Radio Free Mobile blog, said the new outlook should not be surprising.

"This is a direct result of scale as it becomes increasingly difficult to grow at such high rates when a company hits this size," Windsor wrote.

Windsor added that Facebook is forced to hire more people to handle tasks such as filtering inappropriate content after discovering the limits of artificial intelligence.

"Weaknesses in AI are forcing [Facebook] to keep hiring humans to do the jobs that the machines are incapable of," he said.

Brian Wieser at Pivotal Research Group said the company appears to have hit a "wall" on growth in advertising.

In a research note, he said Facebook's outlook "suggests that while the company is still growing at a fast clip, the days of 30 percent-plus growth are numbered."

Until Wednesday, Facebook shares had been at record highs as investors seemed to shrug off fears about data protection and probes into the hijacking of private information by the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.

Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook has invested heavily in "safety, security and privacy" after being rocked by concerns of manipulation of the platform to spread misinformation, warning of an "impact" on profitability.

Some analysts however said it was too soon to write off Facebook or its growth prospects, and that the company may have simply been warning of the worst-case scenario.

"The company has a track record of resetting revenue growth and expense expectations only to turn around and exceed those expectations the following quarter," said Gene Munster of Loup Ventures. "We suspect Facebook is sticking with its historical playbook and will, in fact, beat these lower numbers."

A positive view

Richard Greenfield of BTIG Research said he remained upbeat on Facebook despite the abrupt forecast shift.

"Facebook is actively choosing to make less money, deprioritizing near-term monetization to drive engagement to even higher levels," Greenfield said in a note to clients.

Greenfield said he could "sense the fear/panic in investors' voices" after the Facebook analyst call, but that he had maintained his outlook.

"Mobile is eating the world and Facebook is a core holding to benefit from that shift," he said.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Mahaney said the drop creates a rare buying opportunity for Facebook shares.

"Facebook stills owns two of the largest media assets in the world [Facebook and Instagram] and the two largest messaging assets in the world [Messenger and WhatsApp]," Mahaney said in a note to clients, adding that he sees "no material change in marketer views of the attractiveness" of Facebook platforms.The latest numbers from the U.S.-led coalition to destroy the Islamic State terror group appear, at first glance, to be damning.



A self-declared caliphate that once ruled vast swaths of Iraq and Syria has been reduced to about 300 square kilometers in eastern Syria, military officials say.



"They're really in the disarray. They're in a really disorganized manner," French Brig. Gen. Frederic Parisot, director of civil-military operations for the coalition told Pentagon reporters Tuesday, estimating "a few hundred" IS fighters are likely left.



But as has been the case with much of the fight against IS, there are longstanding concerns that the estimates are off and that even a diminished IS fighting force is larger and more capable than the rest of the intelligence would suggest.



"One ISIS fighter is one too many," Parisot noted, using an acronym for the terror group.



"We're still engaged in major combat operations," he said. "I won't speculate on when this is going to end."



Other U.S. military officials questioned on the size of the IS threat in Syria have also been hesitant to discuss specifics.



"They're still carrying out attacks," a senior U.S. military official told VOA when asked about IS forces. "So obviously the capacity is there."



Quantifying the threat

Counting IS fighters and quantifying the threat has long been a tricky and controversial endeavor.



At the terror group's peak in 2015, U.S. military and intelligence officials said IS likely had about 33,000 fighters at its disposal  an admittedly conservative estimate that remained constant for months. Other U.S. officials maintained at least 50,000 IS fighters had been killed in coalition airstrikes.



Military and intelligence officials pointed to the terror group's ability to recruit, for a while replenishing its ranks with as many as 2,000 foreign fighters a month, as one reason IS was able to maintain constant numbers.



Even so, independent analysts often doubted the official estimates, criticizing them for being too low. Some still do.



"I don't think anyone knows for certain, but hundreds is likely too small," said Thomas Joscelyn, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.



"The Islamic State isn't anywhere near the zenith of its power, but it isn't an ant hill either," he said. "They knew the US-led forces were going to eject them from their territory, and they didn't plan on losing all their fighters."



On the higher end, independent estimates say in addition to hundreds of IS militants putting up a fight against U.S.-backed forces in areas along the Syria-Iraq border, there could be another 7,000 to 9,000 fighters in Syria alone.

U.S. officials, though, remain cautious about sharing any numbers.They say even getting a sense of how many IS fighters are left has been complicated as many have slipped into the background, some biding their time as members of small sleeper cells, waiting for the right time to strike.



"Even on the Iraq side of the border  because I think it applies there, too  in areas that have been cleared, that's something that will continue to be a challenge for us and the Iraqis, is really understanding how robust the remaining ISIS presence is," Christopher Maier, the director of the Pentagon's Defeat ISIS Core Task Force told VOA.



IS resurgence?



Iraqi officials have been warning of a looming threat from sleeper cells for more than a year, voicing particular concerns about cells of teenagers young enough that they could not be touched by counterterror forces, but old enough, and sufficiently brainwashed, to carry out Islamic State attacks in the future.



Already, there are concerns in Iraq that such fears are coming to fruition with some pointing to this week's attack by three suspected IS gunmen on a government building in Erbil.



Kurdish officials in Erbil identified two of the gunmen as 16 years old and the third as only 18.



The pace of IS-claimed attacks in Iraq have also been steadily rising and even U.S. officials have expressed concern, noting the threat from the terror group extends all the way to Baghdad.

There are also concerns that IS fighters and operatives  hundreds of them at the very least  may be finding some refuge in parts of Syria that are being cleared by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and backed by Russia.



"We're going to continue to be challenged by that fundamental question, which is you don't know there's an ISIS presence in a regime-held area until it becomes manifest," Maier said.



"The regime and it's Russian backers haven't proved capable or in some cases willing to take on that ISIS threat," he added.



And of late, IS has sought to flex its muscle in such areas. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said IS suicide bombers killed more than 200 people in a string of suicide attacks Wednesday in Sweida province in southern Syria.

The attacks, the group said, seemed to be a response to a Syrian regime, Russian-backed effort to clear Islamic State militants from a neighboring area.



Speaking prior to the latest attacks, U.S. official said they expect the terror group to carry out more such attacks, describing the IS strategy as a "clandestine insurgency."



They fear the longer IS finds a way to keep going, the more potent it will become, and the less traditional military tactics may be of use.



"ISIS is more than a physical group. It's an idea," a senior U.S. official said. "That's what we've been fighting."Iranian activist groups say courts have confirmed long prison terms for two dissidents, one a former political prisoner and the other an ethnic Kurdish teacher.

In the first case, Irans Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) published a Wednesday report saying a Revolutionary Court in the northern city of Sari confirmed a 10-year prison term for the former political prisoner, Kavoos Kiani. Iran previously jailed him for three years in the 1980s for membership in a banned organization.

HRANA said Iranian authorities arrested Kiani again this February in the northern city of Fereydunkenar for running a channel on the popular messaging app Telegram. It said he was charged with disturbing national security and public opinion and jailed for 27 days in the nearby city of Babol, before being released on bail.

HRANA said a court in Fereydunkenar later sentenced Kiani to 10 years in prison, a term that it said was upheld by the higher court in Sari in recent days. It said authorities denied Kiani access to a lawyer during the proceedings. There was no word on whether he had returned to prison to begin the new sentence.

In the other case, a Sunni Islamist political group published a Tuesday report saying an appeal court in the northwestern city of Urmia confirmed an 18-month prison term for one of its members, Iranian Kurdish teacher Bakhtiar Arefi. The Call to Islam and Reform Organization, also known as Islah and Dawah, said Arefi had been charged with membership in an unauthorized group and began serving the sentence Tuesday at a prison in the northwestern city of Mahabad.

Call to Islam and Reform is not registered as a political party in Iran but seeks to reform its government. Irans Shiite Islamist rulers tightly regulate political activity and ban groups they view as trying to undermine them.

Call to Islam and Reform said Iranian authorities initially arrested Arefi, from the city of Sardasht in northwestern Irans West Azerbaijan province, in 2014. It said he was released on bail after one month in detention and remained free pending an appeal of a three-year sentence imposed by a provincial court. The group said the appeals court in Urmia confirmed a prison sentence but reduced the term to 18 months.

Call to Islam and Reform said it hopes Arefi, whom it described as a caring educator with years of honest service, will be released from prison as soon as possible.

This report was produced in collaboration with VOAs Persian Service.Pakistan's former sports-celebrity-turned politician, Imran Khan, in his televised election victory speech Thursday pledged to tackle poverty and endemic corruption through a revamped governance system in the country.



Khan delivered the speech as about 90 percent of the results from Wednesday's parliamentary polls already had been compiled. Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PT) party was well ahead of its main rival, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) of jailed former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif.



Almost all the main rival parties have alleged the polls were rigged and manipulated in favor of Khan, allegations the independent Election Commission of Pakistan rejected.



Chief Election Commissioner Sardar Mohammad Raza strongly defended the voting process as free and fair. "These elections were 100 percent transparent and fair ... there is no stain," Raza insisted while speaking to reporters early Thursday.



The commission admitted that its electronic reporting system collapsed shortly after vote counting began late Wednesday, causing unprecedented delays in announcing results.



Khan also promised to provide any assistance required to investigate the rigging charges, though he declared the polls as "the fairest in Pakistan."

Analysts say partial election results suggest Khan's party, with the help of smaller groups and independents, is poised to establish governments not only at the center but possibly in three of Pakistan's four provinces.



Khan pledged in Thursday's speech to deliver on campaign promises, saying he would turn Pakistan into an "Islamic welfare state."



The would-be government, he said, would not use the palatial prime minister's residence in Islamabad and would use the space for other priorities as it focuses on good governance and economic challenges facing the country.



"I would be ashamed to live in such a large house. That house will be converted into an educational institution or something of the sort," he said. "Our state institutions will be stronger, everyone will be held accountable. First I will be subjected to accountability, then my ministers and so on."



Khan acknowledged while speaking to VOA on the eve of the election that the economy is the biggest challenge facing Pakistan.



"The only way we can overcome this is by revamping the way we do governance in this country, strengthening institutions and then spending it on our human beings," Khan noted. This is "the rock bottom" for Pakistan, he warned.



"Never have we fallen so low as we have right now in terms of human development, in terms of the cost of doing business, in terms of our economy going down the drain. So, the challenges are huge but they can only be done ... if we change the way we do governance in this country."



Sharif's party has been for months accusing the military of covertly helping Khan's election campaign, charges both Khan and the military have strongly denied.



The PML-N's electoral chances also have been shaken by Sharif's conviction in absentia earlier this month on corruption charges involving expensive properties he and his family held overseas.



Sharif, who immediately was placed in custody after returning from Britain nearly two weeks ago, has denounced the verdict as politically motivated. He accused a covert military-judiciary alliance of trying to keep him out of politics and undermining the integrity of his PML-N party.



Khan and his party were instrumental in leading street protests and fighting legal battles to win the conviction in corruption cases against Sharif.



Foreign policy



In his brief speech, Khan also spoke about how his party intends to deal with foreign policy challenges facing Pakistan.



Years of wars in Afghanistan have inflicted unprecedented sufferings on Afghans and they need peace, he said. The new government will make all possible efforts to promote peace in Afghanistan to ensure peace in Pakistan, Khan vowed.



"I also want to build relations with Afghanistan to a point where we have open borders just like those within the European Union," he added.



Khan said he would seek a mutually beneficial and balanced relationship with the United States.



"We want to improve our relations with India, if their leadership also wants it. This blame game that whatever goes wrong in Pakistan is because of India and vice versa brings us back to square one. If they take one step toward us, we will take two, but we at least need a start."



The election is just Pakistan's third peaceful transition of power. The military has ruled the Muslim-majority nation of more than 200 million people for nearly half of the country's 71-year-history.



Wednesday's vote was disrupted by militant attacks and incidents involving gunfire between political rivals.

The deadliest incident occurred in Quetta, capital of southwestern Baluchistan province, where a suicide blast ripped through a crowed of political activists, voters and security personnel, killing more than 30 people. The Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for the bloodshed.



The campaign leading up to the July 25 vote had been marred by violence that left more than 170 people dead.At least 26 people are now confirmed dead and 103 others missing from Monday's catastrophic dam collapse in southern Laos.

The Xepian-Xe Nam Noy dam collapsed in the southeastern province of Attapeu, about 550 kilometers south of the capital, Vientiane, releasing as much as 5 billion cubic meters of water throughout the district, washing away hundreds of homes and leaving scores of residents homeless.

Witnesses told the VOA Lao Service that more 6,000 people were displaced as a result of the disaster. Many of them have been rescued and taken to government shelters in Attapeu and in nearby Champasack province.

Many of the injured have been taken to hospitals in Attapeu and other surrounding provinces.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has ordered an emergency relief team to Laos to assist with the recovery efforts. Two South Korean firms, SK Engineering and Construction and Korea Western Power, are part of a consortium building the 410-megawatt project, along with Thailands Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Company, and Lao Holding State Enterprise.

The Xepian-Xe Nam Noy dam was to be completed next year at an estimated cost of about $1 billion.

Just hours before the disaster Monday night, the consortium warned in a letter that millions of tons of water would surge down the Xe-Pian River if the dangerously unsafe dam failed.

In their warning letter, the consortium, known as PNPC, said the saddle dam had become unsafe because of heavy rainfall and would release 5 million tons of water into the Xe Pian River if it failed. The project reservoir is intended to rise 73 meters high by 1,600 meters long, with the capacity to store about 1,043 million cubic meters of water.

The Xe-Pian-Xe-Namnoy dams flow down into the Sekong River through Cambodia, and there are concerns of potential downstream impact.

Water levels across the Mekong region have been rising rapidly since July 15, in one case by more than 4 meters in the Laotian city of Luang Prabang, because of extremely high rainfall caused by tropical Storm Son-Ting, according to the MRC.

Harris said the incident raised concerns about the risks around dam designs unable to cope with extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change, and the adequacy of warning systems, including for dams currently under construction.

More than 70 dams are under construction or planned in Laos, including several on the Mekong mainstream. Harris said the roles and responsibilities of private companies developing these projects should be seriously questioned, in light of the disaster.

VOA Lao contributed to this article.Only a handful of tickets remain for one of the most popular wine events in the region.

The Mile High Wine and Food Festival is close to selling out with only 50 tickets remaining for Canadas highest outdoor wine tasting event at SilverStar Mountain Resort Saturday, Aug. 11.

A must-do for wine and food enthusiasts, visitors will have the chance to sip local wines and learn how Okanagan wines are produced.

Taste more than 120 British Columbia wines, paired delicious food while listening to live music in the village.

Art lovers will have the opportunity to see local talent expressed through oil, acrylic, mixed media paintings and sculptures.

The Gallery Odin at SilverStar Mountain Resort will be hosting an art exhibition and sale during the festival, featuring original pieces by Okanagan artists.

More information and festival tickets can be found online.The chief of the Homeland Security Department has told members of Congress that the government is on track to meet Thursdays court-ordered deadline of reuniting hundreds of migrant children with their families, lawmakers who met privately with her said.

Wednesdays assertion by Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was greeted with open disbelief and anger, according to many of the roughly 20 members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, all Democrats, who attended. The private, hourlong meeting seemed to achieve little toward dousing lawmakers criticism of how children taken from their parents are being handled.

Nielsen also told the group, I am not a racist, according to two of the lawmakers. One of them, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., said she made the remark after he told her she worked for a racist regime. Gutierrez said she cited her friendship with the first lady of Honduras and other Latina women.

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, tweeted that she told the lawmakers: I am not a racist. Nobody believes families should be separated.

A spokeswoman for the Homeland Security Department was asked for comment and did not immediately provide one.

Deadline Thursday

After the meeting, lawmakers said Nielsen provided no statistics to support her assertion that the deadline for reuniting families would be met.

She said they believe theyre on track to meet the court deadline, said Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., one of several lawmakers who said she used that phrase to describe the status of reuniting separated families.

Thats impossible. And we all said this to her, said Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.

Gutierrez said he told Nielsen she is committing crimes against humanity, that she is a child abuser and that she is an accomplice of Donald Trumps racist regime.

U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego set a Thursday deadline for reuniting children age 5 and older who have been held by the government since their families were caught entering the country without authorization.

As many as 2,551 children age 5 and older were separated from their families and 1,187 children have been reunited with parents, guardians or sponsors, the government has said. The exact number still separated is unclear. The government has been releasing hundreds of families to faith-based groups, which are caring for them.

Parents deported without children

The government has said 463 migrant parents may have been deported after being separated from their children, further complicating the reunification process. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., said Nielsen suggested to the lawmakers Wednesday that those children were left behind in the U.S. at those parents requests.

We simply do not believe thats true, Menendez said.

A separate deadline that Sabraw had set for reuniting around 100 children younger than age 5 with their families passed two weeks ago. Just more than half have rejoined their parents or guardians, according to the latest figures.

The separations caused a bipartisan, nationwide uproar against Trumps policy of zero tolerance, in which the government prosecutes all migrants entering the U.S. illegally.

The government initially separated children from their detained parents or guardians. Under pressure, Trump abandoned the family separation policy, but hundreds of children remain apart from their parents in conditions that visitors have described as horrid.

Nielsen ignored reporters questions when she left the meeting.

Very productive. Very frank, she said.

Rising costs

The lawmakers said Nielsen also told them her agency is financing the costs of detaining families with a 1 percent across-the-board cut to its programs.

A Homeland Security spokeswoman said the added costs are due to increased numbers of people being caught entering the country, and the money is being used for additional beds and transportation expenses.

Separately, the Republican-dominated House Appropriations Committee approved $5 billion for building parts of Trumps proposed border wall with Mexico after rejecting a Democratic effort to redirect that money to other immigration programs.

Trump has requested the $5 billion for next year, but the Senate version of the bill financing the Homeland Security Department has just $1.6 billion. The final amount will need to be worked out later this year.Malians will go to the polls Sunday to choose among 24 candidates for president. No contender is expected to win an outright majority, including President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and opposition leader Soumaila Cisse, so a second round of voting is likely.

Bamako's busy streets have been adorned with numerous glossy posters. But they don't advertise soap, mineral water or mobile telephone services.

These are campaign posters for Sunday's presidential election. And, the advertised message is: Vote for me!

For Malians, swing votes may come down to basics.



Sara Coulibaly is a teacher in a deprived Bamako neighborhood with no running water and broken electricity. And like everybody else who needs to feed a family, she has one urgent request to whoever gets elected head of state: Please make our food affordable again.



"We struggle to make ends meet and put a decent meal on the table," she said.



One thing that could help bringing food prices down is self-sufficiency, argues engineering student Dramane Diallo.



"In Mali, agriculture is central to peoples' lives," he said. "It's high time that our leaders make plans to help our farmers. Mali imports rice, fruits, wheat and more  things that can easily be produced here at a much cheaper price."



First-year journalism student Araba Keita says whoever is elected should focus on job creation.



"It would be so nice if we got a job after our studies," she said. "Instead, many will find it hard to get by and end up in places where their talents are wasted."



On the streets of Bamako, Malians talk of affordable food and housing, better basic services, from water and electricity to education and health care, jobs and, above all, peace and security.

The front-runner for Sunday's selection, President Keita, 73, said he has delivered. His rival, opposition leader Cisse, 68, said he can do better.



The two men are remarkably similar. Both were educated and worked in France. Keita then made a career in international aid organizations while Cisse joined the business world.



But both returned to Mali and entered politics after Malians rose up in 1991 and a coup ended the country's military dictatorship.



They joined the same political party, served as high-ranking government officials, formed their own parties, and then both ran for president.



Keita finally won in 2013. Cisse hopes this time it will be his turn.Almost 20 years ago, Thein Win had four hectares of his land seized by the military in Myanmars Ayeyarwady Delta, an area that once exported so much paddy around the world it was referred to as the rice bowl of Asia.

Rice exports have dropped significantly since that time, partly because of the land confiscations that Thein Win experienced, and which were rampant during decades of military rule, leaving farmers destitute overnight.

After his land was seized, Thein Win tried to complain to government officials, but was threatened with arrest. The land he once had farmed became part of a fish pond project, and instead of having his land returned, Thein Win said he voluntarily helped to dig the land, for fear of being arrested. Thein Win said he didnt receive any money for his land, or for his work digging the pond.

Thein Win is one of dozens of farmers interviewed for a new report published by Human Rights Watch, titled Nothing for Our Land, which aims to draw attention to the issue of land confiscation in Myanmar, and the disproportionate impact it has had on the countrys rural population.

Activists estimate that the military junta confiscated millions of hectares of land between 1988 and 2011, often with little or no notice, or adequate compensation for those who lived on the land, or for those who farmed it.

Although most of the land confiscations took place during the years of military rule, the effects still are being keenly felt today. In its report, HRW said the practice had a devastating impact on people and communities, including on livelihoods, as well as access to health care and education, especially for those living in rural areas.

In 2012, the military-linked government established the Farmland Investigation Commission, which was tasked with investigating cases of land confiscation since 1988. The commission claimed to have returned more than 135,000 hectares of land, for more than 30,000 families, though this figure has been disputed by land rights advocacy groups.

Limited changes

In its manifesto, published before the 2015 general election that swept it to power, the National League for Democracy said it would tackle the issue of land confiscations under military rule and ensure the return to farmers of illegally lost land, and payment of compensation and restitution.

After taking power, the government dissolved the investigation committee and established its own, calling it the Central Reinvestigation Committee for Confiscated Farmlands and Other Land. One positive feature of the new committee was that it allows participation for the participation of civil society groups. However, some of the committees remain ineffective or inactive, the report said.

Richard Weir, HRW Researcher for Asia, said the government has made some reforms to tackle the land confiscation issue, but that many of them had fallen short.

He said the most important reform required was for the government to tackle the gaps in legal protection that meant land could be taken from citizens, with little recourse.

If this doesnt happen, as Myanmar seeks to further develop, not just in rural areas but across the country, were likely to see further violations of rights, and more people driven into destitution by government policies and government actions, Weir said.

A government spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

Threat to peace

Land issues are a key aspect of Myanmars peace process, which has stalled since the NLD came to power. At the countrys landmark peace summit, hosted earlier in the month in capital city Naypyidaw, two of the 14 principles agreed to form a Union Peace Accord related to land and the environment.

The issue of land is particularly contentious in border areas, especially the parts claimed by the government and ethnic armed groups, some who remain in conflict with the Myanmar army, known as the Tatmadaw.

The land issue has become a real threat to the peace process, and to local communities, especially those in conflict affected areas, Saw Alex, a spokesperson for the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network, told VOA. Especially in conflict affected areas, communities do not have any legal means to respond [if land is confiscated] because they do not hold any formal documents from the government.

Although the Karen National Union signed the governments Nationwide Cease-fire Agreement in 2015, sporadic fighting continues in their home state, and Alex said some residents hold land ownership titles given to them by the KNU, which are not recognized by the government.

Alex said the government often does not recognize the administrative structure of many of the ethnic armed groups, causing tension between the parties.

[In some areas] the KNU has asserted its authority over land administration, and so have the government, he said. So you have two different policies, and two different directions; you need to find a common solution.

Unless the government recognizes this, tensions will continue and the peace process could be hurt by this, Alex said.Washington's reluctance to declare an end to the Korean War until after North Korea abandons its nuclear arsenal may put it at odds not only with Pyongyang, but also with allies in South Korea.

The 1950-1953 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving the U.S.-led United Nations forces technically still at war with North Korea.

Friday marks 65th anniversary of the truce, which will be commemorated by the United Nations Command in a ceremony in the fortified demilitarized zone that has divided the two Koreas since the war. North Korean veterans of the war, which left more than 1.2 million dead, will gather in Pyongyang for a

conference.

In their April summit, the leaders of North and South Korea agreed to work this year with the United States and China, which also played a major role in the war, to replace the armistice with a peace agreement.

In June, U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a statement saying they would seek "to establish new U.S."DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity," using the initials of the North Korea's official name, the

Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Kim has broadly committed to the "denuclearization of the Korean peninsula" if the United States and its allies drop their "hostile" policies and the North has made clear it sees an official end to the state of war as crucial to lowering tensions.

Many experts and officials in Washington, however, fear signing a peace deal first could erode the international pressure they believe led Kim to negotiate. It could also endanger the decades-long U.S. military alliance with South

Korea, and may undermine the justification for the U.S. troops based on the peninsula.

"Broadly speaking, one side wants denuclearization first, normalization of relations later, and the other wants normalization of relations first, then denuclearization later," said Christopher Green, a senior advisor at the International Crisis Group.

North Korea says it has taken steps to halt its nuclear development, including placing a moratorium on missile and nuclear bomb testing, demolishing its only known nuclear test site, and dismantling a rocket facility.

American officials have praised those moves, but remain skeptical. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Congress on Wednesday North Korea was continuing to produce fuel for nuclear bombs.

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said while "peace on the Korean Peninsula is a goal shared by the world," the international community would not accept a nuclear armed North Korea.

"As we have stated before, we are committed to building a peace mechanism with the goal of replacing the Armistice agreement when North Korea has denuclearized," the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.



Doubts on both sides

In recent weeks Pyongyang has renewed calls for a declaration of the end of the war, calling it the "first process for peace" and a key way the United States can add heft to its guarantees of security.

"The adoption of the declaration on the termination of war is the first and foremost process in the light of ending the extreme hostility and establishing new relations between the DPRK and the U.S.," North Korean state media said in a statement on Tuesday.

After Pompeo visited Pyongyang in June for talks, state media quoted a spokesman for the North's Ministry of the Foreign Affairs criticizing the U.S. delegation for not mentioning the idea of a peace regime.

"It seems quite obvious that even if North Korea is negotiating sincerely, they aren't going to be willing to give up their nuclear capacity in the absence of a peace system that gives them regime security," Green said.

Many officials in Washington appeared concerned that an early declaration of peace could lead to the collapse of the U.S.-South Korea alliance with calls for U.S. troops to leave the Korean peninsula, he added.

Other players

South Korean leaders in 1953 opposed the idea of a truce that left the peninsula divided, and were not signatories to the armistice. The treaty was signed by the commander of North Korea's army, the American commander of the U.N. Command, and the commander of the "Chinese People's volunteers."

While South Korean officials say they are committed to the full denuclearization of North Korea, they have shown more flexibility in the timing of a peace agreement than their U.S. allies.

South Korea's Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said on Tuesday it is possible to declare an end to war this year.

"We are in consultations with the North and the United States in that direction," he told a parliamentary session, adding that a three-way declaration would be part of an initial phase of denuclearization.

China says it is open to participating in the process. Meeting North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho in Pyongyang on Thursday, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou said China supported the reconciliation process between the North and the United States, China's Foreign Ministry said.

China is willing to work hard with all sides to promote the process of establishing a "peace mechanism" for the Korean peninsula, Kong added, without elaborating.A Palestinian sneaked into an Israeli settlement Thursday and stabbed three people, one fatally.

One Israeli report says other settlers shot and killed the Palestinian who the army calls a terrorist.

One of the victims later died at a hospital. One other was seriously wounded and a third was slightly injured.

The Israeli army said the incident took place in the Adam settlement, between Jerusalem and the Palestinian town of Ramallah in the West Bank.

Violence between Israelis and Palestinians has flared up since March when Palestinians began daily protests along the Israeli-Gaza border.

At least 140 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier have died. Militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza have fired rockets into Israel, prompting a harsh Israeli response.The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan is on pace this year to drop a record number of bombs, according to Pentagon data.

Through the first six months of 2018, the U.S. and its allies dropped 2,911 weapons on Afghanistan, according to data from the U.S. Air Force Central Command.

That is nearly twice the number of bombs dropped on Afghanistan in the same period last year, and over 700 more than the previous high set in 2011 at the height of the war.

The expanded bombing comes after President Donald Trump announced an open-ended military commitment to Afghanistan in August 2017. Afghanistan saw a brief wave of optimism in June, when the Afghan government and the Taliban successfully held a three-day cease-fire during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Though the U.S. honored the cease-fire by suspending offensive strikes against the Taliban for over half the month, the coalition still dropped 572 bombs in June  the most dropped in any month of June of the war, according to Pentagon data.

Washington and Kabul are fighting not only the Taliban, but also Islamic State's Afghan affiliate, known as ISIS-Khorasan, as well as groups such as al-Qaida and other regional and international militant groups.

The Trump administration is reported to be exploring direct peace talks with the Taliban. But U.S. officials have also said any talks must include the Afghan government.

The U.S. has approximately 14,000 service members in Afghanistan. Most are in training and advisory roles, though some are involved in a counterterrorism mission.

Top U.S. military officials acknowledge the conflict remains a stalemate, almost 17 years after it began.Euroskeptic parties could expand their strength in the European Parliament by over 60 percent at elections next May, adding pressure on EU leaders pressing for deeper integration after Brexit, a survey by Reuters of national opinion polls suggests.



The snapshot of polls, conducted by a variety of bodies in the 27 countries that will remain members of the European Union after Britain quits next year, is rough and ready. New party alignments in the next EU legislature will depend heavily on horse-trading after next year's elections. But the data indicate a clear strengthening for movements outside the old mainstream.



The Reuters analysis, which is based on the existing eight transnational party groupings in the Parliament, comes as Steve Bannon, an architect of President Donald Trump's election win in the United States, has launched a project to coordinate and bolster the anti-EU vote across the Union.



Capturing more than 15 to 20 percent of the chamber for parties firmly hostile to the EU looks from the survey evidence to be an uphill struggle for the former White House strategist.



The current popularity of the anti-establishment parties in Italy's new coalition, 5-Star and The League, boosts the score of their current blocs in Brussels, though they may not stay at that level after a year in government in Rome. Their ratings, and the rise of Alternative for Germany, more than offset the loss to the anti-EU camp of the UK Independence Party, whose 19 members will leave when Britain quits the EU in March.



The EFDD, dominated today by UKIP and 5-Star, could grow to 59 from 45 seats. The ENF, including Marine Le Pen's French National Rally and Geert Wilders' Dutch Freedom Party, could nearly double to 63 seats from 35, thanks in part to the surge in popularity of The League in Italy.



That would raise the two blocs' combined total to 122 seats from 80 and their share to 17.3 percent from 10.6 percent as the total number of seats falls to 705 from 751 with Britain's withdrawal. Such a combined force could increase their clout in legislative work.

Shifting alliances



It is by no means certain, however, that these alliances would remain the same next year. Five-Star has already explored the possibility of joining the pro-EU centrists in Brussels.



Other parties could shift to more overtly Euroskeptic positions.



They might include members of the ECR, set up by Britain's ruling Conservatives as a Euroskeptic alternative to the main center-right EPP and which will now lose British seats.



Poland's ruling Law and Justice Party could be a candidate.



However, like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz, currently a controversial member of the EPP, they do not share Le Pen and Bannon's goal of breaking up the EU altogether - not least because Brussels gives them substantial subsidies.



Elsewhere on the political spectrum, the collapse in elections last year of the traditional left and right in France is also reflected in both a potential boost for the European Parliament's centrist bloc ALDE - if President Emmanuel Macron's new movement aligns with it somehow - and for the somewhat loose alliance on the far left known as GUE.



National polls, which European Parliament officials regard as a fair indicator of likely voting in the EU election, show Macron's party winning 19 seats, compared with seven for French centrists at the moment. The new France Unbowed movement of Jean-Luc Melenchon would bolster the left of the EU spectrum, adding eight seats to its current one in Brussels and Strasbourg.



The polling analysis suggests the EPP, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, would remain the biggest group. But it would shrink to 180 seats from 219 in the smaller chamber, narrowing its lead over the center-left S&D to 26 from 30. Centrists, helped too by the rise of Ciudadanos in Spain, should replace the ECR as third party.



Critics of the EU have accused those mainstream parties of forming a defensive grand coalition supporting the executive European Commission in expanding EU powers.Saudi Energy Minister Khaled Faleh says the state-owned Saudi oil giant Aramco was temporarily stopping oil shipments through the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, according to Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV. The action follows reports that two giant Saudi oil tankers had been targeted by Yemen's Houthi militia near the Red Sea port of Hodeida.



The TV channel reported that Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates may suspend oil shipments through the Red Sea, as well. The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Mohammad Ali Jaafari, claimed Wednesday that Iran "is able to stop world oil shipments, at will," but it was not clear that the attacks were related to those remarks. Other Iranian leaders have threatened recently to "close the Strait of Hormuz," another strategic waterway leading out of the Persian Gulf.



Asharq al-awsat newspaper reported that one of the Saudi oil tankers said to have been attacked in the Red Sea Wednesday was lightly damaged, while the other was not hit. The United Arab Emirates Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash, tweeted Thursday that the attacks "confirm the importance of removing (Yemen's Iranian-backed) Houthis from (the Red Sea port city) of Hodeida."



The newspaper quoted Saudi-led coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki as saying that the two attacks underscore "the dangerous threat to international shipping and commerce through the (strategic) Bab al-Mandab (strait)," as well as the "ecological threat," of oil spills. Both Saudi Arabia and its junior coalition partner, the United Arab Emirates, have been trying to push the Houthis out of Hodeida militarily.



U.N. Yemen envoy Martin Griffiths has been trying to negotiate a political solution with the Houthis that would include the resumption of dialogue between Yemen's warring parties and the withdrawal of the Houthis from Hodeida. The Houthis have reportedly offered to hand the port area to the U.N., while Yemen's internationally-recognized president, Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi, is demanding that they withdraw from the entire city. The BBC Arabic service reported that Griffiths was due to meet with the Houthis, Thursday.

The Pentagon on Thursday strongly condemned "any action that threatens freedom of navigation in international waters." The Pentagon also urged "all parties to work with U.N. Special Envoy Martin Griffiths toward a comprehensive political agreement that brings peace, prosperity, and security to Yemen."

Hilal Khashan, who teaches political science at the American University of Beirut, tells VOA that "video put out by the Houthis Wednesday appeared to show a (Saudi) frigate that was hit, and not an oil tanker." It was not clear, however, if the Houthi video was from Wednesday's attack or from archival footage.



Khashan points out that "U.S. rules of engagement in the Red Sea differ from those in the Persian Gulf." He believes that an Iranian attempt to "close the Strait of Hormuz would represent a red line for the U.S., whereas disrupting traffic in the Red Sea would not." Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthis have attacked a number of ships in the Red Sea since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in the country in April 2015, and the U.S. did not react.



It was not immediately clear to what extent the alleged attacks on the two Saudi oil tankers were related to the ongoing war of words between the U.S. and Iran over repeated threats by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz. New U.S. economic sanctions on Tehran are due to go into effect on August 4, while sanctions on the oil sector are due to go into effect on November 4.



Iranian president Hassan Rouhani told a gathering of Iranian diplomats over the weekend that "war with Iran would be the mother of all wars," to which U.S. President Donald Trump responded in a tweet that Iran should "never ever threaten the United States again or (it) will suffer the consequences, the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before."



Former Iranian president Abolhassan Bani-Sadr told VOA several days ago that he did not think it was likely Iran would try to close the Strait of Hormuz, despite repeated threats by Iranian leaders to do so. But, he warned, "one never knows, because war has a dynamic of its own." Many experts question if Iran is physically able to close the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's Revolutionary Guard frequently conduct war games in the southern region of the Gulf in which a large number of zodiac boats appear to stage mock attacks, harassing larger ships.This week the Trump administration is hosting an international summit in Washington aimed at advancing religious freedom around the world.

Government representatives say the event showcases the link among freedom of worship, human rights and economic prosperity.



"America stands for religious freedom not only because it is the morally right thing to do, but because religious freedom also strengthens communities, supports economic development, and advances peace, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the summit Thursday.

Much of the focus is on preventing the persecution of religious minorities, and confronting legal challenges to religious freedom.

But at home in the United States, critics say the administration has embraced policies that elevate religious liberty over civil rights, in order to appeal to President Donald Trump's Christian evangelical base.



There is a redefinition of religious freedomby the religious right to define it as the right to take away rights from others if you have a religious disagreement with them, said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of Freedom From Religion Foundation, the nations largest atheist organization.

Trump is an unlikely champion of religious liberty. A Presbyterian Christian by birth, the U.S. president rarely discusses his faith and has said he goes to church as much as I can.



But he won the 2016 presidential election with support from Christian evangelical voters, wooing them with the promise to promote religious liberty after a period during which politicians were in his words, selling Christianity down the tube, selling evangelicals down the tube.



I think he realized it was important to a number of his constituents, said Kelly Shackelford, president and CEO of First Liberty Institute, a religious freedom legal advocacy group, who attended aJune 2016 meeting of more than 1,000 evangelical and Catholic leaders with Trump in New York.

Questions about religious liberty dominated the discussion.

Those kinds of meetings and things like that, Im sure, highlighted it even more and he made promises to really pay attention to religious freedom, he said.

Balancing religious liberty and civil rights

There is a long history in the U.S. of the struggle to balance religious liberties with civil rights. On issues such as gay rights, religious groups arguing that the countrys civil laws violate their beliefs have turned to the courts.



Since taking office, Trump has nominated pro-life Supreme Court justices and lower court judges favored by conservatives on these issues. He also has issued an executive order on religious liberty, declaring a new policy to vigorously enforce Federal laws robust protections for religious freedom.



The May 2017 order directed all executive branch agencies to respect and protect the freedom of persons and organizations to engage in religious and political speech.



It barred the Internal Revenue Service from penalizing individuals and organizations that have spoken about moral or political issues from a religious perspective.



And it instructed the Departments of Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services to grant exemptions to religious objectors to Obamacare's controversial preventive care mandate.



Many on the right viewed the contraceptive mandate as an assault on religion. Religious organizations filed over 100 lawsuits to challenge it. When the Department of Health and Human Services rolled back the mandate last October, advocates hailed it as a triumph of religious freedom.



While Trump made religious freedom the centerpiece of his campaign to court religious voters, it was left to his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, to carry out much of his religion agenda.

Carrying out Trump's religious agenda



Sessions, a devout member of the Methodist Church, a mainline Protestant denomination, issued a guidance in October for federal agencies to ensure the religious freedoms of Americans are lawfully protected.



Among 20 religious liberty principles, the guidance said that the free exercise of religion includes the right to act or not to act according to ones beliefs, that the freedom extends to both individuals and organizations, and that religious employers can hire their co-religionists.



Except in the narrowest of circumstances, no one should be forced to choose between living out his or her faith and complying with the law, Sessions wrote.



Then in June, Sessions announced a new initiative by the Justice Department to bring more lawsuits against municipalities that discriminate against religious institutions building houses of worship, including synagogues and mosques.

The attorney generals advocacy of religious freedom has extended to courts. Over the past year, the department has successfully advocated before the Supreme Court on behalf of a Colorado baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple, defended a law that allows the clergy to receive tax free housing allowances, and challenged Washington Metros refusal to carry a religious ad by the Diocese of Washington.



While widely hailed by advocates of religious freedom, the administrations policies have been met with sharp criticism by civil rights organizations.



The Council on American-Islamic Relations of New York and Columbia Law Schools Public Rights/Private Conscience Project said the presidents executive order will have the effect of favoring majoritarian faiths at the expense of religious minorities.



In a scathing report, the Columbia Law School project and the left-leaning Center for American Progress in Washington called the actions a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people, women, religious minorities and non-religious people.



The Trump administration has systematically redefined and expanded the right to religious exemptions, creating broad carve-outs to a host of vital health, labor, and anti-discrimination protections, the report said.



Shackelford of First Liberty Institute dismissed concerns the Trump administrations religious freedom policies are discriminatory against protected classes.



Religious freedom is for everybody, he said. There are people who because they think their issue, whatever that is, is so important that other peoples religious freedom should be taken away, thats just not what our country was built upon.One girl between the ages of 15 and 19 is infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, every three minutes of every day, a United Nations report found.

The report, released Wednesday at the International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam, said teenage girls are bearing the brunt of the AIDS epidemic, largely due to gender inequality.

Henrietta Fore, head of the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), called it a "crisis of health."

"In most countries, women and girls lack access to information, to services, or even just power to say no to unsafe sex," she said. "HIV thrives among the most vulnerable and marginalized, leaving teenage girls at the center of the crisis."

The report said while there was significant progress in the battle against AIDS in other age groups, it is notably lacking among adolescents.

While AIDS-related deaths among all other age groups have been falling since 2010, those among children aged 15 to 19 have seen no reduction.

In 2017, 1.2 million 15- to 19-year-olds were living with HIV, three in five of them were girls, according to UNICEF.

Actress and activist Charlize Theron addressed the issue in her speech at the conference.

The AIDS epidemic is "not just about sex or sexuality," she said. It is also about "the second-class status of women and girls worldwide."

The solution, according to Angelique Kidjo, a UNICEF goodwill ambassador who contributed to the report, is education and economic empowerment.

"We need to make girls and women secure enough economically that they don't have to turn to sex work," she said. "We need to make sure they have the right information about how HIV is transmitted and how to protect themselves."Photo: Contributed

All evacuation alerts in the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen Area F have been rescinded as of Wednesday afternoon, as well as for all Peachland properties near the Mt. Eneas wildfire.

The alerts have been rescinded because the RDOS Emergency Operations Centre believes the area no longer needs "prompt coordination of action or special regulation of persons or property to protect the health, safety or welfare of people, or to limit damage to property."

Properties on Fish Lake Road, Meadow Valley Road, Highway 97 and North Beach Road, and surrounding areas, are no longer on alert. No properties in the RDOS area near the Mt. Eneas wildfire remain on alert.

Central Okanagan emergency operations has also rescinded alerts in their jurisdiction, including properties in and around Peachland, the full list of which can be found here. Some properties within the District of Summerland remain on evacuation alert.The head of the U.N. mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo warned Thursday that the right conditions are not yet in place for presidential elections this December, and without progress, the credibility of the vote could be compromised.

"As violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms continue to impact negatively on democratic space, some peaceful demonstrations are suppressed," U.N. envoy Leila Zerrougui told Security Council members. "Civil society actors and political opponents continue to be arbitrarily arrested and media workers threatened."

Zerrougui said the parties have not implemented confidence-building measures, and the security situation, particularly in the eastern part of the country, remains volatile and is deteriorating in some areas.

The envoy did welcome progress on the registration of candidates for provincial elections, noting that after a slow start, 18,000 candidates have registered to compete for 715 seats. But she noted that women make up only about 12 percent of candidates, and she urged greater female participation in the elections.

The U.N. has a mission of more than 18,000 peacekeepers in the DRC. The Security Council has authorized it to provide logistical support to the elections, but so far, the electoral commission has not taken up that offer.

Kabila's intentions

President Joseph Kabila, who has been in power since 2001 and was supposed to step down at the end of 2016, has not announced his plans.

"The United States regrets that President Kabila did not use his July 19 address to parliament to resolve the uncertainty regarding his intentions," U.S. Deputy U.N. Ambassador Jonathan Cohen told council members, noting that under Congolese law, Kabila is ineligible to run for a third term. "We are a mere five months away from election day. The time for posturing is over."

Candidates must submit their applications by August 8.

Voting machines

There are other concerns, as well, including how people will vote.

Opposition and civil society groups are worried that new electronic voting machines could lead to voter fraud.

"The DRC currently has a population which is 65 percent illiterate  mostly women and young people  who would consequently have enormous difficulties in using these machines, particularly as they are programmed in the French language, not the local language," said Justine Masika Bihamba, a civil society representative who addressed the council meeting.

"Deploying more than 100,000 unfamiliar, untested and possibly unworkable electronic voting machines for the first time during a critical national election poses an enormous and unnecessary risk," U.S. envoy Cohen said. "What do Congolese authorities plan to do if these untested voting machines malfunction on election day and jeopardize the credibility of the results?"

He urged the use of paper ballots.

But the Congolese ambassador dismissed the concerns and said 40 million citizens are now registered to vote.

"We would stress the fact that the process is going smoothly," said Ambassador Ignace Gata Mavita wa Lufuta.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was supposed to visit the DRC earlier this month with African Union Chairperson Moussa Faki, but Kabila postponed the meeting.

Guterres told reporters on July 12 it was because Kabila was planning to announce "a number of important decisions and that the president doesn't want to give the impression that he's doing so because of international pressure." No new date has been announced for the visit.

The Security Council is also considering a mission to the DRC in October.

Council members urged all Congolese political parties to abide by the constitution and to respect the December 31, 2016, election agreement, which was mediated by the Catholic Church and calls for Kabila to step down after this year's vote.

Last week, the council met with the African Union Peace and Security Council. In a joint communique, they urged the parties to respect that agreement, calling it "the only viable path out of the current political situation."

Rights groups say nearly 300 political protesters have been killed in anti-government demonstrations since the crisis began in 2015, and hundreds more have been arrested.U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday he has the "highest confidence" in his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, rebuffing the demands of a conservative bloc of Republican lawmakers that Rosenstein be impeached and removed from office.

"My deputy, Rod Rosenstein, is highly capable," Sessions said, speaking at a Boston news conference. "What I'd like Congress to do is to focus on some of the legal challenges out there. We need Congress to deal with the immigration question."

Sessions, the country's top law enforcement official and head of the Justice Department, offered his support for Rosenstein a day after 11 Republicans in the House of Representatives launched an effort to impeach the deputy, accusing him of misconduct and failing to adequately share information related to special counsel Robert Mueller's criminal probe of Russian influence in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Rosenstein oversees Mueller's probe and has become a target of U.S. President Donald Trump and his allies in Congress, including the lawmakers who started the impeachment process. The impeachment effort is opposed by Speaker Paul Ryan, leader of the Republican-controlled House.

There was no immediate vote set in the House on the impeachment demand, and the chamber is shutting down Thursday for a five-week summer recess.

Rosenstein has overseen the Mueller investigation since Sessions recused himself from the matter because of his own contacts with Russia's ambassador to Washington during the election campaign. Rosenstein then appointed former FBI director Mueller to lead the investigation into whether Trump's campaign colluded with Russia and whether Trump, as president, obstructed justice in firing then-FBI chief James Comey, who was leading the agency's Russia probe at the time he was ousted.

To date, Mueller's team has indicted 32 people, including several who worked for Trump's campaign, and secured a handful of guilty pleas to various charges.

'Witch hunt'

Trump and his allies have repeatedly decried the probe as a "witch hunt," and Trump has denied his campaign colluded with Russia to help him win the 2016 election.

Congressman Mark Meadows, one of the lawmakers seeking to impeach Rosenstein, said Wednesday the Justice Department "has continued to hide information from Congress and repeatedly obstructed oversight."

Another impeachment supporter, Congressman Jim Jordan, said, "We can't get answers for the American people if we can't get information from the DOJ. Its time to impeach Rod Rosenstein."

The Justice Department says it has turned over more than 800,000 files the lawmakers have been seeking.

If the impeachment measure does come before the full House for a vote, it will not happen soon. With the summer recess, lawmakers are not due to return to work on Capitol Hill until September.

Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, attacked the impeachment effort.

"These articles of impeachment against Rod Rosenstein were filed in bad faith and show extraordinary lengths to which House Republicans will go to protect Trump," he said.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi responded to the impeachment articles by saying her party would call for a vote on "new sanctions against those who attack U.S. elections."Thursday is the court-ordered deadline for the Trump administration to reunite more than 1,500 children separated from their parents after crossing into the United States illegally in recent months.



Of the 2,551 children identified by the federal government as "potentially" covered by the court order, 1,012 had been reunited with their parents by Monday night.



The government anticipated it will have reunited some 1,600 families found to be "eligible" for reunification by the Thursday deadline.



Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen reportedly told members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Wednesday that officials are "on track" to meet the deadline. But the meeting angered some lawmakers, who told Nielsen the deadline was unrealistic.



Some parents were rejected for reunification because of a criminal record the U.S. government said disqualified them to reclaim custody; others were deported or returned voluntarily to their home country, complicating reunification.



Federal officials said 463 parents already may have been deported without their children.

Illinois Democrat U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, a member of the Hispanic Caucus, accused Nielsen of "committing crimes against humanity" and called her "an accomplice of Donald Trump's racist regime."



Under the Trump administration's so-called "zero-tolerance" policy, adults who crossed into the United States illegally in much of April and May were detained; any children traveling with them were taken to separate detention centers. Visitors said the children were held behind fences in wretched conditions and were given little to occupy their time.



Trump signed an executive order rescinding the "zero-tolerance" policy after a nationwide outcry, including many from his own Republican Party.



Federal judges gave the administration deadlines to reunite families and turned down the government's request for more time.



The Department of Health and Human Services said it takes time to determine whether the children can be safely sent back with their families, noting that some of the illegal immigrants may be child abusers or wanted for violent crimes.The U.S.-led coalition Thursday acknowledged the deaths of 1,059 civilians from its aerial bombings against the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria.

The coalition, which has run a military campaign against IS's self-proclaimed caliphate in Iraq and Syria through Operation Inherent Resolve, said its jet fighters conducted 29,826 strikes between August 2014 and June of this year.

The statement said the anti-IS coalition took necessary precautions to ensure its strikes followed the law of armed conflict, but unintended civilian casualties regrettably occurred.

Throughout our air and ground campaigns, we have used deliberate targeting and strike processes to minimize the impact of our operations on civilian populations and infrastructure, the coalition statement read.

The announcement came amid calls for updated figures from rights organizations, which have long accused the coalition of significantly undercounting the number of civilians it has killed during years of fighting against IS.

Amnesty International account

Amnesty International, a global rights group, last week released a statement on civilian casualties in Syrias Raqqa, saying evidence on the ground contradicted the coalitions artificially low death toll. It added that the coalitions reporting was inadequate, vague and dismissed almost all civilian casualty allegations as non-credible.

The coalition's knee-jerk reactions are long on rhetoric and short on detail, Donatella Rovera, Amnesty's senior adviser, said in a statement last week.

They lay bare how deeply in denial the coalition leadership is about its failure to protect civilians caught in conflict. Unless the coalition learns from its mistakes in Raqqa and Mosul beforehand, it will be doomed to repeat them, with civilians again paying a devastating price, she added.

Last month the organization released its investigation, War of Annihilation: Devastating Toll on Civilians, Raqqa  Syria, and reported mistakes and unsuccessful airstrikes that resulted in huge human and material losses.

Airwars, a U.K.-based monitor group, estimates that between 6,488 and 9,947 civilians are likely to have died in coalition attacks in both Iraq and Syria.

But the coalition has denied those findings.

In its Thursday statement, the coalition said it finished assessing 125 civilian casualty reports and determined 16 of them were credible, three were duplicates, and the other 106 were not credible.

Another 234 reports are still being investigated, according to the coalition.

The coalition and local allies have recaptured most of the territory once controlled by IS militants in Iraq and Syria. Coalition officials estimate the group now controls only about 300 square kilometers in Syria.Dozens of immigrant parents were coerced or misled by U.S. authorities on the Mexico border into signing forms agreeing to be deported quickly without their children, lawyers said in a court filing Wednesday.

"They showed me a form and told me that I needed to sign the form so that I could be reunified with my son," said a Honduran asylum seeker identified only as H.G.A. in testimony filed in U.S. District Court in San Diego.

Other parents who were illiterate or spoke only indigenous languages said they could not understand the forms they were signing.

Attorney Sofia Reive said in a declaration that she met last weekend with nine fathers on a list provided by the U.S. government of parents who had waived reunification with their children.

All of the fathers, Reive said, "had no idea that they had signed a document that relinquished any rights to be reunited with the children."

A Department of Homeland Security official who asked not to be named said a notice of rights is posted in English and Spanish in all detention facilities where parents are detained and the form waiving reunification must be read to parents in a language they understand.

Some parents have indicated they want their children to remain in the United States with family members if they are deported, said the official.

Stay of deportations sought

The American Civil Liberties Union filed statements from attorneys who interviewed immigrants and an immigrant's account to support its motion asking District Judge Dana Sabraw to stay deportations of reunited parents for seven days after their children were returned to them.

The rights group said the time was needed to advise parents of their rights and allow them time to consider their options.

Government lawyers have said they do not believe the court has jurisdiction to issue an order delaying deportation. They have also defended the government's handling of the reunifications so far, saying the ACLU's portrayal of the process as chaotic was inaccurate.

"We have many reasons to be proud," Scott Stewart, an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, told the judge in court on Tuesday.

More than 450 immigrant parents separated from their children when they entered the United States illegally are no longer in the country but their children are, according to a joint court filing Monday by the federal government and the ACLU.

Last month, Sabraw said the government had to reunite as many as 2,500 children and parents separated under President Donald Trump's "zero tolerance" policy. He gave the government until July 26 to do so.The Trump administration has released $195 million in military aid to Egypt that had been withheld because of concerns about the country's human rights record.

A State Department spokesman said Wednesday that the move recognized steps Egypt had taken over the last year in response to U.S. concerns and sought to further strengthen the countries' partnership. He did not specify what steps Egypt took.

One day before the release of the suspended aid, members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee's subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa voiced concern about the ability of Egypt to stabilize its economy, secure its borders and improve its human rights record.

Some speakers said Egypt had slipped into despotic rule under Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, a general-turned-president, with the arrest of journalists and a crackdown on dissent.

"Arrests of journalists and increasing efforts to control the media and Egyptians' access to social media are an affront to democracy and stand in stark contrast to the democratic change that the Tahrir Square revolution called for," said Representative Ted Deutch, a Florida Democrat.

"Many of Sissi's actions appear as steps toward authoritative, strongman government. Egyptians have fought for democracy, not a return to totalitarianism," he said.

Jared Genser, a law professor at Georgetown University in Washington, recommended that the U.S. use its leverage to secure reforms in Egypt.

President Donald Trump "has no choice but to make serious cuts in Egypt's aid. It is particularly worrying that the administration may waive the human rights conditions and release the $195 million fund that was held back, which will undoubtedly be taken by Sissi as a clean bill of health on human rights," Genser said.

Repression breeds radicalism

Michele Dunne, director of the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said, "What really concerns me is what is going on inside of Egyptian prisons, where we see tens of thousands of people. Almost all of them are young people, and we hear about the torture, brutality, and that they are often exposed in prison to militants from ISIS [Islamic State] and other extremist groups. This is a radicalization factory that would produce militants for many years to come."

On the other hand, Representative Dana Rohrabacher of California, a Republican member of the subcommittee, defended Sissi's policy of detaining or killing suspected terrorists in Egypt. Rohrabacher and other supporters of the Egyptian government say the Middle East could become destabilized if Islamic State and other Islamist militant groups gain the upper hand.

All the experts who testified before the panel agreed that while the U.S. cannot and should not micromanage Egypt's politics, Washington should try to persuade Egypt's leaders to allow different political opinions, free media and civil society so that Egyptians can find their way forward without destabilization or violence.

Andrew Miller, deputy director of policy at the Project on Middle East Democracy, said the Trump administration has become bolder in making respect for human rights a condition for U.S. aid to Egypt.

"Congress should continue such conditionality and seek an end to Sissi's crackdown on civil society, the release of political prisoners and access for U.S. military officials to Sinai for end-use monitoring. These steps would both open up the political space, which is so important to Egypt's long-term stability, and show that Sissi is willing to address U.S. legitimate concerns," Miller said.The United States is threatening sanctions on Turkey unless a detained American pastor is released.



"If Turkey does not take immediate action to free this innocent man of faith and send him home to America, the United States will impose significant sanctions on Turkey until Pastor Andrew Brunson is free," said U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday at a religious freedom summit at the State Department.



Andrew Brunson, an evangelical pastor from Black Mountain, North Carolina, has been jailed in Turkey on terrorism and espionage charges.His case has strained relations between Turkey and the U.S., both NATO allies.

"Release pastor Andrew Brunson now, or be prepared to face the consequences," Pence warned.



Later Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump also weighed in on Twitter tweeting, "The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being. He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!"

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu reacted to the warning Thursday, tweeting "No one dictates Turkey. We will never tolerate threats from anybody. Rule of law is for everyone; no exception."

The exchange comes a day after Brunson was released from a Turkish prison and placed under house arrest while his trial continues.



This is a welcome first step. But it is not good enough, added Pence who spoke with Brunson on Wednesday.



On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told American lawmakers that the release of Brunson from prison is an indicator of diplomatic progress but the work is not done.

Pompeo said Washington remains "in conversations with Turkey to bring home" the American pastor.



Brunson was indicted on charges of helping a network led by U.S.-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, which Turkey blames for a failed 2016 coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.



During the third and final day of the first-ever State Department ministerial to advance religious freedom, Pence and Pompeo also highlighted the plight of religious minorities across the globe.



The U.S. pledged an additional $ 17 million for de-mining efforts in the Ninewa region of Iraq, which is on top of the $90 million Washington provided in 2017.U.S. officials say the funding will help clear mines from areas with large populations of religious minorities who were subject to what Pence called genocide at the hands of Islamic State militants.



The summit has also focused on religious freedom issues in China, Myanmar and Iran.



The global situation "must change," said Sam Brownback, U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom.



"In Burma, the situation in northern Rakhine state constitutes ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya, a religious minority. In Iraq, religious minority groups of Yazidis and Christians victimized by ISIS [Islamic State terror group] are still in dire need of security and assistance. In Turkey, Pastor Andrew Brunson remains wrongfully imprisoned on false charges," said Brownback on Tuesday during opening remarks of the ministerial.



"In China, a large number of Uighur Muslims are being sent to re-education camps, Tibetan Buddhists face significant restrictions in organizing their own faith and Christian house church leaders are imprisoned."A survivor of Cambodia's brutal Khmer Rouge regime is one of six winners of the 2018 Magsaysay Awards, widely regarded as Asia's version of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Youk Chhang was cited by the foundation that awards the annual prize for his work as head of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, an institute that investigates and documents the atrocities committed during by the Khmer Rouge during its reign from 1975 to 1979.

Nearly two million Cambodians died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge through starvation, overwork and executions, including Youk's father, five of his siblings and nearly 60 of his relatives.

Another Magsaysay Award recipient is 87-year-old Howard Dee, a Chinese-born Philippine businessman who has devoted decades to social work and peace initiatives, including serving as a government negotiator with local communist rebels forces.

The other Magsaysay Award winners include Maria de Lourdes Martins Cruz, who founded an institute to help impoverished people in her native East Timor get access to health care, education, farming and other self-help initiatives; Vo Thi Hoang Yen of Vietnam, a polio victim who founded a non-profit group in 2005 that has helped 15,000 disabled people in her native land become economically self-sufficient; Sonam Wangchuk, an engineer who founded a movement that helped poor students in his native Himalayan region of Ladakh pass college entrance exams and establish educational reforms; and Indian psychiatrist Bharat Vatwani, who started an initiative to treat homeless people suffering from mental illness.

The awards are named for the late Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay, who died in a plane crash in 1957. This year's winners will receive their awards in Manila on August 31.The wives of slain Boko Haram militants are often left to fend for themselves after their husbands are killed or arrested by Nigerian security forces. A local nongovernmental organization in Nigeria is helping these women become financially independent. Chika Oduah has the story from Maiduguri.The Director General of the World Trade Organization, Roberto Azevedo warns the global economy will run out of steam and millions of jobs will be lost if political leaders do not reach a negotiated settlement to end the trade war.

WTO reports there has been a significant rise in protectionist measures since mid-October, with countries imposing an average of 11 restrictive trade measures every month.



WTO chief, Roberto Azevedo says the major negative impacts resulting from trade restrictions should set off a few alarm bells.



"It threatens the recovery of the global economy. It threatens growth. It threatens jobs," said Azevedo. "Our concern about anything is that this dynamic of an eye-for-an-eye or tit-for-tat or whatever you call it, it may be perceived as the new normal if countries begin to take this as a normal way of behaving."



He says this would be very harmful for the global economy down the road. Azevedo says the trade war is not a technical issue. It is a political situation, which he says will have to be resolved by political means.



"So, leaders have to talk to themselves. At some point in time, they have to begin to listen to each other," said Azevedo. "It is not only also about responding. It is not only about making threats to each other. At some point in time, the question is going to beokay, so we have all these problems, how do we fix them?"



That process appears to have begun. During a meeting Wednesday at the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission Chief Jean-Claude Juncker pulled back from the brink of an all-out trade war. They agreed to work together to lower tariffs.The Mayor of Penticton admits the current crackdown on vagrancy and bad behaviour in the downtown area isnt sustainable 12 months a year, but hopes newly announced transitional housing will take pressure off the neighbourhood.

Andrew Jakubeit made the comments on this weeks Mayors Minute, on the heels of two provincial government announcements related to homelessness and a graphic presentation from city manager Peter Weeber on the sad, drug-addled state of the citys streets.

The big push that you are seeing right now, I dont think is sustainable 12 months a year, Jakubeit said, admitting much of the manpower is coming from seasonal bylaw staff.

However, the mayor noted that the city hired an additional full-time bylaw officer earlier this year and extended hours into the evening. An additional RCMP member has also been funded by the city, he said, discussions that will likely continue during 2019 budget talks.

With that increased enforcement we also need to have the ability to address some of the social side of things  those that are vulnerable or ready for change, Jakubeit said.

A 62-unit modular BC Housing development announced Friday coming to the 600 block of Winnipeg is not going to a public hearing, because it complies with zoning. Thats unlike the first proposed location on Green Avenue West, which led to an outcry from the neighbourhood and rejection from city council.

When asked if he is glad the decision for the project has been taken out of city councils hands, Jakubeit mused I dont think there is ever going to be the ideal location that everyone is excited about.

Most people understand housing is important. Housing-first strategies are the best way to get them and their shopping carts off the streets and into a unit they can call their own. Gain them back some dignity and reintegrate them into the rest of the community, he said.

Beyond the RCMP overtime patrols and seasonal bylaw officers downtown, the city has also deployed an environmental design strategy that is seeing doorways gated, railings erected and bushes trimmed.

That was part of the mandate council made; lets make it uncomfortable for people to continue with bad behaviour because we have very little tolerance for that, the mayor said.

Jakubeit said hes also hopeful $50,000 the province has contributed to Pentictons new Community Active Support Table will pay dividends. The table will see RCMP work with social service providers to reach out to individual troubled members of the community.

The mayor said the city will also be lobbying the province for stiffer penalties for repeat property crime offenders at the Union of BC Municipalities Convention in September.Zimbabwes main opposition party has ruled out boycotting next weeks general election, but still believes the electoral commission is planning to rig the vote to favor the ruling party.

Nelson Chamisa, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change Alliance, told a news conference Wednesday that he is confident of victory in Zimbabwes presidential election next Monday.



Its not possible to boycott our victory, that is what losers would want us to do, Chamisa said. The people want us to defeat dictatorship, defeat poverty, to defeat tyranny, to defeat their hopelessness. Our victory is certain  that you should know.



Speculation was rife ahead of the briefing Wednesday that the MDC Alliance would pull out of the polls, citing frustration with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.



The commission has turned down opposition demands to see the voter roll being used in the elections, and the opposition says the presidential election ballot favors President Emmerson Mnangagwa of the ruling ZANU-PF party by placing him in a prominent position, at the top of the right column.



Of the elections commission Chamisa said:



ZEC has shown that they are not willing and open to dialogue. They are stubborn, arrogant and non-transparent. The environment is not conducive. The process is contested.



Human rights groups repeatedly accused the commission of election rigging during the long rule of former president Robert Mugabe.The URL has been copied to your clipboard

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A police vehicle being driven outside the Large City Hall in Bulawayo where members of Mthwakazi Republic Party were stopped from holding a meeting by the police. #voazimvotesIn Malawi, the conservation non-profit organization African Parks has completed the translocation of 12 lions into two Malawi national parks under its management. The lions were flown into Malawi from South Africa with support from international animal welfare charities and others.The United States Senate and House of Representatives on Wednesday passed bipartisan legislation introduced by Senators Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.), both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to lay the framework for U.S. relations with the Government of Zimbabwe.

The two said the bill updates the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001 and sets forth the steps Zimbabwe needs to take to have sanctions on its country lifted, including ensuring the countrys upcoming election on July 30, 2018 is free, fair, and credible.

Flake (Republican, Arizona) and Chris Coons (Democrat, Delaware) led a bipartisan Congressional delegation to the Zimbabwean capital of Harare in April.

Flake will return to Zimbabwe next week to serve as an official observer of the election.

In a statement, Flake said, This measure outlines steps that will go a long way to demonstrate that Zimbabwe's government is earnest in its desire to bring about long-overdue change for the people of Zimbabwe, who suffered under authoritarian rule for far too long.

I look forward to returning to Zimbabwe ahead of what I hope to be a free and fair election, and I urge the Zimbabwean government to foster peaceful, democratic reform.

Coons also said, Im thrilled that Congress passed this important piece of legislation, which reflects our sincere hope that Zimbabwe makes a transition to a peaceful, democratic, just, and prosperous nation.

A free, fair, and credible election is a necessary, but insufficient step to increased cooperation with the United States. Zimbabwe's leaders must also commit to a peaceful and constitutional transfer of power to reflect the will of the Zimbabwean people. We look forward to the fulfillment of the commitments President Mnangagwa has made to the people of Zimbabwe to pursue broader political and economic reform, and to deepen the partnership between the United States and Zimbabwe as sufficient progress is made on these necessary reforms.

Zimbabwe imposed targeted sanctions on former president Robert Mugabe and his inner circle following allegations of vote rigging and human rights abuses.

But Mugabe insisted that his government was being punished for engaging on a land reform scheme in 2000, which resulted in over 3,000 white commercial farmers losing their prime land.The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) says it has started distributing materials for the southern African nations crucial election scheduled for Monday next week.

About 5.6 million people have registered to vote for a new president, legislators and councilors.

The front-runners in the presidential contest are incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa, 75, who took over power from strongman former President Robert Mugabe after a military coup late last year and a 40 year old advocate and pastor, Nelson Chamisa, leading the opposition Movement for Democratic Change Alliance.

But according to the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, an independent body monitoring elections, there continues to be a general downward trend in the confidence of electoral stakeholders and the electorate in general in the impartiality of ZEC. Opposition political parties are also protesting against ZEC, which they accuse of supporting Mr. Mnangagwas ruling Zanu-PF party.

ZEC commissioner, Doctor Qhubani Moyo told VOA Studio 7 they are adhering to the constitution and plans have reached an advanced stage in holding a free, fair and credible election.Stratovolcano 3,763 m / 12,346 ftGuatemala, 14.47N / -90.88W(4 out of 5)1581, 1585, 1586, 1587, 1614, 1617, 1620, 1623, 1629, 1679(?), 1685, 1686, 1689(?), 1699, 1702, 1705, 1706, 1709(?), 1710,1717,1730, 1732, 1737, 1751(?), 1765(?), 1773(?), 1799, 1826, 1829, 1850(?), 1852(?), 1855, 1856, 1857, 1860, 1861(?), 1867(?), 1880, 1896, 1932, 1944, 1949, 1953, 1955, 1957, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1987, 1999, 2002 - ongoingDominantly explosive, construction of lava domes and extrusion of viscous lava flows. In near constant activity, at least during the past centuries.(15-day study trip and expedition to Guatemala's volcanoes)(8-day volcano tour to Pacaya and Fuego, Guatemala)

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A fascinating archipelago with very active volcanoes, tropical islands and very friendly and hospital people who still live their original Melanesian culture. Browse through our vast collection of photos.

Watching a volcanic eruption is one of the most impressive natural displays. We have a wide selection of tours to active volcanoes worldwide at different activity and difficulty levels.

Follow the latest news and updates about Europe's most active volcano!

We're proud to present our 2020 volcano calendar: 13 different and attractive images of volcanoes, volcanic landscapes and phenomena taken during volcano tours over the past two years.

We're proud to present our 2018 volcano calendar: 13 different and attractive images of volcanoes, volcanic landscapes and phenomena taken during volcano tours over the past few years.

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We truly love working to bring you the latest volcano and earthquake data from around the world.We need financing to increase hard- and software capacity as well as support our editor team.If you find the information useful and would like to support our team in integrating further features, write great content, and in upgrading our soft- and hardware, please PayPal or Online credit card payment )., these features have been added recently:Alanna Kelly

A Peachland resident was able to return home after being evacuated due to a raging wildfire and was very lucky to find her house still standing.

It was July 18, when Savana Penner looked up at Highway 97 from her home on Brent Road and saw flames just above her.

I could actually see flames jumping on the hillside and a whole bunch of smoke, she said.

An evacuation order at 10 p.m., said residents living at 7100 to 72100 Brent Road had to leave immediately because the Mount Eneas wildfire was getting dangerously close.

But Penner didnt realize just how close, until she returned home four days later on Saturday.

We looked over the bank and saw this, she says.

Flames jumped over her home and landed on the hillside 20 metres away from her backdoor.

We realize how lucky we really are, she said. Our staircase is burnt to a crisp and our electric supply to our water pump is burnt out.

Penner spoke to firefighters who said there was no path from the fire and she was lucky embers didnt land on her home.

I actually found the guy who put the fire out so it was nice to thank him, she said.

BC Wildfire Service incident commander Glen Burgess said no primary residences were destroyed, but some small outbuildings and a few vehicles were in the early days of the fire.

No primary residence, which is great, he said.

Burgess is crediting the Peachland Fire Department to saving the homes along Highway 97.

"I think that speaks great to those partners in local governments and the Peachland Fire Department in particular who deployed on some homes and in all likelihood saved them.

Penner said she is blessed and very lucky.

I obviously have some good karma out there, she said.stratovolcano 1117 m / 3,665 ftKyushu, Japan, 31.59N / 130.66E(3 out of 5)1955-ongoing, 1954(?), 1950, 1948, 1946, 1942, 1941, 1940, 1939, 1938, 1935, 1914-15, 1899(?), 1860, 1799, 1797, 1794, 1792, 1791, 1790, 1785, 1783, 1782, 1779-81, 1756, 1749, 1742, 1706, 1678, 1670(?), 1642, 1478, 1471-76, 1468, 778, 766, 764, 716-18, 712(?), 708Explosive(5-day volcano expedition to observe Sakurajima volcano's activity from close)

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See allthat happened in the last 24 hours

88 pages, brilliant color photos, German language - this beautifully illustrated guidebook is a perfect introduction and companion for all interested in Italy's rich and varied volcanic areas.

As an oceanic plates collides with another plate, it is subducted and generates volcanism on the overlying plate.

Armenia is a very photogenic country with a large variety of landscapes showing some very spectacular geology, century-old monasteries and castles, and much more.

Visiting an erupting volcano is an unforgettable experience. If you're particularly looking to see "Red Hot Lava", these are among the best places to go to.

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Unfortunely this content is expired and cannot be viewed anymore; if You are the owner of this content please login to our Website, go to our access panel and enable this content again.During WWII Juan Pujol Garcia played an important role in deceiving Nazi Germany about where the D-Day landings would occur. In gratitude, the Nazis awarded him an Iron Cross Second Class  one of Germanys awards for bravery or other military contributions.

Pujol was a Spaniard who hated Communism, Francos Fascism, and Hitlers Nazism. His solution was to become a British spy, but they refused him thrice. It was hard to do otherwise. Pujol was born to a prominent family who fell on hard times during the Spanish Civil War, forcing him to become a chicken farmer. But that didnt do too well, either.

Undeterred, he decided to spy for the Germans so that the British would take him seriously. Pretending to be a Spanish government official who was sympathetic to the Nazi cause, he got in touch with a German agent in Madrid.

The British had an effective and extensive spy network on the continent, but the German secret service (the Abwehr) did not have one in Britain  though not for lack of trying. They had sent spies to Britain, but all had been caught and either executed or turned into double agents.

Desperate to have more spies on British soil, the Abwehr therefore accepted Pujol. They trained him in basic espionage, gave him a codebook, put him on their payroll, codenamed him Arabel, then sent him to Britain to recruit more agents.

Pujol instead went to Lisbon, Portugal where he got to work. Visiting the Lisbon library, he created fake reports based on a Spanish translation of the Frommers Guide to England (a tourist manual), magazines, reference books, railway schedules, maps, and newsreels.

He also invented a vast network of non-existent spies. At its peak, they numbered 27, including a Swiss banker in London, a Venetian dock worker in Glasgow, and a KLM pilot who flew the route between Britain and Portugal. The latter explained why Pujols reports came from Lisbon  it was the pilot who flew them from London to Portugal, then mailed them from a local post office to the Abwehr.

Though none of these reports would have passed close scrutiny, the Abwehr apparently was not an effective organization so they never caught on. After the war, former Abwehr agents explained that it was better to send in numerous false reports than few or none at all. The alternative was to be sent to the front. On top of that, having failed to bring Britain to its knees, Germany was completely dependent on any information that Pujol sent them.

He sent so many reports that the British eventually intercepted them. Agents at Bletchley Park (where the British intercepted and decoded enemy transmissions) finally began hearing about a German agent in Britain, so they began looking for him  not realizing their man was on Portuguese soil.

The US entered the war in 1942, so Pujol approached them in February offering his services. The Americans saw Pujols potential and recommended him to the British, but they remained skeptical. It was only when Pujol sent the German navy on a wild goose chase looking for a non-existent convoy that the British finally took him seriously.

Pujol was relocated to Britain on April 24 and codenamed Garbo, even though he still didnt speak English. To solve this, Pujol was assigned to Tomas Harris, a British secret service officer who did. The two men continued sending their reports to a post office box in Lisbon, producing so many reports that the Abwehr stopped trying to recruit more spies.

The intelligence they produced was largely fictitious, but contained enough genuine material to convince the Germans of Pujols effectivity. On 8 November 1942, for example, the British and Americans launched a joint invasion of French North Africa called Operation TORCH.

Pujol informed the Abwehr of the attack after it had happened, but the British had postmarked the letter to make it look like he had sent it before. After Operation TORCH, the Germans demanded a faster form of communication, so Pujol recruited a radio mechanic.

In cases where Pujol failed to give valuable information, he would claim that the agent responsible had died or was caught. In 1943, for example, a large British fleet set off from the northwest coast of England. To explain why he wasnt able to report that, Pujol said that his man in Liverpool had died. To support this story, the British created an obituary for the non-existent spy which they published in the local paper.

At the start of 1944, the Abwehr told Pujol that they expected a large-scale invasion of France. They were right, but it was necessary to let them believe it would happen at Pas de Calais instead of at Normandy, where they actually planned to land.

Pujol did such a good job that when the invasion happened on June 6, Hitler was convinced it was a diversion. He therefore held back two armored divisions and 19 infantry divisions at Calais, still believing that the main attack would come from there.

To ensure that no German reinforcements went to Normandy, Pujol sent another report on June 9 giving detailed accounts of a larger unit in England about to attack Calais. He was again believed, so the German divisions at Calais stayed put till August.

But there was a price. A week after D-Day, the Germans began launching their new V1 flying bombs across the channel into Britain. Many bypassed the British air defenses, hitting London.

They asked Pujol if they hit anything and to give them coordinates so they could fine-tune their aim. To maintain his cover, Pujol had to give them real coordinates so they could hit actual targets. While there were casualties and damage, his information at least minimized them.

Directing where those bombs fell was Pujols last act. After the war, he returned to Madrid where German agents told him that he had been awarded the Iron Cross on 29 July 1944. On November 25 that year, he also received a Member of the Order of the British Empire award from King George VI.

Pujol is, therefore, the only one to have received awards from both sides for his services in WWII.A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday denied a request by Acorda Therapeutics for a temporary court order blocking generic drug companies from launching lower-cost versions of its multiple sclerosis drug Ampyra. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said it would not block Teva Pharmaceutical and other companies from selling generic versions of Ampyra while it reviews the decision of a lower court that ruled invalid Acorda patents covering the drug. A federal judge in Delaware ruled in March 2017 that four Acorda patents relating to Ampyra were invalid because they described obvious ideas, opening the door for generic competition.Photo: BC SPCA

A search is underway in Vancouver for a tiny, teacup poodle snatched from the BC SPCA shelter earlier this week.

Mickey weighs just over one kilogram and was being cared for at the society's kennel while recovering from giardia, a contagious intestinal infection.

SPCA spokeswoman Lorie Chortyk says the fluffy brown dog, along with five other teacup poodles, had been surrendered about two weeks ago by the owner after a complaint about their care.

Chortyk says Mickey was stolen when someone used bolt cutters to break through the outer gate of the shelter after it closed Tuesday and then cut through the kennel door to grab the dog.

There's concern that Mickey may not be getting adequate care for his condition and Chortyk says if anyone has seen the poodle or knows anything about the theft, they should contact the society or Vancouver police.

Adoptions had already been arranged for all the poodles and Chortyk says Mickey's new owner was scheduled to pick him up on Wednesday.Touring Europe in 1978  and curious to learn more about espresso machines  Bakke showed up unannounced at the La Marzocco factory outside of Florence. Piero Bambi, son and nephew of La Marzoccos two founders, gave him a tour, proudly explaining the companys recent technical advance: two boilers per machine, one for steam and one for coffee, to ensure temperature stability. Bakke returned to Seattle with two machines. It took me a year to sell one. Then Starbucks exploded, and soon the factory couldnt keep up with demand. More than a decade later , Bambi, needing cash and lacking an heir, allowed Bakke to open a La Marzocco factory in Seattle on the condition that Bakke buy the company. Bakke put together a group of investors who bought 90 percent of the company, and he was named CEO.Its magnificent. Its as bright as an airplane landing light, said Widener University astronomer Harry Augensen. Because of the reddish, orange-ish-red color, you really cant miss it in the sky.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 26)  Opposition lawmakers have asked the Supreme Court to allow detained Senator Leila de Lima to represent them in their petition against President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to pull the country out of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In a four-page manifestation with motion received by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, the senators said they "are of the strong conviction that the arguments for the cause of all the petitioners will be best presented before this Honorable Court by their colleague, Senator De Lima."

"Undersigned Manifesting Senators hope that this view of the members of a co-equal branch of government as to who they think will be present and argue this case will be given full consideration and accommodation by the Honorable Court, by allowing Senator De Lima to argue the case before the Honorable Court," the document read.

Senators Kiko Pangilinan, Franklin Drilon, Bam Aquino, Risa Hontiveros, and Antonio Trillanes filed the motion on July 6, a copy of which was obtained by CNN Philippines Thursday.

The five lawmakers, along with De Lima, lodged the May 16 petition that asks the High Court to stop the country's withdrawal from the Rome Statute, the treaty that formed the ICC. They argued the executive cannot pull the country out of the international tribunal without the Senate's concurrence.

READ: Opposition senators ask Supreme Court to stop PH withdrawal from ICC

"The issues in this case being of transcendental importance, Senator De Lima should not be prevented form personally arguing the case before the Honorable Court by the mere reason of her incidental detention," the senators said.

De Lima, a staunch critic of the Duterte administration, has been detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center on drug charges. She has said her drug cases are all trumped-up charges.

De Lima on June 25 filed a manifestation for the Supreme Court to allow her to personally appear and represent herself as counsel in the hearings.

The High Court initially set the oral arguments for July 24, but has rescheduled it to August 14.

Withdrawing from the ICC

Senators are questioning Duterte's move to withdraw from the ICC in March, a month after the international tribunal announced a preliminary examination on alleged extrajudicial killings in the country. A preliminary examination will determine whether there is cause to go on a full-blown investigation.

Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo, along with former Senate President Koko Pimentel, earlier said withdrawing from the ICC does not need Senate concurrence, a claim senators have strongly opposed.

Duterte and his officials also said the withdrawal was not needed in the first place because the Philippines was never a member of the ICC. They argued the country's ratification of the Rome Statute never took effect as it was not published on the Official Gazette.

For its part, the ICC said it will push through with its preliminary examination.

Malacanang said it will not cooperate with the probe, and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Philippine National Police - the agencies leading the anti-drug campaign - are following its lead.The weather doesnt scare away crowds at 93rd annual event.

Wild ponies swim across to Chincoteague Island from Assateague Island in Chincoteague, Virginia. Every July, the ponies are rounded up to be auctioned off by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company. Mark Wilson/Getty ImagesThis was during a time when, for whatever reason, relatives tended not to speak at funerals, so the only person we heard from was the rabbi. He roared and thundered and simpered in what was clearly well-rehearsed sanctimony, a speech he must have given all the time for people, like my grandmother, whom hed never met and knew nothing about. I remember that he called her a deeply pious woman, which was appalling inasmuch as she never went to a synagogue or even believed in a deity. Her only contact with religion occurred every Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement and fasting, when shed draw the curtains in the dining room so our neighbors couldnt see us eat.I have toyed with the idea of making a post on Nextdoor.com, a neighborhood social media site, asking people to think twice before panicking, should they see my friend walking down the street, as he belongs there as much as they do, but I know my county prides itself on being a liberal and progressive area, and I don't want to insult anyone.For all the excitement among those who showed up to see Buzz and the gang on their Florida debut, there were a lot of visitors who seemed just as eager to peer over the construction fence at the new land under construction next door, the alien geography taking shape as Star Wars: Galaxys Edge. Its easy to imagine that expansion, which Disney designers have promised will be one of their most detailed and immersive ever, overwhelming the smaller Toy Story Land, which will go from being its own cul-de-sac destination within the park to a pass-through on the way to a galaxy far, far on the other side of the park. Its hard to be as otherworldly as an actual other world.Todays Headlines

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By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy PolicyIn the financial year that ended in summer 2014, the city issued the county a bill of about $4.8 million to make up for customers underpayment. Another for just under $15.5 million followed in 2015, and a bill for $2.4 million was issued in 2016. The figure for 2017 was still being calculated at the time the consultants finished writing their report.It is the ultimate act of inhumanity to rip those children from those parents. And to do it for what? For the sake of so-called deterrence? Harris told the crowd. It is important that we all stand up and say, We as a country are better than this. Rowe agreed to leave the building but once outside got into a tussle with another man, and both fell to the ground, the report said. Then Rowe punched the rear window of a car, prompting officers to handcuff Rowe and sit him on the curb.Kidwell described Lee County, which is near the Kentucky and Tennessee borders, as a cash-strapped region dependent on the declining coal and tobacco industries. He said that four of the 11 schools in the county have armed officers on campus and that the jurisdiction cant afford officers for the rest. Arming teachers and staff members, he said, is a cheaper option.The victim was reported conscious when he was taken to a hospital. Police said he was found lying in the roadway near an entrance to the Third Street Tunnel. A police report says he was shot in the abdomen.I liken that criticism to the stuff Ive heard all of my 58 years of life about what certain people cant do, how certain people are naturally inferior to others, how certain people are destined to fail, he wrote. It may seem the unbusinesslike, un-journalist-like thing to do, but I always look for that spirit  that willingness to keep fighting when everyone is counting you out as a sure loser  whenever I look at a corporation.This decision will contribute to an even greater scarcity of hospital resources closer to home for residents of the eastern half of the city, she wrote in an email. For many years, Providence provided acute care services for many of our Medicaid and uninsured patients and we hope that the other hospital systems will be committed to serving these residents.So many people showed up to Makiyah Wilsons memorial Wednesday that some mourners in the Holy Christian House of Praise  which seats about 1,200  had to watch the proceedings from the lobby. Dozens more stood in the aisles and others lined the walls, many wearing shirts with Makiyahs photo. In a year when homicides are up in the District, the shooting of a little girl just outside her home in Northeast Washington has sparked particular grief and outrage.Having initially been charged with only conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, a crime that carries a 10-year mandatory minimum, Turner was indicted and convicted on four charges  two for dealing meth and two for use of a firearm in a drug-trafficking crime. While he never used a gun himself, he knew Ramadan was armed and once helped the dealer sell a gun to an undercover federal agent.But Jackson repeatedly drilled down on the question of how the presidents comments jeopardized Wolfes right to a fair trial. Just because people make comments, Jackson said, even people in high places, doesnt mean you have a realistic risk of harm to the Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial. She said jurors could be screened for prejudice during jury selection and instructed to disregard statements outside the courtroom during trial.In a recent filing in Prince Georges County Circuit Court, Urbanskis attorneys questioned the admissibility of evidence tying him to a Facebook page called Alt-Reich: Nation, as well as certain cartoon images and group message surveys taken from his cellphone. The attorneys, William C. Brennan Jr. and John M. McKenna, argue that such material is not relevant evidence and even if it were, it would not be admissible as part of the first-degree murder charge.Much of Baileys sentencing hearing focused on the child pornography charges. Bailey relied on hidden cameras to record teenage boys using the bathroom in his RV and at hotels where he would stay with the boys while they competed in ATV races, according to the government. Bailey produced more than 100 videos between 2014 and 2016, his plea agreement states.When we reached out to the staff of the wildlife refuge ... and sent more close up pictures at various angles, they told us it was a juvenile American alligator, David M. Smith, chief of communications for the Humane Rescue Alliance, said in an email. Juvenile caimans and alligators are very similar in appearance.Freshman delegate Chris Hurst (D-Montgomery) did not sign the pledge, but also has not taken any money from either Appalachian or Hunton Andrews Kurth. Were in a pretty dynamic time where a lot of the customs and procedures for the way things have been done are starting to be reevaluated, he said. Im of the opinion that we should take money out of politics as much as possible.Meyer said there was no negotiated rate for that procedure. Instead, it would be priced based in part on which of about 1,000 general categories it was grouped into  likely a grouping known as mental health disorder with O.R. procedure, he said. The price would further be determined by expenses like operating room supplies and other factors, such as how many days of hospitalization were required.If nothing is done to curb greenhouse-gas emissions, scientists say, the global temperature increase could reach nine degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century, with higher spikes on land and at high latitudes. The Paris agreement, signed by every country in the world, is designed to limit that temperature spike through commitments to cut greenhouse-gas emissions over time. President Trump, who in the past has called global warming a hoax, has vowed to pull the United States out of the accord as soon as that becomes possible, in 2020.The large area the flames swept through further complicated the process of identifying victims. Officials said there was no way of knowing how many people were there at the time. By Thursday afternoon, there was still no official figure for the missing.But we second-guess these decisions because the law requires us to. We also judge these decisions because respect for life and liberty demands it. No man or woman is required to be a police officer. No man or woman is required to carry a gun on their person. When you pick up a weapon, you are exercising a constitutionally protected freedom, yes, but you are also taking on an awesome responsibility. And the gravity of the responsibility requires an armed citizen  like a police officer  to tolerate a degree of risk and danger before he or she escalates to deadly force.After months of behind-the-scenes discussion, the three major U.S. air carriers  United, American and Delta  all partially caved to Beijings order that they change their websites to portray Taiwan as part of the Peoples Republic of China. After the government of Xi Jinping threatened severe punishment, the White House called the demands Orwellian nonsense. Yet many international airlines folded quickly. The U.S. airlines eventually devised a compromise: They removed the word Taiwan from their websites but didnt agree to describe Taiwan as part of China.The recording, made by Cohen shortly before the 2016 election , is a window into how Trump does business  and, by extension, what kind of person he is. In it, he and his then-lawyer Cohen discuss their machinations to squelch former Playboy playmate Karen McDougals story of what she describes as a 10-month affair with Trump . The president of the United States is revealed as a schemer and a liar. Thats no surprise, I realize, but now we can hear him in action  and there is no way he can claim the evidence is fake news.Recent days have left many Americans with a burning question: Does Vladimir Putin have something on President Trump? The investigation led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III offers the most realistic opportunity to answer that question. But the likelihood of that happening may have taken a hit when the president nominated to the Supreme Court someone whose writing suggests that he thinks presidents should be able to fire special counsels for any reason or no reason at all.There is a simple solution: Abandon the fiction that high earners are job creators. Return to the days when the tax rate for people making obscenely high salaries was 92 percent. (The idea that rich people wont work hard if their income is taxed at that rate is largely false, and, to the extent that it is true, the work they are doing now can be done by other people who are not currently rich.) Use the extra tax revenue to benefit the working poor. People such as Lloyd Blankfein and Mark Zuckerberg are only able to succeed because of U.S. laws and the opportunities that exist in American society. It is not unreasonable to ask them to pay more to maintain that system.Like the multitude of mere mortals who faced voters before him, Trump may finally be feeling gravitys unforgiving pull as one summer scandal bleeds into another. A recent Quinnipiac University poll put the presidents approval rating at 38 percent. More troubling for Trumps quislings in Congress should be the political beating Midwest voters are dishing out on the politician they helped elect president. According to an NBC News-Marist poll, only 28 percent of registered voters in Michigan believe Trump deserves to be reelected, while only 30 percent of those surveyed in Minnesota and 31 percent in Wisconsin believe he deserves reelection. Republicans are also trailing badly in generic ballot tests, and Democrats prospects for taking over the House and Senate continue to rise.In 1988, the Supreme Court considered the provision regarding the CIA directors authority in Webster v. Doe, a case brought by a former CIA employee who alleged that his security clearance had been revoked because he was gay. The court might have been expected to hold that the power to revoke lay in the unreviewable discretion of the executive branch. But that isnt what happened. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, a proponent of strong executive power, joined the majority in holding that Congress had foreclosed statutory claims. Yet the justices also specified that Congress, notwithstanding the authorization laws exceptionally broad language, hadnt foreclosed colorable constitutional claims  claims that the revocation of the former CIA employees security clearance violated the due process and equal protection clauses and his right to privacy.House Republican aides said that if a member tried to force a vote on the measure, leaders probably would move to send it to the House Judiciary Committee for further review, effectively bottling it up indefinitely. But that could still be an uncomfortable vote for many Republicans who are under pressure from conservative groups  and the voters who follow them  to unseat the man who oversees the investigation Trump routinely denigrates as a witch hunt.In the search warrant served on him in the FBIs April 9 raids, Cohen learned he was under federal investigation for bank fraud as well as possible campaign finance violations as part of his informal role in Trumps campaign. FBI agents were scrutinizing whether Cohen had lied on bank and loan forms or had seized evidence that he had vastly inflated the value of his taxi medallion business to seek additional financing. Cohen told friends in the early summer he expected he could be arrested any day.Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), who filed the impeachment measure with Jordan and nine other members of the Freedom Caucus, said conservatives decided it was most prudent to give the FBI and DOJ one more benefit of the doubt before taking action against Rosenstein. They have accused the No. 2 federal law enforcement official of withholding documents and being insufficiently transparent in his handling of the Russia probe, and they did not rule out pursuing impeachment at a later date.For months, Republicans have alleged that they are the victims of what they call shadow banning, meaning their tweets are secretly hidden from users, limiting their reach. A report in Vice News on Wednesday further fueled those fears, as some search results on Twitter didnt seem to reveal the accounts for Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and several other party members, although the tool appeared to work well for finding Democrats accounts.The fast unraveling of the situation this week followed a notable improvement in U.S. relations with Turkey after several years of dissonance. At a meeting in Washington last month, Pompeo and Cavusoglu finalized an agreement on one of the most serious and long-running disagreements between the two countries  the withdrawal of U.S.-allied Kurdish forces from part of Syrias border with Turkey. Turkey considers the Kurds, proxy forces in the U.S. fight against the Islamic State, to be terrorists.Theyre dying to see us make a little bit of a mistake. They analyze every word. They say, Did he say that? Could it have been? Did he say something positive about Russia? I think he loves Russia,  Trump said, mocking a journalist. They analyze every single word, and they follow us. And you know what? The good news is: We can get the word out.The NATO-focused measures are only a subset of the bipartisan proposals lawmakers have unveiled in the wake of Trumps Helsinki summit with Putin, during which he suggested that he might take the word of the Russian leader over the conclusions of his own intelligence community regarding Russian election interference and influence campaigns. Lawmakers are still trying to get the administration to tell them what transpired during the two-hour, one-on-one meeting that preceded that surprise announcement, and an ensuing series of attempted walk-backs as the administration tried to address Republican criticism labeling Trumps performance as everything from shameful to a missed opportunity.Bipartisan pairs of lawmakers have raised various proposals to stiffen sanctions against Russia following President Trumps summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which drew criticism from members of Congress. On Wednesday, both Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee laid into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for not being more forthcoming with the details of what exactly Trump agreed to during his meeting with Putin  or to allay their concerns that the White House was simply making it up as they go on foreign policy.Finding the right house meant moving quickly. All of the houses that we looked at would sell within a week, so it went very fast, said Sara, 31. She flew in and went with her mother and a real estate agent to see a number of houses, including the one they ultimately purchased after a Sunday open house. She saw it twice, then toured it with Vince on FaceTime. The couple made an offer the next day, and it was accepted that week.One of the things that is so important is for the American people to understand that this is just the beginning, he said. This is going to take years. Its going to take interviews and sight surveys and teams on the ground. My fear is that we will get these remains and once again say Mission accomplished! And its not.We knocked on every door. Sometimes there were rumors  someone has heard that he was in this prison or that prison. But there was nothing concrete, said Hassan, who asked that his family name be withheld for fear of reprisal. The only thing we knew for sure is that he was out there somewhere and in pain.According to a senior E.U. official, there have been no discussions about lifting those standards to purchase U.S. soybeans. The same official said that agricultural products were outside the talks between Juncker and Trump, directly contradicting comments from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who said Tuesday that all agricultural products are something that will be discussed.But less than an hour later, the scene was largely clear and the embassy was again open for business. More than a hundred people stood outside, some unaware that a bomber had recently ignited a device less than 100 meters away.

But his remarks came just one day after Saudi Arabia announced it was suspending oil shipments in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea, because of what authorities said was a missile attack on two Saudi oil tankers by Iranian-allied rebels in Yemen.Some villagers have fled to other areas rather than risk being targeted by another airstrike. But the vast majority dont have that option, including the bride and groom. With their family house destroyed, the couple live in their animal shed, next to cows and goats, their abode reeking of hay and animal urine. They are married in principle but not legally: They can no longer afford to pay for their wedding certificate. So it hasnt been signed by the local marriage official.William Evanina, who heads the counterintelligence center, said China was by far the most aggressive country trying to steal economic information from the United States and was responsible for most of the theft. He told reporters Thursday that although other nations, including Russia and Iran, were trying to steal valuable technology to enhance their economies, none of them equals China.The U.S. aid to religious minorities in Iraq was one of the centerpieces of a three-day conference held at the State Department this week to promote religious freedom. It attracted delegations from more than 80 countries, though many were led by ambassadors and other officials from embassies located in Washington. Pompeo said he will hold the event again next year.Aldi Australia chief executive Tom Daunt says the supermarket chain has an Australian-first buying policy. Credit:Janie Barrett "You've got this company that has now been voted the most trusted brand in Australia ... Most people don't know that it is a private German company that works on the principle of getting people sacked and importing from the absolute lowest price countries in the world," he said. As an example, he said that Dick Smith Foods' peanut butter, sourced from local growers, sold for $1.28 per 100 grams, while its Aldi competition sold for 48 for the same amount. He said that, when Aldi entered the Australian market, it sourced much of its grocery line from Australian producers, but now that it was established it relied on lower cost international producers. On Wednesday, Mr Smith sent a letter to the managing directors of Coles and Woolworths supermarkets, as well as to the chief executive of Metcash Group, which controls IGA, to explain his decision. The letter included a chart that showed how Dick Smith Food sales had declined in Australia since 2001 at a similar rate to the increase of Aldi turnover.

"By a fluke of birth [Aldi's owners] are multi-billionaires when we have five million Australians who live pay packet to pay packet," he wrote. "It looks as there is nothing we can do about this. It is simply modern extreme capitalism." Mr Smith also wrote to Aldi's owners Karl Albrecht and Beate Heister via the chief executive officer of Aldi Australia, Tom Daunt, to outline his concerns about the impact of Aldi in Australia. "Karle and Beate, I understand you are the son and daughter of Mr Karl Albrecht Snr, who came up with the Aldi 'plan'. That is, basically sharing the wealth less. Your father, who started the great expansion of the company, worked out that by having a lesser selection of products, you could therefore employ less workers. "I have an important question to ask you. When will enough be enough?"

He accused the family of running a secretive company that it had used to accumulate a personal fortune of $40 billion, and invited them to come to Australia to explain their long term plans. "What I want to know  is their plan to keep expanding here and to take over the market place? I suspect it is." In a letter to Fairfax Media Mr Daunt said that Aldi had "never sought to 'maximise' profits at the cost of something or someone else". "Continually maximising profits becomes a zero sum game. If you truly partner with suppliers, you'll develop long term prosperity for both parties to the benefit of customers. If you look after your employees they will enjoy turning up to work and they'll enjoy looking after customers. "We proudly support an Australian first buying policy and have shared our growth with hundreds of Australian manufacturers and thousands of staff who have been direct benefactors of our business growth.

"We are not a business trying to artificially accelerate market share and we're not looking to match the store count of our competitors. We do not cut corners, we do not abuse our market power, we do not mislead our customers. We do not avoid tax payments, we do not squeeze our suppliers. We keep things simple and we focus our attention on what matters most to consumers." A Woolworths spokesperson told Fairfax Media: "Dick Smith Foods is an iconic Aussie brand that many of our customers love and support, so we're sad to hear this news. "More and more of our customers tell us that a one-size-fits-all approach to supermarket ranging doesn't deliver what they want or need. "It's why our long-term vision is to broaden the range of products we carry across our network, so we can deliver more tailored and locally relevant ranges for our customers in their local store."Right now in Sydney and Melbourne  our most populous cities and home to 8.2 million Australians  close to one in three Millennials (31 per cent) were born in Asia. And their younger brothers and sisters are not far behind: more than one in five Generation Zs in Sydney and Melbourne (23 per cent) were born in Asia.

However there is one thing that makes them completely unique - the profound impact of immigration on this generation, which has defined it like no other before, ever.

Some of this is borne out in the data  particularly the travel-loving, mortgage-dodging bits - but Australian Millennials (born between 1976 and 1990) are no more all the same than any other generation.

They have been cast as experience-seeking, travel-loving, commitment-avoiding mortgage-dodgers who privilege lifestyle above all else and invented the concept of the "bank of mum and dad".

To put this into perspective, people born in Asia account for 11 per cent of the overall Australian population aged over 14. They are also much less prominent in other generations; in Sydney and Melbourne, 12 per cent of Generation X was born in Asia, 6 per cent of Baby Boomers and just 3 per cent of pre-Boomers.

So a very a large proportion of todays young Australians was born Asia, particularly those living in Sydney and Melbourne. So what? Digging deeper into the data reveals that Asian-born Millennials are very different to their Australian-born peers when it comes to mindset. In contrast to their typically progressive, tradition-eschewing counterparts, Asian-born Millennials are much more likely to hold socially conservative views and values, despite their youth.

They are already bucking some of the big generational trends that have defined their Australian-born generational counterparts. Take marriage for instance. Four in 10 Australian-born Millennials are married (44 per cent), compared to more than seven in 10 Asian-born Millennials (74 per cent) across the country.

When you break that down further, Millennials born in India are even more likely to embrace the institution  86 per cent are married, almost double the figure for their Australian-born peers. They are also more likely to have children  six in 10 have children under 16 at home, compared to 55 per cent of their Australian-born peers.

When it comes to house and home, close to one in five Millennials from China own their home outright, compared to one in eight Australian-born Millennials. Across the board, a greater percentage of Asian-born Millennials are light spenders compared to Australian-born Millennials.WESTPORT  It takes a long time for society to accept a new scientific viewpoint, but for the past half century, resident Henry Grayson has sought to hasten the belief in the power of consciousness, which he said is based in the science of quantum physics.

With Newton, the only thing thats real is what you can measure or observe with the five senses. But, in the world of quantum physics, its consciousness that rules over matter, not the other way around, Grayson said.

Grayson, a 30-year Westport resident, first discovered the power of consciousness when he lived in Boston as a young graduate student and realized he could eradicate the symptoms of an oncoming sickness by finding the psychological roots of each symptom through questions such as, Why might I need this symptom now? he said.

I used to get colds and sore throats several times a year, every year. Ive not had once since. Its been decades, Grayson said.

If people identify their unconscious obstacles to health, they can reprogram their thinking to relieve pain, stress and anxiety, Grayson added. We attract what we believe all the time. Thats the power of the human mind: consciousness.

In his Westport and New York City-based clinical therapy practices, Grayson helps clients regain power of their minds and take charge of their health  work he has done for decades through his audio series, The New Physics of Love and books, Mindful Loving and Use Your Body to Heal Your Mind.

Grayson has followed an unexpected path to become a nationally

recognized consciousness psychotherapy expert, and his journey began in the deep South.

Raised in tiny towns in Alabama and Florida, Grayson wanted to rebel against what he called his narrow Methodist upbringing. But he went to the same Christian college  Asbury University in Kentucky  his parents attended because they wouldnt pay for another anywhere else, and Grayson wasnt willing to pay for school himself.

Nonetheless, Asbury was a valuable time for Grayson because of a professor who recruited Grayson to join the debate team.

He made us learn to think for ourselves. That was a major turning point in my life because I grew up in the South, where youre supposed to be conservative in politics and religion and racism and all that stuff, Grayson said.

The professors lesson in critical thinking took time to set in for Grayson, however, because after graduating from Asbury, he went to graduate school.

I ended up going to theology school at Emory University without ever remembering, signing up or applying. Its just because thats what everybody in my family did, he said.

Grayson planned to become a Methodist pastor like the men in his family until another professor, this time a professor of pastoral counseling, set Grayson again on his own path. In the course, Grayson saw how psychology could help people. Following theology school, he moved to Boston for the citys liberal culture and to attend a psychology Ph.D. program at Boston University.

After graduating, Grayson left for New York City, where he completed post-doctoral training in psychoanalysis and became a tenured professor at the City University of New York.

He also founded the National Institute for Psychotherapy to teach the full spectrum of psychological treatment methods from fields as diverse as neuroscience, quantum physics and global spiritual wisdom.

Although Grayson never became a pastor, he has built a congregation of his own through his books, audio series and as the resident psychologist on the Weight Watchers Magazine Show formerly on the Lifetime channel and on the weekly Progressive Radio Network show, Mindful Living with Dr. Grayson, he hosted for several years.

Personally, he is content, but Grayson said he is concerned for todays society.

Were focusing mostly on the negative. Its happening politically because (President Donald) Trump is very negative, but then on the liberal side were negative against him. Both are unproductive energy and destroy our culture and health. The real problem is the stress were creating, which we have the power to change, Grayson said.

svaughan@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2638; @SophieCVaughan1WESTPORT  A month after town firefighter Nick Marsan sent an open letter to residents saying low staffing has left the department unable to protect residents, he has been denied a meeting with town officials to discuss the issue.

What kind of elected official would not want to have a discussion about safety? Marsan, president of the Westport Uniformed Firefighters Association Local 1081, said.

On May 31, Marsan sent a letter to First Selectman Jim Marpe asking to reopen the union contract and renegotiate staffing levels because two of the towns fire houses  Greens Farms and Coleytown  have two firefighters when they require three.

A study of the fire department commissioned by the town and completed by Matrix Consulting Group in September 2017 confirmed the need for three firefighters at each station, Marsan said. The two-person staffing of Station 5 (Greens Farms) and Station 6 (Coleytown) is not sufficient for the risks present in the areas served by these stations, the report reads.

In the report, Matrix recommended Westport increase daily staffing at each station to three firefighters, at an annual estimated cost of $593,283. The Representative Town Meeting approved a new contract with the firefighters union in March that did not include increased staffing for the department.

By June 6, Marsan had not received a response from the First Selectmans office so he posted an open letter on Facebook saying, As firefighters in the Town of Westport, your familys safety is our number one priority  unfortunately, we have reached a point where we are no longer able to protect you in a way your family deserves.

Milford-based Attorney Floyd Dugas, of the firm Berchem Moses, represents the town in areas of municipal labor and employment and wrote a letter to Marsan on June 12 in response his letter to Marpe.

The Union raised the issue of manning in negotiations, thus, it cannot be raised at this time, Dugas wrote, adding Marsan did not raise any subjects that would compel the town to re-enter bargaining with the firefighter union.

I stand by attorney Dugas response, Marpe said, adding if Marsan has a concern, he should make a report through the chain of command at the fire department, headed by Chief Robert Yost.

In response to why the town has not implemented Matrixs recommendation to have three staff at the Greens Farms and Coleytown stations, Marpe said, There are any number of recommendations in the strategic plan (Matrix report) and we cant address all of them at once.

svaughan@hearstmediact.com; 203-842-2638; @SophieCVaughan1Alycias, a purveyor of Ukrainian comfort food and a Manitoba mainstay, started on the corner of McGregor Street and Cathedral Avenue way back in 1971, closing in 2011. With later stints in Gimli and later Arnes, the family-owned business has returned to Winnipeg with a new location at the Royal Albert Arms Hotel in the Exchange District.

Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 25/7/2018 (1188 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Alycias, a purveyor of Ukrainian comfort food and a Manitoba mainstay, started on the corner of McGregor Street and Cathedral Avenue way back in 1971, closing in 2011. With later stints in Gimli and later Arnes, the family-owned business has returned to Winnipeg with a new location at the Royal Albert Arms Hotel in the Exchange District.

Theres childhood nostalgia operating here, as some patrons search for the food they remember from grandmothers kitchens, as well as potent North End nostalgia. And the Royal Albert setting adds another layer of memory.

The Taste Alycias

48 Albert St.

The.new.alycias; 204-942-0460 Go for: Ukrainian comfort food, and lots of it

Best bet: The North End special

Mains: $8-19.50 Monday-Tuesday: 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; Wednesday-Friday: 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday: noon-8 p.m.; Sunday: noon-7 p.m.  click to read more Alycias

48 Albert St.

The.new.alycias; 204-942-0460 Go for: Ukrainian comfort food, and lots of it

Best bet: The North End special

Mains: $8-19.50 Monday-Tuesday: 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; Wednesday-Friday: 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday: noon-8 p.m.; Sunday: noon-7 p.m.  STAR POWER  Excellent

 Very Good

 Good

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The resto opened in May in the glass atrium that fronts onto the street, but with hot summer weather and an issue with overheating, the tables have moved, for the moment, into the old bar, whose cool, dark, slightly weird spaces call up another chapter in the citys past. Patrons of a certain age might be struck with the feeling that bands like Monuments Galore or the Stretch Marks will be heading onstage for a set at any moment.

So, lots of history, then. But what about the present? Alycias might have a hard time living up to the cooking of all those beloved babas  who wouldnt? And the consensus around my table was that the present-day fare is not quite as good as the food at the original McGregor spot.

The new Alycias does offer a certain unpretentious charm, though, and if you stick to the Ukrainian specialties, the food is solid, but not outstanding.

Borscht, packed with beets and beans and served with lashings of sour cream, is hearty but the broth could be more flavourful.

After leaving in 2011, the family-owned restaurant Alycia's returned to Winnipeg in May. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

Perishky, little stuffed buns served as appetizers, are nice, with either good sauerkraut or lovely chunks of sweet-sour plum inside. The house salad is simple and fresh, mostly delicate greens and red onions, with dressing served on the side.

The kitchens staples are perogies, cabbage rolls, kielbasa and coleslaw.

Lets start with the perogies. First off, there are none of those fancy nouveau perogy flavours here  no bison and rosemary or duck with truffle oil.

Alycias stays resolutely simple and old-school with the classic potato-and-cheddar-cheese perogy, which you can order fried or boiled. Our server tells us that people prefer fried to boiled more than two to one, and I can see why, that touch of crispness nicely offsetting the dumplings doughy placidity. Either way, the results are tender, generously stuffed and finished with bits of browned onions and, of course, loads of sour cream.

The best bet on Alycia's menu? The North End Special. (Farrell Monaco photo)

The kielbasa, served in chunks with a few char marks, is OK, though I prefer some of the more garlicky and grainy versions available at North End butchers. The cabbage rolls, stuffed with rice and onion and topped with crumbles of bacon, are likewise comfortingly good but not great.

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These dishes are available in the lunch buffet ($14.95), running Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. But youre already getting whacking big portions if you order almost any of the platters off the menu, which offer good value for the money. The North End Special includes six perogies, two cabbage rolls and kielbasa, with mushroom gravy, sour cream and coleslaw, and the Ukrainian Deluxe is even bigger. On a Sunday around noon, a couple of other tables seemed to host folks enjoying massive, perogy-centred morning-after-the-night-before breakfasts.

There are a few other dinner options, including chicken, ribs and "hamburger steak," that are presumably the "Canadian" part of the menus promised "Ukrainian/Canadian cuisine," but they are subpar. The hamburger steak is a real throwback to 1950s diners and lunch counters, being a big chunk of ground beef, fried up and smothered in a mushroom gravy with that thick, glossy texture that suggests a lot of cornstarch.

Mostly, though, that traditional no-frills diner feel works in Alycias favour. Fittings are basic, service is friendly  though a bit overstretched at times  and the food menu concentrates on homey tradition.

The drinks menu, meanwhile, tersely announces "House Wine," "Domestic Beer and Shots," and "Cocktails," with no added info  though I love that among this laconic roll, Crown Royal (Gimlis own!) gets its very own listing.

Alycia's offers a buffet lunch with traditional Ukrainian dishes in their new location in the Royal Albert Arms Hotel. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

alison.gillmor@freepress.mb.caRed River College is building a $2.75-million dedicated research space for its growing culinary research and innovation program with the help of $1 million from the federal governments Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).

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Red River College is building a $2.75-million dedicated research space for its growing culinary research and innovation program with the help of $1 million from the federal governments Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI).

The 4,500-square-foot culinary lab, now under construction on the 11th floor of the Paterson GlobalFoods Institute, will help expand the departments roster of industry partners, which already numbers more than 40. It will include facilities to conduct food fermentation, research into food safety and address challenges such as food waste.

Federal Science and Sport Minister Kirsty Duncan was at Red River College (RRC) on Wednesday to announce the funding, which was part of the current round of $10.6 million worth of funding from the CFIs College-Industry Innovation Fund.

Only 11 projects were funded from the more than 100 colleges from across the country.

RRC president Paul Vogt said the general public may not appreciate the level of science thats required to produce the kind of nutritious  and tasty  food that discriminating consumers are increasingly demanding.

"Food development is food science," Vogt said.

"You need scientific testing facilities."

The new space will primarily be used for applied research with industry partners, but will also be available for students and instructors.

In addition to specialized equipment for food development, the new culinary research centre will also include a basic chemistry lab, something in demand from startups that are looking to develop new food products.

Minister of Science and Sport Kristy Duncan tastes samples of some of the food research projects. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

The lab will further bolster RRCs standing as the pre-eminent culinary applied research and culinary school in Western Canada. It will also finish off development of the 11-storey Paterson GlobalFoods Institute, which opened close to six years ago.

In the past, the culinary research and food innovation program has helped Grannys poultry test the results of using Omega-3 feed, Pulse Canada to develop new recipes and has worked with hemp, oats and barley producers to develop new foods and ingredients.

"We are at capacity right now," said Ray Hoemsen, RRCs executive director of research partnerships and innovation.

"This will give us a dedicated space to do research to serve those clients better."

Along with $1 million in funding for a project at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, the RRC funding was the largest of the 11.

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The project applications are peer-reviewed and are not necessarily regionally distributed.

In addition to making the funding announcement at RRC, Duncan also gave a speech to the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce in the morning about the importance of the role science plays in todays economy.

Among other things, she emphasized the commitment the current government is making towards science with the latest budget providing $4 billion in spending in the area, the largest ever, including permanent funding for the Canada Innovation Fund.

"Investments in science are essential to innovation and to the economic health of the country," she said.

"Every dollar invested in fundamental research will result in a 20 per cent return on investment. That is double the return you would expect from an investment in the TSX or New York stock exchanges."

martin.cash@freepress.mb.caDozens of Nicaraguans in need of hip and knee replacements won't get surgery this fall, after a group of Manitoba doctors cancelled a surgical mission due to ongoing civil unrest in the Central American country's capital.

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Dozens of Nicaraguans in need of hip and knee replacements won't get surgery this fall, after a group of Manitoba doctors cancelled a surgical mission due to ongoing civil unrest in the Central American country's capital.

For the first time in seven years, a team of doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and other medical staff won't travel to Managua as part of the annual Operation Walk Winnipeg. Medical volunteers from across the province have treated hundreds of underprivileged Nicaraguans over the years; they gave new hips and knees to nearly 70 patients in desperate need of joint surgery during last year's three-day trip.

The 2018 trip, scheduled for November, was cancelled last week, the group's lead surgeon, David Hedden told the Free Press.

"We feel terrible that we can't go this year, but the safety of the team is the most important thing," said Hedden, who doubles as medical director at the Concordia Joint Replacement Group at the Winnipeg hospital.

For the first time in seven years, Dr. David Hedden and a team of doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and other medical staff won't travel to Managua as part of the annual Operation Walk Winnipeg. (Phil Hossack / Free Press files)

Nicaragua's capital has been ravaged by riots since April. What started out as a peaceful protest against President Daniel Ortega's neoliberal reforms to the country's social security system has escalated into a nationwide uprising against the authoritarian regime.

Human rights groups estimate government repression has resulted in more than 200 deaths and upwards of 1,100 injuries. And according to a recent Amnesty International report, state violence has intensified in recent weeks.

"I respect the decisions that are made by individuals and organizations in terms of how of a risk they're willing to take on, but what it does is it leaves the people in Nicaragua more vulnerable," said Louise Simbandumwe, co-chairwoman of Amnesty International Winnipeg.

The level of repression that's happening in the country, especially in attacks against civilians, is "heartbreaking," she said.

"There's lots of civil unrest in Managua... and that's where the hospital (a public teaching facility where care is provided by the government) where we usually do our surgery is located," Hedden said, adding he's been keeping in contact with the local doctors.

He said the volunteer group also couldn't hold off on its decision, because it faced paying cancellation fees later on.

The federal government has also issued a travel advisory that warns Canadians to avoid "non-essential travel" to Nicaragua because of the conflict.

"Global Affairs Canada is very concerned about the deteriorating situation in Nicaragua... Canada calls on the government of Nicaragua to end the violence and ensure justice and accountability for human rights violations," Krista Humick, spokeswoman for department that manages Canada's diplomatic and consular relations, wrote in a statement to the Free Press.

"The unfortunate thing is there will be a lot of patients who won't benefit from hip and knee surgeries this year. We see the most incredible deformities. We often have patients that haven't walked for a year or two, and we fix their joints and they walk out of the hospital"

The travel advisory means if anything were to happen to the volunteers during the trip, Hedden said they wouldn't receive the usual government support.

"The unfortunate thing is there will be a lot of patients who won't benefit from hip and knee surgeries this year. We see the most incredible deformities," he said. "We often have patients that haven't walked for a year or two, and we fix their joints and they walk out of the hospital."

The Winnipeg doctor said there are as many as 3,000 people estimated to be in need of joint surgery in Nicaragua.

"We have a wait list in Canada, but there, that's not even an option," said Sharon Jillie, a nurse at Concordia Hospital who has volunteered with Operation Walk Winnipeg for the last three years.

Jillie said the patients are always "overwhelmingly grateful," because their conditions often prevent them from working.

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Preventative drugs, which can prevent joint inflammation developing into a need for a hip or knee replacement, aren't readily available nor affordable in Nicaragua, Hedden said. That then leads to an increased need for joint surgeries, which hospitals can't provide because a lack of funding.

Most of the resources in Managua go towards funding trauma care, he said.

That's why organizations like Operation Walk fundraise for their missions; the annual trip from Winnipeg costs between $150,000 to $200,000. The money raised this year will be banked for the next trip, hopefully in 2019, Hedden said.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie

Operation Walk: Nicaragua In October 2012 a medical team of surgeons, nurses, physiotherapists and support stuff traveled from Winnipeg to Managua, Nicaragua to perform knee replacements for those who normally could not afford surgeries. Free Press photojournalist Phil Hossack documented the trip.

Prior to the trip nurse Karen Watchorn shifts supplies in a St. James warehouse readying the inventory for shipment to Nicaraugua. Jordan Middlestead, a recipient of multiple hip replacements himself, sorts and positions gear to be shipped to Managua for Operation Walk. A delivery man juggles a stack of boxes as the Op-Walks medical supplies arrive at the hospital in Managua. A badly crippled man makes his way on hands and knees through a Managua public market. Winnipegs Operation Walk team arrived in the Nicaraguan Capitol to treat people like him who depend on their own mobility to survive in the central American country. Family (some bearing gifts) arrive at Managuas Hospital Escuelda. A patient waits "patiently" for documents at Managuas Hospital Escueldas records window. Wearing a traditional nurses "cap" a Nicaraguan nurse takes care of record keeping behind a prayer poster on the emergency ward. Patients on walkers and crutches arrive for an assessment at the clinic. Lucia Moyorga arrives with her sons support for her pre-operation assessment by the Operation Walk team. Patients line up in droves for a day clinic at Hospital Escuelda. Lucia Moyorga is supported by Adian Salonga (left) and Victor Medina as she gets her feet underneath her for the first time following her surgery. Using a single cane and carrying his crutches Juan Canda leaves the hospital in Managua for home four days after "bi-lateral" surgery where both knees were replaced. Juan Canda explores the hallway near his recovery ward under the watchful care of staff. The morning after his surgery, Juans dress shoes wait for his first walk. Suffering the heat poorly, Lucia Moyorga urges her son to fan her harder after a short walk the day following her surgery. The morning after his surgery, Juan Candas grimaces as he sinks into a chair after his first walk with physio-therapists Ian WIndle (left) and Adrian Salonga. Patients wait on their beds for surgery in the mens ward. Sylvia Vegas daughter mirrors her mothers smile after coming to the ward following her operation. Surrounded by empty beds, Sylvia Vega recovers from surgery under the care of nurse Elaine Hassan. Juan Canada walks toward his home on the outskirts of Managua four days after surgery. A Nicaraguan OR nurse shoulders wrapped sterile instruments to the OR. Maria Gomez is surrounded by specialists from the Operation Walk team for her assessment prior to surgery. Surgical candidate Maria Gomez clutches her files and x-rays as she waits. A stainless steel mallet drives home a piece of a knee replacement. Surgeon David Heddon has his work reflected on a visor during a knee replacement. Surgeon Eric Bohm (left), Dr Jon March (centre) and Dr Jason Crosby work on replacing a knee while Nicaraguan surgical nurses watch. Sylvia Vega is wheeled into the OR. A patient waiting for "bi-lateral" surgery to replace both knees has the order written on his thighs before heading into the OR. Dr Stephen Henry (left) and Dr Tom Turgeon and a combined team of specialists from Winnipeg and Managua, check a patients medication. Prior to the first operation Dr. Jason Crosby lifts Juan Candas leg as Dr. Hedden watches.A 24-year-old Winnipeg man has been arrested and charged in the "completely random" 2017 homicide of Dean Wade Yurkiw, police said Thursday.

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A 24-year-old Winnipeg man has been arrested and charged in the "completely random" 2017 homicide of Dean Wade Yurkiw, police said Thursday.

Zachary Brandon Roulette faces a second-degree murder charge after Yurkiw, 50, was fatally stabbed Aug. 4, 2017, on the 300 block of Redwood Avenue.

According to police, officers responded to a report about an injured male in a home near Aikins Street and found Yurkiw in critical condition; his attacker was no where in sight.

Yurkiw and the suspect were strangers prior to the attack, Winnipeg Police Service spokeswoman Const. Tammy Skrabek told reporters Thursday.

"At this point, it's completely random. The information from the investigators is that there is no known motivation for the attack," she said.

Earlier this month, police asked the public for help in identifying a suspect. A compilation of evidence led to investigators obtaining an arrest warrant for Roulette earlier this week, Skrabek said. He was arrested Wednesday, and detained at the Winnipeg Remand Centre.

Yurkiw was a DJ who performed gigs at the Kildonan Hotel, where he was employed as a maintenance worker, according to an obituary published in the Free Press.

"He loved music and preferred to spend his time alone, with headphones on -- spinning the discs and mixing dance tunes," the obituary reads. It also states the "highlight" of his life was travelling to Vancouver to work the closing ceremonies at the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Kildonan Hotel owner Ron Walpole, Yurkiw's boss for seven years, said he was "really into music," adding Yurkiw was also a DJ at Pride Winnipeg festival events.

"He was a little bit of a lost sheep in the world, but well-intentioned and well-liked by everybody," Walpole told the Free Press during a phone call Thursday.

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Everyone who worked with Yurkiw at the hotel was happy to hear he hadn't been forgotten about, when they heard about the arrest made this week, Walpole said. "It's nice closure for the family."

Wednesday's arrest means the WPS has posted a 100 per cent solvency rate for homicides that took place last year, Skrabek said. There were 24 homicides recorded in 2017, according to the service's latest report.

"We're reaching out to the public a little bit more," she said. "Particularly in homicides, we really rely on the eyes and ears of the public.

"The investigators, in this case, we had to hold onto this case for a year to gather information. That's a lot of interviewing, that's a lot of evidence-seeking, that's a lot of fact analysis. Without the input of civilians and people in the area, it wouldn't be possible."

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggieThe Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba has concluded the use of lethal force by two Winnipeg police officers who shot and killed a man last year was "justified and unavoidable."

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This article was published 26/7/2018 (1187 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba has concluded the use of lethal force by two Winnipeg police officers who shot and killed a man last year was "justified and unavoidable."

On Sept. 12, 2017, police were investigating several incidents in which 23-year-old Adrian Lacquette was a suspect, including a commercial robbery, a carjacking, and a domestic assault. After midnight, a police helicopter tracked a stolen vehicle being driven by Lacquette until he exited the vehicle on the 400 block of Alfred Avenue with what appeared to be a sawed-off rifle. It was later discovered to be a replica.

Adrian Lacquette (Facebook)

According to the IIU, Lacquette pointed the weapon at his head when officers approached, before pointing it at two members of the tactical support team, who then fired 13 rounds at him.

Lacquette was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced deceased. The full report, released Thursday, notes the suspect "ignored all police commands to drop his gun or surrender."

"The evidence also makes clear that (Lacquette) was intent on taking his life or having the police accomplish this for him," Zane Tessler, IIU civilian director, noted in his final report.

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According to the report, the suspect was reportedly involved in three separate incidents involving a firearm -- and given the appearance of a firearm at the time police approached him, officers made the appropriate decision to arm themselves.

"His action of pointing his weapon at a police officer is consistent with a person who wishes to instigate a police shooting to accomplish that purpose," Tessler wrote. "This is an unfortunate, yet all too familiar, circumstance seen across Canada and the United States in situations similar to this."

An autopsy report determined Lacquette suffered nine gunshot wounds, including three to the chest with perforations of major organs. The autopsy also found traces of cocaine and oxycodone in his system, as well as therapeutic levels of alprazolam, a prescription drug used to treat anxiety; sub-therapeutic levels of anti-depressant venlafaxine; and 7-aminoclonazepam, a substance related to seizure treatment.

To reach the conclusion, the IIU interviewed 11 officers present or nearby at the time of the shooting and 18 civilian witnesses over the course of the 10-month investigation.

As the Fatality Inquiries Act requires, there will be an inquest into Lacquette's death. The IIU is not recommending any charges against any officers involved.

ben.waldman@freepress.mb.caOn Oct. 17, smoking cannabis will become legal in Canada. As for cannabis edibles, they will take a bit longer: cannabis-infused food products will be legal in a little less than a years time.

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Opinion

On Oct. 17, smoking cannabis will become legal in Canada. As for cannabis edibles, they will take a bit longer: cannabis-infused food products will be legal in a little less than a years time.

Once edibles are available, things will get complicated in Canadas food industry. But with the right regulations, this is a profit opportunity that doesnt come by every day.

Initially, Bill C-45 did not include edibles. That only happened last fall, when the parliamentary health committee decided that edibles would need to be included as well if the country was going to adopt a comprehensive approach to legalized cannabis.

According to a recently published survey from Dalhousie University, 93 per cent of those favourable to the legalization of marijuana are also very likely to try at least one edible product. Recognizing this possibility, the parliamentary committee approved a neat little amendment and, voila, edibles became part of the package.

The food industry is a $200-billion sector. It is a massive portion of our economy, split into multiple streams. Food retailing, food service, delivery, food trucks, institutional services, arenas, stadiums  there are channels of distribution everywhere, and food can get to wherever you are.

In less than a year, this will include cannabis  except that, unlike the smokeable version, edibles can be consumed by anyone without those around them knowing. Its discreet, convenient  and potentially dangerous.

Labelling required

Health Canada was caught by surprise by the additional legalization of edibles, and is still trying to come up with an appropriate regulatory framework. Many questions linger about the distinct dangers that edibles pose, particularly for children.

Food companies are notoriously paranoid about food-safety issues, because they are always just one recall, outbreak or tragic incident away from closing their doors. All it takes is one child eating a cannabis-infused product and the damage to that food company would be irreversible.

Its critical that a regulatory framework be put in place that would include proper labelling of edibles, complete with THC content and intoxicant warnings, to assure both the public and industry that edibles and humans can co-exist safely.

With adequate safety measures, edibles present a hugely profitable opportunity for the Canadian food industry. No one really knows for certain what the market potential is for cannabis, much less for edibles, but growth opportunities are palatable.

In California, for example, consumers purchased US$180-million worth of cannabis-infused food and drink last year. This amounts to roughly 10 per cent of the states total cannabis sales. Sales are up 18 per cent since January of this year. In Colorado, where cannabis is also legal, sales of edibles rose by about 60 per cent a year over the past two years.

This kind of tremendous growth is what the food industry needs right now. The more consumers are exposed to cannabis, the more they will opt for the edible version. Quite simply, this is a potential phenomenon akin to what the industry saw with sales of gluten-free products.

Industry shake up

Edibles also stand to shake up current players in the food sector. For example, people may choose cannabis more often than a drink or two, and thus disrupt the alcohol industry. We could see some consumers substituting their usual wine, beer or spirits for a cannabis-infused spaghetti sauce, or possibly even cannabis oil. Or perhaps some will be opt for a pot muffin or brownie.

In fact, many wine producers are concerned about what a mature cannabis market will look like. For Ontario, British Columbia and Nova Scotia  where the wine industry is flourishing  this could be a problem.

We are already seeing cannabis beer being launched in different places in the country. But its not just alcohol that is susceptible, as edibles can take many different forms: candies are the number one food product containing cannabis sold in the United States.

It will be interesting to see how branding strategies will align with cannabis, too. Some people will choose cannabis to get high, but not everyone.

Beyond the psychoactive effects of cannabis, there is also the possibility of pitching it as a superfood. The cannabis plant is full of nutritional value. It contains protein, carbohydrates, insoluble fibre, potassium, magnesium, sulfur, calcium, iron, zinc, vitamins E and C and many other elements considered beneficial for human health.

For food manufacturers looking for a new value-added feature, cannabis could potentially be the next omega-3 or probiotic.

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Uncertain stance

The Dalhousie survey questioned businesses about their plans for cannabis edibles. Almost 20 per cent of the food processing companies surveyed are either in the edibles market already, or intend to enter the market within a year.

But, a whopping 50 per cent of food companies in Canada are uncertain about their position regarding cannabis. Respondents cited different reasons, such as concerns over employees being trained properly, or not knowing what products will eventually be allowed into the market.

Many companies are also worried about how cannabis can affect their brands or their supply chain strategy with other partners in the industry.

With legalization, the stigma linked to cannabis will eventually disappear, but it will take a while. The food industry is known to be extremely risk-averse, and it wont be any different toward cannabis. Until the industry knows the consumer is ready, cannabis edibles will stay on the sidelines  but hopefully not for too long.

Sylvain Charlebois is a professor in food distribution and policy at Dalhousie University.

This article was first published at The Conversation Canada: theconversation.com/ca.Like it or not, University of Toronto Prof. Jordan Peterson is a cultural sensation. Over the past year and a half, Peterson has gained notoriety through his open hostility toward trans rights and feminism, as well as his characterization of universities as tools for indoctrinating students into what he terms neo-Marxism.

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This article was published 26/7/2018 (1188 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

Like it or not, University of Toronto Prof. Jordan Peterson is a cultural sensation. Over the past year and a half, Peterson has gained notoriety through his open hostility toward trans rights and feminism, as well as his characterization of universities as tools for indoctrinating students into what he terms "neo-Marxism."

He has throngs of online followers. A column in the New York Times noted hes been called the "most influential public intellectual in the western world," and academics regularly write columns seeking to discredit him.

Im an academic, but this is not one of those columns. Instead, I think we need to question our incessant need to talk about Peterson in the first place. Our obsession with Peterson reveals a larger cultural problem that threatens to cripple our universities: our adoration of the individual masculine genius.

This cult of genius comes at the expense of a vibrant intellectual life and thriving democracies in North America.

Petersons success is built on the fact that he was deemed to be a part of that special and highly nebulous category of genius  a term (much like "expert") that is almost exclusively reserved for men. In a recent column, Petersons former colleague explains that Peterson was hired and promoted precisely on these grounds: he "sometimes appeared to be in the thrall of his ideas and would not, or could not, constrain himself and self-monitor what he was saying. That was OK. He was eccentric."

In universities, we often take "eccentric," along with bad behaviour, as a mark of genius: we ignore complaints about intolerance or sexual harassment because geniuses are above the rules. We really like geniuses. We hire and promote them, and students want to study under them.

One problem with genius is that its something one is, rather than something one does. The concept implies that academic work is not, in fact, a form of work. When we only care if a university has its fair share of geniuses, we devalue and label as more feminine other forms of academic labour  from teaching to administration to less-trendy research.

In fact, the majority of teaching in North American universities is now done by contract faculty (the majority of whom tend to be women): PhD-holding subject experts who are paid per course. If theyre lucky enough to be teaching a full course load every semester, they might earn less than half the national average salary for working in excess of 40 hours a week. Permanent faculty, on the other hand, are often overloaded with administrative work, such as curriculum planning and advising students. A recent study has shown that this work, too, falls largely to female faculty members  keeping them from engaging in innovative teaching and groundbreaking research.

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This emphasis on genius also threatens to destroy entire fields of study, particularly the "softer" disciplines in the humanities (art, English, history, etc.) since genius is typically reserved primarily for the more male-dominated STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields. Politicians, administrators, many members of the public and Jordan Peterson himself regularly deride the humanities as frivolous. (Ever heard a joke about an English major being a barista-in-training?)

On the contrary, the humanities are vitally important in an increasingly polarized society because they help us to understand, analyze and critique differences in human communication and culture. And (for the practical-minded) humanities majors do get satisfying jobs. Their skills are in demand in the corporate world and they may actually have more career success than business majors.

We need to reject this cult of the masculine genius. If we want a thriving intellectual culture, we need to start valuing all academic labour and forms of inquiry. Its not just better for universities themselves, its better for building a more tolerant and democratic society.

In order to shift this culture, we need to demand that politicians and administrators value and economically support a diversity of voices inside universities. If we want a strong democracy and intellectual culture, lets forget "genius." Instead, lets build stronger universities.

Jennifer Garrison is an associate professor of English and faculty association president at St. Marys University in Calgary and a contributor with EvidenceNetwork.ca, which is based at the University of Winnipeg.

 Troy MediaOntarios new premier, Doug Ford, seems to think students in his province can make do just fine with sex ed from the previous century.

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This article was published 25/7/2018 (1188 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ontarios new premier, Doug Ford, seems to think students in his province can make do just fine with sex ed from the previous century.

That was the message his Progressive Conservative government sent when it announced the K-12 physical health curriculum guide, introduced by the previous Liberal government in 2015, would be replaced by an earlier version that had last been updated in 1998.

That might please Ontarians who wish firmly to ignore facts of daily life such as the internet, gay marriage, social media, consent and gender identity, but it wont help children and teens learn how to navigate relationships in the century theyve been born into. The updated curriculum includes introducing, at an early age, concepts such as consent, in the context of treating others well and preventing bullying.

Grown men clutching their pearls at "how are we to know whats appropriate or not" in the #MeToo era could ask a Grade 1 student, who would have learned how to "recognize caring behaviours (listening with respect, giving positive reinforcement, being helpful) and exploitative behaviours (inappropriate touching, verbal or physical abuse, bullying), and describe the feelings associated with each." Smiling, saying hello? Respectful. Negatively pressuring someone into doing something theyre uncomfortable with? Not so much.

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"These skills, like many to do with physical, mental and emotional wellbeing, take time to develop fully, but are understandable from a young age"

These skills, like many to do with physical, mental and emotional well-being, take time to develop fully, but are understandable from a young age. Ignoring them in the early years and then screaming "Just say no!" at teenagers is not a replacement for a long-term, nuanced approach.

One of the claims made during the Ontario election campaign, and since, is that the 2015 curriculum was created without consulting parents. However, according to that provinces ministry of education, in 2014 it surveyed approximately 4,000 parents, one for every elementary school in the province, in addition to more than 2,000 educators and hundreds of students.

The sex-ed components of provincial health curriculums vary widely across Canada. Manitobas educational resource for teaching human sexuality for kindergarten to Grade 8 is a document published in 2005. (However, considering that it is part of a larger health curriculum, it should be noted that other aspects have more recently been updated  for example, resources touching on cannabis were added this year, and guidelines for physical activity in schools were updated in 2016.)

Nova Scotias curriculum was updated in 2011 to include LGBTTQ* issues and topics such as cyberbullying and consent. Nova Scotia is also the province where Rehtaeh Parsons was sexually assaulted by four teens, and lived through the additional humiliation of photos being shared on the internet. She committed suicide in 2013. Ms. Parsons father, Glen Canning, has defended Ontarios 239-page curriculum from 2015, saying that if it been in place before his daughters assault, it would have meant the difference between life and death. Understanding the meaning of consent, and the effects of cyberbullying, can save lives.

Mr. Ford, whose ascension could rightly be viewed as part of politics current populist wave, has since said his government plans to hold consultations on the "new" curriculum guide. Thats a good thing, if its being done with the genuine intention of improving it. If its merely to provide cover for undoing the current guide for ideological reasons, it will do little but put young people at risk.

As populist ideas tighten their grip on public discourse, its more important than ever to let practicality  in the form of facts and common sense  guide the way we teach our children.The following companies are subsidiares of The Western Union: Banco Western Union do Brasil S.A., Coins, Custom House, Custom House (Online) Ltd., Custom House Currency Exchange (Australia) Pty. Limited, Custom House Currency Exchange (Singapore) Pte. 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BHD., Western Union Peru S.A., Western Union Processing Limited, Western Union Processing Lithuania UAB, Western Union Processing Services Inc., Western Union Regional Panama S.A., Western Union Retail Services Belgium, Western Union Retail Services GB Limited, Western Union Retail Services Ireland Limited, Western Union Retail Services Italy S.r.l., Western Union Retail Services Norway AS, Western Union Retail Services RO SRL, Western Union Retail Services Spain S.A., Western Union Retail Services Sweden AB, Western Union Services (Philippines) Inc., Western Union Services (Spain) S.L., Western Union Services India Private Limited, Western Union Services S.L., Western Union Services Singapore Private Limited, Western Union Singapore Limited, Western Union South Africa (PTY) Limited, Western Union Support Services (Nigeria) Limited, Western Union Support Services Cote dlvoire, Western Union Turkey Odeme Hizmetleri Anonim Sirketi, Western Union do Brasil Participacoes Limitada, and Western Union do Brasil Servicos e Participacoes Ltda..Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 26)  At least four factions are vying for minority leadership following a dramatic shift in power at the House of Representatives, with former President and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo taking over the speakership from Pantaleon Alvarez, a lawmaker said Thursday.

Speaking to CNN Philippines' On The Record, Deputy House Speaker Nonoy Andaya said, "as far as the majority is concerned, what we have is a letter from the Liberal Party saying  rightfully so  according to the rules, they are now part of the minority."

He added the House recognized the Liberal Party as part of the minority because all of them abstained in the voting procedure to elect Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

"What will also complicate matters is the faction of Congressman Rudy Farinas, part of the PDP also signifying their intention to be part of the minority. And Speaker GMA (Gloria Macapagal Arroyo), is also part of PDP. So, another unique situation there," Andaya said.

"So hindi lang ho isa o dalawang paksyon dito ang pinag-uusapan [So there isn't just one or two factions]. I think there are four factions all vying for the House minority leadership," he added. "And there's another group which still has to signify where they want to be  those who were absent from proceedings."

Andaya said they also got a letter from Rep. Danilo Suarez stating he has decided to join the minority of his own free will.

Suarez voted for Arroyo, and the rules state you become part of the majority if you vote for the winning candidate.

"It's a very...shall we say, ticklish issue," Andaya said.

Former Deputy Speaker Miro Quimbo however, told CNN Philippines that according to the rules, the Liberal Party is the minority.

"It's very, very clear, it does not require any interpretation," he told On the Record. "It says by definition majority members are those who vote for the ruling candidate and those who are in the minority are those who participated in the elections and voted for somebody who did not win or abstained."

He said LP members were the only ones who abstained, and were therefore, clearly the minority.

"I cannot imagine why there's even any debate," he said.

PDP-Laban not worried about members 'exodus'

Despite talk of some members of the PDP-Laban bolting to join other parties, its chief said they were not worried about this action.

Speaking to CNN Philippines Thursday, PDP-Laban President Koko Pimentel said, "Right now since nothing is official, no one is really informing us that he or she is leaving the party, then we'll just adopt a wait and see attitude."

Pimentel said members could leave the party for any reason and they would not be stopped.

"The party was established pursuant to people's to associate freely with like-minded individuals. So if you feel you don't want to associate anymore with these people, you are free to leave," he explained.

There have also been talks of PDP-Laban members considering shifting to another party for fear that there would be no one to sign their Certificte of Nomination and Acceptance (CONA), a requirement to run in the election.

That was supposed to be ousted House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez's job, but members withdrew their support for him.

Pimentel gave his assurance that there was time to fix the issue, adding Alvarez was a "good sport" who would not bear a grudge.

"Tapos na, e. Sabi naman niya 'let's move on.' If that's the attitude, there's nothing to worry about. We will issue the CONA pursuant to the best interest of the party." Pimentel said.

A CONA would not be refused simply because a member voted for Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as House Speaker, the Senator clarified.

Pimentel also did not see anything wrong with members leaving the PDP-Laban to join Hugpong ng Pagbabago  Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio's regional party  as it meant they were also supportive of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Pimentel however cautioned "they should also be careful like PDP-Laban...because what happened to us could happen to them."

"For as long as we are politically immature and we focus on personalities, ganyan po ang takbo ng pulitika sa Pilipinas," Pimentel said.

Meanwhile, Negros Occidental Representative Albee Benitez told CNN Philippines' On The Record Thursday that talks of a change in House leadership have been going on for months.

"As early as March, people were already talking about it. There was supposed to be a dinner for the President (Duterte)...and there was supposed to be a change in leadership, but it never happened," he said.

Benitez, a member of the Visayan bloc in the lower chamber, said Arroyo was then already one of the contenders for the position of House Speaker.

He said he got wind on July 22 that something was going to happen the next day  the day of President's third State of the Nation Address.

In the morning of the 23rd, different groups had their own all-member caucuses at the same time to discuss the situation, Benitez said.

The decision to vote for Arroyo, he said, was a "collective decision again of the Visayan bloc."

"There was a consensus from the political parties to go with...Arroyo," he said.

Watch the full episode of On The Record here:The Bank of New York Mellon pays an annual dividend of $1.36 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 2.28%. The Bank of New York Mellon does not yet have a strong track record of dividend growth. The dividend payout ratio of The Bank of New York Mellon is 33.92%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%. Based on earnings estimates, The Bank of New York Mellon will have a dividend payout ratio of 29.44% next year. This indicates that The Bank of New York Mellon will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

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DE C.V., POLK SMITH REGENCY LLC, PT HYATT INDONESIA, PVD INVESTMENT COMPANY S.A.R.L., Peabody Hotels & Resort, RCG PROPERTIES LLC, REGENCY BEVERAGE COMPANY LLC, REGENCY RIVERWALK BEVERAGE LLC, RESERVATIONS CENTER L.L.C., RIO JV PARTNERS PARTICIPACOES LTDA., RIO PRETO PARTNERS HOTEIS LTDA., RIO PRETO PARTNERS S.A.R.L., ROSEMONT PROJECT MANAGEMENT L.L.C., ROUTE 46 MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATES CORP., RUNWAY HOLDING L.L.C., RUNWAY L.L.C., SAO PAULO INVESTMENT COMPANY INC., SAO PAULO INVESTORS LIMITED, SASIH, SDI EQUITIES INVESTOR L.L.C., SDI INC., SDI SECURITIES 11 LLC, SDI SECURITIES 6 LLC, SELECT HOTELS GROUP L.L.C., SELECT JV HOLDINGS L.L.C., SEOUL MIRAMAR CORPORATION, SERVICIOS DE HOTELERIA SAN JOSE S. DE R.L. DE C.V., SERVICIOS HOTELEROS LA PAZ S. DE R.L. DE C.V., SETTLEMENT INVESTORS INC., SHG PUERTO RICO INC., SIERRA HEALTHSTYLES LLC, SJC DESARROLLOS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., SKS CORP. N.V., SMC HOTELS B.V., SOROCABA PARTNERS HOTEIS LTDA, SOROCABA PARTNERS S.A.R.L., STANHOPE L.L.C., STARHILL LORING PARK L.L.C., SUGAR LAND/HP LLC, THE GREAT EASTERN HOTEL COMPANY LIMITED, THE GREAT EASTERN HOTEL HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED, TIJUANA PARTNERS S. DE R.L. DE C.V., TR MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT LLC, TUCSON VILLAS HOLDINGS LLC, TUCSON VILLAS LLC, TWO SEAS HOLDINGS LIMITED, Two Roads Hospitality, WAILEA HOTEL & BEACH RESORT L.L.C., WAILEA HOTEL HOLDINGS L.L.C., WAILEA MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION L.L.C., WAILEA RESORT VILLAS HOLDINGS L.L.C., WAILEA RESORT VILLAS L.L.C., WEST END RESIDENCES L.L.C., XENIA ASSURANCE COMPANY INC., XENIA ASSURANCE COMPANY OF ILLINOIS, ZURICH ESCHERWIESE HOTEL GMBH, and ZURICH HOTEL INVESTMENTS B.V..The following companies are subsidiares of Bristol-Myers Squibb: 1096271 B.C. ULC, 345 Park LLC, A.G. Medical Services P.A., AHI Investment LLC, AbVitro LLC, Abraxis BioScience Australia Pty Ltd., Abraxis BioScience Inc., Abraxis BioScience International Holding Company Inc., Abraxis BioScience LLC, Abraxis BioScience Puerto Rico LLC, Acetylon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Adnexus, Adnexus a Bristol-Myers Squibb R&D Company, Allard Labs Acquisition G.P., Amira Pharmaceuticals, Amira Pharmaceuticals Inc., Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Apothecon LLC, B-MS Generx Unlimited Company, BMS Benelux Holdings B.V., BMS Bermuda Nominees L.L.C., BMS Data Acquisition Company LLC, BMS Forex Company, BMS Holdings Sarl, BMS Holdings Spain S.L., BMS International Insurance Designated Activity Company, BMS Investco SAS, BMS Korea Holdings L.L.C., BMS Latin American Nominees L.L.C., BMS Luxembourg Partners L.L.C., BMS Omega Bermuda Holdings Finance Ltd., BMS Pharmaceutical Korea Limited, BMS Pharmaceuticals Germany Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals International Holdings Netherlands B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Korea Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Mexico Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Netherlands Holdings B.V., BMS Real Estate LLC, BMS Spain Investments LLC, BMS Strategic Portfolio Investments Holdings Inc., Blisa Acquisition G.P., Bristol (Iran) S.A., Bristol Iran Private Company Limited, Bristol Laboratories Inc., Bristol Laboratories International S.A., Bristol Laboratories Medical Information Systems Inc., Bristol-Myers (Andes) L.L.C., Bristol-Myers (Private) Limited, Bristol-Myers Middle East S.A.L., Bristol-Myers Overseas Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (China) Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (Israel) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (NZ) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Proprietary) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (Singapore) Pte. Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Taiwan) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (West Indies) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb A.E., Bristol-Myers Squibb Aktiebolag, Bristol-Myers Squibb Argentina S. R. L., Bristol-Myers Squibb Australia Pty. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Axia Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb B.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb Belgium S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Business Services Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada Co., Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada International Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Delta Company Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Denmark Filial of Bristol-Myers Squibb AB, Bristol-Myers Squibb EMEA Sarl, Bristol-Myers Squibb Egypt LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Epsilon Holdings Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Farmaceutica Ltda., Bristol-Myers Squibb Farmaceutica Portuguesa S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb GesmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holding Germany GmbH & Co. KG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings 2002 Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Germany Verwaltungs GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Ireland Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Pharma Ltd. Liability Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Ilaclari Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb India Pvt. Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb International Company Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb International Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Investco L.L.C., Bristol-Myers Squibb K.K., Bristol-Myers Squibb Kft., Bristol-Myers Squibb Luxembourg International S.C.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Bristol-Myers Squibb MEA GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb Manufacturing Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Marketing Services S.R.L., Bristol-Myers Squibb Middle East & Africa FZ-LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Norway Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Nutricionales de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb Peru S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma (HK) Ltd, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma (Thailand) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Holding Company LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Ventures Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Polska Sp. z o.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Products SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Puerto Rico Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Puerto Rico/Sanofi Pharmaceutical Partnership Puerto Rico, Bristol-Myers Squibb Romania S.R.L., Bristol-Myers Squibb S.A.U., Bristol-Myers Squibb S.r.l., Bristol-Myers Squibb SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Holding Partnership, Bristol-Myers Squibb Sarl, Bristol-Myers Squibb Service Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Services Sp. z o.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Spol. s r.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Theta Finance Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Trustees Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Verwaltungs GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb de Colombia S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb de Costa Rica Sociedad Anonima, Bristol-Myers Squibb de Guatemala S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb/Astrazeneca EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Pfizer EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Partnership, Bristol-Myers de Venezuela S.C.A., CHT I LLC, CHT II LLC, CHT III LLC, CHT IV LLC, CR Finance Company LLC, Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals, Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals Inc., Celem LLC, Celem Ltd., Celgene, Celgene A.B., Celgene AS, Celgene Ab (Finland), Celgene Alpine Investment Co. II LLC, Celgene Alpine Investment Co. III LLC, Celgene Alpine Investment Co. LLC, Celgene ApS, Celgene B.V., Celgene BVBA, Celgene Brasil Produtos Farmaceuticos Ltda., Celgene CAR LLC, Celgene CAR Ltd., Celgene Chemicals Sarl, Celgene China Holdings LLC, Celgene Co., Celgene Corporation, Celgene Distribution B.V., Celgene EngMab GmbH, Celgene Europe B.V., Celgene Europe Limited, Celgene European Investment Company LLC, Celgene Financing Company LLC, Celgene Global Holdings Sarl, Celgene GmbH [Austria], Celgene GmbH [Germany], Celgene GmbH [Switzerland], Celgene Holdings East Corporation, Celgene Holdings II Sarl, Celgene Holdings III Sarl, Celgene Ilac Pazarlama ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Celgene Inc., Celgene International Holdings Corporation, Celgene International II Sarl, Celgene International III Sarl, Celgene International Inc., Celgene International Sarl, Celgene K.K., Celgene Kft., Celgene Limited [Hong Kong], Celgene Limited [Ireland], Celgene Limited [New Zealand], Celgene Limited [Taiwan], Celgene Limited [UK], Celgene Logistics Sarl, Celgene Ltd, Celgene Luxembourg Sarl, Celgene Management Sarl, Celgene NJ Investment Co, Celgene Netherlands B.V., Celgene Netherlands Investment B.V., Celgene Pharmaceutical (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Celgene Pte. Ltd., Celgene Pty Ltd, Celgene Puerto Rico Distribution LLC, Celgene Quanticel Research Inc, Celgene R&D Sarl, Celgene RIVOT LLC, Celgene RIVOT Ltd., Celgene RIVOT SRL, Celgene Receptos Limited, Celgene Receptos Sarl, Celgene Research Incubator At Summit West LLC, Celgene Research S.L.U., Celgene Research and Development Company LLC, Celgene Research and Development I ULC, Celgene Research and Development II LLC, Celgene Research and Investment Company II LLC, Celgene S. de R.L. de C.V., Celgene S.L.U., Celgene S.R.L., Celgene SAS, Celgene Sarl AU, Celgene Sdn Bhd, Celgene Services Sarl, Celgene Sociedade Unipessoal Lda, Celgene Sp. Z.o.o., Celgene Sro [Czech Republic], Celgene Summit Investment Co, Celgene Switzerland Holding Sarl, Celgene Switzerland II LLC, Celgene Switzerland Investment Sarl, Celgene Switzerland LLC, Celgene Switzerland Sarl, Celgene Tri A Holdings Ltd., Celgene Tri Sarl, Celgene UK Distribution Limited, Celgene UK Holdings Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing II Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing III Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing Limited, Celgene d.o.o., Celgene sro [Slovakia], Celmed LLC, Celmed Ltd., ConvaTec Divestiture, Cormorant Pharmaceuticals, Cormorant Pharmaceuticals AB, Crosp Ltd., Delinia Inc., Deuteria Pharmaceuticals Inc., DuPont Pharmaceuticals, E. R. Squibb & Sons Inter-American Corporation, E. R. Squibb & Sons L.L.C., E. R. Squibb & Sons Limited, EWI Corporation, EngMab Sarl, F-star Alpha, FermaVir Pharmaceuticals L.L.C., FermaVir Research L.L.C., Flexus Biosciences, Flexus Biosciences Inc., Forbius, Galecto Biotech, GenPharm International L.L.C., Gloucester Pharmaceuticals LLC, Grove Insurance Company Ltd., Heyden Farmaceutica Portuguesa Limitada, IFM Therapeutics, Impact Biomedicines Inc., Inhibitex, Inhibitex L.L.C., Innate Tumor Immunity Inc., JuMP Holdings LLC, Juno Therapeutics GmbH, Juno Therapeutics Inc., Kosan Biosciences, Kosan Biosciences Incorporated, Linson Investments Limited, Mead Johnson (Manufacturing) Jamaica Limited, Mead Johnson Jamaica Ltd., Medarex, Morris Avenue Investment II LLC, Morris Avenue Investment LLC, MyoKardia, O.o.o. Bristol-Myers Squibb, Oy Bristol-Myers Squibb (Finland) AB, Padlock Therapeutics, Padlock Therapeutics Inc., Pharmion LLC, Princeton Pharmaceutical Products Inc., Receptos LLC, Receptos Services LLC, RedoxTherapies Inc., Route 22 Real Estate Holding Corporation, SPV A Holdings ULC, Seamair Insurance DAC, Signal Pharmaceuticals LLC, Sino-American Shanghai Squibb Pharmaceuticals Limited, Societe Francaise de Complements Alimentaires(S.O.F.C.A.), Squibb Middle East S.A., Summit West Celgene LLC, Swords Laboratories, VentiRx Pharmaceuticals Inc., Westwood-Intrafin SA, Westwood-Squibb Pharmaceuticals Inc., X-Body Inc., ZymoGenetics, ZymoGenetics Inc., ZymoGenetics LLC, ZymoGenetics Paymaster LLC, iPierian, and iPierian Inc..CF Industries Holdings, Inc. engages in the manufacture and distribution of nitrogen fertilizer. The firm owns and operates nitrogen plants and serves agricultural and industrial customers through its distribution system. It operates through following segments: Ammonia, Granular Urea, UAN, AN, and Other. The Ammonia segment produces anhydrous ammonia, which is company's most concentrated nitrogen fertilizer product as it contains 82% nitrogen. The Granular Urea segment produces granular urea, which contains 46% nitrogen. The UAN segment produces urea ammonium nitrate solution, which is a liquid fertilizer product with a nitrogen content from 28% to 32%, is produced by combining urea and ammonium nitrate. The AN segment produces ammonium nitrate, which is a nitrogen-based product with a nitrogen content between 29% and 35%. The Other segment includes diesel exhaust fluid, nitric acid, urea liquor and aqua ammonia. The company was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Deerfield, IL.

Read MoreChristopher & Banks Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty retailer of private-brand women's apparel and accessories in the United States. The company designs and sells women's apparel and accessories to customers ranging in age from 40 and older. Its stores offer women's apparel consisting of casual clothing, everyday basics, wear-to-work, leisure/active wear, and sleepwear in missy, petite, and women sizes, as well as jewelry and accessories. As of December 4, 2018, the company operated 461 stores, including 314 MPW stores, 80 Outlet stores, 35 Christopher & Banks stores, and 32 stores in its women's plus size clothing division CJ Banks in 45 states. It also operates christopherandbanks.com, an e-commerce Website for its Christopher & Banks and CJ Banks brands. The company was formerly known as Braun's Fashions Corporation and changed its name to Christopher & Banks Corporation in July 2000. Christopher & Banks Corporation was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in Plymouth, Minnesota.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Thermo Fisher Scientific: 236 Perinton Parkway LLC, 27 Forge Parkway LLC, ABR--Affinity BioReagents, ACI Holdings Inc., ARG Services LLC, ASPEX Corporation, Abgene Inc., Abgene Limited, Acoustic Cytometry Systems Inc., AcroMetrix LLC, Acros Organics B.V.B.A., Advanced Biotechnologies Limited, Advanced Scientifics (ASI), Advanced Scientifics Inc., Advanced Scientifics International Inc., Affymetrix Biotech Participacoes Ltda., Affymetrix Biotech Shanghai Ltd, Affymetrix Inc, Affymetrix Japan K.K., Affymetrix Pte Ltd, Affymetrix UK Ltd, Afora S.A.U., Ahura Scientific, Alchematrix Inc., Alchematrix LLC, Alfa Aesar, Alfa Aesar (China) Chemical Co. Ltd., Alfa Aesar (Hong Kong) Limited, Allergon AB, Alphine Mountain Limited, Ambion Inc., Apogent Denmark ApS, Apogent Finance Company, Apogent Holding Company, Apogent Technologies Inc., Apogent Transition Corp., Apogent U.K. Limited, App-Tek International Pty Ltd, Applied Biosystems B.V., Applied Biosystems Finance B.V., Applied Biosystems International Inc., Applied Biosystems LLC, Applied Biosystems Taiwan LLC, Applied Biosystems Trading (Shanghai) Company Ltd., Applied Biosystems de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Applied Scientific Corporation, Avances Cientificos de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Avocado Research Chemicals Limited, B.R.A.H.M.S. Biotech GmbH, B.R.A.H.M.S. GmbH, B.R.A.H.M.S. UK Ltd, BAC BV, BAC IP BV, Barnstead Thermolyne LLC, Beijing Phadia Diagnostics Co Ltd, Bender MedSystems GmbH, BioTrove Corporation, BioTrove International Inc., Bioanalysis Labsystems S.A., Biochemical Sciences LLC, Biolab, BmT GmbH Laborprodukte, Bonsai Tecnologies - Sistemas para Biotecnologia e Industria Unipessoal Lda, Brammer Bio, Bumi-Sans Sendirian Berhad, CAC Limited, CB Diagnostics AB, CB Diagnostics Holding AB, CEPH International Corporation, CHK Holdings Inc., CRS Robotics, CTPS LLC, Capitol Scientific Products Inc., Capitol Vial Inc., Cellomics Inc., CellzDirect Inc., Cenduit GmbH, Cenduit LLC, Cezanne S.A.S., Chase Scientific Glass Inc., Chromacol Limited, Clintrak, Clintrak Clinical Labeling Services LLC, Clintrak Pharmaceutical Services LLC, Cohesive Technologies (UK) Limited, Cohesive Technologies Inc., Columbia Diagnostics Inc., Compendia Bioscience Inc., Comtest Limited, Consolidated Technologies Inc., Consultores Fisher Scientific Chile Ltd, Core Informatics, Core Informatics LLC, Core Informatics UK Ltd., D-finitive Technologies Inc., DCG Systems B.V., DCG Systems C.V., DCG Systems G.K., DCG Systems GmbH, DCG Systems Korea Ltd., DCG Systems LLC, DPI Newco LLC, DSM Pharmaceutical Products Inc., Dharmacon, Diagnostix Ltd., Dionex (China) Analytical Ltd, Dionex (Switzerland) AG, Dionex (UK) Limited, Dionex Austria GmbH, Dionex Benelux B.V., Dionex Brasil Instrumentos Cientificos Ltda, Dionex Canada Ltd., Dionex China Limited, Dionex Corporation, Dionex Denmark A/S, Dionex Holding GmbH, Dionex I LLC, Dionex Pty Ltd., Dionex S.A., Dionex S.p.A., Dionex Singapore Pte Ltd., Dionex Softron GmbH, Dionex Sweden AB, Distribution Solutions International Inc., Doe & Ingalls Investors Inc., Doe & Ingalls Limited, Doe & Ingalls Management LLC, Doe & Ingalls Properties II LLC, Doe & Ingalls Properties LLC, Doe & Ingalls of California Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of Florida Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of Maryland Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of Massachusetts Operating LLC, Doe & Ingalls of North Carolina Operating LLC, Doublecape Holding Limited, Doublecape Limited, Drakeside Real Estate Holding Company LLC, Duke Scientific Corporation, Dynal Biotech Beijing Limited, EGS Gauging Ltd., EGS Gauging Technical Services Company, EP Scientific Products LLC, Ecochem N.V., EnviroEquip Pty Ltd, Epsom Glass Industries Limited, Equibio Limited, Erie Electroverre S.A., Erie Finance Limited, Erie LP Holding LLC, Erie Scientific Company of Puerto Rico, Erie Scientific Hungary Kft, Erie Scientific LLC, Erie U.K. Limited, Erie UK 1 Limited, Erie UK 2 Limited, Erie UK Holding Company, Erie UK Senior Holding Limited, European Laboratory Holdings Limited, Eutech Instruments Europe B.V., Eutech Instruments Pte Ltd., Eutech Instruments Sdn Bhd, Ever Ready Thermometer Co. Inc., FEI Asia Pacific Co. Ltd., FEI Australia Pty Ltd, FEI CPD B.V., FEI Company, FEI Company Japan Ltd., FEI Company of USA (S.E.A.) Pte Ltd., FEI Czech Republic s.r.o., FEI Deutschland GmbH, FEI EFA Inc., FEI EFA International Pte. Ltd., FEI Electron Optics B.V., FEI Electron Optics International B.V., FEI Europe B.V., FEI France SAS, FEI Global Holdings C.V., FEI Hong Kong Company Limited, FEI Houston Inc., FEI Italia Srl, FEI Korea Ltd., FEI Melbourne Pty Ltd., FEI Microscopy Solutions Ltd, FEI Munich GmbH, FEI Norway Holding AS, FEI SAS, FEI Saudi Arabia LLC, FEI Servicos de Nanotecnologia Ltda., FEI Technologies Inc., FEI Technology de Mexico S.A. de C.V., FEI Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., FEI Trondheim AS, FEI UK Ltd., FHP LLC, FRC Holding Inc. V, FS (Barbados) Capital Holdings Ltd., FS Casa Rocas Holdings LLC, FS Mexicana Holdings LLC, FSI Receivables Company LLC, FSII Sweden Holdings AB, FSII Sweden Holdings I AB, FSIR Holdings (UK) Limited, FSIR Holdings (US) Inc., FSUK Holdings Limited, FSWH Company LLC, FSWH II C.V., FSWH International Holdings LLC, Fermentas China Co. Ltd, Fermentas Inc., Fermentas International, Fermentas Sweden AB, Fermentas UK Limited, Fiberlite Centrifuge LLC, Finesse Scientific Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Finesse Solutions AG, Finesse Solutions Inc., Finnzymes Oy, Fisher Alder S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Asia Manufacturing Ventures Inc., Fisher Bermuda Holdings Limited, Fisher BioImage ApS, Fisher BioPharma Services (India) Private Limited, Fisher BioSciences Japan G.K., Fisher BioServices Inc., Fisher Bioblock Holding II SNC, Fisher CLP Holding Limited Partnership, Fisher Canada Holding ULC 1, Fisher Canada Holding ULC 2, Fisher Canada Holding ULC 3, Fisher Canada Limited Partnership, Fisher Chimica BVBA, Fisher Clinical Logistics LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Fisher Clinical Services (Bristol) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Colombia) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Korea) Co. Ltd, Fisher Clinical Services (Mexico) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Peru) LLC, Fisher Clinical Services (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Fisher Clinical Services Colombia S.A.S., Fisher Clinical Services GmbH, Fisher Clinical Services Inc., Fisher Clinical Services Japan K.K., Fisher Clinical Services Latin America S.R.L., Fisher Clinical Services Limited Liability Company, Fisher Clinical Services Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Clinical Services Peru S.R.L, Fisher Clinical Services Pte Ltd., Fisher Clinical Services U.K. Limited, Fisher Emergo B.V., Fisher Germany Holdings GmbH, Fisher Hamilton China Inc., Fisher Hamilton Mexico LLC, Fisher Holdings ApS, Fisher Internet Minority Holdings L.L.C., Fisher Laboratory Products Manufacturing (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Fisher Luxembourg Danish Holdings SARL, Fisher Manufacturing (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Fisher Maybridge Holdings Limited, Fisher Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Scientific (Austria) GmbH, Fisher Scientific (Hong Kong) Limited, Fisher Scientific (M) Sdn Bhd, Fisher Scientific (SEA) Pte. Ltd., Fisher Scientific A/S, Fisher Scientific AG, Fisher Scientific Australia Pty Limited, Fisher Scientific Biotech Line ApS, Fisher Scientific Brazil Inc., Fisher Scientific Central America Inc., Fisher Scientific Chile Inc., Fisher Scientific Colombia Inc., Fisher Scientific Company, Fisher Scientific Company L.L.C., Fisher Scientific Costa Rica Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada, Fisher Scientific Europe Holdings B.V., Fisher Scientific GTF AB, Fisher Scientific Germany Beteiligungs GmbH, Fisher Scientific GmbH, Fisher Scientific Holding Company LLC, Fisher Scientific Holding HK Limited, Fisher Scientific Holding U.K. Limited, Fisher Scientific Holdings (M) Sdn Bhd, Fisher Scientific Holdings (S) Pte Ltd, Fisher Scientific International LLC, Fisher Scientific Investments (Cayman) Ltd., Fisher Scientific Ireland Investments Unlimited, Fisher Scientific Ireland Limited, Fisher Scientific Japan Ltd., Fisher Scientific Jersey Island Limited, Fisher Scientific Korea Ltd, Fisher Scientific Latin America Inc., Fisher Scientific Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Fisher Scientific Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Fisher Scientific Mexico Inc., Fisher Scientific Middle East and Africa Inc., Fisher Scientific Norway AS, Fisher Scientific Operating Company, Fisher Scientific Oxoid Holdings Ltd., Fisher Scientific Oy, Fisher Scientific Pte. Ltd., Fisher Scientific S.A.S., Fisher Scientific S.L., Fisher Scientific SPRL, Fisher Scientific The Hague I B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague II B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague III B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague IV B.V., Fisher Scientific The Hague V B.V., Fisher Scientific U.K. Limited, Fisher Scientific UK Holding Company 2, Fisher Scientific UK Holding Company Limited, Fisher Scientific Unipessoal Lda., Fisher Scientific Venezuela Inc., Fisher Scientific Worldwide (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Fisher Scientific Worldwide Holdings I C.V., Fisher Scientific Worldwide Inc., Fisher Scientific de Mexico S.A., Fisher Scientific of the Netherlands B.V., Fisher Scientific spol. S.r.o, Fisher Servicios Clinicos (Chile) LLC, Fisher Servicios Clinicos Chile Ltda, Fisher WWD Holding L.L.C., Fisher Worldwide Distribution SPV, Fisher Worldwide Gene Distribution SPV, Flux Instruments, Fuji Partnership, G & M Procter Limited, G V Instruments Limited, GV Instruments Canada Ltd., GV Instruments Inc, Gatan Inc, General Scientific Company Sdn Bhd (M), Genomed molekularbiologische und diagnostische Produkte GmbH, Gerhard Menzel B.V. & Co. KG, Gold Cattle Standard Testing Labs Inc., Golden West Indemnity Company Limited, Goring Kerr Detection Limited, Greenville Service Company Inc., HENO GmbH i.L., Hangar 215 Inc., Helmet Securities Limited, Henogen, HighChem, HyClone International Trade (Tianjin) Co. Ltd, Hybaid Limited, I.Q. (BIO) Limited, IDnostics AG, ILS Laboratories Scandinavia AB, Inel Inc., Inel SAS, InnaPhase Inc., InnaPhase Limited, IntegenX, Intrinsic BioProbes Inc., Intrinsic Bioprobes Inc., Invitrogen (Shanghai) Investment Co. Ltd., Invitrogen Argentina SA, Invitrogen BioServices India Private Limited, Invitrogen Europe Limited, Invitrogen Finance Corp., Invitrogen Holdings LLC, Invitrogen Holdings Ltd., Invitrogen Hong Kong Limited, Invitrogen IP Holdings Inc., Invitrogen Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Ion Torrent Systems Inc., Ionalytics Corporation, JSC Thermo Fisher Scientific, Jouan LLC, Jouan Limited, Jouan SA, Kendro Containment & Services Limited, Kendro Laboratory Products Ltd, Kettlebrook Insurance Co. ltd., Keystone Scientific, KonTEM GmbH, Kyle Jordan Investments LLC, LIFE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION, LTC Tech South Africa PTY Ltd., La-Pha-Pack GmbH, Lab Vision (UK) Limited, Lab Vision Corporation, Lab-Chrom-Pack LLC, Lab-Line Instruments Inc., Labomex MBP S. de R. L. De C.V., Laboratoire Service International - L.S.I, Laboratory Management Systems Inc., Laboratory Specialties Proprietary Ltd., LambTrack Limited, Laser Analytical Systems Inc., Liberty Lane Investment LLC, Liberty Lane Real Estate Holding Company LLC, Life Sciences International (Poland) SP z O.O, Life Sciences International Holdings BV, Life Sciences International LLC, Life Sciences International Limited, Life Technologies AS, Life Technologies Australia PTY Ltd., Life Technologies BPD AB, Life Technologies BPD UK Limited, Life Technologies Brasil Comercio e Industria de Produtos para Biotecnologia Ltda, Life Technologies Chile SpA, Life Technologies Clinical Services Lab Inc., Life Technologies Co. Ltd., Life Technologies Czech Republic s.r.o., Life Technologies DaAn Diagnostic (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd., Life Technologies Europe B.V., Life Technologies Finance Ltd., Life Technologies Finland Oy, Life Technologies GmbH, Life Technologies Holdings PTE Ltd., Life Technologies Inc., Life Technologies International B.V., Life Technologies Japan Ltd., Life Technologies Korea LLC, Life Technologies Limited, Life Technologies Magyarorszag Kft, Life Technologies New Zealand Ltd., Life Technologies Norway Investments US LLC, Life Technologies Polska Sp z.o.o., Life Technologies SA, Life Technologies SAS, Life Technologies s.r.o, Linkage Biosciences Inc., Linkage Biosciences S.a.r.l., Loftus Furnace Company, Lomb Scientific, Lomb Scientific (Aust) Pty Limited, MTI-GlobalStem, Marketbase International Limited, Matrix MicroScience Inc., Matrix MicroScience Ltd., Matrix Technologies Corporation Limited, Matrix Technologies LLC, Maybridge Chemical Company Limited, Maybridge Chemical Holdings Limited, Maybridge Limited, Medical Analysis Systems Inc., Medical Analysis Systems International Inc., Medical Diagnostics Systems Inc., Metavac LLC, Microgenics Corporation, Microgenics Diagnostics Pty Limited, Microgenics GmbH, Microm International GmbH, Microm Laborgerate S.L.U, Molecular BioProducts Inc., Molecular Probes Inc., Molecular Transfer Inc., NAPCO Inc., NERL Diagnostics LLC, NOVODIRECT GmbH Labor- und Industrie- Megerate, Nalge (Europe) Limited, Nalge Nunc International (Monterrey) LLC, Nalge Nunc International Corporation, Nanjing WeiKangLe Trading Industrial Co Ltd, NanoDrop Technologies LLC, National Scientific Company, Navaho Acquisition Corp., Neomarkers Inc., New FS Holdings Inc., NewcoGen PE LLC, Nihon Dynal K.K., Niton Asia Limited, NovaWave Technologies Inc., Nunc A/S, ONIX Systems Inc., OXOID CZ s.r.o., Odyssey Holdings Corporation, Odyssey Luxembourg Holdings S.a r.l., Odyssey Luxembourg IP Holdings 1 S.a r.l., Odyssey Luxembourg IP Holdings 2 S.a r.l., Odyssey Venture Corporation, Omega Data Systems, One Lambda Inc, Onix Holdings Limited, Orme Scientific Limited, Owl Separation Systems LLC, Oxoid (ELY) Limited, Oxoid 2000 Limited, Oxoid AS, Oxoid Australia Pty. Limited, Oxoid Company, Oxoid Deutschland GmbH, Oxoid Holding SAS, Oxoid Holdings Limited, Oxoid Inc., Oxoid International Limited, Oxoid Investments GmbH, Oxoid Limited, Oxoid N.V., Oxoid New Zealand Limited, Oxoid Pension Trustees Limited, Oxoid Senior Holdings Limited, Oxoid UKH LLC, PAX - DSI Acquisition LLC, PE AG, Pacific Rim Far East Industries LLC, Pacific Rim Investment LLC, Panomics L.L.C., Panomics S.R.L., Patheon, Patheon API Inc., Patheon API Manufacturing Inc., Patheon API Services Inc., Patheon Austria GmbH & Co KG, Patheon B.V., Patheon Banner U.S. Holdings Inc., Patheon Biologics (NJ) LLC, Patheon Biologics Australia Pty Ltd, Patheon Biologics B.V., Patheon Biologics LLC, Patheon Calculus Merger LLC, Patheon Cooperatief U.A., Patheon Development Services Inc., Patheon Finance LLC, Patheon France SAS, Patheon Holdings B.V., Patheon Holdings I B.V., Patheon Holdings II B.V., Patheon Holdings SAS, Patheon I B.V., Patheon I Holding GmbH, Patheon Inc., Patheon International AG, Patheon Italia S.p.A., Patheon KK, Patheon Life Science Products International GmbH, Patheon Manufacturing Services LLC, Patheon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Patheon Pharmaceuticals Services Inc., Patheon Puerto Rico Acquisitions Corporation, Patheon Puerto Rico Inc., Patheon Regensburg GmbH, Patheon Softgels B.V., Patheon Softgels Inc., Patheon U.S. Holdings Inc., Patheon U.S. Holdings LLC, Patheon UK Limited, Patheon UK Pension Trustees Limited, Pelican Acquisition Corporation, Perbio Science (Canada) Company, Perbio Science AB, Perbio Science BVBA, Perbio Science France SAS, Perbio Science Inc., Perbio Science International Netherlands B.V., Perbio Science Invest AB, Perbio Science Nederland B.V., Perbio Science Projekt AB, Perbio Science Sweden Holdings AB, Perbio Science Switzerland SA, Perbio Science UK Limited, Phadia AB, Phadia Diagnosticos Ltda, Phadia GmbH, Phadia Holding AB, Phadia International Holdings C.V., Phadia Korea Co. Ltd, Phadia Luxembourg Holdings S.a.r.l., Phadia Malta Holdings Limited, Phadia Oy, Phadia Real Property AB, Phadia Sweden AB, Phadia Taiwan Inc., Phadia US Inc., Phadia s.r.o., Pharmacaps Mexicana SA de CV, Phenom-World B.V., Phenom-World Holding B.V, Phenom-World Innovations B.V., Phinotex, Pierce Biotechnology Inc., Pierce Milwaukee Holding Corp., Pierce Milwaukee Inc., Polychromix, Power Sweden Holdings I AB, Power Sweden Holdings II AB, Power Sweden Holdings III Aktiebolag, Princeton Gamma-Tech Instruments LLC, Princeton Security Technologies, Prionics AG, Prionics Asia Ltd., Prionics Deutschland GmbH, Prionics France SAS, Prionics Italia S.r.l., Prionics Lelystad B.V., Prionics USA Inc., Priority Air Express LLC, Priority Air Express Pte. Ltd., Priority Air Express UK Limited, Priority Air Holdings Corp, Priority Solutions International, Promedica Pty Limited, Proxeon, Proxeon Biosystems ApS, Qiagen, REP GBP I-B Blocker Inc., Raymond A Lamb Limited, Remel Europe Limited, Remel Inc., Richard-Allan Scientific Company, Robbins Scientific LLC, Robocon Labor- und Industrieroboter Gesellschaft m.b.H, Rupprecht and Patashnick, Rupprecht and Patashnick (R&P), Russell pH Limited, S.C.I. du 10 rue Dugay Trouin, SCI Inno 92, STC Bio Manufacturing Inc., Samco Scientific (Monterrey) LLC, Samco Scientific LLC, Saroph Sweden AB, Schantz Road LLC, Seradyn Inc., Shanghai Life Technologies Biotechnology Co. Limited, Shanghai Thermo Fisher (C-I) Trading Co. Ltd, Shanghai Thermo Fisher (S) Trading Co. Ltd, Southern Trials (Pty) Ltd., Specialty (SMI) Inc., Spectra-Physics AB, Spectra-Physics Holdings Limited, Spectra-Physics Holdings USA LLC, Spectronex, Staten Island Cogeneration Corporation, Sterilin Limited, Stokes Bio Ltd., Sweden DIA (Sweden) AB, SwissAnalytic Group GmbH, Systems Manufacturing Corporation, TFLP LLC, TFS Breda B.V., TFS LLC, TFS Singapore HK Limited, TFSL Financing GP LLC, TFSL Senior GP Holdings 2 LLC, TK Partnership, TKA Wasseraufbereitungssysteme, TMOI Inc., TPI Real Estate Holdings LLC, TSP Holdings I LLC, TWX LLC, Technology Design Solutions Pty Ltd, Thermedics Detection de Argentina S.R.L, Thermo Allen Coding Limited, Thermo Asset Management Services Inc., Thermo BioAnalysis LLC, Thermo BioAnalysis Limited, Thermo BioSciences Holdings LLC, Thermo CIDTEC, Thermo CRS Holdings Ltd., Thermo CRS Ltd., Thermo Cambridge Limited, Thermo Cayman Holdings Ltd., Thermo Corporation, Thermo DMA Inc., Thermo Detection de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Thermo Dutch Holdings Limited Partnership, Thermo EGS Gauging LLC, Thermo Eberline Holdings I LLC, Thermo Eberline Holdings II LLC, Thermo Eberline LLC, Thermo Electron (Calgary) Limited, Thermo Electron (Chile) S.p.A., Thermo Electron (Karlsruhe) GmbH, Thermo Electron (Management Services) Limited, Thermo Electron (Proprietary) Limited, Thermo Electron A/S, Thermo Electron Australia Pty Limited, Thermo Electron Export Inc., Thermo Electron Holdings SAS, Thermo Electron Industries, Thermo Electron LED GmbH, Thermo Electron LED S.A.S., Thermo Electron Limited, Thermo Electron Manufacturing Limited, Thermo Electron Metallurgical Services Inc., Thermo Electron North America LLC, Thermo Electron Pension Trust GmbH, Thermo Electron Puerto Rico Inc., Thermo Electron SAS, Thermo Electron Scientific Instruments LLC, Thermo Electron Sweden AB, Thermo Electron Sweden Forvaltning AB, Thermo Electron Weighing & Inspection Limited, Thermo Elemental Limited, Thermo Environmental Instruments LLC, Thermo Fast U.K. Limited, Thermo Finland Holdings LLC, Thermo Finland Holdings MT1 B.V., Thermo Finland Holdings MT2 B.V., Thermo Finnigan LLC, Thermo Finnigan Limited, Thermo Fisher (CN) Luxembourg Holding S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher (CN) Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher (CN) Malta Holdings Limited, Thermo Fisher (CN-I) Luxembourg LLC, Thermo Fisher (CN-II) Luxembourg LLC, Thermo Fisher (Cayman) Holdings I Ltd., Thermo Fisher (Cayman) Holdings II Ltd., Thermo Fisher (Finland Holdings 2) LLC, Thermo Fisher (Finland Holdings) Limited Partnership, Thermo Fisher (Gibraltar) II Limited, Thermo Fisher (Gibraltar) Limited, Thermo Fisher (Heysham) Limited, Thermo Fisher (Kandel) GmbH, Thermo Fisher CHK Holding LLC, Thermo Fisher China Business Trust, Thermo Fisher China Business Trust II, Thermo Fisher Costa Rica Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada, Thermo Fisher Cyprus Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Detection Mexico LLC, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics (Ireland) Limited, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics AB, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics AG, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics AS, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics Aps, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics Austria GmbH, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics B.V., Thermo Fisher Diagnostics GmbH, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics K.K., Thermo Fisher Diagnostics Limited, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics NV, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics S.L.U., Thermo Fisher Diagnostics S.p.A. , Thermo Fisher Diagnostics SAS, Thermo Fisher Diagnostics Sociedade Unipessoal Lda, Thermo Fisher Eurobonds Ltd., Thermo Fisher Financial Services Inc., Thermo Fisher GP LLC, Thermo Fisher German Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Germany B.V., Thermo Fisher India Divestco Private Limited, Thermo Fisher India Holding B.V., Thermo Fisher Insurance Holdings Inc., Thermo Fisher Insurance Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Investments (Cayman) Ltd., Thermo Fisher Israel Ltd., Thermo Fisher Production et Services SAS, Thermo Fisher Project Cyprus LLC, Thermo Fisher Re Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Asheville) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Australia) C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Barbados) Holdings Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Breda) Holding BV, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Bremen) GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific (CN) Limited Partnership, Thermo Fisher Scientific (China) Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (China) Holding Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (China-HK) Holding Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (DE) Holding S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Ecublens) SARL, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance I) B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance I) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance II) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance III) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Finance III) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Fuji) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Holding II) B.V. & Co. KG, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Hong Kong) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (IVGN) B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (IVGN) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Johannesburg) (Proprietary) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Mexico City) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Milwaukee) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Mississauga) Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Monterrey) S. De R.L. De C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (NK) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN) Austria Holding GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN) UK LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN) UK Limited Partnership, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN-I) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN-II) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific (PN1) UK Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Panama) B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Panama) Dutch LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Praha) s.r.o., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Real Estate 1) GmbH & Co. KG, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Real Estate 1) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Schweiz) AG, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Shanghai) Instruments Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Shanghai) Management Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific (Suzhou) Instruments Co. Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific AL-1 LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific AU C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific AU II Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific AU LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific AU Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Africa Proprietary Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Aquasensors LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Australia Pty Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific B.V.B.A., Thermo Fisher Scientific BHK (I) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific BHK (II) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Baltics UAB, Thermo Fisher Scientific Beteiligungsverwaltungs GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific Biosciences Corp., Thermo Fisher Scientific Brahms LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Brasil Instrumentos de Processo Ltda., Thermo Fisher Scientific Brasil Servicos de Logistica Ltda, Thermo Fisher Scientific C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cayman Investments LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Chemicals Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific China (C-I) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific China (S) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific China Holdings I B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific China Holdings II B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific China Holdings III B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific China Holdings IV B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Chromatography Holdings Aps, Thermo Fisher Scientific Chromatography Holdings S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus I C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus I Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus II C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus II Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus III C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus III Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus IV C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Cyprus V C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Denmark Senior Holdings ApS, Thermo Fisher Scientific Erie 1 Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Erie Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Erie Financing S.a r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific Europe GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific FLC B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific FLC Finance C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific FLC II B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific FLC LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific FSIR Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific FSIR Financing S.a.r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific FSUKHCO Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Falcon Senior Holdings Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Finance Company BV, Thermo Fisher Scientific GENEART GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific Germany BV & Co. KG, Thermo Fisher Scientific GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific HR Services Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Holdings (Cayman) I, Thermo Fisher Scientific Holdings (Cayman) II , Thermo Fisher Scientific Holdings Europe Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific IT Services GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific India Holding LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific India Pvt Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments (Luxembourg) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments (Malta) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments (Sweden) LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments (Sweden) S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Investments Malta (Sweden Financing) Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Invitrogen Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Japan Holdings I B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Japan Holdings II B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Japan Holdings III B.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific K.K., Thermo Fisher Scientific Korea Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific LSI Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life CV GP Holdings II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life CV GP Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Enterprises C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Enterprises GP LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Financing (Cayman), Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Financing C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Financing Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Holdings I C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Holdings II C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Holdings III C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Holdings Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life International GP Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life International Holdings I C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life International Holdings II C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments GP LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments I S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments II S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments III S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments IV S.a.r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments Malta Holding I LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments Malta Holding II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments Malta I Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments Malta II Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments US Financing I LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Investments US Financing II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life NL Holdings GP LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Netherlands Holding C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior GP Holdings II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior GP Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior Holdings C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior Holdings II C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Senior Holdings Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Switzerland Holdings GP LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Tech Korea Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Enterprise Holding Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investment I LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investment II LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investment UK I Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investment UK II Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Investments Holding LP, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Israel Investment I Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Israel Investment II Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Life Technologies Luxembourg Holding LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Enterprise Holdings S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg German Holdings S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Life Technologies UK Holding S.a r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Sweden Holdings I S.a r.l, Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Sweden Holdings II S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Venture Holdings I S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Luxembourg Venture Holdings II S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Thermo Fisher Scientific Malta Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Messtechnik GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific Mexico City S. de R.L. de C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific Middle East Holdings Inc., Thermo Fisher Scientific Milano Srl, Thermo Fisher Scientific NHK Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific New Zealand Holdings, Thermo Fisher Scientific New Zealand Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Norway Holdings AS, Thermo Fisher Scientific Norway US Investments LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Odyssey Financing (Barbados) SRL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Odyssey Holdings Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Operating Company LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Oy, Thermo Fisher Scientific PN2 C.V, Thermo Fisher Scientific PN2 LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific PRB LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific PRB Malta Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific PRB S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Panama I Cayman Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific Peru S.R.L., Thermo Fisher Scientific Pte. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific Re Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific SL, Thermo Fisher Scientific Senior Financing LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Senior Holdings Australia LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific South Africa Proprietary Ltd, Thermo Fisher Scientific SpA, Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra Malta Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra S.a.r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra-Physics Holdings Luxembourg I S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra-Physics Holdings Luxembourg II S.a r.l., Thermo Fisher Scientific Spectra-Physics Investments Malta Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Switzerland Holdings C.V., Thermo Fisher Scientific TR Limited, Thermo Fisher Scientific Taiwan Co. Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific Vermogensverwaltungs GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific West Palm Holdings LLC, Thermo Fisher Scientific Wissenschaftliche Gerate GmbH, Thermo Fisher Scientific Worldwide Investments (Cayman), Thermo Fisher Scientific eCommerce Solutions LLC , Thermo Fisher Senior Canada Holdings LLC, Thermo Foundation Inc., Thermo Gamma-Metrics Holdings Pty Ltd., Thermo Gamma-Metrics LLC, Thermo Gamma-Metrics Pty Ltd, Thermo Holding European Operations LLC, Thermo Hypersil Ltd, Thermo Hypersil-Keystone LLC, Thermo Informatics Asia Pacific Pty Ltd., Thermo Instrument Controls de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Thermo Kevex X-Ray LLC, Thermo Keytek LLC, Thermo LabSystems Inc., Thermo LabSystems S.A., Thermo Life Science International Trading (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Thermo Life Sciences AB, Thermo Luxembourg Holding S.a.r.l., Thermo Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Thermo MF Physics LLC, Thermo Measurement Ltd, Thermo Measuretech Canada Inc., Thermo Neslab LLC, Thermo Nicolet Limited, Thermo Onix Limited, Thermo Optek (Australia) Pty Ltd., Thermo Optek Limited, Thermo Optek S.A., Thermo Orion Inc., Thermo Portable Holdings LLC, Thermo Power Corporation, Thermo Process Instruments GP LLC, Thermo Process Instruments L.P., Thermo Projects Limited, Thermo Quest S.A., Thermo Radiometrie Limited, Thermo Ramsey Italia S.r.l., Thermo Ramsey LLC, Thermo Ramsey S.A., Thermo Re Ltd., Thermo Scientific Microbiology Pte Ltd., Thermo Scientific Microbiology Sdn Bhd, Thermo Scientific Portable Analytical Instruments Inc., Thermo Scientific Services Inc., Thermo Securities Corporation, Thermo Sentron Canada Inc., Thermo Sentron Limited, Thermo Shandon Inc., Thermo Shandon Limited, Thermo Suomi Holding B.V., Thermo TLH (UK) Limited, Thermo TLH L.P., Thermo Trace Pty Ltd., Thermo-Fisher Biochemical Product (Beijing) Co. Ltd., ThermoLase LLC, ThermoSpectra Limited, Trek Diagnostic Systems LLC, Trek Diagnostic Systems Ltd., Trek Holding Company II Ltd., Trek Holding Company Ltd., Trex Medical Corporation, USB Corporation, Union Lab Supplies Limited, United Diagnostics Inc., VG Systems Limited, Westover Scientific Inc., ZAO PE Biosystems, eBioscience GmbH, eBioscience Ltd, eBioscience SAS, and picoSpin LLC.North American Construction Group Ltd. provides mining and heavy construction services to the resource development and industrial construction sectors in Canada and the United States The company's Heavy Construction & Mining division offers constructability reviews, budgetary cost estimates, design-build construction, project management, contract mining, pre-stripping/pit pioneering, overburden removal and stockpile, muskeg removal and stockpile, site preparation, air strip construction, site dewatering/perimeter ditching, tailings and process pipelines, haulage and access road construction, tailings dam construction and densification, mechanically stabilized earth walls, dyke construction, and reclamation services. Its Equipment Maintenance Services division provides fuel and lube servicing, portable steaming, equipment inspections, parts and component supply, major overhauls and equipment refurbishment, onsite haul truck brake testing, onsite maintenance support, under carriage rebuild, machining, hose manufacturing, and technical support services, as well as welding, fabrication/repairs, weld certification, and inspection services. As of December 31, 2020, the company had a heavy equipment fleet of 626 units. The company was formerly known as North American Energy Partners Inc. and changed its name to North American Construction Group Ltd. in April 2018. The company was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in Acheson, Canada.

Read MoreWall Street analysts have given iShares Micro-Cap 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 Micro-Cap ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.Wall Street analysts have given El Paso Electric 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 El Paso Electric wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.Exelon Corp. operates as a utility services holding company, which engages in the energy generation, power marketing, and energy delivery business. It operates through the following segments: Mid Atlantic, Midwest, New York, Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and other Power Regions. The Mid-Atlantic segment represents operations in the eastern half of PJM, which includes New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, the District of Columbia and parts of Pennsylvania and North Carolina. The Midwest segment operates in the western half of PJM, which includes portions of Illinois, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee, and the United States footprint of MISO, excluding MISO's Southern Region, which covers all or most of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, the remaining parts of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio not covered by PJM, and parts of Montana, Missouri and Kentucky. The New York (NY) segment provides operations within ISONY, which covers the state of New York in its entirety. The ERCOT segment includes operations within Electric Reliability Council of Texas, covering most of the state of Texas.

Read MoreFranklin Covey Co. engages in consulting and training in the areas of strategy execution, customer loyalty, leadership, and individual effectiveness. It operates through the following three segments: Direct Offices, Education Practice, International Licensees and Corporate and Other. The Direct Offices segment includes sales personnel that serve the United States and Canada; international sales offices located in Japan, China, the United Kingdom, and Australia; governmental sales channel; and public program operations. The Education Practice segment includes domestic and international Education practice operations, which are focused on sales to educational institutions such as elementary schools, high schools, and colleges and universities. The International Licensees segment primarily comprised of royalty revenues received from these licensees. The Corporate and Other segment includes leasing operations, shipping and handling revenues, and certain corporate administrative expenses. The company was founded by Brent L. Bishop, Stephen R. Covey and Hyrum Wayne Smith in 1983 and is headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of General Motors: 2140879 Ontario Inc., ACAR Leasing, ACAR Leasing Ltd., ACF Investment, ACF Investment Corp., AFS SenSub, APGO Trust, Adam Opel, Adam Opel GmbH, Aftermarket (UK), AmeriCredit, AmeriCredit Consumer Loan, AmeriCredit Consumer Loan Company Inc., AmeriCredit Financial Services, AmeriCredit Financial Services Inc., AmeriCredit Funding, AmeriCredit Syndicated Warehouse Trust, Annunciata Corporation, Argonaut Holdings, Argonaut Holdings LLC, BOCO (Proprietary), BOCO (Proprietary) Limited, Banco GMAC, Banco GMAC S.A., Baylis (Gloucester), Boco Trust, Boden Brussels, CHEVYPLAN, CHEVYPLAN S.A. Sociedad Administradora de Planes de Autofinanciamiento Comercial, Cadillac, Cadillac Europe, Cadillac Europe GmbH, Carve-Out Ownership, Carve-Out Ownership Cooperative LLC, Chevrolet Deutschland GmbH, Chevrolet Sales (Thailand), Chevrolet Sales (Thailand) Limited, Chevrolet Sales India, Chevrolet Sales India Private Ltd., Chevrolet Sociedad Anonima de Ahorro para Fines Determinados, Controladora General Motors, Controladora General Motors S.A. de C.V., Cruise, DCJ1, DCJ1 LLC, DMAX, DMAX Ltd., Dealership Liquidations, Dealership Liquidations Inc., Delphi Energy and Engine Management Systems UK, Delphi Energy and Engine Management Systems UK Overseas Corporation, EDS (Electronic Data Systems), FAW-GM, Fundacion Chevrolet, G.M.A.C., GCAR Titling Ltd., GM (UK) Pension, GM (UK) Pension Trustees Limited, GM APO Holdings, GM Administradora de Bens, GM Administradora de Bens Ltda., GM Asia Pacific Regional Headquarters Ltd., GM Auslandsprojekte, GM Automotive, GM Automotive Services Belgium, GM CME, GM Canada Holdings, GM Canada Limited, GM Components Holdings, GM Components Holdings LLC, GM Cruise, GM Cruise Holdings LLC, GM Cruise LLC, GM Defense, GM Eurometals, GM Eurometals Inc., GM Europe Treasury, GM Finance, GM Finance Co. Holdings LLC, GM Financial, GM Financial AB, GM Financial Canada, GM Financial Canada Leasing, GM Financial Canada Leasing Ltd., GM Financial Colombia Holdings LLC, GM Financial Colombia S.A. Compania de Financiamiento, GM Financial Consumer, GM Financial Consumer Discount, GM Financial Consumer Discount Company, GM Financial Del Peru, GM Financial GmbH, GM Financial Holdings LLC, GM Financial Insurance Services, GM Financial Mexico Holdings, GM Financial Mexico Holdings LLC, GM Financial Real Estate, GM Financial de Mexico, GM Financial de Mexico S.A. de C.V. SOFOM E.R., GM Financial del Peru S.A.C, GM Global Business Services, GM Global Propulsion Systems -Torino S.r.l., GM Global Purchasing and Supply Chain, GM Global Technology Operations, GM Global Technology Operations LLC, GM Global Tooling, GM Global Tooling Company LLC, GM Global Treasury Centre Limited, GM Holden, GM Holden Pty Ltd., GM Holdings U.K. No.1 Limited, GM Inversiones Santiago Limitada, GM Investment Trustees Limited, GM Korea, GM Korea Company, GM LAAM Holdings, GM LAAM Holdings LLC, GM Mexico Holdings, GM Mobility Europe GmbH, GM PSA Purchasing Services, GM Personnel Services, GM Personnel Services Inc., GM Philippines Inc., GM Plats (Proprietary), GM Regional Holdings, GM Regional Holdings LLC, GM Retirees Pension Trustees, GM Retirees Pension Trustees Limited, GM Subsystems Manufacturing, GM Subsystems Manufacturing LLC, GM Technical Center Korea Ltd., GM Viet Nam Motor Company, GM-DI Leasing, GM-DI Leasing LLC, GMAC - Instituicao Financeira de Credito, GMAC Administradora de Consorcios, GMAC Administradora de Consorcios Ltda., GMAC Banque, GMAC Continental, GMAC Espana de Financiacion, GMAC Holdings (U.K.), GMAC Lease B.V. (aka Masterlease Europe), GMAC Nederland N.V., GMAC Prestadora de Servicios de Mao de Obra Ltda., GMAC Servicios, GMAC UK, GMAC de Venezuela, GMAC-Prestadora de Servios de Mo-de-Obra, GMACI Corretora de Seguros, GMACI Corretora de Seguros Ltda, GMAM Real Estate I, GMCH&SP Private Equity II, GMCH&SP Private Equity II L.P., GMF Australia Pty Ltd, GMF Europe, GMF Europe Holdco, GMF Europe LLP, GMF Floorplan Owner Revolving Trust, GMF Funding, GMF Germany Holdings, GMF Global Assignment, GMF Global Assignment LLC, GMF International, GMF International LLC, GMF Leasing LLC, GMF Leasing Warehousing Trust, GMF Wholesale Receivables, GMGP Holdings, General Motors (China) Investment Company, General Motors (China) Investment Company Limited, General Motors (Thailand), General Motors (Thailand) Limited, General Motors - Colmotores, General Motors - Colmotores S.A., General Motors Advisory Services LLC, General Motors Africa and Middle East, General Motors Africa and Middle East FZE, General Motors Asia, General Motors Asia LLC, General Motors Asia Pacific Holdings, General Motors Asia Pacific Holdings LLC, General Motors Asset Management, General Motors Asset Management Corporation, General Motors Australia, General Motors Australia Pty Ltd., General Motors Austria, General Motors Austria, General Motors Auto, General Motors Auto LLC, General Motors Automobiles Philippines, General Motors Automobiles Philippines Inc., General Motors Automotive Holdings, General Motors Automotive Holdings S.L., General Motors Belgique Automobile NV, General Motors Belgium, General Motors Chile, General Motors Chile Industria Automotriz Limitada, General Motors China LLC, General Motors Daewoo Auto and Technology, General Motors Daewoo Auto and Technology CIS LLC, General Motors East Africa, General Motors Egypt, General Motors Egypt S.A.E., General Motors Espana, General Motors Europe Holdings, General Motors Europe Limited, General Motors Financial Chile, General Motors Financial Chile Limitada, General Motors Financial Chile S.A., General Motors Financial Company, General Motors Financial Company Inc., General Motors Financial International, General Motors Financial Italia, General Motors Financial Suisse, General Motors Financial UK, General Motors Financial of Canada, General Motors Financial of Canada Ltd., General Motors Finland, General Motors France, General Motors GBS Hungary, General Motors Global Service Operations, General Motors Global Service Operations Inc., General Motors Hellas, General Motors Holden Australia, General Motors Holden Australia NSC, General Motors Holden Australia NSC Pty Ltd., General Motors Holden Australia Pty Ltd., General Motors Holdings LLC, General Motors IT Services (Ireland) Limited, General Motors India Private, General Motors India Private Limited, General Motors International Holdings, General Motors International Holdings LLC, General Motors International Operations, General Motors International Operations Pte. Ltd., General Motors International Services Company, General Motors International Services Company SAS, General Motors International Services LLC, General Motors Investment Limited, General Motors Investment Management, General Motors Investment Management Corporation, General Motors Investment Participacoes, General Motors Investment Participacoes Ltda., General Motors Investments, General Motors Investments Pty. Ltd., General Motors Ireland, General Motors Israel, General Motors Israel Ltd., General Motors Italia, General Motors Japan, General Motors Japan Limited, General Motors LLC, General Motors Limited, General Motors Manufacturing Poland, General Motors Nederland, General Motors New Zealand Pensions, General Motors New Zealand Pensions Limited, General Motors Overseas, General Motors Overseas Commercial Vehicle, General Motors Overseas Commercial Vehicle Corporation, General Motors Overseas Corporation, General Motors Overseas Distribution, General Motors Overseas Distribution LLC, General Motors Peru, General Motors Peru S.A., General Motors Poland Spolka, General Motors Portugal, General Motors Powertrain (Thailand), General Motors Powertrain (Thailand) Limited, General Motors Research Corporation, General Motors South Africa, General Motors South Africa (Pty) Limited, General Motors Suisse, General Motors Taiwan, General Motors Taiwan Ltd., General Motors Technical Centre India, General Motors Technical Centre India Private Limited, General Motors Treasury Center, General Motors Treasury Center LLC, General Motors Turkiye, General Motors UK, General Motors Uruguay, General Motors Uruguay S.A., General Motors Venezolana, General Motors Ventures, General Motors Ventures LLC, General Motors Warehousing and Trading (Shanghai), General Motors Warehousing and Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., General Motors de Argentina, General Motors de Argentina S.r.l., General Motors de Mexico, General Motors de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., General Motors del Ecuador, General Motors del Ecuador S.A., General Motors do Brasil, General Motors do Brasil Ltda., General Motors of Canada, General Motors of Canada Company, General Motors-Holden's Sales, General Motors-Holden's Sales Pty. Limited, GigaPower LLC, Global Services Detroit, Global Services Detroit LLC, Global Tooling Service Company Europe, Global Tooling Service Company Europe Limited, Go Motor Retailing, Go Trade Parts, Grand Pointe Holdings, Grand Pointe Holdings Inc., Grand Pointe Park Condominium, Grand Pointe Park Condominium Association, H.S.H., Haines & Strange, Holden New Zealand, Holden New Zealand Limited, IBC Pension Trustees, IBC Pension Trustees Limited, IBC Vehicles, Lease Ownership Cooperative, Lease Ownership Cooperative LLC, Lidlington Engineering Company, Lidlington Engineering Company Ltd., Limited Liability Company "General Motors CIS", Master Lease Germany, Maven Drive, Maven Drive LLC, Millbrook Pension Management, Millbrook Pension Management Limited, Monetization of Carve-Out, Monetization of Carve-Out LLC, Motor Repris Automocio, Motors Holding, Motors Holding LLC, Motors Properties, Motors Properties (Trading), Multi-Use Lease Entity Trust, North American New Cars, North American New Cars LLC, Omnibus BB Transportes, Omnibus BB Transportes S. A., OnStar Connected Services Srl, OnStar Egypt Limited LLC, OnStar Europe, OnStar Europe Ltd., OnStar Global Services, OnStar Global Services Corporation, OnStar LLC, OnStar de Mexico, OnStar de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Opel Bank, Opel Danmark, Opel Group, Opel Group Warehousing, Opel Leasing, Opel Norge, Opel Sonderdienste, Opel Southeast Europe, Opel Sverige, Opel Szentgotthard Automotive Manufacturing, Opel Wien, P.T. G M AutoWorld Indonesia, P.T. General Motors Indonesia, PIMS, PIMS Co., PT. General Motors Indonesia Manufacturing, Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center, Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center Company Ltd., Prestadora de Servicios GMF Colombia S.A.S., Rapid Motor Vehicle Company, Reliance Motor Car Company, Riverfront Holdings III Inc., Riverfront Holdings Inc., Riverfront Holdings Phase II Inc., SAIC GM (Shenyang) Norsom Motors Co. Ltd., SAIC GM Dong Yue Motors Company Limited, SAIC GM Dong Yue Powertrain Company Limited, SAIC GM Wuling Automobile Company Limited, SAIC General Motors Corporation Limited, SAIC General Motors Investment Limited, SAIC General Motors Sales Company Limited, SAIC-GMAC Automotive Finance Company Limited, SAIC-GMF Leasing Co. Ltd., Servicios GMAC S.A. de C.V., Shanghai Chengxin Used Car Operation and Management Company Limited, Shanghai OnStar Telematics Co. Ltd., Sherwoods (Darlington) Limited, Sidecar Technologies, Skurrays Limited, Stam-Terberg Autobedrijven B. V., Strobe Inc., VHC Sub-Holdings (UK), Vauxhall Defined Contribution Pension Plan Trustees Limited, Vehicle Asset Universal Leasing Trust, Vickers (Lakeside) Limited, Vision Motors Limited, WRE, WRE Inc., and Zona Franca Industrial Colmotores SAS.Gildan Activewear Inc. manufactures and sells various apparel products in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It provides various activewear products, including T-shirts, fleece tops and bottoms, and sport shirts under the Gildan, Gildan Performance, Gildan Hammer, Comfort Colors, American Apparel, Anvil by Gildan, Alstyle, Prim + Preux, and GoldToe brands. The company also offers hosiery products comprising athletic; dress; and casual, liner, therapeutic, and workwear socks, as well as sheer panty hoses, tights, and leggings under the brands of Gildan, Under Armour, GoldToe, PowerSox, GT a GoldToe Brand, Silver Toe, Signature Gold by Goldtoe, Peds, MediPeds, Kushyfoot, Therapy Plus, All Pro, Secret, Silks, Secret Silky, and American Apparel. In addition, it provides men's and boys' underwear products, and ladies panties under the Gildan and Gildan Platinum brand names; and ladies' shapewear, intimates, and accessories under the Secret and Secret Silky brands. The company sells its products to wholesale distributors, screen printers, or embellishers, as well as to retailers and consumer brand companies. The company was formerly known as Textiles Gildan Inc. and changed its name to Gildan Activewear Inc. in March 1995. Gildan Activewear Inc. was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

Read MoreWall Street analysts have given Hugoton Royalty Trust 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 Hugoton Royalty Trust wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.Infineon Technologies AG designs, develops, manufactures, and markets semiconductors and related system solutions worldwide. Its Automotive segment offers automotive microcontrollers; 3D ToF, magnetic, and pressure sensors; discrete power semiconductors; IGBT modules; industrial microcontrollers; power and radar sensor integrated circuits (ICs); transceivers; silicon carbide diodes, MOSEFTs, and modules; and voltage regulators for use in assistance and safety systems, comfort electronics, infotainment, powertrain, and security products. The company's Industrial Power Control segment provides bare dies, discrete IGBTs, driver ICs, SIC diodes, and IGBT modules and stacks for home appliances, industrial drives, industrial power supplies, industrial robotics, industrial vehicles, and traction, as well as for energy generation, storage, and transmission. Its Power & Sensor Systems segment offers gas sensors, MEMS microphones, and pressure sensors chips; discrete low-voltage, mid-voltage, and high-voltage power MOSFETs; control ICs; customized chips; GaN power switches; GPS low-noise amplifiers; low-voltage and high-voltage driver ICs; radar sensor ICs; RF antenna switches and power transistors; transient voltage suppressor diodes; and USB controllers for use in audio amplifiers, automotive electronics, BLDC motors, cellular communications infrastructure, electric vehicle charging stations, human machine interaction, high-reliability components, Internet of Things, LED and conventional lighting systems, mobile devices, and power management applications. The company's Connected Secure Systems segment provides connectivity solutions, embedded security controllers, microcontrollers, and security controllers for authentication, automotive, consumer electronics, government identification document, Internet of Things, mobile communication, payment system, ticketing, access control, and trusted computing applications. Infineon Technologies AG is headquartered in Munich, Germany.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Ingersoll Rand: 211 E. Russell Road LLC, Air-Relief, Belliss & Morcom Brasil, Belliss and Morcom, Boardwalk Enterprises, Charm Merger Sub Inc., CompAir, CompAir (Hankook) Korea Co. Ltd., CompAir Acquisition (No. 2) Ltd., CompAir Acquisition Ltd., CompAir BroomWade Ltd., CompAir Canada, CompAir Finance Ltd., CompAir GmbH, CompAir Holdings Limited, CompAir Holman Ltd, CompAir International Trading (Shanghai) Co Ltd, CompAir Korea Ltd, CompAir South Africa (SA) (Pty) Ltd., CompAir UK Ltd, CompAir USA, Consolidated Distribution Holdings Ltd., DV Systems Inc., Emco Wheaton, Emco Wheaton GmbH Branch, Emco Wheaton Gmbh, Emco Wheaton UK, Emco Wheaton USA Inc, Enza Air Propriety Limited (South Africa), GD Aria Holdings #2 Limited, GD Aria Holdings Limited, GD Aria Investments Limited, GD First UK Ltd, GD German Holdings GmbH, GD German Holdings I Gmbh, GD German Holdings II GmbH, GD German Investments GmbH, GD Global Holdings, GD Global Holdings II, GD Global Holdings UK II Ltd., GD Global Ventures I B.V., GD Global Ventures II B.V., GD Global Ventures III B.V., GD Industrial Products Malaysia SDN. BHD., GD Investment KY, GD UK Finance Ltd., Gardner Denver (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Gardner Denver Austria GmbH, Gardner Denver Bad Neustadt Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Belgium NV, Gardner Denver Brasil Industria E Comercio de Maquinas Ltda., Gardner Denver CZ + SK sro, Gardner Denver Canada Corp, Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments II Ltd., Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments II Ltd. - US Branch, Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments Ltd., Gardner Denver Cyprus Investments Ltd. - US Branch, Gardner Denver Deutschland GmbH, Gardner Denver Engineered Products India Private Limited, Gardner Denver FZE, Gardner Denver Finance II LLC, Gardner Denver Finance Inc & Co KG, Gardner Denver France SA, Gardner Denver France SAS, Gardner Denver Group Services Ltd, Gardner Denver Group Svcs Ltd, Gardner Denver Hoffman, Gardner Denver Holdings, Gardner Denver Holdings Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Investments Limited, Gardner Denver Hong Kong Ltd, Gardner Denver Iberica, Gardner Denver Industries Ltd., Gardner Denver Industries Pty Ltd., Gardner Denver Industries Pty Ltd. Branch, Gardner Denver International, Gardner Denver International Ltd., Gardner Denver Intl Ltd Middle East Regional Rep Office, Gardner Denver Investments, Gardner Denver Italy Holdings S.r.L., Gardner Denver Japan, Gardner Denver Kirchhain Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Korea, Gardner Denver Korea Ltd, Gardner Denver Ltd, Gardner Denver Ltd South Africa, Gardner Denver Ltd., Gardner Denver Ltd. Branch (Ireland), Gardner Denver Machinery (Shanghai) Co, Gardner Denver Machinery (Shanghai) Co., Gardner Denver Nash Brasil Industria E Comercio De Bombas Ltda, Gardner Denver Nash Deutschland GmbH, Gardner Denver Nash LLC, Gardner Denver Nash Machinery Ltd, Gardner Denver Nash Machinery Ltd., Gardner Denver Nederland BV, Gardner Denver Nederland Investments B.V., Gardner Denver Oberdorfer Pumps, Gardner Denver Oy, Gardner Denver Petroleum Pumps, Gardner Denver Polska Sp z.o.o., Gardner Denver Pte Ltd., Gardner Denver S.r.l., Gardner Denver Schopfheim GmbH, Gardner Denver Schopfheim Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver Schweiz AG, Gardner Denver Slovakia, Gardner Denver SudAmerica S.r.l., Gardner Denver Sweden AB, Gardner Denver Taiwan Ltd., Gardner Denver Thomas, Gardner Denver Thomas GmbH, Gardner Denver Thomas Pneumatic Systems (Wuxi) Co., Gardner Denver Thomas Real Estate GmbH & Co KG, Gardner Denver UK, Gardner Denver Water Jetting Systems, Garo Dott. Ing. Roberto Gabbioneta S.r.l., Hamworthy Belliss & Morcom, ILMVAC (UK) Ltd., ILS Innovative Labor Systeme, ILS Inovative Laborsysteme GmbH, Indonesia Foreign Trade Representative Office, LeROI, LeRoi International Inc, MP Pumps Inc., Mako Compressors, Nash, Nash Elmo, Oina VV, Oina VV Aktiebolag, Robuschi, Rotary Compression Technologies, Runtech Systems, Runtech Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Runtech Systems Inc., Runtech Systems OY, Shanghai CompAir Compressors Co Ltd, Shanghai Compressors & Blowers Ltd., Syltone, TCM Investments, TIWR Real Estate GmbH & Co. KG, TODO AB, Tamrotor Marine Compressors AS, Thomas Industries, Thomas Industries Inc., Tri-Continent Scientific, Welch Vacuum Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zinsser Analytic, Zinsser Analytik GmbH, and Zinsser NA.Wall Street analysts have given iShares MSCI EAFE Value 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 Value ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.The following companies are subsidiares of Mohawk Industries: A&S Energie NV, A&U Energie NV, Aladdin Manufacturing Corporation, Aladdin Manufacturing Of New York LLC, Aladdin Manufacturing of Alabama LLC, Alsace Logistique S.A., Avelgem Green Power CVBA, Avon Pacific Holdings Ltd, B&M NV, BGE Mexico S. de R. L. de C.V., Berghoef GmbH, Berghoef-Hout B.V., Bienes Raices y Materiales del Centro S. de R.L. de C.V., C.F. Marazzi S.A., Canterbury Spinners Ltd, Carpet Foundation Ltd, Cevotrans BV, Ceramus Bahia S/A  Produtos Ceramicos, DT Mex Holdings LLC, DTM/CM Holdings LLC, Dal Italia LLC, Dal-Elit LLC, Dal-Tile Chile Comercial Limitada, Dal-Tile Colombia S.A.S., Dal-Tile Distribution Inc., Dal-Tile Group Inc., Dal-Tile I LLC, Dal-Tile Industrias S. de R.L. de C.V., Dal-Tile International Inc., Dal-Tile Mexico Comercial S. de R.L. de C.V., Dal-Tile Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Dal-Tile Operaciones Mexico S. De R.L. De C.V., Dal-Tile Peru SRL, Dal-Tile Puerto Rico Inc., Dal-Tile Services Inc., Dal-Tile Shared Services Inc., Dal-Tile Tennessee LLC, Dal-Tile of Canada ULC, Daltile, Daltile, Dekaply NV, Durkan, Dynea NV, Eliane Argentina Sociedad Anonima, Eliane S/A - Revestimentos Ceramicos, Emilceramica India Pvt Ltd., Emilceramica S.r.l, Emilgermany GmbH, Emilgroup Asia Ltd, Explorer S.r.l., F.I.L.S. Investments Unlimited Company, Feltex Carpets Ltd, Feltex Carpets Pty Ltd, Feltex New Zealand Ltd, Fibremakers Australia Pty Ltd, Flooring Foundation Ltd, Flooring Industries Limited S.a r.l., Flooring XL B.V., Floorscape Limited, Godfrey Hirst & Co Pty Ltd, Godfrey Hirst (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Godfrey Hirst Australia Pty Ltd, Godfrey Hirst Group, Godfrey Hirst NZ Ltd, Hytherm (Ireland) Limited, IVC BVBA, IVC Far-East Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., IVC France S.a r.l., IVC GROUP LIMITED, IVC Green Power NV, IVC Group, IVC Group GmbH, IVC Luxembourg S.a r.l., IVC Rus OOO, IVC US Inc., International Flooring Systems S.a r.l., International Vinyl Company - Vostok OOO, KAI Group, KAI Keramica Ltd, KAI Mining EOOD, KERAMA CENTER OOO, Kerama Baltics OOO, Kerama Export OOO, Kerama Marazzi OOO, Kerampromservis (LLC), Khan Asparuh - Transport EOOD, Khan Asparuh AD, Khan Omurtag AD, Koninklijke Peitsman B.V., Kraj Kerama OOO, MG China Trading Ltd., MI Finance SRL, MUD (Holding) Brazil Ltda., Management Co EAD, Marazzi Acquisition S.r.l., Marazzi Deutschland G.m.b.H., Marazzi France Trading S.A.S., Marazzi Group, Marazzi Group F.Z.E., Marazzi Group S.r.l., Marazzi Group Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Marazzi Iberia S.L.U., Marazzi Japan Co. Ltd., Marazzi Middle East FZ LLC, Marazzi Schweiz S.A.G.L., Marazzi UK Ltd., Mohawk Assurance Services Inc., Mohawk Australia Pty Ltd, Mohawk Canada Corporation, Mohawk Capital Finance S.A., Mohawk Capital Luxembourg SA, Mohawk Carpet Distribution Inc., Mohawk Carpet Foundation Inc., Mohawk Carpet LLC, Mohawk Carpet Transportation Of Georgia LLC, Mohawk Commercial Inc., Mohawk ESV Inc., Mohawk Europe BVBA, Mohawk Factoring II Inc., Mohawk Factoring LLC, Mohawk Finance S.a r.l., Mohawk Foreign Acquisitions S.a r.l., Mohawk Foreign Funding S.a.r.l, Mohawk Foreign Holdings S.a r.l., Mohawk Foreign Investments Inc., Mohawk Global Investments S.a r.l., Mohawk Holdings International B.V., Mohawk Industries Inc., Mohawk International (Europe) S.a r.l., Mohawk International (Hong Kong) Limited, Mohawk International Capital N.V., Mohawk International Financing S.a.r.l, Mohawk International Holdings (DE) LLC, Mohawk International Holdings S.a r.l., Mohawk International Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk International Netherlands B.V., Mohawk International Services BVBA, Mohawk KAI Luxembourg Holding S.a r.l., Mohawk KAI Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Capital S.A., Mohawk Luxembourg Financing S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Holdings S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Investments S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Pacific S.a r.l., Mohawk Marazzi International BV, Mohawk Marazzi Russia BV, Mohawk New Zealand Limited, Mohawk Operaciones Mexicali S. de R.L. de C.V., Mohawk Operations Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk Pacific Investments S.a r.l., Mohawk Resources LLC, Mohawk Servicing LLC, Mohawk Singapore Private Limited, Mohawk Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Mohawk Unilin Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk United Finance B.V., Mohawk United International B.V., Mohawk Vinyl Financing S.a r.l., Molber Beheer B.V., Monarch Ceramic Tile Inc., P.F. Onroerend Goed B.V., PF Beheer B.V., Pergo, Pergo (Europe) AB, Pergo Holding BV, Pergo India Pvt Ltd, Polcolorit S.A., Premium Floors Australia Pty Limited, RR Apex LLC, Rata International Pty Ltd, Recubrimientos Interceramica S. de R.L. de C.V., Riverside Textiles Pty Ltd, S.C. KAI Ceramics SRL, Sibir Kerama OOO, SimpleSolutions USA LLC, Soft Step (Australia) Pty Ltd, Spano Group, Spano Invest BVBA, Spano NV, Stroyagromekhzapchast ChaO, Stroytrans OAO Orelstroy, Summit Wool Spinners Ltd, The Flooring Federation Ltd, Tiles Co OOD, Unilin (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Unilin ApS, Unilin Arauco Pisos Ltda., Unilin BVBA, Unilin Beheer BV, Unilin Distribution Ltd., Unilin Distribution Ukraine LLC, Unilin Finland OY, Unilin Flooring India Private Limited, Unilin Flooring SAS, Unilin GmbH, Unilin Holding BVBA, Unilin Insulation BV, Unilin Insulation SAS, Unilin Insulation Sury SAS, Unilin Italia S.R.L., Unilin North America LLC, Unilin Norway AS, Unilin OOO, Unilin Panels SAS, Unilin Poland Sp.Z.o.o., Unilin SAS, Unilin Spain SL, Unilin Swiss GmbH, Unilin s.r.o., World International Inc., Xtratherm, Xtratherm Limited, Xtratherm S.A., and Xtratherm UK Limited.New Residential Investment pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 8.70%. NRZ has a dividend yield higher than 75% of all dividend-paying stocks, making it a leading dividend payer. New Residential Investment has been increasing its dividend for 2 consecutive year(s), indicating that it does not yet have a strong track record of dividend growth. The dividend payout ratio of New Residential Investment is 68.49%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%. Based on earnings estimates, New Residential Investment will have a dividend payout ratio of 58.48% next year. This indicates that New Residential Investment will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

View New Residential Investment's dividend history.Parkland Corporation operates as a marketer, distributor, and refiner of fuel and petroleum products in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company operates through Canada, International, USA, Supply, and Corporate segments. The Canada segment supplies and supports a coast-to-coast network of 1,860 retail gas stations under the Ultramar, Esso, Fas Gas Plus, Chevron, Pioneer, and Race Trac as well as operates convenience stores under the On the Run/MarchA Express brand. Additionally it offers bulk fuel, bulk and cylinder exchange propane, heating oil, lubricants, and other related products and services to commercial, industrial, and residential customers in various industries, such as oil and gas, construction, mining, forestry, fishing, and transportation under the Ultramar, Bluewave Energy, Pipeline Commercial, Chevron, Columbia Fuels, and Sparlings Propane brands. The International segment operates retail service stations under the Esso, Shell, and Sol brands; and delivers and supplies gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, propane, and lubricants to customers in various sectors, including power, oil and gas, and mining. The USA segment operates a network of gas stations; and delivers bulk fuel, lubricants, and other related products and services under the Farstad Oil, Rhinehart Oil, Tropic Oil, Superpumper, Harts, and On the Run brands. The Supply segment manufactures transportation fuels; transports, stores, and markets fuels, crude oil, and liquid petroleum gases; and manufactures and sells aviation fuel to airlines. This segment also engages in the wholesale, supply, and distribution business. The company was formerly known as Parkland Fuel Corporation and changed its name to Parkland Corporation in May 2020. The company was founded in 1977 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Read MoreWall Street analysts have given Pioneer Floating Rate Fund 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 Pioneer Floating Rate Fund wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.The following companies are subsidiares of V.F.: 1994 Inc. Ltd., 530 Park Ave 10-F LLC, 530 Park Ave 14-H LLC, ALL'CROWN SA, Administradora Mexicana de Servicios S de RL de CV, Administradora de Servicios Honduras S.A., Altra Footwear, Altra LLC, C.C.R.L. LLC, Chapter 4 Corp, Cherry SAS, Ciliegia Srl, Corporacion Distribiduidora de Dickies S de RL de CV, Cutler de Mexico SA, Czech Distribution Services s.r.o., DSI Enterprises LLC, Dickies de Honduras SA de CV, Dickies de Parras S de RL de CV, EAGLE CREEK EUROPE LIMITED, Eagle Creek, Eagle Creek Inc., GFYS LLC, GREENSPORT MONTE BIANCO, Horace Small, INVERSIONES INMOBILIARIES AUSTRALES SA, INVERSIONES VF CHILE DOS LTDA, INVERSIONES VF CHILE LTDA, IW Apparel LLC, IW Holdings LLC, IW Panama Trading S. de R.L., IceBreaker, Icebreaker Apparel LLC, Icebreaker Australia Pty, Icebreaker Australia Retail Pty, Icebreaker Europe Limited, Icebreaker Holdings Limited, Icebreaker Licensing LLC, Icebreaker Limited, Icebreaker Merino Clothing Europe Ltd., Icebreaker New Zealand Limited, Icebreaker Pure Merino GmbH, Imagewear Apparel Corp., Industrial Laundry Services LLC, Industrias Coahuila de Zaragosa S de RL de CV, JanSport Apparel Corp., Kipling Apparel Corp., Kipling Belgium, Kipling Holdings LLC, Kirsche GmbH, Kodiak Group Holdings CO., Lee Bell Inc., Lucy, Lucy Apparel LLC, Majestic Athletic Official Store, Mo Industries Holdings, NII Sales - Texas LLC, Napapijri, North East Rig-Out Limited, North Elm Properties LLC, RED KAP DE MEXICO S DE RL DE CV, RKI HONDURAS S de RL, Reef Holdings Corporation, Rock & Republic, SERVICIOS Y PROMOCIONES TEXTILES LTDA, South Cone, South Cone Inc, Supreme, Supreme Holdings Inc., Supreme Intermediate Holdings Inc., T.I. Venture Group Inc, TBL INVESTMENTS HOLDING GMBH, TBL Licensing LLC, THE NORTH FACE ITALY SRL, THE NORTH FACE SAGL, THE RECREATIONAL FOOTWEAR CO., TIMBERLAND EUROPE BV, TIMBERLAND HK TRADING LTD., TIMBERLAND LUXEMBOURG HOLDING ASIA S.A.R.L., TIMBERLAND UK LTD., The North Face, The North Face Apparel Corp, Timberland, Timberland Asia LLC, Timberland IDC Ltd., Timberland International LLC, VANS MADEIRA LDA, VANS SPAIN SL, VF (J) FRANCE SAS, VF (J) NEDERLAND BV, VF (J) NETHERLANDS SERVICES BV, VF APPAREL PORTUGAL LDA, VF ASIA LTD, VF Apollo Investments Limited, VF Apollo Singapore Pte. Ltd., VF Asia Sourcing Ltd, VF Austria GMBH, VF BRANDS MALAYSIA SDN BHD, VF BRANDS TAIWAN LTD., VF Belgium BV, VF Brands Pte. Ltd., VF CH Apollo Sagl, VF CH Holdings GmbH, VF CH Imagewear Canada GmbH, VF CH MEXICO INVESTMENTS SAGL, VF CH-MEX Holdings LLC, VF CHINA LTD., VF CIS LLC, VF COMERCIALIZADORA LTDA, VF CZECH SERVICES SRO, VF CZECH SRO, VF Corporation, VF DE ARGENTINA SA, VF DO BRAZIL LTDA, VF EGE GIYIM SANAYI VE TICARET LIMITED SIRKETI, VF EUROPE BV, VF GERMANY TEXTILE-HANDELS GMBH, VF Germany Services GMBH, VF HELLAS EPE, VF HOLDING SAGL, VF HOLDINGS MEXICO LLC, VF Hong Kong Limited, VF IB Holdings LLC, VF IMAGEWEAR DE MEXICO S DE RL DE CV, VF IMAGEWEAR MAJESTIC (UK) LTD, VF INTERNATIONAL SAGL, VF INVESTIMENTOS DO BRAZIL LTDA, VF IP Holdings LLC, VF ISRAEL (APPAREL) LTD, VF ITALIA SRL, VF ITALY SERVICES SRL, VF Imagewear Canada Co., VF Imagewear Inc, VF Intellectual Property Services Inc, VF International Holding GmbH, VF Investments Holding GmbH, VF Investments Netherlands BV, VF JEANSWEAR ARGENTINA SRL, VF JEANSWEAR ESPANA SL, VF Japan KK, VF KOREA LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY, VF LUXEMBOURG SARL, VF Management Service Italy S.r.l., VF NL Holdings CV, VF NL Imagewear B.V., VF NORTHERN EUROPE LIMITED, VF NORTHERN EUROPE SERVICES LIMITED, VF Norway AS, VF OUTDOOR (CANADA) CO, VF OUTDOOR MEXICO S DE RL DE CV, VF OUTDOOR SERVICES S DE RL DE CV, VF Outdoor LLC, VF PANAMA SOURCING SERVICES S. DE R.L., VF PARTICIPACOES DO BRASIL LTDA, VF PERU SA, VF POLSKA DISTRIBUTION SP ZO O, VF Playwear Dominicana SA, VF Playwear LLC, VF Receivables LP, VF Receivables Services LLC, VF SAGEBRUSH ENTERPRISES LLC, VF SALES SAGL, VF SERVICIOS DE HONDURAS SA, VF SERVICIOS EL SALVADOR LTDA. DE CV, VF SHANGHAI SOURCING LIMITED, VF SOURCING THAILAND LTD, VF Scandinavia ApS, VF Services LLC, VF Servicios de Guatemala Srl, VF Servicios de Nicaragua Srl., VF Shanghai Enterprise Company, VF Shanghai Limited, VF Singapore Overseas Services Pte Ltd, VF Solutions LLC, VF Sourcing India Private Limited, VF Sweden AB, VF Switzerland Enterprises GmbH, VF Taiwan Limited, VF Transglobal GmbH, VF Treasury Services LLC, VFSE Investments LLC, VFSLA Commercial Services LLC, VFSLA Servicios S. de R.L. de C.V., Vans, Vans Inc, W-D APPAREL COMPANY LLC, W-D Licensing LLC, WD Europe SAS, WD Supply Holding Limited (HK), Walls Cayman Limited, Walls Holding Company LLC, Walls Industries LLC, Williamson Industries Ltd., Williamson-Dickie APAC Holding Company Ltd., Williamson-Dickie Apparel Trading (Shanghai) Ltd., Williamson-Dickie Canada Co., Williamson-Dickie Europe GmbH, Williamson-Dickie Europe Holdings Ltd., Williamson-Dickie Europe Ltd., Williamson-Dickie HK Holding Company Ltd., Williamson-Dickie Holding Co-Mexico S de RL de CV, Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Company LLC, Williamson-Dickie Middle East FZE, Wooster GK, Workwear Sourcing S. de R.L., World Jeans VF Asia Ltd, Worldwide Workwear Ltd., and Ying Tao Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd..

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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.CGI Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides information technology (IT) and business process services in Canada, Northern Europe, France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. Its services include the management of IT and business outsourcing, systems integration and consulting, and software solutions selling activities. The company also offers application development, management, testing, portfolio management, and modernization services; business consulting, including agile, business transformation, change management, CIO advisory, cybersecurity, data analytics, digital enterprise, project management, and industry-specific services; and a suite of business process services designed to address the needs of specific industries, as well as IT infrastructure consulting, solutions, and services. It serves clients operating in government, financial services, health, utility, communication, oil and gas, manufacturing, retail and consumer service, transportation, and post and logistics sectors. The company was formerly known as CGI Group Inc. and changed its name to CGI Inc. in January 2019. CGI Inc. was founded in 1976 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.

Read MoreReinsurance Group of America, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of traditional and non-traditional life and health reinsurance products. It operates through the following segments: U.S. and Latin America; Canada; Europe, Middle East, and Africa; Asia Pacific; and Corporate and Other. The U.S. and Latin America segment markets individual and group life and health reinsurance to domestic clients for a variety of products through yearly renewable term agreements, coinsurance, and modified coinsurance. The Canada segment offers individual life reinsurance, and to a lesser extent creditor, group life and health, critical illness and disability reinsurance, through yearly renewable term and coinsurance agreements. The Europe, Middle East, and Africa segment serves individual and group life and health products through yearly renewable term and coinsurance agreements, reinsurance of critical illness coverage that provides a benefit in the event of the diagnosis of a pre-defined critical illness and underwritten annuities. The Asia Pacific segment comprises individual and group life and health reinsurance, critical illness coverage, disability, and superannuation thr

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Sealed Air: A.P.S. (Holdings) Limited, AFP Trading (China) Co. Ltd., AFPTOH LTD, APS Automated Packaging Systems GmbH & Co. KG, APS Verwaltungs-GmbH, Air Ride Pallets Hong Kong Limited, Austin Foam Plastics Inc. (dba AFP Inc.), Automated Packaging Systems, Automated Packaging Systems Asia Holding Company Limited, Automated Packaging Systems Comerciale Importacao do Brasil Ltda., Automated Packaging Systems Europe, Automated Packaging Systems LLC, Automated Packaging Systems Limited, Automated Packaging Systems Southeast Asia Co. Ltd., B+ Equipment, B+ Equipment SAS, Beacon Holdings LLC, Biosphere Industries, BluPack (New Zealand), Blue Dot Packaging Pty Ltd., Cactus (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Cryovac (Malaysia) SDN. BHD, Cryovac Brasil Ltda., Cryovac Holdings II LLC, Cryovac International Holdings Inc., Cryovac LLC*, Cryovac Leasing Corporation, Cryovac Londrina Ltda., Cryovac Packaging Portugal  Embalagens Ltda., Cryovac-Sealed Air de Costa Rica S.R.L., DELTAPLAM Embalagens Industria e Comercio, Diversey, Diversey J Trustee Limited, Diversey Trustee Limited, Entapack Pty. Ltd., Fagerdala (Chengdu) Packaging Co. Ltd, Fagerdala (Shanghai) Foams Co. Ltd., Fagerdala (Shanghai) Polymer Co. Ltd., Fagerdala (Suzhou) Packaging Co. Ltd., Fagerdala (Thailand) Limited, Fagerdala (Xiamen) Packaging Co. Ltd., Fagerdala Leamchabung Limited, Fagerdala Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Fagerdala Mexico S.A. de C.V., Fagerdala Mexico Supply Chain S.A. de C.V., Fagerdala Packaging Inc. (Indiana), Fagerdala Singapore Pte Ltd, Fagerdala Singapore Pte. Ltd., Getpacking.com GmbH, Invertol S. de R.L. de C.V., JSC Sealed Air Kaustik, KRIS Automated Packaging Systems Holding Company, Kevothermal LLC, Kevothermal Limited, Nelipak Holdings, Pack-Tiger GmbH, Polyrol Limited, Polyrol Packaging Systems LLC, ProAseptic Technologies S.L., Producembal- Producao de Embalagens LTDA, Reflectix Inc., SLD Air Packaging Paketleme Malzemeleri Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Saddle Brook Insurance Company, Sealed Air (Asia) Holdings BV, Sealed Air (Barbados) S.R.L., Sealed Air (Canada) Co./CIE, Sealed Air (Canada) Holdings B.V., Sealed Air (China) Co. Ltd., Sealed Air (China) Limited, Sealed Air (Israel) Ltd., Sealed Air (Korea) Limited, Sealed Air (Latin America) Holdings II LLC, Sealed Air (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Sealed Air (New Zealand), Sealed Air (Philippines) Inc., Sealed Air (Singapore) Pte. Limited, Sealed Air (Ukraine) Limited, Sealed Air Africa (Pty.) Limited, Sealed Air Americas Manufacturing S. de R.L. de C.V., Sealed Air Argentina S.A., Sealed Air Australia (Holdings) Pty. Limited, Sealed Air Australia Pty. Limited, Sealed Air Australia Real Estate Pty Ltd, Sealed Air B.V., Sealed Air Belgium N.V., Sealed Air Central America S.A., Sealed Air Chile SpA, Sealed Air Colombia Ltda., Sealed Air Corporation (US), Sealed Air Cyprus Ltd., Sealed Air Denmark A/S, Sealed Air Finance B.V., Sealed Air Finance II LLC, Sealed Air Finance Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Sealed Air Funding LLC, Sealed Air General Trading LLC, Sealed Air GmbH (Germany), Sealed Air GmbH (Switzerland), Sealed Air Hellas SA, Sealed Air Holding France SAS, Sealed Air Holdings (New Zealand) Pty. Ltd., Sealed Air Holdings South Africa Proprietary Limited, Sealed Air Holdings UK I Limited, Sealed Air Holdings UK Limited, Sealed Air Hong Kong Limited, Sealed Air Hungary Ltd., Sealed Air Investment and Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Sealed Air Japan G.K., Sealed Air LLC, Sealed Air Limited (Ireland), Sealed Air Limited (UK), Sealed Air Luxembourg (I) S.a.r.l., Sealed Air Luxembourg (II) S.a.r.l., Sealed Air Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Sealed Air Management Holding Verwaltungs GmbH, Sealed Air Multiflex GmbH, Sealed Air Netherlands (Holdings) I B.V., Sealed Air Netherlands (Holdings) II B.V., Sealed Air Netherlands Holdings V B.V., Sealed Air Norge AS, Sealed Air OY, Sealed Air Packaging (India) Private Limited, Sealed Air Packaging (Shanghai) Co. Limited, Sealed Air Packaging (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Sealed Air Packaging LLC, Sealed Air Packaging Materials (India) LLP, Sealed Air Packaging S.L.U., Sealed Air Peru S.A.C., Sealed Air Polska Sp. Zoo, Sealed Air Pty Limited, Sealed Air S.A S., Sealed Air S.r.l., Sealed Air South Africa (Pty.) Ltd., Sealed Air Svenska AB, Sealed Air Taiwan Limited, Sealed Air UK Limited Partnership, Sealed Air US Holdings (Thailand) LLC, Sealed Air Uruguay S.A., Sealed Air Verpackungen GmbH, Sealed Air de Mexico Operations S. de RL. de C.V., Sealed Air de Venezuela S.A., Sealed Air s.r.o., Shanklin Corp, Shanklin Corporation, TTS-Ciptec, TXAFP Asia Pacific Ltd., TXAFP GP LLC, and Trigon Industries.The following companies are subsidiares of Stryker: ActiViews, Aimago SA, Alcott Indemnity Company, Arrinex Inc, Arrinex Inc., Ascent Healthcare Solutions, Berchtold, Berchtold + Fritz GmbH, Berchtold Consulting GmbH, Berchtold Corporation, Berchtold GmbH & Co. KG, Berchtold Holding Switzerland GmbH, CHG Hospital Beds, Cactus LLC, Cardan Robotics, Changzhou Orthomed Medical Instrument Company Limited, Concentric Medical, Concentric Medical Inc., Entellus Medical, Entellus Medical Europe Ltd, Entellus Medical Inc., GYS Tech LLC, Gaymar Industries, Gongping (Shanghai) Medical Devices Trading Co. Ltd., Groupe Bertec, HeartSine Technologies LLC, HeartSine Technologies Limited, Howmedica International S. de R.L., Howmedica Osteonics Corp., Hygia Health Services, Hygia Healthcare Services Inc., HyperBranch, HyperBranch Technology Inc., ITAPCo Limited, Image Guided Technologies, Imorphics Limited, Infinity MSD Corp., Infinity MSE Corp., Infinity MSF Corp., Infomedix Communications, Instratek, InstruMedics L.L.C, Invuity Inc., Ivy Sports Medicine, Ivy Sports Medicine LLC, Jiangsu Chuangyi Medical Instrument Company Limited, Jolife AB, K2M Germany GmbH, K2M Group, K2M Group Holdings Inc., K2M Holdings Inc., K2M Iberia Medcomtech S.L.U., K2M Inc., K2M Solutions Australia Pty Ltd, K2M Spine Solutions (Schweiz) GmbH, K2M UK Limited, Loon Intermediateco LLC, MAKO Surgical, MAKO Surgical Corp, Memometal Technologies, Mobius Imaging, Mobius Imaging LLC, Muka Metal, Muka Metal Ticaret ve Sanayi Anaonim Sirketi, NV Stryker SA, Nettrick Limited, Novadaq Corp, Novadaq Hong Kong Ltd, Novadaq Technologies, Novadaq Technologies ULC, OOO "Stryker", Orneo Ozel Saglk Hizmetleri Medikal Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, OrthoSpace, OrthoSpace Ltd., OrthoSpace US Inc., Orthomed (Hong Kong) Medical Instrument Company Limited, Orthovita, Orthovita Inc., OtisMed, P.C. Sweden Holding AB, Patient Safety Technologies, Patton Surgical, Pficonprod Pty. Ltd., Physio-Control, Physio-Control (Shanghai) Sales Co. Ltd., Physio-Control Brazil Vendas Ltda., Physio-Control Czech Sales s.r.o., Physio-Control Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Physio-Control Holdings Inc, Physio-Control Hungary Sales Kft, Physio-Control Inc., Physio-Control India Sales Pvt. Ltd, Physio-Control Investments LLC, Physio-Control Lebanon Sales Offshore s.a.l., Physio-Control Manufacturing Inc., Physio-Control Operations Netherlands B.V., Physio-Control Sales Limited Liability Company, Physio-Control Singapore Pte. Ltd., Physio-Control South Africa Sales Pty. Ltd., Physio-Control UK Sales Ltd., Pivot Medical, PlasmaSol, Porex Technologies, SSI Divestiture Inc., SYK Costa Rica Services Sociedad De Responsabilidad Limitada, SafeAir AG, SafeWire, Sage Products, Sage Products Coperatief U.A., Sage Products Holdings II LLC, Sage Products Holdings III LLC, Sage Products LLC, Scopis GmbH, Sightline Technologies, Small Bone Innovations, SpineCore, Spirox Inc., Stanmore Implants Worldwide, Stanmore Implants Worldwide Limited, Stanmore Inc., Stryker (Barbados) Foreign Sales Corporation, Stryker (Beijing) Healthcare Products Co. Ltd., Stryker (Shanghai) Healthcare Products Co. Ltd., Stryker (Suzhou) Medical Technology Co Ltd, Stryker (Thailand) Limited, Stryker AB, Stryker Acquisitions BV, Stryker Asia Holdings CV, Stryker Australia LLC, Stryker Australia Pty. Ltd., Stryker Austria GmbH, Stryker B.V., Stryker Berchtold BV, Stryker Beteiligungs GmbH, Stryker Canada GP ULC, Stryker Canada Holding Company, Stryker Canada Manufacturing ULC, Stryker Canada ULC, Stryker Canadian Management ULC, Stryker Canadian Sales Holding Company ULC, Stryker Capital BV, Stryker China Limited, Stryker Colombia SAS, Stryker Communications Inc., Stryker Corporation (Chile) y Compania Limitada, Stryker Corporation (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Stryker Customs Brokers LLC, Stryker Czech Republic s.r.o., Stryker Delaware Inc., Stryker EMEA Supply Chain Services BV, Stryker Employment Company LLC, Stryker European Coordination Center BV, Stryker European Holdings Cooperatief U.A, Stryker European Holdings I LLC, Stryker European Holdings II LLC, Stryker European Holdings LLC, Stryker European Holdings V LLC, Stryker European Operations B.V., Stryker European Operations Holdings I BV, Stryker European Operations Holdings II BV, Stryker European Operations Holdings III BV, Stryker European Operations Holdings LLC, Stryker European Operations Limited, Stryker European Technologies C.V., Stryker Far East Inc., Stryker Foreign Acquisitions Inc., Stryker France Holding SNC, Stryker France MM Holdings SAS, Stryker France SAS, Stryker Funding B.V., Stryker GI Services CV, Stryker Global Technology Center Private Limited, Stryker GmbH, Stryker GmbH & Co. KG, Stryker Grundstucks GmbH & Co KG, Stryker Grundstucks Verwaltungs GmbH, Stryker Holdings BV, Stryker IFSC Designated Activity Company, Stryker Iberia SL Unipersonal, Stryker India Private Limited, Stryker International Acquisitions BV, Stryker International Holdings BV, Stryker Investment Holdings B.V., Stryker Ireland Holding Unlimited Company, Stryker Ireland Limited, Stryker Italia S.r.l. S.U., Stryker Japan Holdings BV, Stryker Japan K.K., Stryker Korea Ltd., Stryker Lebanon (Offshore) S.A.L., Stryker Leibinger GmbH & Co. KG, Stryker Luxembourg Holdings S.a.r.l., Stryker Luxembourg Sarl, Stryker Manufacturing S. de R.L. de C.V., Stryker Mauritius Holding Ltd., Stryker Medical London LP, Stryker Medtech K.K., Stryker Medtech Limited, Stryker Mexico Holdings B.V., Stryker Mexico SA de CV, Stryker NV Operations Limited, Stryker Nederland BV, Stryker New Zealand Limited, Stryker Osteonics AG, Stryker Pacific Limited, Stryker Performance Solutions LLC, Stryker Polska Sp.z.o.o., Stryker Portugal - Produtos Medicos Unipessoal Lda., Stryker Professional Latin America S. de R.L. de C.V., Stryker Puerto Rico Limited, Stryker Romania SRL, Stryker Sage Inc., Stryker Sales Corporation, Stryker Servicios Administrativos S.de R.L. de C.V., Stryker Singapore Private Limited, Stryker South Africa (Proprietary) Limited, Stryker Spine SAS, Stryker Spine Sarl, Stryker Sustainability Solutions Inc., Stryker Tibbi Cihazlan Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Stryker Trauma GmbH, Stryker Turkish Holdings BV, Stryker UK Ltd, Stryker Verwaltungs GmbH, Stryker Vietnam Company Limited, Stryker do Brasil Ltda, Surpass Medical, Synergetics, TG SP Holdings Corp, TSO3 Corp, TSO3 Inc, Trauson, Trauson (China) Medical Instrument Company Limited, Trauson (Hong Kong) Company Limited, Trauson Holdings (BVI) Company Limited, Trauson Holdings (Hong Kong) Company Limited, Trauson Holdings Company Limited, VEXIM SA, Vexim, Waterloo Bedding Co., Wright Medical Group, ZipLine Medical Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ZipLine Medical Hong Kong Limited, ZipLine Medical Inc., and eTrauma.com.The following companies are subsidiares of TransUnion: Accupost Corporation, AppLock Limited, Auditz, Autolocator (Pty) Ltd., Beheer en Beleggingsmaatchapij Stivaco B.V., CIFIN S.A.S, [email protected] plc, Callcredit Data Solutions Limited, Callcredit Information, Callcredit Lead Generation Limited, Callcredit Marketing Ltd., Callcredit Public Sector Limited, Callcredit Spain S.L.U, Centro de Informacion y Estudios Estrategicos Empresariales S.A., Centro de Operaciones Servicios de Informacion Estrategica S.A., CheckMend Ltd., Coactiva Limited, Collection Africa Ltd., Confirma Sistemas de Informacion S.L., Credit Bureau of Carmel & Pebble Beach Inc., Credit Information Services Limited, Credit Information Systems Company Limited, Credit Reference Bureau (Holdings) Limited, Credit Reference Bureau Africa (Pty) Ltd., Credit Reference Bureau Africa Ltd., Credit Reporting Services Limited, Credit Retriever LLC, Crivo, Crown Acquisition BidCo Ltd., Crown Acquisition Consumer Ltd., Crown Acquisition MidCo Ltd., Crown Acquisition MidCo. 2 Ltd., Crown Acquisition TopCo. Ltd., DMWSL 617 Ltd., DMWSL 618 Ltd., DMWSL 619 Ltd., DMWSL 620 Ltd., DataLink Services, Datalink Services Inc., Decision Systems Inc., DecisionMetrics Limited, Diversified Data Development Corporation, Drivers History Inc., Drivers History Information Sales LLC, FT Holdings Inc., FactorTrust, FactorTrust Inc., GMAP Japan KK, GMAP Marketing Consulting Shangahi Co. Ltd, Healthcare Payment Specialists, INSDEC LLC, IS Resources Inc., Immobilise.com Limited, L2C Inc., L2C Inc., Link Marketing Inc., Link2credit Inc., Moussoro Participacoes Ltda., RTech, RTech Healthcare Revenue Technologies Inc., Recipero, Recipero Inc., Recipero Limited, Regional Data Systems Limited, RentPort, Rubixis, Rubixis Inc., Rubixis Technologies Private Limited, STS Vail Beheeren Administracion S. DE. R.L. DE C.V., Servicios y Asesoria S CO BC SA de CV, Signal, Soluciones de Informatica de Centroamerica (SICE) S.A., Source USA Insurance Agency Inc., Tenant ID Limited, Title Insurance Services Corporation, Trans Union Central America S.A., Trans Union Chile S.A., Trans Union Content Solutions LLC, Trans Union Costa Rica S.A., Trans Union Guatemala S.A., Trans Union Honduras-Buro de Credito S.A., Trans Union International Inc., Trans Union LLC, Trans Union Nicaragua S.A., Trans Union Real Estate Services Inc., Trans Union Software Services Private Limited, Trans Union de Puerto Rico Inc., Trans Union of Canada Inc., TransUnion (Mauritius) Limited, TransUnion (Proprietary) Ltd., TransUnion Africa (Pty) Ltd., TransUnion Africa Holdings (Pty) Ltd., TransUnion Analytic and Decision Services (Pty) Ltd., TransUnion Asia Ltd., TransUnion Auto Information Solutions (Pty) Ltd., TransUnion Baltics UAB, TransUnion Brasil Sistemas em Informatica Ltda., TransUnion CIBIL Limited, TransUnion Colombia Ltda., TransUnion Consumer Solutions LLC, TransUnion Credit Bureau (Pty) Ltd., TransUnion Credit Bureau Namibia (Pty) Ltd., TransUnion Data Solutions LLC, TransUnion Digital LLC, TransUnion El Salvador S.A. de C.V., TransUnion Exchange LLC, TransUnion Financing Corporation, TransUnion Global Holdings LLC, TransUnion Global Holdings LP, TransUnion Global Technology Center LLP, TransUnion Healthcare Inc., TransUnion Holding Cyprus Ltd., TransUnion ITC (Pty) Ltd., TransUnion Information Group Limited, TransUnion Information Services Limited, TransUnion Information Solutions Inc., TransUnion Information Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., TransUnion Intelligence LLC, TransUnion Interactive Inc., TransUnion Intermediate Holdings Inc., TransUnion International Holdings LLC, TransUnion International UK Limited, TransUnion Kenya Limited, TransUnion Limited, TransUnion Ltd., TransUnion Marketing Solutions Inc., TransUnion Netherlands I B.V., TransUnion Netherlands II B.V., TransUnion Rental Screening Solutions Inc., TransUnion Reverse Exchange S de R.L. de C.V., TransUnion Risk Advisory Inc., TransUnion Risk and Alternative Data Solutions Inc., TransUnion Rwanda Limited, TransUnion S.A., TransUnion Soluciones de Informacion Chile SA, TransUnion Soluciones de Informacion S de R.L de C.V., TransUnion Teledata LLC, TransUnion UK Holdings Ltd., Tru Optik, TruSignal, TruSignal Inc., TrueLink, Trustev, Trustev Limited, Vail Holdings UK Ltd., Vail Systemen Groep B.V., Verifacts LLC, Visionary Systems Inc., Worthknowing Inc., eBureau, eBureau LLC, iovation Inc., iovation Ltd., and process benchmarking limited.Governor Bill Haslam granted executive clemency to four Tennesseans on Thursday.

These individuals have distinguished themselves in both their rehabilitation and their individual contributions to the community, Governor Haslam said. After thoughtfully considering the circumstances of each of their cases, I believe exercising the executive clemency power will help further these individuals positive influence on their communities and the lives of their fellow Tennesseans.

Michelle Lea Martins sentence of 25 years of incarceration was commuted to supervised parole, effective Dec. 20, and continuing until Dec. 31, 2020, to allow for transition-related services. Prior to this action, Ms. Martins sentence was to expire in 2025. Ms. Martin pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2004 in Bledsoe County for the 2001 homicide of her father, which occurred after she confronted him regarding abuse against her mother and the severe sexual and drug abuse he committed upon Ms. Martin beginning when she was four years old and continuing throughout her childhood. While in prison, Ms. Martin has obtained a GED and earned a degree through Lipscomb University, becoming the first person in her family to go to college. Ms. Martin has completed numerous personal growth programs. She has personified model behavior as an inmate and has served as a mentor and leader to other inmates, earning her clemency request the support of both prison officials and numerous community leaders and organizations.

Ralph Randall Reagan received a pardon for his 1980 and 1982 convictions for burglary in Cumberland County and his 1984 conviction for escape in Knox County. Dr. Reagan has since earned a doctorate in theology, served in ministry with First Baptist Church of Crossville, and in 2001 started the Bread of Life Rescue Mission in Crossville, which provides food, shelter and other services to underprivileged citizens. He has provided prison counseling for many years and has spoken around the world about reforming ones life. Dr. Reagan was named Citizen of the Year by the Cumberland County Bar Association in 2008 for his service in that community and has received numerous other awards and distinctions. The Board of Parole unanimously recommended granting Dr. Reagan a pardon, and numerous Cumberland County leaders wrote in support of his request.

Robert James Sheard, Jr. received a pardon for his 1984 conviction of misdemeanor assault and battery in Shelby County. Mr. Sheard, a graduate of LeMoyne-Owen College, subsequently served for more than 30 years as an employee of the City of Memphis, including time spent working as a juvenile probation officer, maintained employment with a large, Memphis-based corporation for many years, and mentored youth in his community. He submitted letters of support from several community members attesting to his character and community contributions, and the Board of Parole unanimously recommended granting Sheard a pardon.

Steven Lee Kennedy received a pardon for his 1979 conviction of aiding and abetting the fraudulent use of a credit card in Sullivan County. Mr. Kennedy joined the United States Navy in 1981. He was ultimately commissioned as an officer, received numerous decorations and distinctions, and served overseas in the Beirut, Kosovo, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Desert Shield and Afghanistan conflicts before being honorably discharged in 2008. Since his discharge from the Navy, Mr. Kennedy has served in civilian roles for the United States Army and has worked for two private companies. Several military colleagues submitted letters attesting to Mr. Kennedys character, and the Board of Parole unanimously recommended granting him a pardon.

Executive clemency is an act of mercy or leniency by the governor after a criminal conviction. A commutation is a reduction of the length or type of sentence imposed for a conviction, while a pardon is a statement of forgiveness that may assist with restoration of rights or expungement of a criminal record by a judge or overcoming the collateral consequences of a conviction with respect to obtaining housing and employment.

The governor continues to review and consider additional clemency requests.Travis Perkins plc distributes building materials to the building, construction, and home improvement markets in the United Kingdom. It operates through four segments: Merchanting, Retail, Toolstation, and Plumbing & Heating. The Merchanting segment distributes interior building products, which include drywalls, ceilings, external envelopes, fire protection products, flooring and partitioning products, and tools and accessories to professionals within the construction industry; civil, drainage, and heavy building materials to specialist contractors and trade professionals; and pipeline and heating solutions. This segment also distributes building materials, plumbing and heating products, landscaping materials, timber and sheet materials, painting and decorating products, dry lining and insulation products, doors and joinery, and hand and power tools to trade professionals and self-builders. The Retail segment operates as a home improvement retailer, which sells kitchen, bathroom, paint, and timber products. The Toolstation segment supplies products to the trade, home improvers, and self-builders industry through approximately 350 branches, as well as online, call center, and a mobile website. The Plumbing & Heating segment supplies its products to the trade, home improvement, and DIY markets. The company also offers kitchens and joinery products to specialist joiners, kitchen fitters, house builders, local authorities, and national house builders; and operates as a tile retailer. The company was formerly known as Sandell Perkins Public Limited Company and changed its name to Travis Perkins plc in October 1988. Travis Perkins plc was founded in 1797 and is headquartered in Northampton, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreWall Street analysts have given iShares MSCI Sweden 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 Sweden ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.The following companies are subsidiares of Whirlpool: 1900 Holdings Corporation, ADC, Aeradriatica S.p.A., Airdun Limited, B. Blend Maquinas e Bebidas S.A., BUD Comercio de Eletrodomesticos Ltda., BWI Products Limited, Bauknecht AG, Bauknecht Hausgerate GmbH, Bauknecht Limited, Beijing Embraco Snowflake Compressor Company Limited, Bill Page Orchestra, Bill Page Orchestra Inc., Brasmotor S.A., Brunson Place Properties, Brunson Place Properties LLC, CNB Consultoria Ltda, Cannon Industries Ltd., Centro de Desarrollo Tecnologico e Innovacion WHM S. de R.L de C.V., Comercial Acros Whirlpool, Comercial Acros Whirlpool S. de R.L. de C.V., Consumer Appliances Service Limited, Ealing Compania de Gestiones y Participaciones S.A., Elera Delaware, Elera Delaware Inc., Elera Holdings Corporation, Embraco Europe S.r.l., Embraco Eurosales S.r.l., Embraco Industria de Compressores e Solucoes em Refrigeracao Ltda., Embraco Luxembourg S.a r.l., Embraco Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Embraco Mexico Servicios, Embraco Mexico Servicios S. de R.L. de C.V., Embraco North America, Embraco North America Inc., Embraco RUS LLC, Embraco Slovakia S.r.o., Everest Campus, Everest Campus LLC., General Domestic Appliances Holdings Ltd, General Domestic Appliances International Ltd., Guangdong Whirlpool Electrical Appliances Co., Guangdong Whirlpool Electrical Appliances Co. Ltd., Haceb Whirlpool Industrias S.A.S., Hefei Rongshida Sanyo Electric, Hefei Whirlpool Enterprise Management Service Co. Ltd., Hoover Comercial Limitada, IRE Beteiligungs GmbH, Indesit Argentina S.A., Indesit Company, Indesit Company Beyaz Esya Pazarlama A.S., Indesit Company Beyaz Esya Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., Indesit Company Ceska S.r.o., Indesit Company Domestic Appliances Hellas Mepe, Indesit Company International Business S.A., Indesit Company Luxembourg S.A., Indesit Company Magyarorszag Kft, Indesit Company Nordics AB, Indesit Company Polska Sp. zo.o., Indesit Company Singapore Pte. Ltd., Indesit Company UK Holdings Ltd., Indesit IP S.r.l., Indesit International ZAO, Indesit Ireland Ltd., Indesit Middle East FZE, Indesit Ukraine LLC, Industrias Acros Whirlpool S. de R.L. de C.V., Industrias Acros Whirlpool S.A. de C.V, Jackson Appliances Ltd., Joint-Stock Company Indesit International, KitchenAid, KitchenAid Australia Pty Ltd, KitchenAid Australia Pty Ltd., KitchenAid Delaware Inc., KitchenAid Europa Inc., KitchenAid Global, KitchenAid Global Inc., KitchenAid Inc., KitchenAid Korea Limited, KitchenAid Promotions, KitchenAid Promotions LLC, KitchenAid Trading Co., KitchenAid Trading Co. Ltd., LAWSA S.A., MLOG Armazem Geral Ltda., Maytag Corporation, Maytag Limited, Maytag Properties, Maytag Properties LLC, Maytag Sales, Maytag Sales Inc., Maytag Worldwide N.V., Merloni Domestic Appliances Ltd., Nineteen Hundred Corporation, Polar S.A., Qingdao EECON Electronic Controls and Appliances Co., Qingdao EECON Electronic Controls and Appliances Co. Ltd., South American Sales Partnership, THC Assets Corporation, Up Points Servicos Empresariais S.A., Vitromatic S.A. de C.V., WCGP Nova Scotia Co., WHirlpool EMEA Finanace S.a r.l., Whirlpool (Australia) Pty. Limited, Whirlpool (B.V.I.) Limited, Whirlpool (China) Co. Ltd., Whirlpool (China) Investment Co., Whirlpool (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Whirlpool (Hefei) Trading Co., Whirlpool (Hefei) Trading Co. Ltd, Whirlpool (Hong Kong) Limited, Whirlpool (Japan) Co. Ltd., Whirlpool (Thailand) Limited, Whirlpool ASEAN Co., Whirlpool America Holdings Corp., Whirlpool Argentina S.r.l., Whirlpool Asia B.V., Whirlpool Asia Holdings S.a r.l., Whirlpool Asia Inc., Whirlpool Asia LLP, Whirlpool Belux N.V./S.A., Whirlpool Bermuda Euro Ltd., Whirlpool Beyaz Esya Sanayi Ve Ticaret A.S., Whirlpool Bulgaria Ltd., Whirlpool CIS Ltd., Whirlpool CR, Whirlpool CR spol. s.r.o., Whirlpool CSA Holdings S.a r.l., Whirlpool Canada Co., Whirlpool Canada Co. (post 9/1/05 amalgamation company), Whirlpool Canada Holding Co, Whirlpool Canada Holding Co. (post 4/18/06 amalgamation company), Whirlpool Canada Investments S.a r.l., Whirlpool Canada LP, Whirlpool Canada Luxembourg Holdings S.a r.l., Whirlpool Chile Limitada, Whirlpool Colombia S.A.S., Whirlpool Comercial Ltda., Whirlpool Company Polska Sp. z o.o., Whirlpool Company Ukraine LLC, Whirlpool Croatia Ltd., Whirlpool EMEA S.p.A., Whirlpool Ecuador S.A., Whirlpool Eesti OU, Whirlpool El Salvador, Whirlpool El Salvador S.A. de C.V., Whirlpool Electrodomesticos S.A., Whirlpool Eletrodomesticos AM S.A., Whirlpool Enterprises, Whirlpool Enterprises LLC, Whirlpool Europe B.V., Whirlpool Europe Coordination Center, Whirlpool Europe Holdings Limited, Whirlpool Ev Aletleri Pazarlama Ve Ticaret A.S., Whirlpool Finance B.V., Whirlpool Finance Center Corp., Whirlpool Finance Luxembourg S.a r.l., Whirlpool Finance Overseas Ltd., Whirlpool Financial Corporation, Whirlpool Financial Corporation International, Whirlpool Floor Care Corp., Whirlpool France Holdings SAS, Whirlpool France SAS, Whirlpool Germany GmbH, Whirlpool Global B.V., Whirlpool Global Investments B.V., Whirlpool Greater China Inc., Whirlpool Guatemala, Whirlpool Guatemala S.A., Whirlpool Hellas S.A., Whirlpool Holdings Corporation, Whirlpool Home Appliances B.V., Whirlpool Home Appliances Limited Liability Company, Whirlpool Hungarian Trading Limited Liability Company, Whirlpool India Holdings Limited, Whirlpool Insurance Company, Whirlpool Insurance Company Ltd., Whirlpool Internacional S. de R.L. de C.V., Whirlpool International GmbH, Whirlpool International Holdings S.a r.l., Whirlpool International Manufacturing S.a r.l., Whirlpool Ireland Appliances Limited, Whirlpool Ireland Limited, Whirlpool Italia Holdings S.r.l., Whirlpool Italia S.r.l., Whirlpool Japan Co. Ltd., Whirlpool Japan Inc., Whirlpool Kazakhstan LLP, Whirlpool Latin America Corporation, Whirlpool Latvia S.I.A., Whirlpool Lietuva UAB, Whirlpool Ltd Belgrade, Whirlpool Luxembourg Holdings S.a r.l., Whirlpool Luxembourg Investments S.a r.l., Whirlpool Luxembourg S.a r.l., Whirlpool Luxembourg Ventures S.a r.l., Whirlpool MEEA DMCC, Whirlpool Magyarorszag Kereskedelmi Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Whirlpool Management Services S.a.g.l., Whirlpool Maroc S. a r.l., Whirlpool Mauritius Limited, Whirlpool Mexico Holdings LLC, Whirlpool Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Whirlpool Mexico S.A. de C.V., Whirlpool Mexico Ventures LLC, Whirlpool Microwave Products Development Limited, Whirlpool NAAG Holdings Corporation, Whirlpool NAR Holdings, Whirlpool NAR Holdings LLC, Whirlpool Nederland B.V., Whirlpool Nordic, Whirlpool Nordic A/S, Whirlpool Nordic AB, Whirlpool Nordic AS, Whirlpool Nordic OY, Whirlpool Oceania Inc., Whirlpool Overseas Holdings, Whirlpool Overseas Holdings LLC, Whirlpool Overseas Hong Kong Limited, Whirlpool Overseas Manufacturing S.ar.l., Whirlpool Peru S.R.L., Whirlpool Polska Appliances Sp. z o.o., Whirlpool Polska Sp. z o.o., Whirlpool Portugal, Whirlpool Portugal S.A., Whirlpool Product Development (Shenzhen) Company Limited, Whirlpool Properties, Whirlpool Properties Inc., Whirlpool Puntana S.A., Whirlpool R&D S.r.l., Whirlpool RUS LLC, Whirlpool Realty Corporation, Whirlpool Romania S.r.l., Whirlpool S.A., Whirlpool SSC Limited, Whirlpool Slovakia Home Appliances spol. s.r.o., Whirlpool Slovakia spol. s.r.o., Whirlpool South Africa (Proprietary) Limited, Whirlpool Southeast Asia Pte, Whirlpool Sweden Aktiebolag, Whirlpool Taiwan Co. Ltd., Whirlpool Technologies LLC, Whirlpool UK Appliances Limited, Whirlpool UK Pension Scheme Trustee Limited, Whirlpool Ukraine LLC, Whirlpool WW Holdings B.V., Whirlpool do Brasil Investements B.V., Whirlpool do Brasil Ltda., Whirlpool of India Limited, Whirlpool Osterreich GmbH, Whirlpool Osterreich GmbH, Xpelair, Xpelair Ltd., Yummly, Yummly Canada Ltd., and Yummly Inc..Fearsome cheatgrass taking over land can generate enough horror to reach for silver bullets.

But there are no silver bullets for cheatgrass, University of Wyoming Extension specialist Dan Tekiela told those attending the July 11 cheatgrass management field day in Sybille Canyon.

More than 45 people attended the event in the relatively isolated Tom Thorne/Beth Williams Wildlife Habitat Managemen...A new design featuring waterfowl and a retriever is now one of the choices available on a hard-copy hunting and fishing license from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

Beginning in 2017 when purchasing their licenses, sportsmen had the opportunity to purchase a hard-copy collectors item. The new addition is created from a painting by Tennessee artist Phillip Crowe, who has dedicated his time and art to organizations who care about wildlife.

Mr. Crowe has painted 35 state duck and conservation stamps and donated approximately $4 million in art prints and originals to various organizations. He was recently inducted into the Arkansas Waterfowl Hall of Fame and elected as a National Ducks Unlimited Trustee.

The new artwork joins one of the inaugural cards which features a leaping largemouth bass. The card portraying a trophy buck ignoring a vacant treestand is now retired. Both cards were created from artwork by another famed Tennessee artist, Ralph McDonald.

The size of a credit card, the hard-copy license costs an additional $5 above license purchases. Specific license information is printed on the back of the card.

Licenses are available at the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency regional offices, license agents, or on the TWRA website, www.gooutdoorstennessee.com , and at the TWRA On the Go App.

The 2018-19 licenses are valid through February 2019. License sales provide the primary funding for the TWRA.

Resident licenses may be purchased by persons who possess a valid Tennessee drivers license; persons who have lived in Tennessee for 90 consecutive days with the intent of making Tennessee their permanent home (but do not hold a drivers license in another state); military personnel on active duty in this state and their immediate families, who reside with them, regardless of resident status; students who are enrolled in a Tennessee school, college, or university for at least six months. A Social Security number is required to purchase a Tennessee hunting or fishing license.

Through the internet, charges are $4.25 for licenses mailed and $3 for self-print or emailed.

In case of a lost license, duplicate licenses can be obtained from any TWRA license agent for an $8 fee. Also, valid duplicate licenses can be printed online at no cost by selecting the reprint my licenses button on the customer information screen.GILLETTE  It was pretty much par for the course for Campbell County School District trustees in approving the districts 2019 fiscal year budgets.

Except for one thing  $11.3 million of one thing.

Thats the amount of recapture money the Campbell County School District will send to the state of Wyoming in 2019, about a 301 percent increase from a year ago.

Its something the school...Photo credit: Showtime

From Esquire

In a break from exposing the evil nature of notable Republicans, Sacha Baron Cohen traveled to the town of Kingman, Arizona, in the second episode of Who Is America? where he exposed the racist nature of a handful of people from rural United States.

In the segment, Cohen, posing as an uber-liberal, calls a community meeting in Kingman, where he introduces plan to build a massive mosque in the small town.

This didn't go so well.

The people gathered are outraged, equating building a mosque with welcoming terrorism into Kingman. One man says Muslims aren't welcome in a city in a town that doesn't tolerate black people either.

It's another absolutely sick moment of a show that has successfully revealed the rampant racism, islamophobia, and xenophobia at the heart of this country.

But, in a new Facebook post, city officials are saying that Cohen mischaracterized the town.

Every city has resident voices that challenge respect and dignity for others. They are wrong and unfortunate. That was no exception on Sundays Who Is America? show on Showtime in which an actor baited purported residents to vociferously oppose a fictitious, supersized mosque in our city. Another in the audience also stated negative feelings towards African-Americans. No matter the instigation or that numerous focus group participants dont even live in Kingman, the shows characterization in the words of one member of our Kingman City Council broke her heart.

According to the Facebook post, Kingman does have a mosque (it does!), it has a diverse community with "African-Americans applying for leadership positions" (key word applying), and welcomes tourists "from Asia fascinated by our Route 66 history" (whatever that means).

The post continues to say-with extremely Trump-ian rhetoric-that "it might be easy to laugh off what took place Sunday night on a show with very low ratings that tries to make everyone look bad." Kingman Mayor Monica Gates also told The Washington Post that she "didn't recognize a soul in that video," which implies that she knows all 30,000 people in Kingman. But, even though city officials insist the town isn't that racist and was mischaracterized by "residents" that the mayor doesn't recognize, it's going to try to be less racist.

Story continues

The comments in the show, fairly or unfairly, show that we still have more work to do. So here are additional steps we are going to be taking as ours is a community like too many others in America that still encounter such issues. For the first time our City Manager will be bringing to the City Council a resolution in support of National Hispanic Heritage Month, beginning on September 15th, in honor of our significant Latino community. We intend to invite Phoenix Pastor Warren Stewart to help us honor Martin Luther King Junior Day in January. Stewart admirably and courageously led the fight for the State of Arizona to honor the fallen civil rights leader. We also plan to work with our Interfaith Council to develop the communitys first Diversity Commission that will be charged with expanding what our city and community does for people of all types and persuasions that have contributed, and will contribute, to this great country.

Cohen isn't going to save America. He's not going to change this country. But in two episodes his actions have made very small strides toward progress. And there's still five more to go.

Video: Sacha Baron Cohen vs. Donald Trump

('You Might Also Like',)The United States Security and Exchange Commission announced Tuesday (7/24) it has settled charges against Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland and his associates. New York entrepreneur McFarland, along with two companies he founded (Fyre Media and credit card company Magnises), a former senior executive and a former contractor were charged with fraud for misleading over

By Taylor Mims / Billboard

The United States Security and Exchange Commission announced Tuesday (7/24) it has settled charges against Fyre Festival founder Billy McFarland and his associates. New York entrepreneur McFarland, along with two companies he founded (Fyre Media and credit card company Magnises), a former senior executive and a former contractor were charged with fraud for misleading over 100 investors into providing at least $24.7 million for their failed businesses.

The SECs complaint alleges that McFarland  with substantial help from Chief Marketing Officer Grant H. Margolin and independent contractor Daniel Simon fraudulently persuaded investors to dump money into his companies in connection to the destination Fyre Festival set to take place last April in the Bahamas.

Fyre Festival was touted as a luxury destination festival set for two weekends between April and May of 2017. Promoted by Fyre Media and rapper Ja Rule, the event fell short of its promises of extravagant VIP accommodations, curated culinary offerings and much more when attendees arrived at the unorganized event on the island of Great Exuma.

The complaint adds that McFarland and company convinced investors to entrust them with tens of millions of dollars by fraudulently inflating key operational, financial metrics and successes of his companies, as well as his own personal success.

According to the investigation into the fraud charges, McFarland deceived investors by providing doctored account statements showing personal stock holdings of $2.5 million when in reality the account only held shares worth under $1,500.

McFarland gained the trust of investors by falsely portraying himself as a skilled entrepreneur running a series of successful media companies. But this false picture of business success was built on fake brokerage statements and stolen investor funds, said Melissa Hodgman, associate director of the SECs Enforcement Division in a release.

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The SEC claims McFarland used investor funds to bankroll a lavish lifestyle of living in a Manhattan penthouse, partying with celebrities and traveling via private planes and chauffeured luxury cars.

McFarland has admitted to the charges against him and has agreed to pay back the $24.7 million he illegally gained. In addition, McFarland agreed to a permanent officer-and-director bar, meaning the failed entrepreneur will never again be allowed to hold an officer or director position at a public company.

Margolin, Simon, Fyre Media and Magnises agreed to the settlement without admitting or denying the charges. Margolin has agreed to a seven-year director-and-officer bar and must pay a $35,000 penalty and Simon has agreed to a three-year director-and-officer bar and must repay over $15,000 in illegally obtained funds and penalty.

This article originally appeared on Billboard.

This post SEC Settles $24.7M Fraud Case Against Fyre Festival Founder Billy McFarland first appeared on Stereogum.During an appeals hearing Tuesday, the attorney for Brock Turner, the former Stanford University swimmer convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, claims his client was fully clothed during the 2015 attack and only engaged in what the lawyer called sexual outercourse.

Eric S. Multhaup went before a panel of judges and defined outercourse as sexual activity while clothed that can be considered a form of safe sex, claiming that Turner, 22, didnt intend to rape the victim, according to the San Francisco Chronicle and NBC News.

The Associated Press reports that the judges appeared skeptical of the claim.

I absolutely dont understand what you are talking about, Justice Franklin D. Elia said. Elia added that the law requires the jury verdict to be honored.

In March 2016, Turner was found guilty of three felonies for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman outside an on-campus fraternity party in January 2015.

Turner was discovered on top of the unconscious victim behind a dumpster by two graduate students from Sweden. When he ran away, the pair chased him down and detained him until police arrived.

During the trial, Turner admitted to having sexual contact with the woman but claimed it was consensual.

The case garnered national attention, and sparked outrage, when Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Turner to six months in county jail  after prosecutors asked for six years  holding that a lengthy sentence would have a severe impact on him. Three months after Turner began his sentence, he was released from jail.

Brock Turner

During the hearing Tuesday, Multhaup discussed the victims alcohol consumption the night of the attack. He also claimed that the jury used their imagination during deliberation and had filled in the blanks about what happened, Palo Alto Weekly reports.

 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.

Story continues

In response to Multhaups claims, Assistant Attorney General Alisha Carlile argued Multhaup was presenting a farfetched version of events of what actually took place that night.

She said there was ample evidence for Turners conviction, citing his attempt to the flee the scene, his decision to take the victim to a secluded location and that, when interrupted by the Swedish men who chased him down, he didnt deny he was planning to rape the unconscious woman, the Chronicle reports.

The panel has 90 days to decide on their ruling, according to the Associated Press.

Following Turners conviction, the victim, who has remained anonymous, shared a powerful letter to her attacker.

Even if the sentence is light, hopefully this will wake people up, she wrote. I want the judge to know that he ignited a tiny fire. If anything, this is a reason for all of us to speak louder.

Turner was convicted of assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated woman; sexually penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object; and sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object.

He will remain a register sex offender for the rest of his life because of the rape charge, the Chronicle reports.

Multhaup could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

In June, Santa Clara voters recalled Persky from his seat on the Superior Court. It was the first time in 80 years that a California judge had been recalled, Palo Alto Weekly reports.Man detonates small explosive near US embassy in Beijing originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

A man detonated a small explosive near the U.S. embassy in Beijing, injuring only himself, officials said.

The incident occurred around 1 p.m. local time in a public space off the southeast corner of the compound, according to a statement from a spokesperson at the U.S. embassy obtained by ABC News.

"There was one individual who detonated a bomb," the spokesperson said. "Other than the bomber, there were no injuries. The local police responded."

A 26-year-old man from Inner Mongolia detonated what authorities are calling "a firecracker device," the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau wrote on its official Weibo account.

The suspect was identified as having the last name Jiang. He's being treated at a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said.

The U.S. embassy building was not damaged, the spokesperson said.

A woman selling maps outside the embassy told ABC News she saw the man detonate the bomb.

"I was really scared and ran away," said Mrs. Liu, who only provided her last name.

A young man who asked to be identified only as Mr. Li said he was waiting outside the embassy for a visa interview when he heard the explosion. He said that it "sounded like muffled fireworks" and that his ears were buzzing afterward. He thought a tire had exploded.

ABC News' Kaijing Xiao and Karson Yiu contributed to this story.Meghan Markle attends the Sentebale Polo 2018 match held at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club on July 26, 2018. (Photo: Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage)

On Thursday, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, cheered on her husband, Prince Harry, from the sidelines at the annual Sentebale polo cup in Berkshire, England.

The Sentebale polo match typically takes place elsewhere, around the world from Barbados to Palm Beach, Fla., but this years polo cup is close to home, not too far from where Meghan and Harry tied the knot at Windsor Castle. Sentebale was founded in 2006 by Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso during Harrys time spent in Lesotho in 2004. The organization benefits children from Botswana and Lesotho who are affected by HIV/AIDS.

For the occasion, Meghan wore an elegant belted denim dress by American label Carolina Herrera. The dress is from the Resort 2019 collection, which is the debut collection from the labels new creative director, Wes Gordon. This marks the second time the duchess has chosen to wear a Carolina Herrera design by Gordon to an event. The first occasion was for Trooping the Color, during which she wore a blush-pink two-piece set.

Meghan styled her daytime polo look with Tom Ford oversized cats-eye sunglasses, blush-colored Aquazzura heels, and an an affordable J.Crew straw clutch (which you can still buy in yellow for $60).

Meghan Markle wears a Carolina Herrera belted denim midi dress, Tom Ford sunglasses, J.Crew clutch, and Aquazzura heels at Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club on July 26, 2018. (Photo: Karwai Tang/WireImage)

If you were skeptical about wearing a denim dress for formal occasions, Meghan breezily demonstrates that its all in choosing the silhouette that best complements your body and choosing the right accessories. If youre slender like her, opt for a denim wrap dress that hits you at the midi length. If youre a bit curvier, a peplum dress might be a better fit. If youre feeling more risky, try a less conservative denim dress, like an off-the-shoulder version or a fun and flirty ruffle minidress.

One key style tip is to add a belt (if the dress doesnt already include one). This will help accentuate your waist and show off your feminine curves. Top off your look with bold black shades, high heels, and an on-trend straw bag a la Meghan Markle. With that said, why not try a denim dress for your next summer wedding?

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If you love the duchesss royal polo look, shop eight similar fancy denim dresses below for less.

Off-the-shoulder denim dress. (Photo: Lauren Ralph Lauren/Zappos)

Lauren Ralph Lauren Denim Fit-and-Flare Dress, $95, zappos.com

Sleeveless wrap tie dress. (Photo: Anne Klein/Nordstrom)

Anne Klein Chambray Wrap Dress, $119, nordstrom.com

Denim wrap peplum dress. (Photo: Eloquii)

Eloquii Denim Dress with Peplum Detail, $165, eloquii.com

Denim maxi peplum dress. (Photo: Farrow/Need Supply)

Farrow Felix Dress, $23, needsupply.com

Bow strap denim dress. (Photo: Ulla Johnson/Net-a-Porter)

Ulla Johnson Emory Bow-Detailed Denim Dress, $173, net-a-porter.com

Denim dress with shoulder frill. (Photo: Rebecca Taylor)

Rebecca Taylor La Vie Smocked Tissue Denim Dress, $395, rebeccataylor.com

Denim maxi button-down dress. (Photo: & Other Stories)

& Other Stories fit and Flare Denim Dress, $115, stories.com

Short-sleeve denim dress with pockets. (Photo: Brooks Brothers)

Brooks Brothers Denim A-Line Dress, $99, brooksbrothers.com

Plus-size denim wrap maxi dress. (Photo: Standards and Practices/Nordstrom)

Standards and Practices Jodi Wrap Maxi Dress, $109, Nordstrom.com

Dark denim off-the-shoulder dress. (Photo: Tibi/Matches Fashion)

Tibi Off-the-Shoulder Tie-Cuff Denim Dress, $157, matchesfashion.com

Ruffle tier denim dress. (Photo: Michael Kors)

Michael Michael Kors Ruffled Chambray Dress, $93, michaelkors.com

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.



Oksana Shachko (Photo: Getty Images)

One of the founders of the international feminist group Femen, Oksana Shachko, was found dead in her Paris apartment on Monday of an apparent suicide. According to a statement from one of her friends, she left a note, and this was her third attempt to commit suicide in the past two years.

May you know her, may you respect her, may you never forget her, Femen leader Inna Shevchenko said in an email to Yahoo Lifestyle. Oksana Shachko: one of the most remarkable women of our time. One of the greatest fighters against the unjust world. Who fought hard against injustices of society, who fought hard for not only herself but for all women around the world.

In her short life, Shachko, 31, made a name for herself as an activist and an artist. Along with Alexandra Shevchenko and Anna Gutsol, she first started Femen with a demonstration in their native Ukraine to protest the sexual exploitation of Ukrainian women by foreign men. From then on, their protests often involved the women going topless, with provocative statements emblazoned on their chests.

A post shared by Oxanashachko (@oksanashachko) on Oct 11, 2017 at 8:49am PDT

We also used sexuality to prove our points and explained you didnt have to be ashamed of your body as a woman, Shachko explained in an interview with the French magazine Crash last year. Our bodies were our weapons.

Because they went topless and were willing to get arrested at protests, Femens members attracted headlines through the years. They protested against everything from sex tourism to limitations on a free press. They rallied against the prosecution of the feminist punk rock group Pussy Riot in Russia in 2012, just one of the occasions that they opposed Vladimir Putins regime. They also demonstrated against other leaders, for example former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (as shown in this video), and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. After speaking out against Lukashenko in 2011, Shachko was one of three women who said they were kidnapped by the KGB in Belarus and taken to the woods. There, agents allegedly cut their hair, forced them to strip off their clothes, and doused them with oil, threatening to set them on fire but instead leaving them there. They subsequently managed to make their way to a nearby village to seek help.

Story continues

According to the Guardian, Shachko was also abducted and beaten in Ukraine during a visit to the country by Putin.

We compare her to Joan of Arc, Shachkos mother said in the 2014 documentary I Am Femen. Shes a real revolutionary, an incredibly strong girl.

But by 2013, Shachko decided to emigrate, seeking refugee status in France. She continued her protests as part of Femen for another year, but in her interview with Crash, she explained why she didnt believe she was a part of the group anymore.

As an ideology it exists but as a structure it doesnt exist anymore, because nobody really works on it, she said. From 2008 to 2013, me, Sasha, Anna, and later Inna, met every day. It took up all our life. We started speaking about womens rights, and step by step we engaged in more political matters. We became more and more radical, and that led to being attacked by the government and the police. What weve been seeing for the last two or three years are activists who do three or four actions in the year and dont work that well.

@beauxartsparis A post shared by Oxanashachko (@oksanashachko) on Mar 19, 2018 at 1:28am PDT

In Paris, Shachko focused on her first passion, art. Since the age of 8, she had been trained in the art of religious iconography, and throughout her time in Femen, she used her artistic expression in her protests. Her later work combined those interests, with provocative feminist twists on traditional icons. She had her first solo show in Paris in 2016. In 2017, she told Crash that she was beginning to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.

A post shared by Oxanashachko (@oksanashachko) on Mar 5, 2018 at 8:30am PST

I really want to continue doing some activism, but I need to think about it and adapt it to todays world, she said.

In Femens statement, Shevchenko said that Shachkos fight would continue.

Oksana Shachko may have left us, [but] she is here and everywhere, she said in her email to Yahoo. Her courage, her dedication and her passion will be here. She is within each of us whom she stood beside. She is in FEMEN, which she, herself co-founded. She is in her paintings, through which she manifested her unprecedented artistic talent. Oksana is in the history of feminism.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.



What a $1 million home looks like in Canada this week 4535 Laguna Way, Nanaimo, B.C.

Location: Nanaimo, British Columbia

List Price: $999,000

(Photo: Zoocasa)

The Canadian housing market remains unstable, the latest report from the CMHC shows. Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria and Hamilton are all flagged as particularly vulnerable to market instability, due to overvaluation and price acceleration.

You can judge for yourself as you peruse this weeks collection of $1 million dollar homes from across Canada. These houses in Nanaimo, B.C., Calgary, Alta. and Toronto, Ont. are all on the market for about a million bucks, but the amount of house you get varies greatly for that price.

Which would you choose?

All listings courtesy Zoocasa.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.A $40 million yacht owned by the family of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was set adrift by vandals at a dock in Ohio last weekend, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage to the vessel, according to the Toledo Blade.

The SeaQuests captain said his crew awoke Sunday to find the boat had been untied from its mooring at the Huron Boat Basin and was floating away, according to a police report obtained by HuffPost.

The crew was able to gain control of the ship, but not before it struck the dock with its Starboard forward section, the police report stated. Damage to the yacht consisted of several large scratches and scrapes, which the captain estimated would cost between $5,000 and $10,000 to repair, according to the police report.

Huron City Police Chief Robert Lippert confirmed to HuffPost that the yacht belonged to the DeVos family. He said DeVos had not been aboard at the time, but could not confirm whether other family members had been.

Representatives for DeVos and her family did not immediately respond to HuffPosts requests for comment.

Lippert would not speculate on a potential motive, citing the ongoing investigation. Police had not yet obtained surveillance video of the incident, but were following up on a few potential leads, Lippert said.

Had there been different wind or more wind, [the yacht] could have certainly floated a lot further than it did, Lippert told HuffPost.

The 163-foot yacht is one of 10 boats owned by the DeVos family, the Blade reported. Betsy DeVos is one of the Trump administrations wealthiest officials, with an estimated net worth of around $1 billion, according to Forbes. Her father founded Prince Corporation, a successful automotive business, and her father-in-law co-founded Amway marketing company.

DeVos visited Toledo, Ohio, earlier this month to tour the Correctional Treatment Facility and Penta Career Center, according to her public schedule. Her role as secretary of education has been intensely criticized by public school advocates and LGBTQ activists, who condemn her efforts to strengthen school choice initiatives, as well as her decision to rollback LGBTQ student protections imposed under the Obama administration.

Story continues

This article has been updated with additional details about DeVos.

Related...

Trevor Noah Skewers Betsy DeVos With Fake For-Profit University Ad

Education Dept. Received Hundreds Of Complaints Last Year About Racist School Discipline

What Happened When A Lesbian Sexual Assault Survivor Went To Work For Donald Trump

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May will holiday in Switzerland and Italy this summer, after narrowly surviving a bitter row within her government over Brexit as the country's departure from the European Union looms. May, a keen hill-walker, also visited northern Italy and Switzerland with her husband last year. The holidays come after a bruising few weeks in which her cabinet agreed a plan for Brexit negotiations with Brussels, before spectacularly falling out over it - culminating in two senior ministers resigning and a rebellion in parliament that threatened to bring down her government. Having made it to the end of the parliamentary term this week, May has sought to sell her Brexit vision across the country, addressing the concerns of a nation which remains bitterly divided over whether leaving the EU is a good idea. That charm offensive, which saw her discussing her love of cookery books and police dramas in stilted exchanges with the public, must resume when she gets back from her holiday if she is to win support for a deal at home and across the EU. (Reporting by William James; editing by Stephen Addison)Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 26)  Four associate justices and a regional trial court judge are vying for the Chief Justice post.

They are Associate Justices Lucas Bersamin, Diosdado Peralta, Andres Reyes Jr., Teresita Leonardo de Castro, and Davao del Norte trial court judge Virginia Tejano-Ang.

The Supreme Court released this list on Thursday, as the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) closed its one-month application period.

Bersamin, Peralta, and De Castro were all automatically nominated to the post being among the five most senior associate justices of the High Court. They had to formally accept the nomination to be considered an applicant according to the rules of the JBC, which screens applicants to the judiciary.

Reyes, meanwhile, accepted the nomination made by retired Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Raoul Victorino of all 14 Supreme Court justices.

Tejano-Ang, the presiding judge of the Tagum City, Davao del Norte Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 1, becomes the only applicant outside the Supreme Court after accepting her nomination.

Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, the most senior justice, declined his nomination.

He assumed the post in an acting capacity on May 11, when the Supreme Court unseated Maria Lourdes Sereno. She was permanently removed from her post on June 19 as the High court junked her appeal.

Bersamin, Peralta, Reyes, and de Castro all voted to oust Sereno.

Except for Reyes, Sereno had asked the justices to inhibit from her case, accusing them of harboring bias against her. They all denied the ousted chief justice's allegation.

According to JBC rules, the five applicants will undergo comprehensive medical examinations, psychological evaluation, written evaluative examinations and public interviews.

An applicant should obtain the affirmative vote of at least four members of the JBC to be considered in the shortlist to be submitted to President Rodrigo Duterte.There is a story in the Old Testament (Judges 4), where we read about two leaders in Israel, Deborah and Barak. The people of Israel were facing a serious threat from an oppressive enemy, King Jabin and the Commander of his army, Sisera. God had told Deborah to instruct Barak, a leader of men in his own right, to march out against Sisera to defeat the infidel. When Deborah informed Barak of Gods charge to him, Baraks answer was:

If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.

In that brief response, Barak revealed a lack of trust in God, a fear of men, and an unwillingness to go into enemy territory alone, without someone of greater courage and faith.

Deborahs response to Barak was: Very well, I will go with you. But you will receive no honor in this venture."

Like all stories in the Bible, there are typically modern day applications to our lives and even our nation.

Rewind 12 months ago to July 2017. I was contacted by Bill Lee to sit down with him, one-on-one, to discuss his campaign for governor of Tennessee. Mr. Lees intent was to introduce himself with the hopes that I would support his candidacy. I had not met Bill before but I was grateful to have the opportunity to get to know him and to ask him questions on key issues, particularly the ones that were the "non-negotiables" for me. I also knew that the questions I would ask would be ones of great interest to many others.

We met at Panera in Chattanooga (my office for the last decade or so) and we spoke for nearly an hour. We covered a range of topics, but there were several litmus questions that I was eager to delve into, in order to determine if Bill Lee understood both the threat that our state faced, as well as the opportunity he would have to address those threats, if elected to governor.

The phrase Values Voters has been assigned to constituents who elevate God, life, marriage, and family, above issues such as economy, immigration, taxes, gun rights, etc. I consider myself a values voter, not because the other issues are unimportant, but because I view God, life, marriage and family as foundational to any stable and thriving culture. Without a solid foundation, there can be no long-term optimism for all the other lesser issues that concern voters and politicians.

With this as a backdrop, I quizzed Bill Lee about God, life, marriage, and family. Included in my questions was the fairly recent phenomena that has arisen in our culture, where men and boys have been given an open door to enter the restrooms and locker rooms designated for ladies and girls. Some legislatures have attempted to address this assault on the privacy and safety of women and girls with so called Bathroom bills. But when I used that term, Bathroom bills, with Bill Lee, his tone and demeanor changed. It was at first a subtle change, as he shared that he did not believe this issue required a governor to intervene but that he would simply leave that seminal issue to local municipalities and school boards. He reemphasized that his focus as governor would be on the economy, jobs, education and such.

Because I see the battle in our bathrooms and locker rooms as merely indicative of a much deeper threat, I respectfully pressed Bill further on the issue. It was at that point that Bill became agitated and even angry  not necessarily at me but rather at the fact that Bathroom Bills and such had seemed to become such a big distraction from greater priorities.

Again, while our conversation lasted nearly an hour, I knew from Bills prolonged response about bathroom bills, that Bill was clearly unwilling to offer unflinching leadership in the office he aspires for, as the onslaught of demands continue from those pushing to expose our daughters and wives to threats that should never be.

At the time, while I did not yet have a candidate to support, I walked out of Panera that day knowing that I would not support Bill Lee. Not that Bill isnt a good man. Not that he isnt a godly man. Not that he isnt a successful businessman. But rather, Bill was and is unwilling to lead out on one of the greatest threats to the foundation of our culture  the sanctity and distinctness of the sexes and the all out assault on something as basic as the dignity, privacy and safety of every female in our state. In less than a generation, we have gone from a nation that would have never imagined that men would be given free access to womens private rooms, to where now one is a bigot or something worse, if he or she stands for the privacy and safety of women. And even worse, those aspiring to lead are fearful and unwilling to stand for all that is right and good. Sadly, we have too many modern day Baraks seeking leadership roles, and too few Deborahs stepping out with courage and faith.

Job, a man of great wisdom and integrity, had this to say about the importance of speaking out and standing up for matters of value:

Have I feared the crowd or the contempt of the masses, so that I kept quite and stayed indoors? (Job 31:34)

There are many men and women in our state and nation, who do such good for their families, community and even state. But being good does not necessarily mean one is qualified for all his ambitions. Rather, an indicator that one is prepared to lead is the evidence that one is willing to lead on matters requiring courage. Unwillingness to stand where the battle is waging, is the greatest disqualifier to leadership, as we see in the story of Deborah and Barak, playing out right before our very eyes as we go to the polls.

(It should be noted that the other prominent man running for governor, Randy Boyd, is also unwilling to stand against this same threat. Thankfully, the top tier woman campaigning for governor, Diane Black, has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to stand for the safety and privacy of women and girls, as well as all the other values voters issues.)

Where the battle rages, the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight and disgrace to him if he flinches at that one point."

Mark West

* * *

It is deeply saddening and equally shocking to see an attack like this on the best and most qualified candidate to serve as our governor. The notion that Lee does not have what it takes to lead because he wont commit to pushing and signing a bathroom bill is laughable. I am also a strong Christian and a values voter. From a policy standpoint, my faith compels me to be pro-life, it compels me to support traditional marriage, and it also compels me to support "bathroom bills. There is nothing okay with letting men go into womens restrooms or vice versa. This being said, I still back Bill Lee for governor 100 percent because he not only lives out a genuine faith in his daily life (which he has done for the last 20 years), he is the most qualified man for the job.

The kind of mudslinging coming from both the Black and Boyd campaigns is anything but what one should look for in a leader. It is a desperate and pathetic attack to try to smear Bill Lee as unqualified or afraid to lead because he opposes a statewide bathroom bill. If we look a little bit deeper at this issue, we will see several things. First of all, Bill Lee does not support letting men go into womens restrooms and prey on innocent females. This is Tennessee, a very socially conservative state where almost nobody supports policies like this. The only thing Lee said is that he would leave this up to local municipalities, school districts, and communities to deal with. Is that not what conservatism is all about? He wants to decentralize the power of the state government and let local people make their own decisions. Lee is not okay with transgender bathrooms, but he wants local communities to be able to come up with their own education policies without the state government micromanaging them. Local voters and policymakers are more than capable of doing this. In fact, if a bathroom bill referendum came up in Hamilton County to oppose the use of transgender bathrooms, it would pass overwhelmingly because local voters will not stand for that. This is how conservatism should work.

Furthermore, Tennessee is doing great as a state, but we will do even better if we elect solid conservative leaders with executive mindsets. As a CEO, Bill Lee has been a great leader. He saved his company from bankruptcy and he is adored by his employees. The only things I have seen Diane Black lead over the last 20 years are negative and dishonest smear campaigns directed at solid conservatives including but not limited to Joe Carr and now Bill Lee. I would take this article a little bit more seriously if it did not try to paint Diane Black as a perfect leader. When she is not twisting the story behind Bill Lees political donations to make him look like a Democrat (especially when she herself voted in a Democratic Primary in 1996 and her husband donated to a Democrat in 2008) or lying to tell people that Randy Boyd didnt support Trump, she spends her time talking about how she stands with the president, she wants to build a wall, and how she stands for the national anthem. These are all good things, but while she focuses on these issues, Tennessee's schools drastically need improvement, our opioid crisis has become a state of emergency, our criminal justice system needs to be tweaked to where it gives people a chance to re-enter society, and our economy needs to stay in a great place so lower-income and disadvantaged people can continue to find work and climb their way up the socioeconomic ladder. Perhaps if Diane Black wanted to stand with President Trump or to build a wall, she should have run for re-election to Congress where she could support his agenda rather than tried to run for the executive position of our state.

In fairness to her, her past nursing experience has allowed her to formulate a solid plan to address our opioid epidemic, but instead of talking about this, she just shows pictures of herself standing next to Mr. Trump which does not say much when Bill Lee and Randy Boyd also support Trump.

Furthermore, Lee is an actual outsider businessman who has never run for office just like Donald Trump was before he came and started getting things done. Lee also has come up with solid plans to address our education system, our opioid epidemic, our criminal justice system, and our economy, and he will deliver. As someone who mentored an inner city child who was stuck in a terrible public school, Lee strongly supports school choice and charter schools because he knows firsthand the difference they can make in a childs life. As someone who mentored a felon and helped him get back on his feet, Lee understands the need for faith based organizations like Men of Valor to be involved in our criminal justice system to help people re-enter society after their release rather than re-enter prison. As someone who is a brilliant CEO, Lee knows how to manage our states economy to where more people will thrive while keeping our finances under control. Lee will be a problem solver who will deliver results that make life truly better for people. This is what he has done his entire life.

As a Christian, while protecting family values is very important to me, so is helping people, particularly disadvantaged people. Bill Lee has effective solutions to do this. He is a real Christian conservative outsider who will shake things up much like Donald Trump did when he arrived in Washington. While Boyd, Black, and Harwell are politicians who will do or say anything in their attack ads to get elected, Lee is bringing out the best in us. As a Christian, I cant support a dishonest leader who reeks of corruption and tries to mislead our electorate. The choice is clear and Bill Lee is getting my vote. I urge other Christian conservatives to vote for him as well on Aug. 2.

It is also worth noting that contrary to this hit piece on Lee, Randy Boyd told the Family Action Council of TN that he would sign a bathroom bill and was also criticizing Lee for refusing to do so. Diane Black is not the only one whose biggest focus is where and how people go to the bathroom.

Alexander IoannidisINDIANAPOLIS (AP)  An Indiana mandate that forces women to undergo an ultrasound at least 18 hours before having an abortion is "an undue burden" that saddles some women with lengthy travel and additional expenses, a federal appeals court ruled this week.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday affirmed a preliminary injunction issued in April 2017 by U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt. The injunction blocked the ultrasound waiting period that then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed into law in March 2016.

Appeals Court Judge Ilana Rovner wrote in Wednesday's ruling that while Indiana's attorneys had a legitimate position in arguing that the reason for the waiting period was to persuade women not to have an abortion, "it is also true that women have the right to choose to have an abortion, albeit with some limitations."

"Women, like all humans, are intellectual creatures with the ability to reason, consider, ponder, and challenge their own ideas and those of others. The usual manner in which we seek to persuade is by rhetoric not barriers," Rovner wrote.

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill expressed disappointment in the decision Thursday, saying in a statement that his office is "reviewing the court's reasoning and considering our options."

Attorneys for the state had appealed Pratt's 2017 ruling , and the appeals court in Chicago heard arguments in November. The challenged 18-hour requirement had replaced a previous Indiana provision that didn't specify when an ultrasound had to occur.

Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, along with the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, had sued the state in July 2016, contending the mandate was unconstitutional and would prevent some women from getting abortions.

Christie Gillespie, the president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood chapter, praised the Wednesday ruling, saying an 18-hour waiting period would place significant burdens on rural and low-income women by forcing them "to make two trips to their provider  a time-consuming and expensive process."

Story continues

The ACLU of Indiana's executive director, Jane Henegar, said the court decision affirmed "that deeply personal decisions about abortion should be made by women in consultation with their doctors, not politicians pursuing an extreme ideological agenda."

Mike Fichter, the president and CEO of Indiana Right to Life, condemned Wednesday's ruling, saying the appeals court "is playing politics by blocking common sense legislation passed by overwhelming majorities in the Indiana legislature." He urged the state attorney general to appeal the ruling.

The ruling comes after the same federal appeals court ruled in April against Indiana in another case challenging a different Indiana abortion restriction, also signed into law by Pence when he was Indiana's governor. That ruling also upheld a preliminary injunction, which Pratt issued in June 2016, blocking a law's provisions that in part barred abortions sought because the fetus had been diagnosed with a disability.

___

This story has been corrected to show the ruling was issues Wednesday, not Thursday.DeMar DeRozan spoke about his relationship with Toronto Raptors GM Masai Ujiri after being traded to the San Antonio Spurs. (AP Photo)

A week has passed since the Toronto Raptors traded four-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan, but the fallout has continued. On Thursday, at the USA Basketball minicamp in Las Vegas, DeRozan was asked if hed spoken to Raptors president Masai Ujiri since the trade.

No, he said bluntly.

A reporter followed up, asking if DeRozan plans to speak to Ujiri.

No, he said again.

As for the relationship as a whole? Done, DeRozan said. No reason to have a relationship.  Im done. Done. Its just done for me.

DeMar DeRozan said he's "done" with Masai Ujiri ( via @SNFaizalKhamisa) pic.twitter.com/dakTHkvV2m  Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) July 26, 2018

The trade, which was agreed upon July 18, centered around DeRozan and former San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard. San Antonio also traded Danny Green to the Raptors in exchange for Jakob Poeltl and a future first-round draft pick.

Yahoo Sports reported Ujiri informed DeRozan of the deal on the night of the trade, which reportedly caught DeRozan off guard. According to Chris Haynes of ESPN, DeRozan met with Toronto staff at NBA Summer League Las Vegas and believed he would not be traded.

So, last Friday, Ujiri apologized.

I had a conversation with DeMar at summer league, and I really want to leave it at that, Ujiri said. We spoke  I think maybe my mistake was talking about what we expected going forward from him. So, not necessarily talking about a trade, but what I expect from him going forward, and I think thats where the gap was.

DeRozan participated in Thursdays minicamp and spent a considerable amount of time with his new coach, Gregg Popovich. After Thursdays comments, the situation are clear: DeRozan has turned the page.

More from Yahoo Sports:

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Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Ryan Zinke via Twitter, George Frey/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON  The dinosaur was a Lythronax, a fearsome predator who lived 80 million years ago. Known as the King of Gore, it spent its days feasting upon smaller dinosaurs on the continent of Laramidia. The dinosaur died and so did, eventually, all of its brethren. The land morphed, too, and Laramidia became part of what is today the western United States.

In 2009, the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees federal lands, discovered remains of the long-departed king in Utah, on land that is part of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. A replica of the skull sits in the office of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, next to a framed picture of Theodore Roosevelt and a tasseled leather notebook, of the sort where one might jot down poetic ruminations while camping out on the high desert of the true West.

Earlier this summer, Zinke tweeted a picture of this well-curated tableau, using the occasion of the latest entry in the Jurassic Park franchise to offer a mini-lesson:

Hoping the new #JurassicWorld movie will have a Lythronax. The King of Gore was a T-Rex type dino that once roamed the west. This guy was found by @BLMUtah crews in 2009. He currently presides over meetings in my office  pic.twitter.com/SHL8E4gGQp  Secretary Ryan Zinke (@SecretaryZinke) June 22, 2018

But if Zinke thought that a dinosaur emoji might curry favor with his audience, he was grievously mistaken.

That specimen was found in a national monument you shrunk so you could sell mining rights, one user said. How dare you display this find when you refuse to protect the ones still in the ground, you pathetic grifter.

Another critic, in an apparent brevity-is-the-soul-of-wit mindset, offered a one-word riposte: Scumbag.

Story continues

Zinke had long been among President Trumps most controversial Cabinet members, with the number of ethical scandals plaguing his administration nearly approaching that of Scott Pruitt, the baroquely corrupt administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency who resigned in early July. Zinkes tweet  and the furious response it engendered  crystalized one of the criticisms of his tenure, namely that he celebrates his own image as a conservationist frontiersman, even as he effectively gives away lands rich with dinosaur remains and archeological treasures to mining companies and other business concerns.

President Bill Clinton designated the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, a preserve in the remote southwestern corner of Utah where the Lythronax skull was found, in 1996 using the American Antiquities Act. Signed into law in 1906 by Teddy Roosevelt, the Antiquities Act allows the president to create national monuments without seeking approval from Congress. National parks, conversely, do require congressional approval.

Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke during a tour of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in May 2017. (Photo: Doi/Planet Pix via ZUMA Wire)

Bowing to pressure from ranchers, farmers and energy prospectors, Trump has become the first president in modern American history to shrink national monuments designated by his predecessors. In December 2017, he radically reduced in size two national monuments that had been expanded by President Barack Obama. Grand Staircase-Escalante, one of the most fossil-rich areas in the nation, went from 1.9 million to 1 million acres. Bears Ears, spiritually and historically significant to Native American tribes, suffered an even greater diminution, from 1.3 million acres to just 228,000.

Trump announced the cuts in Utah, whose political leaders supported the move, as did others who believed that Obama had overstepped his powers in greatly expanding the national monuments. These abuses of the Antiquities Act give enormous power to faraway bureaucrats, he said, at the expense of the people who actually live here, work here and make this place their home.

Zinke, a former U.S. representative from Montana who likes to tout his somewhat suspect credentials as a geologist, supported the plan. Several months before Trump traveled to Utah, Zinke prepared a memorandum that identified 10 national monuments for reduction. None of those monuments, critics noted, were in his home state of Montana. These recommendations came in response to an executive order, signed by Trump, mandating a review of 27 national monuments.

And while outrage over the move had been growing for a while, Zinkes June 22 tweet unwittingly displayed what his critics saw as a manifest hypocrisy. As far as Zinkes detractors were concerned, the scene featuring Teddy Roosevelt and a dinosaur fossil was celebrating a legacy Zinke had done a great deal to diminish.

President Trump hands a pen used to sign an executive order to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, after announcing big cuts to Utahs sprawling wilderness national monuments on Dec. 4, 2017. Among those looking on are Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Rep. Mike Lee, R-Utah. (Photo: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Staffers for Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., noticed the late-June tweet even as much of Washington obsessed over Pruitts latest scandals involving used mattresses and expensive moisturizer. The fossilized skull of a T-Rex ancestor on display Secretary Zinkes office is exactly the kind of wonder that Department of Interior should be trying to conserve, Beyer told Yahoo News. The Trump administration seems oblivious to the fact that cutting Grand Staircase-Escalante in half and selling off our public lands at the behest of industry will have unforeseen and damaging consequences, including failing to protect fossils like the very one on Ryan Zinkes desk.

Beyer also noted that the Antiquities Act rollbacks are possibly illegal.

Several lawsuits have been filed with the intention of stopping the shrinkage of the two Utah national monuments. Plaintiffs include Native American tribes and environmental groups. Zinke and his team are talking out of both sides of their mouth, said Yvonne Chi, a lawyer for Earthjustice, an environmental group involved in litigation against the Trump administration.

Its hypocritical saying that national monument protections keep extractive industries out of these lands and at the same time saying that monument protections dont really do much for priceless cultural sites and scientific discoveries, Chi said. Anyone with common sense can see thats misleading.

Priceless, in this case, may not be an exaggeration. Grand Staircase-Escalante contains the Kaiparowits Plateau, a shelf of some 1,600 square miles that is home to a smorgasbord of fossils from the Late Cretaceous period, right before dinosaurs went extinct. Twenty-one species of prehistoric vertebrate have been discovered at Grand-Staircase. Bears Ears, to the east, is smaller, but it may host as many as 100,000 distinct archeological sites relating to settlement of this dramatic landscape by the Navajo, Ute and Hopi people, among others.

A full skeletal replica of the Lythronax argestes is displayed at the Natural History Museum of Utah in Salt Lake City. The fossils were found in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. (Photo: Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

The Department of Interior says that any worries about stewardship are unfounded. Clearly the tweet raised awareness for the good work of the Bureau of Land Managements paleontology experts, said Interior spokeswoman Heather Swift. As for the criticisms Zinkes tweet received, Swift argued that the areas that have the highest concentration of fossils remain within the monuments boundaries. This was a key point for the secretary. Additionally, the land that was restored to multiple use from the original boundaries is still federal land and still under federal protection. That means it is illegal to remove fossils and other paleontological and cultural resources from the land without a permit.

Politicians in Utah have made similar arguments. Speaking several weeks before Trump came to Utah to announce the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante reductions, the states senior U.S. senator, Orrin Hatch, a Republican, said, We believe in the importance of protecting these sacred antiquities, but Secretary Zinke and the Trump administration rolled up their sleeves to dig in, talk to locals, talk to local tribes and find a better way to do it.

Critics are unconvinced, given President Trumps promise to restore the extractive industries, in particular those involved in oil and coal. And those, of course, are fossil fuels  that is, the same carbon matter that sits in replica on Zinkes shelf. According to one estimate, there are 11.36 billion tons of coal under the Kaiparowits Plateau. Bears Ears, meanwhile, contains deposits of uranium. Unredacted Department of Interior emails inadvertently sent to reporters showed that high-ranking agency officials were determined to downplay the environmental effects of cutting the two Utah monuments while overstating the economic benefits of doing so.

A field crew excavates the tail club of an ankylosaur, a squat plant-eater that was covered in bony armor from its spiky head to its clubbed tail, in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 2009. (Photo: Natural History Museum of Utah via AP)

Nor do skeptics of Zinkes plans believe that the Paleontological Resources Preservation Act of 2009 and other regulations are sufficient to protect the fossils that could be unearthed during activities associated with mining and drilling.

Opening culturally and paleontologically rich lands to new mining and development is going to lead to damage and destruction of fossil resources which have yet to be identified, much less studied, said Dan Hartinger, who leads work on national monuments for the Wilderness Society. Estimates based on past surveys suggest that as many as 700 significant fossiliferous sites will be left out of the new Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument.

Its bulls***, said P. David Polly, president of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology and a professor at the Indiana University, in response to the assurances that protections for the Monuments fossils are as strong as they ever were. A national monument is a special kind of designation he told Yahoo News. Its there to protect scientific resources.

Economic activity, he added  whether excavating land or paving it over to build roads or support facilities  will necessarily degrade whatever lessons that land holds about history, whether of humans or dinosaurs or, well, anyone else.

According to Polly, the Lythronax skull whose replica now graces Zinkes office was part of a fossil found almost directly on the boundary drawn by Trump.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:NEW YORK (AP)  More than a century after Albert Einstein proposed it, his theory of general relativity has passed another test.

With giant telescopes pointed at the center of our galaxy, a team of European researchers observed a fast-moving star that got close to a monstrous black hole. They saw that the black hole distorted the light waves from the star in a way that agrees with Einstein's theory.

The result was reported Thursday in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

Einstein's theory says the fabric of the universe is not simply space, but a more complex entity called space-time, which is warped by the presence of heavy objects.

Black holes offer a good opportunity to test that idea. The one that lies at the heart of the Milky Way is 4 million times as massive as our sun.

"I, just like every physicist in the world, would have loved to finally see a crack in Einstein's relativity," said Ohio State University astrophysicist Paul Sutter. "But he's outsmarted us."

But confirming Einstein's work  again, "feels like we're kind of beating a dead horse," said Sutter, who wasn't part of the research team led by Reinhard Genzel of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany.

Scientists know that the theory still doesn't explain everything about the universe. So they keep testing it time and again. So far, nobody has been able to overthrow it.

Although the effects of general relativity have been seen before, this was the first detection made by observing the motion of a star near a supermassive black hole.

"To me, that's what makes this so cool," said Clifford Will, a University of Florida physicist who did not participate in the research.

Will hopes his colleagues will be able to discover stars even closer to the black hole, where the effects of relativity would be stronger.

This finding "is really the opening episode," he said. "The future, I think, is going to be very exciting."

Story continues

___

Follow Emiliano Rodriguez Mega on Twitter: @mapache_rm

___

The Associated Press Health & Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) speaks during an anti-gerrymandering demonstration outside the Supreme Court in Washington in October 2017. (Photo: Olivier Douliery via Getty Images)

A federal lawsuit in Michigan has unearthed a cache of emails that suggests Republican staffers purposely gerrymandered the states congressional districts in 2011.

The emails, some of which explicitly refer to gerrymandering and contain strong language trashing Democrats, appear to contradict years of claims that Michigans district lines were drawn without political bias, reported Bridge Michigan, a magazine run by the Center for Michigan, on Wednesday.

Weve spent a lot of time providing options to ensure we have a solid 9-5 delegation...



Emails between Republican strategists and the @michamber emerge, suggesting that assisting GOP candidates was central focus of 2011 redistricting. - @BridgeMichigan https://t.co/ygCFwMxME6  Alexandra Schmidt (@Alexandra_JBS) July 25, 2018

The documents were introduced this week as part of an ongoing federal lawsuit  led by the League of Women Voters of Michigan  that claims Republicans violated the constitution by cracking and packing Democratic voters while efficiently spreading Republican voters across safe Republican districts when they drew up state legislative and congressional maps in 2011.

This is gerrymandering in all its ugliness, Mark Brewer, attorney for the league, told Bridge Michigan.

In one email, an aide to former Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) boasted about cramming Dem garbage into gerrymandered districts.

In a glorious way that makes it easier to cram ALL of the Dem garbage in Wayne, Washtenaw, Oakland and Macomb counties into only four districts. Is there anyone on our side who doesnt recognize that dynamic? Jack Daly wrote in a May 2011 email to GOP consultant Jeff Timmer.

Daly also suggested in a separate exchange that residents in two adjacent districts be swapped to meet the obvious objective  putting dems in a dem district and reps in a GOP district.

Story continues

It will help increase the black population in the black districts because the former is 17 percent black while the latter is only 6 percent black, Daly wrote to Timmer and Republican strategist Robert LaBrant.

In another email, an unnamed Republican aide said a Democratic district in southeast Michigan looked like it was giving the finger to Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.). I love it, the aide quipped.

According to Bridge Michigan, the emails reveal how the Republican drafters had originally intended to create a map that would have given the Republicans 10 House seats compared to just four for the Democrats.

In a May 2011 email, however, LaBrant warned Timmer that such a map would be too obvious.

We needed for legal and PR purposes a good looking map that did not look like an obvious gerrymander, LaBrant said.

Also that month, LaBrant sent an email to an aide to Dave Camp, who was then a congressman, promising to accommodate whatever Dave wants in his district.

Weve spent a lot of time providing options to ensure we have a solid 9-5 delegation in 2012 and beyond, LaBrant wrote, according to The Detroit News, which was the first outlet to report on the existence of the emails.

Is partisan gerrymandering happening in Michigan? Yes, almost certainly. Our research, summarized: https://t.co/omw7pOMEaS  CRC of Michigan (@crcmich) June 26, 2018

A study released in June by the Citizens Research Council of Michigan concluded that the state does have a serious gerrymandering problem, with current district maps drawn so that Republicans are ensured disproportionate majorities on both the state and federal levels.

Its not just sour grapes that one party has won consistently, and the other has been on the outside looking in, council president Eric Lupher said in a statement. The game is being stacked against one of the players in the game, and thats significant.

The Michigan Supreme Court is currently mulling whether or not a proposed constitutional amendment to end gerrymandering in the state can appear on the state ballot in November. The New York Times suggested this week that the newly-released emails could spur momentum for the amendment.

As Brewer, the attorney for the League of Women Voters of Michigan, noted this week, its not just Republicans who are guilty of gerrymandering  Democrats too have been known to redraw maps for their own partisan advantage.

Both parties should stop, Brewer, a former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, told Bridge Michigan. Its unfair to voters. Its grotesque and extreme.

Also on HuffPost

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman said on Thursday the U.S. administration will not achieve its desired results by threatening Turkey, after U.S. President Donald Trump warned of sanctions unless Ankara freed an American pastor. "The United States must reconsider its approach and adopt a constructive position before inflicting further damage to its own interests and its alliance with Turkey," Ibrahim Kalin said in a written statement. (Reporting by Daren Butler; Editing by Alison Williams)Vienna (AFP) - An Austrian court on Thursday found 17 members of Austria's far-right "Identitarian Movement" (IBOe) not guilty of charges of criminal association and hate speech.

Ten prominent members of the group and seven other "active sympathisers" had gone on trial in the city of Graz earlier this month on charges connected to several of the group's stunts in recent years.

Being found guilty of criminal association would have posed a serious threat to the IBOe's ability to continue operating.

Two of the accused were, however, found guilty on lesser charges.

One was convicted of bodily harm and coercion over an incident in June 2016 in which members stormed the stage during a talk on refugee policy at Klagenfurt University and unrolled banners reading "Stop Immigration" and "Integration is a lie".

The other was found guilty of criminal damage in a separate IBOe stunt. Both were fined.

One of the IBOe's leaders, Martin Sellner, was prevented from entering the UK in March, with authorities judging his presence would not have been "conducive to the public good".

In April he took part in an action near the French-Italian border in which far-right activists blocked a mountain pass in protest at the rise in migrants crossing the Alps.

Since late 2017, Austria has been governed by a coalition of the centre-right People's Party (OeVP) and the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) after both parties made a crackdown on immigration a centre-piece of their election platforms.

The FPOe's leadership regularly condemns the actions of "identitarian" activists.

However, Austrian media have documented links between such activists and FPOe members at a local level.4for4

Which players should you consider dropping ahead of Week 8? Jennifer Eakins runs down her list of cut candidates, including a RB rostered in over 90 percent of leagues.PARIS -- To understand legislation currently before the French Senate, one needs to recall last year's presidential election in the country.

Just days before the final vote in May, a posting on 4chan, the imageboard website that allows users to be anonymous, claimed then-candidate Emmanuel Macron owned a bank account in the Bahamas to evade French taxes. The rumor quickly spread to far-right media sites in the country and in the U.S., and eventually was mentioned by Macron's opponent, the right-tilting Marine Le Pen.

That episode culminated months of skirmishes between media sites and Macron, who since the beginning of 2017 had accused the Russian news organizations Russia Today and Sputnik -- both described by critics as propaganda outlets for the Kremlin -- of spreading rumors to sway the election in favor of Le Pen. Macron's accusation followed findings by the U.S. intelligence community that the Kremlin sought to influence the 2016 American presidential election through its own sets of "active measures" on social media.

Fast forward to this summer. Earlier this month, the French National Assembly approved a "fake news" law that will go to the Senate by the end of the month. Experts predict approval by November.

The worry here in France about how falsehoods may affect elections reflects growing anxieties around the world. The concern across Europe is especially high as governments search for ways to hold social media platforms and search engines accountable for online lies before the May 2019 European Union parliamentary elections.

"Platforms on the internet today diffuse a lot of information continually without necessarily sorting it," says Fabienne Colboc, a member of the National Assembly and spokesperson for Macron's En Marche! (In Motion!) party. "The motivation (for drafting the proposed law) was to oblige them to be more transparent to fight against fake news during electoral periods ... to give people the ability to vote with good information."

Story continues

French politicians across the political spectrum, however, are calling the proposed law ineffective and a potential threat to freedom of speech. What's more, critics say France already has strict media laws holding journalists and platforms like Facebook and Google accountable for the information they or their users distribute.

[READ: Nigeria's Place in the Future of Tech Innovation, Fake News]

"Many people are afraid the definition (of the proposed law) would be too broad or that it could set up precedents that allow the government to reduce freedom of speech," says Tristan Mendes France, a French journalist and professor of new media at Sorbonne University.

The Crowded French Media Law Landscape

During the three months leading up to an election, the proposed law will give a judge 48 hours to decide whether any news item distributed on a social media platform or search engine accused of containing false information is devoid of "verifiable elements" that could in turn affect the outcome of a vote.

The proposed law also charges the government with monitoring and suspending any foreign news broadcast that deliberately disseminates fake news intended to disturb elections. The government can even rule to shut down outlets.

Restrictive media laws aren't new for France. The 1881 Press Act fines journalists today up to 45,000 euros (about $52,000) for the publication, dissemination or reproduction of false information that's published in bad faith, meaning the author can't reasonably believe it's true and the information is likely to disturb the public peace. During election periods, judges' deadlines to make a decision are shortened from 20 days to 24 hours. The 1881 law, however, only covers journalists, Colboc says. The new law focuses solely on content distributors and foreign broadcasters.

A 2004 law is already frequently applied against social networks and search engines for disseminating defamatory content that's anti-Semitic, sexist, homophobic, pornographic, incites racial hatred, denies the Holocaust or incites terrorism, but it doesn't cover fake news.

Even with a new law, however, French courts may not be able to execute a decision against foreign companies such as those in the U.S., where the First Amendment to the Constitution protects freedom of speech. Google and Facebook have frequently complied with the 2004 law on good faith because they "want to have a clean image," says lawyer Basile Ader, vice-batonnier of Paris and a specialist in media law. When he's prosecuted cases involving Twitter, however, Ader says the cases go nowhere, and the new law will be similarly contested.

"They know they're protected by the First Amendment and we can never execute, since they're not a French company," he says. Proponents of the law argue that they will pursue foreign companies with a large presence in France in court and compel them to pay fines.

Colboc argues the 48-hour window won't be an issue from a legal standpoint. "We don't ask the judge to determine whether the information is true or false," she says. "We can find out the author and how the information was verified in 48 hours. If there aren't verifiable sources, the judge can say it's obviously false."

[MORE: European Union Taking On 'Almost Overwhelming' Fake News Reports]

Yet all sides agree that 48 hours may be too late to quell rumors. "You can't stop a hashtag," says Mendes France. "False information on social media is virtually impossible to stop the way the law is proposed today." Colboc argues, however, that it's better to act than leave false news online.

Critics and proponents of the proposed law also agree on transparency provisions requiring platforms to clearly mark sponsored content, share how much its creator paid to push a story to the top of a page, and publish statistics on the impact of their algorithms. Ader says he believes such measures will soon be adopted worldwide, and others agree.

"Alleged manipulation of elections across the world has forced the issue to be considered," says American lawyer David Klein, managing partner at Klein Moynihan Turco, a New York-based law firm specializing in internet issues. "I think transparency is a good thing. ... People haven't been skeptical of the source of their information."

Distribution platforms such as the U.S. social network Gab and the Russian social platform VKontakte "are increasingly used in Europe by the extreme right wing to escape our hate speech legislation," Mendes France says. The proposed law requires those platforms to have legal representation in France to simplify legal interventions.

France isn't alone in Europe in trying to take action against fake news. In Germany, a new law compels social media platforms to remove content promoting hate speech or face fines of up to 50 million euros (about $58 million). In the Czech Republic, a commission watches for fake news, especially on pro-Russia media, but it doesn't force companies to remove content. A similar effort is underway in the U.K., while Italy has launched a media literacy program in partnership with companies including Facebook.

Elsewhere around the world, Kenya's government in May passed a law that criminalizes both the spread of false information and the abuse of people on social media. In Asia, Malaysia's new government is working on redefining a fake news law brought by the previous government. Similar measures are being considered in the Philippines and Singapore.

Even in Russia, the source of so much concern over interference in countries' politics, lawmakers from the governing party have submitted a bill to tackle fake news, The New York Times reports. All of the countries' initiatives have triggered freedom of speech worries.

Ultimately, some experts say governments can do little. "This ban is fighting against an information ecosystem far beyond (a government's) own capacities," Mendes France says. Private organizations, he says, can more effectively counter fake news, pointing to groups such as Reporters Sans Frontieres, a Le Monde team dedicated to debunking fake news, and the Sleeping Giants initiative, which, Mendes France says, has "managed to suck millions of dollars from fake news organizations."

Still, even imperfect legislation has benefits, Mendes France says. "The positive thing is it sends a message to the general public that the government is taking this seriously."

Colleen de Bellefonds is a Paris-based writer. You can follow her on Twitter here.HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP)  An Ecuadorean immigrant who's been freed by a U.S. judge said Wednesday he thought he would lose his daughters and his wife when he was detained while delivering pizza to a Brooklyn Army installation nearly two months ago.

"I thought the world was coming to an end for me," Pablo Villavicencio, speaking in Spanish outside his Long Island home, said the morning after his release from immigration detention.

"I thought I was losing everything, that my dream of having my family always together was coming to an end," he said.

Villavicencio, 35, was arrested June 1 while making a delivery to the garrison in Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn. When he arrived, guards requested identification, and he produced a city identification card. A background check showed he had been ordered to leave the United States in 2010 but stayed.

U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty said Tuesday that Villavicencio, who was being held at a New Jersey lockup, can remain in the United States while he exhausts his right to try to gain legal status.

"Although he stayed in the United States unlawfully and is currently subject to a final order of removal, he has otherwise been a model citizen," the judge wrote.

"Thank God the judge made a very fair and right decision" and told immigration officials that they "could not deport me from the country because I have been a model citizen for the nation, for my state, for my city and for my daughters and my marriage," said Villavicencio. "God makes justice."

Villavicencio applied to stay in the U.S. after he married a U.S. citizen, with whom he has two daughters, ages 4 and 2.

The judge cited those children and said they also are U.S. citizens.

"He has no criminal history," the judge wrote. "He has paid his taxes. And he has worked diligently to provide for his family."

"You feel happy that your family is reunited but you are left disappointed and sad that many other families are in the same situation," said Villavicencio's wife, Sandra Chica. "We, who lived it and know what it is like, we don't wish this to happen to anybody. "

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The U.S. government did not immediately comment on the judge's action.

Adriene Holder, the attorney-in-charge of the civil practice at the Legal Aid Society, said the rule of "law, humanity and morality" prevailed and the Villavicencio family has "finally received a crucial measure of relief from their 53-day nightmare."

"This decision should serve as a rebuke against the Trump Administration and its merciless crusade to tear families apart," Holder said in a statement.

The judge ruled after hearing arguments earlier Tuesday, when he put a government lawyer on the spot over the effort by immigration authorities to enforce a 2010 deportation order. He questioned the need to detain and quickly deport Villavicencio.

"Well, the powerful are doing what they want, and the poor are suffering what they must," the judge said after hearing Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Cordaro defend the government's actions.

"I mean, is there any concept of justice here or are we just doing this because we want to?" the judge asked. "Why do we want to enforce the order? It makes no difference in terms of the larger issues facing the country."

Cordaro said Villavicencio would still be able to pursue his application to become a legal U.S. resident if he were deported.

The case has attracted widespread attention amid a crackdown by the administration of President Donald Trump on illegal immigration. Trump has said his policies are designed to keep the country safe.

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Information from: Newsday, http://www.newsday.comTennessee American Water on Thursday investigated the extent of the damage under the asphalt due to the water from the main break on Hixson Pike at the intersection of Lupton Drive which occurred on Wednesday.

Hixson Pike will have one lane for each direction south of Lupton Drive starting at 7 p.m. Thursday.

This will remain until utility repairs are complete and the road is repaved.

Vehicles are urged to take an alternate route, such as, Ashland Terrace to Highway 27 or Lupton Drive to Dayton Boulevard. A local traffic detour will be posted.

After reviewing the age of the pipe, the location of the pipe and a main break on this pipe earlier this year, Tennessee American Waters engineering team will replace the pipe before the road is restored to help avoid future breaks and disruptions to water service and traffic. The new pipe will be 12 inches in diameter, replacing the 1954 era 8-inch pipe. Approximately 600 feet of new main will be going in.

Every day across the U.S., water utilities face challenges due to aging infrastructure, said Tennessee American Water engineering manager Kurt Stafford. The American Society of Civil Engineers 2017 Infrastructure Report points out that in Tennessee alone there are over $2.7 billion in water system needs over the next 20 years.

When it comes to infrastructure, most people instantly think of roads and bridges. Those of us in the water business think about the underground pipes and other assets. At Tennessee American Water we are committed to making continuous infrastructure investments of about $20 million annually. The new pipe on Hixson Pike is one example of these projects.

The work will take up to three weeks to complete. Hixson Pike will remain partially open.

Safety for the community and the workers on site are our number one priority, said Mr. Stafford. We will work as quickly as possible to get the job done without compromising safety.By Parisa Hafezi

ANKARA (Reuters) - A powerful commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday Donald Trump should address any threats against Tehran directly to him, and mocked the U.S. president as using the language of "night clubs and gambling halls".

The comments by Major-General Qassem Soleimani, who heads the Quds Force of the Guards, were the latest salvo in a war of words between the two countries.

"As a soldier, it is my duty to respond to your threats ... If you wants to use the language of threat ... talk to me, not to the president (Hassan Rouhani). It is not in our president's dignity to respond to you," Soleimani was quoted as saying by Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Soleimani's message was in essence a warning to the United states to stop threatening Iran with war or risk exposing itself to an Iranian response.

"We are near you, where you can't even imagine... Come. We are ready ... If you begin the war, we will end the war," Tasnim news agency quoted Soleimani as saying. "You know that this war will destroy all that you possess."

Israel's Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said the fiery rhetoric of Soleimani was only "empty talk" because Iran was aware of "the strength and might of the U.S. military".

On Sunday night, Trump said in a tweet directed at Rouhani: "Never, ever threaten the United States again or you will suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before. We are no longer a country that will stand for your demented words of violence & death. Be cautious!"

A few hours earlier, Rouhani had addressed Trump in a speech, saying that hostile U.S. policies could lead to "the mother of all wars".

Fanning the heightened tensions, U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said in a statement on Monday: "President Trump told me that if Iran does anything at all to the negative, they will pay a price like few countries have ever paid before."

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Bolton is a proponent of interventionist foreign policy and was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in the administration of George W. Bush during the Iraq war.

"You (Trump) threaten us with paying a price like few countries have ever paid. Trump, this is the language of night clubs and gambling halls," said Soleimani, who as Quds Force commander is in charge of the Revolutionary Guards' overseas operations.

Iran's Guards commanders have threatened to destroy U.S. military bases across the Middle East and target Israel, which Iran refuses to recognise, within minutes of being attacked.

WAR OF WORDS

Since Trump's decision in May to withdraw the United States from a 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers, Tehran's clerical establishment has been under increasing U.S. pressure and the prospect of possible sanctions.

Washington aims to force Tehran to end its nuclear programme and its support of militant groups in the Middle East, where Iran is involved in proxy wars from Yemen to Syria.

Despite the bellicose rhetoric, there is limited appetite in Washington for a conflict with Iran, not least because of the difficulties the U.S. military faced in Iraq after its 2003 invasion but also because of the impact on the global economy if conflict raised oil prices.

Mounting U.S. economic pressure, a faltering economy, sliding currency and state corruption are rattling Iran's clerical rulers, but analysts and insiders rule out any chance of a seismic shift in Iran's political landscape.

"This is a war of words. Neither side want a military confrontation. But of course, if America attacks Iran, our response will be crushing," a senior Iranian official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.

Trump suggested on Tuesday that talks with Iran were an option, saying "we're ready to make a real deal". But Iran rejected it.

"But eventually, within a few months, half a year, they'll have no choice and will return to negotiation table with the United States and give up their nuclear programme," Yuval told Israeli Reshet TV on Thursday.

While the United States is pushing countries to cut all imports of Iranian oil from November, Iran has warned of counter-measures and has threatened to block Gulf oil exports if its own exports are halted.

"The Red Sea which was secure is no longer secure today with the presence of American forces," Soleimani said.

Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it was temporarily halting all oil shipments through the Red Sea shipping lane of Bab al-Mandeb after an attack on two oil tankers by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement.

(Additional reporting by Tom Perry in Beirut, Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by David Evans)Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the Cyber Week conference at Tel Aviv University, Israel, June 20, 2018. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Mohammed Ayoob

Security, Middle East

The declaration of Israel as the homeland of the Jews automatically ostracizes Israeli Arabs.

Israel's Divisions are more Clear Under Netanyahu's New Homeland Law

The Israeli daily Haaretz recently portrayed Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu this way: Call it irony or call it inevitability, this man who has spent every waking minute of the last decade warning Israelis about the dangers of the Iran of the ayatollahs and the Revolutionary Guard, also spent that same time turning Israel into the Iran of the Rabbinate and the rogue settler.

Netanyahu has now capped his achievements by getting the Knesset to pass a law that defines Israel as the homeland of the Jewish, not Israeli, people. While this may be consistent with the original Zionist idea propounded before the massive migration of European Jews to Palestine and the eventual creation of the Israeli state, it has grave implications now that Israel is firmly established as a territorial nation-state with a sizable non-Jewish population.

Israel has always struggled with the dual pulls of presenting itself as a typical nation-state that belongs to all Israelis regardless of race or religion and the strong Zionist aspiration to act as the homeland of the Jewish people no matter where they live. State-sponsored Jewish immigration, the law of return applicable only to Jews, and the denial of the right to return to Palestinian refugees and their descendants, were all products of this latter urge. The dilemma was exacerbated because of the continued occupation of Palestinian territories since 1967 that has led to official projections that soon there will be as many Arabs as Jews in the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

Nonetheless, for a time it appeared that the compulsions of acting like a responsible member of the state system built on the territorial principle had tamed Israels extra-territorial aspirations and forced it into behaving like a normal state. The passage of the latest law has proved that such assumptions were wrong and that the extra-territorial Zionist impulse has finally won out. This law makes Israel the mirror image of the concept of the Islamic caliphate which was expected to embrace all Muslims and to which all Muslimsno matter where they livedwere expected to be loyal. It is interesting to note that most of the Muslim world, except for outliers like the ISIS and the Hiz-ut-Tahrir, have given up this goal and adjusted to the nation-state system based on the territorial principle.

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It is ironic that Netanyahu and his allies have now come to wear the mantle of the caliphate that is expected to embrace all Jews and demand their unflinching loyalty. Such a blatant departure from the territorial principle is likely to make Israel not only an outlier in the international system but seriously erode its legitimacy as a nation-state, under challenge from its very foundation, in the eyes of its peers.

The passage of the latest law is bound to exacerbate the problem that Jews living outside of Israel face; namely, how to reconcile their affinity with Israel with their loyalty to the states in which they reside. With the recent resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe the new law compounds the problem faced by European Jews making them easier targets for right-wing and neo-Nazi elements in these countries. More importantly, it adds to the common Europeans suspicion regarding Jewish loyalty making him/her more susceptible to accepting anti-Semitic arguments.

Ostensibly, the situation may not be as bad in the United States today. However, the ascendancy of the right under Trump makes one wonder how long the lurking anti-Jewish feeling among this constituency will remain an underground phenomenon and not become overt in the political arena and force American Jews into an untenably defensive position. This is likely not merely to impact their security as an ethnic group but also vastly reduce the clout of the pro-Israel lobby in the American political system. The influence based on the perceived legitimacy of this lobby is essential for Washingtons unqualified support to Israeli policies even when they conflict with American interests in the Middle East.

The impact on Israels domestic situation is likely to be very severe as well. The declaration of Israel as the homeland of the Jews automatically excludes Israeli Arabs from the sphere of full citizenship. While this may have been the case in practice from 1948, this law makes discrimination against more than a fifth of the Israeli population legal. On the obverse side, it means that the Israeli state can no longer make a rightful claim on the loyalty of its Arab citizens. This would turn the assertion made by Jewish extremists that Arabs in Israel are a fifth column for its enemies into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The Jewish homeland law can have major regional implications as well. It is likely to make the prospect for peace with the Palestinians even more remote than it is now. It will put states like Saudi Arabia that are interested in normalizing relations with Israel in a very uncomfortable position and will vindicate the arguments, especially those made by hardline Iranian leaders, that Israel is an alien construct in the Middle East and has no right to exist in the region.

Creating a Caliphate by the stroke of the pen may appear easy. Sustaining it against multiple hazards, as Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi realized to his detriment, is a much more difficult task.

Mohammed Ayoob is a senior fellow at the Center for Global Policy in Washington, DC and University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of International Relations at Michigan State University.

Image: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the Cyber Week conference at Tel Aviv University, Israel, June 20, 2018. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Read full articleWhile some people might mark their 49th birthdays alone, eating a slice of cake by candlelight and mourning the passage of time, singer, actress and dancer Jennifer Lopez did not do that. The triple threat celebrated by sharing some snaps of her familys Bahamian adventure. In one photo J.Lo showed off her black-string-bikini-adorned figure  which is impressive for any age. She later slipped into a gorgeous green dress and thanked her followers for their well wishes: What a lucky girl I am to have such loyal and loving fans. I am eternally grateful to ALL of you!! Much like J.Lo, Yahoo readers werent shy in commenting on the stars build. She looks amazing, one reader left in the comments section of the original Yahoo Lifestyle article. Is A-Rod keeping up? another commenter asked, referring to Lopezs boyfriend, Alex Rodriguez. Many commenters felt that the stars fame and money unfairly contributed to her ability to stay in shape: She looks GREAT for a 49-year-old who can afford to pay people to keep her in shape, one reader said. Personal trainers will do wonders for your figure. What do you think? Let us know in the comments.That secret recording between Trump and former lawyer Michael Cohen has been played relentlessly over the past 24 hours.

You can count on late night hosts Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon to give a fresh spin on the tape, opening with the story in both their monologues.

SEE ALSO: 'The Late Show' has its own version of the secret Trump-Cohen tape

As many gleefully pointed out on Twitter, Trump's "Get me a Coke, please," comment proved to be the best thing about the tape.

"That is great product placement," Colbert quipped, before launching into a parody of the Nixon White House tapes, featuring an ad for TaB diet cola. Oh and of course, Colbert pointed out the tape's poor recording.

"The only thing Michael Cohen is worse at than lawyering, is sound recording," he added.

Over on The Tonight Show, Fallon leaked a new Trump-Cohen tape, featuring all of the beverages that the president would ever want.

"Snapple? Do you have Snapple? Made from the best stuff on Earth!" says the parodied version of Trump on the tape.

The real winner of this whole debacle would be the soda companies, it'd seem.Lance Armstrong, whose doping scandal led to his fall from the top of cycling, says he is working to earn forgiveness and has changed the way he reacts to criticism.ATHENS, Greece (AP)  The Latest on Greece's forest fires (all times local):

9:40 p.m.

Greek authorities say they have "serious indications" a wildfire near Athens that killed at least 82 people was set deliberately.

Public Order Minister Nikos Toskas said satellite image analysis and ground inspections suggest the fire that broke out in multiple places in a short time frame Monday likely resulted from arson.

The death toll from the fire that swept through a coastal area east of Athens rose to 82 on Thursday morning as the search for more victims on land and at sea continued.

___

6:10 p.m.

Germany's federal criminal police department says a team of its forensics specialists is in Greece to help officials there identify victims from this week's deadly forest fires.

The team includes veterans of such major disasters as the 2002 midair plane crash over Ueberlingen, Germany that killed 71 people and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed at least 225,000 across multiple Asian countries.

The Greek national fire department said Thursday morning that the death toll from the fire that broke out Monday night was 82.

The chief coroner in Athens says the task of identifying victims is difficult because most of the bodies at the morgue were severely burned.

Another complicating factor is wind-whipped flames raced through a large area. Authorities are working to put together a complete list of those missing.

___

2:20 p.m.

A spokesman for the Belgian foreign ministry says a Belgian tourist was killed in Greece's ferocious wildfires as he tried to flee blazes in the summer resort of Mati north of Athens.

The spokesman, who spoke to the Associated Press Thursday on customary condition of anonymity, said the tourist was among a larger group staying at an area hotel that was ordered evacuated to the nearby sea as the flames approached.

But he said the exact circumstances under which the Belgian man died during Monday's blaze are unclear.

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Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders had confirmed the man's death in post on his personal Twitter account on Wednesday. Reynders said that the Belgian embassy in Athens is assisting the man's "young son and family."

___

10:50 a.m.

Frantic relatives searching for loved ones missing in Greece's deadliest forest fire in decades are heading to Athens' morgue, as rescue crews and volunteers continued searches on land and at sea for potential further victims.

Those arriving at the morgue Thursday were being informed of the necessary steps to match the missing and the dead, including providing DNA samples and dental records.

The fire northeast of Athens in the area of Rafina, a seaside resort of permanent residences and holiday homes popular with Athenians and tourists, broke out Monday and swept through the area fanned by gale-force winds. Hundreds fled to nearby beaches, with many swimming out to sea to escape the ferocious flames and choking smoke that killed 81 people.JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Hundreds of South African gold mine workers were rescued and over 100 treated for smoke inhalation after an underground fire, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said on Thursday. Safety is a huge issue in South Africa's dangerous deep-level mines and a focus for investors. A spate of deaths at Sibanye-Stillwater's gold operations, including a seismic event that killed seven miners in early May, has highlighted the risks. In the latest incident, more than 600 miners were initially trapped after a fire broke out at a mine east of Johannesburg operated by unlisted Gold One, NUM said. This comes almost two weeks after five miners died in an underground fire at a South African copper mine operated by unlisted Palabora Mining Company in Limpopo. Company officials could not immediately be reached for comment. "As the NUM, we vehemently condemn this kind of incident as it is becoming a trend," the union said in a statement. (Reporting by Nomvelo Chalumbira; Editing by Ed Stoddard and Alexandra Hudson)Demi Lovato was given naloxone before being taken to a hospital after an apparent drug overdose on July 24. Although naloxone can save lives, access to it in the U.S. is very limited. (Photo: Jon Kopaloff / Getty Images)

When I opened up my social media yesterday, I received a flood of notifications. Having worked in a field related to addiction for nearly two decades. I knew it was one of two things: A friend had died, or a story related to overdose had hit the news. It turned out to be both.

In the 20 years since I last used heroin, my life has been dedicated to the prevention of accidental overdose deaths, through the distribution of the opioid overdose antidote naloxone. It is an easily administered medication that can very quickly reverse an opioid overdose in an emergency situation. According to reports, Demi Lovato received Narcan, a brand name for naloxone, before being taken to a hospital Tuesday morning after an apparent drug overdose. She survived. A friend of mine was alone when he overdosed and died.

I had read about Lovato  her struggles with mental health issues, with body image and with relapse. These issues resonated with me because they are mine too. Lovato, who has lived her life in the spotlight since childhood, was seen as a good girl, the type who could never overdose. Yet I was also seen as that person. I was an honor student and a quiet kid, and I also am a survivor of an accidental heroin overdose.

I was nearly 18 years old when I began experimenting with drugs. My focus before that had been on school, the only thing that made me feel valuable. I sometimes joke that my first drug of choice was books. I spent hours and hours reading to help escape the crippling depression that has been a main part of my life since I was diagnosed at 12 years old.

At the time, help for children with depression was very limited. A few sessions with a school psychologist, and I was left to my own devices. But I had discovered another coping mechanism by this time: cycles of overeating. I would stuff my feelings with food. That led to my being 50 pounds overweight by the time I got to high school. During my teen years, I added rounds of starvation diets and cutting myself. By the time I started college, through the process of extreme dieting, I was closer to average weight, but I had developed a healthy appetite for self-destruction.

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At first, the drugs and alcohol seemed to provide a solution to my problems. They offered relief from the noise in my head. My drugs of choice became opioids. I felt almost normal on them. These pills were everywhere  easily obtainable through the magic of medicine cabinets. One friend or another had pills left over from surgery or getting teeth pulled or bottles left around by their parents. I was suddenly able to cope.

Binges escalated into daily use of one drug or another. As my old friends faded, my using buddies became my new friends. I was encouraged to try IV drug use because they said my current method was wasting it. I was getting hooked.

After a few months, I experienced my first overdose on heroin. I was 21 years old. There was no take-home Narcan available then to combat overdose, and no one called paramedics. My companion was too afraid to call 911 because there was a very real chance we would both go to jail. (Arrest after being revived from an overdose is still common in many parts of the United States where good Samaritan laws do not exist. Such laws allow people experiencing or witnessing an overdose to seek medical assistance without fear of drug-related arrest or prosecution.)

I awoke from a strange dream to question why he was crying and my face hurt from being slapped. I had no recollection of what had just occurred. I would love to say that this was the beginning of my recovery. It was not.

In my second overdose, emergency personnel revived me with Narcan after I passed out in my hotel room. Once again, I was disoriented when I came to, but this time I was strapped down to a gurney. I was intensely sick  nauseated and overheated  but alive. I was angry at myself, angry at the life I was living.

As the Narcan wore off an hour later, I slipped back into an opioid high as I was handed my hospital discharge papers and the clothing that had been cut from my body. I was turned back onto the streets, where I continued to struggle with addiction until I finally reached the doors of recovery in 1998.

While it is unfortunate that it takes the suffering of a celebrity to shine light on such a private issue, I hope this event can open a broader public conversation. In the time since I survived my overdose, I have been able to achieve a level of happiness I never knew was possible. I have a family, I work in public health, I work as an advocate, and I bring a voice and a face to people who have used drugs. I bring value to this world.

Overdose and opioids are now part of the national conservation. I would argue that conversation should be punctuated with access to Narcan.

Only 8 percent of counties in the U.S. had any access to naloxone for community members in 2014, despite the proven effectiveness of naloxone distribution programs in combating opioid deaths in a cost-effective manner. While there has been some expansion in communities since then, naloxone access for people who use drugs in most U.S. jurisdictions is still dangerously inadequate. Right now, access in large part revolves around being able to obtain and afford naloxone at pharmacies. While this is an effective solution for a subset of the population, having low- or no-cost naloxone in a community setting with low barriers to obtaining it is critical to saving lives.

I have been mailing naloxone to individuals I have met through social media for over five years. This tiny program has saved 329 lives. Imagine how much more could be done to stem the tide of overdose deaths if everyone who needed it had access.

I am grateful to be alive today. I can directly credit Narcan for my survival. I believe we are all worth saving, and I am a living example of that. My hope is that this public viewing of a private matter will humanize people who use drugs and expand understanding of the importance of Narcan.

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: AP, Getty

Following the chaotic tenure of Scott Pruitt, the new acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Andrew Wheeler, is trying to bring more competence and transparency to the job, but all signs indicate hes continuing to carry out President Trumps assault on regulations.

Wheeler, unlike Pruitt, is a longtime insider who understands the machinations of Washington. Hes unlikely to unilaterally overturn environmental protections the way Pruitt did, and more likely to dismantle them slowly through the appropriate channels. Wheelers know-how and political sophistication suggest he will be less vulnerable to lawsuits and less prone to gross ethical violations  meaning he could be far more successful.

Whereas Pruitt was careless and hasty and made dozens of mistakes, if not more, Wheeler as a polished lobbyist, well connected on K Street, well connected on the Hill, has the potential of being very dangerous. He wont be as careless and sloppy as his predecessor, Melinda Pierce, the legislative director for the Sierra Club, told Yahoo News.

Andrew Rosenberg, director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said Wheeler is much smoother in how he presents the EPA publicly and even to his own employees.

Pruitt came in saying, We know the EPA is a terrible place, and Im going to fix it all, and he didnt really buy into the mission. I think theres more finesse in Mr. Wheeler, but I dont think his actual policy agenda is any different, Rosenberg told Yahoo News.

Wheeler, who was sworn in as the EPAs deputy administrator in April after a heated confirmation process, was a top aide to Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., from 1995 until 2009. Inhofe was outspoken in rejecting the overwhelming scientific consensus behind anthropogenic climate change and notoriously tossed a snowball on the Senate floor as proof that climate change is not real. Wheeler spent 12 years on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works fighting government regulations on greenhouse gas emissions.

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Environmental Protection Agency Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler speaks to EPA staff two days after taking the top job, July 11, 2018. (Photo: Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

Starting in 2009, Wheeler worked for the Faegre Baker Daniels law firm in lobbying for coal producer Murray Energy, which is owned by prominent Trump supporter Robert E. Murray, and he actively opposed former President Barack Obamas proposals to protect the environment and address climate change. He has also dismissed the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes science as politically motivated.

Pruitt was a fiercely ambitious outsider from Oklahoma, whereas Andrew Wheeler is a Washington, D.C., insider, Pierce said. Heres a guy thats swampy as it gets in terms of being a D.C. lobbyist insider working for K Street and a noted climate change denier.

Wheeler was sworn in as acting head of the EPA on July 9 following Pruitts resignation two days earlier. He kicked off his first day at the helm with an 18-minute speech to the agencys employees. It was essentially a charm offensive in which he went through his abridged biography. He defended his work as a coal lobbyist by emphasizing how he fought to protect the pensions and health care benefits of coal miners: I did work for a coal company, and Im not at all ashamed of the work I did for the coal company.

Wheeler said the EPA has made tremendous progress over the last year and a half thanks to the leadership of Trump and Pruitt. Under his leadership, Wheeler continued, the EPA would continue to keep cleaning Superfund sites (which have been contaminated with hazardous substances), investing in the nations water infrastructure, improving air quality and updating the chemical safety review process.

Wheeler used much of the same language Pruitt had when he came to the EPA. Both emphasized returning to the EPAs original mission, taking a narrower view of the agencys responsibilities than previous administrators.

Scott Pruitt during his Senate confirmation hearing, Jan. 18, 2017. (Photo: Mark Reinstein/MediaPunch /IPX/AP)

Were also restoring the rule of law, reining in federal regulatory overreach and refocusing EPA on its core responsibilities, Wheeler said. As a result, the economy is booming, and economic optimism is surging.

To Rosenberg, Wheeler sounded more concerned about risks to industry and the economy than about risks to communities.

[He said] that EPA needed to communicate risk. Actually, EPA needs to address and mitigate the risks to communities. Thats their job. Its not just communicating Youre about to be sick, or Theres about to be a toxic waste explosion. Its actually doing something about it, Rosenberg said. I was nervous he wasnt speaking to the real mission of EPA, which is to protect public health and safety.

Rosenberg added that most of what Pruitt touted as regulatory rollbacks were merely giveaways to the oil and gas industries. The career professional staff, theyre the ones that have continued to try to push forward with real public health protections in spite of the administration, he said.

Rosenberg said Wheeler has been a little more open to the press than Pruitt and less obsessed with secrecy, security and ostentatious displays of prerogatives  such as having his driver use his siren to cut through traffic on his way to a restaurant. Wheeler promised greater transparency, but neither Rosenberg nor Pierce was too impressed by these slight changes.

That shouldve been status quo, Pierce said. Im not going to give you a gold star for transparency for doing whats expected but somehow surprising in the wake of Scott Pruitt.

The former coal lobbyists first major act as EPA acting chief was to overhaul the rule for how toxic waste from the burning of coal should be disposed of at power plants around the country. It was the first of several expected revisions to Obama-era rules for handling toxic waste to avoid contaminating waterways. The Obama-era regulations were inspired in part by two disastrous coal-ash spills in Tennessee (2008) and North Carolina (2014).

Part of a drainage system that was involved two years earlier in a major coal-ash spill in North Carolina. (Photo: Gerry Broome/AP)

The [Obama-era] rule wasnt as protective as the environmental and public health community wanted it to be, but it was still a huge step forward, Becky Hammer, the deputy director of federal water policy for the Natural Resources Defense Council, told Yahoo News.

Hammer said the new standards required owners and operators of coal-ash disposal sites to publish groundwater monitoring data, but the EPA hasnt made this information easy for anyone to find. Rather than creating a central database, the EPA is directing the public to each individual facilitys own website in order to see its data.

The Environmental Integrity Project, an environmental nonprofit, downloaded and compiled all the data from each facilitys website and determined that almost every single site  roughly 95 percent of them  identified groundwater contamination from coal ash.

Coal ash, the material left over after coal is burned for electricity, is the second largest waste stream in the country after household garbage. Coal-fired power plants produce roughly 140 million tons per year.

There are a number of heavy metals in it that are very dangerous to human health: lead, arsenic, radium, hexavalent chromium, all kinds of things you dont want to come into contact with under any circumstances because theyre carcinogenic, theyre neurotoxic, theyre poisonous, Hammer said.

Coal-ash landfills are enormous, typically 120 acres with an average depth of over 40 feet, and sometimes quite close to houses.

The problem is that about half of all the ponds and landfills dont have any liners or safeguards to prevent this dangerous material from leaking downward into the groundwater, Hammer said. We already know of about 200 sites across the country where coal ash has been found to definitively taint water supplies. There are probably a lot more than that, but a lot of the older sites arent monitored at all.

Hammer pointed out that an Obama-era EPA study found that people who live near coal-ash disposal sites have a one-in-50 chance of getting cancer from drinking water contaminated by arsenic, and they have increased risks of liver, kidney and lung disease.

The coal industry petitioned the EPA to reconsider the regulations, arguing that the cost of compliance was excessive and would result in significant financial loss.

Amy Adams, North Carolina campaign coordinator with Appalachian Voices, shows her hand covered with wet coal ash from the Dan River swirling in the background, in Danville, Va., in 2014. (Photo: Gerry Broome/AP)

They didnt want the cost of more secure areas. Effectively, theyre just dumping the cost onto the public by saying, OK, you clean it up, as opposed to We, the ones that created the waste, should clean it up, Rosenberg said.

Pruitt was sympathetic to their case and in September 2017 started the reconsideration process that Wheeler completed.

These amendments provide states and utilities much-needed flexibility in the management of coal ash, while ensuring human health and the environment are protected, Wheeler said in a statement. Our actions mark a significant departure from the one-size-fits-all policies of the past and save tens of millions of dollars in regulatory costs.

Hammer said Wheelers new rule allows groundwater monitoring standards to be waived and extends the deadline for facilities to close coal-ash pits that are known to be contaminating groundwater. The 2015 rule said those facilities have to close by next April, but now that deadline has been pushed back one and a half years.

The EPA didnt even consider what the health effects of this would be. They just didnt look at it at all. All they considered was how much money it would save the coal industry, Hammer said.

Sources have told Bloomberg and others that Wheelers EPA is preparing to roll back Obama-era emission targets for cars, which were among Obamas major regulatory efforts to control greenhouse gases. Under Wheeler, the EPA reportedly plans to revoke Californias authority to regulate its own car emissions, which it has done since the 1950s.

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told Yahoo News that his state would not stand idly by while the Trump administration took away its ability to set stricter emissions standards. We also have a long history of the federal government respecting Californias right, as a state, to regulate our own air. When I was governor, the EPA thought they could stop us, and we won. The EPA even tried to claim that greenhouse gases were not a pollutant, and we took them all the way to the Supreme Court and we won that, Schwarzenegger said.

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks at the R20 Austrian World Summit in May 2018. One of the summits aims is to further the Paris Climate Agreement. (Photo: Ronald Zak/AP)

Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., the top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, has taken the lead among members of Congress in calling on Wheeler to restore the trust of the American people in the EPA after Pruitts scandal-ridden tenure. In an open letter, Carper urged Wheeler to follow in the footsteps of former EPA Administrator William Ruckelshaus, a Republican who earned an emotional heros welcome from EPA staffers when he took over the agency (for the second time) in 1983, replacing the scandal-tarnished Anne Gorsuch. Ruckelshaus, who was also the first EPA chief, appointed by President Nixon in 1970, promised to follow environmental laws, making no Big P political decisions and seeking help from scientists and environmentalists.

The damage Scott Pruitt has done to the Agency will not easily be undone, Carper wrote. While you and I have not always agreed, and will not always agree, on every environmental policy matter, it is my hope and expectation that you will carefully consider the lessons of the past as you prepare to chart the Agencys future.

Wheeler is surrounded by Pruitts top aides, many of whom have strong industry ties, including Richard Yamada, who worked for Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, Nancy Beck, who was an executive at the American Chemistry Council, and William Wehrum, who was an attorney for the oil and coal industries.

Under Wheeler, Rosenberg said, expect to see more or less the same goal of slashing regulations unless he gives very strong different direction to his folks  many of whom I believe have serious conflicts of interest.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:Late night TV hosts covered the emergence of a secretly recorded conversation between President Donald Trump and his former personal attorney Michael Cohen in amusing ways.

In the audio that CNN broadcast earlier this week, Trump and his lawyer were heard talking about a hush money payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal (with whom Trump allegedly had an affair) prior to the 2016 election.

On Wednesday night, Late Show host Stephen Colbert pretended to have obtained video footage of the exchange:

Youve heard Michael Cohens audio tape of Donald Trump discussing payments to a Playboy model. Now, you can see it. #LSSC pic.twitter.com/hGftX0x1m9  The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) July 26, 2018

Jimmy Kimmel of Jimmy Kimmel Live! likened the conversation to a mob movie:

The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon aired this (spoof) new audio:

James Corden of The Late Late Show did the same:

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

The Daily Show host Trevor Noah got excited about one particular moment in the chat:

Seth Meyers took a closer look at the secret tape on Late Night, and compared the Trump legal teams defense of it to the famous Laurel vs. Yanni debate:

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Also on HuffPost

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.LISBON (Reuters) - Portugal's foreign minister told Britain on Thursday it should keep its doors open to "construction workers and waiters" as well as high-end professional migrants after it leaves the European Union. "I've had the opportunity to tell the home secretary that Portugal doesn't have a segmented view on people's movement," Augusto Santos Silva said when asked about Britain's plans to prioritize highly-skilled European migrants after Brexit. "Therefore the brightest EU migrants are also the construction workers and the waiters," Silva told reporters after meeting UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid. Thousands of Portuguese live in Britain and many work as nurses, waiters and cleaners while British citizens living in Portugal are mostly pensioners. Portugal is actively courting wealthy British to move and invest there in the run up to Brexit. Javid was in Lisbon to present London's recently published plan on leaving the EU and to discuss the rights of European and British citizens in both countries. Britain and Portugal have the world's oldest alliance, signed under a 1386 treaty. (Reporting By Catarina Demony; Editing by Axel Bugge and Andrew Heavens)SANAMXAY, Laos (AP)  Authorities in Laos ordered closer monitoring of hydroelectric facilities as they investigate why a dam in the country's southeast collapsed earlier this week, killing at least 27 people and leaving 131 missing.

Floodwaters that rose to rooftops were slowly receding Thursday as evacuees trickled back to villages inundated with mud.

Farmer Kongvilay and his wife Thongla Inthavong returned after spending two nights at a shelter to find their wooden stilt house had been washed 50 meters (160 feet) away into their rice field. The family left the house in a rush as the water level climbed to 2 meters (6  feet) in just one hour after the dam broke late Monday.

"I'm worried the same accident might happen again," Thongla said as she and her husband scraped mud off their belongings. "But we can't live anywhere else. We've been here our entire lives."

In a report Thursday, the state-run Vientiane Times said the Ministry of Energy and Mines had ordered closer monitoring of water levels in reservoirs and of conditions at dam sites.

It said the thousands of people stranded on rooftops and in trees had been rescued by Wednesday. Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith described the disaster as the worst in years in the impoverished country, with more than 6,000 people displaced after the auxiliary dam of a joint venture hydroelectric project gave way after days of torrential rains.

Thongloun said authorities were investigating whether the dam's collapse was caused by the heavy rainfall or by inadequate construction standards. The South Korean company responsible for building the dam, SK Engineering & Construction, said it also was trying to determine why the dam failed.

The Red Cross, South Korean government and other organizations were rushing water purifiers, food and other aid to shelters crowded with hundreds of displaced families evacuated from a half-flooded no-man's-land of orange mud and debris.

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Initially, state media reported that hundreds of people were missing and feared dead. Difficult communications and heavy rains, which have hampered rescue efforts, likely contributed to discrepancies in information about casualties.

The exact circumstances of the dam's collapse remain murky, and local officials said they had formed a committee to "seek common ground on the responsibilities and obligations for the tragic disaster," the Vientiane Times reported.

SK Engineering & Construction said the dam began failing Sunday, while Korea Western Power, another partner in the project, said the earth-fill dam began visibly weakening on Friday.

SK Engineering sent its president and an emergency team to help with the rescue and repair effort. In a statement Thursday, it said it would help build lodging for those displaced.

"We will find out causes of the incident thoroughly and take necessary actions quickly," it said in a statement earlier this week.

The Thai partner in the dam project, the Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Public Co., said the joint venture had sent experts to the area to investigate the situation and discuss with the authorities how to resolve the problem.

Monsoon rains clearly contributed to the disaster: A report by the intergovernmental Mekong River Commission said storms had caused water levels along the river to rise by 3-5 meters (9-15 feet) in the past week.

Continued heavy rain and strong winds forecast for the area could hinder recovery efforts, and risks from flooding persisted in the mountainous region.

But a flurry of dam building along the Mekong River and its tributaries, including those affected by this disaster, has raised concerns over environmental impact and other problems.

The $1.02 billion project encompassing several river basins in a remote corner of southeastern Laos is the first hydroelectric dam to be built by a South Korean company, and it was unclear how severe the damage would be to the overall plan. The dam was due to begin operating in 2019, with 90 percent of the power generated going to Thailand.

Laos has dozens of hydroelectric projects under construction and plans for sales of power to neighboring countries, now accounting for about a third of its exports, to grow substantially.

International Rivers, a non-governmental group generally critical of such projects, said the catastrophe showed the need to improve warning systems.

"With over 70 hydropower projects currently built, under construction and planned across Lao PDR  most of them owned and operated by private companies  authorities must immediately review how dams are being planned, designed and managed," the group said in a statement.

___

Associated Press writers Youkyung Lee in Seoul, South Korea, and Grant Peck in Bangkok contributed to this report.Photo credit: Dan Istitene/Getty Images - Car and Driver

From Car and Driver

He could be blunt, challenging, and charming all in the space of a single sentence. He was an Italian who practically resurrected Alfa Romeo, reinvigorated Maserati, and has set Ferrari on its current course. But he was also a Canadian who would steer (and save) American brands like Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep while creating another one with Ram. And also, somehow, he kept Fiat going. Sergio Marchionne wasnt larger than life, but the life he led was very large indeed.

Marchionne, until last weekend the CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, died July 25 after complications from surgery in Zurich. He leaves behind his companion Manuela Battezzato and two sons, Alessio and Tyler. He was 66.

Born on June 17, 1952 in Chieti, a city about 90 northeast of Rome, Marchionne was the son of a carabiniere-a police officer. But when young Sergio was 13, the family emigrated to Toronto. Marchionne would be educated in Canada, earning his undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto, a law degree at York University, and an MBA at the University of Windsor. Not the sort of start that naturally leads to running a transnational car company.

It was, actually, the start of a career in consulting. Young Marchionne went to work for Deloitte & Touche in Canada, advising the large firms clients as an accountant and tax specialist. From there he moved into industrial-management jobs in America and Europe. By 1994 he was working for Algroup in Switzerland and quickly rose to become its CEO. By the time he joined the Fiat Groups corporate board in 2003 as an independent member, he was the CEO of SGS, a Swiss testing firm and the chairman of the Lonza chemical group.

Fiat was a financial basket case when Marchionne joined the board. It was losing money and churning through CEOs. By the time the then-senior members of the controlling Agnelli family and board co-chairmen, Gianni and Umberto Agnelli, died in 2003 and 2004, the company had lost six billion euros over those two years and the fourth CEO the Fiat brand had had during that time had just quit. Fiat was on the verge of collapse.

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The board elevated Marchionne, then 52, to the top slot with at least some expecting that hed fail as well. It was his first job at the company. Moreover, it was his first job directly in the auto industry. That hardly shook his confidence.

There is a huge amount of potential in the management that Fiat already has-we just need to go tap it, Mr. Marchionne was quoted by The New York Times upon his appointment. I have done that before. In my 30 months at SGS, I took a lethargic company and turned it into a leader in its field.

Amazingly, Marchionne did turn Fiat around, and quickly. He wasnt timid about going with his instincts, he ruthlessly streamlined management and product design, and he looked for best practices in companies such as Toyota and Apple. And he almost instinctually promoted young executives to positions of high responsibility. In 2004, for example, Luca de Meo, who was managing the remnants of Lancia, was only 37 and Marchionne promoted him to run the Fiat brand on not much more than a hunch. Marchionnes big bets paid off.

Photo credit: PACO SERINELLI/Getty Images - Car and Driver

Fiat posted $332 million in losses during 2005 but swung to a $384 million profit in 2006. When youre fighting in an industry like this, you need to take very unorthodox approaches to the business," Marchionne told Fortune magazine.

That quick turnaround had Fiat in a ripe position to benefit from the imminent collapse of Chrysler in 2009. I have absolutely no intention of running Chrysler, Marchionne said as Fiat began the process of taking a 35 percent stake in Chrysler Group in January of that year, adding that we have taken some precautions to ensure that we are not ignored.

That commitment to not running Chrysler lasted about three months. In April of 2009, the new management structure of Chrysler was being negotiated among the existing Chrysler executives appointed under its private equity owners from Cerberus Capital Management, the United States federal government (which held the debt of the essentially bankrupt company), the United Auto Workers, and Fiats Marchionne. By June, Fiat had management control of Chrysler and 20 percent of the stock (rising to 35 percent as the debt was paid off) and Marchionne was running both companies.

Finding product synergies between Fiat and Chrysler wasnt always easy. Both the 2013 Dodge Dart and 2015 Chrysler 200 were based on Fiat platforms and failed to find many buyers. But no one has been buying sedans, and over at Jeep, the Fiat bits underpinning crossovers such as the Renegade, Cherokee, and Compass have helped them become successes.

Marchionne proved to be a charismatic executive. He eschewed suits in favor of his trademark black sweater and engaged journalists with his crafted personality and practiced patter. He is apparently immune to jet lag, wrote the late David E. Davis Jr. for Car and Driver in 2011, flying back and forth between Turin and Detroit as you might walk down the hall to shoot the breeze with a colleague. He grew up in North America and was educated on this side of the pond. He says the right things to dealers and the press, and we have begun to believe him.

Yeah I am a workaholic, but I do shut the industrial machine down, Marchionne told Forbes in 2011. Otherwise this thing is going to fall apart. I mean I worked all day Saturday, I landed at midnight, I was in the office here the morning after at nine. We worked late last night and were here this morning at seven. And I have to be in Europe- Ive got to be on the phone at four oclock in the morning with Europe, which is the issue.

Photo credit: Car and Driver

Marchionne notoriously carried as many as six Blackberry devices while bouncing between continents. But the intense pace paid off. Largely using thick profits from truck and Jeep sales, Marchionne was able to pay down Chryslers debt. Fiat owned 58 percent of Chrysler by 2012 and was able to acquire the remaining 42 percent from the UAW in 2014. At that point, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) was complete and unified under Marchionne. For all that, Marchionne earned $72 million in compensation during 2014.

For all his success in creating FCA and turning it to profitability, Marchionne regularly pursued merger opportunities for the company. He sought to combine the company with General Motors in 2015, and throughout the remainder of his time leading FCA felt that consolidation was inevitable in the industry. FCA may be profitable, but its still a small player compared to Toyota or Volkswagen. And every company is staring down the necessity of developing expensive new technologies-the electrification of the automobile wont be free.

I never close any doors, he told reporters at the 2017 Geneva auto show. I may shamelessly try and knock again . . . on the GM door or any door if I thought it was a good thing for the business. Absolutely, without even blinking. Ford and Hyundai have recently been mentioned as other possible merger partners.

As Marchionne contemplated slowing down somewhat, he spun Ferrari off from FCA and installed himself as the new chairman of that company in 2016. While Marchionne indicated that he would retire in 2019, the plan seemed to be that he would run the legendary sports car manufacturer and racing team as the next chapter in his life. If nothing else, his insistence that Ferrari build an SUV has already ensured his mark will be made on the legendary firm.

Photo credit: Car and Driver

Instead, his health took a turn after his recent surgery, prompting FCA to appoint his successor just days ago. Confirming his passing, John Elkann, chairman of Exor, the Agnelli familys holding company, said: Unfortunately, what we feared has come to pass. Sergio Marchionne, man and friend, is gone. I believe that the best way to honor his memory is to build on the legacy he left us, continuing to develop the human values of responsibility and openness of which he was the most ardent champion.

Marchionne was practically unknown when the 21st century began, and yet his personality has dominated the vehicle industry during these first two decades. He proved that one strong personality, supported by a keen mind and indomitable spirit, can still matter. This business has never been for the fainthearted, Marchionne told Bloomberg in January. The technology changes that are coming are going to make it probably more challenging than its ever been. It will be even tougher without his presence.

('You Might Also Like',)NBC News

"We feel alone and lost without him," James McNeelis' father wrote on Facebook. The boy's grandmother said the family had only recently gotten the dog.GOLAN HEIGHTS/AMMAN (Reuters) - Pro-Assad forces raised the Syrian flag in the largely ruined city of Quneitra on Thursday, regained from surrendering rebels as the government tightens its hold on the Syrian sector of the Golan Heights, strategic territory bordering Israel and Jordan. A Reuters photographer saw uniformed men raise the Syrian national flag and the black, white, green and red flag of President Bashar al-Assad's Baath Party in the long-abandoned city. No weapons were immediately visible. The photographer was reporting from a vantage point on the Israeli-occupied western section of the Golan Heights. Forces supporting Assad, backed by a major Russian air campaign, have been pushing into Quneitra province after an offensive last month that routed rebels in adjoining Deraa province who were once backed by Washington, Jordan and Gulf states. Pro-Assad forces began pushing last week towards the border area close to the demilitarised zone adjoining the Israeli-occupied area after rebels surrendered large parts of Quneitra province. The Russians reached a deal with the last group of mainstream rebels in control of the rebel part of northwestern Quneitra province in a deal that now effectively brings the whole of the border frontier under state control, an opposition source said. Under the terms of a 1974 U.N. armistice that demilitarised much of the Golan, Israel withdrew from the abandoned capital of Quneitra province which it had razed to the ground after capturing it in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. The destroyed town had fallen into rebel hands in 2014. Pro-Assad forces have raised the flag in several other towns along the frontier, including al Hamidiyah and Rafid, that overlooks a U.N. observation post. A Russian-brokered deal allows the return of Syrian army brigades that existed before the conflict began in 2011 to where they were stationed near the demilitarised zone. ISRAELI CONCERN So far there have been no signs of a significant deployment of Syrian army troops to former posts near the frontier, according to a regional intelligence source. Israel says it is concerned that Assad may defy the U.N. armistice, or let his Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah reinforcements deploy there. There is a strong presence in parts of Quneitra of Iranian-backed militias, the intelligence source said, adding that they have taken a low profile to avoid antagonising Russia which had given pledges to Israel to curb their influence, The Israeli government has signalled it would not impede the Syrian army presence in Quneitra as long as it kept away from the demilitarised zone. However, Israel said it will continue to escalate attacks along its frontier and elsewhere in Syria where it suspects Iranian-backed forces are stationed. Mainstream rebels are completing a handover of weapons and in some instances negotiating with Russian officers about enlisting in army units that serve as local forces, opposition source say. Several hundred mainly jihadist rebels from a former al Qaeda offshoot have rejected the deals and accepted safe passage to opposition-held parts of northern Syria. Rebels say army and pro-government militias have been putting up checkpoints in former rebel held-towns in Quneitra province that have accepted the return of state rule The army is still battling a local Islamic State affiliate around the Yarmouk Basin nearby, where the army said on Thursday its ground forces had made significant progress after nearly 10 days of relentless Russian-led bombing. An army source was quoted on state media as saying the towns of Tseel and Adwan had now been seized alongside the commanding heights of Tel Jamou, which the militants had been fiercely defending. (Reporting by Ammar Awad; Writing by Maayan Lubell and Suleiman al Khalidi; Editing by Andrew Bolton)By Sheila Dang and Pushkala Aripaka (Reuters) - AT&T Inc, the new owner of cable channels HBO and TNT, on Tuesday reported quarterly revenue that fell shy of Wall Street estimates but added more wireless subscribers than expected. Shares of the Dallas-based company fell 1 percent in after-hours trading following the mixed results for the second quarter, which included about two weeks of results from Time Warner Inc. AT&T bought the entertainment conglomerate to attract consumers and advertisers to its mobile products and compete with internet firms like Netflix Inc, Facebook Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google. Total operating revenue fell about 2 percent to $38.99 billion, missing analysts' average estimate of $39.39 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The second-quarter revenue included the impact of an accounting change, said AT&T, the second-largest U.S. wireless carrier by subscribers. AT&T's service revenue, which includes all operating revenue except equipment and media revenue, declined 7.6 percent from the prior-year quarter. "None of their businesses are performing well," said Jonathan Chaplin, analyst at New Street Research. "Apart from the one that they only owned for 16 days, the only one that isnt shrinking is wireless. And wireless isn't growing, it just isn't shrinking anymore. Less bad isnt the same as good." After a six-week trial, AT&T won court approval last month to close its $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner and began bundling the content it gained from the deal with new wireless plans to drive subscriber growth. A federal appeals court last week approved the U.S. Justice Department's request for an expedited schedule to appeal the ruling on antitrust concerns. John Donovan, chief executive of AT&T Communications, told investors on a conference call that the company has introduced video options with a wide variety of price points, such as streaming service WatchTV at $15, which was launched after AT&T closed the Time Warner acquisition. AT&T said it will introduce new advertising formats through next year, such as letting viewers pause a TV show and watch related sponsored content on their phones, instead of a traditional commercial break. Time Warner and other merger costs were $321 million in the second quarter when the trial took place. Net income attributable to the company rose to $5.1 billion, or 81 cents per share, in the quarter ended June 30 from $3.92 billion, or 63 cents per share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, the company earned 91 cents per share. Analysts had expected adjusted earnings per share of 85 cents. AT&T added a net 46,000 postpaid mobile phone subscribers in the second quarter. Analysts on average were expecting net adds of 14,000, according to financial and data analytics firm FactSet. It also lost 286,000 satellite television subscribers, as viewers continue to "cut the cord" in favor of streaming video platforms. Craig Moffett, an analyst with MoffettNathanson, characterized the quarter as weak, pointing out that service and organic revenues are shrinking. "Those are terrifying numbers for a company leveraged at four times (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization)," he said. (Reporting by Sheila Dang in New York and Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Lisa Shumaker)Inside a stately boardroom at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Berlin last April, U.S. Treasury Department officials meeting with their German counterparts described an elaborate Iranian operation that the Americans had uncovered. For several years, Irans elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had been using German front companies to buy advanced printing machinery, watermarked paper and specialty inks in violation of European export controls. The IRGC had then printed counterfeit Yemeni bank notes potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars and used them to help fund its proxy war against the beleaguered pro-U.S. government in the capital of Sanaa. German companies, the Americans said, were being used as a cover by the Iranians to finance the worlds worst humanitarian conflict.

The evidence, uncovered by U.S. illicit-finance investigators, was meant to sway the Germans, but not just in hopes of countering Irans moves on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. The larger mission, according to other Treasury documents later used in a presentation and reviewed by TIME, was to convince Berlin that Tehran cannot be trusted and that the Germans should join the Trump Administration in imposing economy-crippling sanctions on Iran. Weeks later, American officials presented their hosts with one last set of documents: detailed blueprints on how the Trump Administration was preparing to unleash financial warfare on the Iranian economy.

For many, U.S.-Iran tensions are defined by President Trumps occasionally flamboyant outbursts, including a late July 22 all-caps tweet that appeared to threaten Tehran with military attack. But the low-grade confrontation between the two countries has been intensifying almost from the moment they and five major powers signed the landmark 2015 nuclear deal known officially as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). That deal brought Irans nuclear program under tight international controls, but freed it from heavy sanctions. Tehran has been causing trouble for the U.S. and its allies ever since.

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Iranian leaders used part of the windfall from the lifted sanctions, worth tens of billions of dollars, to expand the countrys reach into the region, and further its role as the worlds leading state sponsor of terrorism, Administration officials say. Tehran is now involved in every single serious conflict in the Middle East, almost always on the side of Americas enemies. Israel and Gulf nations have pressured the White House to address what they see as a growing Shiite sphere of influence across the Middle East with the IRGC bolstering its support for allied militant groups in Iraq, Lebanon and Syria. Tehran is also said to have increased funding for Shiite insurgents opposing American allies in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. It also has continued to develop ballistic missile technology in defiance of the United Nations.

Even before Trump took office, the U.S. was responding to Irans regional expansion with military, intelligence and diplomatic countermeasures. Trumps decision in May to walk away from the nuclear deal accelerated the confrontation. And Trumps campaign for maximum economic and diplomatic pressurequietly unveiled by U.S. officials in international capitals across Europe, the Middle East and Asiais bringing matters to a head as an Aug. 6 deadline for the new sanctions approaches.

The stakes rise with the confrontations. U.S. allies have been warned during road shows like the one last April in Berlin that if they dont join the new campaign, their countries companies are susceptible to Iranian schemes, and after August 6 they could be slapped with U.S. sanctions for doing business with Tehran. Everyone from French energy giants to South Korean petrochemical companies are weighing the cost of rolling back three years of investment in Iran against losing access to the exponentially larger U.S. economy. As a business decision, its not a hard one. More than 50 companies in all major industries have already committed to leaving the Iranian market by August, U.S. officials say.

The run for the door has intensified pressure on Irans already battered economy. The value of its currency, the rial, collapsed to a record low of 90,000 rials to the U.S. dollara nearly 50% drop since Trump left the nuclear deal. In an economy based on petrodollars and heavy importing, most Iranians effectively lost half of their wealth, as prices soared for everything from daily goods to cars. On June 25, after the government banned the import of 1,300 foreign goods to battle inflation, merchants in Tehrans Grand Bazaar shuttered their businesses. Protests spread from Tehran to other cities.

Unrest is just what the Trump Administration is hoping for. The White House believes new sanctions will drive middle-and lower-class Iranians to pressure the central government to redirect wealth from foreign adventures to domestic spending. After our sanctions come in force, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in May at the Heritage Foundation, a right-leaning Washington think tank, Iran will be forced to make a choice: either fight to keep its economy off life support at home or squander precious wealth on fights abroad. It will not have the resources to do both.

But the U.S. faces risks too. Russia and China are opposing the U.S. sanctions push, and most other countries still support the 2015 deal and are looking for ways around the Trump Administration crackdown. If they find them, and the U.S. looks ineffectual, it could weaken American diplomatic and economic clout around the world.

Even success could prove costly. National Security Adviser John Bolton has long advocated toppling the Iranian leaders, and while the Administration no longer espouses that policy openly, many suspect regime change is the ultimate goal of the sanctions. Few who lived through the bloody aftermath of Americas 2003 invasion of Iraq have forgotten how costly messy leadership changes in the Middle East can become.

On July 24, 2015, 10 days after the Iran nuclear deal was signed, an airliner carrying Major General Qassem Soleimani touched down in Moscow. As commander of the IRGCs Quds Force, a designated terrorist organization, Soleimani wasnt supposed to be allowed to fly commerciallyU.N. Security Council resolutions barred him from leaving Iran. Yet there he was, according to former and current U.S. officials, meeting with senior Russian military leaders to pitch an audacious plan: together Moscow and Tehran could team up to save the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad, which were nearing defeat at the hands of rebel groups.

Soleimani, who reports directly to Irans supreme theocratic ruler, Ayatullah Khamenei, had already organized, funded and deployed Shiite militiasmany from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Lebanonto help Assad. What he needed was air power. He got it. By that October, Russian warplanes were striking rebel positions daily from above while Iranian special forces were leading operations on the ground. The military moves triggered by Solemanis Moscow visit, the officials say, fundamentally changed the trajectory of the Syrian war in Assads favor.

And Iran was only getting started. For the previous five years, it had labored under a U.S.-led crackdown on its banking and financial sectors designed to coerce it to abandon its nuclear program. But six months after the July 2015 deal, the sanctions came off and money began flowing again, including billions in cash assets previously frozen by the U.S. Firms from Europe and the U.S. began to investalbeit cautiously. Irans oil exports started a steady climb to their current 2.7 million barrels per day. All told, Iran profited by tens of billions of dollars from the dealand $16 billion went to regional proxies, according to a senior State Department official.

National pride, including memories of Persian empires, also figures in Irans regional ambitions. But there is little doubt, says Nathan Sales, counterterrorism coordinator at the State Department, that youre seeing an intensification of Iranian support for terrorism and other malign activity. U.S. State Department officials estimate that in Syria alone, Tehran floated Assad more than $4 billion in credit to purchase oil and other goods from Iran, munificence that would not have been possible without JCPOA sanctions relief on Irans economy.

The result has been expanded influence inside Syria, where the IRGC is regarded by some analysts as being in control of Assads ground forces. That in turn has raised fears of pervasive Iranian influence that Sunni rulers warned would come into being after the U.S. invaded Iraq. Already, Tehran had used the U.S. ouster of Iraqs despot, Saddam Hussein, to establish militia networks there. Now its overland supply route runs from Tehran, across Iraq and Syria, to Lebanon, a route replacing air cargo flights as a supply corridor.

Of all the Shiite militias in the region, Hizballah in Lebanon has gained the most from Irans post-JCPOA ascendancy. A U.S. State Department official estimated Irans support at $700 million a year. Hizballah has received weapons, training facilities in Iran and direct financial support since the early 1980s, when Iran helped establish it. It posts photos of Irans leaders in territory it controls, and flies a flag inspired by the IRGC emblem. The group is both deeply rooted in Lebanons Shiite population, and a clear proxy for Iran on the Mediterranean.

Irans ascendance presents an immediate problem for Israel, Americas closest ally in the region and Tehrans mortal enemy. Irans forces in Lebanon and Syria, which border Israel, have been attacked by Israeli jets, enforcing Israels pledge to protect its borders until the last millimeter. Israel has launched airstrikes for several months that target groups arrayed to the north and northwest of the border. Israel even attacked a convoy of Iranian-backed Iraqi Shiite militiamen crossing into Syria near Deir ez-Zorsome 500 miles away from the Israeli border.

Israel isnt the only U.S. ally in the region to confront resurgent Iranian proxies. In Bahrain, which was once a part of Iran and now hosts the U.S. Navys Fifth Fleet, the IRGC has found proxies in Shiite groups like al-Ashtar Brigades. In Yemen, the war escalated by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in 2015 has boosted Irans relationship with the rebels known as Houthis. They have received long-range missiles which were then fired into Saudi Arabia, and the U.S. Navy and allies have intercepted weapons shipments from Iran headed to the Houthis.

The U.S. military has thus far avoided direct confrontation with Iranian forceseven when small Iranian boats and drones routinely pestered American naval ships at sea. (The U.S. military said that behavior abruptlyand inexplicablystopped this year.) Instead, the U.S. is working to expose Irans activities and help Americas allies. We do consider Iran to be the most destabilizing actor across the region, General Joseph Votel, commander of all U.S. forces across the Middle East, told reporters July 19. And our efforts across the region have been on exposing their activities and then working with partners to stop or disrupt them.

In addition to naval interdictions off the coast of Yemen, the Trump Administration has provided intelligence, munitions and midair refueling to Saudi warplanes operating against the Houthis. In Syria, the U.S. maintains a remote Special Operations base at Al Tanf, in the countrys southeast, at a strategic intersection where the borders of Syria, Iraq and Jordan meet that serves as a physical obstruction against Iranian expansion. And at every turn, Trump has backed Israels efforts to attack Iran.

The greater U.S. push has come on the economic battlefield. Under the reimposed American sanctions, companies that invested in Iran have a brief window to wind down business ties before incurring penalties. The first group of sanctions on Irans automotive sector, gold trade and other industries will snap back beginning on Aug. 4.

The real economic pain will begin Nov. 6 when a more rigorous set of sanctions on oil and transactions with the central bank of Iran come into effect. Iran currently exports around 1 million barrels of oil per day to Europe, and nearly 2 million to Asian countries like China, India, South Korea and Japan. Importers of Iranian oil have already reduced their purchases about 8% in the past two months amid Trump Administration efforts.

No one expects a full return to the level of international sanctions that were in place prior to the nuclear deala prodigious, nearly global and ultimately successful effort aimed at forcing Iran to the negotiating table. But the U.S. wields great power even alone. French energy giant Total is preparing to walk away from a $47 million investment in Irans South Pars gas field under the threat of U.S. sanctions. Its happening despite the French governments belief, along with all other signatories, that Iran is fully complying with the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal. Theres a difference of opinion about the JCPOA itself, but I wouldnt infer that theres a difference of opinion in countering Irans malign activities, said Sigal Mandelker, Treasurys Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, who has been traveling to European and Middle Eastern capitals on the Trump Administrations road shows. For us, we have conversations with our European counterparts about the aggressiveness with which were going to enforce our authorities.

The U.S. moves already appear to be having an effect. Analysts at BMI Research project that Irans economy will grow just 1.8% this year, down from a prior forecast of 4.3% before Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal. Some experts say U.S. economic expect more companies to join Trumps crackdown. The fact of the matter is, when foreign firms are forced to choose between business with Iran and access to the U.S. financial system, they are going to choose the latter, said Daniel Glaser, a former Assistant Treasury Secretary for Terrorist Financing in the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.

Tehran is doing what they can to push back. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Javad Zarif, his Western-educated Foreign Minister, have traveled throughout Europe in search of commitments from leaders there, but have yet to secure them. We see that under pressure from the U.S., under the psychological atmosphere that the U.S. has tried to create, some European companies have already started to withdraw, Zarif told to Euronews in a July 19 interview.

The leadership is right to worry. The new round of protests over Irans economic woes poses a challenge to Rouhanis government, which was twice elected on the promise that a nuclear deal would result in integrating the country into the global economy. And there are more signs the Iranian people are growing weary of their governments foreign military intervention. On June 25, protesters chanted Death to Palestine, a noticeable about-face from the chants most often heard in Tehran: Death to Israel.

The unrest may predate Trumps withdrawal from JCPOA, but that doesnt mean he cant use it. The U.S. government recently unveiled plans to create an around-the-clock Farsi channel that promotes Western propaganda on television, radio, and social media. Trump is gambling that this regime is extremely unpopular at home, said Alex Vatanka, an Iran expert at the Middle East Institute. A lot of this is psychological. The Administration has made the determination that there are real cracks inside this Iranian society, so why not tap into it?

All of which helps explain the mounting tensions between Tehran and Washington. Rouhani revived a threat to shut down international oil shipments in the strategic Strait of Hormuz if Washington continued to provoke Tehran, a step that would almost certainly trigger war. Meanwhile, U.S. officials told NBC News in July that Iran has laid the groundwork for cyberattacks against electric grids, water plants and tech companies in the U.S. and Europe.

There have been other provocations. An Iranian diplomat based in Vienna was among six people arrested in connection with a foiled bombing attack on a conference of opponents of the Tehran regime that was to be held in a town north of Paris. Israels Mossad spy agency claimed it had alerted European authorities of a cell led by the diplomat. A Belgian couple of Iranian origin was arrested with homemade explosive and a detonation device found in their car. Iran said it had nothing to do with the plot, calling it a staged false flag operation.

Finally, on July 22, Rouhani spoke out in rare bellicose terms more often heard from Irans Supreme Leader. Mr. Trump, do not play with the lions tail, this will only lead to regret, Rouhani said, according to the state-run news agency IRNA. America must understand that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace and war with Iran is the mother of all wars. That triggered Trumps all-caps tweet the same day: Never, ever threaten the united states again or you will suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before.

Trumps tweet also had a domestic contextit changed the subject from fallout from his Russia summit. But critics say the Presidents entire approach to Iran runs a steep risk. Theres so much friction between Iran, the U.S. and their respective allies throughout the region, said Ali Vaez, the Iran project director at the International Crisis Group. Theres so many flash points that a single miscalculation could result in a confrontation that could easily spiral out of control. A wider war with Iran might stoke bloody sectarian violence across a region already reeling through nearly three decades of nonstop conflict. Some experts also fear a smaller, targeted threat against U.S. interests, perhaps an Iranian-backed militia attack against isolated U.S. forces, on a remote base in Syria.

With the August sanctions looming and tougher ones on track in November, the break in tensions seems likely. Especially between governments that, even in the best of times, cast the other as a reliable villain.

 With reporting by KAY ARMIN SERJOIE/TEHRANJuncker will not arrive in Washington with a specific trade offer, the commission said - AP

US President Donald Trump took a pessimistic view of talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker set for Wednesday aimed at averting a trade war.

In a tweet on Tuesday night, Trump said both the United States and the European Union should drop all tariffs, barriers and subsidies.

"That would finally be called Free Market and Fair Trade!" Trump said. "Hope they do it, we are ready - but they won't!" he said.

Trump has accused the EU of unfair trade practices and has threatened to raise tariffs on cars imported from the bloc.

European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, who will accompany Juncker, said last week that the EU was preparing a list of US products to hit if the United States imposed the tariffs.

The European Union is coming to Washington tomorrow to negotiate a deal on Trade. I have an idea for them. Both the U.S. and the E.U. drop all Tariffs, Barriers and Subsidies! That would finally be called Free Market and Fair Trade! Hope they do it, we are ready - but they wont!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 25, 2018

Juncker will not arrive in Washington with a specific trade offer, the commission said on Monday.

"I do not wish to enter into a discussion about mandates, offers because there are no offers," Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told a news conference in Brussels.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow has said he expected Juncker to come with a "significant" trade offer.By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has warned staff that the world body is running out of cash and urged member states to pay what they owe as soon as possible, according to letters seen by Reuters on Thursday. Guterres said in a letter sent to member states on Wednesday that as of June 30, the core U.N. budget had a deficit of $139 million and the United Nations had "never faced such a difficult cash flow situation this early in the calendar year." "An organization such as ours should not have to suffer repeated brushes with bankruptcy. But surely, the greater pain is felt by those we serve when we cannot, for want of modest funds, answer their call for help," Guterres wrote. The U.N General Assembly budget committee agreed in December on a $5.4 billion core U.N. budget for 2018-2019, which U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said was a cut of $285 million from 2016-2017. U.N. peacekeeping is funded separately. According to the United Nations, 112 out of 193 member states have so far paid their share of the core budget. The United States, which is responsible for 22 percent of the budget, traditionally pays later because of its budget year. By July last year, 116 countries had paid, compared with 98 in 2016. China, France, Russia and Britain - the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council along with the United States - are all paid up for 2018. Guterres told staff he was concerned with a broader trend: "We are running out of cash sooner and staying in the red longer." He said the United Nations would take measures to reduce expenses with a focus on non-staff costs. Haley came to the United Nations in January last year pushing for reform of the world body in a bid to cut costs. "The inefficiency and overspending of the United Nations are well known. We will no longer let the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of or remain unchecked," she said in December, when the core budget was agreed. Under U.N. rules, if a country is in arrears in an amount that equals or exceeds the contributions due for the previous two years, it can lose its General Assembly vote unless the country can show its inability to pay is beyond its control. Currently Comoros, Guinea Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe and Somalia are significantly in arrears but have been allowed to retain their vote. Only Libya is unable to vote. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)This is a prime corner in one of the fastest-developing markets in the city, said Keely Polczynski, senior vice president of CBRE, in a news release Thursday. We have seen this kind of activity and interest in areas like Fulton Market in recent years and its clear that development is now pushing north along the river into Lincoln Park.  As zoning changes are taking place in the market, this site would be able to support an excellent mixed-use property.Protesters outside the hotel where Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen met with officials from Mexico and Central America, in Guatemala City, Guatemala, July 10, 2018. (Photo: Luis Echeverria/Reuters)

Preying on a fathers fear that his daughter would be bought by a wealthy man if she returned to the familys home, immigration officials convinced a Guatemalan immigrant to sign away his rights to be reunited with his daughter  allowing her to stay in the U.S. while the father was slated for deportation, according to an affidavit submitted in federal court by the ACLU Wednesday. Though he had not actually received an order of removal and had, in fact, passed the credible fear interview necessary to pursue an asylum claim, the man said the officials told him that he must choose between being deported with or without his daughter, and that the only way to keep his daughter in the U.S. was to sign a form presented to him in English, a language he does not understand.

He had no opportunity to review the document or ask any questions about it. He told me that he signed this document because he felt pressured to do so and because he felt like he had no other choice. This entire interaction lasted approximately one minute.

This story is one of dozens told by attorneys in a raft of affidavits submitted in federal court by the ACLU Wednesday afternoon. On the eve of Thursdays court-mandated deadline for the reunification of all children ages 5 and up who had been separated from their parents under the Trump administrations zero tolerance policy at the border, the accounts are intended to support the ACLUs request for additional time for parents to consult with an attorney, their spouses and their own children  from whom they may have been separated for weeks or months  before being rushed into deportation. The suit is seeking delays of at least 7 days.

The ACLU lawyers argued that, contrary to government claims in an earlier filing, most parents have had limited if any opportunity to communicate with their children, or with lawyers, since they were separated and detained. As of Tuesday, the government said it has counted 85 parents who signed forms waiving reunification with their children  meaning that if and when the parents are deported, the children will stay in the U.S., with guardians, foster families or in custody. Lawyers for the government oppose allowing the parents to withdraw the waivers.

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Esme Gomez, already a citizen, waits before her father, from El Salvador, is sworn in as a U.S. citizen in Los Angeles. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

But the ACLUs brief filed in U.S. District Court for Southern California says many of the adults on the governments relinquishment list of parents actually did not and do not want to leave the country without their children. The civil rights group says the parents were pressured, misled and even coerced into signing forms they couldnt understand with no explanation of the ramifications involved.

A typical scenario relayed to me by detained parents was that ICE officers told the parents that in order to see their children, they had to sign the form that was presented in front of them, wrote Kathryn Shepherd, national advocacy counsel for the Immigration Justice Campaign, in one of the declarations submitted Wednesday. Shepherd recently interviewed 15 separated parents in detention centers in Texas and New Mexico, many of whom described signing paperwork they did not understand.

The parents reported that they were not permitted to ask any questions regarding the forms they were being asked to sign, Shepherd stated, adding that none of the parents with whom we met were given a copy of the paperwork they were asked to sign.

The experiences detailed in Shepherds affidavit are similar to those referenced by several other attorneys, who described conversations with confused and distraught parents who said they were pressured to sign forms in English although they understood only Spanish, or an indigenous language and, in several cases, were completely illiterate. Several parents who spoke to Shepherd and others said they were presented with the critical paperwork in groups of 30 to 60 people at a time and instructed to sign within minutes.

A man identified only as Carlos shows off a drawing he made when his son, Esli (depicted in the right of the drawing) was taken from him on July 25, 2018, in El Paso, Texas. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

One father also told us that an ICE officer told him that if he wished to fight his asylum case, that it would cost him at least $500 every time he wished to see any attorney, wrote Shepherd.

Luis Cruz, an attorney with the New York law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, declared that on July 22, he met with five fathers detained at the Otero County Processing Center in Chaparral, N.M., who had been placed on the governments relinquishment list.

Based on my discussion with these fathers, it appears that none were told the implications of what they were signing or had an understanding of what they were signing, Cruz wrote in his affidavit. Each of the fathers told me that they were not given the opportunity to ask questions. The manner in which they signed these forms was universally described as intimidating and very stressful. Each described feeling hopeless and believing that they had no alternative but to sign the form.

The ACLU and other legal advocates have expressed concerns about ICEs use of the Separated Parents Removal Form, since it began circulating among detained parents earlier this month. The instructions at the top of the single-page document state that this form is for detained alien parents with administratively final orders of removal who are class members in the Ms. L v. ICE lawsuit. But a number of parents referenced in the declarations submitted Wednesday did not have final orders of removal, and should not have been asked to sign waivers. Whats more, despite the assertion made by an ICE spokesperson earlier this month that this form has absolutely nothing to do with those who have pending asylum claims, many of those who told lawyers theyd signed the forms had already passed a credible fear interview, the first step in the asylum process.

A Honduran family seeking asylum in San Antonio. (Photo: Eric Gay/AP)

According to a declaration by attorney Sofia Reive, also of Paul, Weiss: One of these fathers on the relinquishment list, a man from Guatemala, has not received an order of removal, and was told that he had passed his credible fear interview  he has a court date scheduled for August 7. He told me that he was taken to a room at Otero approximately 10 days ago to meet with immigration officials. The officials told him he was definitely going to be deported and then asked him whether he wished to be deported with his daughter or by himself  the officials did not ask him if he wished to be [reunited] with his daughter in the United States. The father told them that he wished for his daughter to remain in the United States  this is because, as he told me, it is not safe for his daughter to return to Guatemala due to extreme and specific threats from a powerful and dangerous man who has demanded to buy her. The officials then gave him a document in English (which he does not understand), and told him that the only way his daughter could stay in the United States was if he signed this document. He had no opportunity to review the document or ask any questions about it. He told me that he signed this document because he felt pressured to do so and because he felt like he had no other choice. This entire interaction lasted approximately one minute.

Asked to comment on the assertions made in the ACLUs latest court filing, a Homeland Security official reiterated that the form is required to be read to parents in a language they understand and that in cases where the parent chooses to be removed without their child, a notice of rights has been posted, in both English and Spanish, in every ICE detention facility in which class members are detained. The class notice provides contact information for Ms. L class counsel. If the adult has questions about their rights, they may contact Ms. L class counsel.

(Ms. L v. ICE is a suit originally filed by the ACLU in February and later expanded to a class action. The original plaintiff was a woman from the Democratic Republic of Congo who was detained and separated from her 7-year-old daughter after arriving at the San Diego Port of Entry seeking asylum  in apparent violation of U.S. policy on detention, as repeatedly described by Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.)

Photo: Alex Brandon/AP

Some parents have indicated they want their children to remain in the U.S if they are ordered removed and have gone as far as to indicate family members in the U.S with whom the child should reside, the official, who asked not to be named, told Yahoo News. For those children, the Department of Health and Human Services provides case management services consistent with the standard procedure for unaccompanied immigrant children, to find and carefully vet a suitable family member or family friend in the U.S. to care for that child.

In a status hearing Tuesday afternoon, attorneys for the government affirmed that it is on track to reunite all 1,637 of the families it has deemed eligible for reunification by the Thursday deadline imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw. While Sabraw praised the governments effort, he noted that more than 900 families with children ages 5 and up remain in limbo, including as many as 463 parents who the government acknowledged may have already been deported without their children or have otherwise not been located.

Read more from Yahoo News:By William James LONDON (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates is ready to deploy more troops across the Middle East to counter its foes as it believes it can no longer rely on Western allies like the United States and Britain, UAE minister Anwar Gargash said on Thursday. Filling the vacuum left by the administration of former U.S. president Barack Obama, the UAE has extended its influence by deploying troops and cash across the Middle East and Africa, where it has built up local armies and set up military bases. "In this current international system, it is no longer 'write a cheque and someone is going to come and secure the stability in the region.' You have to do some of the burden-sharing," Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said in a speech in London. The UAE has been fighting the Iranian-aligned Houthis in Yemen for more than three years, and backed forces opposed to political Islam in Libya and elsewhere. With its closest ally Saudi Arabia, the UAE has been locked in a power struggle with their arch-rival Iran that has played out across the region and taken on a sectarian dimension. Each accuses the other of creating instability in the region. Gargash said he was concerned about divergence between Western powers over the future of relations with Iran. "As we move forward, we do really hope that the current American effort to bring about a change in Iranian approach is successful. We are worried a little bit about what is seen as a divergence of view between Europe and the United States over Iran," he said at the Policy Exchange think tank event. UAE sees the more forceful approach toward Iran taken by the United States as a more effective means of curbing what it sees as Iran's malign activity and development of ballistic missiles than European attempts to rescue a 2015 Iran nuclear deal. In May U.S.President Donald Trump withdrew from the multinational agreement that lifted sanctions in exchange for curbs on Tehran's nuclear program, calling it a "horrible deal". Gargash also said UAE was engaging in a mediation process with Somalia, whose coastline sits close to key shipping routes and across the water from Yemen, following a row over the seizure of several million dollars from a UAE civilian aircraft at Mogadishu airport. "There are attempts currently to mediate between us and Somalia," he said. "We'd like to continue to do our work, but we have made it very clear that we have been wronged with regards to how we were treated with the shipment of nine-point-something million dollars ... we are asking for an apology for that." (Reporting by William James; additional reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi in DUBAI; editing by Stephen Powell)BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP)  Unless Sebastian Vettel bounces back with a strong performance at the Hungarian Grand Prix this week, he risks heading into Formula One's summer break lagging behind Lewis Hamilton.

Vettel should have been the one in the ascendancy, but his clumsy crash while leading the rain-soaked German GP last Sunday cost him the race and gifted victory to Hamilton. Rather than stretching his lead, the German driver now trails Hamilton by 17 points after 11 of 21 races.

Vettel also gave away points with mistakes last year and must avoid doing that again as he and Hamilton duel for a fifth F1 title to move level with Argentine great Juan Manuel Fangio.

Despite his basic error at Hockenheim, where he led by nearly 10 seconds before sliding off into the barriers late into the race, Vettel has been striking a defiant tone.

His confidence is down to the fact Ferrari has often been the quickest car this season, even more so than the usually dominant Mercedes of Hamilton's team.

"Everyone knows what we can do, so I'm confident looking forward to Hungary," Vettel said.

"We have showed it enough times. We have a strong car so we can be as confident as ... more (confident) than anybody else."

Getting pole position at the tight Hungaroring circuit  known in F1 as Monaco without the walls  is crucial given it is among the hardest tracks in F1 for overtaking.

Vettel won from pole last year. He held off veteran Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen on the long straight into Turn 1, and held on to win despite driving more than half the race hampered by a steering problem.

It is the sort of grit and tenacity he needs to show against a resilient Hamilton, who has often proved the better driver under pressure.

Although Mercedes reclaimed the leads in the drivers' and constructors' championships after victory in Germany  with Valtteri Bottas ensuring an unexpected 1-2  this does not disguise the fact Mercedes still has shortcomings. Before last weekend's race, the talk was of car reliability and team strategy issues.

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"In the cold light of day, we also know and recognize that we did not bring the quickest car to Hockenheim," Mercedes head of motorsport Toto Wolff said. "Hungary will see another tough fight with both Ferrari and Red Bull. It's a high downforce track and on paper they should both be very fast in Budapest. However, if there's one thing the German Grand Prix taught us, it's the fact that predictions don't determine race results."

Following the midseason break, the F1 championship resumes at the Spa track in Belgium on Aug. 26.

Usually, the last race before the summer break is a mixture of excitement and relief. But there will be more of a somber mood hanging over the Budapest paddock after the death of former Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne.

Marchionne, who was 66, died on Wednesday after complications from surgery in Zurich.

Upon replacing Luca di Montezemolo at the head of Ferrari in 2014  with the famous Italian scuderia a fading force in the series  the industrious and hugely determined Marchionne returned Ferrari to title-contending form this season and last.

Governing body FIA said, "Due to the exceptional circumstances" regarding the team's need for grief and privacy, Raikkonen and team principal Maurizio Arrivabene were excused from attending scheduled pre-race news conferences on Thursday and Friday.

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More AP Auto Racing: http://racing.ap.org

___

Jerome Pugmire is at www.twitter.com/jeromepugmireNew York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon at a rally in response to President Trumps nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, July 2018. (Photo: Justin Lane/EPA-EFE/Rex/Shutterstock)

Brandishing a wire coat hanger, New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon took the podium at a rally against the nomination of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court earlier this month. Kavanaugh is thought to satisfy Donald Trumps pledge to appoint justices who will vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. Nixons voice shook as she predicted that a newly conservative court would take the country back to a time when women  including her own mother  resorted to self-administered abortions with, yes, coat hangers, or to illegal and unlicensed practitioners to end their pregnancies.

We must never, ever, ever, go back to a time when any woman feels she has to make this kind of a choice, she said, raising the hanger high. And this is why we must fight.

A few days later, in Washington, Lois Frankel, a Democratic congresswoman from Florida, banged a wire hanger on the table as she warned that whether Roe is overturned completely or gradually chipped away over time it would mean a return to the days of coat hanger medicine.

But would it? Would a post-Roe world look like a pre-Roe world, or have changes in medicine, technology and culture since 1973 permanently changed the landscape? In the weeks since Kavanaughs nomination, abortion rights advocates have found themselves pondering those questions with new intensity. They agree that while the coat hanger is a powerful symbol it does not reflect the complexity of a possible next abortion chapter.

An America without a guarantee of legal abortion, they say, would be markedly different from an America before abortion became legal in the first place.

This is not your mothers 1973, says Lynn Paltrow, founder and executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women. Were not just going back, were going someplace new.

Reversing Roe would not make abortion illegal everywhere at once, but states  or even Congress  could ban or further restrict it.

The old risk was medical, the new risk is legal, says Jamila Perritt, MD, an obstetrician and a fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health in the Washington, D.C., area. The old symbols, like coat hangers, back alleys, will be replaced by new symbols, like handcuffs and prison bars.

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Daniel Grossman, MD, director of the Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health program at the University of California at San Francisco, where he studies the effectiveness of telemedicine in reproductive health care, agrees: I dont think women are going to be dying right and left from the complications of unsafe abortion if Roe is overturned. There are workarounds now that were not available back in the 1960s. Which means we will see new obstacles to and punishments for those workarounds.

Some of whats different now:

New medical technology

The two medications that together make up the abortion pill, mifepristone and misoprostol. (Photo: Charlie Neibergall/AP)

In April 1973, just months after the Roe decision, a woman named Geri Santoro became the symbol of the pre-Roe world. Ms. Magazine published a nine-year-old crime scene photo of Santoro, dead on a motel room floor, naked with a towel between her legs, kneeling in a pool of her own blood.

Santoro, 28 years old when she died, was separated from her husband of 10 years, whom she accused of abusing her. She had begun seeing a married man, became pregnant, and feared for her life when she learned her estranged husband was coming back to town. She and her boyfriend, using a borrowed textbook and surgical instruments, attempted to perform an abortion, but something went fatally wrong. He fled; her body was found by a maid the next morning. Her daughters were told she had died in a car accident and did not learn the truth until the controversial photo was published and she was recognized by her sister.

In a post-Roe world there would be other choices for a woman like Santoro. The obvious difference is that now, unlike in the 1960s, we have safe and effective medications that can be made available outside the medical system, Grossman says. It is much harder to crack down on these medications, which are safe, effective, heat stable, easily transportable, and available in many countries without a prescription.

Developed in 1980 and approved for use in the United States in 2000, the abortion pill is really two pills  mifepristone, also known as RU-486, combined with a second drug, misoprostol, taken 24 to 48 hours later.

When used during the first trimester they are considered a safe, effective and private method, and they account for a steadily increasing percentage of abortions in the U.S. About half of the patients I take care of opt for a medication abortion, Perritt says.

However, says Gillian Dean, MD, senior director of medical services at Planned Parenthood, It is not a solution for everyone. Thats because it is only used until 10 or 11 weeks, at which point a lot of women dont even know they are pregnant  teens with irregular periods, obese women who dont notice weight gain. It also cant be used by some women with certain underlying medical problems.

Studies from places that have banned or limited abortion show that women who want medication abortions will find ways to have them. In Texas, for instance, where the number of clinics went from 41 in 2013 to 18 in 2016, Grossman and his colleagues at the Texas Policy Evaluation Project at the University of Texas at Austin studied 18 women who self-induced abortion. Because they could not afford the cost of or travel time to a clinic, they purchased pills either over the internet or over the counter in Mexico.

Misoprostol tablets. (Photo: James Keyser/The Life Images Collection/Getty Images)

A co-worker had lent Santoro the textbook that she and her boyfriend used for her botched abortion. For other women in the pre-Roe era it was a sympathetic family doctor, or a sorority sister, or a friend of a friend of a friend who provided the key. Today, they go online.

Groups like Women on Web and Plan C have interactive websites on which patients can figure out how far along they are in a pregnancy, list any medical issues that might present complications and then seek to have the medication mailed to their home.

Currently these groups do not ship pills to the United States, because their mission statements limit them to countries where abortion is illegal, and the U.S. does not qualify. But women with American addresses are sent a list of other websites that do ship domestically.

Some sites send the two-drug protocol, but others just a single drug  misoprostol. Taken alone it is nearly as effective as the tandem protocol, but about one-tenth the price of mifepristone, and easier to buy because it is also widely sold for other purposes, like ulcer treatment. A study of 1,000 women in Ireland before the country voted to legalize abortion earlier this year found that women who bought drugs over the internet and self-medicated did so safely and with few complications. Other studies have found that when pills are purchased online, the product delivered is almost always as advertised, though the potential for ineffective fakes always exists.

None of this means women are no longer harming themselves while trying to end their pregnancies, however. Its still happening, despite Roe remaining in effect, particularly in places where abortion access is difficult.

In Nashville, Tenn., last year, months after a law was enacted banning abortion after 20 weeks, a pregnant woman was said by police to have hit herself in the abdomen repeatedly and allowed a relative to sit on her abdominal area in an attempt to end a 24-week pregnancy .

Medication abortion changes many things but not everything, Perritt says.

Changes in access to abortion since Roe

In a New York City abortion clinic in 1971, a patient is shown a model of the female reproductive system by a clinic member. (Photo: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)

In 1970, three years before Roe v. Wade, New York state passed the most liberal abortion law in the nation  allowing unrestricted access to abortion up to 24 weeks, and thereafter only to save the life of the mother. Unlike the handful of other states that allowed abortion in some circumstances, New York had no residency requirement. In the first six months that it was in effect, more than 139,000 abortions took place in the state, with 80 percent of the patients coming from out of state.

The Roe decision led New Yorks numbers to plummet, as abortion was universally available almost overnight. But in the years since, state legislatures have put various limits on access. In New York there have been no new restrictions since 1973; in many other states there are now barriers such as waiting periods, two-trip requirements, parental permission and legal requirements that have forced many clinics to close.

Take South Dakota. It is one of the seven states in the country that are down to a single clinic, and there is no full-time doctor onsite, so abortions are performed by a rotating team of physicians who fly in from other states, says Carole Joffe, a sociologist at the University of California at San Francisco who studies abortion history and access. The single clinic means a drive of hundreds of miles for many women, who potentially miss work and pay for child care while they make that journey.

State law requires a counseling session with a physician, who flies in on Mondays, and then a 72-hour waiting period (no more, no less) during which time the patients often sleep in their cars to save on a hotel room, says Joffe, who has studied womens abortion experiences in that state. On Thursday the doctor flies back in for the procedure. But should that doctor not make it that day  winter snowstorms in South Dakota are common  the whole process must begin again, because the state law requires that the doctor who performs the abortion must be the same as the one who conducted the counseling session.

And all this is against a running clock. If you show up in South Dakota after 14 weeks gestation you are out of luck, she says, because that is the legal cutoff.

In some states where clinics are sparse and far between, technology can close the distance. Telemedicine  discussions between doctor and patient via computer  is often used for the counseling part of the process. But states with the strictest abortion laws may ban that practice.

Post-Roe America will probably continue to be a checkerboard. It is conceivable, although probably unlikely, that Congress could pass a nationwide ban. Much more likely, each state will set its own rules. Currently the Center for Reproductive Rights considers 23 states at risk for banning abortion entirely, including four that have passed trigger bans designed to take effect immediately upon a reversal of Roe.

That post-Roe world that we are all so worried about? For many women it is already here, said Abigail Aiken, an assistant professor of public affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, who conducted the study in Ireland. Already abortion is essentially out of reach for women who cannot afford to travel long distances and live in the most anti-abortion states, where clinics are far apart and Medicaid does not pay for the procedure.

Photo: Getty Images

And it is poor women and women of color who are most likely to seek abortion in the first place. Currently 50 percent are below the poverty line, and another 25 percent are low income. This is a marked change since 1973, when abortion was most common among white middle-class women. That reflects, in part, the availability today of more reliable, but also more expensive, forms of birth control such as the birth control pill, which is 99 percent effective when used correctly, and the IUD, which can cost $1,200 to insert but requires no further action on the part of the user, like remembering to take a pill. Obamacare required insurers to pay for those methods, but changes in health care law under the Trump administration have reversed that.

What do women do when they cannot prevent pregnancy and cannot access abortion care? They have more children, says Diana Greene Foster, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, and the principal investigator on the Turnaway Study, which compared a cohort of women who just made the abortion eligibility time limit in their state and therefore received an abortion with those who just missed it and completed the pregnancy. Data is still being sent to peer-reviewed journals, she says, but already her team has written that women who are denied an abortion are more likely to fall further into poverty than women who receive an abortion, and that they are at greater risk for anxiety.

We have yet to find any area in which women are better off for carrying the pregnancy to term compared to having the abortion, she says. In a post-Roe world, she predicts, the impact of the negative effects will be magnified.

Changes in the culture of criminalization since Roe

Candidate Donald Trump and MSNBC commentator Chris Matthews during a town hall in March 2016. (Photo: Tim Hiatt/MSNBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

Gina Santoros boyfriend was apprehended three days after her death and sentenced to a year and a day in prison. There were other criminal prosecutions in the pre-Roe era as well, mostly for aiding in the procurement of an abortion, almost never of the patient herself.

Anti-abortion leaders have consistently said that they do not seek to punish women who have abortions. In fact, when Donald Trump suggested, in a town hall moderated by MSNBCs Chris Matthews during the 2016 campaign, that there has to be some form of punishment for the woman involved, the National Right to Life organization publicly declared its long-standing view that unborn children and their mothers are victims in an abortion.

Cultural and legal changes in the years since Roe, however, had muddled the question of criminality long before Trumps statement. Paltrow, whose group defends pregnant women caught in the legal system, points out that there is a kind of truth to the claim that few women were arrested before Roe, but thats only because few women were arrested for any crime.

Now, she says, we live in a very different time, one of mass incarceration and mass criminalization. The population has grown 40 percent, but the prison population has grown 500 percent, and any hesitation that existed about locking up women doesnt exist anymore, especially for black, brown and poor women, who are the ones most likely to have abortions.

In the post-Roe world, that is where we will see the biggest difference, says Perritt. No one should face arrest or jail for seeking medical help, but I think they will.

I have tremendous concerns, says Joffe. No doctor in New York or San Francisco is going to report a patient for seeking or attempting or having an abortion, but can we say the same for everywhere?

Photo: Anurak Pongpatimet/Shutterstock

Currently, says Grossman, there are 40-50 different laws that have been used in different states that apply to women who are thought to have induced their own abortions. Some are technical, including things like illegal disposal of medical waste. Others are fetus-cide laws, which include added penalties for criminals who harm pregnant women while committing another crime, but which Paltrow fears can be turned against women themselves in the guise of protecting them.

Her group counts arrests and forced interventions on pregnant women in the United States and tallied 413 cases between 1973 and 2005 and a jump to 800 between 2006 and 2018. Most are for drinking or drug use during pregnancy, but others include refusing a C-section, refusing bedrest, refusing a doctors recommendation for additional diabetes testing, and a failed attempt at suicide, the last of which resulted in a murder charge.

National Advocates for Pregnant Women successfully defended many of these women, Paltrow says, based largely on the constitutional protections of Roe. But should Roe be overturned, she says, all bets are off.

The making of a movement since Roe

Hillary Namba takes part in a protest in Seattle against Trump and Kavanaugh, July 10, 2018. (Photo: Ted S. Warren/AP)

Before the 1970s, abortion was not the cultural divide that it has since become. When the New York State Assembly passed its legalization measure, the vote was 76 to 73, with 46 Democrats and 30 Republicans voting yes and 24 Democrats and 49 Republicans voting no.

It was after Roe that the current ideological rift began.

After Roe passes and the pro-choice movement relaxes, then and only then does the anti-abortion movement get going in a big way, says Joffe. It was not until the late 1980s that you started to see the clinic blockades, the state laws chipping away. And while all that happened, the pro-choice groups kept losing ground.

If the passage of Roe led to an invigoration of the anti-abortion movement, will its reversal do the same for the abortion rights forces? Trying to find a silver lining, many in that camp believe it will.

The nomination of Kavanaugh has already led to an increase in the popularity of Roe, with 71 percent of Americans, a record high, now saying they do not want the decision overturned.

The only thing that keeps me from utter despair is the realization that social movements swing back and forth, Joffe says. They exist in relation to one another. If Roe is indeed overturned there will be a massive uprising by women.

What form that might take is unclear, she says, perhaps electoral, perhaps a surge in funding for networks to help women pay for the procedure and the travel from state to state, perhaps a robust black market for medication. But what is certain, she and others say, is that just as Roe did not end the abortion fight, the overturning of it will not end abortion.

Banning abortion clearly does not stop abortion from happening, Aiken says. Thats the one thing we know definitively.

Correction: An earlier version of this story did not specify that Women on Web and Plan C do not ship abortion medications within the United States, only to countries where abortion is illegal. The story has been corrected.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:The pace of events in Israel's southern and northern borders has accelerated recently. Within a few days, rocket alert sirens were sounded both in the Gaza border area and on Israel's northern border.

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According to Syrian reports, Israel attacked a missile factory located in the northwest region of Syria on Sunday. On Monday, two David's Sling interceptors were fired at Syrian missiles, and a Syrian fighter jet that infiltrated Israel's airspace was shot down on Tuesday.

In the south, an IDF officer was moderately wounded on Wednesday after being shot by a sniper from the Gaza Strip, leading the IDF to retaliate by attacking Hamas positions. Meanwhile, incendiary balloons keep landing in Israeli communities near the Gaza border, causing fires.

Fire caused by incendiary kites in the Gaza envelope (Photo: Zohar Shafek)

In this situation there are four aspects worth considering.

First, since Israel wants to avoid fighting two different military conflicts on two different fronts simultaneously, Israel must keep the peace on the southern border, for the north is much more challenging.

Achieving peace on the southern border requires taking a step that Israel has yet to take: recognizing that the Gaza Strip can only be rehabilitated in cooperation with the government in Gaza, even if Hamas is still in charge. Reopening the Kerem Shalom border crossing is not the answer.

Israel Defense Minister at Kerem Shalom border crossing (Photo: Ariel Hermoni, Ministry of Defense)

The number of trucks entering the Gaza Strip daily does not matter if Gaza residents have no purchasing power, unemployment rate stands at 60 percent or even higher, there is no electricity, no water, and the sewage system is overflowing.

A long-term quiet along the southern border can only be achieved by making a deal with the Gaza government, without any pretense. The price we have to pay is political and public, but it is a small and equal price.

Second, the downing of the Syrian plane was a successful operation, but it would have been better if it hadn't happened all. In contrast to the attacks on Iranian targets in Syria, downing a Syrian plane places Israel on one side, and Syria and Russia on the other. The incident's news coverage increases the chances of escalation. It is worth remembering how Putin "went wild" when the Turks shot down a Russian plane that had crossed their border.

Palestinians at the Gaza border fence (Photo: AFP)

Third, nowadays, the reality of post-civil war Syria is starting to take shape. Israel insists, and rightly so, on returning to the 1974 Disengagement Agreement. According to this agreement, a designated demilitarized strip will be established on the Syrian side, into which military forces will not be allowed entry.

Establishing this buffer zone may be a sufficient solution for preventing friction between the ground forces of Israel and Syria, but the buffer zone is too narrow to prevent an air strikein the southern region of the Golan Heights the buffer zone is only hundreds of meters wide.

David's Sling file photo (Photo: Defense Ministry)

We should try to reach an agreement with the Russians on a wider aerial demilitarized area in order to prevent an incident like this week's plane downing from repeating itself. The relatively old Syrian plane apparently did not intend to attack Israel, but the absence of a security margin could mean recurring similar events that will only hurt both sides.

Fourth, the Israeli government conducts an exemplary policy vis-a-vis Syria: the proper integration of pragmatic and smart political action with firm military responses. Why is the policy so balanced on this front, and completely wrong on the other?

The downing of the Syrian Sukhoi plane

The answer is clear: for the past 13 years, we have been locked in a propaganda war with Gaza. We have repeatedly declared that Hamas is a terrorist organization and therefore, we will not negotiate with it. The prime minister can hardly stray from this line, since it carries an internal political pricethe price of cutting ties with his most important political base.

On the northern front, we operate without any ideological, public, or political commitment. Instead, we operate according to our interests alone, and rightly so.

Syrian jet and trails of smoke from (Photo: shutterstock, Noy Golan)

This does not mean that we have no values, on the contrary. On the northern front, we proved our ability to take care of despondent civilians from the other side, beyond any political or military consideration.

But every decision is based on cold and realistic analysis of the situation. It seems that Putin has proven more than once that those who conduct policies based on cold interests accomplish more.

We should learn from the way Israel operates on the Syrian front, and implement this on other fronts as well. Not only with Gaza and not only in matters of foreign affairs and security.Nine rockets and mortar shells were launched at Israel from the Gaza Strip overnight Wednesday and early Thursday, the IDF said.

The Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted one of the rockets. No one was hurt and no damage was caused in any of the launchings.Hamas's military wing said Thursday morning it has gone on high alert after tensions flared on the Gaza border once again Wednesday when an IDF officer was moderately wounded after being shot by a Palestinian sniper, leading to IDF attacks in the strip.

The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades said that they are "calling the other military wings to act the same and raise the alert to the highest level."

"Israel will pay a high bloody cost for its crimes against the Palestinian people," the military wing reiterated.Hamas's military wing said Thursday morning it has gone on high alert after tensions flared on the Gaza border once the night before.

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The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades said that they are "calling the other military wings to act the same and raise the alert to the highest level."

"Israel will pay a high bloody price for its crimes against the Palestinian people," the military wing reiterated.

Hamas post attacked by IDF

During the night Wednesday and early morning Thursday, nine rockets and mortar shells were launched at Israel from the Gaza Strip.

The Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted one of the rockets. No one was hurt and no damage was caused in any of the launchings.

A Givati Brigade officer was moderately wounded after being shot by a sniper from the Gaza Strip during the most serious outbreak of violence between Israel and the coastal enclave since the two sides reached a ceasefire on Saturday.

Hamas outpost after being struck by IDF

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According to an initial investigation , Palestinian terrorists opened fire on IDF troops from the Givati Brigade who were called to the Gaza border to disperse a bait riot staged by children to lure soldier within the snipers range.

The shooting took place in the Kissufim area just 400 meters away from where IDF soldier Staff Sgt. Aviv Levi was killed by a Hamas sniper on Friday afternoon on the Gaza border.

IDF tanks attacked seven Hamas outposts along the border in retaliation for the attack, killing three Hamas fighters and critically wounding another.

The scope of the Israeli escalation in the Gaza Strip and its deliberate attacks on fighters of the resistance reflects Israels intention to kill, a Hamas statement read. These steps clearly demonstrate that Israels leadership is criminal. We cannot remain silent in the face of its crimes. We will not forgo our obligation to defend the Palestinian people and to respond.

"The blood of the dead was not spilled in vain, Israel will pay a steep price," the terror group added.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group also responded to the incident. The Israeli crime will not go unpunished. We are weighing all options for a response. We are still sticking to the equation of bombing will be met with bombing, it said.Chinese police took away a woman who sprayed herself with gasoline on Thursday in what was suspected to be a self-immolation attempt outside the US Embassy, the state-run Global Times reported, amid reports of an explosion.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. A Reuters witness saw Chinese police examining a vehicle outside the embassy and social media showed pictures of smoke after an apparent explosion.

Another witness said there were seven to eight police vehicles near the embassy and the road next to the complex had been closed off.

US embassy officials did not immediately comment.The IDF officer who was moderately wounded Wednesday evening from Palestinian sniper fire asked his doctors when he could go back to Gaza to be with his soldiers, his father said.

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"He asked the doctors, 'When am I going back to Gaza?' I told him he's not going back, and he said his soldiers were alone," the father said. "He opened his eyes and squeezed my hand tight."

The 21-year-old officer from Dimona recounted the incident to his father. "He said the children were rioting by the border fence, and then he felt a strong blow," the father said.

The officer being evacuated to the hospital (Photo: Haim Horenstein)

Despite this, the officer didn't want to be evacuated. "A helicopter came within minutes (to evacuate him). He said he was fine because he wanted to stay with his soldiers," the father said.

The officer's mother elaborated further. "He was shouting and didn't want to be evacuated. He said: 'My soldiers are here, I'm not going,'" she said. "His friends said he wanted to stay with his soldiers because there was a whole mess there."

Both parents said their son wasn't just worried about his soldiers, but also about them. He called his father after he was wounded, telling him: "Dad, I love you. I was hit with a bullet to the stomach."

"He told me, 'Dad, be strong, don't cry,'" the father added.

"He heard me cry, but he indicated he was okay with his hand. He raised his hand, which is connected to all the machines, and held mine strongly. I told him I loved him and that everything is okay," the mother said.

"He wanted to be a combat soldier even though I wouldn't let him," the mother recalled. "He told me: 'You won't stand in my way. I will protect my country, I have no other country.' Despite the fact we lost a girl to illness 10 years ago, he went on to commanders' course and infantry officers' course. He went to Gaza, to the border."

Staff Sgt. Aviv Levi , who was killed from sniper fire on Friday, was a friend of the officer who was wounded Wednesday.

"He took it (Levi's death) very hard," the officer's father said.

The officer was taken to the Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva in serious-to-moderate condition. After undergoing surgery, he was moved to intensive care in moderate and stable condition.

According to an initial investigation, Palestinian terrorists opened fire on IDF troops from the Givati Brigade's Tzabar Infantry Battalion who were conducting routine operations near the border fence when they were called to to disperse a bait riot staged by children to lure soldier within the snipers range.

The initial investigation found the officer was wearing full protective gear, including ceramic armor and helmet.

IDF investigators are checking whether the sniper who hit the IDF officer Wednesday was the same one who shot Staff Sgt. Aviv Levi five days prior.

The sniper is believed to be a member of one of the smaller factions in Gaza that do not answer to Hamas. However, since Hamas controls the border area, the IDF sees it as responsible for everything that happens there.

Three Palestinians belonging to the Hamas military wing were killed while another Palestinian was critically wounded in a retaliatory IDF attack on seven Hamas outposts along the border.The Russian Defense Ministry praised Israel Thursday after the IDF's attack on ISIS forces in the Syrian Golan area killed several members of the terrorist organization and destroyed rocket launchers.

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According to the Russian news agency Sputnik, the ISIS terrorists were trying on Wednesday to fire missiles at Syrian army positions, but hit Israel instead with two BM-21 rockets that landed in the Kinneret.

Israeli defense officials believe ISIS launched the grad rockets at Israel as a provocation, in an effort to make Israel attack the Syrian army in retaliation. These assessments are based on the fact Assad's army was attacking ISIS from the north and east, and so any fire to the west would have to be intentional.

Police scour the Kinneret (Photo: Emek HaYarden Regional Council)

The IDF responded by attacking the rocket launcher and shelling the area with artillery fire.

The IDF will act against any attempt to violate the State of Israels sovereignty and undermine the security of its citizens, the army said.

Locals told the director of the Gofra Beach in Kinneret that they saw a suspicious object fall into the water, prompting the police to scour the area.

There were two explosions and we saw a wave of people leave the water, recalled one Acre resident who was at the beach. We heard a strong boom that caused a strong wave in the water.

The Kinneret on Wednesday (Photo: Ahiya Raved)

There have been many instances of stray fire landing on the Israeli side of the rocky Golan plateau during years of fighting between Syrian rebels and Assad's army, but the rocket that landed in the Kinneret is thought to be the farthest yet.

(Photo: Emek HaYarden Regional Council)

Wednesday was the third consecutive day in which rocket sirens blared in northern Israel, with the border becoming increasingly volatile as Syrian President Bashar Assad recaptures swathes of rebel-held land in an intensive military offensive, and retakes areas overlooking the Golan Heights.Paris has become a center of operations for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, according to an article published this week in French newspaper Le Monde.

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The article, titled "The Mossad's shadow hovers over Paris," cites senior French intelligence officials, one of whom claimed that "The city is the Mossad's playground. The Chinese and the Russians may be our enemies, but let us not forget the Israelis and the Americans are also conducting themselves with great aggression."

"Our ability to respond to their actions is limited because they rush to use the 'diplomatic card' and complain to the French prime minister and president's offices," the French intelligence official vented.

Paris (Photo: AFP)

"France's hands are tied" since it depends on Israel "in many sensitive issues," he said. The French, he added, were "also limited in our ability to prevent some elements in the Jewish community in France from aiding them (the Mossad) with planning and logistics."

One operation the French intelligence officials say was led from Paris was the assassination of Hamas senior official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied it was behind al-Mabhouh's assassination.

According to Le Monde, the Mossad set up a makeshift operations room equipped with computers and secure phones at a hotel room in the French capital's Bercy neighborhoodnot far from the French Finance Ministry and other government buildings.

While only two of the 11 foreign agents who allegedly took part in the daring assassination"Kevin" and "Gail"reportedly arrived in Dubai on an Air France flight from Paris, foreign media has so far believed the operation was led from Austria or another European location. Le Monde, however, reports Israel's control and command center was in the heart of Paris.

Al-Mabhouh's assassination in Dubai (: )

The January 2010 assassination caused international outrage and a diplomatic crisis with Britain over the use of European passports.

France also complained to then-Mossad director Meir Dagan about the use of forged French passports.

According to Le Monde, the French were concerned Hamas would suspect France took part in the assassination.

Paris sent two senior agents to meet with Dagan in Jerusalem. "We'll stay friends, but there'll be a price to pay for this," they told him. The price is believed to have been a halt to the exchange of information between Israeli and French intelligence.

"It was a way to send a message that this was an intolerable line crossing," said the head of the French police's investigations department.

Speaking to Yedioth Ahronoth, the Le Monde article's writer, journalist Jacques Follorou, said French intelligence officials were outraged by the alleged use of French passports, seeing it as a "provocation."

In addition to Al-Mabhouh's assassination, the article examines many other operations that Le Monde claims the Mossad and other Israeli elements conducted from French soil, including: a joint Israeli-French attempt to recruit a Syrian agent who tried to buy chemical weapons, an Israeli company's attempt to wiretap Council of Europe meetings in Brussels, and operations of the company Black Cube, which had offices in Paris's Place Vendome.

The Mossad, according to the Le Monde report, also tried to recruit French intelligence agents as double agents during a joint operation in 2010. As a result of that alleged incident, Le Monde claims the Mossad station head in Paris and another employee in the Israeli Embassy had to leave France.

The reason the Mossadlike many other foreign intelligence agencies including the CIAhas turned Paris into its center of operations is because it hosts many international conference and frequent visits of African leaders. Furthermore, the city is home to many foreigners.

Another reason, according to a source in French intelligence, is that "France dedicates most of its espionage activities to the fight against terrorism, therefore it doesn't have enough manpower for counter-espionage."

While the Mossad, according to Le Monde, continues operating in Paris with relative freedom, a source in the French Foreign Ministry admitted that "the Israelis are a little bit more cautious than before." They no longer carry out assassinations on French soil and don't use the help of the French Jewish community as often.A bomb exploded outside the US embassy's main compound in Beijing Thursday, injuring only the hand of the 26 year-old lone assailant, the embassy said in a statement.

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The Chinese police described the weapon merely as a "firework device". No damage was done to embassy property and no other injuries were recorded. Not long after the incident, life in the area returned to normal.

The explosion happened at about 1 pm Beijing time, in a public space off the southeast corner of the embassy compound, the US embassy said.

The scene of the blast, the US embassy in China (Photo: Reuters)

The Beijing Police Department posted a statement on its website identifying the suspect only by his surname, Jiang, and said he was a native of Tongliao city in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia.

Police did not provide a motive for the attack, but China and the United States have been involved in an escalating trade dispute initiated by the Trump administration after the two sides imposed tariffs on $34 billion worth of each other's goods.

The explosion sounded hundreds of meters away from where it had taken place. Witnesses told reporters that they heard an explosion near the embassy and felt tremors.

A police SUV appeared to have been damaged, with its back windshield missing, and was cordoned off by police before being removed, a witness said.

US Embassy in Beijing

Crowds were still queuing outside the embassy after the explosion and traffic was moving slowly as normal, in an area of northeastern Beijing that is home to numerous embassies including those of France, India and Israel.

Posts on social media showed pictures of smoke close to where people line up outside the embassy's compound for visa appointments. Some video clips and images were later removed.

Staff members at the Indian and South Korean embassies said they were unaware of any unusual incident and continued their work as normal.

Blast area, Beijing (Photo: Reuters)

In what appears to be a false report, The Global Times, a newspaper run by the ruling Communist Party's People's Daily, reported earlier that the Chinese police had removed a woman who had sprayed herself with gasoline in a suspected self-immolation attempt. Neither the Chinese police nor the US embassy had any comment on the report.The chief of Iran's Quds force said on Thursday that US President Donald Trump should address him when threatening the Islamic Republic, the Iranian Young Journalists' Club reported.

"As a soldier, it is my duty to respond to Trump's threats ... If he wants to use the language of threat ... he should talk to me, not to the president (Hassan Rouhani)," Major-General Qassem Soleimani was quoted as saying in the central city of Hamedan.

Soleimani added that the Red Sea was not secure with the presence of American troops in the area, Iran's Arabic-language Al Alam television reported: "The Red Sea which was secure is no longer secure with the American presence ... Trump should know that we are nation of martyrdom and that we await him."

Iran has dismissed a warning from Trump saying that Tehran risked dire consequences the like of which few throughout history have suffered before if it made threats against the United States.GAZA CITY - Employees of the UN Palestinian refugee agency escalated their protest Wednesday in the Gaza Strip against sweeping pay cuts and dismissals as the organization blamed US funding cuts on the crisis.

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Hundreds of UNRWA staff continued a sit-in that began Monday at the organization's Gaza office and announced plans to go on an open-ended strike, demanding the agency cancel recent job eliminations and downgrading of contracts.

"We declare a labor dispute. We will practice all union work. After the strike tomorrow, we will take more steps that could paralyze life in the Gaza Strip," Amir al-Miss'hal, head of UNRWA's Palestinian employees union, told The Associated Press.





On Wednesday, UNRWA fired 154 staff, 125 of them in Gaza, where it also downgraded another 580 to contract workers. Al-Miss'hal says the agency technically canceled about 1,000 more jobs by stopping hiring new employees to fill in for those who retired.

One staffer who received a dismissal notice Wednesday attempted to set himself on fire during the sit-in, but bystanders and colleagues stopped him after he poured gasoline on his body.

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UNRWA provides basic services to millions of Palestinians and their descendants, who were made refugees in Gaza, West Bank and neighboring Arab countries after Israel's creation in 1948.

Earlier this year, the US cut around $300 million in funding to UNRWA, resulting in a $217 million budget shortfall. UN officials say the cuts are "the largest ever reduction in funding UNRWA has faced."

Of the five areas in which the agency operates, Gaza is the most vulnerable given its dire living conditions and devastated economy after more than a decade under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade. More than two-thirds of Gaza's population of 2 million are refugees or their descendants.

Chris Gunness, an UNRWA spokesman, said the organization "is prioritizing food security support to the most vulnerable refugees by continuing its emergency food program to nearly 1 million refugees" in Gaza.

Israel contends UNRWA perpetuates the refugee problem rather than resolving it. In cutting the funds, President Donald Trump linked their resumption to the Palestinian Authority renewing peace talks with Israel.State's witness Miki Ganor and his accomplices planned to inflate the price of the submarines he was selling the State of Israel on behalf of German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp by hundreds of millions of dollars, which would have increased his commission and won him bonuses from his employers.

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In the submarine affair, also known as Case 3000, police are investigating a corrupt system of alleged bribery over the purchase of submarines and patrol boats from Germany for the Israeli Navy.

Among the Israeli officials suspected in the case are former National Security Advisor Avriel Bar-Yosef , former Navy commander Maj. Gen. (res.) Eliezer Marom , former minister Eliezer (Moodi) Sandberg and former PMO burea chief David Sharan

Miki Ganor (Photo: Orel Cohen)

Ganor, who served as ThyssenKrupp's representative in Israel, has been giving testimony to the police for months, incriminating the other suspects in the case. He has also revealed the alleged methods he used to personally gain from the military acquisition deals.

According to Ganor, he came up with the plan during a meeting with Bar-Yosef. Ganor said he met with Bar-Yosef to advance the plan and update him on its details.

While formulating the plan, Ganor figured that there will be need for the additional submarines in light of the defense establishment's demands, and that the different Knesset committees approving the deal won't examine the price too closely.

"We planned an acquisition of three additional submarines, which cost something like $1.8 billion, at the price of $2.2 billion," he told police investigators.

The plan never quite materialized. But if it had come to pass, the State of Israel would've paid $400 million over the price of the submarines, while Ganor's percentage-based commission would've increased accordingly as well.

Ganor explained to police investigators that he planned to raise the price and offer ThyssenKrupp the inflated deal.

"In this deal, they were supposed to gain, and so was I," he told police. Meaning, in addition to the bloated commission he would've received from the deal, he also expected to be rewarded monetarily by the Germans for getting them a better deal.

Despite declarations made by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit early in the investigation that Israel's political leadership is not involved in the case, testimonies gathered by police raise questions that require further investigation.

For example, Ganor told police he "hired" the services of attorney David ShimronPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cousinfor his ties to the government, among other reasons. Netanyahu's special envoy attorney Yitzhak Molcho, who was questioned by police several times, was asked if he used his ties to the prime minister to promote the German acquisition dealwhich he vehemently denied.

Prime Minister Netanyahu himself is not a suspect in the case.

As the investigation drags on, questions have been raised about the strength and nature of Ganor's testimony.

Defending the decision to sign a state's witness agreement with Ganor, law enforcement officials insisted he's one of the most important state's witnesses ever recruited.

"He (Ganor) presented to us all of the defense establishment's acquisition methods, and mostly all of the rot inside," said one senior law enforcement official.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a meeting with government ministers and Knesset members Thursday about the needs of the Druze community ahead of his meeting Friday with Druze leaders in the wake of their protest over the Nationality Law.

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The prime minister met with Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, Communications Minister Ayoob Kara, and MKs Hamad Amar (Yisrael Beytenu) and Akram Hasson (Kulanu) at the Kirya IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, holding what was described as a cordial and positive discussions.

Despite this, no agreements have been made regarding changes to the Nationality Law, according to the Prime Minister's Office. Netanyahu and Minister Yariv Levin, who led the legislation process, don't think it's right to "open" the law at this time and make changes to it.

Netanyahu meets with the ministers and MKs (Photo: Haim Tzah, GPO)

Despite the PMO's statement, MK Hasson said the prime minister did promise to examine the legal aspects of amending the last, tasking Minister Levin with it.

The prime minister will meet on Friday with the Druze community's dignitaries, including spiritual leader Sheikh Mowafak Tarif.

Tarif said he was happy to accept the prime minister's invitation to meet, as long as the meeting will focus on amending the Nationality Law.

"We are not talking about other problems right now, like the budget. We want to know the Druze's status under the Nationality Law and understand how the law's definition of the Druze's status and rights will affect the community. This is our current concern. This, and nothing more," he said.

The Sheikh will address the Jewish Agency's Board of Governors meeting on October 24 in Tel Aviv after accepting the invitation of new Jewish Agency chairman and outgoing opposition leader Isaac Herzog, made as a sign of respect and appreciation for the Druze community in the wake of the Druze's protest against the Nationality Law.

Sheikh Tarif meets with new opposition leader Tzipi Livni (Photo: Ido Erez)

On Sunday, coalition party leaders will discuss the matter in an effort to formulate a plan to help resolve the real issues facing the Druze community in Israel.

In addition, the government will consider promoting legislation to give preference to Druze who serve or served in the IDF.

During Thursday's meeting, Netanyahu and the other officials discussed the possibility of adding to a law passed in May that sets a day in the State of Israel's official national calendar celebrating the Druze community and their contribution to the country.

Alternatively, the coalition could propose new legislation to establish the Druze community's status in the State of Israel.

"Netanyahu is once again lying to the public. This is his how he operates he supports the protest in order to bury it," accused Zionist Union MK Saleh Saed.

"I stopped believing the Prime Minister's Office's political spins, I will continue to protest against the Nationality Law with all my might, alongside bereaved families and the entire Druze community," he concluded.

Druze combat fighters (Photo: Dan Bronfeld)

Education Minister Naftali Bennett on Wednesday criticized the law that he and his party members voted for.

"Following conversations with many of our Druze brothers, it appears that the way we passed the Nationality Law was detrimental to the Druze community and to those who link their fate with the Jewish state," Bennett wrote in his Twitter account.

"This, of course, is not the intention of the Israeli government. These are our blood brothers who made a covenant with us, and stand with us, shoulder to shoulder, on the battlefield. We, the Government of Israel, have a responsibility to find a way to bridge the gap," Bennett stated.

Brig. Gen. (Res.) Imad Fares (Photo: Dudu Azoulay)

Netanyahu put all of his weight behind the Nationality Law, which states that the State of Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people and that Hebrew is the official language of the state. Arabic was defined as having a special status, with the official state use of Arabic to be determined in separate legislation.

Under the previous version of the bill, which passed in its first reading in May, the Arabic language was to receive a special status and state services were to be made accessible in Arabic as well.

This week, 100 Druze IDF officers in reserves, many of them with a rich record of fighting in Israel's various wars over the years, have joined the fight against the law.

Several of the Druze reserve officers expressed anger for being excluded from Israeli society despite the fact they served and continue to serve the country.

"I don't understand why this law is necessary. Is somebody questioning that the fact the country is Jewish? This law only creates second-class citizens," Brig. Gen. (res.) Imad Fares lamented.

One of the main sticking points of the law was article 7b, which defined the development of the Jewish settlements as a national value, and allowed the exclusion of people from these new communities on the basis of race or religious, among other things.

Brig. Gen. Amal Asad (Photo: Mo'in Nesradin)

However, after a warning from the Knesset's legal advisor, the article was amended. The law in its new version states that Israel "views the development of Jewish settlements as a national value and will act to encourage and promote its establishment."

The first petition to the High Court of Justice against the Nationality Law was submitted last week by the heads of the Druze community, followed by three Knesset membersincluding two from the coalitionwho also filed a petition to the High Court on Sunday.

The move was initiated by MKs Amar (Yisrael Beytenu), Hasson (Kulanu) and Saed (Zionist Union).

The Druze community's petition, which was submitted in bilateral move, was formulated by the Druze Lawyers' Forum on behalf of the Knesset members, the Forum of Druze Community Leaders and the Druze community.

Netanyahu in the nationality bill vote (Photo: Amit Shabi)

"For the Druze community, which sacrifices its blood and its sons for the sake of Israel, the Nationality Law is a spit in the face," said the MKs.





Even afterhis meeting with Netanyahu, Kulanu MK Hasson said he has no intention of withdrawing his petition to the High Court against the law as long as the status of the Druze community is not enshrined in the law.

"We have joined forces in a bilateral move because this is an extreme governmental action against Arabic speakers. The law perpetuates the discrimination against the Druze community and other minority groups," added the Druze MKs.BELGRADE - President Reuven Rivlin on Thursday praised Serbia for passing a law that allows for the restitution to the Jewish community of heirless and unclaimed Jewish property seized during the Holocaust.

Rivlin said after talks with Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic that the 2016 bill should serve as a model for other countries.

Thousands of Serbian Jews perished during Nazi occupation of the Balkan country during World War II.

Rivlin has arrived in Serbia from neighboring Croatia where he met with top officials and visited the site of a WWII concentration camp run by a pro-Nazi puppet regime where tens of thousands of Jews, Serbs and Roma were killed.

Croatian state TV has quoted Rivlin as saying that facing up to crimes of the past is a moral obligation for any society.Three British Jewish newspapers said on Wednesday that there would be an existential threat to Jewish life in this country if the opposition Labour Party, led by Jeremy Corbyn, won power from the ruling Conservative Party.

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The Jewish Chronicle, Jewish News and Jewish Telegraph said in a joint editorial titled United We Stand that the Labour Party had shown a tolerance of anti-Semitism since Corbyn was elected leader of the party in 2015.

It said their response was needed because of the existential threat to Jewish life in this country that would be posed by a Jeremy Corbyn-led government.





Jeremy Corbyn (Photo: Reuters)

The party that was, until recently, the natural home for our community has seen its values and integrity eroded by Corbynite contempt for Jews and Israel, the editorial said.

A Labour spokesman said the party recognized the concerns raised by the Jewish community and acknowledged there was a huge amount of work to do to build trust and confidence.

The next Labour government poses no threat of any kind whatsoever to Jewish people, the spokesman said.

The security and wellbeing of Jewish people is a priority for our party and in government we will always ensure schools, synagogues and institutions are properly protected.

Corbyn talks about anti-Semitism

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Labour is benefiting from turmoil in Prime Minister Theresa Mays Conservatives over Brexit, and has taken the lead in some opinion polls.

While an election need not be held for another four years, the wrangling over Britains divorce from the European Union has raised the possibility of a vote much sooner as May struggles to keep her government together.

But, Labour has been wrestling with accusations that it has been tolerant of anti-Semitism among some of its members, and in April leaders of Britains 270,000 Jews organized a protest accusing Corbyn of failing to address their concerns.

British Jews protest against Corbyn (Photo: EPA)

With the government in Brexit disarray, there is a clear and present danger that a man with a default blindness to the Jewish communitys fears, a man who has a problem seeing that hateful rhetoric aimed at Israel can easily step into anti-Semitism, could be our next prime minister, the newspapers wrote.

Corbyn has previously apologized for what he called pockets of anti-Semitism in the party and promised to stamp them out. He has responded to protests by meeting with Jewish community leaders reassuring Jews they are welcome in the party.

The latest flashpoint was the partys decision to approve a new code of conduct which Jewish groups said watered-down internationally accepted definition of anti-Semitism. Labour said it had concerns about part of the definition but had re-opened discussions on the code to take into account Jewish community concerns.More than a century after Albert Einstein proposed it, his theory of general relativity has passed another test.

With giant telescopes pointed at the center of our galaxy, a team of European researchers observed a fast-moving star that got close to a monstrous black hole. They saw that the black hole distorted the light waves from the star in a way that agrees with Einstein's theory.

The result was reported Thursday in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Einstein's theory says the fabric of the universe is not simply space, but a more complex entity called space-time, which is warped by the presence of heavy objects.

Black holes offer a good opportunity to test that idea. The one that lies at the heart of the Milky Way is 4 million times as massive as our sun.

The new study "feels like we're kind of beating a dead horse," said Ohio State University astrophysicist Paul Sutter, who wasn't part of the research team led by Reinhard Genzel of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany.

"I, just like every physicist in the world, would have loved to finally see a crack in Einstein's relativity," Sutter said. "But he's outsmarted us."

Scientists know that the theory still doesn't explain everything about the universe. So they keep testing it time and again. So far, nobody has been able to overthrow it.

Although the effects of general relativity have been seen before, this was the first detection made by observing the motion of a star near a supermassive black hole.Pro-Assad forces raised the Syrian national flag in the Quneitra province on Thursday, a Reuters photographer said, as the government continued its push to restore control of the Syrian Golan Heights, strategic territory that borders Israel and Jordan.

The uniformed men raised the flag in the long-abandoned Quneitra City. No weapons were visible.

The army, backed by a Russian air campaign, has been pushing into the edges of Quneitra province following an offensive last month that routed rebels in adjoining Deraa province who were once backed by Washington, Jordan and Gulf states.US President Donald Trump on Thursday said the United States would impose significant sanctions on Turkey over its detention of American Christian pastor Andrew Brunson and called on Ankara to immediately release him.

"The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson, a great Christian, family man and wonderful human being. He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!" Trump tweeted.Pro-Assad forces raised the Syrian flag in Quneitra on Thursday, as the government continued its push to regain full control of the Syrian Golan Heights, strategic territory that borders Israel and Jordan.

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A Reuters photographer saw uniformed men raise the Syrian national flag and the black, white, green and red flag of the Baath Party in the long-abandoned city. No weapons were immediately visible.

@(copy_from_editor)@Syrian forces in Quneitra (: )

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The Reuters photographer was reporting from a vantage point on the Israeli Golan Heights that overlooks Quneitra.

Forces supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad, backed by a Russian air campaign, have been pushing into Quneitra province following an offensive last month that routed rebels in adjoining Daraa province who were once backed by Washington, Jordan and Gulf states.

Damascus is set to recover control of the Golan in a major victory over rebels, who have agreed to surrender terms. The army is still battling a local Islamic State affiliate around the Yarmouk Basin nearby.

Assad's forces raising Syrian flag in Quneitra (Photo: Reuters)

Israel says it is concerned that Assad may defy a 1974 UN armistice that demilitarized much of the Golan, or let his Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah reinforcements deploy there. Israel captured the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Six Day war.

Israel also sees Iran's growing presence in Syria as a threat to its security, hance escalating in recent months its strikes on suspected Iranian and Iran-backed positions in Syria.

The Syrian news agency SANA reported Sunday evening that an Israeli air strike had hit a military post in the city of Misyaf in Syria's Hama province but caused only material damage.

Photo: Attack in Hama

The Russian Defense Ministry praised Israel Thursday after the IDF's attack on ISIS forces in the Syrian Golan area killed several members of the terrorist organization and destroyed rocket launchers.

According to the Russian news agency Sputnik, the ISIS terrorists were trying on Wednesday to fire missiles at Syrian army positions, but hit Israel instead with two BM-21 rockets that landed in the Kinneret.

A series of suicide bombings and attacks in southern Syria, including a motorcycle bomber who struck at a busy vegetable market, killed more than 100 people on Wednesday, state media reported, blaming Islamic State militants for the carnage.

Site of suicide bombings (Photo: Reuters)

The bombings in the city of Sweiba, a provincial capital populated by Syria's minority Druze, were apparently timed to coincide with attacks by a militant group linked to ISIS on a number of villages in the province, also called Sweida.

The coordinated attacksthe worst in recent monthshad all the hallmarks of the Islamic State group and were reminiscent of its horrific assaults that spread mayhem over the past years in Syria, already ravaged by civil war.Shaykh Muwaffak Tarif, a spiritual leader of the Druze community in Israel, said the Druze community in the country is furious with the newly passed Nationality Law and is calling to urgently mend the rift.

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The Nationality Law, states that the State of Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people and that Hebrew is the official language of the state. Arabic was defined as having a special status, with the official state use of Arabic to be determined in separate legislation.

The shaykh expressed his resentment over the law in an exclusive interview with Ynet on Thursday.

(Photo: Ido Becker)

"All the members of the Druze communitythe shaykhs, the soldiers and the officersare asking why did this happen to us, to such a small community that has stood with the Jewish people and the State of Israel for 70 years, unconditionally," he vented.

"We are proud of Israel," Tarif continued, "and our people are dying for this country, but unfortunately, for some reason, the Druze issue is absent from all the articles of the law that was passed by the Knesset. Our community is giving its all to Israel. Wed like to show the entire world that everyone who stands with the Jewish people is treated as equal, unfortunately, at the moment this doesnt seem to be happening," he added.

The shaykh also said that he shares the sentiments of those who claim the Nationality Law is a betrayal of the Druze community by the Israeli government.

"It is very unfortunate, painful and distressing. I appealed to the prime minister on Wednesday, sent him a letter and also spoke to the head of the National Security Council and asked to discuss with him this issue. The prime minister has already invited the leaders of the Druze community to a meeting he intends to hold on the matter. I hope we will find the appropriate solution and do everything in order to alter some of the articles in the law or to add new ones.

The Druze community, doesnt mind the fact the state is Jewish  we dont dispute it, but we want to be partners, just as we are partners when it comes to serving in the IDF," he explained.

Tarif also addressed a possible reaction by the Druze community in case the discriminatory articles in the law will not be amended.

It has already been announced that the discharged officers, the heads of local authorities and many religious leaders will march in a quiet and civilized procession from the Tomb of Yitro (the holiest place for the Druze-ed), towards Tel Aviv. Next Saturday night well hold a conference, and we invite all citizens of Israel to participate. I see that the Israeli public sympathizes greatly with the Druze community. It is very comforting to hear from not only the ordinary people but from the upper societal echelons as wellchiefs of staff, generals, judges,

He also said that he does not intend to encourage tougher measures such as calling on the Druze community not to enlist to IDF.

"I dislike these types of measures. We are loyal citizens, we proudly serve the country, we are willing to give everything for it and we deserve the same treatment in return.

"Today, the percentage of Druze enlistment to IDF stands at 84 percent, which is more than the overall percentage in Israel. The percentage of those who enlist in combat units is over 60 percent, while among the Jews it is 40 percent," he elucidated.

Druze IDF soldiers (Photo: Dan Bronfeld)

He also went on to say that Druze soldiers feel a lot of resentment, anger and frustration over the Nationality Law.

He has called on the government to not only mend the current rift as soon as possible but also to address many other issues affecting the Druze community.

"We have to mend this rift. The community deserves better than this. However we shouldnt forget there are many other issues we have to deal withhousing, planning and construction and many other problems for which we must find a solution, elaborated Tarif.

Shaykh Tarif concluded the interview by expressing his hope that a solution can be found, whether it's amendments to the current legislation or an entirely new law that would give protection to the Druze minority in the country.

Majalli Wahabi, a former deputy foreign minister and a prominent member of the Druze community, also shared his views on the matter saying that as someone who used to oppose the treatment of minority communities in other countries around the world, it pains him to see such a discriminatory law being passed in Israel.

I feel like a second class citizen, he concluded.President Donald Trump says the United States will impose sanctions on NATO ally Turkey over a detained American pastor held on terror and espionage charges.

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Shortly after the possibility of sanctions was first announced by Vice President Mike Pence Thursday, Trump wrote on Twitter that the US "will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long time detainment of Pastor Andrew Brunson."

"He is suffering greatly. This innocent man of faith should be released immediately!" the president added from aboard Air Force One as he flew to Iowa for an event.

Turkey's foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, quickly responded, also via Twitter:

"No one dictates Turkey. We will never tolerate threats from anybody. Rule of law is for everyone; no exception."

Pence's initial announcement of possible sanctions came at the close of a three-day conference on religious freedom.

Brunson released from jail (: )

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Brunson, 50, an evangelical Christian pastor originally from North Carolina, was let out of jail Wednesday, after 1 1/2 years, to serve house arrest because of "health problems," according to Turkey's official Anadolu news agency.

"Brunson is an innocent man, there is no credible evidence against him," Pence said.

Trump said on Twitter last week that the pastor's detention was "a total disgrace." One of Brunson's attorneys is Jay Sekulow, who also represents Trump in the Russia investigation.

If convicted, Brunson faces up to 15 years in prison for "committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member," references to outlawed Kurdish militants and the network of a US-based Muslim cleric blamed for a failed coup attempt. He could receive another 20 years if he is found guilty of espionage.

Brunson denies the charges.

Pastor Andrew Brunson (Photo: AFP)

US senators previously pushed to block the sale of F-35 jets to Turkey, citing Brunson's detention as one instance of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's disregard for the rule of law.

Pence's announcement of possible sanctions was delivered at a conference on religious freedom in Washington. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also spoke at the conference.

Pence highlighted cases of what he said was religious repression in Nicaragua, Iran, North Korea, China and Myanmar. He also condemned Islamic State group violence toward religious minorities and what he described as rising anti-Semitism in Europe.

Pompeo announced additional aid for a region of Iraq previously held by the Islamic State group. Pompeo said the department would provide $17 million for de-mining efforts in Nineveh, an area of Iraq historically home to many of Iraq's religious minorities.

Ties between NATO allies Turkey and the United States have been strained by the pastor Brunson case.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has previously linked Brunson's return to the US to the extradition of cleric Fethullah Gulen, the cleric Turkey's government holds responsible for a failed July 2016 military coup.

Gulen, who denies orchestrating the coup attempt, lives in Pennsylvania. Turkish requests for his arrest and extradition have not been granted.

Brunson served as pastor of Izmir Resurrection Church, a small Protestant congregation, and has lived in Turkey for 23 years. He was detained by Turkish forces in the aftermath of the failed coup, The indictment against him contends he worked to convert Kurds to Christianity to sow discord in Turkey.

More than 77,000 people were arrested across Turkey after the government declared a state of emergency following the failed 2016 coup. The crackdown has targeted journalists, activists and opposition figures.

Pastor Andrew Branson (Photo: MCT)

Brunson rejected evidence against him during a recent hearing, according to Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency.

"I believe in and support Turkey's territorial integrity," he told the court. "I forgive those who lie and bear false witness against me."

Brunson's case has been adjourned until Oct. 12.A teenage Palestinian terrorist stabbed three Israelis in the settlement of Adam near Ramallah on Thursday evening.

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Mohammad Tareq Yousef, 17, from Kobar, infiltrated the settlement through the fence, passed through the settlement's playground and stabbed two passersby.

A third person who heard the commotion went out to the street and was stabbed while pulling his gun. He then shot the terrorist dead.

A stabbing attack in the settlement of Adam (Photo: Yoav Dudkevitch)

A 31-year-old man was in critical condition suffering stab wounds to his upper body, a 58-year-old man in moderate condition also suffering stab wounds to his upper body and a 41-year-old man who was in light with stab wounds to his limbs.

Stabbing attack near Ramallah.

The lightly wounded man was taken to the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in the capital, while the other two were evacuated to the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalems Mount Scopus.

A woman was also taken to the hospital suffering from shock.

Stabbing attack (:  )

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Orel Asulin, A MDA paramedic who was among the first to arrive on the scene, said that "During the evacuation, the condition of one of the wounded deteriorated and we had to perform resuscitation."

Terrorist Mohammad Tareq Yousef

IDF forces from the Binyamin Brigade were called to the scene and began a wide-scale search in the surrounding area for any accomplices.

A civilian shot the terrorist and was slightly injured as a result of a direct confrontation with him. We continue to search the area and operations in the surrounding villages are expected to be conducted tonight, in cooperation with the Shin Bet who conducting the investigation of the attack, said IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis.

The IDF will examine how the terrorist was able to infiltrate the settlement's fence.

MDA paramedics treating the wounded (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

In the wake of the attack, a siren was sounded across the settlement to warn residents not to leave their homes.

A statement from the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council said, "In the wake of a security incident in the settlement, we request the residents to remain in their homes, lock their doors and close the shutters."

"The lights should be turned off inside the house and turned on outside of it. We ask to only call the emergency hot line in case of an emergency or an unusual event," the statement went on to say.

The fence thorough which the terrorist infiltrated the settlement

Adam's resident Daniel Nadav described the chain of events saying, "I saw sharp movements, and at first I thought it was a neighbors' feud. And then I saw a man running towards me being chased by a terrorist, which made me realize this was a security incident."

"The terrorist saw me and started to run after me. I escaped, and he realized he doesn't stand a chance," he recalled.

"He stabbed two people and attempted to stab the third one, who neutralized him," he added.

IDF forces called to the scene

Hamas celebrated the attack. We praise the heroic action, which is a natural response to Israel's crimes  this is a continuation of the Intifada," the terror group said.Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday Russian forces were needed in the country long-term and for more than just fighting terrorism, Russian news agencies reported, citing an interview with the leader.

The rapid return of refugees to Syria is the main issue being discussed between Damascus and Moscow, Interfax news agency cited the president as saying.Hamas praised on Thursday the stabbing attack in the Jewish settlement of Adam near Ramallah, which left three people injured.

We praise the heroic action, which is a natural response to Israel's crimes  this is a continuation of the Intifada," concluded the official statement.IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Ronen Manelis said on Thursday following a stabbing attack in the settlement of Adam that security forces continue to search the area.

A civilian shot the terrorist and was slightly injured as a result of a direct confrontation with him. We continue to search the area and operations in the surrounding villages are expected to be conducted tonight, in cooperation with the Shin Bet that is conducting an investigation of the attack, he concluded.As Australias population ages, the notion of private hospital real estate as property investment is gaining traction. With returns over 25% in 2017, the sector outperformed offices, retail and industrial businesses, according to REINSW.

CBRE Senior Research Manager Danny Lee says that half of all medical treatments carried out in private hospitals were meant for 65 years old and above. He also pointed out that longer life expectancies will allow for more growth in the private healthcare sector.

As the share of over 65s increases over the next two decades  growing from 15% of Australias population to 18% by 2027  the impact on real estate is expected to be significant, Lee said.

Notably, private hospital real estate investments recorded an average return of 16% per annum over the past decade, with 2017s figures even stronger at 25.4%. This is higher compared to the 13.4% revenue of the office market, often cited as the best performer among key sectors.

Over the past 15 years, the number of private hospitals in Australia has also grown from 509 to 630. The number of public hospitals, meanwhile, has trended lower. Private hospitals made up 47% of total hospitals in 2016, up from 40% in 2000.

More importantly, the hospital sector has shown greater resilience during those times when economic instability was significantly felt, compared to office, retail and industrial.

Higher demand for aged healthcare in the country reduced industry yields from a peak of 9.4% to 6.4% in the last quarter of 2017, a record low.

Those who are looking to invest may want to capitalise on healthcare assets. Not only does it offer higher returns in a lower global growth environment but is also backed by strong population growth, an aging population and stable economy. This is especially true for institutional investors looking to shift their focus to alternative classes that offer higher returns, REINSW noted.

The growing demand for newly built and modular designs that meet higher technology requirements opens great opportunities for both development and investment in the sector, according to REINSW.

Additionally, the ownership structure of hospital resources has evolved to operators now opting for sale-and-leaseback agreements. This kind of ownership also allows the former to focus on the main business and still maximise value for expansion plans in the future.

Related stories:

How To Fix Australia's Broken Property Market

The Eight Month Home Loan DownturnNews

Palo Alto, California - Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, Defense Secretary James Mattis, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, and Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne met at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California July 23-24, 2018. The Secretaries and Ministers noted a number of initiatives through which the people of the United States and Australia, close friends and partners for more than a century, will work together to build a secure, prosperous future. Over the next year, the United States and Australia intend to:Two Villanova University astrophysics professors led a research team that has discovered the long hidden physical properties of Polaris, popularly known as The North Star. Until now, scientists wide-ranging estimates of the stars distance from the Earth (322-520 light years), made determining its physical makeup difficult. But, equipped with precise distance measurements recently made by the European Space Agencys (ESA) Gaia Mission (447+/- 1.6 light years), the Villanova team has been able to determine Polariss radius, intrinsic brightness, age and mass.

Polaris is our nearest Classical Cepheid, one of a rare and important class of very luminous supergiant stars that pulsate. The relation between intrinsic brightness (luminosity) and pulsation period permits Cepheids to be used as "standard candles" for measuring the distances to galaxies both near and far.

The previous large uncertainty in the distance to Polaris was a real impediment to pinning down the properties of our nearest (and dearest) Cepheid. The Gaia Mission measured its distance to better than one-half percent, said Guinan. Working with a precise distance measurement opens up new paths for research into the structure and evolution of Polaris and other Cepheids.

The research team, consisting of principal investigators Research Assistant Professor Scott Engle, PhD, and Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics Edward Guinan, PhD, in Villanovas Department of Astrophysics and Planetary Science, as well as Petr Harmanec, DrSc., from the Astronomical Institute at Charles University, Prague, CZ, published its findings in the July 16 issue of Research Notes of The American Astronomical Society. The article, Toward Ending the Polaris Parallax Debate: A Precise Distance to Our Nearest Cepheid from Gaia DR2, explains the importance of this breakthrough for further study of Polaris, which it says, serves as an important astrophysical laboratory for studying stellar pulsation, Cepheid properties, evolution and structure.

Our study of Polaris provides a clearer understanding of Cepheid variable stars as a class, continued Guinan. Cepheids are fundamentally important for determining the distances to galaxies and the expansion rate of the universe. All but a few are too far away to determine their fundamental physical properties with the precision now provided by Polaris.

Its always exciting when new technology or tools are able to settle old debates, said Engle. Cepheids are such fundamentally important stars to begin with, and Polaris in particular has long been of great interest. Determining its distance and stellar properties with such precision is exciting in regard to the star itself, but is a great example of what further studies can be expected with the current (and future) Gaia data.

The Villanova University research teams 15-year, The Secret Life of Cepheids program, is supported by NASA grants, and uses data from the ESA Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium.

About Villanova University: Since 1842, Villanova Universitys Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's six collegesthe College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Ranked among the nations top universities, Villanova supports its students intellectual growth and prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them. For more, visit www.villanova.edu.- The Royal Richester Hotel at East Legon in Accra has been demolished just months after it was bought by Zylofon boss, Nana Appiah Mensah

- Nana Appiah acquired the 4-star hotel from its owners in October 2017

- But barely a year after the purchase, latest photos show the hotel has been reduced to the ground

CEO of Zylofon Media, Nana Appiah Mensah has reportedly caused the demolition of Royal Richester Hotel, a 4-star hotel at East Legon in Accra.

Nana Appiah was reported to have bought the hotel from its original owners somewhere in 2017.

But according to Zionfelix.net, the hotel has been pulled down as of July 22, 2018.

The Royal Richester Hotel before its demolition (Photo source: Zionfelix.net)

In pictures sighted by YEN.com.gh on the site, what used to be the grand and plush hotel has been left to rubbles with only a bulldozer on sight.

READ ALSO: US-based military man and his beautiful bride-to-be take over social media with awesome pre-wedding photos

The land on which Richester was located (Photo source: Zionfelix.net)

Many wondered what Nana Appiah had in mind when reports surfaced that he had acquired the hotel. There were some who suggested the Zylofon boss may be interested in the hospitality industry.

READ ALSO: Kuami Eugene finally shows his Angela to the world as he sends her wild birthday wish

Another view of what has become of the Richester Hotel (Photo source: Zionfelix.net)

But it looks like he has a whole different plan in mind.

READ ALSO: Sarkodie's mother-in-law got all the attention at his wedding with her 'teenage' appearance (Photo)

Latest reports suggest that the land is going to be used to build an office complex for Zylofon Media.

Nana Appiah Mensah is also the CEO of MenzGold Ghana, which is an investment firm in the nations capital.

His 360 media company, Zylofon Media, has signed a number of Ghanas top stars including Shatta Wale, Becca, Zynnell Zuh, Stonebwoy and James Gardiner.

Meanwhile popular Ghanaian rapper, Okomfuor Kwadee has disclosed that his topmost priority at this moment is to secure management deal from Ghanas biggest record label, Zylofon Media.

READ ALSO: Counselor Lutterodt confuses Ghanaians with his latest revelation about Sarkodie's marriage to Tracy

According to reports, Okomfour Kwadee, is currently working on some serious songs and he is looking out to Zylofon Media before releasing the songs.

The hitmaker disclosed this when some MUSIGA executives after the union visited the musician on Tuesday at Willing Way Rehabilitation Center in Accra.

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Source: Yen- Stacy Offei-Darko will be buried on Saturday, July 28 at the Osu Cemetery

- Stacy died who died at the Obengfo Hospital on May 21 was the Deputy CEO of the NEIP

- The 37-year-old was the ex-girlfriend of Kennedy Agyapong with whom she had a 6-year-old daughter

The funeral poster for the late Deputy CEO of the National Innovation and Entrepreneurship Programme (NEIP), Stacy Offei-Darko has surfaced on social media.

According to the poster sighted by YEN.com.gh, the final funeral rites of Ms. Offei-Darko will be held over the weekend of 28-29th July 2018.

A burial service will be held for her at the Forecourt of the State House on Saturday, July 28, after which she will be buried at the Osu Cemetery.

The late Stacy Offei-Darko who was the Deputy CEO of NEIP was 37 years (Photo credit: Sourced)

On Sunday, July 29, a thanksgiving service will be held at the Tema Community 4 Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) followed by her final funeral rites at her family house.

READ ALSO: Nana Appiah Mensah pulls down 4-star hotel he recently bought (Photos)

Stacy died on Monday, May 21st under controversial circumstances at the Obengfo Hospital.

Her mother, Ama Anima, initially said her daughter visited the health facility to seek medical attention after she suddenly fell ill with malaria.

Stacy Offei-Darko's funeral poster (Photo source: Facebook/Kofi Owusu Akoto)

But it was later revealed by Kennedy Agyapong, with whom she had a 6-year-old daughter, that Stacy went to Dr Obengfo for a liposuction procedure to reduce her biceps and thighs but died on Thursday, May 21.

READ ALSO: Kuami Eugene finally shows his Angela to the world as he sends her wild birthday wish

According to the Assin Central MP, a friend of Stacy who accompanied her to the hospital told him that they went to the place on two occasions before the procedure was done.

But later social media reports suggested that Stacy may have gone to the hospital which is known to be a body sculpting centre to get rid of an unwanted pregnancy.

Meanwhile, the CEO of the hospital, Dr Alfred Obeng who was arrested over Stacy's death has been charged with murder and is currently in court.

He is standing trial with a cleaner at the hospital who impersonated her family member before Stacy's body was admitted into a morgue without the family's knowledge.

READ ALSO: US-based military man and his beautiful bride-to-be take over social media with awesome pre-wedding photos

It is worth noting that Stacy's funeral happens to be on the same weekend as that of the late vice president, Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur.

Mr Amissah-Arthur will be buried on Friday, July 27 after a burial service at the Forecourt of the State House.

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Source: Yen Newspaper- The funeral and state burial ceremony for former vice president Papa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur will begin Thursday morning at the AICC

- Mourners will file past his body to pay their last respects at the foyer of the AICC

- The interment for Mr. Amissah-Arthur will be strictly by invitation on Saturday at the military cemetery in Osu

All is almost set for the final burial and funeral rites for Ghanas former vice president, Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah Arthur.

The funeral rites of the former vice president will be held at the forecourt of the State House and the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) on Friday, July 27, 2018.

This will be followed by his final burial rites, which will see his remains laid to rest at the military cemetery at Osu in Accra.

Amissah-Arthur died on June 29, 2018, at the 37 Military Hospital. Source: Myjoyonline.com

READ ALSO: I swept 'Asomdwee Park' ahead of my dad's anniversary - Mills' son

The body of the former Bank of Ghana Governor will also be laid in state at the foyer of the Accra International Conference Center(AICC) on Thursday, July 27, 2018.

Between 0800 hours to 1800 hours, mourners will file past his body to pay their last respects. The family of the late Vice President have warned against the use of cameras during this stage of the ceremony.

On Friday, July 27, a burial service will be held in the auditorium of the AICC between 0900 hours and midday. Additional seating would be available at the forecourt of State House and the service would be streamed live.

The funeral rites of the late former vice president will be concluded on Sunday, July 29, 2018, with a thanksgiving service at the Calvary Methodist Church at Adabraka in Accra.

The late Amissah-Arthur died three weeks ago after he reportedly collapsed at the Airforce Gym during a workout session.

Mourners will file past his body to pay their last respects between 0800 hours to 1800 hours Thursday. Photo Credit: Adomonline.com

READ ALSO: Police and 'okada' riders in bloody clash at Ashaiman

He was rushed to the 37 Military Hospital after falling unconscious but was pronounced dead upon arrival.

He previously served as Governor of the Bank of Ghana from 2009 to 2012, before becoming Vice President to former president John Mahama in August 2012.

The late Amissah-Arthur also served as the Deputy Secretary for Finance in the PNDC government from February 1986 to March 1993.

He died aged 67.

Ghana news: President Akufo Addo Asked For More Prayers:

READ ALSO: Zylofon boss Nana Appiah Mensah demolishes Richester Hotel

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Source: Yen.com.gh- John Mahama has called for a national consultation to build consensus on a sustainable framework for the implementation of governments Free Senior High School policy

- According to Mr. Mahama, the mode of implementation for the Free SHS on an ad-hoc basis is improper

Former president John Dramani Mahama believes governments introduction of the double track system for Senior High Schools doesnt help.

According to him, it is unwise to implement the Free SHS policy at all cost when the problems of its implementation are obvious.

In a Twitter post, the ex-president urged government to engage in a broad consultation for a consensus to be arrived at in relation to the implementation of the Free SHS.

READ ALSO: All set for Amissah Arthurs funeral and burial rites

The double track system of education divides the entire student body and staff into two different tracks. So while one track is in school, the other is on vacation.

However, since government announced its plans to introduce the new module, there have been divided opinions among the public.

Mahama believes wider consultations should be made with stakeholders regarding the implementation of the policy.

Introducing shift system for SHS? It doesnt help to continue to implement this all important free SHS programme on an ad hoc basis. Its not too late to hold a comprehensive national consultation to forge a consensus on a sustainable framework for its implementation. #Ghana, Mahama wrote.

Foermer president John Mahama. Source: Supplied

READ ALSO: Stacy Offei-Darko's funeral posters pop up; set to be buried on July 28

The government argues that, there isnt enough time to build enough facilities to accommodate the huge number of students that are expected to enroll on the Free SHS.

The decision to opt for the double track system has been praised by Dean of Arts and Sciences at Ashesi University, Prof Stephen Adei, who described the idea as very clever.

Meanwhile, policy think tank IMANI Africa has kicked against the policy, suggesting government should rather make good use of the many private schools in the country.

Ghana News: Problems with WAEC, BBC Denies Partnering with Anas

READ ALSO: My mother is my only master  Countryman Songo

Yen.com.gh is building a platform where Ghanaians can share local news and own experiences with each other. Witnessing an incident? Want to tell about a local problem? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Message us on Facebook or Instagram.

Source: Yen- Some major roads in Accra have been blocked to give way for Amissah Arthur's state burial

- These roads which include the Osu Cemetary Traffic Light and the Lokko Street will remain closed till Friday, July 27th

- The body of the late vice president will be laid in state at the Accra International Conference Centre

The Accra police command has served notice to block some major roads in the capital of Accra ahead of the two-day final funeral rites for the late vice president, Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur.

In a public statement, the police state that these major roads will be:

1. Osu Cemetary Traffic Light

2. The Lokko Street

3. The Castle Road

4. AU Circle to Osu Cemetary Traffic Light.

According to the police, these major streets will remain closed from Thursday, 26th July to Friday, July 27. Also, all unmarked vehicles and those without the needed documents will not be allowed to park or drive along these routes.

READ ALSO: I swept 'Asomdwee Park' ahead of my dad's anniversary - Mills' son

Alternative routes

Following the roadblocks, the police command has ensured drivers from the Lokko Street towards the Castle road to consider using the Ajumaku and Oxford Streets. Also, vehicular movement from the AU Circle towards the Castle road shall be diverted unto the Abdul Diouf and King Hassan roads.

The funeral service for the late vice president will see him buried on Friday, 27 July at the Military Cemetery, Accra. Before that, his remains will be laid in state at the foyer of the Accra International Conference Centre for filing past by the general public on Thursday, 26 July.

Background to his death

The former vice president of Ghana, Amissah-Arthur, is reported to have been thrown onto the back of a pick-up vehicle due to the non-availability of an ambulance.

The late former vice president was actually at the Air Force Gym with other key figures in Ghana including the Okyenhene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin II.

The chief recounted how he heard a bang around the treadmill on which Amissah Arthur was exercising.

"Three women in the gym were screaming, I left my machine and went and there lay my friend trying to find some air to breathe. We gathered around him and pumped his heart as hard as we could, yelled out his name; his wife was calling out: 'Jesus, save him!' I just said: 'Call the ambulance, let's take him to the hospital'," he narrated.

The quest to save Amissah-Arthur darkened when it was realized there was not an ambulance around to convey him to the hospital.

"...there was no ambulance, there was no car, we threw the former vice-president in the back of a pick-up and drove off to 37," he revealed in a video.

READ ALSO: All set for Amissah Arthurs funeral and burial rites

Should the revelation by the Okyenhene be anything to go by then there could be questions regarding whether the manner in which the late former vice president was handled could have worsened his predicament.

Ghana news: President Akufo Addo Asked For More Prayers:

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Source: Yen Newspaper- The IGP has caused the interdiction of the District Police Commander of Sefwi Akontombra for instructing his officers to lash a 14-year-old boy

- The District Commander, DSP Dickson Obeng, who felt the boys stubbornness ought to be exorcised, ordered some police officers to discipline him by way of lashing

The District Police Commander for Sefwi Akontombra, DSP Dickson Obeng, has been interdicted for ordering his men to lash a 14-year-old.

His interdiction follows an order from the Inspector General of Police (IGP), David Asante-Apeatu.

A statement from the Ghana Police Service, signed by the Director-General for Public Affairs, David Eklu, said investigations are being conducted into the matter.

The Inspector General of Police, David Asante-Apeatu. Source: Ghana.gov.gh

READ ALSO: Police and 'okada' riders in bloody clash at Ashaiman

The statement said the IGP has directed the Western Regional Police Commander to constitute a committee to spearhead the investigations.

The committee will have two weeks to do their investigations and submit their report on the incident.

The Police urged the public to remain calm, adding that they would be updated on the progress made by the team constituted to investigate the matter.

The Western Regional Police Commander, DSP Dickson Obeng, has been accused of odering his men to assault a 14-year-old class 6 pupil of the St. James Anglican Primary at Akontombra.

The victim, Stanley Antwi, was reportedly given 36 lashes on his back as a corrective measure for going astray.

The statement released by the Ghana Police service. Source: Ghana Police PR.

READ ALSO: All set for Amissah Arthurs funeral and burial rites

The teenager has since sustained injuries and bruises on his back, with the marks drawn from the canes visible for all to see.

Speaking to Accra-based Citi FM, father of the boy, Enoch Tandoh, said DSP Obeng ordered his men to whip the teenager because he fought a colleague in school.

So I rushed home to see my children only to see my son Stanley with severe marks of beatings on his back, his chest and parts of his stomach. When I asked Stanley what happened, he said the District Police Commander ASP Dickson Obeng, whose office is just behind their school, ordered his men to whip him for fighting with one of his classmates after school had closed, Mr. Tandoh explained.

I took my child, together with my wife to the hospital, but we were told we have to produce a medical request form from the police before they could take care of him. Knowing the commander is the same person to eventually produce that, I reached out to the District BNI officer. He came and insisted the hospital should take care of him without further delay. He then assisted us to the Commander.

Photo of the 14-year-old boy who was lashed by the police. Source: 3news.com

"When we got to the commander, he said my son was fighting with one of his classmates, but despite a call on him to stop, he refused so he ordered his men to teach him a lesson, he added.

This comes after several police brutalities have been recorded around the country in the last two weeks.

Ghana News: Problems with WAEC, BBC Denies Partnering with Anas

READ ALSO: Stacy Offei-Darko's funeral posters pop up; set to be buried on July 28

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Source: Yen.com.ghRespected Ghanaian rapper, Jerry Anaba, widely known as Okomfuor Kwadee, has asked the president of Ghana to pay special attention to the state of mental health in the country.

According to Kwadee, President Akufo-Addo must issue a directive to the Ghana Health Service in order to improve mental health conditions nationwide.

The rapper made the statement on Tuesday at the Willing Ways Foundation rehabilitation centre at Kwamo in the Ashanti Region, when a delegation from MUSIGA visited him.

Top Ghanaian rapper, Okomfuor Kwadee (Photo credit: Myjoyonline.com)

READ ALSO: Counselor Lutterodt confuses Ghanaians with his latest revelation about Sarkodie's marriage to Tracy

On behalf of all the people here, I plead on our leaders, especially the President and all the chiefs to help create awareness for people to stop neglecting those with mental problems. We should all pay attention to such people and let them feel part of society, he said.

Kwadee who has suffered some mental issues over the years said he is recovering and his comeback will focus on drug abuse and its effect on the youth.

When I come back, the message is going to be more about the youth and how to come out of all these drug abuse and street kind of life, he hinted.

The visit by some top executives of Musicians' Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), was hastened by recent media reports that the musician has been abandoned at the rehab centre by his family.

The Unions executives, led by Ras Caleb Appiah Levi, the Greater Accra Chairman of MUSIGA, donated packs of sachet water, drinks and an undisclosed amount of money to Kwadee for his personal upkeep.

READ ALSO: Atta Mills' son reveals why he personally swept his late father's graveyard with broom

About six years ago, Kwadee who was at the peak of his career was reported to have been hit by some mental health issues.

This hit hard at Kwadees music career as his condition worsened and was taken to the Willing Ways Foundation rehabilitation centre.

However, the leader of the rehab centre, Lydia Abena Manu, a few weeks ago told the media that the rapper had been neglected by family and friends.

This kept people wondering what his condition was, but according to MUSIGA executives who called on him, Kwadee is doing better than before.

The respected rapper shot to fame years ago with his unique rap songs such as Aboro ne Bayie, Ataa Adwoa, Ka Wo Nan to So, among others.

Some reports indicate that he is currently recording songs which will be released onto the music market soon.

READ ALSO: Songo reveals the identity of the only person who can call him to 'order' and it's not Akufo-Addo

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Source: Yen65 E. Monroe St. Unit 4719 in Chicago: $949,900 Listed on June 1, 2018 This two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo has 11-foot ceilings, espresso hardwood floors throughout and custom electric shades. The kitchen has custom Italian cabinetry, an island and marble countertops and backsplash, while the custom-built media center has a built-in bar with antique glass doors and a full-size wine refrigerator. The limestone master bathroom has a glass shower and custom cabinetry. An outdoor terrace overlooks Lake Michigan and Millennium Park. Garage rental parking is available in the building for $375 per month. Agent: Brian Henderson of Jameson Sotheby's International Realty, 312-335-3225 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.Many Ghanaians, both home and abroad, were thrown into a state of shock when the sad news of the untimely demise of former Vice President of Ghana, Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur was announced last month.

Some members of the general public, especially members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), were blown away when rumors first started on various social media platforms.

However, it later turned out to be true after doctors at the 37 Military hospital confirmed the heart-wrenching news.

The remains of the late Vice President arriving at the AICC (Photo credit: Ghanaweb.com)

The Vice President who was not sick reportedly collapsed during a routine workout session at the Airforce Gym on June 29, and was rushed to the 37 Military Hospital where he was later pronounced died.

Some members of the public lined up to pay their last respect to the Vice President (Photo credit: Yen.com.gh)

READ ALSO: Okomfuor Kwadee sends a very 'sad' but important message to Akufo-Addo

The late Vice President being led by motorcade (Photo credit: Ghanaweb.com)

The final funeral and burial proceedings, which begun today, is being held at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC),, where his remains have been laid in state for public viewing.

Some top ranking members of the NDC arriving at the conference center (Photo credit: Yen.com.gh)

A number of dignitaries both home and abroad have arrived to bid their final farewell to the late Ghanaian leader.

Amissah-Arthurs remains being ushered into the conference hall (Photo credit: Ghanaweb.com)

Some top Ghanaian personalities across the political divide are also playing various roles to pay their last respect to the late Vice President as he embarks his final journey back home.

Some NDC members arriving at the conference center to mourn their late leader (Photo Credit: Yen.com.gh)

READ ALSO: Counselor Lutterodt confuses Ghanaians with his latest revelation about Sarkodie's marriage to Tracy

The late Vice President collapsed at the Airforce Gym in Accra during workout (Photo credit: Ghanaweb.com)

Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service has announced the temporary closure of some roads in the capital today and tomorrow.

Amissah-Arthur was pronounced dead at the 37 Military Hospital in Accra (Photo credit: Ghanaweb.com)

Some of the affected roads include, the Osu Cemetery Traffic Light, on the Lokko Street, Castle Road, from AU circle to Osu Cemetery Traffic Light.

The late Amissah-Arthur will be laid to final rest at the Military cemetery in Accra (Photo credit: Ghanaweb.com)

A statement from the Police Service said, unmarked vehicles would not be permitted to park or drive through these roads.

READ ALSO: Atta Mills' son reveals why he personally swept his late father's graveyard with broom

Some dignitaries at the Accra International Conference Center (Yen.com.gh)

The late Amissah-Arthur will be laid to final rest on tomorrow, Friday 27, at the Military Cemetery in Accra.

Some family members mourning the late Vice President (Photo credit: Ghanaweb.com)

READ ALSO: Songo reveals the identity of the only person who can call him to 'order' and it's not Akufo-Addo

Some dignitaries consoling the bereaved family (Photo credit: Ghanaweb.com)

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Source: YenAfricas Highest rapper, Sarkodie, has had a successful wedding but not without controversies.

Sarkodie had done his wedding strictly by invitation and purely private to ensure that the number of attendees was limited.

After the wedding, an ardent fan of the musician who was very disappointed in him for not inviting him to the wedding asked Sarkodie to only engage those he invited to his wedding the next time he has an album to launch.

READ ALSO: Criss Waddle disappointed in Sarkodie for not inviting him to his wedding

The fan named Arabio perhaps expected Sarkodie to at least inform his fan groups of the wedding even if he would not have invited all of them.

Another person who has also expressed disappointment in Sarkodie for not inviting him to the wedding is his own Tema boy gang member Criss Waddle.

Criss Waddle has also asked Sarkodie to give whatever new songs he has to only those who attended his wedding.

As a fellow musician and a Tema-based artist, Criss Waddle expected Sarkodie an invitation to Sarkodie's wedding but that never came to him.

READ ALSO: Ernest Opoku exposes 2 Multimedia staff behind Nayas lashing him

Interestingly, YEN.com.gh has observed that apart from Criss Waddle and Arabio, there are some other top musicians and friends of Sarkodie who would wish to be at Sarkodies wedding but for some reasons were not there.

It could be that they were invited but couldnt make the time to go, or perhaps they were not invited at all.

Whatever be the case, it is unlikely that any celebrity would want to miss the Highest wedding when invited.

YEN.com.gh brings you six of the celebrities who fans expected to be at Sarkodie's wedding but were absent.

READ ALSO: Next time launch your album privately like your wedding  Fan warns Sarkodie

1. Moesha: Moesha Boduong is a friend of Sarkodie, and no doubt their friendship is a good one. Somewhere last year, they were spotted together at the Dubai Airport when Sarkodie was going to perform at the One Africa Concert.

Again, Sarkodie and Obrafuor sang a song with Moeshas name, indicating their closeness. Another thing is that Moesha loves weddings. She has been attending weddings recently with the latest one being that of Bibi Bright. Therefore, Moesha would definitely love to be at Sarkodies wedding and so if she was not there then it means she was sidelined or was not invited.

2. Shatta Wale: The friendship between Shatta Wale and Sarkodie is also a great one, but for some reasons he wasnt at the wedding. His baby mama, Shatta Michy, too, was not there. Given his 'all over' nature and friendliness, Shatta Wale would definitely want to be at Sarkodies wedding. However, it seems he was also sidelines or was simply not sent an invitation card.

READ ALSO: eShun reveals how she turned down trip to Dubai and $100K atopa offer

3. D-Cryme: D-Cryme is also a Tema-based artiste and a very good friend of Sarkodie but was also missing at the wedding. They even collaborated on D-Crymes song Koko Sakora, meaning that they were very good friends and colleagues as well.

However, D-Cryme was also missing at the wedding. But he has sent a congratulatory message to Sarkodie as if to say even though you didnt invite me congratulations to you.

READ ALSO: Moesha Bodoung reveals 'fresh' tattoo on her right thigh in latest photo

4. Criss Waddle: Waddle has already registered his displeasure with Sarkodie for not inviting him to the wedding. Even though has congratulated him on his marriage, Criss Waddle has also directed Sarkodie to invite his selected wedding guests to his album launch the next time.

5. M.anifest: M.anifest and Sarkodie had not been cool with each other until recently when the Highest rapper congratulated M.anifest on his new song on Azumah Nelson. Sarkodies kind message to M.anifest no doubt rekindled a warm love between them, and so M.anifest would wish to be invited to the wedding as a sign to seal their fixed relationship. But he was also not there.

6. Mugeez/R2Bees: Mugeez is a very close friend of Sarkodie and he is definitely part of his success story in the music industry given the fact that Sarkodie sang his first hit song Baby with him. Therefore, it would be expected that he would be at the wedding, but unfortunately, Mugeez was missing in action.

READ ALSO: Ghanaians pressurize Shatta Wale to marry after weddings of Sarkodie and Stonebwoy

Another controversy that has rocked Sarkodie's wedding is the allegation by a lady called Katherine, who claims their hanging cake concept was her idea.

In an earlier report by YEN.com.gh, Katherine disclosed that she had engaged the company, Bigideazconsult, and discussed the cake concept with them but they ignored her along the line and executed the idea for Sarkodie's wedding.

Katherine was pained and blasted the company for stealing her concept.

READ ALSO: Sarkodies wedding cake designers accused of concept theft

Yenkasa: How Bad is the Healthcare in Ghana? | Yen.com.gh

READ ALSO: All set for Amissah Arthurs funeral and burial rites

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Source: Yen- A police officer accidentally knocked down 83-year-old lawyer in Sunyani

- The late Lawyer Dr. Sylvester Ankama was a senior practitioner at the Ebenezer Legal Services

A former High Commissioner, Dr. Sylvester Ankama, has died after being knocked by a vehicle driven by a Police officer.

The renowned lawyer, who is based in Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo region, could not survive despite being admitted at the hospital after the accident.

The sad incident occurred in front of the Sunyani Municipal Assembly on Tuesday when Sergeant Alfred Owusu Asare, was on his way to work.

Dr. Sylvester Ankama, has been killed in an accident. Source: Citinewsroom.com

READ ALSO: All set for Amissah Arthurs funeral and burial rites

According to an account by the Brong Ahafo Regional Commander of the MTTD, Superintendent Stella Sedame, the police officer tried to save the 83-year-old lawyer after knocking him down.

He explained that the Policeman rushed the lawyer to the Brong Ahafo Regional Hospital where he was admitted and later reported the incident at the Police Station.

However, the lawyer gave up the ghost the following morning  Wednesday  due to severe injuries he sustained.

Sergeant Alfred Owusu Asare was subsequently detained and his statement taken, with an investigation being set up into the matter.

The car knocked down the late Dr. Sylvester Ankama. Source: Citinewsroom.com

READ ALSO: Amissah-Arthurs funeral rites in 10 sad photos

The body of the late Dr. Sylvester Ankama has since been deposited at the Brong Ahafo Regional Hospital morgue

The deceased was a onetime Ghanas High Commissioner to India during the Dr. Limann administration, as well as a senior practitioner at the Ebenezer Legal Services.

He was also a Rev. Minister at the Bethel Prayer Ministry, before his untimely demise.

The Ghana Police Service are gradually losing confidence in the men who are supposed to protect us.

An example is when last week a video emerged on social media, where a policeman on duty at a Savings and Loans in Accra openly assaulted a nursing mother.

Frederick Amanor Skalla, the police officer who committed the barbaric act is currently at the Police Headquarters awaiting possible prosecution for indecent assault.

Then over the weekend, another policeman accompanying a bullion van accidentally shot and killed the driver of the van in his attempt to ward-off mourners who had blocked parts of the Odumase Krobo road in the Eastern Region.

Yenkasa: How Bad is the Healthcare in Ghana? | Yen.com.gh

READ ALSO: IGP orders interdiction of police commander over lashing of 14-year-old

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Source: Yen NewspaperYEN.com.gh has sighted a post made by controversial actress Fella Makafui warning off some people she claims are begging her for money on social media.

In the post, Fella wrote that she would not hesitate to block the beggars if they come with funny stories of how they need financial support.

YEN.com.gh cannot say if people are indeed flooding Fella Makafuis direct message (DM) to beg her for money, but since she has spoken about it, then it means it is a challenge she is actually facing.

READ ALSO: Moesha, Criss Waddle, D-Cryme and other celebrities who were sidelined from Sarkodies wedding

Fella Makafui wrote: If I ever see you sending messages to my dm telling me you are from a poor family your mother is thisyour school fees is that eerh waliaaaa I will block you.

According to Fella, most of these beggars do not use their time on social media wisely.

She added that instead of making good use of their time, these beggars jump from one page to the other to comment on every post on social media, and in the end add no value to their life.

READ ALSO: Sarkodies wedding cake designers accused of concept theft

You spend hours on social media jumping from one page to another commenting on every post.. checking which celebritys gist is out for you to gossipbut you dont know that same time could be use for business on this same platform? Fella Makafui wrote in seeming anger.

Fella's post. Photo credit: Sourced

Fella has been in the news recently following an allegation that an ex-boyfriend of hers was angry and shut down her East Legon wine shop.

According to an earlier report by YEN.com.gh, the boyfriend complained of Fella denying him the necessary attention while she lived lavishly on social media.

But Fella rubbished the report, claiming that she was only relocating.

READ ALSO: Criss Waddle disappointed in Sarkodie for not inviting him to his wedding

She was also in the news following an alleged adult video which was leaked by that same angry boyfriend.

However, Fella again refuted the allegation, saying she is not the lady in the video.

Fella Makafui has recently ventured into a new business, BeautybyFella, which is doing well on social media according to YEN.com.ghs checks.

Yenkasa: How Bad is the Healthcare in Ghana? | Yen.com.gh

READ ALSO: eShun reveals how she turned down trip to Dubai and $100K atopa offer

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Source: Yen.com.ghPresident Akufo-Addo has erupted social media into a frenzy after photos of him using a walking stick went viral.

The special walking stick was given to the President as a present during his two-day visit to the Upper West region.

During the tour, Nana Addo paid a courtesy call on the Ullo Naa, Alhaji Baburonon Amadu Seidu II and commissioned infrastructural projects at the Ullo Senior High School.

READ ALSO: Sunyani lawyer killed in accident by policeman

A durbar was also organised in his honour on the last day of his tour, where he interacted with chiefs and queen mothers from Jirapa, Sissala East, Sissala West, Nadowli/Kaleo, Daffiama-Bussie-Issah and Wa East.

However, despite the many things the President did on his two-day tour, it is his new walking stick that appears to have caught the eyes of many people.

The internet has been buzzing with various comments ever since a photos of Nana Addo holding the special walking stick went viral.

Interestingly, the Presidents sense of style has been praised by certain quarters, who believe he is indeed a show boy.

One Facebook user said: Oluman and look at the way he is pacing off...the young men are struggling to catch up with him sef,

Another added that: He's 'taking over and he's showing guy guy.

A third person also said: Strong smart man...papa gye wo two.

Yenkasa: How Bad is the Healthcare in Ghana? | Yen.com.gh

READ ALSO: Amissah-Arthurs funeral rites in 10 sad photos

What do you think about the Presidents new walking stick? Leave your comments below or on our Facebook.

Source: YenRapper and radio presenter, Pope Skinny, has confessed that he is not rich like many people think of him.

Pope Skinny has revealed that even though he made a name with his popular Kasahari show on Adom FM, he never made fortune out of it.

Even though that show has produced heavyweight musicians and rappers including Sarkodie, Pope Skinny said his radio career made him poor.

READ ALSO: Sarkodies wedding cake designers accused of concept theft

In a report sighted by YEN.com.gh on Kassapa.com, Pope Skinny said he cannot boast of a car or house from his career in radio.

He was speaking following questions raised by his fans about why he is no longer hosting Kasahari Level on Adom FM.

Skinny indicated that he felt he was wasting his time on radio therefore he decided to take a break.

READ ALSO: Fans warn Efia Odo over another video of her chopping love with Revloe

As a youth, you cant be doing something for a very long time without seeing results. Ive been on radio for Eight years, I cant boast of a house or a car I bought with what I earned from radio. If it was Sakawa I was doing, I would have accomplished a lot after Eight years, Pope Skinny reportedly said.

The Asuoden music gang leader, however, disclosed that he would come back to music soon.

Pope Skinny has been in the news recently following an adult video of Shatta Wale and himself that got leaked.

READ ALSO: Moesha, Criss Waddle, D-Cryme and other celebrities who were sidelined from Sarkodies wedding

In that earlier report by YEN.com.gh, Pope Skinny and Shatta Wale had their rods in the mouth of a slay queen.

They had reportedly gone to Nima to shoot a new music video when the act happened.

READ ALSO: Criss Waddle disappointed in Sarkodie for not inviting him to his wedding

However, in reacting to the bashing from Ghanaians over the video, Pope Skinny said what happened in the video is something they do on a daily basis, therefore, it is no big deal for him and Shatta Wale.

He also said those who are complaining about the video would do same if they could afford that services from a slay queen.

He has been featured on Shatta Wales Forgetti.

READ ALSO: Use social media wisely and stop begging me for money  Fella Makafui

Ghana News: Sulley Muntari Gave $2.200 To Accra Hearts Of Oak Players | Yen.com.gh

READ ALSO: eShun reveals how she turned down trip to Dubai and $100K atopa offer

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Source: Yen.com.gh- A-Plus has requested to sleep with actress Ella Mensah following accusations that they are having an affair

- Actress Ella Mensah had said she is madly in love with another womans husband

- But Akosua Vee blasted her the comment calling down karma on her

YEN.com.gh has sighted a post by controversial musician turned politician, A-Plus asking to have an affair with actress Ella Mensah.

His comment comes on the heels of accusations that he is having an affair with the actress.

Ella Mensah had openly said that she is currently dating someones husband who she is so much in love with.

READ ALSO: Fans warn Efia Odo over another video of her chopping love with Revloe

She added that she would be ready for marriage in 2020.

Ella Mensahs comment incurred the wrath of Akosua Vee, wife of Kwame A-Plus, who called down karma on Ella for saying she is madly in love with another womans husband.

But Ella Mensah fired back at Akosua Vee for judging her, and exposed her of also dating a married man when she was not married to A-Plus.

READ ALSO: Use social media wisely and stop begging me for money  Fella Makafui

YEN.com.gh reported this earlier, and interestingly, Akosua Vee has not responded to either deny or confirm the allegations.

Interestingly, some people have accused A-Plus of being the married man Ella Mensah was referring to as the one she was dating.

In response to that accusation, A-Plus indicated that he had not yet slept with Ella, but he would want to do that anytime soon when he gets the chance.

He then called on Ella asking her to make herself available so they could make true the accusations.

READ ALSO: Moesha, Criss Waddle, D-Cryme and other celebrities who were sidelined from Sarkodies wedding

A-Plus is noted for such controversies.

Some time ago, he expressed similar interest in Regina Van Helvert, a TV presenter with GHOne.

In that report by YEN.com.gh, A-Plus revealed that had he not been born again, he would gladly go down with Regina.

READ ALSO: I cant boast of a car or house from my 8-year radio career  Pope Skinny

He has also been in the news recently following a brawl with Communications Minister, Ursula Owusu.

A-Plus accused the minister of corruption which she didnt take lightly.

The case is still in court.

Meanwhile, A-Plus and his wife, Akosua Vee, have welcomed a baby girl after a year of marriage.

Many celebrities sent their congratulatory messages to the couple.

READ ALSO: Sarkodies wedding cake designers accused of concept theft

Ghana News: Sulley Muntari Gave $2.200 To Accra Hearts Of Oak Players | Yen.com.gh

READ ALSO: eShun reveals how she turned down trip to Dubai and $100K atopa offer

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Source: Yen3) If youve ever wanted to learn how to make your own chai, Chiya Chai is hosting a DIY workshop. Husband and wife owners Swadesh Shrestha and Rajee Aryal will explore the history and culture of chai, the restaurants Nepalese tea options and the health benefits of the beverage. Guests will get to watch a chai demonstration before creating their own to pair with a brunch dish. $40. 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Chiya Chai Cafe, 2770 N. Milwaukee Ave., 773-360-7541, chiyachai.comThese are all-American rituals, no doubt, but we also know that the entire world cooks food on grates over open flames. Take a cue from our friends in Spain, and grill up some green onions dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper. You could also cut the top off of a garlic bunch, drizzle the cloves with olive oil and let the whole thing roast inside the grill. Eventually the caramelized cloves will be ready for plucking right out of their little pods and spread directly onto crackers or small pieces of bread. Simply set them directly onto the grate.(CNN)  Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who staged a stunning election upset earlier this year to return to power aged 92, said he inherited a government lousy with corruption and with few trustworthy officials.

"From outside we saw the damage, but we never expected the damage to be so extensive," he told CNN at his offices in Putrajaya, south of the capital Kuala Lumpur. "Most of the top echelons in the government are corrupt."

Mahathir's predecessor and former protege Najib Razak has been charged with multiple counts of corruption for allegedly embezzling millions in public money from Malaysia's 1MDB fund.

"I have to work with some of those people who are suspect," Mahathir said. "It's a very difficult job, if you don't work with people you trust, you don't know whether what you want them to do will be done or not."

Malaysia ranked 62 of 180 countries in Transparency International's most recent global corruption index, with the NGO's local affiliate warning that corrupt officials have been able to "stash their ill-gotten gains in their house or foreign banks and invest them in luxurious mansions, expensive cars or lavish lifestyle for their children with total impunity and in blatant disregard for the citizens they are supposed to serve."

As well as widespread corruption and the case against Najib, Mahathir is also facing significant foreign policy challenges, as Malaysia faces a more aggressive China and the fallout from US President Donald Trump's trade war.

Succession plans

Now 93, Mahathir is the world's oldest leader, 21 years older than Trump and more than twice the age of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Credited with turning Malaysia into a major trading and economic force in Southeast Asia, Mahathir left politics in 2003, but he returned with a vengeance this year, determined to oust Najib, who he blasted as corrupt and dictatorial.

To do so, he teamed up with former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who Mahathir himself once jailed, to lead a coalition of opposition parties which succeeded in toppling Najib in a landslide.

Now Mahathir is back at the seat of power: literally, his staff said he uses the same desk as during his previous premiership.

Soon after the win, Anwar, who had been in prison on sodomy charges, received a royal pardon, and both men have talked of him eventually replacing Mahathir as Prime Minister.

"If the condition for us working together is my serving as Prime Minister for two years or three years, for me that is not important," Mahathir said. "I will abide by the wishes of the people."

He said his personal opinion of Anwar did not matter -- "I have to trust him whether I like it or not. I can't be here all the time." -- though he added if "people want me to serve" beyond the time agreed with his coalition partners, then he would stay in power.

Anwar is expected to run in a by-election in the near future in an effort to rejoin parliament, allowing him to replace Mahathir as Prime Minister.

Caught between China and U.S.

Mahathir's keenness to remain in office may be lessened once he begins the task of tackling the many challenges -- both at home and overseas -- facing his government.

Najib had pulled Kuala Lumpur close to Beijing, signing up to Chinese President Xi Jinping's much vaunted Belt and Road trade and infrastructure initiative.

Mahathir, however, has so far appeared more cautious.

This month, Malaysia canceled a multibillion-dollar China-backed rail project after a government assessment found it was some $20 billion over budget.

"We have always been friendly with China," Mahathir told CNN. "There's a saying, 'the powerful will take what they will, the weak will yield what they must.'"

Referring to Beijing's increasingly assertive behavior in the South China Sea -- which it claims almost all of as its territory, including islands claimed by Malaysia -- he added "we cannot go to war with them."

"They are more powerful, and we cannot fight against them, (so) how do we benefit from their wealth and their power? That's what we are looking at now," Mahathir said. "We have to accept the reality of the situation."

He accused China of seeking to "spread its influence using the money that it has," and said while China-backed mega projects are welcome in Malaysia, he didn't want the government or businesses to be reliant on borrowing Chinese money.

Some experts have warned Belt and Road projects may pile debt onto smaller countries, putting China in a strong position to influence their strategic decisions or even gain control of important infrastructure.

Mahathir's second major foreign policy concern is the other Pacific power: The United States. He has previously criticized Trump as a bully and expressed concern he could destabilize the region's security or economy.

"Trade war does not do anything good for the world," he said of Trump's recent economic policies."He asked for things which are quite, quite unacceptable. For example, he wants to build a wall to separate Mexico from the US, and he is asking the Mexicans to pay. It's your project, you pay! But is it because he thinks he's powerful so he can ask people to pay for what he wants to do? So how do you deal with that kind of mindset?"

He added that a trade war would hurt everyone: "The U.S. will lose, China will lose, the whole world will lose. War and trade wars (don't) solve any problems."

Terrorism threat

Malaysian security concerns aren't limited to Chinese warships in the South China Sea. Like many of its neighbors, Kuala Lumpur has faced a growing threat of Islamic terrorism, fueled by returnees from the Middle East and the proliferation of groups affiliated with the so-called Islamic State, or ISIS.

Last year, an ISIS-allied militant group was driven out of the southern Philippines city of Marawi by a concerted military campaign. The group included multiple Malaysians, including financier Mahmud Ahmad, considered one of Malaysia's most influential jihadists and the assumed source of funding for the Marawi operation.

Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia have been stepping up security cooperation, particularly in the largely ungoverned border areas where militant groups are known to shelter.

"It is a threat to our country but you know, we tried to counter terrorism with very sophisticated ways and all that using new technology to fight terrorism, but terrorism has a reason, it has a cause," Mahathir said. "You have to (tackle the) cause of terrorism, if you can tackle the cause and remove it, then there won't be terrorism."

He added that no one can win a guerrilla war, which "can only be fought within the hearts and minds of the people," and blamed extremist religious leaders for fueling violence.

"Islam that you see today is not actually the Islam that is taught by the religion. It is the Islam interpreted by certain powerful people, leaders, scholars and all that," Mahathir said. "Islam of the Quran is a very moderate Islam. (It) calls upon all Muslims to be brothers, it forbids killing, but (they) are doing all those things which are forbidden by Islam."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Malaysian PM Mahathir: 'Most of the top echelons in the government are corrupt'."Dascha Polanco: I've visited immigration detention centers, and Ive visited prisoners with the consulate to see how we can help the underserved. There was a sense of hope back then, when you were able to work with (the Womens Prison Association) and other organizations. You had a hope that we were moving ahead, but after revisiting these institutions, it's very clear that the possibilities of things moving are at a standstill. There's no moving further.Tom Sizemore, who won the part of Sgt. Horvath, right hand to Capt. Miller, wasnt even supposed to be in the film. He was hired to play a key role in Terrence Malicks The Thin Red Line, and he was about to leave for shooting in Australia when Spielberg came calling. Says Sizemore, He came right out and said, Do you want to go to Australia with Terry Malick or do you want to come to Great Britain and Ireland with me and Tom Hanks? And I told him I wanted to go to Great Britain and Ireland.Fleisher eventually regained use of his right hand, enabling him to return to much of the standard repertory, as he did on this occasion with Ignaz Lachners arrangement of Mozarts Piano Concerto No. 12, in A Major, reconceived for piano, string quartet and double bass. If Fleishers pianism was not technically perfect or always as crisply articulated as one would have hoped, there was no mistaking the poetry of his phrasing in the first movement, the singing quality of his right-hand lines in the second and the buoyancy of rhythm and spirit in the finale (performed with the Argus Quartet and bassist Kit Polen).At Stratford, though, the director Donna Feore has gone all in. Not only has she embraced the shows R-rated but singular place in the cultural gestalt, her production has made its verbal interactivity a scripted part of the attraction, even if people are asked to remember, should they feel the urge to throw something, that these are live actors. Audience plants lurk in the house, helping patrons remember what to do and, at the rather staid matinee I saw, doing it for them. Its less organic, for sure, but it also allows the actors to know whats coming and work it into what theyre doing. When you add a scenic environment from Michael Gianfrancesco that feels thoroughly digital until it thrusts into the necessary third dimension of sexual congress, you get a winning hybrid of the cinematic and the very much live.In more recent decades, the Poles Algren wrote about left Division Street. So, too, did the Jewish families among whom novelist Saul Bellow grew up. Puerto Ricans moved in, and I subconsciously assumed that marked the end of the neighborhoods literary history, which left me with the blues. Then fate sent my way a slim volume of poetry, Rooftop Piper. It made me realize that I was suffering from an acute case of Eurocentric myopia, as the academics might call it.During the meeting, Gomez cast the solitary no vote in the approval of $30.5 million in contracts for construction and professional engineering services. Gomez voted against a $4.7 million contract to F.H. Paschen, S.N. Nielsen & Associates for removal of the OHare Oasis pavilion for the Interstate 294 project, which was the only contract before the board that had not previously gone through committee for review. Gomez told reporters afterward that he made a policy of not approving anything that doesnt go through the proper channels.I thought it was strategically not the best thing because the purpose of a demonstration and a march is to redistribute the pain, so to be out on the Dan Ryan on a weekend at 10 oclock in the morning, in a black neighborhood where all this is going on  I dont feel like it was anything that was going to redistribute the pain, Livingston said. As you can see, already with the announcement of this march during a weekday, during rush hour, during rush traffic, during a Cubs game, it adds a whole different dimension in terms of our demands.A father himself, Saldana said he was thinking of his own family as he and Officer Luke Rosner applied pressure to each of the young girls leg wounds as they rode in the vehicles back seat. She cried just once during the four- or five-minute ride, when she noticed the blood, said Saldana, who has been a Chicago police officer for 16 years. Otherwise she was calm, officers at the news conference said, and likely in shock.Police went to the woman's Lawndale neighborhood home in the 1900 block of South Harding Avenue around 6 p.m. Wednesday and found 1-year-old Nicole Davis dead, with bruises on her body. An autopsy found she had been beaten, and her death was ruled a homicide by the Cook County medical examiner's office.He and Hill ordered the victim into the corner of a West Side apartment, making him face the wall and say things such as "I love black people," prosecutors have said. They taunted the teen with knives and sliced up his sweatshirt, hair and scalp while the teen was tied up and gagged.ABC/Randy HolmesDennis Lloyd's breakthrough hit "Nevermind" is climbing the U.S. charts, and on Tuesday night, he performed the tune on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! But strangely, Dennis believes that one of the reasons "Nevermind" has done so well globally is because of his name.

"Dennis Lloyd" is actually an Israeli musician who was born Nir Tibor. He says he changed his name because he wanted something "catchy," but it had another benefit. Because "Dennis Lloyd" is such a generic name, he says, his music has been able to travel to countries where Israeli artists aren't usually heard.

"I got a lot of messages [from fans] from countries [where] their radio would not support me if they knew that I'm Israeli," he tells ABC Radio. He laughs, "Like, I got messages from Qatar, y'know? This is crazy!"

"But eventually you see that music is way stronger than politics," he adds. "I get messages from Palestinians and from Iranians....everyone is, like, the same."

Stage name aside, "Nevermind" has a hypnotic, danceable groove, though the lyrics are somewhat vague.

"I was living in Bangkok and I had a girlfriend during this time, she was traveling and I was jealous," Dennis explains. "Y'know, I thought she might meet someone, might do something, and I was just worried, and I went and I wrote 'Nevermind.'"

As Dennis explains, the song is actually an imaginary conversation between himself and his girlfriend.

"There are the verses, where I said, 'I'm ready now,' -- I was ready to have a serious relationship," he explains. "And the chorus is her singing, '[What if I left and it made no sense].'"

But, Dennis laughs, "Eventually, I was the one who left, and it made no sense. I don't think she likes the song anymore...and now it's everywhere!"

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.Zwick said ICE has made it known that if a stay of removal is based on a medical condition of the applicant or a family member, it is requiring heavier documentation for the U.S. Public Health Service, the federal agency that rules on such cases. The agency renders an opinion on whether the condition can be treated in the immigrants home country, and abides by that opinion if it winds up in conflict with what the applicant claims.A Gold Coast man has been charged with using a cigarette lighter to set fire to to potted bushes outside Wrigley Field Wednesday night, hours after the Cubs won their afternoon game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.Wrigley Field had a highly publicized structural problem in 2004 when three separate incidents of falling pieces of concrete were reported, including one chunk reportedly as large as a small brick. No injuries were reported, but after the second incident in July, city officials called for a 100 percent hands-on inspection of the upper deck and mezzanine levels. The Cubs eventually ordered protective netting installed under the upper deck as a precautionary measure, and have had no similar incidents since.In the crowd, worker Chris Brown, 62, said he was living in Florida before he began working in a maintenance position at the plant about three weeks ago. He said he was in favor of Trumps tough stance on trade with other countries because it was bringing back jobs in industries that have suffered for years.Though the Mueller probe continues to make national waves, Illinois voters have known about the cyberattack here for nearly two years. It was discovered in July 2016, and the FBI issued an alert the following month. The timeline listed in the indictment matches up with what the state publicly acknowledged about a data breach in 2016.China uses joint ventures to try to acquire technical know-how, the report said. It said Beijing seeks partnerships with U.S. government labs to learn about specific technology and information about running such facilities, and uses front companies to hide the hand of the Chinese government and acquire technology under U.S. export controls.In this April 26, 2018, photo, Michael Cohen leaves federal court in New York City. Cohen has chosen to morph from Trumps pugnacious defender to a truth-teller without regard for the president, according to Lanny Davis, one of Cohens attorneys. (Seth Wenig / AP)Firefighters ascended a tower to get closer to the smokestack and extinguish the fire. As they fought the blaze, however, another fire broke out 70 feet below them, forming what the Tribune called a pit of fire. Due to the design of the building, which was rapidly burning around them, many of the firefighters were unable to escape. Some slid down fire hoses through the pit of fire and to the ground, but not everyone was so lucky. Ropes tossed in an effort to save the stranded firefighters burned in the flames. Some grabbed the ropes anyway only to reach the burning ends and fall into the fire pit. Others recognized their fate from atop the tower and voluntarily leapt in.For the battling billionaires who want to be governor, the Moodys report presents a political paradox. Moodys notes, flatly, that Illinois is staving off junk status in large part due to a tax hike the state legislature first passed in 2015  and extended again last month. That would be the so-called Madigan tax hike that Rauner has demonized for three years running. True, House Speaker Michael Madigan helped pass the Madigan tax hike. But at this point, Rauner owns it, too. The tax hike generated $4.5 billion in the last fiscal year, and Rauner signed a 2019 budget that relies on the Madigan tax hike to bring it close to balance.Some political historians will say that because Daley was bullheaded, the convention became a riot and that put Richard Nixon, instead of Hubert Humphrey, in the White House. And aging Chicago politicians will say that if it hadnt been for Daley, Abbie Hoffman and his dope-ridden pals would have carried off Chicagos womenfolk and eaten babies.This is a symbolic power move by China. It has the feel of Cold War-era propaganda, but lets not dismiss it as simply playing games with maps. China is a rising military power with long-term ambitions to challenge the United States in the Pacific. Look at the South China Sea and youll find the Chinese have done more than monkey with place names: The Peoples Liberation Army dredged sand to create islands with military installations in order to bolster claims of sovereignty over an expanse of ocean with crucial shipping lanes.And it counts on Trump not knowing, not remembering or not caring that the investigation into the Blagojevich administration was led by Republican appointee Patrick Fitzgerald, former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; that Blagojevich was arrested in 2008 while Republican President George W. Bush was still in office; that Fitzgerald oversaw the prosecution; and that the trial judge, James Zagel, was appointed to the federal bench by Republican President Ronald Reagan.The Chicago Tribune's reporting on predatory adults in its "Betrayed" series already has resulted in an overhaul of the Chicago Public Schools' child-safety programs as well as bipartisan state legislative support for new laws to protect students.



Now, in an examination of student-on-student sexual attacks, the Tribune found that Chicago students also were violated by classmates as employees failed to keep them safe.



In more than half of the cases the Tribune compiled, either the sexual-assault victim or the perpetrator was a student with disabilities, highlighting failures by CPS to protect and supervise these vulnerable children.



Read the full story here.As the school year was winding down in 2008, a boy with developmental disabilities reported to school officials that another student at Orr high school had beat and then sexually attacked him. Police arrested and charged the student.



But the school did not discipline him. The district did not investigate, records show. Then it was summer.



In September, when the alleged victim and attacker were back at Orr again, a judge in the criminal case against the student ordered Chicago Public Schools to provide its official investigation into the matter. None existed, so the district hastily conducted one.



Read the full story here.The two boys are agog at their first glimpse of surfing: "Never had I seen something so beautiful, so pointless and elegant, as if dancing on water was the best thing a man could do," the adult Bruce recalls. They start their first copycat attempts with cheap styrofoam "boards," then save enough money to get amply banged-up, second-hand fiberglass ones. Their dedication gets noticed by Sando (Baker), an initially mysterious presence who one day gives them a ride in his truck and offers to let them stash their boards at his place just down the road  a huge logistical improvement since they've been laboriously hauling their gear to the beach every day on bicycles. They take Sando for just another hippie "surfie." A first glimpse of his ramshackle home and willowy, not particularly friendly girlfriend Eva (Elizabeth Debicki) does little to alter that judgment.Daniel Peterson, director of building and development for Prospect Heights, said in the wake of the fire that to the best of his knowledge, all of the buildings smoke detectors were functioning, and some were still beeping even after the fire had been extinguished.Tickets for the festival are $5, and children under 5 years old get in free. Tickets can be purchased at the gate, and there are no advance sales.We cant help people get better if they are dead, said OBrien, a clinician with the DuPage County Health Department. For that reason, OBrien and DuPage County health officials gave Narcan, the naloxone antidote spray, to everyone in attendance Wednesday at a meeting for the public where those in attendance were trained on how to administer the overdose reversal drug.Candace Parker not only lived up to the winning standard set by Michael Jordan and the 1990s Bulls teams she idolized growing up  she reminded Chicagoans that standard is alive and well as long as she plays for the WNBA champion Sky.According to a Q&A on the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protections Private Booting Information webpage, if the terms of use for a private lot are violated for even a few minutes, the violators car can be booted. This applies to someone patronizing a business not associated with the private lot (i.e., the ice cream shop), even if a purchase was ultimately made at the business covered by the lots terms of use (i.e., Walgreens).We wanted to give filmmakers the opportunity to speak directly to their audiences and speak this vision that theyve brought from their heads to the screen and to answer questions that their audience had and also to get some in-person feedback about their art, whether its praise or otherwise, he said. Its always great as an artist to get that feedback in person and be able to have direct dialogue with your audience.The most challenging part of the event was the competition on the final day, he said. But we had great teamwork, allocated our tasks efficiently, and were fortunate enough to win first place. Overall, it was a great opportunity to meet with several leaders and experts from the industry."They advise people to make use of a map provided at the entrance to check schedules of shows and events they dont want to miss, such as the monster truck show at the Grandstand Arena at 7 p.m. on Friday, or the wool-spinning demonstration at 1 p.m. on Sunday.Attempts by the News-Sun to reach Davis were unsuccessful. However, Anthony Pinelli, who said in an email he was one of the attorneys representing Davis, said Davis has not been provided with any documentation regarding his termination, they have requested Davis personnel records from the district and Davis was denied the opportunity to address the board.In the meeting, officials learned it could cost between $150,000 and $175,000 to replace the roof of the bridge. But the potential silver lining in the latest report is the fact that an insurance company should be able to cover at least $150,000 of the cost, said Village President Bill Jacobs.The first, Safety for the College Bound Student, will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Naperville Police Station, 1350 Aurora Ave. It will focus on new college freshmen and their families and will cover such topics as drugs, alcohol, the law and personal safety while on a college campus, a Naperville Police Department news release said.Wallace said the area of performance he is most pleased with is the establishment of partnerships with more than 500 businesses in order to provide internships and other work opportunities for students so they can determine the career path they should pursue before they graduate. More than 1,000 students have taken part in relevant career experiences through this program, he said.What I wanted to do was make a concert that celebrated the genius of the man in all of his multifaceted abilities; 2018 is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Leonard Bernstein, said Robert Vodnoy, the orchestras conductor and music director. I wanted to celebrate Leonard Bernstein as a composer and as a conductor and as a really great educator too.Trinity Baptist Church: 1831 Virginia St.  A Homecoming Celebration to commemorate 100 years as a church in the Gary community will be from July 27 to July 29. Welcome Home registration will be from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday. A Choir Reunion rehearsal under the direction of Rosa Jackson, Jr. will be from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday. Bowling at the Stardust Bowling Alley, 3925 E. Lincoln Hwy., Merrillville, will be from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. Worship service will be at 10:30 a.m. Sunday. A mini-concert will be performed by the choir. Rev. Kenneth Stalling Sr. will be the morning messenger.The lawsuit alleges the officers used excessive force and conspiracy, court records state. The officers reached an agreement amongst themselves to punish Mr. Coffey, and cover up for the excessive force that was used against him, thereby depriving him of his constitutional rights, the complaint states. The officers also made late, false, inaccurate and/or incomplete police reports and statements regarding the events of the complaint, according to the lawsuit.Defense attorney Michael Gurland said an undercover DEA agent, who posed as a truck driver who relocated to Indiana from Florida, told Joshi he had chronic pain in his leg. Gurland said the man indicated he did not have his medical records, and Joshi checked a state database to see the agent didnt have any other prescriptions from other Indiana doctors.It was only after I showed them my beat-up old fridge, and wondered out loud if it would fit through our front door, when I heard them speak in Spanish. I have no idea what they said to each other. Yet one of them sounded annoyed by having to remove my front door. Or maybe not. Ill never know.The Post-Tribune is at it again. Unless you pay them a fee to be part of the Quickly family there back to blocking the screen. I guess that's how you block somebodys opinion you don't agree with. I bought the paper for 25 years, until it made me throw up every time I read there liberal opinion and know they want money for it. I guess if your a liberal clown that hates President Trump, then the conversation is over, right?I dont understand why the hell its so hard for you guys to say, Oops, my bad, well make it go away, Village President Chris Rintz said during Tuesdays council meeting. Thats all were asking so we dont have to sit here and beat this thing to death.On July 23, 2018, Chinas Central Committee and the State Council released the Reform Plan on the National and Local Taxation Collection and Management System (Taxation Collection Reform Plan).

The Taxation Collection Reform Plan aims to consolidate the collection of national and provincial level taxes, and clarifies ambiguities surrounding which bureau is ultimately responsible for the collection of social insurance contributions.

Set to take effect on January 1, 2019, the plan places the responsibility of calculating and collecting social insurance premiums solely with the tax bureau.

Professional advisors expect the change to improve social insurance compliance. The tax bureau is better resourced to monitor and collect contributions  employers that have not examined their social insurance contributions recently should consider a review.

The reform

Previously, the 1999 Provisional Regulations for the Collection and Payment of Social Insurance Premiums provided that either the social insurance agency under the human resources (HR) bureau or the tax bureau can collect social insurance premiums  an ambiguity that has created inconsistencies from region to region.

As it stands, only 19 regions rely on the tax bureau to collect social insurance contributions. Many other regions  including Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin  rely on the HR bureau to either calculate or collect social insurance contributions and will be the ones most affected by this new law.

Social insurance collection is widely expected to be more vigorously enforced as a result of the Taxation Collection Reform Plan, as the tax bureau is better-resourced than the HR bureau and will now have universal remit over the area.

The tightening of social insurance collection is likely the Chinese governments response to its aging population and rising pension deficit. As Chinas population gets older, the government will be under greater pressure  and financial strain  to provide services for the elderly.

According to the plans, the transfer will take place following the sweeping reform of Chinese ministries and government institutions, which includes the merger of national and local tax institutions.

Stricter enforcement anticipated

In theory, all companies should contribute social insurance in full amount and in a timely manner, and the change of collection bureau should not have too much influence.

However, in some instances, companies may make inadequate social insurance contributions on behalf of their employees. For example, an employer might agree to directly pay an employee a higher salary in exchange for not making social insurance contributions, which results in cost saving for the employer.

Under the new law, these illegal practices will be tracked more easily, as the tax bureau possesses more sophisticated calculation and collection capabilities when compared to the HR bureau, especially with the implementation of the Golden Tax III tax control system.

Adam Livermore, a Partner at Dezan Shira & Associates, warns that transferring the social insurance responsibility to the tax bureau will likely give rise to a more precise definition of what salary (which determines the social insurance contribution amount) actually consist of, as well as more stringent collection of the levy amount.

Additionally, this reform is likely to ensure a more consistent enforcement of social insurance premium collection. Accordingly, businesses should take this opportunity to conduct a thorough HR compliance review, to ensure their social insurance contributions are legally compliant before January 1, 2019.

Businesses should pay particular attention to:

While foreign businesses may face stricter regulatory enforcement, in the long term the reform may be a positive change for their competitiveness in China.

According to Livermore, the Taxation Collection Reform Plan will make it harder for domestic companies to skirt social insurance obligations, which most foreign businesses already comply with.

Historically, domestic companies have been more likely than foreign companies to avoid paying the full amount of social insurance, as foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) have traditionally been met with a greater level of scrutiny. Livermore said. These changes should level up the playing field between FIEs and domestic Chinese companies to some extent.Jackie Chan's annual film festival recently concluded in Datong with a Chinese action hit topping the awards, Xu Fan reports.

Top Chinese actor Jackie Chan, who has performed perilous scenes in more than 200 films over the past four decades, entertained his guests with stunts at a recent film event he has founded.

At the closing ceremony of the International Jackie Chan Action Movie Week held in Datong, Shanxi province, on Sunday, the 64-year-old superstar used a rope to alight from a helicopter that was hovering around 70 meters above the ground, thrilling his audience. The annual festival, in its fourth edition this year, was held in Shanghai for the past three years.

This year's event screened a dozen action blockbusters and honored industry talent.

For Chan, who ranked 59th on US magazine Forbes' 2018 highest-paid celebrity list, the festival is a recognition of stunt performers in the movie business. Chan, who's also a martial arts expert, began his film career as a stuntman in Hong Kong in the early 1970s. He wasn't paid much at the start, but the action scenes that included a lot of jumping, rolling and falling were risky.

"I was once slammed down hard against a cement floor, six times in a week. Every day I clenched my teeth to stand up. I was paid just HK$5 ($0.64) a day," Chan told his audience in Datong.Granny smith apples are processed on a packing line at a packing house of Auvil Fruit Company in Wenatchee, Washington State, the United States, on Nov. 3, 2017. China has become one of Auvil's biggest overseas markets for its apples and cherries in recent years. [File photo/Xinhua]



Global economic and policy strategist, Dan Steinbock, expressed his concerns over the escalating U.S.-China trade tensions in a written interview with China.org.cn, saying that trade tariffs will harm the U.S. economy more than China.



In mid-June, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 25-percent tariff on US$50 billion of goods imported from China, and China responded with the equivalent duties on the same value of U.S. exports to China.

Steinbock, who has served as research director at the India, China and America Institute (US) and guest fellow at Shanghai Institutes of International Studies (China), argues that the current tariffs on the US$50 billion of goods that the U.S. and China have mutually imposed will not dramatically affect the economy of either country in the short-term.

"In the U.S., the first-year impact could penalize 0.1 to 0.2 percent of U.S. GDP," Steinbock said.

However, over the long-term, he said that these tariffs will harm the U.S. economy more than that of China.

In 2017, U.S. exports of goods to China hit US$130 billion, and China's exports of goods to the U.S. was approximately US$506 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Therefore, the US$50 billion of goods targeted by the tariffs is approximately 38 percent of U.S. exports to China last year, but only 10 percent of Chinese exports to the U.S, according to Steinbock.

From this perspective, he contends that the U.S. is therefore "more exposed." "These tariffs will harm America twice as much as China. If the tariff war escalates, the damage will increase proportionally," he said.

Trump announced last Friday that he was ready to impose tariffs on all US$500 billion of imported goods from China. "A tenfold tariff escalation could multiply the adverse impact on the U.S. economy tenfold, which, in turn, could unsettle key stock indexes on Wall Street, disrupt the strengthening U.S. dollar, and undermine the Federal Reserve's tightening policies, as the Fed itself has indicated," Steinbock said.

He stated that the Trump administration's new trade policy is "based on dated ideas and flawed economics," adding that the net effect of the "America First" doctrine in the international economy will have negative consequences for China, the U.S., EU, Mexico and Canada.

"It is even worse for America, especially when the U.S. sovereign debt exceeds US$21 trillion (106 percent of U.S. GDP), budget deficits are increasing, and fiscal expansion requires even more debt. Such economic policies rely on economic support by multilateral trading partners that Trump's tariff wars are alienating,"Steinbock explained.

"Of course, Trump can subsidize U.S. farmers, for instance. But to do so he needs even more debt and what about other industries in the U.S. that also rely on exports to China. There are no winners in trade wars," he said.

He pointed out that damage control is becoming more challenging as Trump's trade actions are also targeting Mexico, Canada, EU, possibly even Japan and South Korea.

"The first effect is increasing economic uncertainty," he said.

He also emphasized China's vital role in global economic growth.

"While global governance mechanisms remain U.S.-centered, China is actually now driving the global economy along with Brazil, Russia, and India," he said, adding that unilateral U.S. trade actions against these countries are undermining growth prospects.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned in its latest World Economic Outlook that rising trade tensions could negatively impact the prospects for global growth.

"The IMF revised down the outlook for Europe, Japan and the U.K., as well as for India and Brazil. If Trump's stance prevails, that's just the beginning, over time the impact will be global and negative," he said.

Responding to the current increasing trade tensions, China has reiterated that the country will stick to its reform and opening-up policy and work together with countries across the world to defend the principles of free trade and the multilateral trading system.

"China has sought to take into account both Chinese and global interests. That's the right approach," Steinbock said.China's drug regulator launched a thorough investigation into all vaccine producers across the country on Wednesday.

From July 25, teams will be dispatched to thoroughly investigate the whole process and entire chain of vaccine production of all vaccine producers, the State Drug Administration (SDA) announced Wednesday.

The investigation is conducted after an earlier examination of 45 vaccine producers that began at the beginning of the year, and follows an illegal vaccine production case revealed recently.

Changchun Changsheng Life Sciences Limited, a Chinese vaccine maker, was subject to an unannounced inspection by the SDA and Jilin provincial food and drug bureau on July 6 and July 8 following a tip-off.

On July 15, the SDA announced that the company had illegally produced freeze-dried human rabies vaccines after a comprehensive investigation the same day.

The inspection found that the company had fabricated production and inspection records, and arbitrarily changed process parameters and equipment during its production of freeze-dried human rabies vaccines.

The SDA had revoked the company's drug GMP certificate following its serious violations of relevant law and regulations, and demanded a recall of unused vaccines.

The SDA said that none of the batches of human rabies vaccines examined during the recent unannounced inspection have left the factory and are not sold on the market.

"All the inspected vaccines are under control," the agency said.

In October 2017, two batches of DPT vaccine produced by the Changchun Changsheng Life Sciences Limited and Wuhan Institute of Biological Products Co., Ltd were found to be defective. All the DPT vaccines involved have been sealed up and recalled by the two companies.

The DPT vaccine production of the Changchun-based company has been suspended since then. The Wuhan-based company has resumed production after correcting the problems.

DPT refers to a combination of vaccines against three infectious diseases: diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus.

In March 2018, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDCP) issued a plan for replanting DPT vaccines for those children who had used unqualified DPT vaccines.

By implementing a national immunization program, China has effectively taken control of the targeted infectious diseases, the CCDCP said Wednesday.

According to the CCDCP, China has stopped the spread of indigenous poliomyelitis since 1995 through vaccination. The annual infections of measles in China used to stand at as high as 9 million in the middle of the 20th century, but the number had been reduced to less than 6,000 in 2017. In the 1960s, up to 3 million people were affected with epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis in a single year, and the number dropped to less than 200 in 2017.

"The national immunization program has effectively protected the health and life of the children," the CCDCP said.China's first compulsory education quality assessment report shows that Chinese students bear heavy burdens of homework as well as after-school tutoring. In addition, they suffer heavy stress from their studies.

The report is based on the first round of national compulsory education quality assessment conducted by the Ministry of Education from 2015 to 2017. More than 572,000 students of Grade 4 and Grade 8 were included in the research. Some 20,000 headmasters and 148,000 teachers also filled in the questionnaires.

The assessment results show that 33.6 percent of Grade 4 students spend more than 30 minutes every day doing their math homework, while the figure for Grade 8 students is 50.2 percent. Proportions of Grade 4 and Grade 8 students who attend tutoring classes of maths out of school are 43.8 percent and 23.4 percent respectively. More than one third students said they feel very stressful about their studies.

While the majority of students can reach the required academic standards, assessment results show weaknesses in applying their knowledge.

The assessment also found that obesity, myopia and sleep debt are top health issues among students.

China has implemented the nine-year compulsory education, covering from primary to junior high school years.More than 2.1 million people in China with disabilities have benefited from a nationwide program that aims to eradicate barriers in people's homes in the most recent five-year period, an official of the China Disabled Persons' Federation said on Wednesday.

The program - which helps families build facilities such as ramp ways and lower stoves, and install handrails, toilets and appliances with audio assistance - aims to help those with disabilities live relatively independent lives.

Zhou Jian, deputy director of the federation's rights department, said at a news conference that the effects of the program, financed by the central government's revenue from lottery, were obvious.

"Such programs promote the self-respects of the people with disabilities, improve the quality of their lives and liberate their families," he said, adding it helps such families battle poverty.

The deputy director noted that barrier-free facilities are the symbol of civilized society and are the first step for citizens with disabilities to engage with society.

Despite progress over the last five years, Zhou said an estimated 3.3 million poor with disabilities still need the modification works.

"We will strive for more financial support to raise the coverage of the program," he said.

China has pledged to eradicate extreme poverty domestically by the end of 2020. The country's poor population, which stood at more than 98 million at the end of 2012, was cut by two-thirds in the most recent five-year period.

A high percentage of the remaining impoverished have disabilities of various degrees. The central leadership has stressed that poor people with disabilities should not be left behind while working towar the zero poverty goal.You are here: China

Chinese State Councilor and Minister of Public Security Zhao Kezhi has called for deeper police reforms and a modern management system for police affairs.

Zhao made the call at a symposium, gathering police chiefs from across the country, held Wednesday in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province.

He ordered police officers to "strengthen political integrity, think in terms of the big picture, follow the leadership core, stay aligned with the central Party leadership, and have full confidence in the path, theory, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics."

"Efforts are needed to remove institutional barriers to police development, and address structural contradictions and deep-seated problems, Zhao said.

He stressed advances in reforming police management system and mechanisms for the exercise of law enforcement, simplifying procedures for applications and approval, and deepening reform of household registration system. Flash

The White House said on Wednesday that the next meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will be delayed till next year, citing the ongoing probe into Moscow's meddling in the 2016 U.S. elections.





"The President believes that the next bilateral meeting with President Putin should take place after the Russia witch hunt is over, so we've agreed that it will be after the first of the year," National Security Advisor John Bolton said in a statement.





The White House said last week that Trump has asked Bolton to invite the Russian president to Washington in autumn, and that the relative discussions "are already underway."





However, the Kremlin said Tuesday Putin and Trump may meet on the sidelines of international events, and that no preparations were underway for a proposed summit between them in Washington.





Trump has been widely attacked after his Helsinki meeting with Putin, due to his reconciliatory remarks that many saw as a sign to side with Moscow against U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. elections. Flash

The Chinese community in Greece has demonstrated its solidarity with Greek society, as the country is trying to cope with the deadliest fires in more than a decade since Monday.





Wildfires raging through seaside resorts near the Greek capital have torched homes, cars and forest areas, killing at least 80 people, according to the latest update by local authorities.





Thousands of volunteers and organizations have been mobilized to offer support. The response of the public was so great that the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece (KEDE) asked citizens on Wednesday to stop gathering food, water and clothing as there was oversupply and it was impossible to manage its volume. Medicines, blood donations and batteries were still needed.





Representatives of the Chinese community in Greece meanwhile had gathered in a square in the heart of Athens and started to collect clothes, shoes, personal care items and money to buy medical supplies for the victims of the fire.





"We are together, together we will succeed" was the slogan of the effort, while many Chinese like He Ai, owner of a travel agency, visited the affected areas to offer help. "We came here to help the people, if we can do just a little thing to help them we will feel much better," she told Xinhua.





"Up to now, about 500 Chinese donated money or other things. There will be more to come of course," said Chen Feng, president of the Chinese community of Greece who coordinated the task of collecting items.





"Greece is our second home, we should contribute to the people who lost everything in the fires," he added, recounting that the Greek government offered help in the evacuation of Chinese nationals from Libya.





In 2014, Greece helped in the evacuation of thousands of Chinese workers caught up in fighting in Libya. Within days, they were transferred from restive Libya to Crete island, about 700 km away from Libyan capital Tripoli across the Mediterranean Sea.





Talking to Xinhua, Fotis Provatas, president of the Greek-Chinese Economic Council, made a special reference to the strong Greek-Chinese ties and the friendship of the two peoples and praised the initiatives taken by the Chinese community to help.